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News / Regional

by Sithabile Dlamini

Lupane villagers were on Saturday barred from witnessing the official handing over of the $1.5 million China-Africa Friendly Primary School to government.Police manning the entrance told villagers that the function was strictly for invited guests.Police said they where under direct orders from the Chinese not to let in anyone without accreditation.They had to follow proceedings from about 100 metres.The function was attended by ministers, Chinese embassy staff, Zanu PF legislators, council officials and scores of teachers.Primary and Secondary Education minister Lazarus Dokora, Matabeleland North Metropolitan minister Cain Mathema, Minister of State in Vice President Emerson Mnangagwa's office Clifford Sibanda, China Ambassador to Zimbabwe Huang Ping and provincial education director for Matabeleland North Boithatelo Mnguni where part of the VIP.At the entrance, some villagers where heard vowing not to transfer their children to the new school.They said they get humiliated.The invited guests where treated cultural dances, food and beer.
Quote of the week

BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO REPUBLICANS

Hillary Clinton did not handle her email setup while secretary of state appropriately. That's a finding not from Republicans but from the State Department's inspector general, a watchdog appointed by President Obama. The inspector general's report, obtained Wednesday by The Washington Post, was critical of Clinton. It found that her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state was "not an appropriate method of preserving documents." And it said transparency has been a problem for the past five secretaries of state. The findings play right into Donald Trump's "Crooked Hillary" moniker and make it more difficult for Clinton to overcome one of her main general-election weaknesses, a perception that she is neither honest nor trustworthy.

BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO DEMOCRATS

One of their secret weapons is out. Progressive superstar Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) gave every indication last week that she'll be by Hillary Clinton's side to battle Donald Trump. Up until now, Warren has stayed out of the Democratic presidential primary  she's the only Democratic woman in the Senate who has not endorsed Clinton. But Warren has taken a more active role on Twitter lately attacking Trump, and this past week, she traveled to California to give a speech mirroring Clinton's talking points against Trump. To whatever extent the Democratic Party was divided this election season, bringing Warren into the fold is one of their best opportunities to unite it.

 Amber Phillips

By the numbers

15: The number of states Trump's campaign is indicating he will focus on, including some states the party traditionally doesn't play heavily in, like California.

$10 to $15 million: The amount Trump said a network would have to donate to charity in order for him to debate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)

40: The number of times Texas has sued the federal government since the Obama administration came into power in 2008, according to a December Texas Tribune review. Actually, make that at least 41. Texas filed an 11-state lawsuit Wednesday challenging the administration's transgender bathroom policy.
When Scotland voted in an independence referendum in September 2014, nationalist leaders pitched it as a once-in-a-generation chance to break a three-century-old bond.

But less than two years after Scots opted to remain in the United Kingdom, the specter of secession again looms over the lush green expanse of the British isles. The trigger this time is another referendum with existential impact: this months vote on whether to leave the European Union.

[Whats a Brexit? A guide to Britains E.U. drama for confused non-Europeans.]

If Britain chooses to ditch the E.U. despite a vote to stay from the Euro-friendly Scots, nationalist leaders here say they will revive the push for an independent nation in order to keep Scotland inside Europe. And they think that the second time around, they would win.

Pulling Scotland out of the European Union against our will would be a change in material circumstances, said Alex Salmond, who led the campaign for independence in 2014 and now represents Scotland in the British Parliament.

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)

In that scenario, he said, there will be a referendum on Scottish independence within the next two years. And this time, the result would be yes. 

The potential for a British breakup as fallout from the June 23 referendum underscores just how much is at stake when the country decides whether to become the first nation to withdraw from the 28-member E.U.

A shock to the global economy, a rupture in the Western alliance and a change in occupancy at 10 Downing Street are all possible consequences of a British vote to leave  popularly known as Brexit.

The very existence of Great Britain could also be on the line.

British Prime Minister David Cameron reluctantly offered the public a direct say over the countrys E.U. membership for much the same reason he acceded to the Scottish call for an independence vote in 2014: He thought it was the only way to settle the fundamental questions at the heart of British identity. Is the United Kingdom part of Europe or not? Is it one nation or more?

[Scottish leader: If Britain leaves the E.U., well leave Britain]

But the potential for a British exit from the E.U. to reawaken the push for Scottish independence reflects just how much Camerons strategy may have backfired. Instead of laying the issues to rest, critics say, he may have unleashed the age of the neverendum  a prolonged period of turbulence that does not stop until the public votes to take Britain out of Europe and split Scotland from the United Kingdom.

In order to put these questions to bed for a generation, you need a vote of 60-40, said Menzies Campbell, a veteran Scottish member of Parliament who supports keeping Scotland in Britain and Britain in the E.U. If the losing side gets 45 [percent], theyre not going to give up.

That was what pro-independence Scots won in the 2014 vote. Since then, their side has delivered a pair of electoral thumpings: The Scottish National Party won by huge margins in both the 2015 British parliamentary elections and in the Scottish parliamentary contests last month, suggesting that the appetite for independence has hardly ebbed. Opinion polls show that Scotland would be about evenly divided if the independence vote were re-run today.

If Britain chooses to leave the E.U.  despite Scottish objections  that could tilt the balance in the nationalists favor, reinforcing divisions between north and south.

The visceral anti-E.U. sentiment that runs through English politics can hardly be found north of Hadrians Wall, the ancient stone fortification that bisected Britain during Roman times. Polls show a decisive advantage for the in campaign in Scotland, while England flirts with out.

[Immigration backlash at the heart of British push to leave the E.U.]

The reasons for the difference are both historical and contemporary. Scotland has long had a close affiliation with continental Europe, going so far as to side with the French in wars against the English. As citizens of a small nation, Scots see membership in a broader European community as a comfort; the English are more likely to see rival power centers on the continent as a threat.

Theres an emotional connection between Scotland and Europe, Campbell said. Weve never had the residual antagonism toward Europe that has been maintained in England.

But perhaps the most important reason for the split in opinion is immigration.

In crowded England  which makes up nearly 85 percent of the U.K. population but only about half the land  many people regard arrivals from elsewhere in Europe under the E.U.s free-movement rules as an unwelcome burden. In sparsely populated Scotland  the entire population of 5 million is roughly equal to the inner boroughs of London  there is plenty of room for newcomers.

Scotland is not full up, Salmond said. Were much more like America of 100 years ago than the England of today.

Scotland is not the only place in the United Kingdom where this months referendum threatens to bring politically destabilizing consequences. Welsh leaders, who tend to be pro-E.U., have said a British vote to abandon the union could spark a constitutional crisis. In Northern Ireland, where a tenuous peace has held for nearly two decades, a vote to leave would add a new line of partition to the Emerald Isle, with the Republic of Ireland inside the E.U. and the counties of Northern Ireland outside it.

Analysts have warned that such division could hinder the economy, prompt renewed border controls and revive dangerous levels of sectarianism.

In an echo of the nationalist push in Scotland, Catholic leaders in the generally pro-European north say that if Britain opts to leave the E.U., there should be a referendum on the reunification of Ireland.

Surveys suggest that Protestant voters would block any such move and keep Northern Ireland inside the United Kingdom. The polls in Scotland are far less clear, but the determination of nationalists to hold another referendum is not.

The nationalists will use any justification to call another vote, said Ross Thomson, a Conservative member of the Scottish Parliament who is among the few elected officials in Scotland campaigning for Brexit. It doesnt have to be the E.U. Theyll just do it when the polls look good.

Other Brexit advocates who favor keeping Scotland inside the U.K. say they do not think the

E.U. matters enough to Scottish voters to make a difference in an independence vote.

Its very soft support, said Robert Malyn, a pro-Brexit campaigner who was handing out fliers one recent afternoon at the central train station in Glasgow, Scotlands largest city. The E.U. is not loved enough to be a red line.

The lack of enthusiasm is reflected in the difference between this campaign and the one in 2014. During the run-up to the independence vote, all of Scotland  from the Gothic back alleys of Edinburgh to the remote valleys of the Highlands  seemed bathed in the dueling paraphernalia of the no and yes camps. Signs hung from storefronts, buttons peeked out from jacket lapels, and fierce debates erupted nightly in pubs and across dinner tables.

[If Britain votes to leave the E.U., Germany could be one of the biggest losers]

This time, there is virtually no visible evidence that in less than a month, Scotland  and the United Kingdom  will be making such a consequential choice.

The E.U. is such a big institution, and it seems far away from everybody. Its a hard thing to get your head around, said Jonny Ross-Tatam, president of the students association at the University of Edinburgh.

Still, Ross-Tatam has been making the case among his fellow students for why it matters to stay in the E.U. If Britain leaves, he said, research funding would be jeopardized and students could lose their ability to live, work and study across the continent.

We can go to Sweden, Germany or France and not pay anything in tuition, he said. This vote is one of the biggest decisions that our generation is going to have to make.

That is what campaigners on both sides told Scots in the lead-up to the 2014 referendum. But these days, such monumental decisions are coming often  and there could be another one looming.

Indeed, Salmond said that a second independence referendum will be held sooner or later, regardless of which way Britain votes this month.

Independence is inevitable, he said. Were just debating time scale now.

Karla Adam in London contributed to this report.

Read more:

Immigration backlash at the heart of British push to leave the E.U.

Obamas support for the E.U. is driving some Brits mad

Whats a Brexit? A guide to Britains E.U. drama for confused non-Europeans.

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre leaves a courthouse in Dakar, Senegal, on June 3, 2015. He was convicted Monday of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison. (Seyllouseyllou/AFP via Getty Images)

Cheers erupted Monday in a Senegalese courtroom as the Extraordinary African Chambers convicted former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to life in prison.

It was a conviction 16 years in the making, pushed by human rights activists and the victims of Habres 1982-1990 brutal rule of Chad, and is a rare case of a former dictator being brought to justice.

It is the first trial of a former African ruler in another African country, under the auspices of the African Union, and could be seen as a new model for justice on the continent.

This verdict sends a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalize their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end, said a statement by Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch, who has pursued the case since 2000.

Today will be carved into history as the day that a band of unrelenting survivors brought their dictator to justice, he added, explaining that the trial could inspire victims of injustice everywhere.

For his part, the white-robed Habre appeared to take the news calmly and was escorted out of the courtroom under heavy security, according to the Associated Press. He pumped his fists in the air as supporters shouted and clapped.

Habres attorney said he would appeal the verdict.

The trial is significant not just because a former African dictator was successfully prosecuted but because it was done in another African country by a court backed by the African Union.

Several African leaders view the International Criminal Court in The Hague as biased against Africa, but that charge cannot be leveled at Habres trial.

It was extremely important that he was convicted in Africa and not in his own country  it shows a strong desire in Africa to build pan-African justice for war crimes, said Richard Moncrieff, the project leader for Central Africa at the International Crisis Group.

Im not sure we will see a rapid multiplication of ex-heads of state tried in country after country, but there is a sense now that Africa can do this.

[Five human rights abusers backed by the U.S. whom you never heard of]

Secretary of State John F. Kerry issued a statement applauding the Senegalese and Chadian governments, as well as the African Union, for setting up the tribunal.

This ruling is a landmark in the global fight against impunity for atrocities, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, the statement said. Let this be a message to other perpetrators of mass atrocities, even those at the highest levels and including former heads of state.

Supported by the United States and France in his wars against Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi, Habre was accused of killing up to 40,000 people and torturing hundreds of thousands.

His secret police, known as the Documentation and Security Directorate, were ruthless in seeking out and torturing opponents of the regime. Human Rights Watch called him Africas Pinochet, a reference to the Chilean coup leader of the 1970s and 1980s.

Overthrown by Chads current president, Idriss Deby, in 1990, Habre fled the country and settled in Senegal, where he lived unmolested for years until a campaign by his victims resulted in pressure on Senegal to either try him or turn him over to an international court.

Their campaign was aided by a wealth of evidence compiled by researchers that was unusual for its sheer scale, after the archives of his dreaded police were discovered in 2001, including execution orders and death certificates.

After years of delays, Senegal set up the Extraordinary African Chambers and tried the case using judges from across the continent.

The case involved more than 90 witnesses, including victims, former police agents and even a handwriting expert who could link Habre directly to the deaths.

In the course of the trial, torture victims described how their heads would be squeezed by sticks and women recounted tales of sexual slavery.

[Life flourishes amid political chaos in Central Africas Chad]

In his first court appearance, in July, Habre  dressed in flowing white robes, a turban and sunglasses  had to be carried into the chamber. He deemed the proceedings a farce, and his attorneys refused to attend, forcing the court to appoint counsel.

Chief Justice Bergdao Gustave Kam, the same man who read out Mondays conviction, told him at the time that whether you agree or not, the court has ordered you to be brought here by force and, no matter what, the rule of law will prevail.

Read more:

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Smoke billows on the horizon as Iraqi military forces prepare Monday for an offensive to retake the city of Fallujah from Islamic State militants. (Khalid Mohammed/Associated Press)

Iraqi forces pushed into the southern edge of Fallujah on Monday, enduring car bombs and sniper fire from Islamic State fighters determined to hold onto the strategic western city.

Lt. Gen. Abdulwahab al-Saedi, commander of the governments offensive, said that forces from Iraqs army, police and elite Counterterrorism Service launched the assault on southern Fallujah early Monday.

Since Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the operation just over a week ago, government forces, together with Shiite militia troops and tribal fighters, mostly from Sunni Anbar province, have taken territory around Fallujah in preparation for an assault on its urban area.

Forces are still advancing, and clashes are ongoing, Saedi told state television.

Capturing Fallujah, the first Iraqi city to fall to the Islamic State in 2014, is expected to be both an important battle and a difficult one. The city, about 45 miles west of Baghdad, is known for its history of nurturing armed Islamist groups. In 2004, U.S. Marines fought two fierce battles to take control of Fallujah, but insurgents returned each time.

Saedi said the government forces were approaching the Shuhadaa neighborhood in southern Fallujah on Monday afternoon. Speaking later to The Washington Post, he said militants detonated at least two car bombs and were using snipers and rockets to try to fend off the advancing troops.

The Counterterrorism Service forces have the experience to fight them, just like they did in Ramadi, Hit and Rutba, Saedi said, referring to other recent battles.

Military officials said the forces had not yet entered the city proper. North of Fallujah, federal police, soldiers and militiamen pressed into the town of Saqlawiya, while police SWAT forces raised the Iraqi flag over the police station in Naimiyah south of the city.

The Iraqi military also said its warplanes had launched attacks on Islamic State positions around Fallujah on Monday. Col. Steve Warren, a U.S. military spokesman, said that American aircraft were also conducting strikes.

Lt. Gen. Abdul Ghani al-Assadi, commander of the Counterterrorism Service, said Fallujah was an especially complicated operation, because of its history of supporting insurgents and because the battle would unfold in an urban area with a significant civilian population.

Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, the U.S. commander in Iraq, warned last week that government forces may have to contend with Islamic State sympathizers among the local population.

Reasserting government control of Fallujah would deal a major blow to the group in western Iraq, where it has been able to draw strength from fellow militants in neighboring Syria. A government victory also would help build momentum ahead of a highly anticipated operation to recapture the major city of Mosul to the north.

The Counterterrorism Service troops are expected to play a key role in leading the charge into the heart of Fallujah, as they have in other battles. Assadi, speaking in an interview on Sunday, said those elite forces had gradually figured out the Islamic States way of waging war, a combination of conventional military tactics and insurgent attacks.

Saedi said security forces had chosen to attack from southern Fallujah because that area was largely empty of civilians. About 50,000 civilians are believed to remain in besieged Fallujah, where conditions have worsened as food and other basic supplies grow scarce.

Mayor Issa al-Issawi, speaking from outside the city, said that civilians had begun to move from southern areas of Fallujah toward the north, and may be used by militants as human shields.

He said there had been reports of civilian casualties from recent shelling and air operations by government-aligned forces. Some residents have been killed by militants, meanwhile, while trying to flee, officials from the city have said. The Post could not independently confirm those reports.

The fighting in southern Fallujah came as the Islamic State claimed responsibility for several explosions in the Iraqi capital. On Monday morning, a car bomb exploded in Shaab, a Shiite area of northeast Baghdad, according to the Interior Ministry. Hospital officials said at least 22 people were killed. Another bomb went off in Sadr City but no one was killed, the ministry said.

Officials believe a recent surge in terrorist bombings in the Iraqi capital reflects an effort by the Islamic State to divert government attention from the battlefield. Authorities are hoping that recapturing Fallujah would reduce that threat.

The Iraqi military, in a statement Monday, said that counterterrorism troops in the Fallujah area had killed an Islamic State fighter named Abu al-Harith, suspected of manufacturing car bombs there.

Read more

In Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State is in retreat on multiple fronts

ISIS fighters seem to be trying to sell sex slaves on-line

U.S.-led strikes putting a financial squeeze on the Islamic State

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Opinion / Blogs

QN.

A LEVEL DIVINITY | REVISION QUESTIONS | 30 MAY 2016



COMMENT OVERVIEW



ISRAEL PROPHETS INCLUDE

ZIMBABWEAN PROPHETS

ANSWERS

HOWEVER PART



ZIMBABWEAN CONTEXT

HOWEVER PART



QUESTION DEMANDS

CONTACTS



"Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor."-Truman Capote



"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." John R. Wooden



"Genuine prophets" How far does this explain Israel and Zimbabwean prophets? (25) -pt 34The above question might be confusing,one should note that one can be able to execute this question if he /she try to ask herself/himself different fundamental questions. For instance- What is a prophet?- What is being genuine?- The author will include the following prophets for both Israel and Zimbabwe.- Moses- Micah Ben Imlah- Zedekiah the son of Chennah- the country prophet "Amos"- the civil servants "Gad and Nathan"- the Tishbite "Elijah"- the man of cloth "Magaya"- the apple prophet "Fodrick Fodrick"- Madzibaba Godfrey Nzira- Passion Njava- B.W Anderson define a prophet as someone who communicate the will ofGod ,whilst J Thompson define a prophet as someone who act as amessenger of God.- The word genuine means being pure/authentic- One will understand that in Israel prophets were classified into twoclass ;the true prophets and false prophets,this question needs toprove that in Israel they were genuine prophets or not. - In Ancient Israel the characteristics and roles of genuine prophets include ,fighting for worshipping of one God,advocating for justice,receiving call ,acting as a messenger to mention but few only.During the exodus event ,the Israelites had a confusion/challenge on how to differentiate the genuine from inauthentic this is evidenced in Deuteronomy 18:21 ".How may we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?" This means that among the Israelites they was now two class of prophets which the author mentioned earlier ,hence ,the Israelites wanted to be sure .Moses then replied to them in Deuteronomy 18:22 "when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously, you need not be afraid of him" In other words this means that any prophet who predicted accurate ,that same prophet was regarded as genuine ,Elijah and Micah Ben Imlah being one of them. Elijah predicted the drought in 1st Kings 17:1 and it came to pass ,same to Micah Ben Imlah who prophesied the defeat during Ramoth Gilead incident ,this is recorded in 1st Kings 22:11-25 .One will be justified to label these prophets as genuine . - The genuine prophets normally advocated for worshipping of one God, this is valid in the case of Moses and Elijah .Moses destroyed the golden bull which had been made by the Israelites so as to worship it, this is recorded in Exodus 32:15-33.The Mt Carmel Contest is known by everyone ,some scholars have labeled it as the battle of supremacy ,Elijah butchered Baal prophets after failing to communicate with their master "Baal" so as to send fire and consume the bull.The above prophets were fighting for one God ,hence,making them genuine prophets. - Israel prophets normally used the messenger style of speech "Thus says the Lord" so as to prove to the audience that they were sent by Yahweh or they were genuine. Number of so many prophets used this phrase (we all know the examples ,I won't waste time ).One will understand that even inauthentic prophets went on to hijack this phrase (The author will explain this later).The point in this case is that prophets proved to people that the message they uttered it was coming from the special source "Yahweh" .As such ,one will be forced to label the same prophets as genuine . - Fighting for social justice cannot be separated from genuine prophets. The likes of Moses, Elijah, Amos and Hosea fought for social justice. Moses confronted King Pharoah so as to free the Israelites ,this is recorded in Exodus 5:1, Elijah confronted King Ahab over Naboth's vineyard this is recorded in 1st Kings 21:17,Amos condemned the injustice ,the story of women of Samaria who are labeled as "cows of Bashan" which is recorded in Amos 4:1 is known by many people. The prophet of Jerusalem "Isaiah" condemned injustices which was prevailing among the Israelites ,this recorded in Isaiah 1:17.- Number of so many characteristics and roles of Genuine prophets can be added. - As much as it can be said that in Israel they were genuine prophets, it will be loss of memory if one ignore the likes of Zedekiah, Hananiah,Shemaiah who claimed to be genuine whilst they were not. The story of Zedekiah who prophesied victory during the Ramoth Gilead is known, the prophet claimed to be getting the message from Yahweh ,this is evidenced by the messenger style of speech which he used to deliver his message of hope,he also went on to use a symbolic act ;this is recorded in 1st Kings 22:11-33.He cannot be labeled as genuine because his predictions did not come to pass .The story of Hananiah who prophesied during the time of prophet of Judah "Jeremiah" is known ,Hananiah claimed to be the messenger of God ,he used a messenger style of speech and a symbolic action as he was delivering his message of hope .He prophesied that Israel will be exiled for 2 years as a result Israel was exiled for 52 years, Hananiah he went on to die the same year after Jeremiah had foresaw his death because of his message, this is recorded in Jeremiah 27:11-30.(The point in this case is that in Israel they were some prophets who claimed to be genuine whilst they were not". - In Zimbabwean context ,one will understand that all prophets claim to be genuine .But their actions are quite similar to the Israel inauthentic prophets which the writer mentioned earlier. For instance ,some of the prophets in Zimbabwe they are known of their predictions which don't come to pass. [We all know the examples of prophets of the prophets] Bulawayo24.com and Nehanda Radio has greatly helped us for publishing such storieshttp://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-religion-byo-42212.html). - Bulawayo24.com on 23 May 2016 at 08:28hrs recorded a story of an apostolic prophet who is immoral "An apostolic sect prophet has been arrested in Zvimba for inserting a cooking stick in the privates of his clients and later raping them as part of "rituals" to cast out evil spirits" .(Follow this link,this will help you to have more information about the man http://new.bulawayo24.com/News/National/88778 ) the point in this case is that in Zimbabwean society they are prophets who are not genuine, since Jeremiah in Jeremiah 11,23 says immorality is a character of a false prophets.- Number of so many Zimbabwean prophets resemble the Israel trueprophets ,hence,they are genuine .This include- The man of cloth "Magaya"- Blessing Chiza- Makandiwa- Madzibaba Wimbo- Media has recorded the mentioned prophets as their predictions cameto pass ,hence ,they are genuine [they resemble Israel true prophets]- Number of so many examples can be added [Read local Newspaper thiswill help you to have more information]- Examine the validity of the statement+263777896159 {WhatsApp}Witness Dingani {Like my Facebook page }witnessdinga@gmail.com {Email}
U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura said this month that the Syrian government had permitted helicopters operated by ally Iran to fly aid to rebel-blockaded towns. So far, no areas besieged by the government have received airdrops. (Martial Trezzini/European Pressphoto Agency)

An international plan to deliver aid to hundreds of thousands of people living in besieged areas of Syria appeared to be in peril on Monday with the deadline looming closer.

Doubts about the initiative, which is backed by the United Nations and involves airdrops of food and other humanitarian relief, have been growing since it elicited guarded praise initially. Russia, the United States and other outside forces involved in Syrias civil war agreed this month to begin airdrops on Wednesday if road convoys continued to be refused access.

The logistics of delivering food and medicine by parachute are extremely complex and unreliable, U.N. officials acknowledge. And diplomats and analysts say Syrias government is unlikely to permit airdrops when it shows little sign of relenting on road convoys.

That risks a fight in the war-torn countrys crowded airspace. Already, warplanes from at least a dozen nations  including the United States and Russia  fly missions over Syria, though with differing aims.

The issue underscores the faltering efforts led by Washington and Moscow to halt a conflict that has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced millions.

We all know nothing will happen. This is just another meaningless red line, said Mohammed Shihadeh, a resident of Darayya, a suburb of Damascus that has been under siege by pro-government fighters since 2012.

[Airstrike destroys Syrian hospital amid fears of catastrophic turn in fighting]

Meanwhile, the chief opposition negotiator at now-stalled peace talks in Geneva announced his resignation this weekend.

In a statement released late Sunday, Mohammed Alloush described the talks as absurd and expressed doubts about whether they would restart. He has criticized the government for refusing to release prisoners and permit aid to reach besieged Syrians who are starving and deprived of lifesaving medical aid.

The announcement is another blow to the peace initiative, which is backed by the United States and Russia even though the two powers remain divided over the conflict. Moscow backs President Bashar al-Assad and Washington funds and arms his opposition, but they still brokered a partial cease-fire that came into effect in February.

Last month, the opposition delegation to the talks, known as the High Negotiations Committee, suspended its participation because of alleged government violations of the truce. Fighting has surged in recent weeks.

U.N. officials have expressed alarm at the conditions facing the more than 500,000 Syrians in besieged communities. Most of those people are surrounded by pro-government forces, which have received air support from Russia since late last year.

On Friday, U.N. humanitarian chief Stephen OBrien criticized the Syrian government over the sieges.

OBrien said the United Nations had asked the government to grant access to 35 convoys in May. Only 14 were given unhindered access, he said.

He said the continued use of siege and starvation as a weapon of war is reprehensible.

Since the start of the year, OBrien said, warring parties have repeatedly removed medicine and other supplies from aid convoys.

This month, the government blocked a Darayya-bound humanitarian convoy supported by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Even if it had arrived, the towns starving residents would not have received any food, apart from baby formula. The government, which initially gave the convoy permission, refused to let the trucks carry food.

Critics have repeatedly accused the United Nations of submitting to the governments demands.

The international community  through the U.N.s operation in Damascus  has entered into a disastrous situation where they are allowing the Syrian government to dictate where the aid goes, said James Sadri, director of the Syria Campaign, a nongovernment group that advocates for an end to the sieges. That means the most vulnerable are starving to death, often only minutes away from the five-star hotel where the U.N. aid operation is run from.

Starting last month, airdrops coordinated by the World Food Program have brought food and other assistance to 110,000 residents in government areas of the eastern city of Deir al-Zour that are surrounded by Islamic State militants.

The U.N. envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said this month that the government had permitted military helicopters operated by its other key ally, Iran, to fly aid to rebel-blockaded towns in northwestern Syria.

So far, no areas besieged by the government have received airdrops.

This just shows you how politicized the U.N. aid system is, given that the vast majority of besieged people are being trapped by the Syria government, said a humanitarian worker with a major Western aid organization. She spoke on the condition of anonymity because of concern about retribution against her organization.

Read more

Under strain, Islamic States strikes back in Baghdad

In Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State is in retreat on multiple fronts

Syria, already a catastrophe, seems on the verge of an uncontrollable disaster

Humanitarian aid situation in Syria deteriorating, United Nations warns

Today's coverage from Post correspondents around the world
This photo made available by Amal Eldarat shows Kamal Eldarat, left, and his son Mohamed Eldarat. Detained in the United Arab Emirates since August 2014, the two were acquitted Monday of charges they illegally raised funds for a foreign entity . (Family photo/via AP)

Two U.S. citizens whose imprisonment in the United Arab Emirates had drawn criticism from human rights groups and the Obama administration were acquitted Monday on charges that they supported militants in Libya, according to their family.

Kamal Eldarat, 59, and his son, Mohamed Eldarat, 34, were not immediately released, but taken back to prison following the verdict in the UAEs highest court, said Amal Eldarat, the daughter and sister of the defendants. She had heard of the ruling in a call from a U.S. Embassy observer in the courtroom.

It could take a few days for paperwork and the administrative process, she told reporters in a conference call. Some people can stay for up to three weeks, or a month, and there are some cases where they leave within the same day.

Gregory B. Craig, a Washington lawyer representing the Eldarat family, said they were relieved at the verdict but concerned over the continued detention.

We dont know if its a violation of the court order by security police or if it is a transition, he said. It should be resolved quickly. We hope it will be.

[U.S. citizens tortured into confessing terrorist ties in the UAE, family says]

According to Amal Eldarat, two other defendants who had been caught up in the same security sweep in 2014 also were acquitted Monday  Salim Alaradi, a Libyan Canadian, and a Libyan national whose family has not publicized his case.

We welcome the courts decision, and we are pleased the Eldarats will be reunited with their family soon, said Mark Toner, a State Department spokesman.

The Eldarats had been detained for 21 months, and their family said they confessed to various crimes after being subjected to torture, including beatings, waterboarding and electric shock. Their prosecution was condemned by human rights groups, and the United Nations special rapporteur said he found credible evidence that they had been tortured.

But UAE officials denied that the men had been mistreated and said they received due process.

Prosecutors charged the Eldarats under the UAEs 2014 Anti-Terrorism Law with providing financial and material support to armed terrorist groups in Libya, but those accusations were dropped in March. They still faced up to 15 years in prison, however, on charges that they gave supplies to groups in a foreign country and did not have official permission to collect donations.

The Eldarat case has strained relations between the United States and a Persian Gulf country that is a U.S. ally in the international coalition fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. The State Department and White House both raised the case with UAE officials.

On Friday, Toner expressed concern about the health of the two Eldarats, the allegations of mistreatment, and the many months they spent with no

access to lawyers and no regular visits from officials at the U.S. Embassy.

Without their support, I dont think we would have had the attention to this case that it got, said Craig, their attorney.

The Eldarats are Libyan American businessmen who had lived and worked in the UAE for two decades with no problems.

According to Amal Eldarat  who mounted a lobbying campaign for their release  the father and son were targeted because they took aid to the country of their birth during the 2011 Arab Spring uprising there. Her father had moved to the United States seeking political asylum when dictator Moammar Gaddafi was in power. He and his family returned to their ancestral city of Misurata when the country rebelled against him.

But the UAE government supported forces on the other side of the civil war that convulsed Libya after Gaddafis fall and death. Within days after the UAE sent its warplanes to Libya, 10 men with Libyan roots were rounded up in the UAE, the Eldarats among them.

Scholars say the UAE took an aggressive approach to alleged Islamist extremism after the Arab Spring and compiled a list of banned terrorist groups, including some organizations that operate freely in the United States and Europe. The government also has cracked down on residents peacefully advocating democratic reform, according to human rights groups and the State Departments annual human rights report.

From the very beginning of this case, the Eldarat family has taken the position that has now been ratified by authorities, that Mohamed and Kamal Eldarat engaged in no wrongdoing, committed no crimes, were innocent, and were victims of a grotesque injustice, Craig said.

Amal Eldarat said she does not know whether her brother and father plan to stay in the UAE, but she said her brother has told her that upon release he wants to go to Shake Shack at Grand Central Station in New York.
With eight days to go before the final round of presidential primaries, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders reiterated his pledge to support Hillary Clinton if she prevails in the campaign for the Democratic nomination.

In an interview recorded Saturday and broadcast on NBCs Meet the Press program Sunday, Sanders repeatedly declared that his top priority was to ensure the defeat of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

In response to a question from interviewer Chuck Todd about whether he had a responsibility to ensure his supporters voted for Clinton if she wins the nomination, Sanders said, The responsibility that I accept in a very, very serious way is to do everything that I can to make sure that Donald Trump will not become elected president of the United States. Donald Trump, for a dozen different reasons, would be a disaster as president. I will do everything that I can to make sure that does not happen.

Todd pressed him to discuss his responsibility to do what it takes to bring your supporters onboard with her. Do you accept that responsibility? The interviewer continued, You just said you want to do whatever it takes to stop him. You dont believe you need to be out there telling your supporters, You may not be happy with Hillary Clinton, but shes better than him?

Sanders replied, Well, no question about that. No question about that. But where my mind is right now is to do everything that I can in the remaining caucuses and primaries to try to win them and make the case. But if your question is do I think that Secretary Clinton is significantly a better candidate for America than is Donald Trump, that is not a debate. Of course that is true.

This response was a clear signal of the two-track policy that Sanders is carrying out in the final stages of the Democratic primary campaign. He has issued a series of protests and demands over the organization of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, combined with reassurances of his support for the eventual nominee, presumed to be Clinton.

Including pledged super delegates, Clinton is expected to reach the 2,383 delegates required for nomination when polls close in New Jersey June 7, the first of six states to hold primaries or caucuses that day. At least one cable network, MSNBC, has indicated it will project a Clinton victory in the overall nomination contest even before polls have closed in states further west, including California, which accounts for 475 of the 684 delegates to be awarded June 7.

On Friday, the Sanders campaign sent a letter to party officials demanding the replacement of the Clinton campaigns choices to head the rules committee and the platform committee, former Representative Barney Frank and Connecticut Governor Daneel Malloy, with more neutral figures. This was flatly rejected, although Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wassermann Schultz did agree to name five top Sanders delegates, including Cornel West and James Zogby, to the platform committee.

While media commentators have presented Sanders pledge to continue his campaign right up to the convention as a defiant challenge to Clinton, there is another explanation for the series of demands and apparent displays of intransigence: Sanders is seeking to keep the attention of his own supporters focused on the Democratic convention, even after Clinton clinches the nomination.

He is seeking to foster the illusion that the July convention in Philadelphia, an assemblage of political hacks and representatives of corporate America, will be responsive to the left-wing sentiments of the youth and working people who have rallied in support of Sanders.

Some 10 million people have voted for Sanders in the Democratic primaries and caucuses, a shift in popular consciousness which has taken the entire two-party political establishmentincluding Sanders himselfand the corporate-controlled media by surprise.

The endgame in the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination is how to contain this leftward movement within safe channels, by delivering Sanders supporters, who are overwhelmingly hostile to the Wall Street politics and warmongering with which Hillary Clinton is identified, into Clintons grasp.

Sanders has more or less openly advised the Clinton campaign that they need to make concessions on the platform and in naming a vice presidential running mate if he is to be able to control the revulsion among his supporters to a Clinton nomination.

In response to further questions on Meet the Press, Sanders said, I would hope, if I am not the nominee, that the vice presidential candidate will not be from Wall Street, will be somebody who has a history of standing up and fighting for working families, taking on the drug companies whose greed is doing so much harm, taking on Wall Street, taking on corporate America, and fight for a government that works for all of us, not just the one percent.

Given several opportunities to deny any interest in being that vice presidential candidate, Sanders only repeated, Right now, my focus is on winning the nomination, leaving Todd to conclude, Fair enough, youre not ruling it out.

The Clinton campaign was staggered this week by a State Department inspector-generals report assailing her use of a private email server throughout her four years as Secretary of State in the Obama administration, and by polls showing her virtually tied with Sanders in California.

If Clinton loses California, along with Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota and New Mexico on June 7, winning only New Jersey, she will have lost 16 of the final 23 states to hold primaries or caucuses, the worst-ever showing of any victorious candidate for a Democratic or Republican presidential nominationif she ends up getting the nomination.

The Democratic political establishment is bending all its efforts to dragging Clinton across the finish line. Appearing on the ABC Sunday interview program This Week, Senator Diane Feinstein of California denounced suggestions that the email scandal could derail Clintons nomination. She said of Sanders, He ought to be able to read the signposts as well as anybody else. And if he did that he would know that its all but over.

Feinstein was in effect dismissing the right of voters in her own state, whose primary is nine days away, to participate in the selection of a nomineean indication of the contempt for democratic rights that prevails throughout the US ruling elite and its political representatives.
Over the first half of 2016, the emerging opposition of tens of millions of US workers to the political establishment has found expression in the presidential election campaign. In particular, the broad support for Bernie Sanders bid for the Democratic Party nomination is an indication of growing anti-capitalist sentiment. At the same time, there are significant indications of a resurgence of class struggle, including the strike by 39,000 Verizon workers on the US East Coast.

The principal political function of the Sanders campaign is to direct opposition back into the Democratic Party, likely through support for the eventual nomination of Hillary Clinton. In this, his campaign is receiving the support of various pseudo-left organizations that call themselves socialist. This is clearly exemplified by Socialist Alternative leader and Seattle City Councilperson Kshama Sawant in an article titled The Movement Route, published May 24 in Jacobin magazine. The perspective of Socialist Alternative is advanced in somewhat different tactical form by the International Socialist Organization.

If Sanders wins the nomination, Sawant makes clear that her group will campaign for the Democratic nominee. If Sanders loses to Clinton, Sawant calls for Sanders to run a safe state campaign that encourages workers and youth to vote for Clinton in swing states and for Sanders in the 40 or so states where his candidacy would not hamper Hillary Clintons chances of securing the White House for the Democrats. If polls indicated [Republican Donald] Trump could be within striking distance in the general election, Sanders could choose whether to continue his campaign in key swing states, Sawant writes.

In politics, parties and individuals take responsibility for the programs they advance. In Socialist Alternatives case, the groups call for a safe state campaign amounts to support for Hillary Clintons campaign for president, justified by the claim that she represents a lesser evil than Donald Trump.

This not only gives the lie to Socialist Alternatives proclaimed independence from the Democrats, it also exposes the class character of the US pseudo-left. After all, Hillary Clinton is the chosen candidate of dominant sections of the financial aristocracy and the military-intelligence apparatus. She is a proven warmonger and promoter of US imperialist interests internationally. She is a corrupt agent of the Wall Street banks who has personally enriched herself by soliciting immense fees for giving adulatory speeches before corporate audiences.

Sawant makes various criticisms of Clinton in her article. These criticisms are made from the standpoint of a Democratic Party supporter whose aim is to secure the White House for the Democrats.

Bernie Sanders consistently polls extremely well against Trump, Sawant writes. Why, then, has the Democratic establishment so fiercely and undemocratically backed Clinton if their goal is to defeat Trump? She calls for an unambiguously pro-worker, anti-establishment movement to undercut right-wing populism.

What, according to Socialist Alternative, would such an Anybody But Trump movement look like?

The most important thing is for labor and social movements to offer a left, anti-establishment political vision, Sawant says. She calls for anti-Trump protests that will unite working people, students, people of color, unions, and everyone else terrified by the rise of Trump.

Who is to be included in the everyone else category? Here, Socialist Alternative is calling for workers to ally themselves with powerful sections of finance capital, the US military and intelligence apparatus, the trade union bureaucracy, the Democratic and even the Republican Party who find the prospect of a Trump presidency a risk to corporate profits and the long-term strategy of imperialist world domination.

Such a program has nothing to do with socialism, which insists on the mobilization of the working class independently from all political supporters of capitalismSocialist Alternative included.

The categories of social analysis employed by Sawant serve this same purpose: Ordinary people, the Republican base, a fighting left alternative, labor and left leaders, Sanders base, the Democratic Partys rank-and-file, social movements, an anti-establishment political vision, etc.

Such terms are employed to obscure the class character of candidates and parties. They are based on a rejection of the fact that society is divided into classes, and they pave the way for the most bankrupt political conclusions. After all, does not Donald Trump claim to have an anti-establishment political vision that represents ordinary people?

Socialist Alternative employs these terms not out of theoretical error, but because their privileged upper-middle class position drives their hostility to Marxism and the working class.

So bankrupt are Socialist Alternatives positions that they have come under fire from even the International Socialist Organization. The latters critiques of the former, however, highlight the antisocialist character of both organizations.

Writing for the ISO, Todd Chretien notes his organizations opposition to Socialist Alternatives safe state strategy while calling for a vote for the capitalist Green Party as a step toward building an alternative to the two-party system. Calling for the formation of an independent left and social movement organization, Chretien notes that Socialist Alternatives failure to take a similar independent course has weakened the effort to confront the two-party system, not strengthened it.

Organizational independence from the Democratic Party does not in itself alter the class character of a party. That is determined by program, history and social base. On all three criteria, the Green Party is a capitalist party, not a working-class or socialist party. The Green Party in the US has long functioned as a pressure group on the Democrats. Where the Greens have come to power internationally, most notably in Germany, they have carried out a policy of war and austerity.

Moreover, political independence is not merely a catchphrasethe term has a class content. The international working class, billions strong and the producers of all of the worlds wealth, is the revolutionary social force under capitalism that is capable of abolishing war, poverty and inequality through social revolution. But the task of socialists is to make the working class aware of its tasks by exposing the class nature of capitalist society and the class character of all groups that seek to tie the working class to capitalism, regardless of whether they incorrectly label themselves socialist.

For all their paeans to independent courses and social movements, the ISO and Socialist Alternative each speak for privileged sections of the upper-middle class whose social interests are materially opposed to those of the working class. This is why the ISO tells workers to vote for the Green Party, which endorses capitalism and whose campaign platform Four Pillars and Ten Key Values contain no references to socialism, the working class, the nationalization of major industries, imperialism or the class struggle.

Socialist Alternative, in an article included in the debate with the ISO, puts forward a similarly bankrupt approach. Calling for tactical flexibility in order to justify its support for the Democratic Party, the article notes: New workers parties will not develop in a clean or linear fashion, and we have to be prepared for all sorts of half steps as part of a developing process. The formation of new workers parties rarely takes place in pure form. Often elements from capitalist parties can be affected by the class struggle and play a contradictory role.

This is a fair summation of the pseudo-lefts whole political approach. According to Socialist Alternative and its partners, the American capitalist class and the working class do not have irreconcilable class interests, but rather the financial oligarchy can be persuaded to abandon its class interests under the pressure of the class struggle, and will itself create workers parties upon its own initiative.

This is pure sophistry. What they are setting up is not a transition to political independence or workers parties, but a political trap.

History has taught the working class that the fight for social equality and against war must entail a genuinely independent political struggle against the capitalist system. In Socialist Alternative and the ISOs approach to the US elections, workers and youth have a model of everything socialism is not.

The author also recommends:

Marxism and the pseudo-left: David North interviewed at Leipzig Book Fair

[1 April 2016]

The Bernie Sanders campaign and the American pseudo-left

[6 June 2015]

The American pseudo-left and the Democratic Party

[4 June 2015]
Sara Seawrights viral mugshot. (Photo: courtesy of Pulaski County Police Department)



Being attractive cant bail you out of trouble after being arrested  but it can make you famous afterward.



In the vein of Hot Felon Jeremy Meeks and Hot Mugshot Guy Sean Kory comes Sara Seawright, aka Prison Bae: a woman who either just sucks at driving or helped carry out an armed robbery, depending on who you ask.

According to public police records, Seawright, 24, of Arkansas offered a ride to a male acquaintance outside of a Target store in December 2012. Sounds sweet, right? Eh not so much. Once inside, another passenger of Seawrights reportedly robbed the guy at gunpoint and then pistol-whipped him.

For her part in the crime, Seawright was charged with aggravated robbery, first-degree battery, kidnapping, hindering apprehension, and tampering with evidence. Her mugshot looked like this:

Her new, more sophisticated mugshot is the result of her failure to show up to court over a more recent reckless-driving charge, for which she was required to pay a fine of $365. Still, it looks as though Seawright was able to scrounge up enough extra cash to get a nice blowout and possibly a fresh brow-threading as well. Add in a well-moisturized pout and that smoldering smile and bam. The only thing shes stealing anymore is hearts! (We hope.)

Despite what her Internet-given moniker may imply, it seems unlikely that Seawright will actually be spending any time behind bars: She has reportedly already bonded out.

Then again, who knows what the future holds for our young Prison Bae. Perhaps a job styling mugshots? Based on how bonkers the Web goes every time a cute guy or gal gets booked, there may actually be a gap in the market.

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.


PureWow

There are countless news reports detailing what King Charles III plans to do with Queen Elizabeths belongings and pets. But you should know theres a totally valid reason why hes getting rid of some of her racehorses. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images This week, the royal family announced that King Charles will auction 14 of his mothers racehorses that were passed down to him. According to Hello! magazine, the animals will be sold at Tattersalls auction house in Newmarket. Per the outlet, this in
New startups should fully understand that running out of money is one of the primary reasons that businesses fold shortly after a launch. This scenario is a proven statistic, but startups can avoid joining the ranks of failed businesses by being smart about how they spend their startup capital.

Related: 3 Rules About Cash Flow That First-Time Business Owners Need to Know

And that's crucial: Trying to run a business without carefully managing cash flow is like trying to paddle upstream without an oar: youre not likely to make it to your destination. Even if you do, youll be so exhausted you wont have the strength to go on.

So, instead, take steps to ensure your business will be healthier. Make sure you're rowing in the direction of profit by following these 10 tips on how to manage your startups money.

1. Know when youll break even.

Knowing the point at which youll break even wont necessarily impact your cash flow, but it will give you goals to strive for and a ready-made target for forecasting where your cash should go in order to reach that goal.

If you focus on that goal, and the milestones you have to hit to reach the break-even point, youll be smarter about how you spend your startup capital along the way, and will budget accordingly.

As Tony Hsieh, founder of Zappos, says, Chase the vision, not the money. The money will end up following you.

2. Keep your eye on cash-flow management.

You need to avoid focusing too heavily on profit. While that may sound like a contradiction to my first point, its far from it. You look at your profit and break-even point in order to set benchmarks -- but you still need to maintain focus on cash-flow and spending. That doesnt change just because you cross over into profitability.

Every month isnt enough, says Derek Flanzraich of Greatist. Nearly every week Im checking both my personal and business finances.

Related: Why Your Business Needs Cash-Flow Yoga

3. Always maintain a cash reserve.

Every startup should expect shortfalls. They happen to everyone, even with the best plans in place. But your survival likely will depend on how you traverse those shortfalls. Having cash reserves for those lean times lessens the blow, the stress and the distractions, and allows you to stay focused on growing your business.

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4. Manage funds better.

Unless you absolutely have to (which is rare), you shouldnt handle the money for your business. That includes tracking it and handling your accounting. Hire an accountant or CFO to tackle this task for you. If you cant bring on the extra help, designate a trusted employee to be a cash-flow monitor.

You can simplify this process by using a service and software platform like InDinero.com, which provides accounting software to make cash management easier. The service also provides access to accountants, CPAs and tax specialists who will work diligently to help your company grow. Having access to tax specialists is especially important to your cash flow, since theyll make sure you stay on track with deadline dates for filing your business tax returns, to avoid penalties and interest.

5. Collect receivables immediately.

Try to make any invoices due immediately and limit the use of net terms longer than 15 days. If you can do so, delegate the task of keeping an eye on receivables and customer follow-up to get money in as quickly as possible.

6. Offer discounts to collect payments earlier.

If you dont want to wait for normal net terms to pay out, then offer your customers a discount if they pay early. If employees are dealing with collections, then make sure you have guidelines that state their eligibility for discounts; and then enforce those standards strictly.

7. Extend payables where you can.

While you want to bring payments in as quickly as possible, work with your suppliers and vendors to get the best deal you can and extend payables to net 60 or more, if possible.

8. Spend only on essentials.

Part of your forecasting model should give you a strong view of the necessary expenses that are coming down the pipe. Outside of the most essential purchases, you want to minimize spending and eliminate costs that arent essential to your operation until youre profitable.

9. Be smart about hiring.

I often see advice in this area that says something like, Dont hire until you absolutely need to. Thats fair advice to a point, but Im more apt to recommend smart hiring. If you can recruit top talent, a highly skilled worker is likely to be able to tackle the work of two or more mediocre employees.

Youll probably spend a little more in salary or benefits to get that top talent, but that amount is still bound to be less than youd spend on multiple employees covering the same task who make more frequent mistakes.

Another outcome is that they may quit on you, forcing you to start over. According to the University of California-Berkeleys Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, it costs an average $4,000 to hire an employee. So, be smart about whom you recruit if you must hire someone.

The secret to successful hiring is this," says Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce. "Look for the people who want to change the world,

10. Make the best use of technology.

Always back up your files and cash-flow spreadsheets, to secure cloud storage. Not only will this keep your data secure from local file corruption or data loss/theft, but it will also make it easier for you to gain access from anywhere you have an Internet connection.

Related: The Top 4 Cash Flow Forecasting Mistakes

This is another situation where accounting software can come in handy.
Find the Right School for You

Transitioning from military service to life as a college student at a four-year institution can be a challenge for veterans. But most student veterans complete college at a similar rate to traditional students, according to a 2014 report.

Vets can look at these 10 traits for selecting a school that may make the transition smoother.

10. Staff Who Understand Veterans Affairs

Navigating postsecondary benefits for veterans, such as those from the GI Bill, can be tricky.

Veterans should be concerned if a college's designated staff to handle veterans affairs doesn't understand the basics since they probably won't have a firm grasp on more obscure issues and benefits, says JR Cadwallader, a former Marine now studying at the University of Kansas.

9. Cost

Student veterans should consider cost and scholarships available, says Emily Ives, veterans program director at the University of California--Los Angeles.

Some veterans may be eligible for in-state tuition at public institutions in the state in which they live, even if it's not their formal state of residence. And there are ways that veterans can afford pricier private universities, too.

8. Support Services

Veterans should consider what support services colleges offer just for them and for all students, including those related to mental and physical health, and housing, says Ives.

UCLA, for instance, provides priority enrollment and housing for student veterans, she says. "Those are two things that are extremely helpful in easing the transition to campus and ensuring that students get the classes they need to graduate in a timely manner."

7. Student Clubs or Activities for Veterans

"There's typically always some type of veteran club," says Cadwallader, the KU student veteran. And if there isn't, that'd be concerning, he says, since the school may not be trying hard to integrate veterans and familiarize all students with the veteran community.

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He'd see if colleges had a Student Veterans of America chapter or similar group.

6. Flexibility

Some veterans may desire more flexibility than a traditional four-year institution can offer. Students can complete online degree programs anywhere, while community colleges may offer short-term certificate programs that allow veterans to enter the workforce quickly.

5. Stats

Student veterans can also look at statistics like a college's graduation, employment and retention rates, says Ives.

U.S. News displays graduation and retention rates for schools ranked in the Best Colleges for Veterans.

4. Career Services

Something else veterans may want to consider in a college is advising and career training services.

Many vets choose to study business administration in college, but those who are unsure should ask themselves what they are good at and what they'd like to do, one expert told U.S. News.

3. Prestige

Former Marine Grant Royal, now a student at UCLA, thinks veterans should consider a college's prestige, though he recognizes there are limitations depending on where people live.

"I want people to recognize the institution that I graduated from," he says. He thinks veterans have a tendency to undersell themselves. They should follow the Air Force slogan and aim high, and then if they miss, readjust.

2. Fit

But while prestige is important, Ives, of UCLA, says veterans should think about their career goals, and make sure colleges they are considering offer the right programs and preparation for whatever path they plan on pursuing after graduation.

1. Commitment to Veterans

April Blackmon Strange, director of the University of Kansas Student Veteran Center, says veterans should look for colleges that have shown their commitment to helping student veterans.

"I definitely think it's a red flag if the university doesn't offer any veterans services -- if there's no kind of veterans coordinator, veterans counselor -- if there is no veterans programs there," says Royal, the UCLA student veteran. "I think that's probably a really bad sign and that should be a deal breaker."

More College Advice for Veterans

Get more advice on applying and paying for college from U.S. News.

And stay connected on Facebook and Twitter.

Alexandra Pannoni is an education Web producer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at apannoni@usnews.com.
Opinion / Columnist

 The inclusion of ethnic representation/sensitivity in the mandate of public media or media licensing

The answer to this was No only very weakly



(d) Exemption from dress codes (either by statute)

The answer to this was: some but uneven and not without controversy



(e) Allow dual citizenship

The answer to this was: No



(f) The funding of ethnic group organisation or activities

The answer to this is: Yes



(g) The funding of bilingual education or mother-tongue instruction

The answer to this was: to some extent yes but limited and uneven



(h) Affirmative action for disadvantaged immigrant groups

The answer to this is: No

Nomazulu Thata is a political activist, an engineering metallurgist by profession, author of two books, a chemistry teacher and lecturer in her present occupation. Her essays are purely personal and do not reflect any political party affiliation. She can be contacted on Nomazulu.thata(at)web.de

The German government was concerned about the message of (auslanderfeindlichkeit) intolerance towards foreigners to the world. The neo-Nazi Germans was sending to the international community a message of hate towards migrants living in Germany. Foreigners in Germany are still hounded by neo-Nazis to this date. Long-term growing number of citizens-in-transition fleeing conflicts, failed states, civil wars in their respective countries are social strains that make the facilitation of multi-culturalism politically, economically and socially challenging. Indeed there was public resentment in the main-line thinking of German citizens who felt that they should protect their culture more than promoting multi-culturalism, it's too American, USA is a nation of immigrants but not us Germans, they said. This protection of German culture fuelled rise to radical-right mentality, hence the formation of numerous Far-Right-Wing political parties having recognised the shift in their favour in the public opinion.The aggregate indicator of some multi-culturalism is how the inflow of refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers selectively choosing Germany as their country of destination, is negatively viewed by the general German population and how in times of any elections the German fear of immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers is pitched to swing the votes to favour the Far-Right political parties. Main stream political parties (e.g. SPD, Liberal Party or Green Party) that shows broad middle-of-the road consensus that develops around the issue of tolerance of ethnic diversity, protection of displaced citizens-in- transition and respect for human rights of political refugees do get punished in the election processes because the general popular demand-side accounts are directed against growing ethnic diversities and multi-culturalism.Those demand-side essays that drew conclusions about failure of multi-culturalism in Germany are forever relating variant patterns of migrations (perilous journeys and numerous deaths by accident drowning in the Mediterranean Seas) and uncontrollable influx of asylum seekers triggered by the conflicts mainly in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and some despotic countries in the Far-East and North Africa. These movements of foreigners extend deepening fear and resentment of some Germans towards migrants from Syria and the Islamic world. A pressure group called Pegida (Patriotic Europeans against Islamisation of West - Occident) hit a wave of resentment of migrants of Islamic world in 2014 in Dresden, how these Islamic groups dared to fight each other on grounds of religion on the German soil.It started by a peaceful demonstration of PKK: (Kurdistan Workers Party) supporters in Dresden demonstrating against ISIL (Islamic State). They were violently attacked by Muslim group called Salafists. Almost on the same day in another German town called Celle, the Muslim Yazidis and the Muslim Chechens violently clashed giving the impression that these two violent incidences were co-ordinated in two different German towns. To the annoyance of the Right-Wing Germans, who then organised a big demonstration on the 19th of December 2014, the demonstration was denouncing Islamic groups attacking each other in Germany, on German grounds. However it is the hate- speeches and hate-languages used by Pegida that was not acceptable to the German population. Pegida called the immigrants: animals, scam bags, trash, classified as hate speeches that were forbidden, outlawed by the German Federal laws. Most of the German people disqualified them, could not identify themselves with Pegida as a representative pressure group against foreigners anymore, they had crossed the red line.The definition of multi-culturalism means the existence and acceptance or promotion of multiple cultural traditions within a single jurisdiction. It means relating to multiple cultures or cultural elements. The IFLA definition of multi-culturalism is the co-existence of diverse cultures, where culture includes racial, religious or cultural groups and is manifested in their customary behaviours, cultures assumptions and values patterns of thinking and communication styles. It was Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel who described multi-culturalism in Germany as failed in 2010 at a meeting with Prime Minister Cameroon of Great Britain.Let's recap for a moment the developments that took place in Germany regarding the labour migration in West Germany, something I have already done comprehensively in previous essays. (Multi-culturalism and migrant-labour are a coin with two sides in Germany.) The labour migration was mostly from East Germany, Germans running away from communism, until the erecting of the Berlin Wall in 1960. When the Wall was erected, there were serious shortages of skilled labour in the West German labour markets. Secondly, this demand-driven labour migration or guest worker recruitment was meant to fill serious labour shortages. Thirdly the post generational of migrants (spouses and the children of migrant workers were allowed to reunite with their parents working in Germany) did alleviate labour shortages. Fourthly, the fall of the Berlin-Wall triggered mass movements of migrants, movements resulting from collapse of the iron curtain in 1989 right up to the turn of Millennium had a devastating effect on the labour markets in Germany as a whole.Until year 2000, the German government did not have a clear cut policy of migration policy at hand. They lacked a statutory and institutional Framework regarding labour policies. A solution to eradicate Xenophobia and embracing multi-culturalism in Germany needed a constitutional, legislative or parliamentary level of recognition. But because Germany has a century-long history of migrant workers, their migrant policy is always packaged with methodologies of crafting immigration policy direct or indirectly linked to labour markets because economic migrants are behind the supply curve of those labour markets.Labour quality shifted in Germany when most companies relocated their production companies to some other countries such as China and most other countries with positive business incentives or cheap labour. As a result of this, manufacturing jobs in Germany are becoming less. It is now less the blue-collar jobs needed in the labour markets but specialized ones, the demand is great, especially IT professionals. Another problem that Germany is facing is the one of demographic nature, low fertility, low mortality and increasing life expectancy. Early age retirement too causes most needed labour demand that can only be filled by migrant labour to sustain labour demands for now and in the future. It is for this reason that the integration of migrants as a policy in the Germany of great significance to them.Policy makers needed to formulate policies to counter shortages of skilled labour in the labour markets and it started with setting standards: who is to be admitted to stay in Germany. Once the immigrants are in Germany, the immigration policy comes to effect: is the migrant qualified, what qualifications does she/he have? Is she/he an IT specialist, the most needed skills in the German industry? Because Germany has an insatiable demand for migrant skilled workers, in 2005 the Germany Bundestag passed another immigration act called (Zuwanderungsgesetz) that laid the foundation policy: how the immigrants were to be integrated into the German societies. The act identifies three poignant points to be enacted in the legal framework: (i) legal residency (ii) settlement permit and (iii) resident permit or aufenthaltserlaubnis. This law was explicitly to determine which migrant qualifies to work, get welfare benefits, are the children of migrants going to attend German schools?It is also important to include it in the essay how Germany survived the credit crunch of 2008. There are two contributing factors to German's economic success: (i) the labour market reforms were favourable to the economic growth (ii) and that the economic crisis of Germany was not home grown, was not indigenous but external financial crisis, their exports suffered the credit crunch but he remained economically intact internally. Here again: their migration labour policy paid dividends in the German economy in the long run. Germany has one of the strongest economies in the western world partly due to their inclusion of migrant labour in their economic growth.Multi-culturalism means relating to multiple cultures or cultural elements. How do we quantify or qualify multi-culturalism in German political and social landscape as failed? A special report on: "Multiculturalism Policies in Contemporal Democracies" from Queens University set up special indicators to determine multi-culturalism in several countries. For Germany here was their finding:(a) Constitutional, legislative or parliamentary affirmation of multi-culturalism at the central and or regional and municipal levels and the existence of a government ministry, secretariat or advisory board to implement this policy in consultation with ethnic communitiesThe Answer to this was: Not explicit, although there is increasing recognition of immigrant's integration as a permanent feature of the country's landscape; this is particularly the case at the municipal level(b) Adoption of multi-culturalism in schoolsThe answer to this is NO education is a state responsibility in Germany. Note in addition that compulsory schooling is typically not accorded to children of refugees whose residence status is considered "tolerated" but insecure and temporal, nor to the children of undocumented migrants.Chancellor Angela Merkel's refugee policy was praised by all countries of the world. It was Dr Merkel who said that Germany as a country has reached its limit in accepting refugees, declaring multi-culturalism a flop. Germany and Germans never interchanged migrant laws and refugee status. The multi-kulti in German societies, according to Chancellor Merkel was meant to make the migrants and new refugees to assimilate to the German values and culture, respect the laws of the land, learn German language quickly so that they can contribute to their communities and work culture. By so doing multi-culturalism concept of living side by side would work.The reason why multi-culturalism failed is based on many other reasons: the traits of German nationhood lies primarily in the ideas of common descent. The patterns of migration that laid the foundation of today's "multikulti" German is directly linked to the economy. The huge success of German's economy since the end of the WW2 is due to migrant workers or guest workers. Guest workers did not only stay in Germany but also brought their families to permanently settle in Germany. The present immigration policy allows a foreigner to become a German without German roots. The Federal Republic of Germany makes big efforts to enact policies that are friendly to migrants living in Germany and the recognition of minorities as equal citizens with Germans before the law. The basic law for the Federal Republic of German: article 1 is about the Human dignity,Human rights, legally binding force of basic right, and the first law of the land:(1) Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of the state authority(2) It is in this loaded context that the immigration laws of Germany are in line with their constitutional laws. Respect for the human dignity.Back to my initial research, I wanted find out if Zimbabwe can find solutions in German's multi-cultural dimensions that could be useful in seeking solutions for our multi-ethnic societies in Zimbabwe. This is a $15 billion question that can never be answered with one single line, nor can one write a single essay to answer such pertinent and poignant issues bedevilling our Zimbabwe's societies; tribalism. We talked about Zambia's Humanism that was a failure, and Tanzania's Ujamaa too was not successful German's multi-culturalism failed equally. We look at the developments of these countries; Zambia Tanzania and Germany, tape in what we could find in their historical, political, social, cultural and economical development as useful to us to emulate. I will come back with a sub-chapter 4.3 to highlight my conclusions from the three countries I have roughly gone through albeit with very basic knowledge of political science and methodologies of social scientific research methods.I pen off for nowUgogo omncaneChirikadzi
From the June 2016 issue

Its hard to think of a car company that is striving as fervently as Hyundai. Each generation of product isnt just a leap; its an Olympic pole vault. A British consultant living in Seoul once told your author that all Korean engineers do is work, smoke, and occasionally sleep. If so, then their sacrifice is at least not without tangible results.

Take the new Elantra, which addresses our long-standing beef about the structural weakness of Hyundais. The old Elantra was a styling standout as well as a tidily packaged sedan with decent performance. But every bump sent shivers through the body, making it feel cheap and disposable. Hyundai heard our cries and fixed it.

The Hyundai Elantra is a sensibly powered, sensibly sized sedan with a sensible interior wrapped in a sensible exterior. Very sensible.

Besides some suspension revisions, the new Elantra uses almost 400 feet of structural adhesive to tightly bind the skeletal stampings, meaning that it feels much more hewn from hardwood than the previous car. Close your eyes (in the passenger seat, please) and the Elantra feels substantial and well-made as it hums along, sipping fuel at an observed 31 mpg.

We found other things to like: The instruments are clustered into a jaunty hooded binnacle that evokes old BMWs; big bins under the armrest and in front of the shifter recognize the need for clutter parking space but dont compromise the elegant design; at night, the new bodys six-eyed-taillight signature will have Syd Mead jotting notes.

Running a 147-hp 2.0-liter four, this is not an overtly sporty vehicle, delivering 0.83 g on a skidpad and huffing and puffing to 60 mph in 8.5 seconds. But it flows with controlled roll from corner to corner and with steering effort that rises and falls commensurate with the angles. A sport/eco button can summon the mildest of sporty shift maps, but you wont notice much difference. Firm brakes, the Elantras best performance asset, produce a laudable stopping distance of 166 feet.

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Like all cars in this densely populated class, from the Toyota Corolla to the Honda Civic to the Chevy Cruze, the Elantra wants to be a mini mid-sizer. Which means buyers can now have most of the amenities of the larger vehicles but without the girth. That includes such formerly fancy equipment as radar cruise control, lane-keeping assist, and swiveling HID headlights. But at $27,710 as tested, this Elantra Limited is priced like a Sonata. Knock off the $2500 Tech package (a big bundle, including sunroof, navigation, and premium audio) or the $1900 Ultimate package (the aforementioned fancy stuff) if you want a small mid-sizer priced like a compact. Even so, in the $23,185 Limited you get leather seats, 17-inch wheels, and a power drivers seat.

The back seat has good kneeroom, the trunk is commodious, and the new styling looks swift. The Elantras a winner except for one thing: a nauseating new-car stink so intense you can taste it. Best described as plastic puke, it infects many vehicles we get from Hyundai-Kia. Well, at least it gives those guys something to fix next time.

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan



PRICE AS TESTED: $27,710 (base price: $18,985)



ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 16-valve Atkinson-cycle inline-4, aluminum block and head, port fuel injection



Displacement: 122 cu in, 1999 cc

Power: 147 hp @ 6200 rpm

Torque: 132 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm



TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode



DIMENSIONS:

Wheelbase: 106.3 in

Length: 179.9 in

Width: 70.9 in Height: 56.5 in

Passenger volume: 96 cu ft

Cargo volume: 14 cu ft

Curb weight: 2967 lb



C/D TEST RESULTS:

Zero to 60 mph: 8.5 sec

Zero to 100 mph: 23.0 sec

Zero to 110 mph: 29.7 sec

Rolling start, 560 mph: 8.8 sec

Top gear, 3050 mph: 4.1 sec

Top gear, 5070 mph: 5.8 sec

Standing -mile: 16.6 sec @ 87 mph

Top speed (governor limited): 122 mph

Braking, 700 mph: 166 ft

Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.83 g



FUEL ECONOMY:

EPA city/highway driving: 28/37 mpg

C/D observed: 31 mpg

TEST NOTES:A sewing machine if ever there were one, but that's a good thing in this class. It turns in decent braking and skidpad performances with no drama.




Ever wonder what the most opulent travel gadget out there is? Well, we may have found it. Rolls-Royce just released what can only be described as the most luxurious luggage collection of all time. The six-piece collection includes two Grand Tourer Valises, 3 Long Weekender bags, one Garment bag, oh, and a $45,858 price tag. It also, of course fits perfectly into the trunk of their new Wraith 2016. [CNN]

In the busy city of Hong Kong theres a special hour of day, when the sun comes up and the sky turns a deep blue, that the cityscape turns a beautiful hue. Photographer Romain Jacquet-Lagreze captured the breathtaking sight in his latest series, The Blue Momenttake a look. [Fubiz]

Moms, with summer approaching youre sure to have sun protection on the mind. But, its not just the sun's harmful rays you have to worry about, the actual brand of sunscreen is important too. Here are the best (and worst!) sunscreens for your kids. [Mother Jones]

A well-traveled individual is sure to pick up some tips and tricks along the way, and who has more experience that the globetrotting businessperson? Here are 3 things you cant live without when traveling for work. [Inc]

Lindsey Campbell is the Associate Audience Engagement Editor. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @lyndzicampbell
The Daily Beast

Kremlin via ReutersThe cracks in Vladimir Putins war machine appear to be growing as two of his biggest allies in the senseless slaughter of Ukrainians blast the countrys weak military.Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov went public with his complaints late Monday on Telegram, where he said he was very unhappy with the current state of the war.Earlier we used to say that we were conducting a special military operation on the territory of Ukraine, but the war is already happening on our territor
Cape Town (AFP) - A woman convicted in a high-profile trial of kidnapping a newborn baby 19 years ago will remain in custody until sentencing on August 1, a South African judge ruled Monday.

The 50-year-old kidnapper stole the baby as her mother slept in a Cape Town hospital and raised the girl as her own child before an astonishing coincidence last year reunited her with her biological family.

The woman, who cannot be named because that would identify the girl, was due to be sentenced Monday but her lawyers requested more time to prepare their arguments in mitigation.

Convicting the kidnapper in March, judge John Hlophe said she could face 10 years in jail.

The girl's real identity came to light in February last year, when her younger biological sister began attending high school and pupils pointed out her remarkable likeness to a final-year student.

The younger girl told her parents, who met the older girl and immediately believed she was their long-lost baby.

They called the police, and DNA tests confirmed that the girl was indeed their child, whom they had named Zephany Joy Nurse.

Without knowing it, the Nurse family had been living within a couple of kilometres (miles) of their kidnapped daughter, while celebrating her birthday every year and never giving up hope of finding her.

Zephany, who was raised under a different name and has shunned the media spotlight on the case, is expected to be called as a witness by the prosecution at the sentencing hearing.

Judge Hlophe ruled that the public and the media would be barred from the court during her testimony.
PARIS (Reuters) - Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA) is entering exclusive negotiations with China's HNA Group to sell a stake in its catering business Servair, the Franco-Dutch airline group said on Monday.

A deal to sell 49.99 percent of Servair and transfer operational control to HNA would be based on an enterprise value of the catering unit of 475 million euros ($528.87 million), Air France said.

Aviation and shipping conglomerate HNA stepped up its global expansion by agreeing in April an all-cash deal to buy Swiss airline catering business Gategroup Holdings (GATE.S) for $1.5 billion.

"Subject to HNA's acquisition of Gategroup, Air France and HNA intend to create the leading platform in the inflight catering business," Air France said in a statement.

(Reporting by Cyril Altmeyer and Maya Nikolaeva; Editing by David Goodman)
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asia's largest budget airline AirAsia Bhd (AIRA.KL) has received a $1 billion offer for its aircraft leasing unit, Bloomberg News quoted Chief Executive Tony Fernandes as saying.

AirAsia intends to divest the business, Asia Aviation Capital Ltd, at some point, Fernandes told Bloomberg on Monday but added that the offer needs to be discussed further with the board.

He was quoted as saying that the business was a "powerful cash generator".

Reuters reported in October that AirAsia has been in talks with lessors, including cash-rich Chinese companies, to sell a stake in its leasing subsidiary.

Chinese companies are seeking to grow aggressively in the leasing industry that provides about 40 percent of the planes used by airlines globally.

Following the Reuters report, AirAsia said late last year that it had received approaches from investors to co-invest in the leasing unit.

(Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi and Anshuman Daga; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
HAMBURG, May 30 (Reuters) - The operations chief of Europe's Airbus on Monday dampened expectations that the planemaker would keep raising output on top of plans already announced.

Airbus plans to raise production of its new A350 wide-body jet to 10 a month in 2018 from 14 for the whole of last year.

It also plans to carry out a model switch in its best-selling A320 family, while also increasing total A320 output from around 46 a month now to a record 60 a month by mid-2019.

The company's sales chief has called for higher A350 production to boost sales and has raised the possibility of increasing A320 output as high as 63 a month.

But Chief Operations Officer Tom Williams told an annual media briefing that the company was not seriously studying raising output any higher than already announced.

Airbus has faced greater problems than it expected in its supply chain as it introduces its newest jets.

Williams said Airbus would meet its target for more than 650 deliveries this year, but only by bringing forward deliveries of the current 'A320ceo' version to meet a gap in deliveries of the newer 'A320neo' due to engine delays.

"We are using the flexibility we have on ceos to offset some of our challenges on neos," Williams told Reuters.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Victoria Bryan)
* Airbus pulls forward A320ceo deliveries to meet annual goal

* Expects to meet A350 delivery targets after cabin delays

* Operations chief dampens talk of further output hikes

* Airbus shifts overheads from A380 to keep it breaking even (Recasts after briefings, adds quotes)

By Tim Hepher

HAMBURG, May 30 (Reuters) - Airbus is sticking to 2016 delivery targets despite a slow start caused by supplier problems, but is having to fall back on an older version of its best-selling jet to make up for delays in the A320neo, executives said.

Deliveries fell 7 percent in the first quarter after problems at engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney left about two dozen A320neo jets without engines, creating what its operations chief called on Monday a queue of "gliders".

Europe's largest aerospace group said it expected an updated version of Pratt & Whitney's engines to be ready in the summer, allowing it to complete the semi-finished jets and ramp up deliveries in the second half.

But it acknowledged it would have to deliver fewer of the A320neo jets than planned this year, as it brings forward extra deliveries of the existing version, known as 'A320ceo' (current engine option), to plug the gap.

"We are using the flexibility we have on ceos to offset some of our challenges on neos," Chief Operating Officer Tom Williams told Reuters on the sidelines of an annual media seminar.

Airbus is targeting over 650 jet deliveries in 2016, up 2.3 percent. The deliveries account for about 70 percent of Airbus Group revenues.

Recent delays have disrupted the outset of a two-year changeover between the current A320 and the revamped A320neo: carried out even as Airbus raises overall narrowbody jet production to 60 a month by mid-2019 from 46 a month now.

Deliveries of the larger A350 long-haul jet have also been delayed, mainly by shortages of cabin equipment.

"2016 is the start of a very challenging period," programmes chief Didier Evrard said.

Executives said Airbus expected to meet its target of delivering at least 50 A350s in 2016, compared with 9 since January. It plans to raise output to 10 a month by 2018.

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More than 40 of the jets are on the assembly line.

"The airframes are there; now it is a race against the clock for the cabins and to finalise assembly," Chief Procurement Officer Klaus Richter said.

But with Airbus still dealing with the unexpectedly slow start to the year, operations chief Williams dampened expectations it could raise its output targets even further, as suggested by its bullish sales chief John Leahy.

He told journalists that current plans were "enough for now" and there were no serious studies of going higher.

COSTS SHIFTED FROM A380

Leahy has called for more A350s to open the door to increased sales and has suggested the market would support increasing A320 output as high as 63 a month.

Aerospace analysts have, however, expressed concerns that an extended boom in jetliner demand is fading due to concerns over growth in emerging markets and relatively low oil prices.

Williams said there had initially been some problems delivering A350 sections to the assembly line at the right quality, but there had been no repeat of wiring difficulties that crippled output of the larger A380 superjumbo in 2006.

The future of that programme remains uncertain as demand for large four-engined jets slows, forcing Airbus to cut production.

Williams said Airbus was cutting A380 costs to maintain it at breakeven partly by redeploying overheads to small jets.

A fourth assembly line for the narrowbody A320neo will use a building in Hamburg previously used for the A380, he told reporters at the German port city's Airbus plant.

He declined to quantify the savings but said they would be "significant".

Airbus also set out plans to lower costs and help speed overall production through greater automation, including the use of wearable robotic limbs called exoskeletons and drones inside the factory to check the roof of jets for riveting flaws.

It meanwhile responded to suggestions that Boeing could use an Airbus engine version to boost a weak-selling model.

Reuters reported on Sunday that Boeing was considering modifying a larger 'LEAP' engine used on the A3231neo to enhance its 737 MAX 9 with more capacity and range.

A320 chief Klaus Roewe said the version of engine made for Airbus was available to Boeing but would trigger significant work before it could be placed on the smaller 737 airframe.

Boeing, which disputes Airbus' claims for demand in the 180-seat A321 segment, declined to comment on the engine study.

(Editing by Greg Mahlich and Mark Potter)
HOLLYWOOD, Calif.Adult film star Britney Amber will be making her third trip to the Sacramento gentlemans club Gold Club Centerfolds this week, beginning Wednesday June 1. She'll be performing 11 shows this week along with two bookstore signings on Friday, June 3, and Saturday, June 4, 6-8 PM.

When asked how she felt about returning to one of her favorite clubs, Britney said, Im so excited to be going back to Sacramento Gold Club this week. Such a great club and great fans, I can't wait! Third time's the charm!"

Gold Club Centerfolds is located at 11363 Folsom Boulevard, Rancho Cordova, California 95742; phone number 916-858-0444.

Britney's performances will include two on Wednesday and Thursday, June 1 and 2; four performances on Friday, June 3; and three performances on Saturday, June 4. Approximate showtimes are Wed./Thurs. 10:30 PM/12:30 AM; Friday, 12 noon, 9 PM, 11 PM and 1 AM; and Saturday, 9 PM, 11 PM and 1 AM. The two Gold Club bookstore signings will take place Friday and Saturday, 6 to 8 PM.

For more information, visit the club's website GoldClubCenterfolds.com and/or follow it on Twitter.

Britney is represented by Nexxxt Level Talent Agency.
(Adds comment from Alcoa)

MELBOURNE, May 30 (Reuters) - Australia's Alumina Ltd has "serious concerns" about the impact of a demerger plan of U.S. partner Alcoa Inc on the pair's bauxite and alumina production joint venture, the Australian company said on Monday.

Alumina said in a statement that it was concerned the plan would "result in a material adverse change in the nature, size, scope and financial wherewithal of Alumina's partner in AWAC (Alcoa Worldwide Alumina and Chemicals)."

Alcoa's plan, disclosed in September, would separate the company's plane and car parts business under the name Arconic, while the traditional aluminium smelting operations, including the 60 percent stake in AWAC, would retain the Alcoa name.

On Friday, Alcoa filed a lawsuit at the Court of Chancery in Delaware, seeking a declaration that Alumina has no right to block the plan and has no consent rights or rights of first refusal in relation to the plan.

"Alcoa's separation does not require Alumina Limited's consent," Alcoa spokeswoman Monica Orbe said in an email on Monday. "We look forward to putting this matter behind us and launching new Alcoa and Arconic in the second half of 2016."

Alcoa also asked the court to declare its plan does not entitle Alumina to take over marketing rights in AWAC.

"Alumina considers that Alcoa's demerger proposal triggers consent and 'first offer' rights in favour of Alumina under the AWAC arrangements," Alumina said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange. "Alumina will vigorously defend the proceedings brought by Alcoa."

In its court filing, Alcoa said that following its September announcement, it had received letters from Alumina.

Alcoa said in the filing that Alumina threatened to make "public statements about the separation and Defendants' objections to it that would harm Alcoa by casting a cloud over the separation, and disrupting AWAC's operations by purporting to 'assume' marketing rights that Alumina does not have."

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Alcoa said its demerger plan was similar to when Alumina Ltd split from Western Mining Corp more than a decade ago. It said that at that time, Alcoa had no rights of first refusal or right to block the split under AWAC agreements.

Alumina has proposed amending AWAC agreements to protect the interests of Alumina shareholders, and said the two sides have been in talks since early this year.

At present, Alumina does not have access to AWAC's cash flows and instead receives a dividend.

Alumina's biggest shareholder is China's CITIC Resources Holdings Ltd, with a 17.9 percent stake.

Alcoa has yet to disclose how it would allocate debt and liabilities, such as pension and closure liabilities, when it splits.

The case is Alcoa Inc v Alumina Limited, Alumina (USA) Inc, and Alumina International Holdings Pty Limited, Case No. 12385-, in the Court of Chancery, Delaware.

(Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Lisa Von Ahn)
TOKYO, May 30 (Reuters) - A major aluminium producer has offered Japanese buyers a premium of $110 per tonne for July-September primary metal shipments, down 4-6 percent from the previous quarter, three sources directly involved in pricing talks said on Monday.

Japan is Asia's biggest importer of the metal and the premiums for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price set the benchmark for the region.

For the April-June quarter, Japanese buyers agreed to pay producers a premium of $115-$117 per tonne (PREM-ALUM-JP), up about 5-6 percent from the prior quarter, due to lower local inventories.

The latest quarterly pricing negotiations began late last week between Japanese buyers and miners including Rio Tinto Ltd , Alcoa Inc and South32 Ltd, and are expected to continue in June.

(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Richard Pullin)
George and Amal Clooney are the cutest couple ever, and we refuse to believe that such a lauded title will ever get taken away from them.

The happily married duo were all smiles during a night out in Rome, Italy, on Saturday. They dined at the high-end restaurant Dal Bolognese, located on the Piazza del Popolo.

WATCH: Amal Clooney Makes Up For Wardrobe Malfunction With a Bright Rainbow Dress at Cannes

Amal, 38, looked amazing in a V-neck LBD, which she dressed up with a metallic belt, drop earrings, and black flats. She wore her long, dark hair down and made her makeup pop with a bold red lip.

George looked quite dapper himself, pairing a slightly unbuttoned charcoal-hued shirt with a slate gray suit.

AKM-GSI

WATCH: Amal Clooney Stuns at Cannes but Trips Over Her Gorgeous Gown

They looked just as in love inside the restaurant, where George placed his hand around his wife's back to escort her outside when they were done with dinner.

Splash News

The Clooneys continued their fashionable Italian jaunt on Sunday as well, as they left their hotel to visit the Vatican.

The human rights lawyer donned another black dress, this time channeling Jackie O. with her very '60s ensemble, which included a chic head wrap, knee-length lace floral frock, nude heels and matching box clutch.

Splash News

EXCLUSIVE: Julia Roberts Sweetly Explains How Amal Has Changed George Clooney

The A-list duo frequently visit Italy, as the 55-year-old actor owns a home in Lake Como, about 400 miles northwest of Rome.

In fact, the pair were just in Europe last month. They attended the Cannes Film Festival in France, where George was promoting his movie, Money Monster. See some of Amal's fabulous looks from the fest in the video below.

Related Articles
With Memorial Day looming, media outlets are pouncing on the legacy of Chris Kyle, the Navy SEAL who wrote the best-selling autobiography that was turned into the blockbuster Clint Eastwood film American Sniper, with news reports proclaiming that he distorted or lied about his military record. The Intercept broke the story on Wednesday, reporting that the website had obtained previously classified internal Navy documents and that Kyle "embellished" his military record. In the following 48 hours, dozens of news outlets published follow-up pieces, many of them stating flatly that Kyle had lied about his medal tally.

Yet an analysis of the newly released documents and other materials suggests that such pronouncements may be premature or inaccurate. In addition, these documents shed new light on heroic details of Kyle's military service - about his training, his war record and appraisals of his performance by senior officers - that have never been made public before.

New Documents, New Accusations

Kyle was killed in February 2013 by a former Marine four years after the decorated SEAL was discharged by the Navy. American Sniper sold more than 1 million copies and inspired a film of the same name, which went on to gross $547 million worldwide. In the book, Kyle famously asserted, "All told, I would end my career as a SEAL with two Silver Stars and five Bronze [Stars], all for valor."

Perhaps part of the cynicism toward Kyle's account stems from other dubious assertions that the former SEAL has publicly made in the past. He told stories that were widely disseminated and never proven to be true: that he killed two men who tried to carjack him near Dallas (and afterward was allowed by local police to simply drive away), that he shot looters from the roof of the Superdome in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and that he punched out Jesse Ventura in a 2006 bar fight (which led to a $1.8 million defamation judgment in favor of Ventura).

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Read More: The Day Chris Kyle Died: Text Messages and Terror in the 'American Sniper's' Final Hours With Killer Eddie Ray Routh

Now come assertions that Kyle overstated his medal haul. Among the documents obtained by The Intercept are Navy certificates of one Silver Star and three Bronze Stars that Kyle was awarded; six years of evaluation records; and his discharge paperwork, a form known within the Navy as a DD-214. Based on these documents, and interviews with multiple SEALs who were not named, The Intercept concludes that Kyle only received the four commendations listed above and knowingly asserted an inflated total - despite being warned by Navy officials to correct the mistake before publishing his book.

The headlines and analysis that have since emerged from other news outlets take an even tougher stance. The New York Daily News proclaimed "American Sniper Chris Kyle lied about his military accomplishments, Navy SEALS knew, chose not to correct it." Likewise, The Guardian asserted "American Sniper hero Chris Kyle lied about medal tally."

Yet despite the rush to judgment, the truth about Kyle's actual medal count and his motives seems less clear than accusatory headlines indicate.

Kyle's DD-214, which he signed, actually lists a total of two Silver Stars and six Bronze stars, more than he claimed in his book. Typically, a DD-214 reflects a veteran's official service record, but a Navy spokesperson told The Intercept that the Navy considers a soldier's personnel file and official awards records to "be the authoritative sources for verifying entitlement to decorations and awards," seemingly suggesting that the DD-214 is not accurate.

Still, numerous issues complicate the narrative that Kyle knowingly lied about his medal tally. For one thing, the Navy has not explicitly stated that the DD-214 is inaccurate, only that the agency is investigating the discrepancy between the various documents. It remains possible that the document that Kyle signed is correct, or at least that he believed it to be correct. Also, Navy officials told the Navy Times that it is possible that Kyle received commendations for classified operations, which would not be made public in the same fashion as his other medals. Just two weeks ago, USA Today reported that more than 100 Silver Stars have been secretly handed out in the past 15 years to SEALs (and at least one Marine) who were involved in clandestine missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the same vein, no members of SEAL Team 6 have received any public citations for the 2011 mission into Pakistan that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden. (One final point worth noting is that Kyle was awarded a Silver Star in 2004 that was downgraded to a Bronze Star in 2006 - so it's possible that he was counting the original medal in his tally.)

The comments sections of the Navy Times story mentioned above is dominated by sympathetic statements made by people who say they are current and retired Navy personnel. Many of them assert that the Navy has erroneously underreported their commendations, while others question why Kyle would sign a DD-214 unless he felt the medal tally was correct.

In short, there appear to be multiple explanations of why Kyle's claimed tally could be correct, and even more reasons to question whether he willfully lied about his record. It's possible that he intentionally distorted his medal tally and it's also possible that he did not.

New Details of Kyle's Service Emerge

In any case, the personnel files made public this week provide new details about the military career of Kyle. The Navy released seven Evaluation Report & Counseling Record forms, known internally as E1-E6. These documents contain performance ratings and comments from Kyle's "Reporting Senior" and cover the arc of the sniper's military career from June 2003 through September 2009.

In his earliest released evaluation, completed in the spring of 2004, Kyle is lauded as a "COMBAT PROVEN SEAL," commended for his efforts to help the city of Scripps Poway rebuild after large fires ravaged the community, and recommended for promotion. The following year he is awarded four combat medals or ribbons, lauded for "unsurpassed courage under fire while conducting sniper operations in support of [redacted] during the siege of Fallujah" as well as for exceptional leadership "in combat during the most urban combat ever experienced by NSW personnel."

The commendations kept coming in November 2005, when his superior acknowledged Kyle's contributions training other SEAL snipers in urban operations, graded him as "greatly exceeds standards" for leadership, and called Kyle "ONE OF THE MOST COMBAT EXPERIENCED OPERATORS IN THE SEAL TEAMS. HE HAS MADE STRONGEST PERSONAL ENDORSEMENT FOR PROMOTION TO CHIEF PETTY OFFICER."

In his next E1-E6 evaluation, Kyle is described by his senior officer as "ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE COMBAT SNIPERS IN U.S. MILITARY HISTORY" and noted that he "single-handedly thwarted a large-scale coordinated attack on a [redacted]" and "planned and executed [redacted] sniper overwatch missions in the City of Ar Ramadi." The report concludes with the recommendation to promote Kyle "immediately."

An evaluation filed in November 2007 reflects Kyle's transition from the battlefield, as he begins work as a platoon training leader. He is graded as "greatly exceeds standards," the highest rating possible, for his professional knowledge, his quality of work, his personal accomplishments, his teamwork and his leadership. This report also mentions Kyle earning one of his Bronze Stars with "combat distinguishing device." The record concludes "PROMOTE IMMEDIATELY!"

The final two E1-E6 reports further document his transition to a chief petty officer responsible for training young SEALS. These two reports lack the documentation of wartime heroics of his earlier evaluations, but highlight how he ensures "each man is better prepared for all the challenges they may meet on and off the battlefield." Kyle is consistently rated to be above standard. His final evaluation, completed in September 2009, concludes with a recommendation that Kyle is ready for another promotion.

Kyle's separation documents indicate that he was discharged from the Navy on Nov. 4, 2009.

One fact that is not disputed is that Kyle was awarded a Silver Star for his service during a 2006 tour of duty in Iraq. What follows is the exact language that accompanied that award:

"The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Special Warfare Operator Christopher S. Kyle, United States Navy, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy while serving as Lead Sniper while assigned to Naval Special Warfare Task Unit-RAMADI in direct support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM from 24 April to 27 August 2006. Petty Officer Kyle's heroic actions, professionalism and incredible sniper skills had tremendous impact in the success of U.S. and Iraqi Forces in routing the insurgency and seizing key areas of the City of Ar Ramadi, the epicenter of Al Qaeda and insurgent activity in Iraq. During 32 sniper overwatch missions, he personally accounted for 91 confirmed enemy fighters killed and dozens more probably killed or wounded. Petty Officer Kyle's efforts were integral to the success of four U.S. Army and Marine Corps Battalion Task Force operations, establishing U.S and Iraqi Army combat outposts in previously insurgent-held areas. His engagements directly prevented casualties to U.S. and Iraqi Forces on more than 30 occasions, including enemy rocket-propelled grenade and mortar teams eliminated, five enemy snipers with scoped weapons eliminated, and dozens of insurgent fighters destroyed while actively engaging U.S. and Iraqi forces with small arms. By his bold leadership, courageous actions, and total dedication to duty, Petty Officer Kyle reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."
When Roots debuted on ABC in 1977, it shattered ratings records and went on to win nine Emmy Awards. Now History is remaking the classic for modern audiences. The story of Kunta Kinte, which is based on Alex Haleys novel, follows his capture in Africa through his enslavement in colonial America, as well as the lives of his descendants. Stage star Anika Noni Rose (Caroline, or Change) steps into the role of Kizzy (played by Leslie Uggams in the original), Kuntas daughter, who carries on her fathers legacy.

Im very proud of being able to be a part of this and bring it back for a new generation of audiences, Rose tells Variety. Because it is ours. It is the story of America. Im proud to be able to bring it back and make it relevant again.

How did you land the role of Kizzy?

I was being considered for another part and then I went in and met with the producer and the director and they were like, What would you think about Kizzy? I went back and reread the script, and I just found her to be a real woman in the script, not somebody in extended little-girldom, and I found that very interesting. She has a journey where she is trying to care for her son, raise a man in a time where black men were not allowed to be men, and raise him with a sense of dignity and responsibility and knowledge of self. All really intense challenges, and something very interesting to play. She also gets to love someone and it ends up the way it ends up, but shes allowed to love and express that and have moments where she is smiling out of joy and not irony, which I found also quite attractive.

Why do you think its important to tell the story of Roots again?

I think its important to tell the story again because I think that it is the foundation of this country. Because if we dont tell this story, of the enslaved human in the United States from Africa, how do we remember that it happened? How do we not start to change the narrative? We have take away the stigma of guilt, of shame, because ultimately, although its a horrific story, it is also a story of intense survival and perseverance.

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I think this country is going through a major upheaval. I think that its really important for people to recognize where weve come as a country, how far weve come, and yet how far we have to go. In this time where this is the craziest election I think Ive seen, you could maybe feel like you dont want to vote this year, because youre scared. You dont know who the right person is to vote for, or you feel like maybe your vote doesnt count.

But when you look at this story, you see what people went through just simply for the right to vote, to be treated as human beings. When you look at whats happening in the streets with specifically black youth and the police, this story is so relevant and so important. And its not just important from the lens of Roots. Its important from so many different sides. Theres so many stories to tell about these people who werent just enslaved people, they were people who were free, they were people who broke free, they were people who did amazing things under the yoke of slavery. I think that now is an amazing time to talk about these things, because young people, I dont think that they know.

How did you prepare for the role?

I went down to a plantation called the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana, about an hour outside of New Orleans, the only slave museum in the United States thats dedicated to being told from the side of the slave, the enslaved peoples, and I found it extraordinarily insightful and such a strong, intense educational experience but also just a really spiritual experience to be there on that soil, on that land, something so absolutely stunningly beautiful built on blood.

I read a lot of slave narratives, and I listened to a lot of slave narratives, and several tapes of ex-slaves telling their stories from the 1930s, when the Work Progress Project was happening. I listened to people from the area where Kizzy was born, so that I could hear their tone, their movement in their experiences. I did all of that, and I reread Roots, which is a serious tome.

Did you watch the original Roots before filming?

No. Ive seen it, I saw it in school, but I did not want to watch it again before doing it. I feel like I dont think thats helpful. As an actor, I think that you owe the person who did it before you the space of their own performance, and you owe it to the character that you are now portraying because this is not the same Roots. Its a re-imagining. I also feel like I owe it to my character to make her my character, and to bring to her what my life experience is, and all the experience that I could draw from whatever research that I did without holding on to the ghost of characters past.

Was there something that you did to find your way into the character?

I think those narratives were really, really deep and informative and very heavy, and something definitely to carry with me. We were filming on an actual plantation. We were not filming on a set. So I burned a lot of sage. I did a lot of praying and just communing with the ancestors of that land, asking them to not only welcome us in this effort to tell this story and to tell it in the most truthful and respectful way possible, acknowledging every aspect of not just emotion, because emotion is something that we always think about. So asking them to welcome us and welcome me and also to guide us. To guide me in this journey, because I can do research all day long, but this is an era that is so underexposed from this side.

I dont think that we, alive in 2016, how do you even put your mind in that space? Really, we dont know, we have no sense of that kind of deranged helplessness. Constant terror. Constant torture, even. So I just put out lots of prayers for spiritual assistance on this journey, because I dont know how else to step into that. At some point its beyond the words that youre speaking, and it is really not about me so much as it is a tribute to all of those who stepped before me.

Was there one scene that was particularly challenging for you?

The whole journey was a challenge. It was a challenge in the circumstances that we were working in, just with regard to weather and costume. I think that the challenge is to step into this land, step into this life, which is, if you read these things on paper, with no reference for what youre reading, the most melodramatic, unreal situations you could possibly think of, because they shouldnt be real. Because they are above and beyond the pale.

So I think its hard for me to say what was the most difficult, or what was the most challenging. I think putting yourself in a position where you have no purchase, where your mind is not taken into account, where your body is not taken into account, where your feelings are not taken into account, where your children arent even allowed to be your children. I think that in itself is a challenge every single day, to strip yourself of perceived humanity is a challenge every single day. And then to hear cut and then somebodys coming to give you lotion, and somebodys coming to make sure you have a Gatorade, and its just a very interesting juxtaposition. But I will say that it was quite a journey.

The first night of Roots premieres on History on Monday, May 30, at 9 p.m.

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'Roots' Composer Blended Themes for Miniseries Reboot's Four Directors

LeVar Burton on 'Roots' Remake: 'I Wanted to Share With This New Generation the Truth'
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China is hooked on debt, and the policymakers' strategy for treating the addiction could make things worse.

Chinese officials said two months ago they will make it easier for commercial banks to swap problem loans in overindebted companies for stock, in a maneuver known as a debt-for-equity swap.

The plan may allow conversions of up to $155 billion of bad loans, Bloomberg reported, which could help prevent struggling firms from default.

This plan could, depending on who you talk to, simply move debt from one party to another, or alternatively incentivize the wrong kind of behavior.

Gordon Orr, a senior adviser to McKinsey who sits on the board of Lenovo and Swire Pacific, wrote in a blog post Friday that China's army of investors have the most to lose from this debt fix.

Here is Orr on the issue (emphasis ours):



"The bank pays for its shares with debt that is worth less than the current market value of the shares. This dilutes the value of the remaining shares. The value of all the issued shares prior to the swap should go down. But the governments hope is that the decline is slight relative to the daily ups and downs of the stock market and no one complains because their individual loss is so small. But small losses to many investors add up. If $150 billion of debt is converted to equity and, generously, that debt is really worth half of that, then investors are taking a US$75 billion loss.

That could cause a serious shakeup in the Shanghai market and prompt the government to intervene, Orr said. Chinese mom-and-pop investors seem unfazed by last year's August rout, largely because of faith in the government's ability protect their interests. Orr thinks that means more trouble ahead.

He said:

If investors get vocal, the cost of the debt equity swaps will be back on the government, albeit not the group that launched the swap program. It really will be a case of right pocket to left pocket.

David Brown, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Hong Kong, wrote in The Financial Times last week that debt-equity swaps are an important and necessary step to sort out the countrys mountain of debt. But he also raises the question of where they will take place:



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Of course, if debt-equity swaps are mandated by the state or used only to patch up inefficient SOEs that might not be such a good thing. Although little known, there is precedent in China: banks were allowed to make equity conversions around the turn of the century at the same time as the big four asset management companies were established and in the boom years that followed some of these stakes may have done rather well.

That's what scares the International Monetary Fund most too. While they cheered China's focus on excess corporate debt, they said the solution should be comprehensive and carefully calibrated. Here is IMF:



Converting NPLs into equity or securitizing them are techniques that can play a role in addressing these problems and have been used successfully by some other countries. But they are not comprehensive solutions by themselvesindeed, they could worsen the problem, for example, by allowing zombie firms (non-viable firms that are still operating) to keep going.

Even the ruling Communist party itself sounded an alarm in a recent commentary, saying 'zombie' companies should be allowed to fail or go bankrupt, as debt-to-equity swaps are expensive and self-deceiving.

Watch out.

NOW WATCH: We tested an economic theory by trying to buy people's lottery tickets for much more than they paid





More From Business Insider


Avrille (France) (AFP) - Whether the ingredients are traditional, exotic or frankly bizarre, French liqueurs are reliable "ambassadors of quality", an industry leader says.

Visitors to the Printemps des Liqueurs, the industry's annual trade fair, this month could sample tipples concocted from rose petals, tea or... how about litchis?

Jean-Dominique Caseau, president of the liqueur producers' union who oversaw the trade fair, says 53 percent of France's production goes for export.

"Liqueurs are ambassadors of French quality the world over," he says.

French distiller Giffard's offerings are as boundless as the client's imagination as it adapts to shifting global trends along with its rivals in the lucrative industry.

France is home to some 50 often family-owned firms producing 89 million bottles a year for sales topping 500 million euros ($560 million).

Whereas old school drinkers relaxed after dinner with the likes of a blue curacao, a shot of cherry brandy or perhaps a nip of green Chartreuse, Edith Giffard-Jouanneau, heading up a fourth generation at Giffard, says today's post-prandial tippler tends to be more adventurous.

Customers can order a host of liqueurs made from exotic ingredients such as rose petals or litchi, popular all across Asia, or elderflower, a favourite in bars from New York to Scandinavia.

The firm, headquartered in the western town of Avrille, also respects tradition as befits a company founded in 1885 -- anyway, these days, "the older liqueurs are, the trendier they are," Giffard-Jouanneau says.

Her great-grandfather Emile started the firm back in 1885 offering patrons a classic peppery creme de menthe.

Caseau, whose Maison l'Heritier-Guyot in the eastern city of Dijon produces no fewer than 18 million bottles of creme de cassis a year, says France has been able to keep abreast of global drinking trends.

"The globalisation of drinking has led us to view liqueurs differently," says Caseau, noting that in Japan, France's top market after the United States, cassis is imbibed with tea.

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For Judith Cartron, fifth-generation owner of the Nuits Saint Georges producer in the Burgundy region, tea -- from black to mate or rooibos herbal varieties -- is an essential ingredient.

"The fad for cocktails and mixology is ramping up interest in our products," says Cartron, who has been working with tea specialists to select the finest leaves to be macerated for just a few minutes in alcohol.

Cartron, who exports to Dubai and as far as Australia, tries to bring out a new product every 12 to 18 months.

- Family secrets -

But traditional favourites remain as "barmen also use our proven eau-de-vie, and even absinthe ... as today people want to consume authentic quality products," says Emmanuel Hanquiez of the Manguin distillery near Avignon in southeastern France.

Giffard meanwhile extended their reach with the recent purchase of French distillery Bigallet, founded in 1872 and renowned for its popular aperitifs made from Alpine plants genepi and castiglione.

"When we took them over, Bigallet was going to halt production of its China-China, a bitter blend of macerated and distilled orange peel with a bouquet of spices and quinquina," an aromatic wine, Giffard-Jouanneau says.

"Today, we produce it for the United States where barmen adore its bitter tang," she adds.

"Traditional recipes and family secret (recipes), plus the image of a made-in-France product -- that's essential -- are a winner."

The firm is now toasting sales that have soared 40 percent in the past five years, largely borne by unquenched US demand for cocktails.
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An Indian artist has been illustrating the real-life experiences of Tinder users in the country on Instagram and Facebook. Called the #100IndianTinderTales, the project crowdsources candid and intimate stories of love, desire and fleeting encounters.

SEE ALSO: Couple gives the big, fat Indian wedding a vegan and eco-friendly twist

Indu Harikumar, an illustrator and writer from Mumbai, began the '100 Indian Tinder Tales' project in April after trying out the app, first during a visit to Vienna, and then back home. She started with her own experiences and those of her friends, but the project grew into an attempt to "document urban desire without any sort of judgement" and to understand how other people navigated Tinder.

"I am interested in people's stories, what makes them tick, their fears, their aspirations, how they overcome things," Harikumar told Mashable. "I find everyday stories very inspirational, it helps me with my own fears and shortcomings."

She focused on Tinder, because it was the only dating app she had used. "With distance, I look at it as a shopping app for people," Harikumar says. "So we are all creating stories about ourselves through pictures and bios."

In just over a month, the project received an overwhelming response, leaving Harikumar surprised by the large number of people who opened up to her and talked about their personal experiences.

"We don't talk about sex at all, so I am a bit taken aback by such honest accounts from absolute strangers," Harikumar, who has previously worked on a couple of crowdsourced projects on dreams and childhood memories, adds.

The stories themselves are honest and messy, a mixed bag of experiences ranging from from the comic to the poignant. A woman writes about using Tinder to find a salon in a new city, a man confesses to ditching his date because of bad breath, and a girl recounts how she lost her Tinder match to an accident. There are stories of people discovering a discrepancy between online and real-life personas, short-lived romances, as well as bad dates.

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All the illustrations are hand-drawn and drawn from an eclectic range of artistic references. Many of them inspired by Harikumar's favourite artists, such as Edward Munch, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Katsushika Hokusai, Roy Lichtenstein, Gustav Klimt, Raja Ravi Varma and Mario Miranda, which she adapts for the stories and with an Indian context.

The stories behind the drawings also reveal how Indian women, who comprise a majority of Harikumar's sources, use Tinder to look for love and connections, confronting the societal taboos that still surround the use of a dating app in India.

"In a society that runs on the lines from a Ranjeet movie, 'The mare and woman need to be reined in tightly,' it is heartening to see many women assert themselves as sexual beings," she writes in a recent Facebook post, "taking control of their bodies and their minds, giving into desire and willing to share their stories, without shame or embarrassment."

"I think we are all looking to connect, and searching for some validation and love," Harikumar says. "Some may be seeking hook-ups or relationships through real or fake profiles, we may be lying or being honest, but the central theme is connection, whether for a night or a lifetime."

The #100IndianTinderTales project is still accepting submissions from Tinder users in India on Facebook.
By Nia Williams CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Some 2,000 residents of wildfire-ravaged Fort McMurray, Alberta, will not be able to return home this week as planned because of the risks posed by debris and contaminants including "caustic" ash, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said on Monday. The city of 90,000 people was evacuated in early May as an uncontrolled wildfire ripped through some neighborhoods, destroying about 10 percent of the city's homes. It also forced around a dozen oil sands projects in the region to halt more than a million barrels per day of crude oil production. With the 580,000 hectare wildfire now burning away from populated areas, provincial government officials are planning to let residents start returning to Fort McMurray on June 1 in a phased re-entry program. However, Notley said ash, soil and air tests carried out in Abasand, Waterways and Beacon Hill - three of the worst-hit areas of the city - showed that around 500 homes are unsafe for habitation, even though they were spared by the blaze. "Unfortunately I have to report today that the outcomes of these tests indicate that undamaged homes in certain neighborhoods are not immediately safe for reoccupation," Notley said, adding residents may not be able to return until September. The province's chief medical officer, Dr. Karen Grimsrud, said tests showed the ash left behind after the fire was caustic and could cause skin and respiratory irritation and burning, while heavy metals like arsenic were also present. "We need to ensure that residents and their families are protected when crews begin removing debris that has toxic and potentially dangerous chemicals in it," she said. Alberta has extended its state of emergency for an additional 28 days until the end of June as around 2,000 firefighters, including 300 just arrived from South Africa, continue to battle the blaze. The wildfire is now burning to the east of Fort McMurray and has also moved away from oil sands projects. Suncor Energy, Canada's largest oil and gas producer, said on Sunday that it expects to partially restart operations at its facilities by the end of the week. (Editing by Alan Crosby)
By James Regan

SYDNEY, May 30 (Reuters) - Galaxy Resources and General Mining on Monday agreed to a A$216 million ($155 million) merger to consolidate their lithium mines in Australia, Canada and Argentina, with prices for the metal soaring on growing demand for electric vehicles.

The offer, swapping one General Mining share for 1.65 new Galaxy shares, is the latest in a push by Australian-listed companies to mine lithium, essential in powering non-internal combustion engines and led by companies such a Tesla Motors , Nissan and BMW.

The deal, announced by both firms during a call with media, is also aimed at assembling an institutional investment-grade company capitalised at around A$700 million to provide large investors with a way into Australian lithium, where most players are little more than penny stocks.

Shares in Galaxy and General Mining have appreciated some 1,100 percent and 1,400 percent respectively over the past year on the back of the boom in lithium.

Australia has seen a stampede of proposals to mine lithium in the past 12 months, with more than 20 companies in various stages of development in the Pilbara region of Western Australia state alone.

Lithium prices have risen to over $20,000 a tonne from about $7,000 a tonne last September, according to metals consultancy CRU.

Industry website Asian Metal says lithium carbonate, the compound used in batteries, has jumped by 76 percent in the past 12 months.

"The price of lithium today is incentivising companies to produce," said Shaw and Partners analyst Peter O'Connor. "People are coming out of the woodwork with lithium."

General Mining Managing Director Mike Fotios said he did not see oversupply emerging anytime soon.

"The rate by which we see new projects coming onstream in Australia and Canada, we only see the market reaching something like equilibrium in the next four to five years," Fotios said.

Goldman Sachs estimates that a 1 percent rise in electric-battery consumption will increase lithium demand by 45 percent.

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"More and more and companies see an opening in lithium and that's driving mergers and partnerships in Australia," said Michael Hannington, exploration manager for Metalicity Ltd , which is accelerating a A$1 million programme to find more lithium in Australia.

Pilbara Minerals last month raised A$100 million to pay for exploration for a new mine in northwestern Australia, while Orocobre Ltd expects to reach full production at a mine in Argentina by September.

Canaccord Genuity is the sole financial advisor on the Galaxy and General deal. ($1 = 1.3957 Australian dollars) (Reporting by James Regan; Editing by Joseph Radford)
An Australian man has been killed in Syria fighting Islamic State jihadists, the country's third national thought to have died alongside Kurdish forces, reports said Monday.

Former Australian soldier Jamie Bright, in his 40s, was named on social media as having been "martyred" in recent days.

The Kurdish People's Protection Unit said on its Facebook page that Bright died alongside three other Kurdish fighters.

"He was shot about three or four days ago," an Australian friend who fought alongside Bright in Syria told News Corporation Australia.

The friend, who was not named, said Bright had travelled to Syria in early 2015 because he "saw something was happening that wasn't right and wanted to fix it".

"He saw governments doing nothing. He saw it as wrong and believed it had to be changed," he added.

Australia's foreign ministry said it could not verify if Bright had been killed as the "government's capacity to confirm reports of deaths in Syria is extremely limited".

"If confirmed, this latest death is yet another tragic reminder of the dangers involved for those who seek to travel and fight in conflict zones," it added in a statement.

At least two other Australians, Reece Harding and Ashley Johnston, were killed in 2015 while with Kurdish groups fighting the Islamic State group.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said "Australians must understand that if they go and fight in conflicts like that, they are breaking Australian law".

"If they come back within Australia's jurisdiction, they will be held to account for that."

Under new laws designed to stop citizens travelling overseas to join jihadist groups, it is a crime to fight for militants on either side of the conflict in Syria.
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You'd have to say Australians have it pretty lucky when it comes to the weather, but that doesn't stop locals having a big old whinge when the temperature gets a little chilly.

People in the city of Sydney have been having a rather excellent run with warm weather all throughout autumn (or fall, as our North American friends like to call it), but a cold change smacked them in the face on Monday. Yep, winter is definitely coming.

SEE ALSO: 11 things in life that only Australians understand

The stretch of nice weather the city has been getting used to is all due to an El Nino warming up the southern and eastern parts of the Pacific Ocean, which has resulted in temperatures up to 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than average in May. The city's current temperature average is sitting at a very comfortable 23.2 degrees Celsius (73.7 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

That all came to a sudden stop on Tuesday, with the end of El Nino bringing temperatures crashing right down, much to the dismay of locals who had their swimmers ready for the beach and weren't quite ready to wear socks with their flip flops.

This morning, Sydney residents were rudely greeted with a low of 7.3 degrees Celsius (45.14 degrees Fahrenheit). This made Monday the coldest May start in the city since 2011, Acacia Pepler, a climatologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, confirmed to Mashable Australia via email. Cue massive freak out.

The cold awakening forced residents to rush to Twitter to voice their displeasure about figuring out how to dress for winter again and struggling with Touch ID on one's iPhone because their fingers are cold.

It's been a tough day for everyone involved.

While confused outsiders just think everyone should chill out.

Don't worry folks, Sydney's temperatures will warm up to a maximum of 19 degrees Celsius (66.2 degrees Fahrenheit) by Monday afternoon. That's about on par with Monday's weather in London, which will hit a max of 20 degrees celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit).

A balmy day in the UK = a reason to complain Down Under.
At least 11 people were killed and 18 injured when a vehicle exploded in the Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad on May 30, according to local reports. The blast hit a security checkpoint for Shia militia in the area. Three soldiers were said to be among the dead.

This video shows the aftermath of the explosion.

Islamic State reportedly claimed responsibility for the blast in a tweet shared widely on social media.

Also on May 30, a suicide bomber targeted a market in Tarmiyah, a town north of Baghdad, killing at least 10.

And, in Sadr City, east Baghdad, a bomb on a motorbike exploded, killing three, according to reports citing police. Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Libertys Radio Farda
Dubai (AFP) - A Bahrain court more than doubled a jail sentence against opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman Monday, in a ruling his bloc warned risked stoking fresh unrest among the Sunni-ruled kingdom's Shiite majority.

The appeals court increased the sentence for charges of inciting violence to nine years from the original four, a judicial official said.

Salman's Al-Wefaq bloc condemned the verdict as "unacceptable and provocative", warning that it "entrenches the exacerbating political crisis" in Bahrain.

Human rights group Amnesty International issued a statement denouncing the verdict as "clearly" politically motivated.

And Britain's visiting Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond tweeted: "Raised Sheikh Ali Salman sentence in Bahrain today. Understand there is a further stage in the legal process -- will follow case closely."

The 50-year-old Salman was originally convicted in July 2015, drawing condemnation from rights groups as well as both the United States and Iran.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets demanding his release.

Arrested in December 2014, he was also convicted last year of inciting hatred in the kingdom but acquitted of seeking to overthrow the monarchy and change the political system.

The court reversed the earlier acquittal, convicting Salman of "calling for a regime change by force", according to a prosecution statement.

"This verdict says the ruling family has no interest in dialogue, sharing power or recognising any views other than its own," Human Rights First said in a statement.

"Keeping the leader of the main opposition group in jail does nothing to end Bahrain's political crisis and everything to stoke further instability in the kingdom," the US-based watchdog said.

It described the verdict as a "dangerous move" by Bahraini authorities.

Bahrain's "allies in Washington and London should be alarmed at today's decision, and at the direction the ruling family is taking the country," it added.

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- 'Clearly politically motivated' -

Amnesty International called for Salman's release.

"Salman's conviction is clearly politically motivated and is designed to send a message to others that even legitimate and peaceful demands for reform will not go unpunished," said James Lynch, deputy director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa programme.

"He is a prisoner of conscience and should never have been put on trial in the first place. He must be immediately and unconditionally released," he said in a statement.

Al-Wefaq was Bahrain's largest parliamentary bloc until its 18 MPs walked out in February 2011 in protest at the use of violence against demonstrators.

It said the verdict "reflects the Bahraini regime's settlement to reject national reconciliation by turning its back on international calls urging to address the country's political crisis".

The ruling also "further extends the political crisis in Bahrain amid an absence of national consensus and widening human rights abuses," it said, pledging to continue to call for "inclusive political reform".

The tiny but strategic Gulf state has been shaken by unrest since it crushed a month-long, Shiite-led uprising demanding reforms in 2011.

The Shiite-majority kingdom, connected to Saudi Arabia by a causeway, lies across the Gulf from Shiite Iran and is home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Despite the 2011 crackdown, protesters still frequently clash with police in Shiite villages outside the capital Manama.

Five years after the revolt, Bahrain is locked in a political impasse.

After the Arab Spring touched the small Gulf state on February 14, 2011, Bahrain's Shiites demanded a more representative government and a constitutional monarchy.

Scores have died in periodic unrest despite the suppression of the original uprising, and efforts at dialogue have failed.

The government denies discriminating against Shiites and regularly accuses Iran -- 200 kilometres (125 miles) across the Gulf -- of meddling in Bahrain's internal affairs.

Manama also frequently announces the dismantling of "terrorist" cells it says are linked to Iran, a charge the region's main Shiite power denies.
DHAKA (Reuters) - Officials of Bangladesh Bank may have been involved in a brazen theft of $81 million from its account with the New York Federal Reserve Bank in February, the head of a government-appointed panel investigating the cyber heist told reporters on Monday.

Hackers broke into the computer systems of the Bangladesh central bank and issued instructions through the SWIFT network to transfer $951 million of its deposits held at the New York Federal Reserve Bank to accounts in the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Most of the transactions were blocked but four went through, amounting to $81 million, sparking allegations by Bangladeshi officials that both the Fed and SWIFT had failed to detect the fraud.

"Earlier we thought no one from Bangladesh Bank was involved, but now there is a small change," Mohammed Farashuddin, a former governor of the Bangladesh central bank, said, after handing his final report to the finance minister.

He declined to say what the change was.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said the report would be made public in 15 to 20 days.

Farashuddin declined to provide details of the report, but said its findings were different from a previous one that mainly held SWIFT, the international banking payments network, responsible for one of the world's biggest cyber thefts.

He reiterated that SWIFT could not avoid responsibility, however. He has earlier said SWIFT made a number of mistakes in connecting up a local network in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital.

SWIFT has denied the accusations.

Bangladesh Bank spokesman Subhankar Saha said its officials had yet to read the report or receive government instructions.

"The Bangladesh Bank management will follow all instructions given by the government," Saha told Reuters. "Actions will be taken as per instruction by the government if any central bank officials were found guilty."

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das and Ruma Paul; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Washington (AFP) - Transgender people live under dramatically varying circumstances around the world -- often facing violent repression, but also conquering crucial new rights most notably in Europe and the United States.

There are few reliable statistics on the community, in part because many transgender people around the world are unable to come out. And there are sometimes misunderstandings of the complex and changing vocabulary involved.

- Transgender people -

According to a study published in 2011 by The Williams Institute, an LGBT think tank, an estimated 0.3 percent of the US population is transgender. There are no reliable global statistics on the community, but India's historic transgender minority alone, known as Hijras, number half a million according to the 2014 census.

The term "transgender" or "trans" refers to people whose gender identity -- their innate, deeply-felt psychological sense of being a man, a woman, or neither -- is different than the sex assigned to them at birth.

It includes people who have had reassignment surgery, those who have had hormone treatments, or people who have had no medical treatment at all.

- A person who is born female and now identifies as a man is a "transgender man", or trans man.

- A person who is born male and now identifies as a woman is a "transgender woman," or trans woman.

Note that it is considered pejorative to use "transgender" as a noun. It is an adjective, as in "a transgender person."

The term "transsexual" is increasingly avoided.

- Transition -

A transgender person who is "transitioning" is shifting into their new gender identity by changing their "physical and sexual characteristics from those associated with their sex at birth," says the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association in the US.

This can be a complex process that might include surgery and body modification, but it does not always. It might also include hormone treatments, group or individual therapy, telling family or friends, or changing one's name on legal documents.

Story continues

- 'Sex change or 'reassignment'? -

Transgender advocacy groups warn against use of the term "sex change" to describe the surgical processes that some undergo. The groups explain that this is an outdated term, and that transgender people actually put "their bodies in line with who they are" rather than changing who they are.

Their stance is borne out by a growing body of research indicating that sexual anatomy and gender identity are the products of different biological processes -- determined by genes as well as hormones -- that occur before birth. Sexual anatomy and gender identity usually match, but many events can lead to an incongruence between the two.

- Sexual orientation -

Gender identity is not the same thing as sexual orientation. A transgender man or woman can have any sexual orientation: gay, straight or bisexual.

- Anti-discrimination laws -

The situation varies greatly for transgender people around the world.

Human Rights Watch counts 80 countries that continue to criminalize consensual same-sex relations or discussion of LGBT rights, with punishments including prison sentences, flogging, and even the death penalty.

In Europe, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in 1989 prohibiting discrimination against transgender people. But among the 28 member states, laws vary greatly. Only 13 states explicitly prohibit violence against transgender people, according to "Transgender Europe", a European association.

In the United States, anti-discrimination laws are among the most advanced. But whether those laws are also applied to transgender people varies from state to state.

A dozen states including New York, California and the District of Columbia ban the exclusion of gender transition-related care from both private insurance programs and the public Medicaid insurance program, which caters to the poorest segment of the population. Another half dozen states have rules ensuring a limited level of coverage, while the rest offer none.
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Ben Carson voiced a pessimistic vision for the future of the U.S. on Monday, comparing the country to an ill-fated cruise ship bound for a waterfall.

America right now is like a cruise ship that is about to go off of Niagara Falls with tremendous carnage and death, the former Republican presidential candidate said during an interview on Fox News on Monday morning.

What you have to do first is recognize the problem, stop the ship, turn it around and then move in the other direction.

Carson discouraged a third-party candidate from joining the race, arguing that it would give Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton an advantage in the general election. Carson has been a supporter of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump since dropping out of the race for president. Many conservatives trying to stop Trump have mounted a campaign to get a third-party candidate to run against him and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, but Carson warned that a divided Republican vote would be bad for the country.

Im hoping that whoever that third-party candidate is will just stop for a moment and think about what the implications are of allowing Hillary Clinton or someone like her to get in there, Carson said. They get two to four Supreme Court picks and completely change the nature of this country and destroy the prospects for their children and their grandchildren to have the same opportunities that they had.
Does Best Buys Dismal Outlook Mean It's Not a Great Buy?

Impact of 1Q17 results

Best Buys (BBY) stock price fell 7.4% on May 24 even though the company exceeded the consensus analysts earnings estimate for 1Q17, which ended on April 30, 2016. The market reacted negatively to the companys weak guidance for 2Q17 and the news of Best Buys chief financial officers departure. Well discuss the companys 2Q17 outlook in Part 5 of this series.

As of May 26, Best Buys stock price has risen 4.2% since the start of the year.

Improvement in 1Q17 earnings

Best Buys earnings, adjusted for one-time items, were $0.44 per share in 1Q17. The companys 1Q17 adjusted EPS (earnings per share) exceeded the consensus analysts earnings estimate of $0.35. Best Buys 1Q17 adjusted EPS rose 18.9% year-over-year. The improvement resulted from the companys Canada operations, which have moved past the adverse impact of last years brand consolidation.

The companys bottom line also benefitted from a $0.04 per share benefit due to share repurchases. Share repurchases enhance earnings per share by reducing the number of outstanding shares. At the end of 1Q17, the companys diluted average common share outstanding reduced by 8.6% to 326.7 million.

Best Buys 1Q17 adjusted EPS were negatively impacted by lower revenue from the companys Domestic segment and a higher non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) effective income tax rate. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) has about 0.1% exposure to Best Buy.

Specialty retailer Aarons (AAN) reported a 2.7% decline in its first quarters adjusted EPS. Conns (CONN), which also sells consumer electronics and other merchandise categories, is scheduled to report its 1Q17 results on June 2. GameStop (GME) reported a 2.9% decline in the adjusted EPS in the comparable first quarter, primarily due to lower revenue.

Major executive change

Best Buy announced the departure of Sharon McCollam, its chief administrative and chief financial officer, effective at the companys annual shareholder meeting on June 14, 2016. McCollam was instrumental in the implementation of the companys turnaround efforts.

Story continues

Corie Barry, the current chief strategic growth officer, will succeed McCollam as the companys CFO. McCollam will remain with Best Buy in an advisory capacity until the end of fiscal 2017 on January 28, 2017, to ensure a seamless transition.

Well discuss the companys sales in the next part of this series.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Santiago (AFP) - Latin America's biggest airline LATAM said Monday it will suspend its flights to crisis-hit Venezuela for an indefinite period, following a similar move by German carrier Lufthansa.

Chile-based LATAM Airlines group and its Peruvian and Brazilian subsidiaries decided to cut the flights "due to the complex macroeconomic situation that the region is currently going through," it said in a statement.

It said challenging economic conditions in Latin America were prompting changes to its domestic and international routes.

"In this context, the companies will suspend, temporarily and for an indefinite period, their operations in Simon Bolivar international airport in Caracas," the statement said.

Venezuela is in economic and political crisis, with a shortage of dollars making it difficult for businesses to operate.

LATAM said it is cutting all three of the major routes it currently operates to Caracas: from Sao Paulo in Brazil, Lima in Peru and Santiago in Chile.

The Sao Paulo flight has been suspended since May 28 while flights on the other two routes will stop by August 1, LATAM said.

Passengers who have booked flights will be reimbursed, LATAM said.

The company "will work to resume these operations as soon as possible, as soon as global conditions permit."

Lufthansa said on Sunday it would suspend flights to Venezuela on its route from Frankfurt starting June 17.

A spokesman told AFP it was not clear when service would resume.

"The reason for this is the difficult economic situation and the fact that is it is not possible to transfer foreign currency out of the country," the spokesman said.

Currency controls in Venezuela make it impossible for airlines to convert their earnings into dollars and send the money abroad.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is grappling with an economic crisis that has sparked calls for a referendum on removing him from office.
By Patpicha Tanakasempipat KANCHANABURI, Thailand (Reuters) - Wildlife authorities in Thailand on Monday raided a Buddhist temple where tigers are kept, taking away three of the animals and vowing to confiscate scores more in response to global pressure over wildlife trafficking. The Buddhist temple in Kanchanaburi province west of Bangkok has more than 100 tigers and has become a tourist destination where visitors take selfies with tigers and bottle-feed their cubs. The temple promotes itself as a wildlife sanctuary, but in recent years it has been investigated for suspected links to wildlife trafficking and animal abuse. Wildlife activists have accused the temple's monks of illegally breeding tigers, while some visitors have said the animals can appear drugged. The temple denies the accusations. Monday's raid was the latest move by authorities in a tug-of-war since 2001 to bring the tigers under state control. Adisorn Nuchdamrong, deputy director-general of the Department of National Parks, said the team had been able to confiscate the tigers thanks to a warrant obtained a few hours before the operation. "We have a court warrant this time, unlike previous times, when we only asked for the temple's cooperation, which did not work," Adisorn told Reuters. "International pressure concerning illegal wildlife trafficking is also part of why we're acting now." Officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said they planned to confiscate and remove more tigers from the temple on Tuesday and send them to a state-owned sanctuary. Previous attempts to inspect the tigers have largely been blocked by the temple's abbots but in January and February wildlife officials removed 10 of the tigers. Thailand has long been a hub for the illicit trafficking of wildlife and forest products, including ivory. Exotic birds, mammals and reptiles, some of them endangered species, can often be found on sale in markets. The government introduced new animal welfare laws in 2015 aimed at curbing animal abuse, but activists accuse authorities of not enforcing the legislation properly. (Additional reporting by Juarawee Kittisilpa; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Robert Birsel)
(SYDNEY)  Mass bleaching has killed more than a third of the coral in the northern and central parts of Australias Great Barrier Reef, though corals to the south have escaped with little damage, scientists said on Monday.

Researchers who conducted months of aerial and underwater surveys of the 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) reef off Australias east coast found that around 35% of the coral in the northern and central sections of the reef are dead or dying, said Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Queensland state. And some parts of the reef had lost more than half of the coral to bleaching.

The extent of the damage, which has occurred in just the past couple of months, has serious implications, Hughes said. Though bleached corals that havent died can recover if the water temperature drops, older corals take longer to bounce back and likely wont have a chance to recover before the next bleaching event occurs, he said. Coral that has died is gone for good, which affects other creatures that rely on it for food and shelter.

Is it surprising? Not anymore. Is it significant? Absolutely, said Mark Eakin, the coral reef watch coordinator for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Were talking about losing 35% of the population of coral in some of these reefs  thats huge.

The damage is part of a massive bleaching event that has been impacting reefs around the world for the past two years. Experts say the bleaching has been triggered by global warming and El Nino, a warming of parts of the Pacific Ocean that changes weather worldwide. Hot water puts stress on coral, causing it to turn white and become vulnerable to disease. Other reefs have suffered even more severely from the recent bleaching; Some Pacific islands, for example, have reported over 80% coral death rates, Eakin said.

Story continues

This is the third and most extreme mass bleaching event in 18 years to strike the Great Barrier Reef, and in each case, the areas that suffered the worst bleaching were the areas where the water was hottest for the longest period of time, Hughes said.

This time, the southern half of the reef was spared largely due to a lucky break that arrived in the form of a tropical cyclone. The remnants of the storm which had lashed the South Pacific brought cloud cover and heavy rains to the region, cooling the ocean enough to stop bleaching that had just begun in the south. About 95 percent of the coral in the southern portion of the reef has survived.

Storms have previously proven very helpful for heat-stressed reefs, Eakin said. In 2005, for instance, the quick succession of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita cooled the waters below as they passed over Florida, sparing the Florida Keys from a serious coral bleaching event affecting the Caribbean.

Experimental approaches to the bleaching dilemma have included attempts to lower water temperatures by using shades to cover corals, Eakin said. But such efforts require massive amounts of preparation and can only be done in small areas, Eakin said. Other solutions may lie in finding ways to minimize additional stressors to the already fragile reef.

Anything you can do to reduce the level of injury and stress coming from other sources, the better the chance that the corals are going to survive, Eakin said. Those reefs that have recovered after events like this are the ones that are the most protected, least visited and least disturbed.

Last year, the United Nations heritage body expressed concern about the state of the Great Barrier Reef and urged Australia to boost its conservation efforts.

Following the release of the bleaching report on Monday, Australian politicians  who are in the midst of an election campaign  jumped on the issue, with the opposition Labor Party pledging to create a $500 million fund for better management and research of the reef. Environment Minister Greg Hunt, meanwhile, announced that if his party is re-elected, the government would invest $6 million to helping combat the crown-of-thorns starfish, which feast on coral.
Baghdad (AFP) - Three bomb blasts in and around Baghdad killed at least 11 people and wounded dozens on Monday in the latest wave of attacks to hit the Iraqi capital, police said.

The deadliest attack was a car bomb blast in a market area at around 9:00 am (0600 GMT) that killed at least seven people, according to a police colonel.

Hospital officials confirmed the death toll and said at least 20 people were also wounded.

In nearby Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite neighbourhood of north Baghdad which has been repeatedly targeted, at least two people were killed when an explosives-laden motorbike was blown up.

In Tarmiya, on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, a car bomb went off in a residential compound for employees of a neighbouring industrial complex, police said.

At least two people were killed and 10 wounded, according to figures confirmed by hospital sources and an interior ministry official.

There was no immediate claim for the blasts but the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for nearly all such attacks in recent months.

The latest was a suicide attack on Sunday in the town of Moqdadiyah, in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.

IS released a statement naming the bomber, whose picture had been put up at checkpoints across Moqdadiyah after his mother tipped off the security forces but he was able to carry out the attack nonetheless.

Under heavy pressure on the battlefield, the jihadist organisation has struck back with bloody attacks in Baghdad.

The deadliest spate of bombings to hit the capital this year was earlier in May when three attacks on the same day, including a devastating blast in Sadr City, killed close to 100 people.

Iraqi forces thrust into the city of Fallujah on Monday marking a new and perilous urban phase in a week-old operation to retake the IS bastion just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

It is one of the last two major cities still held by the jihadists in Iraq, the other being Mosul, in the north.
By Harriet McLeod CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) - Tropical Depression Bonnie was swirling over the South Carolina coast on Sunday evening, dumping several inches (cm) of rain as it crawled up the East Coast. Bonnie came ashore just northeast of Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday morning, bringing heavy rains, minor flooding and sustained winds of about 30 miles per hour (48 kph). The system, the first tropical storm to reach the United States this year, dumped as many as 8 inches (20 cm) of rain in parts of South Carolina and Georgia, and caused flooding in low-lying areas and streets, meteorologists said. "We're not out of the woods because the heavy rain could move back over us today if it really sits on us," said Carl Barnes, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Charleston. Heavy rains were still falling in eastern Georgia and portions of the Carolinas, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. ET advisory. Bonnie is expected to maintain its strength over the next 48 hours and inch its way northeastward along the coast, passing over or near the North Carolina coast on Monday night or Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters warned that the storm would likely produce dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. Southeast coast, a particular concern during the Memorial Day weekend, when swimmers and surfers flock to beaches. In spite of the risk, dozens of surfers gravitated to Folly Beach near Charleston over the weekend to ride the storm swell and lumpy waves. Alli Pulley, desk clerk at The Tides hotel on Folly Beach, said guests were staying put despite the weather and the 132-room hotel was full. A swimmer went missing in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, just south of Wilmington, and police and U.S. Coast Guard teams were searching the area, authorities said. Thousands of visitors are also in Charleston for the opening weekend of Spoleto Festival USA, an annual, three-week international performing arts event. In Texas, a separate storm system, which dumped up to 22 inches (56 cm) of rain in just a few hours, killed at least six people this week, according to local authorities. Lela Holland, 64, died when her home was overcome by floodwaters and Jimmy Schaeffer, 49, died after driving his pickup truck into high water, police said. Two others bodies were found in nearby creeks. Two more people were killed in the Austin area. Flora Molima, 23, died after taking a wrong turn and driving into waters that dragged her car into Cypress Creek, police said. Another person died after being swept away by floodwaters. Emergency services said one person was missing in the area. Heavy rain prompted the evacuation on Sunday of two prisons in Rosharon, Texas, as the Brazos River is expected to reach historic levels, Texas prison officials said. In Wichita, Kansas, authorities resumed their search on Sunday for an 11-year-old boy believed dead after being swept away by a rushing creek on Friday, Fire Battalion Chief Scott Brown told KAKE TV. (Additional reporting by Frank McGurty in New York, Kevin Murphy in Kansas City, Curtis Skinner in San Francisco, and Jim Forsyth in San Antonio; Editing by Frank McGurty and Sandra Maler)
BRASILIA, May 30 (Reuters) - The Brazilian interim government's new minister tasked with combating corruption was heard on leaked audio tapes criticizing the sprawling graft investigation at state-run oil company Petrobras and advising the Senate leader caught up in the probe.

Globo TV on Sunday aired a partial recording of a late February meeting between new Transparency Minister Fabiano Silveira, Senate leader Renan Calheiros and Sergio Machado, an ex-senator and former head of the transportation arm of Petrobras.

Machado, who is under investigation in the Petrobras case, has since turned state's witness and secretly recorded the meeting with Silveira and Calheiros.

Silveira is heard advising Calheiros on how he should respond to the investigation against him by Brazilian federal prosecutors. At the time of the recording, Silveira was a counselor on Brazil's National Justice Counsel, a watchdog agency over the judiciary.

In its report, Globo TV also said some audio indicated that Silveira on several occasions spoke with prosecutors in charge of the Petrobras case to find out what information they might have on Calheiros, which he reported back to the Senate leader.

Silveira is also heard saying prosecutors were "totally lost."

Efforts to reach the transparency ministry's representatives were unsuccessful.

The news was the latest blow for interim President Michel Temer, who as vice president took over in mid-May when the Senate voted to move ahead with impeachment proceedings against now-suspended President Dilma Rousseff, who is accused of breaking budgetary laws.

Several members of Temer's cabinet are under investigation in the Petrobras probe. Rousseff and others have said he plotted her downfall to stifle the investigation, which Temer strongly denies.

Last week one of Temer's most important confidants, Senator Romero Juca, was forced from his new role as the powerful planning minister after a leaked audio, also recorded by Machado before Rousseff's suspension, revealed him suggesting a pact made across party lines for politicians to weaken the investigation.

Story continues

The two-year probe into billions in graft at Petrobras has led to jail for top executives from Brazil's biggest construction firms and investigations of dozens of top politicians, including several members of Temer's Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, or PMDB, and Rousseff's Workers Party.

Temer was Rousseff's vice president since she took office in 2011, and the PMDB was the strongest coalition partner for the Workers Party since 2006, when former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was in power.

(Reporting by Brad Brooks; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
(Recasts to add details on minister's resignation)

By Anthony Boadle and Lisandra Paraguassu

BRASILIA, May 30 (Reuters) - Brazil's Transparency Minister Fabiano Silveira resigned on Monday after leaked recordings suggested he tried to derail a sprawling corruption probe, the latest cabinet casualty impacting interim President Michel Temer's administration.

Silveira, the man Temer tasked with fighting corruption since he took office on May 12, announced his plans to step down in a letter, according to the presidential palace's media office. No replacement for Silveira has yet been named.

Silveira and Senate President Renan Calheiros became the latest officials ensnared by leaked recordings secretly made by a former oil industry executive as part of a plea bargain. The same tapes led to the resignation last week of Romero Juca, whom Temer had named as planning minister.

Juca's resignation dealt a blow to Temer's efforts to build a stable government in the wake of the May 12 suspension of leftist President Dilma Rousseff.

A government source had told Reuters on Monday that Silveira would stay in his job "for now," without elaborating.

In parts of the recordings, aired by TV Globo late on Sunday, Silveira criticizes prosecutors in the probe focused on state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, known as Petrobras, which has already implicated dozens of politicians and led to the imprisonment of top executives.

In the conversation, recorded at Calheiros' home three months before Silveira became a Cabinet minister, Silveira advises the Senate leader on how best to defend himself from the probe into Petrobras.

The former head of the transportation arm of Petrobras, Sergio Machado, who is under investigation as part of the graft probe and has turned state's witness, recorded the meeting and conversations with other politicians to obtain leniency from prosecutors. Silveira was a counselor on the National Justice Counsel, a judicial watchdog agency, at the time of the meeting.

Story continues

In the report, Globo TV also said some audio indicated that Silveira on several occasions spoke with prosecutors in charge of the Petrobras case to find out what information they might have on Calheiros, which he reported back to the Senate leader.

Silveira is heard saying prosecutors were "totally lost."

OUT OF CONTEXT

A spokesman for Silveira confirmed the conversation took place, but said the excerpts were taken out of context.

"Temer's initial decision was that Silveira can continue in his post for now because he did not interfere in the investigation, he was just giving Calheiros advice," the spokesman said. He said Silveira was meeting with his lawyers.

Earlier on Monday, Ministry of Transparency staff marched to the presidential palace in Brasilia to demand Silveira's ouster and restoration of the comptroller general's office, which Temer renamed to show his commitment to fighting corruption.

All employees with management duties at the ministry resigned their posts to press their demands, according to union leader Rudinei Marques.

Protesting employees had earlier prevented Silveira from entering the ministry building. They then washed its facade with soap and water to symbolize Temer's need to clean up his government.

GOVERNMENT'S LEGITIMACY

Temer, a centrist who was Rousseff's vice president, will meet with Brazil's prosecutor general later on Monday to discuss the leaked recordings.

Several members of Temer's cabinet are under investigation in the Petrobras probe. Rousseff, facing an impeachment trial in the Senate on charges of breaking budget laws, and others have said Temer plotted her downfall to stifle the investigation.

Temer has strongly denied the allegation.

But the recordings add weight to the argument that the new government could face declining support for Rousseff's ouster by the Senate, which needs a two-thirds majority to convict her in a trial expected to last through August.

The two-year probe into billions in graft at Petrobras has led to jail time for executives from Brazil's top construction firms as well as investigations of dozens of politicians, including several members of Temer's Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, or PMDB, and Rousseff's Workers Party.

Temer served as Rousseff's vice president after she took office in 2011, and the PMDB was the strongest coalition partner for the Workers Party since 2006, when former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was in power.

(Additional reporting by Brad Brooks and Guillermo Parra-Bernal; editing by Paul Simao and G Crosse)
Yellowstone National Park, the U.S.'s first, is home to some of the most spectacular sights the country has to offer. It attracts four million visitors a year from all over the world to its hot springs, wildlife and scenic views.



But Yellowstone isn't Disney. And while occasionally animals can be the ones that suffer because of people's actions  as in the case of a newborn baby bison that was euthanized earlier this month after two tourists placed it in the back of their SUV to "keep it warm"  it's usually people who are learning hard, and occasionally fatal, lessons.



Recently, Charles Gamble, Alexey Lyakh and Justis Price-Brown got in trouble for walking on the park's Grand Prismatic Spring. U.S. Park rangers have filed a criminal complaint against the men, but they got off lucky: At least 20 park visitors have died in hot-springs-related accidents in the park's history, the most recent one having happened in 2000. (Some of the park's springs can reach up to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.)



Park historical archivist Lee H. Whittlesey combed through National Park Service records and came up with 19 of them in his 1995 book Death in Yellowstone. One of the most tragic was David Allen Kirwin, a 24-year-old Californian who died in 1981 attempting to rescue his friend's Great Dane, which had run into the park's Celestine Pool. In 2000, it was a park employee who died, walking back to their car in the dark after a day at Yellowstone's Firehole River. Along with two other friends, they attempted to jump what they thought was a small spring, but they instead landed on what turned out to be the 178-degree Cavern Spring.









A photo posted by George Dionysios Koutsopoulos (@georgekoutsopoulos) on May 26, 2015 at 10:42am PDT





More frequent are incidents involving animals: In 2010 and 2011, there were four grizzly bear fatalities in Yellowstone after 25 years without a bear-related death. One possible reason for that is the rise of camera phones: Tourists seeking the perfect Yellowstone selfie often get too close to the park's animals, which are, after all, wild. However, one of the worst bison-related incidents was the 1983 goring of a French tourist who was posing six feet from an animal when it attacked him. He wound up with a torn colon, punctured stomach, four broken ribs and injuries to his spleen.



Last year was a banner year for bison-selfie-related incidents. In just July, there had already been five cases of tourists being thrown around by the animals; all the individuals were attempting to photograph or take selfies with the animals.





A photo posted by Derrek (@dkupish) on Oct 4, 2014 at 2:10pm PDT





There have been eight people killed by bears during Yellowstone's 144-year history. The most recent was in August 2015, when a day hiker was killed by an adult female grizzly bear with two cubs. Last August  though it wasn't at Yellowstone  visitors at Waterston Canyon in Denver, Colorado, were approaching so many bears for pics that officials decided it was easier to shut the park down than police them all.



"We try to educate people starting when they come through the gate," Brandon Gautheier, the park's chief safety officer, said in a post on Yellowstone's official site. "There are many risks in Yellowstone," he added. "It's something you've got to respect and pay attention to."
Brockworth (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Hundreds gathered in the British countryside Monday to watch daredevil Chris Anderson claim his 17th Cheese Rolling title in one of Britain's quirkiest annual sporing events.

The 28-year-old careered down the 1:2 incline of Cooper's Hill in Gloucestershire, south west England, in the fastest time in pursuit of the coveted round of Double Gloucester cheese.

"It's brilliant, I'm really happy," he said. "My friend Izzy John sadly passed away recently so this is for him and his family. He won it multiple times."

Competitors from across the world competed in the bizarre centuries-old event, which now takes place on an unofficial basis due to health and safety concerns over the high numbers of injuries sustained each year.
May 30 (Reuters) - Futures indicated a modestly higher opening for Canada stocks on Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen suggested a rate hike in the coming months, but gains were limited as Canadian oil production was set to restart after huge wildfires.

June futures on the S&P TSX index were up 0.1 percent at 7:15 a.m. EDT.

Current account for the first quarter, producer prices and raw material prices data for April are due at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

U.S. markets are closed for the Memorial Day holiday.

Canada's main stock index climbed on Friday, helped by strength in the financial services sector and energy companies, with investors focusing on monetary policy commentary from U.S. central bank chief Janet Yellen.

(Morning News Call newsletter http://link.reuters.com/nex49s; The Day Ahead newsletter http://link.reuters.com/mex49s)

TOP STORIES

Suncor Energy Inc's facilities north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, were expected to partially restart by the end of the week, the company said on Sunday, the latest sign Canadian oil sands producers are coming back online after a massive wildfire.

Seven years into a Canadian housing boom that many have warned will end in a bust, there are signs of a sales slowdown in the two hottest cities, with some economists and real estate agents saying the peak has passed.

COMMODITIES AT 7:15 a.m. EDT

Gold futures : $1,210.9; -0.35 pct

US crude : $49.24; -0.18 pct

Brent crude : $49.17; -0.32 pct

LME 3-month copper : $4,694.85; +0.73 pct

ANALYST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

First Majestic Silver Corp : Raymond James raises price target to C$8; rating "underperform"

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc : Raymond James raises price target to C$8.25; rating "outperform"

FOR CANADIAN MARKETS NEWS, CLICK ON CODES:

TSX market report

Canadian dollar and bonds report

Reuters global stocks poll for Canada

Canadian markets directory ($1 = C$1.31) (Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
Vancouver, Canada / ACCESSWIRE / May 30, 2016 / Canarc Resource Corp. (TSX: CCM, OTC-BB: CRCUF, Frankfurt: CAN) announces that it has closed the sale transaction under the definitive agreement announced on May 9, 2016 with Endeavour Silver Corp. (TSX: EDR, NYSE: EXK) pursuant to which Canarc sold to Endeavour 100% of the shares of Canarcs wholly-owned subsidiary, Oro Silver Resources Ltd., which indirectly holds a 100% interest in the El Compas Gold-Silver Mine Project (El Compas) in Zacatecas, Mexico, in consideration for 2,147,239 free-trading common shares of Endeavour, with an aggregate deemed value of CAD$10.5 million.



The Endeavour shares were issued to Canarc at a deemed price of CAD$4.89 per share, equal to the volume-weighted average trading price on the TSX for the 10 trading-day period immediately prior to May 6, 2016. As additional consideration, Endeavour has assumed Canarcs obligation to deliver an aggregate of 165 troy ounces of gold (or the US Dollar equivalent thereof) to Marlin Gold Mining Ltd. (Marlin) in three equal payments of 55 troy ounces which are due in October 2016, 2017 and 2018.



Canarc Strategic Update

Canarcs enhanced financial position should allow the Company to pursue more substantial M&A opportunities aimed at creating additional growth and value for shareholders. The Company has already begun reviewing several new projects generated by management or submitted by investment bankers.



Going forward, management remains focused on acquiring near term gold-silver-copper mining assets located in Mexico, US and Canada, together with a renewed effort to advance the Companys New Polaris and Windfall Hills projects.



Canarc intends to hold the Endeavour shares received at closing as a marketable security having both short and long term value. Management plans to minimize treasury risk and maximize treasury value by monetizing Endeavour shares from time to time as dictated by market conditions. We believe that as gold and silver prices rise, the Endeavour share price also has good potential to rise and further increase Canarcs treasury value.



In conjunction with the closing of the El Compas sale, the Marlin board nominee, Mr. Akiba Leisman, has resigned from the Canarc board.



Mr. Catalin Chiloflischi, CEO of Canarc, stated: The closing of this transaction represents a positive step forward for Canarc that gives the Company the opportunity to continue growing from a position of financial strength. For the first time in many years, the company now has sufficient capital to pursue larger and more advanced M&A opportunities with a goal to create even more value for our shareholders.



"Catalin Chiloflischi"

____________________

Catalin Chiloflischi, CEO

CANARC RESOURCE CORP.





About Canarc Resource Corp.

Canarc is a growth-oriented, gold exploration and mining Company listed on the TSX (CCM) and the OTC-BB (CRCUF). The Company is currently focused on acquiring operating or pre-production stage gold-silver-copper mines or properties in the Americas and further advancing its gold properties in north and central BC.



For More Information - Please contact:

Catalin Chiloflischi, CEO

Toll Free: 1-877-684-9700 Tel: (604) 685-9700

Fax: (604) 685-9744

Email: catalin@canarc.net Website: www.canarc.net



Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the United States private securities litigation reform act of 1995 and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking information that involves known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the potential strategic M&A transactions being contemplated by Canarc, the future performance of Canarc and Endeavour and their respective share prices, and the Company's plans and exploration programs for its mineral properties, including the timing of such plans and programs. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "has proven", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "potential", "appears", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "at least", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved".



Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and other factors include, among others, risks related to the uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral resources; commodity prices; changes in general economic conditions; market sentiment; currency exchange rates; the Company's ability to continue as a going concern; the Company's ability to raise funds through equity financings; risks inherent in mineral exploration; risks related to operations in foreign countries; future prices of metals; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; accidents, labor disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals; government regulation of mining operations; environmental risks; title disputes or claims; limitations on insurance coverage and the timing and possible outcome of litigation. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could affect the Company and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, do not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All statements are made as of the date of this news release and the Company is under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities laws.



SOURCE: Canarc Resource Corp.
How Did Commodities Perform throughout the Day on May 30?

Crude oil recovers losses

After starting Monday, May 30, 2016, on a weak note due to the strong US dollar, crude oil recovered as the day progressed. At 12:45 PM EST, crude oil futures contracts for July delivery were seen trading at $49.62 per barrel, a rise of 0.59%. Brent crude was trading at $50.31, a rise of 0.72%.

Traded volumes were very low on the day because of the public holidays in the United States and the United Kingdom. To know more about how crude oil started out today, you can read Market Realists Your Early Morning Commodities Update for May 30.

Fighting ensues in Libyan oil facilities

The outburst of fighting in oil facilities located near the central region of Libya supported crude oils price on May 30, helping it to recover the losses it accumulated overnight. This support is expected to be short term, as the government of Libya has made it a top priority to reclaim the oil infrastructure.

Supply outages in Libya and disruptions in Canada, Venezuela, and Nigeria have supported oil prices in recent weeks, removing as much as 3.5 million barrels per day of supply from the market. Production in some Canadian oil fields was restarted recently as wildfires subsided amid cooler weather.

Market awaits OPEC meeting

The Market is waiting on the semi-annual OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) meeting, which is scheduled to take place in Vienna, Austria, on June 2, 2016.

The Market is focusing on the production freeze deal and the discussion related to the current supply glut. Also, the African nation Gabon is expected to join OPEC as a new member. It produced ~240,000 bpd (barrels per day) of crude oil in April 2016.

In the past week, crude oil producers Carrizo Oil & Gas (CRZO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ), BP (BP), and Total S.A. (TOT) have risen by 0.61%, 2.6%, 2.9%, and 3.0%, respectively. The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) has risen by 2.6% during the same period.

Story continues

The performances of copper, gold, and silver on the day will be discussed in the following article.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Dakar (AFP) - A desert warfare specialist, Chad's Hissene Habre seized power in 1982 and quickly embraced the role of ruthless dictator, with brutal atrocities the hallmark of his eight-year reign of terror.

Often dressed in combat fatigues that complemented his "desert fighter" nickname, Habre fled to Senegal after he was ousted by Chad's current President Idriss Deby in 1990.

Sentenced to life on Monday for war crimes, crimes against humanity and a litany of other charges, the 73-year-old's rule was marked by fierce crackdowns on dissent, including alleged torture and executions of opponents, earning him comparisons to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Investigators found that more than 40,000 people were killed during his rule.

The son of a farmer, Habre was born on August 13, 1942 in Faya-Largeau, northern Chad, and grew up among nomads in the Djourab desert.

His intelligence landed him a job as a local official before he left for Paris in 1963 to study law and attend Sciences-Po, a prestigious political science school. One of his influences at the time was Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

Habre joined the Chad National Liberation Front a year after returning home in 1971 and became its leader, before breaking away to form another rebel group, the Northern Armed Forces (FAN).

He made headlines in 1974 when he kidnapped a French ethnologist who was held for three years before France agreed to terms for her release.

A staunch nationalist, Habre then served as prime minister in the government of president Felix Malloum and as defence minister under his sometime ally Goukouni Weddeye who later became president.

Habre, unlike Weddeye, was an outspoken opponent of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and the relationship did not last.

Habre broke from his Tripoli-backed ally just months after the formation of Weddeye's 1979 government, triggering violence in Chad's capital, N'Djamena.

He fled the city for eastern Chad in 1980, but returned to fight his way to power in 1982.

Story continues

- 'Emptying the coffers' -

During his rule, opponents -- real or imagined -- were arrested, tortured and often executed by the dreaded Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS), Chad's secret police.

Habre's reign ended as dramatically as it had begun when Deby, a formerly loyal general, led a rebel force that drove him from power and into exile in Senegal.

The former dictator lived freely for more than 20 years in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children, swapping his military garb for billowing white robes and a cap.

He was considered a discreet, generous neighbour and a pious Muslim who helped finance the construction of several mosques.

US lawyer Reed Brody, who investigated Habre's regime for Human Rights Watch, said the ex-dictator took the precaution of "emptying the coffers" before leaving Chad and built up a "protection network" in Senegal.

In his 2014 memoirs, then-president Abdou Diouf said it was a battle to convince Habre to return the Chadian state-owned plane that had flown him to Dakar.

The African Union (AU) mandated Senegal to try Habre in July 2006, but President Abdoulaye Wade delayed the process for years despite an agreement to create a special court for the process.

Belgium also sought his arrest over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity after three Belgian nationals of Chadian origin filed a suit in 2000 for mass murder, arbitrary arrest and torture during his regime.

Belgium issued an arrest warrant for him in September 2005, and he was arrested in Senegal shortly after, but the African country said its courts did not have the jurisdiction to rule on a Belgian extradition request.

Habre was arrested again in Dakar on June 30, 2013 and the AU decided his trial should take place there, making Habre the first African leader accused of atrocities to face justice in another African country rather than in an international court.
The chief negotiator representing Syrias mainstream opposition has resigned over what he called the failure of the U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Geneva to secure a political or humanitarian resolution to the ongoing civil war.

Mohammed Alloush announced his resignation Sunday, according to Agence France-Presse, saying in a statement on Twitter: The three rounds of talks were unsuccessful because of the stubbornness of the regime and its continued bombardments and aggressions towards the Syrian people.

Alloush is a member of the Jaish al-Islam faction in the Saudi-based High Negotiations Committee. The opposition body suspended its participation in the last round of peace talks in April without any major breakthroughs, citing escalating violence in Syria. No date has been set for the next round of negotiations.

The bloody five-year civil war in Syria has killed 470,000 people and displaced millions more. A fragile ceasefire was brokered in February between the President Bashar al-Assads regime and rebel groups, but it has been marred by repeated violence.

[AFP]
Cordial discussions highlighted importance of interreligious, intercultural dialogue for promotion of human rights.

Source: ZENIT (https://zenit.org)

(ZENIT, Vatican City, May 30, 2016).- Pope Francis met President of the Republic of Singapore, Tony Tan Keng Yam, Saturday morning in the Vatican.

According to a statement released by the Holy See Press Office, during the cordial discussions, satisfaction was expressed for the good state of bilateral relations between Singapore and the Holy See, as well as the collaboration between the Church and the State, especially in the educational and social fields.

Attention then turned to various current international themes and issues linked to the regional political situation, it continued, with particular reference to the importance of interreligious and intercultural dialogue for the promotion of human rights, stability, justice and peace in southeast Asia.

After meeting with the Pope, the president met with Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher.
Beijing insisted Monday a Chinese boat detained close to Indonesian islands had been fishing legally, in a fresh flare-up of tensions between the countries in the South China Sea.

The Indonesian navy seized the Chinese boat in waters near the Natuna Islands on Friday for allegedly fishing illegally, the military said.

The boat was towed to shore and eight Chinese crew members have been detained.

Jakarta and Beijing have clashed before over the islands on the southwestern fringe of the disputed South China Sea, where China is also at loggerheads with several other countries because of its overlapping claims.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying insisted the detained vessel had been operating legally.

"The Chinese fishermen were conducting normal fishing operations in the relevant waters," she told a press briefing.

"We have made stern representations with Indonesia concerning this matter."

Achmad Taufiqoerrochman, the commander of Indonesia's Western Fleet, said the vessel -- the Gui Bei Yu -- was "strongly suspected" of having carried out illegal fishing because of the catch that was found onboard.

The military said the boat was detained in Indonesia's "exclusive economic zone", waters where a state has sole rights to exploit resources.

The boat's detention shows Indonesia "will enforce the law against boats that commit violations in Indonesia's jurisdiction", it added.

The most serious recent row between Jakarta and Beijing happened in March when Chinese coastguards rammed a Chinese boat detained near the Natunas and helped it escape as the Indonesians towed the vessel to shore.

Jakarta responded furiously, lodging a protest and summoning China's top envoy in Indonesia.

Indonesia does not have overlapping territorial claims in the sea with China, unlike other nations, but it objects to Beijing's claims as they overlap with the exclusive economic zone around the Natunas.

An increasing number of foreign trawlers have been detained in Indonesian waters after Jakarta in 2014 launched a tough crackdown on illegal fishing.

The clampdown involves sinking foreign boats caught fishing without a permit after impounding the boats and removing the crews.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Africa are "good brothers" and China respects all people regardless of race, the government said on Monday after a detergent maker apologised for an advert showing a black man bundled into a washing machine that many called racist. In the television advertisement for Qiaobi laundry detergent, a black man wolf-whistles at a Chinese woman, who beckons him over. She then stuffs a packet of detergent in his mouth and shoves him head-first into a washing machine. A moment later, the woman opens the lid and a fair-skinned Asian man pops out. State media reported the ad had first appeared in April but went viral after being posted on YouTube last week, where it racked up millions of views within a few days. Some Chinese and foreign internet users condemned it as racist. "We express our sincere apologies and sincerely hope that the many internet users and the media will not read too much into this," Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics, the company that owns the Qiaobi brand, said in a statement at the weekend. The company deleted an online version of the ad in response to the outcry, the state-backed Global Times reported, citing an interview with the firm. However, versions of it could still be seen on Chinese and foreign video platforms, including YouTube, on Monday. A company representative declined further comment on Monday. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the ad was an isolated commercial act that had not prompted any diplomatic complaints and hoped people would not hype it up. "Everyone can see that we are consistent in equality towards, and mutually respect, all countries, no matter their ethnicity or race. In fact, we are good brothers with African countries," Hua told a daily news briefing. It is unclear if the black actor in the ad is from Africa. Public discussion of racial discrimination is unusual in China, which is dominated by the ethnic Han majority but is also home to dozens of minority groups as well as a growing influx of foreign residents, including Africans. "Even though the people who shot the ad may not have realized it, it really is racist," one user on the microblogging platform Weibo wrote. "Those who planned the ad strategy should really have read up first." Government officials often insist that China enjoys largely harmonious ethnic relations, though tension has led to violence, particularly in its western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, which have large minority populations. The Global Times, a popular tabloid known for a nationalistic bent, said in an editorial Western media coverage was "too extreme" and China had no problems with discrimination. "There have been many evils during the development of the West in this era, and racism is one of them," the paper said. "China's social process hasn't been the same experience, so using the same yardstick to measure China's performance will lead to results that are inevitably absurd." (Reporting By Megha Rajagopalan, Michael Martina and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait)
China has unveiled plans to visit the moons north and south poles late next year and for the first time return to Earth with samples.

The Asian superpowers Change 5 probe will undertake the mission to further enhance the countrys aerospace development, according to state media citing Chinas State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

Chinas maiden lunar jaunt was the launch of the Change 1 satellite into the moons orbit in 2007, followed by a lunar probe onto its surface in 2013. The newly unveiled project would be a precursor to Beijings existing plan, announced earlier this year, to launch the worlds first mission to the far side of the moon in 2018.

China became the third ever country  after Russia and the U.S.  to launch a human into space in 2003, and sees space exploration as a key component of building the worlds most populous nations international prestige. Beijing also recently unveiled plans to launch a Mars rover in 2020.
BEIJING (Reuters) - A deputy governor of the wealthy eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu is being investigated for suspected graft, the country's main corruption-fighting body said on Monday. Li Yunfeng is suspected of "serious discipline breaches", the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a brief statement, using the usual euphemism for graft. It did not elaborate. Li, 59, has spent almost his entire working career in Jiangsu and assumed his current job in 2011, according to his official biography. It was not possible to reach him for comment and it was unclear if he has been allowed to retain a lawyer. China has jailed dozens of senior officials since President Xi Jinping launched a sweeping campaign against graft after assuming office more than three years ago, vowing to go after powerful "tigers" as well as lowly "flies". Xi, like others before him, has warned the problem is so severe it could affect the party's grip on power. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
BEIJING (Reuters) - China and Africa are "good brothers" and China respects all people regardless of race, the government said on Monday after a detergent maker apologized for an advert showing a black man bundled into a washing machine that many called racist. In the television advertisement for Qiaobi laundry detergent, a black man wolf-whistles at a Chinese woman, who beckons him over. She then stuffs a packet of detergent in his mouth and shoves him head-first into a washing machine. A moment later, the woman opens the lid and a fair-skinned Asian man pops out. State media reported the ad had first appeared in April but went viral after being posted on YouTube last week, where it racked up millions of views within a few days. Some Chinese and foreign internet users condemned it as racist. "We express our sincere apologies and sincerely hope that the many internet users and the media will not read too much into this," Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics, the company that owns the Qiaobi brand, said in a statement at the weekend. The company deleted an online version of the ad in response to the outcry, the state-backed Global Times reported, citing an interview with the firm. However, versions of it could still be seen on Chinese and foreign video platforms, including YouTube, on Monday. A company representative declined further comment on Monday. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the ad was an isolated commercial act that had not prompted any diplomatic complaints and hoped people would not hype it up. "Everyone can see that we are consistent in equality toward, and mutually respect, all countries, no matter their ethnicity or race. In fact, we are good brothers with African countries," Hua told a daily news briefing. It is unclear if the black actor in the ad is from Africa. Public discussion of racial discrimination is unusual in China, which is dominated by the ethnic Han majority but is also home to dozens of minority groups as well as a growing influx of foreign residents, including Africans. "Even though the people who shot the ad may not have realized it, it really is racist," one user on the microblogging platform Weibo wrote. "Those who planned the ad strategy should really have read up first." Government officials often insist that China enjoys largely harmonious ethnic relations, though tension has led to violence, particularly in its western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, which have large minority populations. The Global Times, a popular tabloid known for a nationalistic bent, said in an editorial Western media coverage was "too extreme" and China had no problems with discrimination. "There have been many evils during the development of the West in this era, and racism is one of them," the paper said. "China's social process hasn't been the same experience, so using the same yardstick to measure China's performance will lead to results that are inevitably absurd." (Reporting By Megha Rajagopalan, Michael Martina and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Paul Tait)
Puu Oo, a volcanic cone in Mount Kilaueas eastern rift zone, has been erupting continuously since January 3, 1983. Late last week, fresh breakouts of lava brought impressive shows, especially with the sun down and the river of lava glowing over the mountains flow fields. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory said the fresh flows were not threatening any buildings.

This footage was captured early on May 26 after a strenuous hike. Credit: Facebook/John Carter
Abidjan (AFP) - Ivory Coast's former first lady Simone Gbagbo will be tried for crimes against humanity starting Tuesday, having already been jailed for 20 years for her part in 2010's post-electoral violence.

The wife of former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo is currently being held in Abidjan after being convicted of "attacking state authority" over her role in the post-election violence that left more than 3,000 people dead.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague had wanted to prosecute Gbagbo in the case, issuing a warrant for her arrest but Ivorian authorities refused to hand her over, claiming that she would face a fair trial at home.

Ivorian prosecutors had originally held off trying her for crimes against humanity while negotiations were ongoing with their counterparts in The Hague.

She will now answer allegations of crimes against prisoners of war, crimes against the civilian population as well as crimes against humanity, according to a charge sheet obtained by AFP.

Her husband is currently on trial at the ICC for crimes also linked to the unrest following his refusal to step down after the 2010 elections.

The post-election crisis was sparked by his refusal to recognise the victory of President Alassane Ouattara in the November 2010 presidential poll.

- 'Fanciful accusations' -

One of Simone Gbagbo's lawyers, Mathurin Dirabou, has described the charges against her as "fanciful".

"These accusations have been created to please certain parts of the international community. It's a pity. Enough is enough," he added.

Joel N'Guessan, a spokesman for current President Ouattara's Rally of Republicans Party (RDR), insisted that the second trial was not excessive.

Gbagbo, nicknamed the "Iron Lady", appeared in court on May 9 during a pre-trial hearing flanked by 12 other defendants where she was the only one not to be handcuffed.

The 66-year-old was welcomed into the courtroom by several supporters whom she greeted as she took to the witness box, even hugging well-wishers when she left but declining to speak to reporters.

Story continues

The upcoming trial will open just five days after Ivory Coast's Supreme Court rejected her final appeal against her 20-year sentence.

The decision to hold the legal proceedings in Ivory Coast has been seen as a snub to the ICC after Ouattara said in February that he would "not send any more Ivorians" to The Hague, insisting that his country has an "operational justice system".

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, has struggled to return to normalcy after years of civil war, which effectively divided the country between the mainly Christian south and the largely Muslim north.
Victoria's Secret Swim

Victoria's Secret abandoned swimwear last month, in a move that sent consumers reeling. Wasn't that a huge part of the company's business?

It was actually sinking. Although BuzzFeed reported that last year the company said its swimwear sales totaled $500 million, it noted they were down at the end of the summer in August.

Analyst and founder of consulting fi rmA Line Partners Gabriella Santaniello told Business Insider in April why nixing swimwear was a smart move  it would give the brand time to focus on its core businesses, namely, lingerie. The brand had stated it would divide the company into three businesses: lingerie, beauty, and PINK.

But amid this departure, there are other companies that appear to be filling the void, and that could potentially swoop up part that market. Now that one of the biggest players in the space will be eradicated by the end of the year, many of these brands could find huge opportunities for growth.

Aerie

Is it Friday yet? These #AerieREAL girls are ready to love the swim theyre in for the long weekend! Post your unretouched swim photos with #AerieREAL & well donate $1 (up to $30K) to NEDA. #Regram @PoorLittleItGirl A photo posted by aerie (@aerie) on May 23, 2016 at 11:50am PDT on May 23, 2016 at 11:50am PDT

Aerie has served as a polar opposite to the brand with its airbrush-free photos and its #AerieREAL campaign. The company's swimwear line has been performing well, and it's launched a campaign called "love the swim you're in" that encourages young women to post photos of themselves showing off their own bikini bodies.

Aerie is slated for massive growth. In fiscal 2015, comparable sales soared 20%, and for the first quarter of fiscal 2016, comparable sales skyrocketed an impressive 32%. RBC Capital Markets wrote in a note that parent company American Eagle anticipates Aerie sales will reach $500 million in the coming years. That's still small compared to Victoria's Secret's $6.1 billion store sales (and $7.7 billion including ecommerce), but the company is undoubtedly on the rise and gaining traction.

Story continues

Swimsuits For All

Made for your killer curves. Shop the collection - click the link in our bio. #AshleyGrahamxswimsuitsforall #LicenseToSlay #MySwimBody @theashleygraham A photo posted by @swimsuitsforall on May 23, 2016 at 6:30am PDT on May 23, 2016 at 6:30am PDT

Swimsuitsforall has been a huge player in the plus size movement, with groundbreaking ads in Sports Illustrated starring some of the modeling industry's most powerful forces, such as Ashley Graham  even before she graced the cover of the magazine.

The company has debuted lines from many stars in the industry, such as Gabi Gregg and Robyn Lawley. Now, Swimsuitsforall has tapped Graham for her own line, and it's been garnering positive reviews.

Triangl

triangl bathingsuit

Victoria's Secret actually came under fire last year, when one of its bikinis looked shockingly similar to Triangl's iconic bikini. Now could be an opportune time for the brand to salvage a larger share of the market.

J. Crew

Beach, please: For four days only, we're bringing our most popular swimsuits to select women's stores so you can get a closer look before you take the plunge. Details via the link in our bio. #jcrewsummer A photo posted by J.Crew (@jcrew) on May 11, 2016 at 8:30pm PDT on May 11, 2016 at 8:30pm PDT

J. Crew has had a rough couple of years. The company has been doubling down on getting customers back and stores, and though it's not working yet (comparable sales for the brand were down 7% for the most recent quarter), there's a chance that its classic swimwear could win over some consumers  provided the weather is seasonal this summer

Kendall and Kylie Jenner

Shooting Kendall&Kylie swim for TopShop. Coming soooon  A photo posted by King Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Apr 27, 2016 at 11:13am PDT on Apr 27, 2016 at 11:13am PDT

Kendall and Kylie Jenner are launching a line for TopShop. In late April, the younger Jenner sister wrote in an Instagram post that it will be "coming soooon."

Jessica Simpson

#regram @JessicaSimpson   Get your suit on! Never-before-seen footage from our Spring '16 photo shoot, shop the collection - link in bio! #sunsoutbunsout A photo posted by Jessica Simpson Collection (@jessicasimpsonstyle) on May 23, 2016 at 5:17pm PDT on May 23, 2016 at 5:17pm PDT

Even though lots of Simpson's apparel is sold at the dwindling Macy's and Nordstrom, it's a good time to launch a new swim collection. Simpson recently posted some overtly sexy photos of the new line, almost in line with the photos that Victoria's Secret might have posted of its Angels.

NOW WATCH: This model was dropped from her agency for her sizenow she's the face of Victoria's Secret's top competitor





More From Business Insider


shopping

Consumers are preoccupied with value when it comes to spending on apparel, jewelry, and accessories.

As a result, luxury brands like Tiffany & Co. have been struggling.

"We've seen such a slow down in the high end," Brian Yarbrough, analyst at Edward Jones told Business Insider.

While lower-end stores, like Ross and TJ Maxx are performing well, Tiffany's comparable sales declined 9% in the most recent quarter. Luxury department store Nordstrom has also been struggling.

At first glance, the weakness in luxury is puzzling because consumer confidence is high and Tiffany's customers still have discretionary income to spend.

But Yarbrough points out that people are increasingly spending on categories other than luxury retail.

"People are still willing to spend on auto, and they're still willing to spend on their homes which are bigger-ticket items," he said.

"They're more interested in cars or homes or experiences," he said, pointing to movies and traveling as examples  not apparel.

An analysis by Jharonne Martis, director of consumer research for Thomson Reuters, confirmed that people were spending their money on hotels and casinos, too, Business Insider's Hayley Peterson reported earlier this month.

Where consumers are spending

But there's hope for apparel retailers: this trend may not last forever.

"Typically, you're seeing a lot bigger growth in durables or no durables," Yarbrough said, but noting that "at some point that will stop," once consumers take on the debt from these larger-ticket items.

Until then, the apparel market may be dismal.

Tiffany & Co. has tried to rectify this problem with newer, more fashion-driven collections, as Neil Saunders, CEO of the consulting firm Conlumino, pointed out in a note to clients.

The company is blaming a variety of factors for its downturn, and it says it is working to fix its problems.

"As expected, this was a difficult quarter in terms of both sales and earnings growth," CEO Frederic Cumena said in a release. "We faced numerous challenges, including continued pressure from foreign tourist spending in Europe, the US, and Asia, particularly in Hong Kong.

Story continues

Yarbrough believes that these issues won't be abated this year, though he believes the company will eventually bring people back into its stores. In the meantime, however, things look grim.

"Their numbers have gotten worse and worse .... when I went back and looked, I don't think we've seen numbers this bad since the economic downturn," he said.

For now, Tiffany & Co. might just need to figure out how to appeal to value-conscious customers.

NOW WATCH: This insane, 5-story slide is in a Shanghai mall





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Your Early Morning Commodities Update for May 30

(Continued from Prior Part)

Copper falls on Monday morning

Copper closed last week with a rise, breaking its three-week losing streak.

Copper has started this week on a weaker note, trading lower on the morning of Monday, May 30, 2016. At 06:57 AM EST, COMEX copper futures contracts for July delivery were seen trading at $2.10 per pound, a fall of 0.85%.

Market awaits Chinese economic data

Considering that China accounts for more than 45% of global copper demand, Chinas major economic releases will significantly impact copper prices. The Market is looking forward to the Chinese manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers index) data, which is scheduled to release on Tuesday, May 31, 2016.

Chinas weak April economic data raised concerns about demand from the worlds largest copper consumer. The countrys manufacturing data are expected to provide more information about its economic health.

Last week, major copper producer Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) fell by 2.1%, whereas BHP Billiton (BHP), Rio Tinto (RIO), and Glencore (GLNCY) rose by 5.6%, 2.0%, and 1.4%, respectively. The base metalsrelated SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF (XME) rose by 0.61%.

Gold and silver trade lower

Precious metals gold and silver were trading lower than in the previous week on the morning of May 30 due to the strength of the US dollar. Comments from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen last week about the strength of US economy pointed to the increased chance of a June rate hike, which supported the US dollar.

At 06:58 AM, COMEX gold futures contracts for August delivery were seen trading at $1,210.75 per ounce, a fall of 0.49%. Silver was trading at $15.98 per ounce, a fall of 1.8%.

Gold fell last week due to the stronger dollar, and it carried this weakness forward. Last week, precious metals producers Barrick Gold (ABX), Newmont Mining (NEM), Royal Gold (RGLD), and Silver Wheaton (SLW) fell by 7.2%, 5.5%, 1.5%, and 4.5%, respectively. The precious metalsbased SPDR Gold Trust ETF (GLD) fell by 3.1%.

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Joseph McCarthy, U.S. Senator for the state of Wisconsin between 1947 and 1957, was, to many, the face of the fight against Communism in the United States during the fifties. In fact, his practices became so popular a term describing such anti-Communist activities was coined after his name: McCarthyism  which later became a way to characterize the practice of making unfair, unsubstantial accusations.

As Martin Lipset and Earl Raab explained in their book "The Politics of Unreason: Right-Wing Extremism in America, 17901977," McCarthyism was not so much of a mass movement as it was a political lampshade behind which monist tendencies in the United States united  temporarily showing their terrifying potential.

Related Link: Latin American Readers Talk Trump, Aren't Overly Impressed

Before continuing, remember what follows is not an endorsement of any presidential candidate. Nor is it a degradation of those candidates. It is simply a look into some similarities between presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Joseph McCarthy.

Is Trump The New McCarthy?

Below is a look into eight reasons that could lead people to establish a comparison between Donald Trump and Joe McCarthy.

No. 1

In the '50s, Americans were afraid of Communism, so it was easy for McCarthy to blame them for everything wrong with the country. Although people were not especially afraid of foreigners at the time, foreign ideas were pretty scary, and thus needed to be exorcized from the society, McCarthy argued.

Nowadays, Americans are afraid of immigrants and Muslims  for different reasons, of course. For instance, the Chapman Survey of American Fears showed almost 40 percent of Americans believe immigrants bring diseases and are more likely to commit crimes than American citizens. Other studies (like this Gallup Survey) have shown Muslim Americans are the subject of strong prejudice and more likely to experience religious discrimination.

Related Link: Yuge Correction: Mark Cuban Says A Trump Presidency Would Create Market Turmoil

Story continues

So, it can be quite easy for a public figure like Trump to blame immigrants or Muslims for Americas lost greatness. For instance, Trump has repeatedly, and falsely claimed that an Arab community in New Jersey had cheered when the Twin Towers collapsed on September 11, and claimed that African Americans and Hispanics are more prone to crime.

Remember that, in the late '80s Trump was already blaming another nation for Americas grievances  Japan, so this strategy is not new to him.

No. 2

Manipulation of the media was a strong point for McCarthy, same as it is for Trump. They both used controversial comments and strong-worded declarations to catch the attention of readers and viewers.

Related Link: Vivek Wadhwa Agrees With Trump, Says China Is "Trying To Rob Apple Blind"

No. 3

In February of 1950, McCarthy said he had a list of 205 communists working and shaping policy in the State Department. However, the origin of the list was never revealed, and the number of people implicated rapidly dropped from 205 to just seven. His technique was quite simple: The politician implied that certain people were traitors, without actually accusing them of it. This practice included the famed guilt by association, Lipset and Raab expounded.

Trump has issued similar accusations, using a comparable tone. For instance, a few years ago, he assured that his team had looked into Obamas origins, and discovered that he might not be American-born. If he wasnt born in this country, which is a real possibility...then he has pulled one of the great cons in the history of politics, Trump is reported as having said. More recently, Trump stated that Mexico was sending its rapists to the United States, citing sources from the Border Patrol, among others, and claimed that Obamas administration wanted to provide shelter for 250K refugees, instead of the originally expected 10K  once again, citing a pretty good source.

Related Link: Trump's Big Energy Speech Could Clarify His Approach To OPEC

No. 4

The initial support from their parties quickly faded as they started conceiving them as liabilities, rather than assets  check out this article for a longer review of both histories.

No. 5

One of Trumps largest mentors and most-respected advisors was the late Roy Cohn, known for his involvement with McCarthys witch-hunt  during his time at the Senates Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Many analysts have defined both Cohn and McCarthy as shameless. And it was a shamelessness that Trump picked up [from Cohn] and ran with, a The Guardian article read.

No. 6

Both Trump and McCarthy arose as strong political figures after periods where liberal politics and policies had thrived  Obamas administration in one case, the post-war liberalism in the other.

No. 7

Both Trump and McCarthy presented to the public more problems than solutions. As explicated by Lipset and Raab, even though McCarthy never formulated or embraced an economic plan or a philosophy of any kind, economic conservatives backed him financially, in the hopes of seeing the democrat government displaced. Among Trumps supporters, readers can count conservatives (of course, this point is debatable) Bob Dole, John Boehner, Dick Cheney, Reince Priebus, Rick Perry and Eric Cantor, among others.

Related Link: The Man Who Saw Donald Trump's Tax Returns

No. 8

Several quantitative analyses have suggested that McCarthys support came mainly from Catholics, Republicans, New England, low classes, workers, farmers, the least educated and the elderly. Last December, a Washington Post study found that Trump's supporters were mainly males, white, Catholics and counted with less formal education and lower-income.

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the entities mentioned above.

See more from Benzinga

 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Joaquin

After the Mexican government signed off on the extradition of jailed kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, one of his lawyers said "the real battle" would be waged during the appeals process, which he suggested could take one to three years.

Recent developments indicate, however, that Guzman's legal team may have to deal with internal struggles in addition to legal wrangling with the Mexican government.

Two of Guzman's lawyers, Juan Pablo Badillo and Jose Luis Gonzalez, said on Friday that the extradition was unconstitutional, and criticized high-level Mexican officials for "trampling" on the country's laws.

They said in a press conference that they had turned in an appeal to block his extradition to the Mexican supreme court.

In response to their appeal, a federal judge on Saturday granted a provisional suspension of the extradition, giving the foreign ministry 48 hours to present its report justifying its actions within US-Mexico extradition guidelines.

Despite that judge's ruling, the appeal was disavowed on Saturday by Jose Refugio Rodriguez, another member of Guzman's legal team.

Rodriguez told The Associated Press that the appeal was not authorized by the Guzman and that he would not sign off on it, which would mean that the court would not review it.

"This hurts Joaquin Guzman because it hinders our defense," Rodriguez told the AP. Rodriguez also said that Badillo and Gonzalez were not a part of the team working on Guzman's extradition case. That team is still reviewing the government's case and planned to appeal in the next few weeks, the lawyer said.

El Chapo Guzman lawyer trial plead case

"We have a strategy with Joaquin and we are planning it," Rodriguez said, adding that Badillo and Gonzalez could have acted out of "a desire for notoriety."

Story continues

Guzman, who was recently moved from a prison in central Mexico to one near the US border in Ciudad Juarez, faces indictments in multiple US jurisdictions.

Earlier this month, the Mexican government signed off on his extradition to face charges in two of those jurisdictions: West Texas and Southern California.

On May 11, however, the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York filed a detailed indictment against Guzman and Ismael "Mayo" Zambada, who is suspected of being a top leader in the Sinaloa cartel with Guzman. New York is still a top candidate to try Guzman should he be extradited to the US, according to experts who spoke with Univision.

NOW WATCH: 'El Chapo' almost escaped Mexican marines using a sophisticated tunnel network under his safe house





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SYDNEY (Reuters) - A crocodile in Australia snatched a woman taking a late-night swim in a national park and is believed to have killed her, media reported on Monday. The 46-year-old woman was swimming with a friend late on Sunday in waist-deep water at a beach in Queensland state when she disappeared, police said. "They felt a nudge, and a large crocodile is alleged to have grabbed one of the ladies and pulled her into the water," Neil Noble, a supervisor for the Queensland state ambulance service, told reporters. Police would only say the woman was believed to have been taken by a crocodile. Media reported that the friend struggled to pull the woman back from the crocodile's jaws. Police did not identify the woman or give her nationality but said she lives in Australia and has family in New Zealand. A police spokesman told Reuters a search and rescue operation would continue on Tuesday. Warren Entsch, the area's member of parliament, said the incident occurred in a place that is popular with crocodile-spotting tours, with many warning signs. The incident should not encourage reprisals against the animals, he said. "You can't legislate against human stupidity," Entsch told reporters. "This is a tragedy but it was avoidable. There are warning signs everywhere up there." (This story has been refiled to fix wording in paragraph one.) (Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Robert Birsel)
A woman is feared dead after being seized by a crocodile during a late-night swim at a beach in northern Australia as her friend struggled to save her, police said Monday.

The women went for a stroll on Thornton Beach on Sunday evening in the far north of Queensland state before making a fateful decision to take a dip in an area known to be infested with crocodiles.

"The woman was swimming with a female friend, also in her 40s, at 10.30pm when the incident occurred," police said in a statement.

Nine News cited witnesses as hearing the woman yell "A croc's got me, a croc's got me!"

Senior Constable Russell Parker said the women -- Australians visiting the area -- were in the water when one of them was grabbed, with her friend desperately trying to drag her to safety.

"They decided to take a swim in the ocean just in waist-deep water and at that point, we believe that a crocodile has taken one of the women, taken hold of her," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"Her friend tried valiantly to drag her to the shore but unfortunately wasn't able to do so and the woman subsequently disappeared.

"Now her friend raised the alarm with a nearby business and they subsequently contacted the police."

A rescue helicopter was sent up with thermal imaging equipment but was unable to find her.

Parker added that the surviving woman was "very, very shaken and shocked" but appeared to have escaped with only grazes.

The Brisbane Courier-Mail said Thornton Beach was next to a creek where croc-spotting tours were organised, and there were plenty of warning signs throughout the vicinity.

The attack is not the first in the area. A giant crocodile known as Big Jim took local postal worker Beryl Wruck in 1985 when she had a late-night swim about an hour's drive from Thornton Beach.

Crocodiles are common in Australia's tropical north and kill an average of two people each year.

Earlier this month, a desperate fisherman threw spanners and spark plugs to fight off circling crocodiles after his friend drowned when one of the animals overturned their small boat near Darwin.

Crocodile numbers have increased since the introduction of protection laws in 1971, with estimates putting the Northern Territory's population in the wild at about 100,000.
And Singapore suffers biggest drop in prime office rents in APAC.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) this week raised the maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for motor vehicles to 60 to 70 percent, from 50 to 60 percent previously. In addition, the maximum loan tenure will be raised to seven years from five years. What does this mean for the property market? In a report released on Friday (27 May), Credit Suisse said: With the weakening macro outlook, easing of property cooling measures would be one of the range of policies the government can use to combat a slowdown. Read more here.

Singapore recorded the largest drop in prime office rent across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region during the first quarter, according to the latest report from Knight Frank. In Q1 2016, average prime office rent in the city-state declined by 4.4 percent quarter-on-quarter, and rents there are expected to fall further over the next 12 months. Singapore continued to be mired in a double whammy of significant supply and weak demand, said the report. Find out more here.

Property analysts believe that Singapores housing market is bottoming out. LaSalle Investment Management believes that Singapores real estate market could reach its lowest level sooner than Hong Kong, reported Bloomberg. Government officials in both cities have imposed a series of property cooling measures to rein in spiralling residential prices in two of Asias most expensive housing markets. Read more here.













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Watford (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge made a timely return to England training on Monday, the day before manager Roy Hodgson submits his final 23-man squad for Euro 2016.

Sturridge missed England's 2-1 win over Australia in Sunderland on Friday after sustaining a calf strain during Liverpool's Europa League final defeat by Sevilla.

But the 26-year-old emerged for training with the rest of his team-mates at Watford's training ground on Monday.

Sturridge's place in the squad is thought to be under threat, with 18-year-old Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford having marked his debut with a goal against Australia.

Southampton left-back Ryan Bertrand, who is nursing a knock, was the only injury-enforced absentee on Monday, which left 24 players training.

Chelsea centre-back Gary Cahill trained after missing Friday's game because of a hip problem.

Manchester City midfielder Fabian Delph has already dropped to the standby list due to a groin injury.

England play Portugal at Wembley on Thursday in their final warm-up game before travelling to France next week.

They open their Euro 2016 campaign against Russia in Marseille on June 11 and will also face Slovakia and neighbours Wales in Group B.
Huddled together in rickety boats, the masses fear for their lives as they embark on perilous journeys. These refugees arent likely to drown, die in stormy seas or be eaten by sharks  although thats all possible. But for these unfortunate people, its more likely to be the beatings, cramped conditions (theyre stuffed in holds designed for 20) and disease that kill them. Such tales evoke images of African and Syrian refugees fleeing for Europe.

But the refugees and migrants braving maritime crossings in Southeast Asia are three times more likely to die than their Europe-bound counterparts.

According to a recent UNHCR report, roughly 33,600 refugees and migrants  primarily Rohingya and Bangladeshis en route from Myanmar and Bangladesh to Malaysia  traveled through the region by sea last year, mostly through the Bay of Bengal. Of these, 370 died before reaching land, falling victim to starvation, dehydration, disease and abuse, the report says. This means roughly 1.1 percent of those setting off perished, while in the Med, 3,771 of an estimated 1.4 million died, for a rate of .375 percent, according to U.N. figures.

In Southeast Asia, the main culprit is abuse by smugglers, says Keane Shum, head of UNHCRs regional maritime movement monitoring unit, whether thats deprivation of food and water or by being beaten or shot to death on board. Most of these sea journeys should take about a week, but if the captains hit trouble disembarking  as happened last May  then they can be on the boats for months, Shum explains, noting that journeys can also be slowed by migrants inability to pay. Fleeing spiked in the wake of Rakhine State (aka Arakan) violence in 2012, which included conflicts between Rahkine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims. But the Rohingya have long faced persecution and now feel they have no choice but to leave, says Frankfurt-based Rohingya activist Nay San Lwin. Either they stay there and die, or they take the risky journey to Malaysia or Thailand, he says. In recent decades, the Rohingyas rights have been stripped away, to a point now  since the 2012 killings  where they require permission just to move from one parish to another within the same town, Lwin explains, adding that violent raids and rape are not uncommon.

Vivian Tan, UNHCRs spokesperson in Bangkok, agrees that those in the internally displaced camps dont see much prospect for improvements. Authorities have been helping some displaced people to return home, but its a small number of them, and more than 100,000 remain in the IDP camps. Were hoping this will grow, Tan says, referring to the improvements. Last year, Shum notes, the number of those making the journeys dropped significantly. The push factors havent changed, he says, referring to the human-rights issues. But the means by which they can get out have changed, he explains, noting how official scrutiny has brought a crackdown on smuggling rings. Also, the Rohingya community is growing increasingly wary of rumored worse conditions in Malaysia, as well as the dangerous Bay of Bengal crossings.

Many may also be taking a wait and see approach, says Tan, regarding what the new government of Myanmar might do for the Rohingya. For now, thousands remain trapped, deprived of legal status, and their routes to freedom are downright deadly and increasingly being blocked.

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Whitfield County will hold a public meeting on June 13 at 9 a.m. at the Whitfield County Emergency Management Office at 804 Professional Blvd. in Dalton to review and discuss a draft of an update to the Whitfield County Hazard Mitigation Plan.

A draft copy of the plan can be found at www.whitfieldcountyga.com for review prior to the meeting. This Plan is required by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. The County considers any public input into this Plan a valuable contribution.

All interested parties are encouraged to attend. Once the Plan update is completed, there will be one additional public meeting prior to consideration for adoption by the Board of Commissioners.
Washington (AFP) - Johnny Depp, facing abuse allegations from his estranged wife Amber Heard, toured with his band in Europe on Monday as family and friends rushed to his defense.

In Stockholm, hundreds of fans lined up all day at the Grona Lund amusement park to see Depp perform with his band, the Hollywood Vampires.

Boycott appeals were launched on social media after Heard, who filed for divorce in Los Angeles last week and appeared in court with a black eye, accused the Oscar-nominated star of assaulting her.

But the calls appear not to have been heeded by many.

Grona Lund "is opposed to all kinds of violence -- especially domestic, but he has not been proven guilty so we cannot hold him responsible for a crime he has not been found guilty of," spokeswoman Annika Troselius told AFP.

Heard, 30, submitted pictures to the court showing a bruise on her face that she claims was inflicted during a fight on May 21 and said she feared the 52-year-old former "Pirates of the Caribbean" star might harm her.

A judge subsequently imposed a temporary restraining order on Depp, ordering him to stay away from Heard.

But now some close to Depp -- including daughter Lily-Rose and former longterm partner Vanessa Paradis -- are speaking out in support of the actor.

Lily-Rose Depp posted a photo on Instagram apparently showing herself as a baby, with Depp holding her hands and helping her walk.

"My dad is the sweetest most loving person I know, he's been nothing but a wonderful father to my little brother and I, and everyone who knows him would say the same," the 17-year-old said in the caption.

Celebrity news website TMZ posted a photo of a handwritten letter that it said it obtained from Paradis, in which she describes her former partner as "a sensitive, loving and loved person."

"I believe with all my heart that these recent allegations being made are outrageous, in all the years I have known Johnny, he has never been physically abusive with me and this looks nothing like the man I lived with for 14 wonderful years," the note says.

Story continues

The letter dated Friday is signed by Paradis, who is also the mother of Depp's son Jack.

- Ex-wife weighs in -

Others coming to Depp's defense include famed actor, director and Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam.

"Like many of Johnny Depp's friends I'm discovering that Amber is a better actress than I thought," he tweeted, immediately provoking a backlash from Twitter users.

Gilliam commented as he retweeted a column by standup comedian Doug Stanhope, who referred to Depp as a friend and wrote that he has known him for a few years.

In the column, published Sunday by entertainment website The Wrap, Stanhope wrote that he and his girlfriend were at Depp's house on May 21 just before the alleged assault.

The actor told them "Amber was now going to leave him, threatening to lie about him publicly in any and every possible duplicitous way if he didn't agree to her terms."

Also weighing in was Lori Anne Allison, who was married to Depp in the 1980s, celebrity news website TMZ reported.

Allison reportedly told the site that she doesn't believe Heard's allegations and referred to Depp as a "soft person."

In a sworn statement, Heard -- who is seeking spousal support -- said Depp was verbally and physically abusive to her during the entirety of their relationship. The two have been married for nearly 16 months.

She added that Depp has a "totally acknowledged public and private history of drug and alcohol abuse," and that she was scared of his temper.

TMZ published a picture showing Heard with bruising around her right eye, reporting that the actress says it was taken shortly after Depp hurled his iPhone at her face on the evening of May 21.

After reviewing dozens of pages of evidence, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl Moor ruled that Depp was banned from coming within 100 yards (91 meters) of Heard. The order will be reviewed on June 17.

The Hollywood Vampires performed in Germany on Sunday and were due to play in Denmark on Tuesday, followed by the Romanian capital Bucharest on June 6. A series of US concerts are scheduled for July.
Did you ever wonder why jeans are called jeans? Now we know

Did you ever wonder why jeans are called jeans? Now we know

Fashion history is full of fun and bizarre facts. For example, did you know that Mark Twain invented our beloved bra-strap clasp? Well, heres another fun fact for you: We now know the reason why jeans are called jeans.

Skinny, Bootcut, or Boyfriend. Whatever style they choose, keep them original. #LevisKids A photo posted by Levi's (@levis) on May 27, 2016 at 9:02am PDT

The history of jeans is mingled with with French history. Jeans were invented in 19th century France in a town called Nimes. In French, the word serge is used to describe the fabric that jeans are composed from. Thus, jeans fabric was originally called serge de Nimes, or, for short, denim.

This fun word play already has us excited. So lets continue with the history lesson!

Denim became incredibly popular in Europe, especially with sailors from Genoa, Italy. Not that we blame them  denim, as we all know, is incredibly durable! Now, whenever these sailors were in France theyd visit Nimes and by their serge de Nimes in bulk. (Again, back then there was no fast train to get Italians to France.) These sailors bought so much denim that the material quickly became the French nickname for sailors from Genoa, or jeans.

Golden girl. : @johnthatcher #LiveInLevis A photo posted by Levi's (@levis) on May 7, 2016 at 5:22pm PDT

And there you have it  your fun fashion history fact of the day! Now, perhaps when we wear jeans, we shouldnt think of cowboys and their pocket watches, but rather Italian sailors, in search of durable fabric.

The post Did you ever wonder why jeans are called jeans? Now we know appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Revenue Rose Again: Heres Why

(Continued from Prior Part)

Revenue falls 2% YoY

The revenue from Hewlett Packard Enterprises (HPE) Enterprise Services segment fell 2% YoY (year-over-year) in fiscal 2Q16 to $4.7 billion. It reported an operating profit of $317 million, or 6.7% of revenue. In the Enterprise Services segment, revenue from Infrastructure Technology Outsourcing, or ITO, fell 1% YoY. Revenue from Application and Business Services fell 3% YoY in fiscal 2Q16.

Driven by restructuring benefits and improving sales motion, HPEs Enterprise Services business is expected to continue its strong performance. Meg Whitman, CEO of HPE, stated, A great example of the deals we are winning is our recent selection from five other competitors for a 10-year $0.5 billion contract to provide IT services including infrastructure, mission critical systems, and applications to the U.S. Strategic Command.

HPEs Strategic Enterprise service is also gaining strength and delivered mid-double-digit growth YoY. On a constant currency basis, HPEs ITO segment rose YoY for the first time since fiscal 1Q12. The revenues of HPE and peer companies such as IBM (IBM), Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTSH), and Accenture (ACN) were negatively affected by a strong US dollar (UUP).

Improvement in operating margin

Hewlett Packard Enterprises operating profit in this segment rose 310 basis points YoY to 6.7%. This rise was primarily driven by productivity improvements in delivery and sales. HPE stated that the company is starting to benefit from improving location mix and increasing sold margins and add-on sales.

HPE is confident that the progress made on cost improvements, sales strength, and normal quarterly seasonality will help operating profit to reach close to 7% by the end of fiscal 2016.

HPEs Enterprise Services business will be merged with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), as discussed in the next part of this series.

Story continues

Continue to Next Part

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Paris (AFP) - World number one Novak Djokovic is poised to become the first man to win $100 million in prize money on Monday when he targets a place in the French Open quarter-finals for the 10th time.

Djokovic, chasing a first Roland Garros title to complete a career Grand Slam, tackles Spain's 14th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

The top seeded Serb has a 4-0 career lead over the 28-year-old Bautista Agut including a victory on clay in Madrid this season where the Spaniard won just three games.

Djokovic is also bidding to reach the quarter-finals for the 28th straight Grand Slam and take sole occupancy of second place ahead of Jimmy Connors for the most consecutive last-eight appearances at the majors.

With $99,673,404 banked in prize money at the start of Roland Garros, the 29-year-old Djokovic can cross the $100 million barrier by making the last-eight.

A place in the quarter-finals is worth 294,000 euros ($326,722) and that will just take the Serb into the $100,000,000 bracket.

Roger Federer is Djokovic's closest rival in the prize money stakes on $98,011,727 but the Swiss is sitting out Roland Garros through injury.

"I know that the top four guys (himself, Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray) that have been dominating the tour and winning most of the major titles in the last ten years or so will not stay there forever," cautioned Djokovic.

"New generations are coming up, and you can see already guys like Dominic Thiem, Borna Coric, Nick Kyrgios establishing themselves in the very top of the men's game.

"Can definitely expect to see those faces more in the future. How quick they can actually get to the top four of the world, it's a process. It's not like that's going to happen overnight or over two, three months.

"They need to play very well and consistently well and stay healthy throughout the entire year in order to challenge the top spots. Let's see if they can do that."

Story continues

Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych and former runner-up David Ferrer, the 11th seeded Spaniard, also meet Monday.

Ferrer leads their 12-year rivalry 8-6 although Berdych won the pair's most recent clash on clay in Madrid.

Belgian 12th seed David Goffin faces unpredictable Latvian Ernests Gulbis, a semi-finalist in 2014.

Goffin had never made the last-eight at a Grand Slam while world ranked 80 Gulbis has won six of his last seven meetings with top 20 players at the majors.

Austrian 13th seed Dominic Thiem faces Spain's Marcel Granollers with both men trying to make the last eight of a Slam for the first time.

Granollers reached the last-16 without hitting a ball when nine-time champion Nadal pulled out of the tournament with a wrist injury.

In the women's last-16, top seed and defending champion Serena Williams continues her bid for a record-equalling Open era 22nd Grand Slam title.

The 34-year-old takes on Ukraine's Elina Svitolina who is being advised in Paris by Justine Henin, one of Williams' former great rivals on the tour and a four-time French Open champion.

"That doesn't really matter. It's just really about going out there and playing your best," said Williams, shrugging off the Henin connection.

Spanish 12th seed Carla Suarez Navarro faces unseeded Yulia Putintseva also on Monday.

In-form Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens, who knocked out Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in the first round, faces America's Madison Keys, the 15th seed.

Venus Williams, who was runner-up to sister Serena in 2002, faces Swiss eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky, a semi-finalist last year.

Also Monday, two fourth round ties that were suspended when heavy rain started to fall late Sunday evening will be completed.

Second seed Agnieszka Radwanska was 6-2, 3-0 up on Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova and sixth seed Simona Halep of Romania was leading Australian veteran Samantha Stosur 5-3.
Dwayne Johnson has dropped new hints of his "Fast and Furious' character with a photo depicting a darker more intense version of Luke Hobbs in the next installment of the film franchise.

Johnson took to Instagram to release a black and white photo of Hobbs sporting a leather vest and pointy goatee.

"When you strip a man of all he has. All that's important to him. You force him to return to his roots.. and sometimes that's a very dangerous and twisted place," reads the accompanying caption.

"If I was going to return for another Fast and Furious I wanted to come in and disrupt the franchise in a cool way that got fans fired up and their blood pumping to see a new version of Hobbs and his Daddy's gotta go to work' mentality and set the table in a cool way for where the character goes in the future."

The eighth installment of the film has become the first Hollywood movie to film in Cuba since the embargo set in the 1960s.

Returning to the set is Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges and Kurt Russell.

Scott Eastwood and Charlize Theron will join as new characters.

"Fast 8" hits theaters April 14, 2017.
Cairo (AFP) - Egyptian prosecutors are investigating the death of a teenage girl during a female circumcision operation at a private hospital, health ministry and prosecution officials said Monday.

Seventeen-year-old Mayar Mohamed Mousa died in El Canal hospital on Sunday while under full anaesthesia in the province of Suez, said Lotfi Abdel-Samee, the health ministry undersecretary in the province.

"This is something that the law has prohibited," stressed Abdel-Samee.

Despite the ban in 2008, female genital mutilation (FGM) is still widespread in Egypt, especially in rural areas. It is practised among Muslims as well as Egypt's minority Christians.

The law led to the first prison sentence against a doctor in Egypt in January last year, with the girl's father in that case given a three-month suspended sentence.

On SUnday, Mousa's sister had just undergone the operation before she was sent in for surgery.

The girls' mother is a nurse, while their late father was a surgeon. The operation was being carried out by a registered female doctor, according to Abdel-Samee.

Authorities shut down the hospital on Monday after transferring patients to other hospitals as prosecutors questioned the hospital manager and medical staff involved in the operation, Abdel-Samee said.

They have also spoken to the mother, a prosecution official said.

The case was opened after a health inspector reported the circumstances of the girl's death.

Medical examiners have carried out an autopsy, and are due to report the cause of death, said Abdel-Samee.

While 200 million women and girls worldwide have been subjected to the practise, there have been major strides in Egypt, as well as Liberia, Burkina Faso, and Kenya against FGM, according to Claudia Cappa, the lead author of a February UN children's agency report on the issue.

"The latest figures from the Egypt Demographic and Health Survey show that were winning," the United Nations Development Programme said in a report last year.

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"Mothers attitudes are changing, too," UNDP said.

While 92 percent of mothers had undergone the procedure, only 35 percent of them "intend to circumcise their daughters," according to the UNDP report.

Victims of the procedure are left to cope with a range of consequences from bleeding and pain while urinating, extreme discomfort during sex, fatal complications in childbirth and deep psychological trauma.
DUBAI, May 30 (Reuters) - Egypt's Carbon Holdings has secured agreement with one of the four export credit agencies expected to provide financing worth between $4 billion and $5 billion for its massive Tahrir petrochemicals project, its chief executive said on Monday.

The $7 billion scheme at Ain Sokhna at the southern end of the Suez Canal will be one of the largest petrochemicals projects in Egypt. It is projected to increase by about 50 percent the amount of such products made by the North African country in the first 10 years after becoming operational.

The financing was expected to close by the end of 2015 and be provided by five agencies, but talks were put on hold because the Export-Import Bank of the United States (U.S. EXIM) couldn't lend new cash until its licence was renewed by Congress, according to Carbon Holdings CEO Basil El-Baz.

However, the U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation has now agreed to direct funding, Baz told Reuters in Dubai without stating for how much the agreement was worth.

"We are optimistic that we should be in a position to wrap this up this year," Baz said of the full finance package.

Carbon Holdings expects three other agencies to contribute to the 17-and-a-half-year debt facility, either through direct lending or guarantees for commercial bank loans. They are U.S. EXIM, Sace of Italy and UK Export Finance.

The start of Tahrir's construction has also been delayed from the timetable given last year. Baz said that work is now expected to begin at "the back end of this year" and last for about 48 months.

Societe Generale is advising on the Tahrir project, Baz said.

Other petrochemical projects with links to the main scheme have progressed much further. A polypropylene plant had been online since September and a $570 million ammonium nitrate facility is expected to be fully operational in July.

The chief executive was speaking as the company announced a $25 million investment in Carbon Holdings by the International Finance Corporation.

The transaction, aimed at developing Egypt's petrochemicals industry, could led to larger investments in Carbon Holdings and its projects, including around Tahrir, said Mouayed Makhlouf, IFC director for the Middle East and North Africa.

(Reporting by David French and Dahlia Nehme; Editing by David Goodman)
By Bruno Federowski SAO PAULO, May 30 (Reuters) - Latin American stocks and currencies seesawed on Monday on thin trading volume due to market holidays in the United States and the United Kingdom.

U.S. and U.K. markets were closed for the Memorial Day and spring bank holidays, respectively.

"Local markets get stale when U.S. markets are closed," said Joao Paulo de Gracia Correa, a trader with SLW brokerage in Brazil.

The Brazilian real rose 0.4 percent after weakening more than 2 percent last week, while the Mexican peso declined 0.2 percent.

Latin American markets fell on Friday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted the central bank could increase rates soon, reducing the allure of high-yielding bonds.

Concerns that interim Brazilian President Michel Temer could struggle to pass austerity measures in Congress helped drive the country's benchmark Bovespa stock index lower on Monday.

Shares of state-controlled oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA slipped 0.3 percent, tracking a decline in crude prices.

Shares of state-owned lender Banco do Brasil SA rose more than 1 percent after falling to an almost three-month low on Friday.

Brazilian Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said on Monday the government is not in a hurry to sell shares owned by the country's sovereign fund, including about 2 billion reais ($557 million) in the lender's stock.

Meirelles had said last week the government would consider dismantling the sovereign fund, triggering a sell-off in Banco do Brasil shares.

Key Latin American stock indexes and currencies at 1505 GMT: Stock indexes daily % YTD % change change Latest MSCI Emerging Markets 808.00 -0.04 1.78 MSCI LatAm 2060.69 0.1 12.5 Brazil Bovespa 48898.27 -0.31 12.80 Mexico IPC 46164.89 0.09 7.42 Chile IPSA 3953.57 0.16 7.43 Chile IGPA 19514.77 0.18 7.51 Argentina MerVal 12705.51 -0.17 8.82 Colombia IGBC 9674.23 -0.02 13.18 Venezuela IBC 15453.26 0.67 5.93 Currencies daily % YTD % change change Latest Brazil real 3.5947 0.41 9.80 Mexico peso 18.4820 -0.19 -6.77 Chile peso 689.2 -0.51 2.97 Colombia peso 3061.3 0.22 3.53 Peru sol 3.361 -0.33 1.58 Argentina peso (interbank) 13.9000 0.14 -6.60 Argentina peso (parallel) 14.63 0.27 -2.46 (Reporting by Bruno Federowski; Additional reporting by Paula Arend Laier; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Hawkinsville Missionary Baptist Church, located at 7463 Pinewood Dr., will host a free symposium on Saturday, June 4, from 10 a.m. to noon. There will be two presenters.

Dr. L. K. Pendleton, Senior Pastor of St. Mary's Road United Methodist Church, is author of the book "Say You Want to Be Married? No You Don't!" It is a contemplative look at marriage. Dr.Pendleton served as an advisor to Black Women in Theological Leadership at ITC and for women in theological leadership at Emory Universitys Candler School of Theology.

The second presenter will be Vincent Watkins, speaking on "For Winners Only". When losing is not an option, For Winners Only is your guide to winning! He is the founder and CEO of The Watkins Group, Inc. His work experience includes the campaigns of Presidential candidates, U. S. Senators, Congressmen, Fortune 500 companies, Steve Forbes, CNN, Jet, MSNBC, State Departments of Education and other numerous federal and local candidates and agencies.

This is a free symposium. Call Jacqueline Lyons at Hawkinsville Missionary Baptist Church, 423-892-1924 to register, Tuesday-Thursday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Wildlife officials in Thailand have seized some of the more than 100 tigers held at a Buddhist temple in response to allegations of mistreatment of the animals.

Six tigers were tranquilized and removed Monday from Wat Pa Luangta Maha Bua Yannasampanno, which is known as Tiger Temple, according to animal-welfare advocates. The temple is a popular tourist spot in Kanchanaburi province, where visitors are allowed to play with tigers and cubs and even take selfies with them. Government officials plan to clear the temple of all tigers, and will spend the next week removing the remaining 131 animals. The tigers will be transported to government sanctuaries elsewhere in the country.

For years, former temple workers and animal-welfare groups have alleged that the tigers have been abusedbeaten, fed poorly, and housed in small concrete cages with limited time outside. Some conservationists say the monks have illegally bred and trafficked the animals. Temple officials have denied the allegations.

Recommended: Run, Marco, Runfor Senate

Mondays raid was led by Thailands national parks, wildlife, and plant conservation department, which obtained a warrant from a provincial court to seize the tigers, according to The Nation, an English-language newspaper in Thailand. Officials had previously seized 10 tigers in raids in January and February. The department granted the temple a zoo license in April, but appeared this month to reverse course.

We have a court warrant this time, unlike previous times, when we only asked for the temples cooperation, which did not work, Adisorn Nuchdamrong, deputy director-general of the national parks department, told Reuters Monday. International pressure concerning illegal wildlife trafficking is also part of why were acting now.

The Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, an animal-rights group based in Phetchaburi province, located south of Kanchanaburi, documented the interaction between the monks and department officials:

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The Nation described high tension at the temple as wildlife department staff, local police, Thai armed forces, and members of animal-rights groups descended on the grounds. At first, the temples monks denied entry to officials. Later, monks unchained several tigers and allowed them to roam freely, which animal-rights activists said was an attempt to hinder operations to confiscate them.

More than 300 officials remained at the temple overnight to ensure the remaining tigers safety, the AP reported.

The New York Times in May reported temple officials say the tiger attraction earns $3 million a year in ticket revenue, while government officials say it brings in $5.7 million.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Top officials in Brussels and Berlin oppose a Chinese takeover bid of German industrial robotics supplier Kuka, a newspaper reported Monday.

"Kuka is a successful company in a strategic sector that is of key importance for the digital future of European industry," European Digital Economy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told the Frankfurter Allgmeine Zeitung.

Oettinger also questioned whether China would allow a foreign company to take a stake in such a strategic company and said "I'm afraid not".

The German politician added that "since there was no call for help to China, it is reasonable to ask whether a European solution -- such as an offer from one of the other two major shareholders, or capital input from other European companies -- would not be the better solution".

Chinese appliance giant Midea -- best known for its washing machines and air conditioners -- last week launched a takeover offer for Kuka.

It is seeking at least a 30 percent stake in a deal that values Kuka at 4.6 billion euros ($5.2 billion). Midea already holds a 13.5 percent stake in Kuka.

German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel had also voiced concern about the proposed deal at a cabinet meeting last week, the daily reported in an excerpt of an article to be published Tuesday.

On the record, Gabriel's ministry says the government does not involve itself in business affairs, said the report.

Kuka, based in the southern German city of Augsburg, describes itself as one of the world's leading manufacturers of industrial robots but also offers automated systems for manufacturing.

Midea is a leading consumer appliances maker as well as China's biggest producer of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems. Its global turnover was more than $22 billion last year, according to its website.
EDINBURGH, May 30 (Reuters) - Former Bank of England governor Mervyn King has criticised arguments in the debate over Britain's European Union membership that he said "insult the intelligence of voters," British media reported on Monday.

King, who steered UK monetary policy for 10 years to 2013, was speaking at Britain's Hay Festival, an arts event.

Britons will decide on June 23 whether to leave or stick with the EU, with important implications for the future of Britain's economic and trade relations and for the EU itself.

"Both sides have been engaged in a public relations campaign which insults the intelligence of the voters by making wildly exaggerated claims," King said, decrying the debate as a missed opportunity. He declined to say which way he was voting.

"The government has to take some responsibility for setting the tone of this," he was reported as saying.

The campaign has been characterised by sniping. Conservative "Out" campaigner Boris Johnson has said the EU is following the path of Adolf Hitler and Napoleon by trying to create a doomed European super state, while one of his opponents retorted that he feared for Johnson's judgment.

King said he believed that Prime Minister David Cameron, campaigning for a "remain" vote, would have difficulty uniting his party after the vote. This weekend one Conservative lawmaker called on the prime minister to step down after the vote.

UK lawmakers said last week that both sides had made false claims about the merits of staying or leaving, setting a test for the public's patience.

They said there would probably be a short-term economic cost if Britain were to leave the EU, echoing the views of most economists and the Bank of England.

Cameron held a pro-EU rally on Monday in which he shared a cross-party platform with London's newly-elected mayor Sadiq Khan, a member of the opposition Labour Party.

Their joint appearance set aside the animosity of the mayoral election campaign just a few weeks ago in which Cameron's party tried to link Khan to extremism.

(Reporting by Elisabeth O'Leary; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Alastair Macdonald and Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's plan to meet President Vladimir Putin in June in Russia on Monday reignited a debate about ties with Moscow as the bloc weighs renewing sanctions on the Kremlin. Diplomats in Brussels still expect the 28-nation bloc to extend - most likely for six months - the energy, financial and defense sanctions against Russia, which were introduced over Moscow's role in the conflict in Ukraine and expire in July. But they said that intensifying high-level contacts with Russia two years after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine signals the EU may soften its policy in the second half of the year. While several EU leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel have visited Russia since the annexation in March 2014 and the backing of separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, the trip will be Juncker's first as Europe's chief executive. Putin was also in Athens last week. It will come as the 28-strong EU tries to preserve unity on sanctions, which have been questioned by Hungary, Greece and Italy. The United States insists they must remain in place until Russia fulfils its part of the Minsk peace plan. Lithuania and Latvia, former Soviet republics that are now EU and NATO members very wary of Russia, were critical. "A visit by an official of this level always carries a symbolic value. I don't see any reasons why we would need to symbolically demonstrate to Russia that we're seeking contact," Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told Reuters. His Latvian counterpart, Edgars Rinkevics said Juncker should avoid creating "an impression made that relations between Russia and the EU will hold the framework of 'business as usual' by ignoring the events of 2014". Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said Juncker would "convey to the Russian leadership ... the EU's perspective regarding the current state of the EU-Russian relations". "DESIRE FOR DIALOGUE" Schinas reiterated EU sanctions policy on Russia, saying that Juncker's June 16 visit was not inconsistent with it. EU leaders are due to decide at their June 28-29 summit on whether to extend the sanctions. "The duration of sanctions is clearly linked to Russia's complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine's sovereignty," Schinas said, referring to the stalled peace accord, which the EU says must be implemented for sanctions to be eased. He said Juncker and Putin would meet during the economic forum in St Petersburg but declined to say whether there would be a separate face-to-face meeting. The Kremlin welcomed Juncker's visit, but said it was unlikely to be a breakthrough. "The most positive element to this trip is that it shows a readiness and a desire for dialogue aimed at getting consensus on those issues where we still have strong disagreements," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Juncker, a former Luxembourg prime minister, has called for a "practical relationship" with Moscow and last November wrote to Putin suggesting closer trade ties between the EU and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union. He has at times been criticized by EU members more hawkish on Russia. Germany and France, on the other hand, want dialogue to avoid a further worsening of ties with Moscow, Europe's main energy provider. Moscow may have given EU states advocating sanctions relief more arguments by last week returning to Kiev jailed Ukrainian military pilot Nadezhda Savchenko in a prisoner exchange welcomed by Western politicians. An EU diplomat said on Monday that, while this may help "general mood" in ties with Europe, the economic sanctions were still most likely to be prolonged by six months from July. EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said earlier this month that a broader review of the bloc's policy toward Russia was looming in the later in the year. Mogherini will also present in June a new "Global Strategy" for the bloc. The EU diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity said the document would name Russia as a "strategic challenge" but reiterate calls for limited engagement in areas of common interest. (Additional reporting by Robin Emmott in Brussels, Dmitry Solovyov, Polina Devitt and Andrew Osborn in Moscow, Andrius Sytas in Vilnius, Gederts Gelzis in Riga; Editing by Alison Williams)
Brussels (AFP) - European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker will press EU leaders at a summit next month to back a historic free trade deal with the United States despite growing scepticism about the pact, a spokesman said Monday.

Washington and Brussels want the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) completed this year before US President Barack Obama leaves office, but it has faced mounting opposition especially in France and Germany.

"If we are to deliver on this commitment we have to make sure that we are all rowing in the same direction," European Commission spokesman Daniel Rosario told a daily briefing.

"President Juncker feels that the time has come to ask the heads of states and government of the European Union to have a new discussion on where we are and where we want to get with this negotiation," he added.

"At the June European Council (summit), President Juncker will ask the leaders of the EU to reconfirm the commission's mandate to conduct these talks."

Despite mounting opposition to the deal and the slow pace on the TTIP talks since they began in 2013, Juncker "reaffirmed his trust and confidence" in the EU's chief negotiator, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem, Rosario said.

Polls show that Germans are growing increasingly wary of the proposed pact despite Chancellor Angela Merkel's continued support.

In France, President Francois Hollande said earlier this month that Paris would reject it "at this stage".

There is deep suspicion in Europe that the deal will erode ecological and health regulations to the advantage of big business.

A poll said nearly two thirds of French people don't trust the government to defend the country's interests in the negotiations.

TTIP aims to topple regulatory and tariff barriers to trade and investment.
By Alastair Macdonald and Gabriela Baczynska BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will attend a high-profile economic forum in Russia in June and meet President Vladimir Putin there, officials said on Monday, as the EU weighs whether to renew economic sanctions against Moscow. While several EU leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel have visited Russia since it annexed Crimea in 2014, the trip will be Juncker's first as Europe's chief executive and has already stirred debate on the EU's fraught ties with Moscow. Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said Juncker would "use this opportunity to convey to the Russian leadership, as well as the wider audience, the EU's perspective regarding the current state of the EU-Russian relations". Schinas reiterated EU sanctions policy on Russia, saying that Juncker's June 16 visit was not "inconsistent" with it. EU leaders are due to decide at their June 28-29 summit on the sanctions, imposed over Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis. "The duration of sanctions is clearly linked to Russia's complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine's sovereignty," Schinas said, referring to a stalled peace accord. He said Juncker and Putin would meet during the St Petersburg event but declined to say whether there would be a separate face-to-face meeting. The Kremlin welcomed Juncker's visit, but said it was unlikely to lead to a breakthrough. "The most positive element to this trip is that it shows a readiness and a desire for dialogue aimed at getting consensus on those issues where we still have strong disagreements," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Juncker has been criticised by some European officials who take a hard line upholding economic sanctions imposed by the EU and United States on Russia following its annexation of Crimea and support for Ukrainian rebels. Juncker, a former Luxembourg premier, has called for a "practical relationship" with Moscow. That echoes the stance at NATO, where European allies such as Germany and France say dialogue is critical to avoiding a worsening of ties with Russia, Europe's main energy provider and a nuclear power that is increasingly at odds with the West. STRAINED UNITY But Lithuania, a former Soviet republic that is now an EU and NATO member and very wary of Russia, was critical. "A visit by an official of this level always carries a symbolic value. I don't see any reasons why we would need to symbolically demonstrate to Russia that we're seeking contact," Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told Reuters. "Meeting only for meeting's sake will only serve as a smoke screen for those who want to resume unacceptable policies." Juncker's trip comes as the 28-strong EU tries to preserve unity on sanctions, which have been questioned by Hungary, Greece and Italy. The United States insists they must remain in place until Russia fulfils its part of the Minsk peace plan. Despite Putin's visit to Athens last week, EU diplomats say the sanctions on Russia's energy, financial and defence sectors will be renewed from July. However, Moscow may have improved its standing in Europe by freeing jailed Ukrainian military pilot Nadezhda Savchenko last week in a prisoner exchange welcomed by Western politicians. In March, EU foreign ministers reiterated that a change in sanctions was conditional on the Minsk deal. But they also supported "selective engagement with Russia" and a "need to engage in people-to-people contacts". Last November Juncker wrote to Putin, suggesting closer trade ties between the EU and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union once a ceasefire had been implemented in Ukraine. The Kremlin dismissed the idea. (Additional reporting by Robin Emmott and Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels, Dmitry Solovyov, Polina Devitt and Andrew Osborn in Moscow, Andrius Sytas in Vilnius, Editing by Gareth Jones)
Nepali rescuers abandoned plans to retrieve the bodies of two Indian climbers killed on Mount Everest on Monday, hoping instead to bring them down next year, an expedition operator said.

The two men -- identified as Paresh Nath and Goutam Ghosh -- were near the summit of the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) mountain on 21 May when they lost contact with the rest of their team.

Rescuers found Nath's body last Friday near the South Col, located at an altitude of 8,000 metres and marking the beginning of the "death zone".

Ghosh's body was also spotted the same day on the Balcony -- a mid-way stop between the South Col and the summit, before strong winds forced back rescuers, Wangchu Sherpa of Trekking Camp Nepal told AFP.

With the short window for climbing on the mountain now closing and bad weather setting in, rescuers said they could not recover the corpses.

"Rescue workers have called off their operations to bring back the dead bodies of Indian climbers Goutam Ghosh and Paresh Nath because of bad weather," Sherpa said.

"We hope to recover (them)... next season."

The cause of their deaths has not been established. But the "death zone" is notorious for its difficult terrain and thin air, as low levels of oxygen raise the risk of altitude sickness.

The missing climbers were part of a team of four, one of whom -- Subhash Pal -- died after falling ill on Sunday while the fourth member, a woman, was rescued and taken to hospital.

Subhash Pal was the third mountaineer to die on Everest this season after an Australian and a Dutch climber succumbed to altitude sickness. All three bodies were transported to Kathmandu last week.

Some 400 people, including more than 150 foreigners, have summited Everest this season after two consecutive years of deadly disasters that led to almost all attempts being abandoned.

Hundreds fled Everest last year after an earthquake-triggered avalanche at base camp killed 18 people.

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Only one climber reached the top in 2014 after an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides that year.

Despite the risks and recent disasters, Everest's allure remains undimmed, with Nepal issuing 289 permits to foreigners for this year's spring climbing season.

Mountaineering is a major revenue-earner for the impoverished Himalayan nation.

The successful summits this season is expected to boost the industry, which was left reeling after an earthquake last year killed almost 9,000 people nationwide.
Dakar (AFP) - Key dates from former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre's overthrow to his life sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity over his brutal 1982-1990 rule, in a landmark trial in Senegal.

- Exile in Senegal -

-- December 1990: Habre is overthrown by rebel troops led by Idriss Deby and flees to Senegal. His regime is accused of repressing, torturing or killing opponents.

- Investigation -

-- May 1992: A Chadian commission of inquiry says Habre's regime killed more than 40,000 people, many of them political opponents and from rival ethnic groups.

- Charges -

-- January 2000: Seven Chadians file suit against Habre in Dakar for crimes against humanity and acts of torture. A judicial inquiry is opened.

-- February 2000: Habre is charged with "complicity in acts of torture" by a Senegalese judge.

-- November 2000: Chadians living in Belgium file charges against Habre in Brussels.

-- November 2005: Habre is detained after Belgium issues an international arrest warrant against him for crimes against humanity. Senegal's Appeals Court says it has no jurisdiction to rule on the extradition request and he is freed.

- Sentenced in Chad -

-- August 2008: Habre and 11 rebel leaders are sentenced to death in absentia in Chad for crimes against humanity.

-- June 2012: New Senegalese President Macky Sall says Habre will be tried in Senegal and rules out his extradition.

- Special tribunal set up -

-- August 2012: Senegal and the African Union sign an accord setting up a special court, the Extraordinary African Chambers, in Dakar.

- Arrested and charged -

-- June 2013: Habre is arrested and charged by the special court with torture, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Judges also order that he be held pending trial.

- Trial -

-- July 2015: Habre trial opens in Dakar.

-- February 2015: Trial wraps up with defence lawyers calling for an acquittal and prosecutors seeking a life sentence.

- Verdict -

-- May 30, 2016: Habre gets a life sentence for war crimes, crimes against humanity and a slew of other charges, including rape. The verdict marks the first time a country has convicted a former leader of another nation for rights abuses.
(QUETTA, Pakistan)  The family of a driver who was killed alongside Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan has filed a case against U.S. officials, seeking to press murder charges, police said Sunday.

Mansour had entered Pakistan from Iran using a false name and fake Pakistani identity documents on May 21, when his car was targeted by a U.S. drone. The driver, who was also killed, was later identified as Mohammed Azam.

The police filed a case on behalf of Azams family, police official Abdul Wakil Mengal said.

It was not immediately clear what legal avenues the family can realistically pursue.

In the case documents, his brother Mohammed Asim describes Azam as an innocent man and a father of four who was the familys sole breadwinner. I want justice, Asim said, according to the case file.

Read More: Heres What We Know About The New Taliban Leader

In our view, both the (officials) who ordered and those who executed the drone strike are responsible for (killing) a man who had nothing to do with terrorism, who was a non-combatant, Azams uncle, Allah Nazar, told The AssociatedPress.

Nazar said his nephews death had broken the family. He said that as well as caring for his children, Azam was supporting a disabled brother and his mother, who is blind.

I have got a simple question to ask the American authorities, thats: how will this family survive? Nazar said.

He said the family was seeking financial compensation from American and Pakistani authorities to support Azams family and fund his childrens education.

Pakistan condemned the U.S. drone strike, describing it as a violation of its sovereignty.

On Sunday Pakistans interior ministry announced that a DNA test confirmed that Mansour had been killed in the U.S.drone attack. American and Afghan officials had already confirmed Mansours death, but Islamabad had declined to do so before the DNA test results.

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Earlier this week, the Afghan Taliban selected a religious hard-liner, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, as their new head.

___

Associated Press writer Asif Shahzad in Islamabad contributed to this report.
Firefall will be performing at Riverbend Music Festival on Sunday, June 12 at 4:30 p.m.Review of FirefallFor founder Jock Bartley, Firefall is a 30 year labor of love. Their layered harmonies backed by driving rhythms transcends many genres from rock to country to AC and brought the band platinum and gold success with such hits as You Are The Woman, Strange Way and Just Remember I Love You. Other major Firefall radio hits include Cinderella, Goodbye I Love You, Livin Aint Livin and Mexico.Extensive touring with Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, Chicago, America and many others.Firefall's connection to the pioneering country rock bands is at once direct, convoluted, and fascinating. The group's roots can be directly traced back to middle '60s to The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield, who were themselves influenced by folk luminaries like Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. In late l967, country rock godfather Gram Parsons bailed out of his International Submarine Band and took off with Roger McGuinn, Chris Hillman, Michael Clarke and The Byrds. At around the same time Richie Furay broke away from Stephen Stills, Neil Young and The Buffalo Springfield to form Poco with Jim Mesina, Rusty Young, Randy Meisner and George Grantham. These two groups gave birth to the musical genre that would soon be called 'country rock.'
By Christine Kim and Se Young Lee SEOUL (Reuters) - St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Monday global markets appear to be "well-prepared" for a summer interest rate hike from the Fed, although he did not specify a date for the policy move. "My sense is that markets are well-prepared for a possible rate increase globally, and that this is not too surprising given our liftoff from December and the policy of the committee which has been to try to normalize rates slowly and gradually over time," Bullard told a news conference after speaking at an academic conference in Seoul. "So my ideal is that if all goes well this will come off very smoothly." Bullard added a rebound in U.S. GDP growth seems to be materializing in the second quarter, but reserved his opinion on whether the Fed should hike in June or July for the next policy meeting at the U.S. central bank. His comments followed revised data on Friday that showed first quarter growth in the U.S. was not as weak as initially expected. Responding to the GDP data, economists said strong income growth, together with signs the economy was picking up steam in the second quarter, could give the Federal Reserve ammunition to raise interest rates as early as next month. Answering a question on whether he thought U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump would bring change to monetary policy if elected, Bullard said the Fed was independent and did not follow any particular political prescription. "I don't think a change in the White House either way will affect Fed policy," he said. "My hope is that neither campaign is interested in politicizing the Fed." Meanwhile, Bullard noted he had been critical of the Fed's "dot plot" summaries of policymakers rate outlooks recently, saying they may be giving too much forward guidance, removing the Fed's ability to make data-dependent decisions. The dollar rallied against Asian currencies early on Monday after the revised GDP data and on Fed Chair Janet Yellen's comments on Friday that a rate hike in the U.S. in coming months would be appropriate. The Korean won extended losses after Bullard's comments, trading down 0.9 percent against the dollar as of 0142 GMT (09:42 p.m. EDT). The Fed most recently raised interest rates in December last year, which was the first rate hike in nearly a decade. (Reporting by Christine Kim and Se Young Lee; Editing by Eric Meijer)
BAMAKO (Reuters) - Five United Nations peacekeepers from Togo were killed and one other was seriously injured in an ambush in central Mali on Sunday, the United Nations said. The soldiers of the U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) were in a convoy which was attacked 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of Sevare, the U.N. said. No group has taken responsibility for the attack. It came 10 days after five MINUSMA peacekeepers from Chad were killed in an ambush in the northern region of Kidal. Two days ago five Malian soldiers were killed near the town of Gao. "I condemn in the strongest terms this despicable crime," said MINUSMA head Mahamat Saleh Annadif. MINUSMA and French forces have been stationed in northern Mali for three years since separatists joined jihadists to seize the region from the government in Bamako. The militants have staged a series of high profile attacks in the past year, mainly in the north of the country, but also in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. A peace accord signed last year was meant to bring stability to the region, but attacks against the U.N. mission, Malian military and civilians are still frequent. (Reporting By Adama Diarra and Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
(DAKAR)  Chads former dictator Hissene Habre was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment for abuses during his time in power, Judge Gberdao Gustave Kam said Monday at the end of the trial that began in July 2015.

Whoops of joy and tears greeted the judges ruling from scores of Habres prisoners and their supporters who hugged each other in the courtroom.

On the other hand, Habres supporters cheered him as he walked calmly out of court surrounded by heavy security. He extended his hands to his supporters and then pumped his fist in the air as they shouted and clapped for him.

Habre was found guilty of crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture, including sex crimes and the rape of a woman.

Habre was convicted of being responsible for thousands of deaths and tortures in prisons during his rule from 1982 to 1990. A 1992 Chadian Truth Commission accused Habres government of systematic torture, saying that 40,000 people died during his rule. It placed particular blame on his political police force.

Habres conviction for these horrific crimes after 25 years is a huge victory for his Chadian victims, without whose tenacity this trial never would have happened. This verdict sends a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalize their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end, said Reed Brody, counsel for Human Rights Watch who has been involved in the case for more than 15 years.

Habres conviction signals that no leader is above the law, and that no woman or girl is below it  This is the first time in history that a former head of state has been convicted in an international trial of personally committing rape, he said. The accusations of rape came out during witness testimony at the trial.

Habres trial by the Extraordinary African Chambers in the Senegalese courts began in July last year. It is the first trial in which the courts of one country prosecuted the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes. More than 90 witnesses testified.

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Habres lawyer Mounir Ballal said he will appeal the verdict. He has 15 days.

A second set of hearings to determine damages for the more than 4,000 registered civil parties will take place in the coming days.

Habre, who has lived in Senegals capital, Dakar, since fleeing Chad in 1990, has denounced his trial as politically motivated. He and his supporters disrupted proceedings several times with shouting and singing. He refused legal representation but the court appointed him Senegalese lawyers.

Chads current government, led by President Idriss Deby, who served as Habres military adviser before pushing him from power, supported the trial.

The trial of Habre was forged by many of those who had been jailed by Habres government or lost family members, and who campaigned for his prosecution for more than 15 years.

Habre was first indicted by a Senegalese judge in 2000, but legal twists and turns over a decade saw the case go to Belgium and then finally back to Senegal after unwavering pursuit by the survivors.

In 2001, the police forces archives were discovered on the floor of its headquarters in Chad, records which went back to Habres rule and mention more than 12,000 victims of Chads detention network.

The extraordinary court was formed by Senegal and the African Union to try Habre for the crimes that took place during his rule.
By Diadie Ba DAKAR (Reuters) - Former Chad president Hissene Habre, a Cold War ally of the West, was convicted on Monday of war crimes and crimes against humanity for ordering the killing and torture of thousands of political opponents during his eight-year rule. The verdict capped a 16-year battle by victims and rights campaigners to bring the former strongman to justice in Senegal, where he fled after being toppled in a 1990 coup in his impoverished central African nation. Habre, 73, was sentenced to life in prison by the Special African Chamber (CAE), a tribunal created in 2013 by Senegal and the African Union. He was also convicted of rape. Dressed in white robes with dark sunglasses and a head scarf covering most of his face, Habre was defiant after his conviction and sentence were announced, raising his arms and shouting to his supporters as he was led from the courtroom. Many, including some of his victims present in the courtroom, cheered in celebration. "After years of struggle and many setbacks on the way to justice, this verdict is as historic as it was hard-won," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. "In a world scarred by a constant stream of atrocities, the ramifications of this verdict are global." Habre has refused to recognise the CAE trying him in Senegal and was at times had to be forced to appear in court, delaying proceedings. The tribunal is supported by the African Union but is part of Senegal's justice system, making it the first time in modern history that one country's domestic courts have prosecuted the former leader of another country on rights charges. Other such cases have been tried by international tribunals. The case centred on whether Habre, who was feted at the White House in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan after expelling Libyan forces from Chad, ordered the large-scale assassination and torture of political opponents and ethnic rivals. A 1992 Chadian Truth Commission accused Habre's government of up to 40,000 political murders as well as systematic torture, mostly by his intelligence police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS). "NEVER AGAIN" An investigation by Human Rights Watch in 2001 unearthed thousands of documents in the abandoned DDS headquarters updating Habre on the status of detainees. During the trial, a court handwriting expert confirmed margin notes on one document to be Habre's. During the trial, many of his victims testified in Habre's presence, recounting at length the acts of torture to which they were submitted. Presiding Judge Gustave Kam recounted how Habre was directly involved in interrogations and torture, sometimes inflicting the the abuse himself or ordering it by phone or walkie talkie. "Habre's conviction for these horrific crimes after 25 years is a huge victory for his Chadian victims," said Reed Brody, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, who helped investigate the crimes. "The verdict sends a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalize their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end." Habre's lawyers now have two weeks to launch an appeal. The trial was seen as a boost for African countries who say they should be free to charge their own, at a time of growing criticism of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for indicting only Africans. "We are proud that this trial took place on African soil. Never this type of terror again," said Clement Abaifouta, president of the Chadian Victims Association (AVCRP), whose aim was to bring Habre to justice. (Reporting By Diadie Ba; Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Joe Bavier and Mark Heinrich)
* Senn died on Friday, six months after leaving Zurich

* Comes less then three years after finance chief's suicide (Adds details and reaction)

By Paul Arnold and Michael Shields

ZURICH, May 30 (Reuters) - Former Zurich Insurance boss Martin Senn has committed suicide six months after leaving the company under a cloud, a tragedy that comes less than three years after Zurich's finance chief took his own life.

Senn, 59, shot himself at his family's Alpine resort home in Klosters, Swiss newspaper Blick reported. He had quit as chief executive of Zurich in December following a series of profit warnings and a botched takeover of British rival RSA.

"Martin Senn's family has informed us that Martin committed suicide last Friday," the company said in a statement on Monday, adding it was "stunned and deeply shaken".

His death follows the suicide of Zurich's finance chief Pierre Wauthier in August 2013, which brought into sharp focus the pressures facing senior corporate executives in Switzerland and elsewhere.

Wauthier, 53, killed himself after writing a suicide note addressed "To whom it may concern" in which he described becoming demoralised by what he called a new, more aggressive tone at Zurich under then-Chairman Josef Ackermann.

Ackermann, a former head of Deutsche Bank, denied any wrongdoing but quit soon after Wauthier's death.

Weeks before Wauthier's death, Swisscom Chief Executive Carsten Schloter had taken his own life.

Senn had been CEO since 2010 at Zurich, which he joined after stints with Swiss banks in Asia. He was married to a Korean musician and had two grown children.

Acquaintances, who asked not to be named given the sensitivity of the situation, described him as withdrawn and reclusive following his departure from the company, which Zurich said at the time was by mutual agreement.

"He wasn't doing so well," a former colleague said, but added that Senn had not given the impression of being suicidal.

One person close to Senn said he had taken Wauthier's death hard.

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The rate of suicide has been falling in most countries in Europe since 2000, according to Ulrich Hegerl of the German Depression Foundation, a charity to prevent suicide.

He said a suicide sometimes encourages other people to do the same. "If someone you know and respect commits suicide, then there is a risk in depression of a copycat suicide," he added.

Zurich Insurance paid Senn 2.5 million Swiss francs in 2015, its annual report showed in March.

His failure to meet performance targets, in an insurance sector that has struggled since the financial crisis, meant he missed out on an extra stock payout.

(Additional reporting by Angelika Gruber, John Miller and Oliver Hirt in Zurich; Editing by John O'Donnell and Pravin Char)
Zurich (AFP) - The former head of Zurich Insurance Group, Martin Senn, has committed suicide, the company said Monday, nearly three years after the company's chief financial officer took his own life.

"It is with great shock and sadness that we must inform you of the sudden death of Martin Senn," the company said of the 59-year-old who served as chief executive from 2010 until last December.

"His family informed us that Martin took his life last Friday," it said, lamenting the loss of "not only a highly valued former CEO and colleague but also a close friend."

"Our thoughts are with his bereaved family and friends, to whom we extend our deepest sympathies," the company said, adding it would provide no further comments on the tragedy out of respect for Senn and his family.

Senn's suicide comes nearly three years after Zurich Insurance's finance chief Pierre Wauthier killed himself in August 2013, prompting a shake-up at Switzerland's largest insurance provider.

The company's powerful chairman at the time, former head of Deutsche Bank Josef Ackermann, resigned just days after Wauthier was found dead amid speculation that the two had fallen out over the group's accounts.

Ackermann said he had decided to quit because he had reasons to believe that Wauthier's family felt he should take a share of the responsiblity, though he underlined that any allegations were unfounded.

Two independent probes meanwhile concluded Wauthier, a 53-year-old French and British citizen who had served as CFO since 2011, had not been subjected to any "undue or inappropriate pressure", and that "the financial figures were confirmed as appropriate", the insurer said later.
GABORONE (Reuters) - Four mine workers were killed and six others critically injured in an accident at Botswana's state-owned BCL copper mine, the minister of energy and minerals said on Monday. The ten employees were travelling underground in a mine shaft elevator on Sunday evening when the accident happened, Minster of Minerals and Energy Kitso Mokaila said in statement. "The ministry has initiated investigations on the accident to get to the root cause and will contract an independent safety auditor to look into the safety of BCL mine, Mokaila said. Only one of the mine's four shafts was affected. BCL is the country's only operational copper mine after two others were closed last year due to a slump in global commodity prices. The mine employs over 6000 people and produced 31,000 tonnes of copper matte and 139,000 tonnes of nickel concentrate in 2015. In April the mine said it planned to raise $250 million through a bond open to both local and foreign players to finance acquisitions. (Writing by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Joe Brock)
The Photographic Society of Chattanooga will present Steve Zigler on Thursday, June 16.

"Mr. Zigler is a photographer, artist, scientist and overall creative person. Steve got his start in photography at age 10 when his uncle gave him a 35mm Pentax Spotmatic, which he still has today," organizers said. "He currently works in a community hospital with PET scanning. Steve is an avid outdoorsman, and resides in Knoxville."

Mr. Ziglers program will be Night Photography. The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. Visitors are always welcome.

For beginners or photographers that want to get their camera off of automatic, join the Boot Camp at 6 p.m. The topic for the discussion is My Images are not Sharp: 1) Hand holding techniques, 2) Tripod, 3) More Light, 4) Image exposure tools & 5) Post production.



The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. at the St. John United Methodist Church, 3921 Murray Hills Dr.

For more information call 423-344-5643 or e-mail David Temples at president@chattanoogaphoto.org. For more information about the Photographic Society of Chattanooga, visit http://chattanoogaphoto.org.
By Tom Polansek and Greg Roumeliotis

(Reuters) - "There is nothing there."

Monsanto Co President Brett Begemann uttered those words last week to a small group of investors and a Reuters reporter when asked how the world's largest seed company he helps lead might fit with German drugs and crop chemicals group Bayer AG.

Those four words, said on the sidelines of a New York conference, set off a series of events leading to the disclosure of Bayer's confidential, $62 billion bid for Monsanto, the largest all-cash corporate takeover offer on record.

Bayer had sent a confidential acquisition proposal to Monsanto on May 10. Media reports surfaced two days later that Bayer was considering a bid.

Initially, neither company would comment on whether any talks were taking place - a common practice for many corporations that prefer to negotiate deals in private and only tell Wall Street if they manage to come to terms.

But Begemann appeared to go a step further than simply declining to comment at the May 18 conference. Monsanto's securities lawyer was concerned that his reply could be interpreted as a denial that any talks were going on, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has strict disclosure rules to protect investors from being misled by companies. To avoid triggering SEC scrutiny, according to the source, Monsanto issued a statement a few hours after Begemann's comment to acknowledge that Bayer had approached the company about a possible takeover.

Bayer soon followed with its own statement. The negotiations have since been subject to intense investor scrutiny that has weighed on Bayer's deliberations over how much it can pay, according to sources with knowledge of the talks.

The SEC declined to comment on whether it is looking into Begemann's remark.

Monsanto and Bayer also declined to comment, and Monsanto did not make Begemann available for comment. His remark was characterized by sources close to Monsanto as an "honest mistake."

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Begemann came "close to a violation but probably not enough" for the SEC to bring a case, because his answer was open to interpretation, said Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University in Michigan.

Begemann's statement could be interpreted to mean that Monsanto and Bayer had not come to a definitive agreement, Henning added.

CHARM OFFENSIVE

Bayer shares, which fell modestly after the initial media reports, dropped as much as 10 percent the day after the company confirmed the takeover approach, as investors fretted over the impact of such an acquisition on its strategy and balance sheet. Some of Bayer shareholders spoke out against doing a deal.

To address those investor concerns, Bayer on Monday unveiled the terms: it had offered $62 billion in cash for Monsanto, and it would finance 25 percent of the bid primarily through a rights offering that would dilute existing shareholders.

Before Monsanto publicly responded, Bayer embarked on a highly unusual investor charm offensive, launching a website and holding presentations. Chief Executive Werner Baumann also gave several media interviews.

"Because of the Monsanto Presidents remark, Bayers CEO now has to fight a battle on two fronts, negotiating a deal with Monsanto while also trying to keep his shareholders onboard," said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

"It can be an easier pitch to investors when they know they can no longer influence negotiations, and a deal is presented as fait accompli," he said.

On Tuesday, Monsanto rejected Bayer's offer but agreed to hold further talks with Bayer to see if they can agree on better terms. The two companies will now try to carry out negotiations privately, without making further statements until there is an outcome, according to the sources.

INVESTOR FEEDBACK MIXED

Though the negotiations continued after Begemann's comments, some sources close to Bayer said the company felt more restricted on how much more money it can offer Monsanto, given the investor feedback it received. By Friday, Bayer shares ended down 11 percent from where they were before Monsanto disclosed the approach.

To be sure, overcoming such challenges is possible.

"Sophisticated investors understand that deal premiums need to be evaluated" against the stock price before news of negotiations break, said Steven Scheinfeld, global chair of the corporate department of law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP in New York.

Even transactions that have become public often get to the finish line, he added.

The fact that Monsanto's shares were trading at around $110 - significantly below Bayer's $122 offer price due to uncertainty about the deal - is in Bayer's favor. Monsanto shares were at $97 before Bayer disclosed its offer.

Some Bayer shareholders have been positive about the deal. For example, Royal London Asset Management said that the German company's bid for Monsanto made sense strategically, and that, as a shareholder, it would support a deal if it was priced at around $130-$135 per share.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Additional reporting by PJ Huffstutter in Chicago, Sarah Lynch in Washington D.C. and Rod Nickel in New York; Editing by Edward Tobin and Tiffany Wu)
Analyzing Copper Producers 1Q16 Earnings and Future Plans

(Continued from Prior Part)

Strategy

When miners (XME) need to raise cash, they often utilize asset sales. However, there is a variance in different copper producers asset sales strategies, as well explore in this part of the series.

Non-core assets

Miners are selling their non-core assets to raise cash while preserving their core assets. While Teck Resources (TCK) has sold its Infrastructure business, Glencore is offloading a 40% stake in its Agricultural Products business. Notably, Glencore is not selling even its high-cost copper mines, preferring instead to preserve the asset for better days.

The issue for Freeport-McMoran (FCX) is that it does not have many non-core assets that it can sell. The company mainly has copper and energy assets. Although Freeport was looking to monetize its energy assets, it seems to have failed to find suitable buyers. The company is now looking to preserve the asset while hoping for a turnaround in energy prices.

Others are expanding

Interestingly, other copper miners are trying to strengthen their copper businesses through acquisitions and organic growth. Rio Tinto (RIO) is expanding its Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia. Both Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton (BHP) also seem to be open to inorganic growth in the copper business.

However, Freeport faced the question of sacrificing its long-term growth for short-term survival. Its asset sales program seems to have struck the right chord with investors, as the deal multiples were significantly higher than Freeports prevailing valuation.

The above chart shows the valuation multiples of Freeports asset sales. You can read more about Freeports asset sales program in Understanding the Strategic Importance of Freeports Asset Sales.

In the final part of this series, we will explore what different copper producers said about the copper industrys near-term outlook during their 1Q16 earnings calls.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Tokyo (AFP) - A fresh photo of a Japanese journalist who went missing in Syria last year has emerged online, showing the heavily bearded man holding a sign saying this is his "last chance".

The photo, which received widespread coverage in Japanese media Monday, shows freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda, who has been missing for almost a year, wearing an orange shirt, his hair and beard grown long.

He is seen holding a piece of paper with a handwritten message in Japanese that says: "Please help. This is the last chance. Jumpei Yasuda."

Japanese public broadcaster NHK and other media showed the photo.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that the man shown in the image is likely Yasuda.

"The government is now analysing the image," he said.

It was not clear when or where the image was taken, but it emerged after footage of Yasuda was posted online in March.

In the one-minute video, the bearded man wearing a black jumper with a scarf around his neck says in English: "Hello, I am Jumpei Yasuda. Today is my birthday, 16 March."

The footage was posted online by Tarik Abdul Hak, who told AFP it had been provided to him by a group called al-Noor, which he said "has been mandated by (the al-Qaeda-linked) al-Nusra to carry out a mediation for his release".

NHK reported that it was the same person who had posted the new photo online.

Militants from the self-styled Islamic State group last year beheaded Japanese war correspondent Kenji Goto and his friend Haruna Yukawa.

The government in Tokyo was criticised for what detractors saw as its flat-footed response to the crisis at the time, including apparently missed opportunities to free both men.

Earlier this month, three Spanish journalists, who had been held hostage in Syria by an Al Qaeda-linked group, were released.

They shared part of their time in captivity with Yasuda, according to Spain's Europa Press news agency, which did not cite any sources.
(Spoiler Alert: Do not read unless youve seen this weeks episode of Game of Thrones)

In the first three seasons of Game of Thrones, House Tully was a major player in the War of the Thrones. They were the main allies of Robb Stark, as his mother, Catelyn, came from their house. Among the main warriors in House Tully was Catelyns brother, Edmure, a stubborn fellow who was called upon by Robb to marry Roslin Frey in an attempt to solidify the alliance between the two houses in the war.

That marriage turned out to be the Red Wedding.

Since that wedding and the deaths of Robb and Catelyn that resulted from it, House Tully has largely remained out of the picture in the series. But in this weeks episode, Catelyns family has returned in the form of two members: Edmure and his uncle, the Blackfish. As these two men will likely become key players in the upcoming battle between the Starks and Ramsay Bolton for control of Winterfell, its time we got reacquainted with them.

Also Read: Did 'Game of Thrones' Prove a Benjen Stark Theory by Defying the Books?

The Blackfishs proper name is Ser Brynden Tully, and he is a man who is rebellious in matters of peace but disciplined in matters of war. His older brother and Catelyns father, Lord Hoster Tully, constantly attempted to arrange marriages for Brynden. When Brynden kept refusing them, Hoster called him the black sheep of the family, to which Brynden said that since their house sigil is a trout, they should call him the Blackfish, hence his nickname.

During his appearances in season 3, the Blackfish quickly proved himself to be a foil for his headstrong and emotional nephew, Edmure. During the funeral for Lord Hoster, Edmure failed repeatedly to set Hosters funeral boat alight with flaming arrows.

Irritated with Edmures nerves, Brynden pushed him aside and set the boat on fire himself. While Edmure impulsively attacked Lannister sites and costs Robb hundreds of men, Brynden provided Robb with valuable advice on how to act in the waradvice that the young Stark sometimes did not heed.

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Also Read: 'Game of Thrones': Did Bran Stark Cause the Mad King's Downfall?

Ironically, it was Brynden, the man who refused the married life, who convinced Edmure to take part in the wedding that led to the near-destruction of their house at the hands of the Freys. As fate would have it, it was Bryndens bladder that saved his life, as he went outside to take a whiz right when Walder Frey ordered his men to slaughter everyone. Edmure, meanwhile, was taken up to his chambers supposedly for the bedding ceremony with Roslin, only to be taken hostage by the Freys.

Later, the Blackfish rallied whats left of his house and waited for the right time to strike back. Walder Frey, arrogant cretin that he is, smugly dismissed the fact that Brynden got away and gloated about how Edmure spent his wedding night in a dungeon thanks to his treachery.

Now Frey has paid the price for his hubris, as Brynden has taken back the Tullys home, Riverrun. Whats more, Sansa Stark knows about this thanks to Littlefinger, and she has sent Brienne of Tarth to find Brynden and ask him to help Jon Snow eliminate the Boltons and Freys from the North once and for all.

Also Read: 'Game of Thrones': Everything Bran Stark Saw in His Flashback Montage In 'Blood of My Blood'

Walder Frey, of course, will never admit fault. In this weeks episode, he threw a tantrum over his men losing Riverrun and blamed them for letting the Blackfish escape the Red Wedding to begin with. But he still has Edmure as his hostage, and he plans to use him to counter the resurgent House Tully.

The Starks and Tullys have been fighting the Boltons and Freys for control of the North since the start of season 2, and now that fight is getting ready to come to a head. But at long last, theres a chance for Robb and Catelyns deaths to be avenged.

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If Iceland was once a well-kept secret  one reserved for dedicated travellers in search of lunar landscapes, natural hot springs and a plate of puffin or whale  all of that has changed. The Guardian report that the country, which only has a population of around 335,000 people, will receive 1.6 million visitors this year.

As such, the Icelandic government will this week weigh up the introduction of tighter rules around Airbnb rentals  potentially restricting landlords from renting out rooms for too long. It's a move that reflects similar measures taken in Berlin, for example, where it is now illegal for locals to rent out their whole apartment on Airbnb.

The surge in visitors to Iceland is likely down to increasingly low-fare flights, stopover deals and the popularisation of Game of Thrones, which is set in the country. In fact, guests can now take an official Game of Thrones tour, to "explore the Seven Kingdoms".

The problem with the increase of visitors is that Iceland's current infrastructure is unable to cope, and more guests calls for the building of more hotels and car parks at tourist attractions like lagoons and geothermal springs.

In a quote given to the Guardian, a professor in geography and tourism at the University of Iceland named Gunnar or Johannesson pointed out that Iceland only has one, small, main airport (Keflavik) and most visitors just visit Reykjavik, Iceland's capital city. "We are struggling to distribute our tourists around the island, he said.

Meanwhile however, some local people are being forced out of Reykjavik city centre by the influx of tourists. A webstite called Iceland Monitor claims that, in the last year, rentals of Airbnbs in the country have risen by a whopping 156%. This negatively affects the local property market by driving up rental prices, as well as creating a shortage of housing for locals.

Ashildur Bragadottir, the director of Visit Reykjavik, told the Guardian that she felt the adjustment to Airbnb laws would likely be passed this week because everyone sees that something needs to change." She added: "We dont want downtown Reykjavik to be tourists only, with no locals.

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Need to catch up? Check out last weeks Game of Thrones recap here.

Can we have a hand for Game of Thrones Ser Jaime Lannister? (Yes, theres a day that joke wont be funny anymore, and no, today is not that day.) Fed up with how the High Sparrow has taken over his family and his city, the Kingslayer rides right up to the church creeps front door  on horseback!  and demands what he wants.

Does he get it? Nope. But theres an impressive political play going on in Kings Landing, and Im not talking about the Sparrows seemingly successful bid for power. The Lannisters may always pay their debts, but they also know how to choose their moments. And man, I do not want to be the High Sparrow when Cersei decides its time.

On an unrelated but near-hyperventilatingly excited note: Uncle Benjen is back! And Edmure Tully is alive! And Sam grew a mighty pair! Read on for the highlights of Blood of My Blood.

VIDEOSGame of Thrones EPs Issue Apology* For Killing [Spoiler]  WATCH

HOUSE STARK: WARG-WHAT-IS-IT-GOOD-FOR EDITION | We open on Meera dragging Bran through the cold and snow. Hes still wargd out, tripping around in time and watching everything from his fall from the tower in the series premiere to the Mad Kings command to Burn em all! with wildfire. The white walkers and wights are in fast pursuit, which he sleepily informs her as he comes to. Im so sorry, she cries, collapsing on top of him, but just then a hooded figure brandishing weapons made of fire arrives and starts taking out young Starks attackers. Come with me, now. The dead dont rest, he says, sweeping both Bran and Meera onto his horses back and then galloping away to safety.

After they make camp, Meera questions their hooded savior about why he helped them. He says the Three-Eyed Raven has been born again, and then adds a bunch of stuff that helps longtime fans know who he is even before he uncovers his face: Its Benjen Stark! (If youre all, Eh, I just watch this for the boobs. Who is this guy?: Benjen is Neds brother, a Nights Watch brother who appeared at the very beginning of Season 1 but has long since been thought dead.) Long story short, The Children stopped him from becoming a full-on white walker years ago. He refers to Bran as the three-eyed raven; the teen says hes not ready. All good, Uncle Benjen replies: By the time the frozen ish really hits the frozen fan, You will be.

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HOUSE TARWELL | Its so green. Thats Gillys take on the lands near Sams familys home, and I remember once more how little of the world shed seen before the Nights Watch showed up at Crasters Keep  and how many insane things shes witnessed since. Sam is nervous  he reminds her to say that Little Sam is his baby  and Gilly susses out that he hasnt told his family that she is a wildling.

Sams mom and sister are so happy to see him, and theyre very warm to a very out-of-place Gilly. (Side note: Baby Sam might just be the cutest baby in all seven kingdoms.) Later that night, Gilly emerges from her Shes All That-type makeover in a gown and ringlets, to Sams great pleasure. Its hard to walk in this, she says, which may be the truest truism (aside from I drink and I know things) ever uttered on this show.

RELATEDGame of Thrones Kristian Nairn Talks Hodors Fate, Achieving a Memorable Exit: Some of the Blood Was Real

Dinner with the family  including Sams brother and father  however, is awkward. But stilted conversation about hunting is preferable to the insults Lord Tarly hurls at Sam, whose desire to be a maester is mocked. Id wager you still cant sit a horse or wield a sword, Daddy Tarly sniffs. Our girl Gilly jumps in, metaphorically taking off her earrings like the loyal love that she is. Hes a greater warrior than either of you will ever be, she boasts, but accidentally outs herself as one of the free folk by mentioning that he killed a white walker while they were on their way down to The Wall.

Tarly the Elder points out a sword on the wall and says that its supposed to go to Sam, but then decrees that the family will fall apart if Sam is ever in charge. He says a lot of other ugly things about Gilly and Sam, and I fall in love with Lady Tarly a little bit when she takes Gilly and Sams sister out of the room and tells Sams dad you dishonor yourself.

In private, Sam apologizes, and Gilly says shes not mad at him, Im angry that horrible people can treat good people that way and get away with it. Boy howdy, sister. Youre not what he thinks you are, Sam. He doesnt know what you are, she adds, trying to buck him up, but he takes off  as his father ordered  and its quite sad until Sam marches back in and declares, Were leaving we belong together. All of us. YES, SAM. YES. And Sam even takes the family sword off the wall on their way out the door! Everyone is feisty this week, and I dig it!

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HOUSE STARK: THIS-AINT-HAMILTON EDITION | Arya watches another farce  this one about Joffreys death  and can you blame the girl for giggling as the fake boy king bites it? But when the fake Cersei really goes for the heartstrings as she acts out the queens grief, even our baby assassin is affected. Still, all the Tonys in the world wont stop Arya from sneaking backstage to poison the divas jiggle juice.

Fauxersi calls Arya out after the show, saying that she knows she shouldnt be back near the dressing rooms, but the actress mistakenly thinks Arya is just a superfan. The girl gives her quite a quotable review  It would all just be farting, belching and slapping without you but then gets freaked when Lady Crane notices her expressive eyes. Arya bugs out, but she comes back just in time to slap the poison drink out of the leading ladys hand. (She pins the attempted murder on the shows young starlet.) The Waif sees all. Then Arya rescues Needle from its hiding place by the water, and the Waif reports Aryas failure to kill to Jqen. You promised me, The Waif says. Dont let her suffer, a man replies. I think were supposed to be worried here, but theres no way that little jerk is going to take out Arya, right? Right?!

HOUSE LANNISTER | During a visit to the High Sparrow, the holy man allows Tommen to visit Margaery. Well be together again soon and everything will be better than it was before, she tells him. But how? Oh, just a little thing known as the Walk of Atonement  and shes on board with it. Saying that the Sparrow is not quite what we thought he was, is he?, the queen notes that the pastor has helped her see who she really is and then starts spouting a lot of cultish talk. All those stories I told myself about who I was and why I did the things I did. There were so many lies in those stories, she tells her stymied husband. Its such a relief to let go of those lies.

She adds that Loras needs to atone for his sins. The gods have a plan for us all. Does she truly mean it? Is this a long con? Or was girlfriend at the point where shed say anything for a shower and a trial-sized bottle of conditioner? Its unclear as the combined Lannister/Tyrell forces march into the city just as Margaery is about to start her sashay of shame. When the High Sparrow wont turn over the queen and her brother, Jaime and his horse canter right up the steep staircase and threaten war then the High Sparrow yields because Margaery has already atoned by bringing Tommen into the true light of the seven, (!) Ol Holier-Than-Thou says. Together, we announce a new age of harmony. A holy alliance between the Crown and the Faith.

The people cheer. Grandma Tyrell looks bored. Tommen gives a speech that probably wouldve been more impressive were it not delivered in a mezzo soprano voice. And as the masses rejoice, Jaime and Lady Olenna get a sinking feeling: Hes won, the old lady says. (Side note: If Tommen truly is all in, that kid is perhaps the most easily swayed character weve met so far.)

Will I be walking naked in the streets? Jaime asks when Tommen relieves him as the head of the kingsguard. Sadly, the answer to this question is not YASSSS; instead, Jaimes son banishes him from the city. Later that night, Jaime rails against the High Sparrows power move, and Cersei cautions him to do what Tommen says so they can make their move later. They have no idea how strong we are. What were going to do to them, she says, and they kiss with something approaching Season 1 lust.

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HOUSE TULLY | Walder Frey berates his sons for losing Riverrun, then tasks them with taking it back  by using Edmure (whos been a captive since the Red Wedding)  as a bargaining chip. Or theyll kill him in front of the Tullys. Im not 100 percent sure.

HOUSE TARGARYEN | Daenerys plan: Ride for Meereen with her khalasar, then head to Westeros. But Daario says shes a conqueror, not someone made to sit on a throne for all her days. She rides off on her own for a while; when she returns, its on the back of one of her dragons. (Even six seasons in, that visual is still damn impressive, no?) She gives a speech that once more exhorts her hordes to conquer and slay in her name. In the words of A. Burr: So, were doing this?

Now its your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!

Launch Gallery: <I>Game of Thrones</I> Season 6 Photos

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This week, Game of Thrones opened with a reprieve of sorts after last weeks heartbreaking ending, where it was revealed that Hodors ultimate purpose in life was to accomplish the same thing as a chair wedged under a doorknob. This episode introduces a character that book-readers know as Coldhands, a dark rider who rescues Meera and Bran by smashing skeletons apart with a flaming mace. He may not have quite the firepower of the Children of the Forests magic grenades, but he gets the job done, allowing us to spend a bit more time inside the head of tranced-out Bran, who adds a vision of the Mad King and vivid green wildfire to his mental mixtape of Westeros greatest hits.

After last week 's episode, fans surmised that Coldhands  whose sole function in the book is to escort Bran and company to the Three-Eyed Ravens tree  might be used as the cavalry to escort the survivors back to the Wall. And indeed he does, pulling the pair onto his horse for a speedy escape. Once they're safe, he unbundles his face to reveal that hes actually Benjen Stark (another correct prediction), the Nights Watch ranger seen in the pilot and referred to on numerous occasions. Thought dead, Benjen actually encountered white walkers while on a mission. He was stabbed by one of their ice swords, but before he could turn, he was healed by the Children of the Forest in the same way they made the Night King  by sticking dragonglass into his heart. Benjen (whose name coincidentally autocorrects as benign) tells them that Bran is now the Three-Eyed Raven, the Chosen One, the Big Cheese, and even though he's not nearly ready, Bran will just have to fake it till he makes it because the Night King is coming to the Wall. You will be there waiting for him and you will be ready, Benjen says. No pressure.

Meanwhile, Sam and Gilly are on a much more comfortable journey as they head to the Tarly estate to meet the parents. As they roll up to Horn Hill, its clear that Gillys never seen a building so nice. She's then treated to a surprise makeover thanks to Sam's kind mother and sister; the wildling reemerges in a stately dress with perfect TV hair. Sam tells her shes beautiful, because I guess were doing 90s teen movie cliches in Game of Thrones now. At dinner, Gilly is tentative with cutlery as Sam tells his fam about life on the Wall. When talk of food turns to hunting, Gilly chimes in, which surprises Sams belittling father. Shes a hunterhuntress, Sam  ever the woke bae  corrects himself.

His dickhead dad then body-shames Sam: I thought the Nights Watch might make a man out of you but youve stayed soft and fat. Gilly stands up for Sam in turn and gives away her wildling heritage and weve gone from Pretty Woman to Guess Whos Coming To Dinner in record time. Dads position on immigration seems to come straight from right-leaning news ravens. He goes off on a racist rant against Gilly and points out a Clearly Important Piece Of Magical Do-Goodery, the household sword called Heartsbane (cool name), made of  fruit cup with lunch if you guessed it  Valyrian steel. Those tend to come in handy. And it does, as a no-longer-welcome Sam steals it before the couple and baby depart into the night.

In a hey-remember-me scene that serves mostly to set up context for next episode, were with Walder Frey, instigator of the Red Wedding, who is upset that his forces no longer control Riverrun, which as we know from last episode, is in the hands of the Stark-loyalist Tullys. Were reminded that Edmure Tully a) exists, and b) is a hostage, married to Frey's daughter.

Back in Braavos, Arya watches last weeks play once again  its the purple wedding scene, and Arya is clearly delighted by the actors portrayal of Joffreys death throes. Its the first time weve seen Arya smiling in forever, standing in stark contrast (pun intended) with her reaction to the re-enactment of her fathers beheading last week. After sneaking backstage to poison the older actresss rum, shes spotted by her intended victim, who noticed Aryas stalking in the crowd and pegs her as a nutty fangirl. Whats your name? she asks, as Jaqens voice echoes in our ears. Mercy, the girl-who-has-no-name replies, letting us know where this is going. They share a moment during which Arya relocates her moral compass and we discover that she's as honorable as Ned. Arya slaps the drink from the actresss hand and warns the older actress about her young rival, who wants her dead. From the shadows, the Faceless Mean Girl watches Arya bail out on her mission. Arya retrieves Needle from its hiding spot and reclaims her Stark identity, just as the Faceless Mean Girl tattles on her to Jaqen and asks permission to kill Arya. Dont let her suffer, he says. Don't worry, Jaqen  we suspect Arya won't be the one to suffer.

Back in Kings Landing, the High Sparrow bonds with young King Tommen, who demonstrates the effect inbreeding has had on his intelligence. Tommen is concerned about Margaerys safety during her upcoming Walk of Shame and wants some reassurances. The High Sparrow assures Tommen its all good and lets him visit Margaery, who has seemingly developed Stockholm Syndrome. But Cerseis plan goes forward anyway, as Jamie and the Tyrell forces assemble outside the sept and demand the release of Margaery and Ser Loras. For a second, the High Sparrow seems to be caving when he agrees that there will be no Walk of Shame for Margerybut its because TOMMEN HAS CONVERTED TO SPARROWISM. The young king emerges with a dopey look on his face and stands next to Margaery and the High Sparrow; the commoners cheer while the Lannisters and Tyrells balk. The High Sparrow declares it a holy alliance between the crown and the faith. Because that always turns out well for everyone. The crowd eats it up.

Jamie is fired from the Kingsguard and takes solace by furiously making out with Cersei, who was clearly outmaneuvered once again. Jaime is headed to take back Riverrun, putting him on a collision course with Jon, Sansa, and  crucially  Brienne. Safe bet to say that there will be some drama there, but Jamie is going to need an army if hes going to take control of Kings Landing. And the Stark loyalists are probably going to want revenge for Robb and Catelyn. Expect an uneasy alliance next week as the War of However Many Kings Are Left continues. And Walder Freys head on a platter.

Finally, we head east, where Dany and her khalasar are marching toward Meereen. She and Dario discuss her next move: You're a conqueror, Daenerys Stormborn, he says, lending some credence to the theory that Dany might in fact turn out to be the power-hungry villain of our story. And just to underline her strength, Drogon returns with Dany on his back. Its a maximally epic scene  has he grown even larger?  with Dany giving a pep talk to her troops. As Drogon roars, we get a close look into his fearsome mouth  are those fire glands?  and were out.

Westeros, here she comes.

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When Hamilton ended its Public Theater run in the spring of 2015, there was a lot of pressure to open immediately on Broadway. After all, it was already a runaway hit, with several sold-out extensions downtown; why waste lucrative weeks? But author, composer, lyricist and star Lin-Manuel Miranda wanted to buy some time to fix a few things he felt he hadnt quite got right.

One of them was the role of Eliza, the upper class Schuyler sister who will marry the near-penniless Alexander Hamilton and stand by him through the death of a son and the scandal of an affair before his own death in the infamous duel with his political rival, Aaron Burr. One can deduce that Miranda heard some criticism that

I have been describing it as a hurricane, where we are in the eye, the Richard Rodgers Theatre is the eye, and the show, its the ground. You know its strong. Its holding us up, but I look around and I see like chairs and trees and, like, large objects flying around, this phenomenon.  Phillipa Soo

Eliza was underwritten, for when the show did open on Broadway last August, Eliza was less of a cipher and more of a force. As played with poignance and delicacy by Phillipa Soo, Eliza becomes the guarantor of her husbands legacy as both Founding Father and foundling father, her proudest accomplishments being the establishment of an orphanage that still stands and the first school in Washington Heights. The final image of the show is, in fact, that of Eliza Hamilton.

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 / Phillipa Soo

Even before Hamilton made her a Tony-nominated star, Soo had been winning critical praise as a Russian It girl in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. Dave Malloys environmental, dinner-included, musically expansive story, drawn from Tolstoys War and Peace, originated at the off-Broadway nonprofit Ars Nova and then moving like a tent show to various locations, Pierre, Natasha became a cult hit. Its opening in the fall on Broadway, but not with its original leading lady. Shes riding a comet of another sort.

Story continues

DEADLINE: Did you know about Hamilton when you were doing Natasha Pierre?

SOO: During the winter of 2013, we were running Comet up in midtown  as opposed to downtown and across the street in the Standard, and that was like our third time going at it, from Ars Nova to downtown to near Broadway. We werent on Broadway. We were near Broadway, as we said. We were just in the middle of our run and I didnt know if we were going to extend. I was in the middle of doing a bunch of readings and workshops and kind of drove myself crazy by doing double-duty. But then Tommy [Kail, Hamiltons director) called me for a reading of Act II. That was December of 2013.

DEADLINE: Had they seen you in Comet or did you know them before?

SOO: I knew of him peripherally and it was like a week long, very simple, just learning music. I didnt know anything about Eliza and I didnt know anything really about the first half of the show because it was just focused on getting the second half all in order. And that was it. I just continued on.

DEADLINE: And Eliza hadnt become what she became at that point.

SOO: No. No. The end of the show still wasnt written. I didnt actually find out what Eliza did at the end of the show until the last day of the reading and Lin handed me the music says, This is the last song of the show and youre singing it and its basically Elizas whole life within two minutes of a song. And I was like What? I had no idea of what Eliza did until the very last day of that reading and I was just as shocked as everybody else is when they see the show. I so got to love Eliza.

DEADLINE: Im sure youve been asked a million times, but whats the derivation of your name?

SOO: Soo? Im half-Chinese and half-Caucasian. My grandparents came here from China. My father was born in New Jersey.

The cast of Hamilton

DEADLINE: Do you see any connection between Natasha and Eliza?

SOO: Definitely. I had a conversation with Tommy very early on, in I think the lab rehearsals in April 2014. I imagined that where Eliza is at the beginning of the show is kind of where Natasha leaves off at the end of Great Comet and of course, it was very close to me  moving on to my next thing. Less of this explosion of a moment in my life and more just, Yes, Im choosing the rooms that I want to be in and the things that I want to work on and it was very much reminiscent of where I was at that moment too. Which was perfect I guess.

DEADLINE: During the run-up to the opening at the Public, did you have any idea what was going to happen?

SOO: No and yes, in the sense that I was always like taken aback by the amount of enthusiasm that we received from everybody else, but also knew how hard we were working.

DEADLINE: But everybody works really hard on every show! I think youre suggesting something more.

SOO: I guess its less deserving of something from other people and more to do with self pride and being proud of the work that you have to share. Its rare when you can say this thing that Ive worked on and tried so hard to create and perfectly gift wrap and share with you is being received in the same way. Its being recognized for something that yes we all do but we just happen to have this wonderful moment where everybody else is like, okay, sure.

DEADLINE: None of the team seems to have wanted to say, Okay, were out, our work is done. It must demand a lot of the company.

SOO: Yeah. Things I was in that dont even appear in the version you see now  like great songs! and its like oh, thats my song, but you know what.? It makes the story better to cut it. And even if you dont see it, its still part of the fabric.

DEADLINE: You have to have an incredible intimacy with Lin. Can you talk about what thats like for you? Does he have good breath?

SOO: So youre talking intimacy like literally being physically close. Theres two things that work, which are one, just the story itself and the incredible relationship that we see between Eliza and Hamilton and how complicated and deep it is and her forgiveness of him, which is the most powerful thing  almost greater than her love is her forgiveness. That is made easy by wonderful writing, And then the second half of that is seeing Lin in this moment where he is also like Alexander, writing like hes running out of time. I mean the whole world is at the tip of his pen, so to speak. So watching me, just me Phillipa, watching Lin go through this experience, coming in with new pages every single day was also very similar to Eliza, just in awe of his talent and his passion. As an actor you have to be willing to be physically intimate with people in various ways, so I mean its not necessarily hard. Hes a very likable person, so yeah.





Phillipa Soo

DEADLINE: What was the most important thing you got out of going to Juilliard?

SOO: I think not being afraid to fail  and I mean that not in a success/failure way. I mean that in like a trial and error, creative way when youre in the room and you make a creative choice or an acting choice, and it doesnt work. It doesnt tell the story or it tells a different story that maybe youre not necessarily wanting to go for and not being afraid of that, just saying oh, okay, well thats information. Also the idea that the artist is a citizen and what it means to pursue your art but also be a citizen of this world. Of course the beauty with Hamilton is that I feel like its doing both of those things. I feel more like an American citizen now than I ever had and its artistically fulfilling.

DEADLINE: What were the shows that most influenced you growing up??

SOO: I played Nina in The Seagull and I think that that very much informed me with Natasha, the idea of this young woman trying to find herself in this world. She has these wants and needs and the world around her is telling her otherwise and how was she negotiating that, how was she like speaking with her heart and then with her head. Also, just emotionally speaking, the last scene where she comes in and says, I have faith now. As an actor, in school, youre like, What the heck am I supposed to do with this?

DEADLINE: How long does it take you to get into Elizas head, to prepare for each performance?

SOO: You just show up, for me. It also helps that the way this show is written. The minute that I step on stage, Im taking my journey in preparation and preparing for Eliza and then I make a costume change and thats another step, and then I have to enter but only on the periphery so Im not fully Eliza yet but Im in Elizas clothes and then Schuyler Sisters happens and thats when we enter and were ourselves.

DEADLINE: And what has it been like to be part of this thing thats so much larger than the show you do eight times a week?

SOO: I have been describing it as a hurricane where Im in the eye of the hurricane, we are in the eye, the Richard Rodgers is the eye, and the show, you know, its the ground. You know its strong. Its holding us up, but I look around and I see like chairs and trees and like large objects like flying around, this phenomenon, this hurricane. Theres stuff going on but I feel relatively calm and if I just stay where I am and witness this phenomenon around me, thats the best thing for me to do at least.

DEADLINE: Im grateful for Lins crusade against the texters and filmers.

SOO: I am too. I mean beyond just the respect that you want to have, people just miss out on being in the moment when they have a screen in front of their face. I just dont know to tell people. I feel its like, you know: Turn off your phone and go to the theater. Dont forget to brush your teeth. Floss. Just add it to the list of human things you need to remember. But some people just cant remember to floss.

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The Marion County Democratic Party will be assisting its candidates for local elections this fall by raising funds for their campaigns.

There will be a yard sale in The First Volunteer Bank parking lot in downtown Jasper on Saturday, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

In addition to the sale, candidates will be on hand for meet and greets from 12-3 p.m.
We issued an updated research report on Williams Companies Inc. WMB on May 27, 2016. The company is a premier energy infrastructure provider in North America whose midstream properties provide it with a steady flow of revenues even when natural gas prices are low. However, Williams Companies' significant exposure to debt and weak commodity prices  although crude has started seeing momentum  keep us concerned.



This neutral view is reflected in the companys current Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), implying that the stock will perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.



Williams Companies midstream assets, which are less sensitive to commodity prices, help it to maintain a steady stream of revenues and cash flow even if natural gas prices stay low.



It is to be noted that Williams Companies has been focusing on lowering overall costs amid low commodity prices. In fact, the company slashed 10% of its workforce by the end of the first quarter of this year. This reflects the companys effective cost-control initiatives.



We also appreciate the companys enhanced natural gas delivery capacity to Brooklyn and Queens by bringing its Rockaway Delivery Lateral and Northeast Connector projects online. This reflects Williams Companies objective to meet the long-term clean energy needs of New York City.



However, although crude crossed the $50-per-barrel level for the first time this year, the commodity is nowhere near its above-$100-per-barrel level two years back. This ongoing weakness has taken its toll on the volumes and distribution growth potential of Williams Partners, the company's largest income generating business segment. Moreover, we remain concerned about Williams Companies high debt level, which leaves it vulnerable to an extended drop in commodity prices. As of Mar 31, 2016, the company had long-term debt of $23,701 million, representing a debt-to-capitalization ratio of 81.3%.



On top of that, Energy Transfer Equitys acquisition offer to Williams Companies, which was valued at $33 billion last September, is now dicey. Recently, Williams Companies filed a suit against Energy Transfer Equity to ensure that their merger remains on track as the latter expressed concerns over it citing that the deal had not secured the necessary legal opinion to make the transaction tax-free to its shareholders.



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Some better-ranked players in the oil production/pipeline sector include Enbridge Inc. ENB, Pembina Pipeline Corporation PBA and Columbia Pipeline Group Inc. CPGX. Enbridge and Pembina Pipeline sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) while Columbia Pipeline carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).



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Snowden appears via video link from Moscow to attendees at a whistleblowers conference in New York, Sept. 24, 2015. (Photo: Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says Edward Snowden broke the law by leaking classified documents that revealed the National Security Agencys domestic surveillance program. But in doing so, Holder believes the NSA contractor turned whistleblower performed a public service, too.

We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, Holder told David Axelrod, former senior adviser for President Obama, in a CNN podcast interview. But I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in and by the changes that we made.

Still, Holder, who was attorney general when Snowdens 2013 leak occurred, said, What he did  and the way he did it  was inappropriate and illegal.

He harmed American interests, Holder said. I know there are ways in which certain of our agents were put at risk, relationships with other countries were harmed, our ability to keep the American people safe was compromised. There were all kinds of re-dos that had to be put in place as a result of what he did, and while those things were being done, we were blind in certain really critical areas. So what he did was not without consequence.

Snowden has been living in asylum in Russia since fleeing the United States, where he was charged with espionage related to the leak of classified intelligence documents. Holder urged Snowden to return to the U.S. to face those charges.

I think that hes got to make a decision, Holder said. Hes broken the law in my view. He needs to get lawyers, come on back, and decide, see what he wants to do: Go to trial, try to cut a deal.

.@Snowden performed a public service; still most pay for crime, says Fmr AG Eric Holder. https://t.co/igHYoNb3NW pic.twitter.com/t1OvjvFyWW  David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) May 30, 2016

I think there has to be a consequence for what he has done, Holder added. But, I think in deciding what an appropriate sentence should be, I think a judge could take into account the usefulness of having had that national debate.

Story continues

In 2014, Holder said that U.S. prosecutors would consider cutting a deal with Snowden if he were willing to plead guilty to criminal charges.

If Mr. Snowden wanted to come back to the United States and enter a plea, we would engage with his lawyers, Holder said at the time. Wed do that with any defendant who wanted to enter a plea of guilty.

Snowden has said he is willing to return to the U.S. if he were guaranteed he could receive a fair trial.

If the government was willing to provide a fair trial, if I had access to public interest defenses and other things like that, I would want to come home and make my case to the jury, Snowden said in a video interview with the University of Chicago earlier this month. But, as I think youre quite familiar, the Espionage Act does not permit a public interest defense. Youre not allowed to speak the word whistleblower at trial.

While Holders feelings about Snowdens leak may have thawed since leaving his post, former NSA director Michael Haydens have not.

In his recently published book, American Intelligence in the Age of Terror, Hayden calls Snowden an incredibly naive, hopelessly narcissistic and insufferably self-important defector.

But even Hayden admitted Snowdens leak helped accelerate a national conversation about privacy.

The 2% of what Snowden revealed that had to do with privacy accelerated a necessary conversation, Hayden said Sunday at the Hay festival in England. The other 98% was about how the U.S. and foreign governments collected legitimate material  that was incredibly damaging.
Hong Kong (AFP) - A Hong Kong pro-democracy activist was sentenced to five weeks in prison Monday after he was found guilty of assaulting and resisting officers during mass rallies in 2014 when he splashed liquid on police.

Political activist Ken Tsang vowed to appeal the sentence over the liquid splashing incident, which happened the same night he was allegedly beaten by another group of police in a brutal attack captured by television cameras and beamed around the world.

Tsang's is the first conviction for a high-profile figure involved in the rallies, dubbed the "Umbrella Revolution", which blocked major highways in the city for over two months, with protesters calling for a free vote on the city's leader.

Activists have accused authorities of going after those at the forefront of the movement.

"We are going to stand until the last minute. We are going to fight until the last minute. We will never give up," 40-year-old Tsang told reporters, adding he would appeal the sentence.

Tsang was given concurrent sentences -- five weeks for one count of assaulting police and three weeks each for two counts of resisting officers during his arrest near the government's headquarters. He has been bailed pending appeal.

During sentencing, magistrate Peter Law said Tsang showed "extreme insult and provocation" towards police officers.

"Up to now he has shown no sign of remorse... I believe a jail term is the only option and it is indeed appropriate," he told the courthouse, which was packed with Tsang's supporters.

Tsang, a social worker and a member of Hong Kong's pro-democracy Civic Party, sat calmly as the sentenced was delivered.

Around 30 supporters, some carrying yellow umbrellas -- a symbol of the democracy movement -- protested outside the courthouse, shouting "shameful police" and "I want true universal suffrage".

Tsang has said police brought assault charges against him to distract from the case against them.

Story continues

The police who allegedly beat him, who are not the same officers Tsang is convicted of assaulting, are to stand trial separately.

The two incidents took place at the height of mass protests seeking free leadership elections in Hong Kong, and rocked the reputation of the city's police force.

Video footage showed a group of men hauling a handcuffed Tsang to a dark corner in a public park and then one man standing over him punching him while three others were seen repeatedly kicking him.

The officers have pleaded not guilty to the charges and their trial is set to begin on June 1.
Protesters in Hong Kong are calling for the reinstatement of the Cantonese usage of Pikachu, after Japanese video game maker Nintendo announced it would begin using the Putonghua pinyin name in a Hong Kong version of the Pokemon game, reports the South China Morning Post.

More than a dozen protesters took to the streets on Monday to fight against Nintendo's decision to change the video game's yellow mascot from the Cantonese name of Pikachu -- Beikaaciu -- to the mainland Chinese pinyin version -- Pikaqiu.

Over 6,000 people signed a petition in March to overturn the decision, but their request has thus far been ignored.

The controversy comes at a time when many fear that Hong Kong's identity and language are slowly being eroded. In February, the Education Bureau proposed putting more emphasis on learning Putonghua in local schools, while in the same month the city's largest television station received a backlash for using simplified characters during its Putonghua newscast.
Monte Carlo (Principality of Monaco) (AFP) - Red Bull team chief Christian Horner has blamed the teams calamitous pit-stop for Daniel Ricciardo in Sundays Monaco Grand Prix on the cramped conditions in the teams pits garage.

He said the bungled stop  that Ricciardo claimed cost him victory in the race, won by world champion Lewis Hamilton -- was caused by a delay to find the desired tyres trapped at the back of the garage.

Speaking to reporters after the race, Horner said they were simply unable to be ready for the Australian before he arrived in the pits. He apologised on behalf of the team, to the driver, for the blunder.

"Here in Monaco, the pit wall is upstairs and the garage is downstairs," he said. "The tyres are on heat both in the garage and behind the garage  and, unfortunately, the set of tyres that were called for were not readily to hand.

"They were at the back of the garage.

"There was a scramble as the mechanics originally had the soft tyres ready  then, when a change to supersoft was requested, those tyres were actually right at the back of the garage.

"They couldn't be got to the car in time, which cost probably about 10 seconds in the stop.

"Despite that delay, they came out alongside each other.

"That showed how quick Daniel's in-lap had been and how slow Lewis' out-lap had been.

"So it was gutting for the whole team to lose a victory like that."

Ricciardo dominated the opening laps of the race and was on course to win until the pit-stop muddle.

"As a team, we win together and we lose together, said Horner.

"All we can do is apologise to Daniel and say that we haven't given him a good enough service, having done a great job with him to get the pole.

"He had done everything right in the race. Even going to the intermediates, it was the right way of going about things to get to the slicks.

"But, unfortunately, a communication error between the pit-wall upstairs and the tyre management (downstairs) let us down.

"Despite this, he had a really good go at attacking Lewis.

"He got pretty close, on the exit of the chicane, on one occasion, but just didn't quite have the opportunity to get past." We know how hard it is, in Monaco, to overtake and, effectively, the race was lost at that pit-stop."
By Dave McKinney SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Reuters) - Just days before the end of the Illinois legislature's spring session, the governor said on Sunday he would veto a House-passed budget, which includes school funding, and fired back at an angry Chicago mayor. Lawmakers face a midnight Tuesday deadline to pass a fiscal 2017 budget and adopt a 2016 spending plan that has remained elusive for the past 11 months, leaving Illinois as the only state without a complete budget for the fiscal year ending June 30. The impasse between the Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature showed strong signs of extending into fiscal 2017, with Bruce Rauner pushing for pro-business and anti-union reforms and Democrats in the House of Representatives last week passing a spending plan short about $7 billion in revenue. Adding fuel to the fire was Rauner's veto on Friday of a bill allowing Chicago to spread out payments to its public safety workers' retirement systems as the city struggles with a structural budget deficit and other pension woes. Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Sunday chastised the governor's "callous decision," saying it would lead to a $300 million city property tax hike at the same time Rauner wants local property taxes capped. Rauner, who needled Emanuel for not coming to the capital, Springfield, to address the citys pension-driven financial woes, called the bill "terrible policy," saying it would cost Chicago taxpayers $18.6 billion more over the next 30 years by not fully funding pensions. "Where is the mayor? He's not here, He's not asking for real reforms," Rauner told reporters outside his office. He also confirmed previous statements from his staff that he would veto the House-passed budget if it was approved by the Senate. He urged lawmakers not to hold schools "hostage," by sending him a clean bill to fund K-12 public schools. He also asked Democrats to break from longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan. "The speaker is perfectly fine having deficit spending and borrowing. Hes perfectly fine crushing the economy, crushing our taxpayers. Hes been fine with it, and we need his members to say: 'No, Mr. Speaker, no more,' Rauner said. Madigan said his members were prepared to be in continuous session through the summer, blaming Rauner for injecting non-budget demands into the process. Well be here (Monday), Tuesday and through the remainder of the summer, he said. Passing a budget beyond Tuesday's deadline will require tougher-to-get three-fifth majority votes in each chamber. (Additional reporting by Karen Pierog; Editing by Peter Cooney)
CHICAGO (Reuters) - A bill to spread out Chicago's payments to its public safety workers' pension will become law after the Illinois House and Senate on Monday overrode the governor's veto.

Republican Governor Bruce Rauner's action on Friday touched off a war of words between him and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who claimed the veto would lead to a $300 million property tax hike.

(Reporting By Karen Pierog)
Untitled Document

Calgary, Alberta / ACCESSWIRE / May 30, 2016 / Imaging Dynamics Company Ltd. ("IDC" or the "Company") (IDL.V) reports its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016.



2016 First Quarter Highlights



The first quarter of 2016 saw IDC begin to execute its new strategy to renew the Company and its products as follows:

Investments in people and Research and Development were made. The Shanghai Research and Development subsidiary and the new Beijing Sales and Marketing subsidiary began full operations. IDC entered into a new lease to move its Head Office to a new location in Calgary which will have updated facilities to house its sales and research operations with the move to be completed by the end of the 2nd quarter 2016. IDC completed its second private placement in the form of a convertible debenture offering on January 22, 2016 to help ensure it has sufficient resources to execute on the new strategy.

Operating Results



Gross revenues for the first quarter were $836,432 compared to $485,385 for the prior year quarter, which is an increase of 72% percent over last year. Most of the increase is attributed to increased activity in the Asia-Pacific region and new product sales. Gross margins were $244,194 or 29% vs 55% for the prior year quarter. Margins in 2015 were unusually high as IDC sold several parts with low inventory costs due to previous write-downs.



Operating costs (sales and marketing, general and administrative, production and manufacturing, and research and development) were up by 150 percent to $1,242,570 from $476,441 as compared to the prior year. The increase reflects the investment in people and is directly attributed to establishing operations in Calgary, Shanghai, and Beijing. Included in this total is research and development costs which increased by 571%. The Company is focusing on building and investing in its new strategic direction to address its goals of achieving further product development, diversification and operating efficiencies to build on its global brand recognition.



Financing costs increased to $213,191 from $14,794 in the prior period due to IDC`s commitments arising from the convertible debentures.



For the reasons mentioned above, the net loss for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 was $1,295,582 compared to a net loss of $288,968 for the same period of 2015.



"In the first quarter of 2016, IDC began making tangible investments in its future. We are pleased with our efforts so far and expect to see the first positive results of the hard work of our people in the second half of 2016," said Mr. Yucheng Zhou, IDCs CEO and Chairman.



A conference call to discuss the quarters results is not planned at this time, but the Company will hold its Annual General Meeting in Calgary, Alberta on Monday, July 18, 2016.



About Imaging Dynamics Company (IDC):



IDC is a global medical imaging technology and device provider and innovative force in the high growth field of digital radiography (DR) technology.



The Company has over 4,000 installations in 50 countries of its proprietary, award winning direct capture DR technology, which replaces conventional film-based diagnostic imaging and provides a cost-effective solution for medical facilities of all sizes to provide high quality diagnostic X-ray images and improve the level of healthcare for their patients.



Throughout its history, IDC has been recognized by multiple industry organizations and research analysts such as Frost & Sullivan and Deloitte Technology for its dedication to innovation, global market growth, and customer focused value proposition.



The Company has its corporate office in Calgary, Canada, a sales and marketing office in Beijing, China, and also an operations and research and development centres in Calgary, Canada and Shanghai, China.





Visit the IDC web site: www.imagingdynamics.com



For more information, please contact:

Mr. Xin ("Andy") Cheng

Assistant Corporate Secretary

1.403.251.9939 Office

1.866.975.6737 Toll Free

chengxin@imagingdynamics.com



Statements in this release which describe IDC's intentions, expectations or predictions, or which relate to matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performances or achievements of IDC to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. IDC may update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or changing market and business conditions. Known and unknown risks and uncertainties include: IDC's ability to manufacture its products with a sufficient level of quality and in volumes which satisfy market demand; the ability of IDC to establish direct and indirect sales channels; the ability of IDC to establish industry partnerships; IDC's ability to attract and retain key personnel; the strength and breadth of IDC's patents; and other factors relating to general economic conditions, specific industry conditions and IDC's particular situation.



Neither TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Source: Imaging Dynamics Company
Devout Hindus may soon receive water from the River Ganges by post, a minister said Monday, as India moves to tap booming e-commerce platforms.

Many Hindus believe the water from the River Ganges has the power to wash away their sins and religious ceremonies are considered incomplete without a generous sprinkling of the holy water.

Communication and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said he had been inundated with requests for Ganges water to be made available through post.

"I have directed (the postal department) to utilise e-commerce platforms and make arrangement for providing pure Gangajal (Ganges water) from Haridwar, Rishikesh to people," Prasad was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency.

"They have assured that they will take pro-active step to address cultural needs.

"If a postman can deliver, mobile phones, sarees, jewellery, apparels, then why not Ganga water?"

Around 80 percent of India's 1.2 billion population is Hindu, but the country is also home to large numbers of Muslims, Christians and Buddhists.

India Post, the state-run postal network, has in the past two years tied up with some 400 e-commerce companies including Amazon and Indian giant Flipkart to deliver a diverse range of goods.

The tie-ups have reaped rich results, with parcel deliveries increasing 15-fold to 75,000 daily deliveries since 2014.

Prasad also said that by the end of the year all postmen in urban centres would be given smart phones while those in rural post offices would be equipped with handheld devices by March next year.
India police have arrested two men over the gang-rape of a teenage girl whose body was found hanging from a tree, a senior officer said Monday, a grim reminder of a similar case in the same state.

The girl, reportedly 15 and from one of India's low social castes, was strangled -- allegedly by three men -- on Friday night outside her village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Her body was found the next morning hanging by her scarf from a tree about a kilometre from her home in Bahraich district, said police Superintendent Salik Ram Verma.

Two men were arrested and "the third accused is on the run", Verma told AFP.

The girl had left her sleeping family to secretly meet one of the men, only to discover that he had brought along two of his friends who attacked her.

"When the girl resisted their bid, she was raped and later strangled. To make it look like a case of suicide, they hung her body from a tree and left the spot," Verma told AFP.

Four local police constables have also been suspended after an initial lack of action over the incident sparked outrage among villagers.

"I have suspended four constables for laxity and have issued stern instructions to the inspector concerned to book the third accused soon," Verma said.

"The medical report has confirmed rape and strangulation," he added.

The case comes two years after two girls from a low caste were found hanging in a village in Uttar Pradesh. Their families said they had been gang-raped before being lynched.

The families said the cousins, aged 12 and 14, had been attacked after they went outside after dark to relieve themselves because their ramshackle homes did not have a toilet.

The case sparked a political row after federal investigators concluded the girls had committed suicide and were not raped.

It also reignited anger about high numbers of attacks against women, after the public outrage that erupted over the fatal gang-rape of a student in Delhi in 2012.

That incident sparked tougher punishments for rapists and improved policies for police handling of assault cases, to try to encourage more victims to report the attacks.
By Manoj Kumar NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The Indian government on Monday said it was discussing Apple Inc's foreign direct investment application that seeks a waiver from a local sourcing rule. Nirmala Sitharaman, commerce and industry minister in the federal cabinet, told reporters her ministry would discuss the issue with the finance ministry. The finance ministry's foreign investment promotion board (FIPB), which clears foreign direct investment applications, has asked the iPhone maker to sell at least 30 percent locally sourced goods if it wished to open shops in India. Apple hopes to expand its retail presence in India, one of the world's fastest-growing smartphone markets, at a time when sales in the United States and China have slowed. India last year exempted foreign retailers selling "state of the art" or "cutting edge technology" from the sourcing rule, which states that 30 percent of the value of goods sold in a shop should be made in India. A panel set up by Sitharaman's ministry had favored waiving the sourcing requirement for the U.S.-based phone-maker. But a government official, with direct knowledge of the FIPB decision, said Apple's request was turned down as it failed to provide any material "on record" to back it. "We took a line that we wouldn't mind waiving off the local sourcing norm for Apple's high-end products," said Sitharaman. "(The) finance ministry has taken a different line. We will talk to them." The FIPB decision is a setback for Apple, whose chief executive Tim Cook met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about a week ago. The trip was supposed to set the stage for the U.S.-based company's expansion in India. Sitharaman said she was not in favor of relaxing rules for Apple to sell refurbished second-hand phones in India. (Writing by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Douglas Busvine, Robert Birsel)
An Insider's Tour of Apple in 2Q16: News, Highlights, and Trends

(Continued from Prior Part)

Apples market share

According to IDC, Fitbit (FIT) is estimated to have shipped 4.8 million units, with a share of 24.5% in the wearables device market in 1Q16. Chinas Xiaomi took second place this segment, with shipments of 3.7 million units in the same quarter. Apple came in third place for 1Q16, with shipments of 1.5 million units and a market share of 7.5%.

Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) and Garmin (GRMN) are other leading players in this segment, with shipments of 0.7 million units and 0.9 million units, respectively.

In the smartwatch segment, Apple (AAPL) leads the market with a share of 46% in 1Q16, followed by Samsung and Motorola at 20.9% and 10.9%, respectively. The other top players include Huawei and Garmin, with shares of 4.7% and 3%, respectively, in 1Q16.

Nokia reenters consumer electronics

Last month, Nokia (NOK) announced plans to acquire Europes (EFA) Withings, which has been leader and pioneer in the connected health revolution business segment since the company launched its first product in 2009.

In 2014, Nokia sold its Devices & Services unit to Microsoft (MSFT), which has announced its return to the consumer market with the acquisition. The deal was worth $195 million, or 170 million euros.

Continue to the next part for a quick tour of the tablet market.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
By Maher Nazeh and Saif Hameed SOUTHERN OUTSKIRTS OF FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - The Iraqi army stormed to the southern edge of Falluja under U.S. air support on Monday and captured a police station inside the city limits, launching a direct assault to retake one of the main strongholds of Islamic State militants. A Reuters TV crew about a mile (about 1.5 km) from the city's edge said explosions and gunfire were ripping through Naimiya, a largely rural district of Falluja on its southern outskirts. An elite military unit, the Rapid Response Team, seized the district's police station at midday, state TV reported. The unit advanced another mile northward, stopping about 500 meters (yards) from the al-Shuhada district, the southeastern part of city's main built-up area, army officers said. The battle for Falluja is shaping up to be one of the biggest ever fought against Islamic State, in the city where U.S. forces waged the heaviest battles of their 2003-2011 occupation against the Sunni Muslim militant group's precursors. Falluja is Islamic State's closest bastion to Baghdad, and believed to be the base from which the group has plotted an escalating campaign of suicide bombings against Shi'ite civilians and government targets inside the capital. As government forces pressed their onslaught, suicide bombers driving a car and a motorcycle blew themselves up in the capital. Along with another bomb planted in a car, they killed more than 20 people and injured more than 50 in three districts of Baghdad, police and medical sources said. Separately, Kurdish security forces announced advances against Islamic State in northern Iraq, capturing villages from militants outside Mosul, the biggest city under militant control. The Iraqi army launched its operation to recover Falluja a week ago, first by tightening a six-month-old siege around the city 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad. Falluja, in the heartland of Sunni Muslim tribes who resent the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad, was the first Iraqi city to fall to Islamic State in January 2014. Months later, the group overran wide areas of the north and west of Iraq, declaring a caliphate including parts of neighboring Syria. On Monday, army units were "steadily advancing" to Falluja's southern outskirts under air cover from a U.S.-led coalition helping to fight against the militants, according to a military statement read out on state TV. A Shi'ite militia coalition known as Popular Mobilisation, or Hashid Shaabi, was seeking to consolidate the siege by dislodging militants from Saqlawiya, a village just to the north of Falluja. The militias, who took the lead in assaults against Islamic State in other parts of Iraq last year, have pledged not to take part in the assault on the mainly Sunni Muslim city itself to avoid aggravating sectarian strife. Between 500 and 700 militants are in Falluja, according to a U.S. military estimate. The U.S.-led coalition conducted three air strikes near Falluja over the past 24 hours, destroying fighting positions, vehicles, tunnel entrances and denying the militants access to terrain, it said in a statement. ISLAMIST MILITANT STRONGHOLD Falluja has been a bastion of the Sunni insurgency that fought both the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the Shi'ite-led Baghdad government that took over after the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in 2003. American troops suffered some of their worst losses of the war in two battles in 2004 to wrest Falluja back from Al Qaeda in Iraq, the insurgent group now known as Islamic State. The latest offensive is causing alarm among international aid organizations over the humanitarian situation in the city, where more than 50,000 civilians remain trapped with limited access to water, food and health care. Falluja is the second-largest Iraqi city still under control of the militants, after Mosul, their de facto capital in the north that had a pre-war population of about 2 million. It would be the third major city in Iraq recaptured by the government after Saddam's home town Tikrit and Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's vast western Anbar province. Falluja is also in Anbar, located between Ramadi and Baghdad, and capturing it would give the government control of the major population centers of the Euphrates River valley west of the capital for the first time in more than two years. On the northern front, the security forces of the autonomous Kurdish region launched an attack on Sunday to oust Islamist militants from villages about 20 km (13 miles) east of Mosul so as to increase the pressure on Islamic State and pave the way for storming that city. The Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, have retaken six villages in total since attacking Islamic State positions on Sunday with the support of the U.S.-led coalition, the Kurdistan Region Security Council said on Monday. That represents most of the targets of their latest advance. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi hopes to recapture Mosul later this year to deal a decisive defeat to Islamic State. Abadi announced the onslaught on Falluja on May 22 after a spate of bombings that killed more than 150 people in one week in Baghdad, the worst death toll so far this year. The worsening security in the capital has added to political pressure on Abadi, struggling to maintain the support of a Shi'ite coalition amid popular protests against an entrenched political class. Monday's bombings targeted two densely populated Shi'ite districts, Shaab and Sadr City, and a government building in one predominantly Sunni suburb, Tarmiya, north of Baghdad. A car bomb in Shaab killed 12 people and injured more than 20, while in Tarmiya eight were killed and 21 injured by a suicide bomber who pulled up in a car outside a government building guarded by police. In Sadr City, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed three people and injured nine. The battle of Falluja is helping Abadi refocus the attention of Iraq's unruly political parties on the war against Islamic State, so as to defuse popular unrest prompted by delays in a planned reshuffle of the cabinet to help root out corruption. In a speech to parliament on Sunday, he called on political groups to "put on hold their differences until the military operations are over." Washington says Islamic State's territory is steadily being rolled back both in Iraq and in Syria, where it has lost ground to U.S.-backed, mainly Kurdish insurgents in the north and to the Russian-backed forces of President Bashar al-Assad. (Additional reporting by Saif Hameed and Kareem Raheem in Baghdad; Writing by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Peter Graff)
Baghdad (AFP) - Iraqi forces thrust into Fallujah Monday, ushering a new urban phase in the week-old operation to retake the jihadist bastion that also raised concerns over the fate of trapped civilians.

The drive to recapture the first city to be lost from government control in 2014 came as fighting also raged in neighbouring Syria, leaving huge numbers of civilians exposed.

Led by the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS), Iraq's best trained and most seasoned fighting unit, the forces pushed into Fallujah before dawn, commanders said.

"Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air cover from the international coalition, the Iraqi air force and army aviation, and supported by artillery and tanks," said Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the commander of the operation.

Yahya Rasool, the spokesman for the Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against IS in Iraq, said the jihadists had so far resisted mostly with snipers, booby-traps and suicide car bombs.

The forces have not yet ventured into the centre but they recaptured some areas in a southern suburb and took up positions on the eastern and northern fringes.

The involvement of the elite CTS marks the start of a phase of urban combat in a city where in 2004 US forces fought some of their toughest battles since the Vietnam War.

The week-old operation had previously focused on retaking rural areas around Fallujah, which lies just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

It had been led by the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, which is dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias.

They were still in action Monday, attempting to clear an area northwest of Fallujah called Saqlawiya, officers said.

- Civilians trapped inside -

Only a few hundred families have managed to slip out of the Fallujah area ahead of the assault on the city, with an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped inside, sparking fears the jihadists could try to use them as human shields.

The only families who were able to flee so far lived in outlying areas and took serious risks to reach camps while those in the heart of Fallujah have been unable to leave.

Story continues

"Civilians are trapped inside the city of Fallujah as fighting intensifies. With every moment that passes, their need for safe exits becomes more critical," said Nasr Muflahi, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Iraq director.

In Amriyat al-Fallujah, a government-controlled town to the south of the jihadist stronghold, civilians trickled in, starving and exhausted after walking through the countryside for hours at night, dodging IS surveillance.

"I just decided to risk everything. I was either going to save my children or die with my children," said Ahmad Sabih, 40, who reached the NRC-run camp early on Sunday.

A senior police commander said his forces had assisted 800 civilians fleeing areas north of Fallujah on Monday.

Fallujah is one of just two major urban centres in Iraq still held by IS jihadists.

They also hold Mosul, the country's second city and de-facto jihadist capital in Iraq, east of which Kurdish-led forces wrapped up a two-day operation on Monday.

Nine villages were retaken from IS in the operation, which peshmerga officers said left 140 jihadist fighters and four peshmerga dead.

The jihadists holed up in Fallujah are believed to number around 1,000.

- Syria's Aleppo bombarded -

What resources IS will invest in the defence of Fallujah remains unclear. The city has been isolated for months but it looms large in modern jihadist mythology.

Fallujah is expected to give Iraqi forces one of their toughest battles yet but IS has appeared weakened in recent months and has been losing territory consistently in the past 12 months.

The government says IS now controls around 14 percent of the national territory, down from 40 percent in 2014.

However, as the "caliphate" it declared two years ago unravels, IS has been reverting to its old tactics of sowing terror by targeting civilians.

A fresh wave of bomb attacks claimed by IS struck the Baghdad area on Monday, killing 11 people in three separate blasts.

In northern Syria, clashes raged around the flashpoint town of Marea as IS pressed an assault on non-jihadist rebels.

The IS onslaught has threatened tens of thousands of people, many of them already displaced from other areas, who have sought refuge in camps near the Turkish border.

Gerry Simpson, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, told AFP 165,000 civilians were now stuck between IS fighters, Kurdish forces and the border.

"What more does the US, EU and UN need to call on Turkey to give these people refuge," he asked.

In divided Aleppo city, 15 people, including two children, were killed in the rebel-controlled eastern neighbourhoods in heavy bombardment on Monday morning, the civil defence said.
(TARIQ CAMP, Iraq)  Iraqs special forces completed a troop buildup around Fallujah on Sunday ahead of an operation to retake the Islamic State-held city west of Baghdad, a military officer said, as the militants attacked a newly-liberated town to the west.

Teaming up with paramilitary troops and backed by aerial support from the U.S.-led coalition, the government launched a large-scale offensive to dislodge ISIS militants from Fallujah a week ago.

The city, located about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, is one of the last major ISIS strongholds in Iraq. The extremist group still controls territory in the countrys north and west, including Mosul, Iraqs second largest city.

The last battalion from Iraqs Special Forces Service arrived at dawn Sunday at the sprawling Tariq Camp outside Fallujah, said Maj. Dhia Thamir. He declined to comment on troop numbers or the timing of the expected assault.

He said troops have recaptured 80% of the territory around the city since the operation began and are currently battling ISIS to the northeast as they seek to tighten the siege ahead of a planned final push into the city center.

In a televised speech to parliament, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the current second phase of the Fallujah operation will last less than 48 hours, after which the offensive to recapture the city will begin.

Al-Abadi called on residents of Fallujah to either leave the city or stay indoors. Government officials and aid groups estimate that more than 50,000 people remain inside the center of the Sunni majority city.

As he cleared his weapon and checked his Humvee at the camp, soldier Ali al-Shimmari said he was totally ready for the battle. I phoned my family in the morning and asked them to pray for me to get back safe to them, he added.

Im determined to end Daesh, al-Shimmari continued, using the Arabic acronym for the group.

Story continues

The militants meanwhile launched an attack Sunday on the town of Hit, 85 miles (140 kilometers) west of Baghdad, which was recaptured by government troops last month. A military officer said the extremists entered three neighborhoods and were engaged in heavy clashes with Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes.

By late afternoon, the forces had managed to push the militants out and were in control of the whole town. The officer was not authorized to release information so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Fallujah, which saw some of the heaviest fighting of the 2003-2011 U.S.-led military intervention, was the first city in Iraq to fall to ISIS. The extremists seized control of Fallujah in January 2014, six months before they swept across northern and western Iraq and declared a caliphate.

___

Associated Press writer Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad contributed to this report.
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman assured he supported the creation of a Palestinian state after being sworn in as defence minister despite outrage over his appointment to the powerful post.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's choice of the hardline Lieberman to head the defence ministry has caused alarm among moderates in Israel and has been openly questioned by the United States.

His nomination was approved by the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament, by a vote of 55-43 with one abstention. Twenty-one lawmakers were absent for the ballot.

In a speech after taking office, the 57-year-old former foreign minister and ultra-nationalist who heads the Yisrael Beitenu party sought to calm fears his appointment will add to unrest in the region.

"I listened to everything you [the Prime Minister] said and I absolutely agree with every word, including two states for two peoples," he said.

He also praised Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's recent proposal to revive stalled peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, saying it had "created a genuine opportunity".

"We must try to pick up the gauntlet," he said, referring to the Arab Peace Initiative, which he said had "some very, very positive elements".

Netanyahu -- who has been accused of forming the most right-wing government in Israeli history -- was forced to resolve a last-minute dispute with another party in order to bring Yisrael Beitenu into his coalition.

The Knesset vote gives him a 66-seat majority in the assembly.

Speaking alongside Lieberman after the vote, Netanyahu also referred to "positive elements" in the Arab League's peace initiative of 2002, which was relaunched in 2007. The plan offers Israel the recognition of Arab nations if it withdraws from the Palestinian territories.

"We are willing to negotiate with the Arab states revisions to that initiative so that it reflects the dramatic changes in the region since 2002, but maintains the agreed goal of two states for two peoples," Netanyahu said.

Story continues

- US raises 'legitimate questions' -

Netanyahu's pact with Yisrael Beitenu, which also gave the nationalist party control of the ministry of immigrant absorption, drew criticism both inside Israel and abroad.

Lieberman has pledged harsh measures against Palestinian "terrorists" in the past, and pushed for the expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

He has however promised to act in a "responsible" manner while in office.

The United States said the new coalition raised "legitimate questions" about the commitment of Netanyahu's government to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

In the wake of the agreement, Environment Minister Avi Gabbay of the centre-right Kulanu party announced his resignation, saying: "I do not think it is right... to form an extremist government."

Lieberman's predecessor Moshe Yaalon, from Netanyahu's Likud party, resigned as defence minister on May 20, warning of a rising tide of extremism in Likud.

Netanyahu's bid to expand his coalition also reopened other fissures in his government, including with the religious nationalist party Jewish Home party.

On Sunday evening, he reached a compromise with Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett on the latter's demand for the creation of a military liaison position in the government's security cabinet.

Bennett says such a post is needed to avoid security cabinet members being kept in the dark about important developments.

Under the compromise brokered by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of the United Torah Judaism alliance of ultra-Orthodox parties, security cabinet members will receive frequent personal briefings from the National Security Council as an interim measure.

While some analysts say such a change is needed, Bennett's demand is also seen by some as manoeuvring ahead of the next general election, which is due by 2019 at the latest.

Bennett is widely seen as aspiring to replace Netanyahu.
By Sumio Ito and Leika Kihara

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's prime minister pitched a plan to delay next year's sales tax hike to fellow ruling party members on Monday, some of whom expressed concerns that such a move would signal a failure of his policies to reflate the economy out of stagnation.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met several senior lawmakers to convey his intention to postpone the tax hike - among them, Masahiko Komura, vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The proposal would mean a two-and-a-half year delay from April 2017 when the hikes were scheduled to take effect.

While some within his party have expressed reservations about the move, Abe is not expected to face any major opposition to the proposal as his party executives are likely to present a united front ahead of the upper house election in the summer.

"The premier's determination to postpone the tax increase seems to be very strong," Komura told reporters after the meeting with Abe.

Komura's comments confirm what sources had told Reuters on Sunday as Abe looks to avoid dealing a blow to a fragile economic recovery, with the announcement on the tax decision expected ahead of an upper house election expected in July.

Sadakazu Tanigaki, secretary general of the ruling LDP, told reporters on Monday there was no major opposition to Abe's proposal to delay the tax hike in a meeting of the party's executives held late afternoon.

Finance Minister Taro Aso had on Sunday voiced opposition, saying that Abe should dissolve the lower house of parliament and call a snap election if he were to postpone the tax hike.

And in a separate meeting with Abe on Monday, Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of the Komeito party, LDP's junior coalition partner, declined to sign off on the plan, saying only that he would discuss the matter with his party members.

Speculation has centered on the possibility Abe would call a snap election for the lower house in a bid to secure a mandate to postpone the tax increase.

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This comes amid a surge in his approval ratings following the G7 summit and U.S. President Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima last week.

However, Toshihiro Nikai, another senior LDP official who met Abe on Monday, said the premier did not appear to have any immediate plans to call a snap election.

Expectations the government will delay the tax hike helped push Japan's Nikkei stock index (.N225) to a one-month high.

CONSUMPTION REMAINS WEAK

Despite some voices of dissent from within his own party, Abe is expected to formally announce the tax hike delay by the end of the current session of parliament on Wednesday.

The prime minister is also expected to order an extra budget to boost stimulus measures, just two months into the fiscal year and on the heels of a supplementary budget to fund rebuilding efforts after the recent earthquakes in southern Japan.

Consumption has yet to recover after Japan fell into recession when Abe raised the sales tax to 8 percent from 5 percent in April 2014 in an effort to curb government debt.

Data released on Monday showed retail sales fell in April for the second consecutive month, bolstering the argument that next year's tax hike should be postponed.

Fiscal hawks like Aso have argued the tax hike is critical to rein in Japan's huge public debt and cover ballooning social welfare costs of its fast-ageing population.

Abe has long said he would proceed with a plan to raise the tax rate to 10 percent next April unless Japan faced a crisis on the magnitude of the 2008 Lehman Brothers collapse.

(Additional reporting by Kaori Kaneko, Linda Sieg and Stanley White; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Sam Holmes)
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Sunday that the Japanese people should have their say on a proposed delay to an increase in the country's consumption tax.

"We should go to the people," he said at a ruling party meeting in Yokohama, referring to his earlier call for parliament to be dissolved and a general election held if the tax hike is delayed.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to delay an increase in Japan's sales tax by two and a half years, a government official said on Sunday.

(Reporting by Yoshifumi Takemoto; Writing by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by David Goodman)
Jason Wu has teamed up with the global color authority Pantone on a custom shade of grey for the launch of his new fashion line.

The designer has unveiled his own shade of the color ahead of the launch of his mainline label's sister brand 'Grey Jason Wu' this June. The hue, a mid silver tone, aims to invoke the familiarity of a favorite t-shirt, and was designed to perpetuate a simple and laidback vibe. It features 90 percent white hues and a hint of blue.

"Grey is my favorite color -- I've been attracted to the color's ease, calm elegance and warmth," said Wu, who first announced the development of his more affordable new brand back in April. Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute, described the new hue as: "A timeless grey shade that captures the collection's unique combination of relaxed sophistication and soft warmth."

According to the New York-based Taiwanese Canadian designer, the idea for Grey Jason Wu was inspired by his friends' personal style and a desire to create a collection focused on chic silhouettes and playful graphics representative of his personality. He will use the project as an opportunity to collaborate with talents such as artist Hunt Slonem, whose contribution will feature in the debut collection, snippets of which have been played out on Instagram over the past few weeks, with minimalist separates, soft pleats and cashmere knitwear seemingly the order of the day.

Pantone provides professional color standards for the fashion and design industries and its shades are used by 100 million design professionals worldwide.

Grey Jason Wu will be available from June on www.greyjasonwu.com, and at Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom, with pieces priced from $295 to $1,395.
"Jill Soloway changed my life," Jeffrey Tambor said of the Transparent creator during The Hollywood Reporter's Comedy Actor Emmy Roundtable. "She just handed me this role of Maura Pfefferman." He referred to himself as "a cisgender male actor" who is "essaying this role," and called the experience of playing a trans woman "a great privilege and a huge responsibility."

"Even in the third season," said Tambor, "[the role] just keeps tapping at me every day."

Read more: 'Transparent' Creator Jill Soloway to Direct Coming-of-Age Film for Amazon Studios

"It weighs on me, it really weighs on me," the actor explained. "I'm having these conversations on the set in terms of Maura talking, and I'm having these conversations in life."

He noted experiences of people coming up to talk to him about his portrayal of the transgender community, noting one man in particular. Based on the man's appearance, Tambor assumed he would be angry with his work, thinking, "Oh. So here it comes."

Instead the man put his hand in Tambor's hand to shake it, and said, "Thank you for introducing me to a subject I had no knowledge of."

Tambor said he thought then, "Well there's the revolution." He also went on to say that he has had the other conversation where he has to tell people, "You can't say that word. You can't talk like that."

Read more: 'Transparent' Star Jeffrey Tambor's Memoir Coming Spring 2017

As it was the Comedy Actor Roundtable, the conversation didn't remain heavy the entire time, and Tambor went on to credit Garry Shandling as the most influential person in teaching him what it meant to be funny. "What I think is interesting is that for me, laughter wasn't merely laughter, but it was a teaching instrument," he said. "And in the laughter and beyond the laughter, you can change."

Story continues

Tambor stayed true to the actor Roundtable tradition of sharing his most embarrassing story which involved defecating in his costume while performing repertory theater in 1967, while suffering from the Asian flu.

Read more: Ouch! Aziz Ansari, Rob Lowe, Keegan-Michael Key Play 'Most Embarrassing Moment' in Comedy Actor Roundtable

More roundtables featuring comedy actresses, drama actors and actresses, and reality hosts and producers will roll out throughout June in print and online. Tune in to new episodes of Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter starting June 26 on SundanceTV, with the premiere of the Comedy Actors Roundtable on Sunday, July 17. And look for clips at THR.com/roundtables with full episodes on THR.com after broadcast.

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JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd. JKS reported first-quarter 2016 non-GAAP earnings per American Depositary Share (ADS) of $1.68, well ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.11 by 51.3%. In the year-ago quarter, the company reported earnings of 88 cents per share.



Total Revenue



In the quarter under review, JinkoSolars total revenues of $848 million surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $714 million by 18.7%. On a year-over-year basis, the top line increased 98.8% primarily on the back of higher shipments as well as electricity revenues from solar projects.



Quarterly Highlights



In the first quarter of 2016, total solar product shipments were 1,600 megawatts (MW), up 102.7% year over year primarily due to higher shipments of solar modules, silicon wafers and solar cells. Out of total shipments, nearly 166 MW were used in its downstream projects.



First-quarter gross margin increased to 21.3% from 20.3% in the first quarter of 2015. The improvement in gross margin was primarily due to a decline in costs and higher gross margins from the newly completed solar power projects ramping up to full capacity.



JinkoSolars total operating expenses shot up 80.3% year over year to $91.8 million, primarily due to increases in shipping and warranty costs and provisions of accounts receivable.



The company incurred $19.6 million as interest expenses, up 100.9% year over year mainly due to an increase in loans used for solar power projects.



Financial Condition



As of Mar 31, 2016, JinkoSolar had cash and cash equivalents of $522.9 million, down from $654.4 million as of Dec 31, 2015.



Total interest bearing debts as of Mar 31, 2016, were $1.61billion compared with $1.59 billion as of Dec 31, 2015.



Guidance



JinkoSolar expects second-quarter 2016 total solar module shipment in the range of 1.61.7 Gigawatts (GW). For 2016, the company expects total solar module shipments in the band of 66.5 GW.



JinkoSolar expects 600 MW to 800 MW of total project development in 2016 on the back of its downstream business.



Other Company Releases



ReneSola SOL reported earnings of 6 cents per ADS in the first quarter of 2016. The Zacks Consensus Estimate was a loss of 4 cents.



JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. JASO posted first-quarter 2016 adjusted earnings of 36 cents per diluted American Depositary Share (ADS), beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 22 cents by a wide margin of 63.6%.



Canadian Solar Inc. CSIQ reported first-quarter earnings of 37 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 13 cents by a whopping 184.6%.



Zacks Rank



JinkoSolar currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).



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Smoke billowed in the Iraqi sky. David Enders heard the staccato of sirens, explosions, gunfire. Earlier that day, a local politician showed him the bullet holes left by an AK-47, like moth holes in the thin curtain drapes. That night, Islamic State forces marched toward the military compound in Ramadi, where Enders was holed up. Soldiers started calling their loved ones.

Enders didnt have a gun to defend himself. That was by design.

Like many journalists in conflict zones, Enders  a friend of OZY who spent a decade reporting from the Middle East  chooses not to arm himself. Rules set in the Geneva convention have long advised that journalists shouldnt carry weapons because it might compromise their status as noncombatants. Media organizations, from The New York Times to CNN, have barred employees from packing heat. But the practice of war has changed drastically in recent years, with militants targeting journalists for kidnapping and highly publicized beheadings. Should news gatherers and international press agencies reconsider their ban on reporters carrying protection?

The question was posed to me recently by a State Department official who had seen the way terrorist brutality created a chilling effect on reporting in Syria. But the problem with carrying a weapon is you lose your ability to claim that you are a noncombatant, argues Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute. Enders experienced this firsthand in February 2013, when he was kidnapped by Al-Qaeda. He was able to secure his release only after convincing his captors that he was not a spy. If he had a gun, they would never have believed him, says Joel Simon, the executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. What keeps journalists safe in most situations is their vulnerability  the idea that they are there to listen to combatants, not intervene.

Some journalists decide to blur those lines anyway. In World War II, Ernest Hemingway was accused of storing bazookas and grenades in his Parisian hotel. Both Fox News Geraldo Rivera and thenNew York Times Baghdad chief Dexter Filkins  nicknamed Six-Shooter Dex by other correspondents  carried guns into conflict, to great controversy in the 2000s (neither responded to requests for comment). The journalists most at risk, CPJs Simon says, are local reporters who target crime syndicates and government corruption. In those situations, strapping a pistol is less uncommon and more understandable, Simon says, even if he wouldnt recommend it. A lot of these international correspondents are in danger for a relatively short period of time. If youre a local journalist in Columbia or Uruguay or Mexico, this is your home and its much more difficult to say, This is too dangerous, and leave.

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War itself has changed drastically in recent decades, complicating things. Militants often target journalists for kidnapping. If youre a Westerner, youre an ATM, Simon says. And if youre captured by jihadist rebel groups, the situation could be much more dire, as was the case for Steven Sotloff and James Foley, journalists beheaded by ISIS in 2014. Last year, Reporters Without Borders reported that 110 journalists died in the line of duty, and battle zones like Syria (11 fatalities) and Iraq (10) topped that list. Yet its in the fog of war  where countless lives are at risk  that the light needs to be shone the most. So whats better: reporting that comes with the hazy moral gray of a handgun or no reporting at all?

Back in Ramadi, with ISIS forces approaching, Enders did what he had never done before: He relented and, somewhat cheekily, asked for a gun. That was being faced with the almost certain likelihood of a gruesome death my family would have to avoid on YouTube in perpetuity, Enders says. At that point, issues of integrity are not your biggest concern. He survived, but only after the terrorist combatants werent able to cross a bridge between them and his hideaway.

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By Jeff Mason and Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A judge, called a "hater" by Donald Trump for his handling of a lawsuit related to the businessman's Trump University real estate school, has unsealed documents related to the case. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for the Nov. 8 election, is fighting a lawsuit that accuses his school venture of misleading thousands of people who paid up to $35,000 for seminars to learn about the billionaire's real estate investment strategies. In an order signed on Friday, U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel said that materials, including Trump University procedures on dealing with students and the media, should be unsealed. He noted they had already been published by the media organization Politico and that a magistrate judge described them previously as "routine" and "commonplace." At a rally in San Diego on Friday, Trump criticized Curiel for his handling of the Trump University case. "I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump. A hater. He's a hater," Trump said. "We're in front of a very hostile judge. The judge was appointed by Barack Obama," Trump said, adding he believed Curiel was Mexican. Curiel is an American who was born in East Chicago, Indiana, and graduated from the Indiana University School of Law. Legal scholars said Trump could face consequences for slamming the judge, although many speculated that Curiel was unlikely to sanction him formally. "Mr. Trump's conduct could be subject to sanction for indirect criminal contempt of court," said Charles Geyh, a legal ethics expert at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law. "He has impugned the honesty of the judge in a pending case, and has done so in the context of a political rally that seems calculated to intimidate by inciting anger among his supporters," he said. Arthur Hellman, an expert on federal courts and judicial ethics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, said the judge was in a difficult position. "He cant respond directly. Hes not supposed to talk out of court about proceedings before him. Judges have gotten into trouble defending themselves from attacks. The judges hands are really tied," he said. Trump has drawn criticism for his comments about immigrants from Mexico, some of whom he has said were criminals and rapists. He has proposed building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico to prevent illegal immigration and requiring Mexico to pay for it. Hispanics are a critical voting bloc in U.S. presidential elections. Last week, Trump knocked one of the highest-profile Hispanic women in the Republican Party, criticizing New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez for her handling of the state's economy. Her office said his criticisms were not substantive. Martinez has been touted as a potential vice presidential pick for a Republican ticket. (Editing by Caren Bohan and Peter Cooney)
A man in Henderson, Kentucky has been arrested, accused of damaging with a vehicle more than 150 crosses that were part of a Memorial Day display commemorating those serving in the military.

Police said about 160 crosses were knocked down, and 20 were destroyed on Saturday, the Gleaner reported. They were part of a park display of 5,000 crosses that included the names of Henderson residents who have served in the military.

Anthony Burrus, 27, was arrested after his vehicle was found parked with pieces of a cross in its tires. Burrus denied responsibility for the damage but said he had been driving the vehicle, the Gleaner reported. He has been charged with first-degree criminal mischief and leaving the scene of an accident.

Many town residents worked to repair the display after the vandalism.

This town loves their veterans, and this is proof, said Jim Hanley, a member of the Legion, a member of the American Legion, according to the Gleaner. We take care of each other around here, and this situation is no different.
Luciano Benetton, president of the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, collaborators and Chinese artists pose for a group photo at the launch ceremony of "Contemporary China: Contemporary Miniature Art Exhibition of China" held at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing on May 28, 2016. [Photo by Zhang Rui / China.org.cn]

A Sino-Italian project was launched on Saturday in Beijing to recruit contemporary miniature art from China's ethnic peoples.

The Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche (Benetton Foundation for Study and Research) together with China's Kingsight Culture & Art Co., Ltd initiated the non-profit project at the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing.

The project, which is aimed at promoting Chinese culture and excellent ethnic arts on a global scale, hopes to collect thousands of original and creative 10*12 cm miniature arts from the 56 ethnic groups living in China. The organizers believe the project will support China's local artists, enhance international cultural exchange, and further develop and boost global civilization.

After the collecting and selecting from May 2016 - May 2019, the final selections will end up in a big exhibition entitled "Contemporary China: Contemporary Miniature Art Exhibition of China." The project appeals to the artistic and jury participation of artists, painters, sculptors, photographers, designers, directors as well as historians, folklore experts, ethnic experts and more from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

The creator of any art included in the "Contemporary China" project will receive a certificate. The artwork will also be included and published in publications of various languages, and in ethnic archives as well as on an online arts exhibition site and in units of photography and documentaries.

Luciano Benetton, president of the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche, first launched in 1987, said the foundation is working hard to preserve the cultural heritage of the entire human race in the landscape of history as well as in the cultural relics, musical, literal, drama and film fields. He was amazed by China's diversity of ethnic peoples and arts.

Yan Zhijie, executive of Kingsight Culture & Art Co., Ltd, said the exhibition will coincide with the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China in 2019. After 2020, the artworks collected by the project will have more exhibition world tours.
Washington (AFP) - Top US diplomat John Kerry will travel to Beijing for talks on a range of issues as part of a trip that will also take him to Mongolia and France, the State Department said Monday.

The June 5-7 visit comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing over the Asian giant's military expansion in the South China Sea.

The United States disputes China's sovereignty in the region and has conducted several "freedom of navigation" operations in which it deliberately sails or flies close to the islands, attracting the ire of Beijing.

Kerry will be in the Chinese capital starting Sunday for the eighth US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, for which he will be joined by US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

The Chinese co-chairs of the gathering will be State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vice Premier Wang Yang.

"The Dialogue will focus on the challenges and opportunities that both countries face on a wide range of bilateral, regional, and global areas of immediate and long-term economic and strategic interest," Kirby said.

Kerry will also attend the annual US-China Consultation on People-to-People exchange, a forum bringing together government officials and private sector representatives to strengthen ties in fields such as education, culture and sports.

Prior to his China visit, Kerry will be in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where he is due to meet with senior government officials, take part in a town hall gathering and attend a cultural festival.

Kerry kicks off his trip in Paris on Thursday for a French-hosted Middle East peace conference.

While in the French capital, he will also meet separately with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to discuss efforts by a US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, among other issues.
South Korea's defence ministry said Monday it had detected signs that North Korea was preparing a ballistic missile launch, as Japan reportedly put its military on intercept alert.

UN resolutions ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology, although it regularly fires short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast.

Tensions have been running high on the divided Korean peninsula since the North's fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a long-range rocket launch the following month.

And in recent weeks Pyongyang has voiced anger at Seoul's refusal to accept repeated offers of military talks to de-escalate the situation.

"We are tracking signs that North Korea is preparing a ballistic missile test and are maintaining combat readiness," a defence ministry official told AFP.

The official did not specify the missile type, but the fact that signs of a launch had been detected would point to a medium-range missile or larger.

In April the North tried and failed three times to test-fire a powerful new mid-range missile known as a Musudan.

In Tokyo, public broadcaster NHK said the Japanese government had put its military on alert for a possible launch, with orders to intercept any missile that threatened Japanese territory.

Under the order, the Self-Defence Forces will deploy Aegis destroyers equipped with missile interceptors offshore and PAC-3 surface-to-air anti-ballistic missiles, NHK said.

A Japanese defence ministry spokeswoman declined to confirm the news reports.

The Musudan is believed to have a range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres (1,550 to 2,500 miles). The lower range covers the whole of South Korea and Japan, while the upper range would include US military bases on Guam.

The missile has never been successfully flight-tested.

The three failures in April were seen as an embarrassment for the leadership, coming ahead of a party congress which was meant to celebrate the country's achievements.

During the congress, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un personally extended the offer of military dialogue with the South.

The proposal was repeated several times by the North's military, but Seoul dismissed all the overtures as insincere "posturing" given Kim's vow at the same congress to push ahead with the country's nuclear weapons programme.
Hey, Reign! Though Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick's youngest son, Reign, has a habit of staying out of the social media-savvy family's posts, the 17-month-old cutie made an appearance on Sunday afternoon.

As Kourt and her younger sister, Khloe Kardashian, did one of their intensive workouts, Reign and his older sis, Penelope Disick, wandered over to mommy to participate in her lunges.

WATCH: Penelope Disick Tries to Lip Sync to Rihanna, Kanye West, Proves She Is a True Goddess

"Can I have a kiss? Can I have a kiss?" Kourtney asks Reign in Khloe's Snapchat video. "No?!"

Snapchat

The cutie was wearing an all-red ensemble and watched his mother closely before running away with Penelope. That's right, running! Reign is standing and walking on his own these days, like a total boss.

The cute kiddos also appeared on Kourt's Snapchat, closely following their mom through her workout routine. They aren't the only Kardashian-Jenner tots featured on Snapchat this holiday weekend.

Snapchat

Kim Kardashian spent her Sunday in bed, as she and her daughter, North West, played with a series of Snapchat filters.

WATCH: North West Is Precious on Kim Kardashian's Snapchat: See Her Play With Filters!

"Why is there two dogs?" North asks in one clip.

"Because your mama asked for the Dalmatian," Kim replies.

The mother-daughter duo also face swapped again, and Kim tells Nori, "You look like a little Armenian girl. You look like me before I lasered off all my baby hairs."

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Kuwait City (AFP) - Kuwait's Public Works Minister Ali al-Omair Monday signed a $4.4-billion (3.9-billion-euro) contract with Turkish firm Limak Construction for a new airport terminal that will more than triple passenger capacity.

The new terminal, due to be completed in six years, will raise capacity at Kuwait's only airport to 25 million passengers annually from around seven million now, the minister said.

It will accommodate all aircraft types at 51 gates, an addition of 30 new gates, and will be able to serve 21 Airbus 380 superjumbos simultaneously, Omair said.

The project has been repeatedly delayed because of claims of highly inflated costs and after technical and financial objections by state accounting watchdog the Audit Bureau.

The oil-rich Gulf state's cabinet intervened in the row between the public works ministry and the Audit Bureau two weeks ago and gave the go-ahead for the project to proceed.
Looks like Kylie Jenner has officially moved on from Tyga.

Just a few weeks after the 18-year-old reality star split from the "Rack City" rapper, she was spotted hanging out with her rumored new boyfriend, PartyNextDoor, at the Pinz Bowling Center in Studio City, California.

According to an eyewitness, Jenner and PartyNextDoor (real name: Jahron Anthony Brathwaite) played two games as they bowled with a group of about 11 people on Wednesday. Despite the fact that Jenner spent much of her time on the phone, the pair "were extremely touchy-feely," with the Kylie Lip Kit creator "showing affection" for her rumored beau.

At one point, the two even sweetly wrapped their arms around one another.

MA/lemonlight-media.com

The 22-year-old Canadian rapper posted a snap of Jenner in action but deleted it a few hours later.

WATCH: Kylie Jenner Sparks Romance Rumors With Rapper PartyNextDoor

A seemingly annoyed Jenner made another appearance on the "Recognize" rapper's Snapchat in the wee hours of Saturday morning, when she called him out for deleting photos and videos of her from his social media accounts. In the brief video, which he also posted to Instagram but later deleted, he explained to her that he's simply trying to protect her.

"You not only hide me, you delete me," the offended makeup maven said in the clip.

"No I don't, man. I'm protecting you," he replied.

WATCH: Kylie Jenner Moves Into $6 Million Mansion Following Tyga Breakup

Unlike PartyNextDoor, Jenner has no shame letting fans know when the two are hanging out. She posted a black-and-white Snapchat video of him serenading her at the piano around 6:20 a.m. on Saturday.

Jenner was busy on Snapchat all weekend, as she documented her outing with BFF Jordyn Woods in Malibu, California, on Friday, the same day she slammed rumors that Tyga owes her $2 million following their split. Find out more in the video below.

Story continues

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Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) (AFP) - Kyrgyzstan's President Almazbek Atambayev on Monday dismissed the police chief of the Central Asian country after the arrests of politicians suspected of plotting a coup.

President Almazbek Atambayev accepted the resignation of interior minister Melis Turgunbayev and replaced him with career policeman Kashkar Dzhunushaliyev, the presidential press service said without giving any reason.

The parliament of the unstable ex-Soviet country has yet to confirm Dzhunushaliyev's appointment. His predecessor had served in the post since October 2014.

The high-level dismissal followed the arrests of at least six politicians in the last three months who have been charged with plotting a coup.

The authorities cracked down on the opposition politicians as they were planning to hold anti-government protests in the impoverished country.

Another politician linked to the opposition was arrested this month for allegedly voicing public support for the jihadist Islamic State group while the son of a former premier was sentenced to 12 years for espionage.

Kyrgyzstan is generally viewed as a close ally of Moscow, and joined the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union last year.

The country of six million has overthrown two governments since it gained independence in 1991 while a bout of inter-ethnic violence in 2010 claimed hundreds of lives.

Ex-Soviet Central Asia as a whole is struggling with an economic crisis linked to Russia's downturn due to Western sanctions and falling oil prices. This has proved a stern test for governments in a region known for authoritarianism and corruption.

Kazakhstan detained hundreds of people this month as opposition activists attempted to hold unsanctioned rallies to protest against planned land reforms, rights groups said.
(Repeats May 27 story without changes to text)

* Greek deal finally struck after late-night call to IMF chief

* Lagarde seen key to keeping IMF on board

* Confusion leaves Europeans wondering if IMF role still worth it

By Jan Strupczewski

BRUSSELS, May 27 (Reuters) - Another sleepless night in Brussels before another debt deal with Greece. So far, so routine in the euro zone crisis.

But for once it was not high-stakes calls to Athens that kept Europe's finance ministers up into the early hours. This time they were kept waiting for IMF officials to yield after months of wrangling with Greece's euro zone creditors over the Fund's demands that the Europeans give Athens debt relief.

The wait ended when absent International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde was reached on the phone as she travelled in Asia by her representatives in the room at the European Council's headquarters in Brussels.

But the signs of indecision in the IMF have prompted questions among EU officials about the Washington-based Fund's commitment to rejoining their bailout for Greece -- and about whether it is worth working with it in future.

Even Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb, an ally of Germany in insisting on an IMF role as a guarantor for northern European voters that the Greeks will not squander their money, wondered out loud this week whether the euro zone should keep trying to get the Fund involved again "at any price".

Questions about the IMF's engagement were raised by about a dozen senior officials in private conversations with Reuters since the agreement was reached.

At 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem presented a "breakthrough" deal under which the euro zone agreed to criteria for granting Greece relief on what it owes them in 2018. Poul Thomsen, the IMF's director for Europe, pledged to seek IMF board approval for resuming its role in the bailout.

The agreement ended almost a year of Transatlantic argument in which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's cash-strapped government has often been little more than a spectator.

Story continues

The IMF says Athens's debt burden is unsustainable and refused to be part of a third bailout package agreed by the euro zone in August unless the Europeans -- not the Fund itself -- rescheduled some of their loans. Some Europeans, led by veteran German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, refused.

Schaeuble says Athens can survive for now and may be in a better position to pay in the future, and that writing off its debts would create a "moral hazard" that could undermine confidence.

During the negotiations this week, euro zone officials said they were startled by what they saw as unusually intense and difficult conversations among Thomsen and other IMF officials, and notably by the way in which the Dane had to wait for hours to reach Lagarde before finally accepting the accord.

"It seemed the IMF couldn't agree on a common position among themselves," said a senior euro zone official, who noted the Fund's top lawyer had flown in from Washington to vet the deal.

IMF officials said the delay was largely a matter of the logistics in reaching Lagarde, a former French finance minister, who was visiting Kazakhstan before going to the Group of Seven summit in Japan. Nor was it unusual to wait for her green light.

Another European official said Thomsen seemed "frustrated" during a final 10-minute call he made to Lagarde from a corridor outside the meeting room. He was heard saying the Fund should not agree but seemed to lose the argument, the EU official said.

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice dismissed that interpretation: "The suggestion of 'overruling' is nonsense," he said. "The parameters of our negotiation positions are, as always, discussed and agreed in advance."

A final call was "typical in such cases", Rice added: "The managing director fully backed Poul's position."

Whatever the reasons for the delay, Schaeuble, who has been insistent that the IMF be involved in order for him to persuade hawkish German lawmakers to give their blessing to the bailout, made no secret of his irritation with the Fund's behaviour.

"It might have been helpful if the managing director had been here," he told reporters, noting that it was Berlin, not the IMF, which was the main creditor to Athens.

A key euro zone argument in seeking a less dogmatic line from the IMF on debt relief than the Fund applies in other cases is that unlike most of the IMF's debtors, Greece can count on the euro zone to avert bankruptcy. For that reason, Europeans say, the Fund should worry less about seeing IMF loans repaid or the sustainability of Athens' debt in the long term and accept the role of fiscal overseer that Berlin wants it to play.

How far the Fund has accepted that position remains a question for the Europeans. Some IMF officials have briefed reporters since the deal that it will still require conditions to be met before the board will agree to lend Greece more.

Against that, several euro zone officials told Reuters that whatever the Fund's functionaries might think, the top-level political commitment given by its boss, demonstrated in the late-night call, was proof that it was on board.

"She is the real power player here," one European said.

Several EU officials believed the deal was essentially in the bag before the Eurogroup met on Tuesday -- when Lagarde met Schaeuble, Eurogroup President Dijsselbloem and French Finance Minister Michel Sapin at a G7 meeting in Japan last weekend.

That explained why Schaeuble had been so irritated by what he saw as Thomsen's hesitation past midnight.

Another euro zone official said: "I'm confident the IMF will be on board. There still needs to be an intensive discussion of possible measures later this autumn, before they join.

"But that should be OK."

Some Europeans also said, however, that it may be no great problem if the much sought after IMF return to the bailout falls through, and certainly even Germany may be less insistent on keeping the uncooperative Fund involved in any future bailout.

A euro zone official said: "The whole experience over the last 12 months with the IMF and Greece has diminished backing for having the IMF involved even in such traditional supporters like Germany, the Netherlands or Finland." (Editing by Alastair Macdonald and Peter Graff)
How Did MLPs Close Last Week? Investor Must-Knows

(Continued from Prior Part)

Ethane prices

Mont Belvieu ethane prices rose 3.9% to $0.20 per gallon in the week ending May 27. They had fallen 0.7% to $0.193 per gallon in the previous week. However, Ethane prices have fallen significantly over the years.

Low ethane prices and higher costs for storing and transporting ethane resulted in ethane rejection. This process means producers leave ethane in the natural gas stream. Extracting ethane isnt always economical when prices are low. The costs of storing and transporting ethane are higher than the related costs for hydrocarbon gas liquids products. Read What is ethane rejection and why is it important for energy MLPs? to learn more about ethane rejection.

The above graph shows weekly ethane prices over the past six weeks. Enable Midstream Partners (ENBL), Tallgrass Energy Partners (TEP), and Summit Midstream Partners (SMLP) are a few of the MLPs engaged in natural gas gathering and processing.

Key developments

Recent developments in the ethane market are expected to have a positive impact on MLPs involved in ethane projects. These MLPs include Sunoco Logistics Partners (SXL), Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), DCP Midstream Partners (DPM), and Enterprise Products Partners (EPD).

One of the developments is higher ethane use from petrochemical companies. Lower ethane prices resulted in petrochemical companies using ethane more as a feedstock in place of naphtha.

According to Wouter van Kempen, DPMs CEO, There are billions of dollars of investments in petchem facilities that are expected to come online in 2017 and 2018, and those crackers crack only one thing. That is ethane. These expansions, along with [BDH] facilities and exports, are anticipated to need ethane in excess of what is currently being rejected by the industry. And to give you some perspective, over 650,000 barrels per day of ethane are currently being rejected.

Ethane infrastructure

Ethane-related infrastructure, including plants to convert ethane to ethylene, has been developing in the United States. This development supports the rising demand for petrochemical companies. This trend is positive for ethane demand. Eventually, it will be positive for prices. Some companies are investing in export terminals for ethane. Theres an attractive export market for ethane in Canada, Asia, and Europe.

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Continue to Next Part

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A Mixed Delivery: North American Rail in the Week Ending May 21

(Continued from Prior Part)

Canadian Nationals intermodal volumes

In the week ending May 21, 2016, Canadian National Railways (CNI) overall intermodal traffic declined. But container traffic rose by 1.8% YoY (year-over-year). The company moved ~44,000 containers, as compared to 43,000 units one year previously. There was no movement of trailers in this latest reported week.

Why is intermodal important for CNI?

The intermodal business contributed ~24% to CNIs 2015 revenues and in previous years. Out of total 2015 carloads, intermodals share was 40.7%, up from 37.1% in 2014. Canadian National also operates one of the largest trucking services in Canada under the banner CNTL.

Canadian Nationals competitive advantage comes from its sole access to the Port of Prince Rupert, British Columbia. CNI also connects Vancouver, British Columbia, with Prince Rupert in a long arc, which provides opportunities for the company to move containers from Asia deep into the US.

Drivers and investment

CNIs domestic segment is driven by consumer markets as well as by US and Canadian economic growth. Its international segment is influenced by North American economic and trade conditions. In the intermodal segment, the company also faces competition from truckload companies such as J.B. Hunt Transport (JBHT), Heartland Express (HTLD), Swift Transportation (SWFT), and Landstar System (LSTR).

Investors in the transportation sector can opt for the iShares Global Industrials ETF (EXI), which has exposure to all major US railroads and airlines.

Now lets move to CNIs arch rival, Canadian Pacific (CP).

Continue to Next Part

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(Photo: Mat Hayward/FilmMagic)

Winds as high as 40mph, and a 600-acre wildfire just three miles south of the Gorge Amphitheatre, threatened to ruin day three of Washingtons Sasquatch! music festival. The main stage was shut down for safety reasons for most of Sunday, leading to the cancelation of sets by Saint Motel and Houndmouth, while several other artists (Allen Stone, Frightened Rabbit, Tacocat) were relocated to smaller stages at the last minute. One main stage attraction, R&B revivalist Leon Bridges, wound up with nowhere to play  until Sasquatch! promoters sent out a cryptic tweet, ordering, Get to the lawn at 8:15!  a message also broadcast on the dormant main stages video screens.

Photos: On the Scene at Sasquatch! 2016

Fans who heeded this mysterious command found Bridges playing on the Gorges grassy hill  acoustic and unamplified. He was almost impossible to hear, but aside from a few frustrated spectators shouting, Give him a mic! or Let him on the stage!, everyone remained hushed and polite, sitting attentively on the ground while Bridges did his darnedest to give festivalgoers a show. His impromptu mini-set was hardly a substitute for the full electric concert hed been slated to play, but it was a charming and genuine moment from a true entertainer who clearly didnt want to disappoint his fans.

When its too windy to perform onstage, you go to the fans and bless them with an intimate show  #leonbridges A video posted by B R I T T N I (@brittnijessie) on May 29, 2016 at 8:48pm PDT

Leon Bridges spontaneous serenade to River over a Columbia gorge sunset. Life complete. #goosebumps #chillsallover #leonbridges #river #sasquatch A video posted by Tim Chang (@timchang37) on May 29, 2016 at 9:05pm PDT

Earlier in the day, on the smaller Bigfoot stage, the shows went on as planned, although during 90s indie veterans Yo La Tengos set, the elevated V.I.P. platform was closed off. That left actor John C. Reilly, last seen Saturday introducing Major Lazer and dancing with Nathaniel Rateliff, no choice but to brave the elements  and brave the masses of selfie-requesting fans who ambushed him the instant he ventured out to watch Yo La Tengo among the general admission crowd.

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Londons Savages, also playing the Bigfoot stage, didnt let a little wind (or broad daylight, which seemed like the absolutely wrong environment for the surly, black-clad post-punks) bring them down. Androgynous, frequently crowd-surfing, French-born frontwoman Jehnny Beth was as fierce, ferocious, fearless, and full of righteous anger as ever. Towards the end of the four-pieces pummeling, confrontational set, when introducing I Need Something New, Beth advised the crowd: Only go see the good stuff today. Dont let anyone bore you. If youre bored, leave. Suffice to say, no one left Savages stunning show, wind advisories be damned.

I love this woman. @jehnnybeth @savagesband #whycantibeyou #sasquatch2016 A video posted by Lyndsey Parker (@lyndseyparker) on May 29, 2016 at 5:03pm PDT

By evening, the winds had settled down and the main stage finally reopened  and there was no better act to christen that stage Sunday than Alabama Shakes, one of the greatest bands working the festival circuit today. Were so happy to finally play for you! declared jubilant frontwoman Brittany Howard; This made it all worth it! one relieved and elated concertgoer shouted back. Howard oozed sincerity onstage  repeatedly expressing her appreciation for her fans support and promising to never take that for granted. And she and her crack band played a perfect sundown set full of heart, grit, soul, and the kind of stellar, stratospheric vocals that American Idol or Voice contestants would sell their souls to possess. Forget about Kylie Jenner, Vanessa Hudgens, or any other flower-crowned celebutante out there; Brittany Howard is the true rock festival queen.

Earlier in the day; the rumor flitting about the Gorge grounds was that Sundays headlining set by the alt-rock legends Cure would be moved to the Bigfoot stage  which would have resulted in the most intimate Cure concert in years. That didnt happen, but it turned out that the Cures set (on the main stage, as scheduled) was relatively intimate  since the earlier weather issues, lack of communication on Sasquatch!s part, and conflicting sets by Purity Ring and Big Grams all led to the Cure playing to a much smaller audience than usual. (Keep in mind, this is a band that sold out three nights at the Hollywood Bowl just last week.) Perhaps thats why seemingly mildly disgruntled frontman Robert Smith ended his set a full 45 minutes early, encoring with only two songs. (Keep in mind, also, that the Cures current tour has boasted three-hour, four-encore concerts.)

Photos: On the Scene at Sasquatch! 2016

The low turnout was a shame, as the Cure  Smith, longtime bassist Simon Gallup, on/off keyboardist Roger ODonnell, Bowie associate Reeves Gabrels on guitar, and drummer Jason Cooper  are at the absolute peak of the powers as a live act right now. Even during their truncated set, they did not disappoint. The Cure opened with a glorious trifecta of Disintegration classics (Plainsong, Pictures of You, and Closedown); added a few leftfield numbers, like the Head on the Door track Push, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Mes If Only Tonight We Could Sleep, and the underrated 2004 single End of the World; and sprinkled in some perennial favorites (Inbetween Days, The Walk, Just Like Heaven, Lovesong, Boys Dont Cry, A Night Like This). Smiths iconic, instantly recognizable voice magnificently echoed through the windy, cavernous Gorge, and fans didnt want to the Cure to say goodbye on a night like this, indeed.



The plus side, however, of the Cures early goodbye was that it allowed particularly ambitious Sasquatch!-goers to hightail it over to the Bigfoot stage for Big Grams, the odd-couple side-project of Outkasts Big Boi and NYC electropop duo Phantogram. Big Grams thrilled with an updated version of Outkasts mother-centric Ms. Jackson, but not before Phantograms Sarah Barthel brought her own mom onstage for an expletive-filled but cute speech about Mrs. Barthels hotness and single status.

The younger Barthel tried to create a similarly celebratory and affectionate onstage moment for bandmate Josh Carter, surprising him with a unicorn pinata for his recent birthday. But things went awry when, after busting the pinata open, Carter inexplicably hurled the bashing stick, with considerable force, into the crowd. Barthel looked shocked, even slightly horrified, as she asked if everyone in the audience was OK. But after surviving wind warnings all day, fans seemed nonplused by this little stick-throwing incident.

The final day of Sasquatch! hopefully wont be affected by the Northwests sometimes unpredictable weather. But regardless, you can watch it from the wind-free comfort of your own home: Yahoo will be live-streaming select Sasquatch! acts Monday, including Florence & The Machine, Sufjan Stevens, X Ambassadors, and BRNS, at this link or in the video player below.
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A new Apple Store opened in Shanghai at the weekend is helping to meet the expectations of Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook of opening 40 stores in China.

The Apple Store Global Harbor in Putuo district  the 10th new Apple Store to be opened this year in China  represents the latest step for the iconic US company to expand in the country, its second biggest regional market.

The latest store  the fifth in Shanghai  also propelled the city on par with Beijing having the most Apple Stores in Asia.

Apple now has 38 stores in China covering around 20 cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong and Zhengzhou.

Apple faced a revenue fall in the latest quarter, which encouraged the technology giant to open more offline stores to tap consumers in China.

In April, Apple reported its first decline in iPhone sales since launching the smartphone in 2007.
Paris (AFP) - Former Beatle Paul McCartney says he's undecided on how to vote in Britain's looming EU referendum -- but is comfortable whichever way his compatriots vote.

"It's crazy in England at the moment!" the British icon told French daily Le Parisien, when asked about the landmark "Brexit" vote due on June 23.

"Everyone I talk to goes from one extreme to the other. I'm the same, I haven't decided yet," he added, in comments published in French.

But the 74-year-old, whose Beatles hits include "We Can Work it Out," "Hello, Goodbye," "Help!" and "Let it Be," said he was philosophical about the referendum outcome.

"I keep listening to the arguments, the reasons to stay or leave. But I'm sure the best decision will be taken in a month," said McCartney, who was due to play at the Bercy stadium in Paris on Monday night.
Somewhere between a discussion about whether or not blind people should be allowed to drive cars and a striptease by a hefty bearded man hoping to be elected party chairman, the Libertarian Party selected its presidential and vice presidential candidates for the 2016 election cycle. And, strange as it may seem, it could have a real impact on the results of the general election in November.

Meeting in Orlando, Florida, the Libertarians selected former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson and former Massachusetts governor William Weld as their presidential and vice presidential nominees, respectively. While neither is what you would call a political firebrand, both have served as the chief executive of a state, and that makes the Libertarian ticket a far more credible alternative to voters disillusioned with the two-party system than it has ever been in the past.

Related: It Looks Like the Campaign Isnt Helping Trumps Hotel Business

This is not to say that a Johnson-Weld ticket has any chance at all of winning the White House. At the moment, among the combined members of the House and Senate, state governors and members of state senates and the lower houses of state legislatures, the number of Libertarians currently holding elected office is: 1. Thats .0001 percent of available elected positions in the country.

However, in the 2012 election, when Johnson topped the ticket with former Orange County, California, Superior Court Judge Jim Gray, the Libertarians took one percent of the national presidential vote.

While that sounds trivial, in an election year when the Republican Party faces huge demographic obstacles, a full percentage point is a giant worry. And in a year when the partys nominee is all but certain to be Donald Trump, a marginally credible Libertarian ticket is an absolute nightmare.

The area of overlap between the GOP and Libertarians is, generally, the leave-us-alone constituency, which prefers the least intrusive version of the federal government possible. Trump -- with promises of a federal deportation force, maintenance and even expansion of the social safety net, and religious tests for immigration -- is anathema to many in that group.

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Related: Trumpification of the Congressional Agenda Begins

For months, Republicans personally opposed to Trump have been actively, and sometimes very publicly, seeking a plausible alternative to the New York billionaire. So far, no plausible third-party candidate has emerged, and thats great news for Johnson and Weld, who could well emerge as a safe harbor for small-government conservatives who cant bring themselves to vote for Trump.

Thats not to say the conversion will be easy. The Libertarian convention had plenty of the moments of absurdity that, over the years, have relegated the party to the fringe in the past. Johnson, at one point, was booed for suggesting that the government has an interest in licensing people to drive motor vehicles. At one point, there was actually a discussion of whether or not blind people ought to be barred from driving. Late on Sunday, a candidate for party chairman demonstrated his commitment to transparency by performing a strip-tease on stage.

In the end, though, the party nominated what is probably its most qualified ticket ever, at least in terms of real experience in government. And for the #NeverTrump element of the Republican Party, that might be just enough to justify voting for them.

And for Trump, whose path to the White House, while real, is very narrow, thats bad news.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
For all the DeepVeer lovers, heres an exciting news for you peeps.

As per a popular daily, Deepika Padukone spent quality time with beau Ranveer Singh in Paris last week!

Reportedly, after wrapping the shoot of xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage, the actress landed in the City of Love, where beau Ranveer is currently shooting for Aditya Chopras Befikre. While Deepika returned to India over the weekend, Ranveer is still in Paris.

A source said, Deepikas visit was a hush-hush one as she didnt want anyone back home to know about her visit. Unfortunately for her, some fans spotted her in Paris. She even spent time on the Befikre sets, where the cast and crew were given strict instructions not to click any pictures of her. The actress has a lot of work piled up, including her brand endorsements and script readings in Mumbai, so perhaps that is why she didnt want it known that she had taken a few days off for a holiday.

The source added, Deepika is a thorough professional, but shes also a young girl in love. Ranveer and she havent met for months because of their respective film shoots, which are across two different continents. Its natural that she would want to spend time with her beau before she gets crazy busy in India again.



Recommended Read: Woah! Deepika Padukone Flaunts her Smooth Skin in this Latest Photoshoot



Did we just say, secret love meetings are always special!

*Love in Paris.*
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Venezuela owes Lufthansa over $100 million in ticket revenue, a spokesman said, after the German carrier said over the weekend it was suspending flights to Caracas next month.

Like other airlines, Lufthansa has struggled to repatriate revenue held in the local bolivar currency due to exchange controls and had already reduced flights to the country to limit its exposure.

A spokesman for the airline said on Monday that the Venezuela government owed it a "low three-digit million euro" amount and that it could not yet say whether that amount would be written off.

(Reporting by Peter Maushagen; Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Maria Sheahan)
Caracas (AFP) - Allies of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro accused his opponents Monday of fraud in their petition for a vote on removing him from office, saying 10,000 people who supposedly signed it are dead.

With Venezuela mired in a punishing economic crisis, Maduro's opponents are racing to fulfill the requirements to call a recall referendum against him.

They are hoping to clear a first hurdle Thursday, when electoral authorities are due to finish reviewing an initial batch of 1.8 million signatures backing a recall vote.

But the leftist leader's allies alleged the petition -- the first of two required -- was riddled with fraud.

"I state with full responsibility that at this time we have detected 10,000 deceased people signing," said Jorge Rodriguez, the head of a commission appointed by Maduro to oversee the process.

He alleged more than 40 percent of the signatures were fraudulent in separate comments Sunday.

If the electoral board accepts the preliminary petition, signatories will then be asked to confirm their decision in person and prove their identity via fingerprint scans.

The opposition would then have to collect four million signatures on a second petition to trigger a referendum.

Maduro's opponents are racing to hold a referendum before January 10, four years into Maduro's six-year term.

After that date, a successful recall vote would pass power to the vice president rather than trigger new elections.

The opposition accuses Maduro's camp of stalling.

Venezuela, home to the world's largest oil reserves, has been on a downward spiral since a collapse in global crude prices began in mid-2014.

Empty supermarket and pharmacy shelves, long lines and soaring prices have become daily realities, aggravated by en electricity crisis that has forced the government to impose rolling blackouts, reduce its workweek to two days and close schools on Fridays.

More than two thirds of Venezuelans want Maduro to go, according to polls.

The socialist president says he is the victim of a plot by the United States, the Organization of American States and the "fascist Venezuelan right."

Rodriguez called on Maduro's supporters to protest against the OAS's "vulgar and brutal interference" with rallies on Wednesday in Caracas and Saturday in the rest of the country.
Before Majid Jordan's tour kicks off in London tonight (May 30), the OVO Sound duo powwowed with Instagram Music to discuss their ideal show and define personal success.

"How do you define personal success?" Majid Al Maskati asks Jordan Ullman. "Being happy. Period." "What makes you happiest?" Al Maskati follows up. "Making music. Period."

OVO Sound Duo Majid Jordan Talk Meeting in a Bar, Self-Titled Debut & Working With Drake

Majid Jordan -- the groovy tandem behind the jams "My Love," co-starring their label boss Drake, and "Something About You" -- also described their dream show, which includes (wait for it) cannons and Arabian horses.

See their Instagram @music featurettes below.

"How do you define personal success?" "Being happy. Period." "When makes you happiest?" "Making music. Period." "You're successful." ---- Part one of @music's interview with @majidjordan.

A video posted by @music (@music) on May 30, 2016 at 8:30am PDT

@jordanullman asked what @majmaskati's ideal concert would be and it sounds dope and we would like an invite. -- Video by @majidjordan

A video posted by @music (@music) on May 30, 2016 at 8:35am PDT

We spoke with @majmaskati and @jordanullman (aka @majidjordan) ahead of their European tour, which starts tonight in London.

A video posted by @music (@music) on May 30, 2016 at 8:43am PDT
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World experts voiced concern over the global challenge of aging populations and decreasing birth rates at a forum in Shanghai on Sunday.

American expert Teresa Sullivan, President with University of Virginia, spoke about the deteriorating social security deficit in the US, caused by a declining birth rate, which is also occurring in China.

As a result of family planning, primary school enrollments in China have declined by one third from 1995 to 2008.

In the next decade, experts predict the decline may lead to a 30 percent reduction of the workforce aged between 20 and 24.

Statistics show that China's labor force has seen a four-year consecutive decline, down from 937 million in 2012 to 911 million in 2015, causing people to question whether China's labor-driven growth will continue.

Founder Securities noted that China's annual shortage of migrant workers suggest its labor resource have already been depleted.

But, there are also experts expecting a transformation.

During an interview with China Business Journal, Yan Se, a Chinese expert with Standard Charted Bank, said China's growing bachelor-degree holders will likely lead to a new growth model built on a high-quality workforce, which will replace the existing model.

"This (high-quality workforce) will speed up China's industrial upgrading towards technology-intensive production, which will support growth in next decade", said Yan.
By Colin Packham SYDNEY (Reuters) - Mass coral bleaching has destroyed at least 35 percent of the northern and central Great Barrier Reef, Australian scientists said on Monday, a major blow to the World Heritage Site that attracts about A$5 billion ($3.59 billion) in tourism each year. Australian scientists said the coral mortality figure will likely rise as some of the remaining 65 percent of coral in the northern and central reefs fails to recover from bleaching. The report casts a shadow over the long-term prospects of the Great Barrier Reef against a backdrop of climate change and scientists said UNESCO may reconsider its decision not to put the World Heritage Site on its endangered list. "Australia argued that the world heritage values were in tact because of the northern region and now of course it has taken a huge hit," said Professor Terry Hughes, director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Queensland state. UNESCO's World Heritage Committee last May stopped short of placing the Great Barrier Reef on an "in danger" list, but the ruling raised concern about its future. Australian scientists said in March that just seven percent of the Great Barrier Reef had avoided any damage as a result of bleaching, and they held grave fears particularly for coral on the northern reef. After further aerial surveys and dives to access the damage across 84 reefs in the region, Australian scientists said the impact of the bleaching is more severe than expected. "This year is the third time in 18 years that the Great Barrier Reef has experienced mass bleaching due to global warming, and the current event is much more extreme than we've measured before," said Hughes. The findings would have been worse had Cyclone Winston, which hit the reef in January, not bought cooler conditions across the central and southern reefs, the scientists said. Bleaching occurs when the water is too warm, forcing coral to expel living algae and causing it to calcify and turn white. Mildly bleached coral can recover if the temperature drops, otherwise it may die. Although the impact has been exacerbated by one of the strongest El Nino weather systems in nearly 20 years, which raised sea temperatures in the western Pacific, scientists believe climate change is the underlying cause. The bleaching survey findings come just days after Australia's Department of Environment confirmed it omitted its contribution to a U.N. report examining the impact of climate change on world heritage sites over concerns it could create "confusion" and have a negative impact on tourism. Australia is one of the largest carbon emitters per capita because of its reliance on coal-fired power plants for electricity. Climate scientists argue that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere traps heat radiating from Earth, creating global warming. ($1 = 1.3928 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Andrew Bolton and Michael Perry)
neville-longbottom-harry-potter0

Warner Bros.

With the passing of Alan Rickman, many of his fellow actors spoke out with fond remembrance, especially from the Harry Potter cast. From the sounds of things, Rickman, despite being an adult and established actor, often took time of the younger cast members to offer up advice and to make sure that they were heard. Daniel Radcliffe wrote a moving blog post about his relationship with the actor, and Matthew Lewis, Neville Longbottom himself, spoke about the impact Rickman had on his life in a new interview with FAULT Magazine.

When asked about how he reacted when he heard that Rickman had passed, Lewis had nostalgic words about his time with Rickman on the Harry Potter sets.

I was at Leavesden Studios the other day, visiting the set of Fantastic Beasts and I was with the producer who did all the Harry Potter films. He was taking me around the studio when the news came through. We were both just completely stunned. But also, to be in the studio when that came through, suddenly every room that I went into, every corridor that I walked down on, I suddenly remembered a story or an image of Alan. It got a bit odd. It was quite surreal. But also, powerfully moving as well. It was quite nice to be there. All those happy memories came flooding back and I got quite nostalgic actually. I went back home last night and just watched loads of interviews with him. Its hard to describe. On his last day, I had a cup of tea with him in his trailer and we just sat and chatted about the future of my career and what I should do. He just offered me advice in where I should go and he said some things to me that filled me with a lot of confidence. And when you hear those sorts of things from someone of his stature, his ability, it means a lot.

By all accounts, Alan Rickman was generous with his time and was genuinely interested in helping the younger actors that he worked with find their place in the industry. Actors like Rickman dont come along very often, and his legacy of kindness will live on like his many films.

(Via FAULT Magazine)
(POZZALLO, Sicily)  It was the cries of children  and the moment they decided they must save themselves  that haunt the survivors of a shipwreck that claimed hundreds of lives.

Two Eritreans who arrived safely in Sicily told The Associated Press on Sunday how the sea kept seeping into their rickety fishing boat despite all efforts to bail the water out. Eventually, the sea prevailed.

Between 400 and 550 on their smugglers boat didnt make it, part of the estimated 700 migrants who perished in Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over three days last week in the deadliest known tally in over a year, as calm weather and sunny skies increased smuggling crossings from Libya.

When the morning came, I saw how the children were crying and the women, Habtom Tekle, a 27-year-old Eritrean, told the AP through an interpreter. At this point I only tried to pray. Everybody was trying to take the water out of boat.

The rickety wooden boat without an engine was being towed by another smugglers boat laden with hundreds of other migrants, signaling the increasing desperation of the smugglers. Once the second boat started sinking Thursday, the commander on the first boat ordered the tow line cut, apparently to keep his boat from sinking as well, according to Italian police interviews of survivors.

The line, at full tension, whipped back, fatally slashing the neck of a female migrant, police said.

By then, Filmon Selomon, a 21-year-old Eritrean, had plunged into the sea. He told the Associated Press that he knew he could only save himself.

I started to cry when I saw the situation and when I found the ship without an engine. There were many women and children, he said. Water was coming in from everywhere, top, bottom.

Tekle described people holding onto each other, some dragging others underwater, as the boat was sinking.

For me, it was very shocking, he said through an interpreter.

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Police put the number below deck at 300 and said they all perished as the boat sank. Some 200 more plunged into the sea, but only 90 of those were saved, along with 500 from the first boat.

A 17-year-old Eritrean, Mohammed Ali Imam, who arrived on Sicily five days ago in another rescue, told the AP that one of the survivors told him that the second boat started taking on water when the first boat ran out of fuel.

Italian police said survivors identified the commander of the tow boat as a 28-year-old Sudanese man, who has been arrested and faces possible charges for the deaths. Three other smugglers involved in other crossings also were arrested, police announced.

Italian police tallies indicate some 400 died. But Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman in Italy for UNHCR, put the number of migrants and refugees missing in that incident at 550 based on a higher tally of 670 people on board the second boat. She said 15 bodies were recovered, while 70 survivors were plucked from the sea and 25 swam to the other boat.

Sami said many of the survivors have been traumatized by the shipwrecks.

Most of the people on board were Eritrean, according to Save the Children, including many women and children. One of the survivors included a 4-year-old girl whose mother had been killed in a traffic accident in Libya just days before embarking, said Giovanna Di Benedetto, a Save the Children spokeswoman in Italy.

The UNHCRs Sami also said estimated 100 people are missing from another smugglers boat that capsized Wednesday off the coast of Libya, captured in dramatic footage by Italian rescuers. And in a third shipwreck on Friday, Sami said 135 people were rescued, 45 bodies were recovered and an unknown numbers of migrants were still missing.

Because the bodies went missing in the open sea, it is impossible to verify the numbers who died. Humanitarian organizations and investigating authorities typically rely on survivors accounts to piece together what happened.

The situation is really worsening in the last week, said Di Benedetto.

Survivors of Thursdays sinking were taken to the Italian ports of Taranto on the mainland and Pozzallo in Sicily.

Italys southern islands are the main destinations for countless numbers of smuggling boats launched from the shores of lawless Libya each week packed with people seeking jobs and safety in Europe. Hundreds of migrants drown each year attempting the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossing.

Tekle and Selomon both fled mandatory, open-ended conscription in Eritrea. Tekle has been on the move for six years, spending time in Egypt, Israel, Uganda and Sudan before heading to Libya to take the risky sea journey to Italy.

I want to tell the world this way is dangerous for us. Because my brother, sister, family will lose their lives in this channel, Tekle said as he waited to have his arrival in Italy recorded. Please help us to have freedom in our country. I dont want to stay here or any place. I want my county with freedom.
Photo: K.M. Chaudary/AP Image.

A constitutional body in Pakistan put forth legislation that would allow men to "lightly beat" their wives if they refuse sex or decline to wear outfits preferred by their husbands, reports NBC News.

The Council of Islamic Ideology, also known as CII, proposed the legislation last week and it's already sparked anger in Pakistan. The 160-page draft has to be finalized before it's sent off for approval, because the CII cannot make laws. Instead, it gives suggestions to Pakistan's government and parliament.

In addition to suggesting that men beat their wives for refusing sex, the proposal also suggests that men use "limited violence" on their wives if they don't bathe after intercourse or during menstruation.

"Hit her in areas where her skin is not too thick and not too thin," CII leader Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani told the press. "Do not use shoes or a broom on the head, or hit her on the nose or eyes."

He added, "Do not break any bones or cut her skin or leave any marks. Do not hit her vindictively, but only for reminding her about her religious duties."

According to NBC News, the proposal includes step-by-step guidelines on how men are to beat their wives. The document does suggest that violence be used only as a last resort for a wife's disobedience. The CII suggests that any man who doesn't follow the processes should be prosecuted.

Experts say that the CII's proposal is a response to a progressive gender-equality law called the Protection of Woman Against Violence Act, which the CII called "un-Islamic."

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VERDUN, France (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande marked the 100-year anniversary of the Battle of Verdun side-by-side on Sunday, laying a wreath at a cemetery in northeastern France for the 300,000 soldiers killed. The Verdun battle was one of the longest in World War I, lasting more than 300 days from February to December 1916, and its commemoration has come to signify the reconciliation between Germany and France after decades of hostility and distrust following two world wars. "We are side by side to tackle the challenges of today and first of all the future of Europe, because, as we know disappointment was followed by disenchantment, and after doubts came suspicion, and for some even rejection or break-up," Hollande said in a closing speech at the ceremony. It was not until 1984 that the neighbours carried out a joint ceremony to mark the Verdun battle, another step towards ending decades of residual hostility. A photo of then French President Francois Mitterrand and then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl holding hands in the Douaumont cemetery at Verdun became a symbol of a new era of reconciliation. That year also saw France and Germany agreeing on the gradual abolition of border checks, a precursor to the Schengen zone of passport-free travel, launched by five European countries the following year. Rain fell for part of the ceremony on Sunday and Hollande held an umbrella for Merkel and himself as they made their way to the German cemetery Consenvoy to lay a wreath. In 2016, some of the foundations of the European Union appear under stress. Britain's referendum next month on EU membership, Islamist militant attacks in EU capitals, the biggest migrant crisis since World War II and a slow economic recovery have strained relations in the bloc. Hollande said earlier this week that his discussions with Merkel would focus on Europe's future, including the migrant crisis, security and the rise of populist movements. "In the European Union we will continue to have different views on certain issues," Merkel said. "That is in the nature of things but it will prove beneficial if we demonstrate our ability to compromise to reach an agreement". In her weekly podcast, the Chancellor said Germany's relations with France had stood fast even when the countries had diverging opinions, and that Europe would have to adapt. "Europe has problems but Europe has also managed to do a lot and it has come a long way. In a world of global challenges it is important to develop Europe further and to push through the changes that are necessary," she said. (Reporting by Gilbert Reilhac in Verdun, Maya Nikolaeva in Paris; and Francesco Canepa in Frankfurt; Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee in Beijing, capital of China, May 26, 2016. [Xinhua/Liu Weibing]

President Pranab Mukherjee, who is visiting China from May 24 to 27, is one of the world's most accomplished political leaders with extensive experience in economic affairs, finance, banking and diplomacy.

An outstanding parliamentarian elected for five 6-year terms to the Upper House and twice to the Lok Sabha, he is a scholar, author and orator of remarkable intellectual prowess. Across India's political spectrum he commands respect for his grasp of international relations, financial affairs and the parliamentary process.

Earlier this year, President Mukherjee was in the news after the second of his three-part memoirs  The Turbulent Years: 1980-1996 -- was released. The first part  The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years  came out in 2014.

This is the first time a President has released his memoirs in office with controversial details relating to the time of two of India's most powerful PMs, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, the politics of that turbulent period, their assassinations and the aftermath of these killings.

Although an author with several publications, none of his earlier books were of a "political" variety. Hence, they did not stir curiosity like these two did.

Beginning as a Deputy Minister in Indira Gandhi's government in 1973, a year later he moved up as Minister of State for Finance. He became a Cabinet Minister in 1980 and remained one in every Congress party government until July 25, 2012 when he was became the 13th President of India.

From 2004 to 2012, under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Mukherjee had a pre-eminent role in path-breaking measures such as Right to Information, Right to Employment, Right to Education, Food Security etc. His capacity for work is phenomenal as was evident in his chairmanship of over 95 Groups of Ministers (GoMs) in the eight years before he became President.

The Chinese, like people in the US and many other countries, are often surprised by the fact that, in India, the Prime Minister is more powerful than the President who appoints him.

The present system of electing the President is there from the 1950s. The President is the Supreme Commander of India's Armed Forces, and he can declare war or conclude peace, but on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The President is a titular head of state. Yet he has vast constitutional powers arising from his primary duty to defend, protect and preserve the Constitution and the rule of law.

The President of India, unlike the presidents of China and the US, takes office by a different method. He has a term of five years and can be re-elected. He is not directly elected. The President is chosen through secret ballot by an electoral college comprising elected members of Parliament (MPs) and of all the state legislative assemblies (MLAs).

The role of the President is largely ceremonial and his visits to other countries are of symbolic significance. However, President Mukherjee, who has served as India's Minister of External Affairs, Defence and Finance at various times, is a skilled political and diplomatic negotiator. Therefore, the Chinese should not be surprised if President Mukherjee goes beyond the merely ceremonial to engage his hosts on issues that impact Sino-Indian relations.

For instance, one issue could be India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, on which Beijing is at odds with New Delhi.

The author, an independent Indian political and foreign affairs commentator, is Senior Consultant & Editor of China-India Dialogue, published by China International Publishing Group (CIPG).

Courtesy: China India Dialogue
Antalya (Turkey) (AFP) - Ankara will abandon a deal with the European Union to reduce migrant flows if its citizens are not granted visa-free travel to most of the bloc, Turkey's foreign minister has warned.

With the two sides locked in an increasingly-bitter standoff, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was "impossible" for Ankara to change anti-terror laws that Brussels wants to see narrowed in exchange for the visa-free travel to the Schengen zone.

"We have told them 'we are not threatening you' but there's a reality. We have signed two deals with you (the EU) and both are interlinked," Cavusoglu told a small group of journalists, including AFP, at the southern holiday resort of Antalya.

"This is not a threat but what is required from an agreement," he said.

Building on a threat by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week, Cavusoglu said Turkey would use "administrative" measures to block the deal if needed.

There have been growing concerns that Turkish nationals will not be given visa-free travel by the end of June, the target date, putting the future of the migrant deal at risk.

EU leaders are insisting that Turkey meet 72 conditions before the visa exemption is approved, including narrowing its definition of terror to stop prosecuting academics and journalists for "terror propaganda".

"Which definition are you talking about? Each country in Europe has different terror definitions," the minister said, pointing to stringent measures in France.

Cavusoglu said Turkey was currently battling "more than one terrorist group" including the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"In such a circumstance, it is impossible to change terror laws."

- 'By early July' -

Despite the increasingly-acrimonious picture, diplomatic efforts will be stepped up in the coming weeks to overcome the visa-hurdle, the minister said.

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In the coming days, there will be expert-level talks between Turkey and the EU followed by a possible leaders summit involving Erdogan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials, the minister said.

"We'll finalise the deal and make it ready before the EU Council meeting on July 7-8. We have the determination."

The minister also said the deal -- under which migrants can be sent back to Turkey after arriving on the Greek islands -- was working "very successfully".

"The number of migrants crossing to Greek islands in October was around 6,800. Now, it is around 30 daily," he explained, saying it was due to the deal rather than to naval activity by NATO.

He said Turkey has so far taken in more than 400 refugees under the deal, and that 130 Syrians from Turkish camps had been resettled in EU member states.

"We have stuck to our promise," he said.

- Turkey to join the EU? -

European concerns over the fate of the agreement grew after the shock departure of prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who brokered the deal with Brussels in a move which reportedly left Erdogan feeling sidelined.

Cavusoglu brushed off concerns, saying the EU should not use government change as an "excuse" to block Turkey's three-decade effort to join the bloc, which has slowed for a number of reasons, one of which is the Cyprus problem.

"What is there to be concerned about with the new government?" asked Cavusoglu, referring to the cabinet headed by newly-appointed Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, a staunch Erdogan ally.

"Everyone is agreed on reforms, civilian constitution and the reform of institutions, in particular the judiciary."

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who is campaigning for his country to stay in the EU, has said the question of Turkey joining the bloc was not "remotely on the cards".

"It's not Prime Minister Cameron's real opinion because Britain has always backed us," Cavusoglu said, describing his remarks as part of a domestic campaign to counter calls for Britain to leave the bloc ahead of a referendum on the matter on June 23.
The mother of the 4-year-old boy who slipped into the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo on Saturday  which led to the animal being shot dead  has hit back against online critics who are criticizing her parenting.



Michelle Gregg defended herself in a now-deleted Facebook post, writing: "God protected my child until the authorities were able to get to him. My son is safe and was able to walk away with a concussion and a few scrapes... no broken bones or internal injuries."



Gregg continued, "As a society we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child and if anyone knows me I keep a tight watch on my kids. Accidents happen..."













Social media users slammed Gregg for allegedly not paying close enough attention to her son, writing that she was responsible for the death of Harambe, the 17-year-old, 450-pound male Western Lowland gorilla.





I am SICK&TIRED of LAZY people who do not WATCH THEIR CHILDREN. RIP #Harambe you did not deserve to die. @CincinnatiZoo I am sorry 4 u also a Just Me (@WutaUlookinat) May 29, 2016







#harambe was killed because of the stupid and their irresponsible parenting...their picture should be made public. a Liberate Illinois (@liberateIL) May 29, 2016





Gregg was not the only one to face negative commentary online after the incident  which was captured on video. The zoo released a statement, Saturday, from park director Thane Maynard saying, "We are heartbroken about losing Harambe, but a child's life was in danger and a quick decision had to be made by our Dangerous Animal Response Team."



The zoo said that Harambe was violently dragging and throwing the little boy. Maynard explained that tranquilizing Harambe was not an option because "tranquilizers do not take effect for several minutes and the child was in imminent danger. On top of that, the impact from the dart could agitate the animal and cause the situation to get much worse."









Many have questioned why an alternative solution was not used.



"The little boy, once he fell, I don't think the gorilla even knew that he was in there until he heard him splashing in the water," onlooker Brittany Nicely told ABC News, continuing, "The gorilla rushed the boy, but did not hit the boy. He almost was guarding the boy, was protecting him... The gorilla was not, in my eyes being harmful."





Mom of 4-Year-Old Who Climbed into Zoo Pen Defends Herself from Backlash After Zookeepers Killed Gorilla| Zoo Animals





Animal lovers took to social media to issue their opinions, with one user writing, "An endangered animal should not have had to pay with its life because of a lack of supervision #CincinnatiZoo #Harambe."





An endangered animal should not have had to pay with its life because of a lack of supervision #CincinnatiZoo #Harambe a Mitch (@mitcheglar23) May 29, 2016





Rare gorilla #Harambe murdered by @CincinnatiZoo bc kid got in enclosure. Zoo & bad parents shld be held responsible pic.twitter.com/uIQE7L38Ux a BrettMDecker (@BrettMDecker) May 29, 2016





In response, Jack Hanna, the director emeritus of Ohio's Columbus Zoo, told Good Morning America of Harambe, "I've seen him take a green coconut, which you can't bust open with a sledgehammer and squish it like this. You're dealing with either human life or animal life here. So what is the decision? I think it's very simple to figure that out."



Hanna continued, "I can tell you now, that there's no doubt in my mind the child would not be here today if they hadn't made that decision."





The Snuggle Is Real: Bears Acting Like Humans  It's as Glorious as It Sounds





Animal activists have started an online petition called "Justice for Harambe." If the petition reaches 150,000 signatures, it will be sent to the Cincinnati Zoo, Hamilton County Child Protection Services and Cincinnati Police Department to encourage action against Gregg.
By Mohammad Stanekzai Lashkar Gah (Reuters) - More than 50 Afghan police have been reported killed over the past two days in heavy fighting around the capital of the southern province of Helmand, officials said on Monday. Helmand has been the scene of major offensives over the past year by Taliban insurgents seeking to overthrow the government, forcing the NATO-led military coalition to deploy hundreds of additional troops to shore up crumbling Afghan security forces. As many as 24 police were killed on Monday, and another 33 killed on Sunday, with nearly 40 injured, regional police commander Esmatullah Dawlatzai told Reuters. At least 22 police and army checkpoints fell to Taliban forces in the recent fighting, said another police official who confirmed the casualty estimates, but sought anonymity. Afghan army officials did not respond to requests for comment. The areas hit by the latest fighting are Greshk, Nad Ali, and Nahr-e Saraj, which neighbor the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah to the north and west. Residents in the capital city said they could hear heavy artillery and machine gun fire throughout Sunday night, with a charity hospital saying it had treated at least 40 injured, among them 30 civilians and 10 security forces. Afghan officials have taken steps to recapture the lost areas, said Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor. (Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
The Leadership Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in business contribute answers to timely questions about careers and leadership. Today's answer to the question "Whats the most important lesson youve learned in your career?" is written by Ratmir Timashev, founder and CEO of Veeam.

The most important lesson I've learned in business is that to be successful, you have to be at the right place at the right time with a brilliant product. At my first startup in the mid-90s, our online e-commerce store was well-timed and we were offering a compelling service, but we were in Columbus, Ohio, and had no access to local venture capital.

Knowing the right time and place for a business is difficult to determine. The goal is to enter a market at an early or relatively early stage, before it starts to explode, in order to capitalize on the fastest growth. But you don't want to be too early or too late.

You have to evaluate the market dynamics and deeply understand the customer base. In the technology industry, it's too early if the technology is not ready or people are simply not ready to embrace it, and it's too late when companies with a critical mass are already present in the market - especially for Internet-based companies.

It's easier to tell if it's too early. There's usually a lot of hype and people are talking there aren't enough people paying for the service or product. You have to enter a market when it's still small, but is already real - meaning that customers are buying the product or service and the market will explode at least 30-100 times in the next five years. You don't want to enter a market that's only being hyped by journalist and analysts.

Related: The Best Thing to Do After a Stressful Day

The mobile device market is a good example of this. Early on, there were a lot of smart devices and a lot of hype, but not much money or traction. For the market to explode, a variety of previously disparate tech components needed to come together - mobile internet, touch screens, etc. Jumping in too early can be a huge waste of resources. Companies tend to focus on things that their customers don't need because it's too soon to know what customers will actually pay for.

Story continues

It's harder to know when it's too late, but generally, the opportunity is gone if there are two or three established leaders or several competitors who are already present and controlling the market. Another telltale sign is when the market is mature and barely growing. You don't want to try to be the new Facebook. Also, keep in mind that markets in different geographies grow at very different rates, so while you may be late in one location, you could be early or on time in another.

You shouldn't aim to be the first to market as first entrants tend to educate the market - Myspace prepared the market for Facebook. Google, Facebook, Skype, Microsoft, Oracle, Apple - they weren't the first, but they were in the right place at the right time. Google beat Yahoo in search even though it came to the market years later. The way to compete when you're late to the market is with a much better product or a better business model.

Clearly, timing matters. You need to enter a real market that already exists with a brilliant product and then define, create and own that market! A very good product isn't enough - it needs to be brilliant. And a brilliant product alone isn't enough. It needs to be surrounded by great sales and marketing teams to achieve the growth needed for success.

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
A 400-pound Western lowland silverback gorilla named Harambe was shot and killed by staff members at the Cincinnati Zoo after a 4-year-old boy fell into the gorilla exhibit Saturday.

Read more: A Male Gorilla Was Killed in Order to Protect a Child That Fell Into His Enclosure

Now, the mother of the boy, who was seen being dragged by Harambe in the exhibit before the gorilla was shot, has allegedly spoken out online.

VIDEO: Harambe and 4-year-old...http://bit.ly/27XIEqA

Michelle Gregg, a woman claiming she is the mother of the 4-year-old, wrote a Facebook post screengrabbed by Mic staff writer Philip Lewis and cited by the New York Post before her account was deactivated. She thanked everyone for their prayers for her son.

"What started off as a wonderful day turned into a scary one," she wrote. "For those of you that have seen the news or been on social media that was my son that fell in the gorilla exhibit at the zoo. God protected my child until the authorities were able to get to him."

Apparently, this is the response from the mother of the child who fell in the Gorilla exhibit:pic.twitter.com/tN90np55We https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CjpRC2fWEAAuvPT.jpg:large

"My son is safe and was able to walk away with a concussion and a few scrapes... no broken bones or internal injuries."

The gorilla, meanwhile, wasn't so lucky.

Already, there is a petition calling for #JusticeForHarambe over on Change.org that has more than 144,000 signatures at the time of publishing this article. The petition specifically calls for the parents of the 4-year-old boy who fell over the barrier into the exhibit to be held accountable for Harambe's death.

"We the undersigned want the parents to be held accountable for the lack of supervision and negligence that caused Harambe to lose his life," the petition reads. "We the undersigned feel the child's safety is paramount in this situation. We believe that this negligence may be reflective of the child's home situation."

Story continues

Source: Change.org

In Gregg's post, she addresses this exact idea, saying that society is often quick to judge parents when incidents (like, presumably, what happened on Saturday) happen.

"Accidents happen but I am thankful that the right people were in the right place today," Gregg wrote. "Thank you to everyone that helped me and my son today and most importantly God for being the awesome God that He is."

With the petition itself only gaining traction, it appears as though not everyone (especially on the internet) feels that great about what transpired on Saturday. The petition has been up for less than 48 hours, and a Facebook group, also called Justice for Harambe, currently has more than 56,000 members. On Twitter, thousands are using the hashtag #JusticeForHarambe to voice their own opinions on the matter.

Already, the internet's outrage over Harambe's killing is drawing parallels to the killing of Cecil the Lion, for which there was a petition similarly demanding justice for the lion in Zimbabwe that was shot and killed by a , and that petition eventually earned more than 1.1 million signatures.

So don't expect this story to resolve itself anytime soon.
The mother of a 4-year-old boy who fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo on Saturday, causing zoo officials to shoot the animal, has responded to critics who said she should have watched her son more closely.

As a society we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child and if anyone knows me I keep a tight watch on my kids, a woman named Michelle Gregg wrote in a Facebook post reported by People. In the post, which the magazine said has since been deleted, Gregg identified herself as the mother of the toddler.

Accidents happen but I am thankful that the right people were in the right place today. Thank you to everyone that helped me and my son today and most importantly God for being the awsome (sic) God that He is, Gregg wrote.

Read more: Caretaker of Slain Cincinnati Zoo Gorilla Devastated: These Are Like Your Children

Many animal rights activists on social media have criticized Gregg in the wake of the gorillas death, arguing that the she should have prevented her son from falling into the enclosure.

In a statement released through a public relations firm, the toddlers family said he is now doing just fine after being released from the hospital on Saturday, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

We extend our heartfelt thanks for the quick action by the Cincinnati Zoo staff, the statement said. We know that this was a very difficult decision for them, and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla.

The statement did not officially identify the name of the boy or his parents.
Oscar award-winning actress Ellen Burstyn will be honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Munich Film Festival next month.

Burstyn will be given the spotlight for her life's work in TV, theater and film with a tribute that will replay some of her most notable roles in productions like "The Last Picture Show, "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," "Requiem for a Dream," "The Exorcist," and her most recent role as Elizabeth Hale in "House of Cards."

Burstyn has won an Oscar, the Golden Globe, two Emmys and a BAFTA, in addition to over 20 major international prizes. She is the co-director of the famed Actors Studio in New York, encouraging and training young actors in the craft. She was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2013.

She will receive her award in Munich June 27.
The Latest News in the Energy TransferWilliams Merger Saga

Energy Transfer announces counterclaims against Williams

A new chapter in the Energy Transfer Equity (ETE)Williams Companies (WMB) legal battle unfolded on Thursday, May 26, after ETE announced counterclaims against WMBs three lawsuits. WMBs first two lawsuits were against ETE and its CEO, Kelcy Warren, after their private offering of preference shareholders to limited ETE unitholders. WMB sued ETE for the third time after Kelcy Warren highlighted that ETE cant close this transaction in the 1Q16 earnings conference call. For more detail, read Energy Transfers 1Q16 Earnings: Key Highlights.

According to ETEs counterclaims, Williams Companies has refused to cooperate with ETEs effort to finance the deal, and it failed to use best efforts to complete the merger.

ETE seeks the courts intervention to terminate the merger immediately, citing Williamss breach of the merger agreement and a $1.5 billion payment of termination fees from WMB. ETE wrote, ETE seeks a declaratory judgment that, in the event Latham & Watkins LLP (Latham), its outside tax counsel, is not able to deliver a 721(a) tax opinion prior to the outside date of June 28, 2016 set forth in the merger agreement, ETE will be entitled to terminate the merger agreement without penalty due to the failure of a closing condition.

Stock price reaction

ETE and WMB are expected to rise on Friday after the announcement. ETE and WMB have returned 61.7% and 33.1%, respectively, over the past three months, reflecting a positive reaction to the falling-through of the deal. Energy Transfer Equitys peers Western Gas Equity Partners (WGP), EQT GP Holdings (EQGP), and EnLink Midstream LLC (ENLC) have returned 58.7%, 4.4%, and 95.1% during the same timeframe.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
By Aung Hla Tun YANGON (Reuters) - Authorities in Myanmar seized roughly 21 million methamphetamine pills with a street value of around U.S.$35.5 million near the border with China, state-owned media said on Monday, the country's second largest haul of the contraband. Although better known for its opium production, Myanmar, a country with restive and porous borders, is a major producer and exporting hub of low-purity pills made primarily of caffeine and methamphetamine. The pills, which deliver a cheap high, are taken both by recreational users and laborers toiling for long hours who need to stay awake. The seizure was made in Kutkai township, in northern Shan State, on Saturday, the Kyemon newspaper said, adding that Aung Aung, a truck driver, told police he had been paid to deliver the cargo of tablets to Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city. Investigation showed the seized drugs belonged to a fugitive connected with another seizure of drugs in Mandalay on March 5, it added. The seizure was Myanmar's second largest drug bust, following a seizure with a street value of $100 million last year in the commercial capital of Yangon, said Police Col. Zaw Khin Aung at police headquarters in Naypyitaw, the capital. Myanmar has become an exporting center for the drug, and police believed the latest seizure was meant to be distributed outside the country, Zaw Khin Aung said. "The final destination of these big hauls of stimulants is not the domestic market," he added. Myanmar was the point of origin of methamphetamine pills found across Southeast Asia and beyond, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said in a report last year. "Reports of methamphetamine tablets originating in Myanmar and seized in China and Thailand indicate that increasing quantities are being trafficked from Myanmar across their joint borders," it added. Police figures show 49.95 million of the pills were seized in 2,815 busts across Myanmar last year. (Editing by Timothy Mclaughlin and Clarence Fernandez)
Twenty years of striving to strengthen understanding, trust and cooperation between two continents through political dialogue, economic cooperation and socio-cultural exchange is a remarkable effort. In the course of these two decades, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), as the pre-eminent trans-regional forum in this part of the world, has come a long way for its modest beginnings in Bangkok in 1996 attended by 25 Asian and European leaders.

The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Media Dialogue on Connectivity, centered on the theme of "Promoting Public Awareness and Partnership," opens in China's southern city of Guangzhou on May 9. [Photo by Li Kang / China.org.cn]

Today, it has 53 members, and more than 200 of their representatives gathered in Guangzhou on May 9-10 for the Media Dialogue on Connectivity held for Promoting Public Awareness and Partnership. It was a milestone on the eve of the ASEM's 11th Summit scheduled in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, in July 2016.

The Dialogue  hosted by China and co-sponsored by Mongolia, Pakistan, New Zealand and Singapore  saw intensive input, insight and interaction on the progress made, work in progress, and the challenges and promises ahead. Being there for the occasion provided me a ringside seat.

In the course of its journey towards a comprehensive partnership between Asia and Europe, connectivity has emerged as the priority. The importance of connectivity for economic prosperity and sustainable development was emphatically reiterated at the 10th summit in Milan. This has given rise to a debate on asserting ASEM as the "institutional home of connectivity," which has continued in Guangzhou; albeit, only in the context of the Media Dialogue. It is certain to be more intensely deliberated at the upcoming summit in Ulaan Baatar.

Connectivity is inconceivable without having media as, at least, a stakeholder if not a partner. There are those who feel that the media should be the fourth pillar of ASEM to complement the political, economic, social and cultural pillars.

Recognition of the media's role in promoting public awareness is an outcome of a series of initiatives during the last two years towards intensifying Asia-Europe connectivity. These include ASEM's Think Tank Symposium, Industry Dialogue on Connectivity, Symposium on the Eurasia Transport and Logistics Network, and the Seminar of ASEM at 20-Challenges of Connectivity.

The Dialogue was intended for media representatives to review the progress of connectivity and set out the role and potential of the media in enhancing the visibility of ASEM, advancing connectivity as the pivot for a vibrant revival of ASEM and promoting people-to-people linkage in Asia and Europe.

The Dialogue for involving the media towards the success of connectivity should be viewed in the context of the situation in Europe, the condition of Asia and ASEM's performance so far  none of which are heartening.

Europe is facing a deep existential crisis triggered by terrorist strikes in its capitals, a possible Brexit, refugees pouring in and the consequent revival of Fortress Europe with even more fortified walls that make nonsense of the European Union's common policies such as human rights and non-discrimination. There is a revival of racism as well as stiffer social, political and economic barriers. There is hostility to "outsiders" and doubts over the EU's unity, cohesion and efficacy of Schengen visa.

In Asia, despite the high rates of growth and GDP, there is rising economic inequality, deprivation of access to social and economic justice and wealth and income disparity within and between nations. Poverty and inequity remain key concerns for most countries and there is a divide in Asia marked by the "developed," "developing" and "underdeveloped."

Europe wants Asian goods, services and resources. It wants to leverage Asia, and Asia's advantages, deficits and compulsions of (under) development to recover and reinforce its own economic prowess. Asia, in turn, grasps the partnership in the hope of reducing the development gap while gaining infrastructure, technology and the means of prosperity. Paradoxically, much of the investible surplus, too, is provided by Asia, such as China's massive funding of the Belt and Road initiative , which is connectivity's lifeline. It is an unequal partnership between the developed and the developing, also in terms of demographics and resources.

In the circumstances, ASEM has acquitted itself rather well. It has weathered storms and threats, kept its focus, stuck to its direction and remained steadfast and cohesive. That was good enough until now. However, that's not enough for ASEM to breakthrough to the next level, as it must, and remain relevant in its third decade.

A Europe in crisis has little thought or space for human rights and humanitarian considerations. In the event, the central plank of people-to-people linkage as a key dimension of connectivity could be in jeopardy. ASEM needs to address this, for it is also a crisis of Europe's confidence in itself as an entity that deservedly received the Nobel Peace Prize, of Europe's imperative to win Asian confidence and also of Europe's confidence to sustain and strengthen ASEM.

Such confidence can be a basis for ASEM's vibrant revival, charged with a new dynamism and drive for building the many-sided infrastructure so essential for sustaining connectivity. It is the renewed vitality of ASEM that can attract and hold the media's attention and make it an attractive partner for the media in pursuit of a common cause towards a common destiny.

The author is an independent Indian political and foreign affairs commentator, andsenior consultant & editor of China-India Dialogue published by China International Publishing Group (CIPG).

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
Tirana (AFP) - NATO's parliamentary assembly on Monday called on members of the Western military alliance to be ready to respond to the "potential threat" of Russian aggression against them.

The assembly issued a unanimous declaration of proposals after a three-day meeting in Tirana, ahead of a landmark NATO summit in Warsaw in July.

"The challenge from Russia is real and serious," said Michael Turner, the US president of the assembly, which gathered around 250 lawmakers from the 28 member states.

The declaration expressed regret over "Russia's use of force against its neighbours and attempted intimidation of (NATO) Allies".

It said this had "left NATO no choice but to consider the prospect of aggressive Russian action against an Alliance member as a potential threat, and to adopt measured, proportionate responses".

The assembly's declaration also urged NATO allies to "provide reassurance" to members who feel their security is under threat, especially on NATO's eastern and southern flanks.

At the Warsaw summit, NATO leaders will formally endorse an alliance revamp putting more troops into eastern European member states as part of a "deter and dialogue" strategy.

Russia fiercly opposes the move, meant to reassure eastern allies spooked by its 2014 annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and the pro-Moscow revolt that followed in the country's east.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg echoed the parliamentary assembly's stance during a Monday visit to alliance member Poland.

Speaking in Warsaw, he said NATO was sending a "clear signal to any potential adversary that an attack on Poland will be considered an attack on the whole alliance."

Along with Romania, Poland became a target for Russian ire after it agreed to host a US and NATO anti-missile system that Moscow regards as a security threat.

NATO, however, insists the shield is not directed against Russia, but is instead designed to counter threats from so-called "rogue states" in the Middle East.

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"It is directed against threats coming from outside the Euro-Atlantic area," Stoltenberg insisted.

NATO cut all practical cooperation with Moscow following Russia's Ukraine intervention, but the US-led alliance has said it will hold formal talks with Moscow before the July 8-9 summit.

In April, the NATO Russia Council (NRC) held its first meeting since June 2014 but the talks ended in "profound disagreements" over Ukraine and other issues, although Stoltenberg said at the time it was a useful exchange.

The assembly said NATO should explore ways to "reduce tensions" with Moscow, while "addressing Russia's unacceptable violations of international norms".

It also called on NATO to strengthen conventional and nuclear deterrence, and to increase cooperation with European Union border agency Frontex over the migration crisis.
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet voted Monday to expand his coalition and appoint hardliner Avigdor Lieberman as defence minister, bringing weeks of political intrigue -- and outrage -- towards a close.

Netanyahu, accused of setting his government on a far-right course, was forced to resolve a last-minute dispute with another party in his coalition to see the move through.

Parliament was expected later Monday to approve the appointment of Lieberman, a former foreign minister and ultra-nationalist who has pledged harsh measures against Palestinian "terrorists".

His Yisrael Beitenu party adds five lawmakers to Netanyahu's previous one-seat majority in parliament, giving him 66 out of 120 seats.

Both Netanyahu and Lieberman have sought to ease concerns over his appointment as defence minister, a key position in a country on a near-constant war footing.

One example of Lieberman's provocative style came recently in comments directed at Ismail Haniya, Islamist movement Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip.

Lieberman said he would give Haniya 48 hours to hand over two detained Israeli civilians and the bodies of soldiers killed in a 2014 war "or you're dead".

Netanyahu said on Monday that "we will continue with a responsible and assertive security policy... and at the same time, will look for paths to peace, especially through regional developments, which we not only recognise but are also involved in."

- 'Legitimate questions' -

The deal for Lieberman's party to enter the coalition was struck last week, putting Israel on a path to form what has been called the most right-wing government in its history.

Netanyahu's moves have drawn concern both inside Israel and abroad.

The United States has said the new coalition raises "legitimate questions" about the commitment of Netanyahu's government to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

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In the wake of the agreement, environment minister Avi Gabbay of the centre-right Kulanu party announced his resignation, saying: "I do not think it is right... to form an extremist government."

Before that, Lieberman's predecessor Moshe Yaalon, from Netanyahu's Likud, warned of a rising tide of extremism in the party and Israel as a whole when he resigned as defence minister on May 20.

However, Netanyahu's troubles also went beyond such criticism, with the vote to expand his coalition opening up previous fissures in his government.

The religious nationalist party Jewish Home planned to block the addition of Lieberman's party by voting against it in parliament, possibly sparking fresh elections, unless demands for procedural reform were met.

Jewish Home holds eight parliamentary seats, enough to block Netanyahu's new line-up.

Netanyahu and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett reached a compromise on Sunday night.

It had demanded the creation of a military liaison position in the government's security cabinet, a smaller forum of cabinet members which decides on matters of national security.

Bennett says such a post is needed to avoid security cabinet members being kept in the dark about important developments, pointing to aspects of the 2014 conflict with Palestinian militants in Gaza, among other concerns.

- Political rival's demand -

Under the compromise brokered by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of the United Torah Judaism alliance of ultra-Orthodox parties, security cabinet members will receive frequent personal briefings from the National Security Council as an interim measure as a committee of experts looks at ways to improve procedure.

While some analysts say such a change is needed, Bennett's demand is also seen as political manoeuvring ahead of the next general election, which is due by 2019 at the latest.

Bennett is widely seen as aspiring to replace Netanyahu, whose Likud party is currently the largest in parliament.

Also as part of the coalition changes, Yisrael Beitenu's Sofa Landver was approved as minister of immigrant absorption by the cabinet.

Veteran MP Tzachi Hanegbi, chairman of parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee and a member of Likud, is to become a minister without portfolio.
By Ulf Laessing and Tife Owolabi ABUJA/YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's president on Sunday said he would hold talks with leaders in the oil-producing Delta region to address their grievances in a bid to stop a surge in pipeline attacks, but that an army crackdown would continue. People in the southern Delta region, where oil giants such as Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron operate, have for years complained about the oil industry's pollution and of economic marginalisation by the state. Some have taken up arms and a recent surge in attacks on oil installations has cut Nigeria's oil output to a 20-year low. "The recent spate of attacks by militants disrupting oil and power installations will not distract us from engaging leaders in the region in addressing Niger Delta problems," President Muhammadu Buhari said in a televised speech marking his first year in office. Buhari said the government was committed to a clean-up of polluted areas. "I believe the way forward is to take a sustainable approach to address the issues that affect the Delta communities." Local officials and Western allies such as Britain have told Buhari that moving in troops to the Niger Delta would not be enough to stop the attacks and that the population's grievances would have to be dealt with. Security operations would go on, Buhari said in his speech. "We shall apprehend the perpetrators and their sponsors and bring them to justice." But as his address was being broadcast, residents in the Delta village of Oporoza, home of a former militant leader, said the army had raided their community and was not allowing the evacuation of any wounded. "No person is allowed to move in and out of Oporoza," said the Ijaw Youth Council, which represents the largest ethnic group in the region. "A 40-horse power speed boat which came to rescue residents in serious medical condition was seriously attacked by the military." In its own statement, the army said it had exchanged gun fire with a militants attacking a crude pipeline run by Italy's ENI, hours after a group called Niger Delta Avengers militants claimed another strike against oil facilities. The army's statement did not mention Oporoza. Apart from the militant attacks in the Delta, Nigeria's oil revenues have also been hit by a slump in oil prices, leaving Africa's largest economy in crisis. On Thursday, Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said an amnesty programme for former militants, signed in 2009 to end a previous insurgency, needed to improve. The scheme providing cash benefits and job training to those who lay down their arms has had its funding cut by two thirds. Buhari has also upset former militants by ending contracts to protect pipelines, part of a drive to tackle graft. (additional reporting by Felix Onuah and Tife Owolabi; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
By Felix Onuah and Anamesere Igboeroteonwu ABUJA/ONITSHA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari will on Thursday visit the Niger Delta region, rocked by attacks on oil and gas facilities, for the first time since taking office a year ago, an official said on Monday. The visit was announced as the Niger Delta Avengers militant group, which has claimed a string of recent attacks, issued a warning to oil firms in the southern region that their "facilities and personnel will bear the brunt of our fury," according to a statement. Buhari said on Sunday said the government would hold talks with leaders in Nigeria's main oil-producing region to address their grievances, in a bid to stop a surge in pipeline attacks. Buhari will visit a Niger Delta area called Ogoniland to launch a much-delayed programme to clean up areas heavily polluted by oil spills, said the government official who asked not to be named. Residents in the southern swamp areas, where oil giants such as Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron operate, have for years complained about the oil industry's pollution and about economic marginalisation by the government. Some have taken up arms, and a surge in attacks on energy installations has cut Nigeria's oil output to a 20-year low. A militant group called Niger Delta Avengers, which staged several attacks in recent weeks, has accused Buhari, a Muslim from the north, ignoring local problems by having never visited the Christian region in the south. "To the international oil companies and indigenous oil companies, it's going to be bloody this time around," the group said in a statement late on Monday. It did not elaborate. Local officials and Western allies such as Britain have told Buhari that moving army reinforcements to the Delta region would not be enough to stop the attacks and that the population's grievances should be dealt with. On Thursday, Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said an amnesty programme for former militants, signed in 2009 to quell a previous insurgency, needed to improve. The scheme providing cash benefits and job training to those who lay down their arms has had its funding cut by two thirds. Buhari has also upset former militants by ending contracts to protect pipelines, part of a drive to tackle graft. (Writing by Ulf Laessing; editing by Andrew Roche, G Crosse)
Cagliari (Italy) (AFP) - They are unlikely members of the same crew: career seamen for whom it was initially just another job and landlubber humanitarian workers trying to make the world a better place.

But together, aboard the MS Aquarius, they get the job done. Since it joined the international search and rescue operation off Libya in February, the boat chartered by medical charity MSF and French NGO SOS Mediterranee has safely delivered some 1,500 migrants to Italian ports.

Once the property of the German coastguard, the Aquarius switched to oil prospection in 2009, surveying prospective fields from Nigeria to the Arctic.

Now it is stuffed full of life jackets, blankets, nutrition packs and bottles of water.

On the deck, SOS Mediterranee volunteers rotate the watch. Several of them are merchant seamen themselves, a mix of keen youngsters and salty old sea dogs. Most have given up three to six weeks of holiday time to help out.

"Working only for yourself is not necessarily what makes you proud in this life," said one of them, 25-year-old merchant seaman Antoine Laurent.

- 'A unique experience' -

Down several narrow flights of steps, the MSF medical team -- a doctor, midwife, two nurses and two technicians -- prepare to take charge of rescued migrants who will be spending anything from a few hours to several days on board.

Unlike the SOS Mediterranee crew, most of them had never set foot on a boat before but can call on vast reserves of experience acquired in humanitarian hotspots from the Ebola clinics of West Africa to the earthquake-ravaged mountains of Nepal.

Dutch doctor Erna Rijnierse, who has been working with MSF for a decade, describes the work on the boat as a one-off.

"I've been involved in long term projects, I've been involved in emergencies This however is very unique.

"There are elements of different MSF missions but the fact that you do this on water, with people in flight that have been travelling already quite a bit, and on the doorstep of Europe, makes it very unique."

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What is notable aboard the Aquarius is the commitment of the boat's permanent crew -- a motley collection of taciturn Russians and Ukrainians, several Ghanians and a worrisome Greek. None of them chose the mission but all them have thrown their hearts into it.

Going to the aid of stricken boats is a moral and legal obligation at sea but picking up migrants represents a headache for merchant ships with deliveries and collections to be made, and fears of infection by sick shipwreck survivors abound.

But it is the veteran seamen who have the skills required. Aquarius seaman Ebenezer Tandot, 45, has long worked around North Sea oil platforms, where hypothermia can claim even the strongest swimmers in as little as eight minutes.

- 'Doing something good' -

So it is the Ghanaian who is tasked with guiding the first lifeboat to be launched.

"We pick up the migrants, we drop them off, it has become the routine," he tells AFP.

But his nonchalant tone changes quickly as he emotionally recalls the impact of rescuing men in a state of shock or paralysed by hypothermia and the relief at seeing them begin to come round and recover.

Such emotions help to explain how the crew has bonded, despite their vastly different backgrounds. "We actually feel like one big team trying to take the best care we can of the people we have rescued," says the MSF doctor.

The boat's skipper is Alexander Moroz, a 45-year-old Belarusian with a dry sense of humour. He is the point man who receives instructions from Italy's coastguard and directs operations.

The work has nothing in common with his boat's past. "But my feeling is I am in the right place and that I am doing something good."

Asked if the presence of rescue boats is only encouraging people traffickers to send their human cargoes to sea, the skipper adopts the same line as the humanitarian contingent on board.

"The only question is, if we were not here, how many more would die?"
Alireza will leave due to family reasons.

Noble Group has announced the resignation of its CEO Yusuf Alireza and revealed that it will shortly be starting the sale process for Noble Americas Energy Solutions.



Alireza joined Noble Group four years ago and has steered the group through some of the most difficult market conditions ever seen in commodities markets, the group said in a statement.



Alireza has helped guide Noble through a very challenging period, moving the company to an asset light, merchant focused model; he played a pivotal role in the successful sale of Noble Agri to a group of investors led by COFCO, and has also been instrumental in securing the recently announced re-financing, a crucial element in the process of giving the group a stable base from which to develop. With this transformation process now largely complete, Mr. Alireza considered that the time was right for him to move on, Noble Group said.



Meanwhile, the sale of Noble Americas is expected to generate both significant cash proceeds and profits to substantially enhance the balance sheet.



The Board expects to announce some further additional leadership appointments in due course as the business developments dictate, Noble Group said.





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Beirut (AFP) - A surprise assault by the Islamic State group has trapped tens of thousands of terrified people on the Syrian border with Turkey, Doctors Without Borders said Monday, warning the situation was "unacceptable".

Pablo Marco, the regional manager of the charity known by its French acronym MSF, said concerns were rising for a large civilian population less than five kilometres (three miles) from advancing IS jihadists.

"We are talking about 100,000 people who are trapped a few kilometres from IS. They are terrified, there is nowhere to go," Marco said in a telephone interview with AFP.

IS swept towards the last rebel strongholds of Marea and Azaz in Aleppo province on Friday, forcing thousands to flee towards the northern frontier.

But Turkey has kept the border closed, leaving civilians stuck between the violent front line with IS to the east, the sealed border to the north, and the autonomous Kurdish canton of Afrin to the west.

"These people are now in a very small area of four by seven kilometres," said Marco.

"The situation is absolutely unsustainable and unacceptable for this population."

The United Nations has said the fighting has trapped up to 165,000 civilians between Azaz and the closed Turkish border.

MSF's Marco said many of those who were fleeing the IS onslaught in recent days had already been displaced two or three times from other parts of the province.

"You can imagine how hard it is for them."

More than half of Syria's population have fled their homes since the conflict first erupted in 2011, with nearly five million escaping to neighbouring countries.

An estimated 6,000 people have escaped the fighting in Marea either towards the border or west towards the Kurdish-controlled region of Afrin.

But with limited resources, Marco said, Kurdish authorities would not be able to take in an influx of displaced individuals.

As the circumstances grow increasingly dire, Marco called on the Turkish authorities to allow safe haven for those fleeing IS's speedy advance.

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"We know that the Turkish authorities are very concerned about the situation. They have made big efforts as you know, but the situation is so terrible that it justifies (opening the border)."

But he also called on the European Union "to do their part" to both support Turkey and take in more Syrian refugees escaping violence at home.

"All actors who are involved need to find a solution... This is really a shame."
U.S. President Barack Obama (R) stands in silent tribute in front of the cenotaph during his visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan on May 27, 2016. [Photo by Ma Ping/Xinhua]

Barack Obama has become the first sitting president of the United States to visit the site of Hiroshima nuclear bombing. Accompanied by his host, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, he visited the Hiroshima Peace Park at ground zero and laid a floral wreath.

As expected, he refused to offer any apology on the occasion. Certain words and phrases have great healing power and saying sorry for an act like a nuclear attack, which no one can morally justify, would have gone a long way in healing the wounds of the relatives of the more than 140,000 people who died on the morning of August 6, 1945 in Hiroshima. By not offering an apology for what was arguably one of the world's most tragic incidents, Obama showed that he was in league with those who still argue that the nuclear bombing forced Japan to surrender, thus bringing the bloody war to a quicker end and saving many "precious" American lives.

Instead, Obama delivered a long speech, dwelling on empty idealism and "base" human instinct, which, in his opinion, has been responsible for endless conflict throughout mankind's history. He was making efforts to touch his listeners, but despite his reputation as a talented public speaker, the speech was not one of his best in either content or delivery.

In fact, he started well: "Seventy-one years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky and the world was changed. A flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself." Then, he was lost in history. The president also made a vain effort to justify the act. His assertion that intellectual progress has failed to keep pace with technology was only a cold comfort for someone who lost his entire family in seconds.

Obama also failed to offer any solid commitment to relieve the world of nuclear weapons. Since he was talking about a nuclear tragedy, it would have been better if he had made specific references to eliminating nuclear weapons, like the nuclear deal with Iran, which is one of his highest achievements as president. By offering economic incentives, his government stopped a country from acquiring nukes - a model which can be replicated elsewhere. However, the critics have doubts if Iran will forever abandon its ambition to become a nuclear state.

Already in the twilight of his presidency, Obama is scrambling to leave a peaceful legacy as the first black president of the United States. Being a Nobel Peace laureate, he is aware of his responsibility to make the world a safer place. Earlier in his presidency, he committed to ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and bringing back American soldiers. He succeeded in withdrawing the bulk of the troops but the two conflicts have since worsened. The withdrawal from Iraq has indirectly resulted in the emergence of the Islamic State, which has become a huge threat to peace. The situation in Afghanistan is little different from it was in 2001.

Obama spoke about his country's strong partnership with Japan. It is true that the U.S. helped Japan rise from the ashes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But American economic and security objectives in the Asia-Pacific and the impact of its military presence in the region are also potential sources of instability.

The U.S. president in his Hiroshima Peace Park speech also talked about ending the war, but he failed to offer anything solid to tackle the raging conflicts in the world. The presidential trip to the site of nuclear attack could have been organized in a better way. Without apology or measure or proposal to eliminate nuclear weapons, it will be recorded simply as the "first ever visit by an American sitting president" and nothing more.

Sajjad Malik is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://china.org.cn/opinion/SajjadMalik.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
Barack Obama

President Barack Obama spent a significant portion of his trip through Asia selling a key part of his legacy that has come under fire back home by both the 2016 presumptive Republican nominee and an insurgent Democrat garnering plenty of support himself.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, the major proposed trade agreement among the US and 11 Pacific Rim countries, has suddenly become a major issue in the 2016 election. So too has the overall effect of free trade on the American economy.

"Especially when you have multiple parties involved, folks are going to be scrutinizing it, they're going to be debating it, and in an election year you can anticipate that some folks are going to try to score political points off it," Obama said during a news conference in Vietnam as part of his trip.

The TPP opens up trade barriers between the US and other Pacific Rim nations. The framework for the deal was laid during the administration of President George W. Bush. It had been at the bargaining table for nearly a decade before the 12 nations involved signed the agreement earlier this year. It must be ratified by early 2018 to take effect.

The deal is the cornerstone of the "pivot to Asia," a signature goal of the Obama administration's foreign-policy agenda.

"I remain confident we're going to get it done," Obama said. "And the reason I'm confident is because it's the right thing to do. It's good for the country. It's good for America. It's good for the region. It's good for the world."

But Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, and Bernie Sanders, the insurgent Democrat chasing Hillary Clinton for the party's nomination, have spent the bulk of their campaigns trying to convince voters that it's not. And Clinton, who helped negotiate and pushed the agreement as secretary of state, has also come out in opposition to it.

During this US election cycle, trade agreements have undergone a sort of character assassination.

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During an event in New Jersey last week, Trump called TPP and already-in-place trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement "disgusting, the absolute worst ever negotiated by any country in the world."

He insinuated that they had led to the US being "viewed as the stupid country," shrugging off the potential consequences of a trade war with other countries.

"These dummies say, 'Oh, that's a trade war,'" he said. "Trade war? We're losing $500 billion in trade with China. Who the hell cares if there's a trade war?"

donald trump

Tony Fratto, the deputy press secretary in the Bush administration who is now a managing partner at Hamilton Place Strategies, was heavily involved in the administration's international trade policy. He said he was not surprised at the rhetoric on trade that had been tossed around along the campaign trail.

"Given the candidates who were running, I can't say I was very surprised," said Fratto, who is in favor of the historic trade deal. "I think there's almost nostalgic view for sometime in the past when trade deals were easy to do. And the truth is, it absolutely has never ever been easy to do. They've always been hard to do."

Trump has said he can, with the help of talented businessmen, renegotiate all of the US's trade deals to better benefit the country.

Fratto, a supporter of former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida in the GOP primary, said the trade debate would most likely be much different if Bush had been the nominee. He also said Sanders had forced Clinton to the left on trade policy.

But that Trump has been able to make it a key pillar of his agenda is particularly noteworthy: Free and open trade has traditionally been a cornerstone of the Republican platform. When the original TPP agreement was first announced, Obama found more resistance from Democratic allies than he did from Republicans.

"I don't really think of his voters as the GOP base," Fratto said of Trump's support.

He said many Republicans opposed to the deal weren't against a free-trade agreement with the Pacific nations but rather were skeptical of Obama, looking to curb any amount of extra power he may be able to wield.

"We have an incoherent party," Fratto, who is anti-Trump, said. "And I think it's unsustainable the way it is. We can't go through many more elections like this, because you're rejecting the views of the majority of the party  and that's why I think there's such turmoil this year. We're stuck with a protectionist anti-trade nominee now, and we're going to have to deal with it."

But, he said, it "almost" doesn't matter, and not only because he believes Clinton will win the presidency. He believes TPP will eventually be ratified.

Tony Fratto

"There are lots of presidential candidates who have opposed trade  there are no presidents who have opposed trade," he said. "In the postwar period, there have been no anti-trade presidents. Every president has been pro-trade. Even if they hadn't been as presidential candidates."

The difference, he said, is that as president the realization kicks in that those deals are not just important from an economic standpoint but from a national security and diplomatic one as well.

The way trade is discussed by many in the US doesn't typically include either of those last two points, Fratto suggested. Plus, people seem to be more interested in whether a trade deal comes across as bashing China rather than on how it opens up other economies.

The best way to sell a trade deal to Congress and to the American people is to describe it as anti-China, which is not the most important rationale behind such a deal, Fratto said.

"There are intrinsic benefits to having a more open economy and reducing barriers to trade," he said. "We underestimate the capacity for the American people to understand those concepts and approve of them."

Fratto continued:

We have a harder time with market access in TPP countries than they have selling into our country. If you're concerned about standards of goods and services and business practices and governance and a rules-based system, you would much rather have those rules set by the United States and Europe than the rules set by China.

But both Sanders and Trump have focused intently on the idea that trade deals like TPP will cause more manufacturing jobs to be shipped out of the country, riling up working-class voters to vote en masse against candidates who support them. That strategy, among others, has been key to each candidate garnering a large working-class support base.

U.S. President Barack Obama reacts as he attends a town hall meeting with members of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) at the GEM Center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

"The thing that Americans need to understand is that an overwhelming majority of our job loss, especially in manufacturing, has nothing to do with trade at all," Fratto said. "It has to do with the application of technology. It's productivity and management and technology that is being applied to a lot of complex manufacturing that is reducing the need for workers. That is not going to change."

That's exactly what Obama expressed in his State of the Union address earlier this year. But the argument has fallen mostly on deaf ears.

The trade debate has evolved. And the number of candidates gunning for the presidency has shrunk.

"I have not yet seen a credible argument that once we get TPP in place we're going to be worse off," Obama said during his overseas trip. "We are demonstrably better off. American workers and American businesses are better off if we get this deal passed. And I'm confident we will get it passed."

NOW WATCH: Sacha Baron Cohen recounts his 2003 Trump interview: 'I was the first person actually to realize that hes a d---'





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Whoever goes to the White House in November will have one foreign policy challenge above all others: How to navigate transitions between two of Americas Middle East alliances that daily events are rendering inevitable.

On one side of this question is Iran, on the other, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf monarchies. In both cases, a shift in relations set in motion during the Obama years will prove impossible to reverse.

Even though China and Russia will present challenges to the next administration, the task in the Middle East is more complex than either is. And maybe more consequential.

Related: Just How Much US Debt Does Saudi Arabia Own?

Just how the next president manages a diplomatic and political evolution the Obama administration began but couldnt have handled more clumsily will determine how much we pay for gasoline and how much of our taxes go to the Pentagon (which is too much already).

After years of sanctions brought Iran very near to an economic crisis, it has cooperated fully in eliminating its nuclear capabilities according to the agreement reached last July. American opinion is divided as to the wisdom of this deal, but it serves American interests even more than it serves Irans and reflects a recognition that weve entered a transformative moment in the region.

Since signing the accord, Iran has emerged as a decisive force against the Islamic State on the Iraqi side of the SyriaIraq border. It is now leading a force poised to retake Fallujah, the city that cost many American lives a decade ago only to fall into the Islamic States hands.

The Iranians have divided motivations, its important to note. They want to stabilize the region, but as Shiites, theyre also engaged in a sectarian war against Sunni nationalism.

Related: Obamas Latest Iran Problem Wont Go Away Any Time Soon

The next administration will have to balance these dual interests with the reality that the Iranians stand with Americans in their commitment to defeating ISIS. That wont be easy, but it wont be avoidable, either.

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ISIS Targets Destroyed by American Air Strikes | InsideGov

As to the Saudis and the Emiratis, Washingtons longstanding allies in the region arent looking so loyal anymore. What once was no longer is.

Through a dense, unofficial network that funds radical imams, Islamic charities, mosques, and various opaque associations, the regions Sunni states have been advancing their Wahhabist interpretation of Islam severely fundamentalist, radical in its manifestationsfor years. The Islamic State is the ideological heir of this tradition, though ISIS is now turning on Saudi Arabia for corrupting the original teachings.

Weve known this, especially since the Islamic States rise in Syria two years ago. Now we have a concrete case of the consequences in Carlotta Galls report from Kosovo carried last week in the International New York Times.

More than 300 Kosovars have joined the Islamic State over the past four years, Gall foundmore per capita than any other nation. The issue is they [the Saudis and the Emiratis] supported thinkers who promote violence and jihad in the name of protecting Islam, the head of Kosovos counterterrorism police, Fatos Makolli, explained to Gall, who previously reported from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Chechnya.

Related: In Iran, Dividends of Nuclear Deal Are Slow to Appear

Riyadh has also proven an obstruction to progress in talks dedicated to a political solution in Syria via the group it sponsors to negotiate in Geneva. And while Washington wants regional allies to field forces against the Islamic State, its hard to see how the Saudis can be trusted to do so with other than devious motives.

King Salman and his deputy crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, have launched the nation on notably assertive foreign and regional policies since Salman assumed the throne last year. In a remarkable piece in the Financial Times last month, columnist David Gardner outlined the functional and substantive relations Riyadh is forging with Russia.

Saudi Arabias warming ties with Russia surely speak of the waning regional influence of the U.S., Gardner asserted. Its common to suggest, as Gardner does, that declining clout in the Middle East is Obamas principal legacy. But its also simplistic.

Obama was right to pursue the Iran accord, to see that Saudi Arabia was taking a direction of its own, and to sense that relations throughout the region were newly fluid. Americas influence amid all this remains second to nobodys.

The Obama administrations failure lies in how sloppily it has handled this admittedly difficult passage. In effect, it set a ball in motion with the Iran negotiations but has little capacity to control its course.

Related: Islamist Militants Exploit Chaos as Combatants Pursue Peace in Yemen

It is subtly scuttling its own deal with Tehran, as experts in the region allege. It acquiesced recently when the Supreme Court appropriated frozen Iranian assets without due process and now fights to block due process again in the case of alleged Saudi involvement in the September 11th events.

Obama leaves his successor with two key tasks he or she will have to address well within those magical first 100 days.

One, the next president must recognize that a thorough transition in our Middle East relations is no longer reversible. Anyone in Washington who advocates a return to the status quo in the region must explain: Return to what? Theres no retrieving decades-old ties now thoroughly overtaken by events.

Two, he or she will then have to sort out just who Americas allies and adversaries are in the Middle East. It wont be any clearer on November 8 than it is now.

Looking forward, not back, will make an excellent start. The task for the four or eight years to follow will be to make coherent sense of alliances in a region that doesnt look like it once didand never again will.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Getty / Warner Bros. Pictures

After the abrupt passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia there was quite a bit of a stir over who current president Barack Obama would select as his nominee to fill Scalias role on the Supreme Court. In fact, there was plenty of talk of Republicans doing their best to block any sort of decision while Obama was still in office, in order to delay it for the next sitting president. Of course, things have changed in the interim, with Donald Trump looking to be the Republican nominee and the party scrambling to ensure that Trump doesnt actually end up the most powerful man in the free world.

Supreme Court Justice nominee Merrick Garland talking with student Dalai Jamiyankhuu and principal Dr. Ness. pic.twitter.com/3LhAXqqVIH  Niles West News (@nileswestnews) May 29, 2016

Obamas decision landed on Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. What has Garland been up to while waiting for the Senate to vote on his nomination? According to BuzzFeed hes been speaking to high school graduates using Harry Potter quotes. Thats not a joke. Today at Niles West High he delivered the graduation speech to his alma mater where he spoke about public service and claimed that there were routes outside of law. When he elaborated he quoted Hermione Granger as an inspiration.

In fact, the Minister of Magic once did. Are you planning to follow a career in Magical Law, Ms. Granger? he asked. No, Im not, retorted Hermione. Im hoping to do some good in the world. Now that doesnt mean that you and your friends have to vanquish Lord Voldemort. Not everyone has the very particular set of skills required to accomplish that task. But as Professor Dumbledore once told Harry Potter: It is our choices that show what we truly are, more than our abilities. So make the choice do to some good in the world.

Now, look, we cant decide if someone will be a great Supreme Court Justice just from the pop culture that they reference, but if Merrick Garland is turning to the Harry Potter series for ways to inspire young people, he at least understands how to adjust to his audience. That at least gives hope to how hed be able to handle more sensitive, modern issues such as ones involving privacy, technology and the rights of people that have been previously ignored.

(Via BuzzFeed)
Paris (AFP) - Deep, cold ocean currents from the North Atlantic blunt the effect of global warming on Antarctica and slow the rise of sea levels, according to a study published Monday.

This icy insulation of the snowy continent -- covered by a sheath of ice up to four kilometres (2.5 miles) thick -- could last for centuries, the research published in Nature Geoscience said.

That's good news to hundreds of millions of people in low-lying regions who are threatened by seas set to rise up to a metre by the end of the century, according to the latest report by the UN climate science panel.

Newer studies suggest the ocean waterline could go up even more, pushed by surface water that expands as it warms, along with runoff from glaciers and two huge ice sheets.

One of those ice sheets sits atop Greenland. The other is on West Antarctica, a sliver of the larger continent that is warming faster than the rest.

If East Antarctica were melting at the same rate, the impact on human settlements along coastlines worldwide would be truly catastrophic.

Scientists have long known that climate change has affected Antarctica's Southern Ocean far more slowly over the last half-century than oceans elsewhere.

They also know why: the sheer vastness of the continent's ice sheet and the reflective sea ice that surrounds it, along with the winds and ocean currents that circle the continent like a buffer zone.

- Timescale of centuries -

But the new study assigns the key role to a conveyer belt of deep ocean currents that transports icy water -- barely one degree Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit) -- from the Arctic region.

"The primary source of delayed Southern Ocean warming is the background ocean circulation," lead author Kyle Armour, a researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle, and her colleagues wrote in Nature Geoscience.

It doesn't move quickly: the water welling up today around Antarctica began its north-to-south trans-Atlantic voyage before the dawn of the Industrial Era, the study said.

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But the impact is lasting.

Only over a "timescale of multiple centuries" will the heat-trapping greenhouse gases that are fuelling droughts, superstorms and erratic weather on the rest of the planet have a profound impact on the Southern Ocean, they conclude.

This "good news", however, is tempered by the fact that even slight warming can do damage -- and not just in West Antarctica.

A glacier the size of France atop East Antarctica is rapidly shedding water and could raise oceans some two metres (six feet) in a few centuries, another study reported last week.

Totten Glacier -- most of which sits below sea level -- is being eroded from below by sea water flowing hundreds of kilometres inland, increasing the portion resting on ocean water rather than rock.
We've heard how companies that have women on their boards have higher returns. Weve heard how groups that include more women have a higher collective intelligence than those that dont. Yet weve also heard how the number of women in top leadership positions is still growing very, very slowly. So how do we translate what we know about the power of workplace diversity into actual women getting seats at the table?

Rosina Racioppi has made a career of answering that question. As president and CEO of Women Unlimited Inc., she helps women meet their full potential as leaders at some of the world's largest companies, including Adobe Systems , Bayer , Colgate-Palmolive, and Prudential .

I spoke with Racioppi about the why theres a need for female-specific professional development programs like those offered by Women Unlimited, why women "opt out" and what we can do to close the gender salary gap.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. You can hear the full interview on Inflection Point, of which Women Unlimited is a sponsor.

Fortune: Why do women need a special development program?

Rosina Racioppi: I dont know that they need something special, but I do think they need something thats different than their male counterparts, especially if theyre seeking to advance their careers. Women have a different experience in the organization than their male counterparts, mostly because the organizations dynamics were designed by the people who founded them--basically white men. And since we have different expectations than our male counterparts, we need help decoding the organizational landscape that were a part of. So thats what development programs can help women understand.

Your work is primarily with the Fortune 1000 companies, some of the biggest companies out there, which were primarily founded by men.

Even though most of our corporate partners are global multinationals, they were founded by a bunch of white guys. Theres nothing wrong with that--theyre very bright, wonderful, business-minded individuals--but those systems, the artifacts of how the organizations grew, were based on their perspective of how organizations should grow. As women joined the workforce and started growing their careers in structures that were designed by people who saw the world very differently, its no wonder that frustration was the result.

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The way in which women fundamentally like to work is very different than our male counterparts. Research tells us that men tend to like that hierarchical structure. Women tend to like a much more community-minded structure. Not to say that one is a right and one is wrong--its a different way of viewing the organization. These are things no one tells you the day that you start a new job, the behind-the-scenes ways the organization operates. We get a lot of rules and policy, but its only when we are trying to get things done or work with other people that we understand the hidden ways in which things are done in the organization. And so its part of that culture that creates some unintended barriers for women that are not present for our male counterparts.

When you go in to work with an organization and theyve identified their high-potential women, the women that that they want you to help develop, what is the approach to training?

Many women who are at a key juncture in their careers where they need to recalibrate their skill dont develop those networks, those mentoring relationships, that keep us informed so that were prepared for that next opportunity. Women tend to get their work done and want their work to speak for itself, and because we work so independently were not building those relationships. Hence, we're not getting that feedback. Our program focuses on working with the women to help them identify those stresses and challenges that theyre experiencing and develop strategies to address them. Its not about commiserating about the challenges that we have; it's more important to figure out, "So what are we going to do about it?"

In addition to working with women through the experiential development program, we also work with their managers. Its important that their managers be aware of not only what is occurring during this development program, but more important what their role in this development process is. What do they need to do to ensure that they incorporate what the women are gaining through this program back into their organization so they can experience that return on investment?

You have talked about a womans career being a series of inflection points, that there are these opportunities that we need to take advantage of when the time comes. How can a woman identify what those points are when theyre happening, and what should she do?

I would say we all go through those, men and women. We attend college. We develop an expertise in a given area. Say I start my career as an engineer in an organization where I create impact through a very tactical utilization of my skill. But then I am promoted, so I now manage other engineers. So the way that I create impact is not as direct; its a lot more than me just being a good engineer. And its those subtleties that oftentimes were not taught at school. How do I confront without being confrontational? How do I disagree without being disagreeable? How do I create robust relationships in the organization that allow me to really pull apart challenges and ideas in a way that enables me to get the best results for the business, without damaging my relationships?

So the work that you is about more than helping women get promoted and move up the ladder. It sounds more nuanced than that.

I always say I think its important for people to find their career joy. I know you love what you do. I love the work that I do. I see a lot of people that are in roles that they can functionally perform beautifully, and theyre miserable. And I think that happens when you abdicate control over your career to other people. And so its important to ask, "What are the things Im really good at? And of that, What is the subset that I not only really love, but that brings value to the business that Im a part of? So were always connecting it back to the business, and the nuances of our program help the women make those connections.

How did you know that this is what you were meant to do? You talked about finding joy. How did you find it?

I spent the early part of my career in human resources. I led HR departments in manufacturing and chemical companies. What I loved about being in human resources was truly partnering with my business partners to develop the talent to help them grow. Aligning the business strategy with the human development strategies -- I found that to be just so much fun. I was in that neutral spot in the organization, and I loved it. I absolutely loved it. Then I met Jean Otte, the founder of Women Unlimited. I was a mentor in the program. Jean and I became friends, and then she asked me to join Women Unlimited. It really was bringing together that two things that I love: business and helping people be successful in business.

What is your thought on women who choose to "opt out" of the workforce, the women who leave midway through their careers? Are they holding themselves back? Is it a systemic problem?

I certainly cant speak for all women who opt out. But when I did my research on women at their mid-career stage and how they leverage their mentoring relationships, one of the things that I heard consistently is, "I was at a point in my career where I was very frustrated. I could not determine how I can get to that next level. And I was thinking about leaving." What we hear often from women in our mid-career program is that weariness. "No one gave me the decoder ring. I dont know how to crack the code, and Im working harder and not getting the same level of results that I once did." This frustration is endemic across that mid-level. It seems so much easier to just leave and do something else or just opt out completely.

Another part of it is that women at that mid-career level who opt out view the world as either/or. I can either work, or I can stay home. Theyre not looking at it as if theres a middle ground. I remember being stuck on a flight with a woman who shared with me that she had three small children and was thinking of quitting because she felt guilty when she would arrange for a day to be at home when her son would get off the bus. But she had a very flexible schedule. Her boss didnt care how she managed her day. But she still felt guilty, and she was the highest-producing person on the team. And so I said, "Cant you possibly just sit down with your manager and say 'this is what I need regarding my time in order to manage to have harmony in my life?'" We tend to think of it as, "No one will ever let me do that." But you just need to ask.

If women could find their comfort in saying, "At this point in my life, this is how I can contribute to the business, and here are some of the considerations I need in order to make that happen," I have found most businesses will say yes as long as its reasonable. But when we have this either/or mentality, it shuts off those opportunities. And so then we just opt out.

Where does salary come into this picture? I have heard the argument that women are valued less, so we're paid less, or maybe we're not negotiating well enough for ourselves. Does this come back to the "just ask" theory?

I do think that there are pockets where women are more aware of their value and therefore are asking and negotiating more. And yet the wage gap still persists. So I do think a big part of it is women arent asking or arent as mindful of their value. And then there's that mindset that I was talking about earlier: "Ill do the work, prove that I can do it, and then Ill ask for the raise." That holds women back, because why would someone give you more money for something youre willingly doing already? We need to start thinking like this: "If Im going to be getting a bigger role, if my role is expanding, then why wouldn't I negotiate to get paid differently or get some sort of benefit for that? My male colleagues always would." The worst that would happen is someone would say no.

What's the best advice that youve ever been given about supporting great talent?

The best advice I've gotten is to give people feedback on what you consider the strengths that they bring to the organization and their role. Help them understand their impact so that they can see that trajectory of talent and impact. And then have an honest dialogue about: "What are you interested in? What would you like to be doing?" As a leader, we dont need to create the plan for the individual. We need to help them craft it for themselves. Thats really what a good leader does.

Lauren Schiller is the host of Inflection Point, a public radio show and podcast produced at KALW 91.7FM in San Francisco, featuring conversations with women who are changing the status quo. The above article is an edited and condensed version of the broadcast interview. Click here to listen to the full audio.

See original article on Fortune.com

More from Fortune.com
RIO DE JANEIRO, May 30 (Reuters) - Organisers of the 2016 Paralympic Games are giving away half a million tickets 100 days before the start of competition in a bid to boost support for September's events, officials said on Monday. Sales have lagged and Rio de Janeiro said it was buying 500,000 tickets to give to city employees, students and the handicapped. Before the announcement, only 720,000 oout of the total 3.3 million tickets had been sold, Donovan Ferreti, director of ticketing, told reporters. Ferreti said that number was disappointing but hoped Monday's announcement would boost interest in the 23 Paralympic events that will take place between Sept. 7 and 18. "We are delighted that these students are coming to be part of this unique experience," said Ferreti. Some 392,000 of the free tickets will go to children who get good grades in school, he said. Another 47,000 tickets will be given away by the city of Rio for the Olympics, which will be held in South America for the first time between Aug. 5 and 21. (Reporting by Pedro Fonseca; Writing by Andrew Downie; Editing by Ken Ferris)
NEW YORKThere were pinatas at what would have been Kalief Browders 23rd birthday party in the Bronx this week. They werent stars or donkeys or any other colorful, traditional shape. Instead, white papier-mache headscaricatures of New Yorks own Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, and city Correction Commissioner Joseph Pontefrowned in their business suits under the hot sun as activists gathered to remember Browder. The youngest of seven siblings who called him Peanut, he took his life last June after three years incarcerated in the citys most notorious jail, Rikers Island, a death that heightened calls for reform of solitary confinement in the city and nationwide.

The party turned rally outside the criminal courthouse was led by Kaliefs older brother Akeem Browder, founder of the "Campaign to Shut Down Rikers." Akeem has organized for criminal justice reform since before his brothers incarceration, but he launched the campaign after Kaliefs death. Kalief was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack, then spent three years in jail without a trial. Akeem spent time on Rikers himself as both a former employee of the Department of Corrections and an inmate at age 13, so crusade is a personal one. TakePart spoke with Akeem about his activism, his brothers life, and what justice would look like for his family. (The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.)

TakePart: How has your experience on Rikers informed your community organizing efforts?

Akeem Browder: As a worker and a detainee there, Ive seen the silence that is maintained on the island. Its crooked. Its the most corrupt thing Ive ever witnessed. I ended up quitting that job because I just couldnt take seeing [Kalief] in there or being there anyway. I realized the importance of having rallies and actions because thats what informed me when I was younger. These are things that happen directly to my community. Rikers will never change unless the people do something about it. It takes a collective effort.

TakePart: What has the last year been like for you?

Browder: Its definitely taken a toll on myself and my family. I didnt deal with his death well in the first month. I was devastated. The second month, I didnt believe he was actually dead. Its still unreal. When I went to Kaliefs funeral, I saw him in the casket, and it bothers me to this day. My mother has been holding herself strong, but shes heartbroken. Instead of being emotional all the time, I have to steel myself away and harden myself so that Im strong for my family.

TakePart: Whats next for the "Campaign to Shut Down Rikers"?

Browder: The people dont have time to do any research, so we bring the research to them in the streets. We do statistical analysis. All of these systems grossly failed Kalief. Its not the first time that it happened, and it isnt the first time it happened to a minor. I will help with one more action after this, and that will be my last for a while. I need to take a break. Ive been going to counseling. Ive been doing these actions to keep myself busy, but Im not really able to cope with the sorrow.

I dont want to fail Kalief or let his name not be remembered. By remembering Kalief, you recognize and are forced to acknowledge that this is happening to teenagers. He represents more than just one boy, one isolated situation.

TakePart: Your family sued the city of New York, which is now offering a $20 million settlement. Would that settlement mean justice to you?

Browder: That money cant replace my brothers life. If we settle and take that, its like a gag order. Its not the money were looking for, its the reprimand. [The city] will know they did something wrong if they lose $20 million, but we still want the behavior on Rikers to be corrected. Money doesnt mean anything. If we can at least get corrective action, thats what Im looking forward to.

We cant ever get Kalief back. Justice for me is not just shutting down Rikers but also to see that the officer who beat up Kalief and then lied about it is reprimanded harshly. But its not only him: We cant put all the blame on this one dude. Hes not the one that ordered Kalief to stay in jail for three years.

TakePart: What does the world after Rikers Island look like to you?

Browder: We want public spending to stop going to a torture chamber. Why would we put someone in jail for stealing a book bag in the first place? This is why jails dont work. The facility itself doesnt kill or rape people. The people inside make it violent. That kind of power doesnt belong in the hands of anyone. The idea of opening up new jails closer to communities doesnt help anyone. Newer jail cells are still cages for humans.

Sign the Petition: Take Action to End the Overuse of Solitary Confinement in Federal Prisons

Related stories on TakePart:





 Solitary Confinement Is Broken, and Prison Guards Are Trying to Fix It

 We're One Step Closer to Ending Solitary Confinement for Youths

 Supreme Court Smoke Signals: Three Justices Aim to Take On Solitary Confinement

Original article from TakePart
- By Dr. Paul Price



The upside of a canceled takeover offer



Sharp sell-offs beckon brave, informed investors





Market action can tell you a lot about the probability of a proposed acquisition actually going through.

Hong Kong-based Zoomlion Heavy Industries had made a $30 per share offer to acquire Terex (TEX) then raised it unilaterally from $30 to $31, further outbidding Finnish company Konocranes Plcas (KNCRY) earlier all-stock takeover bid, recently worth only about $20 for each TEX share.





Terexas approximately $25 market price told us that traders were skeptical either deal would go to fruition. Not long ago, Anbang Insurance, another Chinese company, had abruptly walked away from its "definitive" buyout of Starwood Hotels (HOT).

Management at Terex had hedged its bet on May 16 when it agreed to sell its material handling and port-solutions division to Konocranes for $1.28 billion. That unit accounted for $1.44 in 2015 revenues, but lost $8.6 million last year, mostly due to negative currency fluctuations.

Now that Zoomlion has left the scene, Terex avoids a $37 million break-up fee, which would have been due to Konocranes. If the less-than-full-company sale closes, TEX will instantly become more profitable while also sprucing up its balance sheet.

A rekindling of a full-blown takeover by Konocranes is still a rumored possibility.

Terex now looks quite inexpensive. Its shares routinely traded at much higher levels during the past four or five years. From late 2006 through early 2008, before the Great Recession, TEX had established all-time highs ranging from $66 to north of $96 per share.

Morningstaras senior equity analyst Kwame Webb reiterated his buy rating on Terex after Zoomlionas announcement, while affirming his fair value estimate of $29.

The sharply lower opening gave option savvy writers, with long-term horizons, the chance to snare some great premiums on TEX Jan. 19, 2018 expiration date puts.

Story continues

Shortly after last Fridayas initial plunge, I sold some $18 and $20 strikes at $2.90 and $4.00 per share. Other ultra-conservative put sellers were paid $1.85 for the $15 strike, only committing to purchase at a net basis of $13.15.

By the end of the day, Terex had rebounded to $20.89, putting it above even the most aggressive of those three strike prices.

When selling puts the best-case scenario is always keeping 100% of all premium received up front. The worst-case result would be forced purchase of 100 shares per contract sold at the net price of the strike minus the put premium.

The $13.15 break-even for writers of the $15 series dropped to a level not seen on TEX since October 2011. The chart above shows how infrequently Terex was actually available at the "if exercised" price on the $18 puts I sold (at $2.90). Taking in $4 per share for the $20 strike puts eliminated my risk down to the $16 mark.

Depending on Terexas future price action, I will either pocket some nice profits or end up owning its shares at what appear to be extremely cheap entry points.

The late day recovery means TEX is no longer offered below $20. The stock still looks enticing for outright purchase, though, or as an underlying stock for collecting put option premium.

Disclosure: Short TEX Jan. 19, 2018 $18 and $20 puts.

Start a free 7-day trial of Premium Membership to GuruFocus.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.






Jerusalem (AFP) - A Palestinian stabbed and slightly wounded an Israeli man in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on Monday before being arrested by security forces, police said.

Public radio identified the Israeli man as a soldier.

Channel 10 private television broadcast footage showing an assailant holding a knife and hiding in the staircase of a building after the attack, before police are seen arresting him.

Israeli police said the assailant was a 17-year-old from the occupied Palestinian territories but gave no further details.

Since October 1, a wave of violence has killed 205 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to the Israeli authorities.

Others were shot dead during protests and clashes.

The violence has decreased over the past few weeks.
 Flash

OECD Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20, Gabriela Ramos, has hailed China's G20 presidency's efforts in seeking to integrate efforts of G20 countries to reboost global growth as "encouraging" and "ambitious."

Participants attend a 100-day countdown launch event for the Group of 20 (G20) 2016 summit in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, May 27, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Ramos made the remarks during a recent interview on the upcoming G20 summit, set for September in Hangzhou, east China, with Xinhua.

She said the Chinese G20 presidency has brought three messages that are "very welcome" to international community.

Ramos said the first message is innovation. In her opinion, the world economy, hit by a low-growth scenario, is still in a "challenging" time though "we have been for eight years, trying everything to re-boost the growth " since the 2008 international financial crisis.

"And that's where I think that the narrative of the Chinese G20 Presidency, which is to boost for an innovation-based growth, has a good meaning. Because this is where countries are going to build their growth potential going forward," Ramos said.

The second meaningful message is green development. Ramos noted that China's strong support to the Climate Change Agreement reached last December in Paris is "refreshing" and is helpful to the signature of the Agreement in G20 member countries.

It is noted that in April this year, under China's leadership, the G20 issued its first Presidency Statement on Climate Change, committing to signing the Paris Agreement and bringing the Agreement into force as soon as possible.

The third message brought by China is to promote practical exchanges. Citing an example, Ramos said Chinese G20 presidency plans to put together in Hangzhou Summit agenda the subjects of trade and investment for discussion. In her eyes, this plan is favorable for finding solutions to real problems.

"We always seem to compartmentalize these two things, but it is really well integrated. China is actually trying to advance that agenda," Ramos said.

On assisting in preparing for the Hangzhou summit, Ramos said she found China "is really trying to look at the issues and trying to find solutions."

Ramos noted that it's not easy to reach consensus in G20 because every country has its own agenda, interests and its ways to do things.

But Chinese G20 presidency, assisted by OECD and other partners, has been trying to find the most possible consensus, the OECD official said. "The cooperation with China is very encouraging and China is ambitious in trying to find solutions," she added.

Moreover, she expressed hope that G20 members would reach a strong commitment about innovating growth pattern during the Hangzhou Summit.
Reluctant caregiver Paul Rudd and his first-ever client embark on a road trip in Netflix's upcoming Fundamentals of Caring.

The film, for which the streamer nabbed SVOD rights at Sundance this year, centers on Ben (Rudd), a caregiver to his very first client Trevor (Craig Roberts), an 18-year-old with muscular dystrophy. The duo go on a road trip to find the "lamest roadside attractions," but along the way to see the world's biggest bovine, the teen finds a new goal and a new friend in Dot (Selena Gomez).

Fundamentals of Caring was written and directed by The Late Show With David Letterman alum Rob Burnett and is set to bow June 24. The film is based on Jonathan Evison's 2013 novel The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving.

Watch the full trailer below.

Read More: The Fundamentals of Caring: Sundance Review
What's Kept Payment Processors Strong among Financials in 2016?

(Continued from Prior Part)

Highest operating margins

Visa (V) has kept its operating margin above 60% for the past few years. The companys major expenses include personnel, marketing, network and processing, and professional fees.

Visas personnel costs rose by 9% in fiscal 2Q16 compared to the prior year. This was mainly due to higher employee incentive payments resulting from improved performance.

The companys marketing and network and processing expenses fell by 2% year-over-year in fiscal 2Q16. Its operating margin was a healthy 67% during the quarter. The companys operating expenses rose by 6% during the same period, mainly due to higher personnel, network, general, and administrative costs.

American Expresss (AXP) US Card Services segments total expenses fell by 2% to $2 billion in the March quarter compared to a year ago.

American Express saw higher card member services costs and investment spending, which were elevated in a bid to make up for non-renewed partnerships. These were offset by gains on the sale of the JetBlue co-brand portfolio.

American Express has increased its spending in order to initiate new partnerships. The company has been successful in forming partnerships with Charles Schwab (SCHW), one of biggest brokers in the United States, and Sams Club, the eighth-largest retailer in the United States.

Payment processors (DIA) are spending on rebates and marketing expenses in order to gain new business.

MasterCard rebates and discounts

MasterCards (MA) rebates and incentives rose by 18% to $1.0 billion in 1Q16. The rise was higher than expected, mainly due to the timing of some of its deals and acquisitions. MasterCard is focusing on finalizing more partnerships rather than spending directly on marketing efforts. The companys advertising and marketing expenses fell by 5% to $135 million in 1Q16 compared to $142 million in 1Q15.

The companys general and administrative expenses include personnel, network and processing, and professional fees. Its general and administrative expenses rose by 34% to $868 million in 1Q16 compared to 1Q15. These expenses were higher mainly due to severance costs related to acquisitions.

Story continues

Next, lets see how valuations are stacking up for payment processors.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
Lovers of tortured heroes no doubt swooned while watching this weeks Penny Dreadful, in which woebegone werewolf Ethan alternated between brooding dreamily and making self-loathing proclamations like, The only decent thing about me is the guilt I feel. But around the midway point in This World Is Our Hell, he did a complete about-face, setting the stage for Well, keep reading. Youll find out.

VIDEOSPenny Dreadful Video: Behind the Scenes in the Wild West Er, Spain

EMBRACE YOUR SINS | As the episode began, Ethan and Hecate were only two days away from his fathers ranch, yet their safe arrival was anything but a foregone conclusion: The river at which the sharpshooter intended to water their horses had dried up since hed last visited. (Doh!) Meanwhile, if anyone was more determined than Rusk to get to Ethan, it was Kaeteney, who told Sir Malcolm that the marshals would be well-advised not to get between him and the wolfman. To save my son, I would slaughter an entire army, said the Apache  even though Ethan will kill me the first chance he gets.

That night, Hecate softened up Ethan by noting that I didnt choose the master I serve  that was her mothers doing. (R.I.P., Evelyn.) In turn, the werewolf confessed that, after helping to murder Kaeteneys family while an enlisted man, hed wanted to die himself. Instead, the Apache had condemned him to join in the Indians (losing) battle against his own army. Blaming Gods world for all of the horrors her companion had seen, the witch convinced him to let her use his blood to sic the creatures of the night on the marshals.

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IM DONE TRYING TO BE GOOD | As snakes rose from the sand and attacked Ostows men  just as Kaeteney was slitting their throats as they slept  Hecate and Ethan held hands. Listen, she said as the marshals screamed. Such music my master makes. The following morning, Rusk told fellow survivor Ostow that whatever code I have followed, I hereby disavow. He not only intended to do away with Ethan but butcher all his kind. That is, if he got the chance. Nearby, Ethans horse collapsed of thirst, and if Hecates perished, too, so will we, he noted.

Story continues

That evening, upon revealing to Sir Malcolm that hed been (likely fatally) bitten by one of Hecates vipers, Kaeteney explained why it was so important that Ethan not be allowed to give in to his baser instincts. If we lose Ethan to evil, the night will never end  according to a vision that the Apache had had. Unfortunately, evil seemed to be winning over the wolfman more and more. Holed up in a cave, Ethan explained to Hecate that the paintings on its walls told the story of the first Apache, a boy who won back the day from the creatures of the night. Was he that boy? she asked. Or was he the wolf that loved the night? In response, he turned to the dark side and made love with the enchantress (who, during sex, instructed him to kiss his guilty conscience goodbye by saying, Lucifer, I am your animal when he killed his father).

RELATEDPreacher Review: AMCs New Series Will Show You a Hell of a Good Time

LET HIM BURN | The following day, Ethan and Hecate were forced to continue on foot. By the time Sir Malcolm and Kaeteney found them, Hecate had collapsed, and Ethan, exhausted from carrying her, clearly was next. (He wasnt so pooped, however, that he didnt draw his pistol to prevent Sir Malcolm from finishing off Evelyns daughter.) Just then, Papa Talbots men arrived on the scene. Your daddy will be real happy to see you, one told Ethan before inviting him to decide what to do with the Apache. Leave him, Kaeteneys son said. Let him die slow. He aint worth the bullet.

At the Talbot ranch, Ethans father, Jared, tended to him kindly  at least it seemed so. He also warmly welcomed Sir Malcolm. Of course, beneath the surface, Jared was utterly vile. Sure, he shared a toast with Sir Malcolm to building a better tomorrow. But he also spoke of Apaches as subhuman and scoffed at the idea that he and his guest were alike  because, unlike Sir Malcolm, Jared still had a living child. (Da-amn!) Furthermore, there would be hell to pay if the Englishman didnt help Talbot keep Ethan on the homestead.

RELATEDFear the Walking Dead Showrunner Talks Madisons Rick Grimes Moment, Daniels Fiery Grave and More

I BELONG IN HELL | After awakening in a room full of dolls, Hecate visited Ethans quarters to remind him of what must be done. Not that hed forgotten. On the contrary, I intend to enjoy it, he said. But when he went to his father  presumably to murder him  Jared told a tale that made Ethans blood run cold.

Turned out, when Ethan brought the Apaches to the ranch to steal guns and horses for their fight with the army, the Indians didnt stick to the plan. Rather, they speared Ethans brother Paul, scalped their mother, and their little sister Mary oh, poor Mary. She suffered as the saints were made to suffer  with both her eyes and her tongue cut out, Jared said. You brought the devil to my door, son, and you gave him the key. As horrified as he was by his unwitting role in his relatives demises, Ethan refused  even at gunpoint  to get on his knees and beg for forgiveness. Im done repenting, he said. At that, his father cocked his pistol.

RELATEDFear the Walking Dead EP on Chris Breaking Point, Alicia and Jacks Future and the Back Half of Season 2

SHE WAS PERFECT | In the only other story playing this week, Victor  continuing to be a condescending prick to Henry  seemingly permanently rid patient Balfour of his insanity by injecting an electrified dosage of Jekylls serum into the madmans prefrontal cortex. When Henry wondered whether Victor would really be able to put his beloved Lily through the same harrowing procedure, Frankenstein insisted that he would, because, before she changed, for one magical instant, he had known true happiness with her.

What did you think of the episode? Have you begun to miss seeing the gang together? Hit the comments.

Launch Gallery: <i>Penny Dreadful</i> Season 3 Photos

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By Marta Nogueira

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Aldemir Bendine, chief executive officer of Brazil's state-led oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA <PETR4.SA>, offered his resignation on Monday and is set to be replaced by Pedro Parente, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters.

The hiring of Parente, nominated to replace Bendine by Interim President Michel Temer on May 19, awaits approval by the board after he passed a background check, said the source, who requested anonymity as the matter is private.

Parente could become the new CEO later on Monday, the source said.

"The board is already behind Parente, all that was missing was an actual open job (occupied by Bendine) to give to him," the source said. Final approval for Parente will likely be given electronically, without having to call together the board physically, the source added.

Parente will also occupy the board of directors position occupied by Bendine.

The swearing in of Parente was expected on Tuesday, but no date has been set by the company.

Parente, 63, has an engineering degree and was planning minister and presidential chief of staff in the government of Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

He is a former CEO of the Brazilian unit of commodities trading giant Bunge Ltd <BG.N> and is chairman of Brazil's BM&FBovespa SA <BVMF3.SA>, Brazil's largest stock and commodities market.

During the Cardoso administration he also served on Petrobras' board.

The source said that board member Luciano Coutinho, president of state-owned development bank BNDES, would also resign his seat.

Coutinho is likely to be replaced by Maria Silvia Bastos Marques, appointed to succeed him at BNDES, which is one of Petrobras' largest lenders and a major shareholder, the source added.

Top ministerial posts and many top government jobs have been changed by Interim President Temer, who took over after Brazil's Senate agreed earlier this month to suspend impeached President Dilma Rousseff from office for allegedly breaking budget laws.

Chief Financial Officer Ivan Monteiro, who joined Petrobras with Bendine, a Rousseff appointment in February 2015, is expected to stay in his position, the source said.

(Reporting by Marta Nogueira, Writing by Jeb Blount; Editing by Dan Grebler)
Frankfurt (AFP) - The pharmaceuticals sector is facing an intensive period of mergers and acquisitions in the coming years, even if US firms Pfizer and Allergan recently failed to tie the knot, the corporate consultancy firm EY said Monday.

"We're going to see a high level of investments and divestments in the pharmaceuticals sector in the coming years," said Gerd Stuerz, analyst at EY.

In April, Pfizer and Allergan called off a $160-billion (144-billion-euro) tie-up to create a new world leader in pharmaceuticals ahead of Switzerland's Novartis due to a US crackdown on tax-saving mergers.

But that is unlikely to signify the end of a wave of major deals in the sector, EY said.

"Companies will sell off entire divisions or buy new ones in order to strengthen their position," said another expert Siegfried Bialojan.

In face of fierce competition, external growth is now key for many companies.

"Pharmaceutical groups can only present innovations quickly if they buy these from outside," Bialojan argued.

After a record year for M&A (mergers and acquisitions) in the pharmaceuticals sector in 2014, 2015 would have been even better if the tie-up between Pfizer and Allergan had materialised.

Bialojan predicted that the total market value of M&A deals could soon reach around $200 billion each year.

A number of major deals have been signed in recent years. After its failure to acquire Allergan, Pfizer recently announced plans to buy Anacor Pharmaceuticals, a specialist in eczema treatment, for more than $5 billion.

It is also interested in Medivation, a California-based biotechnology firm specialising in cancer treatments that is also coveted by French group Sanofi and US firm Amgen.

Also in the United States, Abbott Laboratories and St. Jude Medical, leading makers of heart care and coronary devices, announced a $25 billion merger to better target the rising levels of cardiovascular disease in ageing populations.

German pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant Bayer is offering 55 billion euros for Monsanto, a bid the US firm has rejected for now.
Tobacco major Philip Morris International Inc. PM has come up with a new initiative  PMI IMPACT  to combat illicit trade practices. PM IMPACT is headed by a seven member council of external independent experts. These members have extensive experience in the field of law, anti-corruption and law enforcement.

The council will oversee the grants to put a check on smuggling and related crimes. Philip Morris has pledged to expend as much as $100 million for the initiative. PM IMPACT will also raise funds from public or non-governmental organizations.

Illicit trade of cigarettes has been on the rise over the past few years, resulting from higher excise taxes imposed. This in turn gives rise to smuggling of counterfeit cigarettes at lower prices. Moreover, the fake cigarettes are far more injurious to health than their counterparts, which mar the reputation of tobacco majors like Reynolds American Inc. RAI, Philip Morris, Vector Group Limited VGR and Altria Group Inc. MO.

Philip Morris, which currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), has been striving to fight tobacco smuggling for a long time. In 2004, the European Commission, together with 10 Member States and Philip Morris, announced a 12-year agreement to counter cigarette smuggling and counterfeiting. The agreement is scheduled to end in Jul 2016. The European Union is considering an extension of the agreement.

Apart from Philip Morris, Reynolds is trying to confront tobacco trafficking. It set up a website  www.thenewtobaccoroad.com  in 2014 showing how cigarettes are smuggled from lower-tax states to higher-tax ones in the Northeast via I-95. The initiative was part of its effort to raise awareness about cigarette smuggling in the east coast along Interstate 95  the New Tobacco Road  which has turned into a key transit route for illegal activities.

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TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japanese government said on Monday it was doing all it could to secure the release of a Japanese journalist being held hostage by an al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, after an apparent photograph of the man was posted on the internet. The photograph, apparently uploaded to the Internet late on Sunday, showed a bearded man dressed in orange holding a hand-written sign in Japanese. "Please help me. This is my last chance," said the sign, written in shaky characters and signed "Jumpei Yasuda." Yasuda's plight came to attention in March, when a video surfaced showing him reading a message to his country and his family. Japanese media said he was capture by a group called Nusra Front after entering Syria from Turkey last June. Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the government was analyzing the new photo and believed it was Yasuda, while Chief Cabinet Spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the government was doing what it could. "Since preserving the safety of Japanese citizens is our most important duty, we are making use of a broad net of information and doing everything we can to respond," Suga told a news conference. Asked if this meant contacting the Nusra Front, Suga said "that sort of thing was included" but declined to give further details. Early in 2015, the Islamic State militant group beheaded two Japanese nationals - a self-styled security consultant and a veteran war reporter. The gruesome executions captured the attention of Japan but the government said at the time it would not negotiate with the militants for their release. Yasuda, a freelance journalist since 2003, was held in Baghdad in 2004 and drew criticism for drawing the Japanese government into negotiations for his release. In December, media freedom organization Reporters Without Borders retracted and apologized for a report it had issued that said Yasuda had been threatened with execution in Syria. The government said at the time it was seeking information. (Reporting by Kaori Kaneko, writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
 Flash

Some 700 migrants and refugees are feared to have died in shipwrecks that occurred in the southern Mediterranean this week, United Nation refugee agency and charities assisting survivors said on Sunday.

Refugees wait for boarding buses at the informal camp of Idomeni on the border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) on May 26, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

A major incident took place off the Libyan coasts on Thursday, and would have claimed the highest death toll.

"We will never know the exact number and their identity, but survivors tell that over 500 human beings died," UNHCR spokesperson Carlotta Sami said on Twitter referring to this shipwreck.

The migrants and refugees had sailed aboard two fishing boats and an inflatable craft from the Libyan port of Sabratha the day before, according to what survivors told Save the Children charity in Pozzallo, Sicily.

"They said the first fishing boat carried some 500 people, and was towing the second, with over 400 on board," Giovanna Di Benedetto, spokesperson for Save the Children in Sicily, told Xinhua.

The third craft, a dinghy, had at least 100 people on board.

"On Thursday morning, the second fishing boat began to sink, and few dozens people were able to leave this craft and find safety onto the first boat by swimming or holding the rope linking the vessels," she added.

Then, the second boat sank quickly, and reportedly took hundreds of people down in the waters, according to Di Benedetto.

The people who spoke with the humanitarian officers, both survivors of the second boat and witnesses from the first one, were mainly of Eritrean origin, the spokesperson told Xinhua.

A Sudanese national and three other suspected traffickers were arrested once they were brought to Pozzallo with the survivors, according to Italian media.

Dozens of women and at least 40 children were among the victims of this major shipwreck, Ansa news agency reported.

Another 110 migrants and refugees were missing after an earlier shipwreck occurred on Wednesday.

Some 540 people were rescued and seven bodies were in fact recovered on Wednesday, according to the Italian coast guard that coordinates rescue operations of the European Union (EU) EUNAVFOR MED mission in the southern Mediterranean.

The overcrowded boat on which they were sailing capsized shortly after being spotted by a ship of the Italian navy. At least 650 people had left Libya onboard of the craft, according to what survivors told Italian authorities.

Finally, at least 45 people died in the third incident that occurred on Friday.

Some 629 migrants were rescued in this operation, and brought to the southern port of Reggio Calabria by the Italian navy ship Vega on Sunday.

Most of them were of Eritrean and Somali origins, Save the Children told Xinhua. The Vega ship also brought to land the 45 bodies recovered.

Overall, at least 12,000 migrants and refugees were saved in the Mediterranean during the week, according to the Italian coast guard.
Remembering his father Christian Jacobs, 5, of Hertford, N.C., dressed as a Marine, pauses at his fathers gravestone on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., on May 30, 2016. Christians father, Marine Sgt. Christopher James Jacobs, died in a training accident in 2011. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Christian Jacobs, 5, of Hertford, N.C., dressed as a Marine, pauses at his father's gravestone on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.; a man stands inside a building thatA was damaged during security operations and clashes between Turkish security forces and Kurdish militants in YAksekova in the southeastern Hakkari province in Turkey; and a hippopotamus named Asita watches as her 1-day-old calf examines its enclosure at ZOOM Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen Zoo in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.

These are just a few of the photos of the day for May 30, 2016.

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Tumblr!a
aleksanderdoba.pl

Sailing across an ocean is an adventure often drenched in trial and error. It can also be one of the most rewarding modes of transportation to see our world. However, the sea is unforgiving. You have to navigate the winds, currents, and sharks. Usually you have a large vessel with cabins and a galley. Hopefully you make your crossing with a crew to help you navigate and keep you company. Aleksander Doba is about to finish a roundtrip Atlantic crossing without all of those luxuries.

Aleksander Doba first crossed the Atlantic back in 2010/2011 when he kayaked solo from Senegal to Brazil at the Atlantics narrowest point. Still pretty badass in-and-of-itself. Crossing an ocean is dangerous and monotonous. Doing it in a kayak, you have to paddlekinda crazy.

That wasnt enough for National Geographic Adventurer. Doba set out for his first roundtrip crossing over the much colder and more tempestuous waters of the mid and north Atlantic in 2013. Doba crossed from Lisbon to Florida between October 2013 and April 2014. Thats nearly six months of solo bobbing on the ocean. Thats just a long time to be alone. Thats an even longer time to battle the sea and her cruel elements to stay afloat and alive.

Doba joins an elite group of madmen/sea-going adventurers. In 1928, German Franz Romer was the first to solo cross the Atlantic in a kayak. Romer traveled from Lisbon to Puerto Rico on favorable currents running east to west. In 1958, another German, Hannes Lindemann, decided to one up his German compatriot and kayaked against the currents from Lisbon to the Bahamas. Hannes chronicled his 72-day journey in the book Alone At Sea. Sleep deprivation, low food and water rations, blistering sun and salt all wore Lindemann down to a shell of a man. It was as harrowing then as it is now.

Yesterday, Doba left Manhattan as a crowd of 100 cheered him on. His last crossing will be a 3,700 mile journey back to Lisbon through intense storms and iceberg filled waters. Meanwhile, I decided against making the trek to the freezer yesterday for that second creamsicle. Now I feel pretty lazy. Doba plans to arrive in Lisbon no later than September 9 so that he can celebrate his birthday. His 70th freakin birthday. This dude knows how to party.

Hopefully well all be able to master our fears and crush adventures like this when were nearing 70.

Via Business Insider
George Clooney, Richard Gere and Salma Hayek on Sunday were feted at the Vatican. The actors and actress were honored before Pope Francis with the Olive Medal of Peace in an event to promote the Scholas Occurrentes foundation. In return, the A-listers have agreed to work as ambassadors for the foundation's arts projects.

Scholas Occurrentes, or "schools that meet," is a foundation that connects 400,000 schools and educational networks from various cultures and religions in 82 countries.

Speaking to the Italian media, Clooney said it "was a wonderful experience and it's a wonderful program that Scholas Occurrentes runs, causing so many different religions to speak of inclusion, because we know that hatred and fundamentalist attitudes are learned and indoctrinated."

Scholas Occurrentes, which often utilizes social media campaigns to further its initiatives, has recognized the power that celebrities have in influencing people around the world. "Important values can be transmitted by celebrities," said Lorena Bianchetti, an organizer of the event.

Amal Clooney joined her husband to meet the Pope, and Hayek was joined by husband Francois-Henri Pinault and daughter Valentina.

Vatican publicity focused more on the pontiff's meeting with children from around the world at the event. His Instagram account included a meet-and-greet photo with the quote: "To dialogue means to be able to listen, to put ourselves in someone else's place, to build bridges."

His meeting with the foundation followed a three-day gathering of representatives from across the globe. Pope Francis autographed surfboards and held an informal Q&A session.

In response to questions about violence directed against children, the Pope responded that the world "needs to listen, needs gentleness, so we can all walk together," according to Vatican Radio.

Read More: Pope Francis to Make Feature Film Debut in 'Beyond the Sun'
PPG Industries PPG received an ANSI/NSF 61 standard certification for its Envirocron epoxy-based powder coatings. The drinking-water components certification allows the powder to be used in the production of metal pipes, tanks, faucets and other parts that come into contact with drinking water, drinking-water chemicals or both, deeming it safe.

PPG Industries will now be able to cater to the demand for a high-performance food- and water-safe coatings powder as a result of this certification. The coatings were previously certified for non-direct food contact for several years. With the new certification, the company will be able to serve a broader range of customers who are looking for resilient, attractive and secure coatings for their products.

The certified Envirocron powder coatings are available as one- and two-coat systems. The cure times range between 10 and 20 minutes, depending on the coating as well as type of application.

NSF International, an independent body that certifies products for water, food and health safety, certified PPG Industries Duraform AP clear liquid coil coatings for the ANSI/NSF 51 standard for non-direct food contact applications last year. Manufacturers of appliances, shelving and other food service equipment often use products certified to this standard. PPG Industries Durocron white acrylic coating is also certified to this standard since several years.

PPG Industries saw higher profits in the first quarter of 2016, aided by its cost-management initiatives and contributions from acquisitions. Adjusted earnings for the quarter beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate while revenues missed expectations. The company raised its quarterly dividend by 11% and also reaffirmed its plans to deploy $2$2.5 billion cash over 20152016 toward acquisitions and share repurchases.

Revenues from the Industrial Coatings segment of PPG Industries rose 2% year on year to $1.37 billion in the first quarter backed by an increase in sales volume as well as acquisition-related sales, partly offset by currency headwinds. Segment income rose almost 9% from the prior-year quarter to $265 million, due to manufacturing cost efficiencies and benefits from restructuring and acquisitions. The company is taking steps toward its goal of developing and commercializing customer-driven technologies and consumer branding strategies.

Story continues

Shares of PPG Industries rose around 0.9% in the trading session on May 25 and closed the day at $108.32.

PPG Industries currently holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other favorably ranked companies in the chemical space include Akzo Nobel N.V. AKZOY, BASF SE BASFY and Innospec Inc. IOSP, all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

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Prince Harry continues to be the coolest royal.

The cheeky royal pulled an epic photobomb at the Audi Polo Challenge in Berkshire, England, on Saturday, sticking out his tongue and making a funny face as America's Next Top Model alum Winnie Harlow took a selfie.

WATCH: Prince William Performing Yoga Moves is Your Everything

The Canadian model was chilling at the event with her agent, Manny, when the 31-year-old royal humorously ambushed her photo.

"When you're trying to have a serious convo but your agent and Prince Harry aren't serious at all J #photobomb," the ANTM season 21 contestant captioned the hilarious pic. Manny re-grammed the same photo but wrote, "Fresh Prince Photobomb," which may win all captions.

Earlier at their lunch, Winnie was thrilled to catch both Harry and his brother, Prince William, in the background of another pic she took. "Canadian girl on British territory (how did this photog get Prince Wills & Harry in this shot!? Very cool)," she enthused.

WATCH: Prince Harry and William Have an Epic Lightsaber Battle  See the Pics!

Earlier in the day, Prince William didn't let the fact he was wearing white jeans stop him from showing off some yoga moves on the grass at the polo match.

Check out more cheeky Prince Harry moments in the video below:

Splash News

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 Flash

Five people were killed early Sunday when an improvised explosive device went off near a military checkpoint in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, the Nigerian army said.

A soldier and four civilians were confirmed dead after a commercial tricycle operator unknowingly stepped on the explosive device suspected to have been planted by the side of Biu-Damboa road at the outskirts of Biu town, spokesman of the Nigerian army Col. Sani Usman, said in a statement reached to Xinhua.

The explosive instantly hit the five victims, the statement said, adding that three other persons were also injured.

The military said preliminary investigations had revealed that the explosive device, buried long time ago, was undetected. All the victims were immediately evacuated to a state-run hospital in the neighborhood.

Boko Haram is suspected to have planted the road-side mine.

The insurgent group has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly in northeastern Nigeria, since it launched its campaign of violence in 2009.

The Nigerian army has made progress in the fight against the terror group in the past year, retaking most of the areas previously under Boko Haram's control.
Raytheon Co.s RTN Integrated Defense Systems division has won a contract from the U.S. Navy for the production of Aegis Weapon System AN/SPY-1D(V) Radar Transmitter Group, Missile Fire Control System MK 99 equipment, and associated engineering services. The contract is valued at $365.8 million.



This contract has options which, if exercised, will bring the total contract value to $423 million. The contract falls under the Foreign Military Sales program that includes purchases for South Korea and Japan apart from purchases for the U.S. Navy. Work under this contract is expected to be completed by Oct 2022.



The SPY-1D(V) Transmitter and the MK 99 Fire Control System are an essential part of the Navy's Aegis missile defense system. Over the past 35 years, these systems have been in continuous production and are in use aboard 108 warships worldwide, comprising 17 ships sailed by foreign nations.



The SPY-1D(V) is a high-powered radar transmitter that supports search, track and missile guidance functions, while the MK99 system communicates with the mission control station to identify and illuminate air targets.



Raytheon is one of the best-positioned, large-cap defense players and will continue to gain traction on the back of its strong fundamentals, focus on technological innovation and improvement of its product offering, which will ensure more contract wins and an enhanced growth trajectory.



The company has been enjoying a steady stream of contracts from several government establishments. As a result, total backlog at the end of the first quarter of 2016 was $34.8 billion, up from $32.5 billion at the end of the year-ago quarter.



Raytheon currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).



Stocks to Consider



Some better-ranked stocks in the same space include BAE Systems plc BAESY, CAE Inc. CAE and Esterline Technologies Corp. ESL, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).



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"Please do not eat. Please store in a place that does not reach the hands of children."

That's the disclaimer provided by Tokyo Kitsch  a Japanese online retailer selling knick-knacks  for their fake food stationery.

SEE ALSO: This plate will absorb excess calories from your meals

Sure enough, thanks to the realistic likeness of the stationery to popular food items, it's easy to mistake a bookmark for a strip of bacon left behind by a sloppy eater.

Image: TOkyo Kitsch

Image: TOKYO KITSCH

Japanese retailer Tokyo Kitsch also offers a variety of fake food bookmarks and postcards, including a slice of French toast, fried egg and dried cuttlefish.

Image: TOKYO KITSCH

Image: TOKYO KITSCH

Prices for the bookmarks range from 972 yen ($8.75) to 1512 yen ($13.60), and cost 1080 yen ($9.73) per postcard.

Image: TOKYO KITSCH

Image: TOKYO KITSCH

We're feeling hungry just looking at these delicious "foodmarks".

[H/T: Bored Panda]
But many people, Memorial Day is the symbol of summers start, or a chance to get a good bargain on a car. Whats lost is its original meaning to more and more people.

On May 5, 1868, the organization of Union army veterans  the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)  established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers.

At Arlington National Cemetery, then-Congressman James Garfield spoke about the solemn occasion. We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens. For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue, he said.

The GAR said Decoration Day should be observed on May 30 each year because the timing would permit flowers to be in bloom all over the country.

Some local areas observed similar ceremonies starting in 1866. By the start of the 20th century, ceremonies were being held on May 30 around the country. And after World War I, the holiday was expanded to honor all American war fatalities.

Congress recognized Decoration Day as a federal holiday in 1938, and the name Memorial Day became more commonplace after World War II. But the federal government didnt adopt that name until 1967.

The Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968 moved the holiday to the last Monday in May. Originally, Veterans Day also was in the list of government holidays slated to always be on a Monday, but it was moved back to its original day of November 11 in 1978.

The proponents of Memorial Days original meaning point to the fact it should always be on May 30, no matter the day of the week, as a way for more people to recall why people made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation.

For years, efforts to do so by the VFW, the American Legion, and Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii didnt succeed. Inouye, who died in 2012 at the age of 88, wasnt just a senior member of Congress. He was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, as a medical volunteer. He later enlisted in the Army and lost an arm serving his country while in Italy.

Inouye had often introduced bills to make Memorial Day a permanent holiday on May 30, most recently in January 2012. The Senate Judiciary Committee usually tabled the bill so it couldnt reach a full debate in the Senate. Representative Colleen Hanabusa later carried on that tradition.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Monday launched restoration work at Kabul's historic Darul Aman Palace, whose bombed out ruins have long symbolised the suffering caused by decades of conflict.

The once-grand hilltop palace at the edge of Kabul was also the venue of Ghani's cabinet meeting on Monday, the first such official gathering there in nearly a century.

The building's lion-headed buttresses are broken, its colonnades pockmarked by bullets, the metal sheets of its roof crumpled.

Up to $20 million will be spent on restoring the former glory of the palace, built by Afghan King Amanullah Khan in the 1920s, Ghani's office said, calling the project a symbol of national pride.

"Today we are returning to our past... to set the foundation for our future," Ghani said at the inauguration of the project.

"We are determined to reconstruct the historical structure from the budget of the Afghan government."

The palace fell victim to the carnage of the early 1990s as rival mujahideen groups fought for power following the fall of a Soviet-backed regime after Moscow withdrew its troops from Afghanistan.

Despite Ghani's rhetoric, some in Kabul were against the restoration, however -- albeit for different reasons.

"I think it is a waste of money," Daud Hotak, a Kabul shopkeeper, told AFP.

"It comes at a time when the economy is in free fall and security is deteriorating. That money could have been spent to create jobs as thousands of people flee the country."

Omaid Sharifi, a civil society activist, also pleaded against the restoration, though from a different perspective.

"President @ashrafghani keep #DarulamanPalace like this, let's remind our younger generation (of) the brutality of war," he said on Twitter.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Organizers of the 2016 Paralympic Games are giving away half a million tickets 100 days before the start of competition in a bid to boost support for September's events, officials said on Monday. Sales have lagged and Rio de Janeiro said it was buying 500,000 tickets to give to city employees, students and the handicapped. Before the announcement, only 720,000 out of the total 3.3 million tickets had been sold, Donovan Ferreti, director of ticketing, told reporters. Ferreti said that number was disappointing but hoped Monday's announcement would boost interest in the 23 Paralympic events that will take place between Sept. 7 and 18. "We are delighted that these students are coming to be part of this unique experience," said Ferreti. Some 392,000 of the free tickets will go to children who get good grades in school, he said. Another 47,000 tickets will be given away by the city of Rio for the Olympics, which will be held in South America for the first time between Aug. 5 and 21. (Reporting by Pedro Fonseca; Writing by Andrew Downie; Editing by Ken Ferris)
By John Miller ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's biggest drugmakers are clashing over cheaper copies of pricey biotech drugs - one reason why Novartis is considering selling its $14 billion stake in cross-town rival Roche. With a copycat of Roche's blood cancer drug Rituxan pending European approval, Novartis aims to muscle in on a share of sales that last year hit 7 billion Swiss francs ($7.1 billion). But Roche is fighting back with a new medicine, Gazyva, which it contends is better than Rituxan. This clash illustrates the Basel drugmakers' starkly different strategies. Beyond its own new drug portfolio, Novartis has a big side bet that cheaper "biosimilars" from its Sandoz generics unit can grab rivals' profits, while Roche has limited its focus to new drugs to counter such incursions. "Does that thinking reflect at all about the Roche stake? Obviously, it certainly does," Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez said last week, adding he would unleash "one of the best and most-potent oncology sales and medical forces" to peddle rituximab, Rituxan's generic name, in Europe as early as next year. Novartis amassed one-third of Roche's voting stock in the early 2000s during a failed merger bid. As Jimenez finally mulls an exit, he has abandoned demands that Novartis get a premium for the stake. He has not put a timeframe on the potential sale, but analysts think it increasingly likely as the battle between the firms intensifies. The money raised could bolster Novartis' hand, while Roche will be hoping the sale does not drive down its share price. Analysts think the stock is likely to appeal to institutional investors rather than a potential bidder as Roche's founding family retains a controlling stake. CHANGING ASSUMPTIONS Roche declined to comment on Novartis' plans. But it remains confident its scientists can come up with new, better drugs faster than biosimilars from rivals such as Novartis can loot older drugs' revenue. A study released last week showing Gazyva was superior to Rituxan for follicular lymphoma "is a perfect example of our commitment to maintain our focus on developing innovative medicines for people facing difficult diseases," said Roche pharmaceuticals head Dan O'Day on Monday in an emailed response to questions. As Roche musters new data on its next-generation drugs, Jimenez last week fired off a warning: Biosimilar copies will likely sell at discounts of as high as 75 percent versus the original product, far deeper than Novartis originally anticipated. The trend emerged in Europe last year, with steep discounts offered on copies of Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co's co-branded Remicade, for rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn's disease. What he loses on price, Jimenez now plans to make up for in volume. "If you look at the absolute return that we project, we're essentially on (target) or higher, even with those assumptions," he said. MOTIVATION TO SELL Novartis has many motivations to unload its Roche shares. For one, Novartis is building its cancer franchise after its 2015 acquisition of GlaxoSmithKline assets, so the stake in Roche, the world's biggest maker of oncology medicines, risks putting too many eggs in one basket. Profit margins on Roche cancer drugs may narrow, too, if Novartis's biosimilar strategy succeeds. "The decision to divest its Roche stake is partly motivated by biosimilar dynamics," Leerink analyst Seamus Fernandez told investors. Proceeds from the shares would replenish Novartis's acquisitions warchest as Jimenez seeks "bolt-on" targets of up to $5 billion, or possibly larger, as prices for takeovers come down. Also, inter-company tensions may escalate should Roche's lawyers seek to stall Novartis's rituximab copy in the courts. Such a lawsuit would make for uncomfortable times in Basel. The legal threat is real: Xarxio, Novartis's version of Amgen's blockbuster that prevents infections in cancer patients, hit the U.S. market last year only after beating back a legal challenge. Jimenez said the aggressive legal strategies of drug originators to delay would-be copies have replaced government approval as the biggest stumbling block to speedy U.S. biosimilar introductions. "You're seeing less regulatory time, more blocking," he said. "Eventually, as the legal battles are won, you're going to see a good business in the U.S. with biosimilars." (Editing by Mark Potter)
 Flash

China and Bangladesh on Sunday agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation during a meeting between visiting Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan and Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid.

Visiting Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan (R) meets with Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid in Dhaka, Bangladesh, May 29, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Bangladesh and China have long been working closely in various fields and the cooperation has yielded fruitful results, said the Bangladeshi president.

Bangladesh has always stood together with China on issues concerning China's core interests and international affairs. The country also firmly supports the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, said Hamid, adding Bangladesh is willing to have sincere collaboration with China as the two countries jointly promote regional prosperity and development.

He expressed hope that the two armies would maintain the current positive momentum of cooperation and enhance cooperation and exchanges in all areas and levels so as to contribute to the development of bilateral ties.

For his part, the Chinese defense minister said China and Bangladesh has witnessed healthy and stable development in exchanges and cooperation in various fields since the two countries established diplomatic relations 41 years ago.

China is willing to work together with relevant countries, including Bangladesh, to actively promote the Belt and Road Initiative and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, to bring tangible development benefits to the people of the countries and advance regional peace and stability, said Chang.

Friendly cooperation between the two armies has grown steadily and rapidly in recent years, with frequent high-level visits, continuously deepening pragmatic cooperation and fruitful cooperation on personnel training, the minister said.

He expressed hope that the two armies would earnestly implement the important consensus reached between leaders of the two countries and strengthen friendly cooperation to provide strong support and guarantee to bilateral relations.

During the meeting, Chang also elaborated on China's position and propositions on the South China Sea issue.

The Bangladeshi president said his country firmly supports China's position on the South China Sea issue and believes the disputes should be resolved through direct negotiation and consultation by parties concerned.
Houa Xeing (Laos) (AFP) - In central Laos dozens of loud explosions pockmark the sky as men dressed in female clothing wielding large wooden phalluses dance, while others lubricated by the local rice whiskey simply roll in the mud.

Welcome to Laos' famous rocket festival, a raucous celebration and merit-making ceremony in which huge homemade rockets are launched into the sky in a bid to encourage the gods to send much needed rain.

"My rocket went very high," said elated San Pommati, a 42-year-old farmer, after his projectile arced across the sky leaving a fluffy smoke trail above the village of Houa Xeing, some 30 kilometres (19 miles) north of Laos' capital Vientiane.

"It was beautiful, I am happy," he told AFP on Sunday.

Throughout the day dozens of homemade rockets, many decked out in flowers, were strapped to a large wooden launch pad and sent towards the heavens, accompanied by cheers, dancing and much drinking.

Practised across much of Laos and northeast Thailand, the Bun Bang Fai festival is an annual rite that celebrates the arrival of the monsoon, a magical moment that nourishes the fields after months of baking dry heat.

The rockets and accompanying vaudeville dance acts are designed to prod the gods into sending thunderstorms.

Laos and much of the Mekong region has been hit by some of the worst droughts in decades this year.

"It's a tradition for us to ask the spirit to bless our works and our crops," Somthet Surasont, a member of the local organising committee in Houa Xeing, told AFP.

Like neighbouring Thailand, Laos' Buddhism is infused with a blend of animist and pre-Buddhist traditions.

The festival is fiercely competitive. Each group builds and finances their own rockets while judges assess them against a string of criteria, from how dramatically they take off and how far they fly to the aesthetic qualities of the smoke trails they leave behind.

"We collected the money to build our own rocket," said 18-year-old Sa Yoopakdi, a street vendor, who was entering the competition for the first time.

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"We like it because it's both traditional and fun," he added.

Communist and landlocked Laos remains one of Asia's poorest countries, with more than three quarters of the population still subsistence farmers.

According to the World Bank, 23 percent of Laos' seven million inhabitants live below the poverty line. Many will be praying enough rain falls to alleviate the ongoing drought and produce a bountiful rice harvest.
History's Roots revival took more than two years at a price tag nearing $50 million. And there was plenty of skepticism along the way. When executive producer Mark Wolper (whose late father David first brought Alex Haley's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel to ABC in 1977) first approached Will Packer to join him as his producing partner, Packer's reaction was unequivocally negative. "I said, 'Are you crazy?'" recalls Packer, who has produced a string of African-American-targeted big-screen hits (Straight Outta Compton, the Ride Along franchise).

"This is one of the most iconic pieces of content in history, and I thought that this was a tremendously risky undertaking," he adds. "But as filmmakers, we wouldn't be where we are without taking risks. In the end, it was the opportunity to put really important material in front of an audience that hasn't seen it."

Indeed, 140 million viewers are estimated to have seen the original 12-hour miniseries. And while those involved have tempered their expectations for the remake in a continually fractured content arena, they are hopeful that its impact goes beyond mere television ratings. Stars Malachi Kirby, Anika Noni Rose, Forest Whitaker, Anna Paquin and executive producer LeVar Burton (who starred as Kunte Kinte in the original 1977 miniseries) talked to The Hollywood Reporter about shooting on a real plantation, the debate about reparations and Hollywood's record on diversity.

Why is now the right time for a Roots remake?

Burton: America really needs Roots now almost more than ever. I believe that we set a foundation 40 years ago and that there was an awful lot of enlightenment that went on with that first telling of the story. And I am very hopeful that we can once again initiate a much-needed conversation. I want to create a safe space for Americans to really be honest about what we're afraid of and what we're so angry about. I really want us to be able to have that honest conversation in a safe context, and I believe that Roots can help us do it.

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Rose: There is a conversation going on that started [in 2014] with Ta-Nehisi Coates' [The Atlantic article "The Case for Reparations"] and has now been [examined] in The New York Times in terms of Georgetown [University] and reparations. Georgetown was built upon [slavery], let's get that really clear. They were going to shut down and [the university's Jesuit founders] were like, 'Well, let's sell a few people so we can keep these doors open.' Well, they have records of who these people are. And when you have a record of who has been wronged, it should be a very simple conversation. And yet it's very loaded because I don't think that we have been taught as Americans what our history truly is. So as far as relevance, it couldn't be more relevant.

Read More: 'Roots': TV Review

There are more opportunities for people of color in Hollywood, but clearly the industry still has work to do in that area.

Burton: There is certainly more awareness; however, the gatekeepers are predominantly the same. We tend to create art through our own lens, and the lens has just been very narrow in this town for the last 70, 80 years. We're experiencing the democratization of content creation and still at the studio and the network level [there is a lack of] diversity. And so has there been some movement? Yes. Are we done? Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Paquin: I think this was cooking for long, long before any of that became very Twitter hashtagged, which I guess is just how these conversations happen now but I think was deeper and more important than the social affectation of this sort of topic.

Anika, do you have thoughts on that as a woman of color in Hollywood?

Rose: We don't even have to talk about women of color. It's very important for us to control the narrative. I cannot stress enough the need to be behind the lens. I can't stress it enough. Whether that's as a director, a cinematographer, a producer, we need to be behind the lens. We need [industry leaders] to reach out and say, 'Hey, I see you. I find you very interesting. I see you have something in you, a spark. Why don't you come with me? I can show you something.' And if that person doesn't reach out their hand, then we have to start to take it.

Race relations almost seem worse today than when the U.S. elected President Barack Obama almost eight years ago.

Burton: I was very happy to see a black man elected to the highest office in the land, I never thought I would see it in my lifetime. But by no stretch of the imagination did I ever interpret that to mean that we were in a post-racial society.

Read More: 'Roots' Reborn: How a Slave Saga Was Remade for the Black Lives Matter Era

Rose: And you could just look at the way that President Obama is referred to; I have never seen presidents referred to by their first names or nicknames in the press. So to say 'post-racial,' to tack that onto that, is sort of humorous. I think all we have to do was look at the comments section on [the internet] to know how post-racial we are.

Whitaker: In regards to the [racial] dialogue [in] the industry itself, I think it is important to bring up these ideas, to look at ourselves and decide whether or not things are being treated fairly, whether films are being done with the same amount of impact, same amount of investment.

Rose: I think what's happening in Hollywood is a direct reflection of what's happening in the world right now.

What was it like filming this material on what was once a real plantation in Louisiana?

Kirby: There is still an energy there that you can't really escape. You see the trees and you realize those are probably the same trees that saw all those atrocities. The last scene that we did in this whole shoot was Kunta Kinte breaking the chains and running free. That was my last scene shooting this film. And by that point, I felt like I was in some kind of bondage. And so when we did that last scene with Kunta breaking those chains and ran free, I was running free with him.

Rose: Very often the people who are shooting your film do not look like you if your film is brown-centric in some way. What is very interesting is to be going through these scenarios and turning around and looking at so many faces that are not yours. Even though those faces are looking at you in love, it puts you in a space when you are on a plantation in that condition. I think that it allows you to see further into possibly what that place really was for someone else, except thank God we're with people who love and respect us.

Read More: LeVar Burton on 'Roots' Remake: America Needs It Now "More Than Ever"

There is a lot of racist language. How did that affect you hearing that and having it directed at you as performers?

Rose: I have to say that it affects me much more during this election cycle than it did creating that role, being in that time period. It's much more shocking [now].

Kirby: I was doing a scene, I won't say which one, where brutality was inflicted on me and [the other actor] was calling me a n - er, as that was the language at the time. And so we're doing this scene and at the end of it he is in tears, the actor, and he apologizes to me and he says he's so sorry for doing that. That he feels as an actor the need to apologize just speaks volumes of the times that we're living in right now. And that was beautiful.

What is the ultimate message all of you want to impart - to viewers and to the Hollywood community - with this project?

Rose: That there is value in truth, there is value in honesty. We have the opportunity to, as we increase the conversation, to remove the stigma of guilt and the stigma of shame behind this. This story is not just a story of bondage and oppression but also a story of heroes and perseverance and strength. We have the opportunity to open ourselves to each other so that when we find out that a relative was enslaved, we can take that as a badge of pride because we are here and we made it. When we find out that a relative was a slave owner we can say, "But look where we are now - we would never do that because we value life and we value humanity and we value love above everything else."

Read More: Tribeca: 'Roots' Team Hopes History Channel Reboot Speaks to a New Generation

Whitaker: We're trying to move towards healing, and the healing starts with an acknowledgement.

Burton: There is amazing strength and victory in the Roots story. So in success, this version of Roots gives us an opportunity to look at ourselves, to examine where we want to take ourselves as a nation, as a people, as a planet. And that is the primary responsibility of art in a civilized society - to move the culture forward. So in success that's what I am hoping for, that we are able to move this culture forward.

Roots bows Memorial Day across A+E Networks' flagship channels History, A&E and Lifetime.

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In 1977, Roots was an ABC miniseries that was a surprise and a shock: Mass America hadnt seen anything so harrowingly explicit about the evils of slavery on network television. The production racked up enormous ratings in a three-network universe  it inaugurated the concept of event television. Now comes a new version of Roots, still based on Alex Haleys research-based novel of the same name. Its a four-night production starting Memorial Day night and airing on three cable channels  History, A&E, and Lifetime  and it feels once again like the kind of television that could unite a vast audience.



The story traces history from 1750 through the end of the Civil War, and begins with the West African Mandinka warrior Kunta Kinte. He was played in the original by LeVar Burton, who is now a producer of the new project. Burton was then an unknown actor and the role made him a star; its likely to do the same for the new Kunta Kinte, played by the British actor Malachi Kirby with enormous charisma and skill.



Related: Get to Know Roots Remake Star Malachi Kirby  and His Road to an Iconic Role



Each of the four nights of the new Roots was overseen by a different, prominent director  Thomas Carter, Mario Van Peebles, Philip Noyce, and Bruce Beresford  but the miniseries coheres as a unified whole, and gains an urgency in the era of Black Lives Matter.

For the new generation unfamiliar with Roots, it tells the story of Kunta Kintes capture and enslavement, his perilous journey to America in a slave ship, and his life on a Southern plantation, where he is re-named Toby. This Roots places heavy emphasis on Kintes rebellious nature and strength of character in refusing to accept his slave-name, which in turn leads to succeeding generations of his family  whose descendants include Emayatzy Corinealdi as his wife, Belle, Anika Noni Rose as daughter Kizzy, and Kizzys son, Chicken George, played by Rege-Jean Page  to tell of Kintes struggles as inspirational stories that grow into a legend. (The cast is also helped, on the slave-owner side, by the varied cruelties of men played by James Purefoy, Matthew Goode, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.)

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The new production, hatched by producer Mark Wolper, son of the original Roots producer David Wolper, takes full advantage of a budget and special effects that enable the new Roots to stage elaborate scenes. In the first night, Kintes journey from Africa to America in the hold of a ship is agonizingly vivid; in the final nights installment, whole Civil War battles are staged. In between, the characterization is vivid. Forest Whitakers Fiddler  a role that won Louis Gossett, Jr., an Emmy  is shrewd as an enslaved musician, and Pages Chicken George (once a star-making role for Ben Vereen) is a verbally adroit man compelled by his circumstances to become a wily hustler to protect himself and his family.

The fourth night, set during the Civil War, gets a bit bogged down with a subplot involving Southerners played by Anna Paquin and Mekhi Phifer as spies for the North. And occasionally, the dialogue can be stilted (Reading is my way of being a warrior; being free inside!). But otherwise, theres surprisingly little padding for a four-night, eight-hour miniseries. The original Roots was a ground-breaker that had to rely on melodrama for its greatest effects. The new Roots excels in the naturalism of its performances to make the horror of slavery vividly painful  and the resistance to it uplifting  in a way that deepens the tale.

Roots will air Monday through Thursday at 9 p.m. on History, A&E, and Lifetime.

Meet Malachi Kirby:
Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and hip-hop icon Darryl "DMC" McDaniels says the New York police commissioner's recent comments - where he labeled rappers as thugs following a shooting at a hip-hop concert - are disrespectful and that the commissioner should apologize to rappers like Chuck D, Will Smith and Kendrick Lamar, performers whose songs do not promote violence and negative images.

Police commissioner William Bratton's comments came Thursday after four people were shot at a Manhattan concert hall where rapper T.I. was scheduled to perform on Wednesday night. Bratton blamed the shootings on "the crazy world of the so-called rap artists who are basically thugs that basically celebrate the violence that they live all their lives."

McDaniels, one of the founding members of the pioneering rap group Run-DMC, said the shooting is not a "hip-hop problem" and that Bratton's statement was unfair to rappers like LL Cool J, De La Soul, J. Cole and many others.

"He needs to apologize to all the rappers who have come from [the] streets but have never put out anything negative [and] disrespectful to break down ... and destroy their community," McDaniels, 51, told the Associated Press on Friday.

Read More: NYPD Commissioner Blames T.I. Concert Shooting on "So-Called Rap Artists, Who Are Basically Thugs"

"[Bratton] was upset and pointing a finger and getting to the root and not thinking about the people he would hurt by saying what he said," McDaniels continued. "Him as the commissioner saying it did so much damage [and] pushes hip-hop back - that's why he should apologize."

Bratton told the AP Friday night that, "I meant what I said about the thugs who call themselves rap artists, and shoot up crowded clubs, and in this case, kill and wound people."

But he said in a statement emailed by his spokesman that he understands rap has become "an important vehicle for storytelling in urban America" and that there's a segment of "gangster rap" that often overshadows rap's most important messages.

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Bratton said his comments about the shootings were "misread as a reference to all of rap and hip hop, which it was not." He said he's concerned about the "subset that not only glamorize violence but some who employ violence like a prop for 'street cred.'"

Police are investigating the deadly shooting at Irving Plaza, where one person died. Rapper Roland Collins, whose stage name is Troy Ave, will face attempted murder and weapons charges. He also was shot in the leg. Ronald McPhatter, who died, was a member of Collins' entourage and had been there to provide security, according to his family.

Read More: How Did the Irving Plaza Shooting Happen? "A Man Had a Beef and a Gun"

In an interview with WCBS radio, Bratton said rap music "oftentimes celebrates violence, celebrates degradation of women, celebrates the drug culture."

"It's unfortunate that as they get fame and fortune that some of them are just not able to get out of the life, if you will," he said.

McDaniels said his words are "totally, totally, totally unacceptable and ."

He continued: "There's a million rappers who come from the hood who do not portray, promote or produce products that celebrate or legitimizes any forms of negativity. The commissioner, he knew better than that. I respect his job, I know it's hard and all of that, but he should have known better."

Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he thought Bratton was "talking out of frustration."

Read More: T.I. Responds to Irving Plaza Shooting: "My Heart Is Heavy Today"
(Adds detail, background)

MOSCOW, May 30 (Reuters) - Shareholders of indebted Russian coal and steel producer Mechel approved on a second attempt a series of debt restructuring deals with major creditors, Mechel said in a statement on Monday.

Mechel reached agreements in principle to restructure $5.1 billion of debt with creditors including some of the largest Russian banks and a syndicate of foreign lenders in February, but it had since struggled to get approval from shareholders.

After a shareholders' meeting in March failed to reach a quorum, the management asked minority shareholders to encourage them to approve the deals.

"We are very grateful to our minority shareholders who voted in favour of Mechel's debt restructuring," Mechel's Chief Executive Officer Oleg Korzhov said in a statement.

The company, controlled by businessman Igor Zyuzin, borrowed heavily before Russia's economic crisis and has struggled to keep up repayments as demand for its products weakened alongside tumbling coal and steel prices.

With other Russian steelmakers, Mechel has also been hit by a collapse in global steel prices, which plumbed 10-year lows in late 2015 and early 2016, while demand for at home has been undermined by Russia's deepening economic downturn.

The coal-to-steel producer has been in talks with Russian lenders Sberbank, Gazprombank and VTB and foreign creditors to restructure its debts for the past two years.

In April, Mechel offered Gazprombank an option to buy a 49 percent stake in its Elga coal project by June 30, a deal crucial for the debt restructuring.

(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Alexander Winning/Ruth Pitchford)
Turin (Italy) (AFP) - Some will call Vincenzo Nibali's dramatic Giro d'Italia victory lucky, but it served as a reminder that 'The Shark' is dangerous when in deep water.

Three years after the Italian sealed a maiden pink jersey with an epic ride through the snowy Dolomites mountains, a second Giro triumph looked out of reach when Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk opened up a huge lead in the final week of a thrilling 99th edition.

Over two intense days in the mountains, pre-race favourite Nibali went from trailing the ginger-haired Dutchman by 41secs to seemingly out of contention at 4min 43sec.

But 'Lo Squalo' (The Shark) has a habit of biting back at his rivals.

And when Kruijswijk crashed into a snow bank early on the descent of the Colle d'Agnello climb bordering France and Italy on Friday, the race for pink was suddenly back on two days before the finish.

On stage 19, Nibali forged ahead to victory on the summit finish at Risoul in France, where he also won on his road to Tour de France triumph in 2014.

Like a great white patiently circling his prey, Nibali was unforgiving when he went in for the kill.

"Steven Kruijswijk had a good advantage after the Dolomites but I knew the highest mountains were yet to come," said Nibali.

"Riding above 2000 metres isn't easy for anyone but I felt comfortable. Kruijswijk crashed... but towards the summit of the Colle d'Agnello I noticed he was breathing heavily so I put pressure on him climbing and then descending.

"Had I not, probably nothing would have happened and (Esteban) Chaves would have had an easy ride as well."

Little Orica team climber Chaves took the race lead with a 44sec lead over Nibali on Friday, but trailed in behind the Italian the next day on the climb to Sant'Anna di Vinadio when Nibali pulled on the pink jersey.

On Sunday, Nibali revealed he had been suffering from a stomach bug, news of which he kept to himself.

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"I had a stomach bug during the Giro but it's better not to tell everything sometimes," he said.

- Stunning performance -

It is not the first time the Sicilian has fought back from adversity to triumph in one of the world's biggest bike races.

He upset pre-race predictions to win the Tour de France in 2014, becoming the first Italian to do so since deceased climbing ace Marco Pantani in 1998.

And when he was excluded from the 2015 Tour of Spain for illicitly hanging on to the back of a team car following a crash, he blew away his shame with a stunning performance to win the Tour of Lombardy one-day classic weeks later.

Shy off the bike, the Sicilian becomes a fierce competitor on it -- although he is known for his sensible side, too.

After fighting his way back into victory contention in Risoul, Nibali wept tears of relief and joy as he hung his arms over the handlebars.

Nibali, 31, left his native Sicily for Tuscany as an ambitious 16-year-old to follow his dream, and has become one of the most formidable, and feared stage racers in the world.

A strong climber with descending skills that have left more than one rival fearing for his safety, Nibali copes well in tough weather conditions.

He secured his maiden pink jersey on the penultimate stage in 2013 when he emerged through a snow blizzard to triumph atop Trois Cimes de Lavaredo in the Dolomites.

After Kruijswijk flew over the handlebars head-first into the snow on Friday, Nibali remarked: "Descents are just as much a part of racing as climbing."

Next up is the Tour de France, where he is sure to meet tougher opposition in Spaniard Alberto Contador and Britain's Chris Froome, both former yellow jersey champions. Nibali will then focus on Olympic gold in Rio this August.
(Reuters) - Searchers in northern Japan spent a third day on Monday looking for a seven-year-old Japanese boy who went missing after his parents left him in a forest to teach him some discipline. At least 130 firefighters and police officers were scouring the woods near Nanae town in Hokkaido, looking for Yamato Tanooka, media reported. Tanooka's parents initially told police they were picking wild plants when Yamato went missing on Saturday. However, they later admitted to police they had intentionally left the boy in the forest to discipline him after he threw rocks at people and cars earlier in the day, Japanese television stations reported. Tanooka's parents said they drove about 500 meters (yards) away and when they returned shortly after they couldn't find their son, who was last seen in a t-shirt and jeans. Media reported that overnight temperatures in the forest have dropped to 7 degrees Celsius (45F). (Reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; Editing by Kim Coghill)
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian shares rose for a fifth straight session on Monday after earnings of blue chips such as Hindalco Industries Ltd beat street estimates, boosting hopes that the economy was recovering.

The broader NSE Nifty rose 0.27 percent to 8,178.50, and has now gained 5.5 percent over the five sessions to Monday.

The benchmark BSE Sensex advanced 0.27 percent to 26,725.60. Hindalco ended 12 percent higher.

(Reporting by Manoj B Rawal; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
By Lacey Ann Johnson FORT MEADE, Md. (Reuters) - A pre-trial hearing for five Sept. 11 suspects began on Monday at Guantanamo Bay, with prisoners' treatment expected to be a focus of the U.S. military court sessions. Forty-two motions are scheduled for the week-long hearing at the Navy base in Cuba. They include multiple requests by defense lawyers for evidence of how the five suspects were treated at secret Central Intelligence Agency prisons. James Connell, a defense lawyer, told Judge Army Colonel James Pohl that medical records provided by the prosecution had been insufficient, lacking personal identifying information and a chronology of patient care. "This is not the way that discovery is supposed to work ... the medical records are actually extremely important," said Connell, who represents Kuwaiti inmate Ammar al Baluchi, an alleged al Qaeda money mover. He is among five men suspected of conspiring to help hijackers slam airliners into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001. Almost 3,000 people died in the attacks. Two Guantanamo prisoners unrelated to the Sept. 11 case could testify to corroborate statements made in February by Yemeni defendant Ramzi bin al Shibh. He has accused guards of using noises and vibrations to torment him for years. Bin al Shibh's lawyer, James Harrington, told the Associated Press last week that Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian not seen since his CIA capture in 2002, has been called to testify about Bin al Shibh's allegations. A Somali inmate, Guleed Hassan Ahmed, also has been called as a witness. Bin al Shibh is charged with wiring money from al Qaeda leaders to the hijackers. Prison staff have denied Bin al Shibh's abuse allegations. The case against the five suspects has been plagued by repeated delays and is likely years from going to trial. The hearing is being held at Guantanamo Bay. It was monitored over closed-circuit television at a press room at Fort Meade, outside Washington. (Editing by Ian Simpson and Sandra Maler)
On this day in 1806, future President Andrew Jackson nearly died in a duel when he killed his opponent, a fellow plantation owner.

While the deadly duel two years earlier between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton is the most famous in American history, Jackson was a frequent dueler among the prominent politicians of the dueling age, which lasted up until the Civil War era.

Dueling was technically illegal in the United States, but prominent government leaders engaged in the practice.

Button Gwinnett, who signed the Declaration of Independence, died in a 1777 duel with Lachlan McIntosh. After the killing, McIntosh was then sent to serve under George Washington as a leader in the Continental Army.

DeWitt Clinton, the powerful New York politician, nearly killed a Burr supporter in an 1802 duel over patronage.

Burr was serving as vice president when he met his rival, Hamilton, face-to-face in Weehawken, New Jersey. On July 11, 1804, the men met to end a decades-long feud. Both men fired, but only Hamilton was hit. He later died from his injuries.

Hamilton may have been part of as many as 10 duels, but almost all were settled before shots were fired. Hamiltons son, in fact, was killed in a duel, on the very same grounds were his father was later shot by Burr.

One of most famous duels involving Jackson was with Charles Dickinson. In 1806, the two men met in combat after Dickinson insulted Jacksons wife. Dickinson was regarded as one of the best shots in America. Jackson was a fearless soldier. The future president survived Dickinsons first shot, but Jacksons pistol jammed. In a breach of the code duello, Jackson re-cocked his pistol and killed Dickinson.

In 1802, Jackson was involved in a duel with Tennessees governor, John Sevier, that ended in a standoff involving their seconds.

Another frequent dueler was Thomas Hart Benton, who fought with Jackson, and had two duels with a rival attorney, Charles Lucas. Benton killed Lucas in their second duel in 1817. As a senator, Benton became Jacksons right-hand man in Congress.

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In 1820, a top Navy commander, Stephen Decatur, died in a duel with a former naval commander, James Barron. Barron apologized to Decatur as he fell wounded. Decatur accepted, saying it was an honorable duel.

Two members of the House of Representatives fought in a fatal 1838 duel, when Kentucky Representative William Jordan Graves killed Maine Representative Jonathan Cilley. Graves was sent to deliver a dueling invitation from New York newspaper editor James Webb, but he wound up fighting Cilley. The Supreme Court boycotted the funeral in protest.

Then, in 1842, an Illinois state legislator got in hot water after he allegedly published a letter insulting state auditor James Shields. Shields challenged the author of the letter to a duel. The alleged author: Abraham Lincoln.

By the time the two men met for the duel, however, the duelers seconds were able to convince them to settle on the grounds that Lincoln was not responsible for the letters.

Perhaps the oddest duel was between Secretary of State Henry Clay and Senator John Randolph in 1826. A known hothead, Randolph accused Clay of crucifying the Constitution and cheating at cards in a speech on the Senate floor.

Randolph was a much better dueler and didnt want to kill the secretary of state, so he worked with another chronic dueler, Thomas Hart Benton, to purposely miss the first shot, so Clay would end the duel.

But Randolphs pistol misfired just before the duel, and after Clay demanded that the duel continue, Randolph shot at Clay and just missed. Clay then shot and missed twice. Randolph went back to his original plan and shot above Clay. Cooler heads prevailed, and the two politicians shook hands and ended the duel.

More Presidential Facts From Constitution Daily

50 interesting facts about Abraham Lincolns life

10 birthday facts about President Andrew Jackson

10 birthday facts about President Harry S. Truman
Beach-goers on both U.S. coasts fell victim to shark attacks during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, which marks the unofficial start of summer.

A 13-year-old boy on Neptune Beach in Florida was bitten on his lower right leg by a shark on Sunday, the same day a woman in Newport Beach, California was bitten on her torso and arms, Reuters reported, citing police reports.

The boy was transported to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, ABC News reported. The woman, who was bleeding heavily, was conscious and breathing when she was taken to the hospital, but her condition is not known, the Associated Press reported.

Read more: Shark Attacks Reach New High in 2015

George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida, said shark attacks are expected to reach an all-time high this year, according to Reuters.

I dont think theres a whole lot of doubt that these will be considered unprovoked shark attacks, Burgess said in the Reuters interview. These are entirely predictable things just as you can predict drownings or car accidents as a result of this being a huge holiday weekend.
By Ju-min Park SEOUL (Reuters) - Tutors at South Korean test preparation schools denied criminal wrongdoing during a court hearing on Monday involving leaked information that led to the cancellation of the U.S. SAT college entrance exam in South Korea in 2013. Nine of 22 defendants, including tutors and owners of private "test-prep" schools, appeared in a Seoul court for their first hearing, charged with illegally obtaining SAT college entrance exam test papers and offering them to pupils. Their lawyers have said their clients are not guilty of copyright infringement. The trial began after the test's administrator, the Educational Testing Service (ETS), provided documents to the court in March following Reuters inquiries to the company about what South Korean authorities said was a lack of cooperation. Defence lawyers said on Monday their clients had used publicly available tests for their prep courses and their actions did not constitute copyright infringement because they had no intention of making a profit or violating fair use rules. "Without any intent to infringe copyright, some materials were copied and used when students did not have their textbooks. It is not considered as profit-making," Oh Seung-hyun, a lawyer representing five of the defendants, told the court. Another defendant, charged with obstruction of the test administrator's business by hiring people to take SAT tests to memorize questions, did not reconstruct and distribute what his part-timers learned, Oh said. Cheating at international SAT testing sites has been a problem for years. In May 2013, the U.S. College Board, which owns the SAT, canceled the sitting of the exam in South Korea because of leaked questions. It was the first time the organization scrapped an SAT sitting across an entire country. That came after South Korean authorities alleged that Korean cram schools had illegally obtained SAT test papers. However, South Korean authorities said their investigation had been hobbled by a lack of help from the ETS. In September 2014, South Korea's highest court requested documents from ETS. Prosecutors wanted information to verify that materials seized from the cram schools, known as hagwons, were authentic SAT exams. Last September, a year after the request, an official with the Seoul Central District Court told Reuters that ETS had yet to respond. In December, Reuters asked ETS test-security head Ray Nicosia about the matter. He said ETS was continuing to work with South Korean authorities. After that interview, South Korean authorities said ETS promised to send the requested documents by the end of 2015. The trial started after ETS provided the documents in March. (Editing by Tony Munroe and Paul Tait)
Amriyat al-Fallujah (Iraq) (AFP) - Eight hands stretch towards the aluminium plate -- it's the first meal of rice this Iraqi family who just escaped jihadist rule in the Fallujah area has had in two years.

The tent has just been put up, a sheet of bubble wrap strewn on the gravel as a makeshift rug and the heat is searing but Nasra Najm, her daughter and grandchildren have a smile on their face.

"We had been dreaming of this. I wasn't sure rice existed anymore, so when we saw this plate, we couldn't believe it," said the elderly woman with traditional tattoos on her face.

She and her relatives reached the camp in Amriyat al-Fallujah 12 hours earlier, after walking through much of the night to dodge the surveillance of the Islamic State group.

Iraqi forces a week ago launched a broad operation aimed at retaking the city of Fallujah, one of IS's most emblematic bastions, in the western province of Anbar.

The progress of pro-government forces has created a window for some civilians to flee from the city's outlying areas and attempt to reach safety.

The Norwegian Refugee Council, which runs several camps in Amriyat al-Fallujah, south of Fallujah, is providing shelter and assistance to around 3,000 people who fled over the past week.

Their stories give an insight into the dire conditions endured by the estimated 50,000 people still trapped inside a city which has been largely cut off from the rest of Iraq for months.

In Nasra's tent, Maher Sabih, a tall middle-aged man explained it this way: "Look I used to weigh 103 kilos (235 pounds), now I'm on 71."

All the newly-arrived displaced civilians from the Fallujah area have the same stories of being deprived of rice or bread.

"It was an ordeal over there. We had to grind the stones from the dates to make flour," said Madiha Khudhair, sitting in her empty tent with her two daughters.

"It's very sour, no one wants to eat that," said the woman, who had been living in a village under IS rule near Fallujah.

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Her sunken eyes, framed by a red scarf wrapped around her head, started watering when she recounted their flight.

"We just left it up to God, picked up our things and left. Actually, we ran. At one point, we spotted one of their (IS) trucks and we all crouched. Eventually, we made it," she said.

- Risk everything -

Rasmiya Abbas, a black-cloaked elderly woman cradling her five-day-old grandson, said IS (Daesh) fighters would ration the population and keep the good food for themselves.

"A bag of sugar lately was around 50,000 dinars ($40). For the rice, they sometimes gave a quarter of a kilo, barely enough to make a meal for the children," she said.

"We only had that dark barley bread. If you saw it, you wouldn't eat it. Daesh kept the rice, the good bread and all the best things for themselves," she added.

All of the 252 families housed in the Fallujah camp that opened on Saturday arrived over the weekend.

In the sand-coloured tents all tethered in neat lines, exhausted children sleep in the shade to recover from their journey and shelter from the noon sun.

Those who are awake fill plastic bottles from a water truck while others queue with their mothers in front of an ambulance handing out basic medicine.

Nearby, workers scramble to build latrines for the brand new camp's booming population.

The Fallujah battle yielded its biggest wave of displaced civilians on Sunday but as the fighting intensifies -- forces led by Iraq's elite counter-terrorism service entered the streets of the city on Monday -- a bigger influx is to be expected.

"We're pre-positioning more aid in order to give it to more families we're hoping will be able to escape," said Becky Bakr Abdulla, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Iraq media coordinator.

Ahmad Sabih said reaching the camp is dangerous.

"You have to try to pick a clear road but those who didn't know their way very well got killed," said the 40-year-old father, who reached the camp in Amriyat al-Fallujah at 4:00 am.

"I just decided to risk everything. I was either going to save my children or die with my children."
London (AFP) - Politicians and world leaders have dominated the headlines in the campaign for Britain's EU referendum, but a passionate battle for the country's future is also being fought by activists on the streets.

At a stall in the bohemian London district of Fitzrovia last week, Sheila Hawkins tried to persuade workers on their lunchbreak that leaving the bloc in the June 23 vote would be a "disaster".

Standing on a street corner handing out leaflets, the pensioner volunteered with the "Britain Stronger In Europe" campaign to allay her own fears of what would happen in the event of a so-called Brexit.

"I was so worried, I thought -- stop worrying and do something about it," she told AFP.

Located next to a shop selling sunglasses, the stall played blues music through a speaker and was stacked with leaflets proclaiming the benefits of the EU in protecting workers' rights or tackling climate change.

Hawkins set out the case for staying within the EU single market to Awo Davis, a 45-year-old producer, who revealed that he has yet to make up his mind how to vote.

"I'm not completely convinced by the EU but then again I'm not all together convinced the EU doesn't work either," he said, complaining about a lack of impartial information.

Haran, a 19-year-old student who stopped by to pick up a campaign sticker, condemned those who wanted to "Leave" out of a desire to reassert British sovereignty.

They "think they're going to find independence, but it's all bullshit," he said bluntly.

He repeated warnings by Prime Minister David Cameron, the Bank of England and the International Monetary Fund of the economic risks of leaving the EU.

"Companies are going to suffer and we're going to go into another deep recession," he said.

- Peace and democracy -

But Clive Pool, 57, insisted Britain can flourish outside the EU -- and rejected attempts to suggest the country would risk its security by going it alone.

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Retired activist Jannet Taylor became quite emotional as she described the historical benefits of membership.

"So you're going to turn your back on all those who have fought for Europe over the last century, and the peace the EU has brought us?" she asked, her voice trembling.

"You've not heard of NATO? It's nothing to do with the EU!" retorted Pool.

He continued: "I'm voting out and I'm encouraging as many people as possible to get back to our democracy and get back to laws, made by elected representatives that we can get rid of.

"You don't like David Cameron? You can get rid of him. If you don't like (European Commission chief) Jean-Claude Juncker, there is nothing you can do to get rid of him."

- 'Losing our identity' -

The following day, a few miles away in the south London suburb of Croydon, activists from the "Vote Leave" campaign were out canvassing in the early evening sunshine.

James Bradley, a 38-year-old clutching leaflets under his arms, rang the doorbell of a modest house belonging to Desiree Peacock.

The 60-year-old opened the door with a tin of food in her hand, and, seeing Bradley's campaign literature, cut him off as he began his introductions.

"I'm leaving," she said, before complaining about immigration from within the EU -- which Brexit campaigners say can only be stopped by leaving the bloc -- and the powers exercised by Brussels.

"It's about losing our identity as a country. I don't like that -- I want Britain back again," she said, a small white dog barking at her heels.

A little way down the street, a 34-year-old Polish builder, Marcin Kurdzialek, stood next to his van watching the activists with interest.

He cannot vote in the referendum, but owes his job to the EU's freedom of movement rules. "I would feel sorry for people who wouldn't have the opportunities I had," he said.
It was 20 years ago this week that Sublime frontman Bradley Nowell died of a heroin overdose at the age of 28. It was a tragic death that ended what could have been an extremely promising career. And yet, in the time since his death, the band has enjoyed an ever-evolving  and somewhat awkward  legacy. To their most dedicated fans, Sublime are the greatest ska-punk/reggae band among their peers. To others, theyre the band that all the most annoying people in high school seemed to love.

To be brutally honest, some bands are judged by their fan base. Lynyrd Skynyrd fans are often stereotyped as rednecks, while Radioheads die-hards tend to be viewed as pretentious fanboy types. Then, theres the Sublime bro: The guy (or gal) who has the sun from the 40 Oz. To Freedom logo tattooed on at least (but possibly more) places on his or her body, and will constantly chew your ear off about how they are the greatest band. And if you dissent, or tell them that the original version of Smoke Two Joints is better than the original, theyll lecture you about how you just dont get it.

But that brings up the big question: Has our stereotyping of the Sublime Bro actually blinded us to the actual quality of the bands music? Put it this way, if you and your cloister of friends all believed that the majority of people who liked a given band were some combination of uncool, unintelligent, and generally not a good time to hang out with, wouldnt you pre-emptively train yourself to not like that band? And if you found yourself liking one of their songs, wouldnt you be afraid to go further, less your alienate yourself from the world youve built up?

What matters more here is, Sublime actually have a lot of really good songs. Perhaps the band was initially overrated in the wake of Nowells death, but the backlash has turned the table considerably, to the point where people forget why people liked the band in the first place. Its easy to just dismiss the band as white boy reggae, but they actually had a pretty diverse bunch of styles within the reggae/ska/punk framework. They had sped up tunes like Wrong Way, but they also could handle slow, introspective songs like Doin Time, and anyone who doubts the bands musical ambition could should consider the 6-minute dub ode Pawn Shop, a melodic number which features some of Nowells best guitar playing. If youve only heard the bands radio hits, digging in deeper is certainly a worthy endeavor, as there was always more to this band than meets the eye.

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The band also had an interesting sense of humor. Consider April 29, 1992, a track about the rights in Los Angeles following the Rodney King verdict (despite singing the wrong date in the lyrics). The song takes on a serious topic, but infuses it with a surprising bit of dark humor, as Nowell sings nostalgically about participating in some anarchy which included heading to a liquor store and taking all that alcohol (he) couldnt afford. He also claims that the very guitar hes playing on the track came form looting a music store, which may or may not be true, but is an interesting thought. Later in the song, the band makes it clear that they were in solidarity with those who were protesting what they considered the racist actions of local police. This is where a delicate balance is needed; too much humor, and the song becomes crass, but if its too serious, it would risk being heavy handed. The band managed to pull it off, resulting in one of their most enduring songs.

Some of their tracks were more light-hearted, like the Spanglish Caress Me Down, which became a radio favorite despite not being released as a single. The song is one of the bands most sexually explicit songs; when Nowells says his girlfriend had the G.I. Joe kung-fu grip, it doesnt take a genius to figure out what he means. Theres a decent chance that if the song had been sung entirely in English, radio stations might not have picked it up when you consider the translations of some of these lyrics, but in any case, its a light hearted, rivals number that became another one of the bands classics.

Of course, taste is subjective. You could listen to every song Sublime ever recorded and still find nothing to like, while still thinking your high school bro who swears by them is out of his mind. But for every goofy alt rock band in the 90s, Sublime dovetails comfortably right among the best of your most closet nostalgia faves. The point is, they deserve a chance. Sublime, like many bands, has had their fan base stereotyped to death, and as a result, closed-minded listeners tend to be unwilling to give them a chance and its a shame. While the bands reputation may have initially been inflated by their massive cult following, they still accomplished a lot over a short period of time, and that shouldnt be forgotten.

(You dont need to listen to the Sublime With Rome album, though.)
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HBO

After lying about Jon Snows fate for the entire interim between seasons five and six of Game of Thrones, actor Kit Harington finally came out of the liars closet with the fan favorites triumphant return from the dead. Despite the blatant breach of trust, however, fans have altogether forgiven Harington. (Hell, a police officer even let him out of a parking ticket for it.) But will all this newfound good will be enough to blow over the 29-year-old performers latest transgression? That is, his suggestion that Hollywood and culture at large ignore the double standard of sexism levied against men?

In an interview with The Sunday Times Magazine, Harington compared the demeaning experience he and other male actors now endure to that which actresses and other female professionals in Hollywood have put up with for decades. I think there is a double standard, he said, adding: If you said to a girl, Do you like being called a babe? and she said, No, not really, shed be absolutely right.

As Harington put it, I like to think of myself as more than a head of hair or a set of looks. Hes not wrong, as his sentiment regarding his own self-image and worth are the very backbone of empowerment emphasized by feminist arguments against sexism. Whether sexist attitudes exist in Hollywood, the film and television industries elsewhere around the world, or in other walks of life, itd be nice to know one was appreciated for more than what they look like to the opposite (or preferred) sex.

Its demeaning. Yes, in some ways you could argue Ive been employed for a look I have. But theres a sexism that happens towards men, Harrington continued. Theres definitely a sexism in our industry that happens towards women, and there is towards men as well. At some points during photoshoots when Im asked to strip down, I felt that.

Yet with recent news stories about Gillian Anderson and Robin Wrights unequal paychecks for The X-Files and House of Cards respectively, and countless other instances of Hollywoods sexism towards women, its difficult to consider Haringtons comments seriously. Hence why the majority of Twitter that wasnt infatuated with the Game of Thrones actors mid-radio interview phone call with fellow cast member Maisie Williams chose to knock him down a peg.

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Kit Harrington (Jon Snow) lives up to his brand identity, confuses shallowness of visual culture for anti-men sexism https://t.co/f8bGSoTf2F  karachikhatmal (@karachikhatmal) May 30, 2016

"Kit Harrington says male stars are suffering the same sexism as female stars"

Me: pic.twitter.com/YI4cGBW2KK  ilianA  (@spacesharmony) May 30, 2016

Aww poor Kit Harrington, must be so hard for men in Hollywood, all that sexism they face:(  Spooky Mulder (@WishartRowan) May 30, 2016

Kit Harrington raises a good point of male objectification but to equate it to what women suffer is naive and silencing. But he a WM so   josey wales (@ddaappoo) May 30, 2016

Ok so Kit Harrington is cancelled https://t.co/6du8UtFczp  amelia (@beachesndoceans) May 30, 2016

Who's going to tell Kit Harrington that the reason he's not getting jobs isn't because of sexism it's because he's not a good actor  nicki (@roguewon) May 29, 2016

(The Sunday Times Magazine via The Independent)
A Memorial Day poem in the Atlantic Monthly, 149 years ago.

I would like to mention three.

The first is a story my wife Deb wrote in our American Futures series two years ago, from Columbus, Mississippi. It is about the origin, or at least one origin, of Memorial Day observances in the United States just after the Civil War, and it directly involves the then-fledgling Atlantic Monthly magazine. You can read it here.

The second is a long and powerful essay called The Citizen Soldier: Moral Risk and the Modern Military, by Phil Klay, author of the justly celebrated novel of the Iraq war Redeployment. It is published as a Brookings Essay but has no resemblance to the standard Brookings paper. It deals with an aspect of the question I was trying to explore last year in my story The Tragedy of the American Military.

I was writing mainly about the destructive moral effect on the entire society of its separation from the military that is open-endedly at war in its name. Klay deals with that but, even more, with the effects on people doing the fighting, killing, and dying. I recommend it very highly.

Recommended: The First Memorial Day

Third is a speech given by Ronald Kim, dean of faculty of Phillips Exeter Academy, on Memorial Day two years ago. It is a remembrance of someone who, as it happens, is the person I knew best who died in his countrys service, Christopher Warren Morgens.

Lt. Christopher Morgens in Vietnam (Phillips Exeter)

Chris was one year older than me, and one grade ahead of me in public school in our little Southern California town. He lived a few blocks away, our families went to the same church, our parents were friends. I stayed in town through high school; his parents, who had lived many places around the world, thought he should head to an Eastern boarding school, namely Exeter; and we happened to meet up again in college, where he was a year ahead of me at Harvard.

Chris resembled most of his classmates in that time in having no enthusiasm whatsoever for the Vietnam War. He differed in having joined ROTC at the urging and insistence of his father, a Great Santini-style career Air Force colonel. Ronald Kims essay tells what happened next. It is true to everything I knew about Chris  a wry, notably gentle, bookish and literary figure you would not normally expect to end up as an infantry officer  and eloquently explains many aspects of Chriss life I had not been aware of (because of our separate high school experiences).

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It is also heartbreaking. When Chris discovers, on graduating from college, that his assignment is for basic infantry training at Ft. Benning, he writes to his parents: Dear mom and dad, I cannot readily conceive of anything more disastrous. My imagination boggles at the implications. My mind's eye is covered with blood. Less than a year and a half later, he has been killed in combat in central Vietnam, as a first lieutenant leading his platoon. Many people from my public high school were killed or wounded in Vietnam. Christopher Morgens was one of a much smaller number of Exeter and Harvard alumni to die there.

Recommended: A 22-Year-Old Explains Why He's Voting for the Republican Nominee

***

I recommend all of these readings on Memorial Day. Among other things they are a corrective to breezy talk about boots on the ground, abstracted away from the men and women wearing those boots and exposed to the effects of the service, the sacrifice, the killing, and the dying they do in the countrys name. Great respect to them on Memorial Day.

Update Please read the eloquent essay on Boots on the Ground that has just gone up on our site, by historian and former president of Dartmouth James Wright.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
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Teachers are like actors: the bigger the entrance, the more people will applaud.

Students at Turner High School in Kansas City, Kansas love their Spanish teacher, Senor (Andrew) Ward. For months, Senor Ward has been greeting his students with the same over-the-top salutation: Buenos dias! So the students decided to honor their teacher the best way they knew how: with Facebook video.

SEE ALSO: Lightning strikes hit kid's birthday party and soccer match in Europe

For weeks, the students had been quietly filming their teacher. They then put together a careful montage of Senor Ward's performances  and the result was, predictably, hilarious.

Sure, his reactions might be cheesy  but cheese (emotional and physical) is what makes people learn.

Gracias, students at Turner High School, for making our day so much better.


















By Joseph Akwiri MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - Suspected al Shabaab militants shot and killed three village elders, including a Muslim cleric, in Kenya's coastal region on suspicion of helping security agencies fight the insurgents, police said on Monday. Village chairman Juma Mwanyota, religious leader Hassan Mwasanite and a member of local neighbourhood security group, Mohammed Manguze, were shot and killed separately on Sunday in Kwale county, south of Kenyas port city Mombasa. Kwale county police chief Joseph Omija said they believed the killers were young recruits who had returned to Kenya from training by al Shabaab in Somalia. They (the suspects) think these elders have information about them which they are sharing with us and other security agencies, and that is why they are targeting them, Omija told Reuters by phone. Al Shabaab has said in the past its frequent attacks in Kenya are in retaliation for Kenya sending its troops into Somalia in 2011. They are now part of an African Union peacekeeping force. Several raids targeted coastal sites. The al Qaeda-linked group also seeks to overthrow the Western-backed Somali government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islamic law. In early May, a young man who had returned from Somalia and surrendered to government was shot and killed by what Omija said was a group of al Shabaab militants. Coast regional coordinator Nelson Marwa told a news conference in Mombasa they were seeking the suspects in Sunday's killings. In 2014, a prominent Muslim cleric, Sheikh Mohamed Idris, was shot and killed at a mosque in Kwale county and police linked the killing to his stand against terrorism and radicalisation. A madrassa teacher who was arrested and charged for the murder was found guilty and sentenced to death. In 2014, about 100 people were killed by al Shabaab militants in the Mpeketoni area of Lamu County. Police said in a statement late on Sunday they had arrested four suspects in connection with the killings, and published pictures of eight others they were looking for. There are indications that some al Shabaab terrorists fleeing from AMISOM action in Somalia could be making attempts to infiltrate into our country and stage attacks during the holy month of Ramadan, the statement said. (Editing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
By Barbara Goldberg

(Reuters) - Two people were injured in suspected shark attacks in Florida and California over the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend, but beachgoers returned to nearby ocean waters on Monday, officials said.

On Sunday, a 13-year-old boy was bitten on the right leg in Neptune, Florida, east of Jacksonville, and a woman in Newport Beach, California, was bitten on her torso and arms, according to police and local media reports.

"Even though we can't confirm it was a shark attack, we're treating it as a shark attack," Newport Beach Fire Department Lifeguard Battalion Chief Michael Halphide said of the California attack.

"I don't think there's a whole lot of doubt that these will be considered unprovoked shark attacks," said George Burgess, a shark expert at the University of Florida. "These are entirely predictable things just as you can predict drownings or car accidents as a result of this being a huge holiday weekend."

Officials closed a 5-mile (8-km) stretch of beach in Newport Beach on Sunday but reopened a 2-mile (3-km) piece on Monday as lifeguard patrol boats and police helicopters searched for sharks, Halphide said. If any are is found, they will be observed but not caught or killed, he said.

Still closed on Monday was Corona del Mar State Beach, located in Newport Beach, where the incident occurred, as well as some adjacent coastline.

"We expect good crowds, probably more than 75,000 people this holiday," Halphide said.

In Florida, Neptune Beach remained open the day after the 13-year-old was attacked just before 3 p.m. by what was described as a 5-foot shark, police said.

Cell phone video on NBC's "Today" program showed blood spattered sand as the boy was treated by rescuers.

Shark attacks in 2016 were expected to reach an all-time high, according to Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the university.

The Memorial Day holiday weekend signals the unofficial start of the U.S. summer vacation and beach season.

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There were a record with 98 shark attacks worldwide last year, including 59 in the United States. Six were fatal worldwide, including one U.S. fatality in Hawaii. Of the U.S. attacks, 51 percent took place in Florida, according to the university's website.

The increase, Burgess said, is due to shark populations slowly recovering from historic lows in the 1990s, the world's growing human population and rising temperatures that lead more people to go swimming.

(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
How Has T-Mobile Stacked Up against Its Peers Recently?

(Continued from Prior Part)

T-Mobile on customers unit contribution

In the previous part of this series, we learned about T-Mobiles (TMUS) focus on customer acquisitions in the family plan category.

During the recent MoffettNathanson Media & Communications Summit, J. Braxton Carter, the companys chief financial officer and executive vice president, talked about the impact of family plans on the carriers ARPU (average revenue per user).

Regarding guidance on ARPU, Carter said, Our official position is general stability because there are a lot of puts and takes. Were specifically going after share from Verizon and AT&T through our family plan offering from the marketplace. Higher CLV but a little dilutive on that one metric.

During the conference, Carter also said, Were in an environment where theres increasing amounts of data usage, and we continue to see customers right size and graduate up to higher rate plans, unlimited and thats offsetting some of the pressure that you see from really targeting family plans.

T-Mobiles ARPU in 1Q16

During 1Q16, T-Mobiles postpaid phone ARPU fell slightly by ~0.5% year-over-year (or YoY) to reach ~$46.2. As per the company, without the impact of Data Stash, the metric would have fallen by ~0.2% YoY for the quarter.

As per the company, customer acquisitions on family plans negatively affected the growth in its postpaid phone ARPU in 1Q16. Meanwhile, one of the factors that positively impacted the metric was better data attach rates, as per T-Mobile.

For diversified exposure to select telecommunications companies in the United States, you may want to consider investing in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). SPY held a total of ~2.7% in AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ), CenturyLink (CTL), Frontier Communications (FTR), and Level 3 Communications (LVLT) at the end of April 2016.

Continue to Next Part

Browse this series on Market Realist:
* Chevron, PTTEP are allowed to join bidding

* Auction seen to be completed in one year, minister says

* Decision taken in interest of transparency (Adds companies comments in para 6)

By Pracha Hariraksapitak

BANGKOK, May 30 (Reuters) - Thailand's military government plans to put up for auction petroleum concessions held by Chevron Corp and PTT Exploration and Production Pcl , Energy Minister Anantaporn Kanjanarat said on Monday.

Chevron's Thai unit holds concessions to operate the Erawan gas field, while PTTEP operates the Bongkot gas field. The two have combined production of 2.2 billion cubic feet per day, or 76 percent of output in the Gulf of Thailand.

The auction for the contracts, due to expire in 2022-2023, is expected to be completed within a year, Anantaporn told reporters following a meeting of Thailand's energy policy panel. He gave no details of auction timing.

"This is to ensure transparency and we have to listen to opinion from all parties," he added, referring to the decision to hold the auction, which followed opposition by some activists to a proposal to extend contracts with existing operators.

If there are no interested bidders, the government will negotiate extensions with the existing holders, Anantaporn said, adding that the two companies are allowed to join the bidding.

PTTEP Chief Executive Somporn Vongvuthipornchai said the company was ready to join the bidding and urged the government to give clear terms of the auction. An official at Chevron Thai unit said the company would work with the Thai government to prevent disruption to gas supplies.

Thailand, which uses natural gas for almost 70 percent of its power generation, may need to import more gas over the next seven or eight years to secure its energy supplies, he said.

Existing operators may not invest a lot of money to keep up production after the government decides to invite bids from new investors, which could take longer than negotiating with existing operators, he added.

Story continues

Chevron's Thai unit has said it plans to lay off 800 staff in Thailand this year as it looks to cut $500 million in costs.

The bidding is also pending an amendment of a new energy law, which will add production-sharing contract terms to existing concession contracts by which firms pay taxes and royalties, the minister said. The amendment was expected to be completed within the next three or four months, he said.

The military government is struggling to implement a draft energy law approved in late 2015 that will enable it to open a bidding round for new petroleum exploration concessions expected in the second half.

(Additional reporting and writing by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Susan Fenton)
The last time the Detroit Tigers won a road series against the Los Angeles Angels, Justin Verlander was still two seasons away from winning his AL Cy Young Award.

He and his club will try to revert to that form Monday night as the Tigers begin a three-game series at Angel Stadium, though it might be Los Angeles who needs an impressive outing from their starting pitcher after playing 13 innings on Sunday.

The Tigers (24-25) are 4-17 in Los Angeles since taking two of three from Aug. 24-26, 2009. That includes a four-game sweep last season and seven in a row with Detroit scoring 1.7 runs per game and batting .183.

Verlander (4-4, 4.02 ERA), the 2011 AL Cy Young winner, may struggle to make such numbers hold up, though he has won consecutive starts and is coming off his best of the year.

The right-hander gave up three hits with 10 strikeouts in eight scoreless innings of Tuesday's 3-1 home win over Philadelphia. His manager has seen this sort of stuff coming for a few more starts.

"Pretty much the same as what we've seen the last four starts," manager Brad Ausmus told MLB's official website. "His fastball's really working for him. He's getting swings and misses on it. He's mixing in his other stuff. His slider was really good, a hard slider tonight, borderline cutter at times. But he was outstanding."

The same goes for his last outing against the Angels as Verlander carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning before a Chris Iannetta double ended it. But that was in Detroit. In Anaheim, Verlander is 2-3 with a 6.19 ERA in six career starts.

Cliff Pennington (0 for 13), Kole Calhoun (0 for 7 with four strikeouts), Mike Trout (1 for 9) and Yunel Escobar (3 for 15) have all struggled against him.

The Angels counter with Jhoulys Chacin, who is three starts into his career with Los Angeles and still seeking his first win. Chacin (0-1, 4.67), who came over from Atlanta on May 11, gave up three runs and five hits in six innings of Tuesday's 4-1 loss in Texas for his first decision with his new club.

Story continues

The right-hander, who's spent the overwhelming portion of his career in the NL, has never faced the Tigers but has almost always known how to retire Justin Upton (2 for 20 with 11 strikeouts).

The Angels (22-28) are coming off Sunday's 8-6, 13-inning home loss to Houston, in which they leaned on the bullpen for eight innings of work. Johnny Giavotella struck out three times in the final five innings with seven total runners on base, but he's batting .397 in 16 games since entering play on May 13 batting .200.

"Johnny is one of our guys,'' manager Mike Scioscia said. ''He's going to put the ball in play there (most times). He had three opportunities this afternoon and couldn't put the ball in play. That's not like Johnny.''

The Tigers dropped the last two of a three-game series in Oakland after winning their previous three series. Victor Martinez had three of their five hits and is batting .481 on a seven-game hitting streak.
When Major William Thorn, a British officer touring Dutch colonial Indonesia, came upon the tiny, nutmeg-rich island of Pulau Run in the Banda Sea in 1812, he was looking at the last link of the Netherlands lucrative supply chain. It was there, in the far reaches of Southeast Asia, that this small and thinly peopled island, as he described it, had once found itself at the center of a long, bloody war between two naval superpowers  the outcome of which changed world trade and American history.

The Bandas soil, Thorn wrote in The Conquest of Java, was great for the culture of the nutmeg-tree, which flourishes not only in the rich black mould of all these isles, but even among the Lava of the Gunung (volcano). Nutmeg, the small tropical species of evergreen native to the region, is little more than a holiday spice today, often relegated to the forgotten corners of kitchen cabinets. But 400 years ago, this little brown seed changed the world.

Europeans had become enamored with spices for turning their once bland dishes into flavorful affairs. Long before the advent of refrigeration, these magical powders masked the taste and smell of decaying food, even helping to preserve some by killing off harmful bacteria.

By the 1600s, the spice trade was a highly structured global enterprise that gave birth to the worlds first multinational corporation, the Dutch East India Trading Company, and with it the worlds first stocks. Early explorers, driven by a lust for spices and the fortunes they could bring, had already mapped much of the globe. The spices helped serve as an engine for a kind of global connection, says Eric Tagliacozzo, a Southeast Asian expert and history professor at Cornell University. At the time, he explains, spices were sought after more than anything else by an entire side of the world.

And few were more successful at delivering them than the Dutch East India Trading Company. It was something of a monster in its time  part corporation, part sovereign nation, with the power to establish colonies, wage war and topple kingdoms in its quest for profit. The company had established an outpost on the Indonesian island of Java, centering its activities in the city of Batavia, modern-day Jakarta.

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It was there that the head of the Dutch East Indies, a man named Jan Pieterszoon Coen, had a dream of conquering the nutmeg, mace and clove markets with a total monopoly. But there was a problem: The spices came from the Banda Islands, deep into a disputed part of Indonesia where Portuguese and British traders had already established outposts.

Coens dream pivoted on Hollands takeover of the Bandas, Moluccan flyspecks placed in historys crosshairs by a unique soil that made them the worlds only source of nutmeg and mace, wrote William J. Bernstein in A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World. The British East India Company was already trading in the Bandas; the English, nervous after Dutch traders cornered the pepper market in the 1500s, were aggressively pursuing the spice trade. In 1616, the Dutch attacked nearby Pulau Ay, where the Brits had a trading post, slaughtering the natives. The British fled and set up camp a few miles west on Pulau Run  a move that incensed Coen.

Gettyimages 122317677

Italy, 17th century. Descriptio Medicamento Confetionem. Plate: Virtues of nutmeg.

Source: Getty

At this point Coen, who had been appointed the local VOC commander in Bantam on Java a few years earlier, warned the English that he would consider any further support of the Bandanese an act of war, Bernstein wrote. As it turned out, Coen died long before the Dutch could seize control of Pulau Run. But 50 years later, the two superpowers were embroiled in a long, stuttering war. And in 1666, British soldiers marched into the Dutch territory of New Amsterdam and renamed the island New York, while out in the Bandas, the Dutch controlled Pulau Run, commanding a near-total monopoly on the nutmeg trade.

On July 31, 1667, the war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Breda. The Dutch dropped their claims to New Netherlands, ceding it to the British in exchange for Pulau Run and Suriname. The treaty handed the British control of a region that ran south from Rhode Island to Delaware, cementing their claim over the New World and changing the course of early American history. But, technically, the Dutch had won the war.

At that time Manhattan was totally low-lying forest; there was very little here, Tagliacozzo says, explaining how the long, thin island once seemed to have far less earning potential than the Spice Islands. But Manhattan became an economic powerhouse, he says  with the nutmeg trade paling by comparison.

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On May 27, we issued an updated research report on Toll Brothers Inc. TOL.



On May 24, 2016, Toll Brothers reported better-than-expected results in the second quarter of fiscal 2016. Fiscal second-quarter 2016 adjusted earnings of 51 cents per share outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 48 cents by 6.25% and rose 37.8% year over year driven by higher revenues and gross margin. Revenues of $1.12 billion in the quarter surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.08 billion by 3.4%, and increased 31% year over year driven by higher average selling prices (ASPs) and home deliveries.



The number and value of net orders was modest during the quarter owing to a decline in the number of homes signed in the California region due to lack of inventory for sale and higher prices.



However, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company raised its top-line guidance for 2016. The guidance ranges for total revenue, deliveries and ASPs were raised.

Toll Brothers expects revenues between $4.76 billion and $5.36 billion in fiscal 2016, higher than the prior expectation of $4.6 billion and $5.4 billion.

The home deliveries guidance was tightened to the range of 5,800 and 6,300 homes from the prior expected range of 5,6006,600. The company expects the average price of homes delivered to be between $820,000 and $850,000 compared with the prior expectation of $810,000 to $850,000.



Toll Brothers is optimistic about the performance of the housing sector in the upcoming quarters of 2016. Improving economic environment, higher job numbers, increasing consumer confidence, affordable interest/mortgage rates, rising rentals, rapidly accelarating household formation and a limited supply of inventory, all point to a consistently strong demand momentum in 2016.



On top of it, new home sales soared in April, way ahead of market expectation, per data released on May 24. This pushed up the share price of several construction companies. Shares of homebuilders like PulteGroup, Inc. PHM, D.R. Horton, Inc. DHI, KB Home KBH have appreciated since May 24.



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The revamped season of Top Gear, with new presenters Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc, has debuted to a mixed reception, averaging somewhere between 4.3-4.4 million viewers and drawing some social media fire. Those figures rep a decade low bow for the first ep of a new Top Gear series although the BBC chose to look at the glass half full, citing the show was the most watched in its primetime 8pm Sunday night slot, beating nearest rival, ITVs British Soap Awards by some half a million viewers. As a comparison, the previous season opener of Top Gear, with former presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, debuted to an average 4.7 million overnight audience when it aired in December 2014. Lead presenter Chris Evans had also been quoted in recent weeks as saying he would be disappointed by an opener that attracted less than five million viewers. The BBC, however, said the latest opener earned a higher overnights audience share than the previous season opener at 22.8% compared to 20.2% for the previous edition.

The anticipated debut, which has been plagued for weeks by rumours of discord on set plus the PR fall-out from an ill-advised segment filmed in view of the Cenotaph War Memorial subsequently scrapped, also drew some barbs on social media, especially for Chris Evans animated performance. Carol Vorderman, a former presenter on Channel 4s cult show Countdown, took to Twitter to voice her displeasure with the latest Top Gear incarnation.

Sorry #TopGear  switching off  looking forward to the proper boys on @amazonprimenow soon  night all xxx  Carol Vorderman (@carolvorders) May 29, 2016

Top Gear remains a highly lucrative franchise for the BBC, worth an estimated $75 million to the broadcasters commercial arm BBC Worldwide. Former Top Gear presenters Clarkson, Hammond and May will launch their new driving show The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime last this year. The need for revamping Top Gear came in the wake of Clarkson exiting the show and BBC after being found guilty of assaulting a Top Gear producer last year.

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Paris (AFP) - Seven suspected jihadists, including the brother of one of the suicide bombers in last November's Paris attacks, went on trial in Paris on Monday.

The men, now aged between 24 and 27, travelled to Syria at the end of 2013 and returned to France a few months later. Arrested in May 2014, they all deny having fought as jihadists while there.

Among the defendants was Karim Mohamed-Aggad, the brother of Foued Mohamed-Aggad who took part in the November 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people.

Foued Mohamed-Aggad travelled with the same group to Syria but did not return home with them.

Nearly two years later he blew himself up at the Bataclan concert venue in Paris where 90 people were murdered.

Defence lawyer Xavier Nogueras stressed the difference between the Bataclan bomber and the defendants.

"They came back before the others," he said. "They had completely broken with the idea of belonging to a radical ideology."

The lawyer for Karim Mohamed-Aggad, Francoise Cotta, denounced the media obsession with her client.

"You couldn't care less about the others and you are trying to stick it to Karim, who will be judged by what his brother did," she told reporters outside the court.

According to one source close to the case, the defendants have told investigators they only carried out humanitarian work while they were in Syria.

While they occasionally handled weapons when the were in Syria, it was only for training or propaganda photos, never for combat.

All seven face charges of criminal association with a view to commit acts of terrorism, punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

Last week, defence lawyers objected to the prosecutor's decision to use leaked Islamic State documents -- which list the defendants as "combatants".

The documents, acquired by Sky News television in March, include an estimated 173 names of French citizens or residents of France, said a source close the investigation, but the defence says their authenticity must first be investigated.
The three remaining presidential candidates spent Memorial Day honoring U.S. military service members, each in their own unique way.

In Chappaqua, N.Y., Hillary Clinton marched in the towns annual Memorial Day parade with former President Bill Clinton, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a large contingent of Secret Service agents.

The Democratic frontrunner and her husband smiled and waved to their fellow Chappaquaintances and were received warmly, though at least one person along the parade route offered Hillary Clinton some unsolicited political advice.

.@HillaryClinton @BillClinton marched Chappaqua parade friendly crowd 1 man shouts she shld do more to reach out to @BernieSanders  Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) May 30, 2016

Clinton, herself, did not take questions from reporters, but offered some Memorial Day thoughts on Twitter.

Our fallen heroes deserve our profound gratitude for giving their lives to protect our freedom, she wrote. Today and every day.

Our fallen heroes deserve our profound gratitude for giving their lives to protect our freedom, today and every day. #MemorialDay -H  Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) May 30, 2016

On the opposite coast, Bernie Sanders continued his whirlwind tour of California with a pair of campaign events in Oakland after holding no fewer than five separate rallies in the Golden State on Saturday and Sunday.

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But the Vermont senator also took the opportunity to tweak Donald Trump, who vowed to rebuild our military and knock the hell out of ISIS at the Rolling Thunder rally in Washington, D.C., Sunday afternoon.

Its easy to give speeches about how tough we are, but let us not forget the cost of war on the men and women who serve in our military.  Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 30, 2016

Its easy to give speeches about how tough we are, Sanders tweeted, but let us not forget the cost of war on the men and women who serve in our military.

After firing off a series of early-morning tweets thanking the Border Patrol union for its endorsement, Trump did something unusual, at least for him: He appeared to sign off from Twitter for the day.

Have a great Memorial Day and remember that we will soon MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2016

Have a great Memorial Day, Trump wrote, and remember that we will soon MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Trump gestures at a news conference near the U.S.-Mexico border outside of Laredo, Texas, July 23, 2015. (Photo: Rick Wilking/Reuters)

Less than a week after securing the delegates needed to capture the Republican nomination, Donald Trump took to Twitter to thank the union that represents the U.S. Border Patrol agents for endorsing him for president.

The endorsement of me by the 16,500 Border Patrol Agents was the first time that they ever endorsed a presidential candidate, Trump tweeted on Monday. Nice!

The endorsement of me by the 16,500 Border Patrol Agents was the first time that they ever endorsed a presidential candidate. Nice!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2016

Trumps vow to build a wall along the U.S. southern border and have Mexico pay  a controversial plan he unveiled during the announcement of his White House bid  has become a signature issue of the real estate moguls campaign.

We are going to have strong borders, Trump said during a speech at the annual Rolling Thunder rally in Washington, D.C., on Sunday. We are going to have a wall, and I mean a real wall.

And to Trump, the National Border Patrol Councils endorsement  which was announced in March  is proof his plan for a wall is necessary.

In getting the endorsement of the 16,500 Border Patrol Agents (thank you), the statement was made that the WALL was very necessary!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2016

Mr. Trump is correct when he says immigration wouldnt be at the forefront of this presidential campaign if months ago he hadnt made some bold and necessary statements, Brandon Judd, the unions president, said in a statement announcing its first-ever presidential endorsement. And when the withering media storm ensued he did not back down one iota. That tells you the measure of a man. When the so-called experts said he was too brash and outspoken, and that he would fade away, they were proven wrong. We are confident they will be proven wrong again in November when he becomes President of the United States.

Story continues

Also read: Trump: Illegal immigrants are taken much better care of by this country than our veterans

There is no greater physical or economic threat to Americans today than our open border, the endorsement continued. And there is no greater political threat than the control of Washington by special interests. In view of these threats, the National Border Patrol Council endorses Donald J. Trump for President  and asks the American people to support Mr. Trump in his mission to finally secure the border of the United States of America, before it is too late.

The unions backing of Trump has come under fire from critics who say it is endorsing not only his immigration plan but also his hateful rhetoric.

It is probable that the endorsement of Mr. Trump would expose both the union and the individual members to accusations of xenophobia and even racism, Don McDermott, a former Border Patrol agent, told the Los Angeles Times. The reputation of the agency and of every agent is called into question.
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Turkey's foreign minister said during a visit to Tripoli on Monday that his country hoped to be the first to reopen its embassy in the Libyan capital, following the arrival of a U.N.-backed unity government at the end of March. Security in Tripoli remains fragile and the unity government's leadership has been operating out of a heavily guarded naval base as it gradually tries to gain control of ministries. Tunisia and several Western European states including France and Britain said shortly after the unity government's leadership moved to Tripoli that they hoped to reopen their embassies, but no dates have yet been announced. "God willing, we will be the first country to resume our embassy's work in Tripoli," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, after meeting his Libyan counterpart Mohammed Siyala and Prime Minister Fayez Seraj at the naval base. He also pledged Turkish support for the government's efforts to restore stability and security to Libya, and said Turkey hoped to boost its economic presence in the North African state. "Turkish companies are looking forward with determination to continue their work and resume their activities in Libya in the sectors of transport and energy," he said. Libya's oil-dependent economy has been hit hard by conflict and political chaos, with production dropping to about one fifth of the level it stood at before the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. Most foreign employees working in the oil sector have left the country, and most Western diplomatic staff were evacuated from Tripoli in 2014 amid heavy fighting between rival factions. As a result of the fighting, Libya's parliament and government moved to the east of the country, whilst a rival set of institutions were set up in the west in Tripoli. Islamic State militants took advantage of a security vacuum to establish a foothold in Libya, seizing control of the coastal city of Sirte last year. The unity government is designed to end divisions between the rival political groups and the armed brigades who back them, but it has struggled to win support on the ground. (Reporting by Ayman al-Sahli and Ece Toksabay; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Alison Williams)
Ankara (AFP) - Turkey is offering to "join forces" with Washington for a special operation inside Syria on condition it doesn't include a Syrian Kurdish militia blacklisted by Ankara but seen as an ally by the US, the foreign minister said.

Washington's support of Kurdish fighters in Syria in the fight against Islamic State jihadists has angered Ankara, especially after AFP pictures last week revealed US commandos sporting patches of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) detested by Turkey.

"If we join forces, they (the US) have their own special forces and we have our special forces," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a small group of journalists in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya.

Such a coalition could "easily" head to IS's de facto capital in Raqa to the south in a second front, he said.

There was no immediate reaction to the proposal from the United States, whose strategy for fighting jihadists inside Syria is pinned on its alliance with the battle-hardened Syrian Kurds.

The US is supporting an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as the most effective fighting force on the ground against IS.

But the SDF is still dominated by the YPG, which Turkey sees as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has fought a three decade insurgency against the Turkish state.

Cavusoglu said Syrian Arab opposition forces opposing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad could be backed up with special forces from Turkey, the United States as well as from France, Britain and Germany.

- 'Terror group as partner' -

"The subject we are discussing with the Americans is the closure of the Manbij pocket as soon as possible... and the opening of a second front," Cavusoglu said, referring to a backdoor border route favoured by IS for smuggling jihadists into and out of Syria.

"We say okay, a second front should be opened but not with the PYD," he said, referring to the Democratic Union Party, the YPG's political wing.

Story continues

"Unfortunately, both Russia and the United States see a terrorist organisation as a partner and support it."

In Ankara, government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus declined to comment on details of any operation but said Turkey placed top priority on protecting a line stretching between Syria's flashpoint towns of Marea and Jarablus.

"Turkey is determined whatever is needed to protect the line from terrorist groups," he said on Monday after a cabinet meeting.

- 'US not keeping promise'-

The dispute over the role of the YPG has proved a major bone of contention in relations between the two NATO allies. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the weekend accused the US of dishonesty.

Cavusoglu lamented the delay in the delivery of American light multiple rocket launchers to be deployed along its border with Syria to combat IS.

The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) was to have been deployed along the Turkish border by the end of May, but Cavusoglu said it would now only happen in August.

"The United States is unfortunately not keeping its promise," he charged.

"We are completely ready. Not us, but the US is responsible for the delay."

The system would allow Turkey to hit IS positions within a 90-kilometre (56-mile) range, while Turkish artillery has a more limited range of 40 kilometres.

Yet Turkish cooperation is critical for the US-led fight against IS, with coalition war planes using the southern Turkish base of Incirlik as a hub for attacks on the group.

Cavusoglu said US support for YPG was "very dangerous" for the future of Syria.

Asked if could have implications for the US use of Incirlik, he replied: "The United States is our NATO ally, model partner. To be honest, we don't want the business to reach that stage."
Ankara (AFP) - Under fire over the state of democracy in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday took aim at strike-hit France, expressing his alarm over police violence against French demonstrators.

He accused the media of selective reporting in turning a blind eye to police repression in the West while appearing overly keen to focus on Turkey's alleged shortcomings.

His remarks echoed Western criticism of the Turkish police's heavily-handed tactics against peaceful protesters during anti-government demonstrations in 2013.

"I am concerned over what's happening in Paris," Erdogan said in a televised speech in Istanbul.

"I condemn the violence committed by the French police against people who use their right to demonstration," he added.

He complained the same Western media who had been only too keen to report on anti-government protests in Turkey three years ago were silent over the treatment of French protesters.

"Today, Paris and Brussels are on fire," said Erdogan.

"In other Western cities there are very serious protests. Media organisations that held uninterrupted live broadcasts three years ago have stayed almost blind, deaf and dumb to the current events."

France's Socialist government is locked in a standoff with trade unions over a proposed labour law that has prompted strikes and protests across the country.

The 2013 demonstrations in Turkey were sparked by a police crackdown on a peaceful sit-in to save Istanbul's Gezi park from being razed to make way for a development project.

"I ask Western politicians to be more sensitive about the events in Paris. You were advising me, pressing me: 'Why act like that against the Gezi people'?" said Erdogan.

"But now I raise my voice. Why are you doing this against people fighting for freedom in Paris?"

Erdogan, who was prime minister at the time of the Gezi protests, came under strong pressure from rights groups and Western allies over his government's tough response which sparked the worst social turmoil in Turkey's modern history.

Since then, Turkish authorities have regularly cracked down on anti-government protests, using tear gas and water cannon against even small gatherings.
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey's military killed at least 28 Islamic State fighters in shelling north of the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday in retaliation for the latest attacks against a Turkish border town, broadcaster CNN Turk said, citing a military statement. The attack hit 58 Islamic State targets with artillery and rocket launchers, CNN Turk said on Monday. The pro-government Sabah newspaper reported five people were injured on Friday when rockets fired from Islamic State-controlled territory in northern Syria hit the Turkish border province of Kilis, which is about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Aleppo. Kilis has been hit by rockets from Islamic State-controlled territory more than 70 times since January, killing 21 people including children, in what security officials say has gone from accidental spillover to deliberate targeting. The Turkish military usually responds with artillery barrages into northern Syria, but officials have said it is difficult to hit mobile Islamic State targets with howitzers. Turkish officials have said they need more help from Western allies in defending the border. Islamic State fighters captured territory from Syrian rebels in an area near the Turkish border on Friday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The advance also brought them closer to Azaz, a town 6 km (4 miles) from the Turkish border. Rebel groups battling Islamic State in the area, which Washington sees as strategically vital, have been supplied with weapons via Turkey. (Reporting by Seda Sezer; Editing by David Dolan)
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A U.S.-backed alliance of Syrian militias is widening an offensive against Islamic State near its de facto capital of Raqqa, targeting an area where the group controls a disused air base, a monitoring group and a Kurdish official said on Monday. The Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), which includes the Kurdish YPG militia, launched an attack against Islamic State-held areas north of Raqqa city last week. The city itself is not a target of the current offensive however, the SDF has said. In an expansion of the operation, the SDF is now targeting the IS-held area of Tabqa, some 60 km (40 miles), to the west of Raqqa city. IS captured Tabqa air base from government forces in 2014 at the height of its rapid expansion in Iraq and Syria, killing scores of Syrian soldiers there. The SDF forces are advancing toward Tabqa from Ain Issa, an SDF-controlled town some 70 km (40 miles) to the northeast. The Tabqa area is important because it links Raqqa city with areas controlled by the group near Aleppo. Syrian government forces backed by Russian air strikes were last year advancing in the direction of Tabqa, after capturing Kweiras air base in Aleppo province, but stopped some 60 km northwest of the town. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the monitoring group, said Tabqa would be a difficult military target because Islamic State has large stocks of weapons there. The attacking SDF forces must also cross the Euphrates river to reach Tabqa town, further complicating any assault, Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said. (Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Jon Boyle)
By David Lawder and Ruby Lian

(Reuters) - U.S. regulators launched an investigation on Thursday into complaints by United States Steel Corp that Chinese competitors stole its secrets and fixed prices, in the latest trade spat between the two countries.

U.S. Steel is seeking to halt nearly all imports from China's largest steel producers and trading houses, in its complaint made under section 337 of the main U.S. tariff law.

The International Trade Commission (ITC) said in a statement that it has not made any decisions on the merits of the case.

The commission identified 40 Chinese steel makers and distribution subsidiaries as respondents, including Baosteel Group, Hebei Iron and Steel Group, Wuhan Iron and Steel Co Ltd, Maanshan Iron and Steel Group, Anshan Iron and Steel Group and Jiangsu Shagang Group.

The U.S. Commerce Department has kept up a barrage of efforts to clamp down on a glut of Chinese steel imports, including announcing steep anti-dumping duties on corrosion-resistant steel on Wednesday.

U.S. Steel filed its original complaint a month ago, alleging that it was a victim of a 2011 computer hacking incident that also prompted U.S. federal cyber-espionage indictments against five Chinese military officials in 2014.

The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker alleged the hackers stole research data on production techniques for a new generation of lightweight, high-strength steel now favored by automakers. It said this accelerated Chinese competitor Baosteel's ability to replicate the product, which took U.S. Steel a decade to develop.

"NOTHING WORTH STEALING"

Chinese steelmakers and officials dismissed the need for the probe, and said steelmakers would contest any findings.

"The U.S. steel industry has already lost its leading position and there is nothing worth stealing," said an executive with Maanshan Steel told Reuters. "The United States is a market economy and we don't understand why they are taking these measures.

"The United States said we conspired," added the executive, who asked not to be named. "In fact, we wish the domestic steel sector was able to work together, but this is precisely what we are the worst at, and it is even less possible that we would distort the market through government action."

Story continues

Baosteel, China's second-largest steelmaker and the world's fourth-largest, said in a statement the United States was acting in breach of World Trade Organization rules. It urged the Chinese government to take all necessary measures to ensure the sector receives fair treatment.

China's Commerce Ministry said it was resolutely opposed to the probe and would encourage its firms to legally defend themselves.

The ministry said trade remedy measures recently being taken by the United States were protectionist, and would artificially interfere with trade rather than solve the industry's current problems.

"We strongly urge the Chinese government to take counter-measures against the United States to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese steel industry and the normal trade order," the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) said in a statement.

U.S. Steel Chairman Mario Longhi applauded the ITC's decision to investigate claims which include that Chinese producers falsely named other countries as the origin of their products and illegally transhipped them through third countries to avoid anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties.

"We remain confident that the evidence will prove the Chinese steel producers engaged in collusion, theft and fraud and we will aggressively seek to stop those responsible for these illegal trade actions," Longhi said in a statement.

Such intellectual property-based claims have only been made once before by U.S. steel producers, in 1978 against 35 Japanese makers and importers of welded stainless steel pipe. But the ITC, rather than barring imports of the products from Japan, instead ordered 11 firms to stop unfair pricing practices.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing)
By Chuck Mikolajczak

(Reuters) - An agreement between Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) and unions potentially ending a nearly seven-week strike includes 1,400 new jobs and pay raises topping 10 percent, the company and unions representing about 40,000 workers said on Monday.

The deal, which one analyst called "very rich" for Verizon workers, could be a prelude to the company exiting the wireline telecommunications business, transforming into a wireless internet business.

Verizon, the No. 1 U.S. wireless provider, and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) had reached a tentative deal on Friday. Details for the new four-year contract were disclosed on Monday.

The CWA said Verizon agreed to provide a 10.9 percent raise over four years while Verizon put the increase at 10.5 percent. According to the CWA, both numbers are correct, with the calculation done by the union including compounded interest that workers would receive as subsequent raises are determined from a new base salary.

They needed to end the strike and they bit the bullet," said Roger Entner of Recon Analytics. "In my opinion, it reinforced their commitment to basically exiting the least profitable, most problematic part of the business.

The new contract "gives Verizon four years basically to get rid of the unit. Let it be somebody elses problem, Entner said.

Nearly 40,000 network technicians and customer service representatives of the company's Fios internet, telephone and television services units walked off the job on April 13.

Striking workers will be back on the job on Wednesday, the CWA said.

Joshua B. Freeman, labor historian and CUNY professor at Queens College in New York said he would call the contract a win for the union, while noting the increasing rarity of a strike of that size and length.

"These guys not only struck and survived but actually came out of it with a pretty good contract," he said. "These days, that is a very unusual thing, to see that kind of walkout."

Story continues

TENTATIVE NEW CONTRACT

The workers have been without a contract since the agreement expired in August; healthcare coverage ran out at the end of April. In 2011, Verizon workers went on strike for two weeks after negotiations deadlocked.

The latest work stoppage stretched across states including New York, Massachusetts and Virginia. Verizon brought in thousands of temporary workers.

New York-based Verizon will add 1,300 call center jobs on the East Coast, and 100 new network technician jobs, Verizon spokesman Richard Young said.

It will withdraw proposed cuts to pensions as well as reductions in accident and disability benefits. The company, however, won cost savings through changes in healthcare plans and limits on post-retirement health benefits.

If union members ratify the agreement, the new contract would run until August 2019.

Members of local unions will vote by mail, at mass membership meetings, and at walk-in balloting meetings and all results are due back to the CWA by June 17, according to Bob Master, assistant to the vice president at the CWA.

Master said, "Were pretty confident the members will be supportive of the agreement," citing the closeness between the leadership and its members.

Verizon worker Fitzgerald Boyce, 45, said he was likely to vote in favor.

"I am extremely relieved that we have a good contract from what I am reading," said Boyce, a field technician who lives in Brooklyn, New York. "To be able to keep our benefits and actually increase the number of union jobs is a great thing."

Verizon and the two striking unions were in contract discussions with the help of the U.S. Department of Labor. In mid-May, U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez brought the parties back to the negotiating table.

The strike, one of the largest in recent years in the United States, drew support from Democratic U.S. Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

SHIFT TO MOBILE

Verizon has shifted its focus in recent years to mobile video and advertising, while scaling back its Fios television and internet services. To tap new revenue, it is boosting its advertising-supported internet business and acquired AOL for $4.4 billion.

Verizon, which claims a high-quality cell network, is locked in a battle for subscribers with AT&T Inc (T.N), Sprint Corp (S.N) and T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS.N) in a saturated U.S. wireless market.

Verizon's legacy wireline business generated about 29 percent of company revenue in 2015, down about 60 percent since 2000, and less than 7 percent of operating income.

Verizon Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam said last week the strike could hurt second-quarter results.

Verizon shares closed up 1 percent at $50.62 on Friday and are up 9.5 percent for the year, near its 52-week high of $54.49. U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the U.S. Memorial Day holiday.

(Reporting by Amrutha Gayathri in Bengaluru, Daniel Trotta and Chuck Mikolajczak in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Nick Zieminski)
The UFC Fight Night 88: Almeida vs. Garbrandt fight card might have flown under the radar for mainstream fans, but the fighters at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Sunday delivered in spades for the hardcore audience that turned out on Memorial Day Weekend.

Two performances and one fight rose above the rest on the fight card with Cody Garbrandt, Jake Collier, Jeremy Stephens, and Renan Barao earning the $50,000 performance-based incentives.

The Fight of the Night honors went to the co-main event between former bantamweight champion Barao and Stephens. It was Barao's UFC debut in the featherweight division and he looked good in the opening round. Stephens made adjustments heading in the second frame and began landing power shots. An uppercut staggered the Brazilian, but Barao battled back. The final round was close, but Stephens landed the cleaner shots and took home a unanimous decision.

RELATED > UFC Fight Night 88: Almeida vs. Garbrandt Full Live Results and Fight Stats

Garbrandt earned a Performance of the Night award for his knockout of previously unbeaten Thomas Almeida in the fight card's main event. No Love took the fight to Almeida and staggered him in the early going. Almeida responded with aggression and ended up eating a right hand that rendered him unable to continue. He was 21-0 heading into the fight.

Collier took home the second Performance of the Night bonus for his second-round TKO of Alberto Uda on the preliminary fight card. He overcame being hurt in the first round after absorbing a knee to the face that likely broke his nose. Early in the second frame, Collier landed a knee of his own and then unleashed a flurry of punches. A moment later, he delivered a spinning back kick that finished the fight.

UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Garbrandt featured three knockouts, eight decisions, and one submission finish.

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ufc fight night 88

UFC

Greetings, fight fans. Weve got a light week this time around with just a solo UFC show on Sunday, so were fusing the live discussion and the predictions together for a one stop fight shop. UFC Fight Night 88 kicks off at 6 p.m. ET on Fight Pass with the early prelims, so lets figure out whos fighting and more importantly, whos going to win.

2016 Important Results:

Jessica: 86-72-3 (54 percent)

Burnsy: 73-60-2 (55 percent)

Ryan: 5-1 (83 percent)

Jason: 19-16-1 (54 percent)

Jackman: 7-5 (58 percent)

Enrique: 7-5 (58 percent)

Jamie: 16-13-1 (55 percent)

Justin: 13-4 (76 percent)

Marty: 20-12-1 (62 percent)

Jared: 13-11 (54 percent)

Parker: 3-4 (43 percent)

Team Davis: 42-30-2 (58 percent)

Note from Suzanne Davis: Due to my (Suzanne Davis) total lack of remembering to prod people to do picks this week, Ive once again passed off this task to my son, E. He didnt want to do it (he totally did, Im not a horrible mother), but I took the opportunity to teach him the importance of building a good resume and a rapport with a reputable and honored online mixed martial arts community. I couldnt find one, so I sold his picks to Uproxx for a minimal fee. ($0.00 USD, suckers.)

Last time, he did the picks for UFC 198. He went a pathetic 2-9-1. But, he picked the draw in the Sergio Moraes vs. Luan Chagas fight and that pretty much wins the day, suckers.

Once again, he picked the fighters and the why-s. I did the how-s. Also, hes four. If you make fun of him, I will stab you to almost death.

Heavyweight  Chris de la Rocha vs. Adam The Prototype Milstead

Jessica: Beef Boyz, ahoy! CdlR lost to Danny Oatmeal Lunch Truck last time out, which isnt great, but hey, heavyweights hit hard. Milstead lost his very first ever fight, and then decided that was dumb and has rattled off seven wins in a row. Also, hes the Prototype, but so is Jake Collier, who fights later. Thats too confusing, so Ill take Milstead to win by first round KO thanks to his robo-fists.

Story continues

Burnsy: Ooooooooh look at Milstead, hes a PROTOTYPE! How fancy! Get over yourself, pal. De la Rocha for the win.

A tiny child: Pick: Millstead

Why: Moooooooooooobs.

How: (Snort)

Bantamweight  Aljamain Funkmaster Sterling vs. Bryan Kid Lightning Caraway

Jessica: Awwww yisss! Aljo is gonna enstrangulate Caraway and then dab on that fool while rockin his 36-inch chain. Sterling subs Caraway in the second round.

Burnsy: I dont ever pick against the Funkmaster, the Master of Funk.

A tiny child: Pick: Sterling

Why: The other one looks like a mean jerk.

How: Things I cant make up.

Lightweight  Erik New Breed Koch vs. Shaolin Shane Campbell

Jessica: Koch Heads, lets ride! Ive given up on Campbell ever throwing another Hadouken in a fight, so Ill take Koch to kick Campbells face off his head and win by second round KO.

Burnsy: When I think of a New Breed I think of the puggle or labradoodle or doberman-apso. Not Erik Koch. Shane wins this one by throwing a new breed of shark at Kochs face.

A tiny child: Pick: Draw.

Why: Iunno.

How: Grilled cheese sandwich.

Middleweight  Jake The Prototype Collier vs. Alberto Uda

Jessica: Much like GSP, I ave not been impress wit Colliers performance. Plus hes kind of susceptible to getting knocked the frig out, something Uda looks to be decent at. Ill take Uda to win with a third round KO, and probably send this Prototype packing.

Burnsy: Uda man? Albertos da man.

Lightweight  Abel Killa Trujillo vs. Jordan All Day Rinaldi

Jessica: Always and forever, f*ck Trujillo. I hope this is the fight that gets him cut. Rinaldi wins by submission in the third. I realize this is highly unlikely, but Im not going to marginally benefit in my prediction record thanks to Trujillo winning.

Burnsy: The guys name is All Day, which means that he will win all day, so I have to assume hes being honest with self-promotion.

A tiny child: Pick: Rinaldi

Why: Because mommy told me to.

How: Personal distaste.

Bantamweight  Sara McMann vs. Jessica Evil Eye

Jessica: Hey, its two people that propelled Miesha Tate to her title fight against Holly Holm. Yall are both to blame, you jerks! Both fighters are on two-fight losing skids, so theres a chance someone is getting cut after this one. Im giving the edge to McMann because of her wrestling. McMann wins by decision.

Burnsy: Ill take Evil Eye to get back into the evil game, because I feel like she hasnt been very evil lately and she should work on that.

A tiny child: Pick: McMann

Why: Because mommy told me to.

How: Personal ladyboner.

Lightweight  Paul The Irish Dragon Felder vs. Josh The Peoples Warrior Burkman

Jessica: Oh man, this is a mean fight. I like Burkman and Felder a whole bunch. Unfortunately for Josh, he gets super red super quickly at welterweight, so Im guessing hell turn purple about 20 seconds into his lightweight debut. Then Felder will wheel kick Josh in the face bones. Felder wins by first round KO.

Burnsy: I prefer my warriors to be men of the people, so I have to choose The Peoples Warrior in this one. Its not an exact science as much as its an affair of the heart.

A tiny child: Pick: Felder

Why: The other one looks old.

How: Future conversation about ageism.

Welterweight  Jorge Gamebred Masvidal vs. Lorenz The Monsoon Larkin

Jessica: Oh ding dong dang! I am hypexcited for this throw down! I dont care that both dudes are kind of inconsistent, when they are on, they can make some rad violence in the cage. Im giving a slight edge to Masvidal to win a decision.

Burnsy: Gonna roll with Masvidal in this one because I feel like Larkin is one of those guys that gets my hopes up and then delivers a dud.

A tiny child: Pick: Larkin

Why: I dont like crust on my sandwiches.

How: Picky eating and misunderstanding.

Middleweight  Chris Camozzi vs. Vitor Lex Luthor Miranda

Jessica: Camozzi is 1-4 against Brazilians. Miranda has only lost to dudes a lot bigger than him, which Camozzi isnt. Im taking Miranda to bash Camozzi inside of two rounds to win by TKO.

Burnsy: I just cant pick Ini anymore. Im not sure Ive picked him at all lately, to be quite honest, but I dont feel like checking. This guy has never listened to me and used Hot Stepper as his entrance music, so screw him. I pick Miranda.

A tiny child: Pick: Miranda

Why: (See Almeida vs. Garbrandt)

How: Logic.

Welterweight  Rick The Horror Story vs. Tarec Sponge Saffiedine

Jessica: Wrestle man who hasnt fought in a million years returns to action! First it was Dom Cruz, then Khabib, and now the Horror Story gets in on that feel good action. Saffiedine is a good kickboxer, and he could chew up Storys legs with his strong kicks. However, Rick is really dang good, and I expect him to put Tarec on his back for like 14 minutes and just grind him into a thin paste. Story wins by decision.

Burnsy: I dont think Story will have kicked enough rust off to stop Sponge from soaking up his pride. BOOM thats how you work with a nickname, fam.

A tiny child: Pick: Saffiedine

Why: He lives in a pineapple under the sea.

How: Krabby Patty.

Featherweight  Renan Barao vs. Jeremy Lil Heathen Stephens

Jessica: I think Barao is going to have trouble winging punches at a dude that can take shots from lightweights. I really doubt Renan will land a perfect counter like Yves Edwards did to KO Stephens. On the flip side, Stephens has big power for the division and solid technique. Stephens should out land Barao and get a second round KO.

Burnsy: Oh hey, whats up, Renan Barao? Look at you co-main-eventing a Sunday Fight Night that people probably barely know is happening. This is no place for a man of your talents. Whoop Stephens ass and get yourself back into a good fight on a better card.

A tiny child: Pick: Barao

Why: He has a picture of his grandmother on him.

How: AARP.

Bantamweight  Cody No Love Garbrandt vs. Thomas Thominas Almeida

Jessica: OH HOLY HECK YES. These dudes gonna THROW DOWN with their adorable, teensy little fists and feets. Almeida is durable and dangerous at all times, and I think hell land something insane to stagger Garbrandt before finishing him in the second by TKO. Maybe a Superman elbow or something.

Burnsy: No Love? Yes way. I dont normally side with guys named Cody, or anything that rhymes with -ody for that matter, but Im gonna take Cody to win a hell of a fight here.

A tiny child: Pick: Almeida

Why: Their tattoos look dumb, but he has less.

How: Logic.

Performance of the Night

Jessica: Felder, Sterling

Burnsy: Garbrandt, Masvidal

Fight of the Night

Jessica: Masvidal vs. Larkin

Burnsy: Koch vs. Campbell
The Hague (AFP) - A top commander of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army will go on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in December charged with keeping sex slaves and recruiting child soldiers, among other crimes.

Dominic Ongwen, himself a former child soldier who became one of the most LRA's most feared leaders, is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity over his role in the group's reign of terror in northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005.

His trial will start on December 6, the Hague-based ICC said, adding that prosecutors would start presenting their evidence in January.

Ongwen, who surrendered early last year and was handed over to the ICC, is the only senior LRA commander currently in the court's custody.

The LRA's elusive chief Joseph Kony, who has also been charged by the ICC with war crimes, is the subject of a decade-long manhunt.

In March, the ICC confirmed 70 charges against Ongwen, saying there were "substantial grounds" to believe that he was responsible for crimes including murder, rape, sexual slavery, torture and conscripting children under the age of 15.

Ongwen was once Kony's deputy and one of the top commanders of the LRA, which is accused of slaughtering more than 100,000 people and abducting 60,000 children in a bloody rebellion against Kampala.

Prosecutors accuse him of being the "tip of the spear" of the group that has sown terror across several countries in central and eastern Africa.

The LRA first emerged in northern Uganda in 1986, when it took up arms in the name of the Acholi ethnic group against the government of President Yoweri Museveni.

Over the years it has moved freely across porous regional borders, shifting from Uganda to sow terror in southern Sudan before heading into northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and finally crossing into southeastern Central African Republic in March 2008.

Combining religious mysticism with astute guerrilla tactics and bloodthirsty ruthlessness, Kony has turned scores of young girls into his personal sex slaves while claiming to be fighting to impose the Bible's Ten Commandments.

Born in 1975, Ongwen was transferred to The Hague more than a year ago, shortly after he unexpectedly surrendered to US special forces operating in the Central African Republic.
London (AFP) - British police on Monday charged two men after 20 people, most of them migrants, were rescued from the English Channel when their inflatable boat began to take on water.

Two children and a woman were among the group of 18 Albanians and two Britons aboard the rigid-hulled inflatable boat, which got into trouble off the Kent coast, southeast England, late Saturday.

An interior ministry spokesman said that two British men, aged 33 and 35, had been charged with immigration offences and were due to appear in court.

Calais coastguard organisation SNSM assisted the British coastguard in the rescue operation, which ended around 2:00 am (0100 GMT) on Sunday.

The passengers were taken to the nearby port of Dover to be interviewed by Border Force officers, the Home Office said.

"The castaways, who were migrants, called their families, who then alerted the authorities and rescue missions were triggered on both sides of the Channel," said SNSM president Bernard Barron.

Thousands of people have been massed in northern France for months, trying to reach Britain where they believe they will have a better chance of finding employment, according to French and British charities.

Officials warned last month that migrants from the so-called "Jungle" camp in Calais were stepping up efforts to reach Britain with summer on its way, with a sharp increase reported in migrant attempts to stow away in the back of lorries.

High winds, strong currents, heavy traffic and low water temperatures all make the Channel a treacherous stretch of water.
The Hague (AFP) - A Ukranian art buyer has handed back a missing 18th-century painting stolen a decade ago from a Dutch museum, bringing the total number of masterpieces retrieved from the heist to five, officials said on Monday.

"A Ukranian resident returned one of the 24 paintings that were stolen from the Westfries Museum to the Dutch Embassy in Kiev," said Marieke van Leeuwen, spokeswoman for the Hoorn municipality in northwest Netherlands where the museum is based.

"The man had brought in the painting in good faith and with a certificate of authenticity," Van Leeuwen added in a statement.

He did not say how the buyer came into possession of the latest returned painting, Izaak Ouwater's 1784 piece entitled "Nieuwstraat in Hoorn", valued at around 30,000 euros ($33,400).

Twenty-four Dutch Golden Age masterpieces and 70 pieces of silverware were stolen from the Westfries Museum on the night of January 9, 2005.

For years Hoorn's residents hoped that the stolen art would some day resurface.

At the time of their disappearance, the paintings were valued at a total of 10 million euros ($11 million).

Ukraine last month announced it had recovered four of the paintings, but it did not give details of how the works were retrieved, saying only they were "in the possession of criminal groups".

The Westfries Museum in December said the art is thought to be in the hands of an ultranationalist militia fighting pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.

The Hoorn municipality hopes the five paintings, which are still in Ukraine, will be returned to the Netherlands soon.

Dutch government officials have filed an international application for the paintings' return.

"We hope to put them on display by the end of the summer, but first we need to see what restoration they would have to undergo," Van Leeuwen added.

Last July two men who identified themselves as members of the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) presented a picture of one of the stolen works to the Dutch embassy in Kiev, the museum said.

Story continues

The men alleged they had found the entire missing collection -- containing works by landscape painter Jan van Goyen, among others -- in an abandoned villa in the conflict-wracked east.

Dutch media reported that the alleged OUN members had initially demanded 50 million euros for the paintings' return before dropping the price to 5 million euros.

The OUN later denied it was holding the art work, as Ukrainian authorities launched an investigation.
(Updates with labor historian comments)

By Chuck Mikolajczak

May 30 (Reuters) - An agreement between Verizon Communications Inc and unions potentially ending a nearly seven-week strike includes 1,400 new jobs and pay raises topping 10 percent, the company and unions representing about 40,000 workers said on Monday.

The deal, which one analyst called "very rich" for Verizon workers, could be a prelude to the company exiting the wireline telecommunications business, transforming into a wireless internet business.

Verizon, the No. 1 U.S. wireless provider, and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) had reached a tentative deal on Friday. Details for the new four-year contract were disclosed on Monday.

The CWA said Verizon agreed to provide a 10.9 percent raise over four years while Verizon put the increase at 10.5 percent. According to the CWA, both numbers are correct, with the calculation done by the union including compounded interest that workers would receive as subsequent raises are determined from a new base salary.

"They needed to end the strike and they bit the bullet," said Roger Entner of Recon Analytics. "In my opinion, it reinforced their commitment to basically exiting the least profitable, most problematic part of the business."

The new contract "gives Verizon four years basically to get rid of the unit. Let it be somebody else's problem," Entner said.

Nearly 40,000 network technicians and customer service representatives of the company's Fios internet, telephone and television services units walked off the job on April 13.

Striking workers will be back on the job on Wednesday, the CWA said.

Joshua B. Freeman, labor historian and CUNY professor at Queens College in New York said he would call the contract a win for the union, while noting the increasing rarity of a strike of that size and length.

"These guys not only struck and survived but actually came out of it with a pretty good contract," he said. "These days, that is a very unusual thing, to see that kind of walkout."

Story continues

TENTATIVE NEW CONTRACT

The workers have been without a contract since the agreement expired in August; healthcare coverage ran out at the end of April. In 2011, Verizon workers went on strike for two weeks after negotiations deadlocked.

The latest work stoppage stretched across states including New York, Massachusetts and Virginia. Verizon brought in thousands of temporary workers.

New York-based Verizon will add 1,300 call center jobs on the East Coast, and 100 new network technician jobs, Verizon spokesman Richard Young said.

It will withdraw proposed cuts to pensions as well as reductions in accident and disability benefits. The company, however, won cost savings through changes in healthcare plans and limits on post-retirement health benefits.

If union members ratify the agreement, the new contract would run until August 2019.

Members of local unions will vote by mail, at mass membership meetings, and at walk-in balloting meetings and all results are due back to the CWA by June 17, according to Bob Master, assistant to the vice president at the CWA.

Master said, "We're pretty confident the members will be supportive of the agreement," citing the closeness between the leadership and its members.

Verizon worker Fitzgerald Boyce, 45, said he was likely to vote in favor.

"I am extremely relieved that we have a good contract from what I am reading," said Boyce, a field technician who lives in Brooklyn, New York. "To be able to keep our benefits and actually increase the number of union jobs is a great thing."

Verizon and the two striking unions were in contract discussions with the help of the U.S. Department of Labor. In mid-May, U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez brought the parties back to the negotiating table.

The strike, one of the largest in recent years in the United States, drew support from Democratic U.S. Presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

SHIFT TO MOBILE

Verizon has shifted its focus in recent years to mobile video and advertising, while scaling back its Fios television and internet services. To tap new revenue, it is boosting its advertising-supported internet business and acquired AOL for $4.4 billion.

Verizon, which claims a high-quality cell network, is locked in a battle for subscribers with AT&T Inc, Sprint Corp and T-Mobile US Inc in a saturated U.S. wireless market.

Verizon's legacy wireline business generated about 29 percent of company revenue in 2015, down about 60 percent since 2000, and less than 7 percent of operating income.

Verizon Chief Executive Officer Lowell McAdam said last week the strike could hurt second-quarter results.

Verizon shares closed up 1 percent at $50.62 on Friday and are up 9.5 percent for the year, near its 52-week high of $54.49. U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the U.S. Memorial Day holiday.

(Reporting by Amrutha Gayathri in Bengaluru, Daniel Trotta and Chuck Mikolajczak in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Nick Zieminski)
Viacom board members on Monday sent a letter vowing to fight any attempts to oust them from their positions, setting up the latest legal salvo to rip through the embattled media giant.

Frederic Salerno, lead independent director of Viacom, and his fellow board members said that founder Sumner Redstone does not appear to be acting on his own "free will," and could be under the influence of daughter Shari Redstone. The letter stated that Sumner has always made it known that he did not want his daughter in control of the company that owns marquee properties such as MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures.

There has been heavy speculation in Hollywood and on Wall Street that Shari Redstone, acting on behalf of her family's trust that owns a majority of Viacom and CBS, would try to oust the board members and then dump CEO Philippe Dauman. Shari Redstone and Dauman have often been at odds in recent years, especially as Viacom's stock has lost more than 30 percent of its value during the past year.

"We know that none of us is 'entitled' to his or her Board seat," Salerno said in the letter. "But we were elected, until our terms expire or we are properly removed, to look after the interests of all the stockholders of Viacom. That is what Delaware law requires - and that is what Sumner Redstone has always expected."

Read More: Embattled Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman Takes His Case to the Company's Employees

Other co-signers of the letter include Deborah Norville, Charles Phillips, William Schwartz, Blythe McGarvie and Christopher Falcone. Salerno said that he and Schwartz have been rebuffed in numerous attempts for a face-to-face meeting with Sumner Redstone.

Salerno also portrayed the 11-member board as defenders of mom-and-pop shareholders in a bid to spare their seats. He also held steadfast to their decision to sell a major stake in Paramount, despite reports that Redstone is opposed to such a deal.

Story continues

"One important step we are considering is a minority investment in Paramount that can contribute not only direct financial funding but commercial and strategic opportunities as well. We hope that the fight over control does not impair or completely undermine this potential step with Paramount," wrote Salerno.

He added: "We also understand that if Sumner is found competent and acting without undue influence, we may be legally removed simply for having explored strategic options that might include a minority investment in Paramount. That said, our job is to try to do our job, not to try to keep our job. That is all we can promise - and we do promise it."

Salerno's pleas might fall on deaf ears once the stock market opens.

Eric Jackson, a fund manager at SpringOwl Asset Management which owns a few thousand shares of Viacom, reiterated his call to "fire Philippe Dauman." He said on Monday that "a board overseeing a 50 percent drop in the stock price over the last two years ... saying 'hell no, we won't go' ... (showed) astounding chutzpah."

Read More: More Fallout in Viacom War: Board Members Vent

Jackson first set his sights on Viacom in January with a 99-page slideshow he posted online that excoriated Dauman and others at Viacom. He called for a new chairman, and he got more than he bargained for when Redstone became chairman emeritus and Dauman was made executive chairman, a move Jackson wasn't happy with given his low opinion of Dauman.

Meanwhile, investor Mario Gabelli -- who has also been outspoken regarding the corporate soap opera at Viacom -- called for a special shareholders meeting to discuss the latest twists that have slammed the company's upper ranks.

The latest moves continue a dramatic corporate and family drama that escalated in recent weeks in a flurry of legal action between Dauman and Redstone. Dauman and another longtime Redstone ally were ousted from the mogul's trust, which controls both Viacom and CBS. And, in the process, Shari Redstone emerged in control of the board of National Amusements trust and the fate of both media giants.

Dauman last week made an attempt to fend off Shari Redstone, who many in Hollywood believed had for months been orchestrating a careful campaign to strip the executive of his duties. He and other Viacom directors filed a lawsuit that questioned whether Sumner Redstone - who turned 93 on Friday - was lucid enough to make complex business decisions and was being controlled by Shari Redstone.

On Friday, a Massachusetts court approved Dauman's request for a speedy court case and scheduled opening arguments on June 7 about why he should be reinstated to the National Amusement trust.

A spokesman for Redstone declined to comment.

Read More: How Philippe Dauman Is Playing His Cards in the Fight for Viacom

The full Salerno letter is below.

To All Viacom's Constituencies:

I am writing as the Lead Independent Director of Viacom on behalf of Viacom's independent directors. As speculation grows that Viacom's directors, other than Sumner and Shari Redstone, face the possibility of a direct attempt to remove them from Viacom's Board of Directors, we want our many important constituencies to understand, clearly and without rhetoric, what we are thinking and why.

We know that none of us is "entitled" to his or her Board seat. But we were elected, until our terms expire or we are properly removed, to look after the interests of all the stockholders of Viacom. That is what Delaware law requires - and that is what Sumner Redstone has always expected.

We now find ourselves facing a possible attempt to remove Viacom directors as a result of a chain of actions said to have been legally put in motion by the controlling shareholder of Viacom, Sumner Redstone.

We know that such an attempt, on its face, would be completely inconsistent with Sumner's lifetime commitment to an independent Board and professional management for Viacom after his incapacity or death. More specifically, it would be equally inconsistent with his stated judgment for many years that his daughter, Shari, should not control Viacom or his other companies.

We face a key question: Should we acquiesce in or contest a removal attempt? Acquiescence is appealing - it would remove some of the antagonism and public controversy, and avoid contentious and time consuming litigation. But to a person we feel the responsibility to challenge in court what we honestly believe would be legally flawed removals. That is especially so because the flaw we see would be the inexplicable assertion that Sumner was acting of his own free will and with the mental competency to do so. For several weeks, I and the Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee, Bill Schwartz, have tried to meet face-to-face with Sumner, but with no success to date.

We will contest the purported removal if it comes, because we see that as our responsibility to the non-control shareholders of Viacom who own 90% of the equity of the company - and to the legacy of a man we greatly admire and consider a dear friend. We can do no less than try to make sure that the fates of Viacom, its majority equity holders and Sumner's legacy are ably represented on their behalf and impartially decided by the courts.

While we will engage on that front, we have not forgotten and will not forget a primary role we have as Viacom directors - to oversee the performance of Viacom's business. The Board is not happy with where Viacom's performance stands. We know Viacom needs to do better - and we are very focused on that objective and on the need for management to drive it.

To that end, one important step we are considering is a minority investment in Paramount that can contribute not only direct financial funding but commercial and strategic opportunities as well. We hope that the fight over control does not impair or completely undermine this potential step with Paramount. We also understand that if Sumner is found competent and acting without undue influence, we may be legally removed simply for having explored strategic options that might include a minority investment in Paramount. That said, our job is to try to do our job, not to try to keep our job. That is all we can promise - and we do promise it.

In sum, our priority agenda is and has been to pursue the critical goal of improving Viacom's performance and now, if needed, a judicial determination of the legality of any removal attempt.

On behalf of Viacom's independent directors - Cristiana Falcone, Blythe McGarvie, Deborah Norville, Charles Phillips, William Schwartz and myself,

Frederic Salerno

Lead Independent Director

Viacom Inc.

Read More: Viacom Board Votes to Eliminate Sumner Redstones Annual Salary
Viacoms independent board members are vowing to fight any legally flawed effort to oust them from their director seats, and they are urging shareholders to support the continued push to sell a minority interest in Paramount Pictures.

The six independent directors on the companys 11-member board released on Monday a letter addressed to all Viacoms constituencies that outlined the boards concern that the panel may be replaced in the near future by controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone. The letter from lead independent director Frederic Salerno reiterated that he and director Bill Schwartz have sought a face-to-face meeting with Redstone to no avail.

The letter renews attention to the rumors that swirled on Friday that Redstone was prepared to remove the board en masse. The letter challenges the assertion from Redstones representatives that the 93-year-old mogul has made a series of decisions in the past two weeks that could change the future course of management of Viacom.

Redstones decision to remove Viacom chairman-CEO and director Philippe Dauman from the board of his National Amusements holding company and the Redstone family trust has set off a battle for control of Viacom between his daughter Shari Redstone and the incumbent Viacom board.

The letter does not take specific aim at Shari Redstone other than to suggest that someone other than Sumner Redstone has been making his decisions of the past two weeks. Reps for Sumner Redstone and Shari Redstone declined to comment.

The timing of the letters release, on the Memorial Day holiday, suggests directors are expecting action in the near future. Viacoms articles of incorporation give Sumner Redstone broad authority to replace that board given his clout in controlling 80% of the voting power in Viacom and CBS. The letter pointedly notes that Viacoms shareholders own 90% of the equity in the company.

Regarding the possibility that the board will be replaced, Salerno wrote: We know that such an attempt, on its face, would be completely inconsistent with Sumners lifetime commitment to an independent Board and professional management for Viacom after his incapacity or death. More specifically, it would be equally inconsistent with his stated judgment for many years that his daughter, Shari, should not control Viacom or his other companies.

Story continues

The extraordinarily public battle of dueling statements for days from Viacom and the Redstone camp has led to a near state of paralysis at Viacom. It is also believed to have at least temporarily scuttled Viacoms efforts to recruit a strategic investor for Paramount Pictures, after a statement from Sumner Redstone made it clear that he questions the need for a such a deal.

The letter urges shareholders to support the pursuit of the sale.

One important step we are considering is a minority investment in Paramount that can contribute not only direct financial funding but commercial and strategic opportunities as well. We hope that the fight over control does not impair or completely undermine this potential step with Paramount, Salerno wrote. We also understand that if Sumner is found competent and acting without undue influence, we may be legally removed simply for having explored strategic options that might include a minority investment in Paramount. That said, our job is to try to do our job, not to try to keep our job. That is all we can promise  and we do promise it.

Here is the complete letter:

May 30, 2016

To All Viacoms Constituencies:

I am writing as the Lead Independent Director of Viacom on behalf of Viacoms independent directors. As speculation grows that Viacoms directors, other than Sumner and Shari Redstone, face the possibility of a direct attempt to remove them from Viacoms Board of Directors, we want our many important constituencies to understand, clearly and without rhetoric, what we are thinking and why.

We know that none of us is entitled to his or her Board seat. But we were elected, until our terms expire or we are properly removed, to look after the interests of all the stockholders of Viacom. That is what Delaware law requires  and that is what Sumner Redstone has always expected.

We now find ourselves facing a possible attempt to remove Viacom directors as a result of a chain of actions said to have been legally put in motion by the controlling shareholder of Viacom, Sumner Redstone.

We know that such an attempt, on its face, would be completely inconsistent with Sumners lifetime commitment to an independent Board and professional management for Viacom after his incapacity or death. More specifically, it would be equally inconsistent with his stated judgment for many years that his daughter, Shari, should not control Viacom or his other companies.

We face a key question: Should we acquiesce in or contest a removal attempt? Acquiescence is appealing  it would remove some of the antagonism and public controversy, and avoid contentious and time consuming litigation. But to a person we feel the responsibility to challenge in court what we honestly believe would be legally flawed removals. That is especially so because the flaw we see would be the inexplicable assertion that Sumner was acting of his own free will and with the mental competency to do so. For several weeks, I and the Chair of the Governance and Nominating Committee, Bill Schwartz, have tried to meet face-to-face with Sumner, but with no success to date.

We will contest the purported removal if it comes, because we see that as our responsibility to the non-control shareholders of Viacom who own 90% of the equity of the company  and to the legacy of a man we greatly admire and consider a dear friend. We can do no less than try to make sure that the fates of Viacom, its majority equity holders and Sumners legacy are ably represented on their behalf and impartially decided by the courts.

While we will engage on that front, we have not forgotten and will not forget a primary role we have as Viacom directors  to oversee the performance of Viacoms business. The Board is not happy with where Viacoms performance stands. We know Viacom needs to do better  and we are very focused on that objective and on the need for management to drive it.

To that end, one important step we are considering is a minority investment in Paramount that can contribute not only direct financial funding but commercial and strategic opportunities as well. We hope that the fight over control does not impair or completely undermine this potential step with Paramount. We also understand that if Sumner is found competent and acting without undue influence, we may be legally removed simply for having explored strategic options that might include a minority investment in Paramount. That said, our job is to try to do our job, not to try to keep our job. That is all we can promise  and we do promise it.

In sum, our priority agenda is and has been to pursue the critical goal of improving Viacoms performance and now, if needed, a judicial determination of the legality of any removal attempt.

On behalf of Viacoms independent directors  Cristiana Falcone, Blythe McGarvie, Deborah Norville, Charles Phillips, William Schwartz and myself,

Frederic Salerno

Lead Independent Director

Viacom Inc.

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Viacom Shares Rise Amid Rumors of Board Blowout

Redstone Vows to Act in 'Best Interests of Shareholders' as Viacom Board Members Brace for Ouster
By Jessica Toonkel and Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) - Viacom Inc's six independent directors vowed on Monday to fight any attempt to oust them from the board, saying they found "inexplicable" the assertion that controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone was mentally competent and acted of his own free will. In a letter to shareholders, Lead Independent Director Fred Salerno said the directors would legally contest any bid to remove them, the latest salvo in an increasingly public and bitter battle for control of Viacom at a time when the U.S. media company needs to focus on turning its business around. The letter came three days after a statement from Redstone, issued by his spokesman, that said the 93-year-old media mogul was considering ousting Viacom Chief Executive Philippe Dauman and the board of directors. Salerno made no mention of Dauman in his letter, but said the independent directors have tried to meet face-to-face with Redstone for several weeks and have been turned away. Writing on behalf of six of Viacom's 11 board members, Salerno said, "we feel the responsibility to challenge in court what we honestly believe would be legally flawed removals." "That is especially so because the flaw we see would be the inexplicable assertion that Sumner was acting of his own free will and with the mental competency to do so," he wrote. A spokesman for Redstone declined to comment. Redstone holds 80 percent of the voting shares in Viacom and CBS Corp . Earlier this month, he removed Dauman and Viacom board member George Abrams from the seven-person trust that will control the shares after Redstone exits. Dauman, 62, has filed a legal challenge to that move, arguing that Redstone was being manipulated by his daughter, Shari. She has called that allegation "absurd" and said her father made his own decisions. Solerno's letter called a replacement of the independent directors "completely inconsistent with Sumner's lifetime commitment to an independent Board" and "equally inconsistent with his stated judgment for many years that his daughter, Shari, should not control Viacom or his other companies." A spokeswoman for Shari Redstone declined to comment. UNHAPPY PERFORMANCE Shares of Viacom have fallen more than 50 percent in the past two years as its cable networks, including MTV and Nickelodeon, suffered from falling ratings because younger viewers were migrating online and to mobile video. Viacom's U.S. advertising revenue has declined for seven straight quarters. Salerno said the directors were not happy with Viacom's current performance, and they were "very focused" on improving it and on "the need for management to drive it." He added that they intend to continue with plans to "explore strategic options that might include a minority investment in Paramount," Viacom's movie studio. Questions about Redstone's health have swirled since one of his former girlfriends, Manuela Herzer, filed a lawsuit last year arguing that he was not mentally competent to remove her from his advance healthcare directive. The case, which claimed that Redstone was "a living ghost," was dismissed earlier this month. The mogul had struggled to speak when questioned by attorneys, but he was clear about wanting Herzer out of his life and putting his daughter in charge of healthcare decisions if he could no longer make them. Since Redstone removed Dauman from the trust on May 20, Viacom shares have risen more than 13 percent, a move that some investors saw as the first step in a change in management that could eventually lead to a sale of the media company. A hearing on whether Dauman's case should be expedited is scheduled in Massachusetts on June 7, after he filed a petition to have the trial date moved up. (Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak and Jessica Toonkel; Editing by Tiffany Wu)
Victims attending the war crimes trial of Chads former ruler Hissene Habre were jubilant on May 30 as a Senegal court, backed by the African Union, convicted him of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to life in prison.

The judge also convicted Habre of rape, sexual slavery and ordering killings, the BBC reported. The result follows a 26-year fight by his alleged victims to bring him to justice. Habre denied ordering the killing of 40,000 people during his rule from 1982-1990  an estimate posited by The Chadian Truth Commission  and refused to recognize the legitimacy of the court. Credit: Twitter/Andrew Stroehlein
Dakar (AFP) - Hidden behind sunglasses and a white turban, Chad's former dictator was unrepentant Monday even as he learned he would spend the rest of his life in prison for crimes committed during his brutal rule.

In contrast, survivors of Hissene Habre's eight-year reign of terror, in courtroom four of Dakar's Palace of Justice to hear the verdict, wept with joy as he was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But Habre was in no mood for contrition, shouting: "Down with Francafrique!" as he was convicted, referring to France's continuing influence on former colonies like Chad and Senegal.

It was one of the few statements he made during his trial that began in Senegal on July 20 -- the first time an African country has prosecuted the former leader of another for rights abuses.

The verdict has brought long-awaited closure to relatives of the up to 40,000 people killed as well as the many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during Habre's 1982-1990 term as president of Chad.

"The decision satisfies us perfectly. We won a victory today. Everyone is happy -- widows, orphans, other victims," said Fatima Oumar, a woman in her fifties whose husband was arrested in May 1989 and died a year later.

In the Chadian capital N'Djamena, up to 250 victims and their supporters gathered to watch the trial on television at their group's headquarters.

Women screamed with joy as the verdict was read out, embracing one another and shouting "We won!", before taking to the streets and blocking traffic as they spread the news.

- 'Africa has won' -

Habre greeted his supporters who, along with victims' relatives, had made the journey to the Senegalese capital, as he left the court for the first time as a guilty man under the watchful eye of a number of guards.

Throughout the trial, Habre has refused to recognise the authority of the court, declining to appoint his own lawyers to defend against the charges that he denied.

Story continues

The judge, Burkina Faso's Gberdao Gustave Kam, condemned Habre's "insulting contempt" during the hearings.

"Habre showed no... compassion for his victims, nor expressed remorse," he said.

"Besides a turban with which he constantly hid his face, the accused ended up wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes."

After the verdict, guards moved in to protect the judges and prosecutors of the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE), a special tribunal set up by the African Union under a deal with Senegal, from the public gallery.

Victims' groups who travelled to Dakar to hear the verdict were visibly moved by a judgement that comes a quarter century after the abuses they suffered.

"The feeling is one of complete satisfaction," said Clement Abaifouta, president of the Habre survivors' association, known by the acronym AVCRHH.

"It's the crowning achievement of a long and hard fight against impunity. Today Africa has won. We say thank you to Senegal and to Africa for judging Africa," he added.
A video has captured an uncommon and uplifting scene in the drama of the Fort McMurray wildfire, with 300 firefighters from South Africa singing and dancing in unison at the Edmonton airport in Alberta before they head off to help reinforce Canadian firefighters.

After a 22-hour journey that started in Johannesburg, the firefighters from South Africa's Working on Fire Program arrived in Edmonton on an Air Canada flight late Sunday to help in the firefighting efforts currently underway in Northern Alberta.

The journey marked the first time Canada's flagship carrier operated into South Africa. It also marks the largest number of wildland firefighters ever brought into Canada.

Before being deployed to battle the fire raging in Fort McMurray, the contingent of 300 men and women broke out into a joyful South African song and dance.

Watch the five-minute video captured by Alberta Wildfire at https://youtu.be/F0nbAQm-N_4.
Get VIP Status at Miami's Hottest Hotel

The SLS arrived in 2012 and has been the hottest haute spot since. The beachfront Art Deco tower signaled Philippe Starck's return to Miami, and the designer certainly delivered (with an assist from Lenny Kravitz in the villas). You enter via red carpet to discover that in place of a lobby, theres the perpetually buzzing Jose Andres restaurant, Bazaar, with a jigsaw puzzle of tables, open kitchen displaying a huge leg of Iberian ham, massive shell-encrusted chandelier and eclectic, Spanish-Japanese-South American tapas.

Head to the Skylark website to book this deal.

The SLS South Beach deal includes:

Deal Price: 20% off 3 Nights + Flights + VIP Perks = $755 Per Person

Conditions: Must book by July 1, 2016, for travel between June 15October 31, 2016. Blackout dates: July 14-17, 2016. Rates are subject to availability. Once booked, this offer is nonrefundable and cannot be canceled. Itinerary changes may be possible but will incur an additional fee.

4 Nights in L.A. for the Price of Three

L'Ermitage became a sanctuary for A-List Hollywood back in the 1990s, with its Zen-minimalist look, oversize suites and discreet celebrity coddling. At 650 square feet, the 117 gently lit suites are spacious enough to include a large dressing area, walk-in closet, huge marble bathroom and balcony. The small, serene rooftop pool, with its sweeping views of the Hollywood Hills, never closes. There's a new restaurant, too: Avec Nous, a French bistro run by a Daniel Boulud alum.

Head to the Skylark website to book this deal.

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Deal Price: hotel + flights + VIP perks from $1,303 per person

Conditions: Must book before June 27, 2016. Rates are subject to availability. Once booked, this offer is nonrefundable and cannot be canceled. Itinerary changes may be possible but will incur an additional fee.
* Wellcome firm gets approval for cancer imaging agent

* First product from Wellcome Trust in two decades

* Follows $80 mln biotech windfall for Gates foundation

By Ben Hirschler

LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - The Wellcome Trust medical charity is to profit from U.S. approval of a new diagnostic cancer test, the first commercial product funded by the organisation since the sale of its pharmaceuticals business to Glaxo in 1995.

The regulatory green light shows how the world's healthcare leading charities are becoming important sources of finance for biotech start-ups and can gain when the young firms they back succeed.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently made a $80 million profit from selling a stake in Anacor Pharmaceuticals , a firm it had backed for its work on neglected diseases, which is now being bought by Pfizer.

With an endowment of $40 billion, the Gates foundation is the world's largest charity, while Wellcome has an 18 billion pound ($26 billion) investment portfolio. Their scale makes both organisations powerful forces in global medicine.

The new cancer test called Axumin, which got a green light from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday, was developed by start-up firm Blue Earth Diagnostics, which is owned by Syncona, Wellcome's biotech investment arm.

It is injected as part of a PET scan and helps reveal recurrent prostate cancer.

"It's a validation of our investment approach," said Martin Murphy, chief executive of Syncona, who said profits would flow back to the main organisation for its charitable work.

Syncona is a major investor in several other companies developing innovative products that it believes offer substantial patient benefits, including two firms working on gene therapies for blindness and liver problems.

With 250 million pounds to invest over the long term, Syncona aims to achieve returns that can help fund the charity, while also focusing on unmet medical needs and helping companies that would otherwise struggle to raise money.

Story continues

The Gates Foundation approach is somewhat different. Its "program-related investments" are designed to spur entrepreneurs and companies to pursue ideas in the public good, rather than necessarily to make a profit.

But it still stumbled on a big financial win with Anacor, thanks a soaring share price as the company's drugs made progress, and the foundation sold 99 percent of its stake for $86.7 million last November, 17 times its initial 2013 investment of $5 million.

The Wellcome Trust sold the majority of its stake in the Wellcome drug company to Glaxo in 1995. That led to the creation of Glaxo Wellcome, which later merged with SmithKline Beecham in 2000 to form GlaxoSmithKline.

(Editing by Jason Neely)
Washington (AFP) - Authorities temporarily placed the White House on lockdown Monday after someone threw a metal object over the fence around the presidential mansion, officials said.

Reporters working at the White House said a woman had been arrested.

"An individual threw a metal object over the north fence line at the White House," the Secret Service said in a statement after the approximately three-hour lockdown ended.

"Secret Service uniformed division officers immediately apprehended the individual without incident."

Officials said they conducted "protective sweeps" of the object but determined it was not a threat.

"The White House has returned to normal operations," the Secret Service said.

President Barack Obama had been attending a Memorial Day service at Arlington National Cemetery when the incident occurred.
The ABCs and 123s of What Sets Disney Apart: An Investor's Guide

(Continued from Prior Part)

Importance of Shanghai Disneyland

The Walt Disney Company (DIS) views the opening of its Shanghai Disneyland in China (FXI) as a strong revenue growth driver. The company expects to declare its Shanghai Disney Resort open on June 16, 2016. It will be Disneys first resort in mainland China. Disney expects pre-opening expenses for the Shanghai resort to be around $300 million in fiscal 2016.

According to a South China Morning Post report citing the consultancy firm Aecom, China is expected to be the worlds biggest theme park market by 2020, surpassing the United States. In 2015, theme parks in China attracted around 111 million visitors. This number is expected to almost double to around 221 million visitors by 2020.

This is why US theme park giants Disney, Comcasts NBCUniversal (CMCSA), and Six Flags (SIX) are eyeing the Chinese market. Comcasts NBCUniversal is expected to open a Universal theme park in Beijing by 2019 and a Six Flags theme park is expected to open in Tianjin in 2018. According to the South China Morning Post, China has around 300 theme parks.

Key features of Shanghai Disneyland

Disney gave more details on Shanghai Disneyland at the MoffettNathanson Media & Communications Summit last week. Disney stated that the company has two kinds of hotels at the theme parka luxury hotel called Disneyland Hotel with around 400 rooms, and a value priced hotel called Toy Story Hotel with about 800 rooms.

Disney has added its first-ever Pirates of the Caribbean attraction at the theme park in China. The company has also added a Lion King show in the Mandarin language at the theme park. Disney is expecting higher attendance at its Shanghai Disneyland. The park has good connectivity, and it has kept its ticket prices affordable.

Disney also said at the MoffettNathanson conference that a key concept of the attractions at Shanghai Disneyland is to keep them authentically Disney, but distinctly Chinese.

Story continues

Disney makes up 0.83% of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). SPY has a 3.5% exposure to the computer sector, and a 0.18% exposure to 21st Century Fox (FOXA).

Continue to Next Part

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New Partnerships and Focus on China to Drive Visa's Future Growth

(Continued from Prior Part)

Strong returns

Visas (V) stock has risen 11% over the past 12 months as a result of strong growth in volumes and the addition of new clients in 2Q17. The company is gaining ground through more partnerships and co-branded cards, but the market is expected to be more competitive on the pricing front as companies cut costs.

The company rewards its shareholders through dividend and share repurchases. In fiscal 2Q16, Visa declared a dividend of $0.14 per share in line with the previous quarter. The dividends paid translated into an annualized dividend yield of 0.78%.

Visas peers in the brokerage industry have the following dividend yields:

American Express (AXP): 1.6%

MasterCard (MA): 0.73%

Discover Financial Services (DFS): 2.1%

Together, these companies account for 2.3% of the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK).

Premium valuations

Visa is trading at 25.2x on a one-year forward earnings basis. Its peers are trading at 15.3x. Historically, Visa has traded at a premium to its peers because of a strong brand, zero leverage, higher growth, and strong operating margins.

The company has taken on a debt of about $16 billion to fund its acquisition of Visa Europe. The companys stand-alone valuation gap has increased marginally due to the relatively low performances of its competitors.

Visas fundamentals remain strong. Its full-year operating cash flows in fiscal 2016 are expected to be $7 billion. Its operating margins are expected to be in the mid-60s in fiscal 2016. Visa expects its revenue growth, excluding currency impact, to be in the low double digits.

The strong US dollar could impact Visas revenue growth by 3% in fiscal 2016. Client incentives are expected to be 17.5%18.5%. Currently, the company is trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of 30x. Considering the high growth and low exchange volatility expected in the upcoming quarters, the stock could offer attractive returns to investors in the long term.

Story continues

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Browse this series on Market Realist:
TORONTO, ONTARIO / ACCESSWIRE / May 30, 2016 / Wi2Wi Corporation ("Wi2Wi" or the "Company") (YTY.V) announces results for the quarter ending March 31, 2016.





2016 Highlights



The decrease in revenues for the three month period ending March 31, 2016 as compared to same period in 2015 was due to:

Shipment of a number of 2014 back-orders in the first quarter of 2015.

The Company has not entered the low margin market for the wireless connectivity products which is well supported by the large manufacturers with capacity to manufacture in large volumes.

The company decided to fully exit from extremely low margin business from Frequency Control Devices.

Decrease in revenue from connectivity products of $1.5 million. A number of connectivity products had reached end of life. The Company had announced introduction of a number of new broader range of products.

Investment in R&D: The Company commenced a modest product development program. The current investment in R&D is anticipated to positively impact operations in late 2017. The Company has established a Design and Engineering ("D&E") center in Hyderabad, India. Wi2Wis team at this D&E center will focus on developing wireless connectivity solutions addressing the exploding demand in IoT and M2M markets. The Company recently released a number of new products. A number of potential customers are in the process of evaluating the Companys new products. However, the Company does not recognize a design win until the end customer certification process is complete. These products will take in excess of 18 months to yield revenue. Historically, life of connectivity products are in excess of 8 years, and in excess of 15 years for frequency control and timing devices. The Company is actively looking to raise capital to expedite the new product development for both Wireless connectivity devices and Frequency control devices.



"The Company is activity looking to raise capital. Lack of investment capital has restricted the Companys growth. However, setting up the Hyderabad office will allow the Company to cost effectively develop new products. Companys effort in 2016 will be focused on stabilizing the business, win back customer confidence and promote the new products that were announced recently and developing new products. These and other products currently in development will position the Company in the IoT market" said Mr. Zachariah Mathews, President & CEO of the Company.



For further information, please contact:

Zachariah Mathews

President and Chief Executive Officer

408 416 4202

zach@wi2wi.com



About Wi2Wi Corporation

Wi2Wi is a vertically-integrated technology company which designs, manufactures and markets high performance, low power wireless connectivity solutions, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) modules, and frequency control devices. The Companys products and services address numerous applications in the markets of Internet of Things (IoT), Machine to Machine (M2M), Avionics, Space, and Government Sponsored Projects. Wi2Wi's products and value-added services provide highly integrated, rugged, robust, and reliable multiprotocol wireless actuators with embedded software, along with customized timing and frequency control devices for customers, worldwide. The Company was founded in 2005 and is strategically headquartered in San Jose, California with satellite offices in Middleton, Wisconsin and Hyderabad, India. Wi2Wis manufacturing operations, its laboratory for reliability and quality control, together with design and engineering for timing and frequency control devices are located in Middleton, WI. The branch office, located in Hyderabad, India, focuses on the development of wireless connectivity; both hardware and software. Wi2Wis strategic objective is to service the unique needs of each customer by providing end to end wireless integration solutions and highly customizable timing and frequency control devices. Wi2Wi distinguishes itself from commodity grade products, with best in the market performance, highly reliable, low power wireless connectivity products with integrated software that supports broader temperature ranges and a longer product life cycle. Furthermore, Wi2Wis end to end product solutions helps the customer substantially reduce their end product expense, certification cost, and overall R&D investment, in addition to substantially reducing the time to market. Wi2Wi has partnered with best in class global leaders in technology, manufacturing, and sales. The Company uses a wide network of manufacturers representatives, worldwide, to promote its products and services, and has partnered with world class distributors for the fulfillment of orders along with direct sales.



Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including management's assessment of future plans and operations, and the timing thereof, that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company's control. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks associated with the ability to access sufficient capital, the impact of general economic conditions in Canada, the United States and overseas, industry conditions, stock market volatility. The Company's actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements and, accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits, including the amount of proceeds, that the Company will derive there from. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect the Companys operations and financial results are included in reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed through the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com). Forward-looking statements are made based on managements beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date the statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements and if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable law. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.



Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.





Source: Wi2Wi Corporation
With no deaths and major characters like Jon, Sansa, and Tyrion absent on this weeks episode, it was a bit difficult to form our Game of Thrones power rankings. Still, the lower half of the rankings saw several characters get swapped out for others who made their return to the spotlight this week, while those involved with the affairs at Kings Landing either shot up our list or took a big drop, depending on whether theyre keen on the Faith Militant working with the Crown.

1.) Daenerys Targaryen (2)  Some may be sick of Daenerys constant locker room speeches, but just look at Drogon! Hes healed up and even bigger now, and if Tyrions info about dragons is true, Drogon wont stop growing. The time may finally be near for Dany to actually start doing something.

2.) High Sparrow (7)  It seemed almost certain that Marges penance walk was going to end in bloodshed. Instead, the High Sparrow shuts down the Lannister coup with an easy smirk. Now he has Tommen completely on his side, but someone might want to inform him of the dangers of failing to separate church and state.

3.) Sansa Stark (1)  Sansa remained idle this week, but only drops a couple of spots because her decision to send Brienne to Riverrun is proving to be a crucial one. In next weeks episode, shell be back to plotting against Ramsay

4.) Bran Stark (6)  Yes, it does seem that a connection is being made between Brans powers and King Aerys madness. Now that his long-lost uncle has taken over as his mentor and guardian, maybe Bran will actually listen to his elders for once and use his powers to help fight the White Walkers instead of aiding them and allowing them to kill fan favorite characters.

5.) Ramsay Bolton (4)  Missing again for the second straight week, but only drops a spot because of all the power and evil he has accumulated up to this point. We may not see Ramsay again until he and Jon do battle.

6.) Euron Greyjoy (3)  Euron got high marks last week for taking control of the Salt Throne, but he will slowly slide down the rankings until he strikes back at Yara for taking his fleet. It will take time for him to build up the resources to do so.

Story continues

7.) Margaery Tyrell (New)  Doesnt it seem rather odd that Margaery is suddenly so faithful to the High Sparrow and the Seven after seeing her urge Loras to keep fighting?

8.) Jon Snow (8)  Another idle character. Jon stays where he was ranked last week, but next time, well see Jon finally get up and try to rally the wildlings for battle with Tormunds help. After Ollys betrayal, maybe some trust from the people he was once told were his enemies will help Jon reclaim his fighting spirit.

9.) Yara Greyjoy (5)  Yaras still on the run from the Iron Islands and was absent this week. On the next episode, we will see what her next move is and how she plans to include Theon and his desire for revenge against Ramsay in her grand schemes.

10.) Arya Stark (16)  A girl DOES have a name! Arya realized that shes not about that Faceless Men life, refusing to kill her assigned target and realizing that even monsters like Cersei deserve some amount of sympathy for their plight. Now shes got Needle back, and shes going to need it in her upcoming fight against the Waif.

11.) The Waif (11)  The Waif has looked down at Arya with disdain and swatted her silly with a staff. Now her belief that Aryas not fit for her assassins order has been proved correct, shes going to make Arya pay for her failure with her life.

12.) Petyr Baelish (14)  Despite not appearing in this episode, Littlefinger jumps up a couple of spots for revealing last week that House Tully is making a comeback. Turns out he wasnt just trying to schmooze the furious Sansa. He was indeed giving her intel that could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

13.) Tyrion Lannister (12)  Tyrion did not appear this week, so we have yet to see how exactly hes going to move forward now that Kinvaras around and the freed slaves in Meereen are becoming more resentful of him. Tyrion is walking a tightrope right nowbut then againthats what hes been doing for almost the entire series.

14.) Jorah Mormont (9)  Jorah is off to parts unknown to find a way to cure his greyscale. Perhaps he will return to Meereen and find some help from Kinvara? Nonetheless, he will be off the power rankings if he doesnt appear in next weeks episode.

15.) Brienne of Tarth (18)  Brienne is currently enroute to Riverrun to find Ser Brynden Tully, right as the Freys are planning to finish the job they started at the Red Wedding. Brienne potentially holds the fate of the Starks in her hands, and she may have to use both her sword and her words to bring the Blackfish up North to help Sansa reclaim Winterfell. Because of her newfound responsibility, she jumps in our rankings.

16.) Davos Seaworth (13)  Davos takes a slide as he remains idle this week, but hell be back next week to continue helping Sansa prepare for war.

17.) Cersei Lannister (10)  Our two ancient houses face collapse because of your stupidity, says Olenna Tyrell to Cersei in the preview for next weeks episode. Indeed, Cerseis failed attempt to regain power sends her tumbling down our rankings, and now she has to rely on Jaime to find someone who can bail them out.

18.) Benjen Stark (NR)  Brans without his heavyweight buddy and his direwolf. Hes a dead boy walking, right? Nope! In comes his dear uncle Benjen with a flaming mace to save the day. The man also known as Coldhands will have plenty of time to catch up with his nephew, as it now falls to him to get Bran ready to fight the White Walkers.

19.) Samwell Tarly (NR)  Sorry, Daddy Tarly. Your son has more guts than youd care to admit. Like Ferris Bueller and Cameron Frye stealing the Ferrari, Samwell and Gilly have swiped House Tarlys Valyrian great sword Heartsbane for use against the White Walkers. Hope Sam knows how to swing that thing

20.) Walder Frey (NR)
A woman was dragged away by a crocodile while swimming in Australia on Sunday night despite efforts by a friend to save her from its jaws.

The two women were in shallow water on a remote beach in Daintree National Park in North Queensland around 10:30 p.m. Sunday when the attack occurred, CNN reported. They were in either waist-deep or knee-deep water at the time, based on differing reports from police and paramedics, CBS News reported.

The 46-year-old woman who was taken by the crocodile is still missing. A search and rescue effort resumed on Monday, via helicopter, boat and land, according to CBS. Her friend, 47, was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for shock and a graze to her arm.

A North Queensland member of parliament blamed the women for going to a beach near a popular spot for crocodile-spotting tours.

This is a tragedy but it was avoidable. You can only get there by ferry, and there are signs there saying watch out for the bloody crocodiles, Warren Entsch said. If you go in swimming at 10 oclock at night, youre going to get consumed.
Forest Whitaker and Malachi Kirby in Roots (History)



With so much to watch on TV, it can be difficult to plan ahead. But were here to help! Here are the five shows you wont want to miss this week.

Roots: Monday, May 30 at 9 p.m. on History, Lifetime, and A&E

Four decades after the original Roots became a groundbreaking television event, Alex Haleys powerful novel tracing an African-American familys life from the slave trade to the present day returns to television. Original series star, LeVar Burton, is onboard as a producer and has a cameo as well.



Related: Get to Know Roots Remake Star Malachi Kirby  and His Road to an Iconic Role

The Dresser: Monday, May 30 at 9 p.m. on Starz

The dynamic duo of Gandalf and Hannibal Lecter headline an adaptation of Ronald Harwoods 1980 play about an aging actor (Anthony Hopkins) and his backstage dresser (Ian McKellen).



Related: Ken Tucker Reviews The Dresser

Peaky Blinders: Tuesday, May 31 on Netflix

No need to worry that the third season of this addictive period crime drama might be its last; the series has already been picked up for two more years.

Outcast: Friday, June 3 at 10 p.m. on Cinemax

The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman branches out beyond zombies into demonology, following the adventures of a demon expert (Patrick Fugit) who partners up with a preacher (Philip Glenister) to investigate paranormal activity.

Feed the Beast: Sunday, June 5 at 10 p.m. on AMC

AMCs latest drama offers a gastronomic take on a gangster story, as two friends (David Schwimmer and Jim Sturgess) attempt to open the Bronxs next big eatery, but run afoul of the Mob in the process.

Related: Feed the Beast Showrunner Previews New AMC Drama


UK Creative Ideas Limited (UKCI) has signed an agreement with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to launch the new .ART domain.

.ART, which launches in fall 2016, is an internet domain dedicated to serving the arts and culture communities to enhance the art industry's presence online. The initiative hopes that in providing more name choices, exact matches for searches and identification with the arts, the art world will more easily be able to connect to its audiences.

"Our goals are to support existing museums, galleries, artists, auction houses and others in protecting and enhancing their brands, to inspire new organizations to build on .ART real estate, and to make domain names available to younger players to the art scene whose names are no longer available in other TLDs and want to immediately be identified with the art world," said John Matson, CEO of UKCI.

The .ART domain will launch at the end of 2016.
Interesting news last week from Pew Research Center: In 2014, for the first time in more than 130 years, adults ages 18 to 34 were slightly more likely to be living in their parents home than they were to be living with a spouse or partner in their own household.

One part of the picture: Young adults arent getting married as early or as often as they used to.

Are youngsters avoiding responsibility? Or do they lack opportunity? Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk consider the issue.

Joel Mathis

Pity poor millennials: They grew up expecting that young adulthood might look something like Sex and the City. Instead, theyre living out their own version of The Waltons.

Theres some good news and some bad news involved. First, the bad news: Generations are huddling under a single roof because thats what makes economic sense.

There are more unemployed young men today than there were in the 1960s. The ones with jobs have wages that, by and large, are stagnating or even declining. The economy has been going south for the middle class for decades  though the rich have kept getting richer  and so the survivors are doing the sensible thing: Theyre grouping up. Its what Pew calls the private safety net.

Heres the better news: This new grouping isnt necessarily a bad thing. Or even new.

The last time so many 18- and 34-year-olds lived with their parents was the tail end of the Great Depression, in 1940. That group of Americans went off to fight in World War II the next year, came back and attended college  thanks to the GI Bill  then entered the workforce when the American economy had no peer. The result? A burgeoning middle class and explosive homeownership numbers. We thought it was normal. We were wrong. Normal may look, in fact, closer to the social arrangements we had in the 1940s.

The conservative writer Alan Jacobs recently wrote about his own experience growing up with multiple generations of family: Through living as an extended family my parents got free child care, my grandparents got free rent, and I grew up surrounded by family members who loved me, he wrote. How did living this way become an image of a life gone wrong?

The private safety net shouldnt be our only safety net. But as the economy changes, it might even be a source of joy and strength.

Ben Boychuk

Millennials are the least self-reliant and most-coddled generation yet to come of age in the United States. Its really no wonder that a cohort raised by helicopter parents would effectively ground itself.

They just cant even, as the saying goes.

This is the dependent generation. About 74 percent of so-called emerging adults receive financial support from their parents, regardless of whether or not they live at home, according to a 2013 Clark University poll.

A sluggish economy alone cannot explain that statistic. Virtually all 25-year-olds could support themselves if they really had to, but then they wouldnt be able to live a very nice life in their 20s, Clark University research professor Jeffrey Jensen Arnett told NPR in a 2013 interview about the polls findings. They could live on it, but they dont really want to, and when it comes right down to it, their parents dont want them to have to either.

This is the trigger warning generation, a generation that is more brittle and far less resilient than their generation X and baby boomer forebears. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, more than 5 million college students in 2011 reported struggles with mental health. Depression and anxiety disorders have skyrocketed.

Depression is a real illness that millions of Americans struggle to overcome. Im one of them. It isnt easy, believe me. But rather than confront what ails them, many millennials demand protection from ideas, words and images that may cause them stress or anxiety. And not just on campus. Theyre carrying those demands into the workplace, too.

Maintaining a close relationship with ones parents can be a blessing. The Bible commands us honor our fathers and our mothers, and Confucius taught that children have a duty to respect, obey and care for their parents. Thats what made multigenerational households useful and important.

But that isnt what were seeing today, is it? Millennials arent living at home out of filial piety. Theyre living at home because the alternative is too awful to contemplate.
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CBRE today issues an infographic detailing the multi-storey warehouse sector across Asia Pacific. Multi-storey warehousesa warehouse that has more than one floorincreases the usable floor space per square foot of land. Higher utilisation rates are important in land-constrained cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo; consequently, they are more common in Asia than other regions where there is more land availability. In line with the ongoing interest in logistics assets, CBRE sees an emerging opportunity for investors in multi-storey warehouses.



Key highlights

Multi-storey warehouses have succeeded in Asia due to high land and construction costs, small site areas, limited industrial land availability, and the accessibility to serve city centre populations.

India and China are key growth markets for multi-storey warehouse development.

Industrial land prices per developable area are approximately six times greater in land-constrained areas than in land-plentiful ones. Hong Kong records the most expensive land price at US$240 per sq. ft., followed by Singapore and Tokyo at US$90 per sq. ft. and US$70 per sq. ft., respectively. China has the cheapest land price at US$15 per sq. ft. in tier-I cities.

Site areas for warehouse development are typically smaller in Asia due to densely populated cities. Findings reveal that warehouse height is inversely proportional to the site area, which means the higher the warehouse height, the smaller the site area. Hong Kong is an extreme example of a land-constrained cityhere, multi-storey warehouses average 12 floors. In comparison, land in Australia and China has been historically large and plentiful, therefore, warehouses only average between one and two storeys. Regionally, the average number of floors range from 2-17 storeys.

Strong e-commerce growth has contributed to the demand for multi-storey warehouses with the transport of goods inside a city becoming more important.

Dr Henry Chin, Head of Research, CBRE Asia Pacific

The rapid expansion of e-commerce in Asia Pacific, and worldwide, presents opportunities for industrial and logistics operators. The structural change in consumption, where consumers are increasingly buying goods online, is a game-changer for the industry, driving new demand for city logistics and fueling high demand for industrial sites to be closer to population centres. Typically, large scale logistics centres are located far from the city centre because of land availability, however, as competition heats up online, traditional and e-commerce retailers are vying for faster delivery of goods to consumers. Warehousing and distribution space located closer to the consumption area can provide better operational efficiency in this day and age where consumers are increasingly demanding better service.

Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & Managing Director, CBRE South Asia

Since average retail rents in the region are much higher than prime logistics space, retailers can benefit from using industrial land by replacing retail space with logistics space, resulting to significant cost savings. With this substantial price variance and the rise in online shopping habits, CBRE expects demand for city logistics centres to increase. These logistics sites should be developed into multi-storey warehouses to make the most efficient use of expensive land located close to densely populated areas.





Dennis Yeo, Managing Director, Advisory & Transactions Services - Industrial & Logistics, CBRE Asia

The development of multi-storey warehouses will continue in cities where land costs are expensive and land space is constraint, such as in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Tokyo. Elsewhere, fundamental demand drivers for multi-storey warehouses are increasing in emerging markets such as China and India. To make better use of existing land reserves, the demand for higher-storey logistics facilities in tier-I cities may increase in the near future.

Jasmine Singh, Head of Industrial & Logistics Services, CBRE South Asia

In India, e-commerce is booming with online sales expected to more than double from 2015 to 2020, aided by favourable policy changes such as the Goods and Services Tax (GST) reform, which is expected to bring in large scale take-up of distribution centres and drive efficiency in the domestic logistics market. With intense e-commerce competition, many retailers will be vying for growing sales; the development of multi-storey warehouses will be of value to serve the large Indian population centres with quicker delivery times.



Saon Bhattacharya| Manager

CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd | Corporate Communications - India

19th Floor | DLF Square, M Block, Jacaranda Marg, DLF City Phase II | Gurgaon 122 002, India

T 91 124 4659 700 | saon.bhattacharya@cbre.co.in
Whats going through Tyrones mind when Fiz and Tyrone read the first extract from The Gazette? After feeling like he has just got through e...
The Cumberland County coroner is a visible figure at fatal crash sites or crime scenes, but the majority of his caseload involves something much less sinister  cremations.

In order for anyone in Cumberland County to go through the process of cremating a loved one, Coroner Charley Hall must authorize it.

Funeral homes fax us the death certificate, and we review the death certificate and make sure everything looks OK, Hall said, noting that the process is in place so that no one is able to get away with murder by destroying the body.

What Hall has seen in the years since hes taken office is that hes had to write his signature a lot more often.

Its definitely gone up, Hall said of the number of cremations. Its the most economical way to go. Last year we signed off on about 1,200 cremations, and were already at about 600 cases this year.

According to his report to the county, Halls office handled a total of 1,965 cases in 2015, and 1,297 of which were cremations.

Its not a shocking trend to Hall.

You can cremate a person for about 2 grand with services, he said. Its about 6, 7 or 8,000 for a funeral.

Costs

Its an accepted notion that cremations are less expensive than traditional burials, but its also not necessarily true in some cases.

A family paying for a cremation wont have to pay the lot fee of the gravesite at a cemetery, unless they are interring the ashes. However, opting for a cremation doesnt mean a family forgoes other options, such as a memorial and funeral serviceall of which comes with extra costs.

A basic cremation without a ceremony may cost about $2,000 depending on what business handles the cremationand funeral homes must be involved to communicate with the coroner, as well as get the family the death certificate for the loved one.

However, there are extra costs for services and merchandise, such as the type of urn that will hold the ashes. Businesses usually charge extra for a private viewing and/or witnessing the cremation itself. Extra services and charges can also include delivery and packaging of remains, and some businesses that specialize in cremations even offer scattering the remains themselves in scenic areas.

In all, cremations can end up in a range very close to a traditional burial.

Cremation ranges anywhere from $2,990, just slightly shy of $3,000, to more than 8, 9 or 10,000 dollars. A traditional service is in the 10 to 12,000 range, explained Adam Shaffer, manager of Hoffman Funeral Home & Crematory in Carlisle.

Cremation prices a decade ago also arent likely to be the same now.

Traditionally, cremation is cheaper, but as cremations go up, within the last five years weve seen (that) prices of cremations has also gone up, said Steve Ewing, co-owner of Ewing Brothers Funeral Home in Carlisle.

Factors

Though cost is one of the major reasons why more people are opting for cremations, it isnt the only reason.

Shaffer said other people opt for cremations because they dont want to take up so much space in the ground or families like the idea of a portable urn, which can be taken anywhere. Another reason is an emotional one.

Some people do it so they dont put the family through a lot of torment, he said.

Whatever the reason, Shaffer said he, like other funeral homes, have seen an increase in cremations.

Its definitely increased. We find that its a national trend. Weve seen maybe a 15 percent increase, Shaffer said, comparing it to when he first started at Hoffman about nine years ago.

Chris Hoffman, owner and president of Hoffman Funeral Home & Crematory, said cremations make up about 45 percent of the funeral homes business.

Hoffman Funeral Home has always offered cremation services, but it wasnt until about 10 years ago that it offered on-site cremations at its former facility in Carlisle Borough. A new crematory was placed at its newer site on West Trindle Road in South Middleton Township, and the machine is monitored by the developer in Florida to ensure everything is working properly.

Service

Many funeral homes have matched what they offer with the rise in interest for cremations. Ewing recalls what his relatives told him about cremations when they ran the family business.

Years and years ago, my father and uncle told me the closest crematory was in Reading back in the 50s, he said. Theyd have to transport the body to Reading, and that same crematory is still open. That was closest in this region.

Since then, a number of funeral homes have offered or tried to offer on-site crematories.

Ewing said they dont plan on building a crematory given their location in Carlisle Borough, but he said they knew early on that offering the option is important. Ewing Brothers works with Evans Cremation Services and Evans Burial Vaults out of Schafferstown and Leola for its cremation and vault services.

Our feeling is that cremation is as important as traditional funeral to serve the family, Ewing said. We figured out about 20 to 21 years ago the methodology that (some) people were never going to afford (a traditional service).

Funeral homes may be finding ways to stay in operation with the rise of cremations, but Ewing said there is still a concern with hiring good funeral directors.

Its very tough to make all of this into a workable business model because theres a shortage of funeral directors now. With a shortage of funeral directors, how do you attract someone, Ewing said, noting that a funeral director may not want to work at a funeral home that is doing 70 percent cremations and 30 percent burials. We want to keep traditional burials alive, but still be able to handle cremation clientele.

Hoffman said that issue doesnt bother him, and noted that cremations are a part of providing every service they can to families.

Serving a family is serving a family, he said. If thats only in thinking for traditional funerals, then youre not serving your community.
It was an afternoon of joy and remembrance in Boiling Springs on Sunday at the annual Memorial Day parade and commemoration honoring all the nations fallen servicemen and women, hosted by VFW Post 8851 near Childrens Lake.

This years observance was different, though, as a VFW speaker noted. This year, the flag was raised in honor of one of our own Bubblers, Sgt. Adam C. Schoeller.

Schoeller, 25, a 2008 Boiling Springs High School graduate, was one of 12 Marines lost after a training mission helicopter crash off the coast of Hawaii on Jan. 14. Hundreds attended his memorial service on Feb. 20 in South Middleton Township.

On Sunday, Ret. Col. Ed Glabus, a 30-year veteran of the Army Infantry who served two tours in Vietnam, said that Memorial Day always brings memories of fallen comrades, particularly those he knew who lost their lives serving in Vietnam. Glabus, of Boiling Springs, was there for the parade and ceremony with his wife, Carol Glabus; daughter, Elizabeth Glabus, and grandson, Aaron Pellegrini.

Aaron, 8, said he was attending the days events because his grandfather is a veteran, but he was also looking forward to maybe seeing motorcycles and flags in the parade.

Jeff and Judy Bennett were enjoying their first Memorial Day celebration in Boiling Springs after recently moving from upstate New York. They were joined by daughter, Maeghan Booska, and grandson, Kellen Booska, 3, both of Vermont.

I think today will be a fantastic experience, Jeff Bennett said before the parade.

Angelina Lima of Boiling Springs, and son, Thor, 3-1/2, looked forward to hearing the Boiling Springs High School Bubbler Band perform in the parade, she said.

The Bubbler Band was greeted with hearty applause in the parade, the same as the Yellow Breeches Middle School Band. The parade also included Citizens Fire Company No. 1, Monroe Fire Company, Girl Scout Troop 11323, Cub Scout Pack 171, and of course, local VFW members, among others.

U.S. Army Col. Niven Baird of the Cumberland County Color Guard said this was the 15th year that hes attended the Boiling Springs event. He and 10 other members of the Color Guards First Squad gave a three-shot volley during the commemorative ceremony that followed the parade.

We enjoy participating in all these things for all the honored dead. Veterans Day is for all those who served. Memorial Day is for all those who died, Baird explained.
South Middleton Township Supervisors were busy on Thursday night with revised plans for the SummerBridge at RockLedge apartment complex; a new township map; and a proposed addition to the F&M Trust Bank.

For the SummerBridge complex, engineer John Snyder of RGS Associates presented revisions to the apartments Phase 2 final land development plan that was approved by township supervisors at an earlier date. The proposed revisions would change the number of approved apartment units from 64 to 60 and include a community center, but it still would involve the same number of buildings.

Officials bill the SummerBridge complex as the only community living area of its size in the Northeast that runs on solar energy. Supervisors approved a final land development plan for the complex in November 2014, with a portion of the projects first phase opening in September 2015. As initially approved, the completed project would comprise a total of 298 apartments located on East Gate Drive.

Snyder said that so far, the apartments have been a tremendous success, with most tenants receiving electric power at no cost. Tenants who have been billed by outside power companies usually are consuming large amounts of electricity through the continuous use of large appliances like chest freezers, Snyder said. Even then, those tenants are billed only a nominal amount such as $5.

Theyre still selling the apartments faster than they can build them, Snyder said of the complexs developer, Brian McNew, owner of EarthNet Energy of Chambersburg.

Township supervisors told Snyder that any proposed changes to a final development plan thats already been approved requires a formal amendment. Before supervisors can approve and finalize any amendments, a public hearing must be conducted. Officials have scheduled a hearing during the supervisors regular meeting at 6 p.m. on June 30 at the municipal building, 520 Park Drive.

Supervisor Vice Chairman Tom Faley reminded Snyder that McNew agreed to have a new traffic light in place within 2.5 years after the final land development plans were approved in November 2014. The light would be located at the intersection of Holly Pike and Marsh Drive. Marsh Drive is considered an access road to the apartment complex.

The township will still receive the traffic light regardless of the developments success due to $564,850 held in escrow, which is money being held in a trust account in case the developer defaults on the agreement with the township. Snyder said that the money cant be cut loose until all aspects of the apartment plan have been approved.

Snyder assured supervisors that the traffic signal is definitely still a go, however, and that the matter will be further discussed at the June 30 public hearing.

In other news, township supervisors approved a new official township map that includes an annexed list of 61 historical properties located within the municipality. Faley said that the map and its ensuing ordinance should protect the listed properties from being mistakenly razed by developers.

Finally, township supervisors approved a conditional use by F&M Trust Bank to install an new ATM at its branch located at 3 E. First St. in Boiling Springs. The new ATM will be installed within a drive thru lane, providing customers with an option to an existing walk-up ATM at the site. Company representatives said the location of the walk-up ATM has been a safety concern for customers with handicaps.
The search for current Dickinson College President Nancy Rosemans replacement is underway, yet according to Craig Layne, the schools assistant director of media relations, it is still very early in the process.

A presidential search committee has been formed with members representing the board of trustees, alumni council, faculty, staff and students, Layne said. The committees first task will be to select an executive search firm to partner with it in the search process.

Layne anticipates the search firms hiring to occur sometime during the upcoming fall semester. After the search firm is hired, the firm will meet with members of the college community to gauge their thoughts on the desired qualities and qualifications of what would be the colleges 29th president.

Roseman announced her resignation in a news release April 11. She will remain Dickinsons president until June 30.

The colleges board of trustees accepted Rosemans resignation with gratitude for her significant accomplishments and noted that they intend to select Neil B. Weissman, provost and dean of the college, as interim president, effective July 1.
The following people were sentenced on May 24, 2016 in Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas. All sentences include costs and run concurrently with other sentences unless otherwise specified. Probation is unsupervised unless indicated otherwise. Driving under the influence (DUI) offenses generate different mandatory-minimum sentences based on an offenders prior convictions in the past 10 years.

Sentenced to State Correctional Institute

Carlisle

Jorge Antonio Santos-Ladindez: One to 5 years and a $500 fine for unlawful delivery, manufacture, possession with intent to deliver a Schedule II, controlled substance  Oxymorphone; 2-1/2 to 5 years for possession of firearm with altered manufacturers number; 1 to 5 years for altering or obliterating marks of identification; costs for sale/transfer of firearms. (Ebert)

Harrisburg

David Michael Keller-Hresko: Ninety days to 5 years and a $1,500 fine for DUI, controlled substance, second offense. (Peck)

Shippensburg

Michael Anthony Bennett: Sixteen to 32 months, a $200 fine and restitution of $13,450 for receiving stolen property. (Peck)

Sentenced to Cumberland County Prison

Biglerville

William Sidney Spicer Jr.: Thirty days to 6 months and a $750 fine for DUI, second offense; 24 months probation for recklessly endangering another person. (Placey)

Camp Hill

Adam Lee Morgan: Ten to 23 months and a $100 fine for unlawful delivery, manufacture, possession with intent to deliver a Schedule I controlled substance  heroin. (Ebert)

Carlisle

Colton Matthew Davis: One day to 23 months and restitution of $1,005 for theft by deception. (Guido)

Chambersburg

Jeremiah Daniel Baker: Seven days to 3 months and a $100 fine for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. (Placey)

Zarjuan Amir Robinson: Eighty-one days to 12 months for defiant trespass; 24 months probation for simple assault. (Placey)

Dover

Melissa Brittany Keller: Twenty days to 2 years, less 1 day and restitution of $68.90 for retail theft. (Guido)

Elliottsburg

Charles Kenneth Steele: Nine to 23 months and restitution of $4,580 for burglary  not adapted for overnight accommodation-no person present; 23 months probation for criminal conspiracy to burglary and criminal trespass; costs for theft by unlawful taking or disposition. (Ebert)

Enola

Darian Terrance Cobb: Ninety days and a $1,000 fine for driving while under suspension, DUI-related; 90 days to 5 years and a $1,000 fine for DUI, high rate. (Brewbaker)

Harrisburg

Torina Jennette Brown: Two to 11-1/2 months for criminal conspiracy to theft by deception. (Guido); Two to 12 months and restitution of $365.68 for criminal conspiracy to theft by deception, credit of 43 days. (Guido)

Melissa Anne Dunn: Forty-eight hours to 6 months and a $500 fine for DUI, high rate. (Peck)

Robert Mark Myers II: Thirty days to 6 months and a $750 fine for DUI, high rate, second offense. (Guido)

Hummelstown

Alex Thomas McQuillen: Seventy-two hours to 6 months and a $1,000 fine for DUI, highest rate. (Brewbaker)

Manchester

Amanda Lynn Sollenberger: Three to 12 months, restitutions of $800 and $149.94, 48 hours of community service and 12 months supervised probation for theft by unlawful taking or disposition. (Hess)

Mechanicsburg

Richard Albright March III: Ninety days to 5 years and a $1,500 fine for DUI, high rate; 90 days and a $1,000 fine for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Guido)

Newville

Michael Schock: Three to 23 months and costs for writing bad checks. (Guido)

Shermans Dale

Tiffany Nichole Garland: Two days to 6 months and a $300 fine for DUI. (Hess)

Shippensburg

Edward Stuart Shoemaker: Time served to 12 months and a $100 fine for simple assault; 12 months probation and a $100 fine for simple assault. (Ebert)

Other

Gregory Ray Dunaway: Forty-eight hours to 6 months and a $500 fine for DUI, high rate. (Peck)

Sudheep Menon: Fifty-five days to 23 months, a $500 fine and restitution of $338 for simple assault. (Brewbaker)

Raudel Hernandez Rios: One day to 12 months and a $100 fine for access device fraud; six months probation, consecutive to count above, and a $100 fine for identity theft. (Peck)

Lamar Aaron Roberts: Thirteen days to 12 months and a $100 fine for prohibited offensive weapons; 72 hours to 6 months and a $1,000 fine for DUI, controlled substance; $25 fine for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia; $25 fine for use of multiple beam road lighting equipment. (Brewbaker)

Ryan Devon Robinson: Five days to 3 years and a $2,000 fine for possession of unstamped cigarettes. (Ebert)

Mariah McHale Vivian: One-hundred eighteen days to 18 months (paroled immediately) and restitutions of $9,263, $32, $700, $116, and $247.40 for receiving stolen property. (Brewbaker)

Tyreese Lamont Dandridge Jr.: Forty-eight hours to 5 years and a $500 fine for DUI, high rate. (Guido)

Michael Joseph Gaudino II: Time served to 23 months and restitution of $2,480.50 for theft by unlawful taking or disposition, credit of 13 days. (Masland)

Sentenced to Probation

Carlisle

David Allen Cibulka: Thirty months supervised probation, restitutions of $100, $24.85, $10.88 and $705.14 for theft by deception. (Brewbaker);Six months supervised probation and a $25 fine for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. (Brewbaker)

Amber Linn Hammerk: Twenty-four months probation for endangering welfare of children, parent or guardian. (Guido)

Douglas Tyler Moul: Six months probation and a $300 fine for DUI. (Ebert)

Chambersburg

Joseph Christopher Snyder: Eighteen months probation, a $300 fine and restitution of $36.16 for retail theft. (Guido)

Enola

James D. Brennan: Six months probation and a $300 fine for recklessly endangering another person. (Brewbaker)

Harrisburg

Tristan Vincent Rogers: Twenty-three months probation and a $1,000 fine for criminal use of communication facility. (Ebert)

Mechanicsburg

Dalton Avery Durham: Thirty-six months supervised probation and restitutions of $372 and $71 for criminal conspiracy to theft from a motor vehicle. (Placey)

Mount Holly Springs

Dustin Ryan Stout: Five years probation, for unlawful delivery, manufacture and possession with intent to deliver a Schedule I controlled substance  heroin. (Guido)

Newburg

Kyle Spencer Simpson: Twenty-three months probation, a $50 fine and restitutions of $1,358 and $67.15 for theft by unlawful taking or disposition. (Ebert)

New Cumberland

Augustos T. Desanto: Twenty-three months probation, a $200 fine and restitution of $775 for criminal trespass; 23 months probation for theft by unlawful taking or disposition, consecutive. (Ebert)

Newport

Christopher Lee Bush: Twenty-three months probation for 2 counts of retail theft. (Ebert)

Shippensburg

Donald Lee Wise Jr.: Thirty-six months probation and restitution of $3,210 for theft by unlawful taking or disposition. (Guido)

Walnut Bottom

Felicia Marie Barrick: Twenty-three months probation and restitution of $1,555.99 for criminal conspiracy to retail theft. (Brewbaker)

Sentenced to Electronic Monitoring

Other

James Arthur Ball III: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker)

Daniel A. Bream: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker)

Sheldon Brooks: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Edward James Cowan: Sentenced to electronic monitoring while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Danika L. Dean: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker)

Todd Eugene Deblasio: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Jesse Koos Eledge: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Ronald W. Geopfert: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Roxanne Marie Gibbons: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Cody Michael Glunt: Sentenced to electronic monitoring while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Robert Mithcell Greynolds: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Denese A. Grim: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related; registration and certificate of title required. (Brewbaker)

Larry L. McCraw: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker); Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker)

Bradley Phillip McCullough: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Kristopher A. Milburn: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related; registration and certificate of title required. (Brewbaker)

Jason Charles Mobley: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker)

Frank B. Robinson II: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker)

Scott W. Hilton: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Jeremiah A. Selvey: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker)

William M. Witter: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker); Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker)

Ky Francis Carbaugh: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker)

Sentenced to Fine

Orrstown

Dawn Michelle Romany: Sentenced to $100 fine and restitution of $191.03 for retail theft. (Placey)

Sentenced to Intermediate Punishment

Harrisburg

Jordan William Perry: Sentenced to intermediate punishment for driving while under suspension. (Ebert)

Mount Holly Springs

Dustin Ryan Stout: Sentenced to intermediate punishment for 5 years, consecutive to probation, for unlawful delivery, manufacture and possession with intent to deliver a Schedule I controlled substance  heroin. (Guido); Sentenced to intermediate punishment for unlawful possession of a Schedule I controlled substance  heroin. (Guido); Sentenced to intermediate punishment for unlawful delivery, manufacture and possession with intent to deliver a Schedule I controlled substance  heroin. (Guido)
Scotch-Irish settler Joseph Junkin and his wife, Elizabeth, married in Oxford after arriving in America in the early 1700s. Shortly after, the pair relocated to the Cumberland Valley and acquired land that would later become New Kingstown.

Joseph Junkin could have acquired 10 times that quantity of land had he wanted to, but instead he invested his money in improvements and in the construction of a two-story stone building, known today as the Junkin House.

The pair had five children, including Joseph Junkin Jr., who was born in the house. It was around this time that General Braddocks defeat spawned stealthy incursions from Native Americans in the area. As a result, the Junkin family evacuated the house and fled to Chester County several times to avoid violence.

Joseph Junkin Sr. died in the Revolutionary War in 1777, leaving the property to his wife. Later, the first place of public Presbyterian worship was established on the estate.

It was known for years as The Widow Junkins Tent and consisted of seats placed in the shade of the forest, with a tent-like shelter braced against the trunk of a tree for the preacher.

The property was eventually divided between Joseph Junkin Jr. and his brother Benjamin Junkin. Junkin Jr. built a subsequent stone house on his portion of the property that would later be purchased by a Mr. Kanaga (today, this building remains standing and is known as the Kanaga House).

The Junkin House was slated to be demolished in 2008, but after a series of preservation efforts, it became property of the Cumberland Valley Preservation Society of Silver Spring Township in 2010.

The house is said to retain little of its original integrity, according to a Pennsylvania historic resource survey form, with remodeling apparently having taken place from the attic to the basement.

Today the house can be found at 339 N. Locust Point Road in New Kingstown.
What can go wrong with event planning is trivial compared to the ultimate sacrifice made by those remembered on Memorial Day.

Nothing gets in the way of honoring our fellow comrades, said Bill Hartman, an Air Force veteran living in Boiling Springs. Thats what its all about. Its the least we can do.

Hartman has seen his share of troubleshooting in his 14 years of coordinating the local parade and memorial service as a leader with VFW Post 8851.

One year the command car would not start. Another year the power went out to the PA system set up along Childrens Lake. Then there was the time the guest speaker forgot his speech and a volunteer had to retrieve it.

You got to have a Plan B for everything, Hartman said. We have a backup plan for weather. For 2016 planners had to work around the renovation and expansion project underway at the Iron Forge Educational Center.

Post 8851 has been involved in organizing Memorial Day events in the village for almost 70 years. Life member and past commander Lynn Nub Negley was the man in charge for two decades until ill health prompted him to find a successor in Hartman.

He took me under wing and told me Remember and remember well, Hartman recalled the short learning curve. Negley passed away on Feb. 15, 2009.

While the VFW code of conduct has a standard ritual for a Memorial Day service, there is no set format in the organizations manual for holiday parades, Hartman said. It is left to local posts to decide on the parade based on what the community wants to see.

As coordinator, Hartman draws upon fond memories he had growing up in Boiling Springs. He graduated from the local high school and served in the Air Force from 1981 to 2004.

Since taking over, Hartman has built a continuity folder that outlines a checklist of tasks to complete that start with the January post meeting and continue on through Memorial Day. This includes lining up bands from the middle school and high school along with units from local fire and EMS companies.

Speakers are unique, said Hartman adding how he always tries to select someone who grew up in Boiling Springs and either served or is currently serving in the military. What we want are fellow Bubblers

In Carlisle, Jim Washington Jr. has been involved in putting together Memorial Day events for over 15 years. He is the secretary/treasurer of an organizing council that draws representatives from each post in town along with the Cumberland County department of veterans affairs.

Its a solemn duty, said Washington, a Marine Corps veteran. You do it out of devotion. Its something that needs to be done.

Memorial Day in Carlisle usually involves a parade down Hanover Street followed by a service in the Veterans Memorial Courtyard in the Square. In the event of inclement weather, the parade is cancelled and the service moves to the second floor courtroom of the Old Courthouse.

The parade is organized into four divisions with VIPs and active duty military personnel taking the lead followed by marchers from local veterans groups and non-veteran patriotic groups. The fourth division, emergency service apparatus, is distributed evenly throughout the parade.

The service on the Square usually involves a speech by a past or present military person followed by the reading of the list of deceased veterans from the past year and a medley of service theme songs. Planning for all of this starts months in advance with emails sent out to past participants, Washington said.

He added an important step in the lead-up to Memorial Day is to put in a request before Carlisle Borough council to close streets along the parade route. Borough staffers help by processing and forwarding the necessary paperwork to the state Department of Transportation, Washington said.

Many other groups contribute towards the event. The PA system used in the service is borrowed from the borough parks and recreation department. Cumberland County maintenance personnel get the folding chairs out of storage while Carlisle Rotary Sunshine Club members set up the chairs. County security staffers provide access to the Old Courthouse and transport flags from the new courthouse across the street to either the courtyard or courtroom.

Often the Army War College provides speakers for the events. This year the commandant, Maj. Gen. William Rapp, is the guest speaker. Other speakers from the war college have been students fulfilling the public speaking portion of the curriculum for the strategic studies masters degree program.

One job of parade organizer is to weed out those seeking to promote a business instead of saluting fallen warriors, Washington said. Once you have been here long enough, you know the right questions to ask.

His favorite part of the annual Memorial Day parade is when the Carlisle High School plays This is My Country during its march down Hanover Street. It brings a chill to me, Washington said. You come to attention.

Retired Army Col. Tom Faley has given about a dozen speeches over the years at Memorial Day events held throughout central Pennsylvania from Somerset County east to Lebanon County. His most memorable experience was being the guest speaker at the annual ceremony at the national cemetery at Fort Indiantown Gap outside Annville.

Typically he receives the invitation in late March and spends much of April and early May researching, writing and polishing the speech. I try to tailor it to where I am, Faley said. I try to hone in on some local element for the peoples interest.

This Memorial Day Faley will be the speaker at an event in Monroe Township that starts at 10 a.m. in the Mt. Zion cemetery at the intersection of Routes 74 and 174. His speech will focus on Col. Henry Zinn, a school teacher from Churchtown who enlisted in the Union Army and was mortally wounded during the Battle of Fredericksburg.

A Vietnam War veteran, Faley also mentions in each speech one or more of the 18 men he knew as friends who died in Southeast Asia. I do it to honor them, he said. I never want to forget them. I will carry their memory to the day I die.
Movements are difficult to manage, because theyre messy.

Take, for example, feminism. At the beginning, it all seemed fairly benign. Give us the vote, admit us to school, stop treating us as marital property or slightly demented Miss Havishams. Common decency, which some call equality, is what we demand. Thats fine.

But then it became all about my body this and your oppression that, and frying up bacon while spritzing on Enjoli and making you feel like a man (assuming you identified as one). Feminism became fetishism, where women needed to say all the right things and accept all the right principles and bow to the Uterine Goddess.

The civil rights movement followed a similar trajectory. Real racism against black Americans was the justifiable source of anger and resolve, resulting in the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, Affirmative Action and the creation of other laws and institutions to pay back, slowly, the debt owed to the children of slaves by the children of white privilege.

So considering all that, why does the acquittal of a white cop, by a black judge, in a black mans death prompt another black man to tweet, The not guilty verdict is also a reminder that the criminal justice system is not designed to yield justice for dead black bodies.

The author of those 132 characters was Marc Lamont Hill, a outspoken professor at Morehouse College. Its not surprising hed have something to say about the acquittal of Officer Edward Nero in the death of Freddie Gray. In fact, it would be more surprising if he didnt.

Its predictable that hed criticize the system for what he and the Black Lives Matter folk believe is institutional racism. Anytime you have a discussion about race on social media these days, youre a fool if you expect subtlety and nuance. Its boring to examine the actual legal principles at play and inconvenient to mention that this was a bench trial with a black judge.

Of course, there are five more chances for a conviction, and three of them involve black officers. Perhaps the criminal justice system will provide justice on one of their backs. Hopefully, that will make the black lives that matter, and chatter, happy.

Maybe not, though. Only days before Nero was acquitted, a black body that did not get justice was given the Medal of Valor. Of course, it was an honor delivered posthumously to Philadelphia Police Sgt. Robert Wilson III, who showed extraordinary courage in a shootout with two criminals and gave his life for his city.

I know youll say Wilson, for all of his valor, willingly assumed the risk of death. Thats true. Youll also say Gray was manhandled and mistreated during his arrest. That, too, might be true. But when color is the same on both sides, victim and hero, we should at least take a step back and realize that of the two deaths here, only one was caused by two armed criminals robbing a store, while the other was at most caused by officers who showed a callous disregard for a prisoners welfare. In neither case should the color of the victims, or the victimizers, matter.

But we cant use common sense. That doesnt drive cable-show ratings, sell papers or allow shills for the culture wars to pontificate about this evil and unjust society.

Much like the fabrication by feminists of a campus rape culture, we are supposed to believe police officers are out to get young, black men, when the biggest threat to young black men is other young black men.

Sometimes, guilt or innocence is transparent, not black or white. No matter how many lamentations we hear from the Black Lives Matter movement, no matter how cognizant we white people are of our generational privilege, there is no justice to be had for black or white if innocent people are convicted as some psychic, symbolic payback.

Christine Flowers is an attorney and a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News, and can be reached at cflowers1961@gmail.com.
George left lasting impact on YWCA

Dear Editor:

The Carlisle community experienced a great loss earlier this month with the passing of Nancy Jean George. Nancy was an integral part of establishing the current YWCA Carlisle, serving on the Board of Trustees for over 35 years. In 1987, the George family donated the land for the building at 301 G Street. Nancy worked on the fundraising campaign for the initial building project which was completed in 1990.

Nancy always led by example when involved in building campaigns in the following years. Every major facility enhancement at YWCA Carlisle has had Nancy Georges name attached to it. She chaired the campaign to add an elevator in 1996, co-chaired a building redesign campaign in 2002, and chaired a 2004 campaign for the playground equipment.

Always mindful of YWCAs needs, Nancy offered to help with the largest renovation to date in 2012 when she chaired a building expansion campaign.

In 2001 The Ruth K and Nancy J George Award was established by the George family to recognize women who have had a significant contribution to the YWCA Carlisle. This family award will continue as a legacy of Ruth and Nancys enduring commitment to the organization.

Nancys prudent involvement over the years with staff and board is undoubtedly part of the reason YWCA Carlisle remains a strong, vibrant organization in the Carlisle community today. We are indebted to her for the passion, leadership, funding support and unwavering dedication throughout the decades.

YWCA Carlisle Board of Directors, Board of Trustees, Staff
29 May: International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers

Published: May 30, 2016

The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers was observed on 29 May 2016 to honour the work of UN peacekeepers.

Significance of Day

Honour the memory of the UN peacekeepers who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.

Pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage.

2016 theme: Honouring Our Heroes.

On this day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presided over a wreath-laying ceremony in honour of the nearly 3,500 peacekeepers who have lost their lives while serving under the UN flag. The UN Postal Administration (UNPA) also issued a set of six new stamps for the occasion.

Background

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) had designated May 29 as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers by passing Resolution 57/129 in December 2002.

The May 29 marks the anniversary of creation of United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in 1948.

It was established to monitor the ceasefire after the Arab-Israeli War 1948, which was the first ever peacekeeping mission under the UN flag.

The day was designated on official request of the Ukrainian Peacekeepers Association and Government of Ukraine to the UNGA. It was first celebrated in 2003.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016

Topics: Days and Events  nternational Day of United Nations Peacekeepers  United Nations

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Indias own submarine assembly workshop inaugurated at Mazgaon

Published: May 30, 2016

Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar a state-of-the-art submarine assembly workshop at the Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

The inauguration is considered as a major step towards self-sufficiency in the area of submarine construction for the Indian Navy.

Key facts

The newly built Submarine Marine Assembly Workshop is a pre-engineered building structure built at a cost of Rs 153 crore.

It is capable to handle construction of multiple submarines simultaneously and will make it possible to assemble five submarines in the workshop at the same time.

The workshop has features such as sewage treatment plan, grey water treatment plant, rain water harvesting, oily water separator plant for treatment of sewage, oily water and grey water respectively, with zero discharge into the municipal drains.

This facility will enable MDL to go in for a second line of submarines concurrently which is assembling Scorpene class submarines at its East Yard in collaboration with DCNS of France.

Comment

This facility will ensure lesser delays in building indigenous submarines for Indian Navy in the long run as well as for the envisaged second line of Scorpene submarines under strategic Project P 75I.

It will also give boost to Indias acquired capacity to build submarines in the early 1980s which had built two submarines, INS Shalki and INS Shankul under a technology transfer agreement with German HDW.

But for nearly two decades, no other submarines were built after India decided to buy Kilo class submarines from Russia.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2016

Topics: Defence  Maharashtra  Make in India  Project P 75I.

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Several area fire departments were called to St. Francois State Park Saturday at 7:46 p.m. for a water rescue.

The caller was in a kayak and stuck in a tree and another kayaker was being pulled downstream.

Big River Fire Department was the first department on the scene and Chief Dave Pratte immediately called for assistance while he was on his way toward the park.

"As I was in route I went ahead and summoned De Soto Rural's boat," said Pratte. "During that response time, Chief Matt Barton made contact with me and said he could go down to Cherokee Landing and I told him to get down there."

Pratte said he went into the park and he got to just about where he was at and went into the woods about 50 or 60 yards north off the river out off the roadway.

"I located the guy hanging on a tree," said Pratte. "So when my rescuers came in, I assigned them to get him out and I took off to go north on the river to find her."

Pratte said De Soto Rural had just got there and was getting ready to put theiir boat in and that's when Barton called and said he spotted the woman.

"He said she was out of the boat and in the water," said Pratte. "In the meantime, our crew was getting him out of the water and it was about a 20 foot bluff where he was hanging. They ended up getting him out."

"It was a nightmare because the water fast moving," said Pratte. "I knew how swift the water was and knew she would be moving down the river pretty rapidly.

Pratte said the man was sitting really still and he was scared. He had been able to call 911 for help himself.

The male got hung up in a limb up at the park so Big River and De Soto Rural were concentrating on getting him free, said Barton. In the meantime, while they were trying to get him to safety, he told them that he got stuck on that tree limb and lost sight of his girlfriend. She had kept going on down the river."

Barton said he and two men had gone to Cherokee Landing.

"We went down a little service road that runs underneath 67 parallel to the river," Barton said.

Barton said they had a few items with them to do the water rescue, some life vests and some rope. They went down there and wound up spotting her coming down the river yelling for someone to help her.

We tied onto some trees and tied ourselves off, said Barton. We were able to drag her and her boat in and got her up into the truck.

Barton said they did have to wade out into the water and were only about waist deep. They tied the rope to a tree and the other end around one of the firefighter's waist.

Luckily he didnt have to get out in the current, it was in a spot that was safe to do that, said Barton. Normally you try to do your best not to get in the water, but sometimes you just cant help it. We went down a steep embankment and I think up at the park they had just as bad as we did. They went down on ropes and got him to safety that way. It was the same thing for us, except our person was moving versus theirs stuck on a tree so it made it a little bit more complicated. It all just worked out right I guess.

Barton said he doesnt care how experienced you are, water is unpredictable. The man couldnt swim and the female could.

Thank God she could and thank God the water was warm enough that she didnt develop cramps or anything hypothermic-related, said Barton. Granted it is warm and it is summer time, but when you are in the water for a prolonged amount of time, which fortunately she wasnt, the consequences can be pretty serious. They both were very lucky and everything seemed to work out.

Barton said when he first saw the woman he thought she was in the boat but she was a pretty good way up river. When she got a little bit closer he saw the kayak had sunk and there was only about a foot or two sticking out of the water and she was actually in the water.

Considering all the limbs and rocks under the water, she was in surprisingly good shape, said Barton. She was checked out by EMS and refused. She is lucky, really lucky.

Barton reported the woman was not wearing a life jacket and that she tried everything. He added when it all first happened she did really well with keeping her composure.

She tried to do a couple of things to recover herself, said Barton. She took the plug out of the boat to see if the water would somehow drain so she could try to get up in it. She said she was able to get her foot on one time, but the current was just too much. Like I said, water is just unpredictable. Its strong and it can carry vehicles off roadways, there is just a lot of power there.

Barton said the woman told him that she and her boyfriend had been excited to use their kayaks.

It was a bad decision on their part and she is very thankful, said Barton. I dont think they will ever put kayaks in with the water up again.

Barton stressed that the water has gone down quite a bit, but its still out of its normal capacity for Big River and its swift.

I think that is another misunderstanding people have with the river, just because Bonne Terre or St. Francois County doesnt get a lot of rain, doesnt mean the river wont be up more than you think, said Barton. You have to figure anything north of here or whatever flow into the river affects how much water we get. Water is dangerous, really dangerous.

Barton said something really simple can turn in to something tragic and its not worth it. If that water is up and its questionable, stay out of it.

Pratte said neither of them had experience with kayaking.

"The radio traffic was really busy trying to get trucks in locations rapidly," said Pratte. "It was a really, really rapid scene. We had to make quick decisions and make the best out of them. Thankfully Matt and I made contact and he said he would get down river. It was good teamwork between all three departments."
Country

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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
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coke said: It is probably more akin to a Constitutional party? Click to expand...

There is already a Constitution PartyIt's a far right party with a belief that this is a "Christian Nation" and that we need to get back to our "Biblical foundations"
The application process is now open, and the administration says the forms should take five minutes to complete. Get more info on that and more recent business news here.
LEBANON  Xander Simpson, 9, knew exactly why he and his fellow third-graders were at a cemetery instead of in class on Friday, marking specific graves with crosses and flags.

"We're just doing some stuff for the veterans  people who served in the military," the Pioneer School student explained. "We're respecting them. They served for our country even though they do not know us."

Classmate Tallyn Lefevres knew why, too.

"We're here to honor them for Memorial Day," she said. "It's important to do this because you're honoring people who have saved you so you can have freedom, so you don't have to do what everyone says all the time, and you can be free."

Nearly 60 third-graders visited Lebanon's International Order of Odd Fellows Cemetery on Friday. Working with more than two dozen Lebanon High School Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps members and representatives from American Legion Post 51, they used cemetery lists to single out the resting place of each veteran for a U.S. flag and a small white cross.

"We're looking for a Mann, Williams," Morgan Jiricek, a senior at LHS and a four-year member of the Junior ROTC, told her group. "Williams L. Mann."

"Found it!" one boy called.

"OK, you're going to put a cross on the right-hand side. Only one, though," Jiricek reminded. "Good job. Next, we're looking for a Harry Dean Martin."

Jiricek said the JROTC members have helped place flags for Memorial Day for several years. She's been involved all four of her years at Lebanon high.

"It gives us a chance to recognize those who sacrificed themselves for our country," she said. "That's what a lot of us want to do  we want to join the military and serve our country. So recognizing those who came before is a good way of honoring their memory."

Alec Yanik, a sophomore, was out for his first flag-planting. He said it's especially good to work with the elementary students so they get a deeper sense of the reason behind the day off school.

"I think it's a learning experience for them," he said. "When I was little, I didn't know the severity of what (veterans) did and why that's important."

American Legion Post 51 supplied more than 1,600 flags and crosses for this year's remembrance. Honor guard members wheeled the supplies to and from various groups as they worked among the rows.

Pioneer School third-grade teachers Stephanie Waters, Cathy Osborne and Leanne Jackson were among those supervising. They said their students' gravesite work has been going on annually for about a decade now.

All said they hope their students will take away a sense of service for others, even for people  as Xander said  they may never know.

The experience also drives home history lessons and broadens the horizons of youngsters who may never have thought much about the world beyond their hometown.

"It's having an understanding of a larger world than your own community," Jackson said.
Behind the beats: DJs go on record ahead of Da Nang carnival

The Danang Electronic Carnival 2016 will have crowds in the central city going wild on the beach on June 11, but before the musicians turn the central city upside down, VnExpress catches up with some of the stars of the show.

Emerging star Florian Picasso, whose homeland bond with Vietnam gave birth to his releases Hanoi and Saigon, shared his thoughts on music and his famous family name.

Have you ever toured in Asia? If yes, which country is your favorite?

I have done shows in Asia but this upcoming tour will be my first ever full tour to Asia. Before my two shows in Vietnam, I will be playing in Japan, Indonesia and Taipei. My show in Seoul with Martin Garrix was one of my most memorable shows in Asia.

Many DJs before you have added more hardstyle tracks to their sets when touring in Vietnam to meet local raver's demands. What's your opinion on this?

Its always good to meet the locals' demands. I will play Florian Picassos music with lots of surprises.

Does the prestigious family name give you any advantages in life and your career?

Florian Picasso is my own artistic identity and I am trying my best to show my fans Picassos music.

And disadvantages, maybe?

Its a challenge to live up to the legacy of my family name. Most of the time peoples reaction to my family name does not tie into music. But music is also art.

Did you ever attempt to learn painting?

Well I did not attempt to paint for a living but, yes, I did try to draw.

Headhunterz, the young veteran of EDM with 10 years of dancefloor killing experience, expressed his feelings about his career and playing for the third time in Vietnam.

Would you be a headhunter if you werent a DJ?

Lol, I would definitely consider it.

How did you get the name?

Back in the day I had a different name. I was making music with another guy and we were called the Nasty D-Tuners. When Scantraxx became interested, we were already stuck to a small independent label. The way for us to get out of there was by changing our name, which became Headhunterz. This also explains the Z. Nowadays, I like to think of the Z as the people who get something out of my music.

What do you think about Vietnams rave community?

I think that the community is growing very fast. I was amazed by the crowd in my first show already and the second show in Hanoi was even more crowded. I am hoping this third show will be a big one.

This is the first time Vietnam has had an event this big on a beach. Do you have any recommendations for beach raving?

Beach raving is different from your normal rave, staying in the sun for a long time makes you feel tired, stay hydrated, stay out of the sun when you need to.

Having been a DJ and producer for more than 10 years, what do you love most about your career?

I can freely create and live with my passion for music. I can also travel around the world to see and feel so many different cultures that make me want to be more creative. And the most rewarding part is I can connect to my fans through my tracks!

And hate?

DJ life is tiring at times with a long time spent in airports and producing. You are constantly on the go and working at the same time.

Quiz: Ticket Giveaway for Danang Electronic Carnival 2016



VnExpress International is giving away 10 pairs of tickets to ravers who finish the quiz in the fastest time. Just submit your answers and prepare yourself for the first electronic beach carnival in Vietnam. Giddy-up 'cause tomorrow it'll be over.



Quiz: http://bit.ly/1U8AcwZ

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Yes, thats it, you didnt read it wrong. The Obama portion has created a craze among both regulars and first-timers at the bun cha shop that served Obama during his trip to Vietnam.

And if youre still wondering, an "Obama portion is a portion of bun cha with nem and a bottle of Hanoi Beer.

Since Obama dined at a bun cha shop named Huong Lien in Hanoi, the dish has gained unprecedented popularity among multiple news agencies and locals who have never thought of eating at the shop before.

Bun cha is not a strong competitor in comparison with other famous street foods, such as banh mi, pho and cuon (spring rolls). It is only popular in Hanoi because in other cities, even Saigon, people have never heard of it.

Photo by http://tourinhanoi.com/

However, the dishs destiny and the shop that served Obama have taken a turn.

People have been flocking to the shop and even queuing for hours on the street, waiting for their turn before the shop runs out of the "Obama portion".

Photo by Reuters

Photo by VnExpress/Huong Chi

The shop owner said that the plates and bowls that were used by one of the most powerful men in the world have been kept as a token.

What is it about bun cha that makes it so special?

Unlike other favorites that have secret spices like pho, 'bun cha' ingredients are easy to find and the recipe is not that complicated.

But the thing that makes Hanois bun cha different from other versions lies in the skills required to make it, which cannot be mastered overnight.

As easy as it looks, there are only two kinds of meat: the meatballs and the thick pork slices.

The meat balls borrow their softness from the perfect ratio of lean and fat from the shoulder meat, while the slices satisfy fans of a chewy texture. The pork must be marinated with spices overnight so the meat can absorb all the aromas.

Photo by Philipp Manila Sonderegger

The sauce is another story and would take months to write about by even the laziest of foodies without providing a satisfactory answer. People just agree there is no single correct way to make it. The ingredients are no secret; it's the way people combine them that makes them unique.

The craze will die down for sure, but you should have it now because it will never taste the same when people stop calling it an "Obama portion".














Senior Lieutenant-General Vo Tien Trung talked to VnExpress about the meaning of U.S. President Obamas visit to Vietnam and the lifting of a decades-old ban on the sale of lethal arms to the country.

Here is the content of the interview:

What is your evaluation on the lifting of the ban on lethal arms sales to Vietnam?

Trung: U.S. President Obama's visit to Vietnam was late, but as we used to say, its still better than nothing. The U.S.s pivot to Pacific Asia was, of course, to serve their interests. Vietnam has a sensitive geo-political position with high international prestige, especially in ASEAN. The U.S. would not be able to ignore Vietnam in its foreign policy.

I have been following the Vietnam-U.S. relationship and the defense situation for years, and I was not surprised by Obama's announcement, though the decision was made too late. Lifting the arms ban is a diplomatic gesture to confirm that Vietnam-U.S. relations have reached a new high  a comprehensive partnership. Vietnam has already proved to the whole world that its military is built on the basis of self-defense. We would not buy weapons from the U.S. to threaten a third party, allies or the U.S. itself.

How would U.S. weapons systems and equipment fit into Vietnams military strategy for self-defense?

Trung: I would like to state clearly that Vietnam only buys weapons to protect its legitimate sovereignty. Its our right to buy weapons from whoever we want. We don't buy weapons to fight China or any other nations; only for self-defense.

I personally think Vietnam cannot afford to buy offensive weapons from the U.S. since they are very expensive. We can produce our own infantry weapons, so why would we need to buy them?

Our goal is to aim for the development of military technology, producing some ourselves and buying technologies and modern weapons from conventional arms-dealer countries. These weapons would be more suitable to Vietnams weather conditions and ours armys experience. For example, Russian weapons are not compatible with U.S. weapons systems. In combat, one glitch in the whole system could lead to serious consequences.

What weapons do you think that we will buy from the U.S.?

Trung: I think we may consider buying vehicles which are compatible with our current weapons systems, such as surveillance aircraft, patrol ships, aircrafts and lifeboats. These are vehicles, not weapons. Leaders of the Ministry of Defense and the government will certainly be considering this.

What do you think about the potential presence of the U.S. at Cam Ranh International Seaport?

Trung: Cam Ranh is divided into two major areas. The military area is highly confidential and no other country is allowed access to it, including the U.S. and other partners. We are building and developing the international area to provide logistics support for military and civilian vessels from other countries in case they need assistance. If a U.S. ship is damaged or in need of basic supplies, it can anchor at the international port.

Obama said this is the moment to develop the Vietnam-U.S. relationship. What do you think about this statement?

Trung: I think Obama was right because the current trend in the world is integration and normalization of relations. Vietnam values the idea of developing beneficial partnerships with other countries. The normalization of relations with the U.S. and other powerful states, or even former enemies, will not only benefit Vietnam, but also region and the world.

In his speech, Obama said Vietnam was always threatened by big countries and war, no matter what the intentions may be, brings suffering and tragedy. This shows that Obama has acknowledged the losses suffered by the Vietnamese people both in the North and South. I think in the next five to ten years or maybe longer, there will be a U.S. president who will apologize to Vietnam.

What do you think about Obamas statement that the U.S. supports Vietnam in resolving disputes in the South China Sea (Vietnams East Sea) on the basis of international law?

Trung: I applaud Obamas statement. Vietnam has a longstanding agenda to resolve all disputes through peaceful talks on the basis of international law and not through the use of force.

The Americans also have their interests in the South China Sea because it is the busiest maritime trade route in the world. We support all countries that come to the South China Sea to enhance maritime security and safety according to international law, whether it is the U.S., Russia, India, Japan, Australia or any other state.
Tomorrow, Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, will represent the Commission at the Energy Council meeting in Luxembourg.
On his recent visit to Burma, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated strong U.S. support for the democratic transition underway there. Successful nationwide parliamentary elections in November 2015, the inauguration of U Htin Kyaw as Burmas first civilian president in more than 50 years, and the seating of a new Union Parliament (with more than 100 former political prisoners as parliamentarians) were critical steps forward and extraordinary moments in Burmas history.

Burma has changed for the better, said Secretary Kerry, and as a result, so has its relationship with the United States. As a consequence, the U.S. has adjusted its sanctions policy in order to promote democracy and encourage broad-based, inclusive economic development. At the same time the U.S. is maintaining some sanctions in order to encourage all institutions, investors, and members of society to support the governments efforts to consolidate a civilian-led democracy.

In particular, said Secretary Kerry, constitutional reform was needed to further the democratic transition. It needs to be changed. It needs to be a reflection of how civilian authority is fully respected and how the separation of powers. . .is clearly defined. In addition, there has to be an inclusivity, a resolution of some of the other issues with respect to normal democratic reforms.

Since 2012, the U.S. has provided $500 million in assistance for civil society, national reconciliation, democracy, respect for human rights and health and food security. The U.S. has supported peace and reconciliation in many parts of the country that have suffered from natural disaster or conflict, including in Rakhine state.

The United States stands with the new Government of Burma as it strives to complete the journey towards full democracy and economic growth and stability that the people of Burma have hoped for so long.
On his recent trip to Vietnam, President Barack Obama highlighted the dramatic progress of U.S.-Vietnam relations in recent years and outlined areas where we hope to deepen our partnership in the future, including trade and investment, security cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, and global issues, like climate change and health.

President Obama highlighted our strong economic ties, with over $45 billion in bilateral trade and growing investment, including a $12 billion deal between Boeing and VietJet announced during the Presidents visit. He also reiterated the United States commitment to ratifying the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and stressed the importance of Vietnam fully implementing its commitments under this trade agreement, including on labor rights.

In addition, President Obama announced the lifting of the decades-old arms embargo, which removes a lingering vestige of the Cold War and ensures that Vietnam has access to the equipment it needs to defend itself. The change also underscores the commitment of the United States to a fully normalized relationship with Vietnam, including strong defense ties with Vietnam and the region for the long term.

And at a time of tension in the South China Sea, the United States will support the peaceful resolution of disputes, including through arbitration under international law. "Nations are sovereign, no matter how large or small a nation may be; its sovereignty should be respected and its territory should not be violated," said President Obama.

The President stressed that continued progress on human rights and legal reform was key to Vietnam -- and the U.S.-Vietnam relationship -- reaching its full potential. Its my hope that the government of Vietnam comes to recognize what weve recognized and what so many countries around the world have recognized...that its very hard to prosper in this modern economy if you havent fully unleashed the potential of your people, President Obama said. President Obama met with civil society members during his visit, though some were regrettably prevented from attending the meeting.

President Obama reiterated the importance of religious freedom and highlighted recent exchanges on the Law on Religion and Belief. When there is freedom of religion, it not only allows people to fully express the love and compassion that are at the heart of all great religions, but it allows faith groups to serve their communities through schools and hospitals, and care for the poor and the vulnerable, the President said.

President Obama expressed great hope for the U.S.-Vietnam partnership going forward, rooted in the friendship and shared aspiration of our peoples."
ELKO  After a snowy winter and a wet spring, summery weather is finally arriving in northeastern Nevada.

The Memorial Day weekend brought mostly clear to partly cloudy skies, although a few scattered thunderstorms were reported across Elko County on Sunday.

The stormy weather is history now, as the National Weather Service predicts nothing but clear and warmer weather in the week ahead.

Temperatures will be in the upper 70s to start the week but climb into the 90s by the weekend.

The forecast calls for highs in the lower 90s on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
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 years 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 Julys convention in Cleveland. Three of the Final Four GOP candidates  lets 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 todays 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.
Authorities say a couple wanted in connection with murder cases in Arizona and Nevada has been found dead in a desert area southeast of Kingman. Mohave County Sheriffs detectives say the bodies of 26-year-old Hunter McGuire and his girlfriend, 32-year-old Samantha Branek, were found lying next to each other Friday with gunshot wounds to the head. Lake Havasu City police say it appears McGuire shot himself, but its unclear if Braneks wound was self-inflicted. The county medical examiners office will determine an official cause of death. Authorities say the couple was being sought in connection with a double homicide in Kingman on June 28. They say McGuire also was considered a suspect in the fatal shooting of a woman Monday in Las Vegas.
El Rolls Royce donde viajaba Emir Garduno. YOUTUBE

Emir Garduno, the Mexican mogul and brother of politician Jair Garduno, rides around impoverished towns in a Rolls Royce with no license plates, flanked by an entourage of bodyguards in black cars and on motorcycles. In early May, when an off-duty police officer, Jorge Vera, overtook him, Garduno leapt out of his luxury car and ordered his bodyguards to beat him up on the spot. A video that has gone viral in Mexico shows Veras inconsolable daughter repeatedly telling her injured father to get back into his car. Social media users baptised Garduno #LordRollsRoyce even before they were aware of his feudal privileges.

Garduno was already under suspicion for his possible involvement in a homicide that took place in a hotel in the central city of Toluca in January. The Attorney Generals Office in his home state, Mexico, said he arrived at the restaurant with friends for a party, one of whom shot and killed the DJ.

His garage is stocked with luxury cars. Aside from the Rolls Royce, police found two Porches, two Ferraris, a Mini Cooper, a BMW and a Mercedes-Benz

The businessman is also being investigated for gun possession. Images from a nearby restaurant show him pointing a gun at someone while a group of people hold him back. In another image dating from November 2015 Garduno seems to be shooting at the ceiling.

In 2014, a group of businessmen reported Garduno for issuing death threats against them. Authorities in his home state of Michoacan are also investigating an $800,000 fraud case involving two of his construction companies.

On Tuesday, police entered his home to look for information that might lead to his whereabouts or reveal ties to organized crime, a source has told EL PAIS. His garage is stocked with luxury cars, none of which bear license plates: aside from the Rolls Royce, they found two Porches, two Ferraris, a Mini Cooper, a BMW and a Mercedes-Benz. As the officers left the home, they recognized the cars of the bodyguards who beat Jorge Vera parked outside.

After footage of the attack went public, Mayor Garduno claimed that the victim had attempted to kidnap his brother. But once his team found out that Vera was a police officer, they erased tweets and comments from his social media profiles. Jair Garduno has now distanced himself from the controversy.

The Vera case is not the first time Garduno has been involved in a violent incident. The Mexican authorities have so far not issued an arrest warrant for Garduno.

English version by Dyane Jean-Francois.
First police charges in Gracia. Gianluca Battista

Barcelona witnessed new clashes between street protesters and riot police on Sunday over a squatter eviction in the district of Gracia.

Around 300 people gathered at noon in Placa de la Revolucio, just meters away from a former bank branch that was taken by squatters five years ago and turned into a community center.

Demonstrators hurled objects at the police, who held their ground around the so-called Banc Expropiat (The Expropriated Bank) to prevent squatters from re-entering the premises. Protesters had vowed to take it back.

Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau has claimed that the city cannot do much because this is a conflict between private parties

Although the protest began in a festive mood, around 90 minutes later the tension began to rise as several youths attempted to break through the police cordon and reach the old CatalunyaCaixa branch. It was this bank that decided to have the squatters evicted on Monday through a court order.

Squatters wearing plastic helmets began hurling water, bleach, confetti and a variety of objects at the police. A photographer was injured by a flying can lobbed by one of the protesters.

The Mossos dEsquadra  the regional police force  responded with three charges that were less aggressive than the ones seen throughout last weeks clashes. As a result, 15 protesters and seven law enforcement officers were injured, according to figures provided by the police and by the squatters.

Lunch break

The protesting ended when demonstrators decided that it was time to break for lunch, as a Twitter message announced: We are pulling back at Plaza de la Revolucio, we are temporarily lifting the siege. Were not scared, were hungry.

The protesters agreed to meet again at 4pm to newly take up their cause. There to join them were members of the Catalan parliament affiliated with the CUP, an anti-capitalist political group that has been expressing sympathy for the squatters.

Sign up for our newsletter EL PAIS English Edition has launched a weekly newsletter. Sign up today to receive a selection of our best stories in your inbox every Saturday morning. For full details about how to subscribe, click here.

Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, a former anti-eviction activist herself, has been accused of being soft on protesters, who destroyed street furniture in last weeks demonstrations. Spains acting Interior Minister, Jorge Fernandez Diaz, said that Colau is putting herself in an equidistant spot, in the best of cases.

Colau has claimed that the city cannot do much because this is a conflict between private parties, and because the squatters have rejected city officials offer to act as mediators. The mayor is instead asking neighbors to talk to the protesters and reach a deal with them.

Also last week, it emerged that former mayor Xavier Trias of the CiU nationalists had been secretly paying the squatters rent and expenses for years  with taxpayers money  in order to avoid an eviction and street violence.

English version by Susana Urra.
Spanish journalist Salud Hernandez-Mora moments after her release. JOSUE AREVALO (EFE)

More information El ELN libera a la periodista Salud Hernandez-Mora

A Spanish journalist held by a Colombian guerrilla group for five days was released on Friday afternoon local time.

Salud Hernandez-Mora, a correspondent for Spanish daily El Mundo, was handed over by the left wing National Liberation Army (ELN) to a humanitarian mission located between the municipalities of Teorama and San Calixto, near the border with Venezuela.

Diego DPablos and Carlos Melo, two Colombian journalists who were also kidnapped on Monday, were let go just hours later in the same spot.

I can only say that this region has more wonderful things than bad things. In many parts of Colombia, people think that this is a hornets nest. Ive had the good fortune to get to know Catatumbo many times. Unfortunately, on this occasion I was kidnapped

Salud Hernandez-Mora, reporter

I thank everyone who prayed for me and who was there with me. I am perfectly fine, said Hernandez-Mora in radio statements. There is no problem. Particular thanks go out to the Catholic Church and to the Ombudsmans Office.

In an improvised press conference, the reporter explained the circumstances of her kidnapping a week ago.

She said that she was in the town of El Tarra when some men came up to her and confiscated her work equipment.

Later a motorcycle showed up because they were going to return my things and grant me an interview, she said. The driver took her to an area in the Catatumbo region known as Buenos Aires, home to coca plantations that Hernandez-Mora was writing a story about.

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Then the guerrillas showed up and told me that I was going to stay with them for a few days; they brought me clothes and since then Ive been moving from place to place.

The reporter added that she only slept twice in the same spot. During the day I did nothing save look up at the ceiling or the sky, she said. I was reckless, but I think that a journalist has to be  otherwise we wouldnt get 70% of our stories.

She also had praise for the people of the Catatumbo region, which is largely under the control of guerrilla groups and organized crime gangs.

I can only say that this region has more wonderful things than bad things. In many parts of Colombia, people think that this is a hornets nest. Ive had the good fortune to get to know Catatumbo many times. Unfortunately, on this occasion I was kidnapped.

English version by Susana Urra.
NATO exercises in Poland. Lucia Abellan (EL PAIS)

A hooded figure lurks inside a trench, monitoring the progress of a soldier who is creeping toward him. When they are five meters apart, the soldier lobs a hand grenade at the enemy. There is smoke everywhere. Just minutes later, the tables have turned and this same soldier is forced to assist a wounded man.

The scene is playing out at the Zagan military facilities in western Poland, and it aims to recreate a real war situation. The Spanish, British and Albanian troops participating in the exercise get into their role with gusto: spectators are treated to dramatic cries, sounds of gunshot and smokescreens that make the role-playing come to life.

The growing unrest to the south of Europe has forced NATO to defend that their new tool can adapt to any territory, not just the east

With this military exercise, which ended Friday, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is officially inaugurating what it considers its own greatest achievement in years: the creation of a Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) capable of deploying quickly in any part of the world.

We have reduced deployment times enormously, says General Luis Cebrian, head of Spains Brilat brigade, which participated in the exercise and contributes most of the troops to the VJTF. At the next summit in Warsaw, heads of state and government will be able to say that we are ready for any threat.

Threat to the north or to the south?

Spain is heading this new multinational team throughout 2016. The high-readiness force was planned two years ago as a spearhead project within the larger NATO Response Force, when tensions with Russia seemed to be the biggest threat to Europe.

But the growing unrest to the south of Europe has forced NATO to ensure that their new tool can adapt to any territory, not just the east.

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I admit that we are conveying the image that we are looking mostly north, and not south of the Alliance, says Lieutenant General Javier Varela, who was in charge of the Spanish troops in the Brilliant Jump exercise that just ended in Poland, in a place very near the border with Germany.

EL PAIS witnessed part of the spearhead forces first major exercise on a NATO-organized trip.

The VJTF spearhead force comprises around 5,000 land troops who are part of a larger rapid reaction contingent made up of 40,000 soldiers. In order to coordinate their deployment, the Alliance has created eight command posts, most of them in former Soviet states.

English version by Susana Urra.
Yerevan to host Musical Director of New York Metropolitan Opera House

John Fisher who is the musical director of one of the leading opera theatres in the world that is the Metropolitan Opera House will come to Yerevan on June 4 according to an invitation of the Aram Khachaturian Competition Cultural Foundation. The musical director of one of the most prestigious opera stages is the special guest of the 12th Aram Khachaturian International Conducting Competition held in June 6. This musical event will be also attended by a number of outstanding people of musical world, art-managers who will get an opportunity to discover young talented people in the framework of the contest. Its worth mentioning that the June 6, the birthday of the Armenian great composer Aram Khachaturian will be esteemed by the launch of an international competition dedicated to the specialty of conducting. 57 conductors from dozens of countries have applied for participation in this contest. Only 14 of them have been selected to fight for a trophy from June 6 to June 14. The membership of the jury of the competition was formulated by the Peoples artist of RA Yuri Davtyan, Mark Hildrew (Great Britain), David Whelton (Great Britain), Michalis Economou (Greece), Thomas Yaksic (Brazil/Chile), Constantine Orbelian (USA) and Vag Papian (Israel/Armenia). The Aram Khachaturian International Competition is the member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions. The Khachaturian Competition has being implemented thanks to joint efforts of the Ministry of Culture of RA, Aram Khachaturian - Competition Cultural Foundation and the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan and is held under the high patronage of the spouse of the President of RA Mrs. Rita Sargsyan who is the honorary president of the Board of Trustees of the competition.
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There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

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Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

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There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT

The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully

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The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces

LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN

This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments

Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan

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Gurgen Yeghiazaryan: I hope Samvel Babayan will be offered a position (video)

Gurgen Yeghiazaryan, a former deputy head of the National Security Service, welcomes the return of Samvel Babayan, a former defense minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. As an Armenian soldier, he returned at the right moment and I hope that he will be offered a appropriate position because we are on the verge of a new war, Mr Yeghiazaryan told reporters on Monday. Lernik Alexanyan, a lawmaker representing the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) faction, expressed hope that Babayans return has purely patriotic motives. I want to believe that he has returned to unite our people and solve issues related to Artsakh. Speaking about the Vienna-hosted meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Mr Yeghiazaryan said judging by the incoherent and incomprehensible statements the Armenian side made after the meeting we had bad results there. Matthew Bryza, who is not a diplomat, but a defender of the interests of Azerbaijan, announced that there will be a referendum in the autumn. This means that the Madrid Principles are in still in force. Mr Yeghiazaryan added that deterioration of Armenian-Russian relations is beneficial to certain forces and Armenians will learn about it after September.
Armenian sculptor prepared a gift for the Pope (video)

Sculptor Ferdinand Arakelyan has prepared a gift for the Pope who is due to arrive in Armenia on June 24. Talking to journalists in Yerevan, the sculptor said about two months ago he began to work on a new sculpture which he is going to present to the Pope as a token of gratitude on behalf of the Armenian people. The Tree of Life stands in the centre and the world has gathered around the tree to observe a moment of silence for the victims of all genocides in the world, Mr Arakelyan said. The height of the sculpture reaches four meters. He would like the sculpture to be given to the Pope by Serzh Sargsyan  that will be the best way to express our appreciation and gratitude to him. Literary critic Ashot Yeghiazaryan, who has seen the unfinished sculpture, says it is very beautiful. He thinks that the Popes visit is very important for Armenia. We are speaking about a person who has a strong sense of justice and humanity. His work greatly differs from that of his predecessors. He should know that Armenians have such a culture that it should be shownto the world, we need to show him our spirit, he said.
Monopoly might be fixed by law - says minister (video)

Minister of Economy Artsvik Minasyan does not rule out that Samvel Alexanyan monopoly over sugar exports might be fixed by law. The minister will no longer fight against monopolies, but he will fight for free competition on equal footing. He is displeased to hear an observation that Serzh Sargsyan sponsors monopolies. There is an agreement signed between the two political forces (ARF-Dashnaktsutyun and Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) that clearly speaks of an active anti-monopoly policy. But there are no guarantees that the ministers antitrust activities will not meet resistance by Baghramyan 26. The minister says he does not represent an investigative body but the regulations of the agency that he heads may allow him in the future to enter into a serious fight. Do not expect me to assume the functions of a prosecutor  The minister says he is not a soothsayer and cannot predict who will suffer from his determination to regulate monopolies. Everyone who is against free economic competition will feel the pain, including all those who preferred to have incubated companies and this has nothing to do with the names you know, Mr Minasyan said. Laws should be changed, the minister said speaking about the fight against monopolies. After journalists said that it is clear who gains monopolies under the auspices of the authorities, Mr Minasyan said, If everything was as simple as you said, do you know how many people would get Nobel prizes for the fight against monopolies? The minister also promised to provide the list of famous monopolists in Armenia within three months.
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Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders

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There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan

Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia

Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair

Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan

I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General

I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox

UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS

There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur

EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol  Armenia and Azerbaijan  to do so without delay

An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan".

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The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022

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This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan

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PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe at the joint press conference in Japan (Source: VNA)



The Vietnamese leader made the statement while chairing a joint press conference with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on May 28th on the outcomes of their talks.

Japan affirmed that it will work closely with Vietnam in implementing the USD110-billion credit plan to develop high-quality infrastructure in Asia, as well as the initiative on boosting Japan-Mekong link, he said.

Vietnam called for Japans continued support for Vietnam to access preferential loans from international financial organisations, including those from the World Banks International Development Association (IDA) after 2017, he added.

PM Phuc extended thanks to his Japanese counterpart for his announcement on an emergency aid worth JPY300 million (USD2.5 million) for Vietnam to deal with drought and saltwater intrusion and his commitment to working with Vietnam to seek medium and long term solutions to these problems.

He congratulated the Japanese PM and his government on the successful organisation of the G7 Summit and the expanded G7 Summit, saying that the attained outcomes are essential to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and in the world.

He also highlighted the hosts initiatives on the stabilisation of the Middle East, health care improvement, and women empowerment.

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe underlined the success of the talks, saying that the two sides have reached major consensus on developing the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership in a more comprehensive, pragmatic and effective manner in the time ahead.

Vietnam and Japan have agreed to enhance political trust via the regular exchange of visits, meetings and dialogues at all levels, especially the high level, he said.

They discussed measures to promote the connectivity between the two economies and agreed on a number of cooperation contents in the fields of infrastructure, energy and aviation.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc also told reporters that during the talks, the two sides agreed to foster cooperation at international and regional forums.

The two PMs shared the concerns of the international community and ASEAN on the East Sea situation in recent time, particularly the large-scale artificial build-up.

They agreed on the importance of ensuring peace, security, safety and freedom of maritime and aviation in the East Sea. The relevant sides are not allowed to take actions changing the status quo or further complicating and expanding disputes and militarising in the sea.

They stressed that disputes should be solved via peaceful measures on the basis of respecting diplomatic and legal procedures, fully observing international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) while striving for the early formation of a Code of Conduct (COC) in the East Sea./.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe (Photo: VNA)



The two leaders compared notes and reached high consensus on major orientations and specific measures to develop the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership in a comprehensive, pragmatic and more effective manner in the time ahead.

They expressed their delight at the strong and substantive developments in the bilateral cooperation over the past years, especially in economy, agriculture and exchanges between localities.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc congratulated Japan on its successful organisation of the G7 Summit and the expanded G7 Summit.

He affirmed Vietnams consistent policy of regarding Japan as a leading and long-term partner.

For his part, PM Shinzo Abe congratulated Nguyen Xuan Phuc on his new post as head of the Vietnamese Government.

He extended thanks to PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc for attending the expanded G7 Summit, and applauded the Vietnamese Government leaders speech delivered at the event.

Japan attaches importance to the relationship with Vietnam and wishes to continue closely cooperating with the country in order to push forward the bilateral ties in a more comprehensive fashion, he said.

The two PMs agreed to boost political trust by maintaining regular exchanges of high-ranking delegations and meetings on the sideline of international forums, and by enhancing the efficiency of bilateral dialogue mechanisms.

They said they will reinforce defence and security cooperation, particularly in dealing with war-aftermath and UN peacekeeping missions.

Abe said he hopes to revisit Vietnam soon.

Both sides also agreed to seek specific measures to promote connectivity between the two economies in terms of economic strategies, production resources and human resources via investment and trade cooperation and official development assistance (ODA).

PM Shinzo Abe stated Japan will continue offering ODA for Vietnams infrastructure development and climate change response.

He said Japan will work closely with Vietnam in implementing an initiative on boosting Japan-Mekong link and a USD110-billion credit plan to develop high-quality infrastructure in Asia.

PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc called for Japans support for Vietnam accessing preferential loans from international financial organisations, including those from the World Banks International Development Association after 2017.

The two sides agreed to boost Japans investment in Vietnam via the implementation of Phase VI of the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative in 2016. They pledged close cooperation in the implementation of Vietnams Industrialisation Strategy within the framework of the Vietnam-Japan cooperation until 2020 with a vision to 2030, and acceleration of big projects on infrastructure, including the North-South Highway and the Ninh Thuan 2 Nuclear Power Plant.

The two sides discussed measures to promote the cooperation in trade and hi-tech agriculture, and create conditions for each others agri-products to enter the others market.

The two sides also reached agreement on enhancing cooperation in health, the training of human resources and Japans reception of Vietnamese trainees, while continuing to implement the Vietnam-Japan University project as well as bolstering tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

Concerning climate change, PM Shinzo Abe announced a non-refundable aid worth JPY300 million (USD2.5 million) to assist Vietnam in dealing with drought and salt water intrusion. He affirmed Japan will work with Vietnam to seek medium and long term solutions to those problems, adding that Japan is ready to provide official development assistance capital to build dams and reservoirs based on specific requests from Vietnam. In the immediate future, Japan will send JICAs experts to conduct surveys under the Water Management Project in Ben Tre province.

Discussing international and regional issues of common concern, PM Shinzo Abe affirmed Japan would coordinate with Vietnam in the preparation for the APEC Year in 2017.

The two sides shared the international communitys deep concerns on East Sea situation in recent time, particularly the large-scale artificial build-up. They agreed on the importance of ensuring peace, security, safety and freedom of maritime and aviation in the East Sea.

The relevant sides should not take actions changing the status quo or further complicating and expanding disputes and militarizing in the East Sea, the two PMs said, stressing that disputes should be solved via peaceful measures on the basis of respect for diplomatic and legal procedures, full observance of international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ( UNCLOS ) and the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea ( DOC ) while striving for the early formation of a Code of Conduct ( COC ) in the East Sea.

After the talks, the two PM witnessed the exchange of five cooperation documents, of which four are on ODA loans worth a total of JPY166 billion (USD1.5 billion) for the urban railway No1 in Ho Chi Minh city, the Thai Binh thermo electricity plant; the second phase of Ho Chi Minh citys water environment improvement work. The fifth document is a stock purchase agreement between the Vietnam Airlines and Japans ANA Holdings Inc.

The two leaders then met with the media on the outcomes of their talks.

On the same day, PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc received officials of some Japans organisations and businesses including Chairman of the Japan International Cooperation Agency Shinichi Kitaoka, Honorary Chairman of the Mitsubishi Group Kojima Yorihiko, and Governor of Aichi Prefecture Hideaki Omura. He also visited Yokoyama farm in Aichi Prefecture.

On the same day evening, PM Shinzo Abe held a banquet for his Vietnamese counterpart./.
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the
Bilateral meetings between Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif took place in Tehran on Sunday.

"The meetings addressed a broad range of vital issues on the agenda of bilateral relations. Agreements were reached on the intensification of Ukrainian-Iranian cooperation in all spheres," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a report released on Sunday.

In accordance with the report, "the Iranian side emphasized that no third party will have any influence on the development of bilateral relations between Ukraine and Iran."

During the negotiations, Iran also "expressed its support of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry earlier reported on the visit by Klimkin to Iran at the invitation of the Iranian foreign minister on May 29-30. "The purpose of the visit is to discuss the state and prospects of development of bilateral cooperation between Ukraine and Iran. Among other things, the parties will exchange opinions on vital regional issues and modern challenges in the global dimension," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has reported.

The ministry said that important changes involving Iran, specifically, the lifting of economic and financial sanctions, "create opportunities for fuller realization of the potential of this country, which is an important partner of Ukraine in the region, including for the intensification of Ukrainian-Iranian cooperation in the sphere of trade and economics."
The Individual Deposit Guarantee Fund when it audited assets and liabilities of bank Khreschatyk revealed facts of criminal violation by top managers of the bank, the fund has reported on its website.

The fund said that when due diligence of the bank's assets and liabilities was conducted temporary administration discovered many facts that contributed to weak profits and led to financial expenses.

Bank Khreschatyk signed several nonresidential premises management agreements on the economically unviable conditions. The premises belonged to the bank. According to the preliminary information, the firm that signed the agreements is associated with officials of the bank.

The conditions of the agreement to transfer premises with gross area of 366 square meters in Kyiv envisaged that the bank would receive UAH 5,000 of rental a month, with the remaining sum of rent rates paid to the manager. The agreement was signed in December 2014 for the period until December 2016.

The similar agreements for three facilities in Kharkiv were signed by the bank and the same private company. Over 10,300 square meters of nonresidential premises worth over UAH 81 million were transferred to management. The bank received UAH 30,000 every month as a founder.

The fund intends to file an application claiming criminal offense committed by top managers of bank Khreschatyk.

From May 27 the fund suspended payments to depositors of bank Khreschatyk. The list of depositors to pay funds in the period of the bank's liquidation is to be composed. Payments would be resumed no later than the fourth working day after receiving a decision of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to annual the license and liquidate the bank.

The NBU on April 5 declared Bank Khreschatyk insolvent. The Individuals' Deposit Guarantee Fund introduced temporary administration until June 4, 2016.

The bank's depositors are 308,000 individuals, 98.7% of them will be fully reimbursed for their funds (up to UAH 200,000). The total amount to be recovered is UAH 2.8 billion.

The main reason for the bank's insolvency is the reluctance of other shareholders to invest in the capitalization of the financial institution. The NBU on the results of stress tests estimated the need for the bank recapitalization at UAH 1.25 billion by June 2017, including UAH 600 million by May 1 this year.

According to the latest data on the bank's ownership structure, its largest co-owners are Andriy Ivanov (37.44%), Mykola Soldatenko (24.24%) and Kyiv City State Administration (25%).

Ivanov is a junior partner of Kyiv Investment Group, Soldatenko is a former co-owner of Zaporizhstal, a minor shareholder of Industrialbank.

Bank Khreschatyk was founded in 1993. It ranked 18th among 123 Ukrainian banks on October 1, 2015 in terms of total assets (UAH 10.09 billion).
Public joint-stock company Ukrhydroenergo increased electricity production by 18.6% in January-April 2016, compared to the same period in 2015, to 3.115 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), the press service of the company has said.

According to its data, the plan for the three months was exceeded by 19.4%, or 506.488 million kWh.

In April this year, Ukrhydroenergo hydroelectric and pumped storage plants produced 1.136 billion kWh of electricity, which is 95.5% more than in April 2015.

As reported, Ukrhydroenergo plans in 2016 to increase electricity production by 24.6% compared to 2015, to 8.008 billion kWh.

Production of electricity by nine Ukrhydroenergo power stations in 2015 decreased by 26.2% compared to 2014, to 6.426 billion kWh.

Ukrhydroenergo in 2015 saw net profit rise by 2.3 times compared to 2014, to UAH 1.091 billion, net income by 1.7 times, to UAH 4.469 billion, EBITDA by 64.7%, to UAH 2.688 billion.

Ukrhydroenergo operates all of the major hydroelectric power plants on the Ukrainian sections of the Dnipro and Dniester rivers. Their total electricity generating capacity comes to five gigawatts. The state owns 100% of the shares of the company.
An agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) criticized by heads of some parliamentary factions has not yet been signed and consultations are underway, First Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Development and Trade Minister of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv has said.

"This is not the signed agreement. This is the preliminary condition for work with the International Monetary Fund," he said at a meeting of the conciliation council of heads of parliamentary factions, committees and subgroups on Monday.

Kubiv said that the government would consider the provisions of the coalition agreement signed by parliamentary factions when it signs the agreement with the IMF.

"Ukrainians needs reforms. Financial organizations do not need reforms. We have not signed anything. Work has been carried out and consultations are going on," he said.
There is a preliminary agreement with Russia over the return to Ukraine of its citizens Yuriy Soloshenko and Hennadiy Afanasiev, who were jailed in Russia, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

"I am far from giving promises or naming many surnames. I can only say that with our preliminary agreement, we can expect Afanasiev and Soloshenko's return home," he said in an interview with the Inter television channel, a preliminary extract from which was aired on the channel on Sunday evening.

On May 27 Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Soloshenko and Afanasiev's release was a matter of the coming weeks.

"I very much hope that the liberation of Soloshenko who, as you know, is very sick and, certainly, Hennadiy Afanasyev will be the next stage. I believe this is a question of the next few weeks," the minister said on the One Plus One television channel last Friday.

At the same time, he noted that it is too soon to talk about the terms of release because the talks are ongoing.

Afanasyev was charged with the creation of a terrorist group in Crimea and sentenced in Russia in 2015 to seven years in a maximum-security penitentiary as a suspected abettor to Ukrainian film director Sentsov.

In August 2015, the North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Sentsov to 20 years in a maximum-security penitentiary for creating a terrorist group in Crimea.

On October 14, 2015, the Moscow City Court found former general director of the Poltava Zarya state plant Soloshenko, 73, guilty of espionage and sentenced him to six years in a maximum-security penitentiary.
Kyiv reports death of five troops in Donbas in past on Saturday

Five Ukrainian troops were killed in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in Donbas on Saturday, Oleksandr Motuzianik, spokesperson for the Ukrainian presidential administration on issues relating to the ATO, said.

"To my great regret, five Ukrainian troops were killed and another four Ukrainian troops were wounded in the past 24 hours," he told a briefing in Kyiv on Sunday.

On Saturday, the enemy opened fire on Ukrainian military positions thirty times, including 13 times on the Donetsk track, 12 times on the Mariupol track and five times on the Luhansk track, he said.

In the Avdiyivka area, support points came under fire five times from firearms, large-caliber guns, and caliber 82 mm and 120 mm mortars. Some 200 mines were launched at Ukrainian military positions in the area of Butivka mine.

Motuzianik said artillery fire had been opened on Ukrainian military positions in the Opytne area, and the positions near Novhorodske came under fire from militants who used firearms and automatic grenade launchers. On the Mariupol track, the enemy opened fire on Ukrainian military support points using 82 mm mortars in the Novotroitske area and large-caliber guns in the Krasnohorivka area, he said.

Motuzianik reiterated that Ukrainian military had to return the fire several times.
Tensions continue to escalate in Donbas; militants shelled Ukrainian army positions 25 times in the past 24 hours, the anti-terrorist operation press center said on Facebook on Monday.

"The Donetsk sector remains the hottest spot," the report said.

According to the press center, the militants conducted 14 attacks on the positions near Avdiyivka and the Butivka mine by use of small arms, large-caliber machineguns, various types of grenade launchers and 82mm and 120mm mortars.

Small arms, large-caliber machineguns and automatic grenade launchers were fired near Luhanske and Novhorodske. Militants fired large-caliber machineguns, and 82mm and 120mm mortars on army positions near Shyrokyne, Hnutove, Pavlopil and Kominternove in the Mariupol area, the report said.

Also, Ukrainian army positions came under attack in the area of Dokuchayevsk and Berezove.
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov has stated the need for strengthening the defense capabilities of Ukraine.

"We must provide our army with the necessary resources and weapons and, finally, decide on pumping up the defense budget instead of debates in parliament," he said.

According to a press release, Turchynov believes Russian President Vladimir Putin started the public blackmailing of Ukraine, saying that shooting in Donbas won't stop until the Constitution of Ukraine is amended and terrorists are amnestied.

"Undertaking responsibility for violation of the ceasefire and the violation of the Minsk agreements, Putin publicly threatened Ukraine with the continuation of military provocations until the Moscow scenario of Ukraine's dismemberment is realized," Turchynov said.

According to him, thus Moscow has demonstrated it is not going to fulfill the Minsk peace agreements, the first provisions of which are ceasefire, the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine and the restoration of Ukrainian control over the eastern border.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko discussed with Ukrainian MP and delegate of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Nadia Savchenko on Saturday the Savchenko-Sentsov list and the ways to free other Ukrainian prisoners, the Ukrainian presidential press service reported.

According to the report, Poroshenko also gave Savchenko congratulations from U.S. Vice-President Joseph Biden and European Parliament President Martin Schulz.

The report also says Poroshenko has discussed with Savchenko the prospects of presentation of Ukraine's position in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.

"I am ready to work. My wish depends on the wish of Ukraine. Because you are now implementing them, I am ready to work where you tell me to," Savchenko said, responding to a question from the president of Ukraine whether she is ready to work on the international track.

The Ukrainian president also offered Savchenko to visit some European countries and meet with European leaders.

Among the meeting participants were also Kostiantyn Yeliseyev and Andriy Taranov, deputy heads of the presidential administration, and presidential press secretary Sviatoslav Tseholko, the report says.
The Ukrainian authorities are ready to collect all convicted fellow citizens serving their prison sentences at Crimean penitentiaries, Ukrainian First Deputy Justice Minister Natalia Sevostyanova said.

"We've been in talks with Russia for two years, trying in every possible way to collect our prisoners. And we were very surprised by the new Russian ombudsman's announcement that they are ready to transfer all Crimean prisoners. I can publicly state today that we are doing everything to collect everyone who is locked up there," Sevostyanova said on the Inter television channel on Sunday evening.

At the same time, Ukraine has yet to receive official documentation on Russia's readiness to hand over Crimean prisoners, but in the past two years it was the opposite: Russia was against such a handover, she said.

"So now we will react promptly and demand fulfillment of the obligations: we are ready to collect everyone simply, unilaterally and provide them with better conditions than in the Russian Federation," Sevostyanova said.
Ukrainian citizens Hennadiy Afanasyev and Yuriy Soloshenko convicted in Russia have filed their pardon appeals with the Russian president, lawyer Alexander Popkov told Interfax on Monday.

"Russian representatives strongly recommended my client in Moscow to write a pardon appeal, and he has done so. He has written an appeal without pleading guilty," said Popkov, who represents the interests of Afanasyev.

Afanasyev was offered to file a pardon appeal with the president "for facilitation of the procedure of transfer to Ukraine, as the simplest method," the lawyer said.

"As far as I know, Yuriy Soloshenko has also written a pardon appeal," the lawyer said.
Convicting all traitors involved in annexation of Crimea is 2016 task

Ukraine's Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko has said that the military prosecution office is working on criminal proceedings against over 700 people who are charged with high treason.

"The military prosecutor's office has launched proceedings against more than 700 people who are charged with high treason," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.

In addition, the prosecutor general said: "We put the task for this year, all the traitors of Ukraine (involved in the annexation of Crimea) should be convicted."
The ambassadors of the G7 countries have noted the importance of the Ukrainian parliament's passing the amendments which deal with judicial reform to the Constitution in their second reading, which is scheduled for next week.

"G7 ambassadors reiterate the importance of the judicial reform in Ukraine, prior to the second reading of the draft law on amending the Constitution of Ukraine at the Verkhovna Rada next week. Judicial reform is a backbone of all the reforms in Ukraine to regain public trust and promote further foreign investments," the G7 ambassadors said in a statement which was passed to Interfax-Ukraine by the Embassy of Japan on Monday.

The diplomats also said they commend and support the efforts of the Ukrainian government, relevant authorities and civil society in Ukraine to implement its reforms and raise awareness of their importance in the society. "We encourage them to continue their efforts, in particular, for a fight against corruption and judicial reform, including the Prosecutor General's Office, as clearly stated in the G7 Ise-Shima Leaders' Declaration at the G7 Summit held in Japan on May 26 and 27, 2016," the ambassadors said.
Lutsenko says he wants to see all Maidan killers tried in court

Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko says that all Maidan-related criminal proceedings should end in court.

"I'd like to see all those who were involved in killings on the Maidan [pro-European and pro-Ukrainian rallies late in 2013 and early in 2014 mainly on Kyiv's Independence Square and the rest of Ukraine's regional centers] to be tried to court," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Monday.

Lutsenko also said he wanted that "a case probing into the creation of a mafia gang [by ex-President Viktor] Yanukovych" and criminal proceedings against former ministers in Mykola Azarov's government be brought to court too.

"I want court hearings on [ex-Interior Minister Vitaliy] Zakharchenko  he is suspected [of committing a crime], but as they report to me, they are not yet ready to present the charges to court because proof is not available now. The same applies to Mr. Boiko [who was energy minister from 2010 to December 2012 and now leads the Opposition Bloc's parliamentary faction], and [former Environment Minister Mykola] Mr. Zlochevsky. And all this concerns many people who were much mentioned at the rostrums, but so little evidence about them has been gathered," Lutsenko said.

In this context, he stressed that it will be the task of all three investigation departments, which will deal with the cases.

Answering a question regarding high-profile cases, Lutsenko said: "I admit some of these cases could be closed [such as Viacheslav Chornovil's death, journalist Georgy Gongadze's murder, the poisoning of third Ukrainian president Viktor Yuschenko]."

"Unfortunately, I cannot provide the feedback on notorious cases and those of public interest that you have mentioned. I haven't got more information on their status [all criminal cases have been handled by generations of prosecutors]. I can guess that some of them  or maybe even all of them  may have even been closed," Lutsenko said in response to a question about whether the investigation of the mentioned criminal cases will continue.

Lutsenko pledged to inform the public about the progress of the said cases.
On Tuesday, May 31, at 12.00, the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency's press centre will host a press conference entitled "'Where Children of ATO Participants Will Spend Their Summer Holidays  Kyiv Authorities Don't Listen to What the Public Wants." Participants will include members of Kyiv City Council of the seventh convocation, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Dnipro Initiative Charity Foundation Anatoliy Velimovsky; volunteer, coordinator of the information center for ATO members under Kyiv City State Administration Natalia Stepanova; Director of District 24 NGO Oleh Chervoniy; families of ATO members who reside in Kyiv, whose children were sent to the seaside town of Lazurne for holidays in 2015 (8/5a Reitarska Street). Admission requires press accreditation. More details by phone: (067) 209 5344.
KYIV. May 30 (Interfax-Ukraine)  The issue of levy to the state fund for financing national expenditures on aviation activity is not regulated by law, President of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) Yuriy Miroshnikov has said.

"The fee we are arguing about was introduced in 1993, but the legal situation during that time has changed. New Air and Tax Codes have been introduced. Next came the dispute with the State Aviation Service, which has not been resolved. A legal analysis showed the fee ceased to correspond to the norms of Ukrainian legislation," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine.

According to Miroshnikov, UIA has repeatedly urged the State Aviation Service to bring regulations into line with legislation, so that airlines could legally pay the fee from revenues for each transported passenger.

"The law requires that such payments should be regulated at the level of law. It is necessary to define the payer, the terms and the procedure. But even if we assume that it [the current norm] can be applied, the procedure remains unregulated. So, we do not know how much to pay. For example, if the charge is set in U.S. dollars, then what exchange rate should we use to calculate it?" Partner of ECOVIS Bondar and Bondar law firm Oleh Bondar stated.
(Global Times) 08:15, May 30, 2016

Industry spokesman claims moves protectionism

China is "strongly dissatisfied" with an investigation by the US International Trade Commission (USITC) into complaints of price fixing by Chinese steelmakers, the Ministry of Commerce(MOFCOM) said on Friday.

"The investigation launched by the US aims to protect its own steel industry amid a weak global economy, " Chen Weidong, a professor at the law school of the Beijing-based University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Friday.

Chen's remarks came after an anonymous official from MOFCOM accused the US of disrupting the trade order instead of resolving the problems of the US steel industry on Friday, adding that the remedial measures, including the probe into China's carbon and alloy steel products, are protectionism imposed by the US to shield its industries.

The USITC announced on Thursday that it would investigate a complaint by the US Steel Corporation of Pittsburgh.

The complaint alleged that Chinese steelmakers and distribution subsidiaries export steel products through unfair acts including price fixing, stealing trade secrets and misrepresentations of the origins of their products to the US.

The conflicts between Chinese steel industry and its US counterpart persist, as China's globally competitive steel industry poses a threat to the US steelmakers, Wu Wenzhang, general manager of Shanghai-based consulting firm Steelhome, told the Global Times on Friday.

This is an example of Western countries' protectionist measures against China's steel exports, law professor Chen claimed, adding that to ease the anger sparked domestically, some countries blame their high unemployment on China.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday that cracking down on China's dumping of surplus steel to Europe will be discussed on the summit, following 12 global steel associations sending a letter to urge the Group of Seven (G7) to prevent surplus cheap Chinese steel disrupting world markets.

"However, whether these G7 countries will actually implement the decisions achieved at the summit still remains to be seen," Chen noted.

The crisis in the European steel market should not be blamed on China as only 14 percent of the steel in Europe comes from China, Hua Chunying, Ministry of Foreign Affairsspokeswoman said at a press briefing on Thursday.

"The relatively cheap price of Chinese steel is a result of normal market-oriented adjustment rather than the alleged manipulations of the government and domestic steelmakers," Chen said.

He added that Chinese steel producers should safeguard their legitimate rights.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (3rd R, front) tightens the screw during his inspection of a construction site of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project near Sultan Halmud, Kenya, May 28, 2016. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Saturday China-funded high speed railway which runs from the coastal city of Mombasa to Nairobi will be completed ahead of the schedule. (Xinhua/Li Baishun)
An enormous black hole has been spotted in the sun - but do not fear, it doesn't spell the end of our solar system.

Instead the giant dark spot is a gap in the sun's corona - its scorching hot atmosphere.

Holes in the sun's atmosphere are a regular feature and Nasa's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has detected a particularly large one covering the northern hemisphere of our star.

This imagery of the sun captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory from May 17-19, 2016, shows a giant dark area on the star's upper half, known as a coronal hole

The coronal hole was spotted using the orbiting telescope, which stares constantly at the sun to monitor its activity, earlier this month.

Coronal holes are regions of the corona - the aura of plasma surrounding the sun - where the magnetic field reaches out into space rather than looping back down onto the sun's surface.

This results in solar material speeding out in a high-speed stream of solar wind.

Footage captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory shows parts of the corona where the particles leave the sun, causing the glow to be much dimmer, so the coronal hole looks dark.

These fast solar winds can interact with Earth's magnetic field, creating a geomagnetic storm - a type of energy which acts like a large battery around the planet and causes magnetic energy to vary.

Geomagnetic storms also cause the Northern Lights to appear.

This video was captured in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths of 193 angstroms  a type of light that is typically invisible to our eyes, but can here be seen as purple.

This is not the first coronal hole to be recorded, it is a fairly regular occurrence. Another coronal hole is pictured here in October 2015

The SDO is a spacecraft that was launched by Nasa in the hopes of understanding the causes of solar variability and its impacts on Earth.

The goal of the SDO is to determine how the Sun's magnetic field is generated and stored, and how this stored magnetic energy is converted and released.

It is hoped that results from the SDO could give us clues on how solar winds can affect communications or satellites near Earth.

These fast solar winds can interact with Earth's magnetic field, creating a geomagnetic storm - a type of energy which acts like a large battery around the planet and causes magnetic energy to vary. This is the process that causes the Northern Lights to appear (pictured)
TIANJIN, May 30, 2016-- Delegates visit the 10th China International Private Equity Forum (CIPEF) in north China's Tianjin Municipality, May 30, 2016. The 10th CIPEF attracting some 4,000 delegates from over 20 countries and regions opened here on Monday. (Xinhua/Bai Yu)
The Philippines has never stopped playing tricks on the South China Sea issue. It is trying its best to cover up history and the facts, and to confuse the international community over the core issue, which is that the Philippines has not only seized some of China's territory, it wants more.

In its arbitration bid, the Philippines has used every means to whitewash the illegitimacy of its actions, and tried to legalize its untenable and illegal proposition through painstakingly packaging a disguised replacement of concept.

At the same time, Manila has tried its best to stigmatize all of China's legal and rational propositions and measures on the South China Sea issue, and portrayed China as an aggressive big power ignoring international law and bullying smaller countries.

The Philippine's arbitration is a provocation and its proposition is full of conflictions and fabrications.

First, the Philippines' various kinds of "evidence" seriously violate the objective truth that the Philippines is in no position to ask for the South China Sea's sovereignty from China. The Philippine's territorial sovereignty is strictly defined by the agreements between the United States and Spain in 1898 and 1900, as well as the agreement between the US and Britain in 1930.

However, since the 1950s the Philippines has coveted China's islands. For this purpose, Manila has made up various kinds of lies, such as Filipinos discovered "terra nullius islands" in the South China Sea, and has offered justifications without any binding power according to international laws, for example the islands are closer to the Philippines than to China so they belong to the Philippines.

After the 1970s, Manila started to transform its intention into action. The Philippines overtly invaded some of China's islands. In this arbitration, Manila lodged a false accusation alleging China has violated the Philippine's maritime interests. It continues to make up a multitude of lies and ridiculous points of view.

For instance, it claims that according to history, China's southern most territory is Hainan Island, and except for Filipino fishermen, no others have ever taken hold of Meiji Reef, and that Taiping Island does not qualify as an island defined by international law.

Second, Manila's appeal intentionally distorts the rules of the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea. The core of the China-Philippine dispute over the South China Sea is the sovereignty dispute over some reefs and islands and the issue of maritime delimitation. And the latter issue cannot be solved without settling the island sovereignty dispute.

Because the arbitration court's jurisdiction is strictly limited, Manila carefully packaged its appeal into an issue that is applicable to the convention. Otherwise, the arbitration court would not handle the sovereignty dispute and maritime delimitation. Manila even alleged it does not seek the arbitration court ruling on which side has sovereignty over the islands, or how to draw the boundary on the sea.

These tricks cannot change the nature of the issue, which is the Philippine's illegal invasion and occupation of China's reefs and islands and its infringement of China's maritime interests.

If the nature of the issue is put squarely on the board, the arbitration court has no jurisdiction, and the international community will see more clearly the historical fact that Philippines has never stopped invading and occupying China's islands and reefs since the end of World War II. The Philippine's unilateral appeal to the arbitration court is a distortion of the convention's principle and spirit.

Manila should be clearheaded that its painstaking performance only exposes its falsehoods and irrationality. Manila should have bilateral negotiations with Beijing on an equal footing and on the basis of international laws. This is the only way to peacefully solve the disputes over sovereignty and maritime interests, which is in line with the interests of all peoples in the region.

The author is a Beijing-based observer of international relations.
A drone caused an airport in Chengdu to close for 80 minutes and 55 flights could not operate normally, according to a report on Caixin.com.

The report citing a statement issued by the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport indicated that staff members of the control tower of the Southwest Air Traffic Management Bureau found on their radar that an unmanned aerial vehicle was flying over runways at the same height of ordinary aircraft near the airport around 6.20 p.m. For safety reasons, the control tower closed the east runway of the airport.

When police came to investigate the incident, they did not find any UAVs nearby. When the control tower found no drones nearby, they reopen the runway and flights operation became normal.

The airport said that this is the first time that a drone has affected normal operation of flights.

Drones threaten aviation security and their management has become a worldwide problem. According to a report in the Washington Post, there have been on average around 100 reports per month mentioning that pilots have come across with drones as recorded by the Federal Aviation Administration in 2015. The frequency is much higher than that in 2014.

The Administration of Civil Aviation of China has regulated that for the sake of safety of carrier aviation flights, drones are banned from flying over the air space of civil airports without permission from the local administration.

By the end of 2015, the China aviation administration worked out a regulation to manage drones according to different categories.

Unveiled documents show that China has become a major civilian drone developer and producer in the world. According to incomplete statistics, at least 400 parties in China develop, manufacture and sell drones.
TEHRAN, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian legislators picked Ali Larijani as the interim speaker of the new Majlis (parliament) on Sunday.

Out of 281 votes, Larijani was elected with 173 votes in favor. The other candidate, Mohammad Reza Aref, who is a reformist politician, won 103 votes.

The interim speaker means the election of a chair temporarily until the lawmakers meet again to elect the final speaker for one year.

A vote for a long-term speaker is due to be held in the next few days, after the full house approves the credentials of individual parliamentarians, as required by Iran's constitution, according to Press TV.

Larijani, who was an independent candidate and favored by the principlist faction in the Majlis, was the speaker of the previous parliaments for several years.

In 2008, 2012 and 2016's parliamentary elections, Larijani won a seat from the religious city of Qom. In May 2008, Larijani became parliament speaker and was reelected for the post in the following years.

On Feb. 26. Iranians voted in parliamentary elections, while the results showed the gain of reformists although they could not seize the majority.

According to the Press TV, in February elections, reformists swept the polls, winning close to 42 percent of the ballots, followed by principlists with nearly 29 percent of the votes, and independents with 22.41 percent.

The remaining seats went to the religious minorities and candidates endorsed by both reformists and principlists. The lawmakers in Iran are elected for four years.

On Sunday vote, which is expected to be repeated for the election of a speaker for one year, independent members were crucial in electing Larijani.

Iran's new Majlis opened on Saturday with top Iranian officials urging Majlis to play active roles in the domestic and international affairs.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the incoming lawmakers to turn the parliament into a locus to serve the country and a stronghold against the excessive demands of arrogant powers.

On Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also said that although Majlis and administration are different institutions, they are bound together in many areas when it comes to the interests of the country.

To tackle the problems of the society, "we are in need of interaction between the government and the Majlis, and we are committed to the laws passed by the parliament although they might be bitter in some areas," he said addressing the opening ceremony of the new parliament.
HOUSTON, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Two people, including one suspect, were killed and six others injured on Sunday in a shooting incident in west Houston, the fourth largest city in the United States.

According to local TV station KHOU, a civilian was shot to death inside a vehicle. One suspect was shot dead by the police and a second suspect was wounded in the shootout and was sent to the hospital in critical condition.

Three civilians were taken to local hospitals for treatment, but their conditions are unclear at this time. Two police officers were also injured.

The active shooter situation was initially reported at Memorial drive and Wilcrest drive in west Houston on Sunday morning. After they were called, Houston police and Houston fire department officers rushed to the scene.

Police said that the neighborhood is now secure and the shelter-in-place has been lifted.

The cause of the shooting is now under investigation.
U.S. President Barack Obama(L) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abefollowing a trilateral meeting with South Korean President Park Geun-hye on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C., the United States, March 31, 2016. (AFP Photo)

WASHINGTON, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, on Saturday criticized U.S. President Barack Obama for visiting Hiroshima while neglecting to mention the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

"Does President Obama ever discuss the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor while he's in Japan? Thousands of American lives lost," Trump said on his Twitter.

Obama on Friday became the first incumbent U.S. president to visit Hiroshima since his country dropped an atomic bomb on the city 71 years ago in order to accelerate the end of World War Two (WWII), which was partially waged by Japan.

However, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he had no specific plans to visit Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, which was attacked by the Japanese military on Dec. 7, 1941, killing more than 2,400 people and leading Washington's entry into WWII.

As many observers and U.S. local media have pointed out, with the end of Obama's last term in office approaching in January 2017, he hopes to cement his legacy as an advocate of nuclear disarmament by claiming the title of the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima.

On the Japanese side, Tokyo wants to take Obama to Hiroshima, not because it wants an apology or calls for a nuclear-free world. Instead, Japan is more interested in highlighting the tragedy of Hiroshima while ignoring the sufferings of countries that it brutalized before and during WWII.

Japan is trying to downplay its role as an aggressor and attempting to portray itself as a victim, observers believe.
BEIJING, May 29 -- The United States' more frequent military moves in the South China Sea in violation of international law and in defiance of protests from a sovereign country concerned, only leads to escalation of tensions in the region.

Over recent years, the United States has insisted on its military operations across the South China Sea, with some senior U.S. officials making statements saying that such moves will be even more frequent in future.

Some Western media on Sunday called the recent U.S. military moves in the South China Sea the "new normal" in spite of continuous opposition from China.

A former U.S. defense official, quoted by media reports, said what's the United States doing was for "freedom of navigation" and "following the rules."

By launching frequent moves in the South China Sea one after another, Washington is just deliberately blurring the distinction between commercial navigation and military operation in the region. But such unlawful moves by the United States can never serve to cover up its gross violation of other countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity, or to whitewash its excessive ambition of maintaining a dominant presence in the region.

In the name of "freedom of navigation or overflight," Washington repeatedly shows its force as a global sheriff, neglecting the fact that the South China Sea had enjoyed decades of peace and commercial prosperity before the 1970s.

Launching the "Freedom of Navigation (FON)" program in 1979 under the Jimmy Cater administration, Washington just wants to legitimize its undeserved interests around the world depending on its military supremacy.

Furthermore, Washington has always pointed its finger at China, saying the Asian country's development in the South China Sea inflames regional tension. But such accusations can't hold water either.

In fact, despite the complicated territorial rows between China and some of its neighbors, China has kept exercising restraint and has meanwhile devoted a lot to consultation with other related parties in order to peacefully settle disputes.

As an advocate of freedom of navigation, China also views the South China Sea vital to global trade and its own development, and consequently has no reason to unsettle the region.

Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United NationsOffice at Geneva, said on Friday that the South China Sea issue must be resolved peacefully through constructive and meaningful negotiations with neighboring countries.

"To uphold freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea is not only an obligation under the international laws. It is also in line with China's own interests, as well as the interests of all countries in the region," Ma said.

It is advisable for the United States, an outside party, to halt its interference in the South China Sea.

Moreover, Uncle Sam's play of political brinkmanship in the South China Sea should come to an end for the sake of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the hard-won mutual trust with China.
A file photo of Chen Nengkuan.

Chinese physicist Chen Nengkuan, who made great contributions to the country's nuclear weapons research, has passed away at the age of 94.

Chen had long been engaged in research on metal physics and material science.

His research made significant contributions to the study and manufacture of China's atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs.

In 1999, he obtained the "Two-bombs and One-star Achievement Medal."

It's China's top award for its nuclear weapons scientists.
DHAKA, May 29 -- China and Bangladesh vowed here Sunday to further boost exchange and cooperation between the two militaries.

The pledge came after Chang Wanquan, China's defense minister, met with Bangladesh's Chief of Army Staff General Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Hug, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Nizamuddin Ahmed and Chief of Air Staff Marshal Abu Esrar respectively.

The visiting Chinese defense minister said the cooperation in the sectors of politics, economy and trade, and culture between the two sides have scored great achievements since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1975.

Cultivated and pushed by the leaders of the two countries, the development of the military ties between the two countries has maintained good momentum with cooperation in all fields further deepening, Chang said.

The Chinese military is willing to work together with the Bangladesh military to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinpingand Bangladesh Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, boost strategic exchange and mutual support, broaden personnel training and cooperation in equipment technology, promote exchanges between the young military officers of the two countries and push forward the comprehensive development of bilateral ties, the Chinese minister added.

Calling China a trust-worthy strategic partner, the Bangladeshi military leaders said the two countries have developed high-level political mutual trust and conducted fruitful economic and trade cooperation.

The Bangladeshi side appreciates the long-term support and help offered by China, and firmly supports China in safeguarding its core national interests.

The Bangladeshi military is willing to make joint efforts with China to strengthen exchange of visits at various levels and boost cooperation in the fields of personnel training, peacekeeping, military medical care and military equipment so as to further promote their military ties.

The Chinese minister arrived here on Saturday for a visit. Before the meetings, Chang laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider in Dhaka.
Chinese peacekeeping force. (Photo/Xinhua)

From 2016 to 2018, China will bear 10.2 percent of the UN Peacekeeping assessed contributions, only second to the U.S., said UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous while being interviewed by a Chinese media outlet on May 29, 2016.

Under the invitation of the Chinese government, Ladsous will visit China soon. On this trip, he hopes to discuss with China about the construction of an 8,000 member standby peacekeeping troop which China promised last year at the UN Peacekeeping Summit.

Ladsous said that among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, China tops in number of peacekeepers sent to other countries, meanwhile, China is the second-largest donor country for peacekeeping operations. Chinese peacekeepers are well-trained, well-equipped and are fully prepared for peacekeeping tasks. According to UN statistics, currently, about 3,000 Chinese peacekeepers operate in South Sudan, Lebanon, Mali and other countries and regions.

As China has a comprehensive peacekeeping personnel training center, the UN is interested in cooperating with China in this regard, said Ladsous.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30



Trend:



Azerbaijan's economic policy is based not only on the practice of using oil revenues, Ali Hasanov, the Azerbaijani president's aide for public and political affairs, said in an interview with ANS TV channel.



Hasanov said that the first oil revenues received approximately since 2003 are used for economy's diversification, non-oil sector's development.



The potential of the Azerbaijani population is also used for the development of the country's economy, he added.



Hasanov noted that in 2014 Azerbaijan faced the global crisis that has been observed since 2008 and a sharp decline in oil prices.



"However, until that the government has taken the necessary steps," he said. "First of all, oil revenues were effectively invested in Azerbaijan's economy."



"Look at how many industrial parks have been created in Azerbaijan," said Ali Hasanov adding that there was a time when Azerbaijan imported all food from foreign countries.



"Currently, we manufacture them ourselves," he added. "Azerbaijan made serious investments in agriculture over this period."



A serious impetus to the development of non-oil sector and private entrepreneurship was given in the country, he added.



"Today 80 percent of Azerbaijan's GDP is formed by the private sector," said Hasanov. "The share of non-oil sector in Azerbaijan's economy has already exceeded 50 percent, and currently, the country's dependence on oil is less than 50 percent."



Azerbaijan was prepared and was able to get out of the situation of falling oil prices.



Speaking about social projects, Hasanov said that all social projects planned for 2016 within the president's social policy are being implemented. He added that implementation of some projects has been canceled, but they will be implemented in the future.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30

By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:

Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov will take part in the Azerbaijan-NATO meeting, to be held on May 31 in Brussels, the Foreign Ministry's press service said May 30.

Elmar Mammadyarov will address the North Atlantic Council and hold a number of bilateral meetings.

Azerbaijan is an active partner of NATO in peacekeeping operations. The cooperation is carried out as part of the "Partnership for Peace" program.

The Azerbaijani foreign minister's meeting with the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (MG) on Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is also expected within the visit.

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.

Edited by SI
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30

Trend:

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received National Security Advisor of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Hanif Atmar.

The president recalled the visit of President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mohammad Ashraf Ghani and hailed it as successful and fruitful.

President Aliyev said very good relations were established between the two countries at the level of presidents. The president touched upon the discussions with the president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and said he was deeply impressed with the steps taken by President Ghani to strengthen security in Afghanistan and maintain the country's development as well as his remarks about the future of Afghanistan.

President Aliyev hailed friendly and fraternal relations between the two countries and said Azerbaijan would always stand by Afghanistan. The president stressed the importance of Atmar's visit in terms of continuing the discussions on the development of the existing relations and cooperation between the two countries.

Atmar conveyed greetings and best wishes of President Ghani to the Azerbaijani president. He said President Ghani as first president was proud of his meeting with the president of Azerbaijan. Atmar said his country`s president highly appreciated the role of President Aliyev in strengthening unity among Islamic countries.

They exchanged views over the prospects of cooperation between the two countries in various areas.

The president expressed gratitude for the greetings of President Ghani and asked the national security advisor to communicate his greetings to the Afghan leader.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30

By Anakhanum Idayatova - Trend:

Russian community in Azerbaijan is an island of tranquility and wellbeing, Vladimir Dorokhin, Russia's ambassador to Azerbaijan, told reporters in Baku.

The ambassador attended the conference of public organizations of Russian compatriots on May 30.

Dorokhin said that Azerbaijan conducts work to preserve traditions and cultures of different peoples and nationalities.

"I do not think that there are many countries in the world that would have moral right to announce the whole year a Year of multiculturalism," noted the diplomat.

Russia is interested to see Russians living in Azerbaijan can realize their full potential, he added.

The envoy noted also that the Russian community and diaspora in Azerbaijan unite Russians, and they are not separated like in other countries.

"We don't have to fight here for the political rights of our compatriots; we don't need to work hard to solve their problems, to achieve teaching in Russian language," said Dorokhin, adding that all this is remarkably managed in Azerbaijan.

"We work only for positive results, to use this potential for the development of the Azerbaijani-Russian relations, which Baku is also interested in," noted the ambassador.

Edited by SI

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Follow the author on Twitter: @Anahanum
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30

Trend:

Eight-year-old citizen of Russia Luca Rubenovich Vardanyan, who arrived with his mother in Azerbaijan and was stopped for clarifying the formal issues at the Baku airport is in Baku at this moment with his parent, Russian embassy in Azerbaijan told Trend.

Thus, the Armenian media reports that allegedly the Armenian boy was denied entry to Azerbaijan was refuted.

Commenting on the issue, the Russian embassy said that on May 29, at about 13:00, the embassy received a phone call, saying that the eight-year-old Russian citizen, who has arrived in Baku, had problems during the passport control at the Baku International Airport with entry to Azerbaijan.

"The embassy staff member immediately arrived at the airport. In coordination with local authorities, the boy was allowed to enter the country and currently, the boy and his mother are in Baku", the embassy said.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 30

By Demir Azizov- Trend:

GM Uzbekistan, the former UzDaewooAuto, started the serial production of third-generation Nexia cars, Uzavtoprom (Uzbek Association of Automotive Industry Enterprises) said.

The new model is produced on the basis of T-250 (Chevrolet Aveo) platform. The cars will be sold under the Ravon Nexia R3 brand for export and under the Chevrolet Nexia brand on the local market.

The project on the serial production of the T-250 car model costs $104.2 million. The design capacity of the new production is 73,600 cars a year.

GM Uzbekistan financed this project.

GM Uzbekistan, formerly known as UzDaewooAuto, was created in 1996 on a parity basis by Uzbekistan and South Korean Daewoo Motors.

In 2005, Uzbekistan acquired Daewoo's shares in UzDaewooAuto. In 2007, Uzavtoprom (Uzbek Association of Automotive Industry Enterprises) and the U.S.-based General Motors signed an agreement to establish the GM Uzbekistan with an authorized capital of $266.7 million.

General Motors owns 25 percent shares in the GM Uzbekistan plus one share with a possibility of increasing it to 40 percent. At the moment, 75 percent of the shares belong to the Uzavtoprom.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30

By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:

Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR will not close its representative office in Greece until the deal on SOCAR's purchasing the share in Greece's gas transmission system operator DESFA is completed, Greek media reported May 30.

Earlier, Azerbaijan's ambassador to Switzerland Akram Zeynalli in an interview with the Swiss Russian-language edition "Nasha Gazeta" said that SOCAR has closed its official representative office in Geneva due to drop in oil prices. Zeynalli added that offices of SOCAR Trading and SOCAR Energy Switzerland will continue their work. SOCAR Energy Switzerland manages the company's filling stations network in this country.

Commenting on the information about closing of company's representative office in Switzerland, SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev said that the decision on suspension of activities of SOCAR's all foreign offices was made in December 2015.

"Functions of representative offices passed to the Baku office and companies, which are fully owned by SOCAR," explained Abdullayev adding that SOCAR like any other company made appropriate decisions in response to the fall in commodity prices.

SOCAR won a tender in 2013 on the purchase of a 66-percent stake in DESFA for 400 million euros.

The European Commission started an inquiry into the compliance of the DESFA deal with the EU regulations in November 2014.

Currently, the deal is being considered by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition.

Earlier, Azerbaijan's Energy Minister Natig Aliyev said that the deal on SOCAR's purchasing the 66-percent share in Greece's gas transmission system operator DESFA will be completed after Italy's Snam purchases 17 percent of that share.

Edited by SI

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Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30

By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:

SOCAR Trading SA, the marketing arm of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India's ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) Videsh Limited, SOCAR Trading's message said.

The two companies agreed to collaborate in the oil and gas sector by mutually sharing their experience in optimizing sales revenues and their portfolios, said the message.

ONGC is India's largest oil and gas exploration and production company. The company meets about 30 percent of India's crude oil demand.

Headquartered in Geneva, SOCAR Trading was incorporated in December 2007 as the marketing arm of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) with a mandate to market Azeri barrels produced from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field and other surrounding fields in Azerbaijan.

While the company continues to market the bulk of SOCAR crude oil export volumes from Ceyhan port in Turkey, it has also been able to develop significant third party volumes through both leveraging its system barrels, as well as its experienced traders developing new business. SOCAR Trading's activities cover countries of Europe, Asia and the US.

Edited by SI
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, May 30

By Huseyn Hasanov - Trend:

Turkmenistan's Turkmenbashi Complex of Oil Refineries (TCOR) became one of the shareholders of the newly-created Turkmen Petroleum trading company headquartered in Dubai (UAE), said the message from Turkmen Petroleum.

Additionally, the company's representative offices have been opened in Ashgabat, Frankfurt am Main and Tallinn.

The purpose is to expand the presence of TCOR on the international markets, said the message.

TCOR will trade its products through the Turkmen Petroleum on conditions of delivering to the final destination.

Turkmenbashi Complex of Oil Refineries has enterprises in Turkmenbashi and Seydi cities of Turkmenistan. The products of those plants are exported to Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Georgia, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland.

Turkmenistan plans to bring the capacity of its oil production industry to 20 million tons of oil in 2020, 22 million tons in 2025 and 30 million tons in 2030.

Currently, the country produces around 10 million tons of oil per year.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30

By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:

The Islamic Republic of Iran has exported ten billion kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity to regional countries over the last Iranian calendar year (ended March 20), an Iranian deputy minister said.

Houshang Falahatian has said that currently Iran exchanges electricity with Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Iraq and Turkey, ILNA news agency reported.

Addressing a two-day conference on energy in Tehran, the deputy minister said that the ministry has installed facilities with a capacity for producing 37,000 MW in its power plants over the last several years.

The official further predicted that the country's capacity for generating electricity will reach 100,000 MW by 2020 from the current 74,000 MW.

Iran and Azerbaijan plan to connect their electricity networks. The two countries signed a MoU on electricity swap last December, which envisages linking the two countries' power networks and exchange of electricity.

According to Mahmoud Vaezi, Iran's ICT minister, the connection of Iranian and Azerbaijani power networks will also lead to linking them with Russian and Georgian electricity networks.

Early in February Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Natig Aliyev said that Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia are working on the establishment of the North-South energy corridor among the three countries.
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali-Akbar Salehi said on Monday that agreement on supply of 40 tons heavy water to Russia has not been finalized yet, IRNA reported.

Salehi was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony for signing a cooperation agreement between the AEOI and the Ministry of Petroleum on different scientific and research areas, particularly those related to production of ultra centrifuges.

Russia demanded 40 tons heavy water from Iran, Salehi said.

However, he noted that Iran and Russia are still in talks and the negotiations are not finalized yet.

He said, in the meantime, that Iran and Russia are currently involved in cooperation to produce stable isotopes in Fordo site, central Iran.

Asked about selling Iranian heavy water to the US, Salehi said that the US is required to pay the bill in advance prior to shipment of the heavy water.

'We must make sure about the payment. Otherwise, we will not deliver heavy water to the US.'

Salehi said that after the seizure of two billion dollars of Iranian assets by the US government, he asked his colleagues at the AEOI to refrain from sending the cargo to the US.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30



By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:



President Hassan Rouhani said that people of Iran voiced their wishes by attending the recent round of elections for parliament and the Assembly of Experts in the country.



Addressing a gathering of people in the northwestern city of Orumiyeh, President Rouhani said that people voted in favor of the improvement of economic situation in the country, state-run TV IRINN reported.



Saying that 62 percent of eligible voters attended the recent poles in the country, he added that people urged for unity among officials of the Islamic Republic.



President further added that people said "no to extremism" through the elections.



People are not in the favor of creating gaps between Iran and the rest of the world, Rouhani added.



The 290-member parliament was inaugurated May 29 with the participation of 265 MPs and a number of senior officials of the Islamic Republic.



Earlier in late February Iranians voted in two crucial elections for parliament and the Assembly of Experts as the country looks to a post-sanction period to rebuild its economy and shape its relations with the outside world.



President Hassan Rouhnai arrived in West Azerbaijan Province this morning as part of his provincial visits.
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30



By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:



Iranian Foreign Minsiter Mohammad Javad Zarif said that international banks are concerned over re-establishing ties with Iran due to heavy penalties introduced by the US.



US Secretary of State John Kerry has issued several announcements regarding banking ties with Iran but international banks are still concerned, Zarif said at a meeting with a group of Iranian entrepreneurs in Poland.



In a bid to address concerns of overdoing business in Iran, the US Secretary of State John Kerry met with heads of some of European banks in London on May 12 where he reassured that the bankers are not going to be held to some undefined and inappropriate standards.



Zarif said that the problem is that the US government has not taken measures regarding the issue and the US Department of State is not in charge of lifting the sanctions.



Other departments of the US government and the US Court have key roles in the issue of the removal of sanctions, Zarif added.



Meanwhile the international banks do not trust the US, the foreign minister noted.



The Iranian minister further stated that during the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini's mid-April visit to Tehran the issue of banking ties was significantly discussed and the EU is making efforts to remove the obstacles but it will take a while to resolve the problems.



He also called for expansion of bilateral ties between the private sectors of Iran and the EU.



Zarif arrived in Polish capital Warsaw on the first leg of his tour to the north of the Europe May 29. Finland, Sweden and Latvia will be the next destinations of Iranian foreign minister during his tour.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the second leg of his trip to Europe, arrived in Finland's capital Helsinki on Monday, IRNA reported.

Zarif is expected to address the Helsinki Policy Forum on Tuesday morning.

The foreign minister is also scheduled to meet with former Finland president and the country's parliament speaker.

He will also confer with Finish Foreign Minister Timo Soini and will attend a joint press conference along with his counterpart.

Zarif is also expected to attend Iran and Finland trade-economic forum during the trip there.

Iran's top diplomat, heading a politico-economic delegation left Tehran on Sunday to visit Poland, Finland, Sweden and Latvia respectively.

In the first leg of his tour to Europe, he visited Poland and discussed issues of mutual interest with polish officials.
President Hassan Rouhani on Monday hailed the post-JCPOA era as opening up unique opportunity for Iran to attract foreign investment, IRNA reported.

Speaking in a meeting with the businessmen and investors in the north-western province of West Azarbaijan, Rouhani said that just four month following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action, we have seen good progress in the country as a large number of foreign trade and political delegations have visited Iran.

These are indicative of a new beginning in the country, the President said.

Rouhani referred to the good ties between Iran and neighboring countries and called on the Iranian traders and businessmen to seize the remarkable opportunity and export agricultural products to neighboring countries, including Russia.

Iran is involved in talk with several countries including India to boost economic ties and attract investment, Rouhani noted.
Seven senior Daesh commanders, including the organization's intelligence and security chief, were killed in an airstrike by the Iraqi air force in western Iraq on Monday, a press service for the Iraqi military and security bodies said.

According to the press service, the airstrike targeted IS leaders in the western Anbar province, on the border with Syria. There were commanders of large Daesh armed groups operating in Iraq and Syria, as well as the head of a Sharia court in the so-called "Euphrates Province" - a large area straddling Iraq and Syria that Daesh has declared as an administrative division of its "Caliphate."
Baku, Azerbaijan, May 30

By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:

Turkey and Russia need each other, TRT Haber TV channel reported May 30 citing Numan Kurtulmush, Turkish deputy prime minister, as saying.

Kurtulmush said that the Turkey-Russia relations have been developing in many fields [before the incident with the downed Russian Su-24 bomber].

"As earlier, Turkey claims that when Russian SU-24 bomber was shot down, Ankara had no idea whose bomber it was," Kurtulmush said.

Kurtulmush also expressed hope that Ankara and Moscow will be able to resolve their differences in relations through dialogue.

Relations between Russia and Turkey deteriorated after Turkish Air Force shot down a Russian SU-24 bomber on Nov. 24, 2015. Turkey said the bomber entered its airspace, while Russia denied its warplane flying into the Turkish skies.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
Under its new government, Turkey will have five priorities - economic growth, ending terrorism in the southeast, a new constitution, new foreign policy approaches, and ensuring social cohesion - said the government spokesman Monday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Fresh off winning a vote of confidence in parliament, the new government held its first cabinet meeting Monday chaired by new PM Binali Yildirim in the capital Ankara.

"This new government can be called a 'reform, breakthrough, and action government'," Deputy Prime Minister and spokesman Numan Kurtulmus told reporters after the meeting.

"Turkey will achieve a production revolution during the 65th government and will become the world's 10th-largest economy," he pledged.

On terrorism, he reiterated, "There will be no tolerance for the terrorist organization [PKK] that would harm the unity of our nation". He stressed that they will end terrorism as an issue.

"The new government aims to wipe out the scourge of terrorism and will establish peace again."

Kurtulmus emphasized that the new government will ensure a lasting solution to terrorism "by any means necessary".

Kurtulmus also gave the latest figures on damage in Turkey's southeast in the wake of terrorist actions there.

Kurtulmus said that according to an Environment Ministry report, 6,320 buildings were damaged amid the fighting in five southeastern towns, including Sur, Silopi, Cizre, Idil, and Yuksekova, while at least 11,000 apartments were affected. He estimated the cost of demolishing and rebuilding the affected structures in those districts at approximately 855 million Turkish lira ($289 million).

The PKK - listed as a terrorist organization also by the U.S. and the EU - resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, more than 500 members of the security forces, including soldiers, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred, and over 4,900 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.

On other goals, Kurtulmus said that a new constitution and adopting a presidential system will be among the new government's priorities.

Turkey's current constitution came into effect in the wake of a 1980 military coup, and the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party has long called for a "democratic, participatory and pluralistic" new constitution.

"We will complete all political reforms that were promised before," said Kurtulmus.

As for foreign policy, he said that they will find new ideas to solve "gradually worsening foreign policy problems" and contribute to peace and stability in the region, and the world at large.

"Our goal in foreign policy is to find new perspectives to solve ongoing problems and to ensure lasting peace."

Touching on social cohesion, Kurtulmus said that the new government respects all different faiths, sects, and ethnic backgrounds.

Asked about early election rumors, he said the government has no plans for early polls.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that more awareness is needed to prevent the terrorist organization PKK from recruiting young and underage members.

"The separatist terror organization [PKK] drags these young people to a bitter fate by recruiting, poisoning, and using them," Erdogan told a ceremony marking the anniversary of the founding of TURGEV, the Service for Youth and Education Foundation of Turkey.

Erdogan said that ignorance is the main culprit for young people joining the PKK. "We need to raise awareness to prevent that," Erdogan said.

The PKK - listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the EU - resumed its 30-year armed campaign against the Turkish state in July 2015.

Since then, more than 500 security personnel, including troops, police officers, and village guards, have been martyred and over 4,900 PKK terrorists killed in operations across Turkey and northern Iraq.
Another suspect in last October's bomb attack that killed more than 100 people in the Turkish capital Ankara has been remanded in custody, security sources said on Monday.

The suspect, Haci Ali Durmaz, who had been detained in Turkey's southeastern Gaziantep province, was remanded in custody after appearing in an Ankara court on Monday, said security sources who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety reasons.

Durmaz was charged with murder, attempted murder and "aiming to undermine the constitutional order".

The sources added that the number of the imprisoned with regards to the case had increased to 10.

In October 2015, more than 100 people were killed by twin bomb attacks at a peace rally in Ankara. The attack was blamed on the terrorist group Daesh.
Adoption agencies look out for the best interest of the child as its one and only priority when selecting adopters. (Photo : Getty Images)

Adoptions in China have been on a decline, following the relaxation of the country's one-child policy, wrote China Daily.



Child adoption cases by Chinese families have fallen to 17,201 in 2015 from 29,618 five years earlier, per figures disclosed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.



"The fall in the number of adoptions is the result of economic growth, improvements to the social welfare system and adjustment of the family planning policy," a director at the ministry was quoted as saying in the China Daily report.



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"People's attitude to having children has also changed, and fewer parents are abandoning their children, [resulting] in fewer eligible adoptees at welfare institutions," said the director, who refused to be named.



Last year, China lifted its 35-year-old one-child policy, allowing parents to have two children.



In a statement, the Communist Party of China said via Xinhua that the move to scrap its decades-long policy was "intended to balance population development and address the challenge of an ageing population."



The decline in adoption cases is seen to continue in the wake of the implementation of the new family planning policy, noted Tong Xiaojun, director of the China Research Institute of Children and Adolescents, in the China Daily report.



Tong said that there are two types of families seeking to adopt. First are those who are unable to have their own babies due to biological constraints. Second are couples who have a solo child but want to have another one yet could not do so because of the then existing policy.



"Many families in China want two children, a boy and a girl, to make a 'perfect family,'" Tong said. "The Chinese written character for 'boy' and the character for 'girl' when put together form the character for 'good,' adding to the allure."



Meanwhile, the Ministry of Civil Affairs is looking to amend its policy to make adoption easier for interested and qualified parents.


Alibaba Shares Tumbled in Wake of Accounting Probe by US Watchdogs

Alibaba is facing an investigation by U.S. regulators. (Photo : Reuters)

Facing an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, Alibaba saw its shares tumble 6.8 percent on May 25, Wednesday, the biggest drop since January.



Previously, reports circulated that the e-commerce giant was being probed by U.S. regulators on its accounting practices. Alibaba confirmed the rumors, saying that an investigation was launched by the SEC this year.



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"Earlier this year, the SEC informed us that it was initiating an investigation into whether there have been any violations of the federal securities laws," a spokesperson for Alibaba was quoted as saying in a report by the BBC.



"The SEC advised us that the initiation of a request for information should not be construed as an indication by the SEC or its staff that any violation of the federal securities laws has occurred."



Specifically, the U.S. regulators are questioning Alibaba's records for Singles' Day, which beats Black Friday as the world's biggest shopping sale.



The Chinese company is also being assessed for its consolidation methods for Cainiao Network, Alibaba's logistics unit.



In the wake of these events, analysts are saying that investors need to think carefully about their stocks in Alibaba.



"I think it's a really tough one. The flipside of what we're talking about is this is a company that just grew 40 percent and is only trading at 20 times [earnings]," Wedbush Securities' technology analyst Gil Luria told CNBC.



Meanwhile, independent analyst Yin Sheng said in a China Daily report that some investors are already re-evaluating their shares in Internet companies, following China's economic slowdown. An indication of this is the curtailed overseas expansion plan of such firms.



"With the slowing of China's economic growth and limitation on business--most of them haven't expanded outside China--investors seem to have started to re-evaluate such shares," Yin said.



Other market analysts, however, remain optimistic with Alibaba.



Morgan Stanley's Robert Lin said that his group is "positive on Alibaba given its increased transparency and disclosures on Cainiao and other related parties."


The Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) topped the list of the world's 10 biggest banks, ahead of other U.S. banks and institutions. (Photo : Reuters)

Chinese banks lead the list of the world's biggest banks, while U.S. banks trail behind other global competitors.



According to the most recent rankings from S&P Global Market Intelligence, eight of the 10 leading banks in the world are not based in the U.S.



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A report by CNBC said that JPMorgan Chase, the biggest U.S. financial institution, is ranked seventh, after dropping down a notch, while Bank of America is the only other U.S. institution in the list.



The report said that JPMorgan Chase would have been in a higher slot if it used the same accounting rules used by foreign competitors, in which bank assets are computed using accounting principles that are generally used.



Only four U.S. banks are in the top 20 banks, and only six in the top 50, the report said. These include Wells Fargo at No. 11, Citigroup at No. 13, Goldman Sachs at No. 28 and Morgan Stanley at No. 38.



China, on the other hand, has taken the top four spots and 11 slots in the top 50. These banks are Industrial & Commercial Bank of China at No. 1, China Construction Bank at No. 2, Agricultural Bank of China at No. 3 and Bank of China at the No. 4.



This trend came as banks at Wall Street were calling for downsizing or breaking up, although most shareholders do not favor breakups. The U.S. government, however, continues to put pressure on banks regarding downsizing.



"It's public policy. The public policy is working," said Dick Bove, a bank analyst and vice president of equity research at Rafferty Capital Markets. "The U.S. banks are shrinking while the Chinese, the French have no such desire. The net effect is you get a shift in global financial power. It goes away from those countries which are shrinking in size and is picked up by those countries which are expanding in size."



Bove was one of those fighting against the strong political pressure asking big institutions to downsize.



"If you keep trying to shrink the biggest banks in your system, you're going to reduce lending, you're going to reduce the money supply and you're going to harm the economy," Dove added. "It's definitely supported by every element in society. The Congress, the president, the regulators, the public, the press--everybody believes that smaller banks are better for the United States. They just have not thought through the issue."


British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond on Sunday welcomed "progress" in Yemen peace talks, saying a solution to the conflict in the battered Arabian Peninsula country must be political, not military.

Speaking in Saudi Arabia at the start of a three-day visit to Gulf monarchies, Hammond also said world powers will not "turn a blind eye" to attempts by Iran to destabilise the region.

"In Yemen, progress is being made and we recognise the efforts of the Gulf states, and I have to give particular thanks to Kuwait for hosting the peace negotiations," Hammond told a news conference in Jeddah.

"All of us must continue to work towards a settlement," he told reporters, flanked by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

"There is no military alternative to a political settlement in Yemen and there is now a need to win the peace particularly by helping Yemen with stabilisation and humanitarian aid," Hammond said.

His comments come days after the UN special envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, also spoke about progress in the five-week-old talks under way in Kuwait between the Yemeni government and Iran-backed Shia Houthi rebels and their allies.

"The discussions have become more sensitive and delicate bringing us closer to a comprehensive agreement," the UN envoy said on Wednesday.

The apparent progress comes after Foreign Minister Abdulmalek al-Mikhlafi said on Monday that the government stood ready to make concessions for the sake of peace.

Despite a 14-month-old Saudi-led military intervention in support the government, the rebels and their allies still control many of Yemen's most populous regions, including the capital Sanaa.

Hammond said he was reassuring his Gulf counterparts that world powers are closely monitoring Iran in the wake of last year's nuclear deal which paved the way for a partial lifting of sanctions.

"Just because we've made an agreement with Iran on its nuclear programme does not mean that we will turn a blind eye to Iran's continuing attempts to destabilise the region or to its ballistic missiles programme which remains a serious threat to peace and which breaches UN resolutions," Hammond said.

Jubeir, whose country is Iran's regional rival, said: "We supported that agreement so long as we were assured that Iran will not be able to acquire a nuclear capability.

"They are, after all, a neighbour and we will have to live with them. But it's difficult to live with a neighbour whose objective is to destroy you: that's why the relation with Iran is not what it should be."

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The speaker of Egypt's parliament Ali Abdel-Aal has caused a row after accusing independent research centres of trying to disrupt the country's institutions

In a statement on Sunday, the speaker of Egypt's parliament Ali Abdel-Aal dismissed claims that he has a private Facebook account.

"The speaker of Egypt's parliament Ali Abdel-Aal dismisses claims that he has a private Facebook or Twitter account and that what has been published by some media outlets in this respect is completely unfounded," a statement by the parliament's secretariat-general said on Sunday.

The statement added that the "speaker of Egypt's parliament has by no means any relation with what was published on these "fake accounts" and that they are not official in nature and only express the opinion of those who created them."

The statement also urged media outlets to seek accuracy and credibility when it comes to publishing news about Egypt's House of Representatives.

"Those who fail to adhere to accuracy could face legal action and they should be well aware of this," the statement said.

Abdel-Aal, who is currently attending a conference for Mediterranean parliaments in Morocco, also opened a front against what he called "anti-national research centres."

In a plenary session on 22 May, Abdel-Aal accused "some centres" of leading an orderly campaign aimed at disrupting the performance of Egypt's parliament and other state institutions. 

"These centres organise training courses for MPs to teach them how to disrupt Egypt's legislative authority and demolish other state institutions," said Abdel-Al, adding that "they are part of an orderly foreign campaign against Egypt's parliament and they receive assistance from some at home to disrupt the state's constitutional institutions."

Abdel-Aal charged that "some MPs have joined training courses in these research centres without having adequate information about their poisonous intentions."

"I am not trying to raise doubts on the national loyalty of any of the MPs, but I just want to warn them that these centres handle information that pose a big threat to national security and urge MPs to reject the state budget for political interests and is based on incorrect dates," Abdel-Aal said.

Abdel-Aal warned that MPs who take part in these courses would be referred to the ethics committee.

"I do not want to silence criticism of the state budget and the government's monetary policy in parliament, but I warn MPs who might use "incorrect information" about the monetary policy to disrupt the state's institutions," Abdel-Al said.

Abdel-Aal said he has "a complete dossier" about the research centres which organise training courses that target the country's national security.

"The house's secretariat-general will announce the complete list of these centres in due time," said Abdel-Al, explaining that parliament's special training centres will give MPs all the courses necessary to help them review the budget and analyse its items.

Parliament's secretariat-general announced that a large number of MPs attended a two-day training workshop on "the state budget and balance sheet."

"A number of high-profile economists like Osman Mohamed Osman, a former minister of planning, gave lectures to a significant number of MPs on 25 and 26 May on how to make a critical review of the state budget and balance sheet," parliament's secretariat-general said.

Abdel-Aal's attack against "research centres" has caused mixed reactions among MPs.

Taher Abu Zeid, an independent MP and a former minister of sports, said "he agrees with Abdel-Aal that some MPs have joined "well-paid" courses from some research centres and it is highly dangerous that these centres use "incorrect information" and urge MPs to reject the state budget for political reasons."

Abu Zeid cited Abdel-Al as telling him that "some foreign centres have invited a number of MPs to travel abroad and take courses that imperil Egypt's national security and that he would not forgive this."

By contrast, Haitham Al-Hariri, a leftist MP, told a TV channel that "Abdel-Aal's accusations should be completely rejected."

"Before the speaker opens fire on any MPs, he should first announce the names of "the anti-Egypt centres and the names of MPs who received training in these centres," said Hariri.

Al-Hariri said a leftist parliamentary group known by the name of the 25-30 Group has submitted an official request to Abdel-Al, asking him to disclose the names of "the anti-Egypt centres and the MPs who received training in there."

Some MPs, who asked not to be identified, told Ahram Online that "when Abdel-Al was speaking about "research centres" he was meaning Al-Ahram's Centre for Political and Strategic Centres (ACPSS) which organised some training courses for MPs in the Red Sea resort of Ain Al-Sokhna two weeks ago.

MPs also disclosed that Abdel-Aal was up in arms "because one of the professors in these courses was leftist economist Abdel-Khaleq Farouk who accused Egypt's new state budget of being biased against the poor."

In a quick reaction to Abdel-Aal's accusations, Diaa Rashwan, the director of the Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, told reporters this week that ACPSS is one of the world's high-profile independent research centres.

"Training courses are a basic part of ACPSS's activity and we just help new MPs on how to review the budget, but never to disrupt state institutions," Rashwan said.

"I want to make it clear that ACPSS is one of Egypt's state authorities and can never participate in any activity that seeks to disrupt these authorities," Rashwan.

Rashwan admitted that ACPSS invited some European and British professors to give training courses to MPs in the area of monetary policy in the Red Sea resort of Ain Sokhna.

"Some 25 MPs received training in Sokhna, and they were given lectures on how to read the budget and analyse its items in a neutral way," said Rashwan, disclosing that "Abdel-Aal himself received training courses in Al-Ahram Centre before he became the speaker of Egypt's parliament."

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Three board members of Egypt's press syndicate were released on Monday after their EGP 10,000 bail was paid anonymously against their will, as the prosecution decided that they will stand trial on Saturday.

Syndicate head Yehia Kalash, its Secretary-General Gamal Abdel-Reheem and undersecretary Khaled El-Balshy refused to pay bail as the law does not require that bail be paid on one of the charges; spreading false news.

They also refused to pay bail after the prosecution rejected a request by Kalash to task a judge with looking into the case, a statement by the Journalists Syndicate read.

The syndicate issued a statement following an urgent meeting held late Monday denouncing the anonymous payment of the bail, saying a call for an urgent general assembly will be considered.

Kalash, Abdel-Reheem and El-Balshy were questioned late Sunday in Cairo's Kasr El-Nil Police Station where they spent the night after refusing the pay the bail.

The trio are facing charges of spreading false news by publishing that over 40 policemen stormed the syndicate early this month to arrest two journalists, an incident that has left the Journalists Syndicate and the interior ministry at loggerheads.

The prosecution is also charging them with sheltering fugitives; journalists Mahmoud El-Sakka and Amr Badr.

El-Sakka and Badr were arrested on 1 May in an unprecedented move where police stormed the syndicate headquarters in Cairo, syndicate board member Karem Mahmoud told Ahram Online.

The prosecution, according to Mahmoud, said only a handful of policemen entered the syndicate's headquarters in downtown Cairo. Both El-Sakka and Badr were also wanted for spreading false news.

The two journalists, who run the progressive 25 January news portal, were among many ordered arrested ahead of the 25 April protests against the Egyptian-Saudi Red Sea island maritime border agreement in April.

Correction: Ahram Online had reported that the prosecution ordered Kalash's detention. The prosecution had ordered Kalash to pay bail, which he refused, and he is being held at Kasr El-Nil Police Station until the prosecution decides further on the matter.

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A number of houses belonging to Christians were set on fire and a woman was dragged in the streets naked in a sectarian attack in a Minya governorate village last week

Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Monday told a Christian victim of recent sectarian attacks in Minya governorate "not to be angered" by what happened to her, adding that those responsible would be held accountable for their actions.

For the first time since the attack last week, El-Sisi spoke publicly about the incident in which several houses belonging to Christians were burned and a woman dragged naked in public.

"When I address my speech to this woman, I dont say this [Christian] Egyptian because we are all one," El-Sisi said during a speech to inaugurate a new housing development in Cairo. "I call on this woman not to be angered by what happened," the president added.

"We are all Egyptians who are equal in rights and duties. It is not appropriate that what happened be repeated. Whoever commits an offense will be held accountable," El-Sisi said.

A group of 300 people carrying various types of weapons attacked on 20 May seven houses owned by Christians, burgling some of them and torching others.

The sectarian attack in the village of El-Karm followed a rumour that a Muslim woman and a Christian man were involved in an affair, according to a statement from the Coptic Church on the day of the attack.

The statement also added that the woman attacked and stripped naked was the mother of the man accused of having the affair.

The incident was first reported on social media and by activists several days ago.

The Christian man who was the subject of the rumours has been forced to leave the village after receiving threats.

During the inauguration ceremony on Monday, El-Sisi, along with a number of officials including Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, handed over 1200 residential units -- marking the first two phases of the project -- to families who previously lived in informal settlements.

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This is the seventh life sentence handed down for Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie in several different trials

An Ismailia court sentenced on Monday Muslim Brotherhood Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and 35 others to 25 years in prison in the "Ismailia clashes" trial.

The Ismailia Criminal Court sentenced nine defendants to 15 years, 20 defendants to 10 years, and 20 defendants to three years.

The court found them guilty of killing three citizens in Ismailia governorate and attempting to kill 16 others, as well as attempting to occupy a governorate building in July 2013 following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The sentences are subject to appeal.

The court also acquitted 20 people in the case.

This is the seventh life sentence in several different trials issued for the supreme guide of the Muslim Brotherhood since his arrest in 2013.

Three previous life sentencesagainst Badie have been successfully appealed, with the court ordering retrials.

Badie was also sentenced to death in three other trials, with the Court of Cassation revoking two of the death sentences and ordering retrials. An appeal against the third sentence is under deliberation.

According to Badie's lawyer, Badie is currently facing nearly 40 trials, with most sentences under appeal.

The Muslim Brotherhood was designated a terrorist organisation in November 2013 by the Egyptian government.

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Journalists Syndicate Head Yehia Kalash, along with two others, is facing charges of 'spreading false news' and harbouring fugitives

The detention of Egypt's Journalists Syndicate head Yehia Kalash is "an alarming setback for freedom of expression and the most brazen attack on the media the country witnessed in decades," rights group Amnesty International said in a Monday statement.

On Monday, Kalash, along with the syndicate's General-Secretary Gamal Abdel-Reheem and the Undersecretary Khaled El-Balshy, refused to pay an LE10,000 bail.

The trio is facing charges of "spreading false news" by publishing that over 40 policemen stormed the syndicate headquarters in Cairo on 1 May to arrest journalists Mahmoud El-Sakka and Amr Badr.

They are also facing charges of sheltering El-Sakka and Badr from authorities.

The arrest of key media figures at the press syndicate signals a dangerous escalation of the Egyptian authorities draconian clampdown on freedom of expression, Amnesty's statement read.

The prosecution is scheduled to review the trio's case in a matter of hours, and either release them without bail or order a detention pending investigation. They are currently being held at Qasr El-Nile Police Station in downtown Cairo.

Both El-Sakka and Badr were also arrested for "spreading false news."

The two journalists, who run the progressive 25 January news portal, were among many ordered arrested ahead of the 25 April protests against the Egyptian-Saudi Red Sea island maritime border agreement.

The prosecution previously imposed a media gag order on the storming of the syndicate.

The authorities must also drop charges against the two journalists who were detained at the press syndicate and investigate the circumstances of the raid, Amnesty said.

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An Alexandria administrative court banned on Monday the construction of nightclubs and party halls in close proximity to churches.

The court's decision comes following an earlier closure by Beheira's municipal unit of a party hall overlooking Mary Girgis Church in the city.

In its ruling, the court argued that "Egypt was the cradle of religion and any act that affects the sanctity of religious practices should be banned."

The court added that such "sanctity" is present in mosques as well as churches, maintaining that they are both houses of worship that enjoy the same protection under the constitution and the law.

The court said that a 1950s ministerial decision mandating that a minimum distance of 100 metres be maintained between such venues and houses of worship was void, as the minister did hold legislative authority.

The court added that no set rule mandating a specific distance should be put in place, and that this is in order to "preserve the dignity" of houses of worship, whether a mosque or a church.

The court also decided to grant the interior ministry the necessary authority to estimate the appropriate distance between houses of worship and party venues to protect "public order" and "morals."

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet on Monday approved the entry of ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman to the ruling coalition as defence minister, after defusing opposition from another partner, the government said.

The religious nationalist party Jewish Home had planned to block the addition of Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party by voting against it in parliament, possibly sparking fresh elections, unless demands for procedural reform were met.

"The cabinet unanimously approved the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as minister of defence," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

It added that Yisrael Beitenu's Sofa Landver was approved as minister of immigrant absorption.

The deal is expected to be approved by parliament later on Monday, with the new ministers to take their oaths of office.

The prime minister's office said that as part of the reshuffle, veteran Likud MP Tzachi Hanegbi, chairman of parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, would become a minister without portfolio.

Netanyahu and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett reached a compromise on Sunday night after mediation by a third party, a Likud statement said.

Jewish Home holds eight parliamentary seats, enough to block Netanyahu's proposed new line-up.

If approved by parliament, the deal would create what is seen as the most right-wing government in Israel's history.

Jewish Home had demanded the creation of a military liaison for the government's security cabinet, a smaller forum of cabinet members which decides on matters of national security.

Bennett says such a post is needed to avoid security cabinet members being kept in the dark on important developments, pointing to aspects of the 2014 conflict with Palestinian in Gaza, among other concerns.

Under the compromise brokered by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, of the United Torah Judaism alliance of ultra-Orthodox parties, security cabinet members will receive frequent personal briefings from Israel's National Security Council as an interim measure, while a committee of experts looks at ways to improve procedure.

While some analysts say such a change is needed, Bennett's demand is also seen as political manoeuvring ahead of the next general election, due by 2019 at the latest.

Bennett is widely seen as aspiring to replace Netanyahu, whose Likud party is currently the largest in parliament.

Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu party will add five lawmakers to Netanyahu's previous razor-thin majority, giving it 66 of the 120 in parliament.

The move to hand the defence ministry to the 57-year-old hardliner has sparked deep concern among Israeli centrist and left-wing politicians, as well as among some of Netanyahu's Likud colleagues.

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Fendi Timepieces is expected to perform better with the help of the whole brand's strong momentum. [Photo provided to China Daily

Domenico Oliveri, chief executive officer of Fendi Timepieces, a spin-out watch firm of Italian luxury fashion house Fendi SRL, is bullish about the luxury market in China. He believes there is a huge potential for growth as Chinese consumers' spending power is growing.

Despite the global economic slowdown, Oliveri said the company is strengthening its presence in China's watch market and plans to open more stores in second- and third-tier cities across the country.

"The Chinese market is very important for the luxury business and I hope the success of Fendi in China could expand to Fendi Timepieces," said Oliveri.

He added Chinese customers are very mature, conscious of trends and willing to spend money on luxury goods worldwide.

Fendi Timepieces will increase its investment in China and open more stores in second- and third-tier cities or provincial capitals, according to Oliveri.

Founded in 1925 in Rome, LVMH-owned Fendi now covers fur, leather goods, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and accessories.

It entered the watch business in 1988. In 2014, it acquired Swiss watchmaker Taramax SA, which has produced the luxury accessory house's watches under license. All of Fendi's watches are manufactured in Switzerland.

Sales of luxury goods in China declined a bit last year to 113 billion yuan (around $17 billion) from 115 billion yuan in 2014, consulting firm Bain & Co said.

The decline was seen in sales of menswear and watches, which were down by 12 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Despite these tough conditions, Oliveri remains optimistic as he sees a lot of room for further development.

Fendi will return to "super high-end" positioning, with emphasis on handbag accessories and fur in top luxury goods, according to Pietro Beccari, Fendi's chairman and CEO.

Fendi currently boasts 200 stores worldwide, 11 of them in Italy alone. It has launched online sales in Europe, Japan and America and will integrate traditional retail models with online sales.

With the rapid growth of the Chinese economy over the last two decades and its expanding middle class, Swiss luxury watches are gaining popularity in China. At present, China is the third-largest market for the Swiss watch industry.

According to statistics from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, the value of Swiss watch exports to the world dropped 3.3 percent in 2015 to 21.5 billion Swiss francs ($21.6 billion), the worst performance in the past six years.

Oliveri said although sales of Swiss watches declined last year, overall sales of Fendi products in China continued to rise, up 30 percent last year compared with 2014, and Fendi Timepieces is expected to perform better with the help of the whole brand's strong momentum.

"The market is evolving and customers are not any more only interested in products, they want a nice story behind a product, so in this evolution, a story brand with strong heritage will win," Oliveri said.

Born and raised in Italy, Oliveri joined Fendi 14 years ago as operations director to meet the challenge of setting up an efficient and profitable industrial organization for the company.

After receiving degrees in nuclear engineering and business administration, Oliveri worked at many multinational companies. In 1988, he started his career with Procter & Gamble where he held different managerial positions. Five years later, he joined Sara Lee Group. Oliveri was appointed CEO of Fendi Timepieces when the luxury house acquired Taramax SA three years ago.

Having gained rich international working experience over the years, Oliveri said leading a global brand like Fendi Timepieces needs a coherent, consistent strategy.

"Our strategy is to be coherent. Customers travel the world and will find a coherent collection and a coherent message. The world today is more linked than what we think, so being coherent everywhere in the world is the right strategy."

Oliveri said people have to balance the ups and downs in different parts of the world when managing a global brand, and being global is the best way to overcome temporary tough situations.

"My management philosophy is, 'surprise always': propose something new that could surprise all customers," Oliveri said.

"The watch business in China still has great room for improvement and this year is very important for Fendi Timepieces," said Oliveri. Asia and the Middle East have become two largest consumer markets for Fendi Timepieces.

It has advantages in the watch market as its prices are more competitive than other luxury watchmakers such as Patek Philippe SA, Vacheron Constantin SA, Rolex SA and Cartier SA. Oliveri said ordinary people who like Fendi watches could also afford them.

CLOSE-UP

Domenico Oliveri

CEO of Fendi Timepieces Born and raised in Italy

Career:

1988-1992: Project Manager, Procter& Gamble Italia

1993-2002: Operations Director, Sara Lee Branded Apparel

2002-2013: Operations Director of Fendi

2013-to present: CEO of Fendi Timepieces

Education:

1981-1986: Bachelor's degree in engineering, Universita degli Studi di Palermo (the University of Palermo)

1986-1987: Master's degree in business management, Istituto Superiore per Imprenditori e Dirigenti di Azienda (ISIDA)
More than 20 people were killed and about 50 injured in three bombings, including two suicide attacks, that hit Baghdad on Monday, police and medical sources said.

The attacks came as Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militias are fighting Islamic State militants in Falluja, their stronghold just west of the capital.

Twelve people were killed and more than 20 injured when a car bomb blew up in Baghdad's northern Shaab Shi'ite district.

Eight were killed and 21 wounded by a suicide bomber who detonated a car packed with explosives near a government building and a police station in Tarmiya, a predominantly Sunni suburb north of Baghdad.

Another suicide bomber riding a motorcycle set off his explosive belt in Sadr City, a popular Shi'ite district of Baghdad, killing three and injuring nine.

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has accused Russia of providing anti-aircraft weaponry and rockets to militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the pro-government Star newspaper and other local media reported on Monday.

Speaking to reporters on board his airplane after a visit to the southeastern province of Diyarbakir over the weekend, Erdogan accused Moscow of transferring weaponry to the PKK via Iraq and Syria, the Star newspaper said.

"At this moment, terrorists are using anti-aircraft guns and missiles supplied by Russia. The separatist terrorist organisation is equipped with these weapons. They have been transferred to them via Syria and Iraq," the Star reported Erdogan as saying.

The "separatist terrorist organisation" is a Turkish government term for the PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the state that has left more than 40,000 people dead, mostly PKK militants in the largely Kurdish southeast.

The government was not immediately available to confirm the report.

While Erdogan has previously castigated Russia for its support of Kurdish fighters in Syria, the latest comments appear to be the first time he has accused Moscow of supplying arms to the PKK, seen as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and Europe.

Ankara also considers the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters to be a terrorist group and has been enraged by both Russian and U.S. backing for the group, which is battling Islamic State militants in Syria.

Turkey, a NATO member, is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Syria and is also one of the most vocal opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Moscow is backing Assad, although it has said it supports the Syrian Kurds in the struggle against Islamic State.

Relations between Ankara and Moscow soured after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane over Syria last year, prompting a raft of sanctions from Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in April promised support for Syrian Kurds, saying they were a serious force in the fight against terrorism.

Russia has also accused Turkey of hindering Kurdish forces in their fight against Islamic State and using the fight against terrorism as a pretext to crack down on Kurdish organisations in Syria and Turkey.

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The UAE's supreme court on Monday acquitted a Libyan-US citizen and his son of terrorism charges, almost two years after their arrest on allegations they financed extremist groups.

Businessman Kamal Eldarat and his son Mohamed were arrested in August 2014, along with other suspects of Libyan origin.

The pair, who later lived in California before moving to settle in the United Arab Emirates, had faced charges of financing and links to Islamist "terrorist" groups in their native Libya.

US embassy officials were present when the verdict was announced on Monday, capping a four-month trial.

"We welcome the court's decision and we are pleased that the Eldarats will be reunited with their family soon," said David Duerden, a spokesman for the US embassy in Abu Dhabi.

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Egypt saw investment worth EGP172 billion ($19.36 billion) in the first half of the current fiscal year, representing 12.9 percent of GDP

Egypt has set its total investment target for fiscal year 2016/17 at LE531 billion ($59.76 billion), representing 16-16.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the minister of planning said on Saturday.

According to Al-Ahram's Arabic news website, Ashraf Al-Araby told a news conference that private investment is expected to reach EGP292 billion ($32.86 billion).

The government will invest EGP107 billion ($12 billion) in the fiscal year starting 1 July 2016, up from EGP75 billion ($8.44 billion) in the same period a year earlier, while public sector and economic entities plan EGP132 billion ($14.86 billion) in investment.

Egypt saw investment worth EGP172 billion ($19.36 billion) in the first half of the current fiscal year, representing 12.9 percent of GDP.

Egypts economy grew 4.5 percent of GDP in the six months to 31 March, slower than the 5.5 percent growth rate achieved in the same period a year prior, Reuters quoted Al-Araby as saying in the press conference.



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In the first of a series on Arab Minds that inspired the world, we start with Averroes, a man who put philosophy and religion in one proper sentence and whose ideas are still shining through the darkness in which our world toils.

"God would never give us reason, then give us divine laws that contradict such reason," Ibn Rushd.

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Abu El-Walied Mohamed Ibn Ahmed Ibn Mohamed Ibn Ahmed Ibn Ahmed Ben Rushd was born on 14 April in 520 hejra (1126 AD). Known to the Western tradition as Averroes, he was a renowned philosopher, physician, judge, astronomer, and scientist.

Born and raised in Andalusia, he studied Ibn Malaek's fiqh school of thought, and as for Aqida, he studied the Ashaari school of thought. Ibn Rushd defended philosophy against the conservative criticism of scientists and philosophers of the time, such as Ibn Sina, El-Farabi and El-Ghazali, in their understanding of the theories of Plato and Aristotle.



Ibn Rushd was first introduced by philosopher Ibn Tofil to Abu Yaqoub, the khalifa (ruler), who assigned him as a physician then a judge in Cordoba. Afterwards he was appointed judge in Ishbilia, from which time he began studying the impact of Artistotle, upon the request of Khalifa El-Mowahadi Ibn Yaqoub. Among his most important books are Tahafot Al-Tahafot, in answer to El-Ghazali's book Tahafot Al-Falasefa, Gawamee Seyasat Aflaton (a compilation of Plato's politics) Aristotle, an explanation of Ibn Sina's Aragouza, Bedayet el mogtahed w nehayet el moqtased (The starting point for beginners and a brief for the frugal), a book that included the basic ideologies of the main fiqh schools of Islam.

According to Moroccan thinker Mohamed Abed Al-Gabry, in his book Ibn Rushd: Biography and Thought, "Ibn Rushd spent 75 years of his life studying, teaching, researching and writing; despite being a judge in Cordoba, and moving a lot with the Khalifa El-Motanawer Abi Yaaqoub Youssef Ibn Moemen, between Andalusia and Morocco, he was very dedicated to his scientific project."



Al-Gabry adds: "Ibn Rushd never let science grow out of fashion in his office; on the contrary, he was very keen on renewing its essence as he advanced in research and knowledge. He integrated rather than divided between the subjects of his studies and moved forward as a scientist of many fields who reflects on medicine in fiqh, on fiqh in medicine, Quran and hadith with philosophy and the science in all such fields of study."



Ibn Rushd believed that philosophy is the way to God, and prioritised the mind perceived truth (knowledge) over the truth that is passed on (inherited) as a given, and defended the philosophers. He also believed that women can play the same roles as men, including in politics, and saw society as unjust to women, and with such injustice society is deprived of women's thought.



Ibn Rushd believed there is no contradiction between religion and philosophy; that the universe is eternal, the soul is divided into two sections, one personal, the second divine, and since the soul is mortal, so are people, who have two levels of consciousness, and consequently two levels of truth: one based on religious knowledge, the other philosophy.



"Whoever works in anatomy would increase his belief in God," is a statement that sums up his relationship with science. Such passion developed into numerous scientific references and books.



In medicine, Ibn Rushd was focused on anatomy, and in particular blood circulation in humans, along with diagnoses of certain diseases and proposals of remedies. In his books he explained that chicken pox is a disease that can attack each person only once in a lifetime  a fact that modern science subsequently proved. He also excelled in eye anatomy. Among his famous science books is Al-Koliat Fel Teb (The General Book of Medicine).

However, in his late years, Ibn Rushd was accused of heresy and his trial ended in his exile and the burning of his books. Al-Gabry believed it was for political reasons. He explained that Ibn Rushd, in his Gawamee Syaset Aflatoun (A Compilation of Plato's Politics), was against tyranny and saw in Platonic thought the possibility of replacing it.



But Mohi El-Dine Abi Mohamed Abdel Wahed El-Marakeshi believed his exile was because of two reasons: one explicit and the other one hidden. In his book Al-Mogab fi-Talkhis Akhbar El-Maghreb (An Admired Summary of Morocco's News), he states: "The wise one Ibn Rushd in his explanation of Aristotle's book The Animal delved into the details of the animal's descriptions, especially the giraffe and how it is born and where it lives, and how he saw one at the Berber's kings, a fact that made the courtiers and khalifa a bit envious and upset."

The book adds that some of his enemies took one of his manuscripts out of context and handed it to the khalifa. The manuscript, in which he was translating quotes from ancient philosophers, started with: and al Zahra one of the gods appeared.." He was then exiled in Alsiana village near Cordoba, which was the residence of the Jews in earlier times and this is where Mossa ibn Maymoun, one of Ibn Rushd's students used to live.



However, when Khalifa Abu Youssef al Mansour returned to Morocco to study philosophy, he summoned Ibn Rushd from Andalusia to teach him, and pardoned him. And so Ibn Rushd lived in Morocco until he died at the age of 80, in 594 hejra.

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05.28.2016 09:37

Acclaimed photojournalist Fritz Hoffmann talks about the challenges of chronicling the country's growing economy and changing society

By Sheila Melvin

In 1993, Fritz Hoffmann was a young American photojournalist ready for a new adventure. He had honed his picture-making skills while hitchhiking across the Pacific Northwest, harvesting crabs in Alaska, and working at newspapers in West Virginia and Tennessee. From a base in Nashville, he first became a breaking news photographer, covering events like the Oklahoma City bombing for Newsweek. Though business was booming, Hoffmann "loathed the media scrum" this work entailed. He shared his craving for something more with his agent as a TV in her New York office droned in the background. It was a story that featured then-President Bill Clinton discussing trade with China. "Go to China," Hoffmann's agent suggested. "That'll be a story you can photograph for a long time."
(Beijing)  The national market for the exchange of shares in non-publicly traded companies has tightened requirements for the listing of private equity funds, and the change will also affect funds that are already trading on it, according to a recent regulation.

Firms managing private equity funds applying for a listing must have been in operation for at least five years and completed at least one investment project, according to a statement posted by the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ) on its website on May 27.

Companies that are already listed are given a one-year grace period to meet the standards before being de-listed, the announcement shows.

The NEEQ, better known as the New Third Board, released the requirements on the same day after China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said it would lift an embargo on these financial institutions.

It ordered NEEQ to stop approving PE funds to list or sell new shares on the board in late December, citing concerns that the capital they raised may not have been used to help the real economy, a loosely defined phrase used by the government to refer to businesses that produce tangible products and services as opposed to those that target only capital gains.

Investigations would be carried out to examine where and how PE funds listed on the board spent the capital they raised, two senior officials from the CSRC said in December. Regulators would check "whether (the funds) were invested in the real economy," one of them said.

In an effort to address these concerns, the new rules prohibit PE funds from investing the capital raised through the board to buy shares on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges directly or through other securities investment arrangements.

The new requirements have left some PE funds in the lurch.

Tianxing Capital, established in June 2012, was given the green light by NEEQ to list just before the CSRC embargo put its listing on hold. There is no way the firm can meet the requirement to have a five-year track record before listing, even with the grace period, an industry analyst said.

"Tianxing will probably have its approval for listing revoked," he said. "If it wants to list on the Third Board, it will have to wait until it has been in operation for five years and apply again."

Several other listed PE fund firms also face challenges because the regulation requires them to earn at least 80 percent of their income from managing assets for clients rather than investing their own capital.

These fund managers include JD Capital, or Jiuding Capital Co.Ltd., which listed on NEEQ in 2013 and became the first company on the board to have a market capitalization of over 100 billion yuan last year. A little over 60 percent of its income in 2015 came from managing clients' assets, its financial statement shows.

Several projects managed by JD Capital may run into trouble with the new rules, because clients did not recover their investment in cash and were instead persuaded to continue holding shares in the firm they supported when it chose to list on NEEQ.

Fund managers have often resorted to this arrangement when the firm they backed could not go public or find a buyer immediately when the contract period for the investment ends, analysts said. Under the new regulation, however, these will not be considered completed projects.

(Rewritten by Wang Yuqian)
The North Korean state media on Saturday heaped praises on dead leader Kim Jong-il's mother Kim Jong-suk, who died in 1949, to mark what would have been her 94th birthday.

The official [North] Korean Central News Agency praised Kim Jong-suk for her "leadership" and "revolutionary spirit" for giving birth to their leader.

It hailed her "legacy" to the Workers Party and the country by raising Kim Jong-il. A South Korean government official said the article was clearly intended to boost the Kim family personality cult and aid the succession of new leader Kim Jong-un.

But the state media made no mention of the younger Kim's mother, Ko Yong-hui, who died in 2004. Experts say the reason is that she was an ethnic Korean from Japan, and therefore insufficiently "pure" by the Norths racist standards.

She was also a dancer, a profession that exists in a kind of moral limbo. One source said, "In North Korea, ethnic Koreans from Japan are treated as second-class people at best. No good would come from publicizing the fact that the mother of their leader was Korean Japanese."

There are intelligence reports that the propaganda department of the Workers Party, which had been designing new ways to boost the personality cult surrounding the Kim dynasty, has ordered its staff not to reveal Ko's background.

But other experts say Kim Jong-un's mother will have to be idolized as well if a pure bloodline for the new leader is to be established. One said this could be done either by whitewashing Ko's background or by inventing another mother entirely.
A federal judge is ordering the release of Trump University internal documents in a class-action lawsuit against the now-defunct real estate school owned by presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The order by U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel in San Diego, which came Friday in response to a request by The Washington Post, calls for the documents to be released by Thursday. The Post reported the order in a story on its website Saturday.

Trump University has been cited in anti-Trump political ads during the primary campaign as evidence that Trump doesn't fulfill his promises.

Trump's lawyers deny any wrongdoing in the case before Curiel as well as another class-action suit in San Diego and a $40 million lawsuit filed in 2013 by the state of New York alleging that more than 5,000 people had been defrauded.
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin says he will respond to the defensive missile system the United States and its partners are building in Eastern Europe, because it threatens Russia's security.

The Russian president said strong "counter-measures" will be enacted to the NATO deployment, and he emphasized that his country is reacting to the Western action, not making the first move in a confrontation.

Speaking to reporters in Athens, where he met with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Friday, Putin also ruled out any discussions about the status of Crimea, the former Ukrainian territory that Russia has annexed.

"This question is closed forever," the Russian leader said.

There was no immediate U.S. response to the comments by Putin, who remained in Greece Saturday, touring Mount Athos, one of Orthodox Christianity's holiest sites.

On the missile defense system planned for deployment in Poland and Romania, Putin said: "NATO fends us off with vague statements that this is no threat to Russia."

Recalling the stated purpose of the missile system as a "preventive measure" against possible hostile action by Iran, Putin said that threat "does not exist," particularly in the aftermath of the nuclear agreement the United States and other Western powers reached with Tehran last year.
Cybersecurity firm Symantec has found evidence that North Korea is behind the recent string of attacks on several Asian banks.

Symantec said the malware used to steal $81 million from Bangladesh's central bank is linked to attacks on a bank in the Philippines and in Vietnam.

This may be the first time one country has used malicious code to steal money from another country.

Security researchers say the malware is similar to that used in the past by a group known as "Lazarus." The group has been linked to a string of hackings largely focused on U.S. and South Korean targets dating back to 2009. That includes the crippling 2014 hack of Sony Pictures, which the FBI has blamed on the North Korean government. North Korea denied the allegation.
Hyundai was the best-selling brand in Australia in April.

According to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries in Australia, Korea's largest automaker sold over 6,300 vehicles there last month, surpassing Toyota's sales of just over 6,000. This is the first time Hyundai has taken the top spot in Australia since entering the market 30 years ago.

Hyundai's rise can be attributed to the brisk sales of its compact models. The automaker sold over 4,100 i30s and 1,500 Accents in April, up over 80 percent and 178 percent from the year before.
President Park Geun-hye and her Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni on Sunday agreed that Korean companies will take part in an oil refinery plant project worth US$1.5 billion in Uganda.

The two met in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

They also agreed to join hands in imposing sanctions against North Korea to end the North Korean nuclear program.
Professor held after students death in blast

From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-05-30 02:48

AN academic has been detained by police in relation to a wax factory explosion in Qingpu District that killed a graduate student he supervised and two other people last Monday, the East China University of Science and Technology confirmed yesterday.

The district government said last Tuesday that the blast caused the collapse of nearly 200 square meters of steel paneling, but did not specify the cause. The student, Li Peng, was a second-year masters student of chemical engineering.

Zhang Jianyu, an associate professor at the universitys School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, is a shareholder of Shanghai Joule Wax Company where the blast took place, according to the Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce.

Zhang established the company in 2007 and was its legal representative until June 30 last year.

However, the university, which does not allow its staff to own or work for businesses, said it was not aware of the academics involvement in a private enterprise.

The current legal representative of the company is Zhangs brother Zhang Jianjun, according to a report in the Beijing News.

Police in Qingpu District refused to answer Shanghai Dailys questions, saying that the government would make a public announcement about Zhangs detention.

Last Tuesday, Lis sister stated in a scathing attack on weibo.com, Chinas Twitter counterpart, that Zhang was a capitalist and a vampire.

She added: (Zhang) often forced (Li) to do lab work for his private companies.

He forced him to work for him in a factory in Zhejiang Province for over a month last summer with no wages. He prohibited my brother from publishing his research paper, hoping to appropriate the research to make a business profit.

She alleged that her brother was killed during a dangerous experiment at the wax factory, adding that Zhang failed to take the necessary safety precautions.

As of press time last night, she had not responded to Shanghai Dailys request for an interview.
Probe into car dealer over ID misuse

From:Shanghai Daily | 2016-05-30 02:48

A local 4S car retailer is being investigated by police after a customers identity card was illegally used to open a bank account and make a car accident insurance claim.

Chen Lina left the card in the showroom at 900 Moyu Road S. in Jiading District on April 16 when she went in to sell her old vehicle and buy a new one.

However, several days later, she received a message from her insurance company, Ping An Insurance, saying 2,350 yuan (US$360) had been paid into her account in compensation for an accident involving her old car, Chen told Shanghai Television Station yesterday.

I was surprised because I havent touched the car since I gave it to the 4S store. Furthermore, there was no money paid into my bank account, she said.

Chen later found the money was deposited in a new account at Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank, which someone had opened using her ID card.

She went to the bank at 41 Huafa Road in Xuhui District and found all her personal information for the account application was correct, except for her mobile phone number, the report said.

The branch manager said a man used both Chens ID card and his own ID card to open the account.

We called the mobile phone number on the application to confirm with Chen, but no one answered, the manager told the TV station. According to our rules, we could still open the account because we called the number.

The manager said the man had opened bank accounts for other people at the branch on several occasions.

It later emerged that an employee at a car repair business that does work for the 4S store used Chens ID card to apply for compensation from the insurance company.

The employee drove Chens car for personal use but had a car accident, so he borrowed her ID card to make an insurance claim, a sales manager at the store said.

The manager said the store had asked the employee to give the insurance money to Chen and return her card.

I am still worried that my ID card could have been misused for other illegal purposes such as financial fraud, she said.
The Embassy has issued a second advisory in a week and assured assistance to reach border.
#Korean Air Korean Air plane heads to Cebu to bring back stranded passengers An alternative Korean Air plane departed for the Philippines on Tuesday to bring home passengers stranded after another plane run by the air carrier overran the airport runway in C...

#(G)I-dle I-dle tops local music charts with 'Nxde' Girl group (G)I-dle topped daily and weekly charts of five major local music streaming services with its release "Nxde" on Tuesday, a week after it dropped. "Nxde," the main tra...
He Kebin, dean of environmental studies at Tsinghua University, addresses the roundtable. HOU LIQIANG / CHINA DAILY

Experts say Beijing's air quality will meet the World Health Organization's Grade 1 standards, as ever growing public concern and stern resolve from China's central government have put great pressure on local government leaders.

The comments came as a new report  A Review of Air Pollution Control in Beijing: 1998-2013  was made public on Wednesday at United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, where the second session of the UN Environment Assembly is being held.

The report said a comprehensive air pollution program launched in Beijing in 1998 has been largely successful.

Carried out by UNEP and the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, the report found that carbon monoxide and sulphur levels are now below limits set by China's National Ambient Air Quality Standards, while nitrogen dioxide and PM 10 levels are also inching closer to standards.

The trend has been driven by a decrease in coal consumption in the power sector and a drop in vehicle emissions resulting from vehicle emission control measures, the report said.

Coal use fell from a peak of 9 million tons in 2005 to 6.44 million tons in 2013, while the 2013 levels of carbon monoxide dropped by 76 percent compared to 1998.

Li Xiaohua, deputy director of the Beijing Environment Protection Bureau, said in a media roundtable at the UNEA that the satisfying situation continued from 2013 to 2015.

Air quality improvement continues from 2013 to now with an annual concentration of SO2 down to 13.5 micrograms per cubic metre (g/m) by 2015 and PM 2.5 concentrations down from 89.5 g/m in 2013 to 80.6 g/m in 2015, she said.

With the 2013-2017 Beijing Clean Air Action Plan implemented in 2013, by the end of 2015, the core area of Beijing city had become a coal-free zone, more than 1.22 million old polluting vehicles had been scrapped, 8,800 diesel buses had been retrofitted, more than 1,000 polluting enterprises were closed or relocated and trees have been planted on an additional 70,000 hectares of land.

A working group from Beijing and six of its neighboring provinces and municipalities was established to coordinate air pollution control at the regional level, as about 30 percent of the city's PM 2.5 is found to be contributed by regional migration, she added.
This season of 'Love Is Blind' is shaping up to be absolute madness  here's what people are saying about it
On 26-27 May, the representatives of the European Union, Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, attended the high-level meeting of G7 leaders  this year, the summit focused on the global economy, foreign policy and the migration and refugee crisis. The group of the worlds most influential players paid a special attention to the migration crisis, calling for a global response to tackle both its root causes and the consequences.

G7 leaders committed themselves to increase global assistance to meet the needs of refugees and their host communities. They also called on financial institutions and bilateral donors to step up their assistance and agreed to enhance legal channels for migration and encouraged the establishment of resettlement schemes. The G7 also addressed the rise of violent extremism and related challenges that pose a major threat to the international order. The group therefore reiterated its special responsibility to lead major international efforts to deal with these challenges. Leaders also focused on the situation in Ukraine and called for the full implementation of the Minsk Accords. They reminded that the duration of the existing sanctions against Russia are still tied to Moscows complete implementation of the agreements.

On the margins of the summit, the EU and French, German, Italian and UK leaders and their Japanese counterparts signed a statement on the Japan-EU economic partnership. They encouraged further necessary efforts to move forward on the Japan-EU economic partnership agreement (EPA), a framework deal covering not only political dialogue and policy cooperation, but also cooperation on regional and global challenges, and free trade agreement (FTA), to stimulate growth on both sides. The EPA should strengthen the cooperation at all levels up to the EU-Japan Summit meetings, covering foreign policy, economic and trade relations, and regional and global challenges.
Experts call for better protection of data security Updated: 2016-05-30 10:52 (Xinhua)

GUIYANG - With about 13 percent of all online data in the world originating in China, data experts are calling for more to be done to ensure data security.

Big Data, large volumes of data that can be analyzed to reveal patterns, was a hot topic at the "China Big Data Industry Summit & China E-commerce Innovation and Development Summit" in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, with experts underscoring the need to improve data security.

"Big data is a double-edged sword. It can be huge business, but also increases risks," said Qi Xiangdong, president of Qihoo 360, China's leading Internet security service provider.

"You can control your oven and washing machine remotely through your smart phone. However, if someone can gain access to your information on the cloud, they can, for example, make your washing machine operate at its maximum speed and temperature," he said.

China has seen an explosive growth of data in recent years. Its information economy grossed over 18 trillion yuan ($2.76 trillion) in 2015, with an e-commerce transaction volume totaling over 20 trillion yuan.

Lin Nianxiu, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said China's big data industry will grow by 50 percent every year in the next five years. By 2020, China's data volume will make up about 20 percent of the global total.

"China aims to lead in the data resource sector, and establish itself as a global data hub," he said.

Industry observers warned that, currently, there is inadequate regulation and supervision on the collection, storage, management and use of data.

"For example, the law does not clearly define the value and property of data in some areas, which could allow data collectors to hide their true motives," said Lu Wei, secretary-general of the Internet Society of China.

The central government understands the urgency of the matter, and has pledged to expedite legislation to improve data infrastructure, and address illegal activity online, including data abuse, infringement of privacy, fraud, and theft of confidential information, he said.

More than 16 percent of Chinese websites are vulnerable to attack, said Wu Hequan, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering. "Big data is a target of hackers," he said.

"Internet service providers usually have a large number of clients, and they should be responsible for the security of the data, but we shall not count on their self-discipline. They must also improve technology and better manage data," Wu said.
AIIB's top team ready, mulls investment strategies Updated: 2016-05-30 14:23 By He Yini(chinadaily.com.cn)

China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is now mulling operational policies and business strategies, as its top management team took shape last month, said a top official of the bank.

The AIIB as a multilateral financial institution hopes to extend its cooperation with all countries in the world and achieve win-win results, said Chen Huan, chief officer of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, during the Financial Street Forum 2016 that ended Sunday.

According to Chen, the AIIB has signed Memorandum of Understanding with the World Bank, Asia Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Meanwhile, some financial institutions are trying to work with the AIIB on certain projects, especially along the Belt and Road.

He said the Belt and Road Initiative was not part of the plan when the AIIB was established, but "we will actively participate in the initiative if there are any good projects".

Chen said in December last year that the AIIB will invest in five major areas during its initial stages - energy, transportation, rural development, urban development, and logistics.

The bank, designed to provide financial support for infrastructure development and regional connectivity in Asia, will later expand the investment to other areas such as education and healthcare to promote social development, he said.

During the forum, Chen also dismissed worries that China as the bank's major shareholder will seek its own benefits. "China as its major shareholder will play its due role in accordance with international rules," said Chen. "With new members coming in, China's share of the bank will definitely be diluted."

Jin Liqun, who served as AIIB's President-designate since September 1, 2015, was elected in January this year as first president of the multilateral development bank for a five-year term.
China-Thai agreement targets MICE business Updated: 2016-05-30 14:35 By Yang Feiyue(chinadaily.com.cn)

Dancers perform at a conference. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the China Chamber of International Commerce on May 28, aimed at attracting more MICE travelers from China  its biggest source market.

Thailand attracted roughly 1 million visitors for business events in the fiscal year 2015 (October 2014 to September 2015), and associated revenue hit 95.9 billion baht ($2.7 billion). That included 110,000 Chinese MICE travelers, contributing 9.2 billion baht. The momentum continued when 47,455 Chinese business-event travelers visited during October 2015-March 2016, contributing 4 billion baht to the Thai economy.

Under the terms of the agreement, TCEB and CCOIC have agreed to establish a long-term partnership in several areas and across several MICE platforms. This includes a plan to further improve and regularly exchange information on trade promotion, and a commitment to providing support and encouraging academic research, business trade missions and participation in trade events in both countries.

"Thailand and China have enjoyed more than 40 years of relations and mutual prosperity in which trade between the two nations now exceeds $63 billion annually," says Nopparat Maythaveekulchai, president of TCEB.

The MOU has been initiated so that enhanced cultural and economic exchanges will improve and enhance the MICE industry.

Related:

Tourists view lily flowers in East China's Jiujiang
US military's 'new normal' source of regional tension Updated: 2016-05-30 07:17 (China Daily)

An undated file photo shows China's first aircraft carrier Liaoning. [Photo for chinadaily.com.cn]

The maneuvers by US warships and fighter jets in the South China Sea and the Sea of Japan are a "new normal" that China and Russia have to face, as US military leaders said on the weekend they will continue their operations, and may do so more frequently as time goes on.

In that case, US President Barack Obama's "rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific" strategy, which was originally said to focus on economic and trade relations with countries in this region, has turned out to be a strategy of the US military to ratchet up confrontation with China and Russia.

Such a "new normal", which the US military justifies as necessary to assert its presence in Asia and the Pacific, evokes the Cold War.

When the United States first announced its rebalancing to the region, China welcomed it and expressed its hope that the strategy would further promote bilateral relations with the US. Even on the question of the South China Sea, China has reiterated that it has never changed its stance of settling the territorial disputes with its neighbors through talks. Shelving differences and joint exploitation have long been what China has been saying to its neighbors and the world.

But in a speech to graduates at the US Naval Academy on Friday, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said that China had taken some expansive and unprecedented actions in the South China Sea and was pressing excessive maritime claims contrary to international law. He described China's actions as erecting a Great Wall of self-isolation as countries across the region are voicing concerns publicly and privately.

Obviously the US military is trying to justify the "new normal" it has created and maintained by pointing its finger at China.

If anything, what the US Navy and Air Force have been doing in the South China Sea and the Sea of Japan has contributed to the increased tension in the region. And the reality proves to be a far cry from what the US initially claimed was the purpose of its rebalancing strategy.

Was the strategy an attempt to contain China from the very beginning or has it been hijacked by the US military?

Whatever it is, it has brought both political and military instability to the region and has created a lot of uncertainties both for the region and the world.

With such a "new normal", will it be possible for the world's largest developed country and its largest developing counterpart to work together for a better world?
Description

American Legion Post #1285 will be hosting this year's Memorial Day parade.



The usual start time is between 12:30-1:00pm at the Village Hall and the route runs eastward down Bayville Avenue all the way to Soundside Beach.
A general view of Rwanda's capital Kigali, March 26, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

KIGALI - Young people in Rwanda are calling upon African leaders to remove visas requirements for Africans traveling to other African countries.

The youth from "Kigali Global Shapers Hub", an arm of the Global Shapers Community, believe in integration of Africa with a common travel policy that would enable visa-free travel on the continent.

The Community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, is a network of localized hubs developed and led by young people in their respective countries, who are exceptional in their potential, their achievements and their drive to make a contribution to their communities.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Ephraim Rwamwenge, a member of the Kigali Hub, said that they are calling on leaders of African nations to consider offering visa-free entry to fellow Africans from other countries on the continent.

"Our leaders always talk about boosting intra-African trade and promotion of Africa integration, but they have remained tight-lipped on free movements around Africa for African passport holders. We call upon our leaders to allow a visa-free Africa to enable Africans traverse the continent without any hindrances," he noted.

The recently released "Africa Visa Openness Report 2016" by the African Development Bank revealed that only 13 countries in Africa offered visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to all Africans.

In 2013, Rwanda opened its borders to African passport holders, thus allowing visitors to get visas on points of entry and removing formalities in visa acquisition from Rwanda's embassies on the continent.

Officials from Rwanda Directorate of Immigration and Emigration say the move has since increased the number of tourists, especially from countries where Rwanda doesn't have a consulate.

East African partner countries comprising Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda are rolling out various regional integration initiatives, including the introduction of identity cards as valid travel documents to ease the movement of people across the three countries' borders.

According to Phillipe Nyirimihigo, another member of Kigali Shapers Hub, a visa-free Africa would be a big boost to African investors.

"True integration of Africa will take place only if people are able to move freely across the continent and leaders need to take action to make this happen," She said.

Rwanda plans to remove visa requirements for African nationals travelling to the country by 2018, as it seeks to entice more investors and tourists from the continent.

Seychelles is only country in Africa that has scrapped visa requirement for all other African countries.

For the past 30 years, Africa has attempted to address free movement, but nothing concrete has materialized. African Union's target is to abolish visa requirements for Africans in African countries by 2018.
This cat may have been surprised by some advertising it saw. (Michelle Tribe/Flickr)

At the Collision conference in New Orleans last month, I heard a marketing executive defend the practice of tracking consumers across their mobile devices. But then he offered some unexpected consumer advocacy.

Adam Berke, president of the advertising firm AdRoll, had spent the previous 15 minutes endorsing cross-device tracking as a logical response to the way we often start researching a purchase on a phone before completing it on a laptop or desktop.

Then he had some different advice for advertisers: Balance privacy with personalization, and protect the users right not to be surprised.

That right is hard to define

What would such a right amount to in practice? We already have a web in which ad networks can use cookies  tiny tags in ads that your browser downloads  to track our visits across sites. And those advertisers can then correlate that data with other identifiers, such as a phones electronic ID and your record of clicking on ads, to form a rich picture of your interests.

I followed up with Berke, who talked to me on the phone out of his San Francisco office to expound on the idea.

You obviously want to do the right thing for both moral reasons and for business reasons, Berke began.

In other words: Agencies dont want to produce ads that are so shocking or creepy that they drive consumers to buy competing products.

Its something that weve talked about internally for a while, he added.

But have those discussions provided an exact definition of the right not to be surprised? Not so much. Berke suggested part of that right involved retaining empathy for the average person  not yourself as a marketing technology person, but what the average person would understand about online advertising.

A privacy expert with a background in advertising couldnt pin down the concept, either.

Dont Surprise People with what you are doing with their data has long been an informal guidance in the world of privacy, along with 'Dont be Creepy,' said Jules Polonetsky, CEO of the Future of Privacy Forum. Back in my AOL and DoubleClick days, we would often turn down a proposed ad campaign, telling the business people that consumers would be surprised, or worse, creeped out!

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But, he continued in an e-mail, the squicks-us-out line shifts.

There was a time when ad networks didnt retarget users in a way that made people feel they were being followed, he said.

Retargeting is the fine art of showing you ads at third-party sites for a product youd checked out at a different site  see also, why looking at one refrigerator at Amazon ensures that every other ad you see elsewhere includes a pitch for somebodys fridge. Its a core part of AdRolls services.

Berke obviously doesnt think thats wrong. When I pressed him for what would go too far, he suggested that figuring out somebodys email address from their browsing pattern and then e-mailing them an offer would cross his own line.

Well, a Paris company called Criteo (CRTO) does something much like that, cross-referencing e-mail databases provided by clients to allow a shopping site to e-mail a visitor otherwise unknown to the retailer.

That and other products have proven sufficiently popular with advertisers that the stock market now values the firm at $2.72 billion.

We dont want to be bored, either

I have yet to get that sort of upsetting experience myself. My recurring complaint with ads involves not surprise but boredom: Why do I keep seeing ones Ive seen before, and which didnt interest me the first time?

Without fail, I will finish reading a story  which should make me one of a sites best readers  and get treated to the same grid of ads for stories around the web. Most of them point to vapid celebrity content that a proper marketing database would reveal I have no interest in.

And yet I have written and continue to write for many sites that run those remnant ads, automatically inserted by algorithms to fill spaces that the publishers own ad salespeople couldnt fill.

Before you all say ad blockers, I dont think theyre an answer either. They punish non-obnoxious ads, too. If they take off theyll only speed a migration to news apps that will only increase the leverage of Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) over publishers.

(I will use Safaris Reader Mode to punish obnoxious sites by displaying only the text and images of a story.)

We may not like advertising, but it has to work at some level if were going to continue to get stuff to read for free.

I got a fresh reminder of that earlier this month when I learned of the impending closure of the The Toast  an artsy, essay-driven site that I saw founder Mallory Ortberg describe as modest, achievable success before an approving audience at the XOXO conference last September.

That hit home for me, since I write for ad-supported sites and also approvingly cited Ortbergs testimony in my report from that indie-creativity gathering. There has to be some way in which we wind up with fewer but more valuable ads that can still support not just mainstream sites but quirkier fare. For that to happen, ads just need to neither bore me nor shock me ... and I really dont know how well get there.

Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.

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A Bahraini man holds a picture of Sheikh Ali Salman, head of the Shiite opposition movement Al-Wefaq, during a protest on May 29, 2016 against his arrest (AFP Photo/MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH)

Dubai (AFP) - A Bahrain court more than doubled a jail sentence against opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman Monday, in a ruling his bloc warned risked stoking fresh unrest among the Sunni-ruled kingdom's Shiite majority.

The appeals court increased the sentence for charges of inciting violence to nine years from the original four, a judicial official said.

Salman's Al-Wefaq bloc condemned the verdict as "unacceptable and provocative", warning that it "entrenches the exacerbating political crisis" in Bahrain.

Human rights group Amnesty International issued a statement denouncing the verdict as "clearly" politically motivated.

And Britain's visiting Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond tweeted: "Raised Sheikh Ali Salman sentence in Bahrain today. Understand there is a further stage in the legal process -- will follow case closely."

The 50-year-old Salman was originally convicted in July 2015, drawing condemnation from rights groups as well as both the United States and Iran.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets demanding his release.

Arrested in December 2014, he was also convicted last year of inciting hatred in the kingdom but acquitted of seeking to overthrow the monarchy and change the political system.

The court reversed the earlier acquittal, convicting Salman of "calling for a regime change by force", according to a prosecution statement.

"This verdict says the ruling family has no interest in dialogue, sharing power or recognising any views other than its own," Human Rights First said in a statement.

"Keeping the leader of the main opposition group in jail does nothing to end Bahrain's political crisis and everything to stoke further instability in the kingdom," the US-based watchdog said.

It described the verdict as a "dangerous move" by Bahraini authorities.

Bahrain's "allies in Washington and London should be alarmed at today's decision, and at the direction the ruling family is taking the country," it added.

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- 'Clearly politically motivated' -

Amnesty International called for Salman's release.

"Salman's conviction is clearly politically motivated and is designed to send a message to others that even legitimate and peaceful demands for reform will not go unpunished," said James Lynch, deputy director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa programme.

"He is a prisoner of conscience and should never have been put on trial in the first place. He must be immediately and unconditionally released," he said in a statement.

Al-Wefaq was Bahrain's largest parliamentary bloc until its 18 MPs walked out in February 2011 in protest at the use of violence against demonstrators.

It said the verdict "reflects the Bahraini regime's settlement to reject national reconciliation by turning its back on international calls urging to address the country's political crisis".

The ruling also "further extends the political crisis in Bahrain amid an absence of national consensus and widening human rights abuses," it said, pledging to continue to call for "inclusive political reform".

The tiny but strategic Gulf state has been shaken by unrest since it crushed a month-long, Shiite-led uprising demanding reforms in 2011.

The Shiite-majority kingdom, connected to Saudi Arabia by a causeway, lies across the Gulf from Shiite Iran and is home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Despite the 2011 crackdown, protesters still frequently clash with police in Shiite villages outside the capital Manama.

Five years after the revolt, Bahrain is locked in a political impasse.

After the Arab Spring touched the small Gulf state on February 14, 2011, Bahrain's Shiites demanded a more representative government and a constitutional monarchy.

Scores have died in periodic unrest despite the suppression of the original uprising, and efforts at dialogue have failed.

The government denies discriminating against Shiites and regularly accuses Iran -- 200 kilometres (125 miles) across the Gulf -- of meddling in Bahrain's internal affairs.

Manama also frequently announces the dismantling of "terrorist" cells it says are linked to Iran, a charge the region's main Shiite power denies.
Theres no longer any doubt that the Democratic presidential contest has devolved into a blood feud as many supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders are openly praying that former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be indicted for using a private email server to handle sensitive government communications during her four years at State.

As The New York Times reported over the weekend, some Sanders supporters are holding out for an eleventh hour miracle in the form of a federal indictment that would knock Clinton out of the contest and pave the way for a Sanders nomination.

Related: We Now Know Hillary Lied Multiple Times About Her Email Server

Clinton is just 73 delegates shy of locking up the presidential nomination, even in the surprising event she narrowly loses to Sanders in the June 7th California Democratic primary. Yet the State Department Inspector Generals report last week that skewered Clinton for willfully violating departmental email protocol has fueled the Sanders campaigns fantasy that a related FBI investigation will lead to an indictment and a quick end to Clintons candidacy before the July convention in Philadelphia.

If theres any chance of her getting indicted, they shouldnt even consider her for the nomination, 21-year-old Zachary ONeill of Escondido, California, told The Times. We cant have a criminal in the White House. Others offered similar views that squared with Republican attacks on Clintons honesty and integrity.

Even if Clinton dodges that bullet, an energized and increasingly optimistic Sanders said on Sunday that the damning IG report should give hundreds of super delegates cause for concern -- and reason enough to switch their allegiance at the convention from Clinton to Sanders.

Some pundits have made the point that Clinton would not qualify to lead a cabinet position given the email reportbut she could still be president.

Related: It Looks Like the Campaign Isnt Helping Trumps Hotel Business

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Clinton currently claims 1,769 pledged delegates and 541 super delegates or party officials, leaving her within easy hailing distance of the 2,383 delegates needed to secure the nomination. Sanders, by contrast, has garnered 1,499 pledged delegates but only 43 super delegates from states where he performed well in primaries and caucuses.



In an interview with CBSs Face the Nation, Sanders showed restraint regarding Clintons email problem, but he made the point that Democrats should acknowledge that he would be the stronger nominee to take on Donald Trump this fall.

That is something that the American people, Democrats and delegates are going to have to take a hard look at," Sanders told moderator John Dickerson in discussing the IGs report ."But for me right now, I continue to focus on how we can rebuild a disappearing middle class, deal with poverty, guarantee health care to all of our people as a right."

The State Department IG report concluded that Clinton had violated department rules when she set up a private email server at the start of her tenure in the Obama administration without seeking approval  a move that made her highly classified communications more vulnerable to hacking. Moreover, her staff brushed off warnings from State Department officials that she needed to uses a government server to maximize security.

Related: Trump Clinches Nomination, Then Gives GOP New Reasons to Worry

The report contradicted many of Clintons previous explanations and defenses of her actions, including her assertion that her use of a private email server at the State Department was allowed when it clearly was not after changes in policy.

"Well John, they will be keeping it in mind," Sanders told Dickerson when pressed about the potential political fallout among delegates and party officials who will be making the choice. "I don't have to tell them that. I mean everybody in America is keeping it in mind, and certainly the super delegates are."

He added, "The point that I'm going to make to the super delegates, many of whom came on board [Clintons campaign] before I was in the race is, 'Your job is to make sure Trump is defeated and defeated badly. You have got to determine, based on 100 different factors, which candidate is the strongest candidate to defeat Trump.' If you look at every poll done in the last six weeks, that candidate is Bernie Sanders.

Sanders is highly sensitive to criticism within his party that his relentless drive for the nomination, even after it became mathematically impossible for him to win, is weakening Clintons prospects of defeating Trump this fall.



Related: Clintons Staff Ignored Investigators as They Looked into Her Emails

While he doesnt really have to say anything about Clintons email scandal, he continues to hammer away at her on issues of credibility: her ties to Wall Street, her commitment to liberal ideals including income equality, free college tuition, and health care for all. And he constantly questions her judgment on foreign policy, including her support of the invasion of Iraq.

Sanders insists he still has an outside chance of winning the nomination  or at least arriving at the convention with a majority of pledged delegates, by winning next week in California and four or five other states.

Sanders acknowledged that California, with 548 delegates, is the Big Enchilada, and that it would be all but impossible for him to gain the nomination without a big victory there. A narrow victory by him would provide his campaign with an important strategic and psychological boost heading into the convention, yet the delegates will be apportioned based on the popular vote, and Clinton would almost certainly pick up nearly as many delegates as Sanders.

My campaign has been written off before we started, he told Chuck Todd on Meet the Press. Nobody thought we were going to do anything. We have now won 20 states, primaries and caucuses, and I think by the end of the process, we may win half of the states. So were going to fight until the last vote is cast and we appeal to the last delegate that we can.

Related: How the FBI Could Derail Hillary Clintons Presidential Run

Asked whether he would make good on his promise to unite with Clinton to defeat Trump if she wins the nomination and help bring his supporters on board, Sanders was somewhat evasive: The responsibility that I accept in a very, very serious way is to do everything that I can to make sure that Donald Trump will not become elected President of the United States. Donald Trump for dozens of different reasons would be a disaster as president. I will do everything that I can to make sure that does not happen,

But at the end of the day, whether it is Secretary Clinton or Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump , or anybody else, the way you gain support is through the candidates himself or herself, he said. So my job is to make sure that Trump does not become president, and I will do that.

But if Secretary Clinton is the nominee, it is her job to reach out to millions of people and make the case as to why she is going to defend working families and the middle class  to provide health care for all people, take on Wall Street, deal aggressively with climate change, he added. That is the candidates job to do.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
CALGARY, AB--(Marketwired - May 29, 2016) - Edelweiss returned to the Alberta landscape Sunday, May 29, with the inaugural flight of its non-stop seasonal service from Calgary International Airport (YYC) to Zurich. The service from the Swiss airline is a result of close cooperation between The Calgary Airport Authority and its many tourism partners such as the Government of Alberta, Travel Alberta, Tourism Calgary, and Banff and Lake Louise Tourism.

Edelweiss will operate twice-weekly from June to September with an Airbus 330 adding nearly 600 seats a week into the Calgary market, aligning with YYC's strategic plan to create more connections for Albertans across the world.

"Inbound tourism is a continued area of focus for the Airport Authority as it works to grow Calgary's route network so that the beautiful Province of Alberta can be enjoyed by visitors from around the world," said Stephan Poirier, Senior Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer for The Calgary Airport Authority. "And as a driver of economic development, the Airport Authority understands that this new service represents a boost for the Calgary and Alberta economy with thousands of European visitors coming to the region and a significant amount of tourism dollars being spent."

Edelweiss is a Swiss leisure carrier; its sister operator is Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS), the principal hub airline at Zurich Airport. Edelweiss formerly operated out of Calgary until 2012 and this is currently its second Canadian destination.

In addition to being Switzerland's leading leisure airline, Edelweiss offers customers a unique flight experience: "Besides the travel comfort offered in all of our travel classes, we place strong emphasis on providing attentive service and Swiss product quality. This is how we make sure our passengers can start enjoying their holiday from the moment they board an Edelweiss aircraft," said Alain Chisari, Chief Commercial Officer and Member of the Management Board for Edelweiss.

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ABOUT THE CALGARY AIRPORT AUTHORITY

The Calgary Airport Authority is a not-for-profit organization incorporated under the Regional Airports Authorities Act of Alberta. The Calgary Airport Authority is responsible for the management, operation and development of Calgary International (YYC) and Springbank (YBW) Airports. YYC is an important economic engine for the city, region and province, welcoming 15.48 million passengers in 2015, supporting more than 48,000 jobs and generating more than $8 billion per annum in economic activity.

Twitter: @FlyYYC

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/5/28/11G100485/Images/New_YYC_Zurich_service-8205b6c42470a79e89f59be0e81d6495.JPG


By Renee Maltezou ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece has told its European and International Monetary Fund creditors it cannot implement some of the extra changes sought in exchange for fresh bailout loans, three sources close to the talks said on Monday. The disagreement could further delay the disbursement of the bailout funds which Athens badly needs to pay off IMF loans in June, bonds of the European Central Bank maturing in July and increasing state arrears. Last week, after months of negotiations, Greece and its lenders concluded a key bailout review, opening the way for debt relief that Greece has long desired. The lenders also gave the green light for the disbursement of 10.3 billion euros in tranches, on condition that Athens amends some recent laws concerning pensions, privatisations and freeing up the sale of bad loans. But in a letter sent to the lenders last week, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said some of the additional demands could not be fulfilled, the sources said. The finance ministry had no immediate comment and it was not immediately clear whether the release of the funds was at risk. According to one of the sources, some of them were related to bad loans and to pension reforms. "We cannot make any substantial changes. But we will proceed with the technical amendments discussed. Some of them are in the right direction," a government official told Reuters. "GREAT INJUSTICE" Greek newspaper Ta Nea said the letter had been sent to EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, the ECB's Benoit Coeure and the IMF's Poul Thomsen. In Brussels, an EU official confirmed that the two sides were still "working to finalise the measures" required after Athens raised its latest concerns. The Ta Nea newspaper said specific areas of disagreement also included the privatisation of the country's grid operator ADMIE and freezing the wages of essential services such as the coastguard and police. During a parliamentary debate last week, the government replaced the relevant reference on the essential services with a sentence saying it had until the end of year to find alternatives measures. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said a wage freeze "would have been a great injustice for men and women in the army, police and coastguard who work 24/7 helping a country that is struggling with an unprecedented refugee crisis to stand on its feet". To qualify for the rescue funds, Greece has so far approved pension reforms, tax hikes, the establishment of a privatisation fund and a contingency mechanism for spending cuts to be activated if it seems set to miss fiscal targets. The measures have tested the left-led coalition government, which has a narrow parliamentary majority with 153 of the 300 lawmakers. One lawmaker has resigned from Tsipras's Syriza party in protest over the measures. (Additional reporting by Francesco Guarascio in Brussels; Editing by Gareth Jones)
(Adds spokesman saying amount has been written off, comment from IATA)

FRANKFURT, May 30 (Reuters) - Venezuela owes Lufthansa more than $100 million in ticket revenue, the German carrier said on Monday, following news it was suspending flights there next month.

Like other airlines, Lufthansa has struggled to repatriate revenue held in the local bolivar currency due to exchange controls and had reduced flights to Venezuela to limit its exposure, before its weekend announcement of a suspension.

A Lufthansa spokesman said that the Venezuela government owed it a "low three-digit million" amount, later adding that the amount had already been written off.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has been pushing Caracas to free trapped airline revenue.

"What we want is to keep the place connected. Venezuela's economic difficulties will only get worse if they are isolated even more and unable to participate in trade because airlines aren't flying there any more," IATA Director General Tony Tyler said on Monday.

Struggling Latin American economies are likely to be a topic of discussion when airline chief executives meet this week in Dublin for the annual IATA summit.

(Reporting by Peter Maushagen; Writing by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Maria Sheahan and Alexander Smith)
WEST JORDAN, UT--(Marketwired - May 30, 2016) - Mountain America Credit Union partnered with Nevada Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to award $300 grants to ten teachers in Nevada. The 2016 Mountain America Credit Union Grants were financial awards based on an essay about the teacher's plans to use the grant money for programs in their K-12 classrooms.

The ten teachers from five Nevada schools were recognized at Nevada PTA's Silver Star Banquet on Saturday, April 30, 2016. According to applicant essays, the money will be used for classroom and lesson enhancements including updated technology, equipment, supplies, and more.

"We all benefit when teachers are better equipped to educate our youth. We appreciate our partnership with Nevada PTA," says Spencer Carver, SEG development manager at Mountain America. "Teachers don't get enough recognition for their hard work and dedication to students."

"Mountain America is a true partner to the Nevada PTA. They are doing the right things in the right places to make a real difference for students, teachers, and parents," says Nevada PTA President Dave Flatt. "With the grants, the teachers are able to implement new and innovative programs in their classrooms that they would otherwise have had to pay for out of their own pockets."

Mountain America is also offering four educator grants of $500 each in partnership with Idaho PTA and is accepting applications through June 17, 2016. Further details and eligibility requirements can be found at https://www.macu.com/scholarships.

About Mountain America Credit Union

Mountain America Credit Union has more than $5.1 billion in assets and serves more than 575,000 members, wherever they are, through online and mobile banking, 86 branches in five states, and provides access to more than 30,000 ATMs and 5,000 shared-branching locations nationwide. With credit union roots dating back to the 1930s, Mountain America has become a tradition for many members, offering a variety of financial products and services for consumers and businesses, including savings accounts, auto loans, checking accounts, mortgage loans, business checking, student loans, SBA loans, and retirement options. Visit www.macu.com for more information.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be making his third to Russia since September, this one coming as the two nations mark 25 years since the reestablishment of diplomatic relations (AFP Photo/Menahem Kahana)

Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet voted Monday to expand his coalition and appoint hardliner Avigdor Lieberman as defence minister, bringing weeks of political intrigue -- and outrage -- towards a close.

Netanyahu, accused of setting his government on a far-right course, was forced to resolve a last-minute dispute with another party in his coalition to see the move through.

Parliament was expected later Monday to approve the appointment of Lieberman, a former foreign minister and ultra-nationalist who has pledged harsh measures against Palestinian "terrorists".

His Yisrael Beitenu party adds five lawmakers to Netanyahu's previous one-seat majority in parliament, giving him 66 out of 120 seats.

Both Netanyahu and Lieberman have sought to ease concerns over his appointment as defence minister, a key position in a country on a near-constant war footing.

One example of Lieberman's provocative style came recently in comments directed at Ismail Haniya, Islamist movement Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip.

Lieberman said he would give Haniya 48 hours to hand over two detained Israeli civilians and the bodies of soldiers killed in a 2014 war "or you're dead".

Netanyahu said on Monday that "we will continue with a responsible and assertive security policy... and at the same time, will look for paths to peace, especially through regional developments, which we not only recognise but are also involved in."

- 'Legitimate questions' -

The deal for Lieberman's party to enter the coalition was struck last week, putting Israel on a path to form what has been called the most right-wing government in its history.

Netanyahu's moves have drawn concern both inside Israel and abroad.

The United States has said the new coalition raises "legitimate questions" about the commitment of Netanyahu's government to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

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In the wake of the agreement, environment minister Avi Gabbay of the centre-right Kulanu party announced his resignation, saying: "I do not think it is right... to form an extremist government."

Before that, Lieberman's predecessor Moshe Yaalon, from Netanyahu's Likud, warned of a rising tide of extremism in the party and Israel as a whole when he resigned as defence minister on May 20.

However, Netanyahu's troubles also went beyond such criticism, with the vote to expand his coalition opening up previous fissures in his government.

The religious nationalist party Jewish Home planned to block the addition of Lieberman's party by voting against it in parliament, possibly sparking fresh elections, unless demands for procedural reform were met.

Jewish Home holds eight parliamentary seats, enough to block Netanyahu's new line-up.

Netanyahu and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett reached a compromise on Sunday night.

It had demanded the creation of a military liaison position in the government's security cabinet, a smaller forum of cabinet members which decides on matters of national security.

Bennett says such a post is needed to avoid security cabinet members being kept in the dark about important developments, pointing to aspects of the 2014 conflict with Palestinian militants in Gaza, among other concerns.

- Political rival's demand -

Under the compromise brokered by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of the United Torah Judaism alliance of ultra-Orthodox parties, security cabinet members will receive frequent personal briefings from the National Security Council as an interim measure as a committee of experts looks at ways to improve procedure.

While some analysts say such a change is needed, Bennett's demand is also seen as political manoeuvring ahead of the next general election, which is due by 2019 at the latest.

Bennett is widely seen as aspiring to replace Netanyahu, whose Likud party is currently the largest in parliament.

Also as part of the coalition changes, Yisrael Beitenu's Sofa Landver was approved as minister of immigrant absorption by the cabinet.

Veteran MP Tzachi Hanegbi, chairman of parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee and a member of Likud, is to become a minister without portfolio.
Guatemalans protest against the murder of a Guatemalan teen outside the embassy of Belize in Guatemala City on April 25, 2016 (AFP Photo/Johan Ordonez) (AFP/File)

Guatemala City (AFP) - Tensions over a disputed border between Guatemala and Belize simmered over the weekend with a new shooting incident less than a month after Belizean soldiers killed a teen.

Belize said one of its patrols had to shoot and wound a Guatemalan man who threatened them with a machete after he was found on the Belize side of the border with companions illegally prospecting for gold.

Guatemala slammed Belize for using "excessive force" and rejected the account of the Guatemalan man attempting to attack an armed patrol with a machete.

The incident occurred late Friday, just hours after a team from the Organization of American States visited a different part of the border to examine the area where a 13-year-old Guatemalan boy was killed by another Belizean patrol on April 20.

The OAS is trying to mediate a crisis that blew up over the boy's death, bringing to the fore a 150-year-old dispute between the Central American countries over the border.

Guatemala has made claims over more than half of Belize's territory dating back to when its small neighbor was a British colony known as British Honduras.

Guatemala and Belize each insist the boy's killing happened on its side of the border. Belize said a patrol came under fire and shoot back.

Following the death, Guatemala mobilized thousands of troops to the border and nearby area.

Both countries have called on the OAS to thoroughly investigate the boy's death.

In the latest shooting incident on Friday, around a dozen Guatemalans were surprised by a patrol eight kilometers (five miles) inside Belizean territory while looking for gold.

A Belizean government statement issued on Saturday said a 23-year-old man in the group "advanced towards a member of the patrol in an aggressive manner with a machete."

It said the officer fired a warning shot that was ignored, then "in self-defense" fired another that wounded the Guatemalan in the left arm.

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Three Guatemalans including the wounded man were arrested.

Guatemala's foreign ministry in its own statement did not dispute that the Guatemalans were on Belizean territory.

But it contested the Belizean assertion that the wounded Guatemalan tried to threaten the patrol with a machete.
The logo of SOCAR Energy Switzerland is seen on a filling station in Bern, Switzerland May 9, 2016. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/Files

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - ONGC Videsh (OVL) is set to make a foray into oil trading and has signed an initial pact with the trading arm of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, a source privy to the agreement said.

OVL, the overseas acquisition arm of India's biggest explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC.NS), plans to initially sell its share of oil from the large Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) group of fields in Azerbaijan through the new venture, the source said.

"At a later stage, OVL will look at opportunities to market its oil from other assets through the planned trading company with SOCAR," the source added.

OVL, which has stakes in oil and gas assets in 16 countries including Russia, Sudan and Brazil, produced about 178,400 barrels per day of oil and gas equivalent in the fiscal year to March 31, 2016.

Currently, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL.NS), a subsidiary of ONGC, trade oil produced by assets of OVL.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Malini Menon)
BANGKOK, May 30 (Reuters) - Thailand's military government plans to put petroleum concessions held by Chevron Corp and PTT Exploration and Production Pcl up for auction, energy minister Anantaporn Kanjanarat said on Monday.

The auction for the petroleum contracts, which are due to expire in 2022-2023, is expected to be completed within one year from now, Anantaporn told reporters after a meeting with the country's energy policy makers. He gave no details on when the auction would start.

If there are no interested bidders, the government will negotiate extensions of the concessions with the existing holders, the minister said.

(Reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak; Writing by Khettiya Jittapong; Editing by Tom Hogue)
How could Trump's protectionist trade policy affect stocks? Here's what happened following the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff act. (Image: Bank of America Merrill Lynch)

In his efforts to capitalize on voter discontent, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has cranked up his anti-trade rhetoric to appeal to workers who have seen their jobs move overseas.

Among other things, Trump has proposed imposing a steep tariff on products made in China and Mexico.

Unfortunately, there are many more things wrong with tariffs than there are right. To begin with it isn't exactly obvious if imposing tariffs on China and Mexico would bring jobs to the US. Rather, companies seeking these manufacturing cost advantages are like to just move production to one of the many other low-cost countries in the developing world.

Whatever the case, such a protectionist trade policy would cause the cost of production to go up, which means the prices for finished goods would most likely go up for consumers. In other words, no one really wins with tariffs.

"The last American president who was a trade protectionist was Republican Herbert Hoover," wrote Stephen Moore and Larry Kudlow. "Does Trump aspire to be a 21st century Hoover with a moderized plaform of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff that helped send the US and world economy into a decade-long depression and a collapse of the banking system?"

In a note to clients on Friday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Michael Hartnett considered economic and financial market scenarios under the regimes of the presidential candidates. Like Moore and Kudlow, Hartnett reflected on the Smoot-Hawley act.

How could Trump's protectionist trade policy affect stocks? Here's what happened following the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff act. (Image: Bank of America Merrill Lynch)

An extreme example [of trade protectionism] admittedly, but the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act that increased US import duties by as much as 50% was extremely bearish for risk, Harnett observed. In a world today devoid of corporate confidence trade tariffs, capital controls, border controls are unlikely to engender risk-seeking behavior on Wall Street, though Main Street may temporarily benefit.

It would be an understatement to say there were a lot of other things going on in the late 1920s and early 1930s that contributed to the downturn in the markets and economy. But almost everyone agrees that the tariffs only made things worse.

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Hartnett note that trade protectionism is bearish for stocks (^GSPC), while bullish for gold (GLD).



Sam Ro is managing editor at Yahoo Finance.

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U.S. President Barack Obama reacts as he attends a town hall meeting with members of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) at the GEM Center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam May 25, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

By Yasmeen Abutaleb

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Vietnamese government restricted access to Facebook Inc inside Vietnam for several days this week as part of a broader crackdown on human rights and political dissidents during a visit by President Barack Obama, two activist organizations said on Thursday.

Officials of Access Now, a digital rights organization, and Viet Tan, a Vietnamese pro-democracy group, said the social media site was restricted and at times blocked inside Vietnam from Sunday to Wednesday, citing reports from people inside the country on Twitter and to Access Now's digital security help service.

The move coincides with a trend toward restrictions on Facebook in countries including China, Uganda and Turkey during politically sensitive times as the 1.6 billion-person social network grows more powerful.

Obama's three-day visit to Vietnam ended on Wednesday. Obama largely focused on normalizing relations with Vietnam. But he also promoted human rights and chided Vietnam about restrictions on political freedoms after critics of its communist-run government were prevented from meeting him.

The Facebook shutdown was part of a stepped-up campaign by the Vietnamese government to limit use of the social network for political protests, activists said in phone interviews.

Facebook was blocked several times earlier this month as street protests erupted over an environmental disaster that resulted in mass fish deaths, the two groups said.

The social media site was also unavailable inside Vietnam ahead of parliamentary elections on Sunday as pro-democracy activists called for a boycott, members of the two groups said.

Facebook declined to comment. Vietnamese government officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted via a government website.

Uganda's government blocked Facebook and Twitter Inc in February during presidential elections. In March, after a deadly bombing in Turkey, an Ankara court ordered a ban on access to Facebook and Twitter.

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And during the 2011 Arab Spring in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, social networks were repeatedly shut down.

Facebook is often shut down in Vietnam during politically sensitive times, Angelina Huynh, advocacy director for Viet Tan, which has members around the world, including in Vietnam, said in a phone interview.

"People were using Facebook to call for protests. They did not want people to take to the streets," Huynh said.

(Reporting By Yasmeen Abutaleb; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - May 30, 2016) - Giving youth a voice for change, GreenLearning Canada, with support from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment & Climate Change, is engaging youth across the province to develop recommendations to address climate change in Ontario.

The Ontario Youth Dialogue on Climate Leadership project gives youth an informed, constructive voice in shaping a sustainable future for the province and its future generations.

Twenty-eight high school classes in five communities across the province (Eastern Ontario, Thunder Bay, Sudbury, London and Toronto), representing over 630 students, investigated the impacts of climate change in their communities and the measures required to address challenges and take advantage of opportunities.

"Empowering students to feel like they can effect positive change has engaged learners who would otherwise not connect strongly with climate change," says Julie Vander Meij, an Instructional Leader with the Toronto District School Board. Madeleine, a Grade 10 student in Sudbury summarized the experience, "Learning about climate change made us passionate and invested in creating a green future."

As part of their investigations, students were tasked with using data and resources from the Ministry and from local community partners. They worked collaboratively in four community virtual seminars to shape their consensus on the issues and recommendations to address climate change in Ontario, and to move toward a low-carbon economy.

"GreenLearning believes youth are critical in creating a more sustainable future," says Gordon Harrison, Director of Climate Change Education at GreenLearning Canada. "The project aims to make learning about climate change relevant and focused on solutions, so that youth are empowered to discover ways to minimize our carbon footprint."

The project culminated with student leaders gathering over a weekend to draft a white paper: Moving Toward a Low-Carbon Ontario -- a Youth Agenda for Change. Youth will speak with Glenn Thibeault, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to discuss their ideas on how to move to a low-carbon economy in a final Virtual Town Hall on May 30 at 1pm.

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Members of the public are invited to weigh in on the conversation and support the students on Twitter using #CCWIL. For more information, visit greenlearning.ca, follow us on Twitter @GreenLearning and LIKE us on Facebook at facebook.com/greenlearning.canada.foundation.

The GreenLearning Canada Foundation (GLCF) is a leader in energy-sustainability education in Canada, highly respected and supported by educators, the industry, governments and civil society organizations. We have over 25 years of experience and expertise, on the ground, working with teachers to educate and engage young people.

We develop eLearning, web-based curriculum programs and provide teacher training and support. We work with an extensive network of teachers, school boards, faculties of education, teachers' professional organizations and departments of education. We collaborate with environmental and environmental education NGOs. Through our network of community partners, we are building school-community capacity to affect change.
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Taipei, May 30 (CNA) Former President Chen Shui-bian (), who is currently on medical parole from Taichung Prison, submitted a formal application to the prison Monday seeking permission to attend a June 4 dinner to be held by the Ketagalan Foundation, of which he is a founding member, a spokeswoman for his medical team said.
Arabs arrested for racist rape of mentally disabled Jewish girl

Police arrest 2 Arabs, hunt 3rd, after they were documented committing horrific rape of mentally disabled girl while shouting racist slurs.Two Arab residents of Judea and Samaria as well as an Arab citizen of Israel are suspected of raping a 20-year-old mentally disabled Jewish girl two weeks ago for "nationalistic" motives, as was revealed on Wednesday when a media gag order on the case was lifted.All three were documented in footage they filmed two weeks ago raping the mentally handicapped girl in a motel in southern Tel Aviv, humiliating her and spitting on her while shouting racist slurs and threatening to harm her family.Police hid the case from the public for ten days out of concerns it would spark clashes between Jews and Arabs."Nationalistic motives" is a term used in describing terror attacks, as opposed to criminal motives.The gag order came despite the fact that police arrested two of the perpetrators a full nine days ago, and are currently hunting down the third rapist whose identity is known to the police.One of the three attackers is a minor from Jaffa (Yafo), and he was arrested.Another arrested suspect, Amad Al-Din Daragmeh from the Judea-Samaria region, apparently filmed the vile gang-rape with the goal of spreading the video.He was brought to the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court on Wednesday morning for an extension of his arrest, where the judge emphasized the severity of the case and the condition of the victim.The traumatic incident has left the victim in a difficult psychological state and she requires treatment.source: Arabs arrested for racist rape of disabled girl - Defense/Security - News - Arutz Sheva
Surrey man accused of running 'terror camp' near Mission

A Surrey man is accused of running a terror camp near Mission thats plotting attacks in the Punjab, according to an India news report.An article published Monday in the Times of India cited a report by Punjab intelligence identifying Hardeep Nijjar as the operational head of (the) Khalistan Terror Force (KTF).According to the report, Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, has lived in Surrey since 1995.He is wanted in India in connection with a blast at a cinema in Ludhiana in the Punjab province, where six people died in 2007.The report alleges Nijjar has been training at least four Sikh youths on how to use AK-47s for the purpose of carrying out attacks in India.The training took place in a (rifle) range near Mission where they were made to fire for four hours daily, said the report.One of the trainees, Mandeep Singh, was arrested two weeks ago, said the Times. Singh arrived in India in January from Canada and is accused of being involved in a terrorist plot.The report claims Singh was on a reconnaissance mission and that Nijjar was to arrange weapons from Pakistan.The Times said India intelligence agencies have alerted Canadian authorities to the alleged camp, and have already submitted an application seeking Nijjars extradition.Global Affairs Canada wasnt available for comment late Sunday.This isnt the first time India authorities have requested Canada track Nijjar. In 2015, India police requested RCMP track his whereabouts after he was suspected of a plot to transport ammunition by paraglider over the Pakistan-India border.That plan was foiled after the arrest of Jagtar Tara, described as the former chief of the KTF.source: Surrey man accused of running terror camp in Mission | Vancouver Sun
ELMWOOD  People from across western Cass County showcased their respect for their fellow citizens Monday morning at Elmwoods annual Memorial Day service.

More than 100 local residents gathered at Elmwood Cemetery to remember the efforts of Americans throughout the nations history. The 35-minute event featured a variety of activities meant to highlight the local and national achievements of U.S. citizens. Numerous veterans and members of American Legion Post 247, American Legion Post 247 Auxiliary and Sons of American Legion Squadron 247 took part in the ceremony.

The event took place on a site where more than 175 veterans have been laid to rest. Veterans from the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War are buried in Elmwood Cemetery.

Elmwood-Murdock graduate and Private First Class Dallas Romine of the United States Marine Corps posted the colors at the beginning of the ceremony. U.S. Army veteran and Elmwood resident Nathan Brettmann then raised the flag by the speaking podium as Elmwood-Murdock graduate Ashtyn Cooper sang the national anthem.

Local Boy and Girl Scouts led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and Rev. Michael Burgess of St. Paul United Methodist Church provided an invocation for the ceremony. Girls State representative Madison Mills followed them with a reading of General Logans Order Number 11.

Nebraska Lieutenant Governor Mike Foley then delivered a keynote speech. Foley served six years in the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature and eight years as Nebraska State Auditor before becoming Nebraska Lieutenant Governor in November 2014.

Foley told the crowd he had close ties with the Elmwood community. His wife Susan is the daughter of Vincent and Theresa Seiker, who once owned a family farm just north of Elmwood. Foley said he had helped reshingle a roof on the Elmwood property many years ago and had visited the town numerous times.

Foley said he was happy to see Elmwood residents had remembered the primary purpose of Memorial Day. Rather than focusing their day on monetary sales, he said local citizens were directing their attention toward the service of others. He said that was a pleasant contrast from the growing commercialization surrounding the holiday.

I salute the people of Elmwood for not letting that happen, Foley said. Your presence today is a beautiful act of patriotism.

The remainder of the ceremony featured several songs and memorial presentations. Robert Clements played Battle Hymn of the Republic on his trumpet and later joined Bruce Pratt in an echoing of Taps. Cooper led the crowd in a rendition of God Bless America and local veterans delivered a 21-gun salute. Area veterans and Boy and Girl Scouts walked near the podium and placed several memorial wreaths.

American Legion Post 247 Commander Bonnie Brewer honored three veterans for their lengthy membership in the local group. Dwight Clements was recognized for 70 continuous years of involvement with the organization. Gordon Lannin was honored for 60 years of membership and Lorens Ropers was recognized for 50 years of membership.
PLATTSMOUTH  An Omaha woman was transported to Cass County Jail Sunday morning after her car rolled across a median on Highway 75 by Plattsmouth.

Cass County Sheriffs Office deputies and Plattsmouth Fire and Rescue personnel responded to the intersection of Highway 75 and Chicago Avenue at 6 a.m. They learned Omaha resident Brittany Smith, 23, had been involved in a one-vehicle accident.

Deputies said their investigation revealed Smith had been driving a 2006 Ford Focus northbound on Highway 75. Smith lost control of her car after the vehicle struck a median. The car rolled over and came to rest in the southbound lanes of Highway 75.

Smith declined medical treatment from Plattsmouth Rescue personnel at the scene. CCSO deputies arrested Smith and transported her to Cass County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. An arraignment date for Smith will be set later this week.
Editors note: Today is the first in a two part story. Part two will be presented in Wednesdays Fremont Tribune.

Fremont native, Joel McTaggart knows the chase. He spent almost 20 years spiraling down its deep chasm until the bottom rushed up to meet him on a park bench in Atlanta, Georgia.

The chase spins an incessant, insidious cycle, a bit like a malformed circular gear inside the clockworks of an antique pocket watch, its notched edges rotate without rhythm or order. It throws off everything.

The rest of us call it addiction.

(Addiction) is progressive across stages; it is pervasive in that it affects all areas of a persons life; and it is potentially lethal, explained Hylean McGreevy, outpatient program manager at Fremont Health Behavioral Medicine.

Addiction, like an asynchronous watch, steals away moments, days, months and years; It leaves an individual broken and lonely on the cold rocks at the bottom of the hole.

McTagggart remembers the bottom of that hole. After years of methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and other drugs he hit that bottom. Almost everything he owned, everything he valued  a job, a roof over his head, a drivers license  had slipped away. He spent his nights sleeping on that park bench, all his belongings wrapped up around him.

Everything I owned was on my back, McTaggart said. I got mugged in Atlanta  I lost most of my teeth in Atlanta.

Worst of all, he had pushed away those vital connections so important to human survival: family and friends.

I just didnt want them to see me like that. I didnt want them to think less of me  to be disappointed, McTaggart recalled.

ADDICTIONS DESCRIPTION

McGreevy clarified that no cure exists for addiction; it can only be managed. It occurs as the result of an inherent reward circuit inside everyones brain.

The brain is hardwired to reward survival behaviors. The reward system is in place to assure the survival of the species and the individual, McGreevy explained.

For instance, when a person eats, drinks or breaths those neuronal circuit in the brain produce a chemical reward that strengthens the passage of signals along those pathways. That strengthening of the pathway ensures that the specific behavior continues to occur in the future, thus leading to the structural cycles of a persons life (eating, breathing, procreating, etc.), behaviors that promotes survival.

Addiction hijacks that reward system, intensifies it and turns it toxic.

The person with addiction is sent messages to repeat (drug or other) using behaviors simply because the using behavior has been identified as a survival behavior, McGreevy added.

In other words the brain interprets those addiction behaviors (and subsequent brain signals) as necessary for survival. Hence, the addict does whatever he can  sometimes criminal extremes  to maintain and strengthen those neuronal pathways.

Thus, the chase begins.

For McTaggart, like most addicts, addiction slowly and insidiously spreads to all lifes aspects.

From the time when you wake up in the morning the first thought on your mind is how am I going to get high, do I have enough (money) to get high, McTaggert said. The chasing after it. The getting it. Its the whole cycle, it becomes your whole life. Everything else you try to fit (around) it, if it doesnt fit it then you kick it out  its just a viscous, viscous cycle.

A PROGRESSIVE AND PERVASIVE CYCLE

Speaking to McTaggart, descriptions like nice guy, honest, approachable and respectable might occur in ones mind. Hes the kind of person that will drop what hes doing to help a friend or listen.

Wanda Savoi, McTaggarts significant other for the last 16 years makes no hesitation to acknowledge those descriptions. A testament to their bond ascends from that struggle with addiction, a mentally and physically arduous journey shared by both.

After abusive relationships at a young age, a divorce and self-esteem issues, Savoi struggled with addiction for many years as well.

In the beginning it lets you think you have control, Savoi said. Pretty soon it had its grips on me tight enough that it was a daily thing. To even face the day I needed to get up and get high.

Savoi and McTaggart come from very different backgrounds, clear evidence that drug addiction can strike anyone regardless of socioeconomic status, family history or education.

When it comes to his own experiences, McTaggart is the first to tell you that he never had a necessarily rough life as an only child. He suffered no history of abuse and he acknowledged, aside from divorced parents, his childhood remained relatively well-adjusted.

However, he conceded that after his parents divorced, and as an only child, the structure in his life started to crumble. He started skipping school and falling in with the wrong crowd and experimenting with drugs like marijuana. After moving to Wisconsin to live with his father and step-mom, drugs really began to take an alluring and unyielding hold.

I think it was (from) the stability getting stripped away, he said. I was an only child for the longest time  but my dad worked all the time.

He remembers the first time freebasing cocaine at age 15.

It was like something I never had before  the greatest feeling I ever had in my life, McTaggart recalled. It filled a huge void  I didnt go to work all weekend, I spent four days in a house with these guys and we did cocaine the whole time.

And then there was the money. At his worst, McTaggart confessed that blowing $500 per week represented just a drop in the bucket. The chase could sometimes devour an entire pay check.

From Wisconsin, McTaggart returned to Fremont to finish high school, but with no friends, no support, he again fell in with the wrong group. A few years later, hoping to escape from the drugs and the toxic social circles he had established in Fremont, McTaggart moved to Atlanta, taking a job with his father who had relocated there.

McTaggart stayed healthy for about a year.

But my addictive personality gravitated towards other addicts, McTaggart said. I got reintroduced to cocaine, and reintroduced to meth  and I met a girl down there who introduced me to heroine.

For the next ten years in Atlanta McTaggart made that gradual, inevitable fall to the bottom.

I hit absolute rock bottom. I lost my job. I lost my girl. I was living on a park bench or in the street  I was technically homeless, McTaggart said, adding that he also severed ties with his father.

It was there, at the bottom, among the ravages of his addiction, that he realized he couldnt do it anymore.

He remembered it clearly.

After scrounging up enough money for a $50 ticket, he was on a bus, enduring through the nausea of heroin and methadone detoxification on the same night in 1997 when Princess Diana died.

McTaggarts bus headed north, back to Fremont and one of the hardest battles he would ever face.

Coming tomorrow: arrest, Wanda, Drug Court and life.
You only get one.

Applied to a lot of things, those four words hardly carry any significance.

But applied to a life, they carry the somber realization of its fragility and briefness. And they lead to the profound understanding of what it actually means to make that ultimate sacrifice, and the innumerable men and women who made it serving the ideals, principals and people of this country. In excess of one million American men and women have made that sacrifice.

Monday was about them.

Names like Garrison Avery, Eric Ohm, Dallas Folkner and Ardean DeLay: all United States and Nebraska service members who lost their lives in wars with names like Iraq/Afghanistan, Vietnam, Korean and World War II.

We hold those men and women in our hearts, Fremont Mayor Scott Getzschman said to a large gathering at Monday mornings Memorial Day ceremony at Memorial Park Eternal Flame on East Military.

A somber crowed gathered for the hour-long event to honor this communitys, and this nations, fallen U.S. service members. The pinnacle of the ceremonial involved the placing of memorial wreaths at the base of the Eternal Flame.

This year the Joseph C. H. Bales Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter 18 hosted the ceremony. Al Martinez, Vietnam veteran and member of DAV of Fremont who helped organize this years event, spoke to the significance Memorial Day holds for him.

Its always good to see the citizens of our nation and of our communities come together to acknowledge and to remember, first of all, those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Theyre never going to have a Christmas or a Memorial Day or anything like that. That we take the time to remember them  that means a lot to me.
MASON CITY  A Mason City man accused of attempting to kill his girlfriend remained in jail Monday on $150,000 bond.

Jason Michael Clausen, 43, was charged with felony attempted murder, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary.

Clausen seriously injured his girlfriend with a weapon, said Mason City Police Sgt. Greg Scott.

Scott wouldnt identify the weapon.

The incident was reported about 6 a.m. Sunday on Maple Drive.

The woman was conscious when police arrived, Scott said.

Mason City firefighter-paramedics took her to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa. Police did not release details of her injuries.

No additional information about the incident were released on Monday.
MASON CITY  A Mason City man sought by police for allegedly killing a kitten during a dispute has been arrested.

Jerrick Rinnels, 28, was arrested Sunday afternoon on a warrant for misdemeanor animal abuse after police received an anonymous tip about his whereabouts, said Mason City Police Sgt. Greg Scott.

The arrest took place during a traffic stop in the 2000 block of South Federal Avenue. Rinnels was taken into custody without incident, Scott said.

Police had asked the publics help in finding Rinnels, who is accused of taking a kitten from someone and slamming the animal into a solid object early Friday.

Police say Rinnels had been arguing with the person holding the cat.

The kitten died before it could be taken to a veterinarian.

Rinnels was released on bond early Monday.

 Molly Montag
FOREST CITY  Danny has $100. What should he do with that $100?

Put 75 percent of it away. Keep $10 and save the rest. Put in a college savings fund, Kyra Gibbs said.

Save it for college, Avery Smith said.

Save it for something he wants when hes older, Shyleeah Brakeo said. Like buying a house or a car.

Those Forest City Elementary School fifth-grade students can give financial advice because theyve taken a seven-week financial course created by Everfi.

Titonka Savings Bank pays a significant amount to provide the course to an elementary class and high school class in Forest City, North Iowa Schools and Algona Schools, said Jan Anderson of TSB.

Were so blessed that TSB funds it, said Forest City Elementary School counselor Nancy Prohaska.

The computer-based Everfi course meets Common Core standards for math and ELA, Prohaska said. It also aligns with state and national school counselor standards and benchmarks for financial literacy and personal finance education, she said.

Prohaska said she and the course prompt students to consider careers and how they relate to finances.

Students recently visited TSB offices in Forest City.

You could tell they had a background, Anderson said. They were asking good questions.
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notahug wrote:

In Hungary, as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many of which are in middle management and light industry.





(A) as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many of which are in



(B) as with much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women works, many in



(C) as in much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many of them in



(D) like much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women works, and many are



(E) like much of Eastern Europe, an overwhelming proportion of women work, many are in





Meaning is crucial to solving this problem:

Concepts tested here: Subject-Verb Agreement + Meaning + Pronouns + Grammatical Construction

A:

B:

C:

Correct.

D:

are

themselves

work in

E:

Hence, C is the best answer choice.

Dear Friends,Here is a detailed explanation to this question-Understanding the intended meaning is key to solving this question; the intended meaning of this sentence is that as in much of Eastern Europe, in Hungary, an overwhelming proportion of women work, and many of them work in middle management and light industry. The pronoun which cannot be used to refer to a human being. A comparison can only be made between similar elements. A comma cannot join two independent clauses; such usage leads to the error of comma splice; to correct this error, the comma must be replaced with a semicolon or comma followed by a conjunction such as "and", "but" etc.This answer choice incorrectly uses "which" to refer to "women"; please remember, the pronoun which cannot be used to refer to a human being.This answer choice incorrectly refers to the plural noun "women" with the singular verb "works". Further, Option B alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "with much of Eastern Europe"; the use of "with" leads to an incoherent meaning; the intended meaning is that as in much of Eastern Europe, in Hungary, an overwhelming proportion of women work.This answer correctly refers to the plural noun "women" with the plural verb "work". Moreover, Option C correctly refers to "women" with an appropriate pronoun "that", which can be used to refer to humans. Further, Option B correctly compares the prepositional phrase "In Hungary" with the prepositional phrase "in much of Eastern Europe", conveying the intended meaning - that as in much of Eastern Europe, in Hungary, an overwhelming proportion of women work. Additionally, the answer choice formed by Option C uses the phrase "many of them in middle management and light industry", conveying the intended meaning - that many women in Hungary work in middle management and light industry. Besides Option C correctly uses a comma to join the independent clause "In Hungary...an overwhelming proportion of women work" with the dependent clause "many of them in middle management and light industry"This answer choice incorrectly uses "which" to refer to "women"; please remember, the pronoun which cannot be used to refer to a human being. Further, the sentence formed by Option D alters the meaning of the sentence through the phrase "and many are middle management and light industry"; the construction of this phrase illogically implies that many women in Hungarymiddle management and light industry; the intended meaning is that many women in Hungarymiddle management and light industry. This answer choice incorrectly compares the prepositional phrase "In Hungary" to the noun phrase "much of Eastern Europe"; please remember, a comparison can only be made between similar elements.This answer choice incorrectly compares the prepositional phrase "In Hungary" to the noun phrase "much of Eastern Europe"; please remember, a comparison can only be made between similar elements. Further, Option E incorrectly uses a comma to join the independent clause "In Hungary...an overwhelming proportion of women work" with the independent clause "many are in middle management and light industry"; please remember, a comma cannot join two independent clauses; such usage leads to the error of comma splice; to correct this error, the comma must be replaced with semicolon or comma followed by a conjunction such as "and", "but" etc.To understand the concept of "Comma Splices" and "Run-ons" on GMAT, you may want to watch the following video (~6 minutes):All the best!Team_________________
QUESTION 7:

Quote:

7. Which of the following best describes the kind of error attributed to Glatthaar in lines 25-28 [In trying to demonstrate the magnitude of this attitudinal change, however, Glatthaar seems to exaggerate the prewar racism of the White men who became officers in Black regiments.]?



(A) Insisting on an unwarranted distinction between two groups of individuals in order to render an argument concerning them internally consistent

(B) Supporting an argument in favor of a given interpretation of a situation with evidence that is not particularly relevant to the situation

(C) Presenting a distorted view of the motives of certain individuals in order to provide grounds for a negative evaluation of their actions

(D) Describing the conditions prevailing before a given event in such a way that the contrast with those prevailing after the event appears more striking than it actually is

(E) Asserting that a given event is caused by another event merely because the other event occurred before the given event occurred

lichting wrote:

Can anyone please give me detail explaination of Q7?

I can locate the relevant information - the "exaggerate" part but still don't know the meaning of option D in Q7. Though I could choose it by eliminating the other options

as soldiers

Quote:

(D) Describing the conditions prevailing before a given event in such a way that the contrast with those prevailing after the event appears more striking than it actually is

First of all, great job using process of elimination! If you've found four wrong answers, then you've found the correct answerGlatthaar suggests that the white officers had "powerful racial prejudices" before the war and that fighting alongside black soldiers during the war changed those prejudices (the black soldiers "fought their way into the respect of all the army"). In other words, Glatthaar suggests that the white officers were very racist before the war and much less racist after the war.But the author suggests that Glatthaar is exaggerating this change. The author says that the pre-war racism of many white officers was not as "powerful" a Glatthaar suggests. Many of those white officers were abolitionists who spent years fighting AGAINST racial prejudice even before the war started. Those officers may have gained respect for the black units, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the officers went from being racist to not being racist. They may not have been very racist before the war even started.Thus, Glatthaar describes the conditions prevailing before the war (i.e. the prewar racism of white officers) in such a way that the contrast with their POST-war racism seems more striking (i.e. more noticeable) than it actually was.

QUESTION 1:

anish823 wrote:

How do we know that its referring to a scholarly study?

Quote:

1. The passage as a whole can best be characterized as which of the following?



(A) An evaluation of a scholarly study

(B) A description of an attitudinal change

(C) A discussion of an analytical defect

(D) An analysis of the causes of a phenomenon

(E) An argument in favor of revising a view

study

thesis

I assume you are referring to the first question...There are many clues from which we can infer that this is a scholarly study. For example, in the first sentence, the author refers to Glatthaar's work as an "excellentof Black soldiers and their White officers in the Civil War." Later in the first paragraph the author says that, "Glatthaars title expresses his" (a "thesis" could surely be the topic of a scholarly study).We are also told that Glatthaar's work "concentrates more intensely on Black-White relations in Black regiments than do any of its predecessors." So while the passage never explicitly refers to the work as a "scholarly study", it is clear that the work examines race relations in the Civil War era. This certainly sounds like a scholarly (or "academic") study.More importantly, choice (A) is better than any of the other choices, which you should try to eliminate using POE.

QUESTION 4:

oasis90 wrote:





4. The passage mentions which of the following as an important theme that receives special emphasis in Glatthaar's book?



(A) The attitudes of abolitionist officers in Black units

(B) The struggle of black units to get combat assignments

(C) The consequences of the poor medical care received by Black soldiers

(D) The motives of officers serving in Black units

(E) The discrimination that Black soldiers faced when trying for promotions



can you please explain why choice A is incorrect? I know why B is correct but I can't find enough grounds to eliminate A. After all, there is a whole parg dedicated to it.

Hi GMATNinja 4. The passage mentions which of the following as an important theme that receives special emphasis in Glatthaar's book?(A) The attitudes of abolitionist officers in Black units(B) The struggle of black units to get combat assignments(C) The consequences of the poor medical care received by Black soldiers(D) The motives of officers serving in Black units(E) The discrimination that Black soldiers faced when trying for promotions

soldiers

mentions

misrepresents

Choice (A) is tempting, but take a second look at the last two sentences in paragraph #2. A White officer is quoted, but these sentences are discussing the attitudes of White, not abolitionist officers. Then, to demonstrate this "attitudinal change..., Glatthaar seems to exaggerate the prewar racism of the White men who became officers in Black regiments."Yes, Glatthaarthe attitudes of abolitionist officers in Black units but only to make a broader point about the shift in attitudes. In doing so, Glatthaar "the attitudes of the many abolitionists who became officers in Black regiments." So the point of the 3rd paragraph is not that Glatthaar gives special emphasis to the attitudes of abolitionist officers. Instead, the point is that Glatthaar's description of their attitudes (i.e. 'virtually all of them held powerful racial prejudices') is misleading.Although Glatthaar certainly mentions the attitudes of these officers, were are not told that Glatthaar gives special emphasis to those attitudes. We are specifically told that Glatthaar appropriately emphasizes "the campaign by Black soldiers and their officers to get the opportunity to fight", so (B) is a much better answer.

QUESTION 5:

Nived wrote:

Can someone explain question 5. It says that Black units' disease mortality rates were especially high because of the nature of these units' usual duty assignments.



According to the passage, Black units served in rear-echelon assignments and worked in labor battalions. So, what exactly was the issue with the nature of "rear-echelon assignments and labor battalions"? I had the impression that the working conditions and hygiene issues were there, but this was not really related to "nature of duty", but more related to the living conditions. Where did I get it wrong.

csaluja wrote:





I was wondering could you please explain why Q5 OA is C? From the passage I was able to infer that Black units' disease mortality rates were high based on the following sentence from the passage "Thus, while their combat death rate was only one-third that of White units, their mortality rate from disease, a major killer in this war, was twice as great". My question is how can we infer the bold part in the following sentence: "Black units' disease mortality rates were especially high because of the nature of these units' usual duty assignments. . I was confused on this latter part and ended up picking the wrong option because I was not able to infer that their mortality rates were high because of the nature of their duty assignments. Could you please help in regards to this? Would greatly appreciate it! Hi GMATNinja I was wondering could you please explain why Q5 OA is C? From the passage I was able to infer that Black units' disease mortality rates were high based on the following sentence from the passage "Thus, while their combat death rate was only one-third that of White units, their mortality rate from disease, a major killer in this war, was twice as great". My question is how can we infer the bold part in the following sentence: "Black units' disease mortality rates were especially high. I was confused on this latter part and ended up picking the wrong option because I was not able to infer that their mortality rates were high because of the nature of their duty assignments. Could you please help in regards to this? Would greatly appreciate it!

Thus

because

because

something

why

something

inherent

nature

suggests

prove

nature

The author tells us that most Black units were kept serving "in rear-echelon assignments and working in labor battalions., while their combat death rate was only one-third that of White units, their mortality rate from disease, a major killer in this war, was twice as great."The use of the word "Thus" allows us to infer thatBlack units were kept in rear-echelon assignments and NOT given as many opportunities to fight (i.e. in the front), their combat death rate was lower. Furthermore,Black units were kept in rear-echelon assignments and working in labor battalions, their mortality rate from disease was twice as great.Even though we don't know what specifically caused the higher disease rates in those jobs, we can infer thatabout working in rear-echelon assignments and in labor battalions increased mortality rates from disease. In other words, we can infer that being assigned to these duties increased your chances of catching fatal diseases.We don't knowthat is true, but we can infer thatabout those duties (i.e. somethingto those duties... theof those duties) made units assigned to those duties more likely to contract fatal diseases. Thus, the passage(though it does not) that the disease mortality rates of Black units during the Civil War were especially high because of theof these units' usual duty assignments.Choice (C) is the best answer.I hope that helps!_________________
Re: When A. Philip Randolph assumed the leadership of the Brotherhood of S [ #permalink

1 Kudos

Hmmm... That's a blow ...



I don't agree with all the OAs and here is my reasoning, eagerly waiting for experts' comments:



1. According to the passage, by 1935 the skepticism of Black workers toward unions was:

OA: D weakened by the opening up of many unions to Black workers.



In 1935 the Brotherhood became the first Black union recognized by a major corporation. Randolph's efforts in the battle helped transform the attitude of Black workers toward unions and toward themselves as an identifiable group;



He reasoned that as a member union, the Brotherhood would be in a better position to exert pressure on member unions that practiced race restrictions. Such restrictions were eventually found unconstitutional in 1944.



Last sentences clearly state that until 1944 unions practiced race restrictions. HOW can we say that skepticism of Black workers toward unions was weakened by the opening up of many unions to Black workers. Which unions opened the doors for black workers before 1935. This way only Randolph that made this change happen.



2: OK! Even I was thinking no to opt for such a strong opinion as Regret.

But still A to be the OA .....

understandability is about the skepticism of black workers towards unions and not about the brotherhood.



3. The passage suggests which of the following about the response of porters to the Pullman Company's own union?

OA: E The porters' response was unaffected by the general skepticism of Black workers concerning unions.



Who are porters': (1) black workers (2) workers with black workers as majority (3) workers with non-black workers as majority

Porters were scattered throughout the country, sleeping in dormitories in Black communities;

I can not justify (1) and (3) from the passage but at least (2) from the passage.

OA could be right if majority of the workers were non-black workers then we would say that non-black workers' response was unaffected by the general skepticism of Black workers concerning unions. But if porters' are dominated by black workers then how this can be OA.



>>The first was Black workers' understandable skepticism toward unions, which had historically barred Black workers from membership.



This clearly states that porter's were barred from union membership therefore Few porters ever joined this union. Few because some porter's could be non-black who joined unions.



4. The passage suggests that if the grievances of porters in one part of the United States had been different from those of porters in another part of the country, which of the following would have been the case?

OA: B It would have been more difficult for the Brotherhood to control its channels of communication.



Yes, this was a tempting answer and on first go, I opted for B but then I had a deep look and found it irrelevant to the question. Passage states that physical scattering through various cities helped porters' to control their communication and not because they had the same grievances from city to city. It is absurd to say that because porters' had the same grievances from city to city therefore they were able to protect their communication channel.



>>sharing the same grievances from city to city, also strengthened the Brotherhood and encouraged racial identity and solidarity as well.



We can see because porters' had the same grievances from city to city that strengthened the Brotherhood and encouraged racial identity and solidarity as well. So we can conclude that if porters' did not have the same grievances from city to city

It would have been more difficult for the Brotherhood to build its membership.



5. The passage suggests that in the 1920's a company in the United States was able to

OA: C develop a single labor policy for all its employees with little employee dissent.



First of all there is no mention if single labor policy was implemented by any company in 1920. Only thing mentioned is about 1928 that Pullman Company had a single labor policy. With this information we can not conclude if companies were doing so in 1920 too. Second problem with this answer is "with little employee dissent", there is no mention at all about this.



>> in the early 1930's that federal legislation prohibiting a company from maintaining its own unions with company money

Therefore we can conclude that before 1930 companies were able to maintain its own unions with their own money and Pullman Company was doing the same.



6. The passage supplies information concerning which of the following matters related to Randolph?

OA: E The success he and the Brotherhood had in influencing the policies of the other unions in the American Federation of Labor



May be I mis-interpreted motivation for intentions.



Randolph brought the Brotherhood into the American Federation of Labor, where it became the equal of the Federation's 105 other unions. He reasoned that as a member union, the Brotherhood would be in a better position to exert pressure on member unions that practiced race restrictions. Such restrictions were eventually found unconstitutional in 1944.



But to be honest, I'm still not happy with the OA. If Randolph was the successful to influence other unions' policy is far fetched conclusion. My feel is still with B.
It's all happening! Coming in hot 'n' radical like a neon spaceship sent from Pizza Planet, the Pizza In A Pizza Box Topped With Mini Pizza is here to get the summer started. It's not holding back, it's not taking prisoners, and it's not accepting "lactose intolerance" as a legitimate excuse.

Just ordered: The Pizza Box Pizza with a request for mini slices of pizza added to the pizza inside. #infinitypizza #pizzaboxpizza #minivinnie #vinniesbrooklyn #williamaburg #greenpoint #pizza A photo posted by Vinnie's Pizzeria (@vinniesbrooklyn) on May 28, 2016 at 2:22pm PDT

The culinary creatives at Vinnie's Pizza are responsible for the pizza-on-pizza-in-pizzathey created it over the weekend when a fellow disruptor/customer seamlessly integrated their trademark pizza-topped pizza and pizza-in-a-pizza box. The result has turned "infinity pizza" into an Eternity Pizza, if you will.

Vinnie's co-owner Berthiaume told Gothamist his restaurant has sold five of the pizza pile-ups already, and calls it a "natural progression" of their other combination pies. "Our philosophy is 'Yes, you can do whatever you want,'" Berthiaume said.

If you've felt a little lost in our post-identity age of Rainbow Bagels and Everything Donuts, worry no more. The Pizza In A Pizza Box Topped With Mini Pizza is served in saucy triplicate. When you plug this baby into the quadratic equation, your pizza parabola comes out delicious. Pizza In A Box Topped With Mini Pizza is self-contained American masterpiece traveling at the speed of cheese. It's the Synecdoche, New York of pizza, just without the crippling depression (we assume).

If you're interested in actually eating this delicacy, The Pizza In A Box Topped With Mini Pizza is $46 and available anytime. Nirvana has arrived!
Police are hoping the public can help them identify a suspect accused of a disgusting incident that occurred last Friday in an elevator.

According to the NYPD, the sexual abuse incident took place at 11:34 p.m. on Friday, May 27, when a male individual followed "the victim, a 23-year-old female, into an elevator located within the vicinity of Saint Nicholas Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue.The elevator stopped at the 6th floor and as the individual was coming out he held open the doors and threw bodily fluids at the victim."

The suspect then fled. Police released an image of him and describe as him as 25-30 years old, 5'8" and 150 pounds with black hair. He was last seen wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and brown shoes.

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS or for Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers Website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or texting their tips to 274637(CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
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Summer has officially begun, and that means it's time to eat, drink, and be merry no matter how sweltering the heat may be. The city's food scene is playing along nicely with barbecues, smoked wings, and delectably small Spanish bites. Time to put on a pair of shorts and dig in.



courtesy of House of Yes

It'd be borderline un-American to not find yourself around a steaming barbecue grill at least once on Memorial Day weekend. But there's no need to worryHouse of Yes has you covered. The Bushwick DIY space is best-known for high-flying acrobatic shows, but on this very Monday they'll be hosting a pig roast out on their open-air patio, with mojo roasted pork, chimichurri skirt steak, hot dogs, grilled seitan, and more. Of course, there'll be drink specials, music, dancing, wild costumes, and all manners of weirdness. This'll help you start summer off proper.

Specializing in classic Basque cuisine, East Village bar Donostia is rolling out a brand new happy hour this Monday that'll last all summer long. It's centered around the Spanish tradition of pintxo-pote, a small bites approach to dinner that puts plenty of emphasis on alcohol. Their special menu will include topped Montaditos breads, and skewered bites of seafood, cured meats, and cheeses (also known as Banderillas). There'll also be mussels, clams, tuna belly, beer, cider, sherry, and Spanish wine, guaranteeing that your stroll home through Tompkins Square Park will be boozy and blissful.

The fine summer-loving folks at Lolo's Seafood Shack are throwing a "Caribbean Week" party full of smoked wings, Belizean conch fritters, jerk ribs, steamed crawfish, homemade johnnycakes and more. Starting Wednesday and running through Saturday night, the Harlem favorite will let customers choose from a $30 prix fixe menu or plenty of a la carte snacking options. Their shack-style backyard picnic area will definitely be packed this week. Only a fool would miss out.



courtesy Tarallucci e Vino

If for some odd reason you tire of finger-licking barbecue-ish meals this week, Tarallucci e Vino is featuring something a bit more refined. Their "Garibaldi Week" starts Thursday, June 2nd and will celebrate Italy's 1946 abolition of its monarchya vote that lead to their modern republic. Each day for a week, Tarallucci will feature a special dish that draws upon regional Italian ingredients and techniques, from Milan all the way down to Sardinia. You'll get risotto, cacio e pepe, pasta fagioli, spaghetti aglio olio and more.
Though the agreement between the striking unions and Verizon is still tentative, the nearly 40,000 workers who have been on strike since April 13th will return to work by Wednesday at the latest.

The Communications Workers of America union, which, along with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, represents the striking workers, announced the return to work this morning, citing "big gains" for workers in the new agreement with the telecommunications giant. The strikers, who number 36,000 in the Northeast, will be back on the job on June 1st, though those who work overnight shifts will start earlier, returning for their shifts tomorrow night.

The precise details of the agreement will be presented to union members for ratification after they return to work, but CWA has already revealed that Verizon will add 1,300 new call center jobs on the East Coast and grant union workers a 10.9% raise over the next four years, including 3% upon ratification and 2.5% on each anniversary of the contract. Workers will also get a $1,250 signing bonus in the Mid-Atlantic ,and a $1,000 signing bonus plus $250 healthcare reimbursement account in the Northeast, plus at least $700 in corporate profit sharing payments each year over the next four years.

"The addition of good new jobs at Verizon is a huge win not just for striking workers, but for our communities and the country as a whole," said CWA President Chris Shelton.

The Northeast walkout happened after failed contract negotiations, and after workers had been on the job without a contract since August. The unions were concerned that Verizon was trying to freeze pensions, pave the way for layoffs, and raise healthcare costs. They also objected to the company moving more jobs overseas and outsourcing labor to low-wage contractors, and were upset that the company had failed to keep its promise of installing FiOS citywide while "shedding workers" who were trained to install that service.

The contract, if ratified, will also be the first contract ever for nearly 70 people who work in Verizon Wireless retail stores in Brooklyn and Everett, Massachusetts.

"For the first time, Verizon Wireless retail workers have a union and a fair contract," said Mike Tisei, a Verizon Wireless retail worker. "For the wireless retail workers who joined CWA in 2014, that means a better quality of life and meaningful economic security for our families. Today is a great day for my family and working families along the East Coast, and it's only possible because we stood together."

Still, some workers objected to the fact that they were expected to return to work without seeing the details of the contract that they're expected to ratify: one NYC worker said that they received text messages telling them to take down the picket lines and return to work on Wednesday, while another argued, "Would you lease a car for three years without seeing it first? The only thing we are being told is that we are going to have to pay more for our medical."

Additional points of the agreement, according to CWA, are assurance that three of the five call centers that have been threatened with closure will remain open, while union workers in the other two centers will be offered local jobs; a 25% increase in the number of unionized worker crews doing pole work in New York State; a withdrawal of all proposed reductions in pensions; termination of a performance supervisory program in NYC that workers found abusive; and the withdrawal of proposed cuts in accident and disability benefits.

"This tentative contract is an important step forward in helping to end this six-week strike and keeping good Verizon jobs in America," said IBEW President Lonnie R. Stephenson. "We will be sharing the details of it with our members for approval in the immediate days ahead."
When many of us picture the Vietnam War, one image that doesnt come to mind is troops arriving for war on commercial airlines flying into Da Nang, Vietnam.

But thats how Robert "Bob" Haseman landed there in 1969, on a jet from Okinawa complete with hot meals, stewardesses and fellow troops.

Haseman estimates that the day he arrived it was probably 110 degrees Fahrenheit -- very hot, very humid and very typical for Vietnam.

He was 21 years old and a freshly minted second lieutenant just out of Officer Candidate School.

The son of a World War II vet, Haseman, like many of his fellow infantrymen, enlisted in the Marine Corps an idealistic young man wanting to follow in his fathers footsteps.

But Vietnam turned out to be a very different type of war.

Now 47 years later, Haseman, a retired Helena businessman, has written, illustrated and self-published a book about those experiences, The Sun Sets on Vietnam: The Firebase War.

It gives a glimpse of what that war was like and how Haseman has come to grips with it decades later.

Haseman will have a book signing from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 11, at Montana Book & Toy Co., 311 N. Last Chance Gulch.

The day after landing, Haseman was in a jeep bumping down a dirt road on his way to Vandegrift Combat Base (VCB), or firebase, in Quang Tri Province.

Most of the time, you didnt see the enemy, or allies or other platoons, he said of his stint in Vietnam, where he commanded a Marine Corps infantry platoon in Lima Company.

But things could rocket from dull to very, very scary instantaneously, he recalled.

This was the beginning of the most dangerous and adrenaline-charged period of my life, where you could go from complete boredom to stress-filled anxiety in a second, he writes.

Hasemans unit defended about one-sixth of the VCB perimeter, he writes.

Some of the most frightening times in Vietnam were for those who were manning the listening posts.

This is where a two-man team with a radio sat in the dark outside the bases perimeter, listening for sappers -- North Vietnamese soldiers carrying satchel charge bombs who would throw the bombs into the perimeter.

But it wasnt just the sappers that could kill you, he said. It could be friendly fire if the team had to rush back to the perimeter in the dark.

And it was in chaos such as this that one of Hasemans men would kill his own best friend.

That is just one of the incidents featured in his chapter Anxious Thoughts.

That chapter and the final chapter, A Letter to My Children About Vietnam, are two of the books strongest parts, said Haseman.

Its this final chapter, where Haseman retraces some of the history leading up to the war and why many of those decisions were mistakes.

Its also where Haseman writes, it is past time for the anger, blame, and resentment about Vietnam to end.

Its really the reason I wrote the book, he said.

How did Vietnam change him?

It certainly made me less naive, said Haseman, a Missouri native. I was a bumpkin. People would tell me something and I was willing to believe it.

My experience (in Vietnam) was little things, said Haseman, who is a retired financial adviser and founder of the Helena Edward Jones office in 1981.

He decided to write this book based on some of the stories he had told his wife and friends when he first got back from Vietnam.

Reading the novel, The Things They Carried, based on author Tim OBriens experiences in Vietnam gave Haseman a place to start with telling his own story: I can write about little things.

Writing about those little things has brought some closure on that part of his life.

So has the belated recognition and thanks that Vietnam veterans are finally receiving from their government and fellow citizens. We shouldnt feel guilty. We should feel proud of our service.
Yet another budget bill has been sent to Gov. Rauner that would fund lifesaving breast and cervical cancer screenings. We cannot stand for further delays in funding for the Illinois Breast and Cervical Cancer Program (IBCCP).

When detecting cancer early is critical to survival, funding IBCCP is so important for the low-income and uninsured women it serves. Its truly a matter of life or death for these women, who may not be able to get cancer screenings and treatment services anywhere else.

But for the past two years, many IBCCP agencies have been forced to put patients on wait lists; leaving women, who may have cancer, without an option to receive their diagnosis and begin treatment.

Gov. Rauner, IBCCP funding is long overdue, and you have been given multiple opportunities to approve it. Dont let another chance go to waste.

I joined nearly 200 advocates last week to make that message heard throughout the Statehouse. I hope our lawmakers will support any efforts to fully fund this program.

Radine Cox, Decatur
WASHINGTON (AP)  Military spouses struggle to find jobs and are more likely to work for less pay or in positions below their education level, spurring unemployment and other costs of as much as $1 billion a year, according to a study.

Wrestling with frequent moves, deployments and erratic schedules of their service member mates, military spouses have an unemployment rate of up to 18 percent, compared to last month's national jobless rate of 5 percent.

The problem is not new to the Pentagon, and in recent years has triggered a flood of new programs aimed at encouraging companies to hire military veterans and spouses.

The latest study was commissioned by Blue Star Families, a group that coordinates services for families with a loved one who is currently serving or has served in the military. And it found that up to 42 percent of military spouses  or as many as 95,000  are jobless, compared to about 25 percent of a comparable civilian spouse population. In addition, it estimated that military spouses with a bachelor's degree earn 40 percent less than their civilian counterparts.

The report noted that various groups have done studies on military spouse unemployment that yielded varying statistics. But there was broad agreement on the overall conclusion that they face higher unemployment rates than civilians, especially those of comparable age.

"The math is shocking, but it also shows the way forward," said Kathy Roth-Douquet, founder and chief executive officer of Blue Star Families. "If we work together to reverse the crippling employment trends facing military spouses, we will add money back to our economy."

And she called on the government and private companies to do more to battle spouse unemployment in the same way they did to beef up the hiring of veterans.

"Military spouses are faced with unique challenges in starting and maintaining a career as a result of the military lifestyle they lead that requires frequent moves and sometimes being the single parent while their military spouse is deployed," said Marine Lt. Col. Gabrielle Hermes, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

Defense Department data from surveys comes up with different numbers, finding that 23 percent of military spouses identify themselves as unemployed.

According to the study, the estimated cost of the problem is largely borne by the federal government, including unemployment and health care benefits and lost income taxes. The study estimated that those costs ranged from about $710 million to $1.07 billion per year.

There has been increased attention on veteran and military-related unemployment issues over the past decade, particularly as service members came home from repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and found it difficult to find jobs after they left the military. That focus has also expanded to spouses, who often find themselves moving every two or three years and often can't find jobs that are flexible enough to compensate for the long hours, absences and irregular schedules of their spouses while still meeting any child care needs.

The study found that getting meaningful employment is a major concern for spouses. And more than half of them say that having a spouse in the military has a "negative effect" on their ability to find a job that meets their education and experience levels.

As of 2015, there were about 564,000 female civilian spouses of active duty military members nationwide, and 70 percent of them were under the age of 35.

The Pentagon and military services have a number of websites and jobs programs, including ones aimed at military spouses. The Military Spouse Employment Partnership has job listings, resume tips, career counseling and other assistance. According to the Defense Department, partner employers have posted more than 4 million jobs in the past five years.

The Joining Forces initiative launched by First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden in 2011 has helped more than 1.2 million veterans and spouses get hired or trained, according to numbers announced earlier this month. Of those, Hermes said that about 95,000 were military spouses.

Another program provides up to $4,000 in scholarships to eligible spouses to pursue certifications, licenses or other degrees.

Hermes said that the department is assessing the effectiveness of the programs, adding that getting information about them can be a challenge especially when so many military spouses transition out of the military every year and new spouses join. She said the department relies on experts who work for the military services as well as other organizations, employers and communities, to help get the word out.
Relatives of a young man, soon to turn twenty, suffering from cystic fibrosis (CF) asked that his name not be mentioned in this article. Hes embarrassed because people look at him differently.

The boy was diagnosed with the genetic disorder at the age of four and by nine, he was listed as disabled.

In 2014, Yerevans #3 Medical-Social Examination Committee (MSEC) claimed the young man is now longer disabled, as if the disorder has miraculously disappeared. This has amazed both his family members and CF health professionals.

MSEC chief Armen Soghoyan told Hetq that the patient wasnt recognized as disabled because the disorder is in regression and that no impediments to lung functioning were evidenced.

What is cystic fibrosis?

Satenik Harutyunyan, a doctor at the Cystic Fibrosis Center says that CF is a genetic disorder that drastically lowers ones quality of life and causes early death.

Cystic fibrosis is a life-long condition. As of now, doctors can't cure the disease, but they can use different treatments to help with symptoms. People with cystic fibrosis don't live as long as people without the disease. However, better treatments are helping people with cystic fibrosis live longer.

The young man again went to the MSEC in 2015 for an examination. The result was the same.

Armen Soghoyan says that the 2014 and 2015 test results show no impediments to organ functioning and that, as a result, he couldnt be registered as disabled. Just the presence of a disease alone isnt sufficient to register any citizen as disabled. There must be moderate, obvious or severe constant impediments to the functioning of organs as a consequence of the disease, says Soghoyan.

Gayaneh Ayvazyan, the young mans mother, talked to MSEC specialists but her concerns werent answered. I asked what could have happened that he was considered disabled from the age of nine until eighteen, had been receiving a pension, and suddenly, now, hes gotten better. They replied that he hasnt gotten better, but that hell no longer receive a disability pension. They said that if he walks and eats by himself, hes healthy. If my boy is healthy why did the army turn him down due to his CF? Mrs. Ayvazyan asks.

She says that before, when her son was officially registered as disabled, certain medicines were free. Now, she has to pay for them.

Dr. Satenik Harutyunyan, the young mans former physician who still offer medical advice to the family, told Hetq that he had been hospitalized multiple times in early childhood and was treated for lung infections.

He was diagnosed with CF in 2004, when specific tests were performed, and was put on a regiment of various medicines. From 2006 until he turned eighteen, the patient was under the care and monitoring of the CF Dispensary Center. He underwent four comprehensive medical exams per year and was placed on an aggressive treatment regimen.

Dr. Harutyunyan says the young man continues to follow a treatment regimen but that its effectiveness cannot be gauged because, given that his disability status has been pulled, tests arent regularly conducted.

I know that my boy has a disability and is eligible for a pension, but they have cut it. I treat my boy with medicines. Everyone knows that its an incurable disease, but they say he doesnt qualify for a pension and that hes not disabled. What they gave, 17,000 AMD ($36) the last time, wasnt that big of an amount anyway. But at least I could purchase some of the medications, says Mrs. Ayvazyan.

Her son isnt the only person in Armenia who has confronted the outdated and ossified mentality of the state bureaucracy.

Currently, according to the agency, there are 25 individuals diagnosed with CF in Armenia of which 21 are under the age of 18.

Yerevans State Medical University reports that as of March 21 there were 44 CF patients under 18 at the universitys Mouratsan Hospital. The hospital doesnt treat those over 18).

What happens to CF patients over 18?

Based on a 2005 decision by the then health minister, a CF Dispensary Center operates at the Mouratsan Hospital for those under the age of eighteen. Medicines for these individuals are provided by ambulatory polyclinics according to prescriptions issued by the Centers specialist.

When the condition of these minor-aged patients become severe, they are treated at the Mouratsan Hospital and receive all necessary medicines.

The fate of those who turn eighteen, like Mrs. Ayvazyans son, and are no longer monitored by the Dispensary Center, is up to chance. Polyclinics, where the doctor-patient ratio is often 1 to 1,000, are tasked with taking care of adult CF sufferers.

Mrs. Ayvazyan does not trust the care available at the polyclinics for CF patients. Theyre not specialists in the disease. The dispensary center should at least have one room devoted to adult patients when they have acute complications, she says.

A few days ago a charitable organization called the Association of CF Patients and Their Relatives told Hetq that it had written to MP Ara Babloyan (Chairman of the National Assemblys Standing Committee on Health Care, Maternity and Childhood), informing him that CF patients were being stripped of their disability pension status.

They also noted the absence of lung transplants in Armenia.

Not having disability status, patients cannot get regular testing to see how their lungs are functioning. There is no medicine service. We look to the future with hope and are certain they will reach the age of fifty, will raise families and will become invaluable people for our country, reads the associations letter to Babloyan.
Gayaneh Kirakosyan used to work as an inspector for Gazprom Armenia. She claims that she was forced to resign because management charged her with not carrying out certain work-related duties. Kirakosyan says those duties didnt fall within her job description.

Mrs. Kirakosyan told Hetq that at the beginning of 2016 she went to work as usual at the Malatya-Sebastia branch of Gazprom in Yerevan.

During a staff meeting, branch head Garik Sargsyan declared that six inspectors had to submit resignation papers. The reason, according to Kirakosyan, was that these inspectors hadnt removed the required number of violations related to gas distribution within the home.

They had given me a list of 334 in-house violations. I had resolved 33 of them, even though such work wasnt in my job description. I performed my responsibilities quite effectively otherwise, says Mrs. Kirakosyan.

Such technical services are the purview of specialists from A-I-J Service Ltd., and not Gazprom.

The company signed a contract with Gazprom in July 2007 to provide such services (At the time Gazprom Armenia operated under the name of HayRusGazArt.)

When Hetq asked Gazprom why it had instructed its inspectors to do the work of A-I-J Services, we received the following reply:

The inspectors do not verify in-house network violations and defects, nor do they look for such violations. Rather, as per protocol, they make sure that the gas supply in the apartment is turned off until the violations recorded by A-I-J Services have be rectified. Evidently, Gayaneh Kirakosyan didnt understand the nature of her work and the instructions given her.

This explanation by Gazprom doesnt tally with reality. Even though Gazprom claims that its inspectors are responsible for seeing that in-house violations are fixed, when we met Mrs. Kirakosyan we saw the bunch of violation papers in her hand.

Mrs. Kirakosyan even went so far as to check Gazproms official job description for inspectors and saw that there was no mention of being responsible for repairing violations.

In essence, Gazprom branch head Garik Sargsyan had no substantiation when he charged Kirakosyan with not fulfilling her duties and demanded that she tender her resignation.

Nevertheless, Gazprom claims that, Gayaneh Kirakosyan was never presented with a demand to resign, and the work contract signed with her was voided by mutual consent of the parties.

A visibly upset Kirakosyan said that during her six years with Gazprom she has never been late or missed a day of work without reason.

Mrs. Kirakosyan is currently unemployed.

Top photo: Narek Aleksanyan
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will leave for Luxembourg today to attend a jubilee event marking the fortieth anniversary of the European Popular Party (EPP).

Armenias ruling Republican Party, headed by Sargsyan, has observer status at the EPP.

Scheduled speakers at the event include Angela Merkel, Federal Chancellor of Germany, and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission.
The following statement was issued by the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs

A recent statement by the head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry about the alleged military use of monuments of Islamic architecture located on the territory of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic does not correspond to reality and is another allegation in a series of fraud and forgery, constantly used by Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan, with its rich experience of using religious monuments for military purposes, which is proved by the conversion of the Kazanchetsots church in Shushi into a military warehouse in 1992, once again is trying to ascribe its own behaviour to the Karabakh side.

There are numerous compelling evidences of systematic and deliberate destruction of Armenian cultural heritage sites by the Azerbaijani authorities on the whole territory of Azerbaijan, as well as in the occupied Shahumyan region of the NKR.

The most blatant act of vandalism is the destruction of the medieval Armenian khachkar/cross-stone cemetery near the town of Jugha (Julfa) in Nakhichevan and turning the site into a military range in 2005. Despite numerous international appeals, the Azerbaijani side, trying to avoid responsibility, does not allow international experts to visit the area, where there was a cemetery of cross-stones.

If the Azerbaijani authorities are genuinely interested in the implementation of the fact-finding mission to assess the situation with the historical and cultural monuments, and do not pursue merely political or propaganda aims, then we can expect that the work of the mission will start from visiting the occupied Shahumyan region of the NKR and Nakhichevan.

At the same time, we consider it necessary to note that all the monuments located in the territory of the NKR, irrespective of their origin, are included in the State Registry of the NKR Historical and Cultural Immobile Monuments and are under state protection.

The Nagorno Karabakh Republic has been and remains open to international cooperation in the protection and preservation of cultural and historical heritage, and expects a similar openness of Azerbaijan.

Photo: Shushi medrese
Uninterested as I am in the referendum, for reasons explained here

http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2016/02/the-eu-is-our-own-hotel-california-we-can-check-out-but-well-never-leave.html

And here http://hitchensblog.mailonsunday.co.uk/2016/02/why-i-wont-be-voting-on-referendum-day.html

. I am still interested in the slow absorption of this country into the great python that is the EU. The other day the subject of English law came up  the absolute reason, for me, why Britain should not be in the EU, since our law is not compatible with Continental law and any convergence is bound to mean the disappearance of our traditions.

Bert the Pretentious refuses to believe that the EU has any influence over events in this country at all (he is *still* , after several years, searching for an explanation of the revolution in rubbish collection which does not involve its actual cause, the EU Landfill Directive) . He responded to this point by commenting (in response to contributions by others)

@young Aussie John, Alan Hill and David Taylor, No, you continue to be wrong. Young John - any evidence for your assertion that there is a 'clear drive to uniformity in law'? Specific evidence, I mean, not just vague stuff about how the EU wants to turn everything into greater Germany, or similar.

I replied***PH writes: the origin of this drive is generally understood to be the Tampere EU conference, held in that Finnish town on October (apologies for originally wrongly dating this in December 1999.PH) 15th and 16th 1999 'on the creation of an area of freedom, security and justice in the European Union.' http://www.europarl.europa.eu/summits/tam_en.htm gives details. The European Arrest Warrant, which overrides Magna Carta protections, is one product of this agenda. The justiciability of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights (not to be confused with the ECHR) at the European Court of Justice in Strasbourg (&&NB This was a stupid error on my part. I know perfectly well that the ECJ is in Luxembourg and is unconnected with the ECHR in Strasbourg. It just goes to show how the mind and the fingers may not always be fully linked&&) is a principal means by which law can be brought into line.

This creates by stages a European area of justice and convergence in civil law. There have also been discussions on creating an EU 'Corpus Juris' a European Legal Area, a European Public Prosecutor and a European Criminal Code. These are in fact logical developments of the Single Market. Perhaps coincidentally, English criminal law has been growing to resemble continental systems. On-the-spot penalties, or 'restorative justice' under which resort to the courts is discouraged, have replaced many magistrates court proceedings (in contravention of the Bill of Rights 1689 and the principle of the presumption of innocence). A huge number of, perhaps most, criminal cases never go to court but are tried bureaucratically by the Crown Prosecution Service, functioning as an examining magistracy on the Continental Model. The absolute right to Jury trial is ceaselessly whittled away, and juries themselves are eviscerated by majority verdicts and the inclusion of the wholly uneducated and inexperienced on jury panels. Once again, Bert demonstrates his profound knowledge of the non-existent alternative world (where, for example, the EU Landfill Directive has no bearing on rubbish collection) and his ignorance of the real world, where the EU increasingly takes over our lives. I hope he has an enjoyable evening trying to rake the Moon out of the nearest pond. ****

I sent the same reply (minus the sarcastic remark about moonraking) to Mr Bunker, who had written from his Teutonic fastness:

John, Alan and Thucydides - this intrigued me so I tried to find evidence of an EU drive to get rid of British common law. All I could find on the subject was a 2014 article by Brenda Hale, Deputy President of the Supreme Court of the UK in which she stated, inter alia: "After more than a decade of concentrating on European instruments as the source of rights, remedies and obligations, there is emerging a renewed emphasis on the common law and distinctively UK constitutional principles as a source of legal inspiration," She also said that there was a "growing awareness of the extent to which the UK's constitutional principles should be at the forefront of the court's analysis". Has anything happened in the meantime to change that? Or is all this just more anti-EU scaremongering?

Bert, as is usual when he is challenged and rebutted, fell into a profound silence which has lasted ever since. He is not given to responding when it doesnt suit him, but will pop up again soon with a completely different contradiction, prompted by his difficulty, a desire to oppose anything I say under any circumstances.

Mr Bunker, by contrast, favoured me with a reply. He wrote : I'm very grateful to Mr Hitchens for his interesting information. But I still have one or two questions: - The 1999 Tampere Conference - was the UK not represented at it? - The European Arrest Warrant - did the UK have no say in its establishment? - The European Charter of Fundamental Rights - was the UK not represented when it was drawn up? - The European Court of Justice in Strasbourg - does the UK have no participation in this body? - The proposed creation of "an EU 'Corpus Juris' a European Legal Area, a European Public Prosecutor and a European Criminal Code" - has the UK no opportunity to use its influence (veto) here?

I responded : ***PH notes: A. Blair, Jack Straw and Robin Cook were all at Tampere, if he finds that reassuring. The Lisbon Treaty , signed by Gordon Brown in 2009, made the ECFR binding in EU law. Britain was represented on the 1999-2000 European Convention, which drew up the ECFR, by Timothy Kirkhope , a Tory MEP., Lord Bowness, a Tory peer with a background in local government, and the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith of Baghdad (joke). The UK has no substantive veto in most EU decisions, having accepted 'qualified majority voting' in almost all areas of decision making, a system which gives the UK no special power to oppose the majority, which is of course already wedded to civil code, jury-free justice.

I believe that QMV is the agreed system in 'security and justice' and judicial co-operation' since the signing of the Lisbon Treaty. I believe the UK has lost most of the QMV votes on which it has sought to challenge the Commission on any subject. The EAW is an interesting case, as, thanks to a quirk of Lisbon, the UK was allowed (uniquely as normally the 'acquis communautaire' of past EU law cannot be reversed), to opt out of it. But last year the Cameron government ,as mentioned on this site, voluntarily decided to opt back in though it was free not to. The abolition of English justice has plenty of supporters in the English elite, as the Auld Report of 2002 shows. (See my 'Abolition of Liberty') . The European Court of Justice has 28 judges of whom I believe two are currently from the UK. But like all EU functionaries, they are required to observe and enforce the laws of the EU, not act as representatives of the country or rather member state' from which they come.***

Mr Bunker had continued: In other words, if - as is claimed - common law is in danger of being superseded by European law - is this being done by a scheming pack of unelected, unaccountable foreigners in Brussels and Strasbourg, as some contributors intimate, or is it being done with the full compliance and collaboration of the UK? -- Or is it not really in danger at all?

I replied  ***PH asks: Who has referred to 'a scheming pack of unelected, unaccountable foreigners in Brussels and Strasbourg,'? (Strasbourg is the seat of the European Court of Human Rights, unconnected with the EU and part of the Council of Europe, a separate and distinct body). This looks like a pack of straw men to me. What has taken place is all perfectly normal EU procedure, the endless drive towards ever-closer union, accepted by us in 1972, which goes on 24 hours of every day and occasionally comes to light in a conference or a treaty. As for ' the full compliance and collaboration of the UK', one would have to ask whether, given the alarming and comically confident ignorance of these matters in the cases of Mr 'Bunker' and of Bert, one can really describe this process in that way. It has never been put to the British people as such, or debated fully in Parliament, and is rarely covered in the media. The compliance of the British state is not the same thing as the compliance of the British people. ***

Mr Bunker then replied again: Again I must thank Mr Hitchens for those interesting facts, many of which were indeed unknown to me. I'm no expert on EU law and have never claimed to be. So I gladly take note of the fact that the UK doesn't always have a right to veto but - if I understand correctly - the UK quite freely relinquished this right, fully aware of its consequences. So I see no EU "drive" there And quite apart from that, why should the UK have "special power to oppose the majority"? If Britain's in the EU, it should abide by the rules and not seek special powers. OK, I know Mr Hitchens didn't say it should, but nor did I say that the EU was "ruled by a scheming pack of unelected, unaccountable foreigners in Brussels and Strasbourg", I said that is merely the tenor of quite a lot of contributors to this blog. That's all. I'm surprised to hear that the "abolition of English justice has plenty of supporters in the English elite". I wonder why! But I'm not surprised to hear that the British judges in the European Court of Justice "are required to observe and enforce the laws of the EU, not act as representatives" of the UK. That principle, I imagine, applies to all the judges and I believe it is right. Does anyone think differently? Strasbourg - it was Mr Hitchens, not me, that introduced Strasbourg into the discussion, so I reject any charge of "strawmen" here.

I responded  ***PH writes: Mr Bunker is correct. I was trying so hard to say 'Luxembourg', where the ECJ is in fact based, that I did the opposite of what I intended and wrote 'Strasbourg' . My apologies, both for the error and for blaming Mr 'Bunker' for it. But I am baffled by his general drift. No opponent of the EU in Britain is under any illusions about the support of many members of his own country's elite for British absorption in the superstate. And Mr B will have to read Booker and North's 'Great Deception' for the details, but the abolition of the veto (which Mr Bunker himself still seemed to think existed) was of course done in quid pro quo negotiations, in which there was little realistic hope of escape from QMV short of walking out altogether. Either the veto was an important argument or it wasn't. But Mr Bunker raised it as it was - and now, having learned it is dead and gone, he pretends that he never thought it mattered In the first place. Personally I think its abolition very significant, and I doubt if the 1975 referendum would have gone the way it did if voters had known the veto would ultimately be abolished***

Mr Bunker had continued :The "endless drive towards ever-closer union", Mr Hitchens tells us, was actually accepted (!) by the UK back in 1972, so I see no reason to blame the EU. True, the British people may not be in agreement with the idea of the EU, but if they aren't they should blame their own representatives (MPs) whom they elected to act in their interests, and not the EU.

I replied : ***PH writes: On this we agree. I have never blamed anyone else but our own rulers***

Mr Bunker had continued :I'll ignore the charge of comical ignorance and explain that I speak from direct personal experience of almost half a century of life in the EU and having a passable interest in its workings. And as for Common Law, which is what this discussion was originally about, I have seen no particular advantage in it over the legal system of the European Union. But I'm always willing to learn. As I have done from Mr Hitchens' kind interventions.

****

AS far as I know this is the end of MR Bunkers responses. While his reaction ( as always in his case good-natured and personally generous) is infinitely preferable to Berts unresponsive silence, I note that he hasnt really allowed himself to be influenced by the facts and arguments presented to him.

The original question was is there a convergence? And then is it driven by the EU?. Well, I think the very existence of the Tampere conference (whose aims came as something of a surprise to many attendees, as far as I can find out) is evidence that it is. Opponents of the EU have never claimed that their fellow-countrymen have been guiltless in entangling us in this thing. Rather the contrary. Some secessionists ( not I) even claim to have been misled about the nature of the project, thinking it to have been a free trade area. I dont think this stands up. Several opponents of the original Common Market, including Hugh Gaitskell from the mainstream, pointed out from the beginning that it was a political project. Anyone who didnt know that by 1975 hadnt been paying attention and wasnt qualified to vote.

But rather than accept that he was ill-informed, and the EU is indeed seeking a convergence of legal forms, Mr Bunker swam off into a bog of irrelevance, making up stuff about a scheming pack of unelected, unaccountable foreigners so as to caricature, rather than consider, my case. He then kept asking whether British representatives had any role in these changes. Well, of course they di, thiough you will struggle to find much coverage of the event in British media, or discussion of it in Parliament for  like much of the EU  it is poorly understood and poorly reported here. The main purpose of political journalists in EU meetings is to write stories claiming that the British premier of the day has ;triumphed in some way or other, whether he has (seldom) or has not (usually).

As in interestingly explored in Professor Robert Tombss recent book reviewed here http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/books/review/the-english-and-their-history-by-robert-tombs.html?_r=0

by me, the rejection of Roman Law was important in the development of English liberty, as (this is my interpretation) Roman Law tends to side with authority, whereas Common Law tends to insist on the law being above all. Which is often very inconvenient for authority.

Mr Bunker, leading his blameless life untroubled by authority, will never have had cause to discover the difference, and so no doubt he sees no great advantage in the English system over the continental one. Well, the difference between a safe car and an unsafe one only becomes evident in a collision or a storm. But one is still safer than the other, even if neither ever encounters a collision or a storm.

But I would be obliged if he ( and Bert) would have the generosity and civility to concede that they were ill-informed, and that the EU does indeed have an active policy of bringing about convergence in matters of law and justice.

.

.
The Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, shown here at Concerts on the Square, is exploring a new way of sharing administrative services with Madison Ballet.
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A McFarland man faces several charges after he allegedly rammed into a vehicle prior to leading Dane County deputies on a pursuit Sunday, authorities reported.

Just before 5 p.m., a caller reported that his vehicle was being repeatedly rammed from behind by a suspect driving a truck, according to a news release from the Dane County Sheriff's Office.

A Dane County deputy found the suspect's vehicle near Marsh Road and Broadhead Street in the Village of McFarland, the release said. The deputy tried to pull the vehicle over, but the suspect continued into the Town of Blooming Grove and a pursuit began, the sheriff's office said.

A second deputy deployed tire deflation devices on Siggelkow Road near County Trunk Highway AB, according to the release. The suspect hit the device, continued through a stop sign and didn't stop for emergency vehicles despite having two flat front tires, the release said.

The pursuit continued at speeds around 20 miles per hour until the suspect stopped near the 2800 block of Siggelkow Road. He initially refused to comply but was eventually arrested, according to the sheriff's office.

The sheriff's office identified the arrested man as Tyler J. Donlon, 25. He was booked into the Dane County jail on tentative charges of fourth offense OWI, felony eluding an officer, and for a probation violation, according to the sheriff's office.

Donlon also faces tentative charges from Madison police of second-degree recklessly endangering safety and disorderly conduct after the victim reported an earlier road rage incident that happened as the two were driving south on Highway 51 to McFarland.

After stopping at a McFarland business, Donlon allegedly got out of his vehicle and tried confronting the victim, who left the area in his vehicle. Donlon began following him and continually rammed into the victim's vehicle, according to a release from the sheriff's office.

No injuries were reported in the crash, the release said.
SUN PRAIRIE  The Hmong Literacy Club at Bird Elementary School in Sun Prairie, in which students learn to read, write and speak the Hmong language, is connecting some students to their relatives.

My grandparents only know Hmong. Sometimes I cant even speak to them, said fifth-grader Felicity Vang. Sometimes they push us to challenge ourselves. When I challenge myself, I learn new things.

Fifth-grader Jayden Vang said family members are happy that hes learning the language. We practice and practice and practice till we get it, he said.

Students said the club also is a chance to meet other Hmong students and is a fun place to be.

Fifth-grader Tommy Yang has been in the club since it started when he was in third grade.

I like the rotations, Tommy said about the different stations where students learn different things, including numbers.

The schools and number of students participating have changed in the three years since the club was started. While last year about 50 students from nearly all the Sun Prairie elementary and middle schools attended, this year the club has about 18 students who mostly attend Bird. The club is designed for third-through fifth-grade students but exceptions are made for younger siblings, and a couple of middle schoolers also participate.

Xue Vang, bilingual instructional assistant at Bird, started the club in response to parents who wanted more after-school activities for their children. She formed a Hmong Literacy Club because it was a niche that wasnt already being filled.

Vang said she is seeing an increased interest among parents who want their children to learn the Hmong language.

Theyre beginning to see the culture is more important now, she said.

Vang told the story of one student who didnt want to identify with the Hmong culture before he joined the club. But once he spent time around Hmong peers he wound up being proud of his ethnic identity.

Homework is sent home for students to do with their parents. In addition to learning the language, Vang said students can also get help with regular studies at the club, and they learn about manners and responsibility.

The club will wrap up the school year with a potluck Thursday where families will wear traditional clothing and bring traditional food. They also can see work their children have done at the club in addition to meeting with district staff and being entertained by dancers.
Veterans from American Legion Post 113 led a lengthy procession from Mount Horeb High School to the Mount Horeb Union Cemetery Monday morning in order to honor their communitys fallen soldiers.

People of all ages followed. Many wore red, white and blue. Some shed tears at the graves of loved ones when they reached the cemetery. All were somber and silent as taps played.

Those in Mount Horeb joined countless communities across Wisconsin and the country on Memorial Day in their remembrance of the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. armed forces.

Lt. Col. Josephine Daniels of Portage spoke during Mount Horebs ceremony, which was held at the villages high school gymnasium prior to the cemetery ceremony. Her speech to the packed crowd focused on remembering National Guard specialist Michelle Witmer, who died in Baghdad, Iraq, in 2004.

Witmer was the first Wisconsin National Guard soldier to die in military combat in 60 years.

Memorial Day is always a difficult day, Daniels said. Its a day of remembrance and when asked to come speak at these events its incredibly humbling because I made it home and those of us here made it home. ... This day isnt about us.

The ceremony also featured music from the Mount Horeb High School band and the Mount Horeb Firehouse Minstrels.

The events turnout has grown in the last few years, said Mount Horeb resident Jim Brice, who served in the Navy from 1967 to 1970.

Theres a lot of veterans here, Brice said. Theres a lot of support.

Following the ceremony, veterans led the procession to the cemetery, located a half-mile away. The high school band and the villages fire and police units followed. Spectators walked alongside while other residents watched from their yards, many of which displayed American flags.

Craig Mortvedt, Commander for Mount Horebs American Legion post, said the ceremonys high turnout highlights the supportive nature of Mount Horeb residents.

This is a community thats so tight, Mortvedt said. They take care of each other.

Tom Brindley, who attended the ceremony, said the event is a way for him to remember and express gratitude for his friends in the military who died.

It means everything, Brindley said. Its a lot of honor.

Jill Kietzke, who has lived in Mount Horeb for 20 years, described the community as close-knit and patriotic. She said she attends the Memorial Day event every year.

Its such a big thing in this community, Kietzke said. Its something I wanted my kids to see.
As soon as University Grants Commission's (UGC) issued its latest gazette notification, all the teachers of Delhi University went on to protest against the increase of long working hours.

By India Today Web Desk: Over the issue of University Grants Commission's (UGC) latest gazette notification, the teachers of prestigious Delhi University have extended the boycott to June 11.

As per reports, this boycott could delay the results of the university's undergraduate exams which are to be announced by June 30.



(Read: Protest by DU teachers may delay UG courses' results )



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Reasons of the protest:

As per UGC's gazette notification, the workload of all the assistant professors has been increased from 16 hours to 18 hours

The increase of work load includes "direct teaching" per week including tutorials

There would be additional six tutorials that would make a total of 24 hours

In the case of associate professors, the work hours have been increased from 14 hours to 22 hours

While protesting against it, the teachers said that this will affect the quality of the teacher

Not only this, but the new change will increase the workload of permanent teachers

According to statements given by sources, if the boycott will not end soon then it will affect the admission process, which is scheduled to start from June 1.

(Read: All you need to know about Delhi University admissions 2016-2017 )



All you need to know about the protest:



The protest by the teachers has been going on from last four days

The teachers have been boycotting the evaluation process for undergraduate exams

Also, a threatening has been given to college authorities

If UGC does not withdraw the notification then teachers will boycott the university's admission process

More than 4,000 teachers have signed the decision at the general body meeting that was held on Saturday, i.e. May 28

Last week, teachers were missing at the entire 12 evaluation centre.

(Read: Delhi University admissions for undergraduate courses to commence from June 1 )



As per an India Express report, Rajesh Jha, a professor at Rajdhani College, said, "We aren't happy boycotting evaluation. But, we don't have another option. The notification has disastrous ramifications not just for DU, but for the country's higher education system. The absolute boycott by the teaching community should tell the government that this is not acceptable."



Meanwhile, teachers have also planned to conduct a "people's march to Parliament" on May 30.

(Read: Delhi University: So slowly moves the administration )



Further, Rajesh Jha said, "It was decided at the meeting that the boycott will continue till June 2. The executive committee will meet again on June 1 to review the situation and suggest ways to strengthen the struggle."

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Click here for more updates from India Today Education.



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A sigh of relief for Mashal Maheshwari, the Pakistani born Hindu girl, as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj assured her a medical seat in Karnataka.

By India Today Web Desk: A sigh of relief for Mashal Maheshwari, the Pakistani born Hindu girl, as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj assured her a medical seat in Karnataka. Mashal, who scored 91 per cent in the CBSE Class 12 examination, was denied to appear for Pre -Medical Test (PMT) because she holds a Pakistani nationality.

A look at Mashal Maheswari's journey to India:



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This 17-year-old girl flew all the way from Pakistan to Jaipur, India with her family five years ago, leaving her hometown Hyderabad in Sindh province. She has an ambition to become a doctor, but her Pakistani nationality is becoming a hassle in the way to achieve the big dream.

Maheshwari's CBSE score card:



Maheshwari has scored 91 per cent in the CBSE Class 12 examination, with science stream (PCMB) and has been meritorious throughout the period of her studies in Pakistan.

India Today impact: What Maheswari told to Rajdeep Sardesai



Maheswari said, "My dream to be a doctor will be shattered if the government could not find a solution within a month."

The girl said, "I would not like to waste a year more, as I already wasted a year to take admission in the CBSE board."

Maheswari said, "There is no place for foreigners to pursue their career as a doctor or in any professional field in India. The only option is private colleges, but my family could not afford such a huge donation, likely to be one core."

Regarding her dream to be a doctor, she said, "I dream to be a doctor since my childhood and the role of my parents as a doctor inspired me to choose this noble profession.".





Read: Exclusive! Six Indian students awarded at International Science and Engineering Fair, US: Meet the Einsteins

Read: Intel India announces new initiatives supporting Digital India

Click here for education related news.

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When her mugshot was released by the the Pulaski County Police Department, Sarah Seawright became an instant sensation and earned herself the moniker 'Prison bae'. Here are four other criminals whose mugshots have made them a rage.

By India Today Web Desk: Time after time, police departments have been releasing the mugshots of several convicts, and many of them have received ample news coverage for being too 'hot' and ended up becoming internet sensations.

Just three days ago, Sarah Seawright (now famously know as 'Prison bae') successfully amassed a number of social media fans despite her criminal charges. Sarah sent the internet into a frenzy when her flawless mugshot was released by the Pulaski County Police Department. She was charged for failing to appear in court over a careless driving charge. Sarah Seawright (now famously know as 'Prison bae'). Picture courtesy: Pulaski County Police Department

She has previously faced accusations of kidnapping, robbery, battery, hindering prosecution and tampering with physical evidence.

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Here are four other criminals whose mugshots went viral.



Jeremy Meeks

He became the ladies man soon after his mugshot was released, and soon earned the multiple titles of 'Hot felon,' 'Hot mugshot guy' and 'Hot criminal', and--believe it or not--even landed a modelling career. Jeremy Meeks became the ladies man soon after his mugshot was released. Picture courtesy: Stockton Police Department

He was arrested and charged in 2014 for a felony charge of street terrorism.The father of one was deemed so sexy that the attention quickly shifted from his crime to his handsome looks.

Also read: 'Hot Criminal' Jeremy Meeks is out of jail and seems ready to start his modelling career!

Meagan Mccullough



She was the face behind the 'Attractive convict' meme. Meagan's good-looking mugshot instantly fetched her a number of online fans, lovers, countless memes and even marriage proposals. Meagan Mccullough was the face behind the 'Attractive convict' meme. Picture courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Meagan Mccullough was the face behind the 'Attractive convict' meme. Picture courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

The mother of four was convicted for drunk driving in 2010. While the former Hooters waitress only spent a mere eight hours in jail, her legacy remains strong!

Sean Kory

Sean Kory was arrested on Halloween in 2014 for attacking someone dressed as a Fox News reporter, and was the the only competition to Jeremy Meeks. Sean Korywas was the only competition to Jeremy Meeks. Picture courtesy: Santa Cruz Police Department

Sean's mugshot proved to be a huge hit on social media, especially since he had a rather uncanny resemblance to Jeremy Meeks. Sean became an internet sensation with people more concerned about his looks than his crime.

Angela Coates

The 22-year-old model, who was allegedly arrested for disorderly conduct in Georgia, became America's newest hot mugshot after her picture went viral, with thousands offering to bail her out of jail. Angela Coates, a model, who was allegedly arrested for disorderly conduct in Georgia, became America's newest hot mugshot. Picture courtesy: DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, Georgia Angela was also a former winner of a magazine's Beauty of the Week title.

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By PTI: New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) Around 500 Indian pilgrims enroute to Kailash Mansarovar were stranded in Nepals mountainous region of Hilsa and Simikot due to inclement weather which has also hampered the operation to evacuate them, officials said today.

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu was in touch with Nepals Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, Chief of Army Staff, Director General of Military Operations and police officials for rescuing the stranded Indians, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

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The stranded pilgrims are part of tour organised by private travel operators.

Around 50 pilgrims were evacuated from Hilsa to Simikot and around 100 from Simikot to Nepalganj, he said, adding only a limited number of helicopter sorties could be carried out for their evacuation.

"According to Nepal Police, there are currently around 250 pilgrims in Hilsa and a similar number in Simikot. Today evacuation operations have started, but are being hampered by inclement weather," he said.

Swarup said Nepalese authorities have assured all possible assistance subject to the weather conditions.

"While there is no shortage of essential items, situation can normalise only when regular air services can be undertaken in an uninterrupted manner every day," he said.

The Indian Mission in Kathmandu is deploying First Secretary (Consular) Pranav Ganesh and a staff member to Simikot to take stock of the situation and coordinate with tour operators and Nepalese government agencies on the ground.

Hundreds of Indian pilgrims undertake Kailash Mansarovar yatra in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China negotiating the mountainous terrain. PTI MPB SK

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Actor Aditi Rao Hydari shares her passion for jewellery and explains why it has always been an intrinsic part of her life.

Few actresses know how to carry off jewellery better than the graceful Aditi Rao Hydari. As a Bharatanatyam dancer, who has performed professionally with Leela Samson's Spanda troupe, she knows how jewellery is an essential component of shringara, the rasa which describes love between man and woman. In Indian classical dance, a dancer uses subtle, soft movements to depict the process of wearing jewellery and even removing it as she waits for her lover's arrival.

In the mood for love. Bracelet: Anmol Jewellers; Red kaftan: Payal Khandwala

"I think shringara is more about the heart than anything else and how you feel you can make a piece of string look and feel like gold," says Hydari, who made her Bollywood debut with Delhi-6 and will soon be seen in a film to be directed by Mani Ratnam. Born in a royal family from Hyderabad, Hydari has illustrious roots on both sides; her maternal grandfather J Rameshwar Rao was the Raja of Wanaparthy, a principality of Hyderabad, while her paternal great grandfather, Akbar Hydari, was the Prime Minister of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Hydari talks about how she cherishes some of the heirloom pieces as well as her dance jewellery.

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A piece of jewellery a woman can't do without

It's impossible to name one so I'll name a few. Chaand baalis, karnphool and a pair of solitaires according to the size of your face. It's never to show off.

The first piece of jewellery you bought for yourself

I bought an old polki necklace from Hyderabad from our family jeweller. I bought it after a month long tour with my (dance) teacher. It was my first professional tour while I was studying.

Hidden pleasures. Pearl choker: Minawala Jewellers; Off shoulder top and skirt: Shivan and Narresh

A piece that has fond memories attached to it

My maternal grandfather gave me my first piece of jewellery when I turned 13. It's a necklace that belonged to my great grandmother and now I have it. It's very special.

A heirloom piece that you really hold dear to heart

My grandmother's bangles that her father gave her. They actually don't fit anyone except me, they are quite tiny.

Your weakness when it comes to jewellery

I love emeralds and sapphires. My mother doesn't let me wear sapphires though. I don't wear jewellery everyday but when I do I love old polki/ jadau jewellery. I also love precious temple jewellery, the kind we wear for dance.

More the better or less is more?

Less is more. I love one piece to shine through. I am also very, very particular about the jewellery I wear. Or at least left to myself I would be.

The eyes have it. Polki diamond necklace: Anmol Jewellers; Black turtleneck: Stylist's own

What's been your best jewellery buy?

Solitaires for my mother. I felt all sorted and grown up. I bought them for her birthday last year.

What's the one piece of jewellery you always wear?

My taveez on a black thread. I wear it all the time.

Do you still hold on to your dance jewellery?

Of course, I love it. I wanted an old set of temple jewellery so I bought it from a senior dancer. It's called talai saaman and when you wear it, the dancer's head signifies the universe.

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Dancing queen. Jewellery: Anmol Jewellers; Lehenga and blouse: Rohit Bal; Location: JW Mariott Juhu

You wore some fine jewellery in your recent release, Wazir. Did you manage to keep some of the pieces for yourself?

Almost all the jewellery in Wazir was from my own jewellery box that I carried to set every day. Only the nikah sequence was from Anmol. I've never asked for stuff from set, I don't feel right doing that. Sigh!

Your favourite jewellery?

I love matha pattis. I find that head gear of all kinds are my favourite.

Photos by: Bandeep Singh



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By PTI: New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) A 51-year-old Ola cab driver was allegedly beaten up and robbed of cash by a group of African persons in the wee hours today in a south Delhi locality where African nationals were allegedly attacked by groups of locals in four separate incidents last week.

A 26-year-old woman, identified as Kefa, who is a native of Rwanda, has been arrested and the police are looking out for five other persons involved in the incident in Rajpur Khurd, additional DCP (south) Nupur Prasad said.

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The incident took place around 4 AM when the group, comprising of four African men and two women, booked a cab through Ola aggregator service, and the driver, identified as Nooruddin, went for the pick up.

Police did not rule out the possibility of some members of the group being drunk at the time of the incident.

The group had booked the cab from Rajpur Khurd village in south Delhis Mehrauli area to Dwarka. An argument took place between Nooruddin and the group when he refused to accommodate more than four passengers in his car, a police official said.

The argument soon turned into a scuffle and the group thrashed Nooruddin. They even allegedly robbed him of Rs 10,000 cash.

The cab driver managed to get hold of Kefa but the others escaped. He then called up the police control room. Nooruddin received deep wounds on his face and had to be given six stitches. He was rushed to AIIMS and Kefa was detained by the police for questioning, the official said.

"A case of causing hurt, wrongful confinement and robbery has been registered in connection with the matter and all accused have been identified," the senior police official said.

At least six African nationals sustained injuries after they were allegedly attacked by locals at Rajpur Khurd in Mehrauli in four separate incidents following arguments over loud music and public drinking around the same time on Thursday night.

Five persons have been arrested in connection with the matter and most arrests are likely, police said.

The alleged attacks happened close on the heels of the murder of a 23-year-old Congolese man in south Delhis Vasant Kunj area around 11 days ago.

African envoys had expressed outrage over the incident, following which India assured them safety and security for all African nationals. PTI DEY GSN GSN

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Those arrested have been identified as Babu (32), Om Prakash (24), Rahul (24), Ajay (25) and Kunal (20). Three more persons have been identified and the police are looking out for them, DCP (south) Ishwar Singh said.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh directed the Delhi Police to take strict action against the attackers and step up patrolling in the areas inhabited by the community.

By Mail Today: Amid outrage over a string of attacks on Africans in the Capital, five people were arrested on Sunday for their alleged involvement in the incidents, with Home Minister Rajnath Singh directing the police to take strict action against the attackers and step up patrolling in the areas inhabited by the community.

FIVE ARRESTED



Those arrested have been identified as Babu (32), Om Prakash (24), Rahul (24), Ajay (25) and Kunal (20). Three more persons have been identified and the police are looking out for them, DCP (south) Ishwar Singh said.

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Kunal was earlier suspected to be a minor and his actual age was verified after scanning several documents, a senior official said.

Meanwhile, a fresh case in the matter was registered on Sunday in connection with the alleged assault on a brother-sister duo from Cameroon around the same time in the area. The incidents came close on the heels of killing of a Congolese national that had triggered angry reaction by all the African countries. Their envoys had unitedly threatened to boycott the Africa Day celebrations of the Indian government last week, before they were persuaded against it.

AFRICAN NATIONALS ATTACK



Police attributed two of Thursday's incidents to a dispute over African nationals playing loud music and other to a scuffle over public drinking. A police official denied that rods or bats were used in the assaults, saying the nature of injuries would have been different then. He said a man had sustained an injury on his nose.

Earlier, the Home Minister condemned the attack and called Delhi Police chief Alok Kumar Verma to his residence to express concern over the attacks. Spoke to Commissioner of Police, Delhi regarding the incidents of physical assault against certain African nationals. Such incidents are condemnable, Singh tweeted. Instructed CP Delhi to take strict action against the attackers and increase patrolling in these areas to ensure security of everyone, he said in another tweet. Prior to that, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that she had spoken to the Home Minister as well as Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung over the incident, telling them to ensure security of African nationals.

Also Read: Assault on Africans: 8 held, HM asks police to ensure safety

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In February 2015, India decided to not challenge a lower court order in Italy which in October 2014 declared there was no corruption in the case.

India lost out on a chance to not just secure a moral victory by being a party when the recent order came out but also monetary compensation. (File Photo/PTI)

By Jugal R Purohit: In June 2013, it was a hard fought victory which came against a battery of Italy's top defence lawyers. The court granted India the position of a civil party in the corruption proceedings against the top bosses of Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland. By this, India got involved, got the right to seek damages and secured access which was unavailable till then. On April 28, this year, calling corruption as the 'core issue', the Ministry of Defence (MoD) swore to 'leave no stone unturned' in pursuing the wrong doers.

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Ground Report: How former Agusta bosses are leading invisible lives



In all of this, what the MoD did not announce or explain was its decision to quit the Italian judicial process altogether. This implies India neither remained a party nor qualified for damages.

In February 2015, India decided to not challenge a lower court order in Italy which in October 2014 declared there was no corruption in the case.

Speaking exclusively to India Today, Attorney Gian Luca Grossi, who represented the MoD at the lower court at Busto Arsizio where the trial went on from June 19 2013 to October 9 2014 said, "MoD was civil party in the trial, in the first stage in Busto Arsizio. It came in only at the end of the first trial there. Then India decided to not go ahead with the appeal. Lower court gave a clear verdict saying there was impossibility of bribery. MoD decided to quit the trial. I don't know why, but they decided to quit. I respect that."

Attorney Gian Luca Grossi

When asked what did he advice the MoD, he said, "I think our advice was to stay on, stay inside also in the second degree at the Tribunale (Court of Appeal). I told them I was not confident (about their exit). It wasn't a very easy decision but 51 per cent I would have stayed against 49 per cent to pull out. He added, "If I had the choice in my hands, I probably would've (stayed). When you make a choice, take a path, even if you find some problems in walking, you have to go ahead, you have to go ahead."

Top 10 disclosures made by middleman Christian Michel to India Today

In the sentence of the Milan Court of Appeals of April 7, 2016, MoD is shown as a 'non appelante' - a party which had not appealed. This fact was also confirmed by the prosecution there.

INDIA LOST CHANCE TO WIN 'HUGE' COMPENSATION

According to Attorney Grossi, who still is shown as the MoD's attorney as per the April 7 sentence, India lost out on a chance to not just secure a moral victory by being a party when the recent order came out but also monetary compensation.

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"If you want your money back, you go the civil court. If you want to secure reputation and restoration, then you go to the criminal one," he said. In effect, India went to the criminal court and opted against going to the civil one.

What would have happened had India continued in the case?

"Our request in the trial stage was not allowed. We had asked damages but the court did not allow because the bribery angle was not proven then. So if the bribery is not proven then how can there be compensation? The tax authorities made the accused pay the difference and that was it. If we were in the case now, we would have had compensation. I do not know how much, I don't think it was a huge one," he replied.

WATCH: Full interview of AgustaWestland middleman Christian Michel



Describing the hectic nature of consultations in the days prior to India's opting out, he said, "We had a deadline to participate in the appeal. It was February 21 2015, the deadline. So we heard each other on some occasions but till the date, we did not get in."

Former Defence Minister and senior Congress leader AK Antony had accused the present government of trying to aid Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland by allowing a backdoor entry into India markets, something the government has vehemently denied. In July 2014, the NDA had, its ministers claimed, put on hold all acquisition and procurement cases involving Finmeccanica and allied firms.

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As per a statement in the Parliament by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, while the MoD had made an advance payment of Euro 250.32 million to AgustaWestland, only Euro 199.62 million was recovered after a deduction of Euro 50.70 million for the three helicopters India took the delivery of.

"In addition, the government also suffered an estimated loss and damages of Euro 398.21 million on account of cancellation of the contract with AgustaWestland International Limited (AWIL)," Parrikar had said.

EXCLUSIVE: Naval officer red-flagged purchase of ships with inferior steel from Italian firm



Defence Ministry spokesperson while responding to the issue said, "We went by the advice of Solicitor General in this case and pulled out. Our goal in becoming a party in the lower court was to get access to evidence and documents. We did get that. Joining the appeal would not have yielded much. Government of India goes by Solicitor General's advice and not by the lawyer on record."

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HERE'S WHAT ATTORNEY GROSSI SAID:

Can the MoD get into the appeal in Italy's Supreme Court?

Till May 22, there is time to appeal and participate in the third stage of the trial. But we are not in it, the MoD is not anymore. We quit. We did not go to the second stage.

On middlemen Haschke, Gerosa and Christian Michel

Michel was slightly away from the scene when compared to Mr Haschke and Gerosa who were arrested and brought to the court. Using wiretapping technique, their roles were elaborated but not so for Michel. The public prosecutor said Haschke had applied for plea bargain. Haschke is approaching 70, he is old. When you are old and since there are multiple levels of appeals in courts, it is normal for many to admit their guilt. I can not talk more about his choice. He basically negotiated the penalty, his criminal responsibility, be it pecuniary or jail by replacing it with compensation, community work.

Sting operation reveals how Agusta kickbacks reached India

Did Finmeccanica and AgustsWestland also negotiate a plea bargain?

Within Italian rules, if the crime is committed in the interest of the company the company is punished. They prefer to pay the damages. They did like what Haschke did. A plea bargain is what AgustsWestland did though I do not remember how much.

It was said that India's MoD did not cooperate with Italian judicial process. What was your experience like?

Italy has given many things to the CBI, however, the Letter Rogatory (LR) issued by the Italians was not specific. The request was vague and difficult. There are military secrets and matters of sensitive nature. If you do not know what exactly you are asking then confusion comes up. If you ask for tender documents, what all to give? When you don't know, you ask for everything. My own experience was good. I do not know. MoD was there to defend its reputation. I have often heard this question being asked. If you have to safeguard you have to remain a party. We went to all the hearings together. Couple of people from the MoD and people from mission would sit through. Long hearings, somedays all through. I was there with people from MoD and those from the Consul General.

ALSO READ:



Never met Sonia Gandhi, can't say there were no kickbacks, says Christian Michel



Full text of Agusta middleman Christian Michel's interview to India Today



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By Vidya : Activist Anjali Damania today came out with fresh allegations against Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse. Addressing a packed room of journalists, Damania alleged that during the few days that she had gone to Jalgaon to inspect a few irrigation projects, in spite of her ardent refusal, she was given police protection. Damania exclaimed "I felt like the chief minister of some state with the cavalcade that was following us. And it was not to protect me but to see to it that I could not meet people and collect papers that I needed. From collector to everyone in Jalgaon are working at the behest of the minister."

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ALLEGATIONS AGAINST KHADSE

After this she went to analyse the papers she put forth in the press conference. During the last tenure of Shiv Sena-BJP government, Khadse had been instrumental in setting up the Tapi irrigation development corporation (TIDC) in 1998. "Through TIDC for Jigau irrigation project and for another lift irrigation project, contracts were handed out to people close to Khadse. The project cost rose up from 390 to 7000 crores. And the irrigation scam tainted contractors gained lot from this. These very contractors later became partners of Khadse's family members in another firm". The firm that Damania points out is Sant Muktai Sakar Karkhana.

KHADSE INVOLVED IN CORRUPT PRACTICES, SAYS DAMANIA

Damania also claimed that in a village Satod in Jalgaon district, Khade's wife bought 88 acres of land in just four days in 2012 while the minimum time that it takes is 15 days. "On April 30 there was a purchase agreement. Later Mandakini Khadse wrote a letter to Talathi asking land to be split. Even though it's not his job, the tehsildar completed the process on the same day. For converting the plot to NA, it is shown that it is taken for educational purpose however the land is split, two plots are sold" accuses Damania, emphasising that, "this entire gimmick was done to convert black money into white."

She also adds that during the last election, this land acquisition was not shown by Khadse in the affidavit declared by him. "Khadse said in his affidavit that he has no loans but I have documentary proof to show that he has loans worth 2.46 crores against him" says Damania.

MORE PROOF AGAINST KHADSE



Damania alleged that there is much more documentary evidence that she has at hand and is is not even through with 25 per cent of all her documents. However, even with this she is demanding that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis should take action against Khadse. "Dawood calls, MIDC plot and now this, the allegations against Khadse are mounting. Why is the chief minister not taking action?" she asked.

BJP has however countered and said that all these allegations are baseless. Maharashtra BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari said, "these are mere allegations and are baseless."

However, Damania has pressed that if Fadnavis government does not take action against Khadse, then she along with a few like-minded activists will fast right outside chief minister's bungalow in Mumbai from Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile she also intends to write to Election Commission and also to the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court. "It took us four years to fight the Bhujbal case and bring it to this stage, we will bring justice here as well" retorted the anti-corruption crusader referring to the Former Maharashtra Home Minister and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal's case where he has been spending time in Arthur road jail for the last few months.

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Also read:

Khadse admits meeting land owner before his wife and son-in-law purchased the land



Show proofs against me and I will quit politics: Eknath Khadse



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By PTI: On Board Air India One, May 30 (PTI) Vice President Hamid Ansari today condemned the string of assaults on African nationals in New Delhi as "despicable", saying nobody and no government can say anything different.

Interacting with media on board his special aircraft en route to Rabat in Morocco, Ansari said, "Attack on anyone ? whether own person or guest, it is despicable."

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"Nobody or no government can say anything different ? condemning all types of violence," he said.

He said, "They (Africans) are our guests. We have to look after them in the wake of violation of law and order."

Ansari said, "We greatly value our relationship with African countries and we always stood by them."

"Even before 1947 we talked of decolonisation of Africa," he said adding that the stand of the previous UPA government and the present NDA government has been no different.

Ansari left New Delhi today on a five-day visit to two North African countries ? Morocco and Tunisia - as part of efforts to build on diplomatic gains from the India-Africa summit held in New Delhi in October last year.

The Vice President said India attaches great importance to Africa, and in that context he was undertaking the trip to Morocco and Tunisia.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee will also travel to Africa.

"(An) incident is an incident. It has to be condemned in strongest possible terms," he added in the context of recent incidents of attacks on Africans.

There has been a spate of attacks on African nationals in the last few days including killing of a Congolese youth in the national capital and assault on a 23-year-old Nigerian student in Hyderabad. PTI AKA ABH SK ABH

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Between Saturday afternoon and early Sunday alone, one man was killed and 24 others wounded across Chicago, Xinhua news agency reported.

A protestor is escorted away as she demonstrates against the shooting of Laquan McDonald during a news conference for the third annual Summer of Faith and Action calling for violence prevention in Chicago, Illinois, United States on May 19, 2016. Reuters

By Indo-Asian News Service: A string of shootings brought the total number of people shot during the Memorial Day weekend to at least 40, the Chicago Police Department said on Sunday.

Between Saturday afternoon and early Sunday alone, one man was killed and 24 others wounded across Chicago, Xinhua news agency reported.

1 SHOT TO DEATH



A 27-year-old man was shot in the head and pronounced dead on the scene on Saturday afternoon. A gun was recovered on the scene, but it is not clear whether it belonged to the victim or the person who shot him, said Officer Michelle Tannehill, a spokeswoman for the Chicago police.

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The Memorial Day usually marks the start of summer in Chicago, when the city re-opens its Lake Michigan beaches, resumes regular fireworks displays at Navy Pier, and kicks off various recreational events and sport activities.

But the Memorial Day weekend, which lasts from Friday to Tuesday this year, also witnesses an increasing violence. Over the holiday weekend last year, 12 people were killed and at least 44 wounded in Chicago.

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The spate of rising attacks on African nationals has caused an outrage among the community, several thousands of who study in India.

By India Today Web Desk: On May 20, a Congolese national, Masonda Ketada Oliver, was beaten to death in a brawl in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area. A week later, at least seven African nationals were allegedly attacked in three separate incidents in Rajpur Khurd village, in south Delhi's Chhatarpur area.

Shops belonging to Indian's were attacked in Congo in retaliation to Oliver's murder. Amid the tension, the Indian embassy in Kinshasa has urged all Indian nationals to "keep a low profile."

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Tanzanian student stripped, assaulted by locals in Bengaluru



The spate of rising attacks on African nationals has caused an outrage among the community, several thousands of who study in India. The African envoys had last week threatened to boycott the Africa Day event over Oliver's murder.

Meanwhile, India, today assured Oliver's family of a speedy trial in the case and prosecution of all those responsible for the crime as per law. This was conveyed by a senior official of External Affairs Ministry (MEA) who met Oliver's family in the national capital.

Africans attacked in Delhi: Sushma Swaraj speaks to Rajnath Singh, assures action



The recent spate of attacks on Africans in India certainly raise a critical but deeply disturbing question- Are we racist? There are many who would agree.

10 BIG QUESTIONS

1. World's largest democracy colour conscious?

2. Is India racist towards Africans?

3. Africans attacked: Racism or minor scuffles?

4. Police covering up incidents by calling them minor scuffles?

5. African community not safe in India?

6. What makes us so prejudiced?

7. Africans being targeted, the ugly face of India?

8. How severe is the racism in India?

9. Is police at time complicit in racial attacks?

10. Indians inviting same action in other nations?

'INDIANS ARE INSECURE'

Speaking to Karan Thapar on the show To The Point, India's best known sociologist Dipankar Gupta pointed out that Indians are racist in a peculiar way.

"Racism is something which is deeply ingrained in us. We tend to identify with the Europeans, and we are against black people or even those who come from East Asia," Gupta said.

India's former High Commissioner to Botswana and South Africa Satyabrata Pal pointed out that Indians suffer from a kind of insecurity.

'ISOLATED INCIDENTS, NOT RACIAL IN NATURE'

BJP's National Executive member Seshadri Chari described the recent incidents in Delhi and elsewhere as unfortunate but refused to label them as racist.

"These incidents should not have taken place. I would appeal to our African friends... I still go by the police version. These are very isolate incidents. They are not racial at all. Racialism is a very big word...it has to have a history," Chari said.

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WHAT AFRICAN STUDENTS SAY

Member of the African Students' Union Mobolade Jonathan described racism as a 'deliberate' issue.

"Even in (Delhi) Metro...if you are sitting...if there is space...they would not sit. This has been constantly happening in India. Yes, we are seriously unsafe in India," Jonathan said.

Ola Jackson, member, African Student Association, stressed that people who are terming recent attacks are minor scuffles should understand that those assaults were murderous in nature.

"This is a pure racism issue, a serious issue and it should be addressed. You don't call an incident, in which someone has been murdered, as minor scuffle," Jackson said.



Also read: Delhi: Ola cabbie thrashed by African nationals for refusing to carry extra passengers

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Britney Spears did it, just like those French girls of the 16th century. Now, Sonam's doing it, and so should you.

By Hemul Goel: Who doesn't love bell sleeves? They are airy, let your arms breathe and let your arm fat wiggle and jiggle without a worry in the world. What's not to like?

Also read: Celebs love big pants in summers and like any sensible person, you should too

The bell sleeve was popularised by the chic parasol sporting, cake eating dainty ladies of France sometime in the 1500s. Obviously, the fashion soon made its way to the charming ladies of London, who realised that they could easily use bell sleeves to add more elements to their attire, like under-sleeves that came with frills and pleats.

Elizabeth 1 rocking them sleeves. Picture courtesy: Pinterest/matahara82

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A trend that came and went throughout history, bell sleeves became big in the 1970s, when fashion for both commoners and stars took a liking to the style. In Bollywood, you had everyone from Saira Banu to Zeenat Aman sporting the style.



Take your cues from Saira Banu and Zeenat Aman. Pictures courtesy: Pinterest/annieakhan; YouTube/@sugi007

The trend made a comeback in the 2000s--from popstars Britney Spears and Kelly Clarkson headlining the trend in the west to desi girls Kareena Kapoor and Rani Mukherji, among others, warming up to it. While Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Akshay Kumar-starrer Action Replayy tried to walk us through the times bygone, it failed to give us any fashion goals.

Kareena Kapoor and Kelly Clarkson tried the trend in 2000s. Picture courtesy: Pinterest

However, slowly and steadily, bell sleeves seem to have been inching their way up the fashion ladder, what with Sonam Kapoor and Mini Mathur both rocking their Anavila sarees with bell-sleeved blouses. A style we can easily get behind.



Athiya and Sonam have already worn the bell sleeve. Pictures courtesy: Instagram/@sonamkapoor; Instagram/@athiyashetty Athiya and Sonam have already worn the bell sleeve. Pictures courtesy: Instagram/@sonamkapoor; Instagram/@athiyashetty

Unlike before, when bell sleeves would make you feel like you were sporting the balcony of sleeves, now bell sleeves seemed to have taken a more structural turn and it's all for the better. From crop tops and hump suits to sexy dresses, fashion's working the vintage trend in a more sophisticated manner with some lines and ruffles thrown in.

The different avatars of the bell sleeve. Pictures courtesy: Instagram/@dear_blackbird_boutique; Instagram/@nishasainanilabel; Instagram/@swfboutique

That should be enough inspiration for you to try the trend right away!

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According to a study, the worst affected area is located off the coast of Townsville and Papua New Guinea while in the region located south of Cairns, the average mortality is 5 per cent.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Mass bleaching has killed 35 per cent of the coral in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the world's largest coral system, according to a report released on Monday.

Experts from James Cook University's ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies made analyses by air and submarine of the impact of bleaching in the ecosystem, which stretches 2,300 km off the country's northeastern coast, EFE news reported.

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Results indicated that the worst affected area is located off the coast of Townsville and Papua New Guinea, while in the region located south of Cairns, the average mortality is 5 per cent.

"Fortunately, on reefs south of Cairns, our underwater surveys are also revealing that more than 95 percent of the corals have survived, and we expect these more mildly bleached corals to regain their normal colour over the next few months," Mia Hoogenboom of James Cook University said in a statement.

The researchers also found that in Kimberley, north of Cairns, 80 percent of the coral has been severely affected by bleaching and at least 15 percent have died.

The director of the reef studies centre, Terry Hughes, said this year is the "third time in 18 years that the Great Barrier Reef has experienced mass bleaching due to global warming, and the current event is much more extreme than we've measured before."

Hughes explained that the three events of coral bleaching that occurred in the last 18 years coincide with the one degree Celsius rise in temperature above that recorded in the pre-industrial period.

Corals have a special symbiotic relationship with a microscopic algae called zooxanthellae, which provides them with oxygen and a portion of the organic compounds produced through photosynthesis.

When subjected to environmental stress, many coral reefs expel their zooxanthellae en masse, and coral polyps are left without pigmentation appearing almost transparent on the white skeleton of the animal, a phenomenon known as bleaching.

The health of the Great Barrier Reef, home to 400 types of coral, 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of molluscs, began deteriorating in the 1990s owing to warming sea water and an increase in its acidity through the increased presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

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By PTI: From Shirish B Pradhan

Kathmandu, May 30 (PTI) Nepals just unveiled budget does not prioritise post-earthquake reconstruction and will lead to the governments collapse, a top leader of the main opposition Nepali Congress said today.

Speaking at a workers training programme in Nawalparasi, Nepali Congress General Secretary Shashank Koirala said the government presented a populist budget so as to please everyone instead of prioritising the post-earthquake rebuilding and other important tasks of nation building.

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Even the coalition partners of the government UCPN (Maoist) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party -- are dissatisfied with the budget, Koirala claimed .

He said the Nepali Congress will now formulate new strategy to deal with the current government.

It was very unfortunate that the budget did not accord necessary importance to reconstruction and increase productivity, he said.

The budget simply distributed funds to various sectors at a time when the nations economy has been crippled by last years earthquakes and the subsequent border blockade that lasted for nearly five months, Koirala said.

"Budget with huge debt will only increase poverty," he said.

Koirala also asked the government not to announce local body elections before finalising the issue of border demarcation, one of the major demands of the Madhesi parties.

Nepal on Saturday unveiled a nearly USD 10 billion budget for fiscal year 2016-17. PTI SBP ASK ASK

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By PTI: New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) Drug firm Claris Lifesciences has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US health regulator for its manufacturing plant near Ahmedabad.

The company has "received the EIR for its manufacturing facility located near Ahmedabad, wherein the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has concluded that the inspection stands closed and the facility was found to be acceptable," Claris Lifesciences said in a filing to BSE.

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The USFDA had conducted audit at Claris manufacturing facility in May, 2015, it added.

"The company had taken appropriate steps to address the observations it had received from these audits," Claris Lifesciences said.

Having received the EIR from the USFDA potentially clears the path for the company to receive product approvals (ANDA) for the USA, it added.

The company presently has 13 ANDAs approved in the US and has an additional 26 ANDAs under approval there, Claris said.

Shares of Claris Lifesciences today closed at Rs 201.90 on BSE, a steep jump of 20 per cent from the previous close. PTI AKT SOM

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By PTI: Lucknow, May 27 (PTI) Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that Congress has today been reduced to "crowd around a family", which faces all the challenges faced by a political party centred around a family.

"The hold of BJP is growing in the politics of all states be it Bengal or Kerala... what will happen to Congress no one knows", Jaitley said today at the Vikas parv of the party to observe two years of Modi government.

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"Congress has been reduced to a crowd around a family.... their problem is the one faced by a party which is centred around a family", he said.

"The first problem of such a party is to see that no leadership develops outside the family, the second is that if there is a powerful generation like Nehru or Indira they make the party strong but if the next generation does not have that strength it drowns alongwith the party", Jaitley said.

"Their problem is that they cannot attract crowd without the family and if the family is kept together the crowd does not grow", he said.

"It does not seem to now improve...the meaning of Congress free country does not mean the end of the party but the political culture followed by it and remove the blot it had put on way of governance.

"As an opponent we want Congress to remain in opposition", he said.

Making a mention of the idea of federal front mooted by Lalu Prasad, Jaitley said "it was a tried tested and failed idea tried many times in the past". "The nucleus of any party should have power...for winning Bihar they needed the support of Lalu and now are talking about a federal front", he said adding that a party having 15 to 20 seats cannot give stability.

Stressing that BJP has been a nationalist party, Jaitley lashed out at the mainstream parties for aligning with fringe elements.

"Some people felt they would be regarded as progressive if they aligned with those raising a bharat todo campaign in Jadavpur and Jawaharlal Nehru University..they have been rejected by the country", he said.

"We hope that Congress will learn something from it...they made a historical mistake in this ...we have a historical opportunity to strengthen party, take the country ahead towards development and show that an honest governance is possible. In the history of BJP, it today is at its peak in strength, he said. PTI SAB RG

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The episode started from where it left the plot in The Door. Meera is seen struggling hard to drag Bran on to the snow. And the wights have come through the 'door' and found them. But they are saved by a hooded horse rider. Let's just say a long-awaited fan theory came true here--a long-gone character is brought back into the show.

Sam takes Gilly and the baby to his family at Hornhill. It was quite pleasant to get introduced to the Tarlys--Lady Tarly seemed to be a kind woman and her daughter came across as a loving sister to Sam. But not everyone's welcoming in this place. Lord Tarly insults Sam and banishes him yet again. But Sam's trip back to home didn't go in vain--he stole something that would prove handy in the wars to come.

Back in Braavos, right when Arya is seen as successful in killing theatre actress Lady Crane, she changes her mind. From what she did thereafter, it seems she is finally going to rebel and make her way out of the House of Black and White.

At King's Landing, things are not going quite as we had thought. And definitely not as we had deciphered from the trailers. King Tommen takes charge and shows authority for the first time while giving out orders that made everyone unhappy--meaning both the Lannisters and the Tyrells. And guess what, the High Sparrow wins!

Well well well, guess who's back. House Stark's biggest enemy--Walder Frey. And he orders his sons to take back Riverrun from Brynden 'The Blackfish' Stark. Wondering how? We see Edmure Tully returning to the show after a long time. It's quite obvious--Walder Frey would demand Riverrun in exchange of Lord Edmure's life.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said he has ordered the postal department to provide the Ganga water from Haridwar and Rishikesh to people.

By India Today Web Desk: The government is planning to sell online the water from river Ganga, considered holy by many Hindus. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said he has ordered the postal department to provide the Ganga water from Haridwar and Rishikesh to people.

"We would get requests by a vast network of people that the Ganga jal be made available to the people. I learnt it on field visits. I have directed my department to provide for a network using e-commerce platform so that people of India can get 'shudh' (pure) Ganga jal from Haridwar and Rishikesh. We assure you all that we will take proactive steps to address the cultural needs of the people of India," Prasad said.

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Last year, the postal department had sold water from Godavari, sourced during the auspicious Pushkaram period. According to Hindu traditions, Pushkaram is celebrated at shrines along the banks of 12 major rivers considered sacred in India.

Clean Ganga by 2018, says Uma Bharti

Ganga, considered one of the 10 most polluted rivers in the world, will become one of the cleanest by 2018, Union minister Uma Bharti had said last week. Lamenting that the river has often been used as a gateway to disposing affluents, Bharti exuded confidence that it would be transformed into the "10 most clean rivers in the world by 2018."

Participating at an event to mark two years in office of the NDA government, Bharti said the government is seriously working for Ganga rejuvenation and claimed that what could not be achieved in the past 29 years after spending Rs 4,000 crore was taking place now. The Union minister said funds are not an issue and the Centre is contributing sufficient funds to ensure that the target of 2018 is not missed.

Bharti had earlier assured the Lok Sabha that she would announce on the floor of the House in 2018 that the river has been rejuvenated.

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By PTI: activities

Guwahati, May 30 (PTI) Gauhati University has expelled a student for life and two others for one year each for their alleged involvement in anti-varsity activities, amounting to indiscipline.

According to an order dated May 28 and handed over today, Milton Handique was expelled permanently with immediate effect, while Rejaul Karim and Writtick Saikia each have been thrown out of the university for one year.

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Handique and Karim are students of LLB (6th Semester) and Saikia is from 4th Semester of Communication and Journalism.

The order was issued at a time when examinations were going on in the university.

The notification said: "...after completion of the enquiry and hearing conducted by the Residence, Health and Discipline Board (R.H&D), GU, in its meeting held on 22-04-2016 and as approved by the Vice Chancellor, Gauhati University, dated 27-05-2016, disciplinary actions have been taken."

The enquiry found the students "guilty of indulging in activities detrimental to the university amounting to indiscipline", it added.

As soon as the order was handed over to him, Handique fell ill following which his friends admitted him at a hospital, where he is undergoing treatment in the ICU.

Although the order did not mention the students activities, a senior faculty member and part of the administration said Handique had uploaded a "derogatory" post on Facebook against the university regarding leaking of a question paper a few months ago.

"The other two students have been filing RTI queries in many departments. When they did not get answers from some, they threatened to lock those departments," he added.

However, friends of the trio alleged that the action was taken due to political reasons at the behest of All Assam Students Union (AASU).

"Milton had opposed hoisting of AASU flag in the recently- concluded Varsity Week. Although it was hoisted in the main event, AASU could not do it in Law Week due to his strong protest. Since then AASU was trying to harm him anyhow," a student said, requesting anonymity.

While Handique is a member of Chatra Mukti Sangram Samiti (CMSS), the student wing of Akhil Gogoi-led Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti, Karim and Saikia recently resigned from it.

Students claim it was for the first time in the history of GU that AASU flag was not hoisted during the Law Week. It has been a tradition that AASU flag is hoisted during Varsity Week along with the flags of the university and GU Students Union.

AASU General Secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi termed the allegation as false and baseless, saying "The university authorities do not take decisions as per AASU. Administration is an independent body."

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"We do not support any action that destroys the career of a student. No one has the right to destroy ones life. Anyone can make mistake, but he or she should be given chance to correct himself or herself in a democratic society," he added.

A CMSS member said the organisation will launch a protest against the universitys "dictatorial" move if the order is not revoked immediately. PTI TR ZMN

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also played down the ban on registration of large diesel vehicles in the National Capital Region (NCR), calling it a "transient phase".

May 31 is the deadline for all the 11 cities to provide the NGT all the data on vehicular pollution. (PTI photo)

By India Today Web Desk: The government today moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT) asking it not to extend its ban on diesel vehicles to 11 other cities. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also played down the ban on registration of large diesel vehicles in the National Capital Region (NCR), calling it a "transient phase".



Here are the latest developments:

The Heavy Industries Ministry has moved the NGT asking it to not extend the diesel vehicle ban to other cities, claiming it will not only impact local industries but also affect the employment of a large number of people. Most of those 11 cities are state capitals, including Lucknow, Patna, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai. The other cities on the list are Pune, Kanpur, Jalandhar, Varanasi and Amritsar. May 31 is the deadline for all the 11 cities to provide the NGT all the data on vehicular pollution. If the states fail to produce the data, bailable warrant against the chief secretary of the non-responding state will be issued, NGT said today. The green body is likely to extend the odd-even traffic rule - already imposed twice in New Delhi - to other cities too. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has called the ban on registration of diesel vehicles in the NCR a "transient phase". Jaitley, speaking at an event in Tokyo, told the Japanese auto giant Suzuki that it is unlikely to be impacted given the overall large market it has got in India. "I think the Indian auto sector is extremely comfortably placed. This is all transient phase which happens and I don't think that with the kind of large market that Suzuki has, it is in any way likely to be adversely affected," he said. The ban on sale of large diesel cars and sport utility vehicles with engines of two litres or more was first imposed in December and was recently extended to Kerala, where it has been stayed by the state High Court. The ban has led to some automakers reworking their plans and introducing models with petrol options or smaller diesel engines. Earlier this month, the world's largest automaker, Toyota, said the restrictions would be the "worst advertisement of India".

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ALSO READ: UNEP's report on 'Air Quality': 12 key highlights of the report

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Panaji, May 29 (PTI) Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar today said his government has managed to overcome the financial crisis it had inherited from the previous Congress regime but without compromising on "developmental commitments".

"My government took over in a situation where Goa was facing a tough time financially. However, with dedication and determination, we have managed to tide over it without compromising on the developmental commitments that we had made to the people of Goa," Parsekar said in the message to the State on the eve of Goa Statehood Day.

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Stressing that in the past four years, his government has focused on improving both the social and physical infrastructure of the state, he said "our emphasis has been on inclusive development that would give our people the environment and tools to actualise and manifest their individual potential for the collective good."

Goa attained statehood on May 30, 1987 when it ceased to be an Union Territory and became the 25th State.

"Our small but beautiful state has made rapid strides in all developmental spheres and emerged as one of the most developed and fastest growing states in the country, with socio?economic indicators far better than the national average.

"As we move forward and look to the future, it will be our endeavour to consolidate and bolster our traditional strengths in the areas of tourism, mining, agriculture and fisheries while building the requisite social capital to fully harness opportunities presented by new age industries such as IT and Electronics," the CM said.

He said that Goa people must enjoy a high standard of living and an excellent quality of life.

"Only then can development be meaningful and beneficial. We are committed to ensuring that Goas present and future development is sustainable and not in conflict with nature."

Parsekar further added that Goan identity should remain intact.

"We must not lose sight of what defines us especially since it is our unique Goenkarponn which is the driving force behind our ethos of communal harmony and peace and our status as an economically and socially advanced state.

"I appeal to all my fellow citizens to join hands with us so that we can achieve the vision of a strong, vibrant and multi cultural Goa," he said. PTI CORR NSK SMJ PTP

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By Samonway Duttagupta: We travellers like going places. From the top of the mountain to the bottom of the ocean to sandy beaches and riverbanks. And we have always been grateful to Haridwar and Rishikesh for offering some of the best spots on the banks of the holy river Ganga. Nothing can match the experience of taking a dip in the waters that are known to have healing powers. Neither is there a better place for whitewater rafting in India. Having known that, and understanding that this is a great time to cool yourself by the river, here are the best places to stay around Haridwar and Rishikesh.

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Also read: On the Ganga trail: 5 destinations in India to witness the river at its best



Aalia on the Ganges

Popularly known as the Aalia resort, this property blends contemporary living with its surroundings, in style. Spread over an area of five acres, this riverside property offers some of the most mesmerising views of River Ganga and its surroundings. Offering accommodations in plush villas, every part of this resort overlooks the Ganga and the Chilla forest range of the Rajaji National Park bordering it at the distance. While staying here, one realises how clean, soothing and beautiful the Ganga is--better than you might have ever imagined it to be. When you are at Aalia, wake up to the soothing sound of bird calls, experience the best of luxury and enjoy enchanting views at all times. And if you are in the mood for some adventure, take the whitewater rafting and forest safari packages offered by the resort.

Where: Aalia on the Ganges is located at a distance of 12 km from Har-ki-pauri, which is a less than a 20-minute drive from the place.

Namami Ganges Resort and Spa

It hasn't been too long since Namami Ganges Resort and Spa opened its doors to guests. Located in Rishikesh's Shivpuri area, which is the starting point of all whitewater rafting tours, this resort is perched in the middle of lush greens. Overlooking the rapids of River Ganga, this resort offers accommodation in two categories of rooms, namely the Presidential Suite and Executive Suite. Although the resort has been built in a simplistic manner, it offers a comfortable stay to its guests with each room offering stunning views of the Ganga. As the name suggest, the resort also offers rejuvenating spa massages.

Picture courtesy: Namami Ganges Resort and Spa

Where: The resort is 16.5 km from the Rishikesh railway station.

Glasshouse on the Ganges

This one needs no introduction. Owned by the famous Neemrana group of hotels, Glasshouse on the Ganges is counted among the best riverside resorts in Rishikesh. Offering accommodation in cottages, individual rooms and tents, there's no other resort in Rishikesh that lets you stay this close to the river. Besides, the entire property is set within a lychee and mango orchard owned by the Maharajas of Tehri Garhwal. That's a perfect marriage of royalty and nature for you. There's a garden full of tropical plants, rare species of birds and butterflies, and a private white sand beach--a feature no other resort can boast of. Needless to say, the resort offers some of the finest white water rafting tours.

Picture courtesy: Glasshouse on the Ganges Picture courtesy: Glasshouse on the Ganges

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Where: Both the Haridwar railway station and the Dehradun airport are 45 km from the resort.

Ganga Kinare

The name of this resort is no misnomer, rather it is what it says it is--the property sits beautifully on the banks of River Ganga for close to two decades now. Keeping the location aside, this resort is known for being one of the most therapeutic hotels in the area. And it's been famous for its yoga and wellness sessions since 1989. More so, because the resort has hosted the International Yoga Week quite a number of times. Talking about the rooms, each one of them lets you witness and feel the serene environment around River Ganga and its tranquil surroundings, including the Rajaji National Park and the lush green mountains around.

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Where: The resort is 23 km from Haridwar railway station.

Atali Ganga

Sitting quietly on the top of a hill, surrounded by a green cover, the Atali Ganga resort offers accommodation in 22 independent cottages, each of which offers stunning views of the Ganga valley. The interiors of these cottages have been carefully crafted to offer the qualities of modern architecture, blended well with the natural environment. What sets the resort apart from the rest is its unique location--while it offers valley views like no other in the area, the property itself is in the middle of a reserve forest filled with several colourful birds and trees. Besides, there's a plethora of adventure activities on offer including a 24-foot climbing wall, rafting, kayaking, mountain biking, abseiling, hiking, yoga, and jumaring.

Picture courtesy: Atali Ganga

Where: Atali Ganga is located at a distance of 30 km from the main town of Rishikesh and is best reached by road.

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By India Today Web Desk: A bunch of natural science students have decided to add a dash of science to a world that is driven by fantasy and magic.



We're speaking of University of Leicester students Rowan Reynolds and Chris Ringrose who decided to discover the feasibility of 'Gillyweed'--which when consumed gave Potter--in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire--the ability to breathe under water by growing gills on his neck.



Taking into account the oxygen content of the 'Black Lake' and the maximum oxygen use of swimming, they then examined Harry's weight, suggesting that if he had a normal BMI and the average height of a 14-year-old boy, he would need to process 443 litres of water at 100 per cent efficiency per minute for every minute he was underwater.



Also Read: Muggles, take note! Your old Harry Potter books may fetch you up to $55,000



This would mean the water would have to flow at 2.46 metres per second--twice the velocity of normal airflow and therefore far faster than he could inhale and exhale, causing him to suffocate, the students said in a paper for the Journal for Interdisciplinary Science Topics

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Moreover, Harry is seen swimming with his mouth closed, which is not how gills work -- the students suggest that if Harry were to open his mouth to allow water into his throat and out through the gills, it may be plausible he could breathe underwater.



Also Read: Harry Potter's Privet Drive home is now open to visitors



By keeping his mouth shut, however, he would not be able to extract sufficient oxygen for survival, and as a result would lose his title as 'The Boy Who Lived' quite quickly after suffocating, the study concluded.



Potter undergoes two magical biological transformations in the popular eight-film series based on the stories and characters created by British author JK Rowling, the other one being the restoration of his bones.

In a separate study, students Leah Ashley, Chris Ringrose and Robbie Roe set out to test the feasibility of Skele-Gro, a potion which repair broken bones.

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry's tense Quidditch match against Slytherin results in one of his arms being broken by a rogue bludger.

After his broken bones are removed, Harry is given a dose of Skele-Gro to grow bones that are missing.

The team calculated how the rate of normal bone growth compares to this accelerated growth, and how much energy Skele-Gro would need to provide in order to rebuild Harry's broken arm.

The students calculated the time taken for Harry to regrow all the bones in his arm with Skele-Gro as being at least 90 times quicker than is possible in real-world bone regeneration.

As Harry's recovery with Skele-Gro takes approximately 24 hours and there is no mention of him eating during recovery, Skele-Gro has the capacity to supply the additional 1,33,050 kcal worth of energy required by the body to regenerate bones without causing any negative side effects, a power output of 6,443 W.

The students concluded that Skele-Gro must therefore contain unexplained magical properties that allow it to hold such a vast amount of energy and be able to apply it in a short period of time.

Both the studies reveal that a little magic might indeed be required in both situations to make them scientifically feasible.



(With inputs from IANS)



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According to investigators, three recent blasts in Haryana might just be a trial run and Delhi might be the ultimate target with greater fatalities.

Haryana police clueless over the group or individual behind the Haryana bus explosion on May 26.

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: Haryana Police and National Investigation Agency (NIA) have claimed that " bomb maker is an experienced hand" and used quick fix as a synthetic inflammable explosive.



While investigators may still be clueless about the group or individual behind the attack, they have discovered modus operandi and use of explosive in Haryana bus explosion.

According to investigators, the bomb was packed in a yellow poly-bag with Western Union and a few lines in Thai written on it.

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Here is all you need to know:



On May 26 seven people got injured in the Kurukshetra bus blast that took place this afternoon. This was the third blast reported in Haryana during the past five months. Earlier blasts took place in passenger trains in Panipat in January and May respectively. The bomb-maker while assembled what investigator believe is easily available firecracker ingredients potassium chlorate, sulphur and ammonium powder were put in a white plastic container with a spark plug filament . The material was put together with a quick fix, a synthetic adhesive tube of Wembley brand. The explosive was triggered by a quartz alarm clock with use of a 12 Volt luminous battery. Use of shrapnel, which could have caused fatalities, was avoided. This has raised concerns over Haryana being just the testing ground and Delhi being the actual and next target. According to sources, the group or the individual behind the blasts is believed to be based somewhere near the Delhi-Haryana border area. While the investigation hasn't progressed much, police said that the blast could not be linked to Jat agitation.

Also Read:

Haryana: Seven injured in Kurukshetra bus blast

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The paramilitary forces were deployed at canals such as Yamuna, Munak, and others heading towards southern Haryana.

By Ajay Kumar: Following huge criticism for failing to prevent violent arson by people of the Jat community in Fabruary, the Haryana government deployed 10 paramilitary forces at different vulnerable districts and canals to keep the law and order situation under control on Sunday after Jat leaders threatened to resume agitation from June 5.



PARAMILITARY FORCES

According to officials of Haryana government, the move was initiated as a precautionary measure. The paramilitary forces were deployed at canals such as Yamuna, Munak, and others heading towards southern Haryana. This was done as agitators have targeted water sources at different districts to disrupt water supply channeled towards the Capital and Gurugram.

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Confirming the fact, DGP of Haryana, KP Singh said that one company each of paramilitary forces were deployed at Bhiwani, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Hisar, Hasi, and Jind district while rest of the company were deployed at the western Yamuna canal, Munak canal and vulnerable sections of the canal heading toward Gurugram.

MAINTAIN LAW AND ORDER

"We will take all necessary steps to deal with any kind of eventuality and maintain law and order situation this time around. We are committed to the same and the force will take strong action against agitators if they riot," the DGP added.

Meanwhile, at the Jat-dominant Nangloi's Sir Chotu Ram Dharamshala, Akhil Bhartiya Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti (ABJASS) president, Yashpal Malik, who is facing sedition charges along with five others, said on Sunday that the preannounced agitation starting from June 5 will not be rolled back at any cost as the Manohar Lal Khattar government in Haryana has back-stabbed the community over providing reservation in state government jobs and education sectors.

BJP PLOY

"State government on one hand promised the community of providing 10 per cent quota and on the other hand it has taken a callous approach in Punjab and Haryana High Court. We understand the ploy of the BJP government, which wants to create complications on this issue through court," Malik said.

Earlier, Punjab and Haryana High Court passed an interim stay order on the reservation for Jats and five other communities following a plea filed by one Murari Lal Gupta on May 26 leading to dissatisfaction among community members.

PEACEFUL PROTEST

Jat leaders have decided to focus on rural areas this time and appealed to the people for peaceful protests. They have also threatened to continue the protests until the state government rightfully presents the case before the High Court DM of Sonipat, K Makrand Pandurang has imposed Section 144 in the district to ward off any tension, fights, threats to human life, damage to property and to avoid deterioration in the law-andorder situation.

C CATEGORY

"There were chances that some agitators would cause damage to roads, railway tracks, water sources and power houses in view of the stay order by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the Haryana government's decision to grant reservation to Jats and five other communities in jobs and educational institutions under the newly-created backward class 'C' category," Pandurang said.

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Also Read:

Jat agitation row: Central forces deployed in seven sensitive districts in Haryana

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Pawan was being interrogated frequently since May 18 when ACB raided 19 residential and official premises for alleged corruption.

By Rohit Parihar : Niraj Kumar Pawan, 37, a 2003 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre has been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in a scam that again shows how the state bureaucracy operates through brokers to take bribes and extort money from those who either refuse to pay or don't pay enough.

STRONG CASE AGAINST IAS OFFICER

"We have very strong evidence and have arrested him after several rounds of interrogation that took place since May 18,' VK Singh, Inspector General of Police, ACB told India Today.

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Pawan was being interrogated frequently since May 18 when ACB raided 19 residential and official premises for alleged corruption during his tenure as Director of National Health Mission and Special Secretary, Medical and Health Department. He taken into custody after day long interrogation.

Pawan was shifted out of the mission and made Commissioner, Agriculture in February from where he was removed following the registration of the ACB case.

SEVERAL OTHERS ARRESTED IN THE CASE



Anil Aggarwal, Joint Director of NRHM too has been arrested. Earlier, on May 18, the ACB had arrested Chief Accounts Officer Deepa Gupta and Store-in-Charge Joji Varghese in the same scam. Besides, middleman Ajit Soni was also caught. It was Soni, who was running entire racket with blessings of Pawan. The two along with other accused, were arm twisting proprietors of a firm which had made flex and other advertising material worth Rs 2 crores to blacklist him if he did not pay hefty bribes. Initial investigations had revealed that Rs 1.5 crores were already taken in bribes by the accused from Rs 18 crore tender awarded for publicity.

On May 24, in a separate operation, ACB arrested five officials including chief engineer Bhuvnesh Mathur accepting a total bribe of Rs 22,500 to release payment of a contractor. Others who were arrested were executive engineer Sunil Bhargav, Assistant Executive Engineer Basant Khandelwal, Accountant Sanjay Jain and PA Prem Bihari. The chief engineer was retiring from service on May 31 yet he was demanding his share of Rs 10,000.

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By PTI: New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) India is holding consultations with the US to resolve the issues relating to visa fee and the solar power case at the WTO, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia today said.

India would take up the matter further appropriately if the issues do not get resolved at the consultation level, she said, but did not elaborate further.

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"The first step will be to try and resolve the issues so that the perspective from where we are coming is understood. In the event, that if we are not be able to reach an agreement or to an understanding, than we would take the matter further and that is very clear," she told reporters here.

India had earlier said that it would file 16 cases against the US for violating WTO treaties as certain programmes of the western country in the renewable energy sector are "inconsistent" with global norms.

It has also stated that the country would appeal against WTOs panel ruling that the countrys power purchase agreements with solar firms are inconsistent with the international norms.

Ruling against India, WTO had said the governments power purchase agreements with solar firms were inconsistent with international norms.

The US had dragged India to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on this issue in 2014, alleging that the clause relating to domestic content requirement in the countrys solar power mission was discriminatory in nature and "nullified" benefits accruing to the American solar power developers.

Further, India and the US recently held a two-day bilateral consultation over the American move to impose high fees on temporary working visas.

In March, India dragged the US to the WTOs dispute settlement body against imposition of higher visa fees on certain applicants for L-1 and H-1B categories. India feels the move to increase fees would impact Indian IT professionals. PTI RR BJ

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The new system would be brought into effect starting today.

By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: In an attempt to ease the hassle of obtaining an Indian visa, the Indian High Commission in Dhaka has introduced a SMS-based appointment system and one-time password (OTP) for Bangladeshi applicants.

TEXT MESSAGE: APPOINTMENT DATE, OTP

In a statement issued on Sunday, the High Commission said that following an online application by the applicant, a text message would be sent to the applicant's phone number with his appointment date and one-time password (OTP). The applicants will have to produce the text message to gain entry to the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVACA) in Dhaka.

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The system would be brought into effect starting today.

However, those who have been notified for an interview before or on June 5 will not be considered applicable for the new system.

VISA CAMP

Moreover, the commission will also organize a visa camp from June 4 to June 16, before the upcoming Eid festival, to facilitate visits to India by Bangladeshis. Here, visa applicants can submit their forms without prior appointment or e-tokens.

The development comes after a series of complaints were sent to the High Commission and Ministry of External Affairs, about the need to pay huge amounts of money to agents for appointment dates.

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By PTI: On Board Air India One, May 30 (PTI) Describing Indias ties with African countries as "good", Vice President Hamid Ansari today said that India wants to engage with the region in various areas including IT, tele-medicine, and agriculture.

Interacting withreporters on board his special aircraft en route to the Moroccan capital Rabat, Ansari said, "With Morocco we have substantive relationship due to one product ? phosphate - which is very important for us. Indian investment is also there in Morocco in this sector."

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He said Morocco has been helpful towards India at the international level.

When asked about the sudden push towards Africa, Ansari said that focus on Africa was always there. He said there was focus on Africa since the time of President Abdul Kalam.

Every government has laid focus on Africa, he said, adding that the focus was not due to their relationship with China.

"We are not competing with China. We both have different capacities. Our relations (with Africa) are old. We will discover our space in more areas including IT and tele-medicine," he said, adding that there is also scope for cooperation in agriculture.

He said Moroccans find Chinese good, but China was not engaging locals. "If we get a foothold in Morocco, we can expand our business (in the region)," he said.

Ansari said India has a presence in Africas automobile sector. "It is a promising sector."

"Sooner or later Bollywood would become interested as (Morocco) is a good place for shooting of movies," he said.

Ansari, however, said that visits to Morocco have been "too few." "There is no specific reason for this," he added.

Ansari said Morocco is a monarchy of life-long standing, but they have learnt to democratise.

Ansari, who will be in Morocco till June 1, will jointly launch the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Rabat with Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane.

In the second leg of his tour, Ansari will visit Tunisia fromJune 2-3.

Speaking about the Islamic influence in Tunisia, Ansari said: "The leader of Islamic Party was in New Delhi recently. He is a moderate. He also said that during changing phase you ought to talk to all."

Ansari said India has good relations with Morocco and Tunisia but trade has dipped lately with the two countries.

"One Indian company is working there but below its installed capacity due to labour trouble, if they can work at 70 per cent capacity the company can start earning profit," he added.

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Asked about the terror threat from the Islamic State (ISIS), Ansari said the African political view was clear - they do not want any conflict. "ISIS rises when law and order machinery collapses," he said.

Asked about cooperation with both the countries on countering-terrorism, Ansari said, "Intelligence cooperation sharing cant be talked in public. There are two broader areas ? one exchange of information and secondly issue of cyber security. We are talking on both these areas with both." PTI AKA ABH

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The ninth edition of the Indian Premier League had everything you could have asked for in a blockbuster hit. Sixes, hundreds, runs, superstars old and new. It was a cracker of a show for six weeks.

By Subhasish Dutta: Another season of the Indian Premier League is over but it has left behind some memories that would be cherished until the next year. Virat Kohli was clearly the driving force in 2016 with excellent support from AB de Villiers, David Warner and that promising fast bowler from Bangladesh, Mustafizur Rahman. (FULL IPL COVERAGE)



Dogged by scams, corruption and controversies, the ninth edition of the IPL was a refreshing change from everything that fans had started to hate about the glitzy tournament. (Heartbreak for Virat Kohli, Sunrisers Hyderabad win maiden IPL title)



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There were no real ugly fights (barring the obvious heated moments on the fields between friends and foes), no taint of corruption or spot-fixing. (India's future safe in Virat Kohli's hands: David Warner)

Here are the five memories that highlighted a spectacular tournament.



THAT KOHLI-DE VILLIERS SHOW Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers walks back after scoring centuries against Gujarat Lions. (BCCI Photo)

Indian superstar Virat Kohli and South African 'Superman' AB de Villiers set new batting standards in this year's edition of the cash-rich league. The so called 'Batman-Superman' combo have plundered a staggering 1660 runs together, with Kohli ending up being the highest run scorer at 973 runs and de Villiers coming third with 687 runs. The two modern-day greats, who powered Bangalore's campaign for most part of the league, shattered many records on the way. However, one effort that stands out is their innings against Gujarat Lions. At M Chinnaswamy stadium, de Villiers (129) and Kohli (109) pummelled the Lions' bowling attack to blast electrifying centuries, powering the team to 248 for 3 in 20 overs. It literally rained sixes and fours from the blades of the awesome de Villiers-Kohli duo, sending the jam packed stadium into hysterics. It was only the second time in T20 cricket that two batsmen have scored tons in the same innings - Kevin O'Brien (119) and Hamish Marshall (102) scored centuries for Gloucestershire against Middlesex in 2011. The duo added 229 runs for the second wicket - highest partnership in the history of the shortest format of the game. The Martian efforts displayed by Kohli and de Villiers will be hard to forget for the fans in the years to come. (Virat Kohli gutted after failing to win Indian Premier League)



YUVRAJ EMBRACES GOD! Yuvraj Singh touches Sachin Tendulkar's feet during Sunrisers Hyderabad's match against Mumbai Indians. (BCCI Photo)

Yuvraj Singh's admiration for Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar is a well known fact. On many occasions, the all-rounder has revealed how Tendulkar has been an inspiration in his career. This year the fans witnessed another heart-warming moment when Yuvraj, who was playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad against Mumbai Indians in Visakhapatnam, showed his mark of respect by bending down and touching Sachin's feet after the match. Yuvraj had similarly touched Tendulkar's feet during the Lord's Bicentenary celebration match in July 2014.

THE ROCKSTAR FROM BANGLADESH Andre Russell was knocked down by Mustafizur Rahman. (BCCI Photo)

It didn't take long for Bangladesh fast-bowling sensation Mustafizur Rahman to become the cynosure of world cricket. Since making his international debut last year, the 20-year-old has left many awestruck with his accurate bowling. Playing his debut IPL season with Hyderabad, Mustafizur took 17 wickets in 16 matches and was rightly adjudged the Emerging Player of the tournament. In one of the best deliveries of this year's IPL, Mustafizur, who is famous for rattling the batsmen with his slow off-cutters, bowled a jaffa of a delivery to knock down Kolkata Knight Riders' big-hitting Jamaican all-rounder Andre Russell. The unplayable Yorker left Russell with no answer and knocked him down even as the ball went on to disturb the woodworks.

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WARNER LENDS GAYLE A HELPING HAND Chris Gayle is being picked up by David Warner in the IPL final. (BCCI Photo)

The rivalry between Australia and West Indies has dominated the game's folklores for many years. Australians and West Indians have always fought their battles on the edge. However, it is the IPL that make international enemies become friends. In one such occasion, West Indian Chris Gayle, who was bowling against Shikhar Dhawan in Hyderabad chase in the final, fell on the ground while attempting a low catch. And Warner, who was at the non-striker's end, picked the big man up, displaying the true spirit of the game. (Five reasons why Royal Challengers Bangalore lost IPL 2016 final)



DHONI SIGNS OFF WITH A HELICOPTER MS Dhoni hits a six off Axar Patel in Rising Pune Supergiants' last match. (BCCI Photo)

For Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the ninth edition of the IPL is something he would not want to remember. Dhoni, who had successfully led Chennai Super Kings in the previous editions of the tournament, mostly finishing in top four besides winning the title twice, couldn't write a similar script for debutants Rising Pune Supergiants, who ended up on the seventh place. However, Dhoni displayed his vintage form when he single-handedly scripted Pune's face-saving four-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab with a last ball six to help them avoid a last-place finish in the IPL. Needing 23 runs in the last over of Axar Patel, Dhoni struck three sixes and a four. In the last ball of the match, Pune required six for victory and the captain lofted one over the midwicket boundary to sign off with his trademark 'helicopter' shot. (Records galore as Sunrisers Hyderabad lift maiden IPL title)



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By PTI: New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu today called on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and discussed several projects, including the AAP governments ambitious elevated bus corridors plan to ease traffic congestion in the city.

Apart from that, transportation, water, sewage system, earthquake-resistant buildings and other developmental projects were also discussed during the meeting.

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The meeting was also attended by PWD Minister Satyendar Jain and Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) Vice Chairman Ashish Khetan.

"The main project discussed during the meeting was the Delhi governments project of dedicated elevated bus corridors in the city to ease out traffic congestion.

"The Chief Minister told the visiting Japanese Ambassador that a delegation of the government will visit him for further discussions and look into more areas of cooperation," said a senior government official.

The official said Kejriwal also told the Ambassador that the Delhi government will like to solve any problem being faced by Japanese nationals residing in the national capital.

The DDC Vice Chairman said the delegation would make a presentation on the projects of the Delhi government and outline the vision of the Delhi government when it visits Japan. PTI BUN UZM ZMN UZM

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Sensing a backlash from the Jat community after the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the reservation granted to them and five other communities, central forces have been deployed across Haryana.

By India Today Television: Sensing a backlash from the Jat community after the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the reservation granted to them and five other communities, central forces have been deployed across Haryana. With Jat leaders threatening to renew their agitation for reservation from June 5, the state government and the police have started mobilising security forces at various places.

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Here are the latest developments:

Central police forces have been deployed in seven sensitive districts in Haryana: Jind, Kaithal, Bhiwani, Hisar, Sonepat, Jhajjar and Rohtak. These districts had witnessed widespread violence during the February 2016 stir CRPF personnel have been deployed at Jat Dharamshala in Hisar. The paramilitary force is also guarding the crucial Munak canal, which supplies water to a large part of New Delhi. Forces have also been deployed along the Yamuna river in Sonipat, where the district administration has imposed Section 144. Under section 144, there would be a complete ban on the gathering of five or more than five people at any place and carrying sticks, axe, sword, knife or any other sharp-edged weapons. The order would remain effective for 60 days from May 28 to July 27. The state government has also slapped sedition charges against four prominent Jat leaders including Yashpal Malik who is the national president of the Akhil Bharatiya Jat Aaraskhan Sangharsh Samiti (ABJASS). Some Jat leaders have been booked for allegedly making inflammatory speeches during a meeting of the ABJASS at Jat Dharmshala at Jind on May 25. After a meeting held at Basantpur village in Rohtak district, the Jats have decided to protest on the Gohana-Rohtak road on June 5. In Hisar district, the protest is set to start from Mayar village. Sarpanchs of 63 villages have decided to hold a panchayat on June 5 to renew their agitation for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. The Jats are also demanding withdrawal of cases registered against the members of the community during the stir in February. As many as 30 people were killed and 320 injured and property worth hundreds of crores of rupees was destroyed during the violent agitation in February this year.

ALSO READ: Setback to Khattar government, court stays Jat reservation move

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Jammu, May 29 (PTI) A large quantity of arms and ammunition was seized by the security forces from a militant hideout in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Based on specific information, the Rashtriya Rifles battalion at Samote, along with troops of Territorial Army and police personnel, seized a large cache of arms and ammunition from a hideout in Khangar Forest of Rajouri district," Udhampur-based Defence Spokesman Col S D Goswami said.

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The cache, found yesterday, included one AK-56 rifle, two pistols, one underbarrel grenace launcher (UBGL), one 7.62 mm barrel, six magazines of AK-47, three rounds of rocket- propelled grenade, two anti-tank rifle grenades, two UBGL grenades, two Chinese-made hand grenades, 120 rounds of AK-47, eight rounds of Pika, 30 rounds of pistol and 166 rounds of .303 rifle.

"The timely recovery of the cache has prevented any untoward incident in the area, thereby thwarting the evil designs of the terrorists.

"The army has been conducting relentless operations to ensure peace and stability in the region," Goswami said. PTI TSS SC

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By PTI: London, May 30 (PTI) Patients undergoing breast cancer surgery need less painkilling medication post-surgery if they have anaesthesia that is free of opioid drugs, researchers have found.

While opioid drugs provide an excellent painkilling effect throughout operations, they also have side-effects, researchers said.

Post-operative complications, such as respiratory depression, post-operative nausea and vomiting, itching, difficulty going to the toilet and bowel obstruction are well known examples of such side-effects, they said.

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"Our results show that patients in the non-opiate group require less painkillers, but receive adequate pain relief. Patients require less analgesics 24 hours after a non-opiate anaesthesia than after an opiate anaesthesia," said Sarah Saxena from Jules Bordet Institute in Belgium.

For the study which took place between 2014 and 2015, researchers examined painkiller requirements after patients received opiate anaesthesia and non-opiate anaesthesia.

A randomised controlled trial was conducted, containing two groups each with 33 breast cancer patients undergoing a mastectomy or lumpectomy.

Perioperative non-opiate analgesia was obtained by combining clonidine, ketamine and lidocaine, researchers said.

An extra bolus of ketamine was given if necessary. Opiate analgesia was obtained via a combination of remifentanil infusion, ketamine and lidocaine, they said.

Both groups received intravenous paracetamol and intravenous diclofenac. Patients received a PCA (patient-controlled analgesia) pump for breakthrough pain during the first 24 hours post-operatively.

Clinical characteristics and post-operative piritramide painkiller consumption through the patient controlled pump were assessed during the first 24 hours post-operatively.

The total mean piritramide usage 24 hours post-operatively was 8.1 milligrammes (range 2.0-14.5) in the non-opiate group and 13.1 milligrammes (range 6.0-16.0) in the opioid group. The difference observed was statistically significant, researchers said. PTI SAN AKJ SUA

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By PTI: New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) As India and France look at closing the multi-billion Euro deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets soon, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will meet his French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian in Singapore this week.

Parrikar will be travelling to Singapore on June 2 to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue from June 3?5.

"Both Indian and French Defence Ministers will meet on June 3. Rafale among others will be discussed," a defence source said.

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The issues like consensus on actions to be taken in case of a material breach, stringent liability clause and guarantee by French side are likely to be discussed.

Parrikar had last week said the government is looking at concluding the much-hyped Rafale deal next month, more than a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the purchase of 36 fighter jets during his visit to France.

The deal was announced by Modi in April last year during his visit to France when he said India would purchase 36 Rafales in a government-to-government contract.

Soon after the announcement, the Defence Ministry scrapped a separate process that was on to purchase 126 Rafales, built by French defence giant Dassault Aviation.

It is expected that the deal would work out to be about 7.8 Billion Euros including the missiles and other support system.

The Shangri-La Dialogue is an inter-governmental security forum held annually by an independent think-tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and is attended by defence ministers and military chiefs of 28 Asia-Pacific countries.

Last year, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter had attended the dialogue along with German and the French Defence Ministers among others.

Subjects to be debated in this years dialogue include how to meet Asias complex security challenges, how to manage military competition in Asia and how to make defence policy in uncertain times. PTI SAP AMS ZMN AMS

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Panaji, May 29 (PTI) Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar today hinted at continuing the grants English medium schools in the state are getting saying "it is not fair to take away something which is already given".

"This government runs on (Narendra) Modis mantra - Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. We want that everyone should be part of development so that we can have acche din (better days) in future," he said.

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"When we take this mantra it is not fair to take away something which is already given. It may have been given by (the) former government but we cant take it away from them," Parsekar said while responding to a reporters question on a section of intellectuals demanding withdrawal of grants to English medium schools.

The Chief Minister said, "The government has been supporting the ideology that elementary education should be in mother tongue. We have implemented various schemes supporting the schools. Nearly 95 schools are currently teaching in mother tongue."

Bharatha Bhasha Suraksha Manch, backed by RSS, has given a deadline of June to the Goa government to stop giving grants to English medium schools. They are demanding that elementary education should only be imparted in mother tongue. PTI CORR NRB NSD SRE

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By PTI: New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on an official visit to Switzerland and Mexico next week, the External Affairs Ministry announced today.

These visits would be part of Modis five-nation trip beginning June 4 which will also cover Afghanistan, Qatar and the US. MEA has already formally announced Prime Ministers visit to Qatar and the US.

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Modi will visit Switzerland on June 5-6, MEA said, adding with growing bilateral trade and foreign investment, India and Switzerland enjoy strong economic ties.

"During the stay, Modi and Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann will hold discussions on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest," MEA said.

The Prime Minister will also be travelling to Mexico on a brief working visit on June 8 at the invitation of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Asserting that bilateral relations between India and Mexico have witnessed renewed vigour and activity in the last two years, the MEA said the main objective of Modis visit would be to carry forward the momentum in the bilateral relations and discuss cooperation in areas such as space, energy, agriculture and science and technology among others.

The two leaders will also be discussing various multilateral issues during the visit, it added. PTI PYK ZMN

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By PTI: Srinagar, May 30 (PTI) The Prime Ministers package of Rs 80,000 crore for Jammu and Kashmir will be executed over a period of five years in a phased manner, with annual disbursement depending on the spending capability of the state government and implementing agencies.

This was stated today by Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu in the state Assembly where he said an amount of Rs 1197 crore has already been received from the Centre specifically for relief and rehabilitation of victims of the 2014 floods.

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"The size of the PMDP (PMs Development Package) which is an aggregate of sectoral initiatives, is Rs.80,000 crore. It is fully funded and expected to be executed over the next five years," he said.

"The annual phasing of the plan will be based on the absorptive capacity and spending capability of the State Government and its implementing agencies," Drabu said in his budget speech in the Legislative Assembly here.

He said the capital expenditure, which forms a large part of the Prime Ministers economic rehabilitation plan, has been designed as a critical link between relief and development.

"Underlying the plan is an intermediate strategy of institutional reform and reinforcement, of reconstruction and improvement of infrastructure and services initiating and supporting sustainable development," he said.

The Finance Minister said even though the PMDP has been formulated in the aftermath of the devastating flood of September 2014 in the state, disasters have not been looked upon as singular events unrelated to development processes in this plan.

"The PMDP is based on the understanding that relief, rehabilitation and development do not chronologically succeed each other but have to be simultaneous and are strongly interlinked," he added.

He said under the PMDP, an amount of Rs 1197 crore has been received for providing of assistance in respect of completely/severely and partially damaged houses.

The release of funds has been provided to individual beneficiaries under the Direct Benefit Transfer mode through District Development Commissioners concerned, he said adding an amount of Rs 957 crore has been disbursed till date.

The financial assistance to certain category of uninsured and small traders affected by the floods, who had not received any assistance either from banks or other financial institutions, was provided assistance through the Chief Minister s Flood Relief Fund.

"A total amount of Rs 101.89 crore has been distributed till date among around 40,000 small traders whose turnover is up to Rs 5.00 lac," he said.

Drabu said the PMDP also included an amount of Rs 800 crore for extending interest subvention support to the trading and manufacturing units whose borrowal accounts have been restructured by banks after the September, 2014 floods.

"These funds stand transferred by the Central Government," he said. "The interest subvention support will be provided through banks/financial institutions to the affected units very soon, The interest subvention scheme has been approved by the cabinet," he added. PTI MIJ AKK

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By PTI: Chennai, May 30 (PTI) K R Ramasamy, Congress MLA from Karaikudi, was today named the partys legislature party leader and Vilavancode legislator S Vijayadharani will be the whip in the newly constituted Tamil Nadu Assembly.

"In deference to the views of the party MLAs, K R Ramasamy will be the Congress Legislature Party leader and Vijayadharani our whip," Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president E V K S Elangovan said.

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"We will continue to work with DMK and function as a constructive opposition party," he told reporters.

Ramasamy won from Karaikudi by polling 93,419 votes defeating his AIADMK rival Karpagam Ilango who got 75,136 votes. Vijayadharani was re-elected from Vilavancode by a margin of over 30,000 votes. PTI VGN BN DIP MVV

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Officials say the ring rail corridor is already saturated with freight traffic and taking off one goods train from it to introduce a passenger locomotive would mean dropping about 500 diesel-guzzling trucks on the Capital's choked roads.

According to railway officials, the Delhi ring railway is operating at a saturation point of 130 per cent, which means there is no scope for addition of any new passenger train on the network.

By Rakesh Ranjan: A move to resurrect Delhi's little-known suburban train network has seemingly hit a dead end three months after railways minister Suresh Prabhu announced the plan in his annual budget in a bid to tackle the city's toxic air and strengthen its mass transit system.

RING RAIL CORRIDOR CHOKED



Officials say the ring rail corridor is already saturated with freight traffic and taking off one goods train from it to introduce a passenger locomotive would mean dropping about 500 diesel-guzzling trucks on the Capital's choked roads.

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Considering the environmental impact, it is practically not feasible to run additional trains on the network," said divisional railway manager Arun Arora.

The 35km circular train network that took off in 1975 was refurbished seven years later for the Asian Games hosted by Delhi and connects 21 stations in areas such as Pragati Maidan, Nizamuddin, Sarojini Nagar, Lodi Colony and Lajpat Nagar. It takes about 90-120 minutes to cover the whole grid.

The route carries a heavy freight burden but has lost most of its passenger traffic over the years to buses, cars and the Metro. About 3,700 passengers travel every day by the system that also connects adjoining NCR districts of Faridabad, Ghaziabad.

Authorities this year proposed a joint action committee comprising officials from the railways and Delhi government to oversee the revival of the ring rail. However, no panel has been constituted so far though the AAP administration has been pushing for it.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is keen on bringing around the suburban train system as part of his government's efforts to combat the city's rising pollution levels and decongest roads teeming with traffic.

"The ring rail of Delhi has a good infrastructure, which as of now is not being utilised completely. We have discussed with the railways minister how to utilise more so most people use the ring rail network," he told reporters after meeting Prabhu on March 18.

MASSIVE ENCROACHMENT



The railways and Delhi government carried out a joint survey of the network. In a report submitted to the railways ministry, department officials have said massive encroachment near the stations must be cleared by the city administration. However, AAP government officials have been reluctant to act as, analysts say, slum dwellers form a large chunk of the party's support base

Arora said the matter was brought to the notice of Delhi transport minister Gopal Rai but he cited pending cases in the Delhi high court as roadblocks in clearing any encroachment.

"At present, the ring rail network has more than 130 per cent utilisation. So, additional tracks will be required to counter the overuse of the railroads," a senior official said.

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Railways sources said the onus to develop the suburban train network is on the AAP government, which needs to connect the system with other modes of public transport and improve last-mile connectivity to passengers.

"It is important to make the entryexit points to railway stations free from encroachment," Arora said. "The Delhi government has been urged to make necessary arrangements and make provisions for operation of erickshaws and feeder buses at railway stations."



While about 6 lakh square metres of railway land is under encroachment in Delhi, the AAP government has issued a notification against demolition of any slum in the national Capital. A senior Northern Railways official said 47,000 jhuggis are situated on railway land in Delhi, of which nearly 22,000 are located in safety zone, i.e. within 15 metres on either side of railway tracks.

Also Read: Coming soon: Lounges offering you WiFi connection, food and a lot more at Indian railway stations

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Saif Ali Khan's daughter Sara Khan and Shahid Kapoor's half-brother Ishaan Khattar will begin working on their first Bollywood film in January next year.

By India Today Web Desk: Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh's daughter Sara Khan, reports from a few months ago said, was apparently making her Bollywood debut alongside Shahid Kapoor's half-brother Ishaan Khattar.

ALSO READ: Saif Ali Khan takes daughter Sara out on a dinner date

ALSO READ: Tiger Shroff to play the lead in Karan Johar's Student Of The Year 2



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Several reports also pointed out that Sara and Ishaan were to be seen in Student Of The Year 2, the sequel to Karan Johar's 2012 blockbuster.

A few days ago, however, reports said that Tiger Shroff has been roped in to play the male lead in Student Of The Year 2. There was no mention of Sara or Ishaan. While it was initially said that Johar might want to cast fresh faces in the film; apart from Tiger, the rest of the cast has still not been finalised.

However, seems like Sara and Ishaan's launch vehicle will be a film directed by Mohit Suri under Karan Johar's Dharma Productions banner. The film, says a report in Mid-Day, will go on floors next year.

Shahid Kapoor with half-brother Ishaan Khattar Shahid Kapoor with half-brother Ishaan Khattar

The film team will begin acting workshops with Sara and Ishaan in January 2017. Soon after that, sometime in February/March next year, the film will start rolling.

Sara graduated from Columbia University about a fortnight ago, and dad Saif was by her side to celebrate her big day. In an earlier interview, when Saif was asked about his daughter's Bollywood plans, the Race actor had said, "I will support whatever she wants to do, but first she has to get her degree after that anything else that she wants to do."

Sara and Ishaan's debut film is supposed to be a love story.

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Shahid Kapoor's wife Mira Rajput was hospitalised over the weekend for a few precautionary check-ups. Rajput is pregnant.

By India Today Web Desk: Shahid Kapoor and Mira Rajput will soon welcome a third member into their life - their child. Mira is currently in her second trimester.

ALSO READ: Shahid Kapoor and Mira Rajput expecting their first child in September?

ALSO READ: Shahid Kapoor on Mira Rajput's pregnancy - Excited would be an understatement

ALSO READ: Shahid Kapoor takes his pregnant wife Mira Rajput on a road trip

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The couple was in the hospital over the weekend, thanks to a few precautionary check-ups and routine procedures. Mira was admitted to the Hinduja Healthcare Surgical in Khar, Mumbai during the weekend, a report in a report in Spotboye said.

All through her hospital stay, doting husband Shahid was by her side. Rajput is back home now.

Mira and Shahid are expecting their first child sometime in September this year. A few days ago, a report in Mumbai Mirror had quoted a source as saying, "Mira's date is around mid-September, but as it happens in most cases, the baby could arrive a few days before or after the due date. Mira has started getting cravings for particular kinds of food and Shahid makes sure to indulge her."

On his part, Shahid too has been bogged down by a hectic schedule, what with the post-production work on Vishal Bhardwaj's Rangoon and his soon-to-release film Udta Punjab. A few days ago, Kapoor had taken to Instagram to post a photo:

Been a tiring week. Feeling the sun and chilling with family. #familylove A photo posted by Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) on May 24, 2016 at 2:53am PDT

Mira and Shahid tied the knot in July last year. Rumours of Mira's pregnancy began doing the rounds when she was spotted with a baby bump on the ramp during the Lakme Fashion Week this year.

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By PTI: Mumbai, May 30 (PTI) Online marketplace Snapdeal today said it has established a data sciences centre in San Carlos, California to get top global talent and build high-value solutions.

The centre will focus on big-data and advanced analytics to add clarity to Snapdeals consumer-centric initiatives, help shape business strategy and optimise the operational efficiencies using data.

"We have set up a data science engine in California, which is home to domain talent, to further augment our efforts in creating a superior customer experience and strengthen our supply chain. Snapdeal is extensively working on data mining through an existing analytics team," Rohit Bansal, co-founder, Snapdeal said.

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The centre houses experienced data scientists from leading global brands like Groupon, Google, Yahoo and Amazon and is headed by Nitin Sharma, Senior Vice President, Data Sciences, the company said in a statement.

"The richer understanding of the customers by capturing and integrating the information on their buying behaviour will drive habit commerce and is in sync with our vision of 20 million daily transacting users by the year 2020," Bansal added. PTI DSK NRB ADI SA SDM

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Between the tickets and the hotels, the beach break can end up denting a hole in your pocket. Luckily, these fantastic swimsuit finds are budget-friendly.

Be the babe on the beach. Pictures courtesy: YouTube/@BollywoodBikiniHD; H&M, The Label Life

By Hemul Goel: You've finally managed to embrace your body after seeing all the body positivity campaigns, and are ready to put yourself in a bikini. But between the tickets and the hotels, a break to the beach can end up becoming a bank-breaking vacation. Fortunately for you, we've scouted around and come up with the best budget swimwear money can buy.



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Also read: Beach vacay? 6 ways to fake abs; no gym involved

Till a few years ago, swimwear shopping was a nightmare, but with the increasing entry of online retailers and fashion brands in India, you are easily spoilt for choice.

H&M

The Swedish giant offers a lot of bikini tops and bottoms that you can easily mix and match to create bikini sets that suit your preference.

Price: Rs 399 onwards



It's all in the details. Pictures courtesy: H&M

Zivame

Having made a name for itself as one of the prime lingerie retailers in the online space, Zivame includes a plethora of swimwear ranging from bikinis to one-piece swimsuits.

Also read: Plopping to Pins: 8 ways to get no-heat curls overnight

And for those of you afraid of tanning yourselves during your vacay, this is the only place we found that sells those full-coverage swimsuits.

Price: Rs 573 onwards

Spoilt for choice! Pictures courtesy: Zivame

N-Gal

The brand has so many styles on offer that you'll have a hard time finalising your choices. It also has a very cute collection of high-waist bikinis you should have a look at--and yes, all of it is under Rs 2,000.

Price: Rs 525 onwards

Retro alert! Pictures courtesy: N-Gal

Zara

If you are looking for swimsuits and bikinis in solid hues then head to the Spanish retailer for foolproof options. And if this tropical number catches your eye, then don't forget to give it a try. It's reminding us of Katy Perry from Roar.

Also read: Pink to blonde: Jawed Habib's expert tips will help your coloured hair last through the summer



Price: Rs 990 onwards



Fit for a beach baby. Pictures courtesy: Zara

Prettysecrets

The brand's established a name for itself when it comes to nightwear, but their swimwear is equally interesting. You might fall for their cutesy swimdresses--especially if you are looking for something other than the typical two-piece. And with the sale on, they have a lot of stuff available under 1K!

Price: Rs 709 onwards



Ready to brighten up the beach? Pictures courtesy: Prettysecrets Ready to brighten up the beach? Pictures courtesy: Prettysecrets

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The Beach Company

With a variety of styles on offer, The Beach Company has been a trusted name when it comes to beachwear. With the sale season on, it's the best time to grab some amazing pieces for

Price: Rs 1,099 onwards



Florals or stripes? There's a lot on offer. Pictures courtesy: The Beach Company

The Label Life

With Malaika Arora Khan as its style editor, the swimwear section is very much in touch with trends. From nautical stripes to cut-outs to ruffles, it's all there!

Price: Rs 1,950 onwards

Totally on trend. Pictures courtesy: The Label Life

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Good news for those planning to visit China as the country gets two massive theme parks, and is set to get a lot more soon.

By India Today Web Desk: If you thought Walt Disney Co. is the only one having the biggest theme parks around the world, you were not wrong. But that was the case only until Saturday, when one of China's biggest conglomerates Dalian Wanda Group Co. unveiled Wanda Cultural Tourism City, its first tourism theme park in the city of Nanchang, in the southeastern Jiangxi province.

Visitors make their way to the Wanda Park as it gets ready for a grand opening on Saturday. Photo: AP

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Spread over an area of 200 hectares, Wanda City comprises a giant mall, a 80-hectare theme park boasting the highest and longest roller coaster and the highest drop tower in China, a movie park, an aquarium, hotels and retail stores.

People take a ride on China's largest roller coaster in Wanda City. Photo: AP

The official website of the Wanda Group revealed more details on the theme park: "Tourists can fight 3D monsters in an interactive cinema complex and fly through China's Jiangxi Province in a flight simulator. Wanda City also features a movie theater with 14 screens and 3,000 seats, a dining district with 50 domestic and overseas restaurants, a commercial shopping area and clubs where tourists can enjoy nightlife."

As far as accommodations are concerned, the Wanda Vista Hotel is already there, while the Chinese conglomerate is planning nine more hotels inside the park.

People are seen walking towards the giant mall in Wanda City. Photo: AP

The US$3.4 billion (Rs 340 crores) theme park has been launched just weeks before Disney is scheduled to launch a similar attraction in Shanghai. Not only that, Wanda City is the first of 15 theme parks that the Wanda group is planning to launch in China by 2020, in direct competition with the American entertainment giant. Wanda founder Wang Jianlin confirmed this in an interview with CCTV as he said, ""This craze for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck is over, the period when we would blindly follow where Disney led has been gone for years."

He further told CCTV, ""We want to ensure that Disney will not be able to make a profit in this (theme park) sector in China for between 10 and 20 years."

Tickets at Wanda City have been priced at at 198 yuan (Rs 2,025) on regular days and 248 yuan (Rs 2536) on holidays and weekends. The Shanghai Disneyland, on the other hand, will charge 370 yuan (Rs 3,783) for an adult and 499 yuan (Rs 5,102) on peak days.

Visitors enjoy a view of marine life at an indoor ocean park aquarium at the Wanda Cultural Tourism City in Nanchang. Photo: AP

At the end of the day, it's a win-win situation for travellers as China is now home to two new amazing theme parks. And there are a lot more coming up in the next few years. Seems like a good time to plan a trip to China!

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The Rajya Sabha nomination of Pradeep Tamta has not gone down well with both the allies as well as partymen.

The dust had barely settled in Uttarakhand for the Congress after the crucial trust vote. Now, another storm stares it in the eye. The Rajya Sabha nomination of Pradeep Tamta has not gone down well with both the allies as well as partymen.

On Saturday evening, the names of Rajya Sabha nominations were announced by the Congress. Sources say that senior Congress leader and cabinet minister Yashpal Arya protested against the name of Tamta for the Rajya Sabha nomination. Efforts are on to reach a rapprochement between the warring factions.

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CONGRESS ALLIES IN UTTARAKHAND UNHAPPY

As if the trouble within was not enough, the allies of the Congress in Uttarakhand are also unhappy. They claim that the Rajya Sabha nomination should have been given to them as they helped Harish Rawat government during the political crisis in the state. Dinesh Dhanai, the cabinet minister has been asked by the PDF to file his nomination.

Sensing trouble Tamta has already said "if the party wants to reconsider, I am fine with it. I am always with the Congress high command." Tamta is a close confidant of the Chief Minister Harish Rawat, Tamta was also a Lok Sabha MP from Almora but lost in 2014. The logic being given for Tamta's name is that he is a backward. The Congress chief is a Brahmin and the Chief Minister a Thakur so Tamta fits the caste equation.

CM RAWAT DISCUSSES MATTER WITH HIGH COMMAND

Chief Minister Harish Rawat also rushed to Delhi to discuss the matter with the high command. Though the official reason was meeting with the Prime Minister. Harish Rawat met the political secretary to the Congress President Ahmed Patel. After meeting he said "we have had talks, the decision is of the Congress president. Yashpal Arya is with us, he is a founding leader."

While the Congress feels that this is rumour mongering. Spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that "there are always individual ambitions, rest assured that party choice will prevail."

Uttarakhand has seen political uncertainties since March 18. Finally the trust vote took place on the May 10 and Harish Rawat government won the vote and was reinstated.

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By India Today Web Desk: Union Minister General (Retd) VK Singh on Sunday called the attack on African nationals in New Delhi a "minor scuffle" which was "blown up" by the media.

"Had detailed discussion with Delhi Police and found that media blowing up minor scuffle as attack on African nationals in Rajpur Khurd," Singh said, while also questioning the motive of the media.

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"Why is media doing this? As responsible citizens let us question them and their motives," he said in a series of tweets.

Singh's remarks came on a day External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj pressed for ensuring safety of African nationals as she spoke to Home Minister Rajnath Singh who directed Delhi Police to take strict action against the attackers and step up patrolling in the areas inhabited by the community.



ASSAULTS

Congolese national Masonda Ketanda Olivier was allegedly beaten to death by three men last week in south Delhi, and a 23-year-old Nigerian student was assaulted in Hyderabad.

On May 26, two women, both from Africa, and at least two Nigerian men staying in Rajpur Khurd village in south Delhi's Chhattarpur, complained they were physically assaulted and intimidated.

ARRESTS

Meanwhile, five people were arrested on Sunday for their alleged involvement in the incidents, and four others detained by Delhi Police in connection with the alleged assault on African nationals in South Delhi's Mehrauli area.

Also Read:

Attack on Africans: Five held in Delhi, hunt on for three



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By PTI: New Delhi, May 30 (PTI) War is not a solution to problems between India and Pakistan and only "foolish" people would consider such an option, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit said today, two days after Pakistani nuclear scientist A Q Khan said his country has the capability to hit New Delhi in five minutes.

Basit also said that Pakistan wants to resolve all issues with India through talks and that the two neighbours must have "result oriented" engagement.

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"War is not a solution between both (India-Pak) countries. Only foolish people would consider war as a solution to the problems," Basit said during an interactive programme.

Addressing a gathering on the 18th anniversary of Pakistans first nuclear test, Khan on Saturday had said in Islamabad that his country has the ability to "target" the Indian capital in five minutes.

Reacting to Khans comments, a number of strategic affairs experts here had said India has the capability to hit entire Pakistan but nuclear weapons were not weapons of war but only meant for deterrence.

Talking about overall Indo-Pak ties, Basit said, "We hope that the dialogue process will resume, because all our issues can be resolved through talks.

"Five months have passed after the Pathankot attack but the dialogue process between India and Pakistan has not resumed."

On the probe into the Pathankot attack, the Pakistani envoy said his government was extending cooperation to India in investigation of the attack.

"Were maintaining cooperation on Pathankot. Lets hope well be able to get to the bottom of that incident," he added.

Stressing on the need for better relations between India and Pakistan, Basit said the two countries must focus on improving trade relations. He said Pakistan was grappling with series of challenges and was trying its best to combat them.

He said greater flow of trade between the two countries will bring overall prosperity to the region. PTI MPB GSN SK

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The victim, who has been living in Baguiati for the last three years, was found in semi-conscious state near Baisakhi by a taxi driver at around 3 am in the morning.

By India Today Web Desk: 24-year-old girl from Nepal was gangraped in a moving car and later dumped Salt Lake City of Weste Bengal, yesterday.

The victim, who has been living in Baguiati for the last three years, was found in semi-conscious state near Baisakhi by a taxi driver at around 3 am in the morning.

The girl, who was on her way to meet a friend, took a cab at 11 pm. Unable to locate the destination she left the cab and asked for the direction from a man standing at a close distance. The man later called up his friends ( three men who came in an SUV) and offered to give her a lift.

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LOST DIRECTION...LOST FAITH?

According to police, the men first offered her a lift and later raped her in turns in the moving car.

A case of gangrape under 376 D has been registered by the victim at the Bidhannagar Commissionerate's Women Police Station and a raid is on to nab the culprits has been launched.

"We got information from the hospital that a woman complained of rape and was admitted there. Our officers rushed there and learnt that she had allegedly been gangraped by four men in a moving car. We have registered a case and begun an investigation in the matter," said Kankar Prasad Barui, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detective Department), Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate.

OLD MEMORIES REKINDLED

The case brings the old memories of the notorious Park Street gang-rape of 2012.

On February 5, 2012, a 37-year-old Anglo Indian resident of Parnasree at Behala in Southern Kolkata was gangraped in a car after she came out of a nightclub on Park Street and was offered a lift. The incident attracted national media attention during that time.

According to a survey conducted by the charity Action Aid UK, four out of five women in India have faced public harassment.

ALSO READ:

Outrage in Brazil after 30 men gangrape teen, post images on Twitter





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This is the story of the world's first serial killer who lived in Rome more than 1,900 years ago. Locusta killed her victims by poisoning them for pleasure and was punished to death by the Roman senate. The stories of her death are now legendary.

By India Today Web Desk:

Coming from ancient Roman times is the tale of a notorious woman who in AD 54 (1st century if you need a timeline) became the first serial killer ever to achieve infamy.

Meet the medieval scientist Locusta of Gaul - the evil genius of Roman civilisation who lived during the reign of emperor Nero. The same one who fiddled while he watched Rome burn.



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THE STORY

Characters:

The story is about three characters from Rome - Emperor Nero, his mother Agrippina, and Locusta, the woman the two conspired with to kill Nero's father emperor Claudius.



Relationship:

Claudius was the dumb-wit emperor. No, we are not being condescending, it's his mother's own assessment when she compared others with her son.

"He is a bigger fool even than my son Claudius," she would say. So, erm, we get the idea.

Agrippina was Claudius' wife and their married life was a disaster to put it subtly. Nero was their son and the rightful heir of the Roman empire after emperor Claudius. But Agrippina wanted the throne to come to her son Nero sooner.





Plot:

It was an act of treason. Empress Agrippina got her husband killed in a plot to crown her son Nero as the new emperor.

To carry out the act, Agrippina got together with Locusta, who mastered the art (science) of poisoning her victims. Agrippina and Locusta killed Claudius with a batch of poisoned mushrooms. And that's how Nero became the emperor.

Under Nero's reign, Locusta extended her pleasure of killing people, poisoning her victims at her will and becoming a sorceress of clandestine practices.

Photo Credit: wednesdaymourning.com



Knowing her reality, emperor Nero issued more contracts to her to kill his rivals. Thus, Locusta lived merrily in Nero's reign.

Over the years, the emperor lavished her with land, money, gifts, and full pardon from all the ghastly crimes she had been charged with.

Locusta soon became an 'agent of death-by-poison', getting contracts and assignments. She took her practice to the next level. She became a state-funded contract killer, the first of her kind ever in human history. She also started a school to teach poisoning.



Consequences:

The Roman senate decided to bring down emperor Nero for his rogue practices, but Nero took his life in 64 AD, with his own dagger before he could be punished.

Left without her protector, Locusta's time came to pay for her sins and it is said that Locusta was ordered by the senate to be publicly raped by a specially trained giraffe and then torn apart by wild animals.

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Gruesome ancient punishments, you see.

Photo Credit: wednesdaymourning.com and badassoftheweek.com



Story of "Locusta the Sorceress" who was raped to death by a giraffe did rounds for a long time as the infamous legend, but there's another legend where she was led in chains through the whole city and then executed.

Locusta holds the title of history's first recorded serial killer for poisoning and murdering thousands. She poisoned for pleasure and for gain, eventually becoming one of the most intriguing characters in Roman history.

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The study is part of a seven-year, $25 million effort conducted by the National Toxicology Program at the request of the Food and Drug Administration.

By AP: A new federal study of the potential dangers of cellphone radiation, conducted in rats, found a slight increase in brain tumors in males and raised long-dormant concerns about the safety of spending so much time with cellphones glued to our ears.

But the study had enough strange findings that it has caused other federal scientists to highlight flaws in the research, and experts said these findings and those from other studies continue to suggest the potential risk from cellphone radiation is very small.

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The National Institutes of Health study bombarded rats with cellphone radiation from the womb through the first two years of life for nine hours a day. It found tumors in 2 to 3 per cent of male rats, which the study's authors called low. But females weren't affected at all and, strangely, the rats not exposed to the cellphone radiation died much faster - at double the rate - of those that were.

The results were preliminary, and only part of what will ultimately be released. They were made public before they were officially published - and despite strong criticism from other NIH scientists - because the results were similar to other studies that hint at a potential problem, said study author John Bucher.

The study is part of a seven-year, $25 million effort conducted by the National Toxicology Program at the request of the Food and Drug Administration. It looked at the specific type of radiation that cellphones transmit, called non-ionizing radiofrequency.

"This is the first study to actually show that non-ionizing radiation (causes) cancer," said Dr. Otis Brawley, the American Cancer Society's chief medical officer. The cancer society in a statement praised the study for "evidence that cellphone signals could potentially impact human health" but notes that it doesn't quite address real risk to people.

"If cellphones cause cancer, they don't cause a lot of cancer," he said in an interview. "It's not as carcinogenic as beef."

Also read: Mobile tower radiation doesn't cause cancer, says govt

He said people should be far more concerned about "distraction caused by cellphone,'" which he said causes more deaths.

Both Brawley and Bucher said this would not change how they use their own personal cellphones.

While the study found what Bucher called a likely cause of cancer in rats, he cautioned that how that applies to humans "is not currently completely worked out. This may have relevance. It may have no relevance," he said.

Since about 1986, U.S. brain cancer deaths have not increased or decreased, Brawley said. That suggests that whatever effect cellphones may have it is so small as to be undetectable amid regular cases of brain cancer.

Also, Brawley and others point out that cellphone technology has improved so much in recent years to emit less radiation than medical studies simulate. Bucher said the levels the rats were subjected to would be considered "heavy."

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The study also found a slight increase in a very rare type of heart tumors in the male rats exposed to cellphone radiation. The same NIH scientists looked at mice, but those results won't be ready until next year.

Some of the study's own reviewers had trouble accepting the results because of the odd factors, such as rats in the group that wasn't exposed didn't contract what would be the normal number of brain tumors for that population.

"I am unable to accept the authors' conclusions," wrote outside reviewer Dr. Michael Lauer, deputy director of NIH's office of extramural research. "I suspect that this experiment is substantially underpowered and that the few positive results found reflect false positive findings."

The fact that the rats exposed to radiation survived longer than those that weren't "leaves me even more skeptical of the authors' claims," Lauer wrote. Four other study reviewers - three from NIH - also raised questions about the way the study was conducted and its conclusions.

Bucher said he couldn't explain that strange factor, nor could he explain why females were not affected. Brawley said it could be the female hormone estrogen is offering some cancer protection as has been seen in some other cancers.

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George Gray, a risk and environmental health expert at the George Washington University School of Public Health, said one key part of the study is not the data itself, but how it is being interpreted. And he said the study seems to focus on the small increase in tumors in males, not the absence of them in females "and does not reveal the level of scientific uncertainty in applying these data to people using their phones."

If people are truly worried, they should use Bluetooth or headsets, Brawley said.

In 2011, a working group of the International Agency for Research on Cancer said cellphones are possibly carcinogenic. But numerous studies over the years, before and after that listing, have found little evidence of a problem. Among the largest, a survey of 13,000 people in 13 countries found little or no risk of brain tumors, with a possible link in the heaviest users that the study's authors found inconclusive. And a large Danish study that linked phone bills to a cancer registry found no risk even in longtime users.

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Gray said a study like this needs to stand up to challenge and fit in with other research.

"This is a high profile topic that hits close to home for most of us," Gray said in an email. "It is really important to realize that a single study like this does not provide 'the answer.'"

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Nadella, who was in town for just several hours, didn't share any specific announcement from Microsoft but he said that he interacted with business leaders, entrepreneurs and government officials in Delhi and found the way India was changing "inspiring".

By Javed Anwer: On a cloudy Monday morning in Delhi, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who can't stop emphasising the potential and opportunities of cloud computing, said it was time to "celebrate the technology that India creates".

"It is not about celebrating our own technology, it is about celebrating the technology that India creates. I want us to be the platform to foster the ingenuity of the people of India," said the Microsoft CEO.

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Nadella, who was in town for just several hours, didn't share any specific announcement from Microsoft but he said that he interacted with business leaders, entrepreneurs and government officials in Delhi and found the way India was changing "inspiring".

The Microsoft CEO talked about ideas, building new things and chasing one's dreams. He invoked Ghalib, saying that the poetry and computer science have always been his passion. "Whenever I read hazaron khwahishen aisi ki har khwaish... I interpret it differently. There is so much to it... It also tells us that it is not just your dreams that need to be fulfilled. It's also your ability to dream that is worth dying for," he said.

Coming to technology and Microsoft, Nadella sounded bullish on the virtual reality and what it could enable in future. He said that until now computing had been just a digital manifestation of what was physical. But with virtual reality, the digital and physical worlds can finally mix, creating something called mixed reality. This, he says, opens all the new frontiers that developers can explore to create cool new things. "The virtual reality changes the way you see the world. (And) when you change the way you see the world, you change the world you see," he said.

Also Read: Satya Nadella, Indra Nooyi among highest paid CEOs

Although in the world of virtual reality the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive are hogging all the limelight, Microsoft is working on HoloLens, a wearable headset that mixes the virtual and physical world for its users. Unlike the other virtual reality solutions, which aim to create the full virtual world in front of a user's eyes, the HoloLens lets the user superimpose virtual elements on top of the actual, physical world.

In Delhi, Nadella also met a few students and the young app developers. He said that the ideas that youngsters were working on were very inspiring. "I met a 17-year-old developer who has taken the publicly available NASA data and has created an app that uses this data to monitor growth of algae in Bay of Bengal. This app can be monitored to track changes in global temperature. Then there is game by an 8-year-old who wants the society to balance the development and ecology. This game encourages players to use green technologies," said Nadella.

In Delhi, Nadella also met telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha.

Nadella's visit to India comes a few weeks after Apple CEO Tim Cook visited India and found the country "unparalleled". A lot of tech titans have visited India in the last several months. However, most of these visits have been exploratory in nature. On Monday too Nadella, who had earlier visited country last year, mostly discussed Microsoft's vision for India but did not announce anything specific.

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Just like Cook, Nadella too is on an Asia tour. However, unlike Cook he came to India from China, Nadella was expected to go to China from India.



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By Reuters: India's commerce and industry minister on Monday said she was in talks with the finance ministry on Apple Inc's foreign direct investment proposal that seeks a waiver from the country's local sourcing rules.

Nirmala Sitharaman's comments came days after the finance ministry asked the iPhone maker to meet rules that mandate foreign retailers to sell at least 30 per cent locally-sourced goods if it wished to open stores in the country.

Also Read: Apple seeks govt approval to open store in India

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The minister, however, said she was not in favor of relaxing rules for Apple to sell refurbished second-hand phones in India.

Also Read: Govt to relax norms so Apple can open stores in India

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TRAI has fixed penalty of up to Rs 2 lakh for poor mobile service quality, including call drops. This penalty kicks in for more than 2 per cent call drops in a quarter in one telecom circle.

By Press Trust of India: Trying to deflect heat over poor service quality, mobile operators are taking refuge in a new technology to "mask" call drops that shows a call as remaining connected even when the network connection is lost and the caller is unable to hear voice from the other side.



Earlier, the call used to get automatically disconnected in case of the user moving to a poor network area, making it a dropped call under the current regulatory framework.



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The new technology ensures the call remains artificially connected until the caller or receiver decides to terminate it and the user is billed for the entire duration despite not being able to talk for full or part of the call duration.

"Telecom operators are using Radio-Link Technology (RLT) which is helping them mask call drops while the consumer is being billed for the time he is on the call, although it can be said to be artificially connected to a network," an official source involved in testing of telecom networks told PTI.



"In such cases, the customer often disconnects call himself, which is not counted in call drops. If the call in such case is disconnected, the companies continue to charge customers.



"While the RLT is helping companies improve their quality of service parameters and revenue, it is also helping them mask the dropped calls," the source added.



There was no reply to queries sent to industry bodies COAI and AUSPI on this matter.



The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has fixed penalty of up to Rs 2 lakh for poor mobile service quality, including call drops. This penalty kicks in for more than 2 per cent call drops in a quarter in one telecom circle.



TRAI had also mandated the telecom operators to pay consumers Re 1 for every call drop, subject to a maximum of Rs 3 per day, but this provision was recently quashed by the Supreme Court.



Telecom operators have been facing intense heat over frequent call drops for many months now, although they have been blaming factors like lack of approvals for setting up mobile towers for this problem. Many of them claim to have made significant improvement on this front, but the menace continues, including in big cities.

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Three lawmakers from the province of Anbar told Reuters the visit by Irans al-Quds brigade commander could fuel sectarian tension and cast doubt on Baghdads assertions that the offensive is an Iraqi-led effort to defeat Islamic State, and not to settle scores with the Sunnis.

Falluja, which lies about 50 kilometers (32 miles) west of Baghdad, is a bastion of the insurgency that fought the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the Shiite-led authorities that replaced former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein, a Sunni.

In recent days, Iranian media published pictures of what they said was a visit by Soleimani to Falluja and a meeting he held with the leaders of the Iraqi coalition of Shiite militias known as Popular Mobilization, or Hashid Shaabi.

It is the second time Soleimani has appeared in Iraqi conflict zones. About a year ago, witnesses said he was present when Popular Mobilization fighters ousted Islamic State militants from cities north of the capital.

An Iraqi government spokesman did not confirm Soleimanis visit and stressed that Iranian advisors are present in Iraq in order to assist in the war on Islamic State (IS) in the same capacity as those of the U.S.-led anti-IS coalition.

Member of parliament (MP) Hamid al-Mutlaq rejected that, however.

We are Iraqis and not Iranians, he said. Would Turkish or Saudi advisers be welcomed to assist in the battle? he added, drawing a parallel between the three regional powers bordering Iraq  mainly-Sunni Turkey and Saudi Arabia, and Shiite Iran.

Soleimanis presence is suspicious and a cause for concern; he is absolutely not welcome in the area, said Falluja parliamentarian Salim Muttar al-Issawi.

I believe that the presence of such an official from the (Iranian) Revolutionary Guard could have sectarian implications, said another MP from the city, Liqaa Wardi.

Based in part on a Reuters report
MATTOON -- Etched portraits of local service members who were killed in action were unveiled Monday on the Coles County Vietnam memorial at Peterson Park.

The portraits are part of a new granite addition to this memorial to the 17 Coles County service members who died in Vietnam. These images were unveiled as part of the annual Memorial Day ceremony at the park.

Efforts to raise money and gather photos for the memorial were led by Harold and Colleen Van Gundy of Mattoon. Harold's brother, Marine Cpl. Nelson Earl Van Gundy, was Coles County's first fatality in Vietnam. He was killed in action in June 1965 at age 21.

"I think it's wonderful what that family did to honor our soldiers who have been forgotten for so long," said Elisabetha Czerwonka, widow of Army Cpt. August Czerwonka. She said her husband was killed in action in 1968 in Vietnam at age 31 while serving as a company commander with the 1st Infantry Division.

Czerwonka, a native of Germany, said she met her future husband while he was stationed in her home country. She said her husband told her before deploying that he wanted to be buried at Mattoon's Dodge Grove Cemetery, near the land that his family farmed, if he died.

While carrying out his wish, Czerwonka said she found that Mattoon "felt like home" to her. Consequently, she and their three children settled here after moving from California.

Several other family members of the fallen service members of Coles County also attended the ceremony on Monday, including the family of Marine Lance Cpl. Robert Overmyer. He was killed in Vietnam in 1967.

His brother, Mattoon resident Dennis Overmyer, said he was impressed and deeply moved by the finished etchings on the memorial. He thanked the Van Gundy family for having a dream and following through on it, something that very few people are able to accomplish, he said.

"They had that vision. It's just fantastic. It's just a wonderful thing they have done," Overmyer said, adding that he also thanks everyone who helped raise money to make the portraits possible. "It will make a difference."

Overmyer said he ended up being drafted into the Army and serving in 1969 in Vietnam, working at an office job at Cam Ranh Bay, after his brother was killed in action.

"Those were pretty tough times for Mom and Dad," Overmyer said of his parents, Lloyd and Ruth.

The addition that Adams Memorials made to the original 1982 memorial includes 16 portraits for the fallen service members whose photos were available. Organizers of the portrait project have not been able to locate a photo for 1st Sgt. George Morrison of Lerna.

Space is available on the addition next to Morrison's name to include a portrait of him once a photo is found. Anyone with information about an image of Morrison is asked to call Harold Van Gundy at 1-618-553-1439.
Chemonics seeks chief of party candidates for anticipated USAID-funded programs in biodiversity conservation, sustainable landscapes, and climate change adaptation and resilience through efforts at the national level and in targeted geographies. We are looking for individuals with proven ability to achieve development results and who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people around the world.

Responsibilities include:
Each year Remodeling Magazine honors 50 owners of remodeling companies from across the nation that have set exceptionally high standards for professionalism and integrity through exemplary business practices, craftsmanship, and impact in their community. The Big50 award will be presented at an upcoming gala dinner in Kansas City, Mo.

Nates Custom Renovations, Inc. is focused on bringing good, old-fashioned customer service back to the remodeling industry. They specialize in kitchen, bathroom, and other interior remodeling projects. For more details, please visit: LincolnRenovations.com

We feel humbled and honored to receive this prestigious award, says Nate Bahm, owner of Nates Custom Renovations. The award recognizes excellence and we are privileged to be named to this select group of remodelers.
At a May 17th ceremony with the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Nebraska Surgical Specialists celebrated as Dr. Paul Kampfe took the helm of the 13-year-old general surgery office and unveiled its new brand identity.

Medicine has really changed in the last 15 to 20 years. Laparoscopy was in its infancy and now we use robots. We are using this event to kick off our brand, which now better reflects our service and skill, commented Dr. Kampfe.

Nebraska Surgical Specialists is an independent, comprehensive surgery practice dedicated to treating patients with a variety of medical conditions with the highest quality surgical care. We are experienced, compassionate partners in helping our patients realize their best health. Nebraska Surgical Specialists is affiliated with several hospitals and surgery centers in Lincoln and surrounding communities. Visit NebraskaSurgical.com for more information.
Margaret T. Lueder, 98, of Lincoln, passed away on May 27, 2016. Mrs. Lueder was born March 17, 1918 to Ludwig & Barbara (Fettig) Heintz in Napoleon, N.D. Margaret was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church. She was the family historian and an accomplished seamstress. She was known and was proud to crochet over 3000 infant caps that were distributed throughout the nurseries in Lincoln.

She was preceded in death by her parents; 12 siblings; daughter, Shirley Glerup; and husband, William Lueder. She is survived by her children, Wilmajean Fish, Lynn (Barbara) Lueder, Teri (George) Harp; son-in-law, Edwin Glerup; 13 grandchildren; many great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

A celebration of Margaret's life will be at 10 a.m., Thursday, June 2, at Butherus, Maser and Love Funeral Home, 4040 A St., Lincoln. Inurnment will be at a later time in the Greenwood Cemetery, Mobridge, S.D. At the request of the Lueder family, there will be no viewing or visitation. Margaret's wishes were for cremation. Memorials are suggested to Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Online condolences may be left at www.bmlfh.com.
Carol Joyce Portsche, 84, passed away on the morning of May 20, 2016, in Lincoln. She had been a resident at Tabitha at Williamsburg for the past few months. Carol's main occupation was raising her six children, but she also held a position in the math department at the University of Nebraska for many years as secretary/assistant to the dean. Before her retirement she was the church secretary for Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Lincoln for several years.

Ms. Portsche was born on August 24, 1931, in Marysville, Kan. The family moved to Lincoln when she was small. She was an accomplished acrobatic dancer, and along with her partner, Vance, performed throughout Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Iowa. Her mother acted as their manager. When Carol was 16 she competed in the Miss Lincoln contest, a preliminary to the Miss Nebraska/Miss America pageants. She came in second, with her talent being acrobatic dance.

Ms. Portsche was pre-deceased by her parents, Alton and Fannie Williams, and her former husband, Rex Portsche. She is survived by her children: Lyn (Gary) Blum of San Antonio, Kym (Sib) Northrip of Fresno, Calif., Ken (Debra) Portsche of Johnston, Iowa, Joy Nielson of Tempe, Ariz., Tod Portsche of Lincoln Van (Melanie) Portsche of Union City, N.J. She is also survived by her brothers, Don and Everett Williams. Besides her children, Carol leaves behind 11 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, June 3, at Butherus, Maser & Love Funeral Home, 4040 A St. Her cremated remains will be interred in the Thomas Kinkade Columbarium at Lincoln Memorial Park. Memorials suggested to COPD Foundation at http:/copdfoundation.donordrive.com/campaign/carolportschememorial Condolences may be left at www.bmlfh.com.
A 32-year-old Lincoln woman told police she woke in her upstairs bedroom early Sunday to being stabbed by a stranger.

It happened six blocks south of the Capitol in the 1500 block of B Street at about 3 a.m.

Lincoln Police Capt. Bob Farber said the woman received several stab wounds to her back, left hand and behind her ear from what is believed to have been a pocket knife.

"The injuries themselves, while significant, were not considered to be life threatening," he said.

She was treated and released.

Farber said the woman told police she did not know her attacker, who got away before police arrived. She described him as an Hispanic or Native American man who was 6-feet-tall, 230 pounds with dark, curly hair.

He said Monday that police have interviewed several people since and called it an ongoing investigation.
The markings on Clive D. Hilgerts headstone are rich with history.

He was born in 1916, in the heat of the Great War. He died in 2011 during the greatest technological boom in the worlds history.

Above his given name is his nickname: the Candyman. Hilgert left his home at 18 and went to Kansas City, where he joined the brand-new Russell Stover Candy company.

He spent his whole life in the candy business and he loved every minute of it, said his son, Don Hilgert.

In the upper right corner of the tombstone is the outline of a P-38 aircraft from World War II. Clives brother, Don, a pilot, was killed in combat on April 5, 1943. When Clives son was born in 1943, he named him after his uncle.

When Clive wanted to sign up for the draft and join him, his brother wrote a letter warning him not to come, and a metal pin in the shape of a P-38.

My dad wore that pin for the rest of his life, Don said. In all of the pictures we ever took of him, it was there pinned on his shirt.

Even though Don visits the site -- which is also where his mother and other relatives are buried -- throughout the year, he makes a special point to come on Memorial Day weekend.

And hes not the only one.

Mary Benac of Lincoln said she cant remember a year when she didnt visit her familys plot at Wyuka Cemetery.

I cant imagine not coming, she said.

Ever since she was a little girl, Mary remembers her mother telling stories about her visits to Wyuka: an entire day at the cemetery, including a picnic.

I know that sounds a little strange, she said.

Families would pack their picnic baskets with sandwiches and fried chicken, grab a couple of picnic blankets and spend the afternoon sitting by family members laid to rest.

Although she doesnt picnic, Mary goes to the cemetery on O Street on the last weekend of May, usually with family. The site is sacred to them, she said. In fact, her three brothers and their spouses and she and her husband, Larry, and their son have all bought plots nearby for their own bodies to lay once theyre gone.

They had a buy one-get-one-free sale, Mary said. I think we even got a couple extras.

Larry has no family of his own and loves the tradition from Marys side of the family.

We always memorialize, especially the vets who are no longer with us, said Larry, who is a veteran. Thats what this day is all about.

The lack of appreciation from the rest of society frustrates him some days.

Its Memorial Day, youd think this place would be packed, he said Sunday.

Rhonda Wheatley, too, said the holiday seems to mean something different than was originally intended.

Today, its more about partying than it is about remembering veterans and loved ones, she said. Its frustrating for me because Im the only one out of my family who comes to the cemeteries.

Each year, she and her husband go to five cemeteries to honor family members. Four of the cemeteries are in Nebraska, one is in Kansas.

Don Hilgert agrees, but said it may be societys own fault.

I think sometimes the younger generation has forgotten, and thats probably our fault that we didnt teach them better.

Joseph Chaloupka is another regular Memorial Day visitor at Wyuka who has dedicated his weekend to remembering those close to him and those who fought for freedom.

A lot of people just go out and eat but we keep the tradition going," he said. It used to be called Decoration Day, so we go decorate some graves. We try to keep it going because the younger people dont do it as much.
The 2016 One Book-One Lincoln selection confronts the matter of life and death, and medicines role in our final days.

By prolonging life, are doctors prolonging suffering? And at the end, what matters more: quantity or quality?

In Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, surgeon and author Atul Gawande argues medicine, which has been so successful in extending our lives, can also improve how it ends.

The New Yorker essayist and doctors fourth book survived a selection process that started at the beginning of the year, with more than 150 nominees, and ended Monday on the dock of The Mill downtown, when One Book-One Lincoln committee chairman David Smith announced the three finalists before unveiling the winner.

Over the past few months, each book was read by at least two committee members, he said. As the list narrowed, the remaining books were read by more committee members. The final 10 titles were read by all members.

In the end, Being Mortal prevailed over another work of nonfiction and a critically acclaimed novel.

* Bettyville, a memoir by George Hodgman. This title chronicles the authors poignant return to Paris, Missouri, to care for his 90-year-old mother -- and because hed lost his job in New York. This is, ultimately, not just a book about caring for an aging parent, Smith said: Though the mother was never easy to get along with, and now shes dealing with dementia and health problems, her son had always felt like an outsider in his hometown.

The committee was struck by the books good-natured humor, Smith said, despite the painful issues it addressed.

* The Fishermen, a novel by Chigozie Obioma. The debut by the Nigerian-born assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has received ample acclaim: It was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize for Fiction last year, and a winner of an NAACP Image Award.

The novel is described as a Cain and Abel-esque story set in a small town in Nigeria -- though it has universal appeal, Smith said -- and focuses on four brothers who skip school to go fishing. They meet a madman by the river, who relays a prophesy: The oldest brother will be killed by one of the other three.

The novel is very literary -- beautifully written with language that is poetic without being pretentious, Smith said.

Hosted by Lincoln City Libraries, the One Book-One Lincoln community reading program was launched in 2002 to get the city to think about, and talk about, literature. Multiple copies of the top three titles are available in print, e-book and audio formats, and the library is planning a series of discussions and special events.

But the reading has already started. Moments after Smith announced the finalists, and the winner, a long line formed at the mobile library checkout on the dock of The Mill, and the books began disappearing.
Joab Jones died on his birthday with only a dime in his pocket, but he also carried clues to his short life and quick death.

His discharge papers and letters of commendation from the Army, showing he'd served in the dramatic rescue of Westerners from Peking, China, during the Boxer Rebellion of 1900.

His divorce papers, showing his wife, Luna, was leaving him, and taking their children with her.

And the letter he wrote to his sister before he drank whiskey and carbolic acid in a rooming house near 10th and O and died in its hallway, despite the best efforts of a doctor who pumped the veteran's stomach and tried artificial respiration.

I am going to quit the world, Joab Jones wrote, but don't you think hard for I will try and meet you in heaven, so good bye.

The 27-year-old had ended up in Lincoln just two weeks earlier, selling stove polish. He was buried in Wyuka Cemetery on Nov. 2, 1902, three days after his death, in a grave that remains unmarked and, on this Memorial Day, unheralded.

His memory would have stayed buried if a Nebraska State Historical Society researcher hadn't stumbled upon it five years ago while helping a patron look up turn-of-the-century Halloween traditions.

Something about the serendipity of his discovery -- and the rough lines of the young man's story -- struck Matt Piersol. So he started his methodical process of filling in the blanks, scouring census information, paging through newspapers, requesting military records.

It's strange to me that all of this would be completely unknown and then you find one fact and then it leads to others, he said. And all of this that was not known is, all of a sudden, right there.

The story of Joab Jones.

Nobody had spoken his name for 100 years.

* * *

Joab Jones was born Oct. 30, 1875, and raised in McDonough County, Illinois, on cropland 40 miles east of the Mississippi River.

His family had some money, Piersol said. They had been farmers for decades. After his death, Jones was described by the newspaper in Macomb, Illinois, as well-known in that city. His friends elaborated for the Lincoln Star.

From the time Joab was 8 years old his father would take him out on drinking bouts, delighting to see his son stagger like an old toper.

They also reported that, as a young man, Jones blew through $15,000 his mother had left him.

He pursued reckless living, Piersol said. And then he vowed he would make it up somehow by entering the service.

He was 24 when he enlisted in 1899. He stood just over 5-foot-7 and had brown eyes and auburn hair, according to military records Piersol found. He ended up in Manila with the 14th Infantry Regiment, taking part in the Philippine Insurrection -- one of the U.S. military's first missions into foreign territory.

It was truly horrific in terms of suffering, casualties and loss of life, Piersol said. Fighting adversaries they could not see in jungles and swamps, the heat and malaria were enough to drive many U.S. troops insane.

The Army wasn't finished with Jones. From Manila, the 14th was sent to Peking, where a growing movement of Chinese traditionalists -- deemed Boxers -- were rebelling against modernization, targeting the influx of Western merchants and missionaries into their country, and the cultural change they carried.

By August 1900, hundreds of Americans and Europeans were holed up in their district of the capital city.

Outside the walls were thousands of Boxers, Piersol said, baying for their blood.

What followed was a daring rescue and escape made famous in a painting that would hang in VFW chapters across the country; Piersol remembers seeing it in his hometown of Tecumseh.

The 14th arrived in China by boat, took a train inland and punched a hole through the Boxers to get to the walls protecting the Westerners. While some soldiers held off the rebels, other scaled the walls, organized the civilians and guided them out of the city to safety.

Their Chinese allies christened the 14th the Golden Dragons, a label the regiment has since worn proudly in both world wars, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Jones was discharged May 30, 1902, commended for his sobriety, industry and honesty.

The story of his next few months -- his last few months -- isn't as valiant: His wife left him at some point because of his drunkenness, his hometown paper reported. He ended up in Nebraska, meeting a man named Harry Allen in McCook, and the two arrived in Lincoln that fall, peddling polish.

I cannot imagine a more depressing job for a human being than to be a traveling stove polish salesman, Piersol said.

Allen's wife got a job washing dishes at a hotel, where she befriended Mattie Gross, a chambermaid from Fairbury.

Joab Jones was in love again.

He seems to have become passionately fond of her, but a day or two after their acquaintance began she rejected his advances because she found him intoxicated, the Lincoln Evening News reported.

The Lincoln Star had more details. Jones called Mattie Gross and asked her to meet, so he could make up for his trouble.

"But they parted in anger, her last words being, 'We cannot be more than friends Joab.' In reply he cried, 'Before 9 o'clock it will be over with me.'"

The veteran spent the next hours telling friends he was going to kill himself by drinking carbolic acid, a common cleaning agent. He even showed them the bottle.

They laughed: He'd only known the woman three days. They thought he was merely 'talking,' the paper reported, as he had told this story many times in the past week.

Jones died in the rooming house at 122 S. 10th St., just after 9 p.m., on his 27th birthday.

* * *

Joab Jones had an uncle in Holdrege who traveled to Lincoln, learned his nephew was already buried at Wyuka and decided he ought to stay there.

Joab Jones had a widow in Illinois, who remarried. He had children who grew up, and old, and died.

After that, he had nobody.

But then, more than a century later, he had Matt Piersol, who has a history of resurrecting forgotten veterans and bringing them the honor they went so long without.

Piersol found the veteran's grave at Wyuka but he found no marker. He wants to change that, but he expects a challenge. The Army requires the consent of next-of-kin, he said, and who does Joab Jones have?

For now, Piersol has a simple solution to thank the man for his service.

I would just encourage people, if they're driving by Wyuka, to toot their horn, or say his name out loud, he said.

It's not much, but it's something.
At the age of 19 I was an U.S. Army combat infantryman who had been wounded in the Luxembourg Ardennes on Dec. 16, 1944. That was the first night of the Battle of the Bulge. I was serving in a 28th Infantry Division squad of combat riflemen, and we had been ordered to defend some woodland in territory our division was occupying.

Since I was in the 28th as a quite recent replacement for a rifleman who had been killed or wounded in earlier combat, my fellow soldiers and I were still relative strangers to each other. However brief our familiarity, though, we were now undergoing the bonding experience that combat can be. Although that was 71 years ago, the length of time has never weakened my vivid memory of the experience we shared that night. Its a memory both factual and spiritual, encompassing both body and soul.

We had been ordered to defend a woodland that faced a valley, and on the other side of that valley was our Nazi enemy. It was Europes coldest autumn in 30 years. Because our Army hadnt foreseen that freezing weather, we had inadequate clothing to protect us from deep and continuing physical pain.

To minimize ourselves as targets we were belly down on the ground. Thus we couldnt walk around to warm up a bit. After some time sprawled there, while keeping our heads raised to look across the silent valley, we were suddenly threatened by the first sounds and flames of what turned out to be a massive, lethal mortar attack. With murderous efficiency, the barrage worked its way across the valley, closing in on our position. Shrapnel from bursting shells ripped the ground that we had been ordered to defend.

Our rifle squad had watched in silence as the distance between us and the exploding shells shrank. Soon enough, there was a hellish shower of shrapnel bursting down from the treetops. As that murderous spray saturated us and tore open my right forearm, our silence suddenly turned into screams of terror and the agonizing cries of wounding. Some of our victims could still be heard moaning long after the bursting shells moved beyond us; the silence of others came with their sudden deaths. In my terror I kept thinking they were dying for all of us.

Spiritually, the immediate result of the attack was the overwhelming fear of death and a hopeless sense of being unable to avoid it. For me, the deepest, ceaseless spiritual experience began with squadmate bonding, and increased with the realization of my incredibly good fortune to have been spared death. Our bonding was an unspoken certainty. Although we were still relative strangers, before the attack we had served together enough for us to feel we were mutually reliable, however hazardous the circumstances.

Not long after the shelling had passed, I was receiving first aid. The medic who struggled to get me off the front line earned my deepest gratitude, a feeling that seized me again when we reached our first aid station. That was a war-battered barn in which most of the wounded were enemy troops receiving the same conscientious medical care as we Americans were getting.

After my medic had stopped the bleeding and removed shrapnel from my forearm, he lifted the metal helmet from my head and showed me how it was like a pincushion of shrapnel that never quite reached my skull. My gratitude for the care I received in that barn would apply as well to the American Army hospitals and staff that, for the next six months, would treat me in Luxembourg, Paris, England and the United States.

My immediate gratitude for having been spared death and rescued medically was echoed by my beloved parents. With me in battle in Europe and their other son  my older brother  a Naval officer experiencing combat in the Pacific, our parents, like countless others, lived in ceaseless dread of losing a child or children. However serious my wound, I was still a living son  and home.

As a nation, we set aside time on Memorial Day to remember and honor those who died serving in the Armed Forces. For me as an individual, it is a holiday in which I can never forget squadmates who died for us, as well as our survivors and all those Army staff who helped me manage my wounding and get on with a life that has been incredibly fortunate.
Everything was different, the day after.

If you are a child of the millennium, if youve never known a world without 500 networks, it may be difficult for you to get this. You might find it hard to appreciate how it was when there were only three networks and no DVR nor even VCR, so that one major TV program sometimes became a communal event, a thing experienced by everybody everywhere at the same time.

So it was on a Sunday night, the 23rd of January, in 1977. I was a senior at the University of Southern California, working part time at the campus bookstore. When I went to work the next day, you could feel that something had shifted. Your black friends simmered like a pot left too long on the stove. Your white friends tiptoed past you like an unexploded bomb.

We had all watched the first episode of Roots, had all seen the Mandinka boy Kunta Kinte grow to the cusp of manhood, had all borne witness as he was chained like an animal and stolen away from everything he had ever known. Now we no longer knew how to talk to one another.

I had a friend, a white guy named Dave Weitzel. Ordinarily, we spent much of our shift goofing on each other the way you do when youre 19 or so and nothing is all that serious. But on that day after, the space between us was filled with an awkward silence.

Finally, Dave approached me. Im sorry, he said, simply. I didnt know.

It is highly unlikely the new version of Roots, airing this week on the A&E television networks, will be the phenomenon the original was. There are, putting it mildly, more than three networks now and, with the exception of the Super Bowl, we no longer have communal television events.

But the new show will be a success if it simply kindles in us the courage to confront and confess the history that has made us. I didnt know much about that in 1977. Sixteen years of education, including four at one of the nations finest universities, had taught me all about the Smoot-Hawley tariff, but next to nothing about how a boy could be kidnapped, chained in the fetid hold of a ship and delivered to a far shore as property.

As a result, I had only a vague sense of bad things having happened to black people in the terrible long ago. It stirred a sense of having been cheated somehow, left holding a bad check somehow, but I didnt really know how or why.

I was as ignorant as Dave.

Small wonder. The history Roots represents embarrasses our national mythology. As a result, it has never been taught with any consistency. Even when we ostensibly spotlight black history in February, we concentrate on the achievements of black strivers  never the American hell they strove against. So you hear all about the dozens of uses George Washington Carver found for a peanut, but nothing about Mary Turners newborn, stomped to death by a white man in a lynch mob.

We dont know what to do with those stories, so we ignore them, hoping that time, like a tide, will bear them away. But invariably, they wash up instead in mass incarceration, mass discrimination and the souls of kids who know their lives are shaped by bad things from long ago, even if they cant always say how.

Almost 40 years later, Im embarrassed by the righteous vindication I got from Daves apology. Dave Weitzel, the individual man, had not done anything to me. But like me, he had never been given the tools to face the ugly truths America hides from itself, had never been taught how to have the conversation.

So we had only his shame and my anger. Had we managed to push through those things, we might have found common humanity on the other side. But we couldnt do that because we didnt know how.

Indeed, as best I can recall, we never talked about it again.
All things considered, Gov. Pete Ricketts and state business leaders are wise to schedule another trade mission to China.

China is the states fourth-largest trading partner, and last year, Nebraska exported almost $500 million worth of goods there, according to the International Trade Administration.

But trouble seems to be brewing on several fronts, and Nebraska agriculture and businesses may need all the help they can get to maintain profitable business ties.

One of the looming threats, as an editorial earlier this month pointed out, is the potential election of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. His proposed 45 percent tariff on goods imported from China could start a trade war.

Anyone who has glanced at Trumps record knows that he frequently changes his position on issues, but he has maintained a steady drumbeat of anti-China remarks. Its one of his most consistent themes.

And Trump is not the only problem.

Emblematic of rising tension is Chinas island-building strategy in the South China Sea.

China has added about 3,200 acres to the islands it has been building, according to a Pentagon report released earlier this month.

China will be able to use the artificial islands as persistent civil-military bases to enhance its long-term presence in the South China Seas significantly, the report said.

China is building three, 9,800-foot airstrips on the islands that can accommodate advanced fighter jets, the report said. The Pentagon expects that China will soon add military infrastructure including surveillance equipment.

To prove a point that it has the right to sail in international waters, the U.S. Navy sent a destroyer to cruise past the largest of the man-made islands earlier this month.

Adding to the friction was the decision by the Obama administration to end the embargo on lethal arms sales to Vietnam, which fought a border war with China in 1979. Although China officially welcomed the announcement, newspapers with close ties to the communist party complained that lifting the embargo boded ill for regional peace and stability.

The Nebraska trade delegation will include the states top dignitaries. Among them, Ricketts, state Agriculture Director Greg Ibach, Economic Development Director Courtney Dentlinger and more than 40 other officials and business leaders.

The timing of the trip is auspicious. The six-day mission is slated to depart on Nov. 9.

Thats one day after voters will go to the polls to pick the nations next president, so Nebraska officials will be able to adjust their efforts to boost trade accordingly.
I was encouraged to see the article in the May 15 Lincoln Journal Star headlined, AG focus: Protect the vulnerable. That is certainly a worthy priority for our states Attorney General.

So, imagine my disappointment when only days later I read of Mr. Doug Petersons determination to fight the federal guidelines that, Schools have a responsibility to provide a safe and nondiscriminatory environment for all students, including transgender students ("Cool the transgender fight," May 20).

It doesnt seem right that the Attorney General would pick and choose which vulnerable Nebraskans he deems worthy of our protection.

Mark Weddleton, Lincoln
Nebraska's Capitol will have a new look by the time the state celebrates its 150th birthday next year, and party planners hope to bring the festivities to as many residents as possible.

With less than a year until the March 1 anniversary of Nebraska's statehood in 1867, crews are showing progress on construction projects to spruce up the Capitol and surrounding area. For those who live far from Lincoln, organizers of the sesquicentennial are planning a series of events and programs throughout the state.

The Capitol is expected to have four new fountains in place before the celebration begins. They are the last unfinished design feature of the building that went up between 1922 and 1932. They were intended to sit in each of the building's four open-air courtyards, but plans to construct them and install 20 murals were halted because of the Great Depression. The last of the murals was added in 1996.

"To leave that kind of architectural effort undone just didn't seem appropriate," said former state Sen. Bob Wickersham, who advocated for the fountains project as a member of the Nebraska Association of Former State Legislators. "It's just inconceivable that we wouldn't finish the building."

Lawmakers approved $2.5 million for the fountains in 2014, overriding then-Gov. Dave Heineman's veto. Heineman argued the fountains were an unnecessary expense.

Nebraska Capitol Administrator Bob Ripley said crews expect to have all of the fountains finished by the year's end despite numerous logistical challenges. Because the courtyards are surrounded by offices, crews have had to haul wheelbarrows filled with concrete and dirt through the Capitol's halls to access the four work sites.

"It's a bit like building a ship in a bottle," Ripley said.

Ripley said the project helped unearth a bit of Nebraska history. While digging in the southwest courtyard last week, crews discovered an old brick tunnel that housed steam pipes used to heat Nebraska's second state Capitol. The second Capitol was finished in 1888 but was poorly constructed and only lasted a few decades before the current Capitol replaced it.

Outside, crews have nearly finished work on a revitalized Centennial Mall that stretches from the Capitol's north entrance onto the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. Three new fountains have been installed on the mall built in 1967 to commemorate 100 years of Nebraska statehood. The Mall had fallen into disrepair, but was overhauled with $9.6 million raised by the Lincoln Parks Foundation.

The mall project marks the culmination of years of work and planning, said Jeff Searcy, chairman of the Nebraska Capitol Environs Commission.

"It's a long-term project and something that will be exciting for the entire state," Searcy said. "The opportunity to tie that into the Nebraska sesquicentennial next year is definitely an exclamation point for us."

The sesquicentennial will feature at least 13 programs and events aimed at as many residents as possible, said Regan Anson, executive director of the nonprofit Nebraska 150 Celebration. The list includes a fitness challenge, a mobile children's museum and a three-day train tour of Nebraska.

The group also plans to distribute books about renowned Nebraska author Willa Cather and Ponca Indian chief Standing Bear to elementary and high school students. At some point in the year, organizers will host a large-scale tribute on Centennial Mall with a parade, light show, fireworks, music and art.

Anson said the group hopes to hold events within a two-hour drive of every Nebraska resident. Many of the ideas were borrowed from other states and gleaned from brainstorming sessions with a committee that includes first lady Susanne Shore, who is raising money for the celebration.

"One of our main goals is to bridge communities, connect Nebraskans and enhance state pride," Anson said. "It's a huge undertaking, but it will be amazing."
Expect to hear more about "super two" highways as state roads officials seek to stretch Nebraska's pavement dollars.

Essentially a modified two-lane highway, a super two features wider shoulders and an extra passing lane every 5 miles or so.

Engineers with the Nebraska Department of Roads say the design could improve traffic flow at less than half the price of a new four-lane highway, costing about $1.5 million per mile instead of $4 million per mile.

"It really could save you a lot money," said Khalil Jaber, the Roads Department's deputy director for engineering.

Nebraska has no official super twos, although some highway segments in the state  including Nebraska 92 between Wahoo and David City  have comparable passing lanes, Jaber said.

Super twos could provide key cost savings as road planners consider where to spend the state's next big batch of highway funds.

The money at play includes about $400 million from this year's Transportation Innovation Act, largely earmarked from the gas tax hike lawmakers approved last year, and about $600 million from the 2011 Build Nebraska Act, which assigns one quarter-cent of the state sales tax to road construction.

That $1 billion total represents the bulk of state funding available for new highway construction through 2033.

"Nebraska has far more transportation needs than dollars available," Roads Director Kyle Schneweis said in an email this month to members of a state transportation advisory group.

"Instead of the stark choice of either upgrading a two-lane road to a four-lane highway or providing no improvement at all, sometimes a Super 2 highway could provide an intermediate improvement with better paved shoulders and passing lanes every five miles," Schneweis wrote.

The Roads Department isn't saying where super twos might be used.

Four-lane highways are still planned for filling out the expressway system envisioned in 1988, including U.S. 275 from Norfolk to Fremont and U.S. 81 from York to Columbus, Jaber said.

However, working drafts of the Panhandle's Heartland Expressway have called, at least temporarily, for converting parts of U.S. 385 into super twos from north of Alliance through Chadron and into South Dakota.

Roads officials have also encouraged communities elsewhere to consider super twos as alternatives for lower-priority projects, including those recommended during a statewide public outreach effort in January.

The Roads Department plans to hold another round of public meetings in July before finalizing how it will prioritize new highway projects.

Jaber said other states have seen success with super twos.

Texas reduced its crash numbers and delays by adding passing lanes to some two-lane highways, according to a 2011 Texas A&M study. Drivers also appeared to like the design, researchers said.

And super twos can prove especially useful in hilly rural areas with moderate traffic, where minimal sight lines make passing slow-moving cars and semitrailers challenging on standard two-lane highways.

The Texas study said super twos should avoid high-volume intersections or driveways, but Jaber said engineers won't immediately rule out projects for that reason.

"Every segment is unique," he said.

Nebraska Transport Co. runs three to four round trips between Scottsbluff and Alliance each day, said owner Brent Holliday. Most of the drive is limited to a single lane in each direction, which creates tension between truckers and other motorists.

"There's just not a lot of areas on that road  Highway 385  to pass," Holliday said. "I've seen close calls on that highway several times over the years."

Adding passing lanes would obviously help, he said, but he worries it would allow the state to abandon visions of a four-lane Heartland Expressway through Nebraska connecting with South Dakota and Colorado.

"If they're going to spend the money on a super two, I would guess that they're not going to worry about it as much," Holliday said.
Dear Dr. K: A friend of mine just took her teenager to the doctor for a checkup. The girl's cholesterol was checked, and she was tested for HIV. What's going on? Will my teenage daughter's pediatrician do the same?

Dear Reader: The yearly checkup is the perfect time for a doctor to see how kids are growing and give any needed shots. But it's also an important time to see how they are doing more generally, and to help ensure that they grow into healthy, happy adults.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has a checklist for pediatricians called "Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care." These recommendations, which are updated every few years, are based on the most up-to-date research about the health of children now -- and in the future.

I spoke to my colleague Claire McCarthy, a pediatrician at Boston Children's Hospital. She mentioned that most of the changes in the latest version of the AAP recommendations pertain to adolescents. Here's what the AAP thinks pediatricians should be doing with their preteen and teen patients:

* Lipid screening. High cholesterol (particularly LDL cholesterol) and high triglycerides (another type of fat, or lipid) can damage blood vessels over time and lead to heart disease and stroke. It's true that heart disease from atherosclerosis (cholesterol-filled plaques) doesn't usually become apparent until after age 50 or older. However, atherosclerosis actually starts forming in our arteries during our 20s. And it's more likely to form in teens with high blood levels of LDL cholesterol. For that reason, the AAP now recommends that all youth have their cholesterol checked between the ages of 9 and 11.

* Screening for drug and alcohol abuse. As we all know, adolescents commonly experiment with drugs and alcohol. For some youth, this can lead to difficult or even deadly consequences. The AAP recommends asking six simple questions that can bring out important information -- and allow for important conversations.

* Depression screening. Suicide is a leading cause of death among adolescents, and depression is a treatable condition. But to treat it, we need to know that it's there. Some simple questions can bring out the possibility that a teen may be suffering from depression.

* HIV testing between the ages of 16 and 18. One in four new HIV infections occurs in youth ages 13 to 24 -- and 60 percent of all youth with HIV don't know they are infected. If they don't know, not only can they not get help, but they can spread the infection to others.

I can imagine some parents saying, "My child doesn't need these tests." But when it comes to the health and well-being of our children, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Sometimes, the best way to protect everyone is to treat everyone the same. When I go through the TSA line at the airport, part of me is annoyed: I know I'm not a terrorist. But I'm glad everyone goes through the line.
RACINE COUNTY  Memorial Day weekend means a time to honor Americas veterans, but its also the unofficial start of another summer tourism season. And those who are connected to that important industry for Racine County predict that were in for a good year.

Dave Blank, president and CEO of Real Racine, the countys tourism bureau, pointed out that Racine County tourism economic impact estimates have set records several years running.

And we expect that to continue, Blank added, based partly on what the bureau is hearing from the hospitality industry. For example, he said Christmas House Bed & Breakfast, 116 10th St., is pretty much sold out through July.

A complicating factor this year is the coincidental, simultaneous renovation of the Racine areas two largest hotels. Harbourwalk Hotel Racine, 223 Gas Light Circle, is being remade into a future DoubleTree Inn. And the former Racine Marriott is on its way to becoming the Delta Racine. Both involve sweeping renovations.

At the Harbourwalk, demand for summer rooms is equally strong this year as last year, said General Manager Lori Jaime. However, we are being careful (with bookings), because were still under construction.

About half of the hotels 121 rooms have been renovated and the other half are under construction now, Jaime said. The hope is to be finished by the end of June.

With renovations at the two major hotels, Blank said, I think people will move to other hotels.

And I think we have a good slate of events.

New events

In addition to the annual summer events such as Ironman Racine 70.3 and EVP Pro Beach Volleyball will come some new ones this year, Blank said.

New to Racine this year will be the Badger State Games beach volleyball on June 11 at North Beach. That statewide competition for youths and adults features four-person co-ed teams.

It may not be huge, but we can see it growing, Blank said.

The goal (for the tourism bureau) is: some type of volleyball at North Beach every weekend, he said. I think we have all but two weekends covered this year.

Blank continued, The big event that no ones really said much about is the Red Power Roundup on June 16-18 at the Racine County Fairgrounds in Yorkville. It will be a national convention for International Harvester equipment collectors, and Blank said organizers are expecting 15,000 people.

And thats on top of a very busy weekend, he said, including the Lighthouse Run, a big swim meet at Pleasant Prairie RecPlex and Polish Fest in Milwaukee. Hotel rooms should be full to overflowing.

One more new event this year will be the Wisconsin Senior Games 5- and 10-kilometer races on Aug. 11. Those races, only for people age 50 and older, will start and end at Pershing Park, and Blank said his bureau has been told to expect about 500 runners.

Downtown, Reefpoint Marina

Downtown Racine Corp. Executive Director Devin Sutherland said about summer 2016, I would say were very optimistic about an increase in sales and tourism.

Our May First Friday event was our biggest in 11 years, he said. I think people are anxious to come back Downtown and support the Downtown.

Part of Sutherlands confidence comes from Reefpoint Marinas continuing resurgence of boaters. Marina General Manager Carrie VanDera said Reefpoint has almost 100 new boaters this year.

The management company, Siegel-Gallagher, has also put a lot of money into giving the swimming pool a face-lift, added a gas fire pit and new patio sets there and rebuilt the gazebo, VanDera said.

So far things are looking good, she said.

Burlington, a city where tourism is very important, is just winding down its big four-day ChocolateFest, which drew 50,000 people last year.

This will continue to be a busy summer of events, said Erin Herter, marketing and public relations person for the Burlington Chamber of Commerce.

Theres a new canoe launch on the Fox River, and people who camp at Bong State Recreation Area in nearby Brighton often come into Burlington, Herter said.

I believe were going to be extremely busy, she said. We have found that people are looking for things to do and coming into Burlington to find them.
CALEDONIA  Sandy DeWalt couldnt keep the last thing her father gave her.

DeWalts father, Lt. Rodney Nicholson Jr., was a dashing, daring test pilot for the Army Air Corps. After World War II ended he was stationed in Kyushu, Japan, living with his adoring wife, Marian, and 18-month-old daughter, Sandy.

On the morning of Nov. 12, 1947, before he left for another day testing planes, he stopped at Sandys playpen.

He reached down and gave me a hug, Sandy said. Mom always told me it was a great big hug.

Nicholson strolled out the door and went to work.

He would never be seen alive again.

Dewalt, who has lived in Caledonia since 1971, never really knew her father. But that hasnt stopped her from remembering him almost 70 years after his untimely death.

Its a part of you, but a part you dont know anything about, said DeWalt, a retired Racine Unified counselor and special education teacher. You understand why people want to know about their lineage.

The accomplishments of DeWalts father as a pilot and a man are carved in marble in Japan, where her father is lionized, where schoolchildren read books about his heroic sacrifice, and where gratitude for his lifesaving exploits has run three generations deep.

Rodney Nicholson Jr. was from Ossian, Iowa. Marian was from Decorah, Iowa. They met at a dance in Decorah in 1938. Marian was swept off her feet by the officer. They married in 1941.

She loved being the wife on an officer, DeWalt said. They had a great life.

When World War II ended, Nicholson was stationed at an air base at Kitakyushu, Japan, a city between atomic bomb targets Hiroshima and Nagaski.

On Nov. 12, 1947, Nicholson went on that fateful mission.

In mid-flight, the engine of the P-51 fighter he was piloting started on fire. Loaded with fuel and live ammunition, the plane had become a flying explosive.

The radio crew told Nicholson to bail out of the plummeting plane. Nicholson said the plane was going to crash into a residential area that included a grade school. Instead, Nicholson stayed in the failing craft, veered away from the town, and crashed into a nearby field. The explosion killed him, but saved the village.

The principal of the school, Isamu Maeda, saw the plane plunging toward his building, until the last second, when it suddenly swerved into the field.

Maeda was so moved by the heroics of the pilot that he placed flowers and a small wooden post at the crash site, land owned by the giant Mitsubishi chemical company.

He also erected a small memorial in his own backyard. Each day, he prayed to the memory of the man who saved his school. Each year, he held a small ceremony attended by soldiers and others to honor Nicholsons sacrifice.

I could not help offering gratitude to the behavior of a young U.S. pilot who sacrificed himself trying not to harm children and citizens of Japan, the former enemy, Maeda wrote in an account of the crash. I have built a monument enshrining Lt. Nicholson as a god of chivalry to appease his soul and offer gratitude as a Japanese samurai.

After the crash, Marian and Sandy moved to Schullsburg, Wis., where they lived with Nicholsons parents. Marian later earned a teaching degree from the University of Wisconsin-Plateville and married a school principal named Jack Smythe. The family moved to Wausau, where Sandy grew up.

I have no idea what Marian went through, said Sandys husband, Bill DeWalt. To lose her husband so suddenly in a crash in a foreign country. She was a very strong person.

It hurt, Sandy said. She was only 28 and had a baby. She had a difficult time with it. Mom didnt talk about it very much.

That changed in April 1987. The DeWalts, Marian and several other relatives traveled to Japan to meet Maeda and his family. The two families gathered at a teahouse to share stories and bestow mutual admiration and respect: Maeda for Nicholson and Marian and Sandy for Maeda.

He had the courage to say these things about Dad and put up a memorial at a time when Americans werent very well-liked over there, she said.

The group returned in 1995. Maeda had since died, but his son was there. So was an iron sculpture commissioned by Mitsubishi to commemorate Nicholsons actions.

Marian, who died in 2014, talked a lot about her first husband during those trips, DeWalt said.

I think that was very cleansing for her, Sandy said. It moved her that people still cared about someone who had given his life so long ago.
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RACINE COUNTY  Students at the school that bears his name are often fascinated by one of the final decisions made by Maj. John Jerstad of the United States Army Air Forces.

The thing the kids find most interesting is when they were flying the mission over Ploesti (Romania) and his plane was hit, there was a field his plane could have landed in, said Sandy Faulkner, a history teacher at Jerstad-Agerholm School in Racine. They find the fact that he could have bailed out, but didnt, fascinating.

Jerstad is one of two men from Racine to be posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during World War II. Jerstad was awarded the medal posthumously for his actions in Operation Tidal Wave on Aug. 1, 1943.

A Park graduate

Jerstad graduated from Park High School in 1936 and from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., in 1940. He taught school in Missouri before enlisting in the United States Army Air Forces in July 1941.

Jerstad was the oldest son of Arthur and Alice Jerstad and also had a younger sister, Mary. The family lived at 1725 Park Ave.

Faulkner said she shows students on a map where Ploesti, Romania, is located, and discusses the objective of the mission. The objective of Operation Tidal Wave was to curtail the Axis Powers ability to produce oil at Ploesti.

The raid on Ploesti took place at a low level, during the day, and went against one of the best antiaircraft operations the Germans built in the European Theater. The network over Ploesti consisted of barrage balloons, smoke, flak and German fighters ready to take the air.

For the raid on Ploesti, 178 Allied aircraft took off from northern Africa and Italy, with more than 1,700 crewmen. The round trip was 18 hours and more 2,400 miles, and the planes carried extra fuel and munitions.

Volunteered for raid

According to the United States Air Forces Historical Support Division, Jerstad went to Europe in October 1942 with the 93rd Bomb Group and flew B-24s with the 328th Bomb Squadron as a captain.

Jerstad earned promotion to major in April 1943 and moved to the headquarters of the 2nd Bomb Wing.

Jerstad had completed more than his tour of missions, and was no longer directly connected with the 93rd Bomb Group when he volunteered to lead the formation in the low-level attack against the refineries at Ploesti on Aug. 1.

Jerstad flew as the co-pilot to Lt. Col. Addison Baker in the plane Hells Wench. A short distance from the target, Hells Wench took enemy ground fire, was badly damaged and started on fire. The two passed on the opportunity to land safely a few miles from the target  the fact that astounds students, according to Faulkner.

Three miles from the target his airplane was hit, badly damaged, and set on fire, Jerstads Medal of Honor citation reads. Ignoring the fact that he was flying over a field suitable for a forced landing, he kept on course. After the bombs were released on the target, the fire in his ship became so intense as to make further progress impossible and he crashed into the target area.

A disastrous raid

Jerstad was a key component in a significant portion of World War II combat  the air war and the use of air power  that was being made up on the fly. The perception that the Allied bombing campaign over Europe was strategic and well-planned is misguided, according to history scholars.

The American daylight bombing campaign was such that they could never consistently bomb targets long enough to deprive the Germans of that resource, said Eric Pullin, associate professor of history and Asian studies at Carthage College in Kenosha.

The Ploesti Raid is counted as one of the costliest days of the war for air power in Europe. According to published reports, 53 aircraft and more than 650 crewmen were lost.

It was a disastrous raid for the Americans, Pullin said. One of the reasons why it was disastrous is because the antiaircraft defenses were so much tougher than intelligence had led them to believe. They thought by going in low they would avoid the normal antiaircraft measures.

The Medal of Honor

The mission led to five Medals of Honor being awarded, including Jerstads.

On Oct. 28, 1943, Jerstads family received his Medal of Honor in a ceremony at Holy Communion Church. The choir sang Onward, Christian Soldiers as it processed into the church.

According to accounts in The Journal Times held in the archives of the Racine Heritage Museum, Mary cried softly as she held and examined her brothers medal, and turned her face so her parents would not notice.

Jerstads family learned years after the war that his remains were recovered, and John was eventually buried in the Ardennes American Cemetery near Neupre, Belgium.

Actor Jimmy Stewart later took Jerstads place in the Army Air Forces. In July 1944, Stewart was named chief of staff for the 93rd Bomb Group, commanded by Brig. Gen. Edward Timberlake. Jerstad was to be promoted to lieutenant colonel and would have assumed the duties of chief of staff after the Ploesti Raid.
RACINE  The Racine Unified School District has seen the number of students expelled cut in half over the past three years, a trend that administrators are attributing to stronger due process for students and new methods in lieu of outright expulsion.

While Deputy Superintendent Eric Gallien acknowledged that the number of incidents has not necessarily decreased, he said the district can remove a student from school and send them to alternative programs or even direct those students into virtual classes for a time.

We want to keep students engaged in the educational process, and with technology were able to do that in ways we havent been able to do in the past, Gallien said in an interview last week. Our ultimate business is to graduate students and prepare them for life beyond K-12 education.

If we can do whatever we can to keep students engaged in that process, we try to do that within the law, he added.

Expulsions falling

Data provided by the district shows that the number of suspensions has been falling dramatically over the last three years  starting at 81 expulsions in 2013-14, to 63 in 2014-15 and down to 40 as of mid-May.

Gallien said part of the decline has to do with the district having more stringent and standardized requirements to give students due process.

The districts student codebook calls for the student to have an opportunity to tell his or her side along with an investigation of the incident. In the 2014-15 school year, the district denied 23 percent of expulsion requests specifically because due process procedures werent followed, according to a report administrators gave to the School Board in November.

Beyond that, Gallien said programs like Turning Point Academy and Racine Alternative Education can take students who need to be removed from a school while still keeping them in the educational system and learning.

In some instances, students could be enrolled in online courses, attending classes at a community center or even meeting with a teacher once or twice a week at the library, Gallien explained, noting that it serves neither the student nor the districts mission to have student out of the school system.

Suspensions fluctuating

District data over the past few years show a mixed record for the district in terms of suspensions: 3,745 in 2013-14, 4,693 in 2014-15 and 4,435 in 2015-16 as of mid-May.

Gallien said part of that is that the district has developed a more efficient process for reporting and tracking suspensions lately, replacing a multi-layered reporting process that left room for some suspensions to not be counted.

However, he noted that the district has endeavored to keep suspensions and expulsions down by shifting toward strategies meant to intervene with students before they misbehave, instead of punishing them after the fact.

New approaches

The foundation for that effort is Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, which is a disciplinary approach that emphasizes clearly setting expectations for students and modeling good behavior before punishing bad behavior.

From there, Gallien said, the district has been implementing programs to help build relationships between students and staff and foster a sense of community, such as Responsive Classrooms, Violence Free Zones and Restorative Justice Circles.

Gallien explained that the districts most recent efforts have been to start training teachers to be able to distinguish between behavior problems and mental health issues, particularly at SC Johnson and Wadewitz elementary schools where the district started New Beginnings school-based mental health clinics last fall.

In addition, other elementary schools are being trained culturally responsive teaching approaches, which Gallien said will help teachers understand behaviors that might be misinterpreted as inappropriate but are culturally acceptable among students.

Its not that suspensions are not needed, its not that they shouldnt be given out, it just that  if your whole focus has been on proactive behaviors and proactive structures in school to keep students in school, if thats the shift in the thinking of the school, of course its going to seem like theyre not suspending, because theyre doing more proactive things, he said.
WATERFORD  Village Fire Chief Rick Mueller, hired two years ago, has received a substantial pay raise for his part-time position.

The Village Board recently approved a new contract for Mueller that pays him $54,482.96 for working 27 hours per week for the next two years. Thats a 43 percent increase from his previous pay of $37,908 for 27 hours a week.

Village Administrator Rebecca Ewald lauded the performance of Mueller, who came to Waterford in February 2014 after retiring as a battalion chief at the West Allis Fire Department.

The board and chief have a very good relationship and are excited to work together for the next two years, Ewald wrote in an email.

Ewald said there was no discussion on the contract. Village President Tom Roanhouse could not be reached for comment on the new deal. Mueller confirmed the board approved the new contract, but did not provide any further comment.

Mueller constantly works more hours per week than the 27 hes contracted for, has added services, emphasized safety, and has created a strong training partnership with Gateway Technical College, Ewald said.

While being paid for 27 hours per week, Mueller has usually worked more than 50 hours a week since beginning with the village, Ewald said.

The chief has done an outstanding job on building a leadership-focused culture in our department that emphasizes the importance of safety and kindness towards each other and our customers, Ewald said.

A recent major accomplishment of the department was adding a paramedic unit to offer customers additional advanced options for treatment and care, Ewald said.

Ewald also stressed Muellers continued strong partnership with Gateway Technical Colleges fire/medic program.

Gateway uses the villages Station 1 as a training center for the program, allowing indoor, year-round training, she said.

Due to Wisconsin weather conditions, this is a major advantage for the program, Ewald said. This partnership provides our personnel with additional training opportunities and utilization of the newest equipment.

But Muellers tenure hasnt been all smooth.

In November, Mueller and the Rochester fire department, a private organization, considered breaking an automatic response mutual aid agreement due to problems between the organizations.

At the time, Mueller said Rochester had not embraced modern incident command practices, which he said has resulted in communication issues and confusion at fire scenes, according to Journal Times archives.

Mueller said at the time that he asked Rochester to work with his department on training, but those requests have gone unanswered.

Rochester fire officials, meanwhile, criticized a perceived lack of experience in the Waterford department, and said some of their volunteer firefighters have been reluctant to respond to Waterford calls because they feel their safety is in jeopardy.

A public meeting was held last November that included village presidents and trustees from both village boards, many of whom implored the chiefs to set a meeting soon and open lines of communication.

We think public safety is at risk because our two departments are not in dialogue, Roanhouse said at the time.
Abducted Kedia rescued from Bihar

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Chad's ex-ruler convicted of crimes against humanity

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Donald Trump: Illegals treated better than US veterans

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Alisha Sijapati is an arts and culture reporter at The Kathmandu Post, primarily covering human interest stories. She is intrigued by history, culture and films. Before joining the Post in 2015, she worked as a journalist for The Himalayan Times and ECS Media.
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House meeting adjourned until Tuesday

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Japan missing boy search resumes in woods after 'punishment'

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NSU stages sit-in at DAO, Kanchanpur

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Another Ugandan has been killed by suspected Congolese soldiers.

This has been confirmed by the Resident District Commissioner of Nebbi, Bessie Alijong.

The Ugandan, Wathum Mundu, a 30 year old fisherman of Dei B in Panyimur sub-county in Nebbi district was shot dead by three plain-clothed armed men on Lake Albert over unclear reasons.

Bessie also says such acts are ruining bilateral relations and affecting cross border trade.

The LC3 chairman of Panyimur Sub-county, Shaban Ofoi, has also condemned the shooting and called for immediate intervention of the two governments to settle the matters that could be arising from the lake.

Meanwhile, officials from Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo are set to meet this afternoon to discuss the recent unresolved killing of Ugandans.

Two weeks ago, three Ugandan police officers were killed on the same lake in Ntoroko district by suspected Democratic Republic of Congo soldiers.

Uganda and DR Congo share L. Albert which is by many fishermen as a main source of livelihood.
The Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura has apologized for the atrocities allegedly committed by his force during the recent election period.

Kayihura was presiding over the thanks giving ceremony for Bukono County MP Pacis Namuganza.

He was responding to the complaints raised by the MP and constituents that police officers subjected them to a lot of torture, while some officials were engaged in outright vote rigging.

Gen Kayihura said police officers who were involved in such illegal activities will be investigated and brought to book.
Police said Monday a 25-year-old Filipino has been arrested in connection to the murder of a South Korean missionary in the Southeast Asian country last week, thanks to close collaboration between the law enforcement agencies of the two countries.

The Filipino is suspected of killing the 57-year-old man, surnamed Shim, earlier this month. The victim was attacked with a blunt weapon when he returned home from a workout early in the morning.

Following the incident, South Korean police immediately dispatched a team comprised of a CCTV expert, a profiler and a crime scene investigator to the Philippines.

After analyzing nearby CCTVs together with the South Korean team, the local investigative authorities arrested the suspect some 250 meters away from the crime scene on Friday, about a week after the incident took place.

The Filipino authorities said the professional skills held by South Korean investigators contributed to arresting the suspect, according to Seoul police.

"We will work with the local authorities' investigation to prove the suspect carried out the crime and help our Filipino counterparts secure and analyze evidence if necessary," an NPA official said.

It was the third case of police sending officers abroad to investigate a murder case involving a South Korean national.

Shim's death brought the number of South Koreans killed in the Philippines to three this year. On May 17, a 32-year-old Korean man was shot dead by an assailant near his house on the outskirts of Manila.

Last year, a total of 11 Korean nationals were killed in the Philippines. (Yonhap)
Aiming to become a hub of Asia's financial technology (Fintech) sector, South Korea agreed Monday to join hands with France.

The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on sharing related information and supporting their Fintech firms on each other's soil.

The deal between South Korea's Fintech Center and the French Tech Hub Seoul was reached on the sidelines of a joint Fintech seminar to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the two nations forging formal diplomatic relations.

"When South Korea entered the smartphone business in the 2000s, many said it might be too late. But South Korea has become a global smartphone power," Financial Services Commission Chairman Yim Jong-yong said in a speech at the forum of the Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul. "(The government) will make South Korea's Fintech spread across the world."

He said it's meaningful for South Korea to team up with France, a core part of the eurozone economy, for synergy.

Meanwhile, the French Embassy in Seoul will open the two-day "French Tech Days in Korea" event later in the day.

It's designed to introduce French innovative companies to potential business partners in the South Korean market.

With the three subthemes of Fintech, Medtech and the Internet of Things (IoT), major French technologies will be on display at COEX.

A series of roundtable discussions and business-to-business meetings will be held as well, joined by dozens of French firms, including Airbus Defense and Space, Thales and French Healthcare Alliance. (Yonhap)
LA CRESCENT, Minn.  For the last few years, crops and animals have lived in natural harmony at Hoch Orchard.

Hogs, chickens, geese, ducks and sheep all share the land, providing mutual benefit. Now, their harmony is getting $15,000 in state-funded support.

With the help of a Minnesota Department of Agricultures Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Grant Program, the farm will be measuring the impacts of a more permanent fencing system in order to make the system sustainable, and potentially provide a blueprint for other farmers.

The orchard lays tucked in the bluffs, with 60 acres of rolling orchards of apples, cherries, apricots and numerous other fruits. Using the animals as tools for their farming endeavors for a few years now has been only natural, said owner Harry Hoch.

This kind of thing has been done for thousands of years, Hoch said. Weve been diversifying our orchard here over the years.

Hoch and his wife, Jackie, are heading the project with partners including Jody Padgham from MOSES, local University of Minnesota Extension educator Jake Overgaard, Wayne Martin from the University of Minnesota, Ken Meter from the Crossroads Resource Center, and Heidi Eger, an animal management intern.

Each has a specialty, Hoch said, such as Overgaard helping the orchard set up a system of record-keeping, while Meter guides the orchard through the economics of the system.

Eger will be providing the grunt work and data collection based off Hochs advice and observations of when animals need to be transitioned to different parts of the orchards. Theyre creating temporary fences for the moment, and will build permanent ones when the system is complete.

For Eger, a born flatland city girl from the Twin Cities turned farmer and baby animal wrangler, the process feeds a passion she has for sustainable foods.

Theres a lot of intriguing possibilities with putting together animals and fruit, Eger said. And this is a good place to be, and theyre doing a project and constantly trying to improve and try new things, which is fun, too.

By implementing the fencing system, Hoch is hoping to creating a more innovative process that requires less busy work and more time spent nurturing their land and animals.

For example, in June, Hoch typically moves his hogs into the apple orchard when the trees experience June drop, where their branches naturally thin and pests cause their branches to fall. With their new fencing system, Hoch said he is hoping the process can become more efficient.

According to Overgaard, it is a way to utilize existing landscape and features to be more productive.

Its a challenging landscape to move hogs around, so theyre really trying to figure out an improved way that will be effective and really reduce the amount of time that they have to spend moving pigs doing the fencing, Overgaard said.

Through economics, record-keeping and new practices, the ultimate goal for Hoch is to provide a template for permanent pasturing systems for fellow farmers.

The project workers are looking to have their work published in journals because, according to Hoch, while using animals in plant fields is a tried-and-true practice, this type of research with a more efficient fencing system is still fairly new.

With state-supported funding for a possible innovative farming practice and food supply technique, Overgaard said he knows farms like the Hochs are the perfect hosts for a project like this one.

Theyre farmers ideas, so I think theres value in that, Overgaard said. Theres a certain level of practicality and creativity that farmers bring to this kind of project.
MADISON  Wisconsin employers vastly overpaid for unemployment-related costs during the Great Recession because the state wasnt adequately prepared. And when the next big downturn comes, the state could face the same problem all over again.

The issue resurfaced last week when Republican Gov. Scott Walker highlighted a likely drop in what employers are required to pay into the fund covering unemployment benefits. With a $1 billion balance in the fund, legislators and state officials are pointing to it as a success.

But the state Department of Workforce Development stands by a year-old report saying the financing system has longer-term structural challenges and faces high risks in the event of another recession.

Weve got to be prepared, because we dont want to be put in the same position we were 10 years ago, said Dale Knapp, research director at Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.

Unemployment benefits are paid out of a state trust fund financed by employer taxes. Like many states, Wisconsins fund dipped into the red following the recession, falling to a $1.3 billion deficit in 2010. It quickly climbed out of that hole to a $1 billion balance thanks to an improving economy and business-friendly changes that have cut down on benefit payments and fraud.

But the ability of Wisconsins unemployment fund to withstand another downturn is still below what it should be, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, which ranks Wisconsin 35th among the 50 states, Washington, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

The fund has been in a rough spot for more than a decade. It was dwindling even from 2004 to 2006 when the economy was doing well.

We heard talk from some legislators and from some state officials that it was something we need to address and we never did, Knapp said. And along came the recession and we were put in a real bad position.

Had the states fund been in a better condition ahead of the recession in 2007, employers could have saved $369 million during that period, according to an April 2015 Department of Workforce Development financial outlook report. Instead, employers lost federal tax credits and had to cover interest payments, in addition to paying higher fund taxes. Taxpayers also had to cover $25 million in interest payments.

Yet many employers say they would rather have lower taxes when times are good and deal with an economic downturn as it happens.

The idea that we ought to be increasing taxes on employers and just socking money away in the event that we might have a great big recession in the future  thats not just something that we think is good policy, said Scott Manley, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce Senior Vice President of Government Relations.

He said a survey of members shows most would rather keep their money and put it to better use than having it sit in a trust fund.

From a business perspective, youre not going to want to increase your taxes at all, said Allied Construction Employers Association CEO John Topp. That, to me, would not be the way to go.

Knapp said the challenge with that approach is that businesses are actually better able to afford higher taxes during good times. He said the state would probably be better off having higher taxes over the entire time period.

The state could also further cut down on benefit payments to address the funds solvency.

Changing any policies would require legislative action, with input coming from the Unemployment Insurance Advisory Council. Department of Workforce Development spokesman John Dipko said the department hasnt changed its position since the April 2015 report, which recommends the council review the policies and provide solutions to the governor and Legislature on how to further strengthen the trust fund.

But any major changes are unlikely to happen in the near future. Manley, who is on the advisory council, said he doesnt think solvency is a concern right now, and Knapp said legislators likely see the billion-dollar balance and are unconcerned.

I think its one of those issues where we should always be vigilant of where were at, Knapp said.
WASHINGTON  John Brandenburg touched the letters in the black granite wall.

Hed found another name he knew etched into the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

I was hit twice there. I survived, they didnt, said the U.S. Army machine gunner who served in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. They gave the ultimate sacrifice, and I went on to have a good life after that. They didnt have that chance.

Brandenburg was one of 98 Vietnam- and Korean War-era veterans who traveled to Washington earlier this month as part of a Never Forgotten Honor Flight from Mosinee. The one-day trip was comprised of veterans from central and northern Wisconsin.

It should be a very happy time, but when you get to the wall here, it isnt, said Brandenburg, who lives in Rhinelander. It catches you right there. It brings back some good memories, but it brings back some awful ones, too.

The visit has a deep meaning to him. He was seeking five of his comrades among the 58,315 names on the memorial.

Its my duty to the people that didnt make it, he said.

Dozens of other Wisconsin veterans also sought out names under a bright spring sun. The bright gold jackets and shirts of the veterans mixed with the springtime garb of passing tourists. A handful of U.S. Park Rangers helped veterans make paper etchings of the names engraved in the polished granite.

The night before the trip, Dan Reid of Schofield said he wasnt sure how close hed get to the monument. Hed ridden a motorcycle there 15 years ago as part of a massive gathering of veterans.

It bothers me that I have not actually been able to go up to the wall, said Reid who served with an Army aviation unit in Nha Trang in 1965 refueling aircraft and voluntarily flying combat missions as a helicopter gunner. I want to etch some names that I havent been able to do yet.

He doubted he would.

Ill have someone else do it for me, Reid said.

But in the end, when he got to the wall, he did it himself.

With an oversize crayon and piece of paper, Reid pressed the paper on the surface and began coloring over the name of Michael P. Malueg, a Marine from Antigo killed in 1969.

He stepped back, paused briefly to look down at the green etching in his hands then moved on to find the next name.

Reid talked slowly when asked why he wanted to go on this trip. It was hard for him to explain. The conversation briefly switched to another topic before he continued.

Ive always felt guilt about getting out of there and some of my friends didnt, he said. I think a lot of people feel that.

The day-long trip to Washington was the 24th for the Wausau-based Never Forgotten Honor Flight, an operation that has flown more than 2,194 veterans to the nations capital since 2010. Demographics are shifting as more Korea and Vietnam War veterans sign up for the flights.

The May 16 flight included 92 Vietnam veterans and six from Korea. Another 722 Vietnam veterans, 36 Korea veterans and 13 World War II veterans are waiting to go on future flights.

Never Forgotten has two more flights planned for late summer and fall. Shortly before the flight returned to Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee, veterans were encouraged to share their stories with families. Organizers provided a book to each veteran to help start that process.

What changes every single flight are the veterans and their stories, said Mike Thompson, co-founder and president of the organization. Every single veteran has an amazing story and its important for them to tell that story. In some cases it takes a huge bag of sand off their back and theyre able to come to grips with some long-hurting feelings.

Never Forgotten Honor Flight is one of five organizations in Wisconsin, all of which are part of a larger national network that has hubs in 43 states. There are similar organizations in Appleton, Madison, La Crosse and Port Washington.

Like the central Wisconsin program, Menasha-based Old Glory Honor Flight is flying an increasing number of Vietnam veterans to Washington D.C.

For the past few years Old Glory, the Experimental Aircraft Association and American Airlines have offered a flight for Vietnam veterans during AirVenture in Oshkosh. The Yellow Ribbon Honor Flight returns on July 29.

After that were opening the flood gates to all of our Vietnam veterans to apply and get them on the wait list like we did with the World War II and Korean War veterans, said Diane MacDonald, one of the founding members of Old Glory Honor Flight. I would expect most of those flights after EAA will be blended because we always get a couple of applications from World War II vets or Korea War vets.

Before the first Wisconsin veterans stepped off the plane at Reagan National Airport, several dozen passers-by gathered outside the gate. A pair of bagpipers, transiting the airport and previously unaware of the honor flight, stopped to provide a soundtrack to their arrival.

As the veterans walked, or rolled, out of the gate applause broke out  and continued. The group of well-wishers grew larger as more and more people stopped. Hands of strangers, young and old, extended from the phalanx of travelers who offered handshakes and a steady stream of Welcome home.

It was an emotional airport arrival, one many veterans never got 40 or 50 years ago.

Its not like closure, but it kind of is, said Thomas Zaverousky, an Air Force mechanic from Antigo who served in Vietnam working on AC-47 gunships. We never got anything when we came home. You just went to the next base and that was it. This kind of gives you a feeling of accomplishment like we did something, even if not everyone agreed with it, we went and did our jobs, thats all we did.

Throughout the day groups of students, and adults, approached the veterans and thanked them for their service. A few teenage girls posed for photos with some of the veterans while many others offered a handshake and thanks.

Much of the emotional weight of the trip came early in the day with visits to the Vietnam and Korea memorials. For much of the afternoon, veterans got a VIP tour of the city and military memorials and monuments. A pair of escorting Park Police squad cars ensured no red lights and no waiting in traffic.

Like many of the other Vietnam veterans, Wayne Dieck knows names on the wall. He served in the infantry with the U.S. Army in Vietnam from 1966 and 1967. Like others, he didnt really know what to expect from the trip.

With the sun casting a soft early evening light into the airport terminal, Dieck reflected on the day shortly before boarding the chartered Sun Country 737 airliner.

The wall was tough, but the memorials were all nice, he said. It was worth the trip. Im happy, very happy.

Its not just the veterans who take something from the trip.

It means a lot to me just to know that he gets to the see the memorials, said Barb Dieck, Waynes wife of 45 years. What he went through in Vietnam, it means an awful lot. Its a great thing. I cant say enough about the honor flight.
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In this week's edition of Overheard in L.A. we mourn the death of Silver Lake Ralph's, keep it "old school" with CDs, and we'll have a kale saladhold the kale ;)Overheard of the Week

"I miss Ralph's."

Overheard at the grand opening of Silver Lake's new '365 by Whole Foods', via @greyzzzie

Good to keep it authentic bro.

"I'm getting into some vinyl these days but overall I'm staying old-school with CDs."

via Rudy R.

Fatherly wisdom

"It's not a 'park,' Jackson, it's a 'parklet.'"

Father to son in Palms, via Rachel V.

Better than bitcoin

"Please don't try and pay me in gold teeth."

via @SabrinaSee

Truly inspiring.

"Kevin Smith's Dogma is the movie that made me want to be a filmmaker."

Overheard at the New Beverly, via @JeffMcMahon

Social media suicide

"This is unacceptable. I'm going to tweet to my 15k followers about what a horrible restaurant this is"

via @Arnaud_Palmer

If you're the Thunder, it is!

"What's GSW, gun shot wound?"

via @mindtheGAP90

You...you wouldn't!

"OMG! I'm so hungry I could eat a piece of bread."

via @joaniecoyote

Could you swap it for bread, or?

"I'd like the kale salad, but does it have to have kale in it?"

via @chadbarb

As Socrates once said:

"If she posts more TBTs than recent photos on Instagram, I take that as a huge dating red flag."

via @ElloSteph

Something for everyone

"That Lightning in a Bottle festival? I'm going with a group called 'lightning without a bottle.'"

via @gkla

Accio, new hobbies

"I'm reluctant to complete my wand collection because then I'll have nothing to look forward to."

Overheard at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, via @sarahisenburger

And finally, your weekly astrology-related quote:

"I recognize people by their astrological signs so I know how to deal with them."

via @chrisjmancini

Our Overheard in L.A. feature relies on you to send us the strange conversations you overhear in this city. Send them our way at tips@laist.com. (In the e-mail, put "overheard" in the subject and tell us who said it, where they said it and any amusing context.)

Previously:

Overheard In L.A.: A Festival Of Nightmares

Overheard In L.A.: They Stole My 'Angry Birds' Movie!

Overheard In L.A.: Consciousness Is In The Body, Bro

Overheard At Coachella: Hold One Of My Healing Crystals

Overheard In L.A.: Is This Outfit Coachella-y Enough??

Overheard In L.A.: I'm In Hollywood, Bro!

And more!


Memorial Day is a national holiday observed in the United States on the last Monday in May. It is the day when Americans honor the women and men who have served in the military.

The Memorial Day holiday was first observed in 1868. The holiday was called Decoration Day. The observance was at what was then known as the National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.

It is now known as Arlington National Cemetery.

More than four million people visit the cemetery every year.

It is the most famous national burial place in the United States. It includes about 250 hectares of rolling hills, and trees that were planted hundreds of years ago. There are more than 8,000 trees of 300 species in the cemetery. Up and down the hills are lines of simple white headstones marking the graves. About 400 of the markers have gold letters on them. These are the burial places of those who have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the nations highest military honor.

Among those buried at the cemetery are military and political leaders, cabinet officers and Supreme Court justices. Astronauts, explorers and athletes are also buried there. So are chaplains, nurses, slaves and even war correspondents.

Arlington is on the land that once belonged to George Washington Parke Custis, a step-grandson of George Washington. The cemetery holds the graves of soldiers who died in every war in American history. Some who fought and died in the Revolutionary War in the 1700s were moved there from a nearby cemetery.

The first military burial was on May 13, 1864 for Private William Christman, who died in the Civil War. On May 15, 1864, two unknown Union Soldiers were buried at Arlington. They were the first of almost 5,000 unknowns who are now buried at the cemetery. On March 4, 1921, Congress approved the burial of an unidentified American soldier from World War I. It is now the site of the famed Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Nearly 4,000 former slaves are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. One of them is James Parks. He dug the first graves in the cemetery. And he is the only person buried there who was also born on the property.

Two American presidents are buried at Arlington National Cemetery. William Howard Taft was president in the early 1900s. John F. Kennedy was president in the 1960s. More people have visited his grave than any other in the United States.

Other famous people buried at the cemetery include Joe Louis. He was an Army sergeant in World War II. He was a world champion boxer. Robert E. Peary discovered the North Pole. Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee founded the Army Nurse Corps. And the remains of the seven astronauts who died when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded are buried in Section 46.

Sixty-five foreigners are also buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Britain has the most, with 26. South Vietnam has 10, including nine unknown soldiers.

Not everyone who gave military service to the United States may be buried at the cemetery. Those who can be buried there include anyone who died while serving on active duty or who retired from military. Also eligible are those who received high military awards, including the Medal of Honor, those who were injured in combat and former prisoners of war. Some federal government officials and the spouse and children of those buried at Arlington may also be eligible. There is no cost for the burial or funeral service.



Cemetery officials are worried that they will soon run out of space. So they have added an area where the ashes of people who chose to be cremated rather than buried can be placed. There are tens of thousands of spaces in the building, which is called a columbarium. The cemetery is also expanding by almost 11 hectares. This will add almost 30,000 burial places.

Since 1948, on the Thursday before Memorial Day, soldiers from the 3rd US Infantry, The Old Guard, have placed small American flags in front of every headstone in the cemetery. This year, more than a thousand Old Guard soldiers placed more than 220,000 flags in front of each grave marker to honor every individual buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Some of the Old Guard soldiers placed flags in front of the graves of soldiers they knew, in Section 60. Some have called it the saddest place in America. It is where some of the soldiers who died in Americas latest wars -- in Iraq and Afghanistan -- are buried.

Im Christopher Jones-Cruise.

Shelley Gollust and Christopher Jones-Cruise wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

species  n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

eligible  adj. able to be chosen for something; able to do or receive something

columbarium  n. a building or area where urns holding a deceaseds cremated remains are placed

How does your country honor those who died in war? We want to hear about it. Write to us in the comments section.


Pyongyang University of Science and Technology is North Koreas first privately funded university. It opened in 2010. But, the head of the school says the university is facing financial difficulties because of international sanctions against North Korea.

Chan-Mo Park is the universitys chancellor. He is a former computer science professor at the University of Maryland and a U.S. citizen who was born in South Korea.

He told VOA on Wednesday, We want to recruit South Korean professors, but the May 24 measure blocks it.

He was referring to trade and exchange sanctions South Korea made against North Korea on May 24, 2010. The sanctions came after South Korea accused the North of sinking one of its naval boats and claiming the lives of 46 sailors.

North Koreas nuclear and missile tests earlier this year have further isolated the country. In March, a United Nations Security Council resolution placed further restrictions on North Koreas financial activity.

The school chancellor says that despite international tensions, the university is growing. It is largely supported by Western-based Evangelical Christians. It currently hosts about 500 enrolled students and 100 professors. Some are U.S. citizens.

Park says the school offers North Korean students rare opportunities to engage with Western-trained scientists.

We were doing a virtual reality class and some students turned in materials about American hip hop music for their homework, said Park. He described students as eager to learn about the outside world.

Critics argue the institution could help the North Korean government further develop nuclear technology. Park said this is not the case. He said the schools curriculum meets U.S. regulations.

Im Mario Ritter.

Ham Jiha reported this story for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted the report for Learning English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

recruit  v. to find the right person to fill a position, job or place in a class

Isolated  adj. apart from others, alone

virtual reality  n. meaning images, sounds and experiences created by a computer that are meant to appear as an artificial world

hip hop  n. rap music

curriculum  n. the classes taught by a school, college or university


Indias world-famous Taj Mahal is facing a new threat: insect poop.

The Yamuna River flows around the Taj Mahal, and the river is heavily polluted.

Large numbers of insects are breeding in the polluted waterway. Officials say the insects land on the Taj Mahal and leave poop behind on its white stone walls.

The insects droppings are beginning to turn the walls green.

Bhuvan Vikram is the top official at the Archeological Survey of India in the city of Agra, home of the famous building.

He told VOA that, During the evening time, [the insects] get attracted towards the white [surfaces] and during the night they stay over there and leave those green deposits.

Workers try to remove the insects waste. But experts fear heavy cleaning could damage the artwork in the Taj Mahal.

Vikram said workers first discovered the problem last year. But they identified the cause of the problem only recently.

A fly known as the genus Geoldichironomus is the insect responsible for all the droppings. Those insects survive best in the hot weather and in the algae along the sides of the river.

The city of Agra is home to many people and lots of industry. Environmentalists have struggled for years to protect the Taj Mahals white stone from turning yellow because of air pollution.

Air pollution levels dropped after coal-based power centers and some polluting industries were closed. But the waters of the Yamuna River have yet to improve.

Environmental campaigners like D.K. Joshi say the way to stop this new threat is to save the dying river. He has presented his argument to the National Green Tribunal, an environmental court. Joshi says waste from 52 open drains in the city is poisoning the river.

Industrial waste, solid waste, all this empties into the river. Millions of dollars have been spent to clean the river, but nothing has happened, he added.

Experts say ash particles from burnt human remains are part of the problem. For 200 years, people have set fire to dead bodies near the Taj Mahal. The fires are part of funeral ceremonies for the dead.

Ash from the burnt remains is the main source of food for the insects.

Six months ago, the Supreme Court asked city officials to move the funeral area. There was concern that smoke from the fires was affecting the color of the white stone surfaces. But the move has still not happened.

Now city officials are asking people to try more environmentally-friendly funeral customs because of protests from a Hindu group.

Joshi believes cleaning the Yamuna River is possible with a short-term program. Stop the [waste] from going into the river, improve its flow. It is not difficult, but the will power is not there, he said.

Vikram hopes this latest threat to the Taj Mahal from insects will get the attention of city officials. He hopes it will get them to clean the river.

But he also worries about the large amount of pressure the rise of tourism puts on the Taj Mahal. Six million people visited the world-famous structure in 2014.

So much is the amount of dirt that it creates, these are the [problems] of tourism. The tourists, they like to touch the surfaces. For that we are trying to provide some kind of separators, Vikram said.

Im Pete Musto.

Anjana Pasricha wrote this story for VOANews.com. Pete Musto adapted her report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. Now its your turn. How do does the government protect famous places tourists like to visit in your country? How does the changing environment affect those places? Let us know in the comments section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

poop  n. solid waste passed out of the body

breed(ing)  v. to produce offspring by sexual reproduction

attracted  adj. caused to go to or move to or toward a place

deposit(s)  n. an amount of something such as sand, snow, or mud that has formed or been left on a surface or area over a period of time

fly  n. a small insect that has two wings

genus  n. a group of related animals or plants that includes several or many different species

algae  n. simple plants that have no leaves or stems and that grow in or near water

environmentalist(s)  n. a person who works to protect the natural world from pollution and other threats

drain(s)  n. something such as a pipe that is used for removing a liquid from a place or container

tourism  n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure


The World Health Organization is proposing a new way to fight the disease multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.

WHO officials say the new treatment costs less and is easier to use than other treatments. They also say it could save the lives of tens of thousands of people.

Tuberculosis (TB) mainly affects the lungs. The bacteria that cause the disease can develop resistance to the two most powerful anti-TB drugs. This has led to the development and spread of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.

Multi-drug resistant TB infects nearly 500,000 men, women and children every year. Each year, about 190,000 of those who develop this kind of the disease die.

WHO officials say the death rate is high because fewer than 20 percent of the patients are getting the right form of treatment.

Mario Raviglione is the director of the WHO's global tuberculosis program. He said the new test and treatment program will help people who have multi-drug resistant TB.

"These two new recommendations from WHO enable MDR-TB patients one, to benefit from a test that will quickly identify who is eligible for the shorter MDR-TB treatment regimen; and two, complete treatment in half the time at nearly half the cost of today."

The new test can show in just 24 to 48 hours whether someone has the disease. The test that is used now may not give results for three months or longer.

The shorter treatment program costs less than $1,000 per patient and can be completed in nine to 12 months. Current treatment programs for people with multi-drug resistant TB cost $1,500 to $3,000 and take between 18 and 24 months to complete.

Reviglione said that worldwide about 50 percent of those receiving the longer and more-costly treatment are cured. He said those who are not cured either die or can live with the disease for years. He says about one-fourth of patients stop the treatment before it is completed.

"They abandon treatment because the treatment lasts, as you probably know, up to two years, with drugs that we all know are fairly toxic in a way. They have side effects and they are not really liked by patients who have to take them."

WHO officials said there are about 400 laboratories in developing countries that can use the new test and treatment program. So, officials believe, most people suffering from MDR-TB will be able to be treated using the faster, less-costly method.

Im Marsha James.

Lisa Schlein reported this story from Geneva for VOANews.com. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted her report for Learning English. George Grow 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

tuberculosis  n. a serious disease that mainly affects the lungs

resistant  adj. not affected or harmed by something (usually used in combination with another word)

recommendation  n. the act of saying that someone or something is good and deserves to be chosen

enable  v. to make (someone or something) able to do or to be something

eligible  adj. able to be chosen for something; able to do or receive something (often + for)

regimen  n. a plan or set of rules about food, exercise, etc., to make someone become or stay healthy (often + of)

abandon  v. to stop doing or having (something); to give up (doing something) completely

fairly  adv. to some degree or extent but not very or extremely; to a reasonable or moderate extent

toxic  adj. containing poisonous substances

side effect  n. an often harmful and unwanted effect of a drug or chemical that occurs along with the desired effect


Women World War II pilots are again guaranteed full burial honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

That is because the two main U.S. political parties put their differences aside to change the policy that had blocked the womens burial at Arlington.

Both houses of Congress approved a bill to permit inurnment of the remains at the cemetery, just outside Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama signed it into law on May 20.

The government once had a policy that gave the former Women Airforce Service Pilots, known as WASP, rights to be buried at Arlington. But that policy was canceled in 2015.

The new law gives women who flew during World War II the right to be inurned in the nations highest honor military cemetery. Inurnment means their ashes can be laid to rest there.

"The Women Airforce Service Pilots courageously answered their country's call in a time of need, President Obama said, when signing the bill into law. [They blazed] a trail for the brave women who have given and continue to give so much in service to this nation since."

The issue was personal for Tiffany Miller and her sisters. Their grandmother, Lieutenant Elaine Danforth Harmon, had been a WASP pilot. They said she wanted to be buried at Arlington Cemetery.

So they started an online campaign to give her the burial she wanted.

It was her last wish to be in Arlington," 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.

The issue also was personal for Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski. She knew Harmon, who had lived in Maryland.

Mikulski, a member of the Democratic Party, worked with Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican, to quickly move the bill through Congress.

Mikulski said she proposed the legislation to honor the service and sacrifice of WASP in defending our freedom.

She said, if they were good enough to fly for our country  they should be good enough for Arlington.

Back in 2009, Mikulski proposed a bill to award the Congressional Gold Medal to the WASP. Congress presents the gold medal for exceptional acts of service to the United States or for lifetime achievement. The women pilots received the award in March 2010.

But since the beginning of the WASP program, those women struggled to be considered military veterans. The program lasted two years -- from 1942-1944  and just over 1,000 women served in it. Of those, 38 died in service -- 11 in training and 27 during military operations.

Noncombat missions

The women pilots did not fly in actual battles, but took part in non- combat duties across the country. They trained male pilots on how to operate aircraft. They also towed targets for live-ammunition air-to-air gunnery training.

But the female pilots also faced bias against women serving in nontraditional positions. 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 in 2014. "Not even any acknowledgement that their daughter had been in the military."

The women pilots were finally given veteran status in 1977. In 2002, Arlington Cemetery said the women could have their ashes buried there with military honors.



But that policy changed in 2015 when then-Army Secretary John McHugh wrote that the cemetery did not have the ability to permit such inurnments. The Army also noted space restrictions at the cemetery.



Arlington cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery, founded in 1866, is a military cemetery located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. More than 300,000 veterans of every American conflict, from the Revolutionary War to Iraq and Afghanistan are buried there.

But with less space, the cemetery now has strict rules for ground burials. Most active duty members of the Armed Forces, and any veteran retired from active service, can be buried in Arlington.

And now, Mikulski said in a statement, the WASP can once and for all be laid to rest alongside our nations patriots at Arlington National Cemetery.

Im Anne Ball.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section and visit us on our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

inurnment  n. the placement of ashes, cremated remains, in an urn for burial

blaze  v. to move very quickly

online  adj. relating to the internet

achievement  n. a result gained by effort

combat  adj. engaging in battle

tow - v. to carry something behind a vehicle

bias  n. prejudice, a personal and unreasoned judgment against someone

strict  adj. careful obeying of the rules
In other Lebanon School Board business Thursday, members adopted the budget for 2016-17, approved a "Warrior Wall" at Lebanon High School and 
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LEXINGTON, Neb.  A large group of veterans, family, and friends gathered at the Greenwood cemetery northeast of Lexington to pay their respects to the fallen on Monday.

The brief but powerful ceremony was highlighted by the main speaker, Steve Zerr, the Dawson County Veterans Services Officer.

Zerr spoke about the 21-gun salute and its place in history.

Zerr helped most recently spearhead the Dawson County Hero Flight which hosted 25 DawsonCounty veterans on a flight and visit to the nations capitol.

A second flight is being planned for the fall of 2016.

Zerr spoke about a simple .308 shell casing that he picked up after a recent veterans burial service at the cemetery, and how we owe so much to those who have fought for our freedoms.

Susan Nichols and Donna Hatfield placed memorial wreaths in honor of the America Legion and the VFW Auxiliary.

The rifle battalion from the VFW and American Legion fired their 21 shots in honor of those who gave their all.

Robert Anderson closed the ceremony with a soulful playing of Taps.

A local Boy Scout troop, commanded by Bo Berry, handed out the programs and helped observes to and from their vehicles.

Sixteen veterans from the area were laid to rest this past year in Greenwood.

Five served in Vietnam, three in Korea, two in WWII, five served during peacetime, and Doctor John Barron.

Special thanks to the Lexington city workers who worked tirelessly to prepare the grounds and keep them attended to year round.
The Most Awards, which are open for votes until 30 June 2016, have a redesigned questionnaire, making it easier and quicker to complete, whilst ensuring that voting remains anonymous and secure.

The overall goal of the Most Awards is to motivate media owners and media agencies to improve their businesses through service performance. Media agency employees are invited to rate the performance of the media owner sales teams with whom they have frequent contact and vice versa. The survey asks respondents to select the companies that they wish to vote for and requires that they be scored against a number of specific performance criteria. Companies are then ranked according to this data.

After consideration of the suggestions made in the focus groups held in Johannesburg and Cape Town earlier this year, the following enhancements have been made to take the methodology to a new level of robustness.

 Streamlining the survey - the online questionnaire has been re-designed in order to make it more contemporary and user-friendly. The design utilises colour-coding, drop down bars, and other design elements to guide respondents clearly and effectively through the survey.  Number of votes for Media Owner survey raised to 50 - the minimum number of votes for the Media Owner survey has increased from 30 to 50 as the qualifying requirement. The higher minimum qualifying threshold will yield a significantly improved degree of robustness and reliability in the Most Awards scores. The threshold for the Media Owner Lamb Awards will be raised from 25-29 to 30-49. The threshold number of votes for the Media Agency survey remains at 30 and at 25-29 for the Lamb Award.  Criteria enhanced - the primary goal of the following changes in criteria is to reflect more accurately the reality of the service relationship between media agencies and media owners.

Media owner criteria

The six criteria for the media owner survey (completed by media agencies):

1. Knowledge of own brands and the media landscape 2. Sales Service Delivery

3. Administration Service Delivery

4. Knowledge of client brands and the market landscape

5. Innovation 6. Involvement

Service Delivery has been changed to Sales Service Delivery, which measures the ability to sell and to service the media agency client. Authority has been replaced by Administration Service Delivery, which measures the back office support function, accuracy and efficiency in processing media bookings and invoices.

Media agency criteria

The six criteria for the media agency survey (completed by media owners):

1. Knowledge of client brands and market landscape 2. Communication

3. Knowledge of the media landscape

4. Professionalism

5. Involvement 6. Administration and Buying

Authority is replaced by Administration and Buying.

Categories updated

 The Media Owner Television/Cinema category has been split into two separate categories.

 Media owners chose if they wanted to be listed in multiple categories, bearing in mind that to diversify across multiple categories dilutes the number of potential votes in each and they may benefit by sticking with the core brand identity.

 A new category has been introduced, Media Sales Consultancies, which includes individuals or companies that sell media space, not exclusively on behalf of only one media owner.

 The questionnaire rotates the categories randomly so that respondent fatigue does not skew the results.

Media Owner categories

 Media Owner of the Year  Media Owner Lamb

 Media Owner Categories:  Television  Cinema

 Out of Home

 Radio

 Digital

 Newspapers  Magazines  Media Sales Consultancies  Media Owners operating in Africa (South African based)

The Media Agency categories remain unchanged as follows:

 Media Agency of the Year

 Full Service Media Agency

 Specialist Media Agency

 Media Agency Lamb  Media Agencies operating in Africa (South African based)

Africa Awards

In 2015, two new awards were introduced: the Most Africa Media Owner and Africa Media Agency Awards. Media companies can now choose if they wish to be listed in the Africa category. The scope of these awards is limited exclusively to South African based respondents working for South African companies, who have personally been actively involved in planning, buying or selling media space in African markets outside of South Africa in the last 12 months.

For more information, click here.
Dressed in a white hooded jacket and black jeans-and-tee, Priyanka Chopra landed in Mumbai on May 27, after having wrapped the shoot for her film Baywatch in which she stars with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Zac Efron, among others.

As she arrived at Mumbai Airport with Quantico co-star, and friend Yasmine Al Massri aka Jaz, Priyanka's first words were, "Baywatch ki shooting khatam ho gayi hai! Aage ki film main yahan decide karungi (Baywatch shoot is done, I'll decide my next films here).

She also tweeted about returning home, in typical desi style:

Mere desh ki dharti.. So good to be home... #amchiMumbai  PRIYANKA (@priyankachopra) May 26, 2016

So what brings Priyanka Chopra to India?

Warm welcome

According to this Mumbai Mirror article, Priyanka was welcomed by fans at the airport with flowers and baloons. "They had their mobile phones ready for a selfie. She had warned Jaz to expect this and held her hand guiding the way. The two gracefully posed for the shutterbugs and she even shook hands with the gathered media, happy to be speaking in Hindi again," a source informed Mumbai Mirror.

Ads and endorsements

According to this Deccan Chronicle report, Priyanka will spend the month in India mostlu shooting for several endorsements, as she has been signed on for 24 advertising campaigns. It is estimated that she will make close to 100 crores for the same.

She returns to the US later to start shooting for season two of Quantico.

Bollywood or Bond?

Apart from her endorsements, Priyanka is also expected to hear a few script narrations, and decide on her next Bollywood film(s). However, if this Filmfare report is to be believed, she will be annoucing her next Hollywood feature film and it is not going to be a Bond film. But nothing has been confirmed so far (fingers crossed).

Beyond work

The first thing that Priyanka Chopra treated her friend to was Ghar ka khaana, made by her mom Madhu Chopra. She has planned a Mumbai darshan for Jaz, including Siddhivinayak Temple and Haji Ali. She's also reportedly promised her a taste of Mumbai chaat. While Jaz is on a 10-day vacation, and will return to New York soon, Priyanka has a packed itinerary.

Here's what she posted on her instagram as soon as she landed in India:
It was supposed to be a happy occasion when Priyamani shared news of her engagement with longtime beau Mustufa Raj, on Facebook. Priyamani and Mustufa exchanged rings at a private ceremony in Bengaluru, in the presence of family and close friends.

The actress, who has an active social media presence, had expressed just how happy she was with this development in her private life.

However, things took a sour turn with Priyamani being trolled for choosing to marry a Muslim. Some social media users termed the match "love jihad". Others brought up her previous remarks about India being unsafe for women.

Not one to take the online hate lying down, Priyamani posted on Facebook on Monday, 30 May:

Her fan clubs also tweeted out their support for their actress.

Priyamani met Mustufa at an IPL match a few years ago. The couple is expected to tie the knot by the end of 2016.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined a plea by the mother of late actress Pratyusha Banerjee seeking cancellation of anticipatory bail of Rahul Raj Singh, accused of abetment to suicide of the "Balika Vadhu" star.

The apex court, comprising Justice PC Ghosh and Justice Amitava Roy, dismissed the plea of Soma Banerjee as withdrawn as a bench did not accept the plea that he should be charged for murder.

When the court was urged that only custodial interrogation can establish the charge of murder, the bench, not impressed by the plea, asked if Maharashtra police has filed any application challenging the grant of anticipatory bail.

The court dismissed the plea by Soma Banerjee as the bench was told by her council that the Maharashtra police has not moved any application contesting grant of anticipatory bail to Rahul Raj Singh by the state High Court.
I'm not surprised by the backlash to Tanmay Bhat's joke on Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar.

We're a nation of trigger happy outragers with a lot of free time and an internet connection. I think after a while someone will figure out how to monetise offence and then it will become a legitimate industry. We can have MBA degrees in offence with politicians as visiting faculty (more revenue for them too). Political parties are like hyenas in the Serengeti. They can smell a kill from miles away and then somehow find a way to take advantage of it.

Humor is very subjective and as comedians, we know that not everyone will like our work. That's the nature of the beast, as is the case with any creative arts. However, how people choose to express their dislike is critical. If I don't like a certain musician's songs I just won't listen to his music. That's as far as I will go. I won't seek him out, threaten him and his family or call for a ban on his work.

There's an audience for everything. The problem is we have this mindset: "If I don't like something nobody else should" and that is dangerous. There are an equal number of people who saw the Snapchat video for what it was and moved on with their lives. Those people deserve a medal.

Is there such a thing as taking a joke too far in comedy? If nobody is laughing, then maybe you've taken the joke too far. Comedy is a science. It is not possible to comprehend or quantify it in one or two sentences. Comedians around the world spend decades practicing this craft and even when they're done, none of them will say that they have mastered it. The best way I can explain this is that we see the world in a way that regular people don't.

And every now and then we communicate this vision either via a live comedy show, a sketch on YouTube, a movie or in this case, a Snapchat video. Some people will agree with our vision, and they'll keep coming back for more, and some people won't. And we're okay with either outcomes.

Comedy isn't for everyone. People mistake the ability to laugh for having a sense of humor. India is a massive country filled with people with varying mindsets. It is not possible for a single comedian to be appealing to everyone. Let's be honest here. Nobody is really offended. Everybody is just really opportunistic. Sachin Tendulkar does not know who you are, where you live, what makes you tick, he doesn't even care. Neither do any of these politicians or celebrities. You are losing your peace of mind over someone who does not know you exist. That's ridiculous. How do you even have time for that?

The best way to honour your "icon" would be to not acknowledge a silly joke that you came across. Instead you made it such a big deal and now everybody in the country has seen that video. I applaud your PR skills.

In the meantime, farmers in Maharashtra have now started installing Snapchat hoping that will get them some attention!

I have always maintained that nothing is off limits when it comes to comedy. As a comedian, it's all about the perspective you bring to the things you talk about. I have spoken about everything from terrorism, religion, racism, suicide, rape and even the dreaded "F word" (Feminism). I like pushing myself as a writer and when I'm putting a joke together, I want half the audience to laugh, and the other half to go, "Did he just say that?" There is enough room in this world for various comedic styles and each one if done right will find their audience.

Daniel Fernandes is a comedian, gentle human being and remains largely un-offended.

Read what comedians Sorabh Pant and Sapan Verma had to say on the issue to Firstpost.
Tokyo - Seeking to woo investors from Asia's second biggest economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday began his six-day Japan visit as he met Masayoshi Son, the CEO of Japanese telecom giant SoftBank Group, which is eyeing "one of the biggest" investments in solar power sector in India.

Jaitley said many investors including SoftBank are keen to invest in infrastructure sector to be part of the Indian growth story.

"There are people who want to participate in infrastructure growth story. For example, SoftBank meeting we just had, they are looking at one of the biggest investments in solar power already," he said after meeting Son.

In June last year, SoftBank announced it was forming a joint venture with Bharti Enterprises and Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group to invest about $20 billion in renewable energy in India. The joint venture would aim to generate 20 gigawatts of electricity.

"They have made considerable headway and have identified location. It will probably be one of the largest investment in those areas," Jaitley said.

The Japanese telecom and Internet giant has made a string of tech investments in India, investing $2 billion in the past two years. SoftBank is looking at accelerating the pace of investments in the future.

"India has a great future...we are interested in investing for Internet companies also for solar energy. We would make a strong commitment," Son said.

Son had previously said that India's market is poised for massive growth, making it an important destination for investors.

SoftBank has in the past two years made a string of tech investments in India, including $627 million in online-retailing marketplace Snapdeal and leading a $210 million funding round in taxi-hailing app Ola Cabs.

It paid $200 million for a 35 percent stake in InMobi, an Indian mobile-advertising network, starting in 2011. SoftBank also has a joint venture with Bharti Group, Bharti SoftBank, the investments of which include the mobile

application Hike Messenger.

Its other investments include real estate website Housing.com, hotel-booking app Oyo Rooms and Grofers.

Son had previously predicted that India's e-commerce industry would become a $500 billion business in the next 10 years.

SoftBank, which owns one of Japan's biggest mobile carriers and a controlling stake in US-based Sprint Corp, has been moving quickly to expand its Internet and media holdings.

As the largest shareholder in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the Chinese e-commerce company, SoftBank has ample resources to deploy for acquisitions.

During the visit, Jaitley will also call on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Meeting with Abe is planned for Monday when he will also attend the 22nd International Conference on 'The Future of Asia' organised by Nikkei Inc.

Jaitley, on 31 May, will meet Osamu Suzuki, Chairman of Suzuki Motor, the biggest Japanese investor in automobile sector in India.

On 31 May, he would also participate in 'The Future of Asia' conference and in the afternoon he will deliver keynote address at the roundtable on National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).

The government is looking at attracting investors to the Rs 40,000-crore NIIF, which is an investment vehicle for funding commercially viable greenfield, brown-field and stalled projects. It will have 49 percent holding in NIIF and the rest will be of private investors.
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry should consider raising tax holiday for start-ups to 7 years from the current 3 years to encourage budding entrepreneurs, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said.

Sitharaman said lots of inputs from start-ups have been received and "recommendations have gone to the Finance Ministry for extending the 3-year tax holiday to 7 years".

"We shall pursue it and there shall now be lots more interactions with them," she told reporters while briefing them on the initiatives taken by her ministry during the last two years.

The Minister said she would visit different co-work spaces of these new age companies to see the ground picture and infuse fresh energy.

Several start-ups have pitched for increasing the tax holiday period from the current three years as it would provide certainty on taxation matter. She said the government has announced the action plan for start-ups and is continuously interacting with them. For 2016-17, the allocation of Rs 1,100 crore has already been made and 35 new incubators have been established, she said.

On foreign direct investment, she said between June 2014 and January 2016, FDI equity flow has recorded a growth of 53 per cent to USD 60.04 billion, from USD 39.19 billion during the preceding 20 months. FDI inflows in the country increased to the highest ever of USD 51 billion in 2015-16, she added. Further, talking about the 'twitter sewa' launched by the ministry, she said stakeholders are using this facility and their queries have been resolved on time.
It is heartening to know that the government has finally come up with a proposal to scrap vehicles registered before 2005. This has been a consistent demand of the automobile industry and also makes sense in India's battle against rising pollution.

What does not quite click in the proposal though is the idea that multiple agencies will be involved to achieve this ambitious plan. Unlike similar schemes in some other countries like the US and UK, the government itself has not proposed to buy out old vehicles and scrap these while providing cash incentives to vehicle owners.

Lack of cash incentives could become a sore point in successful implementation of this scheme. Besides, will commercial vehicle owners find it lucrative enough - given that government's own data show that while MHCVs (trucks and buses) are just 2.5% of total fleet, they contribute to almost 60% of pollution?

According to the proposal put up for public consultations by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, there is laborious, three-part process to be followed. Called Voluntary Vehicle Fleet Modernization Plan (V-VMP) for vehicles bought on or before 31st March 2005, the ministry estimates total potential vehicles to be replaced with this definition to be 28 million. It wants the replacement vehicle to be BS IV compliant, a standard which will be applicable from March next year. So anyway the proposal cannot be implemented before next fiscal.

The proposal says vehicle owners shredding their old vehicle will get monetary incentives thus:

1) scrap value from old vehicle

2) automobile manufacturers' special discount and

3) partial excise duty exemption.

At least from the proposal it seems that at no stage does the vehicle owner get a direct cash incentive. And unlike the 'cash for clunkers' scheme which the US implemented successfully in 2009, the government is not directly buying and scrapping old vehicles. Instead, there is a multi-layered process involved with different agencies such as newly envisaged scrappage centres, dealerships etc, besides requiring unprecedented coordination between various agencies involved, this scheme in its present form does not appear to be time bound.

Cash for clunkers has been implemented across the globe in countries like the UK, US, Germany, France and Spain, for limited periods during the global recession of 2009, in a bid to drive sales in the domestic auto industry. The government buys up some of the oldest, most polluting vehicles and scraps them. If done successfully, it holds the promise of stimulating the economy, improving the environment and reducing gas consumption besides improving road safety.

In the US, cash for clunkers was introduced during the recession and was an attempt to stoke growth within the economy. the scheme was tailor made in such a way that it also incentivised the US consumer to shift away from gas guzzlers.

Under the UK car scrappage scheme, a 2,000 incentive was paid to motorists who scrap cars registered before 31 August 1999 to buy a new car. The government contributed 1,000 and the remaining amount came from the dealers and manufacturers.

China substituted an estimated 2.7 million high polluters from the national car fleet by offering rebates of $450 to $900 from June 2009 to May 2010 while Indonesia launched a scrappage scheme in 2009 paying owners of vehicles at least 10 years old MR5,000 ($1,354) was shared equally by the government and auto makers.

According to the government's estimate, India has more than 180 million registered vehicles today - a surge of more than 8 times over last 25 years. The ministry's proposal says it expects customers to receive three benefits amounting to 8-12% of total vehicle cost.

Anyway, the proposal falls short of automobile industry's expectations for sure. As per this story in Mint newspaper, a presentation by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers some three years back had proposed that customers receive concessions of up to Rs.1 lakh in taxes if they sell vehicles older than 15 years. The first stage of the scheme, the presentation said, should cover Indias eight largest cities, and could see as many as 8.9 million passenger vehicles and 1.47 million commercial vehicles being scrapped. The industrys pitch to the government at that time was that: doing this will generate Rs.31,332 crore of revenue for the government through taxes in these eight cities alone.

What India's automobile industry needs is a single window vehicle replacement programme with tangible benefits for owners of old vehicles.
The government has been busy with two years celebration of the Modi government, while a lot of statistics are being bandied around to show success. The one that is unlikely to be talked about is the continuous slippage on exports from a drop of almost 17 per cent in the last two years. Though the government cannot be blamed for these dismal figures in a time of global slowdown, this is one of those crisis that needs to be made an opportunity if policy makers handle it properly.

For a long time, the thinking in Indian government and policy circles has been that free trade agreement is the way to make exports grow. Anand Sharma, Minister in the UPA government measured his success by the number of FTA he signed. Every FTA signing was announced with great fanfare. In his hurry to notch up the numbers, Sharma never bothered with the details.

A trade negotiator who never bothered with the details is like a Judge who asks the prosecutor to write his judgement. Almost every agreement failed to protect Indias interest particularly on the services front. I had written in detail about this here. My basic argument was that almost every FTA has harmed India and acted as a conduit to imports in crucial industries like auto ancillaries and several others.

If Mr Sharma was under some pressure from the lobbyists we do not know, but he has been able to disable the competitive edge of several job creating industries. It is not as if the new government also understands this as well as it should. But it is now looking at renegotiating its treaty with more than 47 countries.

A model agreement has also been put in place not by the Ministry of Commerce - the nodal body for such agreement, but the Ministry of Finance. Hence, the model agreement addresses tax demands that has been a contentious issue between MNC companies and the Indian government. And bilateral agreements have been used to argue against these tax demands. Vodafone, for instance, wanted international arbitration to be done under India-Netherlands bilateral agreement. Tomorrow, Facebook could also file an international arbitration proceeding for net neutrality in an European court.

The model agreement specifically forbids that such tax demands will be covered under any bilateral treaty. The draft is the easy part, implementing it across 47 countries is the difficult part. Unfortunately, there seems to be a turf issue -- the model agreement is prepared by the Ministry of Finance, but the operating ministry is the Ministry of Commerce.

The myopia of the Ministry of Finance when it comes to trade issues is visible in the draft agreement. One of the most important and most neglected components in the trade agreements has been on the services front where free movement of professionals is a desired outcome from Indias perspectives. The draft agreement handles it in an ham-handed manner by clubbing it as Entry and Sojourn of personnel under Article 9, little realizing that it is not just the entry but work permits and visas that are a much bigger issue on the services front.

India has competitive advantage in services exports and they have gone up from $16.8 billion to $155.6 bn in 2014, making India the eighth largest services exporter in the world. Almost every country has set up entry level barriers for Indian professionals to work. This has to be balanced with the entry of their exports into India and has not been negotiated well.

Even the treaty with the ASEAN countries has till date not been able to implement the free movement of Indian professionals. India has granted free entry to every kind of goods from these countries. The turf war between the two ministries cannot be the reason that India loses out on the export front.

In the two years of the current government, exports have contracted by almost 17 percent  from $314.405 billion in fiscal 2013-14 (April 2013 to March 2014, to $261.13 billion in 2015-16). Even imports have dipped by a considerable 16 percent during the same period -- from $450.12 billion to $379.6 billion. The drop in exports cannot be linked to just the agreements, as there has been a global slowdown and the demand for commodities have dropped dramatically. But the situation cannot continue as it is and the Ministry of Commerce needs to weigh in with a better and more comprehensive methodology for trade agreements.

Another factor that has to be incorporated into trade treaties is global supply chains for intermediate products linked to manufacturing in India. Currently, global supply chains are finding direct consumers into India via e-commerce engines and dummy corporations in Singapore.

If trade has to drive for employment and economic growth, it needs a better management and understanding by the government. Knee-jerk reactions cannot be the basis for such agreements.

K Yatish Rajawat is a business strategist and policy commentator based in New Delhi. He tweets @yatishrajawat
Mumbai: The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has subpoenaed India's largest drugmaker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd seeking information about the pricing and marketing of the generic drugs it sells in the United States, the company said on Saturday.

The DoJ's antitrust division has also asked Sun Pharma's US unit for documents related to employee and corporate records and communications with competitors.

The subpoena comes amid a wider probe by US regulators into steep increases in the prices of generic medicines in recent years.

The US Department of Health and Human Services started an investigation last year into generic drug prices after prodding from US Senator Bernie Sanders and Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings.

They specifically cited doxycycline hyclate 100 milligram, an antibiotic for which the price doubled in the year through June 2014.

The DoJ's antitrust division sent subpoenas last year to two generic drugmakers -- Endo International Plc and Mylan -- seeking information on their doxycycline products.

Sun Pharma, the world's fifth-largest maker of generic medicines, is one of several companies selling doxycycline products in the United States. In a statement issued late on Saturday, it did not disclose the products over which the DoJ had sought information.

Other generic drugmakers including India's Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd and U.S. firm Allergan Plc also received subpoenas from regulators seeking similar information last year, but they did not disclose the names of the products involved.
Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal held a high level meeting on Sunday with Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police from districts in north bank of Brahmaputra, Central Assam and Upper Assam to fast track updating of National Register of Citizens forthwith.

According to an official release, Sonowal asked the DCs and SPs of 12 districts to expedite the process for updating of National Register of Citizens (NRC) and to complete the entire process within the stipulated time frame.

"It's our national commitment that we would complete the NRC updating within a stipulated time frame. Towards this end, all out efforts must be made to complete the process within the stipulated time frame and there should not be any cause for delay," Sonowal, who led the BJP coming to power in Assam assembly polls, added.

The Chief Minister directed the DCs to devote at least two hours every day in the NRC updating exercise apart from other duties.

"I am aware that you have other responsibilities. But take time out of your schedule and devote at least two hours for the NRC updating exercise so that it can be completed within the set time frame," he added.

Sonowal also urged the DCs and SPs to create an awareness campaign within a week in their respective districts involving the students' organisations, NGOs, civil societies and literary organisations in the NRC updating work.

"We must seek the help and cooperation from all concerned to ensure completion of the NRC updating exercise smoothly without any hiccups," he added.

The Chief Minister asked the officials to take all possible measures to ensure a flawless NRC free from the names of foreigners, but ensure that no genuine Indian citizens are left out during the updating exercise and that they are not subjected to any harassment in the name of detection of foreigners.

Sonowal assured the DCs that the Government would provide all possible help and assistance to take the NRC updating work to its logical conclusion.

The meeting also discussed in detail on the need to strengthen the Foreigners Tribunals to make the process of detection of illegal migrants speedier.

Sonowal also urged the SPs to gear up the drive against illicit drugs racket and to take deterrent action against those involved in it.

"A sustained and all out drive should be made against illicit drugs racket and punitive action must be taken against the perpetrators, as we cannot allow the young generation to fall prey to it," he added.

The Chief Minister also discussed threadbare about the preparedness to meet any exigency in case of flood and other disasters like earthquake and landslide.

He asked the DCs to make all preparations vis-a-vis sufficient stock of food grains, medicine, clean drinking water, fodder stock and to keep country boats ready for relief and rescue operations in view of the monsoons lashing the state early.

The high-level meeting was attended by Chief Secretary VK Pipersenia, DGP Mukesh Sahay, Home Commissioner LS Changsan, NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela and senior civil and police officials.
A week after the brutal killing of six Assam Rifles personnel by insurgent groups in Chandel district of Manipur, security agencies launched a psy-op that sent the Home ministry into a tizzy.

A WhatsApp message circulated on Sunday within top hierarchies of Assam Rifles officials and other paramilitary forces stated that Assam Rifles had carried out a clandestine operation inside Myanmar and neutralised militants responsible for the killings. While the bravado in the tone of the message is unmistakable, what has got the Home ministrys goat is the reference to the prime ministers name in the massage. It says the operation was carried out at his behest.

Senior officials of the ministry admitted that the message was damaging as it needlessly dragged the PMs name into an operational matter. Intelligence agencies have traced the origin of the message to a section of Assam Rifles officials who seemed to have taken upon themselves the responsibility of launching a psy-op of sorts to cover up their failure to protect its personnel. The move, however, proved to be counter-productive.

As of now, the fact remains that the claim of conducting the so-called operation in Myanmar is not substantiated. Officials in Manipur are unaware of any such operation. Similarly, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has conveyed to the government that those making such claims are spreading lies.

The reason for this claim is not far to seek. After six jawans were killed by insurgents in Chandel district bordering Myanmar, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is learnt to have conveyed his displeasure to the top bosses of the force. He was particularly irked by the fact that though there was specific intelligence about the possibility of an ambush, Assam Rifles bosses chose to ignore it. Exactly a year back, 16 Army jawans were killed in the same district in an ambush laid by the Khaplang group of Naga insurgents. The Army then claimed to have carried out surgical strikes across Myanmar as retaliation though authorities in Myanmar denied it.

What appears to be worrisome is the subtext of the story in the North East which is clearly indicative of a massive drift in the governments security strategy in the sensitive parts of the region. There are all indications that Assam Rifles which works under the operational control of the Defence ministry is completely out of sync with the Home ministry. What compounds the confusion is the overbearing influence of the Prime Ministers Office and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval in all security matters related to the area.

Nothing illustrates this policy drift more clearly than the manner in which the Naga insurgents (NSCN-IM) are given a free run in Nagaland and adjoining territories, including Chandel district. Intelligence agencies are particularly alarmed over the fact that NSCN-IM, after creating a smokescreen of a peace accord with the Centre, has launched a massive recruitment drive to bolster its ranks. Sources in Nagaland government admit that Issac-Muivah group has been able to raise an army of 6,000 cadres who are being trained openly in various parts of the state.

Those attending the camps are given assurance that they would be inducted into the central paramilitary forces, pointed out officials in Nagaland who are alarmed over the development. What will happen if these freshly recruited cadres with training take to guns against our own forces? asked a senior police officer who has long experience of dealing with Naga insurgents.



The primacy of North East in the prime ministers agenda is often over-emphasised.

The framework of the Nagaland peace accord, projected as a great achievement of the Modi government, proved to be nothing more than optics. The draft of the agreement arrived at between Centres interlocutor RN Ravi and NSCN-IM general secretary T Muivah on August 3, 2015 at the prime ministers residence is still shrouded in secrecy.

Modi has frequently toured the region and promised to develop it as an energy hub and a growth centre by launching a slew of developmental initiatives, including linking the region to Bangladesh and making it a window to South East Asia. The BJPs electoral victory in Assam has further emboldened the government to expand its political footprint in the region which was hitherto inaccessible to the Hindutva forces.

Given the history of insurgency in the region since 1947 any misstep could prove damaging to both the government and the BJP. The chest-thumping and display of hubris by the forces can only aggravate matters in the troubled zone.
New Delhi: Five persons were arrested and one fresh case was registered on Sunday in connection with the alleged assault on some African nationals in south Delhis Mehrauli area in which at least six persons were injured.

Those arrested have been identified as Babu (32), Om Prakash (24), Rahul (24), Ajay (25) and Kunal (20). Three more persons have been identified and the police are looking out for them, DCP (south) Ishwar Singh said.

Kunal was earlier suspected to be a minor and his actual age was verified after scanning several documents, a senior official said.

Meanwhile, a fresh case in the matter was registered on Sunday in connection with the alleged physical assault of a brother-sister duo from Cameroon around the same time in the area.

The police had earlier registered three separate cases of causing hurt, wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation.

The arrests were made in connection will all four cases taken together.

While some of the accused persons are residents of Maidan Garhi, the others are from Rajpur Khurd, police said.

Police intensified the probe today after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj took up the issue with Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.

African nationals in the area have planned a demonstration at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday to protest against the attacks and the killing of a 23-year-old Congolese man in south Delhis Vasant Kunj area last week.

The incidents of attack took place between 10 PM and 11.30 PM on Thursday night within an area less than half a kilometre.

Police have claimed the attacks were not planned and coordinated and not racial in nature.

While the victims alleged that they were racially abused and attacked with bats and rods by small mobs, police denied the allegations attributing two of the incidents to disputes over African nationals playing loud music and the other to a scuffle over public drinking.

During investigation it emerged that the first incident took place when a man was heading to a hospital with his ailing mother in his car and got stuck in a congested lane. Ahead of him was an African man in his car who was playing music loudly. When the former asked the African person to lower the volume and let his car pass, he refused citing a congested road ahead of him. Following this, an argument broke out between the African man and some locals.

Meanwhile, another African man, who sustained severe injury on his nose, was passing by in an autorickshaw and he intervened. The argument soon led to a scuffle and they were beaten up.

However, the police are still trying to join the dots to ascertain how the other incidents took place around the same time in such close proximity.

The victims in Thursdays incidents included two Nigerian men, a Ugandan woman, a South African woman, a Cameroonian man and his sister.

The police claimed none of the victims had approached them for lodging complaint which they registered on their own taking consideration the sensitivity of the matter.

Police also claimed that barring a Nigerian man nobody sustained any injury.

Since Saturday, police have held several meetings with various resident associations in the area.

Addressing one such gathering, DCP Ishwar said, "They have come to our country, they are our guests and friends. They have come here just because they trust us.

"The way you behave with them will have repercussions on our brothers living outside. An example is the way Indians were attacked after the murder of a Congolese youth," he said.
A 200-page report containing close to 90 suggestions recommend by a five-member committee  headed by former cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian  towards educational reforms has been handed over to the Modi government, and is likely to generate intense debates in the days to come.

Though the report is not yet officially out, one does not need to be an astrologer to predict that the debates will be highly partisan, once the report is made public. Instead of focussing on the merits and demerits of the proposed measures  such as creation of an all-India service like the Indian Education Service, allowing foreign universities to set up campuses in India, and overhauling the educational regulatory bodies, the tone and tenors of the discussions in the op-ed pages of the newspapers, evening 'news hours' in televisions, press conferences of the political parties and the legislatures are likely to be dominated by the theme of saffronisation of education under Modi.

Why? Because, one of the 90 suggestions is to have a strong focus on value education. In this context, the Indian Express has quoted a senior official, saying, Every student should be proud to be an Indian and schools have a vital role in inculcating that (value education).

If experience in recent years is any indication, talking of Indian values and its traditional knowledge is a taboo in our intellectual circles, overwhelmingly dominated, as these generally are, by the so-called liberals/seculars. Their invariable argument is that the values of a country are determined by its majority community and hence prejudicial to the interests of its minorities.

Those against value-education argue that teachers of values do not teach; they moralise, preach, indoctrinate, manipulate, and so forth. These teachers are also said to be rigid, as a result of which the idea of free inquiry, thoughtfulness and reason seems to be lost on a student; he or she is thus unable to examine and weigh his or her own values.

Incidentally, similar arguments were made by the intellectual elites of United States during 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. But ideas changed when during these three decades the US saw a 560 percent increase in violent crimes, a cent increase in illegitimate births, and a quadrupling in divorce rates, not to speak of the rising teen-pregnancies and incidents of AIDS. Compared to other developed countries, the US had the highest divorce rate and the highest percentage of violent deaths among the youth.

Against this background, the results of the 1994 Gallup Poll of the publics attitude towards value education in America were instructive. A majority of the residents talked of the importance of teaching values and ethical behaviour in schools. More than 90 percent of those surveyed favoured the teaching of core values. Two-thirds of the subjects also favoured non-devotional instruction about world religions.

Core values have been defined as values that are universally accepted by all religions. These include compassion, courage, courtesy, fairness, honesty, kindness, loyalty, perseverance, respect and responsibility. It is in this sense that more and more Americans are now talking of the importance of learning the fundamentals of all religions so that they can promote the legitimacy of the values and character traits that they are emphasising to the students.

In fact, some are even arguing that although rooted in world religions, core values are essentially secular values, which come from man rather than from God. Learning them goes a big way in building ones character, not otherwise as our so called secularists in India apprehend.

As a matter of fact, what we see in India today is that the Muslim children learn about Islam and the Quran in madrasas and the Christian children learn the essence of Christianity and the Bible in educational institutions founded and managed by them. Under the Indian Constitution, the minorities are allowed to have their own educational institutions, and certificates or degrees thereof are recognised legally.

In contrast, the children of a majority of the Hindu community do not have such facilities. Whenever there are attempts to teach them about the Ramayana, the Mahabharata or the Gita in normal schools, the secular brigade makes a lot of hue and cry.

Take also the case of Supreme Court Justice Anil R Daves suggestion sometime ago. He had made a point why the Gita and the Mahabharata should to be taught to school children.

Our old tradition, such as guru-shishya parampara (teacher-student tradition) is lost; if it had been there, we would not have had all these problems in our country, he had said, referring to the growing problems of violence and terrorism.

Now we see terrorism in countries. Most of the countries are democratic. If everybody in a democratic country is good, then they would naturally elect somebody who is very good. And that person will never think of damaging anybody else, he had said.

Predictably, the secular brigade got wild over Justice Daves Hindutva remarks. Now the question is: where will the children of the Hindus  who constitute an overwhelming majority in India  learn from the Indian classics, if not in schools?

Secondly, is it correct to see the classics or epics of a country through religious prisms? In fact, in January 2012, the Madhya Pradesh High Court had dismissed a petition challenging introduction of Gita Sar (essence of Gita) in the school curriculum. When the Catholic Bishops Council filed a PIL in August 2011, the court gave the petitioners counsel two months to read the holy book in its entirety and make up his mind. The court finally held that the Bhagavad-Gita was essentially Indian philosophy and not a religion.

Of course, a case can be made that in our educational institutions, essence or fundamental values of all religions should be taught. But the more germane point is that our so-called secularists should realise that reading religions is not being communal or promoting communalism.

In fact, the core values of every religion are similar. Learning them goes a big way in building ones character and the countrys overall value system.

Notably, there are many scholarly works that prove that a nations rise or fall is determined by its value system. It is argued that former world leaders such as Egypt, Iran, Spain, Portugal and Great Britain declined as much for their economic failures as for their failures in human and spiritual aspects.

Even India under the great Mughals, as Paul Kennedy has explained in his classic  The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, had to fall because of the then prevailing retarding factors in Indian life  a Muslim elite whose conspicuous consumption (servants and hangers-on, extravagant clothes and jewels, harems and menageries) amidst the ocean of penury; and the sheer rigidity of the Hindu taboos such as the oppressive caste system which throttled initiative and instilled rituals of not killing even rodents and insects, leading not only to the loss of vast amounts of food but also the bubonic plagues.

In this 'Information Age', the values of truthfulness, honesty, integrity, humility, justice, steadfastness and dependability continue to be as relevant as ever. It is important for the educators to define expected skills for being successful in family work, social and other environments, and to include those aspects of character and moral development that are deemed important.

Gone are the days of the rivalry between the advocates of 'Asian value system' (responsibility towards the family, state and society) and the 'Western value system' (individualistic culture and modernity). Now is the time of synergy between the two, something countries like Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong have achieved with great success. In a sense, these Asian countries have accepted the secular culture of the west  capitalism, liberalism and democracyto a considerable extent.

The moral of the story is thus clear. It is time to re-examine the unnecessary politicisation of the question of value education through the fundamentals of all religions, including Hinduism, in India.

If through the Gita and the Mahabharata we can better realise the values of truth, peace and righteous conduct (this implies respect for fundamental duties of the Constitution) which, among other things, talk of patriotism, love and awareness of the basics of all religions  it can hardly be viewed as an attempt towards the so-called saffronisation of the Indian education system.

In fact, it is through value education that one will be able to get rid of the racial prejudice and insularity among our youth that is reflected unfortunately in the recurring attacks on the African students in our national capital.
New Delhi: India is drafting a new law to tackle human trafficking, a government minister said Monday, with millions of victims, mostly children, pushed into the illegal trade every year.

The draft law is the first to deal exclusively with trafficking and will overhaul the current regime under which victims are sometimes punished, Maneka Gandhi, the Women and Child Development Minister, said.

"At present both trafficked and the trafficker are sent to jail. But this bill is far more of compassion and makes a distinction between them," Gandhi said in New Delhi as the draft bill was launched for public consultation.

India's present hotchpotch of laws dealing with human trafficking has done little to quash the thriving trade.

A US State Department report in 2013 estimated up to 65 million people were trafficked into forced labour, both into and within India.

Trafficking victims, mostly children, are typically pushed into prostitution, forced labour or begging.

The law would jail traffickers who use drugs or liquor to exploit their victims, or who use chemical substances or hormones on minors to hasten sexual maturity  offences that previously went unpunished.

"The proposed bill is an effort to plug loopholes and (include) additional crimes which have not found place in the Indian Penal Code," Gandhi said.

The bill, which will be tabled in parliament at the end of the year, would double jail terms for some offences and set up special courts to speed up the prosecution of offenders. It would also prevent the identity of victims from being revealed.

More than 14 million adults and children are trapped in modern slavery in India, the most of any country, according to the Walk Free Foundation's 2014 Global Slavery Index.

The proposed law also calls for joint working groups with neighbouring countries such as Nepal or Bangladesh to bring in preventive measures.

India's official statistics appear to heavily underestimate the scale of the problem, with the National Crime Records Bureau finding only 5,466 cases of human trafficking in 2014.
New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued a termination notice to a senior official after an inquiry committee found him guilty on six counts of irregularities, including misusing his official position.

UGC joint secretary Rajesh Anand, who is at present under suspension, was issued the notice for dismissal from service on 27 May and has been given 15 days to reply. It is learnt that the decision to issue termination notice to Anand was taken on 20 May, after the Commission examined the charges and allegations against him.

A complaint had also been forwarded against him by Union Minister Maneka Gandhi when she was an MP, sources said.

Among the charges faced by Anand are that he had made "wild and unfounded allegations" against the functioning of

UGC and its top officials in 2013, remained on unauthorised absence and misused the UGC insignia in his personal communications to various authorities of UGC.

As per the UGC charge sheet issued in April 2014, Anand was accused of directly writing to the prime minister making sarcastic remarks about UGC. He was also accused of approaching MPs to write to the Prime Ministers and others against UGC authorities, bypassing the available channels and ignoring norms and discipline.

Another allegation faced by him was of manipulating names of expert committee for evaluation of proposals of new

colleges and mislead the higher authorities.

When contacted, Anand said, "I will reply to the notice."

Claiming that the action taken against him was "not fair", Anand said it was he who had tried to expose irregularities in UGC, the country's apex higher education regulator.

PTI
New Delhi: The opposition YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh has accused Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu of running a "corrupt" government and "making a mockery of democracy" by engineering defections to the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

"Emboldened by the ill-gotten money amassed through corruption, it (TDP government) has brazenly started to poach our party MLAs. The TDP government has so far poached 17 of our MLAs," YSR Congress President Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy said in a statement.

He said the MLAs of YSR Congress Party were being "lured" with ministerial berths, and questioned how could such MLAs be sworn in as ministers while they continued to be YSRCP MLAs.

Meanwhile, the YSR Congress has published a book titled 'Chandrababu -- Emperor of Corruption 144,571 crores' on the alleged corruption of the TDP government.

The book lists out a series of alleged fraudulent cases, including those pertaining to 'AgriGold', skyrocketing expenditure on Polavaram project, sand mafia and corruption in the name of the new state capital Amravati.

On the alleged Rs.1 lakh crore scam vis-a-vis the new capital, the book says: "In the guise of building a world-class capital city, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister is running a real estate business... he leaked information on the actual location of the capital city to his coterie and helped them accumulate land."
Mumbai: Congress on Monday asked Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao to sack Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse in view of the recent controversies surrounding the senior BJP leader.

Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam said the party delegation which met Rao at Raj Bhavan drew his attention to issues like records showing calls from gangster Dawood Ibrahim's Karachi residence to Khadse's mobile, his alleged misuse of power to buy a piece of land owned by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation near Pune, and the arrest of his alleged PA Gajanan Patil in a bribery case.

Khadse has denied the allegations in all the three matters.

"We also sought the Governor's intervention in dissolving the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai as it has become a hotbed of corruption during the last 20 years' rule of Shiv Sena and BJP," Nirupam said.

Meanwhile, Khadse attended a party meeting at the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's official residence `Varsha' in south Mumbai on Monday.

"The meeting was in connection with the Rajya Sabha elections," Khadse said.

State BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari told reporters here this evening that allegations against Khadse regarding the MIDC plot were "totally baseless".

"The statement made by the industries minister Subhash Desai (of Shiv Sena) on this issue is based on incomplete information. MIDC did not acquire this land," Bhandari said.

Desai had said the land purchased by Khadse's family near Pune belonged to the MIDC (and hence it could not be sold).
Puducherry: Congress leader V Narayanasamy on Monday called on Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi and formally staked claim to form government in the Union Territory.

He was elected the leader of the 15-member Congress Legislature party on Saturday. The party also has support of two-member DMK in the 30-member Assembly.

After meeting Bedi at Raj Nivas, Narayanasamy said he had submitted a letter to the LG regarding his unanimous election as Congress Legislature Party Leader and requested her to invite him to form the government.

He said he also presented to the Lieutenant Governor the letter of support from DMK.

Narayanasamy had yesterday called on DMK president M Karunanidhi at Chennai and obtained the Dravidian party's letter of support for forming the government.

Narayanasamy said he, along with Puducherry PCC president Namassivayam, would go to New Delhi later in the day and meet AICC president Sonia Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

"Very soon the new government would be formed", he said.

Narayanasamy was greeted by the Lt Governor on his birthday on Monday during his meeting with her.

Sixty nine-year-old Narayanasamy, who had served as Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office in the second UPA government after being MoS, Parliamentary Affairs, in UPA-I, did not contest the 16 May assembly polls and will now have to seek election to the legislature in a bypoll.

A law graduate, Narayanasamy did legal practice for more than 10 years and jumped into active politics in 1985.

He was a member of Rajya Sabha for three terms.
Thane: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday sought to draw a parallel between Narendra Modi government's second anniversary 'blitz' and the 'India Shining' advertisements of the erstwhile NDA government in 2004 even as he expressed confidence of Congress bouncing back to power like in the past.

BJP's 'India Shining' advertisements ahead of 2004 general elections had evoked controversy over alleged use of public money and for glossing over a variety of social problems, including poverty and social inequality.

"(Narendra) Modi has been claiming that all problems in the country have been resolved now. He claims that the country's prestige has gone up in the eyes of the world. He wants Congress-mukt (Congress-free) India.

"He needs to once again check the history. The country got freedom only with the thoughts of Gandhi and Nehru. The country could be kept strong and united only due to the thoughts of Gandhi and Nehru," Pawar said.

He was addressing a party meeting while campaigning for its nominee, Vasant Davkhare for the Legislative Council elections next month.

"It is said that Rs 1,000 crore are spent just on the advertisements to mark completion of two years of the Central government. They claim success on all fronts. But it is not the fact.

"Earlier also the advertisement of 'India Shining' was done. But what happened? The Congress government under the leadership of Manmohan Singh came to power. The common man has now realised the need to reform (government). They are now thinking towards that.." Pawar said.

The Maratha strongman, whose party was part of the previous Congress-led UPA governments at Centre and in Maharashtra, said Modi's victory in 2014 was just a "blip".

"Earlier also, the Congress lost power but the citizens of the country ensured that it staged a comeback within few years. Modi should not not forget this fact," the veteran politician said.

He said parties can come to power only with the thoughts of Nehru and Gandhi.

The election to the Maharashtra Legislative Council from the Thane Local Authorities constituency will be held on 3 June.

The poll was necessitated as the term of Davkhare, the sitting MLC and the deputy chairman of the Council, is ending

on 8 June.

Davkhare is facing challenge mainly from Shiv Sena's Ravindra Phatak.

Taking a dig at Shiv Sena for reportedly shifting its Thane corporators to Goa to prevent any poaching ahead of the poll, Pawar said, "Goa is near Kankavli".

Kankavli in coastal Sindhudurg district is the Assembly constituency of Congress MLA Nitesh Rane, the son of senior party leader and former Shiv Sena member Narayan Rane.

Pawar said he was sure of Davkhare's victory as the latter has done "exemplary work and his relations with everyone are cordial". He said Davkhare will manage to secure required votes.

NCP state unit president Sunil Tatkare and Narayan Rane also spoke on the occasion.
Tokyo: Eyeing investments from Asia's second-biggest economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said his

visit to Japan is aimed at taking India growth story forward with investors so as to make them invest in a host of sectors, including infrastructure.

"We already have over a thousand Japanese companies which have invested in India. (Japanese) Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe seeks to double it and therefore, I would be meeting individually as well as collectively a large number of investors," said Jaitley, who arrived in Japan on Sunday on a 6-day tour.

Apart from investors, the minister will meet Abe and other Japanese government officials.

"The whole idea is to take the India story forward with them," said Jaitley, who attended 'The Future of Asia' conference. He did not speak at the conference.

Stating that there are investors and companies that are keen to participate in the growth of Indian infrastructure, he said the SoftBank group is looking at one of the biggest investments in solar energy.

"They have made considerable headway already. They have identified the location and probably (it) will be one of the largest investments in those areas," he said.

Jaitley had met SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son on Sunday.

"I think similarly there are other Japanese investors who are open to the idea of having individual projects," he said.

"We are open to the idea of them joining the India Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF) and this Indian flexibility provides them with more than one opportunity."

NIIF is being set up with a corpus of Rs 40,000 crore, partly funded by private investors, to finance infrastructure projects, including stalled ones.

The government and public sector entities will hold 49 percent, with the rest offered to multilateral development banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and other organisations.

NIIF will then buy shares in existing infrastructure lenders such as Rural Electrification Corporation and Power Finance Corporation, which will provide debt to selected projects.

While NIIF will have a quasi-sovereign status, external asset management companies will be in-charge of treasury operations. Boosting infrastructure investment by one percent of GDP could add 3.4 million jobs.

Asked if Japanese investors have identified any project, Jaitley said, "Well, many of them have. For instance, SoftBank itself in Andhra Pradesh has identified the solar power project and there are many others who have identified and are talking and looking beyond solar power now."
Trouble looms large for Maharashtra revenue minister Eknath Khadse. While Khadse and his family members are firefighting allegations of misuse of power in a land deal, reports on Monday said that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had summoned the senior BJP minister.

A delegation of Congress ministers also met the Maharashtra Governor on Monday and demanded the minister's resignation over the land deal and his involvement in calls made to gangster Dawood Ibrahim in Pakistan.

Khadse recently had said nothing materialised on the acquisition of the land in last four decades. He had also contended that purchase transaction and acquisition were two separate legal processes. The alleged involvement of the minister in buying a plot owned by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) near Pune, seems to have isolated him, as party sources claimed that it would be difficult for them to defend Khadse further as the land title was not clear.

According to government sources speaking to The Indian Express, Khadse held a meeting with officials from the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and the revenue department at which the compensation to be given to the original owner under the states Land Acquisition Act was discussed. The meeting was held in the third week of March this year.

However, in an exclusive interview to India Today, Khadse said: "People are saying that I have purchased land worth Rs 30-40 crore, but where is the proof? Show me the proof, and I will not only resign from my post but also from my political career."

A Pune-based construction professional Hemant Gavande had recently accused Khadse of purchasing the three-acre land in Bhosari for a throwaway price at approximately Rs 3.75 crore from the original owner in the name of his wife Mandakini and son-in-law Girish Chaudhary. Gavande claimed that the market value of the land was Rs 40 crore.

Gavande had alleged that the land was purchased on 28 April, 2016 from the original owner Abbas Ukani, a resident of West Bengal, keeping its present owner, MIDC, in the dark.

Khadse had denied changing reservation of the MIDC plot at Bhosari because acquisition process was in progress.

In a statement issued in Mumbai on 27 May, the minister had said, "Forty years have passed and there is neither any compensation paid nor any hearing taken place in the case of land acquisition by the MIDC". "The original owner of the land, Abbas Rasoolbhai Ukani, had filed a writ petition in the High Court for vacating the claim of the MIDC on his land and restoring the same to him again.

"Ukani had also demanded finalising the land acquisition process and payment of the compensation to him in respect of the land acquisition verdict," the statement said.

According to a source, BJP president Amit Shah was believed to have sent an indirect message to Khadse to remain quiet and desist from making statements in the media.

Meanwhile, a Gujarat-based person, who claims to have hacked the call records of Dawood Ibrahim, on Monday filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking protection for himself and a CBI probe against Khadse for alleged calls between him and the underworld don. The High Court, however, said there was no urgency for a vacation bench to hear the petition.

The Aam Aadmi Party had recently demanded the ouster of Khadse, alleging that calls were made from Dawood's residence in Karachi to his mobile phone, a charge the minister rubbished as "baseless" saying the phone number was not in use for last one year.

Khadse's alleged involvement in the above-mentioned cases has put the BJP in a tricky position. Despite the party's image in the state taking a beating over Khadse's involvement, reports had earlier said that CM Fadnavis will be reluctant to act against the revenue minister because the controversial minister is a Jalgaon strongman and enjoys a support base in the district. Party functionaries were also wary of Khadse because he was capable of "opening the floodgates of allegations against other ministers in the government facing charges."

"Khadse has a strong base in north Maharashtra and he has led the party efficiently in the legislature while we were in the Opposition. Such leaders are strong enough to get themselves elected, but they can influence election in 10 other constituencies as well," Hindustan Times quoted a party functionary as saying.

Another key reason for the party keeping mum on allegations of corruption is that it will give reason for the Opposition to level charges against the BJP. According to sources quoted by PTI, the BJP and the Shiv Sena won the Maharashtra assembly elections on a corruption plank and taking cognition of Khadse's alleged involvement in shady land deals will be an admission of crime.
Kochi: Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday criticised Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's move to push the long pending hydro-electric project at ecologically sensitive Athirappilly in the state, terming it a "perfect recipe for ecological disaster".

The former Environment Minister's remarks came a day after Vijayan backed state Electricity Minister Kadakampally Surdendran who said that the new CPI(M)-led LDF government would implement the project proposed across Chalakkudy river in consultation with environmentalists and their organisations.

"Athirappilly project is a perfect recipe for ecological disaster which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will wreak on Kerala and the country," Ramesh told PTI.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi on Sunday, the Chief Minister had said the 163 MW project proposed in forest areas a decade ago, would not hinder the course of the waterfall there and there was no need for any concern.

Vijayan had also lamented that the project got stuck in a series of legal issues despite getting clearances from various departments.

Ramesh, who had rejected green clearance to the project during his stint as Environment Minister in 2011 in the UPA-II government, said his stand on Athirappally has been "clear, categorical and consistent".

"It is a stand taken by then Principal Chief Conservator of Forest T M Manoharan, who was the Chairman of the Kerala State Electricity Board under three Chief Ministers. He had opposed the project citing the harm it could cause to the environment and ecology of the area," Ramesh said.

He said in a report in 2007, the Kerala State Biodiversity Board headed by B S Vijayan had also pointed out that the power project would adversely affect the ecology of the area.

Meanwhile, the CPI, a key partner in the LDF government, has come out openly against the CPI(M) leaders' move to revive the project.

Opposing the project, CPI leader and Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar said there was no change in his party's stand on the issue.

The project planned at the water resource bed of Chalakudy river was revived during the 2006-2011 LDF rule in the state.

The previous UDF government had also pressed for its clearance.
Vijayawada: The Telugu Desam Party is understood to have decided to back the candidature of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu for Rajya Sabha from Andhra Pradesh, accepting a request from ally BJP.

The biennial elections are slated for 11 June.

The state's ruling TDP continued to maintain suspense on whether or not it will field a fourth candidate to make a

contest inevitable.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who held meetings with party legislators at Tirupati earlier in the day and the

members of politburo late tonight, decided to hold one more round of talks before taking a final call on the Rajya Sabha seats.

He, however, was said to have told his party colleagues that he had accepted BJP's request for fielding Suresh Prabhu, currently Rajya Sabha member from Haryana.

The TDP's candidates will be announced on Tuesday, just a day before the nomination process ends.

Naidu, it was learnt, will meet 17 MLAs of YSR Congress, who recently defected to the TDP, in Vijaywada on Sunday before deciding on fielding a fourth candidate.

TDP can comfortably win three of the four seats falling vacant in the state on its own but wants to thwart the lone

opposition YSRC's maiden bid to win a Rajya Sabha seat.

Accommodating BJP's Prabhu will mean one seat less for TDP.

The YSRC, which has been left with 50 MLAs after the defections, has already fielded its general secretary V Vijaysai Reddy for the Rajya Sabha election.

PTI
Robert Vadra, the controversial son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, has been allegedly involved in a benami deal, according to an exclusive report by NDTV. The report alleged that arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari had fronted for Vadra seven years ago and an inquiry by the finance ministry reportedly involves emails sent by Vadra and his assistant to Bhandari.

According to Outlook, which got access to the documents, reported that Bhandari was reportedly in contact with Sonia Gandhi and senior leaders from BJP and Congress. It also added that the source for funds of the London property (bought for almost Rs 19 crore) was alleged to have been funded by Bhandari.

A Times Now exclusive on Tuesday reported that the arms dealer Bhandari was connected to Deepak Aggarwal, who reportedly funds some political parties. It also added that a probe has been ordered by the Ministry of Defence and that Vadra's London mansion is under the scanner. Emails from Vadra to Bhandari's aide revealed that the latter did indeed front Vadra in the deal.

Earlier, Sanjay Bhandari was under the scanner for importing cars without custom duty and is being investigated by the CBI for the same. This isn't the first time Vadra has been in trouble either; an RTI filed by Dev Ashish Bhattacharya brought to light the fact that it was beyond Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's capacity to pay a minimal rent of Rs 53,421 for a sprawling 2,765 square metre colonial bungalow in the prized Lutyens' Delhi. The point to note here is that Priyanka's husband Vadra self-proclaimed, to ANI in an interview, the fact that he has always "had enough." He said, "I have enough. My father gave me enough. I have been educated enough to sustain in all types of situations." He further added, "I didn't need my wife Priyanka to enhance my life."

In March this year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued a notice to the Haryana government on a petition filed by Skylight Hospitality Private Limited, a company promoted by Robert Vadra, challenging VAT notice. Although, it didn't mention Vadra's name, it has been stated that in the run-up to parliamentary elections in 2014 and later in the Haryana assembly elections, frequent "unsubstantiated allegations" were levelled against one of the directors of the petitioner company as part of the "systematic vendetta".

Robert Vadra, who arguably shot to fame due to his business deals, was also mentioned in the documents released by India Against Corruption (IAC), which showed how he acquired land assests, in and around the National Capital Region (NCR), worth hundreds of crores of rupees, funded by interest-free loans given to him by DLF and other companies for no apparent reason. IAC alleged that Vadra's wealth grew exponentially from Rs 50 lakh to over Rs 300 crore in three years. Following that, a number of reports have questioned the veracity of Vadra-owned companies' balance sheets.

In 2015, Enforcement Directorate officials searched the premises of a firm in connection with a money laundering case arising out of land grab charges in Bikaner; however he dismissed those as "false accusations". In another incident last year, the Lok Sabha Secretariat sought an explanation from Vadra over his remarks on Facebook where he took a dig at the BJP-led NDA government.
New Delhi: Vice President Hamid Ansari Monday embarked on a five-day visit to Morocco and Tunisia as part of efforts to build on diplomatic gains from the India-Africa Summit and lay platform for a future partnership.

This is the first visit by an Indian Vice President in 50 years to the two nations. The Vice President will discuss with leaders of the two north African countries issues of terrorism, UN Security Council expansion and investments in private sector, as well as ways to strengthen outreach to Africa and regional matters.

Ansari will be in Morocco till 1 June at the invitation of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane and the two leaders would jointly launch the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Rabat, the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) said.

During the visit, a number of MoUs will be signed in areas like education, IT and communication technology sectors, focusing on "capacity building and cultural exchange."

In the second leg of his tour, Ansari will visit Tunisia from 2-3 June.

Ansari's visit "will build on diplomatic gains" from the India-Africa summit and "we have chosen these two countries as they are great examples of democracy", Secretary (Economic

Relations) in the MEA Amar Sinha had said.

The King of Morocco had set the ball rolling when he came here in October, Sinha said. The New Delhi Summit - of which Morocco's King Mohammed VI was the first confirmed guest - was the largest political conference in modern history connecting Indian and African leaders.

He said it is the first high-level visit to the African country after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee went there in 1999.

"At the level of Vice President the visit comes after 50 years," he had said, noting that it is the 50th year of

Morocco's independence.

"Hello Africa, Tell me how are you doing?" will be India's motto for the continent, he had said, adding, there will be a series of visits by Indian leaders to Africa in the coming days.

The two countries are important for India as it shares economic relations with them and the visit will help in building contemporary relationship between these two countries and India.

Both the countries are looking forward to the visit as they are key partners in food security and fertilisers and investments in private sector.

"Our car and truck manufacturers are looking at prospective markets," he said.

While Morocco's trade with India is "substantial," there is scope for increasing it with Tunisia. "Morocco is a developing destination for Indian film industry," he said.
London: Stephen Hawking understands the workings of the universe  but says he cannot fathom the popularity of Donald Trump.

The British astrophysicist told ITV's morning show Monday that the presumptive Republican Party candidate for US president "is a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator."

Hawking also appealed to British voters to vote to keep the United Kingdom inside the European Union in a 23 June referendum. He said remaining within the EU provided essential support for British scientific research as well as its economy and security.

He said: "Gone are the days we could stand on our own against the world. We need to be part of a larger group of nations, both for our security and our trade."
Baghdad: Iraqi forces thrust into the city of Fallujah from three directions on Monday marking a new and perilous urban phase in the week-old operation to retake the jihadist bastion.

The drive to recapture the first city to be lost from government control in 2014 came as fighting also raged in neighbouring Syria, leaving huge numbers of civilians exposed.

Led by the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS), Iraq's best trained and most seasoned fighting unit, the forces pushed into Fallujah before dawn, commanders said.

"Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air cover from the international coalition, the Iraqi air force and army aviation, and supported by artillery and tanks," said Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the commander of the operation.

"There is resistance from Daesh," he added, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

The forces have not yet ventured into the city centre but they recaptured some areas in a southern suburb after crossing a bridge, and took up positions on the eastern and northern fringes.

The involvement of the elite CTS marks the start of a phase of urban combat in a city where in 2004 US forces fought some of their toughest battles since the Vietnam War.

The week-old operation had previously focused on retaking rural areas around Fallujah, which lies just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

It had been led by the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, which is dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias.

They were still in action Monday, attempting to clear an area northwest of Fallujah called Saqlawiya, officers said.

Civilians trapped inside

Only a few hundred families have managed to slip out of the Fallujah area ahead of the assault on the city, with an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped inside, sparking fears the jihadists could try to use them as human shields.

The only families who were able to flee so far lived in outlying areas, with the biggest wave of displaced reaching camps on Saturday night.

"Our resources in the camps are now very strained and with many more expected to flee we might not be able to provide enough drinking water for everyone," said Nasr Muflahi, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Iraq director.

"We expect bigger waves of displacement the fiercer the fighting gets."

In Amriyat al-Fallujah, a government-controlled town to the south of the jihadist stronghold, civilians trickled in, starving and exhausted after walking through the countryside for hours at night, dodging IS surveillance.

"I just decided to risk everything. I was either going to save my children or die with my children," said Ahmad Sabih, 40, who reached the NRC-run camp early on Sunday.

A senior police commander said his forces had assisted 800 civilians fleeing areas north of Fallujah on Monday.

Fallujah is one of just two major urban centres in Iraq still held by IS jihadists.

They also hold Mosul, the country's second city and de-facto jihadist capital in Iraq, east of which Kurdish-led forces launched a fresh offensive on Sunday.

The jihadists holed up in Fallujah are believed to number around 1,000.

Syria's Aleppo bombarded

It is not yet clear what resources IS is prepared to invest in the defence of Fallujah, which has been almost completely isolated for months, but the city looms large in modern jihadist mythology.

Fallujah is expected to give Iraqi forces one of their toughest battles yet but IS has appeared weakened in recent months and has been losing territory consistently in the past 12 months.

According to the government, the organisation that has sewn havoc across Iraq and Syria over the past two years now controls around 14 percent of the national territory, down from 40 percent in 2014.

However, as the "caliphate" it declared two years ago unravels, IS has been reverting to its old tactics of bombings against civilians and commando raids.

A fresh wave of bomb attacks claimed by IS struck the Baghdad area on Monday, killing 11 people in three separate blasts.

In northern Syria, clashes raged around the flashpoint town of Marea as IS pressed an assault on non-jihadist rebels.

The IS onslaught has threatened tens of thousands of people, many of them already displaced from other areas, who have sought refuge in camps near the Turkish border.

Gerry Simpson, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, told AFP 165,000 civilians were now stuck between IS fighters, Kurdish forces and the border.

"What more does the US, EU and UN need to call on Turkey to give these people refuge," he asked.

In divided Aleppo city, 15 people, including two children, were killed in the rebel-controlled eastern neighbourhoods in heavy bombardment on Monday morning, the civil defence said.
In a tragic incident at Cincinnati in the United States, a silverback gorilla had to be killed after a four-year-old boy slipped through the barrier of its enclosure and fell into the moat. The death of the gorilla, named Harambe, has sparked a debate on man-animal conflict and safety measures for animals kept in captivity.

According to a report in the New York Times, the zoo took the decision to shoot the animal dead as a tranquiliser would have taken several minutes to neutralise him, which would have been that much more risky for the child.

The boy sat still in the water, looking up at the gorilla as the animal touched the child's hand and back. At one point, it looked as though the gorilla helped the youngster stand up.

Two witnesses said they thought the gorilla was trying to protect the boy at first before getting spooked by the screams of onlookers. The animal then picked the child up out of the moat and dragged him to another spot inside the exhibit, zoo officials said.

The child, whose name was not released, was released from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center on Saturday night, hours after the fall.

His family said in a statement on Sunday that the boy was home and doing fine.

"We extend our heartfelt thanks for the quick action by the Cincinnati Zoo staff. We know that this was a very difficult decision for them, and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla," the family said.

The gorilla was said to be a critically endangered species.

However, the gorilla's death has sparked a debate on accountability for incidents where animals are injured or killed because of human negligence. A petition on change.org has called for a 'Harambe's Law,' which would provide for legal consequences 'when an endangered animal is harmed or killed due to the negligence of visitors.' The petition further says, "No one wants to see any harm come to a human visiting the zoo, but this entire tragedy could have been avoided, had this little boy been properly supervised."

However, some eyewitnesses have refuted the allegations of negligence on the part of the mother of the child. The New York Times article quotes an eyewitness as saying that the woman was with three other kids, and had a baby in her arms. She was reported to have said that the incident happened in 'literally the blink of an eye.'

The death of the animal sparked off a debate on social media, with some contending that it was an instance of negligent parenting and some questioning the manner of keeping animals in captivity.

gorilla: um yes a human has broken into my house? humans: ok sir stay calm we're on our way to murder you gorilla: wtf  Hippo (@InternetHippo) May 30, 2016

It saddens me to no end that a gorilla had to be put down because of an irresponsible parent. However you look at it, that's just sad.  Katee Sackhoff (@kateesackhoff) May 30, 2016

Why will you kill a harmless17 year old gorilla in a zoo just to save a kid who fell into the moat because his parents were careless.?  Pritish Nandy (@PritishNandy) May 30, 2016

With a online petition and a heated public debate on fixing responsibility for the incident, it seems that Harambe's death has sparked a wider debate on animal rights.

With inputs from AP
Aboard the MS Aquarius: They are unlikely members of the same crew: career seamen for whom it was initially just another job and landlubber humanitarian workers trying to make the world a better place.

But together, aboard the MS Aquarius, they get the job done. Since it joined the international search and rescue operation off Libya in February, the boat chartered by medical charity MSF and French NGO SOS Mediterranee has safely delivered some 1,500 migrants to Italian ports.

Once the property of the German coastguard, the Aquarius switched to oil prospection in 2009, surveying prospective fields from Nigeria to the Arctic.

Now it is stuffed full of life jackets, blankets, nutrition packs and bottles of water.

On the deck, SOS Mediterranee volunteers rotate the watch. Several of them are merchant seamen themselves, a mix of keen youngsters and salty old sea dogs. Most have given up three to six weeks of holiday time to help out.

"Working only for yourself is not necessarily what makes you proud in this life," said one of them, 25-year-old merchant seaman Antoine Laurent.

'A unique experience'

Down several narrow flights of steps, the MSF medical team  a doctor, midwife, two nurses and two technicians  prepare to take charge of rescued migrants who will be spending anything from a few hours to several days on board.

Unlike the SOS Mediterranee crew, most of them had never set foot on a boat before but can call on vast reserves of experience acquired in humanitarian hotspots from the Ebola clinics of West Africa to the earthquake-ravaged mountains of Nepal.

Dutch doctor Erna Rijnierse, who has been working with MSF for a decade, describes the work on the boat as a one-off.

"I've been involved in long term projects, I've been involved in emergencies. This however is very unique.

"There are elements of different MSF missions but the fact that you do this on water, with people in flight that have been travelling already quite a bit, and on the doorstep of Europe, makes it very unique."

What is notable aboard the Aquarius is the commitment of the boat's permanent crew  a motley collection of taciturn Russians and Ukrainians, several Ghanians and a worrisome Greek. None of them chose the mission but all them have thrown their hearts into it.

Going to the aid of stricken boats is a moral and legal obligation at sea but picking up migrants represents a headache for merchant ships with deliveries and collections to be made, and fears of infection by sick shipwreck survivors abound.

But it is the veteran seamen who have the skills required. Aquarius seaman Ebenezer Tandot, 45, has long worked around North Sea oil platforms, where hypothermia can claim even the strongest swimmers in as little as eight minutes.

'Doing something good'

So it is the Ghanaian who is tasked with guiding the first lifeboat to be launched.

"We pick up the migrants, we drop them off, it has become the routine," he tells AFP.

But his nonchalant tone changes quickly as he emotionally recalls the impact of rescuing men in a state of shock or paralysed by hypothermia and the relief at seeing them begin to come round and recover.

Such emotions help to explain how the crew has bonded, despite their vastly different backgrounds. "We actually feel like one big team trying to take the best care we can of the people we have rescued," says the MSF doctor.

The boat's skipper is Alexander Moroz, a 45-year-old Belarusian with a dry sense of humour. He is the point man who receives instructions from Italy's coastguard and directs operations.

The work has nothing in common with his boat's past. "But my feeling is I am in the right place and that I am doing something good."

Asked if the presence of rescue boats is only encouraging people traffickers to send their human cargoes to sea, the skipper adopts the same line as the humanitarian contingent on board.

"The only question is, if we were not here, how many more would die?"
ALKARM, Egypt Soad Thabet's house no longer has a door. Inside, its walls are blackened with soot and a television lies shattered on the floor. The remains of a red nightgown stand out among the ashes.

Thabet, 70, describes being dragged outside by Muslim villagers and stripped naked in the dirt roads of Alkarm, the Egyptian village where she spent her most of her adult life.

Her crime? Her son, a married Christian, was rumoured to have had an affair with a married Muslim woman. The woman has since denied the affair took place on national television.

"They burned the house and went in and dragged me out, threw me in front of the house and ripped my clothes. I was just as mymother gave birth to me, screaming and crying," Thabet told Reuters a week after the attack.

Orthodox Copts like Thabet, who make up about a tenth of Egypt's 90 million population, are the Middle East's largest Christian community. They have long complained of discrimination in the majority-Muslim country.

Sectarian attacks occur so frequently in Egypt that they rarely attract wide publicity. But Thabet's ordeal, the public humiliation of an elderly woman, prompted an outcry among Copts and led to the case becoming national news.

"If it were just a burning we could handle it, but what can we do about what happened to the woman? How can you compensate for this insult?" Ishak William, Thabet's neighbour and relative, told Reuters at his house in Alkarm.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has denounced the Alkarm attack, which underlines that Copts remain vulnerable three years after he took power and pledged to unite the country following years of political turmoil.

Sectarian violence often erupts on the back of rumours about inter-faith romances or suspicions that Christians are building churches without the required official permission.

Homes are burned, crops are razed, churches are attacked and, occasionally, Copts are forced to leave their villages, say human rights groups and residents of the southern province of Minya, home to Egypt's largest Christian community.

Then come the reconciliation sessions, processes informally backed by the government that see local Coptic priests and Muslim clerics attempt to mediate a communal peace without resorting to the legal system.

Christians interviewed by Reuters said the sessions often end with them making concessions, such as agreeing that certain families leave town or that the church not bear a visible cross, while those who perpetrated the attacks often go unpunished.

Muslim residents and religious officials say the informal process helps broker compromises to avoid a cycle of escalation and retribution.

Copts often go along with it to avert more trouble.

But the latest attack has left a new bitterness among the Copts of tiny Alkarm, in the agricultural hinterland of Upper Egypt. This time, they say, reconciliation is not enough.

"We answer to the law, not to reconciliation sessions. Whoever did this must be held accountable," said William.

'PEOPLE WON'T HAVE IT'

Thabet's ordeal led to the Diocese of Minya releasing a statement demanding justice. The attack subsequently drew condemnation from the government and Al Azhar, Cairo's ancient centre of Islamic learning.

"We have people getting killed and there is no one answering for it, money stolen, houses looted, girls kidnapped ... and we bear it all and let it pass, but now there is escalation," Bishop Makarios, the highest Coptic church official in Minya, told Reuters by telephone.

"We get told, take reconciliation because it is better for you than other bad scenarios and people are simple and just want to live in peace, but this time people won't have it."

Since the case went public, 15 men have been detained in connection with the violence and will be investigated, according to security sources.

Before then, said William, the attackers were freely walking around the village.

Neighbours who witnessed the incident told Reuters it took place on May 20, when a group of Muslim men set fire to seven Christian homes and stripped the grandmother naked in the street after rumours of her son Ashraf's inter-faith affair.

Ashraf fled with his wife and children on May 19 after receiving threats, said William. His parents went to the police, fearing for their lives, said Ishak Ibrahim of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. The mob burned down their house the next day, Ibrahim and several local residents said.

The Governor of Minya initially denied the attack took place in comments to local media. On May 26, after it became public, Tarek Nasr, said it was a "minor incident."

Nasr did not respond to repeated attempts to reach him on his mobile phone. He visited Alkarm on Friday, after Sisi denounced the attack.

"What is happening in Egypt is unacceptable and must never happen again ... anyone who made a mistake no matter how many they are, will be held accountable," Sisi said during a speech at the opening of a housing project on Monday.

On Friday, a joint delegation of Cairo-based Muslim and Coptic clerics visited Alkarm, where several armoured vehicles and dozens of police patrolled the streets. Local Copts refused to meet them.

'LOCKED OURSELVES IN'

With deep scars visible on his head, face, and arm, Ishak Yakoub, a Copt who lives next door to Thabet, says he almost died the night the grandmother was attacked and wants the law to take its course and put an end to what he sees as mob justice.

"I heard gunfire so I got out of the house and stood at the doorway. People advised me to get back inside, so I did andlocked the door. I climbed up on the roof and saw smoke coming from her house so I called the fire department," he said.

"I came back down and found they had broken in and were in my house. One of them hit me on the head but I don't know withwhat, then they dragged me onto the street and beat me."

Yakoub later found Thabet hiding in the home of a Muslim neighbour. He took her to his house.

"When I heard what they did, that a woman was strippednaked in the street, I took her to my room and we locked ourselves in," says Yakoub's wife, who declined to be named.

Umm Magdi, the Muslim neighbour who sheltered Thabet, played down the incident as "threats from silly youths".

"My son came in with (Thabet) and told me to dress her. She came into my house and I dressed her. I told her to sit but she wouldn't ... it was like she didn't feel safe with me," Umm Magdi said.

"I've known her all my life and lived by her side like a sister. She's Christian and I'm Muslim but I won't take sides."

Thabet, wearing a black gown and headdress and looking shaken, appeared in an online video on Friday, saying: "I didn't ask for anyone's help. I forgive them."

But Copts from Alkarm said forgiveness would not prevent future attacks.

"Show me a (Christian) woman that will be able to walk in the street after the authorities leave," William said.

(Editing by Lin Noueihed and Pravin Char)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
New Delhi: Countries contributing troops to United Nations peacekeeping (UNPK) missions need greater say in the conduct of the operations they are part of, Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag said on Monday.

He rued that some countries which have contributed less to such missions have a greater say.

"The troop-contributing countries must have and need to have a say as far as change of any mandate, task or policy

formulation is concerned," he said at a seminar organised by the army's think tank CLAWS.

Suhag stressed that the concerns of stakeholders have to be taken care of.

"We find that there are countries which have very few contributions, by way of observers or staff officers, but they do form part of policy coordination. But troop-contributing countries have very little say as far as such issues are concerned," he said.

Noting that the nature of peacekeeping has changed from the traditional "peacekeeping to peace enforcement", Suhag

emphasised on the need for force restructuring.

The Army Chief had spoken on the issue in March at the world body's first-ever 'Chiefs of Defence' Conference that had brought together army chiefs and senior military officials from more than 110 UN member states to discuss issues central to UN peacekeeping.

India has so far participated in 49 UN peacekeeping missions, contributing over 1,80,000 troops and a significant

number of police personnel.

India is at present participating in 12 out of the 16 active missions and 158 Indian peacekeepers have made the

supreme sacrifice in the line of duty over the past six decades, the highest among all member states.

India had in the past also voiced concern that UNSC has repeatedly "violated" and "diluted" the clear provisions of

Article 44 of the UN Charter, which explicitly requires the 15-nation Council to invite member states which are

contributing troops but are not members of the Council, to participate in the decisions on peacekeeping and troop

deployment.

PTI
Islamabad: Nuclear-armed Pakistan has the ability to "target" the Indian capital Delhi in five minutes, the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan has said.

Addressing a gathering in Islamabad on the 18th anniversary of Pakistan's first nuclear tests, which were carried out under his supervision in 1998, Khan, said Pakistan could have become a nuclear power as early as 1984 but the then President General Zia ul Haq "opposed the move".

The 80-year-old nuclear physicist said General Zia, who was Pakistan's President from 1978 to 1988, opposed the nuclear testing as he believed that the world would intervene militarily.

Further, it would have also curtailed international aid Pakistan was receiving due to the ongoing Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.

"We were able and we had a plan to launch nuclear test in 1984. But President General Zia ul Haq had opposed the move," Khan said on 28 May.

Khan also said that Pakistan has the ability to "target" Delhi from Kahuta near Rawalpindi in five minutes.

Kahuta is the home to the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL), Pakistan's key uranium enrichment facility, linked to the atomic bomb project.

Khan was disgraced in 2004 when he was forced to accept responsibility for nuclear technology proliferation and was forced to live a life of official house arrest. In 2009, the Islamabad High Court declared Khan to be a free citizen of Pakistan, allowing him free movement inside the country.

He regretted the treatment and said Pakistan would never have achieved the feat of becoming first Muslim nuclear country without his "services".

"Without my services Pakistan would never have been the first Muslim nuclear nation. We were able to achieve the capability under very tough circumstances, but we did it," said Khan.

Referring to the treatment meted out to him during Gen Pervez Musharraf's era, Khan said nuclear scientists in the country have not been given the respect that they deserve.

"We are facing the worst against our services to the country's nuclear programme," he added.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on an official visit to Switzerland and Mexico next week, the External Affairs Ministry announced on Monday.

These visits would be part of Modi's five-nation trip beginning 4 June which will also cover Afghanistan, Qatar and the US. MEA has already formally announced Prime Minister's visit to Qatar and the US.

Modi will visit Switzerland on 5-6 June, MEA said, adding with growing bilateral trade and foreign investment, India and Switzerland enjoy strong economic ties.

"During the stay, Modi and Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann will hold discussions on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest," MEA said.

The Prime Minister will also be travelling to Mexico on a brief working visit on 8 June at the invitation of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Asserting that bilateral relations between India and Mexico have witnessed renewed vigour and activity in the last two years, the MEA said the main objective of Modi's visit would be to carry forward the momentum in the bilateral relations and discuss cooperation in areas such as space, energy, agriculture and science and technology among others.

The two leaders will also be discussing various multilateral issues during the visit, it added.
Kabul: An Afghan official says a string of Taliban attacks have killed 12 policemen in the increasingly volatile southern Helmand province the previous night.

Hismatullah Daulatzai, head of police for the greater Helmand zone, says the attacks were coordinated and targeted police checkpoints in Gereshk district on Sunday.

Daulatzai said Monday that seven policemen were also wounded in the attacks and seven others are missing, presumably abducted by the Taliban.

The 15-year insurgency has intensified across the south as the Taliban concentrate their war on Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces.

The fight in the southern, opium poppy-producing region is led by Mullah Yaqoub, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar. Mullah Omar's successor was killed in a drone strike this month and Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada was named to replace him.
WASHINGTON A brief, partial lockdown at the White House was lifted on Monday after a metal object tossed over the fence was tested and determined not to be dangerous, the U.S. Secret Service said.

President Barack Obama was at the White House during the incident.

An individual threw the object over the north fence of the complex, Secret Service spokesman Shawn Holtzclaw said in an emailed statement.

That person was apprehended without incident, he said.

"All protective sweeps of the metal object were met with negative results. The White House has returned to normal operations," Holtzclaw said.

The north side of the White House was placed on a security lockdown for a couple of hours after the incident, which took place on the U.S. Memorial Day holiday.

Reporters were not allowed to leave the White House compound through its northwest gate and flashing lights from emergency responders could be seen nearby.

Obama had visited Arlington National Cemetery earlier in the day as part of the annual commemoration for armed services members.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Lisa Lambert; Editing by Sandra Maler)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
ANZ Bank faces a $2.5 billion-plus claim from the billionaire founders of Burrup Fertiliser Pankaj and Radhikha Oswal after the bank allegedly forced the sale of their business for far less than they say it was worth and while they were under "duress".

Lawyer for the couple, Tony Bannon SC, told the Supreme Court of Victoria that ANZ Bank and receiver PPB worked together to ensure the business was sold for a base price to another of Burrup's shareholders, Norwegian group Yara, rather than for the highest price.

"The receivers made it clear to anyone who would listen that their sole purpose was to close out the debt," Mr Bannon said.

"Not only is it a breach of selling any asset rule 101 as it turns out it is the breach of the duty of the receiver," Mr Bannon said.
Myer and David Jones have blinked in a stand-off over discounting, kicking off their mid-year stocktake sales after arguably the worst start to the winter season in 10 years.

A weekend cold snap, which finally sent shoppers diving into their wardrobes for winter woollens after months of unseasonally warm weather, prompted Myer and David Jones to push the button on their clearance sales this week.

Myer's official $150 million sale starts on Wednesday  nine days earlier than last year and 16 days earlier than in 2014  and David Jones' half-yearly clearance starts on Tuesday, the same time as last year.

Myer plans to whet customers' appetites by sending loyalty card members and online shoppers a sneak preview on Tuesday of the bargains to be had.
As a refugee from Syria looking for work in Australia, Nirary Dacho is neither illiterate nor innumerate. Armed with two university degrees, his only barrier to finding a job is his lack of local work experience.

After arriving in Australia a year ago, the 29-year-old, who has a Masters degree in web science and a bachelor degree in IT, applied for more than 100 jobs without success. He has more than eight years of experience in the field and is qualified to work with Microsoft and Cisco systems.

"The main barrier was local experience," he said.

After he appeared on television last year, some businesses contacted him with offers of work. He has just started a three-month contract with technology company Dolby where is working in software development.
The Chaser has made its first appearance on the federal election campaign crashing, in spectacular style, an appearance by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in western Sydney.

Sending up Mr Turnbull's recent allusions to himself as a more trusted leader, comedian Chas Licciardello attempted to enjoin him in a famous trust-building exercise, often known as the trust fall.

Mr Licciardello fell backwards as Mr Turnbull moved towards C1, the Prime Ministerial motor car at the conclusion of a press conference at a local school to announce a program to boost science education.
A man will face court after he allegedly sent racist and offensive messages to senator Nova Peris on Facebook.

Chris Nelson, a chiropractor and osteopath from Woy Woy on the NSW central coast, was arrested and charged on Monday afternoon after posts on the Olympic gold medallist's Facebook page, appearing to come from his account, called Ms Peris a "black c---" and told her to "f--- off" and "go back to the bush and suck on witchity [sic] grubs".'

"Stop painting your f---ing face with white s--- in parliament," the first post added, in a screen grab shared by Ms Peris. "Other than being a runner you are nothing."
A man has been charged with three counts of murder over the deaths of his partner and her two young children north of Adelaide.

The bodies of a 29-year-old woman, a six-year-old girl, and boy, aged 5, were found at a home on Jack Cooper Drive in Hillier on Monday.

Local media have identified the deceased woman as Adeline Yvette Rigney-Wilson and the man in custody over her death as Steven Graham Peet, 30.

In February, Mr Peet had shared a Facebook post that declared: "The day you raise your hand on a woman. That day you're officially no longer a man!!"
A teenage girl has died and another teenager has been injured when a car crashed and rolled in Sydney's west overnight, police say.

The crash occurred near the intersection of Belloc Close and Vidal Street in Wetherill Park just before 8pm on Monday.

Residents phoned triple zero to report hearing a series of loud bangs, before finding the maroon Toyota Corolla resting on its roof in the street.

The 17-year-old girl, who police believe was driving, was trapped inside the wreckage, while two other passengers - another 17-year-old girl, and a 14-year-old boy - were able to get out.
A burst water main has sent a torrent through the streets of Petersham in Sydney's inner west, flooding a number of cars and forcing the closure of roads.

The water main burst near Audley Street's intersection with Fisher Street just after 11am on Monday.

Footage showed fast-flowing water gushing down Audley and Trafalgar streets.

One person who posted footage online of a car driving through the gushing water described it as the "great flood of Petersham".
The state government has denied that vulnerable homeowners will be forced out of their houses in controversial proposed changes to strata laws.

About one-quarter of metropolitan Sydney residents will be affected by more than 90 sweeping changes to state laws that were passed by Parliament last year.

Apartment owner Paul Bacon is particularly worried about recently released draft regulations to accompany the changes, to be finalised before the law comes into force in November, including the controversial proposal to allow a building to be sold if 75 per cent of owners approve. Currently all owners must approve any sale.

Investors own about half the units in his Belmore building, and he worries a critical mass may easily be persuaded to sell to developers aiming to build 11,000 new dwellings in the area in the next 20 years.
A two-year-old boy is in hospital after he was attacked by a dog on the NSW South Coast

The boy suffered injuries to his head, chest, back and legs when he was bitten by a bull Arab in the front yard of a home on Quickmatch Street, Nowra, about 4pm on Sunday.

A two-year-old boy who was attacked by a bull Arab dog suffered 10 puncture wounds to his chest, back, head and legs. Credit:South Coast Register

The boy was taken to Shoalhaven Hospital where he was in a stable condition, but a NSW Health spokesperson confirmed he was being transferred to Westmead Hospital on Monday.

Melissa Lyons, the boy's mother, told the South Coast Register how she was "dragged around" by the dog as she tried to release her son from its grip.
Environment officers have all but ruled out a five-metre crocodile, recently spotted off the beach where a tourist was dragged to her presumed death, as the animal behind the terrifying attack.

Cindy Waldron, 46, was dragged under the water during a late-night swim in croc-infested waters on Sunday with Leeann Mitchell, who attended the same university with her in New Zealand.

Ms Mitchell, 47, frantically tried to pull her friend from the creature's jaws as it ripped her from waist-deep water just off a secluded beach in the picturesque Daintree Rainforest.
Melbourne will get a new high-tech crime control centre, similar to that used by the New York Police Department.

The movements of Melburnians on the city's streets will soon be monitored by a $15 million surveillance centre to help police spot criminal behaviour.

Premier Daniel Andrews received high-level briefings from the NYPD's Chief of Intelligence during his visit to New York on Monday..

The state government says the Victoria Police Monitoring and Assessment Centre will be modelled on the NYPD's nerve centre, a real-time crime control unit that utilises more than 8000 cameras and 35 different databases.
Recent protests in China's Jiangsu and Hubei Provinces by parents of students in the local schools have led to questions and criticism of China's education system, and the measures the Chinese government is taking to make it more equitable.

The demonstrations erupted after Chinas government announced it would implement a quota system where nearly 80,000 places at universities in Jiangsu and Hubei provinces would go to students from poorer regions in China. Until now, admission to universities in China has been mostly dictated by scores on the gaokao, or a national aptitude test. A greater proportion of spaces at Chinas most prestigious universities in the eastern provinces are usually given to local students.

Seeking equal opportunities

Jiang Xueqin, a researcher and education consultant in China, said as Chinas government strives to create more equal opportunity for superior education, its attempts at reform will likely be met with protest.

Jiang said, Its the middle class who will stand to lose, and they understand that, because the gaokao has benefited the middle class mostly, and with any changes to the Chinese system, the middle class will lose. So for the next few years as the government system changes, the middle class will become more and more anxious.

Parents staged demonstrations in six cities in Jiangsu, as well as the cities of Wuhan, Xizhou, Yancheng, Taizhou, Changshu and Lianyungang. In Jiangsu, protesters at one point stood outside government offices, demanding authorities meet with them.

Quota system



The proposed quota system would allow for 210,000 students from poor provinces in China the opportunity to study at universities in 14 developed provinces and cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Beijing is home to Chinas two most prestigious universities: Peking University and Tsinghua University.

Victor Yuan, chairman of Horizon Research Consultancy, says the proportion of students who obtain a university education in Chinas Eastern cities is vastly different from those who do in the countryside.

Yuan said, If you are in Beijing, thats about 70 percent of students if they graduated from high school, could go to university, but if you are in a province maybe only 20 or 30 percent. That is the key problem.

As Chinas economy slows, pressure to get into Chinas top universities, and secure a well-paying job afterwards, has increased. In response to the demonstrations, Jiangsus provincial government released a statement saying admissions at universities would ultimately increase because there are fewer applicants now than in the past.

Gap between rich and poor



The statement did little to calm concerned parents, nor did it reveal how the government will plan future educational reforms that address Chinas gap between rich and poor. Eric Sun is a high school senior in Beijing, and says the differences in educational opportunity are readily apparent among the teenagers he sees and socializes with in the city.

Sun said, I think the educational opportunity, the people are very stratified here. The people with less money, less everything, tend to have a harder time getting education. In order to get into the very prestigious schools, you have to have a lot of investment in your child.

Eric plans to opt out of higher education in China altogether and attend college in the U.S. or Europe. Thousands of his peers throughout China will not have that chance, and be forced to enter the grueling competition of Chinas education system and job market.
The Greek Coast Guard has pulled to safety 29 migrants afloat in a dinghy off the western island of Lefkada, as they headed to Italy.

Authorities say the rescue Sunday is the first involving migrants trying to cross from Greece to Italy since Athens closed its land border to the rest of Europe in March.

Two children were reported to be on the small boat, which was found adrift off Lefkada.

Local reports said the captain, who had abandoned the craft, was part of a human smuggling ring. His whereabouts was not reported.

Ahead of the border closure to Macedonia in March, hundreds of thousands of migrants traveled north through Greece, heading for the relative safety and prosperity of Germany and other target areas of western Europe.

That closure has left thousands of migrants stranded in Greece, with many of them facing the threat of being returned to Turkey as part of a European push to curb the exodus of refugees from war-torn Syria and Iraq.
A previously little-noticed U.S. political figure, Libertarian Gary Johnson, again won his party's presidential nomination Sunday, drawing new attention to his candidacy at a moment when majorities of Americans have unfavorable opinions about the major party front-runners, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Recent polls show the 63-year-old Johnson, who served two terms as the Republican governor of the southwestern state of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 before becoming a Libertarian, winning about 10 percent of the vote nationally against Trump and Clinton in a hypothetical three-way match in November's national election.

Also at the Libertarian convention in Orlando, Florida Sunday, former Massachusetts governor William Weld was chosen to run as Johnson's vice presidential candidate.

Third-party presidential candidates in the U.S. have not fared well in the quadrennial elections, often times fading when people get closer to making their decisions about whom they will vote for. If Johnson were to maintain his 10 percent level of support nationally, it is unlikely he would win any of the country's 50 states.

But his vote total could affect the outcome in some individual states, especially since more than half of Americans in recent political surveys say they view both Trump, the brash billionaire real estate mogul, and Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, unfavorably. U.S. presidential elections are not decided by the national popular vote, but rather in state-by-state votes, with the biggest states holding the most importance in the outcome.

Johnson's candidacy comes at a time when many Americans say they are disenchanted with the national government, a view that fueled the surge of Trump, who has never held elective office, to the top of the crowded Republican field that included a host of current and former senators and governors. Johnson would have to reach 15 percent support nationally in five polls to be included in three presidential debates scheduled for the weeks leading up to the November 8 election.

In the U.S., Libertarians favor individual rights, challenging what they say is the "cult of the omnipotent state," a view that could attract some voters to Johnson.

Johnson, as the Libertarian presidential candidate in 2012, won one percent of the vote when President Barack Obama won re-election to a second term over Republican Mitt Romney.

Libertarian adherents are holding their national convention in the southern city of Orlando, Florida, where Johnson wants the party to nominate another former Republican governor, William Weld of Massachusetts, as his vice-presidential running mate.

Ross Perot, a technology corporation executive, was the most recent serious third party presidential candidate in the U.S., winning 19 and 8 percent of the national vote, but no individual states, in the 1992 and 1996 elections, when Clinton's husband, Bill Clinton, was twice elected as president.
North Korea's missile launch Tuesday appears to have failed, according to South Korean officials.

The attempted missile launch... is believed to have failed, a spokesman for the South's defense ministry said. We are analyzing and closely monitoring the situation and maintaining a watertight defense posture.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff released a statement saying the missile was launched around 5:20 a.m. Monday in the East, near the port city of Wonsan.

Earlier in the day, Japanese broadcaster NHK said the government has put its military on alert for a possible launch. Japan had also ordered its naval destroyers to shoot down any projectiles that threaten its territory. A South Korean defense official said Seoul had been maintaining combat readiness.

Officials did not specify the missile type but reports say it is likely to be a intermediate-range Musudan missile, similar to one the North unsuccessfully tried to test launch three times in April.



The missile reportedly has a range of 3,000-4,000 kilometers which, if fired successfully, could reach targets in Japan, China and Guam.



The Musudan is based on an old Soviet submarine launch ballistic missile design that the North converted to be fired from a mobile land-based launcher.



The United Nations Security Council has banned North Korea from developing nuclear and ballistic missile technology. China, the North's key ally, has urged the government of President Kim Jong Un to return to international talks and dismantle its nuclear program for economic assistance and security guarantees.
Taliban militants in Afghanistan have intensified battlefield attacks, killing around 57 Afghan security forces and wounding 37 others in the restive southern Helmand province.

Afghan officials say fierce fighting has raged since Saturday, when the Taliban launched a string of coordinated assaults on three districts, including Nad Ali, Gereshk and Marjah. Most of the casualties occurred in Nad Ali and Gereskh, said Major General Asmatullah Dawlatzai.

The insurgents also overran four security outposts on the main road linking Marjah to the provincial capital of Lashkardah in the overnight fighting.



Insurgent gains



Senior Afghan commanders say fighting is currently raging on the outskirts of Lashkargah. But they have vowed to push back the Taliban, saying national security forces have inflicted heavy casualties on the insurgents. However, no figures were released.



Helmand is the largest province of Afghanistan and is poppy-producing region.





The Taliban has stepped up attacks since it appointed Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada as its new chief. His predecessor, Mullah Mansoor, was killed in a U.S. drone attack in neighboring Pakistan on May 21.

Critics expect fighting and bloodshed to escalate in Afghanistan this summer under Hibatullah, widely known as a conservative Islamist cleric, because he would want to consolidate power through battlefield gains to try to dismiss the impression the killing of his predecessor has weakened the Taliban.

In a significant development on Monday, a key council of pro-Taliban clerics pledged allegiance to Hibatullah.

Hibatullah gets endorsement

In a statement sent to VOA, the council's chief Maulvi Ahmad Rabbani said the decision was taken in the wake of Hibatullah's unanimous election for the top position. The council had refused to endorse Mansoor who faced opposition to his leadership even from within the Taliban.



Meanwhile, the Afghan Interior Ministry said Monday that an army-led operation to open the main highway linking southern Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces has killed at least 22 Taliban insurgents.



The Kandahar police spokesman, Zai Durban, however, told the local Pajhwok news agency that the insurgent deaths occurred in an overnight U.S. drone strike.
As coastal areas around the world become more populated, the risk of death and destruction from flooding increases.

Flooding caused by heavy rains in and around Houston, Texas, in mid-April resulted in at least eight deaths and damage to more than 1,000 homes. Severe weather and flooding over the past weekend left at least four other people dead as well.

With the start of the hurricane season June 1, officials are preparing for the possibility of more floods.

Houston lawsuit

Last week, a group of west Houston residents filed a lawsuit against the city over commercial development projects they allege were approved without requiring measures to deal with stormwater.

Their complaint goes to the heart of the question of what constitutes a natural disaster and what constitutes a disaster resulting from failure to plan and prepare for natural occurrences.

Around the world, cities are mostly located on sea shores, lake fronts or on the banks of rivers for commercial transportation purposes. But as sea levels rise and storms grow more intense, crowded urban areas will be more vulnerable to disasters.

The more than $70 billion cost of Hurricane Sandy, which struck the northeastern U.S. coast in October 2012, came from damage to homes, buildings and the infrastructure that serves the regions dense population.

Houston is one of the least-dense cities in the world. However, U.S. Census figures show the city, and its surrounding area, is one of the fastest-growing urban centers in the United States, resulting in more roadways and buildings covering the land near rivers and creeks that drain into the Gulf of Mexico.

Flood risk

Samuel Brody, a professor at Texas A&M University, said this contributes to the flood risk.

"We tracked, over a 15-year period, a 25 percent increase in impervious surface coverage, pavement, in the Houston region and that translates into more people and structures in harms way and less opportunity for rain water to infiltrate into the soil and then it runs off, potentially into peoples homes," Brody said.

Houston's location makes it vulnerable anyway, said Francisco Sanchez of the Houston Office of Emergency Management.

"One of the challenges is where we chose to build Houston, which is essentially on a swamp and it is also close to the gulf coast," Sanchez said.

He noted that lower areas hit with unusually strong downpours had the worst flooding.

Mike Talbot, executive director of the Harris County Flood Control District, said the district is clearing houses out of susceptible areas and building them to higher ground.

"That has actually been the criteria for the past three decades, that homes are built above the 100-year flood level," Talbot said.

Moved to higher ground

He said the Flood Control District and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) have acquired more than 3,000 homes in the flood plain and relocated people to higher ground, l, and now that is open space," Talbot said.

However, despite these efforts, experts said lives will still be at risk if citizens fail to understand flood risks.

Talbot noted that of the people who died in recent flooding, none were killed at home; the victims had been out in the storm and drove into a flooded area, such as an underpass.

Experts said public awareness of flood dangers is critical to saving lives.
Officials from Turkey and Israel are holding more meetings to normalize relations and two out of Ankara's three conditions for reviving ties have been met, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet meeting, Kurtulmus said lifting Israel's embargo on the Gaza Strip was important for normalization. Israel has ruled out ending a sea and air blockade of the Palestinian territory.

It has also sought an official apology and compensation for the bereaved. The erstwhile allies have been at loggerheads since Israeli commandos stormed a Turkish ship in an aid flotilla to Gaza, killing 10 Turks.
Components of the Taishan nuclear power plant, currently under construction and located about 80km west of Zhuhai and Macau, were reportedly made in China, although they were previously believed to have been manufactured in France, according to a report by FactWire.

The news outlet reported that a contract released by the French supplier AREVA revealed that the first two units delivered to the Taishan nuclear power plant were made in Japan and China. Unit 1 was made by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, in Japan, and half of the core components of Unit 2 were made in China, including the reactor pressure vessel, steam generators, pressurizer, and reactor coolant lines.

These components belonging to Unit 2 were all manufactured by Dongfang Electric Corporation, a Chinese state-

owned company.

Woo Chung-Ho, former scientist of Atomic Energy of Canada, voiced his concerns about this to FactWire; I didnt know if China was able to produce a pressure vessel. This component is quite special, its large. Every step in the manufacturing process requires strict control.

According to the report, China has been hoping to launch Unit 1 sometime next year, whereas French engineers who were sent to Taishan for the project, told FactWire that it could only be launched in 2018 at the earliest. Zhang Shanmeng, chairman of China General Nuclear Power Group, the company responsible for the Taishan nuclear project, did not respond to any questions regarding the issue.

Last year, two nuclear reactors for the aforementioned plant reportedly did not undergo the same quality tests as those applied to a similar reactor in France, which was found to have weak spots prone to cracks. These tests were followed by France tightening its nuclear safety regulations, according to a report by South China Morning Post. Staff reporter
The topic of housing was once again the main issue addressed in the plenary meeting of the Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday. The plenary gathered to debate several spoken enquiries presented lawmakers.

Angela Leong questioned the government about the project launched a couple of years back, which aimed to revitalize industrial buildings that are vacant or partially deactivated.

According to the lawmaker, the project was a complete failure with only 13 requests, of which only two were approved.

Leong said that the program had not been well-received because of law restrictions which request that 100 percent of the owners be in agreement if a buildings purpose is to be changed from a commercial unit to another type, such as residential.

The lawmaker urged the government to explain the underachievement of the program and to clarify the governments plans to correct that failure.

Replying to the query, the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosario acknowledged the failure of the program and said the government assumed that program was not gathering enough interest from the population and from building owners, justifying the abandonment of its policy after some three years of implementation.

On the government stand, the director of the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), Li Canfeng completed the explanation, adding: Most of the requests received were for the use of the ground floor areas only, in order to transform them in shops. The remainder of the buildings would be unchanged [as per the requests].

The government official also explained that, only in very few cases, were the necessary conditions [satisfied] in order to change the purpose of the units.

I think the government should take note of what is happening in Hong Kong, where the law states that only 80 percent [of the owners] are needed [to alter the purpose of a building], added Angela Leong.

Secretary Rosario then recalled that it is the the civil code which states that a full consensus is required to change the purpose of a building. We are not able to change that, he said.

If you ask me whether we [the government] are planning another program for the same purpose, I would say no, we are not, said the secretary.

Ella Lei questioned if public buildings construction works are carried out correctly. The lawmaker urged the government to request an extension of the warranty period from construction firms from five to 10 years.

We place great importance on the quality of public construction work. Aside from our inspection we have been hiring independent companies to perform additional inspections, assured Secretary Raimundo do Rosario.

The secretary also justified the governments decision to only solicit opinions from construction experts and not also from the public as due to the fact that this is a very technical [area].

The Director of DSSOPT said: We are finalizing the general regulation [in a new document]. In this document the Engineers will have to assume responsibility over construction work, adding that [another] document with instructions for owners is also in progress.

We are going to propose 10 years as a general construction warranty [period] and five years for other work and renovations, he concluded.

Raimundo do Rosario agreed that the majority of problems stemming from a lack of quality are the contractors responsibility and recalled that the department he heads is doing the best we can with only 80 people, complaining of limited human resources.

what they said

Lau Veng Seng We are currently promoting the development of creative industries and e-commerce, among others. But seems like the laws arent suitable for supporting that purpose. Maybe you can use the Urban Renewal Council to define a group of industries that are suitable [to be changed from commercial to other uses].

Zheng Anting This programme failed! But what is the government thinking to do next? We cant just abandon the buildings. We have limited resources and space. We need to take action because these [industrial] buildings either need to be renewed or be demolished.

Pereira Coutinho The quality is bad but the inspections seem to fail to detect these problems. It seems as though the inspectors cannot perform their task.

Au Kam San There are only two solutions [regarding the taxis]: strengthen inspections and punishment of infringements; or ease on the service costs. To use undercover officers doesnt seem like a good idea. Macau is so small that in less than a week all the officers would be exposed and known.
As the name indicates, Vinexpo is all about wine and now surely one of the major exhibitions in the world for wine and spirit professionals.

It is in many respects still highly connected to the city of Bordeaux, its birthplace, where it has been held every other year since 1981 with a growing success. During its latest French edition, in June 2015, 2,350 exhibitors from 42 countries welcomed a staggering 48,500 visitors.

But the expo has also become a highly anticipated rendez-vous in our sister city of Hong Kong: after a first test-the-market foray back in 1998, Vinexpo Asia-Pacific, now Vinexpo Hong Kong, has been organized regularly along the same biennale pace, but on even years, since 2006.

For the organizers of the event, the first intuition proved to be the right one and if numbers are smaller compared to France, Vinexpo Hong Kong managed to host for its 7th edition on May 24-26th some 1,311 exhibitors from 33 countries and let in more than 17,000 visitors.

As a sign of the time, the entrance fee had been raised by a significant 20 percent compared to two years ago, and a strict invitation only policy for professionals enforced vigorously. But then, as one of the spokesperson for the Expo explained: it is a trade fair, not a consumer fair, and thus wine tourists are not the target for such an event.

And rightly so, according to a European participant who wishes to remain anonymous: If you allow me to make a comparison, Vinexpo is far more professional than the Winefair I participated in last November.

Though it might not be entirely impartial towards the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair organized by the HKTDC on a yearly basis since 2008, it is an indication of the prowess of Vinexpo as an innovative private entity.

Vinexpo Hong Kong is firstly about business, no doubt. Professional associations from all over the world  old and new, in the wine speech  encourage and subsidize producers to come and showcase their products at the doorstep of the fastest growing market for wine consumption: China, including Hong Kong, is today the worlds 5th largest wine-consuming country, and the 8th in terms of production. Industry heavyweights who sell millions of bottles a year are shoulder to shoulder with boutique winemakers whose properties do not exceed a few hectares. Some are there to please their distributor; others are simply looking for one with the (no-so-distant) dream to conquer the Celestial Empire market. A very concrete aspiration for the Italian pavilion, the guest of honor for this years edition, and also for the dominant Sopexa run French Pavilion(s) whose motto Made in France, Made with Love is to be seen on most of the Expo communication material.

The sheer size of the event is meant to dream big: the bulk of Halls 1 and 3 of the gigantic Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre that dominates the dramatic Victoria harbor is filled with booths of all sizes and hues over more than 30,000 sq. meters! And this is without counting the concourses and foyers where wine academies and connected events are being held.

Actually, beyond business, education seems to be the key to Vinexpos success, and even more so considering that Chinese consumers and buyers have grown in awareness and knowledge regarding what they pour in their glass  for actual consumption  and not only what they store as liquid assets in their wine coolers.

If the must attend master classes sponsored by Decanter, the reference magazine for wine aficionados, are pretty telling of this new demand (from Chianti Classico Gran Selezione: The best that Chianti Classico has to offer to Li Demeis Discover Chinas wine regions or Shiraz/ Syrah-International expressions of a noble grape), organizers will rejoice at this gain in maturity. For Guillaume Deglise, the CEO of Vinexpo, now it is [all about] real consumption, which means that its not only about classified crus of Bordeaux, for example, but people consume wine from a variety of regions and at a whole range of prices.

Participants at both ends, exhibitors and buyers alike, seem to be telling the same story: Eugenia Torelli from Fidora, the first property (since 1974) and seemingly biggest organic only producer from Veneto with 80 hectares of vineyards, is explaining in Mandarin to a sophisticated Chinese connoisseur the ins and outs of her estates interpretation of Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG, Valpolicella Ripasso DOC and Valpolicella DOC even though Fidora is not yet distributed in China and actually still looking for the right local partner!

For Igor Solomon, the CEO of Clos Dady (Sauternes), Chateau de Bastard (Sauternes) and Clos Les Remparts (Graves), the search for a Hong Kong distributor has been over for already a few years despite looking after only 6 hectares of vineyards, but Vinexpo is a must-come and a key stop on his Asian tour  he will then go to Guangzhou, Beijing and Tokyo  to introduce his boutique wines, although he admits that few producers from Graves actually make that effort at internationalization.

Ultimately, the idea that the so-called Bordeaux bust of the year past could explain the fast-

growing interest for entry-level wines as consumers spend less is only partially true.

Why bring the Best Sommelier of the World 2016, Jon Arvid Rosengren, otherwise?

Why introduce a new Vinexpo feat. bettane+desseauve series of tastings and master classes dedicated to unique and exceptional well-established or fast-rising winegrowers?

Why have for the first time ever a mock-up of the just concluded Feminalise, the only wine-tasting competition whose judges are exclusively women, over almost a whole day? In the words of Ludivine Griveau, the honorary president of Feminalise and first-ever woman manager of the famed Hospices de Beaune (60 hectares for 23 winemakers): wine is after all a world of pleasure and passion, and women certainly know something about that. Being less judgmental, and more appreciative of diversity and complexity obviously brings an added value. A pretty persuasive point if not yet a trend, both in Europe and China!
The Irish Department of Agriculture intends to seek legal reform to give the Irish Greyhound Board (IGB) the power to prevent the export of dogs to countries with poor animal welfare standards, according to a report from The Sunday Times.

Currently Irish authorities do not have the legal powers to penalize greyhound owners and breeders for selling their dogs to territories with low welfare standards. However, after a meeting between the IGB, the Irish Coursing Club, the Dogs Trust and the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals last week, it is likely that a new law will emerge to empower the body to act on such matters.

During last weeks meeting, the Irish Department of Agriculture agreed to a revision of the Welfare of Greyhounds Act before the years close, says The Sunday Times.

The amendment will mean that anyone intending to export greyhounds from Ireland will need a new document that combines the existing greyhound identity card and the EU pet passport. The new document will only be issued if the dog is bound for a country or territory that meets certain Irish animal welfare criteria.

Providing that the greyhounds final destination is among the approved territories list as per the new criteria, the IGB would then give the animal exporter the necessary authorization to proceed. Exporting without approval or the appropriate documentation will constitute an offence under the amended law.

The revision may prove to be the final blow to the Macau (Yat Yuen) Canidrome, if the MSAR does not make the list of approved territories. The Canidrome, in the face of the restricted supply of Australian greyhounds, is increasingly relying on imports from Ireland.

Albano Martins, president of Anima (Macau) told the Times last week that Ireland is one of only a few countries whose live animal exports meet certain health requirements. Consequently greyhounds from Ireland can circumvent a lengthy quarantine process when entering the territory.

Greyhounds from other territories can face up to six months in quarantine before they are delivered to their final destination, a situation that Martins concludes is not a viable option for the Canidrome. DB

Canidrome cuts on races

The Canidrome decided on a reduction from 18 to 12 on the number of races per event, the Anima (Macau) association told the Times. According to Macau.com, there are five events per week. The reduction, which will be in force as soon as June this year, is a direct effect of the boycott to the import of greyhounds, specifically from the last shipment that was supposed to arrive in the territory from Ireland.
To mark the 11th occasion of Chinas Cultural Heritage Day on June 11, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) will host a variety of activities to resonate with the theme, Let cultural heritage by a part of modern life.

A series of activities will be held at heritage sites, museums, and libraries, aiming to encourage residents and tourists to visit the historic center of the city.

Among these will be the exhibition, Memories of Moments  Macau and Lusophone African and Asian Regions in Photograph Postcards, and the thematic exhibition, Exhibition of Pedro Nolasco da Silvas Book Collection, as well as lectures.

In addition to promotion of activities in the historic center, several heritage sites will offer free admission, according to a statement from the IC.

Memories of Moments is being organized by the Macau Archives in response to Chinas Cultural Heritage Day, and will be held between June 10 and December 4. The exhibition will feature a selection of illustrated postcards from the collection. They will provide a broader perspective of the urban-architectural, historic, natural and socioeconomics aspects of Macau and other Lusophone territories.

The exhibition will explore the different aspects of Angola, Cape Verde, the former Portuguese India, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tome and Principe, and East Timor, and their relationships with Macau.

Meanwhile, between June 10 and 18, the Pedro Nolasco da Silva exhibition will be held at the Library of the IACM Building as well as a lecture and guided tour.

Nolasco da Silva was an important Macanese official during the 19th century. His book collection according to the IC, is representative of his dedication to the promotion of the Chinese and Portuguese cultures.

Additionally, the Jao Tsung-I Academy invites residents to join a coloring activity and to experience the art of Chinese calligraphy and painting, using drawing paper with lotus paintings by Professor Jao Tsung-I. The activity, held between June 8 and 12, will provide participants an opportunity to enjoy Jaos calligraphy and painting masterpieces while coloring the sheets in their own creative style.

Moreover, the Chinese Orchestra will present a concert on June 18, called Chinese Rhapsody  Works by Peng Xiuwen.

The Guia Lighthouse will also participate in the cultural heritage activities, with special openings for the public between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on June 11 and 12.
The exhibition, Auguste Borget: Travelling Painter on the South China Coast, will be on show at the Museum of Art (MAM) between June 30 and October 9, featuring sketches, watercolors, oil paintings, prints and antique books with illustrations by the 19th century French painter, who vividly documented his experience of daily life in China.

Part of Le French May 2016, the exhibition will be presented by the Cultural Affairs Bureau and MAM, in collaboration with the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau and Alliance Francaise de Macao.

Auguste Borget (1808  1877) embarked on a four-year-long voyage around the world in October 1836, which took him from the Americas to the Far East. In July 1838, Borget arrived on the South China coast and spent over a year travelling in pre-British Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macau, spending most of his time here.



Upon his return to France in 1840, Borget painted the famous View of the Great Chinese Temple in Macao, presented at a salon in Paris and acquired by French King Louis-Philippe in 1841. The following year, Borget published Sketches of China and the Chinese, a richly illustrated volume with lithographic renderings of the scenes and landscapes that he had captured in China.

Among Borgets other famous works depicting Macau include an oil painting titled Outside the A-Ma Temple, Macao, and a watercolor and pencil piece called, Food Stalls in front of St. Dominics Church.

According to a press release from MAM, the works by Borget offer a unique view of the Pearl River Delta in the mid-19th century, and a glimpse of its folk customs and culture. According to the statement, it is a remarkable part of the rich legacy of Sino-Western cultural exchange.

The exhibition will be held in the Gallery of Special Exhibitions at MAM, open to the public between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. every day except Monday. Admission is MOP5 or free on Sundays and public holidays.
On Saturday, a Shenzhen ferry, identified as Taishan, collided with a local ferry that was anchored at the Macau Ferry Terminal. Two passengers aboard the Shenzhen ferry were allegedly injured, according to a report by Macao Daily News.

The accident occurred around 2.45 p.m., around the same time heavy rains engulfed the city. The ferry had sailed from Shekou, Shenzhen, to Macau, and was carrying 121 people, including 112 passengers and nine crew. The local ferry that was hit was only carrying ten crew members at the time of collision.

The two people injured were a 53-year-old male passenger from Taiwan and a 41-year-old female from the mainland. The mans neck and arm were reportedly injured, while the hand and head of the woman were injured.

The two boats only sustained slight damage to the front and rear. Operations at the ferry terminal were not affected by the accident, and all passengers onboard Taishan managed to enter Macau.

The Marine and Water Bureau will conduct an inspection of the Shenzhen ferry, according to the report.
Police in Cambodia blocked an opposition protest march yesterday, but avoided possible violence by allowing a convoy of opposition lawmakers to drive through to present a petition complaining of government intimidation to the king.

The compromise, which kept a large group of grassroots opposition supporters from marching to the royal palace, came after the two sides traded threats in reaction to intensifying government pressure on political opponents.

Critics say Prime Minister Hun Sen is stepping up his attacks on the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party to cripple it ahead of the 2018 general election. The opposition mounted a surprisingly strong challenge to Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party in the 2013 general election, which it says it would have won if the government had not committed alleged electoral fraud.

The government recently accused deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha of carrying on an illicit love affair. The tangled case, which began with recordings of intimate phone calls posted anonymously on the internet, has resulted in a series of charges and counter-charges that could lead to Kem Sokha losing his seat in Parliament, or even being imprisoned.

Earlier yesterday, at a National Assembly session boycotted by the opposition, government lawmakers voted to endorse court orders allowing the arrest of Kem Sokha.

The government pressure, which began last year, is widely seen as aimed at weakening the opposition by depriving it of strong, charismatic leadership. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy is in exile to avoid imprisonment over a separate legal matter also seen as politically motivated.

Police set up a roadblock yesterday about 500 meters from the opposition party headquarters, from which more than 1,000 followers were planning to march to the royal palace to present a petition to King Norodom Sihamoni to support their demand that the government stop arresting and intimidating opposition members.

After a standoff of about an hour, during which tensions were high but no clashes broke out, 23 vehicles carrying opposition officials were allowed to pass through. Police Col. Prum Channa said the opposition supporters lacked legal permission to march and could harm public order. A crowd of government supporters was also on the streets, but in a different location.

Yesterday, opposition lawmaker Eng Chhai Eang told a crowd of cheering party members in front of the groups headquarters that the petition had been handed over to palace officials. He said the party would do its best to protect the rule of law from being abused by the government. AP
The latest crime statistics released yesterday show that the police authorities filed 3,333 criminal reports in total during this years first quarter. The figure represents a decrease of 255 cases (7.1 percent) compared to the same period last year.

The Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak, said during a press conference that 626 crimes were committed against individuals, representing a 2.8 percent increase. These incidents primarily consisted of cases commonly known as illegal imprisonment, a category which saw a significant increase by 89 cases, representing an increase of 32.8 percent. Most of these cases are gaming related.

Crimes against property decreased by 8.6 percent, corresponding to a total of 1,914 cases. Despite the decrease in both robbery and theft, extortion and usury have increased remarkably by 73.3 percent and 55.9 percent respectively.

Regarding the so-called crimes against society, a total of 186 cases were reported indicating a decrease of 27.9 percent, wherein the largest decrease was of arson cases by 80 percent.

The number of forged statements decreased by 28 from last year. There were also 334 cases (0.9 percent decrease) related to the employment of illegal immigrants, illegal hosts, and illegal assistance.

Moreover, cases that involved drug dealing and drug usage increased by 71.4 percent (to 48 cases) and 38.9 percent (to 25 cases) respectively.

With regard to violent crimes, there were 181 cases registered in total, and they were related to illegal imprisonment and drug dealing. No murders happened in the first quarter, and only one case was registered that resulted in a seriously wounded person.

In the first quarter, 1,615 people were arrested and sent to prosecution authorities, an increase of 221 people, and 15.9 percent, compared to last year. Regarding juvenile delinquency, 16 cases were reported, six more than last year; 28 of the involved individuals were still minors.

According to the data released, human smuggling and overstaying in the city significantly dropped to a total of 7,431 people. With respect to mainland people, 328 were involved in smuggling operations and 944 over stayed in Macau. From other nationalities, the numbers were 620 and 67 respectively.

The police force recorded 1,277 cases related to violation of transportation regulations, a drop from 1,724 cases last year.
The University of Macau (UM) on Saturday held its Congregation 2016, presenting graduation certificates to over 1,400 graduates at a ceremony which had nearly 4,000 guests.

The Chief Executive, Chui Sai On, attended the ceremony and said in his speech that the university is instrumental in making Macau more competitive, adding that it is also playing a role in speeding up the citys economic diversification.

We are seeing a UM that is constantly perfecting itself and enjoys greater recognition, not least for the academic influence it yields, he said, cited by a UM press release.



The CE also noted that UMs quality of education is continuously improving and is showing a good momentum in nurturing talent within Macau society, as the institution continually strives for excellence in teaching, academics and research.

Meanwhile the institutions rector Wei Zhao congratulated all the graduates and advised them to remember the university motto; Lets not forget though on this joyous day what our universitys motto  Humanity, Integrity, Propriety, Wisdom and Sincerity  means to us, he said.

This year, UM graduated students of bachelors degree programs from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Faculty of Business Administration, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Science and Technology, and Faculty of Social Sciences. Among them, 46 have also completed programs from the Honors College.
Residents at Sundays public consultation on electoral reform have demanded greater representation through an increase in the number of directly-elected lawmakers, as well as a better system to regulate online campaigning ahead of next years Legislative Assembly (AL) elections.

The government has launched a 30-day public consultation period to collect opinions regarding the ALs Electoral Law revision the results of which will be presented in a summary report to the assembly later this year. Thus far a total of six public sessions have been held.

More than 200 residents attended Sundays consultation, some of whom called for more directly-elected seats in the 33-member body. At present, just 14 of the 33 lawmakers are chosen via popular vote, while 12 are delegated by interest groups and seven are appointed by the chief executive.

The issue of insufficient directly-elected lawmakers has always bothered most of us residents, said a female resident as cited by TDM. Decisions made by them or by the appointed lawmakers are basically the same, since most of them are from the business sector.

Arent elections all about [justness] and fairness? I think its a very reasonable request to ask for more directly-elected lawmakers and to cut down on the number of appointed lawmakers, another resident remarked according to TDM.

Other residents present at the public consultation criticized the governments lack of oversight regarding online campaigning done by candidates during the election period.

One idea would be to introduce a reward system for people who report election irregularities to authorities, similar to a scheme that is in operation in Taiwan.

The director of the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau, Kou Peng Kuan, informed attendees that his organization will start to work on the report to detail the responses from the consultation period, which he hopes to present to the AL in July. DB
Chinas decision to allow all married couples to have two children is driving a surge in demand for fertility treatment among older women, putting heavy pressure on clinics and breaking down past sensitivities, and even shame, about the issue.

The rise in in vitro fertilization points to the deferred dreams of many parents who long wanted a second child, but were prevented by a strict population control policy in place for more than 30 years.

That, in turn, is shifting prevailing attitudes in China regarding fertility treatments  formerly a matter of such sensitivity that couples were reluctant to tell even their parents or other family members that they were having trouble conceiving.

More and more women are coming to ask to have their second child, said Dr. Liu Jiaen, who runs a private hospital in Beijing treating infertility through IVF, in which an egg and sperm are combined in a laboratory dish and the resulting embryo transferred to a womans uterus.

Liu estimated that the numbers of women coming to him for IVF had risen by 20 percent since the relaxation of the policy, which came into effect at the start of the year. Before, the average age of his patients was about 35. Now most of them are older than 40 and some of the women are fast approaching 50, he said.

Chen Yun is 39 and was in the hospital waiting to have the procedure for the first time. She and her husband already have a 7-year-old son and their families are encouraging them to have a second child. We are coming to the end of our child-bearing years. It may be difficult for me to get pregnant naturally because my husbands sperm may have a problem, so we want to resolve this problem through IVF, she said.

Chen said she hoped having a brother or sister would make their son happier, more responsible and less self-absorbed.

We had siblings when we were children. I had a younger sister and we felt very happy when playing together, she said. Now that every couple has one child, two generations  parents and grandparents  take care of the child. They give the only child too much attention. If her son has a younger brother or sister to look out for, he may not think too much about himself like a little emperor, Chen said.

Over the past two decades, IVF technology has developed rapidly in China, where about 10 percent of couples are estimated to need the procedure to conceive. In 2014, 700,000 women had IVF treatments, according to the health commissions Womens and Childrens Department.

Previously, China limited most urban couples to one child and rural couples to two if their first was a girl. There were exceptions for ethnic minorities, and city dwellers could break the policy if they were willing to pay a fee calculated at several times a households annual income.

While authorities credit the policy introduced in 1979 with preventing 400 million extra births, many demographers argue the fertility rate would have fallen anyway as Chinas economy developed and education levels rose.

Intended to curb a surging population, the policy has been blamed for skewing Chinas demographics by reducing the size of the future workforce.

It also inflated the ratio of boys to girls as female fetuses were selectively aborted, while compelling many women to have forced abortions or give up their second children for adoption, leaving many families devastated.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission said in November that 90 million women would become eligible to have a second child following the policy change. Authorities expect that will add 30 million people to the countrys labor force by 2050. AP
Hong Kong Cantopop superstar Hacken Lee shared the stage with HK-pop diva Joey Yung at the Cotai Arena of The Venetian on Saturday night as they presented their joint concert Hacken Lee & Joey Yung Live Around the World in Macao to their fans in the city.

Hacken and Joey first collaborated in 2005 and their debut song has won numerous awards in the music industry. Hacken Lee & Joey Yung Live Around the World, a performance with Love as its central theme, is set to be their best collaboration to date, according to Sands Chinas statement.

The two powerful vocals started the concert with their classic hit songs, which instantly set the atmosphere in the arena. The press release stated that the innovative center stage design, stunning visual effects, magnificent costumes and the distinctive voices along with all of the songs of the duo, impressed fans.

aux beaux arts to present 5-course french menu

To compliment the concurrent Edgar Degas: Figures in Motion art exhibition at MGM Art Space, Aux Beaux Arts of MGM will present the Belle Epoque prix fixe menu in June which will allow gourmands to embark on a culinary journey to one of the most vibrant periods in European history.

According to MGMs press release, chefs at Aux Beaux Arts will follow classic French culinary techniques to recreate the unique taste of the Golden Age.

The Entree features Oyster in Champagne sabayon, alongside a refreshing soup Entree, Chicken Consomme a la dOrleans.

The fish course, Turbot with diplomate sauce, white asparagus and chervil, will feature French turbot fish covered in the creamy veloute sauce enhanced with fish stock, cubes of lobster meat, black truffles and homegrown chervil, served on a bed of white asparagus, according to the companys statement.

MGM added that there would be a meat course, Roasted Beef tenderloin topped with foie gras, mushroom and duchesse potato, and that the menu would end with Neapolitan Ice-Cream.
Singapores property market may be closer to a bottom than Hong Kong, according to LaSalle Investment Management, which oversees more than USD58 billion in real estate funds.

Governments in Asias two most expensive residential markets have imposed curbs in recent years to tame prices and improve affordability. As demand has dropped amid a slowdown in the regions economies, home prices in both cities are in the midst of a correction.

Hong Kong and Singapore are in a different cycle, LaSalles Chris Chow said in an interview. Although Hong Kong also has government austerity measures for residential, that hasnt really translated into actual price correction until recently even though the measures came in a couple of years before.



In Hong Kong, prices surged 370 percent from their 2003 trough through a peak in September before the correction began, as fears of a slowing economy in China damped sales. Home prices in Hong Kong have dropped about 13 percent since September. Prices in Singapore have fallen 1.2 percent since September and 9 percent from the peak in 2013 as property curbs cooled demand. Singapore prices had surged 92 percent from 2003 until the record set in September 2013.

Hong Kongs office market is still seeing strong demand from Chinese investors for core office buildings in the central business district, Chow said. LaSalle has been stepping back from investments in Hong Kong for a few years, even though they may yield good returns, because the risk is not justified at the current level, he said.

A turning point in Singapores property cycle is probably closer and more advanced than Hong Kong, so we feel the market is bottoming out, Chow said.

LaSalle is focusing on investments in China and Japan, especially in the logistics sector, Chow said. The asset manager, which has three logistics funds in Japan, is planning more investments in the country as modern warehouses are less than 10 percent of the total stock, so there is potential for upgrading demand, he said.

As of March, LaSalle had about $7 billion of its assets invested in the Asia-Pacific region. LaSalle plans to raise its fifth Asia Opportunity Fund after it has almost fully invested the fourth fund. It raised $585 million for the fourth fund in 2014, targeting investments in China, Japan, South Korea and Australia. Pooja Thakur Mahrotri, Klaus Wille , Bloomberg
Rescuers in Thailand searched Friday for a British man who was still missing after a speedboat packed with tourists capsized near the popular resort island of Koh Samui, leaving three women dead, officials said.

The boat, carrying 32 tourists and four crew members, capsized Thursday afternoon because of strong winds and high waves, said Pichet Sudduan, a port official. A Briton and German were found dead at the scene Thursday, and the body of a woman from Hong Kong woman was found Friday morning, police Maj. Gen. Apichart Boonsriraj said.

The boats occupants were thrown overboard and some were trapped under the vessel when it capsized. At least one person was pulled out after rescuers used hammers to smash a hole in the vessels hull.



Four people remained hospitalized Friday out of the 28 who received medical treatment, said Dr. Theerasak Viriyanon. He said one of the four has a fractured shoulder and another has a fractured skull. The other two suffered from a lack of oxygen and are being monitored for lung infections.

The boats captain, Sanan Seekakiaw, is being held by police for investigation and faces a possible charge of reckless endangerment causing death, punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

Sanan said the boat was traveling at about 10 knots (18 kilometers or 11 miles an hour) when high waves crashed onto its bow and overturned the vessel. He said he had asked all tourists to wear life vests but some had taken theirs off during the journey.
Due to its central location, Senado Square has become a hotbed of protests. People living and working around the area have been complaining of the constant noise.

The Macau General Union of Neighborhood Association branch for Largo de Sao Domingos and Rua dos Mercadores has reportedly received a considerable number of complaints about Macau Federation Family Reunions (MFFR) constant demonstrations in Senado Square.

The elderly group erected tents, and raised flags in order to support their loud appeals. Moreover, during the demonstrations, the group resorted to banging drums frequently, which reportedly bothered retailers working nearby.



Though the drumming has stopped in recent times, loud recordings of the specific appeals are still being played throughout the day at the square.

A clothes retail owner, working close to the square, became emotional when asked by the Times about the ongoing situation. I have nothing else to say about this, I am tired! the woman said. Another vendor, who is located next to her shop, told the Times that retailers have been feeling annoyed for a while, consequently filing complaints on several occasions. However, the group has continued to protest around the well-known tourist spot.

Previously, the group would gather at Senado Square alongside the fountain, which is closer to the Civic and Municipal Bureau (IACM). Now, the group has moved to the other side of the fountain, further from the road. Lei, an employee of a jewelry chain company, told the Times that his company had complained to the IACM a month ago. They are indeed a little bit further, the noise has decreased, but it is still possible to hear it, he said.

Lei Lok Lan, president of the MFFR, earlier told the Times that the group has continuously been participating in demonstrations at Senado Square for almost three months.

According to a sign left next to a speaker yesterday, the demonstrations have been ongoing for 89 days. Staff reporter
Famous for its efforts to put women on an equal footing with men, Sweden is experiencing a gender balance shift that has caught the country by surprise: For the first time since record-keeping began in 1749, it now has more men than women.

Swedes dont quite know what to make of this sudden male surplus, which is highly unusual in the West, where women historically have been in the majority in almost every country. But it may be a sign of things to come in Europe as changes in life expectancy and migration transform demographics.

This is a novel phenomenon for Europe, said Francesco Billari, a University of Oxford demographer who is president of the European Association for Population Studies. We as researchers have not been on top of this.

The tipping point in Sweden happened in March last year, when population statistics showed 277 more men than women. The gap has since grown to beyond 12,000. While thats still small in a population of almost 10 million, its not unreasonable to suspect that Sweden will have a big male surplus in the future, said Tomas Johansson, a population expert at the national statistics agency, SCB.

Despite a natural birth rate of about 105 boys born for every 100 girls, European women have historically outnumbered men because they live longer. An Associated Press analysis of national and European Union population statistics suggests women will remain in the majority in most European countries for decades to come. But the number of men per 100 women, known as the sex ratio, is increasing, slowly in Europe as a whole and quickly in some northern and central European countries.

Norway swung to a male surplus in 2011, four years before Sweden, while Denmark and Switzerland are nearing a sex ratio of 100. Germany, which had an unnatural deficit of men after two world wars, has seen its sex ratio jump from 87 in 1960 to 96 last year. Meanwhile, Britains sex ratio rose from 93 to 97 in the same period. British statistics officials project that men will be in the majority by 2050.

Researchers dont have a clear idea of what happens to a society when the population becomes more masculine.

Tomas Sobotka, of the Vienna Institute of Demography, said in theory a male surplus could increase the bargaining power of women by allowing them to be choosier when picking a partner. But they could also face an increased risk of harassment from frustrated males struggling to find a mate.

Swedens rapid shift to a male majority  which experts didnt see coming just 10 years ago  has triggered debate among some feminists about the potential impact on women in one of the worlds most egalitarian countries.

Statistics officials say Swedens demographic shift is mainly due to men catching up with women in terms of life expectancy. But the arrival in recent years of tens of thousands of unaccompanied teenage boys from Afghanistan, Syria and North Africa is also having a significant impact.

Swedens biggest male surplus is in the 15-19 age group, where there are 108 boys for every 100 girls. That imbalance could grow to 115-to-100 this year when the impact of last years record number of asylum-seekers  including more than 35,000 unaccompanied minors  is reflected in the population statistics.

Valerie Hudson, director of a program on women, peace and security at Texas A&M University, said this should make Swedes concerned, because her research has linked skewed sex ratios in China and India to more violence against women and higher crime levels.

Whats happening in Sweden, Hudson said, is one of the most dramatic alterations of demography over such a short period of time that Ive ever seen. She called it ironic that a country considered a beacon of womens rights isnt paying more attention to the issue.

Are people thinking about whether this could undermine the gains that have been made by Swedish women over the last 150 years? Hudson said.

Other feminist researchers disagree.

Hogwash, said Jacqui True, a professor of politics and international relations at Monash University in Australia.

How many men there are in a population matters less than how much a society is shaped by hyper-masculine gender characteristics such as aggression and hierarchies where males are preferred, True said.

Annick Wibben, of the University of San Francisco, said gender equality is so deeply embedded in Swedish society that comparisons with China or India, where sex-selective abortions have resulted in unnatural surpluses of men, dont tell you much.

The way in which masculinity works in different societies needs to be taken into account, she said.

In Sweden, theres been little discussion about the surplus, perhaps because of the link to immigration, a sensitive subject in the Nordic country.

Equality Minister Asa Regner, of the governing Social Democrats, twice turned down requests to be interviewed. The main opposition party, the center-right Moderates, also declined to comment.

Elsewhere in Europe, the gender balance is stable or tipping further in favor of women in some countries, including Italy, Spain and Greece. But overall, the proportion of men in the 28-nation European Union is increasing slowly, according to the blocs statistics agency, Eurostat.

Last year there were 12 million more women than men in the EU, which has a population of just over 500 million people. That gap is projected to narrow in coming decades mainly because of the decreasing gap in life expectancy, said Eurostat spokeswoman Baiba Grandovska.

Experts say men, particularly in western Europe, are living healthier lives than their fathers, drinking and smoking less, and benefiting from better treatment of heart disease. In wealthy countries, men have moved away from mining and other dangerous occupations to safer white-collar jobs.

Eurostat projects the male-female gap will dip below 1 million in 2080. But such projections are highly uncertain, as the Swedish example shows. Karl Ritter, Stockholm, AP
FRESNO, Calif.  Water regulators recommend dismissing a historic $1.4 million fine issued at the height of Californias drought last summer against a group of Central Valley farmers accused of taking river water that didnt belong to them.

It marks a sharp reversal to the first of such fines against a district with claims to water that are a century old. Entities with those rights have long enjoyed immunity from cutbacks.

In a draft order, the State Water Recourses Control Board said Thursday that its prosecutors failed to prove its case against Byron-Bethany Irrigation District.

The case should not have dragged on this long, said attorney Dan Kelly, who represented Byron-Bethany, a district that serves 160 farms east of San Francisco.

The prosecution team certainly held this out as a test case, something that would teach everyone not to ignore the state water board, Kelly said. The fact that they didnt have sufficient evidence to prove what they were alleging is troubling.

The water board also recommended dropping a similar civil case against West Side Irrigation District, which serves farmers near Tracy. State officials had not proposed a fine for West Side.

The turn-around raises several questions, said attorney Jeanne Zolezzi, who represents West Side.

Theres a real question whether the state board is the policeman of how much water is in the river and who should be able to take it, said Zolezzi, noting that has historically been left to the courts to decide.

After the state issued its complaints, both districts asked for a hearing. The states prosecutors put on its case in March, and two state water board officials overseeing the hearing abruptly halted it before the districts could put on their cases in defense.

The draft order dismissing the cases says the water enforcement officials couldnt explain the basis for alleging that the district took more water than they had a right to take.

State Water Board spokesman George Kostyrko said the allegations appeared to be true when they were first made at the height of Californias drought, when hundreds of farmers throughout the state were being ordered to stop taking river water.

A fair and impartial hearing process showed otherwise, he said.

This happened during a fourth and very crucially dry year in California, he said. It appeared that some parties had been taking water that didnt belong to them.

The full State Water Resources Control Board must approve the dismissals before they become final.

Attorneys for both districts said they will seek damages and attorneys fees from the state in court. For Byron-Bethany, Kelly said that will be more than $1 million.

The prosecution team certainly held this out as a test case, something that would teach everyone not to ignore the state water board. The fact that they didnt have sufficient evidence to prove what they were alleging is troubling. Dan Kelly, attorney for Byron-Bethany Irrigation District
BOISE  Federal officials have released a plan to close about 30 square miles of grazing allotments to domestic sheep and goats in west-central Idaho to protect bighorn sheep from diseases.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Managements release of the final supplemental environmental impact statement closing three allotments starts a protest period that runs through June 19.

Two of the allotments are east of Riggins near the Salmon River and one is to the south along the Little Salmon River.

None of the allotments currently have domestic sheep, one because of a court order following a lawsuit.

The document released earlier this month replaces a 2008 plan that drew protests.

BLM officials say the new plan is partly based on a better understanding of the risks to bighorns of diseases transmitted by domestic sheep.
BOISE  As snows recede and temperatures go up, state noxious weed officials are warning the time is here for the renewal of the annual battle for Idahos lands and waters.

Noxious weeds are a serious issue that needs the cooperation of farmers, ranchers, conservationists, sportsmen, landowners, state and federal agencies and anyone who owns land or cares about Idahos agriculture, ecology and economy, said Roger Batt, Idaho Weed Awareness Campaign coordinator.

More than five-dozen non-native noxious plants have been introduced (often accidentally) by humans into Idaho. Here they have thrived in new areas choking out crops and native plants, rendering once-valuable lands useless and providing poor habitat for wild game and other animals. One of Idahos aquatic noxious weeds (Eurasian watermilfoil) has the potential to impact waterways, destroy fisheries, and hinder power generation.

Noxious weeds destroy Idahos wildlife habitat. They diminish property values on lakes and on the land and they are now threatening Idahos waterways, recreation and our way of life, Batt said.

The result this year alone will be approximately $300 million in direct damages to Idahos economy. Nationally, noxious weeds undermine the productivity of 64-crops accounting for an estimated loss of $37 billion.

Weed officials say Idaho landowners are the states first line of defense against noxious weeds.

Many landowners mistakenly think its the responsibility of state or local government to take care of everyones noxious weeds, but noxious weed officials are quick to point out thats not how the law reads. Idaho law places the responsibility for control of noxious weeds on the landowner, whether it is public or private land.

That responsibility fixed on the property owner means it is critical that Idaho landowners take action against noxious weeds on their land before these weeds can spread. Now more than ever, what Idaho needs is the support of landowners in battling the spread of noxious and other invasive weeds, weed officials emphasized.
TWIN FALLS  Increasing awareness about the importance of soil health has led to a perplexing question: how do you measure soil health?

Microbes in the soil that convert plant material into nutrients that plants can utilize are often too small to be seen, let alone counted. By some estimates, a single teaspoon  1 gram  of rich soil can hold up to one billion bacteria, several yards of fungal filaments, several thousand protozoa, and scores of nematodes. Most of these creatures are so exceedingly small that earthworms and millipedes are giants in comparison.

Farmers are more interested in how much nitrogen will be released by the microbes and when that nitrogen will be available to the growing plant than they are in the number of bacteria or fungi. But determining the answers to those questions is nearly as difficult as counting the microbes themselves.

Scientists have studied soil fertility for over 150 years but still havent developed a widely accepted nitrogen mineralization test. Discovering that method would be a giant step forward in both determining soil health and also refinining nutrient recommendations.

We want to give the crop what it needs (nutritionally) and leave as little behind as possible, said Chris Rogers, University of Idaho barley agronomist. Leaving nutrients in the soil increases the possibility of leaching, which can impact both surface and ground water quality.

Traditional soil tests measure how much nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and organic matter are available in the soil profile at the time the soil sample was taken. Farmers and agronomists can use those results to determine how much commercial fertilizer to apply to reach crop yield and quality goals.

But when farmers are adding manure or growing cover crops, those traditional tests may not capture the total amount of nutrients available because mineralization is dependent on factors such as soil temperature and moisture.

Rogers is evaluating several new soil tests that claim to measure soil health.

Can we correlate it? Can we replicate it? Can we calibrate it to crop response? These are the questions Rogers asks of each soil test protocol he evaluates.

He is excited about a test being developed that uses direct steam distillation to measure nitrogen mineralization and give farmers a better estimate of when crops will be able to take up the nitrogen in manure or decomposing cover crops. Although the procedure sounds promising, many years of work and field trials to correlate the soil test with crop yields and quality is still needed.

The usefulness of any soil test depends on whether we can correlate and colloborate it with crop response, he explained.

Including field trials to evaluate crop response to soil testing could improve nitrogen recommendations. Sugar content in beets, for example, can decrease if the plant ties up too much nitrogen late in the growing season.

When you do a soil test you want to know what to do with the result, Rogers said.

Amber Moore, University of Idaho Extension soil specialist, has seen the benefits of using manure and cover crops to increase soil organic matter, often considered a marker for soil health. She recommends that growers do both traditional soil tests plus manure nutrient tests to get the best possible information about nutrient availability and soil trends.

We need to be conscientious, she said, particularly when applying manure. Apply reasonable amounts and give the field a rest.

Rogers and Moore encourage farmers to continue to use traditional soil tests analyzed in regional laboratories for their fertility recommendations. A test developed in Illinois for use in acid soils will give far different results than one developed for alkaline soils like those found in southern Idaho.

We know we need better tests for predicting nitrogen release from the soil itself, from manure, from cover crops, Moore said. But until those new and improved tests can be reviewed and the results correlated with crop response, using the traditional soil tests for N, P and K is still the best choice for crop fertility recommendations.

Id be wary of using these new tests even for soil health at this point.

We want to give the crop what it needs and leave as little behind as possible. Chris Rogers, University of Idaho barley agronomist
The committee, which consists of three Urban Renewal Agency board members and was created by the URA board earlier this month to split oversight responsibilities on the project with the URA's executive director, will meet at 10 a.m. in Conference Room No. 2, at City Hall.
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.
JEROME  Gretchen Hansten was inspired to give back to her community after returning from the National FFA Organizations annual Washington Leadership Conference.

At the conference, she and other FFA members helped package 60,000 meals that would be distributed to food banks and pantries.

When she returned home, she organized a meal-packaging event and motivated more than 40 of her classmates to help her out.

They packaged 10,000 meals May 17, inside Jerome High Schools gymnasium. Students packaged macaroni, soy protein flour and a cheese packet.

Hansten, a senior at JHS, has been involved in FFA for all four years of high school and is states FFA president. She plans to study agriculture education at the University of Idaho.

Its really cool to see kids come and out serve, Hansten said. With social media, we get so absorbed in our own lives that we forget we have to give back.

The Idaho Foodbank will distribute the food the students packaged to partners in the Magic Valley. Mike Sharp, spokesman for the Idaho Foodbank, said food drives like the one Hansten organized are much more rare in the spring and summer than they are in the winter during the holiday months. The Idaho Foodbank serves 63,000 people every month.

The donations do decrease, Sharp said. That is a decrease from the holiday months, when lots of people are doing food drives. In the summer, that level of attention diminishes, but the need doesnt disappear. The same number of people who are hungry in December are hungry in July.

Because children are out of school during the summer, you also have to factor in all the school-age children that relied on free or reduced lunches.

Now those parents are having to find ways to feed them, Sharp said.

Sharp said the amount of food the nonprofit provides to Idaho families and individuals is steadily increasing each year. Last year, the Idaho Foodbank distributed 13.4 million meals worth of food. In 2014, they distributed 12.4 million meals worth of food. In 2013, they gave out 9.5 million meals worth of food.

And while the Idaho Foodbank serves 163,000 people every month, there is an estimated 240,000 who still need food assistance.

Thats where local food banks and food pantries step in, he said.

Angie Rice helps her husband, Jim Rice, run the Wendell Food Pantry. Jim is the director of the nonprofit in Wendell, run by seven volunteers.

Our donations seem to be down during the summer because most donations come in the fall, Angie said.

In the past two years, the demand for food has gone from less than 100 clients to 300 a week at the most.

I dont know if thats people needing more food, Angie said. Or the fact we brought in more food. Last summer we noticed the increase. Weve really gotten a lot more people after Christmas.

Angie said her husband has been trying to get more advertisement out about the pantry and what it offers. He has also approached businesses like Chobani and Glanbia, asking for donations.

His goal is to bring healthier and fresher food into the bank, she said. Hes really strict on keeping everything fresh and healthy. We have a lot of families and a lot more kids he tries to keep it healthy for the children.

He has also worked with a local lettuce company and fish farm to provide fish and three kind of lettuce and spinach to the food bank. But, Angie said, Simerlys Market in Wendell has been the food banks biggest supporter. The grocery store donates food, freezer space and money.

You have to go out there and talk to people, Angie said. My husband is always on the phone. People need to get out there and ask.

Susan Guinn, social service director at the Salvation Army of Twin Falls, said spring donations have decreased this year. A food drive facilitated by the Boy Scouts in April and the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive held by the U.S. Postal Service in May brought in less donations than last year. In 2015, they received 220 boxes and this year they got 168 boxes.

But despite a decrease, the Salvation Army shared this food with other agencies such as Valley House and Jubliee House.

Even though we could have kept it all, we decided they are doing just as much as we are, Guinn said. Different corporations seem to call us and I never say no to anything. I dont think they realize all the little food banks we have in Twin Falls. ...We try to be the hub sometimes, but sometimes there isnt enough hub to share the wealth. We want to be good stewards. We try to be good stewards.

In April, the Salvation Army gave 473 people food boxes and served 1,305 lunches.

We have new people coming in all the time, Guinn said. Toward the end of the month more people show up when food stamp money is running out.
A recent report on NPR began by noting that the arguments of many conservative Christians are being challenged by changing views in society. I wondered: Is there someone alive who doesnt know that already? The story went on to explain that some evangelicals are embracing liberal social views and some arentan observation made at least a thousand times before, and one entirely dependent on the nebulous descriptor evangelical.

One line in the story, though, stood out. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, remarked to the reporter: We are on the losing side of a massive change thats not going to be reversed, in all likelihood, in our lifetimes. In Mohlers view, the report went on, Christians must adapt to the changed cultural circumstances by finding a way to live faithfully in a world in which were going to be a moral exception. 

Hold on. A high-profile Southern Baptist just conceded that his side lost the culture war. If I had been the reporter, that would have been the story. Yes, Mohler is still enunciating traditionalist views on marriage and sexual morality, views that many on the other side find anachronistic and thus repugnant. But hes openly conceding that the cultural changes he laments wont be reversed by some fictional silent majority.

Nor is Mohler alone. Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, has frequently made the same sort of cheerful concession. After the Supreme Courts decision last year guaranteeing the right of same-sex couples to marry, Moore warned his co-religionists not to panic. Christianity doesnt need family values to flourish, he wrote in The Post. In fact, the church often thrives when it is in sharp contrast to the cultures around it.

Thats not what Jerry Falwell or James Dobson would have said. Absent is any vow to return the nation to its Judeo-Christian heritage or to take America back.

Hardened secularists, I imagine, will see only a rhetorical pivot in these and similar statements from religious conservatives. Mohler and Moore may now claim to relish the virtues of pluralism (so their critics may reason), but their rhetoric merely repackages the Moral Majoritarianism of 30 years ago.

I dont think so. Ideological lines in U.S. politics are shifting and blurring rapidly: The rise of Donald Trump, the popularity of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and the resurgence of libertarianism prove at least that much. Its reasonable to assume that religious conservatives, too, are rethinking their role in American society and politics.

That rethinking probably began in earnest with Richard John Neuhauss book The Naked Public Square in 1984. Neuhaus, acknowledging pluralism as a hard reality rather than condemning it as a temporary deviation, nonetheless sharply criticized the idea that the public sphere can have nothing to do with religiously informed principles and arguments. In 1990, he founded the influential magazine First Things, in which Catholic, Protestant and Jewish intellectuals reflect on the role of religion in Americas rapidly fragmenting society.

More recently, Notre Dame historian George Marsdena self-described Augustinian Christian and so something close to an evangelical, whatever that still meanshas argued in his book The Twilight of the American Enlightenment that religious traditionalists and secularist liberals can avoid a great deal of acrimony by defenestrating the midcentury idea of a neutral public sphere and instead adopting what he and others have termed principled pluralism. More recently still, in his new book The Fractured Republic, the scholar and journalist Yuval Levin, a Jewish social conservative, has counseled both religious conservatives and secularist liberals that they can repair our dysfunctional politics by comprehending the implications of this one essential truth: that American society is no longer the consolidated unit it once was but a diffuse assortment of subcultures.

True, many religious social conservatives still think its their duty to take America back, their disposition expressed in the fierce eloquence of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. But many do not. Many have finally given up on the whole idea of a culture war or are willing to admit they lost it. They are determined only to remain who they are and to live as amiably and productively as they can in a culture that doesnt look like them and doesnt belong to them.

In time, this shift in outlook may bring about a more peaceable public sphere. But that will depend on othersespecially the adherents of an ascendant social progressivismdeclining to take full advantage of their newfound cultural dominance. I see few signs of that, but I am hopeful all the same.
One of the hazards of punditry is a tendency to wrap things up in a neat package  a nice simple conclusion and overview of what usually was a messier reality.

Last week I pointed out a trend line in the recent Idaho primary election, in which relatively establishment conservative candidates, some challengers and others incumbents, tended to do better in seriously contested races than the more ideological insurgents. As a broad-picture view, I still think that was a reasonable take.

But a series of communications from the field over the last week reminded me that elections are a more complex thing than one simple trend line will allow. Why did someone win or lose? The reasons may be many, and the big picture might be only a piece of the story. And maybe not so big a piece.

One of the key primary contests was in District 15, in western Boise, where incumbent Patrick McDonald was challenged by Rod Beck, a veteran of legislative campaigns. Beck has been allied with the more insurgent side of the party, and McDonald with the more establishment conservatives (he got primary backing from Gov. C.L. Butch Otter, Sen. Jim Risch and others). The race fit within the overall trend.

But there was more to it than that. One caller pointed out that McDonald and other Republicans in the district organized hard and pursued door-knocking intensively, even trying to visit every registered Republican in the district several times. That as much as other considerations probably paid off on election day.

In District 23, centered around Elmore County, Republican voters tossed out both incumbent House members  Pete Nielsen, given to viral quotes and sort of a member of the insurgent side, but also the much less controversial Rich Wills, backed by more establishment conservatives like Otter. Nielsens loss fit within the framework, but people who have watched the race develop note that personal and campaigning factors played a role there. Why did Wills lose? I suspect one factor is that he was pulled in by the undertow; when Nielsen got only 22.1 percent of the vote, and Wills lost with 44.9 percent, its easy to suspect a spillover effect was involved. But so too may have been a strong campaign from Wills opponent, Christy Zito.

Then theres the case of Ron Nate of Rexburg, who narrowly survived a challenge from Doug Ricks. Ricks was a newly-minted candidate, but he was well positioned. Like Nate he worked at Brigham Young University-Idaho, and his father is the veteran former state senator and Lt. Gov. Mark Ricks, a significant figure among establishment Republicans; Otter endorsed the younger Ricks in the primary. Nate was top-ranked in the Idaho Freedom Foundations Freedom Index, which loosely helps measure where youre at on the insurgent-establishment scale. A high rank like Nates marks you as an insurgent and Ricks campaign zeroed in on Nates opposition to school spending bills and other insurgent causes.

The result was close; Nate won with 51.6 percent, a thin lead for an incumbent. But he didnt come across like many of the insurgents from, say, northern Idaho. His language and tone seemed lower-key (befitting the Rexburg ethos).

And the insurgent side did score a few wins, even taking out a couple of legislators (Merrill Beyeler from Leadore and Paul Romrell from St. Anthony).

Overall, I think the initial impression of what happened stands. But theres also a lot more to see in the details.
Chief Negotiator Mohammed Alloush of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC,) a Syrian opposition coalition, twitted on Sunday that he was resigning.

The three rounds of talks (with President Assads government) were unsuccessful because of the stubbornness of the regime and its continued bombardments and aggressions towards the Syrian people, he added in his tweet.

Speaking to Al Jazeera later, he mentioned among the reasons that also led to his decision the failure of the peace talks to stop the bloodshed of our people and to secure the release of thousands of detainees or to push Syria towards a political transition without al-Assad and his criminal gang.

Alloush who said he fears that the stalemate could continue called on the international community to put serious pressure on Russia and Assad to stop the killing of our people.

Alloush is a member of the Jaish al-Islam faction in Syria. It is still unclear how his decision will affect the Riyadh-based HNC even though there is no date for another round of negotiations with Damascus.

Speculations have been surging that more departures could follow with reports that another senior member of the coalition warned that he may follow Alloushs footsteps.

HNC has positioned itself as a major opposition group in the talks but its influence in the talks could be weathered in case of mass resignation of senior officers.

Talks are not progressing as Damascus maintains its rigid stance against the oppositions proposal of a post-war Syria with the definite exclusion of President Assad.

UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, had told the UN Security Council in a briefing last week that he intends to hold another round of talks as soon as feasible. This may be from the second week of June onwards.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday said his administration will continue to crackdown on militants attacking oil pipelines in the Delta but also announced talks with leaders in the region to address their grievances.

The recent spate of attacks by militants disrupting oil and power installations will not distract us from engaging leaders in the region in addressing Niger Delta problems, President Muhammadu Buhari said in a televised speech marking his first year in office.

Buhari said the government was committed to a clean-up of polluted areas.

I believe the way forward is to take a sustainable approach to address the issues that affect the Delta communities.

We shall apprehend the perpetrators and their sponsors and bring them to justice, he said.

The amnesty program, launched in 2009 after years of violence by militant groups demanding a better share of the oil wealth, provided wages to about 30,000 ex-militants and training opportunities.

Last week, Britain and Western allies have told Buhari that moving in troops to the Niger Delta would not be enough to stop the attacks and that the populations grievances would have to be dealt with.

In a statement, the army said it had exchanged gunfire with militants attacking a crude pipeline run by Italys ENI, hours after a group called Niger Delta Avengers militants claimed another strike against oil facilities.

The group has also warned of more attacks, advising oil companies in the region to evacuate their staff.
Five UN peacekeepers from Togo were killed in an ambush against a convoy of the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) on Sunday, the United Nations said.

The five soldiers convoy was attacked 30 kilometers west of Sevare in the northern region of Kidal, the UN said.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack, calling terrorism one of the most serious threats to internal peace and security in the country.

The Secretary General extended his heartfelt condolences to the families of the five peacekeepers and to the Government and people of Togo, and called for swift action to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.

MINUSMA head Mahamat Saleh Annadif also condemned the attack as an odious act of terror.

I most strongly condemn this abject crime which adds to other terrorist acts targeting our peacekeepers and which constitute crimes against humanity under international law, said Mahamat Saleh Annadif.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

With Sundays attack, at least 64 MINUSMA peacekeepers were killed while on active service. Another four died in friendly fire incidents, UN figures show.
Senegalese President Macky Sall, this weekend, opened a national dialogue bringing together all stakeholders to discuss constitutional reforms in the West-African nation.

The first of its kind since Macky Sall came to power in 2012, the national dialogue convened at the Presidential palace will discuss 15 points approved at the May 20 referendum.The reduction of the presidential term from 7 to 5 years is expected to top the agenda.

The forum is also expected to discuss the creation of parliamentary seats for Senegalese diaspora, as well as health, education and security issues.

According to President Sall, the reforms are vital to bolster Senegals already stable democracy.

He highlighted several key points that he and his government wished to discuss with all parties to ensure national consensus.

Among them is the issue of the oil and gas discovered in Senegal and the way to exploit it to the benefit of the masses and not for few as seen in most countries.

He also noted the importance of security in any nation with oil and gas urging all to avoid a replica of what happens in Nigeria.

The Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS,) the leading opposition party headed by former President Abdoulaye Wade, was represented at the ceremony, despite the imprisonment of its most likely presidential candidate Karim Wade.
The Zika epidemic has long assumed global proportions, experts told the Congress of the European Academy of Neurology in Copenhagen. Europe needs to get prepared to deal with the relentless spread of the health threat, in particular with a view to "imported" infection. Awareness for prevention and personal protection is important, in particular with thousands of athletes and fans soon travelling to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, a region particularly hit by the virus.

"Time is not on our side. The Zika virus is more and more not only showing its ugly face, but also its potential to go truly global", Prof Raad Shakir (London, UK), President of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) told the Second Congress of the European Academy of Neurology which is taking place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The global Zika virus epidemic, its neurological angle and its implications for Europe are among the topical issues discussed at this major medical meeting. "We clearly see a relentless spread of the epidemic, and Europe will not be spared from this development."

Neurological expertise crucial to deal with Zika consequences

"Neurological expertise will be crucial to deal with the consequences of Zika", Prof Shakir stressed. "The WFN has recently established a working group in support of the efforts of international organisations, agencies and governments in response to the Zika crisis." One important task the group of high level experts is currently undertaking is the development of formal guidelines outlining diagnostic criteria for neurological complications of the Zika virus.

There are many misunderstandings and a lack of awareness about the actual risks involved in Zika virus infections, the WFN President said. "Many people still seem to believe that only pregnant women should be concerned because of the devastating foetal malformations when the infection is acquired during pregnancy, such as microcephaly. While this is, indeed, a particularly tragic consequence of the virus, we need to be aware that infected persons are also at risk of developing serious neurological conditions such as Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), myelitis or meningoencephalitis. But the full spectrum of neurological complications from this viral infection still remains unknown."

While the effects of Zika on the adult nervous system are still being studied and not fully understood, preliminary findings such as a recent study from Brazil published in The Lancet suggest that exposure to the virus increases the odds for GBS 60 fold. GBS leads to paralysis due to immunological effects of the virus. Morbidity and mortality are high. In the absence of supportive treatment, more than five percent of affected individuals will die.

Europe will not be spared

"Europe certainly needs to get prepared, just as other parts of the world, to cope with the consequences of the fact that the geographical distribution of the virus is steadily and rapidly expanding," said John England, Professor of neurology at Louisiana State University in New Orleans and chair of the WFN Zika Working Group. "The most recent WHO document places most of Europe in a low to moderate risk category mosquito transmission of Zika. The exceptions are where Aedes mosquitos are known to exist. I believe that in Europe, the concern should mainly be about people contracting Zika elsewhere and then returning to Europe.

We have already seen a number of person-to-person transmissions in Europe, inter alia in Germany and France. A case of possibly Zika-related microcephaly is under verification in Spain and a case of GBS associated with Zika virus infection has already been reported in a returning traveller to the Netherlands. The Rio Olympics are a special epidemiological risk since so many people are expected to go there. It would be unrealistic not to assume that we will see more imported cases after thousands of athletes and fans return from the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, an area particularly hit by the virus."

In coping with Zika and its consequences, Europe has a clear advantage compared to other regions, Prof England said: "In this part of the world there is a relatively high amount of resources for neurological care available. This is not the case for many of the countries which are right now affected most by the virus and where we have witnessed unnecessary deaths which would not have happened in less deprived parts of the world."

With no specific effective treatment and no vaccination in prospect on the short run, although some vaccine candidates are being developed, awareness for prevention and personal protection needs to be created. Prof England: "All European countries should put measures in place in order to detect imported cases of Zika virus early and should provide public health advice to travellers to and from affected countries, including on sexual transmission."

In addition, in countries with a high likelihood of transmission strengthening vector-control activities to prevent the introduction and spread of mosquitoes, and reduce their density, particularly for areas with Aedes aegypti, is very important, the expert underlined.

According to recommendations which WHO and the Pan American Health Organisation PAHO have recently published, athletes and visitors to the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brazil should, inter alia, protect themselves from mosquito bites by using insect repellents and wearing adequate clothing; practice safe sex or abstain from sex during their stay and four weeks after their return and choose air-conditioned accommodation. Pregnant women continue to be advised not to travel to areas with ongoing Zika virus transmission, and this includes Rio de Janeiro.

60 countries report Zika transmission

According to latest WHO figures, as of 18 May 2016, 60 countries and territories report continuing mosquito-born Zika transmission. Ten countries, among them Germany and France, have reported person-to-person transmission of Zika virus, most probably via a sexual route. Microcephaly and other fetal malformations potentially associated with Zika virus infection or suggestive of congenital infection have been reported in eight countries or territories. Thirteen countries and territories worldwide have reported an increased incidence of Guillain-Barre syndrome and/or laboratory confirmation of Zika virus infection among GBS cases.

Provided by European Academy of Neurology
Transmission electron micrograph (TEM) of Zika virus. Credit: Cynthia Goldsmith/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Member nations have so far donated only 13 per cent of the money required to respond to the Zika virus outbreak in the first half of this year, the World Health Organization reported Monday.

The United Nations agency said it has received $2.3 million of the requested $17.7 million.

Overall, U.N. bodies, including WHO, had appealed for more than $56 million to fight the virus, which can cause serious neurological disorders. However, the funding received so far "has fallen far short of this request," WHO said.

The United Nations prioritized its spending plans anew in light of the lower level of donations "to ensure the limited available funding goes where it is most needed," WHO said without disclosing the new figure.

WHO has been coordinating international scientific work to study the virus, find ways to stop its spread, and to develop a vaccine.

In addition, WHO published a stream of material to inform the world about Zika, which is mainly spread by mosquitoes, but has also been passed on though sexual intercourse in a few known cases.

WHO has declared the current Zika outbreak - in mostly Latin American countries - a global health emergency because the virus can lead to malformed brains in newborns and paralysis in adults.

Most Zika patients experience only passing flulike symptoms.

2016 Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH (Hamburg, Germany)

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The use of next-generation gene sequencing in newborns in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) may improve the diagnosis of rare diseases and deliver results more quickly to anxious families, according to new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

"Next-generation sequencing has the potential to transform the practice of clinical genetics rapidly," writes Dr. David Dyment, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), with coauthors. "In particular, newborns admitted to the NICU with rare and complex diseases may benefit substantially from a timely molecular diagnosis through next-generation sequencing."

Children with suspected rare genetic diseases usually undergo a battery of tests to determine a molecular diagnosis. Current practice involves testing of specific genes or a panel of genes, and these tests are often done outside the country because of limited availability within Canada. This means it may be months or even years before a diagnosis is made.

There are few studies to date looking at the feasibility and diagnostic success rate of next-generation sequencing in the NICU.

Canadian researchers conducted a pilot study with 20 newborns to determine the effectiveness of a targeted next-generation sequencing panel that included all 4813 genes currently known to be associated with rare diseases. The 20 newborns presented with a wide range of complex, medical issues, and half had neurologic symptoms such as seizures or hypotonia. Next-generation sequencing provided a molecular diagnosis for 40%, or 8 of the 20 infants. In two of the infants, the molecular diagnoses had a direct impact on their medical management.

"This technique can be performed in a hospital-based laboratory without the need to send samples away, often out of the country," states Dr. Dyment. "This will allow for diagnoses to be made quickly, providing answers to anxious families and potentially life-saving interventions in some cases."

The researchers suggest that adopting this type of technology in Canadian hospitals will greatly increase the ability to diagnose rare diseases and treat children while saving health care dollars.

"Enabling the family to understand why their baby is ill can help to assuage the almost universal guilt felt by parents that they did something wrong to cause their baby's illness," writes Dr. Sarah Bowdin, Clinical and Metabolic Genetics, Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto, Ontario, in a related commentary. "It can also indicate whether other family members may be at risk of the same disease and provide an accurate recurrence risk for future pregnancies."

Building strong partnerships with specialists such as neonatologists, intensive care physicians and genetics laboratories is critical to ensure the success of this diagnostic tool.

Explore further Genome study offers new hope for children with rare diseases
There are more well-founded therapy options for the treatment of strokes than ever before. Care has to be reorganised before these innovations are actually used on patients. At the Congress of the European Academy of Neurology in Copenhagen, experts are discussing just how to do that successfully  from guidelines for the use of thrombectomy procedures all the way to the structure and expansion of stroke care units. Oftentimes, it is precisely the small organisational changes that make the big difference.

Major advances are being made in stroke therapy. Experts at the Second Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) in Copenhagen are discussing whether or not these innovations are actually used on patients. EAN Vice-President Franz Fazekas, professor at the University Clinic in Graz, Austria: "The only way to make full use of the potential of these new options is to adjust the structures and processes of stroke care to fit the latest findings. This reorganisation must cover the entire chain of care  from the ambulance ride to the precisely defined use of the thrombectomies."

Thrombectomy: new guidelines for application and organisation of care

An increasing number of study results provide evidence of the high degree of effectiveness of thrombectomy, the mechanical removal of blood clots (thrombi) after a stroke. This procedure leads to good results particularly with very long blood clots and large cerebral artery occlusions. More than 60 per cent of patients survive a stroke thanks to this procedure without or with only slight impairment. The relevant European organisations of medical specialists just recently issued a joint therapy recommendation. The consensus paper serves, among other things, as orientation regarding the conditions under which the method should be used and on what types of patients. It defines the ideal window of time and clarifies when intravenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomies should be combined.

Preparations are now underway on further international recommendations. They are supposed to indicate how stroke care has to be organised for thrombectomies to be successfully carried out. Prof Fazekas: "The new paper is supposed to define, for instance, the organisational and personnel requirements that a neurological centre has to meet and how much experience the treating physicians have to bring to the task. The paper is also supposed to describe in great detail how the thrombectomy itself should be performed, from the selection of the suitable instruments to the blood pressure of the patients during the procedure and beyond to post-operative care. Open issues are also supposed to be indicated and efforts made to clarify them through corresponding scientific studies." The guidelines incorporate the collective expertise of six relevant societies, namely the European Academy of Neurology (EAN), the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS), the European Society of Emergency Medicine (EuSEM), the European Society of Minimally Invasive Neurological Therapy (ESMINT), the European Society of Neuroradiology (ESNR) and the European Stroke Organisation (ESO).

Prof Fazekas: "We hope that health care managers throughout Europe will greet the guidelines with open ears. Their implementation and the set-up of specialised centres can prevent serious impairments after strokes and save many lives." Every year, 600,000 strokes are reported in Europe and that number is on the rise.

Specialised centres reduce mortality after strokes

A current study being presented at the EAN Congress confirms that optimised care in specialised centres is the right approach to take. Data from more than 9,500 patients from the Danish Stroke Registry shows that the reorganisation of stroke care in Central Region Denmark (CRD) has paid off. Since 2012, patients with typical stroke symptoms have no longer been taken to one of five hospitals but rather to one of two specialised stroke units. Prof Fazekas summarises the main results of the study as follows: "Since this changeover, a larger percentage of patients have received an intravenous thrombolysis within the desired window of time of one hour after contact with the hospital and the percentage of early procedures to eliminate stenosis in the carotid artery have risen. Mortality within 30 days after the stroke was able to be reduced from 10.4 to 8.2 per cent."

MRI examination as an optimum way to support therapy

Which diagnostic procedure yields the biggest benefit? That too is a question being explored at the EAN Congress. Two Danish studies covering 444 stroke patients show, for example, that an MRI examination is an essential aid for the treating physicians in helping them to take the right decision regarding therapy. This examination to determine a stroke takes an average of 7.5 minutes longer than a computer tomography, however. Prof Fazekas comments on the findings of his Danish colleagues as follows: "The ultimate principle is to minimize door-to-needle time, i.e. the time between arrival at the hospital and the beginning of thrombolysis. That said, the findings presented show that the better imaging diagnostic method with a precisely fitting therapy decision apparently pays off." At the same time, the researchers also point out ways to make up for the lost time, namely by eliminating other organisational factors that cause delays; for instance, having only experienced physicians indicate the examination and improving organisational procedures.

An Italian study presented in Copenhagen on the reorganisation of stroke care in Lombardy shows, in addition, that patients with stroke symptoms end up undergoing a thrombolysis if they are delivered by ambulance right away and classified as an emergency with the highest priority. Prof Fazekas: "This is another adjusting screw we can turn to make optimum use of the new therapy options."

Explore further Better outcomes for stroke patients

More information: Waldgren N et al, Mechanical thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke: Consensus statement by ESO-Karolinska Stroke Update 2014/2015, International Journal of Stroke 2016, Vol. 11(1) 134147 Waldgren N et al, Mechanical thrombectomy in acute ischemic stroke: Consensus statement by ESO-Karolinska Stroke Update 2014/2015,2016, Vol. 11(1) 134147 EAN 2016 Abstract Hastrup S, Centralisation of acute stroke treatment is associated with improved quality of care and lower mortality EAN 2016 Abstract Hansen C K, Physicians are more certain when prescribing thrombolysis to MRI examined stroke patients EAN 2016 Abstract Hansen C K, Door-needle-times for CT versus MRI examined stroke patients: a clinical randomised trial EAN 2016 Abstract Zagaria M, Organisational model of ischemic stroke management in Northern Lombardy Fiehler J et al, Interdisciplinary European Recommendations on the Organisation of Acute Endovascular Treatment in Stroke Centres [under preparation]

Provided by European Academy of Neurology
HIV (yellow) infecting a human immune cell. Credit: Seth Pincus, Elizabeth Fischer and Austin Athman, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health

A new study finds that implementing the United Nations targets for HIV testing and treatment would be an expensive but ultimately very cost-effective way to increase survival, reduce the number of children orphaned by HIV, and contain the global AIDS epidemic. That is the conclusion of researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the University of Cape Town and the Yale School of Public Health, who estimated the likely impact of the so-called "90-90-90" program.

"Based on our findings, there is nothing overstated about the suggestion that 90-90-90 could lay the foundation for a healthier, more just and equitable world for future generations," says Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, of the MGH Division of Infectious Disease, who led the study that will appear in the May 31 online edition of Annals of Internal Medicine. "Yes it would be very expensive, but it would be worth every penny."

Launched in September 2014 by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the 90-90-90 program has three key objectives - diagnosing 90 percent of HIV-infected persons worldwide; linking 90 percent of identified cases to antiretroviral therapy (ART); and achieving virologic suppression among 90 percent of ART recipients. The program's overall goal is achieving viral suppression - reducing the viral load to an undetectable level - among 73 percent of HIV-infected persons worldwide by 2020, a marked improvement from current estimates of 24 percent.

Critics have expressed concern that successful implementation of 90-90-90 would require unprecedented cash infusions from donor organizations such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Global Fund, and the World Bank. Study co-author Linda-Gail Bekker, MD, PhD, of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre and University of Cape Town in South Africa, notes, "Recent funding from these sources has been flat. Our goal for this study was to provide donors and partner countries with pragmatic estimates of what it will cost and what return they can expect by investing in 90-90-90."

The study used South African epidemiologic data and results from HIV screening and treatment programs to give a realistic picture of the likely impact of 90-90-90 in South Africa and compared it with the current pace of HIV detection and treatment over the next 5 and 10 years. Using a well-published computer simulation model developed by the research team, their analysis revealed that, over the next decade, the 90-90-90 strategy would avert more than 2 million new HIV infections, more than 2.4 million deaths and over 1.6 million orphans - saving an additional 13 million patient-years of life compared with the current strategy.

Over the same period, the cost of the 90-90-90 effort would be $54 billion, a 42 percent increase over the costs of current scale-up activities that still suffer from challenges related to both linkage to care and treatment retention. But taken as a whole, the study found that investment in 90-90-90 would yield a cost-effectiveness ratio of $1,260 per year of life saved, well within what would be considered very cost effective for South Africa and a ratio similar to that of HIV treatment itself.

A. David Paltiel, MBA, PhD, professor of Public Health (Health Policy) at the Yale School of Public Health and senior author of the study, says, "We're convinced, based on the results of our analysis, that successful implementation of the 90-90-90 targets would effectively put an end to the AIDS epidemic worldwide,"

Publication of the study coincides with a June 8-10 United Nations meeting of world leaders, HIV program implementers, government representatives and other key stakeholders to solidify a plan to put an end to the global AIDS epidemic by 2030. "Implementation of 90-90-90 would represent a 'virtuous circle' of care - leading to earlier HIV diagnosis, more rapid treatment initiation, longer survival for HIV-infected persons, and fewer new cases of HIV transmission," says Walensky, a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "The time to jump-start this worthy global undertaking is now."

Explore further Botswana study shows 96 percent rate of viral suppression for patients on HIV drugs
@PatriciaMazzei

Carlos Gimenez holds an 18-percentage-point lead in his re-election bid as Miami-Dade County mayor, according to a new public-opinion poll, but needs to bolster support among traditional Democratic voters to win the non-partisan race outright.

The Republican mayor is ahead of his two rivals who have raised any campaign cash worth noting, found the survey conducted by Associated Industries of Florida, a Tallahassee-based business organization with a premier polling operation.

Gimenez drew 40 percent support in the poll, followed by 22 percent for Miami-Dade School Board member Raquel Regalado and 4 percent for political newcomer Alfred Santamaria. The mayor would need 50 percent-plus-1 in the Aug. 30 election to avoid a November run-off.

Gimenez would have to draw support among Democrats, particularly among African Americans, where his support is weakest. While 54 percent of all voters approve of Gimenez's handling of the job, that number falls to 40 percent among African Americans.

"While only slightly underwater there, his more fragile level of support amongst African Americans is a theme that continued throughout this data set," Ryan Tyson, AIF's director of political operations, wrote in a memo to members. He said several members had asked for a survey of the Miami-Dade race.
HAMILTON  Today we are seeing a great example of forward-thinking leadership, Gov. Steve Bullock said at the Ravalli Electric Cooperatives grand opening celebration for its Valley Solar project.

Your customers spoke and you listened, Bullock said. As a result, not only are you meeting the expectations of your customers and harnessing home-grown energy from the sun, but youve put more Montanans to work in doing so  from the local electricians to the Montana company that fabricated the racks.

Thursdays event was a celebration of the completion of the first community solar project in the Bitterroot Valley and the third in the state of Montana, behind Flathead Electric Co-op and Missoula Electric Co-op.

More than 60 people, including 40 Valley Solar program participants, attended the ribbon cutting ceremony north of Woodside near the REC substation. The Valley Solar project is two sets of 88 panel solar arrays that began working on April 5 and have already produced 10,153 kilowatt-hours, or enough energy to serve nine homes for a month.

Mark Grotbo, general manager of the Ravalli Electric Co-op, thanked everyone for helping to celebrate this exciting chapter in Ravalli Electrics history.

In January 2015, the REC surveyed its members and found they supported the installation of solar panels. Last fall, co-op members purchase the equivalent electrical output of one solar panel and will benefit with a reduction in their power bill each April for 25 years. Some members have purchased more than one panel. There are 28 panels available.

Grotbo said REC is a co-operative, nonprofit entity designed to serve the consumers.

They are the owners and operators, he said. Hats off to our members for purchasing the output of a panel, especially when the economics are longer-term but looking into the future of things to come. Without your investment, thought, support and enthusiasm, this wouldnt have happened.

Valley Solar program participant Nancy Spagnoli said she is all about alternative energy.

We were in the process of researching solar for our home when this opportunity came up, Spagnoli said. We said it is the right thing to do and wanted to support it so it educates the world. We were headed down the solar path so the timing was perfect.

John Walsh, USDA spokesman, congratulated the REC for having the vision and completing this project.

Walsh said he spent 33 years in the Army National Guard and deployed to Iraq in 2004. He said the main reason we went to Iraq was oil dependence.

It is important for the United States to be energy-independent, he said. Every project around the country and Montana that goes up reduces our reliance on overseas oil and fossils fuels around the world.

Walsh presented REC board member Larry Trexler with a plaque from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

We are pleased to partner with you and your team from Ravalli County Electric, Walsh said. The cooperative is a recipient of the Rural Energy of America REAP grant used to assist with the purchase an installation of a solar array. The energy generated will provide renewable energy and feed into the distribution and transmission system to supply electricity to coop members. Your project will increase the private sectors supply of renewable energy and decrease energy costs for your co-op members.

When the sun came out during his speech, Bullock said, What better day to cut the ribbon than when we know these solar panels are generating at high capacity.

Bullock said he knows he is lucky to live in Montana where we have a population of a million people and host 11 million visitors each year.

They are coming to enjoy what we love, he said. We can be proud of our contributions to the economic health and success of our region and nation. The production and export of energy from Montana provides good paying jobs for Montana from coal, water, wind and solar. As the future of Montanas energy development shifts beneath our feet well all have to work together to recognize that full potential.
All Mineral County Sheriff's Office deputies, 911 dispatchers and detention center workers went on strike on Monday morning and are picketing the county courthouse in Superior in an effort to get a new collective bargaining agreement.

The 16 members of the Teamsters Local 2 union unanimously voted on a strike authorization and officially went on strike at 8 a.m. Monday. They notified the Mineral County Commissioners that they intended to strike last Friday but didn't hear back, according to union business representative Shawn Fontaine. Only three people, Sheriff Tom Bauer, Undersheriff Mike Boone and civil clerk Roni Phillips are staffing the detention center, the 911 dispatch center and the public safety and coroner duties of the sheriff's office as of Monday morning. Bauer said he has a reserve deputy on duty as well.

"I've got a reserve deputy out and we've got some more people coming in to help us out," Bauer said. "We'll get a hold of some other jails so we don't have that hanging over our heads. Long-term we'll have to do something. I'm hopeful they'll get something worked out. I hope it's a matter of days but they aren't talking right now. I had to go out and ask (the union members) something about a duty, and they are upbeat today."

The good news on Monday was that there had not been a catastrophic emergency so far.

"I'm the 911 dispatcher today," Phillips said. "We haven't had any calls yet, but the day is young."

***

Fontaine said that the union has been trying to get a long-term contract for several years.

"We have been without a contract since July 1 of last year," he explained. "For the past two years, to even get the commissioners to the table to negotiate, we had to file charges with the Montana Board of Personnel. They had a legal duty to bargain in good faith. We sent multiple requests, and they never responded to it."

Fontaine said the union has been stuck in a series of one-year agreements.

"We've been in perpetual negotiations with them for five years," Fontaine said.

He added that the commissioners never offered to negotiate any of the terms they presented in their last offer.

"They made one offer and never came off their position on anything," he said. "It was just kind of a 'take it or leave it.' The members voted when it was first presented and rejected it. The strike authorization vote was passed unanimously. The commissioners' first offer they gave us was their last, best and final offer. So when our counter proposal was shot down, we informed them we would go on strike."

The union members are handing out leaflets and picketing the courthouse, trying to raise awareness about their position. The leaflet states that although additional money has been categorized under "public safety," the Sheriff's Department has seen a decline in funding for the last 10 years. The union members contend that this has robbed the department of essential resources and thereby created a public safety hazard.

The union members also contend that the county has a serious problem with a high turnover rate within the Sheriff's Office. They say this means their department is viewed as a "training ground" by most employees who are looking to quickly move on to other places with higher wages and more longevity incentives.

Both county commissioners Duane Simons and Laurie Johnston declined to comment on Monday. A cell phone number for commission chairman Roman Zylawy was not listed online.
An Evaro man who was shot by a Missoula County sheriffs deputy on New Years Day 2015 after he drove directly at the officer will be sentenced in August. The case is the first time the Missoula County Attorneys Office has used mediation to reach a plea agreement to resolve a criminal case.

Eugene Albert Statelens incident started just before midnight on New Years Eve, when deputies responded to his house after Statelens wife reported he had been drinking and became violent, assaulting her and banging her head against the wall then trying to stop her from calling for help.

Statelen had left in a vehicle by the time law enforcement arrived, but shortly after midnight he was found by officer Jace Dicken, who was shortly joined by deputy Tony Rio. The officers chased Statelen to a dead-end on Grooms Road, where Statelen turned around.

Both Rio's and Dickens wives were riding in their patrol cars. Rio parked his cruiser and approached Statelen on foot, pointing his gun at the vehicle and telling him to stop. Instead, Statelen drove at the officer. Rio, who moved to the side and tried to open the passenger door, was caught and dragged by the car.

He fired through the passenger door and again through the rear window after he fell to the ground, hitting Statelen, who then crashed into a tree, in the head and the shoulder. Statelen was hospitalized for days and underwent neurosurgery after the incident. The Missoula County Attorneys Office later determined Rios use of force had been justified.

On May 24, Statelen pleaded no contest to three of his six charges in Missoula County District Court, including felony counts of assault on a peace officer and criminal endangerment and a misdemeanor for partner or family member assault.

His remaining three charges, a second felony assault on a peace officer, felony assault with a weapon and a misdemeanor for tampering with or destroying a communication device, were dismissed as part of the plea agreement reached after both sides agreed to go through criminal mediation.

***

Although the use of mediation in certain criminal cases was authorized by the Montana Legislature in 2007, this is the first time the Missoula County Attorneys Office has used the option.

Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst said mediation can be useful for cases that go beyond what can normally be worked out in a plea agreement between prosecutor and defense attorney and without it would go on to trial, which come with a high price tag.

An average felony trial can cost taxpayers more than $100,000 and a complicated case could easily be a quarter of a million dollars, Pabst said. This one would have been complicated, with many expert witnesses. From a criminal justice standpoint, there was a risk to both sides, either having their be an acquittal or being found guilty on all counts.

In criminal mediation cases where the defendant has retained a private attorney, the cost of mediation is split between them and the prosecutors office.

For a victim, Pabst said mediation also helps bring quicker closure.

When a defendant is convicted by a jury, litigation can still go on for years with appeals and post conviction relief motions. Were all agreeing were going to have the case be over, were done, she said.

While she sees the first use of criminal mediation in Missoula as being a success, she believes it is only a good fit for certain types of complicated cases. Statute also prevents the use of mediation in special victims cases like homicide, kidnapping, abuse of children or sex crimes.

Embezzlement, burglary and theft would all be perfect for it, she said.

***

Statelens attorney, Milton Datsopoulos, said when Pabst first brought up the idea of mediation, he was skeptical and hesitant.

Ive been doing criminal defense work for 50 years, I figured this was just another bureaucratic step, Datsopoulos said. I had no confidence that it would work, but I had curiousity.

Datsopoulos said his client doesnt have the mindset of a criminal, but that if the case had gone to trial Statelen, who sustained head trauma and has almost no memory of the night, may have ended up being convicted of the full slate of charges. He said Statelen is a person who has a very low chance to reoffend.

Certain facts came together where he made a decision that was foolish, he said. The normal approach could have ended with significant amounts of prison time, and thats a waste. How do you handle someone who made a mistake?

After agreeing to give mediation a try, Pabst and Datsopoulos settled on Missoula defense attorney John Smith to be their mediator. Unlike normal plea agreements, which only include the lawyers for each side in the same room, the criminal mediation put prosecution and defense in separate rooms and allowed Smith to also interview Rio and Statelen, as well as members of the defendants family.

Sometimes it takes a neutral third party to convince one side their case isnt as strong as they thought, Pabst said.

Datsopoulos said having a mediator allowed both sides to present their version of events, and what they were hoping to have as an outcome, with Smith able to help both sides understand the others wishes and the problems each of them might face in court.

Those hours explored complex issues of law, philosophy and fairness, and allowed us to reach an informed but fair resolution, Datsopoulos said.

Smith said he thinks using mediation also made for a less hostile and confrontational outcome than traditional methods of plea agreement negotiations.

I was able to hear from both sides, put myself in their shoes about what they needed from this, he said. I would meet with each side and get a feel for what the bounds of their acceptance was.

In his own experience as a defense attorney, Smith said he knows that going to trial is usually not a good idea for a defendant if it can be avoided, but said he thinks mediation benefits both sides.

It takes one more case out of the court system, which is already stacked up with cases to hear, he said.

Datsopoulos said he would like to see more cases give criminal mediation a try, even if the process didnt end up working.

I left mediation with my mind changed from 'This is a waste of time, why do it?' to being an advocate, he said. I think this could be the beginning of a new method of resolving cases.

Statelen will be sentenced Aug. 2. During his change of plea hearing last week, District Court Judge Robert Dusty Deschamps asked for a pre-sentence investigation report to be compiled, but said he will likely follow the terms of the plea agreement, which call for an eight-year Department of Corrections sentence with five years suspended. Datsopoulos said the hope is that Statelen will be able complete the imposed portion of his sentence in a treatment program in the community.
The online roster of inmates at the Missoula County Detention Facility now includes booking photos for each person in custody.

In October, District Court Judge Jon Oldenburg issued a ruling in a Park County case in which he ordered that a booking photo should be released to the Livingston Enterprise newspaper, saying the picture was public justice information.

"In balancing the public's right to know with the defendant's right of privacy, the Court finds that the defendant's expectation of privacy is greatly diminished as his name appears on the daily jail occupancy roster and the violent offender registry," Oldenburg wrote.

In December, Montana Attorney General Tim Fox declined to issue an opinion requested by Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert on the issue of whether booking photos were public information, referencing instead that Oldenbergs ruling had already considered the matter.

Since the judges ruling, Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst has instructed the Missoula County Sheriffs Office to release booking photos for inmates at the jail. Brenda Bassett, public information officer for the sheriffs office, said the department has been working on a way to make the booking photos available online without media agencies and other individuals having to specifically request them, as has been the process for the past few months.

Booking photos began appearing alongside the long-available list of names, ages, charges and bail amounts on Tuesday.

We looked at a few different models from other counties on how they do this, and its something our (Information Services) team has been working on, Bassett said.

Information regarding juvenile inmates does not appear in the jails online roster, and Bassett said their booking photos wont be released.
Sometimes these days when he speaks to audiences, Paul R. Wylie of Bozeman will listen with knit brows as he is introduced as a historian. It might be hard to prove in a court of law, since people in the legal system know Wylie better from that earlier career of his  as a legal expert on intellectual property whose services were in demand all over the country by Fortune 500 companies. He specialized in evaluating monetary damages for patent infringement, testifying as an expert in cases such as the $10 billion Polaroid vs. Kodak fight, for example.

But historian?

I dont think I have the credentials for it. At the same time Ive got two dissertation-length books out there approved by peer reviewers and so on. I guess I am, I guess Im not, says Wylie, now 79 and a retired Bozeman attorney. I kind of think of myself as a lawyer writing history.

Writing history about Montana, more specifically  the parts he missed while growing up.

***

Lessons from a classmate

A 1955 graduate of White Sulphur Springs, Wylie knew a pretty fine writer while he was growing up, only nobody knew it then. It was Ivan Doig, who lived across the street for a time. They used to walk to school together, though Doig was a little bit younger.

He was a quiet student but  it appears now  always taking in every detail about rural Montana, from the peeling paint to the cracking sidewalks and the turns of speech in the way folks talk. Wylie admires Doig's novels and memoirs about Montana and finds them exactly true to life, from the dialogue to the landscape and people.

"Ivan was always quiet but with those amazing powers of observation that the whole world would know about when he published 'This House of Sky,'" Wylie wrote in a letter in 2015 supporting Montana State University's successful effort to get Ivan Doig's papers into its collection for purposes of teaching and research. "Later in life, as I was retiring from the practice of intellectual property law and looking for something meaningful to do, I took a look at my own upbringing in White Sulphur Springs, now made more positive by Ivans writings. I was always so impressed that Ivan had become a famous writer, and I decided I might be able to get something published in history if I researched well."

Wylie added he doesn't think he'd have even attempted a book "if it hadn't been for Ivan's guiding light" to show that it could be done.

***

Montana history

Wylies first effort as a writer, published in 2007, was The Irish General: Thomas Francis Meagher. Its the same topic that the highly regarded writer Timothy Egan has written about in his The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero, published early this year. But some readers say Wylie may have written the better book.

I was a little surprised, having grown up in Montana, that I didnt know more about Thomas Francis Meagher, says Wylie. I started looking at Irish history and finding out that Meagher was a hero in Ireland and a famous person in Ireland. I didnt know any of that. I just knew he was on the statue in front of the state Capitol and I knew the county I was brought up in, Meagher County, was named after him.

Earlier this year, Wylie followed it up with a book about another chapter of Montana history that he simply wanted to know more about: the massacre of perhaps 200 Piegan men, women, children. Blood on the Marias: The Baker Massacre puts it in context by telling about the decades of strained relations between the Piegans of the Blackfeet confederacy and the whites leading to the Jan. 23, 1870, tragedy in which troops of the 2nd U.S. Cavalry under the command of Maj. Eugene Baker attacked the wrong Piegan village on the Marias River.

They were looking for the village of a man named Mountain Chief. Instead they destroyed the village of another man named Heavy Runner, where many of the people were already sick from smallpox.

Both Wylies books are published by the University of Oklahoma Press, which has always been generous about publishing books on Montana history and Plains Indian history, Wylie noted.

***

Lawyers approach

With the Baker massacre, Wylie marveled that he didnt learn much about that event while growing up, and that seemed to be the case with other Montanans, too.

Certainly wed heard of the Custer battle, the Little Bighorn battle, he said. I remember going there as a fairly young person  I dont know if I was even in my teens  and seeing that, yes, there was a battlefield there and there were graves down there. With the Baker massacre, theres no identifiable battlefield. If you go there, youre not sure youre there, because its not marked in any way. If you dont have a marker for the place, then its a story, and not one you can associate with any particular terrain or any of that. Thats one of the problems.

Another problem, Wylie said, is that the Piegan tribe has been reluctant to speak of it, though that may be changing in recent years. There's now an annual commemoration of the massacre and Wylie was invited to attend the one earlier this year. He said he was honored to be asked.

Whites, too, Wylie said, need to know about what happened on the Marias River and how it happened. That's part of what his book does.

Wylie said his background as a lawyer serves him well when it comes laying down that history, plank by plank.

Its basically a fact-based approach. Just from years and years of being involved in major litigation: You cant be wrong on the facts. If youre in court and youre trying to tell the judge that something is a fact and its not, and the other side knows its not and tells the judge its not, then typically you get thrown around the courtroom by the judge like a rag doll. It builds into one, I think, a discipline of getting the facts right.

***

How he writes

Each of Wylie's books took him six years to do, counting the research and the writing.

He started The Irish General while he was still working as an attorney.

When I would be in some city like St. Paul or Minneapolis or New York, if I had time in the evening, Id go to the libraries there and dig up material, he said. I take boxes of files with me when Im traveling so Ill always have my source materials if I need them.

He does all his writing on a laptop. He used a Dell laptop for The Irish General. He used a MacBook Pro to write Blood on the Marias. Hell write at any time of day, but morning and evening are most productive.

And while his work as a lawyer was important  legal arguments about intellectual property and who owns a good idea help keep the economy greased and operating as it should  he thinks what he does now might be even more important.

I worked on some very big and important cases involving high values as far as money damages," Wylie said. "Generally it was one large corporation against another large corporation, most of them Fortune 500 companies. But once the case is over, it just fades into obscurity. I like the idea of having a couple of books out there and Im working on other things that may see the light of day, Im just not sure. I enjoy doing the work. I love the process. And I like having the books out there because they may be there for a while.
Desk phones are going the way of typewriters and fountain pens at the University of Montana  due to recent budget cuts.

Come July 1, faculty in the History Department will not have their own office telephones, said Diane Rapp, who will have the only phone line in the department.

"I'm going to have to buy those pink message pads again," said Rapp, department administrator.

On second thought, she said, she'll probably use scrap paper to keep down costs  or send email. She estimates the department will cut 10 lines, and at $30 a month apiece, the annual savings is a chunk: $3,600.

Earlier this month, Dean Chris Comer said Main Hall is asking the College of Humanities and Sciences to make additional budget cuts he considers "on the high side, scary high," and amount to "several million dollars." Other areas on campus are trimming as well, and telephones and copiers are on the chopping block.

With the ubiquity of cell phones, availability of other technology, and previous budget crunches, the trend in retiring desk phones isn't new, according to Matt Riley, chief information officer for UM. With the campus pinching pennies, he's anticipating another wave of phone cuts this year.

The elimination saves individual departments money because they don't have to pay for the services, he said. But he said it doesn't help IT or the bottom line at UM.

"It's the revenue that creates the operational budget for IT," Riley said.

So IT has to find those dollars elsewhere, he said  from other university sources.

***

At UM, faculty are promised a desk and a phone in their collective bargaining agreement, said Stephen Lodmell, a professor in the biochemistry program. Since the agreement was crafted, though, things have changed.

"Today, it's hard to find somebody who doesn't have a cell phone in their pocket," he said.

At his most recent departmental meeting, the associate dean of the Division of Biological Sciences requested that faculty identify phones and computer ports that could be removed, Lodmell said. He said the request didn't lead to revolt because functionally, most people have cell phones.

At the same time, the news wasn't easy to digest.

"It's a little depressing because it seems like a phone is a pretty basic thing, and it doesn't seem like it's very expensive. But in a large department like ours, it certainly adds up," he said.

Lodmell plans to keep a phone line in his lab for safety reasons, but he'll have to find ways to pay for it himself using, say, indirect costs from grants.

He questioned the efficiency of the funding structure on campus for things like internet ports in particular. The infrastructure and wiring exist, yet one department pays another one for the service.

"It just seems a little bit silly that it's not just provided, and then we don't have to pay people to administer the bills," he said.

***

To date, the number of phones on campus is some 3,000, down from 4,750 at its peak in 2003, Riley said.

"Years ago, we had a big drop when we went away from having phones in every dorm room," he said. "... That was a big deal a long time ago."

The campus opted to keep emergency phones in public areas like on residence hall floors, but it removed the ones in dorm rooms. This year, he's anticipating another drop in the number of phones.

The cut saves money for a department, but not for the campus as a whole, he said. It's an issue he said every campus with an IT department is facing.

When people figure out they can opt out of charges for phones and network ports and use wireless services instead, he said, IT loses revenue. Since IT doesn't earn money from wireless services, Riley must find funds from other university sources.

"When people cut down on those services, that doubles over on our operational budget," he said.

***

The loss of desk phones might not be great for many students  at least those already enrolled and on campus.

Elizabeth Engebretson, vice president for the Associated Students of the University of Montana, said students aren't quick to use phones to call their teachers.

"I've never called one of my professors," she said. "I always email them  or show up in their office."

Rapp and Lodmell agreed email is the main avenue of communication between students and faculty. Engebretson said she would feel like she's intruding on a professor's personal life if she were to call a cell phone, but email is efficient for herself and other students.

"I have some fantastic professors, and they're always really quick about emailing me, even on weekends," said Engebretson, a political science major with a minor in military science.

In recent years, the administration has been placing more recruitment responsibilities on the shoulders of faculty members, and if that requires phone calls to prospective students, some teachers pay out of their own pockets.

According to Riley, only a handful of people on campus receive reimbursements from UM for using their cell phones.

***

As departments again tighten budgets, discarded phones may go in the garbage if they're old, and if they're newer, IT will trade them in for updated models from vendors, Riley said.

He arrived at UM three years ago, and he said it wasn't as far along in losing desk phones as he would have predicted, possibly because the network "wasn't up to snuff."

Now, he said, demand on the network is higher than ever.

"The amount of wireless users on our network is sort of astounding," Riley said. "We'll see that when we plan for wireless use, we'll have to plan in the area of over 50,000 devices simultaneously connected to our network."

At the same time, the budget is shrinking. Riley estimated the total budget for IT at some $10 million, down 12 to 14 percent compared to five years ago.

"I always tell my team when I look across the nation, this is the best bang for the buck IT that you get anywhere," he said. "We cover all bases and have an incredible amount of opportunity for our students and faculty with one of the smallest operations that you'll see."

***

In the History Department, Rapp said a veteran professor made her feel better when he told her he'd seen the phones disappear and reappear a couple times over the decades in previous budget shortfalls.

The campus will come out on the other side again, she said, and in the meantime, the phones will go, at least for the time being.

"We thought this would be the least painful thing to cut," Rapp said. "It was either that or our photocopier."
The eatin' is good at the University of Montana  think a "Star Wars" omelet bar, for starters, and a gold medal for Missoula College, too.

This month, UM announced it and Missoula College had earned some awards related to food and cooking, with the George Lucas eggs pulling in a bronze medal. The prize went to UM Dining from the National Association of College and University Food Services in a competition that had 80 schools vying for wins in six categories.

"The event featured a 'Star Wars' inspired menu, elaborate settings, staff members dressed as characters from the movies, karaoke and games," according to a news release from University Relations about the Food Zoo staff.

In the same competition, UM's The Iron Griz bistro won a gold award in the category of large universities in a recognition that celebrates "exemplary menus, presentations, special event planning and new concepts in campus dining services." The Galloping Griz food truck earned a silver.

"The Loyal E. Horton Awards are the top award for facility, concept and menu design in our industry," said UM Dining Director Mark LoParco in a statement.

Culinary students at Missoula College are also stirring up mouth-watering  and victorious  dishes. Earlier this month, Katie Barnes brought home the gold in a competition that "drew more than 50 student and professional chefs from across the country."

The winning dessert? "Deep fried bunyols with dark chocolate filling, accompanied by a rhubarb caramel sauce, fresh strawberries and pistachio butter ice cream topped with caramel brittle."

For the win, Barnes woke up daily at 4 a.m. to practice in the eight weeks before the competition. The day of the battle, she had 15 minutes to set up, an hour to cook the dish, and 10 minutes to plate it.

"Coming back home with a gold made it worth it, and I would do it all again just to feel that pride," Barnes said in a statement.
Nate Schwab knows the sound that bats make when the creatures are eating or flying or chasing prey.

"If you divide the frequency, it just sounds like clicks," said Schwab, who has worked with bats in 15 states.

Last week, the senior bat ecologist at TetraTech was orienting a team of four workers to deploy bat monitoring equipment for a project the University of Montana's Center for Integrated Research on the Environment launches at the end of this month.

It's part of a five-year, $45 million agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and UM to "study and solve environmental and cultural resource problems across the nation."

In a partnership with the Department of Defense and the Corps of Engineers, the center is sending teams to set up bat monitoring stations on 14 different U.S. Air Force Bases in the Midwest with the goal of surveying for the presence of the Northern Long-eared Bat.

"CIRE's involvement is particularly exciting as the DOD seeks to bridge the gap between academia and applied field research," said the center's Austin Blank in a statement.

***

The Northern Long-eared Bat became a protected species in April 2015, and the Air Force called for the survey in order to ensure it's following Endangered Species Act requirements, according to a news release from UM.

This summer the team, including three military veterans, will travel to the bases to install the equipment, 70 monitors in all. Last week on campus and in Greenough Park, they learned to identify the best places to set mics to capture the echolocation of bats, and they also went over the setup routine.

"We're trying to be as efficient as we possibly can so we're trying to get in some practice," Schwab said.

On Wednesday, Schwab led C.T. Callaway, Jake Howard, Tina Cain and Ingrid De Groot down a trail in the park as one member of the group pulled a wagon filled with components of the outdoor microphone stand. On the bank of the Rattlesnake Creek, Schwab circled the workers for a look around.

"Optimally, we're looking at about 30 meters of vegetation-free space," he said.

Western Montana is home to 11 or 12 species of bats, and Schwab pointed out the places near the creek that bats might find appealing. They'd roost under bridges and behind bark, so placing the mic near the old snag with many cracks would be a good idea.

On the south end of the park, the canopy wasn't open enough, but the lesson stood: "If you see a lot of snags around, might be a good idea to place it here," Schwab said.

***

The group moved on, and in a place where the trees opened to a clear view of the stream and the canopy, Schwab saw potential, and so did Callaway.

"There's a lot of bugs flying around here, so could be a lot of bats feeding," Callaway said.

Schwab agreed, and he liked the way the group could orient the mic so it could catch the sounds the bats made as they flew along the tree line. The human ear doesn't register the high frequency sound from bats without assistance.

Once the group got to work, it took less than six minutes to pound the tripod into the ground, set the mic on the pole 10 feet off the ground, hook up the battery and bat recorder, and stake the station.

***

Since 2006, the population of the Northern Long-eared Bat has dropped 90 percent in North America, all due to white-nosed syndrome, Schwab said. At the same time, he's feeling hopeful about the species.

"Just recently, I feel like there's been a raised consciousness about bats from the public, for whatever reason," he said.

When the crew finished, they plugged ear buds into the system for a listen, and Schwab asked if they heard any interference: "Did you hear any other high frequency noise?"

They didn't, and the scientist was pleased; the mic sat close to the creek, and sometimes, water interferes.

On the bases, the group will work in teams of two, and at the end of the summer, they'll have a list of bat species for each location. For the workers, the draw for the project is the travel and the learning.

"It's also interesting to get a fresh perspective on something I never really knew about," Callaway said.
The attorney for a Kalispell woman who killed her husband when she pushed him off a cliff in Glacier National Park eight days after their wedding has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal of her conviction.

Jordan Linn Grahams federal defense attorney Michael Donahoe filed a petition for writ of certiorari on May 5. The Supreme Court has not made a decision on whether to accept the case for review.

On July 7, 2013, Graham and her husband, Cody Johnson, scuffled and she pushed him backwards off a cliff near the Loop trail along the Going-to-the-Sun Road. She then returned to Kalispell. It wasnt until July 11, days after she told law enforcement Johnson had driven away from their house with some friends, that she led a search party to his body. A week later, she confessed to an FBI officer that she had murdered him.

Shortly before the end of her December 2013 trial in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Graham pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a deal with prosecutors, who dismissed a first-degree murder charge, as well as another for making false statements to law enforcement. Graham was subsequently sentenced to 365 months in prison. She is being held in federal prison in Aliceville, Alabama.

During an appeal of her conviction, Donahoe said prosecutors claimed during her sentencing that the murder was premeditated, which he said shouldnt have been allowed after the first-degree murder charge was dismissed.

In November 2015, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld Graham's sentence, finding that neither federal prosecutors nor U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy erred in the process.

"The government did not breach the plea agreement by arguing premeditation at sentencing," the judges wrote, "because the agreement contained no provision, express or implied, limiting such arguments.

In February, a three-judge panel from the 9th Circuit denied a petition to rehear Grahams appeal, leaving the Supreme Court as the only remaining option. After the 9th Circuit's February decision, Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Hornbein said it is unlikely the Supreme Court would take up the case because in the prosecution's view, it doesnt provide a new area of law for the high court to rule on.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump packed the Metra in Billings on Thursday with a crowd of 14,000, far surpassing the 1982 record of 10,000 set by former president Ronald Reagan. But when it came to what Trump would actually do for Montana, its safe to say there was a lot more hot air and rhetoric than actual specifics addressing Montanas problems. Then again, thats not unusual for Trump who, despite his bombast, bluster and showmanship, has left much of America wondering what, exactly, The Donald would do if he becomes president of the United States.

Lining up with the majority of people in national polls, I view this real estate mogul turned reality TV star negatively. Part of that perception could be due to having been in the political arena for decades while a long list of blowhard politicians made wild promises they never could keep and told the crowds what they wanted to hear. But then, when their time strutting on the stage comes to an end, they fade into obscurity, often leaving legacies of having done more damage than good for Montanans.

That said, it seemed only fair to watch Trumps speech live and see what he had to say with a particular interest in how his proposals would affect Montana. Unfortunately, our much-loved Big Sky State isnt really one of Trumps high priorities. As he put it, his son Don, whom he referred to as a good guy, likes to hunt here. And thats about it for Trumps experience with Montana.

While facing the cheering throng, Trump went on to basically tell Montanans that he had other priorities and would be spending his energy and money campaigning in 15 other high-profile states that he will need to win. Leaving Montana in the swirling dust of his windstorm, Trump rolled on with a non-stop list of promises about dealing with the rest of the nation and world.

Of course there was The Wall across the Mexican border that Trump suggested might be named after him. That would put him in the company of others throughout history who have tried  and failed  to stem human movement with physical barriers. Hadrians Wall built by the Romans in Britannia in 122 A.D., for instance, which did not save the Roman Empire from the barbarians. Or the Great Wall of China. Or more recently, the Maginot Line the French thought would keep the Nazis out. But walls have the sky for a roof, the earth for a foundation, and must at some point have a starting and ending point. Consequently penetration over, under or around have forever thwarted the wall protectionists and that historic precedent will not change simply because Trump wishes it so.

Likewise, Trumps promise to revive the coal industry seems to be more in line with a carnival barker telling the suckers what they want to hear than the reality of the global energy market. Natural gas has vastly undercut coal as a cheaper, cleaner and easier fuel for centralized power plants. Toss in the meteoric rise in solar power, which far surpassed fossil fuel in 2015 with a stunning $329 billion global investment, and those hoping for coals resurrection face a daunting and highly unrealistic future.

What Trump did nail is the deleterious effect trade agreements such as Bill Clintons NAFTA and Hillary Clintons support for bringing China into the World Trade Organization have had on American manufacturing. But his solution of imposing a 30 percent tariff on Mexican-made goods so American corporations wouldnt move out has so many unknown and unexpected consequences its likely to be another Trump pipe dream.

He also deserves credit for bluntly attacking the two dominant political parties for trying to quash both his and Bernie Sanders presidential bids in favor of party insiders. The Republican system is rigged  except if you win by a lot he said, having just that day hit the number of pledged delegates necessary to capture the Republican nomination.

If The Art of the Deal is your idea of how to run government, then Trumps probably your guy. But democracies are not businesses, are not run by boards of directors, and tend to be messy when the consent of the governed comes into play.

Bernie Sanders addressed 10,000 people in Missoula with a fact and policy-filled speech that focused on issues facing Montanans. What Trump gave Billings was a bluster-filled show that, sadly, evinced little understanding of Montana or Montanans.
Around Memorial Day, my thoughts turn to the service and safety of my son and his family. He is a West Point grad and U.S. Army combat engineer. His mother and I liked this assignment because we thought he would be safely building bridges somewhere. Instead we found out that if he is deployed, he'll be working with the infantry on the front lines clearing IEDs.

There are no words to describe how proud we are of him and his choice to serve, and we trust that the Army is providing him with the best training, protection, and support possible.

That is one reason why we applaud the vital efforts jointly undertaken by all branches of the military, the departments of State, Homeland Security and others, to assess global risks accurately, communicate them to policy makers and plan for contingencies.

Consider the analysis of the Quadrennial Defense Review from 2014: As greenhouse gas emissions increase, sea levels are rising, average global temperatures are increasing, and severe weather patterns are accelerating... The pressures caused by climate change will influence resource competition while placing additional burdens on economies, societies, and governance institutions around the world. These effects are threat multipliers that will aggravate stressors abroad such as poverty, environmental degradation, political instability, and social tensions  conditions that can enable terrorist activity and other forms of violence.

That same year, the Department of Defense issued the Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap. At home, a changing climate will have real impacts on our military and the way it executes its missions. The military could be called upon more often to support civil authorities, and provide humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in the face of more frequent and more intense natural disasters.

Military infrastructure and supply chains will be at risk. While it may not have made headlines, the Department of Defense released another report last month evaluating current and potential climate change impacts on 1,774 U.S. military installations worldwide. Already, coastal bases are subject to sea level rise, storm surge and extreme flooding events.

Then there's a completely new theater of operations needing protection, the ice-free Arctic, which will draw stretched military resources.

Summing it all up, the Adaptation Roadmap concluded: Climate change will affect the Department of Defenses ability to defend the Nation and poses immediate risks to U.S. national security.

World and business leaders (even Exxon) advise we include these "social costs" of climate change in the price of fossil fuels in a policy called carbon pricing.

National groups like Citizens' Climate Lobby, with chapters in Billings, Bozeman and now Missoula, are following the lead of economists like Greg Mankiw (advisor to Mitt Romney), and George Shultz (Reagan's Secretary of State), who advocate for the simplest form of carbon pricing: placing a predictably rising fee on the carbon content of fossil fuels.

Fourteen countries have or will soon implement this policy that encourages investors, industry and consumers to innovate and find alternatives. A study by Regional Economic Models, Inc. has found that U.S. emissions could be reduced by 33 percent below 1990 levels in 10 years!

Many are worried about the impacts of higher energy prices on low- and middle-income Americans. Researcher Kevin Ummel found that returning 100 percent of the revenue from this fee to households on a per capita basis, similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund, would result in 85 percent of the lowest-income Montanans receiving as much or more in dividends as they spend in added costs.

There are co-benefits of the dividend and investment, too: nationall,y GDP would increase annually by $70 billion-$85 billion, and 2.1 million additional jobs would be created in a decade. (REMI)

Over the years, expert witnesses like Rear Admiral David Titley, now retired meteorologist for the Navy, have been called to testify before Congress, but only recently have there been bipartisan efforts to address climate change. (See citizensclimatelobby.org for information about the Climate Solutions Caucus.)

It's clear that U.S. Sens. Steve Daines, Jon Tester and U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke need to hear from us. Please ask them to heed these reports by our military planners and support reasonable legislation to lower emissions without harming the economy.

Our children and grandchildren, especially the 3,500 Montanans on active duty, deserve our best efforts today.
BOZEMAN (AP)  Gallatin College Montana State University is adding a photonics and optics program in hopes of helping staff nearby employers.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports that classes will begin in the fall for the two-year program that will allow technicians to work in the industry with an associate's degree in photonics and laser technology.

The Gallatin Valley has about 30 photonics and optics companies, the most per capita in the country.

The new program has been approved by MSU and the Montana Board of Regents, and approval from the Northwest Commission on Accreditation is currently being sought.
Journalist Tom Brokaw is scheduled to be Allen Sechers guest on the 100th edition of Montana Public Radios monthly musical series You Must Remember This, which is set for at 8 p.m. Monday, June 6. MTPR also will air portions of the interview on Here & Now at 1 p.m. that day.

Brokaws best-seller, The Greatest Generation, frames this hour-long exploration of the hardships and sentiments felt by a generation and reflected in the big-band, jazz and popular music of the 1930s and 1940s. This special episode of You Must Remember This coincides with the 72nd anniversary of D-Day, the massive and daring allied invasion of Europe that marked the beginning of the end of Adolf Hitlers Third Reich.

Brokaw was inspired to preserve the voices of The Greatest Generation while visiting the beaches of Normandy, France, in 1984 on the 40th anniversary of the Normandy landing. In The Greatest Generation, he wrote, It is, I believe, the greatest generation any society has ever produced. Brokaw says that these men and women fought not for fame and recognition, but because it was the right thing to do.

Brokaw joined KNBC in Los Angeles in 1966 and has reported for NBC ever since. He served as White House correspondent during Watergate, co-hosted NBCs Today show for six years, and in 1982 became anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw, remaining in that position until 2004.

In 1998 Brokaw published his first book, The Greatest Generation, which went on to become one of the most popular nonfiction books of the 20th century. He followed with six other titles, including Boom! Voices of the Sixties, The Time of Our Lives and A Lucky Life Interrupted: A Memoir.

Secher has broadcasted You Must Remember This on MTPR since 2007. For 30 years he hosted a radio broadcast on Armed Forces Radio and won seven Emmy awards for television productions. His monthly MTPR program features classic and contemporary interpretations of the music of The Great American Songbook and composers such as George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.

***

Two student-produced projects from the UM School of Journalism will go public this week.

Students in the journalism schools Documentary Film Unit class researched, directed and produced Aging Out: Autism in Montana. The students documented the struggles of four Montana families with children on the autism spectrum. The program focuses on the lack of services and care for young adults with autism and how parents are searching for options.

I want to do something thats worthwhile, and I feel we have a good group to do it, said senior Peter Riley, the director of the show. Everybody knows we have each others back as a team, and everyones really stepped up and come to the table with some fresh ideas and some talents.

Aging Out: Autism in Montana premiered May 13 to an audience of friends, family and the subjects of the documentary. The rest of Montana can see the show in its scheduled public debut at 8 p.m. Tuesday on MontanaPBS.

In the Native News Honors Project, journalism students covered politics on Montanas American Indian reservations, and created print and multimedia pieces to tell different stories across the state. They paired up into teams with one reporter and one photographer, and dispersed across Montana to cover the stories.

Their project, Across the Divide, is available in print through the Missoulian and the Billings Gazette. The stories, along with their multimedia components, are online at nativenews.jour.umt.edu/2016/.

Founded in 1914, the School of Journalism is now in its second century of preparing students to think critically, to act ethically and to communicate effectively. The school recently was ranked among the top 10 journalism programs in the country by the Radio Television Digital News Association.

To learn more about the School of Journalism, visit jour.umt.edu/.

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Explore planets, nebulae, star clusters and distant galaxies during seven upcoming free observing nights at UMs Blue Mountain Observatory.

Public observing nights this summer are scheduled for the following Fridays: June 3, July 1 and 29, Aug. 5 and 26, and Sept. 2 and 23. The events are family-friendly and children are welcome. Attendees are asked to reserve a free ticket for each person in their group via Eventbrite at bit.ly/1R9dd0m.

The observatory, located atop Blue Mountain at an elevation of 6,300 feet, is operated by UM. Astronomers will be on hand at all events to discuss whats being viewed through the telescopes, point out constellations, show attendees how to find interesting celestial objects with the naked eye or a pair of binoculars and discuss recent astronomical discoveries.

Observing begins about an hour after sunset, and organizers recommend bringing warm clothes for cool evenings and a flashlight for the short walk to the observatory. To ensure the open house nights remain safe and pleasurable for all, smoking and alcohol are prohibited.

A link to Eventbrite, a map, directions to the observatory and complete observing information is available on the Blue Mountain Observatory website at hs.umt.edu/physics/Blue_Mountain_Observatory/. Viewing nights will be canceled if the sky is cloudy or fire or thunderstorms threaten visibility. Check the Public Observing Information page on the website for important information about cancellation announcements and other frequently asked questions.

For additional information call Diane Friend, UM physics and astronomy lecturer, at 243-4299 or email diane.friend@umontana.edu.

***

Joshua Millspaugh, an internationally recognized wildlife conservation researcher and educator, will join the College of Forestry and Conservation as the next Boone and Crockett Professor of Wildlife Conservation.

Millspaugh was selected through a national search and will join UMs wildlife biology faculty this fall. He is currently the William J. Rucker Professor of Wildlife Conservation and interim director at University of Missouris School of Natural Resources.

The club started its national endowed professorship program at UM in 1992. Millspaugh will become the fourth Boone and Crockett professor, following Hal Salwasser, Jack Ward Thomas and Paul Krausman.

Millspaugh holds a doctorate in wildlife ecology from the University of Washington and has been at the University of Missouri since 1999, serving as the Pauline OConnor Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Management for four years.

His research centers on the study of vertebrate population ecology at three scales: physiological processes, individual space use and resource selection, and population-level dynamics. He has received a superior graduate faculty award, the Missouri Governors Award for Excellence in Teaching and the USDA National Teacher of the Year award, among other recognition for his teaching.

Millspaugh also is a fellow in The Wildlife Society, organized by Boone and Crockett Club members in 1937, and has been recognized several times for his accomplishments.
Memorial Day services start at 10 a.m. Monday, May 30, at Buttes Stodden Park, followed by attendees going to veterans plots at cemeteries throughout Butte.

Services are also planned in Sheridan, Anaconda, Dillon and Deer Lodge.

Organized by the United Veterans Council, the Butte schedule follows:

10 a.m.  Services at Stodden Park will include lowering and raising of colors; invocation and benediction; honor squad; placement of the wreath; and featured speaker Maj. Gen. Tim McLean, retired, U.S. Army.

11 a.m.  Mount Moriah Cemetery, Montana Street, ritual services at the Grand Army of the Republic plot, services by the Honor Guard Squad, directed by Cmdr. Wade Smith.

11:15 a.m.  St. Patricks Cemetery, Montana Street, Spanish American plot, ritual services, placement of the wreath, with DAR LAVFW 1448 JoAnn Piazzola.

Noon  Sunset Memorial Park, west of Butte near Fairmont Hot Springs.

12:45 p.m.  Mountain View Cemetery, Harrison Avenue, Veterans of Foreign Wars monument.

1 p.m.  Mountain View Cemetery, Harrison Avenue, American Legion monument.

1:15 p.m.  Holy Cross Cemetery, Harrison Avenue, veterans plot.

A luncheon follows at 1 p.m. at American Legion Hall, 1750 Motor Vue Rd.

Other area activities:

ANACONDA

Anaconda will celebrate Memorial Day at 11 a.m. Monday in the Washoe Theatre, 305 Main St. Keynote speaker will be Assistant Army Adjutant General, Montana National Guard Brigadier General Robert Sparing. He will talk about Montanas military involvement in the Philippine-American War of 1899, which will include Anacondas involvement.

After the ceremony, the Historic Company M flag display will be unveiled at the Hearst Free Library, 401 Main St. Details: Barry, 406-563-7274, or Phil, 406-563-2031.

SHERIDAN AREA

Anderson-Simpson Post 89 of the American Legion will conduct Memorial Day Veterans Remembrance Ceremonies. The first ceremony will start at 11 a.m. in the veterans plot area of the Sheridan Cemetery. Services at the other cemeteries will follow in the order of Laurin, Taylor, Nevada City and lastly the Virginia City Cemetery about 1 p.m. Details: Paul Marsh, post commander, at 406-842-7956 or Post Adjutant Mike Morgan at 406-842-5085.

DEER LODGE

At 11 a.m. Monday, May 30, the Deer Lodge Veterans Honor Guard will conduct a memorial service at Hillcrest Cemetery.

DILLON

The formal Memorial Day Program begins at 11 a.m. Monday, May 30, at the Soldiers Plot at the Dillon Cemetery. The speaker is Dillon Mayor Mike Klakken. Following Klakken's remarks, the Memorial Wreath will by laid at the base of the Veterans Memorial Statute by the post adjutant and commander.
Feeble, old prospector executed in early morn. Thus was the hanging of Miles Fuller reported in an Extra Edition of the Butte Miner on Friday, May 18, 1906.

Of the ten men who have been executed on the gallows at the Silver Bow County courthouse, Miles Fuller is probably the best known, not least of all because his ghost reportedly haunts the present courthouse. The ghosts steps are said to trace out the floor plan of the older county building that stood at the corner of Granite and Montana in 1906.

Fuller was convicted of the brutal murder of Henry J. Gallahan, an old-time placer miner, whose bullet-riddled body was found near the McKinley School on Park Street on October 24, 1904. Fuller had reportedly threatened to kill Gallahan several times. The pair, both in their 60s, was known to have feuded over alleged ore thefts in their placer claims just south and west of the School of Mines (Montana Tech). Gallahan reportedly lived in a cabin near the west end of Silver Street, and Fullers cabin was out west, toward the Bluebird Mine. Witnesses described a man matching Fullers description fleeing the murder scene, and they even reported seeing the murderer slash Gallahans throat after emptying the five chambers of a .44-caliber revolver into the victim. Testimony at the trial suggested that Gallahan did get one shot off but died when Fullers bullets found their mark.

Fuller maintained his innocence through the trial and appeals that ultimately reached the Montana Supreme Court, but the jurys guilty verdict was upheld consistently. Fuller became the seventh man to be jerked into eternity by the gallows that was set up at the northwest corner of the courthouse yard, approximately at the corner of Quartz and Montana Streets, where once stood the boarding house in which Marcus Daly lived in the mid-1880s. The hangmans hemp rope, three-quarters of an inch thick and acquired from Chicago, was tied by a sheriffs deputy into a regulation noose with nine wraps.

Although reported as the quickest ever execution in Montana  two minutes  the Miner newspaper called hanging the most inhuman and the poorest method of execution now in vogue. Firing squads and electrocution were thought to be preferable. Hundreds of people witnessed the 5:30 a.m. hanging, including those with special passes to the courthouse and many morbidly curious who watched from the streets. More streamed into the White & Krebs Funeral Parlor on South Main (north of todays Silver Dollar Saloon) to view Fullers body, including a woman who claimed he killed a man in Texas and threatened her life if she spoke of it.

Fuller was buried in Mt. Moriah Cemetery. The last hanging in Butte took place in 1926.
"You can't always get what you want." - The Rolling Stones

A few words in defense of pragmatism.

That ideal has taken quite a beating lately, mostly at the hands of Bernie Sanders and his supporters. The Vermont senator faces a virtually impossible deficit in his battle with Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. Pragmatism would seem to suggest it's time for him to pack it in.

But pragmatism don't know Bernie. Or Bernie Nation.

If this weren't clear before, it has been made abundantly so in the last two weeks, beginning with Sanders supporters in Las Vegas tearing open the Nevada Democratic convention in a protest so angrily chaotic it was shut down by security, fearing violence. But Sanders supporters weren't done yet; they also sent death threats to party officials.

The proximate cause of this Trumpish behavior was a dispute over rules, a claim that, as Sanders' campaign manager put it, the convention had been "hijacked" to award more delegates to Hillary Clinton. Politico rated that false.

Not that this has made much difference to Sanders, now locked in a battle with the party he ostensibly seeks to lead. His denunciation of the convention chaos was as tepid and belated as Donald Trump at his worst. He has blasted the party for being, as he sees it, in the pocket of the rich, and specifically denounced Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. In a Monday interview, Sanders told the Associated Press that this summer's convention could be "messy," though he later insisted that was not a tacit suggestion of violence.

Given the intensity of the emotions at play and the behavior of his supporters in Vegas, it's hard to see how it could have been anything but. Which is disappointing. A few days ago, Sanders' campaign seemed headed for an honorable legacy. But he has apparently decided instead upon a legacy of peevishness and sore losing, which is, as Frank Bruni noted a few weeks back in The New York Times, a hallmark of this political epoch.

Look: There is something to be said, under certain circumstances, for fighting to the last breath. Under certain circumstances, it is noble to stand one's ground, come what may. Under certain circumstances, it might even be heroic to soldier on past the point of defeat.

These are not those circumstances. Trump awaits. And every second the left spends arguing with itself is a gift to the presumptive Republican nominee.

Let's not get it twisted. For all that some people now seek to normalize him and his campaign, for all that they fool themselves into thinking he wouldn't be so bad, for all that a party once appalled to find him its leader now coalesces behind him, Trump is still what he's always been: a tire fire in an expensive suit.

Yes, Clinton is, putting it mildly, a flawed candidate, stiff at the lectern, shameless in her pandering and disliked for reasons both substantive (she sometimes seems to have only a nodding relationship with truth) and not. (Since when is it a sin - or a surprise - for a politician to be ambitious?) But she's also intelligent and experienced. And compared to Trump, she's a plate of Lincoln with a side of FDR.

As such, she might make a good president, might be a middling president, might even be a bad president, but at a minimum, she would be a president unlikely to hand out nuclear weapons like party favors or require customs agents to ask would-be visitors, "Are you now or have you ever been a Muslim?"

Clinton is, in other words, a good, pragmatic choice. And no, that's not an inspiring battle cry.

But a reality show buffoon unburdened by knowledge, decency or dignity is closing in on the White House. We should probably take a little inspiration from that.

Readers can contact Leonard Pitts at lpitts@miamiherald.com

(c) 2016, The Miami Herald
While Montanans concentrate on political issues closer to home, some Colorado residents are quietly working to end Obamacare and replace it with a state universal health care plan.

After Amendment 69 garnered the required 100,000 signatures necessary to put it on the ballot in November, Colorado voters will decide on amending their state constitution to provide universal health coverage to all Colorado residents.

Payroll tax funding

Supporters say Amendment 69, also known as ColoradoCare, will not only provide coverage for all residents, but will cut deductibles and copayments. Funded by an employer/employee payroll tax, the referendum will create a giant $38 billion health cooperative with an elected board that would set benefits and budgets, create a central purchasing authority for drugs and medical equipment, determine copayments, and help create a medical records system, and other related efforts. This board would consist of an elected, nonpartisan political subdivision of the state not subject to administrative direction or control by any state executive, department, commission, board, bureau, or agency, according to the proposed initiative.

ColoradoCare would also replace the medical portion of Workers Compensation. Private insurers would still be able to operate in the state, but according to a recent report by the Colorado Health Institute, an independent health policy research organization, the role of independent insurers would diminish.

Opponents claim the directive is way too expensive and does not address the underlying issue of high health care costs.

Colorado is not the first state to try universal health care. In fact, many states have tried to reform their health systems around a single-payer system. In 2011, Vermont passed HB202, the states single-payer health care law that would have moved beyond the Affordable Care Act passed by Congress in 2010. The new law would have created the Green Mountain Care System, and administrators had until 2013 to figure out how to fund it. After much study and debate (and missing the deadline for a funding solution), the governor finally scrapped the plan because it called for an 11.5 percent payroll tax on businesses and a separate 9.5 percent income tax on individuals.

Massachusetts model

One of the difficulties in changing a very complex system is trying to do too much too quickly. Most proposals call for reforming health care delivery as well as the payer system. For example, Massachusetts initiated health care reform for residents in their state in 2006. By 2014, less than 5 percent of Massachusetts residents were uninsured (the lowest in the nation). However, health care costs averaged 4.8 percent, well above the annual benchmark of 3.6 percent. To address the issue of cost, Massachusetts created the Health Policy Commission to study the issue and make recommendations. In 2015, these recommendations included various reforms from equalizing payments for same services regardless of site to bundled payments for common and costly episodes of care. A model for Obamacare, Massachusetts repealed its state mandate in place of the federal one.

Justice Louis Brandeis once said, a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country. Colorados Amendment 69 is just such a courageous experiment.

-- Catherine J. Grott, PhD, MPA, teaches in the health administration program at Montana State University Billings and serves as the community member on The Billings Gazette editorial board.
In 1964, Congress designated the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Fifty-two years later, on May 12, 2016, the Montana Fish & Wildlife Commission unanimously passed a resolution supporting the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project, which -- among other things -- would modestly expand the boundaries of the "Bob."

Why is this relevant? Because big game needs big country. When it comes to abundant wildlife populations, one of our biggest challenges is providing enough room for wildlife to roam. The most fundamental way to protect our hunting heritage is by protecting the habitat that both wildlife and hunters depend upon.

In their recent resolution supporting the project, the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Commission addressed this positive relationship between protecting security habitat and the abundance of Montanas big game species.

They said the Blackfoot Clearwater project would help ensure the future viability of the Blackfoot-Clearwater Game Range, which supports wintering elk, mule deer, whitetail populations and over 200 other species of wildlife who utilize the surrounding habitat year-round.

They also said the project will help preserve the future viability of Montanas native fishes, including bull trout and Westslope cutthroat, by protecting the North Fork of the Blackfoot, Monture Creek, and West Fork of the Clearwater River - all are critical habitat for spawning fish.

Its important to recognize that nobody is proposing these new protections lightly. This effort is community driven and developed by local residents. Several long-time Seeley Lake and Ovando residents and business owners came together around the local sawmills conference room table ten years ago to hammer out a proactive agreement for the Blackfoot and Clearwater valleys. Thats why all three local county commissions in the area support the project.

The Blackfoot Clearwater project isnt just about protecting important headwaters like Monture Creek, the North Fork of the Blackfoot and the West Fork of the Clearwater River. It also included active forest management, restoration, and local jobs in the woods.

Community members have already successfully leveraged federal funds to pay for ongoing stream restoration and vegetative treatment on our national forests. These treatments have improved habitats for elk, bighorn sheep and deer populations. They have improved watershed health by reestablishing natural stream channels, combating noxious weeds, and removing barriers to fish migration. Importantly, they have also created jobs.

But the work is not done. Protective status for the higher elevation headwaters has yet to be realized. Its time to change that. We hope Montanas delegation will pay attention to the recent endorsement by the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission. The Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project will protects our rights to fish and hunt on public land in Montana for generations to come.

Hunters and anglers have always been at the vanguard when it comes to conserving critical habitats, and special places. Its why we are joining the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission in urging our Montana delegation to introduce the Blackfoot Clearwater Stewardship Project as soon as possible.

-- Kathy Hadley is a lifelong hunter and angler, lives on a ranch in the Deer Lodge Valley and is president of the Montana Wildlife Federation board of directors.
Folks at the Butte-Silver Bow Archives didnt know precisely what they were getting into when they took oversight of the historic Clark Chateau in Butte.

Now theyre drawing accolades for meeting the two big goals over the past two years: preserving the four-story brick mansion through sorely needed repairs and upgrades and breathing new life into it with arts and humanities offerings for the whole community.

Its been an amazing transformation, said Butte-Silver Bow Commissioner Cindi Shaw, who joined her council colleagues by putting management and operations of the chateau in the Archives hands in November 2013.

The Butte Archives has basically resurrected it, she said Thursday. Its not only a beautiful artifact for Butte, they have turned it into a functioning, living place.

Brian Holland, chairman of the Archives Board, joined others in relaying chateau success stories to commissioners Wednesday night.

We have been hard at it, he said. The feedback we have received has been positive  overwhelmingly positive.

The future of the sprawling mansion, built in 1898 by Copper King William A. Clark, was in doubt in late 2013 after county Chief Executive Matt Vincent severed a long-standing lease and $35,000 annual payment to the Butte-Silver Bow Arts Foundation. He said the group no longer had the financial and organizational ability to manage and maintain it.

The Archives took it on, holding numerous exhibits and overseeing a series of renovations that included refinished floors and electrical and plumbing upgrades.

Butte historian Mitzi Rossillon, who has overseen preservation efforts, told commissioners that a state grant and $20,000 from a county trust fund paid for more than $62,000 worth of upgrades. Some of them  including new wiring and a backup heating system  are behind the scenes and you dont really get a chance to see them, she said.

Archives Director Ellen Crain put it this way:

When you plug something in, you dont get shocked, and all the lights turn on, she said, drawing laughs at the council meeting.

Crain said Thursday her comment was more than a humorous characterization  it was the truth. The chateau was in poor shape.

We are so excited to get it up to snuff, she said. We can use computers there now and do all kinds of things.

But theres been more to the transformation.

Crain and others wanted a nonprofit partner to manage the chateau and oversee events, and last year they chose a proposal by Callison Stratton and Carson Becker called The Root and the Bloom. The idea was to make the chateau a venue for the community to share intellectual and creative passions.

Stratton earned a masters degree in public history and cultural heritage from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, and Becker is a teacher and playwright who teaches each fall at Columbia College in Chicago.

They oversaw activities at the chateau last summer that featured lectures, readings and art for adults and a program for selected teens that included research and workshops on theater, poetry, prose, film, dance and music.

The council approved new, part-time employee contracts last week with Stratton and Becker to continue their work. Stratton is in charge of day-to-day operations, gives tours, organizes and promotes chateau events, and leads fundraising efforts, among other things.

Becker is in charge of programs, which again includes a summer internship for selected students aged 14 through 18. They will take part in workshops with local artists, help with cultural enrichment of the chateau, and work on their own art projects.

Visitors have increased 100 percent, Stratton said. We have had hundreds of more visitors.

Tours have been offered on weekends since April, and starting next week, the chateau will be open from noon to 4 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Then, through Sept. 18, it will be open during those hours Wednesdays through Sundays and be closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Its already been a busy place this year, hosting its first original play reading and workshop, a wedding in the ballroom, a second Halloween bash to raise money for suicide awareness, and game nights. An exhibit, lectures and performances were held in April to commemorate Buttes role in the Easter Rising of 1916 in Ireland.

The first session of the youth intern program starts soon, and later in June, a program about food and spirituality is planned that will feature lectures, nutrition experts from St. James Health Care, a local chef, and a food drive. Father Patrick Beretta, a Catholic priest in Butte, is helping coordinate the program.

A doll-house exhibit also is planned this summer, Becker said, and one house will be an empty, miniature Clark Chateau.

We are going to have people build furniture for different eras that fill the chateau doll house and then have a celebration around that, Becker said.

Becker also is working with Montana Standard Editor David McCumber on a Writers in Residence program, aiming to bring acclaimed Montana writers to Butte to produce work about the city, to hold writing workshops, and to do public readings and lectures.

There is sure to be more, but Shaw said the chateau already has come a long way in a short time.

They have been great stewards of the taxpayers money in the way they have cared for the building and repurposed it, she said. It belongs to Butte, and we can all be proud of what it has become.

Justin Ringsak, who joined the Archives board shortly after it took on the chateau, said the building upgrades paved the way for the activities and programs going on there now.

Just looking at the raw numbers, there has been an increase in numbers, he said. They are getting more people  both visitors and folks from Butte  into the chateau to enjoy that wonderful space. I think we are getting a fantastic return on our investment.
DES MOINES, Iowa  The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Iowa Tourism Office are calling on families to put down the screens and make lasting memories fishing in a new joint marketing campaign launched today.

The all-digital Gone Fishing campaign will educate families about fishing opportunities throughout the state and promote the sale of fishing licenses. The campaign is enabled by a $25,000 grant secured from the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing participation in recreational fishing and boating. Iowa was one of only a five states to receive funding from the organization in 2016.

Promoting Iowa as a fishing destination is a shared mission of the DNR and the Iowa Tourism Office, said Joe Larscheid, DNR Fisheries Bureau chief. By working together on this campaign we were able to successfully secure an outside grant. This partnership allows us to strategically allocate our marketing dollars to best reach Iowa families.

Fishing presents an opportunity for families to build closer bonds and is an excellent way to interest children in other healthy outdoor activities. More than 76 percent of fishing participants in the United States also run, bike, camp or hike, according to RBFF data. Iowa is home to some of the best fishing in the Midwest, with thousands of lakes and ponds and hundreds of streams and rivers.

This summer, get your family, get out of the house and get in touch with Iowas beautiful outdoors through fishing, said Shawna Lode, manager of the Iowa Tourism Office. You can fill countless Facebook albums with photos of the memories youll make fishing with your family in Iowa.

Iowa fishing licenses are available from the DNR for just $19 annually for Iowa residents. Children 15 years and younger can fish without a license. Additional fees apply for trout fishing. The DNR sold 370,160 licenses in 2015, generating revenues of more than $8 million.

June 3, 4 and 5 are part of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources free fishing weekend.

Free fishing weekend is a great opportunity to encourage Iowans to reconnect with fishing, said Joe Larscheid, chief of the Iowa DNRs Fisheries Bureau. Have some fun, create new memories and spend quality time with your family and friends.

Free fishing weekend allows Iowans to try fishing without purchasing a license. All other regulations remain in place.

This is a great time to take kids fishing or introduce someone new to fishing, Larscheid said. Fish are usually close to shore and are willing to bite.

Gather your family or friends and travel to one of the hundreds of Iowa lakes, thousands of miles of rivers or a nearby pond for a few hours of outdoor fun and relaxation.

Use small tackle  little hooks, a bobber no larger than a quarter, 4-pound test line and small bait to catch bluegills, Larscheid said.

Kids will stay interested and have fun when the fishing is good. Once the interest in fishing is gone, just let them play. It isnt about how many fish you can catch; its about sharing your time and having fun together, Larscheid said.

Fun, hands-on fishing events will be offered across Iowa to teach parents or kids the basics of fishing. A list of fishing clinics, derbies, and other fun events co-sponsored by the DNR is available on the Special Events Application System at programs.iowadnr.gov/specialevents/.

Our hope is that free fishing weekend will inspire anglers to invest in an annual fishing license, Larscheid said. This investment allows the Iowa DNR Fisheries Bureau to produce and stock more than 160 million fish annually, conduct research studies to manage fish more effectively, construct fish habitat, improve water quality, restore lakes with a history of poor fishing and improve access for anglers.
MUSCATINE, Iowa  The sun peeked out from behind a bank of clouds just as Memorial Day ceremonies began at Memorial Park Cemetery in Muscatine Monday morning.

As the flag was raised, former Quad City radio broadcaster Jack Carey sang a stirring rendition of the Star Spangled Banner. A group of children then led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance.

There was an honor guard made up of members of the Muscatine Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1565 and American Legion Post 27. Janet Clark played taps.

Speakers on the program said how Americans owe a great debt of gratitude to those that sacrificed their lives so that we could live free. We can start to pay that debt by never forgetting what veterans did for this country and what they stood for.

Carey's presentation included two patriotic readings, one composed by him, about the flag and the lack of public attention and honor shown to the American flag.

"I, your flag, remember some time ago when people would line up on both sides of the street to watch the parade right here in town. And naturally I was leading everyone proudly waving in the breeze. When your daddy saw me, he immediately removed his hat and placed it against his left shoulder with his hand directly over his heart," Carey said.

He laments that things have changed.

"What happened? I asked you what happened? I am still the same flag. Oh, I've added a few stars since you were a boy and a lot more blood has been shed since those parades of long ago. Now I don't feel as proud as I used to feel.

"When I come down the street many of you just stand there with your hands in your pockets. Oh, you may give a small glance and then you look away because there is something distracting you in the parade."

Children aren't being taught to honor and salute the flag at parades anymore, Carey said.

"What about the little ones? I see your children running around rushing out into the street for candy that is tossed their way. They don't seem to know who I am."

He mused about a man who took his hat off as the flag passed but then, realizing that no one else had removed their caps, slipped his back on seemingly embarrassed by the gesture.

"Is it a sin to be patriotic today? Have you and I forgotten what I stand for, where I've been?" Carey read.

Since 1777, 2,800,000 men and women have been killed in war, Carey said.

"Take a look at the honor rolls and see the names of patriotic Americans. But then when you see me passing by please stand straight. Place your hand over your heart and I will know that you remembered me."
WEST LIBERTY, Iowa  A large crowd gathered at Oakridge Cemetery in West Liberty on Memorial Day to honor veterans who have sacrificed for the freedom we enjoy today.

The ceremony included the reading of the names of West Liberty veterans. The high school band performed several patriotic songs. Prayers were given by Marian Hart, pastor of First Church United, West Liberty.

The keynote speaker was Master Sgt. Thomas Wertzbaugher.

"We stand here today to honor those who died defending our nation," Wertzbaugher said.

"Lining the streets before you are 288 flags. Those souls stood for freedom, some made the ultimate sacrifice."

Wertzbaugher spoke of his uncle who was killed Dec. 24, 1944 when his ship was sunk in the English Channel.

He called on all present to respect those who died defending our freedoms.

"I thought back to all my friends I lost in combat. Every memorial we did, every honor guard we conducted, every hero flight we executed in the dark of night with only an eerie glow lining the long walkway to the open door of a running Blackhawk helicopter to send the remains of solders to their loved ones half a world away to be laid to rest at home on American soil. Those are the men and women we honor here today."

He closed by reading from a poem titled "Memorial Day" by C.W. Johnson.

"We walk among the crosses where fallen soldiers lay and listen to the bugle as taps began to play. The chaplain led the prayer. We stood with heads bowed low. And I thought of fallen comrades I'd known from long ago."
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
The public has been urged to be vigilant against fraudsters who advertise non-existent jobs and learnership opportunities at the Department of Correctional Services on various social media platforms.

The fraudsters apparently request administrative fees of R150 or more for securing jobs at the department.

The people mentioned in the fraudulent advertisements are not on the database of correctional officials and are unknown to the department.

National Commissioner of Correctional Services Zach Modise said applying for jobs in Correctional Services and in the public sector is free, and anyone asking for money is breaking the law.

We would therefore wish to warn members of the public and job seekers to be vigilant against falling prey to these scams.

They should immediately report such icidents to the human resources unit of the department at 012 305 2000, to assist with the current investigations, or report the matter to the government anti-corruption hotline 0800 701 701, said National Commissioner Modise.

He explained that all vacancies or learnership opportunities would be advertised using mainstream media, the Department of Public Services Administration (DPSA) website, as well as the internal email notices.

The National Commissioner warned the perpetrators of the scam that they will face the full might of the law.

He appealed to the public to assist law enforcement agencies currently investigating the advertisements and other related illegal acts.

Legislation compels anyone with information on a corrupt and fraudulent activity or transaction to immediately report the matter, or they could also be charged with a criminal act for colluding in corrupt activities through silence.

SANews

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Perimeter security barrier company Cochrane Steel has failed in its bid to overturn a high court judgment on South Africas first ever Google AdWords case.

In August 2014, Cochrane Steel launched a final interdict at Johannesburgs South Gauteng High Court to try stop its rival M-Systems from bidding on the ClearVu search keyword in Google AdWords.

ClearVu is a high security fencing system that is sold in South Africa by Cochrane Steel. Meanwhile, Google AdWords lets business owners bid on words for text adverts that appear alongside searches for certain keywords.

At the time, the South Gauteng High Court heard that M-Systems did not use the ClearVu term directly in its ad but rather as a hidden keyword.

After hearing the case, the high courts Judge CH Nicholls ruled in October 2014 that M-Systems was not guilty of passing off the ClearVu brand by bidding on ClearVu keyword.

Judge Nicholls, at the time, further found that M-Systems use of keyword advertising did not cause confusion among internet users. Judge Nicholls also resorted to interpretations of common law because Cochrane Steels bid to register the ClearVu brand in South Africa had not been completed yet.

Cochrane Steel then moved to appeal Judge Nicholls ruling at Bloemfonteins Supreme Court of Appeal.

But the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the South Gauteng High Court judgment on Friday last week.

It follows that the appeal must fail and in the result it is accordingly dismissed with costs, wrote Judge of Appeal VM Ponnan in the judgement.

Reasons for ruling

Like the South Gauteng High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal found that M-Systems use of keyword advertising in terms of the ClearVu brand does not cause confusion among web users.

If the advertisement contains no reference to the appellant (Cochrane Steel) the consumer ought reasonably to conclude that the result is not related to the appellant or its products or services, said Judge Ponnan.

But even if the consumer went one step further and clicked on M-Systems website its branding would have left the consumer in no reasonable doubt as to the identity of the trader whose services were on offer.

It is thus unsurprising that the appellant has been unable to adduce any evidence of actual confusionI do not think the appellant has proved its likelihood, added Judge Ponnan.

Another key finding by the Supreme Court of Appeal on Friday was that M-Systems use of the ClearVu keyword in Google AdWords did not constitute unlawful competition.

Judge Ponnan wrote that the aim of internet advertising using keywords is in general, to offer to internet users alternatives to the goods or services of trade mark proprietors.

Because Cochrane Steel has to register ClearVu as a trademark, Judge Ponnan further said the use by one trader of the unregistered trademark or trade name of another is not unlawful under the common law except to the extent that that use gives rise to passing off.

It follows that the attempt by the appellant to ground a cause of action based on unlawful competition in these circumstances is ill conceived, wrote Judge Ponnan.

Relevance of decision

M-Systems legal representative, Darren Olivier of Adams & Adams, told Fin24 on Monday that the latest ruling on this matter brings South Africa in line with similar court decisions in New Zealand, the UK, Canada and Australia.

It creates clarity that keyword bidding on competitor trade marks on its own (without more) is not passing off and unlikely to be trademark infringement thus enabling alternative products to be advertised during internet searches, Olivier told Fin24.

It also means that search engines enabling companies locally and abroad to target South African internet users do not need to alter their keyword advertising models to comply with local laws, he said.

However, Olivier said that internet advertisers still need to be cautious to avoid any likelihood of confusion and for it to be clear that the sponsored link or advert is interpreted by the internet user for what it is, i.e. an advert.

Olivier further said that advertisements and their associated link should also not themselves be unlawful by, for instance, using a registered trademark.

Cochrane Steels legal team could not be reached for comment about the Supreme Court of Appeals ruling at the time of writing.

Fin24

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Standard Media  I might be a refugee, yes, but do I deserve to be treated as if I was the reason for my status? I think its NO. That is the question one Abdu Mohammed asked as he narrated his story upon hearing the news of refugees being repatriated to Somalia.

At the age of 14, I earned the name refugee in 1992 as I worked across the Kenyan boarder dobley from Somalia, where once a peaceful country was now being turned into a deadly war zone. I remember my own family up there and how they met their death, brutally attacked by militia in the name of clannism, so the only option for me was to flee.

I was received by UNHCR and taken through a thorough documentation, as I filled my papers with the help of the then humanitarian workers, I was only cursing why would things all of a sudden turn on me and my people. Behind me, thousands of fellow guys from Somalia were lining up to be received too.

Later I was given a place to live and called it my new home, from the roofed house I was living in Somalia to a white UNHCR labeled tent, to lining up for free food, from helping the people around me to now in need of dire assistance, whoever said life is unfair, was never wrong.

Its almost 22 years now, I have found my life back, now I run my own business, married to a Kenyan lady, and with three kids, trying to make ends meet. One fine morning the news came, the sudden news of #DadaabShutdown is causing fears amongst the refugees in town, just when I thought life was smooth.

The sudden decision raises confusion to most of people here from Somalia, I and others came here at a very tender age, toughened through the hard life away from home and once we stood tall, everything now comes tumbling down on us. The Kenyan government is raising issues of insecurity brought about by the refugees like myself.

Why would Kenya treat refugees us as the problem, why would Kenya harass innocent asylum seekers in the name of securing its interests? It is unfair to unleash its anger on us who are seeking better lives away from our own motherland.

My wife is Kenyan, my kids are Kenyans, almost more than half of my life I have known Kenya, now why would I return to the land I was chased, to a land where I witnessed my own family and relatives butchered because of misunderstandings of the powerful ones.

I only know of Kenyan laws, Kenyan education system, I have learned to be a foreigner who abides by the law more than the citizens itself, why would people vulnerable like us be chased like dogs, I and others like me deserve better, I am more Kenyan than Somali and I am ready to die for my piece of peace.

My kids always sing to me. EEH MUNGU NGUVU YETU, ILETE BARAKA KWETU and realizing its the Kenyan National anthem, I stand chest out and say, (papers or no papers) the decision I have made is to die in Kenya or die trying to be Kenyan because I am in a dilemma.

Hope Kenya will review its decision and at least make it a voluntary process.
The Hottest Stories on the Internet Today (Monday May 30)
A 1980s State Water Resources Board report predicted intense competition for water by 2020 between agriculture, industry and homeowners. That same report said California was taking more water from our aquifers than was being replaced. The Central Valley is already there. There are two types of growth: more -- that assumes unlimited or accessible resources to support growth; and Better or Smart -- that recognizes limits and wisely manages finite resources to sustain healthy environments and economies.

The current and future supervisorial elections will determine the sustainable future of Napa County and the Napa Valley. Unanswered questions posed by high Napa County cancer rates for children and white and Hispanic males; unaffordable housing for winery, vineyard, hotel, restaurant, school and college employees contributing to traffic congestion beyond tourism; increasing development in fragile watersheds putting water quality at risk; more wineries creating unplanned competition causing requests for more events, visitations, and production to sustain healthy profit margins; our struggling Berryessa populations; and unseasonable climate variations affecting every aspect of county life, all point to the need for different governance for all the countys people.

Excellent governance has four aspects: governance as an ongoing deep learning enterprise; informed and wise planning and policies toward a sustainable future; intelligent decision making in the present intending a sustainable future; and courage in decisions to fix the mistakes of the past. Intelligent governing and wisdom come from lots of experience, and courage is the product of integrity with toughness on behalf of all those one is elected to serve -- all with constant learning.

In Supervisor District 4, is Alfredo Pedroza, with post-college credit union and banking experience, two years of an uncompleted City Council term and 18 months as a governors supervisor appointee. The Register Stark choice endorsement on April 24 of Alfredo Pedroza as unquestionably an establishment figure  and He deserves election  so he can prove his worth on his own terms, raised more questions than provided information. Perhaps insight can be gained from the more than $200,000 his campaign has raised largely from winery and business donors, including from three projects now before the supervisors: a precedent-setting private heliport in a residential area, the Syar pit expansion, and the Walt Ranch watershed vineyard development. Campaign contributions are investments; we contribute because we believe the values and decisions candidates make will support our values, needs and interests. What is it that the donors of over $200,000 to the Pedroza campaign know or believe about the incumbent?

By contrast Diane Shepp has over 25 years of leadership and coalition building for results; extensive life and community-serving experiences, an understanding of the systemic relationships and need for harmonic planning for human, environmental and economic well-being; a personal process leading with inquiry, courage and willingness to dig deep with thoughtful consideration, meeting commitments, keeping promises, investment in our county, not just the valley; and a personal experience with and commitment to diversity in all its aspects. Her campaign contributions tend to be small except for one out-of-state tech company.

With Belia Ramos, attorney, former aide to Congressman Thompson, American Canyon City Council member, running unopposed in District 5, our communities and the supervisors have Hispanic representation with extensive county and legislative experience. Diane Shepp will bring independent community-centered representation and new diversity to the supervisors, creating a board majority of three women for the first time in Napa County history -- women being a majority in Napa County.

In this District 4 election cycle Shepp is the choice toward a sustainable and enduring Napa County future, beyond 2050.

Ron Rhyno

Past president, Mexican American Political Association, Napa County; past Clinic Ole Board; past Solano-Napa County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Board; Foreman, 1988-89 Napa County Grand Jury
Addressing the Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Tirana, Albania (30 May 2016), NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow said that Euro-Atlantic integration is the key to stability here in the Balkans. The Deputy Secretary General also congratulated Albania on the 7th anniversary of its membership of NATO and said that NATOs door is opening once again with the impending membership of Montenegro. Earlier this month NATO foreign ministers signed the Accession Protocol for Montenegro. Once the parliaments of all 28 Allies have ratified the Protocol, Albania will have a fellow NATO member on its northern border. This will enhance Albanias security while fortifying the stability of the western Balkans and the Adriatic region more broadly, Ambassador Vershbow said.

In his speech Ambassador Vershbow also discussed key issues on NATOs agenda for the Warsaw Summit in July. The summit will take place at a critical time for our alliance - a time when our security and our values are facing significant challenges from the south and the east, he noted.

The Deputy Secretary General said that NATO leaders will take important decisions at the Warsaw Summit on strengthening Alliances defence and deterrence, and projecting stability beyond its borders. I expect leaders at Warsaw to agree on an enhanced forward presence in the East of the Alliance, including multinational, battalion-sized units provided by European and North American Allies. This will make it clear to anyone who would do us harm, from the east or south, that an attack against any Ally will be swiftly met by forces from across the Alliance, he said.

With regard to projecting stability beyond NATOs borders, the Deputy Secretary General said: At the Warsaw Summit, we will intensify our efforts to project stability by boosting the defence capabilities and increasing the resilience of our partners.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Polish President Andrzej Duda met today (30 May 2016) in Warsaw to discuss preparations for the Warsaw Summit. Speaking at a joint press point with the Polish President, Mr. Stoltenberg said that the Warsaw Summit, which will take place in five weeks from now, comes at a crucial time, when we face the most serious security challenges in a generation.

The NATO Secretary General praised Poland for playing a big role in shaping the response to current security challenges. He commended Poland for hosting Multinational Corps Northeast and one of NATOs new small headquarters. Mr. Stoltenberg also thanked Poland for breaking ground on a new site for NATOs missile defence system, to protect against missile attacks from outside the Euro-Atlantic area. Poland is a major contributor to NATOs exercises, Baltic air-policing, as well as Alliance-led missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

Poland is also leading by example on defence spending, Mr. Stoltenberg said. You devote 2% of your GDP to defence. And you are making significant investments in new capabilities. I welcome that very much. All of this shows Polands leadership and commitment to NATO.

The NATO Secretary General said that the Warsaw Summit in July will be a landmark Summit. The Alliance will take decisions to strengthen its deterrence and defence and step up efforts to project stability beyond its borders. We have agreed to enhance our forward presence in the eastern part of our Alliance. This will be a multinational presence. It will be a rotational presence. We have clear proposals on the table from our military planners. We are discussing the exact numbers and locations on this enhanced forward presence of NATO troops; and we will make decisions by the Warsaw Summit. So let me be clear: there will be more NATO troops in Poland after the Warsaw Summit, to send a clear signal that an attack on Poland will be considered an attack on the whole Alliance, Mr. Stoltenberg said.

We will also expand our efforts to project stability beyond our borders; by supporting partners like Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova in the east and Iraq, Jordan and Tunisia in the south. We are helping them build stronger defence institutions and train capable forces to secure their own countries, NATO Secretary General added.

Mr. Stoltenberg also said that the Summit will cement Alliances cooperation with key partners, especially the European Union and stressed the need for closer cooperation with the EU in response to hybrid, cyber and maritime security challenges.

On Tuesday (31 May 2016) the NATO Secretary General will deliver a speech at the Warsaw University The Warsaw Summit: Strengthening NATO in Turbulent Times. He will also meet with the Polish Minister of National Defence, Antoni Macierewicz, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Witold Waszczykowski, and with other senior officials.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President,

Distinguished Members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly,

Its an honour for me to address this plenary session.

First, I want to express Secretary General Stoltenbergs best wishes to all members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, along with his deep regret that couldnt be here in person.

Let me also take a moment to thank the Albanian Parliament for hosting this Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and congratulate Albania on the 7th anniversary of your membership of NATO.

There has always been a special bond between NATO and the members of the NPA.

In your roles as legislators, you help shape your national foreign and security policies. You oversee defence planning and military budgets. You authorise spending on weapons systems and military deployments. And you play an indispensable role in building public support for NATOs overall mission  to protect and defend its almost one billion citizens.

Your staunch support for NATO over the decades has helped NATO preserve the peace and uphold our shared values of democracy, individual liberty, human rights and the rule of law.

And Im very pleased to say that this Assembly has been, from the very beginning, a staunch supporter of NATO enlargement via our open door policy.

As you know, our host country Albania, along with Croatia, joined NATO in 2009, becoming the 27th and 28th members of the Alliance. NATOs door is opening once again with the impending membership of Montenegro.

Earlier this month, NATO foreign ministers signed the Accession Protocol for Montenegro, and now Montenegro is well on its way to becoming NATOs 29th member.

NATO membership will strengthen Montenegros independence, which it regained 10 years ago. Becoming the 29th member of NATO will help to ensure Montenegros long-term stability and security.

Once the parliaments of all 28 Allies have ratified the Protocol, Albania will have a fellow NATO member on its northern border. This will enhance Albanias security while fortifying the stability of the Western Balkans and the Adriatic region more broadly.

We have seen over the decades that NATO membership can have a transformative effect on member countries. Their democratic institutions are strengthened. Their commitment to free markets, to human rights and individual liberties, and to the rule of law is enhanced. And all of this helps to lay the foundation for economic progress and political stability.

From our formation in 1949, NATO has provided the necessary security for democracy and economic prosperity to expand in Europe. By helping to keep the peace for nearly seven decades, NATO created the conditions for European integration, helped nations to overcome historic rivalries and to work together to reach common goals.

Membership of NATO has allowed members to pool their defence, security and intelligence resources, enhancing the safety and security for us all.

I also believe that Euro-Atlantic integration is the key to stability here in the Balkans. Now, that doesnt mean that every nation should necessarily seek NATO membership. We respect the choices of non-member countries like Serbia, as well as Austria, Sweden and Finland, to pursue partnership rather than membership.

And indeed, we have very strong partnerships with all of those countries, including a robust Partnership Action Plan with Serbia. Neutral countries like Serbia play an important role in international peacekeeping operations, and we appreciate Serbias contribution to the UN Missions in Cyprus and Lebanon, and to the EU missions in Africa.

With that as backdrop, I want to say a few words on the current security situation NATO faces as we prepare for our summit in Warsaw this July.

Our summit will take place at a critical time for our alliance  a time when our security and our values are facing significant challenges from the south and the east.

We also see other threats that transcend territorial boundaries  including cyber attacks, nuclear and ballistic missile proliferation.

For NATO to protect the freedom and security of the 28 Allied nations, we need to make progress in two areas simultaneously: We need to strengthen our collective defence and deterrence, and we need to project stability beyond our borders. These will be the two overarching themes of our Warsaw Summit, and the areas where our leaders will make important decisions.

Let me start with collective defence and deterrence.

In the last couple of years, Russia has illegally annexed Crimea and it continues its aggression in Eastern Ukraine. It has also significantly built up its military forces from the Barents Sea and the Baltic to the Black Sea and in the eastern Mediterranean.

These actions challenge the very foundation of European security, undermining respect for national sovereignty and the use of peaceful means to settle disputes  principles laid down in the Helsinki Final Act and many post-Cold War agreements that Moscow helped to write. Moreover, Russian leaders don't conceal that their vision for European security is no longer Helsinki, but Yalta  a Europe based on spheres of influence that we thought was long behind us.

NATO has responded decisively. At our Wales Summit in 2014, our leaders agreed to significantly strengthen our collective defence and deterrence capability, and we have delivered.

We have stepped up NATOs readiness. The NATO Response Force  our quick reaction force  is now three times bigger, with 40,000 troops. 5,000 of whom make up the high-readiness Spearhead Force, able to deploy within 2-3 days anywhere on Alliance territory  to the east or to the south.

We established eight new headquarters to help coordinate training, exercises, prepositioning of equipment and, if needed, rapid reinforcement.

Moreover, we have significantly increased the number of our military exercises. In 2015, we held a total of 300 exercises, including our largest live military exercise in years, Trident Juncture, which took place across Portugal, Spain and Italy, mobilizing more than 36,000 troops.

We have sped up our decision-making, and we are improving our ability to resist  and recover from  hybrid or cyber-attacks.

We are developing and expanding our defensive shield against ballistic missile attacks from outside the Euro-Atlantic area  most recently with the activation of a ballistic missile site in Romania. And we are ensuring that our nuclear deterrent remains credible and effective.

The Wales Summit in 2014 demonstrated that NATO can  and will  respond quickly to threats from any foe. But we will need to go further to ensure the effectiveness of our deterrence. With Russias increasing anti-aircraft and anti-ship capabilities, and its ability to mobilize large numbers of combat forces along its borders with little warning, it is not enough for NATO to rely exclusively on rapid reinforcements. We need to be there.

So I expect leaders at Warsaw to agree on an enhanced forward presence in the East of the Alliance, including multinational, battalion-sized units provided by European and North American Allies. This will make it clear to anyone who would do us harm, from the east or south, that an attack against any Ally will be swiftly met by forces from across the Alliance.

Let me stress, however, that this presence will be defensive, proportionate and in line with our international commitments, including the NATO-Russia Founding Act. NATO does not seek confrontation but we will defend each and every Ally against any attack. Our presence will be sufficiently robust that there will be no doubt about the strength of our collective resolve, but there will be no grounds to accuse NATO of posing an offensive threat to Russia or any other state.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO Allies have worked diligently to establish a constructive relationship with Russia. We created the NATO-Russia Council, giving Russia more influence and access than any other partner country at NATO. And we managed to cooperate to our mutual benefit in many areas, laying the foundation for a genuine strategic partnership. More widely, the international community welcomed Russia into the G8 and the World Trade Organization.

Im convinced that Russia can still be a source of stability in the world. We have seen this on occasion with initiatives like the recent nuclear deal with Iran, and the agreement to destroy Syrias chemical weapons. But in Europe, as long as Russia continues its aggressive actions against Ukraine and violates international law, the prospects for partnership are dim.

NATO has kept political channels of dialogue with Russia open, while suspending practical cooperation after Russias illegal annexation of Crimea. As part of our ongoing dialogue, the NATO-Russia Council met in April after a two-year hiatus.

We didnt see eye-to-eye on many issues of principle. We aired our differences candidly  on the crisis in and around Ukraine and on the risks posed by Russias aggressive military activities. But the fact that we are talking, and making clear our expectations and our intentions, is positive  and necessary.

In the current environment, dialogue is needed to manage a difficult relationship, to increase transparency and predictability, and to reduce the risk that incidents could spiral out of control. That is why there was broad support among NATO foreign ministers, at their meeting last week, for holding another NATO-Russia Council meeting before the Warsaw Summit. We hope to reach early agreement with Russia on the agenda.

Dialogue will continue, but there can be no return to business as usual with Russia until there is full implementation of the Minsk agreements and Russia once again demonstrates respect for international law and the norms of international behaviour.

Now, it goes without saying that strengthening our defence and deterrence requires resources. At the Wales Summit, our leaders agreed on the need to invest more in defence to meet todays more challenging strategic environment. So what has been done over the past two years? Id say the defence spending picture today is mixed but improving.

After a long decline following the end of the Cold War, defence cuts virtually came to a halt last year in the vast majority of Allied countries. This is an important step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go.

All NATO members pledged at Wales to move toward a target of spending 2% of GDP on defence over the next ten years. And they agreed that 20% of their defence budgets should go to acquiring new equipment. We need to continue making progress toward these goals. Defence spending levels will be an important topic of discussion in Warsaw. Collectively, we must do better.

Taken together, all of these measures represent the largest reinforcement of our collective defence and deterrence since the end of the Cold War. But, as I said, we do not seek confrontation with Russia. On the contrary, we seek ultimately to have a positive and constructive relationship with Russia. But in the meantime, it is in our interests that our relationship be as predictable and transparent as possible. That is why we are pursuing a twin-track approach  with political dialogue, but dialogue from a position of strength.

The second great strategic challenge we face is instability beyond our borders. The failed promise of the Arab Spring has given way to turmoil across the Middle East and North Africa, which has unleashed the biggest migrant and refugee crisis in Europe since World War II and brought terrorism to our streets. Elsewhere, the crisis continues in Ukraine and Russian troops remain in Moldova and Georgia. To protect our security, NATO recognises the need to do more to project stability in our neighbourhood  to the east and to the south.

At the Warsaw Summit, we will intensify our efforts to project stability by boosting the defence capabilities and increasing the resilience of our partners.

We will build on our strong political and practical support for Ukraine and strengthen our capacity-building efforts in Moldova and Georgia. We will continue to work closely with Finland and Sweden, who have been long-time contributors to NATO operations in Afghanistan and the Balkans, and who have a significant contribution to make to security in the Baltic region.

And in North Africa and the Middle East, we will continue helping our partners to build stronger defence institutions, field more capable forces, and regain lost territory.

NATO has been actively engaged in Afghanistan for many years and we will continue our Resolute Support mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces beyond 2016.

NATO is already training Iraqi officers in Jordan in areas such as countering Improvised Explosive Devices, military medicine and civil-military planning. Our foreign ministers recently discussed the request by Prime Minister Al-Abadi to expand our training and capacity-building into Iraq itself. We will soon send an assessment team to explore the possibility of NATO training inside Iraq, and to ensure that any such efforts would complement what the U.S.-led Global Coalition is already doing there.

We are developing a number of projects with Jordan, including on cyber defence. In Tunisia, were providing assistance and expertise to develop special forces training and a national intelligence fusion centre.

With regard to Libya, we are continuing our preparatory work with a view to helping to build Libyas defence and security institutions. NATO stands ready to support the Libyan authorities, at their request, and as part of UN-led efforts to support the new Government of National Accord.

Turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East has led to Europes largest migrant and refugee crisis since the Second World War, with sometimes tragic consequences, as today's headlines remind us. While NATO isn't the first responder, the Alliance is playing a supporting role. By providing real-time information to the Greek and Turkish Coastguards, and to the European Unions border agency, NATOs ships in the Aegean Sea are helping to stop those who would profit from human trafficking. As part of this effort, we have moved fast to step up cooperation with the European Union, because we can achieve more when we work together.

Indeed, as we prepare for the NATO Summit in Warsaw, we are exploring other opportunities for greater cooperation and coordination between NATO and the EU. Our organisations complement each other. One important area where you can see this is in the way we responded to Russias aggression in Ukraine, with NATO boosting our collective defence, while the EU imposed economic sanctions.

Looking ahead, we are working more closely together to prevent and counter hybrid threats. By combining our efforts, and employing the full range of our civilian and military tools, we can better protect our member states against any potential hybrid attack  and make our joint response greater than the sum of its parts.

Ladies and gentlemen,

NATO is an Alliance of equals, based on common values. Values of democracy, human rights, individual liberty, and the rule of law. We are strong because we are united behind those values.

The challenges we face are not going anywhere soon. So, as we move forward, as we continue to enhance our collective defence and deterrence, as we pursue our efforts to project stability beyond our borders, we need to be patient and to be prepared for the long haul.

But united in our values, and with the support of our citizens and their elected representatives, I know that, however long it takes, NATO Allies will always do what is necessary to keep our countries and our peoples safe from harm.

Thank you for your attention. And now Id be delighted to answer your questions.
(As delivered)

Thank you so much, President Duda.

Its great to be back here in Warsaw and great to meet with you again.

And as youve just said in a few weeks Poland will host the NATO Summit and then we will gather here again for a landmark Summit of the Alliance and Im looking forward to that Summit, because we meet at a crucial time.

When we face the most serious security challenges in a generation.

From the east and from the south.

NATO is responding, and Poland is playing a big role in our response.

You make an outstanding contribution in many ways.

Hosting our Multinational Corps Northeast and one of our new small headquarters.

Contributing to collective defence with exercises on land, at sea and in the air.

Helping protect the airspace of your Baltic neighbours with a Polish plane conducting Air Policing.

And breaking ground on a new site for NATO's missile defence system, to protect against missile attacks from outside the Euro-Atlantic area.

Poland is also a major contributor to our different operations.

With hundreds of Polish military serving in Afghanistan and in Kosovo, to project stability beyond our borders.

Poland is also leading by example on defence spending.

You devote 2% of your GDP to defence. And you are making significant investments in new capabilities. And I welcome that very much.

All of this shows Polands leadership and commitment to NATO.

Today, we discussed the preparations for the Warsaw Summit.

This will be a landmark Summit.

We will strengthen our deterrence and our defence. And we will step up our efforts to project stability beyond our borders.

We have agreed to enhance our forward presence in the eastern part of our Alliance. This will be a multinational presence. It will be a rotational presence.

We have clear proposals on the table from our military planners.

We are discussing the exact numbers and locations on this enhanced forward presence of NATO troops.

And we will make decisions by the Warsaw Summit.

So let me be clear: there will be more NATO troops in Poland after the Warsaw Summit.

To send a clear signal that an attack on Poland will be considered an attack on the whole Alliance.

We will also expand our efforts to project stability beyond our borders.

By supporting partners like Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova in the east.

And Iraq, Jordan and Tunisia in the south.

We are helping them build stronger defence institutions and train capable forces to secure their own countries.

The Summit will cement our cooperation with key partners. Above all the European Union.

We are complementary.

And closer cooperation is essential in responding to the challenges we see related to hybrid, cyber and maritime security.

Because together we are stronger in upholding our values and protecting our citizens.

So we have done a lot.

We still have a lot to do.

But we are as committed as ever to keeping our people safe.

So once again, President Duda, thank you for hosting me and thank you for hosting my delegation.

With your support, we will make the Warsaw Summit a clear demonstration of our Alliances unity, solidarity and strength.

Thank you

MODERATOR: Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, we have time for four short questions. Polish Radio 

Q: Good evening. The first part of the question goes to Mr. Secretary General. From the information that you have so far and the information from the media, we understand that as far of the contribution on the eastern flank is concerned, it was declared by the United States, by Germany, also Great Britain has made such a declaration and during your last meeting of the ministers of defence, you mentioned that you are considering a battalion, you are considering a battalion sized component. From the calculations, it means that we could have about 4.5 thousand soldiers deployed along the entire eastern flank. Is it all that the countries of central and eastern Europe can count on or can we expect more soldiers? And a question to President Duda. Given the fact that we would have 4.5 thousand soldiers along the entire eastern flank of NATO, would that be satisfactory for Poland? Thank you.

JENS STOLTENBERG (NATO SECRETARY GENERAL): ... to increase our forward presence in the eastern part of the alliance and we have decided that this enhanced forward presence is going to be a multinational presence and its going to be a rotational presence. We have not made the final decisions on the exact numbers and exact locations because these decisions will be made by heads of state and government at our summit here in Warsaw in a few weeks but we are now working on the concrete proposals we have received from our strategic commanders, from our military planners and they have proposed several battalions in different countries, the Baltic countries and in Poland, and again we will make final decisions. But I can say that there will be more NATO presence in Poland and exact numbers is something we will have to announce when we have made the final decision. But let me add to this that forward presence or enhanced forward presence is only one element in our deterrence and defence because you have to add to that that we are also investing more in forward presence related to equipment, pre-positioning, supplies, infrastructure. The United States has announced that they will quadruple the funding for what they call the European Reassurance Initiative, $3.4 billion U.S and that will be additional funds for exercises, for troops, for equipment and they also announced that they will have an additional new armoured brigade in Europe. Add to that, that our presence and our deterrence is based on the combination of forward presence of troops combined with enhanced ability to re-enforce if needed. So therefore, we have tripled the size of the NATO response force, now counting 40,000 troops and this reinforcement, if needed, is also an important part of our response. So it is about forward presence of a battalion sized forces battle groups but its also about much more, equipment, pre-positioning, infrastructure and also then the ability to reinforce if needed.

ANDRZEJ DUDA (POLISH PRESIDENT) (THROUGH INTEPRETER): Well, I think that Mr. Secretary General actually has exhausted the topic answering this question. Ladies and gentlemen, as Mr. Secretary General observed in the beginning, please remember theres just one element which is of crucial importance namely that we will have multi-national forces, we will have the forces of NATO and because of that, well have the forces of several member states. However, if we look at the entire component, the broad allied component, then as a matter of fact, its going to be much bigger because add to this additionally all the investments and all the announcements that have been made such as the one that we have started, the Redzikowo base, the construction of that base, which will, of course, also have its military protection. If we add to that, the announcements made by the United States concerning the armoured brigade which will be deployed in our part of Europe and part of that brigade will also be deployed in Poland. If we add up all that, we have got thousands of soldiers. So to me, it is important that as I have just said, it is not only Poland that is in NATO but also NATO now in the strongest allied sense and from the point of view of the equipment and from the point of view of the personnel, from the point of view of soldiers, it is going to be deployed in our country. Additionally, well host exercises here. So if we sum up all of that, then we will have really a lot of allied soldiers present in Poland. Thank you very much.

Q: I want to ask both the president and Secretary General about the last words of Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and his reaction to missile defence in Poland and Romania. He said that both these countries will feel what it means to be at the sides of Russia. How do you receive those words on the threshold of strengthening the eastern flank of NATO?

JENS STOLTENBERG: I think it is important to understand what missile defence is all about. It is a long term investment against a long term threat because we have seen over many years that the number of countries which are developing their ballistic missile capabilities have increased and we see the proliferation of ballistic missiles to several countries. So therefore, NATO decided at our summit in 2010 to develop missile defence. Its not directed against Russia. It is directed against threats coming from outside the Euro-Atlantic area and the numbers are too few, the locations are either too far south or too close to the Russian border to be able to shoot down Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles. So this is just not directed against them at all and you also have to remember that this is missile defence. It is a defensive system. Defence is defensive and actually, the interceptors we have, they dont have warheads. They are not armed. Its interceptors which are only capable of intercepting incoming ballistic missiles from outside the Euro-Atlantic area. So this is in no way directed against Russia. This is about defence against the threat coming from outside the Euro-Atlantic area from nations which are developing their missile capabilities. So any action from Russia will be absolutely without any reason. It will be unjustified because they know that this is not directed against them.

ANDRZEJ DUDA (THROUGH INTEPRETER): Ladies and gentlemen, let me say the following. Looking from the political perspective, this announcement, or statement of President Putin is a ritual character, I would say. This is his comment but facts are as follows. First and foremost, this investment is nothing new and it comes as no surprise because it was announced many years ago that first and foremost, what is most important and what has just been said in a very clear way by Mr. Secretary General, this is an investment in a defensive system. This system is not directed against anybody. It is supposed to protect against a possible missile attack. This is the task that it fulfils and because of that, it does not have anything in it of an aggressive character, of an offensive character. It is not hostile in nature. Simply said, it is a system which is supposed to guarantee security, just security. This is, once again, let me repeat it, a defensive system and that is why I believe that President Putin is perfectly aware of this fact and that is why I understand this statement as a ritual comment on the current situation and let me stress again, this comes as no surprise whatsoever. It is something that has been discussed for many years now and now, in accordance with a timeline, with a time scheduled it is being implemented and it was implemented in Romania some time ago, the first part of this system. Thank you very much.

Q: Yes, hello. A question maybe for both but maybe directed to the Secretary General. President Duda can jump in if he wants to. On the subject of Afghanistan, Poland about two weeks ago confirmed that they were going to send 200 advisors to the country. With the further pullout of American troops from Afghanistan, I wanted to know how much of lets say a backbench would Afghanistan take in the upcoming NATO summit? Thank you.

JENS STOLTENBERG: Afghanistan will be an important issue on our agenda at the summit here in Warsaw in a few weeks and the reason is that Afghanistan is our biggest military operation ever. Its important to continue to support the Afghans and we have decided that we will sustain our military presence in Afghanistan. What we are discussing is the composition and the exact way to do it but we have decided that we will have what we call a regional, a flexible regional approach, meaning that we will continue to be in Afghanistan and not only in Kabul. I think its important to remember that what we do in Afghanistan is that we project stability without deploying a large number of combat troops. We have ended our combat mission in Afghanistan, so what we do there is training, assistance and advice. We use our forces to enable them to do the combat and I think in the long run, this is very important because in the long run, we have to enable countries in the region, our partners in the south, to be able to defend and protect themselves. Therefore, we will continue to support them with training, assistance and advice. We will also continue to support them with financial support because the Afghan national army and security forces are dependent on our training but also on our funding. And the last thing I will say is that I very much welcome that Poland has decided to maintain and continue to provide forces for our Resolute Mission in Afghanistan. That is something we really appreciate.

ANDRZEJ DUDA (THROUGH INTEPRETER): Ladies and gentlemen, I can only give you one response to this question. As I said in my opening statement, Poland is a loyal member of the North Atlantic Alliance showing solidarity within that loyalty and solidarity framework, there is something obvious to me that is participation in those missions and operations which the alliance is embarking on to make sure that there is peace in the world. The mission which is being implemented in Afghanistan right now is a mission of this character, of this nature, this mission is supposed to stabilize the country. It is a mission which is aimed at making sure that Afghanistan having survived all the dramatic years when it was ravaged by wars to make sure that it comes back to normal, to stabilize its situation, because the North Atlantic Alliance is acting towards that aim in a responsible way. Poland being one of the members and wanting to show its solidarity within the alliance, wanting to show its loyalty is acting, is taking action.

Q: Mr. President, one question for you. In the preparation in the next weeks before the NATO summit, Poland will host a large military exercise, the Operation Anaconda with 10,000 soldiers. Could you say because clearly this operation is also connected to the summit, also some NATO troops will take part, what sort of message should be sent out from this maneuver and maybe also what sort of scenario will be the aim of the maneuver? And Mr. Secretary General, are there any concerns that such a large military exercise, especially here in Poland, will raise more critique, more provocation in Russia in the next couple of weeks before the summit? Thank you.

ANDRZEJ DUDA (THROUGH INTEPRETER): Ladies and gentlemen, let me stress something which I believe is obvious, namely the Anaconda exercise at which we are happy to host the allied armed forces. These are exercises of a defensive nature and of course, this indeed is a huge exercise because it is participated by thousands of forces and a huge amount of equipment which is coming here together with the allies. However, its aim is to improve something that is most important, something that we are all striving at, to make sure that we live in a safe world and that in case of any aggressive act towards our partners or towards us, that we are able to collectively stand up together and to effectively defend our independence, our freedom and peace and this is the aim of this very exercise and Im very pleased that both our soldiers and the allies forces meet, they come together, they train together, they perfect and improve their procedures because it is all aimed at boosting our security in the defensive sense. Thank you very much.

JENS STOLTENBERG:  [inaudible] has its right to exercise its forces and the important thing is that when we exercise, we do that in a transparent and predictable way and thats also the reason why NATO allies and NATO are so focused on transparency and predictability and thats also the reason why we announce our exercises well in advance and also publish the plan for our upcoming exercises online so they are very available to everyone who wants to be updated on our different exercises. Everything we do is defensive and it is proportionate and its absolutely in line with our international commitments. The exercise Anaconda is a Polish led exercise where the readiness of the forces are tested, and the Polish armed forces are exercising together with troops from different NATO allied countries. But again, this is something which is part of our exercise programme. Its announced, its transparent so there is no reason that this should create any concern.
Armenian FM tells Vatican secretary of state about Azerbaijani aggression

Secretary of Armenian Security Council holds telephone conversation with Biden's aide

IEA head: World still needs Russian oil to flow into the market

Norwegian police arrest man on suspicion of spying for Russia

Ambassador-at-Large meets with Personal Representative of OSCE Chairman-in-Office

EU to offer banks to offer mandatory instant payments in euros

Saudi minister: Saudi Arabia and US will overcome unjustified spat

Zatulin: My ban on entering Armenia coincides with trilateral meeting planned in Russia

Rishi Sunak vows to fix 'mistakes' of Liz Truss

MFA comments on information about meeting of special envoys of Armenia and Turkey

Daily Sabah: Armenian, Turkish special representatives next meeting planned in Turkey

The Telegraph: US President Biden mispronounces Rishi Sunak's name

Zelenskyy proposes creating platforms for the 'de-occupation' of Transnistria and Abkhazia

'Armenia' bloc deputy: Nikol Pashinyan and Suren Papikyan are lying

Dollar falls, euro rises

Stanislav Zass discusses with Lavrov situation in CSTO zone of responsibility

New British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his wife are richer than royalty

Klaar: EU actively engaged in Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process at all levels

Nissan reveals updated Juke crossover

FM briefs Sovereign Order of Malta Grand Chancellor on Armenia position on normalizing relations with Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan prepares for peace with Armenia but dramatically increases military budget

North Korea completes preparations for nuclear test

Azerbaijan manipulates facts, creates information pretext to encroach on Lachin corridor

Azerbaijan military aggression against Armenia is discussed at Francophonie Parliamentary Assembly conference (PHOTOS)

Peskov says details of gas hub with Turkey were being worked out

Konstantin Zatulin on ban on his entry into Armenia: I see it as insulting move

Putin's spokesman says building wall on Russian-EU borders is nonsense

Turkey begins its part of work on gas hub agreement with Russia

Kremlin responds to Macron's appeal to Pope to negotiate with Putin

Millliyet: Turkish and Finnish delegations hold talks on NATO membership in Ankara

Zelenskiy: Ukraine receives not 'a single cent' on $17 billion rapid recovery plan

Rishi Sunak takes office as Prime Minister of Great Britain

Indonesian armed woman tries to break into presidential palace

Pashinyan's family newspaper writes that Konstantin Zatulin is forbidden to enter Armenia from now on

President Raisi accuses U.S. of information terrorism, organizing riots in Iran

AraratBank and 4090 Charity Foundation team up for the education of war participants

Ursula von der Leyen: EU to provide Kyiv with 1 billion for urgent restoration of energy supply

World Bank to provide Armenia with EUR 22.6 million of additional credit funds

Macron asks Pope to call Putin to solve Ukraine crisis

PM: Azerbaijan hinders search of Armenian soldiers' bodies in occupied territories

German president assures Ukraine of his full support

Armenia ruling force MP: Major powers have told us You should sign that agreement by the end of the year

WSJ: Saudi Prince Bin Salman mocks Biden in private talks

OSCE needs assessment mission is briefed on situation in Armenias Jermuk after Azerbaijan military aggression (PHOTOS)

Armenias Pashinyan to Kazakhstans Tokayev: Mutually beneficial cooperation corresponds to our countries interests

Driver, 41, dies in hospital 2 days after Armenia car accident

US: Former student opens fire at school

Turkish Finance Minister says he would seek gas discount from Gazprom

US State Dept.: We are interested in seeing stable Caucasus where we work both with Armenia and Azerbaijan

US plans to allocate $25M to project to strengthen Armenia economy

Copper prices decline

Armenia premier: Italy is friendly country, important partner for us

Pashinyan to Xi: We will succeed in qualitatively raising Armenian-Chinese political dialogue to new level

World Bank allocates Ukraine additional $500 million

Zelenskyy: If Moscow says Ukraine is making dirty bomb, then Russia made it

Newspaper: Anti-CSTO consolidation initiative group of Armenia sends petition to parliament speaker

World oil prices going up

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Azerbaijan opens fire at Armenia positions

Largest cruise liner in world 'Icon of the Seas' presented

U.S. police officers mistake pet cat for mountain lion

Joe Biden gets another Covid-19 booster shot

US imposes sanctions on Nicaragua's gold mining industry

Kremlin says Russian, Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents prepare to meet

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Russian MFA: We are sure that attempts of external forces to split Moscow and Yerevan will not succeed

Yair Lapid: Israel is deeply concerned over Russia and Iran's military ties

Another school shooting in U.S.: 3 dead, including shooter

Azerbaijani Armed Forces shell Armenian positions

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OSCE representatives visit villages affected by Azerbaijani aggression in Syunik Province

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Lavrov: Russia and Iran gave comprehensive answers about alleged use of Iranian drones

Netanyahu's comeback dominates Israel's elections

Georgian president complains that she was not informed about Aliyev's visit

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Benny Gantz tells his Ukrainian colleague that Israel will not supply weapons to Kiev

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Qatar urges to depoliticize oil and gas

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Zelenskyy: Russia wouldn't cooperate militarily with Iran if Israel had not denied air defense systems to Kyiv

Azerbaijan sends note in connection with 'anti-Azerbaijani statements' on Channel One

Goldman Sachs foretells European business worst year since global financial crisis

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U.S. State Department official expresses support for Armenia's sovereignty

Iranian MFA: IRGC exercises on borders with Azerbaijan are not directed against any neighboring state

Pashinyan: Damage caused to country by corruption must be restored

Rishi Sunak to become UK PM

Armenia official: Defense sector expenses will increase the most, state budget allocations will increase by 160bln drams

Iranian president congratulates Xi Jinping: Tehran is determined to expand comprehensive relations with Beijing

Russian MOD: Work on Ukraine's 'dirty bomb' comes to end

Dollar drops, euro goes up in Armenia

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John Fisher, the musical director of New York Metropolitan Opera House which is one of the leading opera theatres in the world, will come to Armenias capital city of Yerevan on June 4, and at the invitation of the Aram Khachaturian Competition Cultural Foundation. The musical director of one of the most prestigious opera stages in the world will be the special guest of the 12th Aram Khachaturian International Conducting Competition, which will be held on June 6.

This musical event will be also attended by several other outstanding people of musical world and art managers, who will get an opportunity to discover young talented people within the framework of the contest.

June 6, the birth anniversary of great Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian, will be esteemed by the launch of an international competition dedicated to the specialty of conducting. A total of 57 conductors from dozens of countries have applied for participation in this contest. Only 14 of them have been selected to fight for a prize, from June 6 to June 14.

The membership of the panel of judges of this competition was formulated by Peoples Artist of Armenia Yuri Davtyan, Mark Hildrew (Great Britain), David Whelton (Great Britain), Michalis Economou (Greece), Thomas Yaksic (Brazil/Chile), Constantine Orbelian (USA), and Vag Papian (Israel/Armenia).

The Aram Khachaturian International Competition is a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions. The Khachaturian Competition has been implemented thanks to joint efforts of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia, Aram Khachaturian-Competition Cultural Foundation and Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, and it is held under the high patronage of First Lady of Armenia Rita Sargsyan, who is the honorary chairperson of the board of trustees of this contest.
YEREVAN.  The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Business France will help Armenia prepare a new law on investments.

Minister of Economy Artsvik Minasyan stated the above-said during his report at Mondays joint session of the National Assembly committees, and regarding the performance of the 2015 State Budget of Armenia.

In his words, his ministry has focused especially on the avenues for the protection of foreign investments, and the implementation of the grandfather clausea clause that is included as part of a new law that exempts specific parties from the law due to practices that were in place prior to the laws implementation.

At the same time, as per Minasyan, adequate conditions shall be created for local investors. Otherwise, they will set up fictitious companies abroad, and through which they will send the investments to Armenia.

We want to finalize the bill on foreign investors; we want it to be fundamental, noted the minister. The IFC and Business France also are assisting us here.
STEPANAKERT.  The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NKR/Artsakh MFA) has issued a statement.

Statement by the head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry about the alleged military use of monuments of Islamic architecture located on the territory of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic does not correspond to reality and is another allegation in a series of fraud and forgery, constantly used by the Azerbaijani side. Azerbaijan, with its rich experience of using religious monuments for military purposes, which is proved by the conversion of the Kazanchetsots church in Shushi into a military warehouse in 1992, once again is trying to ascribe its own behaviour to the Karabakh side.

There are numerous compelling evidences of systematic and deliberate destruction of Armenian cultural heritage sites by the Azerbaijani authorities on the whole territory of Azerbaijan, as well as in the occupied Shahumyan region of the NKR.

The most blatant act of vandalism is the destruction of the medieval Armenian khachkar/cross-stone cemetery near the town of Jugha (Julfa) in Nakhichevan and turning the site into a military range in 2005. Despite numerous international appeals, the Azerbaijani side, trying to avoid responsibility, does not allow international experts to visit the area, where there was a cemetery of cross-stones.

If the Azerbaijani authorities are genuinely interested in the implementation of the fact-finding mission to assess the situation with the historical and cultural monuments, and do not pursue merely political or propaganda aims, then we can expect that the work of the mission will start from visiting the occupied Shahumyan region of the NKR and Nakhichevan.

At the same time, we consider it necessary to note that all the monuments located in the territory of the NKR, irrespective of their origin, are included in the State Registry of the NKR Historical and Cultural Immobile Monuments and are under state protection.

The Nagorno Karabakh Republic has been and remains open to international cooperation in the protection and preservation of cultural and historical heritage, and expects a similar openness of Azerbaijan, the NKR MFA statement reads.
YEREVAN.  Turkey is able to grow tomatoes under polyethylene (plastic) sheeting, which is impossible in Armenia, and therefore the tomatoes from Turkey have a low cost price and are competitive in the Armenian market.

Hrachya Berberyan, Chairman of the Agrarian-Peasant Union of Armenia, noted the abovementioned at a press conference on Monday. He stated this responding to the query on which agricultural products are imported to Armenia from Turkey, and why.

In Berbaryans words, however, the greenhouses are increasing in Armenia, and this will help solve the problem.

The second problem is that we [i.e. Armenia] have a 20-percent loss in potatoes this year, he said. As a result, there are Turkish and Persian early potatoes today in the [Armenian] market.

Berberyan noted that, in addition, 500 tons of food potatoes were imported from Russia, but they were sold as seed.

We have identified four diseases in these potatoes, he added.

Hrachya Berberyan stated that harvest in Armenia will be lower than expected in the current year.

There are very few apricots, he noted. We have a problem with grapes, which we didnt have last year.
It is hard to believe that dictator Ilham Aliyevthe president of Azerbaijanwill keep any promise.

Jaromir Stetina, Czech military journalist, European Parliament Member (MEP), a member of the EU-Armenia and the EU-Azerbaijan parliamentary cooperation as well as a member of the delegation of the EuroNest Parliamentary Assembly, told the aforementioned to Armenpress news agency of Armenia.

Stetina said even though he does not expect anything from the meetings between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan, it was a positive step especially after the Azerbaijani attack in the northern part of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR/Artsakh), in early April.

I think that the two sides can benefit from the meeting, I can say who will lose as a result of these negotiations: Russia will lose, and from the geopolitical view, of course, the escalation of the conflict is beneficial for it, the Czech MEP stressed. I think its time to speak about the NKR recognition, since it is a sovereign country over 25 years and has all features like any other state.

The first is the military: the Nagorno Karabakh won in the 90s war, and it cannot be taken by force as Aliyev wants. Another thing is the state of economy, and it can be seen that the Nagorno Karabakh achieved progress in the economic sector. And eventually, it has a strong political system, it has a Parliament which usually cannot be found in various democratic states. Thats why I think that such kind of talks may lead to the point that eventually the world will start to be interested in the issue of the recognition of the Karabakh as a sovereign country.

Jaromir Stetina added that the people of Artsakh need to always protect themselves, since it is hard to believe that dictator Aliyev will keep any promise.
President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, who is on a working visit to Luxembourg, attended the summit dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the European Peoples Party (EPP).

The summit was presided by EPP President Joseph Daul. Presidents of the European Council and European Commission Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker, heads of the states and governments representing EPPs member parties from the EU and Eastern Partnership member-states also took part in the event. They delivered congratulatory speeches on occasion of the EPPs anniversary, referring to the path crossed by the party, its achievements, issues on the agenda of the European Neighborhood and Eastern Partnership, as well as prospects for the development and strengthening of the EPP.

The Armenian President also made an address on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the EPP. Noting that for many years the party has and continues to remain one of the most important links of European identity re-valuation and driving force of the pan-European progress, Sargsyan stressed that many of the EPP member political forces continue to play an important role in the political processes of various European countries even today.

The President especially recalled the great contribution of late Wilfried Martens in the establishment and development of the party, as well as its numerous success. He also stressed his contribution and comprehensive support to Armenia in the process of European integration and membership of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) and two other political forces to the EPP.

The President underscored the importance of the inter-party cooperation with the EPP in terms of disseminating European political culture and strengthening of pan-European value system.

Together with their past and culture, desires and goals, the Armenian people are the integral part of the European civilization, while the membership of the Armenian parties to the EPP stems from our common Christian heritage, as well as joint commitment to the principles of fundamental freedoms, democracy and human rights.

I highly appreciate EPPs position on issues regarding Armenia in different European institutions, as well as parliamentary platforms.

EPP greatly contributed to the development of our relations with the European Union. Now they have reached a new, very important and responsible haven. The negotiations on the new comprehensive Armenia-EU legal document have already kicked off. It will reflect the nature of our relations and outline new directions of mutually beneficial cooperation. I am sure that EPP will stay by our side also in bringing that document to life, the President said in his congratulatory statement.

Apart from this he expressed conviction that the EPP family - under the leadership of President Daul - will continue to implement their mission stemming from the fundamental values of the party.


COCOA BEACH, Florida  2016 could surpass 2015 for a record-breaking number of shark attacks in the U.S., according to shark expert George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida.





2015 broke the all-time record for the most number of shark attacks in a year. The 2015 yearly total of 98 unprovoked shark attacks surpassed the previous high of 88 recorded in the year 2000, dubbed Year of the Shark. But 2016 could break that record.



We should have more bites this year than last, Burgess told Reuters.



Burgess attributed the increase of shark attacks to a recovering shark population.



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A record number of sharks were found during NOAAs coastal shark research survey along the U.S. East Coast in 2015. More than 2,800 sharks were captured and tagged  the most in the surveys 29-year history.



Great White Sharks, which suffered a population decline in the 70s through 80s off of the U.S. Atlantic Coast, have also seen a recent rebound.



The United States had the most amount of shark attacks in the world last year with a total of 59 unprovoked attacks, surpassing the previous U.S. record of 53 shark attacks in 2012 and 2000.



More Shark Attacks Occur Off East Central Florida





Florida has the most (51%) of the unprovoked attacks in the United States and 30.6% of the worlds total. Brevard County, which includes Cocoa Beach, Florida, had the most amount of shark attacks in the Sunshine State in 2015 with 8, followed closely by neighboring Volusia County (Daytona Beach area) with 7. Both counties have the closest beaches to Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando, making the beachside destinations popular among tourists.




James Roark insists, repeatedly, that his retirement isnt only about him.

After 33 years at Emory College, it should be no surprise that the Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of American History is right.

Roark will step down this year. And his retirement will be, in part, about the students who starting next year can win the newly created Roark Prize, endowed by young alumni for undergraduate research in the United States.

Undergraduate research is a huge priority and need, and a definite fit for his legacy, says Ben Leiner, a 2014 history and economics graduate and co-organizer of the new prize for the professor who oversaw his honors thesis. I changed my major after one course with him. Dr. Roark is not simply an excellent teacher and scholar; he is someone you want to model your life after."

Roark was born in Louisiana but grew up in the San Francisco Bay area. The son of a pipefitter who expected at first to do similar work, he was uncertain about a career as he earned a bachelors degree from the University of California-Davis. After serving three years with the Peace Corps in Nigeria, he went on to graduate school at Stanford University.

There, his doctoral dissertation was awarded the Society of American Historians Allan Nevins Prize. That and his books, Masters without Slaves: Southern Planters in the Civil War and Reconstruction (1977) and Black Masters: A Free Family of Color in the Old South (with Michael Johnson, 1984), solidified him as an expert on the history of the American South.

Slavery and the Civil War have been the heart of Southern history, but that has moved tremendously in the past 20, 25 years, Roark says. The scholarship has advanced to examine race, status, class, women, free blacks, and our understanding has been turned on its head.

Roark has been recognized not just for researching that more varied landscape but also for training undergraduates and graduate students to do the same.

Naveed Amalfard discovered Roarks passion for teaching firsthand. As a freshman majoring in business, he talked his way into an upper-level course taught by Roark. He not only excelled but convinced his friend, Leiner, to take the same course as soon as he could.

It was an absolutely transformative experience, says Amalfard, a 2014 business administration graduate. After class, we would drop by his office and sit on his rocking chair. He would drop whatever he was doing to listen deeply to whatever was on our minds.

"Plenty of history left to do"

Amalfard and Leiner surprised Roark with news of the prize bearing his name at his recent retirement celebration. Working with Development and Alumni Relations, the pair has already generated about $30,000 in gifts for the award.

Hes put in roughly a century of mentoring in his 33 years at Emory, says Robert Elder, an assistant professor of history at Valparaiso University, who traveled from Indiana to honor his mentor. His worth as a scholar is equal to his fundamental decency as a human being.

That legacy will live on the new award bearing his name. The vision is that funds will be available for rising seniors pursing an honors thesis who need to travel for their research. Roark says he is pleased with the prize, and for the department he has been a pillar in building to remain committed to both teaching and research.

He plans to spend the next few weeks helping move the 1,600-1,700 volumes in his personal library to North Greenville University. Another former doctoral student, Paul Thompson, is now dean in the universitys College of Humanities and chair of its history department, and Roark loves that his teaching library will continue on there.

Roark also is putting the finishing touches on his ongoing project, the textbook The American Promise, which is about to release its 7th edition. He plans to be active in Emorys emeritus programs and be a regular at a new office in Woodruff Library.

Emory College and the history department have certainly made a rare commitment, that our international reputation was not bought at the price of teaching, Roark says. Ill be moving 100 paces to a new office. There is plenty of history left to do.
23:19

The government is working on a mobile application which will give access to over 1,000 services from the Centre and state governments and would be launched by December 2016, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Monday.

"We are going to launch a common mobile. In this app we will give services of central government, state government and local bodies. On a click of button people will be able scan 1000 services of government. We will start it in December with national student scholarships, women safety and health care," Prasad said.

Umang (Unified Mobile App for New Age Governance) will be available in 12 Indian languages in addition to English.





Prasad said that with help of technology the government is improving governance in the country.

"A former prime minister of India has said that if we send Rs 100 from Delhi and then only Re 1 reaches to people on the ground. I can very satisfactorily say that if Rs 100 is going out from Delhi then Rs 100 is reaching in account. By leveraging technology, we have addressed agony of former Prime Minister of India," Prasad said.

He said that success of Aadhaar tells that through technology governance can be improved.

Prasad said that in 2015-16 government transferred Rs 61,000 crore to 30 crore beneficiaries.

He said that 3.5 crore duplicate beneficiaries were weeded out and over Rs 15,000 crore were saved in 2014-15 under direct benefit transfer scheme.




00:28

Describing India's ties with African countries as "good", Vice President Hamid Ansari on Monday said that India wants to engage with the region in various areas including IT, tele-medicine, and agriculture.

Interacting with reporters on board his special aircraft en route to the Moroccan capital Rabat, Ansari said, "With Morocco we have substantive relationship due to one product -- phosphate -- which is very important for us. Indian investment is also there in Morocco in this sector."

He said Morocco has been helpful towards India at the international level.

When asked about the sudden push towards Africa, Ansari said that focus on Africa was always there. He said there was focus on Africa since the time of President Abdul Kalam.

Every government has laid focus on Africa, he said, adding that the focus was not due to their relationship with China.

"We are not competing with China. We both have different capacities. Our relations (with Africa) are old. We will discover our space in more areas including IT and tele-medicine," he said, adding that there is also scope for

cooperation in agriculture.

He said Moroccans find Chinese good, but China was not engaging locals. "If we get a foothold in Morocco, we can expand our business (in the region)," he said.

Ansari said India has a presence in Africa's automobile sector. "It is a promising sector."

"Sooner or later Bollywood would become interested as (Morocco) is a good place for shooting of movies," he said.

Ansari, however, said that visits to Morocco have been "too few." "There is no specific reason for this," he added.

Ansari said Morocco is a monarchy of life-long standing, but they have learnt to democratise.

Ansari, who will be in Morocco till June 1, will jointly launch the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Rabat with Moroccan Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane.

In the second leg of his tour, Ansari will visit Tunisia from June 2-3.
BANGALORE: As stated by the CEO, Jan Koum, WhatsApp instant messenger has over one billion monthly active users worldwide. This announcement comes within 5 months after the company had revealed their statistics of 900 million monthly active users. Recently it has launched an official android beta testing program where you get notifications on new features added to Whatsapp. Check out the latest updates from the Instant Messaging giant.

Whatsapp video calling:

The company has come up with one of the most awaited Whatsapp video calling feature which was available on the beta version (v2.16.80) of the application. Once this feature starts functioning, it would be a huge blow to the other messenger apps such as skype, snapchat, hangout and viber, which are currently the leading providers of video calling service. As of now, it looks like the company has pulled out the feature, but will be setting it on trial with a group of testers.

This video calling option was first spotted last week in those versions of app available via beta testing program. The function was accessible through call button, which further gave options for voice calls and video calls.

End-to-end encryption:

This is a new feature on Whatsapp, which helps protect the privacy of Whatsapp users. Not many other communication platforms use the feature of encryption. In this digital age, encryption is one of major tools used to promote safety and data security. End to end encryption protects the users from threats of illegal access to digital information and communications.

End-to-end encryption makes communication private. A third party cannot read the data or messages sent from your device. Neither Whatsapp employees nor cyber criminals will be able to gain access to your private messaging zone. It ensures that the text is read only by the person to whom you have sent or by the members in a group if the message is being shared in Whatsapp groups. The feature is active by default in the latest version of Whatsapp.

Text formatting options:

Watsapp has introduced a new text formatting option which helps to type messages in bold, italics or strike through by simply placing specific symbols on either side of the texts.

You can use the bold option by placing an asterisk on either side of the word:*bold*

You can italicize something by placing an underscores on either side of the word: _italics_

You can strike through something by placing a tilde on either sides of the word: ~strike through~

You can also combine any of these symbols to either side of word or sentence to get the desired format.

In addition to the above features, the company has made improvements in group messaging and annual subscription charges as well. It has enhanced the group messaging service by raising the capacity of a single group to 256 members.However, there are no changes in the method of creating groups, and this feature is available in both Android and iOS. Seeking increased user participation, the company has also dropped its annual subscription fee of $1. While these new updates wont show any significant changes in the interface design of the platform, it would definitely account for business augmentation in the days ahead.

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iPhone 8: An 'All Glass' Enclosure with AMOLED Display Panel
Delhi Police today arrested five people in connection with an alleged assault on six African nationals in South Delhi's Mehrauli area. As the anger over the attack on African nationals in the national capital began to rise, eight people were detained today for their involvement in the incident. Home Minister Rajnath Singh also directed the police to take strict action against the attackers and step up security in the area, where the Africans were living. Along with these eight persons, a juvenile has also been detained. The police action followed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's taking up the issue with Mr Singh and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung. According to police sources, three separate cases have been registered in connection with the incident, that took place in Mehrauli on Thursday night. The African nationals engaged into a scuffle with the locals after they played loud music and indulged in public drinking. As many as six African nationals got injured in the incidents. The incidents occurred after 23-year-old Congolese national MK Oliver was murdered in South Delhi's Vasant Kunj area last week. India gave full assurance for safety and security of all African nationals, when envoys of different African nations expressed shock over the murder of the Congolese national. UNI SM RJ 2346 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0432-759069.Xml
The Met office earlier forecast a partly cloudy day with possibility of dust storm followed by rain in the evening.

Maximum temperature is likely to hover around 39 degrees Celsius.

The Met office also forecasted heavy rains at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya and South Interior Karnataka.

Thunderstorm accompanied by squall is also likely to occur at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Gangetic West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

Owing to bad weather condition, more than 25 flights were diverted from Delhi yesterday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flight from Karnataka was diverted from Delhi to Jaipur, but landed in the national capital at around 12:10 a.m.

Yesterday, the maximum and minimum temperatures were recorded at 41.5 and 31.6 degrees Celsius. (ANI)
Prime Minister Modi was on his way back from Karnataka where he addressed a public meeting in Devangere earlier in the day, to mark the completion of two years of his government.

The plane landed in Jaipur at around 9.15 p.m. After a stoppage of over two hours the flight took off from Jaipur and landed in Delhi at around 12:10 a.m.

More than 25 flights scheduled for arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday evening were diverted to other nearby airports due to the bad weather in the national capital.

Dust storm and thunderstorm accompanied with rains lashed the national capital last evening. (ANI)
According to the official, two people were killed in different incidents in Kanpur's Bilhaur area.

One person was killed in Mau district when a wall caved in on him.

In Varanasi's Shivpur area, a man was when a tree uprooted due to the storm and fell on him.

A woman was killed in Ramgaon area after the mud hut she lived in caved in due to heavy rains and storm, police said.

Two children were killed in Hasandeeh village in Azamgarh when the school gate collapsed late Sunday.

Four people died in separate storm related incidents in Farukkhabad and one was electrocuted in Mathura after an overhead high-tension wire snapped.

The rains are likely to continue in some parts of the state for the next 48-hours, an official at the regional Met office said.

-- IANS md/ksk

( 167 Words)

2016-05-30-08:20:04 (IANS)
Tension prevailed in Kaudhiyara area of this district and most of the male members have fled from the Ekauna village after a bloody clash in which five people lost their lives which also included a police sub-inspector. The clash started in a dispute between members of an extended family over construction of a temple on a disputed land last evening. Police has arrested five people in connection with it. Following the incident, heavy police contingent along with senior police officials including IG (Allahabad zone) R K Chaturvedi and divisional Commissioner Rajan Shukla rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. Entire village has been turned into a fortress as large contingent of police have been deployed to prevent escalation of the dispute. IG RK Chaturvedi said here today that five persons including three from one group including Shiv Sevak (50), Krishna alias Prem Sevak (48), Vimal Pandey (25) and two from another group including Suresh Kumar Pandey (40) and his father Ram Kailash (65) were killed and one was seriously injured when both the groups - who belongs to same family - confronted each other over the renovation and construction of a temple located just stone throw away of their houses. The IG said the dispute arose when one of the groups led by Shiv Sevak started renovation of the temple last morning, the rival camp of Ram Kailash and his son lodged their protest and asked to stop the renovation and construction without delay. However, the issue got settled for a while. But later, the scene took an ugly turn when members of both groups again came face to face and Suresh Kumar Pandey, a sub-inspector in the PAC, took out his license rifle and opened indiscriminate firing on his rival group that resulted in the killing of three persons on the spot. Irked over the killing of three persons of a family, supporters of another group also opened fire and killed two of their rivals. IG further maintained that groups of Suresh Kumar Pandey, who reached his house on Saturday after taking leave from reserve police line in Allahabad and Shiv Sevak Pandey were at loggerheads over the land of a temple for the past three years. Deceased Shiv Sevak and Prem Sevak had taken voluntary retirements from PAC and CRPF respectively and were staying at their house. Upon receiving information, police from five police stations rushed to the spot. The police forces had to face the anger of the supporters as they were initially not allowed to take the bodies for post mortem. Police said the dispute within the families started in 1985 when grandfather of Suresh Kumar Pandey was shot dead and later further escalated when the daughter of rival Shiv Sevek's daughter was killed in 2013.UNI MB KU PM0840 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-759128.Xml
There is no relief for separatist leaders, including chairmen of both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference (HC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq who remained under house arrest while Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief Mohammad Yaseen Malik has been lodged in central jail. However, official sources said restrictions on the separatist leaders had been imposed to prevent any law and order problem in the valley. A spokesman of the moderate HC Advocate Shahidul Islam said Mirwaiz remained under house arrest since May 25.He said paramilitary forces and state police personnel remained deployed outside the Nigeen house of Mirwaiz, who has been informed that he cannot leave till further orders. Advocate Islam said he too was not being allowed to move out from the house by the security forces deployed outside the main gate. My health has been affected due to confinement in the house. A spokesman of the hardline HC Aiyaz Akbar said Mr Geelani remained confined in his Hyderpora residence, where a large number of security force and state police personnel are deployed outside the main gate. He said the amalgam chairman was not being allowed to move out of his house even to offer Friday prayers in a mosque since he returned from New Delhi last month. Aiyaz said General secretary of the HC Shabir Shah also remained under house arrest for the past one month. He said Mr Shah is also not being allowed to move out of his house by the security personnel deployed there. A spokesman of the JKLF said Mr Malik has been lodged in central jail, Srinagar. Malik, who was arrested on May 25 from Abi Guzar office of the front and lodged in police station Kothibagh was shifted to central jail yesterday, he said and alleged that Malik was not produced before any magistrate. Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has recently said that the separatist leaders will be provided political space once the tourist season is over. She said all those involved with the tourist trade have taken loan from banks and other financial institutions and if anything will happen they will suffer massive losses.UNI BAS ASM CJ PM1133 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-759269.Xml
The Vellore-based VIT University has signed Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) on academic and research co-operations with five top European Institutions. The VIT inked pacts with institutions in Germany, Sweden and Ireland, including Technical University (TU) Dresden, Leibniz University of Hannover (LUH), University of Applied Sciences (UAS) Darmstadt, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm and Dublin City University (DCU) Dublin, Ireland for exchange of faculty and students, conduct of joint seminars, workshops, training programmes and conferences, exchange of scholarly publications and the initiation of joint sponsored research programmes. VIT Chancellor Dr G Viswanathan and Ms Kadhambari SViswanathan, Assistant Vice President, visited these countries recently and signed joint agreements on behalf of VIT University, Vellore and Chennai campuses with the Rectors and Presidents of respective European universities, a VIT release said here today. Under the MoU, VIT University students and faculty members would visit these universities regularly to Germany, Sweden and Ireland, the students and Professors from the partner universities will also visit VIT for study and joint teaching programmes. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Viswanathan said VIT University was proud to be a partner of these renowned European institutions as it shared common areas of interests in cutting edge technologies of research and development.UNI GV 1234 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-759344.Xml
Well known film and television actor, Suresh Chatwal passed away after prolong illness.Chatwal left for the heavenly abode on Saturday ,he was cremated yesterday, a statement issued by his son,Yaman Chatwal said. ''With great grief, I inform you that my father, Suresh Chatwal is no more between us. He left for heavenly abode yesterday succumbing to his ongoing illness,'' it stated. Suresh Chatwal, who was seen on popular show 'FIR'. He made an entry in film in the year 1969 with 'Rakhi Rakhi' andwas seen in films like 'Karan Arjun', 'Koyla' and 'Munna Bhai MBBS'. 'Nakshatra', was his last film which came in 2010. UNI NV VS CJ ADG SB1230 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-759325.Xml
Acting on specific information, the Indian Army launched a swift and surgical joint search operation in Sunarthwa Forest near Gosti Bowl in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. The team recovered a total of four weapons and war like stores, which included one AK 56 Rifle, two 9 mm Pistols, one country Made Pistol, seven AK Magazines, two 9 mm Pistol Magazines, one Pika Magazine, four UBGL Grenades, five Pakistan origin hand grenades, 1696 Rounds of 7.62 mm AK 47, 1340 Rounds of 7.62 mm CTN, 40 Belted Rounds of Pika, two Binoculars, one Telescopic Night Sight, one camera, ten recording cassettes and sustenance stores from a natural cave hideout in Sunarthwa Forest. The Army had been getting information of suspicious unidentified movement of the personnel in the general area for the last three months and, therefore, a close watch was being maintained. The recovered arms likely belong to one of the terrorist tanzeems of the area, active in the past, which could have been hidden for later usage. The area due to its remoteness and rugged terrain makes it an ideal location for establishing a hideout. The dense forest and steep gradient increased the degree of difficulty in approach to the intended target area and subsequent search. The recovery of war like stores was possible only due to the accurate intelligence developed by the Army and launching of well synchronised joint operation with SOG in the dense jungle, in a relentless day and night operation of 36 hours. Apart from the three columns of the Indian Army, the team also included one Head Constable with six persons of SOG from Thatri Police Station. The recovered arms and ammunition were handed over to the Thatri Police Station, wherein a FIR has been lodged. The recovery of a huge cache has given a major success to the Security Forces and a massive blow to the terrorists in the area, thereby preventing the arms and ammunition from falling into the hands of inimical elements, aiming at revival of militancy in Doda. (ANI)
African students today held a demonstration in the national capital to protest attacks on them and demanded ''speedy justice'' from the Government.The students gathered at the Jantar Mantar were holding placards, singing and dancing to show their resentmentThe Government had yesterday reassured the African community that the culprits would be brought to book.The anger among the Africans started after the lynching of a Congolese national in Capital last week and increased after several more incidents of attack on May 26. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has already spoken to the Delhi Lt Governor to fast track the investigation and catch the culprits after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj took up the case with them. The accused involved in the May 26 attacks have already been arrested.The Delhi Police had denied any racial motives in these attacks.Yesterday, the police arrested five people in connection with an alleged assault on six African nationals in South Delhi's Mehrauli area. Eight people were detained for their involvement in the incident. Mr Singh also directed the police to take strict action against the attackers and step up security in the area, where the Africans were living. Along with these eight persons, a juvenile was also detained. UNI SM CJ ADG SB1350 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0271-759453.Xml
Buoyed by the victory of the ruling AIADMK in the May 16 Assembly elections andthe party retaining power for the first time in 32 years, the Greater Chennai Corporation today adopted a resolution heaping laurels on Party Supremo J Jayalalithaa for setting a record by becoming the Chief Minister for a second consecutive term. At the Corporation Council meeting chaired by Mayor Saidai Duraisamy, the civic body lauded the achievements of the AIADMK government for the past five years, which ensured that the party emerged victorious in the Assembly elections. The AIADMK Councillors were in an elated moodfollowing the success in the elections as theyvied with each other in showering encomiums onthe Chief Minister. They recited poems, uttered punchlines from Tamil films in praise of their leader. A total of 18 resolutions were passed in the meeting including the ones to provide LED lights in extended areas and completion of SWD works. To queries on LED lights in their wards raised by Councillors, the Mayor said ''only 95,000 LED bulbs are yet to be fitted. Steps will be takento complete the task''. Talking about the road works that were stopped due to the model code of conduct, the Mayor said all the works would be taken up immediately. UNI GV MVR 1443 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0434-759543.Xml
Vice Admiral Lanba, 58, who has been promoted to four-star rank, is scheduled to take over as the new Chief of Naval Staff in New Delhi from outgoing Admiral R.K. Dhowan, who will attain superannuation on Tuesday.

Officers of the WNC accorded Vice-Admiral Lanba a warm farewell accompanied by the traditional 'Pulling Out' ceremony at INS Shikra here.

Addressing the naval personnel, Vice Admiral Lanba lauded their contributions, notwithstanding the constraints of the service, in working with synergy and team work to ensure ships, submarines and aircraft are maintained in a high state of combat readiness always.

Recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal and Ati Vishisht Seva Medals, he said in view of the fragile maritime environment of the region, there is a need to be ever-vigilant in all quarters and on all fronts.

Vice Admiral Lanba said he had no doubts that fire power from units of fleet, flotillas and squadrons can be delivered appropriately in case the need arose.

Referring to the International Fleet Review in February 2016, he said the participation of 50 countries at the event clearly indicates the growing statue of India in the region.

Many countries have expressed their desire to cooperate and conduct exercises with the Indian Navy which is indicative of professionalism, training and sound culture displayed by the service.

Vice Admiral Lanba urged the need to continue working together to bring change and work smartly.

--IANS qn/pgh/vm

( 279 Words)

2016-05-30-13:18:06 (IANS)
Voicing concern over dumping of goods by China, the government today said it is working very closely with industries to collect data so that anti-dumping duty could be imposed on imports of such products. "In order to stop some of the goods from China, where particular industries have cried that dumping is happening which is causing injuries to the industry, we are working very closely with the industries to collect data so that consistently we can take measures. ''These measures will be compliant with the World Trade Organisation in order to bringing safeguard duty or anti-dumping duty," said Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.Interacting with mediapersons on the occasion of completion of two years of the Modi government at the Centre, Ms Sitharaman said that to provide greater access to Indian industries to Chinese markets, several rounds of negotiations have taken place and the government is expecting a positive result in the days to come. "Bulging deficit is not good news. With China we have had several rounds of talks. We are continuing so that our bulk industries have greater access to their markets. Our IT and IT-enabled services are often complaining that the registration and work in China consumes a lot of time and some of the requirements are very difficult to fulfil. These are issues on which we are negotiating with Chinese government," the Minister added. Raising concern over rising trade deficit between the two countries, Ms Sitharaman said, "About our export to China, there are several conditions which we are keen to fulfil for greater access. We opened up and in fact invited teams from China to come and check our conditions. We convinced that what we are exporting are of international standards." India has already imposed anti-dumping duty on several products, including from chemicals sector, from China. In 2014-15, the India-China trade deficit widened to 49 billion dollars. Indian industry has time and again raised concerns over cheap imports from China. UNI ASH SW RP1603 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0388-759602.Xml
There is Rs 14,058 crore Provident Fund (PF) and Rs 588 crore State Life Insurance Scheme (SLIS) liability on the government because of incorrect budgetary practice during the past 30 or more years. There is no cash in the PF kitty with the result the outflows which get crystalised year after year are being paid from current inflows, Minister for Finance Haseeb Drabu said in the Budget for the year 2016-17 presented in the Legislative Assembly today. However, he assured the employees that their PF will be paid as and when they wish to withdraw it. "I will leave it to this House to debate and decide whether it was a fraud perpetuated by earlier governments or a primitive accounting error", he said in the House when the Opposition had walked out. He said he proposed to make a few more changes to the accounting structure in the Budget which have been made with a view to cleaning up the accounts further and giving an actual picture of the state of affairs. First is the budgetary treatment of General Provident Fund. Since 1984, the state government started the practice of debiting from the gross salary the required PF contribution of the employee and paying the net amount to the employee. However, he said "Normally the amount deducted should have been earmarked and invested in long term financial instruments, so that the government gets a return on the corpus to fund the interest it pays to employees. This was not done." Instead, the government has been utilising the net accruals on account of PF as captive resources to finance its day to day expenditure. To make matters worse, instead of accounting what it had borrowed from its employees, the net GPF was grossly understated in the budget so as to get a higher allocation of market borrowings. This fiscal hara-kiri has been committed year after year for the last 30 years or so. The net result of this incorrect budgetary practice has meant that the total liability on account of PF, which is completely un-provided for, is Rs 14,058 crore as on March 31, 2015. This is not all. The same procedure has been followed for state Life Insurance Scheme for government employees for which the liability is another Rs 588 crore, the finance minister said.More UNI BAS/ABS AE NS1614 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0153-759584.Xml
Ambassador of Japan to India Kenji Hiramatsu called on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today to discuss mutual cooperation on infrastructure projects. During the meeting, issues related to transportation, water, sewage system, earthquake-resistant buildings and other developmental projects were discussed. The leaders discussed common grounds between Delhi and Japan and how the two can mutually benefit each other. The meeting was also attended by PWD Minister Satyendar Jain and DDC Vice-Chairman Ashish Khetan.The main project discussed during the meeting was the Delhi government's Dedicated Elevated Bus Corridors in the city to ease out traffic congestion. The Chief Minister told Mr Hiramatsu that a delegation of the Delhi government will visit him for further discussions and to look into more areas of cooperation. Mr Khetan added that the delegation would make a presentation on the projects of the Delhi government and outline the vision of the Delhi government when it visits Japan.The Chief Minister also told the Ambassador that they will like to solve any problem being faced by the Japanese nationals residing in the national capital.UNI SM SW AE 1704 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0271-759829.Xml
On booking a round trip fare, passengers can fly out of India to Singapore at free ofcost.

As part of the offer, passengers from city can fly to Singapore without incurringany expenditure by booking a round-trip to Singapore for as low as Rs 9,999. The offer is valid from May 30, 2016 till June 8, this year, a company statement said here.

The applicable travel period for the offer is from July 13, 2016 to October 10, thisyear. Passengers can avail of this exciting offer on www.tigerair.com.

Commenting on the offer, Leslie Thng - Chief Commercial Officer Tigerair and Scoot said, Tigerair has been committed to providing affordable fares to Indian passengers and provides them an opportunity to experience Singapore, a fun-filled family destination. This delightful offering aims to encourage Indians to witness the world famous sights and sounds of Singapore and treat themselves to a perfect post- summer getaway.

Tiger Air operates a total of 35 weekly flights to Singapore from Hyderabad, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kochi and Tiruchirappalli. The travellers can exploreSingapore and at the same time also take advantage of its wide network to explore newer destinations at attractive fares.

The airline also connects to Bali, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Perth and Taipei via Singapore, the gateway to amazing destinations in Asia Pacific and connect to Sydney, Gold Coast and 11 more destinations with 50 weekly flights via Singapore in collaboration with Scoot.UNI VV KVV ADB 1655

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-759763.Xml
Two weeks after the violent attack by Bru refugees of Mizoram in non-tribal village and burning down of their houses in Kashirampur under Kanchanpur sub division in North Tripura on May 17, 96 homeless people, including 24 children and 26 women, are sharing three rooms. According to a report, three families have decided to leave the village and shift to other parts. The homeless families smelled a larger game plan of some vested interest quarters to evict the non-tribals from the locality. Amra Bangalee, a regional political party fighting against atrocities on non-tribals, yesterday held a mega rally against the administration and demanded immediate arrest of the accused and ensure immediate proper rehabilitation of the victims. " It was a conspiracy to evict the Bangalee families from the village and create unnecessary unrest. The role of police and the administration are also not beyond doubt, as none of the criminals have been arrested,'' Kalyan Pal, Amra Bangalee state secretary alleged. He added that only Rs 1000 in cash and a set of clothes had been distributed to each of the family and the victims after the incident . The Rural Development Minister, Panchayat Minister and top level bureaucrats who visited the victims after the incident had committed immediate compensation to the families and adequate financial help. But nothing had been done yet. The administration has gradually forgotten their commitment. Babul Das, a victim, said only 12 ladies of 26 victims were given one cloth from the administration. A few cheques of Rs 10,000 had been issued but since the family lost their passbook the money had not been encashed. As many as 12 children have discontinued from going to schools, as they don't have books and dresses. " We are persuading the issues with local administration everyday but they did not bother to look into our problems. We, 96 people, are sharing whatever little food we can manage. Now the situation is compelling us to leave the place with empty hand but we do not know where to go," Das rued. However, BJP suspects that the ruling CPI-M was instigating the Brus against non-tribal families to create ethnic tension for gaining political mileage. Neither police nor the civil administration did take any step against Bru inmates for their barbaric attack. BJP leader Subal Bhowmik alleged that Bru attackers came by several vehicles together in front of police and set as many as 20 houses were set on fire in broad daylight. They went away in the vehicles after destroying the entire village. He also pointed out that Bru refugees have been residing in Kanchanpur for past 20 years and disturbing the life in the villages. They were allegedly involved in insurgency, burglary and various anti-social activities for past many years but the administration had not taken any action against them so far. Bhowmik further blamed the Left Front government for not taking interest to repatriate refugees to Mizoram despite knowing the dissatisfaction and unhygienic life-style and insufficient livelihood. About 36,000 Brus live in seven makeshift camps in northern Tripura for the past 19 years after they fled Mizoram following ethnic trouble after a Mizo forest officer was killed in October 1997.UNI BB KK SW GC1748 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-759896.Xml
In order to avoid pulses shortage and ensure enough stock in the current year, the government today said it has held a negotiation with Myanmar for government-to-government import of pulses. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman said, "We are talking with Myanmar and the talks are going very well on government-to-government import of pulses. It is important for us to know that globally from various countries we import pulses. Now it is not just after 2014 that the pulses have been imported, because we produce far lesser than we consume. We are importing pulses over decades."The prices of pulses, the main source of protein for many Indians, were shot up more than 60 per cent in the last year. Aiming to avoid any incident like last year, she said, "Because of last year's unfortunate experience of pulses not reaching the market, procuring the pulses in the last minute. Also pulse is also not globally produced in large quantity. There was a bit of difficulty."Meanwhile, she expressed confidence that there would be no shortage of pulses this year."We shall ensure that enough pulses coming to India. Negotiations have happened and I'm glad to say that there is a positive engagement with the government," Ms Sitharaman added. UNI ASH SW AE 1811 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0388-759977.Xml
Police today arrested a Nigerian national for allegedly kidnapping and raping a local woman from Parra in North Goa. According to police, the Nigerian, who had allegedly kidnapped and raped the woman on May 27, was arrested from Panvel, Karnataka while he was travelling in a train. Acting on the complaint lodged by the woman, the police had registered a first information report (FIR) against an unidentified Nigerian. A team of Mapusa Police in North Goa caught the accused. The woman had stated in her complaint that two Nigerians waved down when she was travelling on her bike. When she halted, one of the men sat on her bike and asked her at knifepoint to drive to his room. When she reached his room at Asgaon, the Nigerian allegedly raped her. An offence under sections 365, 506, 342 and 376 of Indian Penal Code was registered against the foreign national. Reacting on the development, Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar said, ''The Nigerian students come to India, get false FIR registered against them and try to stay in India. They get involved in unwanted things. Two years ago also there was an incident which had taken place at Porvorim and the Nigerians were found to be involved. ''After the Porvorim incident, we had written to the Union Government requesting to frame a law which allows us to deport persons involved in this type of activities to their respective countries. We have taken present incident and incidents which had taken place earlier also seriously,'' he said. Such sort of incidents damaged the image of Goa which was an international tourist station, the Minister said and demanded that there should be a law which allows deportations of those who commit this type of crime.UNI AKM SS DJK SB NS1852 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-760102.Xml
The Chief Minister made this special request Civil Aviation Minister P A Gajapathi Raju had attended her swearing-in ceremony for the second term of the Trinamool Congress government last Friday.

The minister has assured that the national carrier would resume its direct flight services connecting the two metro cities, according to a government source at Nandan.UNI PC KK DJK SB NS1900

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-760026.Xml
A five-year-old boy was killed and two girls were injured in a bomb blast in Chillona village of Godda district today when they were on way to an Anganwadi Kendra. Police said the injured have been admitted to the Godda Sadar Hospital where their condition was stated to be out of danger. Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das has expressed grief over the incident and has ordered a high-level probe into the incident.Mr Das has announced a compensation of Rs one lakh to the family members of the deceased while Rs 20,000 would be given to the injured as immediate relief. The local police is probing the matter on how the bomb blast took place.UNI AK KK AE PR1915 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-760100.Xml
Dr K Shyamababu Subudhi of Gandhi Nagar in Odisha's Ganjam district, who has been unsuccessfully contesting elections to Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Assembly since 1962, has filed his nomination for the June 11 Rajya sabha elections from the state. A Homeopathy doctor by profession, Dr Subudhi (80) had filed his nomination paper for the Rajya Sabha seat from Odisha on May 27t. This is for the third time he has filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha seat. But each time he has failed to muster the support of mandatory minimum ten legislators as proposer in the nomination paper to remain in the fray. Odisha Assembly sources said his nomination paper will be rejected this time also during scrutiny in the absence of any proposer. Dr Subudhi said in between 1962 and 2014, he has fought as many as 18 elections which included Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. He has unsuccessfully contested for the Aska and Berhampur Lok Sabha seat and Kabisuryanagar, Berhampur, Hinjli and Begunia Assembly seats. He has fought the elections from Berhampur Lok Sabha seat against former Prime Minister P V Narasingha Rao and Aska Assembly seat against former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik. He had also contested the Begunia Assembly against former Odisha Chief Minister J B Patnaik. In all the elections, he had lost his deposits yet he is not worried on his defeat and keep the tempo of contesting the elections with support from his family members.UNI BD-DP AKM SW AS1802 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-759915.Xml
Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu will visit Germany tomorrow and hold detailed talks with his German counterpart for developing Bhubaneswar in Odisha, Kochi in Kerala and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu as smart cities with their assistance. Mr Naidu will attend a three-day conference on India's Smart Cities Mission to be held in Berlin, Germany from tomorrow with the objective of furthering cooperation with the country and promoting investments. His visit is aimed at intensifying high-level engagement for identifying new opportunities for German companies in the urban development sector by offering the initiative of developing 100 smart cities, an official statement said today. These three cities were identified for German collaboration further to inter-governmental consultations between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Angela Morkel in October, 2015 in New Delhi. Detailed presentation on smart city plans of these three cities will be made at the conference. Dr Barbara Hendricks, German Minister of Environment, Nature Conservation, Buildings and Nuclear Safety will also participate in the conference. As a part of the Smart Cities conference and Metropolitan Solutions-2016 being held concurrently, exhibitions and 20 theme conferences on the issues of urban energy, urban management, urban mobility and logistics, urban water and waste management and urban buildings and public spaces will also be held. During his visit, Mr Naidu will meet German Parliament Speaker and members of Inter-Parliamentary Group. Mr Naidu leaves for Berlin tonight. He is accompanied by Dr Samir Sharma, Additional Secretary and Mission Director of Smart City Mission.UNI NY SW SB 1937 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0099-760338.Xml
Congress Rajya Sabha candidate and former Union Minister Kapil Sibal, a three-time parliamentarian, has declared assets worth over Rs 184.83 crore of himself and his spouse while filing nominations for the elections from Uttar Pradesh here today. Thus Mr Sibal, a senior advocate of the Supreme court was second richest candidate in the RS biennial elections from UP so far. Earlier BSP candidate and also a senior advocate Satish Chandra Mishra had declared assets worth over Rs 193 crore while Samajwadi Party candidate Amar Singh had declared properties worth Rs 131 crore. However, the assets of Mr Sibal has almost risen by Rs 70 crore in the last two years, from Rs 114 crores shown during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls to Rs 184.83 crore in 2016. According to the affadavit filed by Mr Sibal, he had shown Rs 11.07 crores as moveable assets besides Rs 2.33 crore of his wife. The movable assets including eight vehicles worth Rs 89.48 lakhs which include 2 motorbikes and a mercedes car. In the immovable property worth Rs 171.42 crore of the couple, include three agricultural plots in Mominpet in Andhra Pradesh while non-agriculture land exists in Faridabad,Raja Reddy district in Andhra Pradesh, Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Bangalore. Mr Sibal also has flats and other properties in Patna( Bihar), Bunglow in Maharani Bagh in New Delhi, Chandigarh, Gurgaon and Hyderabad. Of the total moveable and immovable assests, while Rs 7.27 crore were inherited by Mr Sibal and his wife inherited worth Rs 28.80 crore. The RS candidate has also shown seperately bank balance of Rs 13.80 crore in 14 bank accounts. Besides a investments worth Rs 2.20 crore have also been shown seperately through mutual funds. As per the Income Tax (IT) declaration by Mr Sibal in financial year 2014-15, he had showed a total income of Rs 38.39 crores. Meanwhile the Congress candidate for the legislative council Deepak Singh has shown assets worth over Rs 7 crores which includes movable assets worth over Rs 1.12 crore of both himself and wife along with two children while immovable properties of the couple was around Rs 5.90 crore.UNI MB Jw SB AN1939 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-760048.Xml
With an aim to keep Brahmins under its fold, the Bharatiya Janata Party fielded former minister Shiv Pratap Shukla as the party candidate for the Rajya Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh for which the nominations ends tomorrow. Announcement in this regard was made by state president Keshav Prasad Maurya. "Four- time MLA and a former minister Shiv Pratap Shukla would be BJP's candidate for the Rajya Sabha," Mr Maurya told reporters here today. In a complex political equation where every caste matters, BJP has nominated Mr Shukla as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha to keep Brahmins in good humour. After appointment of Mr Maurya, a backward, there was murmur in BJP as he had replaced Dr Laxmi Kant Bajpai, an upper caste nominee. In this scenario, selection of Mr Shukla was seen as a balancing act. Besides, the RS candidate is an arch-rival of firebrand BJP MP from Gorakhpur Yogi Adityanath. Mr Maurya also announced candidates of the State Legislative Council. Bhupendra Chaubey, president of west zone and Dayashankar Singh, secretary of the party would be party nominee though party has comfortable majority to ensure victory for only one candidate BJP has 41 members in 402-member state assembly. A candidate needs 34 votes to win Rajya Sabha seat and 29 votes to scale through Vidhan Parishad election. Answering a query as how party will muster additional votes if election is held Keshav Prasad said that party was working on its strategy. "Just wait and watch. You will get the answer at the right time," he said. It is believed that Bhupendra Chaubey would be the first choice for the party legislators. Daya Shanker, who is former president of Lucknow University had unsuccessfully contested the last biennial polls too. The BJP president said the party would sweep 2017 election. "Our target is to win 265+ seats and we will achieve that target. BJP is committed to free Uttar Pradesh from the misrule of Samajwadi Party and corruption of BSP. The party enjoys the support of masses. People are eager to see fall of Akhilesh Yadav government," he said. When asked who would be the Chief Ministerial candidate for the party in the next election, Mr Maurya said party's central leadership will take the call. "Announcement would be made at the right time," he said. Meanwhile, many SP and BSP leaders joined BJP. This includes SP MLC Dinesh Singh, former BSP minister Ram Buyaal Nishad and former minister of state in BSP regime Sarvesh Ambedkar.UNI MB AE SB 1935 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-760186.Xml
Senior Congress leader Abdul Mannan, after being elected as the leader of Congress Legislature Party (CLP) today said their combined protest with CPI(M)'s led Left Front against the ruling Trinamool Congress would continue from inside and outside the state legislative assembly. The name of the 63-year-old Congress MLA from Chapdani assembly was announced by the AICC in New Delhi after majority of all 44 party legislators preferred Mr Mannan as their leader. The winning Congress MLAs in a covered envelop had sent their decision to the AICC choosing their CLP leader. Congress MLA from Sabong Manas Bhunia was one of the contenders for the CLP post. The Congress is the major opposition party in the 294-seat assembly. Left partners CPI(M) won 26 seats, RSP-3, CPI-1 and Forward Bloc-2. the BJP has three seats and its ally Gorkha Janmuki Morcha (GJM) also has the same number. Mr Mannan has been one of the top crusaders along with CPI(M) leader to lead the fight against the ruling party. He is one of the complainants in the Supreme Court in the PIL for Saradha chit fund scam that led to arrest of some TMC leaders. Mr Mannan said their joint fight which began well before the polls would continue against the ruling party's alleged attacks on the opposition supporters. UNI PC KK DJK RK2003 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0212-760278.Xml
The proposed alliance of the Samajwadi Party with the Ajit Singh led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) has run into rough weather as contradictory signals emanated from the ruling party today. The Samajwadi Party has also dropped the idea of supporting the candidature of Ajit Singh for the Rajya Sabha. Samajwadi party has however, left the decision of electoral tie-up with the RLD to the party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav to take the final call on the issue. SP sources said the rank and file of the party will abide by the decision of the party's patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. SP general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav voiced his strong reservations against any electoral tie up with the RLD saying `` Ajit Singh has no credibility in politics''. Mr Singh in last three decades had allied with almost all the political parties including the Samajwadi Party or was part of the alliance. He tied with up with different political parties for his narrow political interest or getting some office and the moment his objectives were achieved he deserted that party and the alliance so how can such person be trusted for an alliance for the 2017 state assembly elections'', said Ram Gopal Yadav, general secretary of the Samajwadi party in Ferozabad today. Senior Samajwadi party leader and state in charge of the party Shivpal Yadav however said `` the entire exercise for alliance with the RLD and other formations is being conducted by the Samajwadi party for to defeat the BJP in 2017 state assembly elections and it was the need of the hour for all the secular political parties to close their ranks and put up a united effort to stop the BJP in its tracks''. SP sources said `` the RLD leader wanted alliance at any cost just to get entry into Rajya Sabha. He erred by delaying in opening channels of communication with `Netaji', (Mulayam Singh Yadav) and linked the alliance with his nomination to the Rajya Sabha''. He added `` he came to the Samajwadi Party after he failed to get anything out of his parleys with the Janata Dal (U) and the BJP''. The SP leader asked `` was he taking us for granted''. A senior SP leader said `` the alliance with RLD is the brain child of the newly inducted leader Amar Singh who is pushing for alliance with Ajit Singh since he wants to clear his old debts''. Amar Singh was the RLD candidate from Fatehpu r Sikiri Lok Sabha seat in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. His close associate Jayaprada was also RLD candidate from Bijnor Lok Sabha seat in 2014. "SP per se is not against alliance with the RLD or any other political party, it should be done after due diligence after carefully analysing the pros and cons of the decision. We will have to ascertain the strength of the support of the Jat community commanded by the RLD , whether RLD has the ability to transfer its votes to us and most important is the support among the muslim enjoyed by the Jat leader in West UP'', said the SP leader. Moreover he argued`` whether the schism between Jats and muslims after the 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal riots has been bridged or not, if a section of Jats vote for the BJP then the muslim electors are bound to be polarised and they may en mass shift to the Bahujan Samaj Party and that will be suicidal for the Samajwadi party''.UNI MB PR SB BL2021 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0196-760246.Xml
President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said that he was "pained" by the recent attacks on African students and stressed India's relations with Africa "should not been jeopardised in any way". "Recent attacks on African students is extremely painful. As a student, political activist and MP, I have seen first-hand how India and Africa have always been close partners. It would be most unfortunate if people of India were to dilute our long tradition of friendship with people of Africa," said Mukherjee, while addressing 7th Annual Heads of Missions Conference. "African students in India should have no reason to fear for their safety and security. The bonds between the people of India and the people of Africa have been forged since time immemorial," he added. On May 20, a Congolese national was beaten to death by three men after an altercation over hiring of an auto-rickshaw in Delhi's Vasant Kunj area turned violent. On May 25, a Nigerian student in Hyderabad was allegedly beaten by an Indian over a parking dispute. On May 28, four separate cases of alleged assault on Africans in the national capital was reported, adding to the growing number of such attacks. Mukherjee, noting that India "led the long international struggle for the end of colonialism and apartheid in Africa", and had no hesitation in breaking trade relations with South Africa in 1946, said the entire country had stood in support of African leaders like Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere during their freedom struggle. "Most well known non-resident Indian was Mahatma Gandhi who made his first experiments with Satyagraha in South Africa. Indias relations with Africa should not be jeopardised in any way. No impression which is not in line with our ethos or core values of our ancient civilization should be created," he added. Citing his own experience in the external affairs ministry, he said: "Appropriate awareness of Indias age old historical relations with Africa must be created in the minds of our youngsters. Indian Foreign Service (IFS) was built with great care and nurtured by mighty brains. I am proud of my past association with MEA by virtue of having been External Affairs Minister twice." --IANS sid-vd ( 373 Words) 2016-05-30-21:26:04 (IANS)
: DMK President M. Karunanidhi today said the Kerala Chief Minister Pinnarai Vijayan's assertion that the Dam construction at Mullaiperiyar Dam would be sorted out soon is a welcomesign. In a release here, Mr Karunanidhi said the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa should take this opportunity to extend the State government's cooperation to the Kerala Chief Minister. The earlier Government in Kerala insisted on a new Dam, instead of the old one, to which we expressed ourdispleasure. The DMK president said since he took the Mullaiperiyar dam issue to the Supreme Court and also held discussions with the Centre, as well as the Stategovernment, apart from urging the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singhduring his tenure on the sensitive issue to solve the problem, it is time theTamil Nadu Chief Minister make use of the opportunity to redress thegrievances of both the states by initiating measures to discuss with Mr Pinnarai Vijayan.UNI XC KVV 2120 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0414-760686.Xml
Vigilance sleuths today caught red handed a revenue employee when he was accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000 from the complainant here. Vigilance bureau director general Ravindra Kumar said a complaint was lodged against the revenue employee Chandrama Kumar by a resident of Purandapur mohalla in the state capital, Ashok Kumar that the employee was demanding a bribe of Rs 30,000 from him for mutation of his land. Later, the vigilance department laid a trap on the employee and caught him red handed while he was accepting the bribe. The nabbed government employee is being brought to vigilance headquarters in Patna for interrogation and production in a vigilance court.UNI DH AKM SB BL2201 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-760597.Xml
Union Minister of Tribal Affairs Jual Oram along with chief minister Pawan Chamling and minister of state for information and broadcasting Col Rajyavardhan Rathore inaugurated the development programmes of the department of social justice, empowerment & welfare (SJE&WD) at a function organised at Manan Kendra in the capital today. The programme saw the virtual inauguration of tribal research institute, Sikkim, Eklavya model residential school, Melli South Sikkim, polytechnic institute at Ringhim, North Sikkim and Jyestha nagarik samman kendra, sponsored by DoNER at Kitchumdumra, south Sikkim by union minister Mr Oram. The function also saw presentation of demand for tribal status by all ethnic indigenous 11 Nepali speaking communities of the state. Sikkim's Lok Sabha MP P D Rai and Rajya Sabha Hissey Lachungpa also presented the minister with the memorandum. Addressing the gathering of various ethnic communities, Mr Jual Oram termed the occasion as historic and he called the governance of Pawan Chamling led government an exemplary one. Mr Oram assured positive response to the various demands placed including the inclusion of the 11 left out communities in tribal category. He also informed that they are not just here for a meeting or a visit but to follow the Act East Policy of the Prime Minister Mr Modi earnestly with dual interaction. He appealed to the people of Sikkim to give their views and present their grievances if any by logging into 2years.mygov.in. In his address, chief minister Pawan Chamling expressed his profound happiness to have got an opportunity to host the union ministers in the state and congratulated the Narendra Modi-led government in the Centre for successfully completing two years in office. Minister of state for information and broadcasting Col Rajyavardhan Rathore who also addressed the gathering. Mr Rathore informed that though Prime Minister Mr. Modi has equal attention and love for all the states in India, but Sikkim has a special place in his heart. He also advocated for making Sikkim tourism capital of India looking as its vast potential in the sector.UNI XC AKM SB RK2230 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-760645.Xml
Police today zeroed in on the dreaded Babloo Dubey gang involved in the sensational kidnapping of a prominent Nepalese businessman Suresh Kedia who was released from clutches of his captors near Indo-Nepal border in East Champaran district. Police Superintendent of East Champaran Jitendra Rana told UNI here that the involvement of the said gang in the crime yesterday was disclosed following the arrest of Javed, driver of gangster Babloo Dubey. He said, Javed worked as a liner in the kidnapping of the Nepalese businessman. He said that the police would file a petition in a court to seek police remand of Babloo Dubey, presently lodged in Buxar Jail, for his involvement in number of unlawful activities including murderand extortion. The businessman was kidnapped from Bariyarpur near Birgunj in Nepal last Thursday for extortion of whopping Rs 100 crore, sources added. Earlier, police had arrested one person identified as Ranjan Jha and freed the Nepalese businessman from the hideout of criminals under Kotwa police station area in East Champaran district yesterday. Thevehicle, firearm and mobile phone used in the crime were also recovered from the spot. As it is, at least four unidentified gunmen had kidnapped the businessman after opening fire and seriously injuring his driver Shyam Sah Kanu. Kedia was travelling towards Birgunj from one of hisindustries in Gadhimai area of Bara when he was intercepted by criminals last Thursday. The driver who received bullet injury on right temple is stated to be battling for survival at Narayani sub-regional hospital near Birgunj.UNI DH AKM SB AN2228 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0213-760664.Xml
An Indian businessman and his wife on Monday launched the largest legal action in the state of Victoria, seeking more than $1 billion in compensation from an Australian bank. Pankaj and Radhika Oswal accused the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) of underselling shares in their West Australian fertiliser company after it was seized by receivers, Xinhua news agency reported. Opening the case in Victoria's Supreme Court on Monday, senior counsel for the Oswals, Tony Bannon, said his clients' 65 percent stake in Burrup Fertilisers was sold for $400 million in 2010. Bannon said he will demonstrate to the court that the true value of the couple's shares was in fact $990 million. "Our evidence will demonstrate the current value is in the order of 2.36 billion Australian dollars ($1.68 billion)," he said. Oswal claims he was bullied by ANZ executives during the sale six years ago, alleging that one executive put him in a headlock and threatened to "destroy" him before Burrup went into receivership. The Oswals found themselves in significant debt last month when the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) issued a departure prohibition on the couple over an unpaid $136 million tax bill. A $50 million house dubbed the "Taj Mahal on the Swan River" was left half-completed by the couple when they were forced to sell their share in Burrup as well as a luxury jet worth tens of millions of dollars and a fleet of luxury cars. The trial has already cost tens of millions of dollars with 25 barristers appearing in court on both sides on Monday. It is expected that the complex trial will run for between three and six months. --IANS ksk ( 290 Words) 2016-05-30-09:46:04 (IANS)
The bodies of two renowned US climbers, found in Tibet 16 years after they died on one of the world's tallest mountains, have been left untouched out of respect, one of the mountaineers who found the remains said today.Alex Lowe and David Bridges were swept away in 1999 by an avalanche during their attempt to scale the world's 14th highest peak, Shishapangma.Ueli Steck of Switzerland and David Goettler of Germany, who were attempting the same South Face route to the 26,291-foot (8,013 m) peak, stumbled upon the bodies of the pair, encased in ice, at an altitude of 19,356 feet (5,900 m)."The bodies were two metres (six feet) apart," Steck told Reuters after returning to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu from neighbouring Tibet.A charity run by Lowe's widow, Jenni Lowe-Anker, announced the find on May 2.Steck and Goettler, who had heard about the disappearance of the legendary climbers on the same route 16 years ago, descended to their advanced base camp, set up at 18,700 feet (5,700 m).Goettler called Conrad Anker, who was part of the 1999 expedition and survived the avalanche, describing their findings."We did not know them and we could not recognize them," Steck said, outside his hotel in Kathmandu.Based on the description, Anker had little doubt of the identities of the two bodies, as their clothing, boots and backpacks matched the gear Lowe and Bridges had when they disappeared."We did not touch them out of respect and left the bodies on the mountain in the same position as we had discovered (them)," said the 40-year-old mountaineer from Interlaken, Switzerland.Bodies of climbers who perish in the Himalayas remain buried under the snow and emerge as the ice melts or glaciers move.Lowe, who was 40 at the time of his death, was regarded as the best American mountaineer of his generation when he and Bridges were swept away during an expedition that aimed to ski down Shishapangma.Lowe's accomplishments included two climbs to the top of Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, several first ascents in Antarctica and dozens of less prominent but highly technical ascents.Steck and Goettler made two attempts to reach the summit of Shishapangma this month, but failed because of bad weather. REUTERS JW BL1716 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-759916.Xml
Militants of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have killed five members of Turkey's security forces in separate attacks in the last 24 hours, security sources said today, and the military conducted air strikes in northern Iraq where rebels are based.Security sources also said a man suspected of smuggling goods across the border between Iraq and Turkey in the Uludere area had been killed and five others injured.Clashes between Turkish security forces and the PKK have escalated to their most intense level in two decades since the breakdown of a two-year ceasefire last July.Near the eastern city of Van, PKK fighters detonated by remote control a roadside bomb that tore through an armoured vehicle on Monday morning, killing two police officers and wounding another, the security sources said. An air-backed security operation is trying to track down the perpetrators.PKK snipers also attacked a Turkish base located inside Iraq late on Sunday, killing a lieutenant, the security sources said. In the past Turkey has garrisoned a battalion in Iraq's Kani Masi region to prevent PKK fighters from crossing into Turkey.Hours later, unidentified forces opened fire on the group of smugglers across the border in the Uludere district, they said.Uludere was the site of an airstrike in December 2011 that killed 34 young men and boys after the military mistook them for PKK militants. Smuggling of cigarettes, fuel and household items is widespread in the poverty-stricken border region.The PKK attacked a base in the Turkish town of Siirt, killing one soldier, the military General Staff said. A police officer was also killed in Sirnak province, under a round-the-clock curfew since March 14, security sources said.In the village of Kulp in Diyarbakir province, a civilian and five members of the village guard, a state-backed militia that fights the PKK, were wounded in a car-bomb attack, they also said.The General Staff said on its website it had destroyed PKK shelters and weapon stores in the Metina area of northern Iraq on Sunday during the air strikes. It gave no casualty count.The PKK has been based in the remote, mountainous region of northern Iraq, which borders southern Turkey, since the 1990s. Authorities in both Iraqi Kurdistan and in Baghdad regularly protest such incursions as violations of their sovereignty.The PKK launched its insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict. REUTERS JW BL1736 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-759990.Xml
A photograph of a drowned migrant baby in the arms of a German rescuer was distributed by today a humanitarian organisation aiming to persuade European authorities to ensure safe passage to migrants, after hundreds are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean last week.The baby, who appears to be no more than a year old, was pulled from the sea on Friday after the capsizing of a wooden boat. Forty-five bodies arrived in the southern Italian port of Reggio Calabria on Sunday aboard an Italian navy ship, which picked up 135 survivors from the same incident.German humanitarian organisation Sea-Watch, operating a rescue boat in the sea between Libya and Italy, distributed the picture taken by a media production company on board and which showed a rescuer cradling the child like a sleeping baby.In an email, the rescuer, who gave his name as Martin but did not want his family name published, said he had spotted the baby in the water "like a doll, arms outstretched"."I took hold of the forearm of the baby and pulled the light body protectively into my arms at once, as if it were still alive ... It held out its arms with tiny fingers into the air, the sun shone into its bright, friendly but motionless eyes."The rescuer, a father of three and by profession a music therapist, added: "I began to sing to comfort myself and to give some kind of expression to this incomprehensible, heart-rending moment. Just six hours ago this child was alive."Like the photograph of the three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan lying lifeless on a Turkish beach last year, the image puts a human face on the more than 8,000 people who have died in the Mediterranean since the start of 2014.Little is known about the child, who according to Sea-Watch was immediately handed over to the Italian navy. Rescuers could not confirm whether the partially clothed infant was a boy or a girl and it is not known whether the child's mother or father are among the survivors.Sea-Watch collected about 25 other bodies, including another child, according to testimony from the crew seen by Reuters. The Sea-Watch team said it unanimously decided to publish the photo."In the wake of the disastrous events it becomes obvious to the organizations on the ground that the calls by EU politicians to avoid further death at sea sum up to nothing more than lip service," Sea-Watch said in a statement in English distributed along with the photograph."If we do not want to see such pictures we have to stop producing them," Sea-Watch said, calling for Europe to allow migrants safe and legal passage as a way of shutting down people smuggling and further tragedies.At least 700 migrants may have died at sea this past week in the busiest week of migrant crossings from Libya towards Italy this year, the UN Refugee agency said on Sunday.The boat carrying the baby left the shores of Libya near Sabratha late on Thursday, and then began to take on water, according to accounts by survivors collected by Save the Children on Sunday. Hundreds were on board when it capsized, the surivors said. REUTERS JW BL1737 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-759999.Xml
Seven people went on trial in Paris today accused of travelling to Syria to train as militant fighters, among them the brother of one of the militants who killed 130 people in the French capital last November.The seven, aged from 24 to 27, face up to 10 years in jail if found guilty of taking part in an Islamist recruitment network and receiving training in Syria from Islamic State.The accused, friends from eastern France, were part of a larger number who in December 2013 travelled to Syria, where two of them died.All but one returned to France in early 2014. The one who stayed behind was Foued Mohamed-Aggad, who took part in the three-man team that killed 90 people at the Bataclan concert hall during the multiple attacks in Paris.Two of the three killed themselves by exploding their suicide vests and another was shot dead by police.Foued's brother, Karim Mohamed-Aggad, is among the seven accused.The defendants told investigators they had believed they were going to Syria on a humanitarian mission or to fight Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces but not to become Islamist militants."I went there with one goal only: to fight the regime of Bashar al-Assad," Karim Mohamed-Aggad told the court.Mohamed-Aggad urged the court not to confuse him with his brother. "You choose your friends, not your family," he said. "My brother did what he did, he alone bears responsibility."The group's defence team says the seven were duped and when they realised they had fallen into the hands of a militant network they looked for a way out."They were told they could be useful," said Martin Pradel, lawyer for one of the defendants, told Reuters ahead of the hearing. "Their mistake was to believe the propaganda."His colleague Xavier Nogueras said: "This is the trial of seven youths who came back after three months. That will allow us to highlight the difference between those who decided to come back and the one who stayed." REUTERS AKC BL2146 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-760718.Xml
The African Development Bank has reaffirmed its commitment to mobilize resources to help African countries adopt and mitigate climate change.

This commitment underpins its 2013-2022 Strategy promoting inclusive and green growth in Africa. Almost US $7 billion has been committed to projects in support of climate resilient and low-carbon development in the past four years.

However, ahead of the upcoming UN climate talks, COP22, which will be held in Marrakesh, Morocco, from November 7 to 18, 2016, the Bank is calling for implementation of the Paris Agreement, especially ensuring that climate financing is urgently delivered for African countries which are most vulnerable to climate change shocks.

Last year, the Bank's support contributed significantly to ensuring that Africa's concerns were addressed in the Paris Agreement at COP21.

The Bank has also committed to triple its climate change finance to about US $5 billion per year and to provide US $12 billion on renewable energy investments by 2020.

In keeping with the Bank's New Deal on Energy for Africa, that provides a good entry point for the implementation of the Paris Agreement, and given that COP22 is a key milestone for the implementation of that agreement, it is important that Africa is fully on board, while ensuring linkages with the Bank's High 5 priorities.

According to Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, the current climate financing architecture is not providing the finance Africa needs.

"Much more needs to be done to increase Africa's access to climate finance," Adesina said Friday, May 27, 2016, during a high-level panel on climate change, "Towards COP22 in Marrakech : What are the issues at stake?", on the last day of the Bank's 2016 Annual Meetings.

Adesina pointed out that Africa, which contributes less than 3 per cent of the global greenhouse emissions, is suffering from the effects of El Nino, which has caused severe drought in 14countries with 13 located in East and Southern Africa.

Citing Kenya and Rwanda, which have had devastating floods, with over 8.4 million people facing food insecurity in Malawi and 15 million in Ethiopia, as well as vast areas of South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Botswana, Adesina pointed out that the continent is already feeling the shocks of climate change.

To support these countries, AfDB has allocated funds to the tune of US $549 million.

Adesina demanded for "climate justice" for Africa, calling on the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility to "pay for the insurance premium of African countries to the Africa Risk Capacity Agency."

"This will allow them to cope with extreme climate events ... like Senegal which received US $17 million payout to mitigate the impacts of drought. AfDB will lead the way and triple its climate finance to US $5 billion per year by 2020," Adesina said.

For his part, Moroccan Foreign Minister and Chairman of COP22 Steering Committee, Salaheddine Mezouar, pledged that the 22nd Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) will be an event of action and an occasion to implement the Paris agreement.

"Africa has to move very first," he said, calling for action.

Panelists, including Segolene Royal, French Environment Minister and COP21 President; Karl Hermann Gustav Schlettwein, Minister of Finance, Namibia; Peter Craig-McQuaide, Head of Unit European Commission, International Cooperation and Development, DEVCO/C/6 - Sustainable Energy and Climate Change; and Mohamed Beavogui, Director General, Africa Risk Capacity, all underscored need for action and implementation of the Paris agreement.

Segolene Royal, French Minister of the Environment, Energy and Marine Affairs, responsible for International Climate Relations, emphasized the need to bring forward projects for access to renewable energy and speed up the deployment of the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative aimed at increasing Africa's installed renewable energy capacity by 10 GW by 2020 and by 300 GW by 2030.

Royal pointed out that Africa suffers from the impacts of climate change, including droughts, soil degradation, land salination, coastal erosion, deforestation and climate migration.

While Africa is not responsible for these disasters, it is a victim of them. Climate justice, therefore, requires a determined, effective implementation of the actions decided during the summit of African leaders during COP21, she argued.

The AfDB continues to demonstrate leadership in promoting low carbon development. Between 2011-2014, on average 26 per cent of the AfDB annual investments were flagged as climate-smart projects.

In 2014, the AfDB mobilized US $1,916 billion for climate-smart projects including US $1,156 billion for mitigation and US $756 million for adaptation. This amount is up by 59 per cent compared to 2013.

COP20 in Lima was tagged the COP of negotiations of a universal climate change agreement; COP21 in Paris last year was considered a COP of Agreement; while COP22 in Morocco is tagged the COP of Implementation.
Members of the Partnership on Illicit Finance (PIF) met alongside the African Development Bank at the Bank's Annual Meetings in Lusaka, Zambia, to publish national action plans to combat illicit finance, review member countries' priorities for addressing illicit finance stemming from corruption and other criminal activities, and share experiences with countries interested in joining the Partnership.

African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina voiced the institution's strong support for the Partnership and encouraged other African countries to join current members Burkina Faso, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and the United States in developing national action plans to combat illicit finance.

Corruption and illicit finance in Africa continue to undermine democracy, constrain investment, reduce stability, thwart economic development, and disenfranchise African populations who should benefit from Africa's tremendous growth potential.

Launched at the 2014 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit and reaffirmed at the July 2015 Third International Financing for Development Conference, the Partnership brings together countries committed to tackling corruption and to developing strategies to eliminate opportunities for illicit finance.

Under the Partnership, countries are developing and implementing tailored national action plans to combat illicit finance. These plans will guide country-specific action to fight illicit finance stemming from corruption and other crimes, and will reinforce efforts to build developing countries' capacity to mobilize domestic resources and attract private sector investment. Countries' national action plans are being posted on the African Development Bank website at www.afdb.org/en/topics-and-sectors/initiatives-partnerships/partnership-on-illicit-finance/.
Zambian Minister of Energy and Water Development, Dora Siliya, announced that her Ministry will in the next fortnight meet African Development Bank (AfDB) Resident Representative Damoni Kitabire in Lusaka, to discuss modalities of supporting local entrepreneurs seeking to develop renewable energy projects.

Siliya said her Government is keen on working with the AfDB to empower local entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises with the capacity to explore avenues of how the power deficit hit country could generate renewable energy.

She said this during a panel discussion at the ongoing AfDB Annual Meetings, taking place May 23-27, 2016 in Lusaka.

The panel discussion was dubbed "Financing Renewable Energy in Africa" and Siliya was joined on the panel by Millennium Resources Strategies Limited London Managing Director Vivek Mittal, and African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) Executive Director Lemma Senbet.

Other panelists were International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Director, Knowledge Policy and Finance, Henning Wuester, and Energy and Extractive Sectors Expert Allan Narayadu.

The AfDB meetings which conclude Friday are being held under the theme "Energy and Climate Change."

"Zambia has the political will to make sure that renewable energy projects work and I will in the next two weeks be meeting officials from AfDB to put this vision into reality," Siliya told the audience.

She announced that her Government has shortlisted 15 private companies to undertake solar power infrastructure development projects across the country.

During the same discussions, Wuester said there was need to build the local financial capacity of African states to implement off-grid electricity power projects.

He noted that institutions such as AfDB, with its strategy on lighting up and powering Africa as enshrined in the High 5 vision of President Akinwumi Adesina, were better placed to support the continent realise the goal of producing renewable energy.

Senbet said his institution was very interested in helping Africa to realise its potential of running economies wholly on renewable energy.

He said there was a lot of energy on the continent which only required the right resources to tap effectively and make the continent productive.

"Africa currently stands at the net creditor of wealth to the rest of the world because it does have the capacity to exploit its own natural resources.

"The potential for Africa to generate renewable is readily available and only requires the investment of the right resources to be tapped into and enhance production capacity," he added.
Sixtus Vusi, Chairman of the African Legal Support Facility, launches the handbook Understanding Power Project Financing.

The African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) unveiled a new resource handbook titled Understanding Power Project Financing, on the sidelines of the African Development Bank Annual Meetings, in Lusaka, Zambia. The handbook addresses the challenges and strategies of private financing of a power project with a focus on the mechanisms utilised by stakeholders to address issues surrounding project financing particularly credit enhancement.

The handbook is intended to enhance knowledge and understanding of the crucial financing issues involved in the negotiation of contracts in the energy sector. The release of the handbook is in line with the ALSF's approach that involves assisting the governments and the private sector to bridge the communication gap by creating a common language for all parties.

"We assist governments in preparing a negotiation strategy, assembling a negotiation team, and the transfer of long-term knowledge to the governments is the overarching goal," said the ALSF Director, Stephen Karangizi. Our participation allows bankable deals to be concluded in an expeditious manner, he added.

"Streamlining the power project process is one of the most valuable roles Power Africa plays," said Power Africa Coordinator, Andrew Herscowitz. "For Africa's incredible energy resources to be put to work - and to benefit people across the continent - we have to link investors and developers with opportunities that are as bankable and shovel-ready as possible.

The handbook was developed by the ALSF in partnership with Power Africa through the U.S. Department of Commerce's Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) using the "Book Sprint" method, an intensive drafting process that convened a group of experts with the goal of getting from concept to publication in just five days. The contributing authors for the handbook include power sector experts from the Nigerian Government, the African Development Bank Group, the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the World Bank Group, Power Africa and internationally renowned lawyers and bankers.

This resource is a follow-up to the well-received handbook "Understanding Power Purchase Agreements" and is aligned to the ALSF's Knowledge Management strategic pillar that provides assistance relating to the development, collection, and management of products through multiple forums thus facilitating access to information for legal professionals and government officials of African countries.

With more than 15,000 copies in print and thousands more downloaded online, this guide is considered by power sector experts as one of the most vital resources to help drive private investment in power projects in Africa. A French-language version of Understanding Power Purchase Agreements was released in December 2015 at COP21 in Paris.

The newly published handbook is available for download from our website www.aflsf.org

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About the African Legal Support Facility

The African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) is a public international institution hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group. The ALSF is dedicated to providing legal advice and technical assistance to African countries in the negotiation of complex commercial transactions, creditor litigation and other related sovereign transactions. The ALSF also develops and proposes innovative tools for capacity building and knowledge management. To date, the ALSF has cumulatively approved 88 operations totalling US $36.05 million spread across infrastructure related interventions, natural resource & extractive industries management, debt management and capacity building interventions.

About Power Africa

Power Africa is a U.S. Government-led initiative launched by President Obama in 2013. Power Africa's goals are to increase electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa by adding more than 30,000 megawatts of cleaner, more efficient electricity generation capacity and 60 million new home and business connections. Power Africa works with African governments and private sector partners to remove barriers that impede sustainable energy development in sub-Saharan Africa and to unlock the substantial wind, solar, hydropower, natural gas, biomass, and geothermal resources on the continent.

About the Commercial Law Development Program

The mission of the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) is to improve the legal environment for doing business in developing and transitional countries around the globe. Established in 1992, CLDP is a division of the US Department of Commerce's Office of General Counsel that partners with developing and post-conflict countries on commercial legal reforms. CLDP's unique government-to-government technical assistance draws upon highly-experienced regulators, judges, policymakers, business leaders and attorneys from both the public and private sectors to deliver results that make meaningful and lasting changes to the legal and judicial environments of host countries.
More African countries should sign-up to the 'Partnership on Illicit Finance' (PIF), an initiative formed in July 2014 during the US-Africa leaders' summit. That was the call made Thursday by Marisa Lago, Assistant Secretary for International Markets and Development in the US Treasury, while speaking as a panelist in a session at the ongoing African Development Bank Annual Meetings in Lusaka.

Since its establishment almost two years ago, just eight African countries have joined as members; these include Burkina Faso, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and the United States.

At a side event on the fourth day of the ongoing AfDB meetings, representatives of the eight member countries sat on a panel whose purpose was to launch their respective national plans on what they intend to do to combat illicit financial flows.

However, there was no launch as it emerged that only two of the eight members, Senegal and United States had completed drafting their national plans.

Rotich Henry Kiplagat, Kenya's Minister of Finance, when asked by the session moderator about the progress of his country's national plan against illicit financial flows, said it would be ready, 'very soon.'

A representative from Liberia informed the panel that her country had finalized preparing the framework for the national plan; however, she noted that her government needed help to address serious 'capacity challenges especially in the national revenue body.'

Without any plans to launch, the session was spent by panelists discussing their respective efforts in combatting corruption and general illicit trade in their countries.

Concluding remarks were provided by Lago, who underscored the need for African countries to unite and coordinate their efforts in the fight against illicit financial flows.

"This is a partnership of the willing. While we encourage more countries to join the partnership, it is important for current members to finalize their national plans so that we embark on implementation," she said.

AfDB pledges firm support

The President of the AfDB, Akinwumi Adesina, who delivered the opening remarks, pledged the Bank's support to African efforts in combating illicit financial flows out of the continent and called for more accountability and transparency in the management of public resources.

"We are talking about development, but development needs resources. Whether its health, education or infrastructure, it doesn't matter what you are talking about; it all requires money," said President Adesina.

President Adesina noted that although the money to finance development is available, it is literally stolen and ends up in individual pockets.

He commended the support from the US Treasury noting that international cooperation is important in helping African countries to counter the deep pockets of multi-nationals that get away with committing tax injustice because they have the best legal brains in the world as their tax-lawyers.

Adesina wants to see more support going to people engaged in exposing illicit trade operations and finances such as whistle blowers, civil society, parliaments, tax administration and the press.

"Africa may have a lot of poor people, but we are by no chance a poor continent. In terms of the value of the discovered natural resources that Africa has, it is about US $82 trillion," he said, adding that with proper management and exclusive usage of the resources, poverty can be defeated.

He said the African Development Bank is currently developing its own strategy in how it can provide technical support and capacity building to support in the fight against illicit flows and said he is looking forward to working with the US Treasury in these efforts.

Through its African Natural Resources Centre, the AfDB, Adesina said, is already providing technical support and expertise to African countries on how to sustainably manage their natural resources in inclusive ways that benefit the countries' citizens.

"We also have the Africa Legal Support Facility, which has smart lawyers that help countries review agreements and advise on how to negotiate," he said.

The session heard that tax fraud and evasion account for the vast majority of illicit financial flows from Africa and that these flows deprive governments of essential revenues needed for development.

A joint study conducted by the Bank Group and the Global Financial Integrity (GFI) found that between 2000 and 2009, some US $30.4 billion per annum flowed out of Africa, mostly in the form of IFFs.

According to GFI, Africa loses more to illicit flows than what it gets in donor aid. The statistics indicate that for every US $1, poor nations receive in development aid, an estimated US $10 flows illicitly abroad.

During the U.S.-Africa Leaders' Summit in July 2014, African leaders and President Obama agreed to establish the Partnership on Illicit Finance to combat illicit finance and the damage it causes to the people of Africa. The commitment to this partnership was re-affirmed during the Financing for Development conference in July 2015.

Earlier this year, in February, PIF members met in Dakar, Senegal, for a workshop to discuss and refine draft action plans a head of a Sub-Ministerial Meeting in Washington in the margins of the World Bank-IMF Spring Meetings.

The aim of the session at the AfDB meetings on Thursday was to review the progress made thus far in the development of those action plans and to share experiences with countries that are yet to subscribe to the partnership.
The 51st Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the 42nd Meetings of the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund (ADF) wound up on Friday, May 27, 2016 in Lusaka, Zambia, after five days of intense engagements on the Bank's operations and development issues.

Held on the theme, "Energy and Climate Change," the meetings focused on critical African economic and development issues, election of new executive directors and the approval of policies, strategies and the Group's 2015 audited accounts and operations programmes.

"We welcome the unqualified opinion of the Bank's external auditors on the financial statement ending December 31, 2015. We particularly welcome the good financial results despite the difficult global environment," the Governors said in a statement.

They commended the exceptional and innovative leadership of the Bank's eighth elected President, Akinwumi Adesina, for his accomplishments since assuming office in September 2015.

"We also endorse our Chair's statement in congratulating President Adesina for his leadership and collaboration in ensuring the meetings are a success, and for the passion and vision for achievement and delivery that he has displayed in his first eight months in office," the statement said.

The Meetings, which have been described as "phenomenal", hosted more than 4,000 participants and some 6,000 virtual attendees, comprising Heads of State and Government and their delegations, Governors, Alternate Governors, members of the Boards of Directors, delegates, business leaders, and representatives of the private sector, civil society organizations, the media, observers, as well as Bank staff.

Prominent attendees at this year's Annual Meetings included host President Edgar Lungu and his Vice-President, Inonge Wina; Presidents Idriss Deby of Chad, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo of Nigeria. There were also several former Presidents, Prime Ministers and Ministers representing their Heads of State or Government.

"This has been a phenomenal meeting. This huge participation and the presence of our political leaders is a clear signal that they support the important issues we are dealing with here," said Adesina.

In line with the theme, the Bank's transformational agenda encapsulated in the High 5 priorities - Light up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa, featured prominently in the various discussions and engagements.

These were high-level events on key thematic development concerns of importance to Africa including, energy, nutritional, climate change, ICT for a smart Africa, jobs for young people as well as affirmative action for women in Africa.

Others include regional integration, water and sanitation, green growth, South-South cooperation and preparations for the UN climate talks (COP22) in Marrakech, Morocco.

The Governors fully endorsed the High 5s and expressed satisfaction with the progress made towards operationalizing them. They were particularly impressed with the recent approval of the Bank Group Strategies for the New Deal on Energy for Africa and the Jobs for Youth in Africa and called for their speedy implementation.

Noting that these strategies and initiatives are focused on inclusive and green growth, the governors urged the institution to continue its operational focus on infrastructure, regional economic integration, private sector development, governance and accountability, skills and technology, as well as fragility and gender issues.

The next Annual Meetings will be held at Ahmedabad, about 775 kilometres west of New Delhi, the capital of India, from May 22-26, 2017. Thereafter, South Korea (Busan) will host the Meetings from May 21-25, 2018; Equatorial Guinea (Malabo) from May 20-24, 2019; Abidjan from May 25-29, 2020 and Ghana (Accra) from May 24-28, 2021.

For more information on the Annual Meetings, visit www.afdb.org/am

Official hashtag: #AfDBAM2016
Africa's share of manufacturing in GDP is less than half of the average for all developing countries. On Thursday, May 26, a panel discussion, "Africa - Workshop of the World", was held during the African Development Bank Group's (AfDB) Annual Meetings in Lusaka. The event, organized in collaboration with the International Growth Centre (IGC), focused on discussing avenues for adapting Africa's manufacturing strategies to unleash the continent's potential for accelerated industrialization.

The discussion, moderated by Daniel Makokera, from Pamuzinda Productions, focused on analyzing the key constraints to the growth of African industries and debating what type of policy options should be implemented to stimulate manufacturing, firm growth, and job creation. Among the panelists were Celestin Monga, UNIDO; Paul Collier, IGC and Oxford University; John Page, IGC and Brookings Institution; and Emmanuel Nnadozie, the Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBD).

Page from the IGC said Africa needs to strategically link exports, geography and capabilities. He further described how such a strategic agenda for industrial development could look, by focusing on infrastructure, skills development, institutional support for foreign direct investment and special economic zones (SEZs), and mounting an "export push" by reducing the costs of entry and export.

Collier emphasized the challenge Africa is facing in sustaining its economic growth levels in a time where many of the previous catalysts for growth have disappeared. He stressed the importance of increasing the productivity and complexity of the African markets, by facilitating connectivity through infrastructure and density, in order to create jobs and sustainable growth.

The panel concluded that unleashing Africa's competitiveness in industry requires strengthened efforts to enable reforms that actually matter for productivity and growth, such as supporting exports, building firm capabilities, increasing human capacity, and creating clusters such as SEZs. Lastly, the panel agreed that effective leadership will be crucial in building institutions that can sustain growth over the years to come.
Aero ACCESS launched

Apart from the plus of e-banking, this system of e-banking offers all of its members not only an update of their accounts, but it also allows members to be interactive when transferrin funds from one account to another, preparing letters and other conveniences.

President Brian Matthew told the crowd that planning for the launch began some eight months ago and the launch provided an excitement to see its materialisation. He said this launch today confirmed that members could access their privately from anywhere, reducing the need to come to the office.

Matthew said, This was supported by the fact that Aero ACCESS was a 24/7 system that allowed members to access their information whether it was before they left home or on their return home at the end of the day. He extended congratulations to the technical team for all their hard work.

General Manager of the credit union Joanne Edwards in her remarks said, As we launch Aero ACCESS today we are now strategically placed and on even keel with a service mode long adopted by our large profit companies. Speaking specifically about Aero ACCESS she said, Importantly though, it is a model that allows the Board and Aero Team to pursue another of it visions, to positively engage the millennial group while at the same time setting the foundation for things to come.

As we celebrate this milestone in the life of Aero Services, Ms Edwards continued, the excitement that the early founders of Aero Services must have felt in starting up Aero, I believe remains alive today.

I hope that they would be proud that the Board of Directors have kept the vision growing and alive.

I am full of anticipation of the next steps for this platform as there is more to come. Collinsworth Howard, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Micro Software Design (MSD), which worked on the project, said, We at MSD remain focussed and committed to providing quality technological solutions which will enable Aero Service Credit Union to continue the perpetuation of their noble service, by ensuring Information Communication Technology (ICT) continues to be fused with traditional member service so as to maintain a member centric approach when services are delivered to their membership Brent Gaspard, a member from the team did a presentation of how the system could be accessed and used for the members comfort.
Trini woman killed at NY hostel

The woman was identified as 48-yearold Liza Millet also known as Lisa Cordner.

According to a New York Times online article, the police responded to a dispute involving a knife at the Y.W.C.A. just before 7 am on Saturday.

The YWCA offers housing to low-income and homeless women.

Millet was found in her room with stab wounds to her back and torso.

The accused, Dorothy Curry had barricaded herself inside her unit down the hall, officials said. She was taken into custody after officers from the Police Departments Emergency Service Unit forced open the door.

Millet was taken to New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, where she was pronounced dead.

Curry, 55, was taken to Kings County Hospital Center for a psychiatric evaluation and was charged later on Saturday with murder.

A six-inch kitchen knife was recovered at the scene.

The article stated that both Millet and Curry lived in the building for several years and neither had a history of violence or complaints filed against them.

The article also stated that Millet was from Port-of-Spain and had recently returned to Trinidad for a visit.
Husband threatens wife in front police station

Accoding to a police report, the woman quickly ran into the station and according to a police report, she escaped possible serious injury or death.

The incident happened at about midday.

A police report stated the woman entered the station and began to shout that her common- law husband was standing outside with a gun and had threatened to shoot her. She told the policemen her estranged husband pointed a gun to her face.

Cpl Neil Nanan and PCs Balgobin and Leelum ran out the station and gave chase.

The officers ran about 200 feet through the busy High Street and managed to apprehend the man near Lothains Road Junction. Police searched the man, who is from Moruga, and found the loaded firearm tucked away in his waist.

He was expected to be charged yesterday with possession of the firearm, ammunition and common assault.

He will appear in the Princes Town Magistrates Court tomorrow
From prison to poetry

When he was just 16-years old, Betts was jailed for a gun crime.

Inside, he found freedom from an unexpected source.

I was in solitary confinement, Betts recalls, speaking at the recent NGC Bocas Lit Fest. You could call out for a book and someone would slide one to you.

Frequently, you would not know who gave it to you. Somebody slid The Black Poets edited by Dudley Randall. In that book I read Robert Hayden for the first time, Sonia Sanchez, Lucille Clifton. I saw the poet as not just utilitarian but as serving art. In a poem you can give somebody a whole world. Before that, I had thought of being a writer, writing mostly essays and maybe, one day, a novel. But at that moment I decided to become a poet. The poet  who read at the festival alongside fellow American poet Rowan Ricardo Phillips  also conducted a poetry workshop at the Port-of-Spain prison on April 29. The experience changed everything.

The first thing that hit me was that there was just a bunch of people in jail on remand who had not had an opportunity to see a judge; to have a trial, Betts tells the literary audience gathered at the Old Fire Station on Abercromby Street, a few blocks away from the penal facility at the heart of the capital. I went into the jail and I was struggling to reconcile the profound injustice and the profound pain that happens, that permeates an entire community that does not get acknowledged at all. In his workshop, prisoners were asked to write.

The poems these guys wrote had this same pain and frustration, Betts says. In the US, most of the prisons are built way out where you cant see. One of the things that also struck me is they are right here and still seemingly invisible. Betts, whose poetry chronicles some of his own experiences with the US justice system, says the workshop changed him. What does it mean for me to be in that space and talk to them? I hope that something I said made some sense, Betts says. You kind of forget what it means to have certain kinds of privilege, some kind of access to justice.

If you come from the States and you are interested in criminal justice reform issues you get this very narrow view of what justice should look like and you take for granted that the system works extremely well  both to lock you up and to give you some semblance of opportunity for justice formally. He adds, What I walk away with in terms of what they gave me is a challenge, both in terms of my writing and in my living. Betts is the author of the poetry books Bastards of the Reagan Era (described by the New York Times as fierce, lyrical and unsparing) and Shahid Reads His Own Palm, winner of the Beatrice Hawley Award. He is also the author of an excellent memoir, A Question of Freedom, which chronicles his experience of the US justice system. In prison, he was re-Christened Shahid.

It means witness, Betts says.
The politics of conscience

Marti is complex, his life almost impervious to psychoanalysis. His politics and musings on nationhood are tinged with a mystical allure that few in his time understood.

In Jos? Marti and the Global Origins of Cuban Independence, Armando Garcia de la Torre introduces this political pioneer as a transcendentalist, a man whose ideals and revolutionary fervour are inextricably bound to his unflinching belief in the validity of the human spirit.

He captures Martis upbringing, his existential struggles and identity crises. A son of a colonial operative and a foreign-born mother, his path toward redemption is exemplary, a veritable study in the fathomless reaches of the mind. Revolution, as expressed by Marti is multilayered, even cryptic. It fuses the sacred with the mundane revealing a compellingly transformative and idealistic message.

An excerpt of Martis letter offers a window to his soul: My destiny is like a white charcoal that burns itself to shine its surrounding. I feel that my struggle will never endDeath or isolation will be my only reward. De la Torre argues that Marti had absorbed the Hindu concept of atman - the ineffable seed of god within. He is an avid reader of the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu script that chronicles the timeless counsel of Krishna to Arjun, a warrior.

Marti assumes the courage and wisdom of Arjun. In essence, he is Arjun.

He views selfishness and hubris as blots in the human conscience. He embraces oneness, the interconnectedness of humanity and the theory of reincarnation that affords us countless opportunities to cleanse our self-destructive behaviour. His sexless, race-less, colour-less nation-state reflects the highest principle of Eastern teachings. We must liberate ourselves from the wheel of births and rebirths. De la Torre writes, In Martis mind, each life is either purified or further polluted by mans actions on earth. He is convinced that virtue, specifically in actions, refines individuals and accelerates ultimate union with the great Soul of the universe. Martis revolution cleanses and unloads the burdens of a world wrought by oppressive rule and exploitation.

Martis nationalist vision, his nation- state takes on new value, a new meaning. It assumes spiritual properties, transcending ethnicities and boundaries.

Martis Cuba assumes a divine responsibility as a spiritual centre, the very seat of a greater good.

De la Torre taps into the Martis stream of consciousness. The nations of the world, Marti writes, should meet together as often as possible in order to begin replacing with a system of global rapprochement, over isthmuses and across seas, the system forever extinct, of dynasties and parties. De la Torre, though, is quick to add that the Cuban icon is not advocating a single Latin America or world government.

On racism, Marti is unswerving in his rejection of a practice he deems evil. As de la Torre points out, Martis legacy isnt complete without acknowledging its pan Africa dimension. He is mandated by a Higher Source to struggle against racial injustice. Collaborating with black activist Rafael Serra (1858-1909), he establishes La Liga (the League), an educational institution to help disenfranchised blacks.

Ligas opened in Florida, New York and Antilles assisting Jamaicans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans and immigrants from the Virgin Islands. His alignment with Juan Gualberto Gomez, another black activist is also detailed. De la Torre concludes that Martis travels outside Cuba shaped his determination to aggressively address the racial question. He witnessed the exclusion, alienation and violence exacted on the African American population by the white ruling majority [and] the lessons he gained would strengthen his resolve to never allow these crimes to be replicated in the envisioned Cuban republic. But Martis view on race is markedly complex and at times misconstrued. Race is never seen in biological or phenotypic terms.

He is called an avant-garde for the time, believing that race was not a scientific construct. Marti attempts to transcend or undo the obstacles that impeded political and social hopes. Interestingly, he weighs the cultures before him, seeking the best of multiple worlds. He pens: As European descendants in America embraced the perceived positive elements of non-European societies a new amalgamation of cultural norms faithful to the social reality of Latin America, and of Cuba would emerge. And on good governance, the author examines Martis collection of writings on the US Civil War. Shedding blood for the noble reason to secure humanity is permissible, according to Marti. De la Torre adds that the Cuban revolutionary upheld that humanity, or a people, could only be safe and secure if men and women were free and not subject to or owned by other men and women. Said differently: The Civil War thus emerged as a sacred mechanism that served to physically and spiritually liberate North Americans, in much the same way the Cuban War of Independence would achieve these ideals for the Cubans. While todays politics seems divorced from natural moral law, Marti, driven by internal and external dynamics merges the two, creating a doctrine of practical transcendentalism in a world tortured by its own hands. Regrettably, Martis teachings have never been more elusive.

Feedback: glenvilleashby@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter@glenvilleashby Jose Marti and the global origins of Cuban Independence by Armando Garcia de la Torre Publisher: The University of the West Indies Press ISBN: 978-976-640-552-6 Available at Amazon Rating: Highly recommended
Birbal The Wise

When the Princess became of age to be married, the King decided that the choice of a husband must be one who is strong and able to withstand difficult living conditions. At the back of the castle, there was a large pond .

The water of that pond was very cold at all times; especially so, at nights. The King sent out a message to all the people of his kingdom, stating, that anyone who can remain in his cold pond for a complete night, will be married to his Princess and have half of his Kingdom .

The next day, a very strong and robust man came to the King .

He told the King, Your Majesty Sir, I am a very strong man. I come to win the hands of your lovely Princess. I shall remain in your pond for the entire night as you wish. The King smiled and agreed to allow the man to try. At six oclock that evening, the man walked down to the deepest part of the pond where the water reached up to his neck .

Only his head was above the water. The King ordered that he remain there until six oclock the next morning. The King ordered one of his guards to stand at the pond and to see that the man carries out the order .

In less than an hour, the man hurried out of the pond in a great shiver. He was unable to withstand the cold water against his body .

Apart from the reward of winning the Princess and half of the Kingdom, there was also a punishment of imprisonment to anyone who fails the test. And so the man was put into prison .

The next day, another man came to the King to make his bid. He went into the pond just like the previous man. Within half an hour he jumped out of the pond in a shiver. He tried to run away and escape imprisonment but the guard caught him .

As the days went by, many others tried but failed. And so there were many men locked up in the Kings prison .

After several weeks, a poor man came to the King in his bid to win the Princess. He told the King that he had come to win .

The King laughed at the poor man. The King said, They all say the same thing, but they all have failed. And there is no doubt that you too will join them in my prison. You are just a frail weakling when compared to all those who had tried before. If you are wise, then you may go back home and be happy in your old little house! That warning did not discourage the poor man as he went down into the cold water of the pond that evening. The guard kept a watchful eye, as the man remained unmoved in the pond with only his head out of the water. The hours passed and still the man remained calmly in the pond. Midnight came and he was still there as comfortably as when he just went into the pond .

It was six oclock the next morning as the sun rose. The King hurried down to the pond to see the man still appearing to be quite relaxed in the water. The King looked to the guard for an answer. The guard said, Your Majesty Sir, the man remained in the pond all night and deserves his reward. I dont believe this! No man can stand the cold of the water in my pond. He is a cheat. Get him out at once so that I may question him! The man splashed his way out of the pond .

The King looked fiercely into the mans eyes. He asked, While you were there in the water, what were you seeing from there in the dark night? The man explained, Your Majesty Sir, the night was dark .

All that I could have seen, was the lights from your lamps in the castle. Oh yes! exclaimed the King .

Then you have been very dishonest, for you have used the heat from the lights of my lamps to keep you warm while you were in the cold water of my pond. It was a good try anyway, but you have failed! The poor man was almost in tears when he said, But your castle is so very far away from the pond. How can the heat from your lamps reach me at that distance? The King did not like being questioned and so, he chased the poor man out of his yard, telling him, never to return. Very disappointed, the man went away in tears, to his humble home .

The King had an advisor by the name of Birbal, who was a wise and honest man. He witnessed how the King cheated the man and was very sorry and hurt about the affair. He tried to convince the King that the man had won and deserved to be rewarded as promised. The heartless King insisted that the man had failed and even deserved to be imprisoned. Unknown to the King, Birbal went to the poor man .

He consoled him; saying, You have been an honest man and should not be cheated of your reward. Tomorrow afternoon the King will be having his walk along the road near your house .

I will be with him. I want you to dig a hole at the side of the road and there, install a long pole in that hole. At the top of the pole, hang a big pot, and at the base of the pole light a little fire. When you see us coming, keep on fanning the fire. The King will ask you, what are you doing? Tell him that you are cooking your supper. I will answer further for you. The man did as Birbal told him and when the King and Birbal arrived that afternoon, the King stopped. He looked at the man fanning the fire at the base of the long pole. He was curious to know what the man was doing. He asked the man, What are you doing with that fire at the side of the road? The man replied,  I am cooking my Khicharee (rice and split peas cook-up) for supper. The King then asked, But where is the pot? The man pointed to the top of the pole from where the pot hung .

The King laughed, Why are you such a fool! Do you expect that the heat of this fire can reach to your Khicharee at that distance quite to the top of that pole?

At that moment, Birbal answered, Your majesty Sir, if the heat of the lamps from your castle, could have provided heat to this man in your pond to keep him warm at that distance, then I dont see why the heat from this little fire, cannot reach to the top of this pole to cook his supper. The King looked thoughtfully at his advisor, Birbal. He said: Birbal, you are wise. You make a lot of sense! Birbal replied,

Now, your Majesty, since you agree with me, I know that you will also agree that this man was honest. You have cheated a poor and honest man and deprived him of his just reward. If I am to remain in your service, you must now honour your promise, and give to this man, his reward.

And taking the wise advice from Birbal, he returned to his Castle to announce the wedding date of his Princess to the poor man. All preparations were made and a few weeks later, a grand wedding celebration was arranged when the Princess and the pauper were married. The man became to be regarded as the Prince. Soon after, he asked the King to release all the men who were imprisoned for failing to win the Princess; they were then set free. There was great rejoicing at the castle. It was said that when the King grew old, he handed over the kingdom to his son-in-law, and so, he ruled with love and honesty, forever .
GANG LAW BEING REVIEW

This comment cam from the AG, who was out of the country on private business, after Senior Magistrate Indrani Cedeno suggested that the act be amended.

On Friday last, Cedeno dismissed the charges against 13 people who were accused of part of the gang which allegedly responsible for the murder of senior counsel Dana Seetahal.

She held that the charges of being a gang member, in accordance with Section 5 (1) of the Anti Gang Act, were improperly laid as indictable offences by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Roger Gaspard, SC, and it would be prejudicial to the accused to amend the charges as had been sought by the prosecution.

Cedeno called on the legislature to review the gang legislation to treat with the varying sentences for the two trial processes, as summary trials usually carried a lesser penalty, but this was not the case in the Anti Gang Act.

Seetahal was brutally murdered on May 4, 2014, while she was making her way home at One Woodbrook Place.

I understand the matter of the dismissal of those charges is still being clarified. I have yet to speak to the DPP about to those positions, but I should tell you the Anti- Gang and Bail Amendment Acts are both under review right now.

There is a sunset clause in both pieces of legislation which means they come up for a review by August of this year, so I have them under active review prior to the Dana Seetahal case which is now occupying attention, Al Rawi said.

A sunset clause was a statutory provision providing that a particular agency, benefit, or law would expire on a particular date, unless it is reauthorised by the legislature.

I have already written to the DPP, the Judiciary, the Police and the Opposition Leader inviting their comments in relation to the Anti-Gang legislation and Bail Amendment Act specifically including the perspectives on the operationality and functionality of how those laws can be applied.

It is under active review right now and I am confident in the course of the next week, Ill have an updated position for you, the AG said. In a recent ruling, High Court judge Carol Gobin held that section of the Bail (Amendment) Act No 7 of 2015, which gave a magistrate the authority to deny a person bail for 120 days if they are charged with an offence and was in possession of a firearm, was badly drafted and wrongly applied to police officers.
Domestic dispute leads to arson attack

A 24-year-old man was arrested and up to yesterday was assisting police in their investigations into the setting on fire, a four-bedroom house and a small one-bedroom house, at Diamond Village, near San Fernando, leaving a total of seven persons homeless. The man, who is alleged to have set the homes on fire, was arrested and taken into custody at the San Fernando Police Station Homeless are: stroke victim and heart-patient Sabita Ramcharitar 45; her children April Seupersad, 26, Alex Seuparsad, 17, and Andrea Seupersad, 21; Ramcharitars two grandchildren - Christopher Johnson, four, and Aaiden Seupersad, six.

Both houses belong to the family and were located mere feet apart along the Papourie Road.

According to a reports , at about 9 pm, the male suspect was engaged in a heated argument with April and Alex during which time he attempted to beat them with a piece of wood.

At the time, the suspect was intoxicated. During the confrontation, the suspect went into the one-bedroom house located near the roadside and set it on fire. Ramcharitar told Newsday yesterday that after the man set the one-bedroom house on fire, he proceeded to the her home located at the back and doused it with a flamable liquid. He then set it ablaze. Ramcharitar said,  I was not home at the time.

This has been going on for years.

He is always bullying us in the house and threatening to kill only when he drinks. I went to court last year to try to get him out of my house but police failed to served him any summons so the court dismissed the matter. She noted that whenever the suspect is sober, he is a  good person but turns evil whenever he consumes alcohol. Although he never beat me. He would choke me, drag me off the bed, slams doors so hard that the hinges would damage. I am stressed out. Any help I get I would be grateful because I have absolutely nothing, the mother told the Newsday.

Ramcharitar, a single-mother of four, said that the entire incident could have been prevented had the police responded about two hours earlier when reports were made about the domestic disturbance. However, it was only after he burn down the house, they came.

Officers of the San Fernando Police Station are continuing investigations.
Do not panic, says education minister

This is the second voice note in the last week, warning of a terrorist attack. The first warned citizens to avoid the malls for the holiday weekend.

The latest voice note stated, I have now received word from the S that there will be no CXC examinations on Wednesday and there will be no school for any secondary school students on Wednesday.

The word is that ISIS has planned to blow up the schools, so please keep your sons and daughters and nephews and grandchildren away from the schools please.

This is not no joke, this is not no kicks.

Do not forget to tell your friends, tell your family.

Keep it on the low, but yet keep it on the high. Speaking to Newsday yesterday, Garcia said he believes it was a prank.

He said he contacted National Security Minister Edmund Dillon who assured him that there was absolutely no need to panic. School will resume as usual on Tuesday.

Those students who are writing CAPE and CSE C examination, they have nothing to fear, everything is in order, so go out there and do your best, no need to panic, the minister said.

While he believes the voice notes were a prank and someone was trying to create havoc, he intends to speak to the National Maintenance Training and Security (MTS) Company Limited just to make sure the schools will be safe.

He has also mandated all school supervisors to visit the various schools.
Newsday launches innovative education youth project

Students at both secondary schools and polytechnic institutes, who have an interest in news writing or photography, can participate in the education project, which runs from August 1-12, 2016 at Newsdays Chacon Street, Port-of-Spain office. Over the next few weeks, students are invited to submit applications.

The NYLO project, which is endorsed by the Ministry of Education, emphasises youth leadership and encourages students to take a lead role in the newsroom while promoting efficiency and high standards in local journalism.

The project is also part of a global initiative aimed at identifying and training a new generation of media professionals.

Newsdays Project Officer, Simone Rocke, explained that NYLO will move beyond Newsdays annual internship programme to focus on key roles for the student participants. Asked about the submission process, Rocke said applications open today and close on July 8, 2016. Students expressing an interest in the project can also submit short essays, past articles, video and audio clips or photographs.

Newsday will provide pre-publication training for the selected students and a weekly stipend during the two weeks project.

Further, Newsday will provide accommodation for selected students from Tobago during the period of the training. NYLO applications can be emailed to nylo@newsday.co.tt or mailed in to The Human Resource Department, 23 A Chacon Street, Portof- Spain. Shortlisted applicants will be contacted in July.
Kublalsingh: No more hunger strikes for me

Kublalsingh said yesterday at a press conference at OWTU Headquarters, San Fernando, at which he, along with members of the Highway Re-route Movement (HRM), called for an independent probe into the collapse of the billion dollar highway project that has now come to a halt. Im not going on any hunger strike.

I am fed-up of hunger strikes Kublalsingh said as he recalled that it had been ten years since HRM has been butting heads with governments over construction of the Debe to Mon Desir section of the highway.

In an attempt to force the re-route of the highway, Kublalsingh had staged two hunger strikes. He added: The courts itself has been determining this matter for four years and they havent even set a trial date. Kublalsingh said he would be focusing his energies on finding a better parliamentary model to govern Trinidad and Tobago, and which he added, is fit to look after the peoples business. Making a call for a new parliament for Trinidad and Tobago Kublalsingh said, In Debe to Mon Desir, we have lost many lives, we dont really say these things, but a lot of people have died.

Over ten persons, from worries and trauma and stress, many people who are elderly.

A lot of families have been fragmented.

Saying that he had warned governments through several methods, including the courts, motorcades, letters, hunger strikes, but no one heeded his advice.

Kublalsingh said: That is why today we are asking for a probe into the entire process, independent and scientific. from 2006 to 2015, from certification to contract, to collapse. Reiterating that the battle of the for HRM was far from over, Kublalsingh further noted that his call for an independent probe was supported by former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, FITUN president Joseph Remy and political leader of the Movement for Social Justice David Abdullah
Lets us stand side by side

In her message, Persad- Bissessar said it was our duty to continue to preserve what was left behind by our forefathers and become creators and guardians of the future.

In numerous ways our lives today, as people of Trinidad and Tobago, celebrate the greatness we have built on simple moral values and the generational rewards of hard and honest work.

We remember and retell the stories of our path through history, of how people summoned the fortitude to finally accept their land of origin as that of their grandmother and to embrace their new mother country, and of how progress came not by summoning only the things that defined our ethnicity, but also the things that defined our humanity, she said.

She said Indian Arrival Day remembrances could not take place without acknowledging those who also arrived to these shores under starkly different: Europeans, Africans, Chinese, Indians, the Middle East and elsewhere.

She said Indian Arrival Day celebrations have now become one which demonstrates the unity of the people in our diversity.

The celebration of Indian Arrival Day offers persons of Indian origin an opportunity for reflection about the journey and the footsteps of their ancestors, but it also offers people of other origins an opportunity to reflect upon the journey and footsteps of their own ancestors. Such reflections make us better able to understand and appreciate the trials and tribulations of all our forefathers as they laboured to build the unique model nation we have become, a nation demonstrating unity in diversity, she said.

Our experience comes from our colourful history, and it is this that has given us the conviction to do better for the present and future. And that future will come only if we put an end to the things that divide us, and fully embrace the things that unite us.

Let us therefore understand the wisdom of the experience we have all inherited and shared together. Let us understand the essence of arrival as a mission for which we share common objectives, common strengths and a common purpose, she added.
Legislators blast DOJ double standard between Rancher Finicum and Occupy Leftists

Seven state legislators from Arizona have called upon the attorneys general of the states of Arizona, Nevada and any other states with standing, to bring legal action against Oregon law-enforcement officials and prosecutors, as well as against the FBI, over the shooting death this past January of Arizona rancher Robert Lavoy Finicum.

(Article by William F. Jasper, republished from //www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/23258-legislators-blast-doj-double-standard-rancher-finicum-vs-occupy-leftists)

In a letter to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and Nevada Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt, the Arizona lawmakers contrast the extreme treatment accorded Finicum, the Bundy ranching family, and their supporters versus the kid-glove treatment given to the violent and destructive leftist demonstrators of the various Occupy movements.

Over the past 7-years, the U.S. Attorney General and the U.S. Justice Department have established a track record of repeatedly filing civil rights complaints, often in support of known criminals, typically against law enforcement officials and state and local governments, says the letter dated May 20, 2016, on the letterhead of Arizona State Representative Bob Thorpe. However, the letter continues, in the case of unarmed Arizona rancher Mr. LaVoy Finicum, who was shot 3-times in the back by Oregon law enforcement officials at a traffic stop, and his associates who are currently being held, charged and facing inaccurate and exaggerated charges, the Federal Government has not demonstrated any interest in protecting the guaranteed Constitutional and civil rights of these Arizona and Nevada citizens.

Whether you agree or disagree with their tactics of occupying public land within an Oregon wildlife refuge for 41-days, note the legislators, Finicum and his associates were merely exercising their Constitutionally guaranteed 1st Amendment rights of free speech, to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The legislators letter continues, pointing out the obvious, politically motivated differences in the federal governments actions toward the protesters:

In order to keep this in context, none of the thousands of individuals involved in the politically motivated 4-month takeover of the Wisconsin State Capitol from February 14  June 16, 2011, or the encampment and protests by the Occupy Wall Streetmovement that started on September 17, 2011 and lasted for many, many months, were treated in a similar manner. In both of these cases, that lasted dramatically longer than the Oregon wildlife refuge occupation of public land, considerable property damage occurred, and yet no individuals were shot, jailed or charged in a similar manner to those individuals within Oregon.

It should also be noted that the Wisconsin State Capitol takeover and the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations involved violence, threats, and intimidation, massive disruptions of official government operations, as well as hindrance of private transportation, disruption of private business, and damage to and destruction of private property. Contrast that with the Oregon wildlife sanctuary occupation, which took place out in the boondocks, did not inconvenience anyone, or cause any property damage.

The letter from Representative Thorpe is cosigned by Senator Don Shooter and Representatives Brenda Barton, Sonny Borrelli, Regina Cobb, Mark Finchem, and Jay Lawrence. It continues:

Similar to the IRS targeting scandal, it has been suggested that the noticeable difference between the Wisconsin and Occupy Wall Street occupations and the Oregon occupation is that the former was typically comprised of labor union and liberal individuals who are politically aligned with President Obama, and the later was typically comprised of conservative individuals who are not.

According to Thomas Jefferson, our 3rd U.S. President and author of the Declaration of Independence, When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. Simply by exercising their Constitutionally guaranteed 1st Amendment rights, the late Finicum and his jailed and charged associates continue to face what some are calling government tyranny.

It is the duty of the Attorneys General of the States of Arizona, Nevada and any other states with standing, to file civil rights complaints with the U.S. Justice Department against the Oregon law enforcement officials and prosecutors, and against the Federal Bureau of Investigation, say the legislators. Arizona and Nevada must ensure that their citizens are treated in a fair, transparent and legal manner, and that Oregon law enforcement officials justly face at a minimum manslaughter charges, and that FBI agents justly face at a minimum attempted manslaughter and falsifying evidence charges.

Read more at: //www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/item/23258-legislators-blast-doj-double-standard-rancher-finicum-vs-occupy-leftists

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Phones can be hacked into and record all conversations in a close proximity

Computer security pioneer John McAfee pulls out his cell phone to stare at a notification on the screen.

(Article by Trevor Hughes, republished from //www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2016/05/11/anti-virus-pioneer-john-mcafee-warns-mobile-phone-snooping/84266838/)

It says something changed in my account, please press next, McAfee says. I have the best (security) habits in the world and I cannot keep my phone secure.

McAfee, whose name became synonymous with antivirus protection, says hes no longer as worried about computer security. Now, he says, the danger comes from the camera and microphones we carry everywhere in our pockets, attached to our smartphones. Its a trivial matter, he says, for a hacker to remotely and secretly turn on a phones sensors.

Think about that the next time youre having a supposedly private conversation in your office, your phone sitting on the desk, he says. McAfee says hes accustomed to the idea that potentially hundreds of people are listening to every conversation he has, and that his emails are widely snooped upon.

McAfee on Monday confirmed he will become the CEO of a small tech company called MGT Capital Investments, which will be rebranded with his name and offer an anti-spyware product for mobile devices.

He received a rock stars welcome while speaking Wednesday afternoon to a computer-security conference, where he said his remarks aimed to shock governments and institutions into action about the risks posed by hackers.

McAfee for years has been something of a cult figure in the tech world  he fled his home in Belize in 2012 after he was sought for questioning as a person of interest in the murder of a neighbor. He then landed in Portland, Ore., before he settled in central Tennessee, where he was once convinced assassins from Central Americawere tracking him. Hes now also running for president as a Libertarian.

Wednesday, he pointed out that foreign hackers have repeatedly attacked American infrastructure, including power grids, and said neither the government nor big business seems to truly appreciate how quickly society would collapse if large portions of the country lost power for even a few days. He also mused that only those who can protect their identities and security will thrive in the future.

We are teetering on an edge, not just as companies, not just as individuals, but as a nation and even as a world. We depend so much on our information science, he says. Believe me, this will be the new paradigm and until you are touched, you do not understand the fullness of the risk.

McAfee founded McAfee Associates in 1987, and Intel bought it for $7.7 billion in 2010. He used to own a yoga retreat in central Colorado.

Read more at: //www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2016/05/11/anti-virus-pioneer-john-mcafee-warns-mobile-phone-snooping/84266838/

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Young Saudi writer sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam online

A Saudi blogger convicted of insulting Islam was brought after Friday prayers to a public square in the port city of Jeddah and flogged 50 times before hundreds of spectators, a witness to the lashing said.

(Article by TheGuardian.Com, republished from //www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/09/saudi-blogger-first-lashes-raif-badawi)

The witness said Raif Badawis feet and hands were shackled during the flogging but his face was visible. He remained silent and did not cry out, said the witness, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity fearing government reprisal.

Badawi was sentenced last May to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes. He had criticized Saudi Arabias powerful clerics on a liberal blog he founded. The blog has since been shut down. He was also ordered to pay a fine of 1m riyals or about $266,600.

Rights activists say Saudi authorities are using Badawis case as a warning to others who think to criticise the kingdoms powerful religious establishment from which the ruling family partly derives its authority.

London-based Amnesty International said he would receive 50 lashes once a week for 20 weeks. The US, a close ally of Saudi Arabia, has called on authorities to cancel the punishment.

Despite international pleas for his release, Badawi, a father of three, was brought from prison by bus to the public square on Friday and flogged on the back in front of a crowd that had just finished midday prayers at a nearby mosque. His face was visible and, throughout the flogging, he clenched his eyes and remained silent, said the witness.

The witness, who also has close knowledge of the case, said the lashing lasted about 15 minutes.

Badawi has been held since mid-2012 after he founded the Free Saudi Liberals blog. He used it to criticise the kingdoms influential clerics who follow a strict, conservative interpretation of Islam known as Wahhabism, which originated in Saudi Arabia.

He was originally sentenced in 2013 to seven years in prison and 600 lashes in relation to the charges, but after an appeal the judge stiffened the punishment. Following his arrest, his wife and children left the kingdom for Canada.

Rights groups argue that the case against Badawi is part of a wider crackdown on freedom of speech and dissent in Saudi Arabia since the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. Criticism of clerics is seen as a red line because of their prestige in the kingdom, as well as their influential role in supporting government policies. According to Amnesty the charges against Badawi mention his failure to remove articles by other people on his website. He was also accused in court of ridiculing Saudi Arabias morality police. In a statement after the flogging Amnesty called it a vicious act of cruelty and said Badawis only crime was to exercise his right to freedom of expression by setting up a website for public discussion. The US state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki called the punishment an inhumane response to someone exercising his right to freedom of expression and religion. In New York, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary general, told reporters on Friday that the UN human rights office was very concerned about the flogging and had previously raised concerns about harsh sentences in Saudi Arabia for human rights defenders.

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I gave a talk at Transhuman Visions a couple of weeks ago.

In my look at near term transhumanism, I see older Tiger Moms as being the driver of early adoption of genetic intelligence enhancement and the lifting of the One child policy in China.

Chinas One child policy is being lifted just as embryo selection based upon intelligence for invitro fertilized (IVF) babies becomes possible and we are on the cusp of genetic engineering. Women in China who are now older were banned from having babies but now will be allowed to have children. Many will not be able to conceive naturally and will use IVF. I see IVF going from 400,000 per year worldwide to 2-8 million per year over the next 10 years. IVF babies are more easily embryo selected and accessible for genetic modification. This would provide an economic boost to China in 20-30 years and the beginnings of a significant societal shift.

* Older women use IVF more than younger women.

* Societal shifts that cause more older women to use IVF to have children means more opportunity for embryo selection and genetic intelligence enhancement.

* Countries that permit embyro selection and genetic intelligence enhancement provide the opportunity for IVF to be used for enhancement

* Medical tourism to permissive countries is another means for older women to use IVF in combination with embryo selection or genetic enhancement.

In my talk I first summarized enhancement of human capabilities via products that we can buy. (Smartphones, Google Glass, Apple Siri, IBM Watson, forklifts, cars etc) As those things get better, anyone can adopt them by buying the latest versions.

Steroids do enhance performance. They work. About 10 million people use them and it is primarily because of vanity. However, we do not live in the wild west or have to compete as Gladiators in Rome. The more powerful people in the world are the billionaires. In the real world the equivalent of Montgomery Burns from the Simpsons has more power than the equivalent of Captain America. Burns can hire his own police force or mercenaries. It is his lawyers and lobbyists who do his work.

100 years ago it was vaccines that began altering the physical attributes of people in a meaningful way. It extended lifespans and improved health. Health improvement boosted productivity and GDP.

I make the case that studies show that more intelligence leads to better lives for people. They go to jail less. Their jobs are better and they divorce less.

Each one-point increase in a countrys average IQ, the per capita GDP was $229 higher. It made an even bigger difference if the smartest 5 percent of the population got smarter; for every additional IQ point in that group, a countrys per capita GDP was $468 higher. This is according to Are the Wealthiest Countries the Smartest Countries? (Heiner Rindermann, of the Chemnitz University of Technology, Psychological Science )

However, we can see the damage when intelligence is lower across large national populations.

48% of children in India are stunted. Diseases can leave brain damage when they do not kill. This reduces IQ points by 11-20 on average across the country. This makes India more poor.

Embryo Selection

* In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) currently is used for 400,000 babies each year.

* A new Alka Seltzer method for controlling PH reduces costs from $10K-20K in developed world to about $1K

* Developing world was $2-4K and can be $200

* Comprehensive Chromosome Screening (about $6000) can boost successful IVF by 10-20%

> Lower costs for IVF means more adoption and widespread basic genetic screening via chromosome screening will already be used for high IVF success rate

* China lifting one child ban

* This will mean annual birthrates will go from about 16 million ==> 25.5 million

* 23-42 normal child bearing age

* IVF at older ages up to 50-55 now at about 5-15% but improving

* More older women in China will use IVF

* China is not culturally against enhancing children (a lot of tiger moms and cultural differences)

* Lower cost and more effective IVF with standard chromosome screening, easy step to gene screening

* Maybe 4 million IVF/year with gene screening

Children tend to fall within a spread of 13 IQ points above and below the average IQ of their parents.

Positive outlier at around 2 or 3 percent where child is two standard deviations above parents

Pick the smartest genome from a batch of, say, 20 embryos (but it could 50 or more embryos) to get 20-30 IQ points higher

We are technologically close to non-destructive sequencing of human gametes and zygotes by sequencing 10-20 cells.

Genetic Engineering for Intelligence

BGI (Beijing Genomics institute has a large intelligence study of thousands of geniuses

Various studies finding genes with up to 0.5% impact on intelligence

Intelligence is 40-80% inheritable

There are likely hundreds to a thousand genes that genetically determine intelligence

Similar to height. According to Steve Hsus estimates (based on actual data) most humans have (order of magnitude) 1000 rare (-) alleles for intelligence and height

One standard deviation above average has (very roughly) 30 fewer (-) variants.

No negative alleles might be 30 SD above average! Such a person has yet to exist in human history

Each standard deviation (SD) up or down are defined as 15 IQ points greater or less,

95 percent of the population scores an IQ between 70 and 130, which is within two standard deviations of the mean.

30 SD above average would be and IQ of 550.

Maybe IQ 550 is Impossible or Meaningless

550 IQ would be like a 13 foot tall person

Physiology limits practical height

What are intelligence limits ?

Brain structure

Average human height is 70 inches and 3 inch SD (standard deviation)

8 feet 1 inch  97 inches this is 9 Standard Deviations over average

235 IQ is the equivalent in intelligence of a 8 foot 1 inch person

Geniuses and Society

5% of population with 30 points higher intelligence might be about $14000 more GDP per capita

5% of population with 120 points higher intelligence might be about $56000 more GDP per capita

What would a society with tens of millions of Edisons, Einsteins, Steve Jobs and Elon Musks be like ?

Could we get beyond them in capability?

5% of population significantly intelligence enhanced would be possible if IVF takes off and embryo selection and genetic engineering with it over the next 10-20 years.
The US Navys proposed FY2017 budget requests funding for the procurement of seven new battle force ships (i.e., ships that count against the Navys goal for achieving and maintaining a fleet of 308 ships). The seven ships include two Virginia-class attack submarines, two DDG-51 class Aegis destroyers, two Littoral Combat Ships (LCSs), and one LHA-type amphibious assault ship.

The Navys proposed FY2017-FY2021 five-year shipbuilding plan includes a total of 38 new ships, compared to 48 new ships in the Navys FY2016-FY2020 five-year shipbuilding plan. Most of the 10-ship reduction in the FY2017-FY2021 plan compared to the FY2016-FY2020 plan is due to a reduction in the annual procurement rate for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS)/Frigate program that was directed by the Secretary of Defense in December 2015.

The Navys current force-structure goal, presented to Congress in 2015, is to achieve and maintain a future fleet of 308 ships of various kinds. Navy officials in early 2016 have testified that in light of recent changes in the international security environment, the Navy has launched a new analysis of its future force structure needs. Such analyses are called Force Structure Assessments (FSAs). The Navy states that it hopes to complete the new FSA by summer 2016.

Some observers believe this new FSA will result in an increase in the Navys force-level goal to a figure higher than 308 ships, in part because it will call for an increased Navy forward-deployed presence in the Mediterranean, a region that was deemphasized as a Navy forward-deployed operating area during the post-Cold War era.

The Navys report on its FY2016 30-year shipbuilding plan estimates that the plan would cost an average of about $16.5 billion per year in constant FY2015 dollars to implement, including an average of about $16.9 billion per year during the first 10 years of the plan, an average of about $17.2 billion per year during the middle 10 years of the plan, and an average of about $15.2 billion per year during the final 10 years of the plan.

* First Ohio replacement submarine in FY2021. The plan shows the projected procurement of the first Ohio replacement (SSBNX) ballistic missile submarine in FY2021, with advance procurement (AP) funding for this boat beginning in FY2017 and continuing through FY2020. Many observers have been concerned about the potential impact of the Ohio replacement program on the Navys ability to fund the procurement of the other kinds of ships that it wants to procure.

* CVN-80 in FY2018. The CVN-78 class aircraft carrier shown in FY2018 is CVN-80, the third ship in the class. The initial increment of advance procurement (AP) funding for this ship was provided in FY2016. The Navy is requesting an additional increment of advance procurement funding for FY2017. The balance of the ships procurement cost is to be funded using incremental funding across the six-year period FY2018-FY2023. The fourth ship in the class, CVN-81, is scheduled for procurement in FY2023, with advance procurement (AP) funding scheduled to begin in FY2021.

* 10 Virginia-class attack submarines. The 10 Virginia-class attack submarines to be procured in FY2014-FY2018 are being procured under a multiyear procurement (MYP) contract. Beginning with the second Virginia-class boat to be procured in FY2019, Virginia-class boats are to be built with an additional ship section called the Virginia Payload Module (VPM) that will substantially increase the boats weapon capacity.

* 10 DDG-51 destroyers. The 10 DDG-51 destroyers to be procured in FY2013-FY2017 are being procured under a multiyear procurement (MYP) contract. Beginning with the second of the two DDG-51s procured in FY2016, DDG-51s are to be built to the new Flight III version of the DDG-51 design, which is to carry a new and more capable radar called the Air and Missile Defense Radar(AMDR).

* 7 LCSs/Frigates. As mentioned earlier, reflecting a December 2015 direction by the Secretary of Defense, the annual procurement rate of LCSs/Frigates has been reduced. As a consequence, the FY2017-FY2021 five-year shipbuilding plan includes a total of 7 LCSs/Frigates, compared to 14 LCSs/Frigates in the FY2016-FY2020 five-year shipbuilding plan.

* LHA-8 amphibious assault ship in FY2017. The Navy wants to procure an amphibious assault ship called LHA-8 in FY2017, using split funding (i.e., two year incremental funding) in FY2017 and FY2018.

* First LX(R) amphibious ship in FY2020. The Navy wants to procure the first of a new class of amphibious ships, called the LX(R) class, in FY2020. Congress, as part of its action on the Navys FY2016 budget, provided additional funding to accelerate the production schedule for this ship. The Navy has testified that, as a result of this funding, even though the ship is still shown in the FY2020 column, the Navy will now be able to accelerate the construction schedule of the ship to something more consistent with a ship procured in FY2019.

* TATS towing, salvage, and rescue ship. As mentioned above, Congress, as part of its action on the Navys FY2016 budget, accelerated the procurement of the first TATS ship from FY2017 to FY2016.

* TAO-205 (previously TAO[X]) class oiler. The first ship in the TAO-205 class oiler (previously TAO[X]) program was funded in FY2016.
Korean President Park Geun-hye, right, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, left, attend a ceremony Monday to launch the National Farmers' Leadership Center in Uganda, aimed at becoming a hub in Africa for Korea's Saemaul Undong project, which helps rural communities guide their own development.

In March, the UN Security Council adopted the heaviest sanctions ever imposed on North Korea after it went ahead with its fourth nuclear test on January 6 followed by a rocket launch a month later.

South Korea - which has become the first former aid recipient to join the ranks of official donors in a half century - has been sharing its development experience with many developing countries. Uganda's disengagement is the latest increase of worldwide diplomatic pressure on Pyongyang over its defiant pursuit of a nuclear weapons program.

Speaking to the African Union in Ethiopia on Friday, Park urged African leaders to support global efforts to persuade its hostile neighbour, North Korea, to stop its production of nuclear weapons. "Uganda's shift will also encourage other African countries to implement United Nations resolutions".

Defense Ministry officials from the two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding on defense and military technology cooperation. Beginning in 2007, North Korea has run training programmes for Uganda's army and police.

Now, the recently re-elected Museveni is looking to seal development deals with Asian partners such as China and South Korea as this East African country tries to industrialize its economy.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called his country a "responsible nuclear state" in the clearest sign yet that he won't give up its nuclear program. South Korea's president h...

He added that Uganda has had relations with North Korea since the 1960s, during the Milton Obote regime, and ties have continued through the current regime under President Yoweri Museveni. Kenya is home to about 1,100 South Koreans.

One of the pacts calls for bilateral cooperation in the generation, distribution and transmission of electrical power. The trip is set to take her to Nairobi on Monday for talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Tunisian ambassador to London Nabil Ammar has called on British government to ease its tourist travel restrictions imposed on his country since last year after 30 Britons were killed in a terror attack targeting foreign tourists.

Isis claimed responsibility for the attack, which led the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to advice against all but essential travel to the North African country.

UK tour operators stopped selling holidays to Tunisia following the Foreign Office advice, which warns further attacks remain highly likely. The travel warning dealt a hard blow to Tunisias tourism industry.

In 2014, around 440,000 Britons visited the country. Since the attack near Sousse, 192 hotels  a third of Tunisias total  have closed. To save the sector, the Tunisian ambassador to London has said the FCO should review its advice, taking into account the major security improvements made since last year.

But an FCO spokesperson insisted the safety of British nationals is UK governments main concern. We know our travel advice can have a knock-on effect on the local economy () but we dont let this influence us, added the spokesperson, noting that the travel advice is under constant review and will be changed as soon as the security situation permits.

Tunisian authorities have lifted lately the nationwide curfew enforced following the terror attacks and the social riots, which rocked the country.

In light of the improvement in the security situation, the curfew imposed on all Tunisian territory will be lifted, the interior ministry said in a statement.

Tunisia is facing a difficult economic recovery since the revolution. The countrys economy recorded one of its worst performances last year  less than 0.3 per cent growth. National unemployment rate is estimated at over 15 per cent, and 30 per cent of the countrys graduates are unemployed

The North African state is believed to be the biggest exporter of jihadists, with the authorities saying at least 3,000 Tunisians are fighting in Iraq and Syria
Arab Foreign Ministers who held an extraordinary session at the Arab League have called on Arab States to extend political and financial support to the UN-backed Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA.)

The Foreign Ministers renewed their recognition of the GNA as the unique legitimate body in the country and stressed that the Government of National Accord needs help to counter terrorism and extremism.

In a statement released at the end of the session, the Foreign Ministers urged the international community to refrain from intervening in Libya and to stop supplying weapons to militia groups.

Libyas neighboring countries have been concerned about the turmoil in the country because of the risks it poses to their security and stability as several countries continue to discover weapon caches along their borders with Libya.

The widely circulated Washington Post daily reported that there are US troops in two locations in Libya and that they are trying to persuade locals to accept an international intervention. The locations were not revealed and Pentagon spokesperson Peter Cook said a small US force is carrying out some intelligence missions in Libya to collect information about IS and identify the real players on the ground.

British troops are also on the ground.

The GNA, led by prime minister-designate Fayez Al-Serraj, ruled out foreign intervention in the country, but called on the international community to supply it with weapons to combat Islamic oriented extremist groups, primarily the Islamic State. In response, world powers agreed on lifting the UN arms embargo on the country although it is yet to be approved at the level of the UN Security Council.

GNA enjoys international support but its impact on the ground is limited as the Tripoli-based National Salvation Government and the Tobruk-based House of Representatives continue to disregard its authority. The parliament in Tobruk has so far failed to approve the GNA as stated in the Libyan Political Agreement reached in Skhirat, Morocco, last year.
Its always nice to be appreciated. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/2015 Getty Images

Former Attorney General Eric Holder is having a change of heart when it comes to Edward Snowden. Back in 2013, Holder told USA Today that Snowdens intelligence leaks led to a healthy conversation about the nations intelligence-gathering activities, but held that there was absolutely no basis for letting him off the hook. But on David Axelrods podcast, The Axe Files, Monday morning, Holder showed even more leniency toward Snowden, saying he performed a public service.

Holder told Axelrod that even he had second-guessed the efficacy of the governments intelligence-gathering programs. We had a capacity to do all sorts of things under these listening programs, he said. But after a while I remember sending memos to the president asking, Do we really need to do this, given the way in which we are focusing on peoples lives and given the return that we were getting, which was not, I think, in any way substantial? And so I think that we can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think he actually performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in and the changes that we made.

However, Holder said, just because Snowden sparked a necessary conversation doesnt mean what he did was right. I would say that doing what he did  and the way he did it  was inappropriate and illegal, he told Axelrod, adding that it put agents at risk as well as Americas relationship with other countries.

I think there has to be a consequence for what he has done he said. But, I think in deciding what an appropriate sentence should be, I think a judge could take into account the usefulness of having had that national debate.

Earlier this year, Snowden said hed be willing to return to the U.S. if officials would grant him a fair trial. But he also told the audience at a University of Chicago event that the whole usefulness of having had a national debate argument wont count for much with a judge. As I think youre quite familiar, the Espionage Act does not permit a public interest defense, he said.

But Snowden did seem to appreciate Holders comments  this morning he tweeted a clip from the podcast in which Holder calls his actions a public service.
Voters dont like their options. Photo: ROBYN BECK/This content is subject to copyright.

As voters choices narrow in the upcoming election, their outlook is becoming increasingly bleak. According to a new poll by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, the majority of Americans  55 percent (including 60 percent of Republicans and 53 percent of Democrats)  say they feel helpless about the 2016 election. Among voters younger than 30, that number is even higher; two-thirds of young voters report feeling helpless.

Only 13 percent of those surveyed said they feel proud about the election, and just 37 percent said they were hopeful.

To arrive at these depressing conclusions, the two organizations surveyed 1,060 adults between May 12 and 15; respondents were randomly selected using address-based sampling methods and then interviewed by phone. According to the AP, the sample was designed to be representative of the American population. And from the results, it would seem the American population has largely given up on this years candidates:

The divisive primary season has fueled an overall sense of pessimism about the political process that underscores a widening chasm between political parties and the voters they claim to represent. Just 12 percent of Republicans think the GOP is very responsive to ordinary voters, while 25 percent of Democrats say the same of their party. Among all Americans, the AP-NORC poll found that just 8 percent consider the Republican Party to be very or extremely responsive to what ordinary voters think. An additional 29 percent consider the GOP moderately responsive and 62 percent say its only slightly or not at all responsive. The Democratic Party fares only slightly better, with 14 percent saying the party is very or extremely responsive, 38 percent calling it moderately responsive, and 46 percent saying its only slightly or not at all responsive.

In other words, the average voter feels that their party isnt taking into consideration the issues they deem important. Its this sentiment thats led to the initial rise of outsider candidates such as Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, but as the general election approaches, at least one voter says Trumps nomination is leading the Republican party astray.

The Republicans have gotten away from their core message of fiscal responsibility, Joe Denother, a 37-year-old who usually votes Republican, told the AP. I feel theres an identity crisis. And with a lack of identity, its hard to have confidence in the party.
She looks so relaxed and happy. I can't wait to see what direction LG5 goes in. However if it doesn't do well as expectations I hope she handles it with more grace than she did when Artpop was released. I was afraid she was having a breakdown, it seemed to have a really negative impact on her at the time.
Rme

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Brazil is the country that kills more trans people IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, the person is correct to stay away.



RME @ your fucking dumbass. Idiot.

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omg don't ever come to brasil please for your sake

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I love this cast so much, I want to party with them. GET IT SUN!

The Will and Wolfgand kiss is not even for the show, the crowd asked them and they kissed. GOD BLESS, I love Max and Brian for this.

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Wolfgang looks like a nice kisser.

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mte

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IKR and I'm hft

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I love this cast and I love this show. Yesss, everyone smooch everyone!

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I read on Twitter that the camera wasn't rolling in the will/Wolfgang kiss. Anyway, I love this cast so much. They look like they're having a lot of fun. I still don't want to go to Brazil tho. Fuck that.

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they can all kiss me

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yaaas that Will/Wolfgang kiss like that isn't even on camera but the actors are going for it

Max has been so hot to me since that Frier Fall movie

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if you haven't already, you should check out Brian (Will) in War Boys. All the good clips are on Youtube. :D

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He was good in War Boys.

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I have seen it! Well I watched the clips of him kissing the dude anyway lmao

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looks like someone in the crowd asked him and he not only did it, WENT for it. that just made me like that actor so much more.

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Brazilians guys are hot. You bet your ass I'm dying to go

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I knew Wolfgang was my favorite for a reason, he's letting no one down

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But it is all on camera. It will make the show.

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I am so hot and bothered rn omg

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needs the 'come to brazil' tag tbh

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I am so bothered right now.

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All I can say is let's hope.

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Amber Heard is the WORST! My thoughts and prayers go out to the Depp family.

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I wish you were banned. Change your icon, you don't deserve it.

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Because I see right through Amber?



Sorry I am not part of the witch hunt.



Not my charachter.



Innocent until proven guilty.



You feminist are the worst. It is actually quite disgusting. Don't make me get started on that feminist with the Orphan Black icon.

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mfte

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am pretty sure they arn't a xtina fan. They never pop up in any of the positive xtina posts, but do the most and be mean in britney posts. this is just a troll trying to play games.

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How outrageous, this is the opposite sentiment of most here!

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why are you the way you are?

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you're better than this..

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[Insert Attacks as if Johnny Has Been Proven Guilty]

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hi Johnny

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Christina thinks you're a pos, just fyi...





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Most of the Tweet's replies are people defending Depp.



Ugghhhh

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Do you think Johnny Depp is done, ONTD? TYFYA!



in a white world where Woody Allen and Roman Polanski still get work and are praise...doubtful.

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I used to think Sean Penn benefited from his bullshit happening pre internet, and as such more easily forgettable by the general public. I quickly figured out that was just wishful thinking. Men get to get away with anything.

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i think his situation is diff from woody allen and polanski, directors work behind the scenes and the gp usually isn't invested in them, johnny is the face of his movies, if the scandal actually hurts his image i could see him having some troubles with his career for a while until he fixes his image

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I think he'll probably still get some roles but he'll never have a real comeback. But if it was just the abuse allegations, that would not have been enough. I only think he'll fall because the allegations coupled with his recent flops, which is sad b/c the allegations should be enough.



Very sad about my Captain Sparrow poster right now. Such a disappointment.

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mte i don't know why people keep asking "do you think this will affect his career" when monsters like polanski and allen are still celebrated.

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mte

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yep :/

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seriously. I hate everything.

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I'm too cynical. When the tides turn, he'll go to rehab and give a public apology and all will be forgiven.

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(hopefully. I'm sure Johnny's PR will have like 3 different stories published in the next hour about how he's up for canonization by the Pope or some shit) (hopefully. I'm sure Johnny's PR will have like 3 different stories published in the next hour about how he's up for canonization by the Pope or some shit)

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Do you think Johnny Depp is done, ONTD?



not really, i've said it in another post, but i didn't know people still liked him this much. movie wise, his career has been pretty stale, like i doubt he was gonna go anywhere, but sadly it looks as if the recent events will affect Amber's career more than it does his.

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i guess we know whose team paid tmz more.

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what a piece of shit. lol why am i not surprised a guy with stereotypical neckbeard physical description works there?

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smiling and cackling

grinning and laughing loudly

giggled loud enough for passerbys to hear



amazing, such variety of words

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i hate how people always try to dictate the "right" way to respond to a situation. there is no right way. like when amanda knox was doing cartwheels outside her trial. i mean i know i have weird reactions to certain situations. when things get uncomfortable i start laughing. people might think i am okay with the situation because of that, but those who know me know my real laugh and my "get me the fuck out of here" laugh. tmz ain't shit. maybe she wants to be surrounded by love and support? lots of people find being with friends and family and laughing with them can be therapeutic, like why would anyone expect her to hide in her apartment, rocking back and forth in the corner and crying? women really can't win in this world, it's so depressing

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That shit pisses me off. Yes, you can laugh after abuse.



I'm gonna make a very long and upsetting story short. A couple of hours after being punched in the jaw and knocked unconscious by my ex, I was in my best friend's living room, drinking a few beers. She and her boyfriend were doing their best to make me laugh and make me feel better, and there's a picture of me with my head thrown back and laughing. You can see the blood on my neck and the bruises on my cheekbone.



Yes, you can laugh after being abused. It doesn't mean you weren't hurt. Sometimes you either laugh or cry. Sometimes you're so full of so many conflicting emotions that the only thing you CAN do is laugh.



I hate how ignorant people are regarding abuse and the aftermath.

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TMZ is consistently the worst

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I hope so. I hope Amber will get through this :(

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me too. I really hope she has a lot of people supporting her. she's really gonna need it during this time.

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Even before this week he was washed up with like 20 flops in a row to his name and dwindling domestic star power. Way more important to Hollywood than his abuse, he's just not a bankable asset anymore. This scandal is the nail in the coffin IMO.



He'll prolly still get work in indies and shit, unforch.

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MTE

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Yeah, I think if he was still making bank all the time there would be no question that he's not done, since $$$ is all that matters. But he's been in mostly flops for literally years now. The next Pirates was always gonna be the thing that saved his ass. But I think that there will always be directors who want to bank on his supposed "star power" or his name so he'll find work. It just might not be huge movies.

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yeah. read an article saying he wouldnt make bank anymore after this like??? his movies have not been doing great for the last 10 years.

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Damn. I had to google it, and you didn't lie about his flops! His last successful movie (as a lead) that is not a POTC movie is The Tourist, and I would say that Angelina has more to do with this movie's success than him.

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And that movie relied heavily on international audiences as well and critically was a fucking mess and made zero sense in terms of plot

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mte



a good part of general public has been over him for a while too



Edited at 2016-05-30 12:19 am (UTC)

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I'm not defending him in way, but as a former stan, I knew he's pretty much been box office poison since the early 90s, Pirates with the exception of Edward Scissorhands is probably the only notable films he's done that are notable, box office wise. He's just been going down the tubes for years.

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I predict he'll fade away for a bit then make a comeback in a few years, with Vanessa Paradis back at his side. If she'll take him back, that is. I just think he's gonna try and go running back to her.

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his career is pathetic now, and he's a piece of shit.

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ugh. i wanna copy/paste the post i made about his legal past/history of violence into every single post about this scumbag, but at the same time i don't want to seem deranged lol. /thestruggle

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I haven't seen it. Can you link me?

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nah keep doing you. i was a stan before this, i had no idea about his past bullshit. i just thought he was a good actor when he wasn't phoning it in. keep fighting the good fight and bringing this public service announcement in relation to his shitty-ness. more people need to know

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make an ontd original imo



Edited at 2016-05-30 12:01 am (UTC)

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I'm sure he's not done. I don't think the domestic abuse will impact his career very much, in fact it may negatively impact hers more than his. Especially now that his ex's are defending him.

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has watchmojo just given up



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Clicked the vid just to make sure Richard Gere + the gerbil are in it (they are at #4), lol

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10. Courtney Love killed Kurt Cobain

9. Walt Disney's Dead Body was Frozen

8. Paul is Dead

7. Tupac is Alive

6. Beyonce's fake Pregnancy

5. Angelina Jolie's Incest

4. Richard Gere's Gerbilectomy

3. Jamie Lee Curtis is a Hermaphrodite

2. Marilyn Manson's Ribs - or Lack Thereof

1. Rod stewart's Semen-Filled Stomach Was Pumped



Honorable Mentions

- Sarah Phalin's Son is Actually Her Grandson

- Suri Cruise is Not Tom Cruise's Real Child

- Marisa Tomei's OScar Win Was a Mistake

- Kim Kardashian Had Butt Implants

- Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby Destroyed Dave Chappelle's Career

- Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King Are Lesbian Lovers

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-Kim Kardashian Had Butt Implants



how is this crazy?

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i really hate how semantics allow them to get away with lies. it should just be "kims butt is fake". maybe they've never had plastic surgery but they sure as hell get injections and fat transfers.

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ive never heard about 1, 3, and 4. or the dave chappelle one wtf. what about lady gaga having a penis.

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"10. Courtney Love killed Kurt Cobain"



I know far too many ppl who believe this.

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Suri Cruise is Tom's clone.

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The fact that people still write "YOU MURDERER!!" all over Courtney's Instagram still really pisses me the fuck off.

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Wat @ #1

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Paul is dead >>> everything on this list

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the manson one is one i totally believed as a dumb teen lmao

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Tbh I belived the Marilyn Manson rumour for quite a while.

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lol same. my entire adolescence tbh.

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or the one about him being the kid from The Wonder Years.

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http://radaronline.com/celebrity-news/johnny-depp-viper-room-busines-partner-anthony-fox-disappearance/

http://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2016/01/blind-items-revealed-1-359.html somebody posted this in one of the recent Depp posts

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oh wow that dude own the same club river phoenix died outside of



this is pretty mysterious/crazy

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that just reminded me of this conspiracy theory about the west memphis 3 that johnny played a big part in getting out

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My fave is that Marilyn Manson was Paul on the Wonder Years.



Remember the rumor that Val Kilmer was the Geico caveman?

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this is what Paul from Wonder Years looks like now

I love that onethis is what Paul from Wonder Years looks like now

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good on paul bc he looks cuter now

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Aww he's really cute like, lets make out lol

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hes cute now!!

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ngl Paul's really cute now.

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lol yes to the first one!

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yeah that rumor was more fun than the rib thing. I knew it wasn't real but omg a lot of people believe it, so fun.

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The craziest thing to me about the whole "Courtney killed Kurt" conspiracy is that anyone thinks that Courtney Love could have kept completely quiet about that for 20 years. That woman has been shitfaced for the better part of two decades. There is no way she wouldn't have let that shit slip 48290348290 times by now if it were true.

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People are so fucking terrible about Courtney. She survived a terrible, abusive childhood. Survival isn't pretty or easy. And the people who support the right of the mentally ill to have children, they're the first to lambaste Courtney for her failings as a parent.



I honestly think Courtney's a cautionary tale for what happens when an intelligent person gets a little beat up by the celeb-making machine.

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I can't imagine what it would be like to have your husband and the father of your baby daughter commit suicide, and then have people literally never stop accusing you of murdering him.

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ikr! The documentary about that is so funny and stupid tho.



Courtney is a queen and i love her

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Plus the doc on netflix about her allegedly killing him is the most bullshit thing ever. The private detective is obviously thirsting for attention and the whole logic behind it was that he didn't "seem" suicidal

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The Richard Gere gerbil story is my personal fav urban legend.



Edited at 2016-05-30 12:26 am (UTC)

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same. and I think he's been a pretty good sport about it

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lmao totally

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omg the marilyn manson one everyone in my high school (including me) deadass believed that

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I remember hearing that rumor in ELEMENTARY school

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same here

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I remember that whole Angelina phase and it was a wild ride...

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what about lady gaga being a hermaphrodite who murdered lina morgana

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I don't remember the hermaphrodite story, but the lina one is iconic

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Bb ur icon is ameezing/perfect etc.

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I remember the hermaphodite thing but I have no idea who Lina Morgana is.

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wtf ive never heard #9

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I always thought Angelina was trying to stir up shit when she gave her brother lingering kisses on the lips and declared "I'm so in love with my brother right now" in front of the cameras at the Oscars. Then the story took on a life of its own and she didn't like it so much. But I have a hard time believing that any grown brother and sister really thought that wouldn't cause some kind of stir - I remember watching it live and being pretty creeped out.

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Mmmmm, 'kay. I have two brothers and I have to say that lingering kisses on the lips are not "a slightly extreme way of showing affection" to one's sibling. Siblings hug, sometimes they give each other a peck on the cheek, but I don't know any siblings at all who give each other long, slow kisses on the lips. The "I'm so in love with my brother right now!" statement would have passed unnoticed without the making out for the cameras that went with it.



Like I said, I thought it was weird and creepy watching it live, well before the press made it out to be anything. As far as I know, Angelina has never claimed that she was unwell or mentally ill at the time or that it in any way caused her behavior with her brother, so I don't think you should be making an armchair diagnosis like that. And her father may be a dick, but he didn't abuse her and she has even called him a "great father" on more than one occasion, so I'm not going to blame him for his kids' weird behavior, either.

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lol I was going to comment about Marilyn Manson's ribs but I see it's listed.



I remember totally believing this in middle/high school.

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Ugh. These rumors are so lame. My favorites:



1. Danny Thomas and the glass coffee table. He allegedly wore a priest's uniform while doing this.

2. Cesar Romero hiring young boys to throw orange wedges at his naked ass. (Seriously.)

3. Charles Laughton being a coprophile.

4. Angelina Jolie's UN work being a front for heroin smuggling.

5. Zac Efron: Skid row hooker.

6. Milton Berle and Forrest Tucker both having enormous dicks. (Confirmed.)

7. Frank Sinatra and his cronies running a train on Marilyn Monroe in Tahoe shortly before she died. They also allegedly filmed/photographed it so she wouldn't talk.

8. President John Kennedy photographing himself fucking all of this conquests. The Secret Service took the film to be developed and watched closely to make sure no copies of the negatives were ever made. (Source: "The Dark Side of Camelot.)



These are just off the top of my head.



Edited at 2016-05-30 12:44 am (UTC)

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where did u find the Zac Efron skid row hooker :0

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Someone who claimed to be in the know said that.

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What does "running a train on Marilyn Monroe" mean?

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what the fuck omg

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"The first arrest came after the military police fanned out in search of four suspects who had been identified, the news organization Agence France-Presse reported. The police said they did not know if the boyfriend was one of the attackers, though he was being sought."



http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/world/americas/first-arrest-made-in-gang-rape-case-in-brazil.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0



I hope all of them can be found, charged, arrested, killed.



Edited at 2016-05-30 03:30 am (UTC) I believe 4 of the 30+ disgusting rapists were identified and are facing charges."The first arrest came after the military police fanned out in search of four suspects who had been identified, the news organization Agence France-Presse reported. The police said they did not know if the boyfriend was one of the attackers, though he was being sought."I hope all of them can be found, charged, arrested, killed.

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you can identify some men in the video (I don't know how many since I didn't watch the video, I just saw some prints it)

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There are no words... This poor girl...

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I hope the girl has a solid support system :(

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i read that she was forced into sex trafficking pretty young

don't know how true it is but like so fucked up :(

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that's fucking horrible (the rape, not emma joining in the campaign).

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that story is beyond horrifying.

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Of course, the will blame the victim. It is always their fault.

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The replies to CNN when they reported this were disgusting. Not only in it's misogyny, but also in it's racism and xenophobia.

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Precisely! It's so transparent and telling.

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This isn't just about displacing guilt - these men use such cases to justify their racism, same thing happened in cologne and suddenly german men were all in "solidarity" with the victims. Truth is they couldn't care any less about women in general.

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Yes exactly. It was evident with the NYE incidents in Germany. They suddenly care about their women when they can use it to vilify refugee men.

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IA. I'm white, my rapist is white, and every man who's been gross to me, hit me, grabbed at me, or said inappropriate shit to me has been white. Yet, you never hear white men saying, "ugh, these white men tho." Instead they'll glare at me for dating MOC or mixed dudes and talk about how I'm "at risk," like.. really? 'Cause the guys causing my problems are distinctly Wonderbread..

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this story is horrifying

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http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/child-rapists-executed-castrated-indonesia-8060800 This case and the Indonesian one are just fucking depressing to read. Castrate them all!

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All for castrating these stupid fucks.

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This is amazing omg

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Make them suffer, yes!

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even w/ the castration they would still find a way to do horrible things :/ rape most of times is about power and control, about men trying to teach women to "stay in their place", so they would still do it w/ anything they could. their fingers, etc etc. it's fucking disgusting.

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Cut off everything. Let's do it in the most painful and humiliating way.

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You could castrate them and leave them to bleed out.

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Latinamerica is so full of this kind of shit, it makes me wanna move the hell out.

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it's everywhere. a few years ago an 11-year-old girl was raped in texas by 18 men and the new york times wrote an article basically victim-blaming her.

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I know, you're right, it actually happens everywhere I cant really generalize but I feel like it happens so damn often in Latinamerica, its insane.

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I remember that. They were writing that she acted ~mature for her age, right?



Man, I hate this world.

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It's no better in any other place. Rape culture is a global tragedy. :( But yeah, Latin culture and it's fucking machismo needs to die asap.

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This is so common in the Indian sub continent. Apart from a few cities, you have a death wish if you go out late at night even in some of the biggest cities. Just watch that documentary India's Daughter. It will make your blood boil.

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Yea I was just thinking that :/

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i live next door to like 10 brazilians and every time my roommates or i come home drunk on the weekends they are like hawks, getting really close and trying to grab us, etc.

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South Asia too, I fucking hate it.



People legit have no idea how exhausting it is to live in a machismo culture like that, I nearly burst into tears my first night in Japan bc it was so nice to be able to go on a midnight convenience store run and not get sexually harassed. Like that was a feeling I legit hadn't known since puberty first hit.

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i've been invited by friends to visit their families in argentina, ecuador, and peru but basically been told we'd have to stay where their families live since the rest of the country is too dangerous. one even had bodyguards with him everywhere they went. when i first learned about the guards part, it took a while for it to sink in since out here they're each just normal guys.

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the pic of one of the rapist leaving the police station and happily smiling made me sick to my stomach

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Find all thirty of them and cut their dicks and then burn said dicks.

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I saw one pic and it's revolting enough.



Poor girl :(

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man, i've seen thousands of people on my fb sharing pictures of the girl's facebook w/ her posts trying to justify her rape just because she was from the slum, hang around w/ "bad people" and had pictures w/ guns and etc.

first of all: stop exposing the victim?

and people just don't seem to get it that there's no justification for rape. THERE'S NOT. i don't get the urge of people trying to justify these acts? they're as evil as the ones who raped her.

i've blocked too many friends already because of this, ugh.

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wtf is wrong with people???

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right? and what amazes me the most is that 90% of those who shared those stuff are people i know from church. and then my mom asks me why i don't go there anymore. well, there's your answer.

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it's disgusting how classism and racism make the public reaction towards rape cases even worse than they usually are.

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Now people are frothing at the mouth and following the case trying to discredit her. Like, one of the dudes said he didn't do it and people are going "well, maybe it was consensual" because no criminal has ever said he was innocent, apparently. The girl's family fired their lawyer and again, this obviously means she was lying. It's basically Rape Culture 101. lol even the men are out on twitter going #NOTALLMEN because how dare feminists imply that they are all potential rapists. BR internet is a fucking cesspool right now.

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i blew the fuck up on my last roommate after we were watching game of thrones once because she said cersei deserved to be raped. she couldn't understand how i could be so angry. like, wtf is wrong with people.

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fucking GOOD. what a scumbag.

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Men like this are beyond suspect. We see you.

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he's def raped a girl before imo

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The society is obliged to accept this decision, if not is fascism



this is actually so ridiculously ignorant that's it's actually kind of funny. but way funnier is the fact that he fucked up his professional life over it, lol.

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cackling tbh

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The fuck...?

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Good fuck that dude

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bem feito!

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lmao concordo



Edited at 2016-05-30 04:31 pm (UTC)

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Good on DC





what a waste of oxygen that turd is



if I could kill all men like him off and get away with it i think i would

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ikr?

"if I had a death note..." seems to be the running thought in my mind.

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the amount of times I thought this is concerning lmao

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We really need a feminist, female Dexter in this world

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What even?



Idk what he's trying to say but it's obviously scummy.



Edited at 2016-05-30 04:08 pm (UTC)

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i don't know either. is he trying to say that if all those man were actually trans women, the court would throw the case out? is he kidding?

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yes, because women aren't capable of rape, or something equally ridiculous lmao

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There are legitimately guys out there who believe that rape laws exist to punish men 'for being men' or some such (you know, as opposed to being there to punish a rapist for grossly violating the bodily autonomy of another in the most intimate way possible). I wouldn't be surprised if he's one of those, and therefore honestly believes that if a woman rapes someone the courts would just be like 'lol k nvm then' or something.



Which is to say he is stupid in a completely terrifying way.

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I think he's saying they could decide to claim it since apparently anyone can and if so society would let them get away with it because they go easy on women.

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this is the kind of idiocy brazil has to deal with on a daily basis

good grief

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Is it that asshole, Perlmutter?



I'm glad he no longer in charge of the MCU (although he still controls the TV apparently). It took Feige thretening to quit though before Disney told him to hand over the MCU.

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I'm 1/4 fascinated to hear and 3/4 too disgusted to hear the bizarre nightmare scenarios people can come up with to share on fb like this. It's like a grotesque Mad Libs of recent awful headlines. BUT WHAT IF RAPE CHILD PEOPLE WOMEN WERE GENDER? COURT STOP! HAH! DIDN'T THINK OF THAT DID YOU BATHROOM CHILD CAITLYN JENNER MARRIAGE??







and I'm not making fun of his English here btw; these sound the same coming from people with all levels of English language proficiency. It's like its own new gross-uncle-on-fb language.



Edited at 2016-05-30 04:10 pm (UTC)

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lol his original post was in Portuguese, I think the source translated it but I don't know if they used google translate. But still, even in Portuguese it sounded ridiculous.

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maybe it's a gross-uncle-on-fb grammar structure then ;)





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CHECKMATE LIBTARDS

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What happens if the 30 rapists claimed they are women?



They'd still be fucking charged, you fuck puffin. Male or female, rape is illegal.



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Googling "can women be accused of rape" was going to take just a little more time than what he had available okay gosh he's a busy man.

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How insensitive of me.



All that typing. His poor man-fingers.How insensitive of me.

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Notice he doesn't actually care that she was raped. Instead he just uses it as an excuse to exercise his misogyny.

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Tbh "fuck puffin" needs to be my next Halloween costume, that shit sounds adorable.

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LOL @ fuck puffin

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Good on DC.

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I didn't know about this case and I want to throw up HOLY SHIT



I honestly don't even really understand what this fool is trying to say and I don't care

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What purpose does he serve? What a gross piece of shit.

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i cannot comment on the abuse allegations



i seriously wonder if she was warned not to comment / make any statements in favor of Amber (or which could be interpreted as such).



Edited at 2016-05-30 04:42 pm (UTC)

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I wouldn't be surprised

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that's what I'm thinking.

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She did say she was getting attacked no matter what she said tho.

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Well, if you earnestly don't know anything, presuming guilt runs the risk of you having to stick your foot in your mouth later. I think it's fair to show general support for victims of abuse and call out biphobia without jumping to conclusions about a specific case.





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There is no conspiracy behind her not wanting to comment on it.



She is not going to jump the gun like the rest of ONTD without actual facts. ONTD saw a strategically placed wine bottle, broken picture frame, and wine spilled all over the hardwood floor and perfectly time "crying" photos and "Gone Girl" bruises on her face and assumed Johnny was guilty without a doubt.



I can't.

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i sincerely hope Depp's paying you, bc if he isn't it's just plain pathetic.

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you're literally not even trying with ur comments anymore

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Next time someone beats the shit out of you girl and you post the evidence, we'll all just say she's faking it for attention. Sucks to be you.

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You cannot be for real.





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it may be that johnny has a super litigious team that is threatening anyone who speaks out with a defamation suit or something along those lines



i feel like as long as people throw in enough "allegedly"s when talking about the abuse, they should be able to get away with speaking out... but it may not be worth it if johnny is going to just throw endless time and money into lawsuits (a la scientology)

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She said it could be a witch hunt on twitter so I get why she phrased it that way. And I wouldn't be surprised if she was warned not to say anything.

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i don't think neutrality is the way to go in these situations at all tbh



are celebs of afraid of coming out in support of her or what? jfc

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Probably. Depp is loved by Hollywood and the public and he's got friends in high places.

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probably, like the above comment says: depp has a lot of powerful friends.

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They're probably afraid of a defamation lawsuit.

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Yup. I mean Sean Penn sued AND got support from Madonna after the Empire guy called him out

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For good reason tbh.

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probably. but johnny is a public figure. it would be extremely tough to make a defamation suit stick. i think it's more likely people realize that he's got deep pockets and a dedicated legal team that will make anyone who speaks out against him have a very miserable (and expensive) life going forward

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I wish more celebs would come out in support of Amber, but I actually can see why a lot of them are staying out of it. It could lead to bad press, the GP turning on them, and/or a defamation suit. It's such a sticky, f'ed up situation.

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they're worried about their careeers

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idk if i can blame people for staying silent (about anything really). you could tank your image with one tweet. hollywood is very political and it may not be worth your career to speak out. it's really a gamble

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MTE :/

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especially women!!! say ERW starts tweeting about this supporting amber, then she's seen by studio heads as someone that "made a big fuss about the johnny siutation. we cant trust her" it's all so fucked up



if i was famous id let my PR people run my twitter and public insta and have a private insta for friends and family.

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Yea it's really upsetting because I do think more people want to speak out, especially if they've been victims of DV, but it could mean losing their career and livelihood. It's a big reason why Hollywood doesn't really try to change - they like it the way it is and it's easier to just cut out someone who fights for ethics, equality, etc.

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I think in a situation like this, I'd want to remain silent--especially if I am nowhere near being involved in the situation. Speaking out (no matter who the support is for) does nothing but bring attention to yourself.









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that's why I don't understand why all these bystanders keep inserting themselves into this, I understand it can be difficult to believe you have a friend/acquaintance that is capable of abusive behavior but nobody knows what happens behind closed doors and you look like an asshole making a knee-jerk defense

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Especially for women. You know men won't face any problems. They can say any BS they want and get away with it.

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ia tbh

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jesus christ, johnny depp is pretty much a has been



he doesn't have that much influence on your career, so stop being neutral

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he has powerful friends and a really big studio behind him

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yeah, it's just sad to see this happen nowadays, out in the open like this

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have you never heard of bro code?

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i used to think that about him as well. since ~72h ago, i don't anymore.

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he's got Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer behind him still even when he's flopping, very few people are going to take on that

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I don't see why people can't maintain their neutrality. If anything, I think everyone should just keep their mouths shut until the case is over. Are the people automatically assuming Depp's guilty any better than those adamantly defending his innocence?



It's not like people you thought were nice aren't capable of monstrous acts or that no one's ever lied to throw another person under the bus. Statistically speaking, yes, odds are that Amber isn't lying, but ultimately, we don't really know anything right now other than the photo of the bruises.

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idk the deleted tweet by Evan point to the possibility she was advised/warned by someone higher up to keep silent and retract her original words

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She's Johnny's BFF Manson's ex; her support of Amber would be dismissed anyway

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Can't really blame her. She doesn't want to tarnish her reputation and work prospects.

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Lol this is my Twitter and I can't deal with these people anymore

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look she invited you over.

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She's also deleted everything to make me look like a bigger asshole



Edited at 2016-05-30 05:26 pm (UTC)

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Too bad she deleted her tweet inviting you over I have a screenshot of it tho do you want it lol!

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Lol, she invited you over. Give ha my number if y'all randomly become friends.

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omg accept her invitation

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I agree that the way media is portraying Amber because of her bisexuality is awful and that's definitely a discussion that needs to be had.



But I wish more people would come out and support Amber herself. I guess Evan Rachel Wood is scared of being blacklisted.

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Evan's had an interesting trajectory in Hollywood, and she seems like a really bright girl. She sometimes seems like she's rejecting the whole thing. I wouldn't doubt that she's been through a lot of bullshit that she's still working out.

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@Stevempars @evanrachelwood that's what I was trying to get at. We don't know facts, obviously, but survivors should be supported at first.  ashley (@galloisms) May 30, 2016



@evanrachelwood 21m21 minutes ago

Retweeted ashley

Hence the no comment on twitter. Its twitter. Come over we can talk about it in detail. This is not the place



She seems to have deleted that particular tweet (probably cause she sort of invited a fan to come over lol why would you do that? lol)

Original tweet: #EvanRachelWould @evanrachelwood 21m21 minutes ago #EvanRachelWould Retweeted ashleyHence the no comment on twitter. Its twitter. Come over we can talk about it in detail. This is not the placeShe seems to have deleted that particular tweet (probably cause she sort of invited a fan to come over lol why would you do that? lol)

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on one hand i get that it could harm her prospects but it's more important that we stop staying silent on this shit and letting people like johnny depp get away with it.

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She actually replied to me at first and said maybe she had more information than I did and then I asked if she said Amber was lying. She has deleted a few replies to me.

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Did you get screenshots?

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posted in a new thread below!

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I think saw a couple of tweets she deleted but damn not the ones about having more information.

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she is marilyn manson's ex and I think they stayed in touch so she probably has "information" from him



Edited at 2016-05-30 05:07 pm (UTC)

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Not wanting to comment on something you know nothing about is not siding with anyone IMO.



To be fair, none of us know what the hell is happening or has happened between Amber and Johnny all we know is what is being released to the media.







Edited at 2016-05-30 04:48 pm (UTC)

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This sounds like such an apologist comment. There are pictures and witnesses to the abuse. Why is the default always to stay neutral which only helps the abusers while harming the victim?

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How does neutrality help the Depp in this case? How does neutrality harm Amber in this case?



I haven't seen anyone make a compelling statement (other than the witnesses) that sways this case in either direction. It's mostly a mix between people speculating on abuse of his past partners or people shaming Amber.



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I get where you're coming from. I'm very wary of the media and their portrayal of things. And no, I'm not a Johnny stan or an Amber hater. I'm in the side of letting the truth come out. It's a complicated situation.

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You really do have to be careful about phrasing. You can say you believe Amber, but you're taking a risk by saying that you think Johnny is guilty. Corey Feldman talked about this a week ago. Statute of limitations aside, he can't even mention his abusers without them suing him for libel. But honestly, I'm happy to have a celeb say, "I support Amber in the way that I can, and I won't be goaded into speaking to an issue that I didn't observe." If only Jesse Eisenberg took that stance with Woody.

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someone got a phone call.

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yep

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marilyn manson is depp's bff, so im not surprised

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they're still together?

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Seriously. I'd respect people a lot more.

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same, someone who he couldnt fuck with.

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Me too.

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seriously and it's not like people could prove they were talking about this case but it will be assumed.

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i know right. i fucking hate this.

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mte, maybe someone who isn't American? idk

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the dream

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And if people are realistic, put in the same situation most people would remain silent on something they know nothing about. A really horrific situation has become even more ugly because of people throwing their hat into the ring to comment on it.

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The resurgence of Niger Delta militancy has reached the level of an all-out renewal of conflict that Nigerias security forces appear incapable of stopping, and force majeure on oil deliveries is being declared almost across the board.

Attacks are now coming on a weekly basis, and each time, they succeed in taking more oil offline, forcing the government to admit that half of the countrys oil production is now effectively halted.

As of Monday, oil and condensate production in Nigeria is down to 1.1 million barrels per day, according to Nigerian petroleum officials, with 50 percent of output offline. Over one million barrels per day of production has been lost.

Four major crude export gradesQua Iboe, Bonny Light, Brass River and Forcadosare now under force majeure. Exxons is Qua Iboe, and this is said to be a mechanical failure, but the rest are confirmed as the direct result of militant attacks.

On Saturday, the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) made another strategic move by blowing up oil and gas pipelines belonging to Shell and Eni-owned AGIP. The attacks targeted Shells Bonny terminal trunkline and AGIPs Brass export terminal.

The deadline for the supermajor oil companies to leave the Niger Delta is tomorrowMay 31. Related: When Will Solar Overtake Oil?

And as militants threaten that more is to come and something big is about to happen and it will shock the whole world, no one is second-guessing them.

Securing Nigerias oil production appears for now to be elusive at best. Late last week, the NDA rejected an attempt at peace by the government, saying they would settle for nothing less than a sovereign state. They dont want pipeline contracts. They dont want a piece of the corruption pie as their comrades before them won in a 2009 amnesty deal. They want the entire pie. They want full control of the Niger Delta and all its oil.

Nigerian military officials claim to have thwarted additional attacks on Sunday targeting oil pipelines in Gulobokri and Eweleso in Bayelsa state. The attacks were apparently aiming to take another chunk out of the Eni-operated AGIP pipeline at Gulobokri, but security forces reportedly halted the attack after a standoff and shootout with militants in speed boats. A second thwarted attack targeted an oil facility also in Bayelsa.

The question now is whether Nigerian security forces can really stem this tide of violence. So far, the militants have made good on every threat they have issued. They have stood their ground, taken half the countrys oil production offline and managed to win key community leaders over to their side. Related: Oil Heading for $60

If they cant be bought off like their predecessors were in 2009, Nigeria could lose the Niger Delta, and its oil wealth entirely. From a strategic perspective, its not looking good for the Nigerian government, whose military forces are already stretched too thin with a war against Islamic radical Boko Haram in the North. The oil price slump has also made it nearly impossible to fund the successful fighting of any conflicts, so a Niger Delta militancy hits where it hurts most.

While the initial resumption of attacks by Niger Delta militants under the newly formed NDA may have seemed arbitrary, it has clearly been in the planning stage for some time. The attacks are not random but designed to take production offline and to keep the oil majors from completing any repairs. The new and improved Niger Delta militancy is clearly well-organized, well-armed and well-equippedenough so that they can launch multiple simultaneous attacks.

Their goal is full-throttle force majeureand the government itself may have to declare force majeure on security. But the militants have promised that bigger attacks are yet to come.

By Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
If the whims of oil speculators are anything to go by, then another oil price downturn looks increasingly unlikely.

Oil prices have gained more than 80 percent over the past three months, bouncing off of $27 lows in February to hit $50 last week. Those sharp gains raised the possibility of another crash in prices because the fundamentals still appeared to be bearish in the near term.

By early May, oil speculators had built up strong net-long positions on oil futures, extraordinary bullish positions that left the market exposed to a reversal. Speculators had seemingly bid up oil prices faster than was justified in the physical market.

But the physical market got some help. The massive supply outages in Canada (over 1 million barrels per day) and Nigeria (over 800,000 barrels per day) provided some support to prices, erasing some of the global surplus. Related: When Will Solar Overtake Oil?

Now speculators who had started to short oil in May have retreated, pushing short bets down to an 11-month low. "If youve been short since February this has been a very painful ride," Kyle Cooper, director of research with IAF Advisors and Cypress Energy Capital Management, told Bloomberg in an interview. "There are always a few die-hards but otherwise youd want to get out. This is indicative of the improving fundamentals."

With the supply outages, along with some early signs that the record levels of crude oil inventories are starting to come down, prices are on firmer footing than they were a few weeks ago. $50 oil no longer looks expensive. "The confidence of the shorts has been shattered," Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, said in an interview with Bloomberg. "A lot of bears continued to bet that prices would fall well into the rally. When relatively bearish banks like Goldman Sachs changed to a more bullish outlook, bears noticed."

The next big catalyst is the OPEC meeting that begins on June 2, although there is a general consensus that very little will be agreed on at the meeting. Saudi Arabia has shifted course over the past two years, downgrading its faith in the oil cartel as a vehicle for its oil policy. Riyadhs extraordinary plan to gradually shift its economy away from oil as its almost sole source of revenue should be read in conjunction with its decision to step up production in the face of an already oversupplied oil market. Working within OPEC for to pursue price stability makes sense if Saudi Arabia expects predictable demand for its oil  keeping production on the sidelines works to its advantage because its assets would only gain value over time. Related: The Crude Crash Has Created Oils Technological Superpowers

But if Saudi Arabia thinks that the world will start to attack oil demand via alternatives such as electric vehicles and efficiency  and there are signs that Riyadh is concerned about the sustainability of long-term demand  then monetizing its oil assets today by producing at higher levels is a more prudent approach. In short, Saudi Arabia is no longer willing to play the role of price stabilizer, which means that cooperating with OPEC members is not as useful as it once was.

In any event, at this weeks meeting at least, there will likely be no change of course. OPEC members will continue to produce as much oil as they can, battling for market share. One can argue with the wisdom of that strategy, but the markets are indeed balancing on the backs of high-cost producers. The U.S., for instance, has lost 900,000 barrels per day since peaking last year. And with oil back at $50 per barrel due to supply shortfalls in non-OPEC countries, there is little reason for Saudi Arabia to change tactics.

Of course, the markets are already pricing such an outcome into the market. Although OPEC has had a knack for springing surprises on the oil markets over the past few meetings, barring any unexpected agreements WTI and Brent probably wont move much from the developments in Vienna.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Two years ago, while Kurdish oil was flowing to Turkeys port of Ceyhan, Iran and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) signed a natural gas-for-oil agreement that included the construction of two pipelines between the territories. According to the agreement, the regional government would receive between 3 million and 4 million liters of refined oil fuel and natural gas in return for crude oil. The first pipeline would carry oil from Kurdish territory to Iran and Iran would refine and then return the oil. Moreover, Iran would send natural gas to KRG cities such as Sulaymaniyah and Erbil. At the time of the agreement, ISIS was attacking Iraqi territory and threatening Iraqi oil resources; Iran was under international sanctions, and Bagdad was opposing the export of stored Kurdish oil from Turkey's port of Ceyhan, claiming that the KRG was violating Iraq's constitution.

Shortly after the ISIS invasion of Mosul, Iraqs second biggest city, it was announced that a tanker had delivered a cargo of disputed Kurdish crude oil from Ceyhan to Israel, despite threats by Bagdad to take legal actions against buyers and Turkey. The oil money paid to Turkey's Halkbank remained blocked until Erbil and Bagdad had reached an agreement over the export of KRG oil. Iran considered the 2014 ISIS attack, which brought the jihadists close to the KRGs capital, a great opportunity. Iran used the ISIS threat to supply weapons and ammunition to Iraqi Kurdish forces, which mean that the KRG continued to meet with the Iranian leadership and negotiate to buy Iranian gas and have Kurdish oil refined across the border. Related: The Crude Crash Has Created Oils Technological Superpowers

Since 2012 KRG has sent its oil to Turkey's port by trucks and extended the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline. However, due to internal conflicts in Turkey between Turkey's military forces and the PKK terrorist group, the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline was halted several times. Moreover, the KRGs leader Barzani faced a challenge from acting PKK leader, living in the KRG area, Cemil Bayik. Bayik remains hostile to Ankara-Erbil energy relations and favors an alignment with Tehran. When the KRG was having financial problems due to the halting of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline and Bagdads refusal to send KRGs share of oil income, the Iranian diplomat in Kurdistan offered the Kurdish government access to the Persian Gulf for export of its crude oil. In addition to that, Iran has agreed to grant cash loans to the KRG in return for stakes in the Kurdish oil.

In February the KRG accepted a deal from Bagdad that would have halted the Kurds unilateral oil exports in exchange for Bagdad paying its public employee salaries. However, the KRGs leader, Barzani, called for foreign powers to provide financial aid for the Peshmerga, the Kurdish military forces, in their fight against ISIS. First, Turkey sent $200 million to help Kurds who were hit hard by the oil pipeline export stoppage. Then, the United States decided to provide $415 million in aid to Iraqi Kurdish Forces in April 2016. Both Turkey and the United States aimed to cut the close relationship with the KRG and Iran by strengthening the KRGs economy. Nevertheless, a Kurdish delegation has visited Tehran seeking a deal to export its oil and gas to Iran on April 5th, 2016. The KRG representative expressed that Iran has a willingness to extend its gas pipeline to export and import gas from the Kurdistan region. If a pipeline between the KRG and Iran is finalized, the new pipeline would bring the KRG one step closer to the financial independence it seeks, but it would cause problems between Turkey, Israel and the KRG.

One pipeline under consideration would originate near the Taq Taq field and cross the Iranian border, north of Lake Dukan, while the second pipeline under consideration would run fromthe Khor Mor field to Khanagin, which is also close to the Iranian border. The Taq Taq field is operated by UK-based Genel Energy, which has Turkish share-holders, while the Khor Mor gas field is operated by Dana Gas. Moreover, six blocks belong to Turkish state company and several blocks to other Turkish private energy companies in the Kurdistan region. If an oil pipeline and a natural gas pipeline were to be finalized between the KRG and Iran, Turkey would lose its control over Kurdish oil production and its natural gas export option. Related: The End Of The Petro-State Era

In May 2016, the KRG and Iran delegations met again and expressed that they are close to signing an agreement to start exporting oil from Kurdistan region to Iran. The difference between the KRG-Iran energy relations and the KRG-Turkey relations is that Iran is seeking federal approval for a possible route from Kurdistan to Iran. An Iranian official in Sulaymaniyah stated that "a pipeline is still at the discussion stage, as Baghdad had not given the green light to approve the project. Therefore, Iran aims to establish energy relations with the KRG whereas Turkey does not.

On the other side, Iraq will begin importing Iranian natural gas starting in late June 2016. If Iran and the KRG reach an agreement to build oil and natural gas pipelines, the new geopolitical development will be a challenge for Turkey and Israel. Turkey may lose its domination over Kurdish energy sector, and Israel will have to seek new oil resources instead of importing Kurdish oil from the Ceyhan port. From the KRGs point of view, in case of any conflict with Turkey, whether military or political, a second export route would mean that Kurdistan was no longer dependent on Turkey for its oil exports.

By Tugce Varol for Oilprice.com

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Mark K. Updegrove and Sebastian Junger

(Image by archivesnews) Details DMCA



Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) May 29, 2016: C. G. Jung, M.D. (1875-1961), the Swiss psychiatrist and psychological theorist, claimed that the human psyche includes what he refers to as the collective unconscious. He famously worked out an approach (known as Jungian analysis) to helping individual persons integrate contents of the collective unconscious into their conscious awareness inasmuch as it is possible to do this.

But we should avoid romanticizing the collective unconscious, because not all impulses arising from the collective unconscious prompt us to engage in pro-social behavior. For this reason, we should carefully discern impulses arising from the collective unconscious. By discernment, I mean wrestling with impulses that come to us, as the biblical character Jacob famously wrestles with the angel of God who comes to him in his sleep.

Now, by definition, Jungian analysis involves one-to-one interactions between the analyst and the patient. However, Jung himself encouraged the formation of a social group known as a club in Zurich for various Jungian analysts and patients undergoing Jungian analysts.

The collective unconscious carries memories of our small-group hunter-gatherer ancestors that Darcia Narvaez in psychology at the University of Notre Dame writes about in her award-winning 2014 book Neurobiology and the Development of Human Morality: Evolution, Culture, and Wisdom (Norton).

By definition, our small-group hunter-gatherer ancestors were pre-literate and pre-philosophical people. They lived in what the American Jesuit cultural historian and theorist Walter J. Ong (1912-2003) refers to as primary oral cultures. To spell out the obvious, Ong belonged to the religious order of men in the Roman Catholic Church known as the Jesuits (known formally as the Society of Jesus). Perhaps we can liken the Jesuits, at least in spirit, to the spirit of the club in Zurich that Jung helped found.

In addition, Narvaez writes skillfully about the work of the American neurosurgeon Paul D. MacLean, M.D. (1913-2007). MacLean refers to the oldest evolutionary layer, or part, of the human brain as the reptilian brain. The reptilian brain is the biological base of our fight/flight/freeze response.

In the book Fighting for Life: Contest, Sexuality, and Consciousness (Cornell University Press, 1981), the published version of Ong's 1979 Messenger Lectures at Cornell University, Ong does not happen to advert explicitly to MacLean's work on the structure of the human brain. But the spirit of fighting for life is biologically based in the fight/flight/freeze response of the reptilian brain.

The part of the human psyche that Plato (428/427 to 348/347 BCE) and Aristotle (384-322 BCE) refer to as thumos (or thymos) is also biologically based in the fight/flight/freeze response of the human brain.

Now, in his new book Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging (Twelve/ Hachette Book Group, 2016), Sebastian Junger, a journalist and war correspondent, writes elegantly about post-traumatic-stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide among soldiers returning from battle in war. No doubt PTSD and suicide among veterans of war are serious problems that deserve our attention. If Junger's elegant writing about these problems contributes to advancing public awareness and discussion of them, good for him -- more power to him.

Junger repeatedly discusses American Indians as examples of people who lived and worked together in tribes -- in Narvaez's terminology, small-group hunter-gatherers. His thesis is that soldiers in combat live and work together with one another in a way that he likens to American Indians living and working together with one another in a tribe. I understand the point of his analogy. However, as Junger understands, the draft would be a better analogy with tribal warriors than our all-volunteer armed forces are.

No doubt our small-group hunter-gatherer ancestors discussed by Narvaez lived and worked cooperatively with one another within their small groups in order to stay alive and perhaps flourish. No doubt they experienced a strong sense of belonging within their group -- a sense of belonging that most contemporary Americans rarely experience in any group they may belong to.

But Junger argues that American Indian tribes had ways of reintegrating warriors returning from battle into pro-social life again within the tribe that we Americans today do not have for reintegrating combat veterans back into pro-social life in American society. Oftentimes, returning combat veterans do not experience a sense of homecoming and belonging back in American society that is comparable in spirit and intensity to group bonding of soldiers in combat.

After all, most contemporary Americans have been detribalized, to put it mildly, by their American upbringing and social and cultural and educational conditioning. Even those of us who have NOT experienced the group bonding of soldiers in war may NOT have experienced strong and intense bonding with others in small groups to which we belong.

Of course critiques of so-called individualism in American life are a dime a dozen. Basically, Junger is adding his voice to such critiques. Nevertheless, he works out a fresh framework of thought for discussing the serious problems of PTSD and suicide among returning veterans of war.

In addition to favoring so-called individualism, we Americans of European descent are so detribalized that we tend to refer pejoratively to real or imagined so-called tribalism. For example, certain critics of the billionaire developer Donald Trump of New York, the Republican Party's presumptive presidential candidate in 2016, tend to characterize him and his political persona as representing authoritarianism and his enthusiastic supporters as representing the spirit of tribalism.

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And essentially it confirms exactly what Snowden suspected -- which is that any whistleblower inside the Pentagon who tried to raise serious concerns about US policy by going through official channels, by following the rules, by trust in the whistleblower laws, that a whistleblower was very likely to end up crushed as Thomas Drake did. And these new revelations coming from John Crane, the former Assistant Inspector General at the Pentagon tell us in quite specific detail how high-up Pentagon officials repeatedly broke the law in their handling of Thomas Drake's whistleblowing case, including by withholding and destroying documents, and lying to a Federal judge and other clear crimes and felonies. So, that is really what has come to light this week.

Mark Hertsgaard : Snowden has said numerous times that without Thomas Drake there would have been no Edward Snowden. And that's because Drake was a much higher official within the NSA. But 10 years earlier than Snowden he tried to blow the whistle on the very same allegations as Snowden later revealed -- the mass surveillance undertaken without legal warrants by the National Security Agency of the United States. And what's new about these revelations that appeared in The Guardian and in my book Bravehearts this week is that we now know the inside story of what happened inside the Pentagon.

Will there be more Snowdens? Is the US government doing everything in its power to clamp down on future whistleblowers? RT discussed this with ex-DOD official John Crane and Mark Hertsgaard, author of Bravehearts: Whistleblowing in the Age of Snowden.

RT: How and if whistleblowers were dissuaded from coming forward, and if you witnessed any successful cases where someone sort of followed the rules, did everything go through proper channels and they were successful in blowing the whistle?

John Crane: Thomas Drake.

Mark Hertsgaard: At first. It looked like a success for a little while there.

John Crane: And he followed all of channels that he should have followed, that we had what we now call the "4+1" whistleblower revelations. And what that meant was four separate whistleblowers stepped forward, filed complaints and then they said that there was a separate whistleblower in the NSA who wanted to be confidential. Based upon their allegations, we then contacted Congress because these were allegations against a multi-billion dollar program that was years behind schedule, that wasn't meeting acquisition milestones. So, we knew that we had Congress who is concerned. And then we had the whistleblowers stepping forward. We had a full formal audit of it that was issued in 2004. And that audit largely substantiated everything Thomas Drake said. That audit resulted in a multi-billion dollar system fundamentally being shut down by the Congress. So, he would be one of the Inspector General's success stories.

RT: Mark, what do you think is the most significant of the Edward Snowden revelations? Because on the one hand, they opened up the eyes of so many, especially younger generations to intelligence the industry apparatus. But on the other hand, the government's reaction has caused such a chill to others coming forward... Anybody who would dare to be a whistleblower now probably is one of the bravest people on the planet...

Mark Hertsgaard: It's interesting you say that because the last chapter of my book talks about how Snowden actually had two goals when he blew the whistle: it wasn't just to alert people to this massive surveillance that was being conducted against them without their knowledge, much less their consent; but Snowden also wanted to encourage other whistleblowers, he wanted to show that you could come forward with important information, follow your conscience and that you didn't have to hide...
Iran Hajj pilgrims to miss this year beacause of SA

TEHRAN: Iran said Sunday its pilgrims will miss this years Hajj because Saudi Arabia, custodian of Islams holiest sites, was raising obstacles and blocking the path to Allah for its faithful.



Riyadh said Irans Hajj demands were unacceptable.



The Iranian Hajj Organisation said: Saudi Arabia is opposing the absolute right of Iranians to go on the Hajj and is blocking the path leading to Allah.



The Saudi side had failed to respond to Iranian demands over the security and respect of its pilgrims to Mecca, of whom 60,000 took part in last years Hajj, the organisation said. In the latest dispute between regional rivals Tehran and Riyadh, after two series of negotiations without any results because of obstacles raised by the Saudis, Iranian pilgrims will unfortunately not be able to take part in the Hajj in September, Irans Culture Minister Ali Jannati said. Saudi officials have said an Iranian delegation ended a visit to the kingdom on Friday without reaching final agreement on arrangements for pilgrims from the Islamic republic.



Riyadhs Hajj ministry said it had offered many solutions to meet a string of demands made by the Iranians in two days of talks. Agreement had been reached in some areas, including to use electronic visas which could be printed out by Iranian pilgrims, as Saudi diplomatic missions remain shut in Iran, it said. On Sunday, at a joint press briefing in Jeddah with Britains visiting Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir denounced Irans demands.



Iran has demanded the right to organise... demonstrations and to have privileges... that would cause chaos during the Hajj. This is unacceptable, Jubeir said. He said Riyadh annually signs a Hajj memorandum of understanding with more than 70 countries to guarantee the security and safety of pilgrims, but Iran refused to sign the memorandum.



If it is about measures and procedures, I think we have done more than our duty to meet those needs, but it is the Iranians who have rejected things, Jubeir added.



This years would be the first Hajj in almost three decades to take place without the participation of pilgrims from Iran.



Riyadh-Tehran ties were severed for four years after more than 400 people were killed in Mecca during clashes between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi security forces in 1987.



In January, relations were severed again after Iranian demonstrators torched Saudi Arabias embassy and a consulate following the kingdoms execution of a prominent Shia cleric. Shia Iran and predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia are at odds over a raft of regional issues, notably the conflicts in Syria and Yemen in which they support opposing sides.



Earlier this month, Iran accused its regional rival of seeking to sabotage the Hajj, a pillar of Islam that devout Muslims must perform at least once during their lifetime if they can. Tehran said Riyadh had insisted that visas for Iranians be issued in a third country and would not allow pilgrims to be flown aboard Iranian aircraft. But the Saudi Hajj ministry said on Friday that Riyadh had agreed to allow Iranians to obtain visas through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which has looked after Saudi interests since January. Riyadh also agreed to allow some Iranian carriers to fly pilgrims to the kingdom despite a ban on Iranian airlines following the diplomatic row, the ministry said. Last weeks talks were the second attempt to reach a deal on organising this years pilgrimage for Iranians after an unsuccessful first round of talks held in April in Saudi Arabia.



The Saudi ministry said at the time that the Iranian Hajj Organisation would be held responsible in front of God and the people for the inability of its pilgrims to perform Hajj this year. Another contentious issue has been security, after a stampede at last Septembers Hajj killed about 2,300 foreign pilgrims, including 464 Iranians.
This coming June 2016, Marriott International will present an exciting and authentic new product at the pristine beach of Nai Yang, Phuket. Inspired by cultural and architectural characteristics of Thailand, the Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa, Nai Yang Beach is located amidst the natural beauty of Phuket Island. The resort offers a new definition of relaxation and tranquility, and combined with genuine Thai hospitality, aspires to elevate vacationing to a unique level.

The 180-room resort is located on Nai Yang beach which is considered one of the most scenic parts of Phuket. It will be the latest addition to the Marriott family in Thailand. Nai Yang is renowned for its exclusivity, powdery white sand, and the tropical vegetation and lush green forest within the Sirinath National Park. All the more reason to leave the bustle of the city behind and embrace the beauty and harmony of the natural environment and surroundings, from the moment one enters the Phuket Marriott Resort & Spa, Nai Yang Beach.

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The movement of asteroid Phaethon imaged on Dec. 25, 2010 with the 37 cm F14 Cassegrain telescope of Winer Observatory, Sonoita (MPC 857) by Marco Langbroek. The image is a stack of 4 images of 150s exposure each, spaced 15 minutes apart. Image credit: Marco Langbroek

(Phys.org)Discovered in 1983, the near-Earth asteroid Phaethon is an intriguing object, primarily due to its unusual orbit. Recently, an international team of astronomers has conducted a detailed study of this unique space rock, deriving a shape model that characterizes the orbit, spin state, and thermophysical parameters of the asteroid. The findings were presented in a paper published online on May 27 on arXiv.org.

Phaethon is an Apollo asteroid, though it is also suspected to be a member of the Pallas family of asteroids. It approaches the sun more closely than any other named asteroidits perihelion is only 0.14 AU (about 21 million kilometers). The scientific community believes that this object is the parent body of the Geminid meteor shower seen on the sky every mid-December. For this reason, researchers are trying to detect any activity around this asteroid associated with dust particles being ejected from its surface. However, detecting the activity from this object has always been challenging, because of its close approaches to the sun and also due to its small elongation.

"Phaethon's elongation is rather small, thus its light curves have small amplitudes of about 0.1 magnitude," Josef Hanus, the lead author of the paper describing the shape model of Phaethon, told Phys.org.

Shape modeling requires photometric data that sample various observing geometries as it is necessary to look at the asteroid from different directions. Thus, data spanning decades are usually required. Therefore, Hanus and his team gathered a total of 55 dense-in-time light curves of Phaethon obtained between 1994 and 2015. They have also acquired their own 29 new light curves with various telescopes worldwide.

"Data from each apparition are equally important and they all contributed to the shape model determination. We used light curves obtained with nine different telescopes, and all of them were important. The largest and most impressive telescope we used was the University of Hawaii 2.2 meter telescope on Mauna Kea, both because of its great performance as well as its history. I actually observed with this telescope in September and October 2015 when Phaethon's brightness was only 18 to 19 magnitude," Hanus said.

Based on these light curves, the scientists were able to derive a unique shape model of Phaethon. According to their estimates, the sidereal rotation period of this asteroid is about 3.6 hours and its size is about 5.1 km. The team also managed to measure the asteroid's thermal inertia, geometric visible albedo and the macroscopic surface roughness.

"We contributed with reliable orbital, physical and thermophysical characterization. Thus we now know the past dynamical evolution of Phaethon's orbit and its rotation axis direction, its size, rotation period, spin axis orientation, reflectance like the geometric visible albedo of the surface, and its thermal inertia, which corresponds to the resistance of the material to the temperature changes," Hanus noted.

These values presented in the new study are consistent with previous estimates.

The interest of scientists in Phaethon is now increasing, because in December 2017, it will make a close approach to the Earth at a distance of approximately 0.069 AU (about 10 million kilometers). During this event, the asteroid will be observed with multiple techniques and a large amount of data will be obtained about this intriguing space rock. The model described in the paper could be useful for planning the observations during the upcoming flyby.

"Future observing campaigns should benefit from our results since they will be useful for carefully planning them," Hanus concluded.

Right now, the scientists are focusing on their further studies of Phaethonfor example, they would like to reveal the true nature of the asteroid's composition and shed more light into the proposed Phaethon-Geminid-Pallas relationship.

Explore further A good year to view the Geminid meteor shower

More information: Near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon. Characterization of its orbit, spin state, and thermophysical parameters, arXiv:1605.05205 [astro-ph.EP] Near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon. Characterization of its orbit, spin state, and thermophysical parameters, arXiv:1605.05205 [astro-ph.EP] arxiv.org/abs/1605.05205 Abstract

The near-Earth asteroid (3200) Phaethon is an intriguing object: its perihelion is at only 0.14 au and is associated with the Geminid meteor stream. We aim to use all available disk-integrated optical data to derive a reliable convex shape model of Phaethon. By interpreting the available space- and ground-based thermal infrared data and Spitzer spectra using a thermophysical model, we also aim to further constrain its size, thermal inertia, and visible geometric albedo. We applied the convex inversion method to the new optical data obtained by six instruments and to previous observations. The convex shape model was then used as input for the thermophysical modeling. We also studied the long-term stability of Phaethon's orbit and spin axis with a numerical orbital and rotation-state integrator. We present a new convex shape model and rotational state of Phaethon: a sidereal rotation period of 3.603958(2) h and ecliptic coordinates of the preferred pole orientation of (319, 39) with a 5 uncertainty. Moreover, we derive its size (D=5.10.2 km), thermal inertia (=600200 J m2 s1/2 K1), geometric visible albedo (pV=0.1220.008), and estimate the macroscopic surface roughness. We also find that the Sun illumination at the perihelion passage during the past several thousand years is not connected to a specific area on the surface, which implies non-preferential heating.

 2016 Phys.org
New Shepard's crew capsule is seen descending with its parachutes deployed. The capsule's landing is cushioned by firing rockets after the parachutes have done their job. Credit: Blue Origin

Blue Origin, the builder of the New Shepard re-usable rocket, has announced plans for the fourth flight of the rocket. With a recent successful launch and landing in their pocket, the company is anticipating another similar result. But this time, something will be done differently.

This time around, New Shepard will be launched and landed normally, but the crew capsule will be tested with an intentionally failed parachute. Blue Origin is promising an "exciting demonstration," and in an email said they will be "demonstrating our ability to safely handle that failure scenario."

Though no date has yet been set for this gimped-parachute demonstration, we are looking forward to it.

In previous tests, the crew capsule performed maneuvers that characterized its aerodynamics and reduced what are called 'model uncertainties.' Greater predictability is what these test flights are designed to achieve. Obviously, too many question marks are not good.

As Jeff Bezos, head of Blue Origin, said in an email, "One of the fundamental tenets of Blue Origin is that the safest vehicle is one that is robust and well understood. Each successive mission affords us the opportunity to learn and improve our vehicles and their modeling."

The company also shared news of the construction of additional test cells at its facility in West Texas. These cells were announced in October, and now one of the cells has been commissioned. This cell "supports the development of the pre-burner start and ignition sequence timing" according to Bezos.

Bezos also touted the benefits of privately-funded endeavours, saying "one of the many benefits of a privately funded engine development is that we can make and implement decisions quickly. We made the decision to build these two new test cells as a team in a 10 minute discussion." He added, "Less than three weeks later we were pouring concrete and now we have an operating pressure fed test cell 7 months later."

It's clear that privately-funded initiatives can have more flexibility than governmental initiatives. They don't face the same budgetary wrangling that organizations like NASA do. But, they don't command the same resources that NASA does.

Companies like Blue Origin an SpaceX are very innovative and are leading the way in reusable rockets. If Blue Origin can make the crew capsule survivable in a failed parachute scenario, as the next test aims to do, then commercial space flight will benefit. Private trips to space, which are one of Blue Origin's goal, will also become more and more attainable.

A new test cell has been commissioned at the Blue Origin facility in Texas. Credit: Blue Origin

The New Shepard launching from its facility in West Texas. Credit: Blue Origin

Explore further Blue Origin rocket makes third successful vertical landing
A bus on the bottom of Trondheim fjord? It appears so, but no one quite knows how old it is or how it got there. Credit: Nancy Bazilchuk, NTNU

German forces in Norway have surrendered, and after five long years of occupation, the country is finally free.

Suddenly, 30,000 Allied troops had to disarm 350,000 German soldiers, and deal with huge stockpiles of German bombs, guns and ammunition along Norway's 2500-km-long coast. It was a nightmare assignment, especially the bombs. So the Norwegians did what they often did in times of crisis: they turned to the sea.

"The Norwegian resistance have very few vetted personnel to secure all the German soldiers and all this ordinance, and some of the stockpiles are probably booby-trapped," said John Kjeken, a marine biologist who is studying the abandoned bombs for his master's thesis. "The great fear is that (the bombs and ammunition) will be distributed among the populaceaccidents can happen, plus there was an active communist contingent. So they went to lakes inland and to the fjord, and they dumped it."

Seventy years later, Kjeken is aboard the RV Gunnerus with his supervisor, Geir Johnsen, a professor in marine biology at NTNU, to visit a large WWII bomb dump in more than 600 metres of water at the mouth of Trondheim fjord.

While Kjeken and Johnsen will check the condition of the bombs, what really interests them is what has grown on the bombs since they were dumped in the years after WWII. Here, in Agdenes, the deepest part of Trondheim fjord, currents are strong and the bottom is nearly devoid of life except on the rusting hulks of torpedoes, grenades and bombs that have been disposed of on the bottom of the sea.

These once deadly weapons have hard surfaces that provide perfect artificial reefs. Kjeken's mission is to catalogue the life forms that are growing on the bombs. Given the depth of the water, he will have help, in the form of an HD camera mounted on a 2-tonne remotely operated vehiclean ROV.

Because researchers know when the bombs were abandoned, the munitions dump offers a kind of long-term natural experiment. They can see how quickly cold-water coral reefs grow in deep water, and what kind of animal life they can support at such great depths. Perhaps of equal importance, however, is that the organisms on these artificial reefs also serve as a kind of early warning system.

"If the bombs start to leak chemicals or explosives, the organisms will die," Johnsen said. "And then maybe it's time to decide what should be done with them."

It's almost impossible to say how much ordinance has been dumped in the world's oceans, but the OSPAR Commission, which works with the 15 countries (including Norway) that signed the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, reported in 2010 that there were at least 151 known chemical weapons and munitions dumps in the North Atlantic.

The highest known concentration of munitions is in Beaufort's Dyke, a deep trench between Scotland and Northern Ireland, where an estimated 1 million tons of munitions have been dumped since the 1920s.

After the Second World War, Norwegian officials allowed the military to scuttle at least three dozen ships filled with captured munitions in the Skagerrak, the channel between the Scandinavian Peninsula and Denmark. All told, 168,000 tonnes of ammunition, including artillery shells and aerial bombs containing chemical weapons, were dumped at depths of between 600-700 metres, according the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment.

Dumping bombs far from people and in the deepest part of the sea may have seemed like a good idea at the time, because few people had the means or any reason to go there. These days, the ocean bottom can be valuable real estate, what with the need to build submarine pipelines, lay underwater power cables and construct offshore wind farms, among many other marine developments. Now these munitions dumps potentially pose problems for different underwater activities.

Fishermen can also be at risk. In 2013, for example, the OSPAR Commission reported 657 encounters with abandoned munitions in Brest Harbour, on the north-western coast of France. In 2005, three Dutch fishermen were reportedly killed by a WWII bomb or shell that they brought aboard in their fishing nets. Nevertheless, a comprehensive survey by researchers from Imperial College London in 2005 concluded that while some chemicals, such as mustard gas, had the potential to continue to pose problems, in most cases, it made sense not to dredge up old munitions.

Fortunately, the munitions in Trondheim fjord don't appear to be at risk of blowing anyone up yet. A previous visit by NTNU and the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) with the Gunnerus and an ROV in 2014 suggested that the bombs and other munitions are somewhat rusted but are still more or less intact.

Pedro Roberto De La Torre Olazabal examines the HD camera mounted on the two-tonne ROV that wil help researchers explore the bottom of Trondheim fjord. Credit: Nancy Bazilchuk, NTNU

Johnsen says he and representatives from the NGU will meet with representatives from the Norwegian Environment Agency to discuss the bombs' fate. "Should we dig them up, or leave them down there?" he said. "There's a lot of knowledge we need to gather before we can decide what to do."

On a clear April morning earlier this year, the Gunnerus set out for its two-hour sail to Agdenes and the mouth of the fjord. The winds were lightperfect for dropping a 2-tonne ROV into 600 metres of water. As it turned out, the cable for the ROV is only about 600 metres long, but the tides were with the researchers, so they believed it would be possible to see what they had come to see.

Even though it weighs 2 tonnes, it took a good half-hour to lower the ROV, called the SUB-fighter 30k, down to the depths where the bomb dump was located. But even before it reached its goal, the ROV's trip into the deep had its own surprises, at least for the uninitiated. For one thing, as the ROV got deeper, the colour of the sea water shifted. First it was light green, then darker green, and then, at about the 60-metre mark, it shifted to a startling cornflower blue when one of the ROV pilots, Martin Ludvigsen, from NTNU's Applied Underwater Robotics Lab, flipped on the lights on the vehicle.

The blue water was mostly empty of fish, but it was nevertheless full of life. Plankton and small jellyfish shot past the camera's lens, and the image on the big wall-mounted screen gave viewers the uncanny feeling of driving through a dense snowstorm. Zooplankton and "marine snow," Kjeken told a surprised visitor, although he was clearly accustomed to the view.

At just under 600 metres, the ROV pilot slowed the vehicle's descent, and started cruising the silty grey bottom. The silt was nearly featureless, except for a stippling of holes of different sizes, created by different burrowing animals hiding themselves in the mud.

ROV pilots Frode Volden and Stein Nornes struggled a bit to coordinate the speed of the ROV, at the end of its 600-metre-long cable, with the speed of the boat. A walkie-talkie crackled with chatter as another pilot, Pedro Roberto De La Torre Olazabal, talked to Captain Arve Knudsen on the bridge. It wasn't until the Gunnerus slowed to less than a knot that the pilots got the ROV in sync with the ship so it could cruise along the bottom, casting about for bomb remains to film.

It wasn't long until the first find drifted into view: a rectangular chocolate brown box, festooned with cauliflower coral and a number of small, squat lobsters, called "trollhummer" or literally, "troll lobster" in Norwegian. Pink anemones clamped to the edge of the box waved their multi-tentacled bodies in the water, and here and there, a sea pen, a long white quill, stuck straight out of the muddy bottom. Kjeken, seated at a separate computer in the control room, began recording the HD camera's output.

"I'll be sitting at home with a clicker in my hand later to get a count of all the objects," he said. "Then I'll note any interesting things that I see, and I'll spend a lot of time identifying species and trying to find out what sorts of functional groups and systematic groups we have here."

For the next two hours, Kjeken recorded the HD camera's output while the ROV cruised a long transect. Although classified as a munitions dump, the bombs and other munitions weren't piled in a huge mound on the ocean's bottom, like you might expect from a land-based dumpinstead, they were scattered in an area of approximately two million square metres of sea floor, spread by the ocean's currents as they drifted down from the surface after they were chucked into the sea.

Sometimes the camera cruised over clearly identifiable torpedoes or aerial bombs, always bedecked by a few squat lobsters, anemones, corals and molluscs, while other times the bomb remains were more like big blobs of brownish metal, making them difficult to categorize. The real surprise, however, was that virtually every hard surface had been colonized by some living thing.

Johnsen and the NGU's Terje Thorsnes had been to the munitions dump in 2014, so they knew a little of what the researchers would find during the current transect. But no one knew quite what to think when a giant tire suddenly floated into view, attached to a vehicle.

Could it be a Nazi amphibious vehicle that was dumped with the bombs? The researchers crowded around the viewing screens in the ROV control room as the pilot flew slowly around the vehicle. The long-gone windows were draped with antler-like fronds of something called bubblegum coral, a shocking neon pink colour even in the light of the ROV. There were no visible markings on the bus, but eventually a glint of shiny metal trim came clear as the ROV made its circuit. These bits of metal were clearly aluminium, which dated the bus to a time after the war.

"We'll see if we can't find somebody who knows how that bus got there," Kjeken said. "There's probably a group that is interested in the history of buses in this area, and someone may know the story of who dumped the bus and when."

For Johnsen, the bus represented something else a call to action. "The sea is not just a dumping site for bombs; trash and nearly everything else ends up in the sea," he said. "We don't think about where all this stuff is going. But we should."
A Wisconsin camera trap photographed the male cougar on his record-setting trek from South Dakota to Connecticut. Faint spots in the animals coat can still be seen, revealing the young age of this otherwise large male. Credit: Lue Vang

A male cougar in search of a mate traveled more than 1,500 miles from the Black Hills of South Dakota to Connecticut, leaving a trail of clues that enabled scientists to verify his odyssey.

The cougar's journey, recounted in Journal of Mammalogy, shows a wealth of evidence that scientists can use to document animal movement, says co-author Roland Kays, a wildlife biologist with NC State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

"This cougar did not have a tracking collar, so we relied on genetic connections from hair and fecal samples, along with photos from camera-traps operated by citizen scientists," says Kays, who also featured the cougar's story and photo in his new book, Candid Creatures.

Researchers used forensic techniques to match the hair and droppings to DNA samples from the cougar, which died after being struck by a car in Connecticut. Combined with photos and findings from the necropsy, the evidence allowed researchers to make a positive ID of the animal, identify South Dakota as his point of origin, and trace his path, which included stops in Minnesota, Wisconsin and New York before his tragic death in Connecticut.

"This cougar didn't know where he was going. He didn't have a road map," Kays says. "If he'd gone west, he would have found a girlfriend. Instead, he went east and just kept going and going."

Although this is the longest dispersal ever recorded for a cougar, it is not the first animal to leave South Dakota and head into new territory, moving outside of the established range for the species. This shows that many western cougar populations are healthy and could end up reclaiming their old territory in the East, if a female ever joins the dispersing males to create a breeding population.

However, this example also casts doubt on the idea that any portion of the Northeast already has a cougar population.

"The wealth of verifiable evidence left by this single animal brings doubts about the hundreds of unverified sightings in the region," Kays says. "This shows that big animals like this cannot move across the landscape without leaving scientific evidence proving their existence."

More information: Jason E. Hawley et al. Long-distance dispersal of a subadult male cougar from South Dakota to Connecticut documented with DNA evidence, Journal of Mammalogy (2016). Journal information: Journal of Mammalogy Jason E. Hawley et al. Long-distance dispersal of a subadult male cougar from South Dakota to Connecticut documented with DNA evidence,(2016). DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyw088
An English-speaking FBI analyst searches a collection of potential crime evidence reported in documents written in many different foreign languages. She enters a query for a term related to the crime (stock market). The Cross-LAnguage Search Engine (CLASE) has already preprocessed the documents, extracting text to identify the language in which they were composed, translating to English if necessary, and indexing by recurring relevant terms (green in the lower box). CLASE then supplies the analyst with documents that contain exact matches to or words related to the query term. Credit: Bradley Dillman

"About 6,000 languages are currently spoken in the world today," says Elizabeth Salesky of MIT Lincoln Laboratory's Human Language Technology (HLT) Group. "Within the law enforcement community, there are not enough multilingual analysts who possess the necessary level of proficiency to understand and analyze content across these languages," she continues.

This problem of too many languages and too few specialized analysts is one Salesky and her colleagues are now working to solve for law enforcement agencies, but their work has potential application for the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. The research team is taking advantage of major advances in language recognition, speaker recognition, speech recognition, machine translation, and information retrieval to automate language processing tasks so that the limited number of linguists available for analyzing text and spoken foreign languages can be used more efficiently. "With HLT, an equivalent of 20 times more foreign language analysts are at your disposal," says Salesky.

One area in which Lincoln Laboratory researchers are focusing their efforts is cross-language information retrieval (CLIR). The Cross-LAnguage Search Engine, or CLASE, is a CLIR tool developed by the HLT Group for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). CLASE is a fusion of laboratory research in language identification, machine translation, information retrieval, and query-biased summarization. CLASE enables English monolingual analysts to help search for and filter foreign language documentstasks that have traditionally been restricted to foreign language analysts.

Laboratory researchers considered three algorithmic approaches to CLIR that have emerged in the HLT research community: query translation, document translation, and probabilistic CLIR. In query translation, an English-speaking analyst queries foreign language documents for an English phrase; that query is translated into a foreign language via machine translation. The most relevant foreign language documents containing the translated query are then translated into English and returned to the analyst. In document translation, foreign language documents are translated into English; an analyst then queries the translated documents for an English phrase, and the most relevant documents are returned to the analyst. Probabilistic CLIR, the approach that researchers within the HLT Group are taking, is based on machine translation lattices (graphs in which edges connect related translations).

First, foreign language documents are translated into English via machine translation. The machine translation model projects foreign words into English probabilistically and then outputs a translation lattice containing all possible translations with their respective probabilities of accuracy. "For example, the lattice for the French word 'capacite' would show connections to and probability scores for the English words 'capacity' and 'ability,'" says Michael Coury of the HLT Group. On the basis of an analyst's query of a document collection, the documents containing the most probable translations would be extracted from the collection for analysis, even if they contain the second or third most likely translation candidates. This method allows analysts to retrieve documents not found by query or document translation. CLIR results are evaluated on the basis of precision (the fraction of retrieved documents that are relevant), recall (the fraction of relevant documents that are retrieved), and F-measure (the harmonic mean of precision and recall).

"We are interested in achieving high recall. If we do not retrieve all relevant documents, we could miss a key piece of evidence," says Coury. "When we search on Google, we are usually only interested in the 10 most relevant results on the first page. For the law enforcement community, we want to identify every single potentially meaningful search result."

As mentioned previously, CLASE is heavily dependent upon the laboratory's research in language identification and machine translation. Jennifer Williams, also in the HLT Group, has been developing algorithms to identify the languages present in text data so that the appropriate machine translation models can be selected by CLASE. According to Williams, text language identification faces many challenges. Reliable methods are needed for improving the accuracy of distinguishing between languages with similar character sets. Differentiating between similar languages is not the only problem for text language identification. Another challenge involves processing user-generated content that has been Romanized, or transcribed into the Latin alphabet, on the basis of phonetics. "One example of this practice is tweets written in Romanized Arabic, referred to as 'Arabizi' in the HLT community. We see Romanization with Chinese, Russian, and other languages as well," says Williams. In some cases, ground truth data on languages is nonexistent (e.g., for low-resource languages, such as Urdu and Hausa) or is unreliable. "No universal language identification system exists, so the variances between different systems can be extreme," she adds.

Other researchers in the group are creating systems to automatically translate text from one language to another. According to Salesky, these efforts in machine translation have been critical to the HLT Group's work in CLIR. Wade Shen, an associate leader of the HLT Group who is currently serving an Intergovernmental Personnel Act assignment at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and university researchers have developed an open-source statistical machine translation toolkit called Moses. This phrase-based system allows users to train translation models for any language pair and find the highest-probability translation among the possible choices.

A problem inherent to training translation models for the FBI is the mismatch between the domain from which available training data are drawn and the domain in which the FBI is interested. A domain in this context refers to a topic or field that has its own writing style, content, and conventions. For example, tweets are limited to 140 characters and are written in a casual style that often contains abbreviations and misspellings; news articles are fairly long and lead with important information; and police reports are composed in a formal style and contain unique terminology. According to Jennifer Drexler, a member of the HLT Group who is pursuing an advanced degree at MIT under the Lincoln Scholars program, translation accuracy is best when the domain from which training data are acquired is similar to the domain in which the data of interest reside. Such a matchup helps to create a translation model that is informed about the nuances and peculiarities within the target domain. However, acquiring training data in the domain of interest can be difficult and expensive. It takes millions of parallel human-translated documents to create an automatic translation model. Human translation can cost between $0.20 and $0.80 per word. For rare languages, such as Urdu, translation costs are at the high rate to reward translators for their specialized knowledge.

Drexler and Shen, in collaboration with government researchers, found that hierarchical maximum a posteriori (MAP) adaptation1 could be used to improve translation results when the amount of training data in the domain of interest is limited, but large amounts of data from other domains are available. This is exactly the case for the CLASE systemthere are relatively small amounts of "in-domain" FBI data that can be used to train a translation model because of the security considerations that limit translators' access to in-domain data, but "out-of-domain" data (e.g., news articles or blogs) are much more abundant. The hierarchical MAP adaptation technique provides a principled way of combining models from these different domains, such that the final model is biased towards using the in-domain data whenever possible but is able to take advantage of the out-of-domain data when necessary.

Shen and former Lincoln Laboratory staff member Sharon Tam began the HLT Group's work in CLIR during the early 2010s. Researchers in the HLT community had previously shown document translation to be more accurate than query translation; therefore, Shen and Tam focused on evaluating how document translation compared to probabilistic CLIR. They found that probabilistic CLIR offered at least a 30 percent improvement in precision as compared with document translation, so they made the decision to use the probabilistic CLIR algorithm for CLASE.

Since joining Lincoln Laboratory in 2012, Coury has built upon Shen and Tam's initial experiments to evaluate CLIR performance pertaining to an FBI case. The results are encouraging, and the HLT Group is confident that their CLIR technique is state-of-the-art and that CLASE is a valuable tool for FBI analysts to use during document triage. "Our probabilistic approach was shown to be critical to retrieving documents cross language. For the very first time, FBI monolinguals can assist in document triage, adding a much larger pool of analysts to the smaller body of foreign language specialists," says Coury.

CLIR research has led to the related problem of how to present retrieved content to an analysta problem that Williams, Shen, and Tam began researching in 2013. Williams continues leading this effort to define the relationship between query-biased summarization and overall system performance as a human-in-the-loop problem. Williams and colleagues found query-biased summarization algorithms can be used to automatically capture relevant content from a document when given the analyst's query and to then present that content as a condensed version of the original document. "Search engines use this kind of summarization, providing snippets with links to the websites containing your search terms," says Williams.

To evaluate the utility of query-biased summaries for CLIR, the team ran experiments to compare 13 summarization methods falling under the following categories: unbiased full machine-translated text, unbiased word clouds, query-biased word clouds, and query-biased sentence summaries. They discovered query-biased word clouds to be the best overall summarization strategy in terms of recall, time on task, and accuracy. However, users have different preferences or needs when it comes to digesting information, as evidenced by Williams herself, who does not like word clouds. Some users may prefer sentences while others may prefer an auditory signal rather than a textual or visual representation of information.

"Cross-language query-biased summarization is an important part of CLASE because it helps analysts decide which foreign language documents they should read. We can leverage this summarization to improve overall system recall," explains Williams. While in theory query-biased summarization could enable an analyst to work faster, additional research is required to determine if such summarization is practical for real-world CLIR systems such as CLASE.

According to Coury, there are many real-world scenarios that could benefit from using CLASE. "You could imagine it being used during the Syrian refugee crisis. Keyword searches could be performed on collected Twitter feeds to help analysts find potential terrorists hiding among migrant groups," he says. Coury and his colleagues are also interested in how the technology could benefit humanitarian assistance and disaster relief effortsquickly retrieving information during crises involving languages for which translators are scarce and no automated HLT technology exists.

As Laboratory researchers continue to make advances in machine translation, CLIR, and query-biased summarization, these advances will be incorporated into CLASE and will continue to help analysts quickly and accurately find the information they need. "I noticed when I was searching through the HLT literature that a research team would do a study and stop short," says Williams. "Each study was trying to solve a very specific problem. No single work combined machine translation, information retrieval, and query-biased summarization. Lincoln Laboratory is the first to draw all of these areas together."

Explore further Google to update translation app for phones

More information: Finding "Good Enough": A Task-Based Evaluation of Query Biased Summarization for Cross Language Information Retrieval: Finding "Good Enough": A Task-Based Evaluation of Query Biased Summarization for Cross Language Information Retrieval: www.ll.mit.edu/mission/cyberse  Method-NLP-Qatar.pdf

This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching.
Observed warming over the past 50 years (in degrees Celsius per decade) shows rapid warming in the Arctic, while the Southern Ocean around Antarctica has warmed little, if at all. Credit: K. Armour / UW

The waters surrounding Antarctica may be one of the last places to experience human-driven climate change. New research from the University of Washington and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology finds that ocean currents explain why the seawater has stayed at roughly the same temperature while most of the rest of the planet has warmed.

The study resolves a scientific conundrum, and an inconsistent pattern of warming often seized on by climate deniers. Observations and climate models show that the unique currents around Antarctica continually pull deep, centuries-old water up to the surface - seawater that last touched Earth's atmosphere before the machine age, and has never experienced fossil fuel-related climate change. The paper is published May 30 in Nature Geoscience.

"With rising carbon dioxide you would expect more warming at both poles, but we only see it at one of the poles, so something else must be going on," said lead author Kyle Armour, a UW assistant professor of oceanography and of atmospheric sciences. "We show that it's for really simple reasons, and ocean currents are the hero here."

Gale-force westerly winds that constantly whip around Antarctica act to push surface water north, continually drawing up water from below. The Southern Ocean's water comes from such great depths, and from sources that are so distant, that it will take centuries before the water reaching the surface has experienced modern global warming.

Other places in the oceans, like the west coast of the Americas and the equator, draw seawater up from a few hundred meters depth, but that doesn't have the same effect.

"The Southern Ocean is unique because it's bringing water up from several thousand meters [as much as 2 miles]," Armour said. "It's really deep, old water that's coming up to the surface, all around the continent. You have a lot of water coming to the surface, and that water hasn't seen the atmosphere for hundreds of years."

The water surfacing off Antarctica last saw Earth's atmosphere centuries ago in the North Atlantic, then sank and followed circuitous paths through the world's oceans before resurfacing off Antarctica, hundreds or even a thousand years later.

Delayed warming of the Antarctic Ocean is commonly seen in global climate models. But the culprit had been wrongly identified as churning, frigid seas mixing extra heat downward. The study used data from Argo observational floats and other instruments to trace the path of the missing heat.

"The old idea was that heat taken up at the surface would just mix downward, and that's the reason for the slow warming," Armour said. "But the observations show that heat is actually being carried away from Antarctica, northward along the surface."

In the Atlantic, the northward flow of the ocean's surface continues all the way to the Arctic. The study used dyes in model simulations to show that seawater that has experienced the most climate change tends to clump up around the North Pole. This is another reason why the Arctic's ocean and sea ice are bearing the brunt of global warming, while Antarctica is largely oblivious.

"The oceans are acting to enhance warming in the Arctic while damping warming around Antarctica," Armour said. "You can't directly compare warming at the poles, because it's occurring on top of very different ocean circulations."

Knowing where the extra heat trapped by greenhouse gases goes, and identifying why the poles are warming at different rates, will help to better predict temperatures in the future.

"When we hear the term 'global warming,' we think of warming everywhere at the same rate," Armour said. "We are moving away from this idea of global warming and more toward the idea of regional patterns of warming, which are strongly shaped by ocean currents."
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In Indonesia, the alleged gang rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl on the way home from school in Sumatra this April, has sparked outrage across the country.

The assault has been a catalyst for street demonstrations and candlelight vigils, as well as calls to introduce stricter punishment for rapists. This week President Joko Widodo even signed a regulation allowing chemical castration and microchip implants for pedophiles/child rapists

From Jakarta, Nicole Curby investigates what is being done at the grassroots level, to support survivors of sexual violence in Indonesia.

Its Saturday afternoon here in Jakarta and Ive come to check out this travel writing workshop, but its not what you might typically imagine of travel writing.

Traveling alone is one reason that is used to blame women for rape and sexual violence. But here, through writing, women are encouraged to notice details and changes in their environment, and to feel safe and confident when they travel solo.

The workshop is part of a creative campaign to start a conversation around sexual violence, using diverse approaches and tools.

From Acroyoga to travel writing, these workshops are aimed at increasing self-awareness, encouraging women to acknowledge personal boundaries, and talk about issues surrounding sexual violence.

Sophia Hage is a survivor of sexual violence, and a co-founder of Lentera Sintas  the Jakarta-based organization facilitating these workshops, and the #mulaibicara, or lets talk campaign.

So hopefully the message that you are in charge of your own body, and it is ok to say no, is one of the ways that we are trying to start the conversation in the smallest possible way, says Hage.

The workshops are also fundraising events that help finance free group sessions and one-on-one counseling that Lentera Sintas offers to survivors of sexual violence.

One survivor at the workshop, who agreed to speak to me anonymously, said the sessions have really helped her, and others, process and recover.

We were in a bad place you know. But through the healing process, the session, by talking to other survivors, it makes me understand what happened. Im not ashamed of myself, she says, And I understand it wasnt my fault at all. What happened, it wasnt my fault. It influenced everything in my life. Now I feel like I have a right to have a dream, I can be like normal people.

In a society that often blames victims for the sexual violence inflicted upon them  for wearing seemingly provocative clothing, or traveling alone  it can take women a long time to speak out.

Its a long road to recovery, and part of that journey is acknowledging they are not victims but survivors.

And some of the most painful wounds, explains Sophia Hage, are psychological.

What we are trying to make the survivors understand is that its okay to feel that you can never get through it, its okay to feel that I can never forget it, that I can never move on, because thats not the point, says Hage, Its not the goal to forget it and move on. Its how we live with the trauma, and admitting that the trauma happened and that you can lead an active and empowered life.

According to the National Commission on Violence Against Women, or Komnas Perempuan, more than 5,000 cases of sexual violence were reported last year.

But thats not counting sexual violence at home, and the cases that arent reported.

According to Komnas Perempuan commissioner Indraswari, the state has a responsibility towards the victims of sexual violence.

The state has the responsibility to provide the treatment, it could be medical treatment, it could be psychological treatment, counseling. It could be economic empowerment for the victims, explains Indraswari.





In theory, the Indonesian government should provide services in every regency and city for women and children who have experienced violence.

The scheme, known as P2TP2A, details provision of medical, psychological and other forms of support for victims of violence.

But in practice, its NGOs that shoulder most of this work.

Kristi Poerwandari is a psychologist from the Jakarta-based NGO Pulih, which provides psychological services to victims of trauma and violence.

In remote parts of the country, she says, there are literally no services available.

We realize that Indonesia is very big with geographical area, so it is very difficult. In so many places there are no services, says Poerwandari, No services at all, actually.

Womens organizations are also lobbying the Indonesian government to pass legislation on the elimination of sexual violence.





Under Indonesian law rape is considered a crime, but groups such as Pulih, Komnas Perempuan and Lentera Sintas, advocate revising the law to cover a broader definition of sexual violence, as well as include preventative measures, and the rehabilitation of perpetrators.

But most important, the focus should be on addressing the needs of survivors of sexual violence, says Sophia.

We receive a lot of questions from survivors, where do we go if we want to report, or where do we go if we want to get counseling, says Hage, Not a lot of that information is readily available. So that is one thing that we want to focus this campaign on: Just to start talking about where you can get help.

From Jakarta, its all about mulai bicara, or starting the conversation.




In Pakistan, the families of 250 workers killed in a factory fire in 2012 are taking their case to the international courts.

The victims families are planning to sue a German-based firm, which it says has benefited from the cheap and substandard conditions of the global textile industry.

Naeem Sahoutara has this story from Karachi, where the tragic incident occurred.

Its traumatic for 43-year-old mother Saeeda Khatoon to recall the night the Ali Enterprises factory caught on fire.

All night I ran from here to there. I shouted, Our children are dying inside the factory. I tried my best to save our children, she recalls, But the police kept us away from the building. It was 10 a.m. the next morning when I found my sons body at the mortuary. On that day even the skies were crying.

Saeedas only son, 17-year-old Aizaz Ahmed, was burnt to death in the deadly fire that ripped through the factory on September 11, 2012.

More than 250 employees died inside what was the worst industrial disaster in the countrys history.

With weak labor laws, families of the victims blame poor safety standards for the deaths of their loved ones.

For a start, they say, the doors of the factory were locked from the inside when the fire broke out.

The doors were locked from inside and we hold the factory owners responsible for that, says Saeeda, For the last three years and nine months we have been trying to seek justice, protesting on the streets and outside the press club.

To meet deadlines the workers were forced to work nights inside locked premises. Trapped inside, most died from inhaling the toxic fumes.

Then Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf promised justice for the families, but the police dropped charges of pre-meditated murder against the factory owners, allegedly on a directive from the PM.

Factory owner Abdul Aziz Bhaila, and his two sons, fled to Dubai after the Sindh High Court released them on bail.

After waiting for two years for justice, the victims families formed an action committee to demand compensation.

This May Day in Karachi they rallied to remind the government of its unfulfilled promise.

Among them was Kulsoom Bibi. The body of her son Shahbaz Ahmed, she tells me, was never found. All she knows is that he went to the factory that day and never returned.

Most of the workers at the Ali Enterprises factory were the main breadwinners of their families, taking home US$5-6 a day.

The families did receive $20,000 each in compensation, in part due to the $1 million dollars provided by a German based company, KIK Texilien.

KIK Texilien, the only foreign buyer of the products made at the Ali Enterprises factory, also promised more financial aid would follow. But that was before it learned the fire was allegedly started after its owners failed to pay extortion money to a criminal gang.

The court is yet to rule on whether the fire was deliberate, but labor groups say what is most important is the lack of safety.

Trade unions have been pushing for minimum wage and payment for overtime, but now we are struggling to ensure workplace safety to start off with, so that workers who go on their jobs return home alive, says Nasir Mansoor, the general secretary of Pakistans National Trade Union Federation.

Every day workers leave their houses to die. Its becoming a death trap!

Despite the tragedy, Nasir says substandard working conditions are yet to improve.

In various factories they work under virtually slavery, he says, There are no emergency alarms, no fire extinguishers, safety instructions are in English or in language so difficult the workers wont have read them once in 20 years... In my forty years as a labor activist, working conditions have never been so low.

Just three weeks before the tragic fire, an Italian-based audit firm called RINA, issued a SA8000 certificate to Ali Enterprises.

The certificate of compliance is granted after an audit of a companys policies, procedures and documentation, to ensure a safe workplace.

Its the reason why the victims families have decided to sue the two European companies involved, KIK Texilien and RINA.

We have filed a cases against KIK in the Germany and against RINA in Italy because our children have been killed in such a brutal manner, says Abdul Aziz, the general secretary of the Baldia Factory Fire Victims Association.

He lost his 18-year-old son Attaullah Nabeel in the tragedy.

Im a 56-year-old and I was given my sons pension for only five years, which will end in 2017. What will happen to me afterwards? Im suffering from blindness already. My life has been ruined, he says.

Parents like him have asked the courts in Germany and Italy to order the companies to pay compensation equal to that paid in their own countries.

In the case against KIK, the first hearing is scheduled for late June or early July.




Stage actress Lan Phuong sketched President Obama's face onto a traditional Vietnamese hat to greet him when he visited Ho Chi Minh City. (Lien Hoang)

Vietnam has been waiting years for US President Barack Obama to come for a visit.

The president is almost on his way out of office, but he finally squeezed in a trip this week.

He told Vietnamese that he saved the best for last. Lien Hoang reports from Ho Chi Minh City.

This week, while I was zipping around Ho Chi Minh City, I kept seeing US President Barack Obamas face, on street after street.

There was the banner, hanging from a building to greet him as he drove in from the airport, and the I heart Obama sign that fans waved outside one of his events.

Then things got really creative on Wednesday, which was the last of three days he spent visiting Vietnam.

I joined hundreds of people, waiting in line for his town hall with young leaders.

They wore Obama T-shirts, they dressed up as the president, with cheap masks.

But one of the best ideas came from stage actress Lan Phuong, who sketched a pretty decent version of Obama onto her conical hat.

Everybody can give a Vietnamese hat as a present, so its not special anymore, she says, So we tried to put his picture on, so its like a connection with America and Vietnamese, so its kind of like a symbol.

Phuong didnt get the chance to give Obama the hat. But he did share the same message she had, about connecting Vietnam and the United States.

On his first presidential visit here, Obama wanted to show the world how close these two countries could be, even though theyd fought a bitter war 40 years ago.

He said the relationship has improved in just about every area: trade, military, cultural, social.

First of all, I think highlighting the changes that have taken place between our two countries, how just a generation ago we were adversaries and now we are friends, he says, Should give us hope, should be a reminder of the ability for us to transform relationships when we have a dialogue that's based on mutual interests and mutual respect and people-to-people exchanges.

When it comes to U.S. foreign policy, Vietnam occupies an interesting position, not just because of the war. Its a one-party state, which means Hanoi and Washington sometimes clash over politics and principles.

But, the United States also has wide room for influence here, because most ordinary Vietnamese really like the country.

Hanoi also shares Washingtons concerns about the increasing strength of China.

And out of all the Asian neighbors, Vietnam has one of the fastest-growing defense budgets. So, the biggest news this week was that Obama removed the weapons embargo on Vietnam.

I can also announce that the United States is fully lifting the ban on the sale of military equipment to Vietnam that has been in place for some 50 years. As with all our defense partners, sales will need to still meet strict requirements, including those related to human rights, he says.

But this change will ensure that Vietnam has access to the equipment it needs to defend itself and removes a lingering vestige of the Cold War. It also underscores the commitment of the United States to a fully normalized relationship with Vietnam, including strong defense ties with Vietnam and this region for the long term.

Vietnam is ramping up its military, especially because of a dispute over who controls the waters connecting it to China.

Phuong told me thats why she really cares about the US relationship.

About the - you know Bien dong, Bien dong, how is it called? South China Sea. South China Sea problem, yes, so not only Vietnam but some other countries next to us, we are dealing with problems with that sea, says Phuong, So we really hope the Americans can support us and help us when something wrong happens.

Phuong attended the town hall, where Obama tried to inspire young Vietnamese to improve the country.

His trip was really about reaching out and motivating normal people. Obamas first day was mostly formal, filled with state meetings and banquets and a military band.

But over the course of the three days, he started to have more fun -- he met a female rapper and put her on the spot for some unexpected verses.

He joked about driving a Vietnamese motorbike, and about getting old and gray.

He toured a co-working space, where he checked out some virtual games and laser cutters.

By that point Obama appeared tired and was sipping coffee around dinnertime. But he was relaxed and the government meetings were over, so he could have more casual talks with Vietnamese.

He took the chance to tell them all the good they could do with technology.

Thanks to technology and social media, youre the most connected generation in history. More than 30 million people in Vietnam, one-third of the population, are on Facebook. Youre posting selfies, he says with a laugh.

Some people have been devoting themselves to innovation already. People like Duc Nghiem.

Im a director of SHIELD. SHIELD stands for Startup Hub for Investment, Education, and Leadership Development, he says, And we mission to enable more entrepreneurship and hopefully we can bring more startups out of Vietnam and bring more capital into Vietnam.

Nghiem was at the co-working space for Obamas visit.

I think entrepreneurship is the American spirit, from my time spent there, he says, So I think this is the right timing for entrepreneurship in Vietnam and I think thats something Vietnam and the United States share in common.




This is the latest in a series of posts about the 1916 presidential election between Democratic incumbent Woodrow Wilson and Republican challenger Charles Evans Hughes, a Glens Falls native.

The nomination of Charles Evans Hughes for president set a precedent in the Republican Party, according to a campaign biography by Robert Fuller published in official proceedings of the 1916 Republican National Convention.

Charles Evans Hughes, who was nominated for President by the Republican National Convention, was chosen by the Convention not only without his consent, but against his wishes, Fuller wrote. It was the first time that a candidate for the Presidency had ever been so chosen. Not a delegate in the Convention knew when he was nominated whether he would accept or not.

Hughes had his name removed from primary ballots in Nebraska and other states, where supporters had put him on the ballot without his permission.

Hughes won the primary in Oregon, where officials refused to remove his name from the ballot.

Click here to read the most recent previous post in the series.
BOLTON | A Man who was arrested for boating while intoxicated Sunday night was also charged with criminal impersonation after he lied about being a police officer, authorities said.

The arrest happened shortly after 7 p.m., when the Warren County Sheriff's Office got a call from a marina on Lake Shore Drive where staff reported a patron had returned a rented boat and was drunk, police said.

Police said the man, Anthony Martoni, 39, of East Haven, Connecticut, was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.19 percent, more than double the 0.08 percent threshold for intoxication. As he was being charged, the Sheriff's Office said he told officers that he was a police officer, which was found to be untrue, authorities said.

Martoni was charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal impersonation and boating while intoxicated and was being held pending arraignment early Monday.

Sheriff's patrol officers Josh Lopez and Jeremy Coon made the arrest, assisted by Bolton Police.
GLENS FALLS  Matt Gonyea cant forget where hes parked. A crowd always gathers around his trike.

From front fender to light bar, Gonyeas bike tells a story  of American history, of sacrifice and of his fathers dedication to preserving the legacy of those who have served the nation.

He was really big on honoring veterans, Gonyea said of his father, Larry Gonyea Sr., who died in November of 2014. Everyone sacrificed their lives to give us freedom and he wanted to honor that and, to this day, this bike still does that.

Larry Gonyea served in the Army National Guard in the late 1950s, during peacetime. But he considered it his duty to honor veterans throughout his life. He joined the Patriot Guard Riders, a nonprofit organization whose members stand guard at the memorial services of veterans, then lead the procession to the burial site.

Larry loved riding motorcycles, but as he got older, he wanted the security of a trike. In 2012, he bought a 2009 Honda Goldwing 1800 and a Cobra XL California sidecar system to convert it into a trike.

In 2014, Larry was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.

That year, he also contacted Sue Hopper, artist and owner of the Lockridge, Iowa-based Signs & Wonders, saying he had seen her work at Americade and had a plan for his trike.

I told him, I will cancel my stop after Americade and how about I come to your house and paint it for you there? she said.

Larry met her at Americade, where she painted two murals, then she spent the next nine days in his garage, painting at least 12 hours a day.

He said he had been planning this bike for three years and that he had been studying, watching a lot of History channel and going to the library and just gathering all kinds of information, she said.

The result is scenes from most of the U.S. wars since World War II: the iconic image of Marines raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi in Iwo Jima; the Bataan Death March in the Philippines; concentration camps; the wintry forests of the Battle of the Bulge; bombs dropping on Pearl Harbor; Hiroshima before and after the atomic bomb was dropped; helicopters dropping soldiers off in the jungles of Vietnam, and picking up the bodies of U.S. servicemen; and the Highway of Death in Iraq.

It was awesome to hear him tell me about each thing as I was painting, Hopper said.

As Matt Gonyea walks around the motorcycle, he points out the service badges from each branch of the military; the jets and tanks from different eras; scenes from the USS Arizona Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery; and famous quotes from throughout history.

My father wanted to honor veterans and the paint job is what he did, Gonyea said.

Last year, Gonyea rode the trike in the Veterans Day parade in Albany and he has joined the Patriot Guard Riders.

It needs to be seen, he said of the motorcycle. It just cant sit under this barn every day.

Hopper said she paints at 20 to 30 rallies a year and most of those jobs are of a patriotic or military nature.

But she forms a special attachment to jobs as grand in scope as Gonyeas. She has returned to visit the family and to see the bike a few times since she painted it.

I think it tells a story ... that isnt talked about anymore, she said. We have a whole generation of kids coming up that really have no clue what price their freedom was bought with, so I think with all the battle scenes, a lot of blood and guts, thats how it is, thats the price of our freedom.
QUEENSBURY  SUNY Adirondacks Board of Trustees has signed off on a more than $29.28 million operating budget that keeps spending almost flat and staffing lean.

The budget raises spending by just $9,341 over this years $29,273,715 plan.

College officials sought to keep the budget tight, as enrollment numbers for the fall were below projections. The college had a gap of close to $1 million in its 2015-16 budget because enrollment numbers did not meet projections.

This budget has been carefully constructed in cooperation with the faculty and staff and once again demonstrates a thoughtful approach towards controlling costs while maintaining the high-quality teaching and learning environment that our students and our communities deserve, said President Kristine Duffy in a letter to the Board of Trustees during the budget presentation.

The college projects tuition revenues will decrease by $941,000 because of the decline in enrollment.

SUNY Adirondack is also seeking a 2 percent increase in its contribution from Warren and Washington counties. College officials are asking for about $1.93 million from Warren County and $1.43 million from Washington County.

Ann Marie Somma, the colleges vice president for administrative services and treasurer, said the contribution rate is split based on the proportion of students coming from each county in fall 2014  57 percent from Warren County and 43 percent from Washington County.

The split historically had been 60 percent to 40 percent, according to Somma. However, it was adjusted to reflect an increase in the percentage of students coming from Washington County.

Tuition for in-state students is set to increase this fall by $96 to $2,088 per semester. The rate for out-of-state students is double. Somma said SUNY Adirondacks tuition is about the ninth-lowest among community colleges.

The college is getting 46.5 percent of operating revenues from tuition, which is slightly higher than the 40.8 percent average among its peer institutions. Among the colleges that SUNY Adirondack compares itself to are Cayuga, Corning, Herkimer, Jamestown, Jefferson, Schenectady and Ulster.

Somma said this is a challenge that the college has to overcome.

She pointed out that other community colleges contributions from their sponsors average around 15.4 percent, compared with 11.5 percent for SUNY Adirondack.

On the bright side, Somma said the college continues to receive a lot of money in chargebacks, which is money other counties outside the area pay to SUNY Adirondack if their local students attend the college. About 11 percent of the colleges revenues come from chargebacks. The average is just less than 7 percent for its peer institutions.

Somma attributed the strength in that area to the residence hall, which has attracted many students from outside the area.

The budget was helped by retirements of several staff members, which saved $186,000.

The college is also delaying hiring for some new positions and filling others at a savings of $135,000. The college is also cutting back on purchasing equipment. The college has made reductions in the equipment and software budget, according to Somma.

In addition, there is $35,000 in savings through reorganizations and $227,000 in costs being covered by grants. SUNY Adirondack also has obtained some grant funding that will help the budget, including $350,000 from the Health Professions Opportunity Grant, $144,000 from the new Educational Opportunity Program and $66,000 in other grants.

The budget includes an extra $68,000 for salary increases and $369,000 to meet new college needs. There is also $151,000 in new positions being paid for by grants.

The college is not tapping any money from fund balance, according to Somma.

Weve worked to avoid dependency on it, she said.

The college also got very favorable health insurance premium renewal rates and saw a small reduction in the pension contribution rate.

Somma said the college was able to close a gap of about $1 million by working with the academic departments to plan their staffing in line with enrollment and reduce travel and professional development expenses.

Somma said the college was helped by the mild winter, which saved about $400,000 from what would have typically been a $700,000 utilities bill.

The board praised Somma and her staff for their work on the budget.

It was amazing that you got us out of the red this year, said board Chairwoman Patricia Pietropaolo.

The board recognized the retirements of business professor Nicholas Buttino, who is leaving after 50 years; as well as history professor Charles Bailey and nursing instructors Karen Curlis and Normandie Keller.

Three retiring staff members were also recognized: library assistant Julia Rounds; David Smith, director of planning, research and evaluation; and Chief Information Officer Sue Trumpick.
GLENS FALLS  The Family YMCA of the Glens Falls Area is expanding its No More Learning Gap summer program from the city to include North Warren and Whitehall, according to Executive Director Brian Bearor.

Well be providing the program so first- and second-graders can improve their reading level, said Bearor, who noted the program served 25 students in Glens falls last summer and will expand to between 70 and 90 this year. Students can lose up to three months of their reading level during the summer, and that does not help at-risk kids, so we can do this to help. The students we will work with do not read at grade level.

Bearor said the students are being identified by the school districts and the cost will be offset by a state reimbursement program and help from two pairs of donors, Bill and Lisa Powers and Jim and Susan Himoff.

This is a national initiative, so it is happening all over the country, Bearor said, noting that the YMCA hopes to be able to expand the program in the future. Wed love to do it in every school district if we could, he said, noting that in conjunction with the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, students in the program will receive breakfast and lunch.

Bearor said some working parents are not able to give children the kind of opportunities the YMCA can.

This will give them a chance to have a day-camp experience, and they will get to go on a trip every week for the six-week session, Bearor said. They will be active, both in body and mind, and it will help them for next year in school.
Developer Peter Hoffman has resumed negotiations with a prospective national tenant for the old post office building on Warren Street, said Hoffmans wife, Suzanne, speaking with The Post-Star prior to the start of the Glens Falls Industrial Development Agency board meeting on Wednesday.

Hoffman first spoke with the prospective tenant about a year ago and theyre back, she said.

Downtown friend dies

I wrote in this column in June 2013 about walking a little slower than usual on my beat one Friday so I could share my umbrella with Mary Marcantonio, a resident of the Robert J. Cronin High Rise.

I know this route by memory, she said at the time, as we turned the corner from Ridge Street to Lawrence Street.

Marcantonio, who was known for her love of walking downtown, died Thursday at age 86, according to a Post-Star obituary.

We frequently would walk a block or two together in downtown before she moved to The Landing in Queensbury in fall 2013.

Sometimes we would converse, and other times just walk.

Im just an old Irishman. I dont have a story, she said one time when I asked about interviewing her.

One day I was sipping a cup of coffee as I was walking and she said, We used to drink a lot of that to keep awake when I was a nurse.

One fall afternoon I was wearing my Pittsburgh Steelers sweatshirt with my outer jacket unzipped.

You can cover that up if you want. I dont like them, she said, pointing to the Steelers logo.

Love Your Library

Crandall Public Library has increased the stakes in its annual Love Your Library raffle, Lynn Shanks, the librarys director of development, announced at the library board meeting Wednesday.

First prize this year is $2,500 cash, up from $1,000 in previous years.

The library also has added two more prizes of $500 each, in hopes of selling more tickets, she said.

Tickets, priced at $25, can be purchased at the library or from any library board member.

A maximum of 700 tickets will be sold.

Our goal is around 500. If we go beyond that it would be wonderful, she said.

Winners will be drawn in late July.

After the drawing, losing tickets can be entered in a second-chance drawing at Scoville Jewelers in downtown Glens Falls to win a $200 Scoville gift certificate.

Free movie

Crandall Public Library will show the movie Freeheld at 2:30 and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the library community room.

The movie is based on the experiences of Laurel Hester, a New Jersey Police detective, and domestic partner Stacie Adree after Hester was diagnosed with cancer.

The showings are open to the public free of charge.

Art exhibit

An exhibit of work by Stu Eichel opens Tuesday at North County Arts gallery on the second floor of Glens Falls City Hall.

The exhibit is open to the public free of charge any time City Hall is open.

The artist will hold a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at the gallery.

In The Public Interest

The documentary Blue Gold, about public water supplies, will be shown at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the community room in the basement of Crandall Public Library, with a discussion after the film.

The film is part of the In The Public Interest film series, a collaborative effort of the library and Tri-County Transition Initiative, a volunteer organization that conducts education and advocacy about climate change in Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties.

Richie and Elaine Henzler will perform recorder music.

The showing is open to the public free of charge.

Open for lunch

New owners of The Queensbury Hotel began serving lunch Saturday, resuming a longtime tradition the previous owners had abandoned in recent years.

Lunch is served in Fenimores pub or at outdoor patio seating at noon daily.
Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether 

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This, according to the minister, is more than what the country consumes. He noted that the country needs only 10 million metric tonnes to feed the population.

He made the disclosure in an interview with Accra based Citi FM to dispel claims that there is shortage of cassava on the market.

"This country as at last year produced17 million metric tonnes of cassava and we need just 10 million tonnes to feed the population," the minister said.

A bag of 250 kilogram of cassava which used to sell for GHC 200 now sells at GHC 600 and beyond in Accra. Same kilos which used to sell for GHC20 in parts of the Brong Ahafo region now sells at GHC 100 .

According to Alhassan, the problem is wider than the ministry's mandate.

"There are transport issues, there are infrastructure issues," he said. "So you know that it is a distribution problem which is wider than the mandate of the ministry."

"There are remoteness of production areas in relation to markets..."These are all things that are outside the mandate of the ministry, he said.

Meanwhile the General Agriculture Workers Union has blamed harsh weather conditions for the shortage.

Edward Kareweh, General Secretary of GAWU noted that Ghana largely depends on nature to farm instead of developing good irrigation systems.

Depending on nature to a large extent could be disadvantageous and that is why every effort is made to control nature. We ought to have done a massive irrigation across the country. In the past we thought that irrigation was for the north only, we cannot think like that anymore, he said.
The EL Nino is a cycle of long warm and cold temperatures, as measured by sea surface temperature, SST, of the tropical central and eastern Pacific Ocean. El Nino is accompanied by high air pressure in the western Pacific and low air pressure in the eastern Pacific.

According to the GAWU, government must prioritize the provision of irrigation farms to forestall the effects of the poor rainfall patterns.

Speaking to Accra-based Citi FM, Chief Executive Secretary of GAWU, Edward Karuwa said,

We have all been aware that depending on nature, to a large extent, could be disadvantageous, and thats why efforts are put into controlling the vagaries of the weather. So irrigation is one way. We ought to have done massive irrigation development in the past which would have alleviated the problem today

Mr. Karuwa therefore charged government to intensify efforts to provide adequate irrigation dams for all major farming areas in order to de-emphasize the dependence on natural rainfall patterns.

Already, Ghanaians are feeling the pinch of a shortage in some foodstuffs like tomatoes, plantains and cassava, pushing the prices of these foods to increase.
The list that was compiled by Forbes Africa journalist Ancillar Mangena who led an extensive exercise to scout for Africas best business prospects for the next generation uses research and nominations of readers in choosing the 250 potential under 30s.

Then based on Innovation, business size, location, and resilience the number is further pruned to thirty with five Ghanaians making the cut.

The five Ghanaians who made the list are as follows:

Sulley Amin Abubakar

Sulley Amin is the founder of Zaacoal, a green, climate-friendly household energy company that is set to revolutionize the charcoal industry in Ghana, Africa and the world. Zaacoals unique manufacturing process which capitalizes on household waste as the primary source of raw materials has endeared it customers worldwide.

Nana Prempeh

Nana Prempeh is co-founder and CEO of Asoriba. With the 520 million African Christian population as the primary target, Asoriba is a web and mobile application that enables effective church administration for leaders, and seamless engagement with members through mobile phones (app & sms).

Prince Boadu

CEO and co-founder of MapTech Logistics Limited, Prince Boadu uses the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to solve business problems by developing and deploying GIS based applications.

David Asiamah

David Asiamah is the founder and CEO of Agro Mindset Group, a world-class agribusiness consortium. The Agro Mindset Group comprises the Agro Mindset Organisation, Agro Mindset Farms, Agro Mindset Brokerage, Agro Mindset Logistics and Youth In Agriculture.

John Armah

Award-winning Entrepreneur and Consultant, John Armah is a passionate entrepreneur whose aim is to empower other African entrepreneurs to start and run world-class businesses.
The revival of the Komenda Sugar plant was one of our major plans in the transforming lives agenda. It will provide direct and indirect jobs to an estimated 7000 people It was providing jobs to 1000 people directly when it was established, president Mahama said.

The revamped factory is expected to cut Ghanas sugar import by $200 million.

Every single cube of sugar that we eat here in Ghana is imported..Komenda is going to change that president Mahama said.

The factory was established in the 1980s by Ghanas first president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and folded up after he was toppled in a 1966 coup.

In 2014, president Mahama broke grounds for the reconstruction of the factory in partnership with the Indian government.

The joint venture cost $36.5 million with the Indian government contributing $35 million of the total sum.

The factory will process 1250 metric tonnes of sugar cane daily.

In addition, the sugar factory will produce 40 percent of its sugar needs while 60 percent of it will be provided by small farmholders.
Actors, John Dumelo, Abraham Attah and radio presenter, Abeiku Santana have been announced Tourism Ambassadors for the country but some have asserted that Dumelo and Abeiku Santana were named because of their support for the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The two have openly stated that they are for the NDC. While Dumelo has been spotted at the partys rallies, Abeiku Santana decided to contest NDC Parliamentary primaries in the Mfansteman East constituency in the Central Region but rescinded his decision later.

After news of their appointment went viral, some have speculated that it was to reward them for supporting the party.

But Mr Owusu Mensah on Joy FMs Rhythmz A-Z debunked the assertions. According to him, appointing these celebrities is in the interest of the country.

He believes the showbiz personalities will help encourage the populace to visit tourist sites in Ghana.

Its not job for the boys. First of all, I think the first criterion is that the person must be a Ghanaian. The person must be a celebrity and I believe all three are celebrities in their own right. I believe the reasons behind the appointment of Ambassadors for Tourism is very simple. We always talk about domestic tourism and the fact that Ghanaians dont travel to beautiful tourist sites in the country so we decided that we choose ambassadors who will then lead the way for Ghanaians to visit our sites, he said.
A section of the public has attributed his appointment to the fact that he endorsed the party and was spotted at some rallies.

But speaking on Joy FMs Rhythmz A-Z, John Dumelo reiterated that he is not being paid, neither is it job for the boys as some put it.

It has nothing to do with that because if I was appointed and being paid or given certain privileges, then you can say this is job for the boys. But Im actually using my own resource to play the role as an ambassador. Its not because I said I like this person or that person so thats my reward. No, my reward is serving my country, he noted.

Teen actor, Abraham Attah and radio presenter, Gilbert Abeiku Aggery, popularly known as Abeiku Santana, have all been appointed as Tourism Ambassadors for Ghana.

Abeiku Santana has indicated that he will engage taxi drivers to promote tourism in the country. According to him, there are more benefits from the sector and there is the need to bring on board institutions and individuals to help promote it in Ghana.
However, some have questioned why organisers delayed in making the results public and have therefore questioned the authenticity of the results.

But George Quaye, Public Relations Officer of Charterhouse, in an interview with Abrantepa on Radio Univers mid-morning show, Brunch2Lunch has said that whoever doubts the results can seek for clarity from event statistician, KMPG.

If you want to verify, weve always made it clear. KPMG is there, they can show you how the voting went. What is out is the combination of public, board and academy votes Im sure KPMG will show you the statistics and how the voting went, he noted.

George intimated that the results were released after further deliberations on public demand.

Over the years, weve said that the VGMAs is a listening award scheme. So its not really about the organisers and what they hold dear but what they believe in. who knows, other international schemes may see ours and consider it as international best practice and follow suit. Its just to the hue and cry of the public, he stated.
The voting results released on Sunday, May 29, showed that EL who was adjudged Artiste of the Year, had 36.26% while Bisa Kdei obtained 30.54%. Stonebwoy managed 23.38% with Sarkodie earning 7.67%. SP Kofi Sarpong placed fifth with 1.10% while VVIP secured 1.05%.

EL picked five awards [Afro-pop Song of the Year, Music Producer of the Year, Hiplife/Hip-pop Artiste of the Year, Best Music Video of the Year and the coveted Artiste of the Year] while Bisa Kdei took four [Highlife Artiste of the Year, Most Popular Song of the Year, Album of the Year and Highlife Song of the Year].
President of the Association Esther Bamfo explained that they are unhappy with the change of name from Community Health Nursing to Nurse Assistant Prevention.

She further stated that though the name has been changed the certificate awarded has remained unchanged.

She questioned why the then SRN nurses are being awarded diplomas after the change of name to RGN.

She said "we know that SRN was a certificate programme when they were changing their name to RGN they were turned to diplomat. Why is Community Health Nursing changing our name and not sending us higher but drawing us back?"

She also mentioned their dissatisfaction with the poor job progression among the Community Health Nurses. "Some Community Health Nurses have worked for over eight years and yet seen no promotion" she lamented.

The president of the Association also said they lack the logistics to get the work done. She explained that "the logistics to work with is not there.
But in an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, Adams Arimeyaw said the reportage was not true.

What you heard from them (Daily Graphic), I think it was fake. It is not true that I was arrested, he said.

He however admitted that he was under investigation by the Greater Accra Regional Medical and Dental Council for not having certification.

According to him, he has trained in France and has many years of experience as a practitioner in the field.

I trained in Europe and after that I have worked in a lot of clinics. I was trained in France, the doctor added.
The 72 year old professor emeritus was named along with eight others for the highly selective degrees that were conferred at the 365th Commencement ceremony for Harvards class of 2016.

The globally acclaimed artist is a professor of sculpture and employs scrap metals, bottle tops, wood and ceramics. He is also the jury chair of the Kuenyehia Prize, an annual prize to reward Ghanaian artists.

El Anatsui received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1969 from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and taught at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka from 1975 until his retirement in 2011.

Some of his works are in the permanent collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; British Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

One of his most famous pieces is Gli (Wall) from 2010.
Despite this scary myth, almost everybody has sung in the bathroom before even the people with the weirdest voice. But not any song will do. The kind of singing that will provide you with significant health benefits have to come from deep inside your chest, even from your abdomen.

To some people the bathroom serves as an auditorium where they can sing and express their emotions. It is usually allowed to sing in the bathroom without being stopped unlike any other place in the home that mum or dad could just shout at you to shut up because you could be disturbing the peace at home.

Interestingly, growing up proved to show grandmothers were only telling fibs. What the oldies wanted to prevent was lather from soaps entering the mouth which could cause some ailments like Migraines Asthma symptoms and revive allergies when the lather constantly enters the mouth.

Again one common occurrence is the exposure to parabens. Parabens are toxins that can overly trigger the release of estrogen pushing the body to react in various ways decreasing muscle mass and increasing fat deposits.

This notwithstanding, many people sing in the shower because some bathrooms have surfaces of the walls hard mostly with wooden panels and lack of soft furnishings, and this atmosphere creates a very resounding one to enrich their voices. Small dimensions and hard surfaces of a typical bathroom produce various kinds of standing waves, rumbling and echoing, giving the voice depth.

Singing in the shower also is very refreshing; you may come out from there feeling energetic for the day already. In the average shower, the resonant frequency is 100 Hz, which is at the low end of the range but the human speech ranges from roughly 85-255 Hz which is appropriate for the voice.

How many people can really explain why they sing in the bathroom? Apparently not many can explain because it is an inherited psychological tendency.

For instance, singing in the shower brings back good memories from childhood.

Others will also pick up the habit by observing their parents or immediate caregivers do same, something psychologist describes as behaviour modelling.

Singing in the shower brings back fond childhood memories motivating repetition of the behaviour in late stages of life.

Mothers and fathers instinctively raise their infants with lullabies, and it actually encourages the growth of the child to process language. So when you sing to yourself, you're calling back to a fundamental period in your life. Researches have proven that singing in the shower expresses sadness, anxiety and depression. And at the end of the day, it increases one's lifespan.

It turns out that singing in general, and especially doing it first thing in the morning during shower has a lot of positive mental and physical health benefits. It is arguably a better way, physically, emotionally and psychologically to start your day that you might not even need your daily coffee.

It is believed that people may sing involuntary for the many reasons and some may include when an individual loves music they unconsciously sing. People who are emotionally disturbed would sing as a way of expressing their feelings to the outside world without knowing. Singing with joy, irrespective of the persons environment may be the third reason why people sing without knowing what they are doing.

When you sing in the shower, some of the waves are thrown back at you immediately so you get to hear yourself, others travel farther and you do not hear them at all.

Most people sing very well in the shower. The shower to them serves as a studio where there are mixes and directors with each of these aids helping the voice sounds powerful and richer. There are also couple of people who are the best artist in their own way. Anybody would wow at their voice but they never had the courage to stand in public to sing. They prefer best to sing in the shower especially when no one is home. Some even sing in their cars with the windows rolled up.
Ghana in recent times has seen a number of girls sent illegally to Kuwait to work as house helps. According Alhaji Saeed Sinare, the recruits who are mainly below eighteen, are taken to the country through illegal means and are often maltreated by their bosses.

The Kuwaiti government earlier this year temporarily banned the issuance of visa to Ghanaians recruited as maidservants to work in that country.

62 girls who "are mostly below 18" have been rescued and are being kept in a shelter in Kuwait. Alhaji Sinare indicated that "these girls are being deported in batches to Ghana".

In April 22 girls were flown back to Ghana. "In May two batches of girls came back home" he added. First was 21 girls and later in May 8 more girls followed.

The Ambassador said he was grateful to the Kuwaiti government for the cooperation as well as agreement to pay for the cost involved in transporting the girls back to Ghana.
On Sunday, reports suggested that Allotey Jacobs was arrested on suspected money laundering. Although the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin, has denied the reports, Adorye, who was one of the people to have posted the alleged arrest on Facebook insists that the report is true.

I stand by it that he was arrested. They questioned him and escorted him out of the plane. If the police questions you and escorts you out, what does it mean? Does it not amount to arrest? he queried.

According to Mr Adorye, he was reliably informed by a friend who was on the same flight.

One of my friends was on that flight to US and was transiting from UK like Allotey. When they got to Heathrow, four police personnel entered the aircraft, walked straight to Allotey Jacobs and asked him how much he was carrying. Allotey then answered that the amount was for a government project but the police said he said the same thing the last time. They questioned him for three to five minutes and escorted him out. If he was later released, what happened on the flight was that, Allotey was questioned and escorted out which amounts to arrest and it was on money laundering, he noted.

Meanwhile, Allotey Jacobs has stated that he was neither approached by the police nor missed his flight. He mentioned that the story was fabricated.
Its never true. There is no iota of truth in that. I escorted my husband to Kotoka International Airport where he was travelling to US. The information started coming on Sunday. Its not true. He even spoke to me on Sunday when he got to the UK. Im surprised people are still spreading this. Why should we go on this trajectory? He wasnt even carrying one pound, she noted.
This was contained in a statement from the British High Commission today. It said Jacobs was not detained, nor was he questioned. There was absolutely no evidence of money laundering or drugs.

There were social media reports of the Central Chairman of the NDC been arrested by the UK National Crime Agency on suspicion of money laundering and cocaine trafficking over the weekend.

The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin had earlier denied the reports in a series of tweets on Sunday.

Heres the full statement from the British High Commission

The British High Commission would like definitively to clarify the situation concerning the alleged arrest of Mr Allotey Jacobs at Londons Heathrow Airport on Sunday, 29 May.

We became aware around Sunday lunchtime of online and social media rumours to the effect that Mr Jacobs had been arrested on arrival at London Heathrow from Accra, allegedly variously accused of money laundering or of being involved in a drugs bust. Both claims are simply untrue. There was no such arrest. Mr Jacobs was not detained, nor was he questioned. There was absolutely no evidence of money laundering or drugs.

Subsequently, there were persistent further rumours that Mr Jacobs had at least been escorted off the plane by UK law enforcement. After exhaustive, multiple enquiries we state unequivocally that the UK law enforcement authorities with jurisdiction at Heathrow Airport all confirm that they did not board the aeroplane to speak to Mr Jacobs, nor did they do so subsequently within the airport, and they certainly did not escort Mr Jacobs off the flight concerned. Our law enforcement authorities keep meticulous records, including of any escorting off aeroplanes  there is no such record in the case of Mr Jacobs, as there was no such event. We understand that Mr Jacobs caught his connecting flight to the US on time and without incident.

British Airways tell us that they, too, have no record of any law enforcement boarding directed at Mr Jacobs. A public claim has been made that Mr Jacobs was escorted from a seat in Row 15 in business class. However, on the flight in question, Row 15 was not in, and indeed some distance from, business class, the class in which Mr Jacobs travelled, so that claim falls away.
According to

'I'm Cait' is a reality series which focuses on the 65-year-old Caitlyn Jenner, and her personal journey as a transgender.

This protest from Nigerians is just baffling. Don't these parents know that DSTV has parental controls and that if they don't want their kids to watch any particular show on the channel all they have to do is activate the parental guidance features?

Why do we Nigerians behave like they live in the Vatican and everything around us must be holy and pure? I will always say this, Nigerians are the most hypocritical people in the world. Nigerians play the moral card in public but behind closed doors they are as freaky as anyone else.

If you check the list of most popular sites visited by Nigerians you are bound to see the xvideos.com (a porn site) as the 39th most visited site in the country. Who are the people going to this porn site? I have a feeling that these are the same Nigerians that complained about Caitlyn Jenner.

Another man's poison is another man's meat. If I enjoy watching 'I'm Cait' why should my favourite show be yanked off because some sanctimonious Nigerians feel it is wrong? Don't these same people know that there is something called a remote control. We live in an era of individual choices, no one should force his beliefs down another person's throat.

ALSO READ: Caitlyn Jenner denies turning back to Bruce

This Caitlyn Jenner issue really highlights how much of cowards we are in this country. The only thing that can rile up Nigerians into action is morals. When it comes to politics and the well-being of our nations Nigerians stop being vocal.

If Nigerians can protest that Caitlyn Jenner's reality show be removed from their TV I see no reason why they can't protest that our lawmakers slash their salaries. I see no reason why these Nigerians can't force the President to do something about the Fulani herdsmen. This is what is killing this country. We focus on the minor and ignore the major.

Let's all stop the charade. We are not morally righteous people. We are hypocrites and cowards who prefer to fight Caitlyn Jenner and not our politicians.
In his interview with

"I dont know why people would think I would post a negative picture against someone. An artiste from Tanzania sent the picture to me. I saw it and I did not know who Cynthia Morgan is, I have just heard some of her tracks. When I saw the picture, it was funny to me, so I posted it about two nights ago. It was a contact of mine on BBM that called my attention to it that the person in the picture was Cynthia Morgan. I immediately put it down but before I went there, a blogger had picked it up and was making a big deal out of it" Solade told the daily newspaper.

ALSO READ: 5 facts about Yemi Solade

I would like to give Yemi Solade the benefit of doubt. He says he doesn't know who Cynthia Morgan is and that's fine. I won't be surprised if Cynthia Morgan does not know him also. However, Yemi Solade said an artiste from Tanzania sent him the photo. I strongly believe that the artiste from this country knows who Cynthia Morgan is and wanted to ridicule her. I am pretty sure he knew what would happen if Solade posted the photo on his Instagram page, that is if the actor is telling the truth that he got it from an artiste in Tanzania.

Social media is no longer a game. You can post an innocent photo today and you could be in big soup tomorrow. What might seem innocent to you won't look so innocent to others. For Yemi Solade it might have just been fun and games for him but for a man of his fame he should consider what he puts up on social media.

What if Cynthia Morgan had seen that post? I am not saying he should be afraid of Cynthia Morgan but we all know how she can be. She has no chill when it comes to issues like this. Trust me if she had seen it, she would have made a whole scene out of it and dedicated several Instagram posts in bashing the actor.

Yemi Solade was wise by taking it down but he should have been wiser by not posting it up in the first place. As a celebrity you can't just post whatever you feel like. Every statement, tweet and photo should be scrutinized properly.
Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!
ALSO READ: Soldier shoots student on the breast in Benue

The victims who had been on mufti at the time of the incident, had reportedly been travelling from Taraba State to Kaduna State for an interview.

The reports reveal that the men had refused to stop their bus at the check point for a security search by the soldiers who were on patrol, causing the military men to open fire on them under the suspicion that they were terrorists.

Major Joseph Adekunle, the Assistant Director Army Public Relations (PRO) of the 33 artillery Brigade Bauchi, confirmed the incident, disclosing that the bus had driven through the check point without stopping, arousing suspicion that they may be Boko Haram insurgents or some criminals.

Major Adekunle added that the army had later carried out further investigations which had revealed that the victims were police officers.

The situation has reportedly been brought under control, as the roads have since been opened for motorists.

The spokesman for the army urged members of general public to follow the rules at every check point, irrespective of their status in society so as to avoid a recurrence of such an incident in the future.

The general public is also requested to note that the current situation in the country especially with the ongoing operation in North East to clear the remnants of Boko Haram terrorists from their hideouts, there is need to ensure no escaping terrorists or weapons are allowed to infiltrate other parts of the country."

ALSO READ: Police officer remanded for shooting man to death in Lagos
This is in line with the governments resolve to integrate them into the society.

The acting federal commissioner of the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced (NCFRMI), Margarette Essie told Leadership that 480 people will be captured in the first phase.

Essie said this during the flag off of the health scheme at the Sabon Kuchingoro area of Federal Capital Territory (FCT),

She said There are seven components in what we call standard assistance programme for the IDPs which includes supply of food and non-food items; paying a stipend to them to kick-start a new life having equipped them with skills for job; enrolling them in NHIS programme.
You will recall that the Fulani herdsmen have been connected to several incidents of violence in various states across Nigeria.

Ajimobi also said We are working hard to address the situation, part of which informed the decision by the government to concede and use 100 per cent of the state allocation from the federation account for the payment of salaries.

For example, just as we have set about a massive revamping of our agricultural programme, plans are ongoing for the construction of an industrial park with attendant policies and logistic facilities like rail line and dry port."

My conviction is that our comparative advantage of a vast arable land mass, a teeming population, a concentration of agricultural research institutes and the political will are the required elixir that will ensure the success of our massive job creation initiative.

However, we are not unaware that political jobbers have gone to town with the tale that we are retrenching more than 16,000 workers. That is very untrue. As a matter of fact, quite a number of those 16,000 workers have already been cleared of any wrongdoing having clarified their data entries with the verification panel that we set up for the purpose, he said.

Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti state in reaction to the killing of two residents of the state, by suspected Fulani herdsmen, banned grazing in the state.

He also called on those interested in rearing cattle in the state, to get a ranch for the purpose.
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A statement from Capt. Victor Olukoya, the Corps Assistant Director in charge of Public Relations, made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi on Sunday, indicates that the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai, will declare the training open.

The training has as its theme, Repositioning the Combat Arms to be Professionally Responsive in meeting the Constitutional roles of the Nigerian Army.

The exercise is lined up with series of activities that will involve movement of troops, display of equipment and lectures.
The acting Director of Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman confirmed this in a statement issued in Abuja.

According to Usman, the patrol team has an encounter with some armed militants in two speed boats with intent to blow up Nigerian Agip Oil Company pipeline at Gulobokri.

"In the early hours of today, May 29, troops of 343 Artillery Regiment of 2 Brigade, 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, carried out patrol within the general area of Gulobokri and Eweleso.

This was around Brass area in Bayelsa State.

"During the exercise, the troops encountered some armed militants who opened fire on the patrol team.

"The troops responded with overwhelming superior firepower and as a result, the suspected criminals sped off from the area with many of them sustaining gunshot wounds.

"Unfortunately, a personnel of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) attached to the team sustained gunshot wound and has since been evacuated and he is in a stable condition, Usman said.

Usman also said that another patrol team of the same unit of 82 Division, Nigerian Army, averted another attack on an oil facility at Perigbene House Boat in Bayelsa.

He said the troops on patrol to the area encountered militants in three speed boats also on a mission to attack another critical infrastructure in the area.

Usman said the troops killed most of the militants while others escaped with gunshot injuries.

He said the casualty figure on militants could not be ascertained as it was raining heavily adding that the raging storm could not allow troops to go on in pursuit of the escaping criminals.

Usman added that a mop-up operation had been organised for those militants that escaped with gunshot wounds adding that they might be receiving treatment in the neighbouring communities.

He said troops would continue to intensify patrols in the general area to further halt planned attacks on key public infrastructure in the area.
Mohammed said that Buhari had earlier intended to release the names but had been advised not to do so.

The minister made the comments during a programme organised by Channels Television to mark the one year anniversary of the current administration.

We will get the list but not today; before the end of the week. But I must say not with the names. Of course for obvious legal reasons. The president said he was going to release the amount recovered and where the recovered assets are, Mohammed said.

Yes he initially said so (naming looters), but he was advised against doing so for legal reasons. Of course, he has a right to reverse himself on that, he added when queried on Buharis earlier promise to name the looters.

Meanwhile, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu has said that the list of looted funds will be released this week.

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The arrest was confirmed by the Commander of the 4 Brigade, Brigadier-General Farouk Yahaya, who paraded the suspects in Benin, Edo State on Sunday, May 29.

Within the period under review, you can see that the Niger Delta Avengers have claimed virtually all acts of criminal activities against oil and gas and they continue threatening a shutdown of the whole sector. So, most likely, they (suspects) will be the people, who else would they be? Yahaya said according to Punch.

Operations that led to these arrests and recoveries were conducted professionally, guided by our mandate, operation orders, code of conduct and rules of engagement. Our operations are strictly targeted against perpetrators of all criminal acts in our area of responsibility and not innocent citizens.

We are not worried by voodoo. It did not stop the suspects from being arrested and others that have been arrested before now. Whatever a person wants to use, he can use it. But I know that God is always on the side of the truth, he added.

Yahaya also revealed that items recovered from the suspects include 28 detonator cords (also known Detonator 33), one pistol, two pistols, 196 rounds of 7.62 special ammunition, one round of nine-millimetre ammunition, a live cartridge and five daggers.

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The statement from the Spokesman for the Vice-President, Mr Laolu Akande, said that President Muhammadu Buhari would be represented by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, at the two-day event.

Osinbajo left Abuja early on Sunday and is expected to return on Thursday, Akande said..

According to the statement, Osinbajo will join leaders from 78 other countries to address the summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, which will discuss the future of the ACP Group.

The discussions will focus on the group as a "revitalised cohesive force advocating the interests of member-states in the international arena," the statement said.

It also said former President Olusegun Obasanjo was expected to participate in the summit to present a report on the future of the Group as the Leader of its Eminent Persons Group.

According to Akande, a statement from the Secretariat of the organisation states that discussions at the summit will review recent key international developments.

The statement listed the developments to include Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, issues of migration, climate change and the fight against terrorism.

"One of the main objectives of the ACP group is the "sustainable development of its member-states and their gradual integration into the global economy.

"It entails making poverty reduction a matter of priority and establishing a new, fairer and more equitable world order, the statement said..

The ACP is an organisation created by the Georgetown Agreement in 1975.

It is composed of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states, with all, except Cuba, as signatories to the Cotonou Agreement, also known as the 'ACP-EC Partnership Agreement', which binds them to the European Union.
Tompolo also called on the group to stop attacking oil installations in the Niger Delta.

The ex-militant made the call via a letter written to the group on Sunday, May 29, 2016.

It reads in part:

I still maintain that I know nothing about your group and the destruction of crude oil facilities in the Niger Delta region. That notwithstanding, for the love of country and out of patriotism, I wish to appeal to you once again to stop the bombing of oil facilities in the Niger Delta region, and embrace the path of dialogue with the Federal Government of Nigeria, as the government is ready to hear you out on whatever issues you wish to discuss with it.

You guys know that I do not know you and how to reach you, except through the mass media. If truly as you guys claimed that you are fighting for the well-being of the people of the Niger Delta, then you must adhere to this appeal, otherwise, the world will label you as criminals.

Come to think of the consequences of your actions in the region so far, particularly as it affects me and the people of Gbaramatu kingdom. Just yesterday (Saturday), the Nigerian Army invaded the ancestral headquarters of the kingdom, Oporoza town, under the guise of looking for members of your group, particularly me, who they have wickedly linked to your group, and unleashed mayhem on the innocent people of the community.

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The premiere was attended by celebrities including Rita Dominic,Linda Ejiofor, Kemi Lala Akindoju, Adesua Etomi, Wale Ojo, Chika Chukwu, Chioma Onyenwe, Bimbo Akintola among others.

The upcoming movie features co-stars IBK Spaceship Boi and Linda Ejiofor, as love interests Victor E and Vanessa.

It also stars Ade Bantu, SamuelRobinson, Bimbo Akintola, Wale Ojo and Kehinde Bankole.

"8 Bars and A Clef," which chronicles the rise to grace of a talented act, Victor E, was produced and directed by Chioma Onyenwe for Raconteur Productions.

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The movie has as its lead character as the multi-talented alternative music act Ibukun (IBK) SpaceshipBoi,with the iconic Ade Bantu who makes a stellar Nollywood debut.

"8 Bars and A Clef" is set to offer love, drama, tears and great music as the movie follows the struggles of a young talented rapper (IBK) who battles a learning disability, a dysfunctional home and betrayal to make it in the Nigerian music industry.

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"8 Bars and a Clef" was first screened at AFRIFF in November 2015.
Previously scheduled to debut on February 17, 2017, the franchise finale will premiere on January 12, 2018. The delay is to allow O'Brien make full recovery from the injuries he sustained.

The 24-year-old actor, who is also popular for his role in was hit by a car while filming a stunt scene in Vancouver, Canada. He was immediately transferred to a local hospital for observation and treatment.

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"Maze Runner: The Death Cure" is directed by Wes Ball who directed the past two, from a screenplay by T.S. Nowlin adapting the YA novels of James Dashner.

In the upcoming sequel, young hero, Thomas, embarks on a mission to find a cure to a deadly disease known as the "Flare". "The Death Cure" stars the injured star alongside Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Rosa Salazar, Ki Hong Lee and Dexter Darden.

ALSO READ: undefinedThe 2014 original grossed $102 million, with its 2015 follow-up "The Scorch Trials" grossing $82 million domestically.

The last major injury on set was in 2014, when Harrison Ford broke his leg while shooting "Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
In the trailer, everyone wants Ghost (Omari Hardwick) dead. From his mentor turned enemy, Kanan (Curtis 50 Cent Jackson) to his best friend Tommy (Joseph Sikora), everyone wants to see Ghost dead.

Other cast of "Power" featured in the clip include Angela (Lela Loren), Tasha (Naturi Naughton), Andy Bean (Greg), Lucy Walters (Holly) and Jerry Ferrara (Joe).

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The second season premiere of 'Power' , which premiered on Saturday, June 7, 2015, emerged as the 'most ever watched' for a Starz Original series season premiere episode.

On June 10, 2015, following the positive ratings of its season 2 premiere, P

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About Power

The series follows James St. Patrick, nicknamed "Ghost," owner of a popular New York City nightclub. In addition, he is a major player in one of the city's biggest illegal drug networks. He struggles to balance these two lives, and the balance topples when he realizes he wants to leave the drug ring in order to support his legitimate business, and commit to his mistress.

Recently, executive producer of the show, 50 Cent, blamed low ratings of rival show,

In 2015, 50 Cent threatened to sue Media Takeout for
Check out eight movies you can watch on channel this June.

1. "Mad About Dance" - June 4

Aarav has a dream of becoming a world famous dancer, but because he is the new kid on the block he struggles to impress the people around him. But this doesnt stop him from scratching and clawing his way to the top.

Director: Saahil Prem

Cast: Saahil Prem, Amrit Maghera

Year: 2014

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2. "Masti Express" - June 5

A well-known rickshaw driver enters a fixed race in order to gain respect as well as admission for his son to go to school. But a corrupt union is against him.

Director: Vikram Pradhan

Cast: Rajpal Yadav, Johhny Lever

Year: 2011

ALSO READ: undefined

3. "My Friend Pinto" - June 11

Michael Pinto is a sweet, honest and optimistic young man who has a knack for finding trouble. The search for a childhood friend leads him to a new city where a new adventure awaits.

Director: Raaghav Dar

Cast: Pratein Babbar, Kalki Kochin, Divya Dutta

Year: 2011

ALSO READ: undefined

4. "Baadshah" - June 12

A man named Baadshah gets mistaken as both an assassin and a spy. Without even knowing, he gets stuck in the middle of a very complicated and delicate matter, as a wealthy businessman plans to assassinate the chief minister.

Director: Abbas - Mustan

Actors: Shahrukh Khan, Twinkle Khanna

Year: 1999

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5. "Love You Mr Kalakaar" - June 18

A businessman's daughter falls in love with an artist, but her father disapproves of the relationship. The artist is put through a test and must pass to marry his love.

Director: S. Manasvi

Cast: Tusshar Kapoor, Amrita Rao

Year: 2011

ALSO READ: undefined

6. "Mr India" - June 19

A very kind hearted but poor man discovers his scientist father's invisibility device. He rises to the occasion and fights to save his children and all of India from the clutches of a very evil man, named Mogambo.

Director: Shekhar Kapur

Cast: Anil Kapoor, Sri Devi

Year: 1987

ALSO READ: undefined

7. "Insan" - June 25

Police officer Ajit Rathod, is on a mission to catch a notorious terrorist Azhar, who killed his wife, and now plans to destroy Mumbai and everyone that lives in it.

Director: K. Subhash

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, Tusshar Kapoor, Eshol Deol

Year: 2005

8. "Shamitabh" - June 26

A mute aspiring actor joins forces with a man who has a powerful voice. Together they conquer the film industry, but with both of them having egos, theres no telling what might happen.

Director: R. Balki

Cast: Dhanush, Amitabh Bachchan

Year: 2015

ALSO READ:
Sheriff was removed from his position at the May 21 PDP national convention in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and replaced with Senator Ahmed Makarfi as a caretaker Chairman.

He was reportedly removed because his stay in office was dividing the party as many party leaders and key Chieftains were against him. It was also rumoured that he might be eyeing the Presidency seat in 2019.

He said he never mentioned to anyone that he wanted to run for the 2019 Presidential race, noting that even if he intended to, Fayose could never have been his running mate, as being speculated.

I am eminently qualified to seek for the presidency of Nigeria, but I have never told anybody I want to be President, but even if I want to be I cannot offer such a sensitive position to a character like Ayo Fayose, who has exhibited gross disrespect for others, Sheriff said.

He challenged any of the Governors, who alleged that he made promises to come forward with proof, adding that he was unfairly treated by the party.
Fayose made the remark in a statement released on Sunday, May 29, 2016, by his media aide, Lere Olayinka.

It reads in part:

Despite President Buharis electoral promise to reduce petrol pump price from the N87 per litre that he met it and make life more bearable for Nigerians, he increased the price of petrol to N145, increased electricity tariff in spite of lack of power supply.

Food scarcity last experienced when Buhari was military Head of State between 1983 and 1985 has returned to the country, with Nigerians being unable to feed.

Foreign Reserve was $28.6 billion, Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $2.07 billion, dollars was less than N200, petrol was N87 per litre and most importantly, one bag of rice was N8, 500 and power generation was over 5,000MW when Buhari assumed office.

Today, power generation is less than 1,400, Foreign Reserve has reduced to $26.5 billion, dollar is now over N350, petrol has increased to N145 per litre and one bag of rice is now over N15, 000! I read the presidents speech and all that I saw was a president still sounding like he was campaigning for votes more than one year after winning election.

Not even a mention of one kilometre of road tarred by this administration, no single job was created except the ones created in Central Bank of Nigeria for their cronies and children, not a single megawatt of electricity generated. This is shameful.

The reward Buhari gave to Nigerians for electing as president was to increase petrol pump price by N58.50 and get the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo to justify the increment by saying Nigeria was broke! In other words, President Buhari increased petrol pump price because the country was broke and it needed to shore up its revenue base. The N58.50 added to the previous pump price of N86.50 was an Indirect Tax imposed on each litre of petrol purchased by Nigerians. It is even more worrisome that we have a presidency that is not coordinated.

The president says one thing; his vice says another while his ministers also singing discordant tunes. This is a clear sign of cluelessness and unpreparedness for governance. I cannot but agree with the position of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Obiageli Ezekwesili and others that President Buhari has no clue economically.

The situation of Nigeria today is like the visually impaired leading those who can see. But I warned Nigerians, and I am still warning Nigerians now that as it happened in 1984 when our President was a military Head of State, the economy of Nigeria may collapse!

Therefore, as we look forward to the end of the honeymoon of Buharis presidency, I wish to state that if supposed men of honour are going underground because of possible harassment and intimidation, I, Peter Ayodele Fayose will not; because this is our fatherland.

Most importantly, those regarding President Buhari as a saint should know that he is not. The president is not also the Almighty God that cannot be questioned. After all, the beauty of democracy is in credible opposition.

Today, I have expressed my mind concerning the one year of Buharis presidency as I did before the election. This I have done basically to remind Nigerians that I told them then, and it is happening now. May God be with the President and bless Nigeria.
The people of Ondo State must not make the mistake we made during the last presidential election in Nigeria. My advice is that you dont allow yourselves to be carried away by repeating the mistakes of last year that we are paying for now, Fayose said according to a statement released by Ondo Commissioner for Information, Kayode Akinmade.

Ondo State should not be misled by voting wrongly; it would be a big mistake on your part if you make the mistake of voting for opposition parties. The best that could happen to Ondo State is for the people to vote for the continuity of Governor Mimikos good legacies," he added.

Mimiko, on his part, said that his successor would be chosen by God.

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The Lagos PDP made the plea via a statement released by its spokesperson, Gani Taofik on Sunday, May 29, 2016, according to Punch.

The statement reads:

We ask the state not to take the ordinary prosecution to be a persecution as the whole efforts would be defeated if, God forbid, the defendant becomes permanently incapacitated due to lack of medical care for his peculiar ailments.

He (Metuh) has survived several attacks and we think that this prosecution should not turn into persecution. We are of the belief that it is not the wish of the judicial system that a defendant dies or is permanently incapacitated during trial in circumstances that are ordinarily avoidable.

Olisa Metuh is a lawyer and is aware of the implication of jumping bail. He is not likely to jump bail. We appeal that justice should be tempered with mercy as this is very appropriate in this circumstance.

For the Federal Government not to kill the opposition, this (May 29) celebration is an auspicious moment to allow Metuh enjoy medical care in any place of his choice.

This is a strong appeal to the conscience of the trial judge, the prosecutor and, indeed, the Chief justice of Nigeria to have a second consideration for the full bail of Chief Metuh, who is obviously very ill and unable to continue the rigours of the trials.

An Abuja High Court recently refused Metuhs request to travel abroad despite claims that he was suffering from hypertension, arthritis and diabetes.

The former PDP spokesman is facing charges of money laundering to the tune of N400 million and recently said that he's willing to return the money in exchange for his freedom.

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Akal Takht Jathedar calls for Panthic unity, seeks release of Bandi Sikhs, warns against conversions

We are following the footsteps of Lord Vishwakarma to overhaul entire system in Punjab : says CM
The Bettendorf High School Class of 2016 Snapchatted and Instagram-ed its way to pick up diplomas and make post-commencement plans Sunday afternoon at the school.

By now, hundreds of memories of graduation day will be posted on Facebook, tweeted and shared in countless digital incarnations.

While photos float around in the digital universe, graduates made down-to-earth plans for their academic and career futures. Sabrina Cincola, 18, for example, plans to study industrial engineering at Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois.

Cincola, who wore a flowered-pattern dress, held a fresh bouquet and her diploma. I went on a visit to Bradley, and I loved the school, she said, adding that her father, Victor Cincola of Rock Island, influenced her because he is a mechanical engineer.

Similarly, Gabriel Cook, 17, plans to study electronics engineering technology at Hamilton Tech, Davenport. He said graduating on Sunday made him feel accomplished. He said he is grateful to teachers and administrators who helped him succeed. I appreciate everything they did, he said.

Across the parking lot, graduates KayVyonna Hollingshed, 18, and her friend JaMiracle Morant, 19, hugged each other and posed for pictures in an impromptu party atmosphere. KayVyonnas son, Antoneo, 3, toddled happily around.

KayVyonnas mother, Sophia Harrington of Bettendorf, beamed proudly. She has come so far, she said of her daughter. "She is amazing. She accomplished a lot.

Morant enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where she plans to study to become an X-ray technician.

As the parking lot and the building began to empty of people and vehicles, Lubo Odvarko of Bettendorf told his grandson, graduate Taylor Odvarko, hed see him soon.

Lubo Odvarko said he came with his parents and sister to the United States from Czechoslovakia in 1969 trying to get away from the Russian occupation, he said. Odvarko, who is a retired tool-and-die maker from the Rock Island Arsenal, has served as a kind of mentor for Taylor, whom he encourages to enlist in the Air Force.

"Weve hunted. Weve fished. Hes done everything with me, the proud grandfather said.

By 3 p.m., the school and the parking lot were empty. And families and graduates walked into their futures, some carrying their diplomas and nearly all carrying programs with the Class of 2016 motto from Maya Angelou: People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
A 21-year-old Clinton man drowned Saturday in a small lake near Sabula, Iowa.

Eugene Albert Kemp Jr. was pronounced dead at Mercy Hospital in Clinton, Iowa, according to a news release from the Jackson County Sheriffs Office.

The sheriffs office received a call about 1:18 p.m. Saturday about a possible drowning on 607th Avenue in rural Sabula, Iowa. First responders who searched the small lake identified Kemp, who was taken from the water and transported to the hospital.

The Jackson County Sheriffs Office and the Clinton County Medical Examiners Office continue the investigation.

Assisting at the scene were Sabula Fire and Rescue, Sabula Ambulance, Savannah, Illinois Fire Department Rescue Boat, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and Jackson County Emergency Management.

 Linda Cook
UPDATE: Clinton police report that Marissa Neff has been located today and is alive and well.

EARLIER REPORT: Clinton, Iowa, police are asking for help in finding a woman who left her home Saturday.

Police seek information about the whereabouts of Marissa Neff, 19, who is described as being 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighing about 170 pounds. She has blond/brown streaked hair.

Neff left her Clinton house about 1:30 p.m. Saturday and has not returned home, according to police, who have not launched a formal missing persons case. Neff is listed on the Quad-Cities Missing Persons Network Facebook page.

Anyone with information about Neffs whereabouts is asked to call Clinton police at 563-243-1458.
When he returned from his last tour overseas, this soldiers wife noticed a new tension at their rural LeClaire home.

We felt like we were walking on eggshells because we didnt want to set him off, Natalie Van Osdel said, referring to her husband, Mark.

The U.S. Army and Navy veteran spent about 14 months in Iraq during 2007 and 2008, and said he brought back with him major anger and anxiety issues linked to post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

While therapy sessions and prescription medication have helped him along the way, the 43-year-old also credits a new family member for easing his struggles: Chance, a mixed hound service dog that joined the family last September.

If you get really messed up, they give you one, he told more than 300 students earlier this month during a military appreciation ceremony at Cody Elementary School. He literally helps me function every day.

The stay-at-home father of three, who formerly served as a rescue swimmer in the U.S. Navy, waited a year-and-a-half to meet Chance, a rescue pup from North Carolina.

K9s for Warriors, a Florida-based nonprofit organization matched the duo, and Mark underwent a three-week training program with the dog before bringing him back home.

According to K9s for Warriors, 184 veterans who served in either the Iraq War or the War in Afghanistan are diagnosed with PTSD every day.

Mark's battle with PTSD, which spurred road rage incidents, flashbacks and night terrors, follows a military career peppered with a series of sidelining medical issues:

1997-2000: The Bettendorf High School grad enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served three tours in the Gulf as a rescue swimmer.

2000-2002: Mark joined the U.S. Navy Reserve.

August 2002: Mark was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

2004: Following 9/11, the cancer-free man wanted to re-enlist in the Navy, but had to wait five years because of his health condition. Instead of waiting, he joined the U.S. Army National Guard, which has different restrictions.

"I wanted to go in and do my part," he recalled. "To me, it was more important than the first time."

2005: Mark transferred to the U.S. Army.

2006: A smallpox vaccine sent Mark into heart failure.

2007: Mark served 14 months in Iraq, where he ran weekly missions during his last seven months there.

Today, Chance accompanies Mark whenever he leaves his house.

As soon as Mark straps on the dog's work vest, which includes patches from one of the veterans old combat uniforms, the pooch knows it's time to work.

And if he ever feels anxious in a big crowd, Mark commands Chance to "cover," or stand behind him.

"I dont like people behind me, and over there, you want to know what's going on behind you so nothing happens," said Mark, who also fights survivor's guilt. "It used to be hard to go out because I couldn't control the situation."

At home on a recent weekday, while his 16-month-old son took his routine morning nap, Mark sat with his 65-pound canine companion on a shaded back porch that abuts nothing but farmland along Territorial Road. At night, if Chance, who sleeps in a separate bed beside the couple, senses stress, he'll wake up Mark by licking his feet.

"He's just a dog that knows how to help me," Mark said.

Although Natalie, who works for Deere & Co., gets shots for her dog allergies, she said her constant stuffiness is well worth it.

The benefits far outweigh the challenges, she said, adding that her husband has become calmer and more relaxed in public. Its still a work in progress, but hes (Chance) part of our family now.
Nestled in a quiet, residential neighborhood in west Davenport, VFW Post 828 quietly goes about its business of reaching out to others in need and honoring veterans.

Memorial Day is one of those special occasions when the 160 members and 100 auxiliary members follow tradition. It all starts in the morning when a ceremony is held at the Civil War Memorial in front of Davenport Central High School.

VFW members and Boy Scout Troop 828, which the post sponsors, were among those to partake in the ceremony honoring lost soldiers.

Then, there is the open house lunch at the post, 101 S. Linwood Ave., Davenport, in which members and non-members stop by to eat and join in fellowship, said post Commander Tim Strother of Rock Island, who retired from the Army and served in the Gulf wars. The post also offers the lunch each Veterans Day.

This holiday means something different to veterans. There are those who made the ultimate sacrifice, and we want to make sure we never forget, he said. But each one has a different story.

He said the post has members from World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War and the Middle East wars.

Stan Smith of Davenport is an Army veteran who served from 1964-67 during the Vietnam War era, but he was stationed elsewhere.

This day is for the veterans, but everyone grieves for loved ones, he said, while enjoying a quiet afternoon at the post's patio. But we lost a lot of veterans. Getting together is pretty much what we do on Memorial Day.

Rolland Cooper of Davenport served 18 months in Vietnam in the Navy.

I have been a member here for 50 years, he said. A lot (of people) believe we sit around and swap war stories, and we don't. We will talk about our lives, our families, whatever. We will talk about things of the war if someone needs to talk.

It is our goal and mission in life that we are to help our veterans and their families to get over things and to heal.

Cooper said the post motto is It is not what you pay for membership; it is about what you paid to be eligible.

Cooper and Strother said sometimes veterans, including those who have served in the Middle East in recent years, need to vent and share their frustrations, fears and feelings. Most members can help those veterans get counseling but also listen to them.

The post also has monthly dinners and breakfasts to raise money, in part, to help others, including fellow veterans, said Cathy Johnstone of Davenport, president of the post's women's auxiliary.

I am not a veteran, but my father was in the service in the Korean War, she said. I love to volunteer, and I got involved about six years ago. I thought it was a great cause to do things for people.

She said both the post and the auxiliary do all types of assistance to others, veterans, their families and other charities.

I appreciate them. I love cooking food for them, she said. And Memorial Day, I think it is a great day to remember.
It is often said that the problem with immigrants is that they're poor and contribute only their cheap labor when they get here.

But rarely discussed is the fact that the United States does a terrible job of enabling the immigrants who already have post-secondary certifications, college degrees and professional work experience to continue their careers once they've arrived.

To start, a foreign-trained professional has to make his or her way to this country legally, navigating the red tape of visas and permissions, and, of course, master the English language. Then they must maneuver the thicket of proving their credentials and work experience.

If you've had to pull copies of your college transcripts in the last few years, you know it couldn't be easier. It's generally a short order on a website and a credit card payment, and you get PDFs within 48 hours.

But if you're an immigrant or a refugee who has arrived here from a war-torn country, one decimated by a natural disaster or from a place where the government bureaucracy is slow and impenetrable, you're in for an uphill battle. Not only to prove your credentials to professional certification boards, but also to show potential employers that you have documented experience.

And then it gets worse.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, there is no single federal structure governing professional certification in regulated occupations. "A profusion of overlapping, sometimes contradictory, local, state or national rules, procedures and examinations makes it complicated, time-consuming and expensive for immigrants and refugees to become recertified in the United States," the institute said in a 2013 report. "The vast patchwork of organizations involved in the credential-recognition process -- from professional associations and state or federal regulatory bodies to credential-assessment services and private- or public-sector employers -- requires considerable effort to understand and work with."

The stereotype of the brilliant, degreed immigrant taxi driver is not an urban myth. Let me introduce you to Guillermo Saavedra Sr., a former college-educated accountant who today works two jobs far below his expertise to keep his family afloat.

"Back in the '90s, things in our native Peru were very difficult, the economy was bad and there was a crisis, so we got visas and came to this country. But it's never how you think it will be," said Saavedra, who settled in Herndon, Virginia. "I was very qualified in my country, but it was the language that was a real challenge. Then you start looking into how to get back into your profession and it's so hard. I asked around and was told I'd have to enroll in college again and study for another two years and it was going to cost thousands of dollars. It really felt impossible."

Saavedra simply couldn't put his family's livelihood on hold, and he took a string of jobs in food service and retail to make ends meet and help his children through college. To this day he works two jobs: one at a McDonald's and one at his local Target store.

"It's not easy and it's a widespread problem -- the immigrants come here and have families, so what are they going to do but take whatever job they can get?" said Saavedra. "It's a problem because we come here as professionals, as engineers, medical staff, but they don't see us that way."

According to the Migration Policy Institute's most recent data on foreign professionals, an estimated 1.9 million college-educated immigrants in the U.S. are working below their educational and skill levels, or are unemployed.

There are no easy fixes to the issue. Even starting by simplifying the recertification processes in high-barrier (and high-need) disciplines like medicine and engineering would require a broad coalition of gatekeepers and licensure organizations to come together and work on system-wide solutions.

And while the benefits to society would be obvious, the problem tends to be seen as a small one affecting a tiny segment of immigrants. Saavedra's son, Guillermo Jr., who contacted me to ask that I speak out on behalf of others like his dad, refers to this blind spot as a "growing problem that has stolen the professional identities of a large portion of the educated immigrant community."

The U.S. is in global competition for talented individuals in disciplines where there are shortages. Surely we can do better than to squander the talents of our own nation's immigrants.
I was about to share my own sob story, when I read that hundreds of passengers missed their flights at Chicago O'Hare International Airport because of hourslong security lines. Many had to sleep on cots overnight, awaiting a morning escape. American Airlines says that in March, about 6,800 travelers missed its flights at the busiest airports for the same reason.

The federal government's failure to provide a crumb of decent service to ordinary travelers can only astonish. Firing a top official at the Transportation Security Administration may have been necessary, but it also feeds into the tale that bureaucratic incompetence is behind every governmental breakdown.

No, money often is -- and the dysfunction of a political class that prefers obsessing about who may use the ladies' room over the hard work of maintaining basic government services. The TSA, for one, has been funded at subsistence levels.

Here are some numbers: In 2011, the TSA employed over 48,000 screeners. Budget cuts later, it is now down to about 42,500. In response to public outrage over scandalously long security lines, Congress just approved spending another $34 million to hire nearly 800 new screeners.

Do the math. Adding 800 new workers would still leave the TSA with about 5,000 fewer screeners than it had five years ago -- and at a time when the number of travelers using U.S. airports is expected to break a record. All this as the mysterious EgyptAir crash raises demands for ever more thorough security checks.

Do you realize what a paltry sum $34 million is in the context of federal spending? The Department of Defense spends almost $58 million every hour. We should also ask how much economic activity is being lost as travelers choose to avoid American airports.

One excuse for slashing the number of TSA workers was the mistaken belief that more Americans would sign up for TSA PreCheck, the expedited screening program. PreCheck vets air travelers in advance, qualifying them for quick lines and less scrutiny at airport security. Apparently, only about 2.7 million people have joined PreCheck thus far.

I am one of them. I spent a morning at a special office where I was interviewed and paid 85 bucks to become a PreCheck member.

And that's why you're going to hear my story, anyway.

LaGuardia has been ranked the second-worst airport in the nation (after Newark Liberty). On its most functional days, LaGuardia has a way of taking its pound of flesh. To avoid maximum hassle, I booked an early Tuesday morning flight out.

The TSA PreCheck line was closed. Thus, I joined the un-pre-screened masses in an hourlong line. "Why no PreCheck line?" I asked the harried TSA woman at the desk in front. Not enough personnel was the answer.

Once past the narrow security desk mouth, I encountered another mob jostling to reach the two screening lanes. The checkpoint had five screening lanes. Three were closed.

Six decades ago, Canadian economist John Kenneth Galbraith wrote of the American experience as one of "private affluence and public squalor."

Think of that. Envision the superrich enjoying seamless luxury travel in their private jets. Now observe the regular folk bearing the gross discomforts of a shabby, underfunded public service. Even a business class ticket doesn't give one wings.

The security line fiasco is a made-in-Washington outrage, a product of budget cutters who know only hatchets. In those surreal hours trying to get out of O'Hare, I doubt anyone gave a darn who was using the women's restroom.
A sign proclaiming Reach for Excellence loomed large over the front of Pleasant Valley High School, and Sunday, its class of 2016 grasped a symbol of that commitment: their diplomas.

Thousands packed into the iWireless Center in Moline for the schools 55th annual commencement. It was a day for tears of joy, proud embraces and recognition of the transition of time and the evolution of character and maturity. It was also a day of laughs and cheers, contemplation and congratulation, with speakers quoting everyone from musician Kanye West to actor Shia LaBeouf.

Clad in blue caps and gowns, the class of 2016 entered the arena to the sounds of The Star-Spangled Banner, and with a palpable buzz of nerves and anticipation took their seats as their high school careers flashed before them.

The mood was more solemn and sentimental as the graduates ascended the stage to get their diplomas to the scattered sounds of cheers from family and friends, as more than a few tears were shed.

Its nice to be going on to something new, but its also a little scary, said Austin Thompson, who will be studying biochemistry at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Were so sheltered in high school, and now were going out into the world without our parents being in town to fall back on. Im nervous, but Im looking forward to the experience."

Brooke Schuler, who will major in health sciences at Iowa State University, said she feels as if high school flew by quickly. Its sad Im not going to see a lot of these people, people Ive grown up with and spent most of my life with. But Im excited to do something different. Im really excited to meet new people and start new friendships at college.

What advice would they give freshmen at PV?

Dont be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and try new things, focus on school and do the best you can, and do everything you can, Schuler said, because it really goes by so fast.

A quote from one of the class speakers resonated strongly with the young men and women as they strode forth into new realms.

While life may seem daunting, said graduate Michael Tilka, its nothing you cant handle.
Custer State Park | The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (GFP) wants to remind all visitors entering Custer State Park this season that buffalo are dangerous and should not be approached.

Custer State Park has experienced an increase in visitor/buffalo interactions with the start of our busy travel season, stated Lydia Austin, interpretive program manager for Custer State Park.

Visitors need to know that buffalo are dangerous and should not be approached. These large animals may appear docile, but they are wild and unpredictable. The safest place to view them is from a vehicle.

Last week, a visitor walked up to a buffalo and patted it on the head. The buffalo, in a defensive move, gored the visitor in the abdomen and tossed them several feet in the air.

The individual was then life-flighted to a Rapid City hospital. Another incident happened this week when a visitor approached a buffalo and was knocked to the ground.

Buffalo are very fickle this time of year as it is calving season and mothers can be very defensive. Visitors are also reminded to leave the baby buffalo alone. They have not been abandoned and can handle the natural elements very well. The park herd manager keeps a close eye on all of the park buffalo, concluded Austin.
Memorial Day has long marked the unofficial start to summer, and with it, a busy travel season quickly ensues. Whether you and your family are hopping in the car this summer for a trip across the state or boarding a plane for an adventure around the country or overseas, safety is rightfully top-of-mind. Everyone who relies on air travel wants peace of mind that airport officials  both in the United States and abroad  are doing everything they can to protect the traveling public and prevent bad actors from doing bad things.

Aviation safety and security was recently thrust back into the national conversation after an EgyptAir flight bound for Cairo, Egypt, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in the middle of the night shortly after entering Egyptian airspace. Until the investigation is complete, no one can say with certainty what brought down the flight and the 66 lives that went with it, but absent clear evidence of a technical failure, terrorism cannot be ruled out. Although no credible claim of responsibility has yet to be made, U.S. and Egyptian officials have already suggested that terrorism or another form of foul play could be to blame for the downed flight.

In the Senate Commerce Committee, which I chair, aviation security has been one of our top priorities. Last December, the Commerce Committee approved legislation I authored that would protect the traveling public by tightening the vetting process for workers who have access to secure areas in airports throughout the country. We also approved an amended version of House legislation to expand PreCheck enrollments that will help shorten TSA screening lines. In April, these measures were included in my bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act of 2016 that the Senate approved by a vote of 95-3.

Also included in the package of security measures, which I co-sponsored with a bipartisan group of senators, including the Commerce Committees ranking member, is a provision that would strengthen security at international airports with direct flights into the United States, also known as last-point-of-departure airports. We must ensure that U.S.-bound flights meet the highest security standards.

Since its impossible to have TSA agents screening passengers outside of the United States at last-point-of-departure airports, our amendment requires the TSA to conduct a security risk assessment in conjunction with domestic and foreign partners, including foreign governments and airlines, and an assessment of TSAs workforce abroad. The amendment also authorizes the TSA to donate security screening hardware to last-point-of-departure airports around the world that currently lack the necessary equipment.

The FAA bill, which contains all of these important security provisions and numerous other reforms, cleared the Senate last month with strong support. Taken together, these security reforms comprise a comprehensive approach to addressing emerging threats.

Its now time for my colleagues in the House of Representatives to take up this bill so we can get meaningful safety and security reforms that can protect air travelers around the United States to the presidents desk without delay.
KATHMANDU, May 30: The parliament meeting obstructed thrice before and rescheduled for 3 pm on Monday, has been obstructed yet again following the objection of the major opposition party.

Speaker of the House Onsari Gharti announced the meeting of the parliament was adjournment until Tuesday morning.

With the announcement, the next Legislature-Parliament shall meet on Tuesday at 11:00 am.

The major opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) has been demanding a probe into the leakage of budget information before its presentation at the parliament on May 28.

The budget estimates for fiscal year 2016/017 amounting to Rs 1.048 trillion was tabled in the parliament by Finance Minister Bishnu Prasad Poudel.

NC claimed that the vital information related to budget were however leaked a day before the formal announcement which is against the norms of Legislature-Parliament.

NC parliaments took the stance that the Legislature-Parliament should not proceed with its business until an inquiry was carried out on the incident.

Parliamentarian Ishowri Poudel termed the act as an underestimation of the jurisdiction of the sovereign Legislature-Parliament.

Speaker Gharti repeatedly asked the opposition's parliamentarians to be seated in their respective place so as to carry on the parliament's business but they continued with their objection, resulting in the adjournment of the parliament meeting until Tuesday morning.

They cited an incident in the UK where one of its Finance Ministers had to render his resignation for leaking vital information related to budget 20 minutes before the formal announcement.

A proposal seeking a theoretical discussion on the budget estimates was scheduled to be presented at the Legislature- Parliament by Finance Minister today but owing to reservations of the major opposition several times, the parliament meeting has been adjourned. RSS
Dawn, May 28, 2016

On this very day, exactly 18 years ago, riotous celebration erupted after Pakistan tested its nuclear weapons. Just 17 days earlier, India had experienced a similar moment. Then, one year later, Pakistan once again saw mass jubilation during the officially sponsored Youm-i-Takbir. But, in sharp contrast, todayas nuclear celebrations are barely audible. One hopes that this signals increased national maturity and sobriety.

From Pakistanas perspective, its nuclear weapons have already delivered by reducing Indiaas willingness and ability to use its superior conventional military capability. Indian restraint during the 1999 Kargil war, the subsequent failure of Indian efforts at coercive diplomacy in 2001a02, and the caution exercised after the 2008 Mumbai attack attest to the central lesson of the nuclear age a it is not worth going to war against a nuclear-armed adversary on anything of less than national life-or-death importance.

Thatas the success part. What of the rest? As readers will surely recall, there were many expectations that went well beyond matching Indiaas bombs. Lest they be forgotten, letas recall what they were and review the report card.

First, the bomb was supposed to ensure Pakistanas security. Post Chagai, it was common to claim that anone may now dare look at Pakistan with evil eyea . But this was shallow rhetoric. In 2016, Pakistan is threatened not so much by India as by a multitude of Islamist militant groups that are waging bloody war against our state and society. In the last decade, the Pakistan army has lost more soldiers to terrorism than in all four wars against India. Nuclear bombs are useless against terrorists.

The atomic bomb was supposed to create a state of bliss. Unsurprisingly that didnat happen.

The bombs proved equally useless in stopping the drone that took out Mullah Mansour a few days ago, or the team of SEALs that hunted down Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad. Apart from issuing sullen remarks about the violation of its sovereignty, Pakistan could do nothing to challenge American power.

Second, ever since the first bomb was ready (1987), it was hoped that the bomb would resolve the Kashmir dispute in Pakistanas favour. Protected by nuclear weapons, Pakistan could support militant groups to wage a low-cost war against Indian forces based in Kashmir, raising the cost of Indian occupation.

For fear of triggering nuclear confrontation, India would be deterred from launching cross-border retaliatory raids. The term anuclear flashpointa for Kashmir reverberated in the international press. The hope here was that Western intermediaries would step in and force India to the bargaining table.

It didnat work. After an initial period of worry, international interest in intervening in the Kashmir dispute waned. The UN no longer pays any attention to the matter. Today, the wisest option for Pakistan would be to stick to its officially declared policy of providing moral and diplomatic support a but no clandestine military support a to those Kashmiris who bravely resist Indian occupation. Else, how can it reasonably protest Indian support to Baloch separatists? Condemn Kulbhushan Jadhav and his associates?

Third, the euphoria created by the nuclear tests was expected to create a new national spirit. The euphoric press compared this historical moment with the birth of Pakistan in 1947. TV programmes of that time show Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulating cheering citizens. To bear the pain of Western sanctions, he promised strict personal and public austerity. Henceforth grand public buildings a including the prime ministeras house a would be converted into schools and womenas universities.

Long before Panama, this became unbelievable. The fact is that such euphoric moments are strictly temporary. Once the excitement of the blast fades, harsh realities inevitably set in. May 28 did not end Pakistanas struggle to discover an identity and national purpose or help it overcome deep provincial, religious, ethnic, and linguistic divisions. Beyond hoping for Chinese largesse, it does not have a programme for economic growth to meet the needs of an exploding population.

Fourth, now a country that was both nuclear and Muslim, Pakistan hoped to emerge as a leader among Islamic countries, standing tall alongside the much older, more established, and much richer Muslim nations. It also sought to become their defender.

The notion of creating a common defence for the ummah was vigorously promoted by numerous Islamist parties in Pakistan, most notably the Jamaat-i-Islami. Carrying cardboard replicas of the Shaheen and Ghauri missiles through the streets, they claimed the bomb was for Islam rather than just Pakistan. Much of the media was also enthusiastic about expanding the appeal of the bomb.

Indeed, Muslim nations as diverse as Iran and Saudi Arabia were delighted at Pakistanas success. Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi flew over to congratulate Pakistan. Saudi Arabia went further; it provided Pakistan with 50,000 barrels per day of free oil to help it cope with the international sanctions triggered by nuclear tests.

But those moments have long passed. The notion of the ummah has evaporated as Muslims fight Muslims in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Turkey and Libya. Nothing suggests that this is temporary. Iran and Saudi Arabia are at daggers drawn, and the Pakistan-Iran relationship simmers with hostility. Today, Israel and Saudi Arabia are virtual allies with Pakistan drawing ever closer to the latter. The notion that Pakistanas bomb could be directed against Israel has become unbelievable.

Fifth, and finally, the bomb was supposed to transform Pakistan into a technologically and scientifically advanced country. Amazingly, both India and Pakistan forgot something basic a making nuclear weapons many decades after they were first made is a highly unconvincing claim to technological prowess. Even poor North Korea, known for its cartoon-boy dictator a but not for new science a has conducted four nuclear tests and boasts of ICBM capability.

The atomic bomb was supposed to create a state of bliss. Unsurprisingly that didnat happen. Indeed, Pakistanas security problems cannot be solved by expanding its missile fleet, buying more F-16s, or developing tactical nuclear weapons. Instead, the way forward lies in building a sustainable and active democracy, an economy for peace rather than war, a federation in which provincial grievances can be effectively resolved, elimination of the feudal order, and creating a tolerant society that respects the rule of law.

The writer teaches physics in Lahore and Islamabad.
sacw.net

PEOPLEaS ALLIANCE FOR DEMOCRACY AND SECULARISM (PADS)

Press Statement

30 May 2016

Peoplesa Alliance for Democracy and Secularism Condemns Fundamentalist Violence in South Asia

The past few years have seen an alarming increase in violent attacks on the democratic rights of ordinary people all over South Asia. Fundamentalist groups are attacking and/or killing people whom they perceive to be challenging their beliefs, or hurting their sentiments. For the past two years India has had a Central government that has fraternal relations with fundamentalist Hindutva groups that are widely perceived to be sympathetic to or involved in violence. There is no lack of revenge-filled rhetoric from representatives of and/or allies of the ruling dispensation. Cattle traders have been attacked and killed in the name of protecting cows. A man was killed in his home because of rumours that he was eating beef. Three well-known elderly intellectuals: Dr Dabholkar, Dr Panasare and Prof Kalburgi were murdered for holding views on religion that displeased certain fanatics, and more than a year later the police have not tracked down the culprits. Localised violence against ordinary citizens of minorities, and oppressed strata continues.

The past year has also seen brutal attacks in Bangladesh. Islamist fundamentalist forces have expanded their target beyond secular authors and bloggers. The most recent killings have involved academics who may have promoted folk music, gay rights activists, student activists and ordinary Hindu and Buddhist citizens of Bangladesh. Citizens of Pakistan have been facing fundamentalist violence for many decades. Even provincial governors and ministers have been killed by extremists. The most recent attacks have been on a polio vaccination center, a university, gatherings of religious minorities and sects within Islam, and on human rights activists, lawyers, and trans-genders.

Religious fundamentalists are on rampage in all the countries in South Asia. Their ideas and organizational methods are no secret. They do not believe in the equality of all citizens, nor that people have a right to differing beliefs. They do not respect the ideal of a non-violent and/or legal resolution of conflicts. All countries of South Asia now have popularly elected governments, which do at least pay lip service to democracy. Every attack produces popular revulsion, and in many cases has led to protests in solidarity with the victims. If fundamentalist violence continues despite this, we must conclude that the entire region is faced with deep political crisis.

It would seem that the authorities all over South Asia have stopped protecting citizens against fundamentalist violence. Instead of catching the killers, the Bangladesh government is arresting bloggers under Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act. After the murder of secular blogger Nazimuddin Samad, the Bangladesh Home Minister remarked that no one has the right to attack religious leaders and that the bloggeras writings will be scrutinized by the government. In India, while cattle traders are being killed, BJP-led state governments are criminalising cow slaughter, indicating that for them that protecting cows is more important than upholding the criminal justice system as regards human beings.

The degradation of Indian justice over the years, and especially under the current government, indicates the criminalization of the polity and a creeping ideological coup daetat against the Constitution. The violent assaults upon the JNU president by pro-BJP lawyers inside court premises in Delhi in February; the fact that numbers of witnesses in the Ajmer Dargah (2007) and Samjhauta (2007) blast cases have rapidly turned hostile; that the chief public prosecutor in the Malegaon blast case stated that the NIA asked her to go soft on the accused a all this indicates that the Modi government wishes to encourage the criminal conduct of members of the Hindutva political fraternity. The turn-around by the NIA in the Malegaon blast case and asking for the acquittal of Sadhavi Pragya and others, is the latest and most obvious face of this degradation. They have gone so far as to accused the late IPS officer Hemant Karkare of fabricating evidence against Hindutva activists a an allegation that has shocked retired and serving members of the police officer cadre.

Communal bias in the functioning of the police, investigative agencies, prosecution and lower judiciary is an alarming phenomenon. This degradation creates an environment in which violent fundamentalist forces feel safe and secure. But we should remember that such violence does enjoy some popularity and/or silent complicity. The political culture of South Asia appears to be moving towards the normalization of violence, especially violence in the name of religion. The countries of the region have suffered much sectarian violence in the past, including the violence and forced migrations of 1947, and communal killings since then. Mass culture has deep patriarchal and caste-related roots. Economic, political and geo-strategic developments in the entire region have not led to more humane institutional arrangements, but rather, pushed these societies in an anti-democratic direction. Such changes have variable causes in the different countries of the region. India possesses a constitution, which despite its flaws, remains democratic in its basic structure. This statute is under attack from a section of the ruling elite. A focus on the independence of the judiciary and upholding of the rule of law are essential components of the struggle to resist fascism and to defend democracy. This struggle will need to be carried out at various levels, inside families, mohallas, educational institutions, and through popular protests and mobilizations.

Democratic forces also need to address the relationship of the neo-liberal economic order with the recent regressive turn. The collapse of public education and the shift towards commercialized education has encouraged the spread of religion-based educational activity among marginalized communities and the poor. Marketisation of education also encourages depoliticisation of those who can pay for it. The same is true of privatisation of health, disaster relief or social welfare. The neo-liberal political economic order is an attack on the rights of citizens to education, health, employment benefits and self-organisation.

Democratic and secular forces of South Asia cannot remain content with demanding incremental advances, rather it is time to stop a dangerous slide. People of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Nepal need to begin a cooperative dialogue for the cultural isolation of fundamentalist and revengeful ideas; the political isolation of authoritarian forces and for democratic unity at the broadest level. The defence of democracy in India includes struggle against patriarchy, caste oppression and for the economic welfare of workers, self employed persons and peasants. The struggle against fundamentalism needs to develop a vision of popular democracy that goes beyond the market-driven logic of neo-liberalism, and that is grounded in the principle of the political equality of every citizen.

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The Fair Hill Races. Who knew?



The answer to that question is "plenty of Marylanders", and after this past Saturday "this blogger too!".







The Fair Hill Races. An incredibly exciting and relaxing day of racing and friends (all at the same time) in the magnificent rolling hills and uniquely Maryland farmland of almost Delaware and Pennsylvania.









Thanks to my friend and colleague at WBAL Radio, Jacob Young, I now have a new place to go each and every Saturday after the 3rd

Saturday in May.





It was the invitation from Jake for me to join him and his family at Fair Hill that I am so thankful for as it was a very special day at the races I will never forget







For 82 years now folks from all walks of life have been flocking to the pristine 5,600 acre former estate of the late William duPont, Jr. for a late spring day filled with all thats good about racing and the Thoroughbred industry in Maryland.



Some 82 years later, the Fair Hill Races still exudes the classic comfrotable feel that something tells me Mr DuPont intended when he and his friends first started gathering for a day at the races like no other.







Were talking an old school the turf course, where steeplechase, timber course and flat races are held each and every Memorial Day weekend with pari-mutuel wagering to boot! Thats right. Its only Steeplechase race in the country to offer para mutuel betting.







Mike Hopkins of the Maryland Racing Commission brings the best of the best from behind the Pimlico and Laurel Park betting windows to this picturesque Maryland farmland bordered by Pennsylvania to the north and Delaware to the west. Lets say if you stand at the top of the cool grandstands along the stretch at Fair Hill it feesls like you can reach out and touch both PA and DE!







Charm is the word that might just best describe the Fair Hill Races experience.







The charm of the horses seemingly floating over sprawling dark green turf course.



The charm of the beautiful horses.



The charm of their talented jockeys in their colorful silks



The charm of the betting windows in the long narrow barn behind the grandstand.



The charm of the wooden grandstands.



The charm of the picnics packed by race fans on the grass apron that lines the turf course.



The charm of the tailgating at the top of the stretch.







The charm of the open air paddock thats in the shadows of the Tea Barn behind the clubhouse turn.







The charm of #10 tickets and $5 programs you can pick up at local establishments like Wesleys on your way. Tickets that let you go just about anywhere you want and programs that include all the information any handicapper could ever want before making their wagers.







The charm of so many people, both young and old and all ages in between, enjoying what is a celebration of so much that is so good about Thoroughbred racing in our great state.



You get the picture!







With upwards of 12,000 folks enjoying it all each year, its Cecil Countys largest single annual one day event that attracts both Fair Hill Races regulars and newcomers each and every year.



Over the last 14 years while covering all thats horse racing for WBAL Radio, this blogger has often driven past the home of the Fair Hill Races as Ive gone to cover stories about the likes of Graham Motion, Mike Matz at the Fair Hill Training Center across the road.



Trips to Fair Hill to visit the likes of Barbaro back in 2006 and Animal Kingdom a few years later in 2011.



And during each of those trips to Fair Hill, this blogger always wondered what a day at the races would be like on that Saturday after the Preakness on Memorial Day weekend at the Fair Hill Races.



Well now I know!







Its everything that I could have ever dreamed of, and more.



Just standing there along the rail of the turf course during the Fair Hill Races as the mighty Thoroughbreds and their jockeys strode by not only put a smile on my face at least a furlong wide, it also took my breath away with the power that I felt from those horses just a few yards away all while enjoying some sweet action at the betting windows making it an experience that I cant wait to share with Jacob and his family all over again nest year.





Purchased by the state in 1975 from Mr. duPont's estate, Fair Hill was a bargain at any price as we are so lucky that this Natural Resources Management Area is maintained under the watchful eye of the Department of Natural Resources so Marylanders like us can enjoy it year after year.







Thanks to everyone who puts in the very long hours to make sure the Fair Hill Races are the best they can be year after year after year. And to wrap things up in a nice pretty bow, The Fair Hill Races benefit Cecil Countys Union Hospital!





The Cecil County Breeders Fair Board who run the Fair Hill Races must be very proud of this great event that they put on each year.





Some nice 20-something young men and young women were enjoying themselves behind us on the grass apron. Talking them up I asked if they were students from one of the near-by colleges (like Delaware)? No they said. In fact they were friends from Rising Sun High School who get together for a yearly reunion in their own backyard each spring at the Fair Hill Races! Cool!







As a Marylander Im proud to have finally experienced the Fair Hill races experience and hope that you can, just like this blogger, check it out for yourself some day and enjoy all that the Fair Hill Races have to offer!

Let me welcome you to the Fair Hill Races!
SOUTH HAVEN, Ind. | Misdemeanor marijuana possession charges against Chicago rapper Twista and two others also arrested in northwestern Indiana in March have been dropped.

Porter County Prosecutor Brian Gensel says the charges were dropped when the vehicle's driver admitted it was his marijuana and pleaded guilty.

The arrests happened while Twista, whose legal name is Carl Mitchell, and others were headed to a show in South Haven.

Police said a half-ounce of marijuana was found hidden in a fake can inside the vehicle.

Twista issued a statement at the time saying police should focus on more serious crimes, comparing being arrested for marijuana to being arrested for jaywalking.
It's wedding season and as many couples get ready to say their vows, they may want to have a talk about fidelity  financial fidelity.

A study by Harris Poll for the National Endowment for Financial Education finds that two in five Americans who have combined finances admit to lying to their partner or hiding information about money matters. And it's on the rise  42 percent of those surveyed admitted to financial infidelity compared to 33 percent just two years ago.

It could be something as minor as hiding a recent purchase or something more significant, like hiding a bank account. There are sometimes pleasant surprises, such as money set aside for a gift or trip, but those who study the matter say it's typically more devious. And experts warn that financial deception, no matter the scale, can cause damage  or even end  a relationship.

NEFE found that the most common offense is that of hiding something: 39 percent have hid a purchase, bank account, statement, bill or cash from their partner. A smaller percentage committed more serious deception: 16 percent have lied about the amount of debt they have or even how much they earn.

"When you agree to combine finances in a relationship, you are also agreeing to a certain degree of cooperation and transparency in your money management," Ted Beck, president and CEO of NEFE said in a statement. "Yet we're seeing the implicit promise of collaboration destroyed by financial game playing."

It's easy to conceal the information in the digital age  receipts can be texted and credit card statements can be emailed, leaving less of a paper trail.

While that is a component, NEFE spokesman Paul Golden says it's difficult to say exactly why financial infidelity is on the rise. What the organization does know is that it's more likely to occur in relationships where finances are combined and only one person assumes responsibility for managing the money. Golden said having both people involved creates a system of "checks and balances."

The issue of deception appears to run across all the board. About 46 percent of men have committed an act of financial deception and 38 percent of women. And while it happens at all ages, the practice appears more common among younger adults, with 61 percent of those ages 18 to 34 admitting to the act.

The problems often don't surface until a major event, like buying a home, car or refinancing, forces it out. Some respondents didn't find out about hidden spending habits till their divorce proceedings and or after the death of their partner.

The NEFE found that most of the time the deception undermines the relationship  causing arguments, mistrust and even divorce. Although a small percentage of respondents said it brought them closer because it forced them to face their financial issues together.

Money is a common topic for arguments in relationships, notes Sonya Britt, an associate professor of personal financial planning at Kansas State University who specializes in financial therapy, which she suggests for all soon-to-be wed couples. Her research has found that arguing about money is one of the top predictors for divorce.

"We are socialized to not talk about money," Britt said. "When (couples) are dating, they are not having the conversations they need to about money. So when they are sharing a household they are facing it more intensely."

As with many things in relationships, communication is key.

Whether a couple is just getting started or is trying to recover from a financial infidelity, the recommended steps are similar: Start with an open conversation, get on the same page and follow up regularly.

That's not to say that couples need to report every dime they spend. NEFE says each couple needs to find a budgeting and money-management system that works for them. And the threshold for what can be spent without checking in with the other varies with each couple.

There is some good news for recent newlyweds. Research by credit reporting bureau Experian found that couples who have gotten married after the recession are more apt to talk about finances early on. But Sandra Bernardo, manager of consumer education at Experian, says they still aren't talking to the extent they should.

"(Money is) a major dynamic in a marriage and you need to think about your goals," she said. "And sooner or later you need to talk about it and address it, and it's better to do that sooner."
SEATTLE  When babies in poor countries cant breast-feed, the results can be deadly, but a trio of researchers has found an innovative way to help.

Experts at the University of Washington, Seattle Childrens and the nonprofit global health organization PATH have spent the past five years developing a small spouted feeding cup aimed at preventing millions of high-risk infants in the developing world from starving.

We had this idea and weve been waiting for this opportunity, said Patricia Coffey, an expert in neonatal health technologies at PATH.

Inventors of the NIFTY cup announced at the Women Deliver conference in Copenhagen this month that they will collaborate with Laerdal Global Health, a nonprofit manufacturer, to put the cups in the hands of hospital workers in Africa by later this year.

We are quite excited about this partnership, said Tore Laerdal, the firms managing director, who estimated the cups will sell for about $1 apiece.

The partnership is the next step in whats expected to be widespread use of the NIFTY cup  formally known as the Neonatal Intuitive Feeding Technology  a soft, silicone bowl with a tiny reservoir and spout aimed at helping premature infants and those born with problems such as cleft palate.

A normal newborn has the developmental skills to suck, swallow and breathe in a coordinated manner, said Dr. Christy McKinney, an acting assistant professor at the University of Washingtons School of Dentistry.

A preterm infant developmentally doesnt have all those pieces in place.

About 7.6 million preterm babies born in Africa and Asia each year have trouble feeding, PATH experts said.

Babies with cleft palates cant generate suction because of the disorder and often have trouble using bottles, too.

Families and health care workers in low-income countries typically try to feed such babies using whatever is available  coffee cups, medicine cups, even clean urine-collection cups  with disappointing results.

Babies often cough or choke on the milk or aspirate, said McKinney. Spillage is a huge issue. Most cups spill about a third of the breast milk.

With such tiny infants, losing even two teaspoons of milk per feeding can make the difference between adequate nutrition and starvation, the experts said.

In contrast, the NIFTY cups spout is designed to allow a mother to express breast milk directly into the bowl and then fit it to a babys mouth. The cups reservoir and spout allow the infant to control the pace of the feeding, suckling almost normally, said Dr. Michael Cunningham, director of the craniofacial center at Seattle Childrens.

The cup was designed for what babies do, he said.
Before Judge Jeffrey Neary

David Robert Turner Jr., 41, Ida Grove, Iowa, escape; sentenced May 25, five years.

Jaasiel Munoz, 29, St. Paul, Minnesota, drug tax stamp violation; sentenced May 25, five years prison suspended, two years probation.

Before Senior Judge Gary Wenell

Keith Buchanan, 27, Sioux City, operating a vehicle without owner's consent, operating while intoxicated; sentenced May 23, two years prison suspended on operating without consent charge, two days jail for OWI, two years probation.

Christian Jon Lopez, 19, Sergeant Bluff, second-degree theft, credit card fraud; sentenced May 23, deferred judgment, two years probation.

Taylor Joseph McKenna, 20, Sioux City, second-degree theft, credit card fraud; sentenced May 23, deferred judgment, two years probation.

Omar Munoz, 19, Sloan, Iowa, second-degree theft, credit card fraud; sentenced May 23, deferred judgment, two years probation.

Zedekiah Douglas Kurtz, 31, Sioux City, second-degree theft (two counts); sentenced May 24, 10 years prison.

Elliott Allan Pedroza, 32, Sioux City, possession of a controlled substance -- third violation; sentenced May 24, five years prison.

Andrew J. Frederick, 32, Sergeant Bluff, failure to register as a sexual offender -- second offense; sentenced May 25, five years prison.

Emanual Lewis Pleitez, 30, Sioux City, possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance; sentenced May 25, 10 years prison.

Before Judge Steven Andreasen

Victor Damian Lira Jr., 21, Sioux City, operating while intoxicated -- third offense, possession of a controlled substance -- third violation, failure to appear; sentenced May 24, five years in OWI continuum, five years prison suspended, three years probation.
SIOUX CITY | Marty Pottebaum is mounting a rare intraparty challenge to a sitting member of the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors.

Pottebaum claims 12-year incumbent supervisor Mark Monson turned his back on the other two Democrats on the five-member board by forming a coalition with first-term Republicans Jeremy Taylor and Matthew Ung.

In short, Pottebaum argues Monson isn't acting like a Democrat.

Monson, of Sergeant Bluff, brushed aside the charge.

"I've been (a Democrat) my whole life," Monson said, adding that the decisions that supervisors make don't break down on political party lines.

"We don't deal with political issues. We need to get things done and, guess what, we've gotten things done," he said.

It is the first time in at least 25 years that a Democratic incumbent Woodbury County supervisor has an opponent from the same party. Because no Republican has filed for the District 3 seat, the winner of the Democratic primary on June 7 would have a clear path to a four-year term.

Pottebaum, a retired Sioux City police officer, said his opposition to Monson is not a sour grapes payback for losing his job as a courthouse security chief.

In April 2015, the county supervisors ended a yearlong struggle, when the security oversight shifted from the Human Resources Department to the Sheriff's Office.

Monson, who voted for the change, said the swap would be an improvement because the security workers will be sworn peace officers who can carry weapons and have full arrest powers.

"When they fired me, it was personal, it was simply because I was a Democrat. They will tell you different," said Pottebaum, a retired Sioux City police officer and former Sioux City council member.

Pottebaum said that can be demonstrated because all other existing security workers were kept on. County Sheriff Dave Drew reported he offered Pottebaum one of the part-time positions but he declined. Monson said the security duties are best overseen by the sheriff.

Monson said he's performed well as a supervisor, and Pottebaum is running because "he's not happy with (the security move) decision."

Pottebaum derogatorily pointed to Monson as chairman in 2015 giving Smith and Clausen comparably fewer committee assignments for the year, which was out of line to their years of experience. He said county Democrats have noticed the snubs.

"This is kind of funny, he is a Democrat and he won't include the other Democrats," Pottebaum said.

Monson, 70, is a former educator and Area Education Agency administrator who retired in 2003. He won his first four-year supervisor term in 2004, and serves on many county committees.

Monson is also president of Missouri River Historical Development, Inc., the nonprofit group that holds the state gaming license for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sioux City and distributes a share of casino revenues to local charitable and governmental organizations.

The county board, Monson said, has accomplished more in the last year and a half than in his first decade on the county board. He pointed to county budgets that reduced property tax rates the last two years, ongoing work to modernize the Woodbury County Courthouse and discussions of expanding the number of jail cells at the Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center.

Monson said a key recent development is that the county, city of Sioux City and Siouxland Chamber of Commerce are working with the best cooperation in his tenure.

"That just hasn't been there until the last year and a half...The first 10 years, we fought with the city and chamber," Monson said.

Pottebaum, 63, was born in Remsen, Iowa, and was raised in Sioux City. He won a four-year term on the Sioux City Council in the late 1990s, and unsuccessfully ran for Woodbury County sheriff in 2012.

While serving on the council, Pottebaum said key accomplishments were upgrading the city's warning siren system and helping create the downtown Public Safety Memorial, helping end the chasm of initial thought that police and fire officials should have separate memorials.

Pottebaum was a Sioux City police officer for 18 years, where he served as a key official on the officers' union group. He said police officers learn how to be good mediators in difficult situations, which is a skill he said would serve him well as a county supervisor.

"I am good at bringing together people who don't want to be brought together... I know how to lead, to get people to work together toward the common good," he said.
CHEROKEE, Iowa | Rescue agencies scoured a portion of the Little Sioux River Saturday evening after a 16-year-old male kayaker was reported missing near Martin's Access Country Park around 8 p.m.

According to a news release from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, the teen had been kayaking south along the river with three other kayakers. He had paddled out of sight of the group, and when the group left the river as planned at Martin's Access, they were unable to find him.

Officers and deputies from nine local law enforcement and rescue agencies were notified. A kayak was eventually located by air. The kayaker was soon found by a firefighter and a deputy and was rescued from the water, the release said.

He was reported as found at 9:20 p.m., according to the Iowa State Patrol.

Agencies involved included the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, Larrabee Fire Department, Cherokee fire and police departments, Aurelia Police Department, O'Brien County Sheriff's Office, Plymouth County dive team, Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa State Patrol.
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SIOUX CITY | For 85-year-old Leon Pfotenhauer, Memorial Day is a time of solemn remembrance. It's also a day that instills him with pride in his country's future.

Standing in the shadow of the Tower of Legends at Memorial Park Cemetery Monday morning, the Korean War veteran said as he reflects on his fallen brethren, he is encouraged by the meaning of their sacrifices, and soldiers who are carrying on their fight.

It makes me very proud of the men that are serving now, and the lives that were spent before," he said.

Pfotenhauer was among dozens of Siouxlanders who visited the Morningside cemetery Monday morning for the American Legion Post 697s annual Memorial Day program. The Legion ceremony was one of several that honored America's fallen servicemen and servicewomen throughout Siouxland Monday.

The ceremony featured the singing of The Star-Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful, a rifle salute by the posts color guard, and addresses by Charlie Stone of KSCJ and U.S. Rep. Steve King, of Kiron.

Stone and King both spoke on the sacrifice of Americas armed forces members, as well as the responsibility of todays Americans to honor those sacrifices by holding tight to the values they died for.

Those who are buried here in this cemetery and across this land call upon us to rise to a higher challenge, King said. They call upon us to exercise this God-given liberty and defend this God-given liberty for the succeeding generations.

Stone also said when it comes to honoring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, words are often not enough.

I dont know if those words exist that can match the endeavors of all these men and women, that can match the heroism, the determination, and what they stood for, he said.

Post 697 Commander Dave Binder said Memorial Day has a special meaning for him and his family. Binder served as a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War and is the son and father of servicemen.

"As a post, its very important to honor this day," Binder said. "We have these freedoms in our country because of what our military has sacrificed. Thats really what it is.

As dozens of flags lined the cemetery's driveway, fluttering in a light wind under a sunny sky, King remarked it was the most beautiful he had ever seen the cemetery.

Binder said he was pleased with the clear weather for this year's event, as well as an increased turnout from last year.
There are many fitness goals out there that we desire. Some of us want to be leaner and others wish to put on muscle mass. The thing is, for you to achieve your fitness goals, you need to
The fracturing of the political spectrum did not happen overnight, experts said, stressing that the reason is that the two parties are not paying enough attention to the voters' expectations.

The two political parties are growing old and out of touch with what a lot of voters want. For example, the Republican Party is in denial with regard to climate change. The Democrats have refused to tackle America's long term fiscal challenges, Wheelan said.

Jeffrey Sommers sees the reasons in the economic crisis that started in the 1970s, and was never tackled properly.

He explained that when in the crisis started 40 years ago, the solution to it was financialization of the US economy, moving away from its previous strength in manufacturing, and toward new advantages in finance.

How this played politically and why this has all come to a head now with this very presidential election and this fracturing of the political system  you now have a significant majority in the United States that no longer believes in the politicians, they are frustrated with our politicians, they are frustrated with our living standards that have been declining, that is not only the wages that have been going down, but there is not enough hours in the day to keep working to overcome the lower pay and the expectation of trying to maintain a certain living standard, Sommers said.

What to Expect From 2016 Vote

Given the fact that the US presidential election is taking place amid deep divisions in the views of the electorate, it is likely to bring major political changes, experts stressed.

The central point is that we are seeing the unraveling of American duopoly; the two parties are very unstable at the moment. And the American people are finally entirely frustrated with both of them and this is why Donald Trump could win, Sommers noted.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The 46-year-old woman was swimming with a friend at a beach early on Sunday, when was taken away by a crocodile, as she started to scream and was dragged deep into the water. The friend tried to help, but did not succeed. Currently, the friend is being treated for grazes and shock at a hospital, according to the broadcaster.

"It's certainly very, very concerning at this stage and we would hold grave fears for the welfare of the woman," Senior Constable Russell Parker was quoted by the ABC broadcaster as saying.

Police said they had used rescue helicopter to try to locate the woman, but could not find her. The rescue workers anticipate that the woman might be dead, by the search operation is still underway, and was joined by the local volunteers.
According to the Peoples Daily, China has been successful in developing nuclear technologies with launches of missiles from both under water and from land. The reports adds that the survival capability of China's nuclear force has been improved.

History shows that balanced power better contributes to peace. China should increase its number of nuclear weapons, and enhance their survival power and capability to hit the targets. It is the most important foundation of China's national security, reported the Daily.

Earlier, the Pentagon projected that China will probably conduct its first nuclear deterrence patrol sometime in 2016. However, the exact start date is yet to be announced.
He expressed confidence about the prospects of this tourism, saying that, many people are interested in having a look at the mysterious islands, website China Daily reported.

The journey will take 13 hours to arrive at the Paracel Islands and the company also plans to start more cruises connecting Sanya with Southeast Asian nations throughout the South China Sea.

Meanwhile, the construction of the Sanya Phoenix Island International Cruise Terminal is in its second phase. The project has an investment of 18 billion yuan ($2.75 billion) and will enable the port to receive 2 million tourists annually, making it one of the busiest cruise ports in Asia.
Aarti, 23, was travelling by train from Gwalior, a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, to Samalkha, a town in the Indian state of Haryana, when she asked for help. The train was asked to make an emergency stop at Delhi's Subzi Mandi station. A police van drove up to the platform as other travelers carried Aarti, who was about to deliver, out of the train.

Head constable Sanjeev and constable Sanjay took the woman into the van where she gave birth around 5 a.m. local time. The police officers also arranged towels and hot water for the child. The cops then drove to the Hindu Rao hospital, where doctors confirmed that both the mother and the new born were in good health.

The police are expected to receive an award, Delhi Police Chief of Security, Operations, Armed Police and Recruitment units Sanjay Beniwal told the media.
Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and her junior minister V K Singh on Monday met with several African envoys and assured them the government will ensure the safety and security of their citizens.

The meeting comes after the horrific murder of Congolese national Masonda Ketada Oliver, who was beaten to death last week in the Vasant Kunj region of South Dehli.

Earlier on Monday, Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary Birendra Yadav met Oliver's family at the Delhi airport and conveyed condolences of the Indian government. He also informed the family members that Indian government will bear all expenses related to transfer of Oliver's remains.
India has also been raising the issue of cross-border infiltration by terrorists from Pakistan, with the attendant supporting fire for cover by the Rangers.

The Indian side will also raise the issue of drug smuggling that has seen a rise along the Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Punjab. Furthermore, India will also raise the issue of arms smuggling.

The biannual meeting between the BSF and Pakistan Rangers was held up on political grounds. New Delhi had put a caveat on the CBM by stating that the host, Pakistan, would have to give positive response to the Pathankot airbase terrorist attack probe. This investigation had witnessed a rare permission granted to officials from Islamabad to visit the site of the major military installation.

The last meeting between the two border forces was held in Delhi in September 2015.
According to NTV television, an improvised bomb placed in a sewer exploded on a street of the Silopi township as a police car was passing by. There are five policemen among the wounded.

Authorities suspect Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) involvement in the attack, NTV said.
Mass migration and the asylum crisis have utterly breached the contract between the EU elites and the ruled. EU Societies are polarized between those idealists and opportunists who adhere to the Wilkommenskultur and the millions of diehard refuseniks who see mass migration as a threat to their identity, political rights, and security.

The feeling of frustration is immense as indigenous EU citizens must grapple with statistics that predict they will be reduced to minority status in their own countries by 2050.

As a result, millions feel they have been betrayed by the elites who have shoved rapid and unwanted cultural change down their throats. Ordinary working people are becoming more fearful, more disgusted, and more convinced that they have no voice.

Patriotic Surge: In recent national elections the Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) narrowly missed the presidency in a second round of voting by just 35,000 votes with 35.1%. The Swiss Peoples Party polled 29% and Hungarys Jobbik and the Danish Peoples Party are at 21% respectively. Most euroskeptic voters are blue collar workers who pay the highest price- victimized by EU imposed migrant quotas and the radical ideology of multiculturalism.

With migrant crime soaring and terrorists infiltrating the multitudes traipsing north, suspicion has fallen upon the EU elites with claims that the crisis is orchestrated by Trotskyites in suits, like Federica Mogherini, who have colluded with NATO to siphon almost a million bored young men of fighting age into Europes heartland. Mogherini, the EU foreign minister, believes not just in open borders, but in a firm alliance between the EU Socialists and Islamism.

In June 2015, she stated: "I am not afraid to say that political Islam should be part of the picture. Religion plays a role in politics  not always for good, not always for bad. Religion can be part of the process. What makes the difference is whether the process is democratic or not."

The EU believes it can ride the Islamist tiger to a point where Leftist power is consolidated at the grassroots level, where popular democracy through the activation of Islamist supporters ensures EU dominance- even as white working class voters desert the socialist parties just as they are fleeing the urban areas with their immigrant-dominated no go zones. And if this means the enhancement of western geopolitical influence in North Africa and the Middle East then all the better.

Viewed from this perspective, the EUs fake tolerance suddenly begins to look like a strategic political calculation that victimizes both its own citizens and millions of hapless migrants. But make no mistake, for both the European Union and NATO- its a double win.
VIENNA (Sputnik)  European partners have not sent any type of signals of their desire to renew energy dialogue with Russia, though Moscow is ready, Russian Envoy to International Organizations Vladimir Voronkov said.

In other words, were ready for [energy dialogue] to be renewed, but this depends on the European Unions readiness to continue, Voronkov told RIA Novosti in an interview.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier that energy dialogue with the European Union is absent.
"The record high import volumes from Russia were likely fueled by independent refiners, who are storing oil that they had earlier purchased at lower flat prices," a trader with a Chinese company told Reuters.

Another source said that the demand for Russia crude is expected to drop in June because refiners would decrease purchases due to the higher oil prices.

Independent refiners have long been an important client for the Russian-produced ESPO crude due to low transportation costs and small cargo size, according to Reuters.

RBC Capital Markets commodity strategist Michael Tran told BI that Russia had become the "biggest rival to the Saudis in the single-largest oil demand growth country in the world."

"Is there a sense of urgency from the Saudis? You bet," he wrote.

Earlier, many experts noted that the key factor behind Russias success in the Chinese crude market was its readiness for yuan-denominated payments for oil. Riyadh is not ready to accept the Chinese currency and uses only US dollars.
"Trade between Russia and Algeria has grown <> consistently for the past years. Only five years ago it stood at just 200 million dollars, now it stands at 1 billion dollars, and we are expecting better figures in the coming years," Allaoua said.

The Africa Day celebrates the unity of the African countries and commemorates the founding of the Organisation of African Unity, now known as African Union, on May 25, 1963.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russia may sign the first contract on the delivery of multipurpose amphibious Beriev Be-200 aircraft with Indonesia, President of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) Yury Slyusar said Monday.

"We have noted a significant interest [in Be-200] from the foreign customers. Sadly, as for now, this interest has not transformed into real contracts. We hope that a contract for the delivery of planes with Indonesia will become one of the first technical cooperation contracts," Slyusar told journalists.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  South Sudan looks forward to a renewal of economic ties with Russia, he emphasized, noting that Russian companies had conducted extensive feasibility studies of South Sudan's energy and mineral deposits prior to the country's independence in 2011, after which the sub-Saharan landlocked country plunged into civil war and a conflict with its neighbor Sudan.

"We have other [non-oil] resources that can be tapped, and we would like Russia to participate in that, especially in the mineral sector, and we have the mineral sector, and we have already had extensive contacts with leading Russian companies, notably GazpromWe have been in touch with them, they are interested to invest in the petroleum sector," Nhial said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

In January, South Sudans former Foreign Minister Benjamin Barnaba said that Russian diplomatic efforts helped bring the two countries back on track toward reconciliation.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On May 19, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, and Thailand expressed interest in creating a free trade zone with the EEU.

"Actually, theres been an intent discussion in Indonesia Theres been a discussion on how we could proceed with either Eurasian Economic community [on setting up a free trade zone] or ASEAN, with AEC. The spirit after ASEAN summit is there, thats why the next step is a plan of action to make it more concrete," Supriyadi said.

He added that it was only a matter of time for Jakarta to channel this intention through respective ways.
SOCHI (Sputnik)  The Russian resort city of Sochi is currently hosting Russian-Chinese business forum. Within the framework of the event, Chinese representatives proposed to create joint information projects, which would focus on the issue of stock exchanges, to provide businessmen with actual information on the issue.

"Maybe it is time to create such a common resource with support of our Chinese colleagues. I understand it as a task for the next year," Kiselev said, commenting on the proposal.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Western route, known as the Power of Siberia-2, was conceived to supplement the original Power of Siberia 30-year framework agreement signed the previous year between Russia and China. The first route envisions annual deliveries of 38 billion cubic meters of Russian gas starting in 2019.

"Gazprom and CNPC have already discussed it [the Western route] today," Novak told journalists.

The Power of Siberia-2 has a planned annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters, with possible second and third legs bringing annual capacity up to 100 billion cubic meters.
VIENNA (Sputnik)  Iranian delegation, led by Petroleum Minister Bijan Zangeneh, will take part in the upcoming meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Vienna, a source in the permanent mission of Iran in Vienna told Sputnik Monday.

"The delegation led by Bijan Zangeneh, the Iranian Oil and Gas Minister, is arriving to Vienna on Wednesday for OPEC meeting. OPEC Governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebilli and high ranking officials from National Iranian Oil Company will participate at the meeting," the source said.

On June 2, OPEC members are expected to discuss freezing oil output following the Doha meeting in April, when OPEC and major non-OPEC oil producers failed to agree on freezing oil output at January levels to shore up prices. Saudi Arabia backed out of a deal, insisting that Iran, which has been boosting oil production after years of international sanctions, should be part of any production cuts.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  There is no specific proposal on production on the agenda of OPEC's biannual meeting in Vienna, Iraq's Governor for OPEC Falah Alamri told The Wall Street Journal.

According to the reports, this statement was echoed by other OPEC representatives.

Over the past months, oil prices have recovered to a certain extent, and, as media noted, this have taken the air out of calls for action within OPEC.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is still interested in working at the Russian shelf and continues its talks with Russian oil corporations, CNPC Chairman Wang Yilin said Monday.

"Russian shelf is very rich in oil and gas resources; that is why it is very interesting for us to participate in shelf projects in Russia. [Russian oil corporations] Rosneft and Gazprom Neft sent proposals of cooperation to us I want to confirm that our company is interested in working at Russian shelf and our negotiations with Rosneft and Gazprom Neft are going on," Wang told Rossiya-24 TV channel in an interview.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The project of pairing the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and China's Silk Road Economic Belt initiatives should move to practical phase, former Kyrgyz Prime Minister Djoomart Otorbaev told Sputnik on Monday.

"There is a declaration, but there are no complex road maps or concrete moves. The conjunction [of the two projects] is a multilateral complex plan, but it should move from pure declarative plan to a more concrete action," he said on the sidelines of the Russian International Affairs Council conference in Moscow on Russia-China relations.

In May 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping signed a joint declaration "on cooperation in coordinating the development of the Eurasian Economic Union project and the Silk Road Economic Belt."
SOCHI (Sputnik)  Earlier on Friday, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia's energy giant Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) had held talks on the so-called western route of gas supply to China.

"Regarding the gas, work is ongoingYes, the price issue," Yanovsky told reporters when replying to a question on whether the talks have entered their final stage and about the central issue of the negotiations.

Talks on gas pricing with the CNPC have been complicated by the corporation's insistence on the possibility of switching to liquefied natural gas, which Gazprom has recently lost its monopoly over, according to previous statements by company representatives. In April, Gazprom Board of Directors Chairman Viktor Zubkov said that the talks will continue until the end of 2016.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russia won a contract to build the NPP in northern Jordan in 2013. An inter-governmental agreement on cooperation was signed in March 2015. Russia's state-run corporation Rosatom is expected to build two 1,000-megawatt (MW) nuclear power units by 2022.

"We are interested in the development of relationships with Moscow in various fields, in the attraction of Russian investments, and use of the experience of your country. In particular, we offer your businessmen to increase their investments in the Jordanian economy. We are interested in the cooperation in the field of transport, energy and infrastructure," the official said opening negotiations with speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament Valentina Matvienko.

"We are a very stable and safe country, we have very good laws protecting the rights of investors. But the main scope is the cooperation with Russia in the field of peaceful nuclear energy."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  He added that partnership with the Russian company was strategic for CNPC.

"If Rosneft comes up with a proposal [about selling its shares], we will actively consider it There is interest from our side and we will study the possibility to increase the presence in Rosneft's shares. In case of growth of our share, we would like to get the right to participate in management of the company in full concordance with the purchased share," Wang said in an interview with Russia's Rossiya-24 TV channel.
Witold Waszczykowski noted that cargo transit across the two countries territories was the only positive development he could think of.

Earlier, Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz said that the Visegrad Group (V4) of Central European nations supports the initiative to strengthen NATO's capabilities on the alliance's eastern flank.

Such strengthening would be "the best response" to those wanting to harm the security of NATO, Europe and Poland, according to the minister.

In May, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that foreign ministers of NATO countries had decided to hold another meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Warsaw on July 8 and 9.

Russias Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov then said that Mr. Stoltenberg should have discussed this with Moscow.

If they want to discuss this, let them do it with us before going out and make such statements, Lavrov said.

The Warsaw NATO Summit 2016 will take place on July 8-9, where members of the alliance are set to discuss increasing military activities on NATO's eastern flank.
The ICA store has repeatedly tried to stay open around the clock and still wants to, but the trade union would not allow.

"Unfortunately, they are not really too smart about it. There would be many more jobs, but they do not even think along those lines. We would be able to offer more people employment, if we were allowed to stay open around the clock," Fredrik said.

ICA is one of Sweden's oldest retailers, which has been in business since 1938 and has subsidiaries across Scandinavia and the Baltic states. The ICA stores are renowned for their flexibility and the habit of adapting themselves to the market situation.

Last year, an ICA store in the Swedish province of Dalarna introduced Arabic signs in addition to Swedish to adjust to their customers and to make it easier for its personnel, who had come from Syria and were experiencing difficulties with the language.
Last week, the highly controversial exhibition " Martyrs Museum" was opened by the Danish Theater Sort/Hvid with the idea to scrutinize people accepting death for the sake of their ideals. Among such figures as Joan of Arc, Socrates and Rosa Luxemburg, the exhibition featured two of the perpetrators of terrorist attacks in Brussels. Alongside a reconstruction of the pulpit from which Martin Luther King gave his famous "I have a dream" speech, the exhibition showed a ticket to the rock concert at the Bataclan in Paris, which turned into a bloodbath as Daesh terrorists killed 89 people.

Unsurprisingly, the exhibition gathered strong reactions in Danish society. Culture Minister Bertel Haarder of the Liberal Party said it was wrong to put suicide bombers in the same category as freedom fighters and socialist crusaders like Rosa Luxemburg and called the exhibition "insane."

"The next thing is that we should actually try and understand them," he told newspaper Politiken sarcastically.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  All flights were forced to return to the terminal after the alarm had been raised, Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper said.

In March, a woman managed to evade the security check in the same airport triggering an evacuation in Terminal 2,
BERLIN (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, media reports emerged claiming that all flights from Cologne-Bonn airport in Germany have been halted after one person managed to bypass security controls. All aircraft were forced to return to the terminal after the alarm had been raised.

"I can confirm that one person entered the security area of the airport illegally. The federal police are currently searching the premises. All flights via terminal one have presently been cancelled. The man has not been found yet," a police spokeswoman told RIA Nocosti.

In March, a woman managed to evade the security check in the same airport triggering an evacuation in Terminal two.
Negotiations on a free trade agreement between the EU and the United States have repeatedly caused controversy among Europeans. The TTIP has not only divided German society, but also split the country's political elite.

Thus, German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has opposed German Chancellor Angela Merkel's "hasty" approach toward the deal.

"This was wrong that in the euphoria of Obama's visit to Germany, the Chancellor said we will be able to conclude negotiations by the end of this year and recently repeated this statement once again," the politician said in an interview with RND.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, media reports emerged claiming that all flights from the Cologne Bonn Airports Terminal 1 in Germany were halted after one person managed to bypass security controls. All aircraft were forced to return to the terminal after the alarm had been raised.

"A male person has been identified and brought to the station by federal police officers," a police spokeswoman told the Kolner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper.

In March, a woman managed to evade the security check in the same airport triggering an evacuation in Terminal 2.
Uranium mining became the hottest topic in the cold, Arctic country, as Denmark's zero tolerance' policy on mining radioactive substances came to an abrupt end. In Greenland, may local powers see a Greenlandic mineral and oil venture as a more than welcome boost to the country's sluggish economy, which is heavily dependent on fisheries and tourism. Many regard uranium as a vehicle to secure independence for the minuscule Arctic nation of 57,000 citizens, which at present is deeply dependent on Danish subsidies.

However, many locals believe the Danish government has gone too far, citing environmental concerns; many share a growing concern for the fragile Arctic environment. Despite the Greenlandic political opposition insisting on a referendum on the uranium issue, the ruling majority deflects their demands under the pretext of the great potential for jobs and economic development.

"Next week, demonstrations will be held simultaneously in eight cities in Greenland to show the government how many of us do not welcome uranium here," activist Falke Thue Mikailsen told Swedish Radio last week.
For Ole Wver, a professor of international politics at the University of Copenhagen, the idea that Russia is a threat to the West is absurd. In fact, it is quite the opposite, as historically the West has been a threat to Russia.

"In many ways, the Russians are much more correct than the West in their interpretation of what happened in the first 20 years after the Cold War until 2010. Russia's interpretation is much closer to reality than the West. We have treated them disrespectfully, as if they were a third-rate power," Wver told the Danish newspaper Politiken.

According to Wver, it is only natural that Russia has perceived NATO's behavior as "aggressive," as a number of former Soviet states have successfully integrated into NATO, despite earlier pledges by the alliance to stay away from these particular countries. Wver also pointed out a series of military build-ups that NATO effectively carried out under the pretext of "Russian aggression," such as the accumulation of warships and tanks in the Baltic Sea area or the deployment of missile defense elements in Romania.
EDINBURGH (Sputnik)  Last week, the UK Home Office figures revealed almost a third of the 1,602 Syrian refugees who have gained access to the country have been settled in Scotland, despite the region making up less than 10 percent of the UK population. The official figures also highlight that only 8 percent of the 20,000 refugees the UK government said it would accept have entered the UK, far below the refugee intake of other EU countries.

"Immigration has benefited Scotland in the past because it has been managed and limited, and therefore has had economic benefits. But thanks to the EU immigration can no longer be managed or limited and there is a huge risk that local services will simply be overwhelmed," Tom Harris said.

According to Harris, this issue is not "about race or xenophobia."
BRUSSELS (Sputnik)  The Warsaw NATO Summit 2016 will take place on July 8-9, with members of the alliance set to discuss increasing military activities on NATO's eastern flank.

"This will be a multinational presence, it will be rotational presence. We have clear proposals on the table from our military planners, we are discussing the exact numbers and locations of this enhancedpresence of NATO troops. We will make decisions by the Warsaw summit There will be more NATO troops in Poland after the Warsaw summit," Stoltenberg told a press conference.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to Eustice, 2 billion pounds would be designated for spending on conservation if the United Kingdom were to leave the European Union.

"A lot of the national directives they instructed us to put in place would stay. But the directives framework is so rigid that it is spirit-crushing. If we had more flexibility, we could focus our scientists energies on coming up with new, interesting ways to protect the environment, rather than just producing voluminous documents from Brussels," Eustice told The Guardian newspaper.

"Our objective would be to put in place a government-backed insurance scheme, similar to the one in Canada, to protect farmers from bad weather, crop failures and drops in prices," Eustice said.
According to the RTBF broadcaster, the government proposed creating three new detention facilities and recruiting 386 additional prison guards to ease the working conditions in the penitentiary system.

Despite the fact that the government succeeded at reaching an agreement with the majority of trade unions participating in the strike, the overwhelming majority of jail workers refused to agree with government proposals, the broadcaster reported.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to the UNHCR, more than 700 migrants drowned on May 25-27 on their way from Libya to Italy. The Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders) put that number at 900.

"The increase in 2016 compared to the same period of 2015 (the first five months) of the number of people fleeing to Europe on the Mediterranean can be explained by different factors, such as the weather, conditions in the countries of origin and the limited alternative, legal pathways to safety," Nora Sturm said.
Turkish Gendarmerie General Command is a special branch of military forces charged with public order outside of the jurisdiction of police, usually in rural areas.

No organization has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the newspaper, the Turkish authorities presumed that the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was behind the attack, as local police had previously clashed with the militants.
A combat unit is advancing in Fallujah as blasts and gunfire are being heard in the citys southern Naimiya district, an army officer told Reuters.

"Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air cover from the international coalition, the Iraqi air force and army aviation and supported by artillery and tanks," AFP quoted Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the commander in charge of the operation, as saying.

Daesh is trying to repel the offensive.
According to the newspaper, the Syrian authorities alerted the Damascus office of Interpol about the stolen passports as early as in 2014.

At least two suspected participants of the Paris attacks easily made their way into Western Europe via the Balkan route using forged passports paired with Greek border authorities failing to check their passports with the Schengen Information Systems database.

Moreover, agents of the German BND intelligence service had repeatedly met with their Syrian colleagues in Damascus, Welt am Sonntag wrote.
A new report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) indicating Iran's compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a sign of the efficiency of the document agreed last year, Voronkov said.

He said that the upcoming meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors on June 6-10 would discuss the report issued last week. Voronkov noted that the paper proves that Iran is successfully advancing on its implementation of the nuclear deal.

In other words, we expect a usual conclusion with the same assessments as were presented in the first report that the JCPOA is being implemented normally. That is very good. This is an indication that the document agreed last summer is absolutely efficient, Voronkov told RIA Novosti in an interview.

In July, Iran and six world powers, including the United States and Russia, signed the JCPOA agreement whereby Tehran agreed to dismantle aspects of its nuclear program to ensure it is used for peaceful purposes in exchange for sanctions relief.
"If we join forces, they [US] have their own special forces and we have our special forces," the minister was quoted as saying by AFP.

"The subject we are discussing with the Americans is the closure of the Manbij pocket as soon as possible and the opening of a second front," he said.

Cavusoglu added that the "second front" could launch an offensive on Raqqa, the de-facto capital of the Daesh caliphate.
If Iraqi security forces, assisted by US warplanes and the Popular Mobilization Units, push Daesh out of Fallujah, al-Abadi will receive the boost he desperately needs to push through the cabinet reshuffle that he has long advocated and maintain his grip on power. The Iraqi prime minister has tried to appoint technocrats to his government, but the initiative was blocked by main parties.

Surprisingly, regardless of how the offensive on Fallujah goes, it could both speed up and delay the operation to free Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and the key Daesh stronghold in the country.

"If the offensive to clear and hold Fallujah takes longer than anticipated, Baghdad may need to redeploy troops designated for Mosul towards Fallujah to ensure that the city is adequately protected from [Daesh] counterattacks," DePetris explained.

Yet, even if Iraqi army succeeds and even if Fallujah receives enough protection, Daesh is likely to employ its once successful strategy of wreaking havoc in the country through indiscriminate bombing campaigns.

Iraqi Terror-Counter Forces storm through Al Shuhadaa inside the urban borders of Fallujah. #Iraqi_destroying_isis pic.twitter.com/Tew7s2jNsg  Nassire Ghadire (@NassireGhadire) 30  2016 .

The terrorist group "may well see strategic utility in suffering a defeat while imposing an enormous cost in civilian lives and damaged infrastructure. This could breed ongoing ill-well among the Sunni Iraqi population, laying the groundwork for a sympathetic Sunni environment into which some of its Iraqi members could continue to operate after IS loses its territory," Shanahan explained.

This is precisely the strategy that helped Daesh take large territories in Iraq under control in the first place.
ERBIL (Sputnik)  Shiite militia, fighting Daesh in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, has discovered network of the tunnels used by extremists in the suburbs of the city, the al-Hashd al-Shaabi group told RIA Novosti on Monday.

"Tunnels begin out of city [of Fallujah] and go in the direction of the city center. Terrorists used it to move quickly between their positions," the group said.

Extensive tunnel and cave systems built by Da'ish around #Fallujah. Many discovered by #Iraq's forces so far. pic.twitter.com/i1w7K3Ijfa  Haidar Sumeri (@IraqiSecurity) 29  2016 .

According to the Shiite militia, one of the branched was found near the brickyard used by terrorists as a stronghold.
CAIRO (Sputnik)  Russian tourists used to represent a large part of foreign visitors to Egypt. A number of countries, including Russia and the United Kingdom, suspended flights to Egypt over safety concerns after an Airbus A321 crashed en route from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, killing all 224 people on board after an explosive device detonation.

"It is necessary to lift the ban [on direct flights between Russia and Egypt], even if gradually, until the ban would not be lifted completely. Our plea is to allow flights to Aswan and Luxor first, and then to Hurghada and Marsa Alam and then finally to Sharm El-Sheikh," Rashed told RIA Novosti in an interview.

The Egyptian authorities are currently making efforts to improve security in the resort areas and airports in an attempt to restore the flow of tourists.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Helicopters are dropping leaflets over in the vicinity of Hraytan, Hanano and Tell Musibin neighborhoods in Aleppo province, the source said.

Aleppo remains one of the several areas of Syria, where fighting between government and opposition forces has continued despite the Russia-US-brokered ceasefire in place across the country.

On Saturday, a Kurdish source told Sputnik that at least four people have been killed and 17 were wounded during shelling by al-Nusra Front terrorist group in Aleppo. On Friday, the Russian General Staff said that al-Nusra Front is hampering the ceasefire efforts in northern areas of Syria.
According to the expert, what is happening in media now over the Raqqa and Fallujah offensives is a massive PR campaign launched by Washington.

The reason behind this campaign is the ongoing presidential race in the US, Rodier said.

After Russia launched its military operation in Syria, the Syrian Army and its allies backed by Russian airstrikes made significant advances against terrorists. The pinnacle of this offensive was the liberation of the ancient city of Palmyra.

At the same time, US involvement in the fight against Daesh has been limited to airstrikes, and has been criticized in comparison with Russias success.

According to Rodier, now Washington wants to compensate its reputation losses, running a massive "PR operation" over the Raqqa offensive.

However, the situation on the ground is much more complicated because there are a number of different groups involved in the offensive and all of them have different goals. For example, the principal goal of the Kurdish forces is not to liberate Raqqa but to establish an autonomous state.

What is more, if recent history is any indication, the large-scale complex operation will most likely last for weeks and meet fierce resistance from Daesh. Recent developments suggest that the group is not intent on going down without a fight.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  The improvised explosive device was planted in the Hacibekir neighborhood and went off when the police vehicle was passing by, according to the website.

A large scale operation backed by aviation to detain those responsible of the attack is taking place at the moment.

Tensions between Ankara and the Kurds escalated in July 2015 as fighting between the PKK and the Turkish army resumed. Ankara has imposed several round-the-clock curfews in Kurdish-populated towns, preventing civilians from fleeing the regions where the military operations are underway.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Israel has experienced a wave of violence since early September 2015, which has left several hundred people dead. Most of the victims are Palestinians who have been killed in knife, firearm and car attacks on Israelis.

#Nablus overnight guns & ammo seized & 11 suspects detained. pic.twitter.com/39RDosKoQg  Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) May 30, 2016

On Sunday, the IDF arrested six Hamas militants allegedly involved in planning and carrying out April's bus bombing in Jerusalem.

In the conflict between Israel and Palestine, Palestinians seek recognition of their independent state on the territories of West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
Shiite militia, fighting Daesh in the Iraqi city of Fallujah , has discovered network of the tunnels used by extremists in the suburbs of the city, the al-Hashd al-Shaabi group told RIA Novosti on Monday.

Last week, Iraqi military and Shiite militia with the support of the international coalition have launched the military operation to liberate the city 40 miles west of Baghdad. On Sunday, according to reports, these forces took control of almost all entrances to Fallujah.
Turkey does not have air superiority in the region. After the incident with the downed Russian plane, Turkey has lost its former position, and America is still waiting to no avail, that the opposition, supported by Ankara, will take over these territories from Daesh, the analyst said.

He explained that Turkey and the United States have entered into an agreement on the issue thrice, but each time it did not bring the expected results. If this time the situation repeats itself it may lead to the US wanting these territories to come under PDS control.

It is from this area that Daesh carries out attacks on Turkey and Europe. To stop the flow of jihadists coming across the border, it is necessary to close this buffer zone, Cagaptay said.

The analyst spoke about Turkeys position on the Syrian conflict saying that Ankara has not realized that the conflict has escalated so much since 2011.
Amid violent clashes between militants of Daesh and troops of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the town of Azaz in northern Aleppo district, reports are surfacing suggesting that the Turkish Army units have been seen located in the district of Azaz.

Earlier, the Democratic People's Movement stated that the Turkish military occupied the village of Hamam in Afrin region and called on the world community to condemn such acts.

One of the leaders of the Majlis of Democratic Syria, which is part of the Democratic Forces of Syria and the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party, Ahmet Arac, told Sputnik that the Turkish Armed Forces are preparing an offensive in the Azaz area.
ERBIL (Iraq) (Sputnik)  On Tuesday, the SDF, supported by Washington started an operation to liberate Raqqa from Daesh.

"The operation Raqqa, as we call it, is underway. Our first aim is not to capture Raqqa itself, but to cut the communications between IS territories and Turkey. That's why, we started offensive on Tabqah town located 40 kilometers [25 miles] west of Raqqa after capturing several villages north of Raqqa," the source said.

Syria has been mired in civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting numerous opposition factions and extremist groups, such as Daesh.
SULAYMANIYAH (Iraq) (Sputnik)  According to the Hawar News Agency, the Turkish Armed Forces attacked the Kurds People's Protection Units (YPG), Ceys El-Siwar and Women's Protection Units (YPJ) in the early hours of Monday near the positions of Daesh (Islamic State) militants.

Syria has been in a state of civil war since 2011, with the government forces fighting several opposition factions and militant groups, including IS. Kurdish militias have also been fighting against IS, which is outlawed in many countries, including Russia and the United States.

Turkey has been shelling Kurdish militias in northern Syria along the Turkish border since February. Ankara has claimed that the Syrian Kurds have links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist organization by the Turkish authorities.
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ROME (Sputnik)  Gatilov mentioned that both UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and US partners recognize the need to include Kurds in the negotiations.

"The problem is when they [Kurds] are involved, but our partners keep silent about it. They say, it should happen at the next round of negotiations, but nobody mentions concrete dates, but none of the political issues can be tackled without Kurds," He said.

"The question we repeatedly pointed out is the absence of Kurds at the peace talks. Kurds are a real political and military force, they control a major part of the territory, they carry out operations against the Islamic State and other terrorist groups."
ROME (Sputnik)  On Sunday, Alloush announced his resignation citing the failure of negotiations in Geneva to bring a political settlement in Syria.

"All in all it complicates the whole process, including progress in resuming dialogue between the Syrian sides," Gatilov told journalists.
DAMASCUS (Sputnik)  The localities on border between the Syrian Aleppo and Raqqa provinces have been liberated during the operation to take control of the Syrian city of Raqqa, currently under control of Daesh extremists, the source said on Monday.

Last week, the Syrian Democratic Forces, with support of the US-led international coalition, commenced an offensive to liberate Raqqa.

Raqqa has been under control of Daesh, a designated terror group outlawed in the United States and Russia among many other countries, since 2013.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The speaker added that Russian and Jordanian military agreed to coordinate operations in Syria , including of the Russian Aerospace Forces

"Jordan plays an important stabilizing role in the Middle East, which remains at the center of global political events," Naryshkin said Monday, as quoted on the State Duma's Twitter.

Naryshkin stressed that Moscow was ready to meet Amman's firm commitment to expand bilateral cooperation in all areas.
The railgun is a deadly and potent weapon; there is no doubt about it. "There is no armor that could protect against a projectile" fired from a railgun, defense analyst Konstantin Sivkov observed . "In addition, it could hit a target located far away."

The electromagnetic launcher fires a "bullet" at a maximum velocity of 4,500 miles an hour (more than a mile a second), piercing virtually anything on its path. US defense officials hope that it would be capable of inflicting major damage to any type of weapon, including aircraft and missiles.

The Pentagon's supergun is still in development, but it could enter service sooner than many expect. First sea trials, according to unconfirmed reports, will take place in the summer, possibly on the USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) guided missile destroyer.
If you look closely at the armed conflicts around the world, the war is mainly in the cities now. No one is fighting in open fields anymore. In the city, and even in urban areas, fighting can be quite successful.

That's why by analyzing the situation in Syria, wars in Iraq and the Middle East we came to the conclusion to make a special set of additional defenses, which at the right moment can be installed on the vehicle to allow it to fight more effectively in urban environments.

To give the T-72 a new life, first of all it was important to increase its firepower: to establish a more effective fire gun using the Sosna target system with a new regulator and an electromechanical drive.

It was important to use an upgraded 2A46M gun with a modified rocket fire autoloader. The new engine has a 1000HP engine and automatic gear change, just like the modern T-90S tanks.

We have made this cabin with windows which give it all-round visibility, but most of it is closed, there is a bulletproof mechanism, the deputy head of Uralvagonzavod said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Grushko said that the NATO-Russian founding act remained one of a few constraints precluding a new arms race and its value should not be underrated.

"The rejection of the founding act, its provisions for restraints in military sphere will be a direct invitation to a new phase of arms race. Such development could greatly destabilize the situation in Europe and it is not in the interest of the whole of Europe," Grushko told Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper.
My first three years (1,095 days) in solitary were pure horror. I was put in solitary at the county jail the minute I was arrested, recounts Judith Vazquez, who many consider to be a political prisoner, in her essay entitled On the Verge of Hell. Vazquez was arrested in 1992 and sentenced 30 years to life in 1995 for first-degree murder, a crime she maintains she did not commit. Shes currently being held in the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, New Jersey.

After I arrived at state prison, I suffered years of rape by guards. I became pregnant and was forced to abort in my cell without any medical aid, she wrote in the book Hell Is a Very Small Place: Voices from Solitary Confinement.

Over Memorial Day weekend, Vazquez and others will be memorialized through film and mural by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Washington DC. The Arts and Industries building where the exhibit, which includes work from artists, dancers and poets, is being held has been closed since 2004. [O]ne of those artists, muralist Vaimoana Niumeitolu, has decided to honor incarcerated prisoners of color, including Vasquez, whose complicated identities are confined to a cell, wrote Think Progress, which covered the exhibit.
"We analyze the image. We are likely to view the person as Yasuda himself," Yoshihide Suga told reporters. The minister also noted that "every effort" was due to be involved to consider the issue.

The authorities, who were constantly working on the case, believed he might have been kidnapped by al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria. The terrorist group is notorious for capturing foreigners, in particular, with an aim for exchanging them for ransom.
It is almost impossible that Tehran would actually attack European targets or US bases in Europe as it would ignite a military conflict and the biggest casualty would most likely be Iran itself, he told in an interview with Frankfurter Rundschau.

Davidson also commented on Putins remark that the US could deploy long-range missiles to Romania without Romanias knowledge.

According to him, such a scenario is possible taking into account the fact that missiles could be interchangeable (like in the history of missiles in Turkey) and may be upgraded.

"I think that the Russian government has every reason to be concerned. The hypocrisy of all this is to be noted," the analyst noted.

Davidson added that Romania should be concerned after the US began deploying its missiles there.
Indeed, the offensive to free Raqqa, the capital of the caliphate, will not be a walk in the park. If recent history is any indication, the large-scale complex operation will most likely last for weeks and meet fierce resistance from Daesh.

Recent developments suggest that the group is not intent on going down without a fight.

The militants planted "a huge number" of explosives and landmines on the outskirts of the city over the weekend, the Fars news agency reported, citing unnamed sources. They have also built additional hideouts and dug tunnels in those areas where Daesh commanders and their families are headquartered.

The terrorist group "has left the civilian-populated neighborhoods without shelter and has concentrated on building more shelters in military areas in the city," the sources added.

In addition, the militants executed four people, who allegedly admitted that they were communicating with anti-Daesh forces.
MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko  On Sunday, Alloush announced his resignation over the failure of the UN-mediated Geneva peace talks to bring a political settlement in Syria.

"The HNC is now changing the composition of their negotiations team," the source said.

Meanwhile, the HNC spokesman Riyad Naasan Agha told Sputnik that the committee has so far not scheduled its meeting to choose a new delegation head in place of the resigned former chief representative Mohammed Alloush.
"Russia has always been willing to get them whatever they required," Collin Koh of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore told Bloomberg. "Vietnam is not going to want to jeopardize that relationship."

Andrey Frolov, editor-in-chief of the Export Vooruzheny magazine, suggested that Obama's decision was more of a formality that will not really change anything. "I think that it has more to do with a legal basis that would make arms sales possible. I don't think that Vietnam will rush to buy US weapons tomorrow," he told the Vzglyad business newspaper.

Defense analyst Konstantin Sivkov offered a more detailed explanation. The expert pointed out that those countries, who import weapons, tend to either rely on a single supplier or buy from an array of partners. The latter need a more complex, costly and advanced system aimed at managing the armed forces.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was willing to resume relations with Ankara despite last year's downing of the Russian Su-24 bomber by the Turkish Air Force over Syria, but called on Turkey to act first to mend ties. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu proposed Monday to form a joint working group with Russia in a bid to normalize the Ankara-Moscow relations.

"President Putin outlined our position rather explicitly. He said that some contacts aiming to look for solutions to normalize the relations were of course taking place, but no working group could resolve this issue," Peskov told reporters.

The spokesman added that it was up to Ankara to resolve this situation.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Peskov said, however, that Junckers visit to St. Petersburg would not mean an immediate thaw in relations as time is needed to rebuild trust.

Yes, Mr. Junckers arrival is expected and were preparing for this. Overall the issue of relations between Russia and the European Union is extremely important for the Russian Federation. [Relations] arent currently at their best, Peskov told journalists.

Regardless of the common decision being made in Brussels, we see that many European countries on the bilateral level are still demonstrating their interest in improving relations and expanding cooperation with Russia in order to compensate for what was lost over the last two years, Peskov said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  There is no need for former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin to convince President Vladimir Putin of the importance of a constructive stance in international affairs as he already follows such policy, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Monday.

"There is no need to convince the president that it is, lets say, necessary to hold a constructive stance in international affairs because the president is actually pursuing the policy that is aimed at resolving existing conflicts, developing cooperation and strengthening security  primarily, toward our European continent  that is why there is no need to convince the president of that. It is the foundation of the policy conducted by our president," Peskov said.

The spokesmans statement followed a report of the Russian Vedomosti newspaper, which said Kudrin, head of the Center for Strategic Research Foundation, had proposed to deescalate geopolitical tensions, which is necessary for the stimulation of the Russian economy.
BRUSSELS (Sputnik)  European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's upcoming visit to St. Petersburg is not related to the issue of sanctions against Russia, the Commission's chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas said Monday.

"Yes, I can indeed confirm that President Juncker has been invited and plans to participate in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 16. The president will use this opportunity to convey to the Russian leadership, as well as to the wider audience, the EU's perspective regarding the current state of EU-Russia relations," Schinas told reporters.

"As for the sanctions, as you probably know, at the G7 summit last week the leaders recalled that the duration of sanctions is clearly linked to Russia's complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine's sovereigntyWe don't see any inconsistency of the president to attend the St. Petersburg international forum," he added.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Riyadh-backed HNC is now restructuring the negotiations team. On Sunday, HNCs chief representative Mohammed Alloush announced his resignation over the failure of the peace talks to bring a political settlement in Syria.

"So far, the HNC just expressed the readiness to extend their hand [to other opposition groups]. There could be some sort of indirect communication [with other opposition groups], but there has not been no specific official invitation yet," Aridi said.

He explained that cooperation with Cairo group is likely. Joining forces with Moscow group is also possible if they they find a compromise on President Bashar Assad's role in the political transition.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Last week, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which includes the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG), supported by Washington, started an operation to liberate Daesh-occupied Raqqa from the terrorist group, which has been in control of the city since 2013.

"We have always said we are ready for cooperation in fight against terrorism. Russia and the United States are the leading parties and observers in the intra-Syrian talks and the International Syria Support Group. Cooperation with these two countries both against terrorists and against their supporters, such as Turkey, will be efficient," Osman said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was prepared to coordinate efforts with the US-led coalition and Kurdish militia in Syria to liberate the city of Raqqa, considered by Daesh as its capital.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The press conference in Moscow is dedicated to the Africa Day that celebrates the unity of the African countries and commemorates the founding of the Organization of African Unity (now known as African Union) on May 25, 1963.

"We believe that the political will for Africa to cooperate with Russia is there. But cooperation should not only look at the exportation of minerals, gold and petrol. Cooperation is a broad range in terms of what people see politically," Joaquim Augusto de Lemos said the a press conference organized by Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency dedicated to the Africa Day celebration.

De Lemos stressed the importance of education as one of the bases for the cooperation adding that Africans should be receiving education in Russia in order to return back home as professional engineers or doctors.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  The Turkish government will present a draft bill on country's transition to a presidential system to parliament "in the coming days," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister and Government's Spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said Monday.

"One of the priorities of the new government is to focus on a new constitution and political reforms. It is a mandate given by the people. A new constitution has been discussed since 1980 takeover. The Turkish government will pass its proposals on transition to presidential system in the coming days," Kurtulmus told journalists at the breefing.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan seeks to hold a referendum to abandon the parliamentary system established in Turkey by the 1923 Constitution in favor of an executive presidency. The country's opposition is against Erdogan's proposal accusing him of attempts to establish the individual power regime.
According to political and defense expert Guillaume Lagane, Athens now can "play the Russian card" in its relations with Brussels.

Throughout history Greece has been close to Russia, in religious as well as geopolitical term, Lagan said.

However, after Athens joined the EU and NATO, relations between Russia and Greece declined.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  The minister will visit the Libyan capital Tripoli on Monday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry's press office said in a statement.

"Foreign Minister Cavusoglu will meet with Mr. Fayez Mustafa Al-Sarraj, President of the Presidency Council of the Government of National Accord and Mr. Mohammed Taher Siyala, Minister of Foreign Affairs <> On this occasion, Foreign Minister Cavusoglu will also initiate the re-opening process of the Turkish Embassy in Tripoli, which was evacuated in 2014 due to the deteriorating security conditions," the press release reads.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  Bundestag is about to debate the recognition of the 1915 killings of Armenians in World War I on the territories controlled by the Ottoman Empire as genocide. On May 20, German lawmakers proposed a resolution condemning the mass killings of Armenians. The parliamentary vote is scheduled for June 2.

"Nobody will listen to parliament opinions on this issue. I do not think that the German parliament will decide to damage German-Turkey relations to please a handful of politicians," Kurtulmus said during a briefing.
BERLIN (Sputnik)  Before a visa-free regime with the bloc can be introduced Ankara has to meet 72 EU requirements. Notably, Turkey is expected to amend anti-terror legislation by narrowing the definition of terrorism and ensuring freedom of speech in the country.

"As for anti-terror legislation, you know about a long list of requirements to be met by the Turkish side for visa liberalization, including these ones [related to amending the anti-terror laws], which were adopted back in 2013. They are still necessary. We believe that visa regime will be lifted only when all points on the list, including this one, are fulfilled," Seibert told journalists at a briefing.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to Ushakov, Ankara has not done "the main thing," which would allow Russia to start the process of normalization of the bilateral relations.

"There was a lot of different ideas, including from the Turkish side, about the necessity to restore the relations. And our leader [President Vladimir Putin] mentioned it during the latest contacts with journalists. Although, the Turkish side has not made any steps yet, which would allow to start normalization of the relations. And that is why this issues is hanging in the air," Ushakov told reporters.

Earlier in the day, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu proposed to form a joint working group with Russia in a bid to restore the the Ankara-Moscow relations, which deteriorated after the downing of a Russian military plane by a Turkish fighter jet in Syria on November 24, 2015.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Russian President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras held a phone conversation Monday discussing the results of the recent talks in Athens and reaffirmed their readiness to implement the achieved agreements, Kremlin press service said.

"The head of the Russian state thanked Greek leaders for organizing and carrying out his visit in Greece on May 27-28 and showed hospitality and kindliness, expressed his satisfaction with the results of the negotiations and discussions held in Athens and called for further development of Russian-Greek cooperation in the interests of both countries and peoples," the press services statement said.

In addition, the sides reaffirmed their will to implement the reached agreements, according to the press service.
TBILISI (Sputnik)  According to the former prime minister, rapprochement with the West does not mean alienating from close neighbors.

"Georgian bid for EU-membership is not on the short-term agenda," he wrote in an open letter to his party Georgian Dream adding that Tbilisi would go a long way to get a seat in the European military and economic blocs.
"They are a figment of the imagination," the former UK ambassador asserted

Last year, the Pentagon admitted that its $500 million program aimed at training moderate forces in the Syrian opposition produced only five or six fighters. The rest joined Daesh, al-Qaeda or other radical groups trying to establish a caliphate in the embattled Arab country.

In other words, any assistance foreign governments, including the US and Saudi Arabia, provide to Syrian rebels (whether they consider them to be moderate or not) falls directly or indirectly into the hands of extremist groups in the region plagued by violence for decades.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier on Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Russia is allegedly supplying the PKK, outlawed in Turkey, with anti-aircraft weaponry and rockets through Syria and Iraq. The PKK has already denied the Erdogans statement.

"Let them show us the evidence," Bogdanov told journalists.

Tensions between Ankara and the Kurds escalated in July 2015 as fighting between the PKK, the Kurdish pro-independence organization considered to be terrorist by Ankara, and the Turkish army resumed. Ankara has imposed several round-the-clock curfews in Kurdish-populated towns, preventing civilians from fleeing the regions, where the military operations are taking place.
Earlier, European Commission spokesperson told RIA Novosti that Juncker planned to attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 16. He is expected to discuss the agenda for cooperation between Moscow and Brussels.

Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov commented that Russia hopes to find a trajectory for the improvement of bilateral ties between Moscow and Brussels and sees Junckers visit as expression of readiness for dialogue.

"Regardless of the common decision being made in Brussels, we see that many European countries on the bilateral level are still demonstrating their interest in improving relations and expanding cooperation with Russia in order to compensate for what was lost over the last two years," Peskov said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Snowden files revealed that the NSA had worked closely with Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Verizon and other major telecom and tech firms to spy on individuals and governments.

"You as a population are far more tolerant of aggressive action on the part of your intelligence services than we are in the United States," Hayden said at Hay Festival in Wales, as quoted by The Guardian daily late Sunday, and referring to Britains Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  She added that other progress had been made with regards to benchmark on data protection. She also said that Turkey's Minister for EU Affairs Volkan Bozkr was expected to come to Brussels this week to meet with EU commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos to continue this dialogue.

"There continues to be progress on the meeting of five remaining benchmarks by Turkey, notably president [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan last week signed the law, operation of which will lead to entering into effect the Turkish-EU readmission agreement, as regards third countries, which are the provisions we were waiting to come into force on 1 June, so that is on track," the commission's spokeswoman Natasha Bertaud said at a press briefing.

"Let's add to this progress that progress has been made concerning the reporting on corruption of officials. So it leaves us with terrorism law and the biometric definition," EC spokesman Margaritis Shinas added.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, Yahya Aridi, HNC adviser, told Sputnik that the group was considering the possibilities of joining forces with other opposition delegations.

"I dont believe that these claims are accurate. I do not think that HNC has considered this stance or put it forward for discussion," Hariri said.

The Syrian opposition High Negotiations Committees (HNC) former chief negotiator Mohammed Alloush will continue taking part in the intra-Syria talks as the representative of the Jaysh al-Islam movement, HNC member Naser Hariri told Sputnik Monday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  According to the European Commission, during the recent G7 summit, the leaders, who participated in the event, repeated their commitment to "apply the necessary political will" to reach a TTIP agreement in 2016.

"President Juncker feels that the time has come to ask heads of state and government of the European Union to have a new discussion on where we are and where we want to get with these negotiations [on TTIP]. At the upcoming June European Council President Juncker will ask the leaders of the EU to reconfirm the Commission's mandate to conduct these talks," Daniel Rosario said.

He added that if the European Union was to deliver on the commitment repeated at the G7 summit, the 28-nation bloc should ensure that its members had similar views on the agreement.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  NATO has been increasing its military presence in Eastern Europe and the Black Sea since the outbreak of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine in April 2014.

Russia has repeatedly expressed concerns over NATO's military buildup along its western borders, warning that the alliance's expansion undermines regional and global security.

"NATO is today attempting to move its confrontational schemes to the Black Sea. Recently, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the Black Sea cannot be transformed into a 'Russian lake.' But NATO is well aware that the Black Sea will never become a 'NATO lake' and we will take all necessary steps to neutralize possible threats and attempts to pressure Russia militarily from the south," Alexander Grushko told Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper.
While the day is used to remember the terrible sacrifice of those killed in war it is also used by politicians to pump out support for militarism and uncritical support for all U.S. wars past and present, few know that in fact the holidays origins are in the fight against slavery. How did Decoration Day become Memorial Day, and what was the reason for its hijacking?

Becker is joined for the full hour by Michael Prysner, a US Marine veteran who served in Iraq; Ben Becker, an editor of Liberation newspaper; and by Eugene Puryear, activist and author of Shackled and Chained: Mass Incarceration in Capitalist America.
As anti-war author David Swanson points out, with the President's plans for a $1 trillion update to our nuclear program, coupled with the news that the US nuke arsenal has barely declined during his tenure, Obama's actions don't seem to match his words.

Kevin Zeese recently co-authored an essay at Truthdig arguing that Bernie Sanders should switch the the Green Party and run with Jill Stein in November.

Since the Democratic leadership is loyal to Hillary Clinton, Zeese argues that Sanders could hold on to many Democratic voters who supported him in the primary, while attracting independent and Green voters who could defeat Donald Trump and Clinton. (Brad's recent interview with candidate Stein, in which she discusses these points, among many others, is posted here.)
Putin was also advised on extending the ban on foreign software adopted on January 1. The ministry has backed banning contracts for software service provision and leasing for government agencies, as well as state-owned corporations, according to the publication.

The issue of foreign messengers exposing government organizations to cyber attacks and data leaks was first raised in 2015 by Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. Later, legislation to ban Google, Yahoo! and WhatsApp was proposed in the Russian State Duma, but was rejected.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Built at the site of a major aviation industry test site, the Zhukovsky airfield, Ramenskoye International joined the Moscow Aviation Hub with Europes longest 3.4-mile runway.

"Chairman of the Government will be provided with the airport development plan and a new passenger terminal," the announcement of Medvedev's visit to Ramenskoye said.
In accordance with the agreement between Kazakhstan and Russia, the rent of Baikonur is set till 2050 for 115 million dollars a year.

Talking about whether Leonov sees the first launch of Soyuz as successful, he said that it is something to be proud of.

Those people who say that the rocket did not take off on the first attempt are deeply mistaken. Only non-experts could say such a thing.

There should be joy and pride that such a sensitive automatic start system has finally appeared on our Soyuz. Previously, we could not even dream of carrying out such detailed pre-launch operations. So the launch of this new spaceport is actually very good, the astronaut concluded.

Alexei Leonov went to space twice. He was awarded two stars the Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin and the Red Star. He is also an honorary citizen of thirty Russian and foreign cities.

Nowadays, the cosmonaut lives in Moscow. In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded him with the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland."
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The intergovernmental agreement was signed at the Atomexpo-2016 forum in Moscow by Sergey Kirienko, the general director of Russia's state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, and Franklin Osaisai, chairman of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission.

"Today we signed the cooperation agreement on construction of the center, which will include a 10-megawatt water-cooled research reactor," Kirienko said after the ceremony.

According to Kirienko, the necessary legal framework has been created for this project.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  In late 2012, the Russian parliament approved legislation dubbed the Dima Yakovlev law, which stipulated a ban on the adoption of Russian children by US nationals. The law is named after a Russian toddler who died of a heatstroke in 2008 after his adoptive US father left him locked up in an overheated car for hours.

"The US side insists on discussing the consequences of lifting the ban on the adoption of Russian children by Americans. We agree to discuss the issue, but today, we have no basis to resume US adoptions, especially given that they have not made the system more transparent," Astakhov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

The Russian side is prepared to travel to the United States to hold talks on the issue, he added, noting that matters to be discussed include tracking the fate of children adopted prior to the Dima Yakovlev law, as well as cooperating the in the areas of sport, culture, education and healthcare.
When asked about media reports that the vibrations are part of a secret US government program, Harrington stressed that the defense team will not be addressing any secret program in this round of testimony but said the team seeks to establish that the vibrations are external to al-Shibh, meaning he is not imagining them.

Harrington said al Shibh experienced the vibrations as recently as two days earlier.

Additionally, the defense team alleges that they are being caused by somebody inside the camp, Harrington explained.

In 2014, the European Court of Human Rights ordered the government of Poland to pay Zubaydah 100,000 euros ($111,000) in damages for allowing the US Central Intelligence Agency to torture him on Polish soil.
The US government asserts that the redacted information is not relevant to the case and that the information is additionally protected because it contains names and other information about US personnel.

Baluchis lawyers assert that, although the government has technically complied with the discovery requirement, the redactions eliminate information that the defense needs to analyze the documents and contact witnesses relevant to its case.

For example, one of Baluchis lawyers noted that the names of his doctors have been redacted from all of his medical records, which prevents his defense team from contacting any of them.

Telephone, Written Communications From Gitmo

The hearings will also focus on the right of the defendants to make telephone calls to their US-based attorneys. Currently, legal counsel for the five defendants must travel to the island detention center to meet with their clients.

The government has maintained that it has no ability to facilitate detainee phone calls from Guantanamo. The defense argues that other detainees have called their US-based lawyers in the past, proving the government is able but unwilling to allow their clients to do the same.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The prominent whistleblower played an inportant role in generating a public debate after leaking classified intelligence on US surveillance, according to Holder.

"We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in and by the changes that we made," Holder told the CNN broadcasters "The Axe Files" podcast.

Holder, who oversaw the Justice Department when Snowden leaked 1.7 million classified US National Security Agency (NSA) documents shedding light on global surveillance practices in 2013, clarified that the whistleblowers actions remained "inappropriate and illegal."
"In this year's Hajj agreement with the Saudis, to ensure a level of safety for its pilgrims that the Saudis had traditionally never felt the need to sign on to, the Saudi Hajj minister actually told the Iranians verbally that he would guarantee such safety." Keynoush explained.

"But to sign on to it would be to open up the kingdom to a level of scrutiny that it would be hard to live up to, given that Saudi Arabia would soon be hosting some ten million pilgrims from all over the world. So I think that these disagreements have let the Iranians to conclude that it would be hazardous and risky to send pilgrims on Hajj this year."

According to Keynoush, although Saudis earn a lot of money during Hajj and despite the fact that the Iranian pilgrims are known to be some of most generous, the Iranian boycott will not affect the Kingdom financially. After all, they're only going to miss around 17,000 people out of millions expected.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Sunday, Poroshenko said that some preliminary agreements for the return of Afanasiev and Soloshenko to Ukraine had been reached.

"I simply cannot confirm it. I have no information, which would allow me to confirm it," Peskov told journalists.

Afanasiev was detained by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in Simferopol in May 2014 and sentenced to seven years in prison for plotting to carry out terrorist attacks in Crimea. Another person involved in this case, Oleg Sentsov was sentenced by a Russian military court to 20 years in jail on the same charges.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  An agreement to expand civilian nuclear energy cooperation and construct a total of eight additional nuclear reactors at Bushehr was signed between Russia and Iran on November 11, 2014.

"We are conducting the final works in Iran before the launch of the construction of the second and third units of the Bushehr nuclear power plant," Limarenko told journalists during the Atomexpo 2016.

In 2014, Iran and Russia agreed on building two new nuclear reactors on the site of Bushehr, starting fall 2015.
ANKARA (Sputnik)  Kurtulmus said at a briefing that the number of destroyed houses in the areas of Sur, Silopi, Cizre, Idil and Yuksekova amounts to 6,320.

"It is about 11,000 flats. The projected cost of restoration of these buildings is about 855 million Turkish liras [$294 million]," He said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  He added that the tendency for the deterioration of the relations between Russia and NATO still continued since the alliance kept the strategy of "containing" Russia despite its own calls for political dialogue.

"Today, NATO is trying to move confrontational schemes to the Black Sea. Recently, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the transformation of the Black Sea into the 'Russian lake' was not acceptable," Grushko told the Rossiiskaya Gazeta in an interview.

"But everyone in NATO knows that the Black Sea will never become a 'NATO lake,' and we will take all necessary measures in order to neutralize possible threats and attempts to exert pressure on Russia from the south."
SOCHI (Russia) (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky said that Russia and China were in talks on the issue of gas deliveries via the western route and discussed possible price of gas supplies.

"Tomorrow the consultations on the issue would continue between Mr. Zhang Gaoli and head of Gazprom Alexey Miller," Dvorkovich told reporters.

He added that it would be possible to speak about any significant changes on the issue only after the Tuesday talks.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Earlier in the day, representatives of TVEL held a meeting with ANPP General Director Movses Vardanyan on the sidelines of the Atomexpo 2016 forum.

"During the meeting, the prospects of further cooperation, including the possibility of additional deliveries of Russian fuel for reserve were considered," the statement said.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani emphasized that foreign investors were showing interest in the investments after the economic restrictions were lifted.

"Today, we are moving step by step toward the pre-sanctions situation," The President said in the northwestern province of West Azerbaijan as quoted by Tasnim News Agency.

"We are in such conditions today that you see [delegations from] companies and various countries are continuously visiting Iran," he said.
"I do not rule out the signing of landmark contracts [with China at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum] and during the president's visit to China. Different companies prepare [for that]. All these contacts are commercial and that is why I cannot name them or comment," Dvorkovich told journalists.

The SPIEF is an international economic and business event, which attracts politicians, entrepreneurs, scientists and media from all over the world to discuss the most significant issues for Russia and the global community. The next SPIEF forum is scheduled for June 16-18.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  They said the estimated nearly 22.5 percent of added emissions would make it "virtually impossible" for the province to meet its target to reduce GHG to 80 percent below 2007 levels by 2050.

"We the undersigned scientists and climate experts request that you reject the proposed Pacific Northwest (PNW) LNG project due its significant adverse environmental effects from greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions," the scientists wrote.

Citing Canadas commitment under last years Paris climate agreement to reduce GHG emissions to 200 million metric tonnes below current levels by 2030, the scientists accused the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) of "grossly" underestimating total emissions from the project.
DAMASCUS (Sputnik)  These are the reinforcements, which Turkey sent to the city of Azaz in northwestern Syria as a preparatory measure ahead of the redeployment of ground forces in the areas of Mari and Azaz in the northern Aleppo province, the source said.

Azaz is under control of al-Nusra Front extremists, a group outlawed in a number of countries, including Russia. According to the Syrian Army, militants use the checkpoint for transporting reinforcements and weapons from Turkey.

Syria has been shattered by an armed conflict since 2011, with opposition factions and Islamist extremists, such as al-Nusra Front and Daesh, fighting the Syrian Army in a bid to oust the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Leaders of other EEU members, namely Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan will also take part in the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting, scheduled to kick off later on Tuesday. The presidents are expected to discuss the prospects of boosting mutual integration, including the creation of single market for gas, oil and oil products, as well as the expansion of the union's trade and economic ties with other countries.

On Monday, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said the Russian leader was expected to hold talks with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev on the sidelines of the meeting to discuss issues of bilateral relations, international problems and integration processes.

The Russia-led EEU, in existence since January 2015, provides for the free movement of goods, services, capital and labor among its five member states.
The Alliance Spring Series continued on Sunday afternoon (May 29) at Clinton Raceway with Marina Desbi pulling off an 11-1 upset in a division for $6,000 claiming filly and mare pacers.

Driven by Lorne House, Marina Desbi earned her first victory of the year in 1:59.4 after closing from fifth-place with a 29-second final quarter. The roan Shanghai Phil mare paid $24.40 to win in her series debut as the second-longest shot on the board. Anamazingdream Esa finished less than a length behind in second and Gorgiouseverytyme was third over the popular opening leg winner Missus Big.

Marina Desbi is owned by trainer Mary Paulic of Guelph, Ont., and Russell Ellis of Elmira, Ont.

To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Clinton Raceway.
Commencing his move upon exiting the far turn, M & L of Delaware and Victoria Dickinson's Dude's The Man worked to the fore in mid-stretch to capture the Memorial Day feature at Vernon Downs, a $10,000 Open/Preferred Pace.

A stakes contender at three, the four-year-old American Ideal entire kept well off the early pace, better than only the well-detached Damon Blue Chip through splits of :26.1 and :54.2 dictated by JK Panache (Truman Gale). As JK Panache left pocket rival Rock On Me (Dan Daley) behind on the far turn, Chris Lems angled Dudes The Man off the pegs, gearing up off the far turn into a :27 third quarter. Dudes the Man ultimately collared JK Panache in mid-stretch, holding off a late bid from 21-1 outsider Memory Game (Jimmy Whittemore) to prevail in 1:49.4 by three-quarters of a length. JK Panache faded to third upon giving way.

Jessica Okusko trains Dudes The Man, now a six-time winner. He paid $4.30.

Lems led all drivers with four wins on the 12-race card.

The 50 Pick 5 sequence stymied the Monday punters, chiefly on account of Western Toro's 16-1 upset in the eighth race. The carryover to Thursday evening's Pick 5 is $552.54. Post time for the first of nine races on Thursday at the Miracle Mile is set for 6:45 p.m.

(Vernon Downs)
By Olivia Rose

IN AN effort to improve the standards and experience of childhood education, early childhood educators will be trained over the next six weeks in Grand Turk.





The training course began on Monday, May 23, with three two and a half hour sessions per week.





The training will be facilitated by the TCI Community College following an official launch of the initiative on Friday, May 27, at the TCI Community College Grand Turk Campus.





According to education minister Akeirra Missick during this years budget speech, the training is in collaboration with the Caribbean Development Banks Basic Need Trust Fund and forms part of the ministrys holistic approach to improve the schooling experience for every child in the Turks and Caicos Islands.





The CDBs trust fund is also responsible for constructing four state of the art early childhood centres in Grand Turk.





The second phase of the project speaks to the training of educators to work in the model classrooms which the college is providing.





She said: "Working in conjunction with CDB, the Turks and Caicos Islands Community College was identified to build a programme that will be used as a continuing education model programme for teachers of early childhood classes.





"It is the aim to have the skills of all teachers in this area upgraded to provide new approaches to teaching in early childhood.





"The first batch of teachers will attend classes during the summer months period; we look forward to building on their foundation.





"No educator will be left behind on this Governments watch - that is progress.





"The improvement to the physical structures of our campuses is not the limit to the continued upgrades in the TCIG education system.





In 2014, the Ministry of Education embarked on a skill upgrading programme to ensure all educators within public schools are holders of a Bachelors degree (at a minimum).





Missick said: "We want to not only ensure that we have a learning environment that is conducive to learning but that our students are continually taught by the most qualified and passionate educators in this country.





A whopping $35.7 million was allocated in this years budget to continue the upgrading of physical infrastructure for schools, sporting facilities and boosting the training curriculum.





The minister noted that well-qualified and motivated teachers will make well taught and motivated students.





The education ministrys budget was touted under the theme, The success of every child.





Finance minister Washington Misick during his budget speech noted the importance of this key sector to the human development potential of the Turks and Caicos Islands.




FROM April 1, 2007, to March 2008, the Turks and Caicos Islands Government, headed at the time by Michael Misick, lost $55 million in revenue due to duty that was foregone in several areas.





In court last week, former customs collector Terry Selver testified about a number of discrepancies in the system, revealing that the Government collected just under $10 million in import duties in that one year.





The highest loss was recorded as result of legislative exemptions, which related to exemptions given under development orders. This sum was $18 million.





The second highest recorded loss was in goods imported where the importers only paid five percent, this figure was $14.5 million.





Within government bodies, where goods valued at $27 million were imported, the revenue foregone was seven million.





These items included goods for government and statutory bodies such as furniture, specialised equipment, regular equipment, and supplies.





For goods that attracted only 10 percent duty, $8.1 million worth of duty was foregone. These goods were valued at $41 million.





In that same period, $1.171 million was also granted in ministerial exemptions.





Selver testified that between 2003 and 2009 the ministerial exemption for import duties for various developments was used quite a lot, more than it was before 2003 or after 2009.





Selver said he had no discretion when it comes to the waiving concessions





Asked how he learned about the ministerial concessions, Selver said it was usually contained in a letter from the finance.





He said that there were a fair amount of concessions given.





Asked to approximate how often these concessions were arriving/being granted, he said at least weekly.





The categories they were being granted for included developments that were being undertaken, new construction or outfitting of a business, and a number of other things.





He explained that these ministerial waivers were not the same as development orders, and that they were sometimes granted to facilitate the early stages of a development.





Selver said these granted concessions were never published in the Gazette as the ordinance dictates they should; and that as far as he knew they never were before he became the customs boss.





However, he did say that there came a time when publication did start again, but only for a short period.





Asked if he ever raised concerns about the amount of concessions that were being granted by ministers, Selver said yes, he raised it with the finance ministry.





The witness said he had a responsibility for revenue protection - which included managing concessions.





He added that in his view he was seeking the ministrys cooperation to help him better manage the concessions that were being given.





He explained that it is the customs departments responsibility to manage the concessions being granted by the ministry of finance in a better way, and had as such outlined several recommendations in a document to the ministry.





While there is no required date limit for items imported into the country on concession, Selver stated that from a revenue protection standpoint there should have been a date limit, value limit and other things in order to better manage the concessions.





He testified that for most of the concessions he did not get a date limit on them, and asked if he ever spoke to the subject minister at time, defendant Floyd Hall, Selver stated that he wrote to the ministry with recommendations he would like to see enacted.





These recommendations were proposals to standardise concessions.





Selver said the categories he outlined included clear description of the items that were included in concessions, a time limit, value limit and ways in which to advice the importer about restrictions on the use of the goods and to advice importers that the customs department will be following up.





The prosecutor then asked the witness if these ministerial waivers resulted in revenue being reduced to the country, the witness answered: "Yes, of course.




By Olivia Rose

PREMIER Rufus Ewing has debunked claims of victimisation against Jamaicans residing in the Turks and Caicos Islands.





According to recent reports in the Jamaican Gleaner some Jamaicans alleged that they are being harassed and singled out by TCI immigration officials.





However Premier Ewing during a recent media conference told reporters that this is not the case.





"I would like for us to really dismiss this notion that theres an issue of divide regards to Jamaicans in Turks and Caicos and how they are treated and so on.





"Im not saying that there are not small instances that it does happen, but by and large that is not the case.





"We welcome everyone in this country and I would not like for those small issues to affect relationships at higher levels of government.





"Jamaica for many years has been the source of education for our people going all the way back from when we were under governorship of Jamaica and I would like for that to continue and blossom.





Allan Hutchinson, Jamaicas honorary consul in the Turks and Caicos Islands, told the media that he is unaware of the reports.





Looking ahead, the Premier revealed that the government of the Turks and Caicos Islands is looking to strengthen its bilateral relations with Jamaica.





This follows a recent courtesy call he made on the newly elected prime minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness.





Ewing said it was important for him to pay a courtesy call on the prime minister since he came into office to establish cordial relations and to formulate talks on how both countries can strengthen their long standing partnership.





He said: "We had a good meeting where we discussed challenges in the region and areas where we can have relationships especially in the area of trade and things that he is passionate about with regards to how we can partner within the region.





He noted that the talks also focused on improving affairs of Jamaicans residing in the Turks and Caicos Islands and increasing trade between the two countries.





"Im sure that we can support each other with the various products and services that exist and we can have a better trade relationship, which would be better for us.




NINE inmates at Her Majestys Prison in Grand Turk received training in how to control their temper recently.





On Tuesday (May 24) they were given graduation certificates for completion of an anger management course.





The programme which started in 2007 and runs two cycles each year has helped more than 120 inmates to resolve conflicts through calm and controlled methods.





Government substance abuse counsellor Stanley Been currently runs the course after taking over from senior substance abuse counsellor, the Reverend John Malcolm.





At the graduation ceremony Been told participants: "I encourage you all to lose sight of your past afflictions and focus on your future, using the negativity that you once bottled inside as fuel for something positive.





Meshelle Jennings, Assistant Superintendent of Her Majestys Prison, hosted the event which was attended by George Lightbourne, Minister of Home Affairs, Transportation and Communication, Raymond Grant, Acting Superintendent of HM Prison, Dr Alicia Malcolm, Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence and the Rev John Malcolm.





The Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence, has been allotted future calendar dates to assist the prison with these support services.





The second cycle for 2016 is set to begin on August 2.




By Olivia Rose

IN A bid to promote the use of renewable energy in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Ministry of Infrastructure Housing and Planning is hosting a series of town hall meeting to garner input from the public on the drafting of the policy.





A draft report for the reform of the energy sector will be shaped with vital input from key stakeholders.





The goals of policy as outlined in a release are to, ensure and promote healthy and sustainable development in the sector, to foster renewable energy technologies and to introduce ways to measure and shore up service standards.





The consultants, RAP, were retained to assist the Government with the reform of the legislative and regulatory framework of the TCI energy sector.





The consultative meetings started on Wednesday (May 25) in Grand Turk at Dillon Hall while a similar meeting will be held in Providenciales on Tuesday, May 31, at 6.30pm at the Tropicana Show and Supper Club, located on 58 Sibonne Road, Grace Bay.





Work on the amendment of the Electricity Ordinance and the improvement of the regulatory framework initially began with Castalia Strategic Advisors in 2012 and was restarted in 2015.





During the course of the consultancy, meetings were held with the Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association, the Chambers of Commerce, members of the Renewable Energy Association and FortisTCI.





The legislative and regulatory reform of the energy sector was highlighted by the Minister of Infrastructure, Housing and Planning Amanda Misick, during her budget presentation on Monday (March 21) in the House of Assembly.





Misick said electricity plays a fundamental role in every economy, and efforts must be made to ensure that it receives the necessary attention to transform the legislative and regulatory framework governing the sector.





The reform is scheduled to be completed in the second quarter of 2016, enabling fundamental changes that lead to the promotion and increased uptake of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.





These changes are also expected to effect the implementation of service level and quality of standards, the reform of the power cost adjustment mechanism, review of the utility profitability margins and the establishment medium and long term sustainable energy plans.





She said: "The reform will ensure customers with solar and wind generating facilities can connect to the electricity grid, provided they satisfy the necessary technical requirements.





Misick outlined other goals and objectives to improve the efficiency of the energy sector.





These include improving the legislative and regulatory oversight structure for the water and sewerage sector, completing qualitative risk assessment of the petroleum sector and putting measures in place to improve regulatory oversight and management for improved safety.





Plans are also in the pipeline to intensify programmes aimed at evaluating, auditing and retrofitting Government buildings to reduce energy usage and costs.





She said: "Seeing the completion of the energy audit and evaluation of the Hon NJS Francis building; some measures will be implemented in the 2016 to 2017 year to realise energy savings and cost reduction, with more robust measures to be implemented over time.





The housing and planning minister noted that works that will lead to the much needed transformation of the energy sector to ensure a modernised framework that takes advantage of the positive trends of renewable energy, energy efficiency and improved standards.




WOODLAND  In the latest sign of growth here, what was formerly Quality Inn has reopened under the Best Western brand and a completed a $1.3 million renovation.

The two-story building, adjacent to Interstate 5, underwent a year-long update of everything from floor to ceiling."

The new owner, Harj Singh Virk of Portland, owns a half dozen Best Westerns throughout the region, including one each in Vancouver and Long Beach (formerly Super 8). Singh Virk purchased the Woodland inn from a family friend, Onkar Dhaliwal, last spring.

We stumbled upon this opportunity.  The town is developing and theres also the casino that is being built just three miles south of us. So you know theres a lot of development ongoing on in the area and it's right next to I-5, Singh Virk, 31, said Friday, referring to the Cowlitz Indian Casino rising at Exit 16 near La Center.

Originally from India and raised in the United States, Singh Virk said hes essentially spent his entire life in the hospitality industry. His parents owned two hotels in Southern Oregon.

I went to hospitality school at my house, he quipped.

"Its a fun industry. Theres never a dull moment. I like meeting people from different regions, from different cultures, and keeping up with the trends and the changes in the business."

After buying the Woodland property, he immediately launched a remodel and brand conversion.

Hotel manager Jessica Sandoz pulled out a thick packet of detailed standards the hotel had to meet before taking the Best Western name. The guidelines include a checklist of instructions for hotel conversion, from repairing cracks in the parking lot to the size of curtain rods in rooms.

The remodel added a new elevator, expanded the breakfast room and fitness center, improved the pool area and redecorated the entire hotel with dark wood, chocolate brown, burnt orange and red colors. Each room has new beds, furniture and televisions, and each has a quartz bathroom sink and new light fixtures, among other changes.

Speakers pipe light jazz into the entry area, where a gas fire burns in front of soft couches. A designer-cut custom marble flooring in geometric sun-burst shapes decorates the front desk area, which is bordered by silver-toned light fixtures.

I hear a lot of people say, I cant believe this isnt a Plus, Sandoz said, referring to the higher-quality hotel that is typically above a regular Best Western. We definitely offer many of the same amenities as the Best Western Plus in Vancouver, such a bigger breakfast area and the same thread count for sheets and towels.

A third-party assessment of the hotel placed it among the top 13 Best Westerns for cleanliness and the top three for Internet speed among the 300 hotels a regional district, Sandoz said.

Since the renovations completion in March, Sandoz said there has been a slight uptick in customers. She expects the 51-room hotel to be even busier during the summer. The renovation allowed her to hire one additional front-desk receptionist and four part-time housekeepers. Overall there are about 12 to 15 employees throughout the year.

Prices rose slightly after the remodel (at least $10 more a night, although prices vary based on season and room size).

The Long Beach location also recently underwent a similar extensive remodel, and the Vancouver location got a less-extensive upgrade, too.

Sandoz and Singh Virk expect business to continue to grow as nearby construction projects come to fruition. The hotel already offers discounts for casino construction workers and is looking ahead to construction of the McMenamins Hotel in Kalama.

I definitely think Vancouvers growth will trickle more into Woodland. Its definitely getting bigger, and I think theres going to be a lot of business, Sandoz said.
hidden

Analysis of data seized by investigators in last week's raid of Google's Paris headquarters could possibly take years, French financial prosecutor Eliane Houlette said on Sunday. Dozens of French police raided Google's offices on Tuesday, escalating an investigation over suspected tax evasion.

"We have collected a lot of computer data," Houlette said in an interview with Europe 1 radio, TV channel iTele and newspaper Le Monde, adding that 96 people took part in the raid. "We need to analyze (the data) ... (it will take) months, I hope that it won't be several years, but we are very limited in resources".

Google, which said it is complying fully with French law, is under pressure across Europe from public opinion and governments angry at the way multinationals exploit their global presence to minimize tax liabilities. France has gone on an overdrive in it's crackdown on tech companies who evade taxes and issued a statement that the country is not going to stop anytime soon.

With inputs from Reuters
Naina Khedekar

This morning Apple hit headlines, not for its falling sales figures or dainty devices, but for its work culture. Apple is known for its closed environment, but that doesn't limit to just its products, as NDA signed employees have now revealed under anonymity bitter truth about the popular company's work culture. So, Apple store employees reportedly get paid peanuts, a bonus on a massive sale comes only in the form of a handshake, and there are no internal promotions as the managerial position is given to an 'outsider'. But that's not even the worst, as employees are often subjected to death threats from customers. Apple isn't the only one, and we've seen some stories of monster bosses surface in the past. Let's take a quick look at some.

Harrowing experience at Amazon

Last year in August, what became public were the harrowing experiences about working at Amazon when Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld of The New York Times interviewed more than 100 former and current Amazon employees to conclude how bad it can get to work at Amazon. Amazon was accused of trying to get as much work out of an employee as possible. Managers look for immediate responses to emails even those sent after midnight, and also when on vacation.

Again, that's not the worst. The report claims employees are treated badly when they ask for help. The reported cited an example when a woman who had a miscarriage was asked to travel immediately the next day on a business trip, while another woman suffering from breast cancer was rated really low for her performance and warned about losing her job. Soon after the reports went live, Jeff Bezos decided to look into the matter.

Facebook and sexism

In 2012, Facebook emerged, for the first time, among the top 3 companies to work at. But the fairy tale didn't last long, when a tell-all book by an ex-employee revealed the sexist mentality of the company. In her book, The Boy Kings: A Journey into the Heart of the Social Network, Katherine Losse who worked for Facebook between 2005 and 2010 claimed that female workers at the social network were propositioned for threesomes and faced insults like 'I want to put my teeth in your ass.' Lower ranking employees who were usually female were treated as second class help, while male engineers were busy with toga parties and late night hackathons. Zuckerberg was even compared to Napolean and called him a little emperor with staff that treats him like an 'idol'. Moreover, on his 22nd birthday, female employees were asked to wear T-shirts with his name printed on them. However, things started changing with the arrival of the chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg who later joined the Facebook board as its first female directors.

Foxconn and ugly labor conditions

A few years ago, the ugly story behind the assembling of the beautiful Apple products came to light. A survey disclosed the bad working conditions at Foxconn factories, which were largely run by migrant workers or people who have come from other countries or regions looking for jobs. The average age of these workers was 23, and less than 6 percent of workers in the three facilities were between the ages of 16 and 18.

The hands that help make those stylish devices were said to be overworked, underpaid and in bad conditions. A survey back then had revealed that majority workers found the canteen food inedible and about 48 percent found the place unhygenic. The Fair Labor Association had intervened and asked companies to follow local labor laws. Soon, Apple and Foxconn said that they are working at improving the conditions for workers.

Ellen Pao and gender bias

This is one trial that had made the tech world sit upright and take notice. Pao had claimed that Silicon Valley venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, wherein she was a junior partner, denied promotions because of her gender and was terminated soon after she complained. Juror in gender lawsuit sympathised with Ellen Pao, but sided with Kleiner.

Dropcam and Nest saga

It was just recently that we saw the public mudslinging between Dropcam founder Greg Duffy and Nest CEO Tony Fadell. It was when Fadell blamed Dropcam for its failing position and inability to come out with a profitable new product. Fadell called the acquired Dropcam team 'not as good as he hoped, Duffy shortly replied calling it blatant scapegoating. He explained how Dropcam was in the middle of a record year of sale, how it still made money compared to other (Alpha) bets and only 50 Dropcam employees resigned out of the 500 (out of 1200) who decided to leave Nest. He clearly hinted how it wasnt a smooth sailing experience working with Fadell and how great products were crushed by Fadell. Fadell is believed to have met the big bosses shortly to defend Nest.
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France will "go all the way" to ensure that multinationals operating on its soil pay their taxes and more cases could follow after Google and McDonald's were targeted by tax raids, Finance Minister Michel Sapin said. Sapin, speaking in an interview with Reuters and three European newspapers, ruled out negotiating any deal with Google on back taxes, as Britain did in January. Dozens of French police raided Google's Paris headquarters on Tuesday, escalating an investigation on suspicions of tax evasion. Investigators searched McDonald's French headquarters on May 18 in another tax probe.

"We'll go all the way. There could be other cases," Sapin said. Raids this month by police and justice investigators build on the work started by tax authorities three or four years ago, when they transferred tax data to judicial authorities that look into any possible criminal angle, Sapin said.

Google, McDonald's and other multinational firms such as Starbucks are under increasing pressure in Europe from public opinion and governments angry at the way businesses exploit their presence around the world to minimise the tax they pay. Google says it is fully complying with French law and McDonald's declined to comment on the search, referring back to past comments that it is proud to be one of the biggest tax payers in France.

Sapin said he could not discuss what sums were at stake because of the confidentiality of tax matters. A source in his ministry had said in February that French tax authorities were seeking some 1.6 billion euros ($1.78 billion) in back taxes from Google.

NO DEAL

Asked if tax authorities could strike a deal with the tech giant, he said: "We don't do deals like Britain, we apply the law." Google agreed in January to pay 130 million pounds ($190 million) in back taxes to Britain, prompting criticism from opposition lawmakers and campaigners that the sum was too low. "There won't be negotiations," Sapin said, adding that there was always the possibility of some marginal adjustments "but that's not the logic we're in."

Google, now part of Alphabet Inc, pays little tax in most European countries because it reports almost all sales in Ireland. This is possible thanks to a loophole in international tax law but it hinges on staff in Dublin concluding all sales contracts. This week's police raid is part of a separate judicial investigation into aggravated tax fraud and the organised laundering of the proceeds of tax fraud.

Should it be found guilty of that, Google faces either up to 10 million euros ($11 million) in fines or a fine of half of the value of the laundered amount involved. A preliminary inquiry into McDonald's was opened early this year after former investigating magistrate and politician Eva Joly filed a lawsuit in December on behalf of an employee committee, a judicial source said.

French business magazine L'Expansion reported last month that authorities had sent McDonald's France a 300 million euro bill for unpaid taxes on profits believed to have been funneled through Luxembourg and Switzerland. It said tax officials had accused the giant U.S. burger chain of using a Luxembourg-based entity, McD Europe Franchising, to shift profits to lower-tax jurisdictions by billing the French division excessively for use of the company brand and other services.

The judicial source confirmed the investigation was looking into this. The government said this week that it had raked in 3.3 billion euros in back taxes and penalties from just five multinationals in 2015. "Nothing prevents big groups from coming to us and declaring their taxes," Sapin said.

Reuters
Nash David

Since becoming the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has worked effortlessly in pushing his Digital India programme. In addition, there has been the Startup India as well as Make in India projects that have received immense media coverage over the past couple of years. Some sceptics do question the hype around these programmes, while others question, well, the very right to question.

Since taking over as PM, Narendra Modi focused on bringing a sense of optimism in the Indian industry, and reduce red-tapism experienced by businesses thinking of setting up shop here. In the tech world, some of these names would include Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and many more. In September 2015, PM Modi embarked on a trip to the US. Turns out, Chinese president Xi Jinping's visit happened at the same time. Both had the same agenda  to woo American businesses to come and set up shop in their respective countries. While Jinping had to focus his concerns towards Capitol Hill due to security, hacking and business, Modi addressed the innovation hub  Stanford, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, Apple and the business leaders of the US who have an eye on India.

Luckily for India, a significant percentage of popular tech companies are led by Indians, or have Indians in senior leadership positions. Business decisions, however, aren't taken based on the nationality or affinity of a company's leader. It's taken on merit of the market, the dynamics of business environment prevalent in that specific markets, and the overall nature of opportunities that lie ahead. So when Modi met key leaders  Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Tim Cook, and a host of others  the agenda was clear. To communicate that India is a land of opportunities, growth and ease of doing business.

Irrespective of their nationality, business leaders view India as a market of opportunity. It provides the essential numbers to provide growth to businesses that were otherwise plateauing in developed markets. The result has been a surge of interest in India. Over the past couple of years, there has been a lot of activity in India.

Free Basics and the battle for free!

February 2015 saw Internet.org, Zuckerberg's pet project get launched in India. This happened via a partnership between Facebook and Reliance Communications. Back then the plan was to go online pan-India 'over the next 90 days.' That period was to end in May 2015. Over the course of these months, voices calling for a free Internet began to gain prominence. Free here referred to freedom, not so much free as in a free beer.

The days and weeks that went by saw a significant opposition to Internet.org. Some referred to Free Basics as 'so-called philanthropy'  which keeps coming back in different avatars  is nothing but an attempt to buy the de-anonymised packets of the Indian poor at a bulk rate, breaking their security in the process of destroying their privacy. Before long, Kirthiga Reddy, Facebook India's first employee decided to move back to the US and 'explore new opportunities at Facebook back at Menlo Park.'

By February, the verdict was out. TRAI had come out with a decision. It was clear  differential pricing simply couldn't exist. Eventually, Free Basics was shut down in India by Facebook.

Free Internet and the widespread support

On the other hand, when Sundar Pichai visited India, he brought with him the idea of internet infrastructure that offered free Wi-Fi at hundreds of railway stations in India. The idea of a private company helping out to meet the requirements of million of citizens was welcomed by Indians. There's certainly a lot that Facebook could've learned from Google in the way it tried to bring 'free internet' to million of Indians.

Nonetheless, here was a company that was investing in India  and was solving a problem that is at the core of every Indian's online experience  low bandwidth, patchy connectivity and last mile hurdles. The availability of internet connectivity at railway stations, similar to airports, helps millions connect with millions more!

Support for Startup India

Overall the industry has been quite supportive of Indian government projects such as Startup India and Digital India. Many companies announced Make in India plans to woo Indians. But what is needed is far beyond rebranding business as Make in India. What's needed is local employment, local sourcing and local pricing. Generally speaking, up until now, Make in India literally was business for Foxconn India. Life went on as usual because it was pretty much business as usual. Only the manufacturing partner now had a manufacturing plant in India, which was optimally utilised. In fact, the Sri City plant caters to a bunch of popular smartphone manufacturers.

Apple incubator and iPhone pricing

A surprise visit in the recent weeks was Apple CEO Tim Cook. He took India by surprise. Among the few signals that were given out was the possibility of iPhone prices being at par with international pricing. Currently, India happens to be among the costliest places to buy Apple products.

In addition, the opening up of a mapping centre in Hyderabad and a startup accelerator in Bengaluru were key highlights. However, there's much more for Apple to gain from these moves. Apple needs to overhaul its Maps offering, and hence it's focussing on India. Similarly, the app accelerator in Bengaluru is aimed at giving a push to the developer community to build apps for iOS in a market that is ruled by Android. The one announcement that many in India would be waiting for would be a fall in prices of devices. These are tangible benefits for India amidst the frequent visits by global tech leaders.

Tesla preorders in India

Among the prominent business heads who PM Modi met while in the Silicon Valley was Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Now certainly, there's time before we see Elon Musk come to India and announce local manufacturing. Even the government machinery in India says that for hi-tech businesses, 30 percent sourcing needs to happen locally. But on a case-to-case basis, this could be overruled. A small step towards this direction was the availability of the Tesla Model S pre-booking in India.

The pre-booking became as popular as a viral video, garnering billions of dollars for Tesla.

What is left to be seen is how much of the 'warmth of Indian people' translates to tangible benefits for the Indian market. One thing is to visit India, and praise Indians for their warmth. On the other hand, it might just help to treat the Indian market with equal fervour and priority that it deserves.
People don't trust Joy's claim over meeting with Safadi: BNP

BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Sunday said people do not trust Prime Minister's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy's remark that he never met Israel's Likud Party leader Mendi N Safadi.

Speaking at a press briefing at BNP's Nayapaltan central office, he also said their party is waiting to see what action the government takes against Joy over his meeting with Safadi.

"People don't believe that Joy is telling the truth and Safadi is lying (over their meeting)," the BNP leader said.

He also alleged that the government is playing double standard over the separate meetings between Safadi and Joy, and Safadi and Aslam. Earlier on Saturday, BBC Bangla published an interview of Safadi where he claimed that he had a meeting with Joy last year at the latter's office in Washington DC before his meeting with BNP leader Aslam Chowdhury this year.

Trashing Safadi's claim, Joy in a Facebook post on Sunday said, "I have never met Safadi, either in Washington or anywhere else. He is lying. That he is willing to lie for the BNP also proves that he is involved in a conspiracy with the BNP. Otherwise why would he lie on their behalf?"

On Saturday, Awami League joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif also dismissed Safadi's claim, terming it a 'drama staged by BNP'. Earlier on May 15, detectives arrested BNP leader Aslam Chowdhury soon after the politician drew controversy over holding a meeting with the Israeli politician in India early this month.

Rizvi said, "Safadi himself claimed to have met with Joy. When an innocent BNP leader met a person he was charged with treason, but when the Prime Minister's son met the same person he was labelled as patriot. This is the policy of this regime." Criticising AL leader Hanif for terming BNP drama the media report about a meeting between Safadi and Joy, Rizvi said people will trash his comment. Rizvi alleged that the Attorney General's office is obstructing the release of Rajshahi City Corporation Mayor Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul from jail though he secured bail from the High Court in the cases filed against him.
Christian man stabbed by miscreants in Pabna

A Christian man was injured as a group of miscreants stabbed him at Khoiljana village in Chatmohor upazila on Sunday night. The injured was identified as Ranjit Rojario, 30, son of late Jaj Rojario of the area. Officer-in-charge of Chatmohor Police Station Subroto Kumar said a group of unidentified miscreants attacked Ranjit while he was returning home in the area at about 10:30 pm. At one stage, the attackers stabbed Ranjit indiscriminately, leaving him critically injured. Later, he was rushed to Pabna General Hospital. The reason behind the attack could not be known immediately, the OC added. -- Pabna, May 30 (UNB)
Leaders of Bangladesh Mofussil Sangbadik Forum at its national council at Dhaka Reporters Unity on Monday to meet its 14-point demands.
Iraqi forces enter ISIS-held Fallujah: Commanders

Iraqi government forces seen advancing towards Falluja.

AFP, Baghdad :Iraqi forces entered the ISIS group bastion of Fallujah from three directions on Monday in a new phase of the operation to recapture the city, commanders said."Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air cover from the international coalition, the Iraqi air force and army aviation and supported by artillery and tanks," said Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the commander in charge of the operation."Counter-terrorism service (CTS) forces, the Anbar police and the Iraqi army, at around 4 am (0100 GMT), started moving into Fallujah from three directions," he said."There is resistance from Daesh," he added, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.CTS spokesman Sabah al-Norman told AFP: "We started early this morning our operations to break into Fallujah."The involvement of the elite CTS marks the start of a phase of urban combat in a city where US forces in 2004 fought some of their toughest battles since the Vietnam War.The week-old operation had previously focused on retaking villages and rural areas around Fallujah, which lies just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad.Only a few hundred families managed to slip out of the Fallujah area ahead of the assault on the city, with an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped inside, sparking fears the jihadists could try to use them as human shields.Fallujah is one of just two major urban centres in Iraq still held by ISIS. They also hold second city Mosul."Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air cover from the international coalition, the Iraqi air force and army aviation, and supported by artillery and tanks," said Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the commander of the operation."CTS forces, the Anbar police and the Iraqi army, at around 4:00 am (0100 GMT), started moving into Fallujah from three directions," he said."There is resistance from Daesh," he added, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL.CTS spokesman Sabah al-Noman said: "We started early this morning our operations to break into Fallujah."Fighting on Monday followed battles a day earlier, adding to the exodus of thousands of desperate civilians from the surrounding areas and deep concern for the many more trapped in the battlegrounds.Also on Monday, at least nine people were killed and 26 were wounded in bombings north and northeast of the capital Baghdad. The week-old operation to liberate Fallujah has so far focused on retaking villages and rural areas close to the central city, which lies just 50 kilometres west of Baghdad.CTS's involvement will mark the start of a phase of urban combat in a city where US forces in 2004 fought some of their toughest battles since the Vietnam War.
Rubio won`t be Trump`s vice presidential running mate

Former US Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio ruled out becoming Donald Trump\'s vice presidential running mate.

AFP, Washington :Former US Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio on Sunday ruled out becoming Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate, but said he'd be "honored" to play some kind of a role in helping him win the White House.Rubio, who clashed bitterly with Trump in the brutal race for the Republican nomination, said his policy differences with the real estate mogul were too great for Rubio to join the ticket."I wouldn't be the right choice for him," Rubio said in an extensive interview with CNN's "State of the Union" program. "Donald deserves to have a vice president - he's earned the nomination - and he deserves to have a running mate that more fully embraces some of the things he stands for."Rubio, a US senator from Florida, ended his White House bid in March after an embarrassing loss in his home state.Trump, who has practically ensured he will emerge as the nominee from the Republican convention in July, derided Rubio as a lightweight and dubbed him "Little Marco."Rubio called the real estate mogul a con artist and quipped about his small hands, a charge that Trump took to mean as questioning the size of his manhood.Rubio and Trump differed sharply on policy issues, with Trump eschewing the interventionist approach favored by Rubio and Rubio criticizing Trump's call for temporarily banning the entry of Muslims into the United States.Ahead of the July 18-21 Republican convention, Trump has sought to unify the party behind him and gain the backing of other prominent party figures.Rubio said he expected to attend the convention and did not rule out a speaking role. He said he wanted to be helpful to Trump's presidential run because he wants to see likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton defeated in the Nov. 8 US election."I don't want Hillary Clinton to be president. If there's something I can do to help that from happening and it's helpful to the cause I'd most certainly be honored to be considered for that," Rubio said.In another olive branch to Trump, Rubio said he regretted making the "small hands" remark about his former foe."I actually told Donald at one of the debates. I forget which one - I apologized to him for that," Rubio said. "I said 'I'm sorry that I said that.' It's not who I am. And I shouldn't have done it."
2 Bank officials arrested

Chittagong Bureau :

The Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) on Sunday arrested two top level officials of Bank Asia Limited on charges of swindling over TK 74 crore.

The arrested officials were - Mohammad Hosnezzaman, 49, manager of the bank's CDA Avenue branch in the city and Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, 43, acting manager of Bhatiary branch of the same bank.A team of the ACC arrested them from city's Agrabad area around 3:30pm in a case filed by ACC with Sitakunda Police Station on February 13 in 2014, ACC sources said.

M H Rahmat Ullah, Assistant Director of ACC Chittagong district office, said the arrested misappropriated a total of Tk 74 crore 83 lakh 26 thousand and 394 from the bank by sanctioning loan through illegal ways at different times.


3 trafficked girls rescued: 6 held

Staff Reporter :

Three trafficked girls were rescued by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) from Gazipur's Tongi, and Mymensingh town on Monday afternoon.

They are: Fatema Akhter, 22, Rita Akhter, 20, and Rokhsana Akhter, 20.

The elite force members have also detained six suspected men in this connection. They are: Liton, 30, Shamim, 28, Masud, 38, Rabiul, 40, Rafiqul, 24, and Swapna, 22, said Major Hussain Raisul Azam Moni, Legal and Media Wing Deputy Director of RAB.

He declined to divulge details, saying, they would brief the media later on.

RAB-1 Commanding Officer Lt Col Tuhin Mohammad Masud, said "The victims were being taken to India in the name of good job. But they were sold to the broker of brothel in Tongi and Mymensigh district town."

Following the information, RAB members conducted separate drives in the areas and rescued them, the RAB official said.

The arrested persons are being interrogated in this connection, the CO said. Legal action will be taken against the arrested men, he said.
Bangladesh Diploma Bekar Nurses Association and Bangladesh Basic Graduate Nurses Society staged huge rally in front of the Jatiya Press Club on Monday reiterated their demands to employ them on seniority basis.
Hearing on Aslam`s remand plea deferred

Court Correspondent :The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court of Dhaka on Monday deferred the hearing on the remand plea of a Detective Branch (DB) Inspector against BNP Joint Secretary General Aslam Chowdhury to Tuesday.Magistrate Maruf Hossain of the CMM Court passed the order when DB Inspector Golam Rabbani produced Aslam to the court on Monday seeking a 10-day remand in a sedition case filed against him with Gulshan Police Station on May 26. Besides, Magistrate Yasir Ahsan Chowdhury of the court granted a plea of Investigation Officer Fazlul Haque of the sedition case to show BNP leader Aslam Chowdhury arrested in the case. On May 26, Inspector Golam Rabbani filed the case against the BNP leader for his alleged involvement in an anti-state plot.Meanwhile, Magistrate Golam Nabi and Mohammad Majharul Islam of the CMM Court fixed June 6 for hearing on remand pleas against Aslam in two other cases filed with Motijheel and Lalbagh Police Stations of the city for his alleged involvement in arson attacks.Earlier, on May 24, police sought a 10-day remand each in the two cases to interrogate Aslam Chowdhury in the two cases. On the same day, Magistrate Sohel Rana of the CMM Court sent him to jail.On May 16, a court placed the BNP leader on a seven-day remand for interrogation in connection with his alleged involvement in an anti-state plot on May 16. During the hearing, Magistrates Abdullah Al Masud and Maruf Hossain fixed May 30 for hearing on the remand pleas. Plainclothes police arrested Aslam from Kuril Biswa Road of the city on May 15 within hours of imposition of a travel ban on him. Aslam denied any conspiracy against the government although he reportedly admitted to meeting Israel's Likud Party leader Mendi N Safadi at a tea party in India.
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Senator Bob Dole, his wife (and Senator-to-be) Elizabeth Dole, and

President Gerald Ford disembark from Marine One in 1976

A random photo essay this time, instead of a single picture. Popular Mechanics has a nice feature called "A Visual History of Air Force One," from a somehow amusing picture of Teddy Roosevelt in a Wright Flyer to President Obama boarding a sleek jet. Pleasant and interesting, and it serves as sort of a summary of what I was talking about the other day when I mentioned our swift progress from Kitty Hawk onward. Might be of interest to you if you like airplanes, politics, history, or all three.

"Air Force One" is not a single aircraftit's the designation for any plane on which a sitting President of the United States happens to be flying. The designation came about in 1953 when Air Force 8610, with President Dwight D. Eisenhower aboard, coincidentally shared airspace for a while with Eastern Airlines 8610, a commercial flight. The designation Air Force One was devised to prevent such confusion in the future.

Air Force One is better than the nickname for an earlier Presidential aircraft, which was "The Sacred Cow."

Coolest of all the Presidential planes was undoubtedly Harry Truman's "Independence," which was painted to resemble a giant bald eagle! Rad.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2016 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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John Camp: "Warren Buffett's first name for his private jet was the 'Indefensible.' (He supposedly now refers to it as the Indispensable, but that was after he bought a big share of NetJets.)"
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! ! !

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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.
Some of the guests at the Farm Credit Systems 100th birthday party may not come bearing gifts.

The commercial banking industry has historically had a strained relationship with the system, created in 1916 by the federal government to provide long-term credit to farmers and others in the agriculture industry. FCS has an unfair advantage, one lobbying group believes.

We want competition. We just want it to be fair competition, said Ed Elfmann,vice president of congressional relations and political affairs for the American Bankers Association. Well compete with anyone on a fair playing field.

Tom Tracy, the chief executive officer of Farm Credit Illinois rejects accusations that his association has an unfair advantage.

That is completely untrue, he said. When you look at the capital thats required to support agriculture and rural communities, it takes all of us doing our best work to get that done. By all of us, it takes the Farm Credit System and the commercial banking industry.

... It really takes all of us to meet the needs and to create healthy rural communities and a strong agricultural sector.

Commercial lenders agree they arent enemies of FCS. Elfmann said the system has an important role in the farm credit milieu. But they would like to see some changes.

Were not advocating for the elimination of the Farm Credit System, Elfmann said. What were advocating for is reform of the Farm Credit System.

A major bone of contention is taxes. FCS gets a big break on federal income taxes, according to Elfmann. He contends it pays an effective rate of only 4 percent, when real-estate and operating loans are averaged. By contrast, he said, banks pay 29 percent on their income.

Thats a big price difference. That adds a tremendous amount of cost to the banking industry, Elfmann said.

Its not an even playing field, in that sense. And thats a big point of contention for our folks. With their tax subsidy, we believe they should be servicing those who need the most help, such as younger or small farmers.

Thats exactly what Farm Credit does, and it goes beyond commercial banking services, Tracy counters.

We keep finding ways to help young and beginning farmers get into business, he said. We do everything we can, all the way from balance-sheet training and helping them with a business plan, counseling, providing some level of lesser credit requirements.

Farm Credit is comprised of a network of cooperatives. Tracy said that in itself counters much of the criticism.

Were member-owned. That gets lost in the shuffle a lot, he said. The banks are attempting to reduce their competition, and its kind of ironic that theyre trying to do it by attacking the property of the farmer, rancher and landlord that theyre ultimately chasing as a customer as well.

Farm Credit gets a better deal on U.S. Treasury bonds than commercial lenders, Elfmann countered. He points to other areas in which he said the system is slanted in FCSs favor, such as the cost of appraisals.

Farm Credit offices may have in-house appraisers, negating the need to use outside appraisal services along with the fees.

An appraiser for the FCSs desk can be next to the presidents desk. A bank cannot have in-house appraisers; they have to be separate, Elfmann said. Most banks dont have an appraiser in house, by law. So Farm Credit wont have to charge an appraisal fee when they go out to appraise property for a new loan.

Elfmann asserts that Farm Credits advantages allow the system to pick up more stable borrowers at the expense of needy farmers.

They cherry pick the best loans they can find, he said. Ive heard deals where a banker puts together a 30-year farm mortgage and then six months later the farmer will come in and pay the entire mortgage off because Farm Credit gave them a loan to pay it off. Then theyll put it on their books. It happens all the time.

Such criticisms are unproductive, Tracy said. Because Farm Credit is owned by its members, it is beholden to them.

The beauty of a cooperative is that we dont have a third constituency, he said. We have employees and we have owners that are our borrowers. We dont have shareholders.

He also takes issue with complaints by commercial bankers about loans made to large, non-ag corporations. They include companies such as Verizon, U.S. Cellular and Cracker Barrel. One Farm Credit office was even involved in a loan package to Saratoga Raceway and Casino.

We felt that their regulator has been a little too cozy for a little too long, allowing a few too many things to happen, Elfmann said. My understanding is that thats been pulled back since we started making noise.

Tracy said those criticisms border on hypocrisy.

Members of the ABA led those transactions, he said. For every single one of those, the very people that are hurling these assertions about the Farm Credit System invited the Farm Credit System into those transactions. Im a little perplexed about the audacity making that assertion.
State police arrested two out-of-state residents Saturday for possession of cannabis, cannabis trafficking, and calculated criminal cannabis conspiracy.

A state trooper stopped Yunierqui Crespo, 31, of Houston, Texas for speeding on Interstate 64, headed eastbound. After smelling a strong odor of cannabis coming from inside the 2001 white GMC Sierra, a search of the vehicle uncovered 154 pounds of high grade cannabis hidden in a rear compartment, according to a news release from District 13 of the Illinois State Police.

Passenger Dainery Acosta-Bueno, 26, of Tampa, Florida was the second person arrested.

Along with ISP District 13 and ISP Zone 7 Investigation, the Mount Vernon Police Department and the Fairmount City Police Department were also involved in making the arrest.

-- The Southern
CHICAGO  The emails started arriving as heads were still spinning in the state Capitol over Democrats ramming through a state budget proposal. The missives from Republicans on Wednesday accused the majority party of approving a plan that's out of balance by $7 billion.

By the next night, voters were receiving automated "robocalls," paid for by the GOP, accusing Democrats in key swing districts of siding with House Speaker Michael Madigan to "force record high income tax rates."

Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic leaders may be fighting over how to resolve the nation's only remaining state budget deadlock, but they're also keeping a constant eye on the November election, and how each vote and each statement can help them or hurt them come Election Day.

Each side is preparing to spend millions as Rauner and other Republicans campaign to weaken the Democrats' years-long dominance in the General Assembly.

Republicans paint Democrats as interested only in raising taxes and opposing reforms, while the Democrats accuse the GOP of trying to help the wealthy at the expense of the middle class and vulnerable residents. The attacks have gone on for months but have intensified in recent weeks with emails, news conferences and TV ads over everything from term limits to the minimum amount workers on state construction projects should earn.

The election-focused politics are a major reason Illinois doesn't have a state budget nearly 11 months into the fiscal year, and why lawmakers likely aren't motivated to pass a deal for the next fiscal year, which starts July 1, before lawmakers adjourn their spring session Tuesday.

"Both sides are so focused on partisan politics and the upcoming election that they refuse to do their job," said Rep. Jack Franks, a Marengo Democrat who often votes with Republicans. Franks announced earlier this month he's leaving the Legislature, due largely, he says, to Springfield's gridlock.

The main players in the fight are Rauner, a multimillionaire businessman who to date has been stymied by Democrats on his promise to "shake up" the state, weaken unions and enact pro-business reforms, and Madigan, who has become the nation's longest-serving state House speaker with strong support from organized labor.

Each is expected to spend millions to attack and promote different candidates in the fall campaign. Rauner already has set aside $20 million for that purpose, and earlier this month gave $5 million to the state GOP.

The prize is Democrats' veto-proof supermajorities. On paper, the party has enough seats to override a Rauner veto in both the Senate and House. While that group is large enough to consistently do so in the Senate, at least three House Democrats have been known to defect from Madigan's majority, leading to failed veto overrides or skipped attempts on key issues such as stop-gap funding for child care or union arbitration.

Madigan dispatched one of those outliers, Rep. Ken Dunkin of Chicago, by running a successful opponent against him in the March primary. Now Madigan is looking to pick up a few more seats in November  an outcome that would allow Democrats to ensure legislation either becomes law or doesn't.

Rauner and the GOP are hoping to not only stop that from happening, but to further deflate Madigan's numbers. Republicans say there are as many as 24 House seats where they plan to compete, though their fiercest battles will likely be in about a half-dozen districts scattered throughout Illinois.

While Rauner has recently talked up the need for compromise, he struck a more combative tone at this month's state GOP convention, promising "the biggest ground game that's ever been done in legislative races in Illinois history" while blaming Democrats for running Illinois "into the ground."

"This election cycle is critical," Rauner said. "We have got to pick up seats against Mike Madigan's Democrats and the Chicago political machine."

Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, while publicly agreeing to participate in "working groups" that aim to negotiate a potential budget deal, have also been in campaign mode.

At a union rally in Springfield earlier this month, Madigan thanked demonstrators for their support during "this epic struggle" with Rauner, then led them in a call-and-answer to shout down the governor's priorities, which he described as lowering wages and sending injured workers "to welfare."

"The governor thinks you make too much money," Cullerton yelled. "So all I can tell you is we're going to stay tough, we're going to fight for your interest and the middle class."

Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno has accused Democrats of trying to avoid tough votes on raising taxes or other issues until after the election, allowing Illinois to go "off the deep end."

"But I'll tell you, every single rank-and-file Democrat who follows the speaker is on notice that they are a party to this," she said.
T&D Region public school officials say they need more time, more information and more advice on President Obamas transgender restroom directive.

I think everybody is waiting on more information from the legal system on how to proceed, Orangeburg Consolidated School District 4 Superintendent Dr. Tim Newman said.

The directive can be interpreted in different ways, including when it has to be implemented, he said. The directive has been distributed within the district and to its attorneys.

The other districts are also consulting their attorneys before taking action on the directive, which was issued by the U.S. Justice Department on May 12. It says that Title IX, which outlaws discrimination based on sex, refers to transgender students.

Schools could lose federal funding if they fail to give students access to all activities and facilities consistent with their gender identity rather than the sex that was assigned to them at birth.

Bamberg District 1 has already been challenged by a parent who threatened to pull his child out of school if the policy is implemented.

Superintendent Phyllis Schwarting told the parents that the district cannot risk losing federal funds, but trustee John Hiers said the policy infringes on the rights of other students.

Schwarting told The T&D earlier that the board is studying the policy to get more information before making definite decisions about it.

Were not trying to avoid complying with the issue, but neither are we going to act impulsively. We dont want to overreact, she said. Well discuss it more in detail to sort of tweak it.

The district will support any students decision and make adequate provisions, Schwarting said.

Calhoun County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Steve Wilson said the administration and the board will discuss the directive and come up with something that respects the rights of all students.

We havent had a reason to discuss it with an attorney yet, but once we have come up with what we believe is a sound policy, well probably run it by our attorney.

To date, no student has requested such accommodations in the Calhoun system, Wilson said.

Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5 spokesman Bill Clark says its too early to say how the directive will be implemented. He noted that the decision wont lie just in the hands of local districts.

This is going to evolve through the court system, he said I know that over the summer, the district is going to be receiving guidance through the Department of Education and the South Carolina School Boards Association.

Superintendent Dr. Jesse Washington says OCSD5 and a lot of other districts will probably be watching Horry and Berkeley counties.

They have some students who have identified as transgender and theyve had to make accommodations, he said. I think some districts will be watching how they will handle it.

At this point, OCSD5 has not had any student make such a request, Washington said.

I think in most cases, its dealt with on a case-by-case individual basis, and were going to do whats best for our students, he said.

Whatever happens, it will be a district or statewide policy, Washington said.

Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School Principal Dr. Stephen Peters says theres not enough information available at this point.

Administrators dont know what kind of policies will be satisfactory to the Justice Department or how kids will react to sharing restrooms with students theyve considered to be members of the opposite sex.

There needs to be a lot of discussion all the way from the board down to students, Stephens said. We dont know how people feel, so I think we need to have conversations with everybody about it.

The bottom line is there are so many unknowns, Peters said. Hes leaving the district to take over as head of Laurens County District 55 in July.
As a historian, I collect historical information from Orangeburg and Bamberg counties. While conducting some research recently, I came across a most intriguing account of Corporal Alonza Kearse, the first black soldier from Bamberg County to lose his life in World War I. The following articles were taken from the Bamberg Herald.

On Oct. 4, 1917, the Bamberg Herald reported: Send-Off For Negroes-Forty-Eight Colored Soldiers Given Rousing Farewell  On Friday morning 48 Bamberg County Negroes will leave here for Camp Jackson having been drafted into the new national army and will train at the cantonment near Columbia. The special car in which they will travel is already awaiting them at the Southern Railway depot here.

The colored people of the county expect to show their patriotism and loyalty to their men and have arranged an elaborate programme in honor of the men who are leaving Friday. The programme is printed below in detail and will be carried out on Thursday night October 4th at Thankful Baptist Church in this city.

On Aug. 22, 1918, The Bamberg Herald reported: Colored Soldier Killed in France The first colored soldier from Bamberg County to give his life in the cause of liberty on the battlefields of France was Corporal Alonza Kearse of Ehrhardt. Relatives of Corporal Kearse received a telegram from the war department on Saturday advising them of the death of the colored soldier and the casualty list published Monday contained his name among those killed in action.

Alonzo Kearse was a selectman from this county and he was drafted into the army last February. Soon thereafter, he was included in a colored contingent to go to France. That, he was an exemplary soldier is shown by the fact that he had been promoted to corporal. No details have of course been given concerning his death other than that he was killed in action.

This is the second Bamberg County soldier to meet death in action in France, the other being Riley G. Cope, a white volunteer from the city.

In the book Negro Combat Troops in the World War: The Story of the 371st Infantry by Chester D. Heywood, Captain Allen Thurman describes the raid of Aug 5: The raid on the night of August 5 was originally planned for the middle of July and we began to train for it a few miles behind the lines, directly south of Vauquois. For some reason it was called off but later on we were ordered to a spot between Sivry Le Perche and Esnes to resume.

Coup de main (surprise attack) executed in conjunction with 333rd Infantry (French) in SS Verrieres on the night of the 5 of August 1918. One officer, Lieutenant Thurman and two corporals, Arthur Floyd and Alonzo Kearse of the 371st Infantry (black troops) and two N. C. O.s also participated.

The German barrage began five minutes after our artillery started the preparation but was very weak. The division commander sent word that the 371st Infantry was to be given additional training in anticipation of a major raid to be made into the German lines.

As the party tried to find a way through the entanglement they were detected; German machine guns that had not been suppressed by the artillery opened fire. At the same time, German artillery shells began to fall on the raiding party, resulting in about thirty casualties before the raiders could reach their objective. Of the 371st Infantry participants, Corporal Kearse was killed by a shell fragment wound to the stomach, and Corporal Floyd was severely wounded. The party was ordered back to its trenches, suffering further casualties as German shells continued to fall on the retreat.

Russell Wolfe, a local military historian, stated, Kearse was awarded the French Croix de Guerre (war cross) with a Silver Star (signifying a division-level award). He was in the same battalion of the 371st Infantry Regiment as my fathers first cousin Lt. Bennie Simmons (Company B) of Rowesville. Kearse would have also been awarded a Purple Heart.

The official record of Kearse states that he was a resident of Ehrhardt in the National Army, joined from Bamberg County on Feb. 22, 1918, was 23 years old, was assigned to Company A 371st Infantry and was killed in action on Aug. 5, 1918. His mother was named Lula Kearse of Ehrhardt.

In World War I, the Southern black soldiers were assigned to the 371st unit and were always led by a white officer. They fought alongside French soldiers.

As we celebrate Memorial Day, let us pay homage to the brave black and white men who sacrificed to keep our great country free and safe.
After World War II, the United States moved swiftly to turn enemies into friends. Rebuilding Germany and Japan was of vital importance in the post-war world.

For those who fought in the horrific battles against both countries, and for the families and friends of the thousands lost, there wasnt much time to accept that yesterdays enemy was to be tomorrows friend.

The Vietnam experience was different. It has taken more than 40 years for the United States to move to near normalcy in relations with Vietnam, the Southeast Asian country in which more than 58,000 Americans died in the 1960s and early 70s in an effort to halt communist expansion.

This past week, President Barack Obama became just the third sitting president to visit Vietnam since the wars end. In moving to further improve relations with the one-time enemy, Obama took the step of lifting the U.S. embargo on providing weapons to the Vietnamese.

As America observes Memorial Day, we asked Vietnam veterans how they feel about the former enemy becoming a friend. The Times and Democrat sampled opinion from five local veterans profiled in the 2015 series Vietnam: They Served With Honor. (Revisit the series at THE SPOT at TheTandD.com)

They are not bitter about the change in policy, seeing it as logical and overdue.

I think it is a good thing. It has been a lot of years. It is way overdue, said David Franklin of Orangeburg, who was a squad leader on the ground in 1969 in Vietnam.

There is no need in remaining hostile to them, said Tillman Abell of Orangeburg, who was wounded by a grenade in Vietnam in 1968. I am not bitter toward Vietnam. I dont really hate the Vietnamese. I never did.

Samuel Williams of Cope, who was wounded by mortar fire while serving as a combat engineer operating five-ton dump trucks, said, I have good confidence in President Obama. If he thinks it is a good idea, I am with it.

Wayne Carter of Bamberg, wounded by a grenade during fighting in Vietnam, has no problem with normalizing relations.

Sidney Livingston of Woodford, an airman whose experiences included transporting the bodies of dead soldiers during his time in Vietnam, put it simply: We need to be friends.

The veterans do not blame Vietnam for the war.

Vietnam was fighting what amounted to a proxy war for the Chinese and Russians, Abell said. History shows the United States interfered with what the people of Vietnam wanted. A lot of what happened in Vietnam was our own blunders.

Franklin said the lesson of Vietnam has not been adequately learned to this day.

We always got a tendency of sticking our nose in other peoples wars, he said. We should not have stuck our nose in that (Vietnam).

As to the friendship including U.S. weaponry for Vietnam, Abell said assisting the Vietnamese makes sense strategically.

The Vietnamese and Chinese do not get along, he said. China is a threat to the United States, using economics as a weapon rather than its military.

But the Chinese are unafraid to use their military against other Asian countries, Abell said. I dont think we can leave them (Vietnam) at a disadvantage with the Chinese.

The veterans are right. Common sense, economics and geopolitical reality make the case for closer ties with Vietnam.

And there is no better indicator of just how much attitudes toward Vietnam have changed than veterans opinions of the country today and their desire to see it again.

I wanted to go with the president, Franklin said. I have been trying to keep up on how the country is today. I wish I could have gone over with them.

I wish he had asked me to go with him, Livingston said. I would like to see the country again.

Livingston and Carter cited reports from those having gone back to Vietnam.

It is a wonderful country, Livingston said. They treat Americans like royalty.

Veterans say Vietnam is a very impressive country, Carter said. The people of that country have long since gotten over the war.

So have the veterans in the broader sense. But even in wanting to see the country again, they do not forget what happened there.

Carter has considered returning himself, still remembering the shrapnel wounds that impact his life to this day: I would love to go right back to the spot.
Last week, Robert Gates, the former secretary of defense and director of the CIA, criticized Donald Trump's lack of discipline and judgment during an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

Trump appeared on "Morning Joe" the next day to address Gates' criticism and rejected co-host Mika Brzezinski's claim that "Bob Gates is one of the greatest foreign policy minds in history."

"All of these guys have a great reputation," Trump responded. "They've been doing this stuff for 15 years (and) look where our country is, OK? We need a new group with better thinking."

On Wednesday, the "Morning Joe" crew circled the wagons around Gates' reputation and devoted an entire segment to the defense of his legacy.

"I don't think that there has been a more highly regarded public servant in the last 15, 20 years than Bob Gates," said panel member Tom Brokaw.

"Undisputable," Brzezinski chimed in.

"He (Gates) tells it as he sees it," Brokaw added.

Co-host Joe Scarborough was even more effusive in his praise of Gates. He became almost apoplectic at the idea that someone as low-information as Trump would malign Gates' long record of public service.

"We always complain that there are no longer any giants roaming the earth in Washington, D.C. -- any wise men or wise women -- Bob Gates is one of those," Scarborough gushed.

Scarborough urged his viewers to "dig into what Bob Gates has done." He then launched into a tirade about Trump's willful ignorance: "Donald Trump knows nothing about his (Gates') history. He just shoots off at his mouth about Bob Gates. If he read books, he wouldn't have said what he said about Robert Gates."

Trump isn't the only one who should read a few books to better understand Robert Gates' role in some of the biggest foreign policy scandals and failures in American history.

Anyone interested in the facts should read the Robert Gates File on George Washington University's National Security Archive website. The archive contains original source documents from the Iran-Contra scandal, transcripts of Gates' 1991 CIA confirmation hearings and excerpts from John Prados' book "Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA."

The Iran-Contra scandal resulted in the indictment of 14 Reagan administration officials for their involvement in or cover-up of a plan to fund an insurgency against the Sandinista government in Nicaragua with proceeds from illegal arms sales to Iran. Although Gates narrowly avoided indictment for his role in the incident, he was forced to withdraw from his 1987 nomination as the director of the CIA.

At least Scarborough has the excuse of being preoccupied with law school as the Iran-Contra scandal unfolded in the press and on the evening news in the late 1980s. Brokaw, the onetime anchor of the "NBC Nightly News," reported on Iran-Contra, Gates' 1991 confirmation hearings and the release of the independent counsel's 1994 Iran-Contra report. In a 2013 appearance on MSNBC's "The Cycle," Brokaw boasted of covering Iran-Contra, which he described as "a pretty big damn scandal."

Brokaw was anchoring the "Nightly News" in September 1991 when Andrea Mitchell reported daily on Gates' contentious confirmation hearings, including the testimony of CIA officers who alleged that Gates knew about and helped conceal the sale of missiles to Iran and the diversion of funds to support the Nicaraguan contras. And Brokaw was the anchor when Mitchell reported the testimony of CIA analysts, who said Gates ordered them to alter intelligence threat assessments to justify the Reagan administration's massive arms buildup at a time when the Soviet Union was crumbling.

Brokaw also anchored the "NBC Nightly News" on Jan. 18, 1994, when correspondent Pete Williams covered the release of independent counsel Lawrence Walsh's Iran-Contra report, which devoted an entire chapter to Gates' involvement in the scandal. It concluded that "the statements of Gates often seemed scripted and less than candid."

Later, in his book "Firewall: The Iran-Contra Conspiracy and Cover-Up," Walsh said that he "disbelieved Gates' testimony."

Far from being considered one of the greatest foreign policy minds in history, the National Security Archive's website argues: "As Director of Central Intelligence in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War, Gates faced criticism for moving slowly with reforming the agency for the new era, and thus missing a moment of extraordinary opportunity that occurred at that time."

In "The Wars Robert Gates Got Wrong," a 2014 New Yorker review of Gates' memoir, Jonathan Alter observed that Gates' assessment of Vice President Joe Biden -- that he was "'wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades' ... applies rather precisely to Gates himself."

Gates can also be "credited" with being the architect of the pilotless drone assassination program adopted by George W. Bush and expanded by Barack Obama. It marked the end of a long career of public service distinguished by a fundamental lack of respect for the rule of law.

Hindsight is usually 20-20. That is, unless you insist on being willfully blind to historical facts; like the whitewash crew at "Morning Joe."

-----

Nat Hentoff is a nationally renowned authority on the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights. He is a member of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the Cato Institute, where he is a senior fellow. Nick Hentoff is a criminal defense and civil liberties attorney in New York.
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The cooperation between Israel and Azerbaijan is developing quite dynamically in the widest range of spheres, Israel's new Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in an exclusive interview with Trend, his first with foreign media.

"The level of relations is really very high and it is difficult to overestimate their importance for the two countries," he said. "The expansion of bilateral cooperation in all areas meets the interests of our countries and I believe that it is very prospective."

Speaking about the cooperation between Azerbaijan and Israel in fighting terrorism, Lieberman noted that currently, fighting terrorism is of vital importance for Israel.

"Throughout the history, since the creation of the state, we have to confront the constant and incessant terrorist attacks. All countries of the free world should combine their efforts to repulse the international terrorism," he said.
Turkish companies were out in force at the Middle East Stone, the regions only exhibition dedicated to the stone, marble and ceramics industry, held recently in Dubai, UAE.



The show, created by the organisers of The Big 5 and Index, ran alongside seven other leading international shows including Middle East Covering, Index and Workspace from May 23 to 26 at Dubai World Trade Centre.



Top ranking architects, designers, suppliers, buyers, distributors, fabricators, real estate developers, specifiers and fit-out specialists attended the event, said the event organisers.



Overwhelmed by the response at the event, Ufuk Akoh, the export manager for Pinar, a Turkish marble company, said: "The Arab region in general, uses marble in various buildings ranging from houses and apartments o mega-projects and we are working with many companies in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait to export our products to these countries."



"Through our participation in the Middle East for stones gallery, we are building mutually beneficial partnerships and open communication with current clients and new channels, in addition to showcasing the latest types of marbles," he added.



According to him, natural stone is admired worldwide as a premium construction material and the choice of builders, architects and designers.



Turkey, situated on the Alpine Belt, where the world's richest marble deposits are found, is among the world's oldest natural stone producers, said the official.-TradeArabia News Service
Oman-based Al Hosn Investment Company (HIC) will invest in the establishment of the worlds first hamour (grouper) fish farm in the sultanate based on innovative recirculating aquaculture technology, said a report.



HIC is a partnership venture between Qatar Holding and Omans Ministry of Finance



The joint venture (JV) has a 15 per cent equity stake in KAT-Aqua, a greenfield project that envisions the farming of around 600 tonnes of Orange-spotted grouper annually at a site allocated within Sur Industrial Estate, added the Oman Daily Observer report.



KAT Aqua is promoted by Knowledge Advance Technology and Shumookh Investment Services, the investment arm of the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE).



Al Hosn Investment revealed on its website that the project is proposed to be developed on a 50,000 sq metre site at Sur Industrial Estate.



It is the latest in a string of investments by the Omani-Qatari JV in a portfolio of strategically significant food-related ventures encompassing aquaculture, dairy farming, poultry production, and agro farming activities, added the report.


Top officials from Etihad Energy Service Company (Etihad Esco) and Drydocks World recently signed a service agreement to prepare for and evaluate the potential for on-site solar energy generation.



The agreement was signed by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, chairman of Etihad Esco, and Abdulrahman Al Saleh, chairman of Drydocks World.



Under the agreement, Etihad Esco will improve facilities to reduce electricity and water use and study ways to recycle waste water for Drydocks World, which is the largest shipyard service provider to the shipping, offshore, oil, gas and energy sectors in the Middle East, said a statement.



Etihad Esco will also conduct a feasibility study to assess the possibilities for on-site solar energy generation for Drydocks World, it said.



Al Tayer said: The agreement supports the UAE Vision 2021, and the Dubai Plan 2021 to achieve sustainable development in the UAE. It also supports the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, to establish the countrys position as a global hub for clean energy and energy efficiency.



Through this agreement, we aim to support Drydocks green efforts by providing sustainable solutions that reduce consumption and support the development and sustainability of eco-friendly facilities, he said.



This agreement supports directive number 1 of 2015, issued by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, to monitor electricity and water usage in Dubai government buildings. Etihad Escos main objective is to create a standalone market for energy efficiency, with a strategic plan to retrofit at least 30,000 existing buildings in the emirate, he concluded.



Al Saleh said: Our company is a pioneer in implementing sustainable green technologies. Through the signing of this agreement with Etihad Esco, we aim to continue our efforts in energy conservation and reiterate our commitment to the Dubai Plan 2021.



Our partnership with Etihad Esco will significantly improve sustainable operations at the Drydocks facilities, as well as benefit our employees, partners and customers, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, CEO of Expo Centre Sharjah, recently emphasised the organisations role in helping German establishments and investors find a foothold in the country as well as the entire region.

By participating and attending trade fairs organised by Expo Centre, German business people and investors can also explore opportunities to set up businesses, joint ventures, look for distribution partners and above all boost trade and economic ties between both the countries, he said.

He was speaking as part of a high level delegation from Sharjah which recently attended the Arab-German Business Forum as well as the Sharjah-Berlin Seminar in Berlin, with the aim to attract German firms and investors to the emirate.

Besides Al Midfa, the delegation consisted of senior officials and executives from the Department of Government Relations, Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Shurooq, AUS Enterprises and Beeah.

Al Midfa revealed: The twin events gave us an opportunity to promote the emirates business-friendly environment and investment opportunities to German business people and government officials. Expo Centre is a familiar name in German business circles given that most of our shows either have impressive German pavilions or large participation by German businesses.

Organised by Shurooq in association with the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the German-Arab Friendship Association and the Berlin Partner for Business and Technology, the day-long Sharjah-Berlin Seminar brought together more than 50 German investors and businesspersons.

The seminar also included a panel discussion on Investment Opportunities in Sharjah, which helped us showcase the true potential of Sharjah, clear doubts and queries and provide practical advice to participants. While highlighting the opportunities awaiting German companies, we also told them to see Sharjah as not only a business destination but also as an entry point to the entire Gulf and Middle East region, Al Midfa said.

By participating and attending trade fairs organized by Expo Centre, German business people and investors can also explore opportunities to set up businesses, joint ventures, look for distribution partners and above all boost trade and economic ties between both the countries, he concluded.

Germany is the UAEs fifth largest foreign trade partner and the UAE is Germanys most important trade partner in the Arab world. According to recent statistics, trade between the UAE and Germany was valued at $15.5 billion in 2015. TradeArabia News Service
Ericsson and Ooredoo Oman have joined forces to demonstrate the viability of microwave backhaul to provide multi-gigabit capacity for fixed and mobile networks.



Ooredoo Oman and Ericsson trialled a range of solutions that can deliver gigabit backhaul capacity, supported by the availability of new radio access spectrum. E-band (70/80GHz) spectrum is the key to supporting microwave and meeting increased capacity requirements for both backhaul and fronthaul.



The worlds highest-capacity E-band radio, the new Ericsson Mini-Link 6352 was successfully trialled, providing 5.7Gbps over one carrier. Four carriers in traditional frequency bands and narrower channels were bonded together to provide 1.6Gbps. The success of the trial proves the capability of microwave to address growing data traffic demands and support operators in offering superior mobile broadband experiences to their customers.



Wolfgang Wemhoff, chief technology officer, Ooredoo Oman, said: Ooredoo is constantly working toward responding to changes in customer needs and providing them with the products, services and offers they want, through both mobile and fixed offerings.



Our partnership with Ericsson allows us to inspire and innovate new methods to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers and businesses in all sectors across the Sultanate of Oman.



Rafiah Ibrahim, head of Region Middle East and East Africa, Ericsson, said: Microwave backhaul will represent up to 20 per cent of new deployments in 2020, with traditional bands accounting for 70 per cent.



Our collaboration with Ooredoo Oman showcases the benefits of microwave backhaul for operators around the region. It also empowers Ooredoo Oman to pave the way for innovative traffic management solutions.



Network demands and maturity vary around the world, and differences exist even within individual countries. Regardless of the situation, operators want to achieve the same goal  to provide the best possible performance and quality of experience in the most cost-efficient way. Microwave is an important backhaul solution to address an increase in traffic for both mobile and fixed networks for Ooredoo Oman.  TradeArabia News Service
Iran has given foreign messaging apps a year to move data they hold about Iranian users onto servers inside the country, prompting privacy and security concerns on social media.



Iran has some of the strictest controls on internet access in the world and blocks access to social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, although many users are able to access them through widely available software.



"Foreign messaging companies active in the country are required to transfer all data and activity linked to Iranian citizens into the country in order to ensure their continued activity," Iran's Supreme Council of Cyberspace said in new regulations carried by state news agency IRNA on Sunday.



The council, whose members are selected by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gave social media companies a year to comply, IRNA said, adding that the measures were based on the "guidelines and concerns of the supreme leader".



The new requirements could affect messaging app Telegram in particular. The cloud-based instant messaging service has gained popularity because of its high level of security and is estimated to have about 20 million users in Iran, which has a total population of about 80 million.



In November authorities said they had arrested administrators of more than 20 groups on Telegram for spreading "immoral content" as part of a clampdown on freedom of expression.



Social media users reacted with concern to the planned changes.



"Telegram's data centres are to be moved inside the country so they can delete what they want and arrest who they want," @Mehrdxd said in a tweet.



"I would stop using #Telegram if the servers are moved inside the country because it would not be safe anymore," @Gonahkar (Guilty) wrote in a tweet.  Reuters
Manama has been chosen as the Arab Model City by the Arab Towns Organisation, which is currently holding its 17th general assembly meeting in Bahrains capital, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.



To read further, please visit GDNonline.






Hotwire PR, a global communications consultancy, said it has entered into an exclusive co-branded partnership with Dubai-based Active (Digital. Marketing. Communications) as part of its regional expansion plans.



The agreement, which sees Hotwire extend the number of its global network of offices to 12, is aimed at offering clients pan-regional communications support and global opportunities for its staff.



Active D.M.C becomes the second of Hotwire's global network of affiliates to join its exclusive co-branded partnership scheme, following on from Amsterdam-based Yellow Communications.



Active D.M.C is one of the region's leading communications consultancy serving GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) and Levant (Lebanon & Jordan) with an impressive client list which includes Revlon, Xerox, Parrot and JP Morgan Private Bank.



Independently owned, the agency has worked with Hotwire on a non-exclusive basis for the past ten years for clients including Ruckus Wireless, Seagate and Ciena.



The agreement will see Active D.M.C add the Hotwire logo to its existing brand identity and will significantly deepen the operational relationship between the two companies.



The partnership gives the company access to Hotwire's global sales, marketing and HR resources while Hotwire will benefit from Active's deep experience and network across the Middle East.



Both companies will work together not just on supporting existing clients but on targeted business development across the region.



Andy West, the chief development officer at Hotwire, said the agreement will bring benefits not just to clients looking to target this prosperous region but to the firm's 180 staff.



"Working together, we can tap into a wider talent pool while offering our staff the sort of international opportunities that today's young PR professionals are looking for. We're delighted to be teaming up with Active D.M.C and to building a strong EMEA offer for our clients and to providing career possibilities for our people," he noted.



Louay Al Samarrai, the co-founder and joint managing director said: "At Active we are always looking to evolve and enhance our solutions and services and this partnership gives us the support and access to the very best that the communications industry has to offer."



"Working closely with Hotwire, we can effectively tap into a much wider network of prospects, services and skills and provide our regional client base with a broader range of solutions to their communications needs," he observed.



Brendon Craigie, the Group CEO at Hotwire, said: "Clients understandably want to work with the best partners throughout the world. We are driven by a desire to deliver the best possible international results for our clients."



"By aligning our award winning team and strategic presence in Europe, North America and Australasia, with outstanding regional partners like Active D.M.C, we believe we bring a compelling alternative agency model to the once size fits all global agency model," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Al-Futtaim Motors, exclusive distributor of Toyota in the UAE, has delivered five Toyota Prius Hybrid vehicles to the Ajman Municipality and Planning Department.



The handover of the Prius vehicles comes hot on the heels of the latest partnership between both entities, with Al-Futtaim Motors being named the Green Sponsor of the fourth Ajman International Environment Conference, which took place in March this year, and in-line with both parties environmental agendas.



The handover was done in the presence of Sheikh Ammar Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman, Sheikh Rashid Bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, chairman of Ajman Municipality and Planning Department, and Dr Thani Ahmed Alzeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment for the United Arab Emirates.



The Prius is the trendsetter when it comes to environmental transport, staking its claim as the best-selling hybrid in the world. The faith that Ajman Municipality has put in the Toyota Prius to support their sustainability agenda and aid in reaching their environmental goals is a testament to the Prius renowned capabilities in reducing emissions while decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels, said Yousuf Ali Al Raeesi, general manager, Government Relations, Health Security, Safety and Environment at Al-Futtaim Motors.



Earlier this year, the Ajman Municipality waived off parking fees for eco-friendly cars within the Emirate, a momentous step forward in the effort to welcome hybrid vehicles into the country.



The five new Prius Hybrid vehicles will be used by the Ajman Municipality and Planning Department for environmental inspections and site visits, including the supervision and follow-up of factories operating within the emirate of Ajman to ensure they conform with Ajmans and the UAEs environmental laws and regulations.  TradeArabia News Service
Neon Energy, a leading global provider of green energy solutions, has partnered with Dubais Al Fajer Group to provide affordable integrated solutions in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors.

The Al Fajer Group is headed by Sheikh Hasher Maktoum Jumaa Al Maktoum.

The new entity will be called Al Fajer Neon Energy. Its CEO, Alexis Gianniotis, commented: Neon Energy is proud to collaborate with Al Fajer to contribute to the development of the UAEs renewable energy sector. We have been consistently working with our clients to bring about a sustainable development that will help accelerate the drive to reduce the global carbon footprint. We believe that our affordable energy products and service offerings would help in making the global community a better place to live in.

Al Fajer Neon Energy will operate in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors to support the development of clean energy projects in the UAE.

In the renewable energy segment, the company will practice the think green philosophy in the field of Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Energy solutions.

In the field of energy efficiency, Al Fajer Neon Energy offers a wide range of integrated solutions to replace conventional lighting systems with new, energy-efficient, high quality LED products which are supplied on a fully financed basis, enabling its customers to repay for the equipment exclusively from their savings on their electricity bill.

These LED lights can save energy up to 95 per cent, besides which, they have a number of other key features including, high colour rendering index, low maintenance cost, low heat emission and longer life span, said a press release.

Al Fajer Neon Energy builds, installs, finances and maintains high quality solar systems and energy efficient equipment such as LED lights. With the mission to provide an integrated and holistic service, Al Fajer Neon Energy takes full responsibility at every project stage in order to deliver turnkey high quality energy solutions, added Gianniotis.

The joint venture is one of the few companies to offer non-obligatory audit, technologically advanced products, specialised installations and after sales support, all under one roof. TradeArabia News Service
DME, a top energy futures and commodities exchange, recently held a roundtable to support Chinese independent oil refineries in registering and setting up DME accounts to trade Oman Crude Oil Futures for hedging and deliveries.



The Chinese government is providing approvals to growing numbers of independents to directly import crude oil for the very first time, a statement said.



The event in Shandong, China was attended by more than 70 participants representing the majority of the independent oil refineries in China. Till date, four independent refineries have registered and are ready to trade, of which one is already using the DME Oman contract for hedging and deliveries.



We were glad to witness such strong interest in DME and DME Oman among from the Chinese independent oil refineries, who appreciate the benefits of the exchanges futures mechanism for their hedging requirements as well as for their crude deliveries, said Owain Johnson, managing director, DME.



There is clearly a strong demand in Asia for a transparent and regulated mechanism that provides a level playing field.



A total of 11 independent refineries from China have already been granted permission to import crude oil from overseas with more expected to receive approvals in the coming months. DME will reach out to all these refineries and host further information seminars in China to raise awareness on the importance of futures contracts for hedging and deliveries and the benefits of trading DME Oman crude oil futures.  TradeArabia News Service
LuLu Group, the UAE-based regional retail major, plans to open 12 more hypermarkets in Saudi Arabia by 2018, it has been revealed.



The announcement was made following the inauguration of a new branch in Jeddah, LuLus 125th hypermarket and seventh in Saudi Arabia, a report in Arab News said.



The new hypermarket, spread over an area of 200,000 sq ft, is located in Jeddah's Amir Fawaz district.



Yusuffali M.A, chairman of LuLu Group, said the company planned to launch four more hypermarkets this year, including one in Jeddah and one each in Hail and Hofuf. By 2018, the group will launch eight more hypermarkets in the kingdom, including in the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, he was quoted as saying in the report.



Yusuffali said the group has invested SR1 billion ($266 million) in the kingdom and plans to further invest SR800 million in the next two years, taking its total investment to more than SR1.8 billion in the kingdom.
Meet award-winning artisans and buy their products at Kerala Arts and Crafts Village
Grownup Stuff

Fun things for adults.

'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.

Adult coloring club

Drop by the Natrona County Library anytime between 2 and 5 p.m. on Friday, June 3 for our Adult Coloring Club. Coloring isn't just for kids anymore, it's a way for anyone to destress and get back to their creative side. The Adult Coloring Club meets the first Friday of the month from 2 to 5 p.m. for a time of relaxation, conversation, and creativity. Coloring books and pages will be available for you to turn into works of art. Colored pencils, crayons, and markers also will be provided. Just bring yourself and your friends, and enjoy the afternoon. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information.

Lunch and Learn June 4

The Fort Caspar Museum Association announces a late spring Lunch & Learn program to be held on Saturday, June 4, 2016, with the optional lunch beginning at noon, followed by the lecture at 1 p.m. Saint Louis-based travel author Bruce A. Raisch will present "Wyoming History for Fun and Profit, or, How I Turned Traveling Through Wyoming Into a Job."

Raisch is a ghost town hunter, historian, and photographer, and he was able to turn his love of outdoor adventure into a career.

The presentation is free with the optional paid lunch or free with paid museum admission. (Advance reservations are required for lunch and requested for the lecture.) Lunch will begin at noon. We are offering a buffet-style meal of fried chicken, sides, desserts, and beverages with an RSVP by Wednesday, June 1. The cost for lunch is $5 for museum members and $8 for non-members; reserve your space in advance, but please plan to pay at the door. The presentation begins at 1 p.m. Those who choose not to join us for lunch may attend the lecture for free after paying museum admission ($3 for adults). Again, please call the museum by June 1, to reserve a spot at the lunch, 235-8462.

Craftastic Saturday 'ZenYoga'

The Natrona County Library will continue its monthly adult-level crafting program on Saturday, June 4 at 2 p.m. in the Crawford Room. This summer find your zen and liberate your mind through an afternoon of ZenYoga featuring an hour of Zentangle followed by an hour of yoga. Supplies and space limited. Creating opportunities for adult creativity and interaction, Craftastic Saturday is free and open to ages 18 and up, and held the first Saturday of every month. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information.

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

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.
Help Yourself

Stuff to help you.

Wednesday writers

Would you like to leave a legacy by sharing your memories with the world? Practice writing, share your work and receive constructive feedback from fellow writers Wednesday, June 1 at 10 a.m. on the main floor of the Natrona County Library. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information.

Prayer Walk June 11

Casper Vital Network hosts a Prayer Walk on June 11, 2016, at the Crossroads Park Gazebo. All activity levels are accommodated. Walk as you are able. Take a sack lunch and join the fellowship after the walk.

Family continues suicide support

Good Grief, Support will continue at 5:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month at the 12-24 Club, 500 S. Wolcott, by request of attendees. The family of J.R. Hunter, who died from suicide in June 2015 began the support before the especially tough holiday season. Anyone who is grieving a suicide, death, or considering suicide is encouraged to attend. Attendance at the meeting, as well as the content, will be strictly confidential. The Fresh Start Cafe will be open, and you can eat during the meetings. This meeting place was offered by Dan Cantine of the 12-24 Club. You need not be a member to attend.

Handgun/self defense class offered

Randy Cain is offering Handgun 101 at the Stuckenoff's Shooting Complex June 11 to 13. Cost is $600 each. Randy Cain is a world renowned self defense instructor and one of the last disciples of Jeff Cooper and the original Gunsite Academy. Handgun 101 is designed to drill down to the very basics of firearm safety, manipulation and marksmanship. It is suitable for the complete novice up through expert. A second follow-on class, Close Quarter Tactics, is offered June 17 to 19. CQT focuses on what really happens if a weapon is drawn. The class focuses on avoiding dangerous situations, but if Murphy has his way, then deflecting the initial attack, re-positioning and meeting the threat. Randy combines his lifetime of martial arts and firearms training to give his students the best chance for survival. Information and registration www.guntactics.com. Local contact Joe MacGuire 307-333-3653. Class enrollment is limited.

Powerful tools for caregivers

Wyoming Dementia Care is offering family caregivers of those with dementia-related illnesses, including Alzheimers, a new self-care education program called Powerful Tools for Caregivers. The free class will meet each Wednesday for six weeks, beginning June 15 and ending July 20, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at Central Wyoming Senior Services, 1831 E. Fourth St.

Powerful Tools for Caregivers is a nationally recognized, evidence-based program that provides caregivers with the tools and strategies they need to better handle the unique challenges of caregiving.

The class is provided at no cost to caregivers by Wyoming Dementia Care in collaboration with Powerful Tools for Caregivers, with partial funding from a Wyoming Center on Aging-University of Wyoming grant. Class size is limited and pre-registration is required. Call Dani Guerttman at Wyoming Dementia Care, 265-4678, for information.

Parkinson's monthly support

Join us at 5:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at Rocky Mountain Therapy, 2546 E. Second St., Building 500, Casper. The support group is open to anyone with Parkinson's or caring for someone with Parkinson's. To RSVP, call 577-5204 and ask for Jerri or Shannon. Upcoming meetings will be June 14 and July 12.

Parkinson's exercise

Rocky Mountain Therapy is offering a Parkinson's exercise program. Join us from noon to 1 p.m. Thursdays at Rocky Mountain Therapy, 2546 E. Second St., Building 500. These classes are open to anyone with Parkinson's or caring for someone with Parkinson's.

Thursday's class is tailored for the individual with more advanced Parkinson's and focuses on improving endurance, safety and managing symptoms. We are open to all ages and can tailor the class to meet varying exercise needs. The cost of the class is $5. To RSVP, call 577-5204 and ask for Jerri or Shannon.

Dog manners obedience class

Dog Manners Obedience Classes/STAR Puppy Classes will be held at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds, sponsored by the Central Wyoming Kennel Club. Cost ranges from $40 to $100.

The Central Wyo Kennel Club is hosting classes for puppies and adult dogs focusing on Socialization, Training and Responsible Dog Ownership.

For more information go to centralwyomingkennelclub.org or call Charlene at 473-1614.

Celebrate Recovery every Friday

Looking for a nontraditional approach to recovery from your hurts, habits and hangups? Celebrate Recovery meets at 5:30 p.m. every Friday at Highland Park Community Church, just south of Elkhorn Valley Rehabilitation Hospital on East Second Street. We start with a family meal, followed by praise and worship. At 7 p.m., there's either a lesson from Celebrate Recovery's planned curriculum or a testimony by a person who has found recovery through Christ. Then, people go to gender-specific small groups until 8:30 p.m., when dessert and fellowship conclude the evening. Child care is available at no cost. For more information, contact Chris at 265-4073.

Self-transformation class set

Conscious Co-Creation/Self-Transformation & Healing, taught by Cathy Hazel Adams, is 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, June 25 and 26, at the Agricultural Resource Learning Center, 2011 Fairgrounds Rd. Adams is an Intuitive Quantum Transformation & Energy Healing Practitioner and Certified Matrix Energetics Practitioner. The class is also offered live via webinar. For more information, go to www.cathyhazeladams.com or call 797-9677.

Saturday morning watercolor

Art 321, Casper Artists Guild Saturday morning watercolor classes are 10 a.m. to noon, with the following lineup of classes: June 4, watercolor on Yupo paper; June 11, practice session; June 18, Holly Bryson, including figures in your paintings; June 25, practice session. For more information, please call Ellen Black at 265-6783.

Here and Now: Dementia-focused monthly art class

Classes are every third Tuesday of the month from 1 to 3 p.m. There is no charge. Here and Now is a program made possible through a collaboration between Wyoming Dementia Care and the Nicolaysen Art Museum. It is designed to provide a supportive environment for people with dementia and Alzheimers and their loved ones.

To register, contact Dani with Wyoming Dementia Care 265-4678, ext. 106, or at wyodementia@casperseniorcenter.com or Zhanna Gallegos at 235-5247 or at zgallegos@thenic.org
Tuesday support meetings

Alcoholics Anonymous: 6:30 a.m., 917 N. Beech; 10 a.m., 328 E. A St.; noon, 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 5:30 p.m., 456 S. Walnut; 7 p.m., 520 CY Ave., Quick Fix (in back, basement); 7 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 7 p.m., Edgerton: 763 Center St.; 7:30 p.m., Douglas, 628 E. Richards; 8 p.m., 917 N. Beech. Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are open. Casper info: 266-9578; Douglas info: (307) 351-1688.

Narcotics Anonymous: Noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 7 p.m., 15th and Melrose, at the church. Web site: http://www.urmrna.org.

Trails center to

summer hours

The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. The NHTIC will be closed on Mondays except for the Independence Day holiday. For more information, please call the NHTIC at 307-261-7780.

Summer hours at library

The Natrona County Library is open Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed on Sunday.

Last day for Food for Fines

The Natrona County Library ends its Food for Fines drive Tuesday. Library users may donate nonperishable food items at any library branch. In exchange, accrued library fines will be cleared. The promotion applies to late fees on books and other library items, and does not include fees for lost or damaged materials.

Monthly vets service

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 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.

Housing First

founder speaks

Community Action Partnership of Natrona County hosts Sam Tsemberis, PhD, founder of Housing First, from 3 to 5 p.m., at the Casper Petroleum Club. Housing First moves the homeless individual or household immediately from the streets or homeless shelters into their own apartments. The movement is based on the concept that a homeless individual or households first and primary need is to obtain stable housing. Community Actions Housing First program was initiated in Casper on Nov. 1, 2015. Cost savings to the Casper community related to the program will be revealed during the presentation.

Corvette Cruise and Dine Tuesdays

Cruise and Dines, sponsored by Central Wyoming Corvettes, are every Tuesday through November 8, 2016. Bring your Corvette and meet us at Whites Chevrolet at 6 p.m. Take a short cruise with several others to a local restaurant for dinner and share in the fun we have. Catch up with old friends or make new ones. Guests or new members are always welcome and we have a great time. See us on Facebook or visit our website.

Constitution Party meets

The Constitution Party monthly meeting is 7 p.m., at the Agricultural Resource Learning Center, 2011 Fairgrounds Rd. For more, visit wyocp.com
Shell remember setting up for school dances. Shell remember working on student council, helping to lead Kelly Walsh High School. Shell remember her volunteer work, especially her time spent working with the Angels and Make-A-Wish programs.

As Kelly Walsh senior Crissa Jennings prepared to graduate this week, it dawned on her that the last four years had flown by.

Its pretty surreal, actually, she said. It came pretty fast.

The 18-year-old graduated Sunday from Kelly Walsh and will soon head to the University of Wyoming to start her college career. Jennings was also recognized recently as a winner of the one of the schools merit awards that are given to students who have made Kelly Walsh High School a better place, according to the Natrona County schools website.

When she was 15, Jennings started working at a daycare. It was a summer job, but the short-term gig made her realize that helping children was one of her goals in life.

She jokes that its cliched, but its the career path she can see herself taking as she prepares for the next stage of her life.

They have a small voice, Jennings said about kids. So I want to be able to like shape them, I guess, in a way.

As a volunteer, Jennings said she helped give out Thanksgiving dinners to cancer patients and helped organize a fundraiser for Make-A-Wish. Shes not sure what her college major will be, but the goal of helping children has stuck with her.

Jennings hasnt thought very far ahead just yet. Theres still four years of college for her to decide where she wants to go, who she wants to be. She can see herself traveling, but she thinks shell end up back in Wyoming.

Its like big enough to where you can like adventure around, but it has everything, she said. It has lakes and mountains, and its just so pretty.

The new graduate has lived in Casper for a little more than a decade, coming to the Oil City from Colorado Springs. Jennings said she loves Wyoming and enjoys the town she grew up in.

You come together, Jennings said about Casper. Its just big enough to where you have your space, but its also small enough to where youre involved and you truly know the people around you. And I like that.
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso will steer a committee at the Republican National Convention that writes the partys platform.

The platform lays out the GOPs vision for the country. The 62-page document adopted in 2012 contains beliefs such as, We must restructure the twentieth century entitlement state so the missions of important programs can succeed in the twenty-first century and The symbol of our constitutional unity, to which we all pledge allegiance, is the flag of the United States of America.

Its consistent with Republican, conservative values of freedom and liberty, Barrasso said. And obviously things like jobs and the economy, but also giving power back to people at home, getting it out of Washington and home to people in Wyoming.

The document is designed to serve as a unifying guide for Republican candidates. The question is whether the GOPs presumed presidential nominee Donald Trump  a former Democrat who has some stances that are the markedly different from the partys  will accept and adhere to the platform. A Trump-influenced platform could result in a drastic departure from many sacrosanct GOP positions.

In March, Trump said he would change the GOP platform on abortion to include exceptions for incest, rape and the life of the mother, CNN reported.

However, former presidential hopeful Ted Cruz said he will fight that change to the platform, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Another battle could be over trade.

Establishment Republicans love free trade. Indeed, Barrasso voted for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and a recent trade deal with Columbia.

The 2012 GOP platform states: The Free Trade Agreements negotiated with friendly democracies since President Reagans trailblazing pact with Israel in 1985 facilitated the creation of nearly ten million jobs supported by our exports.

Trumps stance is wholly different. Hes called the North American Free Trade Agreement a disaster. Hes also criticized the Trans-Pacific Partnership and said the country needs fair trade, not free trade.

Barrasso said he anticipates trade discussion in the committee.

In talking to Donald Trump, he said he wants good trade deals for the United States and trade deals that are enforceable so we can sell our products overseas, he said. In Wyoming, we want to be able to sell our cattle  beef  and to be able to sell our trona  soda ash in Rock Springs  We have products we want to sell overseas.

In his interview with the Star-Tribune, Barrasso hinted at a narrowing of the gap between the two positions.

We want to make sure the trade is fair and the rules are enforceable, he said.

How much influence Trump has remains to be seen.

John Sides, a George Washington University political science professor, wonders whether Trump really cares enough to talk to committee members about his positions.

Hes shown relatively little interest in making nice with the GOP or with the details of how the party operates, Sides said in an email.

I think the other challenge is that its not clear whether there are big constituencies for Trumps positions within the activist core of the GOP  which is usually who attends the convention and conducts the partys business, he said.
CHEYENNE  Economic diversification is one of local attorney Tara Nethercotts top priorities if shes elected to the Wyoming Senate.

But in order to do so, Nethercott said a fundamental question must first be answered: Why arent we as diverse as we should be?

Thats in light of decades of attempts at economic diversification in Wyoming. But the statewide economy is still dependent on extraction industries, evidenced by the latest energy bust.

Nethercott is running as a Republican for the Senate District 4 seat being vacated by Sen. Tony Ross, R-Cheyenne.

She said shes running in order to contribute to the future of the state.

I want to be part of the solution to move Wyoming forward and grow our economy, she said. I want to be part of the solution for Wyomings future.

Nethercott emphasized the need to make thoughtful cuts in the budget that could save money without too much of a negative effect on services.

She noted her experience professionally can help make those decisions.

My experience is working hard to understand complex issues that have multiple causes and effects before making decisions, she said.

Nethercott said she is open to discussion about expanding Medicaid in Wyoming, but is neither for nor against the idea just yet.

Health care and education to provide a solid workforce are also major topics for Nethercott.

She said the state needs to work with those on the ground who deal with such issues on a regular basis to see what problems the Legislature can help solve.

For example, the state may be able to help rural residents access health care through telemedicine or improved transportation, Nethercott said.

Its understanding what those needs are to find solutions to meet (those needs), she said.

Nethercott believes she stands out as a candidate because she is a proven advocate with strong leadership skills.

That, in combination with a deep affection for Wyoming, would help make her an effective legislator, she said.

Senate District 4 takes up much of north-central Cheyenne and the northwest quarter of Laramie County.

It includes the Cheyenne Regional Airport, Henderson Elementary School, the Four Mile Road corridor, Clawson Elementary School and the Quebec-01 missile site.

The filing period for candidates ended Friday.

This years primary will be held Aug. 16, and the general election will occur Nov. 8.

State senators, who have a term of four years, are paid $150 per day of work during the session and interim committee meetings.

Lawmakers also are eligible for a $109 per diem for each day of work.
CHICAGO  It is often said that the problem with immigrants is that theyre poor and contribute only their cheap labor when they get here.

But rarely discussed is the fact that the United States does a terrible job of enabling the immigrants who already have post-secondary certifications, college degrees and professional work experience to continue their careers once theyve arrived.

To start, a foreign-trained professional has to make his or her way to this country legally, navigating the red tape of visas and permissions, and, of course, master the English language. Then they must maneuver the thicket of proving their credentials and work experience.

If youve had to pull copies of your college transcripts in the last few years, you know it couldnt be easier. Its generally a short order on a website and a credit card payment, and you get PDFs within 48 hours.

But if youre an immigrant or a refugee who has arrived here from a war-torn country, one decimated by a natural disaster or from a place where the government bureaucracy is slow and impenetrable, youre in for an uphill battle. Not only to prove your credentials to professional certification boards, but also to show potential employers that you have documented experience.

And then it gets worse.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, there is no single federal structure governing professional certification in regulated occupations. A profusion of overlapping, sometimes contradictory, local, state or national rules, procedures and examinations makes it complicated, time-consuming and expensive for immigrants and refugees to become recertified in the United States, the institute said in a 2013 report. The vast patchwork of organizations involved in the credential-recognition process  from professional associations and state or federal regulatory bodies to credential-assessment services and private- or public-sector employers  requires considerable effort to understand and work with.

The stereotype of the brilliant, degreed immigrant taxi driver is not an urban myth. Let me introduce you to Guillermo Saavedra Sr., a former college-educated accountant who today works two jobs far below his expertise to keep his family afloat.

Back in the 90s, things in our native Peru were very difficult, the economy was bad and there was a crisis, so we got visas and came to this country. But its never how you think it will be, said Saavedra, who settled in Herndon, Virginia. I was very qualified in my country, but it was the language that was a real challenge. Then you start looking into how to get back into your profession and its so hard. I asked around and was told Id have to enroll in college again and study for another two years and it was going to cost thousands of dollars. It really felt impossible.

Saavedra simply couldnt put his familys livelihood on hold, and he took a string of jobs in food service and retail to make ends meet and help his children through college. To this day he works two jobs: one at a McDonalds and one at his local Target store.

Its not easy and its a widespread problem  the immigrants come here and have families, so what are they going to do but take whatever job they can get? said Saavedra. Its a problem because we come here as professionals, as engineers, medical staff, but they dont see us that way.

According to the Migration Policy Institutes most recent data on foreign professionals, an estimated 1.9 million college-educated immigrants in the U.S. are working below their educational and skill levels, or are unemployed.

There are no easy fixes to the issue. Even starting by simplifying the recertification processes in high-barrier (and high-need) disciplines like medicine and engineering would require a broad coalition of gatekeepers and licensure organizations to come together and work on system-wide solutions.

And while the benefits to society would be obvious, the problem tends to be seen as a small one affecting a tiny segment of immigrants. Saavedras son, Guillermo Jr., who contacted me to ask that I speak out on behalf of others like his dad, refers to this blind spot as a growing problem that has stolen the professional identities of a large portion of the educated immigrant community.

The U.S. is in global competition for talented individuals in disciplines where there are shortages. Surely we can do better than to squander the talents of our own nations immigrants.
DAKAR, Senegal  Former Chad dictator Hissene Habre was found guilty Monday of crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and sex crimes during his rule and he was sentenced to life in prison, ending a trial more than 15 years in the making.

Victims, former prisoners and their relatives broke out into whoops of joy, hugs and tears in the courtroom when the ruling was announced by the three-judge panel in the special court in Senegal.

A defiant Habre, 73, raised his fist and shouted to his supporters: Long live independent Africa! Down with France-Africa! His wife wept and his backers called him a defender of Africa as he was escorted from court.

He was convicted of being responsible for thousands of deaths and torture in prisons while in power from 1982 to 1990. A 1992 Chadian Truth Commission accused Habres government of systematic torture, saying 40,000 people died during his rule. It placed particular blame on his police force.

The Extraordinary African Chambers was established by Senegal and the African Union to put Habre on trial for the crimes committed during his rule. It was the first trial in which the courts of one country prosecuted the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes, and the first universal jurisdiction case to proceed to trial on the continent.

The trial began in July 2015, but victims and survivors have been pursuing the case against their former leader for more than 15 years. Over 90 witnesses testified.

Judge Gberdao Gustave Kam, speaking for the panel, said evidence showed Habre was directly responsible, having given the orders for imprisonment and torture, and having also committed some of the crimes himself.

Habre has 15 days to appeal, and his lawyer, Mounir Ballal, said he will do so.

We are surprised by the verdict, especially the severity of the verdict, he said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the conviction, calling it a landmark in the global fight against impunity for atrocities.

He also said it was an opportunity for the United States to reflect on, and learn from, our own connection with past events in Chad. The U.S. and France were supporters of Habre when he was in power.

Reed Brody, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch who has been involved in the case, said it was a huge victory for his Chadian victims, without whose tenacity this trial never would have happened.

This verdict sends a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalize their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end, Brody said.

Habres conviction signals that no leader is above the law, and that no woman or girl is below it ... This is the first time in history that a former head of state has been convicted in an international trial of personally committing rape, he said.
Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems has agreed to team up with an Israeli company to develop small drones for use as remote-control missiles by the U.S. military.

As part of the deal, Raytheon will adapt the Hero 30 lethal loitering airborne system, made by UVision Air Ltd., as an expendable drone for ground attacks as well as for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

The Hero 30 can be carried by one person in a backpack, launches from a pneumatic canister system and uses an electric motor to circle over a battle area for up to 30 minutes before being directed to a target.

It uses an electro-optic and infrared sensor and carries a roughly one-pound warhead.

Designed for small-unit and special-forces missions, the adapted Hero 30 system will meet the U.S. Armys pending requirement for Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile Systems, also known as LMAMS, Raytheon said.

This system significantly enhances the situational awareness and combat power of small units operating on the battlefield, Thomas Bussing, Raytheon vice president of advanced missile systems, said in a news release announcing the partnership.

Other companies are competing for the LMAMS program.

AeroVironment Inc. has provided thousands of its Switchblade expendable drones to the Army for use in Afghanistan since 2012 and is refining its design for the Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile Systems program.

Textron and Lockheed Martin also are among the companies reportedly vying for the work.

Raytheon has significant in-house drone expertise.

Missile Systems produces its own small, tube-launched expendable drone, the Coyote, that has been tested by the Navy and used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to gather data from inside hurricanes.

Raytheons larger Silver Fox reconnaissance drone has been used by the Navy and Marine Corps.

Raytheon acquired both platforms with its purchase of Tucson-based Sensintel last year.
Faces death penalty for slayings of six

A trial that pitted brother against brother in Tucson's worst multiple-slaying case in recent history ended yesterday when a jury convicted Scott Nordstrom in six slayings.

Nordstrom shook his head "no" as the first verdict was read, and remained stoic as he heard the word guilty 11 more times.

After deliberating 10 hours over two days, jurors found him guilty of six first-degree murder charges and six other felony counts related to last year's robberies at the Moon Smoke Shop and Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall.

Nordstrom faces the death penalty when he is sentenced March 9 by Judge Pro Tem Michael Cruikshank of Pima County Superior Court.

Nordstrom, 30, is the first person in the last 25 years to be found guilty by a Pima County jury of six or more killings.

Nordstrom's mother, Cynthia Wasserburger, broke down in tears but refused to comment as she left the courtroom.

Victims' family members in the packed courtroom released a collective sigh as some fought back tears and others smiled.

"I feel in my heart that it was Scott who killed my sister," said Toni Schneider, whose sister, Carol Lynn Noel, was shot to death at the union hall. "The whole thing is such an unbelievable tragedy."

But while prosecutor David White, police and victims' families said they were relieved with the verdict, they observed their court ordeal is not close to over.

Robert G. Jones, the suspected second gunman in both robberies, is set to go to trial in March on six first-degree murder charges and nine other felony counts.

"(With the verdict) I thought 'Thank God,' " said Teresa Anagnostos, the daughter of union hall victim Maribeth Munn.

"For a second, I thought it was finally over, and then I remembered we had to do it all over again this spring."

Jurors found that Scott Nordstrom executed two people in each of the robberies last year. They also found that under the felony murder law, he is responsible for four other deaths during the heists.

The felony murder law allows prosecutors to charge defendants with first-degree murder if someone died during the commission of a crime.

Jurors decided the evidence showed Scott Nordstrom forced Tom Lewis Hardman, 28, to lie down during the May 30, 1996, smoke shop robbery and shot him twice in the back of his head.

Two weeks later, Nordstrom executed union hall bartender Noel, 50, shooting her once in the head and again in the back, the jury found.

A second gunman - believed to be Jones - killed Clarence Odell, 47, during the smoke shop robbery and Arthur "Taco" Bell, 54; his wife, Judy Bell, 46; and Munn, 53, in the June 13, 1996, union hall robbery.

Nordstrom's defense attorneys said yesterday that the jury convicted the wrong Nordstrom.

The defense team maintained during the trial that the state's chief witness - David Nordstrom - committed the robberies with Jones and framed his older brother to avoid prosecution.

"Take a look at the composite," said defense attorney Richard Bock outside the courtroom, referring to a sketch of a gunman at the smoke shop, 120 W. Grant Road.

The defense argued the sketch looked more like David Nordstrom than Scott Nordstrom.

David Nordstrom, 28, testified last month that he drove the getaway truck in the smoke shop robbery. He agreed to testify against his brother in exchange for prosecutors dropping two first-degree murder charges in the smoke shop robbery.

He pleaded guilty to an armed robbery charge and faces up to 12 years in prison.

Prosecutor White hailed the guilty verdict as a testament to the Tucson Police Department's tenacity in investigating the crimes.

"They (the police) worked like dogs before and during the trial," White said. "The people of Tucson ought to be happy."

He declined to comment specifically about the case, citing the upcoming Jones trial.

Scott Nordstrom's conviction came despite no physical evidence linking him to either robbery.

White's case was largely based on the testimony of three witnesses - David Nordstrom, an eyewitness to the smoke shop robbery and one of Scott Nordstrom's childhood friends.

The eyewitness said she was positive Scott Nordstrom was one of the smoke shop gunmen, while the childhood friend testified Scott Nordstrom plotted as early as 1994 to rob the union hall and kill all witnesses.

But ultimately the one and only person who placed Scott Nordstrom at both robberies was his younger brother.

David Nordstrom approached police in January, saying Jones committed the two robberies and offering to lead police to the two guns used in the slayings.

The younger Nordstrom said he came forward because his conscience was bothering him to the point he couldn't eat or sleep.

He told police about his brother's involvement in the robberies only after he was arrested in the crimes.

Police never found the guns in the pond near Sonoita southeast of Tucson, where David Nordstrom said they were tossed.

Juror Preston Hesterlee said no single piece of evidence or testimony was the deciding factor for the 12 jurors.

Jurors spent most of their time digesting hundreds of exhibits and testimony from 68 witnesses during the five-week trial, he said.

"I think that we all as jurors discussed it, and we came out with a decision," Hesterlee said last night. "We had a lot of notes to look at. We had a lot of exhibits to look at."

Scott Nordstrom's conviction automatically will be appealed. Defense attorney Harley Kurlander said the appeal, in part, may center on admissibility of David Nordstrom's parole records.

White contended David Nordstrom couldn't have committed the robbery of the union hall, 2264 E. Benson Highway, because electronic monitoring records for his house arrest prove he was home that night.

Kurlander also said the testimony of the smoke shop witness, Carla Whitlock, shouldn't have been allowed because she positively identified Scott Nordstrom only after she saw a news broadcast about his arrest.

Kurlander said yesterday that he also plans to argue that Scott Nordstrom shouldn't receive the death penalty because of "residual doubt."

"It's basically a determination by the judge if there may be lingering doubt," Kurlander said.

Scott Nordstrom's father, who was not present for the verdict, refused to comment when contacted at his home last night.

Nordstrom's conviction makes him the first person in Pima County to be convicted of six or more killings since Lary J. Melcher was convicted in 1971 of six counts of vehicular manslaughter.

A year later, a Maricopa County jury found Louis Cuen Taylor guilty of 28 first-degree murder counts in the 1970 fire at Tucson's Pioneer International Hotel.

Two pre-sentencing hearings will be held on Feb. 23 and March 2.

About 20 people gathered last night at the union hall, with some applauding and others calling out victims' names as a television broadcast recapped the guilty verdicts.

"All we want to see is that anyone involved (in the killings) gets what they got coming," said Sue Franklin, a friend of Arthur Bell. "They didn't have to kill those folks."

Franklin gazed at pictures of the four union hall victims on a memorial plaque inside the union hall.

"There's Taco, Judy, Maribeth and Lynn," Franklin said. "They wouldn't want us to abandon this bar. It's a family operation."

She paused for a moment, then gently stroked Bell's photo.

"We got 'em Taco. We got 'em."
Salpointe Catholic High School sophomore Erica Marquez took first place in U.S. Rep. Martha McSallys Congressional Art Competition.

Marquezs painting of San Xavier Mission will be on display at the U.S. Capitol. Tatyana Padro-Miguel, a junior at Buena High School, won first runner-up for her submission, Freedom. Paulina Barrera, a junior at Flowing Wells High School, won second runner-up for her drawing, American Dream.

Both of those pieces will be displayed in McSallys Tucson or Sierra Vista district offices along with art from other honorable-mention winners.

Four schools get $5K grants

for technology in classrooms

Four Tucson schools have been awarded nearly $20,000 in grants to implement technology in classrooms.

Tucson-area winners of the CenturyLink Clarke M. Williams Foundation grants are:

Marana High School, $5,000 for a project submitted by teacher Alex Ruff.

Lulu Walker Elementary School, $4,998 for a project submitted by teacher Gina Graham.

San Miguel High School, $5,000 for a project submitted by teacher Bethany Thiele.

Old Vail Middle School, $5,000 for a project submitted by teacher Kristina Laborin.

National recognition for 2 Desert View programs

Desert View High Schools precision machining and mechanical drafting courses are being recognized at the national level as innovative and impactful career and technical education programs.

The program was one of 11 selected for the Excellence in Action award in the Manufacturing Career Cluster from Advance CTE for strong partnerships with industry leaders, alignment between secondary and postsecondary education and high-quality, work-based learning experiences, providing students with the skills for success.

TEP honors 2 who teach

about energy, electricity

Two Tucson educators are being honored for their commitment to teaching children about renewable energy, energy efficiency and the science of electricity.

The teacher-recognition awards are part of Tucson Electric Powers Bright Students program.

The elementary school honoree is Amanda Knutson, a sixth-grade teacher at Coyote Trail Elementary in the Marana Unified School District. The middle school recipient is Daniel Encinas of Billy Lane Lauffer Middle School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.

Basis North student gets highest ACT score

A student at Basis Tucson North earned the highest possible ACT composite score of 36.

The achievement by junior Cameron Williams is accomplished by less than one-tenth of 1 percent of students who take the exam.

The ACT consists of tests in English, math, reading and science.

Families are sought

for exchange students

An educational-exchange foundation is seeking host families for the upcoming school year.

Davi Biondi, Juan Melo Navarro and Maria Olmedo Silva, who arrived last August from Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, are wrapping up their exchange experience sponsored by the Aspect Foundation at Catalina High School, City High School and Sahuaro High School.

Interested families can view profiles and letters for next years students on the Aspect Foundation website, www.aspectfoundation.org

For more information , contact Annilee Jacobs at 392-9267.
PHOENIX  A federal judge has refused to block a 2015 Arizona law that its legislative proponents admit was designed to try to keep minor-party candidates off the ballot.

U.S. District Judge David Campbell said Friday the Arizona Libertarian Party, in waiting until last month to challenge the statute, did not leave enough time for him to consider the merits of its claims or for Secretary of State Michele Reagan to defend the law. Thats because the deadline for candidates to file their nominating petitions is June 1.

Campbell said there was no reason for challengers to wait as long as they did before asking him to void the law.

But he rebuffed a bid by attorneys for the state to dismiss the entire case. Instead, Campbell wants to schedule a hearing on the merits of the arguments and decide whether the law is valid and can be applied to the 2018 election.

Attorney Oliver Hall, who sued on behalf of the Libertarian Party, said he believes Campbell eventually will declare the law illegal.

Prior to this year, would-be candidates qualified for the ballot by getting the signatures of one-half of 1 percent of all party members within a given area. So for a Republican seeking statewide office, that translates to 5,660 signatures.

The new formula changes that to one-quarter of a percent  but of all people who could sign a candidates petition. That adds political independents, who outnumber both Democrats and Republicans, to the equation.

Under this new formula, a Republican statewide candidate needs 5,790 signatures.

The problem with all that, Hall charges, is the effect on minor parties.

Using the pre-2016 formula, a Libertarian could run for statewide office with petitions bearing just 134 names, one-half of 1 percent of all those registered with the party.

But the new formula, which takes into account all the independents, requires a Libertarian trying to get on a statewide ballot to get 3,023 signatures.

There are only 25,340 registered Libertarians in the entire state.
A Tucson doctors logbook was stolen from her car in March, compromising protected health information for more than 1,000 patients who visited Carondelet St. Marys and Carondelet St. Josephs emergency rooms.

All patients have been notified of the breach of confidentiality and have been offered a year of free credit monitoring, said Dr. Lori Levine, privacy officer for Emergency Medicine Associates, which provides ER staffing coverage for the two hospitals emergency departments.

The logbook covered patient visits between Oct. 14, 2015, and March 25, and contained the following patient details: name, date of birth, age and gender, hospital name, date of hospital visit, hospital medical record number, a hospital number identifying the visit, and in some cases, a short description of the patients medical issue.

EMA takes safeguarding the privacy of its patients personal information very seriously, Levine said in a news release. In response to this theft, EMA has reviewed and revised its policies regarding logbooks and provided additional training to its physicians so that incidents like this can be prevented from occurring in the future.

A spokesman for Tenet Healthcare Corp. of Texas  which is majority owner of the Carondelet Health Network  referred all questions to Levine, since the breach didnt involve Carondelet employees.

Breaches of the patient privacy law known as HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, must be reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Between September 2009 and December 2012, more than 22 million patients were affected by breaches that compromised protected health information, according to the departments most recent report to Congress, submitted in 2014.

The report identified theft as the most common cause of HIPAA breaches in the years between 2009 and 2012.

In Tucson, the doctors decision to take the logbook home with her and leave it in the car wasnt in itself a violation of HIPAA, but its definitely not a recommended practice, said Trish Markus, a North Carolina-based health-care attorney who focuses on data privacy and security.

On the bright side, the compromised patient data did not involve Social Security numbers or payment information, making it less likely the patients involved will suffer adverse effects financially, Markus said. But with details such as the patients name, date of birth and medical record number, the thief could attempt to pose as a patient by assuming his or her medical identity.

The theft didnt involve the patients original medical records, which are electronic at Carondelet hospitals, Levine said. Original medical records are legal documents and belong to the patient.

Thats another silver lining, Markus said.

The loss of (the logbook), other than the fact that it contains patient information, is probably less problematic for the emergency group from a business standpoint, she said. But from a reputational standpoint, obviously its never good when you have something like this happen.

Levine said in an email that Emergency Medicine Associates has been reviewing its providers use of logbooks.

In response to this incident, EMA has recently provided additional HIPAA training, she said, but would not elaborate on what the training involved, nor whether doctors are now advised not to take logbooks home.
Utah

Apartments to tenants: friending now in lease

SALT LAKE CITY  Tenants at a Salt Lake City apartment complex are not giving likes to a Facebook-centric condition to their lease.

KSL-TV reports that tenants at City Park Apartments received a notice on their doors late last week about a contractual add-on involving Facebook.

According to the document, a new lease agreement mandates that residents friend the complex on Facebook within five days of signing or be found in violation.

The document also has a release that permits the property to post pictures of tenants and their visitors on its Facebook page.

A message left at the office of City Park Apartments was not immediately returned Sunday.

Florida

Libertarians name

Johnson as candidate

FORT LAUDERDALE  The Libertarian Party again nominated former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson as its presidential candidate Sunday, believing he can challenge presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton because of their poor showing in popularity polls.

Johnson, 63, won the nomination on the second ballot at the partys convention in Orlando, Florida, defeating Austin Petersen, the founder of The Libertarian Republic magazine; and anti-computer virus company founder John McAfee. The delegates selected former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld to be his vice presidential running mate.

New York

X-Men debuts atop box office with $65M

NEW YORK  Johnny Depps Alice Through the Looking Glass finished second over the Memorial Day weekend with just $28.1 million through Sunday in North American theaters, while X-Men: Apocalypse debuted on top with an estimated $65 million.

The showdown of the two big-budget films turned out to be little contest for 20th Century Foxs latest X-Men installment. Both films were lambasted by critics and didnt draw the audience many expected over the weekend.

Disneys Alice Through the Looking Glass had more than bad reviews to deal with. On Friday, as the film was hitting theaters, Amber Heard, Depps wife, was granted a restraining order after alleging the actor previously assaulted her. She appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday with a bruise on her right cheek. Some fans called for a boycott of Alice Through the Looking Glass.

Texas

Gunman, customer dead in shop shooting

HOUSTON  A man came into a Houston auto detail shop and began shooting, killing a man known to be a customer and putting a neighborhood on lockdown Sunday before being killed by a SWAT officer, police said.

Several people were shot and injured, including a man authorities initially described as another suspect because he was present and armed. Police said later Sunday they were investigating further whether he played any role.

Three others  two of them male and one female  were hospitalized with injuries police said were not believed to be life-threatening. Two officers who were shot were released from the hospital later Sunday.

Police said they have no indication yet of a motive.

Massachusetts

Church finally closes after 11-year vigil

SCITUATE  Members of a parish closed by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston have held a final service before leaving the church theyve occupied in an around-the-clock vigil since 2004.

Parishioners called Sundays service at St. Frances X. Cabrini in Scituate a celebration of faith and transition.
SWEETWATER, Texas (AP)  It's been a difficult but rewarding year for fans and former members of the U.S. Army's Women's Airforce Service Pilots.

The WASPs were female pilots trained in Sweetwater during World War II to fly military aircraft in the United States and Canada. The first women who applied for the civil service jobs were required to already have 500 hours of flight time (compared with 200 for men), received lower pay than any male counterpart, and could only fly the smallest trainers or liaison aircraft.

That changed over time, at least partially. Eventually, only 35 hours were required for entry. But more importantly, the 1,102 WASPs who served during the war ended up flying every type of aircraft in the nation's arsenal.

WASPs ferried aircraft across the country, or performed flight duties while training male pilots. Two WASPs flew the B-29 bomber, notorious then for catastrophic engine fires, and demonstrated to the reluctant male pilots that it could be done safely.

"Jackie Cochran herself called these the 'dishwashing jobs of the Army,'" said Sarah Byrn Rickman, referring to WASP founder Jacqueline Cochran. An author of seven books about the WASPs, Rickman spoke by phone from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"They were the jobs the men really didn't want to do because they considered them boring or beneath them," she told the Abilene Reporter-News. "But the women wanted to, because they would do anything to fly."

That included towing targets 50 yards behind an airplane for anti-aircraft gunners on the ground to practice on. Or taking a plane up into the air to see if the mechanics had really done as good of a job as they said they had on a reconditioned engine.

Thirty-eight WASPs lost their lives in the line of duty. Most of the casualties were due to mechanical failure; others were simply accidents, such as Cornelia Fort's.

Fort died March 21, 1943, during a mission to ferry BT-13s to Love Field in Dallas. One of the male pilots flying alongside clipped Fort's plane, causing it to crash near Merkel. She never had time to bail out, and Fort was the first female military pilot to die.

Another WASP death was more mysterious.

On the website Wings-AcrossAmerica.us, Susana J. Kelly writes how Betty Taylor, a California WASP, was ferrying a camp chaplain in September 1943 when their A-24 flipped during landing. The weight of the aircraft crushed the canopy, killing them both.

An investigation determined traces of sugar were found in the fuel tanks; just a small amount would seize up any engine. The saboteur never was caught.

Given the amount of flight hours earned by WASPs, the percentage of deaths within the program was low. Still, WASPs were denied government insurance and death benefits. The pilots' families had to pay for their funerals.

The WASP program ran from early 1942 until it was closed in December 1944.

"They went home, they got married, they had kids, they got jobs. They did all the things all the other women did," Rickman said. "They didn't forget about their WASP service, but they were basically told not to talk about it."

WASP records were sealed and for 30 years forgotten. The women who tried to describe their service were met with disbelief  surely if there had been such a program, everyone would have known about it, right?

In the mid-1970s some newspapers began reporting on women entering military academies for the purpose of flying for the U.S. Navy and Air Force.

"First women pilots to fly military airplanes," the headline read.

"The WASPs read that and said, 'Absolutely not! We were the first,'" Rickman said. Shortly after, WASP records were unsealed, and in 1977 the group was officially recognized as World War II military veterans. The benefits of that recognition included the option of placing their ashes inside aboveground structures at Arlington National Cemetery. The first WASP inurnment, as it is called, was at Arlington in 2002.

In March 2015, however, then-Secretary of the Army John McHugh declared the WASPs never should have been allowed to be inurned at Arlington. Army lawyers concluded that WWII veterans such as the WASPs and Merchant Marines could only be buried in cemeteries run by the Veterans Affairs Department, not at Arlington, which is run by the Army.

The WASPs, who already had endured a third of a century with the Army denying their service, were not happy.

"Any WASP that you talk to, they are all disgusted with the turn of events," Rickman said. "They feel like they fought for the country, and then they were told to go home."

She called the WASPs a remarkable story, one that proved women could fly any plane they wanted.

"The aircraft does not know what sex is flying it; the aircraft responds to the body that is flying it, whoever it belongs to," Rickman said. "That's what they proved, but somehow the world in 1945 or '46 decided we didn't need to know about that."

A movement began. A petition at www.change.org already had received more than 178,000 signatures by Tuesday. That and thousands of letters and postcards sent to Washington, D.C., led to the passage of the WASP AIR Act by both chambers of Congress, which President Obama has signed into law.

Rickman celebrated its passage with 13 of the WASPs when they met for a reunion in Sweetwater this weekend at the National WASP World War II Museum. Of the 1,102 original members, only 104 are still living.

"The WASPs deserve it. What they did, in the great scheme of things, it was a very small part," Rickman said. "But in the small scheme of things, they did something that women had not done before  fly for their country!"

Carole Caine, the Sweetwater museum's associate director, said the WASPs came from all social strata, all classes and a wide range of educational achievements.
Even though special master Ken Feinberg, who was in charge of the first federal Sept. 11 Victim Compensation Fund, distributed $6 billion to the estates of those killed on 9/11  an average of more than $2 million to the nearly 3,000 victims  the House of Representatives passed its new Fairness for 9/11 Families Act to allow additional claims for the deaths inflicted by the terrorists and set aside $2.7 billion for them.
France

Pueblo shield withdrawn

from auction after protests

PARIS  A French auction house withdrew a Pueblo shield from a contested sale of Native American artifacts Monday after protests from the United States.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Phil Frayne called it a small victory in a larger battle to repatriate tribal artifacts to their original homes.

Frayne told The Associated Press that the U.S. government believes the 19th-century shield might have been taken illegally in the 1970s, and so it was withdrawn by Drouot just before the auction Monday.

The sale of the object  a large disc with a colored face in pigment adorned in bird feathers that was estimated to fetch up to $7,800  is now suspended pending further examination. The Pueblo Indians live in the southwestern United States, primarily in the present-day states of New Mexico and Arizona.

Iraq

Amid deadly bombings,

Iraqi forces enter Fallujah

BAGHDAD  Iraqi forces started pushing into the city of Fallujah on Monday as a wave of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group in Baghdad and near the Iraqi capital killed at least 24 people.

The advance is part of an offensive to rout militants from Fallujah and recapture the city west of Baghdad, which has been held by the Islamic State for over two years.

The offensive on Fallujah, backed by paramilitary troops and aerial support from the U.S.-led coalition, was first launched about a week ago.

The deadliest of Mondays attacks took place in the northern, Shiite-dominated Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad where a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a checkpoint next to a commercial area, killing eight civilians and three soldiers. The explosion also wounded up to 14 people, a police officer said.

United Arab Emirates

Human-rights activist

gets eight years in prison

DUBAI  A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced a member of an independent human-rights organization to eight years in prison in the latest guilty verdict to be issued against the groups members, rights group Amnesty International said.

Abdulaziz al-Shubaily, 31, was the only founding member of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights, known by its Arabic acronym HASEM, not yet sentenced to a prison term. He acted as a legal representative for nine other founding HASEM members.
Help India!

Panaji : Malnutrition and pollution of water resources are a problem which the state government needs to address at the earliest, Goa Governor Mridula Sinha said in her address to the state ahead of Statehood Day.

Sinha, appointed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an ambassador for the Swachh Bharat Mission, also said systematic disposal of garbage was an issue which the state government needed to look into.

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If we have to ensure health of the people, we have to first ensure that our people are able to get quality food. Malnutrition is still a major problem, which affects the health and progress of our people.

It is also important that the environment in which they live is clean and healthy. We must devote more time and attention to achieve these ends, she said, adding that health and education needs to be tackled on a priority basis.

Sinha also called for rapid efforts to protect the states water resources.

We often come across news about our water bodies being polluted. This should be avoided at all costs. There should be an all-out and continuous effort for conservation of the natural resources, without which life cannot sustain, she said.

Sinha also said that the state needs to find a way to resolve its garbage disposal mechanism, hinting that the issue was mounting and not in sync with the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Also we must have, as early as possible, sufficient technological set-up to scientifically treat the increasing amount of garbage. It has been brought to my notice that one of the major problems faced in the garbage management is that people do not segregate it systematically at source, she said.
Help India!

Imphal : Scores of women held protests here on Sunday to demand the unconditional release of five Kangleipak Students Association activists arrested on charge of seizing packets of adulterated salt and questioning two traders in this regard.

A KSA activist said police had failed to book a trader who was accused of adulteration a few weeks ago.

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Meanwhile, angry women protestors tried to storm Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singhs office here on Sunday to demand the enactment of the three anti-migrant bills pending presidential assent.


Help India!

In the first of the three-part series, we look at why the citizens of Tawang, backed by a number of Lamas from the local monastery, are protesting against Mega Dams that threaten the livelihoods of the Monpa community along with potentially catastrophic ecological impact. Part Two will talk about the shooting on May 2 that killed two and injured many others, while Part Three will talk about what is at stake for the government and how they plan to fight the anti-dam sentiments.

By Amit Kumar, Twocircles.net

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Tawang: Every year, the month of May sees hundreds of tourists visit Tawang on a daily basis. But this year, for the first 15 days of the month, the smallest district of Arunachal Pradesh in terms of size and the eighth-least populated district in the country remained closed, concerned and on the edge. Although situated close to the China border, the district has been one of the most peaceful areas in the state and terms such as curfew, section 144 or had been unheard until May 2, when two people were shot at and several injured for protesting against 13 mega dam projects that have left the residents worried about their possible impact.

Lamas from the Tawang Monastery protest against Mega Dams

The issue of mega dams in the state has been a sore point for the governments, both state and central, who wish to propel hydropower projects in the state known for its rich water resources. Over the past ten years, close to 150 MoUs (Memorandum of Understandings) have been signed for hydel projects with companies like NHPC, Bhilwara, Reliance and Jindal Power, etc and according to the plan, the dams in total will produce close to 42,000 MWs. The ecological impact will be sizeable, if not catastrophic, and residents across the state have voiced their concerns against such projects: Tawang is no exception.

It is important to point out that the local people are not against tapping the waters for hydropower projects: 28 micro and mini hydel projects exist in the district, ranging from as small as 80 KW project (Chellengkang Hydel station) to Mukto Shaikangchu (6 MW) while four are upcoming. Given that conventional sources of electricity (thermal) are not possible in a town situated at over 10,000 feet, the locals have supported small hydel projects to provide them with electricity needs. It is the mega projects that threaten submerging vast areas, cutting thousands of trees and greatly impacting the ecological balance in the area that they are protesting against. Another reason why the idea of mega dams has been criticised by experts is because the state of all districts of the state of Arunachal Pradesh lie in Zone V of the seismic zone. No wonder then, that the sixth-largest earthquake in the history of the world occurred in Arunachal Pradesh on August 15 1950.

This explains why a local NGO, Save Mon Region Federation, has been at the centre of the protests, with its general secretary, Lama Lobsang Gyatsos arrest leading to violent protests which lead to the killing of two people.

Gyatso, a man is his late 30s, is a soft-spoken man and well-known in the town for his activism, so much so that he is referred to as the Anna Lama in the town by people who know him well. As part of the Save Mon Committee started in 2011 and later called the Save Mon Region Federation, he has been spearheading the anti-dam protests. The organisation had been protesting against the construction of 780 MW Nyamjang Chhu power project in the Tawang valley. The project is a threat to the wintering habitat of the Black-necked crane, an endangered bird considered sacred by the Buddhist Monpa community. The bird is considered an embodiment of the 6th Dalai Lama who was from Tawang and wrote about the bird in his poetry. Gyatso told Twocircles.net, Since 2013, we had been writing several letters to the government to cancel this project, but to no avail. So, we approached the National Green Tribunal which suspended the environment clearance of the project on the April 7, 2016 and this decision angered both the local as well the state government and I have been portrayed as a villain by the state officials.

Lama Lobsang Gyatso at the Tawang Monastery

Abbot controversy an attempt to divert dam protests?

Initially, it was for another, much smaller dam projectwhich the SMRF supportedthat Gyatso got into trouble. The Mukto Shaikangchu project, a mini-hydel project (6 MW) developed by the state governments Department of Hydro Power Development (DHPD), took three years more than its scheduled date (September 2012) to be completed and within three and half months, it developed a fault due to alleged low-quality construction. On April 25, he was going to file a PIL in this regard when he was arrested, before being given bail on the same day. However, on April 28, he was arrested for insulting the Abbot of Tawang Monastery and calling him an outsider who shouldnt meddle in local affairs. The same day, the Zila Parishad Chairman called a public meeting to discuss development of Tawang Region but singled out and attacked Gyatso. The reported statement from Gyatso was from a 2012 clip where he said that the Abbot was from Bhutan and should not meddle in local affairs. However, speaking to Twocircles.net, Gyatso said, The issue was a manufactured one; I had merely said that there is no rule which says that Lamas cannot be involved in social issues, whether they are from outside or nothow can I call him an outsider when even I spent 15 years of my life in the Bylacuppe monastery in Karnataka?. The issue was made up to divert the attention from the dam protests that had been gaining momentum, he said.

In fact, he added that apart from the NGT orders, even local villages had passed resolutions against mega dams. The residents of village Kundeling had voluntarily passed a resolution against mega hydel power projects in Tawang district at the Gram sabha level meet, he added.

The demand to focus on ecology also becomes more important given the damage the area has already suffered. Tawang is now a sitting duck in front of rains and landslides; in April, it took only five days of rains to kill 18 people in landslides and flooding and the state had received Rs 66 crore as disaster relief.

Landslides in April caused serious damage to life and property in Tawang

Due to the expansion of the towns, and roads, the area is now in great danger of recurring landslides. Then, there is the issue of available land. The Army, Seema Suraksha Bal and the district administration control almost 75% of the area in the district, according to the SMRF. The only fallow land that is left now is near the river bedsjust two projects, Tawang 1 and Tawang 2, require over 300 hectares of land. What will be left for the locals? There are 32 small dams in the area already, and they want to make 13 more? Tawang requires 6.5 MW during the peak demand in winters, and despite all those small dams we have power cuts for 20 hours on certain days, says Tashi Norbu, president, SMRF. But instead of fixing these problems, they want to construct projects worth 3,000 MWs? The locals will be devastated even though the electricity produced will be of no use to them. Why shouldnt we protest then, he adds. It is a sentiment that has rattled the local administration, but for the Lamas of Tawang, the fight is likely to continue for a long time.
Fendi Timepieces CEO bullish on China's luxury market Updated: 2016-05-30 07:38 By Fan Feifei(China Daily)

Fendi Timepieces is expected to perform better with the help of the whole brand's strong momentum. [Photo provided to China Daily

Domenico Oliveri, chief executive officer of Fendi Timepieces, a spin-out watch firm of Italian luxury fashion house Fendi SRL, is bullish about the luxury market in China. He believes there is a huge potential for growth as Chinese consumers' spending power is growing.

Despite the global economic slowdown, Oliveri said the company is strengthening its presence in China's watch market and plans to open more stores in second- and third-tier cities across the country.

"The Chinese market is very important for the luxury business and I hope the success of Fendi in China could expand to Fendi Timepieces," said Oliveri.

He added Chinese customers are very mature, conscious of trends and willing to spend money on luxury goods worldwide.

Fendi Timepieces will increase its investment in China and open more stores in second- and third-tier cities or provincial capitals, according to Oliveri.

Founded in 1925 in Rome, LVMH-owned Fendi now covers fur, leather goods, shoes, fragrances, eyewear, timepieces and accessories.

It entered the watch business in 1988. In 2014, it acquired Swiss watchmaker Taramax SA, which has produced the luxury accessory house's watches under license. All of Fendi's watches are manufactured in Switzerland.

Sales of luxury goods in China declined a bit last year to 113 billion yuan (around $17 billion) from 115 billion yuan in 2014, consulting firm Bain & Co said.

The decline was seen in sales of menswear and watches, which were down by 12 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Despite these tough conditions, Oliveri remains optimistic as he sees a lot of room for further development.

Fendi will return to "super high-end" positioning, with emphasis on handbag accessories and fur in top luxury goods, according to Pietro Beccari, Fendi's chairman and CEO.

Fendi currently boasts 200 stores worldwide, 11 of them in Italy alone. It has launched online sales in Europe, Japan and America and will integrate traditional retail models with online sales.

With the rapid growth of the Chinese economy over the last two decades and its expanding middle class, Swiss luxury watches are gaining popularity in China. At present, China is the third-largest market for the Swiss watch industry.

According to statistics from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry, the value of Swiss watch exports to the world dropped 3.3 percent in 2015 to 21.5 billion Swiss francs ($21.6 billion), the worst performance in the past six years.

Oliveri said although sales of Swiss watches declined last year, overall sales of Fendi products in China continued to rise, up 30 percent last year compared with 2014, and Fendi Timepieces is expected to perform better with the help of the whole brand's strong momentum.

"The market is evolving and customers are not any more only interested in products, they want a nice story behind a product, so in this evolution, a story brand with strong heritage will win," Oliveri said.

Born and raised in Italy, Oliveri joined Fendi 14 years ago as operations director to meet the challenge of setting up an efficient and profitable industrial organization for the company.

After receiving degrees in nuclear engineering and business administration, Oliveri worked at many multinational companies. In 1988, he started his career with Procter & Gamble where he held different managerial positions. Five years later, he joined Sara Lee Group. Oliveri was appointed CEO of Fendi Timepieces when the luxury house acquired Taramax SA three years ago.

Having gained rich international working experience over the years, Oliveri said leading a global brand like Fendi Timepieces needs a coherent, consistent strategy.

"Our strategy is to be coherent. Customers travel the world and will find a coherent collection and a coherent message. The world today is more linked than what we think, so being coherent everywhere in the world is the right strategy."

Oliveri said people have to balance the ups and downs in different parts of the world when managing a global brand, and being global is the best way to overcome temporary tough situations.

"My management philosophy is, 'surprise always': propose something new that could surprise all customers," Oliveri said.

"The watch business in China still has great room for improvement and this year is very important for Fendi Timepieces," said Oliveri. Asia and the Middle East have become two largest consumer markets for Fendi Timepieces.

It has advantages in the watch market as its prices are more competitive than other luxury watchmakers such as Patek Philippe SA, Vacheron Constantin SA, Rolex SA and Cartier SA. Oliveri said ordinary people who like Fendi watches could also afford them.

CLOSE-UP

Domenico Oliveri

CEO of Fendi Timepieces Born and raised in Italy

Career:

1988-1992: Project Manager, Procter& Gamble Italia

1993-2002: Operations Director, Sara Lee Branded Apparel

2002-2013: Operations Director of Fendi

2013-to present: CEO of Fendi Timepieces

Education:

1981-1986: Bachelor's degree in engineering, Universita degli Studi di Palermo (the University of Palermo)

1986-1987: Master's degree in business management, Istituto Superiore per Imprenditori e Dirigenti di Azienda (ISIDA)
Nanjing should not be forgotten: Chinese FM Updated: 2016-05-27 20:16 (Xinhua)

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BEIJING -- Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday reminded the international community of the scars left by the massacre in Nanjing in 1937.



He said that while Hiroshima is worthy of attention, Nanjing should not be forgotten and deserves even more attention.



Wang made the remarks when asked to comment on foreign leaders' visits to Hiroshima arranged by the Japanese government. A US warplane dropped an atomic bomb in Japan's Hiroshima in 1945 towards the end of the Second World War as the United States, China and other allied countries were fighting hard to end the ferocious aggression of Japanese troops.



On Dec 13, 1937, Japanese troops captured East China's Nanjing City, then China's capital, and started barbarous killing that lasted over a month. More than 300,000 Chinese civilians and soldiers who had laid down their arms were murdered and over 20,000 women were raped.



"The victims deserve sympathy," he said, "but the perpetrators could never shake off their responsibility."



On Dec 13 every year since 2014, China marks National Memorial Day for Nanjing Massacre Victims.
Declaration by G7 draws strong rebuke Updated: 2016-05-28 06:27 By CAI HONG/WANG QINGYUN(China Daily)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe prepares to speak after US President Barack Obama made remarks at a ceremony on Friday at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park that paid tribute to victims of the world's first nuclear attack.[Photo/Agencies]

China expressed strong dissatisfaction on Friday over a declaration issued by the Group of Seven industrialized nations that criticizes China, though not mentioning it by name, for its sovereignty claims in the South China Sea.

"As the G7 host, Japan is hyping up the South China Sea issue and fanning the flame of tensions. ... China is strongly dissatisfied with what Japan and the G7 have done," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a news conference.

She urged the G7 member states to honor their commitment to not take sides on the disputes.

In the declaration, the G7 leaders expressed concerns over the situation in the region and called for "peaceful management and settlement of disputes".

The declaration called for maintaining "a rules-based maritime order in accordance with the principles of international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea".

In the name of respect for freedom of navigation and overflight, the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States said they are committed to "peaceful dispute settlement".

The statement said that countries should make and clarify their claims based on international law, refraining from "unilateral actions" that could increase tensions and not using force or coercion in trying to drive their claims.

Hua said China resolutely safeguards freedom of navigation and overflight, but the navigational freedom of commercial vessels is not the same as the willful trespassing by warships.

She said China opposes the smear campaign by some countries in the name of "navigational freedom".

Lyu Yaodong, a researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Japan has been willfully internationalizing the South China Sea issue.

It has pushed to include the issue in declarations of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting and the G7 leaders' summit.

"This does disservice to China-Japan relations and threatens regional peace and stability," Lyu said.

Motofumi Asai, former director of the China and Mongolia division of Japan's Foreign Ministry, said Japan has never played a positive, meaningful role in the G7.

Asai criticized Japan for including the South China Sea and Korean Peninsula issues in the summit's declaration.

The former Japanese diplomat said the G7, with its declining influence, will be overshadowed by the G20.

The G20 is a major forum for global economic and financial cooperation that brings together the world's major advanced and emerging economies, representing about 85 percent of global gross domestic product, 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the world's population.

The G7 declaration stated that global economic recovery continues, but growth remains moderate and uneven.

The leaders said they will use "all policy tools"monetary, fiscal and structuralto strengthen global demand and address supply constraints, while continuing efforts to put debt on a sustainable path.
CRRC unveils China's first high-tech monorail train powered by magnet motors Updated: 2016-05-30 07:57 By XU WEI/XIE CHUANJIAO(China Daily)

China's first monorail train powered by permanent magnet synchronous motors has completed a test run, its developers said. Provided to CHINA DAILY

China's largest train manufacturer has developed the country's first monorail train powered by permanent magnet synchronous motors, marking a breakthrough in efforts to boost rail transit innovation.

CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co, a subsidiary of train maker China Railway Rolling Stock Corp, said on Sunday that its monorail had successfully completed a test run.

Zhong Yuanmu, the chief designer, explained that the motors used on the monorail will also enable the transit system to adapt to more difficult terrain and carry a large number of passengers.

The motors also enable the transit system to save 10 percent in energy as well as drastically cut noise levels during operation. "The train will produce even less noise than a car, even as it goes speeds of 70 km/h," Zhong said.

He added that the train meets the highest fire prevention standards and is equipped with water sprinklers that will automatically activate in the event of a fire.

The company said the monorail has taken three years of research and development and that more than 95 percent of the parts are made in China.

CRRC Qingdao Sifang's announcement comes after the central government's call for companies to intensify their drive for new rail technology over the next five years.

Yang Chuantang, the minister of transport, said during the annual session of the state legislature in March that the total length of China's light rail transit system will be increased from the current 3,300 kilometers to about 6,000 km by 2020.

Several Chinese cities have unveiled plans, or even begun construction, to install monorail systems.

Chongqing in the southwest has the country's longest monorail network in operation, with Line 3 recording close to 1 million journeys during peak hours, according to local media. The entire network covers more than 90 km.

The Beijing city government announced in 2014 a plan to build a straddle beam monorail in the capital's eastern areas. However, the plan was scrapped last year due to residents' concerns about the potential effect of light pollution on communities.

According to CRRC Qingdao Sifang, more than 50 monorail transit lines are in operation globally. It added that the cost of constructing a monorail is one-third that of building an underground system.
Australian man killed while fighting against IS in Syria Updated: 2016-05-30 11:29 (Xinhua)

CANBERRA - An Australian man has reportedly been killed while fighting against Islamic State (IS) in Syria, local Kurdish forces said on Monday.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has been unable to confirm the death of 45-year-old Jamie Briggs as the government's limited presence in the Middle Eastern hotspot of Syria was limited, but Briggs' death was announced by the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG.

"Sadly another Australian volunteer who joined the YPG has died," the group posted to social media website Facebook.

DFAT told News Corp on Monday that it was extremely likely the news of Briggs' deathw as true, but it could not confirm the killing as the Australian government's reach in Syria was "extremely limited" and that any official information could take days or even weeks to filter through.

The DFAT spokesperson reiterated that Australians should not travel to Syria under any circumstances - even if it is to join the fight against IS, as the government would not be able to provide consular support to those in the region.

"The Australian government's capacity to confirm reports of deaths in Syria is extremely limited," a spokesperson from DFAT said.

"Due to the exceptionally dangerous security situation, DFAT is not able to provide consular assistance in Syria, which is listed as a 'do not travel' destination in DFAT's travel advice."

Briggs is the third Australian to have died fighting with the YPG since the government warned against joining foreign fighters in February 2015, after Reece Harding and Ashley Johnston were both killed while helping the Kurdish forces fight IS.
China to become 2nd largest contributor to UN peacekeeping budget Updated: 2016-05-30 16:42 (chinadaily.com.cn/Agencies)

The second batch of Chinese peacekeepers receives the United Nations peacekeeping flag from its predecessors in Juba, South Sudan, on Dec 17,2015, marking the completion of work conducted by China's first full infantry battalion for a UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. [Photo/Xinhua]

China is set to be the second-largest country to share United Nations' peacekeeping costs from 2016 to 2018, just behind the United States, accounting for 10.2 percent of the total.

Herve Ladsous, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, was quoted during an interview on Sunday, ahead of his visit to China in early June.

China's contribution to the UN peacekeeping operations budget will rise from 6.6 percent to 10.3 percent, surpassing Japan for the first time, Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, said in December.

Meanwhile, the country will also pay 7.92 percent of the total UN regular budget from 2016 to 2018, making it the third-largest contributor among 193 member states, following the United States and Japan.

As long as the membership fee has been calculated in a just, impartial and reasonable manner, China will shoulder its responsibilities as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Wang added.

During Ladsous' China tour next month, the UN Under-Secretary-General is also due to discuss China's offer of 8,000 troops, announced last year. This comes as the UN is planning to pull together a standby force of 15,000 troops for quick deployment to conflict zones.

Ladsous deemed China's latest offer "remarkable", appreciating Beijing' s peacekeeping forces to South Sudan and a squadron of transport helicopters to Sudan.

It has been 25 years since China joined the UN peacekeeping operations, and it has become the top contributor of troops among the five permanent members in UN's Security Council. More than 3,000 Chinese peacekeepers are now deployed in 10 missions worldwide, including South Sudan, Lebanon and Mali.
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Farmers are harvesting pepper in Gia Lai Province.  Photo gialaitv.vn

Viet Nam News HA NOI  The Viet Nam Pepper Associations proposal for a pepper futures trading centre was welcomed by farmers who hoped that such trading would give them an upper hand while deciding prices.

The association said that the proposal had been already submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

o Ha Nam, chairman of the pepper association, said that starting pepper futures trading was necessary for Viet Nam and would help extend its reach in the global pepper business as the worlds biggest pepper producer. Viet Nam currently accounted for 50 per cent of the global total pepper output.

Hoang Phuoc Binh, deputy chairman of Chu Se Pepper Association in Gia Lai Province, said that the international pepper community forecast that Viet Nam would continue to take the lead in pepper exports in the next eight years and the foundation of the pepper exchange would be taken up on an urgent footing.

Binh said farmers would certainly benefit from pepper futures trading.

Currently, farmers sold their pepper directly to traders and prices often fluctuated significantly depending on the demand. With futures trading, farmers could avoid dependence on traders.

Tran Huu Thang, a farmer with 3.2 hectare pepper farm in ong Nai Provinces Xuan Loc District, said to Dan Viet newspaper that he expected futures trading to start soon and help farmers reduce the dependence on traders.

ang Van Chinh, a pepper grower in Binh Phuoc Province said that it was good that futures trading would help keep prices stable. However, he was afraid that the requirement on the output for futures trading could cause difficulties to farmers.

Transport fees and procedures were also a matter of concern for farmers, Chinh said.

Late last year, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Viet Nam Pepper Association and the Indian Spice Board, the Indian governments regulatory and promotion agency, for starting futures trading for pepper in Viet Nam.

Futures trading for agricultural commodities was not a new idea.

In fact, Viet Nam had Buon Ma Thuat Coffee and Commodity Exchange, a pilot cashew exchange in Binh Phuoc Province and the Viet Nam Commodity Exchange. However, those models failed to attract a large number of farmers as they found it inconvenient to bring their products to one exchange.

Viet Nam is the worlds largest pepper producer and exporter with an annual output of 150,000 tonnes.

In the first four months of this year, Viet Nam shipped more than 69,000 tonnes of pepper abroad, worth US$561.86 million.  VNS
HCM CITY  The Viet Nam Meat Industries Company (Vissan), a subsidiary of the Sai Gon Trading Group (Satra), held its first shareholders meeting in HCM City on Saturday.

Business plans were approved for the remaining months of the year as were tentative strategies for 2017-20.

The company will invest more in processing technologies to improve production capacity, come up with new products and synchronise its equipment with HACCAP standards.

The company plans to build a food-processing cluster in Long An Province, high-quality piglet and pig farms, an animal feed plant and others, which would enable it to create a safe food chain called 3 F (feed-farm-food), Van uc Muoi, the companys general director, said.

It would expand its national distribution system and gradually enter into e-commerce, he said.

After acquiring new technologies and building high-quality pig farms, the company would focus on exporting to Asian countries and the US, Australia and Japan, he said.

The company has set itself a target of becoming the countrys largest food producer, processor and distributor and creating a food chain with increasingly diverse products that meets hygiene and food safety standards in both domestic and export markets in the next 10 years.

Vissan has a chartered capital of over VN809 billion (US$36.27 million), 67.76 per cent of which is owned by the State, 14 per cent by a strategic investor and the rest by the public.

Vissan targets revenues of VN3.99 trillion ($179.2 million) this year, rising to VN5.25 trillion ($235.4 million) in 2020.

While it expects a net profit of VN99.17 billion ($4.44 million) this year, it will be dragged down to VN52.2 billion ($2.34 million) in 2020 due to interest payments and depreciation as the processing cluster in Long An begins operating in 2019, according to Muoi.

At the meeting, the shareholders elected a new five-member executive board and a three-member supervisory board.

Nguyen Phuc Khoa, deputy general director of Satra, was elected chairman.  VNS




HA NOI  Stormy Petrel, an image and sound exhibition about Irish history, is being held in Ha Noi.

Stormy Petrel explores the forgotten history of a group of revolutionary women couriers operating in Ireland 100 years ago.

Stormy Petrel is a sound, light and image collaboration developed by Irish artists Orla Ryan, Alanna OKelly and Brian Hand. It is being curated by CUC Gallery Director Pham Phuong Cuc.

The exhibition begins with the symbolism of the Stormy Petrel, the worlds smallest seabird and a metaphor for change, whose appearance announces an approaching storm.

This year marks the centenary of Irelands 1916 Easter Rising, a seismic moment on Irelands path to independence.

For many years, the role of women in the rising was overlooked, Irelands Ambassador Cait Moran said.

The 100-year commemoration has righted this by recognising the powerful role played by Irish women during this period, added Moran.

In 1916, the Stormy Petrel bird was an international symbol of revolution and anti-colonial sentiment. This exhibition looks at the role of women couriers who provided a human telegraph during the rebellion, she said.

This year is significant for Viet Nam and Ireland, as both countries mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between them. The exhibition is one of many cultural events celebrating this anniversary.

We hope the exhibition will showcase contemporary Irish and visual arts in Viet Nam, while prompting a conversation about the role of women in revolution, history and political life, whether in Viet Nam or Ireland, said Moran.

The exhibition will run until June 28 at the Vietnamese Womens Museum located at 36 Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Ha Noi.  VNS
By Tran Thanh Binh, Vietnam News Agency reporter

Internet freedom in Viet Nam is an irrefutable truth, or in other words, Viet Nam is an Internet-friendly country.

Despite the success of US President Barack Obamas visit to Viet Nam featured in articles and commentaries by experts and scholars at home and abroad, several foreign news outlets published information saying Viet Nam restricted" access to the widely-popular Facebook social network during the visit.

Some reactionaries and dissidents, to make it worse, posted this ill-intentioned information on their personal blogs.

Looking back over past years, a number of distorted and fabricated stories about the Party and State appeared on the Internet whenever any major political or diplomatic events took place, with the aim of destroying the regime, undermining the great national unity, and denying the countrys achievements across the socio-economic, national defence-security and diplomatic areas.

However, such kind of information was unwelcomed by the general public because it did not reflect the truth and was completely unverified.

Minister of Information and Communications Truong Minh Tuan has affirmed many times that Viet Nam does not ban social media, but just mitigate its negative impacts to the same extent as other countries.

Since 2010, Viet Nam has been among the top 20 countries using the Internet. According to Internet World Usage Statistics, as of June 2015, Viet Nam recorded 45.5 million Internet users, or 48 per cent of the population, ranking sixth in Asia, behind China (674 million), India (354 million), Japan (114.9 million), Indonesia (73 million) and the Philippines (47.1 million).

Compared to 2000, the number of Internet users in Viet Nam has soared 200-fold.

Viet Nam is also among the top countries globally in terms of Facebook user growth, not to mention other information channels.

Over the past years, there has been an unprecedented growth of internet news services in Viet Nam with the appearance of hundreds of e-papers and e-magazines, thousands of licensed websites and a large number of personal blogs. The Viet Nam Government and many State agencies have even used social media to disseminate information to a wider public.

In September 2010, former Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved a project to make Viet Nam a country strong in information and communications. He also acknowledged that the social medias role was increasing in Viet Nam.

All the above facts prove the Vietnamese Party and States consistent viewpoint of ensuring press and Internet freedom.

Given the social medias dark side, Internet users must stay alert and learn how to screen stories, particularly preventing hostile forces from taking advantage of the Internet to distort and fabricate the truth, which affects the publics thoughts and sentiments.

The widespread coverage of the Internet in Viet Nam is a vivid and persuasive reality to refute all allegations and distortions about the governments "restrictions to the public access" to the Internet and social media.  VNA
Ministry of Public Security To Lam meets with Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov .  Photo VNA

Viet Nam News MOSCOW  A delegation of Viet Nam s Ministry of Public Security, led by Minister To Lam, discussed co-operation on security issues with Russia s security leaders last Friday.

During the meetings, Russian Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev and Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov said the trip is important for cementing and developing a co-operative relationship between the two sides in fighting crime and ensuring security and order.

The two sides stressed the necessity for closer co-operation to deal with increasingly sophisticated crimes like terrorism, high-tech crime, drug crime, and human trafficking.

They agreed on boosting exchanges of delegations and information - and on experience sharing to deal with cybersecurity, terrorism and high-tech crime. They will also work together on investigation, verification, and manhunts for wanted criminals.

The two sides also reached consensus on training of officials to meet demand for ensuring national security, order and social safety in each country.
According to Decree 47/2016/N-CP that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed last week, the targeted group will enjoy the new base salary with an additional VN60,000 on top of the previous VN1.15 million (more than US$51), starting from May 1 this year.  Photo motthegioi.vn

Viet Nam News HA NOI  The monthly base salary for civil servants, public employees and those working in the armed forces has been officially stipulated to go up by 5 per cent to VN1.21 million (nearly US$54), following a newly-signed Government decree.

According to Decree 47/2016/N-CP that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc signed last week, the targeted group will enjoy the new base salary with an additional VN60,000 on top of the previous VN1.15 million (more than US$51), starting from May 1 this year.

The new base salary will be used as the basis for calculating salary, allowances and other payments prescribed by law for the mentioned groups. It will also be used for the calculation of operating expenses, living expenses as prescribed by law as well as the calculation of deductions and entitlements.

The Prime Ministers decree regulates that the base salary will be adjusted on the basis of State budget capabilities, consumer price index and the countrys economic growth.

The decree takes effects from July 15. The targeted groups base salary will be calculated back from May 1.

The 5 per cent increase of base salary for civil servants, public employees and those working in the armed forces was decided in a resolution on the 2016 State budget estimates issued by the National Assembly last November.

In January this year, the Ministry of Home Affairs released a draft decree, open for feedback, stipulating the increase, saying that those targeted had encountered an array of difficulties with the existing minimum wage, and the new level will help improve their living standards.

Regional minimum wages also went up by an average of 12.4 per cent on January 1 this year, ranging from VN2.4 million (around US$107) to VN3.5 million (around US$156) per month in the four different regions.  VNS
Hundreds of households in Duong Quang Commune, in Bac Kan Town in the northern mountainous province of the same name, are still waiting to be resettled as part of the Nam Cat Reservoir Construction Project while the storm season approaches. Photo dantocmiennui.vn

BAC KAN  Hundreds of households in Duong Quang Commune, in Bac Kan Town in the northern mountainous province of the same name, are still waiting to be resettled as part of the Nam Cat Reservoir Construction Project while the storm season approaches.

The project, approved in 2009, was invested by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments Irrigation Work Investment and Construction Management No 2, with a total investment of VN440 billion (US$19.7 million). It was expected to be completed by the end of this year with a capacity of 12 million cubic metres of water.

The project is expected to provide water for more than 500ha of agricultural land and for aquaculture farms in the province, as well as helping to reduce floods and develop eco-tourism in the locality.

About 100ha of land were revoked for the construction of the reservoir and VN110 billion earmarked for land clearance and compensation.

Although 60 per cent of the project has been completed, these households have not been resettled, causing difficulties for their livelihoods.

After the project was approved, local authorities required people in Na Pai, Ban Bung and Ban Pen villages along Nam Cat River to not build, upgrade or repair their houses. The land clearance task was carried out from 2010 to relocate people in these villages to new areas so their land could be used for the construction of the reservoir. However, the project was temporarily postponed in November 2011, but the local people were still required not to build or repair their houses. As they have been forced to live in a temporary situation, these people have not been able to invest in long-term production.

The project was resumed in May 2014 and the people were expected to move to resettlement areas in November 2015.

However, Deputy Head of the towns Construction Investment and Management Board, Vo Quoc Toan, said that the resettlement was extended to November of this year.

Nguyen Thi Xinh, from Na Pai Village, said her house was near the construction site of the project so they had to move and live temporarily in another area while waiting for the construction of the resettlement area to be completed.

Having no land for rice cultivation after being relocated, I have to grow and sell vegetables to earn more income, she said. Meanwhile, tens of hectares of land for construction of resettlement houses for these people is being left unused.

inh Quang Tuyen, Chairman of the Peoples Committee of Bac Kan City, said seven households that needed to be relocated immediately when the construction of the project started, were relocated. However, more than 90 households would be relocated later due to a lack of finances.

The local authorities proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development provide more funds to build the resettlement area, he said.

Initially, 11 households in Ban Pen Village, who are at risk of being flooded in the rainy season, would be relocated first. The remaining households would be relocated later, he said.

Bui Thi Thu, from Ban Pen Village, said local people were willing to move for the construction of the project but felt insecure due to the delays. They hoped construction of the resettlement area would be completed soon so as to stabilise their lives, she said.  VNS
THUA THIEN-HUE  Another farmer in central Thua Thien-Hue Province died after being struck by lightning, recording the second death in this manner in the locality during the weekend.

ang Tan, 75, died while working in the field in Huong Tra District after being struck by lightning on the same day when seven others were killed or injured in An Hoa District, according to the local committee of flood and storm prevention.

Phan Thanh Hung of the committee warned farmers to stay clear of rain accompanied by thunder and lightning, expected almost every afternoon this week. Locals should rush back to their homes on seeing signs of lightning and thunder, he said.

On Saturday, lightning killed the 42-year-old farmer Le Van Tuong of An Hoa District when he was working in the field for a new crop.

These days it is usually sunny in the province and local farmers have taken the opportunity to prepare the soil for new rice crop.  VNS
HCM CITY  The HCM City Police today proposed to the municipal Peoples Procuracy to begin legal proceedings against three people for showing a lack of responsibility, causing serious consequences and embezzling money.

The three people are Phu Minh Hoa, 33, former worker of the Hoa Hung Transaction Division under the Agribank, Nguyen Le Kieu Quang, 38, and ang Thi Thu Huong, 42, both former deputy directors of the transaction division.

Investigation by the police revealed that in January 2015 Hoa was assigned to take VN17 billion (US$755,500) from the Agribanks Mac Thi Buoi Branch to the Hoa Hung Transaction Division.

Hoa asked Quang to work with him and the two took the money from the Mac Thi Buoi Branch to a bank in District 1s a Kao Ward instead. Quang then ran away with all the money, while Hoa drove his motorbike to the Hoa Hung Transaction Division alone.

Quang was also found to have forged a number of fake credit documents to appropriate more than VN22 billion ($977,700) from the Agribank with help from Hoa and Huong.  VNS
BINH DUONG  The Vietnam Food Administration under the Ministry of Health (MoH) yesterday confirmed that 2.2 tonnes of Vietfoods sausages, which had been confiscated by the Ha Noi Market Watch, were safe.

The additive Sodium nitrate INS 251, which was used to make the sausages, is safe and has not been listed as a banned substance by the MoH.

According to the MoHs regulations, a maximum of 168mg of the substance can be used in 1 kilo of food. The Vietfoods sausages contained 100mg of the substance per kilo.

Earlier, on April 20, the sausages made by the Hung Anh Commerce Co Ltd in Ha Nois Hoang Mai District were seized on the suspicion they contained banned substances.

The media then broadcast that the sausages contained banned substances and therefore the companys plant must stop its work.

The inaccurate information caused worry to the customers and affected the sausage manufacturer as well. Customers returned more than 10 tonnes of sausages to the company.

More than 100 workers were forced to temporarily stop work causing losses worth several billions of ong.  VNS
HA NOI  The National Traffic Safety Committee has sent a notice to the concerned ministries and sectors to ensure public order and traffic safety during the coming university and college entrance exams starting July 1.

According to the notice, the Ministry of Transport has been asked to guide the departments of transport and transport enterprises to prepare enough standard vehicles for transporting the candidates.

Traffic inspectors are expected to co-operate with traffic police to prevent traffic jams, especially at railway stations and terminals.

Vietnam Railway and Vietnam Airlines are responsible for security arrangements in transporting the exam questions.

The Ministry of Public Security must step up inspections and apply strict penalties for traffic violations, especially in cases of speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and overcrowding vehicles.

The HCM Central Communist Youth Union should instruct youth volunteers to help the candidates and their families travel to the examination halls and help direct the smooth flow of traffic.

Traffic accidents

The country recorded more than 8,300 traffic accidents, resulting in more than 3,500 fatalities and more than 7,300 injured, from December 16 last year to May 15 this year, according to the National Traffic Safety Committee.

This reflected a reduction of 944 cases, 147 people and more than 1,200 people, respectively, compared with the same period last year.

Over the past five months, traffic police across the country registered 148,414 automobiles and 1.26 million motorbikes.

The road traffic police fined more than 1.5 million people for violating traffic safety regulations, collecting more than VN1 trillion (US$46.7 million). A total of 140,256 people had their driving licences revoked.

Railway traffic police fined more than 1,200 people VN316 million ($14,000). Waterway traffic police fined more than 76,600 people VN44.8 billion ($1.9 million).

From April 16 to May 15 this year, the country recorded 1,700 traffic accidents, with 726 fatalities and 1,491 injured, an increase of 14 cases, 18 people and 7 people, respectively, compared with the same period last year.  VNS
AirAsia, the region's biggest discount carrier, received an offer valued at about $1 billion to buy its aircraft-leasing company amid a surge in the business in the continent. The shares gained to the highest level in more than a year. The airline intends to divest the business at some point, Group Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Monday. The offer for Asia Aviation Capital Ltd, the leasing company that's fully owned by AirAsia, needs to be discussed further with the board, Fernandes said, declining to offer further ...
France will "go all the way" to ensure that multinationals operating on its soil pay their taxes and more cases could follow after and McDonald's were targeted by tax raids, Finance Minister Michel Sapin said.

Sapin, speaking in an interview with Reuters and three European newspapers, ruled out negotiating any deal with on back taxes, as Britain did in January.

Dozens of French police raided Google's Paris headquarters on Tuesday, escalating an investigation on suspicions of tax evasion. Investigators searched McDonald's French headquarters on 18 May in another tax probe.

"We'll go all the way. There could be other cases," Sapin said.

Raids this month by police and justice investigators build on the work started by tax authorities three or four years ago, when they transferred tax data to judicial authorities that look into any possible criminal angle, Sapin said.

Google, McDonald's and other multinational firms such as Starbucks are under increasing pressure in Europe from public opinion and governments angry at the way businesses exploit their presence around the world to minimise the tax they pay.

says it is fully complying with French law and McDonald's declined to comment on the search, referring back to past comments that it is proud to be one of the biggest tax payers in France.

Sapin said he could not discuss what sums were at stake because of the confidentiality of tax matters.

A source in his ministry had said in February that French tax authorities were seeking some euro 1.6 billion ($1.78 billion) in back taxes from Google.

Asked if tax authorities could strike a deal with the tech giant he said, "We don't do deals like Britain, we apply the law."



Google agreed in January to pay euro 130 million ($190 million) in back taxes to Britain, prompting criticism from opposition lawmakers and campaigners that the sum was too low.

"There won't be negotiations," Sapin said, adding that there was always the possibility of some marginal adjustments "but that's not the logic we're in."



Google, now part of Alphabet Inc, pays little tax in most European countries because it reports almost all sales in Ireland. This is possible thanks to a loophole in tax law but it hinges on staff in Dublin concluding all sales contracts.

This week's police raid is part of a separate judicial investigation into aggravated tax fraud and the organised laundering of the proceeds of tax fraud.

Should it be found guilty of that, Google faces either up to euro 10 million ($11 million) in fines or a fine of half of the value of the laundered amount involved.

A preliminary inquiry into McDonald's was opened early this year after former investigating magistrate and politician Eva Joly filed a lawsuit in December on behalf of an employee committee, a judicial source said.

French business magazine L'Expansion reported last month that authorities had sent McDonald's France a euro 300 million bill for unpaid taxes on profits believed to have been funnelled through Luxembourg and Switzerland.

It said tax officials had accused the giant US burger chain of using a Luxembourg-based entity, McD Europe Franchising, to shift profits to lower-tax jurisdictions by billing the French division excessively for use of the company brand and other services.

The judicial source confirmed the investigation was looking into this.

The government said this week that it had raked in euro 3.3 billion in back taxes and penalties from just five multinationals in 2015.

"Nothing prevents big groups from coming to us and declaring their taxes," Sapin said.

Analysis of data from raid may take months



Analysis of data seized by investigators in last week's raid of Google's Paris headquarters could possibly take years, French financial prosecutor Eliane Houlette said on Sunday. Dozens of French police raided Google's offices on Tuesday, escalating an investigation over suspected tax evasion. Google said it is complying fully with French law and is under pressure from European governments.
Vice-President will begin a five-day visit to Morocco and Tunisia from May 30 (Monday), along with a parliamentary delegation. India has economic ties with both countries.

Tunisia has Indian investments in the phosphate sector. During the visit, further cooperation in various areas will be discussed. Apart from meeting the Tunis President and Prime Minister, Ansari will address the legislature, will deliver an address to the Tunisian diplomatic corps, and to leading scholars, and think tanks at the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies.

Education panel report may be made public



The T S R Subramanian committee, entrusted with preparing a new education policy for India, has submitted the report to the government, the human resource development ministry has said. The report may be made public this week.

The new education policy comes after almost three decades. The human resource development (HRD) ministry did not reveal the content but it is believed to have provided solutions to several challenges of the sector, including quality in both school and higher education, employability challenge, regulation of private education, internationalisation of higher education and a possible restructuring of the regulators like the University Grants Commission and All India Council of Technical Education.

Rawat to appear before CBI again



Harish Rawat, newly restored chief minister of Uttarakhand, will appear before the Central Bureau of Investigation for a second time this week. The CM is undergoing an investigation following a sting operation, that allegedly revealed he was ready to pay bribes to win MLAs in the floor test he underwent last month in the legislature.

Sources in the agency claim that Rawat could not "furnish full and complete details" on many issues, and has been called again. This was countered by Rawat, who said, he had fully cooperated with the CBI. "I need not produce any evidence. I have neither done any horse trading, nor given any money to anyone. I never said I want MLAs," he said.

Minor Union Cabinet reshuffle on the cards



Will a Cabinet reshuffle take place this week? The word is that it will be a small one and not involve any of the top ministers - Sarbananda Sonowal will be replaced after he became Chief Minister of Assam and Vijay Sampla will quit the social justice and empowerment minister to lead the Bhartiya Janta Party's campaign in Punjab. A race for these jobs has already started in the BJP.

In parallel, there is another race - for the remaining nominated Rajya Sabha seat that was turned down by Pranav Pandya of the Gayatri Parivar. All these announcements are expected to be made before the Prime Minister leaves for the US next week.

Panchayat polls in Bihar to conclude this week



The interminable panchayat elections in Bihar will conclude this week. Today will be the last set of elections in a process that began in February. As these elections are conducted by the state election commission, the impartiality of the election is seen to be dubious, but at least there has been minimal violence in the elections and the Janata Dal United-Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance is expected to bag a majority of the panchayats. Counting has been on alongside and a final figure will be available after the last phase of polling.
27:08 IN FULL: Treasurer delivers Labors first budget Treasurer Jim Chalmers has handed down the Albanese Governments Budget 2022, saying it begins to build a better future that befits Australians....

07:52 Albonomics: Five things Australians need to know from horror budget In tonights episode of Paul Murray Live, Paul discusses the five things Australians need to know from the Albanese governments horror...

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.
CHARLES CITY  Charles City Aeronautics Inc. President William Kyle will celebrate his 50th anniversary in aviation with an open house/fly-in/hangar dance at the Northeast Iowa Regional Airport in Charles City on June 4. The event will get underway at 4 p.m. and is open to the public.

Kyle began his aviation career on June 1, 1966, as a line boy at the Charles City airport, working for his father, Lyle Kyle and the elder Kyles business partner, Norbert Baltes.

Kyle earned his private pilot license in 1968 while still attending high school. While working for the airport on weekends, the younger Kyle received an associates degree in marketing from North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City in 1970 and an associates degree in aviation maintenance from Hawkeye Institute of Technology in Waterloo in 1972. He returned to Charles City Aeronautics full-time in May 1972 as an airframe and power plant mechanic.

From 1973 to 1998, Kyle worked his way up through the company, earning numerous certifications and awards, including a commercial pilots license in 1973 and FAA Inspection Authorization in 1975. In 1982, he became manager of the Charles City Airport.

I am proud that I have been able to carry on the legacy my father started in aviation in 1928, he said in a news release. I have been able to have the best of both worlds  I have had a very successful and rewarding career thus far, while still being with my family every day.

Kyle became president of Charles City Aeronautics in 1998, when his father died. On Jan. 15, 2001, Kyle and his son, Todd, began operating the Mason City Municipal Airport as North Iowa Air Service, expanding their operations across North Iowa.

William Kyle also is a FAA Designated Airworthiness Representative, certifying airplanes across the U.S.; a director of the Iowa Public Airports Association; and a past president of the Iowa Aviation Business Association.
WATERLOO  Kristina Mehmen and Ivan Valtchev drew distinctively different paths to careers in architecture, but both now are playing central roles in plotting future health care delivery systems for Invision Architecture in Waterloo.

Shes more a medical planner so shes kind of on the bigger project, more involved upfront in the project, said Valtchev, a native of Bulgaria who has been with Invision for five years. I guess Im kind of more involved from beginning to end, more heavily in the end and in construction administration.

Both have been passionate about design from childhood.

I remember specifically I was in seventh grade taking some industrial tech classes  the only girl in those classes, said Mehman a Clinton native. Our teacher had us draw what wed build in metals classes. He said, Youre really good at this; you should be an architect. I went home and decided to be an architect. I then learned what it was, the idea of designing spaces. That was it. So all it takes is one teacher.

Mehmen, who earned a bachelors degree in architecture from Iowa State University in 2002, has been with Invision for three years but also had years of experience elsewhere becoming a medical planner. She has passion for making an impact on obstetrics and neonatal intensive care units through architecture and personally supports campaigns focused on premature infants.

Obviously, Im in health care because I really believe we create spaces for people when theyre most vulnerable, in medical spaces, she said. I like working with my clients. Meetings with top surgeons and physicians and nurses, talking about work flows, patient satisfaction and learning new technologies are fun.

Mehmen said she loves her job. In addition to being fun, it offers rewards and new experiences on a daily basis.

I enjoy being in the office doing team meetings, coming up with solutions and the next day at client meetings, she said. Bad ideas are not frowned upon; all it takes is one good idea. Were being creative every day. Im constantly learning.

Loving ones job is essential to success in any field, Mehmen said.

I spend more time here than anywhere, and the satisfaction makes you a better person. When you go home from a long day it makes you feel good youve accomplished something with meaning. Hopefully Im able to come home and show my two little girls they can do whatever they want in life.

Valtchev also was a prodigy, of a sort.

Since I was a little kid, I always showed a knack for the arts, he said. I was always drawing, playing with Legos, always building things. After awhile, I noticed all the adults saying, Hes gonna be a good architect, and it stuck with me. I always kind of knew.

After graduation from high school in Madison, Wis., Valtchev studied architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

The best part of his job is the opportunity to solve problems. There are constant challenges.

We kind of sit through the intersection of clients and consultants and are constantly trying to come up with solutions to challenges and different things our profession inherently brings to the table, he said.

Having yearned to be an architect since childhood, Valtchev had years to build lofty expectations of the field. The job has exceeded those expectations.

It takes awhile, because theres so much you need to learn in our field, he said. When you first come out of school, all youve been doing is designing. You have been allowed to be creative without thinking about things, like budget, for instance. Theres only so much they can teach you.

Everything has fallen into place for both Valtchev and Mehmen. Both work to spread their enthusiasm, not just among colleagues but in the community.

Im really passionate about showing girls they can do anything, she said. I go to ISU and they have a health care studio now, and I go there and come up with projects and critique projects.

She also mentors younger architects.

I have a couple of mentees with Iowa Women in Architecture program, and I talk to them often, she said. In general, Im on the Cedar Falls Public Art Committee. I like to think I bring arts to STEM  I think of it as STEAM. STEM is important, but I think art is just as important.

Valtchev said anybody who doesnt love his job should consider a change.

Maybe its not the job itself; its the particular environment thats toxic and you need a change of scenery, he said.
WATERLOO  Crowds turned out in rain and sun to remember the fallen during a Memorial Day parade and ceremony in downtown Waterloo on Monday.

At Veterans Memorial Hall, a special table was set with symbolic objects that honored prisoners of war and soldiers who were missing in action, among others who gave their lives and their service in war.

This table symbolizes that the POWs and MIAs are with us in spirit, said American Legion Post 730 member Randy Miller, addressing the 150-plus people in attendance.

Before the ceremony began, Scott McDonald of Waterloo stood under the light rain smoking a cigarette and looked somberly upon the memorial bricks that scatter the Veterans Memorial Park.

If youve lost loved ones in war, you understand the true meaning of Memorial Day, he said. McDonald, a Desert Storm and Iraq War veteran, served 28 years.

After that many years, it defines you, McDonald said.

For Ronald Troudt of Waterloo, the ceremony was more difficult than in previous years. His father, Robert Troudt, who served in World War II, died in June 2015.

Its our first Memorial Day without him, Troudt said, tears forming in his eyes. Its a day to honor the veterans and to be proud. Im proud of my dads service.

Robert Troudt fought in some of the major battles of the South Pacific, his son said. He said his fathers unit was one of the first in the area and one of the last to leave. Only five soldiers returned home from the unit, of which his father was one.

There were a lot more than that when it started, Ronald Troudt said. His fathers name was one of the 250-plus named in the reading of the death roll, which lists Iowa veterans whove died since the previous Memorial Day.

The featured speaker was Maj. David Richards, who heads up the Junior Air Force ROTC program at West High.

He enlisted in 1996 and spoke of his time working in a mortuary, as well as his time on Patrick Air Force Base in Florida.

In keeping with the theme of honoring POWs, Richards invoked the memory of the Bataan Death March  the 60-mile forced transfer of Filipino and American POWs in 1942. Japanese military leaders responsible were later convicted of war crimes due to the physical abuse associated with the march. Some estimate the death tolls at more than 20,000 Filipinos and more than 1,500 Americans.

On this day, we remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice: their lives, Richards said. Twenty-five cadets at the West High Junior ROTC program paid tribute to the Bataan march by walking 14 miles through George Wyth Park, according to Richards.

Earlier, dozens of people lined the parade route during a rain. Alisha Grovers 9-year-old son was pounding the drums in the parade for the Union Baptist Church Crusaders.

Hes going to get wet! she laughed as the parade began under the fall of rain. Her 6-year-old son, PhilLante Sharon, splashed through a large puddle and rejoined his mother holding a black U.S Army bracelet. It was thrown from a cement truck featuring a portrait of the Five Sullivan Brothers on the side.

The parade was called off last year due to rain.

Its important for (PhilLante) to see people honor veterans, Grover said. They protected our country and cared for future generations.

Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart spoke of the parade at the Memorial ceremony.

I know some people were wondering, Is he going to call the parade? Hart said. And I thought about how the people who serve and fight for our freedom dont get time off just because theyre tired or its a little rainy.
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If youre looking to try out an online casino, there are several things that will help you make a decision. Heres what you should look for when choosing an online casino

 Are they regulated? A lot of the larger ones have licenses issued by the authorities in their respective regions, so its worth checking this first.

 Do they offer games from different software providers? Some casinos just use one software provider and limit your selection. This is fine if you like playing those types of games but you may want to check other casinos as well.

 What does their payout percentage look like? The payout rate refers to how much money you can expect to win after every bet. A high payout rate means youll be able to play more often without having to worry about losing all your money. Its also important to know the minimum and maximum bets allowed on each game. If youre going to play roulette, for example, then you probably dont want a casino with a minimum bet of less than $2.50 or even lower than that.

The players used to play the game slot online in the land based casinos in the past time. But now with time after the invention of the online casinos players play the game slot online. Online platform provide the players with the convenience in playing and even better winning. Even after keeping a good percentage of the profits, they distribute good funds to players.

 How many games do they offer? There are lots of different types of games to choose from. Roulette, blackjack and poker are some of the most popular options, but you might find slots, video pokers, video bingo and others as well. You can usually filter these games down to only show the ones that interest you best, so make sure that your list isnt too long!

 Is there a bonus offer? Many online casinos offer free bonuses as part of their welcome package  which includes new players being awarded 100% up to $10 instantly, for example. These offers are great but not everyone has access to them all the time (and some require you to deposit real money). If youd prefer to avoid paying a fee, some casinos offer no-deposit bonuses where you can get a certain amount of funds before you need to put any actual money into the account. These are usually offered alongside welcome bonuses, so make sure you read both parts of the terms and conditions carefully before signing up.

 Does it offer live dealer games? Live dealers are much preferred by many over regular virtual versions, so it pays to check this option out too. Most online casinos now offer live dealer games in addition to their regular offerings, allowing you to experience the thrill of the real thing without needing to leave home.

Now that youve got an idea of what to look for when choosing an online casino, heres some tips for making the right choice

It really comes down to personal preference. No two people are exactly alike, so everyone has an opinion on what they like and dislike about each casino. That said, here are some things to consider in order to narrow down your choices

 Popularity. Check out reviews, forums and Facebook pages to see what other people think of the casino. Also, ask around at work or friends houses who they would recommend to you. You could always take a look at the casinos website too, to see what kind of information they provide about themselves.

 Reputation. Find out what the general public thinks about the casino. Check out any customer reviews on sites like Trustpilot, Amazon and Google Play to find out more. As far as gaming goes, you can also check out the Better Business Bureau to see whether there have been any complaints against the casino.

 Security. Make sure the casino uses SSL encryption to secure its transactions, meaning that your private data stays safe during transactions. Other than that, look for security seals on the site itself and verify that theyre legitimate. You can also check out the casinos privacy policy to see how they handle confidential information.

 Payment methods. Its good to have multiple payment options available, especially if you plan to play frequently. Its also nice to find a casino that accepts cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. If youre worried about safety, you can always opt for a credit card or PayPal instead.

With all those criteria in mind, heres our top picks

Betway:

Betway is a relatively new UK casino offering online gambling to residents of the United Kingdom and European Union. They offer hundreds of games across both land based and digital platforms, with plenty of top software providers like Net Entertainment, Microgaming and Yggdrasil Gaming Network. With a generous welcome offer that gives players 100% up to 100, you really cant go wrong with Betway.

Coral Casino:

Coral Casino is operated by the same company that runs the famous Caribbean casino, Grand Reef. Like many casinos, Coral Casino offers a wide variety of games, including plenty of video slots and table games. New players can benefit from a huge 100% match bonus up to 1000, while existing customers enjoy 25% cash back on deposits made within 48 hours of opening an account.

Ladbrokes Casino:

Ladbrokes Casino is owned by the same company as the famous bookmaker that started life in 1921. With more than 500 games from leading software providers such as Amaya, NetEnt and Microgaming, you wont be disappointed by the quality of the games here. New players get a 200% match bonus up to 500, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits.

Paddy Power Casino:

Paddy Power is another Irish-owned casino that operates throughout Europe. Not only does Paddy Power Casino offer traditional casino games like blackjack, roulette and slots, but it also provides a full range of sports betting, including football, tennis, boxing and horse racing. New players can receive a massive 100% match bonus up to 200, while existing customers can claim 35% cashback on their first three deposits.

William Hill Casino:

William Hill Casino is one of the biggest names in the industry, operating in Europe, Asia and North America. Founded in 1984, this online casino has more than 400 games to choose from, including slots and table games, with a wide array of software providers like WagerLogic, Big Time Gaming and Rival.

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If youre interested in trying out an online casino but arent quite ready to commit to one, why not try out one of the many no deposit casinos weve reviewed? You can test drive various casinos completely risk-free, so you can feel confident about your choice before you make a single penny deposit.
May 30, 2016 | By Tess

This article is removed.

Posted in 3D Printing Application

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John Rask wrote at 5/31/2016 11:55:00 AM:I wonder if they confuse subtractive manufacturing with additive manufacturing! - The picture seems to be of a milling machine and not a 3d printer..John Rask wrote at 5/31/2016 11:51:35 AM:The picture seems to be of a milling machine - I wonder it they confuses subtractive manufacturing with additive manufacturing!?Marc wrote at 5/31/2016 9:51:11 AM:So, you did notice this was an April Fool?




May 30, 2016 | By Tess

Hello Kitty, the iconic and ubiquitous character developed by Japanese company Sanrio in the 1970s, has gone through many decades of merchandising and media representations. From animated shows, to video games, and to webcomics, Sanrio has managed to keep their beloved anthropomorphic cat relevant even within technologically changing times. To keep up with the latest trend of 3D printing technologies, the company has launched a Hello Kitty 3D Print Concept Store at Shanghai Mart in Shanghai, China.

The Hello Kitty 3D printing shop celebrated its opening ceremony last week with the unveiling of a one meter tall 3D printed Hello Kitty model (said to be the stores manager) at the stores location. Many people, including Hello Kittys 3D designer, a number of industry celebrities, and the stores founders were in attendance. One of the stores co-founders expressed the excitement surrounding the new project, and of bringing Hello Kitty into the world of 3D printing.

Shanghai Mart Hello Kitty 3D Print Concept Store opening

Currently, the Hello Kitty 3D print store is just a showroom, where customers are welcome to browse and place their custom orders, choosing which style, material, color, and finish they want for their Hello Kitty product. In addition, names or messages can even be engraved into the 3D printed model for extreme personalization.

Last year in July, Sanrio Hong Kong and local 3D designer Marco King Chan launched a Hello Kitty 3D Printing Concept Workshop in Central Hong Kong. The shop offered clients the chance to not only customize their 3D printed Hello Kitty ornaments, but also to learn about the process by providing workshops on 3D printing Hello Kitty accessories. These workshops cost HK$ 690 (about $88).

Hong Kong Hello Kitty 3D printing workshops

Chan, who helped launch the Hong Kong 3D printing shop for Hello Kitty, explained that by combining the popular 3D printing technology with Hello Kittys iconic character, the brand was sure to gain some new fans, and give existing Hello Kitty enthusiasts a new way to engage with the brand. Hello Kittys Marketing Director in Hong Kong, Zhou KaiShan also explained that with the launch of the 3D printing Hello Kitty concept store, they are combining animation, culture, creativity, technology, and art to provide their clients with a new level joy and vitality through the beloved character.

According to the company, if the concept store proves fruitful and 3D printing continues to be a viable way of manufacturing Hello Kitty products, they plan to eventually set up an official flagship store in Shanghai to introduce more 3D printed Hello Kitty products on the market. The newly opened Hello Kitty 3D Print Concept Store can be visited at Shanghai Mart, on the 3rd floor.

Posted in 3D Printing Service

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by Ryan Ruby

This month, two minor controversies revived the specter of the language wars and reintroduced the literary internet to the distinction between prescriptivism and descriptivism. One began when Han Kang's novel The Vegetarian won the Man Booker Prize and readers took to their search engines en masse to look up the word Kafkaesque, which had been used by the book's publishers and reviewers to describe it. Remarking upon the trend, Merriam-Webster noted sourly: some argue that Kafkaesque' is so overused that it's begun to lose its meaning. A few weeks before, Slate's Laura Miller had lodged a similar complaint about the abuse of the word allegory. An entire literary tradition is being forgotten, she warned, because writers use the term allegory to mean, like, whatever they want.

When it comes to semantics, prescriptivists insist that precise rules ought to govern linguistic usage. Without such rules there would be no criteria by which to judge whether a word was being used correctly or incorrectly, and thus no way to fix its meaning. Descriptivists, by contrast, argue that a quick glance at the history of any natural language will show that, whether we like it or not, words are vague and usage changes over time. The meaning of a word is whatever a community of language users understands it to mean at any given moment. In both of the above cases, Merriam-Webster and Miller were flying the flag of prescriptivism, protesting the kind of semantic drift that results from the indiscriminate, over-frequent usages of a word, a drift that has no doubt been exacerbated thanks to the internet itself, which has increased the recorded usages of words and accelerated their circulation.

Since the trials of the word Kafkaesque have already received ample coverage (by Allison Flood writing for The Guardian and Jonathon Sturgeon writing at Flavorwire), I'd like to turn my attention instead to the uses and abuses of the word allegory as described by Miller. Most of the time Miller is not one to quibble with the way people use words. But a recent spate of film reviewsone claimed Batman vs. Superman was an allegory for the primary contest between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, another said that Zootopia was an anti-Trump allegory, a third called Jafar Panahi's Taxi an allegory of artistic repression in Irancaused her to draw a line in the sand. What people usually mean when they call something an allegory today is that the fictional work in question can function as a metaphor for some real-world situation or event, Miller writes. But allegory is not just another word for metaphor.

Because one good quibble deserves another, allow me to point out that this last assertion isn't entirely accurate. The offending examples Miller lists are indeed abuses of the term. The first two films were made before the political events they are supposed to allegorize; the third simply is about artistic repression in Iran. But this is not because allegory stands in no relation to metaphor, it's because these particular films stand in little to no relation to what the reviewers claim they are metaphors for. If Miller is normally a descriptivist, it's quite difficult to understand why she has chosen to make an exception in the case of allegory, which Angus Fletcher, in his definitive study of the term, calls a protean device, omnipresent in Western Literature from the earliest time to the modern era.

Miller takes the features of the medieval literary genre to define its limits. Unlike more realistic fictions, the characters of medieval allegory are personified representations rather than representations of people. The protagonist of a typical medieval allegory, let's call him Everyman, journeys from Doomville to Blisstown, encountering, along the way, such embodied abstractions as Truth, Justice, and Sin who act and speak truthfully, justly, and sinfully, helping our hero reach his destination or tempting him away from the right path. Beginning in the waning years of the Roman Empirepresumably with Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy (c. 524)Miller claims that allegory reaches its heights in works such as Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun's Romance of the Rose (1275), Edmund Spenser's The Faery Queene (1596) and John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress (1678). Although she admits that the genre has largely been eclipsed by the realist novel, it lives on in the writing of C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling and Haruki Murakami, in the films of David Lynch and in the drawings of today's political cartoonists.

Unfortunately, this simplifies history to the point of falsification (and not just because The Divine Comedy does not figure into it). To fix a word's meaning, a prescriptivist should start with its etymology, lest her definition seem as cherry-picked as that of the descriptivists she criticizes. Allegory comes from the Greek words allos (other) and agoreuein (to speak openly). Originally the word did not refer to a literary genre at all, but a rhetorical mode. In the simplest terms, Fletcher writes, allegory says one thing and means another. Like irony, allegory exploits the natural polysemy of language. It's a kind of double talk that is especially useful under conditions of political censorship or in societies where blasphemy is a crime. Allegorical speech deploys figurative language to alert the hearer the existence of a latent meaning beneath the manifest content of what is said. You would not be wrong to detect in agoreuein the word agora, the place where the Greeks came together to discuss politics. Nor would you be wrong to detect in Fletcher's paraphrase something akin to metaphor, which, to quote the prescriptivists at Merriam-Webster, is an object, activity, or idea that is used as a symbol for something else. The English lexicographer Edward Phillips, writing in the same year as The Pilgrim's Progress was published, defined allegory as a kind of semantic Inversion, derived from translatio, the Latin word for metaphor.

Allegoryone of the foundations of Western literatureis in fact much older than Miller suggests. The first known usage of the word can be found in the Moralia, a collection of essays by the Hellenist philosopher, biographer and literary critic Plutarch, who died in 125, four hundred years before The Consolation of Philosophy and over a millennium before The Romance of the Rose were written. According to Plutarch, the ancients called it hyponoiai (under-thought or hidden ideas). The most famous example from antiquity is of course the strange image in the seventh book of Plato's Republic (c. 380 B.C.). There, Socrates describes a society of imprisoned cave dwellers who take the shadows of things for the things themselves and relates what happens when one of them frees himself from his shackles and sees what the world beyond the cave is like. In what is variously known as the Analogy, Myth, Metaphor, or Allegory of the Cave, Socrates' story reveals itself to be a network of metaphors or symbols, wherein each element is meant to correspond to an element of reality as Plato sees it. Platonic allegory is a corpus symbolicum whose cells are metaphors. In so far as allegory and metaphor are different here, it is a difference of degree, not kind.

The same is true of allegorical reading. In Plutarch's time, allegorical exegesis of canonical texts, the Homeric epics above all, was a well-established critical practice, as philosophers demonstrated correspondences between the stories of Greek mythology and their own cosmological and ethical theories. In How a Young Man Should Study Poetry, Plutarch instructed readers not to take the myths about the Gods in the Iliad and the Odyssey literally, but rather to interpret them as astronomical metaphors and symbolic prefigurations of Platonic ideas. Around the same time, a similar operation was being performed on the myths of Genesis by the philosopher Philo of Alexandria and by the early biographers of a parable-speaking preacher from Nazareth.

By focusing on medieval allegory, Miller takes a particular, historically situated usage of a wordalbeit a well-known oneto stand in, synechdochally as it were, for a whole tradition of usage. The works Miller takes as emblematic of the form are actually deviations from and even inversions of this older tradition. The personages and places of these works are entirely literal; irony is absent from their narratives and metaphors are reified as proper names. When Lady Philosophy speaks to Boethius, or when Despair tempts Red Cross Knight with an argument about suicide, there's no need to wonder whether the author means anything other than what he says. All allegories alert their reader to the fact that they are allegories, but few do so as ham-handedly as Pilgrim's Progress. Nearly everything a reader needs to know about Bunyan's book can be found on its frontispiece (see above).

Bunyan turns the distinction between manifest and latent content inside out; then he dispenses with latent content altogether. In so doing he dispenses with the very feature that had distinguished the form for centuries (all the way back to the prophet Hosea in the 8th century B.C. if we are to take his word for it). The Pilgrim's Progress does not represent the form's culmination; it represents its decadence.

Miller is right to wonder if we are even capable of reading such books any more. Aside from children, who can still enjoy allegories as pure tales of adventure, contemporary readers are likely to prefer the round characters, psychological depth, moral ambiguity, and narrative complexities that are some of the hallmarks of the realist novel, which has been the dominant form of storytelling since the late eighteenth century. Should a book or form present its argument so simply that even a child can discern it, what's left to talk about? she asks. Merely language, story, and imageryall the pleasures that art is made of.

As a defense of allegory in the age of the novel, this is puzzling, to say the least. Having begun with an attempt to distinguish allegory from metaphor, Miller ends up arguing that pure formalism is the only way we can still appreciate the most didactic of all genres. The pleasures of language, story, and imagery were the very criteria by which Flaubert wanted his arch-realist book about nothing to be judged. For all the formal differences between a book like The Pilgrim's Progress and a book like Madame Bovary, the ideological literalism of medieval allegory is only a step away from the mimetic naturalism of the realist novel. In any event, stripping an allegory of its ideological framework in order to read it as entertaining adventure yarn isn't how the form stays relevant in the twenty-first century. It's how Dante's Inferno gets turned into a video game.

This reductio ad absurdum is the inevitable consequence of taking medieval allegory to exhaust the meaning of the term. More generally, it shows how a narrow definition of a word can be just as harmful to its meaning as overly broad usage of it. With a prescriptivist for a white knight, meaning hardly needs a dragon.
because despite being enlightened, civilized, advanced, and free, we are trapped

by Paul North

In the 1930s a Hungarian psychiatrist, Leopold Szondi, began to think that families predetermine the lives of their members, before he was deported to Bergen-Belsen because his family was Jewish. Through a special negotiation he and other intellectuals were released and sent into exile. Szondi settled in Switzerland, where he worked the rest of his long life on tests and treatments for Genotropism, the name he gave to this curse on families. Members of a family share, he thought, a narrow set of psychological tendencies that are transmitted across generations. Who you choose as a life partner, what kind of career you end up practicing, even how much money you make are all determined up to a point by a familial unconscious.'

The familial unconscious contains drives and needs specific to the family and gives them their desires, their limits, their fate. Now, although Szondi wanted to release individuals from the family's unconscious predeterminations, and he invented a therapy to do so, the principle that underpinned his therapy was itself a fateful idea. Instead of staying limited by family traits, he wanted you to learn that: Wahl macht Schicksal  Choice makes fate. With this principle, Szondi hoped to break through the walls of his patients' familial unconscious. What if he succeeded? Well, through this principle he also locked patients into a new idea of destiny. Fate may not pre-determine you, but it does determine you. The way it determines you now is not necessarily better, only different. Now your fate happens to you choice by choice.

Let us imagine that there is a history for the idea of fate. It is a fiction or a semi-fiction, but that doesn't matter. It will help us to see a pattern. The first stage of the history is ancient, even archaic. We see Greek and Roman worry about fate all over epic poetry and stoic philosophy. In monotheisms, however, and especially in Christianity, fate takes a back seat to a different kind of story, where what happens at the end of time cannot be pre-judged by humans. At the end of all things, whether it comes as a last judgment or a gift of grace, a human-looking God will be there, making all the final decisions.

The philosophical essayist Odo Marquard, who first sketched out this historical tale about fatethe fate of fate, he called itwas right: the weightiest things in life, which used to be completely out of our hands (threads were held by the fates, judgments were made by God) at some point were put directly into our hands. After the great monotheisms (this is fiction too: we know they have not ended), everything, Marquard wrote in 1981, comes to be seen as made by human beings, including the highest things, like God, history, and truth. He notes that the expansive new human power of making did not actually put an end to the fate idea. Just because we began to think of ourselves as in charge, as making all things, including our own history, our ideas and ideals, this did not mean that we were freeon the contrary.

As Szondi had already recognized in the 1930s, fate was put into our hands too. In the great making era, making makesnot freedombut destiny. It may take some time to come about, it may shift, its force may accumulate slowly, but it comes to be, in the end, as ineluctable as ever. We make our fate through our choices. Absolutely: fate has changed. There may no longer be a preexisting plan, but there is still a single way things will turn out, and this way is coded into all our individual actions.

Let us call this genre of fate epic, although we will have to paint the term with some new colors, to see how it has changed over the millennia. It is not uncommon, in Europe and its satellites, especially in the U.S., to feel that we live in a world without an overall plan, in a human life that is long and full of forking paths, overflowing with experiences, encounters with friends, allies, enemies, plagued by journeys, personal and public battles, upturns and downturns, not to mention day to day banalities. What's more, we are confounded by conflicting accounts of our agencywe make democracy work/ we can do nothing to change the system. For us, fate has to take a different shape. A split-second decision, a blink of an eye, a wrong turn is an index of the whole, each small event a single shard of the large urn of destiny. The urn must be beingso we presumereconstructed out of these shards. Fate lies then in the way each piece fits together with another, and then another.

A great friend of this, the epic side of fate, is the movies. The sense that the staccato scenes will eventually merge together, that the cuts will add up to something great and continuous, the feeling of loose threads gradually being woven up into a tight fabricthis is the stuff of film art. Film borrows this procedure from novels, which carried the epic side of fate through the 19th century. A novel implies, before it is even picked up and read, that the story has already been completed and thus each event, each page, is a symbol of the whole. A reader enters the novel ignorant about everything except for one fact: that the story will take its pre-written course. Likewise, no matter how wild the story, the course of a movie can be felt in each frame, each episode. It doesn't really matter if the story is complete. The smallest details carry an extra glow, shinning indications of the invisible unity.

A minor genre of movies has been taking shape since the late 1970s, a new and improved epic genre with an updated, modernized, though perhaps not all that modern, pattern of total determination. These movies have taken epic fate to an extreme. They do not even have a story. The more random, the more improbable the characters, dialogue, and happenings, the more the power of the fateful movement is at work. You have no idea, at the beginning of Robert Altman's 1975 Nashville (or Short Cuts, produced almost 20 years later), you have no idea that the disparate characters and situations will turn out to be intricately interrelated. In the end you do. Through a series of coincidences, a musician carrying a fiddle case finds the perfect opportunity to open it and take out a gun. And you recognize retrospectively that fate had been accomplishing its handiwork all along. That feeling of order, unity, and careful construction that accompanies a movement from lack to satisfactionthe feeling we long to get from art worksis denied you in these films. The unknown is immensely pleasurable of course, as are incongruity, indefiniteness, and surprise. But nothing can be more pleasurable, I think, than the moment when these unstable things that cannot possibly be subsumed under any higher order are in fact subsumed under a higher order, a rule, a set of connections, a pattern to which they all belong.

Given the nature of the 20th century, it is not surprising the way in which the pattern finally emerges. The various details that seemed so unassimilable are shown to be fundamentally connected in a violent scene. In Nashville there is an assassination. Short Cuts ends in suicide and an earthquake. Even nature expresses the network of human fate. Magnolia, Paul Thomas Anderson's film from 1999, is obviously indebted to Altman's style of filmmaking. This is the most allegorical of these films. It is a full return to Szondi's theory. You might say that its motto is everyone is related. Magnolia closes with a whole series of violent eventsa suicide attempt, an ambulance crash, teeth smashed in, a character diesbut none of these is the final coup de destin. That happens when frogs fall from the sky, in a sort of backward biblical plague. It is as if to announce out loud: the improbable is the new fate. We might think the butterfly effect' is a chance beginning to an enchained series of events. In this finale we learn that the butterfly's wing is the tip of a great iceberg, a hidden system where every little thing is dependent on everything else. Improbabilities are not isolated events. They reveal their enmeshment in a secret system. And every seeming accident throws another stick onto the bonfire of the final, violent eruption of the hidden matrix.

In the Homeric poem the Iliad, the Trojan hero Hector tells his wife:

And fate? No one alive has ever escaped it,

neither brave man nor coward, I tell you

it's born with us the day that we are born.

(from Robert Fagles' translation)

What is born with all human beings in this archaic ethos is death, personal death. Fate means to Hector only the when, where, and how of his own end. And that means that, in the period before his death, he is more or less free. The difference between this fate idea and Szondi's Wahl ist Schicksal is huge. Fate in the Homeric poem (moira) is quite different from progressive entrapment by the limitations placed on us by our choices and by the accidents that befall us. In the Homeric poem, a human being is substantially free until the final appointment with death. My friend Francesco Casetti calls these end-of-20th-century films informal epics. In them, characters are progressively trapped by their own freedom, so to speak. Their choices and chances add to their ultimate immobilization.

We can't say that this latter day epic idea rules our lives, or even that we believe it to be in force most of the time. But we can appeal to this idea whenever we like. And we appeal to it, I would imagine, when we most need to tell ourselves that, despite appearances, frighteningly unconnected things actually belong together.

Leopold Szondi should be given a posthumous prize. He should get it for describing the new form of fateWahl ist Schicksal. We see this form taking hold in many placesnot just in Hollywood's imagination. We see it in conspiracy theories (here the matrix that explains random events is the government, or aliens), and in their converse, in governmental theories of terrorism (unseen underground networks, distributions of cells issuing in apparently random events, and random events that point back to the hidden network). We see it in the environment, a condition made by our inattentions that totally surrounds and encompasses us, which soon will return our neglect with violent interest. Experimental natural science shares the idea too to some extent. Experiments become data points, and statistics derives from them an underlying pattern, which we call nature.
by Evan Edwards

I have a copy of Franz Wright's Walking to Marthas Vineyard on my bedside table. It has been there since my son was born last year. Ive been trying to educate myself on contemporary poets for more than a year now. Wright was the one who happened to stick the most readily. I want my son to know about poetry; good, modern poetry that speaks to the vibrancy of the present. Of course, well always read the classics, but I want him to also get an education in the words of those who arent yet dead, who are living and here and maybe coming to speak somewhere nearby at some point so that we can go together to hear a great poet speak in person and then walk out of the lecture hall feeling the brief surge of ecstasy you feel when you experience something extraordinary. Maybe its my obstinacy that drew me to him, or maybe its just the way that irony works, because of course Franz Wright is dead.

I first encountered Wright through the blog of a poet I met when I lived in Indianapolis. In the interview he gave, I remember feeling overwhelmed by the way he spoke about his recent economic troubles. The way he hadnt been invited to speak or teach or fraternize (to be part of the brother/sisterhood of poets) since hed made some admittedly snide and vicious remarks about MFA programs. How he was struggling with cancer. How he didnt have the means to keep up the struggle for much longer. He was in remission, and had a tenuous relationship with hope. The cancer would, eventually, come back and then end his life in May of last year.

The word remission comes up one time in the interview, in the context of saying that hes posted on Facebook saying that he is in the state of remission, and that he can give talks and readings, if anyone wants to get in touch with him. There was something very tender and heartbreaking in that statement. Here is one of the greatest living poets, recipient of a fucking Pulitzer Prize in poetry, Guggenheim fellow, son of poetry royalty, subtlest and most brutal portrayer of spiritual suffering, reaching out for work through his personal social media page. The desperation of that. It seemed hauntingly appropriate to speak of remission in that moment.

Weve come to use remission to describe the condition of being without cancer, but it has so many more resonances. Remission, from the Latin remittere, means to send back. To be sent back. To return. When a debt is repaid, its said to be remitted. When a Catholic goes to confession her sins are remitted. She returns to God. She comes back from the semblance of life to real Life. When someone with cancer is in remission, theyve come back to life as well.

From the hellish existence of chemotherapy, constant doctor visits, insomniac fear. From that half-life to the tentative steps back into the light of the life that everyone has been taking for granted since you were gone.

So when this man announces on the informal, the casual, and humble stage of a Facebook page that he is in remission, and available to do readings, one has to feel the full weight of that claim. Hes also looking to be included once again in the communal life of poetry that hed been absent from for so long. To come into that company again, like a penitent in the church of art, seeking remission.

ii.

And in fact, Wrights poetry is a poetry of remission. A constant struggle with sobriety, alcohol, addiction, faith. Cancer was just one more barrier between him and Life, one more debt to cancel. This feeling of being on the wrong end of a loan emanates from his poetry. His personal faith might be to blame/thank for this. To be in an eternal debt to Christ is unfathomable for me. In the first poem of Marthas Vineyard were struck by this permeating sense of seeking remission, of desperate searching for Life.

I was standing

on a northern corner.

Moonlit winter clouds the color of the desperation of wolves.

Proof

of Your existence? There is nothing

but.

In this poem were presented with Wright himself, standing, presumably, on a street corner at night. One can imagine its an empty road. Who knows whether or not there is a streetlight. The sky is the color of desperation. The proof of the debt we owe to God, all around. And that line, There is nothing/but. The thought fits into the poem as a whole, but it also stands alone. There is nothing, meaning, we are alone and desperate addicts, cancer victims. Abandoned.

And yet.

The poem Baptism, later in the collection, speaks to another aspect of this relationship. Here, we get the clearest example of a theme that ties the whole text together: fathers, Father, and sons, the Son. The complex relationship between James Wright, God, Franz, and Christ, comes to a head here. Who is the insane asshole? James? Or the sort of creator God who would subject us to so much suffering? And in what medium does this baptism take place? Is it in in alcohol, water, or light, as he says earlier in the collection? It is entirely unclear. What do we owe to the ones who gave us Life? Earthly or otherwise. Here the genius of Wright breaks through with an impassioned luminosity. In his hands, the themes of Christianity are rendered universal. Who is your father? Mother? What do you owe them? What debt do they ask you to remit?

iii.

Do you have any children?

No, lucky for them.

Bad things happen when you get hands, dolphin.



If theyd stabbed me to death on the day I was born, it

would have been an act of mercy.

We dont ask for our lives. Theyre thrust upon us. And then were asked to remit that debt. To seek remission. Always, it seems. And to find the strength to bear that debt.

Wright found, from time to time, the courage to live up to the challenge.

You said, though my own heart condemn you

I do not condemn you.

Who is speaking here? Whose words are said? It is either Franz, speaking to his F/father, or his F/father speaking to him. But it is certainly a prayer, to find the strength to persist in the search for remission.

iv.

Franz Wright did not remain in remission, of course. He died on May 14, 2015, at his home in Waltham, Massachusetts at the age of 62. As far as I know, he did not receive remission in the company of poets. Remission is not always granted, it seems.

And yet.

Every symphony is a suicide postponed, true or false? he wrote in Intake Interview. Or, every work of art is a way to come back to Life. To seek, to be in remission.

I read these poems to my son, who is just over five months now. My partner tells me not to read the line where he says that if theyd stabbed me to death on the day I was born, it/would have been an act of mercy. Shes probably right. Perhaps its just a reminder for me, a message I send back to myself from time to time. That this is the heaviest burden to have placed on another person. That to be in any relationship with another human being is at once to place a burden upon them and to release them from their burden. That love is a load and a crutch. And even though he is dead, to consider the work of Franz Wright a work of Life, a living work.

The closer I get to death, the more I love the earth, the thought

introduced itself as I sat shivering on my old park bench before

the dusk fog; as it has, I suppose, to every human being

who has ever lived
Monday night fire destroys garage, damages home, vehicle

Nobody was injured, but a Monday night fire destroyed a garage and damaged a home in southeastern Aberdeen.
Distribution of company announcements to the professional platforms, finance portals and syndication of important corporate news to a wide variety of news aggregators and financial news systems.
William McKinley woke up to his dogs barking around 5 a.m. Saturday and went outside his Four Hills home to see what was going on.

He never made it back inside.

Police found the 55-year-old home remodeler stabbed multiple times in front of his driveway in the 1500 block of Soplo Road SE, his father-in-law sitting on his chest to try to slow the bleeding. Paramedics took McKinley to a hospital, where he died.

Albuquerque officer Simon Drobik said police think that McKinley confronted two thieves who had broken into his car, and that at least one of them stabbed him. No one had been arrested by Saturday night.

A good man was viciously attacked by what I can only describe as a predator, Drobik said.

McKinley spent much of his career working at Sandia National Laboratories and a few years ago started a home remodeling company called McJones Homes, his daughter Valerie McKinley said Saturday.

She said he was religious and ran a Bible study group out of his home. He was married, and had three grown children and two grandchildren.

McKinley graduated from Sandia High School and was well-known in the community  he couldnt go to the grocery store without bumping into somebody he knew, his daughter said.

He thought every day was worth celebrating, she said. Every day was a holiday, each day was something to give. He loved every part of his life. And he always knew if he died he would go to heaven.

Before he died, McKinley told police two men had been trying to break into his truck and fled in a dark-colored Jeep.

The assailants were gone when police arrived and they havent been identified.

Drobik said investigators are working to find out who they are.

Turn yourself in, or we are going to find you, he said.

Officers who responded found that a window had been broken out of McKinleys truck.

They also discovered that four other cars had been broken into in the Four Hills neighborhood overnight, including McKinleys neighbors car, Drobik said.

He asked residents in the area to report any other recent auto burglaries.

That might be the one piece of evidence we need to solve this case, Drobik said.

Drobik said there is only one way to get in and out of the neighborhood, an upscale area in Southeast Albuquerque, and he asked residents with surveillance cameras to check their recordings taken between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. to see if it shows anything related to the crime.

It appears that it was an auto burglary in progress that progressed from a property crime to a violent crime, Drobik said.

He said police have been noticing a trend in crimes like this.

These property crime offenders are now without hesitation turning into violent offenders, Drobik said.

He said police ask victims to be good witnesses and get a license plate number instead of trying to stop a crime.

But he said people have the right to defend their property and understands why they do.

Its hard not to defend your property, he said.

Valerie McKinley says her dad owned a gun and had a concealed carry permit but apparently didnt have the gun with him when he went outside early Saturday.

It doesnt seem like he knew there was any danger, she said. I dont get it. I know if he saw someone out there, he wouldnt have come out unarmed.

She said her father celebrated Christmas with his family on Friday and had gone to look at Christmas lights with a friend that night. They had planned to go to Costco on Saturday.

Everyone was just in shock this morning, she said. I guess were just relying on the comfort that he knew he was going to be with Jesus in heaven.
Warm weather is synonymous with many things, including summer vacations. But for auto enthusiasts, spring, summer and even early fall would not be the same without road trips. Road trips often instill a spirit of rejuvenation in drivers and their passengers, and theres no reason that spirit cannot be applied to vehicles as well.

Vehicle touch ups were once a realm reserved specifically for mechanics or the most ardent auto enthusiasts. But nowadays even weekend warriors can address the minor dings, chips and scratches on their vehicles, saving them both time and money.

Crack the color code

One of the fears novices commonly have when touching up their vehicles is that they wont find the exact match with regard to their vehicles exterior color. The key to the perfect color match is contained in the vehicles color code, which can be found somewhere on the vehicle, most often on the inside of the drivers side door. Consult your owners manual or call the vehicle manufacturer if you cannot find the color code on your vehicle. Once you find the code, you can then order your color.

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Use the right application tool

Dings, chips and cracks come in many shapes and sizes, and the appropriate touchup tool will depend on the type and size of the blemish. Small chips, nicks and thin scratches are best addressed with pens, while you might need a small bottle of clearcoat to address slightly larger areas. Use an aerosol spray can to address areas that have experienced extensive damage. When applying the paint, use several light coats rather than one heavy coat. Drivers concerned about their application abilities can visit the AutomotiveTouchup website to access a library of educational videos that illustrate how to use the various application tools. Visitors to the website also can speak directly with a team of advisors who can walk them through their projects.

Recognize that practice makes perfect

Even if you are confident you purchased the right paint, its still best to practice using your touch up paint prior to applying the paint to your vehicle. Use a glossy sheet of paper or metal can as a practice surface, and then hold that practice surface up next to your vehicle to confirm your choice and calm any lingering nerves you may have about the paint match.

Paint in the right conditions

Before applying any paint, thoroughly clean the affected areas. A simple formula of dish soap and water should do the trick, but be sure to allow the area to dry completely before continuing. When using aerosol cans, the ideal temperature to spray is between 70 and 80F and humidity should be 50 percent or less. Never spray primer, paint or clearcoat in direct sunlight.

Allow the paint time to dry

Drying times vary depending on the temperature. Paints may take longer to dry when temperatures are below 70F than they will when the weather is warmer. Once the application process is complete, do not wax the vehicle for 30 days.

Few vehicles make it through road trip season without a scratch or two, and now drivers can quickly and affordably address those chips and nicks on their own in a matter of minutes.
Homebuyer traffic in the Mariposa master-planned community in Rio Rancho is on the upswing, thanks to a resurgent residential market and a handful of awards.

What a difference four years makes.

When the housing bubble burst and lot sales dried up, the Mariposa community in Rio Rancho became a money trap for the previous developer, High Desert Investment, which put a halt to the project in 2012 because of the recession and litigation.

Eligible individuals and families who owned property in the Mariposa master-planned community settled a class-action lawsuit against High Desert Investment and Albuquerque Academy for $5 million.

Enter Harvard Investments, a Scottsdale-based real estate investment and development firm, which took over the 1,600-acre project with plans to turn the distressed community around. Harvard brought six homebuilders on board and launched a new marketing campaign.

Helping pique interest was the 2015 Fall Parade of Homes when its builders were honored with nine awards.

The sales pace so far this year has been pretty decent, with 45 homes sold.

Summer, the prime homebuilding season, is expected to be active, according to the homebuilders.

We were happy at the beginning of the year when home sales started strong, said Brian McCarthy, owner of Abrazo Homes.

Approximately 180 homes have been built in Mariposa to date. Once built out, the community could have 2,500 homes.

In terms of the bigger picture, DataTraq reports that local homebuilders pulled 123 home construction permits in April, 44 percent of which were for homes in Rio Rancho. The 123 permits was a slight decrease from March, when there were 125 permits, and also down from April of last year, with 147 permits issued.

Aperture owner inks architect

SC3 International, the Denver company that has a stake in the WisePies pizza chain and other Albuquerque companies, has landed a significant tenant at the nearly 80,000-square-foot Aperture Center building at Mesa del Sol.

W. Paul Waters + Associates will lease 15,000 square feet of space  a full floor  of the three-story, Class A office building.

We are pleased to have W. Paul Waters + Associates locate their offices to our newest acquisition, the Aperture Center, said SC3 CEO Steve Chavez, whose firm purchased the building in February for an undisclosed price. Having an on-site company that specializes in architecture and economic development will support our future development plans at Mesa Del Sol.

With over 35 years of national design and management experience, W. Paul Waters + Associates specializes in government, community and commercial design and development projects, such as the recently remodeled upper terminal of the Sandia Peak tram. We create teams that respond to the project requirements, helping our clients achieve their goals. The Aperture Center is an architecturally significant building that is perfect for a design firm like ours, said company principal W. Paul Waters. As a native New Mexican, its exciting to be part of a development that has so many opportunities for growth and significant projects.

Chavez forecasted that the building would have 100 percent occupancy within five months of buying the facility.

Communities receive $47M for affordable housing

Tax-credit awards totaling $47.3 million by have been made to five affordable housing projects in five New Mexico communities, according to the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority.

Low-income housing tax credits, a federal incentive for developers to create housing for families with low to moderate incomes, are subsidies available for affordable housing construction and rehabilitation.

The 2016 tax credits will be allocated over the next 10 years, says the MFA. A total of 367 rental homes will be constructed or rehabilitated and reserved for low-income households in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, Carlsbad and Pueblo of Acoma.

In Albuquerque, the Rio Vista apartments will see the rehabilitation of an outdated 75-unit affordable housing property that houses low-income seniors and individuals with special needs. Comprised entirely of one-bedroom units, the property is within walking distance of retail stores and other amenities. The total tax-credit award of $9.84 million was awarded to the developer, Wishrock Investment Group.

Tax credit recipients are selected in a competitive process based on 24 scoring criteria that include affordability, design, energy efficiency, and availability of support and social services for residents. Units must be set aside for households with incomes at or below 60 percent of area median income. Applications were received for 17 projects located in 11 New Mexico communities in this years round.
Lower costs, built-in amenities and the possibility of remaining, or becoming, a homeowner have heightened the appeal of the manufactured home, says Mark Duran, the longtime executive director of the New Mexico Manufactured Housing Association.

Buyers are diverse  from starter-home customers to well-established retirees, many of whom cycle back to manufactured homes later in life by cashing out the equity in a site-built home.

Clearly, these are more expensive and bigger, said Duran of the homes where seniors spend $150,000 to $200,000. Most of those are cash sales, with residences located in manufactured home communities with amenities galore or sited on individually owned parcels, said Duran.

Eddie Thomas of Cavco Homes Sales on Central Avenue SE says most of his recent customers had been renters.

Over the long run, sometimes its cheaper to own a manufactured home than to rent, he said.

Duran said manufactured homes in New Mexico typically sell better in rural communities where production builders dont have a presence and where custom-home builders are harder to find. Manufactured homes are built in sections at a plant like Karsten Homes in Albuquerque and transported to a customers property where they are assembled. New Mexico ranks among the top 10 states in the nation for the percentage of its residential population, 18 percent, who own a manufactured or modular home, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

New Mexico sells more manufactured homes per capita than any other state, except for South Carolina, said Duran. It employs more than 1,000 workers statewide. Those workers include dealers, sales representatives, factory workers, and delivery and set-up crews.

Why would people go for manufactured housing? Cost is a big factor. The median home price in Albuquerque is $180,000 and up. The price of a manufactured home can be as low as $30,000 to $40,000 for a single-section home. The average sale price of a manufactured home is about $65,000, according to the Manufactured Housing Institute, an industry association.

For the third consecutive year, the number of new manufactured homes sold in the United States grew. According to figures from the Manufactured Housing Institute, the number of new manufactured homes shipped in 2014 increased to an estimated 65,000 homes, up from 55,000 in 2012.

The rebound comes after a long and sustained downturn for the manufactured housing industry.

Duran said the states two manufacturers  Karsten in Albuquerque and Solitaire Homes in Deming  should build 1,200 to 1,500 units this year. Some will end up with the 30 active retailers doing business in the state, but many will be shipped to places such as northern Colorado, where demand is strong.

Production is often up to six days a week, said Chris Starace, general manager of the Karsten facility. In the past 12 months, the facility has gone from building enough homes to break even to being very profitable, he said. Most of the homes are shipped to parts of the U.S. where the economy and job markets are better, and where housing is much costlier than New Mexico.
Marisa Xochtl Jimenez hasnt lived in New Mexico for long, but the director of operations for Santa Fe Studios is already passionate about bringing jobs to the state.

Her area of expertise is film production; she manages one of the nations most prolific independent film studios and is part of the management team of MBS3, a global equipment services and management company associated with the film industry. Jimenez sees abundant opportunities for gung-ho, flexible, friendly and dependable New Mexico entrepreneurs to prosper in this growing industry if theyre willing to accommodate its nontraditional needs and long hours.

New Mexico has welcomed the film industry with rebates and tax incentives since the 1990s, Jimenez said. And although we have world-class facilities, we still need to continue to train, grow and develop in order to remain a competitive state for productions to want to film in New Mexico.

Film crews need lots of things when conducting business in New Mexico: They need to rent land and other properties for lodging and filming, buy set-building materials, and contract with caterers and other service providers. According to Jimenez, businesses are either strongly interested in working with the film industry or not interested at all. This can jeopardize whether or not a film production moves to New Mexico, she said. Jimenez believes each encounter is an opportunity to make a good first impression and create a positive experience that will lead to more productions.

NAME: Marisa Xochtl Jimenez

TITLE: Director of operations

ORGANIZATION: Santa Fe Studios

Jimenez acknowledges that film and TV production is innately demanding because everything is time sensitive. But, with the right attitude and approach, she said, a business can become indispensable to production companies and their crews.

Be agile and flexible. These are essential traits in an industry where 11th-hour, unusual demands are the norm. Client relations is key, and therefore it is important to stay positive and helpful, Jimenez said. All of these people will come back into your life because, in the film industry, its a small world.

Understand film industry clientele and anticipate their needs. A bar willing to serve food after 10 p.m., for example, will attract film people, who work long days and like to relax together in the evenings. You need to be ready for them when theyre not on the set, Jimenez said. Having on-call hours during production is one way businesses can respond quickly to requests.

Be willing to customize rental contracts and other business agreements. Production schedules vary from days to months to years, she said, so businesses need to customize their rental agreements accordingly. And irregular production hours, Jimenez said, means crews will need to have accessibility 24/7 to their vendors and rental properties.

Ask questions. Jimenez said she was able to learn and adapt to the industry and the market by asking questions and gathering information from sources such as the New Mexico Film Office, local crew and business owners experienced with film in the state.

Businesses could ensure that the industry becomes a permanent player in New Mexicos economic development by collaborating to identify and take advantage of overlooked opportunities. My goal is to bring as many jobs as possible to the state, Jimenez said.

To learn more about Santa Fe Studios, visit www.santafestudios.com.

Finance New Mexico assists individuals and businesses with obtaining skills and funding resources for their business or idea. To learn more, go to www.FinanceNewMexico.org.
May and June are the traditional months for graduation ceremonies, weddings and United States Supreme Court opinions. For the justices, its a rush to clear their desks before taking off on their three-month vacations. And so, every year in late spring, the court issues a spate of opinions, a handful of which affect business. This column and the next will review some of the spring seasons new business law looks.

In the words of the late Chief Justice William Howard Taft, the Supreme Court has absolute and arbitrary discretion to pick and choose which cases to hear. Every year, some 7,000 to 8,000 cases are presented to the justices, according to the courts own website. Last year, the court decided a grand total of 74 of them and even that number was swollen by summary reversals, terse orders ranging in length from a few paragraphs to a few pages. In short, the Supreme Courts principal business isnt deciding cases. Mainly, it decides not to hear cases.

The court is more likely to hear a case if a party can demonstrate the existence of a circuit split. The nation is governed by 12 regional circuit courts of appeals. When judges of different circuits are presented with identical issues, but reach inconsistent or opposite results, a circuit split is formed. Only the Supreme Court has the authority to resolve a circuit split.

Earlier this month, the court resolved one such split in a securities law case known as Merrill Lynch v. Manning. The case involves the corporation formerly known as Escala Group, which in its glory days described itself in a press release as a global federation of leading companies in the collectibles market. For a brief time, its share price made it the third-largest conglomerate in the collectibles industry, after Christies and Sothebys, according to Fox News. Founder Greg Manning owned more than two million shares in the corporation.

Now, anyone who invests in collectibles understands the markets are volatile. And anyone whos read or seen The Big Short knows that securitizing assets can have the effect of exaggerating market volatility.

Escala investors were buying securities whose value ultimately rested on the highly subjective valuation of stamps and coins. Thats two distinct layers of speculation, which sounds risky enough. But the company, which has since changed its name, was also accused of various questionable practices, as a Web search quickly reveals. Its name appears in news stories that also mention Ponzi and Enron. So it hardly seems a shock to learn its stock lost nearly four-fifths of its value in early 2008.

But Manning insisted the price collapse wasnt due to the nature of the business or its particular methods. Instead, he claimed it was the fault of Merrill Lynch and other financial firms, which he accused of engaging in naked short sales. Naked short sales are a way to depress the price of a security. In simplest terms, a market manipulator can place a bet that a given stock will fall, then use naked short sales to drive down the price. In such a rigged game, honest investors lose their shirts. With some exceptions, naked short sales are forbidden by SEC Regulation SHO. (If you want more detail, the SEC website has a page titled Key Points About Regulation SHO.)

Manning sued in New Jersey court, claiming Merrill Lynch violated Regulation SHO. But he very carefully didnt seek recovery for that alleged violation of federal law. Rather, he claimed that, by violating federal law, Merrill Lynch also violated New Jersey state law and he sought compensation only for the state law violations.

Merrill Lynch responded by removing the case to federal court. Removal is the term used for the forced transfer of a case from state to federal court. The case is, literally, removed from state court and relocated in federal court. Removal, which changes nothing about a case except the identity of the court in which it is litigated, is permitted when a lawsuit raises questions of federal law. Merrill Lynch argued that, by alleging a violation of Regulation SHO, Manning raised a question of federal law, even though he didnt seek recovery for it.

The federal district judge agreed with Merrill Lynch, taking up sides in a circuit split. But the Supreme Court reached the opposite conclusion, sending the case back to state court because Manning so carefully sought recovery only under state law.

Left unstated in the 28 pages of the Supreme Courts unanimous opinion is the reason why Manning didnt seek recovery for the alleged violation of Regulation SHO and why Merrill wanted so badly for the case to be heard in federal court. Both sides demonstrated by their actions a shared belief that Manning had a much better chance of prevailing in New Jersey state court. The Supreme Courts intricate legal discussion didnt acknowledge the real point of the case, which is that the choice of federal versus state court can make all the difference to the outcome of a case.

In federal court, plaintiffs in securities actions face difficult procedural obstacles, put in place in recent years by Congress and by the Supreme Court itself. Those obstacles can be defended as pro-business as long as business is defined as the financial industry.

Escala Group isnt a very sympathetic representative of Main Street business but, if its allegations are even partially true, they show how vulnerable public companies are to market manipulation. With this new decision, the Supreme Court has given its blessing to a clever path around the obstacles, potentially ushering in a new era in securities litigation, one in which state courts become the main theater of action.

Joel Jacobsen is an author and has recently retired from a 29-year legal career. If there are topics you would like to see covered in future columns, please write him at legal.column.tips@gmail.com.
A late night SWAT search for a suspected car thief ended peacefully Saturday when officers found him hiding in a clothes dryer, according to police.

Travis Lopez, 22, was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center early Sunday morning.

At around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, an Albuquerque officer located a black BMW near Zuni and Tennessee that was stolen during a recent home invasion. The driver fled when police attempted a traffic stop, according to police. The sheriffs office Air Support Unit was able to track the vehicle as it drove recklessly through southeast Albuquerque, finally stopping near Rhode Island and Zuni, Duran said.

The driver hopped out and ran before getting into a silver van, which fled the area.

When police arrived in the area, a man jumped out and ran into a nearby apartment. SWAT officers, believing the man was armed, arrived at the scene and launched a search.

They found Lopez hiding inside of a dryer at an apartment in the 100 block of Tennessee. He was taken into custody without incident.
Memorial Day this year calls on all Americans with particular significance. It requires us to look backward at our past and forward to our future as our nation considers its choices for its next commander in chief.

Just last year we celebrated the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, the worst war in human history. Americans like Lt. Dick Winters of the 101st Airborne parachuted into Normandy 72 years ago, in 1944, in Operation Overlord. In the spring of 1945, American soldiers discovered the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps.

After Eisenhower visited Ohrdruf concentration camp, which had been liberated by American troops that April 4, he declared: We are told that the American soldier does not know what he is fighting for. Now at least he will know what he is fighting against.

Over the course of just under four years, more than 16 million American men and women had served in some capacity in the war. Today, fewer than one million WWII vets are still alive.

Just over 400,000 Americans, most of them young, never returned from their duties in World War II.

On Memorial Day, Americans will visit cemeteries such as Arlington in Virginia, as well as many more around the nation. Many Americans who paid the ultimate price are, however, buried overseas, in 24 different cemeteries in 11 different countries.

Throughout its history, Europe has been a blood-soaked continent. Two World Wars scarred the 20th century. The Napoleonic Wars raged on and off for over 15 years. The Hundred Years War between France and England actually lasted for 116 years.

After World War II ended, American servicemen and women stayed in bases across Europe. The Marshall Plan helped to rebuild the shattered economies of postwar Europe. In 1946, Winston Churchill warned of an Iron Curtain that had descended on Eastern Europe. NATO was founded in 1949 to confront the challenge of communism.

In 1989, the Cold War finally ended and the Berlin Wall came down. The defeat of fascism and communism was due in large part to the sacrifice of the American servicemen and women that we honor on Memorial Day.

Since 1945, Europe has enjoyed a period of peace, interrupted only by the breakup of Yugoslavia, that is unprecedented in its history. America as well as Europe have benefitted from this long peace.

Simultaneously, though, Americans have been fighting a war of unprecedented duration.

On Sept. 11, 2001, our world suddenly changed.

Since the autumn of 2001, American troops have been engaged in Afghanistan fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban. There are soldiers serving today in Afghanistan who were toddlers when the Twin Towers in New York were struck by hijacked commercial airliners.

Americans in 2016 confront many dangers. In the Middle East, we must face the challenge posed by ruthless ISIS operatives who have waged a war against diverse people in different countries, and even against history itself. The Syrian civil war has claimed over 100,000 lives and has created the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Recent attacks in Paris, Brussels, and San Bernardino, Calif., remind us that terrorism remains a threat around the world.

This year, Americans will select a new commander in chief. As we go to the polls in November, we should reflect upon the need for sound, mature judgment in all of our leaders, and particularly in our president.

Americans must consider that they are choosing an individual who controls the most powerful military in the world and who has the power to end life as we know it.

Memorial Day imposes a duty on all Americans to remember the sacrifice of our fallen heroes and to reflect prayerfully on how best we should steer a course through our dangerous and turbulent world.
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey  Heres a positive move by Turkey, a country that often seems to be heading in the wrong direction: Despite Ankaras severe misgivings, it is allowing the U.S. military to fly daily bombing missions from here against the Islamic State  in support of a Syrian Kurdish militia called the YPG that Turkey regards as a terrorist threat.

Turkey offered the Incirlik base last year after a dozen years of tepid military relations with the United States, its superpower ally. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is deservedly criticized for muzzling journalists and suppressing democracy, but on this issue he has allowed his military to behave responsibly.

I had a window on these Middle East machinations during a visit to Incirlik last Monday with Gen. Joseph Votel, the Centcom commander. It was the last stop on a tour of the region that included a secret U.S. training camp in northern Syria.

The U.S. military strategy against the Islamic State in Syria has increasingly relied on the battle-hardened fighters of the YPG, despite Ankaras protests. The U.S. has grafted Sunni Arab forces with the Kurds, under the umbrella name of Syrian Democratic Forces. But as Votel explained, the U.S. must go with what weve got, which for now is mainly the YPG.

Votel told me in Syria that when he met two days later with Turkish officials in Ankara, he would credit them as fabulous partners, but would stress that we have a very good partner on the ground in the YPG, too. Part of my job is to help balance this out, he explained.

Gen. Yasar Guler, the deputy chief of the Turkish military, appears to have responded with similar nuance on Monday. According to the Turkish daily Hurriyet, he told the American general: Do not be surprised if the YPG lets you down when the fight against [Islamic State] gets tough. Guler reportedly also urged the U.S. to support Turkish-backed moderate Arab forces against the Islamic State in northern Syria, rather than relying so much on the Syrian Kurds.

The exchange illustrates how the U.S. campaign has helped empower the Turkish military and increased the importance of military-to-military contacts, argues Bulent Aliriza, who directs Turkey studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Even as Erdogan has consolidated power, he has given the generals more space to resume cooperation with the U.S.

A vivid summary of the U.S. bombing campaign came from Air Force Col. Sean McCarthy, who commands a squadron of about a dozen A-10 Warthog ground-attack planes based here. He said his jets were operating over Syria 24/7, and that they were largely autonomous of the Turkish hosts. We dont discuss with them where were going, he said, standing next to one of his planes.

Despite this wary military cooperation, U.S. strategy remains on a collision course with that of Turkey, a NATO ally. What can be done to prevent an eventual rupture that would damage all concerned? Here are two suggestions:

 Turkey should explore a quiet dialogue with the political leadership of both the YPG and the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which Ankara claims (probably rightly) is the godfather of the Syrian Kurdish militia. Erdogan was making progress in discussions with the PKK until he reversed course last year. An understanding with the Kurds would enhance Erdogans legacy, Turkish security and regional stability.

 America should consider modestly augmenting its proxy force in Syria with another Syrian Kurdish militia, the Rojava Peshmerga, thats more acceptable to both Turkey and the official Syrian opposition in Geneva (which dislikes the YPG almost as much as Turkey does). The Roj Pesh, as its known, is backed and trained by the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq and its leader, President Massoud Barzani.

What could this additional Kurdish force provide? Possibly a bridge across whats now a big gap in U.S. strategy. I talked by phone Thursday with Brig Gen. Mohammed Rejeb Dehdo, the commander of the Roj Pesh. He said he has 3,000 trained fighters based in Iraq ready to cooperate with the YPG under overall U.S. command.

One sticking point is whether the command center would be in Zakho, controlled by the Barzanis, or in Sulaymaniyah, controlled by the rival Talabani clan. Surely thats a solvable issue.

One U.S. commander privately describes the American campaign in Syria as realpolitik on steroids. OK, defeat the Islamic State now, worry about the regional mess later. But the U.S. and Turkey need to get smarter about regional strategy or theyre heading for a crackup.
SAN DIEGO  Never mind Texas. Dont mess with New Mexico!

Apparently, its the Land of Enchantment you have to be careful with if youre a demagogue running for president who portrays Mexico as corrupt and Mexicans as predators.

If youre peddling insults and intolerance, you might want to steer clear of those parts. Latinos make up as much as 48 percent of the states population, and politics there has more sting than a bucket full of scorpions.

For New Mexicans, the toughest decisions often come down to a choice not between red and blue but between red and green. While it has a Republican governor, the state is solidly Democratic. Most people know who theyre going to vote for, and the only unanswered question is what kind of chile to put on their enchiladas.

My fathers family comes from New Mexico. My grandparents were married in the southern part of the state, where two of my uncles were born. I still have cousins who live there. And Ive covered political happenings in the state  from nearby vantage points such as Arizona, Texas and California  for nearly 20 years.

And so I wasnt at all surprised when Donald Trumps appearance at a campaign event in Albuquerque was disrupted last week by activists who oppose his message. There were protests inside the arena and rioting outside. Protesters clashed with police, waved Mexican flags and destroyed property.

Lets be clear. Theres no defending violence and mayhem. The protesters were out of line.

Still, what I find appealing is that  in a country where many Republicans who a few months ago were declaring never Trump are now embracing the businessman as their partys nominee  New Mexicans arent going to play that game. Theyre standing their ground.

It starts at the top, where Republican Gov. Susana Martinez refused to appear with her partys presumptive presidential nominee.

Last month, she called Trumps plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and make Mexico pay for it unrealistic and irresponsible.

Four years ago, Martinez said much the same thing about Mitt Romneys plan for illegal immigrants to self-deport.

Martinez spared herself from having to spend an afternoon with Trump by claiming she was really busy and focused on what is going on here in New Mexico.

One of the things going on in New Mexico is that a lot of people in both parties seem to be disgusted with the mouthy mogul from Manhattan.

In most places in America, the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock aboard the Mayflower in 1620 are considered the first settlers of the New World.

But in New Mexico  where the capital, Santa Fe, was founded in 1607  the New World was already in full swing by the time the Pilgrims came ashore. Its also surrounded by a handful of other Southwestern states  Arizona, Texas, Utah, Colorado  that were, like New Mexico, once part of old Mexico.

So its not surprising that the immigration debate takes a different form in New Mexico than it does in other states.

In the South, Midwest or Northeast, when discussing illegal immigration, the narrative is about an unabated flow of unlawful intruders who trample our borders at will and sometimes compound the insult by committing crimes when they get here.

But in New Mexico and the rest of the Southwest, youll find plenty of people who think the real danger in this debate are those people who divide the population, stoke racial hatred and turn immigrants into scapegoats for all of societys problems.

As we have learned over the last year, Trump is the constant critic who doesnt take criticism well. He responded to Martinezs snub by accusing her of not doing the job and blaming her for the states economic woes.

Is this the kinder and gentler Trump who many commentators predicted would appear as the billionaire gets ready for the general election? Is attacking, in such personal terms, the only Latina governor in the country part of Trumps strategy for winning Latino support?

Amid all this acrimony, its mind-boggling to think that some political observers keep suggesting the governor might make a good running mate for Trump.

Wouldnt the fact that Martinez is obviously repulsed by the creep, and refuses to be seen with him, present a slight logistical challenge?

E-mail: ruben@rubennavarrette.com. Copyright, The Washington Post Writers Group.
Across the U.S. today, Americans will pay tribute to the military men and women who gave their lives in service to this country.

Small flags, flowers and wreaths will be placed on graves in cemeteries, especially national cemeteries where thousands of U.S. soldiers lie at their final rest. There will be parades, ceremonies and salutes to the fallen. The American flag will be flown proudly. Red poppies will be buttoned on shirts and hats in recognition of the fields of poppies that bloomed over the graves of World War I soldiers, a tradition that arose from the poem In Flanders Fields by Canadian John McCrae. And,s yes, there will be picnics and family gatherings

Originally called Decoration Day, this holiday was established to create a national unified celebration to honor heroes from both armies of the American Civil War. The first national Decoration Day was held on May 30, 1868. The holiday became known as Memorial Day by the late 19th century and honored the deceased of all wars fought by U.S. soldiers. It became a federal holiday in 1971 and is celebrated on the last Monday in May.

Today, ceremonies and events are being held around New Mexico, including at the Santa Fe National Cemetery, the New Mexico Veterans Memorial in Albuquerque, the Rio Rancho Veterans Park, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park in Angel Fire and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Tijeras.

If there is any time in history that solidarity and patriotism are needed, it is now, in 2016  as terrorists stalk the free world, where planes are blown out of the sky, where young girls are kidnapped by extremists to be sex slaves and where suicide bombers kill innocent people in airports and restaurants.

As these threats from our enemies and evil-doers should make clear, we should remember and be grateful for the many American men and women who put their lives between us and those who would do us harm.

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.
Police activity at Wyoming and Interstate 40 forced the closure of both roadways Sunday afternoon for more than three hours.

Officer Simon Drobik said around 2:30 p.m. that the interstate was closed in both directions at Wyoming. North and southbound Wyoming also shut down so police could negotiate with a suicidal person.

During the incident, police had to ask media helicopters to fly at a higher altitude, because the noise from the helicopters was making their conversation with the subject difficult to hear.

Also, Drobik said some passing motorists were yelling at the person to jump, making the negotiations even more challenging.

And during the stalled traffic, the department took an emergency call from a family trying to get their child to the hospital for a medical emergency.

Police were able to open up the interstate at about 6 p.m. after taking the person into custody.
Carlos Fierro, who was sentenced to seven years in prison for a 2008 drunken hit-and-run in Santa Fe, was arrested Saturday morning on a charge of aggravated DWI, according to Santa Fe County jail records.

Fierro, a former lawyer and lobbyist, was found to be drunk behind the wheel of a BMW that ran down pedestrian William Tenorio, 46, of San Felipe Pueblo as Tenorio was crossing Guadalupe Street in downtown Santa Fe.

Fierros vehicular homicide case was high profile in part because his passenger the night Tenorio was struck and killed outside WilLees Blues Club was Alfred Lovato, at the time a State Police officer and a member of then-Gov. Bill Richardsons security detail.

Fierro was booked into the Santa Fe County jail at about 5 a.m. Saturday and remained in jail Monday morning on a $50,000 bond. Fierro served time on parole after serving his prison sentence, but the states Department of Corrections no longer lists him as being on active parole.

New Mexico State Police, the agency listed as having arrested him, was not able to provide details of his arrest Sunday evening.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  New Mexico State Police have released the name of the man they shot and killed on Interstate 25 south of San Antonio on Thursday morning.

Sgt. Chad Pierce said Sunday night that Angel Daniel Navarro, 25, of San Diego, Calif., died at the scene after officers shot at him following a chase.

At about 12:30 p.m. two state police officers and a Socorro County Sheriffs Office employee tried to stop a vehicle matching the description of the one an armed robbery suspect in Albuquerque was driving. The suspect sped away, eventually stopping in the southbound lane of the interstate at the 150 mile marker, he said.

Subsequently shots were fired, Pierce said. The suspect sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Today is Memorial Day, a day to remember those who died in the service of the United States. My dad died a year ago today, on a Saturday, so it was not Memorial Day. But the first anniversary of his death falls on Memorial Day.

My dad served in the Marine Corps from 1945 to 1949. At one time, I would have said that he was formerly a Marine. Then I heard Once a Marine always a Marine. I didnt understand that. I now do, and I believe that my dad was a Marine valuing that service till the day he died.

The Once a Marine saying comes from a unique perspective that the Marines have of their service. They say you dont join the Marines, you become a Marine.

Becoming means there is a cultural aspect of being a Marine  a shared system of values that sets them apart from those not in that culture.

My sister and I were raised with the values of the Marine Corps. I didnt know that at the time and only came to understand it within the past few years.

My dad had a much tougher life than I have had. His mother died when he was 8. He was the youngest of 10 children. He had a Michigan farm drivers license at age 12 and learned, by necessity, to fix any piece of equipment.

On occasion, he was allowed to head across the lake to Chicago. I dont think he ever had anything else resembling a vacation. He wanted to be something more than what he was, and he believed the Marine Corps would make him something more.

He was a tough person to please. He was more likely to criticize than to praise. But in all my years, to the day he died, he never said one bad word about the Marine Corps. And he spoke of them often.

I always found that interesting. Why other institutions and people didnt always meet his often exacting standards, but with this one organization he could find no fault.

Late in his life, I learned much more about his upbringing, and I understood how his life was changed by the Marine Corps and, by who he became, how my life was also shaped by the values of the Marine Corps.

The Marine Corps defines its values as honor, courage and commitment. Honor is personal integrity, being accountable for your actions and holding others accountable for theirs. Courage is doing what is right regardless of the conduct of others. Commitment is a dedication to excellence and a refusal to ever willingly accept being second-best.

I pulled those descriptions from a website. I could have written them myself as part of my dads obituary. That revelation made me understand Once a Marine, always a Marine. I believe he was hard to please because he held me to Marine standards.

But I learned to not be afraid of things. I learned that the son of an electrician could compete with the son of anyone else because stature in life didnt matter  character and commitment did.

I believe that my dad was tough on me, because he thought I could handle it, and, if not, he wanted to make sure I learned to handle it.

With others he could be different. A commercial for the Marines had a Marine saying, We fight for those who cant fight for themselves.

My sister and I both recall stopping every time someone was stranded by the road. My dad could fix any car, and he never passed one by. The last years of his life were spent caring for my mother. We both found this ironic, as he was not the motherly type. In these situations, he fought for those who could not fight for themselves.

None of us escape our past. Often I resented being held to exacting standards of honor, courage and commitment, probably because I usually failed.

Any success I now have comes from those values; from being raised by someone who was a Marine to the day he died  someone who believed in the words Semper Fi. Memorial Day is now personal for me.

UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. James R. Hamill writes the Your Taxes column for for the Journals Business Outlook. Hamill, director of Tax Practice at Reynolds, Hix & Co. in Albuquerque, can be reached at jimhamill@rhcocpa.com.
A lawyer disbarred for taking a $130,000 settlement he received on behalf of a Gallup restaurant owner has entered a not guilty plea to an indictment charging him criminally for the same conduct.

The settlement was for property damages related to a drainage retention pond next to the business by the city of Gallup.

Cody Kelley, 45, of Albuquerque waived his appearance at a May 6 arraignment but showed up in person for a scheduling conference last week before 2nd District Judge Alisa Hadfield on the charge of embezzlement over $20,000, a second-degree felony that carries a potential sentence of nine years in prison.

The case was indicted in Bernalillo County because the crime allegedly occurred in Albuquerque but is being handled by Shane Henderson, a special prosecutor from the 7th Judicial District in Socorro.

Kelley failed to show up for the hearing before the New Mexico Supreme Court seeking his disbarment in June 2015, but a prosecutor from the New Mexico Disciplinary Board presented the case.

Besides telling him he couldnt practice law, the court ordered Kelley to pay restitution of $130,000 in the Gallup case and $3,500 in another case, as well as $1,066 in costs to the disciplinary board.

Kelley also failed to respond to charges filed against him by a disciplinary hearing committee.

According to documents filed by the disciplinary board, defendants in the restaurant case filed on behalf of Susan Yurcic led to a settlement and four checks sent to Kelleys law office in December 2013. Yurcic still hadnt received any of the money when she died in February 2014, and her nephew was appointed personal representative of the estate.

Kelley told the nephew, William Mataya, that the funds were in his trust account, but records subpoenaed by disciplinary counsel showed that none of it went there and that Kelley instead spent it. Mataya had to pay for repairs to the property himself.

The second disciplinary complaint was filed by Damian Onsurez, who was seeking to reverse an adverse ruling from the New Mexico Racing Commission and paid Kelley $3,500 for work that wasnt performed.

Kelleys criminal attorney Gene Chavez has asked for dismissal of the case based on discovery violations by the prosecution. A rule in 2nd Judicial District imposed by the Supreme Court to clear out a backlog of old criminal cases requires prosecutors to turn over all evidence, including a witness list, within five days of arraignment.

Chavezs motion says the state did not meet its obligation.

The case is on a trial docket starting Nov. 24.
Albuquerque police fatally shot a 58-year-old man late Saturday after he pointed a high powered weapon at officers responding to 911 calls, authorities said.

Dennis Humphrey died at the hospital early Sunday morning.

Officer Simon Drobik said its not clear how many officers fired their weapons or how many shots were fired at Humphrey, though Drobik said three officers are on standard paid administrative leave.

Police responded to a home in the 3900 block of Goodrich, near Carlisle and Montgomery, around 9:30 p.m. after neighbors called 911 reporting that an intoxicated man was armed with a gun.

When police arrived, they say Humphrey threatened officers and failed to comply with repeated commands to drop his weapon, Drobik said.

He made numerous threats to use that weapon against officers, Drobik said.

Officers negotiated with Humphrey for 30 minutes before he tactically retreated to his garage and turned off the lights, police said.

When police shined a light into the garage, one officer reportedly saw Humphrey pointing a weapon at him.

At that time, the officers in fear for his life, Drobik said. He took appropriate action to stop his action. Shots were fired.

Police attempted life-saving measures at the scene before Humphrey was transported to a local hospital. Drobik said family members confirmed that Humphrey died at around 3 a.m. Sunday.

Officers at the scene were trained in crisis intervention, Drobik said. Multiple agencies are investigating the shooting, he said. APD will also conduct an internal investigation. The officers involved have not yet been interviewed.

We want to do a good investigation, and give them time to decompress so we can get a good statement from them, he said.

Sunday morning found a section of Humphreys otherwise tidy front yard littered with bottles and beer cans. Parked in the front yard was a large red boat, which Drobik said complicated Saturday nights incident by blocking officers view of the garage.

Celia Lamkin lives across the street.

Late Saturday, she said she heard shots ring out. She looked out her window and saw her neighbor lying in his garage, two officers beside him.

That was it, you know? she said. The garage is full of blood.

Just that morning, Humphrey had been at her home, she said, hanging out as he often did since hed moved in September to Albuquerque, where he lived with his wife and adult son.

Lamkins husband, a retired machinist, often lent his tools to Humphrey. In turn, Humphrey jumped in to help out when a sprinkler head needed changing, or the swamp cooler needed maintenance.

He would ask Dennis, she said. And Dennis would come over here right away and do it for him.

Lamkin said Humphrey had been in and out of her home that day. Lamkins friends and family were over, and she said Humphrey would have a drink when he came by.

She said she thought Humphrey continued drinking in his garage with family when he returned home that day. Over the months since he moved in, shed often see him having a drink as he sat in his garage, listening to music.

Thats how he passes the time, she said. He drinks a little too much sometimes, but he wasnt causing any problems.

Lamkin said Humphrey was well traveled, he loved his boat and told wild stories about fishing trips.

I just hope hes at peace now, Lamkin said. He really was and will always be to us a great guy.
WASHINGTON  Acoma Pueblo Gov. Kurt Riley was nearing the end of an impassioned, public plea to the French government last week when his emotions finally overcame him.

As the Acoma official stood in the soaring atrium of the National Museum of the American Indian at an emergency meeting last week to pressure the French government to halt the impending sale of a sacred Acoma Pueblo artifact by a French auction house, Riley began to weep.

As you can tell, when these items leave our pueblo this is how much it hurts, Riley said, choking back tears. This is how much it hurts my people to see their cultural patrimony put on the internet or go up for sale.

The sale of an Acoma Pueblo shield by the EVE Auction House in Paris is scheduled for today, and federal officials, including Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, were scrambling late last week to prevent it. Riley told the Journal the Acoma shield, which was used in religious ceremonies, was improperly removed from the pueblo and shipped from New Mexico to France at an undetermined time. Bids are expected to begin today in Paris at about 7,000 euros, or about $7,700.

On Friday, Jewell wrote a letter to Catherine Chadelat, president of Frances auctions authority, the Council of Voluntary Sales, imploring the French government to step in and block the transaction.

We have reason to believe that this object was stolen, Jewell wrote. I respectfully request that you prevent its sale and direct the Eve Auction House to work with the tribe on its repatriation.

Jewell also asked the French official to help the U.S. government identify the American citizen who sold the artifact to the auction house so that justice may be served.

In response to a Journal inquiry on Friday, the French Embassy in Washington said the government was investigating the issue and giving it most serious consideration.

The French authorities have referred this matter to the Central Office for the Fight Against Trafficking of Cultural Property, and we are awaiting the results of their investigation, embassy spokeswoman Emmanuelle Lachaussee said in an email. In addition, the French Customs Service is in contact with its American counterpart in order to move forward with the necessary verifications.

As a rule, the French authorities enforce the 1970 Convention on the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property, with an ad hoc legislative and legal framework that makes it possible to effectively combat such trafficking, Lachaussee added. France actively cooperates with the United States in this regard.

But she did not say whether the sale of the Acoma shield would be prevented.

The sale of tribal cultural items at the EVE Auction House has gone on for years, with collectors clamoring for ownership of rare Native American items. Todays planned auction will feature hundreds of religious items and art pieces from the Americas, Africa and Asia, including the Acoma shield. EVE auction house director Alain Leroy told The Associated Press on Friday that all of the items are of legal trade in both the United States and France, and that tribes will have an opportunity through the auction process to acquire their missing artifacts.

Riley said he was offended by EVEs curt letter informing the pueblo that it could bid on the shield.

Why should we bid on something that is ours? Riley asked the Journal in an interview. I think that just totally dismisses our position. France is very proud of their culture, and so are we, and if we offended them in any way as far as their cultural values, then we would hear about it.

Gregory Smith, an attorney for Acoma Pueblo in Washington, said he has been very pleased with the response of the French Embassy, since last weeks emergency meeting in Washington.

I think they have expressed a great deal of concern and did what was in their power, which is to conduct a basic government (inquiry), Smith told the Journal on Friday. The responsibility (for stopping the sale) lies with other parts of the French government.

Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., introduced a resolution in Congress last week seeking explicit restrictions on the export of cultural tribal items and more collaboration between state and local governments to prevent such sales. Congressional hearings on the issue are expected in the coming months. At the meeting last week, Pearce told the audience that in the Southwest and New Mexico, cultures are just wrapped together.

That is the way it should be, and thats why when we find that cultural items are being offered for sale we all say why? Pearce said. We should not be trafficking in tribal, culturally sensitive items.

Mark Taplin of the State Departments Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs said the State Department is using diplomatic channels to prevent the sale.

In the absence of clear documentation of consent of the tribes themselves, these objects simply shouldnt be sold, he said. This type of commercialization of Native American cultural property is fundamentally wrong.
Copyright  2016 Albuquerque Journal

Resistance to the controversial PARCC test appears to have slowed in Albuquerque Public Schools.

This spring, 1,561 APS students refused to take the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers vs. 3,307 in 2015, the first time New Mexico required the exam. That translates to 3 percent of the roughly 50,000 eligible students skipping the test this year.

Overall, it has been a quiet testing season across the state. There were no large-scale anti-PARCC demonstrations, unlike last year, when more than 1,000 students walked out of their schools to protest the Common Core-aligned exams.

Opt-outs are down in most New Mexico districts. APS neighbor, Rio Rancho Public Schools, received around 50 refusals in 2016, compared with 160 in 2015.

Rose-Ann McKernan, executive director of the APS Office of Accountability and Reporting, believes families are feeling more comfortable with PARCC, which measures math and English Language Arts competency in grades 3-11.

We heard a lot from the students last year that once they got in there and started taking the test, they found out it wasnt as scary as they thought it was going to be, she said.

APS, like Rio Rancho, asks parents to talk to a school administrator before they pull their child from testing, and McKernan believes those conversations can correct misconceptions.

Still, the Board of Education feels strongly that parents have a right to make certain educational decisions for students, and the decision to participate in testing is one of those, she said.

A number of board members have openly said that PARCC is too long, too difficult and too high stakes because results are tied to teachers evaluations.

This fall, with the boards backing, APS administrators created an online opt-out kit in six languages, including Arabic and Farsi, which gives parents easy access to the information.

Other districts take a tougher approach on testing. Farmington and Las Cruces wont allow students to opt out unless they have a valid medical reason. RRPS administrators permit refusals but dont think there really is a right to pull children from exams.

PED spokesman Robert McEntyre said testing is critical because it provides a more accurate picture of how kids are doing in school.

Were pleased to see that more New Mexico students are getting their progress measured so we can identify those who are struggling and get them the help they need, he wrote in an emailed statement.

National rates

A recent analysis from the Education Writers Association looked at the movements strength in 2015.

The EWA review, Opt Out 2.0: Snapshot of Spring Testing Season, cited data from the Council of the Great City Schools showing that nearly every large metropolitan area had about 1 percent of its students refuse testing in 2015.

Albuquerque, at around 6 percent in 2015, is among a handful of notable exceptions along with Rochester (20 percent), Buffalo (15 percent) and Portland, Ore. (3 percent).

New York and Oregon do not use PARCC  the analysis looked at testing data for whatever standardized exam the state administers.

An April report from Educational Testing Service, Opt-Out: An Examination of Issues, took a state-by-state look at 2015 opt-out rates and found the highest percentages in New York (20 percent), Rhode Island (11 percent) and Colorado (10.5 percent). New Mexico was at just under 5 percent.

ETS also explored the opt-out movements demographics and found that it is dominated by middle- or upper-class Anglo families.

In Albuquerque, Bandelier Elementary School, located in affluent Nob Hill, had the highest rate of test refusals at 30.84 percent, as well as the largest number overall, 95. Next by percentage was San Antonito Elementary School in Sandia Park at 24.69 percent and 40 overall, then Monte Vista Elementary School near the University of New Mexico campus, 24.42 percent and 63 overall.

ETS mentions a 2015 Gallup poll that reveals very different views of testing across racial lines.

The survey showed that 55 percent of Anglo parents considered test scores either very or somewhat important for measuring the effectiveness of their community schools, compared with 61 percent of Hispanic parents and 72 percent of black parents.

The summary above should make clear that opt out is a complicated, politically charged issue made more so by its social class and racial/ethnic associations, the ETS report concludes.

2016 PARCC opt-outs by school
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  An Albuquerque woman was killed Sunday evening after a truck pulled out in front of the motorcycle she was driving near Espanola.

Eloise Armijo, 53, was fatally injured in the crash, New Mexico State Police said Monday. She died at a hospital in Espanola.

Friends on Monday said she was a former Albuquerque police and Albuquerque Public Schools police officer.

She was very patriotic, loved law enforcement. She was a veteran, her friend Alberta Lucero de Guerin said.

Police said she was traveling south on State Road 68 when a truck pulled out in front of her at the intersection of State Road 74 north of Espanola.

The truck, a newer model silver or gray GMC or Chevrolet truck, fled the scene with a broken passenger side window. Police are seeking information about that driver.
The planned sale of an Acoma tribal treasure today was canceled after a Paris auction house withdrew the item from bidding.

The EVE auction houses decision to cancel the sale today of a shield used in Acoma religious ceremonies came after a week of intense lobbying by New Mexicos Acoma tribe and high-level federal government officials, including Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

It was withdrawn this morning pending further investigation, Ann Berkley Rodgers, an Albuquerque-based attorney for the tribe, told the Journal today.

Rodgers said she and tribal officials were delighted to see the religious artifact pulled from the auction. But she said the battle is not over.

For Acoma, it is not going to be a victory until the shield is returned, she said.

On Friday, Jewell wrote a letter to Catherine Chadelat, president of Frances auctions authority, the Council of Voluntary Sales, imploring the French government to step in and block the transaction.

We have reason to believe that this object was stolen, Jewell wrote. I respectfully request that you prevent its sale and direct the Eve Auction House to work with the tribe on its repatriation.

Jewell also asked the French official to help the U.S. government identify the American citizen who sold the artifact to the auction house so that justice may be served.

In response to a Journal inquiry on Friday, the French Embassy in Washington said the government was investigating the issue and giving it most serious consideration.

The French authorities have referred this matter to the Central Office for the Fight Against Trafficking of Cultural Property, and we are awaiting the results of their investigation, embassy spokeswoman Emmanuelle Lachaussee said in an email. In addition, the French Customs Service is in contact with its American counterpart in order to move forward with the necessary verifications.

As a rule, the French authorities enforce the 1970 Convention on the Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property, with an ad hoc legislative and legal framework that makes it possible to effectively combat such trafficking, Lachaussee added. France actively cooperates with the United States in this regard.

But she did not say whether the sale of the Acoma shield would be prevented. Rodgers and tribal officials were monitoring the auction online this morning when the auctioneer stated that the item had been withdrawn from sale. No further information was available today.

The sale of tribal cultural items at the EVE Auction House has gone on for years, with collectors clamoring for ownership of rare Native American items. Todays auction featured hundreds of religious items and art pieces from the Americas, Africa and Asia.
Police have released the names of the three people killed in a crash Friday near San Ysidro.

Shawn Selva, 39, of Albuquerque was killed when his Dodge Ram 2500 pickup collided with a car driven by Renae Pinto, 41. Pinto was killed, along with her passenger, Bruce Pinto, 52.

Their passenger, Shawnee Pinto, 20, was transported to the University of New Mexico Hospital where, police say, she remains. They did not know her condition, but after the crash on Friday they said she was initially in critical condition.

Lt. Keith Elder with the Sandoval County Sherrifs Office said the Pintos were from Cuba, NM.

Elder did not release additional details about what led to the crash, but initial reports said the two vehicles were headed in opposite directions on U.S. 550 when they collided at the center of the road.

They drivers and passengers were all wearing seat belts and were trapped inside the vehicles, police said after the crash.

The highway was shut down for about six hours.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A 59-year-old man died Monday morning while on a hike on the La Luz trail.

The man, whom State Police did not immediately identify, had a medical episode while on the hike near the top of the Sandia Mountains on a section of the trail known as the Y, according to Bob Rodgers, a search and rescue resource officer for New Mexico State Police.

Members of the state police search and rescue unit, along with Bernalillo County and U.S. Forest Service agents, helped get the mans body from the trail up to the top of the mountain at about 2 p.m.

People the man had been hiking with called 911 asking for help at about 10 a.m., saying the man had fallen and hit his head. Rodgers said further information revealed the man had had a medical episode.
WASHINGTON  There are still fewer veterans in Congress than in past decades, but the drawn-out wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have given rise to a new generation on Capitol Hill.

Last year, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., started a bipartisan caucus to help post-9/11 veterans transition to civilian life, and to draw attention to issues like post-traumatic stress. Gabbard and Perry served in the Iraq War.

If they can get in, they become very well-known quickly because there are so few people who are credible, said Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets, a political action committee that works to elect Democratic veterans to Congress. Whereas in World War II, you may have been one of 300. Now youre one of 30.

That visibility creates a challenge as well as an opportunity, said Gabbard, a major in the Army National Guard, who cited her war experience when she endorsed. Sen. Bernie Sanders for president.

Even during the Vietnam era, the odds were that a member of Congress was a military veteran.

The number of veterans in Congress peaked in 1971. More than 70 percent of the House had served, and almost 80 percent in the Senate.

Today, 101 members of Congress  about 20 percent  have served in the military. Of those, slightly more than two dozen served during the conflicts in Iraq or Afghanistan since 9/11.

One reason for the low numbers is that theres no longer a draft.

Its VoteVets job to get veterans, at least those who are Democrats, into Congress. But while the veteran experience is a powerful message, it has to be conveyed appropriately.

The military bio is a very effective introduction to voters because it makes them look like not a politician, said Soltz, said. Getting too caught up in the war hero message often doesnt work, he said.

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who served four tours with the Marines in Iraq, never spoke publicly during his campaign for Congress about twice being decorated for valor.

Other vets in Congress have downplayed their service, too.

Vote for me because Ive served? That to me is in poor form, said Perry, who doesnt think military service should be the only focus of a campaign.

Former Sen. Bob Kerrey, R-Neb., agrees.

If I feel a veteran is dishonest and is trying to get a standing ovation out of me, I resist applause lines, said Kerrey, who received the Medal of Honor for his service in Vietnam.

Veterans who have served in Congress say that theres nothing like talking to another veteran about veterans issues.

You can make an effort to be sympathetic without having had the experience, but I dont think you can be 100 percent there. So it matters, Kerrey said. Their military experience may even make Congress function better.

Regardless of political party, people who have worn the uniform bring a mission-first experience and mentality to their services generally, Gabbard said.



(Niels Lesniewski contributed to this report. )
A German opposition leader has had a cake shoved in her face at a party meeting  an apparent protest against her position that not all refugees can come to Germany.

An activist threw the cake Saturday at Left Party parliamentary co-leader Sahra Wagenknecht in Magdeburg, the dpa news agency reported. A group calling itself Anti-Fascist Initiative Cake for Misanthropists' distributed flyers pointing to Wagenknechts refugee comments as the motive.

Wagenknecht has highlighted limits to Germanys ability to take in migrants, saying that not all refugees can come to Germany. That has put her at odds with others in her party.

The cake attack was reinforced by other protesters throwing leaflets all over the place. A security detail took them away, while Wagenknecht was quickly surrounded by fellow party members, who covered her with their jackets in front of the cameras and escorted the MP out of the hall.

This is an assault not only on Sahra, but an assault on us all, Die Linkes party chief Katja Kipping told the convention shortly after the cake attack.

Gregor Gysi, another party heavyweight, wrote on his Facebook that whoever throws cakes has no arguments, before adding that actions such as this have never happened to our party congresses before and must be ruled out in future.

Earlier in January, Wagenknecht sparked criticism within her own party after she said that there are limits to Germanys capacity to take refugees. We cant take one million or more refugees each year, she said. The top party leader argued that migrants misuse their rights under what she called the guest law.

The Left Party is the biggest opposition group in the German Parliament but has seen its support slip as the nationalist Alternative for Germany party woos protest voters.
With news that Daniel Craig has turned down a deal to continue in his role as James Bond, the search is well and truly on to find a new actor to fill the role. However, Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has suggested that the series should head in a completely different direction. Clarke would like to see the first female Bond, and who better to play it than herself?

According to Digital Spy, Emilia Clarke has revealed that she has ambitions to fill the role of the next James Bond herself, or rather Jane Bond, as she would become known.

In an interview about the role, Clarke said, I have a lot of unrealized dreams, before discussing who shed like to have alongside her as her Bond boy, saying, I would love to play Jane Bond. My ultimate leading man would be Leonardo DiCaprio. No doubt about it.

That being said, the films producers havent expressed any interest in drastically changing the series by introducing the first female Bond. However, Emilia Clarke is a widely loved actress who undeniably fits the quintessentially British persona required of a Bond actor. Its hard to see how fans of the series wouldnt get behind Clarke as the next Bond, thats for sure.
World number one Novak Djokovic is poised to become the first man to win $100 million in prize money on Monday when he targets a place in the French Open quarter-finals for the 10th time.

Djokovic, chasing a first Roland Garros title to complete a career Grand Slam, tackles Spain`s 14th seed Roberto Bautista Agut.

The top seeded Serb has a 4-0 career lead over the 28-year-old Bautista Agut including a victory on clay in Madrid this season where the Spaniard won just three games.

Djokovic is also bidding to reach the quarter-finals for the 28th straight Grand Slam and take sole occupancy of second place ahead of Jimmy Connors for the most consecutive last-eight appearances at the majors.

With $99,673,404 banked in prize money at the start of Roland Garros, the 29-year-old Djokovic can cross the $100 million barrier by making the last-eight.

A place in the quarter-finals is worth 294,000 euros ($326,722) and that will just take the Serb into the $100,000,000 bracket.

Roger Federer is Djokovic`s closest rival in the prize money stakes on $98,011,727 but the Swiss is sitting out Roland Garros through injury.

I know that the top four guys (himself, Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray) that have been dominating the tour and winning most of the major titles in the last ten years or so will not stay there forever, cautioned Djokovic.

New generations are coming up, and you can see already guys like Dominic Thiem, Borna Coric, Nick Kyrgios establishing themselves in the very top of the men`s game.

Can definitely expect to see those faces more in the future. How quick they can actually get to the top four of the world, it`s a process. It`s not like that`s going to happen overnight or over two, three months.

They need to play very well and consistently well and stay healthy throughout the entire year in order to challenge the top spots. Let`s see if they can do that.

Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych and former runner-up David Ferrer, the 11th seeded Spaniard, also meet Monday.

Ferrer leads their 12-year rivalry 8-6 although Berdych won the pair`s most recent clash on clay in Madrid.

Belgian 12th seed David Goffin faces unpredictable Latvian Ernests Gulbis, a semi-finalist in 2014.

Goffin had never made the last-eight at a Grand Slam while world ranked 80 Gulbis has won six of his last seven meetings with top 20 players at the majors.
A top Pakistani court issued on Monday notices to the seven Mumbai attack case accused, including 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, and the government over the prosecutions plea to form a commission to examine the boat used by the 10 LeT terrorists to reach India.

The Islamabad High Court has issued notices to the accused of Mumbai attack case and the government on the prosecutions plea to form a commission to examine the boat at port city of Karachi, a court official said.

He said the court has also sought record of the case from the trial court  Anti-Terrorism Court Islamabad.

The official said the date for hearing of the case will be fixed later.

The prosecution had challenged the trial courts decision to reject its plea to form a commission to examine the boat Al-Fauz used by Mumbai attack terrorists so that the vessel could be made case property.

Al-Fauz is in the custody of the Pakistani authorities in Karachi, from where the 10 militants, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, had left for India to carry out the Mumbai attack in 2008.

According to the Federal Investigation Agency, the attackers used three boats including Al Fauz to reach Mumbai from Karachi.

It said the security agencies had also traced the shop and its owner from where the culprits bought the engine and the boat while a bank and a money exchange company were also traced which were used for the transaction of money.

The 10 LeT militants had left Karachi on the boat on November 23, 2008.

En route to their destination, they hijacked another boat, killing four of its crew. They allegedly forced the vessels captain to take them close to the Indian shores.

The captain was killed when the vessel reached Mumbais coast.

The Mumbai attack case is facing inordinate delay as no proceedings practically have been held for more than two months. The Mumbai case hearing is scheduled to be held once a week.

The lawyers associated with the case say as all Pakistani witnesses in the case have recorded their statements it may further be delayed if India does not send 24 witnesses to Pakistan.

They say Pakistan is awaiting Indias response on sending the witnesses here for recording the statements in the case.

Mumbai attack mastermind Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum are accused of abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attack.

Lakhvi is living at an undisclosed location after he got released from jail on bail a year ago. The other six suspects are in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi.

The case has been going on in the country for more than six years.
Nowadays, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is in news for its self-defence camp organised by the Bajrang Dal. Media has gone gaga over the news and there are attacks and counter attacks on such training camps. At the same time, Right wing organization is defending Bajrang Dals self-defence camp as social responsibility. This is not the first time that some saffron wing is training youth, woman and children with arms, whether it is a Congress-ruled state or SP, BSP, Communists or BJP-ruled, these camps are conducted time and again. The motive is to fight against enemies of Hindu. It would be very difficult to say who is enemy to Hindu as many religious groups exist in India and more over Hinduism has become a political tool.

Under the Indian Constitution and laws, every citizen of India has the right to pursue activities, and the Bajrang Dal has been organising Yuva Shaurya Prasikshan camps for the past 25 years to make the youth of the nation healthy through this self-defence camp. As per reports, over 300 participants are undergoing training to handle situations like attacks by extremist groups in the camp which started on May 21.The organisation has hired trainers of judo, karate, nunchaku, stick and sword fighting for training the participants in the camp. If we get in to the past, you can find many such examples of RSS training its cadres of self-defense with lathis and swords. Their aim is to safe guard Hindu religion.

Even, the late Bal Thackeray exuded an influence that inspired many but was loathsome to more. His image was unmistakable: his broad-lensed spectacles, the beaded necklace around his neck, his trademark white kurta and dhoti. His words burned with xenophobia and Hindu fundamentalism. All anti-national Muslims be driven out of the country. Islamic terrorism is growing and Hindu terrorism is the only way to counter it. He was endorsing suicide-bomb squads to protect India and Hindus. Then the chief of Indias extreme Hindu right-wing organization Shiv Sena, Thackeray was never shy about speaking his mind. He was aggressive and always went vocal against Muslims; he strongly believed that the Islam is threat to Hinduism and mankind. His political army (Shiv Sena supporters and members) of Shiv Sainiks are also trained and motivated to fight or riot against Muslims. After 1993 blast, Shiv sainiks used to be on roads and streets with swords and guns. VHP, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Vahini, RSS, Shiv Sena all these right wing organizations have their armed forces to fight internal battles against particular religion and its people.

Bajrang Dal leader Mahesh Sharma, who was arrested in connection with the self-defence camp organised in Uttar Pradeshs Ayodhya city, was sent to 14-day judicial custody. Sharma was charged with hurting religious sentiments of the Muslim community and spreading communal hatred under Section 153 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In the video that went viral, volunteers wearing skull caps were reportedly seen brandishing firearm, swords and lathis. In the annual self-defence camp, the Bajrang Dal cadres are trained to use rifles, swords and sticks so that they can protect the Hindus. The cadres were in the video seen killing men dressed as Muslims during the mock drill.

Hinduism and Islam are the third and second most popular religions in the world respectively. They differ in many respects  including idol worship, monotheism and their history. Islam is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion, founded by Prophet Muhammad in the Middle East in the 7th century CE. Hinduism, on the other hand, is religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent in the pre-classical era (1500500 BCE) and does not have a specific founder.

In the last 66 years after the Indian independence and partition, the Muslims in India have preferential treatment with their own Muslim Personal Law. Communal tensions between the Hindus and the Muslims have erupted many a times during this period. Notable incidents of this phenomenon include the demolition of the Babri Masjid (believed to have been built on the sacred site of a demolished temple marking the birthplace of Lord Rama) and the Gujarat Riots of 2002. The Gujarat violence of 2002 is significant for recording the highest annual death toll in any event of Hindu-Muslim violence in a single state in the history of independent India: 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed following the murder of 59 innocent Hindu passengers allegedly by Muslim youths on a train near Godhra on 27 February. The incident that spurred the violence was when the Sabarmati Express train was attacked at Godhra allegedly by a Muslim mob as per a pre-planned conspiracy. The riots and killings among Hindu-Muslim is not new thing, this country has seen many such communal incidences, but in the recent past due to politics and vote bank, the hate among two religion is grown and with growing hate the defense (attacking) teams are given training to safeguard its own religion. Muslims train their youth and Hindus too are training their youth. Lets see, where these religious armies are going to lead the country.

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)
NCP sought dismissal of the state womens commission chief Vijaya Rahatkar, claiming she was misusing her post.



Rahatkar, who is also chief of BJP Mahila Morcha, womens wing of that party, should be sacked as the commission head, as she has misused the position, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.

The commission has shown remarkable alacrity in dealing with the complaint by a BJP worker who objected to my referring Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde as liquor lady for opposing the governments proposal to cut water supply to breweries in the state, Malik said.

However, the same agility was not shown despite complaints against senior minister Girish Bapats confession that he watched blue films, Malik said.

The commission has also not taken any decision on a complaint by a woman BJP worker who accused the then BJP Mumbai Yuva Morcha president Ganesh Pandey of molestation bid, Malik said.

Pandey was expelled from the party and the entire unit dissolved after the woman member complained to city BJP chief Ashish Shelar, he said.

Bapat had caused a flutter last year when he commented about watching those late night clips while addressing an audience comprising students at Pune.
Assyrians Demonstrate in Sweden, Germany Against Kurdish Land Grabs in North Iraq

Assyrians in Stockholm demonstrating against Kurdish expropriation of Assyrian lands in north Iraq. ( AINA) Stockholm (AINA) -- Assyrians in Europe took to the streets on Saturday, May 28 to protest the ongoing Kurdish expropriation of Assyrian lands in North Iraq (AINA 2016-04-14). Demonstrations were held in Gutersloh, Germany and in Stockholm and Gothenburg in Sweden. The street protests were organized by the Assyrian Confederation of Europe, an umbrella for the national Assyrian federations in EU countries.

The issue of Kurdish land expropriation in Assyrian areas in North Iraq was recently highlighted by Human Rights Watch in a report on the most recent case which took place in April this year in an area called Nahla valley. Following a familiar pattern, an influential Kurdish businessman with ties to the ruling Barzani clan started building on Assyrian owned lands in the Nahla valley. When Assyrians of the area tried to stage a protest outside the regional parliament in Arbil they were met with armed peshmerga and Kurdish security known as Asayish.

According to demonstrators, these land grabs are part of a systematic campaign which aims to drive out the remaining Assyrians from their ancestral homelands.

Assyrians in Germany demonstrating against Kurdish expropriation of Assyrian lands in north Iraq. ( AINA)

The Nahla Case

A Kurd named Ibrahim Hajji Yasin moved into Nahla a few months ago and began seizing land in the village of Zoly and moving livestock into it. He brought more than 200 cows into the land. He also began constructing 3 homes.

According to Assyrian sources, Mr. Yasin is employed by Retha Zebari, a close relative of Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Nahla has eight Assyrian villages, Upper and Lower Hezani, Belmand, Khalilane, Zoly, Kashkawa, Meroke and Rabatke. The land of Nahla on parcels 89 and 90 includes Upper and Lower Hezani, Zoly and Khalilane, and all the deeds in these villages are held by 117 Assyrians in a co-op. The deeds, most of which were granted before 1970, have been recognized by the Iraqi Department of Agriculture and Iraqi courts.
May 24, 2016

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  On May 2, the Islamic Jihads military wing, Al-Quds Brigades, released a video claiming to show that it had raided a number of drug stashes and seized large quantities of the narcotic Tramadol in Rafah, in southern Gaza. Tramadol is an opioid painkiller that has become popular in Gaza over the past nine years and has been smuggled through tunnels on the Egyptian-Gaza border.

The video shows a group of men in civilian clothes, their faces blurred, digging up packets of Tramadol. Al-Quds Brigades claim on their website, Military Media, that they seized 175,000 tablets of the drug. An unnamed official from the brigades security division in southern Gaza told Military Media on May 3 that the Tramadol raid was within the framework of the fight against a deviant class of drug dealers, with dead consciences, trying to push our youth into the unknown.

The official also said, We felt responsible toward our people, and this is why we started conducting several raids targeting these dealers dens. We were able to seize this huge amount of drugs after a long and complicated operation executed by the control, investigation and seizure units affiliated with al-Quds Brigades security apparatus. He stressed that the brigades role ended with the seized drugs being handed over to the Palestinian police.

Mohammed Abu Hashem, a legal researcher from the democratic development unit at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, noted that official, state bodies are responsible for law enforcement, under the official judicial authorities, the public prosecution and attorney general. We respect the Islamic Jihad and its position as a faction of the resistance, but it is not an official body that has the right to exercise judicial authority, Abu Hashem told Al-Monitor. Thus, the [brigades] action is considered an infringement of the rule of law and opens the door to taking the law into their own hands, instead of being limited to the official frameworks.

Abu Hashem further elaborated, If each group were to declare itself a party enforcing law, or what it claims to be the law, we would have dozens of authorities and dozens of laws, and the citizen would become the victim of all this.

He stressed that an operation like the one the brigades carried out requires permission from the public prosecutor, and they would have to be appointed a party empowered under the law to exercise judicial authority or be designated legal authorities by the Palestinian Legislative Council. Parties such as the police cannot give the brigades this authority, according to Abu Hashem.

Appearing to contradict the unnamed Islamic Jihad official who spoke with Military Media, Daoud Shihab, Islamic Jihad spokesman, told Al-Monitor that his organization does not interfere with the security services work in Gaza. The Rafah incident does not mean that the brigades have turned into an anti-drug or a security agency, he said. Their role is known and defined, and there is no way they would have a role other than resisting the occupation.

Shihab further claimed, The incident was not planned. It does not fall within a certain policy or approach adopted by al-Quds Brigades, and everything was immediately reported to the police.

This incident sparked public controversy, as some viewed it as interference in the security services work. Media activist Ahmed al-Biqawi posted a video May 3 on his Facebook page in which he criticized the incident. If the operation were one person's diligence, then there would be no reason to claim responsibility for it, he said. Dealing with drug issues is not the job of the resistance. It is that of the [official] anti-drug department.

Iyad al-Bazm, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior in Gaza, told Al-Monitor, No faction is entitled to interfere in the work of the security services and the police. We do not allow this, and all factions are well-aware of this matter. He stressed the role of the military wings of the resistance, stating that they should not interfere in citizens lives and issues, which fall under the jurisdiction of the government and its security services only.

The anti-drug raid in Rafah was fully carried out within the work of the anti-drug police. It was made public as if a military wing had something to do with it, but this is not true, Bazm added, although this was never officially declared in the media.

It is not common for the police led by Hamas to criticize the resistance, so there is no official statement. But a Palestinian local news outlet reported that the Director of Anti-Drug Police Sameh Al-Sultan posted on his Facebook account on May 5 that the announcement by al-Quds Brigades of the seizure of a quantity of illegal drugs is very surprising, adding that the police had learned that a person from Rafah possesses a quantity of Tramadol and his brother, who is a member of al-Quds Brigades, pledged to hand him over.

He added that it was strange that the brother, who made this pledge, filmed the delivery taking place in the courtyard of his house. If we assume that al-Quds Brigades statement and the video are true, it should be noted that this Brigade is not competent to make such deliveries and the Brigade should have notified the competent authorities and refrain from touching the drugs, Sultan said.

Drug-related crimes  including cultivation, trade and consumption of drugs  are primarily found in Rafah because it borders Egypt. In 2008, 82 drug-related crimes were registered, i.e., 23.4% of the total crimes that occurred in Gaza that year, according to a study by Maysaa al-Abadila on the effects of drugs on Palestinian society. On April 27, the police in Rafah announced that it had carried out the harshest campaign in years against drug dealers and seized large amounts of cannabis (hashish), Tramadol and weapons.
May 29, 2016

TEHRAN, Iran  The man who was on the verge of being eliminated in the recent Assembly of Experts election has been elected as the chairman of the clerical body. Conservative Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati won the May 24 vote with the backing of 51 of the assemblys 89 members.

The vote was between Jannati, moderate Ayatollah Ebrahim Amini and conservative Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi. Amini was believed to be the candidate of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who declined to run for the chairmanship, as Al-Monitor has previously reported.

Given that the composition of the Assembly of Experts did not overly change after the Feb. 26 election, Rafsanjani knew that his candidacy for the chairmanship would cost him. Indeed, one week before the vote, he publicly stated that he would not run. Of note, Rafsanjani lost the chairmanship to conservative Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi last year.

A few days after the announcement of the results of the Feb. 26 election, Rafsanjani had asked Amini to step in to chair the assembly. At first, Amini refused. However, just days before the chairmanship vote, as pressure mounted on the 91-year-old, he agreed to nominate himself.

Rafsanjani had chosen the right man. He knew Amini was fully respected among all clerics in the assembly; more importantly, he is accepted by all sides in Iran  including the hard-liners.

Indeed, the day before the chairmanship vote, moderate Ayatollah Kazem Nourmofidi  a four-term member of the Assembly of Experts  told a local news outlet, There is a possibility that all candidates will withdraw in favor of Ayatollah Amini. On the same day, moderate Ayatollah Fazel Golpayegani, another assembly member, said, The [assembly] members will all probably agree on Ayatollah Amini.

These statements show that the moderates thought that the so-called Meshkini model would once again be repeated in the Assembly of Experts.

Ayatollah Ali Meshkini chaired the assembly for 24 years (1983-2007). Conservatives and moderates both held him in high esteem and did not once introduce another candidate during his three consecutive eight-year terms. The moderates believed Amini, who served as the deputy of Meshkini, had all the required qualities and features to easily gain the necessary votes in the assemblys internal ballot. However, this time, the conservatives had revenge in mind over their defeat in the Feb. 26 election.

Enter Jannati

Despite speculations about Jannatis potential nomination, senior conservative cleric Hossein Ebrahimi one week before the chairmanship vote stated that Jannati had refused to run. This enhanced the feasibility of the repetition of the Meshkini model. Nonetheless, when the moment of truth came, it turned out that Jannati was indeed a serious candidate.

All of the moderates calculations were correct, but they didnt account for one important factor: conservative mobilization.

It is clear that the conservative victory in the assemblys chairmanship vote was not the outcome of an overnight job. In fact, the very day that the result of the Feb. 26 election was announced, the conservatives  who had received a big blow  started mobilizing and planning so as to not lose the next phase of the battle. Moreover, it should not be ignored that the overall composition of the Assembly of Experts did not overly change  a fact that even Rafsanjani admitted.

Indeed, Rafsanjani was forced to put even conservative figures on his ticket ahead of the Feb. 26 vote, as many of his allies had been disqualified by the Guardian Council. In Tehran, which has 16 seats in the Assembly of Experts, Rafsanjani published a 16-member list with a marked presence of conservatives  though excluding three influential ayatollahs: Mohammad Yazdi, Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi and Jannati.

Nonetheless, voters in Tehran overwhelmingly cast ballots for Rafsanjanis list, which resulted in Mesbah and Yazdi being eliminated. However, Jannati came 16th, finding his way into the Assembly of Experts. More broadly, across Iran, Rafsanjanis list was successful and obtained 52 out of the assemblys 89 seats.

Thus, while the outcome of the Feb. 26 election was a symbolic victory for the moderates, it did not change the fact that the conservatives are still the majority. Of note, based on the outcome of the Feb. 26 vote, it could be argued that had all moderate candidates been approved by the Guardian Council and put on Rafsanjanis ticket, they could have had the majority in the Assembly of Experts right now.

After Jannatis win in the chairmanship vote, the conservatives  shocked by the moderates victory in the Feb. 26 election  were revived and their media outlets and newspapers sought to portray the development as a big loss for the moderates and Rafsanjani, whose list was branded as British by the hard-liners ahead of the Feb. 26 election.

The hard-line Javan daily wrote, Those who claimed they were the winners of the election faced a well-deserved answer. The one planned to be eliminated became the chairman. Tehran interim Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said, The assembly members are part of the people and what they did [by electing Jannati] was in fact done by the people themselves. This was a slap in the face of the United States and Britain.

In response, moderates and Reformists have stated that the conservatives victory was achieved because of the disqualification of important figures such as Seyyed Hassan Khomeini  the grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. In this vein, the Reformist Aftab Yazd newspaper ran the headline, Khomeini didnt come, Jannati won.

Moreover, a week before the May 24 chairmanship vote, Rafsanjani downplayed the importance of the internal election, saying, There is no need for me to be the chairman of the assembly. Being a member is good enough, and to me, it makes no difference whether to be a member or the chairman. The assembly doesnt have many activities and only holds two sessions a year.

Ultimately, the conservative mobilization appears to have been part of a bigger plan: to make people feel hopeless and thus lower the turnout in the upcoming 2017 presidential election. Apparently in response to the latter, Ahmad Shirzad, a Reformist analyst, told Iscanews, The hard-liners moves cannot make the people lose hope, because the people have shown time and again that at times of high despair, they will come out and take part in elections  just like in the February [26] polls.
May 30, 2016

The Israeli human rights organization BTselem has decided it will no longer submit complaints to the Israeli army regarding human rights violations by its soldiers. In an 81-page report titled The Occupation's Fig Leaf: Israels Military Law Enforcement System as a Whitewash Mechanism, the Israeli nongovernmental organization reached the conclusion that their complaints to their own army are mostly a waste of time.

According to the BTselem report, since the second intifada, BTselem has reported 739 cases of grave human rights violations by the Israeli army. In 182 of them, no investigation was ever launched. The report also states that in nearly half the complaints filed (343), the investigation was closed with no further action. BTselem did say that in very rare instances (25 out 739), charges were brought against the implicated soldiers.

The Israeli organizations conclusions were nothing new to Palestinian lawyers who have been working within the military system for decades. An American-Palestinian attorney who is a member of the New York bar and who has a license to practice in Israel told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the issue with Israel is that, for many years, people believed there was indeed justice, rule of law and an independent judiciary. When Palestinians complained about human rights abuses, they were told, If you had a legitimate complaint, why didnt you go to the courts? That worked, as long as Israel had a positive reputation for rule of law.

The US attorney who practiced law for many years in the Israeli military court system said that even though he gave it everything he could, he was unable to see justice. My conclusion came after trying the system, and showing how it fails, and why it fails. It is not enough to believe the system produces no justice, unless you can show how and why it does so, he said.

Buthaina Duqmaq, a Palestinian attorney from Al-Bireh, has been practicing law since 1988. She also told Al-Monitor that over the years she has seen how the Israeli military system has been deteriorating. She said, All you have to do is look at the unreasonably high sentences given by these military judges to understand how absurd the system is.

Duqmaq spends a lot of time with detained children and women prisoners and she is frustrated because of the absence of any shred of justice. She told Al-Monitor, The entire military court system is rigged against Palestinians. From day one you understand clearly that you are not dealing with a neutral or fair court but a military apparatus that is totally opposed to Palestinians.

Duqmaq, who runs the Ramallah-based Mandela Institute for Palestinian Prisoners, told Al-Monitor that she often feels she is doing social work rather than seeking justice. Lawyers go to the military courts to provide social service to the prisoners, especially those who have no communications with their families, she said.

Duqmaq added that the work of her organization is more humanitarian than legal: I often feel that our organization, Mandela Institute, is more like the Red Cross. We are totally convinced that the courts are not a system of justice.

Even while criticizing its lateness, Duqmaq praised the BTselem decision. It is long overdue, but it is better to be late than never, she said, reflecting on the hope that this important decision might bring international investigations into the current situation where there are summary executions and gross violations of human rights.

The New York-licensed lawyer, who requested not to be identified because of his constant travels in the Middle East, said that one argument against complaining to the Israeli authorities is the principle of complementarity. The International Court of Justice only has jurisdiction once you exhaust local remedies, or show that there is really no legal remedy to be obtained by local courts, said the lawyer who specializes in international law.

This argument was part of BTselems justification for their report. These appearances also help grant legitimacy  both in Israel and abroad  to the continuation of the occupation. BTselem will no longer play a part in the pretense posed by the military law enforcement system and will no longer refer complaints to it, BTselem said in its report.

The failure of local recourse to address human rights violations appears to be of utmost importance regarding the workings of the International Criminal Court (ICC). According to the BBC website, the issue of lack of faith in local prosecution goes a long way in determining the jurisdiction of the ICC and its decision to initiate a war crime investigation. It is a court of last resort, intervening only when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute, explained the BBC.

This is not what late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin wanted to see in the occupied territories after the Oslo Accords were signed. Speaking to the political council of the Labor Party back on Oct. 2, 1993, immediately after the signing of the Oslo Accord and the famous Sept. 13, 1993, White House handshake with Yasser Arafat, Rabin explained that the Palestinian security forces would now be able to deal with Gaza without problems caused by appeals to the High Court of Justice, without problems made by [the human rights organization] BTselem, and without problems from all sorts of bleeding hearts and mothers and fathers.

While the Palestinian security forces have been beefed up partially in order to protect the Israelis, the military system that Israel established is still quite entrenched in the Palestinian territories.

The Palestinian-American lawyer explained the importance of BTselems decision. The value of BTselems report comes precisely because they have tried, honestly and diligently, to use the local process. They actually once even believed in it. Now when they announce they no longer do so, their pronouncement is far more valuable than that of Palestinian jurists who never had faith in the system and never tried to seriously use it, or test it or reveal its inadequacy, he told Al-Monitor.

With the leading Israeli human rights organization losing faith in its own government and the Israeli judicial system, the legal and political conditions are set now for a strong intervention by the ICC. Maybe an investigation into war crimes that are made more possible by the BTselem decision will shake up Israelis and force them to deal with the ugly reality that their military occupation has created.
May 30, 2016

Oil is a volatile commodity, and the market is being reminded of that, Elias Kassis told an audience gathered for a forum discussing Lebanons oil and gas potential held May 26 in Beirut.

Kassis is the vice president of the Middle East and North Africa division of Total, the French oil and gas supermajor. Last year marked the end of a nearly decadelong run during which a barrel of oil sold for more than $50 on average. Prices began to fall in June 2014, and  as of press time  were still below $50 despite briefly surpassing that threshold on May 26. Just a few years ago, analysts were arguing that $100 oil was the new normal.

As drilling for oil and gas is not cheap, one of the first places oil and gas companies turn to trim costs during a price drop is their exploration and production divisions. Kassis said Total has reduced its exploration and production budgets and deferred investments. That said, the search for more supply never grinds to a complete halt. Case in point: Total reversed an early 2015 decision to completely abandon exploration efforts in Cyprus after the late 2015 discovery of a giant gas field in neighboring Egyptian waters, not far from where the French company had drilling rights.

Al-Monitor spoke with Kassis about exploration possibilities in Lebanon. A transcript of the interview, edited for clarity, follows.

Al-Monitor: Most of Lebanons 22,000-square-kilometer (8,500-square-mile) offshore exclusive economic zone is covered with 2-D and 3-D seismic surveys. In your experience with exploration and production, do you commonly see so much data available prior to having a first licensing round?

Kassis: Not necessarily, it depends.

Al-Monitor: Given there is so much data, does that mean that drilling might start sooner than if there was no data collected at all?

Kassis: Its not pace of drilling, it means that theres already data, theres already knowledge and if and when you can access it, then you have to treat it, its time advantage, but you still need to do your homework anyway. It doesnt mean that you do not need to acquire additional data  or retrieve existing data  because thats part of a work program that you will have to consider when looking into an opportunity, but definitely its a plus compared to an area where nothing has taken place.

Al-Monitor: In terms of prospective, how does Lebanon compare to some of the other areas in which youve worked?

Kassis: Im not a geologist, [but in general, when looking at an area that has never been explored before] you are relying on your analysis of the potential, looking to analogs, looking to what has taken place in the area. It doesnt mean that if there is a discovery a few hundred kilometers out there you will necessarily hit oil and gas because the chemistry can be different. Geology can be different, but yet in an area where you have discoveries in, lets put, three countries around, theres potential, but you will find out once you drill. If you dont drill, you dont know.

Al-Monitor: When speaking of offshore drilling, theres a difference between deep water  meaning a depth to seabed of 500 meters (1,640 feet) or more  and ultradeep water meaning a depth to seabed of 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) or more. Most of Lebanons offshore is in ultradeep waters. This means that drilling will be expensive ($100 million per well is often thrown around as an average cost) and technically difficult  meaning not every company has the skills to drill in such an area. Given all this, whats the smallest find that would be commercially viable to produce?

Kassis: Its not that simple. There are a lot of factors, actually. It depends on whether its the right gas, whether its gas with some liquids, whether its oil, then the size, the depth and the nature of the accumulation that you end up finding if you are successful. [If you find oil or gas after drilling one well, you dont stop drilling there.] You have already an idea, but then you continue your  appraisal to better size what youve seen to get more information of the nature of the accumulation and to be able to design  what kind of development based on what we think we found were going to be able to develop. How do we do it? Do we phase it? Do we not phase it? What kind of technology are we going to use if you discover gas? Do I put, for example, a floating entity? Im speaking in general, not necessarily saying what could happen [in Lebanon]. [If gas is found, you have to ask] Do I bring it by pipeline and liquefy it onshore? Where do I sell it? To make it simple, there is a cake, how do we cut it? What is the robustness of the business [created by a discovery]? And thats important for all actors. Its not only the investor, because if one party loses money, [everyone suffers]. [Once you can answer all these questions] then you take the decision to invest. So theres a process. Its not only one well.

Al-Monitor: In late 2015, Italys Eni [oil and gas company] found a supergiant gas field in Egypts exclusive economic zone. In the 12 months prior to that discovery, however, Eni drilled two wells in Cypriot waters that turned out to be dry. Are there any lessons youve learned from these experiences?

Kassis: There are always lessons. You know sometimes you can drill a well and say OK, I have drilled a well. But you have to [remember] that [when looking at seismic data, your distances are not to scale]. So sometimes you can drill a well and not find anything because the accumulation [you were aiming for based on the data] is a few hundred meters away.
May 30, 2016

Palestinian-Israeli relations have reached an unprecedented political stalemate, with Israel's recent refusal of the French initiative to renew the peace process. This process has been suspended since April 2014, following the reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, the Palestinian Authority's (PA) announcement of its refusal to recognize the existence of a Jewish state and Israels imposition of economic sanctions on the PA, such as halting the transfer of Palestinian tax revenues to the PA's treasury following the PAs accession to numerous international organizations without coordination with Tel Aviv.

With Israels refusal of the French initiative on renewing peace talks, the Palestinians now must think outside the box and reopen talks about the Palestinian-Jordanian confederation structure.

The Palestinian-Jordanian confederation means the establishment of two states for two peoples, after the establishment of the Palestinian state based on the 1967 lines. This confederation solution was first raised by Jordan in 1972, but the PLO categorically rejected it in the same year. According to the confederation system, there would be two capitals  Jerusalem for the Palestinians and Amman for Jordanians  a centralized judiciary and one armed force led by the Jordanian king, one centralized council of ministers and one national assembly elected by the two peoples. The state should allow citizens to have full freedom of movement between the two regions.

Sari Nusseibeh, the former president of Al-Quds University, former Fatah official and an advocate of the Palestinian-Jordanian confederation, told Al-Monitor, The confederation option with Jordan is a good idea, provided that a Palestinian state is established and that East Jerusalem remains a capital for the Palestinians. The relationship between the Palestinians and the Israelis does not bode well in light of the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which makes the confederation with Jordan an appropriate solution for the Palestinians to overcome this impasse and their difficult situation. Yet this requires prior Jordanian and Israeli approval. The Palestinians and the Jordanians have historical relations and ancient family ties and the confederation may be an alternative accepted by the Palestinians to get rid of the Israeli occupation.

Concurrently with the increasing Palestinian talks about the Palestinian-Jordanian confederation, An-Najah National University in Nablus published May 12 the results of an opinion poll showing that 42% of Palestinians support the confederation option with Jordan. Online newspaper Al-Hadath, which is issued in Ramallah, also conducted an opinion poll among Palestinians that showed that 76% support the option of a confederation with Jordan.

A survey carried out by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research showed that 25% of Palestinians supported the establishment of a Palestinian-Jordanian confederation in 2007 compared to 31% in 2013, while 52% refused this option in 2007 compared to 40% in 2013.

Shaker al-Jawhari, editor-in-chief of online newspaper al-Mustaqbal al-Arabi, and close to the decision-making circles in Amman, told Al-Monitor, The confederation option is being considered and discussed between the two sides, Palestine and Jordan. There is constant communication between officials from both sides, and I know that some of the most prestigious Palestinian figures in the West Bank are visiting Amman and meeting with senior officials in the kingdom. They are strongly supporting the confederation option and openly showing a great deal of loyalty to the Royal Palace. The confederation, however, should be preceded by a declaration of a Palestinian state.

In an article published by the Division of Refugees Affairs  Hamas, Palestinian legal expert Anis Kassim wrote in January 2013 about the legal problems facing the Jordanian-Palestinian confederation that requires a referendum among the Palestinians in the occupied territories and abroad. He explained that this is not possible given that the Palestinians abroad are spread out across dozens of countries around the world. He added that the PLOs Executive Committee that will be tasked with holding this referendum is unconstitutional and its legality is being challenged since it was not formed following democratic elections by the Palestinians.

He said the confederation would give legal legitimacy to the Israeli settlements and solve the issue of return of the Palestinian refugees by integrating them in the confederation, pointing out that the expected Palestinian state in the West Bank will take the form of dismembered and disarmed cantons that fall within the scope of a confederation with Jordan and that do not enjoy a full-scale sovereignty, while Israel would get rid of the legal burdens of its occupation of Palestine and dodge the international communitys condemnations.

In the midst of the Palestinian buzz about the confederation with Jordan, former Jordanian Prime Minister Abdel Salam Majali visited the West Bank May 21 and announced in front of roughly 100 prestigious Palestinian figures in Nablus his support for the confederation through the establishment of a common legislative council and a common government. During his visit, Majali said the Palestinians are not qualified enough to handle their own affairs, especially their financial affairs.

Other Jordanian officials also visited the West Bank, including Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on March 24 and the Director General of the Jordanian Customs Wadah al-Hamoud on May 19.

Al-Monitor learned from a tribal source in the city of Hebron, who preferred anonymity, that a prominent tribal delegation representing some cities in the West Bank has been making arrangements in the past few days to visit Amman and raise demands to King Abdullah II to activate the confederation project.

Ghassan al-Shaaka, a member of the Executive Committee of the PLO who lives in Nablus, told Al-Monitor, The Palestinian-Jordanian confederation is widely accepted and supported among the Palestinians, in light of the interrelated and positive family relationships between the two sides. This option must be preceded by ending the Palestinian division, declaring the Palestinian state and holding referendums in Jordan and Palestine.

Talks about the confederation were not limited to the Palestinians and the Jordanians. The Israelis  through former Israeli diplomat and Al-Monitor contributor Uri Savir  have been also promoting this option as a solution that would rid them of what they see as the Palestinian burden, according to Yoni Ben-Menachem, a former Israeli officer in the Military Intelligence Directorate and expert on Arab affairs.

In the past few weeks, Israel has been expressing its support for this option in several articles in the Israeli press. Majali announced during his recent visit to the West Bank May 21 that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to implement the Jordanian-Palestinian confederation solution as soon as possible and has been calling for such option on several occasions.

If we take a closer look at the Palestinian and Jordanian positions toward the confederation, we would understand Jordan's concerns of this option, in terms of demographic statistics. According to data released by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, Jordan hosted 2.2 million Palestinian refugees in 2015, while the total population of the kingdom, according to preliminary results of the official census of the same year, stood at 9.5 million people, of whom only 6.6 million are Jordanian.

In case a confederation was established with the Palestinians, the kingdom may feel threatened, fearing that it would be turned with time into a Palestinian state given that the majority of its population would be Palestinian nationals, according to a Jordanian study conducted in 2014 by Mahmoud al-Jundi, titled The Problem of Palestinian-Jordanian Confederation: A Reading in Fears and Repercussions.

Azzam Huneidi, the former head of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood parliamentary bloc, told Al-Monitor, The confederation option with our Palestinian brothers is unacceptable because this means that the Palestinian cause would be forwarded to Jordan and would give Israel a comfortable solution allowing it to maintain its settlement expansions and control the entire Palestinian territory. We believe the only proper solution to the Palestinian cause is to grant Palestinians their own state on their national soil.

The Palestinian enthusiasm and increasing support for the option of confederation with Jordan raises suspicion, perhaps because the Palestinians have lost all hope to establish an independent state and no longer have confidence in the PA, in light of its successive political failures with Israel. The Palestinians see in Jordan a gate to the world in light of the siege imposed on them by Israel and the restrictions on their movement from and to their own country.
Fifteen fathoms down, an almost forgotten piece of Alabama's World War II history lies rusting on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

There, encrusted with corals and glittering with schools of silvery minnows, five Liberty Ships that served during the war now rust in peace, sunk as artificial reefs.

The ships, each about 440 feet long, were part of a massive fleet of more than 2,500 supply boats built in the early 1940s to help fuel the war effort. These vessels delivered the gas and guns needed to power the U.S. military in Europe and the Pacific.

The ships were rough, with a bare bones design that could be completed in a matter of months. Twenty Liberty Ships were built at the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Co., mostly by women. Think Rosie the Riveter, except for these ships it would have been Wendy the Welder. To save time and expense, the Liberty Ships were welded together instead of riveted, like battle ships. The quick and dirty construction method meant that the Liberty class ships were not quite as robust as battleships, and easier for enemy submarines and ships to sink.

A Liberty Ship steams for Europe loaded with provisions. Note the guns fore and aft. These cargo ships were the primary link between soldiers overseas and factories and farms here at home. They carried guns, soldiers, food, tanks and fuel.

These ships were the only in our maritime history built largely by women, as most of the men from the shipyards had gone to war. While most people think of the nation's female wartime workers building airplanes and bombs, tens of thousands of women worked on these boats. Their contribution to the war effort should not be overlooked.

Diving on the hulking wrecks off the Alabama coast today, it is difficult to discern much about the ships, except that they were big. Engines and other hardware had been removed from the ships before they were sunk. What remains today includes portions of the decks and the hulls of the cargo ships. Steel walls rise about ten feet up from the seafloor, the shape still easily recognizable as a ship.

Swimming over one of the ships in the dark depths is a journey to one of the richest and most productive spots in this part of the Gulf. It is also a journey back in time. Knowing a little of their history, it is hard not to think of the ladies who welded the ships together while their husbands, brothers and sons were overseas fighting.

After sitting on the seafloor for 40 years, the wrecks attract big schools of spadefish and hardtails, which hover high in the water column above them. Forty and fifty-pound amberjack cruise the open water between the surface and the wrecks. Sitting in 70 to 100 feet of water, the ships themselves have become havens for marine life. Soft corals and anemones cling to the superstructure, little flashes of color against the rusty metal. Toadfish and eels peer out from holes in the sides and deck. Red snapper, grouper, soapfish, ruby red lips and an assortment of wrasses and small fish swarm through the iron ribs and beams.

The five ships off of Alabama were sunk beginning in 1975. They were among the state's first artificial reefs and are now among our most popular fishing destinations offshore.

That is a fate few would have predicted for the ships when they were built, when they were considered a lifeline for Europe and our soldiers serving there.

President Franklin Roosevelt famously called one of the ships a "dreadful looking object." All 2,710 Liberty Ships were built to roughly the same design. The completion of the first 14 ships in 1941 was a significant enough event to warrant a shipyard visit from the president and a speech. Before the wars end, two to three of the ships were completed at shipyards all around the country every day.

"The shipworkers of America are doing a great job. They have made a commendable record for efficiency and speed. With every new ship, they are striking a telling blow at the menace to our nation and the liberty of the free peoples of the world. They struck fourteen such blows today.

They have caught the true spirit with which all this nation must be imbued if Hitler and other aggressors of his ilk are to be prevented from crushing us," Roosevelt said. "The Patrick Henry, as one of the Liberty ships launched today renews that great patriot's stirring demand: "Give me liberty or give me death."

There shall be no death for America, for democracy, for freedom! There must be liberty, world-wide and eternal. That is our prayer--our pledge to all mankind."

The Liberty Ships hauled jeeps, guns, tanks, ammunition, and food to our soldiers and war refugees. A recollection from a soldier serving in Japan described hundreds of American boats crowded around a liberty ship that arrived carrying a cargo of beer.

Crewed by merchant marines, they had guns fore and aft, and several earned battle stars for sinking German boats or shooting down Japanese zeroes in the Pacific. A Liberty Ship was the first U.S. vessel to sink a German boat during the war. And one of the ships sunk off Alabama, the Barry, earned two battle stars after encounters with German U-boats. It came under attack off of Spain in 1943, according to "Liberty Ships," a 1972 book by John Gorley Bunker.

When it was sunk as an artificial reef, the Barry was renamed the Allen after an Alabama politician.

In the years after the war, Liberty Ships were sold to private companies for use as cargo vessels. Hundreds were held in reserve by the federal government, placed in Ghost Fleets, like the one that sat in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta for decades, ready for some future war. Most were ultimately scrapped, or sunk as artificial reefs, like those off Alabama. Today, just three Liberty Ships are still in service. Two serve as museums, while one in Greece still hauls cargo.

More than 9,000 merchant marines died during World War II, often at the hands of enemy ships that targeted the Liberty Ship fleet. Their service was vital to the war effort, delivering the fuel, food and weapons that won the war.

Check out the video above to take a dive through history on one of the Liberty Ship's as it sits today, on the bottom of the gulf.
A shooting today in Houston left at least two dead, including a suspect, according to the Houston Police Department.

Houston Police Chief Martha Montalvo said one victim was shot by a high-powered rifle inside of his car, CNN reported. One suspect was killed, and another was seriously injured.

KTRK-TV Houston reported that the shooting began at 10:15 a.m. After officers arrived, gunmen began to shot at police cruisers.

No officers were killed, the station said. Two deputies were hit- one was saved from any wounds by his vest, and the other was shot in the hand.

SWAT teams were called in and one suspect was shot and killed. Another suspect was shot and taken to a nearby hospital.

"We do not know what started this," Montalvo said to CNN, "but what we do know is they were shooting randomly, just at whoever."

She said that the suspects were shooting with AR-15 rifles.

KTRK reported that suspects also fired at a police helicopter.

Eight people total were shot, including the two suspects.
A man on the FBI's "10 Most Wanted" list was captured yesterday at the Mexican border, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Philip Patrick Policarpio (Photo courtesy of fbi.gov)

Philip Patrick Policarpio was charged with first-degree murder on April 22 in Los Angeles for the killing of his pregnant girlfriend, the Times said.

Policarpio was captured by U.S. Customs and Border Protection authorities after he came into the country from Tijuana.

According to the Times, Policarpio and his girlfriend, Lauren Elaine Olguin, went to a party on April 12 in East Hollywood. When Policarpio found Olguin playing cards in another room, he became angry and beat her, before shooting her in the head.

After the shooting, he fled California and sold narcotics, the FBI said to the newspaper.

At the time of Olguin's death, Policarpio was on parole for multiple counts of attempted murder in 2001.

Officials were offering $100,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) -- President Barack Obama challenged Americans on Memorial Day to fill the silence from those who died serving their country with love and support for families of the fallen, "not just with words but with our actions."

Obama laid a wreath Monday at the Tomb of the Unknowns to honor the nation's war dead. Under mostly sunny skies at Arlington National Cemetery, he bowed his head for a moment, then placed his right hand over his heart as taps was played. Obama in his address commemorated the more than 1 million people in U.S. history who paid the ultimate sacrifice.

Obama said the markers at Arlington belong mostly to young Americans, those who never lived to be honored as veterans for their service.

"The Americans who rest here and their families represent the best of us," Obama said. "They ask of us today only one thing in return: that we remember them."

In his remarks, Obama called for Americans to honor the families and the battle buddies they left behind.

"We have to do better," he said. "We have to be there not only when we need them, but when they need us."

Special operations forces continue to serve in dangerous missions in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, even as the U.S. military presence in the latter two countries has been greatly reduced under Obama's watch. Obama acknowledged the continuing threat to service members, singling out for praise three who have died in Iraq in recent months: Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin and Chief Special Warfare Operator Charles Keating IV.

Obama said Keating joined the Navy SEALs because it was the hardest thing to do. He quoted a platoon mate of Keating who told Keating's parents in a letter soon after their son's death "please tell everyone Chuck saved a lot of lives today." On Cardin, Obama said he gave his life while protecting the Marines under his command. "Putting others before himself was what Louis did best."

Obama noted that Wheeler was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan 14 times and earned 11 Bronze Stars. He also participated in a mission that rescued some 70 hostages. He died before his son, David, could be born, but that son and his mother were at Monday's ceremony.

"Today this husband and father rests here in Arlington in Section 60," Obama said. "And as Americans, we resolve to be better, better people, better citizens because of Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler."

Prior to traveling to Arlington, Obama held a breakfast reception at the White House for family members of fallen service members and veterans groups.
The Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo held their eighth annual Memorial Day program Monday at 9 a,m. All of the graves of fallen veterans were adorned with American flags and visitors came to visit loved ones and place flowers and other items around the markers.

The park was full by 8:30 a.m. and the program started at 9 a.m. Most attended the program but others used the quiet time during the program to visit their loved ones.

John Spearman at U.S. Marine veteran visited his brother, fellow Marine Samuel "Sammy " Earl Spearman who served in Vietnam. Sammy died in 2014. Other family members couldn't attend today so John came for them, placing coins on Spearman's marker as a sign that he had been visited.

Tosha Gaines of Birmingham visited her father Sgt. William Henry Gaines, who served two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army. When Tosha broke down, her daughter Kaylen, 15, knelt by her side. Gaines died in 2014.

Many placed flowered, momentoes, coins and other personal items on the markers.

The new 479-acre national cemetery in the Birmingham area will serve veterans' needs for at least the next 50 years. The cemetery is located at 3133 Highway 119, 15 miles south of Birmingham, just north of the town of Montevallo and west of Interstate Highway 65. Hours are sunrise to sunset.

Her is more information about The Alabama National Cemetery.
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Red, white and blue Coke cans have rolled out

Another iconic American brand has gone all patriotic this Memorial Day weekend.

Coca-Cola is rolling out a new red, white and blue can. The company is using a line from a Lee Greenwood song to name the limited edition of soda cans. They are the "I'm Proud to Be an American" edition and they honor American servicemen and women.

Of course the cans feature an American flag.

Coca-Cola will produce and sell the cans through July 4th.

Coke is the latest big name brand to go patriotic. Recently Anheuser-Busch changed the name of "Budweiser" to "America." The change will last through the presidential election in November.
Donald Trump campaigning

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., Wednesday, March 30, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Donald Trump is hoping to get a boost in the fall by gaining votes from Sen. Bernie Sanders supporters, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has said repeatedly at rallies that he will earn the support of Sanders supporters in a general election matchup against Hillary Clinton.

The Democratic nomination is mathematically impossible for Sanders to reach.

In Journal and NBC polls conducted over the first four months of the year, Trump was predicted to earn only 10 percent of Sanders supporters, with Clinton earning 81 percent.

A more recent poll suggests an increase for Trump, with the real estate mogul earning 17 percent of the Vermont senator's supporters.

Only one of the voters interviewed by the Journal said that he would support Trump. Another said that his main reason for not supporting the GOP nominee now is the issue of nominating a Supreme Court Justice- but that he may vote for Trump in the fall.

After suggesting a debate with Sanders, Trump said Friday that the potential face-off will not happen. He had originally proposed the idea to raise money for charity.
A missing woman in Australia is feared dead after being attacked by a crocodile while swimming with a friend last night, NBC News reported.

The missing woman, 46, and her friend, 47, were swimming in Queensland's Daintree National Park around 10 p.m. local time Sunday night. They were waist-deep in the water and one of them began screaming and was dragged under water by a crocodile, NBC said.

The victim's friend tried to pull her from the crocodile's jaws and out of the water, but she was not able to do so.

Once officials arrived, the victim's friend was transported to a local hospital and treated for a graze on her arm. She is in stable condition, but "extremely traumatized by the event," NBC reported.

The two women have not been identified, but officials have said that the victim was not from the area.

Searches last night to find the animal and the missing woman were not successful.

A state police official said that the search is still an active search and rescue mission, although there is "grave concern for her safety."

Local croc-hunter Ernie Dillon said to a local news station that he was helping in the search and that crews had been working through the night.

According to the TV station, the accident happened in an area well-known for crocodiles, where tourists often take tours to see the animals.

"You can't legislate against human stupidity...This is a tragedy, but it was avoidable. There are warning signs everywhere up there. People have to have some level of responsibility for their own actions. If you go in swimming at 10 o'clock at night, you're going to get consumed," local lawmaker Warren Entsch said.

A search is underway at Thornton Beach for a woman believed to have been taken by a crocodile last night. https://t.co/NjrbaL4K7Q  Queensland Police (@QldPolice) May 29, 2016
As part of an ongoing effort to help reintegrate former convicts back into society, the office of U.S. Attorney Kenyen R. Brown will present a Formerly Incarcerated Persons Job Fair on Thursday.

Brown, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama, has launched a variety of efforts to promote the concept of Re-Entry, or helping to smooth the path for former criminals who've paid their debts to society and are attempting to become productive members of society. Earlier this year, Brown's office held a re-entry simulation, a role-playing exercise in which participants got a taste of how hard it can be to get back on the straight and narrow. And on April 29, largely because of Brown's efforts, U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch visited Mobile to take part in activities associated with National Re-Entry Week.

The upcoming job fair follows a Formerly Incarcerated Persons Employment Workshop presented last week in collaboration with Bishop State Community College. According to information provided by Brown's office, the Formerly Incarcerated Persons Job Fair will take place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, June 2, on BSCC's Baker-Gaines Campus at 1365 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.

According to Brown's office, participating employers will include Ingalls Shipbuilding, Austal Shipbuilding and Horizon Shipbuilding. "Prior experience as a welder is not necessarily required as on-the-job training opportunities may be available," according to Brown's office. H&S Management and Holdings also will take part, seeking to fill positions in range of jobs including "air duct cleaning, security, tires and treading, commercial supply, janitorial services, and environmental clean-up." A number of community service providers also will be on hand to offer additional resources to participants.

In the statement announcing the fair, Brown was quoted as saying that re-entry programs such as his own Program H.O.P.E. (Helping Offenders Pursue Excellence) have pragmatic, bottom-line benefits for society at large.

"Just in the Southern District of Alabama alone, in the federal system, between the years of 2008-2010, 328 ex-offenders were revoked for violating the terms of their supervised release and sent back to prison," said Brown. "The cost to the American taxpayer to incarcerate those 328 ex-offenders over that three year period amounted to $9.2 million annually. If these same 328 ex-offenders had been successful on supervised release it would have only cost the American taxpayer roughly $1.3 million."

Brown said that according to federal statistics, work is vital for former convicts trying to improve their lives. "Of the 262,000 federal prisoners that were released from federal prison between calendar years 2002-2006, 50% of those who could not secure any employment during the time of their supervised release (generally two-to-five years) committed a new crime or violated the terms of their release and were sent back to prison. However, an astonishing 93% of those who were able to secure employment during the entirety of their supervised release were able to successfully reintegrate back into society and not return to prison."

The Formerly Incarcerated Persons Job Fair is open to those previously convicted in state and federal courts, including those still on supervised release or probation.
Update: Nelson has been found in Union City, Georgia.

Montgomery County sheriff's deputies are searching for a missing person.

Albert Lee Nelson is a 73-year-old black male and suffers from dementia, Jesse Thornton with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said.

Nelson also suffers from seizures and diabetes. He was last seen in Wetumpka yesterday around 4:00 p.m.

When last seen, Nelson was wearing a white t-shirt and black jogging pants, Thornton said.

He may be traveling in a 200 black Toyota Corolla, with the AL tag number 2AJ8.

If you have any information or have seen Nelson, call the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department immediately at (334) 832-7755 or call 911.
800px-Doris_Miller.jpg

When Lieutenant Commander Shigeharu Murata launched the first of nine Japanese torpedoes to hit the U.S.S. West Virginia, Doris "Dorie" Miller had just finished breakfast mess duty and was collecting dirty laundry. By adding the extra laundry duty, he earned an extra five dollars a month to send back home to his family in Texas.

The explosions rocked the ship and our nation.

As Miller reached his combat station, he discovered it was already devastated from the initial attack, so he rerouted to "Times Square" at the intersection of the port to starboard and forward to aft passageways to await further instruction.

From there Miller was ordered to carry the ships mortally wounded Captain Mervin Bennion from the bridge to safer quarters. Unfortunately, Miller was forced to put down the captain just aft of the conning tower when the cot used to carry him nearly broke.

The scene was unimaginably chaotic.

Seaman First Class Chris Beal on the nearby USS Maryland recalled "I still remember their 'banshee death wail' as they dived on us, then the whistle of bombs, near misses, and the engine re-gaining altitude as they pulled up over us...."

As sailors searched for materials to lower the captain, Lieutenant Frederick White loaded the two machine guns forward of the conning tower and assigned Miller to one of them. Miller didn't know much about the weapon, but he fired away. In 1942, Miller recounted, "It wasn't hard. I just pulled the trigger and she worked fine. I had watched the others with these guns. I guess I fired her for about fifteen minutes. I think I got one of those Jap planes. They were diving pretty close to us."

But it wasn't merely his impromptu machine gun fire that made him a hero. As the ship was sinking, Miller carried on. With a serious oil fire on deck and smoke billowing from the critically damaged hull, Miller helped rescue sailors from the water.

According to the action report from Commander R.H. Hillenkoetter, Miller was "instrumental in hauling people along through oil and water to the quarterdeck, thereby unquestionably saving the lives of a number of people who might otherwise have been lost."

Dorie Miller's brave actions earned the mess hall and laundry attendant from Waco, Texas, the Navy Cross, the Navy's highest medal.

Miller continued to serve in the Pacific until he was killed in action when a Japanese submarine's torpedo hit a bomb magazine on the U.S.S. Liscome Bay on November 24, 1943. The explosion sunk the ship within minutes and killed 646 of the 918 sailors on board.

Sometimes it's easy to forget the names and faces of American heroes. We talk about them in broad positive strokes, express our love for our men and women at arms, and carry on. As joyous as military homecomings are --and should be--at sporting events or in our communities, so many never make it back.

A little more than a year after becoming the first African American to win the Navy Cross, Miller was one of them.

He's been honored in film, with countless awards and even had a navy ship named in his honor, but he's far from a household name. If you're looking for a name and face to remember along with a true story to explain the price of freedom to the next generation, Dorie Miller isn't a bad place to start.

Cameron Smith is a regular columnist for AL.com and state programs director for the R Street Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C.
How one Afghan went from working on an Academy Award-nominated film to a crowded refugee camp in Berlin.

Berlin, Germany  When the first mortar smashed into the rock-studded ground just a couple of dozen metres away from where Afghan filmmaker Masih Tajzai and his crew stood, they decided to carry on filming.

It was early 2015 and they had been shooting a documentary for an international aid organisation in eastern Afghanistans Kunar province. The first week had gone smoothly. But as they interviewed locals, members of the Taliban started to take notice of the outsiders.



Afghan refugees pushed to return home

It took three more shells over the next few days before they were persuaded to wrap up filming and return to the Afghan capital, Kabul.

They really wanted to kill us, recalls the 29-year-old, wearing a snug leather jacket and sitting in the room that has become his new home at a cramped refugee camp in Berlins Prenzlauer Berg area.

As Masih tells his story, his roommates crowd around to listen. Then others join from the adjacent rooms. One man translates for those who dont speak English.

Masih says he was glad to be back in Kabul with his wife and two small children after his brush with mortality. But then faces he recognised from Kunar started appearing in his neighbourhood.

OPINION: Afghanistan  The other refugee crisis

I saw some of the same people [who were in Kunar], he says. I was saying to myself, Are they following me? Am I a clear target for them?'

Masih was overcome with fear. Aware that he had to move quickly, he was only able to arrange a smuggler for himself, hoping to make it to Germany and then apply for family reunification.

They could have easily come and killed me, he says. Thats why I decided to leave Afghanistan.

He set out for Europe within days and joined the ranks of the more than 2.6 million other Afghans who, according to the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR, live in exile as refugees.

A refugee twice over

It wasnt the first time hed been made a refugee. In 1997, when he was just 10, hed fled Afghanistan with his parents as the Taliban carried out sectarian attacks. We had to leave the country, he says.

Masihs family moved back to Afghanistan when the US invaded in 2001, hoping that the Taliban would be ousted and security would finally take root, he says.

As the years went by, he decided he wanted to be an actor and filmmaker. Masih says he worked with the BBC, French media outlets and local news agencies on documentaries and other projects before launching his own production company in 2008.

READ MORE: Afghan refugees in dilemma over European offer

He smiles proudly as he speaks of his work as a director trainee on Buzkashi Boys, a 2012 film about two young Afghan boys who dream of becoming successful athletes in the national sport of Buzkashi, a polo-like game in which a headless goat cadaver replaces a ball.

We had a crew from Hollywood come, he says. It was in a warzone, but it was an amazing experience to do this film.

The Buzkashi Boys was later nominated for an Academy Award and won an array of film prizes, including Best Drama at the 2012 LA Shorts Fest and Best Cinematography at the UK Film Festival that year.

Masih looks back on this period warmly, recalling how he travelled to places like the United Arab Emirates and India for film screenings.

In the Talibans crosshairs

He is surprised that he didnt fall foul of the Taliban sooner. After all, hed been making documentaries and short promotional films for the Afghan government and security forces, as well as for local and international organisations.

Its true that its very hard to work in a warzone. You can be easily targeted by Taliban or ISIL, he says, referring to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (also known as ISIS) armed group that emerged in Afghanistan in 2015 after already taking root in Syria, Iraq and other places.

If they recognise you as a director, actor or filmmaker, you can be targeted. For me, it was very difficult because I worked with international crews.

READ MORE: Afghan refugees arent fleeing by choice

While Masihs life story is remarkable, the tragic conditions of his departure are common. Ahmad Shuja, a Kabul-based research associate for Human Rights Watch, explains that people who work with foreign organisations or governments are often targeted by the Taliban and groups like it.

If you have an association with any foreign entity or even the Afghan government  even as a civilian  youre in the crosshairs of the Taliban, he tells Al Jazeera.

We were close to dying

Like so many others who made the treacherous trek from Afghanistan to Europe, Masihs first stop was in neighbouring Iran. From there, he says he joined a dozen Afghans who walked through the mountains for 27 hours before reaching Turkey.

The Iranian army shot at us, he remembers. We were close to dying in those mountains.

As he waited to make contact with smugglers in Turkey, the days turned to weeks. In October 2015, smugglers eventually took Masih and fellow travellers to a forest near Izmir, a departure point for many refugees, where they camped for three days while waiting for the waters to calm.

But Turkish soldiers arrested them before they were able to depart by boat. The Turkish army locked us up in a gymnasium for 15 days, he says.

READ MORE: The plight of rejected Afghan asylum seekers

Upon being released, they camped for two days near another departure point before boarding a flimsy rubber vessel for the Greek islands.

It was difficult because we didnt have much hope. The person who steered the boat didnt know how to do it at all, he remembers, explaining that the smugglers gave one of the refugees a crash course in manning the dinghy.

Masih describes three hours of children crying as waves splashed cold water on to the boat. It was one of the most difficult moments of my life. We were thinking that this was the most dangerous decision wed ever taken because we didnt know  if wed die at sea.

They made it to European shores, joining more than one million refugees and migrants who risked the Mediterranean to find safety in 2015.

Question marks

As he narrates his tale, many in his impromptu audience nod, their faces betraying their own memories of treacherous journeys to Europe.

From Greece, the hopeful young filmmaker travelled by foot and bus through Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Austria before crossing into Germany.

Now in Germany, Masih hopes to bring his family and pursue his dreams of one day gaining acclaim in the world of cinema. But the future for Afghan refugees is punctuated with question marks.

Last year, Afghanistan endured the largest number of civilian casualties  11,000  in a single year since the US-led war started 15 years ago.

READ MORE: Why are Afghan refugees leaving Iran?

Between 2001 and 2014, an estimated 26,270 civilians were killed and another 29,900 injured as a result of that war, according to Brown Universitys Watson Institute for International Studies.

In April, the EU revealed a draft plan to deport 80,000 Afghan asylum seekers back to their conflict-ridden homeland, despite the persistent bloodshed and worsening economic conditions.

For his part, Masih fears being sent back to what he feels is certain death. Afghanistan is not a safe place  the world knows this, he says. Please dont think its secure. There is still a war going on. There are still bombs, ISIL, the Taliban and local gangs.

Despite the looming threat of expulsion, he refuses to abandon his optimism. I believe that I would have died within a few years if I stayed in Afghanistan. Im here in Berlin and Im still alive. I hope I can make my dreams come true.
As the number of refugee suicides rise, we examine the detention centre at the heart of Australias asylum policies.

Melbourne, Australia  Nauru is a tiny, 34 square kilometre island of barren land in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. Despite the palm trees and picturesque blue waters, the island, home to around 10,000 people, is far from a tropical paradise.

The history of detention centres on Nauru is brief, but the island has been central to Australias asylum policies.

It first housed a detention centre for asylum seekers between 2001 and 2008, under the so-called Pacific Solution of Australias conservative Liberal Party, which aimed to stop refugees coming to Australia by holding them on Nauru and nearby Manus Island.

When the centre-left Labor party came to power in 2007, with the promise of a more compassionate response to those seeking asylum, Australia closed the offshore detention centres and, in 2008, moved refugees to centres on the Australian mainland.

Still, the number of asylum seekers arriving on boats continued to rise, peaking at 17,000 people in 2012, according to Department of Immigration statistics.

Under attack by conservatives for being weak on border security, Labor turned back to Nauru for a solution, and the centre was reopened in 2012.

Today, it is home to 543 asylum seekers, including 70 children.





The worst thing about Nauru

The asylum seekers held on Nauru spend their days in limbo. The centre is fenced in, with large green tents pitched outside where refugees must endure the tropical heat.

One Iranian refugee, Amir, who asked that his full name and age be withheld, has been on the island for three years. He said he fled Iran when threats were made against his life and travelled to Indonesia where he boarded a boat for Australia.

The worst thing about the Nauru is the waiting. Nothing ever happens here, Amir told Al Jazeera by phone.

Trapped on the island, refugees wait as their claims for official refugee status are assessed by the UN refugee agency the UNHCR  a process that can take years.

Although the vast majority of claims are successful  government data shows that in 2013, 88 percent of asylum applications were approved  the Australian government insists that those detained on Nauru will not resettle in Australia.

The only way off the island is to agree to resettlement in Cambodia  or return to the countries from which the refugees have fled.

In 2015, Australia signed a $40m deal with Cambodia to resettle refugees held on Nauru there. Since the deal, only five refugees have accepted the offer to go to Cambodia, according to Australias Department of Immigration. In March, Immigration Minister Petter Dutton confirmed that two had been returned to their country of origin.

READ MORE: Outsourcing refugees  How will I survive in Cambodia?

Running detention centres

The Australian government doesnt run the centre directly. It is operated by Broadspectrum Limited, an Australian company contracted by the government, which also runs a centre on Manus Island.

But the company has faced controversy. Last year, it was forced to change its name from Transfield Services to Broadspectrum Limited after the founding family distanced itself from the current owners because of alleged human rights abuses in the offshore detention centres.

The company has admitted to receiving reports of sexual harassment and abuse carried out by staff at the facilities.

Last month, Spanish company Ferrovial bought a controlling share in Broadspectrum Limited.

For those on Nauru, the long and indefinite detention has taken a toll. There has been a recent spate of suicides and attempted suicides on the island. One immigration department report obtained by Australias Fairfax media showed that in July 2015 there were 188 incidents of self-harm on Nauru, an average of one every two days.

In April, a video emerged of 23-year-old Iranian refugee, Omid Masoumali, setting himself on fire at the centre in protest against his imprisonment during a visit from UNHCR officials. He later died from his injuries. Another refugee, a young Somali woman, is clinging to life after self-immolating a few days later.

WATCH: Strangers in Paradise: Australias offshore detainees

A 26-year-old man from Bangladesh also died earlier in May after intentionally overdosing on medication.

I was going to kill myself as well, I had the idea. Many of us here think about suicide, Amir explained.

When you cant change anything, when you dont have hope, then whats the difference between being alive or dead? he asked.

Psychiatrist Peter Young told Al Jazeera that the mental health services at the centre are drastically understaffed and that there is little mental health professionals can do to help those dealing with the psychological consequences of years of detention.

Young, who between 2011 and 2014 was the director of mental health services for private contractor International Health and Mental Services (IHMS), which provides healthcare for Australias on and offshore detention centres, said he was not surprised by the recent suicides.

The whole system of detention is geared towards removing hope for people, so they agree to go back to where they came from. The [immigration] department told us this was the objective and that we all had to sing from the same hymnbook, Young said.

Everyone who works in mental health knows the main thing which makes people suicidal is hopelessness, so there was a fundamental contradiction with our professional ethics, he added.

Blame game and activism

The Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection responded to Al Jazeeras request for comment on the situation by forwarding a press release from the Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, which was released earlier this month following the self-immolation of the Somali woman.

READ MORE: A glimpse of Australias Manus Island refugee prison

In the statement, Dutton attacks refugee advocates who are regularly in phone contact with those on Nauru, accusing them of encouraging them [asylum seekers] to engage in behaviours they believe will pressure the government to bring them to Australia.

But not everyone in Australian politics has adopted this position. Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who is pressing for better treatment of refugees, told Al Jazeera that she felt Duttons comments blaming refugee advocates for suicides were appalling and baseless.

Advocates are the only ones showing people compassion and empathy and keeping people alive, she said.

Shen Narayanasamy, executive director of No Business in Abuse (NBIA), explained that Australia cant run these centres in other sovereign nations themselves, so these centres wont run without corporations.

The group runs a campaign that seeks to ramp up economic pressure on those engaging in the detention centre business.

In September, Broadspectrum Limited responded to the allegations of human rights abuses levelled at them by the campaign, calling them disingenuous, inflammatory and misleading.

In an official statement, the company stated: We are concerned with the potential impact that any misinformation may have on our investors and more than 25,000 employees across a range of sectors  no charges have been laid against any of our staff in respect to any dealings with asylum seekers on Nauru or Manus Provinces.

But NBIA continues to encourage local officials and investment funds not to work with companies involved in detaining refugees.

Last month, Ferrovial announced that it would not bid for a new five-year contract to run the offshore centres, expected to be worth $2.7bn, when the current contract ends in February 2017.

Any company needs to know they face a massive public relations risk in running these centres, said Narayanasamy, explaining that any new company could expect to come under pressure (PDF) from NBIA.

Stories of those trapped on Nauru have made headlines around the world, but Amirs family remains oblivious as to his whereabouts.

Every day when I talk to my mum, she thinks I am in a detention centre in Australia. She asks me what is going on in Nauru. I tell her not to mention those people; they are helpless people. They are condemned, he tells them.

I am one of them, but they dont know.

Follow Jarni Blakkarly on Twitter @jarniblakkarly
We need to study Donald Trump with the same precision that European and American Orientalists have studied their Orient.

A couple of weeks ago while visiting a local bookstore on Columbia University campus in New York I ran into a book on the front counter of the otherwise perfectly respectable establishment with a strange title: Assholes: A Theory of Donald Trump (2016).

After some hesitation, I picked up the book and sat on a small chair in the corner of the bookstore and began thumbing through it. I learned that the author of the book, Professor Aaron James, is a proper philosopher who teaches at the University of California in Irvine. He has studied at Harvard, and before publishing this book had in fact written another that he had called Assholes: A Theory (2012).





I subsequently learned that even before James, another major theorist of the matter, Geoffrey Nunberg, had published his Ascent of the A-Word: Assholism, the First Sixty Years (2012). So the appearance of Donald Trump seems to have offered the experts of the issue with a major breakthrough in the field of  believe it or not  Assholology.

Then I remembered a while ago another distinguished American philosopher, Harry Gordon Frankfurt, had also written a similarly strange book, On Bullshit (2005).

As I habitually do on such occasions, I first translated the title of the book in my mind into Persian, Arabic, Turkish, or any other language in their neighbourhood and wondered if any other philosopher anywhere in the world other than the US would think of such a poignant topic. I concluded not really.

READ MORE: Donald Trump is the real deal

This particular branch of philosophy does not translate into any non-American context. They are leading experts and world authorities on these two rather interrelated subjects of Assholology and Bullshitting.

Perhaps calling Trump names and throwing obscenities at him might make you feel better or even make a buck and sell a book or two but the phenomenon they are facing deserves a much more serious attention worldwide. by

Trumpology 101

The fact that seminal American philosophers have turned to such dark and quite dingy aspects of their political culture made me think that they really do need some help from their colleagues elsewhere in the world to help them to understand such creatures as Donald Trump to which they have willy-nilly given birth. They are obviously not quite up to the task of figuring out the nature of the monster they have created  but hurl insults at them, as Muslims do at the stoning of the devil ritual during their Haj Pilgrimage.

Perhaps calling Trump names and throwing obscenities at him might make you feel better or even make a buck and sell a book or two, but the phenomenon they are facing deserves much more serious attention worldwide.

I am not suggesting American philosophers should stop investigating further into their newly discovered field of Assholology and Bullshitting. They are, I must admit, quite good at it. But I believe they need help from another disciplinary perspective too.

It is in that spirit of collegiality that I propose the idea of Trumpology as a bona fide subject to be closely studied through an interdisciplinary programme in institutions of higher learning around the world, particularly in countries and cultures at the mercy of US militarism upon which may soon preside Donald Trump himself  the very definition of the condition of Trumposis.

Look at any other maniac who has ruled anywhere else in the world: How many books and learned articles and essays do we have on Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, Mao Zedong, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and ask yourself if we do not need to produce a similar body of work on Donald Trump.

Here I must introduce a rather important stipulation: The subject I propose needs to be studied almost exclusively by non-Americans. The citizens of the US and, I daresay, Canada, are too close to this creature that has emerged from their midst to understand it properly.

We do need a bit of critical distance from the subject to comprehend it properly.

Qualifications to Detect Trumposis

We need to study Trump with almost the same analytical precision that old-fashioned European and American Orientalists and anthropologists have studied their Orient and the remotest tribes from their university campuses.

READ MORE: Trump and Baghdadi

Trump and his ardent supporters, I daresay, pose a new challenge to the discipline of Anthropology were it not to have so totally exhausted itself by ignoring the US and Europe and laser-beaming on other peoples peculiarities.

Having spent generations of their scholarship in studying other peoples cultures, alienating them from themselves, turning them into objects of their tenure-track curiosities, these anthropologists are methodologically and theoretically ill-equipped to offer us any significant insight into Trumpology.

For generations American and European anthropologists have studied Arabs, Muslims, Africans, Asians and Latin Americans, as if we were strange tribes here to entertain their anthropological theories.

It is time we reverse the gaze and collectively start studying Trumpology as the singular achievement of what they call Western Civilisation.

Today in the US and Europe we have experts who introduce themselves as assistant research professor at the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT). Right?

Well, I believe Trump is the single most dangerous symptom of the threat that the US poses to the security of the world at large and critical thinkers from Asia, Africa, and Latin America must start studying this threat to their national existence and develop counterterrorism strategies on to how to deal with it.

Admirable as the endeavours of American philosophers might be in opting for such analytical tools as Assholism and Bullshitology, I am afraid these novice conceptualisations are not sufficient for understanding the widespread pandemic of Trumposis in dire need of Trumpology.

Establishing a discipline of Trumpology might not prevent Americans from electing him as their next president, even if they opt to vote for Hillary Clinton who manifests slightly different symptoms of the same disease.

But as I have already argued, Donald Trump is a symptom, not the disease.

Understanding this peculiarly North American disease is as urgent, if not more so, than understanding the deadly pandemic viruses such as HIV, SARS, or Zika. In the case of such diseases, health officials at the border can stop an infected person and put him or her in a quarantine to protect the public. But Trump might soon have the power of flying his fighter jets and drones, as well as dispatching his aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines anywhere and everywhere around the globe without being even detected, let alone stopped.

This preliminary outline is simply to announce the urgency of the field of Trumpology. Other colleagues from around the world now need to expand upon this outline from their own vantage point as the victims of US militarism so we can collectively come together and understand this malady, perhaps beginning with a conference in New York City, which seems to be the epicentre of this disease.

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.
It is moments like these that we can draw on in darker times.

Salil Shetty is the Secretary-General of Amnesty International. A long-term activist on poverty and justice, he leads the movement's worldwide work to end the abuse of human rights. Prior to joining Amnesty International, he was the director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign.

From the depths of my cell, from the depths of that madness, I swore to fight for justice if I ever got out alive, former detainee Souleymane Guengueng told the special criminal court last year.

Today he and thousands of other victims are celebrating after the life sentence handed down by the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE) in Dakar against the former Chadian President, Hissene Habre for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture.

Guengueng, imprisoned for two-and-a-half years in the late 1980s, was one of the lucky ones. An estimated 40,000 people are thought to have perished at the hands of Chads security forces between 1982 and 1990.

I saw my friends and fellow inmates die from hunger, die from despair, die from torture and die from sickness, Guengueng recalled in his testimony.

Yet, from that furnace of horror something remarkable has been forged.

Collective effort

For more than two decades, despite threats, intimidation and major political setbacks, victims together with civil society groups worked tirelessly to make this day possible.

A coalition of human rights organisations and victims groups in Chad has spent decades gathering testimony from victims and their families to build the case against Habre.

National and regional campaigns were set up, supported by international organisations such as Amnesty International, that helped document human rights violations committed in Chad since the 1980s.

Attempts to prosecute or extradite the former president to Belgium were repeatedly thwarted, as were efforts to force Senegal to prosecute him. But victims groups and campaigners battled on and in 2012, the African Union supported Senegal in finally clearing the path to justice.

Safe havens are no longer safe for those suspected of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or other crimes under international law. by

A new law was passed in December 2012 allowing for the creation of the CAE in Dakar. Habre, then 70, was arrested six months later and on July 20, 2015, he appeared for the first time in the courtroom.

Over the following months the charges contained in the 187-page indictment against Habre were tested in court. These included crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes.

Harrowing experiences were re-lived by 69 former victims. They described shocking violations suffered at the hands of Chads security forces.

Much has been made of this landmark case from an international justice perspective. This is, after all, the first universal jurisdiction case on the continent, and the first time a former African leader has been prosecuted for crimes under international law before a court in another African country.

This case gives new impetus for the African Union or individual African states to address entrenched impunity in other countries on the continent.

No escape from justice

But, for me the significance of this case goes further and is much more personal. It demonstrates that victims of human rights abuses  no matter how hopeless their situation  can still have a voice and the ability to achieve justice.

It demonstrates that the work of campaigners and human rights defenders  no matter how long and challenging  really matters. And it demonstrates that heads of state, military commanders and others who are suspected of committing human rights violations around the globe can no longer expect to evade the net of international justice for ever.

READ MORE: Chads long road to independence

Safe havens are no longer safe for those suspected of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity or other crimes under international law.

After the fall of Habres administration, more than 50,000 letters and postcards from Amnesty International members calling for the release of detainees were found at the main security headquarters in the Chadian capital NDjamena.

A quarter of a century on, many of those named in those letters will not be here to see the verdict. They and thousands of others died in 1980s.

For the survivors, however, and for all who believe in human rights and rule of law, todays verdict is deeply significant.

It is moments like these that we can draw on in darker times. They are the things that nourish us with hope and give us strength to stand up for what is right.

Todays verdict will give renewed energy in the fight against impunity for crimes committed during Habres administration which will continue until all those responsible for crimes under international law are brought to justice.

Salil Shetty is the secretary general of Amnesty International. A long-term activist on poverty and justice, he leads the movements worldwide work to end the abuse of human rights. Prior to joining Amnesty International, he was the director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
As former PM Stephen Harper quits parliament, his legacy is more of a gift to Conservatives than to Canadians.

Antonia Zerbisias is an award-winning Canadian journalist. She has been a reporter and TV host for the Toronto Star, the CBC, as well as the Montreal correspondent for Variety trade paper.

Theres no question that Stephen Harper, Canadas former prime minister, will be leaving a legacy when he quits parliament this summer.

A political mastermind, he united the countrys fractious right in 2003 when his Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) was born. In 2006, he led it to the first of its three successive electoral victories. Canada was his for nine years  at least until Justin Trudeaus Liberals trounced his government last October.

The party is still holding together seven months after he stepped down from the party leadership. Canadians are united as well  in celebrating his departure.





So Harpers legacy is more of a gift to Conservatives than to Canadians.

Memories of Harper years

Which is probably why, last Thursday, as Harper exited stage right at the Conservative convention in Vancouver, delegates were galvanised by the look forward theme that night.

But then, looking back would only dredge up memories of the Harper years: promoting pipelines for his beloved tarsands (but failing to get them built), attacking constitutional rights, running roughshod over parliament

READ MORE: Canada  Is it still good for the Jews?

These are years best left buried.

Harper's legacy is more of a gift to Conservatives than to Canadians. by

All the same, the 3,000 convention-goers cheered Harpers brief and remarkably empty farewell speech extolling the future of this party. They watched the obligatory tribute video.

And because its the social media age, many took to their smartphones to broadcast the party-generated hashtag: #ThankYouStephenHarper.

But, as one prescient pundit immediately tweeted, An official #ThankYouStephenHarper hashtag? This wont end well #cpc16 #cdnpoli

Within minutes, the hashtag was trending, continuing for days. But not how party strategists had hoped. Conservatives hoping to erase the Harper record instead had it flashing on the nations screens.

The jokes kept coming.

Tweeters thanked Harper for inspiring Muslims, First Nations peoples and youth to vote in unexpected numbers  just to cast him out.

Canadians expressed gratitude for the reminder that, well after high school, science matters. Thats because Harper had muzzled government scientists so they couldnt bog down his environmental devastation.

He also abolished the data-rich longform census that allowed policymakers to make decisions based on evidence, not ideology. Whats more, he shut down Department of Fisheries and Oceans libraries, resulting in the trashing of priceless environmental data.

Freedom of dissent

Tweeters thanked the Harper government for renewing their appreciation for freedom of dissent.

During the 2010 G20 Summit in Toronto, for example, about 1,000 citizens  mostly innocent bystanders  were locked into makeshift cages. It was the biggest mass arrest in Canadian history.

READ MORE: What Torontos Rob Ford tells us about Donald Trump

Hardly surprising, then, that Harper also passed unconstitutional laws that would later be overturned by the Supreme Court.

He even tried to pervert elections with his Orwellian-named Fair Elections Act.

Internationally, Harpers legacy to Canada was to change it from peacemaker to bit player in Ukraine, Libya and against ISIL (also known as ISIS).

In 2010, for the first time in six decades, Canada lost its bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.

Then there was Israel. Canada went from honest broker between Israelis and Palestinians to, in Benjamin Netanyahus words, a great friend of Israel and the Jewish people.

[Harpers by 

reputation as a brilliant financial steward was not deserved.]

To show what a great friend Canada was, Ottawa cut funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). It killed Rights and Democracy, a Canadian NGO that it deemed to be anti-Israel. It defunded the social justice organisation KAIROS, denouncing it as anti-Semitic.

As for the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), it was repurposed. Instead of providing foreign aid to developing countries, it became a marketing arm of Canadas notorious mining companies which are often charged with trampling on human rights in the Global South.

Even Harpers pet project, his Saving Every Woman, Every Child international maternal health programme, pandered to his social conservative and evangelical Christian base.

None of the billions of dollars he pledged to reduce the preventable deaths of women and children in developing countries would go to family planning.

READ MORE: Donald Trump prompts Americans to look north

That despite the fact that countless women all over the world cant care for a fifth, sixth or seventh child, or are brutally raped in conflicts or are too young or too frail to survive pregnancy.

Under constant attack

But womens rights were under constant attack. The long-gun registry, which helped prevent women being shot by their partners, was gleefully killed. As for the hundreds of murdered and missing aboriginal women, Harper said an inquiry was not really high on our radar.

His reputation as a brilliant financial steward was not deserved. He bumped up the national debt by $150bn, bequeathed a deficit to the Liberals, and hitched the Canadian dollar to the price of oil. Now the still-raging fires around Fort McMurray, Albertas tarsands central, are expected to lower the GDP.

To the very end, and throughout the bitter election campaign, the Harper Conservatives sowed ethnic division and Islamaphobia. Harper distinguished between ethnic citizens and old-stock Canadians.

Harper distinguished between ethnic citizens and 'old stock Canadians'. by

His ministers promised a barbaric cultural practices hotline so that Canadian values could be preserved.

And when a woman from Pakistan fought to be naturalised as a Canadian citizen while in niqab, Harper took her to court again and again  only to lose. She swore her citizenship oath in niqab, just in time to vote Harper out.

So now hes reportedly off to form his own foreign policy think-tank with former political aides, and to disappear into the corporate boardroom woodwork.

As retired Conservative senator Marjory LeBreton told a Canadian news magazine, Youll never see him hanging around Ottawa worrying about his legacy.

Oh, but he sure did leave one.

Just not the kind that most Canadians accept with real #thanks.

Antonia Zerbisias is an award-winning Canadian journalist. She has been a reporter and TV host for the Toronto Star and the CBC, as well as the Montreal correspondent for Variety trade paper.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
First major offensive by Taliban fighters since group appointed new leader leaves dozens dead in southern province.

More than 50 Afghan police officers have been killed over the past two days in heavy fighting around the capital of the southern province of Helmand, officials say.

Helmand, with its strategic location, has been the scene of major attacks by the Taliban over the past year.

As many as 24 officers were killed on Monday, and another 33 on Sunday, regional police commander Esmatullah Dawlatzai told Reuters news agency. Nearly 40 others were injured, he added.

Taliban fighters have managed to enter the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, and residents could hear the sound of heavy gunfire and artillery throughout the night.

The situation is not good, we can hear the sound of guns just outside the city, and Taliban now operate within two kilometres of the city, Mohammed Kareem Atal, Helmand member of parliament, told Al Jazeera.

He said four government posts have fallen to the Taliban, as the fighters are trying to cut off the main road to the capital Kabul and the neighbouring province of Kandahar.

The army is using helicopter gunships to support the ground forces. They have so far managed to retake one fallen post, and we are waiting for reinforcement to arrive from Kabul, Kareem Atal added.

OPINION: Death of a warlord will change nothing in Afghanistan

The areas hit by the latest fighting are Greshk, Nad Ali, and Nahr-e Saraj, which neighbour the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah to the north and west.

A charity hospital in Lashkar Gah said it had treated at least 40 injured, among them 30 civilians and 10 security forces.

Afghan officials have taken steps to recapture the lost areas, said Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor.

The fighting in Helmand is the first major offensive by the Taliban since their new leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada assumed the leadership of the group after Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed by a US drone attack inside Pakistan on May 23.
Former military ruler Hissene Habre found guilty of crimes against humanity by Senegal court in landmark case.

A special court in Senegal has sentenced former Chadian military ruler Hissene Habre to life in prison after convicting him of crimes against humanity, torture and sexual slavery.

The verdict on Monday caps a 16-year battle by victims and rights campaigners to bring the former leader to justice in Senegal, where he fled after being toppled in a 1990 coup in the central African nation.

Hissene Habre, this court finds you guilty of crimes against humanity, rape, forced slavery, and kidnapping, as well as war crimes, said Gberdao Gustave Kam, Burkinabe president of the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE) court.

The court condemns you to life in prison, Kam added, giving Habre 15 days to appeal against the sentence.

OPINION: The long road to justice for Chads Hissene Habre

Habre raised his arms into the air on hearing the verdict, shouting Down with France-afrique!, referring to the term used for Frances continuing influence on its former colonies.

Human rights groups accuse the 72-year-old of being responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people during his rule from 1982 to 1990.

Habres case was heard by the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegals capital, Dakar, a special criminal court set up by the African Union within the West African nations court system.

Reed Brody, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch who has spent the last 15 years working with victims to bring Habre to justice, said the landmark case could encourage others to bring similar action.

The trial of Hissene Habre shows that it is possible for victims, with tenacity and perseverance, to bring their dictator to court, Reed told the AFP news agency on Sunday.

We hope that other survivors, other activists will be inspired by what Habres victims have been able to do.

Victims groups who had travelled to Dakar to hear the verdict were visibly moved by a judgment that comes a quarter century after the abuses they suffered.

The feeling is one of complete satisfaction, said Clement Abeifouta, president of a Habre survivors association.

.@hrw's first reaction as Senegal court convicts ex-Chadian dictator #HisseneHabre on atrocity charges: pic.twitter.com/xVzNbDEQQz  Reed Brody  (@ReedBrody) May 30, 2016

Habre refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the court and had to be physically dragged into the courtroom in July.

After living in exile in Senegal for 22 years, Habre was arrested in Dakar in July 2013, less than 72 hours after US President Barack Obama expressed his support for a trial during a visit to Senegal.
Former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson hopes unfavourability of Clinton and Trump will boost his third party bid.

The US Libertarian Party has nominated former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson as its presidential candidate for the second time.

Johnson, 63, won the nomination of the US third political party on the second ballot at the partys convention in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday.

He defeated Austin Petersen, the founder of The Libertarian Republic magazine and anti-computer virus company founder John McAfee.

REPORTERS NOTEBOOK: US Libertarians convene to elect presidential candidate

Johnson told the delegates during his acceptance speech that his job will be to get the Libertarian platform before the voters at a level the party has not seen.

I am fiscally conservative in spades and I am socially liberal in spades, Johnson told the AP news agency.

I would cut back on military interventions that have the unintended consequence of making us less safe in the world.

On fiscal matters, Libertarians push for reduced spending and taxes, saying the federal government has become too big across the board. Johnson proposes eliminating federal income and corporate taxes and replacing those with a national sales tax.

He would reduce domestic spending by eliminating the Internal Revenue Service, the Commerce and Education departments, the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Freedoms high on agenda

On social issues, Libertarians generally support abortion rights, gun rights, same-sex marriage and drug legalisation, saying people should be allowed to do anything that does not hurt others.

Johnson served as New Mexicos governor from 1995 to 2003 as a Republican after a career as the owner of one of that states largest construction companies.

READ MORE: Donald Trumps world views make world less safe  Poll

After failing to gain traction in the Republicans 2012 primaries, he changed his registration to Libertarian shortly before running for that partys nomination that year.

He won the nomination and got just short of 1 percent of the general election vote against President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

For Johnson to make a serious run this year, he needs to qualify for the presidential debates. To do that, he must average 15 percent in five recognised polls.

He hopes that is doable because the Republicans Donald Trump and the Democrats Hillary Clinton are both seen unfavourably by a majority of voters, according to recent polls.
Child custody and conversions put Islamic and civil courts at odds with non-Muslims on the losing end of rulings.

Ipoh, Malaysia  M Indira Gandhi hasnt held her daughter in her arms since her ex-husband snatched the then 11-month-old baby from the family home seven years ago.

I only have a vision of her when she was small, Indira, 41, said of the little girl the couple named Prasana Diksa, rummaging through her handbag for a tissue to wipe away her tears. Not seeing her is really heartbreaking.

Divorce is often fraught, but the breakdown of the kindergarten teachers marriage was further complicated by her husbands decision to become a Muslim, converting their three children, including Prasana, without telling his wife.

He went to the Islamic court  Malaysia has a dual legal system  not only to seek a divorce, but also to secure custody of the children  even though Indira, as a Hindu, had no right to appear there.

Indira has challenged the unilateral conversion of her children through the civil courts. A series of decisions has gone in her favour, with judges granting her full custody of the children in 2010 and an annulment of their conversion in 2013.



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But her former husband, Muhammad Riduan, hasnt complied with the rulings despite the High Court instructing the police at least three times to find him. And in December last year, the Court of Appeal overturned the lower courts decision, saying civil courts had no jurisdiction over Islamic conversions.

He is exploiting the judicial system to win advantage, M Kula Segaran, Indiras lawyer, told Al Jazeera at his office in Ipoh, two hours north of Kuala Lumpur.

She cannot go to the sharia court because shes not a Muslim, and she cannot challenge it in the civil court because its a Muslim affair. Shes helpless and voiceless, and they want her to suffer in silence.

Indiras case is the most prominent of a number of disputes involving the conversion of children to Islam in a country, which is 61 percent Muslim, but also has sizeable minorities of other religions including Buddhists, Hindus and Christians. The legal battles are testing the limits of jurisdiction in Malaysias dual legal system, as well as the sort of justice available to the countrys Muslims and non-Muslims.

Its definitely a jurisdictional issue, said Shareena Sheriff, programme manager at Sisters in Islam, an advocacy group for Muslim women. The overlaps are creating a very high level of uncertainty about where the right of redress lies, and thats not a healthy development. We dont have consistency in court decisions.

There is also uncertainty about the governments position. Seven years ago, the cabinet said there should be no unilateral conversion of children and, in the event that one parent decided to become Muslim, the children should continue to be brought up in the religion of their parents at the time of their marriage.

In January this year, after Indira lost her case in the Court of Appeal, S Subramaniam, one of five cabinet ministers on a special committee on the issue, said the government was looking at amendments to the law to prevent the unilateral conversion of children.

Last week, however, Jamil Khir Baharom, a minister who heads the same commission and is responsible for Islamic affairs, told parliament in a written reply that unilateral conversion would not be banned because it would contravene the constitution. His office did not respond to Al Jazeeras request for comment.

The relationship between the sharia and civil law remains unresolved in the legal system, the US State Department noted in its International Religious Freedom Report for 2014.

The actions of the Islamic authorities, however, increasingly affected non-Muslims. Child custody cases between converted Muslims and their non-Muslim spouses often favour the former.

Malaysia rejects conversion appeal

Malaysias constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but Islam is the official religion and Muslims are governed by additional laws implemented and enforced by the Islamic authorities in each of the countrys 13 states.

All ethnic Malays are born Muslims, and anyone who wants to marry a Muslim must convert to Islam. Muslims who want to adopt a different religion must also secure approval from the Islamic court, even though renouncing Islam is considered a criminal offence in some states.

The countrys Muslims are easily identified because their identity cards carry the word Islam, while the religions of other citizens are not defined.

For the last 24 years, Mahendran Ghanasan has been known officially as Mohd Sharif bin Abdullah, although he was born a Hindu, has no conversion certificate, and never recited the declaration of faith.

Mahendran said his mother, who is illiterate, converted him to Islam when he was 12 after marrying a Muslim man.

As a child, being Muslim didnt make that much difference to Mahendrans life, but as he has got older he has found it increasingly problematic. Although he lives as a Hindu, Islam is stamped on his identity card, which means he is subject to Islamic law, and any woman he marries who is not Muslim will need to convert (his partner is Hindu and isnt keen on converting).

After a series of failed attempts to remove the word from his identity card, and replace the name Mohd Sharif with his birth name, four years ago he took his case to the courts.

From when I was born up until now I have followed the Hindu way, Mahendran explained. I have never got married because of this [the childhood conversion], because then I would need to change my spouses name as well. I cannot live a normal lifestyle. I was born a Hindu and I want to die a Hindu.

Mahendrans lawyers argued this month in the Federal Court that Mahendrans conversion was, in fact, an administrative error that needed to be rectified.

The judges ruled he should apply to a court for a declaration that he is not Muslim, but did not specify whether he should go to the Islamic or civil court. He is considering making an affirmation of his Hindu beliefs, he said.

A recent court ruling allowing Roneey Rebit, 41, from the indigenous Bidayuh community to renounce Islam has raised hopes for people such as Mahendran who were converted as children. (Roneey was converted at the age of 10 by his parents).

Malaysias social media rebels

However, because religious issues are the domain of Malaysias individual states, the decision does not necessarily create a precedent.

Malaysias highest court this month granted Indira permission to appeal against her husbands conversion of their children, except for her eldest daughter Tevi Darsini; the legal battle has dragged on for so long that Tevi, now 19 and entering university, is considered an adult.

No date has been set for the hearing and despite the pressure on the police to bring Prasana home, mother and daughter have yet to be reunited.

It takes a day to convert, but its taking us so many years to renounce it, Indira said. It is not only our lives that are destroyed, but financially its bad. Its hard to be a single mother.
Stripped of their rights, the last wall of Palestinian resistance is culture, says owner of a Jerusalem bookshop.

Jerusalem  On Jerusalems busy Salah Eddin Street, where cafes, grocery stores, money exchange centres and jewellery shops proliferate the landscape, a prominent board at number 22 announces itself as the Educational Bookshop.

Shortly ahead, across the road, is another bookstore and cafe, also titled the Educational Bookshop. Both belong to the Jerusalem-based Muna family; the first sells Arabic books and stationery while the latter sells English books. The bookshop started with one bookseller: my father. Now we are six brothers who read, recommend and sell books, said Mahmoud Muna, manager of the English bookshop.

WATCH: Israels Great Book Robbery

Upon entering the English bookstore, a shelf stocked with books by noted Palestinian academic Edward Said catches the eye. The presence of Said at the entrance is significant since it was his family who originally owned the Arabic bookshop.

Muna traces the connection: The Edward Said family had bookstores in East and West Jerusalem. They ran the Palestine Educational Bookshop on Salah Eddin Street, where they sold stationery and books, Muna told Al Jazeera.

The shop changed hands a few times. When Munas father, Ahmed, bought and established it in 1984, he dropped Palestine from the title, since it was illegal then to have the word Palestine in the title of an entity or the Palestinian flag. Therefore, the name was changed to The Educational Bookshop.

There were no proper English bookstores in Jerusalem, and the only English books were in Israeli bookshops which portrayed the Israeli viewpoint. by Mahmoud Muna, bookshop manager

The history of both bookshops is a reflection of the reading preferences of Jerusalems inhabitants, both locals and tourists, over the years. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the Arabic bookstore stocked mostly books in Arabic on politics, history, poetry, literature and fiction, and some English books on tourism.

A turning point came in 1994-95, when, according to Muna, many Palestinians stopped reading. Palestinians had been reading about the supposed light at the end of the tunnel, promoted by nationalist Palestinian writers who wrote about how the peace process would bring freedom, recalls Muna.

But after the 1993 Oslo Agreement, things changed. It turned out to be lies, and people stopped trusting books. Consequently, the bookstore also suffered.

Muna characterises the post-Oslo years as a time when Jerusalem received an influx of international NGO workers, diplomats and journalists. Jerusalems newcomers sought to understand Palestine and the Middle East better and wanted English books. We made a conscious decision to increase our English selection.

Therefore, Imad Muna, the eldest of the Muna brothers in charge, decided to increase the English selection of the store.

Muna still remembers the ripples created by the publication of Saids Peace and its Discontents, published in 1996. It was the first book to criticise the Palestinian Authority [PA], exposing the peace process and Oslo. We sold hundreds of copies in English and Arabic to Palestinians and foreigners. The PA banned it, but we could sell it since being in Jerusalem we are not under the PA.

The bookstore expanded on Saids collection, also stocking books by Israeli historians like Ilan Pappe and Avi Shlaim, who were critical of the Israeli narrative. Realising that there was a big market for English books, in 2007-08, a new bookstore was established with only English books, along with a cafe and a literary-cultural space called the Jerusalem Literary Salon.

We also witnessed a revival of Arabic readership during this period to which the Arabic bookstore catered.

Muna reflected on the need to present the Palestinian story in English. There were no proper English bookstores in Jerusalem, and the only English books were in Israeli bookshops which portrayed the Israeli viewpoint. British and American authors with orientalist perspectives were writing about Israel and there was very little on the Palestinian viewpoint. This, however, changed in the 90s.

The English Educational Bookshop was the first of its kind in Palestine. This was the first bookstore that sold books in English by Palestinians and about the Palestinian viewpoint, he says.

Central to the identity of the two bookstores is their location in Jerusalem. We want to reinforce the notion of Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. We may expand to other areas, but our main area of functioning needs to be Jerusalem, Muna says, acknowledging that a Jerusalem location renders it inaccessible to many Palestinians who face restrictions on entering Jerusalem.

The English bookstore also hosts cultural and literary events, such as readings, screenings, exhibitions and talks. The bookshop, according to Muna, plays a role in the larger spectrum of cultural resistance and it is being viewed as reinforcing Palestinian culture and identity.

The Palestinians have been stripped of their rights, political representation and freedom. The last thing we have is our culture  the last wall of resistance, which Israel will find very hard to break down. The mission of the bookshop is to reinforce Palestinian culture and identity.

The store has about 1,500 titles encompassing history, fiction, politics, poetry and even cookery. These are serious books, not propaganda. We sell books on Palestine written in different parts of the world.

The bookshop has titles from across the Middle East. Muna says: This is not a Palestine-Israeli conflict; it was and is an Arab-Israeli conflict.





The operations of the bookshop are not without hurdles, with the delivery and clearances of books often delayed. Our books come from the US, UK, India, France, Germany, Jordan, Egypt and Spain and pass through Israeli security, he said.

The Israelis pick on titles. They do not like books such as the Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe or Jeff Halpers book on Israeli manufacture and sales of arms. They also do not like books on Hamas, or with provocative covers. The delivery of such books is delayed by two or three weeks. But since there is no censorship law over English books, no books are confiscated.

Books from Syria, Lebanon and Iran cannot come directly. Instead, they are routed through Jordan.

Muna recalls when Mordechai Vanunu, who had revealed Israeli nuclear secrets, was kidnapped twice from the store. When the Israeli army come, they create a scene. Once a man was shot outside, and our CCTV cameras recorded it. According to Muna, the Israeli forces closed the shop for hours and wanted to take the camera. The lawyer, however, convinced them to take only the footage.

They took the phones of customers and deleted pictures. Sometimes, they spray chemical skunk gas in our neighbourhood, and the foul odours enter our store, too. We do not know if we are being targeted.

On the positive side, Muna points out that there has been a renewal of Palestinian Arab readership. He describes the current readership as fiction preferring, predominantly female, and in the 17-22 age bracket.

The older generation consumed mostly history and politics. The new readers like books on romance and sexuality. I want them to read more serious, classic stuff: Books on Palestinian history, Arab nationalism, Arab communism, and the great literature of the Arab world.

They [young readers] use social media and ask us about books we dont know of. As a bookseller, this ought to be disconcerting, but it makes me happy.
With strong connections to Israeli leaders, analysts say Prime Minister Hani Mulki will focus on bolstering investment.

Jordans King Abdullah II has appointed long-time politician Hani Mulki as the new prime minister responsible for forming an interim government with parliamentary elections fast approaching.

The king ordered the resignation of Prime Minister Abdullah Ensours government as its four-year term came to an end and dissolved parliament on Sunday. Mulki will shepherd in the elections, which are set to take place within the next four months.

Jordanian analysts said the moves came as no surprise as both steps were long anticipated in light of domestic and regional developments.

The outgoing Ensour, who served since 2012, was one of the longest-serving prime ministers in Jordans history. Traditionally prime ministers serve between one to two years, and in some instances for few months only.



Jordan takes more refugees amid Aleppo onslaught

Ensours long tenure witnessed the passing of a new election law, controversial economic reforms, and constitutional amendments that gave the king absolute control over the legislative and judicial branches, in addition to his own executive powers as king.

The new prime minister-designate Mulki was the head of the Aqaba economic zone before he was chosen by King Abdullah.

Husam Abdallat, a former senior government aide at the prime ministers office, told Al Jazeera from Amman that Mulki will most likely be given the job of attempting to engineer new negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis.

Mulki will be working to bring Palestinians and Israelis to the negotiation table and work to bring a final solution to the Palestinian cause which most likely be at the expense of the Palestinian people, he said.

Tareq al-Fayed, an Amman-based analyst on Jordanian affairs and a journalist at the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, said Mulki has two major mandates during his tenure.

The first is to manage the news phase of the parliamentary elections and set the governments political agenda. The second is to manage Israeli-Jordanian relations, which have seen tension over Israels policies and encroachment on the Palestinians in Jerusalem and against al-Aqsa mosque, Fayed told Al Jazeera.

Strong Israeli ties

One of the final acts of the outgoing parliament last week was the passing of the investment law, which allows foreign countries, including Israel, to invest in strategic projects in Jordan, such as energy and infrastructure development.

The majority of parliamentarians voted in a morning session against the inclusion of Israel in the law, but later in the day went on to rescind that vote.

Passing the investment law and allowing Israel to have control over our economics constitutes a serious threat to Jordans economic interests and its national security, said retired army general and columnist Mousa al-Odwan, who writes for the Al-Maqar online newspaper in Amman.

Mulki, 65, previously chaired the Jordanian government committee that negotiates with Israel from 1994-96.

Fayed noted that Mulki enjoys long and strong ties with Israeli leaders, which would not only enable him to smooth over bilateral differences  including over Israels treatment of the Palestinians  but also bring in Israeli capital and investment to help the faltering Jordanian economy.

National security threats

Odwan told Al Jazeera he thinks Mulki is a fresh face and a choice that is much better than the typical ones based on family ties and personal relationships that have dominated the prime ministers office for decades.

He also highlighted that the economic situation in Jordan has reached dangerous levels. Mulki must embark on new economic policies that would revive the Jordanian economy and help the Jordanian public. I wish him well in this area, he said.

Follow Ali Younes on Twitter : @ali_reports
Fighters who control key oil terminals in eastern Libya say they have captured the coastal town of Ben Jawad from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group (ISIL, also known ISIS), east of their stronghold of Sirte.

The Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) said on Monday that they had liberated the town of Ben Jawad, some 160km east of the central city of Sirte, and that fighting was raging for control of the nearby town of Nawfiliyah.

A Ben Jawad resident told the AP news agency that the town had been cleared of ISIL fighters by Monday afternoon.





I believe the ISIL presence was limited in that area, there were less than 10 vehicles and ISIL is not very good at confrontation as they lack the firepower, Saad Abu-Sharada said.

However, Ali al-Hassi, a spokesman for the PFG, said four of his fighters had been killed and 16 others wounded in the clashes.

The PFG, an armed force of 27,000 members set up to protect Libyas oil infrastructure, claims it is partisan and loyal to the recently UN-brokered government.

Elsewhere in Libya, militiamen from the western city of Misrata  who are also loyal to the government  said they were pushing toward Sirte, ISILs main stronghold.

ISIL seized control of Sirte last year, extending its presence along about 250km of coastline on either side of the city.

READ MORE: The ghosts of Gaddafi

Since 2014, Libya has been divided between two parliaments and governments, each backed by a loose set of militias and tribes. The eastern government and parliament were formed after parliamentary elections, but the Tripoli parliament refused to hand over power to them.

Following a UN-brokered deal between factions from each camp at the end of last year, the new unity government has tried to consolidate its grip in the capital, Tripoli, but has faced resistance from various political players and armed groups.

Libya descended into chaos after the toppling and death of Muammar Gaddafi five years ago and soon turned into a battleground of rival groups battling for control.

The power vacuum has allowed ISIL to expand its presence. The group is estimated to have around 5,000 fighters across the country.
Government steps up assault on rebel-held areas of key northern city, dropping hundreds of bombs from the air.

Warning: The above video contains images that some viewers may find distressing

Covered in his own blood, his hands mangled, Ahmed Jamili begged the doctors not to cut up his clothes.

The child, 9, was just one of the victims as the Syrian government pounded rebel strongholds, reportedly with hundreds of air strikes.





My dad only bought them [the clothes] yesterday, Ahmed sobbed. Please dont cut my clothes.

He had been playing outside in the rebel-held district of al-Sakhour in Aleppo when government war planes dropped their bombs.

His two brothers were killed. A building close by collapsed entirely.

At first people were not sure whether anyone was alive, until they heard a child crying.

Rescuers squeezed into a narrow opening in the rubble scrambling to clear the way, before they pulled out a young girl.

Several minutes passed before a second little girl was brought out, somehow unhurt.

Activists said that in 48 hours, Syrian and Russian forces launched more than 100 air strikes on rebel-held areas of Aleppo city, and across the province.

Civil Defence volunteers, also known as the White Helmets, said more than 700 bombs, including barrel bombs and cluster bombs, were dropped in and around Aleppo city.

The Civil Defence said at least 17 people were killed while 73 others were injured, among them women and children.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that at least 35 people were killed, including seven children, in air strikes on Aleppo.

READ MORE: Russias draft constitution  End of Syrias Baath era?

The bombardment is part of a concerted government assault on some of the last major rebel strongholds: Aleppo, Homs and Daraya, a Damascus suburb.

Aid groups said suffering in Daraya is compounded by the refusal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assads forces to let aid convoys into the city.

The United Nations said it may not be able to go ahead with planned aid drops, saying it would be too dangerous without the Syrian governments cooperation.

Elsewhere in Syria, areas near the National Hospital in Idlib city were targeted by at least seven government air strikes, the Observatory reported late on Monday.

No death toll has been recorded, but the Civil Defence said the number of casualties could be high.
Decades after it gained its freedom from France, some say Chad is being subjected to a new form of colonialism.

On August 11, 1960, Chad gained its independence from France. But the post-independence euphoria was short-lived as Francois Tombalbaye, the countrys president, proved to be an autocratic leader.

Almost immediately he banned all political parties  paving the way for nearly 40 years of civil war.

The Hissene Habre regime was like a bloody dictatorship - no liberties, no freedom of opinion. by Delphine Djiraibe, human rights lawyer

Since then each regime that rose to power has had to live with this democratic violence. To this day we cant get rid of it, Saleh Kebzabo, the head of opposition in the National Assembly of Chad, says.

The cycle of violence continued after Tombalbayes death and was often inflamed by Chads neighbours.

Hissene Habre, Tombalbayes successor, came to power in 1982, but he too ruled with an iron fist. Under his watch close to 20,000 people were killed and many more disappeared.



The Hissene Habre regime was like a bloody dictatorship  no liberties, no freedom of opinion, Delphine Djiraibe, a human rights lawyer, says.

A tropical democracy



In 1990 Idriss Deby, a military commander, took control of the country. He has been in power ever since. With his rule multi-party politics returned to Chad, giving a semblance of freedom to its citizens.

We have experienced 20 years of democracy, since President Deby took control. I dont want to sound ungrateful and say its not a real democracy but lets call it a democracy with a tropical flavour, Kebzabo says.

But the reality remains that there are issues. There is a measure of liberty allowed but with consequences. So I think there is room for improvement and we are fighting for that.

Throughout Chads post-independence changes, the influence of its former colonial master has remained constant.

Fast forward to today and you can say that we are being subjected to neocolonialism. Because you have an independent state that is being dragged or carried along by France and that creates problems, Kebzabo says.

Each and every government that came to power post independence has had the support of the French military to help crush the rebellion.



Black gold

Almost 40 years of civil war took its toll on Chads economy [GALLO/GETTY]

The years of political unrest took their toll on the countrys economy, which relied primarily on arable and livestock farming, as well as cotton exports to France. But the discovery of oil promised to transform Chad.

It was in 1973 when Esso discovered the first oil in Doba in southern Chad, Tabe Eugene NGaolam, Chads oil minister, says.

But constant violence and insecurity kept investors away and it was only in 2000, with the backing of the World Bank, that oil giant Esso decided to build a pipeline.



The Chad-Cameroon pipeline would carry Chads oil from Doba, in the south of the country, to a port in neighbouring Cameroon for export to world markets.



Under pressure from civil rights groups, the World Bank devised a brand new model of investment. In return for its backing and funds, the Chadian government agreed to divert a large percentage of the oil revenues towards the countrys development.



In 2003 the oil began to flow, but any hope of a peace dividend was fleeting. Citing increased unrest and the threat of rebellion, Deby redirected oil revenues to military spending. The World Banks repeated protests fell on deaf ears and in 2008 it finally withdrew.

But oil production continued.



I think it was only a misunderstanding between the World Bank and the Chadian government. The terms of the agreement were that a share of the money should be kept for future generations. But the Chadian government decided to prioritise other sectors, NGaolam says. And what I dont understand is why the World Bank blames Chad when they used the oil revenue to buy weapons and beat out their aggressors. When there is no peace there will never be development.

Incoherent social policy



Perhaps the biggest criticism leveled at the government is that not enough of the oil wealth trickles down to Chads population.



Today, its been five or six years since we started exporting petroleum  but the ordinary Chadian does not benefit from it, because there is a lack of good governance, Kebzabo says.



But in the capital, Ndjamena, the old is being swept aside to make room for the new  roads, hospitals and schools are being built and mud houses are being replaced by brick ones.



I believe that oil had a positive impact on the quality of life of Chadians. Our average income per year went from $160 a few years ago to $480 today, says Ali Abdel-Rahmane Haggar, an economic analyst.

And its clear that we are living longer. Men are living past 52 years of age when previously their life expectancy was 45. For women it was 49, today they are living to 55 and this is because of the availability of health care. Infant mortality has also dropped.



But for Djiraibe the facts and figures mask a lack of coherent social policy.



When you come to Ndjamena you will see that there are roads, there are buildings but for who [are] those roads and  buildings being built? Delphine asks.

You have that and just across the road you have people that are living with no means  not a house, not sanitation, nothing to eat.

Boomtowns



Outside Ndjamena much of the country is underdeveloped, with most people working as nomadic herders in the arid north or farmers in the south. But the towns and villages where oil was discovered are different. The government has set aside five per cent of the oil windfall to develop the areas surrounding the wells  turning once sleepy villages such as Doba into boomtowns.



There are many people who come to Doba to find work. Doba is being developed, its a nice town, says Jibril Ayunanbe, a taxi driver who moved to Doba from the capital.

We have [a] commercial centre, paved roads and there are many buildings that were built recently and more are on the way and thats a good thing. What is not good is that there is a lot of prostitution. I have to say that in general we are not worried about changes to society, but we are scared because the Chadian government can take away the land we live on and say that this is land that belongs to the state.

Such fears are not far-fetched. Marsiel Diranay is a farmer whose land was appropriated by the government.



Esso sent an American woman; she came to work with us here in the village. She explained to us that Esso will be coming to exploit the oil here and that people whose land was occupied would be compensated and that the village will receive help in developing its infrastructure, Diranay explains.

Its true that I received money as compensation for my land. But now I dont have any left. I invested it in a big house in Bibidjay so I can rent it out but this house was destroyed by a storm and now I have no money and no land, he says.



Djiraibe believes that people in the oil region are now poorer than they were before oil was discovered.



Their lands have been taken for the oil project. They get compensation but without preparation. The cash that they have received has been expended like that and now they find themselves with nothing.



A new colonial master?

Many complain that the oil profits have not trickled down to those most in need [GALLO/GETTY]

The precious mineral remains primarily in the hands of foreign entities, with China the latest to increase its influence in the region.



China and the African countries have a potential to cooperate together, not only in the energy and oil sector but also in the industrial one, Hang Mingyuan, the commercial attache of the Chinese embassy in Chad, says. Chinas direct investments in Africa today surpass $5bn.



In 2007, China National Petroleum Cooperation (CNPC) struck black gold in Chad. Since then China, unlike Esso, has diversified its activities in the country  building Chads first ever oil refinery which, when completed in 2011, will have the capacity to refine 20,000 barrels of oil per day.



Ahmat Khazali Acyl, the managing director of Chads National Energy Company, CNPCs partner in the joint venture, says: We [have been] producing crude oil since 2003. We are in 2010 and we are still importing [the] finished product for our engines. For us it does not make sense. So in a way we are becoming independent. Were using our own product and well notice the price at the pump.

Acyl says the refinery will be run largely by Chadians. But the workers constructing it are mostly Chinese and China has been criticised for bringing their work force with them rather than creating jobs for locals. They also stand accused of jealously guarding their technology and expertise, but insist they are training Chadians to take over.



Unlike Western donors and investors, China has a non-interference policy, but exactly what this means is open to debate. For critics it allows China to flout international requirements and prop up despotic regimes. But for those who are tired of the conditions placed on them by Western donors and investors, it presents an opportunity.



Whatever is going on now its actually developing the country. The schools that our kids are going to, the health district that were building, the hospitals, the wells for clean water. Everything is going into helping out people with our own resources. Finding partners to get those resources out of the ground I dont think is a form of neocolonialism, Acyl says.

The curse of oil

But stability remains elusive and the flow of petrodollars has made Chad a bigger prize. The rebels have grown more determined to wrest control from Deby  who has responded by consolidating his grip on power  and in the last decade have made numerous bids to take over the country.

It is a curse. Now we are in the midst of armed conflict because of the oil money, Delphine says.



And while the nation makes billions of dollars annually in oil revenue, many of its people remain destitute. We have a high unemployment rate; almost 40 per cent of the active population do not work. We have a bad economic plan  [and] corruption  has made things more expensive, Haggar says.

This January, Chad and Sudan signed a peace treaty, vowing to put an end to their funding of and support for rebel groups in each others countries. Presidential elections are due to take place in 2011 and the opposition is hoping that this time around they will be free and fair.

In the last two years the opposition signed an accord with the majority government to improve the democratic process. And thats whats happening currently, Kebzabo says.

But it is clear that the nation still has a long way to go before its people begin to reap the rewards of peace and oil profits. Fifty years after gaining its freedom from France, Chads struggle to be truly independent continues.
           2005     ..        
The Secretary-General condemns the deadly attack that took place today in the Mopti region, in Mali, against a convoy of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). According to preliminary reports, five peacekeepers from Togo were killed when a MINUSMA convoy travelling on the Tenenkou-Sevare axis was ambushed by unknown assailants some []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric...
Given the news about the recent bank thefts carried out over the Swift messaging system, banks might be wondering if there is an alternative for cross-border payments.

Flatly, there isn't  at least not today, or at least not one that would offer the depth of Swift services while addressing the safety concerns raised by the heists.

For banks, that is likely unsettling news. After the revelation by Symantec researchers that linked North Korea to the series of recent attacks targeting banks in Asia and gaining access to the Swift messaging system, the worldwide financial industry is on increased alert.

"If there is an alternative, I'm not aware of it. It's pretty crazy  you've got some networks that could handle the payments part, but that's not the only information that flows over the Swift network," said Patricia Hines, a senior analyst at Celent. "There is no direct competitor for the broad strokes of what they do."

For starters, there is the entry-point issue. The hackers are entering the network at the bank level, they aren't breaching Swift's network. Any alternative system would still need to address the security issues at the banks that are putting the whole network at risk. A network that is made up of many members  Swift works with 11,000 banks and other financial services firms  is only as secure as its weakest link, said Dana Bowers, chief executive of the financial technology vendor Venminder.

"The bigger the organization, the more difficult it is to have your arms wrapped around every little thing," she said. "It's like sticking your finger in the dyke; you plug one hole and several more pop up."

Some have suggested that a blockchain-based solution could prevent the thefts given its distributed and transparent qualities, but some security experts say hackers could still get in. "The issue is of these compromised credentials that look legitimate," said Aleksandr Yampolskiy, chief executive of Security Scorecard, a security benchmarking firm. "With a blockchain solution, if [a fraudster] could obtain the private key, then the core issue of the impersonation of a legitimate user is still there."

Others say that while a blockchain-based network would still be vulnerable to breaches, fraudsters would have a harder time covering their tracks given blockchain's auditability.

"But if the front door is still unlocked, it doesn't help much," said Al Pascual, research director and head of fraud and security for Javelin Strategy & Research.

The attacks, which targeted a bank in the Philippines in October 2015, a Vietnamese bank in December of that year, and the central bank of Bangladesh in February, resulted in more than $81 million in stolen funds.

In published reports, Swift said the fault lay not with its core messaging network, but with the individual banks' connection points to its network.

For its part, the collective has been reaffirming that its system is secure.

"Cybersecurity is part of our DNA; it is not just an afterthought," Gottfried Leibbrandt, Swift's chief executive, said on May 24 at a financial services conference Belgium. "It is not just hardware and software but people, processes, procedures, checks and in fact a whole organization for whom failure is not an option."

And in a statement emailed to American Banker, a Swift spokesperson said the organization in a May 13 advisory urged members to review controls in their payments environments.

"This includes everything from employee checks to password protection to cyberdefenses," the spokesperson said. "We recommended that customers consider third party assurance reviews and, where necessary, asked their correspondent banks and service bureaus to work with them on enhanced arrangements."

But nonetheless, Pascual said, "there's plenty of blame to go around" for banks and Swift alike.

Pascual said the banks that were victimized must take responsibility for allowing their systems to be compromised, thus allowing hackers access to the Swift messaging network. "The onus is absolutely on them," he added.

But Pascual said Swift too must take stock of the way it operates and be more proactive in sharing and aggregating information on its network that could give banks a "heads up" that suspicious activity might be happening.

"There needs to be more open conversations," between banks and Swift, and among banks, Pascual said. "Swift should facilitate what information they know, and encourage banks to have conversations."

Further, he added, "the Swift code is a bit antiquated, maybe a bit more sophisticated coding on their end would help."

Hines added that while there is no alternate system today, perhaps Swift and the industry should begin thinking about one.

"Almost any other major system worries about a redundant system," Hines said.

Robert Barba contributed to this article.


The Netherlands has just declared the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against Israel to be free speech. Israel is furious; but for classic conservatives, there is no easy answer to this issue.

Statements or meetings concerning BDS are protected by freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, as enshrined in the Dutch Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights, [Dutch Foreign Minister Bert] Koenders said Thursday...-- Jerusalem Post

Of course, Israel is furious about this.

In response to the Dutch move, [Israeli] Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon lashed back and told the Post that there needed to be limits on the concept of freedom of speech.

Once free speech becomes a pretext for allowing hate speech, then it is no longer legitimate, Nachshon said. -- Jerusalem Post

"Limits on the concept of freedom of speech?" Sounds detestable. Who gets to decide those limits?

Boycotts have been a major part of the Western social arsenal for centuries. History has been swayed by boycotts.

The Boston Tea Party led to a sense of American identity and the American Revolution

The Irish led boycott against eponymous Captain Boycott resurrected Irish nationalism and put Britain on notice that the Gaels were not beaten.

The Jews themselves unsuccessfully tried to boycott German goods in the 1930s, in hopes of toppling Hitler.

In Mandatory Palestine, both the Arabs and Jews tried to boycott each other. Labor Zionism was predicated on Jewish exclusivity.

Blacks led a boycott of the Montgomery Bus line to desegregate buses.

In NAACP vs Claiborne Hardware, 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld boycotts as protected speech.

So boycotts have an honorable history. It is with trepidation that any Western government should intervene to stop them. Normally, they are a vital part of the democratic process. At least Sweden thought so, as well.

...Sweden had been the only European government to recognize that BDS is a civil society movement and that governments should not try to impede it. -- Electronic Intifada

But other nations in Europe have judged in favor of Israel. They agree with the Israeli government that BDS is hate speech intended to bankrupt the Jewish state into dissolution, just as South Africa was broken.

In October 2015, the French high court declared BDS illegal.

French law prohibits targeting of nations for discrimination -- Times of Israel

While one applauds France's preference for the Israeli position, the Muslim world asks why it is deemed okay for the French to draw nude pictures of Mohammed, insulting Islam, in Charlie Hebdo, but peaceful boycotts against Israel are now taboo. Of course, France is less inclined to appreciate Islamic calls for free speech after the Islamic attacks in Paris. Since when were the Muslims ever peacefully in favor of free speech? At least the French did not shoot up BDS organizations.

The fact remains, however: even though Islam obviously does not respect free speech; should the French have restricted free speech; albeit for a different purpose? Though Islam is despicable, free speech has taken a hit in France.

Amazingly, Spain, formerly the land of the Spanish Inquisition, declared BDS a form of discrimination, and therefore illegal. This is no clear voice coming out of Europe.

Is BDS free speech, a democratic movement to effect change in the Mideast, or anti-Semitic discrimination intended to destroy Israel? Depends on which country one is in, and which court is appealed to.

Now the U.S. Government has passed tough legislation to outlaw participation in, or complicity with, the Arab League Boycott of Israel; but this was done on the basis that American businesses should not be coerced into supporting the policies of foreign governments, not as a restriction on free speech. Individuals were never forbidden to boycott Israel, though until recently there was never a social demand for it.

In response to BDS, here in the USA, states have passed anti-BDS legislation laws where companies and groups, deemed to have boycotted Israel, are now blacklisted (counter-boycotted) from government contracts. BDS activists note that some of these states had no problem boycotting South Africa; and have vowed to fight these blacklists through the courts.

I do not support BDS, but I do support free speech; and so I am in a quandary.

Such restrictions on free speech come to no good. After WWII, with the Holocaust in mind, European countries passed laws protecting minorities from hate speech. Instead of protecting Jews, the laws ended up protecting Muslims from criticism. Michel Houellebecq was hauled into French court for merely criticizing the literary merits of the Koran. Geert Wilders was hauled into Dutch court. Brigette Bardot was regularly in and out of court. And this is just a short list.

Laws intended to protect Jews ended up protecting the enemies of Jews.

Should boycotts become illegal in the USA, it may criminalize state laws intended to continue the boycott against Iran, a boycott Israel would endorse.

We urge states to do exactly the opposite. Rather than drop their sanctions against Iran, states should strengthen and expand those sanctions. Regardless of President Obamas view of Iran, the states certainly have numerous moral and reputational reasons to prohibit the investment of public assets, such as pension funds, into companies doing business with countries that sponsor terrorism, and to prohibit state agencies from doing business with such companies. -- Wall Street Journal

An anti-boycott precedent could hurt Israel more than help it.

Some might say that free speech ends when it comes to the survival of the Jewish people. Questioning Israel's legitimacy is inherently anti-Semitic. Sounds good! But is it logical?

One might opine that the Confederacy had no legitimate right to exist. Does that make the person anti-Southern? Southerners can exist as individuals without a nation-state. Is it therefore intrinsically anti-Semitic to deny the legitimacy of Israel, if one accords civil rights to individual Jews?

Zionists would answer that Jewish identity is so tied up with the land, and since Jewish law requires one to be in the land, that yes! to deny the legitimacy of Israel is to be intrinsically anti-Semitic.

However, do all ethnic groups have a right to independence?!

Is one anti-Welsh if one thinks the claim for Welsh independence is weak? Is it anti-Celtic to deny the Bretons of Northwest France their own country? Is it anti-Quebecois to question the drive for Quebec independence?

If a three-state solution (Wales, Scotland, England) is proper for Britain, how about a five-state solution for Spain (Galicia, Catalonia, Basque Country, Andalusia, and Metro Madrid)? After all, all these groups have had a continuous presence in their lands for two thousand years. And let us not forget about the Cornish! They are resurrecting their formerly dead language.

I am emotionally sympathetic to claims of some of these groups, while less sympathetic to others. I think Catalonia can and should be free, but I cannot see a group as small as the Bretons ever attaining independence as a practical matter. But questioning the legitimacy of Breton independence does not make me anti-Breton. I have no opinion on Flemish independence.

The Palestinians would assert then that it is intrinsically anti-Palestinian to deny the right of Palestine to exist in Palestine. Jews would reply that Palestinians are Fakestinians. Palestinians would point to recent DNA evidence questioning the quantum of Hebrew DNA in modern Jews. Zionists would point to counter-evidence.

Elhaik says he has proved that Ashkenazi Jews roots lie in the Caucasus -- a region at the border of Europe and Asia that lies between the Black and Caspian seas -- not in the Middle East. They are descendants, he argues, of the Khazars, a Turkic people who lived in one of the largest medieval states in Eurasia and then migrated to Eastern Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. -- Forward

It is last week's study versus next week's.

New genetic study: More evidence for modern Ashkenazi Jews ancient Hebrew patrimony -- Standford.edu

Whom to trust?

The two sides in this debate refuse to yield, and now the fight has been taken into European -- and soon to be American -- courts. They will fight to the last shred of Western Enlightenment Law has been eviscerated. Fifty years ago this would not have landed in anyone's court and the battling sides would have been told to confine their bickering solely to the Mideast.

I do not support BDS; but I do support the First Amendment. I want Israel to live, but I do not want dangerous restrictions put on free speech. Such laws always backfire. Ask Michel Houellebecq or Geert Wilders.

There is no easy answer to this problem. BDS is starting to hurt Israel. Agrexco, an Israeli agricultural firm, went bankrupt. Sodastream suffered a setback from BDS. BDS is rearing a generation of anti-Israel intelligentsia on campuses all over the Western world. If left unchecked BDS will snowball. Israel is right to fight it.

But is restricting free speech the only option left? Can't Israel fight BDS without eroding the most precious right of the past three centuries: Free Speech? and calling for restrictions? Particularly when conservative Zionists are so quick to use their freedom to attack Islam? Wouldn't restrictions also backfire on them?

I have no easy answer to this. I do not want to see Israel hurt or go under, but neither do I want free speech restricted. If one says BDS is an agent of Arab foreign policy -- and it may be -- and therefore should be illegal; how long would AIPAC hold up to similar scrutiny?

No one had expected the Arabs/Palestinians/Fakestinians to fight on this long or this determinedly. And it seems that no one will be allowed to take a neutral position. Will the West have to prioritize whether the Jewish state or Free Political Speech is the superior value? One's opinion on Israel is no longer confined to theory. It now seems Western democratic institutions and practices will be adversely affected.

The Arabs demand free speech to destroy Israel, but scream and shoot if Mohammed is criticized. Zionists wants free speech to criticize Islam, but will sue and if possible, prosecute, if one advocates BDS. We in the West no longer have the option to tell the opponents to take it elsewhere.

Any position I would take would get me flamed. So I leave it to the readers to thrash it out in the comments, chiefly because I am horrified that we have so few other options.

Mike Konrad is the pen name of an American who is neither Latin, nor Arab. He runs a website, http://latinarabia.com, where he discusses the subculture of Arabs in Latin America. He wishes his Spanish were better.
Many millions of men and women have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, from WWII to the present. They all may have had numerous assorted reasons for joining, from benefits and educational opportunities to travel and real world experiences, but for the most part, they understood that U.S. military might was necessary for peace. They have stood ready and leapt into action against our enemies, making them pay a terrible price for any aggression or attack, and they have made many personal sacrifices in the process, in order to keep this great America of ours safe and free forever.

And today our service members follow in the tradition of such American patriots as Tennessee Representative Felix Grundy, who addressed the U.S. Congress in 1811 with the following: [The question is] "whether we will resist by force the attempt, made by the [British] government, to subject our maritime rights to the arbitrary and capricious rule of her will... Sir, I prefer war to submission."

There is not any way to properly acknowledge the service of so many wonderful and deserving people in a list. Many of us have family members or someone in our community who left military service and carried on through exemplary lives, pursuing their dreams.

Apart from my father, a much decorated U.S. Army sergeant who served during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, some of those Veterans who most influenced my life include:

A.C. "Ace" Wintermeyer, a WWII U.S. Army Veteran and Chief of LaVergne Fire Department, who gave me my first real job.

Sam Ridley, a much decorated WWII Air Force Veteran, who did many fine things for Smyrna, TN as its mayor and always had a moment for some great conversation with Smyrna's youth.

Professor (Lt. Colonel) Ralph Fullerton, my mentor at MTSU and a former aide to the ambassador to Nicaragua, who was one of the most adventurous, interesting and intelligent men I ever had the pleasure of knowing.

SSGT Barry Sadler, a Vietnam Veteran and author of the 'Ballad of the Green Beret' and 'Nashville With a Bullet', who often regaled me with fascinating stories, good advice and a bit of philosophy over many a cup of coffee at Shoney's Big Boy in Hendersonville, TN.

SSGT Macon Blue, my Drill Instructor at Ft Benning and a Vietnam Veteran, who had a steel plate in his head and only one lung, due to a "friendly-fire" incident, who often repeated, "Let your conscience be your guide, young soldier."

Pete Doughtie, a U.S. Army Veteran, who owns and operates The Rutherford Reader, along with his wife Kaye, and who has been gracious enough to give me the opportunity to keep the community informed through one of the few conservative and ethical newspapers left in America.

Most able-bodied men and a small number of women, nearly 10% of the entire U.S. population, served in the military during WWII and were on active duty by war's end. As a result, most Baby Boomers have at least one family member who served in uniform, and approximately one-third of all Americans born since 1980 are related to someone with military experience.

Today, our armed forces are comprised of an undrafted, all-volunteer cadre, most of whom enlisted after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. and has included nearly 300,000 women, cut from the same cloth as Lt. Col. Courtney Rogers, a Tennessee State Legislator, Lt. Col. Joni Earnst, Iowa's Republican Representative and SRA Shevontae "Smitty" Smith who served with Reaper 5 in Bagram, Afghanistan.

Soldiers who fully comprehend and believe in the mission usually come home and are able to adjust well. These are the hard men in battle, living, breathing and eating combat operations around the clock.

The vast majority of recent veterans, roughly 90% according to numerous studies, are not bitter or angry. They say they still would have enlisted, even in consideration of all they now know about war and military service.

U.S. Army Sgt. David Moeller, who served two years in Iraq, told the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2014: [We] "had a positive impact there. I don't regret it. It's something I'd do over and over again."

However, even the strongest among us might succumb to the pressure cooker of multiple tours of duty and an untold number of bloody and horrific combat actions. One in two soldiers have reported to government inquiries that they know a member of the military who has attempted or committed suicide, and over one million soldiers say they cannot control their anger.

No one person can presume to actually understand the mental and physical toll military service takes on a soldier, unless they have been where it's real, where an IED can end your life in a second or where an old Muslim with a mild smile on his face and gentle empathetic eyes says "Allah Akbar" and detonates himself and all within a hundred-foot circumference. Unless one has hunted for the enemy along goat paths and in little mud and wood constructed towns, where an RPG can scorch a man's flesh from his body in a second, raided a cave by moonlight taking fire all the way to extract, and lain in their own urine and defecation for three days for a high-value shot, one cannot fully comprehend the soldier's sacrifice.

During a recent conversation, it was heartbreaking and shocking to hear a 90-year-old WWII veteran reminisce and say, with a voice weakened by time, "I wish I'd died over there." I told him his life and his experiences were valuable to his family and this generation, and that he was loved by me and millions of other Americans, who understood he had laid it all on the line in the name of freedom. His only answer was a nod of his head, a half-smile and tears welling in his eyes.

How many old soldiers returned home only to send their sons off to war to fight and survive or return in a flag-draped coffin?

Since our nation's founding, the strong independent nature of the American people carried over into the military, which enabled America to pursue her best interests and to become the strongest and wealthiest nation in the world. The wheel of destiny has turned so that any hope for peace and freedom will hinge on America's moral courage and a U.S. military that ensures "peace through strength."

This Memorial Day and every day forward, take a few moments, whenever the opportunity presents itself, to offer the sincerest, well-thought thanks to the men and women of our U.S. armed forces, with more than just a smile and a handshake. Offer a friendly ear on occasion and really listen. Offer a helping hand to those veterans struggling to re-enter civilian life, and offer friendship to all of these brave men and women. And, as we acknowledge that so many have sacrificed their lives defending America, the U.S. Constitution and freedom and liberty worldwide, we offer our prayers for all the U.S. armed forces, who protect this nation's existence each and every day, and we pray for America.
Six years ago, American Thinker published The Mom Thing, my article on the high price of freedom paid by members of the American military and their families.

Just last week, the Mom of the article was once again my assistant in surgery and, after we finished the operation, she took me aside to show me -- almost bursting with pride -- her new Mom Thing, as seen in the photo showing her little boy (soldier on left) now the very recruiting-poster model of a combat-ready U.S. Marine.

It was the AT article that brought this Mom to the realization that not only should she allow but actually encourage her son to don the uniform and put his life on the line in his patriotic duty to America.

For those who manned the battle line, the bugle whispers low... and Freedom has a taste and flavor the protected never know.

Here is the original article:

One morning when I was scrubbing for a surgery in the California hospital where I work, one of the staff nurses approached me and, knowing of my interest in and knowledge of firearms, asked what kind of gun she ought to buy her seventeen-year-old son for his introduction to arms.

She told me her boy had recently been to a range in Texas with an uncle who had shown him how to shoot, and now he was keen to select a college in that state because he liked the open attitude of Texans toward firearms.

I suggested that if her son was that interested in firearms, he might also be thinking of the military, and if so, Virginia Military Institute might be a good choice for college.

No sooner were the words out of my mouth than she screwed her face up into a tight frown of distaste with "I don't want him in the army."

I asked her if she believed, as I did, that no citizen can enjoy clear title to the benefits and privileges of a society unless he or she has worn the uniform to defend that society. She hesitantly said yes, but she said she still wanted to keep her child far away from the military, saying, "He's my little boy; I got the mom thing going on."

I then inquired if she thought our country should have a strong military or even a military at all, and she again reluctantly said yes, but then repeated her "mom thing" caveat.

I asked if she understood that if her child failed to do his uniformed duty, then the slack would just have to be picked up by some other mother's son or daughter, but she only repeated her mantra a third time, and a bit testily.

Our conversation ended, but for the rest of the day, I reflected on the "mom thing," knowing, of course, that as a male, I could never have firsthand knowledge of motherhood. But then it suddenly occurred to me that I might actually have seen and experienced -- up close and personal -- the phenomenon my nurse friend was talking about.

It was on a cold drizzly December day a few years ago when I witnessed the "mom thing." I was following the mom of one of my son's VMI classmates as she marched slowly through the rain behind the horse-drawn, flag-draped caisson that bore the body of her "little boy" to its final resting place.

A mournful, muffled drum marked cadence.

At graveside, the honor guard did their part in the "mom thing" as they smartly folded and presented the tri-corner flag to the fallen hero's mom, who stood straight and true, her body flinching slightly at the sharp cracks of the rifle salute.

The piper, on a grassy rise behind the undulating rows on rows of crosses with the stark walls of the Pentagon as backdrop, droned an Amazing Grace as the soundtrack to this sad woman's "mom thing."

And then, from the near distance, the bugler blew the final notes of this "mom thing": the familiar and haunting twenty-four notes of Taps.

Yes, maybe I did understand something of the "mom thing."

Maybe it was the "mom thing" I experienced during the year my 82nd-Airborne , Ranger son commanded a combat infantry platoon in Kandahar, Afghanistan, when, in the late evening, my doorbell would ring unexpectedly, and my world and heart would stop -- literally.

And maybe it was the "mom thing" I lived during the seven long months my Marine daughter served in Al Anbar, Iraq, and in the long, silent periods in which I would receive no calls or e-mails, my mind would turn -- back to Arlington.

Yes, maybe I did know the feeling, but I guess if I called it anything, it was the "dad thing."

But what does it matter the name we assign to the most powerful feeling we humans can experience -- the love and the fear of the loss of our children?

And now, to that young nurse who saw her "mom thing" as a call to keep her little boy away from the military and safe at home, I say only: You owe me no explanation.

But there may be someone to whom you do.

Next time you visit our nation's capital, take a walk down the Mall from the Washington Monument, past the World War One Memorial, the World War Two Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Vietnam Women's Memorial, and "The Wall," and continue walking across the bridge, the one just behind the Lincoln Memorial, to Arlington National Cemetery , and please explain your "mom thing" to another mom's little boy, the young captain from Idaho we buried on that gray, brooding December day -- ironically, the seventh.

And when you go, please take your own little boy along so he can hear what you have to say, for I'm sure he'll carry and perhaps even treasure the memory of your words for the rest of his life.

You'll be looking for Section 60, Site 8081, and the hero's name is Luke Wullenwaber, Virginia Military Institute, Class of 2002.

And you needn't bother calling ahead, because he knows you'll be there -- someday.
It is a time, like past times, of pressures and temptations, sticks and carrots.

The year was 1530 and Thomas More, Chancellor of England, had a decision to make. King Henry VIII, frustrated that his wife, Catherine of Aragon, had failed to produce a male heir (necessary, in Henrys mind, to avoid dynastic wars), wanted the Pope to invalidate his marriage, which would free Henry to solve the problem. More opposed the plan and, dutifully, decided to offer his resignation. The offer was refused with the tacit understanding that, while serving as chancellor, More would remain silent on the subject. Then things got interesting. As depicted in the classic play A Man For All Seasons (1960) by Robert Bolt, More continued as chancellor for another two years, resigning his position in 1532 and three years later (spoiler alert), for refusing to take the oath of the Act of Succession, was found guilty of treason and beheaded.

Bolts fascinating play is a study of the pressures and temptations More endures over five tormenting years. Arrayed against him are family, friends, colleagues, society, and government. Even the boatmen (think taxi drivers) express their disdain! Each faction skillfully plays its best and unique cards to persuade More to take the oath: friend Norfolk, Why can't you do as I did and come with us, for fellowship?; Daughter Margaret argues since God more regards the thoughts of the heart than the words of the mouth Then say the words of the oath and in your heart think otherwise; wife Alice, Youre content, then, to be shut up here with mice and rats when you might be home with us!. A good debate can be had over which of these More suffers most intensely.

While there is no direct threat of death, I think there are parallels we can draw to the pressures and temptations conservatives are experiencing in the aftermath of a Trump nomination. Arrayed against us are friends, family, colleagues and the Republican Party, each making its best argument to persuade conservatives to pull the lever for Trump: Supreme Court appointments, the border, ISIS, the economy, welfare, national debt, health insurance, taxes, regulation, trade, foreign policy, minimum wage, social values, free speech, Second Amendment, national defense, EPA, etc. No sane person, regardless of justifiable opposition, would withhold their vote for Trump, because that would guarantee the decline and fall of the United States of America. From TV and Twitter, Facebook and forums, bumpers and blogs, comes the relentless scolding: Face reality and get on board the Trump train! By all evidence, the arguments are effective as each day brings new declarations of support or capitulation, depending on your perspective.

I confess I am sorely tempted by the Supreme Court argument: We may not know what Trump will do but we know precisely what a Democrat nominee will do; so cast a vote for the Constitution and the lives of the most innocent and defenseless among us  the unborn. Its powerful!

In A Man For All Seasons, King Henry tempts More: If you could come with me, you are the man I would soonest raise -- yes, with my own hand. More responds: Oh, Your Grace overwhelms me! Bearing in mind that More is already Lord Chancellor, what raising did Henry have in mind? If More would simply say the words of the oath and, in his heart, think otherwise, consider what he might have accomplished had he remained chancellor and Henrys close confidante. After all, More was admired and influential throughout all classes of English and European society (This silence of his is bellowing up and down Europe!). Might he have moderated future policies under which the poor suffered? Not all monasteries dissolved by Henry were corrupt, nor their wealth mishandled. How many lives might More have saved by remaining by Henrys side providing wise counsel? More was conscious of this in a response to the Spanish ambassador: Have you considered that what has been done badly, might have been done worse, with a different chancellor. Country, family, career, his very life -- with so much at stake what sane person would refuse to take the oath? How is it you cannot see? Everyone else does.

My friends maintain they understand my dilemma but insist that the choice before us is bad or really bad, regrettable but necessary. Think of the good Trump might do. They accuse me of selfishly wanting to remain morally pure. And I hear Cardinal Wolsey: You're a constant regret to me, Thomas. If you could just see facts flat-on, without that horrible moral squint... With a little common sense you could have made a statesman. Do my pro-Trump conservative friends recall the pro-life Democrats who chose insurance for the uninsured over protection for the unborn? Was theirs not the same temptation, regrettable but necessary?

And when my friends persist I want to respond as More did to his friend Norfolk: I will not give in, because I oppose it -- I do -- not my pride, not my spleen, nor any other of my appetites, but I do, -- I! Is there in the midst of all this muscle, no single sinew that serves no appetite of Norfolk's, but is just Norfolk? There is! Give that some exercise, my lord!. The influential, who once denounced Trump in various ways as a fast option to hell, now declare him to be the best chance for salvation. When I ask the Trump bandwagon jumpers how they reconcile the two, they dismiss it as just politics. The first position was politics, the second is conviction. The distinction eludes me but it is convenient! King Henry decries a mass that follows me because it follows anything that moves.

What is a conservative to do?

When More first learns of the oath, he is passionate about the wording: An oath is made of words! It may be possible to take it. Or avoid it God made the angels to show him splendor... But man he made to serve him wittily, in the tangle of his mind Our natural business lies in escaping -- so lets get home and study this Bill. Might a conservative yet escape?

Not voting for Trump is a vote for the Democratic nominee. This assumes the voter always votes and always votes Republican. Lets allow the assumption. What if I could find a voter who always votes and always votes Democrat and shares the same antipathy for their nominee? This person is pressured by the converse: Not voting for the Democratic nominee is a vote for Trump. If we promised one another to vote none of the above then we will have escaped!

Intermission: Please take the time you need to express righteous indignation at the very thought of trusting someone who always votes [insert party affiliation]. Its an oxymoron.

There are three additional benefits to this brilliant strategy. If enough voters join in (in effect, bow out), whoever wins the election will have a weak mandate which may temper otherwise aggressive policies. The establishment of both parties will receive a clear message of frustration. And Trump supporters will be euphoric because we are, after all, modelling their hero and making a deal!

By all indicators, this impasse will persist. Perhaps the best we can achieve is a respect for a considered position we cannot comprehend. It is finally a matter of conscience. More helps again: And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience, and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me, for fellowship? I believe, when statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties they lead their country by a short route to chaos.

In considering Mores charitable inclinations to give away everything, his steward Matthew (the common man) reflects:

There must be something he wants to keep -- its only common sense.
Nobody in the history of American popular culture devoted more time and effort to the welfare and morale of our troops than the late comedian Bob Hope. When he died in 2003, the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport, a commercial airport serving millions of passengers a year, changed its name in his honor to Bob Hope Airport. In my years of frequent flying as a consultant, I used it quite often, for many parts of Los Angeles and its suburbs, including Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley, are far closer than Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The last time I used it, displays honoring Hope and his decades of service entertaining troop overseas, often in combat zones, were a touching tribute to his patriotism.

But trends in air travel have not been kind to Bob Hope Airport, and many other secondary metropolitan fields. Ontario International Airport, in the eastern exurbs of Los Angeles has suffered catastrophic declines in passenger count. At the busiest and most competitive airports like LAX, airfares tend to be cheaper than at the secondary fields. Despite a recent small uptick in traffic, Bob Hope Airport is well below the post 9-11 peak year of 2007 in passenger boardings.

As a result, the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, which owns the field, is considering re-branding and dropping the name of Bob Hope. Anthony Clark Carpio of the Los Angeles Times reports:

A branding firm told Bob Hope Airport officials the possible benefits of having Los Angeles in its name. However, some residents do not want any of it. The company, Anyone Collective, was contracted by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to develop a brand name for the airfield in an effort to attract more passengers. Company officials said that Los Angeles was searched online by Americans an average of 671,560 times a month when it came to travel and tourism. In comparison, Burbank is nationally searched an average of 73,400 times each month, while Bob Hope has an average of 47,240 searches per month.

I am not certain how many people would be swayed by a name change. But at least Bob Hope would not be formally dropped, even if public identifier is changed.

The legal name for the airfield would remain Bob Hope Airport, but officials are considering a branding name in an effort to draw more travelers.

On the other hand, John Wayne Airport, serving Orange County, is thriving, despite being named after another deceased figure in popular culture. (Incidentally, I am certain it drives California lefties nuts that the two airports in the state named after Hollywood figures both honor notable conservatives.) Thats because Orange County is so wealthy and full of frequent travelers who would prefer to avoid congested freeways necessary to reach LAX, or Long Beach Airport to the north. In fact John Wayne is slot-controlled, so airlines vie for the right to fly there. The terminal at John Wayne, recently expanded, is among the fanciest and most elegant in the United States. Bob Hope, by contrast, uses a beautiful but outdated art deco terminal supplemented by added pre-manufactured (i.e., trailer-like) structures. There are no air bridges, so passengers hike outside and climb stairs to board aircraft. It has a bit of retro charm, but the boarding areas get very crowded and climate control is not always up to snuff on hot afternoons with the sun beaming in.

I think the basic problem with Bob Hopes lagging passenger numbers has more to do with the local economy and the age of the facilities than with the name. I would hate to see a great patriot dishonored by branding consultants.
The Minetta Lane Theatre is a tiny hole in the wall, a small street doglegging off another small street down in the Village. Even with a GPS, our driver found himself unable to get there until we redirected him several times.

The effort of making right after left after right paid off in the unexpectedly exalted play we saw.

Himself refers to the protean and magical Irish giant of the past century, James Augustine Aloysius Joyce, whose birthday is celebrated annually with a full day of readings and performances at NYCs Symphony Space even now. His epic, avant-garde oeuvre, majestic novels, and poetry still largely defeat the efforts of casual or unlettered readers, include the most studied tomes of the century. He lived a bare 60 years but penned masterpieces that even now, decades after his death in Zurich, are still dissected, emulated, and doctorated out, 75 years on.

A man of genius makes no mistakes; his errors are volitional and are the portals of discovery.

Nora, of course, is the fiery Muse he adored, lived with, and refused to legitimize as wife, even after 27 years and several children. Playing the role with stubborn self-regard when women in Ireland and elsewhere were dismissed as "skirts," Whitney Bashor has a peppery tongue and a mellifluous, soaring voice that makes you forget where you are.

We expect large egos in men who have "arrived," such as the unconscionable overweening self-regard of the present administration head, or the current Republican frontrunner for president (raucously more successful for many decades than his rivals in the blue crowd, decades in a tough-nail business that brooks no subpar shallying) and such loopy larger than prosaic life personalities as Charles de Gaulle; the porcine, murderous Kim Jong-un; and the increasingly unhinged Turkish major domo, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Such men are not perhaps loved, but they have persisted over the rocky terrain of politics and prevailed to stay in office.

Joyce had yet to sell his magnum opus, Ulysses, and he went into exile, but he had the expansive, determined, intoxicated self-confidence that drove him to believe in his work even in the face of years-long vituperative bans imposed from the reaches of the United States and the worlds skittish librarians and protectors in Miss Grundy Western precincts. Finnegans Wake, too, of course, confounded the literati and professoriates.

The play features a short list of under ten members who dance, act, and sing  especially sing, with voices that call forth gratitude if one hears them in church choirs. The acting is affecting enough to lead many to weeping as events transpire in the lives of these two and their kin and kith. But the singing is rhapsodic, unexpectedly virile and persuasive.

Handsome Matt Bogart  last seen in Jersey Boys  rockets through his gift of a role with power and rugged vocal strength. He embodies the manly, gutsy, and rambunctious poet/novelist.

Influenced by the Bard, Yeats, and Oscar Wilde, Joyce the writer polymath died much too soon in 1941, still a man with many works unwrit. But although hes gone, ere we knew him, lovers of literature and romance can experience a chunk of transcendent elegance and eloquence. Quaff deeply of this linguistic and musical golden goblet.

Grievously, in a time of deracinated and prostituted cultural offerings, the literacy and quality of Himself & Nora are an emotional and singular pleasure we might not be accessible to in a few years of lowest-bar, rancid hanging fruit.

Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.

Until the end of 2016. At the Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane, NYC.
A few Memorial Days ago, I recall myself comfy on the sofa, overstuffed with cookout delights, watching a documentary on TV about conscientious objectors. The program portrayed these guys as moral superiors. I thought, You guys are able to bloviate about the evils of war and pursue careers as American artists, college professors, and so on because other brave young men went to war to fight for you, defending your freedom.

Another Memorial Day TV program featured WWII soldier and character actor Charles Durning. Durning earned three Purple Hearts. He was awarded the Bronze and Silver Stars for valor and the World War II Victory Medal. The French consul presented Durning with the National Order of the Legion of Honor.

At the 2008 National Memorial Day Concert, Durning stood at the podium and wept for his fallen brothers. Wow! Do they make character-driven, courageous men like that anymore?

I served in the U.S. Army stationed at Ft. Bragg, N.C. from 1969 to 1971. My entire battalion received orders for Vietnam except myself and another soldier. Thus, I never experienced serving in a combat zone.

My buddy, Gerry Boats Milhollen, experienced combat in Vietnam. He suffered night terrors for several years and other emotional issues that cost him his marriage. Gerry said what pained him and fellow combat vets the most is that, unlike U.S. troops returning from previous wars, they never received a welcome home. Quite the opposite. Vietnam vets were spat upon and called baby-killers.

I asked Gerry to share his thoughts in a tribute I recorded a few years ago titled Welcome Home Brother.

I was in my late teens when my cousin Jackie's husband Norman Byrd was drafted and sent to Vietnam.

Norman never returned home. It was all pretty surreal. I found his name on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C.

My daughter recently retired from the U.S. Navy. She went in directly after high school and worked her way up to retiring as an officer. Her cousins on her mom's side lived in the mean hood of west Baltimore. Many became addicted to drugs. One of her cousins was murdered by thugs.

I remember my daughter telling me that when she came home on leave after basic training, she immediately noticed that she no longer had much in common with her friends. They were still kids, and the military had made her an adult.

My daughter said that before she retired, that it pained her to see what the Navy was becoming. The discipline which had molded and shaped her was being thrown out the window due to political correctness. She said rather than training sailors, she felt like a babysitter.

I heard a black preacher tell his congregation that he would love to see the government go through the ghetto scooping up fatherless young black men for the military. They would learn to shut up, respect authority, and receive a paycheck for a job well done. While the preacher's comments were tongue-in-cheek, I get his point and agree. Despite it being under attack by Obama, leftist social engineering, and political correctness, the U.S. military is still a pretty good place to turn youths into responsible adults.

Traveling the country on Tea Party Express, I had the pleasure of meeting Debbie Lee, the gold star mom of Marc Alan Lee, the first Navy SEAL to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In honor of her decorated son, Debbie founded AmericasMightyWarriors.org, which helps the families of fallen soldiers. I organized patriot music artists across America to record a song titled "Taking Back America." We selected 44 songs from the artists to be included in a project titled "Tea Are the World." All the proceeds benefit Debbie's AmericasMightyWarriors.org.

While enjoying your family cookouts, please reflect and give a nod to those whose courage and sacrifice made it all possible: the U.S. military.

Have a happy and blessed Memorial Day.

Lloyd Marcus, The Unhyphenated American

Chairman: The Conservative Campaign Committee

LloydMarcus.com
Let's do a quick before and after President Obama normalized relations with Cuba.

Before December 2014, there was a lot of repression in Cuba. Since then, there is still a lot of repression in Cuba. The only difference is the U.S. flag in an embassy in Havana.

We keep getting these reports from Cuba, as posted over at PanAm Post:

The Cuban police raided the national headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (Unpacu), a civil dissidence group in opposition to Raul Castros administration. Without giving explanation, security confiscated three computers, two cell phones, a hard drive, passports and other hardware and records. Arcelio Molina, an activist and owner of the property, told the newspaper Marti Noticias that police also seized the luggage of the youth leader Carlos Amel Oliva Torres, who traveled from Santiago de Cuba to Havana to take a flight to Argentina. According to Molina, Oliva cant travel, and has since been arrested. This is the fourth time this year that state security has raided and confiscated Unpacus equipment. Molina added that what has transpired is a classic trampling of citizens rights in the country, where there are no laws or respect for the constitution on the part of the authorities.

It's hard to believe that the normalization supporters thought you could change Cuba by saving the Castro regime. Let's look at some of the arguments for normalization:

1) Opening up Cuba will be good for the Cuban people. Really? Is that why they continue to leave? There are now Cubans in Colombia looking to travel to the U.S.

2) Allowing U.S. businesses to operate in Cuba will bring prosperity to the island. The idea is that Cubans would get a taste of capitalism and demand more of it. Really? There is no evidence that the Castro regime is allowing Cubans to play the capitalism game.

So where are we? We are watching the consequences of bailing out a regime and demanding nothing from it.

We are where many of us feared we'd be!

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
I most certainly will not vote for Donald Trump, Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal said. I will vote for the least left-wing opponent to Donald Trump and I want to make a vote to make sure that he has  that he is the biggest loser in presidential history since, I dont know, Alf Landon or going back further. Its important that Donald Trump and what he represents  this kind of ethnic quote, conservatism, or populism be so decisively rebuked that the Republican Party, the Republican voters will forever learn their lesson that they cannot nominate a man so manifestly unqualified to be president in any way, shape or form. So they have to learn a lesson in the way perhaps Democrats learned from McGovern in 72. George Will said lets have him lose in 50 states. Why not Guam, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, too?

Oh, boy! These remarks are so typical of the manner in which the Conservative establishment is wedded to the idea that unless you have dedicated your professional life to making arcane arguments about Madison, the New Deal, or the national debt and have been published in the journals they approve of, youre not fit for any leadership role in the conservative movement  a state of mind that would rather be right in a dispute about tariffs over the hors doeuvres than take the girl home after the cocktail party. Which is sad, really sad.

Because they cant remember that their idol Bill Buckley was all about having fun while skewering your opponent. That when running for mayor of New York and asked what he would do if elected, winked and said demand a recount. That when asked why Robert Kennedy refused to appear on his very popular TV program Firing Line asked in turn, Why does a bologna resist the grinder?

Which is pure Trump.

Stephens, its razzmatazz, fireworks at the county fair, an Italian street festival in lower Manhattan, its Halloween time in the nation  drop the hair shirt and get over it.

A Catholic priest once told a story about being rebuked by a member of some austere sect. Ornate church ceilings, his friend told him  the majestic altars, the statuary, the candles, incense, the litany of saints and lavishly embroidered vestments arent at all necessary for the worship of God.

No, theyre not, he replied. Jesus taught us that. And I am humbled by the manner and commitment of your worship. But while you choose to position yourself, by yourself, in the quiet moonlight looking up, why cant we arrive under the balcony of the one we love, with a marching band?

Same thing, stupid.

Richard F. Miniter is the author of The Things I Want Most, Random House, BDD. See it here. He lives and writes in the colonial-era hamlet of Stone Ridge, New York; blogs here; and can also be reached at miniterhome@gmail.com.
Today is all about ASUS it seems. This Taiwanese company has introduced a bevy of new devices during their press event in Taipei. ASUS has rolled out their new ZenFone 3 lineup (3 new handsets), including the flagship ZenFone 3 Deluxe smartphone. In addition to these smartphones, the company has also released some Windows-based laptops, and a device which well talk about in this article, the ASUS Zenbo robot. Sounds interesting? Well, read on.

Following the announcement of Softbanks Pepper home robot a while back, ASUS brings their very own cute robot to the table. The ASUS Zenbo is best described as a home robot / assistant, a part of your IoT home setup if you will. Jonney Shih said the following while he way introducing Zenbo: Our ambition is to enable robotic computing for every household. The ASUS Zenbo is expected not only to assist you, but to entertain as well, and it is aimed at older people mostly it seems. As already mentioned, this robot is a part of an IoT setup in your household, you can connect it to your smart gadgets, so hell be able to show you whos at the front door (presuming you have a smart camera connected), and will be able to unlock that front door for you, once again, presuming you have such a system in place. In addition to this, the ASUS Zenbo is able to control your smart TV, smart lightbulbs, smart air conditioners, and pretty much every other smart gadget you have lying around the house.

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The ASUS Zenbo is capable of moving on its own, and also takes voice commands pretty well. You can basically tell him where to go, and he will obey without a problem. Zenbos face also serves as a touchscreen, this little robot will be able to patch through video calls, while youll also be able to surf by using his face, and do all kinds of other stuff. The ASUS Zenbo will be able to remind you of your appointments, patch through urgent messages, and even dance to music. Dont expect this robot to be available anytime soon though, ASUS is promoting a Zenbo developer program, and as part of it, developers will be offered Zenbos SDK and a bevy of information so that they can make apps for this thing. Once ASUS decides to release this robot, it will cost $599, which is not all that expensive for such a product, though we still have to see the final product.
Xiaomi has introduced quite a few devices this year, including their Mi 5 flagship smartphone. This device was announced back in February during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, and it has been available in only a couple of regions thus far. The device has been on sale in China for a long time now, but it has been available through flash sales only considering Xiaomis production capacity did not allow them to offer the device through the open sale model. Well, the company made some adjustments and has managed to change that, read on.

Xiaomis internal letter surfaced recently, and it stated that the companys CEO, Lei Jun, is taking over supervision over the companys supply chain. The company was able to manufacture 700,000 Xiaomi Mi 5 devices until quite recently. A recent report claims that the company is now able to produce 1.2 million Mi 5 devices per month thanks to Inventec, a manufacturing company which jumped in to boost Xiaomis setup and thus sales. Well, it seems like those reports were spot on, the company today officially announced that they will start selling the Mi 5 through the open sale model on June 1st. The Xiaomi Mi 5 will be available (both standard and high variants) both in India and China, the consumers in India will be able to purchase the device starting at 10am (local time) through the companys official website (mi.com). Xiaomis consumers in China, on the other hand, will be able to grab the phone through the companys website as well, but also through a number of retailers like Jingdong Mall (JD.com), Suning and Lynx. Keep in mind that the 3D ceramic variant of the phone will not be available just yet, they will be available through flash sales though.

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The Xiaomi Mi 5 features a 5.15-inch fullHD (1920 x 1080) display, 3GB of RAM and 32GB / 64GB of non-expandable internal storage. The 4GB RAM (+128GB storage) variant of the device is called Mi 5 Pro, and it will not be available for open sale just yet it seems. This smartphone is fueled by the Snapdragon 820 SoC, and it ships with a 3,000mAh battery. The 16-megapixel 4-axis OIS camera is placed on the back of the Mi 5, and a 4-megapixel shooter (2um pixel size, f/2.0 aperture) is placed up front. Android 6.0 Marshmallow comes pre-installed on this phone, and on top of it, youll find Xiaomis MIUI OS. If youd like to take a look at a more detailed spec sheet, click here.
The smartphone industry is finding it difficult to differentiate products. Today, it is difficult to buy a poor smartphone for the money: the less expensive devices are not as good as the larger devices, but for the majority of people they are very much good enough. Flagship devices typically share a common set of weaknesses  usually battery life and optical zoom  but are otherwise powerful, fluid devices with great screens, cameras and connectivity. Manufacturers are differentiating their products from the competition through trying to find the latest feature that will become tomorrows must have, or through applying new software features. Sometimes, a feature that a given manufacturer includes in a device was thought of  or at least patented  elsewhere. This is when a company should license the particular technology and its one reason why companies often fall foul of patent licensing lawsuits.

Earlier this week, Huawei sued Samsung for patent infringement. Samsung has subsequently countersued. Huaweis original lawsuit cites eleven technologies from either the mobile network or smartphone arenas. These include a means of increasing the download speed of a device and various patents relating to LTE networking. On the face of it, we might suppose that Samsungs download booster feature, which combines LTE and Wi-Fi networks in order to maximise how quickly a file downloads, is one of the culprits. Huawei cites that it has tried to come to reasonable and fair terms with Samsung but has failed to do so. But there is another suggestion as to what the underlying reason for Huaweis lawsuit against Samsung is all about: it is about flexing its technology muscles. Shortly after the original lawsuit was unveiled, a Samsung spokesperson said: The company will thoroughly review a counter-suit and actively take appropriate action. Samsung have also said that they should also discover the real intention of Huawei.

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Within the industry, sources cite that one reason for Huawei to start the case is to gain access to Samsungs core technologies via a cross-licensing deal. This would be how Huawei settles the disputes with Samsung: the Chinese network and smartphone manufacturer has already signed cross-licensing deals with Apple, Ericsson, Qualcomm, Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent. Huaweis US-based vice president for external affairs, William Plummer, alluded as such: Our very strong preference is to resolve disputes on licensing through negotiations. Of course, negotiations usually make much more sense thatn using a court as they are cheaper and less public.

The other aspect of the lawsuit is it will raise the image of the Chinese telecommunications sector. Yes; the top five smartphone retailers changed for 2015 with the Chinese manufacturers making great progress. However, selling the devices is one thing, but designing them is another. When the announcement of Huawei filing against Samsung reached the media, many observers were surprised at this. What? The Chinese? Suing Samsung?

Huawai is gunning to become a leading manufacturer of smartphones over the world  if not already. In the last eighteen months weve seen something of a charm offensive. Weve seen the new Huawei Watch, a collaboration with Google to produce the Nexus 6P smartphone, a number of successful Huawei and Honor-branded device launches, and Huaweis semiconductor division, HiSilicon, launched the new ARM Cortex-A72 powered chipset, the Kirin 950. Huawei invested some 15 percent of 2015s annual sales into research in development and applied for almost 4,000 patents. Huaweis intent is clear: sell more smartphones.
Xiaomi is, first and foremost, a smartphone manufacturer. This company doesnt like to be categorized in such a manner though, mainly because they manufacture all sorts of tech gadgets, and some software as well, not to mention that Xiaomi became an MVNO last year. Xiaomi has managed to sell 70 million smartphones in China, and even though they missed their sales goal, they still managed to remain at the very top of the food chain in China, despite the fact Huawei was right behind Xiaomi back then. Now, on a global scale, Xiaomi cant go head-to-head with Huawei just yet considering their sales are quite focused mainly on Asia, primarily China and India.

That being said, Xiaomi has introduced quite a few devices this year, including their Mi 5 flagship smartphone, the Mi Max phablet, the Redmi Note 3 smartphone, and a number of other gadgets, like the Mi Drone. The Mi Drone is Xiaomis first take on a drone, and a direct competitor to DJIs drones. The Mi Drone is a sleek-looking drone capable of shooting 1080p or 4K video (depending on the variant you opt to purchase), which you control via a remote controller which comes with a stand for your smartphone. All of this works through Xiaomis Mi Home application, and the Mi Drone comes equipped with all sorts of interesting features. This Drone can follow you around automatically, it can land and take off on its own, etc. The Mi Drone basically has all the features that youll find in much more expensive products, but it costs way less.

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The 1080p Mi Drone model costs $380, while youll need to part with 2,999 Yuan ($456) in order to grab the 4K variant. Now, in comparison, DJIs Phantom 3 drone costs $800, so even the higher-end variant of the Mi Drone is almost half its price. Now, this drone might be interesting, and theres no doubt many people will purchase it, but considering its limited availability, its hard to expect it will impact the companys profits all that much. Xiaomis revenue was almost flat last year when the company failed to meet their sales target and sell at least 80 million smartphones (100 million was their initial goal). Now, in addition to 70 million sold smartphones, Xiaomi also managed to earn $564 million in services revenue last year, and that includes software, media and ads. It is also worth mentioning that the Xiaomi Mi Band fitness tracker (which is made in cooperating with Huawei), is yet another one Xiaomi-branded device which turned out to be a success. It took Mi Band only four months in order to become the second highest selling wearable during Q1 2015.

Having that in mind, Xiaomi was valued at $45 billion a while back, and in order to justify that valuation, they really need to step up their game. The Mi Drone might end up being a great product which is incredibly cheap (compared to the competition), but Xiaomi really needs to step up their game in two ways. First, the company needs to expand their production capacity, fast. Let me give you an example, Xiaomi is currently able to manufacture 700,000 Mi 5 units per month (they have reportedly increased that to 1,2 million recently), while Oppo currently pushes out 2 million Oppo R9 units. Oppo has managed to outsell Xiaomi in China in the first quarter of this year, and so did Huawei.

This actually brings us to the second point here, Xiaomi really, really needs to expand the availability of their products. Xiaomi is currently most active in China and India, and even though they sell their products in a number of countries outside of Asia (like Brazil for example), very few of their devices are available in such countries, and theyre not making enough of an impact, especially compared to Huawei which is active in a ton of countries all over the world. So, Xiaomi is basically forced to host flash sales in their home country due to high demand, which is a reason they need to increase production capacity. On top of all this, Chinese smartphone market has slowed down considerably, which is why Chinese companies have started expanding their reach, and Xiaomi needs to do that fast. Devices like the Mi Drone are great to have in your lineup, but thats not a way to considerably increase revenue, thats for sure.

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Quite a few companies invested in Xiaomi thus far, and in order for the company to justify those investments and their valuation, they really need to step out of their comfort zone. Xiaomi definitely can do it, and pretty much everyone knows that theyre only being careful, but it will sure going to be interesting to see if they can succeed in other markets, like Europe and the U.S.
Higuain Watch: striker demands Chelsea, wants Liverpool, shuns Manchester United, signs for Arsenal, moves nowhere

Transfer balls: every summer a familiar platoon of players feature in tabloid stories telling of their imminent moves to the Premier League. One of that number is Gonzalo Higuain, who, as you will recall, signed for Arsenal on July 6 2013. Well, so said the Sun.

For anyone who missed that scoop, the good news is that the story of Higuain to Arsenal still features as fact on the Suns website.

ARSENAL last night smashed their transfer record when they agreed a 23million fee for Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain Higuain, 25, has been given permission by Madrid to fly to London following weeks of negotiations. And boss Arsene Wenger has made it clear he wants the powerful goalscorer on board when Arsenal head for their tour of the Far East next Thursday. The deal, which has been confirmed by the players father Jorge, comes as a huge relief for Wenger The Gunners previous biggest signing was the 16.5million they paid to sign Santi Cazorla from Malaga last summer and propels the club back into the big time. Now Wenger wants to build on Higuains imminent arrival by pressing ahead with negotiations for Wayne Rooney and Julio Cesar Wenger believes that the capture of Higuain will convince other world-class stars to join.

And so to todays news in the Mirror that Higuain, who plays for Napoli, has made a plea to join Liverpool.

The former Real Madrid striker, who has attracted interested [sic] from Arsenal previously, is keen to come to the Premier League would would like to play under Kop boss Jurgen Klopp.

So. Its Higuain to Liverpool. Or not. These other news facts from the Sun:

May 4: Chelsea target Gonzalo Higuain wants 42million move to the Bridge but only if Diego Costa leaves

May 22, 2016: Higuain not move to Chelsea, Manchester Untied nor any other Premier League club.

Manchester United and Chelsea dealt massive blow as Gonzalo Higuain will NOT be making a Premier League switch in the summer

More on Higuain to come

Anorak

Posted: 30th, May 2016 | In: Arsenal, Back pages, Liverpool, Sports, Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
Migrants: 700 missing in a week, including many children Departures from Egypt double, EU-Italy tension over detention

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 30 - For the first time in a week, on Sunday boats and dinghies remained at anchor in Libyan ports and the migrant rescuers operating in the Sicily Channel were able to catch their breath. However, UN figures show that it was one of the worst weeks on record: three shipwrecks, 65 bodies recovered, 700 people missing of whom at least 40 children. This is a massacre within the massacre, which UNICEF has called by the only name possible: "genocide". And the fact that there were no departures on Sunday is certainly not enough to reassure the interior ministry, where it is clear to all that the exodus is not over yet and that predictions for arrivals made thanks to intelligence gathering in Libya - over 200,000 migrants by year's end - remain current. For this reason, the words of Martin Kobler do not change the scenario. The UN envoy to Libya has claimed that "there will not be a new wave of migration" because in 2016 departures from Libya for Italy have fallen by a third. However, interior ministry figures updated to Friday tell a different story: while it is true that arrivals from Libya have dropped - 32,591 since January 1 compared to 37,819 over the same period in 2015 - it is also the case that departures from Egypt have more than doubled (4,414 this year compared to 1,854 in 2015). The numbers are still low but must be taken into account because they confirm that the route is now officially open again.



In any event, in absolute terms it is clear that there has been no drop in numbers: just over 41,000 migrants have arrived so far this year, compared to 41,485 in 2015. But there is another problem that is worrying Italy and it is closely linked to the attitude of Europe. While discussions are underway on the so-called Migration compact, Brussels is continuing to insist that Italy opens new hotspots and, in particular, centres for identification and expulsion (CIE): structures controlled by the police for migrants who are not entitled to request asylum. It is clear to everyone that Europe wants to ensure that the migrants do not leave Italy for other countries. Rome sees things differently, however. In particular, it believes it should be the EU that takes charge of repatriating migrants who are not entitled to remain. Italy has long been asking for a firmer commitment in this respect, which Brussels has so far pretended not to hear. The tension is not new, but in the event of an increase in arrivals it could lead to a run-in over the next few weeks. However, for now Italy does not intend to raise its voice and so will work on the only front that is without tension, namely the hotspots. Four - Lampedusa, Pozzallo, Trapani and Taranto - are already open and others are in the pipeline. The first should be Mineo and Messina, although an official decision has still not been taken, followed by one in Sardinia and one in Calabria.



Then there's the problem of accommodation. There are currently over 116,000 migrants and 15,000 minors staying in reception facilities. The system continues to hold up but it is at saturation point: in the event of another fortnight like the one that has just passed the situation will become critical.



Further, in regard to minors the problem needs to be resolved immediately because there are no adequate structures for them.



(ANSAmed).




ROME - Italian export credit agency SACE on Monday guaranteed a credit line of 840 million US dollars issued by State-controlled investment bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) for a share of 189 million dollars to support the construction in Oman of the LIWA petrochemical complex (Liwa Plastic Industries Complex).

SACE presented the business opportunities of the project on Monday in Milan.

The financing will sustain supply contracts awarded by ORPIC (a company controlled by the Omani government active in crude oil refining and petrochemicals) to Maire Tecnimont, and subcontracts that will be assigned to numerous Italian companies, especially SMEs, that produce machinery tools for the oil & gas sector. LIWA will produce 1.1 tons of polypropylene and polyethylene yearly, intended primarily for international markets, and will be part of the Sohar integrated industrial zone owned by ORPIC.

Once completed, the petrochemical complex will become one of the world's most technologically advanced, enabling Oman to develop a solid local plastics industry in line with the government's economic diversification plans.
Oman: 840-mn-USD SACE credit line for LIWA petrochemical Maire Tecnimont and Italian SMEs to contract plastics production

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 30 - Italian export credit agency SACE on Monday guaranteed a credit line of 840 million US dollars issued by State-controlled investment bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) for a share of 189 million dollars to support the construction in Oman of the LIWA petrochemical complex (Liwa Plastic Industries Complex).



SACE presented the business opportunities of the project on Monday in Milan.



The financing will sustain supply contracts awarded by ORPIC (a company controlled by the Omani government active in crude oil refining and petrochemicals) to Maire Tecnimont, and subcontracts that will be assigned to numerous Italian companies, especially SMEs, that produce machinery tools for the oil & gas sector. LIWA will produce 1.1 tons of polypropylene and polyethylene yearly, intended primarily for international markets, and will be part of the Sohar integrated industrial zone owned by ORPIC.



Once completed, the petrochemical complex will become one of the world's most technologically advanced, enabling Oman to develop a solid local plastics industry in line with the government's economic diversification plans.(ANSAmed).




ISIS: Turkey OKs ops with US in Raqqa, but without Kurds Ankara says YPG is terrorist organisation

(ANSAmed) - ISTANBUL, MAY 30 - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday said that Turkish special forces are ready to intervene in Syria alongside American troops in the operation against the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, but only on the condition that Kurdish-Syrian militants of the People's Protection Units (YPG) aren't involved.



Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organisation on a par with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and the US is backing YPG militants in the fight against ISIS.



In recent days the Ankara government protested the presence of US soldiers with YPG insignia, shown in some photos and cited in eyewitness accounts.



The Pentagon denied that US Special Forces are on the front lines and said their job is to advise and assist the coalition of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is led by the Kurds.



(ANSAmed).




Egypt: sources, leaders of journalists' union detained President and two others held by police

(ANSAmed) - CAIRO, MAY 30 - The president of the Egyptian journalists' syndicate Yehia Qalash and two other organisation leaders have been detained at a Cairo police station following questioning after refusing to pay bail, judicial sources said Monday.



Qalash, the syndicate's general secretary Gamal Abdel-Reheem and undersecretary Khaled El-Balshy were called in for questioning on Sunday in relation to an investigation into an incident concerning two other journalists, Amr Badr and Mahmoud el Sakka, who were arrested at the syndicate on May 1 after the premises were stormed. The three suspects "are accused of sheltering the two journalists wanted by security and of publishing false information" on the unprecedented operation, the sources said.



After questioning the prosecution decided to release them on LE10,000 (just over 1,000 euros) bail, but the journalists refused. Consequently they were detained at the Qasr el-Nil police station, "where they spent the night pending their appearance before prosecutors". The arrest of Badr and El Sakka prompted street protests by journalists and tension with the interior ministry, although journalists close to the government have distanced themselves from the syndicate's leadership.



The case of Badr is one of three that the family of abducted, tortured and murdered Italian research student Giulio Regeni is asking diplomats, NGOs and the media to follow closely to prevent a judicial clamp-down. The others concern lawyer Malek Adly and 'consultant' Ahmed Abdallah. (ANSAmed).




Libya: mystery over ISIS leader and Bardo mastermind's death Rebels say killed near Sirte, Tunis claims death after massacre

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 30 - Libyan rebels loyal to the government of national unity have laid claim to a new step forward in the fight against Islamic State in the country: they allege to have killed Khaled Shaib, the jihadist leader in North Africa and one of the masterminds of the Bardo museum massacre in Tunis, despite the fact that the Tunisian government said it had killed him over a year ago. Over three weeks ago forces loyal to premier Sarraj launched the operation "Albinyan Almarsous" (Solid Structure) to wrest Sirte from ISIS. The rebels say hundreds of jihadists have been killed so far and that they have come to within just a few kilometres of the ISIS stronghold, which is now practically surrounded. The rebels claim to have killed Shaib, alias Lokman Abou Sakher, in a recent attack.



The terrorist of Algerian origin was the leader of the Okba Ibn Nafaa cell linked to the attack on the Bardo museum on March 18, 2015, in which 21 tourists including four Italians and a Tunisian policeman died. He then extended his action to Libya, to the extent that al Baghdadi allegedly offered him the role of ISIS military coordinator in North Africa. The Libyan combatants claim he died at the end of a battle for the control of Baghla, a strategic city since it cuts off ISIS from the west of the country. His body was also allegedly identified by jihadists who had been taken prisoner. However, Tunisian Premier Habib Essid announced Shaib's death a few days after the Bardo massacre in an operation conducted by Tunisian special forces that left a further eight terrorists dead. The operation was presented to public opinion as the first major response to the attack. Now it remains to establish whether it was Tunisia that 'sold' the success without sure proof to its public opinion following the shock of the Bardo massacre. Or, conversely, whether with a trophy of this calibre the Libyan rebels aspire to a prestigious place in the pacified country. (ANSAmed).




ROME - Italian Lower House Speaker Laura Boldrini called for a Marshall Plan for the Mediterranean on Monday. "Now is the time for Europe to come up with a grand strategic plan that can combine medium- and long-term vision with significant economic resources and political commitment," Boldrini wrote in a Facebook post after she and Senate Speaker Pietro Grasso were handed over the presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the Mediterranean (PA-UfM).

The UfM is an intergovernmental organization of 43 countries from Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: the 28 member states of the European Union and 15 Mediterranean partner countries from North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Europe.



"(We took the leadership) in the most difficult, critical and dangerous moment for our region's northern and southern shores," Boldrini said.



"It's time for a 'Marshall Plan' for the Euro-Mediterranean area and for Africa. I don't say so out of generosity, or a utopian wish - I say so because this is in the interests of all.



If we Europeans don't invest in the stability of the countries that face onto the Mediterranean, they will destabilize us".



The Marshall Plan was an American initiative to aid Western Europe, in which the United States gave billions in economic support to help rebuild devastated economies after the end of World War II.
EU must act in Africa on migrants, Italian PM Renzi Phenomenon will last years, no stop-gap solutions

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 30 - The EU must act as a whole to help African countries of migrant origin and transit as proposed in Italy's migration compact, Premier Matteo Renzi said Monday.



He said there were no stop-gap solutions to a phenomenon that would last for years.



"It's phenomenon that will last years and needs action in Africa, to be carried out as European Union, as we have proposed," Renzi said in his e-news.



"Until we help them well on their home turf, we'll continue to try stop-gap solutions, but a finger in the dike is never a solution". (ANSAmed).




EU-Turkey asylum-seeker deal 'not working' says Boldrini Greek court ruled Turkey 'unsafe' for refugees says speaker

(ANSAmed) - ROME, MAY 30 - Lower House Speaker Laura Boldrini said Monday an EU-Turkey accord on asylum seekers is not working. There are political and juridical "problems", she told reporters. The European Parliament has decided not to proceed until they see a commitment from the Turkey side to satisfy all the criteria" contained in the bilateral deal, Boldrini explained. "A Greek court of appeals has ruled Turkey cannot be considered a safe country of first arrival" for asylum seekers, the speaker pointed out.



Under the deal which went into effect in the first week of April, the EU will accept one Syrian refugee for every Syrian national returned to Turkey after a failed bid for asylum. Amnesty International human rights NGO said last month that Turkey has been forcibly repatriating asylum seekers from war-torn Syria at the rate of 100 people a day, which is illegal under Turkish, European and international international human rights law. (ANSAmed).




Migrants: Bulgaria, 35 km more wall on Turkish border 268 km planned in all. About 100 sent back at weekend

(ANSAmed) - SOFIA, MAY 30 - Bulgaria has finished construction on an additional 35 kilometres of barbed wire fencing along the border with Turkey in the region of Yambol, to stop illegal immigrants entering into Bulgaria from Turkey, local media sources said.



The final length of the border wall with Turkey is expected to reach 268 kilometres. Three months ago, Bulgarian Interior Minister Rumyana Bachvarova said that more than 170 kilometres of fencing should be completed by the end of summer.



Meanwhile on Monday, authorities in Sofia sent a 60-man military unit with technical equipment to aid police in Kulata, at the border with Greece.



At the weekend about a hundred migrants from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq were stopped in Kulata and sent back to Greece.(ANSAmed).




Migrants: EU agency, response to crisis threatening rights Since 2015 attacks on freedoms and values, racism on the rise

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, MAY 30 - The response to the migrant crisis is severely testing EU human rights resolutions, according to the independent European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).



Over one million people sought refuge in the EU in 2015, five times as many as the previous year. This figure will be at the centre of discussions at the 2016 Fundamental Rights Forum in Vienna from June 20-23.



"Last year, the EU's fundamental rights resolve was sorely tested, with assaults on many of the freedoms, rights and values on which Europe is founded," FRA Director Michael O'Flaherty said. "The EU and its Member States must stand firm in defending the rights to which everyone is legally entitled, whether they have lived in the EU for generations or have just arrived on Europe's shores." With 60 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, migration is set to remain at the top of the EU agenda, FRA said in its Fundamental Rights Report 2016. Most refugees coming to Europe, including many children, are risking their lives by paying smugglers to cross the sea in overcrowded and unseaworthy boats.



An increase in racist and xenophobic incidents was noted in many EU member states, fuelled by fears over migration and a spate of terrorist attacks. Muslims and Jewish communities have been particularly affected, the report found.



The terrorist attacks once again highlighted the difficulty of finding the right balance between protecting personal data and privacy and maintaining internal security. Several EU member states are in the process of reforming their legal intelligence framework, which could potentially increase the intrusive powers of the services. (ANSAmed).




The accreditation awarded by the International Business Aviation Council (IBAC) marks the first certification for a Dubai-based FBO. IS-BAH is a set of global industrys best practices for business aviation ground handlers.

"The International Business Aviation Council congratulates the entire Jetex Dubai World Central (DWC) team in achieving the IS-BAH certification. Implementing the IS-BAH voluntary standards through to registration shows an ongoing commitment by the Jetex FBO team to mitigate risks in its day-to-day operations, and implement a positive safety culture, which is highly commended." said Terry Yeomans, director of the IS-BAH programme.

Faisal Nizamuddin, quality and safety manager for Jetex, added: Achieving the IS-BAH certification sets the bar for Jetex, and helps us pave the way for Expo 2020. We are extremely proud to be the first FBO in Dubai to have accomplished this, and are thankful for the guidance and vision of our CEO in leading us to even greater milestones ahead.
The programme for the Rolls-Royce 250-C47B engines is a comprehensive hourly cost maintenance agreement, covering scheduled and unscheduled events, as well as life limited components. Bell 407 operators also have the option of enrolling in the JSSI Unscheduled Engine Program that provides 100% coverage for unscheduled maintenance, by making one simple payment each year, based on annual utilisation, JSSI said.

We continue to expand our market penetration into Turkey, and beyond, as more helicopter operators recognise the value that a JSSI programme provides, Kevin Thomas, senior vice president, business development & strategic planning for JSSI, said. Maintenance costs for helicopters are especially difficult to predict. Our clients not only receive a stabilized budget by enrolling onto a JSSI programme, but they also benefit from the protection from unexpected expenses, he said.


YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Arayik Harutyunyan, Prime Minister of Nagorno Karabakh, held a meeting with the director of Hayastan All Armenian Fund Ara Vardanyan on May 29.

By stressing the importance of the Funds projects in Nagorno Karabakh over the years, the PM said: The basis of the armys strength is the patriotic and disciplined citizen and soldier. Projects implemented by the Fund across Nagorno Karabakh; reconstructions of kindergartens and schools, improvement of water supply, renovation of roads, have contributed to the prevention of population outflow, the improvement of demographics and a healthy, patriotic and disciplined generation.

The Prime Minister thanked the Fund for continuous assistance.

Ara Vardanyan said regular visits of philanthropists to Nagorno Karabakh are very important.

He expressed willingness on behalf of representatives of the Fund to assist Nagorno Karabakh and implement projects of great importance.

Valery Ghazaryan, the Funds Project Coordinator for Nagorno Karabakh, was also present at the meeting.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Iraqi forces have entered Islamic State-held Fallujah, one of their key strongholds in Iraq commanders say, according to AFP, reports RT.

On May 29, Iraq completed a troop buildup around the city, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad.

"The operation to enter Fallujah began on [Monday] morning, an Iraqi official told AFP.

An Iraqi military officer told Reuters the government's military unit is currently trying to advance in Falluja, with explosions and heavy gunfire reportedly heard in Falluja's southern Naimiya district.

Iraqi government-led forces launched an offensive to dislodge Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants from Fallujah a week ago, and have been slicing through ISIS positions ever since. The terrorist group still controls territory in the north and west of the country, including Iraq's second largest city, Mosul.

Major Dhia Thamir told AP on Sunday that Iraqi troops had recaptured 80 percent of the territory around the city since the operation began last week. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said, during a televised speech to parliament, that the "current second phase of the Fallujah operation" will last less than 48 hours.

The large-scale assault, carried out by the Army, police counterterrorism units, local tribal fighters and a coalition of Shiite Muslim militias, continues on all fronts around the city. Besides making vast gains in the north, forces, aided by US advisers, have also been advancing on the city from the Sinjar direction.

We are moving in the right direction. We are killing those criminals, a police unit fighter told RT last week, adding that approaches to the city are mined.

Fallujah, which survived some of the heaviest fighting of the 2003-2011 US-led military intervention, was the first city in Iraq to fall under IS control in January 2014. In late June, 2014, the extremists declared a caliphate in territories seized in Iraq and Syria.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. On May 29 at 22:00, soldier Suren A. Mosiyan suddenly died while on duty in a military position of Nagorno Karabakh.

The NKR Defense Ministry says an investigation is underway to determine the cause of death.

The Defense Ministry extends its condolences and support to the soldiers family, relatives and friends.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. The Cincinnati Zoo shot and killed a western lowland gorilla on May 29 after a 4-year-old boy slipped into the animal's enclosure, a zoo official said at a news conference, reports CNN.

Harambe, a 17-year-old, 400-pound gorilla, carried the boy around its habitat for about 10 minutes in what the zoo's dangerous animal response team considered a life-threatening situation, Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said at a press briefing.

After the gorilla was shot with a rifle, the child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, CNN affiliate WKRC reported.

Maynard said it appeared the boy went under the rail, through wires and over the moat wall.

Two female gorillas were called out of the habitat, Thane said, but the male gorilla went to the moat, picked up the child and began dragging him around the enclosure.

"The child was not under attack but all sorts of things could happen," Thane said. "He certainly was at risk."

Thane said zoo officials decided against shooting Harambe with a tranquilizer because the drug takes effect too slowly.

"You don't hit him and he falls over," Thane said. "It takes a few minutes."

Thane said the zoo security team's quick response saved the boy's life but all the zoo employees are devastated at losing a rare species.

The western lowland gorilla is a critically endangered species, according to the World Wildlife Fund's webpage. In the wild, they can be found in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea.

Harambe, whose birthday was Friday, was born at the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas, Thane said. The zoo hoped he would eventually father other gorillas.

The boy was in "imminent danger," leaving the zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team with no option but to shoot the 450-pound gorilla, zoo director Thane Maynard said in a statement on Facebook. Tranquilizers may not have taken effect in time to save the boy while the dart might have agitated the animal, worsening the situation, Maynard said.

"We are heartbroken about losing Harambe, but a child's life was in danger and a quick decision had to be made," he said.

The words did little to assuage an angry chorus of critics who believed the gorilla's death was unnecessary. Many blamed the boy's mother for failing to look after her son. Neither the boy nor his family have been identified.

Some even suggested the boy's parents should be held criminally responsible for the incident. An online petition seeking "justice for Harambe" through criminal charges earned more than 8,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.

Others criticized the zoo for responding with what they felt was excessive force. Demonstrators gathered outside the zoo on Sunday calling for a boycott.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Economy Minister A. Minasyan says the Open Skies policy will bring even more international airlines to the Armenian market.

As a result, competition will be formed for the Russian airlines which are in a dominant position, he said.

The Minister said a lot of improvement needs to be done in the aviation business.

Asked why air tickets are cheaper in Georgia, although the Open Skies policy should have lowered the prices in Armenia, the minister said:

I can present the airport prices on a count of one plane of the cities of Yerevan, Baku and Tbilisi. And you will see in the context of prices Armenia has an advantage. If you are unaware of those numbers, you make various announcements. Right now I dont have those numbers with me, because I couldnt have predicted your question. But I promise to send this information to you today, Minasyan said.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. The Defense Ministry of Armenia informs that overnight May 29-30 the situation was calm in the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border.

The Armenian Defense Ministrys announcement reads: Overnight May 29-30 the situation was relatively calm in the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border.

The Azerbaijani side fired irregular shots from various caliber weapons at the northeastern direction of the border.

The Armenian Armed forces continue carrying out their everyday tasks.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili wrote an open letter where he says the country leadership takes every step to normalize relations with Russia, reports Armenpress.

Georgian-Russian relations normalized after the change in leadership in Georgia in 2012. Starting from 2012 Georgian products could be found in the Russian market. Today Russia is Georgias one of the leading trade partners.

Pro-Western policy doesnt mean that we will not respect our neighbors and will not take into account their interests. Rather, our strategy aims to establish friendly relations not only with our neighbors, but also with other states, the letter reads.

We will do everything to normalize relations with Russia without damaging the interests of Georgia. Moreover, we will deepen our ties with our key partners such as Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia, he writes.

In line with this, he stated that Georgias foreign policy is definitely directed to the Euro-Atlantic path.

We should clearly understand that Georgias joining to the European Union now is not on the agenda. We should wait a little until we will become a NATO member since it is a component of the complex geopolitical process, and it does not depend only on our desire and readiness, the letter says, reports Sputnik.
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by Nirmala Carvalho

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - The Sister Disciples of the Divine Master (PDDM) of Bandra, Mumbai, today inaugurated the new asphalt resurfacing project on their Prarthanalaya convent. The project is being financed with the private funds of Ashish Shelar, a local member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, the Hindu nationalist party). Speaking to AsiaNews the politician says: "As a representative elected by the people, it is my responsibility to do the best for the community, neighborhood and society. Prarthanalaya is a sacred place of prayer, where every person is welcomed. The sisters are at the service of society and are building new communities through their prayers, and various forms of social activities. I am happy to offer my help. "



The initiative responds to the need for modernization of the structure and was immediately supported by the Hindu leaders, contacted by the sisters. Prarthanalaya (house of prayer) is a complex that houses the convent of the congregation and a chapel, which is open for Eucharistic adoration for all the faithful, including those of non-Christian religions.



The opening ceremony of the project of asphalting of the entire complex began with a short prayer and the blessing by Fr. Michael Pinto. Following this Sister Amita Mascarenhes, superior of the convent, and Sister Vimla, split a coconut, in a typical Indian ritual with which augurs"good luck".



In addition to the nuns, the Deputy Mayor of Mumbai Alka Kerkar, many friends and benefactors were present. Ashish Shelar also dug the first hole to start off the construction process.



After the ceremony, Fr. Pinto blessed the grotto dedicated to Mary Queen of the Apostles. Ashish Shelar also entered the cave to pay homage to the Virgin. Before he crossed the threshold, he took off his shoes as a sign of respect, then laid wreaths around the statue and bowed his head in an act of veneration.
Some 55 per cent of South Koreans aged 19 to 64 eat alone. One-person households now represent 27.1 per cent of the population. Caught under a heavy workload, more and more people do not have a social life. Young people, especially in Seoul, turn to virtual reality. One player in that world is Diva, a young woman making thousands of dollars a month by simply eating on a live webcam.

Seoul (AsiaNews)  In Korean, honbap means eating alone. Shim Kwon-ho, a 31-year-old office worker in Seoul, does that a lot, but objects to the expression.

A frequent solo diner who also enjoys going to movies by himself, he wonders Why do we even need a separate, special word such as honbap for those eating alone, while there isnt a specific term for those who dine with others?

Strangely enough, Shim is actually not alone; he is one of the growing number of South Koreans who eat alone at work and home. According to a report by the Health Ministry, 55 per cent of all Koreans aged 19-64 did not have dinner with their families as of 2014, a trends that is rising.

A recent study by the Korea Health Promotion Foundation (KHPF) also found that the number of working South Koreans aged 30-59 (i.e. the most employed) who eat alone is up, and this for a number of reasons: some eat alone to save time, but many do so because they do not have company at meal times.

For Jang Hee-seok, a 33-yer-old Seoulite, visiting a convenience store near his office during lunch hour is an almost daily routine. He goes there to get his lunch, packed in a box. Out of some 30 choices, the popular options include rice with chicken breast, deep-fried pork cutlet or fried kimchi rice. His favorite is bulgogi stir-fried with gochujang, the Korean red pepper paste.

He returns to his office, microwaves his food and eats it alone at his desk. Sometimes he also has a cup of noodles to go with it. A convenience store boxed lunch costs about 4,000 won (US$ 3.39). It takes him 15 minutes to finish his lunch. Not exactly gourmet food.

I dont really feel like spending more than 5,000 won on lunch, because Im eating it alone anyway, he said. It makes more sense to have quality food when you have someone to share it with.

From 2010-2015, the proportion of single-person households increased significantly from 15.8 percent to 27.1 per cent; that is five million more.

This has had a negative impact on South Koreas birth rate, which is already one of the lowest, as well as on social relations, as more and more people seek shelter in a virtual world that is difficult to leave.

If there is one who should know, that is Diva, whose real name is Park Seo-Yeon, who earns about more than US$ 12,000 a month eating in front of a webcam on Afreeca TV, very popular WebTV in South Korea.

Diva eats three kilos of meat a day, and her food bill can reach US$ 3,000. People who watch her online leave a range of comments, from recipes to thank you notes for sharing some time eating.

For Afreeca TV public relations coordinator Serim An, there are three reasons for Divas success: the growing number of people who live and eat alone, the growing loneliness in South Korean society, and the excessive health consciousness that sees food as an enemy.

Dive herself was impressed by one viewer, an anorexic woman who started eating again after watching her. However, social loneliness is also self-reinforcing.

Jang told the Yonhap news agency that he gets self-conscious when he eats alone in public, thinking others may judge him or think he is a social outcast. I think there is still this public notion that if you are eating alone, there must be something wrong with your social life, he said. This, in turn, makes meeting others that much harder.

Added to this is the health cost of eating alone. The KHPF survey found that 45.8 per cent of South Koreans said they do not eat properly when eating alone, whilst 19.1 per cent said they opt for fast food, such as hamburgers, when they have no one to eat with. At the same time, 15.3 per cent said they tended to eat fast when eating by themselves.
For the first time in 30 years no citizen of the Islamic Republic will participate in the most important Muslim pilgrimage. Iran says insurmountable "obstacles" have been placed in the way, Riyadh wants to "block the path that leads to Allah." Saudis says the conditions posed by Tehran are "unacceptable."

Riyadh (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Riyadh and Tehran have not reached an agreement for Iranian Hajj pilgrims. The protracted dispute is linked to the issuing of visas for the citizens of the Islamic Republic and "direct" flights to Saudi Arabia. Consequently, this year - and for the first time in 30 years - no Iranian citizen can participate in the great pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam.

Iranian Minister for Culture, Ali Jannati, claims that Saudi Arabia has placed insurmountable "obstacles". Riyadh rejects the accusations and instead speaks of "unacceptable" conditions advanced by the Iranian delegation.



Jannati says that "after two rounds of negotiations without results" due to "obstacles" placed in the way by the Saudis, Iranian pilgrims "cannot participate in Hajj" in September. According to the Iranian body in charge of the organization of the pilgrimage, Riyadh wants to "block the path that leads to Allah." Last year 60 thousand Iranians took part in the event.



Instead the Saudi government claims it offered "different solutions" to Iran during the last round of talks, which lasted two days and ended on May 27. The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the conditions set by Tehran for participation of Iranian pilgrims are "unacceptable."



Adel al-Jubeir remarked that every year Riyadh signs a memorandum of understanding with more than 70 countries in the world to regulate the Hajj, to guarantee "the safety and protection of the pilgrims". However, Iran "does not want to sign the Memorandum" and sought "privileges [...] that would have been a source of chaos".



Iran (Shiite) and Saudi Arabia (Sunni) are on opposite sides in many of the most important issues that agitate the Middle Eastern chessboard, from the Syrian conflict to the war in Yemen. Moreover, relations between the two greatest powers in the Muslim world have been at an historic low since September 2015, following the tragic accident during the last major pilgrimage to Mecca.

A stampede in Mina, near Mecca, caused hundreds of casualties, 2070 dead according to statistics reported by Reuters. Iran had immediately accused the Saudi authorities of "mismanagement" and "incompetence" to the point of suggesting that the incident was premeditated.

The Hajj (pilgrimage) is considered one of the five pillars of Islam and every good Muslim should perform it at least once in his life time. Saudi Arabia has often politically exploited permission to come to Mecca. For example, for years Syrians were forbidden to travel to the Muslim holy cities.
by Nina Achmatova

Orthodox secretary for inter-Christian relations: "One of the most expert diplomats, we hope to contribute to developing relations between the two Churches, now growing after the Patriarch and the Popes meeting in Cuba."

Moscow (AsiaNews) - The Moscow Patriarchate hopes that the appointment of Mgr. Celestino Migliore (see photo) as apostolic nuncio to the Russian Federation will contribute to the development of joint initiatives with Catholics to protect Christian and traditional values in the world. "Especially the fact that he is among the most expert Vatican diplomats and has served in several countries and in many responsible positions in the Vatican Foreign department.

The news of the appointment of the new nuncio was welcomed with satisfaction, by hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov) head of Inter-Christian relations in the Moscow Patriarchate department for External Church Relations, speaking to Interfax news agency.

The Orthodox representative said he was confident that the new nuncio will make "a significant contribution to the development of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and Catholic Churches of Rome, which today are growing, especially after the meeting between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis in Havana".

"The result of this meeting shaped largely on the current situation of bilateral relations, which we hope to develop in an active way, even through cooperation with the new nuncio," he added. He believes the most important part of this context is represented by the joint efforts of the Russian and Catholic Churches "in the direction of support for suffering Christians in the Middle East, as well as for the defense of traditional moral values, which today face serious challenges" .



On May 28, the Holy See announced the appointment of the new nuncio in Moscow Msgr.Migliore. Up until now he was the Vatican representative in Poland. He succeeds Msgr. Ivan Jurkovic, who a few days after the historic meeting of Cuba, ended his mandate as he was moved to the post of permanent observer at the United Nations in Geneva. Msgr. Migliore was already, among other things, Vatican undersecretary for relations with states and permanent observer at the UN in New York.
by Louis Raphael Sako*

Christian, Sunni, Shia, Yazidi and Sabean religious leaders join in peace prayer promoted by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Psalms and hymns recited together with the prayer. Sunni and Shia clerics spoke at the service. Candles were laid at the statue of Our Lady. AsiaNews publishes the text of Patriarch Sakos address.

Baghdad (AsiaNews)  Chaldean Patriarch Mar Raphael Louis Sako led a prayer for peace in Iraq, Syria and the Middle East region this afternoon in Baghdad.

For the prelate the Jubilee Year of Mercy and Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and prayer, provide an opportunity to correct perceptions, as well as choose the way that leads to peace, reconciliation and building mutual trust.

In his message, which he sent to AsiaNews, His Beatitude called on religious leaders to join efforts to spread a "culture of tolerance", strengthen "the values of belonging" to the nation, and stay away from all forms of extremism.

Held in Baghdads Queen of the Rosary Catholic Church, the interfaith ceremony marks the end of the Marian month. Christian, Shia, Sunni, Yazidi, and Sabean religious leaders attended the service as did some diplomats and many faithful from various religions. Government officials stayed away for security reasons.

The Chaldean patriarch, along with a Sunni and a Shia cleric led the prayer as a token of its inter-faith nature. Hymns and psalms were followed by a universal prayer recited by Christians, Muslims, Yazidis and Sabeans together.

The two Muslim religious leaders spoke of the importance of reconciliation and peace "to strengthen coexistence." In Iraq, they added, "we need a change in mind-set." Patriarch Sako followed with his message. Each religious leader later lit a "candle of peace", and placed it at the foot of the statue of Our lady.

Here is the patriarchs message:

I would like to start with a very warm welcome to everyone who is praying with us this evening, where the essence of Virgin Mary diffuses the fragrance all over the Church. We are delighted to have you all here.

We look forward to having a heartfelt and sincere prayer for peace in our country and the region. A prayer on the example of the Virgin Mary who lived the grace and mercy of God deeply.

Celebrating the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary in these difficult circumstances is an invitation for every one of us to follow her example of faith, openness, love, service, pureness, patience, hope and confidence.

I would like also to highlight the importance of praying in the midst of such a critical situation and the suffering of our people in Iraq, Syria and the region. Since praying helps in:

Calming down the restless volcano of our inner struggles.

Changing the heart and mind of those who are living these daily events.

Granting us joy, humility as well as enabling us to assist and deal smoothly with others.

As you know, people who pray usually encounter and criticize themselves before encountering others. If we have this spirit of praying, miracle may happen we will enjoy then a real peace inside and around us

Since we are celebrating the Jubilee Year of Mercy, proclaimed by Pope Francis, and because Ramadan is around the corner, in which our fellow Muslims fast, pray, repent, and live compassion and kindness toward those who suffer. It is an opportunity to correct perceptions, relationships and choose the way that leads to peace, reconciliation and building of mutual trust.

As we are in charge of a humanitarian and religious responsibility at these tragic conditions, we are all called, in the presence of God, to move quickly and in high level of confidence to:

Unify efforts of spreading the culture of tolerance, love, peace and friendship.

Deepen the values of belonging to this multicultural nation.

Stay away from all forms of fatal extremism, especially that the heavenly laws of all religions plea to establish justice among people and deprive oppression and discrimination.

We have had enough of wars; the Iraqi people are tired of hearing about death, destruction, and displacement, on daily basis, all of which are against the divine will. God created human to live happily his life and yearn for peace, freedom, dignity and happy life.

To have a better future we have to change our mentality and the way we educate people

May God Bless all the joint effort to save Iraq militarily and politically, economically and culturally.

* Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans and president of the catholic Bishops Conference of Iraq
"It would do us good to ask ourselves" if "Do I have the memory of the wonders that the Lord has wrought in my life? Can I remember the gifts of the Lord? I am able to open my heart to the prophets, am I open to that, or am I afraid, and do I prefer to close myself within the cage of the law? And in the end: Do I hope in the promises of God, as our father Abraham, who left his home without knowing where he was going, only because he hoped in God? ".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The Church and Christians must be careful not to trust and close in on a set of standards, but leave room for the "memory" of the gifts received from God, opening the "prophecy" and the horizon the "hope". The said Pope Francis, in the Mass celebrated this morning at home Santa Marta. The Pope took as the central focus of his reflection the Gospel passage of the day, on the parable of the murderous tenant-farmers.

Against the landowner who planted a well-organized vineyard and entrusted them with its care, the tenants decided to revolt, insulting, beating and killing first the servants the master sent to reclaim the land and collect his due, and then, at the climax of the drama, murdering the only son of the owner  wrongly believing that such an act could earn them a right to inherit the owners substance.

The killing of the masters servants and of the masters own son  a Biblical image of the prophets and of Christ Himself  shows a people closed in on itself, one not open to the promises of God, a people that does not await the fulfilment of Gods promises: a people without memory, without prophecy and without hope. The leaders of the people, in particular, are interested in erecting a wall of laws, a closed juridical system, and nothing else: Memory is no concern: as for prophecy, it were better that no prophets come; and hope? But everyone will see it. This is the system through which they legitimate: the lawyers, theologians who always go the way of casuistry and do not allow the freedom of the Holy Spirit; they do not recognize Gods gift, the gift of the Spirit; and they cage the Spirit, because they do not allow prophecy in hope. This is the religious system to which Jesus speaks: A system  as the First Reading says  of corruption, worldliness and concupiscence, so St. Peter says in the First Reading.

Pope Francis went on to say that, at bottom, Jesus was Himself tempted to lose the memory of His own mission, to not give way to prophecy and to prefer security instead of Hope, i.e. the essence of the three temptations suffered in the desert. Therefore, Pope Francis said: "To this people Jesus, because he knew temptation in Himself, reproaches: You traverse half the world to have one proselyte, and when you find him, you make him a slave. This people thus organized, this Church so organized, makes slaves  and so it is understandable how Paul reacts when he speaks of slavery to the law and of the liberty that grace gives: a people is free, a Church is free, when it has memory, when it makes room for prophets, when it does not lose hope

The Holy Father stressed that the well-organized vineyard is in fact the image of the People of God, the image of the Church and also the image of our soul, for which the Father always cares with so much love and tenderness. To rebel against Him is, as it was for the murderous tenants, to lose the memory of the gift received from God, while, in order to remember and not make mistakes on the way, it is important always to return to the roots: Do I have the memory of the wonders that the Lord has wrought in my life? Can I remember the gifts of the Lord? I am able to open my heart to the prophets, i.e. to him, who says to me, this isnt working, you have to go beyond: go ahead, take a risk? This is what prophets do: am I open to that, or am I afraid, and do I prefer to close myself within the cage of the law? Finally: do I have hope in Gods promises, such as had our father Abraham, who left his home without knowing where he was going, only because he hoped in God? It will do us well to ask ourselves these three questions.
Damascus (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The chief Syrian opposition negotiator Mohammed Alloush has resigned, due to the "failure" of the recent indirect UN peace negotiations in Geneva (Switzerland). The leader of the High Negotiations Committee (Hnc), which is supported by the Saudis, said that the negotiations have not been conducive to reaching a political agreement or improving the situation of the civilian population in areas under siege.



Analysts and experts say the resignation of Alloush -a member of Jaish al-Islam, the Islamic Army - could push other opposition leaders to abandon the talks, torpedoing any project of peace and political transition.



Last month the HNC "suspended" participation in the United Nations talks, led the UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura, blaming the government delegation for the stalemate in negotiations and the escalation of violence in the field.



As announced in recent days by the same de Mistura, currently there is no official date for the resumption of negotiations, at first announced for the end of May.



In an official statement the opposition leader (pictured right) stressed that "the three rounds of talks have not been successful" because of the "stubbornness" of the regime and the "continuous bombardment and attacks" against the Syrian people. In recent months, the anti-Assad opposition leaders (non-jihadist) in Geneva have expressed frustration at the lack of progress in talks.

Unresolved issues include the distribution of aid in the areas under siege, the slow progress in the release of political prisoners by the government and the total absence of steps towards a political transition that has ruled out the presence of President Bashar al-Assad.



So far the fragile truce reached on February 27 through the mediation of the United States and Russia remains in force, in spite of frequent violations on the ground.



The Syrian conflict broke out in March 2011 as a civil uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. It has caused at least 280 thousand dead and sparked off an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, with millions of refugees.
by Pierre Balanian

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have funded the Taliban in Afghanistan (and still do). In ten years, Mullah Mansur frequently travelled abroad via Pakistan in violation of the UN embargo, including at least 18 trips to Dubai to meet Afghan and Arab businessmen.

Kabul (AsiaNews)  Not a single day goes by without the US realising how ambiguous its relationship is with its allies in the Muslim world.

The latest evidence comes from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain. According to Bloomberg, both Arab Gulf states have funded and continue to fund the Taliban in Afghanistan.

No one can remain indifferent to this. For the United States, the war in Afghanistan has come with a price tag of 2,200 American soldiers and 700 billion dollars in military expenditures since it began in 2001.

A week ago (23 May), US President Barack Obama announced the death of Taliban leader, Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Mansour, killed in a drone strike, which the Taliban confirmed three days later.

Hibatullah Akhundzada has since been picked as his successor. Under the Taliban emirate, he was chief Justice of the Sharia Courts.

According to reports from the US news agency Bloomberg, which spoke via telephone with Taliban spokesman Zabih Mujahid Allah, the dead leader made several trips abroad in the last ten years via Pakistan. For example, Mansour went to Dubai 18 times and Bahrain once, the official said.

Mansour used a Pakistani passport, travelling frequently by plane out of (and back to) Karachi airport under the alias Wali Mohammad to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain.

This is hard to fathom since Mansour had been on a United Nations no-fly list since 2001.

If confirmed, this would explain the Talibans huge secret funds, which many secret services attributed to drug trafficking, illegal mining, ransom money, and other illegal activities.

In Dubai, he met with unnamed Afghan and Arab businessmen to discuss the Afghan holy war and raise funds for Taliban operations in Western-occupied Afghanistan, Mujahed said.

For their part, Afghan authorities are "conducting the necessary inquiries about Mullah Mansurs foreign travels," said Zafar Hashemi, deputy spokesman to President Ashraf Ghani. For now, he could not provide further information.

Meanwhile in Pakistan, Foreign ministry spokesman Nafis Zakaria confirmed that a Wali Mohammed had entered the country five hours before Mullah Mansurs death was made public.
Disgraced criminal lawyer Briana Ioannides has been charged with new drug offences after Queensland police raided a Bundall apartment last week.



Ioannides was in an apartment rented by her friend when police found finding methamphetamines, steroids and a bag containing laptops in a wardrobe, tall boy and a handbag, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported.



She was charged with producing dangerous drugs, possession of dangerous drugs, utensils and suspected stolen property on Thursday.



Appearing in Southport Magistrates Court on Friday, the 26-year-old was granted bail, her lawyer telling the court she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. He said she had turned up to the apartment to go for lunch with her new boyfriend and a friend, just 20 minutes before the raid.



The court was also told that Ioannides ex-boyfriend was seen at the apartment the morning prior to the raid.



Magistrate Joan White ordered Ioannides to attend drug rehabilitation as a condition of her bail. She will appear in court again on June 28.



Back in February, Ioannides was busted for a third time in a police drug raid. She escaped a conviction after making a late guilty plea of all nine offences, including possessing dangerous drugs and breaching bail over the latest bust.



According to a report by the Courier Mail, magistrate Gary Finger warned she would be on the first bus to Brisbane womens prison is she reoffended.


Supreme Court Justice Kevin Bell accused five barristers of showing disrespect to Victorian Chief Justice Marilyn Warren by continuing to wear their wigs in court, despite the ban introduced at the beginning of this month.



I accept the fact that you do not intent it and that you are wearing wigs by reason of principle, but I experience disrespect, Justice Bell said in court of Paul Scanlon QC, Aine Magee QC and James Mighell QC.



High Court judges stopped wearing wigs in 1987 and in 2007, wigs were scrapped from the County Court.



Geoff Bowyer, a former Law Institute of Victoria president told the ABC that modernising court attire is appropriate and that the profession was taking time to adjust.



I know many leaders of the bar who I believe will ultimately and very shortly accept the right, absolute right of the Chief Justice to make that direction, Bowyer said.



And I do believe that the bar will quickly fall into line.



He said the modernisation is important in levelling the playing field as the number litigants self-representing, increases.



They don't appear to be overawed or in a position of inferiority complex because someone is wearing a wig, he said.



Barrister Aine Magee QC declined the ABCs request for comment and the other lawyers are yet to respond to interview requests.



The chief justice declined to comment and the Bar Association is yet to respond to requests for comment.


M&A boom far from over says report

The global life sciences deal market sector is renormalizing and almost half of industry leaders plan to actively pursue deals in the coming 12 months.

A report from EY shows that, although M&A in the sector has eased recently, it is far from over and 58 per cent of those surveyed said that acquisitions and divestitures are topping their boardroom agenda.

Jeff Greene, EYs Global Life Sciences Transaction Advisory Services Leader commented that, following the inversion-focused acquisitions of recent years, specialty pharma firms will be assessing their acquisitions and portfolios.

Not surprisingly, pharmaceutical M&A deals will be more subdued this year as big pharma becomes more selective in its dealmaking. Yet big pharma still has relatively strong M&A firepower and its need for filling growth gaps may spawn some hostile bids for deal targets, such as those in the surging biotech subsector, he said.



Lawyers wives call for husbands release

The wives of three human rights lawyers detained by Chinese authorities, have released a video calling for their release.

Hundreds of activists and lawyers were arrested in 2015 and relatives were told to follow rules including not hiring their own lawyers or talking to the media.

However, some including Wang Qialing whose husband Li Heping has been detained, have chosen to speak out. "Facing these illegal and groundless requirements from the government, we as family members didn't give in, she told CNN.

The women say that the Chinese authorities said they must speak on camera to urge their husbands to plead guilty but they have refused.



Trump says judges ruling is because he hates him

A class action lawsuit against one US presidential hopeful Donald Trumps former businesses has escalated after a US judge ordered the release of certain documents.

The lawsuit alleges that the defunct Trump University made claims to students about the credibility of its tutors which are disputed; and the promise that the courses would ensure students would be successful in real estate are also challenged.

Donald Trumps lawyers have argued that business documents should not be released as they contain information that may be used in the future if the business is relaunched.

The International Business Times reports that US federal judge Gonzalo Curiel dismissed the appeal against releasing the papers prompting Trump to tell supporters at a rally that he is a hater of Donald Trump. He also highlighted the judges Hispanic heritage.


By Rod Tucker, Laureate Emeritus Professor, University of Melbourne

Q&A

The Conversation is fact-checking claims made on Q&A, broadcast Mondays on the ABC at 9:35pm. Thank you to everyone who sent us quotes for checking via Twitter using hashtags #FactCheck and #QandA, on Facebook or by email.









And there has not been a delay of the NBN Because of Malcolm Turnbulls management of the NBN, it will all be finished by 2020, not 2024 as Labor was promising, with speeds that people want and need.  Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Christopher Pyne, speaking on Q&A, May 23, 2016.

The election campaign has brought national broadband network policy back into the spotlight, particularly as the incumbent prime minister was responsible for the National Broadband Network (NBN) in his previous role as communications minister.

Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Christopher Pyne told Q&A there has not been a delay of the NBN. Is that right?

2013: the year of election promises and reviews

The Conversation contacted a spokesperson for Christopher Pyne seeking comment and sources to support his statement, but did not hear back before deadline.

Nevertheless, most of the documents on the recent history of the NBN can be found online.

As acknowledged in this Coalition document, the previous Labor government promised to deliver an NBN by a deadline of 2021 (not 2024 as Pyne stated on Q&A).

Prior to the 2013 federal election, the nbn co under the then-Labor government said it planned to deliver a predominantly fibre to the premises (FTTP) network by 2021.

But there were delays in negotiating with Telstra for access to ducts and pits, the discovery of asbestos in some of Telstras network, and other teething problems.

In their 2013 pre-election promises, the Coalition said its goal was to provide everyone in the nation with access to broadband with download data rates of between 25 and 100 megabits per second by the year 2016. They also planned to deliver between 50 and 100 megabits per second by the end of 2019 to 90% of the fixed line footprint. That election commitment, the Coalition said, assumes the current NBN Co satellite and fixed wireless networks are deployed on schedule.

But after the election, the Coalitions dropped its promise to deliver 25 to 100 megabits per second to everyone in the nation by 2016.

Then communications minister Malcolm Turnbull said that a December 2013 Strategic Review of the NBN commissioned by the new government had found that

the NBN is in a fundamentally worse position than the Labor Government at any time disclosed to Parliament or the Australian public.

The strategic review also said that Labors NBN would not have been completed until 2024.

2015: New plans

In 2015, the nbn co issued its 2016 corporate plan.

In this document, the company now estimated that Labors plan for

an all-FTTP fixed line rollout could be completed by 2026 but possibly as late as 2028.

However, this revised estimate has been challenged by former nbn co CEO, Mike Quigley, who said in a 2015 article that

For that to be correct, one has to assume that for the next 13 years, nbn co will roll out just 12,300 premises per week on average. Fewer premises than it regularly passes each week today It is almost certainly true that an all-FTTP NBN would take longer to complete than its inferior MTM counterpart [the Multi-Technology Mix proposed by the Coalition]. But it would likely only be longer by one to three years.

In late 2015, an nbn co spokesman was reported as saying that the company had

deliberately chosen to take a more gradual approach to [fibre to the node or FTTN] activations than was originally flagged.

The 2016 leaks

Early in 2016, internal nbn co documents were leaked to the media.

These and other leaked documents  which were at the centre of a recent Australian Federal Police raid on a Labor offices and a staffers home in an effort to find the leaker  were reported as showing bottlenecks and delays in the fibre to the node (FTTN) and hybrid fibre coax (HFC) components of the NBN rollout.

In response, nbn co said:

NBN has met or exceeded every key target for six quarters in a row.

Current nbn co chair Ziggy Switkowski wrote on May 28, 2016 that

The company will meet its targets for the ninth quarter in a row There are no cost blowouts or rollout delays to the publicly released plans.

Its beyond the scope of FactCheck to say with any certainty whether the leaked documents accurately reflect the full picture.

Its important to note that as any technical and other teething problems are resolved, nbn co should be able to ramp up the roll-out rate to improve its chances of meeting a 2020 completion project date.

Internet access speeds around the world are growing rapidly, and this growth is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. Australias internet speeds are slow compared to other developed countries.

Infographic: How fast is the NBN?

Verdict

Christopher Pynes assertion that there have been no delays in the implementation of the NBN is inaccurate. Some delays occurred under the Labor government, and the early stages of the FTTN rollout under the current government have been slower than the Coalition originally envisaged.

Leaked documents and reported statements by an nbn co spokesperson also suggest delays occurred under the Coalition government. However, nbn co rejects that, saying it has met or exceeded its key targets.

Labor promised a completion date of 2021, not 2024 as Pyne said. It was the December 2013 Strategic Review of the NBN commissioned by the Coalition government that said Labors NBN would not have been completed until 2024.  Rod Tucker

Review

This article is factual and correct. As stated in the article, delays in the nbn cos roll out is also self evident by comparing the original deployment date promises made before the 2013 federal election with the the revised schedule outlined in the December 2013 strategic review of the NBN, initiated by the Coalition government.  Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas

Have you ever seen a fact worth checking? The Conversations FactCheck asks academic experts to test claims and see how true they are. We then ask a second academic to review an anonymous copy of the article. You can request a check at checkit@theconversation.edu.au . Please include the statement you would like us to check, the date it was made, and a link if possible.

Rod Tucker has received funding from the ARC and a number of telecommunications companies. He was a member of the Panel of Experts that advised the Labor Government on the establishment of the original FTTP-based NBN.

Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Nokia Bell Labs, Google and the Victorian State Government and leads an interdisciplinary institute - Melbourne Networked Society Institute which has received funding from both state and federal governments as well as a range of industry partners.

Originally published in The Conversation.
A plan to introduce a higher rate of tax for young people in Australian with working holiday visas has been postponed until at least January 2017.Backpackers who work during their holiday in the country currently pay no tax on income up to $18,000 but the government had planned to introduce a new tax level where they would pay 32.5% on every dollar earned from 01 July.This created an outcry from farmers, who employ backpackers at harvest time, and the hospitality and tourism industries which also employ a lot of backpackers.Now Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer has confirmed that there will be a review of labour force issues in regional and rural communities and the new tax will not be introduced until after that.But some believe this could be a cynical electioneering ploy to persuade rural voters ahead of the Australian general election on 02 July. If the current government is re-elected then the issue could be discussed again in October or November. That means that if the new tax rate goes ahead it would be unlikely that it would be in place before January 2017.Those who support rural communities want the government to abandon the tax. They include Rachel Siewert, agricultural spokesman for the Green Party who described the delay as "an election stunt".Farming organisations have pointed out that the tax would discourage young people from abroad coming to Australia and that in return would seriously damage their supply of seasonal workers.The National Farmer's Federation said that the delay will only create further uncertainty for farmers who look ahead to employ seasonal workers for crop picking at the end of the year and the start of 2017."The backpacker tax should be scrapped for the sake of the livelihoods of thousands of primary producers across the country. We will continue to express our dissatisfaction at the government's decision to merely delay the tax by six months rather than implement a solution for the farmers who rely on working holiday makers to fill highly important, short term positions in their businesses," said NFF president Brent Finlay."Backpackers are heavily relied upon by agriculture to meet seasonal work requirements at peak times, particularly during harvest. We have heard stories from farmers across the nation who have found themselves unable to move forward with basic farm management, facing much lower production levels than usual, because of the impact this tax will have," he explained."A six month delay doesn't alleviate that concern, and for many means that the tax will now take effect half way through their busiest time of the year. Farmers across the country will be wondering how much area to put under crop, if already dwindling backpacker numbers drop off even further at that time," he added.Opposition politians are also against the proposed tax. Shadow Minister for Tourism, Anthony Albanese, and Shadow Minister for Agriculture, Joel Fitzgibbon, said the backpacker tax was ill-conceived and added in a joint statement that the agriculture and tourism sectors had been ignored by the Government in its attempts to find a way forward.A working holiday visa allows young people up to the age of 30 to stay in Australia for up to a year and work for six months of that time. It can be extended for another year. Official figures show that backpackers spend AU$4.3 billion a year, worth about 12% of all international tourist spending, so they are also seen as a boost to the national economy.
My partner and I lodged our spouse visa application after being married for two days and it was only a registry wedding (We had our church wedding a couple months later). We had officially been living together three weeks before we got married, but our relationship started six months before that, but as we lived in different countries we weren't able to live together until just before we got married. I then had to return to work in Australia about six weeks after our registry wedding.



It took DIBP 10 months to decide on our application which gave us extra time to gather evidence, she visited Australia twice and I went to her country three times. We did everything we could to be together and to maintain our relationship whilst we couldn't be together. When it came time to the actual decision we were living together in her country and I had a residence permit there based on our marriage.



So it is definitely possible to submit a spouse visa just after getting married.



There are some advantages to going the spouse route, if it is difficult for your partner to get a tourist visa based on their country then once you are married you can apply for a family sponsored visa. The application date for the spouse starts the 2 year countdown for the date of eligibility for the permanent visa and of course the spouse option is also cheaper.



Obviously you have to decide what is best for your circumstances and the advice of an agent is recommended (we had one). For us the spouse option was best and even though we were freshly married we had ten months to gather evidence.
The Grand i10 Magna petrol automatic is priced at Rs 5.95 lakh; LPG variant discontinued.

Hyundai has been amending its model line-up in India with the addition and deletion of trim levels, and revision of features on many of its older models. One of the recent revisions was made on the Grand i10 which saw the deletion of the top Asta trim, and the addition of driver airbag on all other trim levels.

The revisions did affect certain key features, including the four-speed automatic gearbox which was offered on the variants. Previously available in the Asta and Sportz trims, Hyundai seemingly discontinued both automatic variants. However, the carmaker did not stop production of the automatic Grand i10, but moved the gearbox option to the top Asta (O) trim.

Now, the manufacturer has silently introduced the gearbox in the lower Magna trim which offers the option of pairing the 1.2-litre petrol engine to the four-speed unit.

The Grand i10 Magna automatic is priced at Rs 5.95 lakh, while the top spec Asta (O) automatic is priced at Rs 6.84 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

In the segment, the Grand i10's only rival is the Nissan Micra that gets the option of a CVT automatic gearbox on the top two trims. Other alternatives to the Grand i10 include the similarly priced Honda Brio automatic  a five-speed automatic unit  and the more expensive Maruti Baleno CVT.

The automaker, however, has discontinued the Grand i10 LPG variant. The LPG variant, which was available in the Magna trim, was the only model in the line-up to use a 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine capable of running on petrol and LPG.

Apart from these modifications, Hyundai also recently introduced a special edition of the Grand i10 alongside a special-edition Xcent to celebrate the companys 20 year anniversary in India. Both models received minor tweaks to the exterior to set it apart from the standard model, while inside they featured red and black dual-tone upholstery and a 6.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system.
NGT gives further three weeks time to state governments' to submit information on pollution levels. Matter to be heard in next hearing in July 2016.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) is considering the option of extending the ban on sale of diesel vehicles with engine capacities over 2,000cc to 11 more cities in the country. The ban, which is currently underway in Delhi-NCR, could be imposed in cities including Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai Hyderabad, Jalandhar and Patna.

However, in a hearing today, the NGT gave additional time of three weeks to state governments to furnish information on pollution levels. In a hearing on May 30, 2016, the NGT had sought data from various states including Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with details on the worst polluted city in the state and its population, number of vehicles in the city, and the split between petrol and diesel vehicles. The States were asked to submit the relevant information by May 31, 2016. The revised list of details to be furnished now includes ambient air quality and state's two most polluted cities and districts.

According to reports, the next hearing on the matter is set to take place on July 11, 2016.

Meanwhile, the Central government has appealed to the NGT to not extend this ban saying the decision could hurt investments.

If diesel is being termed as polluting, then it is unfair to single out diesel vehicles with engine capacity of over 2,000 cc. All our vehicles meet all the regulations prevalent in the country. The extension of the ban to other states could have severe implications on our operations. Such decisions make it difficult for us to strategise and it also renders the investments made by our parent company Toyota Motor Corporation, insecure, a Toyota Kirloskar Motor spokesperson told Autocar India.

Toyota has been severely bogged down by the ban on large diesel vehicles. The carmakers flagship Innova and Fortuner models come within the ambit of the ban imposed in Delhi-NCR. According to some estimates, the region accounts for almost 15 percent of Toyotas sales.

Recently, the NGT banned diesel vehicles that are over 10 years old in six major cities of Kerala, and even directed the State government to not register any diesel-engined vehicle over 2,000cc. The Kerala high court, however, stayed the order on the registration for two months, while not holding up the recently imposed ban.

In a bid to tackle the rising levels of pollution in Delhi-NCR, the Supreme Court had imposed a ban on the sale of diesel cars and SUVs with engine capacities over 2,000cc, starting mid-December until its expiry on March 31, 2016. However, since then the apex court has extended the ban thrice, and the same is now in place until the next hearing.
Its roots are going back to the Porsche 718, which won the Targa Florio race in 1959. The modern Cayman featured a flat-four engine and rear-wheel drive. Its sporty character and easy to drive behavior made it able to be used as a daily driver.



The exterior has some clues about the Porsche family, especially the front fascia with unmistakably headlights shape and flat trunk lid. No, there is no mistake, the trunk is in the front and the engine is behind the driver. On the sides, the large air-intakes in front of the rear wheels are used for engine cooling.



Inside the cramped cabin, there is room for two passengers. The driver has more commands on the steering wheel, including the switch for the driving modes that adapt the engine and gearbox response, to the suspension. The instrument panel features two big analog dials and one TFT display on the right side that shows various information regarding the car's parameters or the navigation system. On the center console, there is the infotainment PCM unit (Porsche Communication Management) that can be connected with smartphones via a designated Porsche App.



The engine offers 299 hp from 2.0-liter displacement. It is mated as standard with a six-speed gearbox. As an option, a 7-speed PDK (double-clutch) automatic gearbox is offered.
The GMC division of General Motors has yet to announce the pricing, even though the peeps at Edmunds are adamant that the appearance package will retail for around $3,000, give or take a few bucks. Available on Yukon and Yukon XL models, the SLT Premium Edition features 22-inch chrome wheels and chrome grille, bright chrome on the body-side moldings, and a polished exhaust tip. Thats darn right, three grand for some shiny teeth.Its ludicrous when you think about it, but hey, some people live and die by the bling. Stu Pierce, the senior marketing manager at GMC, tells that the new Yukon SLT Premium Edition adds distinction and personalized style to the already well-appointed Yukon SLT model.Pardon my French, but those are fancy words to describe some chrome. Stu adds: For discerning customers seeking uncompromising capability and unparalleled refinement in a full-size SUV, Yukon SLT Premium Edition delivers with the latest in technologies, amenities and a unique and premium style. It seems to me that GMC needs better marketing people.Appearance package aside, the GMC Yukon and GMC Yukon XL come with a 5.3-liter V8 engine and a six-speed transmission as standard. No-cost goodies include perforated leather seats, Power Release Fold and Tumble second row seats, heated steering wheel, side blind zone alert with rear cross traffic alert, lane change alert, forward collision alert, a hands-free power liftgate, and a Bose Premium Sound System.The question is, would you pay $60k for such a sport utility vehicle or do you prefer the GMC Yukon Denali? If it were my money on the line, Id cough up $65k and go for the Denali. Better still, the 2017 Audi Q7 3.0 TFSI Prestige is priced at $64,300.
AWD

While the old shooting brake was beautiful from angles, this one seems to have been designed with the clear intention to make us bite the back of our hands.So even though the fact that the first example arrived in the Netherlands isn't particularly newsworthy, we just had to share the videos.From the front, it looks like a futuristic Dodge Viper , and under the hood is an updated version of the 6.3-liter V12 Ferrari has been making. Who knows, this might just be the last honest 12-cylinder supercar the company makes. One major talking point is that all the exhaust manifolds are the exact same length, which has allowed them to make one of the best sounding exhaust systems.Another thing we like about the GTC4Lusso is that it features rear-wheel steering, a feature that was introduced in the Tour de France and has now been mixed with. It's not as basic as the Renault 4Control system because Ferrari designed it to reduce understeer going into a corner and make a bit of oversteer coming out. Speaking of AWD, the car is now able to send up to 90% of the available torque to either one of the front wheels.The interior has received similar radical changes to the exterior. It features a sort of dual cockpit design, where there's a narrow screen right in front of the passenger so that he can select music or look at the G-meter. The big screen in the middle is about as good as any Apple iTab system. The indicators have also changed, and they work sort of like little paddle shifter, which may weird some people out.Let us know what you think of the new FF. Does the van look suit the only 4-seater Ferrari makes or is this a pointless car?
AMG

6x6

Not all X-Men are getting cool rides in this gallery of renderings, just the main characters of the movie X-Men: Apocalypse. It's got an entirely new cast, where The Hunger Games girl plays Jean Gray, and Sansa Stark is Mystique. No, wait... that's the other way around.Like we said, cars are pointless modes of transportation when you can fly or teleport. However, every kid dreams of having his very own truck in the Wolverine black and yellow colors. Otherwise, toy companies like Hot Wheels would long have gone out of business.We think the same team that created these renderings is also behind the Wolverine Audi R8 and Superman Bugatti we showed you a couple of months ago. However, this time, the credits go to Who Car Fix My Car , a British web that can hook you up with awesome repair workshops.The other major "plot hole" for this set of renderings is that the Apocalypse movie is set in the 1980s when none of these vehicles existed except maybe for the G-Wagen and the Toyota Hilux. En Sabah Nur, a powerful mutant believed to be the first of his kind, rules ancient Egypt until he was betrayed by his worshipers and entombed. He awakens in 1983 and... has a G63Between the Cyclops Mustang GT350R and the Jean Grey Volvo XC90, some of these renderings don't make a lot of sense. They also appear to be styled by people who know all the lines in every Fast and Furious movie.However, the Tesla Model X used by Professor Xavier makes sense and comes with an on-board mini Cerebro machine. Regarding the Mystique BMW i8, we also want to point out that the German car company has two shape-shifting concepts, the recent Next 100 and the older GINA. Don't laugh; it's the official name!
Case in point with the 688HS. Developed as a limited edition by the automaker's McLaren Special Operations (MSO) division, this is ready to one-up the 675LT on every possible front.Sure, power may only be up 13 PS (hence the 688 in the designation of the car), but let's keep in mind the Ricardo-developed twin-turbo 3.8-liter V8 this speed demon uses gets extremely close to the 737 PS output it offers when mounted in the middle of the P1. And speaking of the Brits' retired gas-electric demon, it's safe to expect hypercar, not supercar, performance from the 688HS.While these images, which come from Autogespot , aren't accompanied by official info, the 688 High Sport is expected to be noticeably lighter than the already featherweight 675LT.The two will also be differentiated by aerodynamics - a trained eye can tell the 688HS will deliver serious extra downforce just by looking at all the carefully penned elements all over the vehicle. From the winglets on the side of the front fascia to the generously-sized fixed rear wing, the High Sport looks like somebody strapped number plates to a racecar ( road-legal McLaren P1 , anybody?)In terms of exclusivity, MSO will only deliver 25 units of the 688HS and if you didn't know this already, it means you won't be able to buy one. While we expected the beast to be sold out before its release (this has become the norm nowadays), we're not sure about future developments linked to it.You see, McLaren risked short-term safety for long-term benefits when it also released a Spider incarnation of the 675LT - owners of the 500 Coupes were upset about the extra 500 Spiders affecting the exclusivity factor of their rides. The question is: will the 688 High Sport follow the same path?
The Supra GTR 150 Adventure is a spin-off of the GTR 150 Honda successfully sells in Indonesia. Mixed news reports that this model is already set for production, while other sources indicate that it is only a prototype.Honestly, the Honda Supra GTR 150 Adventure looks ready to roll in these two pictures. There may be some wishful thinking involved in this, but we reckon that it's not only us who'd simply love to see such scooters making it into the international markets.Honda revised the architecture of the base scooter, with the engine relocation in the frame bring the first thing you will notice. While the overall attire of the Adventure machine resembles quite a bit to that of the base GTR 150, the ground clearance was significantly improved. The Honda Supra GTR 150 Adventure can now take advantage of the 17" wheels, for passing obstacles and wading streams more easily.Apparently, the scooter in these two pictures is also laden with a lot of aftermarket accessories, such as the orange crash bars, soft-case panniers, racing exhaust, hand protectors, and auxiliary lights are nor among the stock items. Even so, the Honda Supra GTR 150 Adventure looks amazing with knobby tires, and it also appears that they are actual dual-sport tires and not some sort of wannabe mock-ups.A 150cc single cylinder engine is clearly not enough to tackle the toughest terrain, loaded fully and riding two-up, but we love the overall idea. If Honda decides to extend its scooter segment with adventure models, we can only be happy.Frankly, we hope that true Adv small machines DO make it into production for international markets because the City Adventure NC750-based machine might not be the one, with its rumored price and with its rather poor terrainability and cargo capacity.
The law we are referring to was made in 1971, and it did not attack autonomous vehicles per se, but forbid drivers to operate a vehicle without one hand on the steering wheel while the car is in motion.As most of you already know by now, Google has a self-driving car prototype that does not have conventional driving controls, so no steering wheel or pedals at all, so cars that can drive themselves are not allowed in the state until the situation is resolved.While self-driving car technology is still years away from production-ready status, ongoing models with autonomous tech oblige their users to keep at least one hand on the steering wheel while the car is in motion.However, fully autonomous vehicles will not require this from their operators, but nobody will be able to test them in the state of NY because of this law.Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Joseph Robach proposed an adaptation of legislation that will allow drivers of vehicles that can park themselves to do so without risking a ticket.As NY Daily News reports, Robach is not aware of any driver ticketed under the 1971 law, but corporations must follow these regulations to the letter if they want to test self-driving cars in the state. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, New York is the only state in the USA which has a law that requires at least one hand on the steering wheel while driving a vehicle. This is a clear case of good intentions of the past that are becoming obsolete in certain conditions of modern times.Robachs bill was approved by the Senate, but still has to convince the Assembly. His naysayers claim the technology is still unproven, and believe the tech must handle stressful traffic scenarios before getting legislation adapted to it.Meanwhile, companies involved in the self-driving car battle claim their products will match and exceed human driving performance in all traffic conditions. Since humans required a law to keep at least one hand on the wheel, this might not be hard to do for the robot drivers of the future.
Case in point with the Rubystone Red 911 GT3 RS PDK in the image above. The track-savvy Porsche , which was recently spotted at a car meet in the US (hat tip to Redditor kdbfisherman for the pic), is a one-off built with the help of Porsche Exclusive, the automaker's personalization arm.This bold hue is far from new, having adorned Porsches for decades. And while we've seen plenty of custom GT3 RS PDKs, from a worn-out Martini wrap to a fully-resprayed car, we have to admit this hue, which imitates actual rubys rather well, is the strongest we've come across to date.Heck, with the 991 GT3 RS, Zuffenhausen is basically inviting customers to go wild. That's the only conclusion you can think of when a car's launch hue is called Lava Orange. And let's not forget that this shade of Orange has subsequently spread to other Porsche models with stunning results (one again with the help of Porsche Exclusive). For example, this is how a Macan looks when dressed in Lava Orange.Then there's Ultraviolet Blue, which, thanks to all the wicked Exclusive schemes and wraps, can almost be considered a... normal color.Returning to the Rubystone Red GT3 RS we have here, we're not just calling it bold because ignorants might label it under "lipstick magenta" or something like that. Instead, we're talking about such an eye-catching color turning you into a visible target during track days.After all, you never know when a Ring Wolf (here's a graphic definition for those unfamiliar with the term) will try to hunt you and your GT3 RS down...: We've added a second image of this eye-candy Rennsport Neunelfer, which you can find below.
As Mr. Regular of Regular Car Reviews fame puts it, the Chevrolet Sonic is a General Motors product thats assembled in Michigan on a German platform , updated by Korea and Australia, with a German design engine built in Mexico and a German transmission built in Austria. General Motors works in mysterious ways, I know, but what would the automotive world be without the quirkiness of the biggest of the Big Three?Introduced at the 2010 Paris Motor Show in the form of the Euro-spec Chevrolet Aveo, the second-generation Sonic is a cheap and almost cheerful means of transportation, nothing less and nothing more. If you ask me, thats alright because lots of people around the world need such a thing. And yes, that also includes the U.S. of A. Chevrolet updated the Sonic for the 2017 model year with goodies such as an optional heated steering wheel and other stuff people rarely use on a daily basis. Then again, its an honest car in entry-level trim. The 2013 model year of the subcompact-sized Sonic is even more honest because, lets face it, the headlights and taillights are the work of bean counters, not a design team. Mr. Regular hits the nail on the head better than I do, so press play and enjoy this 11-minute dose of (surprisingly) Regular Car Reviews I find the normality of this episode surprising and refreshing at the same time. If you ask me, the thoroughly underwhelming review of a thoroughly underwhelming car fits like a jigsaw falling into place.Mr. Romans rendition of the Bahamut Temple Theme from Final Fantasy X is a work of genius.
We are writing about approximately 3,100 Yaris hatchbacks of the 2015 model year. According to Toyota, the recall targets the strut mounting bearings. The Japanese automaker has discovered that the front upper shock assembly bearing could be damaged and fail prematurely because of the issue.Vehicles with the issue will generate abnormal noises while driving on rough road surfaces or when turning the steering wheel. If the owner does nothing and keeps driving in this condition, the situation could lead to a failure of the front shock absorber.The part damage would happen through the separation of the piston rod. In turn, the problem might cause a loss of stability and increase the risk of a crash.Toyota will inform all known owners of the affected vehicles by first class mail. All the strut mounting bearings which are suspected of the condition will be replaced with an improved version. In the severe case of a damaged strut mounting bearing, the Toyota dealer will also replace the strut and the front suspension support sub-assembly.The recall action announced in this article refers to a voluntary recall from Toyota . The Japanese automaker has no knowledge of any injuries of deaths related to vehicles that suffered from this potential issue.Toyota has not announced any link between this recall and the European or Asian versions of the Yaris. The ongoing Yaris is built in seven separate factories (four in Japan) across the world, so the issue might not occur in all the models. After all, only 3,100 MY2015 vehicles were affected, a small margin of total sales numbers in the US alone.Yaris, the smallest car in Toyotas US offer, received a facelift in the summer of 2014. The redesign brought the Yaris closed to the Aygo from a design point of view. It was available in three equipment versions, buy with only a 1.5-liter VVT-i gasoline engine. At the time of launch, the cheapest version, a three-door Yaris in base trim , started at $14,845.
Whenever dispatch comes through, it could be anything, from domestic violence to a bank robbery or the Russians invading the country. And whatever it is, they have to be ready to act, and even though most of the times they only need to go back to what they learned in training, you can't expect it to cover every possible situation that an officer can come across out there.Take, for instance, the call this 33-year-old New Jersey police officer received. He was called in to assist with a large branch that had fallen onto the road, blocking more than half of it. It was particularly dangerous since it fell right next to a low visibility bend. The cars that went around it on the opposite lane exposed themselves and any vehicle coming the other way to great danger.First on the scene, he got out of the car and proceeded to examine the situation. Focusing on the more obvious problem of the actual branch, he fails to notice what exactly caused this to happen, and if there are any more trees - or parts of them - that want to go napping on the asphalt. He begins to try and pull the branch out of the way as another patrol car arrives. But before the back-up can even get out of the vehicle, disaster strikes.One more donut and he would have been toast - and we don't mean the good kind that you can spread butter on, wait until it gets soft, and stuff your face with it. No, he would have been a goner, kaput, history. Mama-tree didn't like how the officer handled the tiny (by comparison) branch, so she decided to go for a dive.She timed it almost perfectly, but she didn't take into account all those hours our man had spent practicing pulling out the gun. They finally paid off here, giving this chubby officer some pretty impressive reflexes that might have just saved his life. Because his physical condition sure did its best to end it.
The president of the Regional Air Cargo Carriers Association says the escalating pilot shortage could soon be hitting mainstream America where it hurts most. Millions of Americans are not going to get their online purchases delivered to their front door if the situation does not improve, RACCA President Stan Bernstein told Global Trademagazine. Everyone is talking about pilot shortages at the passenger airlines and all the communities that are losing service but they are going to be surprised when what they ordered online isnt delivered in a timely manner. Bernstein said small package carriers are expecting to lose a staggering two-thirds of their pilots to attrition in the next year, resulting in route abandonment and downstream layoffs of support employees. The unhappy irony is that the shortage is crippling an industry that is seeing burgeoning demand from the online shopping industry.

We have talked to a lot of companies and there is one overriding comment, RACCA Board Chair Tim Komberec told Global Trader. They have a lot of opportunities for growth but cant find the pilots to accommodate that growth. The good news is demand is out there. RACCA blames the 1,500-hour rule for the shortage but it also cited an AOPA study that suggests only about 29 percent of student pilots want a career in aviation.
A U.S. Navy TBM-1C Avenger airplane, which had been missing since July 1944, was found last week about 85 feet deep in the Pacific Ocean, near the island nation of Palau, by Project Recover. The project is a collaborative effort between the Office of Naval Research, several universities and private funders, and is working to locate all aircraft and associated Americans missing in action since World War II. This recovery is another step closer towards Project Recovers goal, said Dan Friedkin, chairman of the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation. Every family member impacted by the loss of a service member deserves this type of closure. The search teams have combined the use of the most advanced oceanographic technology with archival research, veteran interviews and satellite imagery, and have found six wrecks since 2012. The teams search equipment includes scanning sonars, high-definition and thermal cameras, unmanned aerial systems and underwater robots.

Mark Moline, one of the university researchers working with the group, said the Avenger was identified mainly by its distinctive gun turret. When its coming in at 400 knots, it doesnt look much like a plane anymore, he told the Philadelphia Inquirer. The wreck is covered with coral and algae. The group does not divulge whether the wrecks they find contain the remains of American servicemen. Information on the sites is turned over to the Pentagons Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which is tasked with recovery and repatriation efforts, including contacting surviving relatives. The team plans to search for wrecks in the waters off England this summer, according to the Inquirer.
30 May 2016 08:56 (UTC+04:00)

The arrest of Leyla and Arif Yunusovs, Khadija Ismailova and Rauf Mirkadirov is not a tendency of civil society's norms and domestic policy Azerbaijan, Ali Hasanov, the Azerbaijani president's aide for public and political affairs, said in an interview with ANS TV channel.



Hasanov noted that Azerbaijan has more than 12,000 journalists and most of them successfully work freely.



"There are non-governmental organizations representing 3,500 representatives of adult population and the same number of young people in Azerbaijan. There are many human rights organizations, their leaders criticize the government of Azerbaijan not less than Leyla Yunus and others, but they are free", he said.



Ali Hasanov stressed that the arrest of 3-5 people due to various violations of the law at different times is not a tendency of civil society's norms and domestic policy in Azerbaijan.



"As for their release, Mr. President showed humanism, pardoned the majority of people arrested for various offenses or other acts, and the policy of pardoning has continued. This in no way can be based on will and demands of the international community. Azerbaijani civil society does all this because it is needed for the people of Azerbaijan", he added.



Ali Hasanov also noted that public policy of Azerbaijan is not carried out under the influence of any foreign forces. He added that today the norms of Azerbaijani civil society continue to develop.

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30 May 2016 11:44 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan`s parliamentary delegation led by First Vice-Speaker Ziyafat Asgarov is attending the NATO Parliamentary Assembly`s spring session in Tirana, Albania.

The delegation includes MPs Malahat Ibrahimqizi, Kamran Bayramov and Gudrat Hasanguliyev.

The session will bring together some 250 parliamentarians from the NATO member countries from North America and Europe as well as delegates from partner countries and observers to discuss common international security concerns and reports.

The event will focus a number of issues, including information and national security, and foreign policy priorities.

As part of the visit, the Azerbaijani delegation will have several meetings.

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30 May 2016 11:50 (UTC+04:00)

The opening of the new administrative building of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has been held.

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the ceremony. He cut the ribbon symbolizing the opening of the building.

President of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev informed the president about the conditions created here. The 40-storey building is 200 meters in height. The foundation stone of the building was laid with the participation of the Azerbaijani President on October 12, 2010. All conditions were created here for employees. The building was provided with the state-of-the-art technologies.

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31 May 2016 10:44 (UTC+04:00)

By Fatma Babayeva

SOCAR Trading SA, the marketing arm of the Azerbaijans state oil company of SOCAR, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Videsh Limited, SOCAR Trading's reported on May 30.

In accordance with the MoU, the two companies agreed to collaborate in the oil and gas sector by mutually sharing their experience in optimizing sales revenues and their portfolios.

ONGC is India's largest oil and gas exploration and production company which was founded in 1956.

ONGC's operations include conventional exploration and production, refining and progressive development of alternate energy sources like coal-bed methane and shale gas. The company meets about 30 percent of India's crude oil demand.

Headquartered in Geneva, SOCAR Trading was incorporated in December 2007 as the marketing arm of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) with a mandate to market Azeri barrels produced from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli field and other surrounding fields in Azerbaijan.

While the company continues to market the bulk of SOCAR crude oil export volumes from Ceyhan port in Turkey, it has also been able to develop significant third party volumes through both leveraging its system barrels, as well as its experienced traders developing new business. SOCAR Trading's activities cover countries of Europe, Asia and the U.S.

SOCAR is involved in exploring oil and gas fields, producing, processing, and transporting oil, gas, and gas condensate, marketing petroleum and petrochemical products in domestic and international markets, as well as, supplying natural gas to industry and the public in Azerbaijan.

Three production divisions, one oil refinery and one gas processing plant, a deep water platform fabrication yard, two trusts, one institution, and 23 subdivisions are operating as corporate entities under SOCAR.

In December 2015, the company made a decision to suspend activities of all foreign offices which functions passed to the Baku office which are fully owned by SOCAR.

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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva

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30 May 2016 10:04 (UTC+04:00)

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that what brought the enemies to the negotiating table was Iran's might and strength, IRNA reported.



If the enemies were not disappointed from military attack on Iran, they would not choose the path of negotiations, Araqchi said.



Speaking at a Tehran university, Araqchi said that different factors contributed to Iran's success in its nuclear talks with the six world powers.



The first factor contributing to Iran's success in the course of nuclear talks was the country's military and defensive capabilities, Araqchi said, adding that Iran obtained such a great defensive capability that no one dared to attack the country.



'I can assure you that if they could eliminate Iran's nuclear program through military attack and had no concern about its consequences, they would not hesitate to do so,' Araqchi said.



He said that the most significant part of Iran's defensive capability was its missile system that disappointed the enemies from attacking the country.



'The resistance of the Iranian nation to the economic pressures and sanctions imposed on the country was another factor contributing to Iran's success in the course of nuclear talks,' Araqchi said.

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30 May 2016 13:45 (UTC+04:00)

President Hassan Rouhani said that people of Iran voiced their wishes by attending the recent round of elections for parliament and the Assembly of Experts in the country.



Addressing a gathering of people in the northwestern city of Orumiyeh, President Rouhani said that people voted in favor of the improvement of economic situation in the country, state-run TV IRINN reported.



Saying that 62 percent of eligible voters attended the recent poles in the country, he added that people urged for unity among officials of the Islamic Republic.



President further added that people said "no to extremism" through the elections.



People are not in the favor of creating gaps between Iran and the rest of the world, Rouhani added.



The 290-member parliament was inaugurated May 29 with the participation of 265 MPs and a number of senior officials of the Islamic Republic.



Earlier in late February Iranians voted in two crucial elections for parliament and the Assembly of Experts as the country looks to a post-sanction period to rebuild its economy and shape its relations with the outside world.



President Hassan Rouhnai arrived in West Azerbaijan Province this morning as part of his provincial visits.

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30 May 2016 16:30 (UTC+04:00)

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that international banks are concerned over re-establishing ties with Iran due to heavy penalties introduced by the US.



US Secretary of State John Kerry has issued several announcements regarding banking ties with Iran but international banks are still concerned, Zarif said at a meeting with a group of Iranian entrepreneurs in Poland.



In a bid to address concerns of overdoing business in Iran, the US Secretary of State John Kerry met with heads of some of European banks in London on May 12 where he reassured that the bankers are not going to be held to some undefined and inappropriate standards.



Zarif said that the problem is that the US government has not taken measures regarding the issue and the US Department of State is not in charge of lifting the sanctions.



Other departments of the US government and the US Court have key roles in the issue of the removal of sanctions, Zarif added.



Meanwhile the international banks do not trust the US, the foreign minister noted.



The Iranian minister further stated that during the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini's mid-April visit to Tehran the issue of banking ties was significantly discussed and the EU is making efforts to remove the obstacles but it will take a while to resolve the problems.



He also called for expansion of bilateral ties between the private sectors of Iran and the EU.



Zarif arrived in Polish capital Warsaw on the first leg of his tour to the north of the Europe May 29. Finland, Sweden and Latvia will be the next destinations of Iranian foreign minister during his tour.

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30 May 2016 19:00 (UTC+04:00)

GM Uzbekistan, the former UzDaewooAuto, started the serial production of third-generation Nexia cars, Uzavtoprom (Uzbek Association of Automotive Industry Enterprises) said.

The new model is produced on the basis of T-250 (Chevrolet Aveo) platform. The cars will be sold under the Ravon Nexia R3 brand for export and under the Chevrolet Nexia brand on the local market.

The project on the serial production of the T-250 car model costs $104.2 million. The design capacity of the new production is 73,600 cars a year.

GM Uzbekistan financed this project.

GM Uzbekistan, formerly known as UzDaewooAuto, was created in 1996 on a parity basis by Uzbekistan and South Korean Daewoo Motors.

In 2005, Uzbekistan acquired Daewoo's shares in UzDaewooAuto. In 2007, Uzavtoprom (Uzbek Association of Automotive Industry Enterprises) and the U.S.-based General Motors signed an agreement to establish the GM Uzbekistan with an authorized capital of $266.7 million.

General Motors owns 25 percent shares in the GM Uzbekistan plus one share with a possibility of increasing it to 40 percent. At the moment, 75 percent of the shares belong to the Uzavtoprom.

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More than a thousand people packed Calvary Baptist Church in Lakeland on Sunday to honor war veterans, past and present.

12th Annual Memorial Day Service honored Korean, Iraq War veterans

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd delivered keynote remarks

Calvary Baptist Church in Lakeland's 12th Annual Memorial Day special service paid tribute on this Memorial Day weekend to veterans of the Korean War and the Iraq War.

Keynote speaker Sheriff Grady Judd talked about the importance of the U.S. military protecting religious freedom.

"If we fail to stand up and speak out against atrocities, we, too, can have a barbaric country, and like sheep be led to the slaughter," Judd said.

The service also honored veterans with Florida ties. One of those was Marine Sgt. Lea Mills of Hernando County. Mills was killed on April 28, 2006 while serving in Iraq. He was 21 years old.



Mills' parents said their son died doing what he loved.

"He took another man's place the day he was killed," said Mills' mother, Dee.

"Ten years goes by, but there's not a day that we don't think about him," said Mills' father, Vietnam War veteran Rob Mills.

The service included a final roll call, and a letter Dee Mills wrote about her son, read by Marine Pfc. Aubry Skelton, son of Calvary Baptist's pastor, Shane Skelton.

Dee Mills said the service was bittersweet.

"It's sweet because he so deserves the honor. He gave his all," Dee said.

Mills' parents also expressed hope that Judd's message might serve as a reminder of the purpose of Memorial Day, a holiday designated for honoring those who died while serving in the U.S. armed forces.

"I think people nowadays have become too complacent on Memorial Day," Rob Mills said. "It's not a day of mattress sales and such. It's a day of remembrance and to look and think about how we got the freedom that we have in this country."


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A nurse from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., survived a 100-foot fall from a cliff while hiking in Cane Beds, Ariz. She was found by rescuers more than 24 hours after the fall, according to CBS Minnesota.

"I think it was an initial 12-foot drop and then I just kept rolling so when I woke up it was dark and I was alone for about 28 hours by myself," Amber Kohnhorst, RN, told CBS Minnesota.

In agonizing pain, Ms. Kohnhorst attempted to climb her way out of the canyon after the fall. According to the Post-Bulletin, the Mayo Clinic nurse made it 50 feet back up the canyon until the terrain became too rough. During this period, the gravity of the situation set in.

"I took pictures of myself and I sent messages to my parents because I thought if I was going to die I wanted them to have a goodbye. So I wrote letters to my parents and I just waited. I couldn't escape the canyon," said Ms. Kohnhorst.

A team of 100 rescuers was searching for her at this time. Ms. Kohnhorst was found on Saturday evening more than 24 hours after the fall.

"When I finally realized it was them and it wasn't my imagination I started blowing my whistle like crazy. Thank God I had the rescue team I did, they had the training. They pulled me out in a rope harness, it took seven hours," Ms. Kohnhorst told CBS Minnesota.

Ms. Kohnhorst broke her back during the fall. She's been informed by physicians that it will be six weeks before she can walk again and her recovery period will be three months.

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Northern Ireland's 'brain drain' will continue to damage the economy here unless Stormont invests enough in higher education, the man in charge of Queen's University has said.

Vice-chancellor Patrick Johnston said 38% of students currently leave Northern Ireland and there are not enough graduates in some sectors to meet demand.

In an interview in today's Belfast Telegraph, Mr Johnston said the issues cannot be ignored, and he plans to raise them with the new Economy Minister - the DUP's Simon Hamilton - in the coming days.

Queen's University saw its subsidy from Stormont slashed by 8m last year. Mr Johnston said in fact between 2010-2014 it has in real terms seen a 24% cut.

"Northern Ireland then as a result of that lost 2,250 student places - that's over 10% of the total undergraduate student places," he said, adding. "Some 38% of students have to leave Northern Ireland at the age of 18, that's a really serious situation for any society because in particular your most talented people are leaving.

"You do want people to leave and come back, people only come back to where opportunities sit.

"This situation still prevails and has to be addressed if we are going to develop a prosperous economy."

Mr Johnston said Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where Government is not investing in higher education, and also the only region which exports its talent.

He emphasised these issues need to be addressed if Stormont wants to develop a prosperous economy in Northern Ireland, warning that reducing corporation tax would not be enough.

"I think our policy makers and political leaders have now begun to really understand the importance of this, so I am actually hopeful that we will see a resolution of this and will see investment in higher education," he said.

"If we don't we are in trouble - we will not deliver on corporation tax, we will not deliver a prosperous society, we will begin to lose some of the global leaders that sit in Queen's today to other institutions across the UK and in the world that are actually investing."

However, despite this stern warning, Mr Johnston said he is hopeful for the future of higher education in Northern Ireland.

"I think it is a very challenging time, but there is an optimism now that Fresh Start will deliver something different, and certainly I tend to be an optimist and am very hopeful that will be the case," he added.

Since Mr Johnston was appointed vice-chancellor in 2014 he has received some criticism over his 250,000 salary.

However, he told the Belfast Telegraph that there are a lot of myths around his employment benefits and emphasised he has been offered other jobs with much bigger salaries.

"The reality is that my salary is set by a remuneration committee and senate, it is not set by me," he said.

"I have been offered salaries multiple times bigger than the salary I am currently on.

"I don't have a car provided for me - that is a myth - and I pay rent for the house that I live in. I don't get a house free. There are certain myths out there.

"If you actually look at the other leading universities, you'll find my salary is - by a significant country mile - the lowest.

"I don't do this job for the salary."
David Cameron is "sorry Boris isn't on the In side"

David Cameron has said he is "sorry" Boris Johnson is not on his side in the increasingly bitter Brexit battle.

With six ministers in his top team campaigning against Government policy on the EU, the Prime Minister has spoken of his "frustration" at the open divisions within Cabinet.

"Of course it's frustrating, and I'm sorry Boris isn't on the In side. Because, as he said before, he's never been an 'Outer'. So, of course, I'm sorry about that.

"But, of course, it's frustrating, and, of course, I don't like having senior colleagues on different sides of the argument.

"I didn't want that, but it is a subject of sufficient importance there was always going to be some of that.

"I'll leave it to Boris to explain what he's doing; he can explain that himself. I don't have to," Mr Cameron told GQ.

The Prime Minister launched a scathing attack on Mr Johnson when he opted for the Leave camp as Mr Cameron made it clear he believed the ex-London mayor had taken the decision for personal political advantage, not due to principles.

Mr Cameron also warned that the outcome of the referendum would impact on voters for a lifetime.

"It is such an important and big question that I think the result is something that people can see settling this issue for a generation, possibly for a lifetime.

"We made a choice 41 years ago. I think it's right that we make another choice. Europe has changed and of course people will go on having arguments.

"But it's a very big question and, once answered, politicians will have to accept the verdict of the people, whatever it is, and then deliver it," Mr Cameron said.

The Prime Minister accused the Leave camp of being unable to make up its mind on what a post-Brexit UK would be like.

"The Out campaign have gone from saying they want Norway-style arrangements to Canada-style to talking about Albania-style, because apparently Albania has a great trading position with Europe.

"Well, actually, it doesn't, funnily enough. It has quotas on its fish exports, if you really want to know.

"But comparing Britain, the fifth largest economy in the world, to Albania, a desperately poor country queuing up to get into the EU, is a ludicrous thing to do," Mr Cameron said.

The July issue of GQ is on sale on Thursday June 2.
EasyJet travellers caught out by new rules will have to pay an easyJet 'rescue fee' of 80 to switch to another flight

EasyJet is imposing a new rule which means anyone trying to pass through the security barriers with less than 30 minutes before take-off will be prevented from getting airside and sprinting to the gate  and could end up paying 80 to switch to another flight.

The airline has asked Gatwick to reprogramme its security barriers at which travellers have their boarding passes scanned to reject those with less than half an hour remaining before departure.

Previously, tardy passengers with no checked baggage were free to go through the security check and hurry to the departure gate in the hope of getting on the flight. Airline parlance for such a traveller is a HAG, short for Have A Go.

Now, passengers are being explicitly warned of the changes  albeit in small print  on their boarding pass: Gatwick security control gates are automatically being timed to close 30 minutes before departure.

Travellers who are refused access will be told to return to the easyJet desk to rearrange their travel arrangements.

For several years, easyJet has had a policy of telling customers they had to get to the departure gate 30 minutes before departure but, in practice, passengers were often able to squeeze on to the flight.

The airline sells missed flight cover for 7.50 in advance of travel, which provides the option of a full refund or travel on the next available flight for passengers who turn up late at the airport. For anyone who declines this cover, and is held up on the way to the airport, easyJet charges a rescue fee of 80 to switch to another flight.

An easyJet spokesman said the move was being brought in to benefit passengers, So that they do not needlessly clear security at the point where the gate is already closed. If a flight is known to be late, some leeway will be given. The spokesman said the barrier closure is dictated by live flight data, based on the actual time of the flight and not the scheduled time.

British Airways runs a similar policy at Heathrow in Terminals Three and Five, with a 35 minute cut-off.

Bizarrely, the easyJet move presents passengers with a baffling contradiction. On the same boarding pass they are told that they should enter the security area with at least half an hour to spare yet also given a conflicting warning that the gate closes 30 minutes before departure.

They cannot both be right. Even with swift progress through security and a sprint, it takes several minutes to reach the nearest departure gate. So a passenger who is just in time to get through the barrier is likely, according to easyJet, to be turned away from the gate. The airline did not explain this contradiction, though the spokesman said: Occasionally, gates may not shut precisely at  30 [minutes before departure] for a number of operational and passenger reasons.

Gatwick is easyJets biggest base, and the company is Gatwicks biggest airline. Around 15 million easyJet passengers are expected to pass through the Sussex airport this year.

The crackdown coincides with widespread delays and cancellations on the main railway line between London Victoria and Gatwick. The RMT union is in dispute with Southern Railway over working practices. The train operator said: Southern services continue to be severely affected by a high level of conductor and driver sickness. This is leading to a reduced service on a number of routes.

Independent
At least eight people were injured after a multiple vehicle collision in Co Antrim on Sunday evening and last night their conditions were described as "stable".

The Ambulance Service said six vehicles were involved in the collision, and Royal Victoria Hospital chiefs said they received eight patients.

Fire and rescue vehicles were also at the scene.

A PSNI spokeswoman said a number of vehicles were involved in a road traffic collision on the main road between Carrick and Larne at Kilroot but there were no reports of life-threatening injuries.

She said another separate collision took place a short distance away on the same road a few hours earlier when the highway was blocked near Kilroot Power Station and there were no reports of serious injuries in that incident.

A Northern Ireland Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We got a call at 6.50pm that there was a three-car road traffic collision but when we got there, there were six vehicles.

"We had six accident and emergency crews, three rapid response paramedics, two officers and a doctor and we took five people to the Royal Victoria Hospital."

A spokeswoman for the Belfast Health Trust said: "Following a RTC on Larne Road, Belfast Trust can confirm that eight adults (four female, four male) have been received at the Royal Victoria Hospital emergency department." After assessment, she said the condition of all patients was described as stable.

Vehicles involved in the incident at the junction of Larne Road and Station Road included a Mercedes, BMW and a Mini Cooper.

Station Road leads to Kilroot Power Station, one of the biggest electricity generating sites in Northern Ireland.

William Lee (49), who lives near the scene, said when he heard of the crash he checked with his wife - who had gone to church - to make sure she was OK and not involved.

"There were a large number of vehicles involved and I hope nobody is seriously hurt," he added.

He said the scale of the collision was shocking, but there was no major history of bad crashes in the area.

Mr Lee added: "The road is 30mph up to near my house as it leaves Eden village and then the national speed limit applies."
The various billboards which dont apparently have planning permission

The various billboards which dont apparently have planning permission

The various billboards which dont apparently have planning permission

A prominent businessman has blasted as "shocking hypocrisy a council decision to take him to court for erecting small signs" after the public body failed to secure planning permission for much larger advertisements.

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council does not have planning permission for several banners, including a huge advertisement for the Queen's 90th birthday on its own headquarters in Lisburn.

But it's taking businessman Richard Snape to court at the ratepayers' expense over three 3ft by 2ft signs erected without permission.

The yellow and black signs were attached to fencing on a roundabout at the junction of Bentrim Road and Antrim Road, Lisburn. Another was hung at Tata Street and a third at Prince William Road where they would be seen by motorists.

Ironically, councils across Northern Ireland have been responsible for planning decisions since April last year.

Mr Snape (40) is the owner of several large businesses in Northern Ireland and Scotland, including the Wooden Floor company in Lisburn, which produced floors for the latest James Bond blockbuster Spectre.

He said he was only told about the action when he received a court summons to appear in court earlier this month.

"I think ratepayers' money is being squandered for an expensive court case for these small signs. It's ridiculous," he told the Belfast Telegraph.

The council has also erected several other advertising banners around the town, which also do not appear to have any planning permission.

"Planning has gone rogue. It clearly doesn't work. There is no benefit to the public," he said.

"Why are they spending so much, to what end? Who will hold them to account?"

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council failed to clarify whether several individual council signs had planning permission.

Andy Stephens of Matrix Planning said: "The legislation indicates planning is supposed to be in a consistent manner.

"In this instance, that would seem to not be the case."

A council spokeswoman said: "Given recent enquiries and the transfer of planning responsibilities, the council is currently reviewing banner provision at its premises and elsewhere.

"Where necessary, the council will take all steps to satisfy legislative requirements, including seeking retrospective planning consent, where appropriate."

Asked about the large banner which adorns the side of the council's Lagan Valley Island building, it said: "In May 2010 the (then) Lisburn City Council applied to the Northern Ireland Planning Service for consent to display an advertisement banner on the rotunda building at Lagan Valley Island.

"In July 2010 the council was formally advised that consent was not necessary".

But Mr Stephens says that is not the case:

"With the size and dimensions, it needs planning," he said. "Just because they were advised back then, doesn't mean they don't need planning now."
Co Tyrone woman Kerri McCrea has set up a sanctuary in Thailand to rescue overworked elephants and release them into the wild

Co Tyrone woman Kerri McCrea has set up a sanctuary in Thailand to rescue overworked elephants and release them into the wild

Co Tyrone woman Kerri McCrea has set up a sanctuary in Thailand to rescue overworked elephants and release them into the wild

Co Tyrone woman Kerri McCrea has set up a sanctuary in Thailand to rescue overworked elephants and release them into the wild

A Tyrone woman has packed her trunk and set up an elephant sanctuary in Thailand.

Kerri McCrea, who studied Zoology at Queen's University, said she was horrified to witness the state many elephants were left in after being overworked to the point of exhaustion.

At Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary she rescues debilitated elephants, nurses them back to health and then releases them back into the wild.

Kerri grew up on a dairy farm in Co Tyrone and said she has been surrounded by animals all her life.

She always knew she wanted a career working with creatures but wasn't sure exactly what this would entail - now she's ended up caring for the biggest and one of the most loved land mammals of them all.

Having graduated from Queen's University Belfast in 2013 with a degree in Zoology, Kerri moved to Thailand where she worked with various non-governmental organisations (NGOs), roles which saw her become involved with elephant projects.

She said having her eyes opened to the plight of working elephants in Asia sparked a passion, and she has been working on ways to help them and spread awareness ever since. To this end she has even learned the tribal Karen language, to enable her to communicate with the locals where the sanctuary is located.

Kerri set up the Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary with her Thai partner Sombat who is from the Karen tribe.

She told the Belfast Telegraph they work in a complicated situation.

"We have just returned four elephants to their natural habitat from the tourist camps," she said.

"Where our elephants were was one of the worst sites of elephant tourism that there is. Every day they were working with saddles on their backs. They were worked to exhaustion.

"It is a very, very complicated situation here. My boyfriend's elephants were kept at the tourist camp which basically rented them, providing an income for their families.

"I have seen elephants collapse from exhaustion and then made to stand up and continue on, giving rides all day. There is no healthcare. They are not given the right food and they are kept on short chains.

"They weren't allowed to socialise or forage or do anything that elephants are supposed to do."

Kerri said she loves seeing how excited elephants are when they are returned to the wild.

"Sombat and I worked together to provide an alternative that would benefit the elephants and the families," she explained. "We have returned them to the forest near his dad's village and will be able to pay the same monthly rent to the families through visitors, volunteers and donations.

"I love seeing these magnificent elephants get back to nature after having no freedom or choice of what they are doing.

"On the day they were released there was so much rumbling and so many squeaks from them because they were so excited to be back where they should be.

"The villagers are really happy too as we are working with them to set up home-stays, so when people visit they can stay with them and (they) earn more of an income."

Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary is a non-profit foundation dedicated to giving elephants the best life possible with the help of visitors and volunteers.

There are more than 4,000 captive elephants in Thailand, most of whom are living in inadequate conditions with incorrect care and no freedom.

Kindred Spirit Elephant Sanctuary believes this is not the right environment for elephants, which is why it works towards bringing as many elephants as possible back to their natural habitat, as well as raising awareness with the public.

The sanctuary aims to work alongside elephant owners, the community and other organisations to bring a brighter future for all captive elephants.
Queen's University vice-chancellor Patrick Johnston tells Rebecca Black that a prosperous society will not emerge from austerity unless Stormont starts investing seriously in higher education to help drive the economy.

Q. You are originally from the Waterside in Londonderry?

A. I came from both sides of it, actually. I grew up in Beechwood Avenue on the Derry side then lived on the Waterside. I started off in school at Nazareth House, the old orphanage, then St Joseph's, then ended up in the Waterside Primary School. Then St Columb's in 1969.

Q. You studied at UCD. Did you consider Queen's University?

A. I never applied for Queen's. At that stage I was ready to spread my wings, I wanted to get away and the opportunity came up to go to Dublin. Then I worked in Dublin after I qualified.

Q. Did you specialise at that stage of your career?

A. I did what was called senior house officer training at the time, then I started to specialise in oncology and haematology. I knew early on I wanted to do oncology as a career and I was lucky enough to work in the National Transplant Centre in Dublin, which had just opened, then I moved to work in the Mater Hospital (in Dublin) in oncology, and after that I went to the United States.

Q. What did you do in the US?

A. I went to the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, which is the largest health research organisation in the world. It was having seen relatives suffer from the scourge of cancer that sparked that interest. People have forgotten how much people in the 1960s and 1970s suffered, they really did suffer. The treatments weren't there, the surgery was blunt - if I could put it that way. Our expertise in treating cancer was pretty appalling. I remember one particular event of taking care of a 15-year-old boy who had a cancer that rapidly spread throughout his body, and feeling completely inept in his clinical care. I started to read a lot of cancer literature and became interested in cancer both from a point of view as an exciting but challenging sub-specialty, but also it was at a time when new drugs were being developed and new ways of treating cancer patients. There was real hope beginning to emerge. The 1980s really were a very exciting era for real advances in cancer care.

Q. Were the States way ahead of us?

A. They certainly were, it was night and day in some respects. It wasn't that the doctors and nurses were any better, but back in the early 1970s President Nixon had declared an Act of Congress, the War On Cancer was actually the title of the Bill. They started to invest very serious amounts of money in new ways to treat cancer patients, new methodologies, new technologies, new drugs and so a decade later those were beginning to become manifest. They were not readily available here. We had still relatively poor training programmes, we certainly didn't have the clinical trial infrastructure, nor training that modern oncology demanded at that time. Thankfully, it has all changed now.

Q. How long were you in the States for?

A. Close to 10 years. I didn't think I was ever coming back to Ireland, let alone Northern Ireland.

Q. So what changed?

A. I got a phone call one day, someone asked would I be interested in coming over. The chair of oncology at Queen's was being advertised. Initially I didn't think I would be interested, but after talking it through with my wife I decided to have a look, and to my surprise when I came over I was very interested in what they were trying to do - to develop a modern cancer programme.

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I began to realise there was really serious thinking behind developing a proper and comprehensive population-based cancer programme for Northern Ireland. That did not exist either in Ireland or the UK at the time, so at that stage I was in my late 30s and felt it could be an opportunity to do something really important.

At that time the first peace process had started and we decided we would come, and arrived in 1996.

Q. Did you ever think at that point that you would end up leading Queen's?

A. I didn't even think that two or three years ago. It wasn't really something I was giving serious thought to. I have always been someone who looks at jobs and what the opportunity and challenges are. I have been offered many jobs across the world, and have only ever done jobs where I am going to be involved in making a difference.

Q. Is it frustrating to come into this job when the university has seen so many funding cuts?

A. That has been the biggest challenge, but in any job that is worth doing there are always going to be major challenges, and certainly 2015 was not a year that any president of any university across the world would want to relive within the Northern Ireland context - having to announce close to 240 job cuts; the loss of over 1,000 students is not a pleasant thing to do.

The funding situation has been very challenging - between 2010 and 2014 we had, in real terms, a 24% cut.

Northern Ireland, as a result of that, lost 2,250 student places - that's over 10% of the total undergraduate student places. Some 38% of students have to leave Northern Ireland at the age of 18, that's a really serious situation for any society because, in particular, your most talented people are leaving. You do want people to leave and come back - people only come back to where opportunities sit.

This situation still prevails and has to be addressed if we are going to develop a prosperous economy.

Q. As the new Executive is formed, some have warned the financial situation is only going to get worse, with more cuts on the way. How will Queen's cope with that?

A. Let's wait and see what the new Executive does. I think it is a very challenging time, but there is an optimism now that Fresh Start will deliver something different, and certainly I tend to be an optimist and am very hopeful that will be the case.

I think the big danger in not funding higher education properly is we very quickly lose our global competitivity. Queen's is in the top 1% of universities in the world, it contributes over 1bn to the local economy, it has already got very significant international linkages, it is number eight in the UK for research and it is a member of the Russell Group.

It's the number one UK university for knowledge transfer partnerships and it is also number one in the UK for commercialisation of intellectual property. The university has developed more than 70 companies that have a turnover of over 170m. Its impact from a company development point of view is significant. Most of the chief executives of Northern Ireland's leading companies are Queen's graduates and most of our leading politicians, and indeed ministers, now are Queen's graduates.

I am in this position almost two years with a very clear vision of what I wanted to do - to turn a great university into a global, world-class university. I want to double the size of the international student body at the university, increase the number of postgraduates by somewhere between 55% and 60%, and really focus down on those areas where we truly were world class. That's why we set up four global research institutes in areas such as health, electronic engineering and cyber security, food security, and in social justice (the Mitchell Institute, which will be opening next month).

With the cutbacks, you could argue it had never been more important to have a plan, because in essence the future stability of the institution was going to depend on the success of those things - because you couldn't grow the organisation because Government wasn't going to fund it any more. The challenge with that was, we were the only part of the UK where we weren't investing in higher education, and number two we were the only part of the UK which was sending all its talent elsewhere. Every other part of the UK - England, Scotland and Wales - is a net importer of talent, we actually are the only exporter. These are things we have got to address.

I think our policy makers and political leaders have now begun to really understand the importance of this, so I am actually hopeful that we will see a resolution of this and will see investment in higher education. If we don't, we are in trouble - we will not deliver on corporation tax, we will not deliver a prosperous society, we will begin to lose some of the global leaders that sit in Queen's today to other institutions across the UK and in the world that are actually investing. That's the issue - universities compete in a global world, they live in a local world, but they must compete globally.

Q. So if there is no investment in higher education, there is no point in Stormont reducing corporation tax?

A. It isn't going to be corporation tax on its own (that transforms the local economy), it's what are the distinctive contributions you are known for, and that starts with the quality of the graduates and the number of them that you produce.

Even today we know we have a jobs deficit in terms of graduates in some sectors, going close to 2,000 graduates. It takes four or five years to produce these graduates - that's why prosperous economies plan a decade ahead in terms of what they are trying to do.

I am hopeful, based on discussions that we are having and messages we are hearing, that our new Executive really does understand that and understands the importance of making that a priority.

Q. Have you reached out to the new Economy Minister yet?

A. No, although I have met Simon Hamilton previously, but we will be over the coming days.

Q. Are there any more cuts coming for the university?

A. There aren't any more cuts this year. What we have done now through the resizing and reshaping of the university is we looked at every subject area, and the good news is we are not stopping any subjects nor closing any schools. We are amalgamating several schools, because some of them are not large enough in terms of scale.

We are also stopping single honours sociology and anthropology, but intend to strengthen those subjects by allowing them to partner with other subject areas which actually make their relevance more connected. Society doesn't need a 21-year-old who is a sixth century historian.

It needs a 21-year-old who really understands how to analyse things, understands the tenets of leadership and contributing to society, who is a thinker and someone who has the potential to help society drive forward. I don't talk about producing graduates, I talk about producing citizens that have the potential for leadership in society.

Note: Queen's University has since tweeted a statement clarifying Mr Johnston's comments in relation to the above question. Audio from the original interview is above.

Professor Patrick Johnston would like to clarify comments made in a recent @BelTel interview. pic.twitter.com/Vn6CUQKt9Z  Queen's University (@QueensUBelfast) May 31, 2016

Q. Some have criticised your 250,000 salary and benefits, particularly when the university faced cuts. How do you respond to them?

A. The reality is that my salary is set by a remuneration committee and senate, it is not set by me. I have been offered salaries multiple times bigger than the salary I am currently on. I don't have a car provided for me - that is a myth - and I pay rent for the house that I live in. I don't get a house free. There are certain myths out there.

If you actually look at the other leading universities, you'll find my salary is - by a significant country mile - the lowest. I don't do this job for the salary.
There has been outrage after a republican memorial in Milltown Cemetery, Belfast was defaced.

Sinn Fein MP Paul Maskey hit out after graffiti was scrawled on the plot in what he described as a "sectarian attack" overnight on Sunday into Monday.

The Irish Proclamation was defaced with the words "F**k the IRA" and "Ulster forever".

Headstones were also attacked.

Mr Maskey said: All graveyards are sacred places and should be respected.

This attack is outrageous and does nothing other than cause distress to families whose loved ones are buried in the plot.

I would like to commend the National Graves Association who tend to the Republican Plot and whose members are already involved in a clean-up of the graves.

If anyone has any information about those responsible for this vile attack I would urge them to bring it forward to the police.

Police are appealing for information.

Constable Donnan said: "I would ask anyone who knows anything about this incident to contact Woodbourne Police Station on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference number 468 of 30/05/16. Or if someone would prefer to provide information without giving their details, they can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers and speak to them anonymously on 0800 555 111."
Clowns have been bringing some laughter to Syrian refugees in Jordan

A child refugee who lost her parents in the Syrian conflict smiled for the first time after meeting a group of Irish circus artists.

Clowns Without Borders have just returned from a tour of the refugee camps of Jordan.

Amid harrowing scenes of deprivation and bereavement the volunteers hit the funny bones of children whose lives had been devastated, organisation founder Colm O'Grady said.

"We have a track record in doing incredible work where we have a child who has not smiled for six months, who has seen their parents killed and they are there laughing."

One camp inhabitant, a boy aged 17, even accompanied the troupe in Jordan as a juggler.

The group of around 50 performers from Ireland visited settlements including Zaatari, Jordan's largest refugee camp.

Most of the children were Syrians who fled from Homs with their families and now live in makeshift tents in an already poor region.

Instead of queuing to collect clothing or food from NGOs the children went to watch the clowns.

Mr O'Grady said they had about 50 performers from Ireland in Jordan and the circus was Belfast Festival of Fools-style street theatre - but to thousands instead of a few hundred.

He recalled: "After that they were more responsive and open, it helps bring people out of their shells - it hits their funny bones."

They have just returned from Jordan, having been there since last month.

"They have been through a very traumatic experience.

"Often they are living in conditions that are not conducive to childhood and this is giving them a chance to be children again.

Clowns Without Borders is an international organisation and the Irish branch has been working closely with Spanish and Swedish colleagues since 2013.

They plan to visit more Syrian and Iraqi displaced people in the Kurdish region of Iraq in the autumn.
The Tory civil war on Europe intensified as David Cameron was put on notice he faces a leadership challenge after the EU referendum.

More than 50 MPs are ready to move against the Prime Minister, according to prominent backbencher Andrew Bridgen.

Breaking ranks to talk openly of a bid to topple the Prime Minister, Mr Bridgen warned that anger in the Tory party was now so intense a challenge was "probably highly likely" as he warned the alternative was a "zombie parliament".

Asked if a vote of no confidence against Mr Cameron would happen, the MP told BBC Radio Five's Pienaar's Politics: "It depends how the next few weeks go, but if true to form, I think there's at least 50 colleagues dissatisfied with the way the Prime Minister has put himself front and centre of a fairly outrageous Remain campaign. That's probably highly likely."

The MP insisted the situation was now so dire an emergency general election would be needed before Christmas to restore order.

"I think it's going to be very, very difficult to pull all the sides together and have a working majority going forward," he said.

Nadine Dorries, a long-term critic of Mr Cameron, branded the PM an "outright liar".

The Mid-Bedfordshire MP said she had already sent a letter to the chairman of the backbench 1922 committee, the usual route for urging a leadership contest.

Ms Dorries told ITV's Peston on Sunday: "If the Remain campaign wins by a large majority, I'd say it would have to be 60-40, then David Cameron might just survive, but if Remain win by a narrow majority, or if Leave, as I certainly hope, will win, he's toast within days."

Pro-Leave Cabinet minister Chris Grayling insisted the push to oust the PM did not have the 50 signatures needed to trigger a contest.

He told Pienaar's Politics: "I don't think there are 50 colleagues gunning for the Prime Minister. I can assure you that those people who fought to win their seats 12 months ago are definitely not gunning for a general election by Christmas."

The in-fighting erupted after Brexit heavyweights Michael Gove and Boris Johnson launched an unprecedented attack on the Prime Minister's authority as they accused him of a having a "corrosive" impact on public trust in politicians because he had not lived up to promises to cut immigration.

The Office for National Statistics estimates 330,000 more people arrived in the UK in 2015 than left, despite the Government pledging to get the figure below 100,000.

Number 10 said the Brexit attacks were an attempt to "distract" from a survey of 600 economists showing 88% believed withdrawal would be damaging for the economy.

Employment Minister Priti Patel also launched a pointed swipe against Remain campaign leaders Mr Cameron and George Osborne, even though she did not directly name them in an article for the Telegraph website.

"It's shameful that those leading the pro-EU campaign fail to care for those who do not have their advantages. Their narrow self-interest fails to pay due regard to the interests of the wider public," Ms Patel wrote.
The Duke of Edinburgh has been advised by his doctor not to take part in the Battle of Jutland commemorations on Orkney this week

The Duke of Edinburgh will not attend commemorations marking the Battle of Jutland in Orkney following medical advice.

A statement from a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "Following doctor's advice, the Duke of Edinburgh has reluctantly decided not to attend the commemorations marking the Battle of Jutland tomorrow in Kirkwall and Hoy.

"The Princess Royal, who was already attending the events, will represent the Royal Family."

Prince Philip, 94, is understood to have no plans to cancel any other forthcoming engagements, and has not attended hospital.

Descendants of those who fought at Jutland have been invited to join the commemorations, which include a service at St Magnus Cathedral on Kirkwall on Tuesday.

Events will continue with a service at Lyness Cemetery on the island of Hoy - the final resting place for more than 450 service personnel who died in the war, including sailors killed at Jutland.

The cemetery stands close to Scapa Flow, from where the British Grand Fleet set out for the Jutland Bank to repel German forces attempting to break a British blockade.

Almost 250 ships took part, creating a scale of battle that has not been seen since.

Both nations claimed victory - Germany because of the 6,094 British losses compared to the 2,551 men it sacrificed, but Britain had seriously weakened the enemy's naval capability.

There will also be a remembrance service at sea where British and German naval representatives will scatter poppies and forget-me-nots - the German flower of remembrance - into the North Sea at Jutland Bank.

The Princess Royal will be accompanied by Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence as vice-chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Leading Out campaigner Frank Field warned the campaign against questioning the integrity its opponents

David Cameron hailed the "extraordinary coalition" rallied behind Britain remaining in the European Union as he campaigned alongside Labour's Sadiq Khan.

The Prime Minister shook hands with the London Mayor and hailed the election of the "proud Muslim and proud Brit" just weeks after being accused of racist slurs against him.

They joined forces to launch a five-point "guarantee" card and a campaign battle bus as the PM sought to refocus attention away from increasingly public Tory dissent against his leadership.

In a clear effort to steer public attention from the bitter battles dividing his own party, he said his appearance with Mr Khan was symbolic of the wider agreement across the political spectrum.

"It has brought together this extraordinary coalition - Labour, Liberal, Conservative, Green, business, trade union, NGO - all together knowing this is the right answer."

He laughed off suggestions by pro-Brexit campaigners that widespread warnings of an economic shock if Britain votes to leave were "part of some massive establishment conspiracy".

"It would be a pretty exquisite conspiracy that could bring together the Labour mayor son of a bus driver and the Tory son of a stockbroker Prime Minister.

"Sadiq and I say it for this reason: because we love our country, we want our country to be the best we possibly can, to be the strongest, to be the greatest.,

"For our economy to be strong, for families finances to be secure, to go on creating jobs. This is not, in the end, an argument about Europe. It is an argument about Britain."

He acknowledged there was "uncertainty and confusion" amid claims of scaremongering by both sides and pledged "to speak clearly, to speak positively" for the rest of the campaign.

Mr Khan - appearing alongside the PM in front of students in south-west London - said he would work closely with the Tory government "where it is in Londoners' interests".

The economic case for staying in was "crystal clear", he said, "but there is a patriotic case as well".

"This vote is about our values, it is about our character, it is about how we see our city and our country in the future.

"The reason why London is the greatest city in the world - and it is - we have never taken an isolationist approach, we are open-minded, we are outward-looking, we embrace other cultures and learn from other cultures and ideas as well."

Mr Cameron said: "We will disagree about many things. We have in the past; I'm sure we will again in the future.

"But we are both on the side of London, we are both on the side of the United Kingdom. I want that spirit of unity of purpose to be with us today."

The PM spoke about each of the five "guarantees" being offered by the Remain campaign: full access to the EU's single market; workers' rights protected; keeping the European Arrest Warrant (EAW); a special status in Europe; and stability for our country.

He has been accused of spearheading a negative campaign reliant on economic warnings.

He said he saw himself as a "Eurosceptic" - highlighting his efforts to seek change in Brussels - but said identifying weaknesses in the EU was a "sign of strength" of the in campaign.

"Because we are levelling with people which is something the other side refuses to do," he said - seizing on the admission of Ukip's Diane James that rivals "just don't know" whether Britons would need visas to travel to Europe post-Brexit.

"'We just don't know' is not good enough for the British people," he said.

Defending the EAW, he said it had ensured one of the 21/7 terrorists had been returned from Italy to face justice in the UK quickly rather than after "years or decades".

"Who wants to give that up when we think of voting on June 23?"

Mr Khan refused to criticise Jeremy Corbyn's decision not to campaign alongside the Prime Minister, saying he is already contributing a "huge amount" in other ways.

The Labour leader has previously said it "would not work" for him and Mr Cameron to make the case for remaining in Europe side by side.

Mr Khan said: "I'm here speaking as the Mayor of London and campaigning with the British Prime Minister to persuade as many Londoners as I can - and those around the country - why a vote to Remain is so important for us as a country.

He added: "Jeremy Corbyn is doing a huge amount of campaigning to persuade people around the country about why it is in our interest to remain in the European Union, and I'm sure he will carry on doing that until 10pm on June 23."

Ukip MP Douglas Carswell, speaking for Vote Leave, said: "David Cameron cannot be trusted.

"Just a month ago he attacked Sadiq Khan as a terrorist sympathiser yet today he hailed him as a great politician as he stood next to him on a shared platform," the former Tory said.

"Today he trumpeted the benefits of the European Arrest Warrant but a few years ago he warned that it was dangerous and that it stripped away centuries-old rights from the British people."

Vote Leave said Mr Cameron had criticised the EAW in an article 15 years ago and dismissed each of the in campaign's "guarantees".

Boris Johnson refused to be drawn on the comments by Tory grandee Ken Clarke that he was a "nicer version of Donald Trump".

Speaking at an event with Sir Ian Botham in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, he said: "I think it's very important with such a short time to go that we all focus on the issues that matter to the people of this country.

"What the public want to hear is how we are going to take back control of 350m a week that gets taken off and we don't control any more."

At the town's cricket club, a few decent slogs up the road from the Riverside ground where England had just won against Sri Lanka, Mr Johnson played a straight bat when asked about Mr Cameron and Mr Khan sharing a platform.

"I'm not here to talk about personalities, and alliances and who talks to whom," he said. "My job in the next 23 days, whatever we have got left, is to get over our key messages.

"This is the only chance in our lifetimes to go for a new approach, a democratic approach, but still leading in Europe."
Tony Blair has said he would tell people to vote for Labour even with Jeremy Corbyn at the party helm.

The former Prime Minister, who appeared on BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show, said he did not "disrespect" the Islington MP and his views.

Asked by Mr Marr if he thought it would be a terrible risk for Jeremy Corbyn to be elected, as he reportedly said this week, Mr Blair denied he was talking about the Labour leader.

He also said he was not being disloyal against Mr Corbyn and his attempts to come up with new policies that address some of the anger among voters.

Mr Blair said: "Let's wait and see what those policies are. I don't disrespect him as a person and his views at all."

On whether he could imagine himself telling people to vote Labour, the former PM said: "I will always tell people to vote Labour because I am Labour - it is just the way I am."

He added: "Personally, I would like to see the centre, by that I mean the centre-left and the centre-right, get its grip and its traction back on the political scene.

Ahead of the publication of the Chilcot Report into the Iraq war on July 6, Mr Marr asked Mr Blair if he was in favour of the UK going into war to confront Isis in Syria on the ground.

He said: "I am in favour of confronting Isis on the ground in Syria but we don't need to do it with our own boots on the ground."

On the issue of the EU referendum, Mr Blair called it the "most important decision we will have to make since World War Two".

Pressed on whether he would accept the findings of the Chilcot Report, Mr Blair said: "It is hard to say when I haven't seen it."
A former top government law official has said that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden performed a public service by triggering a debate over surveillance techniques.

Yet Eric Holder, a former US Attorney General said he believed Mr Snowden should still be punished for leaking classified intelligence information that he claimed threatened US national security.

We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in and by the changes that we made, Mr Holder told David Axelrod on a podcast produced by CNN and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.

Now I would say that doing what he did, and the way he did it, was inappropriate and illegal. He harmed American interests.

Mr Holder, who led the Justice Department between 2009 to 2015 when Mr Snowden leaked the information to several newspapers, said he knew of several ways in which the US was damaged. Mr Snowden and the newspapers that published his leaks in 2013 onwards, have always denied this.

I know there are ways in which certain of our agents were put at risk, relationships with other countries were harmed, our ability to keep the American people safe was compromised, he said.

There were all kinds of re-dos that had to be put in place as a result of what he did, and while those things were being done we were blind in certain really critical areas. So what he did was not without consequence.

Mr Snowden, who has spent the last few years in exile in Russia, should return to the US to deal with the consequences, Mr Holder claimed.

I think that he's got to make a decision. Hes broken the law in my view. He needs to get lawyers, come on back, and decide, see what he wants to do, he said.

But, I think in deciding what an appropriate sentence should be, I think a judge could take into account the usefulness of having had that national debate.

Former US Attorney General @EricHolder spoke about #NSA's mass surveillance with @DavidAxelrod. In his own words: https://t.co/HSrlRCD5X8  Edward Snowden (@Snowden) May 30, 2016

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At a University of Chicago Institute of Politics event earlier this month, Mr Snowden, appearing via videoconference, said he would return to the US if he could receive a fair trial.

Ive already said from the very first moment that if the government was willing to provide a fair trial, if I had access to public interest defences and other things like that, I would want to come home and make my case to the jury, he told University of Chicago Law professor. Geoffrey Stone.

But, as I think youre quite familiar, the Espionage Act does not permit a public interest defence. You're not allowed to speak the word whistleblower at trial.

Mr Holder, the countrys first African-American attorney general, also accused presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump of playing the race card in his campaign.

I dont think there's any question about that, he said. The fact that he questioned the legitimacy of President Obama by questioning where he was born, what hes said about Mexicans. I think theres a race-based component to his campaign. I think he appeals too often to the worst side of us as Americans.

Independent
With the Middle East in relentless turmoil this is no time for a novelty act novice like Donald Trump. But while we fear change, in that adolescent country across the Atlantic they crave it. Above: Hillary Clinton (file photo)

In a distant, forgotten age, when everyone was madly in love with the Democratic frontrunner, that almost flawless candidate made a rare mistake.

When the moderator of a 2008 debate asked Hillary Clinton if she was engaging enough to beat him, Barack Obama butted in with misplaced gallantry to reply on her behalf. As if that wasnt adequately patronising, his remark was, Youre likable enough, Hillary. He was slaughtered for the coolly condescending tone, but was he right?

Eight years on, the question resurfaces with menace for anyone whod rather those nuclear codes were kept out of the hands  tiny or otherwise  of the proudly ignorant, passionately racist, uber-narcissist with the creature from a galaxy far, far away in permanent residence on his scalp.

Hillary will shortly secure the nomination  but only narrowly, and on points. Her failure to land a knockout blow on the 75-year-old socialist Bernie Sanders raises doubts about her general election chances.

Some even foresee a landslide, God have mercy, for Donald Trump. Writing for The Independent, Andrew McCleod made an alarmingly cogent case for that dystopian horror show.

I happen to disagree, being unable (or possibly unwilling) to envisage how Trump can take the pivotal swing states  Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida  with such stellar disapproval ratings among crucial demographics. I also have a residual faith that the US is not so dunce-stupid as to fall for a transparent grifter.

Then again, in this time of miracles when Jeremy Corbyn leads Labour and Leicester City are champions, all is possible.

So why is Hillary, although so blessed in her opponents, in strife? One explanation is that concerns about her hands-off relationship with the truth extend beyond angry white men. As the private email farrago rumbles on, it isnt only the bushy moustachioed with the stockpile of automatics and the nightly wet dream about a lynching revival who regard her as crooked. Plenty on what passes in America for the liberal left also think her crooked.

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Obviously, her ownership of a uterus plays some part there. The sexism of 2016 is subtler and less conscious than in 1996, but no man embroiled in a confusing demi-scandal would be so vulnerable. Her husband was comfortably elected and re-elected regardless of the ceaseless scandals.

But one senses that the root of her difficulty is neither gender, nor dodginess, nor even unlikeability. Its true that she projects ruthlessness more than warmth, but she is not cold or humourless. Whenever she pops up on Saturday Night Live to parody herself in a sketch, she is funny, gracious and engaging.

No one denies her intellect, or her glorious record in fighting for social justice, or that as a former First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State she has more experience than any candidate since 1968 (when Richard Nixon easily overcame the dishonesty issue which long predated Watergate).

And if ever the planet needed a US president with mastery of the geopolitical complexities, it is now. With the Middle East in relentless turmoil, Russia and Turkey seemingly one misguided missile from war, and North Koreas nuclear programme continuing, this is no time for a novelty act novice like Donald Trump.

Yet despite this  despite Trump being loathed by Hispanics, African Americans and women  the two are tied in national polling. One hopes this is a blip: that once the nomination is clinched, Sanders and his fans will grudgingly support Clinton; that the more closely the undecided examine their choice, the more they will recoil from the braggardly grotesque; that after the summer conventions, she will open up a solid lead and nurse it to Novembers finishing line.

But she is in serious bother right now, and the likeliest explanation I can find is that after a quarter century of exposure, the punters are so contemptuously familiar with Hillary that the electrifying prospect of a first Madam President engenders nothing but a weary meh.

Where we in this geriatric land fear change, in that adolescent country across the Atlantic they crave it.

Trump may have been a public figure for as long as Hillary, but in a wholly different context. As a politician, he is as minty fresh as she is stale. Given a choice between the wannabe emperor prancing hilariously about without a stitch on, and the sturdily mechanical operator in a trouser suit, you see her problem.

Strip away the racist, sexist whites whose lazy sense of entitlement has been outraged by decades of stagnating wages, remove from the equation those who want babyishly simplistic answers to massively complex questions  and there are still tens of millions who want a president to generate excitement.

Nauseating in every regard as he is, Donald Trump, who campaigns in strangely captivating punk poetry, offers that in spades. Hillary, who campaigns in instruction manual prose, promises four or eight years of soporific competence. Ultimately one has to presume (if only to avoid a devastating breakdown) that the US will resist the mischievous imp on its shoulder, whispering, Go on, have some fun, elect the tangerine huckster and see where it leads.

But fasten your seatbelts, as another legendarily tough old broad, Bette Davis, is often misquoted as saying in All About Eve. Its going to be bumpy ride.

Independent
When it comes to Brexit, I've tried to do my homework. I've listened to dozens of discussions on radio and television, read hundreds of articles and talked to a wide variety of friends and acquaintances of differing political opinions in the UK and the Republic.

I'm still an agnostic, though I feel myself gradually tilting towards Leave. My instincts are conservative, of the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" variety.

Yet I know that all institutions atrophy and become corrupt without constant reform. All are doomed to collapse unless they remember the truth expressed so brilliantly in Giuseppe De Lampedusa's great novel The Leopard: "If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change."

I usually ask Brexiteers what they see as the worst case if we quit the EU. Most of them shrug and say there will probably be short-term economic upheavals and quite a bit of uncertainty, but say confidently that, in the medium and certainly the long-term, we'll be much better off and that there's just as much risk associated with staying in.

I ask Remainers if they'd be astounded if the EU imploded, as the Soviet Union did in 1989. Almost all say no, but add hastily that Brexit would hasten the process and the UK would be blamed.

The Brexiteer counter-argument was best expressed by a friend who said: "I don't care if we're blamed. It's preferable to being shackled to a doomed institution that could take 20 years to die."

It's hard to argue against the Brexiteer perception that the EU has shown itself to be unreformable and incapable of reining in its imperialist aspirations.

In a week when the Freedom Party came within a whisker of winning the Austrian Presidency, Jean-Claude Juncker demonstrated this starkly. You might think that some humility would be appropriate from a man whose main qualification for the job of President of the European Commission was 18 years as Prime Minister of the politically-sclerotic Luxembourg, a secretive tax-haven with a population of just over 500,000. But no.

Mr Juncker explained before the election that, if the Freedom Party's Norbert Hofer were elected, he would be excluded from all EU decision-making: "There will be no debate or dialogue with the far-Right."

I can't think of a better way of earning the enmity of at least half the Austrian population and helping the Freedom Party romp home in the next general election.

A few days later, from the G7 summit, Junker's right-hand man, German Martin Selmayr, tweeted: "#G7 2017 with Trump, Le Pen, Boris Johnson, Beppe Grillo? A horror scenario that shows well why it is worth fighting populism.#withJuncker."

So, in the eyes of the Junker cabal, Boris Johnson is on a par with Marine Le Pen and the way to fight the populism that is threatening governments all over Europe is to ignore the reasons for it (mass immigration, unemployment, out-of-touch governments, loss of sovereignty, German dominance, falling living standards, the wobbly euro, the tragedy of Greece and so on) and threaten and insult the electorate.

Is it any wonder there's so little respect or affection for the EU to be found anywhere except among its elites, past and present? The only convincing arguments I can summon against Brexit have to do with the effect it might have on Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Might it lead to another - this time successful - Scots independence referendum? Might it exacerbate tribalism in Northern Ireland? Might it have serious economic consequences both sides of the border? I don't know.

I had a look at the recent report by the Northern Ireland Affairs select committee, looking at the implications of a Brexit on such areas as agriculture, the border and trade and commerce. Northern Ireland electors could usefully consult it: www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/northern-ireland-affairs-committee/news-parliament-2015/northern-ireland-eu-referendum-report-16-17/.

But, as with all those dodgy figures and unconvincing arguments about the economic implications, there is too much speculation to help me make up my mind.

What I do know, though, is that the EU is in crisis and that, if its rulers continue to behave like incompetent and arrogant despots, collapse is absolutely inevitable.

And the sooner the better.
Without doubt the Save Our Day Centres Campaign to keep open facilities across north, west, south and east Belfast has been nothing short of an overwhelming success.

During the last six months service users, carers, staff, trade union activists and supporters have embarrassed, humiliated and rattled the Belfast Trust board executive. What was considered a done deal, easily implemented by senior trust management, has become a PR disaster, as they have been forced to delay the proposals until after the Assembly election.

With little or no mainstream media attention, the campaign has transcended all limitations.

More than 16,000 people have signed the petition to stop the closures through organising local public awareness stalls and attending events. Local MLAs from the majority of the Executive parties fell over themselves during the election to tag their name to the campaign.

But, when challenged, the majority refused to give a commitment to do all in their power to stop the proposals going through.

This campaign gives a template of what can be achieved when a co-ordinated, principled fightback is carried out across all sections of our communities, supported by the trade union movement.

Only this uncompromising and challenging approach to the austerity of the Fresh Start agreement will safeguard our essential public services.

PAT LAWLOR

Nipsa
I welcome the statement by the Republic's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charlie Flanagan, at the ceremony commemorating the 42nd anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings that he would press the British Government to grant access to all documents pertaining to the bombings, which killed 33 people and injured more than 300 (News, May 17).

Mr Flanagan said the British Government must accept that an independent international judicial investigation will be imperative to ensure the families and victims have access to the truth of what happened that day. However, I believe this is more spin than substance.

In 2011 Mr Flanagan called for the expulsion of the papal nuncio over his alleged interference in Ireland's sovereign affairs. Mr Flanagan said if any foreign government conspired to break the law in this State it would have its ambassador expelled.

Mr Flanagan also said the behaviour of the Vatican in regard to the revelations carried in the Cloyne Report amounted to the concealment of a crime.

Following the publication of the final report of the Commission of Investigation into the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, it was established that files which may be of assistance in identifying those responsible for these bombings were in the possession of the British Government. Despite repeated calls for these files to be released, the British Government has refused.

Surely, this also is the concealment of a crime? No call to expel the British ambassador to Dublin, nor any moves to recall Ireland's ambassador to London. Why?

Surely, if we are to be consistent in applying principles of justice and fairness, then all wrongdoing must be exposed and those responsible made accountable.

The pursuit of truth and justice is the highest obligation and duty of society and if the relationship between our two states is to prosper into the future, it must be strong enough to confront and reconcile the past. A friendship cannot be based on compromised justice.

TOM COOPER

Chairperson, Irish National Congress

Dublin
HMS Caroline, the last survivor, will play host to the commemoration of the centenary of the Battle of Jutland

In July 1914 the Kaiser sent his brother Prince Henry to England to discover what Britain's response would be to an outbreak of war on the Continent should Germany invade France. Britain was convulsed by three all-absorbing crises: trade union disruption in mining and transport; violence by militant suffragettes, and possible civil war in Ireland.

Prince Henry stayed at Windsor Castle and sought his cousin's advice. The King said he thought it unlikely Britain would be drawn into European war. Unfortunately, Prince Henry asked the wrong man.

Winston Churchill described the scene on the afternoon of July 24, 1914 in his book The World In Crisis: "The Cabinet on Friday sat long revolving the Irish problem. The discussion had reached its inconclusive end when the quiet grave tone of Sir Edward Grey's voice were heard reading the Austrian note to Serbia - the note was an ultimatum as had never been penned in modern times - it seemed absolutely impossible that any State in the world would accept it. The parishes of Fermanagh & Tyrone faded in the mists and squalls of Ireland and a strange new light began immediately to fall and grow upon the map of Europe." Two weeks later Britain declared war on Germany.

This summer is the centenary of the Somme, and also in Belfast we will commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Jutland on HMS Caroline - the last ship afloat that fought in one of the greatest naval engagement in world history.

People are coming from across Ireland and the Commonwealth to a commemoration of the Irish sailor as a heritage visitor attraction. The Irish Navy will be there, together with the Royal Navy and the families and dependants of those who fought on Caroline.

I am immensely proud that my great uncle, the 4th Earl of Kilmorey, was her Commodore for more than 10 years. He was also honorary Admiral of the Ulster Navy, whose one ship was a minesweeper that he named after himself.

Now, in a very different time, we are debating whether or not to stay in Europe. I carry some baggage. I am married to a girl from Hamburg who lost a father and uncle on the Eastern Front, and my father and grandfather were professional soldiers wounded in both wars.

My great-uncle was killed in France in 1916. My parents lived and are buried in Florence, my brother married an Italian and my great-grandfather on my mother's side was a Hamburg rabbi. So, maybe I am inclined to a European perspective.

But most central to my beliefs are my experiences as Minister for the Economy in Northern Ireland during the Eighties and early Nineties.

After all the years of the Troubles, after all the strides that we have made socially and economically across the North, are we now going to create another new barrier on the island of Ireland?

There remains too much poverty, deprivation and morbidity - too many young people unemployed, too much division in society, not least in education.

In what way, therefore, is leaving the EU going to help or improve our fortunes? During my time as minister we received millions and millions of additional European funding.

Laganside, as an example, would never have got going without support from Europe. Do we really want to rely on the Treasury as our only source of external funding?

By and large the main British political parties don't give a fig about Ulster. We are a constant drain on their resources. Why do you believe the last Labour government spent more on increasing the percentage spend on the NHS in Scotland than Northern Ireland?

Does anyone really believe the claim that money saved from the EU budget would find its way back here rather than to more "deserving" areas in the UK, like the "Northern Powerhouse"? Does any farmer think that they will receive the same level of support that they currently enjoy under the Common Agricultural Policy?

Britain is an urban nation - cheap food will always come before support for farmers. Do we want to go back to the dog-and-stick days of the 1930s?

Are we going to get more foreign investment if we're outside the EU? Even with the introduction of lower corporation tax, would investors chose here or the South?

Just as we are achieving a level playing field, why put ourselves at risk for no certain gain? Do we want to become the outpost of an outpost?

Of course there are problems with the EU. The fishermen have more than legitimate grumbles about quotas, the budget has not been signed off and the parliament moves between Brussels and Strasbourg at ridiculous expense. Migration is an existential threat to all. There is too much petty regulation.

But will we solve these issues by leaving? European regulations will still dominate us as they will set the terms of trade whatever Lords Lamont and Lawson might say.

We are not part of the Eurozone - nor will we be. We are not part of any European federal plot, which, in any event, is greatly exaggerated.

Does anyone really believe the Germans are going to stop being German? Or the Italians Italian? We are not part of Schengen, but we do enjoy the advantages of the single market.

Should we abandon our friends in Europe? No, there are millions of people all across Europe who want to see Europe change and us with them, making it happen.

It is said the Irish never forget. Let us remember the history of HMS Caroline and, in remembering our past, vote for a future that, however uncertain, however difficult, offers the only realistic way of achieving a peaceful and prosperous future.

Richard Needham, the 6th Earl of Kilmorey, was Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1985 to 1992
Gulfam Asim Khan is among thousands of jobless and educated young Kashmiris who are defying warnings from armed separatists by pursuing careers in the Indian armed forces and security services.

Last week, the 22-year-old appeared for a written test that is a prerequisite for signing up with the army.

I am passionate about joining the army. I am hopeful that I will clear the written test, and my dream of becoming a soldier will come true, Khan, a Kupwara resident, told BenarNews.

He was one of 12,000 potential recruits who underwent a series of rigorous physical tests in the volatile Kupwara district of Indian-administered Kashmir between May 19 and May 21, although the banned separatist outfit Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) had recently threatened to kill anyone who joined the Indian military or security agencies.

Six hundred of the applicants were shortlisted for the written exam.

But just a day before Khan sat for the Indian Army entrance test on Thursday, army porter Liyaqat Ali, 22, was gunned down by suspected HM militants in Kupwara.

Khan, a resident of the district, shrugged off the threats.

I dont care about the threats. If these threats begin to scare us, we will not be able to do any jobs. Where would educated Kashmiri youths like me go? There is already a massive dearth of jobs in the private sector in the state, Khan said.

A new trend

A separatist insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, which is claimed in its entirety by India and Pakistan, has killed more than 70,000 people since the late 1980s.

The Indian Army said it had advertised 55 vacancies, for which it received more than 12,000 applications  a sharp contrast to the early 1990s, when Kashmiri youth stayed away from joining the armed forces.

It is a good sign that more and more Kashmiris are gradually showing interest in joining the army so that they can contribute to nation-building in a better way, Col. C.B.S. Bhadwal, commanding officer of the Kupwara-based 160 Territorial Army, responsible for the recruitment drive, told BenarNews.

The results of the written exam will be publicized in June, Bhadwal said.

Ishfaq Ahmad, a 25-year-old graduate from the town of Karnah, which is close to the Line of Control (LoC)  the boundary that separates the parts of Kashmir that are claimed by India and Pakistan, respectively, said the army should have advertised more vacancies.

Considering the joblessness in Kashmir, the army should have advertised at least 1,000 jobs so educated youths in the state have enough opportunities to make something of their lives, Ahmad told BenarNews.

According to official figures, about 600,000 Kashmiris between the ages of 20 and 30 are unemployed.

The threats from separatists notwithstanding, we have to work to earn money. Besides, one who aspires to be a soldier must be prepared to face and overcome such challenges, said Shamim Ahmad Khan, 24, who applied for one of the 55 vacancies.

The pay in the Indian Army is decent so I didnt want to lose out on this opportunity, Khan told Benar.
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The Multidrug Resistant Organism Repository and Surveillance Network (MRSN) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) characterized a transferrable gene for colistin resistance in the United States that may herald the emergence of truly pan-drug resistant bacteria.

Colistin is the last agent used to combat bacteria that are resistant to the strongest antibiotics. Colistin has remained the best tool available to treat multidrug resistant bacteria because bacteria were not exchanging genes for its resistance. This latest discovery shows that colistin may be losing its effectiveness in antimicrobial therapy. Now, bacteria may be exchanging resistance genes for colistin.

Alarms sounded in the microbiology community in late 2015 when the first transferrable gene for colistin-resistance was identified in China. Since the report, the global health community has monitored and searched for the occurrence of this gene in the food supply and in humans. This colistin-resistance gene has been reported in Europe and Canada and, as of now, is reported in the U.S.

A clinical sample from a urinary tract infection was collected from a patient in a military treatment facility in Pennsylvania. The sample was sent to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) where colistin susceptibility was tested. The results showed that no safe dosage of colistin would be effective to treat such a bacterial infection. WRNMMC recognized colistin-resistance and sent a sample to WRAIR's MRSN for sequencing, which identified the colistin-resistant gene, mcr-1.

"Colistin is one of the last efficacious antibiotics for the treatment of highly resistant bacteria. The emergence of a transferable gene that confers resistance to this vital antibiotic is extremely disturbing. The discovery of this gene in the U.S. is equally concerning, and continued surveillance to identify reservoirs of this gene within the military healthcare community and beyond is critical to prevent its spread," reported Dr. Patrick McGann, MRSN, WRAIR.

Through intergovernmental communication, it was learned the CDC and USDA are also reporting a swine intestinal infection with a single mcr-1 positive E. coli strain. While there is no evidence that links these recent findings, the evidence of the strain in the U.S. is a public health concern. The gene is transferrable to other bacteria, which could worsen the current global crisis of antimicrobial resistance.

An urgent public health response is underway to contain and prevent potential spread of mcr-1. Active surveillance of multidrug resistant organisms (MDROs), such as mcr-1, allows for earlier and more accurate identification of originating sources. The collection and storage of isolates and samples in the MRSN's growing repository helps researchers identify trends in resistance and prevalence of MDROs and provide best practices for medical providers. The repository also enables them to compare isolates from previous occurrences to better respond to future findings. Recognized as a model program by the White House, the MRSN is a key component of the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria (CARB).

With the MRSN's archive, this isolate will be archived for future studies to identify new countermeasures. "Through our surveillance system, we have the unique ability to coordinate source information with susceptibility and sequencing data, and if need be, go back to understand changes in infecting organisms to best treat infection and track emerging multidrug resistant organisms," COL Emil Lesho, Director of the MRSN, WRAIR.
On my most recent trip to Ghana, I had an opportunity to present to a large group of senior marketing communication professionals about reputation management and crisis communication.

Daniel Munslow

As with any workshop, we started with an objective-setting exercise and as we went round the room in a beautiful hotel in downtown Accra, a theme emerged: How do we communicate across cultures? I paused to deep-dive that point and get a better sense of what they mean by that.

Well, as it turns out, they too are challenged with communicating to complex heterogeneous audiences. Something South African communicators are very familiar with.

What I realised was simple  the more we think communicating in different countries/ cultures/ companies is so vastly different, the more we realise it is actually very similar. The nuances are always unique, of course, such as the methods of communication and the maturity of the market, but the principles are the same.

It was easy to spot, and also explains why we often overcomplicate uncomplicated issues.

Communication gap

To make this less academic and more practical, I asked one of the communication directors for her input, and the unique challenge she faced. In her organisation, which happens to be in the financial services space, a recent acquisition has led to a conflict between the cultural approach of head office  located in a neighbouring country  and their employees way of working. This has resulted in a disgruntled workforce that is creating a reputational risk externally.

It sounded all too familiar. We might not always see it as a head office that has a different approach as they are in a different country; but the principle of a head office not in tune with its employees in the field is not foreign to many communication professionals. And we all know that, when a head office makes a brand promise that staff cannot deliver, organisations run the risk of damaging their reputation.

The foreign company had assumed that when coming into Ghana, they could land the same messages in the way they do back home, using the same language and approach. Instead of embracing the cultural differences and working with them, they tried to force down their way of doing things  the famous (or rather infamous) once size fits all approach. It backfired. They are now six months behind on implementation. A hugely costly exercise that could have easily been avoided.

As it turns out, staff dont want to be preached to, as the communicator explained. Nor do they want to be instructed via repeat emails from head office. All they wanted was a conversation  an opportunity to hear first-hand how things would work, and be afforded a chance to have a say.

Social media challenge

Another communicator raised their challenges with social media. We all want to believe that in an ideal world function follows structure. In reality, technology and social media has left many companies playing catch up on the structure. In Ghana, social media is big. Very big. And it is embraced across generations and geographies.

I was intrigued to learn that they even invite live comments on Twitter during the main news bulletin in the mornings. The national breakfast show has around 90,000 followers.

The challenge raised by this communicator, who is from the retail space, is that social media comments are not aligned to what the organisation would ideally like to see. They have worked hard to shape a brand promise, but theyve been struggling for a while with negative comments about service delivery instead of positive engagement with experience and brand.

What this demonstrates is that there is a misalignment between the stated marketing strategy and the manner in which people experience it. All this is not unfamiliar to what we see in South Africa  there are so many brands who, when they post something on Facebook seeking to engage customers, are met with fierce comments about their lack of service delivery.

If they got their house in order first, this would be drastically reduced and their reputation would consequently be enhanced, leading to revenue benefits.

As we unpacked an integrated approach to reputation management, delegates were openly sharing where they thought they were going wrong, and interrogated the details of how they could do things differently. They also shared some great insights of amazing work they are doing on the ground. The hunger for knowledge and the drive to look at initiatives through a new lens, to achieve even greater things, leaves you feeling that you made a difference.
Effective Measure (EM) have announced the launch of their reseller partnerships in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria, extending audience measurement into Africa.

Image by 123RF

EM integrates their media planning and data tools, information on media metrics, customer demographics, psychographics, and life stage data through one easy-to-use, intuitive dashboard. This Audience product is available to advertising agencies and brands, on a subscription basis, to effectively plan digital media campaigns.

Digital publishers in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria can now choose to use EM in two ways. Large content hubs may choose to pay for Audience, which is based on an annual subscription fee.

There is the alternative to digital publishers or any digital brand, whereby they could opt-in to the emPower Data Co-Op. Instead of paying for audience measurement, Effective Measure returns revenue to the opted-in partner, in exchange for being able to sell their audiences to interested advertisers.

EM takes responsibility for all segmentation of audiences and demand integration. Buying these audiences is currently exclusively available through agencies that have Google Bid Manager accounts. The audience segments are licensed to an approved partner agency at a predetermined yield set by EM.

emPower Data Co-Op has grown by 97% month-on-month since its launch in November 2015 and currently has more than 130 publishers and digital brands across the Middle East and Africa earning revenue quarterly. Transparency and data privacy is of paramount importance. Therefore, every step has been taken to ensure the interests of all digital content providers have been considered.
General Electric, together with the Mara Group and Atlas Merchant Capital, are leading an initiative to create a joint venture dedicated to investing in the highly underdeveloped African infrastructure sector. The joint venture will seek to invest in infrastructure equity projects in selected countries throughout Africa.

With the African population set to rise to 1.5bn by 2025, the continents economic growth potential is significant. According to the Africa 2030 report, the overall sense is one of progress and optimism and that changes are sustainable, making Africa an attractive socio-economic focus in the coming years.

With the African population set to rise to 1.5-billion by 2025, the continents economic growth potential is significant

Africa presents high growth prospects in power generation, transport, oil and gas and other infrastructure areas, including mining. The joint venture will focus on this broad set of segments by facilitating access to capital, thus offering the ability to execute and fully finance both advanced and early development stage projects.

The hurdles to address are rapid urbanisation, and a growing middle class devoid of infrastructure.

More than 50% of our African nations including Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and the DRC, dont have access to electricity and an infrastructure investment of US$360bn in power production, power transmission, water storage, modern railways, port capacity and modern highways will be required until 2040.

Furthermore, Africa needs to spend $90bn a year for the next decade in order to upgrade and maintain its existing infrastructure alone.

The overall sense is one of progress and optimism and that changes are sustainable, making Africa an attractive socio-economic focus in the coming years

Jay Ireland, president and CEO GE Africa, commented: This joint venture unifies three businesses with a strong commitment and expertise in infrastructure in Africa. The joint venture is our response to an integrated infrastructure approach in Africa.

We have been significantly involved in social enterprises to date and will seek to further enhance and promote social and community development in the region to complement their expertise, knowledge and entrepreneurial spirit.

Said Ashish J Thakkar, founder, Mara Group, Africa is a continent of 54 countries, but there is very low connectivity between them. Intra-African trade, a key driver for economic growth, represents only a fraction of Africas total trade over the past decade and this is largely due to a growing shortfall in infrastructure development.

Through our joint venture with GE and Atlas Merchant Capital, we hope to tackle the funding deficit by creating a platform that has the power to truly change the lives of those living on the continent.

The joint venture is well placed to act as a leading shareholder alongside sponsors of infrastructure projects and will use its relationships with lending banks and connectivity to power Africa and related institutions to meet the debt component of its funding.

As Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, president, African Development Bank, emphasised: We all know painfully well the imperative to fill Africas annual $50 billion infrastructure funding gap. Partnerships like these are a crucial part of the development agenda as we seek to promote social and economic development and fight poverty in Africa."
Lions Health has announced the exhibitors at the Lions Health Omnicom Health Group MedTech Expo to be presented at this year's Festival from 18-19 June 2016. They are Twitter, IBM Watson, Annalect, Google, iVenturesHealth, Sutrue and Validic.

The exhibition includes a diverse, global mix of technologies and organisations, covering cognitive computing and big data; wearables and home health devices; virtual and augmented reality; telemedicine and video visits; personalised medicine and genomics; artificial intelligence and 3D printing.

The MedTech Expo will allow delegates to experience cutting-edge healthcare technologies in action and discover how they are transforming the future of the industry. The purpose of Lions Health is to provide a unique platform that inspires change while championing the value of creativity in healthcare communications. We hope that this new installation enhances this opportunity, said Louise Benson, festival director, Lions Health.

Twitter will display a selection of innovative healthcare sector campaigns that have found a home on the social networking site to facilitate communication with patients, caregivers and physicians, covering everything from compelling disease state awareness to patient advocacy. Alongside this, it will present new features in Periscope that open the system up as a fledgling healthcare communication channel. It has never been more exciting to be in healthcare. The opportunity to connect with patients, doctors and caregivers did not exist at scale until now. Health happens on Twitter, so we're excited to share new, creative ways to engage with patients, caregivers and physicians, said Mary Ann Belliveau, national director of health and wellness, Twitter.

IBM Watson, the pioneering cognitive system enabling a partnership between people and computers, has grown in authority since winning a Gold Lion at Cannes Lions in 2011. Delegates will encounter this innovative technology as it moves into the healthcare space.

Marketers will discover how to make data actionable with data solutions provider Annalect. Cutting through the fragmented marketing ecosystem and putting the right data at the fingertips of marketing teams, it can help organisations build and optimise their data systems, competencies and extraction methods.

Google will demonstrate how it is working with health partners using virtual reality to drive healthcare into the 21st century. As patients and providers accelerate the adoption of digital technology in every aspect of healthcare, nothing is as powerful as video in imparting information, teaching, and storytelling, and Google is leading the way.

iVenturesHealth, the healthcare technology and data solution division within the Omnicom Health Group, who also led the curated exhibitor partnerships, will present demonstrations of their latest pending healthcare communication offerings, including: DriiverSeat, a co-navigation iPad platform to deepen customer engagement and VIA an electronic workflow system designed and developed for streamlining complex healthcare communications for agency processes.

Surgical suture, or stitch, is a medical device used to hold body tissues together after an injury or surgery. Sutrue will present its new design - an automated device using standard suturing needles for all types of suturing, from wound closure through to robotics.

Validic the industry's leading digital health platform, will show delegates how it connects providers, pharmaceutical companies, payers, wellness companies and healthcare IT vendors to health data, which is gathered from hundreds of in-home clinical devices, wearables and consumer healthcare applications.

We are thrilled that this event is attracting a world-class group of exhibitors, who are leaders in the digital health revolution. Technology, healthcare and communications are converging in some very dramatic ways and we are proud to sponsor this timely addition to Lions Health, said Ed Wise, CEO, Omnicom Health Group.

Experts with unbiased knowledge and strong industry credibility reviewed applications to exhibit. They looked for innovative companies that offered a glimpse into the future of medicine and healthcare. For more information, click here.



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Could you make an impact on the media and advertising industry? Do you feel that you can productively and positively contribute to the current state and future of our exciting industry? Well, it is that time again for the formation of a new AMASA (Advertising Media Association of South Africa) committee for the year 2016/2017. Get involved!

Members of the communications, media or advertising industry who wish to stand as committee members may nominate themselves or anyone who is willing to stand.

The core focus of AMASA is to focus on the education levels of those with an interest in the media, marketing and advertising industry, with a view to improving knowledge and skills in media decision making techniques and their use.

Current chairperson, Wayne Bischoff, is excited for the next nomination process. We are looking for energetic committee members who will bring with them passion, educated opinions as well as devoted dedication over the next 12 months. It is also very rewarding, both professionally and personally, to be a part of elevating our industry to new heights. And we also have quite a lot of fun! I welcome all to apply now!

It is important to our industry that the AMASA Joburg committee is a well-balanced and fairly representative committee, of media owners and agency representatives, as well as marketers. So the nominations are open to all sectors of the advertising media and include all marketing and media professionals.

What will be required of new committee members in 2016?



Those willing to represent on the AMASA Committee 2016/17 will be required to manage a dedicated portfolio within the committee and assist wherever needed on others



Attendance at monthly committee meetings and forums is also required.



To continue the passion, selflessness and energy of the current committee.



To apply forward thinking strategies to help AMASA evolve, so it remains a relevant and significant association for the industry.

Nomination process

Should you wish to nominate yourself or a colleague to stand for the AMASA 2016/2017 Committee election, please send a short motivation and picture of yourself (or nominated person) to Wayne Bischoff (az.oc.nodurt@wffohcsib). Please ensure that the person you have nominated has agreed to stand for election.

Voting will take place at the June AGM and Forum on 8 June, 4.30pm at Ster Kinekor (185 Katherine Street, Sandton ) Deadline for nominations is noon Tuesday, 7 June. The new AMASA committee will be announced at the Forum.




Working in the stock image industry means dealing with the most ground-breaking photographic work from African photographers across the continent.

Unfortunately, it also means getting up-close-and-personal with the industrys shortfalls  the unavoidable quandaries in African stock. And key amongst these is the flagrant misrepresentation of African women.

Problematic perceptions

Theres a broader underlying philosophical problem in the sense that African women arent afforded a representative identity in stock imagery. Theyre typecast in one of two ways: bare-chested victims surrounded by a flock of hunger-stricken children; or African-American, clad in pastel cardigans and smiling from the kitchen in a home thats quite clearly in Wisconsin.

This not only leaves African women misrepresented, but also sends a strong message to international media that we dont value the diversity that comes with locality. These women arent Ghanaian, Somali or Tanzanian  theyre all from one country  Africa. They dress the same and face exactly the same problems. If stock photography is used to tell stories  why is there only one narrative?

Are we delivering?

The second issue with the misrepresentation of African women in stock is the constant struggle to deliver whats required to the local and international media and agencies we work with, while still trying to push for authenticity. Media, brands and agencies continue to request and use the current African stock available, which begs the question: why is misrepresentation the norm?

A recent campaign on Instagram, #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou is a clear example of how Africans themselves are acutely aware of the gaping hole in the visual representation of the continent. Users across Africa took to Instagram to fight what they call poverty porn and to showcase the inspirational people and places in their own countries.

Change is nigh

So the goal is clear: African women in stock need to be given the power and respect they deserve. They deserve to have their own style, their own context and their own complexities.

The means to achieving this goal are a little more complicated. But a good starting point is for stock libraries to source content from locals  from the people who are viscerally aware of African realities. It means being inclusive, and not prescriptive, in sourcing new images and footage.

The best way to do this? Push for new and up-and-coming contributors who have a strong visual voice  whether youre in advertising, publishing or media. Seek out imagery thats layered and nuanced. Subjectivity is necessary in this regard  the closer the photographer is to the idea, the more likely itll be interesting, with a powerful narrative, even though its stock.

There should also be a constant feedback loop between client, agency and contributor. Let your suppliers know exactly what you want and dont compromise on authenticity.

Showcasing aFRIKA

Although theres a long way to go, there are stock agencies realising the importance of African contributors for African content. Realising the pitfalls in our own industry, Greatstock set out to shift the lens through the aFRIKA Collection. This library has a substantial (and growing) collection of photography by African photographers of African subject matter, and were committed to giving it as much depth and breadth as possible.

The problem in African stock wont be solved quickly or easily  and it cant be solved by stock image agencies alone. Real change requires a fundamental shift not only in the content available, but in the perceptions of agencies, publishers, media and the public, when it comes to representing lived female African realities. Its all about finding a panoramic view of African potential.
RSA Market Agents introduced a new value-for-money potato offering from rebranded potato grower, Wesgrow, which will see a new high-quality potato brand available to fresh produce buyers on the Johannesburg market floor.

lehtta1 via pixabay

RSA has entered into a strategic partnership with the Free State-based Wesgrow, formerly known as Wesvrystaat Aartappel Moerkwekers, which has a 52-year strong heritage in South Africa as the countrys leading seed potato producer, and currently represents up to 65% of all potato seed production in South Africa. Its new Wesgrow brand harnesses this heritage and combines it with a fresh approach to potato marketing  one based on elevating the status of South African potatoes and providing tangible value for money through supplying excellent quality produce at market prices. In line with this, Wesgrow will debut with five pack sizes: 1kg, 2kg, 4kg (new to market), 7kg and 10Kg.

Although all markets along the value chain are important to Wesgrow, their research shows as much as 70% of its business will come from the informal market sector via hawkers, spaza shops, and independent sellers. However, Wesgrow will actively service all LSM groups, including top-end buyers and consumers.

A strategic partnership

Over the past 33 years, RSA has become a leader in its field, offering our customers and growers the marketing edge they need to add value to their businesses. We are constantly looking to partner with innovative growers who supply good quality products. Wesgrows progressive thinking to elevate potatoes from just a commodity in South Africa reflects our vision to maintain our leadership position within the fresh produce industry. Its a true strategic partnership with solidly aligned business goals, explains Jaco Oosthuizen, group managing director of RSA Market Agents.

Gerhard Posthumus, Wesgrow MD, echoes these sentiments. RSA's vision and values resonate with us, and as the largest market agent in South Africa, its country-wide footprint supports our own vision for national growth. Added to this, we share the same appetite when it comes to African business prospects, making this a strategically important and symbiotic relationship, he says.

Wesgrow potatoes

Initially, Wesgrow potatoes will be available on the RSA market floor in Johannesburg, with a view to being rolled out to the Durban and Tshwane markets in the future.

Wesgrow is a farmer-owned company situated in the western Free State. It comprises of a group of 18 farmers growing 5,000 hectares of potatoes under irrigation in the Christiana area. It sources its exclusive potato varieties from Hetema Zonen Potato Corporation (HZPC) in Holland and Irish Potato Marketing (IPM) in Ireland.

The company has a mini tuber greenhouse facility in the area where all Wesgrow mother seed is produced. Two of its most successful varieties in the past have been Mondial and Sifra, which now dominate the South African retail space. It has contract growers around the country, which allows it to provide seed to farmers nationally, all year round. Wesgrow also operates a separate marketing company just outside Christiana with its own pre-packing facility.
The competition commission is coming a-knocking at grocery retailers' doors once again, and it has a number of uncomfortable questions to ask.

The regulatory body will be embarking on a market inquiry into the sector, and a full report is expected to be delivered to economic development minister Ebrahim Patel by this time next year.

However, this does not necessarily mean there will be a negative impact on JSE-listed grocers share prices.

Most of the six major areas of the inquiry deal with the market dynamics of small and independent retailers, including foreign operators. The probe was first announced during Patels budget vote last year, when the minister said the retail sector contributed to growth in jobs and that the small retail sector was a critical economic entry point for black South Africans.

The commission says it wants to engage meaningfully with all stakeholders to come up with workable recommendations to promote competition in the sector.

A key issue for the commission concerns exclusive clauses in leasing agreements.

Mall developers often sign exclusivity agreements with anchor tenants in the hope that they will attract other high-quality businesses and shoppers. Exclusivity clauses are defended on the grounds that they protect big retailers investments  chains often spend more than R30m setting up larger-format new stores and do not want their trade affected by another large anchor store or smaller businesses.

In a previous inquiry into retailers, the commission said it was concerned about the potential damping effects of exclusive leases on competition, but it found insufficient evidence to pursue any cases.

Halton Cheadle, chairman of the inquiry panel, says these contracts may be causing distortion in the sector by entrenching barriers to entry and expansion.

One of the smaller players affected by these agreements, OBC Chicken, says the problem is entrenched.

When positive negotiations with landlords are suddenly reneged on for no reason whatsoever, one becomes concerned, says OBC Chicken MD Tony Da Fonseca.

It is of concern that now, when many of the big players in the retail supermarket arena have discovered the potential of trading in high-density black areas, we are experiencing what is commonly known as blocking of sites by the anchor tenants who obviously have a greater say in the tenant mix of shopping centres.

OBC Chicken has more than 60 stores. Slowing income growth, high household debt and the rising cost of living have prompted big retailers to launch an aggressive space race to capture consumers spend  both in city suburbs and in townships served by smaller players.

The commission says it wants to research the impact of the expansion and diversification of these supermarket chains on small and independent retailers in these areas, as well as in the informal economy.

Jason van Dijk, a director at Norton Rose Fulbright SA, says though the commission is conducting an inquiry and not an investigation, retail companies that will be participating still need to come armed and ready.

Because of the risk of penalties being imposed after successful prosecution of any complaints that may be initiated by the commission at the conclusion of the inquiry, market participants should obtain legal advice on their compliance and any remedial action necessary to prevent potentially significant administrative penalties being imposed on them.

According to Van Dijk, the inquiry could result in changes in policy which could affect the level of competition.

Inquiries can be conducted by the competition commission only where it has reason to believe that there are features in a particular sector that may prevent, distort or restrict competition within that sector.

If the commission identifies such features and concludes that they do lead to anticompetitive outcomes, the inquiry panel can make recommendations. Enhancements to competition generally benefit consumers.

Meanwhile, an analyst who could not be named in line with company policy says it is unlikely that the inquiry will cause significant movements in the share prices of listed grocery retail companies.

An inquiry is a very different process to an investigation. Whatever comes out of it will be nonbinding legally. There are no fines involved. Of course the panel can recommend an investigation into an issue but that is a different process.

There may be reforms in the sector as whole but they are unlikely to push share prices significantly up or down.

The panel will take stakeholder submissions between July and August this year.

Public hearings are scheduled to begin in January 2017.
Taste Holdings - which mixes interests in fast-food and jewellery - is chilled about its roll-out plans for coffee store brand Starbucks.

Photographer: Jessica Tennant

Speaking after the release of results to end-February on Wednesday, Taste CEO Carlo Gonzaga said only one more Starbucks outlet would be opened this calendar year, after the recent opening of the first two outlets in Rosebank and at the Mall of Africa in Midrand.

"We dont have to ramp up the expansion of Starbucks at any cost. We said we would open 20 stores in two years, and we are working on the capabilities to do this."

Gonzaga predicted that Taste would reach breakeven on Starbucks at ebitda (earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) after five stores were up and running.

The launch of the first two Starbucks stores exceeded the companys wildest expectations.

"Four weeks later and there are still queues on weekends," he said.

In the year to end-February Tastes core revenue surged 41% to R1bn with "system-wide sales" up 9% to R1.72bn.

However, development costs  incurred mainly in rolling out the Dominos Pizza franchise  saw the bottom line deep in the red.

There was, however, some encouraging news at struggling fast food franchise, The Fish & Chip Co, where trading showed a marked improvement in the second half.

Gonzaga said The Fish & Chip Co revenue was down only 12% after three consecutive trading halves that showed a 20% decline.

"Same store sales in March, April, and May are actually showing growth, and some of our revamped stores have shown growth in excess of 25%," he said.
A judging panel at the recent Global Spirits Masters blind tasting competition in the UK has stated that South African brandies shone "head and shoulders above entrants from other parts of the world" and awarded nine silver medals to South African brandies assessed and gold to the Oude Molen XO. The tasting report said that results were of such a calibre it "left the judges pondering why the category has yet to establish a character for itself on the international stage"...

The Global Spirits Masters blind tasting competition was launched in 2008 by international spirits magazine and website The Spirits Business and prides itself on the use of only independent judges. Entrants from across the globe are judged according to category, over the period of a year, with the best expressions singled out at an awards ceremony in London, in December. Categories assessed thus far this year include: tequila, rum, liqueurs, and cognac.

The quality of South African brandy is underpinned by some of the most stringent legislation in the world - it must be distilled twice in copper potstills and aged for a minimum of three years in oak casks. The result has been that South African brandies are consistently voted best in the world at international competitions, such as the International Spirits Challenge and the International Wine & Spirit Competition.

Why choose entry-level cognac?

Now, in their latest assessment of South African potstill brandies, the Brandy Masters judging panel questioned why people would choose entry-level cognac over the South African brandies.

The most successful category evaluated on the day was South African potstill brandies matured 13 years and over. Every entrant in the bumper flight received a medal.

The judging report concluded by saying theres no reason why we shouldnt see more South African brandies on the European market.

The panel comprised a varied field, including four whisky specialists; a member of the select Company of Armagnac Musketeers; the bar manager at The Library Bar at The Lanesborough five-star hotel; and, a director at Remy Cointreau UK.

The medal winners were:
JJ van de Velde, a Nottingham Road potato and maize farmer, has donated more than 800 bales of hay, destined for animal fodder, to drought-stricken Hluhluwe farmers.

Bencor Boerderys 10 transport vehicles leaving Zuivergoud Farm in unison for Hluhluwe - Photo credited to Jonathan Burton

As KwaZulu-Natal farmers continue to battle with the severe drought, dying livestock and worsening conditions as we move into winter, this donation has come just in time and will hopefully remind others that the drought is far from over and that we need to stand together, said Sandy La Marque, CEO of the KwaZulu-Natal Agricultural Union, Kwanalu.

Van de Velde said it was while watching a program on drought one Sunday evening that he saw and realised just how desperate farmers in some parts of the province were and decided to help. Most farmers in KZN are feeling the effects of the drought and it has been very difficult for us all, but when I saw the hopeless look on that farmers face it struck a chord, he said.

For the first time in 16 years, I have had a good potato crop and figured that my good fortune could be shared with those who were not so lucky, he added.

Hluhluwe a priority area

Van de Velde said he got in touch with Kwanalu, who identified Hluhluwe as a priority area. Kwanalu has been working closely with AgriSA, and local farmers to help relieve the pressure of the drought on farmers in the northern parts of the province. Thousands of animals have already perished. Both commercial and subsistence farmers are desperate for assistance and are currently living from one day to the next, relying on whatever animal fodder is donated, La Marque said.

We have had some rain and now everyone thinks that the drought and all its problems are over, but its not true. We need to continue to pull together and help our fellow farmers around the country, added van de Velde.

Van de Velde purchased R450,000 worth of cutting, raking and baling equipment to get the operation under way, an investment that he says is all the more worthwhile, as he was able to put it to good use. Following his fathers lead, JP (Jan Peter) van de Velde (16), volunteered to spend his April holiday helping to cut, rake and bale hay as part of his entry into The Presidents Award for Youth Empowerment - an international programme that helps young people develop through community service, adventure, skills and sports.

It made perfect sense for me to give up my time to help bale the hay  I love farming, its what I want to do, so it wasnt really that much effort, said JP, a grade 10 pupil at Michaelhouse. Knowing that I would be helping other farmers made it even more worthwhile, he added.

Transport

With financial assistance from Kwanalu and other generous donors, the bales were transported by 10 of Bencor Boerderys transport vehicles and were offloaded and distributed by Hluhluwe Farmers Association leader, PJ Hassard. We are grateful to Bencor Boerdery, who came on board and helped cover the majority of the enormous transport costs, which would have been in excess of R110,000, La Marque said.

This show of camaraderie amongst our farmers and businesses is truly an inspiration and the bales are a saving grace for our desperate farmers, said Hassard, who has been heavily involved in drought relief initiatives in his area. In times of crisis, it is important that South Africans pull together. Instead of taking an antagonistic, demoralised approach, we need to use whatever skills or resources we have to help, he said.
In 2014, Higher Education South Africa reported that South African universities produce an inadequate number of doctoral graduates. There are a number of challenges in the South African education system, including a lack of skilled teachers, poor infrastructure and poverty. When it comes to tertiary education, particularly PhDs, these challenges persist.

However, there are some factors combatting these challenges, such as considerable investments from local government towards increasing PhD production; improving supervisory capacity among academics; providing incentives for students to remain in the system up to doctoral level; and supporting jobless graduates in work experience in science, engineering and technology institutions.

Manpower South Africa believes in the power of education and is interested in assisting female graduates in achieving their PhDs. A small survey was carried out amongst female South African graduates and professionals, to find out whether or not they are looking into carrying out their PhD studies, what their biggest challenges are in this regard and what kind of assistance they would find useful, explains Lyndy van den Barselaar, MD Manpower South Africa. Our survey found that most of the respondents faced similar challenges.

The most cited challenge was that of balancing work, studying and having a family to take care of



Another significant challenge was that of time management between work and studying, where management was not open to giving time off or flexible hours



Financial constraints were also cited as a common problem for most respondents

When asked what kind of assistance they would find most valuable in helping them to achieve their goals, most of the respondents said financial assistance and mentorship and guidance.

Bursary for PhD offered

Manpower South Africa will be awarding one female a full sponsorship to study her PhD.

As corporate South Africa strives to put more females in management and board positions, the need for female education becomes increasingly important. As a leading workforce solutions provider, we want to do our part to assist.

Manpower South Africa is part of the 30% Club South Africa, a group of chairpersons, CEOs and senior partners of organisations internationally that are committed to bringing more women onto boards because they believe its beneficial to the overall effectiveness of the boardroom  and therefore for business. Focus is also placed on the executive pipeline to create sustainable change. The aim is to achieve the 30% goal of women on boards in South Africa by 2018. The campaign has achieved notable success in a relatively short period of time internationally.

To apply, interested candidates can send a covering letter and their details to az.oc.rewopnam@dhp by 30 August 2016.
I've always wanted to write a book, I even attended one of those free book writing seminars. I was thinking seriously about putting pen to paper when I mentioned my plan to a client and she suggested I create a book for the project we were working on.

While I envisaged myself as an author of a book, Id never actually done anything like this project before. The learning curves over the 16 months that followed were steep and numerous, but ultimately very rewarding. Heres a summary of my book writing story for anyone whos thinking of doing something similar.

Concept

My vision was of a simple yet informative book that start-ups or small business owners could have access to. Something that they can refer to as and when they needed to. Because I had relative clarity on the concept and content, I began the work on my own. The process started in January 2015 as I outlined the different chapters and began the research.

Freelance writers

Halfway through the process, I realised I was crazy doing this alone. (I was working on other things as well). I decided to outsource some of the chapters to freelance writers. This helped a lot, but it still took about eight months for us to get all the content written up.

Editor

It hadnt occurred to me to include an editor from the very beginning. When I realized we needed one, and found the right person, they took our first draft and gave a lot and I mean a lot, of valuable feedback. This added an additional eight weeks to our project timeline.

Graphic design

With hindsight we needed more than a graphic designer for this job as it involved issues with regard to trademarks  particularly around the legalities of using artwork and graphics. On top of this, our original designer left us, and we had to start over with a new person. This delayed the project by another six weeks.

Software

Something that wasnt budgeted for was the software needed. We had to invest in Adobe Indesign for the layout as well as Unplag  a plagiarism and content checking programme, which I now know is a must-have for any managing editor.

Focus

As I was writing the book I almost became consumed by the process. I had initially planned and budgeted for it to be 50 pages but it ended up being 162 pages long. Theres so much information out there, I eventually got to a point where I stopped and forced myself to focus on the most important information.

Structure and flexibility

I believe that if Id had a more structured plan when I started, wed have saved some time and money. That said, flexibility is also key, especially when youre working with external people or resources. Things happen and if youre not open to doing things differently, you wont get anywhere.

Teamwork

Once I found the right team, everything was a breeze! Even when there were hiccups they rallied on. The final team was behind us all the way. Even when their work was done, they continued to follow-up and give moral support.

Looking back, this was a resource and time heavy project. All in all, the book took 16 months to complete. If we include freelancers, there were nine people working on it at one time. But the team spirit, the laughter and the excitement at the end - when we shared the actual book with everyone - was priceless. Will I do it again? Absolutely.
International arrivals to Africa surpassed the 50 million level for the first time 2012 as per UNWTO data. The following year, local group Protea was acquired by Marriot for $200 million. This set in motion the move of international operators to this emerging hospitality region, which has for decades served tourists looking for safari vacations. In 2014 international arrivals amounted to $36 billion in receipts, within which the Sub-Saharan Africa segment grew by 3 percent. The number of international visitors to Africa is forecast to reach the 85 million mark by 2020.

John Wollwerth via 123RF - Nairobi downtown area

Hotel chain development over the past few years is mirroring this growth in travelers. As per W Hospitality Group, in terms of hotel chain development pipelines in Africa in 2016, West Africa will witness the maximum number of rooms coming up (45 percent of total), with Southern Africa and East Africa seeing 26 percent and 24 percent of room development respectively.

The cities of Lagos, Abuja, Nairobi, Addis Ababa and Dakar are expected to be the top five cities by the number of planned rooms. Branded hotel chain openings will see a spike in 2016 and 2017, with 16,934 and 16,540 rooms being developed over the course of these two years. New supply will taper thereafter, with hotels openings being approximately 4,989 rooms in 2020. This is reflected in the timelines as per deal signing, with maximum hotel deals during 2006 to 2015 being signed last year (for 121 hotels).

Routes hotel chains can choose

Hotel chains looking to enter the region can choose from the management, franchise or acquisition routes. Given the limited hotel developments available for acquisition, hotel management companies have shown a preference for entering into management agreements, with almost 79 percent of deals signed in 2016 being under this category, according to W Hospitality Group. Currently, AccorHotels leads in hotel room pipeline with 8,794 rooms under construction. Hilton is a close second at 8,501 rooms.

Investors also stand to benefit from the growth in the number of travelers and are closing deals in the region for hotels that are managed by international chains. In a $35.9 million deal in March this year, QG Africa Hotel, a Mauritius-based fund, acquired 100 per cent interest in the InterContinental Hotel Lusaka from Kingdom Hotel Investments. The acquisition of the 244 room hotel is the first acquisition of QG Africa Hotel. It (the acquisition) underlines our commitment and investment strategy for the hotel sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. The InterContinental Lusaka is strongly established locally and will benefit from the planned refurbishment that will expand and reposition the asset, thereby generating value added returns for our investors, said Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais, founder of Quantum Global.

Challenges remain

Challenges within the region still remain and could limit the growth of the sector unless addressed. Tourism initiatives by the government are the exception in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania, rather than being the norm across the region.

Hurdles posed by cross-border restrictions can also delay or disrupt entry of operators who wish to expand their portfolio in the region, says Charles Bott, head of hotels, hospitality and leisure at property consultancy Cavendish Maxwell. On their part, the owners/developers need to be in readiness when it comes to negotiating contracts. Often the commercial terms of a contract are weighted heavily in favour of the management company. Owners stand to lose ground during negotiations unless they seek advice from professionals who understand the key aspects and details of the clauses and can help ensure no avenues for future returns are lost at the contract stage.

The fragmented nature of the continent, with diversity in languages, ethnic groups, etc., also presents a unique challenge to operators, as does the infrastructure limitations. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) recently highlighted that nearly 645 million people lack access to electricity and this is the greatest hindrance to Africas growth and development.

Investing in smart-cities through public-private partnerships can help overcome the common challenges of red tape, gaps in infrastructure development, steep capital costs, security issues and inconsistencies in regulations from one country to the next. A regionally relevant strategy that involves mitigating risks pertaining to the sector can become the drivers for change in the future.
Despite the innumerable terrible headlines we've seen over the last few years, data breaches continues to dominate the security space. Mobile firms, hotel chains, government bodies, dating websites, retailers and more are all targets.

Andres Rodriguez via 123RF

Names, email addresses, physical addresses, credit card information, passwords, social security numbers... just about any personal, identifiable and sensitive information you can think of fall into the hands of hackers. As well as the material impact they can cause on the businesses that fall victim to hackers - such as the resulting compensation payouts - these attacks can also have a huge impact on a companys brand. How many people will happily return to a business knowing that it may not be able to adequately protect their data?

Data gateway

Now, Im not going to comment on the security in place at the companies involved with these breaches, but instead I want to talk more generally about why attacks are becoming more common and more successful. Ultimately, its a reflection of the changing way businesses operate, and security practices and processes that have to adapt to keep companies secure.

Its the applications themselves that are the targets, because that is where the data is housed. Applications are a gateway to the data, the door that lets the hackers in. As businesses get more mobile and more cloud-based, these applications contain larger amounts of data, becoming an even greater target for cyber attackers.

Also, applications have historically resided in the data centre. As a result, this is where the perimeter and primary cyber defences have been set up.

However, because of the rise of mobile and emergence of the cloud, the data centre isnt always the most vulnerable area these days.

The proposed approach would be to think about security within the following four pillars:

1. Organisations are moving to the cloud

2. Growth in BYOD and remote/mobile workers

3. Prevalence of SSL, resulting in many security applications being blind to encrypted traffic and threats hiding within

4. More sophisticated security threats.

All of these, and the fourth one in particular, mean the perimeter approach is no longer adequate. Instead the perimeter has to be the application itself, wherever it resides. Its almost like security is reverting back to its baseline design principles, but one that has a solid foundation that should help businesses fight even the most advanced threats.

The key is context

The key to application-centric security, and to dealing with the complexities that those four elements listed above bring, is context - context of the user, the traffic, and the application. Context = knowledge = power ... to borrow and expand on a famous phrase.

Let me give you an example I recently heard and adopted from a colleague, of what is meant by context. Look at toll roads. In some countries there is nothing more than a machine you throw some coins into, then you drive a few miles and throw some more coins into another machine. That system has no understanding of its users - where are they coming from? Where are they going?

In contrast there are more sophisticated toll roads, such as those in South Africa, that are monitored by cameras or tickets that follow users. So the system knows where the driver has been and where the driver is going and more. That gives the organisation supplying the service much more context that can be used for marketing or security, for example.

But how is that relevant to an organisation? Well, context around the user, the data traffic and the application - such as what client platform the connection is being made from, where it is geographically located, what browser is being used, what protocols are being used, what application is being accessed - enables the organisation to see anything and everything that goes on between the user and the application.

So going back to the 'context = knowledge = power' equation, if an organisation understands whats coming its way, it has the ability to take the right action.

To protect an application you have to understand the application, and that is done through the contextual awareness mentioned above. Focusing security efforts on applications is an effective way of stopping security threats. It can also prove to be more cost-effective, because you can assign protection based on the value the app has to the business, instead of trying to protect everything equally.

Protect the application, wherever it resides, and youll protect the business as a whole.
SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft and Facebook announced they will work together to lay a high-speed internet cable across the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

A new, sub-sea 'MAREA' cable was expected to be completed by late 2017, with the aim of meeting growing demand by the tech companies' customers for fast, reliable data connections.

"As the world is increasingly moving toward a future based on cloud computing, Microsoft continues to invest in our cloud infrastructure to meet current and future growing global demand for our more than 200 cloud services," Microsoft data centre strategy general manager Christian Belady said in a release.

MAREA will be the highest-capacity sub-sea cable ever crossing the Atlantic, with an expected capacity of some 160 terabytes per second of data, according to the companies. The 6,600 kilometre cable system will also be the first connecting the United States and southern Europe, running from Northern Virginia to Bilbao, Spain, Microsoft and Facebook said.

From Spain, the data network will link to hubs in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and other parts of Europe, according to the companies. Microsoft and Facebook said that they are working with global communications company Telxius, owned by Telefonica, on the cable project.

"We're always evaluating new technologies and systems in order to provide the best connectivity possible," said Facebook vice president of network engineering Najam Ahmad.

"We want to do more of these projects in this manner - allowing us to move fast with more collaboration."

Microsoft bought into Facebook nine years ago, paying $240m for a 1.6% stake in the leading social network.

Source: AFP
Application-based taxi service Uber, which has a three-month waiting list for partner-drivers wanting to join the platform, says it will give preference to its existing drivers who have since qualified to own or lease a car.

The platform has signed up 4,000 partner-drivers and is looking to increase this number to 15,000 over the next two years. Some of the drivers on the platform do not own the cars they drive. However, there has been an increase in drivers qualifying to own cars. "We see a large number of drivers who were previously working for another party who owned the vehicle now qualifying for a maintenance lease or another form of finance, where they now are obtaining their own vehicles.

"And we want to give preference to those individuals who have been working on the platform for someone else, who are now becoming their own entrepreneur," said Uber GM for subSaharan Africa Alon Lits.

He was speaking in Rosebank, Johannesburg, at the launch of Uber's cash payment option. Earlier in May, Gauteng MEC for roads and transport Ismail Vadi officially launched a new registration process that would allow Uber driver- partners to obtain operating licenses, like all public transport vehicles. Cape Town already allows Uber taxis to register and operate legally. Vadi's announcement angered metered taxi drivers, some of whom went on to launch a physical attack on the MEC at the department's offices in Johannesburg on the day.

Operators of metered taxis have been up in arms at Uber's entry into the market and want Vadi's decision reversed. They have called on Gauteng Premier David Makhura to intervene. Speaking on behalf of the metered taxi industry, Western Cape Metered Taxi Council spokesman David Drummond said yesterday the industry was concerned about the number of permits being granted to Uber in the Western Cape.

A proposed amendment to the National Land Transport Act tabled before Parliament in March did not make room for Uber, but did make reference to the metered taxi industry, said Drummond.

Source: Business Day
According to Hennie Heymans, CEO of DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, greater regional integration in Africa, amongst all roleplayers, is needed to capitalise on the continent's growth potential as growth in developed markets such as Europe, China, and North Africa continue to stagnate.

Hennie Heymans

He says that when comparing intra-regional trade statistics, Africa's rates are amongst the lowest in the world, with less than 20% of what is produced in the region, remaining on the continent. This, in essence, means that over 80% of what is produced in Africa is exported, mainly to the European Union, China and the United States. In comparison, over 65% of Europes trade occurs on its own continent, and in North America, the figure is around 50%, says Heymans.

According to the latest IMF April 2016 World Economic Outlook report, developing economies and emerging markets will continue to account for a large portion of the worlds economic growth in 2016, which is expected at a rate of 3.2%. The report also reveals that growth in sub-Saharan Africa is also expected to remain low this year, at 3%, down 0.4% from 2015.

Sub-Saharan Africas dwindling growth is influenced by factors such as slowed, moderate growth in advanced markets such as China, as well as the downward revision of growth for the regions oil-exporting countries.

More needs to be done to make Africa business-friendly

Heymans says that intra-African trade has enormous potential to catalyze investment and foster growth on the continent. To ensure that Africa is equipped to maintain and exceed its growth trajectory of 4% in 2017, business leaders, the government and the community need to work together towards making Africa an easier place to do business and to stimulate trade between the various African countries.

Trade blocs such as SADC (Southern African Development Community), EAC (East African Community), ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), all promote cross-border trade and are focused on facilitating trade and reducing bureaucracy within the region. However, more needs to be done to connect and encourage the movement of goods, services, people and capital across borders in Africa.

Taina Sohlman via 123RF

Varying de minimis values

The World Bank recently reported that intra-African trade costs are estimated to be approximately 50% higher than in East Asia due to the number of permits required when transporting goods across certain borders, or the fees payable for prolonged waiting periods at the border. Another issue is the varying de minimis values across the region. In Angola for example, the de minimis value is USD 350 (if imported via Luanda) while in Zimbabwe, the de minimis is USD 10. The varying values can often make it difficult for companies to plan market expansion strategies in Africa.

On the contrary, a new law in the United States has simplified shipping to the U.S. by raising the import de minimis limit from USD 200 to USD 800, which means that goods below USD 800 will not require formal customs procedures and will not be liable for duties or taxes. Heymans says that in light of poor global growth forecasts, the biggest game changer for Africa going forward will be its ability to boost connectivity and intra-Africa trade.

The government and the private sectors need to continue to work together to create a sustainable and inclusive environment, and work on solutions to make it easier for African businesses to conduct business within their local and regional environment, concludes Heymans.
South Africa's plan to increase local vehicle parts manufacturing will help local car makers increase production by an average of 2.4% a year for the next four years, ratings agency Fitch's Singapore-based subsidiary BMI Research said in a report on Friday.

Andrey Armyagov via 123RF

SA's drive to increase local vehicle parts production included the KwaZulu-Natal government's purchase of 1,000ha of farmland in May to develop a R11.5bn automotive supply park south of Durban in 2018. As part of this project, it will target suppliers, including ones already working with vehicle manufacturers in the country, to set up there.

"We forecast vehicle production growth of 1.9% in 2016, with annual average growth of 2.4% over our forecast period 2016-2020. Driving this growth will be a supportive automotive development policy and a weak rand that will continue to drive investment into the local autos industry and bolster car exports over our forecast period," BMI said.

"SA's plan to increase investment in local parts production will result in cost and efficiency gains for (car makers) in the country.

"It will also create opportunities for new and existing automotive suppliers as vehicle production expands over our forecast period of 2016-2020.

"The strengthening of automotive supply chains in the country will support our positive outlook for vehicle production in SA over the next five years as (car makers) benefit from the cost and efficiency gains as a result of the increased localisation of parts production.

"It will also create new opportunities for foreign original equipment manufacturers and local producers to establish new partnerships," the researchers said.

Source: BDpro
OFM, the sound of your life in Central South Africa, is giving a few lucky youngsters the opportunity to live their radio dream!

On 16 June, OFM will be celebrating Youth Day by turning the airwaves over to the youth of central South Africa. Kids between 10 and 18 and students under the age of 26 will have the opportunity to experience the world of broadcasting first hand when they get the chance to get behind the microphone.

Says Nick Efstathiou, OFM's general manager: "We want to give our younger listeners the opportunity to 'live their radio dream' on Youth Day. If ever a younger listeners considered a career in broadcasting, now is the time! We hope that this special day will be fun for our younger listeners, as well as the listeners who are young at heart!"

For more information about the OFM Youth Day celebrations, go to www.ofm.co.za.




Senegal's heavily forested southern region of Casamance will have no tree cover left by 2018 if illegal logging driven by Chinese demand is not addressed, a Senegalese ecologist warned on Thursday, 26 May.

Gambian loggers have long benefited from lax oversight of the area's forests to take prized rosewood timber over the border into the Gambia before exporting the logs to China.

Ecologist Haidar El Ali, a former environment minister, said the loggers' activities had "reached a point of no return," speaking at a press conference in Dakar on behalf of the environmental group he heads, Oceanium.

A reporting trip to the region by Oceanium captured images of a secret border market showing the collusion of Senegalese and Gambian loggers and Chinese middlemen, he said.

"Senegal has lost more than a million trees since 2010 while farmers in Gambia have pocketed 140 billion CFA ($238m, 213m) exporting the wood to China where the desire for furniture has exploded in the last few years," he added.

Chinese customs data shows the Gambia was the second largest exporter of rosewood in 2015. Nigeria, which ranked top, exported almost four times as much.

El Ali said trafficking had become so lucrative that he had observed "Senegalese migrants coming back from Europe to chop down this wood because it is so valuable."

The ecologist accused the Senegalese government of failing to do enough to tackle the problem and enforce the law, which states that exporting timber is illegal in Senegal.

The knock-on effects of desertification and less rainfall would be "irreversible", El Ali said.

According to environmental campaign group Forest Watch, Casamance has 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of forest remaining with 10,000 hectares already felled.

Source: AFP
USA president Barack Obama is scheduled to serve his last full day in the White House on 19 January 2017. When he looks back at the legacy of his administration, including the elimination of Osama bin Laden, introduction of Obamacare, initial steps towards normalising relations with Cuba, shutting down the infamous Guantanamo Bay prison for "combatants", and many others, are likely to be high on the list of his achievements during his eight-year presidency.

What history may not place at the top of the Obama legacy list is how he got there in the first place. Presidential hopefuls such as Hilary Clinton and The Donald Trump will no doubt have analysed his campaign strategy to see what worked for him on his journey to the world famous house on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC. Political campaign strategists will have pointed out the use of social media and how that played a crucial role in winning him the keys to the White House.

As South Africans get ready to head to the polls, there is no shortage of advisers on what the three main political parties should be doing to win the hearts and minds of voters. Granted, the South African political landscape is vastly different to the USs. However, those who choose to ignore digital means of delivering their messages to potential voters can kiss the hotly contested metros such as Nelson Mandela Bay, Johannesburg and Tshwane goodbye.

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The manifesto launches have come and gone. They all trended on Twitter, some for the wrong reasons. Social media and email media have become so sophisticated that you can easily track who is captivated by your messages or posts. Youre able to receive instant message feedback and, if our politicians care to listen to voters  a foreign concept in SA politics in general  you have the means to tweak your messages as you go along to ensure they resonate with your audience.

So is anyone winning the Twitter war? It seems many people consider social media a box to tick rather a real tool with which to take over the administration of local government. The Green-Black-and-Golds, Blues and Red Berets all have Twitter and Facebook accounts, which they use actively  with varying degrees of success.

When operating on digital media platforms, its not enough simply to have things to say; its vital to track the manner in which those receiving the messages interact with them.

I have received an SMS with fewer than 150 characters urging me to vote. I am still waiting for someone to send me an email targeted at people of my demographic, which explains in detail why I should vote for them. I read my emails every day, as do many other South Africans with a digital ID, aka an email address.

The 2014 elections saw 25,388,082 people registered to vote but only 18,654,771 exercised that right. There are many people who can swing the balance of power one way or another, but it would seem no one is talking to them at a personal level.

Perhaps its too difficult to sustain a slew of catchy phrases in a 500-word article. But if you had sent one to me, you would know if Id read it and if I clicked through to other documents or to your website, which articles I spent time reading and how much time I spent looking at specific content. You can even conduct quick polls using email to establish which way people are likely to vote.

That is a wealth of information that anyone serious about changing my mind on who I should vote for should be spending their precious time mining, analysing and applying to fine tune their campaign.

What we are likely to see in about two months time are giant advertisements wrapping tall buildings in town and billboards all over our highways as well as door-to-door campaigning on steroids. They are useful, but can anyone seriously give an objective calculation of the return on the investment on these tactics?

Anyone with a social media account also has an email account, while we will soon see tons of 140-character messages, perhaps it might also be worth exploring the idea of telling your good story in an intelligent and comprehensive manner.

If it does not matter now, it sure will matter in the future. So get used to talking to your audience on platforms they spend most of their time on  email, social media and online publications  or find another job if you can.
Having just bought a 50% operating stake in it, Norwegian state-owned company, SN Power, is painting the Bujagali hydropower scheme in Uganda as a poster child for successful development project. Or is it just glossing over what appears to be a rescue mission for an ailing facility?

Success or failure?

Despite being touted as sub-Saharan Africas most successful public private partnership in the power sector and a model for subsequent projects in the region by SN Power, Bujagali, a hydropower facility located near Jinja, Uganda, has been deemed a failure by the World Bank Group (WBG) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) for not meeting its production projections, nor its development targets.

According to a report by FIVAS  an advocacy group for water-related issues in the global south - before the dam was even completed, the two organisations, which initially funded the project, said the delays in the construction phase had escalated the costs of the project. In addition, the preliminary energy production capacity was pegged at 250MW, whereas the plant, now in operation, only produces between 140-160MW.

The project in question has been in the focus of numerous NGOs due to its poor performance regarding human rights issues, environmental and sustainability concerns, FIVAS says.

Price remains high

SN Power also says that since beginning operations almost four years ago, it now generates roughly half of Ugandas power supply and has catalysed strong economic growth by reducing the marginal cost of electricity generation by two thirds.

This claim doesnt seem to be supported by the Ugandan media or even the countrys president. Early in 2015, The East African reported that the government was in the process of buying back the project from the consortium, in a major reversal of countrys policy for development projects.

Although much cheaper than thermal, the cost of power generated from Bujagali is, at $0.11 per kilowatt-hour, higher than many projects of similar size. Promoters of the reverse-privatisation proposal believe that the cost of finance and the return on investment contribute to the end-user tariffs, the newspaper said.

At the same time, President Yoweri Museveni appeared on a local radio station and expressed concern about the cost of electricity produced at the dam. We still have issues with electricity prices of the distortion caused by the Bujagali project. The concession for Bujagali power was not negotiated well. We will sort it out, he said.

The plant has also done little to relieve the load-shedding in Uganda.

Development consortium

Originally, the hydro power project was financed and developed by Bujagali Energy Limited, an entity owned by affiliates of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, SGBH and the Government of Uganda. The projects debt financing arrangement includes development finance institution lenders such as the African Development Bank, WBG and EIB. SGBH, a Mauritian company, is indirectly owned by investment funds managed by Blackstone.

So, notwithstanding the incredibly optimistic spin SN Power is putting on their new acquisition, it appears that theres a lot of hard work that needs to done to dig this white elephant out of its hole.
Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, brought its first pre-selection round to a successful close during Seedstars Cape Town. The event took place on Friday at Workshop 17 where 10 selected startups were invited to present their ideas in front of the jury panel.

The top three startups of Cape Town to advance to the grand finale are Pargo, a convenient logistic solution that lets customers collect and return their parcels at a local store when it suits them best; Crew Pencil, an online crew booking and diary service for the film industry; and WumDrop, a platform that allows people to pick up and drop off anything with the click of a button. The other startups invited to pitch were AirSME, Britecamp, Carerott, Farmboek, iMobiMama, The Student Hub and Tribal Tourist.

The top three startups will be invited to Johannesburg where they will compete with the best startups from Durban and Soweto, of which one will be crowned the most promising seed-stage startup of Seedstars World South Africa 2016. As part of the prize, the overall winner of South Africa will be participating at Seedstars Summit, taking place in Switzerland in March 2017, a week-long training programme with the opportunity to meet the other 60 winners, as well as investors and mentors from around the world. Traditionally, the final day of the Summit will be dedicated to pitching in front of audience of 1,000 attendees, with the possibility of winning up to $1m equity investment.

The 10 startups pitched in front of a jury consisting of Linda Swart, incubation manager at Standard Bank; Lance Greyling, the director of Trade and Investment of the City of Cape Town; Marlon Parker, founder of Rlabs, Nwabisa Mayema, executive director of nnfinity; Robert Sussman, CEO at Integr8t IT and Charmaine Padayachy, principal at Omidyar Network. Joining them on the jury panel was Michael Weber, founding partner of Seedstars.

In order to provide local entrepreneurs with this opportunity, Seedstars World is working closely with Standard Bank, who is representing the initiative throughout the year. Additional support was provided by local ambassador Dean Cannell of Entrepreneur Traction and other local and international partners, such as Omidyar Network, the Jacobs Foundation and Payfast. Further support was provided by Red Bull, Innovo Networks, Seedspace, Workshop 17 and Spin Street House, amongst others. The event attracted interest from over 60 startups and over 150 attendees.

Continuing on its world tour of startup scenes in emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, Seedstars Worlds next stop is Durban, where they will organise a pre-selection event at Mancosa to select the best startups in the city. Seedstars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and/or develop profitable products for the global market.

The Seedstars World event in Durban will take place on Wednesday, 8 June from 4-9pm, tickets are free and attendees can register here.
MSPA (Mystery Shopping Providers Association) Europe is targeting Africa to expand its membership base, following a successful first conference in the region. Held in Casablanca, Morocco, earlier this year, the conference attracted delegates from 15 countries, including Gabon, Cote d'Ivoire, Algeria, Morocco and South Africa.

Image by 123RF

MSPA board member, Abdel Wahab Chaoui, from Morocco sums up the situation: As economies are growing and international brands are setting up branches in African countries, there's a real demand for mystery shopping techniques in Africa.

But this demand for mystery shopping has seen the growth in companies not necessarily well-versed in the high professional standards required to execute the methodology correctly. Established in the early 1990s, one of the main goals of the MSPA is to improve overall quality within the industry and to establish a transparent operating association with clear Governance rules.

Importantly, the drive for quality is enforced by members adhering to the mystery shopping code of ethics. The need for professional standards is clear in the Africa context.

There's a real demand for mystery shopping techniques in Africa

The MSPA is active in both North and South America, Asia Pacific and of course Europe. There are over 450 members worldwide, with 200 in Europe, but only 10 in Africa, which we plan to increase quickly. We are delighted to have two members from Africa on the MSPA EU Board: Abdel Wahab Chaoui from Morocco and Ian Jeffrey, based in South Africa. But we want to see our membership base on the African continent expand rapidly, said Yvonne Kinzel, president of MSPA-EU.

Our goal is to triple our membership each year. We have seen the success of our growth in Europe in terms of raising the standards in this region and know that it will only have benefit in Africa, Kinzel said.

As one of only two MSPA members in South Africa, Grant Lindhorst, MD of REACT Surveys commented, The MSPA gives our company a professional framework within which to operate. In turn, this gives our clients comfort in the fact that our offer will be of the highest professional standard. Sadly, the same cannot be said for other mystery shopping operators.

"We would like to see companies stipulate membership of the MSPA in their tenders for mystery shopping services.
Primedia Unlimited mall division media product manager, Gia Conte-Patel, talks to Bizcommunity.com about the growing and innovative media category, mall media, where 36% of all mall consumer spend is attributed to in-mall advertising.

Gia Conte-Patel

Q: How does mall media compare with other media types?

A: Mall media drives brand salience and has the ability to influence shoppers purchase decisions during the path to purchase. It could be a trigger or reminder to make a planned purchase, stimulate an unplanned purchase or switch brand allegiance from one store/brand to another.

After conducting a study with GIBS, it was evident that 36% of spend in malls is attributed to in-mall media.

With mall media there is a greater chance of conversion, because the communication is contextually relevant, reaches shoppers when they are receptive and in buying mode and are in close proximity/easily accessible to the point of conversion.

Another advantage of mall media is that its a pristine environment to place a brand, for any brand that has an aspirational quality, investing in mall media enhances brand associations. Malls are usually very clean.

Q: What is the big innovation we will see next in shopper marketing?

A: Location based advertising using beacons and in-mall coupon distribution, be it through ibeacons, similar technology or digital units. Bridging the gap between traditional out of home (OOH) and mobile is the next big thing.

Q: How does the use of multimedia differentiate a brand?

A: If youre referring to the use of multimedia in the shopping centre environment, it can only benefit the brand. Malls are very busy areas - relying on store signage and windows arent always enough. In our GIBS research, one of the key take outs was that brands that invested in several touch points in the mall, i.e. windows, in-mall OOH, activations, etc., had the highest impact.

Q: What is the fundamental change in shopper marketing today?

A: Its no longer about expecting the shopper to come to you, because as a brand youve created demand. Shoppers are becoming more and more empowered and their opinions and experiences matter. Building products and services without insight into shopper needs and desires just isnt going to cut it. Social media demands that brands pay attention.

Q: What is the biggest trend that will change the retail sector by 2020/2025?

A: Customised push notifications based on a shopper's preferences, interactive and shoppable storefronts.

Q: What are the qualities/innovations that customers are demanding from brands?

A: Convenience by bringing online and bricks and mortar experiences together. The internet of things, as well as the proliferation of smart phones, is changing how people behave and how they shop. We need to be aware of how technology is impacting our shoppers. There is a lag between the early adopters overseas and the early adopters in SA which provides us with a window into the future. The challenge is to implement it in a way that is relevant to the South African market.

Our approach is to put the South African shopper in the centre of all product development. Were in a unique position to get this right as we also provide the marketing for many of the centres that we sell media in.

This provides us with the shopper insights we need to develop future media products that will make shopping better. When looking at where to start, we consider whether it benefits the SA shopper. If the answer is an immediate yes then its a good point of departure.

Big data is also a huge opportunity. Im hoping to see some real advances in shopper analytics in the near future.
Most of us still tend to think of mobile marketing as the territory of large corporations. When we read that Coca-Cola is the mobile marketer of the year and hear of top Google executives saying that mobile marketing is outstripping all predictions, one tends to believe that mobile marketing is the preserve of the very biggest.

Herman Cremer

This perception is reinforced, because mobile marketing strategies can sound very confusing when brand managers start throwing around seemingly inaccessible acronyms from CPC (cost per click) to USSD (unstructured supplementary data) that sound like concepts only MegaCorp Plc could afford.

The perception that mobile marketing is blue chip domain is simply wrong. The customisable and personalised nature of the technology, combined with granular and highly-visual analysis tools that any small business owner can easily understand, means it is well-suited to small and medium-sized firms.

With the above in mind, let's take a look at some mobile marketing tips specifically designed for SMEs keen on embarking on mobile campaigns. Perhaps these helpful hints can play some small part in boosting the small business sector that is often described as the engine of our economy.

1. Is your SME ready for mobile marketing?

The most basic starting advice we can offer is for the small business owners to properly assess whether the firm is, in fact, ready for mobile. There's no sense in driving consumers to your mobile brand if a properly-designed and all-encompassing mobile experience hasn't been designed in partnership with a reputable strategic mobile marketing provider.

2. A mobile-friendly version of your website is key

Another thing the SME needs to do in terms of laying down essential mobile marketing groundwork is to build a mobile-friendly (or .mobi) version of its website. Proportionally, far greater numbers of South Africans access the web via smartphones and featurephones, as opposed to laptops and desktops, so you need a site that looks great on the small screen or risk frustrating potential customers and losing them in the process.

3. SMS-based mobile marketing must offer something personal and special

SMEs need to ensure that they take full advantage of the advantages offered by text message-based mobile marketing. Text ads need to be properly-designed to achieve maximum bang-per-buck for cash-strapped small business. According to CIO.com, any text message sent to a mobile shopper must offer something worthy of the very personal interruption.

Research by mShopper.com shows that mobile subscribers respond best to specials that are limited-quantity ("only 10 left!") or limited-time ("48 hours only!"), as well as those that offer exclusive information ("We've just launched a new product!"). This is excellent advice worth bearing in mind by the small business owner.

Finally, possibly the best mobile marketing tactic for the SME is simply capturing cellphone numbers of potential customers. This, of course, has to be done in a responsible way so as not to eventually amount to spamming mobile users. We've seen examples of database-building that are as simple as a gym offering local residents the chance to win a free membership by texting a keyword to either a short code number or a salesperson's own mobile number. By electing to give away its own product or service - as opposed to a random gift - the SME is attracting potential clients who value what it provides in the marketplace.

South African SMEs contribute almost two-thirds to the country's total employment statistics, according to the Journal of the Global Accounting Alliance. Because mobile marketing enables the minimum of spending wastage, it means it is well-suited to the smaller start-up on a tight budget - and can thus play a positive role in our economy to boot!

For more information on mobile marketing, click here.
The Loeries' Juniors' and Students' tickets are now available for booking. The two-day tickets allow delegated to join the rest of the industry in Durban for Loeries Creative Week from the Saturday, departing Monday morning after a weekend packed with networking, industry connecting, creative inspiration and learning. Click here for more on this year's ticket options for the Loerie Awards.




Czech TV station co-owned by a Swedish company has ordered its reporters to present refugees as a threat

30. 5. 2016

cas cteni 4 minuty





Jitka Obzinova, the editor-in-chief of news and current affairs at "Prima TV", the third most popular Czech television station, and Lubos Jetmar, the representative of the owners of the TV station have held an extraordinary meeting with the TV station's journalists on 7th September, 2015 where they ordered them to demonise refugees. This follows from the testimony of a number of witnesses, employees of Prima TV, which has been obtained by the Czech Hlidacipes.cz website. The Hlidacipes.org website has now published an audio recording from this meeting.

"The media will need to assume an attitude towards the refugee crisis and our television station does want to assume an attitude. And you must accept it. We are all employed here and we do have an employer who has a certain attitude. I accept it, the day editor accepts it and you will simply obey the orders of the day editor. If you do not do this, you thereby refuse to accept the fact that you are employed here and there is no point in you being employed here," says Jitka Obzinova on the tape.

Source in Czech HERE

"You must consistently present refugees as a threat. Keep telling the public that we must fear islamisation and that we do not want refugees in the Czech Republic," the managers told Prima TV journalists. When the journalists at Prima TV objected, pointing out that such an approach is an infringement of ethical journalistic practice, they were told that objectivity and balance will henceforth NOT be adhered to in the news coverage of Prima TV.

The information about this confidential meeting has now been leaked to the Hlidacipes.org website. "The atmosphere in the editorial office of Prima TV is very tense. Most journalists there are aware that they could be sacked and there are now very few job opportunities for journalists in the Czech Republic, so they do as they are told," said one of the sources from Prima TV to the Hlidacipes.org website.

Prima TV is a private television station. Fifty per cent of its shares are owned by MTG, a Swedish company which operates on the Stockholm stock market.

Source in Czech HERE

TV Prima could be threatened by losing its broadcasting licence, but no one in the Czech Republic has sufficient courage to do this. Although Prima TV is a private TV station, if it does not broadcast objective and balanced information, it breaks the Czech Broadcasting Law, says Robert Brestan, the Hlidacipes.org journalist who broke the story.



Source in Czech HERE





The Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter has now run this story. The executives from the Swedish company MTG which co-owns Prima, did not want to talk to Dagens Nyheter on the telephone, but send an email in which they said that MTG has "very clear policies for the editorial independence of the press and objective reporting" and that it "is in dialogue with the local management of Prima in the Czech Republic to further understand what has taken place ".

There are stories like this in the Czech Republic every day that never make it to the outside world because of a lack of translation. You can support us and help reveal what's happening in Central Europe today. Please make a contribution today on www.paypal.com and send your donation to redakce@blisty.cz. We fully rely on crowdfunding in our work. Thank you.

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This was the stated intent as 300 local leaders, ethnic soldiers and activists gathered May 23-26 for a consultation in the remote mountainous corner of Mutraw in Kayin or Karen state.

They call it the Salween Peace Park, said to be the first of its kind in the world.

"Foreign conservationists are amazed that more than 20 kinds of predators like tigers and clouded leopards survive here. They say, 'but it's not protected as a national park'. I tell them, it is the way of life of the Karen people that protects these species and their habitats. If you make it into a national park like in Thailand or Burma, the animals will all be gone," said Saw Blaw Htoo, leader of the biodiversity programme of the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN), the ethnic Karen organization helping to initiate the Salween Peace Park.

This initiative for a novel kind of protected area is supported by the Karen National Union (KNU) in Mutraw District of Kayin State, an ethnic government that has fought for decades against the Myanmar Army.

Mutraw, also known as Papun, is a heavily forested area along the border between Burma and Thailand. Through this land flows the Salween River, the longest undammed river in East Asia and the refuge of some of Asia's last indigenous peoples and endangered species. It is also the home to the longest running civil war on Earth, now in its fourth year of a fragile ceasefire.

According to KESAN, the question the 300 people representing 23 village tracts from three townships, meeting in this remote KNU stronghold, were asking was an ambitious one: Can peace be achieved and sustained? Can wildlife be protected? Can ethnic cultures be preserved? Can these things be done when the opposite is true for much of the world?

Lt. Gen. Baw Kyaw Heh, vice chief of staff of the Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the KNU, was upbeat. "With the Salween Peace Park, we can survive as a nation," he said at the gathering.

Government officials in Myanmar's capital Nay Pyi Taw and their consultants in the dam industry have a very different vision for the region, said Saw Paul Sein Twa, KESAN's director. They plan five massive dams for the wild and free Salween, which for its entire 2,800-km length from Tibet to the Indian Ocean is to date untamed by even a single dam. One of these dams, the 7,000-megawatt Mongton, would be the biggest dam in Southeast Asia. Ninety percent of the power from these dams would be exported east to energy-hungry Thailand, with the ethnic people of eastern Myanmar bearing the ecological and human costs. Beyond dams, planners in the capital and investors abroad eye the Salween, hungry for minerals, timber and land for industrial agriculture. One consequence of these plans would be that hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced people, torn from their ancestral homes during decades of fighting, would be unable to return home, according to the NGO.

The concept of a peace park is not new to the world, with more than 180 established globally. The idea combines universal aspirations: to end and avoid violent conflict; to protect the environment; to ensure the preservation of ethnic cultural resources; and to help post-conflict communities recover and rebuild. But according to research of peace parks commissioned by KESAN, the Salween Peace Park would be the only one of its kind. Most peace parks include one or two of the four objectives. What makes the Salween Peace Park unique, according to KESAN, is that it would be the only peace park in the world to include all four aims.

Much work and many challenges remain before the Salween Peace Park becomes a reality, but the foundation has been laid. KESAN's founders and staff have been cooperating for nearly two decades with the KNU's forest department and local communities in Karen State. For example, forest officers and villagers have demarcated 73,416 acres of community forest based on traditional Karen land-use practices. Rangers with the Wildlife Protection Units patrol against poachers of wildlife and precious wood in KNU-established wildlife sanctuaries. Researchers have captured images of dozens of endangered species with camera traps. Villagers draw maps and thrash out comprehensive land management systems and regulations. Women groups collect and categorize lists of rare orchids and medicinal plants found in their mountain homes. Eco-agriculture teams research and promote traditional organic farming. An innovative traditional school encourages villagers to respect the value of their indigenous knowledge about living in harmony with nature.

"If our way of life and environmental knowledge is recognized and supported, we can continue to protect biodiversity here. We're very organized," said Saw Blaw Htoo, proudly showing photos of endangered wild cattle and leopards taken by his camera traps. "In Thailand, if a local wants to stop poachers, who will help them? Here, when our patrols are outnumbered by armed poachers, we can have two dozen Karen soldiers there in time to help. Our Karen soldiers believe that wildlife protection is part of their job."

This historic consultation for the Salween Peace Park resulted in the creation of a council of elders, a secretariat and a steering committee, which will together draft a charter for the Peace Park and continue consultations with communities throughout 2016. The next consultation will be held in December 2016.
The families had been displaced by the conflict in Shan State and Sai Wan Leng Kham said to SHAN that the ongoing war is an obstacle to development and that children have become malnourished and are unable attend school because of the conflict.

He said: "In ethnic areas, the education system is very poor. It is even worse because the government's military launched their offensive in these areas and as a result children cant access education. Again, this is the time for villagers to grow their crops but they have to face this. I want the government's military to stop their offensive.

Sai Wan Leng Kham went on to explain that because of the fighting, development plans for ethnic areas could not be completed.

He said: "While the country is developing, the people in ethnic areas are facing difficulties. Because of the fighting, they are left behind.

He added: "There has been ongoing conflict for over 60 years. Every day people are fleeing their homes. If this situation keeps going on, I have no hope for our country to be developed.

He believes now is the time to bring peace to the country and with a new government just having come into office this kind of conflict should not should be happening.

He said: "The Burma Army should call for a nationwide ceasefire and work on the peace process immediately.

Edited by Mark Inkey for BNI
The three groups behind the statement, the Shan Human Rights Foundation, the Shan Sapawa Environmental Organisation and the Shan State Farmers Network, say they are very concerned that a study conducted by SN Power failed to take into account the on-going conflict in northern Shan State and how the dam will affect the conflict and whether the conflict would affect the dam.

Fighting was raging in northern Shan State even while the pre-feasibility study was being conducted, but no mention was made of this. Particularly given the recent escalation of fighting in Kyaukme township (directly east of Nawng Khio), where the Burma Army has launched a large scale offensive, with airstrikes, against Shan State Progress Party/Shan State Army positions just north of the Upper Yeywa dam site, we regard this as an inexcusable omission, the statement noted.

In a report released earlier this year by the three groups the role of the Norwegian government and the state owned firm SN Power, in the controversial project was cited a proof that Oslo was pushing ahead without giving proper consideration to the situation on the ground. The report claimed that Norway, who is a major donor to Burmas on-going peace process, is opportunistically partnering with Naypyidaw to profit from ethnic conflict areas before peace has been reached.

SN Power dam study overlooks dam impact say activists

Sai Khur Hseng, a representative from the Shan Sapawa Environmental Organisation, one of the three groups that issued yesterdays statement, said that he and his team have frequently visited the area where the dam is set to be built and are very aware of the situation on the ground.The SN Power failed to disclose the information to villagers who will be affected by the project.

If they did a survey, they should report it to the public. But, this has never been published, he said.

According to the statement the survey conducted by SN Power overlooked many of the impacts that the Yeywa dam and the other dams slated to be built on the Namtu River will have on the environment and the community. The statement noted that the Initial Environmental and Social Impact Assessment only focused on the section of the river where the Middle Yeywa dam and its reservoir are planned. There is no consideration of the cumulative impacts of the cascade of five dams on the river, which is going to drastically alter the ecology of the river, and all those living along it. It is thus very misleading that the study states that a baseline for all key environmental aspects has been established, and that the River and inundated not a major source of food or resource.

Reached for comment Sai Kheun Mai, of the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF), told SHAN that many villages will likely be flooded by the dam. In one village alone more than 100 homes and about 200 fields are expected to be entirely submerged when the Upper Yeywa Dam is completed.

There are 118 houses in Tarlong village and 472 residents will be affected by the dam, he said. All of their fields will be damaged.

The groups say they want the Upper Yeywa Dam and other dam projects on the Namtu River to immediately be halted.

Any future plans for hydropower development on the Namtu River must involve a transparent strategic impact assessment along the entire river, said the statement.

The Middle Yeywa dam is one of four planned hydropower projects that are planned for the Namtu River. It is estimated that the Middle Yeywa dam will have the capacity to generate more than 700 megawatts of power.
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DHAKA (PTI): China has vowed to boost military-to-military relations with Bangladesh by stepping up defence ties, including broadening of personnel training and cooperation in equipment technology.



The pledge came after China's Defence Minister General Chang Wanquan met with Bangladesh's top military officials in Dhaka on May 29.



Chief of Bangladesh army General Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Huq, Chief of navy Admiral Mohammad Nizamuddin Ahmed and Chief of air force Marshal Abu Esrar respectively met the visiting Chinese defence minister.



Chang said the cooperation in the sectors of politics, economy and trade, and culture between the two sides have seen great achievements since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1975.



"Cultivated and pushed by the leaders of the two countries, the development of the military ties between the two countries has maintained good momentum with cooperation in all fields further deepening," Chang said.



The Chinese military is willing to work together with the Bangladesh military to earnestly implement the important consensus reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Bangladesh Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, boost strategic exchange and mutual support, he said.



Further, China is ready to broaden personnel training and cooperation in equipment technology, promote exchanges between the young military officers of the two countries and push forward the comprehensive development of bilateral ties, the Chinese defence minister was quoted as saying by China's state-run Xinhua news agency.



Calling China a "trust-worthy strategic partner", the Bangladeshi military leaders said the two countries have developed high-level political mutual trust and conducted fruitful economic and trade cooperation, the report said.



The Bangladeshi side appreciates the long-term support and help offered by China, and firmly supports China in safeguarding its core national interests, it said.



The Bangladeshi military is willing to make joint efforts with China to strengthen exchange of visits at various levels and boost cooperation in the fields of personnel training, peacekeeping, military medical care and military equipment so as to further promote their military ties.



The Chinese minister arrived in Dhaka on May 28 for a visit.






BENGALURU (PTI): ISRO has said it will launch a record 22 satellites in a single mission next month.



"After the current reusable launch vehicle, the next experiment what we have to do we have to worry about that.



Other than that, next month we have a launch where we will be launching about 22 satellites. Also one of a cartographic series satellite will be launched," ISRO Chairman Kiran Kumar said on May 28.



Speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), he said that of the 22 satellites, three are Indian and the rest all commercial.



"The launch is scheduled during the end of next month," he added.



Earlier, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre Director K Sivan had said ISRO's workhorse Polar rocket PSLV C34 will be used for the launch, which will have satellites from the US, Canada, Indonesia and Germany as co-passengers.



The space agency had earlier sent ten satellites into orbit in a single mission in 2008.



Kiran Kumar said that "immediately after that (launch), we have a scatterometer that is going to get launched, then INSAT 3DR we call - it is to provide vertical temperature and humidity profile from geostationary satellite."



Taking a step in development of reusable rocket which will drastically cut down cost of access to space, ISRO had last Monday successfully flight-tested an indigenous winged Reusable Launch Vehicle, dubbed "swadeshi" space shuttle, from Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh.



The first in the series of experimental flights for Reusable Launch Vehicle-technology development is the hypersonic flight experiment (HEX) followed by the landing experiment (LEX), return flight experiment (REX) and scramjet propulsion experiment (SPEX).






ISLAMABAD (PTI): Pakistan seems to have failed to seal the US$ 700 million deal for the purchase of eight F-16 fighter jets from the US following a row between the two countries over their financing, according to a media report.



The Pakistani government was required to provide the Letter of Acceptance for purchase of the jets by May 24, but Dawn News reported that the document was not issued leading to expiry of the offer.



"Pakistan decided not to fully fund the case with national funds, so the terms of sale have now expired," a diplomatic source was quoted as saying by the daily on May 28.



However, Pakistan's Ambassador to US Jalil Abbas Jilani, told the daily that "a dead-end has not been reached as yet".



Initially, the US$ 700 million deal for eight F-16C/D Block-52 multi-role fighters was to be partially financed through the US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme but the Congress disallowed subsidising the sale.



The subsidising was disallowed over concern that Pakistan had not done enough to end the dreaded Haqqani network's terror sanctuaries on its soil as well as fears over Islamabad's nuclear programme.



Pakistan, which expected to get the fighters at the subsidised rate of US$ 270 million, was subsequently asked by the US administration to make the full payment for the eight aircraft from its national resources.



This was not acceptable to Pakistani authorities, who remained adamant that the offer must come without any preconditions.



The aircraft were required by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations, the report said.



The jets would have come with "all-weather, non-daylight environments and self-defence/area suppression capability".



It was unclear why Pakistan missed the opportunity despite pressing requirement for the jets, although it had originally desired to acquire 18 F-16s, the daily said.



Some quarters believe that providing the Letter of Acceptance would have kept the window open for re-negotiating the financing arrangement at a later stage, it said.



Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said last month that Pakistan could look to buy the aircraft from some other country if the deal did not go ahead.



He also said earlier this month that Pakistan's ties with the US had witnessed a "downward slide" amid the row over the Congress' decision to block the sale of the jets.



Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said last week that Pakistan will explore other options to meet its defence needs if the deal for F-16s did not materialise with the US.



Analysts believe Islamabad could consider Russian or Chinese fighters to meet its defence requirements.






KOCHI (PTI): Vice-Admiral A R Karve has taken charge as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Naval Command (SNC) from Vice Admiral Girish Luthra.



An impressive ceremonial parade was held at the Naval base in Kochi on Sunday on the occasion which was followed by the traditional 'Pulling Out' ceremony in which the outgoing Commander-in-Chief, Luthra was ceremonially pulled out in a jeep by Flag Officers and Commanding Officers of ships and naval establishments of Kochi, amidst emotional 'Jai'- 'Jai' by the men of SNC.



Earlier in the day, Vice Admiral Karve laid wreath at the War Memorial, prior to assuming command, as a tribute to the thousands of martyrs who had fought for the country, Navy said in a statement.



The Flag Officer, a native of Maharashtra, had arrived in Kochi on May 28.



In his farewell address, Vice Admiral Luthra appreciated the synergy that exists in the Southern Naval Command and said without it operations and training cannot be successful.



He thanked the men and women of the SNC for the unstinted support he received during his tenure.



The Parade was witnessed by many senior officers, men and families of SNC.



Vice Admiral Girish Luthra has been appointed Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Western Naval Command.


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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two bright yellow gliders and one tow plane from the Brandon Cadet Flying Site are headed to Portage la Prairie next weekend for the 2016 Manitoba Air Show.

In between performances by the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, sky dancers and vintage aircraft, participants from the Air Cadet Glider Program will show off the lofty perks of being a cadet.

The idea is to show the public that (is) coming the air cadet gliding program and hopefully get their kids involved and interested in the program, said Lt. Ben Peachment, operations officer for the Brandon Cadet Flying Site.

Colin Corneau / Brandon Sun Marika Dewar-Norosky sits in one of the Brandon Cadet Flying Site's gliders, Sunday at the Brandon airport. The Straithclair teen has already attained her pilot's license through time with the cadets.

Over the weekend, members of the glider program met at the Brandon Municipal Airport for some air time ahead of the show. Unfortunately, the overcast skies had them grounded for Saturday and most of Sunday.

We dont want to be flying in the clouds since these arent able to (be flown) just by instruments, we need visual references on the ground to stay level, Peachment said.

The Brandon Cadet Flying Sites engine-less gliders can accommodate two passengers at a time and are outfitted with a simple set of controls. To get airborne, the craft is towed behind a small plane and released at about 2,000 feet above ground, after which the pilot can take it through a number of manoeuvres before landing  usually in a grassy area.

The Air Cadet program aims to get all cadets ages 12 to 18 into a glider at least once every year.

The squadrons and cadets get one day to come out to glider sites (in Brandon and Gimli) and ideally all cadets get a ride that day, Peachment said, adding that once cadets age out of the program they can become gliding instructors, like himself. Most of us are university students  so its a great summer job.

Marika Dewar-Norosky, a 16-year-old from Strathclair, hopes to do just that in the future.

Colin Corneau / Brandon Sun Lieutenant Ben Peachment, operations officer for the Brandon Cadet Flying Site, helps move one of the group's gliders onto the runway, Sunday at the Brandon airport.

I hope to someday be a flight instructor as well, and teach other kids how to fly, she said.

Dewar-Norosky got her glider pilots licence last summer during a six-week course at the Gimli Cadet Flying Training Centre.

From the day you get on course, youre in the glider learning how to fly with your hands on the controls and with an instructor behind you making sure youre doing everything safe and right, she said, adding that she has flown in a glider at more than 70 times.

This summer, Dewar-Norosky plans to get her private pilots licence through the Air Cadets power pilot program.

For more information about the Manitoba Air Show and the cadet glider demo, visit mbairshow.com.

Colin Corneau / Brandon Sun Lieutenant Ben Peachment, operations officer for the Brandon Cadet Flying Site, explains the air cadets' program for youth to gain flying experience by the group's gliders, Sunday at the Brandon airport.

 ewasney@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @evawasney
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

News that the federal government is heading back to court with a group of veterans over benefits doesnt sit well with one local veteran.

I dont know if I have a word strong enough to tell you how displeased I am about this, said Al Dunham, second vice-president of the ANAVETS Provincial Command. Prime Minister Trudeau said he was going to back the veterans, and get away from suing us all the time  and now it looks like his government has decided to take the exact same stance as the Conservatives have in the past.

Veterans have been arguing that the lump-sum benefits offered to wounded soldiers under the New Veterans Charter are inadequate compared to the pensions available prior to 2006.

Earlier this month, Veterans Affairs Minister Kent Hehr signed off on sending the class-action lawsuit back to the B.C. Court of Appeal after the abeyance agreement, reached with the previous Conservative government, expired on May 15.

Dunham had previously told the Sun that he was tentatively optimistic about the Liberal governments promises to repair veteran relations, but now he says this about-face is worrisome.

Its disheartening to be told that theres going to be change  and then bang, have the chair pulled out from under you, Dunham said.

During the campaign, the Liberals promised to re-establish the lifelong pension as an option for wounded veterans. However, that promise was missing from this years federal budget.

The money that they give out for (veteran) disability awards, its much lower than civilian insurance policies, Dunham said.

Currently, veterans wounded in the line of duty are eligible for the Disability Award  which is a tax-free payment of up to $298,587 that can be collected as a lump sum or an annual instalment over a number of years.

Most people arent as fiscally sound as they should be and that money can get burned through really, really, quick, Dunham said. Whereas if you had the lifelong pension, that veteran, for the rest of his life, will know theres X amount of dollars in his bank account.

Dunham believes the government has a sacred obligation to support its soldiers.

I believe not only the federal government, all Canadians have the same obligation to the men and women that they send into harms way, he said.

The federal opposition parties have been vocal in their disapproval of the Liberals recent decision.

It is unfortunate the Liberals would make a solemn promise to veterans during an election campaign only to immediately break their word, Brandon-Souris MP Larry Maguire said in an email. The Liberals should immediately drop this legal fight and keep their word  I want to make it very clear that I believe there are legitimate issues that call for improvement, and Ill do whatever I can to facilitate those changes.

 ewasney@brandonsun.com, with files from The Canadian Press

 Twitter: @evawasney
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG  An organization representing Manitoba paramedics is teaming up with a local software company to produce a mobile app they say would make it easier for attendants to consult patient treatment protocols and could potentially save lives.

But the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service wants nothing to do with it.

Eric Glass, administrative director of the Paramedic Association of Manitoba, said the application for tablet or smartphone would provide information in a more user-friendly form, allowing paramedics to move swiftly from one treatment protocol to the next.

The app, now being tested by a small group of paramedics, is expected to be available for free to PAM members in late June. The voluntary membership organization represents 1,600 of Manitobas 2,000 paramedics.

Glass said a lot of paramedics are currently trying to access Health Department treatment protocols on their smartphones, finding it more convenient than using laptops.

Theyre copying and pasting PDF files and Word documents, he said, although accessing the information can be cumbersome. Thats why PAM is working with Winnipeg tech company Consultica to make the information more accessible.

However, a spokeswoman for the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said the service does not issue smartphones to paramedics and its rules forbid the use of personal devices by attendants on duty.

Michelle Finley said the city issues paramedics laptops that contain the appropriate protocols and procedures.

Having all of our paramedics on the same system ensures they are following the most up-to-date protocols, Finley said in an email. At this point, there is no need within WFPS for a third-party app.

Glass said PAM plans to offer the app to paramedics working outside the city for now. I expect that the majority of people who are going to be using this are rural paramedics, he said in an interview.

There are subtle differences in the treatment protocols used by the city and those employed outside of Winnipeg, Glass said.

Luc Bohunicky, chief brand officer for Consultica, said no jurisdiction in Canada has yet developed such an app. If one were to be successfully developed in Manitoba, the company would try to market the product to other regions, with PAM receiving a share of the profits.

 Winnipeg Free Press
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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More than 500 runners from across the province and parts of Saskatchewan got up bright and early Sunday morning to take part in the 37th annual Koch-YMCA Spring Run.

Among those in Princess Park celebrating a race well run was Ihor Verys  wearing a Ukrainian flag around his shoulders and a medal around his neck. The 21-year-old was the top male finisher in this years 15-kilometre run with a time of 1:07:44.

This is my first official race  Its an awesome feeling, he said.

Colin Corneau / Brandon Sun Friends embrace at the finish line after finishing the five-kilometre run at the 37th annual Koch-YMCA Spring Run on Sunday morning.

Verys moved from Ukraine to Brandon nine months ago to enrol in the business administration program at Assiniboine Community College. He started running this spring and decided to sign up for the run when he spotted an ad on the Ys website.

I thought, why not? Verys said, adding that he really enjoyed the atmosphere at the run. Im proud to be among these awesome folks, they all share the same point of view as me, they all foster a healthy lifestyle and I appreciate it  even at 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning.

The run took participants on a one-, five-, 10-, 15- or 20-kilometre loop through Brandons downtown.

Sheelagh Chadwick finished the 10-kilometre course and was relishing in the days ideal weather conditions and supportive crowd.

The weather was perfect: nice and cool, but it didnt rain, Chadwick said. The course is always nice, people are always out cheering and the volunteers are so enthusiastic  every corner you go around someone is ringing a bell.

Colin Corneau / Brandon Sun Greg Peterson hugs daughter Shengli after they finished the five-kilometre run during the 37th annual Koch-YMCA Spring Run on Sunday morning.

The event is one of the Ys annual fundraisers for its Strong Kids Campaign, which helps provide subsidized memberships and programs for low-income families.

While money is raised through race fees and pledge forms, the health and fitness director at the Brandon YMCA says the number of participants collecting pledges has been going down.

When we first started 37 years ago, (raising pledges) was a bigger thing and gradually people have gotten away from that, Rhonda Penner said.

Every year, the Brandon YMCA provides more than $280,000 in memberships and service subsidies to those who would otherwise not be able to afford it. On race day, the 2016 pledge tally was hovering around $300.

However, the fundraising conundrum wasnt top of mind for Penner on Sunday.

Colin Corneau / Brandon Sun Father and son team Scott (left) and Ryan Lamont lap while running a 20-kilometre race during the 37th annual Koch-YMCA Spring Run on Sunday morning.

Its overwhelming and amazing, Penner said, adding that she often gets a little teary-eyed on race day. Whether (race participants) are new to running and discovering a love for running or if theyre seasoned runners  its just nice seeing everyone active.

Thomas Eros of Brandon took first place in the 20-kilometre race with a time of 1:21:07, Grant Hughes of Brandon came in first in the 10K with a time of 40:26 and Burke Erickson of Douglas finished first in the 5K with a time of 18:40.

 ewasney@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @evawasney
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two Brandon Sun staffers returned home with hardware from the National Newspaper Awards and The Canadian Association of Journalists conferences in Edmonton this past weekend.

Photographer Tim Smith won the NNA Feature Photo award for his shot of a solitary skater gliding across the glassy ice that covered Clear Lake late last year.

Reporter Ian Hitchen received the CAJ Community Media award for investigative journalism for his long-form project The Runaways, which explored the dangerous cycle of troubled teen girls who repeatedly run away

Tim Smith/Brandon Sun Jesse Matas of Riding Mountain National Park skates back to his home after touring around Clear Lake on Monday.

from home, into a world of substance abuse and sexual exploitation.

The last few days have been gratifying for me, said the Suns editor, Matt Goerzen.

These two men embody the ideals of journalism to which all of us in the Suns newsroom aspire.

Goerzen was also nominated for a CAJ in the Community Media category for Breaking Faith, which delved into the story of Henry Lawrence, who struggled with asbestosis, and his familys crusade against the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba.

Both conferences hosted journalists from across the country who are working in broadcast, print and online media.

The weekend marked Smiths fourth NNA nomination and second win.

Its always a surprise to be nominated, let alone win because there is so much great photojournalism being produced throughout the country, Smith said, adding that he was humbled by his experience in Clear Lake.

I was shaking from excitement at all the photo possibilities and just being out there on the ice was incredible.

Hitchen dedicated his win to the subjects of his piece.

It was overwhelming to stand before so many dedicated and talented journalists, he said.

But as I accepted the award, it was the faces of the brave young women who told me their stories that flashed through my mind. I know their struggles continue, and this award is really theirs.

 The Brandon Sun
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Six stories in the news today from The Canadian Press:

SOUTH AFRICAN FIRE CREWS ARRIVE IN ALBERTA

Three hundred South African firefighters have arrived in Alberta to help battle the wildfires raging in the provinces north. An Air Canada jet picked them up in Johannesburg Sunday morning and landed in Edmonton last night. The out of control Fort McMurray fire is now estimated to cover almost 58-hundred square kilometres, and has spread into Saskatchewan. But the province says a phased re-entry of residents into Fort McMurray is still on track to begin Wednesday.

South African firefighters are seen prior to boarding an Air Canada plane in Johannesburg, South Africa destined for Edmonton on Sunday May 29, 2016 in this handout photo. Air Canada is flying 300 firefighters from Johannesburg, South Africa to assist with Alberta wild fires. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-CNW Group/Air Canada-MANDATORY CREDIT



IRRADIATED BEEF MAY SOON BE SOLD IN CANADA

Health Canada will propose regulatory changes next month that would allow the sale of irradiated ground beef. The departments website says the proposed amendments would add fresh and frozen raw ground beef to a list of foods that are already permitted to undergo radiation treatment. It says the purpose would be to would allow the beef industry to use irradiation to improve the safety of their products. Industry groups in Canada have sought irradiation for over a decade to prevent the spread of E. coli and other dangerous bacteria, but negative public reaction to it has slowed progress.



PROMOTERS OF TIDAL POWER SAY TIME IS NOW

People in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have tried for hundreds of years to harness the mighty tidal power of the Bay of Fundy, but have met with only limited success. However, the next generation of projects is set to launch, and they could turn the tide. Stephen Dempsey, executive director of the Offshore Energy Research Association says an international push to produce electricity without increasing carbon emissions is helping make tidal energy the new frontier in renewable energy.



AUNT VOWS TO KEEP SEARCHING FOR SYRIAN GIRL

An Ontario woman whose young niece went missing while fleeing Syria with her family says she knows the girl may have died in the shipwreck that killed her parents and siblings. But Noor Al Jawabreh, a Syrian refugee living Kitchener, says she isnt giving up hope her niece is alive and will leave no stone unturned until shes found. Mira Akram Al Jawabreh, her parents and three younger siblings were among hundreds of refugees aboard a boat that capsized off Italy in 2014.



HIGH COST OF LIVING MAKES IT HARD FOR PEOPLE TO STAY IN VANCOUVER-AREA

The job market is booming in British Columbia, yet observers say that young workers getting hired still cant afford to live in the city. Ken Peacock of the B.C. Business Council says Metro Vancouver residents struggle with low or medium average incomes because the city has relatively few large corporate employers, which tend to pay higher wages. But he notes even high-income earners are challenged by Vancouvers housing market where the benchmark price for detached home hit $1.4 million in April, up 30 per cent from the previous year.



UNIVERSITIES LOOKING TO LESSON POST GRADUATE DEBT STRESS

Stay in school, get a degree  its a mantra millions of young Canadians live by. The trouble is that both the financial and, as a consequence, psychological cost of a post secondary education, keep rising. Many of this years grads left academia saddled with tens of thousands of dollars of debt. While those heading off to college and university this fall will likely have to contend with even higher tuition fees. So now some institutions are responding by beefing up their mental health services to help students cope with life in the red.


Opinion

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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Help! I am still coming to grips with Donald Trump! He will likely win the Republican nomination, and possibly the presidency of the United States. What about more understanding of the world that led to Trump? I was happy to get just that from a new book I picked up at the Brandon Public Library. The book, by British writer John Higgs, is Stranger Than We Can Imagine: An Alternative History of the 20th Century.

Higgs goes way beyond the usual historical account and considers a remarkable range of influences that shaped the century. He meanders through art, literature, music, science, technology and much more. (The books stranger title comes from the field of astrophysics.)

Were going to take a journey through the 20th century in which we step off the main highway and strike out towards the dark woods, Higgs says of his approach. Often avoided in standard histories, what are those dark woods? Well, the author lists some examples: relativity, cubism, the Somme, quantum mechanics, the id, existentialism, Stalin, psychedelics, chaos mathematics, and climate change.

No wonder those dark woods are often ignored! They have a reputation for initially appearing difficult, the author says, and then becoming increasingly bewildering the more they are studied. Ill say! I am still scratching my head over the books math and science. And take the chapter on postmodernism! Please! (Or, is a postmodernist explanation just supposed to be, um, incomprehensible?)

A major theme of the book is individualism. Forget about looking out for the good of some collective whole  the 20th century said  the individual is all that matters. Individualism was forcefully expressed in the political arena by Margaret Thatcher in the U.K. and by Ronald Reagan in the U.S. Society? Thatcher said, There is no such thing!

Individualism causes problems like income inequality. It also causes a rejection of global, long-term, scientific thinking. Higgs notes that Thatcher  a chemist by profession  well understood the issue of climate change and was an early and passionate campaigner to reduce greenhouse gases. But Thatcher later denied the science: it

did not fit with short-term economic growth and unfettered personal consumption. (The same denial process happened with Republicans in the U.S. and with Conservatives in Canada.)

Higgs offers interesting insights from his British vantage point. Why has Christianity atrophied in Europe, but flourished in the U.S.? A crucial reason, the author says, is that the American brand of Christianity successfully incorporated the individualist, greed is good, ethic.

(And I would add  from a Canadian perspective  that U.S. Christianity is more robust because it embraced that countrys unique gun culture. Americans cling both to their guns and to their religion.)

After reading Stranger Than We Can Imagine, the Trump phenomenon makes a lot more sense. Trump personifies individualism and excessive, conspicuous consumption. Trump also is skilfully exploiting the Republican partys simplistic thinking, its religiosity and its agenda that is pro-gun and anti-science.

Trump is a master communicator. He not only rants and raves at big rallies, but also dominates 24-hour TV news and social media like Twitter. Just dont try to logically analyze him! Trump is deftly playing the Republican party, the media and the people. Trumps campaign is being likened to a postmodernist performance. Wow!

Higgs wraps up his book with a glimpse of the 21st century, which is all about networks and connections. Trump is, like, so 20th century! He is at odds with the values of the new century: authenticity, sharing, transparency, complexity and science. To find those values, look at the Bernie Sanders campaign. No wonder Sanders appeals to young millennials.

We made it through yesterday. Were about to encounter tomorrow, the author concludes. We can take the dark woods of the 20th century in our stride. Were citizens of the 21st century now.

Hopefully, our 21st century challenges wont include President Donald J. Trump!
Dublin Port Company has opened a Seafarers Centre on the site of the old Odlums flour mill.

Housed in the former Odlums workers canteen, the centre will provide a base for vital services to sailors docking in the port, and will support more than 7,500 visiting seafarers a year arriving from all over the world.
Almost half of small business owners here say a Brexit would have disastrous consequences for Ireland, according to a new survey.

Big Red Cloud says 43% of those surveyed believed if the UK votes to leave the European Union next month, it will have a negative impact on their companies.

Up to 54% of respondents said exports will fall if the leave campaign wins.

Marc O'Dwyer, CEO of Big Red Cloud, said: "While theres been a lot of discussion around the considered opinions of various economic commentators - less is known about the views of those on the ground - the Irish small business owner.

"So we thought it would be insightful and useful to ask these people what they think."

He also said that, given Irelands large presence in the UK in the form of ex-pats and temporary workers, he believed the question had to be asked  should we be trying to influence our British neighbours?

The survey revealed that the overall consensus would appear to be balanced, but the "fearing Brexit camp" are in the slight majority.

Mr O'Dwyer explained: "Respondents were pretty strong in their understanding of what Brexit is (86%) but the understanding of implications for Ireland dropped to 67%.

"What featured strongly was the fact that Irish business owners believe that we have a role to play in influencing the vote if given the opportunity. This would support the contention that most business owners are concerned as to how this vote will go on June 23rd."

The Big Red Cloud survey put eight questions to its respondents:

Do you have a clear understanding of what BREXIT actually is?

Yes 86%

No 14%

Do you have a good understanding of what the implications for Ireland will be if the UK exits the EU?

Yes 67%

No 33%

Do you believe that if the UK leaves the EU it will have a direct impact on your business?

No impact 46%

Yes negative impact 43%

Positive impact 11%

Do you believe we have a role to play in encouraging our friends and relatives in the UK to vote to remain in the EU?

Yes 58%

No 42%

In your own personal opinion which of the following would best describe your views on the UK leaving the EU?

It would be disastrous for the Irish economy 48%

Dont care 6%

Dont think it will have a big impact 20%

Positive for Ireland in many ways 13%

Benefits outweigh the cons 13%

If the UK votes to leave the EU do you think Ireland should consider following suit?

Yes 34%

No 66%

Do you think Britain's exit would affect the volume of goods that Ireland exports to the UK?

No, I dont think it will have an effect on volumes traded - 46%

Yes I think it could go down by up to 10% - 21%

Yes I think it could go down by up to 20% - 15%

Yes I think it could go down by over 20% - 18%
Permanent tsb has launched a new current account that pays customers for using their debit card.

The bank has been developing the Explore account for 18 months and will pay customers 10c by the bank each time they use their debit card, up to a maximum of 5 a month.
Two Kookaburras were locked in an intense tug of war over a piece of meat.

Even though an onlooker attempted to break it up by offering them more meat, and even placing it on top of their beaks, they looked like they were never going to budge.
The Central Criminal Court has heard a Dublin man who killed his stepson accepts the jurys verdict and will not appeal his conviction.

David Mahon will have to wait until June 13 to find out what sentence he will have to serve for stabbing Dean Fitzpatrick to death.

David Mahon is married to Audrey Fitzpatrick, Dean and Amy Fitzpatricks mother.

In 2004, they all moved to Spain where Amy went missing four years later. The court heard she has not been seen since.

In her Victim Impact Statement, Audrey described the special bond she had with her son. She said he had a cheeky grin and a heart of gold.

She, along with Mr Mahon, accepts the jurys verdict but said she forgives him for what happened.

Hell always be my husband, she said.

The 45-year-old handed himself into Gardai a few hours after Dean died on May 26, 2013.

He claimed the young father walked onto a knife he had taken from him during an earlier confrontation inside his apartment.

This was again brought up by his barrister today as something to be considered by the judge in sentencing his client.

Mr Mahon will have to wait until Monday week to find out what sentence he will have to serve.
A Dublin teenager is facing sentence for assault and violent disorder during an out of control incident where a garda was knocked unconscious while trying to find a troubled boy.

The Dublin Children's Court heard gardai feared for their own safety after they found the missing boy, 13, at a house party but were set on by 15 to 20 youths.

Garda David Egan was repeatedly punched and dragged away by youths, while his colleague Garda Paula Carter was knocked unconscious and kicked on the ground.

The now 15-year-old boy had denied violent disorder and assaulting Garda David Egan in connection with the incident in north Dublin in February last year. However, he was found guilty following a trial before Judge John O'Connor.

The repeat teen offender, who has five prior criminal convictions, had sentencing adjourned for a probation report to be prepared.

Garda Egan said a 13-year-old boy was reported missing by his mother who feared he was going to self-harm and had recently been hospitalised for a suspected drug overdose.

He was located at a house where there were 15 to 20 other young people. He told Judge O'Connor he and his colleague attempted to speak to the boy but we were set on by the group. Garda Carter was grabbed by her shoulders and abuse was shouted at them.

Garda Egan said that as he tried to get the missing boy to their patrol car one youth began pulling out of me and flung Garda Carter to the ground and kicked her on the ground.

Garda Egan said he tried to hold that youth but the defendant and two or three other males were dragging out of me.

He said he received punches to the back of his head and the then 14-year-old defendant punched him to the side of his head leaving him slightly dazed. He feared for his safety and that of his colleague.

In cross-examination with defence solicitor Mairead White he explained that when the group of youths were hitting him I was getting pulled up the road.

Ms White said her client did not have the best recollection and thought he was trying to help his friend and when told to go he left. Garda Egan disagreed and said he was certain he was assaulted by the boy.

Garda Carter told the court that when they went to the house there were fears for the welfare of the missing boy who had told his mother her was going to self harm and self medicate. She was verbally abused and the youths would not let gardai talk to the boy, she said.

She described being pulled by her shoulders while her colleague Garda Egan was engaged with two or three other youths. She said she and one youth went to the ground in a struggle but she got back up to see Garda Egan being dragged up the road engaged in a melee with a number of youths.

A youth threw me to the ground and I lost consciousness she said, adding she feared for her safety during the violent incident. She was taken to hospital and received a stitch to a gash to back of her head.

The upset officer held back tears as she recalled the incident and told Judge O'Connor, As a result of this incident I am afraid to do my job. I still engage in active duty but as a result of his incident my attitude to the job has changed.

Back-up arrived to find Garda Egan attending to an unconscious Garda Carter on the ground. One officer described the scene as: When we arrived there was lots of excited, aggressive, drunk teenagers.

CCTV evidence was also shown during the trial and Judge O'Connor said he had no difficulty convicting the boy who did not give evidence.

The court heard the teenager is in an educational course but has prior convictions for robbery, production of weapon during a fight, criminal damage and theft and had previously been placed on probation and received a suspended sentence.

The judge warned the teenager, who was accompanied to court by his mother, that he is at a high risk of getting a custodial sentence.
Firefighters in Dublin had to deal with multiple car fires in the city last night, and were forced to protect themselves from toxic gases at one blaze.

At around 9pm last night, a unit from Tallaght was called to a car on fire off the Blessington Road.
The Government has pledged a further 5m in humanitarian aid to the people of Syria and Yemen.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan and the Minister of State for the Diaspora and Overseas Development Aid, Joe McHugh, made the announcement in response to the crisis in the Middle East.
The Health Minister Simon Harris is appealing to the manufacturers of two cancer drugs to show some compassion to patients while a decision is made on funding the medicines.

The HSE is to meet this week to decide if pembrolizumab and nivolizumab will be made available under HSE schemes.
Almost 30m people flew in and out of Ireland's main airports last year - the largest number since the record in 2008.

Dublin was by far the busiest, accounting for almost 84% of travellers, while Cork and Knock were the only airports not to increase their numbers on the previous year.

The figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show a 12.5% increase in air passengers at the main airports in 2015.

Almost 232,000 flights were handled by the five main airports, with Dublin accounting for 188,771 and Cork dealing with 17,910.

And cementing its slot as one of the world's most travelled routes, services over the Irish Sea from Dublin to London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted were the busiest.

Out of Cork, the most popular routes were to Heathrow, Stansted and Amsterdam, while in Shannon the main routes were to Heathrow, Stansted and New York's JFK.

Stansted, Luton and Liverpool-John Lennon were the most popular routes to and from Knock.

A comparison with the record 2008 numbers shows Dublin has grown its share of the 30 million passenger market from 75% to almost 84%, while Cork is down from 10% to about 7%.

Shannon is down from 9% to almost 6%, Knock bucked the trend outside the capital growing by 0.3% to 2.3%, while Kerry still accounts for 1% of air travellers.

The CSO also said flights in and out of Ireland are most likely to be coming from or going to the UK, Spain and the US.
Scammers are targeting unsuspecting email users by claiming they have missed jury duty and must pay a fine up to 500.

The Courts Service revealed the threat tells people they have broken the law and could be facing arrest for failing to turn up at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin in recent weeks.

A spokesman said staff would never communicate with potential jurors in this way.

"An e-mail purporting to be from the Courts Service is spam and could lead to fraud," the Courts Service said.

"It was not sent from us, by us, or from our IT system. It is a false instrument - designed to gather details about the recipient."

The scam seeks to get an unsuspecting reader to reply to the email address dublinjurycourt@dublin.com if they want to dispute the missed jury duty and threatened fine.

The Courts Service said the address is not one that has been set up or ever used by it.

It is understood a reply to that address prompts a second email which requests bank details and payment of the fine.

The scam, known as phishing, has been reported to the Garda.

The unsolicited email states: "JUROR ID:#456-0023.

"Our records indicate that on the 20/05/2016 at the COURTHOUSE, Ground Floor Jury Office, Dublin Criminal Courts Office, Parkgate Street, Dublin 8 you failed to appear as scheduled for juror service. This is a violation of the law.

"You must contact this office immediately to explain your absence and to reschedule yourself for another juror appearance date.

"Failure to respond to a jury summons is a serious offence and could result in a criminal warrant being issued for your arrest by the court."

The Courts Service urged people to ignore the email.
Update - 1.45pm: Independent TD, Finian McGrath, says he is "not disappointed" about allegations of cronyism over Fine Gael's appointments to the Seanad.

Mr McGrath says Enda Kenny's picks for the Seanad are a matter for himself and have nothing to do with the Independents in Government.

However, the Independent Minister says the Independent Alliance have no connection to the appointments and are not concerned about how they are filled.

He said: "I doesn't disappoint me because I have seen it happen and there are some people that say that the Taoiseach was ensuring that supporters of his were looked after in relation to support in the past.

"But that's a Fine Gael decision, it's got nothing to do with the Independent Alliance."

Earlier: One of the country's newest Senators has rubbished claims of cronyism linked to his appointment to the Seanad.

A newspaper report yesterday suggested Billy Lawless was given the job by the Taoiseach Enda Kenny in return for helping Mr Kenny's daughter, Aoibhinn, secure a J1 student job in the US.

Senator Lawless has lived and worked in Chicago for many years and says it is perfectly acceptable to help Irish students.

He said: "It was a ridiculous comment, so it was, Aoibhinn was probably lucky she came in as one of the first ones because we would have only a few positions anyway.

"And because I knew her, of course, why wouldn't you look after a friend's daughter if they are coming out."

He also said he still does not know if the taxpayer will foot the bill for his 7,000 mile round-trip to the Seanad.

Mr Lawless lives and works in Chicago, but he does not yet know how he will manage the travel bill.

He said: "I honestly don't know, I'll have to discuss that with the department first.

"I have to be here most of the time, of course, again I dont have the details I'll be getting them this week and the logistics of how I am going to manage it."
Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling star in the new movie The Nice Guys, set in LA during the '70s.

The blockbuster follows private detective Holland March (Gosling) and hired enforcer Jackson Healy (Crowe) as they work together in search of a missing girl who is also linked to the death of porn star Misty Mountain.
Iraqi government forces have started a new phase of the operation to recapture the city of Fallujah, which is held by Islamic State.

It is understood the army is entering from three directions.
Update 2.05pm: Two British men have been remanded in custody charged with immigration offences after 18 Albanians were rescued from a sinking boat in the English Channel.

Mark Stribling, 35, from Farningham, Kent, and Robert Stilwell, 33, from Dartford, appeared at Medway Magistrates' Court to face charges under Section 25 (1) of the Immigration Act 1971.

They were ordered to stay in custody until the next hearing, at Maidstone Crown Court on June 27.

Two children and a woman were among the group of 18 Albanians aboard the rigid-hulled inflatable boat which began to sink off Dymchurch, Kent, on Saturday night.

Earlier: Two children were among a group of 18 Albanians and two British people rescued from the English Channel after their inflatable boat began to sink.

The UK Coastguard received a call for assistance just off the coast of Dymchurch in Kent at 11.40pm on Saturday. A search-and-rescue helicopter was deployed as well as lifeboats and coastguard rescue teams.

The rhib (rigid-hulled inflatable boat), with 20 people on board, was found at 2am and the matter was handed over to Border Force.

It has been reported the people on board had alerted their families in Calais, who raised the alarm with the French authorities.

The incident has sparked fears that tragedies seen in Greece or Italy will start to occur in the Channel.

President of the French coastguard, Bernard Barron, told Sky News: "It's starting to become a very similar situation to that seen in the Mediterranean and my biggest fear is that the same kind of tragedies we see in Greece or Italy will start to repeat in the Channel."

He added that smugglers had found a new way of bringing migrants into the country after it had become "virtually impossible" for them to enter via the Channel Tunnel or on ferries.

"They operate across the length of both the French and Belgian coastlines, between Ostend and into Normandy, finding new positions from where they can send their clients - the migrants - towards England."

Mr Barron said that even though the smugglers were being given large sums of money, there were not providing suitable transport for a "sea filled with danger, with strong currents, storms and heavy traffic of larger vessels".

A Home Office spokesman confirmed woman and two children were aboard the boat that was rescued on Saturday.

He added that a second vessel, believed to be linked to the inflatable that got into trouble, was discovered on the beach at Dymchurch.

The spokesman said: "A total of 20 people were picked up in a search and rescue operation. 18 were Albanian, and two were British. There was one woman, and two minors.

"They were taken to Dover and are currently being interviewed by Border Force officers."

Councillor Mary Lawes, Ukip group leader on Shepway District Council, said she was concerned for the security of the region as well as the safety of migrants seeking to cross the Channel in unsafe boats.

She said: "We are not doing enough to control our coastline, the Government has to address border controls, something has to be done to protect these people from harm and our borders."

David Monk, Conservative leader of the local authority, said he believed high levels of surveillance in the English Channel would mean most boats crossing the channel would be identified.

He added: "I am pretty sure our security is good. I cannot recall a previous incident but this should act as a warning to the authorities to be even more vigilant."

The incident comes after 17 suspected Albanian migrants and a British man wanted on suspicion of murder in Spain were detained after a catamaran arrived at Chichester Marina in West Sussex on Tuesday.

The 55-year-old man, who was the subject of a European Arrest Warrant, was also detained on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration while the 17 Albanian men were held on suspicion of entering the UK illegally.

The Albanians have been detained pending Home Office consideration of their cases. Also last month, two Iranian men were found floating in an ill-equipped dinghy in the English Channel.

The National Crime Agency recently revealed migrants trying to reach the UK are paying smuggling gangs up to 13,500 for their journey.
MANILA: The use of LNG imports for power generation in the Philippines next year should not be a disincentive for...
Panadol is short in the market and this has been catching eyes of media, politicians, all and sundry. Everyone has ...
Melbourne's Jack Viney will be ineligible to win this year's Brownlow Medal should he accept the one-match suspension offered to him by the match review panel.

The midfielder will also miss an important chunk of his game's season, after fracturing his knucklebone early in the Demons' 45-point loss to the Power.

Viney, among the favourites for this year's award, was cited for striking Port midfielder Brad Ebert during Saturday's game in Alice Springs later in the first term.

The incident - assessed according to video evidence and a medical report from Port Adelaide - was considered intentional conduct with low impact to the head.
JORC was established by industry and regulators 45 years ago to produce the region's code for reporting mineral resources and ore reserves. The committee comprises representatives from its parent bodies  MCA, the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and the Australian Institute of Geoscientists  as well as representatives of the Australian Securities Exchange and the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. MCA, which receives support from major miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, confirmed it was working with JORC to take up its concerns with ASIC. "The MCA has concerns about ASIC's interpretation of market transparency in information sheet 214 and considers it may have unintended consequences for minerals companies seeking funding in capital markets," an MCA spokesman said. Numerous Perth stockbrokers and lawyers have also joined forced to consider the proposed changes to ASX listing rules and the ASIC information note and are preparing joint submissions on both matters.

Managing director of broking house Argonaut, Eddie Rigg, said the issues raised under the ASIC guidelines seemed to be "of far greater concern". "The risk is it is forcing two levels of disclosure  one for the capital markets and one for the people who may want to invest," Mr Rigg said. "We believe it is inherently undermining the integrity of the market." Gilbert + Tobin partner Sarah Turner said the firm was aware of companies who had been prevented from releasing presentations to the ASX platform over the past two weeks. "Some of the objections seem to relate to repetition of previously-released scoping study or pre-feasibility study (PFS) results," Ms Turner said. A scoping study is usually the first financial appraisal of a deposit to determine whether further, more definitive, studies are justified.

"Many explorers are not in a position where they can demonstrate today a basis for future funding which satisfies regulators and this seems to be what is now being requested as a prerequisite to release. In many cases those scoping study and PFS results are integral to an ability to secure future funding," Ms Turner said. "There is a real danger of explorers finding themselves in a position where they need to selectively disclose those results under confidentiality agreements in order to try to secure funding; this seems at odds with the principle that the market should be fully informed. As a consequence, directors are in a tight spot considering issues of insider trading, any foreign exchange requirements and how they would cleanse the market." Gascoyne Resources managing director Mike Dunbar said the company had been forced to amend a planned market announcement because it contained projections now deemed "unreasonable", despite those projections having been released to the market a matter of weeks earlier in a PFS. "When I went to give the market an update on our activities since I was stopped from putting out my announcement and the reason given was with the guidelines, I had to justify and confirm the reasonableness of the assumptions made in the PFS," Mr Dunbar said. Mark Bennett, managing director of gold explorer S2 Resources, said the company had decided to put a planned scoping study for its Baloo gold deposit on ice.
Property developer Mirvac has sold its landmark Como Centre  a two-hectare hotel and office complex in Melbourne's South Yarra  in a blockbuster deal for $236.5 million.

The Boutique funds manager Newmark Capital, led by former Hawthorn AFL star Chris Langford and property executive Simon Morris, is believed to be the purchaser.

Mirvac has sold the Como Centre in South Yarra.

The diversified property group exchanged contracts for Como Centre on Monday at the same time as inking a deal to sell another A-grade, 9-level office  Aviation House in Canberra  for $68.1 million.

Earlier this year Mirvac chief executive Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz expressed firm views that the property sector was nearing the end of its cap rate compression cycle, flagging plans by the group to divest up to $600 million worth of assets this year.
Yang Jiang, a Chinese author, playwright and translator whose stoic memoir of the Cultural Revolution remains one of the most revered works about that period, has died in Beijing aged 104.

Her death was announced by state-run news media, including People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, a sign of the esteem in which she was held.

She and her husband, Qian Zhongshu, the author of the novel Fortress Besieged, were already acclaimed writers when Mao Zedong inaugurated the Cultural Revolution in 1966.

At the time, Yang was working on a translation of Don Quixote, a formidable undertaking for which she taught herself Spanish. "If I wanted to be faithful to the original, I had to translate directly from the original," she wrote.

Yang had completed almost seven out of eight volumes of the translation when Red Guard student militants confiscated the manuscript from her home in Beijing. Like other foreign-trained academics and artists, Yang and Qian, both nearly 60 years old at the time, were consigned to "reform through labor" and sent to the countryside in Henan province, in central China, where they remained for several years.

"I worked with every ounce of energy I could muster, gouging at the earth with a spade, but the only result was a solitary scratch on the surface," Yang wrote. "The youngsters around me had quite a laugh over that."
Election campaigns can descend into contests of the rhetorical or the theoretical. Occasionally, though, voters see, touch and even feel something. And the plight of the Great Barrier Reef is a good example.

Whereas the public tends to split on the priority that should be afforded efforts to tackle climate change, and many regard emissions reduction targets as something in the never-never basket to be ignored until a carbon tax is mentioned, the future of the Reef is real for many people. As one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Reef can elicit an emotional response. And it is beyond belief that in 2016 the Reef's future is not assured.

Coral bleaching is a serious threat to the whole Great Barrier Reef and the tourism industry. Credit:Eddie Jim

Just this week the most authoritative scientific survey of the region showed that more than one-third of the coral reefs of the central and northern parts of the Reef had died in the huge bleaching event earlier this year. Once regarded as a rarity, it was the third such bleaching in 18 years.

Some coral can recover. But global warming and myriad other risks including expansion of coalmines in the Galilee Basin have scientists warning that the Reef's resilience may not be enough to withstand another bleaching event.
First, population growth will be mega. NSW will expand from 7.6 million to 11.2m citizens, with Sydney hosting most of the extra 3.6m.

Sydney is at a tipping point as the city struggles to absorb its rapid population growth and the more complex challenges for planning and managing our geographically extensive metropolis. The new Intergenerational Report forecasts just how massive the changes will be: here are five key challenges to be resolved over the next 40 years.

he NSW government's latest Intergenerational Report clarifies that big changes are coming to Sydney and our state. It is essential that those charting the future of our cities provide bold and well-informed leadership to ensure that the next decades of change are well managed. Instead of popularist rhetoric to avoid inevitable changes, we need plans that can deliver the needs of Sydney's next generations of citizens.

Second, much more new housing will need to be built. Sydney will need to almost double its existing stock of homes  the NSW Department of Planning estimates we need 33,200 new homes a year but last financial year our builders were able to deliver only 27,348. NSW generally will need up to 55,000 new homes. The best way to make housing affordable is through increasing supply to match demand.

Third, our population is ageing fast, leading to increased health costs, yet we'll have fewer workers to support this through taxation. In 1976 there were seven workers supporting each retiree and we now have four; but in 40 years, there will only be 2.4 workers whose taxes cover costs for each retiree.

Fourth, the dilemma of those increasing health costs with less tax income is generating a fiscal gap between income and expenditure that will leave a $17 billion hole in NSW annual finances by mid century.

Fifth, Sydney will need to change its structure and built form. Last century's low-density suburban model is not adequate to handle our growth challenges, so today's swing to more urban living in apartments will continue. This will achieve greater densities across metropolitan Sydney, and will continue the trend to sharing rather than owning, to public transport rather than private cars, and to transferring technology-obsolete jobs into new service and creative industries.

The Intergenerational Report's vision for 2056 provides an exciting opportunity for Sydney to develop new infrastructure and novel approaches to living and working so Elizabeth Farrelly's take seems counter-intuitive as it criticises planners as contributors to a wrecking ball hanging over Sydney.
"Ban" strikes us as a nasty word, conjuring up memories of McCarthyism, the Spanish Inquisition and the third-grade teacher who washed your mouth out with soap. We tell ourselves that bans are never really effective, that it is too hard to distinguish between what should be banned and what shouldn't. Above all, we know that bans are blunt instruments, and believe that we are too sophisticated to employ such crude tools.

Nothing can shock us except this suggestion. We find it perfectly acceptable that smut, no matter how bestial or misogynistic, should be widely available. We even think it a moral imperative, a dictate of freedom. It does not trouble us that children can view acts of rape, real or simulated, with a click of a mouse, but if someone proposes that we prevent them from doing so, dirty old Uncle Sam begins to shudder. Respected citizens stand up to object. Gallant young civil libertarians come riding into town, ready to defend the imperiled modesty of Lady Liberty.

We are not averse to banning something when we think it is really wrong. We are happy to "ban" murder, rape and even certain types of speech (try yelling "Fire!" in a theatre). We do not hesitate over the fact that there will be marginal cases, or that the banned activity will not magically be brought to an end. Our tolerant reaction to pornography stems less from a principled commitment to free speech than from a belief that porn isn't so bad after all. Shouldn't we be "sex-positive"? Who doesn't need a little release?

This casual attitude would be impossible if we cared as much about misogyny as we say we do. Gail Dines, a feminist scholar who has succeeded Andrea Dworkin as the leading voice against pornography, has found that "the most popular acts depicted in internet porn include vaginal, oral and anal penetration by three or more men at the same time; double anal; double vaginal; a female gagging from having a penis thrust into her throat; and ejaculation in a woman's face, eyes and mouth." This is not sex-positivity; it is hatred of women. According to one survey, boys are inducted into this ritualised hatred at an average age of 11.

Restrictions on pornography may come sooner than we think. As the Christian right has lost its power, fears of a censorious "Moral Majority" have receded. This leaves room for activists on the left to criticise the misogyny of porn without seeming like the allies of the unenlightened.

Happily, the left appears ready to take up the censor's task. Campus activists  once champions of free speech  now call for safe spaces, trigger warnings and other hard limits on speech, especially on speech related to sex. Now that they feel confident in their cultural power, campus activists have ceased to plead for tolerance; they are ready to enforce compliance.

It is easy to criticise such reversals as hypocritical, but they reflect a basic truth, pointed out by Stanley Fish: "There's no such thing as free speech." Or, to put it another way, there are always limits on speech. The only question is who places those limits, and where. Even in the most laissez-faire society, some forms of speech will be tolerated while others will not. We say that "fighting words" or "incitements to violence" are not really speech. Why not say the same of pornography, which serves as an instruction manual for the subjection of women?
Pollwatch: should Turnbull be sweating by now? The debate probably did little to arrest the gently eroding certainty that the Coalition will win the election, with Newspoll yet again indicating that the nation's love affair with Malcolm Turnbull is seriously tarnishing. More specifically, the new poll has concluded that voters are turning against the Coalition in Queensland (6 per cent swing), WA (7.3 per cent swing) and, perhaps most problematically given the sheer number of seats, 3.6 per cent in NSW. Meanwhile Nick Xenophon's NXT are currently polling about 20 per cent in SA. The government are still head in WA, SA and Queensland in two party preferred vote, but tied in NSW and behind Labor in Victoria. So yeah, not great for Malc.

The surprise NSW result is made all the more problematic by the current travails being visited on the Liberals by Premier Mike Baird, whose decision to amalgamate local councils, sack elected mayors and councillors and replace them with pliant administrators has not exactly won local hearts and minds - to the extent that Alan Jones accused Baird of attempting to "torpedo" Turnbull's election chances. So the PM better have some pretty awesome plans up his sleeve if he wants to turn that around - or, at the very least, keep attention away from subjects that reflect badly on his government. Turnbull on a subject that reflects badly on his government The PM, for reasons that aren't immediately obvious, today decided to reveal that the $160 million plebiscite on whether Australia should recognise same-sex marriages now or pointlessly wait for another few years will probably be held later in 2016, assuming that the government retain power. "We will hold it as soon as possible after the election," he told reporters on Monday. "Given that the election is on 2 July, we do have ample time between then and the end of the year Obviously legislation has got to pass through the Parliament so all I can do is give you my commitment to hold a plebiscite as soon as we can and it will be a very straightforward question and we will be asking the Australian people whether they support the definition of marriage being extended to include couples of the same sex."

And that's a fun thing to bring up at this point, given that the subject reminds the nation of a few things that the Coalition might be forgiven for avoiding, what with there being an election and everything. First, the government are planning to spend $160 million on a non-binding poll regarding a matter that is the literal and exclusive job of Parliament to rule upon. Secondly that marriage equality is one of several matters of principle about which Malcolm Turnbull has gone from vocal-advocate-pre-leadership to resolutely-coy-about-as-PM, a move that is downright Gillardian - and, given the way he got the gig as PM, that's probably not a comparison he's keen to see made. But thirdly - and this is fairly important - as Malc accurately pointed out in his statement, the government will need to pass legislation in order to hold the plebiscite - including working what the exact question will be, a process which is fraught with difficulty. And that might remind folks that, since Parliament evidently has to vote on plebiscite legislation regardless (and, let's be clear, will also have to vote on legislation if the plebiscite comes up yes), the government could save time, hassle and $160 million taxpayer dollars by instead having a free vote on, just for example, that multi-party joint legislation which LNP MP Warren Entsch and Labor MP Terri Butler co-sponsored in Parliament last year, with the support of the Greens and (almost) all the lower-house independents, as a rare and genuinely inspiring example of cross-party unity. You know, since it's already there and everything.
Another day, another crushing legal defeat for Big Tobacco. Last week the British High Court rejected its attempts to block plain packaging with a devastating judgment about an industry "which facilitates and furthers, quite deliberately, a health epidemic". That follows a catalogue of losses for the industry over plain packaging in Australian and international courts, following countless other legal defeats around the world.

The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a global treaty ratified by 180 countries, formally commits governments to protecting their public health policies from tobacco industry interference. The EU Health Commissioner recently compared tobacco deaths with those from terrorism. Now AXA, one of the world's biggest insurers, has joined other institutions in announcing that it will get rid of all tobacco investments. This truly is a pariah industry.

The bad news is that tobacco still causes 6 million deaths each year around the world. Tobacco companies still promote their products wherever they can, and ferociously oppose measures that reduce smoking. Progress has been far too slow since 1950, when we learned that smoking kills.

But the good news is that Big Tobacco is losing battle after battle in the political arena, in the law courts, and in the court of public opinion. You can pay any amount for lawyers, lobbyists and spin doctors, but ultimately if you knowingly sell and promote a lethal product the tide will turn.
Shorter's exceptional quartet is completed by pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade, all celebrated band-leaders. Part of the glue holding them together  Shorter calls them a "family"  is his being one of only a handful of people in jazz history whose reputation is based as much on composing as playing.

At 82 Shorter is neither treading artistic water nor resting on past glories. He says he consciously pushes himself out of his comfort zone "because I'm still curious about the nature of this whole mystery of life." Part of that is looking for new ways of expressing himself. "Maybe the effort to visit this place called originality is possibly the best 'thank you' one can offer to this mystery of life," he says. "And being involved with something that's just bigger than us, meaning it's bigger than a control that can consume us called ego. I think that ego should serve us. We should not serve our ego."

His career surged when he joined one of the most acclaimed versions of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1959, going on to be the last piece in the puzzle of the revered 1960s Miles Davis Quintet, as well as its main composer. He left Miles to form the equally influential Weather Report, and in 2000 launched his current Wayne Shorter Quartet.

He always thought differently. At high school he wrote "Mr Weird" on his clarinet case. No one argued. Wayne Shorter's verbalised thoughts come out like his saxophone lines: squalls of rapid-fire ideas, some cryptic asides and big pools of lucid silence while he lets what he's said sink in. His humour is delivered completely deadpan and his answers can quickly shoot off at tangents from the question to flit between knots of quite diverse ideas. To Shorter they're all one: music and talking, learning and playing, faith and life.

He wrote his first piece for a girl he was trying to impress. It didn't work. "She had eyes on the rich and famous," he laughs. As a child Shorter went from painting and drawing to music, initially playing clarinet, then saxophone. "I found the doorway to adventure was always there through the arts," he recalls. "I knew it would not depend on this person or that person, this cutie-pie or that dream-queen or anything like that. I knew that was going to be a solo adventure." He listened widely, and at 15 discovered Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie.

He loved jazz's interactivity and soul-baring, and remembers Art Blakey saying, "You can't hide behind your instrument."

"It's the same thing with actors, too," Shorter continues. "I like what Meryl Streep said when someone asked her, 'Ms Streep, when you do a new role, do you put on another mask all the time?' She said, 'No. I take them off.'"

In assembling this band he wanted players who were open to continuing to learn of life, music and the challenge of being in the moment, the same qualities Miles Davis sought with classic quintet. "His humility for sincere endeavour in the arts was always like a little child," Shorter observes. "But he protected that child with solid armour."

Shorter cherishes the Miles memories. After talking about what he calls "the mission"  "the challenge of becoming eternally more human, which I think is a part of this ultimate adventure that we call life"  he says, "Whenever you got close to talking about something like that with Miles, do you know what he would say? We'd be talking about walking on air or doing something that sounds ridiculous, and he would say, 'Why don't you play that?' He would ask, 'What would it be like to play music that doesn't sound like music?' Another one was 'What would it be like if you played your instrument as if you don't know how to play it?' I have a tape of Charlie Parker giving a music lesson to a kid, and the kid says, 'Mr Parker, do you mean I have to learn all these scales?' And he'd say, 'Yes. And once you learn them, forget 'em!'"
Former 60 Minutes producer Stephen Rice looks set to fight his sacking from Channel Nine over the failed child abduction operation which saw Mr Rice and three colleagues jailed in Beirut.

Mr Rice has hired top lawyer John Laxon, according to a report in News Corp, ahead of a legal battle against Nine over his sacking.

Mr Laxon is well known for representing media identities and most famously acted for former Nine News boss Mark Llewellyn in 2006 whose leaked affidavit alleged Eddie McGuire wanted to "bone" presenter Jessica Rowe and axe her as host of the Today Show.
"Lindsay voters value loyalty," says Cornish. He also accuses Ms Scott of failing to deliver for the voters of Lindsay, particularly on hospitals and on an upgrade of the M4 west of Parramatta. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten with Labor's candidate for Lindsay, Emma Husar. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Controversy, on the conservative side of politics in Lindsay, is not new. Three days before the 2007 federal election, the husband of former Liberal member for Lindsay, Jackie Kelly was caught with four others handing out fake pamphlets purporting to be from an Islamic group (which did not exist), that thanked the Labor Party for supporting terrorists. Ms Kelly denied any knowledge of the pamphlets prior to their distribution, describing it as a "Chaser style prank" . But despite the smear campaign Labor won the seat and held it for two terms during the Rudd-Gillard years.

There's also a history of disgruntled Liberals running as independents. In 2014, Kelly unsuccessfully contested the preselection for the seat of Penrith in the NSW parliament, held by incumbent Liberal Stuart Ayres. She then ran as an independent, snaring 9 per cent of the vote and causing a similar sized swing against Ayers, who hung on. If Cornish directs preferences away from Scott, her future looks bleak. There are several other conservative candidates, including far right candidate, Jim Saleam from the Australia First Party, a Christian Democrat, Maurice Girotto and an Australian Liberty Alliance candidate, Steve Roddick which could further splinter the conservative vote.. Mr Saleam does not even bother to dog whistle on immigration. He's against "the growth of mass alien blocs in our suburbs and the increasing settlement of so-called 'refugees' amongst us."

He says he entered the campaign to "build a nationalist movement" in western Sydney. Compared to other western Sydney seats, Penrith has fewer migrants and several candidates would like it to stay that way. Mr Cornish will be running on a platform of giving migrants probationary citizenship for five years so criminals and terrorists can be deported more easily. But the Labor candidate, Emma Husar, says this time national security and migration are not as potent election issues. She says the main concerns are education, health and transport. Lindsay has a high proportion of families with young children. Average income is $615 a week and most young families are heavily mortgaged. Ms Husar says that around 77 per cent didn't benefit at all from the budget tax cuts. At the same time they are facing rising health costs because Medicare no longer covers the full cost of tests.

The single mum with three kids, who has worked as a staffer for Labor MPs and as an advocate for disability services is spending most mornings at train stations (as is Ms Scott) and then moving to schools to spruik Labor's commitment to Gonski. Outside Jamisontown Public School she was joined by teachers and parents wearing green "I give a Gonski" t-shirts. Paul Lang, a kindergarten teacher says the Gonski money has made an enormous difference in his classroom and the Coalition's decision to end the Gonski funding prematurely will unwind much of the good work. "That child," he says pointing to a boy who has just passed through the gate, "was in the bottom 1 percentile for receptive language and the bottom 2 per cent for memory of sentences." "I was meant to teach him in a mainstream class of 30. The Gonski money enabled the school to pay for speech pathology for him," he says.
An Australian man reportedly killed fighting with Kurdish forces against the Islamic State terror group in Syria has been praised as a hero by friends and comrades.

Jamie Bright, 45, who was believed to have previously served in the Australian Army, was shot dead in north-east Syria close to the strategically important town of al-Shaddadi last Wednesday, Kurdish groups said.

Tributes to Mr Bright, who joined the Kurdish YPG - or People's Protection Units - in December, poured onto social media after his death was announced by Kurdish forces on Monday.
Unelected administrators and other panelists across Sydney and NSW will be responsible for nominating projects on which to spend up to $15 million in bonus funds allocated to merged councils.

The state government has allocated a $15 million "Stronger Communities Fund" for each merged council, to be spent on projects such as parks, paths, and roads. The fund comes on top of up to $10 million for a merged council to cover the costs of merging.

According to guidelines released last week for the Stronger Communities Fund, merged councils will be responsible for nominating projects on which to spend the fund by the end of the year.

That will be well before council elections for newly merged councils are due to take place in September 2017.
It was, in the words of the defence counsel for alleged insider trader Oliver Curtis, akin to robbing a bank and "waving" at the security cameras.

As the criminal trial of Mr Curtis, husband of Sydney public relations queen Roxy Jacenko, draws to a close in the historic St James Supreme Court in Sydney, his barrister has urged the jury to reject the Crown case on the basis it just doesn't "make sense".

Mr Curtis, 30, has pleaded not guilty to striking an illegal deal in 2007 with his then best friend John Hartman to use confidential information to cash in on the share market.
When the panic attacks seize Alexandra Power in the middle of the night, she reaches for Atlas. As she holds the Italian sheep dog - huge, white, soft, silent - the terror begins to fade.

"He's trained to keep me stable and grounded," Ms Power, 35, said of her psychiatric assistance dog. "He remains very, very calm and thus calms me down."

In what Ms Power calls a case of disability discrimination, she and Atlas faced eviction from their unit in Mosman on Sydney's north shore.

"The dog was not disclosed at the commencement of the tenancy and is a breach of the strata by-laws," a lease termination notice read.
Glen McNamara is a former policeman, a father, a writer, a private investigator, a divorcee and a man with no criminal convictions.

But he is not a murderer, his barrister Gabriel Wendler argued during his closing address to jury on Monday.

Roger Rogerson leaves court. Credit:James Brickwood

"Can you seriously see Mr McNamara executing Mr Gao - a man the same age as one of his daughters?" Mr Wendler asked.

"Can you see Mr McNamara enticing this man into this shed and then shooting him dead? For what reason? To run around Cronulla selling [drugs]?"
A tiny remote community is in shock as the search continues for a woman feared dead after a crocodile ripped her from the shallows of a pristine beach.

Police confirmed the 46-year-old woman had been taken by a crocodile in far north Queensland as more details emerged about her friend's desperate struggle to save her.

Warnings proliferated of the dangers the animals posed throughout the Daintree Rainforest National Park.

Federal MP Warren Entsch said: "If you go in swimming at 10 o'clock at night, you're going to get consumed."
A semi-automatic handgun and cocaine have been seized from the car of an alleged senior Hells Angels bikie on the Gold Coast.

Police said they pulled over two men on the Gold Coast Highway at Broadbeach on Saturday night and found a .22 calibre gun and silencer.

Police say an alleged Hells Angels bikie had a gun and drugs in his car during a traffic stop on the Gold Coast.

A 42-year-old man, who police said was a senior patched member of the outlawed motorcycle gang, will face weapons and drug charges at Southport Magistrates Court on Monday.

Another man, 21, will appear in Southport Magistrates Court on June 21 on two weapons offences.
It could take six months before rail experts can get the train signals on the new $1.1 billion Moreton Bay Rail Link to talk to the train signals on the rest of south-east Queensland's rail network.

Tens of thousands of Redcliffe and Kippa-Ring commuters hoping to catch a new train to Brisbane in July or August, may now have to wait until Christmas.

The rail signals, which are supposed to read 26 computerised signal messages, are crashing after reading 15 signal messages  effectively letting just three trains pass through Petrie station.

Petrie station is the link between the new Moreton Bay Rail Link and the rest of south-east Queensland's rail network.
A man has been charged after he allegedly assaulted five police officers and paramedics in far north Queensland.

It is understood the 21-year-old Tully man was under the influence of drugs when paramedics were called about 3pm on Sunday.

A 21-year-old man has been charges with 18 counts after allegedly assaulting police and paramedics

Paramedics were dispatched to a cane field on Midgenoo-Feluga Road after the accident was reported.

The man then allegedly became violent and police were called in to help restrain the man.
Firefighters attending a blaze in a car wrecking yard in Melbourne's north arrived to find six cars alight.

The Metropolitan Fire Brigade first received reports of a fire on the Hume Highway in Campbellfield shortly before 3.50pm on Monday.

The blaze had spread to half a dozen vehicles in the yard by the time fire crew arrived.

An MFB spokesman said the fire was quickly brought under control.

It is not clear how it started.
A Victorian school is in mourning after a 15-year-old student was killed in a crash that has left another student in hospital.

Torquay teenager Kate Cattanach, 15, died when the ute she was a passenger in crashed into a pole in Penshurst, near Hamilton, about 1.30pm on Sunday.

Kate Cattanach, 15, was killed in a ute crash in Penshurst. Credit:Laura McKenzie

The unregistered ute was being driven by 15-year-old Lily Cameron on Mackichan Lane, a dirt road near the Hamilton Highway.

Lily was flown to the Royal Children's Hospital with back and neck injuries. She remains in hospital in a stable condition.
Extreme protesters like United Patriots Front and Antifa intent on committing violence may be banned from entering designated areas under new laws to be examined by the state government.

The proposed new powers came as some Moreland City councillors condemned their colleagues for voting in favour of an anti-racism rally despite police concerns about violence.

Police Minister Lisa Neville confirmed a range of new powers for police were under consideration following a meeting with Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton today.

Those talks come after violent confrontations between two extreme groups in Coburg on Saturday.
Zoo staff fired a fatal bullet rather than a tranquiliser dart because of concern over the time a tranquiliser would need to take effect.

The western lowland gorilla was shot at Cincinnati Zoo on the weekend after a four-year-old boy climbed into the moat of the enclosure and was approached by the gorilla.

Melbourne Zoo will review its emergency procedures after the fatal shooting of an endangered gorilla and two lions at overseas zoos.

Melbourne Zoo general manager of life sciences Hans van Weerd said tranquilisers could take up to five minutes to take effect and while firearms were a last resort, sometimes there was no alternative.

Melbourne Zoo staff at the gorilla enclosure in 2013. Credit:Pat Scala

"When it comes to the crunch, people come ahead of animals," he said. "But what we try to do is see if there is something in between so both animals and people are safe."

Zoos Victoria chief executive Jenny Gray said the zoo community felt for their Cincinnati peers in what was a devastating scenario.

"They were faced with a situation that we always prepare for but hope we never have to experience, to be forced to shoot a much-loved animal in order to secure the safety of a visitor," she said.
A trapped driver has been cut out of his crushed car after hitting a tree in Melbourne's north-west.

The crash happened about 8am Monday on Tullamarine Park Road near the corner of Saligna Drive in Tullamarine.

The man was stuck in the wreckage for over an hour while the Metropolitan Fire Brigade worked to cut him free.
Two top Melbourne private schools are investigating whether their students were involved in an ugly incident at a Kew gathering, where gatecrashers stormed a family home and destroyed property.

Xavier College and Carey Baptist Grammar School confirmed they were trying to work out whether their students took part in the disturbance.

Darryn Tucker received a terrified call from his daughter on Saturday night after 30 teenagers jumped the fence and threw a beer bottle through a window.
A cancer patient has called for a review of licensing regulations after she was left humiliated when forced to remove a head covering for a photo.

Grandmother Christine McCluskey, who is battling lung cancer and has lost all her hair through chemotherapy, says she was distraught when staff at a Mandurah licensing centre forced her to bare her head.

"There was no privacy, everybody could see, so there was no privacy at all, it was quite embarrassing," she told Nine News Perth.

The Department of Transport website says head coverage is permitted in licensing photos for religious purposes, but it doesn't mention medical conditions.
An exclusive Perth child psychiatrist has been arrested after allegedly using a mobile phone to film a young boy in a shopping centre toilet in Canada.

Aaron Voon, of the Successful Development and Therapy Centre at Cockburn Central, was arrested by Canadian police on child pornography charges following the incident in Edmonton, Alberta on May 22.

A confrontation between the boy's father and Dr Voon was captured on video then posted online. The video shows the father and people at the centre pushing the doctor to give up his phone.

He now faces charges of possessing child pornography, making child pornography and voyeurism and

was denied bail. He is expected to enter a plea in court tomorrow, according to Canada's Global News.
Jakarta: Australia insists an Australian permanent resident charged with murdering her friend with cyanide-laced coffee will not face the death penalty in Indonesia if found guilty, despite police now claiming it is up to the judges.

Jessica Kumala Wongso, a former Ambulance NSW employee, has been charged with the premeditated murder of her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin, with whom she had studied in Australia.

Jessica Kumala Wongso is accused of murdering friend Wayan Mirna Salihin in Indonesia. Credit:Twitter

The allegations that Ms Wongso spiked her friend's Vietnamese iced coffee at an upmarket cafe in Jakarta have gripped Indonesia, with TV talk shows endlessly debating the likelihood of her guilt.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan agreed to allow the Australian Federal Police to assist with investigating the case after receiving an assurance that the death penalty would neither be sought or carried out.
A moment later, the woman opens the lid and a fair-skinned Asian man pops out.

In the ad for Qiaobi laundry detergent , a black man wolf-whistles at an attractive Chinese woman, who beckons him over. She then stuffs a packet of detergent in his mouth and shoves him head-first into a washing machine.

Beijing: A Chinese detergent maker has apologised for a television advertisement that many in China and around the world called racist, but also blamed the media for causing the public outcry.

State media reported the ad had first appeared in April but went viral after being posted on YouTube last week, where it racked up millions of views within a few days. Some Chinese and foreign internet users condemned it as racist.

The ad for a Chinese laundry detergent that has attracted racism claims.

"We express our sincere apologies and sincerely hope that the many internet users and the media will not read too much into this," the company said in a statement at the weekend.

The company deleted an online version of the ad in response to the outcry, the state-backed Global Times reported, citing an interview with the firm. However, versions of it could still be seen on Chinese and foreign video platforms, including YouTube, on Monday.

Public discussions of racial discrimination are unusual in China, which is dominated by the ethnic Han majority but is also home to dozens of minority groups as well as a growing influx of foreign residents, including from African countries.
But until the May 20 incident, there were no known instances of Islamic State fighters posting photographs of female captives being offered for sale. The photos of the two unidentified women appeared only briefly before being deleted by Facebook, but the images were captured by the Middle East Media Research Institute, a Washington nonprofit group that monitors jihadists' social-media accounts. M., a Yazidi teenager who was sold seven times among Islamic State fighters who used her as a sex slave. She is seen here t a camp near Dohuk, Iraq, in January. Credit:New York Times "We have seen a great deal of brutality, but the content that ISIS has been disseminating over the past two years has surpassed it all for sheer evil," said Steven Stalinsky, the institute's executive director, using the common acronym for the Islamic State. "Sales of slave girls on social media is just one more example of this." Almani, the apparent owner of the Facebook account, is thought to be a German national fighting for the Islamic State in Syria, according to Stalinsky. He has previously posted to social-media accounts under that name, in the slangy, poorly rendered English used by many European fighters who can't speak Arabic. Early postings suggest that Almani is intimately familiar with the Islamic State's activities around Raqqa, the group's de facto capital in Syria. He also regularly uses his accounts to solicit donations for the terrorist group. Yazidi Kurdish women at a protest in Dohuk, Iraq, in 2015. Credit:AP

In displaying the images of the women, Almani advised his Facebook friends to "get married" and "come to dawlah", or the Islamic State's territory in Iraq and Syria. Then he engaged with different commenters in an extensive discussion about whether the $US8000 asking price was a good value. Some who replied to the postings mocked the women's looks, while others scolded Almani for posting photos of women who weren't wearing the veil. "What makes her worth that price? Does she have an exceptional skill?" one of his correspondents asks about the woman in the second photo. Yazidi Kurdish women protest in Dohuk last year. Credit:AP "Nope," he replies. "Supply and demand makes her that price". Islamic State leaders have historically used US-based social media such as Facebook and Twitter to attract recruits and spread propaganda, but in the past year American companies have sought to block jihadist accounts and postings whenever they are discovered.

Islamic State fighters march in Raqqa, Syria in 2014. Credit:AP Facebook in particular has garnered high marks from watchdog groups for reacting quickly to terrorists' efforts to use its pages. But at the same time, the militants also have become more agile, leaping quickly from one social-media platform to another and opening new accounts as soon as older ones are shut down. The Facebook incident comes amid complaints from human rights groups about waning public interest in the plight of women held as prisoners by the Islamic State. The organisation Human Rights Watch, citing estimates by Kurdish officials in Iraq and Syria, says the terrorist group holds about 1800 women and girls, just from the capture of Yazidi towns in the region. After initial denials, the Islamic State last year issued statements acknowledging the use of sex slaves and defending the practice as consistent with ancient Islamic traditions, provided that the women are non-Muslims captured in battle or members of Muslim sects that the terrorist group regards as apostates. A report last month by Human Rights Watch recounted the ordeals suffered by three dozen Iraqi and Syrian women who escaped from terrorist-held towns in recent months. Among the women were former Yazidi sex slaves who described abuses that included multiple rapes by different men as they were sold and traded. The problems faced by such women appear to be growing worse as military and economic pressure against the Islamic State increases, the report said.
"On a world level, the situation that affects many countries is economic stagnation and the arrival of immigrants," said Robert Paxton, a professor emeritus at Columbia University and one of the most prominent scholars of fascism. "That's a one-two punch that democratic governments are having enormous trouble in meeting." Trump dismisses the labels used by those like Weld, a longtime Republican now mounting a quixotic campaign for vice-president as a Libertarian. "I don't talk about his alcoholism," Trump said through a spokeswoman, "so why would he talk about my foolishly perceived fascism? There is nobody less of a fascist than Donald Trump." (Weld, who in the 1990s reportedly appeared in public a few times having had too much to drink, declined to respond: "I'll let that ride.") Donald Trump has provided plenty of ammunition for critics. Americans are used to the idea that other countries may be vulnerable to such movements, but while figures like Father Charles Coughlin, the demagogic radio broadcaster, enjoyed wide followings in the 1930s, neither major party has ever nominated anyone quite like Trump.

"This could be one of those moments that's quite dangerous, and we'll look back and wonder why we treated it as ho-hum at a time when we could have stopped it," said Robert Kagan, a scholar at the Brookings Institution known for hawkish internationalism. Benito Mussolini, master of the bombastic speech and jutting jaw and the impossible-to-fulfil promises. Kagan sounded the alarm this month with a Washington Post op-ed article, "This Is How Fascism Comes to America," that gained wide attention. "I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from conservative Republicans," he said. "There are a lot of people who agree with this." Trump has provided plenty of ammunition for critics. He was slow to denounce the white supremacist David Duke and talked approvingly of beating up protesters. He has praised Putin and promised to be friends. He would not condemn supporters who launched anti-Semitic blasts at journalists. At one point, Trump retweeted a Mussolini quote: "It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep." Adolf Hitler.

Asked by Chuck Todd on the NBC program Meet the Press about it, Trump brushed off the quote's origin. "I know who said it," he said. "But what difference does it make whether it's Mussolini or somebody else?" "Do you want to be associated with a fascist?" Todd asked. A worker clearing broken glass of a Jewish shop following the anti-Jewish riots of Kristallnacht in Berlin in 1938. Credit:Hulton Archive/Getty images "No," Trump answered, "I want to be associated with interesting quotes." He added: "And certainly, hey, it got your attention, didn't it?" Trump's allies dismiss the criticism as politically motivated and historically suspect. The former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich, who has said he would consider being Trump's running mate, said he was "deeply offended" by what he called "utterly ignorant" comparisons.

"Trump does not have a political structure in the sense that the fascists did," said Gingrich, a onetime college professor who earned his doctorate in modern European history. "He doesn't have the sort of ideology that they did. He has nobody who resembles the brownshirts. This is all just garbage." Beyond Hitler and Mussolini, fascism can be hard to define. Since World War II, only fringe figures have overtly identified themselves that way. In modern political discourse, the word is used as an epithet. And even Hitler and Mussolini were elastic in their political philosophies as they came to power; Mussolini started out as a leftist. Paxton, the fascism scholar, said he saw similarities and differences in Trump. His message about an America in decline and his us-against-them pronouncements about immigrants and outsiders echo Europe in the 1930s, he said. On the other hand, he said, Trump has hardly created uniformed, violent youth groups. Moreover, fascists believe in strong state control, not get-government-off-your-back individualism and deregulation. Others caution against comparisons. "I read Kagan's piece, of course," said Volker Perthes, the director of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, in Berlin. "All the phenomena he describes are raising concerns, but I would still not call Trump or his campaign fascist. Maybe with German and European history in mind, we are a bit more cautious than others in using the label 'fascism'." Perthes said real fascism required two more elements  an outright rejection of democracy and a harsher definition of order. Jobbik, the ultra-right party in Hungary, would fall into this category, he said, but Norbert Hofer, the far-right candidate who lost the Austrian presidential vote, and Trump would not.

Charles Grant, the director of the Centre for European Reform, in London, distinguished between far-right nationalist parties like Marine Le Pen's National Front in France and fascism. "Historically, it means the demonisation of minorities within a society to the extent that they feel insecure," he said. "It means encouraging the use of violence against critics. It means a bellicose foreign policy that may lead to war, to excite a nationalist feeling. It takes xenophobia to extremes. And it is contemptuous of a rules-based liberal order." The debate about terminology may ignore the seriousness of the conditions that gave rise to Trump and his European counterparts. Trump has tapped into a deep discontent in a country where many feel left behind while Wall Street banks get bailouts, newcomers take jobs, terrorists threaten innocents and China rises economically at America's expense. "It seems to me in developed and semi-developed countries there is emerging a new kind of politics for which maybe the best taxonomic category would be right-wing populist nationalism," said Stanley Payne, a professor emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "We are seeing a new kind of phenomenon which is different from what you had" in the 20th century. Roger Eatwell, a professor at the University of Bath, in Britain, calls it "illiberal democracy," a form of government that keeps the trappings of democracy without the reality.
Fort Lauderdale, Florida: The US Libertarian Party has nominated former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson as its presidential candidate, believing he can challenge presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton because of their poor showing in popularity polls.

Johnson, 63, won the nomination on the second ballot at the party's convention in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday, defeating Austin Petersen, the founder of The Libertarian Republic magazine; and anti-computer virus company founder John McAfee. The delegates selected former Massachusetts Governor William Weld to be his vice presidential running mate.

The Libertarian Party has been running presidential tickets since 1972, but has never been a major player. The party's best showing was 1980, when candidate Ed Clark got slightly more than 1 per cent of the vote. The only electoral vote the party has received was in 1972, when a renegade Virginia elector pledged to President Richard Nixon cast his ballot for Libertarian John Hospers instead.

Libertarians typically support maximum radical personal freedoms and minimal government in most forms. Although their numbers are small, they represent a recurring philosophical strain of the right-wing spectrum in the US.
Latest News CBA-owned stockbroker acknowledges court decision relating to systemic compliance failures A total remediation of $6.5 million has been paid to affected customers

Interest rate rises weaken home borrowing power 20% fall in just six months, says broker

The Finance Brokers Association of Australian ( FBAA ) has also come out in defence of mortgage brokers after an inflammatory article was published in the Australian Financial Review (AFR).In the article, titled Mortgage broker salad days are numbered, the AFR calculates that in the September quarter last year, brokers would have received upfront commission of about $300 million and locked in another $50 million in annual trailing commission.Brokers live in fear that commissions will be outlawed and when you look at the numbers you can understand why, the article read.However, the FBAAs Peter White said if those numbers are correct, you are looking at a monthly gross income of around $4,166 when you divide it by the total number of brokers Australia-wide.That represents an annual income of around $55,000 which honestly can hardly be considered over-the-top and excessive when the average Australian yearly income is around $70,000, White said.Many brokers do earn income well above this, White admitted, however, he said the remuneration is commensurate with national standards when you take into account the time spent.This AFR piece from a columnist that clearly has an agenda was totally misleading and even malicious and gave the impression that brokers are blatantly ripping off customers. Self-employed people have a right to earn as much as they can just like anybody else.Trailing commissions too have been unfairly maligned, White said. The truth is they take time to accumulate and a years gross trail can never be seen as excessive or wrong by anyones standards.The FBAA is concerned this type of unbalanced article can have serious implications on the current review by ASIC into broker commission structures.Brokers now account for nearly 54% of all loans written so we must be doing something right, White said.Last week the CEO of the MFAA , Siobhan Hayden, defended brokers against allegations made in the column that the standards in mortgage broking lag behind other sectors, namely financial planningThere are clear differences between the remuneration structures in mortgage broking and those in the financial planning and life insurance industries, she said.Crucially, brokers are paid commissions by lenders; they are not paid by consumers. Commissions are also variable and reflect the cost of a mortgage.
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Williamsburgs Black Bear Bar hosted a skinhead punk festival on Saturday night, then pulled the shows Sunday slot after locals and anti-racism groups accused it of welcoming hate music bands and a crowd that performed Nazi salutes.

The N. Sixth Street watering hole and its booker claim they didnt see anything suspicious about NYC Oi! Fests lineup of bands with names such as Close Shave and Iron City Hooligans, but one bar regular said she knew something was up as soon as she caught a glimpse of the hundreds of skinheads standing in front of the venue at 7 pm, and felt too uncomfortable to stick around.

There must have been around 250 skinheads. They took over the whole sidewalk, said the long-time local, who is Dominican and asked to remain anonymous due to fears for her safety. I felt like I wasnt welcomed and was stared at.

Locals and activists swarmed the bars social media accounts after the festival organizers announced it would be the venue on Saturday  a day after noted civil right organization the Southern Poverty Law Center posted a warning about the event, identifying ties between far-right groups and many of the bands, organizers, and attendees at last years event, which took place in Manhattan.

The bar and its booker New Island Entertainment eventually canceled the Sunday show and apologized later that evening  blaming an outside promoter for hoodwinking it about the nature of the event  but not before the bar repeatedly defended the bands and crowd as diverse and inoffensive on the bars Facebook page.

We saw last night that the crowd and performers consisted of many people of various ethnicities and backgrounds, they wrote in a statement on Instagram, after responding to critics concerns by posting photos of some people of color in the audience and noting that some bands included members of color, which they argued showed it couldnt be a Nazi event.

Footage from the event, however, paints a different picture. One clip shows band Offensive Weapon covering a song by British white power group Brutal Attack.

In another, the band dedicates a song to English Nick Solares  a writer at food blog Eater who recently apologized for being part of New Yorks white pride scene in the 80s  before launching into a song by his then-band Youth Defense League.

In several clips, attendees throw their hands up in a way that activist group NYC Antifa and other online critics described as Hitler salutes.

And, the online critics argued  as the Southern Poverty Law Center article does  Caucasians dont have a monopoly on fascism or bigotry.

Either way, the disgruntled bar patron said she found the attendees to be a stark contrast to the friendly, diverse crowd that usually frequents the bar.

But those regulars may not be back. The woman said she feels Black Bear handled the whole thing poorly and should have taken responsibility, and she doesnt think the skaters who hang out there will forgive easily  nor will she.

I dont support fascist acts, she said. Their booker should have done their research.

Oi! Fests organizers did not return requests for comment.
No sport is as competitive as F1. To succeed, you need teamwork, clear decision-making and outstanding technology.

Thats why ACO, drainage supplier to 11 Grand Prix circuits around the world, is working with the Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) to launch Race Team Manager (www.raceteammanager.com): a competition to identify leading teams and individuals in the builders merchant sector working together to deliver outstanding service.

Running from 29 May until 14 September, entrants are asked five online F1 questions, which are released before each race, accumulating points for correct answers. A selection of weekly F1-themed prizes are on offer to the best performing teams, as well as high-scoring individuals.

In September the top eight teams, and two wildcards picked from those who enter after the competition starts, will be invited to the Grand Final at the BMF Members Day to win prizes and the Race Team Manger 2016 title. Special guests, including Professor Mark Jenkins from Cranfield Business School, and Paul McNamara, technical director at Williams Advanced Engineering, will also be on hand to discuss what the commercial lessons merchants can learn from F1 team management.

Richard Hill at ACO Technologies, said: Having developed drainage solutions for one of the most sporting environments, the same principles and sophisticated technology can be applied in less demanding applications across the domestic and commercial markets.

For example, the ACO Qmax slot draining system has been installed at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas; but is just as at home there as it would be on a UK highway, airport or car park. Our merchant partners are absolutely crucial to the delivery of these solutions to the end-user, and much like a successful race team, the most effective merchant teams are those that work closely to deliver the best possible service.

We hope Race Team Manager will be a fun and engaging competition for merchant teams up and down the country, and with a great array of prizes to be won  including VIP tickets to the 2017 Silverstone Grand Prix  and some fantastic insights from the likes of Cranfield Business School and Williams Advanced Engineering, Id urge teams to get entering now to ensure they have the best chance of making the Grand Final.
New Adjacent Fest to take on Bamboozle next May in Atlantic City

music
A REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF INTERWAR INDIA

Kama MacleanPenguin305 pages; Rs 599Serious writing on the history of India is always welcome because so many myths and mythologies are in vogue. If popular culture is to be cleared of a mythical construction of the past, the task has to be performed by professional historians who painstakingly collect facts to refute non-historical received knowledge that is made popular by social and cultural pretenders. This process applies as much to the role and contribution of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA) founded by Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad.The mainstream "official" and sometimes "nationalist" history, whether academic or political, has simplified the debate on the role of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru, Chandra Shekhar Azad and other dedicated revolutionaries to a question of "practitioners of violence" versus the Gandhi-led mass movement based on non-violence. This book shows that the revolutionaries of the HSRA played a significant role in the inter-war period in north India, and their significance in the anti-colonial struggle was noticed and noted by the British, who ruthlessly tried to suppress the movement.Kama Maclean, the author of this important study, has set for herself the goal of probing a larger question: to demonstrate "the important role that the revolutionaries played in influencing Congress policy and provoking colonial responses in the process bringing India closer to independence". In fact, Ms Maclean says, the interaction between Gandhi's Congress and the revolutionary movement of north India is much deeper than routinely understood.If a section of Indian and foreign historians had tried to downplay the contribution of the revolutionary martyrs (shaheeds), the British colonisers were clear that those who has killed John Poyantz Saunders or those who threw a bomb at the Legislative Assembly were "terrorists" and "conspirators". For them, the Lahore conspiracy cases under the Sedition Act were the appropriate responses for which, on March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged.The first issue the study examines is the role of Gandhi and his studied and widely unpopular silence when the shaheeds were hanged. This did not go down well because of the widespread popular sympathy for the revolutionaries. But the immediate impact of the hanging was the Gandhi-Irwin pact of 1931, which raised the issue of Dominion Status for India.

The message of this study is that history cannot be seen in black and white. The revolutionaries evolved a strategy of making lengthy statements against the colonisers during the Assembly Bomb Case trial, and all of India read with great interest the rationale behind their acts.

Their acts were a response to the death of the popular Punjabi leader Lala Lajpat Rai after being assaulted by the police. The idea of personal sacrifice for freedom carried weight with Indians. The revolutionaries, thus, cannot be reduced to the status of bombers or mindless killers, she argues. She quotes Bhagat Singh's views on the "limits of violence" and how violence can never become the mainstream political line but could be used to "lift people out of their torpor". The revolutionaries propagated socialism and republicanism and Ms Maclean shows that the Congress Party's Karachi Resolution on fundamental rights was partly impacted by this ideology. To underline the point that the revolutionaries were not mindless believers in the cult of the bomb, Ms Maclean establishes the inter-connections between inter-war European ideological and political developments like communism and socialism, which influenced Indian thinkers profoundly. Adding to the richness of the study is the chapter on Durga Devi Bohra, a housewife who not only played a significant role in the escape of Bhagat Singh from vigilant British police but in shooting two British officials (for which she was arrested). This book fills in the gaps in pre-independence revolutionary history in which a disproportionate amount of attention has been focused on Bengal. Drawing on untapped oral histories, interviews, memoirs, photos and colonial archives, Ms Maclean shows how the presence of north Indian inter-war revolutionaries on the political landscape served to radicalise the Congress, which, in turn, injected a fresh urgency into the slow process of constitutional reform. She shows how Motilal Nehru, a votary of Dominion Status, emerged a changed person after the Assembly Bomb case, and his attitude towards the revolutionary bombers witnessed a sea change. The Congress and the revolutionaries were not antagonists; they were looking at the cause of Indian freedom from different viewpoints. Yet, says the author, "historians have come to see violence and non-violence as a rival form of political action But it is in fact more productive to see all of these movements as a part of a single formation of anti-colonial nationalism". In doing so, she has provided a new perspective on an important facet of Indian history.
Taking a leaf out of Flipkarts book, L&T Infotech, which was planning to launch Rs 2,000 crore-IPO, has withdrawn offer letters to 1,500 students based in South India.

Company sources confirmed the move to Business Standard. They declined to be identified for this article.

The students have decided to go on a hunger strike in Chennai to protest the companys move, reports said.

The firm was planning to launch its IPO soon, and the withdrawal of offer letters to students could be an indication that all is not well. The company cited "poor performance" of the students for withdrawal of the offer letters.

In an unprecedented move at the prestigious IIM-Ahmedabad, Flipkart, which has hired in the past from IIMs and IITs, this year informed about 10 students it was deferring their joining to December. The decision was announced on May 20, just three days before the candidates were to join. The e-commerce giant cited an organisational rejig for the deferment and committed Rs 1.5 lakh as a joining bonus for each candidate. After a public spat with IIM Ahmedabad, it increased the bonus to Rs 3 lakh.

At 01:27 p.m., L&T's stock was trading almost flat at Rs 1,478.75 apiece.


With a focus on mass rural market, IDFC Banks Bharat Banking division is eyeing government business such as disbursal of subsidy and scholarships in a big way. It has started tying up with state governments for various schemes and is also looking to provide microfinancing.

Ravi Shankar, head-Bharat Banking, told Business Standard that has partnered with Andhra Pradesh government in the Krishna district for direct benefits transfer (DBT) through Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AEPS). Besides, the bank would look at microfinancing schemes for purchase of motorcycles, equipment and even low-cost housing.

Business in Andhra



The Andhra Pradesh government initiated DBT from May 1, starting with social security pension. It would be extended to other government entitlements and finally to the public distribution system (PDS), making PDS payments cashless Shankar said the bank uses interoperable micro ATMs that enhance last-mile financial access through digitisation. The micro ATM functions like a bank-in-a-box.

The first interoperable social security pension was drawn through an AEPS micro ATM on May 1 at Ganapavaram, Mylavaram mandal, in the Krishna district.

Nearly 32,000 pensioners will be using the micro ATM infrastructure to access their benefits in the coming days. The bank estimates over time, the concentrated coverage of banking services would touch the lives of 4.6 million citizens in Krishna district alone.

The banks micro ATM is owned and operated by women members of self-help groups approved for financial support by the government of Andhra Pradesh. This is helping promote entrepreneurship in the district, the bank said.

The micro ATM agent would cater to customers at panchayat offices (in the first few days of every month) and later from their respective residences/work areas. These micro ATMs offer all basic banking services to customers of any bank including deposits, withdrawals and transfers.

In the Krishna district, people can draw their entitlements in their neighbourhood itself, by transacting on any of the 500 micro ATMs deployed by IDFC Bank across villages.

The full package of fund disbursal under the government such as MGNREGA, pension, scholarships and cashless PDS would also be carried to other districts, Shankar said. He said IDFC Banks Bharat Banking branches would be set up in semi-urban and rural areas. They have a catchment areas of 25-30 km. We have a vision of creating large low-cost banking infrastructure.



He said their business model was different from . It is an outreach model. Officers reach out to customers and offer services at doorsteps. We are closer to microfinance organisations. Besides, we also offer customised savings product to people. We layer it with new technology. Some 35 such branches have already been set up in around nine districts of Madhya Pradesh. It has started building a network in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka, where it has 10 branches.

Micro ATMs work like tablets which have applications developed internally and have biometrics and a printer attached to them. They are available at fixed outlets which could be kirana stores where the shop owner is the operator. The applications loaded on it allow deposit and withdrawal facility and service request. The retailer has a current account with the bank. He dispenses and accepts cash even as the customer does not need to have an account with IDFC Bank.

The micro ATMs also provide instant account opening and activation, working on multiple identifiers, including Aadhaar-based authentication, mobile numbers, debit cards and bank account numbers.
Backed by its growing impetus on mechanised painting solutions and focus on the industrial and automotive business units besides the decorative paints division, on Monday posted an increase of 59.7 per cent at Rs 92.8 crore in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.

Its net profit during the corresponding quarter of the 2014-15 fiscal year stood at Rs. 58.1 crore.

On a consolidated basis, the Kolkata-based company's net sales and other operating income for the quarter under review stood at Rs 1,129.7 crore as against Rs.1,040.4 crore in the corresponding quarter of the last year, representing an increase of 8.6 per cent.

The paints company's Board has recommended a total dividend of Rs. 1.65 (165 per cent) per equity share of Re. 1 each.

Out of this, Re. 0.65 or 65 per cent per equity share has been paid as interim dividend.
As the domestic demand for coal has started dwindling with surplus stock at power plants, Coal India has started exploring export opportunities, hoping to enter Bangladesh with the upcoming Maitree super-critical thermal project there. A team recently visited Bangladesh and is likely to table its report soon.

State-owned power generator NTPC is developing a 1,320-Mw thermal power project in Khulna, Bangladesh, in partnership with Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). A company, Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company, with a 50:50 ownership ratio has already been floated in this endeavour.

Previously, Bangladesh had asked us to rationalise the prices of higher grades coal at par with international prices which could open up this corridor for us It is one country we cannot ignore, a senior Coal India official said. Recently, Coal India increased prices by 6.29 per cent, hoping to generate extra annual revenue of Rs 3,234 crore. This price revision will also be applicable for exports, the official added.

NTPC, together with BPDB, will select the lowest bidder. This puts Coal India in direct competition with Chinese and Indonesian coal suppliers. Signing of Financial Services Authority will depend on the price quoted by lowest bidder and as such there will not be any preference for any particular company or country, an NTPC official said. A 1,320-Mw plant would require six million tonnes of coal every year, with a buffer stock of three weeks.

Although Coal India is confident that the proximity with Bangladesh and the development of inland waterways will make its coal cheaper than the Indonesian variant, experts said its feasibility also depends on the grade of coal opted by the plant and the price volatility in the international market.
The Delhi High Court continued hearing petitioner rebuttals to the central government's stand in the FDC (fixed dose combination) drug ban case today.

The conflict arose after the central government issued a notification on March 10 pursuant to the Kokate Committee report banning 344 FDC's, leading most large pharmaceutical manufacturers including Pfizer, Abbott, GlaxoSmithKline and Cipla to challenge the move in the Delhi High Court.

The court first heard the batch of petitions on March 14 and provided the manufacturers interim relief by allowing them to continue production and sale of the notified FDC's.

In today's hearing, the petitioners continued highlighting their objections against the government's justification of the ban. Senior advocate Ashwini Mata opened the arguments for the pharma by reiterating the absence of DTAB (Drug Testing Advisory Board) and DCC (Drug Consultative Committee) consultations prior to issuance of the notification by the government.

He vehemently contending that such prior advice was mandatory in nature and as a result rendered the ban 'ipso-facto' void due to the deficiency.

Appearing next, senior advocate Gopal Jain furthered the stand of the petitioners by seeking to clarify the scope of the government's power under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. He submitted that the statute contained an in-built doctrine of proportionality, which specifically provided for safeguards from unreasonable government action. "The act is a conclusive code with built in checks and balances, it needs to be followed strictly. In modern day governance, there is a well established need for full statutory compliance and transparency" Jain said.

In support of their contentions, the counsels for the petitioners also drew the attention of the court to Sections 6, 12 and 33 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, which allow the government to frame rules only after prior consultations and argued that the same requirement applied to notifications under Section 26A (under which the ban was issued) as well.

After hearing the arguments advanced, the bench presided by Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw further extended the interim orders previously advanced and listed the matter again for tomorrow in an attempt to expedite proceedings before the close of the court for the summer vacation.
Days after the Finance Ministry rejected the proposal to waive off mandatory local sourcing to set up single-brand stores in India for Apple Inc, the Commerce Ministry on Monday said it will again push the case of the iPhone-maker.

However, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, she was not in favour of Apples another proposal to import refurbished phones and sell in India. We are not in favour of any company selling used phones, however certified they may be, she said.

While Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), under the Finance Ministry, recently allowed Apple to set up retail stores in India, the US-based companys request to waive off the mandatory local sourcing of at least 30 per cent material was rejected.

According to DIPP norms, 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) is allowed in single-brand retail as long as the retailer sources goods worth 30 per cent of the total value locally. This rule can, however, be relaxed for companies which bring cutting edge technology to India, subject to government approval. A panel, comprising the DIPP secretary, a member of the NITI Aayog and representatives from the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, can give exemptions on a case-to-case basis. This panel had last month exempted Apple from the sourcing norms.

However, the FIPB, led by Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, suggested that proper guidelines be laid down by DIPP to define what comprises cutting edge technology, remaining unconvinced of Apples plea.

Apple had earlier stated its difficulty in meeting the norms, since it does not have any manufacturing unit in India. The issue will be closely watched by the Chinese phone-makers, eager to expand in India. Earlier this month, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited India and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the companys India plans. Apple currently sells its products in India through arrangements with other retailer.

Tax holiday for start-ups'



The Finance Ministry should consider raising tax holiday for start-ups to 7 years from the current three years, Sitharaman said. We shall pursue it and there shall now be lots more interactions with them, she told reporters while briefing them on the initiatives taken by her ministry during the last two years. For 2016-17, the allocation of Rs 1,100 crore has already been made and 35 new incubators have been established, she said.

FDI equity flow up 53 per cent



On FDI, she said that between June 2014 and January 2016, FDI equity flow recorded a growth of 53 per cent to $60.04 billion, from $39.19 billion during the preceding 20 months. FDI inflows in the country increased to the highest-ever figure of $51 billion in 2015-16, she added. Further, talking about the Twitter sewa launched by her ministry, she said stakeholders are using this facility and their queries have been resolved on time.

Within one month, 98 per cent cases have been responded to, the minister said, adding that out of 750 queries raised, 735 have been cleared.

EU wants misunderstandings out before resuming FTA talks



The European Union wants to sort out some misunderstandings before resuming the talks on the long-stalled proposed Free Trade Agreement with India, Sitharaman said.

She also said that the two sides are yet to finalise the dates to resume the negotiations. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom has written to me and that there are no pre-conditions and that EU would want to have some of the misunderstandings sorted out much before the talks can resume, Sitharaman said. The minister said one has to be mindful of the fact that EU is going through a time when they are waiting for the outcome of Brexit.

On other FTAs, Sitharaman said a framework is being drafted for the proposed India-Iran preferential trade agreement. She said India is moving forward on other free trade pacts including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Australia, Israel and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). A joint study group has been set up for the India and Eurasian Customs Union  Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan  pact and the first draft report is ready. With the South American country Peru also, a joint study group has been established to explore the possibility of entering into an FTA, she added.
We have availed the services of a real estate agent in connection with an immovable property located in India. What is the service tax implication, if the agent raises an invoice on our parent company abroad and our parent company debits the same amount to us? Will we be required to pay any service tax for services received from our parent company?



As per Rule 5 of the Place of Provision of Services Rules, 2012, "the place of provision of services provided directly in relation to an immovable property, including services provided in this regard by experts and estate agents,shall be the place where the immovable property is located..."



Since the service is in relation to the immovable property located in the taxable territory, service tax is payable by the service provider. Since you reimburse the parent company for the same amount billed by the real estate agent, there is no consideration for that part of the transaction and hence, no tax.

On our exports to Bangladesh, we have to pay commission to our agent abroad. We have not declared the commission in the shipping bill or EDF form. How to proceed further?



As per Para C.25 of RBI Master Circular on Export of Goods and Services, "In cases where the commission has not been declared on EDF/SOFTEX form, remittance may be allowed after satisfying the reasons adduced by the exporter for not declaring commission on Export Declaration Form, provided a valid agreement/written understanding between the exporters and/or beneficiary for payment of commission exists." So, you may give the necessary documents to your bank and ask them to make the remittances.

We refer to your Q&A of May 9, 2016 that in case of website designing service provided to clients abroad no service tax is payable. Is it necessary to receive the amount in foreign currency to be exempt from service tax? Will we be exempted from service tax even we receive rupees by a payment gateway? Will Rule 6A of Service Tax Rules, 1994 come into play?



When the service is not taxable, the question of how you receive payment for that service does not arise. If place of provision of service is outside taxable territory, service tax will not be payable even if payment is not received in foreign exchange, or any other condition of the said Rule 6A is not fulfilled.

The goods we imported on duty payment are defective. The supplier does not want them sent back because of high costs. He is willing to send a replacement, but we have to pay duty on it. Is there any way to get refund of duty paid on the rejected goods?



You can claim refund of the duty paid, if the rejected goods are destroyed or rendered commercially valueless in the presence of the proper officer, or you relinquish your title to the goods and abandon them to customs within the time limit stipulated in Section 26A of the Customs Act, 1962.
India's sixth largest software exporter L&T Infotech, a subsidiary of engineering giant Larsen & Toubro, has withdrawn offer letters to around 1,500 students in south India. These students, mostly from the 2015 batches of various Tamil Nadu colleges, had been hired through campus placements and subsequent tests. Some of these students have now started a fast near Chennai's Infotech City from Monday.

The withdrawal of offer letters is an indication that the company might have overestimated its future business after giving offer letters. The company, though, cited the 'poor performance' of the students in a second online test conducted in March this year for withdrawing the offer letters.

According to K Seetharaman, secretary of Knowledge Professional Forum, had, in 2014, decided to hire 5,000 people from 20-25 colleges across India.

An email sent to L&T did not elicit any response. But an insider said the company had given only the 'letter of intent' to hire and not appointment letters.

Of these, 500-600 were hired from Tamil Nadu to join from FY15 onwards.

For 18 months, the students were 'benched' by the company. After several rounds of talks, the company held another online test in March this year. "Almost 90 per cent of the 1,500 people who appeared for the test were not qualified and it clearly shows that the intention was not to hire them," he said. This is the first time that an Indian information technology (IT) services company has asked recruits to appear for another round of test after campus selection. Under placement rules, a student cannot approach a rival company after accepting an offer letter at a campus recruitment. This clause blocked many candidates from approaching other .

The Forum was launched in 2000 to work on issues related to IT/IT-enabled services employees and their rights. The Forum demanded that these 1,500 students be hired by the company immediately and compensation be given for the past 18 months as they have been waiting without salary for a long time. They also demanded that campus recruitment be monitored by government agencies or institutes such as Anna University and there should be working councils in all infotech firms.

The withdrawal of letters comes in the backdrop of an unprecedented move by Flipkart. The online retailer informed 10 IIM-Ahmedabad students that their joining dates had been deferred to December. The decision was announced on May 20, three days before the candidates were to join. Flipkart cited an organisational rejig for the deferment. The L&T stock closed flat at Rs 1,486 a share on the BSE on Monday.
Utility vehicle and tractor manufacturer recorded a net profit growth of six per cent during the March quarter but fell short of street estimates.

The Mumbai-based company posted a standalone net profit of Rs 583 crore for the quarter, up from Rs 550 crore in the same time a year ago. A Bloomberg poll of analysts had forecast net profit of Rs 681 crore for the reporting quarter.

M&Ms standalone net sales grew 15 per cent during the quarter to Rs 10,666 crore from 9,288 crore in the same quarter of 2014-15.

The companys excise break for the Pantnagar plant expired leading to a decline in margins during the quarter, executives said. However, there was a pick-up in sales during the reporting period.

Utility vehicle sales volume grew 21 per cent to 69,082 even as tractor sales grew nearly 19 per cent to 41,129. In both segments the company commanded a market share of 41 per cent during the quarter.

After five consecutive quarters of declines, the tractor industry grew 7.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015-16. This was due to a marginally higher rabi grain production and low industry base.

The forecast for growth in tractor sales for the industry is 10 per cent. The companys board recommended a dividend of Rs 12 per share of Rs 5 face value, which would absorb a sum of Rs 842 crore, M&M said.

Standalone net profit for the year ended March 31, dipped 4.6 per cent to Rs 3,167 crore from Rs 3,321 crore in 2014-15. Net sales for the year were Rs 40,396 crore, up 6.61 per cent from Rs 37,891 crore in 2014-15.

Last year, the company launched nine vehicles, including the TUV300 and KUV100, which pushed up growth.

M&M will not be able to match that rate this year.

This year we will not be making any new platform launch, said Pawan Goenka, executive director.
Manali Petrochemical is padding up to go global with five international application centres and is already in talks with Singapore, Qatar, the US and some western European nations. The listed petrochemicals major, a part of the MA Chidambaram group, will make an investment of Rs 150 crore for the centres through a subsidiary to be set up in Singapore.

Muthukrishnan Ravi, managing director, Manali Petrochemicals, said the discussions with authorities in Singapore and Qatar were at an advanced stage. The investment would be funded through internal resources, he added.

The application centres will work on new technologies and create better systems for existing applications to cater to the needs of their respective geographies. These will drive Manali Petrochemicals expansion plans, and will be crucial in augmenting the companys capabilities in product development and technology generation, catering to its global customer base.

The first application centre has been set up in Chennai.

The move is also expected to strengthen the speciality product portfolio of the company that has witnessed a growth in demand. The company aims to move towards more value-added products, which are more profitable.

Ravi said the mix of speciality and applications products to commodity ratio is expected to be half and half eventually, from the current 30 to 70. This would increase the margins.

Ashwin C Muthiah, chairman, Manali Petrochemical, told Business Standard, So far, the Rs 800-crore crore company has been more focused on commodity. To improve the bottomline and stakeholders value, it has now decided to focus more on speciality and value-added products. Our vision in the next five years is to transform from an indigenous industry pioneer to a company with a multinational presence through value addition.



The company will also look for opportunities to set up manufacturing facilities and appointed consultants to study inorganic opportunities in the additive industry, system houses as well as industries catering to the system houses. The new facilities will be manned by top class technical talent including 20-25 in each centre having PhDs. The centres can also impart technical training for small scale applications to aspiring entrepreneurs and small-scale industries.

GOING GLOBAL
He recited a famous couplet by Mirza Ghalib, asked youngsters to be bold and ambitious, and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to talk about Digital India initiative.

However, the main reason global tech giant Microsofts India-born chief executive officer (CEO) Satya Nadella came to the national Capital on Monday was to push linking of Aadhaar to Microsofts video-calling platform Skype, according to sources in the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology.

Nadella met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in separate meetings.

If Microsoft wants to come out with a new model of Aadhaar-based digital identity, we are okay with. It, however, has to be according to the rules of the land and should benefit every section of the society. A nod has already been given for a pilot project and based on that, we will decide if Skype could be linked to Aadhaar, said a senior official with the IT ministry.

In February this year, Microsoft said it was working with the Indian government to link Skype with the Aadhaar database. Brad Smith, president and chief legal officer at Microsoft Corporation, had said the company would merge the two services and see if Skypes video calling facility would be used as a way to authenticate various services of the government.

Smith had termed the governments unique identity programme a great initiative and that the company would stand by the system.

We have been pursuing work, initially on a pilot basis, to use this specific technology and integrate it with Skype. We see Skype evolving in a way that will enable someone at home to authenticate themselves using that ID system with a fingerprint or iris scan and then communicate with someone on the other end, maybe even a government agency, which will know that the person is the same as he or she is claiming to be, Smith had said then.

According to Microsoft, this will enable people to testify in government-related matters and that they would not have to travel long distances as they would be able to do so in front of a computer.

According to market experts, Microsoft wants to increase the usage of Skype as it wants to increase the revenues.

More users mean more advertisements and more ways in future to monetise the service. Aadhaar linking is one of the ways to increase eyeballs, said an expert on condition of anonymity.

Nadella, who is in India for a day, also said that developers and entrepreneurs from India are playing a key role in driving innovation - both in the country and outside - and that the company wants to be the platform for creators here.

Nadella is not the only global technology CEO who is courting India for business. The chief executives of Apple (Tim Cook) and Google (India-born Sundar Pichai) have made trips to India in the past six months, seeking market access as well as to announce plans to set up development centres in the country.

All the three executives have courted Modi, who has launched the Digital India campaign that aims to increase the use of digital services for governance.

Its so inspiring for me to come here to see this broad spectrum of student developers, entrepreneurs, artists and even some big brands, e-commerce companies who are all changing the landscape of India and thereby, the world, Nadella said, while delivering keynote address at Microsofts Tech For Good, Ideas for India event.

He added that it was a privilege to be a platform underneath this Indian success. Our mission is to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more. It's not about celebrating our technologies. Its about celebrating technologies that you all in India create. In fact, I want us to be the platform creators that foster ingenuity of what is happening in India, he said. This is Nadellas third visit to the country since he took over as Microsoft CEO in February 2014. In December 2015, he was in Mumbai and had also visited the T-Hub in Hyderabad.

Talking about the changing landscape of technology, Nadella said the idea of conversations as a platform was a transformative change in computing.

When you change the way you see the world, you change the world you see, Nadella added. Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, who was also present at the event, said technology is a platform of growth for India.

If you innovate in India for India, you are going to be able to innovate for the world, India can, then, become the entrepreneurial engine for the next six billion people on the planet just like the US is the entrepreneurial engine for the top one billion people. Thats the opportunity we have, and that is India's economic future, Sinha said.

Nadella is also expected to attend a session with some key industry executives at an event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

MACROMAN AT MICROSOFT

Our mission is to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more. Its not about celebrating our technologies. Its about celebrating technologies that you in India create. I want us to be the platform creators that foster ingenuity of what is happening in IndiaWhat if all you did was spoke or texted to get work done? Thats the world I think you can create. In fact, you will build bots that have this fundamental understanding of human languageWhenever I read (Ghalibs) hazaron khwahishen aisi ki har khwaish... I interpret it differently. There is so much to it... It also tells us that it is not just your dreams that need to be fulfilled. It's also your ability to dream that is worth dying for
State-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) posted a net profit of Rs 174.58 crore for the January-March quarter on account of refunds for surrendering Code division multiple access (CDMA) spectrum on Monday.

The company had a loss of Rs 595.11 crore in the same period a year ago.

"...On surrender of CDMA spectrum, the compensation of Rs 458.04 crore has been received from government which is included in other income and current quarter," said in a filing to the stock exchanges.

The public sector telecom firm closed its CDMA unit on 1 March, 2015 and "profit of Rs 315.99 crore is included in the profit/ (Loss) for the current financial year."

For the year ended 31 March, 2016, MTNL's standalone net loss narrowed to Rs 2,005.74 crore, from Rs 2,893.39 crore a year ago.

The consolidated net loss of too narrowed to Rs 2012.24 crore for year ended 31 March, 2016 from Rs 2901.16 crore at the end of March 2015.

Shares of closed at Rs 20.05 a unit, up by 11.7% compared to previous close, at Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder and chief executive of One97Communications, which runs Paytm, spoke to Nivedita Mookerji on the group's payments bank plans, funding and valuation in e-commerce and its biggest investor Alibaba's India foray. Edited excerpts:



Do you see this as a challenging time for fundraising in e-commerce?



I can say it's not difficult for us. There's more demand (to invest) than we can handle, there's more incoming request than there was previously. And we have said more 'no' than 'yes'.

When is your next round of funding?



We don't need money now. We have enough money for current operations. People have been making offers and benchmarking prices, while we are saying 'not yet'.

Has your company experienced a valuation markdown like some others?



The offers that we have received are many times over our expected valuation. We are in the business to build money, not to raise money.

What would you peg Paytm's valuation at?



We are not in the market for fundraising, so I cannot give a number yet.

Why do you think valuations in some leading e-commerce such as Flipkart have been marked down?



Valuation is typically based on expectation of a business but it is not a single depiction of a company. A markdown could be because of market conditions and demand at a certain point. It may not be a true reflection of a company's intrinsic value. I think the valuation talk is overrated. Founders and entrepreneurs should build intrinsically value-led companies, so that if you are not there, people will miss you hell of a lot. For instance, if Amazon is not there in the US or Alibaba is not there in China, people will miss. If Google is not there, you will miss it a lot.

What about Flipkart? Will it be missed if it was to go?



I'm sure Flipkart will be missed by people who are used to it. There's no doubt about it.

Are you planning to hire more students from IIT, IIM campuses as some rivals have kept students waiting?



Surprisingly, we underestimated our requirements in bank and finance while we hired. So, we can pick up another 100 - given a choice - from IITs, IIMs, XLRI and others soon. This is in addition to recent 45 campus placements.

What's the employee strength and outlook?



It's around 4,500 now, up from 3,500 last year. We have hired more than 200 in technology and business teams this year. Within one year of launching payments bank, the employee strength will be 5,000.

What's your thought on shifting from gross merchandise value (GMV) of products sold on a platform to customer satisfaction metrics?



Those who were chasing GMV were dumb from Day One. It was not a number to chase. Their math was not right.

What are the financial goals for the group?



By April 2018, we should have a transaction GMV of Rs 1 lakh crore, up from Rs 20,000 crore now.

Currently, what's the Alibaba play for Paytm?



They are the most important and incredible partners for us. We continue to leverage each others' capability. They also bring us money, surprisingly (laughs).

What if Alibaba enters the Indian e-commerce market on its own? Does that worry you?



No, it is not a worry. We have said clearly that Paytm will be known as payments and financial services company. I haven't heard that Alibaba has plans in those areas in India.

But do you believe that Alibaba will make a direct entry into India on its own, rather than with where it has invested?



That's a commercial and economic model discussion. I don't think I have a direction on that. I know Paytm will be a formidable banking and financial services company. We both (Alibaba and Paytm) are in sync. They are giving us ammunition in technology, resources and money as we demand and as we need.

Are you looking for another round of funds from Alibaba?



We have money for 31 quarters if we were to carry on with our current businesses. Once we launch payments bank, the money will still last us three to four years. There has to be tremendous reason to raise money or if someone is selling.

Are you looking at phasing out e-commerce or any other segment over time?



E-commerce is an incredible asset for us, like Amazon Web Services. It is a profitable asset in our business book. It is also critical for access to merchants. As for phasing out, the recharge business may come down in percentage terms in the total transaction pie. It is 25 per cent now and may be down to 5-7 per cent in one year.

How will you rank the segments within the group, in terms of profitability potential?



Financial services will be on top followed by commerce, treasury and payment. Wallet or payment is last because we want to incentivise merchants and consumers. That should remain sustainable rather than looking for profit.

When are you launching the payments bank and how much will you invest?



We will launch by Diwali and will invest around Rs 300 crore to begin with. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated an investment of Rs 150 crore.

How many bank branches are you looking at and which regions do you want to go into first?



We are not aggressive on branches. Maybe one or two, while focusing more on business correspondents. We want to begin with Northeast and central India as they are the toughest. If we solve the tough places, we will be able to solve the rest.

There are concerns around the business model of payments bank and whether they can be profitable.



It is a totally profitable business model. Profitability is not a distant dream. No mark has been decided by the board. The idea is to make sure you are prudent enough and start making money.

What about profitability in your e-commerce business?



We are among the rare e-commerce companies to have started making money. We are technically profitable.

In payments bank, what will be your acquisition cost of a customer?



We are setting it at $1, including know-your-customer (KYC). Currently, the group's acquisition cost of a customer is $2. We have to keep it low.

Are there any regulatory challenges in banking?



Not now, unless roadblocks come later. In KYC, we are talking to the regulator to understand the rules We want to build India's first Aadhaar-only bank.

Is it a concern that three banking licencees have dropped out?

Not at all. People have to discover their business models. Ours is sorted. We may bring a new banking business to the world along with RBI.

STRAIGHT TALK

They are giving us the ammunition - tech, resources, money as we demand and as we needThose who were chasing GMV were dumb from Day OneWe can pick up another 100 from IITs, IIMs, XLRI, if given a choice on payments bankWe want to build India's first Aadhaar-only bank
Non-disclosure of the severance package offered to Infosys' former chief financial officer (CFO) Rajiv Bansal in his annual compensation for FY16 has been questioned by proxy advisory firms and experts.

However, most of them agree that offering of a "non-compete fee" to top executives during separation is a standard practice.

In FY16, Bansal's total annual compensation was Rs 23.02 crore, including a gross salary of Rs 1.31 crore. This compares with a total annual compensation of Rs 4.72 crore he earned in the preceding year, according to the company's annual reports.

It is a standard practice among tech companies to include "non-compete fee" in the severance package, said Shriram Subramaniam, founder of InGovern Services, a proxy advisory firm. In case of Infosys, Bansal was the CFO for less than two years. The package, they say, is commensurate to his role in the company. "I am surprised they neither disclosed the amount nor made any announcement about the compensation," added Subramaniam.

Bansal, a chartered accountant, had joined Infosys in 1999. In November 2012, he took over as the CFO of Infosys, replacing V Balakrishnan, who decided to take up other roles in the company. Bansal joined taxi aggregator Ola as CFO after quitting Infosys.

"The compensation package of Rajiv Bansal, as outlined in our annual report, includes fixed pay, performance bonus and long term bonus. In addition, at the time of his exit, the company signed an enhanced non-compete and non-disclosure agreement, which includes a severance package, to be paid over a period of time," Infosys said in a statement.

"It is a bit unusual," said Amit Tandon, founder and managing director of Institutional Investor Advisory Services India (IiAS), a proxy advisory firm. "It perhaps makes sense if someone is being asked to leave, but when someone is resigning from the company, why is there a need to pay him extra?" he added.

In FY16, Bansal was the second highest paid employee after CEO & MD Vishal Sikka, who was given an annual compensation of Rs 48.73 crore, including variable pay and other components. Chief Operating Officer U B Pravin Rao, who is also a board member, was compensated with an annual package of Rs 9.28 crore.
Around 200 seafarers with Shipping Corporation of India, the country's largest shipping company, are on a hunger strike since Saturday over wages and arrears.

According to the National Maritime Board (India) agreement that concluded in March 2015, Shipping Corporation was required to raise wages of its seafarers by about 30 per cent. However, the company has not revised wages for over a year.

The National Maritime Board agreement is applicable for petty officers working on foreign-bound, home trade and offshore vessels of Indian flag.

Shipping Corporation has a fleet of 69 vessels, mainly tankers and bulk carriers.

"Arrears have not been paid for over a year now. Neither have wages been revised. Seafarers on 16 vessels of Shipping Corporation have gone on a hunger strike," said Abdulgani Y Serang, general secretary of the National Union of Seafarers of India. "If the company does not implement the wage hike, we will look at intensifying the agitation," he said. The agitation is likely to spread to other vessels, he added.

Shipping Corporation has 2,500 seafarers. If more join the agitation, the country's merchandise trade could be affected, experts said.

"Other member lines of the Indian National Shipowners Association have revised wages, why not Shipping Corporation? It is binding on the company," Serang pointed out. The company had at a board meeting on May 26 discussed the wage issue but seafarers had not heard from the company at all, he added.

In 2014-15, Shipping Corporation reported a profit after a gap of three years. In 2015-16, the company reported a net profit of Rs 377 crore, up 87 per cent from a year ago.
The countrys largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, suspended production at both its plants on Monday afternoon as the supply of air-conditioning systems from Subros Manesar unit halted.A fire on Sunday damaged the Subros plant and resumption of operations may take a few months.Maruti is looking at other ways to source air-conditioning units. The production loss will affect Marutis sales in May.Subros and Maruti Suzuki are assessing the extent of damage to essential equipment. We are also examining options of supply of components from other facilities. Production will resume as soon as components become available, Maruti said in a statement.Subros, which has about 40 per cent market share in the vehicle air-conditioning business, also has plants in Noida, Chennai, Pune and Sanand. Maruti sources some air-conditioning systems from Sanden Vikas and Denso.Subros sells approximately 1 million AC systems to car makers in a year with Maruti being its biggest client. Other clients include Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and Nissan-Renault. Supply to buyers other than Maruti is mostly from Subros other plants.

Maruti produces almost 5,000 vehicles a day between its two plants- Gurgaon and Manesar- in Haryana.

At the BSE, Maruti's stock ended the day at Rs 4,073.15, down 1.65 per cent from the previous trading day. The BSE Sensex ended in the green with addition of 72 points. In February, Maruti had lost two days of production or about 10,000 units, due to the component supply disruption created by the Jat agitation in various parts of Haryana. The company was forced to shut operations at both its plants - Gurgaon and Manesar - in Haryana.

The stock price of Subros, which supplies air conditioning system to Maruti ended Monday's trading with a 3.87 per cent decline at the BSE. Subros sells approximately one million AC systems to car makers in a year with Maruti being its biggest buyer. Other clients include M&M, Tata Motors, Nissan- Renault. Suppy to buyers other than Maruti is mostly met from other plants.

Subros said in a statement to BSE on Monday that there was no causality or major injury due to the fire. "The fire was controlled, however it has severely impacted the building, stocks and plant and machinery. The Company has initiated steps towards re-functioning of the Manesar plant at the earliest and steps are being taken to service the customer requirement from our other plants at Noida, Pune and Chennai," it said.
Around 500 Indian pilgrims enroute to were stranded in Nepal's mountainous region of Hilsa and Simikot due to inclement weather which has also hampered the operation to evacuate them, officials said on Monday.

The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu was in touch with Nepal's Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, Chief of Army Staff, Director General of Military Operations and police officials for rescuing the stranded Indians, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

The stranded pilgrims are part of tour organised by private travel operators.

Around 50 pilgrims were evacuated from Hilsa to Simikot and around 100 from Simikot to Nepalganj, he said, adding only a limited number of helicopter sorties could be carried out for their evacuation.

"According to Nepal Police, there are currently around 250 pilgrims in Hilsa and a similar number in Simikot. On Monday evacuation operations have started, but are being hampered by inclement weather," he said.

Swarup said Nepalese authorities have assured all possible assistance subject to the weather conditions.

"While there is no shortage of essential items, situation can normalise only when regular air services can be undertaken in an uninterrupted manner every day," he said.

The Indian Mission in Kathmandu is deploying First Secretary (Consular) Pranav Ganesh and a staff member to Simikot to take stock of the situation and coordinate with tour operators and Nepalese government agencies on the ground.

Hundreds of Indian pilgrims undertake yatra in the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China negotiating the mountainous terrain.
Around 250 firms that impart resettlement training to retired defence personnel are being investigated by a committee set up by the (MoD), reported The Indian Express on Monday.

According to the report, the investigations were initiated after an "internal finance unit alleged 'massive financial irregularity' in the scheme costing around Rs 20 crore every year". The report added that MoD data shows that Rs 70.36 crore was spent on the scheme between 2011-2014 and Rs 53 crore had been earmarked for 2015-2017.

Formed last month to investigate the allegations made by the MoDs Integrated Finance division, the committee, in its site inspections, found that some institutes in New Delhi and Ghaziabad "could not be located or did not have the required infrastructure or affiliations", the newspaper said.

The report added that an earlier inspection conducted by authorities from the MoD found that several such institutes have not made any official information, including contact information, public.

Speaking to the Indian Express, Prabhu Dayal Meena, secretary (ex-servicemen welfare), MoD, said: When we received complaints from Defence Finance, we set up a committee. Spot inspection of training institutes is on and it is a little premature to give a final picture.

The training programme, the report said, consists of courses ranging from "modular management, fire protection to dairy farming and vehicle repair".

The report cited figures saying that 82,270 personnel have received such training in the last three years.

The alleged irregularity, the report added, was brought to light by Principal Integrated Financial Advisor Savitur Prasad. In a letter from March this year, Prasad flagged the matter and said that the training fund was being used without sanction from the office of the Integrated Financial Advisor.

The letter, according to the report, said: The training aspect does not come under the category of immediate operational need and as such require IFA concurrence. The conduct and participation of training and workshops have been linked with the austerity measures prescribed by the Ministry of Finance and inherent powers are not to be extended to the Director General (Resettlement).

The report added that Prasad had also flagged the alleged misuse of selection guidelines, which state that only training institutes run or approved by the Centre, state governments, public sector units, etc, should be used.

Prasad described the process as a system failure at various stage and called for an investigation by the Central Vigilance Commission, the report said.

Additionally, the report said that Prasad's letter was followed by Additional Controller General of Defence Accounts, Atul Kumar Saxena, writing a letter, in April this year, saying: If training assignments were awarded on nomination basis, the due diligence carried out by the DGR (Directorate General of Resettlement) and its subordinate offices for ascertaining the credentials of the training institute may please be furnished.
Fourteen out of 16 perennially loss making hotels owned by state-run will be sold off and the process to privatise them has already started, Tourism and Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said today.

The Minister said the Finance Ministry is taking forward the disinvestment plan to totally offload government's stakes in all the ITDC-run hotels except the Ashoka and Samrat hotels in the capital.

He said the government decided to privatise the hotels to improve the financial health of India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), a public sector undertaking that currently runs 16 hotels in Delhi, Patna, Jammu, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Bhopal, Bharatpur, Jaipur, Guwahati, Mysore, Puducherry and Itanagar.

"The process to privatise the 14 hotels has already been started. There are certain issues with the states and we are trying to address them," he told PTI.

During NDA's first stint in power between 1999 and 2004, the then Vajpayee government had divested its stakes in 18 hotels, bringing down the number of state-run hotels from 34 to 16. Asked about the amount of money the government was eyeing to raise from the sale of the hotels, he refused to give any figure.

The Minister also said the issue of appointing a brand ambassador of Incredible India campaign was "not pending" before the government.

He was asked whether Tourism Ministry has put on hold appointment of Amitabh Bachchan as face of the Incredible India campaign after his name appeared in the Panama Papers controversy. "The issue of appointing a brand ambassador is not pending before our government," he said.

On the new tourism policy, Sharma said the government has put it on hold for the time being as it was trying to make certain provisions more concrete and effective.

The policy will lay out a roadmap for the tourism sector. India's share in the global tourists flow is around 0.68 per cent and government plans to raise it to one per cent by 2020 and two per cent by 2025.

Sharma said the government is considering setting up a Tourism University as part of a series of measures to boost the tourism sector.

"Our first target is India gets a major chunk of world tourism market. We want to make India a tourism friendly country. We are putting in all efforts to make tourist places clean and safe. Growth of tourism will spur overall economic growth and generate employment," he said.

He said government's priority is to showcase the rich Indian heritage and culture to the world.

On reports of cracks in the 12th century Sri Jagannath temple in Puri, he said the government has initiated the process of repair.

"The director general of ASI and the Culture Secretary have visited the temple along with a team from IIT Madras. They said there is no risk to the temple. Our Prime Minister has also directed us to do it at the earliest," said Sharma.
The Mehbooba Mufti government of on Monday proposed to set up a journalist welfare fund with an initial corpus of Rs 2 crore for providing financial help to working and accredited scribes in the state.

The legal heirs or dependents of working journalist will be provided assistance from the fund in case of death or incapacitation of the scribe concerned, state Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu said in his budget speech in Legislative Assembly.

"I propose to set up a Journalist Welfare Fund with an initial corpus money of Rs 2 crore for the welfare of working and accredited journalists of the state," he said.

"For last 26 years, journalists working in strife-torn state of are facing hardships as there is no welfare scheme for scribes," Drabu said.

"It would be ideal if the journalists of the state get together and set up a society, frame the rules and guidelines for administering this fund," he said.
A 20-year-old pavement dweller died here after he was mowed down by a car being driven by a Naval officer allegedly under the influence of liquor, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place late last night near Telugu Talli flyover (Asilametta-Dondaparthi Area) that falls under Two Town police station limits, police added.

The deceased, identified as N Raju, was a native of Vizianagaram.

The accused, Chinmayi Talwalkar (24), is posted as a Sub Lieutenant at the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam, Circle Inspector of Police (Traffic) Two Town Police station S Naidu said.

"Talwalkar was driving a Hyundai i-20 car from Novotel Hotel to Naval base after attending a small party at the hotel late last night. Another navy man and son of a naval officer were present in the car with him," he said.

However, when the vehicle came near the flyover, Talwalkar lost control and the car ran over Raju, who was sleeping on the pavement. He died on the spot due to severe head injuries and three others were also injured in the incident, Naidu added.

According to ACP (Traffic) K Prabhakar, although Talwarkar was under the influence of liquor, his blood alcohol content (BAC) was found to be 18 mg/100 ml, while those of two others in the car was 19 mg/100 ml.

"Police can register a drunken driving case if the BAC is above 30mg/100 ml. But, we have also collected the blood samples to ascertain the accurate amount of alcohol. Based on the report, further action will be taken," he added.

The accused has been kept under watch at the Two Town police Station, while the two others in the car have been let off. Police have registered a case under IPC section 304 (part 2) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).

According to police, the victim was a native of Vizianagaram town and had moved to Vizag few years back along with his father, both are daily wage labourers.

The injured have been admitted to a hospital, police said, adding that further investigation is on.
The Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday will hear the Centre's plea along with a petition seeking ban on the sale of large diesel-powered vehicles in 11 cities besides the capital.

The Heavy Industries Ministry has moved the asking it not to extend the diesel vehicle ban to other cities.

Meanwhile, the has asked various states to submit response to three questions:

1. The worst polluted city of the state

2. The number of vehicles in the city and a breakdown of petrol and diesel vehicles

3. Current population of the worst polluted city

Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been asked to respond.

The has said that all relevant and the latest data needs to be submitted by Tuesday and warned that if the said states fail to product the data, a bailable warrant against the chief secretary of the non-compliant state will be issued.

According to reports, 11 cities, including Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad, are likely to come under a ban on large diesel-powered vehicles. Such cars have been defined as those having engine capacity of more than 2,000 cc.

Earlier, the NGT bench after hearing a petition filed by Lawyers Environmental Awareness Forum (LEAF) ordered that diesel vehicles over 10-year-old may not be allowed to ply in six cities, including Thiruvananthapuram, Kothamangalam, Thrissur and Kozhikode.

The bench also directed the traffic police to take action and charge a fine of Rs 5,000 as environment compensation from defaulters.

The petition had demanded toxic gases by the old diesel vehicles such as lorries and buses should be immediately curtailed and a strict rule should be brought for it.


The government's weather office says the current bout of light to moderate rain across many parts of northern and central India, accompanied by heavy winds, aren't pre-monsoon showers.

These are nothing but summer season thunderstorms, at least in the northern and central parts. Pre-monsoon showers are still a few days away, D P Yadav, director, India Meteorological Department (IMD), told Business Standard.

IMD has predicted the southwest monsoons onset over Kerala's coast will be delayed by six days, while private weather forecasting agency Skymet said this would start from June 1, its normal time. IMDs forecast is with an error of plus or minus four days.

The rains in north and central India are mostly due to western disturbances but in the south, yes, we can say some pre-monsoon showers have happened, said D S Pai, deputy director general at IMD.

However, Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist at Skymet, said the rain in north and central India was due to a combination of cyclonic circulation over neighbouring Pakistan and also pre-monsoon activity.

The cyclonic circulation over Pakistan formed a rainfall trough which passed through Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and right upto Gangetic West Bengal, which caused the rains, including in the foothills of the Himalayas, he said.

The intensity of these showers would go down in the next few days. On the onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala, Palawat said 60 per cent of the 14 measuring stations there had recorded 2.5 mm or more rain for consecutive days, one of the main parameters for declaration of the onset.

However, the other two criteria, of westerly winds between 15-20 nautical miles and cloud patterns, have not been fulfilled. IMD declares a monsoon onset when all the three criteria are met, of which the first one has been," Palawat said.
Lamenting the plight of in rural areas amid incidences of suicides, Union Minister for Road, Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari on Monday said that voices from villages were not reaching New Delhi.

Speaking at the 35th convocation at the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), Gadkari said that the administrative system was "far away from issues of rural areas". "I come from a region where have committed suicides in large numbers. It is a matter of great concern to all of us that how can we improve the situation in these regions," Gadkari said.

"I have been living in Delhi I since some years now. I have seen that village voices don't reach Delhi. The administrative system of politicians and bureaucrats are far away from villagers. Neither the media and bureaucracy or politicians are aware of the grass root problems of the rural areas. And therefore the extent and the speed with which these issues should be addressed is not happening," Gadkari added. Highlighting rural issues further, Gadkari said that people were not migrating happily from rural areas to urban areas but were forced to due to lack of amenities. "They migrate because there are no facilities like hospitals, schools, roads, etc., in the villages.

It is unfortunate that in our country, priority has not been given to rural progress," Gadkari said.

Talking to the graduating students of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), Gadkari encouraged them to inculcate social entrepreneurship and work towards innovation, which could be beneficial to the and rural population.

Taking an indirect dig at the chopper scam, Gadkari said: "We bought Rs 70,000 crore worth of aircrafts. But even today the villages do not have water to drink and for farming. Therefore, there is a lot of work to be done in this direction and fresh graduates like you can contribute to this cause with a great zeal."

Highlighting water scarcity as the most crucial problem, Gadkari said that the country's total irrigation stood at 46%, of which the least irrigated was Jharkhand at 5.6%. "Irrigation in other states includes Maharashtra at 18.6%, Madhya Pradesh at 21% and Gujarat at around 32%. There are about 11 states that face water crisis, including Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and the Bundelkhand part of Uttar Pradesh. Some of them have excess water problem and some of them have scarcity," Gadkari said, while emphasising on the need of water conservation to tackle water woes.

IRMA saw the 195 strong batch of Post Graduate Programme in Rural Management and two Fellow Programme in Rural Management graduate at the convocation where Gadkari called for research and better technology for betterment of agriculture and village life. "Resources are not a major problem. Unless there is technological upgradation, research and innovation, there can't be economic viability in agriculture or rural economy," he added.
A rather peculiar aspect of India's growth structure under the new Gross Domestic Product series has been the stellar performance of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in the manufacturing segment.

With the bigger manufacturing companies struggling over the past few years, it was these smaller companies that provided the much needed fillip to manufacturing growth.

The Reserve Bank of India's analysis of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs database confirms this. Gross value added (GVA) by these companies grew at a staggering 17.3 and 16.2 per cent in 2013-14 and 2014-15, respectively, dwarfing the value addition by their larger counterparts who grew at a modest 10.1 and 12 per cent over the same period.

But what is troubling is that bank credit to MSMEs has slowed quite sharply over these past few years. After growing at a robust 15.5 per cent in 2013-14, gross bank credit to MSMEs slowed down to 6.8 per cent in 2014-15, thereafter contracting by 3.6 in 2015-16.

As bank credit is considered to be a leading indicator of growth, does this contraction signal a reversal in the fortunes of the MSME sector and, in turn, that of the manufacturing sector? Or are these companies relying on other sources of funds to fuel their growth?



The contraction in bank credit can be attributed to the sluggish macro-economic environment and the sharp rise in the non-performing assets of banks. This has led to banks becoming even more cautious, as a consequence of which lending to MSME's has been curbed.

"In such a scenario of mounting losses and sluggish economic growth, loans to the MSME sector have dried up as they are more vulnerable to become NPAs" says Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist at CARE. Thus, for these smaller companies even obtaining working capital loans for carrying out daily operations would be difficult.

So how are these companies financing their operations?One possible explanation could be that these smaller companies have been able to tap other sources of funding such as NBFC's, urban development banks and micro-finance companies. But in the absence of reliable data on credit flows from these sources, it is difficult to know for sure.

Another explanation, perhaps a more likely one, is that these companies are increasingly retaining a larger portion of their profits to plough back into their business. This trend is confirmed by RBI's analysis of the ministry of corporate affair's database which shows that retained profits of over 230,000 MSMEs grew at a staggering 14 per cent in 2014-15. Analysts like Saikat Roy, at CARE, also believe that with bank credit to these companies slowing down, they are mostly relying on retained earnings to fuel their growth.

It is possible that this increase in retained earnings, which could have partly offset the decline in bank lending, helped finance their operations and drive growth in 2015-16.

While disaggregated data on GVA by the MSME sector and large companies is not available for 2015-16, it is likely that the MSME's continued their stellar performance aided by an increase in retained earnings.

This can be inferred from the fact that the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which essentially tracks large companies, grew at a slower pace in 2015-16 as compared to 2014-15. IIP grew at 2.4 per cent in 2015-16 as compared to 2.8 per cent in 2014-15.

By comparison, GVA added by the entire manufacturing sector grew at 8.1 per cent at current prices in 2015-16. Thus if the big companies were struggling then it is only logical that smaller companies would have pushed up growth.

But the question now is if bank credit continues to be sluggish then can these companies continue to rely on their own resources to fund their growth going forward?



As data on retained earnings for 2015-16 is not available, its difficult to know for sure. But it is possible that as the price of raw materials fell sharply during 2015-16, profit growth would have edged further upwards. This would have created space for these companies to retain an even larger share of profits to compensate for further declines in bank lending. But with commodity prices firming up in 2016, earnings are likely take a hit in the absence of a significant boost to top line growth. Thus it would be difficult for MSME's to rely on retained earnings going forward.
In a fresh development in the chopper case, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, in an interview to The Indian Express, said that Italian company Finmeccanica is banned from participating in any new defence procurement. Finmeccanica is currently under investigation for charges of bribery in the VVIP chopper deal.

The newspaper quoted Pakkikar as saying, "Finmeccanica is banned from participating in defence procurement. I cannot ban it from doing something else if it wants to. In defence we dont buy equipment from some countries for security reasons, but I dont stop that country from selling smart-phones in India."

On Sunday, PTI also quoted Parrikar, saying, "Wherever there is capital procurement of Finmeccanica and their subsidiaries, all Requests for Proposal (RFP) will be closed. I am very clear.

He further added that the process for blacklisting the Italian company and its subsidiaries has already begun. A note with regard to the same has also been sent to the Law Ministry.

The decision to blacklist Finmeccanica will affect all its subsidiary companies, including . Other companies that will face a backlash of this decision include naval products company Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquel (WASS), aerospace major Alenia Aeromacchi, radar and communications firm Selex Electronics Systems (ES) and armaments company Oto Melara. Contracts with either of these companies that may already be under execution will also come under the radar.

According to the report, Selex ES is currently fitting the RAN-40L AESA radar system on aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, while Oto Melara is involved in building a 76-mm naval gun, collaboration with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL).

However, Parrikar's statement focuses only on new capital acquisitions. The newspaper explains Parrikar's statement as saying that import of spare parts of already acquired defence supplies, along with annual maintenance of these supplies, will be continued with the firm itself.

The report further confirms that the tender with WASS to provide 98 Black Shark for Indias six French Scorpene submarines, will also be withdrawn.
On Tuesday morning, in a milestone in indigenous aircraft development, India's home-grown basic trainer aircraft, the Hindustan Turbo Trainer - 40 (HTT-40), could make its first flight.

Last week, the HTT-40 completed high-speed taxi trials, in which it accelerated to take-off speed, and even lifted its nose slightly off the runway, checking all its systems for actual flight. Next, the pilots will go through a full take-off, and then carry out basic flying manoeuvres before landing the aircraft.

If this goes off well, it will be a victory for public sector undertaking Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), which has strongly backed the HTT-40 project, defying a sceptical Indian Air Force (IAF).

The IAF had blocked funding for the HTT-40, telling the defence ministry the aircraft would be too expensive, too heavy and would not meet the air force's needs. HAL continued anyway, allocating more than Rs 350 crore of company funds.

The IAF was backing a Swiss trainer, the Pilatus PC-7 Mark II, importing 75 for Swiss Francs 557 million (Rs 3,770 crore at current rates), in a controversial deal signed in May 2012. Those aircraft have already joined the IAF fleet.

But the IAF needs another 106 basic trainers, and wanted the Swiss aircraft, not the Indian one. In July 2013, then IAF chief Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne wrote personally to then defence minister, A K Antony, requesting the HTT-40 project be closed and 106 more aircraft be imported from Switzerland. As Business Standard reported, Browne's letter to Antony was based on incorrect figures and procedures were violated to favour Pilatus. That was validated last year, when Business Standard reported a defence ministry internal noting that concluded Pilatus might not have been the lowest bidder.

Since 2015, indigenisation-friendly Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has goaded the IAF into accepting the HTT-40 and setting up an "integrated project management team" to oversee the project. To meet the IAF's training needs while the HTT-40 is flight tested and brought into production - which could take two years - 38 more PC-7 Mark II trainers are being bought. The remaining gap of 68 trainers would be filled by the HTT-40.

HAL projects it will build the first two HTT-40 trainers in 2018, eight in 2019, and reach its capacity of 20 per year from 2020. HAL hopes to build 200 HTT-40s, exporting a "weaponised" version to countries like Afghanistan, Myanmar, and some African customers. HAL chief, T Suvarna Raju told Business Standard the HTT-40 would be developed into a capable ground-attack aircraft, ideal for countries that cannot afford expensive fighters or air bases with long runways. HAL hopes to price the HTT-40 at about Rs 40 crore per aircraft, one-fifth the cost of a basic light fighter.

Stringent Swiss end-user restrictions prohibit weaponising the PC-7 Mark II.

The HTT-40, like the PC-7 Mark II, is a propeller-driven, turbo-prop aircraft for "Stage-1" training of rookie pilots. After 80 hours of basic training, pilots shift to "Stage-2" training on the HAL-built Kiran Mark II jet trainer. Next comes "Stage-3" training on the Hawk advanced jet trainer (AJT), which HAL builds under licence from BAE Systems.

The HTT-40 features a pressurised cockpit, "zero-zero" ejection seats, and a state-of-the-art cockpit display with "in-flight simulation" that permits an instructor in the rear cockpit to electronically simulate various system failures, training the rookie pilot in the front seat in handling emergencies.

HAL says that 55 of the trainer's 95 systems have been designed and built in India. Another 35 systems will be built in India with transferred technology, including the aircraft's Honeywell TPE-331-12B engine. This high degree of indigenisation would make it easy to support the HTT-40 through its service life.
Punjab, the pioneer of progressive dairy farming in India, is struggling to retain its leadership in supplying high-yielding cows across the country. The state's dairy industry has been limping along under the shadow of the stringent cattle protection laws that curb the movement of cows to certain other states where cow slaughter is permitted.

Inter-state trade of the high-yielding cow, Holstein Friesian, cross bred by the semen of progeny-tested bulls imported from the US has been hit, as tedious paper work and permission from the state authorities have dissuaded buyers from other states to procure animals from Punjab.

Inter-state bovine sale is an estimated Rs 2,500 crore industry in Punjab and is the backbone of the state's agriculture.

Although Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, has in-principal agreed to provide permit for the cows sold at animal fairs on the spot, nothing has changed on the ground, farmers say.

"Due to stagnant returns on milk and spiraling commodity prices, relying only on milk sales is not remunerative. A supplementary source of income from breeding animal is imperative. But the declining demand of cattle due to restrictions imposed on sale of cows has pulled down the price and it has become a loss making proposition", said Daljit Singh, President, Progressive Dairy Farmers' Association, Punjab. He added that the vehicles of traders were also impounded by the self-styled cow-protectors that has diverted the business from Punjab.

"A cow breeder in Punjab incurs about Rs 80,000-90,000 on rearing a cow till its first pregnancy. Due to the high awareness level and availability of high-quality semen, small breeders mushroomed in the state during the last few years.

On reaching the first pregnancy stage, Punjab cows earlier used to fetch around Rs 1.25 lakh per head or even more. But the average price has come down to Rs 60,000-70,000. Now a breeder suffers a loss of Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per cow, while he used to earn earlier there used to be profit of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per cattle head," he said.

According to Punjab Animal Husbandry department, Punjab contribute 5.16 per cent cow milk of India with only 1.27 per cent cattle population. The reason being higher proportion of cross breds and their higher productivity in Punjab.

The dairy breeding has flourished in Karnataka in the last few years as Karnataka is the only alternative source of HF cows in India. The officials in Karnataka Milkfed informed that cattle breeding has been picking up in Kartaka. But cows in Punjab are fed on scientific meal where as in Karnataka, it is mostly fed on natural grazing so yield is higher in Punjab.

A cow in a progressive dairy farm fetches 25 kg to 65 kg per day and in Karntaka Progressive dairy farms the average yield per day is 15-40 kilograms a day.

The in breeding (breeding with in the family) in Karnataka also makes cattle less remunerative as this results into lower yield and genetic disorders.

The premium quality of Punjab cows can be established from the fact that Uttar Pradesh Government under its Kamdhenu scheme for dairy farmers that provides 12 per cent interest subsidy to farmers for five years, the UP Animal Husbandary Department advises farmers to for only Punjab H F cows due to higher yield..
Simon Gaplin, managing director of Economic Development Board, Bahrain, was in India to convince Indian companies to set up businesses in his country to access the wider Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) market. He tells Dilasha Seth and Indivjal Dhasmana that Bahrain is the freest economy in the region and offers a wide range of opportunities for Indian firms to set up base there. Edited excerpts:



What is the purpose of your visit to India?



Our role is to really encourage Indian companies to expand beyond India, to take advantage of market opportunities and use Bahrain to gain access to new markets in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and across GCC. So, our role is basically to make Indian companies expand.

What advantages does Bahrain give for Indian companies to set up base there than, say, Dubai?



Bahrain is an open economy. It is the freest economy in the whole of the main region. You don't need to have a local partner; you can have wholly-owned businesses in many different sectors. Bahrain has no tax. It has no income tax, no sales tax, no tax on investments, and no corporate tax. And, there is government support for those businesses that are going to create employment in Bahrain.

Which areas are Indian companies currently present in Bahrain?



We have a number of Indian companies in Bahrain, some of whom for decades. We need to do more to promote Bahrain. Dubai, UAE have been very successful in attracting a wide variety of Indian companies. We feel that perhaps some of the opportunities in Bahrain have not been communicated by us as they should have been done. We need to change that. We're trying to communicate facts that companies can access, particularly Saudi Arabia, very effectively from Bahrain.

What about those companies that have already set up base in Dubai and other GCC countries?



For companies which have already been established in Dubai, it makes sense to them to consider Bahrain when they are expanding. According to a KPMG report, some manufacturing costs are 40 per cent lower in Bahrain than in UAE.

Which are the areas where Indian companies can expand in Bahrain?



Bahrain has a very large aluminum smelting industry. So, there are large opportunities for downstream aluminum manufacturing industries. We have been working with Indian firms that are looking at setting up small-scale manufacturing or distribution outlets to serve that market. The new opportunity we feel is tourism. We like to encourage Indian hotels and Indian destination marketing companies to tap that sector. We get 30 million visitors. We think there is a scope to reach out to Indian visitors.

How has decline in oil prices affected Bahrain's economy?



Even prior to the drop in oil prices, Bahrain was trying to diversify. The drop in oil prices has given the government more incentives to do so. So, we're focusing on tourism, the financial sector and ICT (information and communications technology).

How can Indian companies tap the financial sector and ICT markets in Bahrain?



We already have a number of Indian banks. But, we're also looking at start-ups in India. There could be an Indian start-up that has reached a particular point, now looking to expand its reach beyond India. Bahrain could also be considered by Indian start-ups for getting the next round of funding.
The NDA government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has completed its two years in office. It is normal for any government which enters the middle of its tenure to consolidate its road map for the future. For the Modi government, the first two years has also been like the slog-overs.

The government was formed in a peculiar environment. The UPA had abandoned policy formulation. It was dubbed as an era of 'policy paralysis'. Both global and domestic investors had started disregarding India. India was off their radar. The credibility of governance was marred with scams and scandals.

The Prime Minister's Office was no longer the repository of the last word. The 2014 election verdict was aspirational. The decisive majority in the Lok Sabha made decision making easier for the new government. The Prime Minister, by instinct, is decisive. The character of governance has changed.

Prime Minister Modi and his team have presented India with a changed political and governance culture. That India can have a clean government at the Centre where files move on their own, middlemen are unemployed, discretions are eliminated, is a reality being presented before the country today. From 'policy paralysis', India has transformed into the fastest growing global economy for two years in a row.

Federalism has been respected as never before. The Prime Minister, with his hands-on approach, has presented India with a government that projects itself as different from its predecessor.

India needed investment. Investment is the starting point of all economic activity. Both the banks and the private sector had over stretched themselves during the UPA government. Thus, a bulk of investment in the last two years came by way of enhanced public expenditure and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The emphasis of the investment has been India's infrastructure, rural sector and India's social sector. The highways sector is booming all over again. The expenditure this year on India's rural roads will be three times what it was earlier.

Twenty five more regional airports will be added. The Railways are being strengthened. With the re-development of four hundred major railways stations, the face of Indian Railways will be changed. There is more power available than what India needs. The port capacity is being strengthened with additional investments. Game changing initiatives in the oil and gas sector have been taken.

Electrification of all un-electrified villages, expansion of rural roads, rural sanitation, housing for all, enhanced expenditure on irrigation, more money for the Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, more money for interest subvention to make cheaper capital available for the farmer, are all instrumentalities of funding rural India.

The social sector schemes have been path breaking. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is the largest ever financial inclusion scheme in the world. Every Indian today has the facility of being connected to a bank account. Subsidies are being rationalized so as they are targeted only to the poor and needy.

The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) is saving a lot of money being used for undeserving sections so that it can be preserved for the more deserving. The cheap insurance schemes, the employment generating Mudra Yojana, landmark crop insurance schemes and the proposed health insurance for the weaker sections are a part of the larger social security package that the government has rolled out.

For the first time in history, coal, mineral, spectrum, etc, are all available only through online auctions. The mining sector today has been opened up for investment. The non-discriminatory system of allotment is in sharp contrast to the scam culture of the past.

Taxation in India was perceived as extra aggressive



Today, 94% of assessees file their returns online, all taxpayers get their refunds digitally sitting at home and only 1% have to physically interact with the Department for their assessments. The direct taxes are being rationalized so as to incentivize manufacturing and increase investment.

The GST, once implemented, will prove to be one of the biggest tax reforms since independence. It will allow a nationwide transfer of goods and services without any stoppage. It will reduce evasion, yield higher tax and increase India's GDP.

The banking sector has been considerably expanded. Small Banks, Payment Banks, which are now available through licenses on taps, have provided more options to the consumer. The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code, coupled with amendments to the Sarfaesi Act and strengthening of the Debt Recovery Tribunals will go a long way in empowering the banking system to recover dues.

The Fourteenth Finance Commission has enhanced the share of the States in central tax pool from 32% to 42%. This has empowered the States to spend more for development.

In the past two years, the NDA broadened its footprints all over the country. After the Lok Sabha elections, the NDA won in the states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam. We lost in Delhi and Bihar. The Congress lost every state post 2014. The NDA today, besides ruling the Centre, is in power in fifteen states in the country. Its footprints have expanded.

The next one year will witness many more important legislations and directional steps in policy formulation.

Under Prime Minister Modi, our effort will be to grow and grow faster. We have shown to the world a Government with a difference. We will continue to strive in that direction.

The Union Finance Minister wrote this article exclusively for the Press Trust of India.


The plan of Export Development Authority (MPEDA) to shut down two out of three ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) screening laboratories in Odisha has irked the seafood exporters.

The pre-harvest testing of aquaculture products is mandatory for export to European Union (EU) countries. MPEDA had set up three ELISA screening laboratories at Dhamra, Balasore and Bhubaneswar to conduct the pre-harvest testing or screening of the aquaculture products (shrimp or fish) to detect the presence of antibiotics residues like Chloramphenicol and Nitrofuran metabolites before the produce is harvested.

"Keeping in mind the geographical locations of shrimp farming and farmers, MPEDA had established three pre-harvest testing labs at Dhamra, Balasore and Bhubaneswar in 2011 and 2012. MPEDA's plan to shut down these labs at Bhubaneswar and Dhamra is anti export policy", said G Mohanty, former president, Sea Food Exporters Association of India- Odisha region.

It is a serious impediment to the state's plan of growth of the sector, he added.

The Odisha government has set a target to step up seafood exports to Rs 10,000 crore by 2020.

Odisha exports about 11 per cent of sea food to EU countries and stands third in market wise export after Japan (39 per cent) and United States (US) with 28 per cent.

Worried with the MPEDA's decision, the Sea Food Exporter's Association of India- Odisha region, recently, has written to MPEDA, requesting not to shut down the labs pivotal for farmers of the state.

"Recently, we have written to commerce ministry and MPEDA requesting not to close the labs for the greater cause of the sea food farmers of the state. MPEDA has informed us that they are reconsidering their decision", said Ajay Dash, president, Sea Food Exporters Association of India- Odisha region.

At least, the lab in Bhubaneswar should not be closed as it serves the purpose of farmers in the districts of Jagatsingpur, Ganjam and Kendrapada, he added.
Punjab is having a problem in retaining its earlier leadership in supplying high-yielding milk cows.

Inter-state trade in the high-yield Holstein Friesian (HF) variety, cross-bred with imported bull semen from the US, has been hit by tedious paperwork, dissuading buyers from other states. The inter-state bovine sale is an estimated Rs 2,500 crore industry in Punjab.

Due to stagnant returns on milk and spiralling commodity prices, relying only on milk sales is not remunerative. Supplementary income from breeding animals is imperative. But, the declining demand for cattle due to restrictions imposed on sale of cows has pulled down the price and it has become a loss making proposition, said Daljit Singh, president, Progressive Dairy Farmers Association, Punjab.

On reaching the first pregnancy stage, Punjab cows earlier used to fetch around Rs 1.25 lakh per head or even more. The average price has come down to Rs 60,000-70,000, a loss of Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 per cow. Earlier, he used to earn a profit of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 each, he said.

According to the state's animal husbandry department, Punjab contributes 5.2 per cent of cow milk in India, with only 1.3 per cent of the cattle. The reason being higher proportion of cross-breeds and their higher output in Punjab.

Karnataka is the only alternative source of HF cows and cattle breeding has been picking up there. However, cows in Punjab are fed on scientifically combined meals; in Karnataka, it is mostly natural grazing. The yield is higher in Punjab; with those in a progressive dairy farm fetching 25-65 kg a day. In Karnataka, it is 15-40 kg a day. There is also more cattle in-breeding in Karnataka, resulting in lower yield.
Mindful of the severe pressure on the public-sector banks (PSBs) to make provisions for bad loans and weak financials, the government has estimated a dividend payout of Rs 2,672 crore from 16 banks for 2016-17. According to the governments Outcome Budget 2016-17, eight players, including two large players  Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of India (BoI) might not be in a position to pay dividend for FY17.

According to PSB executives, banks face the twin challenges of lower earnings due to muted credit growth and swelling of provisions for non-performing assets (NPAs) in 2015-16. The obligation of credit costs would continue to be high in FY17 for further slippages and old NPAs.

According to Outcome Budget for 2016-17, the other banks who might skip dividend are Central Bank of India; Indian Overseas Bank; Allahabad Bank; UCO Bank; United Bank of India; and Vijaya Bank. The finance ministry had drastically revised the amounts it could get from these banks as dividend in 2015-16.

At the start of FY16, it had estimated the figure at Rs 6,930 crore, which was later revised down to Rs 1,232 crore. It was quite a climb-down from expecting all the 21 listed PSBs to reward the majority owner to pruning the list to five lenders  State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Andhra Bank, Union Bank and Punjab & Sindh Bank.

A drive by the Reserve Bank of India to clean up bank balance sheets through recognition of stressed loans and provisions for the same changed the calculations.

Collectively, the listed public banks posted a net loss of Rs 17,671 crore for 2015-16 against a net profit of Rs 36,349 crore for 2014-15. Canara Bank, which was expected to chip in with a dividend of Rs 133 crore, booked a net loss of Rs 2,812 crore for 2015-16 against a net profit of Rs 2,702 crore in the previous year.

SBI posted a net profit of Rs 9,950 crore in FY16, down from Rs 13,101 crore in the previous year. Showing the effect of the banking regulators drive, the gross NPAs of listed banks jumped to Rs 5.81 lakh crore levels by March 2016. A major part of the bad loans comprised corporate debt.

The tally of bad loans for these banks was Rs 3,00,944 crore at the end of March 2015, according to data from Capitaline, compiled by Business Standard Research Bureau.
Global rating agency Standard & Poor's has revised the ratings and outlook for five public sector banks - Bank of India (BOI), Syndicate Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank (BOI), Union Bank of India and IDBI Bank.

The rating action was driven by a sharp rise in bad loans in 2015-16 and a bleak outlook for asset quality over the next 12 months.

S&P lowered BOI's long-term issuer credit rating from "BBB-" to "BB+". S&P Global Ratings Credit Analyst Amit Pandey said the agency downgraded BOI as was expected the bank's asset quality would remain weak over the next 12 months, following a recent deterioration.

The operating conditions for the corporate sector in India are tough.

In this backdrop, BOI's credit costs are expected to remain high due to continued pressure on asset quality.

S&P reduced the long-term issuer rating for Manipal-based Syndicate Bank to "BB+" from "BBB-". It downgraded Syndicate as its asset quality was expected to remain weak over the next 12 months, following a deterioration in the past two quarters.

The gross non-performing asset (NPA)'s ratio more than doubled to 6.7 per cent in March 2016, from 3.1 per cent in March 2015. However, Syndicate's restructured book, at 2.4 per cent, remained one of the lowest among the banks rated by the agency. For Chennai-based IOB, S&P cut long-term issuer credit rating to "BB" from "BB+".

The rating was downgraded because the bank's asset quality might remain weak over the next 12 months, following a deterioration in the past few quarters.

The gross non-performing asset ratio more than doubled to 17.4 per cent in March 31, 2016, from 8.3 per cent in March 2015.

The rating agency changed the outlook of Mumbai-based Union Bank of India from "stable" to "negative". At the same time, it affirmed long-term issuer rating at "BBB-".

"We revised the outlook on Union Bank because of the risk of a potential further deterioration in the bank's asset quality over the next 12-18 months," S&P said.

For Mumbai-based IDBI Bank, S&P affirmed ratings but lowered assessment of stand-along credit profile.

Pandey said: "We affirmed the rating to reflect our expectation that the likelihood of support to IDBI from the government of India will remain very high."



"At the same time, we have lowered our assessment of IDBI's stand-alone credit profile (SACP) to BB- from BB because we expect the bank's asset quality to remain weak over the next 12 months," S&P added.
has partnered with Click&Pay, a Hyderabad-based mobile payment solutions enterprise, to facilitate cashless, secure and flexible transactions for customers.

As a part of this alliance Click&Pay will issue sponsored mobile wallets and employ the bank's immediate payment service (IMPS) platform which will help Click&Pay to process instant proximity transactions with merchants and person to person.

Last month signed a memorandum of understanding with Hyderabad start-up incubation center, T-Hub to work with the latter's portfolio companies, including Click&Pay. This mobile payment solutions start-up will reach out to around 1 million users this year by issuing the Yes Bank sponsored mobile wallet, according to a statement.

"Our vision is to create a vibrant merchant ecosystem where millions of merchants would be able to accept digital payments using Click&Pay. We have on-board around 750 merchants in Hyderabad,"said Sai Sandeep, S, co-founder of Click&Pay.

Ritesh Pai, senior president and country head-digital banking at Yes Bank said they are investing to build strategic alliances in the digital world to deliver mobile banking and payment experiences that are simple, non-intrusive among other things. "This partnership with Click&Pay will allow us to pay a critical role in furthering the net generation of mobile payments," he said.
On International Day of UN Peacekeeper's, a joint seminar onwas organized at New Delhi by the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) and Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping (CUNPK) along with United Nations Resident Coordinators Office. .

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The event was attended by COAS, members of the diplomatic community, veteran peacekeepers, UN Country Teams, students from prominent universities and Indian Army contingents earmarked for UN deployment. .

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Gen Dalbir Singh, Chief of Army Staff delivered the inaugural address wherein he applauded the role of UN Peacekeeping Contingents in maintaining peace across the world. He also highlighted Indias achievement as the second largest troop contributing country with deployment of 7695 personnel across the globe. Gen Dalbir also applauded the Indian Peacekeepers, 04 from Army and one civilian, who were awarded the UN Dag Hammarskjold Medal this year on 19 May 2016. .

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Gen Dalbir further highlighted the necessity of the major Troop Contributing Nations in having a say in the mandate, tasks and policy coordination. He added that mandate of peacekeeping forces was transitioning from Peace Keeping to Peace Reinforcement. The COAS also stressed on the requirement for better training to make sure the soldiers understand the task and the manner in which they are required to operate in actual scenario. .

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Mr Yuri Afanasiev, United Nations Resident Coordinator in India also read out the UN Secretary General's message, after which homage was paid to the fallen peacekeepers by observing two minutes silence. .

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Col Rohan Anand, SM .

PRO (Army) .

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In a demonstration of Indias Act East policy and Indian Navys increasing footprint and operational reach, Indian Naval Ships Satpura and Kirch under the Command of the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, Rear Admiral S V Bhokare, YSM, NM have arrived at Cam Ranh Bay on a four day visit, as part of deployment of the Eastern Fleet to the South China Sea and Western Pacific. .

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During the visit, the IN ships will have professional interaction with the Vietnam Peoples Navy towards further enhancing co-operation between the two forces. In addition, calls on senior Government and military authorities, sporting and cultural interactions and sharing of best practices, aimed at strengthening ties and mutual understanding between the two Navies, are also planned. The visiting IN ships are also likely to conduct exercises with the Vietnam Peoples Navy, aimed at enhancing interoperability in communication as well as Search and Rescue procedures, post departure from Cam Ranh Bay. INS Satpura is commanded by Captain A N Pramod and INS Kirch is commanded by Commander Sharad Sinsunwal. .

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Bilateral relations between India and Vietnam are characterised by strong bonds of friendship based on cultural, religious and economic ties dating back to 2nd Century AD. The influence of Indian civilisation speaks of the deep rooted historical linkages between the nations. Indo-Vietnam relations have been strengthened in recent times by a vibrant economic relationship and growing convergence on security issues. India is now among the top ten trading partners of Vietnam. The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation initiative, which has a unique civilisational foundation, has tremendous potential to become a powerful catalyst for socio-economic development in the region. .

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The Indian Navy has had extensive interactions with Vietnam Peoples Navy, particularly in the field of training, repairs, maintenance and logistics support aimed at capacity building. Reciprocal port visits, high-level delegations and training exchanges have bolstered naval cooperation between the two countries. The last visit by an IN ship to Vietnam was in October 2015, when Sahyadri berthed at Da Nang. .

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The current visit seeks to enhance maritime cooperation between the Indian Navy and the Vietnam Peoples Navy. It will further bolster the strong bonds of friendship between India and Vietnam and contribute to security and stability in this vital part of the world. .

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DKS .

45/16
In a demonstration of Indias Act East policy and Indian Navys increasing footprint and operational reach, Indian Naval Ships Sahyadri and Shakti have arrived at Subic Bay on a three day visit, as part of deployment of the Eastern Fleet to the South China Sea and Western Pacific. .

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During the visit, the IN ships will have professional interaction with the Philippine Navy towards further enhancing co-operation between the two forces. In addition, calls on senior Government and military authorities, sporting and cultural interactions and sharing of best practices, aimed at strengthening ties and mutual understanding between the two Navies, are also planned. The visiting IN ships are also likely to conduct exercises with the Philippine Navy, aimed at enhancing interoperability in communication as well as Search and Rescue procedures, post departure from Subic Bay. INS Sahyadri is commanded by Captain K S Rajkumar and INS Shakti is commanded by Captain Gagan Kaushal. .

.

Bilateral relations between India and Philippines are characterised by strong bonds of friendship based on cultural and economic ties dating back to 7th Century AD. Indian cultural influence reached the Philippines indirectly via the two great Indo-Malayan empires, the Sri Vijaya Empire based at Sumatra and Majapahit Empire of Java, which traded with Philippines. Bilateral relations between the countries received a fresh impetus since the initiation of ASEAN-India Summit level partnership and establishment of East Asia Summit, of which India is a founding member. These annual summits have provided an excellent platform for regular meetings between leaders of both countries, the most recent being in November 2015, at Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar where Honble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had a bilateral meeting with the Philippine President. Bilateral trade between the nations stands at US $ 1.6 billion and India has substantial investments in Philippines in the fields of textiles, garments, IT, BPO, steel, Airport and pharmaceuticals. .

.

The Navies of both countries have been interacting with each other regularly through port visits. The last visit by an IN ship to Philippines was in October 2015, when Sahyadri berthed at Manila. The Philippines-India Joint Defence Cooperation Committee has been set up to enhance defence cooperation between the countries and has widened the scope of defence cooperation to include non-traditional threats as well. .

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The current visit seeks to enhance maritime cooperation between the Indian Navy and the Philippine Navy. It will further bolster the strong bonds of friendship between India and Philippines and contribute to security and stability in this vital part of the world. .

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DKS .

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Frozen peas that could make you sick. A water heater that might explode. Cars with steering wheels that were prone to fail and can cause a crash.

Those are just a few of the thousands of products that manufacturers have recalled this year - and the deluge shows no sign of slowing. Across almost every product category, the scope and complexity of recalls are on the rise. A record 51 million vehicles were recalled last year, nearly three times as many as were sold. Annual food recalls have doubled since 2002, according to a study by an insurance company, and the government's primary products watchdog, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, announces at least one recall every day, on average.

Two trends are driving the increase, consumer advocates and regulators say. First, the high number of recalls is in some ways a sign of improvements in attention to public safety. Some manufacturers will always cut corners or make mistakes, but better detection tools and stricter safety rules mean that problems that once went undetected are now more often spotted and traced back to their source.

That was the case in the recent recall of millions of bags of frozen vegetables and fruits from CRF Frozen Foods, a manufacturer in Pasco, Washington. A routine test by the Ohio Department of Agriculture on packages of frozen corn and peas came back positive for the bacterium that causes listeria, which can make young children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems seriously ill.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention used whole genome sequencing to link the listeria strain found in CRF's frozen vegetables to an outbreak that sent eight people in three states to the hospital."That kind of testing wasn't done 15 years ago," said Gene Grabowski, a crisis communications specialist who has worked on more than 175 product recalls, including CRF's. "You would just get a 24-hour flu or a stomach ache, and nobody questioned it. Now it's being identified."



But sales and manufacturing changes, including many industries' reliance on fewer, more widely shared suppliers, also make today's recalls larger and more complicated than before.

"It's the multiplier effect," said Kevin Pollack, a vice-president at Stericycle, which helps manage recalls. "An issue with one sub-ingredient or component can cause a recall that spans many and geographies because of the interconnected nature of supply chains."



The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which has decades of experience in handling deadly product flaws, calls the continuing the most complex it has ever overseen. The scope is huge 14 automakers and as many as one in every four of the 250 million vehicles on America's roads are affected, the fix is tricky and the stakes are high. After prolonged exposure to heat and humidity, the defective airbags can explode, hurtling chunks of metal into the vehicle's cabin. At least 13 deaths worldwide have been linked to the flaw.

Nearly 29 million Takata airbag inflaters have been recalled in the United States, and at least 35 million more are scheduled for recall, but manufacturers don't have the parts to replace all of them yet. The help offered by manufacturers varies widely from company to company. The letter Honda sent to many customers specifically mentions the possibility of a loaner car, suggesting that owners talk to their dealers about "the provision of, or reimbursement for, temporary alternative transportation."



Bill Vines, who has a 2011 Honda CR-V, received a recall notice in March and contacted his dealer in Rutland, Vermont, a week later. He is now driving a Ford Fusion from Enterprise Rent-A-Car, arranged and paid for by Honda and the dealer, while his own car sits in the parking lot of the inn he owns.

"I clearly would prefer to be driving my Honda, but when you get a letter saying, 'Your car could kill you and the passengers you're driving,' you pay attention," he said.

Other automakers have taken different tacks. Robert Osborn, a BMW owner in Santa Rosa, California, received a letter in March saying that his convertible was being recalled but that parts were not yet available for a fix.

Osborn contacted his local BMW service centre, as the letter suggested, but he was turned down when he asked for a substitute car to drive until his was fixed. Without another transportation option, he nervously, and reluctantly, continues to drive the BMW.

"I live near the ocean, it's humid here. I don't know if they've figured out, this much time plus this much moisture equals exploding airbag," Osborn said. "The letter I got is not very comforting. It offers scary possibilities, but no concrete details about 'Here's what to do, or not do, in the meantime."



Rebecca Kiehne, a spokeswoman for BMW of North America, declined to provide specifics on the company's policy on loaner cars.

"We have authorised our service centres to provide adequate customer assistance. If support is required, we will do our best to provide that support," she said. "Parts are not rapidly available. We're trying to address it as quickly as we can."



Many recalls, including some of the largest, had minimal customer impact. The record for sheer unit numbers was a 2004 recall of toy jewellery imported from India and sold for 75 cents or less apiece in vending machines nationwide. Some of the jewellery contained lead, prompting a recall of 150 million pieces, but not a single instance of harm or sickness was reported, said Patty Davis, a spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Over all, products of all kinds have been getting safer, consumer protection experts said. Vehicle deaths are down to a record-low rate of roughly one death per 100 million car miles travelled. Last year, the fewest children's products were recalled in at least 15 years, according to Kids in Danger, an advocacy group that cited "sustained, faithful implementation" of a 2008 law tightening product safety rules as the main reason for the long-term decline.

Still, with new recall notices rolling out daily, regulators are pressing to do a better job of identifying problems and alerting customers. A patchwork of federal and state agencies coordinates recalls, and the most centralised notification site, Recalls.gov, is an incomplete guide, officials acknowledge.

That puts the onus on manufacturers to be aggressive and creative in reaching their customers. With more traceable purchases, like automobiles and prescription medications, companies will typically use letters, emails, phone calls and sometimes even text messages to spur people into action.

"It almost looks like a marketing campaign," said Mr Pollack of Stericycle. "We may contact an owner 10 to 20 times to get them to bring an item in."



For the Takata recall, in particular, the highway safety administration says it is serious about its goal of a 100 per cent repair rate - even though the phased-repair approach means some defective cars and trucks won't be recalled until late 2019. Honda, the manufacturer with the largest number of affected vehicles, is trying novel ways to get owners' attention, even hiring private investigators and matching the email addresses linked to specific vehicle identification numbers with people's Facebook accounts to send them personalised recall messages.

But for car owners like Robert Osborn, automakers' outreach efforts are a cold comfort until parts for fixes are available.

"I've had my airbag deployed before, a few years ago, I was in an accident," he said. "The risk crosses my mind every time I get in the car."



2016 The New York Times News Service

RECALL ROSTER

TYLENOL CAPSULES

When: 1982

1982 Problem: Capsules laced with cyanide

Capsules laced with cyanide Incidents reported: 7 deaths

7 deaths Products recalled: 31 million bottles

FIRESTONE TYRES

When: 2000

2000 Problem: Tyre failures and tread separations

Tyre failures and tread separations Incidents reported: 271 deaths

271 deaths Products recalled: 14 million

VENDING MACHINE JEWELLERY

When: 2004

2004 Problem: Contained lead

Contained lead Incidents reported: None

None Products recalled: 150 million

VIOXX

When: 2004

2004 Problem: Increased heart attack risk

Increased heart attack risk Incidents reported: 27,000 heart attacks or deaths

27,000 heart attacks or deaths Products recalled: Medicine withdrawn; Merck paid $4.85 bn to settle lawsuit

FITBIT FORCE

When: 2014

2014 Problem: Skin rashes

Skin rashes Incidents reported: 10,150

10,150 Products recalled: 1.1 million

The is turning out to be one of the widest recalls in recent times. American watchdog Consumer Product Safety Commission, was responsible for the single-biggest recall in the US. A look at some of their notable recalls
India-born CEO of Microsoft today said developers and entrepreneurs from India are playing a key role in driving innovation  both in the country and outside  and the company wants to be the platform for creators here.

Nadella, on a one-day trip to India, today met Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad as well as student developers and entrepreneurs this morning.

He is scheduled to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day.

"It's so inspiring for me to come here to see this broad spectrum of student developers, entrepreneurs, artists and even some big brands, e-commerce who are all changing the landscape of India and thereby, the world," Nadella said while delivering the keynote address at Microsoft's 'Tech For Good, Ideas for India' event.

He added that it is a "privilege" to be "a platform underneath this Indian success".

"Our mission is to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more. It's not about celebrating our technologies. It's about celebrating technologies that you all in India create. In fact, I want us to be the platform creators that foster ingenuity of what is happening in India," he said.

This is Nadella's third visit to the country since he took over as Microsoft CEO in February 2014. In December, he was in Mumbai and had also visited T-Hub in Hyderabad.

Nadella quoted poet Mirza Ghalib's famous lines, "Hazaaron khwahishen aisi ke har khwahish pe dam nikle, Bahut niklay mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle (Thousands of desires, each worth dying for... many of which I have realised, yet I yearn for more)", and encouraged youngsters in the audience to be bold and ambitious.

"I learn something new... There are so many layers there... My interpretation of that is... It's not just your dreams being fulfilled, it is your ability to dream that is worth dying for. It is a source of inspiration," he said.

Talking about the changing landscape of technology, Nadella said that the "idea of conversations as a platform" is a transformative change in computing.

"When you change the way you see the world, you change the world you see," Nadella added.

Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, who was also present at the event, said technology is a platform of growth for India.

"If you innovate in India for India, you are going to be able to innovate for the world and India then can become the entrepreneurial engine for the next 6 billion people on the planet just like the US is the entrepreneurial engine for the top one billion people... That's the opportunity we have, and that is India's economic future," he stressed.

Earlier, in the day, Nadella met Prasad and discussed how Microsoft's contribution to the government's Digital India initiative can be enhanced.

"CEO @Microsoft @satyanadella met me today. Discussed in enhancing cooperation with Microsoft towards @_DigitalIndia," the minister tweeted after the meeting.

Hyderabad-born Nadella is also expected to attend a session with some key industry executives at an event being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs, Tariq Fatemi, has said that Pakistani military leadership was 'unaware' of the U. S drone attack in Balochistan, which killed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mansour.

He also rejected the possibility of an intelligence failure in this regard.

" does not have the technological means to detect drones," Fatemi told Dawn News in an interview.

"There are certain domestic and elements involved. But some matters cannot be disclosed," he added.

Fatemi was of the opinion that U. S. drone policy would negatively affect the region where they are carried out.

" may protest against drone strikes, but cannot strike back decisively... Such attacks will never be permitted in Pakistan," he said.

On being asked why aid is sought from Washington despite its violations of Pakistan's territorial sovereignty, Fatemi replied, "Ideally, it is our goal to not seek any aid from them, but Pakistan's economic conditions make it so. We do not actively seek aid from anyone."

Fatemi asserted that is already "in action" against various terrorist groups, including the Taliban and the Haqqani Network.

"We are trying to keep dialogue and negotiations going with the [Afghan] Taliban. Negotiations with the Taliban have reached a rather unique junction. Our agencies will contact the new leadership. Whatever decisions and progress we had made in the QCG (Quardrilateral Coordination Group) is now nil, thanks to the drone strike," he said.

He also stressed that Pakistan alone cannot bring peace to Afghanistan, adding it is a collective responsibility.
says people living in the United States illegally are cared for better than the nation's military veterans.

The Republican presumptive presidential candidate was speaking at the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally, which honours prisoners of war and service members missing in action. Trump was warmly received by the crowd despite having once said he prefers "people who weren't captured" when criticising Arizona Senator John McCain, a war prisoner during Vietnam.

Trump told the crowd that if elected he plans to "knock the hell out of" the Islamic State by building a bigger, better military.

He also reiterated his promise to build a wall to keep out people from entering the country illegally.

"Who's going to pay for the wall?" he bellowed. The crowd yelled back: "Mexico." ''Not even a doubt!" he said.
Completely automate your strategy with only a few clicks; Maximise trading profits by using approved execution strategy, Customise your strategy with custom target and stop-loss, bullish or bearish signals without any programming knowledge.

These are some of the benefits of algo (algorithm-based) trading highlighted by Ludhiana-based broker MasterTrust on its website. MasterTrust is not the only one goading retail traders to adopt algo-based strategies to trade. A slew of other top domestic such as Edelweiss Financial Services, Sharekhan, IIFL, Prabhudas Lilladher and Reliance Securities have started selling the concept to traders.

The objective remains the same: use automation to maximise trading profits. The broker too benefits by getting an additional fee from the traders  as high as Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 per month per strategy  to use the facility. These strategies help traders tap opportunities in a milli-second, which is practically impossible through human intervention. Besides, algos can provide an additional source of revenue to since customers are willing to pay a fee for using the facility, said B Gopkumar, chief executive of Reliance Securities. He said Reliance Securities currently have three or four standard algo strategies in place and might do a mass rollout to its clients in the next month or so.

The simplest algo strategies could involve buying a stock when it rises above the 200-day moving average, or selling a particular stock when it moves into overbought territory. There are many other sophisticated strategies such as pair trading and scalping. Scalping, for instance, involves making profits on small price changes. Traders who implement this strategy will place anywhere from 10 to a couple of hundred trades in a single day to capture small price moves.

At Edelweiss, we are addressing the needs of professional traders and high net worth individuals who have large trading teams, said Harish Sharma, business head  brokerage and wealth management, Edelweiss Broking, adding they were looking to expand the suite of algo products in the coming months.

A MATHEMATICAL MODEL Algo, or algorithm-based, traders use advanced mathematical models to buy and sell stocks

such as Edelweiss, Sharekhan, IIFL, Prabhudas Lilladher and Reliance Securities are pushing algo-based strategies to retail traders

Multi-client algos are targeted at multiple clients and based on the current rules developed by brokers or algo vendors

Single-client algos are customised according to individual client needs

Popular algo vendors include Omnesys, Symphony Fintech and Greeksoft Technologies

Stock exchanges audit all algos to back test them and assess their risk parameters

Algo trades use advanced mathematical models for effecting transactions and can pump thousands of orders in a second. There are multi-client and single-client algos. The former are automated strategies targeted at multiple clients and based on a preset system of rules developed by brokers or algo vendors. Single-client algos are customised according to the needs of a particular client. Popular algo vendors in the market include Omnesys, Symphony Fintech, and Greeksoft Technologies.

Brokers cite several benefits of employing algo-based strategies. It takes away the emotions from decision making, enabling traders to honour stop-losses and other targets. It also helps clients size their trades more effectively and ensure they dont become over-leveraged in the market. Some experts, however, believe algo-based strategies are not suited to individuals because of the complexity and the risks involved.

Retail traders may not be in a position to understand some of these strategies and burn their fingers, said a broker, on condition of anonymity.

While algo trades provide liquidity as more orders are placed, they can distort prices if wrong programmes are allowed to run unchecked. However, this is mostly a problem only in cases of large orders executed by institutional clients.

As a precautionary step, stock exchanges currently audit all algos to back test them and assess their risk parameters, and might take 25-40 days to before greenlighting a particular strategy.

Interestingly, in September last year, the Association of National Exchanges Members of India (Anmi), a body of stockbrokers, had written to the regulator, suggesting ways to minimise risks arising out of algo trades. At present, about 20 per cent of the turnover on the exchanges comes through the algo route.
Teenage striker Marcus Rashford has signed a new four-year contract with Manchester United, which will keep him at Old Trafford until 2020.

Expressing delight over his new deal, the 18-year-old academy graduate said he always had been a Manchester United fan and that it was a dream come true for him to be playing with the Old Trafford club, the Guardian reported.

Rashford, who was also given an option to extend for a further year, produced an impressive performance last season, scoring eight goals for United. He made a sensational debut for his boyhood club by scoring a brace in February's Europa League win against FC Midtjylland.

On Friday, the England international also scored within three minutes of his debut during 2-1 friendly victory over Australia at the Stadium of Light.
Expressing serious concern over reports that the Khalistan terror camp in Canada is plotting attacks in Punjab, the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front (AIATF) on Monday called on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government to take strict actions against the people plotting terrorist activities with Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence's (ISI's) funding.

AIATF chairman Maninderjeet Singh Bitta told ANI that more attacks would take place in the region if the ruling dispensation at the Centre doesn't do anything at the earliest.

"Narendra Modi's government is very strong and their fight against is quite clear. But I would like to caution the government that they need to take this seriously. Hence, I directly ask the government to take strict actions against people, who are plotting terrorist activities against Punjab through Pakistan's ISI funding," Bitta said.

The AIATF chairman's comment comes in wake of reports that pro-Khalistan terrorists are running a camp near Mission city in British Columbia to carry out strikes in Punjab.

According to reports, intelligence officers have prepared a document, which tells that Canadian Sikh Hardeep Nijjar has taken over as the operational head of Khalistan Terror Force and formed a module to carry out the attacks.

Nijjar, who is reportedly staying in Surrey since 1995, is a proclaimed terrorist in Punjab and wanted in connection with the 2007 Shingaar cinema blast in Ludhiana which claimed the lives of six people.
Aksh Optifibre Limited [BSE

Quarterly revenue at Rs. 130 Crores, Up by 19% QoQ

Annual revenue at Rs. 462 Crores, Up by 23% YoY

Quarterly EBITDA of Rs. 21 Crores, Up by 32% QoQ

Annual EBITDA of Rs. 74 Crores, Up by 34% YoY

The global optical fibre demand has reached 392 Million fibre-km from 334 Million fibre-km registering a growth of 17% YoY basis as on December 31st 2015. The OFC market is expected to reach $12 billion by 2020 from the current valuation at $7 billion. With rapidly changing communication requirements and paradigm shift to 4G/LTE and 5G enabled devices coupled with continuous need for high-speed broadband connectivity not only in metros but also in rural and remote area of India, the demand for optical fibre cable is on the rise. In India during the last year alone, over 16 million fibre km of OFC has been consumed and ranked 3rd globally.

The vision of the present Indian Government is to place India high on the digital platform of technology. With all large-scale national connectivity plans like Bharat Net and Network for Spectrum (NFS) now in the final stages of commissioning, the demand for the next phase of last mile OFC connectivity is just around the horizon. With the vision of the Government to provide Good and Transparent Governance, E-Governance is playing pivotal role in delivering services through a digital platform to increase their reach and provide citizens with effective governance. Presently, 42,110 gram panchayats have been connected by an OFC network.

In line with the expansion plan of the Company, with overall capex of Rs. 95 Cr, the Board took note of the developments in this regard and as part of the expansion programme announced capacity enhancement in Optical Fibre by 100 %, Optical Fibre Cable by 50% and Fibre Reinforced Plastic by 200 %. The capacity expansion is being strategically planned to cater to market demands and is on track to become operational during FY 2016-17.

With improved performance in our existing and with a view to mitigate risk to ensure sustainable growth the Board of Directors have approved CAPEX of Rs. 85 Crores for the diversification of its product portfolio to manufacture 200,000 pairs of ophthalmic lenses per day in phased manner to be funded by debt and internal accruals. The Company has initiated steps for shareholder's approval for amendment in objects clause of Memorandum of Association of the Company.

Aksh has been highly instrumental in transforming lives and contributing towards faster development of the states it partners, with its e-Governance arm 1 Stop Aksh. In its endeavour to help community to Live Smart and making government initiatives accessible to the public, 1 Stop Aksh has become the leading Local Service Provider (LSP) in Rajasthan and delivers over 250 Government-to-Citizen (G2C) & Business-to-Citizen (B2C) services through its kiosks spread across the state. With 8600 (3800 in 2015) kiosks operational across the state, Aksh is on track to over achieve its target of opening 10,000 kiosks in the state by the end of 2016. Key services like Micro ATM services, Aadhar Card Enrolments and payment of Government bills and services remain the top revenue generators for the division. Aksh has also been a key partner in imparting digital literacy and promoting employable skill development in the state of Rajasthan by projects like IT Gyan Kendras (ITGK), "National Digital Literacy Mission (NDLM)" and "Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC)". 1stop Aksh has also been partnering government of Rajasthan to connect all government offices at district headquarter level on Optic fibre network which is primary work for Bharat Net.

Mr. Satyendra Gupta, Deputy Managing Director of Aksh Optifibre Limited, commenting on the occasion said, "Team Aksh has executed extremely well to cater to customer expectations in terms of technology, solution development and delivery. We are happy with the continued strong growth in revenue from all divisions even in the face of strong macro-economic head winds globally. I am a firm believer of Aksh's ideology to provide superior technology based solutions for communication needs at affordable cost in the shape of diverse products and services. We are geared up for major expansion and diversification plans which would surely be a game changer for us and the geographies that we work in, to maintain our leadership and continuous increase in market share", he said.

Financial Summary FY 2015-16

Standalone Financials Quarter Ended Year Ended

Q4 FY 16 Q3 FY16 Q4FY15 FY16 FY15

Revenues (INR Cr) 130.00 109.58 109.75 461.69 373.92

Revenues ($ Mn) 19.62 16.54 16.56 69.68 56.43

EBITDA (INR Cr) 20.73 18.56 15.79 73.65 55.03

EBITDA ($ Mn) 3.13 2.80 2.38 11.11 8.31

Net Profit (INR Cr) 2.20 11.20 8.94 33.52 32.11

Net Profit ($ Mn) 0.33 1.69 1.35 5.06 4.
Legendary Oscar winning Indian music composer A.R. Rahman was on Monday awarded Japan's Fukuoka prize for 2016.

It is reported that Rahman has been conferred with the award for his outstanding contribution towards creating, preserving and showcasing South Asian traditional fusion music.

The Fukuoka Prize is an award established by the city of Fukuoka and the Yokatopia Foundation to honor the outstanding work of individuals or organizations in preserving or creating Asian culture. There are three prize categories: Grand Prize, Academic Prize, and Arts and Culture Prize.

Last year, noted Indian Historian Ramchandra Guha was conferred with Fukuoka Prize in academic category.

Rahman was the 1995 recipient of the Mauritius National Award and the Malaysian Award for his contributions to music. A four-time National Film Award winner and recipient of six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, he has fifteen Filmfare Awards in his kity.

In 2009, for his Slumdog Millionaire score, Rahman won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and two Academy Awards (Best Original Score and Best Original Song, the latter shared with Gulzar) at the 81st Academy Awards.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Monday dubbed the recent attacks on African nationals of South Delhi as 'unfortunate'.

Rijiju said the government will try its best to avoid such episodes in the future.

"After what has happened with the African students in Delhi, we are holding regular meetings to come up with ways to sensitize the local populace," Rijiju said.

"Arrests have already been made and the foreign ministry is also looking into the matter along with us. I also had a meeting with the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to discuss the same," he added.

A week after the killing of a Congolese man in the capital that stirred a diplomatic row and instigated violence against Indians in Congo, four attacks on African nationals by the residents in Chattarpur were reported on Friday.

Five people were arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with the four attack incidents on the African nationals on Sunday.

The African nationals had sustained minor injuries in the attack that took place in South Delhi's Mehrauli area on Friday.

The five people that have been arrested are identified as- Babu (32), Kunal (20), Om Prakash (24), Rahul alias Rocky (24) and Ajay (25).

The police is carrying out search operations to nab the other accused persons.

Yesterady, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj spoke to Rajnath Singh and Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung about the attacks and said she was assured that the culprits would soon be arrested.

"They assured me that the culprits will be arrested soon and sensitization campaign will be launched in areas where African nationals reside," she tweeted.
The Centre on Friday notified the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) headed by a former Delhi High Court judge for recommending the passenger fares for Delhi Metro network in the capital.

"The Ministry of Urban Development has notified the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) for recommending the passenger fares for Delhi Metro network in Delhi and its extension to Capital Region. Justice

M.L.Mehta, retired Judge of the High Court of Delhi, for submission of its report and recommendations to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (DMRC)," the ministry said in a release today.

The other members of the 4th FFC are Urban Development Ministry Additional Secretary, Durga Shanker Mishra and Delhi Chief Secretary, KK Sharma.

The fares of the Delhi Metro were last revised in 2009.
The Congress on Monday fired a fresh salvo at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in connection with the increasing attacks on African nationals in the country The party said that it is the lackadaisical attitude of the government, which should be held responsible for the accelerating unrest in the nation.

Congress leader P L Punia while calling for strict action against such incidents, accused the of brewing intolerance in the nation.

"Ever since the NDA government has taken over at the Centre, intolerance has increased in the nation. They may it be between sects of the society or with these African nationals. To curb such incidents, the NDA need to take strict actions and stop such incidents from taking place," Punia told ANI.

"The problem is that the Delhi Police reports to the Central government. And the police also know that the Centre does not pay much attention in such issues, which is why they also don't pay heed. So the police officers, who are neglecting such crucial issues along with people who create such environment should be prosecuted," he added.

Delhi police yesterday arrested five people for the attack on six Africans in south Delhi's Mehrauli on Thursday night.

Three separate police cases have been registered, but the police deny that the attacks were planned.

In protest against the attacks, African students have planned to hold a demonstration in Delhi at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday.

Minister for External Affairs (MEA) Sushma Swaraj has asked Minister of State General (Retired) V K Singh and Secretary Amar Sinha to meet the students and pacify them.
Retorting to Dr. A.Q. Khan's comment that Pakistan could have 'targeted' Delhi in five minutes, Indian defence experts on Monday rubbishing the statement and said that India can give a befitting reply.

Defence expert Rameshwar Rai dubbed Khan's statement as irresponsible and inconsequential.

"There is no implication of this fact as presently A.Q. Khan in not involved in any kind of policy making nor is near any leadership which is taking such decisions. So I believe that his statements will make no difference," Rai said.

"Coming to his five minute statement he should know that after those five minutes what would India had done, I think he has not pondered over the after effects. He has made an irresponsible statement," he added.

Another defence expert, Deepankar Banerjee, said,"If nuclear weapon capability exists and bombs are available it can be prepared in advance and launched at short notice but the question is not whether it can be launched in five minutes, the question is should this be considered at all. Because nuclear bomb is a political weapon, it is never to be used during a war and even it is considered for use it has to be discussed at the highest levels and that consultation should take much longer."

"So, this sort of a sabre rattling in which A.Q. Khan continuously engages even after so many years of his being totally discredited by the international community is a state of affairs within in Pakistan of which we should be deeply concerned," he added.

Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, who is considered the father of that country's nuclear programme, on Saturday said that Pakistan has the ability to target New Delhi from Kahuta, near Rawalpindi, in five minutes.

He also said that Islamabad could have become a nuclear power as early as 1984 but the then President General Zia-ul-Haq opposed the move.

Khan was disgraced in 2004 when he was forced to accept responsibility for proliferation.
Veteran Pakistan batsman Mohammad Hafeez is likely to miss the forthcoming series against England after an MRI scan revealed that the condition of his knee has not improved.

The 35-year-old opener, who was named in the 21-man probable list for the England tour, arrived here on Monday for the test after a medical report described his knee condition as 'unsatisfactory' last week, the Dawn reported.

Hafeez, who sustained the injury during the Asia Cup T20 earlier this year, aggravated his condition after touring India for the World T20. He was forced to sit out in the matches against Australia and New Zealand.

He also missed a two-week-long fitness training programme at Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, which began on May 14.

Pakistan will tour England for a four-match Test series and a five-match ODI series, starting from July 14 at Lord's.
Hundreds of people gathered in Chennai on Sunday to pay homage to late Balachandran, son of the late founder of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who died during the final phase of the Sri Lankan civil war in May 2009.

Late LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran and his 10-year-old son Balachandran were reportedly killed in the armed conflict that started in 1983, when the LTTE launched insurgent attacks against the government aiming to establish an independent Tamil state in the island nation.

Based on some photographs, media reports had suggested that Balachandran was murdered. However, the Sri Lankan government said that Balachandran and other rebel leaders were killed in crossfire during the war.

On the occasion, founder and General Secretary of the regional Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, Vaiko, sought autonomy for Tamils residing in Sri Lanka.

"They are not demanding any separation. They are fighting to get their homeland, which they ruled for thousands of years," he said.

Tens of thousands of civilians were killed in 2009 in the final months the war, a United Nations (UN) panel has said.
The Bombay High Court will on June 6 hear the petition filed by Manish Bhangale, a Vadodara hacker, against Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse over his alleged links with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

Bhangale, who filed the PIL yesterday, has reportedly alleged that the call records from Dawood's Karachi residence shows that he was in frequent touch with a specific mobile number registered in Khadse's name.

In his petition, Bhangale alleges that the Mumbai Police has strong electronic evidence against Khadese, adding despite that no proper action has been taken against him yet.

Last week, the Congress Party had demanded a thorough investigation into the allegations against Khadse.

"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.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had demanded Khadse's resignation 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 claim as 'baseless' but admitted that the number in question belonged to him.
In wake of the repeated attacks on African nationals, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on Monday trained guns at the BJP-led Centre and said Delhi is testament to 'jungle raj' not the grand alliance ruled Bihar.

Lalu told ANI that the Centre must take cognisance of all these attacks and assure safety.

"The Centre keeps on terming governance in Bihar as 'jungle raj'. The way Africans are being attacked in Delhi may I ask what kind of rule is there in Delhi, jungle raj or Anarchy what it is?" asked Lalu.

The RJD boss said the Africans, who are being targeted one after another in the capital, must now be terrified.

"The Union Ministers are dubbing these incidents as minor issues. This is a very grave issue and because of all this the Indian nationals living abroad have to suffer. I condemn these attacks. The government must stop this and assure safety for all," he added.

The Delhi Police yesterday arrested five people for the attack on six Africans in south Delhi's Mehrauli on Thursday night.

Three separate police cases have been registered, but the police deny that the attacks were planned.

In protest against the attacks, the African students have planned to hold a demonstration at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Tuesday.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had earlier asked Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) V.K. Singh to meet the students and pacify them.

Meanwhile, Joint Secretary (West Africa) Birender Yadav met kin of the deceased Congo and informed that the Centre will bear expenses related to dispatch of the mortal remains.
In a major boost to healthcare services in Nagaland, a laparoscopic training centre recognized by Federation of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Society of India (FOGSI) was formally inaugurated here at Nikos Hospital and Research Centre (NHRC) on Sunday.

The launching of the laparoscopic training centre coincided with the happy tidings of accreditation of NHRC by the Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH).

With this, Nikos Hospital has earned the distinction of being the first hospital in Nagaland and the third in the North East Region to get NABH accreditation and also the first hospital in the Region to open a laparoscopic training centre.

Nagaland Minister for Health and Family Welfare, P. Longon, who graced the 'accreditation and inauguration' programme as the chief guest, in his address observed that private hospitals are coming up in Dimapur with a strong vision to provide quality healthcare services to the people.

"Today, I am very proud to say that quality healthcare services are available at our doorstep, being provided by our own doctors who are equally qualified and experienced in their own fields of specialty like any other doctors in the rest of the world," he said.

Stating that quality healthcare is the need of the hour, Longon added that healthcare system cannot be compromised at any cost.

However, Longon also stated that the doctor population in the state is still low and as of now, Nagaland state has to depend on other states to produce doctors to cater to the health needs of the people till the proposed medical college in the state comes up.

Special guest and director, NABH, New Delhi Dr. Gayatri V Mahindroo, who handed over the accreditation certificate to the managing director, NHRC, Dr. Victo A Wotsa, said 'Nikos' is synonymous to victory and getting accreditation is the first step in the NRHC's journey to provide quality healthcare.

She said accreditation and launching of the laparoscopic training centre would also provide an opportunity for the hospital to serve patients from neighbouring states.

Dr. Victo A Wotsa in his welcome address gave a brief account of hurdles faced in the journey of launching the centre and getting accreditation.

Director, Health & Family Welfare, Dr. John Sweyievisa; president of Kohima Obstetrics & Gynaecology Society of Nagaland, Dr. K Keditsu; and Dr. Jyoti Ramadas also spoke on the occasion. Minister for PHE, Tokheho Yepthomi was among the dignitaries and well wishers who attended the programme.
The opposition Nepali Congress on Monday obstructed proceedings in Parliament over an alleged government 'leak' of an annual budget statement before it was presented for debate on Saturday.

The opposition lawmakers demanded that the House form a probe panel to look into the issue.

As soon as the Parliament meeting began this morning, lawmaker and former finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat spoke on behalf of the party and showed a newspaper article which had published information about the budget before it was presented.

He urged the government to inform the House how the confidential information was leaked.

Then lawmakers from the party protested chanting various slogans against the government, Speaker Onsari Gharti postponed the meeting for half an hour.

The Nepali Congress on Sunday had concluded that the budget violated the fiscal discipline.

Some members of the Parliament from the party had also demanded resignation of Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel claiming he was responsible for the leak of confidential information to the media.
The Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday will hear the Centre's plea along with the petition seeking ban on the sale of large diesel-powered vehicles in 11 more cities besides the capital.

The Heavy Industries Ministry has moved the NGT not to extend the diesel vehicle ban to other cities.

Meanwhile, the NGT has asked various states to submit response to three questions:

1. Which is the worst polluted city of the state?

2. Give the number of vehicles in the city and provide a breakdown of petrol and diesel vehicles.

3. What is the current population of the worst polluted city?

Maharashtra, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been asked to respond.

The NGT has said that all relevant and the latest data needs to be submitted by tomorrow and warned that if the said states fail to product the data, a bailable warrant against the chief secretary of the non responding state will be issued.

According to reports, 11 cities, including Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad are likely to include metros.

Earlier, the NGT bench after hearing a petition filed by Lawyers Environmental Awareness Forum (LEAF) ordered that diesel vehicles over 10-year-old may not be allowed to ply in six cities, including Thiruvananthapuram, Kothamangalam, Thrissur and Kozhikode.

The bench also directed the traffic police to take action and charge a fine of Rs. 5,000 as environment compensation from defaulters.

The petition had demanded toxic gases by the old diesel vehicles such as lorries and buses should be immediately curtailed and a strict rule should be brought for it.
This might not be taken well by the James Bond fans, but Sam Mendes will not direct the next one.

In a literature festival, the 50-year-old director said "it was an incredible adventure" and he loved "every second of it," reports the Guardian.

"But I think it's time for somebody else," said the 'Spectre' director.

Mendes, whose films include the Oscar-winning 'American Beauty' and the sombre 'Revolutionary Road,' said that he hopes the next Bond director would come from an "unexpected direction.
Veteran film and television actor Suresh Chatwal took his last breath on May 28 owing to a prolonged illness.

The actor, who was last seen on popular show 'FIR' was cremated on May 29.

Announcing the tragic news, his son, Yaman Chatwal, said: "With great grief, I inform you that my father, Suresh Chatwal is no more between us. He left for heavenly aboard yesterday succumbing to his ongoing illness."

Chatwal, who made his big screen debut in 1969 with 'Rakhi Rakhi', has also played prominent characters in 'Karan Arjun', 'Koyla' and 'Munna Bhai MBBS'.

Kavita Kaushik, Chatwal's co-star in 'FIR' also took to twitter to pay respect to the late actor.

The 35-year-old TV actress tweeted, "our beloved commissioner of f.i.r Shri Suresh Chatwal no more", adding he was a man full of high energy and "old filmy stories."

Chatwal's son also informed that the chautha will take place on May 31 in Mumbai.
The remake of 2014 Hollywood movie 'Chef,' starring Saif Ali Khan, is all set to go on floors after monsoons.

Since the 45-year-old actor is busy dubbing for 'Rangoon' and will soon be occupied with its promotion, the producers of the remake have decided to begin with the shoot once the actor is completely done with his current project.

Raja Menon, who will be directing the 'Chef' remake, said the reason they want to begin the film after the release of 'Rangoon' is "Saif will also be promoting the film, so his availability might be a concern," reports Deccan Chronicle.

The director also added that because "there's a lot of travel involved in the film, so it will be ideal to start the film only post rains."

'Rangoon' that also stars Kangana Ranaut and Shahid Kapoor will hit the big screen on February 27 next year.
A Division Bench of India's Supreme Court has neither dismissed nor rejected the bail application of Manoranjana Sinh, one of the accused in the Sarada Chit Fund scam.

Sinh's lawyers have clarified that the Supreme Court heard the listed matter on May 25 and has allowed their client the liberty to mention and list the matter of bail hearing before the appropriate bench of the Calcutta High Court.

News reports had earlier incorrectly stated that the bail application of Manoranjana Sinh had been rejected or dismissed, but a certified copy of the Supreme Court record of proceedings conducted by a two-judge division bench of Justices Prafulla C. Pant and D. Y. Chandrachud states that the special leave petition is disposed of with the observation that the petitioner shall be at liberty to mention before the appropriate bench (of the high court) for early disposal.

On being told that the hearing of the bail application had been listed as far back as January 19,2016 and was yet to be heard, the division bench of the Supreme Court observed that "We request the high court to dispose of the bail application as expeditiously as possible."

Appearing for Manoranjana Sinh, Senior Counsel Rekha Palli had drawn the Supreme Court's attention to the fact that the petitioner is a single woman who has had two surgeries and discovered with multiple ailments for which she has been confined to hospital just after her detention by the CBI.

Palli said that two division benches of the Calcutta High Court changed but did not hear the matter for one reason or another.

The senior counsel said that the supplementary charge sheet by the CBI regarding Manoranjana Sinh was filed on January 4,2016.

But, the CBI claims the investigation is not complete despite a Supreme Court observation made around November 30, 2015 on another petition in the same case asking the CBI to deploy the necessary manpower to conclude the investigation.

The CBI has been detaining several of the accused, while letting off others on bail. Some have never appeared despite being issued summons and notices.

The senior counsel for Manoranjana Sinh said that over a course of nearly two years immediately preceding her detention, the latter had made nearly 15 submissions, personal appearances and supplied voluminous documents to the Sen Commission, SIT, Enforcement Directorate and CBI as a cooperating witness to support the investigation.

On the date of her detention, Sinh was called by the CBI for further investigation and she voluntarily appeared but was summarily arrested.

Manoranjana Sinh's case is likely to come up before the Calcutta High Court after the summer vacation ends June 6, 2016. It was last listed for hearing on March 10, 2016, but the Calcutta High Court Bench did not hear the matter and released the case on April 7, 2016, saying they did not want to hear the matter for personal reasons.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who finds himself increasingly isolated on the national scene in wake of the Panama Gate and American action against the Taliban, will now face an acid test in Gilgit -Baltistan which is set to vote in a by-election from Hunza on the border with Xinjiang province of North-western China.

Sharif has, however, turned this self-inflicted wound into a routine by-election involving around 36,000 voters into a referendum on his Pakistan Muslim League Party (PML-N) by fielding a bank loan defaulter much against the wishes of local satraps, who are now arraigned against his leadership.

There are 24 candidates, including local hero Baba Jan who has been fighting for self-rule for Gilgit, in the fray for the Hunza seat. He has been languishing in jail for several months.

The seat fell vacant following the resignation of Ghazanfar Ali Khan on his elevation as the Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan.

The by-election was originally scheduled to take place on May 28, but a division bench of the Supreme Appellate Court of Gilgit-Baltistan decided to delay the ballot for three weeks in order to complete the hearing of two pending criminal cases against Baba Jan.

To the dismay of Pakistan authorities, Baba Jan has become the most popular candidate on social media in Gilgit-Baltistan.

He is not new to elections. He came second in the 2015 election to the GB Legislative Assembly on the ticket of Left leaning Awami Workers Party (AWP) and secured 4, 500 votes relegating the PPP and PTI candidates to the third and fourth positions respectively.

Likewise in the 2015 election, Baba Jan's campaign is this time also being financed and managed by the students, youth and women.

The 33 year-old is at present serving life sentence awarded by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) for his role in an agitation for compensation to the victims of a massive landslide that had created an artificial lake rendering hundreds of families homeless in Hunza district in 2010.

Ghazanfar, the Mir of Hunza, gave the ticket to his son Prince Salim Ali because of his close friendship with Sharif.

The PML-N cadres are upset with the candidature of Ali, a known bank loan defaulter, because his mother Ghaznafar Rani Atika is a lawmaker in Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly. She was elected on a reserved seat for woman.

Though Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) have fielded their heavy weights, the contest is mainly triangular between Prince Salim Ali, Col. Ubaidullah Baig and Baba Jan.

According to a survey, both Col. Ubaidullah and Baba Jan are expected to give a tough fight to Salim Ali.

Gilgit-Baltistan, which was earlier known as the northern areas, was part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir until Pakistan occupied the region in 1947.

The area remains one of the most neglected parts of Pakistan with the people denied their fundamental rights. They are not allowed to take part in Pakistan's parliamentary elections either.

The Constitutions of 1956, 1962 and 1973 of Pakistan do not recognize Gilgit Baltistan as a part of Pakistan.

The Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) was created through a Presidential order in 2009. It has a total of 33 members, 24 of them elected directly and six women and three technocrats elected indirectly through party list proportional representation system.
A blast in Karachi's Gulshan-e-Hadeed area left two persons including a Chinese national injured on Monday.

Police were quoted as saying by Dawn that the blast occurred due to a CNG explosion in the vehicle.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar was quoted as saying that a pamphlet in Sindhi was recovered from the site of the blast 's site which denounced 'foreign control over Sindh's natural resources'.

The injured was a driver for a Chinese citizen who was residing in the area and traveling without security. The Chinese national was safe, said SSP Rao.

Police cordoned off the area and collected evidence from the scene for investigation.

Gulshan-i-Hadeed is a neighbourhood in Karachi's Bin Qasim Town. The town is situated near Pakistan Steel Mills and houses its workers.
The United States (US) has urged Pakistan to go after the Taliban leadership in Afghanistan and asked for help in catching Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Chief .

According to Dawn, Fazlullah fled to Afghanistan in November 2007, when security forces captured his headquarters in Swat.

Reports state that he is based in Afghanistan's Kunar province from where he directs TTP attacks in Pakistan.

"We continue to cooperate closely with Afghanistan, certainly, but also urge Pakistan to go after terrorists, especially (Afghan) Taliban leadership, and that cooperation continues," said US State Department spokesperson Mark Toner when asked what efforts were being made to locate Fazlullah.

The statement by the State Department also indicates that the US wants Pakistan also to act against the Afghan Taliban leaders who are allegedly hiding inside its territory, in return for US help in targeting TTP leaders in Afghanistan.
Sunny Leone is all set to engage in a love affair with Arbaaz Khan in her upcoming musical-romance 'Tera Intezar.'

As reported by Pinkvilla, the film, which will begin its shoot in the Great Rann of Kutch this August, will mark the directorial debut of Rajeev Waklia.

'Tera Intezar' will also have an international shoot apart from the 25-day Kutch schedule.

According to sources, Sunny and Arbaaz will be meeting for their first recording together today at a Suburban studio in Mumbai.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, widely known for his computing skills across the globe, on Monday showcased his love for poetry in front of the Indian audience in the capital.

Speaking at the Microsoft India programme 'Tech for Good, Ideas for India', Nadella said, "I had only two passions that have driven my dreams - poetry and computer science."

He then began his speech quoting Mirza Ghalib, the noted Urdu and Persian poet of the 19th century.

"Hazaaron khwaishein aisi, ke har khwaish pe dum nikle. Bohot nikle mere armaan, fir bhi kam nikle," Nadella quoted.

The couplet translates, "Thousands of aspirations such, that each aspiration takes your breath away... I had many dreams, but they still weren't enough."

"Creativity in India can make poetry as well as technology for the world," he said.

The Microsoft top boss, who is on his third visit to India, reiterated how the tech giant can help the country in its 'Digital India' initiative and build technology around augmented reality and virtual reality.

Nadella has often compared poetry to code.
The Kerala High Court (HC) has provided some respite to diesel car makers. Just days after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) passed an order banning the registration of new diesel vehicles of 2,000cc and above in the southern state, the Kerala HC has put a stay on the order for two months.

The stay has been ordered by Justice P B Suresh Kumar who acted on a plea stating that the carmakers have not been given a chance to tell their version of the story. However the court did not interfere with the other part of the NGT order banning diesel vehicles older than ten years in the state.

The order from the NGT came in the backlash of the Supreme Courts order banning the registration of new diesel vehicles of 2,000cc and above in the national capital. The apex court even cracked down on taxi vehicles in Delhi and has given them a deadline of 30 April 2016 to convert to CNG.

The carmakers have been giving terse responses to the restriction. Toyota recently lashed out at the order and Jaguar Land Rover even claimed that air in the national capital is far dirtier than what its vehicles emit. While the logic behind banning vehicles has been contented, we hope the Kerala HC takes a firm view of the scenario. Given the stringent norms in European nations these cars (from multinational companies) are able to comply with, we believe they will be able to do so in India as well in near time.

Source : CarDekho
Mercedes-Benz has invested over three billion euros in the development of its new engine technology. The German luxury automaker said that the new family of diesel engines currently meet the Real Driving Emissions (RDE) norms, a new stricter emission limits planned for the EU (European Union) as of September 2017.

The first iteration of this new family of diesel engines, OM 654, will find its way in the next-gen India-bound 2017 E-Class. The automaker claims that the new 1,950cc (2.0-litre) oil burner in the 2017 E 220d now consumes as little as 3.9-litres of fuel per 100 kilometres (as per combined New European Driving Cycle -- NEDC). Despite a considerable increase in power of nearly twenty horses compared to its predecessor, the CO2 emission of the new engine stands at 102 grams per kilometre.

The new 2.0-litre diesel is an all-aluminum unit (first for Mercedes-Benz), and the reduction in emissions and uprated power output are courtesy of the stepped combustion chambers and further developed exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR). The new engine layout has allowed all the components of the EGR to be positioned directly in the engine, instead of under the car floor as it was previously done. This has significantly increased the system's effectiveness.

For the petrol engines, Mercedes-Benz will become the first manufacturer in the world to incorporate the large-scale use of particulate filters. The automaker highlighted that with over two years of positive field tests with the Mercedes-Benz S 500, additional petrol versions of the S-Class are to be equipped with this new technology in the next model upgrade.

Prof. Dr Thomas Weber, Daimler Board of Management Member for Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development said -- Our customers trust is very important to us and we take our responsibility to the environment very seriously.

Thats why we decided five years ago to invest massively in the further development of diesel technology. But we are also continuously making our gasoline engines more efficient and more environment-friendly; because high-tech combustion engines will remain the backbone of individual mobility until the widespread market success of electric vehicles. For this reason, we are investing a total of about three billion euros to ensure further improvements in fuel consumption and emissions  in both future and current vehicles, he added further.

Also Read: Delhi Diesel Ban: Mercedes-Benz Puts Hold On All Investments In India

Source : CarDekho
A bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) will sit again on Tuesday to hear the matter related to banning diesel cars across 11 major Indian cities. The entailments could include banning of old diesel vehicles and also the registration of newer ones.

The bench, chaired by Swatanter Kumar, met with state counsels on Monday regarding pollution data of different cities, the number of vehicles and the bifurcation of diesel and petrol vehicles in their states.

The Maharashtra counsel, with little surprise, revealed that Mumbai is its most polluted city, while states like Uttar Pradesh requested more time to submit the required data.

The Bench held that on Tuesday if all state counsels are not present and they do not come forth with the data as requested, bailable warrants will be issued against the chief secretaries of the states.

Ahead of the NGT bench hearing on Monday, Economic Times had reported that the ban is expected to be extended across 11 major cities in the country, including Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.

To get an idea of the severity of the ban, it is worth revisiting that the Supreme Court had banned the registration of all new 2000cc and above diesel vehicles in Delhi last year, after it was proposed by the NGT.

Another move by NGT then saw a similar ban being imposed in the state of Kerala earlier this month, which also bars diesel vehicles older than 10 years from the streets.

As expected, the bans have drawn the ire of various large carmakers, including Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Mahindra, who have been the worst hit.

According to the Society of Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the ban in Delhi has already resulted in a production loss of around 11,000 vehicles, affecting more than 5,000 jobs and impacting various dealerships. The extension of the ban countrywide would impact close to 50,000 jobs, it estimated.

Would you want diesel cars to be banned in your city? Let us know in the comments section below.

Source : CarDekho
Bharat Heavy Electricals lost 2.73% to Rs 124.70 at 09:16 IST on BSE after net profit fell 59.52% to Rs 359.58 crore on 18.36% decline in total income to Rs 10418.64 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015.

The result was announced after trading hours on Friday, 27 May 2016.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 84.69 points or 0.32% at 26,738.29

On BSE, so far 29,340 shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 10.99 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 124 and a low of Rs 121.70 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 289.85 on 21 July 2015. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 90.40 on 29 February 2016.

The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 489.52 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.

Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel)'s order backlog stood at about Rs 1.10 lakh crore as on 31 March 2016. The company removed orders amounting Rs 3783 crore from the order book in Q4 March 2016. It removed orders amounting Rs 7429 crore from the order book in the year ended 31 March 2016, which are not likely to commence.

As part of the semi-annual reconstitution of S&P BSE Indices, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in a circular dated 20 May 2016, announced that Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) will replace Bhel from the 30-share Sensex with effect from 20 June 2016.

Bhel is the largest engineering and manufacturing enterprise in India in the energy related/infrastructure sector. The company caters to the core sectors including power, transmission, industry, transportation, renewable energy, oil & gas and defence.

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Of Rs 0.4 per share

Bharat Heavy Electricals announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 27 May 2016, inter alia, have recommended the final dividend of Rs 0.4 per equity Share (i.e. 20%) , subject to the approval of the shareholders.

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Coal India's consolidated net profit rose 0.22% to Rs 4247.93 crore on 0.72% decline in total income to Rs 22898.79 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. The result was announced on Saturday, 28 May 2016.

Coal India's board of directors at its meeting held on 28 May 2016, approved about 6.29% increase in coal prices over the current prices with effect from 30 May 2016. This will be applicable to all subsidiaries of Coal India and NEC for regulated and non-regulated sectors. Due to this revision, Coal India will earn additional revenue of about Rs 3234 crore for the balance period of current financial year i.e. from 30 May 2016 to 31 March 2017. The board has also approved the differential price for non-regulated sector at a reduced rate of 20% over the price of regulated sector for G6 to G17 grades of coal for all subsidiaries of Coal India.

Bharat Heavy Electricals' (Bhel) net profit fell 59.52% to Rs 359.58 crore on 18.36% decline in total income to Rs 10418.64 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. Bhel's order backlog stood at about Rs 1.10 lakh crore as on 31 March 2016. The company removed orders amounting Rs 3783 crore from the order book in Q4 March 2016. It removed orders amounting Rs 7429 crore from the order book in the year ended 31 March 2016, which are not likely to commence. The result was announced after trading hours on Friday, 27 May 2016.

Tata Steel will be in focus after global credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service on Friday, 27 May 2016, said that the proposed sale of Tata Steel UK's long products Europe business to Greybull Capital and Tata Steel Europe's decision to sell its UK business are credit positive on its ratings on Tata Steel and Tata Steel UK. Moody's said that the divestment of the loss-making operations will reduce the drag on the European business' profitability, which has been under strain for a while. Tata Steel Europe has initiated the process of selling its entire holding in Tata Steel UK due to the deteriorating financial performance of the UK subsidiary. Moody's said that it will watch out for clarity on divestment of liabilities including pensions and erasing the negative EBITDA impact of the UK facilities on Tata Steel UK's credit metrics would be critical for any change in outlook to its rating on Tata Steel UK.

Hindalco Industries' net profit jumped 123.36% to Rs 356.33 crore on 7.6% fall in total income to Rs 8871.66 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. The result was announced on Saturday, 28 May 2016. The revenue from operations dropped 7.51% to Rs 8667.52 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. The company attributed the decline in revenue to a sharp decline in both aluminium and copper realizations. In aluminium, the impact was much severe due to a sharp fall in local market premium and a sharp surge in imports of aluminium in the country. The company said its operational performance was strong. A strong increase in aluminium volumes, a thrust on value addition across businesses, lower cost of raw materials and a weaker rupee helped the company partially offset the impact of a sharp fall in realizations. The bottom line was boosted by base effect. The company's bottom line in Q4 March 2015 was adversely impacted by a non-recurring expenditure of Rs 146.48 crore.

With regard to the future business outlook, Hindalco said that the uncertain global macros pose several challenges for the company. The management will continue its un-relented focus on operational excellence, enhanced value addition and cash conservation to tide over these circumstances.

Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Aurobindo Pharma and NTPC are scheduled to announce Q4 March 2016 results today, 30 May 2016.

Maruti Suzuki India said that the company is all set to start exports of its much awaited Light Commercial Vehicle "Super Carry" to South Africa and Tanzania. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 27 May 2016. The first lot of nearly 100 Super Carry Light Commercial Vehicles has been dispatched for shipment, Maruti Suzuki India said. The shipment to South Africa and Tanzania is of the petrol variant of Super Carry, the company said. The petrol variant for export market is powered by G12B engine. Besides African markets, the company also plans to export the Super Carry to South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations, it added. Based on the feedback, the company will explore export opportunities for Super Carry in other international markets, Maruti Suzuki India said. The India launch for Super Carry is planned in the second quarter of the current fiscal. To begin -with, it will be launched in select parts of the country. For the domestic market Super Carry will be powered by the E08 diesel engine. The company is setting up a separate retail channel in the Indian market, exclusively for the Super Carry, it added.

Tech Mahindra has entered into an agreement to acquire UK based Target Group for an enterprise value of GBP 112 million. The transaction is expected to close by 31 October 2016, subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals. Target Group is a financial technology (Fintech) and BPaaS (Business Process as a Service) provider in the banking, asset management, government and insurance sectors. Tech Mahindra said that the acquisition will broaden its service offerings in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) domain and strengthen its presence in Europe. The acquisition will enhance Tech Mahindra's capabilities and allow Tech Mahindra to capture a larger share of the GBP 45-60 billion annual spend by UK BFSI companies on software and services.

Target Group had revenue of GBP 51 million in the year ended 31 December 2015 (FY 2015). After the completion of the acquisition by Tech Mahindra, Target Group will remain a standalone entity retaining its existing brand, which has a strong reputation in the marketplace. The entire management team at Target will stay with the business and continue to have full operational responsibility. Tech Mahindra made the announcement of the acquisition after trading hours on Friday, 27 May 2016.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Sun Pharma) announced that one of the company's US subsidiaries Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc (SPII) has received a grand jury subpoena from the United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division seeking documents from SPII and its affiliates relating to corporate and employee records, generic pharmaceutical products and pricing, communications with competitors and others regarding the sale of generic pharmaceutical products, and certain other related matters. SPII is currently responding to the subpoena, Sun Pharma said. Sun Pharma said it is of the opinion that the outcome of the referred enquiry is unlikely to have any material adverse impact on the consolidated operations or consolidated financial results of the company. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 27 May 2016.

Power Grid Corporation of India said that the board of directors at its meeting held on 26 May 2016 have accorded approval for investment of 'North Eastern Region Strengthening Scheme - IV (NERSS - IV)' at an estimated cost of Rs 364.60 crore with commissioning schedule of 24 months from the date of investment approval. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 27 May 2016.

Rural Electrification Corporation's net profit rose 5.79% to Rs 1160.03 crore on 13.29% rise in total income to Rs 6084.47 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 27 May 2016.

Sun TV Network's net profit rose 16.3% to Rs 236 crore on 6.8% rise in total income to Rs 610.94 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 27 May 2016.

NMDC's net profit dropped 59% to Rs 552.93 crore on 44.6% fall in total income to Rs 1967.94 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 27 May 2016. NMDC said that the company has incorporated a subsidiary company NMDC-Sail on 23 May 2016 in order to develop, explore, etc. sale / supply of iron ore from the allocated mining resource in the State of Chhattisgarh. NMDC will hold 51% while Sail will hold 49% stake in NMDC-Sail.

DLF's consoldiated net profit fell 22.9% to Rs 132.39 crore on 16.4% rise in total income to Rs 2495.78 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 27 May 2016.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) said that it has raised Rs 200 crore by allotment of 2,000 rated, listed, secured, taxable, redeemable, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of the face value of Rs 10 lakh each on private placement basis. The said NCDs will be listed on the wholesale debt market segment of BSE. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 27 May 2016.

Shares of ITC turn ex-dividend today, 30 May 2016 for dividend of Rs 8.50 per share for the year ended 31 March 2016.

Shares of Yes Bank turn ex-dividend today, 30 May 2016 for final dividend of Rs 10 per share for the year ended 31 March 2016.

Lux Industries said that the company has fixed 7 June 2016 as the record date for its 5-for-1 stock split proposal. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 27 May 2016.

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Coal India rose 4.23% to Rs 293.25 at 10:00 IST on BSE after the company's board of directors approved about 6.29% increase in coal prices over the current prices with effect from 30 May 2016.

The announcement was made on Saturday, 28 May 2016.

Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 86.92 points or 0.24% at 26,717.57.

On BSE, so far 1.86 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 5.44 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit high of Rs 296 and low of Rs 287.90 so far during the day. The stock had hit a record high of Rs 447.25 on 5 August 2015. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 272.05 on 12 April 2016. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 27 May 2016, falling 3.2% compared with Sensex's 2.26% gains. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 9.64% as against Sensex's 15.11% gains.

The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 6316.36 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Coal India's board of directors at its meeting held on 28 May 2016, approved about 6.29% increase in coal prices over the current prices with effect from 30 May 2016. This will be applicable to all subsidiaries of Coal India and NEC for regulated and non-regulated sectors. Due to this revision, Coal India will earn additional revenue of about Rs 3234 crore for the balance period of current financial year i.e. from 30 May 2016 to 31 March 2017. The board has also approved the differential price for non-regulated sector at a reduced rate of 20% over the price of regulated sector for G6 to G17 grades of coal for all subsidiaries of Coal India.

Meanwhile, Coal India's consolidated net profit rose 0.22% to Rs 4247.93 crore on 0.72% decline in total income to Rs 22898.79 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015. The result was announced on Saturday, 28 May 2016.

Coal India is an organized state-owned coal mining corporate. The Government of India held 79.65% stake in Coal India (as per the shareholding pattern as on 31 March 2016).

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Sales decline 15.99% to Rs 411.58 crore

Net profit of Hitachi Home & Life Solutions (India) declined 44.45% to Rs 13.36 crore in the quarter ended March 2016 as against Rs 24.05 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2015. Sales declined 15.99% to Rs 411.58 crore in the quarter ended March 2016 as against Rs 489.94 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2015.

For the full year,net profit declined 35.73% to Rs 49.98 crore in the year ended March 2016 as against Rs 77.76 crore during the previous year ended March 2015. Sales rose 5.55% to Rs 1645.68 crore in the year ended March 2016 as against Rs 1559.09 crore during the previous year ended March 2015. ParticularsQuarter EndedYear EndedMar. 2016Mar. 2015% Var.Mar. 2016Mar. 2015% Var.Sales411.58489.94 -16 1645.681559.09 6 OPM %8.189.31 -7.468.86 - PBDT31.2643.63 -28 114.40136.94 -16 PBT18.7932.45 -42 68.85101.01 -32 NP13.3624.05 -44 49.9877.76 -36

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On 30 May 2016

Morganite Crucible (India) will hold a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company on 30 May 2016, to consider and approve the Audited Standalone and Consolidated Financial Results of the Company for the financial year ended 31 March 2016.

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Held on 28 May 2016

Chromatic India announced that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 28 May 2016, inter alia, the following decision were taken :

- Close down of Indian unlisted immaterial subsidiary companies of the Company.

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Rural Electrification Corporation rose 3.69% to Rs 161.55 at 11:28 IST on BSE after net profit rose 5.79% to Rs 1160.03 crore on 13.29% rise in total income to Rs 6084.47 crore in Q4 March 2016 over Q4 March 2015.

The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 27 May 2016.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 25.71 points, or 0.1%, to 26,679.31

On BSE, so far 4.79 lakh shares were traded in the counter, compared with an average volume of 2.81 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock hit a high of Rs 163.45 and a low of Rs 159.50 so far during the day. The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 304.80 on 29 May 2015. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 152.50 on 24 February 2016. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 27 May 2016, falling 14.47% compared with Sensex's 2.26% gains. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, falling 0.48% as against Sensex's 15.11% gains.

The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 987.46 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Rural Electrification Corporation (REC)'s board of directors at its meeting held on 27 May 2016, approved sale and transfer of 50,000 shares of Rs 10 each of North Karanpura Transco, a wholly owned subsidiary of RECTPCL (also subsidiary of REC as per the provisions of Section 2(87) of the Companies Act, 2013) to successful bidder i.e. Adani Transmission. The company's board of directors also approved sale and transfer of 50,000 shares of Rs 10 each of Khargone Transmission, a wholly owned subsidiary of RECTPCL (also subsidiary of REC as per the provisions of Section 2(87) of the Companies Act, 2013) to successful bidder i.e. Sterlite Grid 4.

Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), a Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Power, provides financial assistance to state electricity boards, state government departments and rural electric co-operatives for rural electrification projects. As per shareholding pattern, Government of India holds 60.64% stake in the firm as on 31 March 2016.

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On 29 May 2016

Subros announced that there was a fire accident in one of the plants of the Company situated at Plot No. 395-396, Manesar, Haryana on Sunday the 29 May 2016 at around 2.00 P.M.

There was no causality or major injury. The fire was controlled, however it has severely impacted the building, stocks and plant & machinery. The Company has initiated steps towards re-functioning of the Manesar plant at the earliest & steps are being taken to service the customer requirement from our other plants at Noida, Pune and Chennai. The insurance company has been informed accordingly.

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At least 12 people were killed across Uttar Pradesh (UP) due to storms, lightning and heavy rains, an official said on Monday.

According to the official, two people were killed in different incidents in Kanpur's Bilhaur area.

One person was killed in Mau district when a wall caved in on him.

In Varanasi's Shivpur area, a man was when a tree uprooted due to the storm and fell on him.

A woman was killed in Ramgaon area after the mud hut she lived in caved in due to heavy rains and storm, police said.

Two children were killed in Hasandeeh village in Azamgarh when the school gate collapsed late Sunday.

Four people died in separate storm related incidents in Farukkhabad and one was electrocuted in Mathura after an overhead high-tension wire snapped.

The rains are likely to continue in some parts of the state for the next 48-hours, an official at the regional Met office said.

-- IANS

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Several African students on Monday staged a protest at Jantar Mantar here against increasing attacks on them and demanded that the Indian government act swiftly to stop such incidents.

"We want the government's support as the incidents of attacks on people from African continent are increasing in the city. The Indian government needs to ensure safety of African nationals and act swiftly on such incidents," said a protestor at Jantar Mantar.

The protests come in the wake of a string of attacks on African nationals, especially students, in the national capital and elsewhere, which has caused outrage among them.

On May 20, a Congolese national was beaten to death by three men after an altercation over hiring of an auto-rickshaw in Vasant Kunj area turned violent.

On May 25, a Nigerian student in Hyderabad was allegedly beaten by an Indian over a parking dispute.

On May 28, four separate cases of alleged assault on African nationals in the national capital was reported, adding to the growing number of such attacks.

The Indian government has assured angry African envoys of protection to their nationals in India, with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj personally monitoring the developments.

--IANS

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June 19, 2019, Wednesday

All private universities in Uttar Pradesh will now have to give an undertaking to the government, saying that their campuses will ...
A string of shootings brought the total number of people shot during the Memorial Day weekend to at least 40, the Chicago Police Department said on Sunday.

Between Saturday afternoon and early Sunday alone, one man was killed and 24 others wounded across Chicago, Xinhua news agency reported.

A 27-year-old man was shot in the head and pronounced dead on the scene on Saturday afternoon. A gun was recovered on the scene, but it is not clear whether it belonged to the victim or the person who shot him, said Officer Michelle Tannehill, a spokeswoman for the Chicago police.

The Memorial Day usually marks the start of summer in Chicago, when the city re-opens its Lake Michigan beaches, resumes regular fireworks displays at Navy Pier, and kicks off various recreational events and sport activities.

But the Memorial Day weekend, which lasts from Friday to Tuesday this year, also witnesses an increasing violence. Over the holiday weekend last year, 12 people were killed and at least 44 wounded in Chicago.

--IANS

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An Australian man has reportedly been killed while fighting against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria.

Social media accounts belonging to Kurdish military units claimed 45-year-old former Australian Defence Force (ADF) soldier Jamie Bright died last week in the northern Raqqa countryside, ABC Australia reported on Monday.

However, Bright's death is yet to be officially authenticated, but he has appeared in recent online videos.

"The reason I came to Kurdistan is because of the people, their struggle and their fight," Bright said in one of the videos.

"I came to help them in any way I can."

According to officials, Bright had been a member of the ADF, training with the School of Military Engineering in Sydney in the 1980s before being posted to Perth as an army engineer.

Bright joined the YPG early last year and knew fellow Australian Ashley Johnston, who was killed by IS militants in 2015, the officials said.

Johnston, a former Army reservist originally from Queensland, was killed during an assault by Kurdish forces on an IS position near Tel Hamis, a tactically important area.

--IANS

ksk
A Bahrainian appeals court on Monday sentenced the country's top opposition leader Shaikh Ali Salman to nine years in prison.

The verdict for Salman, secretary general of the main opposition group, Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, was announced at a hearing attended by rights activists, diplomats and other officials, amid tight security, Xinhua news agency reported.

"Salman has been sentenced for a nine-year jail term, which the society feels is unacceptable," Al Wefaq said in a statement following the court verdict.

Salman was last sentenced in 2015 to four years in prison for spreading sectarianism and inciting others to break the law, among other charges.

--IANS

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Actor Herry Tangri, who played an Army personnel in "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag", will now play an Army captain in director Vivek Agnihotri's "Junooniyat".

This would be the second time Herry will be working with Agnihotri after they came together for the unreleased film "Freedom", in which the actor essayed the lead role.

"Vivek sir is a great director and I have fond memories of working with him. He was the first director who gave me a break as a lead role in the unreleased film 'Freedom'," Herry said in a statement.

"'Freedom' was shot after Vivek's recently released 'Buddha in a Traffic Jam'. I am happy that I got a chance to work with Vivek again in 'Junooniyat'," he added.

Talking about his role in "Junooniyat", Herry said: "Vivek sir called me up and offered me 'Junooniyat' as he had worked with me before and had liked my acting in 'Freedom'. I immediately accepted it as it was something new and exciting.

"I essay the role of an Army captain of the Parachute Regiment. We had to do a lot of preparations for the film and also read a lot about the regiment," he added.

Also starring Pulkit Samrat and Yami Gautami, the film is slated to release on June 24.

Herry will also be seen in "Hai Apna Dil Toh Awara" and in "M.S. Dhoni - The Untold Story".

--IANS

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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday staged a protest outside Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's residence over party leader Digvijaya Singh's statement terming the Batla House encounter as "fake".

"The Congress and especially Sonia Gandhi have always been double-faced. When the Batla encounter took place, the Congress leader said the encounter was fake," BJP leader Satish Upadhyay said.

"We demand an apology from Sonia Gandhi. The Congress should not play the politics of dividing the nation," Upadhyay said.

Delhi BJP media coordinator Praveen Shankar Kapoor demanded that the Congress should apologise for maintaining that "the encounter was state-managed".

The Batla House encounter took place on September 19, 2008, during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime, against IM terrorists hiding in a house in Jamia Nagar of Delhi. Two suspected terrorists were killed in the shootout, while two other suspects were arrested.

Encounter specialist Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the police action, was also killed in the incident.

Last week, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh stuck to his earlier stance that the Batla House gunfight was "fake".

Recently, a video footage telecast on a TV channel claimed that one of the suspects, Bada Sajid, who reportedly had escaped on the day of incident, was seen in an "IS video".

--IANS

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Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma on Monday met a delegation of Africans here and assured them of prompt action for their safety, in the wake of a series of attacks on Africans in the city.

The delegation was assured that Delhi Police has taken steps for the safety of Africans in the city and was briefed about the meetings of police all over Delhi with members of the African community, especially after the murder of a Congolese national on May 20 this year.

"The delegation was apprised that Delhi Police have organised several meetings where people from African and Indian communities were present together so that the level of understanding between them can be increased. They were also advised not to take law into their hands," a police statement said.

"While interacting with the Africans, they have been requested to contact local police whenever they feel uncomfortable or see any act of crime getting perpetrated on them or if they have any apprehension," the statement added.

The meeting between Verma and the African delegation was held at Delhi Police headquarters on Monday afternoon. The Special Police Commissioners (Law and Order), Joint Police Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners of Police were present.

Joint Commissioner of Police (south-eastern range) R.P. Upadhyay has been appointed as nodal officer.

"The representatives of Africans were requested to call 100 or 8750871111, a dedicated Helpline for foreigners, in emergency," the statement said.

The delegation was also apprised about intensified police patrolling in areas where the African community is present.

The spate of attacks on Africans has caused outrage among the community, as several thousands of Africans study in India. The African envoys last week threatened to boycott the Africa Day event over the murder of Congolese national M.K. Olivier.

On May 28, four separate cases of alleged assault on Africans were reported in the national capital.

--IANS

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Actor Emraan Hashmi, who has earned the nickname "serial kisser" for his on-screen kisses, says that his wife Parveen still sulks about his kisses and calms down only after Emraan gifts her a bag for every film he kisses in.

At the launch of his book, "The Kiss Of Life", Emraan was asked about his wife's reaction to his kisses. Emraan said, "She still sulks. She doesn't hit me as hard now, earlier it used to be with a bag, now it's just with the hand. So she has kind of come down over the years."

Does Emraan calm her down by buying her expensive jewellery? "Always buy her bags, for every kiss, for every film. She has got a cupboard full of bags, there's one cupboard dedicated to bags," he said.

Considering the numerous kisses he shared with Nargis Fakhri in his last release "Azhar", did he have to actually buy that many bags? Emraan said, "As many times, but bag is only once. We've had a barter deal; that way I told her that I'll be broke.

"Don't take money for everything, take money for the film and buy a bag from it."

Emraan started his career with numerous kissing scenes in almost all of his films such as "Murder", "Zeher", "Aksar", "Aashiq Banaya Apne" and "Gangster" among others and earned the title of "serial kisser".

When films such as "Shanghai", where he didn't kiss, flopped, it was reported that kisses were lucky for his films. When asked about it, he said, "Thankfully some films where I have not kissed have also flopped and some where I've kissed have also flopped."

Upon being asked to write a book a love guru, he said, "I got rejected like three times, so that's the love guru for you. I think I'd make a disastrous book... I'll think about it, I'll actually give it a thought."

Emraan will next be seen in the film "Raaz Reboot".

--IANS

iv/lok
Former Chadian president Hissene Habre was on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment by the African Special Court in Dakar, Senegal.

Habre was found guilty of rape, sexual assaults, voluntary homicides, massive human trafficking, abductions and torture, and acquitted of war crimes, Xinhua news agency reported.

He has 15 days to appeal the ruling.

The accused who has contested the jurisdiction of the court that was set up in Senegal by the African Union, was forced to attend the hearing, but refused to respond to questions posed by judges.

In his submission, the court's prosecutor Mbacke Fall, asked the judges to sentence Habre to life imprisonment.

Fall equally urged the court to order for the confiscation of Habre's properties, arguing there was sufficient evidence to prove his culpability.

In the absence of his lawyers who boycotted the proceedings, the three advocates appointed by the court to defend Habre called for his acquittal.

Habre, 73, led Chad between 1982 and 1990. After having been overthrown by current Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno, he fled to Senegal.

After a legal battle by victims of his actions that lasted for several years, he was finally arrested on June 30, 2013 at his home in Dakar, and charged on July 2, 2013.

--IANS

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Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar on Monday met a group of African students here and assured them of the safety and security of the community in India after a string of attacks on African nationals in India.

"Continuing outreach to African community. Foreign secretary meets a group of African students," external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

"Foreign secretary to students: Ensuring safety and security of foreign students is an article of faith for us," he added.

The meeting between Jaishankar and the students came even as several African students staged a protest at Jantar Mantar here against increasing attacks on them and demanded that the Indian government act swiftly to stop such incidents.

"We want the government's support as the incidents of attacks on people from African continent are increasing in the city. The Indian government needs to ensure safety of African nationals and act swiftly on such incidents," said a protestor at Jantar Mantar.

On Monday, the family member of a Congolese national, M.K. Olivier, who was killed on May 20 over a minor altercation arrived in India to take back the mortal remains. They were met at the airport by a senior external affairs ministry official.

The spate of rising attacks on African nationals has caused outrage among the community, several thousands of who study in India. The African envoys had last week threatened to boycott the Africa Day event over the murder of Congolese national Olivier.

The Indian government stepped in to assure the African envoys of the safety and security of their nationals after which the envoys attended the May 26 event.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is personally monitoring the outreach to the Africans.

But some more incidents of attacks on African nationals have taken place, which the police termed as non-racial in nature.

On May 25, a Nigerian student in Hyderabad was allegedly beaten by an Indian over a parking dispute.

On May 28, four separate cases of alleged assault on African nationals in the national capital was reported.

--IANS

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At least four Nepalis involved in kidnapping industrialist Suresh Kedia, were arrested in Bara district on Monday, police said.

They were arrested after Nepal police on Sunday collected evidence of their involvement in the Kedia's abduction, bdnews24.com quoted Bara district police as saying.

The four men apparently lent assistance in the abduction, executed by an Indian gang in Nepal.

Suresh Kedia is a member of Kedia Group of industries in Nepal. He was kidnapped on Thursday evening from Birgunj district near Nepal-India border.

Kedia was rescued from Motihari district of Bihar on Sunday. Police have detained more than 12 people in Bihar for interrogation regarding the high-profile kidnapping case.

--IANS

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The Haryana government on Monday ordered the suspension of senior IAS officer Sandeep Garg, over a month after he was convicted by a special CBI court in a corruption case.

Garg's suspension has been ordered from April 23, the date on which he was convicted by the Central Bureau of Investigation court in New Delhi.

"Whereas the court of special judge (Prevention of Corruption Act), CBI, New Delhi vide its order dated April 23,2016 has convicted Sandeep Garg, IAS (HY:91) in case No. 9 of 2013 arising out of RC 3(A)/2004/ACUV/CBI/New Delhi titled CBI Vs. Sandeep Garg and others under sections 13(2) r/w 13(1)(e) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

"Now therefore Sandeep Garg, IAS (HY:91) is hereby placed under suspension by an order of the competent authority with effect from April 23, 2016 in terms of sub-rule 4 of Rule 3 of the All India Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969," said the Haryana government order.

Garg was arrested by the CBI in April 2004 along with businessman Atul Jindal on charges of corruption. He was charged of accepting a bribe of Rs 12 lakh from a businessman through Jindal.

Garg was, at that time posted in the Ministry of Petroleum in New Delhi.

Following raids, the CBI had charged Garg of amassing disproportionate assets worth Rs 3.36 crore.

--IANS

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Iraqi security forces on Monday launched the final stage of an offensive aimed at freeing the city of Fallujah and nearby areas from the Islamic State (IS) militant group, security sources said.

"The troops and allied Shia and Sunni paramilitary units, known as Hashd Shaabi, started their advance in the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, to free it from IS group," Xinhua news agency quoted Sabah Nu'man, spokesman of anti-terrorism force, as saying.

The troops, covered by US-led coalition and Iraqi aircraft, have faced weak resistance so far, Nu'man said, adding that many of the extremist militants were killed during the operation.

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces and Hashd Shaabi units recaptured Shieha area north of the IS-held town of Saqlawiyah, northwest of Fallujah, after fierce clashes with IS militants, a local security source said.

Monday's operation came a day after the security forces said they have completed preparation for a final attack to retake Fallujah.

On May 23, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the launch of the offensive to retake Fallujah city.

The announcement was made at a time when the country is grappling with a chaos surrounding cabinet reshuffle.

Earlier, the interior ministry said the army has almost accomplished the first stage of tightening siege on Fallujah and will soon start to break into the city.

Government troops and allied militias have currently been fighting for months to reclaim key cities and towns in Anbar from IS militants, who have been attempting to advance toward Baghdad after seizing most of Anbar province.

--IANS

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A Hindu temple and a Muslim shrine in this lush green village of south Kashmir have stood close to each other for centuries as pillars of communal harmony, unshaken by the nearly three-decade-old Islamist conflict in the state.

About 100 km from Srinagar, Manzgam has largely been an area of peace despite the separatist insurgency that peaked in the 1990s in the rest of the valley and saw a mass exodus of Pandits.

Residents credit the calm in the area to the two 600-year-old shrines.

The Hindu temple is dedicated to Mata Kheerbhawani -- a revered Hindu deity -- while the Muslim shrine was named after the 15th century Sufi saint Baba Qiyaam-ud-Din whose teachings of peace are still being followed by Kashmiris, irrespective of their faith.

That is perhaps why every year Muslims and Pandits throng the shared space to celebrate the annual festivals of the religious figures.

Muslims prepare kheer -- a rice pudding offered to seek the blessings of the goddess -- and serve it to Hindus during the annual fair of Kheerbhawani. And when it is time to celebrate the veneration of the mystic saint, Hindus come in droves to be with Muslims.

Both events are held on separate dates every year but locals say they also visit the shrines occasionally.

"This village is the best example of communal harmony...though Muslims are in majority, we never let our Pandit brothers feel that," activist and lawyer Arshad Baba, who lives in the village, told IANS. "This is a decades-old divine bond no one can break."

The harmony doesn't stop there. Many villagers say they have allowed their children to understand each other's religious teachings.

Just a kilometre away from the shrines is an English medium high school run by an Islamic group where a dozen Hindu children study not only science, history and mathematics but also Islamic teachings alongside Muslim kids.

Mohamadiya Salfia Institute, according to villagers, has some 400 students and has been a source of communal harmony in the village.

"We are very happy that our kids are learning something different apart from their basic subjects," said Pradeep Kumar, 78, a Hindu villager.

Kumar, a retired government employee, said there was no harm in learning new things and definitely not if it is about peaceful Islam.

"Our kids are learning about Islam and it will help them to form their own opinions and understand something they won't learn at home," he added.

Kumar said when militancy erupted in the early 1990s and Pandits were driven out of their valley homes, at least half a dozen Hindu families in the village chose to stay back. He said it was possible only because of their Muslim neighbours who "formed human-chains around our houses to protect us".

He said "where in the world do you see people from another community putting their lives at risk to save others?"

Abdul Rashid Laway, a village body member, echoed the sentiments. "We have time and again requested those who migrated from this land of love to come back... this land belongs to both of us..."

Laway said that during festivities they come here and, "instead of staying at the well-furnished premises provided by the Mata Kheerbhawani temple, they prefer to stay with us... but we want them to be back here permanently," Laway said.

(Aadil Mir can be contacted at aadil.hussain@ians.in)

--IANS

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Rome, May 30 (IANS/AKI) A 27-year-old security guard on Monday confessed to killing his former girlfriend by dousing her in petrol and setting her alight in a Rome suburb.

Vincenzo Paduano faces charges of pre-meditated murder over the horrific killing early on Sunday of Sara Dipietrantonio, a 22-year-old student, who had recently ended their two-year relationship.

"In 25 years in this job I have never seen such an atrocious crime," police superintendent Luigi Silipo told journalists.

"Sara had got away from an unhealthy, obsessive love story," he said, adding that police believe Paduano followed Dipietrantonio on at least three previous occasions before he burnt her alive and had tormented her psychologically.

--IANS

ahm/vt
Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday that he is due to meet a large number of Japanese investors during his ongoing visit to the country with the aim of attracting investments to India.

"We already have over a thousand Japanese companies which have invested in India. (Japanese) Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe seeks to double it and therefore, I would be meeting individually as well as collectively a large number of investors," Jaitley told reporters here.

"The whole idea is to take the India story forward with them," he said after attending the The Future of Asia conference here.

Jaitley arrived here on Sunday on a six-day tour to Japan. Later on Sunday, he met SoftBank Group chief executive Masayoshi Son, whose company has already made investments in India worth around $2 billion in the last two years.

"There are people who want to participate in infrastructure growth story. For example, at the SoftBank meeting we just had, they are looking at one of the biggest investments in solar power already.

"They (Softbank) have made considerable headway and have identified the location. It will probably be one of the largest investment in those areas," he said after the meeting.

On Monday, Jaitley said: "I think similarly there are other Japanese investors who are open to the idea of having individual projects.

"We are open to the idea of them joining the India Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF) and this Indian flexibility provides them with more than one opportunity."

To a question whether Japanese investors have identified any project, he said that many of them had done so.

"For instance, SoftBank itself in Andhra Pradesh has identified the solar power project and there are many others who have identified and are talking and looking beyond solar power now," he said.

A delegation of CEOs led by industry chamber Ficci president Harshavardhan Neotia, which is accompanying Jaitley, visited the Japanese parliament on Monday and met MPs belonging to the Japan India Parliamentary Friendship League, Ficci said in a statement.

"Various potential areas of collaboration and partnership between the two countries came up during the discussion.

"Besides the on-going high level collaboration projects such as Bullet Train, it was proposed to extend the co-operation in other mega infrastructure projects," a statement said.

Jaitley is scheduled to meet Suzuki Motor chairman Osamu Suzuki on Tuesday. He is also slated to meet Abe and other Japanese government officials.

--IANS

bc/vd
King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday appointed Hani Al Mulqi as new prime minister and dissolved the parliament, media reports said.

Al Mulqi is a former ambassador in Cairo and served as Jordan's foreign minister in 2004. He also chaired the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, Xinhua news agency reported.

Al Mulqi was also a senator and an advisor to the King.

Mulqi's appointment and the dissolution of the Lower House come ahead of the parliamentary elections that are slated before the end of this year.
The family members of a Congolese national who was beaten to death over a minor dispute earlier this month arrived in the Indian capital on Monday, and were met by a senior official of the external affairs ministry at the airport.

The family members of Masonda Ketada Olivier, 29, were also told that the Indian government would bear all expenses related to ferrying home the victim's mortal remains.

"Joint Secretary (West Africa) Birender Yadav met the family members (cousins) of deceased DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) national Olivier at the airport and conveyed heartfelt condolences," external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

Olivier was beaten to death by three youths around 11.30 p.m. on May 20 after a verbal altercation over the hiring of an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area of south Delhi.

Two of the accused have been arrested while the third is on the run.

Olivier had come to India on a student visa and had recently got himself a job as a teacher.

Swarup also said that Olivier's kin would be coming to meet Yadav in his office later on Monday along with ambassador of the DRC.

The ambassador was also present at the airport with four other embassy officials.

"Joint secretary (West AFrica) conveyed that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has already requested for fast trial of the case and we would ensure that all three (accused) are prosecuted as per law of the land," Swarup said.

"Family members thanked for the help rendered," he added.

The attack on the Congolese national and other similar attacks has caused outrage among African envoys in India, who had last week decided to boycott an Africa Day event. The envoys later came round after the Indian government held a meeting with them to assure them of protection of African nationals.

Sushma Swaraj has been personally monitoring the outreach to the African community.

--IANS

ab/rn/vm
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday invited people to take part in an online quiz on the initiatives his government has taken during the last two years.

"An interesting governance quiz? Let's see how many you get it right. quiz.mygov.in," Modi tweeted.

The web-link "https://quiz.mygov.in/" provided in his tweet opens a site that says people will get to know more about government programmes through the quiz.

"So how well do you know about the Government of India's initiatives in the past two years to improve the governance scenario? Are you ready to take a quiz on this subject?," said the main page of the website.

"MyGov challenges you to come and test your knowledge. And if you don't know the answers, take the quiz anyhow to know about the various programmes, maybe a lucky guess or two will make you a winner? Either way, you will get to know about what your government has been doing for you."

The final answers to the questions will be published once the on-line quiz concludes, the website said.

It also mentioned a "grand prize" for the winners.

"A certificate signed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, and an opportunity to meet him in person," the website said.

The Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has embarked on a major public relations to highlight its achievements on the occasion of completing two years in office.

--IANS

ps-nd/kb/vm
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a five nation tour from June 4 that will see him travelling to Afghanistan, Qatar, Switzerland, the US and Mexico.

Modi will first go to Afghanistan on June 4, where he will visit Herat to inaugurate the Salma Dam that has been funded by India.

He will head to Qatar on June 5 for a bilateral visit where he will hold talks with Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and economic ties, especially the hydrocarbon sector, will be high on the agenda.

This is the first prime ministerial visit from India to Qatar in eight years since the visit of Manmohan Singh to Doha in 2008.

With 630,000, Indians form the largest expatriate community in Qatar.

From Qatar, Modi will head to Switzerland.

"During the visit, the Prime Minister and the President of the Swiss Confederation Johann Schneider-Ammann will hold discussions on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest," an official statement said.

From Switzerland, Modi will travel to the US on June 7 and 8 at the invitation of US President Barack Obama, with whom he will review the progress made in key areas of defence, security and energy.

In his last leg of visit, Modi will reach Mexico on June 8 at the invitation of President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Relations between India and Mexico have witnessed renewed vigour and activity in the last two years and Modi had a substantive bilateral meeting with President Nieto on the sidelines of UNGA.

"The main objective of the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister would be to carry forward the momentum in our bilateral relations and discuss cooperation in areas such as space, energy, agriculture and science and technology among others," the statement said.

The two leaders will also be discussing various multilateral issues during the visit.

--IANS

bns/vd
Proceedings in Nepal's parliament were on Monday obstructed by the main opposition Nepali Congress protesting vociferously over the alleged leakage of the contents of the annual budget, including its size, to the media even before its unveiling in the house two days ago.

Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar had to adjourn the house at least twice as the NC lawmakers protested the leakage of the budget contents by rising from their seats and raising slogans, Xinhua news agency reported.

Madhes-based lawmakers, agitating in Nepal's southern plains against the new constitution, also joined the NC members in the protest.

Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel presented a budget of Nepali Rs.1,048.92 billion (about $10 billion) for the 2016-17 fiscal on Saturday by hiking planned expenditure significantly.

But the Nepali media had covered the news on the budget details much before its presentation in parliament.

Right after Speaker Gharti Magar began Monday's sitting, the NC and Madhesi lawmakers rose from their seats in protest against the budget leak.

NC lawmaker and former Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat demanded "a fair probe" into the leakage of the budget information to the press.

"We will not allow parliament to move ahead without launching a probe into the issue," he said.

He claimed that the leakage of information violated parliament's "privilege" to know first about the budget proposals.

On Sunday, NC's parliamentary party meeting had sought Poudel's resignation on "moral grounds".

The NC has also been protesting the size and contents of the budget over its alleged "distributive nature" and claiming that the budget proposals violated fiscal discipline and they could not be implemented.

The meeting had also decided to take strong stand during the deliberations in the house on the Finance Bill.

The budget has doubled the allowance being provided to the elderly, widows and marginalised communities and also doubled the grant being provided to the local governments which the NC has termed "distributive".

There also are concerns about utilisation of the grants being provided to the local bodies as they are without elected representatives for the last 14 years.

But Poudel on Saturday defended the budget saying the state could not run away from its responsibility towards senior citizens and other disadvantaged communities.

"The government is also against piling up resources in the Centre instead of distributing the resources at the local level," he maintained.

--IANS

py/dg
A two-day conference of Northeast India's assembly speakers begins here on Tuesday to allow discussions on parliamentary democracy and an interaction between the presiding officers of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and legislative bodies.

"The summit would strengthen parliamentary democracy and facilitate a dialogue between the presiding officers of the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and legislative bodies of northeast," Tripura assembly Deputy Speaker Pabitra Kar told IANS here on Monday.

Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who arrived here on Monday, would inaugurate the conference of North East Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (NERCPA), comprising speakers and deputy speakers of the assemblies of the eight northeastern states, Kar said.

"The conference would help the presiding officers and members of assemblies to perform the proceedings of house for the betterment of the people. Newly elected members of the assemblies would be able to improve their performance inside and outside the house."

Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker and senior All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M. Thambidurai, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien, and Lok Sabha Secretary General Anoop Mishra would also attend the conference.

NERCPA is currently chaired by Meghalaya assembly Speaker Abu Taher Mondal.

The participants include speakers, deputy speakers of seven of the eight northeastern states excluding Assam, some legislators and parliamentarians, Tripura governor, chief minister and parliamentary affairs minister.

A speaker and deputy speaker of the new Assam assembly are yet to be elected.

Kar said besides a discussion on strengthening parliamentary democracy, soil erosion in northeastern region, a burning issue of the mountainous areas, would also be discussed.

"Impact of soil erosion on the local populace and how political intervention could check this problem would be highlighted by the experts," Kar added.

Tripura assembly Speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath said the 78th edition of the annual All India Presiding Officers' Conference, held in Gujarat, decided that the assembly sessions of big states must be held for 100 days in a year while in small states, including the eight northeastern states, the session must be held for at least 60 days.

However, on an average only 20 to 25-day sessions are being held in most of the assemblies in the northeastern states.

"We have no sufficient business, matters and issues to be discussed in the assembly in a larger number of days," Debnath added.

--IANS

sc/kb/bg
Goa's Deputy Chief Minister Francis D'Souza on Monday advised against a media trial in the "sensitive" rape case in which a Nigerian national has already been arrested, and hinted that the complaint could also be a case of a spat between a "girlfriend and a boyfriend".

"If you want to hear a little bit of extra news, then one of the MLAs was saying that she was his girlfriend. So how much to believe, you tell me. If the girlfriend complains against the boyfriend, how much to believe? That is a debatable issue," D'Souza said.

"Both ways it is sensitive. For the girl it is sensitive, for the boy also it is sensitive and I cannot prejudge," D'Souza said on the sidelines of a government event in the state capital.

Police on Monday arrested one Nigerian for allegedly raping a 31-year-old woman at knife-point along with an accomplice on Saturday night. The Nigerian national identified as Kenneth Upwegdha was arrested from a train at Panvel near Mumbai.

D'Souza said that he did not want to prejudge the case, but also said that unfortunate instances like rape occur all over the country, not just in Goa.

"These happen throughout India, it happens in the state of Goa also. These issues are to be understood (with) in a particular parameter. Why? Because some people give a false complaint. Then what do I say," D'Souza said.

Earlier, Goa's Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar said that Nigerians create problems not just in Goa, but in the rest of the country too.

"Nigerians create problem not just in Goa, but in the entire country. Nigerian students come to Goa and India to study, they get an FIR filed (against them), make it a judicial matter and they try to stay in India or Goa and indulge in drugs and other unwanted things," Parulekar said.

--IANS

maya/rn/vt
A Pakistani foreign affairs advisor here on Monday met with Afghan ambassador Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal to discuss regional situation.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said both the countries should not allow their territory to be used against each other.

Aziz and Zakhilwal also discussed the prospects of reconciliation between the two governments.

This was the first formal meeting between Pakistani and Afghani officials since after Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone strike on May 21.

Relations between Pakistan and the US have been soured since then.

Pakistan deemed this strike an attack on its sovereignty and has stated this has foiled peace attempts between the Taliban and the Afghan government.

--IANS

ahm/vt
Israeli Police have reportedly recommended filing charges against Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for allegedly misusing public funds.

Potential charges are allegedly based on three separate counts, including the ordering of food and private chefs for family events, the employment of a carer for Netanyahu's father, and affairs surrounding the prime minister's residences, according to Haaretz.

On the latter charge, Ezra Saidoff, deputy director general of the premier's office, and electrician Avi Fahima, a former Likud Central Committee member, also look set to be indicted.

A statement from the Israeli Police said the investigation had been concluded.

"The case began in February 2015 with the approval of the attorney general and the state prosecutor and focused on a number of issues in connection to which suspicion of the commission of criminal offences arose, including fraudulent receipt, fraud and breach of trust, including addressing mutual accusations," it read.

The investigation was based on the findings of a report issued in February 2015 by the State Comptroller, which allegedly found that Sara Netanyahu used the funds for her private expenses.

Sara Netanyahu continues to deny any wrongdoing.

--IANS

ahm/dg
The Supreme court on Monday declined a plea by mother of late actress Pratyusha Banerjee seeking cancellation of anticipatory bail of Rahul Raj Singh, accused of abetment to suicide of the "Balika Vadhu" star.

Rahul, whom Soma Banerjee wanted to be investigated for murder of her daughter, was granted anticipatory bail by the Bombay High Court on April 25.

A vacation bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy dismissed Banerjee's plea as withdrawn as it noted that there was no suicide note and the last conversation between Pratyusha and Rahul shows that even though they accuse each other, they also express "intense love" for each other.

If there is an absence of suicide note, the conversation reveals a "loving bond", the bench told counsel for Banerjee who said that only a custodial interrogation of Rahul can reveal the truth of her daughter's death.

Not accepting the plea for cancellation of anticipatory bail, the bench said that the preliminary investigation points to abetment of suicide and the probe was still in progress.

Urged that only custodial interrogation can establish the charge of murder, the bench, not impressed, asked if Maharashtra Police has filed any application challenging the grant of anticipatory bail and on being told they had not, dismissed the plea.

Rahul, who is alleged to had a live-in relationship with Pratyusha, has been booked under Section 306 (abetment of suicide), Section 504, Section 506 (criminal intimidation), and Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.

Police acted against Rahul following complaint by the deceased actress's parents.

Prosecution has alleged that on the day, Pratyusha committed suicide, he had left her Kandivili flat at around 3.30 p.m. and thereafter at 3.43 p.m., there was a call which lasted for about three and half minutes.

The Bombay High Court, before granting Rahul anticipatory bail, had heard the conversation after the public prosecutor had told it that the actress had allegedly hinted about her intention to commit suicide during the call.

--IANS

pk/vd
Japanese police on Monday continued the search for a seven-year-old boy missing since Saturday in a forested, mountainousremote area of Hokkaido, after being abandoned there as punishment by his parents.

According to the parents account, he was forced to alight from the vehicle in which the family was travelling, for his bad behaviour, leaving him alone on foot on a road at the base of Mount Komagatake, on Hokkaido island, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Although the seven-year-old boy ran behind the vehicle, his family told authorities that they lost sight of him and returned a few minutes later to the spot where they left him only to find him gone.

The parents reported the disappearance on Saturday afternoon and initially said that the small boy got lost while collecting berries in the forest, but on Sunday acknowledged having abandoned him as punishment for bad behaviour.

Around 130 police officers and firefighters are combing through an area of 5 sq.km, populated by wild bears, to look for the child who did not carry any food at the time of his disappearance.

The boy was wearing a navy shorts, a black pullover and a red sneaker at the time of his disappearence, police said.

--IANS

ksk
His struggle to overcome stammering during grown up years, broken marriage with childhood sweetheart Sussanne Khan and his ongoing legal battle with actress Kangana Ranaut has not changed Hrithik Roshan's positive outlook towards life. As he looks back, actor Hrithik Roshan sees himself as an evolved person, who inspite of experiencing highs and lows in his life, has still "soldiered on".

"I constantly believe in evolving as a human being, an actor and a performer. As I look back, I see myself as an evolved person who has seen great highs and lows and still soldiered on," Hrithik told IANS in an email interview.

The actor is currently in news for his legal spat with Kangana. The two, who were apparently dating in the past, slapped a legal notice against each other for tarnishing their respective images in the public.

Issues began when Kangana hinted at Hrithik being her "ex" when she said in an interview that she fails to understand "why exes do silly things to get your attention". The topic in discussion was Hrithik's hand in getting Kangana replaced in the project by Sonam Kapoor in "Aashiqui 3".

In an indirect dig to that, Hrithik had later tweeted: "There are more chances of me having had an affair with the Pope and any of the (I'm sure wonderful) women the media has been naming. Thanks but no thanks."

This set the stage for their legal war.

On being asked how his good or bad times have influenced him as an actor or as a human being, he chose to let it go unanswered, but said that while everybody wants to change something about their lives, they compromise with situation and time.

"I believe if you are not rediscovering yourself and pushing boundaries, then you are not alive. Everybody wants to change something about their life, but they are either too afraid, too lazy, or too comfortable with the way things are," he said.

The actor is currently the brand ambassador of the watch brand Rado and recently launched the Swiss watchmaker's chocolate brown high-tech ceramic collection.

Hrithik says that his ability to reinvent himself "in new roles resonates with the brand's image to constantly innovate, making it a perfect fit".

But at a time when some senior actors are facing criticism for choosing wrong brand endorsements, Hrithik says that he only works with those brands that inspire him.

"There is a high focus placed upon the importance of choosing a reliable, trustworthy celebrity to endorse or sponsor a company's product, while still balancing the celebrity's power to influence their consumers. And for me, I work with people and brands that inspire me. Our values and message need to be the same," he told IANS.

With time being such an important part in everybody's life, the father of two feels that he always tries to be committed to deadlines.

"Quite often we hear of our busy schedules and insane shoot hours. Despite this, it's important to manage to be punctual and stay true to one's profession. I try to be very sincere and committed to my films and deadlines," he said.

Last seen on screen in 2014 released action film "Bang Bang!", the actor is currently shooting for

Ashutosh Gowariker's directorial "Mohenjo Daro". Also starring debutante Pooja Hegde and veteran actor Kabir Bedi, the movie is set in the ancient city of Mohenjo Daro in the era of the Indus Valley civilisation.

The movie marks Gowariker's second collaboration with Hrithik after 2008 film "Jodhaa Akbar". For Hrithik, "doing a period drama is always a challenge".

"I am travelling back into time and it's been a great journey and a great experience. The other movie ('Kaabil' directed by Sanjay Gupta and produced by Rakesh Roshan) is a love story-cum-revenge drama and it's shaping well," said Hrithik.

(Nivedita can be contacted at Nivedita.s@ians.in)

--IANS

nv/rb/vm
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo on Monday admitted that the electoral strategy in West Bengal "was not in consonance" with the party's central committee decision.

"With regard to the electoral tactics pursued by the CPI-M in various states, the electoral tactics evolved in West Bengal was not in consonance with the Central Committee decision based on the political-tactical line of the party which states that there shall be no alliance or understanding with the Congress party," a statement from the CPI-M politburo said here.

The statement was issued at the end of a two-day meet of the party's highest policy-making body.

The statement added that the CPI-M state committees in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Assam will "prepare a detailed review" of the party's performance in the recent assembly elections.

"On the basis of these review reports prepared by the state committees, the Central Committee will conduct its review at its forthcoming meeting from June 18-20," it said.

The politburo in its statement lashed out at the Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal for "unleashing widespread violence against the cadres of the opposition parties".

"Many CPI-M cadres have been murdered and over 600 CPI-M and mass organisation offices have been ransacked and some set on fire," it said, adding that the attacks specifically focus on constituencies and areas "where Trinamool Congress lost in these elections".

"Widespread bomb attacks, arson and extortion of huge amounts of money as ransom are being reported. Those who voted against the Trinamool Congress are reportedly coerced into paying a hefty fine for having exercised their democratic choice," the statement said.

The party called upon the people of West Bengal "to unitedly resist this murder of democracy and civil liberties in the state".

On Kerala poll outcome which has brought the Left Democratic Front (LDF) back to power, ousting the Congress, the statement said, "The politburo salutes the people of Kerala for reposing faith in the LDF in a resounding manner in these assembly elections."

"The LDF government has assumed office with a resolve to fulfill the commitments that it made to the people of Kerala during the polls."

However, it alleged that "the physical attacks by the RSS against the CPI-M and the LDF continue", adding that 41 such attacks have already taken place since the election results were declared.

"Two comrades have lost their lives, with Sasikumar, who was seriously injured in an attack at Engandiyoor in Thrissur on 22nd May, succumbing to his injuries on May 27," it alleged.

"The CPI-M calls upon the RSS/BJP to respect the verdict of the people (of Kerala) and desist from such murderous onslaughts," it said.

--IANS

nd/bim/vt
The time has come for the new generation to emerge in the party, Congress Punjab unit president Amarinder Singh said, adding that party chief Sonia Gandhi is "obviously tired".

"I have worked with Sonia Gandhi and found her (to be) a very good leader. But she is (aged) 70. Time has come for the new generation to emerge (in the party). Obviously, she is tired," Singh said in an interview to CNN News18.

He was asked if the party has been harmed by the simultaneous presence of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi at the top of the Congress hierarchy.

"It will be only fair if she wishes to hand over (party reins)," the former Punjab chief minister said.

In response to a question, Singh said Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi "will also emerge" (as a good leader) once given power and responsibility.

"I have worked with his (Rahul's) father (late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi). He was also like this. Rahul will also emerge (as a good leader) in due course," the Congress MP from Amritsar in Punjab said.

He also said that the "Congress has to strengthen itself after whatever has happened in the country," in an obvious reference to the party's debacle in the assembly elections in four states.

Singh also said that the Congress high command should delegate more powers to its state leaders, especially to fight "regional leaders" in their respective states.

"If you have to deal with regional leadership, you must give some powers to the state leaders of the Congress," the Punjab Congress chief said.

--IANS

nd/tsb/bg
The chief negotiator of Syria's main opposition umbrella group has resigned over what he called the failure of peace talks.

Mohammed Alloush, from the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), on Sunday said the talks had not brought a political deal or eased the plight of Syrians in besieged areas, BBC reported.

"The three rounds of talks were unsuccessful because of the stubbornness of the regime and its continued bombardments and aggressions against the Syrian people," Alloush said.

The Saudi-backed HNC has for months expressed its frustration about the progress of the Geneva talks.

It has suspended its involvement in the UN-brokered "proximity" negotiations with a Syrian government delegation in Geneva in April.

No date has been set for a resumption.

A nationwide truce between rebel and government forces brokered by the US and Russia is officially still in place, but is frequently violated.

More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed and about 11 million people have been forced from their homes during the civil war, which began with an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad five years ago.

--IANS

ksk
The Congress party in Kerala has said that trouble has broken out in the less than one week old Left Democratic Front government between the two leading parties -- Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

Addressing reporters here on Monday, newly elected Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly Ramesh Chennithala said that generally for any new government there is a honeymoon period of six months.

"But fissures have already surfaced between the CPI-M and the CPI over the arbitrary manner in which Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that there is no immediate need for a new dam to replace the Mullaperiyar dam, which is totally against the unanimous resolution passed by the Kerala assembly, which sought a new dam," said Chennithala.

Vijayan, who was sworn in along with an 18 member cabinet last Wednesday, made the startling disclosure while in Delhi last week that there was no immediate need for a new dam to replace the Mullaperiyar dam and through talks with Tamil Nadu, issues can be resolved.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been at loggerheads over the dam, built under an 1886 accord between the then Maharaja of Travancore and the erstwhile British regime.

Though the dam is located in Kerala, it is owned, maintained and operated by Tamil Nadu and the former has for long been demanding de-commissioning of the dam that has developed leaks.

While the Kerala government said that the dam is posing a serious threat to lives and property in five districts of the state taking into account its age, Tamil Nadu wanted the water level of the dam to be increased.

But the Supreme Court directive that came in May 2014, allowed Tamil Nadu to increase the water level from 136 feet to 142 but in no case it should exceed 142 feet.

The Kerala assembly held a special session and passed a unanimous resolution demanding that a new dam is the only way out.

"Vijayan appears to have jumped the gun and the CPI has already expressed its reservation in the manner he made this statement in Delhi. He knows very well that there is a unanimous resolution demanding a new dam and many are baffled through his sudden change of stance. Our stand is very clear and the only way out is a new dam. We will now wait and see what the Vijayan government does on it," said Chennithala.

Incidentally, the LDF poll manifesto had mentioned about a new dam at Mullaperiyar.

--IANS

sg/pgh/bg
The World Health Organization called on the Chinese government on Monday to enforce a strict national level anti-tobacco law following the "successful" implementation of the model legislation in Beijing, which has been "smoke-free" for a year.

"It is time to extend the same protection from second-hand smoke Beijingers now enjoy to the rest of the country, through the adoption of a strong national smoke-free law," said WHO representative in China Bernhard Schwartlander.

A year on, the law's success is "proof" something can be done to protect citizens from smoke, Efe news quoted him as saying.

"Enforcement is good, compliance is good, public support is high, and Beijingers are breathing easier as a result. We applaud Beijing for its very strong leadership," he said.

The WHO considers the law exemplary as it fulfils all parameters indicated by the organisation, including a smoking ban in indoor workplaces, public transport and indoor or other suitable public places.

The UN health agency also said it should be compulsory at the national level for cigarette packages to carry pictorial warnings of the health dangers of tobacco.

According to WHO data, China is the world's largest producer and consumer of tobacco, with 315 million smokers, 11 percent of whom are aged between 13 and 15 years old.

One million Chinese lives are lost every year due to smoking-related ailments, while 700 million are passive smokers, of whom some 100,000 die annually.

Besides the anti-smoking law in Beijing, Chinese authorities have also increased the tax on tobacco, causing sales to fall between 3.3 to 5.5 percent.

--IANS

py/vt
Enlarged pictorial warnings on cigarette packets, showing frightening effects of tobacco consumption on health, may be a welcome step towards educating people about the perils of smoking, but this is still not enough to reduce the consumption rate among the majority of habitual smokers, say stakeholders and experts.

The Supreme Court recently ordered cigarette producers to comply with the health ministry's new regulation mandating an increase in the size of the pictorial warning to 85 percent of the front and back panels of cigarette packets.

However, many regular smokers who don't buy full packets admitted to IANS they are unaware about the order.

"I have not seen the enlarged warnings as I don't buy packets, but one or two cigarettes at a time," said Vikash Shaw, who smokes about eight cigarettes each day.

Terming the enlarged warnings as "futile", Babu Hazra, a daily wage labourer, said: "What matters to me is only the sudden price rise."

Leading cigarette producer ITC has retained the prices of most of its brands but reduced the stick sizes to overcome the 10-15 percent hike in tobacco taxes that was announced in this year's union budget.

Serviceman Amitava Bhatacharya said although initially the enlarged warning looked scary, it could not stop him from smoking. "When I first saw that big warning image, I was indeed terrified. But eventually I surrendered to my addiction," Bhattacharya told IANS.

Cigarette retailers too testified they have not seen any significant change in consumption rates.

However, cigarette producers like ITC, Godfrey Phillips and VST Industries have complained that India's legal cigarette industry is facing a continuous drop in demand because of high taxation and large pictorial warnings.

Dhaneswar Patra, a roadside paan-waala, told IANS: "Even before these warnings were printed on the packets, smokers knew that it is harmful. But still they consumed cigarette at their own will. The same is happening now too."

On the other hand, doctors and economists are giving a thumbs up to the new regulations.

With almost one million people dying due to direct and passive smoking in India, medico S.K. Paira believed quitting tobacco is comparatively easier than other addictions.

"Smoking creates mental dependency while alcohol and drugs create physical dependency in which withdrawal symptoms are fatal. Mental determination is the best way to give up smoking," Paira told IANS.

Admitting that the overpowering craving for tobacco makes regular smokers overlook health warnings, psychiatrist Manoj Sharma felt that the enlarged pictorial warning has to be complemented with grass-root level awareness for reducing tobacco consumption.

"Education at the school level is necessary for creating awareness about the ill-effects of smoking. Reducing tobacco consumption depends on the interplay of these two factors," Sharma told IANS.

Praising the health and family welfare ministry's decree to print bigger and more disturbing warning on cigarette packets, economist Santanu Mitra told IANS: "The enlarged warning may serve as a discouraging factor for first time smokers and those who are not regular or habituated smokers."

Papiya Sen, an anti-tobacco activist, sounded confident of propagating the message about the harmful effects of smoking, despite facing strong opposition from the tobacco companies.

Accepting the fact that the message of the perils of smoking is not reaching out to the larger public who smoke beedis since there is no compulsion to cover 85 per cent of the beedi packets with pictorial warning, Sen said: "We have to take one step at a time. I am sure sooner or later we will succeed in making the beedi companies print enlarged warnings too."

Statistics have shown that beedis account for 48 percent of India's tobacco consumption.

(Saptarshi Mallik can be contacted at mallik94@gmail.com)

--IANS

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Norway will host the World Congress against the death penalty in Oslo in June.

The countries still practising the death penalty and also those who have abolished this punishment will participate in the sixth World Congress that will take place between June 21 and 23, Norwayemb.org.in said on its website.

The congress aims to open dialogue across different positions and geographical regions, recognising that exchange is needed to move together towards more effective and more humane justice systems.

The topics like national institutions for human rights and progress and setbacks in Asia will be on the agenda this year.

Other important topics such as death penalty and terrorism, minorities and psychological health will be discussed by about 1,300 participants from over 80 countries.

The fight against the death penalty is a high political priority for Norway, and the country plays an active role in the international efforts to abolish it, a statement on the site said.

--IANS

py/dg
An interesting debate is being played out in the periphery of India's political battles. It started with the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) releasing a report on Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) for losing out thousands of crores in the gas fields of KG basin. The United Progressive Alliance found that to be enough to come up with a series of allegations, the latest coming from the former petroleum minister, Jairam Ramesh. In all of this, the critical issue is not so much of corruption or even of any undue favours but that of why money was spent on an activity that has not borne fruit yet.
With reference to "Only a price controller" (May 30), the editorial has rightly highlighted the sad state of affairs in our clueless department of pharmaceuticals. Its raison d'etre is "to make available quality medicines at affordable prices". Period! Sadly, it is not even touching that subject. Everyone is aware that most medicine manufacturers give between 30 and 40 per cent discount on MRP to bulk buyers. Barring some chains offering a 10 per cent discount to senior citizens, none of this is passed on to customers. In fact in almost all hospitals even this 10 per cent is denied and all billing to all patients is at MRP. Why should there be such huge margins?



A major fault lies with the doctors prescribing only one "branded medicine" instead of mentioning the salt or suggesting alternatives. This is where the huge discounts presumably get spent - kickbacks to the practitioners prescribing a brand of their choice. In the UK, the doctors only prescribe a salt and it is left to the chemist to offer all alternatives to the patient - a healthy practice that has stood the test of time. There is also the huge unethical and corrupt sector of "fake" medicines, causing incalculable loss to patients including risk to lives. Not enough is being done by the department to check this, by way of imposing fines and awarding punishment to those engaged in this nefarious practice.

Krishan Kalra, Gurgaon



Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
Jat Agitation (File Photo) The Government will file an application in the Punjab and High Court on Monday over the Jat reservation issue.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans have been deployed near the Munak canal, in wake of the Jat Agitation, that will take place on June 5.

Jat community leaders from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi staged a protest on Sunday, outside Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's residence, demanding reservation for the community, after the High Court brought an interim stay on the reservation given to Jats and five other castes in the state.

Hearing a petition challenging reservations for Jats and other castes on the grounds that it is in violation to a Supreme Court order, the Punjab and High Court earlier on Thursday brought an interim stay on the Jat reservation quota and fixed July 21 for the next hearing, when the government will file its reply.

The Haryana Cabinet had on March 28 approved the amendments in the Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Bill, which enlists Jats, Bishnois, Tyagis, and Rors in the recently sculpted Backward Classes (C) category, making them eligible for 10 per cent reservation in classes 3 and 4 posts, and six percent reservation in classes 1 and 2 jobs.

Meanwhile, Akhil Bharatiya Jat Aarakshan Samiti are geared up to launch a state wide 'Jat Nyay rally' in Haryana from June 5.
Amidst "differences" in the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) over implementation of a hydro-electric project in ecologically sensitive Athirappilly in Kerala, Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala today said a public debate over it was necessary to form a consensus.

Addressing a meet-the-press programme here, he said that there were differences of opinion over the project both in LDF and opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) and "the differences are more in LDF".

"In view of the differences prevailing in both the fronts, the matter should be consulted with leaders of parties and environmentalists. A unilateral decision will not benefit the state," he said.

Communist Party of India, the second largest partner in the ruling LDF, had come out against the statement of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Power Minister Kadakampally Surendran favouring the project yesterday.

On the Mullaperiyar dam issue, Chennithala said that Vijayan's stand would only harm the state's interest.

"The UDF stands by the unanimous resolution passed by the Assembly seeking construction of a new dam in place of the existing reservoir considering its safety," he said, adding that it would not be good to proceed violating the contents and spirit of the resolution.

Vijayan had said that there was no meaning for to keep "unnecessary" concern over the safety of the present more than a century-old dam.

Chennithala also said that UDF did not agree with the new government's move to wind up the Devaswom Recruitment Board, set up by the previous government.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will be the Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for a Rajya Sabha seat from Andhra Pradesh in the election slated for June 11, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced on Monday night.

Prabhu will file his nomination in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

"BJP president Amit Shah called me over phone yesterday (on Sunday) and requested me to accommodate Prabhu for Rajya Sabha. We considered the request and accepted it. Prabhu is my good friend since the time of Vajpayee government when he headed the panel on interlinking of rivers," Chandrababu said.

On TDP's behalf, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y Satyanarayana Chowdary has been re-nominated for the second Rajya Sabha seat. "Chowdary had been championing the state's cause in Parliament. Hence, we decided to nominate him again," the TDP chief said.

For the third seat, the TDP has chosen former minister T G Venkatesh. Venkatesh, who belongs to the Vysya community, is an industrialist and served as a minister in the Congress governments between 2010 and 2014.

Chandrababu, however, kept everyone guessing on the TDP's "strategic move" of fielding a fourth candidate, ostensibly as an Independent, through the 17 YSR Congress MLAs, who defected to the ruling party in recent days. He remained evasive on the issue saying "you will know about it tomorrow".

The BJP has picked party spokesperson M J Akbar as its nominee to fill the second vacant seat for the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. The party had re-nominated senior leader Anil Madhav Dave as its candidate for one of the three seats from Madhya Pradesh.

The names of 12 candidates recommended by the state BJP election committee for two Rajya Sabha seats did not include Akbar. Two-term Rajya Sabha MP Chandan Mitra does not figure on the BJP list. Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, lawyer Ram Jethmalani and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti were among several candidates who on Monday submitted their papers. BJP vice-president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who heads a think tank affiliated to the party and is also in-charge of its affairs in MP, and Vikas Mahatme were nominated from Maharashtra while Shiv Pratap Shukla will contest from Uttar Pradesh and Mahesh Poddar from Jharkhand.

Elections for 57 seats in the Upper House from 15 states would be held on June 11.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, whose name was doing the rounds as a contender, is not among the six candidates with sources saying he is likely to get a bigger responsibility in the organisation following a rejig expected soon.
Over 200 seafarers working with the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) have launched an indefinite hunger strike seeking immediate implementation of revised wages.

These seafarers, deployed on 15 vessels owned and operated by the Centre, launched their strike yesterday demanding revised wages in accordance with the clauses of National Maritime Board India's agreement.

These seafarers have also approached the National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) for its intervention.

"Yes, the agitating seafarers approached us and our trade union has assured full support to them. Unfortunately, SCI has not yet implemented the latest National Maritime Board India agreement which was signed on April 2, 2016 in spite of our repeated advice and communication," NUSI General Secretary Abdulgani Serang told PTI here.

The latest National Maritime Board India agreement assures 30 per cent increment in wages and payment of the past arrears to the Indian seafarers, said Serang, adding that the agreement was signed by NUSI and the Indian National Shipowners Association (INSA).

"All members of INSA have executed the clauses of National Maritime Board India's latest agreement. However, SCI has not yet implemented the agreed clauses despite being a member of INSA. The seafarers were assured that SCI will implement the revised wages and also the arrears after the SCI Board of Directors meeting held on 26th May, 2016," Serang said.

He added, "We regret to note that SCI deliberately did not discuss and formalize the revised wages and arrears payable to seafarers in their Board meeting. This has led to serious situation and seafarers have already started agitation on board."



Giving details of the ships, Serang informed that the seafarers working on SCI ships, namely M V Goa, M T Swarna Godavari, Col S P Wahi, M T Desh Gaurav, SCI Urza, M V SCI Mukta, SCI Ratna, R V Samudra Kaustubh, M T Desh Suraksha, GTV Samudra Sarvekshak, SCI Johnson, etc have gone on strike.

When contacted, V K Bhandari, Vice President of Fleet Personnel Department of SCI, said, "It's not such that they are on strike, but we are taking up the case and will let you know later on.
A Chinese engineer was among the three people injured today when suspected militants triggered a remote-controlled explosion in this Pakistani city, with pamphlets recovered from the site denouncing "foreign control" over Sindh's natural resources.

The bomb was planted on the green belt in Gulshan-i-Hadeed area of Karachi and exploded as the vehicle of the Chinese engineer was just passing by it.

Senior police officer Rao Anwar confirmed the attack.

"We have recovered a pamphlet in Sindhi from the site of the blast denouncing foreign control over Sindh's natural resources," he said.

Finche, a Chinese national and his driver Tariq Aziz, 25, were among those injured. The identity of the third victim was not known.

Anwar said 500 grams of explosives were used in the bombing.

Police have launched search operation in the area.

No group has claimed responsibility of the attack so far but militants from different groups are active in Pakistan's commercial-hub and its most populous city Karachi, which is also the hotbed of ethnic violence.

Hundreds of Chinese workers and engineers are engaged in different development projects in Pakistan including the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) launched last year and the Thar coal power project.

China has earlier asked Pakistan to beef up security for its nationals engaged in various development projects in the country.

In a meeting with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in October last year, Chinese ambassador Sun Weidong had demanded fool-proof security to all Chinese workers associated with the CPEC.

Following the meeting, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had reviewed the security situation in November and assured that the government will provide full security to Chinese workers in Pakistan.
Four persons have been arrested in Nepal for their alleged involvement in the abduction of an Indian-origin industrialist in the border town of Birgunj.

The four were arrested for their involvement in the abduction of Suresh Kedia, the owner of Kedia group of companies in Nepal, police said.

They apparently assisted in the abduction, masterminded and executed by an Indian gang, the Himalayan Times reported.

Kedia was abducted at gunpoint from Bariyarpur of Bara district in southern Nepal on Thursday and taken to India, taking advantage of the porous Indo-Nepal border.

The industrialist was safely rescuced from Motihari in Bihar yesterday, after four days in captivity.

Police claimed that the suspects had provided information about Kedia and his movements to the notorious Indian criminal Bablu Dube, who is believed to be the mastermind of Kedia's abduction, and his henchmen, the report said.

Dube is currently lodged in a jail in Bihar.

The abductors had shot at and critically injured Kedia's driver before kidnapping him.

The kidnappers had reportedly demanded a ransom of up to NRs 100 crore.

DIG Pashupati Upadhyaya of the Central Regional Police Office said the arrests were made after monitoring call details of Dube.

Police Inspector Narendra Upreti at the Bara District Police Office said further investigation is underway and police would file an abduction and hostage taking case against the suspects.

Talking to reporters in Raxaul before he returned to Birgunj, Kedia said he was blindfolded and kept at a place for four days before he was released by the kidnappers.
Four West Bengal ministers, who had lost the Assembly elections, will be back in their erstwhile departments in the rank of a minister by the state government, officials said today.

To utilise their experience and expertise in the departments they had led in their earlier term, former power minister Manish Gupta was being appointed as an Advisor to the Chief Minister on power and non-conventional energy sources in the rank of a cabinet minister, officials said.

For co-ordination and synergy in power and non-conventional energy departments, a committee would be formed with Gupta as the chairperson and CMDs of state power utilities as its members.

Chandrima Bhattacharya, former minister of state for health, law and judicial affairs, will be appointed as chairperson of West Bengal Medical Services Corporation in the rank of a minister of state.

Former PWD minister Sankar Chakraborty would become chairman of three state PSUs - Mackintosh Burn, Westinghouse Saxby Farmer Ltd and Britannia Engineering - in the rank and pay equivalent to that of a cabinet minister, officials said.

Upendranath Biswas, former backward class welfare minister, would get a new position as chairman of two corporations under the department, they added.
The Delhi police today informed Delhi High Court they lodged 5,217 cases of sexual offences perpetrated on children between 2012 and 2015.

A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath was informed that around 3,191 cases registered between 2012 and 2015 under the POCSO Act are pending trial in various courts of the national capital.

"During the years from 2012 to 2015, a total number of 5,217 cases were registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012. Out of these 5,217 cases, untraced/cancellation reports were filed in 252. A total number of 575 cases are still pending investigation for the period over three months.

"It is further submitted that the information required by this court regarding pending trial has been obtained from the Director of Prosecution, Delhi government... A total number of 3191 cases, registered from the year 2012 to 2015 under POCSO are pending trial in various courts," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Legal Cell, said in a status report filed through advocate Gautam Narayan.

The Delhi police was replying to a court notice issued to it on a plea by NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) seeking time-bound trial and disposal of cases related to sexual abuse of children.

The NGO, which was represented by senior advocate H S Phoolka, stated that not only does the CrPC, but the Constitution also "envisages a citizen's fundamental right to a fast and a speedy trial".

It also stated that "despite the introduction of POCSO Act, there has been an incessant delay in investigation, trial and adjudication of cases in courts in Delhi".

The NGO has sought direction to police "to adhere to a time-bound investigation within three months" in cases of sexual offences, rape or sexual assault on children.

It has said a direction should be given to subordinate courts to complete the trial in a time-bound manner.
Rakhi Birla, Pramila Tokas and Bhavana Gaur are among the front-runners for the post of Deputy Speaker of Delhi Assembly as AAP has begun the process of looking for a suitable woman candidate to replace Bandana Kumari.

On Saturday, Kumari had sent her resignation to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal taking moral responsibility of the party's defeat in the MCD bypoll. The Shalimar Bagh MLA was unhappy over the party choosing Anvika Mittal as its candidate in the MCD bypolls.

The party will choose a woman candidate in place of Kumari, sources said.

The party has six women legislators, two of whom--Sarita Singh (Rohtas Nagar) and Alka Lamba (Chandani Chowk)-- are parliamentary secretaries. So, they are unlikely to be chosen for the post.

The sources said the party has to make a choice between Birla (Mangolpuri) and Gaur (Palam).

"Birla is a Dalit face and making her the Deputy Speaker could send a positive signal among Dalits. So, her chances are very strong. Bhavana Gaur is also senior in terms of age. She is also active in the organisation," a senior party leader said.

Tokas (Munirka) could also emerge as a dark horse but in the MCD bypoll the party candidate faced a drubbing in her constituency.

However, a formal decision is yet to be taken.

Meanwhile, the party is yet to formally send Kumari's resignation to the Speaker.

"She had herself given the resignation to the Chief Minister," the leader said, adding that the party had not sought her resignation.
Nearly 200 workers from Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan, employed with a company in Saudi Arabia, are stranded in the middle eastern nation and their salaries have not been paid for the last few months, their family members have claimed.

Mohammad Ishaaq and Mohammad Muslim, who hail from Alsisar town, informed their family on telephone that they and other workers are helpless and their grievances are not being addressed by the company officials.

"There is no relief or positive response from the local labour court and the Embassy of India in Saudi Arabia," the family members claimed.

The family members said the 200 workers do not have money to buy tickets to India and are facing hardships there.

Ishaaq's son Rashid said his father has been working in Saudi Arabia for the last 25 years and has not received his salary for the last six months.

Mohammad Muslim's brother, Mohammed Salim, said the workers approached various authorities in Saudi Arabia but have not got any relief.

He claimed that the workers were helpless as their passports were deposited with the company.

However, District Collector Babu Lal Meena said he has no authentic information about the workers, said to be stuck in Saudi Arabia.

Jhunjhunu MP Santosh Ahlawat said she would collect details of the workers and seek help from the External Affairs Ministry.
A veterinary doctor who was allegedly attacked with acid by a woman has confessed to having been in a relationship with her, police said today.

SHO Indira Puram Gorakh Nath Yadav said that Amit Verma, a veterinary doctor, was practicing in Shastri Nagar Meerut and was living as a tenant in a house here.

The doctor denied to stay with the woman and shifted his clinic in Vaishali, Ghaziabad few months back.

Thereafter, on May 16 the woman reached his clinic in Vaisahli sector 4 and allegedly poured acid to disfigure him, while he was taking bath.

The doctor had sustained 40 per cent burn injuries and is still undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

An FIR has been lodged upon the complaint of Amit under section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) IPC.

Police teams have conducted several raids at the woman's residence in Meerut and she will be nabbed soon, the Officer added.
An Afghan official today met top Pakistani diplomat and discussed a host of issues, including the fate of Afghan peace process after the death of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a US drone attack recently.

Afghan envoy Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal met the Prime Minister's advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz here.

They discussed the fate of Afghan peace process in the wake of killing of Mullah Mansour and appointment of hardline cleric Mullah Haibatullah as his successor, according to diplomatic sources.

Pakistan was livid after the attack, saying it was major setback to Afghan peace process.

"The death of Mullah Mansoor in a drone strike on May 21 has added to the complexity of the Afghan conflict," Aziz has said after the drone attack.

"We believe that this action has undermined the Afghan peace process," he said.

It is believed that the peace process has been pushed back for several months as new Taliban leader will be under pressure to shun talks after killing of Mansour.

Pakistan had been active as part of four way group with Afghanistan, China and US to help start the peace talks.
A string of coordinated Taliban attacks on police checkpoints in the increasingly volatile southern Afghan province of Helmand killed at least 12 policemen, an official said today.

Also, seven police officers were wounded in the attacks and seven others were missing, presumably abducted by the Taliban. The attacks, which took place in the province's Gereshk district, were launched yesterday night and lasted for many hours, said Hismatullah Daulatzai, head of police for the greater Helmand zone.

The 15-year insurgency in Afghanistan has intensified across the south as the Taliban concentrate their war on Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces. Many of the attacks target police checkpoints, with Taliban fighters stealing weapons, ammunition and vehicles and often abducting Afghan forces. On Saturday, Taliban fighters killed at least four policemen in Helmand's Nahri Sarraj district in similar attacks.

The fight in the southern, opium poppy-producing region is led by Mullah Yaqoub, the son of the one-eyed founder and late leaders of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Mullah Omar's successor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was killed in a US drone strike this month almost a year after officially taking over when the death of his predecessor was revealed.

After Mansour's death, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, a conservative cleric with no battlefield experience and a deputy to Mansour, was named to lead the group.

As the summer fighting season progresses, military officials are expecting the violence to escalate with Akhundzada's need to consolidate power. Yaqoub and the head of the brutal Haqqani network, Sirajuddin Haqqani, were named as deputies to Akhundzada.

Rivalries have also become entrenched, with the main dissident group that broke away to protest Mansour's leadership and which is now led by Mullah Mohammad Rasool has vowed not to reconcile with the Taliban.
A 51-year-old Ola cab driver was allegedly beaten up and robbed of cash by a group of African persons in the wee hours today in a south Delhi locality where African nationals were allegedly attacked by groups of locals in four separate incidents last week.

A 26-year-old woman, identified as Kefa, who is a native of Rwanda, has been arrested and the police are looking out for five other persons involved in the incident in Rajpur Khurd, additional DCP (south) Nupur Prasad said.

The incident took place around 4 AM when the group, comprising of four African men and two women, booked a cab through Ola aggregator service, and the driver, identified as Nooruddin, went for the pick up.

Police did not rule out the possibility of some members of the group being drunk at the time of the incident.

The group had booked the cab from Rajpur Khurd village in south Delhi's Mehrauli area to Dwarka. An argument took place between Nooruddin and the group when he refused to accommodate more than four passengers in his car, a police official said.

The argument soon turned into a scuffle and the group thrashed Nooruddin. They even allegedly robbed him of Rs 10,000 cash.

The cab driver managed to get hold of Kefa but the others escaped. He then called up the police control room. Nooruddin received deep wounds on his face and had to be given six stitches. He was rushed to AIIMS and Kefa was detained by the police for questioning, the official said.

"A case of causing hurt, wrongful confinement and robbery has been registered in connection with the matter and all accused have been identified," the senior police official said.

At least six African nationals sustained injuries after they were allegedly attacked by locals at Rajpur Khurd in Mehrauli in four separate incidents following arguments over loud music and public drinking around the same time on Thursday night.

Five persons have been arrested in connection with the matter and most arrests are likely, police said.

The alleged attacks happened close on the heels of the murder of a 23-year-old Congolese man in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area around 11 days ago.

African envoys had expressed outrage over the incident, following which India assured them safety and security for all African nationals.
A was beaten up allegedly by a group of Africans in the wee hours on Monday in south Delhi's Rajpur Khurd, the locality in which African nationals were attacked by groups of locals in four separate incidents last week.

The incident took place around 4 am when the cab driver, identified as Nuruddin (identified only by his first name), went to pick up passengers from Rajpur Khurd in Mehrauli.

There were six of them -- four African men and two women. An altercation took place between Nuruddin and the passengers when he refused to accommodate all six of them in his cab, a senior police official said.

The group then allegedly attacked Nuruddin and ran away. The injured driver, however, managed to stop one woman, who is believed to be from Rwanda, and called up the police.

Nuruddin, who sustained injuries on his face, was rushed to AIIMS and the woman has been detained for questioning. A case has been registered and efforts are on to identify the other accused persons, the official added.

There has been a series of attacks on African nationals in the last few days including killing of a Congolese youth in capital and assault on a 23-year-old Nigerian student in Hyderabad.

Five persons have been arrested in connection with the attack on African nationals.
Chinese and American archaeologists have unearthed the earliest evidence of beer brewing in China dating back to 5,000 years ago with the drink made from a mixture of millet, barley and a few tubers from plant roots.

The study published on May 23, uncovered a set of "beer-making tool" kits at Mijiaya, an archaeological site located in China's northwest city of Xi'an.

The kits include funnels, pots and specialised jugs. The excavated kits date back to around 3400 to 2900 BC and are thought to be the oldest beer brewing facility discovered so far in China, state-run China.Org reported.

The shapes and styles of the vessels suggest they were used in three distinctive stages in the beer-making process: brewing, filtration and storage.

According to the archaeologist's analysis, the residue found in the uncovered devices contain oxalate and phytolith, essential ingredients of "beerstone" (a beer-making byproduct that forms a grayish brown scale composed of calcium oxalate and organic substances formed on the inside surface of brewing apparatus), which is related to beer brewing.

Wang Jiajing, one of the report's researchers believed the beer produced by the excavated 5000-year-old beer-making kits is not exactly the same as modern beer.

She said today's beer is mainly brewed from barley or wheat, but the beer made 5000 years ago is a mixture of millet, barley and a few tubers from plant roots.

"The interesting thing is the barley was not originally cultivated in China but was introduced into China from west Asia, which means the old beer recipe is a combination of Chinese tradition and western imports," Wang said.

In term of the taste of the beer, Wang said it is hard to speculate on the specific taste as we can not ascertain the beer's sugar contents.

But she said based on the current discovery, the taste of the beer might be a little sour and sweet.

A researcher at an archaeology institute in Shaanxi province Xing Fulai said the find could advance the history of barley in China at least 1000 years.

Wang also added liquor was the significant element used in banquets and rituals organized by people in the high social classes, which means different social classes existed in China around 5000 years ago.

Beer is one of the oldest beverages humans have produced, it dates back to at least the fifth millennium BC and is recorded in the written history of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia.

As any cereal containing certain sugars can undergo spontaneous fermentation due to wild yeast in the air, it is possible that beer-like beverages were independently developed throughout the world soon after a tribe or culture had domesticated cereals.
Vice President Hamid Ansari arrived in Morocco today on the first leg of his two-nation tour as part of efforts to build on diplomatic gains from the India-Africa Summit and lay platform for a future partnership.

Ansari will be in Morocco till June 1at the invitation of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane and the two leaders would jointly launch the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Rabat.

In the second leg of his tour, Ansari will visit Tunisia fromJune 2-3.

This is the first visit by an Indian Vice President in 50 years to Morrocco and Tunisia.

The Vice President will discuss with leaders of the two north African countries issues of terrorism, UN Security Council expansion and investments in private sector, as well as ways to strengthen outreach to Africa and regional matters.

During his stay in Morocco, a number of MoUs will be signed in areas like education, IT and communication technology sectors, focusing on "capacity building and cultural exchange".
Vice President Hamid Ansari today condemned the string of assaults on African nationals in New Delhi as "despicable", saying nobody and no government can say anything different.

Interacting with media on board his special aircraft en route to Rabat in Morocco, Ansari said, "Attack on anyone - whether own person or guest, it is despicable."



"Nobody or no government can say anything different - condemning all types of violence," he said.

He said, "They (Africans) are our guests. We have to look after them in the wake of violation of law and order."



Ansari said, "We greatly value our relationship with African countries and we always stood by them."



"Even before 1947 we talked of decolonisation of Africa," he said adding that the stand of the previous UPA government and the present NDA government has been no different.

Ansari left New Delhi today on a five-day visit to two North African countries - Morocco and Tunisia - as part of efforts to build on diplomatic gains from the India-Africa summit held in New Delhi in October last year.

The Vice President said India attaches great importance to Africa, and in that context he was undertaking the trip to Morocco and Tunisia.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee will also travel to Africa.

"(An) incident is an incident. It has to be condemned in strongest possible terms," he added in the context of recent incidents of attacks on Africans.

There has been a spate of attacks on African nationals in the last few days including killing of a Congolese youth in the national capital and assault on a 23-year-old Nigerian student in Hyderabad.
Vice President Hamid Ansari today embarked on a five-day visit to Morocco and Tunisia as part of efforts to build on diplomatic gains from the India-Africa Summit and lay platform for a future partnership.

This is the first visit by an Indian Vice President in 50 years to the two nations.

The Vice President will discuss with leaders of the two north African countries issues of terrorism, UN Security Council expansion and investments in private sector, as well as ways to strengthen outreach to Africa and regional matters.

Ansari will be in Morocco till June 1at the invitation of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane and the two leaders would jointly launch the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Rabat, the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) said.

During the visit, a number of MoUs will be signed in areas like education, IT and communication technology sectors, focusing on "capacity building and cultural exchange".

In the second leg of his tour, Ansari will visit Tunisia fromJune 2-3.

Ansari's visit "will build on diplomatic gains" from the India-Africa summit and "we have chosen these two countries as they are great examples of democracy", Secretary (Economic Relations) in the MEA Amar Sinha had said.

The King of Morocco had set the ball rolling when hecame here in October, Sinha said. The New Delhi Summit - of which Morocco's King Mohammed VI was the first confirmed guest - was the largest political conference in modern history connecting Indian and African leaders.

He said it is the first high-level visit to the African country after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee went there in 1999.

"At the level of Vice President the visit comes after 50 years," he had said, noting that it is the 50th year of Morocco's independence.

"Hello Africa, Tell me how are you doing?" will be India's motto for the continent, he had said, adding, there will be a series of visits by Indian leaders to Africa in the coming days.

The two countries are important for India as it shares economic relations with them and the visit will help in building contemporary relationship between these two countries and India.

Both the countries are looking forward to the visit as they are key partners in food security andfertilisers and investments in private sector.

"Our car and truck manufacturers are looking at prospective markets," he said.

While Morocco's trade with India is "substantial", there is scope for increasing it with Tunisia. "Morocco is a developing destination for Indian film industry," he said.

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The visit to Morocco intends to further strengthen



cordial relations between the two countries, develop and diversify profile of bilateral economic cooperation and explore new avenues of cooperation and partnership on a wide range of issues of shared common interest, the MEA said.

The Vice President would hold discussions in Rabat with King Mohammed VI and Prime Minister Benkirane.

Speakersof both Houses of Moroccan Parliament and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation would call on Ansari, who would also visit the city of Marrakesh where he would be hosted by the Governor.

The Vice President would meet leading intellectuals and Imams of Morocco as well as deliver a talk at Mohammed University in Rabat. Members of Indian diaspora will also interact with the Vice President in the Moroccan capital.

Ansari will later head to Tunisia, with which India has cordial bilateral relations, for hisJune 2-3 visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Habib Essid.

During this visit, further avenues of cooperation in various areas of growth would be discussed.

"The economic cooperation between the two countries is deepening with Indian investments in phosphate sector," the MEA said.

The Vice President will hold discussions in Tunis with Essid and President Beji Caid Essebsi on a widerange of issues. He would be received by the President of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People of Tunisia where he wouldbe meeting multi-party Members of Parliament and Tunisian-India Parliamentary Group.

Ansari would deliver a keynote address to the Tunisian Diplomatic Corps and leading scholars and think tanksat the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies.

Besides his wife Salma Ansari, the Vice President is accompanied by Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, four members of Parliament and senior officials.

The Vice President would return to the national capital on the morning of June 4.

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Kurien said President Pranab Mukherjee had given the mantra of "3Ds--Debate, Discussion and Decision" for smooth functioning of Parliament but we ignore them and go for the fourth D, which is "Destruction".

"Some people think that coming into the well and by shouting slogans, their names and pictures will be published in the media. That kind of attitude to get publicity will not make a good Parliamentarian," he said.

Noting that MPs only put questions and call for Attention Motion to flag their concerns, Kurien asked the new members to go through the rule book and make use of devices which can be used to raise an issue.

"Make preparations, you may not get good publicity, but and effective speech will make you a good Parliamentarian," he added.
A suspected Babbar Khalsa International activist, arrested recently, was allegedly engaged in organising youth here for carrying out terrorist activities, the FIR registered in the case has said.

Arvinder Singh, a resident of Pallian Khurd was arrested from Rahon town near here on May 24. He was produced before a court here today after completion of his police remand.

The court extended his police remand till June 6.

According to the FIR, Singh had been residing in Doha, Qatar since 2011 and was in touch with some Pakistan-based Babbar Khalsa terrorists.

He returned from Doha around 7-8 months back and was allegedly engaged in recruiting youths here for committing terror activities.

Meanwhile, police today arrested one of Singh's accomplices in connection with the case.

Confirming the arrest, SSP Snehdeep Sharma said the suspect hails from Batala and they are in the process of producing him before a court to seek his remand.
In the wake of string of attacks on African nationals here, Delhi Police today appointed a Joint Commissioner-rank official as the nodal officer for attending issues concerning African people living in the city.

Joint Commissioner of Police (South-Eastern Range) R P Upadhyay has been appointed the nodal officer entrusted with attending to and addressing issues concerning African nationals living in Delhi, a senior official said.

Delhi Police will also soon launch a helpine exclusively for lodging of complaints in connection with such incidents.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma today met a delegation of African people living in the city and assured them of prompt redressal of their grievances. Verma also apprised them of various steps being taken by the police for ensuring their safety and security here.

Under similar circumstances which had emerged after the Nido Tania incident in January 2014, a Joint Commissioner-rank official was appointed as the nodal officer for attending to issues concerning people of the north-eastern parts of the country living in the city.

Also, after a series of alleged attacks on Christian insitutes in the city during 2014-15, Delhi Police had appointed an Additional DCP-rank official as the nodal officer for attending to issues related to churches and educational institutions of the city.

"Delhi Police has intensified patrolling in the area where African community is present. Various meetings with local communities including RWAs/MWAs were held all over Delhi in order to raise their awareness about the African nationals.

"They (people) were also briefed not to take law into their hands. Meetings were also held where people from African & Indian communities were present together to increase the level of understanding between them," Delhi Police said in a statement.

A meeting in this regard was held this evening at the Police Headquarters here.
A Bahraini appeals court today more than doubled a jail sentence against opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman in a move his bloc warned would stoke unrest among the kingdom's Shiite majority.

The court increased the sentence imposed on charges of inciting violence to nine years from the original four, a judicial source said.

Salman's Al-Wefaq bloc condemned the verdict as "unacceptable and provocative", warning it "entrenches the exacerbating political crisis" in Bahrain.

The 50-year-old was originally convicted in July 2015, drawing condemnation from human rights groups as well as both the United States and Iran. Demonstrators have taken to the streets demanding his release.

Arrested in December 2014, he was also convicted last year of inciting hatred in the Sunni-ruled kingdom but acquitted of seeking to overthrow the monarchy and change the political system.

Al-Wefaq was Bahrain's largest parliamentary bloc until its 18 MPs walked out in February 2011 to protest violence used against demonstrators.

The tiny but strategic Gulf state has been shaken by unrest since it crushed a month-long, Shiite-led uprising demanding reforms in 2011.

The Shiite-majority kingdom, connected to Saudi Arabia by a causeway, lies across the Gulf from Shiite Iran and is home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Despite the crackdown on the 2011 uprising, protesters still frequently clash with police in Shiite villages outside the capital Manama.
Playing down the ban on registration of large diesel vehicles in the national capital region, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said it is a "transient phase" and Japanese auto giant Suzuki is unlikely to be impacted given the overall large market it has got in India.

Jaitley, who arrived here yesterday on a six-day trip to Japan to meet investors and policymakers, is scheduled to meet Suzuki Motor Chairman Osamu Suzuki tomorrow.

"I think the Indian auto sector is extremely comfortably placed. This is all transient phase which happens and I don't think that with the kind of large market that Suzuki has, it is in any way likely to be adversely affected," he said.

He was asked about his meeting with Suzuki amid policy uncertainly in India after the ban on diesel vehicles of over 2,000 cc in the national capital region of Delhi and Kerala to curb pollution.

The ban on sale of large diesel cars and sport utility vehicles with engines of two litres or more was first imposed in December and was recently extended to Kerala. The one in Kerala, however, has been temporarily stayed by the state high court.

It has led to some automakers reworking their plans and introducing models with petrol options or smaller diesel engines.

Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava had last month termed the ban as "totally arbitrary".

Stating that cars are universally targeted for causing pollution as they represent "the well-off section of society", he had reasoned that cars contributed to only around 2 per cent of pollution in the capital. Also, "nothing has been done about polluting old cars".

Maruti Suzuki, the country's leading automaker, has about 60 per cent of market share for petrol vehicles while for the diesel segment, the share stands at 28 per cent.

Earlier this month, the world's largest automaker Toyota said the restrictions would be the "worst advertisement of India".
Ahead of a high-level Sino-US dialogue, China today accused the Pentagon of clinging to "cold war" mentality and attempting to stage a Hollywood blockbuster by deploying its modern weapons in the South China Sea to "terrify" Beijing.

In an angry reaction to US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter's remarks that "China's actions could erect a Great Wall of self-isolation" in the South China Sea (SCS),Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told media here that"Carter's remarks reflected typical American style thinking and hegemony".

"Although we have entered 21st century, some people in US still keeps the cold war mentality and cook up stories and seek or even create rivalry world wide," she said.

"This time they have focus their aim at Asia Pacific with the purpose of deploying large amount of advanced weapons in the region by creating excuses," she said.

"I want to say that in a globalised world today the cold war mentality will lead nowhere and yield no result. China has no interest in form of cold war and has no interest in playing a part in the Hollywood blockbuster directed by people form the US military. China will firmly oppose and we will not deter and terrified by any action that may damage China's territorial sovereignty and security," she said.

Last week, Carter while addressing a graduation ceremony at Naval Academy in Maryland said China's military expansion in the SCS poses a growing risk to the region's prosperity and its actions could erect a "Great Wall of self-isolation".

"Instead of helping sustain those very principles and systems that have served all of us so well and for so long, instead of working toward the, quote, 'win-win cooperation' that Beijing publicly says it wants, China plays by its own rules undercutting those principles," he said.

"The result is that China's actions could erect a Great Wall of self-isolation," Carter said.

China claims all but most all of the SCS which is vehemently disputed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

US waded into the region by sending naval ships and aircraft to assert freedom of navigation around an artificial islands built by Beijing in the region to beef-up its claims.

The US-China spat over the SCS came as top officials of both the countries will gather here for the eighth China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) and the seventh China-US High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE) to be held on June 6 and 7.

The S&ED will be co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi along with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, another spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Lu Kang said.

The CPE will be co-chaired by Vice Premier Liu Yandong and Kerry.
Scores of people from eastern Nigeria today staged a demonstration at Jantar Mantar here demanding "freedom" and seeking Indian government's help in "restoring sovereignty" of their homeland.

The demonstrators, hailing from Biafra in eastern Nigeria, paid homage to those killed during the 1967-1970 period while defending Biafra and lit candles in their memories.

They also demanded release of their leader Nmamdi Kanu jailed since October 2015.

Nigeria after gaining independence in 1960 plunged into a civil war with its eastern state Biafra seceding from it and existing as an independent state from May 30, 1967 to January 1970.

After a two-and-half-year-long war in which a large number of Biafrans died, the secessionist state was finally reunited with Nigeria.

"Biafra was there before Nigeria was created in 1960. We are asking the world community including the government of India to help Biafra in restoring its sovereignty," said Peter, one of the demonstrators.

"We want freedom for our people. We want support from the Indian government for the people of Biafra," said another demonstrator, Prince George.

Similar demonstrations and memorial services were organised by the consultative council committee of Biafrans in different cities of the world.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said the state government is committed for "effective" and "functional" single window system to promote and facilitate clearances for private investments in the state.

"We have single window system policy to promote investments in the state. The system will be reviewed if the need arises. We want an effective and functional single window system so that entrepreneurs do not face hiccups or problems in getting clearances for their projects/proposals," industries department Principal Secretary S Siddharth said quoting Kumar during his interaction with entrepreneurs at the 8th Udyami Panchayat meeting held at 'Samvad', the Chief Minister's Secretariat.

Entrepreneurs who put up their views, problems and grievances, hailed from various sectors of industries including food processing, health care industries, plastic industries, agriculture equipment and opportunity, Hotels and Restaurants Association of Bihar, travel and tourism, garments and textile etc.

Stating that Udyami Panchayat would now be a regular affair on every fifth Monday of the month, Kumar said the Industrial Incentive Policy would be amended so that entrepreneurs do not face any problems.

"SIPB should clear the proposals at the earliest. There should not be any obstacles/hurdles in getting clearances for setting up industries in the state," Kumar said adding entrepreneurs today praised the state's 2011 Industrial Policy.

Stating that the current industrial policy was effective till June 30, 2016, Kumar said "the new Industrial Incentive Policy will be ready by June 30, 2016. The suggestions and ideas given by the entrepreneurs in today's meeting will also be incorporated in the new policy.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and noted journalist M J Akbar figured in BJP's second list of six candidates today for the Rajya Sabha biennial polls with the two being fielded from Andhra Pradesh, where ally TDP has assured its support, and Madhya Pradesh respectively.

With one day left for filing of nominations for the polls, the announcement was made by the BJP even as Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti were among several candidates from different parties who today submitted their papers.

BJP vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who heads a think tank affiliated to the party and is also in-charge of its affairs in MP, and Vikas Mahatme were nominated from Maharashtra while Shiv Pratap Shukla will contest from Uttar Pradesh and Mahesh Poddar from Jharkhand. It had yesterday released the first list of 12 candidates.

Elections for 57 seats in the Upper House from 15 states are due to be held on June 11.

BJP's general secretary Ram Madhav, whose name was doing the rounds as a contender, is not among the six candidates with sources saying he is likely to get a bigger responsibility in the organisation following a rejig expected soon.

Interestingly, the names of 12 candidates recommended by the BJP election committee in MP to the Central Election Committee for two Rajya Sabha seats did not have Akbar's name However, the veteran scribe pipped them all.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) nominated party chief Shibu Soren's younger son Basant Soren as its candidate from the mineral-rich state.
BJP today nominated Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Andhra Pradesh, where he has been assured of ruling TDP's support, and would field noted journalist M J Akbar from Madhya Pradesh and party vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe from Maharashtra for the biennial polls.

Party's general secretary Ram Madhav, whose name was doing rounds as a contender, is not among the six candidates with sources saying he is likely to get a bigger responsibility in the organisation following a rejig expected soon.

Other BJP candidates are Vikas Mahatme from Maharashtra, Shiv Pratap Shukla from Uttar Pradesh and Mahesh Poddar from Jharkhand.

It had yesterday released the first list of 12 candidates.

Shukla is a senior party leader from UP where the party wanted to field a Brahmin face, a key support base of BJP, ahead of the assembly polls next year. Poddar is a senior party leader from Jharkhand.

Madhav, who played an important role in BJP's win in Assam and earlier in Jammu and Kashmir, had said in a tweet yesterday that he would not be a candidate from Andhra Pradesh, as speculated.

A senior party functionary said Madhav had opted out of the Rajya Sabha candidacy.

Another general secretary Anil Jain was also a contender from a seat from Madhya Pradesh but Akbar, who represents Jharkhand in the Upper House, was preferred.

Sahasrabuddhe heads a think tank affiliated to the party and is also in charge of party affairs in Madhya Pradesh.

Prabhu currently represents Haryana in the Upper House but was shifted to Andhra Pradesh after ally TDP accepted its request.

Union Ministers M Venkaiah Naidu, Birender Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were among the 12 candidates whose names were announced yesterday.

Elections for the 57 seats will be held on June 11 and tomorrow is the last date for filing nominations. Bypoll for one seat in Gujarat will also be held the same day. It had fallen vacant following the death of Congress member Pravin Rashtrapal.

While 14 BJP members are retiring, its increased strength in states like Maharshtra, Haryana and Jharkhand is likely to help all its 18 candidates sail through.

Eminent journalist and two-term Rajya Sabha MP Chandan



Mitra does not figure in the list.

BJP is also keenly watching political developments in Uttarakhand where PDF, a group of six MLAs supporting the Congress government, had yesterday announced Dinesh Dhanai as its candidate, protesting the ruling party's choice of Pradeep Tamta, a confidante of Chief Minister Harish Rawat.

Party sources said they may back Dhanai but it is not clear yet if he has the support of even a majority of the PDF MLAs.

There is also the buzz in the party that it may field one more candidate from Madhya Pradesh which has three vacancies.

Going by the current strength in the assembly, ruling BJP is assured of winning two seats and Congress almost certain to bag one, but a section in the saffron party feels that it can make matters tricky for the opposition party by fielding an additional candidate.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh today said his party is ready to work with other opposition parties in West Bengal Assembly in the interests of people.

"As the opposition, the people have given us the mandate to ensure that the government is on track. To do this if we have to work with all opposition parties, we will do it," Ghosh also elected as a new MLA from Kharagpur sadar, said after taking oath.

"We will raise our voice for the people. BJP has won (three seats) fighting on its own and we will fight on our own," he said.

He said, "We had given the call for boycotting the swearing in ceremony of new TMC ministers. It is good that CPI(M)and Congress had boycotted it".

Refuting the charge by the Left and Congress of match fixing between TMC and BJP, Ghosh said," allegations can be made but it is for them who made allegations, to prove it.

Ghosh had recently kicked up a storm with his remarks that his party workers, "trained" by RSS, can break the shoulders of Trinamool Congress activists with "bare hands", drawing flak from the ruling party, Congress and the Left.

Reacting to Ghosh's comment, CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said, "They have a tacit understanding with TMC. Earlier TMC and BJP were in an formal alliance. We are against communal BJP and RSS."



Congress leader Manoj Chakrabarty said that BJP's stand will be clear during voting on a bill.
Celebrating the election of former union minister O Rajagopal, its first ever MLA in Kerala, BJP will launch a three-day state-level "Vijaya Yatra" from the politically sensitive Kannur district tomorrow.

Rajagopal scripted history by winning the Neamom seat with a margin of 8,671 votes, defeating nearest CPI-M candidate V Sivankutty in the May 16 assembly elections, as the BJP made inroad in the state.

The yatra, aimed at making the victory a grand event, would start from Payyambalam in Kannur and party workers would give reception to Rajagopal at various centres before the Yatra reaches here on June 2, the day new elected MLAs would take oath, the party leaders said.

Apart from winning a seat, the party also managed to finish runner up in seven assembly constituencies.

BJP also increased its vote share from nearly 6 per cent to 14 per cent this time.

The saffron party, which used to fight electoral battle on its own so far, this time found an ally in the newly formed party the Bharat Dharam Jana Sena of Sree Narayana Dharma Pripalana Yogam, an outfit of backward Ezhava community.
Nepal's just unveiled budget does not prioritise post-earthquake reconstruction and will lead to the government's collapse, a top leader of the main opposition Nepali Congress said today.

Speaking at a workers' training programme in Nawalparasi, Nepali Congress General Secretary Shashank Koirala said the government presented a populist budget so as to please everyone instead of prioritising the post-earthquake rebuilding and other important tasks of nation building.

Even the coalition partners of the government UCPN (Maoist) and Rastriya Prajatantra Party -- are dissatisfied with the budget, Koirala claimed.

He said the Nepali Congress will now formulate new strategy to deal with the current government.

It was very unfortunate that the budget did not accord necessary importance to reconstruction and increase productivity, he said.

The budget simply distributed funds to various sectors at a time when the nation's economy has been crippled by last year's earthquakes and the subsequent border blockade that lasted for nearly five months, Koirala said.

"Budget with huge debt will only increase poverty," he said.

Koirala also asked the government not to announce local body elections before finalising the issue of border demarcation, one of the major demands of the Madhesi parties.

Nepal on Saturday unveiled a nearly USD 10 billion budget for fiscal year 2016-17.
Building the Stonehenge may not have been as difficult as previously thought, according to a new study which found that only 20 people were likely required to move the huge bluestones used in the World Heritage Site.

How prehistoric men managed to transport the huge rocks of Stonehenge over 220km from the Preseli Mountains in Wales to their final home in Wiltshire has baffled generations of experts.

Now, researchers at University College London found that mounting huge stones on a sycamore sleigh and dragging it along timbers required far less effort than was expected.

In their experiment, just 10 people were able to pull a one tonne stone along the make-shift silver birch track when moving at around 10 feet every five seconds.

The bluestones from Stonehenge weigh about double the experimental block, but it is possible that one huge stone could have been brought by a group of just 20 people, researchers said.

"We were expecting to need at least 15 people to move the stone so to find we could do it with 10 was quite interesting," said doctoral student Barney Harris, who conducted the trial.

"We know that pre-industrialised societies like the Maram Naga in India still use this kind of sledge to construct huge stone monuments," Harris was quoted as saying by 'The Telegraph'.

"And similar y-shaped sleighs have been found dating back to 2000 BC in Japan which we know were used to move megaliths," he added.

Stonehenge was built during the Neolithic period, between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago.

The very large standing stones at the megalithic monument, which weigh between 30 and 40 tonnes are of a local sandstone, but it is the smaller bluestones which have intrigued experts as they can only be found in Wales.
Calcutta University Vice Chancellor Sugata Marjit has expressed his inability to continue in the post saying that his period of lien from his parent organisation is coming to an end.

Marjit has already written a letter to Governor K N Tripathi, also the chancellor of all state varsities, urging him not to consider his case for extending his term at Calcutta University which comes to an end in July.

"I am an RBI professor of industrial economics at the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences and was on lien to CU. But I have to go back to my place because the period of lien is coming to and end," the economist said.

He was appointed as the interim VC last year after Professor Suranjan Das was transferred as Jadavpur University VC.

Marjit said he had already informed state education minister Partha Chatterjee about the situation.

"I have made it clear that I will have to join my earlier organisation as per the rules," he said.

Earlier in April, the VC was heckled by agitating students of Vivekananda College for Women who were demonstrating before the principal's office demanding that 95 students who had failed in test examination be allowed to appear in the final examination.
A special court in Senegal sentenced former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre to life in prison today for war crimes, crimes against humanity and a litany of other charges, including rape.

The verdict brings a long-awaited day of reckoning to up to 40,000 people kidnapped, raped and tortured under his rule as president of Chad from 1982-1990.

"Hissene Habre, this court finds you guilty of crimes against humanity, rape, forced slavery, and kidnapping," as well as war crimes, said Gberdao Gustave Kam, president of the special court.

"The court condemns you to life in prison," Kam added.

The court also heard that Habre had raped a woman named Khadija Hassan Zidane on several occasions.

Upon hearing the verdict, Habre raised his arms into the air, shouting "Down with France-afrique!" referring to the term used for France's continuing influence on its former colonies.

The case was heard at the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE) -- a special tribunal set up by the African Union under a deal with Senegal - and is the first time a country has prosecuted a former leader of another nation for rights abuses.

Reed Brody, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch who has spent the last 15 years working with victims to bring Habre to justice, said the conviction was a warning to other despots.

"This verdict sends a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalise their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end," Reed said in a statement today.

Known as a skilled desert warrior who often wore combat fatigues to fit the role, Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby.

Witnesses recounted the horror of life in Chad's prisons, describing in graphic detail abusive and often deadly punishments inflicted by Habre's feared secret police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS).

Victims were subject to electric shocks and waterboarding while some had gas sprayed in their eyes or spice rubbed into their genitals, the court heard.

Habre's defence team unsuccessfully sought to cast doubt on the prosecution argument that their client was an all-knowing, all-powerful head of the DDS, suggesting he may have been unaware of abuses on the ground.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will be the TDP-BJP combine's candidate for a Rajya Sabha seat from Andhra Pradesh in the election slated for June 11, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced tonight.

Prabhu will file his nomination in Hyderabad tomorrow.

"BJP president Amit Shah called me over phone yesterday and requested me to accommodate Prabhu for Rajya Sabha. We considered the request and accepted it. Prabhu is my good friend since the time of Vajpayee government when he headed the panel on interlinking of rivers," Chandrababu said.

On TDP's behalf, Union Minister of State for S&T Y Satyanarayana Chowdary has been re-nominated for the second RS seat for the second consecutive term. "Chowdary had been championing the state's cause in Parliament. Hence, we decided to nominate him again," the TDP chief said.

For the third seat the TDP could win it has chosen former minister T G Venkatesh of Kurnool district.

Venkatesh, who belongs to the Vysya community, is an industrialist and served as a minister in the Congress governments between 2010 and 2014.

Asked about the nomination of two "industrialists" belonging to the upper classes, Chandrababu remarked they shouldn't be seen as industrialists since they had been in politics for long.

Chandrababu, however, sought to keep everyone guessing on the TDP's "strategic move" of fielding a fourth candidate, ostensibly as an independent, through the 17 YSR Congress MLAs who defected to the ruling party in recent days.

He remained evasive on the issue saying "you will know about it tomorrow".
The Syrian opposition's chief negotiator in stalled UN-brokered peace talks, Mohammed Alloush, has announced his resignation over the failure of the Geneva negotiations and the continued shelling of rebel-held areas by President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

"The three rounds of talks were unsuccessful because of the stubbornness of the regime and its continued bombardments and aggressions towards the Syrian people," Alloush, a member of the Jaish al-Islam rebel group, said in a statement on Twitter yesterday.

"I therefore announce my withdrawal from the delegation and my resignation," he said.
A Chinese engineer and his Pakistani driver were injured today in a roadside blast here, claimed by a little-known separatist group that vowed to derail the ambitious USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

The two men were injured when a remote-controlled explosion hit their minibus at about 8.30 AM when they were passing through Gulshan-i-Hadeed area of Karachi.

Senior Superintendent of Police Rao Anwar said that police recovered a pamphlet written in Sindhi and bearing the name of a group called 'Sindhudesh Revolutionary Party' from the site of the blast.

"We have recovered a pamphlet in Sindhi from the site of the blast denouncing foreign control over Sindh's natural resources," Anwar said.

In the pamphlet, the 'Sindhudesh Revolutionary Party' warned China against looting Sindh's resources.

"We consider China, rising as a global power, to be an ally of Pakistan, and also consider it an accomplice of the Punjabi Establishment in making Sindh slave to loot its resources, and therefore we accept the responsibility of bomb attack on Chinese in Gulshan-i-Hadeed," the pamphlet said.

"We want to make it clear to China that we will oppose every anti-Sindh project including the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)," it added.

Hundreds of Chinese workers and engineers are engaged in different development projects in Pakistan including the ambitious economic corridor project launched last year.

Nearly six months ago, for 111 Chinese projects, the Sindh police were ensuring security to more than 1,500 nationals of the neighbouring country, Dawn reported.

The main responsibility for securing the economic corridor, vital to Pakistan's long-term prosperity, lies with a new army division established in the last few months and numbering an estimated 13,000 troops.

The targeting of the Chinese engineer is likely to alarm the government, prompting it to revise its security plan for the economic corridor project, experts said.

In 2004, three Chinese engineers were killed in a car explosion in Gwadar.

China has asked Pakistan to beef up security for its nationals engaged in various development projects in the country.

In a meeting with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in October, Chinese envoy Sun Weidong had sought fool- proof security to all Chinese workers working on the project.

Following the meeting, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had reviewed the security situation in November and assured that the government will provide full security to Chinese workers in Pakistan.
Quoting a couplet of Mirza Ghalib, Microsoft's India-born CEO Satya Nadella today asked entrepreneurs from India to be bold and offered the platform of the US-based technology giant for their ventures.

Nadella, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad among others here today, is on his third visit to India since taking over as head of the world's top technology company.

Quoting Ghalib's famous lines, Nadella said, "Hazaaron khwahishen aisi ke har khwahish pe dam nikle, Bahut niklay mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle".

Encouraging youngsters in the audience at an event here to be bold and ambitious, he said, "I learn something new (from these Ghalib lines)... There are so many layers in there... My interpretation of that is... It's not just your dreams being fulfilled, it is your ability to dream that is worth dying for. It is a source of inspiration."



Nadella said Microsoft's mission "is to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more.

"It's not about celebrating our technologies. It's about celebrating technologies that you all in India create. In fact, I want us to be the platform creators that foster the ingenuity of what is happening in India."



In his meeting with Modi, Nadella discussed "various issues pertaining to the IT sector".

Earlier in the day, Nadella met Prasad and discussed how Microsoft's contribution to the government's Digital India initiative can be enhanced.
Shares of Claris Lifesciences today soared 20 per cent after the company received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US health regulator for its manufacturing plant near Ahmedabad.

The stock jumped 20 per cent to settle at Rs 201.90 -- also its highest trading permissible limit for the day -- at BSE.

The company added Rs 183.72 crore to Rs 1,101.72 crore in market valuation.

Claris Lifesciences has "received the EIR for its manufacturing facility located near Ahmedabad, wherein the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has concluded that the inspection stands closed and the facility was found to be acceptable," Claris Lifesciences said in a filing to BSE today.

The USFDA had conducted audit at Claris' manufacturing facility in May, 2015, it added.

"The company had taken appropriate steps to address the observations it had received from these audits," Claris said.

Having received the EIR from the USFDA potentially clears the path for the company to receive product approvals (ANDA) for the USA, it added.
Drug firm Claris Lifesciences has received the Establishment Inspection Report (EIR) from the US health regulator for its manufacturing plant near Ahmedabad.

The company has "received the EIR for its manufacturing facility located near Ahmedabad, wherein the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has concluded that the inspection stands closed and the facility was found to be acceptable," Claris Lifesciences said in a filing to BSE.

The USFDA had conducted audit at Claris' manufacturing facility in May, 2015, it added.

"The company had taken appropriate steps to address the observations it had received from these audits," Claris Lifesciences said.

Having received the EIR from the USFDA potentially clears the path for the company to receive product approvals (ANDA) for the USA, it added.

The company presently has 13 ANDAs approved in the US and has an additional 26 ANDAs under approval there, Claris said.

Shares of Claris Lifesciences today closed at Rs 201.90 on BSE, a steep jump of 20 per cent from the previous close.
In what could trigger a fresh round of confrontation between the Executive and the Judiciary, the Supreme Court collegium has questioned the government's right to reject its recommendation on the ground of national interest.

The collegium on Saturday returned to the government the revised memorandum of procedure (MoP) -- a document which guides appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the 24 high courts -- suggesting changes in cetrtain clauses.

Highly-placed sources in the government said the collegium, headed by Chief Justice of India T S Thakur, has not rejected the MoP completely, but only "partially" by suggesting changes in some of the clauses.

The clause on right to reject a recommendation on national interest is contrary to the current practice where government is bound to accept a recommendation by the collegium, comprising four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court and the CJI, if it reiterates the same.

The revised MoP further provides that once the Centre has rejected a recommendation it will not be bound to reconsider it even after reiteration by the collegium.

The other clause which the collegium is learnt to have objected to is that the Attorney General at the Centre and Advocates General in the states should have a say in recommending candidates for appointment and elevation of judges to the Supreme Court and high courts.

This clause gives the Centre as well as the state governments an indirect say in naming candidates for the post of SC or HC judges.

The collegium is also learnt to have sought ways to shorten the present time-line where it takes around three months to appoint a judge after a recommendation is made.

The government has now sought the opinion of the Attorney General on the "observations" made by the collegium. AG Mukul Rohatgi had played a key role in drafting the MoP.

The memorandum, a document which guides the appointment of SC and HC judges, was revised after a Supreme Court bench asked the government to rewrite it in a bid to make the collegium system more transparent.

The memorandum was sent to the CJI by law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda in March this year.

Addressing a press conference on April 24 after the joint conference of chief justices and chief ministers here, the CJI had said the core of the document, based on a Supreme Court judgment, will remain "unaltered" that the collegium will make recommendations.

"Things like the number of judgements a candidate has delivered are contributory in nature," he had said.

Parliament had enacted the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act to overturn the over two-decade old collegium system where judges appoint judges. The law was struck down by the apex court in October 16 last.

During the over two-hour-long meeting, the CJI said



instead of the Attorney General or the Advocates General suggesting names for judicial appointments, only the Chief Ministers and Governors should have a say in the process.

The government is learnt to have agreed to it.

Noting that some of the sentences in the draft MoP could lead to confusion, the CJI asked the government to redraft those lines. The government agreed and redrafted document would be sent to the CJI in the coming days, the sources said.

The CJI made it clear that he would consult other four members of the collegium before taking a final call on the MoP. Another meeting is expected between the two sides in the coming days.

On May 28, the collegium had returned to the government the revised MoP -- a document which guides appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the 24 high courts -- suggesting changes in certain clauses. It had questioned the government's right to reject its recommendation on grounds of national interest.

It had also asked the government to change certain other clauses.

The clause on right to reject a recommendation on national interest is contrary to the current practice where government is bound to accept a recommendation by the collegium, comprising the CJI and four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, if it reiterates the same.

According to precedent, while the Executive drafts the MoP, both the government and the Judiciary have to agree on the provisions before it is operationalised and put in public domain.

Parliament had enacted the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act to overturn the over two-decade old collegium system where judges appoint judges. The law was struck down by the apex court on October 16 last year.

While deciding on ways to improve the collegium system, the Supreme Court had asked the government to redraft the MoP in consultation with states.
Congress today sought to puncture BJP's anti-corruption claims, charging the Modi government with failing to enforce the Lokpal Act even 24 months after coming to power.

"The Prime Minister gives lectures on corruption, yet has done nothing on his promise to enforce the Lokpal Act," party spokesman Abhsishek Singhvi told reporters, accusing the government of keeping mum on the matter for long.

Singhvi, who was the Chairman of a Parliamentary Select Committee which went into the Lokpal Bill, lamented that the Act is not being implemented despite it being in the statute book.

"There is no office of Lokpal, no person appointed to the post and no word about when it is going to be implemented," he said, pitching for a "credible, operational and real Lokpal".

Targeting the government, he said one should learn from it as to how to make an existing law "inoperative and impotent". He said this has been done by a government and a party which wore "anti-corruption on its sleeve".

He also took a dig at the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi over the issue, saying his criticism of the Centre was "equally applicable" to the AAP dispensation.

He said BJP leaders and ministers have time and again spoken about "zero tolerance on corruption" but have "conveniently overlooked" enforcing the Lokpal Act.

Suggesting that there was a pattern in this, he said when Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, he never enforced the Lokayukta Act in the state.

Condemning the delay in enforcing the Lokpal Act, he said there was "a method in the madness" as the politics of attacking opponents in Parliament with innuendos and insinuations could suffer once the ombudsman is in place as they would not be able to make "outlandish allegations".

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Singhvi also utilised the occasion to take a dig at the



government, saying its rule showed that they are "no game changers, but only name changers".

Citing instances of several schemes including Swatch Bharat Mission, rural electrification, he said that the Modi Govt has only re-branded the old UPA schemes.

"But, they have not been able to improve on the UPA's performance", he said.
Faced with poll debacle in four states, Congress is expected to hold a 'chintan shivir' (brainstorming session) next month either in party ruled Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand next month.

It will be the first such exercise after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls which saw Congress securing its worst ever performance of just 44 seats in a House of 543.

A senior leader, who declined to be identified, said that such a programme is being finalised and most probably it will be held in a hill state. Karnataka, which is also a party-ruled state, could also be considered.

The brainstorming session is being held at a time when Rahul Gandhi's elevation to the party chief's post is being talked about in party circles.

Soon after the poll debacle, party leaders have said that a meeting of the Congress Working Committee to deliberate on the causes of the reverses would be held soon.

In 2003, Sonia Gandhi had organised a chintan shivir at Shimla where the Congress for the first time gave indications of its openness to share power at the Centre by calling for unity of secular forces. Next year, Congress-led UPA had ensured ouster of the NDA Government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

In the last chintan shivir held at Jaipur in January 2013, Rahul Gandhi was elevated as the party Vice President and was the 'face' of the party in the Lok Sabha polls.

The chintan shivir is being held at a time when the party is facing an onslaught from the BJP and the Sangh Parivar on one side and on the other, secular parties are attempting to eat into its space.

The Congress wants the unity of anti-BJP secular parties but does not want to have a national-level alliance with them.

A section of party leaders believes that it is facing a threat to its very existence the way the Narendra Modi-led BJP and government is targeting it and its leadership.

The Congress has a challenge at hand with a series of Assembly elections including in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, on the cards next year. Polls in Goa, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Gujarat are also scheduled in 2017.

First such chintan shivir was organised by Sonia Gandhi at Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh in 1998 soon after taking over reins of the organisation.
A 1991 batch Haryana-cadre IAS officer, who was convicted by a CBI court in Delhi on April 23 for amassing disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 3.36 crore, has been put under suspension by the state government.

"Whereas the court of special judge (P.C. Act), CBI, New Delhi vide its order dated 23.04.2016 has convicted Sandeep Garg,...Under sections 13(2) r/w 13(1) (e) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Now therefore, Sandeep Garg, IAS is hereby placed under suspension by an order of the Competent Authority with effect from April 23, 2016..," a Haryana Government release said here today.

Garg, who was then Regional Director in anti-adulteration cell, was convicted along with his father Swami Sharan Garg, brother Rajeev Garg and two friends by a special CBI court at Saket.

The CBI, following a probe, had said the IAS officer had acquired assets worth Rs 3.61 crore (approx) during a short period from January 1999 to April 2004.

According to the chargesheet, the assets included a plot in Haryana, four flats in Delhi, bonds and shares worth Rs 2.08 crore, and bank balance of Rs 2.94 crore.
A police official here has landed himself in trouble by putting up a flex board hailing Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, in violation of service rules.

A G Ravi, Assistant Sub-Inspector in Muthupettai police station in the district, has been placed under 'wait list' (in service with no work assigned) for violation of code of conduct and service rules, police said.

He had erected the flex board in the town expressing his pleasure to work during the tenure of present Tamil Nadu Chief Minister.

The board which bore the official's name along with his picture, read: "Honourable Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Avargale.. I am delighted to work again during the golden age of your governance."



He had also posted it on social networking sites including Facebook, following which, police higher officials took action against him.

However, Ravi maintained that he did not owe allegiance to any party, but was personally a fan of Jayalalithaa.

"I had put up the board as per my wish," he said.
Days after suffering poll drubbing in West Bengal, CPI(M)'s top leadership is frowning upon its unit in the state, saying the electoral tactics were "not in consonance" with the party's "political tactical line" which prohibited any poll understanding or alliance with Congress.

"The politburo is of the opinion that the electoral tactics, those evolved in the state of West Bengal, are not in consonance with the Central Committee decisions and the political tactical line of the party, which said that there will be no electoral understanding or alliance with Congress party," party General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said today.

He was speaking to reporters here after a two-day meeting of the politburo, the highest decision-making body, which reviewed the CPI(M)'s performance during the recently Assembly elections in West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry.

CPI(M), which along with three other Left parties, had ruled West Bengal for 34 years before being dislodged by Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 2011, performed miserably in the latest Assembly polls in the state.

It was relegated to the third position after TMC and Congress as it managed to get only 26 seats against 40 last time in the 294-member Assembly.

Congress, with which it fought the elections jointly, improved a bit this time by getting 44 seats against 42 last time.

However, notwithstanding its unhappiness over tie-up with Congress during the polls, CPI(M) said the two parties, along with others, should launch a "united struggle" against the alleged attacks by the ruling TMC cadres against members of the opposition parties.

He did not comment when asked if his party will take along in the "united struggle" the BJP, which is also alleging attacks by the TMC cadres.

"...We have taken a very brave cognisance of the widespread violence that has been unleashed in West Bengal where all opposition parties are being attacked by Trinamool Congress.

"This is a grave situation in Bengal, so politburo has given a call for a united struggle against this violence by all opposition forces in the state and we have called for a united resistance to this," the CPI(M) leader said.

Accusing TMC of launching a "systematic attack" on the opposition parties in the state, he said the Mamata Banerjee-led party is targeting political rivals in those constituencies where it was "rejected".

He claimed many of the CPI(M) workers have lost their lives and over 600 of the party's offices have been "looted, ransacked or set on fire" allegedly by TMC men.

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"People are being individually targeted, saying either you disown your political affiliations and join them. In fact it has gone to the extent that there fines are being extorted. People have been asked to pay fine for not voting for the TMC," Yechuary claimed.

He also accused the RSS-BJP of targeting CPI(M) and Left Democratic Front (LDF) workers in Kerala and asked the saffron organisations to "respect the verdict of people and desist from such murderous onslaughts".

Left Front won the elections in Kerala, ousting Congress.

Yechury accused the RSS-BJP combine of attacking Left cadre on 41 occasions after the Kerala polls, killing two CPI(M) workers and injuring 82 others.

"...This unleashing of attacks by RSS-BJP is a result of the fact that they refuse to accept people's verdict in Kerala... We are hoping that the new LDF Government in accordance with law, will take stringent action and punish the guilty," he added.

The CPI(M) leader also maintained the decision to "accommodate" party veteran VS Achuthanandan in the newly-formed Kerala government will be taken by the Pinarayi Vijayan dispensation there and said the process in this regard has been set rolling.

"These are not decisions that can be taken by the CPI(M) politburo, but the Government of Kerala. And the government of Kerala, legally, will have to set the process rolling, which I believe has been set rolling, so you will know shortly. Show a little patience," he added.

The LDF will work with a resolve to fulfill commitments made to people of Kerala, he added.

The Marxist leader said party units in the five states which went to polls recently will prepare their review reports which will be discussed during party's Central Committee meeting to be held between June 18 and June 20.
CPI(M) today targeted NDA government over its "bombastic" claims and "very gaudy" celebrations marking its two years in office, saying the period rather saw people reel under "economic disaster".

"The two years of BJP Modi government have been observed through very gaudy celebrations, making very bombastic claims.

"On the contrary, reality is that the livelihood condition of majority of Indians has deteriorated further...There is an economic disaster rather than any cause for celebrations," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said.

He made the remarks while addressing reporters after conclusion of the two-day Politburo meeting of the Left party.

The Marxist leader reiterated his party's allegations against the government of launching a three-pronged attack on people by pursuing aggressive communal agenda, practicing neo-liberal economic policies and undermining democratic institutions "running roughshod over democratic rights and civil liberties".

The Rajya Sabha member further sought to pick holes in government's promise of generating two crore jobs annually, saying the tenure saw creation of "only few new jobs".

He also claimed the two-year period saw the "worst decline in exports in 63 years" and prices of pulses soared by 30 per cent, affecting the common man.

He said the Jan Dhan Yojana too was as a "failure", given 27 per cent accounts have zero balance in them, while 33 per cent of them are "duplicate".

Yechury also expressed concern saying agrarian crisis deepened during the NDA rule until now with 2,997 farmers committing suicide last year, while 116 others in January-March 2016.

54 crore people from 13 states are "in the grip of drought", he said, adding, 25 per cent of India's rural inhabitations face drinking water crisis, and called for taking steps on a war-footing to see people get relief.

"In this situation, we are calling upon the Modi government to take steps on a war-footing to take relief measures. There is no point in waiting for the rains to come and say it will resolve the problem automatically," he said.

Among other issues, Yechury claimed the RSS-BJP combine is "again" resorting to whipping up "communal passions" ahead of the 2017 UP Assembly elections and termed the alleged efforts as "the worst vote-bank politics".

"The Politburo of the CPI(M) strongly condemns such activities and demands that both the central government and the UP state government take strong action in accordance with the law of the land," he said.

On the issue of recent attacks on African nationals in the country, Yechury said, it is a matter of "grave concern", and added, such "racist attacks" undermine centuries-old ties between New Delhi and other African nations.

"This has already assumed dimension of affecting diplomatic ties between India and African countries. The Central government must immediately intervene to ensure that stringent action is taken against the culprits and those propagating racist hatred," he said.
Railways has planned to improve toilet facilities at 48 suburban train stations in the metropolis, for which it has asked several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), a senior official said today.

Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC), a subsidiary of Indian Railways, is mandated for infrastructure improvement of Mumbai's suburban railway with the financial and logistical support from Maharashtra government.

"33 (Mumbai) suburban railway stations are included in the list of 400 stations, which are to be revamped through public-private partnership (PPP) model, in accordance with Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's budgetary announcement earlier this year," S K Sood, General Manager of Central Railway (CR), told PTI.

"There are 48 suburban railway stations where we are finding it hard to provide proper toilet facilities. We expect NGOs to come forward and help us in improving the toilets at these stations," he said.

"NGOs have evinced interest in the plan. One of the NGOs has taken up the task to maintain (toilets at) seven stations," he said.

"Once we improve the cleanliness situation of the toilets, we can move on to revamp the other infrastructural facilities at the stations," he further said.

The official said the NGOs can construct toilet at the station and 70 per cent of the surrounding area can be used for displaying advertisements so as to reduce the cost of operations.

He said the Railways is primarily banking on the NGOs for the proposal, failing which it would approach the MRVC.
A prominent Crimean Tatar journalist on the Moscow-annexed peninsula today said she had received a warning from prosecutors over extremist views for highlighting the plight of Tatar children whose parents have been detained.

Liliya Budzhurova, who is deputy director of the Crimean Tatar television channel ATR and also works for AFP, posted the official warning from prosecutors on her Facebook page.

A spokesman for regional prosecutors told AFP that some Facebook posts by Badzhurova and an article she wrote for a Ukrainian website were considered to contain "extremist appeals and to inflame the atmosphere".

Experts will conduct an analysis of her output, possibly leading to "an administrative or criminal probe," said the spokesman Alexander Shkitov.

Budzhurova, an influential member of the Crimean Tatar community in Crimea, spoke out against the growing number of arrests of Crimean Tatars and wrote an appeal in support of the children of those detained by the authorities.

"Soon Crimean Tatars will be caught in the streets, on public transport and at the markets. We're less than a step away from being forced to wear a yellow band on our sleeves, to differentiate us," she wrote on Facebook in April.

She also wrote last week that 18 members of the community have been jailed.

"Most of those now in prison have children who are minors," she wrote, proposing the creation of a fund to support them.

Crimean Tatars are a Muslim minority on the Black Sea peninsula, a Turkic people who lived in Crimea before Russian rule and were deported under Stalin during World War II.

They were allowed to return from exile only in the late 1980s under reforms brought in by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

Most opposed the controversial referendum in March 2014 that formalised Crimea's annexation by Russia. Afterwards Moscow oversaw a crackdown on Crimean Tatar community leaders.

A court last month banned the Crimea Tatars' governing body the Mejlis, and key members of the community continue to be arrested, most recently the deputy chairman of the Majlis Ilmi Umerov earlier this month.
One person was apprehended and a crude bomb, gunpowder and a bag containing mobile chips and circuits were today seized from the Port area here, a senior police officer said.

Acting on an information, a team of Kolkata Police officials conducted a raid at a place under Watgunge Police Station area at around 3.30 AM, he said.

"A crude bomb, approximately 300 gm of gun powder, a black bag containing some mobile chips and circuits were seized," the officer said, adding a person, identified as Samir Hossain alias Sony was apprehended in this connection.

A case has been initiated under sections three and five of the Explosive Substances Act.
Adding to the troubles of Maharashtra Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse, former Aam Aadmi Party leader Anjali Damania today levelled allegations against him with regard to irrigation projects.

She threatened to stage a hunger strike in front of the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's residence from Wednesday evening if he did not sack the minister and initiate action.

Addressing a press conference here, Damania also alleged that Khadse was in cahoots with NCP leader and former Irrigation minister Ajit Pawar.

The senior state BJP leader, when he was a minister in Shiv Sena-BJP Government in late 1990s, had conceived the Tapi Irrigation Development Corporation, and got awarded contracts to his relatives and supporters, she alleged.

Damania also alleged that a plot purchased by Khadse's wife in April 2012 was not mentioned in Khadse's election affidavit in 2014, and the user (the stipulated purpose for which the land is to be used) was changed arbitrarily from educational purpose to residential.

Khadse was unavailable for comment.

The beleaguered minister is already facing an allegation that calls were made to his mobile from gangster Dawood Ibrahim's house in Karachi. Another allegation against him is that his family illegally purchased a plot near Pune which had been acquired by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.

He has denied all these allegations.
A deaf and dumb woman, who was allegedly raped in Bamni village in Sironcha tehsil of the district some days back, could not undergo a medical examination for six days due to "unavailability" of gynaecologist at government hospitals, police said today.

The incident of rape had taken place on the night of May 21, when the married woman was asleep with her three children outside her house in the village, police added.

"At the time of incident, her husband was away from home. However, on his return, the woman narrated her ordeal to her husband through sign language, following which a complaint was lodged with the Bamni Sub Police Station the next day," Sub inspector of Bamni police station Mangesh Bhongade said.

Police registered an offence and sent the woman to the Sub District Hospital of Aheri escorted by a lady police constable for her medical examination, he said.

"However, doctors at Aheri hospital flatly refused to conduct her medical examination saying that no gynaecologist was available there. They also asked the lady constable accompanying the victim to take her to Gadchiroli General Hospital. However, when the victim was taken there, they were told that the gynaecologist had gone on leave," Bhongade said.

They asked the police to take the woman to adjoining Chandrapur district and get the examination done. However, doctors there also refused to perform it saying the case did not take place in their jurisdiction and asked them to take her back to Gadchiroli.

"The woman was again brought to Gadchiroli General Hospital and finally, on May 27, her medical examination was done by a gynaecologist, who was specially called from nearby Kurkheda for this purpose," PSI Bhongade said.

The officer claimed that he had personally requested doctors of all the three hospitals, but no arrangement of medical examination was made till May 27.

"The woman was kept in the General Hospital for further examination till May 29," he added.

When contacted, Gadchiroli SP Sandeep Patil said a probe will be initiated and case will be registered against the guilty (delay in the medical exam of the rape victim).

Meanwhile, police said that the accused in the rape case, who also resides in the same village, has escaped and is suspected to be hiding in Andhra Pradesh.

Bhongade said the accused in the rape case would be arrested soon.
To rein in fee hike by private schools running on government land, the ruling AAP dispensation has approved a proposal to hire chartered accountants to facilitate audit of the schools' accounts in case of complaints.

The decision was taken at a meeting of Delhi Cabinet on Saturday chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The government has taken this step after distressed parents recently approached it, complaining of fee hike ranging from 20 to 55 per cent.

"As per the Delhi Cabinet's decision, government will only hire the CAG-empaneled chartered accounts to get accounts of schools running on its land audited.

"The audit of the accounts will be done if government receives any complaint from the parents against a particular school," said a senior government official.

The Directorate of Education (DoE) had recently warned private schools in the national capital citing rules that schools running on the government land cannot do so without prior sanction from the authorities.

In the past, a delegation of parents had met Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and apprised them of "arbitrary" hike in school fees.

Sisodia, who also holds education portfolio, had directed the DoE to take necessary action against the "errant" schools that have not only hiked fees but also "compelled" students to buy books from private publishers.
The Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises on Monday moved to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) seeking directions not to extend to other cities, the Supreme Court mandated ban on registration of vehicles beyond 2000 cc on the ground that it would have an adverse effect on the momentum of growth of the automobile industry.

The Ministry, which has filed an application for impleadment in a case related to the air pollution, has also requested the green panel not to apply any restrictions on "sale and registration" of new vehicles in any city, which are complying with the statutory emission norms irrespective of fuel used.

"The Supreme Court had passed an order on December 16, 2015 banning registration of SUV and private cars of the capacity of 2000 cc and above using diesel as fuel in the NCR up to March 31, 2016. Subsequently, the Supreme Court had extended the ban up to April 30, 2016 and on April 30, 2016 the Supreme Court maintained the status quo till the matter is taken up by it post vacation.

"That in the light of the above developments, the Department of Heavy Industry is of the view that the extension of the above ban imposed by the Supreme Court to 11 cities by the would have adverse effect on the momentum of growth of auto industry," the Ministry said in its plea before a bench headed by Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar.

It said the automobile industry is the largest constituent of the manufacturing sector in the country's economy which contributes to more than 47% of the manufacturing GDP of the country. Besides, it is the fifth largest sector receiving Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country.

The ministry further said it has taken various measures to balance the requirements of protecting environment and carrying out sustained economic development, which is being guided through the 'Make in India' campaign.

"It is stated principal that there should be a balance between environmental concern and development, therefore, any precipitate decision to ban registration of diesel engine above 2000 cc will have adverse effect on the growth of automobile industry in the country which is the highest employment provider in manufacturing sector," the plea said.
To promote entrepreneurship and industry in the state, Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Haseed Drabu today proposed setting up of new industrial estates and announced a startup fund as well as joint-venture opportunities with the government for the IT companies.

"The industrial estates in the state will be reorganized to function as a corporate entity within the aegis of State Industrial Development Corporation (SIDCO)/SICOP.

"The idea is to make each one of them a profit centre. These estates shall become Special Purpose Vehicles of the corporations or operating companies be it SIDCO or SICOP," Drabu said in his budget speech here.

"Industrial associations of the State will be encouraged to develop, on their own or in partnership, private industrial estates/parks on commercial lines," he said.

He, however, said it would be difficult to formulate a long-term Industrial Policy in Jammu and Kashmir as of now as more clarity was needed on the implementation of GST and its applicability to the state.

"However, prior to the formation of the new government, an industrial policy for the State has been notified. This will require substantive changes once the GST regime is implemented. For the moment, few changes are required," Drabu said.

Drabu said there was considerable uncertainty about the Industrial Policy in all states that offer tax exemptions and other fiscal incentives to industry, in view of the uncertainty about finalization of the GST.

"Jammu and Kashmir is a little more complicated case as we have to carve out our space within the national tax regime while protecting our unique privilege of the right to tax services," he said.

The Finance Minister said the government will go all out to attract investments in industrial estates or elsewhere in the state by providing an enabling environment and incentives.

At the same time, it will also ensure that these are governed by and are in compliance of existing administrative practices, regulatory norms and the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, he added.

"In essence, the estates will effectively be corporatised and each estate will have an estates manager who will be the CEO of the industrial estate. All the unit holders within the estate will form its management committee.

"Each industrial estate will then have an income and expenditure statement and a balance sheet which will be audited annually," he said.

Drabu said one-third of the earnings of the industrial estate by way of rents and other earnings shall be mandatorily deployed for the upkeep, maintenance and up gradation of the assets and infrastructure of the estates.

He said Information Technology is an important sunrise industry in the state.

To facilitate growth of this sector and to help the local IT companies reach certain economy of scale, the government will offer joint-venture opportunity to the state's top-ten IT companies in terms of audited topline.

"The state government will invest through J&K E-Governance Agency (JAKEGA) or an SPV created for this purpose. The proposed initiative shall also help speed up e-governance projects in the State.

"For capitalization of the JV, I have earmarked Rs 10 crore," he said.

He further said the state's new breed of young entrepreneurs needs support to grow.

"Instead of giving them subsidies, I propose to set up business incubators for sunrise industries in the capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu.

The business incubators will provide finances, branding, and marketing support to the entrepreneurs. To begin with, I propose a start-up fund of Rs 5 crore," he added.
Scores of teachers, who are boycotting evaluation of undergraduate exams in protest against the new UGC criteria to ascertain their academic performance, today marched to Parliament over the issue.

The teachers argue that the new amendments will lead to job-cuts to the tune of 50% and drastically increase pupil-teacher ratio in higher education. Their protest entered the seventh day today.

The protesters, including DU teachers, members of staff associations of other universities in the capital and a group of JNU students, were stopped midway by police near Parliament Street police station.

Few agitating teachers then went to the HRD Ministry and submitted a memorandum of demands to officials.

"By introducing such retrogressive amendments to the UGC regulations, this government is pushing the academic talent of the nation back to the trailing end of the global knowledge society," a teacher said.

The new gazette notification has increased the workload for assistant professors from 16 hours of "direct teaching" per week to 18 hours plus another six hours of tutorials, bringing the total to 24. Similarly the work hours of associate professors have been increased from 14 to 22.

However, the HRD Ministry had last week defended the new UGC criteria for Academic Performance Indicators for college and university teachers, saying it provides "more flexibility" even as it ruled out any possibility of reduction in number of teaching jobs.

"The ministry's stubborn stand has damaged the job prospects of 5,000 young teachers of DU alone and has put a question mark on the promotions and career advancement of the entire teaching community.

"This attack on the educated youth who are shouldering the responsibility of running the biggest public-administered system of affordable, inclusive and quality-driven higher education undermines the very mandate of this government," a member of the Teachers' Association said.

The teachers have been boycotting the evaluation process since May 24 and will continue with it till June 2.
Muslim Brotherhood's Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie and 35 other members of the proscribed Islamist group were today sentenced to life for committing violent acts after the ouster of country's first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Forty-nine people were sentenced from 3 to 15 years in intensive prison in the same case that led to the killing of three people in July 2013.

Nine defendants were sentenced to 15 years, 20 defendants were sentenced to 10 years and 20 defendants were sentenced to 3 years, court officials said.

Twenty people were acquitted for lack of evidence, they said.

The incident took place in July 2013 in the Canal city of Ismailia when clashes between the Muslim Brotherhood members and the security forces killed three people and injured dozens.

The defendants were charged of rallying to commit crimes, attacking people, harm public properties and disturbing national security, among other charges.

Badie, 72, the top leader of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood, was arrested in August 2013 and tried under various charges. He has already been sentenced to life for murder and inciting violence.

The Muslim Brotherhood was designated as a terrorist organisation in November 2013 by the government after the ouster of Islamist ex-president Morsi.

Morsi himself alongwith Badie and 100 other leaders were also sentenced to death in June last year for escaping from prison in 2011. However, an Egyptian court later quashed the death sentence against Badie.

Hundreds of other Muslim Brotherhood members were also sentenced for life in various cases.
The European Union wants to sort out some "misunderstandings" before resuming the talks on the long-stalled proposed Free Trade Agreement with India, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today.

She also said that the two sides are yet to finalise the dates to resume the negotiations.

Speaking to reporters here, Sitharaman said the EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom has responded to her communication that had sought a meeting of chief negotiators of the two sides on the agreement.

"She has written to me and that there are no pre- conditions and that EU would want to have some of the misunderstandings sorted out much before the talks can resume. This is sum and substance of what she has written to me," Sitharaman said.

She, however, did not specify what those 'misunderstandings' were.

"Those of the kinds of things on which the Ministry will definitely move forward. We want to work with the EU. We want to sign that agreement. We shall move forward and talk. Off course, the dates have still not given," she added.

The Minister said one has to be mindful of the fact that EU is going through a time when they are waiting for the outcome of Brexit.

Launched in June 2007, the negotiations for the proposed Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) have seen many hurdles with both sides having major differences on crucial issues like intellectual property rights, duty cut in automobile and spirits, and liberal visa regime.

Senior officials from both the sides met have twice so far this year to resolve the contentious issues.

The pact is aimed at reducing or significantly eliminating tariffs on goods, facilitate trade in services and boost investments between the two sides. The two-way commerce in goods between India and the EU stood at USD 98.5 billion in 2014-15.

On other FTAs, Sitharaman said a framework is being drafted for the proposed India-Iran preferential trade agreement.

She said India is actively moving forward on other free trade pacts including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Australia, Israel and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

A joint study group have been set up for the India and Eurasian Customs Union - Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan - pact and the first draft report is ready.

With the South American country Peru also, a joint study group have been established to explore the possibility of entering into an FTA, she added.

(REOPENS DCM50)



When asked about concerns being raised about loss of



revenue due to the FTAs, Sitharaman said is something which her Ministry will discuss with the Finance Ministry.

In any FTA, if duties have to come down, it will certainly going to have a bearing on revenue, she said.

"So we need the Finance (Ministry) to also tell us what will be the implication in terms of revenue loss," she said.

The Minister said the intention is to understand the issue in a comprehensive manner as to what actually it means in terms of revenue loss.

"if you bring down the duties from some level, what does it means in terms of loss of revenue? "We have asked them to work it out to understand at different levels," she added.

On finding a permanent solution to the food security issue at the WTO, she said there should be a timeline for it.

"The peace clause is with us and we shall wait for the public stockholding matter to be given a permanent solution," she said.

On the national rubber policy issue, Sitharaman said that the Ministry would soon come up with the policy.

The policy is aimed at addressing issues pertaining to the sector and boost the production of the plantation crop.
Hundreds of farmers today took part in a mock funeral procession of the BJP-led Government in Maharashtra to highlight its "failure" to address the issue of farm distress and inability to stop suicide by agriculturists.

The farmers, who had come from all over the State, assembled at the Central Maidan here at around noon and took out a mock funeral procession (tirdi morcha) of the BJP-led Government till the the District Collectorate.

They held placards condemning the Government for its "failure" to address the issue of farm distress and inability to stop peasant suicides in the State.

The protesters later assembled for a meeting, which was addressed by Ashok Dhavale, National Joint Secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, which organised the morcha.

Dhavale said the Government has failed to pay heed to the demands of farmers, which is resulting in suicide by them.

He said the State was passing through difficult times and farmers were facing untold hardships due to "faulty" policies of the Government.
The US-led consortium leading the development of Israel's offshore gas reserves has announced its first sales deal since a reworked agreement on a key offshore field was given the go-ahead.

The consortium, led by US firm Noble Energy, yesterday announced a USD 3-billion deal to supply 13 billion cubic metres of natural gas from the Leviathan field to a power plant in southern Israel over the next 18 years.

It was the second sales deal confirmed by the consortium but the first since the government ratified the offshore development project on May 22, after a legal battle had delayed it.

The entire development project had been shot down by the supreme court as unconstitutional, with critics saying it gave too much power to the energy companies.

After the ruling, the agreement was then revised to reflect the court's objections and the government subsequently gave it the green light.

Leviathan is the largest of Israel's offshore gas fields, with enough gas to turn the previously resource-poor country into a significant exporter.

Key potential markets are Turkey and Egypt.

Yossi Abu, CEO of Delek Drilling, the Israeli company in the consortium, hailed the new sales agreement.

In a statement, he said it was the first of many to be signed in the coming months and that the field would supply gas to the domestic market by 2019.
Four armed men allegedly abducted the driver of a former Additional Solicitor General's son, thrashed him before they pushed him out of the Audi Q7 SUV and fled with the vehicle, police said today.

The incident took place on the wee hours yesterday when the driver was waiting outside a popular restaurant in South Extension where his employer, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, and his friends had gone for dinner.

The driver, Ravi Shankar, saw his employer's friends coming out of the restaurant, started the engine of the Audi Q7 and as he was about to move towards the restaurant to pick up his employer, when a man approached him asking for direction, a police official said.

As he rolled down the window glass, the man pulled out a gun and hijacked the car with three others. The robbers pinned down the driver and kept hitting him with the pistol butt as they drove around for nearly 20 km and dumped him near Jwala Heri in west Delhi around two hours later.

The robbers then fled with the lawyer's SUV, which he had purchased around three months ago. The lawyer is the son of a former Additional Solicitor General, the official said.

The driver alleged that he kept asking for help from several passers-by, including two policemen on patrol duty, who instead of taking him to a hospital, citing jurisdiction issues, rushed him to a petrol pump near Mianwali Nagar police station, from where he called up his employer and informed him about the matter.

"A case has been registered in connection with the matter and police are looking into CCTV footage to ascertain identity of the accused persons." a senior official said.
The French jihadi network that groomed one of the Nov 13 Paris attackers went on trial today minus its most infamous member, a man killed in the Bataclan concert hall on a night of bloodshed that left 130 people dead in the French capital.

The seven defendants, friends from the eastern city of Strasbourg, were arrested in 2014 on suspicion of unspecified terrorist activity after returning from Syria. Court documents show no indication they were planning a specific attack at that time.

Two other members of the 10-person network died in Syria. And the final member of the Strasbourg group, Foued Mohamed-Aggad, remained at large and went on to participate in the Nov 13 Paris attacks.

The defendants today's trial in Paris who include Mohamed-Aggad's brother Karim insisted they had nothing to do with the Paris attacks.

The men insist they went to Syria for humanitarian reasons and were forced to join Islamic State as one thing after another went wrong with their journey. All returned to France by April 2014, telling investigators they were desperate to escape.

"Humanitarian or jihadist?" the judge asked each man sharply. With different levels of equivocation, each man said they went to Syria with the intention of helping.

Karim Mohamed-Aggad asked that the group be judged for what they had done, and not for the deadly Nov 13 attacks.

The group was recruited by Mourad Fares, who once boasted of grooming dozens of French citizens to join jihadists in Syria and who was arrested separately in late 2014 by French authorities. The Strasbourg men uniformly blamed their plight on Fares, who was not among those on trial today.

Fares did not meet the group at the border as they arrived in Syria, they told investigators instead, they said they were picked up by members of the group later known as Islamic State and said they had little choice but to go along.

"We were had by smooth talk. Islam was used to trap me like a wolf. When we arrived there, it was clear to me that the people there had nothing to do with Islam," Karim Mohamed-Aggad told investigators, according to court documents.
Government will consider setting up more agri-business management institutes, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said today.

On Facebook, Singh said, "Recently, the government of India has organised 'Kisan Goshti' at KVKs (Krishi Vighan Kendras) throughout the country, including Karnataka, and is making all possible efforts to take knowledge and benefit of PMFBY to all farmers."



The minister was responding to a query from a user from Haveri district in Karnataka on "lack of information" about the Prime Minister Crop Insurance scheme, who asked for a district or taluk-wise contact person to educate farmers.

Singh guided him to the website www.Agri-insurance.Gov.In for more details about the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), including the contact number of the insurance agent and banks.

On a suggestion to start more agri-business management institutes and a separate farmer business institute, the minister said, "Thanks for the suggestion. We will consider these while widening the scope of the existing Institute (MANAGE, Hyderabad)."



PMFBY, launched this year, replaces the existing two schemes -- the National Agricultural Insurance Scheme and Modified NAIS, which have had some inherent drawbacks.

Under PMFBY, farmers' premium has been kept lower between 1.5-2 per cent for foodgrains and oil seed crops and up to 5 per cent for horticultural and cotton crops. There will not be a cap on the premium.

In an hour-long interaction, the minister responded to more than two dozens questions on subjects ranging from animal husbandry to raising farm income and organic farming.

The minister also assured an Odisha-based entrepreneur that he would take up the matter related to registration of a new dairy project with the state government.

On another project related to production of bacterial products for organic farming, the minister asked the entrepreneur concerned to submit details to his ministry.
The government and the Reserve Bank are working out a mechanism to resolve the payment issue with Venezuela, a top official said today.

There are reports that Indian exporters particularly from pharmaceuticals sector are facing problems in getting payments from the South American country and the Indian government is in talks to have a rupee deal so that it could be adjusted against the oil payments.

Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia also said that not just in Venezuela, in Sudan Indian pharma exporters are facing difficulties in payments because of internal issues of those countries.

With all these countries, Indian government is engaged, she said.

"In case of Venezuela, there has been a fair engagement. We are also in conversation with the RBI to see if an appropriate mechanism could be devised along with the RBI's assistance and the Finance Ministry's assistance to see that the payments are in some sense protected. So that is in the progress".

When asked about the agreement between India and Indonesia on non-basmati rice trade, Teaotia said both the sides are on the verge of concluding the pact.

"Indonesia is very keen to procure the non-basmati rice from India because that is what they do consume and prices are also competitive," she told reporters here.

She said that the agreement between state-run trading firm STC and its Indonesian counterpart is now being concluded.

"So now, we will have a firm agreement for movement of non-basmati rice to Indonesia," she added.
Belize has said that Guatemala is to deport eight of its nationals who were arrested after allegedly hopping off a boat onto a Guatemalan beach without authorisation.

The incident occurred amid revived tensions between the two Central American neighbours, fuelled by a longstanding border dispute and a fatal shooting incident last month.

"It is expected that the group will be deported back to Belize by road later this week," the Belizean government said in a statement yesterday.

It said the eight had been allowed to go to the Belizean embassy in Guatemala City to secure travel documents ahead of their deportation.

Last Friday, the Belizean government announced that Guatemala had arrested the group as it alighted from a boat on Punta Manabique, a beach on a Guatemalan peninsula jutting into the Caribbean that is about 25 kilometers (17 miles) from Belize's coastline.

Guatemala's navy had reported the group possessed Belizean fishing licenses but no boat registration nor a Guatemalan document giving port authorisation.

Guatemala and Belize agreed this week to try to avoid incidents along their common border that might worsen ties that turned explosive on April 20, when a Belizean patrol shot and killed a 13-year-old Guatemalan boy.
In a suspected case of suicide, a 40-year-old farm labourer and her four children were found dead inside a well in Mewasa village located near the pilgrimage town of Virpur in the district today, police said.

The five bodies were found floating in the well owned by one Chhagan Pansara.

Police suspect that the woman, identified as Varsha Ninama, might have killed the kids, including three daughters and a son, by pushing them into the well before taking the plunge herself.

"Chhaganbhai was working in his farm when he saw five bodies floating inside the well and informed the police," said Virpur Police Sub Inspector R K Gohil.

He said the bodies were fished out with the help of the local firemen.

According to police, the deceased Ninama was a tribal farm labourer from Dahod district who might have came here in search of some work.

"As per our primary investigation, she might have killed her children, including three daughters and a son, by throwing them into the well and then she too might have jumped in to end her life" he said, adding further investigation is on.
Haitians are bracing for trouble as an electoral verification commission delivers the results of a month-long review of last year's contested presidential and legislative elections.

The five-member panel, led by a businessman who is a former ambassador to the US, was due to give its recommendations to Haiti's revamped Provisional Electoral Council yesterday.

The commission then is scheduled to hand its report to the interim president at a today afternoon ceremony on the grounds of the National Palace.

Government officials would not comment on when the report would be made public.

Commission president Pierre Francois Benoit has said a random sample of 25 per cent of the roughly 13,000 tally sheets from polling stations would be audited. In recent days, a team of police officers could be seen at a tabulation center examining thumbprints on ballot sheets.

It's far from clear whether the verification panel's findings will provide clarity to last year's elections or if its recommendations will be accepted by Haiti's political class.

Robert Fatton, a Haitian-born politics professor at the University of Virginia and the author of "The Roots of Haitian Despotism," said doubts and suspicions about the commission are an indication that Haiti's electoral impasse might actually deepen.

"I think we are in for a bumpy ride," Fatton said in an email to The Associated Press.

In recent days, several foreign embassies have warned their citizens in Haiti that the release of the panel's report and a scheduled Tuesday announcement of a new election date could lead to civil unrest in coming days.

"US citizens are reminded that unrest and protests throughout Haiti could occur," the US Embassy said in a security message Wednesday.

For residents of Haiti's capital, life goes on. Tire-burning roadblocks and other signs of political turbulence are familiar in Haiti.

The possibility of paralysing protests is a big concern to Adler Augustin, a 29-year-old who has a small business inflating car tires at the side of a busy road in Port-au-Prince.

"All my work is in the streets so I'm worried I won't be able to do any business," he said.

Interim President Jocelerme Privert, who became Haiti's caretaker leader in February after a presidential runoff was scrapped for a third time, has been trying to show he can guarantee stability as the election impasse has widened divisions in the polarised country.

He has said Haiti cannot restart balloting without first restoring confidence in the electoral machinery.
Previous governments in Jammu and Kashmir have been committing "hara-kiri" with the Provident Fund for the last 30 years, the state's Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu alleged today, likening it to "Ponzi" fraud and emphasising the need for "quick corrective" action.

He warned that if changes to the accounting system were not effected now, the state government may not be in a position to pay the Provident Fund to the employees.

The government has been utilising the net accruals on account of Provident Fund as captive resources to finance its day-to-day expenditure, Drabu said in his Budget speech in the Assembly here.

"To make matters worse, instead of accounting what it had borrowed from its employees, the net General Provident Fund (GPF) was grossly understated in the budget so as to get a higher allocation of market borrowings. This fiscal hara-kiri has been committed year after year for the last 30 years or so.

"With no cash in the PF kitty, the outflows which get crystallised year after year, are being paid from current inflows. It is a classic version of what in financial circles is called a Ponzi game," Drabu said.

Ponzi is a form of fraud in which belief in the success of a non-existent enterprise is fostered by the payment of quick returns to the first investors from money invested by later investors.

Drabu said he would leave it to the house to debate and decide whether it was a "fraud perpetuated by earlier governments or a primitive accounting error".

"The real threat of fiscal crisis, which I am raising now, should have been highlighted in 2009 when the New Pension Scheme was introduced in the state. For, post the NPS, the new inflows have stopped while the old outflows are continuing," the Finance Minister said.

"Unless quick corrective action is taken now, in a few years, the state government will not be in any financial position to pay back what it has borrowed from its own employees," he said.

He said normally the amount deducted as provident fund contribution should have been earmarked and invested in long term financial instruments, so that the government got a return on the corpus to fund the interest it pays to employees.

But "this was not done", he said adding "the net result of this incorrect budgetary practice has meant that the total liability on account of provident fund, which is completely unprovided for, is Rs 14,058 crore as on March 31, 2015.

"The same procedure has been followed for State Life Insurance Scheme for government employees for which the liability is another Rs 588 crore," he added.

The Finance Minister assured the employees that the government will overhaul the PF accounting system, make provisions and address this issue.

"It needs a major, painstaking and a creative clean up. If need be we will put in place a line of credit to pay what is due to our employees. Let there not be any panic," he said.

He said the PDP-BJP government, which took over in March last year, has already improved the system.

"Not so long ago, the withdrawal of part or full PF by our employees used to be a nightmare as their bills would remain pending in the treasuries for six to eight months.

"Today, and I am sure the employees will vouch for this, they are receiving their PF dues within a day or so of their presentation of the bill," he said.
Accepting that bulging trade deficit with China is "not a good news", Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said a lot of effort is underway at different levels to provide more market access to Indian products in that country.

"Bulging deficit is not a good . With China, we have several rounds of talks and we are continuing so that our bulk drugs and IT/ITeS sectors get greater market access. We are negotiating with China...There is a lot of effort at different levels," she told reporters here.

She said that Indian companies have expressed concerns that registration process in China is difficult and time consuming.

Simultaneously, Sitharaman added that in order to stop some of the Chinese goods which are causing injury to the domestic industry, India is taking measures which are WTO compliant.

"So on one hand we are trying to make imports where it is unsustainable, where it is injurious, we will stop and on the other hand for greater access, there is a work going on," she said.

Trade deficit between India and China has increased to USD 44.7 billion during April-January period of 2015-16.

India has a trade deficit with as many as 27 major countries, including China, Australia, Iraq and Iran.

In 2015-16, India's trade deficit fell 14 per cent to USD 118.35 billion.
India and the US are likely to sign two key agreements in July that would exempt prominent Indian citizens from immigration checks in America and pave the way for exchange of information on terrorists on a real time basis.

The two pacts on Global Entry a US Customs and Border Protection programme that permits speedy clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travellers upon arrival in America and the Homeland Security Presidential Directive-6 (HSPD-6), which allows access to information on terrorists are expected to be signed during the Homeland Security Dialogue.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will lead the Indian delegation at US-India Homeland Security Dialogue to be held in Washington in July, while the US team would be headed by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Charles Johnson.

The US has been pressing for India's inclusion in the Global Entry so that high dignitaries like former Presidents, former Prime Ministers, former Union Ministers, film stars, top industrialists and frequent flyers could visit America without any hassle, a senior government official said.

Initially, the names of around 2,000 prominent Indians could figure in the coveted list, which would be expanded gradually after proper background checks of each individual.

Individuals included in the list enter the US through automatic kiosks at select airports. At airports, programme members proceed to Global Entry kiosks, present their machine-readable passport, place their fingerprints on the scanner for fingerprint verification and complete a customs declaration.

The kiosk issues the traveller a transaction receipt and directs the traveller to baggage claim and the exit.

Two important conditions for inclusion of an individual in the Global Entry programme are that he or she should not have any criminal record or be in anyway connected with a money laundering case.
Indian firms return on equity (ROE) which has been on a decline since 2008, is showing signs of stabilisation at around 15 per cent, says an HSBC report.

ROE shows how much profit a company generates with the money that the shareholders have invested.

According to the global financial services major, in the last few years ROE and margins have fallen in all major sectors in India but there are clear signs of stabilisation on both fronts.

Profit margins of Indian companies have fell from over 20 per cent in 2007 to 13 per cent in 2013 but by 2015, they have recovered to 14.1 per cent.

While corporate ROE has been in decline since 2008, it now appears to be stabilising at around 15 per cent, HSBC said in a research note adding that better balance sheet management could support a recovery in ROE, especially if margins continue to rise from current low levels.



According to the report, there were several reasons for the decline in profit margins of Indian companies prior to 2013, including increased domestic competition.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet today approved the entry of ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman to the ruling coalition as defence minister, after defusing opposition from another partner, the government said.

The religious nationalist party Jewish Home had planned to block the addition of Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu party by voting against it in parliament, possibly sparking fresh elections, unless demands for procedural reform were met.

"The cabinet unanimously approved the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as minister of defence," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

It added that Yisrael Beitenu's Sofa Landver was approved as minister of immigrant absorption.

The deal is expected to be approved by parliament later today, with the new ministers to take their oaths of office.

The prime minister's office said that as part of the reshuffle, veteran Likud MP Tzachi Hanegbi, chairman of parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee, would become a minister without portfolio.

Netanyahu and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett reached a compromise yesterday night after mediation by a third party, a Likud statement said.

Jewish Home holds eight parliamentary seats, enough to block Netanyahu's proposed new line-up.

If approved by parliament, the deal would create what is seen as the most right-wing government in Israel's history.

Jewish Home had demanded the creation of a military liaison for the government's security cabinet, a smaller forum of cabinet members which decides on matters of national security.

Bennett says such a post is needed to avoid security cabinet members being kept in the dark on important developments, pointing to aspects of the 2014 conflict with Palestinian militants in Gaza, among other concerns.

Under the compromise brokered by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, of the United Torah Judaism alliance of ultra-Orthodox parties, security cabinet members will receive frequent personal briefings from Israel's National Security Council as an interim measure, while a committee of experts looks at ways to improve procedure.

While some analysts say such a change is needed, Bennett's demand is also seen as political manoeuvring ahead of the next general election, due by 2019 at the latest.
Independent MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid was marshalled out while opposition National Conference members today boycotted the Budget presentation in Assembly demanding a statement from the government over the status of magisterial probe into Handwara killings.

As soon as Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu rose to present the budget for 2016-17, Rashid demanded that the government make a statement on the killings in Handwara town which took place during protests against alleged molestation of a girl by an armyman last month.

The Independent MLA from Langate, adjoining Handwara constituency, was joined by National Conference and Congress members who too demanded for a statement from the government.

However, Speaker Kavinder Gupta paid no heed to the opposition's protest and Drabu continued with his budget speech.

NC leader Ali Mohammad Sagar said the government should make a statement on the Handwara incident as it had been directed by the Speaker to do so.

"Two days time was granted by the Speaker to make the statement. Say something on it," Sagar insisted.

PDP Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri intervened at this point and asked the opposition members to resume their seats.

"Budget speech is going on. I have never seen such protests during budget speech in my career," Veeri said.

The NC MLAs then staged a walkout from the House and did not return for the rest of the proceedings. However, Rashid remained in the Well of the House, pressing his demand.

The Speaker made several pleas to the agitating member to resume his seat but to no avail.

Gupta then ordered the Assembly marshals to physically remove Rashid from the House.
Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu today hit out at the previous regime for mishandling the provident fund of the state government employees, saying it was a classic case of "Ponzi game".

The government has been utilising the net accruals on account of Provident Fund as captive resources to finance its day to day expenditure, Drabu said in his budget speech in the state assembly here.

"To make matters worse, instead of accounting what it had borrowed from its employees, the net general provident fund (GPF) was grossly understated in the budget so as to get a higher allocation of market borrowings. This fiscal hara-kiri has been committed year after year for the last 30 years or so.

"With no cash in the PF kitty, the outflows which get crystallized year after year, are being paid from current inflows. It is a classic version of what in financial circles is called a Ponzi game," Drabu said.

The finance minister warned if the changes to the accounting system were not affected now, the state government may not be in a position to pay out the provident fund to the employees.

"The real threat of fiscal crisis, which I am raising now, should have been highlighted in 2009 when the New Pension Scheme was introduced in the state.

For, post the NPS, the new inflows have stopped while the old outflows are continuing.

"Unless quick corrective action is taken now, in a few years, the state government will not be in any financial position to pay back what it has borrowed from its own employees," he said.

Drabu said he would leave it to the house to debate and decide whether it was a "fraud perpetuated by earlier governments or a primitive accounting error".

He said normally the amount deducted as provident fund contribution should have been earmarked and invested in long term financial instruments, so that the government got a return on the corpus to fund the interest it pays to employees.

But "this was not done", he said adding "the net result of this incorrect budgetary practice has meant that the total liability on account of provident fund, which is completely unprovided for, is Rs 14,058 crore as on March 31, 2015.

"The same procedure has been followed for State Life Insurance Scheme for government employees for which the liability is another Rs 588 crore," he added.

The finance minister assured the employees that the present government will overhaul the PF accounting system, make provisions and address this issue.

"It needs a major, painstaking and a creative clean up. If need be we will put in place a line of credit to pay what is due to our employees. Let there not be any panic," he said.

He said the PDP-BJP government, which took over in March last year, has already improved the system.

"Not so long ago, the withdrawal of part or full PF by our employees used to be a nightmare as their bills would remain pending in the treasuries for six to eight months.

"Today, and I am sure the employees will vouch for this, they are receiving their PF dues within a day or so of their presentation of the bill," he said.
Three Congress candidates, including former Union ministers Jairam Ramesh and Oscar Fernandes, today filed their nominations for the biennial elections to fill four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka.

Former IPS officer K C Ramamurthy (Congress) and B M Farooq (JDS) also filed their papers for the June 11 election.

Karnataka Industries Minister R V Deshpande, Opposition Leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Home Minister G Parameshwara accompanied the Congress candidates.

The Congress' decision to field third candidate, Ramamurthy, has given tense moments to JDS, which needs five additional votes to see its candidate through.

JDS has 40 members in the Assembly and needs the support of five more to win the seat, but to the party's discomfiture five MLAs, including Zameer Ahmed, have reportedly decided to back the third candidate of the Congress.

Reacting to it, State JDS President H D Kumaraswamy rubbished reports of Zameer Ahmed's claim of five JDS MLAs supporting Congress' third candidate.

"All the MLAs except Zameer Ahmed are with the party and will not be backing the third candidate of the Congress. The party is contemplating action against Zameer."



The Congress has 122 MLAs and needs extra 13 votes to ensure the victory of its third candidate and hence Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is trying to seek the support of the eleven independents and five JDS rebel legislators.

Kumaraswamy said theJDS was also in touch with independents besides BJP leaders, to get the required numbers.

"We are in touch with the independents and also BJP. I have spoken to BJP leader R Ashok and I am expecting support from them because we had supported the BJP in the last Council election," he said.

The numbers game has triggered speculations of horse- trading and selling of seats to businessmen.

Replying to the charges made by Siddaramaiah against JDS, Kumaraswamy alleged that the Chief Minister was into horse- trading and not JDS leaders.

Kumaraswamy also charged Siddaramaiah with trying to split the party by offering big money to MLAs to defect.

"Instead, it is Siddaramaiah who is splitting our party. ...He is actually into horse-trading," he alleged.

Kumaraswamy said JDS was confident of Farooq's victory as in the past an official Congress candidate had lost due to cross-voting.

Asked if the JDS-Congress tieup in the city civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) would get affected after Congress fielded its third candidate and hoping to win it with the help of JDS rebel MLAs, Kumaraswamy said,"I have told the AICC that any attempt to split JDS will force us to withdraw our support to Congress in BBMP."



Nirmala Sitharaman, who is the official candidate of BJP for the Rajya Sabha seat, will file her nomination tomorrow.

Amid mounting public pressure including protests by Kannada groups against renomination of Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu from Karnataka, the BJP Central Election Committee decided to field Sitharaman in his place.

A social media campaign was launched against Naidu's nomination on the ground that he had not done enough for Karnataka from where he secured three Rajya Sabha terms.

Naidu will be contesting from Rajasthan.
Eyeing investments from Asia's second-biggest economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said his visit to Japan is aimed at taking India growth story forward with investors so as to make them invest in a host of sectors, including infrastructure.

"We already have over a thousand Japanese companies which have invested in India. (Japanese) Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe seeks to double it and therefore, I would be meeting individually as well as collectively a large number of investors," said Jaitley, who arrived here yesterday on a 6-day tour.

Apart from investors, the minister will meet Abe and other Japanese government officials.

"The whole idea is to take the India story forward with them," said Jaitley, who attended 'The Future of Asia' conference here today. He did not speak at the conference.

Stating that there are investors and companies that are keen to participate in the growth of Indian infrastructure, he said the SoftBank group is looking at one of the biggest investments in solar energy.

"They have made considerable headway already. They have identified the location and probably (it) will be one of the largest investments in those areas," he said.

Jaitley had met SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son here yesterday.

"I think similarly there are other Japanese investors who are open to the idea of having individual projects," he said. "We are open to the idea of them joining the India Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF) and this Indian flexibility provides them with more than one opportunity."



NIIF is being set up with a corpus of Rs 40,000 crore, partly funded by private investors, to finance infrastructure projects, including stalled ones.

The government and public sector entities will hold 49 per cent, with the rest offered to multilateral development banks, sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and other organisations.

NIIF will then buy shares in existing infrastructure lenders such as Rural Electrification Corporation and Power Finance Corporation, which will provide debt to selected projects.

While NIIF will have a quasi-sovereign status, external asset management companies will be in-charge of treasury operations. Boosting infrastructure investment by 1 per cent of GDP could add 3.4 million jobs.

Asked if Japanese investors have identified any project, Jaitley said, "Well, many of them have. For instance, SoftBank itself in Andhra Pradesh has identified the solar power project and there are many others who have identified and are talking and looking beyond solar power now.

Giving reasons for surge in revenue collections, Jaitley



said direct taxation is directly related to economic environment and economic activity, and expansion of economic activity can lead to higher income.

As far as indirect taxes are concerned, he said there has been modest increase in customs duty due to reduction in gold imports among other things.

"Service tax also relates to economic activities. Excise duty relates to larger manufacturing plus some part of it may relate to additional revenue measures which were taken earlier this year on account of certain excise duties," he said.

Till December 19, net increase in income tax collections has been 14.4 per cent and even after accounting for large refunds, the net rise in collection is 13.6 per cent, Jaitley had said.

Indirect tax collections soared 26.2 per cent between April 1 and November 30, with revenue from excise jumping 43.5 per cent, that from service tax by 25.7 per cent and customs by 5.6 per cent, he had said.
Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu today called on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and discussed several projects, including the AAP government's ambitious elevated bus corridors plan to ease traffic congestion in the city.

Apart from that, transportation, water, sewage system, earthquake-resistant buildings and other developmental projects were also discussed during the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by PWD Minister Satyendar Jain and Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) Vice Chairman Ashish Khetan.

"The main project discussed during the meeting was the Delhi government's project of dedicated elevated bus corridors in the city to ease out traffic congestion.

"The Chief Minister told the visiting Japanese Ambassador that a delegation of the government will visit him for further discussions and look into more areas of cooperation," said a senior government official.

The official said Kejriwal also told the Ambassador that the Delhi government will like to solve any problem being faced by Japanese nationals residing in the national capital.

The DDC Vice Chairman said the delegation would make a presentation on the projects of the Delhi government and outline the vision of the Delhi government when it visits Japan.
Hollywood star Johnny Depp's friend Doug Stanhope has penned a column in support of the actor in the wake of his divorce from Amber Heard and her claims of domestic abuse.

Stanhope, 49, has written an op-ed for The Wrap that Depp, 52, told him his wife of 15 months threatened to blackmail him as their marriage fell apart.

On May 21, hours before Heard claimed that the "Pirates of the Caribbean" star hit her with a cell phone during a violent argument, Stanhope and another friend named Bingo spent most of the day at the couple's LA home.

"We assumed initially that his dour mood was because of his mother's death the day before," the stand-up comedian writes.

"But he opened up in the most vulnerable of ways that it was not only his mother, but that Amber was now going to leave him, threatening to lie about him publicly in any and every possible duplicitous way if he didn't agree to her terms. Blackmail is what I would imagine other people might put it, including the manner in which he is now being vilified."



Heard, 30, filed for divorce two days after her alleged fight with Depp, and on May 27 she was temporarily granted a restraining order against him, after submitting a deposition in which she claimed she was "extremely afraid" for her safety.

Stanhope, best known for hosting "The Man Show" on Comedy Central, wrote, "He hadn't slept in days with anxiety. You'd call him a paranoid if you didn't know better. But he knew better and he was right."



The friends left Depp to get some rest, but later that night police were called to his house for a domestic dispute.

Police, however, has said that despite Heard's claims, they found no evidence for a report when they were called to the home.

"Everything Johnny had told us that she'd been threatening had actually come to be," Stanhope writes. "It blew up in the news, raced through the Internet like a plague and blew up on Twitter... People are swarming with torches on social media."



He explains that he hesitated coming forward because he didn't want to look like a name-dropper, but believes he had to speak out to defend his friend.

"Abusing women is bad," Stanhope adds. "Johnny doesn't abuse anyone. And he told me that day ahead of time that she'd pull something like this. Johnny Depp got used, manipulated, set up and made to look bad. And he saw it coming and didn't or couldn't do anything to stop it.
With the objective of providing technology solutions in rail projects which are often outsourced to western countries, Railways today instituted Kalpana Chawla Chair on geospatial technology at PEC University at Chandigarh.

The objective of the Chair is to encourage research activities in geospatial technology and to strengthen Indian Railways, especially railway projects where use of remote sensing data, Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) is predominant.

This will help Indian Railways to develop in-house solutions to the problems which are often outsourced to western countries, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said after the Railways signed a MoU with Punjab Engineering College University of Technology for creation of the Chair.

He said updated technology promises safe railway operations and so in the recent years the role of technology has been recognised by Railways to remove technological and engineering-related problems.

In order to promote research in geospatial technology, the Chair was announced in the current Rail Budget.

Sinha said collaboration between the two organisations will help in developing applications to remove day-to-day engineering and technological problems and provide geospatial solutions for Indian Railways.

Railways would provide a corpus of Rs 10 crore to PEC University of Technology towards setting up and to meet the running expenses of this Chair.

The Chair will be headed by VK Gupta, Member Engineering as Chairman and Manoj Arora, Director, PEC University of Technology, as co-chairman. The Chair will function through a Chair Core Committee (CCC) having members from Railways and PEC.

This academic chair is being instituted to honour the contributions of late Chawla, an Indo-American astronaut and alumnus of PEC who was the first woman of Indian origin in space.
DMK patriarch Karunanidhi today blamed sections of media that are "pro-AIADMK," and central government intelligence wings for what he claimed "sowing seeds of discord" between his party and ally Congress.

He alleged that such efforts were aimed at isolating his party nationally and weakening Congress party in Tamil Nadu and to help "continue the covert ties, of the AIADMK and BJP."



"Some sections of media are sowing seeds of discord that DMK functionaries were concerned that ties with Congress (in the May 16 assembly election) resulted in a huge loss for their party," he said.

He said he was "told" that the Central government's intelligence wing "is also deployed in this service," which is doing its bit in "planting imaginary information here and there."



His views comes against the background of Congress winning in only eight constituencies after contesting in 41 seats.

In a statement, he lambasted such media as "anti-DMK and pro-AIADMK," and accused them of injecting "slow poison."



He recalled his recent interview to an English daily in which he had said that DMK's allies were not to be blamed. In that interview, he had also doubted if his partymen had worked in full swing, in a cohesive fashion with Congress workers in such constituencies where the national party lost.

The nonagenarian leader blamed sections of media for "blanking out" such Congress-friendly views and said "some are working in full vigour to spoil the friendship and understanding between the DMK and Congress."



"Their aim is to create bitterness between DMK and Congress party and blow it up further so as to isolate DMK at the national level and weaken Congress in Tamil Nadu," he said.

He also alleged the intention was to "continue the covert ties, of the AIADMK and BJP," and go on with "behind the screen talks, and mutual gain," for the ruling parties at the Centre and state.

"I would like DMK workers and friends of the alliance parties to understand this well.
'Dashar Maha Kumbh' is being organised on the confluence of sacred rivers Sindhu and Vitasta in Ganderbal district of Kashmir on June 14, after a period of 75 years, in which Kashmiri Pandits are expected to participate.

The kumbh is being organised in Waskoora tehsil of Ganderbal district, Convenor of Maha Kumbh Celebration Committee (MKCC) A K Koul said today. He said 'Dashar Maha Kumbh' mela is being held after 75 years.

At the confluence of Vitasta (Jhelum), Krishen Ganga and Sindh (Indus) rivers, there is a Chinar tree that stands on a small island in the middle of the confluence spot where there is a Shiva Lingam and there are also religious places like Shadipora Ghats and Narayan Bagh.

"It (the tree) is surrounded by water on all sides. This is known as Prayag Chinar. One has to come to this Chinar tree in a boat and go up some steps to have a commanding view of the confluence," he said.

The Shiva Lingam kept under the shade of this tree's trunk is also worshipped. This tree is considered mystical and sacred by Kashmiri Pandits and it is believed that even if the river flooding, the tree never sinks.

Over 20,000 displaced Kashmir Pandits are expected to throng the Maha Kumbh, Kaul said.

He said the committee members met Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and urged him to make elaborate arrangements for the pilgrims, including construction of temporary bathrooms, makeshift toilets and temporary shelters.

"Besides, arrangements for security, medical facilities, transportation drinking water etc should also be made," he said.

Hindus immerse the mortal remains of the dead there. The ashes of first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru were immersed at Prayag and at Bijbehara in South Kashmir district of Anantnag as per his will.

The Maha Kumb is the configuration of 10 celestial bodies, including the Sun, and has great religious sanctity according to Hindu mythology, said Omkar Nath Shastri, Chairman of the Celebration Committee.

National Conference Minority Cell President M K Yogi said the government should put in place all arrangements concerning security, medical and transport facilities.
Kuwait's supreme court today upheld the death sentence handed down to the main convict in the Islamic State group bombing of a Shiite mosque that killed 26 people.

The court confirmed the sentence of capital punishment passed on Abdulrahman Sabah Saud, a stateless man who drove the Saudi suicide bomber to the mosque in June last year.

The court also upheld jail terms of between two and 15 years for eight people, including four women, and acquitted 15 others including three women.

The court did not hear the appeals of five others -- four Saudis and a stateless man -- who had been sentenced to death in absentia by a lower court.

Under Kuwaiti law, sentences issued in absentia are not reviewed by higher courts until those convicted appear in person.

The four Saudi men still at large include two brothers who smuggled the explosives belt used in the attack into Kuwait from neighbouring Saudi Arabia. The fifth man is a stateless Arab.

Twenty-nine defendants, including seven women, had been charged with helping the Saudi suicide bomber attack a Shiite mosque in the capital, which was the bloodiest in Kuwait's history.

An IS-affiliated group calling itself Najd Province claimed the bombing as well as suicide attacks on two Shiite mosques in Saudi Arabia in May last year.

Najd is the central region of Saudi Arabia.

The Sunni extremists of IS consider Shiites to be heretics and have repeatedly attacked Shiite targets in the region.

In addition to driving the suicide bomber, Saud was also charged with bringing the explosives belt from a site near the border and aiding the bomber.

At his initial trial, Saud confessed to most charges, but later denied them all in the appeals and supreme courts.

The death penalty in Kuwait is carried out by hanging, and to be implemented it requires the approval of the Gulf state's ruler.

Among the supreme court's main verdicts today, the court upheld the commuting of the death sentence for the alleged IS leader in Kuwait, Fahad Farraj Muhareb, to 15 years in prison.

It also upheld the acquittal of Jarrah Nimer, owner of the car used to transport the bomber.

Courts in Kuwait have previously handed down several verdicts against IS supporters and financiers.
The foreign minister of Libya's unity government today formally moved into his ministerial offices in the capital Tripoli, as the Government of National Accord struggles to assert its authority.

Mohamad Taher Siala, a foreign ministry employee for three decades, "officially took up his post" at the ministry building, Libyan agency LANA reported.

He is the latest member of the embattled GNA to take control of a ministry building in the divided oil-rich country since May 25, following those of health, interior and national education.

The UN-backed GNA has taken control of several administrative offices over the past two months.

But since designated prime minister Fayez al-Sarraj made a dramatic arrival and set up headquarters at a Tripoli naval base on March 30, the GNA has faced a raft of resistance from its opponents.

A rival government in the east is refusing to cede power until a repeatedly delayed vote of confidence is passed in Libya's elected parliament.
Citing 'Make in India' and 'Start Up India' campaigns for boosting manufacturing and employment, tech giant Cisco's Chairman John Chambers has said the next US President should take a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and outline the plan for growth of the American economy.

Weighing in on the 2016 US presidential race, Chambers said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump could be the next US President going by the "current momentum".

He, however, said the next US President, irrespective of the political party, should outline his plans for growing America's economy, leveraging technology and creating jobs just as Modi is doing in India.

"The real key issue is I think the next President should be the person who outlines what Prime Minister Modi is going to do when he comes here in the first week of June," Chambers said at the Bloomberg Breakaway Summit here on May 25.

He said Modi, who will address the US Congress during his June 7-8 visit, is "going to talk about a digital India, about growing its economy not 6-7 per cent a year, which will be the fastest in the world, but at 10 or 11 per cent."



Chambers said the Prime Minister will also talk about a "digital manufacturing India, a digital start up India" as well as about re-doing regulation and creating a million jobs per month.

Modi will also focus on his government's plan to providing cheap and fast broadband to every citizen in India and to change healthcare and education in the country, he said.

"That is what the national debate should be about. Both parties should win by saying here is how you change your country. We have let America down, we got to change so we are addressing the symptoms here as opposed to the underlying issues," he said.

Chambers added that the person he would like to see lead America as its next President, regardless of political party, should be one who has a plan and focus to "fix America" and grow the economy so that the average American sees a 10-15 per cent pay raise over the next decade.
Manipur cabinet today decided to close down all educational institutions in the state for three days from tomorrow due to protests demanding conversion of the three Inner Line Permit System Bills into Acts.

Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj M Okendro made the announcement following a Cabinet meeting.

Okendro, who was addressing a press conference after the Cabinet meeting at Chief Minister's Secretariat, said the decision was necessitated to contain the relentless movement by the protestors, mostly student and women wings of Joint Committee on Inner Line Permit System (JCILPS).

The three Bills were passed on August 31 last year, after two months of intense agitation by volunteers of JCILPS to check the rise in illegal immigrants number from Myanmar and Nepal and to preserve the indigenous population of the state.

However, the three Bills were vehemently opposed by sections of tribal people in the state, particularly, those residing in the southern Churachandpur district.

Okendro also informed that a delegation of all political parties headed by Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh will head for New Delhi on June 3 to discuss the matter with President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Notably, the Imphal Municipal Corporation election is slated on June 2.
"Maze Runner: The Death Cure" release has been pushed back to January 2018, almost a year after its initial opening date, as star Dylan O'Brien recovers from on-set injuries.

Fox has announced that the third movie in the "Maze Runner" trilogy has been delayed from its February 2017 release, reported Variety.

It comes as O'Brien recovers from injuries after a "very serious" on-set car accident on March 18.

Production was shut down indefinitely after a prop car reportedly struck the actor, and it is unclear when it will resume again.

The second film in the trilogy, "The Scorch Trails", was released last year, following the first movie in 2014.
It was the cries of children and the moment they decided they must save themselves that haunt the survivors of a shipwreck that claimed hundreds of lives.

Two Eritreans who arrived safely in Sicily told The Associated Press yesterday how the sea kept seeping into their rickety fishing boat despite all efforts to bail the water out. Eventually, the sea prevailed.

Between 400 and 550 on their smugglers' boat didn't make it, part of the estimated 700 migrants who perished in Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over three days last week in the deadliest known tally in over a year, as calm weather and sunny skies increased smuggling crossings from Libya.

"When the morning came, I saw how the children were crying and the women," Habtom Tekle, a 27-year-old Eritrean, told the AP through an interpreter. "At this point I only tried to pray. Everybody was trying to take the water out of boat."



The rickety wooden boat without an engine was being towed by another smugglers' boat laden with hundreds of other migrants, signaling the increasing desperation of the smugglers. Once the second boat started sinking Thursday, the commander on the first boat ordered the tow line cut, apparently to keep his boat from sinking as well, according to Italian police interviews of survivors.

The line, at full tension, whipped back, fatally slashing the neck of a female migrant, police said.

By then, Filmon Selomon, a 21-year-old Eritrean, had plunged into the sea. He told the Associated Press that knew he could only save himself.

"I started to cry when I saw the situation and when I found the ship without an engine. There were many women and children," he said. "Water was coming in from everywhere, top, bottom."



Tekle described people holding onto each other, some dragging others underwater, as the boat was sinking. "For me, it was very shocking," he said through an interpreter.

Police put the number below deck at 300 and said they all perished as the boat sank. Some 200 more plunged into the sea, but only 90 of those were saved, along with 500 from the first boat.
Microsoft chief on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers to discuss issues pertaining to the IT sector and enhancing partnership for initiatives like Digital India.

The India-born CEO, who is on his third visit to his home country since taking over as Microsoft head in February 2014, met Minister of Communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha as well as many industry leaders and developers in New Delhi.

"Discussed various issues pertaining to the IT sector with @Microsoft CEO @satyanadella @MicrosoftIndia," Modi tweeted after the meeting.

Details of the discussions were, however, not disclosed.

Nadella's visit comes close on the heels of Apple CEO Tim Cook's four-day tour of India. During his visit, Cook had met Modi as well as business leaders like ICICI MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry and Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal.

Both Nadella and Cook have offered support to various government's initiatives like Digital India and Startup India.

Earlier in the day, Nadella discussed with Prasad how Microsoft's contribution to the government's Digital India initiative can be enhanced.

"CEO @Microsoft @satyanadella met me today. Discussed enhancing cooperation with Microsoft towards @_DigitalIndia," the minister said in a tweet after the meeting.

According to sources, the meeting revolved around open source policy, engagement of Microsoft for linking Skype and Aadhaar and enhanced cooperation for cloud services in the government sector.

The Hyderabad-born Nadella also attended a meeting with industry executives organised by industry body CII.

The session was attended by leaders like Intel V-P Sales and Marketing and South Asia MD Debjani Ghosh, IL&FS Chairman Ravi Parthasarathy, Wipro President and COO Bhanumurthy BM and NIIT CEO Rahul Patwardhan.

Nadella had visited India, which is among one of the largest R&D bases for the company, in December last year. He had visited Mumbai and incubation centre T-Hub in Hyderabad.
Ankara will abandon a deal with the European Union (EU) to reduce migrant flows if its citizens are not granted visa-free travel to most of the bloc, Turkey's foreign minister has warned.

With the two sides locked in an increasingly-bitter standoff, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was "impossible" for Ankara to change anti-terror laws that Brussels wants to see narrowed in exchange for the visa-free travel to the Schengen zone.

"We have told them 'we are not threatening you' but there's a reality. We have signed two deals with you (the EU) and both are interlinked," Cavusoglu told a small group of journalists, including AFP, at the southern holiday resort of Antalya.

"This is not a threat but what is required from an agreement," he said.

Building on a threat by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week, Cavusoglu said Turkey would use "administrative" measures to block the deal if needed.

There have been growing concerns that Turkish nationals will not be given visa-free travel by the end of June, the target date, putting the future of the migrant deal at risk.

EU leaders are insisting that Turkey meet 72 conditions before the visa exemption is approved, including narrowing its definition of terror to stop prosecuting academics and journalists for "terror propaganda".

"Which definition are you talking about? Each country in Europe has different terror definitions," the minister said, pointing to stringent measures in France.

Cavusoglu said that Turkey was currently battling "more than one terrorist group", including the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party.

"In such a circumstance, it is impossible to change terror laws," he added.

Despite the increasingly-acrimonious picture, diplomatic efforts will be stepped up in the coming weeks to overcome the visa-hurdle, the minister said.

In the coming days, there will be expert-level talks between Turkey and the EU followed by a possible leaders summit involving Erdogan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials, the minister said.

"We'll finalise the deal and make it ready before the EU Council meeting on July 7-8. We have the determination," he said.
Security forces on Monday busted a hideout and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition in Chirala forest of Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district.

Troops of 26 Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operation Group (SOG) of J&K police launched a joint search operation in Sunarthwa forest near GostiBowl in Doda district and unearthed the hideout,an Army officer based in Thathri said.

"After a 36-hour operation, they busted a terrorist hideout from a natural cave and seized fourweapons and other arms and ammunition including one AK 56 rifle, two 9mm pistols, one country-made pistol, seven AK magazines, two 9 mm pistol magazines, one pika magazine, four UBGL grenades, five Pakistan-origin hand grenades and 1696 rounds of 7.62 mm AK 47," he said.

Following inputs about suspicious movement of personnel in the area for the last three months, army had strengthened vigil there, the army officer said.

Three columns (of 50 to 70 personnel each) of the army, six SOG personnel and a head constable were part of the team that carried out the operation, he said.

He said it was suspected the seized arms belonged to one of the terrorist outfits active in the area in the past. They were handed over to the Thathri police and an FIR was subsequently registered.
Mizoram government has suggested that the proposed repatriation of Brus from six relief camps in North Tripura district should begin from November after the monsoon is over, a senior home department official said today.

The official, however, said that the union home ministry would take the final call for the commencement of the repatriation process.

The effort to repatriate 3,500 Bru families during June to September in 2015 failed as not a single Bru came forward in their respective relief camps before the Mizoram officials, he said.

Though a number of Bru families earlier returned to Mizoram during repeated repatriation process, a sizable number of families are still staying in the neighbouring state.

Thousands of Bru families fled Mizoram and migrated to Tripura due to ethnic tension in 1997.
World number two Andy Murray and defending champion Stan Wawrinka reached the French Open quarter-finals as Richard Gasquet kept alive hopes of a first home triumph in 33 years by knocking out Japan's Kei Nishikori.

Murray made the last-eight for the sixth time with a 7-6 (11/9) 6-4 6-3 win over John Isner of the United States yesterday.

The 29-year-old, a three-time semi-finalist, will face Gasquet, the last French player standing, in the last-eight.

Murray has a 7-3 career lead over the 29-year-old Gasquet, including wins at Roland Garros in 2010 and 2012.

Gasquet outplayed fifth seed Nishikori 6-4 6-2 4-6 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

The ninth seed had trailed Nishikori 2-4 early in the first set, but after an hour-long rain delay, he won nine out of the next 10 games to turn the match on its head.

"I started badly, but everyone helped me and it was difficult for Nishikori to play against that," he said.

"He re-started badly (after the rain) and that gave me confidence to play my game and go for my shots."



The last French winner of the men's singles title at Roland Garros was Yannick Noah in 1983.

Murray will be playing in his 20th quarter-final at the last 21 majors after braving an Isner storm in the first set where he faced down three set points in the tie-breaker.

Isner was bidding to become the first American man in the last-eight in Paris since Andre Agassi in 2003.

- Rain delay -



==============



Having not allowed Murray a single break point, the 31-year-old squandered the three set points before the British star pounced to pocket the opener.

Rain forced the pair off Suzanne Lenglen court for an hour with Murray 2-1 ahead in the second set before Isner was broken for the first time in the 10th game.

Murray broke for 3-1 in the third while Isner clung on saving two more break points in the sixth game.

But the world number two wrapped up victory -- and his sixth win in six clashes with the big American -- with his ninth ace of the tie.

Isner was undone by Murray's superior returning which



contributed to his 57 unforced errors.

Murray said he had wanted the match halted earlier as the rain made conditions dangerous.

"I know it's difficult sometimes when the right time to stop is, but I think on clay courts that the players really need to be the ones that kind of decide that," he said.

"If they don't feel comfortable then you have to stop, because it's a surface if you get that wrong you can hurt yourself."



Wawrinka, the third seed, saw off Serbia's Viktor Troicki 7-6 (7/5) 6-7 (7/9) 6-3 6-2 for his 11th straight win in the year's second Grand Slam.

He will next face a Spanish left-hander who isn't named Rafael Nadal after unheralded Albert Ramos-Vinolas reached his first Grand Slam last-eight with a 6-2 6-4 6-4 defeat of Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic.

Yesterday was a fifth win in five meetings for Wawrinka over Serbia's Troicki whose challenge fizzled out following a right thigh injury at 4-1 down in the third set.

"It was far from easy with tough conditions -- heavy and cold, but I am happy to have come through it," 31-year-old Wawrinka said.

- Shock winner -



================



Ramos-Vinolas, 28, had never got beyond the second round of any major before this Roland Garros and had failed to win a match at the tournament since 2011.

But the world number 55, who is only his country's ninth best player, ensured a left-hander from Spain would be in the last-eight after the injury-enforced withdrawal of nine-time champion Nadal.

"I had lost four times in a row here so I am very happy," said the shock winner who had also won just four matches in his entire career at the majors before coming to Paris.

"I played a great match. I think the cloudy conditions helped me as they made the court slower."



He trails Wawrinka 6-0 in career meetings including last week in Geneva where he won just two games.

"Wawrinka is the titleholder. He's hugely powerful. Last week I played him, and he won very easily," said Ramos-Vinolas whose only other previous win over a top 10 player was against Roger Federer in Shanghai in 2015.
Nava Bharat Ventures today posted more than two-fold jump in standalone net profit at Rs 57.64 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 on the back of higher sales.

The company had posted a net profit after taxes, minority interest and share of profit of associates of Rs 24.39 crore in the year-ago period, Nava Bharat Ventures said in a filing to BSE.

Total income from operations of the company increased to Rs 302.20 in the quarter under review, from Rs 279.73 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2014-15, the company said.

For the year ended on March 31, 2016, its standalone net profit dropped to Rs 111.21 crore from Rs 142.46 crore in the previous fiscal.

Total income too declined to Rs 989.27 crore in 2015-16 from Rs 1,152.93 crore in the previous year.

In a separate filing, the company said its board has decided to deliberate on the issue of bonus shares to the shareholders, in a separate meeting to be convened later.

In another filing, the company said that VSN Raju, an associate member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, has been appointed as the Company Secretary of the company w.E.F. June 1, 2016, by the board, in the place of the existing company secretary, in view of his retirement on superannuation.

"VSN Raju has also been designated as the Chief Investor Relations and Compliance Officer of the Company," the filing said.

Nava Bharat Ventures is a diversified organisation with interests in power generation, ferro alloys, mining and agri-business.
Japan said today that it believed a new photo posted online of a Japanese journalist missing in Syria -- showing him for the first time since a video released earlier this year -- is authentic.

The photo, which received widespread coverage in Japanese media, shows freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda, who has been out of contact since June last year, wearing an orange shirt, his hair and beard grown long.

He is seen holding a piece of paper with a handwritten message in Japanese that says: "Please help. This is the last chance. Jumpei Yasuda."



It was not clear when or where the image was taken, but Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that the man is likely Yasuda.

"The government is now analysing the image," he said.

Footage of Yasuda was posted online in March. In the one-minute video, the bearded man wearing a black jumper with a scarf around his neck says in English: "Hello, I am Jumpei Yasuda. Today is my birthday, 16 March."



The footage was posted online by Tarik Abdul Hak, who told AFP it had been provided to him by a group called al-Noor, which he said "has been mandated by (the al-Qaeda-linked) al-Nusra to carry out a mediation for his release".

Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported that the same person posted the new photo online.

Militants from the self-styled Islamic State group last year beheaded Japanese war correspondent Kenji Goto and his friend Haruna Yukawa.

The government in Tokyo was criticised for what detractors saw as a flat-footed response to the crisis at the time, including apparently missed opportunities to free both men.

Earlier this month, three Spanish journalists, who had been held hostage in Syria by an Al Qaeda-linked group, were released.

They shared part of their time in captivity with Yasuda, according to Spain's Europa Press agency.
Moninder Singh Pandher and Surendra Koli, the co-accused in infamous Nithari serial killings, today appeared in a CBI court here.

While Koli was brought from Dasna Prison for the hearing amidst tight security, Pandher also appeared in the court, CBI's Prosecuting Officer J P Singh said.

Koli had earlier filed a petition demanding all available documents related the case on which Singh objected.

The next hearing in the case will be on June 3.

The serial killings came to the light in December 2006 after discovery of human remains from a drain behind Pandher's house in Nithari in Noida on the outskirts of Delhi.

Both Pandher and his domestic help Koli were arrested.

Koli's mercy petition has also been turned down by the President.
Deep, cold ocean currents from the North Atlantic blunt the effect of global warming on Antarctica and slow the rise of sea levels, according to a study published today.

This icy insulation of the snowy continent -- covered by a sheath of ice up to four kilometres (2.5 miles) thick -- could last for centuries, the research published in Nature Geoscience said.

That's good to hundreds of millions of people in low-lying regions who are threatened by seas set to rise up to a metre by the end of the century, according to the latest report by the UN climate science panel.

Newer studies suggest the ocean waterline could go up even more, pushed by surface water that expands as it warms, along with runoff from glaciers and two huge ice sheets.

One of those ice sheets sits atop Greenland. The other is on West Antarctica, a sliver of the larger continent that is warming faster than the rest.

If East Antarctica were melting at the same rate, the impact on human settlements along coastlines worldwide would be truly catastrophic.

Scientists have long known that climate change has affected Antarctica's Southern Ocean far more slowly over the last half-century than oceans elsewhere.

They also know why: the sheer vastness of the continent's ice sheet and the reflective sea ice that surrounds it, along with the winds and ocean currents that circle the continent like a buffer zone.
The Odisha government will soon float tender for procuring medicines worth Rs 239 crore for distribution among poor patients during the 2016-17 fiscal, officials said.

Stating that e-tender process for the purpose has already started, Managing Director of Odisha State Medical Corporation (OSMC) Parameswar B today said the corporation would have a pre-bidding meeting with all suppliers and interested bidders on June 4.

Parameswar said the purpose of the meeting was to maximise participation in the coming year. From June 7, interested parties would be able to participate in the online bidding process.

The online bidding document has already been uploaded on the OSMC website, he said adding the bidding documents would be available from June 7 to July 4.

Any manufacturer having two years of experience in manufacturing of any particular drug is eligible to participate in the tender as per guidelines, he said.

"The tender will be for supply of 426 types of medicines of which most are to be supplied to the district headquarters hospitals, community health centres and primary health centres," he said.

Parameswar also said specialised institutions like Sishu Bhawan, mental health institutions and cancer institutions would be provided with special drugs.
Patients undergoing breast cancer surgery need less painkilling medication post-surgery if they have anaesthesia that is free of opioid drugs, researchers have found.

While opioid drugs provide an excellent painkilling effect throughout operations, they also have side-effects, researchers said.

Post-operative complications, such as respiratory depression, post-operative nausea and vomiting, itching, difficulty going to the toilet and bowel obstruction are well known examples of such side-effects, they said.

"Our results show that patients in the non-opiate group require less painkillers, but receive adequate pain relief. Patients require less analgesics 24 hours after a non-opiate anaesthesia than after an opiate anaesthesia," said Sarah Saxena from Jules Bordet Institute in Belgium.

For the study which took place between 2014 and 2015, researchers examined painkiller requirements after patients received opiate anaesthesia and non-opiate anaesthesia.

A randomised controlled trial was conducted, containing two groups each with 33 breast cancer patients undergoing a mastectomy or lumpectomy.

Perioperative non-opiate analgesia was obtained by combining clonidine, ketamine and lidocaine, researchers said.

An extra bolus of ketamine was given if necessary. Opiate analgesia was obtained via a combination of remifentanil infusion, ketamine and lidocaine, they said.

Both groups received intravenous paracetamol and intravenous diclofenac. Patients received a PCA (patient-controlled analgesia) pump for breakthrough pain during the first 24 hours post-operatively.

Clinical characteristics and post-operative piritramide painkiller consumption through the patient controlled pump were assessed during the first 24 hours post-operatively.

The total mean piritramide usage 24 hours post-operatively was 8.1 milligrammes (range 2.0-14.5) in the non-opiate group and 13.1 milligrammes (range 6.0-16.0) in the opioid group. The difference observed was statistically significant, researchers said.
The ruling Trinanmool Congress, which has been facing criticism from opposition parties over post-poll violence in West Bengal, today hit back at them, alleging they were "instigating" such incidents in the state.

"An absolutely peaceful situation obtained. The law-and-order situation is absolutely fine. It is our party workers and cadres who are being attacked since the poll process started. It is the Opposition which is trying to instigate violence in the state," TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee alleged.

On Calcutta University vice-chancellor Sugata Marjit's unwillingness to continue in his post, Chatterjee, who is also the Higher Education minister, said if he was really keen on not continuing, a replacement would be found.

"We wanted him to continue. But if it is not possible then we will find a replacement. We were busy with polls, so things didn't move ahead. But the post will not remain vacant," he said.

Chatterjee said his priority will be to carry forward the development work in the education sector.
Despite being here for nearly one-and-a-half years, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said he has not "settled" in the national capital as he can never be a "Delhi politician".

However, Parrikar, who assumed charge in November 2014 from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who till then also held the defence portfolio, said he was "well settled" in the Defence Ministry.

He said though he is an "outsider" in Delhi's political circles, his comments about not being settled in Delhi should not be mixed with constant rumours of his going back to Goa, his home state.

Parrikar's remarks come at a time when the state is getting ready for elections next year. It is expected that Parrikar, the tallest BJP leader in Goa, will play a critical role in the party's campaign there.

"I am busy with my department. I am settled in the Ministry. But if you ask me, whether I am settled in Delhi. No. I don't think I will ever get settled in Delhi," he told PTI here.

Parrikar said one cannot pull out a 50 year-old tree and replant it somewhere else.

"At the age of 25-30 you can get in those social circles. With my coming here at 59 and, secondly, in Ministry which by nature is a closed Ministry, it becomes almost impossible for you to really get into social circles. I am busy with my work, I don't get enough time to complete my work," he said.

Asked to elaborate, the Minister said never settling in Delhi means "politically, I will not become a part of Delhi".

But I am settled in Defence Ministry and that is adequate for my job, he said, adding his focus is on getting the job done.

Parrikar, a three-time Goa CM under whom BJP swept the Goa Assembly elections in 2012, was asked to join the Narendra Modi Cabinet in November 2014. He was then elected to Rajya Sabha from Lucknow.
Over 71.48 per cent voter turnout was registered in the bypoll for Ghodadongri (ST) Assembly seat in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh today, where the BJP and Congress are locked in a straight fight.

"Over 71.48 per cent voters, including 73.98 per cent men and 68.97 per cent women, exercised their franchise in the Ghodadongri (ST) bypoll. Polling ended at 5 PM and by and large it was peaceful," an election officer said.

The final percentage of polling will be known later in evening, he said.

Villagers of Jamitha had initially boycotted the bypoll on the issue of development, especially alleged non-construction of road, but later took part in the election.

Six companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) were deployed for conducting the election and for guarding the EVMs. Besides, Home Guard and Forest Guards have also been deputed on poll duty, the official added



A total of seven candidates are in the fray. BJP has fielded Mangal Singh Dhurve, while Congress is banking on former minister Pratap Singh Uikey.

The by-election was necessitated following the demise of sitting BJP MLA, Sajjan Singh Uikey.

The constituency has 2,19,404 voters including 1,12,313 men, 1,07,083 women and eight third genders.

Counting of votes will take place on June 2.
Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is ready to examine the CAG report on the AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter deal, its Chairman KV Thomas said on Monday.

"The PAC is ready to examine all issues, including acquisition of helicopters for VVIPs," Thomas told PTI.

He said the PAC, when it was headed by his predecessor and senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, had examined the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in 2013 on the deal but "he could not find anything illegal" in it.

"If there is something more, we are ready to examine. We are not running away from responsibility," the senior Congress leader said over phone after chairing a meeting of the officials in the PAC.

He said over 173 items based on various reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), pertaining to several ministries and departments, have been proposed by the members for the panel's examination in the year 2016-17.

In the first meeting of the newly-constituted PAC, a strong demand was made by members of BJP to take up the CAG report on the VVIP chopper deal.

Signalling a political tug of war ahead, the first meeting of PAC on May 18 had seen a strong demand from BJP members to take up the AgustaWestland issue while a Congress member had asked the parliamentary audit panel to examine the implementation of the prime minister's pet Make in India scheme.

In the meeting that was called to decide on subjects to be taken up during its one year-tenure, Vijay Goel (BJP) had said the PAC should take up the 2013 CAG report on "irregularities" in the VVIP chopper deal.

On the AgustaWestland issue, CAG had submitted a report in August 2013, concluding that the process from framing of quality requirements to the conclusion of the contract of the VVIP choppers, differed from established procurement procedures.

The report came before PAC of that time, which was then headed by BJPs Murli Manohar Joshi, but it did not take up the issue.

The argument of Congress members was that PAC Chairman could have taken up the issue then had there been anything substantial to pin-point bribing of any politician.
A top Pakistani court today issued notices to the seven Mumbai attack case accused, including 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, and the government over the prosecution'splea to form a commission to examine the boat used by the 10 LeT terrorists to reach India.

"The Islamabad High Court has issued notices to the accused ofMumbai attack case and the government on the prosecution's plea to form a commission to examine the boat at port city of Karachi," a court official told said.

He said the court has also sought record of the case from the trial court -- Anti-Terrorism Court Islamabad.

The official said the date for hearing of the case will be fixed later.

The prosecution had challenged thetrial court's decision to reject its plea to form a commission to examine the boat 'Al-Fauz' used by Mumbai attack terrorists so that the vessel could be made "case property".

Al-Fauz is in the custody of the Pakistani authorities in Karachi, from where the 10 militants, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, had left for India to carry out the Mumbai attack in 2008.

According to the Federal Investigation Agency, the attackers used three boats including Al Fauz to reach Mumbai from Karachi.

It said the security agencies had also traced the shop and its owner from where the culprits bought the engine and the boat while a bank and a money exchange company were also traced which were used for the transaction of money.

The 10 LeT militants had left Karachi on the boat on November 23, 2008.

En route to their destination, they hijacked another boat, killing four of its crew. They allegedly forced the vessel's captain to take them close to the Indian shores.

The captain was killed when the vessel reached Mumbai's coast.

The Mumbai attack case is facing inordinate delay as no proceedings practically have been held for more than two months. The Mumbai case hearing is scheduled to be held once a week.

The lawyers associated with the case say as all Pakistani witnesses in the case have recorded their statementsitmay further be delayed if India does not send 24 witnesses to Pakistan.

They say Pakistan is awaiting India's response on sending the witnesses here for recording the statements in the case.

Mumbai attack mastermind Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz,Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum are accused of abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attack.

Lakhvi is living at an undisclosed location after he got released from jail on bail a year ago. The other six suspects are in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi.

The case has been going on in the country for more than six years.
UK-based economist Lord Bhikhu Parekh today urged Gujarat Governor O P Kohli not to give consent to the State Higher Education Council Bill 2016 in its present form, as it will give "sweeping powers to the state government and curtail the authority of vice-chancellors".

The Gujarat State Higher Education Council Bill, 2016 is set to bring all the universities of the state under the ambit of a Higher Education Council, to be chaired by the Chief Minister. The Bill has been passed by the state Assembly recently and is pending before the Governor for his approval.

"I am against the Bill in its present form. As per the provisions of the Bill, the composition of the (higher education) committee includes Chief Minister as president, Education Minister as vice president and minister of state for education as co-vice president and 12 other ministers (total 15 ministers)," Parekh told PTI.

The council will also have five vice-chancellors of state universities.

"However, Chancellor of the state-controlled universities selected by the government and even Vice Chancellors of all the universities of Gujarat state, are not allowed to choose their own nominees on this council," Parekh pointed out.

"If it is cleared by the Governor, it will give sweeping powers to the state government and curtail the authority of vice-chancellors," the Padma Bhushan awardee alleged.

Parekh said, the Bill fails to reflect the views of former Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's view, which he had expressed during a conference on VCs held in Gandhinagar in 2014, where he (Parekh) was the chief guest.
As India and France look at closing the multi-billion Euro deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets soon, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will meet his French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian in Singapore this week.

Parrikar will be travelling to Singapore on June 2 to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue from June 3-5.

"Both Indian and French Defence Ministers will meet on June 3. Rafale among others will be discussed," a defence source said.

The issues like consensus on actions to be taken in case of a material breach, stringent liability clause and guarantee by French side are likely to be discussed.

Parrikar had last week said the government is looking at concluding the much-hyped Rafale deal next month, more than a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the purchase of 36 fighter jets during his visit to France.

The deal was announced by Modi in April last year during his visit to France when he said India would purchase 36 Rafales in a government-to-government contract.

Soon after the announcement, the Defence Ministry scrapped a separate process that was on to purchase 126 Rafales, built by French defence giant Dassault Aviation.

It is expected that the deal would work out to be about 7.8 Billion Euros including the missiles and other support system.

The Shangri-La Dialogue is an inter-governmental security forum held annually by an independent think-tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and is attended by defence ministers and military chiefs of 28 Asia-Pacific countries.

Last year, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter had attended the dialogue along with German and the French Defence Ministers among others.

Subjects to be debated in this year's dialogue include how to meet Asia's complex security challenges, how to manage military competition in Asia and how to make defence policy in uncertain times.
Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband,has pulled out of the commemorations for the Battle of Jutland fought between Britain and Germany after receiving "medical advice".

Prince Philip, 94, is said not to have attended hospital and has no plans to cancel any other forthcoming engagements.

In a statement, a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "Following doctor's advice, the Duke of Edinburgh has reluctantly decided not to attend the commemorations marking the Battle of Jutland tomorrow in Kirkwall and Hoy.

"The Princess Royal, who was already attending the events, will represent the Royal Family."



Descendants of those who fought at Jutland have been invited to join the commemorations, which include a service at St Magnus Cathedral on Kirkwall in Scotland tomorrow.

Events will continue with a service at Lyness Cemetery on the island of Hoy - the final resting place for more than 450 service personnel who died in the war, including sailors killed at Jutland.

The cemetery stands close to Scapa Flow, from where the British Grand Fleet set out for the Jutland Bank to repel German forces attempting to break a British blockade.

Almost 250 ships took part, creating a scale of battle that has not been seen since.

Both nations claimed victory - Germany because of the 6,094 British losses compared to the 2,551 men it sacrificed, but Britain had seriously weakened the enemy's naval capability.

There will also be a remembrance service at sea where British and German naval representatives will scatter poppies and forget-me-nots - the German flower of remembrance - into the North Sea at Jutland Bank.

The Princess Royal will be accompanied by Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence as vice-chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Intense fighting between Philippine troops and a little-known Muslim group apparently inspired by the Islamic State group has killed 54 militants and two soldiers, officials said today.

Regional military spokesman Maj Filemon Tan said the operations against the Maute group began last Thursday in southern Lanao del Sur province's Butig town and were still continuing. He said nine soldiers had been wounded in addition to the two who were killed.

The military fired artillery and launched air strikes "to get the criminals" behind the beheading last month of two sawmill workers, Tan said. He said the workers were forced to wear orange robes while being beheaded, like victims of the Islamic State group. Four other sawmill workers were freed after their employers negotiated with the captors.

Troops have not retrieved the militants' bodies, but based the count on intelligence reports and on sightings of bodies being carried away by other militants, Tan added.

In February, the group attacked an army outpost in Butig, sparking days of fighting that killed 24 militants and six soldiers, one of whom was beheaded.

Authorities said the group has used black clothing with the symbol of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

Several small militant factions in the southern Philippines, the home of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic country, have expressed support for the Islamic State group in online videos, but the military says there is no evidence of any direct, active collaboration.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on an official visit to Switzerland and Mexico next week, the External Affairs Ministry announced today.

These visits would be part of Modi's five-nation trip beginning June 4 which will also cover Afghanistan, Qatar and the US. MEA has already formally announced Prime Minister's visit to Qatar and the US.

Modi will visit Switzerland on June 5-6, MEA said, adding with growing bilateral trade and foreign investment, India and Switzerland enjoy strong economic ties.

"During the stay, Modi and Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann will hold discussions on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest," MEA said.

The Prime Minister will also be travelling to Mexico on a brief working visit on June 8 at the invitation of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Asserting that bilateral relations between India and Mexico have witnessed renewed vigour and activity in the last two years, the MEA said the main objective of Modi's visit would be to carry forward the momentum in the bilateral relations and discuss cooperation in areas such as space, energy, agriculture and science and technology among others.

The two leaders will also be discussing various multilateral issues during the visit, it added.
The Prime Minister's package of Rs 80,000 crore for Jammu and Kashmir will be executed over a period of five years in a phased manner, with annual disbursement depending on the spending capability of the state government and implementing agencies.

This was stated today by Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu in the state Assembly where he said an amount of Rs 1197 crore has already been received from the Centre specifically for relief and rehabilitation of victims of the 2014 floods.

"The size of the PMDP (PM's Development Package) which is an aggregate of sectoral initiatives, is Rs.80,000 crore. It is fully funded and expected to be executed over the next five years," he said.

"The annual phasing of the plan will be based on the absorptive capacity and spending capability of the State Government and its implementing agencies," Drabu said in his budget speech in the Legislative Assembly here.

He said the capital expenditure, which forms a large part of the Prime Minister's economic rehabilitation plan, has been designed as a critical link between relief and development.

"Underlying the plan is an intermediate strategy of institutional reform and reinforcement, of reconstruction and improvement of infrastructure and services initiating and supporting sustainable development," he said.

The Finance Minister said even though the PMDP has been formulated in the aftermath of the devastating flood of September 2014 in the state, disasters have not been looked upon as singular events unrelated to development processes in this plan.

"The PMDP is based on the understanding that relief, rehabilitation and development do not chronologically succeed each other but have to be simultaneous and are strongly interlinked," he added.

He said under the PMDP, an amount of Rs 1197 crore has been received for providing of assistance in respect of completely/severely and partially damaged houses.

The release of funds has been provided to individual beneficiaries under the Direct Benefit Transfer mode through District Development Commissioners concerned, he said adding an amount of Rs 957 crore has been disbursed till date.

The financial assistance to certain category of uninsured and small traders affected by the floods, who had not received any assistance either from banks or other financial institutions, was provided assistance through the Chief Minister s Flood Relief Fund.

"A total amount of Rs 101.89 crore has been distributed till date among around 40,000 small traders whose turnover is up to Rs 5.00 lac," he said.

Drabu said the PMDP also included an amount of Rs 800 crore for extending interest subvention support to the trading and manufacturing units whose borrowal accounts have been restructured by banks after the September, 2014 floods.

"These funds stand transferred by the Central Government," he said.

"The interest subvention support will be provided through banks/financial institutions to the affected units very soon, The interest subvention scheme has been approved by the cabinet," he added.
Delhi Police today organised a number of sensitisation programmes in south Delhi areas of the city, following instruction from Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to ensure safety and security of African people living in the national capital.

The programmes held at Rajpur Khurd, Maidan Garhi and other urban villages in and around Mehrauli and Chhatarpur, were led by DCP and Additional DCP-rank officers in the district under the supervision of Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma, a senior police official said.

A meeting was organised in this regard on Friday at Rajpur Khurd, a day after four separate incidents of assault took place on people from African countries like Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa and Cameroon, living in the area, leaving at least six persons injured, according to senior police officials.

Police had said the incidents were triggered by arguments between the local residents and the African persons, with the former objecting to loud music and drinking in public. The African nationals, however, said they were racially abused.

On Saturday and Sunday, several meetings were conducted with Africans and locals in Rajpur Khurd and Maidan Garhi.

Addressing one such gathering, DCP (South) Ishwar Singh said, "They (African nationals) have come to our country, they are our guests and friends. They have come here just because they trust us."



"The way you behave with them will have repercussions on our brothers living outside. An example is the way Indians were attacked after the murder of a Congolese youth," he said.

Union Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh, along with police chief Alok Kumar Verma, also took one such meeting, at Chhatarpur Extension.

The meetings and programmes, attended by both locals and African nationals, are being organised by ACPs in the sub-divisions, under the supervision of their seniors.

Earlier today, a cab driver was beaten up allegedly by a group of Africans in the same locality.

All these incidents took place close on the heels of the murder of a 23-year-old Congolese man around 11 days ago. African envoys had expressed outrage over the incident, following which India assured them safety and security for all African nationals.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has directed the department of telecom to look into the call drop masking technology being used by mobile service providers.

I have taken up this issue seriously. I have directed that the department (DoT), along with Trai (the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), should take up this issue seriously, Prasad said when asked about the matter.

The call usually gets automatically disconnected in case of the user moving to a poor network area, making it a dropped call under the current regulatory framework.

According to sources, the new technology ensures the call remains artificially connected until the caller or receiver decides to terminate it and the user is billed for the entire duration despite not being able to talk for full or part of the call duration.

Telecom operators are using Radio-Link Technology (RLT), which is helping them mask call drops, while the consumer is being billed for the time he is on the call, although it can be said to be artificially connected to a network, the sources said.

In such cases, the customer often disconnects the call himself, which is not counted in call drops. If the call in such a case is disconnected, the companies continue to charge customers.

Prasad said that while his department is looking into the issue, the industry has installed about 100,000 mobile sites in the past eight-10 months to improve service quality.

I am minister for development of telecom and also for telecom consumers. Telecom operators have done good work by expanding services in the country and it is their job to ensure quality of service is good, Prasad said.

The Supreme Court recently quashed a rule of Trai which mandated telecom operators to compensate consumers Rs 1 for each call drop with upper limit at Rs 3 per day.

Telecom regulator Trai Chairman R S Sharma has said current norms are "inefficient" to provide any relief to consumers and it will finalise in two weeks its "position" in the wake of Supreme Court quashing a penalty provision.

Asked about steps taken by the government to empower consumers, Prasad said: "I think you are talking about the Supreme Court judgement. Trai is considering it. If Trai comes to us with some kind of suggestions on further empowerment of consumers, we will consider it."



At present, disputes between consumers and telecom operators are not taken up by consumer courts as a Supreme Court judgement of 2009 had barred seeking any such relief under the Consumer Protection Act, saying a special remedy is provided under the Indian Telegraph Act.

The National Telecom Policy 2012 envisages "to undertake legislative measures to bring disputes between telecom consumers and service providers within the jurisdiction of consumer forums established under the Consumer Protection Act".

However, it is yet to be executed by the government.

Considering that the prevailing structure is not adequate or fully responsive to deal with consumer complaints in the telecom sector, Trai had recommended establishment of an Ombudsman in 2004 which has not fructified till date.

Prasad said that Sanchar Bhawan, which houses the telecom ministry, was a fit "text book case" of policy paralysis earlier and the new government has worked to clear pending policies for development of the sector, including spectrum sharing and trading, full mobile number portability, sharing of active and passive infrastructure, virtual network operators and the like.

"There are eight policy steps that I have taken. Virtual Network Operator is a big changer," Prasad said.

He said the government is going to soon auction 2,100 MHz spectrum which will further help telecom operators in improving service quality.
The Supreme Court today declined to quash anticipatory bail of actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh, accused of abetting the suicide of 24-year-old TV actress Pratyusha Banerjee, saying the last conversation between the two shows they were "intensely in love with each other".

A vacation bench of justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy refused to entertain the petition of Pratyusha's mother Soma Bannerjee saying there was no strong and compelling ground to cancel the anticipatory bail granted to Singh.

"The last conversation between the two shows that they were intensely in love with each other. Without any strong and compelling grounds, anticipatory bail cannot be cancelled. If the probe agency finds during investigation that it is a case of section 302 (murder) of IPC and accused needs to be taken into custody, it can move to High Court," the bench said.

The court said that there was no suicide note also to attribute any role to the accused.

Counsel for Pratyusha's mother said that custodial interrogation of Singh is required, as there are discrepancies in the investigation and he may tamper with evidence.

The bench, however, dismissed the petition as withdrawn.

Earlier, this month, the mother of the TV actress, who was found dead at her residence in Mumbai in mysterious circumstances, had moved the apex court seeking to cancel anticipatory bail granted by the Bombay High Court to Singh.

In her plea, she had said that Singh should be taken into custody as the investigation is still on in the case and there is likelihood that evidence could be tampered by him.

It was contended that there were several deep injury marks on the body of the deceased and panchnama had several discrepancies.

The High Court had on April 25 granted anticipatory bail to Singh who has denied the allegations levelled against him.

The police had earlier filed a report before the High Court in which it had alleged that Singh, who was staying with Pratyusha at a flat in Goregaon in Mumbai, used to assault her and borrow money from her.

The 'Balika Badhu' fame actress was found hanging at her residence in Goregaon on April 1 and was rushed to a hospital by Singh in Andheri where she was declared dead.
President Pranab Mukherjee today expressed concern over a string of alleged attacks on Africans in the country, saying it would be most unfortunate if the people of India were to "dilute our long tradition of friendship with the people of Africa".

Addressing the delegates of 7th Annual Heads of Mission Conference who called on him, the President said,"It would be most unfortunate if the people of India were to dilute our long tradition of friendship with the people of Africa and the welcome we have always extended to them in our country. African students in India shold have no reason to fear for their safety and security."



He said no impression which is not in line with our ethos or core values of our ancient civilization should be created.

"We shall have to create appropriate awareness in the minds of our youngsters who may not know the history, age old relations (between India and Africa)...India has had trading relations with African countries for centuries and everyone of the 54 countries of Africa has a thriving Indian community doing business, industry etc.

"We cannot allow these to be jeopardised in anyway and create a bad precedent which is not the ethos, which is not part of the core values of our civilisation," a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement quoted Mukherjee as having told the delegation.

The President said he was happy that Ministry of External Affairs in consultation with Ministry of Home Affairs is proactively following up on the few isolated incidents that have occurred and working closely with authorities to ensure the safety of African students in India.

Mukherjee said the bonds between the people of India and the people of Africa have been forged since time immemorial.

"As a political activist, as a member of parliament, I have noticed how close we (India and Africa) are with each other. Almost a century ago Rabindranath Tagore wrote a beautiful poem titled Africa expressing his anguish, pathos, sense of pain on apartheid," he said.

Mukherjee said leaders like Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt



and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana stood shoulder to shoulder with Jawaharlal Nehru at the Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung in 1955 and in founding the Non-aligned Movement in 1961.

"Nelson Mandela was an embodiment of Gandhian principles. India led the long international struggle for the end of colonialism and apartheid in Africa," the President said.

The President said in 1946 Government of India decided to stop any trade relationship with South Africa till apartheid was not lifted.

"At that time decision was a bold decision because South Africa accounted for five per cent of total international trade with India," he said.

Mukherjee said it was only in 1994, after the end of apartheid, that he as Commerce Minister restored normal trade relations with that country.

"Whole of India stood in support of African leaders like Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere and Kenneth Kaunda during this freedom struggle," he said.

Earlier, the President termed terrorism as a menace which needs to be collectively tackled by the world community with determination.

"There is no good terrorist or bad terrorist. Comprehensive cooperation by all countries of the world is essential to tackle this global menace," he said.

He called upon the Heads of Mission to do their best to expand contacts between higher education institutions of India and foreign countries.
A 29-year-old Rapid Action Force (RAF) constable today died of heart attack during morning drill here.

Abdul Feroz complained of chest pain and swooned during the drill.

His colleagues immediately rushed him to the government hospital here where he was declared brought dead.

Doctors said he died of heart attack.

Feroz had joined duty here two days ago, after getting transferred from Hyderabad.
Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh has convened a coordination meeting of vice chancellors of all government universities on June 28.

"During the meeting, the governor will review implementation of decisions taken in the last meeting, that included change in the dress code for convocation programmes among others," a release said.

Reports of committees set up on various issues will also be taken up in the meeting.

The VCs will apprise the Governor of the progress made on various directions given by him.
Meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time after weathering a month-long political crisis in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Harish Rawat today said the former has a "friendly attitude" towards all CMs, including him, and hoped it remains the same in future.

Terming the 30-minute meeting as "good", Rawat said he explained about the developmental requirements of Uttarkhand to the Prime Minister.

"There are certain issues we have with the central government, with various ministries. Various proposals are pending there. Some of the sanctioned projects, which need monetary support from the central government and which are on certain funding pattern, they get money from the central ministries. I have taken up that issue.

"There are certain flagship programmes also, which our state government is implementing with great enthusiasm. I explained to him how are we doing there. The PM expressed satisfaction," he said.

Rawat won trust vote in the state Assembly on May 10, six weeks after the Centre dismissed his government and imposed President's rule after nine Congress MLAs did not vote with the Rawat government on the Appropriation Bill.

Uttarakhand was brought under President's rule on March 27 by the Centre on grounds of "breakdown of governance" in a controversial decision in the wake of a political crisis triggered by a rebellion in the ruling Congress.

When asked what did he discuss in his first meeting with the Prime Minister, Rawat said, "We discussed development."



"He (Modi) has always a very friendly relationship with all Chief Ministers. He has had a friendly attitude towards me also and I hope it will remain in future as well. I need his friendship for Uttarakhand besides for me," Rawat said.

The Chief Minister had sought an appointment with the Prime Minister soon after his government was restored.

A day after winning the trust vote, Rawat had said he expects better cooperation from the Centre and would soon meet the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani today launched restoration work at Kabul's historic Darul Aman Palace, whose bombed out ruins have long symbolised the suffering caused by decades of conflict.

The once-grand hilltop palace at the edge of Kabul was also the venue of Ghani's cabinet meeting on Monday, the first such official gathering there in nearly a century.

The building's lion-headed buttresses are broken, its colonnades pockmarked by bullets, the metal sheets of its roof crumpled.

Up to USD 20 million will be spent on restoring the former glory of the palace, built by Afghan King Amanullah Khan in the 1920s, Ghani's office said, calling the project a symbol of national pride.

"Today we are returning to our past... To set the foundation for our future," Ghani said at the inauguration of the project.

"We are determined to reconstruct the historical structure from the budget of the Afghan government."



The palace fell victim to the carnage of the early 1990s as rival mujahideen groups fought for power following the fall of a Soviet-backed regime after Moscow withdrew its troops from Afghanistan.

Despite Ghani's rhetoric, some in Kabul were against the restoration, however -- albeit for different reasons.

"I think it is a waste of money," Daud Hotak, a Kabul shopkeeper, told AFP.

"It comes at a time when the economy is in free fall and security is deteriorating. That money could have been spent to create jobs as thousands of people flee the country."



Omaid Sharifi, a civil society activist, also pleaded against the restoration, though from a different perspective.

"President @ashrafghani keep #DarulamanPalace like this, let's remind our younger generation (of) the brutality of war," he said on Twitter.
Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju tonight spoke to Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma and directed him to take prompt action against those involved in attacks on African nationals saying India's image cannot be allowed to be tarnished by such incidents.

"Spoke to CP for prompt action & sensitising locals also. (We) can't allow to tarnish India's image," he tweeted.

Rijiju's action came hours after he said that strictest possible action if such assaults were found to have a racial angle.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday had asked Delhi Police Commissioner to take strict action against those involved in recent attacks against African nationals.

There has been a series of attacks on African nationals in the last few days, including killing of a Congolese youth in the national capital. A 23-year-old Nigerian student was also assaulted in Hyderabad.

Five people have been arrested in connection with the attacks on African nationals here.
Locked in a face-off with key ally PDF and a section of his Congress party over nomination for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Harish Rawat today indicated the row has been resolved and asserted there will be only one nominee from Congress and PDF which together run the state government.

Asked whether the political storm over the Rajya Sabha nomination was over, Rawat, who met the party high command here, said, "It was never there. We are very disciplined soldiers. We always abide by the decision of the high command. But there may be certain issues, which we take up with the high command or people who matter."



Upset over "not being taken into confidence" by the Congress, ally PDF with six members in Assembly named state minister Dinesh Dhanai as its candidate for election to the Upper House after Congress decided to field former Almora MP Pradeep Tamta.

Besides, a senior Congress minister in the state, Yashpal Arya who had raised a banner revolt during the recent political crisis in Uttarakhand, has reportedly threatened to resign from the Cabinet and the party if the decision to nominate Tamta was not revoked.

Rawat, who was here to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also had a separate meeting with Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, to defuse the situation.

Downplaying a contention that ally PDF, which rescued is government during the recent floor test, is angry over announcement of Tamta's name and Congress not considering the PDF demand for a Rajya Sabha seat, the Chief Minister said, "There is no question of anger. Congress and PDF are one. The government that is there is of both of us. We call it Congress -PDF government."



"They have supported us and their support remains. They wanted that PDF candidate should get support this time. If for some reasons, it does not happen even then we have full faith that they will support our joint candidate," he said.

Rawat insisted that there will be one candidate of Congress and PDF. "There will be only one candidate. That much I can say," he said replying to questions.

Replying to a question on whether there could be reconsideration on Tamta's name, Rawat put the ball in the court of the high command, saying it is for the AICC President to decide on that issue.

"I cannot say anything on it," he said when asked if there is any such possibility.
South Korea's defence ministry said today it had detected signs that North Korea was preparing a ballistic missile launch, as Japan reportedly put its military on intercept alert.

UN resolutions ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology, although it regularly fires short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast.

Tensions have been running high on the divided Korean peninsula since the North's fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a long-range rocket launch the following month.

And in recent weeks Pyongyang has voiced anger at Seoul's refusal to accept repeated offers of military talks to de-escalate the situation.

"We are tracking signs that North Korea is preparing a ballistic missile test and are maintaining combat readiness," a defence ministry official told AFP.

The official did not specify the missile type, but the fact that signs of a launch had been detected would point to a medium-range missile or larger.

In April the North tried and failed three times to test-fire a powerful new mid-range missile known as a Musudan.

In Tokyo, public broadcaster NHK said the Japanese government had put its military on alert for a possible launch, with orders to intercept any missile that threatened Japanese territory.

Under the order, the Self-Defence Forces will deploy Aegis destroyers equipped with missile interceptors offshore and PAC-3 surface-to-air anti-ballistic missiles, NHK said.

A Japanese defence ministry spokeswoman declined to confirm the reports.

The Musudan is believed to have a range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres (1,550 to 2,500 miles). The lower range covers the whole of South Korea and Japan, while the upper range would include US military bases on Guam.

The missile has never been successfully flight-tested.

The three failures in April were seen as an embarrassment for the leadership, coming ahead of a party congress which was meant to celebrate the country's achievements.

During the congress, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un personally extended the offer of military dialogue with the South.

The proposal was repeated several times by the North's military, but Seoul dismissed all the overtures as insincere "posturing" given Kim's vow at the same congress to push ahead with the country's nuclear weapons programme.
Congress today asked Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao to sack Revenue Minister Eknath Khadse in view of the recent controversies surrounding the senior BJP leader.

Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam said the party delegation which met Rao at Raj Bhavan drew his attention to issues like records showing calls from gangster Dawood Ibrahim's Karachi residence to Khadse's mobile, his alleged misuse of power to buy a piece of land owned by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation near Pune, and the arrest of his alleged PA Gajanan Patil in a bribery case.

Khadse has denied the allegations in all the three matters.

"We also sought the Governor's intervention in dissolving the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai as it has become a hotbed of corruption during the last 20 years' rule of Shiv Sena and BJP," Nirupam said.

Meanwhile, Khadse attended a party meeting at the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's official residence 'Varsha' in south Mumbai today.

"The meeting was in connection with the Rajya Sabha elections," Khadse said.

State BJP spokesperson Madhav Bhandari told reporters here this evening that allegations against Khadse regarding the MIDC plot were "totally baseless".

"The statement made by the industries minister Subhash Desai (of Shiv Sena) on this issue is based on incomplete information. MIDC did not acquire this land," Bhandari said.

Desai had said the land purchased by Khadse's family near Pune belonged to the MIDC (and hence it could not be sold).
NCP today sought dismissal of the state women's commission chief Vijaya Rahatkar, claiming she was "misusing" her post.

"Rahatkar, who is also chief of BJP Mahila Morcha, women's wing of that party, should be sacked as the commission head, as she has misused the position," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.

"The commission has shown remarkable alacrity in dealing with the complaint by a BJP worker who objected to my referring Maharashtra Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde as 'liquor lady' for opposing the government's proposal to cut water supply to breweries in the state," Malik told reporters.

"However, the same agility was not shown despite complaints against senior minister Girish Bapat's 'confession' that he watched blue films," Malik said.

"The commission has also not taken any decision on a complaint by a woman BJP worker who accused the then BJP Mumbai Yuva Morcha president Ganesh Pandey of molestation bid," Malik said.

Pandey was expelled from the party and the entire unit dissolved after the woman member complained to city BJP chief Ashish Shelar, he said.

Bapat had caused a flutter last year when he commented about watching 'those late night clips' while addressing an audience comprising students at Pune.
India today continued its damage control exercise in the wake of string of assaults on African nationals with Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar assuring that safety and security of the community is an "article of faith" for the government even as a cab driver was beaten up allegedly by a group of Africans, in an apparent backlash.

Jaishankar met a group of African students who raised their concerns over host of issues including better security in the wake of the killing of Congolese national Masonda Ketada Oliver and cases of assaults against the community.

"Foreign Secretary to students: Ensuring safety and security of foreign students is an article of faith for us," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

The issues raised by the African students, which were part of a world students body, included visa issues, problems in getting accomodation and the need for sensitising police force while dealing with them.

On his part, Jaishankar assured them that India shares their concerns and will take steps to address the problems being faced by them.

Separately, Joint Secretary (West Africa) in the MEA Birender Yadav received the family of Masonda Ketada Oliver at the airport and gave the assurance that government would ensure a speedy trial in the case and prosecution of all those responsible for the crime.

The MEA told the family that it would bear all expenses related to dispatch of mortal remains of Oliver, Swarup said.

He said that the family members thanked the Indian government for its assistance. Later, the family accompanied by Congo Ambassador met Yadav at his office.

Meanwhile, in an apparent backlash, a cab driver was beaten up allegedly by a group of Africans in the wee hours in south Delhi's Rajpur Khurd, the locality in which African nationals were attacked by groups of locals in four separate incidents last week.

The incident took place around 4 AM when the cab driver, identified as Nuruddin, went to pick up passengers from Rajpur Khurd in Mehrauli.

Police had yesterday arrested five people for their alleged involvement in attacking the African nationals.
The Supreme Court today agreed to hear next week the plea of Jammu and Kashmir traders' body alongwith other petitions challenging a High Court order asking them to give an undertaking that if "prima facie" the food items supplied by them are found to be adulterated then their units would be liable to be sealed.

A vacation bench of Justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy said the plea of Jammu and Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation will be tagged and heard with other petitions on the similar issue, pending before the apex court.

Senior advocate Jayant Bhushan, appearing for the federation, said the interim order of April 24 of Jammu and Kashmir High Court in a "suo moto PIL is illegal as petitions on similar facts are pending adjudication before the apex court."



He said that the High Court order directs the owners/ Managing Directors (MDs) of food manufacturing/ processing units to file an affidavit indicating as to how and in which manner the food manufacturing/ processing units are following the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) Act.

Bhushan said that it has also directed the owners/ MDs of food manufacturing/ processing units to provide information about the laboratories set up in their units, the equipment installed therein and the number of persons, having expertise in accordance with the Act, working in such laboratories.

He said that it has been directed that food manufacturing units should file an undertaking before the Registrar, of the High Court certifying that the units will supply food items, fit for human consumption, to the consumers and if it is prima facie found that the food items are adulterated, the units will be liable to be sealed.

The plea of federation further said that the High Court judge has erred in not appreciating the fact that the petitioner which is a group of petty food business operators are already complying with the mandatory provisions of the Act and are registered under the law for different business operations.

It said that members of the federation are carrying the business of bakery, sweets shops and petty manufacturing works and the past incident regarding food adulteration was in the case of 'milk' and 'spices' by few companies.
Shiv Sena today slammed Congress for fielding former Union minister from Maharashtra for the Rajya Sabha poll, saying the party has "damaged itself by foisting him on the state".

An editorial in Sena's mouthpiece 'Saamana' noted that the Enforcement Directorate has sent Letters Rogatory (judicial requests) to UK and Singapore in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis deal case and parallel investigations in the financial transactions of some companies belonging to friends of former finance minister P Chidambaram's son Karti.

"It has also been alleged that Chidambaram amended the affidavit to drop references to Ishrat Jahan's LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) link, in order to prove the 'human bomb' of LeT innocent," the editorial said.

"Considering all this, Congress has damaged itself by foisting Chidambaram on Maharashtra. The answer to the question whether wisdom will dawn on Congress has come in the negative," it said.

"Whom to nominate for Rajya Sabha is its (Congress') internal issue. But Congress has sinned in fielding Chidambaram, who has no place left in Tamil Nadu," it said.

While Karti has denied any wrongdoing and has reiterated his cooperation with probe agencies, his father had accused the government of a "malicious onslaught" launched by it against his family.

"All said and done, senior leaders enter the House of Elders. Two lawyers, Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal were nominated to defend the Congress, but has Congress left anything (to defend) in the country," the Sena asked.

The duo's entry into Rajya Sabha won't make much of a difference as Congress is helpless before the barrage unleashed by Subramanian Swamy, it said.

"More than defending Congress, the duo's candidature seems to have been finalised for defending Sonia and Rahul Gandhi," the Sena said.
Tracks of a wild Siberian tiger has been found by a forest ranger in northeast China, suggesting expansion of the population and range of one of the world's most endangered species, authorities said today.

On Thursday morning, ranger Chi Fenglin found some footprints at Tianqiaoling Forestry Bureau in Wangqing County.

They were later identified as those of an immature male Siberian tiger.

This is the fifth time traces of wild Siberian tigers have been found in the bureau's forests since March of 2015.

Deer and wild boar are on the rise in the forest, providing enough food for more tigers, Cao Yongfu, director of the bureau was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua agency.

Jilin banned commercial logging in key state-owned tree farms last year, which has improved tiger habitat.

The tiger is expanding its range from a narrow area along the Russian border to the western part of the Changbai Mountain, according to Cao.

Siberian tigers are among the world's most endangered species.

They mostly live in eastern Russia, northeast China and northern parts of the Korean Peninsula.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia will leave for Berlin tonight to attend a two-day United Nations Conference on 'Housing and Sustainable Development starting from June 1.

Sisodia was scheduled to fly to Berlin yesterday but his flight was cancelled due to bad weather, a senior government official said.

"The Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds the portfolio of Urban Development, will tonight leave for Berlin to attend the UN Conference," the official said, adding that he will return on June 3.
Online marketplace Snapdeal today said it has established a data sciences centre in San Carlos, California, to get top global talent and build high-value solutions.

The centre will focus on big-data and advanced analytics to add clarity to Snapdeal's consumer-centric initiatives, help shape business strategy and optimise the operational efficiencies using data.

"We have set up a data science engine in California, which is home to domain talent, to further augment our efforts in creating a superior customer experience and strengthen our supply chain. Snapdeal is extensively working on data mining through an existing analytics team," Rohit Bansal, co-founder, Snapdeal said.

The centre houses experienced data scientists from leading global brands like Groupon, Google, Yahoo and Amazon and is headed by Nitin Sharma, senior vice-president, Data Sciences, the company said in a statement.

"The richer understanding of the customers by capturing and integrating the information on their buying behaviour will drive habit commerce and is in sync with our vision of 20 million daily transacting users by the year 2020," Bansal added.
An unemployed man who drove a car loaded with a home-made bomb into the Madrid headquarters of Spain's ruling Popular Party (PP) has been sentenced to five years in jail, a court said today.

In December 2014, Daniel Perez Berlanga rammed a car with an explosive device made up of gas cylinders and fertiliser through the glass front of the building, reaching a staircase inside.

The device did not go off and no one was hurt in the incident, which triggered a major security alert as dozens of police cars shut off the central Madrid street where the party's headquarters are located.

Berlanga, 37, told police at the time that he was a ruined businessman who blamed Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative PP government for his problems.

He later said his target was the entire political class in general.

A Madrid court found Berlanga guilty of making and possessing an explosive device and attempted arson and sentenced him to five years behind bars, in a ruling dated May 10 that was published on today.

"The accused wanted the device which was inside the car to explode and cause a fire at the headquarters, accepting that his action threatened the lives of the people who were inside," the court ruled.

The attack caused just over 41,000 euros (USD 45,500) in damages to the building, the court added.
In a gesture of goodwill extending beyond the borders, an SSB officer has saved the lives of newly-born Nepalese twins by donating blood of a rare group, along the Indo-Nepal International Border (IB) in Bihar.

Officials said on May 24 Naveen Kumar Singh, a resident of Nepal's Rautahat district, approached officials of border guarding Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and informed them about urgent requirement of "O-ve" blood for his twin babies who had developed some "serious health complications."



They said Singh and his wife Seema, after finding no person with the rare blood group in their area, approached the SSB's border post at Bhanga, opposite the IB along Bihar's Sitamarhi district for help.

The company commander of the 20th battalion deployed in the area, Vijay K Isser, volunteered as he had an "O-ve" blood group.

Assistant Commandant Isser, who commands the 'Alpha' company of the SSB at the border, immediately got in touch with his Nepal counterparts on the border and crossed over to the 'Brajaha' village to donate the blood to the twins, they said.

A senior SSB officer said Isser donated one unit of blood that saved the lives of the twins, born in March this year.

SSB's official twitter handle too tweeted the development: "A big clap for Vinay Kr Isser, Asst Commdt ACoy, Bhanga 20Bn for his promptselfless initiative in saving the lives of the twins from #Nepal."



Paramilitary SSB is tasked with guarding the 1,751-km long Indo-Nepal border and is also the lead intelligence gathering Indian agency on this open border.
On the eve of the World No Tobacco Day, the Voluntary Health Association of Assam and State Tobacco Control Cell has urged the new Assam government to strictly enforce the new 85 per cent pictorial warning rules on tobacco products.

The two organisations, actively supporting the implementation of the 85 per cent Pictorial Health Warning Rules by tobacco companies in the country, also wanted the government to prohibit sale of loose cigarettes and tobacco products.

Addressing a joint press meet here, National Tobacco Control Programme Assam Nodal Officer Dr Arundhati Deka said the Central government has come up with effective packaging norms for tobacco packets with effect from April one last.

This new rule has minimised the use of colourful logos and branding on tobacco packaging which serves as a key strategy used by the tobacco industry to make their products more appealing to the current and potential customers, including youth, Deka said.

The Assam Health department had issued an order on May 11 last year to the Drug Controller of Assam and designated Food Safety Officers of all districts to enforce the 85 per cent pictorial warning under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003, Dr Deka said.

Simultaneously, many tobacco products have been sent to the Regional Tobacco Testing Laboratory attached to the Regional Drug Testing Laboratory here for testing and compliance of COTPA provisions, she added.

The recent landmark move to implement 85 per cent pictorial health warnings on tobacco packets is a very strong and positive step taken by the Central Government and onus is now on the state government to strictly enforce it at the earliest, VHAA Executive Secretary Ruchira Neog said.

This year WHO is calling on countries around the world to implement plain packaging of tobacco products without brand names to help end tobacco epidemic, she said, adding, plain packaging reduces the appeal of tobacco consumption and increases the ability to notice health warnings on tobacco packets.
With attacks on African nationals continuing to hog limelight, the government today promised strictest possible action if such assaults were found to have a racial angle.

"If racial angle is found in any of the case, strictest of possible action will be taken," Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters here.

The minister was replying to a question on whether the recent incidents of attacks on African nationals in Delhi allegedly had a racial angle.

"We have taken up all the incidents very seriously. Action is being taken and some arrests have already been made," he said.

On the attack on a taxi driver allegedly by a group of Africans here today, Rijiju said anyone taking law in their hands would be punished.

"Maintaining law and order is our responsibility. Be it Indian citizens or foreign nationals, anyone who takes law in their hands won't be spared," he said.

There has been a series of attacks on African nationals in the last few days, including killing of a Congolese youth in the national capital. A 23-year-old Nigerian student was also assaulted in Hyderabad.

Five people have been arrested in connection with the attacks on African nationals here.
A suicide bomber was today killed by the police in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province before he could trigger the explosives attached to his jacket.

Police foiled the suicide attack attempt on a police station in Mardan district but the explosives went off however in their firing, injuring eight persons, including two cops.

Separately police seized explosives from a motorbike parked near another police station in the district.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje today asked the party MPs and MLAs to take the schemes and programmes of the government to the masses and collect feedback from public so that any improvement in the programmes, if required, could be made.

Addressing them at a workshop here, Raje said that public representatives should go to the level of gram panchayat and discuss the schemes and programme like Bhamashah scheme and JalSwavalamban Abhiyan and collect feedback from the public.

She said that public representatives should make optimum use of social media to publicise the schemes.

Raje also said that MPs should have at least 1 lakh followers and MLAs 50,000 followers on social media.

The CM also called upon them to support in bringing electricity transmission and distribution losses down.

The MPs and MLAs also informed the cm about the works being done in their constituencies.

MPs, MLAs and members of the council of ministers were present in the workshop.
Three senior BJD leaders - Prasanna Acharya, Bishnu Das and N Bhaskar Rao - today filed their nomination papers for the June 11 Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha.

The three leaders, representing three different regions of the state, filed their papers before the Returning officer at the Odisha Assembly in the presence of Chief Minister and BJD President Naveen Patnaik.

Assembly Secretary cum Returning Officer A K Sarangi said the last date for filing of nomination is May 31 and scrutiny of the papers will take place on June 1.

As the BJD has 117 MLAs in 147 member Odisha Assembly, all the three vacant seats are likely to go in favour of the BJD candidates. While one candidate require at least 37 first preference votes, the opposition Congress has only 16 MLAs while the BJP's strength is just 10.

Patnaik had on Friday announced the names of the senior party leaders to be party candidates for the upper house.

"We three senior leaders are given opportunities by the BJD president as all of us are associated with Biju Parivar for about four decade. As 2016 is the Biju Patnaik Birth Centenary year, the party president chose elder persons for the Upper House," said Bishnu Das after filing nomination paper.

Former Odisha Minister and ex-MP Prasanna Acharya said he would try to expose the NDA government's "false propaganda" that the Centre raised the state's share. "In fact, Odisha got less share in 2025-16 fiscal even as the 14th finance commission recommended increase in the state share," Acharya, a former finance minister said.

The election is required as three Rajya Sabha MPs - Pyarimohan Mohapatra, Baishnab Parida and Bhupinder Singh - will complete their tenure on July 1, 2016.
Three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and eight wounded in a fresh "escalation" of fighting between pro-Russian rebels and government forces, Kiev said today.

Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said fighting had intensified compared to a month ago and accused rebels of "actively using heavy weapons" including a Grad rocket launcher.

"Over the past 24 hours, as a result of the hostilities, three Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and eight more wounded", he said.

The spokesman said the fighting took place around the eastern rebel hub of Donetsk and the government-controlled town of Mariupol.

There has been an uptick in violence in the east of Ukraine, with seven troops reported dead on Tuesday and five more over the weekend.

Kiev and the West have accused Russia of buttressing the rebels and sending in regular troops across the border, claims Moscow has repeatedly denied.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak said last month it could take years to end the conflict, which has claimed more than 9,300 lives since it erupted in April 2014.

Earlier this month, France and Germany held fresh talks with Kiev and Moscow as part of efforts to try to seek a lasting peace deal but no consensus was reached over elections in the separatist regions of eastern Ukraine.
Telecom regulator Monday issued pre-consultation paper on net neutrality, a topic that had kicked up dust earlier this year over platforms like Facebook's Free Basics and Airtel Zero as well as attempts to charge certain Internet services, including calls.

Seeking to put in place an overall framework for Internet usage in the country, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said: "This pre-consultation paper is an attempt to identify the relevant issues in these areas, which will help in formulating its views on the way forward for policy or regulatory intervention."



There has been a conflict between telecom operators, Internet companies and consumers interest on the issue of net neutrality.

While all the three major stakeholders - telecom operators, Internet companies and consumers - favour net neutrality, they define it differently from their standpoint.

has partially addressed the issue of net neutrality like differential pricing and, through a separate consultation paper, is in process of exploring model for providing free Internet within framework of net neutrality.

The paper has sought public views on various aspects such as "What should be regarded as the core principles of net neutrality in the Indian context? What are the key issues that are required to be considered so that the principles of net neutrality are ensured?"



It has also sought views on approach that "India's policy and/or regulatory approach" should take in dealing with issues relating to net neutrality.

The debate on net neutrality picked up in India when telecom operator Bharti Airtel in December 2014 decided to charge extra for making Internet calls. However, the company rolled back its plan after public protest.

It then launched Airtel Zero platform which provided fee access to websites under it while websites were required pay for being on it.

Later, Facebook also came up with a zero rating platform 'Free Basics' which provided free access to some websites available on its platform for Reliance Communications customers in India.

Both these platforms were seen as violation to net neutrality and later Trai issued a regulation which barred zero rating platform.

Adherence to the principal of net neutrality is arguably necessary for maintaining the open and non-discriminatory character of the Internet, features that are responsible for the phenomenal growth of the Internet in the past decades.

"In the absence of a clear regulatory framework on net neutrality, advanced traffic management techniques can potentially be used by an operator for discriminatory or anti-competitive purposes," Trai said.

Last date for comments on the paper is June 21.
Countries contributing troops to United Nations peacekeeping (UNPK) missions need greater say in the conduct of the operations they are part of, Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag said today.

He rued that some countries which have contributed less to such missions have a greater say.

"The troop-contributing countries must have and need to have a say as far as change of any mandate, task or policy formulation is concerned," he said at a seminar organised by the army's think tank CLAWS.

Suhag stressed that the concerns of stakeholders have to be taken care of.

"We find that there are countries which have very few contributions, by way of observers or staff officers, but they do form part of policy coordination. But troop-contributing countries have very little say as far as such issues are concerned," he said.

Noting that the nature of peacekeeping has changed from the traditional "peacekeeping to peace enforcement", Suhag emphasised on the need for force restructuring.

He had spoken on the issue in March at the world body's first-ever 'Chiefs of Defence' Conference that had brought together army chiefs and senior military officials from more than 110 UN member states to discuss issues central to UN peacekeeping.

India has so far participated in 49 UN peacekeeping missions, contributing over 1,80,000 troops and a significant number of police personnel.

India is at present participating in 12 out of the 16 active missions and 158 Indian peacekeepers have made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty over the past six decades, the highest among all member states.

India had in the past also voiced concern that UNSC has repeatedly "violated" and "diluted" the clear provisions of Article 44 of the UN Charter, which explicitly requires the 15-nation Council to invite member states which are contributing troops but are not members of the Council, to participate in the decisions on peacekeeping and troop deployment.
Turkey's foreign minister says joint US-Turkish military action could oust the Islamic State group from Syria.

Speaking in Antalya late yesterday, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says that operation could "easily advance to Raqqa," the main IS bastion in Syria.

American Special Operations forces and a coalition known as the Syria Democratic Forces have begun clearing areas north of Raqqa in preparation for an eventual assault on the city.

A major player in the coalition is the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, which Turkey unlike the United States views as a terrorist organisation.

Turkey is part of the US-led coalition against IS and a Turkish air base is being used to launch bombing runs against IS.

But the involvement of Kurdish factions in the anti-IS effort has strained US-Turkish relations.
The Uttarakhand government today demanded a Rs 13,000 crore-package from the Centre for relocating over 300 villages of the state vulnerable to natural disasters.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat made the demand at a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

He cited the findings of a survey conducted jointly by the Geological Survey of India and Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology which had declared 352 villages as unsafe, saying they were vulnerable to natural calamities.

The survey was conducted soon after the June 2013 calamity in the state. The villages need to be relocated to safe areas for which an amount of Rs 13000 crore will be needed, Rawat was quoted as saying in a statement.

Considering the severity of the problem and the limited resources at the state government's disposal, a helping hand from the Centre is expected, the Chief Minister said.

He also drew the PM's attention towards a Parliamentary Committee's recommendation that all school buildings in the state be made earthquake resistant and sought an additional assistance of Rs 1,000 crore for the purpose, the statement said.

Raising a slew of state-related issues, including a demand for funds under the 'Namami Gange' project, before the Prime Minister, Rawat sought Centre's full co-operation in his development endeavours, it said.

He demanded 707.60 crore for a detailed project report submitted by the state under the project.

Rawat also urged the Centre that for externally-aided projects, it should maintain a funding ratio of 90:10.

Speaking of the potential of hydel projects of Uttarakhand to turn around the state's economy, he sought early clearance of the 300 MW Lakhwad and 660 MW Kisau hydro power projects.
British police today charged two men after 20 people, most of them migrants, were rescued from the English Channel when their inflatable boat began to take on water.

Two children and a woman were among the group of 18 Albanians and two Britons aboard the rigid-hulled inflatable boat, which got into trouble off the Kent coast, southeast England, late yesterday.

An interior ministry spokesman said that two British men, aged 33 and 35, had been charged with immigration offences and were due to appear in court.

Calais coastguard organisation SNSM assisted the British coastguard in the rescue operation, which ended around 2:00 AM yesterday.

The passengers were taken to the nearby port of Dover to be interviewed by Border Force officers, the Home Office said.

"The castaways, who were migrants, called their families, who then alerted the authorities and rescue missions were triggered on both sides of the Channel," said SNSM president Bernard Barron.

Thousands of people have been massed in northern France for months, trying to reach Britain where they believe they will have a better chance of finding employment, according to French and British charities.

Officials warned last month that migrants from the so-called "Jungle" camp in Calais were stepping up efforts to reach Britain with summer on its way, with a sharp increase reported in migrant attempts to stow away in the back of lorries.

High winds, strong currents, heavy traffic and low water temperatures all make the Channel a treacherous stretch of water.
Envoys of African countries are adopting a "wait and watch" policy regarding India's assurance in ensuring safety of their citizens after they had demanded concrete steps against "racism and Afro-phobia" last week in the wake of killing of a Congolese national.

Dean of African Group Head of Missions and Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, who had issued a strongly- worded statement seeking stringent action to guarantee safety of Africans in India, said it was up to the Indian government to take action on the concerns conveyed by the envoys.

"Whatever we had to convey, we have done that on Africa Day. Now, it is up to the Indian government to take action on the assurances given to us," he said when asked if the Group would again raise with India the issue of fresh attacks against African nationals.

Echoing his views, another African envoy said the African countries were waiting for MEA's follow up action on its assurance that security for African nationals would be enhanced.

Congolese national Masonda Ketada Oliver was killed on May 20 following a brawl in Vasant Kunj area. More cases of alleged assault on African nationals came to fore in South Delhi's Mehrauli area last week in which six persons from the community sustained injuries.

In his statement, Woldemariam on May 25 had demanded concrete steps against "racism and Afro-phobia".

Meanwhile Olivier's brother Michael said "We are disappointed about security in India for our students. We have asked for a speedy trial (into Oliver's killing). What happened to him can happen to any one of us.

"We are scared. I hope government of India will improve things for our safety."



The African students are planning a protest here tomorrow seeking justice to Oliver and better security for the African nationals.

Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh is likely to meet African students here tomorrow.
A special court in Senegal was due to deliver its verdict today in the war crimes trial of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre, bringing a long-awaited reckoning to victims and their families.

Habre, 73, was president of Chad from 1982-1990, during which time he is alleged to have committed crimes against humanity and torture.

Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence.

Habre went on trial last July in the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE), a special tribunal set up in Dakar by the African Union under a deal with Senegal, the first time a country has prosecuted a former leader of another nation for rights abuses.

Reed Brody, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch who has spent the last 15 years working with victims to bring Habre to justice, said the landmark case could encourage others to bring similar action.

"The trial of Hissene Habre shows that it is possible for victims, with tenacity and perseverance, to bring their dictator to court," Reed told AFP yesterday. "We hope that other survivors, other activists will be inspired by what Habre's victims have been able to do."



Often dressed in combat fatigues in line with his "desert fighter" nickname, Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby.

Habre has declined to address the court, refusing to recognise its authority. Neither he nor his legal team will be in court for Monday's hearing, they told AFP.

But his court-appointed lawyers will attend and are hoping for an acquittal. "We have developed our arguments sufficiently well to prove that Hissene Habre is innocent," said Senegalese lawyer Mbeye Sene.

"If the law is correctly applied, we will go straight to an acquittal for Mr Habre," added Sene.

Investigators found that at least 40,000 people were killed during Habre's rule, which was marked by fierce repression of opponents and the targeting of rival ethnic groups.

Witnesses have recounted the horror of life in Chad's prisons, describing in graphic detail abusive and often deadly punishments inflicted by Habre's feared secret police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS).

Victims were subject to electric shocks and waterboarding while some had gas sprayed in their eyes or spice rubbed into their genitals, the court heard.

Habre's defence team has sought to cast doubt on the prosecution argument that their client was an all-knowing, all-powerful head of the DDS, suggesting he may have been unaware of abuses on the ground.

Mahamat Moussa, a former detainee, said a guilty verdict would provide solace to many families left without answers 25 years after Habre left office.
Vigilance sleuths today arrested a revenue employee while allegedly accepting bribe of Rs 30,000 from Patna.

State Vigilance Department officials caught one Chandrama Kumar, a revenue employee posted with Sadar Circle of Patna district, red handed for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000, a vigilance department release said.

One Ashok Kumar, a resident of Purandarpur under Jakkanpur police station area of Patna district, lodged a complaint with Vigilance department that the accused Chandrama Kumar, a revenue employee, was demanding a bribe of Rs 30,000 for mutation of land.

After the verification of the complaint by the department in which allegations of bribe was found to be true, the department constituted a flying squad team, headed by Deputy SP Vinay Kumar Singh, which arrested Chandrama Kumar from a private office located at Uttari Mandiri area in Patna town while allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 30,000.

The accused person would be produced before a Special Vigilance Court (I) at Patna after interrogation.

Vigilance has, so far, arrested 52 persons red handed on charge of accepting bribe in 47 trap cases laid by the department, the release said.
Senior lawyer Vivek Tankha, who fought the Vyapam case in Madhya Pradesh High Court and Supreme Court on behalf of Congress leaders, today filed his nomination papers here for the Rajya Sabha poll.

Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, chief whip in the Lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia, former Union Minister and MP Kantilal Bhuria and the state Party president Arun Yadav among others were present on the occasion.

"I cannot say that whether it was a reward of fighting Vyapam case or not. But whenever there is injustice anywhere, I will stand against it," Tankha said when asked whether it was a reward for him for fighting the multi-admission-cum- recruitment scam in Madhya Pradesh on behalf of Congress leaders.

"We will fight with more vigour against the Vyapam scam," he said.

"Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi have reposed faith in me and I will do everything to fulfil it," he said.

He also said that he will work for the development of Madhya Pradesh, especially Jabalpur-Narsinghpur area.

Tankha filed his nomination in four sets and a total of 40 MLAs signed his papers.

The senior lawyer presented his nomination papers to Returning Officer and Vidhan Sabha Principal Secretary Bhagwan Dev Israni.

Three seats are falling vacant from Madhya Pradesh. Out of it, two are with the BJP at present while one is with the Congress.

The BJP has re-nominated Anil Madhav Dave as its nominee and is mulling over another candidature which it is likely to announce today.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani were among several world leaders who wished Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ahead of his open-heart surgery at a hospital in the UK tomorrow.

Foreign Office said that the world leaders prayed for Sharif's speedy recovery after tomorrow's operation.

Putin conveyed to Sharif his "heartfelt sympathy as well as wishes for speedy recovery."



Ghani in his message said: "I would like to send my best wishes to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family. Hope the surgery goes all right. We pray for his speedy recuperation."



Separately, former Afghan president Hamid Karzai sent his wishes in a letter addressed to Sharif, media repoted.

Tajikistan president Emomali Rahmon in is message said: "I pray, my dear brother, for your earliest and lasting recovery. I hope that with renewed health and vigour you can soon resume your great duties of government for further development and prosperity of friendly country of Pakistan."



British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond also conveyed his message for Sharif's "complete and speedy recovery from his heart surgery."



Sharif will undergo an open-heart surgery tomorrow, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said on Friday.

Asif, also a confidante of 66-year-old Sharif, had said doctors have advised the prime minister to undergo an open-heart surgery, following which he will be staying in the hospital for a week.
Mullah Mansour's killing: What does it mean for Afghanistan, Taliban and Pakistan

Change in Taliban leadership may not alter its philosophy as it is decided by a 'Shura' rather than the leader alone

Change in Taliban leadership may not alter its philosophy as it is decided by a 'Shura' rather than the leader alone

On May 21, 2016, the United States conducted a drone attack along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border that killed the leader of the Taliban, Mullah Akhtar Mansour. The attack represented the first time the U.S. has targeted a Taliban chief since the U.S.-led coalition began pressing for talks between Afghanistan and the Taliban. U.S. officials confirmed that they informed Pakistan and Afghanistan of the drone strike after it had occurred. In response, Pakistan predictably protested the violation of its sovereignty. Pakistans Interior Minister Chaudhry ...

Rohan Joshi
The farmers crisis arising out of two consecutive years of deficit monsoon has put a lot of focus on the state of Indian and its future readiness recently. The normally urban tinted media has also for once turned its attention to the problems afflicting Indias sector, and distress of farmers who are disproportionately dependent for their livelihood on natures benevolence.

The rising food prices over the past two years and the cascading effect on the entire economy of a slowing sector has shown us evidently that India cannot dream about a two digit growth rate unless the shackled rural economy is freed and its engine speeded up. The Union Budget of 2016-17 appropriately took cognisance of the fact that the closely intertwined farm sector and rural economy need more than piecemeal benefits to sustain the large population dependent on this sector. The prediction of a healthy monsoon from the weatherman has also brought much relief. However, we need much more than budget allocations and good rainfall to make agriculture sustainable in the long run. We need a broader vision and long term policy approaches.

This brings us to the crucial question on what lies ahead for the future of Indian agriculture and are we ready to make it a bright one?

Some facts and figures first

Despite supporting almost 60 percent of Indias total population, the contribution of agriculture to the GDP has been consistently declining. It currently stands at around 15 percent. A sector that provides work to more than half of the countrys population contributing less than 1/5th to its GDP indicates a clear imbalance. While India grew by over 7 percent per cent last year, agriculture remained more or less stagnant. Indias foodgrain production which has consistently been abundant over the past several years is showing signs of plateauing, suggesting saturation.

These statistics point to the need for a major reshuffle in the rural economy. It clearly indicates that an unsustainably excessive part of the population is dependent on one sector and that we need to wean away labour out of agriculture to other sectors. The prevailing situation also calls for a need for major policy measures to boost the rural economy and create new infrastructure for the farm sector.

With a considerable budget allocation of Rs 35,984 crore, the government proposes to address several basic issues riling the rural sector including building new irrigation facilities, installing projects for ground water restoration, conservation of soil fertility and doubling farmers income by 2022. But are these measures enough?

Given below are some of the important measures needed to make Indian agriculture future ready:

Diversification of rural economy

As discussed above our rural economy is excessively dependent on agriculture for its livelihood. In fact more than 65 percent of the total rural population is engaged in agriculture. This results in under-employment, and low per capital returns. Unfortunately, diversification of the rural economy towards non-farm activities has been very slow due to low education and skill levels, especially among the rural women.

Rajesh Aggarwal, MD, Insecticides India Ltd What we need is a dedicated policy push to create alternate avenues of employment and work in rural areas. This calls for major skill development programs in rural areas which can push a section of the population towards non-farm activities and reduce overcrowding of the agriculture sector. Alternative income avenues to create jobs outside agriculture in rural areas include a policy push to help develop the retail sector, improve education, boost rural entrepreneurship, develop tourism, cottage and handicraft industries, horticulture, fisheries and create better connectivity with urban centres and infrastructure to make business ideas viable.

Increasing produce per hectare

With a population that is expected to continue to rise till 2050, India needs to keep up its food production. Unfortunately, the land area available to agriculture is not expected to increase. Despite increasing foodgrain production over the years, statistics show that per capital foodgrain availability in India has been declining. This brings us to the all important question of the need to increase productivity of agriculture and yields per hectare.

According to Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Indias crop yield per hectare remains much lower than the global average. With around 2.4 tonnes of rice produce per hectare, India ranks much lower than even other BRICS nations in terms of productivity.

Lack of availability of high-yield varieties, water shortage resulting in less than sufficient irrigation, absence of local R&D to improve yields and low per hectare usage of agrochemicals are among the reasons for Indias low agro productivity. Addressing these factors is a major task at hand if we have to keep agriculture sustainable in the long run.

Greater penetration of crop protection measures

Despite being the fourth largest producer of agrochemicals globally, after the US, Japan and China, the usage of agrochemicals in India stands is actually very low, in fact, the one of the lowest in the world at just 0.58 kg per hectare against 4.5 kg per hectare in the US and 10.8 kg per hectare in Japan. The worlds average consumption is 3 kg per hectare. This shows there is a clearly large scope of growth in usage and demand. With limited availability of fertile land to cultivate food and feed an ever growing population, the only alternative we have is to increase productivity per hectare.

A study supported by industry body Assocham said that Indian farmers lose crop worth Rs 50,000 crore annually due to pest and disease infestation. The findings indicate a massive lack of awareness among farmers about crop protection measures, that if adopted can save huge crop losses. We need to achieve greater penetration of usage of agrochemicals such as insecticides and pesticides to reduce crop losses and increase productivity per hectare.

Reducing dependence on monsoon

Making the agriculture sector less dependent on rainfall by diversifying sources of irrigation has been an area long discussed by experts. To combat the persisting problem of lack of irrigation facilities to make up for the unpredictable rainfall, the government has introduced the decision to increase the area under irrigation by 28.5 lakh hectares and set aside Rs 20,000 crore for a new irrigation fund. Additionally, it has committed to Rs 6000 crore for recharging the groundwater, with special emphasis on drought hit areas.

Now, it is to be seen how these funds are utilised towards achieving the desired objective. There have to be sustained efforts to improve groundwater levels through measures such as rainwater harvesting, discouraging deforestation, and developing artificial sources of irrigation.

Moving people out of agriculture

Reducing the rural populations dependence on agriculture has to be a prime development target for the government over the next 20 years. This does not mean giving any less importance to agriculture; rather it means reducing under-employment on the farm and building alternative jobs outside the farm sector to wean away excess people to other sectors. This can be done by strategically encouraging establishment of industries near rural areas that can provide viable employment, improving education in rural areas, providing vocational and skill training to the rural population and creating positive opportunities in nearby urban centres to encourage positive migration, as against distress migration.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rajesh Aggarwal is the managing director of Insecticides India Ltd
State-owned CIL on Sunday announced nearly 6.3 per cent increase in coal prices and will earn an additional revenue of around Rs 3,234 crore during the current fiscal 2016-17.

The decision was taken at the Coal India Ltd board meeting on Saturday, the company said in a filing to BSE.

"The Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on May 28, 2016 has approved revision of coal prices w.e.f.

00:00 hours of May 30, 2016 appx. 6.29% increase over the current price," the filing said.

It will be applicable to all CIL subsidiaries and NEC for regulated and non-regulated sectors, the filing said.

Due to this revision, CIL will earn additional revenue of Rs 3,234 crores for the balance period of financial year 2016-17 -- from May 30, 2016 to March 31, 2017, it said.

According to a Coal India official, on an average the current coal price is Rs 1,193 per tonne.

The board has also approved the differential price for Non-Regulated Sector at a reduced rate of 20 per cent over the price of Regulated Sector for G6 to G17 grades of coal for all subsidiaries of CIL, the company said.

In 2014, CIL had increased the price of a certain grade of coal from one of its mines in Godda district of Jharkhand.

CIL accounts for over 80 per cent of the domestic coal production. The company has a target to achieve a production of 598 million tonnes in the current fiscal.

The company is eying an output of one billion tonnes (rpt) tonnes by 2020.
ONGC Videsh (OVL) is set to make a foray into oil trading and has signed an initial pact with the trading arm of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, a source privy to the agreement said.

OVL, the overseas acquisition arm of country's biggest explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp, plans to initially sell its share of oil from the large Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) group of fields in Azerbaijan through the new venture, the source said.

"At a later stage, OVL will look at opportunities to market its oil from other assets through the planned trading company with SOCAR," the source added.

OVL, which has stakes in oil and gas assets in 16 countries including Russia, Sudan and Brazil, produced about 178,400 barrels per day of oil and gas equivalent in the fiscal year to March 31, 2016.

Currently, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd, a subsidiary of ONGC, trade oil produced by assets of OVL.
Sahara India chairman Subrata Roy's scheduled meeting with the company's field workers here on Sunday was cancelled by the police fearing law and order situation, a move described as "unfortunate", but appreciated by Roy.

Claiming to have received intelligence reports that victims of chit-fund companies were to protest at the meeting venue and create a law and order situation, the city police promulgated prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC and asked workers of the company to vacate the place.

"Although the company officials had intimated us earlier about their proposed meeting, it was cancelled at the last moment today by imposition of Section 144 as we received intelligence inputs about severe law and order situation and breach of peace," said city DCP Sanjib Arora.

"We had intelligence inputs that some chit fund victims were preparing to protest at Roy's programme. There was a possibility of a law and order situation. Therefore, section 144 was imposed in the area and agents were asked to vacate the place. Restriction was also imposed on Roy's entry in Cuttack," said Commissioner of Police Y B Khurania.

The company workers had organised a similar meeting here in December 2014.

More than 4,000 agents from across the state had gathered at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium here to listen to their chairman, who is now on parole after his arrest two years ago and travelling across the country to thank the agents for standing behind him in difficult times.

Before coming to Cuttack, Roy had addressed two similar gatherings in Andhra Pradesh and Telengana, informed principal field manager of the company Gyananjay Moharana, expressing dismay as to how his Odisha programme was cancelled at the last moment.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Roy who is staying in a Bhubaneswar hotel, appreciated the action of the police and made it clear that Sahara's financial services neither was, nor is in any chit fund business.

"It is very unfortunate that I could not meet around 3,000 pariwar members in Cuttack. We had permission, but at the last moment Section 144 has been imposed," the statement said.

"As we learnt from Police that some forum has threatened to do agitations and they shall try to disrupt our meeting in Cuttack, the Police administration very rightly took the decision," it said.

"As a responsible citizen we should cooperate with the Police administration for maintaining peace. I shall definitely request forum people to remember the truth, that good can never be compared with bad," it added.
The government and the Reserve Bank are working out a mechanism to resolve the payment issue with Venezuela, a top official said on Monday.

There are reports that Indian exporters particularly from pharmaceuticals sector are facing problems in getting payments from the South American country and the Indian government is in talks to have a rupee deal so that it could be adjusted against the oil payments.

Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia also said that not just in Venezuela, in Sudan Indian pharma exporters are facing difficulties in payments because of internal issues of those countries.

With all these countries, Indian government is engaged, she said.

"In case of Venezuela, there has been a fair engagement.

We are also in conversation with the RBI to see if an appropriate mechanism could be devised along with the RBI's assistance and the Finance Ministry's assistance to see that the payments are in some sense protected. So that is in the progress".

When asked about the agreement between India and Indonesia on non-basmati rice trade, Teaotia said both the sides are on the verge of concluding the pact.

"Indonesia is very keen to procure the non-basmati rice from India because that is what they do consume and prices are also competitive," she told reporters here.

She said that the agreement between state-run trading firm STC and its Indonesian counterpart is now being concluded.

"So now, we will have a firm agreement for movement of non-basmati rice to Indonesia," she added.
Allaying concerns about any further misuse of Participatory Notes, market watchdog Sebi's Chairman U K Sinha has said Indians can no longer use these offshore instruments, even indirectly, and a strong safety net has been put in place to check any routing of black money.

He also said that foreign investors have been taken "completely on board" for changes in the regulations governing Offshore Derivative Instruments (ODIs) - commonly known as P-Notes - and they have been consulted even for design of the reporting formats about investments through this route.

Sebi will soon finalise reporting formats as also the revised guidelines and new circulars, for Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) dealing in ODIs, after incorporating the changes approved by its board earlier this month.

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 Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Black Money.

In an interaction here, the Sebi Chairman said India wants to encourage and promote long-term investments and would prefer foreign investors to come directly, but there will be no roadblocks for genuine investments even through PNs.

Ruling out any special concession for the investors using this route, including for hedge funds, Sinha said if some investors have a genuine reason such as 'testing the Indian waters' they can use ODIs after complying with the due KYC and other regulatory requirements.

"In the past, this route was misused by some Indian nationals and Indian corporates for getting their ill-gotten money rerouted to the Indian markets.

"The intention was also to put money into their own firms so as to manipulate the share prices. As late as 2007-2008, we found some such cases and took action," Sinha said.

"Now, Sebi has got the information and a guarantee from the foreign investors issuing ODIs that not a single Indian has been issued such instruments and they would not be allowed to subscribe to these instruments, directly or indirectly.

"Earlier, there were also cases about some hedge funds camouflaging their identity and come through this route, but that is also not possible now and Sebi has got full details till the last possible end beneficial owner," he added.

ODIs now account for investments worth Rs 2.12 lakh crore in Indian markets, which is 9.3 per cent of the overall FPI investments -- down from a peak of over 55 per cent in 2007.

Sinha said he sees this percentage falling even further, as foreign investors are preferring the direct route and hundreds of new FPIs are getting registered every quarter.

Even among FPIs, broad-based funds with low-risk profile account for well over 95 per cent of investments into the Indian markets at about Rs 22 lakh crore, while presence of high-risk investors such as hedge funds is very small -- both in terms of their number as well as the investments.

Sebi classifies FPIs into three categories based on their risk profile and they are subjected to the KYC requirements accordingly.

The Category-I FPIs mostly include central banks and sovereign funds, while the Category-II comprises of broad- based investors such as mutual funds, insurers, pension funds and banks. The Category III is the highest-risk category and includes hedge funds and other smaller investors.

The third-category of investors are not allowed to deal in ODIs, while only some in the second category are permitted to issue or subscribe to these instruments.

Sharing further details, Sinha said investments by Category-III FPIs currently stand at only about Rs 77,000 crore while their count is just about 600. In comparison, there are over 7,000 Category-II FPIs and they have invested over Rs 18,74,000 crore. There are about 300 Category I FPIs that have invested close to Rs 3,30,000 crore in India.

ODIs are issued abroad by FPIs as market access products against securities held by it that are listed or are proposed to be listed on a stock exchange in India, as its underlying.

These underlying securities can be equity, debt, derivatives, index, a basket of securities from different jurisdictions, or a basket of all Indian securities.

The ODIs include over-the-counter derivatives documented through a bilateral contract, as also the securitised instruments such as notes, certificates or warrants.

Sinha said there have been two extreme sets of worries in the public's mind.

He explained: "One is that Sebi is not doing enough to prevent the flow of black money and whether whatever Sebi has done is good enough. The worry on the other side is that are we killing this instrument and what would be the impact on the markets?

"Even before we decided on the latest changes, there were worries that it would affect the markets. I remember this decision was taken on a Thursday afternoon and my colleagues kept calling me the previous night and in the morning that they are worried about the markets.

"Personally, I was not worried because we had held a series of detailed consultations with the FPIs. After the decision also, we called them, as based on these decisions we need to issue some circulars, some guidelines and also some formats need to designed.

"Even to the extent of designing these formats, we have consulted them so that they are on board and they realise what is the rationale behind it."

Sinha said that the intention of the government and Sebi has been always clear that any inclination among genuine investors to come through PNs and not the direct FPI route must be removed.

"That is why we have made the FPI registration process very simple and for those using PNs we have brought in more and more transparency so that the difference between the two routes becomes less and less," he said.

Assuring that rules are strong enough to check any misuse, Sinha said PNs or ODIs still form part of an important and genuine business requirement.

He further said: "We don't frown upon these instruments.

We have seen these instruments are used all over the world and many jurisdictions allow them as many investors need these instruments as a genuine business requirement.

"At the same time, the effort has been to remove the dichotomy between these two sets of foreign investors -- FPIs and ODIs -- and bring them together as far as legitimate investors are concerned.

"We have focussed on making FPI registration process simple and ensure proper KYC compliance.

"One of the worries earlier was that Sebi did not know who were the ODI holders -- In which jurisdictions they were and whether they were Indian nationals or not.

"Over the years, Sebi has put in place a very detailed mechanism for reporting requirements of FPIs and that provided for who are the ODI holders and which jurisdictions they were in, among other things.

"Some people may find it hard to believe, probably because of their own bad experiences in the market in the past, but Sebi now has full details about each and every ODI holder at the end of every month.

"So, the earlier possibility of Indian nationals using the ODI route is not possible. There were a variety of routes earlier and the one such route was Protected Cell Companies which had a very opaque structures. Sebi has ensured that no such opaque structures are being used now."

Sinha said it was not very easy to persuade the FPIs for the changes. In the past, whenever Sebi wanted to tighten the ODI rules, there used to be a serious impact on the markets.

"So, learning from the past, we began consulting the industry on any proposal to bring in new changes.

"There are about 8,000 FPIs registered today, out of which only 39 issue ODIs. We consulted all of them. We had extensive consultations and we explained to them that what SIT was saying and what was the reason behind it. After convincing them, we went to our Board and it took a decision," he said.

"The idea has been that let us make FPI process so much simple that the genuine investors are not inclined to go to this route. But there would still be some people who want to use this form genuine reasons, such as those who just want to test the Indian waters and do not want to get registered as FPIs initially.

"FPIs and ODI issuers are also realising that it is not something which is happening only in India, but it is a global movement against black money and in favour of transparency," he said.

The Sebi Chief said the regulator's consultations with FPIs show that more and more people have begun coming directly as FPIs as the process has been made very simple.


Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and a number of other investors have shown keen interest in investing in India's infrastructure growth story, Arun Jaitley said in Tokyo on Sunday as he kicked off his 6-day visit to Japan aimed at attracting investments from Asia's second biggest economy.

After a meeting with Jaitley, SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son said he is also interested in Internet companies as well as solar energy sector, where he has already announced $20 billion investment through a joint venture.

"There are people who want to participate in the infrastructure growth story. For example, at the SoftBank meeting we just had, they are looking at one of the biggest investments in solar power already," Jaitley said after meeting Son. In June last year, Soft-Bank announced that the group was forming a joint venture with Bharti Enterprises and Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group to invest about $20 billion in renew able energy in India. The JV would aim to generate 20 gigawatts of electricity.

They have made considerable headway and have identified the location. It will probably be one of the largest investment in those areas, Jaitley said. The Japanese telecom and Internet giant has made a string of tech investments in India, amounting to $2 billion in the past two years.

"SoftBank is looking at accelerating the pace of investments in the future. India has a great future... We are interested in investing for Internet companies, also for solar energy. We would make a strong commitment," Son said. He had previously said that India's market is poised for massive growth, making it an important destination for investors. SoftBank's investments in the past two years include $627 million in online-retailing marketplace Snapdeal and leading a $210 million funding round in taxi-hailing app Ola Cabs.

It also paid $200 million for a 35 per cent stake in InMobi, an Indian mobileadvertising network, starting in 2011. Soft-Bank also has a JV with Bharti Group, Bharti SoftBank, the investments of which include the mobile application Hike Messenger.

Its other investments include real-estate website Housing.com, hotel-booking app Oyo Rooms and Grofers. Son had previously predicted that India's e-commerce industry would become a $500 billion business in the next 10 years.

SoftBank, which owns one of Japan's biggest mobile carriers and a controlling stake in US-based Sprint Corp, has been moving quickly to expand its Internet and media holdings. As the largest shareholder in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, the Chinese e-commerce company, SoftBank has ample resources to deploy for acquisitions.

During the visit, Jaitley will also call on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday. He will also attend the 22nd International Conference on 'The Future of Asia' organised by Nikkei Inc.

Jaitley will on Tuesday meet Osamu Suzuki, Chairman of Suzuki Motor, the biggest Japanese investor in automobile sector in India. He will also participate in 'The Future of Asia' conference and in the afternoon will deliver keynote address at the roundtable on National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).

The government is looking at attracting investors to the Rs 40,000-crore NIIF, which is an investment vehicle for funding commercially viable greenfield, brown-field and stalled projects. It will have 49 per cent holding in NIIF and the rest is expected to come private investors.
On the walls of the grand old houses of this Balearic port which attracts millions of foreigners every year, a new kind of graffiti has flourished: "Tourists go home."

Although still a minority protest, it points to tensions in Palma de Mallorca and elsewhere in Spain over rising numbers of visitors who are propelling the economy but also disrupting the lives of locals and straining services from transport to water.

With tourism accounting for 12% of economic output and 16% of jobs, Spain can ill afford a backlash.

Long a popular beach destination, this year Spain is drawing record numbers of visitors who are shunning destinations where security is a concern, notably Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey.

The surge has helped the country recover from recession and alleviate a jobs crisis. But, for many Spaniards, the jump in tourism has a downside.

"They want to turn us into a theme park, a place you close the doors on at night because no-one lives there," said Luis Clar, who heads an association in the La Seu neighborhood of Palma de Mallorca, home to its main monuments.

Here the city council has recently banned parking near the sandstone cathedral, where vehicles on its sea-facing esplanade were deemed an eyesore.

But losing that parking space has forced many families living in the area's narrow alleys to park much further afield or spend hours circling, Clar said. Most streets are narrow and often filled with sightseers. One couple had recently left the area as a result, Clar said.

In the Balearics off Spain's eastern Mediterranean coast, nearly a third of employment depends on the sector. It accounts for nearly half the economic output, more than in any other region. The local economy has just recovered to its pre-crisis level after a five-year downturn.

Yet unease over the boom is spreading among the population.

In drought-prone island Ibiza water reserves are getting tight and in rural Menorca fears are mounting that natural beauty-spots risk being spoiled.

On one day last August, the population across the Balearics nearly doubled, reaching a record 2 million.

The latest data from March shows visitors to the archipelago were up nearly 50% from 2015 in that month alone, swelled by arrivals from Britain in particular. All-inclusive holidays for the peak summer months are selling out.

In Palma, residents know there are days to avoid the city center, especially when cruise ships carrying thousands of passengers mass in the harbor, and some worry entire neighborhoods will turn into holiday lets.

Similar concerns led to angry protests in Barcelona two years ago, where residents in beachfront areas rallied against the rise in drunk and disorderly holidaymakers that coincided with a blossoming trade in tourist apartments.

For Gaspar Alomar, a temporary worker in a bookshop in one of Palma's medieval quarters, the recent spate of anti-tourist graffiti in the city has at least appeared to stoke a debate over whether this type of growth is desirable.

"The resources we have are finite, it's logical that there should be a finite number of people coming," 30-year-old Alomar said. "If we build our whole economy around tourism we'll have nothing to hold onto if trends change, in the long run it's not sustainable."

In some respects local authorities are leaning if not towards limiting tourism, at least towards controlling it.

Next year the smallest of the Balearics' four main islands, Formentera, could introduce taxes on cars entering the area, and the region is looking into capping accommodation for tourists, said Biel Barcelo, the local tourism minister.

In July, the left-wing government in charge of the archipelago since 2015 will bring in a tourism tax of up to 2 euros for overnight stays, though measures such as these have also sparked an outcry among travel firms and hoteliers.

"We already live well enough from tourism - we should not be demanding a top-up," said Monica Garcia, a worker at the small Ritzi guesthouse in central Palma.

Hotel groups have warned it could hurt revenues in the long run, and dismay at any attempts to curb tourism is also evident among many people who depend on the trade in Mallorca, from taxi drivers to souvenir sellers.

Barcelo argued improved regulation and planning - from more efforts to attract visitors out of season to better management of the glut of visitors disembarking all at once from cruise ships - would help protect the industry from the risk of a backlash if residents become overwhelmed.

The tax, he said, aims to raise between 50 million and 70 million euros a year mainly for environmental projects.

"The tourism sector should be the first to want to ensure there is no backlash," Barcelo said. "We want to keep living off tourism and we need to make it sustainable for the next 30 or 40 years." (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie
A new study by Linkedin has found that half (50%) of Irish workers surveyed werent confident that they could effectively describe their achievements if they stumbled across their dream employer.



The survey also found that nearly all (97%) of Irish workers surveyed understand that making a good first impression is important during the application process. Sixty-four percent of recruitment decision makers always look at a candidates LinkedIn profile and almost half (42%) make a judgement based on a candidates online presence.



Furthermore, 55% agree the impression you make online is just as important as the one you make in person and more than three-quarters (78%) believe its difficult to overcome a bad first impression.



This is despite the fact that almost two-thirds (64%) of Irish workers didnt think about their online persona before starting their current role.



The study indicates that Irelands lack of confidence in talking about work achievements may stem from a fear of bragging that over 55% of Irish workers feel when talking about their professional success.

The Irish workforces fear of putting the head above the parapet may hurt their wallets as over 63% agree that it is important to let senior staff members know about professional achievements in order to get a pay rise or promotion.



Head of Global Consumer Communications at LinkedIn, Darain Faraz says, "Our research shows that half of Irish workers arent confident they could effectively describe their achievements if they stumbled across their dream employer."

He added, "Even doing simple things like updating a LinkedIn profile to include experience, and adding an image, will give you up to 21 times more views and make it easier to land that dream job."

Source: www.businessworld.ie
A report released by Deloitte indicates that employees in Irelands customer contact centres are serving customers across the globe and the demand for talent in the sector is set to grow over the coming years.



Ireland is an important global hub for customer service talent, stretching worldwide with respondents supporting customers in Ireland (92%), the UK (52%), Western Europe (37%), Eastern Europe (27%), US & Canada (22%), Africa (15%), Asia Pacific (17%) and Latin America (9%).



Fifty five per cent of respondents indicated they will increase the number of customer contact employee in the next two years.



The report shows that career advancement and investing in people are central to attracting and retaining customer contact talent, while language and technical skills are the key drivers of external recruitment.

The lead time for recruiting multi-lingual staff is longer than that for English only speakers with German and Dutch speakers the hardest to come by in the Irish market requiring almost seven weeks lead time.

Executives surveyed highlighted work permit processing time as the single biggest challenge when recruiting people from abroad. An additional challenge brought to light in the survey is the housing crisis. Although not one of the key reasons, 4% of survey respondents indicated access to affordable housing as an issue for attrition.



Cormac Hughes, Partner, Human Capital, Consulting at Deloitte said, "These results highlight the important role customer contact centres in Ireland are playing in the Irish and the global markets today. With respondents expecting a decrease in outsourcing, the talent pool in Ireland will become increasingly important as the sector grows. The shift in customer demands when it comes to customer services will require the need for additional technical skills."

He added, "The growth of the global market for Irish customer contact centres will continue to demand high language skills from talent in Ireland. As many organisations compete for talent within the same pool in locations such as Dublin and Cork, companies need to start looking beyond these areas for the right people to fill the roles."

Source: www.businessworld.ie

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A new report released by PWC today indicates that 83% of Irish Financial Services Firms fear that over a fifth of their business is at risk from FinTechs.

Furthermore, a quarter fear they will lose over 20% of their business. At the same time, more Irish respondents (69%) confirm that they are putting FinTech at the heart of their strategy compared to global respondents (60%).

The report examined the rise of new technologies in the financial services (FS) sector and their impact on market players. It found that investment in FinTech globally is estimated to exceed US$150 billion within the next 3-5 years.

The survey shows the extent of the pressure from FinTech companies  45% of Irish Financial institutions expect that up to 20% of their business is at risk to Fintech companies in the next 5 years with a further 25% believing the proposition of their business at risk will be higher than that.

The global results are marginally more conservative in this area but highlight the potential impact that Fintech may have on traditional Financial Institutions and the sector in general.

Over two-thirds (69%) of Irish FS companies ranked pressure on profit margins as the top FinTech-related threat, followed by loss of market share (65%).

Fintechs can apply margin pressures on traditional Financial institutions as they have the agility to be flexible and innovative in the development of their operating model utilising lower costs models such as cloud based platforms.

This reduction in development costs and on going infrastructure support allows these companies to run on a significantly lower operating cost and is putting pressure on more established financial institutions.

Asked what challenges they face in dealing with FinTech companies, over half (58%) of traditional Irish FS firms cited IT security followed by regulatory uncertainty (50%) and differences in business models (50%).

In the case of FinTech companies, regulatory uncertainty (69%) was the top concern when dealing with traditional FS firms, followed by IT security (54%) and differences in management culture (38%).

FinTech Leader at PwC Ireland, John Murphy says, "FinTech is transforming the FS industry across all sectors. PwC estimates within the next 3-5 years, cumulative investment in FinTech globally could well exceed $150bn, and financial institutions and tech companies are vying with one another for a chance to get part of the action."

He added, "As the lines between traditional finance, technology firms and telecom companies are blurring, many innovative solutions are emerging and there is clearly no straightforward solution to navigate this FinTech world."



Source: www.businessworld.ie

About us
Cafebabel is recruiting! Native English-speaking Editorial Liaison for a network of journalists

Published on March 17, 2017

Story by cafebabel DE

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It's been a while since this position has been vacant, and now we're looking for a young, energetic and creative native English speaker to fill it. Apply before the 2nd April 2017 if you think you have what it takes!

Cafebabel is Europe's first online participatory media, now over 15 years old. Its publication is maintained by a highly motivated network of around 1,500 volunteers from all over Europe and boasts a professional editorial team based in Paris. The goal of the magazine is to offer a platform for civic expression to young Europeans and to promote the development of a European public opinion.

Cafebabel is a project run by Babel International, a not-for-profit organisation. Babel International organises debates, training sessions and reporting excursions all over Europe, runs cafebabel and supports a team of volunteers throughout the continent.

We are hiring one native English speaker (mandatory) to the role of Editorial Liaison for a "civic service" contract over a period of 10 months.

What does it mean to do a "civic service" placement with Cafebabel?

"Civic service" is a programme run by the French government, which is one step up from an internship. 18- to 25-year-olds can work with an organisation to carry out a mission in the public interest. Cafebabels mission is to promote European citizenship, and to offer a platform for young Europeans to express themselves through participatory journalism.

This non-renewable, 10-month contract is open to all candidates, regardless of education or experience. The only pre-requisite is that you must be a native English speaker.*

In order to be eligible for a civic service contract, you must be younger than 26 (born after 8 May 1991) and hold European citizenship and/or have a French titre de sejour allowing you to complete a "civic service" contract. It is preferred that you also speak good French, as well as any of our other publication languages (Italian, Spanish, German or Polish).

Your profile

You are interested in news and different forms of online expression, you have strong connections with young people on different social networks, and you are interested in engaging with the first European online participatory media that lets young people across the continent speak their minds.

Under the supervision of the Editorial Coordinator, your tasks will include:

- Raising awareness of active citizenship and European issues: You will suggest articles aimed at a European youth audience, alongside encouraging young people to spontaneously pitch articles with a European perspective.

- Supporting the writing of our volunteer authors: You will support our young authors in their written work, proofreading their contributions, proposing improvements (such as sources and photos), and suggesting European angles for their pieces.

- Encouraging contributions from youth: You will publish the best articles on the cafebabel home page, while mobilising our network of translators to translate articles. You will promote published articles on social media platforms.

- Informing youth about news in Europe: You will contribute articles on themes related to youth and European citizenship. If the opportunity presents itself, you will participate in our reporting projects across Europe.

- Actively participating in the life of the network: You will actively participate in the organisation's activities (training sessions, events, debates, etc.).

Your contract and benefits

The position consists of a civic service contract lasting 10 months, 35 hours per week beginning on May 9 2017 in our Paris office.

Monthly indemnity and benefits:

472.97 net contributed by the French state.

450 as a housing supplement for volunteers living outside of Paris and Ile de France (with proof of address).

19 restaurant tickets per month (5,30 per ticket).

73 in travel expenses (Pass Navigo).

There is also a possibility of 100 per month for those with proof of "RSA" (minimum benefits provided by the French state)

Address: 226 rue Saint Denis, 75002, Paris, France

Interested? Apply Now!

Send your application (CV and cover letter in English) before April 2nd, 2017 to service.civique@cafebabel.com.

*Please note: This position is open to native English speakers only. We consider native English speakers as those born and/or raised in an English-speaking country. Applications from candidates not meeting this requirement will not be considered.

Story by cafebabel DE
My late uncle Sixto was an Army medic in New Guinea during World War II. Like thousands of other Americans who have served, his military service had been the defining event in his life.

When I was young and our families would go camping, he would say, "This is the way we did it on New Guinea." He had an Army-surplus hammock with mosquito netting. "This is how we slept on New Guinea." Other uncles had served in Europe during World War II and in Korea.

I, too, am privileged to be a veteran. But I thought of my uncles and all the Americans who had fought in World War II as the real veterans in our family. I had been in Vietnam, but they had saved the world.

What does it mean to be a veteran on this Memorial Day weekend? To me, it means that veterans of every era are in communion with all the American men and women who have served in all services and in all eras.

Every person who has or is wearing the uniform of this country has his or her own unique experience. Every one's service in part reflects the nation's history at the time, whether it was my uncles' World War II years, my service in a draft Army or today's volunteer force.

I think that being a veteran carries a great responsibility. That responsibility, I believe, is to uphold our American principles, the principles of fairness, of equality, of citizenship.

When we see veterans living on the streets homeless, we must say, "That is simply wrong." Any American who has served deserves better than to live on the streets.

When we hear about long wait times for our comrades who need medical care, we say, "This must be made right." Our nation is better than this.

Wearing the uniform means taking an oath to defend the Constitution. To me, that means defending our rights as Americans.

If hundreds of thousands of citizens find new obstacles to voting, as I believe Texas' voter ID law creates, then I believe it must be removed.

Federal Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, of Corpus Christi, found that the voter ID law potentially affects the voting privileges of about 600,000 citizens, mostly the elderly and of Hispanic and black Americans. A panel of three judges of 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld her ruling. And yet that law still stands. It must be removed.

That belief in individual rights means we must stand up and be counted when immigrant children are denied their right to access to education.

The Associated Press recently found that at least 35 school districts in 14 states discourage hundreds of unaccompanied minors from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras from enrolling in schools. This is being done despite the fact that a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a case that originated out of Texas said that children cannot be denied a free public education regardless of their immigration status.

One era of U.S. veterans stormed Hitler's Atlantic wall. Another era stood united against the Soviet Union's Iron Curtain, another kind of wall. So when a presidential candidate speaks about building another wall across our southern border, we must recognize that idea of a wall between peoples is counter to and completely adverse to American principles of inclusiveness.

We must urge our congressional representatives to instead move, as difficult as this will be, toward a rewrite of immigration law that will embody the best of our heritage as a nation of immigrants.

And as veterans we must stand first in exercising our responsibilities as citizens. That means voting. That means demonstrating that voting is important and encouraging every American to vote.

I think that veterans have a special responsibility to make their voices heard on foreign policy. Less than 18 percent of the 114th Congress is made up of veterans. In the early '70s, almost 90 percent of the Congress had served. Less than 10 percent of the American public has served in the military.

In short, very few Americans, especially those who make foreign policy, have ever seen an American military force fully deployed in the field or at sea.

We live in a dangerous world. We depend on our armed forces to protect us in this world. But we must understand the full consequences of sending Americans into harm's way.

These are the responsibilities of all citizens, but I think these responsibilities fall particularly on veterans.

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. Of note: This is an edited version of a speech given before the Fifth Annual Scholarship Awards Banquet of the Dr. Hector P. Garcia American GI Forum Founders Chapter and Dr. Clotilde P. Garcia Chapter.
Caller-Times file The Lexington Museum on the Bay will host its Memorial Day 2016 at 2 p.m. Monday at 2914 N Shoreline Blvd.

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MONDAY

FAMILY: South Shore Christian Church, 4710 Alameda St., will host a Memorial Day Play Day fun and lunch for elementary and middle school kids from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, May 30. Cost: Free. Information: 361-992-6391, southshorecc.org.

MILITARY: Seaside Memorial Park and Funeral Home will host its annual Memorial Day Celebration at 1 p.m. Monday, May 30. Special guests include Mayor Nelda Martinez and Corpus Christi Police Chief Mark Markle. Cost: Free. Information: 361-992-9411.

MILITARY: The city of Rockport will host its 31st annual Memorial Day Observance at 1 p.m. Monday, May 30, at Veterans Memorial Park on Austin Street. Cost: Free. Information: 361-790-1136.

MILITARY: The Lexington Museum on the Bay will host its Memorial Day 2016 at 2 p.m. at 2914 N Shoreline Blvd. Congressman Blake Farenthold will be the guest speaker. Information: www.usslexington.com.

TUESDAY

CONCERT: Clint Black will perform Tuesday, May 31, at Whataburger Field. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets will go on sale Feb. 19. Cost: $30. Information: 361-882-1741.

AUTOMOBILE: AutoCheck Tailpipe Tuesday will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Tuesday, May 31, at the first entrance to Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi at end of Island Boulevard. In three to five minutes, AutoCheck measures harmful pollutants emitted from vehicles. If your vehicle is determined to be polluting, you may qualify for a voucher good for up to $600 in repairs. Cost: Free. Information: 361-825-3070.

OPEN HOUSE: The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center will host its open house from 5-7 p.m. at 5151 McArdle Road. Information: 361-993-1154, deafhhcenter.org
When is hurricane season? Here's what you need to know in South Texas
SHARE GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Vehicles drive past el Monumento a la Independencia at Paseo de la Reforma in downtown Mexico City. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Vehicles drive past el Monumento a la Independencia at Paseo de la Reforma in downtown Mexico City. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Dancers practice their movements next to the Monumento a la Revolucion in Mexico City. GABE HERNANDEZ/CALLER-TIMES Fresh tortillas are made at a tortilleria in Mexico City. Restaurants and families gather outside the shop to buy from the tortilleria.

By Gabe Hernandez of the Caller-Times

As a photographer, I enjoy using the camera on my phone to do street photography and capture moments from a different perspective.

Mexico City's streets were a perfect opportunity to document a city through Instagram photos. I had a chance to travel there to work on stories with a co-worker.

What I found? Urban life everywhere.

Streets filled with people cleaning, jogging and getting ready for their day at their shops.

The air was dry making the mornings fresh and not humid as it would be like in the Coastal Bend. Taxis pulled over to take a customer to their next stop. The metrobus allowed women and children to ride in the first cart to make them feel safe and secure, while men were sent to the second cart.

The reporter and I stayed at an apartment in the Condesa zone, which is an area known to be very hipster-friendly. Bars and restaurants were located almost on every block. I would hear the people at the bar below our apartment as they washed dishes and closed the shop down at 2 a.m.

Sometimes I would see the flashing red and blue lights from the police. When morning came, I would wake up to men yelling on the streets as they sold fresh milk and eggs. People would be cleaning the streets in front of their homes and business.

The apartment was between Parque Espana and Parque Mexico. I would see people jogging alone or in groups. Dog sitters walked as many as 15 dogs.

I remember seeing a homeless woman emptying a trash can to pull out clothes, food and anything else that she could use to sell or keep. I remember seeing a man sleeping on the ground next to an ad for a spa and thought how perfect the timing was to catch the juxtaposition.

Walking through the city makes you hungry, and I felt like every corner had a food stand. Tacos, chilaquiles, sandwiches and fruit cups are a cheap way to eat food on the run. The smell always caught my attention. Some restaurants flaunted their vertical rotisserie holding pork meat. The smell was amazing.

Tacos al pastor are one of the favorites. A small tortilla filled with marinated pork meat, topped with cilantro, onion and a small slice of pineapple.

Is your mouth watering now? Mine was.

Don't forget the green salsa with a splash of mango juice. Yes, please.

To get tacos, one needs tortillas. Well, tortillerias can be found all over the city. Fresh corn tortilla? Yes, please.

The streets are filled with life.

Dancers practiced belly dancing moves next to the Monumento a la Revolucion. Women set up their shops streetside to sell clothing, purses and home decor. Their children would sit next to them laughing and eating potato chips.

A group dressed in medieval outfits swung their swords while practicing Historical European Martial Arts, or HEMA, at the park. But don't let them catch you doing video of them. They want to keep their attacks a secret for the next competition.

After taking a tour of the Catedral Metropolitana de la Asuncion de la Santisima Virgen Maria a los cielos, we walked down the streets filled with people and stores that would make you think that you are shopping at the Mall of America. A person dressed up as El Chavo del Ocho would be seen waving at people. La Santa Muerte would be located at the entrance of a business at el Mercado de Artesanias de la Ciudadela.

We hailed for a cab and a young man in a pink-colored taxi cab stopped for us. The man was listening and moving to the beat of a song on his cellphone and I said to myself "This is the song that will be stuck in my head and how I remember my trip to Mexico."

As soon as I arrived at the Dallas airport I looked for the song to see what it was. Surprise, the song was Justin Bieber's "Where are you Now."

I swear the man had the song on repeat.

Mexico City has many stories and is rich in history. I met many people that enjoyed living in the city, and I am glad I had the opportunity to capture life in the city, even so simply with a camera on a phone.
Contributed photo Devon Cacy is seen with his wife Leslie Cacy, 28, who died Saturday in a Colorado train accident.

SHARE Contributed photo Devon Cacy is seen with his wife Leslie Cacy, 28, who died Saturday in a Colorado train accident.

By Natalia Contreras of the Caller-Times

Leslie Cacy, 28, loved to make people laugh and smile.

Cacy, known to her Ray High School alumni as Leslie Padilla, played the flute and saxophone.

She graduated in 2005.

In October she married Devon Cacy, whom she met aboard the Royal Gorge Route Railroad about eight years ago.

She and her husband lived in Canon City, Colorado.

Cacy, a conductor, died Saturday after she fell off the Royal Gorge train she was conducting in Fremont County, officials said.

"Leslie will always be my best friend. She was beautiful inside and out," said Aubrey Villarreal-Ortiz, who knew Cacy for 15 years. "She could always put a smile on my face in the worst times and make me laugh."

About 5 p.m. Fremont County deputies and medics in Colorado responded to the Royal Gorge Route Railroad, about 4 miles from the train station, when a witness called authorities after Cacy fell off the train and was struck.

The Royal Gorge Route train is an attraction in Canon City and it takes passengers under the Royal Gorge Bridge.

According to a Fremont County Sheriff's Office news release, Cacy was the conductor of the train, which was on its way back to the station. Cacy was at the rear of the train, as it was backing up to the station, standing in the door opening when she fell.

There were about 200 passengers on the train at the time, the release states.

No foul play was suspected, officials said.

Fremont County officials continue to investigate the incident and The National Transportation Safety Board was notified, the release states.

An autopsy is scheduled for next week.

A GoFundMe account has been created for Cacy's family https://www.gofundme.com/lesliecacy

Funeral services are pending.

Twitter: @CallerNatalia
Rachel Denny Clow/Caller-Times Liko (from left), Shadow, Kai and Schooner swim in a back pool at the Texas State Aquarium on Monday, May 2, 2016. Liko and Schooner are the two new dolphins at the aquarium.

SHARE Caller-Times file Students from Rosita Valley Elementary School in Eagle Pass view the dolphin exhibit from the underwater viewing area at the Texas State Aquarium in May 2007.

By Natalia Contreras of the Caller-Times

The boys are back in their bachelor pod.

Kai, Shadow, Liko and Schooner have full access again to play and splash around the entire Dolphin Bay habitat, Texas State Aquarium officials said Sunday.

According to a Texas State Aquarium news release, on May 22 a large pipe that supplied salt water to the Dolphin Bay habitat cracked and caused the exhibit space to lose water.

The Atlantic bottlenose dolphins were moved to the adjacent back pools of Dolphin Bay, officials said.

The exhibit was closed until the pipe was repaired.

After about six days, the affected pipe was repaired and other pipes in the Dolphin Bay water system were examined for similar issues and none were found, officials said.

Liko and Schooner, both 8-year-old male dolphins, came to the aquarium in January.

Kai, 21, and Shadow, 24, also males, have been the aquarium's superstars since 2006.

For more information, call the aquarium at 361-881-1200.

Twitter: @CallerNatalia
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Eliseo "Al" Cantu, Texas Veterans Commission chairman

Honoring those who gave ultimate sacrifice

Memorial Day is a heartfelt and patriotic day for American citizens. It is a day when all Americans, regardless of race, ethnicity, creed, ideologies or politics, gather together in memory of the sacrifices made by those who answered our nation's call.

It is our sacred responsibility to preserve the legacy of our nation's patriots. We are bound by honor to do so.

For without the courage and valor of our nation's veterans, the values and principles that have made it possible for Americans to meet new challenges and move forward as a nation would have been lost.

The freedoms that many Americans enjoy came neither cheaply nor easily. They were paid for with the sweat, flesh, and blood of brave American service members, along with the many tears of those whose lives were forever changed by the loss of a loved one.

Memorial Day is an opportunity to rededicate ourselves to our country and to America's veterans, their families, and survivors in honor of the sacrifices they have made. As we remember those who perished, we must also ensure those who served and returned receive proper care and compensation for their service, wounds, and disabilities.

We must vow that every veteran has an opportunity for gainful employment, educational prospects, and a home in which to live, love, and prosper. We must treat our veterans with the dignity and respect they have earned and deserve. The veterans of our nation have satisfied their obligations; it is our duty as Americans to honor the obligations owed to our nation's veterans.

The Texas Veterans Commission understands and appreciates the burdens and challenges of being a veteran.

This is the reason we remain dedicated to advocating for and providing superior service to all Texas veterans, their families, and survivors. It is what we believe in and what we strive to do every day.

On this Memorial Day, I charge all Texans to join us in a national moment of remembrance at 3 p.m. to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our nation and to remain committed to our veterans and those still serving, for they have presented us with our most valuable gift  the gift of freedom.
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Henry Hank Fletcher (Kilo 3/7 Vietnam '68) Alice, Texas

Remember the fallen on Memorial Day

Once in the year of 1968 on July 28, we were in a big battle for our lives: RDA, DLB, WMC, GLC, EJD, PLG, RGH, GSJ, DMK, JML, RCL, DEL, JCM(JR), CRM, ACP, RJR, JER, JRS, WSS, JJT and REU all lost their lives on that day. Most were under 20 years of age. It's always been hard for me not to have these Marines on my mind on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. My squad leader and our radio man were two of these 21 heroes. In this group there is a Medal of Honor recipient as well.

The lives that were lost are the ones we must remember on these two days, especially Memorial Day. War is not a game, it is for real and lives will be lost!
| BY Ricki Green |

George Weston Foods Limited is continuing the Free Range Bread campaign for the Abbotts Village Bakery brand, with the launch of a series of online films, created by BMF, documenting the volunteer scarecrows that protect the free range loaves.

The Free Range Bread story has proven to be a strong differentiator in the past, something thats critical for a challenger brand in a highly competitive category.

Raised with the utmost care and all the goodness you could ask for, Abbotts Village Bakery free range loaves are free from any artificial colours, flavours or preservatives and always roam free  the way it should be. The volunteer scarecrows further dramatise this in the next chapter of the story, which demonstrates how much care goes into raising our bread  free range.

Says Cam Blackley, executive creative director, BMF: Following up from the Free Range Bread work, we wanted to show that it takes a village to raise a loaf. The online environment is a great opportunity to delve into the gentle characters that take bread breeding so seriously.

Says Graeme Cutler, marketing and innovation director, Tip Top: We wanted to extend our distinctive Free Range World in order to strengthen the connection with our audience, and highlight the care and dedication that goes into each and every loaf. The Volunteer Scarecrows concept created by BMF, was the perfect way to continue the storytelling behind this master brand campaign.

The campaign launched across various paid digital media publishers and the Abbotts Village Bakery Facebook page, with a long form online film, two 30 and two 15 executions.

The digital and social strategy gives us greater ability to reach more consumers in a targeted and responsive way. Based on the chosen media  spanning paid and owned  BMF will retarget, test and optimise the most effective use of assets and the sequence of content and messaging across the audiences.

Executive Creative Director: Cam Blackley

Creative Team: Dantie Van Der Merwe, David Fraser, Harry Neville Towle and James Sexton

Executive Planning Director: Christina Aventi

Head of Digital and CRM Strategy: Irina Hayward

Senior Strategic Planner: Emily Field

Social and Content Strategist: Gabriella Singh

Managing Director: Steve McArdle

Group Account Director: Kura Tyerman

Senior Account Director: Aisling Colley

Account Manager: Kimberly Ngo

Agency Producer: Esta Lau

Production Company: Rabbit Content

Director: Abe Forsythe

Executive Producers: Alexandra Hay and Lucas Jenner

Producer: Alexandra Hay

DOP: Katie Milwright

Editor: Drew Thompson @ ARC Edit

VFX Supervisor: Jesse Bradstreet @ Alt VFX

VFX Supervisor/Flame: Jay Hawkins @ Alt VFX

Senior Producer: Dawn Walker @ Alt VFX

Animations: Robbie Reid, Stephanie Tomoana and Chris Rentoul @ Alt VFX

Lighting: Anna Hilding @ Alt VFX

Compositing: Tim Parsons @ Alt VFX

Music: Lukas Farry @ Otis Studios

Sound: Tone Aston @ Rumble Studios

Client

Marketing and Innovation Director: Graeme Cutler

Group Marketing Manager: Justine Cotter
| BY Ricki Green |

Isobar and the city of Bendigo have just this morning launched a free app that celebrates the work of acclaimed architect William Charles Vahland.

The Vahlands Bendigo app uses Apples iBeacon technology to guide users to locations of Vahlands work in central Bendigo.

It features photos and information about Bendigos most iconic places, designed by Vahland, including the Bendigo Town Hall, Bendigo Art Gallery, The Capital Theatre, the Rifle Brigade Hotel and The Alexandra Fountain.

The German migrant also nurtured the idea of the great Australian dream. He is thought to have designed a number of homes called Vahland Villas and developed a loan scheme to help people move out of tents and work towards owning their own home. Today, that loan scheme is better known as the Bendigo Bank.

Bendigo City strategy manager, Trevor Budge, said the app aimed to encourage people to explore and celebrate the legacy of Vahland.

Says Budge: We believe the City is the first Council in Victoria to use beacon technology to celebrate its heritage buildings and their significance.

We hope that it provides an interesting and useful resource for visitors and residents to learn more about some of Bendigos most familiar sights.

Says Konrad Spilva, CEO, Isobar Group: We believe technology has a strong role to play in the celebration of culture and history in Australia particularly in rural and regional Australia, which tend to be under represented in both technology and design.
| BY Ricki Green |

ING Direct has launched its new national advertising campaign via VCCP Sydney, with four customers starring alongside brand ambassador Isla Fisher, bringing to life the experience of banking with ING Direct.

The latest campaign builds on the success of the ING Directs how banking can be brand platform which launched in June last year, featuring Isla Fisher and prompting Australians to question their banking experience.

Says John Arnott, executive director of customers, ING Direct: Weve had a great response to Ms Fisher as our brand ambassador and she has played a major role in both raising brand awareness and driving business growth.

Last year our campaign focused on our industry-leading customer advocacy, inviting customers to share their stories and experience of banking with ING Direct. The response was overwhelming, and this year weve been able to take it up a level and give our customers a starring role alongside Ms Fisher, who seems to be struggling with sharing the spotlight.

In 2015, 27,000 customers shared their stories as part of the brand campaign and publicly rated the bank, with 96 per cent sharing positive reviews resulting in an average rating of 4.2/5.

To date, the above the line campaign with Fisher has not only increased brand awareness, but has shifted familiarity and consideration to their highest levels and doubled customer growth.

The latest phase of the brand campaign sees customers bringing to life the benefits of banking with ING Direct, including use of any ATM across the country for free, no everyday account fees, a range of simple, transparent products and 24/7 Australian-based customer care.

The four customers starring in the advertising campaign have been banking with ING Direct from between two and 16 years. They were also selected based on their acting experience.

Says David Kennedy-Cosgrove, managing partner, VCCP Sydney: Following on 2015s success, this chapter heroes real customers demonstrating how banking can be with ING Direct. The story that unfolds sees Isla get a little too jealous of their brilliant performances, reacting with Hollywood levels of divaism. VCCP is incredibly proud to be part of a team that sets an alternative tone in popular culture, showing that banking doesnt have to be too serious.

Says Ross Raeburn, CEO, UM: Were excited and proud to be part of the ING Direct team, building on the momentum and success of 2015. We continue to analyse, optimise and collaborate, to unearth smart data-fuelled opportunities to bring the campaign to life.

The above the line campaign includes television, cinema and digital.

Agency: VCCP Sydney

Creative Directors: Andrew Fraser, Salvatore Gullifa and Dean Hunt

Agency Producer: Amanda Collins

Strategy Director: Michele ONeill

Group Account Director: Kim Ellis

Designer: Sean Davitt, VCCP Sydney

Co-writers: Isla Fisher and Ant Hines

Production Company: Goodoil

Director: Fiona McGee

Production Producer: Claire Richards

Photographer: Ingvar Kenne

Offline: Tim Parrington, The Butchery

Online: The Editors

Sound: Nylon
When planning a bachelorette party, the key focus should be fun. And whether the party is a surprise for the bride-to-be or you're consulting with her along the way, you want to make sure that her best interests are always met.We spoke with wedding planner Barb Derbyshire from A Moment Like This and asked her about the latest and most popular trends to keep in mind when planning a memorable bachelorette party. She suggests that while it's important to have everyone's interests in mind, "making sure the bride is happy is the key component of the planning process."Here are seven ideas to help you plan a fantastic and memorable bachelorette party that everyone will enjoy.If the bride is an oenophile and has an appreciation for how wines are made, planning a tour to a winery would be an amazing experience  especially if she has never visited one before. Instead of drinks at a lounge, wine tasting tours offer a classic twist to an elegant-themed bachelorette party that everyone on board will enjoy. Check with your local wineries for tour options and accommodations.While slumber parties and girls weekend getaways are still popular options for bachelorette parties, some ladies prefer organizing a casino night where they can play games, gamble and have fun. After all, the casino is not just for bachelors!But there's one thing Derbyshire says you should always be cautious about if you choose this route  your budget. "I hate to be the Grinch, but bridesmaids need to be realistic when planning the bachelorette party," Derbyshire warns. "I've had to reign in some overly enthusiastic planners in order to prevent a financial disaster ." So, keep the fun factor in mind, but be cautious with your money and decide how much you're all willing to spend, ahead of time.Tired of the standard bachelorette party at a spa? If you and your other bridesmaids want to be more original, why not attend a belly dancing class, or better yet, a confidence-boosting pole dancing group session? If it's something you always wanted to try out, this might be the perfect time to do so. If you're planning it as a surprise for the bride, however, you will want to make sure you are on the same page. "The last thing you want at a bachelorette party is a bride who is uncomfortable and not enjoying herself," Derbyshire says. "On the flip side, if the bride is someone who is a go-for-anything kind of gal, then by all means, bridesmaids should take charge and make all of the decisions.""Gone are the days when bar-hopping was the only choice for a bachelorette party," Derbyshire says, adding that karaoke nights have become popular options for ladies looking to have a fun time. After all, "bridesmaids want to make the bachelorette party memorable and different  an event that the bride-to-be will never forget," she says. And what's more memorable than a night spent belting out your favourite tunes?With busy schedules and preparations for the big day , planning a bachelorette party can be complicated. A catered dinner at home is the perfect option for a time-crunched bridal party. For a more memorable night, consider making it a classy affair  have plenty of champagne on hand and get everyone to dress up in pretty outfits  complete with fascinators If the bride loves nature and enjoys being outdoors, Derbyshire suggests anything from camping to zip lining to river rafting, and even a hot-air balloon ride. The possibilities are endless and there is plenty to choose from, depending on your timeframe and budget. However, just remember the event isn't about you  always ensure the bride's wishes are top of mind because the last thing you want is for this to be a negative experience for her.If you want a party that's sexier (and one that doesn't involve strippers), a lingerie party might be the right fit for the group. Similar to passion or trunk parties , lingerie parties allow guest to try on different lingerie pieces and purchase the ones they want at discounted prices. A hostess from the company usually leads the party, while attendees play fun games, snack on their favourite foods and enjoy each other's company.For more useful wedding tips inspiration and advice, check out our special weddings feature page
Under Monday's announcement, the former member for Eden-Monaro - who was ousted from office during 2013 by the incumbent Liberal MP Dr Peter Hendy - said $2 million would be spent on studies into the duplication of Pialligo Avenue from Queanbeyan to the airport.
"Master Builders represents about a third of these, so the real number for Master Builders is closer to one serious claim every two months. That's still unacceptable, but it's a far cry from 43 a month."
"We are not alone in this as we are part of a global economy and we don't have to rely on Australian experts alone, we can draw on people from overseas and do that quite quickly."
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.
After announcing a sub-Ateca SUV last week, Seat will continue their foray into the segment with an even smaller vehicle.



According to Automarket, the brands third SUV will share the same platform with the VW Groups city car trio: VW Up!, Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii, and may bring back the Marbella moniker, which was previously used throughout the 80s and 90s on Seatss Fiat Panda-based hatch, succeeded by the Arosa.

Seat is said to launch the new Marbella with a choice of petrol powertrains and an all-electric motor. The electric model will have a driving range of up to 200 km (124 miles) and will be available only through a lease-like system, with the automakers dealers accepting an initial deposit and monthly payments that will cover maintenance and insurance. As Seat continues to improve the batteries, owners will be given the choice to trade their car with a new one, at the end of the contract, while the old vehicle will be re-rented.

In addition to the Marbella story, the same report says that this years edition of the Paris Motor Show will host the debut of a new generation Seat Ibiza, which will be underpinned by the MQB platform. The superminis design will mirror that of the Ateca and will go on sale in a years time. In 2017, the Spanish brand will also roll out a facelifted version of the Leon and the vehicle family is expected to count two more versions of the recently launched Ateca: the sportier FR and a more rugged X-Perience, with plastic body cladding.

Note: Seat 20v20 Concept pictured

PHOTO GALLERY
The beleaguered group is determined to put the emissions scandal behind and to invest billions of euros in the construction of a battery factory.



Citing insider sources, German newspaper Handelsblatt reports that the plant will allow the automaker to operate independently of Asian firms such as Samsung, LG and Panasonic, which have been dominating the battery market and will help the company make a fresh start and improve its image.

We want to launch a major initiative, one that will put us at the top of the industry, commented a VW insider who is said to be familiar with the plans.

The heads of the VW Group are willing to accept the plan and if the facility will indeed get the thumbs up, it will supply batteries to no less than 20 electrified vehicles that are expected to be rolled off by the automaker by the end of the decade.

It remains unclear where Volkswagens battery factory will be located, but there are limited options when it comes to Europe due to the tough environmental legislation.

Tesla Motors have chosen Nevada to build their Gigafactory in partnership with Panasonic Corporation, and the plant is going to become operational by the end of this year.

H/T to Electrek

Note: VW BUDD-e Concept pictured

PHOTO GALLERY
Photo: Contributed

How do I save to The Cloud?

An earlier column explained a little bit about The Cloud: http://rlis.com/columns/column498.htm.

Thats nice, Cate, but how do I use it? I hear you say.

Theres more than one Cloud. We talk about The Cloud as if its one thing, but there are lots of Clouds. Apple maintains iCloud. Google has its own Clouds. There is the Dropbox Cloud and there is OneDrive from Microsoft. In some ways it would be nice if there were just one big place to store stuff. And you can do it that way if you want: Pick a Cloud and only use that one.

But the fact is each of those services has its own strengths and weaknesses. Thats why having a choice is a good thing. When choosing where to put something I have two rules of thumb:

Do not store sensitive information in The Cloud. Any Cloud. If you wouldnt want your mother or the president of the United States to have access to something, dont store it online.

Do not store the only version of something important in just one place, whether online or locally.

How do you sue it? youre still saying, only this time louder.

You save a file to The Cloud pretty much the same way you save it to your computer.

Saving a document or a photo or any kind of file to Dropbox is straightforward. Install Dropbox on your computer. Create an account or sign in to your existing one. If youve already created a file, drag it into Dropbox. When you create a new file use Save as to navigate to your Dropbox. When you edit that file on your computer it will sync with the Dropbox Cloud and the newest version will be available to you wherever you access Dropbox.

Saving to OneDrive is just as easy if you are already using Windows 10 and Office 2013 or 2016. You already have OneDrive. Drag stuff or Save as in the same way as you did to Dropbox. If you are running Windows 7 you can install the OneDrive app on your PC to accomplish the same thing.

If you dont want to install Dropbox or OneDrive, or if youre working on someone elses computer, use the web-based version of those services. You can access your stuff and you can upload more stuff

Google drive works the same way. You can install the app or simply use the web-based version.

Now, you know that saving something to The Cloud is easy. Well talk about sharing in a future column.



How do I change my start page in Microsoft Edge?

What an unfortunate piece of junk the new browser in Windows 10 turns out to be. It looks like it was bolted together. Its a good thing we can always install another browser like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. Or that we can bring back Internet Explorer if we miss the original crappy browser from Microsoft.

That said, if you enjoy living on the edge (See what I did there?) youre probably wondering how you can ditch that ridiculous MSN page that opens up every time you fire up Edge. Well, its not as simple as changing that page in a real browser, but it can be done.

Open Edge

Click on the 3 dots in the top right corner

Click on Settings

Under Open with select A specific set of pages

Select Custom

In the field below, type in the URL for whatever page you want, perhaps http://castanet.net/

Click on the + to Add the site

If you change your mind or if there are already sites there you dont want, click on the x to remove them. Heres a link to the official Microsoft Edge page which explains none of that: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-get-to-know-microsoft-edge-cortana

Whats up with the Great Cycle Challenge?

Im glad you asked! Were still raising money to help kids with cancer. This week is when I get to start counting the kilometres toward the Challenge. If youd like to help you can sponsor me by following this link: https://greatcyclechallenge.ca/Riders/CateEales. Any amount is appreciated!

Do you need help with your computer? I'm here to help you and your home or business computer get along!

Cate Eales runs Computer Care Kelowna (http://computercarekelowna.com/) a mobile service helping home users and businesses get along with their computers. To arrange an appointment phone her at 250-764-7043. Cate also welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send email to [email protected]

You can read previous columns here: http://rlis.com/column.htm. If you'd like to subscribe to this column by email, please visit this link: http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=20618.

Links

The Cloud Explained http://rlis.com/columns/column498.htm

Get to know Microsoft Edge http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-get-to-know-microsoft-edge-cortana

Sponsor Cate in the Great Cycle Challenge https://greatcyclechallenge.ca/Riders/CateEales

Computer Care Kelowna http://computercarekelowna.com/

Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archives http://rlis.com/column.htm

Get Cate's column by email http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=20618

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: RCMP

Kamloops RCMP are seeking the public's help in finding a missing woman.

Police are looking for Kirsten Eddy.

Eddy is a Caucasian female, 21 years old, 5'5" tall, 140 pounds with shoulder length brown/black hair.

Police are concerned for Eddy's well-being and would like to speak with her.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Eddy is requested to contact their local police or call CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Air Koryo is an airline run by the North Korean government, and it's consistently rated as the worst airline in the world. In fact, it's the only airline with a one-star rating on airline-review site Skytrax.
The Central Okanagan will be the centre of culture for the launch of B.C. Culture Days in September.



Westbank First Nation, the City of West Kelowna and Peachland Community Arts Council are partnering to host the provincial launch Sept. 30.

"The goal of Westside Culture Days is not just to provide an event where people can spend some time, but an event where people can connect, engage and empower. Learning something new, learning they could do something they didnt think they could, learning that our life here on the Westside is something to be celebrated, because our community and our attitudes are special. We are a bridging community, a world that exists between and within two cultures, and this is what pervades our consciousness and facilitates our partnerships. These are the attitudes that built our arts council," said spokesperson Julia Trops.



The Westside ranked No. 1 across Canada last year in its population category for most activities, earning it the right to host the provincial kickoff. a



Each year, Culture Days offers a weekend of free activities to discover the world of artists, creators, designers, curators and other creative people in their communities.



The launch will include performances, workshops and other activities. It will take place at the Rotary and Westbank First Nation public beaches, or at Sensisyusten School in case of inclement weather.



For more information, email [email protected] or visit BC.CultureDays.ca.
Cold and unsettled weather that blew in with the long weekend finally seems to have passed.

But not without one last punch Sunday evening that brought strong winds and even hail to parts of the Okanagan.

Travellers on Highway 97C were met with thunder, lightning and heavy rain between Merritt and West Kelowna. At the Merritt Visitors Information Centre, dime-sized hail covered the parking lot about 4 p.m.

Meanwhile, waves crashed on Okanagan Lake and trees swayed violently in the wind.

Despite the turbulent weekend, residents woke to sunshine, Monday.

A high of 22 C is forecast today, and temperatures are expected to reach 28 C on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday will see a chance showers, with a mix of sun and cloud for Friday and a high of 28 C.

By the weekend, we're back into the thirties, with a forecast high of 33 C on Saturday and 34 C on Sunday.

Last weeks cool temperatures and rain helped with the fire danger rating. It dropped from high to very low or low in the Central Okanagan. While some areas are still rated moderate, the majority of the Southern Interior is now rated at low risk.
Photo: Contributed

UPDATED: 1:10 p.m.

The folks up at Big White have a strange search on their hands.

They are desperately seeking one or more people who play the alpenhorn for the ski resort float in the Fat Cat Childrens Festival on June 11.

Perhaps best known for its role in the Ricola commercial, the highly recognizable "alpine horn" was once used for communication in mountainous regions.

I am sure we should be able to find someone in the Central Okanagan that plays one of these bad boys, said Big White vice-president Michael J. Ballingall.

The resort's Kristian de Pont said Big White's float is being imagined as an alpine scene with wildflowers. The alpenhorn would be the centrepiece.

Big White had a float in the Fat Cat parade last year, but wants to one-up itself this time around.

"We're trying to do it bigger and better," said de Pont, adding the resort is offering a "treat" to whoever can point them toward an alpenhornist.

They've already put in a call with Okanagan Symphony Orchestra.

If you or someone you know plays the alpenhorn, contact de Pont at 250-491-6170 or [email protected]
Photo: Contributed

RCMP are confirming the arrest of Jayne Heideck who was wanted in connection with an arson in Quebec.

Const. Jesse ODonaghey says Heideck remains in custody at the Kelowna detachment following her arrest at about 10 a.m. Monday.

The arrest took place in the 3100 block of Lakeshore Drive.

Montreal police issued the arrest warrant for Heideck after an arson fire at Canadas only gender confirmation clinic.

The Centre Metropolitain de Chirurgie caught fire at 8:45 p.m. on May 2. Police originally investigated the possibility of a hate crime, but have since ruled that motive out.

Kelowna police are working with officers in Montreal.
Photo: Mike Volkwyn

UPDATE: 2:50 p.m.

A victim of Sunday night's drug-fuelled crash wants people to know the driver sent his children to hospital.

According to the dad, he, his wife, his two-year-old son and one-year-old daughter were sitting in their SUV at the red light when, out-of-nowhere, they were struck from behind.

We got hit pretty hard, says the dad, who asked not to be identified.

The guy came in, no brakes or attempts to stop or nothing, going 80 or 90 km/h and hit us. He side-swiped two cars in the left lane and then hit us in right lane, then bounced into a camper and pushed the camper forward 20 feet.

He says his family was hit so hard that their car was pushed into the car ahead of him and then pushed into the other lane.

We got bounced 30 feet off to right and hit the car in front of us, so we ended up in the right turning lane.

The dad says he didn't even see the accident coming.

We were stopped at the light and the first thing I heard was my own back window getting popped out. I couldn't even steer because the whole back axel was torn off our Jeep  it was crazy, just totally crazy.

While he was too focused on his children's well-being to confront the driver, he says he heard another driver yelling at the man that it was all his fault.

The father says his family is suffering from non-life-threatening injuries, but feeling the effects, as there are several cases of whiplash, but no broken bones.

ORIGINAL

A total of eight vehicles were involved in a pileup Sunday afternoon, that sent two individuals to hospital and one man to a jail cell.

On May 29 at 12:25 p.m., Kelowna RCMP responded to a report of pileup on Highway 97 near the intersection of McCurdy Road.

According to Const. Jesse ODonaghey, police have determined from witnesses at the scene, that the driver of a blue Ford Explorer was travelling south down the centre of the highway at a high rate of speed.

The driver of the Explorer, who reportedly did not make any attempts to slow or stop, sideswiped and rear ended a total of seven other vehicles, all of which were stopped at a red light at the intersection of McCurdy Road and Highway 97.

A witness at the scene immediately stopped to check on the driver of the Ford Explorer who appeared 'out of it.' The witness remained with the driver until police arrived on scene, says ODonaghey.

Officers at the scene detected signs and symptoms of suspected drug intoxication.

As a result, the driver was taken to the Kelowna RCMP detachment where a drug recognition expert was called in to conduct a drug influence evaluation.

As many as seven vehicle occupants, of the 15 total occupants, sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were treated at the scene by emergency health services, adds ODonaghey.

Of those seven, a man and a woman were transported to hospital for further assessment and treatment for non-life threatening injuries.

The driver, a 45-year-old Kelowna man, faces potential drug-impaired driving charges, as well as charges under the Motor Vehicle Act for driving without a valid licence.

He was later released and is expected to appear in court at a later date.

If you witnessed this crash and have not yet spoken to police, you are asked to contact the Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300.
Photo: Getty Images

An Alberta man is facing new charges and is now without a car after taking a joyride through Lake Country.

On Saturday May 28 at 6:20 p.m., a member of the RCMP Integrated Road Safety Unit was conducting a speed enforcement operation along Highway 97 in Lake Country when the officer stopped a white 2010 Audi R8.

The officer determined that the vehicle had been travelling in excess of 210 km/h in the posted 100 km/h zone along Highway 97, near the Pelmewash Parkway.

Kelowna RCMP Const. Jesse ODonaghey says weather and roadway conditions were not ideal at the time of the traffic stop, as it was raining lightly and the roads were wet.

RCMP would like to take this opportunity to remind motorists to slow down, especially on wet roads and in bad weather conditions says ODonaghey.

High-risk driving behaviours, like speeding, increase your chances of crashing and put yourself and others at risk of sustaining serious injury.

The driver of the vehicle was charged under the Motor Vehicle Act for excessive speed.

The Albertan was served with a violation ticket for $483 and his vehicle was towed to the impound lot for seven days.
INDEPTH: HEALTH

The perils of travellers' thrombosis

CBC News Online | Jan. 11, 2006



It has been called "economy-class syndrome," but that's a misnomer as even people who fly first-class have been killed by it. A better name is "travellers' thrombosis," although the correct name is deep-vein thrombosis or DVT. It's caused by sitting rigidly for too long  usually on lengthy intercontinental flights  so that a blood clot forms and makes a lethal journey to the lungs or heart. It was first noted more than 50 years ago in London, when people crowded into air-raid shelters to escape bomb attacks during the Second World War.

It became front-page news in September 2000 after the death of Emma Christoffersen, a 28-year-old Briton who died after returning to London from Australia, where she had attended the Olympic Games. Christoffersen collapsed at Heathrow airport following the 19,000-kilometre, 20-hour trip. She died before she reached hospital. She had developed a clot in her leg on the Qantas flight; the clot dislodged and made its way to her heart. Estimates of the number of deaths from travellers' thrombosis vary widely. A conservative estimate is about 100 a year, though David Derbyshire, medical writer for The Daily Telegraph, says that doctors who carried out a study at Ashford Hospital in Surrey believe more than 2,000 people a year die from the condition in Britain. What made Christoffersen's case more noteworthy was that she was young, in good health and about to be married. Travellers' thrombosis is regarded as such a new condition that it has not properly been tracked and many deaths may not be recorded as caused by long-haul flights. The Science and Technology Committee of Britain's House of Lords issued a report demanding that the air travel industry do "urgent" research into deep-vein thrombosis among fliers. (The committee also recommended an end to the phrase "economy-class syndrome" on the basis that it is not accurate.) Blood clots, thrombosis and embolisms are not new, but there appears to be a sharp increase in their occurrence among long-haul air travellers during the past 10 years. Many speculate one of the contributing factors is the decrease in legroom on passenger planes. To cite an example, British Airways has decreased the distance between seats from 91 centimetres to 79. Seats on Qantas flights are about 81 cm apart. For Air Canada, the seats are spaced about 83 cm apart. The distance between seats is not identical even on the same plane. Exit and bulkhead seats have much more legroom, making them safer for potential travellers' thrombosis victims. A hospital study in England found that at least 30 people died in a three-year period in the late 1990s of massive blood clots after arriving at Heathrow airport on long-haul flights. An Australian surgeon has been quoted as saying 400 people a year landing at Sydney airport suffer blood clots. The condition is not always fatal. A story in The New York Times in October 2000 estimated that five million Americans a year experience a blood-clotting thrombosis caused by prolonged immobility. The story said this results in some 800,000 hospitalizations a year. DuPont Pharmaceuticals Co. has responded to the situation by selling the blood-thinning drug Innopehn, designed to prevent and treat the condition. Remedies suggested include taking Aspirin as a blood-thinner before long flights, maintaining liquids (but avoiding alcoholic beverages), wearing knee-length elastic stockings and getting up from the seat at regular intervals. Critics have also drawn attention to increasingly smaller, cramped seating arrangements in economy sections, especially on charter flights. The problem has more to do with immobility than with cramped conditions on planes. Travellers' thrombosis has been known to affect passengers in buses, trains, cars, trucks  even theatres. Deadly blood clots also tend to be more of a risk to the elderly, smokers, pregnant women, diabetics, cancer patients and overweight people. The risk is exacerbated when these people are confined in a cramped, immobile position for long periods. Something as innocent as a kick in the leg a week before a flight can add to the risk of an in-flight blood clot. The World Health Organization launched a major study in the summer of 2005 aimed at determining how best to prevent travellers' thrombosis. It involves 30,000 travellers on long flights. The study's participants will be divided into three groups. One third will be asked to use a special machine that keeps the calf muscles stimulated. A second group will be given special exercises to keep the blood flowing. The last group will do nothing. They will be monitored for eight weeks. It's believed the risk of developing travellers' thrombosis is about one in 1,000 for people on long-haul flights. Results of the study are expected by the end of 2006. Deep Vein Thrombosis FAQ: What is Deep Vein Thrombosis? Deep vein thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein, usually in the calf or the thigh. What is the cause? If the vein becomes narrowed or blocked, a blood clot can form at that point. The problem is not only poor circulation from sitting too long in cramped conditions. (Patients confined to bed as a result of a heart condition may also suffer from deep vein thrombosis.) It can also be caused by injury to the vein, or be a side effect of radiation therapy or surgery, or during pregnancy. What are symptoms of DVT? Pain or soreness in the joint

Tenderness and redness in the area

Fever

Rapid heartbeat

Sudden unexpected cough

Pain and swelling in the "path" (the area drained by the vein) that is blocked

The vein feels hard, like a cord Some people do not display symptoms if the thromobosis forms in an area other than the leg or arm. Some people do not display symptoms if the thromobosis forms in an area other than the leg or arm. Note: for travellers, the symptoms may not appear immediately. They could occur sometime after the traveller leaves the aircraft, bus or other vehicle. Danger signs Deep vein thrombosis can develop into pulmonary thrombosis where the clot breaks away from the vein and travels to the lungs. Danger signs include: Chest pain

Coughing up blood

New symptoms of pain or swelling which could indicate that treatment is not working If you have symptoms of Deep Vein Thrombosis, you should call your doctor immediately. If you have the symptoms plus chest pain or coughing up blood call 911. If you have symptoms of Deep Vein Thrombosis, you should call your doctor immediately. If you have the symptoms plus chest pain or coughing up blood call 911. How to do doctors diagnose deep vein thrombosis? Ultrasound

X-ray

Tests for blood clots How is Deep Vein Thrombosis treated? Preventing the clot from travelling to other parts of the body is the most important part of the treatment. Doctors may prescribe anticoagulant or anti-platelet medication or in some cases, medication called thrombolytics that dissolve blood clots. Do not rub the affected area, that may dislodge the clot. Keep the limb elevated. If deep vein thrombosis is detected early, treatment is usually successful. If untreated, the condition can be fatal. In some cases, deep vein thrombosis becomes a chronic condition, where patients continue to have pain and swelling of the leg because the thrombosis has damaged the blood valves in that vein. The pain and swelling then decrease the activity of the patient.







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Abstract

In this study, we assessed the cocolonization with extended spectrum lactamase producing Enterobacteria (ESBLE) and methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in raw pork and cooked pork products in south China. In total, 240 raw pork and 240 cooked pork samples collected from supermarkets (n = 20) and local butcher shops (n = 20) in the city of Guangzhou (China) were investigated. Raw pork and cooked pork was more frequent colonization with ESBLE (7.5% in raw pork and 0.4% in cooked pork products) than with MRSA (4.2% in raw pork). Two of samples were contaminated with both tested types of multidrugresistant bacteria. High antibioticresistance rate with wide spectrums of both ESBLE and MRSA isolated were observed. In ESBLE isolates, TEM (n = 15), CTXM1 (n = 3), CTXM9 (n = 1), and SHV (n = 1) genes were detected. TEM and SHV genes were associated with CTXM1 in 2 isolates, respectively. The CTXM9 gene of 1 isolate from cooked pork samples was found to be transferred to Escherichia coli J53 by conjugation. Detected MLSTtypes of MRSA were livestockassociated ST7 (n = 5) and ST9 (n = 4), as well as hospitalacquired ST239 (n = 1), suggesting contamination from human source(s) during meat processing. These findings confirmed a contamination of raw pork and cooked pork with ESBLE and MRSA and emphasized the necessity of enforcing hygienic practices and specific detection of MRSA and ESBLproducing bacteria in meat processing and storage.

Practical Application

Our findings confirmed the present of methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and extended spectrum lactamase producing Enterobacteria (ESBLE) in raw pork and cooked pork products. The presence of diverse ESBLencoding genes and the extended host spectrum genotypes ST239 in MRSA from pork suggest retail pork products could serve as a reservoir for multidrugresistant bacteria which may potentially transfer to humans through the food chain. This study emphasized the necessity of enforcing hygienic practices and specific detection of MRSA and ESBLproducing bacteria in meat processing and storage.
Just after midnight, in one of the last shootings of the Memorial Day weekend, two people pulled out guns and started firing in East Garfield Park.



The first call to police early Tuesday was for one person shot on Homan Avenue. Then a second victim. Then a third. Then someone walked into a hospital a few minutes later.



In all, 27 of the 69 people hit by gunfire over the weekend were shot in or near the Harrison District, one of the city's most violent and one of the most heavily patrolled by police.



So many people were shot there that Deputy Superintendent John Escalante promised Sunday to beef up patrols. Nine more people were shot there by early Tuesday.

Warning: Video contains strong language. Police officers and residents gather after Memorial Day weekend shootings in North Lawndale, the Near West Side, East Garfield Park and Irving Park. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) (Chicago Tribune)

The rest of the weekend shootings were scattered across Chicago. They happened as far north as West Rogers Park and northwest as Jefferson Park and as far south as the West Pullman neighborhood. The violence centered on the West Side, though. Seven of the shooting incidents on the West Side had more than one victim.



While the number of shootings was up from last year, the number of deaths was down. Last year, 12 people were killed and 44 wounded over the holiday weekend. This weekend, 13 more people were shot, but six fewer people were killed.



There were no shooting deaths for more than 48 hours starting late Saturday afternoon through late Monday.



The breakdown from the weekend is: Three people killed and 12 people wounded Friday afternoon through early Saturday; one person killed and 24 people wounded Saturday evening through early Sunday; 13 people wounded Sunday afternoon through early Monday; and 16 people shot Monday into early Tuesday, two of them fatally.



The holiday weekend was police Superintendent Eddie Johnson's first since Mayor Rahm Emanuel picked the veteran cop to lead the embattled department in late March. The department sought volunteers to work overtime over the weekend, although police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi did not release figures on how many officers worked. Instead of hiring more cops during a city budget crunch, Emanuel instead has relied heavily on overtime to try to tamp down violence.



The weekend shooting scenes played out from a gas station in Dunning on the Northwest Side to a narrow tree-lined street in the South Side's West Pullman neighborhood. Residents and passersby at times grabbed towels and ice packs to aid the wounded. Others tried to figure out if the victims were friends or loved ones.



Left mourning were family members, including those of Veronica Lopez. The 15-year-old was the youngest of the homicide victims, shot as she rode with two older men police identified as known gang members along Lake Shore Drive near Fullerton Avenue about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. One of the men also was hit but survived.



That afternoon, her mother, Diana Mercado, wept outside her family's home above a storefront in the Belmont Craigan neighborhood. She said she had begun planning to move with Veronica to Florida in a year because of the city's violence.



"Now they took my baby," she said.



Later that day, in the Lawndale neighborhood, the mother of another teen, Shequita Evans, walked up to a scene of a woman who was shot in the neck while driving down Lexington Avenue near Pulaski Road. Evans lamented that she had to get through "one more summer" until her 17-year-old could graduate high school and attend college outside the city.



At another scene in the Back of the Yards, a woman had to explain to a small boy how the loud pops they had heard weren't fireworks from the White Sox game. The boy smoothed the cape of a Superman doll as he asked officers if they had gotten the bad guys.

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Where shootings occurred Memorial Day weekend in Chicago

In addition to Veronica, the homicides included:



 Mark Lindsey, 25, shot while sitting in a parked car in front of his mother's house in the 3700 block of West 75th Place in the Ashburn neighborhood around 11:20 p.m. Friday.



 Garvin Whitmore, 27, shot in the head about 5:20 p.m. Saturday in the South Side's Fuller Park neighborhood. He was sitting in a car with his fiancee, Ashley Harrison, 26, who picked up a gun and fired warning shots in the air. She was charged with a felony.



 Damien Cionzynski, 25, was shot by one of two men with whom he was arguing inside a BP gas station at Narragansett and Montrose avenues around 5:15 a.m. Saturday. Police have issued arrest warrants for two men.



 James Taylor, 44, was shot in the 5100 block of South Calumet Avenue. Taylor, of the 6500 block of South Ellis Avenue, was pronounced dead at 11:20 p.m. Monday at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He died from multiple gunshot wounds, the office determined following an autopsy Tuesday. Police were called to the scene and found Taylor unresponsive on the street, near a vehicle, said Officer Thomas Sweeney, a police spokesman.



 Johan Jean, 39, was shot in the 6400 block of North Rockwell Street. Jean, of the 100 block of Ashland Avenue in Evanston, was pronounced dead at 11:44 p.m. at St. Francis Hospital, according to the medical examiner's office. He died from a gunshot wound to the neck, the office determined following an autopsy Tuesday. Jean was discovered unresponsive in a gangway, and police said he may have died in a domestic incident.

The tally doesn't count a woman run over on Lake Shore Drive early Sunday. Her boyfriend, who also was hit in traffic, told police they were fleeing a group of armed robbers, and detectives have located evidence of a group of men in the area.



By Tuesday morning, the tally of those shot in Chicago this year was around 1,500, according to data compiled by the Tribune, with at least 250 killed. By this time last year, 957 had been shot, with 164 killed.



So far, shootings are up more than 50 percent this year, although the pace of increased violence had slowed from earlier this year, when Chicago was on track to see shooting victims nearly double.



Chicago police have said the violence has been fueled by gang conflicts and a proliferation of guns, mixed with weak gun law enforcement. The department has blamed most of the violence on a core group of about 1,300 people whom they have used data analytics to pinpoint. The department has called them "strategic subjects."



It can be tougher to pinpoint exactly when that violence can explode, with spikes that can spring up on any warm weekend. Over Mother's Day weekend, more than 50 people were shot, eight fatally, in the most violent weekend in Chicago since September.



The 60 homicides this month have outpaced those in each of the previous three years in Chicago, according to Tribune data. By May 30, 2015, there had been 45 homicides, with 41 by the same date in 2014 and 47 in 2013.



Following are the other shootings from the last 15 hours of the holiday weekend:



 A 30-year-old man was injured about 1:45 a.m. Tuesday in the 10200 block of South LaSalle Street in the Fernwood neighborhood. He was taken in in stable condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said. He had been shot in the shoulder.



 A 17-year-old girl and 21-year-old man standing in the 2600 block of East 73rd Street were shot about 12:50 a.m. Paramedics brought the girl to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with a back wound, and the man walked in for treatment. The girl's condition was stabilized, and the man is in good condition.



 Four people were shot when two people opened fire on a group in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side. It happened about 12:20 a.m. in the 3300 block of West Huron Street, a block east of Homan Avenue. A 53-year-old was taken to Norwegian American Hospital with a foot wound, and police believe he was not the intended target. An 18-year-old woman, a 19-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man were treated at Mount Sinai Hospital for leg wounds. The 30-year-old has a history of drug-related arrests and is a documented gang member, police said.



 A 24-year-old man was shot in the right arm and left leg about 9:30 p.m. Monday in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, police said. The attack happened in the 1500 block of East 73rd Street. The man was wounded in a drive-by and taken to Stroger Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.



 A 17-year-old boy was shot in the 3600 block of West 30th Street in the Little Village neighborhood about 5:25 p.m., police said. The boy was shot in the hand by a known male attacker who fired from across the street, police said. The boy was taken to St. Anthony Hospital in good condition.



 Someone shot a 16-year-old boy in the 8700 block of South Escanaba Avenue in the South Chicago neighborhood. He was wounded about 4:55 p.m. and taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where his condition was stabilized. He was outside when someone emerged from a gangway and shot him in the leg.



 About 3:55 p.m., a 15-year-old boy was shot in the city's Englewood neighborhood on the South Side. That shooting happened in the 6700 block of South Sangamon Street, said Officer Kevin Quaid, a police spokesman. The boy was outside when he heard shots and felt pain, according to preliminary information. He was taken with a gunshot wound to the back to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where his condition was stabilized, Quaid said.



 Someone shot two men about 10:45 a.m. in the 3800 block of West Gladys Avenue, said Officer Bari Lemmon, a police spokeswoman. According to preliminary reports, someone in a black Nissan fired at two men, ages 28 and 21. The older man suffered a wound to his lower back and was taken in serious condition to Stroger Hospital. The younger man was shot in the left elbow and was taken to Mount Sinai, where his condition was stabilized, Lemmon said.



 Someone shot a 17-year-old boy about 10:35 a.m. in the 4800 block of West Monroe Street. Reports indicated the boy was outside when a black SUV drove by and someone fired shots, striking him twice in the hip, Lemmon said. The boy was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition.
Police clear the Mole de Mayo festival after a fire in a building on 18th Street near Laflin Street that allegedly was started by a man who set himself and the building on fire May 29, 2016. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Two Chicago police officers were injured Sunday evening after a man attending a festival set himself and a building on fire in the city's Pilsen neighborhood.

About 7:30 p.m., a man at a festival near 18th Street and Ashland Avenue set himself and a building on fire, said Officer Michelle Tannehill, according to preliminary reports.

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Leticia Sandoval, 34, who was working at a drink stand at the Mole de Mayo festival, said her daughter called her saying there was a man in his underwear and an American flag carting a can of gasoline. She said he threw a rock into the Metro PCS store, set the store on fire and ran away.

Sandoval was checking on her children nearby and saw smoke when she went outside.

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"She told me to call 911," Sandoval said. "Stuff like that never happens around here."

A fire seen from the rear of the building at 18th Street near Laflin Street that was allegedly started by a man who set both himself and the building on fire on May 29, 2016. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

Part of 18th Street was shut down, and vendors packed up their jars of horchata and agua de jamaica. Festivalgoers argued with police officers and security guards who were trying to prevent them from going past the intersection of 18th and Laflin streets.

Some dodged the officers and went down the street anyway, until another officer stopped them and herded them to the other side of the intersection.

Two officers at the scene were injured and taken to Stroger Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Tannehill said. The man also was hospitalized and was being treated for his injuries.
SPRINGFIELD  Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Sunday vowed to veto a House Democratic state budget bill if it gets to his desk, setting up a potential election-year blame game against Speaker Michael Madigan should public schools throughout Illinois fail to open this fall.

The threat came as Rauner and Mayor Rahm Emanuel ratcheted up their battle over the governor's Friday veto of a bill that would have created a new funding timetable for Chicago police and fire pensions. Emanuel labeled a city property tax hike that now could be needed to fund pensions a "Rauner tax," while the governor faulted the mayor for failing to come to Springfield to work for comprehensive reforms.

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The continued rhetoric over the Memorial Day holiday weekend symbolized the wide gap that remains between the Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature over efforts to end an impasse that has kept the state without a formal budget for nearly a year.

The spring session is scheduled to end at midnight Tuesday, but Madigan said Sunday that the House would remain in "continuous session" past the deadline  the same term he used at the end of May 2015 when the stalemate started  and disregarded Rauner's call for a quick grand compromise that included elements of the governor's pro-business agenda, parts of which would come at the expense of Democratic allies in organized labor and civil liability attorneys.

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Rauner, the first-term governor, and Madigan, the nation's longest-serving House speaker, are the principal combatants in the impasse, which carries heavy overtones leading into the Nov. 8 general election, when all 118 House seats and 40 of the 59 state Senate seats are before voters. The governor has committed to use his wealth to erode the Democratic legislative supermajorities in each chamber.

There is another important deadline on Tuesday. That's when lawmakers will find out whether local party organizations will field candidates to oppose them in the fall if no challenger filed for nomination in the March 15 primary election. Lawmakers may feel freed up to take controversial votes if they know they don't have an opponent.

Following a brief afternoon meeting of the four legislative leaders and the governor at the Capitol, Rauner and Madigan accused each other of taking hostages during the lengthy impasse.

Rauner accused the Democrat of holding "schoolchildren and our teachers hostage throughout the state" by refusing to send him a bill that separately funds grade and high schools for the coming year. Last year, Rauner vetoed the entire Democratic-passed budget, except for the portion funding elementary and secondary education.

"This year, (the Democrats) decided, well, they don't want I as governor to be able to have the schools open again, so they put the schools into one large deficit-spending bill because they don't want the schools to open without forcing a massive tax hike," said the governor, acknowledging the potential political blame. Still, Rauner said, "I would veto that bill" if lawmakers send it to him.

The House Democratic-passed budget plan, while providing several hundred million dollars to schools, including to cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools, is an estimated $7 billion short of what the state is expected to bring in.

Madigan has accused Rauner of pushing an agenda that would "sacrifice the interests of the middle class" on wages and standard of living and said the budget plan the House sent to the Senate last week "does not hold hostage those who want an education, does not hold hostage those who want health care, does not hold hostage the vulnerable in our society."

The speaker sought to portray his Democratic majority as continuing to participate in smaller bipartisan "working groups" of rank-and-file lawmakers looking for compromise on Rauner's call for changes in workers' compensation and collective bargaining rights as well as a freeze on local property taxes.

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"At the request of the governor, we're going to start surveying our members, working through the members of the working groups," the veteran Southwest Side Democrat said. "I would say my designees to the working groups are very desirous of a compromise."

Rauner accused Madigan and Democratic Senate President John Cullerton of "slowing down the process" of working to reach agreement on his agenda. The governor has made approval of his agenda a prerequisite for his support of a tax increase or new revenue sources to prop up state spending. Both sides acknowledge that heavy cuts also would be required.

But even as Madigan denied dragging out negotiations on Rauner agenda items, the speaker indicated there would be no resolution on them anytime soon.

"We are not slow-walking anything. We are participating in all the working groups. Our people worked through the weekend. They're here today. They'll be here tomorrow, Tuesday and through the remainder of the summer," Madigan said.

Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno of Lemont, who on Friday accused the Democrats of pulling out of negotiations, said Sunday she would hold her "skepticism at bay" for now about Democratic intentions to move forward on negotiations.

"I think the most important thing to remember, at the bottom line, is if we have to impose a tax hike on the people of Illinois, they have to have some hope that the reforms we've adopted along with that are really going to set the state straight in the long run," Radogno said.

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"So phony reforms, partial reforms, things that sound good but don't really meet the minimum bar aren't going to be acceptable," she said. "Taxpayers will not accept it."

Rauner also defended his Friday afternoon veto of a bill that would have reduced in the short term how much Chicago taxpayers contribute to the retirement funds of Chicago police and firefighters by hundreds of millions of dollars a year. But drawing out the pension payments would cost billions of dollars over the long term while the city's pension debt continued to grow.

Emanuel on Sunday continued to lash out at Rauner's action, calling the veto a "callous decision" and saying the governor "should have the courage to stand behind his decision" after having once indicated support for the measure. The mayor, who has mostly bit his tongue during the Springfield standoff in the hopes of helping craft a compromise that would help the city, got personal on Friday. He brought up the fact that an early childhood education organization run by Illinois first lady Diana Rauner joined a lawsuit seeking to have social service agencies paid by the state during the impasse.

"Is it any accident that his wife's own organization sued him?" Emanuel asked on WLS-AM 890's "Connected to Chicago" that aired Sunday. "There's a reason nobody trusts (Rauner), and the reason is the constant inconsistency. And it's not an accident that nothing's getting done in Springfield under his tenure."

While Rauner and Emanuel have been vacation friends and business partners, their relationship has frayed amid the poor financial status of the city and its public schools as Chicago looks to Springfield for added help. Rauner has been critical of Emanuel's stewardship, especially what he has said is the mayor's failure to take on the Chicago Teachers Union. The governor's aides said Rauner's initial support for the police and fire pension bill was conditional upon a larger agreement on pensions involving Democratic leaders and Emanuel.

"My veto of this bill is no surprise to the mayor," said Rauner, who added "what he ought to be doing is be down here in Springfield, advocating for reforms for his city. He's not here. He hasn't been here at all. He hasn't pushed for reforms."

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Rauner questioned why Emanuel hasn't pushed for legislation backed by Cullerton, the Senate president, that would change public employee pensions by offering workers a choice on how benefit increases are calculated  an issue that would still be likely to face a court challenge.

"Where's the mayor? He's not here. He's not asking for real reforms. Reforms have to be part of the process," Rauner said.

Chicago Tribune's Celeste Bott contributed.

rap30@aol.com

mcgarcia@tribpub.com
The primary purpose of Memorial Day is to honor those who have sacrificed their lives to defend this country.

There have, though, been many millions of others who gave portions of their lives to warfare but survived. This day is theirs too.

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Most, like a former Chicagoan named Red Madsen, have come home from wars to lead ordinary lives. Not that their lives are the same as they would have been if they hadn't seen the bloodshed, the shattered lives, the lonely deaths. Many carry to the grave more unspoken memories than they would like. Those memories help shape, often profoundly, who they are and what they believe.

Yet when the time comes to write their obituaries, their military service and all it meant to them get reduced to a few lines.

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Not so with Red. When he died, his daughter, Patricia, wrote an obit that wove Red's military experience into the rest of his life. She knew he had advanced, island by island, with U.S. troops approaching Japan in the weeks before two atomic bombs ended World War II.

Not until after Red's death, though, did she learn he had earned a Bronze Star for combat heroism. He'd never mentioned it.

The obit was submitted to The Des Moines Register, where it charmed a young reporter who came across it. He shared it with a few friends. Since then, ever-fainter photocopies have quietly circulated throughout the Midwest.

Here, with Patricia Anne Madsen's permission, is an excerpt from her celebration of her father's life:

Harry N. "Red" Madsen, 76, retired railroad brakeman, died Sept. 15, 1996, in Audubon, Iowa, 13 miles from where he was born.

After graduating from Audubon High School, he moved to Chicago. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army, which put him in the Signal Corps. During training, he met Betty Kaplan, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and married her in Stuart, Fla., before he was shipped to the Pacific. When the Army finally let Red go in 1946, he and Betty settled in Chicago. He returned to Audubon and Westphalia, Iowa, working as a custom butcher. He later worked the railroad, most of the time for the Chicago & North Western. He married three times, with two of his spouses passing away.

Red Madsen loved his wives, his kids, everybody else's kids, his family, dogs, fishing, whittling, doodling, reading (especially Mark Twain), Cord automobiles, hoisting a few with friends and telling stories. It pleased him that mischief might break out at any time, but it distressed him if anyone got hurt by it, unless maybe it was some powerful S.O.B. who deserved it.

He hated hypocrisy, racial injustice (or any other kind), war and giving orders. He worked hard, played hard, loved hard, and there was not much in the world that didn't interest him. If he knew you could use $20 and he had it to give, you'd have it. He despised locks and rarely used them  liked to say that if some poor so-and-so needed something that badly, he shouldn't have to break in too.

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He left very little behind except exasperated commanders, bemused bosses, charmed waitresses and a special place in the heart of nearly everyone who ever met him, all of whom are happy he has been released from pain and sorry as hell to lose him.

Contributions may be made as follows: Hoist one in Red's memory and overtip the waitress by a fair factor. If you can't stop at one, just overtip the waitress  she needs it more than you. Give a bum a dollar, maybe five, and for once, don't worry about what he'll do with it. Learn something new. Make a fool of yourself so a child will laugh. Help get food to the hungry and don't worry about whether they deserve it. Don't worry about being safe.

In fact, don't waste much energy worrying at all. Let life break your heart, and not just once. Love your neighbor and yourself and your God, if you're lucky enough to have one, with your whole heart. Every now and then, when no one is looking, go ahead and pick a flower you're not supposed to pick, but quick as you can, give it to someone.

Remember, the second year the same person plants sweet corn next to where you work, they must mean for you to have some, because they know what happened last year.

And if someone uses a racial epithet around you, let 'em know that you'd just as soon they didn't, because Red Madsen and a lot of other guys got shot at by people who thought that way, and you don't want to be on the same side as anybody who would take a shot at Red.

This editorial first appeared in the Tribune on Memorial Day 2001.

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Join the discussion on Twitter @Trib_Ed_Board and on Facebook.
Two homes were built in The Conservancy in Gilberts then construction halted, leaving the two houses sitting vacant for years.

Troy Mertz kick started the development and is now moving forward with new plans. One of the innovative aspects of his development is the fiber optics network that will provide the fastest Internet connection to homes in the area.

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For his efforts, Kane County awarded Mertz with a 2016 Sparkler award.

Sparkler Awards recognize outstanding and sometimes-unheralded achievements in three categories: business, partnership and innovation, according to a county press release.

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In the Partnership category, the Lao American Organization of Elgin won a Sparkler award along with the Kane County Cougars in the Business category, Kane County Connects reports.

Nominees for the Innovation Category were: IN2/Illinois Math & Science Academy, Kane County Fiber Optic Network, Kane Health Counts, and Wabaunsee Vision 2050: A Future Beyond Expectations.

Nominees for the Partnership Category were: Aurora River's Edge Park, Anderson Road Overpass, Blackberry Township/McNair Field and the D300/Elgin Community College tuition partnership.

Nominees of the Business Category were: ALE Solutions, Chicago Premium Outlets, Clarke, Otto Engineering/Tom Roeser with the village of Carpentersville, West Dundee and East Dundee and Riverbank Laboratories.

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.
A 17-year-old juvenile and his 25-year-old passenger face weapons charges after police found a semi-automatic 9mm handgun in a car the two were riding in Saturday, Elgin police said.

Police were investigating a suspicious person near the 1500 block of Dundee Avenue around 3 a.m. Saturday and saw a vehicle driven by the 17-year-old juvenile, according to an Elgin police press release.

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The juvenile was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and taken into custody, police said. Officers searched the car and found the handgun under the driver's seat, the release stated.

The Kane County State's Attorney's office authorized additional charges against the juvenile of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon with no concealed carry license, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon under the age of 21 and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon uncased and loaded, police said. All the gun charges are class 4 felonies, police said.

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A passenger in the front seat, Boun Gonzalez, 25, of the 1100 block of Mohawk Drive, Elgin, was also arrested and charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon with no concealed carry license, a class 4 felony, police said.

"Getting dangerous guns off of our streets is an important strategy of the department. This arrest is one example of many others which have resulted in a significant increase in gun seizures in 2016," Elgin Deputy Chief Bill Wolf said.

Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.
Mia Onstad, 11, of Grayslake (left) with her sister Lily, 7, and Lily Najjar, 3, of Lake Forest (center), get ready to lead the 23rd annual Meadowbrook Memorial Day Young Person's Parade Monday in Wildwood. (Mark Ukena/Lake County News-Sun) (Mark Kodiak Ukena / Lake County News-Sun)

A small neighborhood parade in Wildwood featuring dozens of children on decorated bicycles  some walking dogs as parents pushed strollers  drew people from Mexico, Tomah, Wis., Lake Forest and Waukegan Monday.

The 23rd annual Meadowbrook Memorial Day Young Person's Parade had an unlikely start, said Les Dlabay, the longtime organizer.

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Before the Meadowbrook parade, Dlabay had been involved in other parades as part of a marching band and drum and bugle corps.

"If I ever saw another parade, it would have been do soon," Dlabay recalled.

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But in 1994, some residents on Meadowbrook Drive started talking about how local children never get to be in a parade, and the Memorial Day Parade was born, he said.

If you move to the block, like Phil and Judy Sell did 18 years ago, you learn to roll with it.

"I found out the night before the parade that it starts in my driveway," he said. "Our kids thought it was pretty good having a parade start in our driveway. It's a great way to honor veterans and get a chance to meet with neighbors and friends, everyone."

On Monday, Dlabay took the microphone and told the children, "May I have your attention? I'm about to make my four and half hour speech, so you can take a nap until the parade starts."

"Today, we honor the more than one million Americans who died defending our freedom, said Dlabay, a teacher at Lake Forest College. "Each person was a cherished son or daughter, father or mother, husband or wife, brother or sister. And each was a loss to their family, community, and our nation: A sacrifice for all Americans.

"We gather on this Memorial Day to show our gratitude, to honor their bravery, express sympathy with their sufferings and to express admiration for their achievements. Today, we pay tribute to the heroes that did so much for us."

The parade began after the speech, an orchestral rendition of the National Anthem and a prayer.

Elijah Jackson, 8, and Cory Kennedy, 5, carried a banner to lead the parade. The boys are the grandsons of Joseph Jackson, a longtime friend of Dlabay's from Waukegan.

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Leading the bicycle parade were Mia Onstad, 11, and her sister Lily, 7. Mia was 10 days old for her first parade.

As the children ride their bicycles, Dlabay provides a running commentary and asks the children questions about their siblings and favorite foods.

Each of the participants got a small medal for being in the parade.

Adam and Lisa Bourgeois said they have participated in three or four parades since moving into the neighborhood.

The couple walked Matthew, 5, Abigail, 3, and John, 1, down the parade route.

"They just love it," said Adam, who carried a flag.

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After the parade, participants and spectators gather for food and refreshments.

"Then it's like a block party," Dlabay said. "But we draw people from all over. ... It's just a lot of friends and family. It's just a very relaxed event."

fabderholden@tribpub.com

Twitter @abderholden
Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after being sentenced to 15 months in prison on April 27, 2016. (Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune)

Everybody longs for a time machine and a second crack at our worst moments. Just one more shot at self-silencing a thoughtless unkindness or healing a heartache you'd regret for decades.

You didn't know it was regrettable at the moment, but justice doesn't let you slide. You own it.

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Maybe Northern Illinois University has experienced a few of those moments, but none more necessary than yanking disgraced bigwig Dennis Hastert's honorary law degree last week.

So the school was ignorant and avoided looking too closely at Hastert's heart. Not much achievement in that.

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But NIU could have chosen differently 17 years ago. It could have been smarter, but wasn't.

An event three springs earlier offered the purest, noblest alternative. Too bad NIU wasn't paying attention.

Northern could have emulated Southampton College on Long Island, N.Y., which bestowed an honorary "Degree in Amphibian Letters" that May to Kermit the Frog. He and alter ego voice Steve Whitmire delivered a stirring commencement reminder of hope for a better future.

Sesame Street's green prince said we should save ourselves by saving the planet.

They picked Kermit because he was kind, generous, funny, spirited and looked out for everyone  every living thing  on the planet.

Green was the beautiful color of hope that spring.

Plus, Kermit was a great frog.

Kermit offered graduates a spiritual alternative that Hastert never allowed NIU's students. Kermit was honest, humble, and no one in 40 years  except perhaps Miss Piggy on one of her bad days  ever said a word against him.

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Kermit's speech was exemplary. It was the best a great frog could do, and it was plenty fine because "Kermie" was worthy.

But NIU preferred Hastert. They didn't even give Gonzo a chance. Or Fozzy.

Hastert's honorary law degree didn't signify any human value beyond fraud. Hastert never earned it or deserved it.

NIU merely ratified the lie of his life without giving it a thought. Symbolically removing the inscription from a meaningless trophy meant less than nothing.

Northern did not rectify 17 years of fawning. Or explain why it was too lazy to investigate any doubts about Hastert, all the while his alleged sex abuse victims suffered in silence. Bet they won't be getting any honorary degrees in DeKalb.

NIU's meaningless rebuke was followed with a meaningless and even dopier public statement that made NIU look feckless.

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Hastert's "admission of criminal activity and sexual abuse of children," it read, "does not reflect the values of the university or the spirit in which the degree was awarded." Duh, ya think?

NIU could have had green greatness.

"It's great to have an honorary doctorate," Kermit told grads that May day. "I have spoken with my fellow honorees ... and as honorary doctors we promise to have regular office hours, put new magazines in our waiting room, and to make late night house calls regardless of your health plan coverage. On behalf of all of us, thank you sincerely. But I'm also here at Southampton to thank you for something even more important. I am here to thank you for the great work that you have done  and for the great work that you will be doing with your lives. You have dedicated yourselves to preserving the beauty that is all around us."

And the future?

"And so I say to you, the 1996 graduates of Southampton College, you are no longer tadpoles. The time has come for you to drop your tails and leave this swamp. But I am sure that wherever I go as I travel around the world, I will find each and every one of you working your tails off to save other swamps and give those of us who live there a chance to survive. We love you for it."

Lake County News Sun Twice-weekly News updates from Lake County delivered every Monday and Wednesday >

Southampton had fun that day. Spirits were high. But Kermit was no joke, then or now.

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However, honorary degrees often are preposterous.

Michigan State ditched its honorary degree to Zimbabwe strongman Robert Mugabe in 2009 because he killed 20,000 political foes. Bill Cosby had many of them. So honorary collegiate salutes are an inexact science.

But sadly, NIU never discovered one truth or tried.

If Kermit and Hastert had ever been in the same room together, one would have been a great human deserving our deepest respect.

And it would always have been the little green frog.

David.Rutter@live.com
East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland and the Rev. Alphonse Skerl, center, prepare to toss a wreath into the marina during its blessing Monday. (Michelle Quinn / Post-Tribune)

Boaters and other watercraft enthusiasts can breathe a little easier this summer after East Chicago's portion of Lake Michigan has been blessed.

The Rev. Alphonse Skerl, pastor of Holy Trinity (Hungarian) Church in East Chicago, along with East Chicago Mayor Anthony Copeland and East Chicago Marina Manager Natalie Adams, kicked off the 2016 boating season by proffering a blessing upon the marina and, in turn, the waters surrounding it. Copeland and Adams noted the new faces at the annual blessing and took it as a sign that the best is yet to come.

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"This marina should be the crown jewel of Northwest Indiana, and we are marching toward it" with improvements the city has been making, Copeland said. "They say, 'In water is life,' and you will see this place resurrected."

Skerl said the blessing he bestows has the dual purpose of keeping people safe, and the equally  if not more  important job of keeping the environment as healthy as possible.

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"Water is such an important thing to people all over the world, and if we can keep the environment cleaner, the better off everyone will be," Skerl said. "(The blessing) in much better behavior; it makes you better.

"It's not just a placebo."

Boaters ready to take advantage of the holiday weather couldn't agree more.

Dave Hurst, of Schererville said the blessing gives boaters an extra boost because "you must respect this lake."

"The lake can change fast, and you must be cognizant of that," added Rose Alexander, of Griffith. "Today, she's smooth, but when she's not, we sit on the dock and visit."

Cathy Sellers, also of Griffith, said the blessing reminds people to take care of what God has given. Her husband, Dave Sellers, hoped God slipped in an extra something for the holiday weekend.

"I'm hoping the blessing brings an abundance of perch," he said.

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds, pictured here on Jan. 27, 2015, said a saturation patrol at a bar's school fundraiser that attracted Hells Angels meant to be visible. (Kyle Telechan / Post-Tribune)

The May 19 saturation patrol outside a Burns Harbor bar where the Hells Angels motorcycle group was participating in what the bar owner said was a charity event netted six arrests, mostly for misdemeanor charges, the Porter County Sheriff's Department said.

"I think we accomplished what we wanted to do. We wanted to show a presence, not necessarily write tickets," said Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds, adding law enforcement officials decided on the best plan of attack to secure public safety. "We thought it was to be visible and be clear that we're here."

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The owner of The Mill Bar & Grill, Teresa Wright, has said the May 19 "bike night" was a fundraiser for SELF School, a Valparaiso facility that provides educational services to children with disabilities, and for kids with cancer who are home-schooled.

The event, she said at the time, drew around 100 motorcycles as well as groups other than the Hells Angels. Similar fundraisers are scheduled with the Hells Angels members at the bar throughout the summer.

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"I'm really confident we'll be prepared if and when they show up again," Reynolds said, noting that the Hells Angels are classified as an "outlaw motorcycle gang" by a 2011 Department of Justice report.

The saturation patrol came after a meeting with multiple law enforcement agencies about how to handle the Hells Angels when they came in for the event, Reynolds said.

In all, police made traffic stops on 65 motorcycles and cars and issued 21 citations; three written warnings; and impounded four vehicles, said Sgt. Jamie Erow, public information officer for the department, which organized the patrol.

She did not have overtime costs for the patrol but said most of the officers working that day were already on duty.

The patrol, which lasted several hours that night at U.S. 20 and Indiana 149 outside bar, 295 Melton Ave., involved about 60 officers from 10 law enforcement departments.

Police and the members of the motorcycle group videotaped each other throughout their interactions, Reynolds said, and while some local members of the Hells Angels were respectful with police, "some from Chicago were not. They were very boisterous from the get-go, and I thought our guys responded very professionally."

Law enforcement officials were concerned about what would happen if they didn't make a presence during the fundraiser, Reynolds said, a point he also made after the saturation patrols for the rap concerts.

The department last organized saturation patrols about two months ago, for back-to-back rap concerts at Big Shots in South Haven. The patrols involved more than 40 officers from multiple departments, netted seven arrests one night and six the next, and cost the sheriff's department alone almost $4,000 in overtime.

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The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana keeps a weary eye on saturation patrols when it comes to the First Amendment.

"We do not have a position on saturation patrols, however we always advise caution when government entities seek to control speech that may be protected by the First Amendment," said Kelly Jones Sharp, a spokeswoman there.

But Heath Carter, president of Valparaiso's Advisory Human Relations Council, said he doesn't have a problem with saturation patrols. Carter has been working closely with Reynolds on data collection, implicit bias training and community relations since the arrest last fall of Darryl Jackson.

"Obviously, if it appeared that a particular community or subset of a community was a consistent target of such patrols, we would want to understand the rationale and be sure that the decision to proceed in that manner was consistent with best practices," he said in an email. "It sounds as though that is not what is happening here and that these three recent patrols fall well within the bounds of reason."

Police also are looking into follow-up matters from the Hells Angels patrol, including possible excise violations and whether the bar was over its occupancy limit.

"I think the underlying thing the average person in Porter County needs to know is all of law enforcement worked in concert and it was worth it," Reynolds said. "Of course it comes with a price tag and we don't know what that is yet."

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Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
With the scope and penalties of Chinas social credit system being further clarified in 2021, legal and regulatory compliance has become more important than...
Two Chinese pavilions displayed at the ongoing Venice Architecture Biennale seek to embody lasting ancient Chinese wisdoms in today's urban life, their designers have said.

Themed "Daily Design, Daily Tao," - the ancient Chinese concept of Tao is a holistic conception of nature - China national pavilion features the projects of a team of architects and designers wanting to reproduce the traditional values and way of life gone lost in today's globalized world.

Among them there is Ma Ke, an influential Chinese designer who said she was deeply impressed by the life of Chinese people who make a living with their own hands and are so dependent on the earth. For this reason, the objects that she designs are inspired by an inner call to look for a simple and sincere lifestyle, she added.

"The question that I kept asking myself along with the curator of this pavilion, Liang Jingyu, was where and how could we have found traditional values in the modern world," Ma told Xinhua in an interview at the pavilion.

"And our answer was that these values are not necessarily preserved in museums or in books, but are treasured within the ordinary actions of people's daily life," she pointed out.

The 15th edition of the Venice Architecture Biennale, directed by Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena, is themed "Reporting from the front." For Liang and his team, "dignity, welfare and equality" of all citizens are the "ignored front" of modernization that architects cannot afford to ignore.

"The Venice Architecture Biennale is a very important exhibition which presents many innovative thoughts. But for us what is the most important is to put in practice these new ideas, and apply them to the everyday life," Zhu Jingxiang, an architect from Liang's team, explained.

Zhu and his group developed a "Dou Pavilion," a building product adapted for climate and transportation which has helped realize education centers for children in China's rural areas. By arranging the opening on different levels, these buildings lead kids to conduct exploration, and educators to have innovative programs.

Another Chinese pavilion in Venice, named "Across Chinese Cities-China House Vision", examines the future of living. It starts from the "house" to rethink the larger systems of production in cities, from environmental and energy consumption to mobility, distribution and telecommunication.

Five clusters, one of which feature a project dedicated to the "China House Vision", show to visitors the urban and social transformations affecting the architecture practice in contemporary China. Among them there is the "Bike House," a series of installations and videos that stemmed from the fascination with bicycles of Chinese architect Zhang Yonghe.

"I am from Beijing, and people from Beijing are very familiar with the bike tradition," Zhang told Xinhua. "We think that if we want to raise our living standard, we have to reconnect bike to our life. Not only bike is good for health, but also is a green mode of urban transportation. For this reason, we wanted to design housing systems made for bikers and their movements," he said.

Italian curator of the "Across Chinese Cities-China House Vision" pavilion Michele Brunello believes the Chinese national pavilion represents an architectural vision to use domestic space as a place to explore living possibilities when people have to respond to both urban challenges and human needs.

"China is offering here a big research, through a dialogue full of energy and dynamism with the international world of architecture. The influence will continue far beyond the Venice Architecture Biennale," Brunello said.
As a series of Hollywood blockbusters are set to release in China in June, several Chinese film distributors have to change their release schedule.

Posters for "Three," "One Night Only" and "Bounty Hunters". [Photo / mtime.com]

"X-Men: Apocalypse," "Warcraft," "Independence Day: Resurgence," "Finding Dory" and "Now You See Me 2" will jam the month of June during this summers film season, which will surely make it one of the hottest seasons in history. As a result, several Chinese films have to dodge these Hollywood monsters.

Critically applauded art-house film "Kaili Blues" by Bi Gan has pushed back its original release date of June 3 to July. "Bounty Hunters," directed by Shin Terra, starring Lee Min-ho and Wallace Chung, also changed its release date from June 9 to July 1. "One Night Only," directed by Wu Zhongtian, starring Aaron Kwok and Yang Zishan, changed its release date from June 9 to the end of July.

One of most anticipated films from director Johnnie To, "Three," also changed its original release date. Its release date has been moved from June 24 to a July release without direct confirmation.

It seems as though July will be much safer for Chinese domestic films as many Chinese local distributors don't want to clash with the Hollywood titans. It can also be expected that more Chinese films will change their release date in coming days.
It is no secret that China is the world's largest e-commerce market, thanks to the staggering amounts of money Chinese consumers have been spending online.

According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, online retail transcations in the country hit 3.877 trillion yuan ($589.61 billion) in 2015, a 33.3 percent increase from a year earlier.

But while China may be the global leader in e-commerce, online sales actually only contribute to about 11 percent of the total retail sales in the country, based on findings by global information company Nielsen.

However, Nielsen also estimates that online sales are growing at a staggering rate of 53 percent year-on-year, an indication of the immense potential of China's e-commerce industry. Naturally, many companies have rushed to establish e-commerce platforms to sell their products, but not all of them, even the big players, have tasted success.

"China's e-commerce market is evolving very quickly and it is difficult for an internet platform to keep up without strong China-centric funding and resources," said Ben Cavender, principal of China Market Research Group.

"There are tremendous opportunities for e-commerce to grow further but right now it is still at an early stage. In three to five years, two to three dominant players will emerge from the competition," said Cavender.

Metao.com, a Chinese cross-border e-commerce provider that entered the scene in October 2013, is reportedly facing imminent closure despite receiving $35 million in investments in 2014. One of its customers had apparently lodged a complaint to the Economic Information Daily claiming that she has yet to receive her orders which were placed a month ago, and that her calls to the customer service hotline have gone unanswered.

On April 7, suppliers of local grocery platform Yummy77.com gathered in front of the company to demand for payment, only to discover hours later that the Shanghai-based company went bankrupt, according to a Xinhuanet report.

Yummy77.com, which was officially launched in May 2013, was regarded as a leading grocery e-commerce company in Shanghai, thanks to its prompt delivery services and generous discounts. In May 2014, Amazon China made its first investment in the Chinese mainland by injecting $20 million into Yummy77.com, swelling its evaluation to $100 million.

Li Chengdong, an independent e-commerce strategy analyst, said that the fall of the e-commerce site was largely due to factors such as the lavish spending on the construction of warehouses and a logistics network, an inexperienced management team, and the fact that buying fruit and vegetables online is still a novelty to the majority of Chinese consumers.

It also did not help that competition in this particular e-commerce segment was stiff. Data from Forward (Qianzhan) Intelligence Co Ltd shows that China's fresh grocery e-commerce market expanded from 1 billion yuan in 2011 to 56 billion yuan in 2015. The consultancy also projects the market size to reach 128.3 billion yuan by 2018.

This promising outlook naturally lured several major players to vie for a slice of the pie. Among them were Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba, Yihaodian, and JD.com.

To exacerbate matters, buying fresh products online is more expensive than doing so at a physical store. Consulting firm Analysys.cn revealed that the average cost for fresh produce sold online in China is twice that of other products because they are expensive to store and transport.

Li said that most e-commerce sites for fresh produce in China are still struggling to make ends meet, and that having adequate financing is key to survival.

Coincidentally, British online fashion and beauty retailer ASOS also met its Waterloo in China on April 7, announcing that it would discontinue local operations (asos.cn). ASOS CEO Nick Beighton also said that the company will continue to do business in China via its main website (asos.com) and that the decision was made to "serve our growing customer base in China in a more efficient and less costly manner".

Despite the growth in online apparel sales in Chinaaccording to a report by the China National Textile and Apparel Council, 723.2 billion yuan worth of apparel was traded online in 2015, a 20.57 percent growth from the previous yearASOS posted a total loss of 8.6 million euros ($9.8 million) since entering the Chinese market in 2013. In contrast, the brand boasts an average growth rate of 20 percent in the international market.

Li said that the poor performance of ASOS is caused by its unsuccessful marketing in China by failing to reach its target consumers.

Cavender believes that more players will exit the highly competitive e-commerce scene in China unless they can effectively differentiate themselves from competitors.

"While e-commerce is growing quickly, it is a very competitive market with a lot of online stores fighting for customers. Because they have to offer both a high level of service and competitive prices in order to attract customers, margins are very thin," said Cavender.

"Companies need to be responsive to consumer needs, both in terms of brands and products offered, and in terms of service quality. If a site has the same products as everyone else and cannot deliver faster or offer something different, consumers will just choose the cheaper, more established option."
Baosteel Group, which owns Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd, China's largest and most advanced integrated steel manufacturer, has said it will defend its legal rights in accordance with international regulations and laws in the case relating to United States Steel Corporation's complaint against Baosteel.

On April 26, US Steel Corp filed an application against Baosteel and other Chinese steel makers under Section 337 of the US Tariff Act of 1930, which seeks to bar import of Chinese carbon and alloy steel products.

US Steel Corp alleged that 40 Chinese companies, including Baoshan, have exported steel products to the US in violation of Section 337. It also alleged a conspiracy by the Chinese steel companies to control prices, misappropriation of trade secrets and mis-stating the origin of products, which the US International Trade Commission launched an investigation into the case last Thursday.

Baosteel denied the allegations that it called groundless and said its operations are market-oriented and completely legal. It underlined its independent research and development efforts, and accused US Steel Corp of disrespecting and vilifying it and its R&D staff.

According to Zhang Xiaoli, a senior analyst with industrial information provider MySteel.com, it is easy to understand why steel products from China are priced lower than those made in other countries. Chinese steel makers have greater production capability and enjoy lower labor cost, she said.

So, the cost of production is relatively lower. But, this also creates serious problems like oversupply and fierce competition.

"Chinese steel companies manufactured 1.1 billion tons of steel products throughout 2015. About 112 million tons of steel products were exported, including 2.4 million tons to the US. Exports to the US in 2015 were down from 3.5 million tons in 2014," said Zhang.

Zhang Tieshan, another analyst with MySteel.com, said the pricing of Baosteel products is open and transparent. The fact that Baosteel manufactures half of the nation's auto sheets means that the Shanghai-based company has a say in pricing. This cannot be labelled price-fixing, he said.

"Just like the three key iron ore miners have a say in determining the iron ore price, so does Baosteel have a say in steel prices. When they jointly raised the iron ore price by up to 70 percent on an annual basis in the past, there was no accusation of price-fixing by Chinese steel makers as they understood output influences pricing," said Zhang Tieshan.

"In the past three decades, Baosteel made efforts and progress in independent research and development, which resulted in steel products of high standards," said Wang Guoqing, research director at the Beijing Lange Steel Information Research Center.

"As a State-owned company with good reputation internationally, all the products of Baosteel are standardized according to their origin, so the complaint of mis-stating the origin of products is ridiculous," said Xu Xiangchun, an analyst with Shanghai Ganglian Holdings.

Analysts said the US Steel Corp's application for investigation into Baosteel and others appears to be part of a well-entrenched practice among US companies to seek trade protection indirectly.

"Such investigations take a long time to finish, and while they are on, trading in the steel products concerned will likely be affected," said Zhang Xiaoli. He said US Steel Corp's move may set a wrong precedent for other companies in the US and elsewhere.

Wang said Chinese steel makers would do well to respond actively to the current complaint in accordance with international practices and benefit from expert opinion.

"The bright side of this story is that major Chinese steel makers such as Baosteel have gained experience in dealing with such cases, and it has set a healthy precedent for Chinese steel makers on how to defend their interests in overseas markets," said Zhang Tieshan.

Baosteel said on its website that in March 2011, it won an anti-dumping case in the US involving import of drill pipes to the country.
Tang Ning, founder and CEO of CreditEase, delivers a keynote speech at the company's 10th anniversary of establishment, also an occasion to launch the report "The Practice of Inclusive Finance in China: Technology Drives Forward Innovation" on Sunday, May 29, 2016 in Beijing. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]

CreditEase, a leading inclusive finance and wealth management company in China, pledged on Sunday that it would continue and expand its inclusive finance services during the company's 10th anniversary.

During the past ten years, CreditEase has tried to offer easy financial services based on an individual entity's credit to small-and-micro enterprises (SMEs), low-income rural households in remote areas and fresh college graduates which represent a niche market traditional financial agencies would not set foot in.

However, its decade-long dedication to inclusive finance has solved "more than half of the uncovered areas of traditional finance. The market of inclusive finance today is as big as traditional finance," asserted Tang Ning, the company's founder and CEO at the company's 10th anniversary celebration, also an occasion that unveiled the report titled "The Practice of Inclusive Finance in China: Technology Drives Forward Innovation."

He defined inclusive finance as a "pioneering, cool, problem-solving and interesting" branch of finance, which would feature "high-level, high-touch, high-potential and high-growth."

The fast growth of inclusive finance in China has been in sync with the rise of the internet economy, during which the government encouraged mass entrepreneurship and intensified poverty-reduction efforts. CreditEase believes that these groups have the potential to thrive as long as they are granted a small assistance fund.

According to the CreditEase report, China has around 19 million SMEs, 51.65 million private industrial or commercial households and 200 million commercial farmers.

"For these people, sometimes the difference between success and failure is a loan of merely tens of thousands of yuan. For some rural households in remote places, it might be 8,000 yuan (US$1.223) or even less," said Tang.

Helping clients build their capabilities, apart from providing small loans, is also what makes inclusive finance different from traditional finance. For example, CreditEase staff members helped train microbusiness owners, working class and agricultural households, and linked actual vocational skills to the importance of keeping good credit; in other words, loans must be paid off on time.

"We taught rural women knitting and embroidery skills, helped fresh college graduates to dock with electronic business platforms, and in extreme cases, we even told some of our loan recipients to separate face towels with towels for other purposes helping them stay sanitary," Tang said.

Follow China.org.cn on Twitter and Facebook to join the conversation.
The advertisement, for the Chinese detergent brand Qiaobi, featured a black man being transformed into a fair-skinned Chinese after being washed by the detergent in a washing machine. [Video clip]

The Chinese company behind the controversial racist commercial for a detergent brand apologized for the advertisement on Saturday but added that the media is "overreacting."

Qiaobi laundry detergent, owned by Shanghai-based Leishang Cosmetics, posted the following statement on its Weibo microblog account: "We are sorry that our commercial content led to controversy, and we have no intention of shirking our responsibility. We have stopped airing the commercial and have removed links to it. We hope that internet users and the media will also stop circulating the video."

The commercial quickly went viral in China and overseas in the past few days. It featured a black man being transformed into a fair-skinned Asian man after being put into a washing machine by his Chinese wife. It clearly is a copycat of Coloreria Italiana's controversial commercial "Coloured is better", which first aired ten years ago.

The statement continued, "For the harm the commercial and the over-hyped controversy has caused to people of African descent, we want to apologize. We sincerely hope that internet users and the media will not continue over-analyzing the situation."

Internet users responded with anger. "This is disgusting marketing, they treat consumers as idiots and they are being shamed overseas. I will never use this brand's products."

"Aside from the racism, how about telling us why you ripped off the creative idea of an Italian commercial? And how about why you deleted our comments?"

But some supported the brand, saying, "Foreign media is using their values about race to judge us. But actually most Chinese dont feel strongly."

Liu Junhai, a professor of civil and commercial law at Renmin University of China, told Shanghai Daily that the commercial reflects the lack of public awareness about racial issues in China.

"Chinese brands should stay alert because of fast-spreading social media," Liu said. "The authorities should strengthen awareness through education and supervision of the advertising industry as well as punishing cases of discrimination."

According to China's Advertisement Law, which was updated last year, any content containing or implying national, racial, religious and gender discrimination is prohibited in advertisements and will be subjected to penalties.
Sixty-six Chinese medicinal herbs have been added to the European Pharmacopoeia, an authoritative reference work for quality control of medication.

This means there are clear quality standards for Chinese herbs exported to Europe, which help the drugs gain wider acceptance in foreign markets, according to Professor Dr. Gerhard Franz, Chairman of the TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) Working Party of the European Pharmacopoeia.

He made the remarks on Sunday at an international conference on TCM's future, which was held in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province.

He said the herbs have undergone strict examination and discussion and been approved by all 37 signatory states.

The listed Chinese herbs, including ginseng, account for nearly a third of all herbs in the pharmacopoeia. The professor said their goal is to include at least 300 commonly used Chinese herbs.

Exports of traditional Chinese drugs have been impeded by misuse and substitutions for similar plants, as well as contamination by heavy metals and microbial insecticides.

Xu Runlong, deputy head of Zhejiang's health and family planning commission, said due to lack of quality standards, China's TCM industry lags far behind its counterparts in Japan and the Republic of Korea in foreign markets, adding that modern technology and ideas must be applied in developing TCM.
As the summer break approaches, many Chinese parents are making plans to send their children overseasbut no longer just as tourists or language students.

A staff member at a study camp in Krasnodar, Russia, helps a Chinese student with his uniform. [Photo/Xinhua]

The latest trend is to introduce young people to novel experiences at camps run by professional organizations, according to a report on overseas study tours by Ctrip, a major Chinese travel agency.

In addition, those taking part are getting younger. The age range of the children enrolled this year is 8 to 15, three years younger than in 2014, the report said.

Zhang Jie, head of overseas study tours for Ctrip, said parents today want their children to learn new things.

"Before, study tours were basically focused on two aspects: trips to renowned universities or middle schools, or language skills. It was more like preparation for studying (long term) overseas," she said. "However, when it comes to camps, it's totally different."

Sun Kai, director of international admissions at Sappo School, a private school in New York's Long Island, agreed and added that parents are choosing activities abroad that their children would not have access to in China.

These include "wildness survival programs, which challenge children's hardworking spirit by training them to save themselves and to react fast in the wild", he said.

Sappo School has been receiving international exchange students for more than six years, and Sun said it is true that more Chinese have started to participate in US summer camps, with most being from junior high schools.

"More Chinese parents have chosen camps for their children because school is class-based and cannot cover lots of activities," he said. "Professional summer camps can teach pottery, ballet, piano, violin and martial arts."

He added that participants in his school's program come mainly from relatively rich "and open-minded" areas of China such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou in Guangdong province.

In addition to those in the United States and Canada, summer camps in western and northern Europe are also popular with Chinese parents.

The Ctrip report said bookings for summer camps account for more than 30 percent of its total overseas study tours this year and that inquiries from parents have risen threefold compared with last year.

"The average price for a professional summer camp is 10,000 to 15,000 yuan ($1,520 to $2,280) higher than a regular study tour," Zhang said.

Sun at Sappo School said parent feedback has been strong.

"More parents hope short-term overseas study will give their children new experiences and help them to build knowledge of the unknown," he said. "Without knowledge, how can you know if you like or dislike something?

"As living conditions get better, parents are willing to encourage their children to discover what they like and what they dislike."
China is ready to launch the world's first quantum communications satellite this July, which is said to be the most secure way of communication.

Pan Jianwei, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and chief scientist of the quantum satellite project, shows how to make quantum encoded calls on May 25, 2106. [Photo: Xinhua]

The mission will be launched on the Long March 2D rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert.

Work began on the satellite in 2011 and assembly was completed early this year.

Scientists are conducting tests before the launch.

Zhu Zhencai, chief designer of the quantum satellite explained: "the most distinctive feature (of this satellite) is that it has to be aligned with two optical ground stations in a considerably wide range of plus-minus 90 degrees to 75 degrees. The other feature is that the optical axes of the satellite and the ground telescope have to be aligned strictly, almost like needle-to-head, or 3.5 micro-radians."

Pan Jianwei, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and chief scientist of the quantum satellite, listed the three main missions of this satellite, which are quantum encoded communications, quantum entanglement and quantum teleportation.

Among them, quantum encoded communications, hightlight of this cutting-edge technology, can be absolutely secure, which is determined by its nature: quantum information can be neither sensed (uncertainty principle) nor copied (the no-cloning theorem).

Even the most powerful computer cannot crack the quantum information, said Pan.

China is planning to launch more quantum satellites in the future, aiming for the first international macro-zonal quantum encoded information network by 2030.

"The three missions (of the quantum satellite) are first-time attempts for China, the world, and the entire human race. Therefore, it draws global expectation," said Pan.
Legal experts have called for more education and stricter law enforcement to increase awareness of racial sensitivity after the release of an advertisement that caused outrage on social media.

The advertisement, for the Chinese detergent brand Qiaobi, featured a black man being transformed into a fair-skinned Chinese after being washed by the detergent in a washing machine.

The advertisement, for the Chinese detergent brand Qiaobi, went viral on the internet in China and overseas.

It featured a black man being transformed into a fair-skinned Chinese after being washed by the detergent in a washing machine.

Shanghai-based Leishang Cosmetics, which owns the brand, has halted distribution of the ad, which was shown on social media and in some movie theaters in China.

It posted a statement on its micro-blog account on Saturday to apologize to those who may have felt offended by the commercial.

On Chinese micro-blogging platform Sino Weibo, the news hashtag #controversy caused by laundry detergent# attracted nearly 3 million views, with many netizens leaving critical comments.

A user surnamed Chujianbaoji said: "The racial discrimination here couldn't be more obvious. The idea of washing a person in a washing machine is reckless."

Li Jun, vice-president in charge of the Qiaobi brand, said on Sunday: "The creative idea for the commercial was to add some comic drama by using artistic exaggeration. There was no intention of racial discrimination, and we didn't realize initially that it might lead to viewers getting the wrong impression.

"But we will take responsibility for any potential discomfort caused by it and apologize to those who may feel offended."

Liu Junhai, a professor of civil and commercial law at Renmin University of China, said the commercial reflects the lack of public awareness about racial issues in China.

"Chinese brands should stay alert because of fast-spreading social media," Liu said, adding that sensitivity about racial issues among advertisers and the public in China is not as high as in Western countries.

"The authorities should strengthen awareness through education and supervision of the advertising industry as well as punishing cases of discrimination," he said.

According to China's Advertisement Law, which was updated last year, any content containing or implying national, racial, religious and gender discrimination is prohibited in adverts, and incurs penalties.
An academic has been detained by police in relation to a wax factory explosion in Qingpu District that killed a graduate student he supervised and two other people last Monday, the East China University of Science and Technology confirmed yesterday.

The district government said last Tuesday that the blast caused the collapse of nearly 200 square meters of steel paneling, but did not specify the cause. The student, Li Peng, was a second-year master's student of chemical engineering.

Zhang Jianyu, an associate professor at the university's School of Resources and Environmental Engineering, is a shareholder of Shanghai Joule Wax Company where the blast took place, according to the Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce.

Zhang established the company in 2007 and was its legal representative until June 30 last year.

However, the university, which does not allow its staff to own or work for businesses, said it was not aware of the academic's involvement in a private enterprise.

The current legal representative of the company is Zhang's brother Zhang Jianjun, according to a report in the Beijing News.

Police in Qingpu District refused to answer Shanghai Daily's questions, saying that the government would make a public announcement about Zhang's detention.

Last Tuesday, Li's sister stated in a scathing attack on weibo.com, China's Twitter counterpart, that Zhang was a "capitalist and a vampire."

She added: "(Zhang) often forced (Li) to do lab work for his private companies.

"He forced him to work for him in a factory in Zhejiang Province for over a month last summer with no wages. "He prohibited my brother from publishing his research paper, hoping to appropriate the research to make a business profit."

She alleged that her brother was killed during a "dangerous experiment" at the wax factory, adding that Zhang failed to take the necessary safety precautions.

As of press time last night, she had not responded to Shanghai Daily's request for an interview.
In Guanhe Village, Chongxin town, Gansu Province, stands a scholartree which is presumably 3,200 years old.

A schoclartree, presumably as old as 3,200 years, has become a unique scenic spot in northwestern Gansu Province.[Photo/Chinanews.com]

Weathering more than 30 centuries, the tree which is flourishing with its wide branches and thick foliage has won considerable acclamation from both China and abroad.

According to folklore, the famous general Weichi Gong (585-658) in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) tied his horse under the tree and the legendary story adds an historic appeal to the tree.

The tree has been living in together with peppers, Chinese galls, wheat and corn and is named after its eight major branches as the Eight-Diagram-Tree.

Listed in the brochure of "The Spectacular Ancient Trees in Gansu" and "The List of Hundreds of Ancient Trees in China," the tree has been crowned as "the King of the Ancient Scholartrees." Surrounded by mountains and cliffs, the tree has become a fantastic scenic spot attracting multitudes of visitors to the local village.

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Officials from China and the United States will hold annual meetings next week in Beijing, according to a Foreign Ministry spokesperson Monday.

The eighth China-U.S. Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) and the seventh China-U.S. High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE) will be held on June 6 and 7, spokesperson Lu Kang announced.

The S&ED will be co-chaired by Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew present as representatives of the two heads of state.

The CPE will be co-chaired by Vice Premier Liu Yandong and Kerry.

China is ready to work with the United States to implement the consensus reached by leaders of both sides, enhance strategic communication, promote mutually beneficial cooperation, and properly handle differences, to advance the building of a new model of major-country relations between China and the United States, said Lu.

The CPE will discuss exchanges and cooperation in education, science and technology, culture, health, sports, women and youth, according to the spokesperson.
Since when did the international community judge disputes based on the one-sided rhetoric of the so-called weaker side instead of the rights and wrongs?

Many outsiders take for granted that the Philippines filed the South China Sea dispute case with the arbitral tribunal in The Hague because it was being bullied by China.

It is understandable for the Philippines to entertain the idea that it, having less power and leverage, could not negotiate a most desirable deal out of the dispute with China bilaterally. But just because the Philippines is smaller and weaker than China does not necessarily make its claims valid.

First and foremost, by unilaterally initiating the arbitration, the Philippines not only abandoned the "Pacta sunt servanda" principle in international law, which means "agreements must be kept," but also violated China's right as a State Party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to seek a dispute settlement means of its own choice.

Accusing China of not respecting the tribunal, the Philippines has never explained why it brought the case to The Hague in 2012 when it still had an agreement to honor with China -- both countries had undertaken to resolve disputes through negotiations.

Then we come to the abuse of power by the arbitral tribunal, which doesn't even have the right to hear the case and exercise jurisdiction.

In essence, the Philippines' requests are about territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation, which are subject to general international law, not the UNCLOS. And China already made a declaration on optional exceptions in 2006 in accordance with the UNCLOS, which excluded disputes concerning maritime delimitation, historic bays or titles, as well as military and law enforcement activities from the dispute settlement procedures provided for in the convention.

Sadly, the tribunal chose to ignore the fact and abuse its power.

Moreover, the Philippines tells lies to the international community whenever it sees fit. It has on the one hand refused to handle the disputes as agreed and on the other hand claimed that bilateral means have been exhausted.

But the bottom line is that the territorial dispute was caused exactly by the Philippines' invasion and illegal occupation of a number of islands and reefs of China's Nansha Islands in the 1970s. Before that, it did not raise any objections to China's jurisdiction of the islands.

That's why China insists on its position that it will not accept or recognize such arbitration, which has been illegal from the very beginning.

By filing the case to the tribunal, the Philippines showed no good will nor the intention to peacefully solve the South China Sea issue, but only wanted to ramp up political pressure on China.

And the so-called arbitration is nothing but a political farce and provocation under the pretext of law.

The Philippines may paint a "David vs Goliath" picture and play the victim, but it still is not on the righteous side.

Nobody should doubt China's will to safeguard its core interests. As a spokesperson for the foreign ministry put it, "China will never bully small countries, but we will in no way tolerate a small country making up excuses and hurting China's interests."
Chinese President Xi Jinping set the target of China becoming a leading power in science and technology (S&T) by the middle of this century as he addressed a major S&T conference on Monday.

China should establish itself as one of the most innovative countries by 2020 and a leading innovator by 2030 before realizing the objective of becoming a world-leading S&T power by the centenary anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 2049, Xi said.

He made the remarks at an event conflating the national conference on S&T, the biennial conference of the country's two top think tanks -- the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the national congress of the China Association for Science and Technology.

Xi stressed the role of S&T as a bedrock upon which "the country relies for its power, enterprises rely for victories, and people rely for a better life."

"Great scientific and technological capacity is a must for China to be strong and for people's lives to improve", he said, calling for new ideas, designs, and strategies in science and tech.

The conference, chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, was also attended by senior leaders Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan and Wang Qishan.
The United States' more frequent military moves in the South China Sea in violation of international law and in defiance of protests from a sovereign country concerned only lead to escalation of tensions in the region.

[By Zhai Haijun/China.org.cn]

Over recent years, the United States has insisted on its military operations across the South China Sea, with some senior U.S. officials making statements saying that such moves will be even more frequent in future.

Some Western media on Sunday called the recent U.S. military moves in the South China Sea the "new normal" in spite of continuous opposition from China.

A former U.S. defense official, quoted by media reports, said what's the United States doing was for "freedom of navigation" and "following the rules."

By launching frequent moves in the South China Sea one after another, Washington is just deliberately blurring the distinction between commercial navigation and military operation in the region. But such unlawful moves by the United States can never serve to cover up its gross violation of other countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity, or to whitewash its excessive ambition of maintaining a dominant presence in the region.

In the name of "freedom of navigation or overflight," Washington repeatedly shows its force as a global sheriff, neglecting the fact that the South China Sea had enjoyed decades of peace and commercial prosperity before the 1970s.

Launching the "Freedom of Navigation (FON)" program in 1979 under the Jimmy Cater administration, Washington just wants to legitimize its undeserved interests around the world depending on its military supremacy.

Furthermore, Washington has always pointed its finger at China, saying the Asian country's development in the South China Sea inflames regional tension. But such accusations can't hold water either.

In fact, despite the complicated territorial rows between China and some of its neighbors, China has kept exercising restraint and has meanwhile devoted a lot to consultation with other related parties in order to peacefully settle disputes.

As an advocate of freedom of navigation, China also views the South China Sea vital to global trade and its own development, and consequently has no reason to unsettle the region.

Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said on Friday that the South China Sea issue must be resolved peacefully through constructive and meaningful negotiations with neighboring countries.

"To uphold freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea is not only an obligation under the international laws. It is also in line with China's own interests, as well as the interests of all countries in the region," Ma said.

It is advisable for the United States, an outside party, to halt its interference in the South China Sea.

Moreover, Uncle Sam's play of political brinkmanship in the South China Sea should come to an end for the sake of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the hard-won mutual trust with China.
[By Luo Jie/China Daily]

During the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit in late March, Chinese President Xi Jinping, at a meeting with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, expressed Chinas steadfast determination to safeguard its sovereignty and related rights in the South China Sea. President Xi urged the U.S. not to take sides on issues involving sovereignty and territorial disputes, and to exert a constructive role in maintaining regional peace and stability.

The U.S. governments policies Pivot to Asia in 2009 and Rebalance to the Asia-Pacific in 2012 were attempts to join hands with the surrounding countries of the South China Sea to contain China. The U.S. even strengthened military deployment and presence in this area, intensifying local tensions.

Catering to the policy of rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific, Japan in recent years has adopted a series of measures, such as lifting the ban on the collective self-defense right, to restrain China. At the upcoming G7 Summit this May, it is expected that Japan will urge the summit to reach an agreement to contain China on issues of the South China Sea and the East China Sea.

Rich in petroleum and natural gas, the South China Sea is also one of the busiest seaways in the world with annual freightage valued at about US $5 trillion passing through. Supported by the U.S., countries on the rim of the South China Sea openly disputed Chinas sovereignty in the South China Sea and surrounding waters. The Philippines even took the sovereignty dispute to the International Court of Justice in The Hague for judicial arbitration.

Available historical documents record that the Chinese first discovered the Nansha Islands in the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220) and were the first to gain substantial knowledge about the South China Sea. With the progress of navigation technology and the invention and wide use of compasses, the navigation and activities of Chinese people in this area tended to be more frequent from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) onwards. Since then, the South China Sea islands and adjacent waters have become a wide area for Chinese people to engage in production and commercial activities, such as fishing and collecting coral. There were also countless maps, archives, documents, and logs reserved from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties that recorded the islands and reefs in the South China Sea .

After World War II, China resumed its exercise of sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and Xisha Islands in accordance with a series of international documents, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation.

In 1958, the government of the Peoples Republic of China issued a statement once again claiming that the Dongsha, Xisha, Zhongsha, and Nansha islands and the waters extending 12 nautical miles were part of Chinese territory. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which took effect in 1994, strongly supports Chinas peaceful development and utilization of the South China Sea in recent years. Since the Convention cannot judge disputes on the sea involving territorial entitlement, historic sovereignty, and military activities, the Chinese government has the right of rejecting the arbitration of the South China Sea.

A seminar to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the China-ASEAN partnership was held in Beijing on April 11. The Philippines will never resort to military force on the South China Sea issue, said Erlinda Basilio, Philippine ambassador to China.

Aries Arugay, a Philippine think tank scholar and executive director of the Institute for Strategic and Development Studies, said that the Philippines submitted the South China Sea issue for arbitration without extensive consultation with ASEAN or consideration of the interests of all parties, which shut the doors for dialogue with other countries. If the Philippine government chose dialogue and communication in the first place, things would look different now.

The scholar also noted that the general election was ongoing in the Philippines, and that perhaps the new president would take a different attitude to the South China Sea issue. Among the four presidential candidates in the Philippines, three said that they were willing to engage in dialogue with China on the South China Sea issue, which is a positive trend.

Not long ago, some media in Vietnam reported that a Vietnamese fishing boat was intercepted by a Chinese vessel in the Vietnamese waters area. A small-scale anti-Chinese demonstration broke out in Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, on March 14. However, these events did not impact the friendly atmosphere of high-level military exchanges between the two countries. When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Vietnam last November, both nations agreed to manage maritime disputes, effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), and seek to reach a consensus on the code of conduct for the South China Sea (COC) as soon as possible. Both vowed not to take action that might enlarge or complicate disputes, and to maintain Sino-Vietnam relations and the peace and stability of the South China Sea.

Although China and Vietnam had disputed the sea border over the Beibu Gulf for decades, the issue was successfully solved by negotiation. This shows that only bilateral treaties can satisfactorily solve territory disputes.

Courtesy: China Today
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The newly-formed Turkish government headed by Prime Minister Binali Yildirim won a parliament vote of confidence on Sunday.

During the voting, 315 of the 453 participated deputies voted for "yes," while 138 voted against the new government.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has 317 deputies in the 550-seat parliament.

His government would be "government of all" of the country, Yildirim said in his speech after Sunday's vote.

Announcing the new cabinet last week, Yildirim said priority of Turkey's new government will be new constitution including change of administrative system to executive presidency sought by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The prime minister, a loyalist and close confidant to Erdogan, has replaced Ahmet Davutoglu who resigned only after six months he won the national elections in a landslide in November polls.

Yildirim, former minister of transport, maritime and communications in the government, was picked by the party as the only candidate to contest the chairmanship in the extraordinary party congress on May 22.
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Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday said a significant amount of the stolen assets and funds had been recovered.

The Nigerian leader stated this in Abuja, the nation's capital city in a nationwide broadcast to mark the one year anniversary of the All Progressives Congress-led government.

He said the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture will publish and update Nigerians on the efforts of the government toward recovering all Nigeria's stolen assets.

The president assured that the recovered funds would be credited to the federation account after all necessary legal procedures.

He frowned at the recent spate of attacks by militants disrupting oil and power installations in the Niger Delta areas.

The president said such attacks would not distract him from engaging leaders in the region in addressing Niger Delta problems.

According to Buhari, the economic misfortune the country is experiencing from the very low oil prices has provided the nation with an opportunity to restructure the economy.

He said his administration was in the process of promoting agriculture, livestock and expanding the nation's industrial and manufacturing base.

He said the APC-led government remained committed to reforming the regulatory framework for investors by improving the environment of doing business in Nigeria.

President Buhari said already the first steps along the path of self-sufficiency in rice, wheat and sugar had been taken.

The president also announced that the government would soon inaugurate the national women's empowerment fund.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's family issued a statement on Sunday, denying his wife Sara has committed offenses, after the police reportedly recommended to indict her over graft allegations.

"The police didn't recommend to indict Mrs. Netanyahu," read a post on Netanyahu's Facebook page on behalf of his family. "In contrary to recent publications, Mrs. Netanyahu has not committed any offense," it added.

Police spokeswoman, Luba Samri, released a statement on Sunday, according to which it has concluded a criminal investigation over alleged fraud and graft charges and transferred its findings to the Jerusalem prosecution.

She did not elaborate on the police's findings.

However, several major Israeli media outlets reported that Sara Netanyahu was suspected in "obtaining an item by fraud" in three separate cases. In the main case, she reportedly used public money to cover the expenses of nursing care for her elderly father, according to Channel 2 TV news.

According to local media, the police also recommended to indict Mrs. Netanyahu after enough evidence were found for her involvement in the fraud.

The investigation started in February 2015 after a state comptroller's report pointed to Mrs. Netanyahu's alleged use of state funds for private service providers and for personal use in the two homes used by the family in Jerusalem and in the northern coastal town of Caesarea.

More details on the affair emerged amid a civil suit was filed by former caretaker of the official residence, Meni Naftali, against Sara Netanyahu and the Prime Minister's Office for abusive treatment and for not paying him overtime. Naftali won the suit and was awarded 170,000 shekels (about 44,000 U.S. dollars.)

The prime minister's wife was questioned under caution in December 2015 by the Israeli police's Lahav 433 fraud investigation unit over the matter.

One of the issues included in the probe are the employment of electrician Avi Fahima, a member of the Likud party and an associate of Netanyahu, for work at the Caesarea residence during weekends and holidays for higher rates.

Another issue is related to refunds on recycled bottles, as Sara allegedly pocketed thousands of shekels in refunds from bottles which should have gone to the government, who paid for the drinks.

Netanyahu returned 4,000 shekels (over 1,000 U.S. dollars) but Naftali claimed in his suit the sum is closer to 24,000 shekels (about 6,000 U.S. dollars).

Law enforcement have also looked into the family's apparent excessive spending on food, cleaning supplies and makeup, using state funds, between 2009 and 2013.

The police's announcement comes a week after the state comptroller, the government's official watchdog, released a report on the so-called "Bibi-Tours Affairs", pertaining to alleged external finances and double-billing of overseas trips of Netanyahu and his family while he served as finance minister and lawmaker in the early 2000s.

Netanyahu and his family allegedly received hundreds of thousands of shekels from tycoons and public bodies to finance visits in the U.S. and Europe. The state comptroller added there is suspicion for "criminal behavior" in the affair.

Netanyahu said via his attorney that there was "no fault in his actions" and that the allegations were perpetrated by political rivals.
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King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday appointed Hani Al Mulqi as new prime minister and dissolved the parliament, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

Al Mulqi is a former ambassador in Cairo and served as Jordan's foreign minister in 2004. He also chaired the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority.

Al Mulqi was also a senator and an advisor to the King.

Mulqi's appointment and the dissolution of the Lower House come ahead of the parliamentary elections that are slated before the end of this year.

According to the constitution, the parliament elections are to be held within four months after the dissolution of the lower house.

In the letter of appointment, King Abdullah urged the new prime minister to provide all support and facilitation for holding the parliamentary elections.

He called on the government to address economic challenges and embark on mega projects to improve services provided for citizens in health, education, youth and other areas.

The monarch also called for enhancing legislation to attract more investments and improve business climate in the country.

He urged engaging citizens in the decision making process.
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Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, on Saturday criticized U.S. President Barack Obama for visiting Hiroshima while neglecting to mention the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

"Does President Obama ever discuss the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor while he's in Japan? Thousands of American lives lost," Trump said on his Twitter.

Obama on Friday became the first incumbent U.S. president to visit Hiroshima since his country dropped an atomic bomb on the city 71 years ago in order to accelerate the end of World War Two (WWII), which was partially waged by Japan.

However, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he had no specific plans to visit Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, which was attacked by the Japanese military on Dec. 7, 1941, killing more than 2,400 people and leading Washington's entry into WWII.

As many observers and U.S. local media have pointed out, with the end of Obama's last term in office approaching in January 2017, he hopes to cement his legacy as an advocate of nuclear disarmament by claiming the title of the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima.

On the Japanese side, Tokyo wants to take Obama to Hiroshima, not because it wants an apology or calls for a nuclear-free world. Instead, Japan is more interested in highlighting the tragedy of Hiroshima while ignoring the sufferings of countries that it brutalized before and during WWII.

Japan is trying to downplay its role as an aggressor and attempting to portray itself as a victim, observers believe.
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Over 6,000 people have fled areas in northern Syria as a result of the attacks by the Islamic State (IS) militants, a monitor group reported on Sunday.

The mass exodus was witnessed in the towns of Sheikh Issa, Mare' and other towns in the northern province of Aleppo, as a result of the IS attacks on these areas that are under the control of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The Islamic State has recently unleashed a wide-scale offensive on the SDF controlled areas in the northern countryside of Aleppo, in retaliation to the SDF attacks on the terror group's positions in the northern countryside of the northern province of al-Raqqa, the de facto capital of the IS.

The SDF managed to repel the IS attacks on Mare', which is considered as the "capital of revolution" by the Syrian rebels, as the town was the first to witness armed insurgency that spread to the city of Aleppo in the early years of Syria's five-year-old conflict.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the people fled to other areas under the SDF control, adding that tough humanitarian situation is prevailing in such towns as a result of the military showdown there.

The SDF, which has recently been formed from Kurdish and Arab fighters, unleashed an offensive to control areas in northern al-Raqqa under heavy U.S. air cover.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists on ground, said the SDF advance has slowed down, as the IS militants were prepared well for the battle.

The aim of the SDF offensive was to control a triangle between Aleppo and al-Raqqa to cut the IS routes between both provinces.

Mare' is also of great significance as it borders Turkey and constitutes an important supply line to the rebel fighters in northern Aleppo.
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Three Kenyans were killed on Sunday by suspected Al-Shabaab returnees in the coastal town of Kwale.

Regional police commander Francis Wanjohi said the three who were involved in ensuring security among communities were shot dead by armed men in separate locations.

"They were killed on Sunday morning and reports indicate that nothing was stolen from them. We are still pursuing the attackers," said Wanjohi.

According to the police, Al-Shabaab returnees are suspected to be behind the Sunday fatal shooting. Recently the same gang has executed a reformed Al-Shabaab returnee in Kwale.

Over 300 Kenya youth who had joined the Al-Shabaab group have abandoned the group and have been reintegrated into communities.
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Muhammad Alloush, the chief negotiator of the opposition's Higher Negotiation Committees (HNC), resigned Sunday from his post, according to the Al-Arabiyah TV.

In a phone call with the Saudi-funded TV, Alloush said he will no longer be the lead negotiator at the Geneva peace talks apparently over frustration from the lack of progress in the talks.

He said the HNC hasn't received any invitation to the upcoming round of talks.

Alloush, meanwhile, urged the rebel factions in Aleppo to prepare to defend the city against what he said the imminent military offensive by the Syran army and it's allied forces on the rebel-held part of the city.

He also said the major powers have prevented the delivery of weapons to the Syrian rebels.

Earlier this year, Syria's Political and Armed Opposition Groups Coalition named Mohammed Alloush, a militant chief supported by Saudi Arabia, as its chief negotiator for peace talks in Geneva.

Alloush is a relative of the late leader of the rebels Islam Army, Zahran Alloush, who was killed by an airstrike near Damascus.

Zahran Alloush and his Jaysh al-Islam group have been responsible for the daily mortar shelling of civilians in the capital.
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Algerian army troops on Sunday discovered a load of war weapons and ammunition near the border with Libya, Defense Ministry said.

The weapons were discovered in the locality of Bordj Badji Mokhtar, in Adrar province, 1543 km southeastern of Algiers, thanks to the permanent patrol operations being conducted by thousands of troops deployed on the border with chaos-ridden Libya, the source noted.

The troops seized a PKT machine gun, a FMPK machine gun, a Kalashnikov submachine gun, two SIMONOV semiautomatic guns, three grenades and 974 bullets of different calibers.

The operation was part of the measures meant to strengthening security on the border and the fight against organized crime, the source said.

Located in a region plagued by unprecedented security and political instability, Algeria faces ongoing terrorist threats.

The North African nation has been deploying more troops on the eastern borderline to thwart intrusion of arms and militants, amid unstable security situation in neighboring Tunisia, and the civil war hitting neighboring Libya.
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The U.S. military's plan to build a futuristic satellite-launching robotic space plane is moving forward. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) recently put out its official call for proposals seeking designs for its Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1), according to local media reports.

The XS-1 program aims to develop a reusable unmanned vehicle that would provide "aircraft-like access to space" and deploy small satellites to orbit faster and more affordably using expendable upper stages.

"Current satellite launch systems, however, require scheduling years in advance for an extremely limited inventory of available slots. Moreover, launches often cost hundreds of millions of dollars each, due in large part to the massive amounts of dedicated infrastructure and large number of personnel required," DARPA said in a statement on Monday.

Three groups are involved in DARPA's design efforts for the XS-1. The new announcement sets a deadline of July 22 for them to submit their design proposals. In early 2017, the agency is expected to select one group to move forward with the construction of an XS-1 prototype for flight testing.

According to the Pentagon's future-focused project's research agency, key XS-1 program technical goals include at its best performance, flying 10 times in 10 days, flying to Mach 10+ at least once and launching 3,000- to 5,000- pound (1,361 to 2,268 kilograms) payloads to orbit for less than 5 million U.S. dollars per flight.

DARPA' s been at the XS-1 program for a while. The program began in 2013 and is currently broken into three phases. DARPA announced in April that it had received funding from the Obama Administration to move into Phase II. But the latest announcement is for both Phase II and Phase III program, which overall objective is to "design, build, and flight test a reusable booster system prototype."

"What makes the new announcement stand out is that it seems almost impatient," the Popular Science reported, "space isn't necessarily hard, but it's hard to do cheap, and the cost savings are key to DARPA's whole vision of the XS-1 program".

Phase I sought to "evaluate the technical feasibility and methods for achieving the program's goals". In 2014 and 2015, during Phase 1, DARPA awarded funds to three groups working on XS-1 designs: Northrop Grumman, partnered with Virgin Galactic; Boeing, partnered with Blue Origin; and Masten Space Systems, partnered with XCOR Aerospace. The three groups have released simple, digital renderings of what their XS-1 designs would look like.

The XS-1 will not be the U.S. military' s only reusable space plane program. The Pentagon already has another reusable space plane in operation: the secretive X-37B program, looks much like NASA's retired space shuttles, only much smaller. It is boosted into orbit by a rocket and lands like an aircraft on a conventional runway.

The secretive X-37 program began as a NASA project in 1999 but was later transferred to the Pentagon. Currently, it's being run by the U.S. Air Force's Rapid Capabilities Office.

The two Boeing built X-37Bs have launched on a total of four missions over six years. Its third mission ended last October after a total time of 674 days in orbit. Just what they're doing up there is a mystery; most X-37B payloads are classified.
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Gary Johnson, former governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico, was again picked by the Libertarian Party as its presidential candidate, emerging as a contender against the two major parties' nominees in the general election.

Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson gives acceptance speech during National Convention held at the Rosen Centre in Orlando, Florida, May 29, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Johnson won the nomination on the second ballot at the party's weekend-long biennial convention in Orlando, Florida, TV networks reported.

Johnson, who also won the country's third largest party's presidential nomination in 2012, fell five votes short of the majority on the first ballot this time but finally garnered 55.8 percent of the vote on the second, said reports from TheHIll news daily and the ABC news.

"We do have the opportunity to reach millions and millions of Americans," said Johnson on Sunday. "I've never been involved in this without the notion of winning."

During the speech, Johnson pleaded to the delegates to select his running mate -- former Massachusetts governor Bill Weld, suggesting Weld would help secure millions in fundraising donations and garner national media attention that no other vice presidential contender would be able to.

Libertarian delegates have not yet voted on Weld, who joined the party just less than two weeks ago. Many of them viewed Weld's recent addition to the ticket of Johnson with suspicion since he was a state campaign chair for 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney's campaign and endorsed Ohio governor John Kasich in the Republican primary before Kasich quitted the race earlier this month, said local analysts.

The Libertarian Party has drawn more attention this year as many voters seek alternatives to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the likely nominees for the Democratic and Republican parties. Both of them have unprecedentedly low favorability numbers in modern U.S. history of election politics.

Recent polls show that Johnson may earn the support of around 10 percent of likely voters. However, the U.S. Commission on Presidential Debates mandates that a candidate receive 15 percent in national polls to earn a spot in the debate. The Johnson campaign is currently involved in a lawsuit against the commission to lower the threshold, according to a Huffinton Post report.

The U.S. Libertarian Party was officially formed in December, 1971, aiming to promote civil liberties, non-interventionism, laissez-faire economics and abolition of the welfare state.

Johnson once states that the party is more culturally liberal than the Democrats, but more fiscally conservative than the Republicans.
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The African Union (AU) on Sunday decried Africa's slow pace towards continental integration.

AU Commission Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha told Xinhua in Nairobi that one of the reasons is the fear by some nations that they may lose if Africa becomes a single market.

"So researchers need to come up with data to show that Africa will gain once the continental free trade area comes into force," Mwencha said on the sidelines of the African Economic Research Consortium's (AERC) Biannual Research Workshop.

The five-day event brought over 200 researchers, academics, and policymakers to discuss issues relevant to Africa's economic development.

"The Africa continent is not prioritizing integration as much, yet this is actually our rescue," Mwencha said.

"A fully integrated continent will create a single market of one billion people with an expanding emerging middle class," he noted.

Mwencha said that the issue of regional integration not going as fast as it should be has a lot to do with the political economy.

"So we need to remove fear so that policy makers understand that if integration is well managed all African states will emerge stronger," he said.

He noted that as a result of slow integration, intra-Africa trade stands at around 12 percent of total trade, while other regions are at 50 percent.

The AU official said that moving goods from one African nation to another is very difficult.

"This is because our trade routes were designed to move goods to other continents and not within the continent," he added.

The merger of three African regional economic blocs through a tripartite agreement was supposed to be completed in 2014. "This has not happened as some of the member states have not fully embraced the idea," Mwencha said.

The AUC official said that economic integration will mean that some countries will lose some sectors and gain some sectors depending on their level of competitiveness.

"So we must find a way to accommodate the losers so that their resources are directed to other productive sectors of the economy," he said.
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China supplied Venezuela with 96 tons of much-needed medicine against Zika over the weekend as part of a comprehensive bilateral cooperation agreement between the two countries.

The shipment arrived Saturday at the Simon Bolivar International Airport, and Venezuelan Health Minister Luisana Melo was on hand to receive the aid, which included 186,000 units of intravenous fluids and 11,500 units of the antibody immunoglobulin G (IgG).

The medicine comes at a time when Venezuela, as much of the rest of South America, is battling the mosquito-borne Zika virus and the afflictions it causes, including the Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

IgG "is indispensable for treating Zika and Guillain-Barre, among other diseases," said Melo.

Melo, who was accompanied by China's Ambassador to Venezuela, Zhao Bentang, said the medicine would de distributed nationwide through the country's network of hospitals.

Venezuela's comprehensive bilateral cooperation agreement with China is "so diverse that it ranges from raw materials to the acquisition of medicine," noted Melo.

Zhao underscored the "ties between the two countries, which are striving to step up cooperation in all aspects."

"The Chinese government and people maintain a strong friendship with the Venezuelan people and will always stand by their side to overcome any difficulties," said Zhao.

The two countries' Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, established in 2014, aims to promote joint development for the benefit of both nations.
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Presumptive Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte speaks during a press conference in Davao Province, the Philippines, May 16, 2016. Presumptive Philippine president-elect Rodrigo Duterte vowed to restore death penalty in his country, according to his speech on Monday. (Xinhua/Stringer)

A joint session of the Philippine Congress on Monday proclaimed Rodrigo Duterte as the new Philippine president, over 20 days after the May 9 elections.

Duterte, 71, will take over from President Benigno Aquino on June 30 as the country's 16th president.

Both houses of the Congress, which is tasked by the Constitution to canvass the votes for the president and vice president finished Friday canvassing returns and results showed Duterte has won 16,601,997 votes.

Duterte had a lead of almost 7 million votes over second-placer Manuel Roxas, the candidate endorsed by Aquino, in a hotly contested election.

Duterte is the first president who hails from Mindanao in the southern Philippines. At 71, he is also the oldest to assume the presidency.

Maria Leonor Robredo, 51, a member of the House of Representatives, won the vice presidency with 14,418,817 votes or 263,473 votes ahead of her closest rival Sen. Ferdinand Marcos, who got 14,155,344.

Duterte, who earned the "The Punisher" reputation for his iron-fisted rule as mayor in the southern Philippine city of Davao, was elected on a platform of reducing rampant criminality, including promises of mass killings of suspected criminals, drug dealers, the restoration of the death penalty with hanging as the preferred mode of execution, and an overhaul of law enforcement agencies.

Duterte has also pledged to stamp out corruption, vowing to nail tax evaders and smugglers in the Philippines, saying widespread corruption in the country is contributing to increased poverty.

"There's so much expectation with the presidency of Duterte," said political analyst Edmund Tayao in an interview. Duterte vowed to reduce crime in six months.

"It's a protest vote," Tayao said, adding that Filipinos were fed up with the current administration's inability especially to curb rampant criminality in the country.

Tayao said people voted for Duterte because they think he has the guts to implement any measure even if it's unpopular.

"This was the message that reached the people -- a tough no-nonsense president, a tough leader," said Tayao.

Duterte, who stays most of the time in Davao, did not attend the proclamation ceremony at the House of Representatives in Manila. He told reporters over the weekend that he is busy completing the members of his Cabinet.

Aside from rampant criminality, he will also have to grapple with a slew of problems including reducing unemployment and under-employment rates, improving the country's investment climate, corruption, policy instability and inadequate infrastructure.
A worker at a steel company in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, in January 2015. [Photo/China Daily] Amid unsettling factors like US protectionism, overcapacity and low profits, China's iron and steel industry finds ways to stay afloat

China's iron and steel industry has reached a crossroads after having ridden both the wave of export growth and the boom in domestic housing market for more than two decades.

The industry is facing multiple challenges now. Overcapacity has been a bugbear for a while. Low profit has been a related headache. And angry foreign counterparts, who are struggling to keep their employees in their stations, fill the industry's cup of woes.

Officials said the country will continue to cut overcapacity and readjust the industry's production structure to help both domestic and global steel manufacturers out of the woods despite a surge in prices over the past two months.

Shen Danyang, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, said the surge has been caused by the rise in iron ore prices in global markets. Increased activity in the infrastructure sector is also boosting both domestic and global demand for steel products.

His explanation came after international media reported that global steel prices on average had risen from $305 per metric ton earlier this year to $365 in April because China had cut between 150 million tons and 200 million tons of steel and iron production capacity to tackle the issue of overcapacity.

"From an international perspective, along with the gradual recovery of the world economy, the demand for steel increased," said Shen. "Besides, the rising iron-ore prices have also raised the cost of steel products. China's infrastructure projects are apparently supporting the demand for steel from domestic users."

China aims to reduce crude steel production by 100 to 150 million tons over the next five years. It also encourages steel makers to work with downstream steel consumers to promote the use of high-quality steel products in various sectors, from auto and machinery manufacturing to power and offshore engineering equipment.

Eager to stay alive, Liaoning-based Ansteel Group opened a new steel plant last month for high-end steel products used in auto and home appliance manufacturing as the steel maker seeks to improve its product offerings amid oversupply of low-end steel and weak demand.

The new plant, based in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, is part of a joint venture Ansteel formed with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co and ThyssenKrupp AG to tap into steel demand from automakers.

The first stage of the plant cost 1.5 billion yuan ($230 million) and aims for annual production of 450,000 tons of steel plates used in vehicles and high-quality home appliances.

"The Pearl River Delta in South China is an important base for auto and home appliance manufacturing," said Yao Lin, Ansteel's vice-president. "Building a presence in Guangzhou allows us to bring our steel products to many of the country's most important buyers.

"As many domestic steel makers are seeking ways to expand their export channels under current weak global market demand, we need to focus more closely on market demand and localization strategies in China's manufacturing bases such as the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta."

Yao said the company has continually invested in a program of training sales specialists at Anshan-based University of Science and Technology Liaoning for three years.

"China is a large exporter of steel and a big importer for special steel used in shipbuilding, weapons, auto and machinery manufacturing. However, the import prices of steel are three times as much as export prices on average," said Zhao Ying, a researcher at the Institute of Industrial Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

Sun Jin, director of communications at Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Co, one of China's biggest iron producers by capacity, said even though the company announced two months ago that it would cut up to 50,000 jobs, there have been no layoffs or pay cuts yet.

"The company just wants to optimize labor resources, reduce human resource costs and enhance labor productivity. We still give workers a basic salary and social security. They just work somewhere else," he said.

Rather than waiting for the market's hit to drive it out of business, the Wuhan-based steel maker has made its non-steel businesses, including new materials, energy resources, engineering and information technologies, logistics and modern services sectors, the main breadwinners.

In 2013, the operating revenue generated by these new activities accounted for about 30 percent of the group's total, but now they account for more than 50 percent.

"During the planned economy period, we used these businesses to save money. Now, we rely on them to make money. The supporting roles will play leading roles in the foreseeable future to win time for the restructuring of the steel industry," said Sun.

The government said 500,000 workers in the steel sector are expected to lose their jobs as part of the efforts to cut overcapacity. It will provide 100 billion yuan for retraining and to help them find new jobs.

According to the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, 77.8 million metric tons of crude steel capacity has been cut nationally since 2011, with more expected.

"The government this year will speed up efforts to help guide unprofitable mills out of the market," said Zhao Chenxin, spokesman for the National Development and Reform Commission, adding that efforts to cut overcapacity will be implemented as soon as local governments finalize and submit capacity reduction plans to the central government.

In addition, the winds of trade protectionism are still blowing strong from the United States, as the US 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 on May 17. China's Ministry of Commerce has taken action under the World Trade Organization dispute settlement framework to respond to the US move.

"The steel industry faces global challenges. Resorting to protectionism won't solve the problem," said Li Guanghui, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Customers pick fruits at a supermarket in Beijing. [Photo/VCG] Many companies are eyeing a piece of the e-commerce pie in China, but many are getting their hands burnt in the process as well

It is no secret that China is the world's largest e-commerce market, thanks to the staggering amounts of money Chinese consumers have been spending online. According to China's National Bureau of Statistics, online retail transcations in the country hit 3.877 trillion yuan ($589.61 billion) in 2015, a 33.3 percent increase from a year earlier.

But while China may be the global leader in e-commerce, online sales actually only contribute to about 11 percent of the total retail sales in the country, based on findings by global information company Nielsen.

However, Nielsen also estimates that online sales are growing at a staggering rate of 53 percent year-on-year, an indication of the immense potential of China's e-commerce industry. Naturally, many companies have rushed to establish e-commerce platforms to sell their products, but not all of them, even the big players, have tasted success.

"China's e-commerce market is evolving very quickly and it is difficult for an internet platform to keep up without strong China-centric funding and resources," said Ben Cavender, principal of China Market Research Group.

"There are tremendous opportunities for e-commerce to grow further but right now it is still at an early stage. In three to five years, two to three dominant players will emerge from the competition," said Cavender.

Metao.com, a Chinese cross-border e-commerce provider that entered the scene in October 2013, is reportedly facing imminent closure despite receiving $35 million in investments in 2014. One of its customers had apparently lodged a complaint to the Economic Information Daily claiming that she has yet to receive her orders which were placed a month ago, and that her calls to the customer service hotline have gone unanswered.

On April 7, suppliers of local grocery platform Yummy77.com gathered in front of the company to demand for payment, only to discover hours later that the Shanghai-based company went bankrupt, according to a Xinhuanet report.

Yummy77.com, which was officially launched in May 2013, was regarded as a leading grocery e-commerce company in Shanghai, thanks to its prompt delivery services and generous discounts. In May 2014, Amazon China made its first investment in the Chinese mainland by injecting $20 million into Yummy77.com, swelling its evaluation to $100 million.

Li Chengdong, an independent e-commerce strategy analyst, said that the fall of the e-commerce site was largely due to factors such as the lavish spending on the construction of warehouses and a logistics network, an inexperienced management team, and the fact that buying fruit and vegetables online is still a novelty to the majority of Chinese consumers.

It also did not help that competition in this particular e-commerce segment was stiff. Data from Forward (Qianzhan) Intelligence Co Ltd shows that China's fresh grocery e-commerce market expanded from 1 billion yuan in 2011 to 56 billion yuan in 2015. The consultancy also projects the market size to reach 128.3 billion yuan by 2018.

This promising outlook naturally lured several major players to vie for a slice of the pie. Among them were Chinese e-commerce giants Alibaba, Yihaodian, and JD.com.

To exacerbate matters, buying fresh products online is more expensive than doing so at a physical store. Consulting firm Analysys.cn revealed that the average cost for fresh produce sold online in China is twice that of other products because they are expensive to store and transport.

Li said that most e-commerce sites for fresh produce in China are still struggling to make ends meet, and that having adequate financing is key to survival.

Coincidentally, British online fashion and beauty retailer ASOS also met its Waterloo in China on April 7, announcing that it would discontinue local operations (asos.cn). ASOS CEO Nick Beighton also said that the company will continue to do business in China via its main website (asos.com) and that the decision was made to "serve our growing customer base in China in a more efficient and less costly manner".

Despite the growth in online apparel sales in Chinaaccording to a report by the China National Textile and Apparel Council, 723.2 billion yuan worth of apparel was traded online in 2015, a 20.57 percent growth from the previous yearASOS posted a total loss of 8.6 million euros ($9.8 million) since entering the Chinese market in 2013. In contrast, the brand boasts an average growth rate of 20 percent in the international market.

Li said that the poor performance of ASOS is caused by its unsuccessful marketing in China by failing to reach its target consumers.

Cavender believes that more players will exit the highly competitive e-commerce scene in China unless they can effectively differentiate themselves from competitors.

"While e-commerce is growing quickly, it is a very competitive market with a lot of online stores fighting for customers. Because they have to offer both a high level of service and competitive prices in order to attract customers, margins are very thin," said Cavender.

"Companies need to be responsive to consumer needs, both in terms of brands and products offered, and in terms of service quality. If a site has the same products as everyone else and cannot deliver faster or offer something different, consumers will just choose the cheaper, more established option."
A Chinese worker prepares to lift steel rods at a factory in Huaibei city. [Photo/IC]

Leading European economists have urged the European Union not to go overboard on protectionist measures against China's competitive steel exports, warning that escalated anti-dumping moves may lead to retaliation from Beijing and damage the bilateral relationship.

They said both sides have already set an excellent example in solving similar disputes over solar panels and consultation has brought the relationship back on track; the method should be used to find solutions over excess steel capacity, which they say is a "global phenomena".

Europe's steelmakers are facing closure of factories or a drastic reduction in jobs, with trade unions blaming China for dumping cheaper steel products on the open market.

Since last year, the European Union has repeatedly resorted to defensive trade measures, seeking to impose punitive tariffs against China's various competitive steel products, though such products have helped reduce the cost of business in Europe amid economic stagnation.

A solution "very much depends on whether the EU is prepared to intensify negotiations with China and its companies on best practice accounting and cost measurement," said Rolf Langhammer, vice-president of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in Germany from 1997 to 2012.

Referring to the consultations in the solar panel dispute in 2012-13, Langhammer, who is still a professor at Kiel, said there have been examples in the past in which Chinese companies constructively cooperated with the European Commission and thus prevented anti-dumping duties being imposed on their exports.

"This would be a good way to go," he said.

Langhammer insisted that bilateral relationship would strongly benefit from a clear policy of the Chinese government to abstain from any trade-distorting subsidization policies in favor of their steel plants.

Beijing rejects the allegation that China has offered incentives and subsidies to encourage steel producers to export. The Ministry of Commerce Spokesman Shen Danyang ruled it out at press conference last month. "China has not injected export subsidies for the steel companies."

Men Jing, professor at the College of Europe, also expressed her concern over Brussels' actions of imposing excessive trade protection measures against China's steel exports and its time-consuming decision-making process of granting China market economy status, which European Parliament debated on Tuesday.

"I have sensed that, if two sides could not cope with the two headaches properly, any tit-for-tat actions, which I don't expect, may bring trouble for the bilateral relationship between China and the EU, which just celebrated their 40th anniversary (of their partnership) last year," said Men.

"However, I don't think the relationships between China and the EU member states, between China and central and east Europe countries, will be affected," said Men. "Their relationships have gathered sound momentum."

Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Center for International Political Economy, a world-economy think tank in Brussels, said trade disputes were never welcome, but both sides know that they would be damaged if such disputes were allowed to spiral out of control and lead to trade wars.

"The important thing is to prevent escalating trade defense measures and to keep up the pace on concluding the bilateral investment treaty between China and the EU," said Erixon.

Langhammer said China is responding by closing steel plants but this will not decisively cure the problem. "Nor will Brussels' anti-dumping measures be of permanent help," said Langhammer.
Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) Corp has always obeyed the World Trade Organization's principles of fairness, transparency and mutual benefits to conduct international trade, according to the group's spokesperson.

"We don't dump and we are against dumping. We take a proactive stance in international anti-dumping lawsuit that we are involved in. The company has won a number of cases in this regard," said Mei Yun, spokesperson for Wuhan Iron & Steel.

Meanwhile, the group has been slashing jobs to ease the pressure exerted by the economic slowdown on the iron and steel industry.

Ma Guoqiang, chairman of the group, said in March that half of the staff in the company will be transferred to other industries.

"It has been a general understanding that only part of the current workforce in the iron and steel industry will remain. Our company has been helping around 40,000 to 50,000 employees to find new jobs," said Ma.

According to Ma, these employees will retire, continue to work in non-iron and steel sectors of the company, or take up jobs in the local government or enterprises. Wuhan Iron & Steel (Group) started its operations in 1958 as the first large-scale iron and steel enterprise of China. Its long-term employees have been around 100,000.

The steel smelter has cut its production capacity by 4 to 5 million tons in the last decade. At the moment, the annual production capacity of the main factories of the company is 18 million tons.
A worker checks steel product files at a cold rolling mill of Tangsteel Group Ltd in Tangshan, Hebei province. [Photo/China Daily] Transformation of the troubled metal industry turns tricky as both output and prices rise in April

Wang Zhengqiang, 52, retired eight years early during a layoff at a steel mill in Tangshan, North China's Hebei province.

He said he had seen the steel industry slipping from a prosperous phase to decay.

"In the past, people saw steel mills as money makers and they envied us being steel workers," Wang was quoted as saying by the Legal Weekly.

"But now, it's no longer what it was before, because severe overcapacity has burdened the steel industry for years," he said.

Wang was one of the 22,000 employees Tangsteel Group Ltd had laid off or transferred, a result of a capacity reduction work, the Legal Weekly reported.

Tangsteel is a subsidiary of the China's largest iron and steel business group, HeSteel Group Co Ltd.

The city of Tangshan where the company is based was required to cut crude steel capacity by at least 40 million tons from 2013 to 2017, accounting for two-thirds of Hebei's total production-cut target.

As the largest State-owned steelmaker in Tangshan, Tang-steel couldn't escape the burden.

One of the biggest challenges it faced was the redeployment of an estimated 22,000 employees who used to be engaged in its core steel-making activities.

A major steel mill of the company has cut employees from 7,000 to 3,000, the Legal Weekly reported.

The company has been seeking to make an industrial transition for several years, by expanding non-steel businesses in sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, real estate, education and services.

According to its website, Tangsteel has developed 25 affiliated companies in these sectors.

At present, it has 33,000 employees, nearly half of them in non-steel businesses.

On the other hand, Tangsteel is also undertaking a product-based transition in the steel business.

With an annual capacity of 18 million metric tons, high-quality steel products now account for 60 percent of Tang-steel's total production.

They can be widely used in automobile, machinery, electricity, transportation and household appliances.

In another development, Tangshan Songting Iron and Steel Co, another steel mill in Tangshan, re-opened in April after lying idle for five months. The company, which temporarily shut down in November over mounting debt, is looking to restart production soon, media outlets reported an unnamed industrial insider as saying.

Two workers stick production identifications on steel products at a cold rolling mill of Tangsteel Group Ltd in Tangshan, Hebei province. [Photo/China Daily]

Similarly, mills in other steel-producing regions, including Tianjin and Shanxi, are resuming operations, despite a move by the government to downsize the steel sector.

China's steel sector had experienced years of plunging prices and factory shutdowns due to the sluggish economy. However, in March, demand picked up, thanks to infrastructure and property projects.

Steel product prices have increased more than 60 percent in the year to date. Hot-rolled steel coils, for example, increased to around 3,200 yuan ($500) per ton from less than 2,000 yuan at the beginning of the year.

Encouraged by the uptrend in prices, many steel mills are resuming production.

National daily crude steel output reached 2.28 million tons in March, up 12.9 percent from the first two monthsnearing the record 2.31 million tons seen in June 2014.

The Purchasing Managers' Index that tracks the iron and steel sector rose to 57.3 in April, the first time in two years that it climbed above 50, the level that separates expansion from contraction.

China's steel industry has been plagued by overcapacity for years. It has been felt even more in the past two years as demand for steel dropped.

Steel producers experienced their worst year in 2015, with combined losses in the main business soaring 24-fold from 2014 to over 100 billion yuan. Despite the recovering market, some are warning that it is too early to celebrate just yet. There are concerns over whether the construction-driven price spike will impede the government plans for the steel sector.

The return of steel companies adds pressure to the streamlining of the sector, thus, policies need to be better implemented, said Ma Li, an analyst with Lange Steel, a steel information website.

Analysts expect the reopened factories will push crude steel output to a new high in Aprilthe data is yet to be released. But, the government has vowed to control production. Hebei province has asked officials to crack down on new mill projects and close those that failed to secure approval for reopening.

On the other hand, some are downplaying the impact of surging steel prices on the situation, describing the rebound as "no more than a blip."

The rapid price spikes are not sustainable as they are largely driven by a seasonal pickup in fixed-asset investment and exacerbated by speculation in the steel futures market, according to Fitch Ratings.

The ratings agency expects steel prices will be under significant pressure in the near term as domestic demand for steel has generally remained flat.

Qu Xiuli, vice-president of the China Iron and Steel Industry Association, said that although steel production is likely to hit a new high in April, the rise in supply will help rein in the rampant market.

Some industry insiders argue that consolidation of the sector will be a long process and unlikely to be disturbed by short-term changes.

"It is like a 'protracted war' we cannot win in single combat," said Zou Jixin, vice-president of Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Co. To cut excess capacity, debt-ridden and inefficient steel producers need to make big changes, Zou said.

Liu Weiming, financial analyst with CITIC Bank, went further and said the price surge may even help steel mills; "The price rebound will improve the solvency of steel companies and give them more room for restructuring."

China's financial regulators in late April ordered banks to stop issuing loans to steel and coal enterprises that operate at a loss. The Ministry of Commerce said in April that it would work with more nations to address steel overcapacity. The government shut down outdated facilities with total production capacity of over 90 million tons in the past five years, and it plans to slash another 100 to 150 million tons by 2020.

Xinhua contributed to this story.
China has developed a multilayered financial system with more diversity and sophistication, but new business models bring about rising risks, a senior central bank official warned on Sunday.

In addition to the multilayered market, China's product portfolio has become more sophisticated, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China Chen Yulu told a financial forum.

However, financial institutions are exposed to higher risks as private lending and internet finance have become more intertwined and as stock, bond and foreign exchange markets have become mutually contagious, he warned.

"The existing supervision framework is not compatible with the problems in the financial sector," he said.

He reaffirmed the need for financial institutions to improve support for the real economy and use their funds in a more efficient way. Regulators should keep a close eye on systematic risks and introduce macro-prudent oversight when necessary, he said.

The central government has vowed strict measures against illegal fundraising this year to fend off systemic risks, prompted by the discovery of Ponzi schemes in online peer-to-peer lending platforms.

Chen also warned that while the growth in money supply and leverage ratio have outpaced that of gross domestic output, there are mounting calls for monetary policy easing.

Meanwhile, sectors such as agriculture and small and high-tech companies are still short of funds, he added.
GUIYANG - With about 13 percent of all online data in the world originating in China, data experts are calling for more to be done to ensure data security.

Big Data, large volumes of data that can be analyzed to reveal patterns, was a hot topic at the "China Big Data Industry Summit & China E-commerce Innovation and Development Summit" in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, with experts underscoring the need to improve data security.

"Big data is a double-edged sword. It can be huge business, but also increases risks," said Qi Xiangdong, president of Qihoo 360, China's leading Internet security service provider.

"You can control your oven and washing machine remotely through your smart phone. However, if someone can gain access to your information on the cloud, they can, for example, make your washing machine operate at its maximum speed and temperature," he said.

China has seen an explosive growth of data in recent years. Its information economy grossed over 18 trillion yuan ($2.76 trillion) in 2015, with an e-commerce transaction volume totaling over 20 trillion yuan.

Lin Nianxiu, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said China's big data industry will grow by 50 percent every year in the next five years. By 2020, China's data volume will make up about 20 percent of the global total.

"China aims to lead in the data resource sector, and establish itself as a global data hub," he said.

Industry observers warned that, currently, there is inadequate regulation and supervision on the collection, storage, management and use of data.

"For example, the law does not clearly define the value and property of data in some areas, which could allow data collectors to hide their true motives," said Lu Wei, secretary-general of the Internet Society of China.

The central government understands the urgency of the matter, and has pledged to expedite legislation to improve data infrastructure, and address illegal activity online, including data abuse, infringement of privacy, fraud, and theft of confidential information, he said.

More than 16 percent of Chinese websites are vulnerable to attack, said Wu Hequan, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering. "Big data is a target of hackers," he said.

"Internet service providers usually have a large number of clients, and they should be responsible for the security of the data, but we shall not count on their self-discipline. They must also improve technology and better manage data," Wu said.
MOSCOW - Energy cooperation has become the pillar of the Russia-China economic partnership, while bilateral interaction is expected to speed up in all economic fields.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich expressed the confidence that bilateral economic cooperation would continue to grow steadily in various fields.

"China is a key foreign political partner of Russia and our main trading partner," Dvorkovich told Xinhua in a written interview on Wednesday.

He noted that bilateral cooperation would be further coordinated during Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli's visit to Russia on May 30-31 for the 13th meeting of the China-Russia Energy Cooperation Committee and the second forum on China-Russia small- and medium-sized companies.

"At the meeting on energy cooperation, we plan to discuss all the issues that are at the center of our attention, namely the interaction and implementation of projects in the fields of oil, gas, electric energy, nuclear power, coal and some others," Dvorkovich said.

Konstantin Simonov, director general of the Moscow-based National Energy Security Foundation, noted that the issue of gas supply through the western route would be discussed during the meetings, particularly the unsettled problems like the supply price and the route location.

Simonov said that the supply will be pricy if China uses the western gas route to supply gas to its eastern regions.

In May 2014, China and Russia struck a long-awaited 30-year natural gas deal using the eastern "Power of Siberia" route, with an annual gas supply of 38 billion cubic meters from 2018.

Simonov said it is possible that the two countries would discuss the expansion of supply through the eastern gas pipeline.

"There is also an idea of extending to China the pipeline that goes from Sakhalin to Vladivostok (both in Russia's Far East)," Simonov said.

The expert added that China has a "promising and dynamic gas market" as it "has become more careful with coal-based generation" considering mining security and environmental pollution.

Meanwhile, the plummeted gas price and the geographical factors also make Russia a comfortable choice for China, Simonov added.

Besides gas supply, oil trade between the two countries is also developing dynamically in terms of physical volumes, according to Simonov.

Statistics released by China's General Administration of Customs showed Russia was the second largest oil supplier to China last year with a volume of 42.43 million metric tons, up 28 percent compared with 2014, when China overtook Germany as Russia's top crude oil consumer.

"I believe that cooperation in the field of energy is today the backbone of our economic interaction. The role of energy in Russian-Chinese trade is enormous," Simonov said, hailing bilateral energy cooperation as mutually beneficial.
Localization is an exciting word for those in China's auto industry. After all, it implies the importance of the Chinese market, means new job opportunities, brings specifically designed cars and generates taxes.

That's why a stir was caused when people.cn hinted last week that Ford's premium arm Lincoln had plans to produce models in China based on an agreement between the Chongqing government and the China South Industries Group Corp, parent company of Changan Automobile (which has a joint venture with Ford). The automaker soon denied the report, calling it "speculation" in an e-mail to China Daily.

Lincoln is well worth the attention. It sold 11,630 cars in China in 2015, mainly thanks to its SUVs. That is something for the automaker to be proud of because it was the first full year since the United States brand made its comeback in China's increasingly fierce premium car market.

Sales for this year are expected to double last year's after it registered Q1 sales of 5,484 units.

Thus far, Lincoln's performance has yet to meet the threshold of the industry's agreed standard for localization: annual sales of 50,000 units or at least 10,000 units in annual sales for one model.

Don't misunderstand those figures. What sits behind them is an accumulated reputation, a number of options available and an expanding network, and they need time to achieve.

Another thing that is often ignored is that localization will not necessarily ensure sales. Through the first four months of this year, it was Lexus, which has no localization plans, that topped the list of second-echelon premium brands in sales growth rate.

Some would argue that it is an inevitable trend for international brands to localize in China, but that should not and will not be a shortcut, let alone a panacea, for smaller and newer but serious players.

For Lincoln, it is better to first become firmly established by introducing new models and emphasizing car ownership, which will give it more bargaining power when it some day considers localization.
A GM joint venture is recalling more than 2 million cars in China due to possible engine problems, the biggest recall by an automaker in the country, according to China's top quality watchdog.

Shanghai GM will recall 2.16 million cars starting from Aug 15 for four models: the Chevrolet Cruz, Buick Excelle GT, Chevrolet Epica and Chevrolet Rveo. The recall was announced by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine in a news release on Thursday.

The general administration said the models made between February 2009 and April 2016 are equipped with the carmaker's third-generation natural aspiration engines. It said faulty membranes in the shaft box may erode over time and damage the engine.

"We have received a high number of consumer complaints about engine problems about cars made by Shanghai GM and due to our investigation, the automaker decided to make the recalls and solve the problems," said the watchdog in its release.

The carmaker said it would replace the faulty part free of charge, though owners of Buick vehicles said on the popular website autohome.com on Friday that they could not reach the carmaker through mobile phone. They later found out that the listed number for Buick could only be dialed with a land line.

A post from Xiantian, an user from Qingdao, read: "Why not simply tell us that? It would affect your reputation".

The general administration has shown more initiative in collecting information, conducting investigations and prompting recalls since it released a detailed regulation on car recalls that took effect from Jan 1.

Earlier this year the administration initiated probes into Volkswagen and Porsche after noticing reports of their overseas recalls because of brake problems. That promoted a recall of about 200,000 cars in China.

John Zeng, managing director at consultancy LMC Automotive Shanghai, praised the watchdog for making it easier for people to file complaints about problems with their vehicles.

He said Chinese customers' growing awareness of quality is helping the watchdog to solicit more information and prompt carmakers and dealers to recall faulty cars.

An analyst who wanted to be anonymous said automakers should be more active when there are quality problems.

He said in the age of the internet nothing can be concealed for long and a smart solution for automakers is to acknowledge and solve any problems as soon as possible before their brands suffer.

Mitsubishi Motors, which will be sold to Nissan soon, saw its sales slump and never to rebound after repeated cover-ups of customer complaints about quality problems in the early 2000s.
Kris Wu (center) takes selfies with smart car owners and fans at the carnival. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Daimler AG's smart brand, which is designed for modern urban driving, has built up a devoted following among city trendsetters in China since it entered the country's market in 2009.

The smart design philosophy is "FUN.ctional", and this sense of enjoyment has clearly struck a chord in the world's largest automarket, as evidenced by the presence on Saturday of more than 500 people who braved the rain to celebrate their love of the brand at the smart times 2016 carnival in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province.

They are among some 86,000 smart owners who identify with the brand's stylish distinctiveness as well as its undeniable sense of fun.

"It has a smiling face, which means joy. It also breaks with tradition, which makes it a forward-thinking brand," said Mao Jingbo, executive vice-president for smart and AMG Sales Operations at Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co Ltd.

She said: "It is always a step ahead, and it is, as our global head Dr. Annette Winkler said, for people who have a young mindset, no matter whether they are 18 or 80."

Mao told stories of a number of smart owners, including a group that drove en-masse all the way from the coastal city of Dalian, Liaoning province, to Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region.

"If you love the brand, you must be a joyful person, full of optimism and ready to share," she said, explaining that the compactness of smart cars makes them much more maneuverable.

Its size and drivability means that the smart brand is becoming an increasingly popular choice for those looking to express themselves in the midst of China's rapid urbanization.

Mao Jingbo takes a round table interview to explain the concept of the smart brand. [Photo provided to China Daily]

At this year's smart times, fans were wowed by the new introductions to the brand's family: the All-New smart forfour, smart fortwo coupe and smart fortwo cabrio, as well as the appearance of China's new smart ambassador, pop star Kris Wu.

As a confident all-rounder, challenger and innovator, Wu represents the essence of smart, said Mao. "Brimming with ambition and a positive attitude, Kris' personal qualities fully embody smart's brand values, she said."

"More importantly, when smart and Wu join hands, they can bring out something new and more innovative," Mao added.

Wu participated in the design of the All New smart forfour Kris Wu edition, which among other things features an amber color panel and grey tridion safety cell.

The Kris Wu edition cars have proved a roaring success: 188 were sold online in just 25 seconds on April 26. Buyers, who were invited to take possession of their new cars at Saturday's event, were thrilled when Wu took selfies with them after they received the keys to their vehicles.

Kang Yi, director for smart Operation at BMBS, called smart times, which was introduced into China five years ago, the world's most influential gathering of car owners.

"As one of our exciting events, it attracts a great number of smart fans every year thanks to the creative and smart ideas on display," said Kang.

Kang Yi (left), director for smart Operation at BMBS, Mao Jingbo (center), executive vice-president for smart and AMG Sales Operations at Beijing Mercedes-Benz Sales Service Co Ltd and Kris Wu, China's new smart ambassador, present the smart brand's new family in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, on Saturday. [Photo provided to China Daily]

At this year's event, fans took part in a range of interactive sessions and experienced first-hand the sensation of driving a growing lineup of smart cars.

"Since the launch of the all-new smart fortwo, we have gone on to launch the agile yet practical all-new smart forfour as another pillar model. Additionally, the All-New smart fortwo cabrio, which had its Asia premiere at Auto China 2016 in Beijing, will be launched in July," said Kang.

He said those masterpieces have fully integrated smart's signature DNA and will ensure the brand's fan base continues to grow.

Mao said the rapid introduction of models into China, as well as those tailored for the Chinese market, such as the Kris Wu edition, shows the great importance the brand has attached to the country.

"The help and support from the global headquarters, and especially Dr. Winkler herself, will lay the foundation of smart's success in China," Mao said.

As a pioneer in urban mobility, smart designs and delivers stylish and convenient models which follow the "rear engine, rear drive" concept and are the shortest, most agile masterpieces in their segments.

Looking forward, the brand aims to continue its tradition of creativity and zest to fulfill its promise of delivering "a new urban joy".

"And whatever we do, we do it because our customers love it," said Mao.
The imported Volkswagen new Multivan (right) and new Caravelle hit the Chinese market at a launch ceremony in Shanghai on Thursday. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Targeted at China's business executives and start-up entrepreneurs, Light Commercial Vehicles of Volkswagen Group Import Co Ltd expects its sixth generation T Series to set new standards with its flexibility, class-leading functionality, and superior reliability.

Five versions of the imported Volkswagen New Multivan and New Caravelle hit the Chinese market at a launch ceremony in Shanghai on Thursday.

"Chinese customers are longing for higher quality and better performance in premium multi-purpose vehicles. The T6 is going to meet their expectations and demands in this expanding segment," said Marcus Wilke-Tyczka, managing director of Light Commercial Vehicles, Volkswagen Group Import Co Ltd.

Wilke-Tyczka added: "As the most innovative generation in the T Series family, it is setting a new benchmark with limitless flexibility, splendid capability and marvelous abilities."

High-end business use

China is currently seeing a boom in innovative startups, and the smart, digitally-aware, motivated, capapble entrepreneurs heading them are reinventing existing business models. The T6 is designed to meet their requirements.

All T6 versions are equally generous to passengers with their class-leading and versatile seating flexibility and spaciousness.

The new Multivan has seven seats, all of which can be moved freely, and second-row seats that can swivel. Also featuring a foldable and removable table, the Multivan's passenger cabin can be efortlessly transformed into a mobile ofice, making it perfect for meetings with colleagues, or trips with clients.

The new Caravelle offers two seating options: A fourrow, nine-seat model, which can carry more passengers, or a three-row, eight-seat option that features a larger trunk for luggage. Whichever seating option you choose, all seats are removable, afording ultimate versatility.

The high-end vehicle will also soon be customizable, for both luxury travel and special purposes.

"The remarkable quality enables the T6 to be used in more special purpose roles, including as an ambulance and police vehicle," said Wilke-Tyczka.

Marcus Wilke-Tyczka, managing director of Light Commercial Vehicles, Volkswagen Group Import Co Ltd. [Photo provided to China Daily] Premium family life

Wilke-Tyczka pointed out that many business leaders, having been educated overseas, became aware of the T series during their time abroad.

He said: "The startup owners may also use it in their private life, for leisure time with friends, family trips and vacations."

About half of T series customers use the vehicle for business purposes, and the other half are typically early-middle-aged drivers with families, according to the company's data on the fifth generation T Series.

The company anticipates that the Multi-Passenger Vehicle market will expand rapidly in the near future, as more parents opt to have a second child.

The Multivan afords passengers a comfortable entry or exit, thanks to its electric sliding door. There is also an electric tailgate function that memorizes the preferred height and angle of opening. The new Multivan is equipped for the first time with a 6.3-inch in-dash touch screen and the upgraded Modular Infotainment Platform system, or MIB II, with App-Connect.

The T6, powered by a 2-liter four-cylinder Turbocharged Fuel Stratified Injection, or TSI, engine, gives customers outstanding efficiency and power.

The 150kW maximum output and 350 Nm peak torque, together with 4Motion technology, enables swift acceleration and greater power and control in difficult driving conditions.

The intelligent safety assistance features, including Hill Descent Control, City Emergency Braking and Driver Fatigue Detection, also ensure greater safety and comfort for passengers.

T heritage

The T Series was Volkswagen's first van and second ever model. Production began on the series in 1950. It has since become a symbol of advanced technology, flexibility, and functionality.

All of the generations, from T1 to T6, have been developed to meet the requirements of drivers in their specific eras, with each model reflecting those evolving times and emerging needs.

With more than 12 million vehicles sold worldwide in its 66 years to date, the T Series continues to offer drivers countless possibilities.

Jan Michel, executive director of sales international NV-I, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said, "The past five generations of T series have firmly secured its place as the world's best-selling model in its segment.

"Since its introduction to China in 2008, Chinese customers have been embracing its combination of functionality, flexibility, engineering and advanced technology in increasing numbers."

The T5 performed well in 2015, exceeding sales expectations and securing a high level of satisfaction and recognition with customers.

Wilke-Tyczka is optimistic about prospects for the Chinese market amid the T5 runout and T6 launch.

"We are going to consolidate our 10 percent market share, and expect a similar sales volume as last year," he said.

Featuring a number that is considered lucky in Chinese culture, the T6 has five variants: The new Caravelle Comfortline, Comfortline 4Motion, and new Multivan Highline, Highline Plus, and Topline. The recommended price starts from 351,800 yuan ($53,614), and tops at 549,800 yuan.

Six highlights of the T6

German quality

The T6 is made in Hannover, Germany, and its heritage and continuing dedication to quality ensure that it meets the very highest standards. With a 66-year legacy, the much-loved van continues to ofer drivers unrivalled flexibility and choice.

4Motion

The upgraded 4Motion, coupled with Hill Descent Control, significantly boosts performance and eficiency. Four-wheel-drive ensures improved control in all conditions, and also enhances acceleration.

DCC

Dynamic Chassis Control is made up of an electromechanical power steering system, which allows the vehicle to adapt automatically to different driving conditions. There is also a driving mode selection, allowing drivers to switch between Normal, Sport and Comfort modes, all of which change the way the vehicle shifts.

Driving Safety Assist

An array of assistance system sensors contribute to both safety and comfort. This intelligent system includes Adaptive Chassis Control, Side Assist, and Multi-Collision Braking.

Flexible seat arrangement

The seats are 12-way power adjustable, and a memory function is available for the driver. An in-cabin multifunction table and second-row swivel seats ensure seating comfort for both business and family trips.

App Connect

The superior infotainment system features a 6.3-inch touch screen. Modular Infotainment Platform enables the driver to operate a smart phone via the touch screen.
More head overseas in summer for novel adventures

A staff member at a study camp in Krasnodar, Russia, helps a Chinese student with his uniform. EVGENY SINITSYN/XINHUA

As the summer break approaches, many Chinese parents are making plans to send their children overseasbut no longer just as tourists or language students.

The latest trend is to introduce young people to novel experiences at camps run by professional organizations, according to a report on overseas study tours by Ctrip, a major Chinese travel agency.

In addition, those taking part are getting younger. The age range of the children enrolled this year is 8 to 15, three years younger than in 2014, the report said.

Zhang Jie, head of overseas study tours for Ctrip, said parents today want their children to learn new things.

"Before, study tours were basically focused on two aspects: trips to renowned universities or middle schools, or language skills. It was more like preparation for studying (long term) overseas," she said. "However, when it comes to camps, it's totally different."

Sun Kai, director of international admissions at Sappo School, a private school in New York's Long Island, agreed and added that parents are choosing activities abroad that their children would not have access to in China.

These include "wildness survival programs, which challenge children's hardworking spirit by training them to save themselves and to react fast in the wild", he said.

Sappo School has been receiving international exchange students for more than six years, and Sun said it is true that more Chinese have started to participate in US summer camps, with most being from junior high schools.

"More Chinese parents have chosen camps for their children because school is class-based and cannot cover lots of activities," he said. "Professional summer camps can teach pottery, ballet, piano, violin and martial arts."

He added that participants in his school's program come mainly from relatively rich "and open-minded" areas of China such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou in Guangdong province.

In addition to those in the United States and Canada, summer camps in western and northern Europe are also popular with Chinese parents.

The Ctrip report said bookings for summer camps account for more than 30 percent of its total overseas study tours this year and that inquiries from parents have risen threefold compared with last year.

"The average price for a professional summer camp is 10,000 to 15,000 yuan ($1,520 to $2,280) higher than a regular study tour," Zhang said.

Sun at Sappo School said parent feedback has been strong.

"More parents hope short-term overseas study will give their children new experiences and help them to build knowledge of the unknown," he said. "Without knowledge, how can you know if you like or dislike something?

"As living conditions get better, parents are willing to encourage their children to discover what they like and what they dislike."

Hong Xiao in New York contributed to this story.
Police have detained a teacher in East China's Shandong province on suspicion of beating a student to death with a stick and injuring three others, Beijing News reported on Sunday.

The 50-year-old woman, identified only as Li, had been leading an after-school tutorial class at her home in Wulian county when the incident happened on Saturday.

He Zhaolong, the father of the student who died, told Beijing News that the teacher lived in their neighborhood and that his son, 12, had been taking her classes for several years.

He said his son had been beaten on the head and died due to a severe injury. He added that there were about a dozen students at Li's home at the time of the alleged attack.

"She was giving classes on Saturday morning when she suddenly locked the door and started beating the children with a big stick until some of the children escaped and found help," He was quoted as saying.

A photo circulated online over the weekend reportedly showed his son covered in blood.

He said he did not know what may have prompted the attack, adding that his family had no previous conflicts with Li.

The local authorities said the suspect used to be a substitute teacher in her village but was dismissed in 2002. Since then, she has made a living by running tutorial classes at her home, teaching Chinese language and math to students in third to sixth grade.

In a statement released online, Wulian police said a thorough investigation is underway, while many netizens expressed their outrage at the incident and their sympathy for the victims' families.

The alleged attack is the latest violent incident involving Shandong teachers this month.

On May 23, a teacher at a junior middle school in Dezhou was sacked and ordered to apologize after slapping a student in the face.

On the same day, a kindergarten teacher in Yantai was dismissed after being accused of beating a 5-year-old child.

According to guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education in 2014, teachers who use physical punishments on students should receive penalties ranging from a warning to instant dismissal.
Primary and secondary education sectors see biggest rise in job opportunities, says report.

Primary and secondary education sectors provided 8.7 percent of total job opportunities for graduates in 2015, an increase of 2.2 percent over 2014, according to a report on employment of Chinese college graduates in 2016 released by an education consulting company MyCOS on Sunday.

However, the average salary of those joining primary or secondary education sectors was the lowest, about 3,500 yuan ($533), six months after graduation.

The other top five sectors that recorded biggest job increase were: internet development and application; finance; medical care or first aid service; and media and publishing.

College graduates who joined internet development and application industries were best paid, with an average monthly salary of 5,017 yuan, six months after graduation.

Internet development and application also saw a year-on-year increase in jobs.

The proportion of undergraduates who took up job opportunities rose 3.4 percent from 2010 to 2015. The ratio for higher vocational college graduates from 2013 to 2015 stood at 2.4 percent.

The five occupations that saw sharpest fall in work opportunities in 2015 were architectural engineering; machinery or instrument; marketing; electrical or electronics (with computer science excluded); and automobile engineering.

Architectural engineering saw the biggest dive, dropping 1.6 percent from the previous year, though it still provided 6 percent of total job opportunities.

Architectural engineering was among the cluster that witnessed an increase in jobs from 2011 to 2014 and the decline in 2015 may be a result of the tightened national policy on property, said MyCOS.

The MyCOS report is based on its tracking assessment on graduates of 2015 for six months since their graduation, covering 123,000 undergraduates and 127,000 higher vocational college graduates.
What is it with pandas?

No editor seems to be able to resist the temptation of carrying a story; and the cute creatures have long been a staple of global media.

No wonder then that the front page of the inaugural issue of China Daily prominently carried the story of Chia-Chia returning from Washington Zoo to his home in London Zoo after failing to stir the romantic interest of Hsing-Hsing in the US capital.

But, of course, it wasn't just for panda coverage that China Daily was launched on June 1, 1981.

It was meant to open up a country which until then was closed to the world -- and tell the story in English.

Today, anyone anywhere in the world can read China Daily in print or on a whole range of new media platforms. It is the most quoted source of news, comment and opinion on China as it informs readers of developments in the world's second-largest economy.

Back then, a growing stream of tourists, businesspeople, consultants and "foreign experts" making their way to the country found themselves almost isolated from the outside world - and didn't know much of what was happening in the country, either.

In today's plugged-in world, it might be difficult to comprehend that news in English was then at such a premium.

The reason for starting the paper might have been prosaic: keeping foreigners in China apprised of news in the country and around the world.

But soon, our mission was clear: Going beyond mere information to presenting and explaining China to the world - and vice versa.

Design was blessed with fortuity when the birth of the paper coincided with reform and opening up - which perhaps resulted in the biggest economic and social transformation in history.

We have not looked back since.

What started as an eight-page broadsheet - in itself bucking the trend of the then four-page Chinese newspapers, and using bigger pictures - is now a multimedia platform with a 24-page flagship newspaper.

The journey has been eventful with continuous growth the constant. Along the way, we added more offerings such as the 21st Century stable of publications catering to young Chinese learning English.

We now have editions in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa.

And we were pioneers in embracing technology as well as the first newspaper in the country to go online.

We are proud to have more than 500 foreign and Chinese reporters and editors spread over the headquarters in Beijing, 35 bureaus across China and 18 overseas bureaus in major cities including New York, London, Paris and Brussels. We have 14 printing sites on the Chinese mainland and 34 overseas.

Today, we have a global print circulation of 900,000 and more than 40 million followers online. Our China Watch, published by leading newspapers including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and the Daily Telegraph, has a circulation of 4 million. It is also published in German, French and Spanish and the aim is to have editions in all the six working languages of the United Nations.

On social media, we have 22 million followers on microblogging site Weibo, 6 million downloads on Apple and Android, and more than 5 million followers on Facebook.

We have been the official publication for major events such as the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the 2010 Shanghai Expo and the 2014 APEC meeting in Beijing; and we are covering in detail the upcoming G20 summit in Hangzhou.

China Daily is a member of Asia News Network, which comprises 21 major English newspapers from 19 countries or regions. ANN aims to challenge the domination of Western media so that Asian news is covered by Asian media.

In the process, we have made China much more accessible to the rest of the world - facts and foibles, warts and all. We lend context and perspective, and explain how the big stories impact China and the world. In particular, we take pride in presenting balanced and nuanced coverage of national and international news.

Today, as we mark our 35th anniversary, we reflect on the three-and-half decades in this commemorative issue.

The theme is simple: 10 issues which have had the most bearing on the changing face of China. Senior colleagues in the paper provide personal insights into the topics.

All of this, of course, would not have been possible without you, the reader. You have been unstinting in your support, and liberal with your criticism. We welcome your response and thank you for it.

I thank my colleagues, past and present - from the pioneers who braved the odds to give shape to the paper to those who have contributed, in ways big and small, to help it thrive.

On a personal note, I feel particularly proud for I started as a rookie reporter soon after the launch and have seen it grow to what it is today.

And we continue to cover pandas.
HEFEI -- Eighteen captive-bred Chinese alligators, five males and 13 females, were released into the wild on Sunday in east China's Anhui Province, to boost the population of this endangered species.

It is the largest group of Chinese alligators ever returned to their natural habitat by Anhui Yangtze Alligator National Nature Reserve, bringing the total number of released alligators to 96.

"These alligators have had blood and DNA tests to make sure that they are fit and strong, and to avoid inbreeding," said Wu Rong, head of the administrative bureau of the reserve.

Wu added that all the alligators had been fitted with electronic ID chips, and six also had radio transmitters to help researchers track them in the future.

As the world's largest Chinese alligator breeding base, the reserve began its captive-release program in 2003.

Statistics show that those that have been released have adapted well and have been reproducing since 2008. As of last year, they had laid 158 eggs and successfully incubated 80 in their natural habitat.

Endemic to China, Chinese alligators, also known as Yangtze alligators, live along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

Threatened by human activities and habitat shrinkage, there are only about 150 living in the wild that were born in their natural habitat.

The alligators was included on the country's protection list in 1972.
Chinese students pose for a photo at a graduation ceremony in Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia on Feb 11, 2012.[Photo/IC]

In just 30 years studying abroad has become commonplace for Chinese

Yuan Pucheng was one of the very lucky ones. At the age of 27 the nurse was among just a handful her hospital chose to send to study in Japan - at the Chinese government's expense.

It was the early 1990s and Yuan was just one of hundreds of other medical personnel keen to realize a dream of broadening their professional experience in another country.

"At the time, even getting a recommendation to study overseas was difficult," says Yuan, who studied at a college that is part of Tokyo Medical University during 1992 and 1993.

"Almost all the people I know who studied overseas were recommended by some organization or other and studied at the government's expense. I was one of the lucky ones because I could speak a bit of Japanese. You had to do some very stringent training and pass a really tough test before you were given the nod."

Of the few Chinese who studied overseas in the 1980s and the early 1990s, almost all did so thanks to financial support from the government. That is hard to credit these days when you consider the international educational opportunities now available to Chinese. One of the beneficiaries of the great changes is Yuan's son, Sun Yuan.

After graduating from high school and scoring well in an English competence test, Sun enrolled at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, in 2013. However, unlike his mother two decades earlier who had to rely on government funding, his family paid his way.

"I scored 7 in IELTS (the International English Language Testing System exam) and then started to prepare application material, including a score sheet of my senior high school. I had the necessary qualifications, so it was relatively easy to get offers from Australian universities," says Sun, 23, who opted for Monash over Sydney University and Queensland University and is now in his last year of a bachelor's degree in journalism.

Yuan marvels at how easy it was for her son to pursue his overseas ambitions compared with those of her generation.

"We are much better off financially than we were in those days, and when he attended middle school his English was good, so studying overseas was something he could do rather than going to a Chinese university.

"An agency helped him get the visa too. Young people these days definitely have more choices than we did."

Behind this greater freedom lie policy changes that have made China the largest source country for overseas students.

As the country started to open up and implement economic and social reform in 1978, it began to make it easier for more students to go overseas, where they could study in fields in which the country needed to catch up.

In August 1978 the Ministry of Education called for more undergraduate and graduate students to study overseas, a milestone that is regarded as the genesis of sending students to study overseas at the government's expense.

However, in reality traveling overseas at one's own expense was beyond most people's means.
The G20's representativeness and influence cannot be replaced by any mechanism, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing on Monday.

Hua was responding to a question on whether she regarded the G20 as a more effective platform of economic governance than the G7.

"The G20 is a main platform for international economic cooperation which is widely recognized, its representativeness and influence can't be replaced by any mechanism," Hua said.

"China is about to host the G20 summit this September. We hope the Hangzhou summit will reach a consensus, face global economic challenges and point the direction for world economic growth and cooperation," she added.

Concerning remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the G7, blaming the slowdown in emerging markets for dragging down world economic growth, Hua said every country had their views on the challenges facing the global economy and how to solve these challenges. "It can't be influenced by any individual country's self-interest," she said.

"In the current situation, the international community is looking forward to the partnership of rowing in the same boat and undertaking concrete actions to promote development and build confidence," Hua added.
The Palestinian issue should neither be neglected nor forgotten, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, adding that China hopes an upcoming foreign ministers' meeting in Paris will re-focus the attention of the international community on the issue.

"Currently, the conflict between Palestine and Israel continues and the peace talks are deadlocked. China is highly concerned and deeply worried about this," Hua told reporters during a regular press briefing on Monday.

"As a root cause of peace problems in the Middle East, the Palestinian issue should neither be neglected nor forgotten," Hua said. "And China hopes that the upcoming foreign ministers' meeting in Paris will re-focus the attention of the international community on the issue and help solve the problem."

Hua said that Foreign Minister Wang Yi will lead a delegation to attend the meeting and undertake efforts to promote the peace process in the Middle East.
Top legislator Zhang Dejiang meets with a delegation of US lawmakers led by Republican Senator from Montana Steve Daines on May 30, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING -- Top legislator Zhang Dejiang met with a delegation of US lawmakers led by Republican Senator from Montana Steve Daines on Monday.

China and US relations have generally maintained their momentum and a sound China-US relationship serves the interests of the two countries and two peoples, said Zhang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

He said China's NPC and the US senate will have another meeting in the next half of the year.

"The exchanges between legislative institutions contribute to mutual understanding and help avoid misunderstanding, miscalculation and disturbance in cooperation," Zhang told the delegation.

He called on both sides to contribute to building a new type of major country relationship between China and the US, providing legal protection for two-way investment, economic and trade cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

The delegation said they are ready to work more to promote practical cooperation in various areas with China.
Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses an event conflating the national conference on science and technology, the biennial conference of the country's two top think tanks, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the national congress of the China Association for Science and Technology, in Beijing, capital of China, May 30, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

To push for the nation's economic transition and industrial upgrading, Chinese leaders pledged on Monday greater commitment to the research and application of science and technology.

In a show of unprecedented importance, both President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang addressed an event combining three top-level science conferences attended by 4,000 scientists and science officials.

Xi said the central government's commitment is aimed at making China a leading power in science and technology by the middle of the century, or around the 100th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Xi stressed the role of science and technology as a bedrock that "the country relies on for its power, enterprises rely on for victories, and people rely on for a better life".

"Great scientific and technological capacity is a must for China to be strong and for people's lives to improve," he said, calling for new ideas, designs and strategies in science and technology.

Premier Li told the event that China's overall research and development input will keep rising to account for 2.5 percent of its GDP in 2020, from the current 2.1 percent.

Wang Zhigang, vice-minister of science and technology, said innovation is the focus of global competition and is also crucial for China to achieve sustainable development.

Zhu Baoliang, a specialist in economic forecasting with the National Information Center, said China cannot continue to rely on human input for growth considering such demographic challenges as a rapidly aging society and a looming labor shortage.

In the past 30 years, about 30 percent of China's economic growth has been obtained from innovations, Zhu said.

By contrast, developed countries derive 70 percent of their growth from innovations.

He called for more policy reforms to provide incentives for the talent needed in research and innovation.
Zhu Ling (center right), publisher and editor in chief of China Daily, presents a winner's trophy to Suthichai Yoon, chief adviser of Nation Multimedia Group, whose staff won two top prizes in the fourth Asia Press Photo Contest on Monday in Beijing. WANG ZHUANGFEI / CHINA DAILY

Geopolitical tensions in Asia could be defused or prevented partly by increased content-sharing among the continent's media outlets, thereby achieving a better understanding of countries' different positions, media industry leaders said.

This was among the views that emerged as about 30 editors from Asian media outlets gathered in Beijing on Monday for the two-day annual board meeting of the Asia News Network. The meeting is being held the same week as China Daily's 35th anniversary, which falls on Wednesday.

The editors will also join a discussion on Tuesday, with Jin Liqun, president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

The two-day ANN conference includes discussions of the media situation in Asia, a review of the organization's achievements in the past year and talks on possible expansion.

Zhu Ling, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, said he appreciated the spirit of cooperation and sharing among leading Asian media in recent years.

"Let us do more," Zhu, also acting chairman of the ANN for 2015-16, said at the opening of the meeting.

Warren Fernandez, editor of The Straits Times of Singapore, said geopolitical issues always catch the media's attention.

"I think the most important thing we can do is to write about it, to explain what's going on, to help our people understand the perspective one country has on an issue."

Members of the ANN are mostly English-language Asian media outlets.

Ravindra Kumar, editor of The Statesman, said that when geopolitical or political concerns arise, ANN members' countries might be exposed to opposite stances. "The role the ANN could play is to put the other country's views across to the readers."

Suthichai Yoon, chief adviser of Nation Multimedia Group of Thailand, said, "With an open and frank exchange of views, and analysis from all the aspects, we get a better understanding. And, hopefully, we can prevent tensions."

Li Xiang, Peng Yining and Yan Dongjie contributed to this story.

fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
Henan province has adopted a policy allowing single children to take paid leave of up to 20 days a year to look after parents who are age 60 or older and hospitalized. Residents and experts alike hailed the move as a way to embrace the country's rapidly aging population.

Some, however, said enforcement of the regulation, which took effect on Friday, could be a problem and the policy might pose challenges for smaller companies.

Hua Huiping, a 53-year-old retired worker in Pingdingshan, Henan, who suffers from hypertension, said she is glad to hear of the regulation.

"My daughter is working in Zhengzhou and very busy," she said. "We know it would be difficult for her to ask for a leave from her company. I hope the policy will change that."

Wang Lili, a researcher at the China Research Center on Aging, said that with people living longer in China, the country's single-child generations will face heavier pressure, since such couples must simultaneously look after two pairs of parents and their own children.

"The policy is a good beginning and will play a positive role in promoting family-based elder care in Henan province and in China," she said.

"It may be very difficult to enforce the regulation without supporting measures, as many enterprises may not be willing to follow the regulation, considering the costs.

"The government can take some incentive measures to encourage enterprises to follow the regulation, such as a preferential tax policy," she said.

Huang Yuliang, chairman of the Zhengzhou Orchard Commune Animation Co, said he believed the additional paid leave could hurt smaller enterprises.

"It's good and a duty for people to care for their elders, but there's the rub  how can we find backup staffers if a department chief takes weeks off?"

China dropped its decadeslong one-child policy on Jan 1, encouraging all couples to have a second child.
As one of the pivotal cities for China's Belt and Road Initiative, Zhanjiang has enhanced its opening up endeavors and deepened cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road routes, especially those in Southeast Asia.

The city in the southwest of Guangdong province has intensified its efforts to facilitate exchanges with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members through exhibitions and trade fairs, according to the city's commercial bureau.

Since 2013, the ASEAN members have become the largest export market for Zhanjiang, with Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore now the city's top three export destinations. And the city's trade with ASEAN members has soared rapidly from $431 million in 2011 to $795 million in 2015, an average annual growth rate of 18.6 percent, according to the bureau.

In addition, the city has taken more measures to attract investment from and push forward trade with the 10-member bloc in the fields of modern agriculture, aquaculture, port logistics and tourism.

Businesses from ASEAN have established about 20 companies in Zhanjiang in the past five years, with their operations mainly in the aquatic products industry, such as food processing and feed production.

At the same time, companies from Zhanjiang invested $634 million in 11 projects in ASEAN countries.

Considering the booming business between the two sides, the city has geared up its moves in setting up representative offices in ASEAN countries for market expansion and better communications, the bureau said. It is also making efforts to improve its transportation links with the region.

To date, Zhanjiang Port has developed nine freight routes with major trade partners such as Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia.

The Zhanjiang Airport also launched its first international flight to Bangkok last year.

The better sea and air connections have facilitated the flow of cargos and people-topeople communication and helped Zhanjiang become a regional logistics hub, the bureau said.

The country's booming e-commerce business is also helping Zhanjiang become a logistics hub.

According to the bureau, an online platform for parcel deliveries has been put into operation, leading to substantial improvements in efficiency.

Besides, more platforms aiming to facilitate trade and investment are about to be completed.

For example, a special industrial zone for companies from ASEAN countries is under construction with many companies from Thailand and Indonesia agreeing to come.

Moreover, Zhanjiang will build a demonstration center for exhibiting agricultural products from both the city and Southeast Asia.

(China Daily 05/30/2016 page5)
Officials say president's visit will lead to more Russians vacationing in nation

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a Russian Orthodox monastery on Saturday as he wrapped up a two-day visit to Greece, which is looking for more Russian investment and tourism as it copes with a prolonged financial crisis and a massive wave of migrants.

Putin said Russia wanted to cooperate with Greece in the energy sector. Several Russian ministers also expressed interest in the privatization of Greek railways and in the northern port of Thessaloniki, but no major deals were announced.
Tibet Short Documentaries consist of 30 documentaries ranging from 4 to 6 minutes. The series bring you to the daily lives of farmers, herdsmen and city dwellers and let you sip their moments of happiness. The documentaries showcase the enchanting sceneries in the snow land and the charm of local culture. Tibet today is stretching its arms to welcome visitors from all corners of the world.

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Buddha display at Drepung Monastery

Village making Buddha statues in Karma valley

For more Tibet Short Documentaries, click here
Do you remember the video of the young Englishman, Greg Fountain, taking a train through time in China?

After the video went viral, being viewed by millions, he was inspired to continue his Chinese adventures - from the past, through the present, to the future.

Greg Fountain. [Photo provided to China Daily]

He knows Chinese people, like Britons, favor tea over any other drink.

And he was curious about where and how Chinese people drink their tea.

He read many stories about Chinese tea to make the video.

He studied the legendary origins of tea and tea culture, and the changes there have been in recent decades.

A scene from Downton Abbey. [File photo]

From a scene reminiscent of Downton Abbey in the 1900s to a Beijing tea stall in the 1980s, Fountain travelled through time once again to glimpse how tea drinking has changed in China.

He said he still struggles to distinguish the many different kinds of Chinese tea, but has learned much more about its history.

Chinese people still love the old ways of drinking tea and think of it as part of their heritage, despite the rise of coffee shops which now thrive in China.

A painting depicting the lives of Chinese people. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Fountain said that due to rationing brought on by the First World War, many people in the UK were prevented from enjoying their afternoon tea.

It is only in a peaceful and stable society that tradition can survive and develop.

So, what will be the next video for Fountain?

He is looking forward to learning more about you and your stories.
The Kunming yoga festival draws a big crowd of Chinese fans. [Photo by Zhou Mingjia/China Daily]

From young women in their 20s to grandmas in their 80s, thousands of yoga lovers from across China went to Kunming in Yunnan province on May 19 for the China India Yoga Festival, paying thousands of yuan to learn from 18 Indian yoga gurus at a four-day course.

"It's well worth it. Otherwise I would have planned a visit to India to study yoga," says Lu Jinnan, 38, a resident of Kunming.

She booked a hotel room near the building that was used for the yoga course to save time and learn more from the Indian teachers, although her home is only a 30-minute drive from the venue.

In Kunming, yoga clubs have mushroomed during the past five yearsa trend also sweeping other cities in China.

"How popular is yoga in China? It only takes me a few minutes to sell a membership of my yoga club," says Hao Yuhui, who owns five yoga clubs in China.

A one-year membership of her yoga club sells for around 16,000 yuan ($2,460).

"Ten years ago, I had to spend hours explaining to potential clients what yoga is."
An undated file photo shows China's first aircraft carrier Liaoning. [Photo for chinadaily.com.cn]

The maneuvers by US warships and fighter jets in the South China Sea and the Sea of Japan are a "new normal" that China and Russia have to face, as US military leaders said on the weekend they will continue their operations, and may do so more frequently as time goes on.

In that case, US President Barack Obama's "rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific" strategy, which was originally said to focus on economic and trade relations with countries in this region, has turned out to be a strategy of the US military to ratchet up confrontation with China and Russia.

Such a "new normal", which the US military justifies as necessary to assert its presence in Asia and the Pacific, evokes the Cold War.

When the United States first announced its rebalancing to the region, China welcomed it and expressed its hope that the strategy would further promote bilateral relations with the US. Even on the question of the South China Sea, China has reiterated that it has never changed its stance of settling the territorial disputes with its neighbors through talks. Shelving differences and joint exploitation have long been what China has been saying to its neighbors and the world.

But in a speech to graduates at the US Naval Academy on Friday, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said that China had taken some expansive and unprecedented actions in the South China Sea and was pressing excessive maritime claims contrary to international law. He described China's actions as erecting a Great Wall of self-isolation as countries across the region are voicing concerns publicly and privately.

Obviously the US military is trying to justify the "new normal" it has created and maintained by pointing its finger at China.

If anything, what the US Navy and Air Force have been doing in the South China Sea and the Sea of Japan has contributed to the increased tension in the region. And the reality proves to be a far cry from what the US initially claimed was the purpose of its rebalancing strategy.

Was the strategy an attempt to contain China from the very beginning or has it been hijacked by the US military?

Whatever it is, it has brought both political and military instability to the region and has created a lot of uncertainties both for the region and the world.

With such a "new normal", will it be possible for the world's largest developed country and its largest developing counterpart to work together for a better world?
A view shows a damaged school that was run by UNICEF in the rebel-controlled area of Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, Syria March 2, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Sunday expressed alarm at the number of migrant and refugee deaths in the past week in the Central Mediterranean, many of whom were believed to be unaccompanied minors.

In anticipation of a major summer upswing of child migrants using the dangerous crossing between Libya and Italy, UNICEF will shortly begin an operation with the Italian government and partners to provide protection support, the UN agency said in a press release.

The UN agency made the expression after at least 700 migrants may have died while trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe, the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Sunday. Hundreds of others are missing after their boats capsized in the waters.

The vast majority of children using the crossing are unaccompanied adolescents and they have faced appalling abuses, exploitation and the possibility of death at every step of their journey.

"The stories which I have personally heard from children making this journey are horrifying. No child should face them. Their lives are in the hands of smugglers who care for nothing other than the money they exhort from them," said Marie-Pierre Poirier, UNICEF special coordinator for the European Refugee and Migrant Crisis.

An average of 1,000 unaccompanied children a month have arrived in Italy this year but UNICEF expects this figures to spike in the coming months.

UNHCR said on Sunday that several shipwrecks had taken place over the weekend as migrants tried to cross the Mediterranean Sea in flimsy vessels.

Nearly 600 people were missing after boats capsized on Wednesday and Thursday, the refuge agency said.
An ambulance waits as a helicopter carrying the body of Dutch climber Eric Arnold, who died on Qomolangma, lands at a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, May 26, 2016.

KATHMANDU - The body of an Indian climber was found on the upper slopes of Mount Qomolangma, raising the death toll on the world's tallest mountain since it was re-opened to expeditions this spring to four.

Sherpas searching for two Indian climbers missing since last Saturday located the body of Paresh Nath, 58, above the South Col (7,900 meters), hiking officials said on Friday.

"They are bringing the body down while the search for another Indian climber is continuing," said Wangchu Sherpa of the Trekking Team Nepal company that organised their expedition.

About 400 climbers have reached the top of Qomolangma this month, the first time they were on the mountain after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake set off an avalanche that killed at least 18 people at Base Camp a year ago.

On Friday, a rescue helicopter brought the body of Australian climber Maria Strydom from Qomolangma to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu. Strydom, 34, was nearing the 8,850-meter (29,035 foot) summit when she fell ill with altitude sickness and had to turn back. She died last Saturday.

"Her body has now been brought to Kathmandu from the mountain," said Phu Tenzi Sherpa of the Seven Summit Treks that organised her expedition.

Strydom's husband, Robert Gropel, who was in her team and also suffered altitude sickness, was airlifted to Kathmandu early this week.

Arnold Coster, who led the expedition, said Seven Summit Treks was as prepared as any. The Dutch mountaineer said he had personally selected climbers, and Strydom and Gropel had three experienced sherpas between them.

Gropel said the pair began their summit bid on Friday night in clear weather, departing from Camp 4, but at the South Summit at nearly 8,000 meters, Strydom slowed, stricken by altitude sickness.

Gropel also began to suffer from a lack of oxygen, hampering his thought processes.

"It took a while for me to register that I had medication, and so as soon as I realised I gave her a dexamethasone injection," Gropel told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

With the medication and more oxygen brought up by sherpas, Strydom improved and was making her way down. She then collapsed suddenly and could not be revived.

Coster responded to criticisms the group did not sleep at Camp 3, saying that can also weaken climbers.

Sherpa climbers brought Strydom's body down the mountain to Camp 2 (6,400 meters) on Wednesday, from where a rescue helicopter plucked it to Kathmandu.

On Thursday, rescuers brought down the body of 36-year-old Dutchman Eric Ary Arnold, who died last Friday while on descent from the summit.

Subash Paul, a 43-year-old Indian mountaineer, died last Sunday.

Qomolangma has been climbed by over 7,300 people since 1953 when Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary made their pioneering ascent. The deaths this month take the toll to at least 283.
The pilot of a World War II-era plane killed in a crash in the Hudson River off Manhattan on Friday evening was trying to execute an emergency landing, the museum that owned the vintage aircraft said.

FAA investigators look over the wreckage of a vintage P-47 Thunderbolt airplane that crashed in the Hudson River in New York City, New York, US May 28, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

The P-47 Thunderbolt crashed just south of the George Washington Bridge. The New York Police Department identified a body recovered from the plane as that of William Gordon, 56, of Key West, Florida. Police would not comment on a cause of death.

The American Airpower Museum, which owned the plane, said in a statement on Facebook on Saturday that Gordon was an "extraordinary" aviator who brought the plane down in a "forced emergency landing" on the Hudson.

Gary Lewi, a spokesman for the museum in Farmingdale, New York, told Long Island newspaper Newsday that the aircraft's engine failed during the flight.

Witnesses told CNN they saw the pilot struggling to get out of the cockpit after the aircraft struck the water.

An investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board is underway.

The FAA said the plane was one of three aircraft that took off from Republic Airport in Farmingdale. The other two safely returned to the airport. Local media reported the planes were flying as part of a promotional shoot.

The crash took place during Fleet Week, a week-long celebration of the US military's seafaring service members. A dozen police and fire rescue boats adorned with flashing blue lights trawled the river Friday night in a search for the plane.

On Saturday, a boat with a crane hoisted up the plane and carried it to a dock in Lower Manhattan, said Nancy Silvestri, a spokeswoman for the New York City Office of Emergency Management.

The crash occurred near where the pilot of a US Airways jetliner executed a perfect water landing in January 2009 after striking a flock of birds and losing power in both engines. All 155 passengers and crew survived that incident, which was dubbed the "Miracle on the Hudson."
China to provide 15 mln yuan worth of relief supplies to Sri Lanka (Xinhua) Updated: 2016-05-30 14:32

BEIJING - China will provide 15 million yuan (2.28 million US dollars) worth of emergency supplies, including tents and folding beds, to help with flood relief in Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Commerce said on Monday.



The relief supplies will be sent to Sri Lanka via charter flights, according to a statement on the ministry's website.

The move came after the ministry committed 1.5 million U.S. dollars in cash on Friday to help with the relief work.



Continuous rain and gales have caused floods, mud-rock flows in Sri Lanka, leaving nearly 100 people dead and over 500,000 affected.
An aerial photo taken on Sept 25, 2015 from a seaplane of Hainan Maritime Safety Administration shows the Yacheng 13-1 drilling rig during a patrol in South China Sea. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING -- Issuing a series of harsh rhetoric lately against China's actions in the South China Sea, the US military seems to be determined to turn itself into a destructive force against peace and development in the Asia Pacific.

During his speech at the US Naval Academy on Friday, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter warned Beijing that it was on a path to erect a "Great Wall of self-isolation."

In reasserting the right to freedom of navigation in international waters, Caters said the United States will continue to "fly, sail and operate" where law allows it, adding the Pentagon's best weapons will be deployed to the Pacific region.

Also on Wednesday, Carter claimed that the US military's efforts in the Asia-Pacific region against a rising China is akin to the 50-year Cold-War standoff with the Soviet Union. It's "going to be a long campaign of firmness, and gentle but strong pushback for probably quite a number of years," he added.

Advocating US-China confrontation, such rhetoric is nothing but flagrant provocations against China's maritime security interests.

The tough talk is also very dangerous and irresponsible as it can only seriously undermine the foundation of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

Though tensions have been escalating in the region over recent years and huge differences remain among claimants in the South China Sea dispute, no claimant state has actually threatened to resort to force to solve the issue, as it is the common wish of all countries in the region to safeguard peace in the South China Sea.

Although some Chinese islands in the region have been illegally occupied by others, Beijing has always insisted on settling the disputes through peaceful means, and has never made such remarks as "to deploy the best weapons to the region."

As a matter of fact, China hopes the South China Sea is a sea of peace, and it has kept its door for dialogue and negotiations open all the time.

Thanks to Beijing's exercise of restraint and concerted efforts of most countries in the region, the South China Sea situation has been generally peaceful. Despite the territorial rows between China and other claimants, freedom of navigation in the South China Sea has never been a problem.

Carter's remarks, however, will significantly stir up the tension in the South China Sea as they reveal publicly Washington's strategic intent to militarize the region and to contain a rising China.
Talks in Beijing also expected to consider Korean nuclear issue

Beijing will pressure Washington over maritime issues during the upcoming annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue, as the United States' increasing military presence in the South China Sea is among China's major concerns, officials told China Daily.

China will bring up topics related to its major concerns, including the Taiwan question, Tibet and maritime security, and it will respond to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, which the US is expected to raise, two sources familiar with the matters said on condition of anonymity.

The two countries have differing pursuits on major issues at the strategic level. However, the two still have many common interests, they said.

Whether it is on the South China Sea issue or on the Korean Peninsula issue, the two countries have a shared security goal to maintain regional stability, they said.

Beijing announced on Monday that the annual dialogue will take place in Beijing on June 6 and 7.

China hopes to "properly tackle differences" alongside the US, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.

The dialogue, which started in 2009, has become the highest-level, regular bilateral communication channel for the world's two largest economies to compare notes on key issues concerning diplomacy, security and economy.

Observers noted that the eighth dialogue will be the last to be co-chaired by President Barack Obama's administration.

On the economic track, Na- than Sheets, US undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs, reaffirmed on May 24 the Obama administration's commitment to reaching a bilateral investment treaty agreement before Obama's presidency ends.

Sources also said that China will urge the US to provide a level playing field for Chinese investment.

China's investment in the US in the first quarter of this year is expected to be more than double that of the first quarter of last year, according to the National Committee on United States-China Relations, based in New York.

Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said the South China Sea issue will be brought to the table because it has affected the two-way ties, and the US has been "undermining regional stability" while "rebalancing to Asia" in the past two years.
(Photo : YouTube) ASUS new graphics cards will be released next month.

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It is safe to say that the new Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 is the fastest and most powerful graphics card on the market. Following the release of the GPU, many in the gaming community are eagerly waiting for third-party manufacturers to release their own after-market version of the graphics card. Recently, ASUS revealed its ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080, and it pushes the boundaries of the graphics card even further.



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Compared to the reference GTX 1080 whose base clock is at 1.6GHz, the regular model Strix GTX 1080 boasts a base clock of 1.76GHz with boost speed of 1.9GHz. An overclocked version is also available with 1.78GHz base clock speed and boost speed of 1.94GHz. While the upgrades might look minimal on paper, hardcore gamers know that the clock speed upgrade is what it takes to hit a steady 60 frame-per-second refresh rate without the occasional drop in frame rates, according to Engadget.



Speed is not the only aspect of the graphics card that ASUS is upgrading. The Strix GTX 1080 has customizable lightning options that includes color-shifting patterns. There is even a lighting option that follows the beats of the music being played on the computer.



ASUS is also giving the Strix GTX 1080 custom designed heat pipes and fans which the company claims will keep its card 30 percent cooler and three times quieter than the reference design. Additionally, the reference GTX 1080 only has one HDMI port. However, the ASUS Strix has two native HDMI 2.0 outputs, a DVI-D port and two Display Ports, according to Polygon.



Typically, after-market graphics cards cost significantly higher compared to the reference models since it has more upgrades. Contrary to this, the ASUS ROG GeForce GTX 1080 costs $640 for the overclocked model and $620 for the standard model. The reference GTX 1080 Founders Edition from Nvidia costs $699.



ASUS said that the ROG GeForce Strix GTX 1080 will be released on June 4.



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TagsROG, Strix, Asus, ASUS Strix, Strix GeForce GTX 1080, Nvidia, GTX 1080, Nvidia GTX 1080, ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080
(Photo : YouTube Screenshot) Google Photos is one-year-old.

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Google Photos celebrated its first launch anniversary on Sunday, May 6. Since its launch, the service has created more than 1.6 billion collages, animations, and movies from snapshots shared by users. Additionally, Google claims that the service is responsible for creating 2 trillion labels, of which 24 billion are categorized as selfies.



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Through Google's massive cloud backup option, the 200 million Google Photo users have collectively cleared more than 13.7 petabytes worth of storage from their devices, according to Engadget. It is important to note that subscribing to high quality photo upload option will give users unlimited storage, but choosing to use original quality will count against the user's Google storage limit.



To offer more storage options for users, Google is planning to change the way it counts storage uploads from its Nexus line of devices. A recent update released for Google Photos was closely examined by Android Police and discovered that Nexus users will soon have the option for unlimited original photo and video storage. The code review also reveals that the app will sport new internal adjustment tools for contrast and exposure.



Google is yet to confirm whether this new option for Nexus devices will be a temporary perk for buying the device, or a permanent option for users.



Currently, Google Photos limits High Quality images to a maximum of 16-megapixel. If users try to upload a photo with higher resolution than that, the app will downsize the photo. There is a second option to upload the photo in its Original state which will retain the original elements of it. However, the Original option is not free and unlimited since images uploaded in this mode will count against the storage quota of the user.



Current-generation Nexus devices have cameras with a resolution is less than 16-megapixel so images taken through it are within the confines of the free storage option. However, there are rumors that Google, along with its third-party partners, are planning to release a Nexus device with an upgraded camera.



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TagsGoogle, Google Photos, photos, Google News, Google Photos update, Google Photos anniversary, Google Photos updates, Google Photos first year anniversary
Pained Terminator

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Pain is good -- at least for robots. It might also save their mechanical lives. With that in mind, researchers from Leibniz University in Hannover, Germany are engaged in a project whose aim is to develop an "artificial robot nervous system to teach robots how to feel pain."



And the point of teaching robots what "Ouch!" feels like?



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It's to get these mechanical beasts to react to pain so the pain-causing event avoids damaging their systems. Robots that know what pain feels like can also warn human co-workers there's something's wrong here.



"Pain is a system that protects us," said Johannes Kuehn, one of the researchers. "When we evade from the source of pain, it helps us not get hurt."



He noted that humans that don't have the ability to feel pain (there are such people) are injured far more often since their bodies don't instinctively react to things that hurt them. About one in a million persons are born without a sense of pain, which is caused by a mutated gene.



Kuehn and his collaborator, Professor Sami Haddadin, one of the world's foremost experts in physical human-robot interaction and safety, described their robot pain project at the recent IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Stockholm, Sweden.



Kuehn and Haddadin's device that teaches robots to feel pain is a bio-inspired robot controller that mimics human pain mechanisms. This "reflex controller" reflexively reacts to protect the robot from potentially damaging interactions.



Artificial neurons in the robot's reflex controller will transmit the pain signals, allowing the machine to determine the severity of the pain, from light to severe, and respond accordingly.



Kuehn and Haddadin argue that a robot needs to be able to detect and classify unforeseen physical states and disturbances such as pain. The robot should also be able to rate the potential damage the source of pain might cause to it, and take countermeasures. In other words, the robot has to use its reflex controller.



Both men's research is devoted to the "formalization of robot pain, based on insights from human pain research, as an interpretation of tactile sensation."



A video illustrating this point shows a prototype of the reflex controller running on a Kuka arm equipped with a BioTac tactile fingertip sensor. The YouTube video can be viewed here.



Does this mean the Series 850 Terminators Sgt. Kyle Reese fought against wouldn't be the mass murderers they are if they could feel pain and knew pain hurts?



Sounds like a good plot for the next Terminator movie.



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TagsRobot, Pain, Leibniz University, Johannes Kuehn, Sami Haddadin, reflex controller
(Photo : YouTube Screenshot/ The Young Turks) A laundry detergent ad in China seems to show a woman throwing a black man into a washing machine, and transforming him into a Chinese man.

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The Chinese company behind a controversial "racist" detergent advert that went viral last week has apologized on Saturday after it was stormed with racism allegations from netizens.



Claiming to be strongly against racial discrimination itself, Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics Ltd. Co. issued a statement of apology late on Saturday for the controversy brought by the commercial. However, the company blamed overseas media for amplifying the advertisement.



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"We express our apology for the harm caused to the African people because of the spread of the ad and the over-amplification by the media," the statement said. "The advertisement and the surrounding controversy have hurt those of African descent, and because of this we would like to apologize."



The company blamed international media for being "too sensitive," thus fuelling the issue. The advert first appeared in March but was taken down this week following widespread media coverage.



In its official Weibo account, the company said it never intended to discriminate people by their color, and this is not a basis to judge others.



"We mean nothing but to promote the product, and we had never thought about the issue of racism," a representative of the company told Global Times on Friday.



The company has requested that netizens stop sharing the advert on social media.



The 50-second advert, which was posted on YouTube, has been viewed over 6.5 million times over the past few days.



The controversial commercial shows a young Chinese woman doing her laundry. A black man with face and shirt stained with paint walks toward her. Looking at each other, she places a detergent tab on the man's mouth and stuffs him to the washing machine head-first. Then after washing, a fair-skinned Chinese man emerges from the machine.



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TagsQiaobi, Chinese Detergent Ad, Racism, racial discrimination
(Photo : Kim Kyung-Hoon - Pool/Getty Images) China's President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with Bangladesh's President Abdul Hamid at a photo session prior to the Dialogue on Strengthening Connectivity Partnership at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on November 8, 2014 in Beijing, China.

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China and Bangladesh reached an agreement on Sunday to deepen their cooperation and military exchange.



The pledge comes after a meeting between Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan and Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid. Chang also met with Bangladesh's Chief of Army Staff General Abu Belal Muhammad Shafiul Hug, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Nizamuddin Ahmed, and Chief of Air Staff Marshal Abu Esrar.



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The Chinese defense minister said in a statement that both nations should boost their bilateral cooperation in culture, some sectors of politics, as well as economy and trade. China and Bangladesh established diplomatic ties in 1975.



Chang said that the development of military ties between the two countries has maintained a good momentum and it will continue to improve in the coming months and years. The Chinese military wants to work with the Bangladesh military to implement the accord reached by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.



The boosting of military ties will also strengthen the strategic exchange and support between the two countries, increase personnel training and cooperation when it comes to equipment technology, and promote military exchanges between young military officials.



The Bangladesh military also released a statement regarding the latest agreement noting that China is a trustworthy and strategic partner. The military leaders of Bangladesh said that both nations have developed high-level political trust as well as fruitful economic and trade cooperation.



The Bangladeshi military expressed willingness to take part in joint efforts with China regarding personnel training, military medical care, peacekeeping, and military equipment.



China and Bangladesh are set to work together to promote the "Belt and Road" initiative. As part of the "Belt and Road" initiative, scholarships will be awarded to students from the nations that are involved in the project to study in China.



Bangladesh is one of the nations that support China's position on the South China Sea dispute. Bangladeshi officials have said that the dispute should be settled via a direct negotiation amongst the parties involved.



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Tagsbilateral cooperation, military exchange, china, Bangladesh, Agreement, Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan, Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid, South China Sea
(Photo : Paula Bronstein/Getty Images) Massive destruction is seen in car park of the Pearl Continental hotel after a bomb blast killed 11 and injured at least 50 people June 10, 2009 in Peshawar, Pakistan.

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The family of Mohammad Azam, a taxi driver who was driving Mullah Mansoor around and was killed alongside the Taliban leader, has filed a lawsuit against the United States.



Azam was killed in the U.S. drone strike that also killed Mansoor. The lawsuit claims that no one from the U.S. government has contacted them about compensation for the driver's death. Azam was killed on May 21 as he was driving Mansoor from the Iranian border to Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.



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The brother of Azam, Mohammad Qasim, said in a statement that he was the sole breadwinner of their large family and his murder was also an attack on their family. He said they hardly earn enough to have two meals daily. Azam has been working as a driver for more than eight years in Taftan and is survived by his wife and four children.



"Who will feed them now? I appeal to the civilised world, including all those human rights bodies, to investigate the brutal murder of my brother and compensate his children," Qasim said.



Azam reportedly picked up Mansoor after the latter emerged from the Iranian-Pakistani border at 9 am on May 21. He was returning to Pakistan after a long visit to Iran. The Taliban leader passed himself off as a Pakistani citizen and was using a passport and national identification card that bore the false name Muhammad Wali.



The U.S. has decided in the past that if they get the chance to kill Mansoor, they will do it. He has been described as an "obstacle to peace" as he is said to be actively preventing other Taliban commanders from having peace talks with representatives of the Afghan government. He is also accused of spreading violence in Afghanistan as he forced the Kabul government to abandon some territories to the insurgents.



It remains unclear, however, why the U.S. waited for six hours before striking Mansoor and the car he was in.



The U.S. Army has made payments in the past to civilian victims of military operations such as drone strikes in Afghanistan but not in Pakistan. The U.S. has conducted over 400 drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004. The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan is yet to comment on the lawsuit.



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TagsMohammad Azam, Taliban leader, May 21 bombing, drone, Mullah Mansoor, driver, taxi driver, United States, Lawsuit
(Photo : ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images) Vehicles run in the smog on March 17, 2016 in Beijing, China.

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Beijing has listed smog as a meteorological disaster in line with the city government's efforts to further strengthen air pollution control measures.



With this recent move, smog will be included in the draft Beijing Meteorological Disasters Prevention and Control Regulation that is being reviewed by local authorities, China Daily reported.



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The proposed pollution prevention and control regulation defines a meteorological disaster as damage primarily caused by haze, torrential rains, blizzards, sandstorms, drought or freezing conditions.



With the inclusion of smog in the proposed regulation, the nation's capital would need to improve its urban planning, particularly the design of its green zones and corridors, as a strategy to reduce the damage caused by smog.



Liu Zhengang, chief of the Beijing Legal Affairs Office, noted that smog has become a major concern for both the government and the public sector.



As Beijing's works towards enhancing its air pollution control initiatives, Liu said that it should take a cue from neighboring Tianjin and Hebei province that have already listed smog in their anti-pollution regulations.



So far, the State Council has not yet declared smog as a meteorological disaster.



According to Liu, the Chinese capital has become prone to meteorological disasters, which if left unaddressed, can cause huge economic losses accounting for at least one to three percent of the area's GDP.



"About 70 percent of the natural issues hitting the capital were meteorological ones," said Zhou Heping, deputy director in charge of rural affairs of the Standing Committee of Beijing Municipal People's Congress.



Based on data from the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, the capital had a 46 percent reduction in the concentration of PM2.5 - a fine particulate matter that poses health risks - in 2015, as compared to 2013.



However, the concentration of PM2.5 still exceeded national health standards by 1.3 times last year, and the city's residents saw 46 days of hazardous pollution.



Under the draft anti-air pollution and control measure, Beijing authorities need to focus on re-arranging its green zones, rivers, and roads, and at the same time, build corridors to disperse air pollutants.







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TagsBeijing, Beijing Air Pollution Control, Beijing Meteorological Disasters Prevention and Control Regulation
(Photo : NASA) Coronal hole May 17-19, 2016 and (right) June 18, 2013

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A massive coronal hole that formed last May 17 to 19 engulfed 40 percent of the Sun underscores how much scientists still don't understand about our home star.



Coronal holes are low-density regions of the sun's atmosphere or corona. They look like enormous holes punched into the sun because they contain little solar material. Their lower temperatures make them look blacker compared to the surrounding regions of the Sun.



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They are, nevertheless, spectacular to view in extreme ultraviolet light as the accompanying photos show.



NASA says a huge hole visible from May 17 to 19 was the largest observed in more than a year. The space agency said this one observed by its Solar Dynamics Observatory isn't a cause for any concern since coronal holes are regular phenomena exhibited by the sun.



NASA noted that coronal holes are important to understanding the space environment around Earth through which satellites and astronauts travel. Coronal holes are also the source of a high-speed wind of solar particles that streams off the sun some three times faster than the slower wind elsewhere. The solar wind escapes and creates a lower density and lower temperature in areas of the coronal hole.



These solar winds cause the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights to form and degrade terrestrial communications. It also increases the amount of cancer-causing UV rays reaching the Earth, but which are deflected by the Earth's magnetosphere.



This recent coronal hole isn't the largest observed. On July 18, 2013, a humungous coronal hole sprawled across 400,000 miles across or almost half the Sun's diameter.



Humans on the outer fringe of reason, however, are yelling online the recent monster coronal hole is a sure sign the sun is dying. Brethren of these folks also claimed the recent discovery of Planet 9 in the Oort Cloud is a sure sign the Apocalypse is around the corner.



You can view a gif of a coronal hole here.



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Tagscoronal hole, NASA, Solar Dynamics Observatory
(Photo : Adam Berry | Getty Images) A visitor uses a cell phone in front of the Google logo on September 26, 2012 at the official opening party of the Google offices in Berlin, Germany. Google has removed the backup limit on Google Photos for users of its Nexus devices.

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The latest update of Google Photo will give Nexus users unlimited storage space without capping original photo and video quality.



The update description indicates that "with Nexus, back up all you want! Unlimited free storage for original quality photos & videos upload from your Nexus device," according to PCMag.



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A line in the code of Google Photos version 1.21 proposes free uncapped storage space for Nexus-themed devices after diving into the Android's application package (APK), according to Android Police.



The application also comes with a photo editor for simple adjustments like color and lighting. The latest update will come with two new adjustments called contrast and exposure. Albums can be easily accessed with the use of Sorting Mode, which will be added in the update.



Google Photos provides free back-up of pictures and videos on an Android phone. However, the free version of the app has a limit of 16 megapixels. Photos and videos greater than 1080p will be trimmed down as well. Users who are willing to pay will be able to utilize a bigger storage space and give a maximum photo resolution of 75-100 megabytes, 10 gigabytes for video.



Thanks to the new update, Google Nexus users will not be affected by Google Photos' downsizing of photos and videos. Their original file size will be retained, according to CNET.



Most of Google Nexus devices camera specifications have a maximum megapixel of 12.3, but they shoot high-quality video like the Nexus 6P and 5X which have 3840 x 2160 ultra-HD quality videos.



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Tagsgoogle photo, Google Photos update, Nexus, Android
(Photo : Wikimedia) Angel's Landing up north in Zion National Park.

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A new study reveals how the iconic Zion National Park in southwest Utah was formed, revealing new evidence about how a massive cataclysm resulted in a gigantic landslide of debris. This in turn blocked the flow of the Virgin River and created a new lake, occurring thousands of years ago.



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Scientists and researchers from the University of Utah analyzed the formations of Zion National Park, which spans Iron, Kane and Washington state counties.



Researchers determined that a sandstone formation in the west wall of Zion Canyon known as Sentinel experienced a rock avalanche some 4,800 years ago that resulted in 10 billion cubic feet of sandstone debris falling off from Kayenta and Navajo, that blocked the Virgin River in the process, and forming a lake that is two miles long that existed for 700 years.



This massive landslide transformed the entire valley into what is now known as Zion National Park, as this sediment layer leveled the entire valley floor, which resulted in the absence of riverbanks.



According to geology professor and author of the study, Jeff Moore from the University of Utah, this rock avalanche was so massive that it buried an area size as big as Central Park in New York, under 275 feet of rubble and debris, adding that the amount of earth that fell from the mountains was estimated to be 90 times the volume of concrete that was used to construct the Hoover Dam.



The Sentinel is measured at 7,157 feet high, however the team believes that this was significantly more massive prior to this ancient rock avalanche from thousands of years back.



Data from computer simulations revealed that this landslide originated from the southeastern side of the canyon, that is travelling at 112 miles per hour, where its fastest speed was about 180 to 200 miles per hour, which all occurred in a matter of one minute, taking about 30 seconds for the rubble and debris to spread across the Zion Canyon.



Researchers now say that this cataclysm that created Zion National Park is extremely rare, where they found no evidence of a similar event happening any time soon.



This new study is published in the journal of Geological Society of America's GSA Today.



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Tagszion national park, ancient cataclysm, Utah, ancient massive landslide
(Photo : Reuters) Coca-Cola is the latest company to adopt patriotic redesign just like brewing company Anheuser-Busch.

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In celebration of its 75-year partnership with the United Service Organizations (USO) and Memorial Day, Coca-Cola is launching a limited-edition red, white, and blue can.



The soda company's new I'm proud to be an American limited cans honor members of the military and feature the American flag in their design. The redesign is also part of the Coca-Colas Campaign to Connect project, a joint effort between Coca-Cola and USO to send one million messages of support to the nations military service members.



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Our partnership with the USO dates back to 1941, and we have worked together for 75 years to help keep service members refreshed all over the world. The custom patriotic packaging is Coca-Colas special way of commemorating and thanking the USO for its many years of impactful work to help keep the nations military men and women connected to family, home, and country throughout their time of service, says Erika von Heiland Strader, Director, Community Marketing, Coca-Cola North America.



Campaign to Connect is in response to a recent survey which found that 90 percent of all service men and women believe that the United States public does not understand the sacrifices they make for the country. The survey also found that 37 percent of U.S. service members feel under-appreciated.



Coca-Cola also plans to kick off its Share a Coke and a Song campaign at Coca-Cola 600 Nascar race. The patriotic cans will also feature a lyric from a patriotic song. The custom-designed red, white, and blue 16-oz Coca-Cola cans are available in selected convenience and grocery stores nationwide now through July 4th while supplies last. Additionally, 20-, 24-, and 35-ct family packages of 12-oz Coca-Cola cans will be wrapped with the patriotic design.



Coca-Cola is the latest company to adopt patriotic redesign. Missouri-based brewing company Anheuser-Busch even changed the name of Budweiser to America and it will last through the presidential election in November.



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TagsCoca Cola, I'm proud to be an American limited cans, United Service Organizations, USO, Memorial Day, Campaign to Connect, Budweiser, America, I'm proud to be an American, I'm proud to be an American Coca-Cola
UFO over USAF base in Ohio

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A bizarre UFO shaped like a sharp sliver of blue metal hovered over Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio and was caught on a 13 minute-long video as it floated then vanished or became invisible.



The base was once the headquarters to Project Bluebook, the controversial US Air Force study that infamously concluded most UFO sightings were a form of mass hysteria or tall tales fabricated by psychopathological persons. Project Bluebook lasted from 1947 to 1969.



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There have been numerous UFO sightings over Wright-Patterson since the end of World War II.



The stunning video of the sighting shows the UFO floating in the air with its sword-like tip pointed towards the base. It also revealed strange markings along the hull of the UFO.



The woman taking the video on her mobile phone is heard saying, "What the f*** is that?"



She then exclaims, "It looks like it's moving with the clouds."



She zooms her camera for a closer look but the UFO heads into the clouds and disappears.



"Oh my God, it f****** disappeared," said someone.



The woman that took the video sent it to "Secure Team 10," a group of UFO investigators that describe themselves as "the research team bringing exposure of the alien phenomenon and those trying to hide it back to the masses!"



This group alleges the same UFO was seen two other times over Dayton.



"It's the same UFO. I am simply amazed, we have someone corroborating this sighting," said Tyler Glockner of Secure Team 10.



Glockner said he has no doubt "this is either an alien craft or a very, very strange drone, which I highly doubt." He also said the UFO could be a captured alien spacecraft being tested by the USAF.



You can watch the UFO video on YouTube here.



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TagsUFO, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Project Bluebook, US Air Force
(Photo : YouTube) It is said that the showcasing of the iPhone 7 can be both exciting and disappointing for Apple fans.

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Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is due to commence in a little less than two weeks. Unsurprisingly, avid followers of the popular tech brand can barely contain their excitement over what the event has in store. Many are certain that Apple would be unveiling their latest generation iPhone during the event.



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The Cupertino- based company has remained mum regarding the iPhone rumors. Nevertheless, details about the soon-to-be released handset have made their way online. Based on available accounts, the showcasing of the iPhone 7 can be both exciting and disappointing for Apple fans.



Less than a week ago, 9to5 Mac got their hands on image leaks of what could be the upcoming iPhone 7. Based on the leaked pictures, rumors that Apple did away with the horizontal plastic antenna strips seem to be spot on. Instead the antennas are spotted along the phone's edges.



Consequently, the images revealed that the speculations surrounding the camera bump seem to be unfounded. The pictures of the rumored iPhone 7 still had the iconic camera bump.



Elsewhere, Ewan Spence from Forbes also chimed in on the conversation surrounding the upcoming iPhone 7. According to a recent report, the iPhone 7 would see three main hardware changes - new speakers, upgraded camera, and a different port for music.



Spence explains that the new iPhone might follow the iPad Pro's revolutionary speaker design. Instead of having a solitary speaker, the upcoming phone would have 4 separate speakers located in each corner of the phone.



Despite exciting new features, Spence expresses his worry about the Apple's 2016 smartphone offering. According to the Forbes contributor, much of Apple's new iPhone technology is set to be released next year. In 2017, the iPhone would be celebrating the tenth anniversary of its release. It is expected that next year's iPhone generation would be a stand-out. This means that the upcoming iPhone 7 might have difficulty in attracting the same attention and sales as previous releases.



Nevertheless, fans are hopeful that the iPhone 7 would be unveiled in the upcoming WWDC. Unfortunately reports claim that Apple Inc. would officially announce the newest generation iPhone by September.



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TagsiPhone 7 Pro, leaks, iPhone 7 Pro News, iPhone 7 Pro Specs, iPhone 7, rumors, apple, WWDC 2016
home World Iraqi, Syrian indigenous communities' extinction 'not inevitable,' says Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight

The head of Christian brotherhood Knights of Columbus said during a congressional subcomittee hearing that Christians in Iraq and Syria are in the brink of extinction, but there is still a way to avert this.

"The world's greatest humanitarian crisis since World War II is unfolding now in the Middle East. In addition to millions of refugees, many of the region's indigenous communities now face extinction. These communities may disappear in less than a decade," Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said. "But their fate is not inevitable."

Anderson was testifying to the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, in the hearing called "The ISIS Genocide Declaration: What Next?"

The United States, he said, may still be able to do something to keep this tragedy from happening. Among the things he recommended was an increase in humanitarian aid, and an oversight should be provided to make certain that these reach those who are targeted by genocide.

"Support the long-term survival of indigenous religious and ethnic communities by supporting their right to remain in their country," he said.

Moreover, Anderson expressed that assistance should be provided so that genocide victims could attain refugee status, and the U.S. should "prepare now for foreseeable human rights challenges as ISIS-controlled territory is liberated and civilians flee the violence. Condition humanitarian and military assistance to governments in the region on their meaningful commitment to human rights."

He also said that perpetrators of crimes against humanity and genocide ought to be punished.

Anderson likewise discussed the issue of Christian leaders receiving aid only from private donors and not from the United Nations or the U.S. government. He said the help of the United States and international organizations is necessary.

Finally, he said, "Promote the establishment of internationally agreed upon standards of human rights and religious freedom as conditions for humanitarian and military assistance."

Other leaders also testified during the hearing, namely: Johnny Oram, executive director of the Chaldean Assyrian Business Alliance; Sarhang Hamasseed of the U.S. Institute of Peace; and David Crane of Syracuse University College of Law.
home Entertainment 'Preacher' TV series 'clearly a silly counterfeit' of spirituality, says pastor

TV network AMC premiered "Preacher" this month and it has gotten a reaction from a Christian pastor in New Zealand, where it is shown on Lightbox.

"They don't make a counterfeit of something that isn't genuine or real," said Baptist pastor Brian Winslade after watching the trailer, as quoted by Stuff. "It's clearly a silly counterfeit of what spirituality and Christian faith actually is."

In the trailer, a boy asks Jesse Custer, the town's new preacher, to hurt his abusive father -- because he heard from people that before he became a preacher, he "did things." Custer gives the kid a big picture of violence and tells him how it escalates. Later, Custer is seen taking down a man and breaking his arm, after which the preacher ends up behind bars.

Pastor Winslade does not think the show is real threat for Christianity as it could, in some way, make people want to find genuine faith.

"I see no threat to the reality of Christian faith or the church," he said.

The supernatural black comedy, adapted from a comic book series of the same title, centers on Custer, a man with a dark past who returns to his hometown to fulfill his late father's wishes that he take over his church. Custer soon questions his faith and contemplates leaving the service. Meanwhile, an alien entity arrives on Earth and tries to inhabit the body of an African preacher but the body subsequently explodes. The same thing happens elsewhere. The entity then inhabits Custer's body and gives him a special power, and he later decides not to leave the church anymore. According to AMC, he and his allies "are thrust into a crazy world populated by a cast of characters from Heaven, Hell and everywhere in between."

In the synopsis on Zap2It, "Preacher" season 1 episode 2 titled "See" will show Custer trying to be a good preacher while a pair of something mysterious goes after him. It will air on AMC on June 5.
home World Professor calls for Christian university to be built in Scotland

A professor in Scotland believes that having a Christian university in the country would be beneficial.

"A Christian university would teach and research within the pre-suppositional framework of a Christian world view," said Professor James Fraser, CBE, as quoted by Herald Scotland. "It would welcome people of all faiths and none to its student body."

According to the report, there are no religion-based universities in Scotland, and educational institutions currently have a "radical secularist" viewpoint. Thus, Fraser deems that having an academic institution that offers teaching and research from a Christian point of view would provide Scottish students with more options. He is reportedly thinking of a Christian university akin to those in the United States, one that would welcome all students of all faiths and no faith.

"All teaching and research is shaped by the values of the institution and its staff; and today in most Scottish universities the values framework is derived from a radical secularist world view," he said, speaking during the Free Church general assembly. "The secular world view is by no means universally accepted by the people of Scotland. We need to serve Scotland better by giving people greater choice."

Fraser urged the church to consider being the first to establish such in Scotland. He suggested that it could start with its Edinburgh seminary as it has already partnered with the University of Glasgow in providing university level courses. His vision is to have a Christian university that has "excellent and quality courses delivered to a standard of excellence that would attract both Christian and non-Christian students." He did say that funding such an endeavor would be a "formidable task," thus he is calling for the government to reconsider the current financial scheme for universities.

"The Scottish Government should rethink the financing of Universities to enable a more pluralist system," Fraser said. "Scotland has some of the most excellent universities in the world but needs to offer more variety and greater competition."

He is also reportedly calling on a debate to prevent the secularism of Scottish children through education and media because "if we continue to lose them we will have no future whatsoever as an institution."

He said, "If we fail to do this we fail our generation fundamentally and we capitulate to secularism."

Fraser was a former principal at the University of the Highlands and Islands and is chair of the Board of Trustees of the Free Kirk/Free Church of Scotland.
home World Thousands of children in need of mental health care denied specialist treatment in England; Christian charity calls it 'appalling'

Thousands of children were denied mental health care services in England last year, according to review done by the Children's Commissioner, something that a Christian charity deem as "appalling."

"It's disgusting, I don't think there's any other medical condition you can have that where that would happen," said Rachael Newham of Think Twice, as quoted by Premier. "If you sprained your ankle you'd probably get a course of physio. So the fact that actually it's not even the basics that are being offered, it's utterly appalling."

In the review of the 2015 mental services in England, the Childen's Commissioner found that 28 percent of the 248,000 children, or almost 70,000 kids, referred to mental health services were denied specialist treatment, 13 percent or 9,000 of which were patients with life-threatening conditions. This was reportedly based on 2015 data from 48 of 60 child and adolescent mental health service trusts.

According to the BBC, the reason that the kids were turned away was mostly because their illnesses were deemed not serious enough, although the review found that these include patients who exhibited psychosis, anorexia nervosa, and who tried to harm themselves.

Moreover, those who were not turned away had to wait for a long time, 100 days on average, to get treatment. The average waiting time in a trust Northwest England is reportedly around 14 days while one in West Midlands is 200 days. Those kids who miss appointments are likely to have their access restricted, as 35 percent of the trusts would have it that way.

"I don't yet know quite why they are being turned away, but certainly being turned away or put on a waiting list for up to six months is clearly playing Russian roulette with their health," Children's Commissioner Anne Longfield said on BBC Radio 4's "Today."

"I've heard from far too many children who have been denied support or struck off the list because they missed appointments," The Guardian also quotes Longfield as saying. "I've heard from others whose GPs could not manage their condition and who had to wait months to see a specialist whilst struggling with their conditions."

Longfield said that more people are seeking help because there is more awareness now, and the trusts have told her that there had been "too much demand" for their services. Some put the blame on "austerity policies," such as Dr. Carl Walker, chair of the European Community Psychology Association Task Force on Austerity and Mental Health, who, according to The Independent, said that the NHS is "under financial duress" and the "government must be held to account for their actions." Sarah Brennan of charity group Young Minds also said that "years of underfunding have left the whole system overwhelmed."

According to The Guardian, a government spokesman said that they have introduced "the first ever mental health access and waiting time standards" because no one in need should be turned away nor should they have to wait too long for mental health care. He said that 1.4 billion will be placed into supporting the young all over the country.

"This investment is just beginning, and is creating new joined-up plans to improve care in the community and schools to make sure young people get support before they reach a crisis point," the spokesman said.
home US Transgender bills would 'cripple' Christian colleges in California, says conservative law firm

Christian colleges in California may be forced to make themselves "transgender-friendly" should new bills being considered at the statehouse become law; otherwise, they may lose state and federal funding.

"The punitive laws would undermine federal protections that have long exempted religious colleges from adopting anti-discrimination laws that violate the tenets of their faith," said non-profit law firm Advocates for Faith and Freedom in a press release. "The consequences of these bills are so dire that one pro-family watchdog group has warned that their passage would usher in Armageddon for those seeking higher education from a biblical perspective."

Supporters of the bills point out that Christian colleges that have received exemption to Title IX -- a statute that prohibits discrimination in academic institutions -- are allowed to discriminate against students and staff based on gender despite receiving funds from the government. This, they deem, goes against California's efforts to protect transgenders. They are pushing to have bills AB 1888 and SB 1146 become law.

AB 1888 would have academic institutions receiving funds through the Cal Grant program prove that they are no longer seeking to receive religious exemption and that they do not discriminate against people based on their gender, gender identity or sexual orientation. This, according to proponents, ensures that no academic institution that discriminates against transgenders would receive California taxpayers' money. SB 1146, meanwhile, narrows down protections only to coursework that tackles religious education.

Should the bills become law, Christian colleges in California will have to abide by them lest they lose financial aid for their students. This means, among other things, that male students who claim their gender to be female should be allowed to room with females in a dormitory; otherwise, the college could be sued.

"It is clear that the agenda of California's progressive legislature, including the openly gay authors of these two bills, goes well beyond their original mantra of seeking equality," said the AFF. "Their sights are now firmly set on destroying and dismantling all faith-based entities that disagree with their lifestyle."
Big majority of Americans think state of U.S. moral values is getting worse, Gallup survey shows

Is the morality of Americans really headed towards degradation? A huge number of residents in the United States think so.

Some 73 percent of Americans think the state of moral values in the U.S. is getting worse, according to a recent survey conducted by the research-based consulting company Gallup Inc. This year, only 20 percent of the 1,025 respondents said U.S. values are improving.

The number of pessimistic U.S. residents is slightly higher this year than last year's 72 percent, which means more Americans are losing faith in the moral values of their own nation.

This also continues the trend for the past 15 years showing solid majorities consistently of the opinion that the direction of the country's values is going downhill. This view was expressed by 67 percent of the respondents in 2002 and 2003. The figure increased to 82 percent in 2007.

"Negative views of the state of moral values in the U.S. are the norm for Americansthey are most likely to describe it as poor, and a strong majority say it is only getting worse," Gallup said in a statement posted on its website.

More specifically, 43 percent of the respondents described the state of morality in the U.S. as "poor," while 36 percent said it is "only fair."

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents were more likely to think that the morals of Americans were already deteriorating. Some 84 percent of the Republican respondents held this negative view, compared to the 61 percent among their Democratic counterparts.

Republicans have been less positive about the state of American morality since 2007, according to Gallup. Before this year, respondents from both parties were "equally likely to view the direction of the country's morals negatively."

"Platform issues on moral values are frequently espoused by Republican candidates for office at all levels of U.S. government, so it may come as little surprise that those who identify as or lean Republican have a heightened sensitivity to the state of the nation's moral fabric," the research firm explained.

The company likewise projected that Americans will likely "continue to view the direction of the nation's morals negatively" primarily due to "poor values instilled by parents and reflected among government officials."
Egypt's president appeals for unity over Minya attack, urges victim not to be 'angered'

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has called on the woman attacked by a mob in a Christian village in Minya province not to be "angered" by what happened.

Speaking at the inauguration of a new housing project today, he condemned the sectarian attack and said those responsible would be punished.

The attack saw a 300-strong mob torch Christian houses and strip the 70-year-old woman naked as she was dragged along the street. It followed allegations that a Christian man  thought to be the woman's son  and a Muslim woman were involved in an relationship.

According to the Ahramonline news service, Sisi said: "When I address my speech to this woman I don't say this [Christian] Egyptian because we are all one.

"We are all Egyptians who are equal in rights and duties. It is not appropriate that what happened be repeated. Whoever commits an offense will be held accountable."

He said: "I call on this Egyptian lady not to be angered by what happened."

The attack has been widely condemned, including by the General Bishop fo the Coptic Orthodox Church, Bishop Angaelos, who said: "It is indeed shameful that such mob crimes can be perpetrated against innocent communities at all, of whatever faith or ethnicity, and especially as a result of slanderous and unsubstantiated rumours; and that an elderly mother could be so publicly and indecently humiliated."

He continued: "Egypt is at a formative stage of its contemporary history which requires a robust system of law and order that underpins an ethos of equal citizenship and accountability. Any such steps taken at the national level are severely hampered and undermined by these recurring failures at the local level."
Indian bishop donates a kidney to save a life

The life of a 30-year-old Hindu man is to be saved thanks to an Indian bishop who is donating one of his kidneys to him.

Sooraj, from the Indian state of Kerala, is from a poor family which has already been hard hit by illness and tragedy. According to the Mathrubhumi news service, his father died four years ago after a snakebite, his brother died two years ago of heart disease and his mother is diabetic. After he developed kidney failure 18 months ago doctors told him a transplant was his only hope.

However, in response to Pope Francis' call for a 'Year of Mercy', the auxiliary bishop of Palai diocese stepped forward to offer one of his kidneys.

Bishop Jacob Muricken told NDTV: "Our church and Pope Francis truly believe and back such acts of organ donations. It's in the spirit of the Church. I believe this should be a strong message for people around me, to be open to donate organs."

Muricken was inspired by Fr Davis Chiramel, chairman of the Kidney Federation of India, himself a kidney donor.

"I am inspired by Father Chiramel who once donated his kidney seven years ago," the bishop said. "I am happy that I will be doing good to someone in the year of mercy. I am deeply moved by Father's act of mercy and would like to follow his footprints."

Muricken is thought to be the first serving bishop to have donated a kidney while still alive.

Sooraj told NDTV: "I started taking treatment only when the situation got really bad about one and a half years back. Now, I have come to know that a bishop is donating his kidney for me. For me it's nothing less than God's intervention."

Chiramel said: "When we reach out to an individual through a donor, our only condition is that someone from the recipient family must eventually be willing to donate for someone else. But in the case of Sooraj that wasn't possible because of family restraints and ill health and we understand that."

The surgery is expected to take place on June 1.
Iraqi army storms to edge of Islamic State-held Falluja; fresh bombings hit Baghdad

The Iraqi army stormed to the southern edge of Falluja under US air support today and captured a police station inside the city limits, launching a direct assault to retake one of the main strongholds of Islamic State militants.

A Reuters TV crew about a mile (about 1.5 km) from the city's edge said explosions and gunfire were ripping through Naimiya, a district of Falluja on its southern outskirts.

An elite military unit, the Rapid Response Team, seized the district's police station at midday, state television reported.

The battle for Falluja is shaping up to be one of the biggest ever fought against Islamic State, in the city where US forces waged the heaviest battles of their 2003-2011 occupation against the Sunni Muslim militant group's precursors.

Falluja is Islamic State's closest bastion to Baghdad, and believed to be the base from which the group has plotted an escalating campaign of suicide bombings against Shi'ite civilians and government targets inside the capital.

As government forces pressed their onslaught, suicide bombers driving a car and a motorcycle and another bomb planted in a car killed more than 20 people and injured more than 50 in three districts of Baghdad, police and medical sources said.

Separately, Kurdish security forces announced advances against Islamic State in northern Iraq, capturing villages from militants outside Mosul, the biggest city under militant control.

The Iraqi army launched its operation to recover Falluja a week ago, first by tightening a six-month-old siege around the city 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

Falluja, in the heartland of Sunni Muslim tribes who resent the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad, was the first Iraqi city to fall to Islamic State in January 2014. Months later, the group overran wide areas of the north and west of Iraq, declaring a caliphate including parts of neighbouring Syria.

On Monday, army units advanced to the city's southern entrance, "steadily advancing" under air cover from a US-led coalition helping to fight against the militants, according to a military statement read out on state TV.

A Shi'ite militia coalition known as Popular Mobilisation, or Hashid Shaabi, was seeking to consolidate the siege by dislodging militants from Saqlawiya, a village just to the north of Falluja.

The militias, who took the lead in assaults against Islamic State in other parts of Iraq last year, have pledged not to take part in the assault on the mainly Sunni Muslim city itself to avoid aggravating sectarian strife.

Islamist militant stronghold

Falluja has been a bastion of the Sunni insurgency that fought both the US occupation of Iraq and the Shi'ite-led Baghdad government that took over after the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in 2003.

American troops suffered some of their worst losses of the war there in two battles in 2004 to wrest it back from al Qaeda in Iraq, the insurgent group now known as Islamic State.

The latest offensive is causing alarm among international aid organisations over the humanitarian situation in the city, where more than 50,000 civilians remain trapped with limited access to water, food and health care.

Falluja is the second-largest Iraqi city still under control of the militants, after Mosul, their de facto capital in the north that had a pre-war population of about 2 million.

It would be the third major city in Iraq recaptured by the government after Saddam's home town Tikrit and Ramadi, capital of Iraq's vast western Anbar province.

Falluja is also in Anbar, located between Ramadi and Baghdad, and capturing it would give the government control of the major population centres of the Euphrates River valley west of the capital for the first time in more than two years.

On the northern front, the security forces of the autonomous Kurdish region launched an attack on Sunday to oust Islamist militants from villages about 20 km (13 miles) east of Mosul so as to increase the pressure on Islamic State and pave the way for storming that city.

The Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, have retaken six villages in total since attacking Islamic State positions on Sunday with the support of the US-led coalition, the Kurdistan Region Security Council said on Monday. That represents most of the targets of their latest advance.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi hopes to recapture Mosul later this year to deal a decisive defeat to Islamic State.

Abadi announced the onslaught on Falluja on May 22 after a spate of bombings that killed more than 150 people in one week in Baghdad, the worst death toll so far this year. The worsening security in the capital has added to political pressure on Abadi, struggling to maintain the support of a Shi'ite coalition amid popular protests against an entrenched political class.

Monday's bombings targeted two densely populated Shi'ite districts, Shaab and Sadr City, and a government building in one predominantly Sunni suburb, Tarmiya, north of Baghdad.

A car bomb in Shaab killed 12 people and injured more than 20, while in Tarmiya eight were killed and 21 injured by a suicide bomber who pulled up in a car outside a government building guarded by police. In Sadr City, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed three people and injured nine.
Is the world becoming pro-gay? Mexico joins U.N. coalition promoting LGBT's political agenda

Is the world really turning into a place where Christian teachings against homosexuality no longer matter?

In a surprising move, the predominantly Roman Catholic nation of Mexico recently announced that it intends to join a coalition of 19 other countries belonging to the United Nations that are leading efforts to promote the political agenda of the LGBT community.

This coalition known as the "LGBT Core Group" also comprises Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, France, Israel, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and United States as its members. The mission of the group, founded in 2007, is to combat discrimination against homosexuals.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto himself aired his intention to lead efforts to change provisions in his country's Constitution to allow homosexuals and transsexuals to "marry" people of the same sex.

Pena Nieto also ordered several federal agencies such as the education department to undertake efforts to fight homophobia, and to conduct "diversity" trainings in the nation's schools.

The Mexican leader is also planning to change resident passports to indicate whatever gender identity is assigned to the user, regardless of his biological sex.

As expected, Mexican religious leaders and family rights advocates were not pleased with their government's decision to support the gay agenda.

Catholic bishop Jose Maria De la Torre Martin from the Aguascalientes state in north-central Mexico, for instance, questioned why many governments around the world are supporting the minority voice of homosexuals.

"These minority lobbies, with surprising success, have been imposing their agenda by leveraging the United Nations Organization with our countries, aided by immense funding. They support supposed rights and equality: they themselves are those who finance abortion and other atrocities," Martin was quoted by LifeSiteNews as saying.

A newly formed coalition called the National Front for the Family meanwhile pledged to block pro-gay proposals from the Mexican government.

The group also vowed to push for an amendment in the Mexican Constitution that will restrict marriage to a union between man and woman.
More 'Dead Sea scrolls' could be found as Israel begins excavation programme

A full-scale programme of excavations in the Judaean Desert caves is needed to prevent artefacts like the Dead Sea Scrolls being lost to looters, according to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA).

The scrolls, created over a period of several hundred years, were discovered in 11 wilderness caves between 1946 and 1956. They include not only ancient biblical texts but much other material which sheds light on the development of Judaism and early Christianity.

However, according to IAA director Israel Hasson, many other treasures have been lost to looters. "For years now our most important heritage and cultural assets have been excavated illicitly and plundered in the Judean Desert caves for reasons of greed," he said.

"The goal of the national plan that we are advancing is to excavate and find all of the scrolls that remain in the caves, once and for all, so that they will be rescued and preserved by the state."

Israel's minister of culture and sport, Miri Regev, said: "The antiquities robbers are plundering the Land of Israel's history, which is something we cannot allow. The Dead Sea scrolls are an exciting testament of paramount importance that bear witness to the existence of Israel in the Land of Israel 2,000 years ago, and they were found close to the Return to Zion and the establishment of the State of Israel in the Land of Israel.

"It is our duty to protect these unique treasures, which belong to the Jewish people and the entire world. I will work to increase the punishment against those that rob our country's antiquities."

An excavation in search of scrolls in the Nahal Tse'elim area has already begun. Teams from the IAA's Unit for the Prevention of Antiquities Robbery (UPAR) and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem have been joined by around 500 volunteers from across the country. It is focused on the Cave of Skulls, where looters were caught in 2014. A previously recovered papyrus dating to around 139 BC, also thought to be from the cave, appears to be from part of an archive of documents belonging to Jews who fled to the desert after the Bar Kochba rebellion against Rome, and researchers hope they might find it still there.

According to UPAR director Amir Ganor: "The excavation in Nahal Tse'elim is an operation of extraordinary complexity and scope, and one that has not occurred in the Judean Desert in the past 30 years. Despite the rigorous enforcement actions taken against the antiquities robbers, we still witness acts of severe plundering that unfortunately are possible in such large desert expanses.

"There are hundreds of caves in cliffs in the area, access to which is both dangerous and challenging. In almost every cave that we examined we found evidence of illicit intervention and it is simply heart-breaking. The loss of the finds is irreversible damage that cannot be tolerated."
Nun who survived Yemen massacre visits family of kidnapped priest

The nun who survived the terrorist attack on an old people's home in Yemen has visited the family of kidnapped priest Tom Uzhunnalil.

Sixteen people including four nuns from the Missionaries of Charity order founded by Mother Teresa, died when Islamic State terrorists attacked the home in Aden. Sister Sally, the nuns' superior, survived when she hid behind a door in the refrigerator room. She later said the terrorists had entered the room three times in search of her but had failed to see her.

Fr Tom was taken away in a car and is believed to be held for ransom. Sister Sally visited his brother Matthew and Reetha, his wife, at their home in Ramapuram on Saturday.

According to the Manorama news service she told them: " "When he saw the terrorists, the first thing Fr Tom did was to consume the Holy Communion kept at the ciborium [a covered chalice] to prevent attackers from spoiling it. Though the residents and staffers...pleaded with them not to harm priests and nuns, they did not pay heed to their requests and shot all of them down one by one."

Sister Sally is to join the regional House of the Missionaries of Charity in Jordan. She told the Uzhunnalil family: "Before I come here next time, Fr Tom will be back safely."

An account of her ordeal has been published on the Aleteia website.

Unfounded rumours, denied by Church and government authorities, circulated on social media that Fr Tom was to be crucified on Good Friday. Since then other reports have suggested he may be released shortly.
Pastor sparks furore after holding Muslim funeral inside Protestant church for ISIS fighter in Germany

A German pastor stirred strong Christian emotions when he recently held a Muslim funeral inside the Protestant St. Pauli Church in Hamburg, Germany for a 17-year-old man labelled a "terrorist" and a "killer" who fought and died for the Islamic State (ISIS).

Pastor Sieghard Wilm said he knew he would be bombarded with criticism for what he has done but that he has dealt with worse criticism in his life before, Breitbart reports.

"We cannot deny this is a difficult situation," Wilm said in an interview with SHZ.de.

"I can tell you as a pastor at St. Pauli ... I have also laid to rest more killers," he added.

He defended his action, saying, "A man remains a man. Even a person who has offended against someone. Even such a man has relatives who mourn him."

Amid the public uproar over his action, Wilm said he just wanted to create a "safe space" for the family of the slain ISIS militant. He said the mother of the slain ISIS fighter was a Christian, and that it was more appropriate for her to be in a church to mourn her son's death than in a mosque.

He also contended that the Muslim service would be a good opportunity for "learning and respect among religions."

The slain ISIS teenage fighter known as "Florent" had sent an audio message back to Germany shortly before his death, saying he had become disillusioned with the terrorist group, according to Breitbart.

This led to speculation that his fellow ISIS militants might have executed him after finding out his waning support for their cause.

Florent immigrated to Germany from Cameroon and was raised as a Christian until he was converted to Islam at the age of 14 by Salafist preachers.

Wilm said he knew Florent and his family but that he lost contact with Florent after the latter converted to Salafism.

Florent was just one of many radicalised Muslims who have gone off to fight for ISIS. In Hamburg alone, Breitbart reports that 65 Muslim residents have travelled to Syria to fight for ISIS, and 15 of them have returned.

Wilm's Protestant church is the same church that made headlines in 2013 when it removed its pews and converted itself into a migrant centre for Muslim immigrants from Africa, according to a Deutsche Welle report at the time.
In Barack Obama's keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention  the speech that catapulted him onto the national stage  the bright-eyed, loose-limbed senator from Illinois spoke of America's responsibility to its soldiers.

"We have a solemn obligation," Obama said, "not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war and secure the peace."

In that spirit, here are some of those numbers.

2,499 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq so far under President Obama, according to the independent Iraq Coalition Casualty Count.

Of those, 1,906 have been killed in and around Afghanistan, and 593 in Iraq.

Under Obama, the United States has been at war for 2,687 days. That's longer than under George W. Bush  or any other U.S. president, for that matter.

Obama has conducted airstrikes on seven countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and Syria. (That's three more countries than George W. Bush bombed.)

U.S. combat forces are deployed on the ground in three countries: Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. That's one more war than Obama inherited, and which his successor will likely have to contend with.

Obama the candidate is often remembered for pledging to end America's wars in the Middle East. But he didn't oppose war outright; he said he was opposed to "dumb" wars. (In his estimation, the war in Iraq was a dumb one, and the war in Afghanistan a necessary one.) A "smart war," to Obama, means fewer U.S. soldiers on the ground. To his credit, he has drawn down the number of soldiers on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, from 200,000 under Bush to fewer than 14,000. Doing that, though, has meant an increased reliance on technology like drones.

Which brings us to the numbers we still don't have: a count of combatants and civilians killed by drone strikes ordered by the president. But the White House has announced plans for later this year to make public the total number of casualties from U.S. drone strikes since 2009.

This article originally appeared on Rollingstone.com: Some 2,500 Americans Have Died in Afghanistan and Iraq Under Obama
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Paris Nichols saw the bare-chested man with a crew cut stride calmly up to his wife Sunday morning as she chatted with a longtime customer at their family-owned car wash off Memorial Drive. He reached around her, shooting Eugene Linscomb in the head while the 56-year-old sat in his Mercedes.

"That man's the devil," the gunman declared.

Felicia Nichols sank to the ground, reciting the Lord's Prayer.

"Y'all calm down. I'm not going to kill y'all, y'all are Christians," Paris Nichols said, recalling the words of the shooter, who was identified Monday by a Houston Police Department source as 25-year-old Dionisio Garza III from San Bernardino County, California.

See the Facebook profile of the man identified as the shooter.

Garza was a sergeant who received several awards for his service in Afghanistan, according to a military discharge record found at the scene. He harbored anti-government sentiments, the HPD source said.

Railing against homosexuals, Jews, and Walmart, Garza then walked back toward his car to grab an AR-15 assault rifle, yelling that the world was coming to an end. Nichols, 42, who has owned Memorial Hand Car Wash for the past 13 years, seized the opportunity to escape. Grabbing his wife's hand, they sprinted across the street to a Chase Bank and jumped a residential wall.

Police say the gunman began shooting indiscriminately for nearly an hour, instilling terror in this cozy middle-class neighborhood where churchgoers were just returning home and joggers were out on their morning run. The scene turned chaotic and confusing almost immediately, with initial reports indicating two gunmen might be on the loose, while neighbors tried to protect themselves.

Three bystanders, two men and a woman, were wounded, as were two Harris County Precinct 5 constable's deputies. Another armed man, initially thought to be the second shooter, also was injured. Garza successfully fired five bullets at a police helicopter circling the scene. Part of a Conoco gas station burst into flames, likely the result of a stray bullet hitting a gas pump. A SWAT officer finally ended the ordeal, killing the gunman at 11:10 a.m.

On Monday, police declined to release more details about the attack or suspect, citing the ongoing investigation. The Harris County medical examiner's office is expected to officially identify the shooter Tuesday. Garza's relatives could not be reached for comment.

A TV station reported finding Garza's military bag at the scene with several documents, including his birth certificate, as well as ammunition that police detonated Sunday. Police didn't recover the backpack until Monday. "This was the most terrifying event I have ever encountered in my life," said Deputy Constable Danny Luna, who pulled up to the scene near 13210 Memorial Drive shortly after Houston police to assist.

The first officer had responded to reports of an active shooting and was immediately shot at, police said. A photo later released by the Houston Police Department shows his SUV's windshield and hood riddled with 21 bullet holes. He quickly called for backup and a SWAT team.

By the time Luna arrived, dispatchers asked him to block off Brittmoore Rood near Memorial Drive. Hearing dozens of gunshots, he grabbed his rifle, crouching behind his constable vehicle.

"We were taking bullets," he said.

He'd intentionally rolled down both his driver and front passenger windows so he could aim at the shooter, who was less than half a mile away, if he had the chance.

"I thought if I could get a good shot at the suspect, I would be able to shoot through the window," he said.

At some point, Luna moved. For mere seconds, he was visible through the open window.

"I heard a gunshot, it sounded so close," he said. "I heard another thump, boom. That was the bullet. It hit me right in the chest."

Luna fell to the ground, yelling at his partner.

"I didn't know if I was going to make it or not," said the 43-year-old father of two.

He checked his bullet-proof vest. The bullet had flown through the vest's first plate. Miraculously, it had lodged in the second.

"I'm pretty shaken up, realizing that one more inch and that bullet would have hit me," he said.

Luna returned to the standoff, moving with his partner and three other officers behind a Houston police car for shelter.

Another deputy constable, Jaime Ayala, was also shot in the thumb after the gunman shot at his car and the bullet tore through the vehicle. He said dozens of 911 calls and an array of varying information coming over police channels made it difficult to know what was going on.

"We were hearing multiple calibers of rounds," Ayala said. "There were reports of multiple shooters, and we had no idea, just too many calls coming in all at once."

Down the street on Wycliffe Drive, Prudence Allwein was gardening outside when she heard several loud booms. She ran to her husband in the backyard and after a few confusing seconds trying to discern the sound's origins could it be? Here? they hurdled upstairs to wake their two teenage daughters.

"I said, 'Get down, there's a shooter somewhere on our street,'" said Allwein, a 44-year-old photographer. "We were hysterical. We moved the kids back behind the fire place. They were crying."

So powerful was the shooter's artillery that a bullet shattered the back window of her daughter's car, parked in the driveway, though they were about half a mile down the street from the gunman.

Allwein's neighbor, a chiropractor and retired U.S. Navy commander, grabbed his gun. Brian Cesak, 55, said he could see the shooter standing at the corner of Memorial Drive and recognized the sound of a powerful assault rifle firing "well over a 100 shots."

"I was going to stop him if he came down the street," he said.

Crouching behind houses and shrubs, he ran up to cars coming down the street and shouted at them to turn back.

Ken Gibbs was going to the gym when he saw Cesak.

"There's a guy down there shooting with a high-powered rifle," Cesak yelled.

Gibbs, a 60-year-old oil and gas businessman, helped his neighbor alert oncoming cars.

"We didn't want anybody to go down there, they'd be like sitting ducks," he said. "We were like a human road block pissing off a hundred cars."

Eventually, a stillness descended. Police officers began walking down the street. Residents slowly uncurled from their fear.

By Monday, they flocked to the car wash, where many have known both the Nichols and the owner of the neighboring tire center for years. They placed bouquets of roses and sunflowers and a balloon decorated with the American flag near the spot where Linscomb died. They hugged the couple, who recounted their horror over and over.

Linscomb's family could not be reached for comment. But Paris Nichols said he had been a regular for years and was "more than a customer, almost like a friend."

Staff writers James Pinkerton and Cindy George contributed to this report.
It is one of Houston's signature stories: The cute little boy who lived nearly his whole life inside a series of sterile plastic bubbles, waiting for a cure for his fatal immune disease that, tragically, never came.

David Vetter - he was identified only as David at the time - was "the boy in the bubble," the Texas Medical Center's most famous patient from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. As a captivated public watched, he grew up isolated from germs and human touch before dying, at age 12, after the failure of an experimental bone marrow transplant.

"David's life was a compelling human interest story that tugged at hearts year after year," said James Jones, a former University of Houston historian writing a book on the boy. "Over time, people around the world came to care deeply about his well-being, admiring his courage and pluck and hoping against hope science would find a cure for the mysterious disease that kept him incarcerated and denied a normal childhood."

He left a legacy of medical advances and vexing ethical questions.

More Information BUBBLE BOY, a timeline 1968: The first immunodeficient patients are successfully treated with bone marrow transplants from donors whose tissue matched perfectly. 1971: David Phillip Vetter is born at Texas Children's in a germ-free environment and placed in a sterile plastic bubble. His sister's bone marrow is not a perfect match. 1977: NASA constructs a spacesuit to give David more freedom. He uses it a few times to explore the hospital and the family house but never really adjusts to it. 1983: David undergoes an experimental bone marrow transplant with imperfectly matched tissue from his sister. 1984: David becomes sick from a form of lymph cancer and dies. Source: Chronicle files See More Collapse

It is little wonder, given the astonishing spectacle that was David's life. From infancy on, he could be touched only by neophene gloves sticking through the walls of his NASA-designed bubbles. Everything he touched had to be sterilized with peracetic acid and placed inside steel capsules inserted through a system of air locks. His mother was able to kiss him for the first time only when he came out of the bubble to die.

No child had ever been reared in such a cocoon. No child likely ever will again.

The cause of David's isolation was an inherited condition called severe combined immunodeficiency in which patients lack the white blood cells that fight infection, meaning any germ is a potential killer. It afflicts 40 to 80 babies every year in the United States and is fatal without treatment. In September 1971, when David was born, there was no treatment.

In effect, David became a living experiment. At the time, his story was depicted as one of technological triumph and valiant effort that gave his family and him 12 years together. Since then, many ethicists have argued it was hubris, a classic example of doctors promising more than medicine could deliver, creating an unacceptable quality of life that took a toll on his emotional well-being.

The medical legacy is less open to debate. David contributed enormously to a better understanding of clinical immunology, doctors say, an understanding that has resulted in better treatment for many diseases involving the immune system.

"His life, however short or restricted, helped scientists learn more about primary immunodeficiencies so that they could help other infants with SCID," Carol Ann Demaret, David's mother, wrote in a 2014 account of the ordeal. "That's given our family enormous comfort over the years and helped us manage our great sorrow."

The Vetters knew there was a good chance David would have the disease, which plagues only boys. Doctors told the couple there was a 50/50 chance any future son would have the condition after it claimed the Vetters' first son in infancy a year earlier. The Vetters, Catholics, opted to go ahead with the pregnancy, buoyed by hope their daughter's blood would match well enough for a bone marrow transplant, a newly developing technology.

David was delivered by cesarean section in a sterile operating room at Texas Children's Hospital, then whisked into his first sealed bubble, intended as a stopgap measure until either his immune system matured on its own or a transplant.

Dr. Mary Ann South, a pediatric immunologist and one of David's medical team, told the Chronicle in 2009 that "the Vetters were the only parents who asked if we could protect their boy. We'd treated seven or eight children with the disease and all of them died; nothing worked, and they never lived long enough for us to learn about the disease. "

But his sister's blood didn't match, and David's immune system never kicked in. The wait for a cure dragged on for years, his protective bubbles growing in size along with him.

All the while, David's public persona charmed the public. He loved "Star Wars" films and the Houston Oilers. He was a straight-A student taught by telephone. He was well-behaved and handsome, with large, expressive eyes and a shock of dark hair. Behind the scenes, it was often a different story, the older David got. A psychologist who worked with him described the rage he sometimes exhibited at the terrible hand fate dealt him. At one point, he complained he "had been put into a cage and treated like a wild animal."

In late 1983, as David began losing hope he would ever leave the bubble, doctors told the Vetters of a promising new bone marrow transplant technique using less than perfect matches. They could use his sister's blood.

The transplant seemed to work well initially. But in January 1984, David began showing signs of illness, a fever from what turned out to be an undetected Epstein-Barr virus in the donor marrow. Fifteen days after he was removed from the bubble for treatment, he died of a form of lymph cancer caused by the virus. It was the lead story on network news' outlets around the world.

A year later, Texas Children's chaplain criticized David's treatment in the Journal of the American Medical Association. He called the boy "the first true laboratory life ... a guinea pig (who) happened to be human." Many ethicists today share the view.

"David's poignant and tragic story is a reminder that doctors must not lose sight of the overall effects on the patient in the name of saving life," said Bruce Jennings, a senior adviser at the Hastings Center who writes frequently about end-of-life issues.

Still, there's no denying the advances that David's experience brought. Dr. William Shearer, a Baylor College of Medicine pediatric immunologist and David's doctor in later years, noted he provided one of the first proofs viruses can cause cancer and that his DNA helped identify the gene that causes immune deficiencies, leading to a test for his condition in newborns.

Today, bone marrow transplants, even imperfectly matched ones, work 90 percent of the time if performed within three months of birth.

If anything seems certain, it is that David will not be easily forgotten. He has been celebrated in movies, music and sculpture. A center at Texas Children's and a school and street in The Woodlands bear his name. And as historian Jones notes, the term bubble has become an enduring part of the language, shorthand for both the dangers of isolation and the thing some parents wish they could put their children in to keep them out of harm's way.

The best epitaph may be David's gravestone: "He never touched the world," it reads. "But the world was touched by him."
As water reached the banks of the Brazos River on Saturday, officials warned the river could rise to the highest level the county has ever recorded. A photo taken by astronaut Terry Virts showed just how much water was dumped on the area.

RELATED: Drone footage showing flooding in The Woodlands

The photo, which was posted to Facebook by the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office on Sunday, was taken during a T-38 flight by Virts and shows the Brazos River flooding over its banks into nearby area.

Evacuation orders were issued in cities along the river such as Rosenberg and Simonton in an effort to to keep residents safe from the quickly rising water.

"The skies are clear and things look good. But we want to make sure people understand that we are not out of the woods yet. We have to keep an eye on water that's coming through our bayou system," said Francisco Sanchez, a spokesman for the Office of Emergency Management in Harris County told the Associated Press.
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In the small town of Simonton about 50 miles west of Houston, most of the 800 residents living near the raging Brazos River had been evacuated by mid-afternoon Monday, many by airboats, high water vehicles and dump trucks.

The higher ground near city hall was dry, but longtime inhabitants are nervous.

"The only thing that's saving us is it's not raining," said Stephen Johnson, 42 who has lived in this river bottom region of Fort Bend County all his life. "Back in 1994 it rained for three or four days and the water was almost to the grocery store" a block away. '

READ MORE: Astronaut photo shows amazing view of Brazos River flooding

Johnson repeated a refrain expressed by many in this flood-ravaged area. "I hope the water will go ahead and start receding, but it's not looking good because they are talking about it raining more during the week."

The forecast is for the river to continue to rise, and local officials such as Stephen Sear fear the worst for people downstream of Simonton.

"We're just waiting, hoping a praying that the water goes down," said Sear, coordinator of emergency operations for Simonton. "I'm worried that Richmond, Rosenberg, Sugarland, Rosharon and other communities down river don't know what's coming. They say they are prepared, and they have prepared for it as much as they can, but not for what is still on the way."

READ MORE: Drone captures amazing view of high water in The Woodlands

In Simonton, the parking lot at city hall had become an impromptu staging area for law enforcement and fire fighters, some from as far away as Austin, to bring in residents stranded by the quickly rising waters. Between 15 and 20 residents were rescued by Monday afternoon, a law enforcement official said.

"Almost all of them are out now. The remaining few are coming out on airboats," said Deputy Danny Beckworth, with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office. "The river hasn't created yet, and we're still bringing them up in our Humvee to city hall."

Beckworth, as well as state police, urged residents to evacuate quickly when they are notified.

READ MORE: High water forces school closures around Houston

"If they would just go, as recommended, we wouldn't be worrying about water rescues," Beckworth said.

Highway Patrol Trooper Erik Burse, a public relations officer for the Texas Department of Public Safety, urged residents not to drive around highway barricades the department has erected at seven different farm to market roads leading to the Brazos River.

"We're seeing an increasing rise of the Brazos River and adjacent communities near the river, " said Burse, adding the additional rain could lead to a continuation of mandatory evacuations that could last three to five more days." What we're looking at in the next couple of days is the situation could worsen."

READ MORE: Weather forecast could spell more trouble for waterlogged Houston area

The situation was already bad on the north side of Simonton, where Juanita Ramirez and her husband Lazaro were standing on County Line Road. The road is at the junction of Fort Bend and Waller Counties, about ten miles south of Brookshire.

Their 9,800-square-foot, eight-bedroom home on a four-acre lot was inaccessible due to waist-high waters that surrounded the stucco residence.

"They say there is more rain coming, and yesterday there was four inches of water in the house," said Ramirez, who runs a catering business. "But it looks like its rising again. It's bad."

In the direction of the Brazos river, County Line Road quickly disappeared under a lake of water that seeped into expensive custom homes and mobile homes.

"The good thing is we are alive, and so are our four dogs and two horses," said Ramirez, who added she could not afford flood insurance after paying for health and automobile coverage.

Frank Foytik was making his way from the flooded home of a friend, helping him take his possessions to high ground.

"The situation is bad. I was in water waist deep," Foytik said. "It's the worst I've ever seen it; this is historic. I've been here 25 years and I've never seen it like this."
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.
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An 83-year-old driver hit an Avon police cruiser while driving the wrong way Saturday, police said.

(Patrick Cooley, Northeast Ohio Media Group)

AVON, Ohio -- An 83-year-old woman was hospitalized after she hit a police cruiser while driving the wrong way in Avon.

The Elyria woman was taken to the Avon Emergency Care Center for treatment after she crashed into a police cruiser Saturday on Detroit Road near Colorado Avenue, police said.

Her condition was not immediately available Monday.

Several witnesses called the Avon Police Department to report a reckless driver who was weaving on Case Road. The driver then turned onto Detroit Road, witnesses said.

Officers found the woman's car eastbound in the westbound lanes. The car hit a police cruiser that had its lights and sirens activated, police said.

The crash is still being investigated.

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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Today, the 150th anniversary of Memorial Day, 24 musical notes will echo in countless variations of remembrance across the country.

The notes of that song, taps, will be played as they were written during the Civil War by Union Gen. Daniel Butterfield and his bugler, Oliver Wilcox Norton.

The instrument playing those notes will likely be a bugle or trumpet, as per military tradition, for ceremonies honoring our nation's departed veterans.

Some of those instruments will be fitted with an electronic device that plays a digital recording of taps, allowing non-musicians to maintain the historic image of a bugler's final salute to the fallen.

But the non-digitized ranks of buglers and trumpeters still remain strong, playing taps as it was originally heard.

Among them are Chuck Clark, 67, of Geneva, and John Young, 80, of Fairview Park.

Both are military veterans who played trumpet early in life, then put that talent aside for a number of years before returning to the way of cold brass and a haunting farewell call.

They volunteer to play taps at funerals for veterans throughout the year, and are usually booked solid for ceremonies on Memorial Day.

Though the song is the same for the funerals and the holiday, the feeling is little different, according to Clark, a Navy veteran who served on the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid during the war in Vietnam.

"There's not the emotions there (on Memorial Day)," he said. "It's a lot more emotional at the funerals."

And not letting those emotions get to you is the hardest part of playing taps, Clark said. "Sometimes I have to detach myself from the people at the service because sometimes, when I start playing taps, there's so many people crying, I just can't look at that right there," he explained. "Otherwise, I get involved with that, too."

Clark offers his taps-playing service as a member of American Legion Post 112 in Madison, and as part of a joint color guard with a local VFW post.

A local Dixieland band prompted his return to trumpeting after he retired in the late 1990s, which led to playing in other bands and taps at veterans' funerals and Memorial Day ceremonies. Clark said he has played taps at veterans' funerals for the past 12 years, and now performs the service at 40-50 funerals annually.

The first ones were hard. "It's kind of an important performance, and you're worried that you're going to mess it up," Clark said.

Coincidentally, he shares the same last name with the man responsible for what may be the most famous taps-flub in history, when Army bugler Sgt. Keith Clark wavered on the sixth note of taps for the funeral of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. Some said the broken note sounded like a sob, and the rendition became known as "the Kennedy taps" among some buglers.

Clark said that with time and repetition, the initial nervousness fades, but not the pressure. "I know it's probably one of the shortest things you can do. It's only 24 notes," he said. But still, "you don't want to mess it up."

Has he ever made a mistake? "Not on taps," Clark said.

He also learned early on where not to stand while playing taps.

Once, he stood close to a rifle squad as it fired a salute at a funeral, and a spent shell ejected straight into Clark's forehead.

"It just hit me and bounced off, right before I started (playing taps)," he recalled, laughing. "Just a little blood was coming out (of the wound), but I played it, and went out and got first aid afterwards."

Clark started noticing the use of digital devices for taps a few years ago. "They don't sound bad," he said, "but I've got mixed feelings about them. I prefer live performances. It (a digital horn) doesn't have that tone quality out there. It sounds like a recording."

He can sympathize with the reason they're used. "I remember when people used to come out with a little boom box, sit it on the ground and press the button," Clark said. "At least now the tape recorder is inside a bugle."

The live version of taps continues to have an edge over digital horns at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman, according to Gerald Carr, program support assistant.

Carr said some 37 honor guard teams -- including regular branches of the military, National Guard, Reserves and volunteer groups -- serve in burial services, and "they try, whenever possible" to use a live bugler. "It depends on the day," he added.

Young said he isn't against the use of digital horns. "You have to do what you have to do. If there's no one (available) to play taps and you have an electronic bugle, you really ought to play it," he said. "There's no question that it comes out very well.

But, "having said that, it's not live, it's not human. It's synthetic," he added. "It's a little bit like vinyl siding -- it looks like siding, it's very good, but it doesn't have the warmth of wood."

Young started playing trumpet when he was a youth and has fond memories of performing with the James Ford Rhodes High School marching band. He recalled that the band would often perform at cemetery ceremonies on Memorial Day.

He lost touch with the instrument while serving in the Army from 1959 to 1962, but picked it back up 12 years ago after he retired and heard about Bugles Across America.

The organization enlists volunteer buglers nationally to help meet the need for someone to play taps at funerals for the more than 500,000 veterans who die each year.

"There are plenty people who play trumpet and could play taps, and it would be wonderful if more people could come forth and play," Young said. "They certainly would be welcomed and appreciated."

Young is affiliated with the Joint Veterans Honor Guard of Cuyahoga County, a group that provides a final salute for veterans' funerals.

On Memorial Day he will play taps in ceremonies at Acacia Cemetery in Mayfield Heights, and at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Public Square in Cleveland. The day before Memorial Day, he plays at Old Stone Church on Public Square, and also plays taps on the steps of the church on every anniversary of the 9-11 terrorist attacks (one rendition of taps at the times when each plane went down).

Young conceded that no matter how many times he has played taps, "you always feel a little apprehension. I want to make sure it's perfect.

"Some people call the high note (in taps) the sweet note, and maybe it is. You don't want to muff that one. Don't want to muff any of them," he added. "And have I? Of course I have. Have they been terrible? No, they've not been terrible mistakes."

Like Clark, he said the hardest part about playing taps is "not emotionally breaking down. If you can go through those 24 notes and there's no tear, and it doesn't affect you, you're good, you've done your duty. You've done well."

The most important part of playing taps is feeling it, according to Young. "If you don't feel taps in your mind and in your heart, I don't think you should be playing it," he said. "That's why I close my eyes, because I just have to have it in my own heart and mind when I play."

To Young, taps is more than a service to a deceased veteran. "It's another symbol that we have, just like our national anthem, just like our flag," he said.

"It's just simply a representative symbol of so much in our country that is good," he continued. "Of course it represents death, in many ways. But on the other hand, it also is a symbol, a very important symbol of the longevity of the human spirit, and of this country."

Both buglers were asked how long they planned to continue playing taps.

"God willing, as long as I can," Young said. "I'll still do it and I'll be grateful for the opportunity. I truly will. I'm grateful for those who ask."

Clark pondered the question for a moment, then said, "I don't know, as long as I'm able to, I think. It's a necessary thing.

"It is the final farewell for a veteran. It's the last honor they'll probably get. It's a musical farewell."
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The Cuyahoga County Community College Western Campus is one of four locations where the Women in Transition program will be offered.

(Robert Rozboril/special to cleveland.com/file photo)

Judith Jenne

Guest columnist Judith Jenne lives in Northeast Ohio and is a happy alumna of the Women in Transition Program at Cuyahoga Community College.

Eighteen months ago my world changed abruptly and I found myself back in Cleveland after living in New York City for many years. I needed a job, sound planning and time to think clearly about the future.

A little known program at Cuyahoga Community College proved to be my refuge, and if you are longing for change or self-improvement, this could be your starting point. It's called

Women in Transition and it's probably the coolest, most rewarding classroom experience I've ever had. And though it didn't cost a dime, the payback in life lessons has been invaluable.

Created in 1978 by the Ohio General Assembly, Women in Transition (WIT) was initially titled the Displaced Homemakers Program with the purpose of providing social services to divorced and disadvantaged women. The name changed with the times, along with its intentions to serve any woman experiencing a transitional phase in her life, whether it be on a spiritual, personal or career level.

Today the Women in Transition program is offered at four Tri-C campuses throughout the year. There is no charge for the session nor is there college credit. You are considered a student however, eligible to use all the campus resources including computer labs, career and guidance counselors and special events. That perk in itself pays dividends in finding expert advice and direction.

My early spring session was held at the Tri-C Corporate College West, a spacious building filled with sunlight, friendly faces and healthy plants. I arrived with no expectations other than that someone was going to help me get back on my feet for free. Little did I know that in this particular case, something for nothing would mean everything.

Three days a week, four hours per day, my classmates and I became explorers in possibility thinking led by our very capable guide, social worker Audra Popik. We listened to faculty lectures on where the jobs were and how to get them. Took computer lessons and career aptitude tests. Got advice from financial experts and health pros. It was jam packed, life-affirming "happening" wrapped around the central theme of self-empowerment through self-awareness, motivation and responsibility.

As the weeks progressed, our tiny class bonded and became a sisterhood of support.

It didn't matter where we came from, how old we were or what we looked like. We were a team, offering a Kleenex through some tough spots and laughing our way through some others.

Time flew by in my happy sanctuary of positivity and safety, time I needed to repair my wounded soul and plan a solid future. Looking back, I will always be grateful for the people at Tri-C who so generously helped me and for the friends I made sharing this unique opportunity.

Unfortunate circumstances might have taken me from my Brooklyn home to Cleveland, but I am certain it was grace that opened the door to Women in Transition.

Tri-C's Women in Transition program will launch its next session of classes the week of June 12 at four sites -- Eastern Campus in Highland Hills, Metropolitan Campus in Cleveland, Western Campus in Parma and Corporate College West in Westlake. The program is free and open to the public with day and evening class options.

For more information or to enroll, call 216-987-2272 (Eastern Campus), 216-987-4187 (Metro Campus), 216-987-5091 (Western Campus) or 216-987-3899 (Corporate College West). Details also can be found at www.tri-c.edu/women-in-transition.

Readers are invited to submit Opinion page essays on topics of regional or general interest. Send your 500-word essay for consideration to Linda Kinsey at lkinsey@cleveland.com. Essays must also include a brief bio and headshot of the writer. Essays rebutting today's topics are also welcome.

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MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The dawn's early light was indeed beautiful on Memorial Day as a large crowd gathered at Woodvale Cemetery in Middleburg Heights to express their gratitude to veterans buried there and around the world.

For Middleburg Heights resident and Korean War veteran Bob Herold, the day was one of remembrance.

"What am I thinking about this year?" said Herold, a United States Navy veteran, while walking among the graves. "I think of all the guys in my branch of service and the horrible way they sacrificed their lives in World War II in the equipment that I was a part of. When I knew this holiday was coming, I thought back about my experiences and the role that I played in the submarine service. I was on three submarines and went on missions."

He talked about discipline, commitment and teamwork instilled during his navy training.

"It changed my life," Herold said. "When you're a kid and go into the service, it's an adventure. But then when you're 83 years old, you realize what an honor it was and that you're a better person for having served."

Berea Mayor Cyril Kleem attended the Woodvale ceremony and said his relatives have served in every war since the American Revolution.

"It's important that we're here to honor their sacrifice," Kleem said. "Today we're focused entirely on those who sacrificed and did so for the rest of us."

John Grech is a United States Coast Guard veteran as well as Middleburg Heights Ward 4 councilman. He emphasized that the very least Americans can do is give veterans one day on which to pause and honor them.

"We owe these people," Grech said. "It's necessary for us to just give them a moment of silence to thank them."

For Bob Herold, his pride in being a military veteran was apparent as he walked slowly along the cemetery path. His message to the community was simple, but heartfelt.

"Don't forget us," he said.
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Bernie Sanders speaks at a campaign rally in Santa Maria, California on May 28, 2016.

(Mark J. Terrill, Associated Press)

Here is today's number in the world of politics:

Today's number is 475.

Sen. Bernie Sanders said Sunday on "Meet the Press" that California's 475 delegates are critical for his campaign, reports Politico.

"Obviously, if we don't do well in California, it will make our path much, much harder. No question about it," Sanders said. "But I think we have a good chance of winning California, maybe win big, and maybe win four or five of the other states that are off on June 7th."

Democrats in New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and North Dakota are also voting on that day.

"California is the big enchilada, so to speak," Sanders said, adding that his campaign will fight until the last primary vote is cast. Read more at Politico.
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A University Heights woman is accused of stabbing this dog, belonging to her roommate, during an argument Wednesday. The dog suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

(University Heights police)

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio -- A University Heights woman is facing charges accusing her of stabbing her roommate's dog, police said.

Sarai Glas, 28, is charged with injuring an animal, disorderly conduct, obstructing official business and resisting arrest in the incident, police said.

Her arraignment is scheduled June 14 in Shaker Heights Municipal Court, according to court records.

The incident happened Wednesday at an apartment on Warrensville Center Road near Washington Boulevard, police said in a news release.

Officers arrived just after 2 p.m. and found the dog had been stabbed. The dog suffered non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Investigators learned the roommate became upset when she found Glas feeding cheese to the dog. The roommate walked into another room and soon heard the dog yelp, police said.

Officers described Glas as being belligerent when they arrived at the apartment. She was uncooperative while being taken into custody, police said.

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The specter of bankruptcy is hanging over a major part of South Korea's economy and it could spill over into the banking sector, further threatening the country's stagnant growth. Shipbuilders are struggling with debt thanks to a deadly combination of a trade slowdown, a glut of vessels and low freight rates hitting the global shipping industry.

A Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller container ship. INGO WAGNER | AFP | Getty Images

The 'Big Three'Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries hold $42.1 billion in loans between them, according to local media reports. The firms closed out 2015 with combined losses of more than $6 billion, their earnings reports revealed. It's a sharp deterioration for the sector, which accounts for 6.5 percent of gross domestic product. Shipbuilders have traditionally been a source of pride for the economy, having played a key role in national industrialization following World War II and accounting for around 200,000 jobs. "The build-up of debt in Korean shipbuilders is not a Korean-specific problem but an issue regionally as shipbuilders face lower demand. This is symptomatic of weak global trade and Korea is very trade-exposed," explained Trinh Nguyen, senior economist at investment bank Natixis. In April, South Korea registered its 16th straight month of falling exports. But debt isn't the only issue plaguing firms. "Market participants now expect a further decline in capacity utilization in the shipbuilding sector, with the level having already fallen to around 60 percent of the previous peak. Large losses seen by major shipbuilding companies due to the troubles in marine plants are raising further concern about the sector," said Suktae Oh, Korea economist at Societe Generale, in a recent report. The issue is magnified by the fact that shipbuilders are facing a shrinking pool of liquidity, further increasing the risk of defaults.

How banks are impacted

State-owned lenders have high exposure to shipbuilders so the industry's challenges are now spilling over to their creditors, said Nguyen.

watch now

The banks have a mandate to lend to sectors that are important to South Korea's economic development but considered too risky for commercial banks, explained Nguyen. The capital-intensive and trade-oriented nature of shipbuilding often tends to scare private lenders away, he added. Korea Development Bank (KDB) and Korea Export-Import Bank (KEXIM) have around 60 percent of the banking sector's credit exposure to the shipbuilding sector, noted Oh. STX Offshore & Shipbuildingthe world's fourth-largest shipbuilderfiled for a court-led restructuring scheme on Friday, local media reported, after its principal creditor KDB, declared that it was no longer feasible to keep pumping money into the shipbuilder. The court will decide whether STX will be restructured or liquidated, according to reports. Strategists say these banks are in desperate need of additional capital, but the source of funding remains the key question.



Solutions

President Park Geun-hye's administration isn't likely to let the sector collapse but it's also unable to directly help with financing, noted Oh. "Such a move would require the approval of the National Assembly, and the ruling party failed to secure a majority of seats in the April election." So, it's up to the central bank to save the day. Earlier this month, the Bank of Korea (BOK) proposed a bank recapitalization fund that would buy the contingent convertible, or CoCo, bonds of KDB and KEXIM, but the program is still pending final approval. "The BOK would like to follow the same approach it took in 2009, where the KDB formed a bank recapitalization fund of 20 trillion won (about $20 billion) , which consisted of 10 trillion won from the BOK and 10 trillion won financed from investors and the KDB itself," said Nguyen.
watch now

Republican Donald Trump told a motorcycle rally on Sunday that people in the U.S. illegally often are cared for better than the nation's military veterans, without backing up his allegation. "Thousands of people are dying waiting in line to see a doctor. That is not going to happen anymore," Trump told veterans gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial as part of the annual Rolling Thunder event, which brings thousands of motorcyclists to Washington each Memorial Day weekend. Trump has repeated his comparison of the treatment of immigrants and veterans frequently during the campaign. Congress and many states have written an assortment of laws and policies designed to restrict government services to people living in the country illegally.

The Veterans Affairs Department, meanwhile, has come under criticism and congressional scrutiny for a number of failures, from cutting off benefits of thousands of veterans who were wrongly declared dead to chronically long wait times for medical services at VA health care sites. The Rolling Thunder event is organized to draw attention to veterans' issues and dedicated to remembering prisoners of war and service members missing in action. "We're with you 100 percent," Trump told the crowd. Rolling Thunder spokeswoman Nancy Regg estimated Sunday's event drew about 5,000 people  smaller than the crowds Trump typically attracts. The large plaza between the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall had large, empty pockets with no long lines for security, despite the thousands of bikers in town for the group's ride from the Pentagon and through the streets of Washington.
Strong winds, large hail and even possible tornadoes were forecast for Texas and the Plains on Monday, after at least six people died during a weekend of heavy flooding. Rescuers were due to continue searching for at least three people swept away by rising floodwaters in Texas and Kansas. Six bodies already have been recovered in the Lone Star State since Friday following days of torrential rain. Meteorologists said Monday would bring little respite.

Severe thunderstorms were possible from the Texas-Mexico border up to North Dakota, The Weather Channel reported. Parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, and South Dakota were also in the firing line. More from NBC News:

Prison guard killed by exploding package

Investigators search for motive behind shooting rampage

Shark attacks teen in Neptune Beach, Florida "Large hail and damaging wind gusts are the biggest concerns," The Weather Channel reported, adding that isolated tornadoes "can't be ruled out." Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico meant there was a risk of more heavy rain and flash flooding across many of the same areas. The National Weather Service issued flood warnings in several of these states, as well as severe thunderstorms and flash flood warnings for parts of Texas. At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, 34 flights were canceled and 104 were delayed on Sunday, according to the tracking website FlightAware. There had been six cancellations as of 4:30 a.m. ET Monday.

Meanwhile, authorities were due to continue searching Monday for a 10-year-old boy who fell into the Brazos River in Texas' Parker County while fishing, NBC Dallas-Fort Worth reported. And the Coast Guard in Texas joined the search for a 37-year-old man missing after being swept out to sea while trying to rescue a woman. Stephen Espedal was one of several people who attempted to save the woman at San Luis Pass, between Freeport and Galveston, on Sunday evening. The woman managed to make it ashore and the other rescuers were picked up in a boat  but Espedal has not been found. Separately, officials in Kansas were still searching for an 11-year-old boy who was swept away by Wichita's fast-moving Gypsum Creek on Friday night, according to NBC station KSNW.
Greece has told its European and International Monetary Fund creditors it cannot implement some of the extra changes sought in exchange for fresh bailout loans, three sources close to the talks said on Monday. The disagreement could further delay the disbursement of the bailout funds which Athens badly needs to pay off IMF loans in June, bonds of the European Central Bank maturing in July and increasing state arrears. Last week, after months of negotiations, Greece and its lenders concluded a key bailout review, opening the way for debt relief that Greece has long desired.



Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Francois Lenoir | Reuters

The lenders also gave the green light for the disbursement of 10.3 billion euros in tranches, on condition that Athens amends some recent laws concerning pensions, privatisations and freeing up the sale of bad loans. But in a letter sent to the lenders last week, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said some of the additional demands could not be fulfilled, the sources said. The finance ministry had no immediate comment and it was not immediately clear whether the release of the funds was at risk. According to one of the sources, some of them were related to bad loans and to pension reforms. "We cannot make any substantial changes. But we will proceed with the technical amendments discussed. Some of them are in the right direction," a government official told Reuters.



Greek newspaper Ta Nea said the letter had been sent to EU Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, the ECB's Benoit Coeure and the IMF's Poul Thomsen. In Brussels, an EU official confirmed that the two sides were still "working to finalise the measures" required after Athens raised its latest concerns. The Ta Nea newspaper said specific areas of disagreement also included the privatisation of the country's grid operator ADMIE and freezing the wages of essential services such as the coastguard and police. During a parliamentary debate last week, the government replaced the relevant reference on the essential services with a sentence saying it had until the end of year to find alternatives measures.
About 300,000 of the latest $20, $50 and $100 notes of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand have been sent to banks for distribution. They join the $5 Edmund Hillary note (shown) and the $10 note, which have both been in circulation since October.

Soon after winning the International Banknote Societys Banknote of the Year Award for its $5 Edmund Hillary note, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced that the remaining notes in its new Brighter Money Series 7 are now in circulation.

Soon after winning the International Banknote Societys Banknote of the Year Award for its $5 Edmund Hillary note, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced that the remaining notes in its new Brighter Money Series 7 are now in circulation. The May 16 statement said that about 300,000 of the $20, $50 and $100 notes were sent to banks for distribution. They join the Edmund Hillary note and the $10 note, which have both been in circulation since October.

The bank describes the new notes as having a brighter, clearer design, with their value in larger print and greater color contrast between notes.

The themes and major features of the notes are the same as their predecessors, with the same respected New Zealanders, the queen, and flora and fauna remaining central to the designs. The new notes make more use of the Maori language including Aotearoa, the Maori name for New Zealand, and Te Putea Matua, the name of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand in that language. The names of the native birds on the backs are also in Maori: hoiho, whio, karearea, kokako and mohua.

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1944-D 2-centavo coin was struck at the Denver Mint on behalf of the Commonwealth of the Philippines which was under the administration of the United States.

Found in Rolls column from June 13, 2016, weekly issue of Coin World:

Occasionally I search through a large number of one denomination of coin. This month I concentrated my efforts on looking through as many rolls of 5-cent coins as I could get my hands on. I ended up working my way through 100 rolls or what should have been 4,000 coins.

Six of the rolls were minus one coin each, so I really searched through 3,994 coins. I found it unusual that the rolls that were actually shorted were the only ones I obtained that were contained in shrink-wrapped plastic. They should have been the most accurately counted since they were wrapped and delivered by coin-counting companies and were not rolls wrapped and cashed in by customers of the bank.

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Coins within the rolls included some unexpected United States issues. One neat piece was a 1911 Liberty Head 5-cent coin in Good condition. Another fantastic (although not particularly valuable) find was a Proof 1961 Jefferson 5-cent coin. This example has no marks on it nor does it possess any unusual toning. It looks as though it were taken right out of a well cared for Proof set the day before I found it. It is a great looking coin!

Other fun finds included a 1939 Jefferson 5-cent coin that would be graded About Uncirculated 58 and three 1938 Jefferson 5-cent pieces that are easily Extremely Fine 45 or better in condition.

Still technically issues of the United States, two 1944-D 20-centavo pieces turned up in the same hand-wrapped roll.

Minted for the Commonwealth of the Philippines under the Administration of the United States, these World War II era coins found in the middle of what seemed like a ton of nickels were quite a surprise. Measuring 21 millimeters in diameter, they are only slightly smaller in diameter than a U.S. 5-cent coin so they fit nicely in the roll. Struck on planchets weighing 4 grams, they are of a .750 fine silver alloy.

The obverse features a female standing beside a hammer and anvil, with the denomination TWENTY CENTAVOS seen above and FILIPINAS below. A representation of Mount Mayon as a simmering volcano can be seen to the viewers right. The reverse bears an eagle with open wings above a shield. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA is seen encircling the eagle and shield, with the date below. The D Mint mark is seen to the left between the date and the word UNITED.

I would truly like to hear about your finds. You can email me at foundinrolls@netscape.net.
Collectors will be able to buy bags and rolls of circulation-quality 2016 Harpers Ferry National Historical Park quarter dollars beginning June 6.

Bags and rolls of 2016 Harpers Ferry National Historical Park quarter dollars struck in circulation quality at three different U.S. Mint production facilities will be offered by the bureau beginning at noon Eastern Time June 6.

The third of five America the Beautiful quarter dollars to be issued in 2016, the Harpers Ferry National Historical Park quarter dollar is being offered in single 40-coin rolls from each of the production facilities for $18.95 per roll.

The coins are also being offered in a two-roll set containing one 40-coin roll each from the Philadelphia and Denver Mints for $32.95.

Connect with Coin World:

A three-roll set, which includes a 40-coin roll from the San Francisco Mint, is offered at $46.95.

The coins are also offered in small canvas bags from each of the three Mints containing 100 coins struck at that respective facility.

The 100-coin bags from either the Philadelphia, San Francisco or Denver Mint are available for $34.95 per bag.

The reverse design on the quarter dollar depicts John Browns Fort, the site of John Browns last stand during his raid on the Harpers Ferry Armory.
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Della Adams visits her father's grave in Memorial Park Cemetery. Her father, Clarence Adams, was a prisoner of war in Korea who moved to Communist China at the end of the war, rather than being repatriated to the United States.

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Memphian turned back on racist America after Korean POW camp, found freedom in Red China

By Michael Lollar

Clarence Adams took his cue from Malcolm X when he decided in 1953 that the "Mason-Dixon Line begins at the Canadian border."

It was a line Adams refused to cross when a cease-fire agreement ended the Korean War. After almost three years in a prisoner of war camp, Adams, along with 20 other U.S. soldiers, risked the label of "turncoat" by choosing to live in China.

Adams, a Memphian, felt he had little to return to after the war. The city he left when he enlisted in the Army was a city of whites-only water fountains, restrooms and parks and limited job opportunities. Stationed in Fort Dix, N.J., during training, he saw little difference in racial attitudes in the North.

"When I thought of my life as a young black man, I had great difficulty in seeing what democracy and freedom had done for me," Adams writes in the new book "An American Dream." Its subtitle tells part of the story: "The Life of an African American Soldier and POW Who Spent Twelve Years in Communist China."

Adams, who eventually returned to the United States, faced charges before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He died in 1999, but left behind nine hours of tapes, notes and an unfinished memoir used by his daughter, Della Adams, and retired history professor Lewis H. Carlson to complete the 150-page book.

Della Adams, 48, geographical information system program manager for the city of Memphis, began her life in

China, where her father had married a Chinese woman. In China, Clarence Adams was allowed to choose the path he wanted to follow. He chose life as a student, studying Chinese language and political economy and working for the Foreign Languages Press, a publishing house.

The book, published by the University of Massachusetts Press, is written in first person with Adams telling his own story, a chronological account that begins with his childhood in Memphis. "We wanted to make sure it was in his own voice," says Della Adams, who says she was growing closer and closer to her father through long conversations -- often over a bottle of Old Grand Dad -- before he died at age 79.

Always an outsider

Adams felt like an outsider from childhood. His mother, Gladys "Toosie" Adams, was 18 and a student when she became pregnant by an assistant principal at Booker T. Washington High School. He offered to marry her, but she refused. He was fired and ended up moving back to his hometown in Mississippi. Clarence Adams never got to meet him.

"Pregnancy outside of marriage was much more scandalous in the 1920s than today," he says. "Immediately after my birth I was taken to live with my mother's parents." He thought they were his parents. "They always made me feel special, and my years with them were the most joyful and secure of my life. Unfortunately, they both died when I was six years old."

The woman he had known only as Toosie had married by then. She took him in with her husband and their three daughters, but Adams felt little warmth in the home. He was teased by friends and neighbors because his last name was Adams, while his mother and her husband had a different last name. The daughters were allowed to call her "Momma," but, she instructed him to call her Toosie and her husband Fred.

Della Adams says she and her father came to understand Toosie's dilemma. "That's one of the things I've had to be forgiving about. It was so painful to her, the entire ordeal and stigma. That was a different era," says Della.

Clarence did not get along with his stepfather, and his own short temper led to fights, one of which ended with Clarence stabbing a neighborhood bully. The next morning, when police showed up at his house, Clarence sneaked out the back door, enlisted in the Army and left home without telling the family goodbye.

'A wonderful life'

It was the beginning of his odyssey. Three years later, after fighting in an all-black artillery unit that he believes was sacrificed to save white troops, Adams was captured by the Chinese. After spending almost three years as a POW, he refused repatriation in 1953.

During three years as a prisoner of war, Adams had plenty of time to think about his situation. "There was racism in the prison camps just as there had been in the Army. There were those whites who openly called us niggers and told us what they would do to us when they got us back in the States. I knew nothing about communism or any other 'ism,' but during many of my sleepless nights, I questioned why America was in Korea and what I was doing there. The more I thought about my life, the more I felt I had been used, cheated and betrayed."

The Chinese welcomed the U.S. soldiers, offering them a choice of jobs. Carlson, a former history professor at Western Michigan University, says the 21 who expatriated to China became international symbols. "These 21 Americans were proof that they (the Chinese) were successful in their indoctrinations. To put it into context, we had well over 100,000 Chinese and North Korean prisoners at the end of the war, and about half of them did not want to go home."

Some of the Americans chose factory jobs or farm labor since that's what they knew before they went to war. Adams wanted to learn and improve himself.

"I wanted to call the book 'The American Dream' because it involves all of the American mythology of pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and doing better than your mother and father. It's just what he (Clarence) had inside of him. He was a tremendously strong individual," says Carlson.

In 1957, Adams married a Chinese woman, Liu Lin Feng, daughter of a onetime Chinese warlord. She had majored in Russian and taught Russian at Wuhan Polytechnical University. She acted as interpreter for Russian workers in China and provided entree for Clarence to parties where he loved to dance and drink with the Russians. Adams also became friends with employees of the embassies of Guinea, Mali, Ghana and Cuba, drawing attention of the Chinese who questioned his fraternizing.

But his most controversial activity was when he volunteered to tape radio broadcasts aimed at black U.S. soldiers in Vietnam. He urged them to lay down their arms: "You are supposedly fighting for the freedom of the Vietnamese, but what kind of freedom do you have at home, sitting in the back of the bus, being barred from restaurants, stores and certain neighborhoods, and being denied the right to vote. ... Go home and fight for equality in America."

By then, most of the U.S. soldiers who had expatriated with him to China had grown homesick and returned to the United States. Compared to most Chinese, Adams had a comfortable life.

"We had a wonderful life," says Della. "It was kind of an unfair life. My father was what they considered an expert. He made about three times what the average Chinese made. We had a maid, a nanny, went around in limos and lived in a walled compound."

But the Cultural Revolution in China was beginning to change the political climate. Educated people suddenly became suspect. "We would have been in danger if we had stayed," says Della, who, at first, blamed her father for choosing what seemed "to be the expedient, safe thing to do. He had spent his entire life up to that point branching out, venturing out, but he wanted to come back to the safety of the nest (Memphis)."

The ordeal of return

Adams knew that passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act held the hope of a better life for his family, but, first, he had to face the House Un-American Activities Committee. Adams and the other expatriated soldiers had been given dishonorable discharges when they expatriated, which meant, technically, they could not be charged with treason. He was accused of acting like "Tokyo Rose" by disrupting the morale of fighting forces in Vietnam and inciting revolution in the United States.

Adams declined a lawyer and simply told his story of trying to find a better life for himself. "I wanted to be treated as a human being," he said. He also told how his artillery unit of black soldiers was abandoned by U.S. troops -- sacrificed -- to allow white soldiers to escape in North Korea. The charges against him were dismissed.

Della remembers the first few years in Memphis as the worst of her life. "It subjected me and my family to terrible conditions that I didn't feel like we had to go through. There was extreme poverty, almost starving to death, being picked on at school and having to fight almost every single day."

She was 7 when the family arrived. Her younger brother faced even worse, she says. They have lost contact through the years.

Adams spent two years trying to find a job before working for an insurance company. He made so little the family could barely eat before finding work at the House of Typography, doing any job needed.

Brothers Bob and Gary Dawson were co-owners and didn't realize, at first, who Adams was when he asked for a job. Adams reputation as a "turncoat" followed him, and he worked for the Dawsons during a bitter strike in which his life was threatened.

Bob Dawson, now owner of Hot Graphics, says Adams was a hard worker and that he didn't realize until later that he was under surveillance by the FBI. By then, he says, he would have stuck by his friend no matter what. "He stayed with me. Why shouldn't I stay with him?"

Gary Dawson, now owner of Dawson's Printing Inc., says Adams was willing to work nights, weekends or to help clean up to make extra money for his family. "So far as his work ethic, you couldn't find a better person." At some point, he says Adams "was like part of the family. When he went out on his own, we thought, 'More power to him.' "

Dreams fulfilled

Adams and his wife decided to open a Chinese restaurant. It was the first of eight run by the Adams family, including the Chop Suey House on Elvis Presley, known for its "Chinese soul food." Della says her mother worked side by side with her dad, sometimes 13 to 14 hours a day, every day. "They were able to move up in the world. They had a pretty much upper middle class existence."

The family considered returning to China for a visit, and Della says her mother dreamed of possibly retiring to her homeland. But in 1999, Clarence died of emphysema. Almost two years later, Della says her mother died.

But Clarence's dream had been fulfilled. He was his own boss with a good life in a city where he finally felt comfortable. "I was determined to be my own person and control my own destiny, and no one else was going to define who I was or tell me what I was supposed to do. When you think about it, isn't this what America is supposed to be all about?" he wrote.

-- Michael Lollar: 529-2793

About the book

What: "An American Dream: The Life of an African American Soldier and POW Who Spent Twelve Years in Communist China."

Where: Available in area bookstores or at Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com or Borders.com.

Price: In softcover, $22.95, or library edition, $80.
May 25, 2016 - Kevuntez King saved for college by selling newspapers for The Commercial Appeal for nearly five years. "Mom motivated me. When I feel like I want to give up she's always telling me, 'Son, you can do it, you can do it.'" King will be heading to Tennessee State University in the fall where he is majoring in physical therapy with the hopes of being the physical therapist for a sports team. (Brad Vest/The Commercial Appeal)

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By Sydney Neely, sydney.neely@commercialappeal.com

He stood out on the corner of Poplar Avenue and Estate Drive every Sunday, and occasionally holidays, no matter the weather, for more than 4  years selling The Commercial Appeal to pay for college and to help his mom.

At 12 years old, Kevuntez King was first approached about the job by a friend whose uncle was an independent contractor for The Commercial Appeal. While other boys his age were playing video games or watching TV, King was waking up at 3:45 a.m. in order to make it to the corner at 4:30 a.m. to set up the newspapers.

"I'm a pretty determined young man," King said.

King said he was scared at first seeing the cars fly by on either side of him, but after he started making money he felt more comfortable.

The first time King sold newspapers he made $75, now he averages between $150 and $175 a day. For each newspaper he sells during his 12-hour work day, he receives 25 percent, but he makes most of his money from tips.

King has more than 100 regular customers who buy from him.

"He is one of our best sellers," said Anthony Hosey, who has been an independent contractor for The Commercial Appeal since 1989. "The customers continue to return because of him."

In addition to his work ethic, King also works hard in school.

King recently graduated with honors and a 4.0 GPA from Craigmont High School. He balanced schoolwork, three sports, school organizations and the weekend job.

King said school always came first over sports, and since he only works once a week, his job did not affect his schoolwork.

He will attend Tennessee State University this fall where he will major in physical therapy. "I've always been interested in the human body and helping people," King said.

King leaves for the summer program at TSU on Saturday.

"I'm very proud of him," said Tierrany Hill, 16, who is close friends with King.

King worked throughout high school and said that his mother was his number one supporter.

"She was mama and daddy," King said. "She just wanted me to get out and be independent and try to learn how to be independent early so I can survive in the real world when she's not here."

He said it was not easy shying away from trouble and offered some advice to Memphis high school students who need help staying focused on school and not trouble.

"Stay involved with school activities and always try to stay in something positive," King said. "That's what I did."
Thomas Busler/The Commercial Appeal files J.D. Springer (left) reminisces with Melvin Conley, Richard Bowden and Ida Ghoston at the Douglass Park reunion at The Peabody on May 28, 1982. The event included anyone who had ever lived in the Douglass Park Community or attended Douglass High School. The event drew people from as far away as California. Springer was principal of the school from 1951 to 1959 followed by Conley in 1959-60.

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May 30

25 years ago: 1991

Local officials began making plans Wednesday for operating the pyramid without Sidney Shlenker, one day after Shlenker claimed he had found financing to develop the $62 million facility. County Atty. Brian Kuhn said officials are working on a contingency plan "so if Mr. Shlenker is no longer in the project, we don't waste any time." The plan should be ready within 10 days.

50 years ago: 1966

Four months of classroom work and on-the-job-training will climax for 23 mothers receiving welfare aid for their children tomorrow at Foote-Cleaborne Auditorium at 578 Mississippi. The graduates have been trained by the Shelby County office of the Tennessee Department of Public Welfare to help them become self-supporting.

75 years ago: 1941

Will Pryor of the Chip Barwick Company is one of Memphis' best known automobile executives, but this week he is talking airplanes, and proudly. Yesterday his son, Downing Pryor, flew home after finishing his preliminary Army training at Hicks Field, Texas, with top honors.

100 years ago: 1916

A banner night is predicted for the closing event of the Municipal Market Fair at East End Park when the curtain is rung down on carnival festivities following tonight's production of "Much Ado About a Market" in the park theater. Last night's crowds attending the Memphis vaudeville offering were the largest in the history of the week's festival.

125 years ago: 1891

In one of the rooms of the courthouse yesterday there was a lively impromptu mill between a newspaper man and a county officer. An ear that looked like a fried egg-plant and a few bumps and scratches on the head were the result. It was a good mill, however, and there was no hippodrome about it.
Richard Anderson (left) salutes during the presentation of colors at the annual Memorial Day Ceremony at the Memphis National Cemetery Sunday. Anderson served in the Army and is now a part of VFW Post 11333. The program is sponsored by the Shelby County Veterans Council. (Andrea Morales/Special to The Commercial Appeal)

SHARE Margaret Lawson places plastic flowers at the marker for Robert Hunt, a marine who died during the Vietnam War, at the Memphis National Cemetery following the annual Memorial Day Ceremony Sunday. Lawson was dating Hunt at the time of his death. Lawson has many relatives and loved ones she visits at the cemetery every year, bringing plenty of flowers and arrangements to decorate their markers. (Andrea Morales/Special to The Commercial Appeal)

By Jody Callahan of The Commercial Appeal

Surrounded by thousands of graves of veterans from most every American conflict, more than 100 people gathered at the Memphis National Cemetery on a warm Sunday afternoon to pay their respects to the fallen.

Those gathered sat in folding chairs, shaded from the sun by one of the many trees that dot the 149-year-old cemetery at 3568 Townes, just off Jackson. They heard the Bartlett Community Band play patriotic standards, as well as the songs for each branch of the armed forces. They heard speakers laud those who served in the armed forces in recognition of Memorial Day, which is officially celebrated Monday.

"The America we know would not be the same if not for the men and women we honor on Memorial Day," said Amanda Rhodes-Wharton, who oversees both the Memphis and Corinth national cemeteries.

And, more than anything else, they remembered.

"I'm here to honor the boys who didn't come back," said 91-year-old Charles King, who served in the Merchant Marine in World War II. He still remembers what it was like when German U-boats tried to sink the ships he sailed on. One nearly did, but despite the torpedo, the ship survived.

One of those who came Sunday was Leitha Perkins, 83. While she didn't serve in the armed services, her husband was an Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam. He died two years ago. "He served our country," Perkins said, bursting into tears. "He loved his country very much."

The Memphis National Cemetery opened in 1867, with the first burials  Civil War dead who were reinterred there from previous resting places  taking place that year.

Since then, the 44-acre spot  immaculately maintained, with row upon row of sandstone and marble tombstones  has become home to more than 46,000 veterans and their family members.

More than 36,000 of those headstones stand in perfect symmetry, some bearing the names of veterans on one side and their spouses on the other.

Early last year, the cemetery held its last full-casket burial. While there's still space for the family members of veterans, or cremated remains, the cemetery is now closed to fully new burials, Rhodes-Wharton said.

Although her son isn't buried in that cemetery, Pam Fleming still made a point to come to Sunday's ceremony. Her son, Sgt. James Fleming, was a member of the U.S. Army who had served overseas.

On March 2, 2013, after Fleming had returned to the U.S. and was serving at a base in Colorado, he was killed in a traffic accident.

That makes Pam a member of the Gold Star Mothers, the organization whose membership criteria is a sad one  you have to have lost a child on active duty in the armed forces.

"I'm here not just for my child but for all the sons and daughters we've lost," she said. "I'm here for the mothers who can't be here."

Another observance

A Memorial Day ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at the West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery, 4000 Forest-Hill Irene Road.

The ceremony will include patriotic music, a flag presentation and a 21-gun salute. Retired Master Sergeant Randy Mckee from the U.S. Army Special Forces is scheduled to speak.
May 30, 2016 - Maureen Spain is arrested by Memphis officers during an act of civil disobedience at Overton Park. A crowd of protesters gathered in opposition to the continued use of the Greensward by the Memphis Zoo for overflow parking where two people were arrested. (Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal)



By Kayleigh Skinner of The Commercial Appeal

Two protesters were arrested Monday during a standoff with Memphis police over zoo parking at Overton Park.

The confrontation came on a sunny Memorial Day that caused a swell in zoo attendance and ended a period of relative quiet in the long-running battle over use of the park's greensward for overflow parking.

Prior to either person being taken into custody, officers told the protesters they would be charged with trespassing if they didn't leave the greensward area they were blocking by 12:30. A few men and women argued with the officers, saying it was not private property and that they had a right to be there.

Police arrested protester Fergus Nolan just after 12:20 p.m. Minutes later, officers also arrested Maureen Spain. Officers wrestled her to the ground, handcuffed her and put her in a separate police car.

Police said that Spain sat down on gravel, then had her two sons, ages 9 and 11, join her. Police said they worried that the heat would affect the children, although they were later given water and put under a canopy.

Officers then moved to arrest Spain, police said, but she tried to run. An officer grabbed her arm, police said, but Spain jerked away and began yelling. Officers took her to the ground, police said, when she continued trying to pull away.

Nolan was charged with disorderly conduct. Spain was charged with criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, obstructing highway/passageway, reckless endangerment and resisting official detention. Both were released from jail later Monday night.

Spain and some of the other protesters said earlier they originally came to the park for a "Cop Stop," a stand set up by Save the Greensward supporters at the Doughboy statue to hand out food and drinks to police, veterans and first responders during the Memorial Day holiday.

Save the Greensward supporters have protested the parking situation for months, spending their weekends in bright green T-shirts and holding protest signs behind the metal barriers used by the zoo to block off its designated section of the greensward.

The Overton Park Conservancy and Memphis Zoo are currently in mediation over the zoo's use of the greensward for parking on peak attendance days. The Memphis City Council won't vote on an ordinance cementing the Overton Park greensward compromise until July, after mediation ends.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has given the mediation until the end of June to produce results. At his direction, and with the OPC and zoo's approval, he had city crews re-stripe North Parkway earlier this month to create on-street parking spaces to help relieve some of the demand for greensward parking.

"People decided to do this today because they're tired of waiting on the mediation. They don't necessarily trust that the mediation is going to preserve this public open space," said Jessica Buttermore, chairwoman of the Citizens to Preserve Overton Park. "So they decided to not let cars park there today."

The City Council approved a resolution earlier this spring to give the zoo control of a portion of the greensward.

"This is the city-approved footprint that we're using. We're sticking to the original agreement," said Laura Doty, zoo spokeswoman.

Doty said the protesters were forcing the zoo to direct visitors to park elsewhere after the regular lots filled.

Their actions affected "children wanting to come to the zoo on Memorial Day. I bet some parents were off and promised their children that they could come and now they can't due to protesters blocking the path," Doty said.

Naomi Van Tol, board member with Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, disagreed.

"This event was announced three weeks ago. We felt that was plenty of time for the zoo to make alternate arrangements, whether it be shuttles or letting patrons know parking would not be available this day," Van Tol said.

At least seven police cars and one Blue CRUSH vehicle surrounded the parking entrance where the protesters set up their tent. Officers also sectioned off the area with crime scene tape to keep zoo visitors and reporters out of the immediate vicinity.

After the two protesters were detained, the remaining 30 or so chanted, "Let her go," referring to Spain. They then left the Greensward and parking resumed immediately.

Staff reporter Jody Callahan contributed to this story.
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By Cobb H. Hammond

In the continued buildup of U.S. forces in Vietnam in the summer of 1967, men of the Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade and elements of the 4th Infantry "Ivy" Division battled the North Vietnamese Army's (NVA) 1st Infantry Division in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, an area astride the Cambodian border.

By mid-to-late summer, U.S. units were regularly engaging enemy forces in the Dak To region. The topography of the area is a continuous line of valleys and mountain ranges, with promontories reaching 4,000 feet. It was ideal for strategic, well-concealed approaches into and out of Cambodia, with the unforgiving terrain resembling a rain-forest environment of extreme bamboo growth, elephant grass and dense overhead foliage, abetting enemy concealment in perfecting their mountainside defenses.

The enemy division was also augmented by an artillery regiment in the area.

The fighting, which would climax at Hill 875 in late November, had lulled in the late summer weeks, but picked up n earnest in early October 1967 with high frequency. Men of the battalions of the 173rd and the 4th in this period sustained over 700 casualties, most in multi-company sized battles.

As mid-November approached, the 2nd Battalion of the 173rd, which was at half strength, readied itself for a series of movements in relation to a prominent mass, dubbed Hill 875, by its estimated height in meters. Previously, the first major contact occurred on Nov. 3, in the new campaign, as Army units went forward to establish high-ground strategic points in the area.

As the three rifle companies of the second battalion  Alpha, Charlie and Delta  readied themselves for the hill assault, an hourslong artillery and air barrage rained down above the men deployed at the base. Above the 330 men was a bomb-cratered landscape, which unfortunately had minimal effect upon the dozens of bunker complexes. These were constructed in the mountainside, with mutually connected underground tunnels, manned with high velocity recoilless rifles, machine gun pits and rocket teams, able to move freely within their layered trenches.

Overhead protection was typically five feet of earthen legs, with copious use of camouflage. NVA regiments in the area no doubt had prepared the landscape for battle, and were salivating for a fight.

As the troopers moved cautiously up the north side of the mountain, machine gun fire rang the quiet of the still, hot air  immediately joined by enemy mortars and sniper fire from trees. Progress halted and restarted three times, as casualties among noncommissioned officers and officers became critical.

A landing zone was constructed down the hill for resupply and extraction of the wounded. However, this became a tactical impossibility as the enemy shot down six helicopters and damaged a dozen others.

As the two lead companies were pinned down and fighting for their lives, Alpha in support down the hill, was violently attacked from the rear and after two hours was overrun with the remnants withdrawn. The battalion was surrounded.

As dusk approached, a support aircraft dropped two bombs near the command post, elevating the precarious situation to desperation. Elements of the 4th Battalion were about to begin a relief operation, which would take 24 hours.

Arriving on the second night after more fighting, they would lead the next two assaults up the hill over the next day and a half, climaxing on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23. The cost was high  130 killed, with an additional 300 wounded taking the cursed ground. Of 16 officers in the 2nd, all were casualties. Of 13 medics, 11 were dead, two wounded. Two Medals of Honor were awarded posthumously, including the chaplain. Enemy losses ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 killed.

The entire Dak To campaign had a steep price  361 Americans killed in action, with more than 1,400 wounded.

First Sgt. Jerry Babb, a Memphian at the time, survived the battle.

The war of attrition would continue.

Let us memorialize these men who suffered their last breath there, and ponder this ultimate sacrifice  conducted in high valor and unselfishness.

Cobb H. Hammond is a Memphis financial consultant who writes on military history.
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By Ann Friedman

A funny thing happened when conservative media leaders met with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently. The summit was meant to quell right-wing anger over news reports that the site's "trending topics" links are chosen by curators with a liberal bias. It was Facebook's effort at transparency. But it ended up revealing as much about conservative thought as it did about social media.

It turns out that conservatives take subtle ideological prejudices quite seriously. They confronted Zuckerberg "to raise the issue on unconscious bias where it can crop up," Republican pollster and writer Kristen Soltis Anderson told CNN. She went on to explain that the meeting was an important step toward Facebook's correcting for the left-leaning views of its employees.

Others on the right weren't satisfied that Zuckerberg would move to address the underlying issue. "The real problem is that Facebook, Twitter and Google have systemically targeted conservatives, probably unknowingly, as a way to push liberal social policies," according to the Conservative Review.

The notion that bias can be both systemic and unconscious  and, in fact, is probably unconscious precisely because it is systemic  is normally an argument made by liberals. During presidential elections, left-wing pundits invoke unconscious bias to parse the reasons voters do and do not respond to a particular candidate. If you believe in a slogan such as "Make America Great Again," do you quietly long to return to an era when women and people of color had fewer chances at success? If you loathe the idea of Hillary Clinton becoming president  for reasons both related to her politics and her public persona  are you, deep down, kind of sexist?

But conservatives tend to dismiss the possibility that racism or sexism can manifest itself even among people who don't think of themselves as racist or sexist. "Pockets of bias remain, but this country has reached the stage at which no success is beyond the reach of any American for reasons other than personal failings," declared the Weekly Standard in 2012, as part of a debate over the role Barack Obama's race played in his re-election. Unless there is a smoking gun such as a Ku Klux Klan membership card, many on the right think allegations of bias are nothing more than political correctness run amok  until, apparently, they see themselves as victims.

In the wake of the Facebook summit, however, some conservatives are holding fast to the view that unconscious biases are not worth examining. "It seems a growing number of conservatives decided they must embrace the same tactics of the left and turn into professional grievance mongers and shakedown artists," wrote blogger Erick Erickson. Perhaps he's worried that if his colleagues validate the existence of unconscious ideological bias, they should logically acknowledge other types of bias as well  such as prejudices based on race and gender.

Just as a dispassionate analysis of Facebook "trending topics" links might show an inadvertent bias toward liberal views, there is a wealth of academic research supporting the notion that unconscious racial and gender bias is real, too. Hiring managers show a preference for resumes with male names at the top. Juries are more likely to see black people as instigators of violence and white people as acting in self-defense. The list goes on.

Because sites such as Facebook claim to be data-driven and ideologically neutral, it's easy to forget that they, too, are run by humans with political beliefs. Although Facebook's trending topics "are first surfaced by an algorithm," as it explained in its defense, using the algorithm didn't prevent the recent dust-up.

Similarly, a new investigative report from ProPublica alleges racial bias in a computer algorithm used by police departments to predict the likelihood of a person committing a crime in the future. Even though the risk score doesn't directly ask about a suspect's race, it's biased against black people  and has resulted in black defendants being falsely flagged as future criminals.

Both conservatives and liberals should agree: Neutrality is a lie, and technology won't save us.

Ann Friedman is a contributing writer to the Los Angeles Times' opinion section.
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By Jena McGregor

Apparently, the thing that once made Hillary Clinton hip is now part of the reason she's "unpopular."

As anyone with even a passing awareness of the internet will recall, Clinton became the subject of her own meme four years ago when fictional texts were added to a now famous photo of the then-Secretary of State. Wearing sunglasses, sitting on a military plane behind a pile of briefing books and looking at her Blackberry  this was before the controversy over her email practices erupted  Clinton looked like the picture of a no-nonsense executive, professional and absorbed in her work. As ABC News wrote of the meme last year: "The success of 'Texts from Hillary,' along with her unrelenting itinerary and rigorous travels across the world, helped transform Clinton's image."

But on Tuesday, New York Times columnist David Brooks cast that all-business image in a different light, attempting to explain what people have against Clinton by her apparent, ahem, lack of hobbies ("can you tell me what Hillary Clinton does for fun?") and the way people "tend to talk of her exclusively in professional terms." Her "career appears, from the outside, to be all consuming," Brooks wrote, noting her professional ties with her family and friends, as well as that "it's hard from the outside to think of any non-career or pre-career aspect to her life."

The column was met with plenty of criticism, with some mocking it by dreaming up hobbies for Clinton while others noted the well-researched double standard  not mentioned by Brooks  to which ambitious, professional women are held. "Because she's a woman, Clinton's dogged dedication to her job becomes a hurdle to overcome instead of a strength," wrote New York Magazine's Jessica Roy. "But even if his theory is true and people wish Hillary would show us her softer side, exactly why they expect that of her does not factor into Brooks' column."

Yet in his argument, Brooks makes another puzzling statement that seems at odds with how we view other leaders. "Clinton's unpopularity is akin to the unpopularity of a workaholic," he writes. The implication is not only that Clinton's workaholism makes us dislike her, but that we distrust or don't like other people whose professional lives are all-consuming, too.

Wait, what? This is a country, rightly or not, that idolizes grit and hard work and industriousness; one where ambition and moxie have long been seen as fundamental national character traits. It's one that mythologizes the inventors, entrepreneurs and leaders who succeeded after being wholly preoccupied with their work  think Thomas Edison, Steve Jobs or any other tech CEO who got the top by pulling all-nighters working out of their garage for years.

Meanwhile, her own likely opponent's obsessive work ethic is often held up in a positive light. Presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump has touted that he gets just three to four hours of sleep a night. He has said he doesn't think of himself as a workaholic  just before saying "I'm a workaholic  but I don't consider that a bad thing." Trump's own son, when asked whether his father had the energy and commitment to keep up a presidential campaign's pace, defended his father by calling him the "Energizer bunny" and saying "I've literally never seen the man take a vacation."

When it comes to major CEOs, the brutal daily schedules and a devotion to work are often seen as illustrations of their fitness for the job. Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn has been known to fly 150,000 miles in a year. Tim Cook, one of America's most admired CEOs  at least as measured by his peers  has tweeted that a 4:30 a.m. wake-up call is "sleeping in." When he returned to the CEO job in 2008, Starbucks' Howard Schultz told employees "I'm in this 100 percent. My passion. My commitment. This is the most important thing in my life besides my family."

Americans themselves might say they don't like the idea of workaholism, but they certainly don't act that way. In a study by one Harvard researcher of an elite professional services firm, the people who worked long hours got good performance reviews, but so did the people who were "passing" workaholics, pretending to put in more hours than they really did but still getting the work done. We regularly don't take all the vacation time we're offered  and when we do, many of us continue to check email or hide behind auto replies that simply say we're "out of the office."

There is little question that Clinton is not a natural campaigner; she has said so herself. She can come across as rehearsed and guarded. Like it or not, personality and accessibility have become significant factors in a presidential election, and these are not her strong suits.

But there's also little question that Clinton came of age in a world where women had to put on a professional face at every turn, wary of seeming too soft or talking too much about their personal lives. Or that we live in a world today where women in leadership roles continue to face a double bind in how they act, what they say and how they're viewed.

So no, David Brooks, workaholism isn't "unpopular." We might pretend we don't like it, but in many cases, it's rewarded  even glorified. It just depends on whom you're talking about.

Jena McGregor writes for the Washington Post's On Leadership section,
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By Megan McArdle

To read the Internet as a journalist over the past couple of days is to conclude that the media is on the verge of a holocaust. Not the boring old holocaust of falling ad revenues and clickbait-oriented business models, but a brand new holocaust, in which rogue billionaires are going to sue us all out of existence.

The proximate cause of the sky falling is the revelation that Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel has been funding lawsuits against Gawker, apparently with the intention of destroying the company. These included the Hulk Hogan sex tape lawsuit, an invasion-of-privacy case that appears to have been strategically designed to cost Gawker as much money as possible. (A Florida jury awarded the former wrestler $140 million after it published the video, which he says happened without his consent. Gawker plans to appeal.)

Felix Salmon lays out why he thinks this is a profound threat to freedom of speech. "Thiel's tactics in going after Gawker are very, very frightening for anybody who believes in freedom of speech" he writes; they're also "extremely effective, in an evil-genius kind of way":

"Investing in Gawker right now is a very unattractive proposition, since any investor knows that they will be fighting a years-long battle with a single-minded billionaire who doesn't care about how much money he spends on the fight. And if Gawker can't raise any new money to continue to fight the Hogan case, then its corporate end might be closer than anybody thinks.  It gets worse. If Thiel's strategy works against Gawker, it could be used by any billionaire against any media organization.  Very few companies have the legal wherewithal to withstand such a barrage."

I find myself in agreement with the basic sentiment  powerful folks using their power to shut down speech they don't like is deeply worrisome. That's true whether those folks are Silicon Valley billionaires going after low gossip, or state attorneys general trying to shut down climate change advocacy they don't like, or politicians using the power of the Federal Elections Commission to keep critical movies about them from airing during election season.

I don't think this is an existential threat to journalism, however. I don't think there's an easy way to stop this sort of thing without stopping a lot of other stuff we're rather fond of. And I think that journalists who have suddenly, belatedly discovered that harassing lawsuits funded by deep pockets might be a bit of a problem should ask themselves if it's also a problem when they're aimed at people other than them.

Let me start by laying out my position on the Hulk Hogan sex tape on the table: It's vile and prurient, it has no news value, and its publication should have been stopped  not by fear of lawsuits, but by common human decency. Yeah, I'm a buzzkill. But I'm far more sympathetic to Gawker's victims than to Gawker on this point, as I so often am when they self-righteously cloak repulsive clickbait in the proud trappings of First Amendment principle.

But my more considered reaction is that it's actually pretty hard to establish a principle that protects important speech, but not the publication of the Hulk Hogan tape. Not impossible (obviously), but not all that easy. Journalists invade folks' privacy all the time  that's sort of our job  and drawing lines about whose privacy may be invaded, and when, is not easy for people with a strong commitment to free-speech norms. Slippery slopes are real, and when they're well-greased, you'd be amazed at the kind of acceleration you can get.

So while Hogan may indeed have the legal right of things, I don't agree with any law that gives him this power. I want Gawker legally protected  not because I approve of what Gawker did (I strenuously don't), and not because I believe the press has special rights that other people don't, but because I want everyone to have the right to speak without fear of censorship. It doesn't matter whether that censorship comes from the government or deep-pocketed plaintiffs using the power of the law.

But whatever the merits of Hogan's case, it's also pretty hard to come up with a good principle with which to stop Thiel from doing this sort of thing. The press seems to have suddenly discovered the troubling power of deep-pocketed third parties to make "the process the punishment." This is particularly surprising in the case of Felix Salmon, who must surely be familiar with some of Eliot Spitzer's antics against the financial industry. Those occasionally had a similar "Who cares if I'm right; you'll go out of business long before I run out of filings" flavor to them.

Nor did people show quite this much outrage when states' attorneys general started organizing a massive campaign against energy companies for having the temerity to oppose their public policy ideas about global warming. That campaign has included subpoenaing advocacy groups, a move that seems quite clearly designed to chill speech the government doesn't like.

Elected officials using the power of their office to try to shut down speech through lawsuits is, like, a million times bigger threat to free speech than a billionaire secretly suing a publication into oblivion. Yet the reaction to those subpoenas from the left, and indeed the media, has been kinda muted compared with the full-on meltdown we've seen over Gawker.

In fact, there is a very long history of third parties using lawsuits to achieve public policy ends. As Eugene Kontorovich points out at the Volokh Conspiracy on The Washington Post, if you're a fan of legal aid societies, ACLU and civil rights suits, or massive class-action litigation, you're a fan of third parties financing lawsuits  often, yes, with carefully hand-picked test cases. And while much has been made of Thiel's revenge motive, it is also not unheard of for people with a personal stake in an issue to donate money to advance that cause through lawsuits. If someone who was a victim of racial oppression by the state of Mississippi later funded lawsuits aimed at fighting racism in the state, we'd be clapping, not wringing our hands.

Thiel can legitimately argue that he believes Gawker shouldn't be allowed to publish gossip, and that he would like to advance the public interest by curbing this sort of thing through lawsuits. I disagree with his goal, but it's hard to come up with an actual principle that would justify stopping him.

And that matters because  as we so rarely seem to remember these days  a vast, diverse country needs to be governed under broad and neutral principles. We can't choose the winners and losers first and then jerry-rig a system that will produce the outcomes we want. Unfortunately, that's what most people are doing when they talk about both Gawker's journalistic standards and Thiel's lawsuits. My position on both is the same: I don't really approve, but I also don't see a way to stop it without endangering a lot of really important civic processes. So we'll have to live with it.

Fortunately, I also don't think this is the End of Journalism As We Know It.

It's actually really hard to sue a media organization in America (and before you think this is special pleading for my industry, it's hard to sue anyone over their speech). Gawker is particularly vulnerable because it was sued for not libel, but invasion of privacy. That's an easier case to prove, but it's not the kind of suit to which, say, the New York Times routinely makes itself vulnerable. And judges have many tools at their disposal to fight back against suits that they think are abusive.

So while I can easily agree that this is an existential threat to Gawker, and may even have a chilling effect on other gossip sites, I'm not particularly worried that it's a profound threat to the media in general. Most media do not traffic in material which has no obvious news value besides pointing and laughing at someone's private life. Adam Smith famously remarked that there's a lot of ruin in a nation. There's a lot of ruin in a national press corps, too.

Megan McArdle is a Bloomberg View columnist.
Microsofts CEO Satya Nadella is visiting India, reflecting the growing importance of the country as a market for multinational technology companies.

Nadellas visit follows the first trip to India by Apple CEO Tim Cook, who visited the country this month to drum up support for the companys plans to offer refurbished iPhones in the price-sensitive market as well as to get permission to set up its wholly-owned stores in the country. Both deals appear to have been blocked by regulators, according to reports.

While Apple was largely seen as lacking focus on India until recently, when its China revenue fell 11 percent, while iPhone sales in India grew 56 percent year-on-year in the last quarter, Microsoft has been a long-time player in the Indian market.

It announced in September last year the availability of Microsoft Azure services from local datacenter regions in the country, followed by Office 365 and CRM Online services.

The public cloud services market in India is projected to grow 30.4 percent in 2016 to US$1.26 billion, according to Gartner. With the local cloud services offered by Microsoft, regulated industries such as the banking and financial services industries, government departments and state-owned enterprises will be able to keep their data on servers within the country.

During his one-day visit to India, which a Microsoft spokeswoman described as part of a tour of some Asian countries, India-born Nadella will meet with customers, startups and developers, apart from addressing CEOs at an event hosted by industry association, Confederation of Indian Industry.

An issue that is likely to surface during Nadellas visit, his third since taking charge as CEO, will be Microsofts bid to provide connectivity to rural areas on vacated TV spectrum. That move has run into opposition from mobile service providers who want the spectrum to be auctioned.

Besides its sales and marketing operation, Microsoft also does global product development, support and research in the country.
Nvidia has staked a big chunk of its future on supplying powerful graphics chips used for artificial intelligence, so it wasn't a great day for the company when Google announced two weeks ago that it had built its own AI chip for use in its data centers.

Google's Tensor Processing Unit, or TPU, was built specifically for deep learning, a branch of A.I. through which software trains itself to get better at deciphering the world around it, so it can recognize objects or understand spoken language, for example.

TPUs have been in use at Google for more than a year, including for search and to improve navigation in Google Maps. They provide "an order of magnitude better-optimized performance per watt for machine learning" compared to other options, according to Google.

That could be bad news for Nvidia, which designed its new Pascal microarchitecture with machine learning in mind. Having dropped out of the smartphone market, the company is looking to A.I. for growth, along with gaming and VR.

But Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang isn't phased by Google's chips, he said at the Computex trade show Monday.

For a start, he said, deep learning has two aspects to it -- training and inferencing -- and GPUs are still much better at the training part, according to Huang. Training involves presenting an algorithm with vast amounts of data so it can get better at recognizing something, while inferencing is when the algorithm applies what it's learned to an unknown input.

"Training is billions of times more complicated that inferencing," he said, and training is where Nvidia's GPUs excel. Google's TPU, on the other hand, is "only for inferencing," according to Huang. Training an algorithm can take weeks or months, he said, while inferencing often happens in a split second.

Besides that distinction, he noted that many of the companies that will need to do inferencing won't have their own processor.

"For companies that want to build their own inferencing chips, that's no problem, we're delighted by that," Huang said. "But there are millions and millions of nodes in the hyperscale data centers of companies that don't build their own TPUs. Pascal is the perfect solution for that."

That Google built its own chip shouldn't be a big surprise. Technology can be a competitive advantage for big online service providers, and companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft already design their own servers. Designing a processor is the next logical next step, albeit a more challenging one.

Whether Google's development of the TPU has affected its other chip purchases is tough to know.

"We're still buying literally tons of CPUs and GPUs," a Google engineer told The Wall Street Journal. "Whether it's a ton less than we would have otherwise, I can't say."

Meanwhile Nvidia's Huang, like others in the industry, expects deep learning and AI to become pervasive. The last 10 years were the age of the mobile cloud, he said, and we're now in the era of artificial intelligence. Companies want to better understand the masses of data they're collecting, and that will happen through AI.
Owners of WordPress-based websites should update the Jetpack plug-in as soon as possible because of a serious flaw that could expose their users to attacks.

Jetpack is a popular plug-in that offers free website optimization, management and security features. It was developed by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com and the WordPress open-source project, and has over 1 million active installations.

Researchers from Web security firm Sucuri have found a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability that affects all Jetpack releases since 2012, starting with version 2.0.

The issue is located in the Shortcode Embeds Jetpack module which allows users to embed external videos, images, documents, tweets and other resources into their content. It can be easily exploited to inject malicious JavaScript code into comments.

Since the JavaScript code is persistent, it will get executed in users' browsers in the context of the affected website every time they view the malicious comment. This can be used to steal their authentication cookies, including the administrator's session; to redirect visitors to exploits, or to inject search engine optimization (SEO) spam.

"The vulnerability can be easily exploited via wp-comments and we recommend everyone to update asap, if you have not done so yet," said Sucuri researcher Marc-Alexandre Montpas in a blog post.

Sites that don't have the Shortcode Embeds module activated are not affected, but this module provides popular functionality so many websites are likely to have it enabled.

The Jetpack developers have worked with the WordPress security team to push updates to all affected versions through the WordPress core auto-update system. Jetpack versions 4.0.3 or newer contain the fix.

In case users don't want to upgrade to the latest version, the Jetpack developers have also released point releases for all twenty-one vulnerable branches of the Jetpack codebase: 2.0.7, 2.1.5, 2.2.8, 2.3.8, 2.4.5, 2.5.3, 2.6.4, 2.7.3, 2.8.3, 2.9.4, 3.0.4, 3.1.3, 3.2.3, 3.3.4, 3.4.4, 3.5.4, 3.6.2, 3.7.3, 3.8.3, 3.9.7, and 4.0.3.
Nadhim Zahawi is a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and MP for Stratford On Avon.

Throughout this referendum campaign, we have heard regular complaints that different groups of Leave campaigners have divergent ideas for the future of the UK. This accusation is intended to make the Leave campaign look disorganised and riven with splits  but it is actually based on a fundamental misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the case to depart.

The central reason for the UK to leave the EU is to ensure that our Government will be responsible for making our laws, creating policy, and being wholly accountable for their success or failure. There will always be different ideas for what that Government should do but the British people will vote for whichever partys manifesto attracts them, and then hold that party accountable for its implementation. That is democracy; its how things should work in our country.

This misunderstanding of, and lack of respect for, democracy bleeds into other areas of the Remain campaign. One argument is that some EU laws help provide things we like, ranging from maternity rights to paid holiday, and therefore we must stay to protect these rights. I personally find it hard to accept the argument that a European Union containing seven members who have constitutional bans on gay marriage is required to protect rights in the United Kingdom. But theres also a certain irony that these arguments have been chosen precisely because these rights are extremely popular with the British people, when the implicit argument is that they might been thrown away if voters have greater control of laws.

It boils down to arguing that because we agree with some European laws, to preserve them we must agree to sign up to everything else. It is an argument that is both paternalistic and patronising to the British people. I wouldnt put money on a party seeking election on the back of removing paid holiday, but Remainers seem to think these things could be gone the day after we leave.

This is not argument to remain in the European Union  its an expression of the lack of trust in democracy. If you are not just scaremongering, and you are honestly of the opinion that voters are only just clever enough to know they like something, but not clever enough to then vote for a party that protects these rights, then whats the point in a democratic system at all? If you actually think voters are that dangerous, then we may as well just give up and transfer every decision to the bureaucrats in the European Union.

But aside from this apparent confusion about democracy, its necessity and its benefits, when Remain campaigners accuse their opponents of disunity, we should discuss whether they themselves are united in their vision for the future of the EU.

When not forecasting the doom that will come if we leave, many talk about the ways in which the EU should still be reformed from the inside, to justify remaining and convince those on the fence. But different remain campaigners have very different ideas of what form this would take. Jeremy Corbyn has vigorously attacked the Prime Minister for his position and instead described migrant benefit curbs as irrelevant and demanded economic reform and a real social Europe. It appear that the leader of the Labour party would like an organisation that increases immigration even further, while creating some kind of socialist paradise (possibly along the lines of the ever-successful Venezuela?). If he believes he can convince the British people to vote for that, then good for him, but such a disastrous vision should not be enforced through reforms to the EU.

David Cameron is committed to trying to improve the European Union if we remain, but he clearly does not have the same vision of a reformed EU as Jeremy Corbyn. Leavers might disagree over what policies theyll put forward to the electorate to decide upon, but Remainers disagree over how the EU should change, and it isnt guaranteed voters will be given another say when the changes come.

What would we get if we vote to remain? Which of the radically different views of the Inners will come to pass? Certainly, no one believes that the EU we have now will be the EU we have in 10 or 20 years time. Despite the Prime Ministers best efforts, over many months and with the sword of Brexit hanging over their heads, the EU showed that it will only change in a way that it wants. This lack of control could be very damaging to us, and will hurt our interests.

We know that big change is coming because it was set out in the Five Presidents Report; the very same presidents, by the way, that Harriet Harman was unable to recognise, despite wishing us still to subject to their power. We know they wish to create a euro area treasury, that they wish to pool greater tax and budgetary policy, and that they wish to harmonise property rights, company law, and social security systems. But will we be asked our opinion again? I would trust our current leader to fight, and ask the voters the question, but we dont know who our Prime Minister will be when the European Union next tries to grab more powers. Its feasible they could ask for our rebate back, or for the right to veto income tax changes as they currently can on VAT in the name of fair competition, or the creation of an EU army.

There is uncertainty about what exactly the EU will do next, but we know that we have consistently failed to nudge things in a better direction in the past. Change is coming, as the EU tries to prop up its failed Euro experiment, which has let almost one in two young people unemployed in both Spain and Greece. But we have now signed up to a deal that has further weakened our negotiating position by committing us to not veto further integration, further reducing our negotiating position. We should be worried about this future direction, and I do not believe that any leader will be able to stop it. Indeed a bad leader may encourage it along or refuse a further referendum.

We cant allow people to believe the European Union will stay the same on June 23rd, that status quo will not exist. We need to be in control of our destiny and that is only guaranteed if we vote to leave.
Obama Violates Nuclear Treaties While Iran Upholds Them

By Robert Barsocchini

30 May, 2016

Countercurrents.org

The IAEA issued a new report reconfirming that Iran is "complying with the P5+1 nuclear deal, and that Irans stockpiles have all remained below the limits set forth in the deal."

The 'deal' has been selectively imposed, mainly by the US, as a propaganda and war-weapon against Iran, which the US has sought to reconquer since its proxy dictator was overthrown in 1979. While forcing Iran to comply with the strict regime, Washington ignores nuclear violations and ambitions by its allies or proxies, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia.

The US itself remains the world's leading violator of nuclear weapons law and the only country that has used nuclear weapons on people, including in human experimentation.

New Pentagon figures show that, while accepting peace prizes and preaching disarmament, Obama has worked specifically to 'dramatically', as Jason Ditz puts it, slow down the rate at which the US reduces its nuclear arsenal. Instead, he has illegally allocated at least a trillion dollars towards 'modernizing' nuclear weapons, a move experts have said is "counterproductive" and "sure to cause an arms race."

At the same time, Obama has told residents of the impoverished US village of Flint to drink polluted water, and has violated international law by refusing to provide water at all to residents of Detroit, many of whom have been affected by off-shoring of manufacturing in search of workers that are easier to repress.

In better news, the US seems to be caving to international pressure to stop selling illegal cluster bombs to Saudi dictator Salman bin Abdulaziz, who, with US support, has been killing civilians in a war of aggression against Yemen.

Robert Barsocchini is an internationally published author who focuses on force dynamics, national and global, and also writes professionally for the film industry. Updates on Twitter. Authors pamphlet The Agility of Tyranny: Historical Roots of Black Lives Matter.














Iranian Arab Villagers Around Shush City In Ahwaz Left Without Water In Searing Summer Heat



By Rahim Hamid

30 May, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Villagers in rural Ahwaz, already deprived of basic services by the Iranian regime, warn that conditions are worsening as the regime fails to repair aging and broken water pipes, leaving residents without any water in summer temperatures that routinely exceed 40 Celsius.

Speaking to the regimes official Fars News Agency, Shoja Lattifi, the head of the rural health department in Shush(Susa) city in the region, said that the current water services provided to the surrounding villages are of a sub-zero standard. Lattifi explained that the irrigation networks in the area are malfunctioning severely, with most of the pipes completely out of service. He said that the main pipe carrying drinking water to the village of Esteghlal had burst in two separate places two months ago, massively reducing the water pressure levels and leaving at least 20 households with little or no water at all. He added that despite repeated requests to the relevant regime departments requesting materials and repairs, no action had been taken to rectify the situation, with residents forced to dig wells in order to obtain water, which is brackish and unfit for human consumption. In the meantime, he continued, the original holes in the pipes supplying the village have grown, worsening the already intense water shortages.

The water shortages and resulting sanitation problems in the village which is located in the ShushsShavoor area of Ahwaz, particularly as the soaring summer temperatures reach their height, have led to many complaints from the residents, more than 100 households.

Another Ahwazi village in the area, Kazim Jabirerat, also faces similar severe water shortages, the official told Fars, adding that, like many villages and rural communities across north of Ahwaz region (also known as Khuzestan province), it has suffered from long-term deprivation and neglect by regime officials.

The problems in these Ahwazi villages are not limited to water shortages, Lattifi told Fars, also extending to basic services like education and healthcare. The endemic poverty in the region and the lack of any high school leads to many children, particularly girls, dropping out of full-time education after completing their primary education.

Hadi Kaab Omer, a senior village official in Kazim Jabirerat interviewed by Fars about the water problems, said that the people of the village had been deprived of potable drinking water for years, with many residents forced to dig ground wells to provide water for themselves and their livestock. Omer added that he and other representatives from the area had repeatedly informed municipality officials in Shosh about the problems, requesting urgent action to be taken to remedy this critical situation which poses potential risks to public health from water-borne diseases contracted from drinking brackish water from ground wells, but had received no response or assistance.

Omer added that another severe problem for the village is the lack of any sort of health centre or clinic in the area to provide basic healthcare services to the 92 households there.

The problems afflicting the villages and rural areas around Shush, also including intermittent electricity services, have led to widespread discontent and unhappiness among the Ahwazi Arab residents, Fars reported, adding that they pose a massive challenge to providing any sustainable rural development.

Unfortunately, these problems are common across Ahwaz region, where deprivation is a norm rather than an exception, despite the fact that over 90 percent of the oil reserves claimed by the Iranian regime are located in the region. Many Ahwazi Arabs feel that the regimes negligence and discriminatory policies mean they are not viewed as citizens; despite nominally having the same rights granted to all citizens, Ahwazis appear to be denied even the right to have rights.



The world does not bother to observe what goes on to such persecuted people. It seems that the plight of the oppressed and impoverished Arab people of Ahwaz who doomed to live under the Iranian regime's atrocious oppression does not run counter to the interest, moral and democratic values of the West. Preferably, they start doing business with the theocratic regime at the expense of oppressed ethnic minorities in Iran.The West should stop pretending that they are standing for the right.

Rahim Hamid, Ahwazi freelance journalist and human rights activist














Mourn Deceived GIs! "US Foreign Policy Greatest Crime Since WWII" (Ex US Att. Gen. Ramsey Clark)

By Jay Janson

30 May, 2016

Countercurrents.org

In 1994, Ramsey Clark wrote in his The Fire This Time - US War Crimes in the Gulf, "The greatest crime since WWII has been US foreign policy," in Crime in America, 1970, "Crimes are meant to be prosecuted," and in Challenge to Genocide, 1998 that 'investments in the illegal and genocidal use of the nations Armed Forces, CIA and mass media will be made unprofitable and brought to an end through prosecution under the law'

Every Memorial Day perceptive Americans witness a holiday meant to mourn soldiers fallen in defense of their country used by media controlled by investors in the Military Industrial Complex to praise genocidal crimes against humanity perpetrated since end of World War Two by a government, as President Franklin Roosevelt once confided, "owned by a financial element in the centers of power."[1]

In 1994, former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, perhaps America's most prestigious defector from the US war establishment and renown fighter for justice for war victims, wrote in his The Fire This Time - US War Crimes in the Gulf, "The greatest crime since World War II has been US foreign policy." In Crime in America, 1970, he emphasized, "Crimes are meant to be prosecuted." In Challenge to Genocide, 1998, Attorney Clark explained that 'highly profitable investments in the illegal and genocidal use of the nations Armed Forces, CIA and mass media will be made unprofitable and brought to an end through prosecution under the law.

I have been privileged to know Ramsey Clark as a friend over many years, know of his suffering to see good people so mercilessly deceived, and hear him encourage me and others with his often repeated, "Keep the faith," by which we understand he means faith that ultimately truth will prevail and our efforts rewarded.

Because of Ramsey, I can put useless recrimination aside, while joining in deep mourning for those Americans (some of them buddies of mine), so brutally deceived and destroyed, and more lovingly remembered because of it.

This Memorial Day is only for them and those who mourn their loss.

Tomorrow, one shall with renewed dedication work to bring the pathetic deceivers to justice, bring justice for their surviving victims, and most importantly at the same time save precious lives from being taken in the future.

End Note

The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson."

 Letter by FDR to Colonel House, dated 21 November 1932

For further Memorial Day reading, see articles published by OpEdNews, US, CounterCurrents, Kerala, India and Minority Perspective, Birmingham, UK

Most War Dead Are Civilians, On Memorial Day, Mourn Them First, for to honor only US military dead is to glorify the military mindset. Non-Americans watching CNN in Korea, Vietnam, Dominican Republic, Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq will likely be squinting in grim incredulity at American indifference to the loss of THEIR countrys lives. Memorial Day is NOT Veterans' Day, but a day of solemn mourning, let's be inclusive.

Good Americans Mourn First the Millions America Slaughtered, Then Mourn US Soldiers (OpEdNews May, 2013) Besides mourning our own, mourn the patriots of US invaded countries that fell fighting against overwhelming odds, and their civilian countrymen and countrywomen and children who fell in harms way of those US invading forces. Nothing less than this can dent the Memorial Day adulation for dying for what Rev. King called "atrocity wars to maintain predatory investments

Vets Ask "Mourn For Those Killed By Americans in Battle in US Wars of Aggression!" OpEdNews, May, 2012, "On this Memorial Day, Veterans For Peace asks you to mourn not only for Americans killed in battle, but also for those killed by Americans in battle, to accept that these war deaths did not have to happen--that they were actually in vain. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people have died in American wars of aggression. That is a tragedy and is a truth that must be accepted and for which we must take responsibility." VFP President.

Mourn! Not Honor!, Our Dying in Dishonorable, Murderous Wars Save the use of the words 'honor' and 'praise' for someone like Muhammad Ali, who refused to do what we, for all our good intentions, unfortunately went along with.



MOURNING THEIRS (ALONG WITH OURS ) VERSUS HONORING OURS & OUR WARS A pretty slick suckering-in, that military use of the word "honor.' as indiscriminate praise for killing designated enemies of the corporatist governed US, as if they were enemies of the American people. Honoring them as heroes draws a boy in to prove his manhood. Mourning dead military is a turn-off for boys considering enlisting. Mourning is anti-war! Bad for war profits. "Honoring' is pro-war! Good for the stock market.



A Memorial Day Press Release From Some American Veterans We will no longer participate in selective mourning only America's war dead. We will mourn all victims of war, the millions of civilians, the hundreds of thousands of our designated enemies fallen in their motherlands, and then, having put others first, as in common humility, will we mourn the tens of thousands of our very own fellow citizens who sacrificed their lives for, or thinking it was for, the good of our nation.

Mourn! Not Honor!, Our Dying in Dishonorable, Murderous Wars Instead of solemn mourning, on Memorial Day, media, having tricked us into fighting and dying in unjust, murderous wars based on lies, now hypes our inglorious death as beautiful military service to entice recruits. Save the use of the words 'honor' and 'praise' for someone like Muhammad Ali who refused.

Memorial Day! Americans Honor Military that Collaterally Slaughtered Millions of Non-Caucasian Children

Article describes how Memorial Day will evolve into a day of mourning not only the military deaths of friends and family but a day of mourning for having been deceived by a media owned by profiteers in the genocidal use of Americas Armed Forces all around our blessed world, and of intense interest in the prosecution of everyone responsible for their shame in the eyes tens of millions of victims of their lamentable ignorance.

Jay Janson is an archival research peoples historian activist, musician and writer; has lived and worked on all continents in 67 countries; articles on media published in China, Italy, UK, India, Sweden, Germany Vietnam and the US; now resides in NYC; First effort was a series of articles on deadly cultural pollution endangering seven areas of life emanating from Western corporate owned commercial media published in Hong Kong's Window Magazine 1993; is coordinator of the Howard Zinn co-founded King Condemned US Wars International Awareness Campaign: (King Condemned US Wars) http://kingcondemneduswars.blogspot.com/ and website historian of the Ramsey Clark co-founded Prosecute US Crimes Against Humanity Now Campaign http://prosecuteuscrimesagainsthumanitynow.blogspot.com/ featuring a country by country history of US crimes and laws pertaining.












Emailgate: The Clinton Spin Doctors In Action

By Dr. Binoy Kampmark

30 May, 2016

Countercurrents.org

Hillary Clintons email dilemma got somewhat sharper over the weekend, with Sunday programs heavy with the theme. Her use of a private email server during her stint as Secretary of State was given a new lease of life by the Office of the Inspector Generals report which took significant issue with her practices when in office.

The Democratic strategists insisted that there were larger issues at stake. Such breaches are small feed in the broader matters of state affairs. Clinton campaign spokesperson Brian Fallon even suggested that the IG reports demolition of the secretarys previous claims did not make her statements untruthful. In such circles, it is criminal not to be postmodern.

The campaign statement on Wednesday drew on that great tradition of Clintonian spin doctoring which sees the lie as sacred. Her opponents were bound to misrepresent this report for their own partisan purposes when the documents showed just how consistent her email practices were with those of other Secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal email.

Was it Clintons fault? Hardly, came the crafted response  it was a matter of a faulty system, one exploited by previous secretaries of state. The report shows that problems with the State Departments electronic recordkeeping systems were longstanding and that there was no precedent of someone in her position having a State Department email account until later the arrival of her successor. Victimhood again becomes sellable: someone, or something else, did it.

Further attempting to douse the fires with notions that her practice was common (when caught with ones hand in the till, argue that everybody does it), the statement went on to argue that there was no evidence of any successful breach of the Secretarys server.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) came up with an even less impressive defence. Yes, she had been mistaken in her email practices, but ignorance of the law and protocol could very well be justified. She thought it was approved, and the practice was allowed, and she was wrong.

Schiff also took the line that an abusive practice is rendered less extreme, let alone consequential, if others are doing it. (Where treason doth prosper indeed!) Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, for instance, was the stellar example, one not mitigated by the fact that no emails were ever turned over. The fact that [Clinton] provided 55,000 pages of emails mitigated the fact that she used a private server. The problem for Schiff here is that Powell was the only secretary of state making such extensive use of private email in the conduct of government business.

The IG report does not make pretty reading for the avid Clintonite. It dismisses a core claim that using government servers was not standard practice during her tenure, pointing to departmental protocols dating back to 2005.

By not actually seeking permission to use a private email server, she had been in violation of established practice. By the time Clinton assumed office, cybersecurity practices were even more comprehensive, detailed and more sophisticated.

As for turning over the emails, there was no mitigating factor: she should surrendered them before leaving office, not 21 months after. [S]he did not comply with the Departments policies that were implemented in accordance with the Federal Records Act.

Clinton has supreme form when it comes to imaginative, and careless record keeping. Her lax attitude to such details was evident during the course of her time as First Lady, when she and her husband presided over the fraying of the post-Cold War Republic.

In 1999, when special prosecutor Ken Starr and Republicans were busying themselves with filling files over an assortment of scandals, a million subpoenaed emails vanished in the Project X affair. The reason? A technical problem with a West Wing computer server. The unseen hand of technological error has often proven helpful to the Clinton cause.

Little wonder then that the latest weaving apologia fell flat in Republican circles, where fiction and fact are synonymous. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chairman, advanced a theory that the Russians profited from Clintons use of a private email server, suggesting that a State Department server would have been somehow immune. You have to assume, claimed Johnson on CBSs Face the Nation, that our enemy and adversaries had to have had access to every email that ever went over her private server.

Johnson, happy with that assumption, suggested that such a private email server might have affected the invasion of Crimea or eastern Ukraine; negotiations with Iran and even the issues surrounding Assad.

As for the other Democratic contender for the nomination, Bernie Sanders, the IG report was replenishing manna. It was not a good report for Secretary Clinton. That is something that the American people, Democrats and delegates are going to have to take a hard look at.

While Clinton lacks the Teflon attributes of her main rival and presumptive GOP presidential nominee, Donald Trump, Sanders is hoping that such practices disqualify her from the race. That may well be wishful thinking, reflected by attitudes towards the normalising properties of corruption. Take the dismissive stance of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.): This goes on and on and on. Were reaching the final stages of a primary. The Clintons have shown themselves to be not only survivors of scandals, but thrivers off them.

Dr. Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com










Drop The Sabah Claim; Focus On The Bangsamoro Agreement

By Chandra Muzaffar

30 May, 2016

Countercurrents.org

According to media reports, President-Elect Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines would be staking a fresh claim on Sabah. He recognises Sabah as a Sulu Sultanate territory.

It is a recognition that has been challenged by various quarters including the Malaysian federal government and the Sabah state government. Many students of law have also disputed the Sulu-Philippine claim which to a large extent has revolved around the question of whether Sabah was leased or ceded by the Sultan of Sulu to representatives of the British North Borneo Company in 1878.

Whatever happened in 1878, many would argue that what really matters is that the Cobbold Commission established in 1962 to ascertain the sentiments of the people of Sabah and Sarawak towards the formation of Malaysia in 1963 found that the majority in both states wanted to be part of Malaysia. Since the Commissions findings were endorsed by the UN, Sabahs position in Malaysia has the imprimatur of international law.

Even more significant from the perspectives of both International and domestic law is the fact that the people of Sabah have on numerous occasions proven that they are part and parcel of the Malaysian nation. This they have done through their voluntary participation in democratic state and general elections since the sixties. By exercising their fundamental right as citizens, they have re-affirmed that Sabah is an integral part of the Malaysian Federation. By fulfilling their duty as voters, the people of Sabah have in a sense expressed their right of self-determination.

In this regard, it is important to observe that no political party or politician contesting in elections in Sabah has ever championed the Sulu-Philippine claim to Sabah. No individual or group in Sabah outside the political process has ever espoused this meaningless cause. It is a claim that has no takers in Sabah itself.

It is only within political circles in the Philippines that this claim is kept alive. Every time there is a Presidential election, it is trotted out by some candidate or other in the hope of gaining some political mileage. After all, it is an issue related to territory and history and therefore evokes some emotions within a segment of the populace.

Instead of pursuing the claim on Sabah, Duterte should push for the adoption of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro by the Philippine Congress. The peace Agreement signed between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on the 27th of March 2014 in Manila paves the wayfor the creation of a new Muslim autonomous entity, the Bangsamoro, in the southern island of Mindanao. If it is successfully implemented it may bring to an end the conflict and the bloodshed that has blighted southern Philippines for centuries.

Duterte had said on the 28th of February 2016 that he would like to see the Philippine Congress adopt the Agreement in the form of the Bangsamoro Basic Law within the context of a Federal system of government. He wants the law to be an example for the rest of the Philippines in his drive to transform the nation into a viable federation. He has shown some sympathy for the Muslims in the South and has vowed to correct historical wrongs. Duterte has acknowledged publicly that his grandmother is a Moro and he has daughters-in- law and grandchildren who are Moro.

If under Dutertes presidency, the longstanding claim of the Philippines government and the descendants of the Sulu Sultan to Sabah is dropped once and for all and an earnest attempt is made to recognise the rights of the Moro people within the framework of a sovereign, independent Philippine nation, the prospects for peace and development in the Philippines as a whole will be much brighter than it has been for decades. Malaysia and ASEAN will also benefit immensely from these moves.

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar is the President of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST)

Malaysia.

30 May 2016.








A Response To Dr. Chandra Muzaffar On His Article

On The Hanging Of The War Criminal Nizami In Bangladesh

By Students of Dhaka University

30 May, 2016

Countercurrents.org

The response by Dr. Chandra Muzaffar on 19th May, 2016 to our comment on his article The Hanging of Nizami and the Grip on Political Power has been very insightful! However we could not but resist from publishing a formal response; it seemed to be high time for the response especially taking into account recent events.

We would like to point out some major flaws in Dr. Muzaffars argument despite them posing to be deceptively enlightening.

1. Could you please mention the names of those NGOs, individuals that you have mentioned about again and again in your article and response? It would be really enlightening for us if you could cite specifically the names of these NGOs and prominent individuals. The one important Muslim government you have mentioned is Turkey. The country itself has a history of denying its brutal genocide of Armenians that claimed innocent lives and horrified the world with public crucifixion of women. Turkey itself is a now run by conservative, reactionary and fundamentalist forces. Is not it just too much coincidental that Turkey with such allegations will take a stand against the trial of War Criminals in Bangladesh and side with Pakistan?

2. The incident with the witness that you have mentioned without any validating reference has contradictory versions. Unless you mention both versions of the story, it can be easily concluded that you are being biased in your opinion, which is of course evident in your former writing. Moreover, that incident is only one case and can not statistically be taken as an example that can prove your allegations against the Tribunal process. More importantly, even if for arguments sake that one incident can be exemplified as a flaw, others were flawless which you have certainly forgotten to mention or refer to. In the case of Nizami was there any such incident that you can refer to? As far as we are concerned you were speaking for Nizami.

3. The same can be said about the Skype incident. It also has contradictory versions. And even if that is taken as a flaw, then certainly other cases without any such incident are flawless, wont you agree? You have also forgotten to mention that in the case of the Skype incident, the judge was withdrawn and judgment was not passed according to the Skype conversation. Then how is the case flawed, we fail to understand?

4. You do not mention that the Turkish parliament members visited the trial court and spoke with the convicts, so how can you justify their views and comments? Could you also please mention which countries could provide observers that can validate the trial process? Bangladesh is a sovereign country and how can you justify other countries right of doing so? Will this be allowed in Malaysia, Pakistan, United States of America, Saudi Arabia (infamous for recent public beheading of an opposition leader)? Have you demanded the same in the case of these countries? You have specifically mentioned that US or the west could provide observers and just may be to mingle your tone down a bit you mention Latin America and other countries in Asia. We are curious to know why you would put stress on the US and the West?

5. Could you please mention which international judicial norms and evidences were set aside? This is only a statement without any reference that does not actually validate anything.

6. In your defense of Nizami you said there have been other incidents though by far we have only come across two kinds of incident in your response.

7. It is evident that you think Nuremberg trial had shortcomings. Wont you agree that the War Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh is following far better methods that we mentioned earlier in our comment in your article? You have failed to present any argument about that. So should we understand that you invariably agree that the WCT in Bangladesh is better and flawless with respect to the historically famous Nuremberg trial?

8. In your claims of the WCT being flawed you have not mentioned any article, clause, sub-clause, ruling, judgment or part of judgment which is flawed, which is not up to the standard. Could you provide us with any such example? We would also like you to know that the International Criminal Court in Hague has ruled out and rejected any allegation against Bangladesh of committing crimes against humanity in a recent ruling in 26th May. The claims were made by Jamaat. We are looking forward to Mr. Muzaffars views about this. The reference can be found in this link (http://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/intl-court-hague-rejects-allegations-1229575).

9. For further reading you have mentioned Sharmi Boses book. It is a controversial one; could you mention other books that portray the atrocities committed in Bangldesh in 1971?

10. It has been more and more evident in your writing that you have not mentioned the killings committed by the Nizami led militia in the names of Islam in Bangladesh during 1971. We are really curious to know that whom you are defending. What is their way of politics and ideology? You are writing about Nizami, the leader of a killer and rapist group of goons organized by the then Pakistani junta, but do not mention any incident of his crimes and any incidents of the genocide in Bangladesh. Can you justify your position as a just one? We think your position in this matter is fairly obvious and you are explicitly or implicitly supporting these killers and rapists.

We do hope Mr. Muzaffar will enlighten us further with his response. As general students of Dhaka University we demand that this type of propaganda and falsehoods based only on deceptive statements and misinformation is checked. These propagandas are in their true sense against the masses of Bangladesh who paid with lives, honor, and home to defend their beloved motherland against fundamentalist occupying forces of Pakistan in 1971. We strongly denounce these acts and stand for the people of Bangladesh as we have always.

(We are general students of Dhaka University of Bangladesh and online followers of Countercurrents.)














From Albrecht To Monsanto: A System Not Run For The Public Good Can Never Serve The Public Good

By Colin Todhunter



30 May, 2016

Countercurrents.org

The following extract is from the 2011 lecture Healthy Soils, Healthy People by Professor John Ikerd. The lecture discussed the legacy of renowned agronomist William Albrecht, who died in 1974.

We have justified the demise of family farms, decay of rural communities, pollution of the rural environment, and degradation of soil health as being necessary to provide food security for the nation. These justifications are no longer valid or acceptable an agriculture driven by economics failed to provide for the health of the soil or the health of people. The problems we are facing today are the consequence of too many people, including scientists, pursuing their narrow self-interests without considering the consequence of their actions on the rest of society and the future of humanity... the pursuit of individual, impersonal self-interests  not the long run interests of society or humanity. - Professor John Ikerd

The original text of this excellent lecture (readers are urged to read it in full to grasp the important relevance of Albrecht today) does not include the underlining, which has been added here because that passage is key to understanding why we have arrived at the point where we now find ourselves: embedded within a globalised system of food and agriculture that rakes in massive profits for the few at the expense of the majority.

With so much slick PR from agribusiness companies about helping farmers and feeding a hungry world, it may be easy for some to lose sight of the fact that what we have is an economic system that rests on self-interest and profit, which has resulted in producing a model of food and agriculture that has led to the falling nutritional value of food and the growing of it with poisonous inputs; it has led to major adverse impacts on the environment, soil, human health and communities; and that model has been used as a tool to secure geopolitical power, undermine food security and create dependency.

Ikerd talks about how narrow self-interests have prevailed in agriculture and have not considered the consequence their actions on the rest of society and the future of humanity. Although he never mentions 'capitalism' in his lecture, Ikerd refers to the hugely negative impacts on soil and human health as a result of the drive for profit by powerful commercial interests that have come to dominate food and agriculture.

Blatant self-interest and hegemony

People often attempt to disguise blatant self-interest by saying their intentions and actions coincide with what is good for everyone else and what they are doing is essentially underpinned by good intent. It is a classic case of hegemony: gaining authority and legitimacy by fooling others that your aims and their aims are one and the same, while in realty the opposite is the case. It is what capitalism has relied on, with state violence always (and, these days, increasingly) at hand as a back-up.

Take Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant, for instance. According to Reuters, he could receive more than $70 million if Monsanto is taken over by Bayer AG. Monsanto says it is open to engaging in further negotiations with Bayer after turning down its $62 billion bid.

Reuters reports that Grant said his company firmly endorsed "the substantial benefits an integrated strategy could provide to growers and broader society."

Nice sounding words, but he would say that, wouldnt he?

The report shows how Grant's exposure to shares and options means he has an incentive to hold out for the highest possible sale price, which would not only be in the interests of shareholders but also increase the value of his holdings. Other senior figures within Monsanto would also walk away with massive financial gains in shares, bonuses and severance if a deal goes through.

These corporate managers belong to a global agribusiness sector whose major companies all rank among the Fortune 500 corporations. They and their companies, not least major shareholders, are high-rollers in a globalised system of capitalism, where oversize financial packages and huge company profits are directly linked to bad food and poor health, inequitable trade, environmental devastation, the destruction of communities and ecocide, degraded soil and farmers who live a knife-edge existence and for whom debt has become a fact of life.

Then there is Britains political mouthpiece for the GMO biotech sector Owen Paterson, who attacks critics of GMOs through emotive outbursts and by proclaiming his concern for the poor in countries far away. Paterson is an MP and belongs to the Conservative Party, whose neoliberal policies (also adopted by New Labour) since the 1980s have plunged millions in Britain into poverty, unemployment and debt. Despite him saying he wants to feed the hungry of the world with GMOs, his governments policies have driven hundreds of thousands towards food poverty in recent years. His hypocrisy is clear for all to see.

Narrow self-interest abounds, whether it is corporate CEOs, wealthy shareholders, ideologically driven politicians like Paterson who do the bidding of global agribusiness or, for example, various molecular biologists and their well-funded career paths who keep the ideological flag flying for the current system of agriculture they advocate, while often touting the virtues of a 'choice-friendly', democratic free market capitalism that exists only in their own delusions.

Challenging capitalism

This capitalism thrives on commodity speculation, land speculation, corrupt banking and finance cartels and rigged trade. The World Bank, IMF, WTO, the and other machinery of globalisation (like corrupt trade deals like TTIP, TPA and NAFTA) operate to serve the interests of a small elite of private individuals (an increasingly integrated "transnational ruling class") who own and control private capital and who ensure the system they benefit from is perpetuated. These interlocking, self-serving interests have instituted a globalised system of war and structural violence that results in poverty and devastated economies.

From Somalia and Ethiopia to the situation across Africa in general and in places like Mexico (see this on the health impacts of NAFTA and this about the overall devastation of Mexico, which NAFTA has contributed to), strategically placed (see this and this) agribusiness has made a financial killing from policies that have destroyed local economies and indigenous farming and which have often turned countries from largely self-sufficient food nations into food importing ones.

People March against Monsanto, campaign against glyphosate or highlight the actions of individual actors or companies. But these entities, products and figures will be replaced with others, the system and its negative impacts will persist and the marches and campaigns against the newest conglomerate to emerge or newest poison to hit the market will continue.

Despite what the well-paid media shills, the co-opted scientists and politicians and the industry PR people say, a system not run for the public good can never serve the public good. Many of these individuals are little more corporate lobbyists or neoliberal ideologues (see this, this, this, this, this and this) who hide behind dogma about choice, democracy or improving productivity, while attacking 'fundamentalists' (i.e. anyone who opposes their pro-corporate model of agriculture and ideological neoliberal allegiances).

In response, people are fighting back and resisting. From Ghana to India and from Europe to beyond, food sovereignty movements are demonstrating a deep-rooted resistance against neoliberal doctrine and its negative impacts on agriculture, health, communities and the environment. And they are armed with realistic alternatives to corporate dominated agriculture and the policies and framework which allows it to prosper at the expense of both people and the environment.

Colin Todhunter is an independent writer








What A Water Situation!

By S.G.Vombatkere

30 May, 2016

Countercurrents.org

This year has seen the globally hottest-ever April, and indications point to the worst-ever summer. The media is reporting rock bottom reservoir water levels at the start of summer, and dire predictions of worse days to come for farmers and rural people, and also urban dwellers. Due to this worst drought in living memory that has hit most of India, around 300 million people, as estimated by one source, are migrating. One can only wonder why this on-going tragedy does not make it to the front pages of newspapers.

The callousness of many leaders towards this national crisis is revealed by their finding the time to pat themselves on the back, announce and celebrate their achievements at public expense and give themselves raises in their own salaries, but not finding time to visit drought-hit people or allocate sufficient funds for drought relief. It needed the Supreme Court of India to goad state and central governments to commence serious action to provide water to thirsty populations.

There are fears of water-based conflicts within and between the societies of rural and urban areas. These have happened in the past, but the scale of conflicts may be more intense and widespread in 2016 if, for example, the heated official exchanges regarding water demands of downstream Delhi and Haryana and upstream Punjab over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal are any indication.

While there are several important aspects to the water issue, only two major aspects are addressed here due to space restrictions, namely, the governance involved in urban water supply, and the solution of interlinking rivers (ILR).

Water governance in urban areas

Governments are giving conflicting reports in the media, with some officials saying that it is possible to tide over the urban scarcity, and others saying that conditions are going to get much worse. Officials of course insist on anonymity, for fear of action against them, while politicians do their standard politicking, and grandly pass orders to the officials to ensure that drinking water supply is not interrupted.

Always at the receiving end of slipshod governance, most people get water for a few hours once in two or three or seven days while some get water daily, enabling their domestics to wash cars and driveways with a hose. When a water pipe bursts (not uncommon because of inferior materials and/or poor workmanship due to corrupt practices) the water supply authority reacts tardily, and millions of litres of precious water gush away into the drains, even while thousands line up with pots at street pipes, and the better-off purchase water from tankers operated by a water-tanker mafia.

Public announcements calling for water conservation are rare and, when issued, they politely call upon citizens to cooperate and use water carefully, even while non-working water meters, illegal water connections and unpaid water bills place financial strain on the water suppy system. The reason for politeness of tone and request for cooperation in a decidedly grim, even desperate situation, is clear evidence of weak governance stemming from systemic corruption. Public determination to handle the worsening situation is essential, to find a viable course of action.

Essential measures

When the sources of water fail, focus needs to shift from demand-driven supply augmentation to managing available water through realistic demand management. Some of its essential facets itemized are:

# Improve system efficiency including planning distribution and delivery, infrastructure and renewals, electrical energy costs, personnel training.

# Revise tariff with steep rates for high consumption.

# Enforce existing by-laws and rules regarding functioning of meters, illegal connections and unpaid bills, with appropriate penal action against defaulting consumers and staff.

# Address system water-loss and assure minimum supply timings.

# Periodic public programs for water conservation.

# Use IT management tools (GIS and MIS) for realizing revenue.

Interlinking rivers

The interlinking rivers (ILR) project estimated in 2002 to cost at least Rs.5,60,000 crores (but more likely Rs.10,00,000 crores), seeks to link 30 major rivers with 37 mega canals, involving acquiring an estimated 6,00,000 hectares of land, for mass-transfer of flood water from water-surplus areas to drought-prone water-deficit areas, to simultaneously relieve flood and drought. While the proposal appears attractive, it has serious inconsistencies, only two of which are outlined here. (For more details, please see References).

Firstly, flood water is to be sourced from Ganga near Bhagalpur which is at about 60-m elevation above MSL, where flood flow averages 50,000 cumecs. The maximum that a canal of 100-m width and 10-m depth can carry is 2,000 cumecs of water, which will relieve the flood by a mere 4%. Apart from the huge initial and annual maintenance costs to keep the water flowing into the canal and removing sediment, this 2,000 cumecs can only flow by gravity to levels lower than 60-m elevation on the East coast, whereas the drought-prone areas are on the Deccan plateau at levels over 1,000-m elevation. Thus neither flood nor drought can be relieved by interlinking.

Secondly, the flood season is for four monsoon months. During 8-months dry season, Ganga flows at an average 5,280 cumecs. The headworks of the interlinking canal will be far from the main flowchannel, and feeding the canal with water will call for expensive heavy engineering every year besides, much more importantly, handling the strong resistance of people of the region who will resist transfer of 2,000 cumecs (38% of water) in the dry season when they need it most.

Thus, since neither flood nor drought can relieved, and the system will have questionable utility during monsoon and be useless in the dry season, making it economically unviable. The argument of mass transfer of water from water-surplus to water-deficit areas is fundamentally flawed.

The promotion of water-sharing through grandiose plans of dams and canals to interlink rivers, by quoting the mandate of a distant Court of Law will not slake the thirst for water for drinking or agriculture. The fact that there are several unresolved inter-State water disputes before water disputes tribunals indicates that water-sharing between States is essentially problematic. Even between districts within the same State, water disputes have had to be bulldozed by State governments, leaving sullen, disillusioned, water-starved populations. In the general context of national water stress, pressing ILR can only lead to more social unrest and political instability.

The fact is that every State needs and wants water and they are loathe to part with water. In situations of dire water shortages, whatever the method of its computation, local compulsions will predominate over the dictates of distant seats of executive or judicial power. Enforcement of the writ of governments, whether due to their own political expediency or their being forced by superior courts of law, can only be by use of state police, central police and military force. Resort to such strong-arm measures with regard to water will indicate that governance has failed and the situation is outside the scope of political management. Indeed, in Latur (Maharashtra), Police have been posted near water sources to protect the water and ensure that people do not steal water from the source!

What a situation!

The present water situation is at best sub-critical. Only efforts to holistically understand the problems and their magnitude can provide genuine relief in the present, and effect a relatively easy transition to a future of certainly lowered water availability.

The ILR project is essentially a demand-based, supply-augmentation, systemically flawed macro solution. The examples of the SYL Canal (an incomplete canal for water-sharing between three States) and the Cauvery River (the water of the river being less than the total demand of the riparian states) should be indication enough of the political problems of ILR, which can snowball into constitution-shaking proportions.

India, already severely water-stressed in a warming globe, is in the midst of a water-crisis which is predicted to repeat itself. We have entered the era of the consequences of thoughtless supply-side management practices. The urgent need is for socially sensitive, economically viable demand-side water management.

Failing to build democratic and effective water management structures for democratic governance processes will risk violent social situations due to water conflicts. Political leaders in the States and the Centre need to come out of their Nero-fiddling role and firmly steer a course away from impending chaos and disaster. The way forward is local water conservation and management.

References

1. Vombatkere, S.G., A Systems Approach to Interlinking Rivers in India: An examination of Viability, An Anthology of Essays titled Interlinking of Rivers in India: Issues and Concerns, Ed: M. Monirul Qader Mirza, et al; Pub: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2008, pp.77-89.

2. Vombatkere, S.G., From Water Crisis to Constitutional Crisis?: A Suggested Solution, Mainstream, New Delhi, Vol XLV No 9, February 17, 2007.



Major General S.G. Vombatkere, VSM, retired in 1996 as Additional DG Discipline & Vigilance in Army HQ AG's Branch. President of India awarded him Visishta Seva Medal in 1993 for distinguished service rendered in the high-altitude region of Ladakh. He holds a PhD degree in Structural Dynamics from I.I.T, Madras. With over 470 published papers in national and international journals and seminars, his area of interest remains strategic and development-related issues. E-mail: sg9kere@live.com












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"Survivor Celebration: A Day at the Museum," noon to 4 p.m. June 5 at the Evansville Museum. Cancer survivors and guests are invited. The event is a National Cancer Survivors Day celebration presented by Deaconess Cancer Services and Vantage Oncology. There will be a scavenger hunt, ice cream social and other activities for cancer survivors and their families. Tickets are required and can be picked up at one of three locations: Chancellor Center for Oncology at Deaconess Gateway, Deaconess Clinic Downtown oncology department or Vantage Oncology/Evansville Cancer Center on Burkhardt Road. Up to four free tickets are available to any local cancer survivor and will be given out through Wednesday or while supplies last. Full details about the event can be found at deaconess.com/calendar, keyword "survivor."

FA (Families Anonymous): a 12-step fellowship for the family and friends of those individuals with drug, alcohol or related behavioral issues. Meetings are at 10 a.m. Saturdays at Methodist Temple, 2109 Lincoln Ave. Use the Kelsey Avenue entrance, second floor. Information: 812-550-5777.

Bereavement support group: Meeting 5:30-7 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month in the large group meeting room, second floor of Central Library, 200 SE MLK Blvd.

Men's bereavement support group: Meeting 9-10:30 a.m. the second Monday of each month in Room 204 at Deaconess VNA Plus, 610 E. Walnut St.

Support group for bipolar/manic-depressive disorder: Meeting 7 p.m. the first and third Wednesday of each month, Kempf Bipolar Wellness Center, third floor of St. Mary's Rehabilitation Institute, 3700 Washington Ave. Information: 812-485-4934.

Survivors of Suicide support group: Meeting 6:30 p.m. the first and third Monday of each month, Methodist Temple, 2109 Lincoln Ave. Information: Mental Health America at 812-426-2640.

Mending Hearts pregnancy loss support group: Meeting 6:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month, Gift Conference Room, off the lobby of St. Mary's Hospital for Women & Children, 3700 Washington Ave. Information: 812-485-4204.

Men's cancer support group: Meeting 5:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, St. Mary's Epworth Crossing Community Conference Room, 100 St. Mary's Epworth Crossing, Newburgh. Information: 812-485-5725.

Stroke support group: Meeting 10 a.m. the fourth Wednesday of each month, St. Mary's Community Education Room at Washington Square Mall, 5011 Washington Ave. Information: 812-485-5607.

ALS support group: Meeting 6:30 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, Meeting Room E, Deaconess Gateway Hospital. The support group is for patients, caregivers and survivors who have lost someone to Lou Gehrig's disease.

Women's cancer support group: Meeting 5:30 p.m. the second and fourth Monday of each month, St. Mary's Epworth Crossing Community Conference Room. Information: 812-485-5725.

Pulmonary fibrosis support group: Meeting 4 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month, Room 1420, Deaconess Hospital, 600 Mary St. Information: 812-450-6000 or deaconess.com/calendar.

COPD/asthma support group: Meeting 4 p.m. the fourth Tuesday of each month, Room 1420, Deaconess Hospital, 600 Mary St. Information: 812-450-6000 or deaconess.com/calendar.

Parkinson's support group: Meeting at 5:30 p.m. the first Tuesday of each month, Room 350, Deaconess Physician Center, 600 Mary St. Information: 812-450-6000 or deaconess.com/calendar.

Tri-State Multiple Sclerosis Association support group meetings: 10 a.m. the second Saturday of each month, Tri-State MS Association Office, 971 S. Kenmore Drive, Evansville (contact Nita Ruxer at 812-479-3544 or Sharon Omer at 270-333-4701); 10 a.m. the fourth Saturday of each month, Gibson General Hospital, fifth floor, first room on the right, 1808 Sherman Drive, Princeton, Indiana (contact Alice Burkhart at 812-782-3735); 11 a.m. the second Tuesday of each month, Twilight Towers, in the cafeteria, 1648 10th St., Tell City (contact Terri Hasty at 812-649-4013 or Gayle Taylor 812-719-2417); 10 a.m. the third Saturday of each month, Daviess Community Hospital, Washington, Indiana (contact Cindy Kalberer at 812-254-6735 or Fran Neal at 812-259-1565); 10 a.m. the first Saturday of each month, Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, 2360 Green River Road, Henderson, Kentucky, (contact Meg Burnley at 270-826-9507 or Debbie Whittington at 270-827-8298); 6 p.m. the second Monday of each month, Owensboro Health Healthpark, 1006 Ford Ave, Owensboro, Kentucky; and 11 a.m. the first Saturday of each month, Fairfield Memorial Hospital in the board room of Horizon Clinic, 303 NW 11th St., Fairfield, Illinois (contact Kathie Hill at 618-847-8452).

Compiled by Leah Ward, leah.ward@courierpress.com.
DENNY SIMMONS / COURIER & PRESS A mosquito larva or "wiggler" swims in standing water in a ditch along Morgan Avenue in Evansville. Keith Goy, a health specialist with the Vanderburgh County Health Department, moments earlier, sprayed the water with an oily mixture which would soon drown the larvae.

SHARE DENNY SIMMONS / COURIER & PRESS Keith Goy, a health specialist with the Vanderburgh County Health Department, packs on a spraying device to begin his task of mosquito larvae eradication in a standing water ditch along Morgan Avenue in Evansville recently. DENNY SIMMONS / COURIER & PRESS An oily mixture sits on the surface of a standing water ditch along Morgan Avenue in Evansville. The mixture is applied to help with the control of mosquito larvae. DENNY SIMMONS / COURIER & PRESS Keith Goy, a health specialist with the Vanderburgh County Health Department, sprays a light oily mixture to the surface of the water to help in the eradication of mosquito larvae in a standing water ditch along Morgan Avenue in Evansville recently.

By Jessie Higgins of the Courier and Press

Keith Goy is hoping for a wet summer  and more mosquitoes.

It may seem counterintuitive, Vanderburgh County's vector control supervisor said. But the more mosquitoes there are in a given year, the less disease they will spread.

"We've got over 60 different types of mosquitoes," Goy said. "Three are dangerous, the rest are just nuisance. When we get a lot of rain, we get a lot of mosquitoes  but not the bad ones. In bad droughts, we have less mosquitoes, but more of the bad ones."

As Vanderburgh County's sole vector control officer, reducing the number of disease-carrying mosquitoes is Goy's annual battle.

In Indiana, the pesky bugs can carry a number of viruses, including West Nile, which consistently infects a handful of county residents each year.

This year, it's possible that the Zika virus, which has caused panic in areas in the southern United States, may appear in area mosquitoes as well. Though, Goy said that is quite unlikely.

"The mosquito that carries the Zika virus is not prevalent in Indiana," Goy said. "It's more of a tropical mosquito."

The Zika-carrying mosquito is occasionally found in this part of the country, most likely brought in accidentally by travelers, Goy said. They can't survive long in this climate, and it's unlikely such incidents would cause an outbreak.

Scientists have theorized that another type of mosquito, one common to Southern Indiana, could also carry and transmit Zika. But there have been no cases yet of that happening, Goy said.

The scenario is far-fetched enough that Vanderburgh County has made no specific preparations to fight Zika  the state health department is not even testing local insects for the virus.

Instead, Goy continues to pour his department's resources into battling the same mosquito-born diseases he always has.

Unfortunately, the mosquitoes that carry diseases in this region are also the most difficult to fight. The most effective way to reduce the number of mosquitoes is to eliminate their breeding grounds, he said. West Nile carriers breed in small containers of water  and they don't need much. A dog's water dish left outside overnight, a small flower pot, an old tire.

"Those are the ones we have the most trouble with," Goy said. "I don't have the manpower to be going door-to-door, making sure there's no freestanding water."

This time of year, Goy spends his time looking for public areas where such mosquitoes are prone to breed and spraying those areas with larvicides, materials that kill mosquito larvae.

Later in the summer he will set up mosquito traps to test for West Nile and other viruses. If the virus shows up, Goy will concentrate his efforts on finding their breeding grounds in that area. If that fails, he brings out the fog truck.

"We only fog when we find an area with a huge amount of adult mosquitoes and we can't catch the breeding spot," he said.

It's just a temporary fix, and not as cost effective as killing the larvae, he said.

Ultimately, with an annual vector control budget of about $7,000  and a department of one person  there's only so much Goy can do, he said.

"All I can do is try to keep them at bay," Goy said. "They're really unstoppable biting machines."
The Indiana Statehouse.

(Photo: Dawn Mitchell/IndyStar 2012 file photo)

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By Chelsea Schneider, USA TODAY NETWORK The Indianapolis Star

Among the choices state Republican delegates will face at the party's convention in June is nominating a candidate best suited to regain control of the Indiana Department of Education from Democrat Glenda Ritz, who is seeking re-election four years after she pulled off a major upset against a GOP incumbent.

Republican power brokers are throwing their support behind Jennifer McCormick, a school superintendent from Yorktown, who they believe has the public school experience to right what they argue is wrong with Ritz's administration.

But McCormick has competition for the party's nomination at the June 11 convention. Her opponent, tea party-backed Dawn Wooten, is traveling the state with a message appealing to dogged social conservatives  the belief that the state's academic standards remain too much like the controversial national set called the Common Core.

As McCormick goes into the convention considered the favorite to win the nomination, Wooten says she hopes this year's political climate, dominated by a sense of dissatisfaction with the establishment, will give her the same boost it did Donald Trump in his clinching of the GOP nomination for president.

But one political observer senses delegates will give greater consideration to a candidate's ability to compete over ideological purity in this year's state superintendent of public instruction race. Or simply put: Who is better equipped to topple Ritz  a darling of the teachers unions  in November's general election?

"Party activists are more concerned with winning," said Andy Downs, director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics.

McCormick points to her nearly 20 years in public education, first as a teacher and then as an administrator of a high-performing school district near Muncie.

Wooten, a college instructor from Fort Wayne, says she's competitive because of her conservatism  specifically her belief that she's more conservative than McCormick.

The winner will go into November's race as Republicans have acknowledged and worked to repair a perception problem with public school educators. It's a reputation damaged by Republican-led education reforms and tough political rhetoric under former schools chief Tony Bennett. Viewed as anti-teacher, those reforms caused a groundswell of anger that propelled Ritz into office in 2012.

"Republicans are still in shock that Tony Bennett got beat four years ago, so they really want to beat Ritz," said Paul Helmke, a civics professor at Indiana University and former Republican mayor of Fort Wayne. "This is the battle  do you sort of double down on the conservative approach to education?"

Or does the party go with a traditional educator, he asked, in the likeness of former Republican state schools chief Suellen Reed?

For now, McCormick and Wooten are focused on the first hurdle  leaving the convention as Ritz's competitor  and both have shown a willingness to play to party politics as they work to build support among delegates, whose membership includes many of the GOP's most faithful members.

Their approaches in meeting that goal differ vastly, however, recently illustrated by how they chose to respond to the Obama administration's directive on transgender students.

Both criticized as federal overreach the guidance requiring schools to treat transgender students, including in restrooms and locker rooms, based on the gender with which they identify. Schools that don't comply run the risk of losing federal funds.

McCormick released a more cautious statement saying decisions on those policies are best left to the local level and that educators are responsible for creating "an environment that ensures the safety, well-being, privacy and dignity of students." Wooten took it a step further, saying transgender students should be required to use unisex bathrooms.

In the run-up to the convention, McCormick has focused on the need to improve communication between the Department of Education and schools. She contends that information comes to school districts in a scattered fashion.

Meanwhile, Wooten has said one of her goals is moving the state back to a set of academic standards she thinks are truly divorced from the Common Core. Republican leaders in the state embraced, but then later repealed, the national set of learning benchmarks after they received support from federal Democratic leaders.

One delegate said she is supporting Wooten because she's not a "rubber stamp."

"It's important to preserve local control, and with so many strings attached to the money coming from the federal level, it is becoming much more difficult for us to retain local control of our schools, and I believe Dawn is willing to reassess what the needs of our children are and how to best provide them with a solid academic education and will not be shy about being outspoken where the federal government is overstepping its bounds," said Glenna Jehl, a member of the Fort Wayne Community School Board.

But Rebecca Kubacki, a delegate and former state lawmaker from Syracuse, said she supports McCormick because people are "really getting tired of the 'say no to everything' mentality."

"It gets us absolutely nowhere. I feel like Jennifer is just more open-minded. Hey, we understand our school system isn't perfect, but instead of slamming it all the time, what can I do to make it a better school system for kids  that's what we need to focus on," Kubacki said.

McCormick has shown the ability to raise money, securing donations from Hoosiers for Quality Education, an organization promoting the state's private school voucher program; soon-to-be Ivy Tech Community College President and former Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann; and Eli Lilly and Co. CEO John Lechleiter.Although she is backed by party stalwarts, her support of private school vouchers and charter schools might be where McCormick finds herself most at odds with her peers in traditional public education.

"I do agree with choice," McCormick told IndyStar. "It's important parents be given that opportunity to send their child where it's the best fit.  I think across the state, people, again, agree with choice. They're just watching the impact those funds have on public education dollars."

McCormick would be a "huge upgrade" from current leadership, said Betsy Wiley, CEO of Hoosiers for Quality Education.

"Simply because she's qualified. She has led a school district. She has led a building. She's got staff. These are all qualities right now sorely missing in the department, and it's affecting our schools, teachers and students by not having strong leadership there," Wiley said.

But GOP delegate Monica Boyer, a social conservative who founded the Indiana Liberty Coalition, said McCormick's voting history is troubling. McCormick selected a Democratic ballot in the 2012 primary but pulled the Republican ballot in 2014.

Boyer said she's looking for someone not afraid to break away from the federal government.

"The bathroom issue is huge for me right now," Boyer said. "What's she going to do? How is she going to protect our girls and student privacy and safety? That's a big issue. I didn't really get a clear answer on that from her. I want somebody who is going to fight for our kids."
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By Zach Osowski, zach.osowski@courierpress.com

INDIANAPOLIS  During her first speech as a lieutenant governor candidate, state representative Christina Hale admitted she never grew up with wild ambitions. She thought she was destined for a pretty normal life in Michigan City, Indiana.

And then, when she was 19-years-old, Hale became a single mother, something that turned her world upside down and led her to where she is today; John Gregg's running mate on the Democratic ticket for governor.

Hale said raising her son, Owen, on her own taught her the value of hard work. She learned how to successfully juggle a job, a child and an education at a young age and those lessons still serve her today. The pride in her eyes was evident as she looked at a now-grown Owen, standing next to her as she accepted Gregg's offer.

One of Gregg's main talking points on Hale's credentials was her ability to work across the aisle. If there's something Hale thinks needs done, she will work with whoever it takes to accomplish her vision, regardless of political party.

That kind of attitude is necessary when a legislator is in the minority party like Hale. It will also be an important trait should the Gregg-Hale ticket triumph in November and be tasked with working with a Republican-controlled legislature. It also showcases Hale's pre-disposition to focusing on a problem rather than looking at party first.

Hale was one of a very small number of candidates endorsed both by the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO during the 2014 election. Gregg said that's a sign that business and labor entities see his running mate as someone who will do what's right for Indiana.

After a career that took her from Michigan City to chief communications director for Kiwanis International, Hale came to the Indiana House of Representatives in 2011. Running in Indiana House District 87 on the northeast side of Indianapolis, Hale unseated incumbent Cindy Noe by a mere 51 votes.

From the outset, Hale's main focus was on women's and children's issues. In the 2015 legislative session, Hale authored four bills dealing with sexual assault including House Bill 1105, signed into law by Gov. Mike Pence, which increased the penalty for some rape offenses. She also co-authored two more bills dealing with human trafficking.

During her acceptance speech Wednesday, Hale was most passionate when discussing sexual abuse and crimes against women and children.

"It makes me want to set my hair on fire every time I hear this, but one in six women are sexually abused during their lifetime," Hale said while talking about some of the things she wants to fix in the Hoosier state. "We have some real issues here in Indiana."

Her focus on women's issues is another one of the reasons Gregg picked Hale in his fight against Pence. The current governor's approval among women has taken a hit after signing a controversial abortion bill into law in March. Gregg is hoping Hale can attract those disenfranchised voters over to his side come November.

House Minority Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, has known Hale long before she ever ran for office. He offered a statement congratulating her on the pick and praising Hale's work for "under-represented voices of communities that have been left behind."

"Christina has made a career out of speaking for those that struggle to speak for themselves," Pelath said.

Rep. Gail Riecken, D-Evansville, worked with Hale for four years as members of the House Democratic caucus. She loves the pick of Hale by Gregg.

"There was not anyone better to pick in the state of Indiana in my opinion," Riecken said. "She is a shining star in our party."

Riecken said Hale's passion and drive when it comes to fixing the issues she sees are what really stand out about her.

"She only knows that she has a goal and needs to get it done," Riecken said. "She is not afraid to get into discussions, regardless of party."

Hale is looking to be the fourth consecutive woman elected to the role of lieutenant governor. Pence won in 2012 with Sue Ellspermann, beating Gregg and Vi Simpson. Ellspermann has since left Pence's office for the Ivy Tech presidency. Pence will be running with current lieutenant governor, Eric Holcomb in November.
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Executive Summary

Southern Punjab must be central to any sustainable effort to counter jihadist violence within and beyond Pakistans borders, given the presence of militant groups with local, regional and transnational links and an endless source of recruits, including through large madrasa and mosque networks. The region hosts two of Pakistans most radical Deobandi groups, Jaish-e-Mohammed, held responsible by India for the 2 January 2016 attack on its Pathankot airbase; and the sectarian Laskhar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), which was at least complicit in, if not solely responsible for, the 27 March Easter Sunday attack that killed more than 70 in Lahore. To reverse the jihadist tide, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)s federal and Punjab province governments will have to both end the climate of impunity that allows these groups to operate freely and address political alienation resulting from other governance failures these groups tap into.

Southern Punjab was once known for a tolerant society, but over the past few decades, state support for jihadist proxies, financial support from foreign, particularly Saudi and other Gulf countries, combined with an explosive mix of political, socio-economic, and geostrategic factors, has enabled jihadist expansion there. Bordering on insurgency-hit and lawless regions of the country and also sharing a border with India, it has long provided a convenient base where these outfits can recruit, train and plan and conduct terror attacks. Although jihadist groups still harbour a fringe minority in a region where the vast majority follows a more tolerant, syncretic form of Islam, their ability to operate freely is largely the result of the states policy choices, particularly long reliance on jihadist proxies to promote perceived national security interests. The absence of rule-of-law, combined with political dysfunction and inept governance, also allows these organisations to exercise influence disproportionate to their size and social roots.

With state sponsorship and a pervasive climate of impunity enhancing jihadist groups recruitment potential, the risks of joining are far lower than potential gains that include employment and other financial rewards, social status and sense of purpose. These are all the more compelling in Punjabs largely rural and relatively poorly developed southern regions, where perceptions of exploitation by the industrialised central and north Punjab, referred to by southern Punjabis as Takht Lahore (throne of Lahore), are high, the result of political marginalisation, weak governance, economic neglect and glaring income inequity.

After the December 2014 attack on the Peshawar Army Public School by a Pakistani Taliban faction that killed over 150, mostly children, the civilian and military leadership vowed to eliminate all extremist groups. Yet, the core goal of the counter-terrorism National Action Plan (NAP) it developed  to end distinctions between good jihadists, those perceived to promote strategic objectives in India and Afghanistan, and  bad jihadists, those that target the security forces and other Pakistanis  appears to have fallen by the wayside.

A highly selective approach still characterises the ongoing crackdown on militant outfits in southern Punjab and undermines broader counter-terrorism objectives. While the anti-India Jaish continues to operate freely, paramilitary units use indiscriminate force against local criminal groups, and the Punjab government resorts to extrajudicial killings to eliminate the LeJ leadership and foot soldiers. Overreliance on a militarised counter-terrorism approach based on blunt force might yield short-term benefits but, by undermining rule-of-law and fuelling alienation, will prove counterproductive in the long term.

The lack of progress on other major NAP goals, particularly reform and regulation of the madrasa sector, has especially adverse implications for southern Punjab, with its many Deobandi madrasas. The children of the poor are exposed to sectarian and other radical ideological discourse. The states unwillingness to clamp down on it in sectarian madrasas and mosques so as to counter hate speech and prevent dissemination of hate literature increases the potential for radicalisation in the region.

In the poorest region of the countrys richest and most populous province, where economic hardships are compounded by periodic natural disasters, including droughts and floods that destroy homes and livelihoods, jihadist groups, often with state support, their access being facilitated by the bureaucracy, are given opportunities to win hearts and minds through their charity wings. At the same time, civil society organisations capable of filling the gaps in the states delivery of services are often subjected to restrictions and intimidation.

Despite jihadist inroads, the vast majority in southern Punjab still adhere to more moderate syncretic forms of Islam: Sufism, and Barelvism, with practices and rituals that Deobandis and Wahhabi/Salafis portray as heretic. Yet, a general climate of impunity is encouraging extreme religious, sectarian and gender discrimination and exclusion. If left unchecked, these groups influence will likely spread within and beyond the region.

Lahore and Islamabad should enforce the law against all jihadist organisations, without exception. If they do not, many in southern Punjab may continue to see the rewards of joining such organisations as far outweighing the costs.
Zika cases in Puerto Rico increase

Submitted by: Juana

Caribbean

Health and Medicine

05 / 30 / 2016



The Caribbean island has reported 62 new Zika cases in recent days so the total number of patients increased to 1,170.

The Secretary of the Department of Health, Ana Rius reported that twelve new cases in pregnant women have been confirmed so that rises to 151 pregnant women with the Zika virus in Puerto Rico.

Since the outbreak 30 patients have been hospitalized, 11 have had Guillain Barre syndrome, a person's death was confirmed and an unborn fetus presented microcephaly.

Health authorities are concerned that at least 700,000 people may have Zika in Puerto Rico by the end of the year. With 36 000 pregnant women in the island at this time, experts fear the virus will become a serious emotional and financial problem.

source: www.cibercuba.com
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Boatloads of migrants are picked up by British rescue teams off the Kent and Sussex coast. Asylum seekers smuggle themselves to East Lincolnshire aboard ships from Germany. Calaiss chief coastguard says the Channel is becoming the new Mediterranean.

A confidential National Crime Agency report warns that small, unpoliced ports and marinas around the country are now a wide-open back door into Britain.

And our Border Force admits it has just three boats to patrol 7,700 miles of coastline.

Hundreds of migrants queue up in Italy having arrived on boats from Africa in the past few weeks

In the face of such an obvious fiasco, how can anyone seriously claim Britain is in control of its borders? And what value do official statistics have when we know that for every migrant caught, many more sweep in under the radar then disappear into our thriving black economy?

The migration debate, which the Prime Minister has tried so shamefully to suppress in this EU referendum campaign, exploded on to centre stage yesterday.

In a devastating letter, leading Conservatives Boris Johnson and Michael Gove urged Mr Cameron to admit that his manifesto pledge to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands is impossible while Britain is in the EU.

In a pointed rebuke, they said clinging to this bogus promise was corrosive of public trust in politics.

A woman rescued in the Mediterranean Sea receives medical attention on the Italian Navy ship 'Vega'

And they challenged him to confirm that a remain vote would mean permanently accepting the principle of free movement and the European Courts ultimate authority over who should be allowed to live in this country.

Meanwhile, employment minister Priti Patel piled on the pressure by accusing Remain campaigners  clearly referring to Messrs Cameron and Osborne  of not caring about immigration because they are so rich theyre insulated from its effects.

Its impossible to overstate the seriousness of these charges. For senior ministers and the former London Mayor to make such overt attacks on their leaders integrity is almost unprecedented.

How ironic! Mr Cameron called this referendum to unite the Tories. In fact, the party is more fractured today than ever and its hard to see how it will heal itself without major blood-letting.

In a devastating letter, leading Conservatives Boris Johnson and Michael Gove urged Mr Cameron to admit that his manifesto pledge to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands is impossible while Britain is in the EU

Of course, Mr Cameron has himself to blame for this unholy mess. From trying to sell his feeble attempts at renegotiation as major reforms to suggesting that Brexit could trigger a third world war, he has treated the voters like fools.

Instead of honestly debating the key issues  sovereignty and migration  he has resorted to scaremongering about the supposed economic effects of Brexit.

In doing so, he has sided with the political elite over ordinary working families, whose lives have been radically changed by mass migration, both culturally and because of the unbearable pressures it has placed on public services. Johnson and Gove are spot on in their analysis that this transformation happened without democratic consent.

Of course, Mr Cameron has himself to blame for this unholy mess. From trying to sell his feeble attempts at renegotiation as major reforms to suggesting that Brexit could trigger a third world war, he has treated the voters like fools

They are also right that the only way to stem the migrant flow is to regain control of our borders. For Mr Cameron to pretend that can happen while we remain within the EU insults the intelligence.
How does this end? As the EU referendum draws closer, the most important strategic question in all of politics has barely been asked by the Remain side, let alone answered.

Its as if were a nation of goldfish; as if the key moments in recent British history  Iraq and Afghanistan and the Scottish independence vote  had never happened. As if there isnt at least one glaringly obvious lesson to be learned from all three.

As an approach adopted by grown adults in charge of the fortunes of 64million people, lets win whats in front of us and worry about the rest later is both staggeringly incompetent and breath- takingly irresponsible.

It is perhaps typical of this Prime Minister, who too often does just enough and no more to achieve his goals, and of this Chancellor, myopically obsessed with the next few moves on his chessboard, and of a government that gives the impression of now having no real purpose beyond its own survival, but it is simply not good enough.

It is perhaps typical of this Prime Minister, who too often does just enough and no more to achieve his goals

Remorse

A convincing and sustainable action plan for the referendums aftermath that attempts to address the legitimate concerns of switherers  that tackles the question: how does this end?  could be the key both to winning a narrow contest and to limiting the degree of buyers remorse that will inevitably follow a decision to Remain.

Let me be clear: Ill be voting to stay in the EU, and the polls suggest this is still the most likely outcome of the referendum. But I am considerably less confident of the result than I was in 2014 when my fellow Scots and I took a decision on whether or not to abandon the UK.

Whatever they thought and whatever the odd rogue poll showed, the credulous Yes zealots never had the numbers or the arguments to get them over the line. They partied and bullied their way to failure.

The Brexiteers are, for the most part, a more sober and savvier bunch. They might regularly talk a lot of cobblers, but they can also muster a compelling and logical case that is based on more than cheap grievance and raw identity politics  specifically, about the EUs plentiful flaws and its journey over the past few decades towards an unwanted and uncomfortably intimate level of integration.

The Brexiteers are, for the most part, a more sober and savvier bunch. They might regularly talk a lot of cobblers, but they can also muster a compelling and logical case that is based on more than cheap grievance and raw identity politics

They can point out that if we vote to stay in this apparently faceless, distant and unaccountable club, we will be no more masters of our own destiny on June 24 than we were on June 23, and caught fast in the vice of ever-closer union.

They know that even if they lose the economic argument  and, given the world and its auntie have pointed out the significant risks, Id say they already have  they can fall back on the powerfully emotive issue of immigration.

In the past week there have been reports of up to 700 refugees, mostly from Libya, drowning in three separate incidents as they tried to reach European shores. This grim figure is likely to rise rapidly as we move towards the summer.

The Brexit campaign has cleverly, if disreputably, spread lies about the likelihood of Turkey joining the EU in the near future, with the obvious potential consequences for immigration.

The sexual assaults committed by male African and Arab migrants in Cologne at the turn of the year linger in the memory. All this makes for a toxic and fearful brew, with EU membership and EU failings seen as being at its heart.

There are things that the British Government cannot on its own address and it should not pretend otherwise. The refugee crisis, for example, is a complex geopolitical matter with interlinked causes, the solutions to which rely on supranational co-operation over a prolonged period.

But I have spoken to a fair number of educated, liberal British women who are considering backing Brexit due to fears about the impact of Muslim immigration on hard-won womens rights and the future prospects for their daughters.

The events in Cologne horrified them, as does the fact that some heavily Muslim areas of the UK appear to be effectively closed communities run along the tenets of Sharia law.

There are things that the British Government cannot on its own address and it should not pretend otherwise.

Values

And its not just women  a few years ago a gay friend of mine moved out of his multi-racial East London community, sickened by the increasing number of Gay-Free Zone and accompanying Fear Allah notices springing up on lampposts and in windows. Weve all read about women being told aggressively to cover up by angry young Muslim men.

It might be reasonable for David Cameron to ignore the xenophobes and racists in the Brexit camp, but what does he have to say to people like this? Where is his day-after action plan for, say, effectively delivering greater societal integration and enforcing British values and standards on those who want to live here?

This is just one example of where the Government seems blinded by its fixation on squeaking over the line in June. Its reliance on blood-curdling warnings about Brexit prevents it offering a more practical and thoughtful deal to undecideds who might yet be persuaded that Westminster retains the power and has the intent to address their concerns, whether in relation to equal rights or economic inequality or immigrant gangs or the broad issue of Parliamentary sovereignty.

They want to see the efficacy of domestic political agency  to be shown, as Tony Blair put it in an article yesterday, that Britain is not run by Brussels.

He said: The reason for leaving isnt sovereignty in the manner successive governments in Britain have practised it for decades.

I was Prime Minister for ten years. I cannot think of a single major decision I wanted to take  other than those directly about the EU itself  in which Europe was the determinative factor. Not on tax or spending; the NHS; education reform; university reform; crime; welfare; devolution; war and peace. Not one.

Mr Blair knows, winning the war thats in front of you isnt enough if you havent done the work on what follows

Reputation

As well see when the Chilcot Report is published in a few weeks, and as Mr Blair knows, winning the war thats in front of you isnt enough if you havent done the work on what follows  as he can also testify, failing to have done so can prove rather damaging to a chaps reputation.

Having carried out his vague EU renegotiation in advance, Mr Cameron seems to have decided that the nuts-and-bolts policy bit of the referendum is done and all thats left is sloganeering, posing for the cameras and dreaming up ever more outlandish scare stories.

This approach is only widening the divisions that have opened up in his own party, with public threats of a coup and attacks on his leadership from big guns such as Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.

One unnamed backbencher was yesterday quoted as saying: I dont want to stab the Prime Minister in the back  I want to stab him in the front so I can see the expression on his face. Youd have to twist the knife, though, because we want it back for Osborne.

Mr Cameron doesnt need to sit back and wait for the dagger to plunge, front or back. He put his name to the much-mocked Vow during Scotlands independence referendum, which has since proved to be a strategic masterstroke  the devolution of income tax powers to Holyrood looks likely to transform Scottish politics for the better and pull the rug from under the SNP.

The Prime Minister should (quickly, now) be working up something similar for the aftermath of the EU referendum, behind which he can build a coalition of moderate Brexiteers and Remainers.

Not only might this help sideline the screeching Tory ninnies who are demanding his head regardless of the result, it would show that politics and politicians can still make a difference.
Many babies and young children struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep for long periods of time, but now there's a doll that can help.

The doll plays a heartbeat and breathing sounds to emulate the experience of children sleeping next to a carer.

It was developed by mother and psychologist Eyrun Eggertsdottir, who studied research on co-sleeping and then had the idea to create the doll for parents who can't always co-sleep with their children.

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Sleepy time: Lulla dolls (above) have a heartbeat and play breathing sounds to help comfort children

Comfort: The dolls have been designed to emulate the experience of children co-sleeping with carer

'[The Lulla doll] has real-life recording of the breathing and heartbeat of a mother at rest. Lulla's aim is to help babies stabilize their own breathing and heartbeat, resulting in longer and better quality sleep as well as added security,' the Lulla Doll site explains.

Ms Eggertsdottir, from Reykjavik, Iceland, worked with hospitals and researchers to perfect the doll, before starting a crowdfunding campaign in 2014 to fund the production of the dolls.

The campaign raised more than the amount required, and now the dolls have been so popular they are sold out worldwide.

Brilliant: Mother Eyrun Eggertsdottir created the dolls after doing research on the benefits of co-sleeping

Raising money: Ms Eggertsdottir started a crowdfunding campaign to produce the dolls, which are now sold all over the world

One of the places they have been most popular is Australia, according to Michelle Green who sells the dolls on Sleep Tight Babies.

Ms Green imported the dolls from Iceland after buying one for her own child. Her daughter Poppy was three and sleeping poorly, coming into her bedroom four times a week during the night.

Ms Green gave Poppy a Lulla Doll, telling her it to cuddle it if she woke up in the middle of the night.

'She bonded with the doll immediately,' Ms Green said. 'That was the last time she came into our room during the night.'

Convinced: Mum Michelle Green started importing the dolls into Australia after she bought one for her three-year-old daughter Poppy

It works! Ms Green's daughter used to come into her room four times a week druing the night, but after using the Lulla doll stays in her own bed

Ms Green said that she thinks the dolls are fantastic. They run for eight hours, and in her experience really do help comfort children.

'Not all mums can co-cleep,' she explained. 'But this is a way to get the benefits of co-sleeping. It's also a great way to transition a baby from a cot to bed.'
A cancer sufferer has been left humiliated after staff at a government office forced her to remove her scarf and display her bald head as she posed for a new drivers licence photo.

Christine McCluskey lost her hair as a result of chemotherapy treatment for lung cancer, but was still forced to bare her skull for the photo at a Western Australia Department of Transport office, because government regulations say only religious headwear such as a hijab can remain on.

The 63-year-old grandmother explained her situation and pleaded with staff behind the counter of the office in Mandurah, south of Perth, but told Channel Nine that her pleas fell on deaf ears.

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Humiliated: Cancer sufferer Christine McCluskey was forced to take off her hat style scarf at a before having her drivers licence photo taken at a Department of Transport office in Mandurah, Western Australia

'(I was told) you have to remove your hat and I said, "but I have no hair" and she said, "Im sorry but you have to remove your hat,"' Ms McCluskey said.

'There was no privacy, everybody could see. It was quite embarrassing.'

If Ms McCluskey's cancer battle wasn't enough, this latest incident has left her and daughter Alysha Lawrence distraught.

'Shes my world and just seeing her have to struggle like that and have to put on a brave face all the time (is hard),' Ms Lawrence said.

'If someone else cannot have to go through that than its well worth it.'

Embarassed: The 63-year-old grandmother pleaded with staff at the office but was forced to remove her head wear and show off her bald head. Only religious items such as hijabs can be worn during a licence photo

Struggle: Ms McCluskey's daughter Alysha Lawrence (left) said the incident had sadened her and only added to the struggles her mother was facing

Ms McCluskey has described her ordeal as 'disgusting' and says she now wants to focus on ensuring it doesn't happen to anyone else in her position.

'It is a disgusting thing, it doesnt matter why youve got no hair,' she said.

'They need to change it, not just for me but for everybody who goes through chemotherapy and has to have a photo taken.'

The Department of Transport has launched a review of both Ms McCluskey's incident and the wider policy, with WA Transport Minister Dean Nalder saying peoples dignity needs to be respected.
On Saturday, father-of-two, Brad Kearns rushed home from work after his wife Sarah was admitted to hospital for a failing liver.

Mrs Kearns' admission meant that Mr Kearns, 27, needed to head home from work, take on the role of 'mum' and take care of his two sons aged six weeks and two.

The doting father shared a lighthearted yet very honest post about his experience on Facebook - a post that his since received over 13,000 likes and been praised by thousands of parents the world over.

Being mum: On Saturday, father-of-two, Brad Kearns rushed home from work after his wife Sarah was admitted to hospital for a failing liver... and he was required to be a mum for the day

Raw: He shared a lighthearted yet very honest post about his experience on Facebook - a post that his since received over 18,000 likes and been praised by thousands of parents the world over, the rest can be read here

Admiring his wife: Mr Kearns explained how he rushed out of work and that because he was a dad, he gets '40 + hours of respite per week under the socially acceptable provisor "supporting the family"

'Today I had to be the mum... You know when your wife always says "I wish I could be the dad" and you're like... It's the same thing,' Mr Kearns, from Tuggerah, New South Wales, wrote.

'Well sit back, relax, grab a drink, some popcorn, clear your schedule and hold onto your bootlaces because I'm about to take you on a ride that could only be likened to a backwards 100mph roller coaster that takes you through waterfalls of vomit, s**t and lots of tears.

'And once you're finished with yours you will move onto the children's.'

Honest: Mr Kearns went on to detail how the day played out - from the 'trashed' living quarters and 'rations reduced to tiny teddies' to his 'roaring' two-year-old Knox and 'crying' six-week-old Finn

Adorable: He also explained how he spent two hours 'in a spiral of insomnia induced hallucinations' and how, when he opened the door to his mother-in-law, he knew he was 'defeated'

Mr Kearns explained how he rushed out of work and that because he was a dad, he gets '40 + hours of respite per week under the socially acceptable provisor "supporting the family" while mum continues doing what women seem to so effortlessly do.'

'"My liver has failed" read the text message from Sarah. And that's when I became the mum. It's now been 24 hours...,' he wrote.

'I feel like the Law & Order scene change beat would be appropriate about now.'

Mr Kearns went on to detail how the day played out - from the 'trashed' living quarters and 'rations reduced to tiny teddies' to his 'roaring' two-year-old Knox and 'crying' six-week-old Finn.

Learning: 'When I visited her in hospital yesterday we had a laugh about the difference it was for me and Sarah said "you should do updates on Facebook so you remember how hard it is",' Mr Kearns said

'As the night rolls on and my patience wears thin; I reduce myself to keeping Knox quiet by allowing him to place stickers on my (very hairy) legs,' he wrote.

He then detailed the 'amazing' way babies sleep before they 'scream from the high heavens as if I've thrown him at a wall by his legs.'

He also explained how he spent two hours 'in a spiral of insomnia induced hallucinations' and how, when he opened the door to his mother-in-law, he knew he was 'defeated.'

'Unshaven, hair a mess, wearing the pants and socks from the day before and a hoodie covering up the fact I had no shirt on. Hadn't showered, not yet brushed my teeth, Knox comes running out in his sleeping bag asking for a new Yoghurt muesli bar to be opened,' he wrote.

'Failed': 'Unshaven, hair a mess, wearing the pants and socks from the day before and a hoodie covering up the fact I had no shirt on,' he wrote

'I open the door to her to reveal the fact that knox's noodles were still in a bowl on the table, stickers stuck to the goddamn lounge, the house an absolute mess... That was only 16 hours of being a mum. And I failed.'

Mr Kearns plans on updating his new followers on day two via his new account Dad Mum Life.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Mr Kearns said he was surprised by the positive and overwhelming response from people on social media.

'Sarah and I have been together since 18 and married since 21. We have two sons but have had three as our first son was stillborn. I place a lot of emphasis on family which is why I left the army and began working on the front desk of Fitness First,' he said.

Proud: 'So when I posted for one of the first times since my change and it gained reactions it was actually really encouraging to see,' he said

'Sarah's been sick on and off since giving birth six weeks ago and I haven't been home enough (early start and late finish) because I'm still in my probation of my new role and need to make an impact.

'The fall back of this is Sarah's been going through this daily struggle without me whilst she was sick. When it got back to us that Sarah's liver was failing and the pains were there for a reason she had to go to hospital and I had to come home.'

Mr Kearns said he has finally been able to see what he has been missing and how hard it has been for his wife.

'The thing is I'm not even sick. So when I visited her in hospital yesterday we had a laugh about the difference it was for me and Sarah said "you should do updates on Facebook so you remember how hard it is",' Mr Kearns explained.

Good distraction: 'Sarah is just happy to have a laugh. She's in a lot of mothers groups where it's gaining attention so she's really excited. She said "it's a distraction",' he said

'Which is what I am now going to do. It was just for our laugh but when friends asked to change the privacy so they could share it just went gangbusters.

'When you leave a government service and fight your way back into the real world you almost feel less than you did before. So when I posted for one of the first times since my change and it gained reactions it was actually really encouraging to see.'

Mr Kearns said most of the comments have been mothers tagging a father who is in a similar position and that the support, from both the community and Sarah, has been strong.

Positive: Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Mr Kearns said he was surprised by the positive and overwhelming response from people on social media

'Sarah is just happy to have a laugh. She's in a lot of mothers groups where it's gaining attention so she's really excited. She said "it's a distraction",' he said.

'So although I can't be there while I'm here with the boys at least I know it's helping a bit.'

Mr Kearns said he can't reveal too much about how he managed on Sunday night but that he did get a roast done and that everyone managed to shower.
The Baby Business: Four Corners will air at 8.30pm on Monday on ABC

People are also undergoing fertility treatment when they might not need it

Women over 45 years old have only a 1.1 per cent of having an IVF baby

They revealed women are being misled about the success rates of IVF

Many women see IVF treatment as their last hope of falling pregnant.

But an investigation by ABC's Four Corners has revealed that for women over 40-years-old the chances of having a baby through IVF using their own fresh eggs are slim to none.

In fact, Australian women over 45 only have a 1.1 per cent chance of having a baby through IVF treatment.

The truth behind IVF: An investigation by ABC'S Four Corners has looked in to whether women are being misled about the success rates of fertility treatment

Slim chance: Australian women over 45 only have a 1.1 per cent chance of having a baby through IVF treatment

According to The Baby Business, a Four Corners segment which will air on Monday at 8.30pm, Australian women are being misled about the success rates of IVF.

Numbers obtained by Four Corners show the chances of having a live delivery through an IVF treatment cycle that uses a woman's own fresh eggs, not ones that have been been frozen and stored, are minimal.

And as women get older their chances of a live birth are further reduced, with women aged between 41 and 42 years old having a 5.8 per cent chance and women aged 43-44 a 2.7 per cent chance of having a live birth per initiated cycle.

Speaking out: IVF pioneer Alan Trounson told the ABC clinics needed to inform people of the success rates of having a baby as opposed to falling pregnant

Unclear: Currently there is no standardised way to report success rates in Australia, which means IVF clinics have different ways of defining pregnancy

IVF pioneer Alan Trounson told the ABC that clinics needed to inform people of the success rates of having a baby, as opposed to falling pregnant, as not all pregnancies are successful.

'What you need to know is the probability of having a baby, because you didn't come in to get pregnant, you came in to have a baby,' he said.

Currently there is no standardised way to report success rates in Australia, which means IVF clinics have different ways of defining pregnancy and women are unable to draw accurate comparisons between clinics.

For the money? Professor Rob Norman believes some women are undergoing fertility treatment when they don't need it

The investigation also looked in to whether fertility treatment is being overused, something Fertility specialist Professor Rob Norman believes could be the case.

'I think some people are getting IVF who shouldn't be getting it,' he told the ABC.

'I think with the commercialisation of IVF, there's a pressure in every single clinic to use IVF more, and IVF brings in more money for a clinic.'

Professor Norman is currently conducting a study, and estimated 40 to 50 per cent of women could fall pregnant without the use of IVF by tracking their cycle and understanding their fertility window, addressing their weight and exercise or having ovulation induction.

Cashing in: 'I think with the commercialisation of IVF that's occurring, there's a pressure in every single clinic to use IVF more, and IVF brings in more money for a clinic,' Professor Norman said

Heartache: 'Sometimes I feel like I'm a fraud of a woman. I look like one, but my body just isn't doing what I want it to do, which is to fall pregnant and have a child,' Grace said

Four Corners spoke with a number of women undergoing IVF, including 42-year-old Grace who has gone through six unsuccessful rounds of fertility treatment.

'Sometimes I feel like I'm a fraud of a woman. I look like one, but my body just isn't doing what I want it to do, which is to fall pregnant and have a child,' she said.

'One of the hardest things is knowing when to get off the bus, like knowing when to stop, because I think there's that 'what if it's this next time', one more time?'
A mother who was rushed to hospital after a serious car crash with her newborn baby refused strong painkillers for more than four hours so she could breastfeed her daughter.

Danni Bett was travelling with two-month-old Indi on the outskirts of Christchurch, New Zealand, when she lost control of her vehicle and smashed into a metal fence, 'totalling' the car.

The impact of the terrifying crash left Ms Bett in a neck-brace, but with her motherly instincts still fully intact, telling Stuff.co.nz she just wanted to comfort her baby.

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Incredible: Danni Bett went without strong painkilling medication for more than four hours after a serious car accident so that she could breastfeed her newborn daughter Indi in hospital

'All I could say was, "Get my baby out, she's in the car, get my baby". I was in so much shock,' Ms Bett said.

Amazingly, Indi slept throughout the crash and only woke when onlookers came to help the pair, before paramedics arrived to take both mother and daughter to Christchurch Hospital.

With the shock of the incident and concern for her child at the top of her initial concerns, it wasn't until Ms Bett stepped into the ambulance that she noticed a shooting pain down her neck, back and through her hips.

Regardless, she refused strong pain killers for four hours as she underwent X-Rays, ultrasounds and other tests, just so she could breastfeed her daughter.

Adorable: Ms Bett and daughter Indi were reunited hours after the crash on a stretcher at Christchurch Hospital, something the mother described as 'instant relief'

Upon being wheeled back to her room she pleaded with the nurse to let her feed Indi, but it was instead suggested the newborn be fed by bottle.

But a determined Ms Bett persisted and was eventually allowed to see her crying daughter, reunited on a hospital stretcher.

'It was instant relief,' she said.

'I wanted her, I wanted to calm her. After a traumatic day as it is, to give her that (a bottle) would not be right. (Breastfeeding) is the best for her and I had that.'

Inspiration: Ms Bett posted the amazing photo of her breastfeeding her daughter in hospital on Facebook in an effort to inspire other mothers to breastfeed their children whenever or wherever they need

A hospital nurse captured the special moment in an amazing photograph, which Ms Bett then shared on Facebook.

She said she hoped the photo would inspire other breastfeeding mothers 'to feed our babies whenever, wherever', whether in public or a hospital bed.
The model is setting out to change perceptions about body image

A woman who lost her leg to bone cancer is not letting that get her down as she sets out to change perceptions about body image.

Jess Quinn, 23, lost her leg to bone cancer when she was just nine-years-old.

'Growing up and not being able to do the things I wanted, it got me down. I've had to find new ways of doing things.'

On top of her modelling work, Ms Quinn is also training to run a 10k race by the end of the year.

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Jess Quinn, 23, is setting out to change perceptions about body image after losing her leg to bone cancer when she was nine years old

With over 55,000 followers on Instagram, the New Zealand native told Daily Mail Australia that she's blown away by the response to her photoshoot for her blog Limbitless.

'I've never considered my cancer story any different but I am starting to realise how my outlook on life can help, people thrive on the real stories.

'I want to reach out,not just people with disabilities but also anyone living with insecurities.

'That's my goal, to help everyone from young and old to male or female. I don't want to put myself in a category.'

It's not been as easy journey for the model who found the process of using a prosthesis overwhelming.

'It was hard getting used to the prosthetic, I had expected to jump on it and be sweet. I didnt realise the amount of work going into it, it was quite shocking.'

'I'm still trying to figure it out now, it's one of those ongoing things.'

The New Zealander has over 55,000 followers on Instagram and wants to reach out, not just people with disabilities but also anyone living with insecurities

The 23-year-old was blown away by the response to her photoshoot for her blog Limbitless

The 23-year-old isn't letting the challenge slow her down and is setting a goal of running a 10k by the end of the year

The Auckland beauty ordered blade runners and trains with them in the evenings

The 23-year-old isn't letting the challenge slow her down and is setting a goal of running a 10k by the end of the year.

'I've always been really into health and fitness, even as a kid. After the surgery I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to run again.'

The Auckland beauty ordered blade runners in the hope she could do it. She does blade training in the evenings and says working with the prosthesis is 'amazing' and recently began training outside.

'It's go big or go home for me, the furthest Ive ran is 600m and Im already planning a 10k.'




Author Lionel Shriver said she had known since the mere age of eight that she didn't want children

The NHS should not fund fertility treatment because parenthood is not a human right, a leading author has claimed.

Lionel Shriver wrote the novel We Need To Talk About Kevin - where a woman's son becomes a mass murderer - which was later turned into a film.

Ms Shriver has been vocal about her desire not to have children, saying she had known from the age of eight - not least because of the detrimental effect parenting had on her own mother.

Speaking at the Hay literary festival, she told the Daily Telegraph: 'I have advocated for a long time that I think in order for the NHS to survive, it has to shrink its core purpose down to the curing of disease and not the curing of dissatisfaction.

'That means parenthood is not a right, and it's an economic issue.'

She added: 'It's not because I hate children. It's a powerful human drive which I seem to have been deprived of and I am sympathetic to it.'

The author, who was born in North Carolina, was publicising her new book, The Mandibles - a story of a future America and its economic downfall.

The 59-year-old said watching her mother's life made her realise having children made life far from glamourous - and gave a young woman little time to experience the fun - or indeed finer - things in life.

Ms Shiver explained her mother had been furious to discover she was pregnant just weeks after marrying in the 1950s.

She told The Guardian earlier this year: 'After one of those rare 1950s weddings between bona fide virgins, she had barely sampled the pleasures that legitimacy afforded, and three was a crowd.

'Her spitting indignation at the doctor's office became the stuff of family myth.'

Yet rather than be horrified, Ms Shriver almost applauds her mother's honesty.

'Nowadays, for a mother to openly allow that her offspring was an unwanted intrusion into her marriage would probably be considered child abuse... you are expected to bury your real feelings.

Ms Shriver wrote the novel We Need To Talk About Kevin - where a woman's son becomes a mass murderer - and which was later turned into a film starring Tilda Swinton and Jasper Newell

'Indeed, one of the things that has put me off having children is motherhood's unwritten gag law.

'While we may have taken the lid off sex, it is still out of bounds to say that you do not like your own kids, that the sacrifices they have demanded are unbearable, or that, perish the thought, you wish you had never had them.'

Writing for the paper, she said: 'Given my mother's - let's use a gentle word - ambivalence over her own first pregnancy, it is little wonder that she took me aside when I was in my mid-30s, and had just fallen in love.

'She warned me if we decided to have a child, motherhood would "completely transform" my relationship. Though she did not spell it out, there was no question that she meant for the worse. '
A one-year-old boy in India who developed pubic hair and sexual urges has been diagnosed with a rare hormonal condition.

The toddler, known only as Akash, was found to have the testosterone level of a 25-year-old.

This meant he had adult-sized genitalia, facial and body hair and his voice was starting to break.

Doctors now say he is suffering from precocious puberty - defied as any child who goes through puberty before the age of seven or eight.

The toddler, known only as Akash, was found to have the testosterone levels of a 25-year-old. This meant he had adult-sized genitalia, facial and body hair and his voice was starting to break (file image)

Akash's parents first noticed something was wrong six months ago.

His genitals were growing abnormally big, while the rest of his body was too small compared to other children his age.

The child's unnamed mother told the Hindustan Times: 'We thought maybe he was just a big baby, so we did not take him to the doctor.

'But by the time he was one, it was apparent there was something wrong.

'My mother-in-law, who has taken care of several children in the family, also said that his growth seemed unnatural. That is when we took him to the doctor.'

Precocious puberty is a rare condition. The youngest mother on record, Lina Medina, gave birth at the age of five years and seven months in Peru in 1939, and became an international celebrity at the time.

Her parents had assumed her growing abdomen was due to a tumour. But when remedies failed to cure it, her father took her to hospital.

Just one month later she astounded the world by giving birth to a boy - and becoming the the youngest mother in history aged just five years and seven months.

Akash's doctor, Vaishakhi Rustagi, told the Hindustan Times: 'Precocious puberty is traumatic for a child of his age and it makes them violent - his muscle strength increased to a level that even his parents couldn't control him.'

Another danger is that the child will stop growing prematurely, therefore remaining 3-4ft tall for life.

The toddler has now been given medication to relieve his symptoms - at least until he is old enough to understand his condition, doctors said.
Too often, both doctors and patients fail to appreciate how much uncertainty there is about the benefits of tests and treatments - and this can lead to unnecessary harm. That's the suggestion in a new book by Steven Hatch, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Massachusetts in the U.S., who says we need to properly weigh up the risks and benefits before we make decisions about our healthcare.

Picture a game where you have to identify snowballs thrown from 100 ft away in the midst of a raging blizzard.

You don't know how many will be thrown, how often or how fast. You must simply look into the whiteness and decide whether you see randomness or something worthy of attention.

Too often, both doctors and patients fail to appreciate how much uncertainty there is about the benefits of tests and treatments - and this can lead to unnecessary harm, says professor Steven Hatch

This concept has a special resonance in medicine, for it is how radiologists often describe the challenge of detecting a breast tumour on a mammogram.

Mammography does not give black-and-white answers, but is quite literally a grey technology - images produced by an X-ray of the human body show up as various shades of grey.

Separating cancer from non-cancer is not as simple as is commonly thought, and the interpretation can depend upon whose eyes are doing the reading.

DOCTORS AREN'T ROCKET SCIENTISTS

It's not just mammograms (a subject I will revisit shortly) - looking for a snowball in a blizzard is a useful metaphor for uncertainty, which is pervasive in medicine.

It may surprise you to learn doctors do not often 'know' what they are doing with the same mathematical precision we associate with rocket scientists or chemical engineers. A diagnosis is often a conjecture; a prognosis typically less certain than that.

See it as a spectrum of certainty - on the left is the ideal, where we have a high level of confidence that we really know something and that this something indicates clear benefits. For example, there is overwhelming evidence that vaccination saves lives and is associated with almost no harm.

Doctors do not often 'know' what they are doing with the same mathematical precision we associate with rocket scientists or chemical engineers. A diagnosis is often a conjecture [file photo]

On the centre-left of the spectrum might lie the treatments that we are reasonably confident have real benefits. For instance, some diabetes drugs save lives, but several have pretty serious side-effects, so we can't assure every patient they will be beneficial.

Approaching the middle is the realm of pure speculation, where evidence is contradictory or lacking altogether. For example, much current research is devoted to the impact of the gut microbiome - the billions of bacteria in our intestines - on human behaviour, though exactly what is happening is anyone's guess.

Towards the right side is where we become more certain again, this time about the harms of a drug or diagnostic approach.

Finally, the far right side is where we're quite confident that a practice is harmful - such as taking antibiotics long-term with no evidence of bacterial infection.

I would argue that uncertainty is the great unspoken secret of medicine, and by ignoring it we do real harm to ourselves.

'RISKY' CLOTS THAT MAY NOT HURT YOU

As many as one in every three women told they had invasive breast cancer in fact had no cancer at all

Possibly the most important real-world example of this misguided faith in certainty is when we find a disease that isn't a disease - or overdiagnosis.

Take a blood clot on the lungs, a pulmonary embolism (PE). Potentially life-threatening, they are difficult to detect because their very nonspecific symptoms - such as fever or rapid heart rate - can be confused with other conditions.

And until the Nineties, there was no reliable test for them. Then came CT pulmonary angiography, which provides a detailed picture of the lungs and their blood supply, and in just eight years the incidence of PEs nearly doubled.

However, the death rate hardly budged during this time. The CT enabled us to find many PEs, but those we have found largely haven't helped prevent death.

Moreover, any treatment comes with risks of harm - blood-thinning medication for PE, for example, carries potential side-effects such as uncontrolled bleeding.

We've created technologies that are ever more sensitive at detecting abnormalities we call cancer

THE CASE AGAINST CANCER SCREENING

The same problem exists with conditions such as prostate and breast cancer.

An analysis of U.S. cancer statistics from the Seventies to early this century shows that several cancers have remarkably similar patterns.

The number of diagnoses year after year tends to rise, while the rate of death remains basically the same. Why? It's almost certainly because we've created technologies that are ever more sensitive at detecting abnormalities we call cancer.

At cell level they are cancers, but not the kind of cancers that threaten lives - basically 'cancer' that isn't cancer in the way doctors and patients understand the term.

I would argue that the practice of using mammograms to screen otherwise healthy women under the age of 50 (ie, those with no symptoms such as lumps) may be on the centre-right spectrum of certainty.

In other words, there is a minimal to moderate amount of evidence that mammography in this group is harmful - in addition to the stress of a false-positive mammogram, there are more sinister complications, such as unnecessary mastectomies, chemotherapy and radiation.

One of the more sobering assessments came in 2004, when Scandinavian researchers estimated that as many as one in every three women told they had invasive breast cancer in fact had no cancer at all.

Overdiagnosis also affects cancer survival rates. If you are alive and cancer-free five years from your initial diagnosis, you are considered cured.

Yet if twice as many people are diagnosed with a given cancer, but the death rate from that cancer remains unchanged, the five-year survival rate will appear to double, making the screen look like an even better bargain.

THE TRUTH ABOUT DEPRESSION PILLS

The issue of uncertainty can be seen in common treatments, too.

Take SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) for depression. Their effectiveness is often measured using a 'rating scale' - where a patient's responses to questions suggestive of depression are given points. The worse the symptoms, the more points.

It's much harder to distinguish mild from moderate, and moderate from severe, during tests for depression

A depression scale can be fuzzy and subjective, but one can still separate those who are not depressed from those who are severely depressed with great confidence.

Unfortunately, it's much harder to distinguish mild from moderate, and moderate from severe. And that fact becomes very important when we consider the value of SSRIs.

Taken as a group, most studies have shown they produce a mild clinical benefit, while those with high scores (ie, those more depressed) tend to reap the biggest benefits.

Patients should ask their doctor lots of questions, not only about the benefits but the risks of treatment

Yet this hasn't stopped SSRIs from being marketed as something of a panacea, with approximately one in 15 Britons taking an antidepressant. And once patients start an antidepressant, they tend to stay on it.

Whether there are any discernible benefits for patients is less clear - long-term use of antidepressants is very much in the middle of the spectrum in terms of benefits.

Drugs are neither miracles nor curses - they are both. Their value can be properly assessed when the size of the benefit is weighed against the risks of their use.

Patients should therefore ask their doctor lots of questions, not only about the benefits but the risks of treatment, and the consequences of declining it.

Another useful question is: how many people like me need to take this drug before one life is saved?

The more you read about statistics and probability, the better you will become at grasping what's really at stake with any medical recommendation.
Experts have panned the draft anti-trafficking Bill released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), claiming it is toothless and brings nothing new to the table.

The draft of the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill 2016 was released by WCD minister Maneka Gandhi, but got the thumbs down from those working against human trafficking.

The Bill has features similar to the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956, which it is meant to improve upon.

Women rescued from the clutches of human traffickers (picture for representation only)

The similarities include mandatory registration for placement agencies, the very hub of human trafficking.

The new Bill proposes mandatory registration of placement agencies, but registration of these agencies is already mandatory. There are still lakhs of illegal placement agencies trafficking women and children for domestic and sex work without any tab, said Ranjana Kumari, director, Centre for Social Research.

Interestingly, the government has proposed a new fund for the welfare and rehabilitation of victims - but it is not explained how this would be used.

The Bill says the amount would be credited to the fund through voluntary donations, contributions, or subscriptions made by any individual or organisation.

There is no clarity on this fund such as what would be the amount, who will manage it, how would it used categorically etc. We are afraid that it would also have the same fate as Nirbhaya fund which still remains unutilised, said Kumari.

Maneka Gandhi, while releasing the Bill, said the draft Bill plugs loopholes in existing laws and brings within its fold additional crimes pertaining to trafficking which dont find a place in the existing laws.

Protocols will also be worked out for those trafficked from other countries.

Women's activists have called the Bill unrealistic.
The India-Bangladesh border along Assam will be sealed by the end of this year, putting an end to the menace of infiltration, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary and Assam in-charge Ram Madhav told Mail Today.

The border will be jointly patrolled by the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and the Border Security Force (BSF) of India.

Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal had made a similar announcement, asserting that infiltration will be completely plugged in two years. The move will fulfil the BJPs major poll promise.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav said a lot of the border has already been sealed after the Indo-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement

The party contested the recent elections primarily on issues of infiltration and illegal Bangladeshi migrants damaging the cultural identity and demography of the state.

Ramifications

The victory in Assam has ramifications which are ideological, local, and national as well as international. We promised two things in the elections: development and the security of the identity, honour and culture of Assam, which has been facing the perennial problem of infiltration. A lot of the border had been sealed post Indo-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement, and the remaining will be sealed by 2016, said Madhav.

The BJP leader also said action would soon begin against illegal migrants living in the state.

The National Register of Citizens of India (NRC), which is under preparation, will be completed soon and then the state can take legal action, though it cannot deport them, as it is the domain of the Union government, Madhav said.

The party general secretary, a former RSS functionary, said that the BJPs victory has come at an opportune time as far as national politics is concerned.

At the national level, the victory came at the right time. It has been a gift to the PM on the second anniversary of BJPs coming to power. The victory has changed the mood of the entire country since many had started thinking that BJP was on the downhill slide, Madhav said.

Madhav also stressed the international implications impinging on the BJPs Assam conquest.

The victory was important for our Look East or Act East policy as Northeast is a geostrategic territory. We can connect India by land to countries as far as Malaysia and even Singapore.

Will Assam be declared a Tribal State? Madhav refused to give a definitive answer, though he indicated it was a strong possibility.

Such a decision comes only with the census, which is up for 2021. There are six communities that are asking for the status of Scheduled Tribe and their demand is genuine. If the status is bestowed on them, then if the overall population allows for such a status of the state as per the next census, a Constitutional process will be followed. The matter is being followed up by the home ministry, he said.

The chief architect of the BJPs victory, Madhav said he had his eyes on the upcoming assembly polls in Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura in 2017 and Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland in 2019.

We have already formed a non-Congress alliance in the Northeast. The alliance goes by the name of North East Democratic Alliance, Madhav said.

Meanwhile Madhav, also credited with the formation of the BJP-PDP government in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), said that though radicalism within the youth of the valley had raised its head currently, the security establishment had handled it effectively and in a tough manner.

On the issue of the relocation of Kashmiri Pundits, Madhav said the state government was committed, but the issue had been twisted by rumours.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn't think much of 'the rule of law.'

During his time as Chief Minister, Modi famously took pot-shots at the judiciary, which had exposed communal violence in Gujarat.

His attitude was no different at the inaugural session of the Joint Conference of chief ministers and chief justices.

Justice Thakur was brought to tears at the Joint Conference of chief ministers and chief justices

Issues

The strength of the judiciary depends on the money provided by the Union and state governments.

The new appointments are not being processed, and despite the victory in the NJAC case giving primacy to the collegiums in making judicial appointments, the files are not moving with the necessary speed.

The executive is never impolite, but always holds the upper card.

Modis haughty intervention: "Jab jago tab savera?" was both an indictment and offensive.

Who was to wake up? The judiciary? The Chief Justice of India?

Modi made the promise of an in camera meeting to resolve issues. Why doesnt he resolve these issues? The judiciary is not asking him for a personal favour.

Chief Justices of India speak for the judiciary - and Justice Thakur was brought to tears because his concerns overwhelmed him, as they do the judiciary.

After Justice Sabharwal, there was a lull in judicial statesmanship. Although loose allegations against Sabharwal CJ were irresponsible, his successors invited questions.

Modi has been encouraged to work with the judiciary over the enormous number of pending cases

What if I told you a clerk once wrote a judgment I saw? Another, earlier Chief Justice, could not dictate judgments in court. They were incompetent administrators. Both were political appointments.

The advent of Justice Lodha changed things. He appointed two members from the Bar to the Supreme Court and sorted out many things. Justice Dattu carried some of the momentum, but not all.

Chief Justice Thakur rose to the challenge with great assiduity. The problem posed by him is pre-eminently one of resources. Given Indias 1.2 billion people, Thakurs conservative estimate was that the present strength of 22,000 in the higher judiciary was not enough and there is a need for 40,000  in other words double the budget to increase these numbers.

I would put the need on the basis of my research at 60,000.

The judiciary does not raise revenue. There are court fees, and of course stamp fees which are gobbled by the government and not credited to the judiciary.

CJI Thakur also wants substantive increases for the lower judiciary. That money will come from chief ministers.

It is impossible to get substantial funds for the High Courts and lower courts.

Thakur CJ recounted that the Law Commission in 1987 and a Parliamentary Committee in 2002 said that instead of 10 judges for every million people, the figure should be 50.

Choice

India is not a fair tale, the judiciary is not Cinderella, and Modi and Jaitley are not fairy godmothers.

So what can the judiciary do?

That is why CJI Thakur said: I beseech you to rise to the occasion and realise, it is not enough to criticise. You cannot shift the burden to the judiciary... Inaction by the government and the increase does not take place.

Chief Justice Thakur was brought to tears because his concerns overwhelmed him, as they do the judiciary

The frustration of the moment overtook him and he shed a tear, and this attracted the media more than the cause he was espousing.

So, the controversy became why did the Chief Justice cry? Or even, was it dignified for the Chief Justice to cry?

The question should have been: What was the Chief Justice crying about? He was crying about the impossibility of justice unless the executive was serious about solving it.

Till recently, the short fall in the Supreme Court was 9 and 464 in the High Courts.

There should be 20,358 subordinate courts. There are only 15,360 with a deficit of 49,938.

According to Dakshs research, the average number of hearings per judge in the high court per day is colossal: 149 in Patna, 148 in Calcutta, 109 in Telangana and Andhra, Rajasthans 97 may be compared with Allahabads 77.

Hurried justice is no justice at all. These figures are abysmal.

Final hearings are reduced. The length taken to decide cases increases.

Judges of the Supreme Court hear cases during the day, write judgments in the evening, and read briefs for the next day.

What they produce is reasoned and closely argued. This is why the rule of law survives and lives on a tender thread.

Law

We think the rule of law is just a phrase. But imagine a democracy without the rule of law. Many such countries are failed states.

A major reason for this is that rule of law institutions are deprived of finances, resources, and respect.

Indians should begin to recognise that many parts of India constitute failed states - not because of Maoists and terrorists, but because of endemic decay in governance.

No account of false pride in India as a democracy can hide this process of degeneration.

If politicians and bureaucrats are the custodians of the democratic and instrumental texts of governance, the judiciary is the custodian of the rule of law texts.

As part of the rule of law, the judiciarys job is to have the final say in interpreting the Constitution.

Parliament runs into rowdy sessions. The executive thinks it is a law unto itself. But the buck stops with the judiciary which is over-worked, underpaid but respected by the people.

A new mechanism for resolving Executive Judiciary is urgently needed.

Why did the Chief Justice weep? Not for himself but for the future of Indian democracy and lack of cooperation by the executive including PM Modi.
The Narendra Modi government is considering incentivising the use of plastic money for business transactions.

On May 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi argued for moving towards a cashless society to increase transparency and curb black money culture.

A senior official said the finance ministry is looking at ways to promote the use of cards, including credit and debit cards.

Modi plans to promote credit and debit card use to curb black money in business. According to an estimate, only five per cent of the total business transactions take place through digital platforms.

Not charging any transaction fee or a minimum possible fee is one of the options. Tax rebates can be given to those who use cards in place of cash. It also includes installing more point of sales (PoS) machines, said the finance ministry official.

Last year, a committee was constituted in this regard. The panel prepared a draft proposal to make digital transactions easier.

Another committee was set up recently to expedite the process.

According to an estimate, only five per cent of the total business transactions take place through digital platforms.

Latest data reveals that there are approximately 24.5 million credit cards, and 661.8 million debit cards in the country, but only 1.3 million PoS terminals.

The committee's draft proposal argues in favour of building a history of transactions to enable improved credit access, and financial inclusion.

There would also be benefits for reducing the cost of managing cash in the economy.

According to the draft proposal, the government plans to take measures to promote the use of plastic money.

Firstly, getting rid of the convenience fee charged by the government departments for various payments and utilities.

Secondly, reducing the merchant discount rate on card transactions.

And thirdly, lowering mobile payment costs to increasing the annual reportable limit of credit card transactions.

Tax benefits could also be provided to merchants for accepting electronic payments.

An appropriate tax rebate could be extended to a merchant if at least say 50 per cent value of the transactions is through electronic means, said an official.

The measures also include mandating setting of high value transactions of, say, more than Rs 1 lakh, only by electronic means.

The banks are generally charging 0.75 per cent to 1 per cent on debit cards and up to 2 per cent on credit card usage which is most discouraging.

The government might take initiatives to advise banks not to charge any transaction cost but rather each use of digital payment may earn cashback reward to the user.

Similarly, rebate in various taxes can be given to all such users who opt for digital payments, added the official.

The draft policy also said that Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) charge of Rs.1.50 per transaction for encouraging mobile banking or cashless transactions could be reduced by the telecom companies.

Cashback to customers for electronic transactions should be encouraged to boost consumer expenditure through electronic payments. We have also suggested tax rebates in case of payments made by electronic devices, Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general, CAIT.

Khandelwal said with a systematic approach a nationwide aggressive campaign was required.
Two priests who served the church were connected to the scandal

The church was closed after the child abuse scandal that rocked the U.S.

But the Supreme Court ruled the Vatican could close it this month

They also fought the closure all the way to U.S. Supreme Court

A church in Scituate, Massachusetts, finally closed Sunday after parishioners brought their 11-year, 24-hours-a-day occupation of the building to an end.

Around 100 die-hard worshipers at St. Frances X. Cabrini Church had occupied the building ever since the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston officially 'closed' it in October 2004.

But their fight ended this month when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear their final appeal. With nowhere else to turn, they held a final service Sunday before leaving the building.

Vigil: Parishioners carry quilts made to commemorate their 11-year vigil at the St. Frances X. Cabrini Church in Massachusetts. The church was officially 'closed' in 2004, but was kept open by the occupation

Closure: The church closed after a final Mass on Sunday. Locals had fought the closure all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled this month that the Vatican had the right to close the building down

Emotional: Many parishioners wept and hugged as the church they had worshiped at for decades finally closed. The closure order came after the child abuse scandal that began in Boston but spread across the U.S.

The parishoners - many of whom have attended the church for decades - called the service a 'celebration of faith and transition,' the parishioners said, before leaving the church.

Dozens of parishioners gathered in the church's entryway ahead of the service, many of them embracing.

During the service, a handful of empty pews dotted a sea of churchgoers, many of whom openly cried.

About a dozen quilts, some of them depicting each year of the vigil, decorated the church's walls. At the service's conclusion, families retrieved the quilts and formed a procession, carrying them down the aisles and out of the building.

The case to keep the church open was heard in civil courts and went all the way to the Vatican, but the parishioners were unsuccessful in persuading church officials to keep St. Frances open.

Hugs: Losing the church was an emotional moment for the community, despite a history that saw it served by two priests tied to the child abuse crisis. One was defrocked and the other faced a lawsuit

A Superior Court judge ruled that the archdiocese was the legal owner of the church property and had the right to evict the parishioners occupying the church building. That ruling was upheld by the state Appeals Court.

St. Frances X. Cabrini was one of more than 75 parishes closed by the archdiocese to deal with declining Mass attendance, a shortage of priests and deteriorating church buildings.

The closings came after a clergy sex abuse crisis rocked the Catholic Church, starting in Boston but extending throughout the world.

Two priests who worked at St. Frances X. Cabrini were tied to the abuse crisis, The Boston Globe reported. One was defrocked and another faced a lawsuit.

A third priest, who was defrocked in 1998 and murdered in prison in 2003 after fondling a 10-year-old boy, also visited the church.

St. Frances X. Cabrini was not the only church facing closure that was kept open by a rebellious flock - at one point, nine churches were occupied by parishioners - but it was the last to remain occupied.

The archdiocese hopes the protesters will go to another parish within the district, its spokesman, Terrence Donilon, said.
A horse trampled a rodeo performer to death after it tossed the 19-year-off its back in front of a crowd of thousands, New Jersey authorities said.

Bareback rider Coy Lutz was trampled Saturday night at the Cowtown Rodeo in Pilesgrove, about 35 miles southwest of Philadelphia.

The Howard, Pennsylvania, resident died shortly afterward at a hospital.

Bareback rider Coy Lutz, 19, (pictured) was trampled and killed after being thrown from a horse Saturday night at the Cowtown Rodeo in Pilesgrove, New Jersey

Cowtown Rodeo owner Grant Harris told NJ.com this was the first time a rodeo participant had died from injuries suffered in the event.

'It's tragic and traumatic to our entire industry,' Harris told NJ.com on Sunday.

This was Lutz's second year performing with Cowtown and the rodeo's 62nd season running.

The rodeo posted on its Facebook:

'Cowtown Rodeo and The Harris Family extend our heartfelt and sincere condolences to the Lutz Family for the tragic loss of their son, Coy.

This was Lutz (pictured) second year performing in the Cowtown Rodeo and he had been riding in rodeos since high school (undated photo)

The horse, H3, was bucking in a tight circle rather than moving forward, so when Lutz was thrown H3's hooves stomped the 19-year-old repeatedly (pictured)

Lutz's parents were among the crowd of 2,200 attending the rodeo and they witnessed the accident. Rodeo employees were able to get H3 away from Lutz and bring EMTs in to take him to a hospital

'During this difficult time, our thoughts and prayers are with all who knew and loved him.'

Bareback riding does not use a saddle, bridle or reins. There is only a wide strap called a surcingle that goes around the horse's chest and back with a handle on top for the cowboy to hold.

The horse, H3, was bucking in a tight circle rather than moving forward, so when Lutz was thrown H3's hooves stomped the 19-year-old repeatedly.

Eventually H3 was moved away from Lutz and EMTs rushed the cowboy to Memorial Hospital of Salem County in Mannington Township where he was pronounced dead.

Lutz had been a rodeo competitor since high school and was attending University of Tennessee at Martin, where he was doing well academically and with collegiate rodeo, according to Harris.

'He was a nice kid, a really nice kid, from a nice family,' Harris said.

He says Lutz's parents were among the crowd of 2,200 attending the rodeo and they witnessed the accident.

Cowtown touts itself as the oldest weekly running rodeo in the U.S. It opened in 1929.
The family of an innocent driver who was killed in an American drone strike alongside Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour are pressing murder and terrorism charges against US officials.

Mansour was travelling by car near the town of Ahmad Wal in south-west Pakistan when he was killed in a major blow to the Islamist group that has been waging a guerilla war in Afghanisatan since being toppled from power in 2001.

The car's driver Mohammad Azam was also killed in the attack and US officials described him as a 'second male combatant'.

Local residents gather around the car that was targeted in a drone strike killing the Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour and driver Mohammad Azam

The family of Mr Azam claim he was an innocent man providing for his four children and that he had been 'murdered' by US officials

But according to Pakistani security officials, Azam was merely a chauffeur who worked for the Al Habib rental company based out of Quette, the region's main city.

His brother, Mohammad Qasim, said Azam was an innocent man who was providing for his four children and had been murdered.

He said in a police document dated May 25, and seen by AFP: 'US officials whose name I do not know accepted responsibility in the media for this incident, so I want justice and request legal action against those responsible for it.

'My brother was innocent, he was very poor and he has left behind four small children. He was the lone breadwinner in the family.

The car was targeted in south western Pakistan as it was carrying Mullah Akhtar Mansour (pictured), the leader of the Taliban

'My aim is to prove the innocence of my brother as he is being portrayed as a militant, but he was just a driver.'

He also said that so far the family had not sought any compensation for Azam's death.

Local police and administration officials confirmed charges had been filed, but declined to comment on what steps authorities would take to pursue the case, if any.

Meanwhile a spokesman from Pakistan's Interior Ministry has confirmed Mansour's killing following a DNA match with one of his relatives who had come from Afghanistan to take the body.

Pakistan had not previously confirmed Mansour's death.

The spokesman said in a statement: 'It has been confirmed that one of the men who was killed in the drone attack was Tehreek-e-Taliban Afghanistan former chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour.

'The identification was confirmed after a DNA test which was matched with a close relative of Mullah Mansour who had come from Afghanistan to receive his body.'

Mansour was appointed head of the Taliban in July 2015 and was succeeded on Wednesday by his deputy, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.

The US has carried out hundreds of drone strikes in Pakistan, mainly in the border tribal regions with Afghanistan, and leaked documents show Islamabad had quietly consented despite publicly protesting.

The destroyed car after the drone strike. This was the first drone strike by the US in Balochistan province in Pakistan

But this was the first by the US in Balochistan province and Pakistan - whose spy agency has long supported the Taliban - angrily denounced it as a violation of its sovereignty.

Islamabad says it hosts many of the Afghan Taliban's top leadership to exert influence over them and bring them back to peace talks with Kabul.

Drone attacks have proven extremely controversial with the Pakistani public and rights groups. In 2013, Amnesty International said the US could be guilty of war crimes by carrying out extrajudicial killings.
A New Jersey man has shot himself to death at a firing range in New Jersey, authorities have reported.

Woodland Park police say the 30-year-old Garfield, New Jersey, man had gone to the Gun For Hire indoor shooting range with a friend Saturday night.

They said the man, whose identity has been withheld by police, shot himself in the head a short time later.

Woodland Park police say the 30-year-old Garfield, New Jersey, shot himself dead at the Gun For Hire (pictured) indoor shooting range in New Jersey

Staff called for emergency medical assistance and when officers arrived on the scene, range personnel were administering medical care to the man, who had a gunshot wound 'to the head area', Woodland Park Police Detective Lt. John Uzzalino told NorthJersey.com.

As staff administered medical care the man had a pulse and was breathing but was unresponsive.

The man was taken to St. Josephs Regional Medical Center in Paterson, New Jersey, where he was pronounced dead.

The gun range, which has shut down for a few days, was not at fault for the man's death, according to police, who believe the shooting was a suicide

An outgoing phone message at the shooting range Sunday states that the facility is closed due to unforeseen circumstances, but there is no indication as to when Gun For Hire will reopen, NJ101.5 reported.

'We will remain closed for a few days. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. We will re-open as soon as possible,' the Facebook message reads.

Authorities say the death appears to be a suicide, but a formal ruling has not been issued.

Police reported 'there was no fault found on behalf of the Woodland Park range or the victims friend'.
A 27-year-old American man has been given preliminary charges of attempted murder in an exceptionally violent attack on police in their patrol car that drew national attention, the Paris prosecutor's office said Sunday.

The suspect is among five people given various preliminary charges in the incident, in which masked protesters were caught on video smashing and torching the car while two officers were inside.

It symbolized tensions between police and protesters amid months of demonstrations against a bill weakening worker protections.

The suspect is among five people given various preliminary charges in the incident, in which masked protesters were caught on video smashing and torching the car while two officers were inside

Near the site of the Paris protest by police, about 15 counter-demonstrators targeted the police car (pictured)

The male driver fought off assailants when he got out of the car, and was hospitalized

The man has no fixed address and is in custody, prosecutor's office spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre told The Associated Press. His identity wasn't released

Under questioning, the man acknowledged being at a protest on May 18 when the violent attack occurred, but denied a role in the violence, Thibault-Lecuivre said.

He is suspected of throwing a post at the windshield of the car.

The U.S. Embassy in Paris had no comment.

The May 18 attack came as police around the country were holding unusual protests of their own to decry violence during the labor demonstrations.

Protesters allege police have instigated the clashes by using tear gas, water cannon, batons and pepper spray.

Near the site of the Paris protest by police, about 15 counter-demonstrators targeted the police car.

The male driver fought off assailants when he got out of the car, and was hospitalized.

He was later given a special award by the interior minister. His female partner suffered slight injuries.

French police took to the streets in about 60 cities last Wednesday to denounce the hatred and violence they say has been repeatedly directed at them during protests against the government's labor reforms.

In the capital, protesting officers faced counter-protesters, who said the police themselves were instigating the violence, after which at least one police car was set on fire

In the capital, protesting officers faced counter-protesters, who said the police themselves were instigating the violence, after which at least one police car was set on fire.

A few hundred officers gathered on the Place de la Republique in Paris, after which several hundred counter-demonstrators came by, chanting slogans like 'Everybody hates the police!' and pushing up against the officers until eventually the police deployed pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

Some counter-protesters set fire to a police car in a street nearby.

Vanina Giudicelli, one of the counter-protesters, told The Associated Press that the police gathering was 'a real provocation.'

Since the first demonstration on March 9, we notice that they generate the violence. We have been sprayed by gas, hit with batons, arrested,' she said.

'Anti-cop hatred comes from a small portion of the population ... but these 10 per cent are very violent,' Jean-Marc Falcone, general director of the police, told Europe 1 radio.

'Troublemakers provoke clashes in the middle of peaceful protests. So it's very complicated for police forces to isolate and arrest them' said the secretary general of the Alliance police union

Vanina Giudicelli, one of the counter-protesters, told The Associated Press that the police gathering was 'a real provocation.'

Jean-Claude Delage, secretary general of the Alliance police union, denounced an 'escalation of violence' in the labor protests and said some people were harassing police officers with projectiles and Molotov cocktails and even hitting them with iron bars.

'Troublemakers provoke clashes in the middle of peaceful protests. So it's very complicated for police forces to isolate and arrest them,' Delage explained on BFM television.

French President Francois Hollande said last Tuesday that over 350 police officers have been injured in clashes and 60 people have been convicted amid the labor reform protests.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve says he is offering his 'full support' to police following the weekly Cabinet Council meeting. He said the police have instructions to take 'firm action' against those who take part in violent clashes.
One of the five men accused of trying to flee by boat to Syria and join Islamic State is believed to be the son of a rapist who kept a backpacker captive in a hotel room where he beat her with a meat tenderiser.

Earlier this month, Antonio Granata, 25, was arrested in Cairns in Far North Queensland, towing a seven metre fishing boat and it has been alleged he planned to travel to Indonesia from Cape York and then on to the Middle East.

According to the Herald Sun, Granata is the son of Alfio Anthony Granata, who was jailed for 17 years after repeatedly raping a Dutch tourist during a six week ordeal in a Melbourne hotel room in 2012.

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Antonio Granata (pictured) is one of the five men accused of trying to flee by boat to Syria and join Islamic State and is believed to be the son of a rapist who kept a backpacker captive in a hotel room for six weeks

Alfio Anthony Granata has been jailed for 17 years for keeping a Dutch backpacker as his sex slave

Alfio, then 47, carved a cross into the forehead of his victim, then 21, in the Preston apartment with a knife and told her she was marked for death.

He was originally charged with more than 100 offences including 62 counts of rape, ultimately pleaded guilty to 16 charges including nine rapes, intentionally causing serious injury and threatening to kill.

Granata, who is the product of his father's 20-year marriage with his ex-wife, visited his father in prison and when arrested, told police about the relation.

He, along with Islamic preacher Robert Cerantonio, Shayden Thorne, Paul Dacre, and Kadir Kaya, fronted Melbourne Magistrate's Court on May 19 and did not apply for bail, The Herald Sun reported.

Some of the men's supporters would not respectfully stand for Magistrate Luisa Bazzani.

Lawyer Rob Stary told the court the refusal was due to their 'Muslim faith' and 'stand for no one other than Allah'.

They will reappear in court on September 22.

Last year, Granata's father Alfio pleaded guilty to nine counts of rape and charges of theft, threats to kill and intentionally causing serious injury that left his victim with 54 bruises and abrasions.

At one point during the ordeal in November and December the victim was beaten so badly she was unable to see or eat.

The 47-year-old pleaded guilty to nine counts of rape and charges of theft, threats to kill and intentionally causing serious injury that left his victim with 54 bruises and abrasions

She was whipped with a mobile phone charger, which left lacerations and ripped her skin off, and she was raped with household items and told she would be killed.

On one occasion Granata, an ice addict since 2008, took the victim and his then-girlfriend Jennifer Peaston by the hair and smashed their heads together, causing the 21-year-old's nose to break.

On one occasion Granata, an ice addict since 2008, took the victim and his then-girlfriend Jennifer Peaston by the hair and smashed their heads together, causing the 21-year-old's nose to break

The court heard Granata filmed his crimes and at least seven cameras were installed inside the hotel room and bathroom.

Judge Gucciardo described Granata's actions as 'akin to torture over a protracted period'.

Over the course of about six weeks the victim was forced to perform oral sex on Granata, was strangled, stabbed and cut.

The victim's nightmare came to an end on December 24 when she struck Granata with a knife and began to cut herself until he called an ambulance.

Granata told police the victim was a trouble-maker and he had been drugged by her.

The backpacker initially met Granata and his partner at a mutual friend's birthday party in St Kilda in November 2012. The three soon became friends and began a consensual sexual relationship.

After using copious amounts of the drug ice, Granata became violent and paranoid that his girlfriend and the victim were conspiring to run away together.

Police attended the hotel room twice in the time the backpacker was being held captive to ask Granata and his partner about a car accident.

The first time she told police there had been an altercation but she was fine. On the second occasion officers spoke to Granata and his partner outside the hotel room.

The backpacker was held at the Rydges Bell City hotel in Melbourne for six weeks after meeting Granata and his partner at a mutual friend's birthday party in St Kilda in November 2012

The Victorian Country Court heard Alfio Anthony Granata carved a cross into the forehead of his victim, then 21, with a knife and told her she was marked for death during the six week ordeal in 2012

The Dutch woman was held in a Preston's Rydges Bell City hotel room which police visited twice during the time she was held hostage

Defence barrister Peter Chadwick argued during the plea hearing the offending was linked to Granata's two-grams-a-day ice addiction.

Judge Gucciardo said there was no reduced moral culpability because the abuse was ongoing and Granata would have experienced clear moments and periods of lucidity.

He said Granata's remorse was superficial and 'very slight indeed'.

In a victim impact statement, the young woman said she had become anxious and depressed and suffered post traumatic stress disorder.

She was frequently assailed by memories that left her barely able to function and the injuries inflicted on her remained painful.

'They are a reminder of your abhorrent criminal behaviour,' Judge Gucciardo told Granata.

Granata, a father of three, was convicted of all charges, including two drugs charges.
Parents say the group of teens were from private schools in the city

The terrified hosts called police twice but the gatecrashers

Some of the 30-strong group of teens who reportedly gatecrashed a small gathering, damaging property and stealing alcohol are said to have been from 'private' schools.

Fathers of some of small group of girls at a Kew property in Melbourne's east on Saturday night have said those who ambushed their children were students at three to four separate private schools in the city.

The parents said they intended to talk to Xavier College and Carey Baptist Grammar School - where they claimed some of the students involved studied - about the incident on Monday.

One father, identified only as Rob, told radio station 3AW his daughter recognised some of those in the group and they belonged to schools in the city.

Thirty teenagers have been caught on CCTV gatecrashing a small gathering where they damaged property and stole alcohol

Darryn Tucker's teenage daughters were hosting a small gathering of about eight friends at the Kew property when a group of teenagers jumped the fence and threw a beer bottle through the window

Darryn Tucker and his wife, the owners of the property, were at a restaurant when they received a terrifying call from their daughters and rushed home, he told The Age.

Mr Tucker's daughters told authorities they recognised some members of the group as students from several private schools in Melbourne, according to the report.

He said those involved should be suspended for the threats and property damage.

In separate statements to Daily Mail Australia, both schools said they were aware it was believed the gatecrashers were from their institutions.

Carey Baptist Grammar Principal Philip Grutzner said the school was investigating and willing to work with police if required.

Xavier College Principal Dr Chris Hayes said his school was investigating the matter to determine its response.

Carey Baptist Grammar School (pictured) Principal Philip Grutzner said the school was investigating and willing to work with police if required

Xavier College (pictured) Principal Dr Chris Hayes said his school was investigating the matter to determine its response

The group of 30 teenagers were caught on CCTV gatecrashing the small gathering, but police said they could only charge one of the teens who threw a beer bottle through a window, Rob said.

When they arrived, one jumped the fence and opened the gate and although the front door of the house had been locked, a side door was unlocked and the group got in and attempted to steal phones.

'It was absolutely intimidating for my young girls,' Mr Tucker said.

'It was just like Braveheart coming to the door, a complete ambush.'

He suspected news of the small gathering had spread through word of mouth.

Mr Tucker said that the police were called twice during the incident, but the gatecrashers had fled the scene before they arrived.

Footage of the terrifying 30-minute event was captured on the house's surveillance camera and has been provided to police.

'You see several [intruders] gaining entry by force and smashing a front window from a beer bottle thrown causing malicious damage. You see the whole story unfold in the footage, they try to push back,' Mr Tucker told The Age.

'Alcohol was stolen and splintered glass covered the furniture and floor.'

Victoria Police said the incident is being investigated.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Xavier College and Carey Baptist Grammar Schools for comment.

Police were called twice during the ambush but the gatecrashers had fled the scene before they arrived (stock image)
A North Queensland resident has tested positive for the Zika virus after returning from a holiday in Thailand and Bali.

The Dengue Action Response Team has been sent to Gordonvale and surrounding areas south of Cairns to spray the town for mosquitoes.

'DART is working in the suburb and will continue the response over the next few days until the required area has been treated,' said Tropical Public Health Service director Dr Richard Gair.

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A north Queensland resident has returned home with the Zika virus, which is spread through mosquito bites

The town of Gordonvale, where the infected person lives, and surrounding areas will be sprayed to prevent further spread of the disease

Dr Gair said if local mosquitoes have bitten the affected person, the bugs will not become infectious until the middle of next week.

The DART team will respond today and early next week to treat the area where mosquitoes may have picked up the virus before they become infectious.

Dr Gair said it was important that residents were vigilant about keeping the mosquitoes away.

'Now more than ever, it is vital that our community has the facts about the zika/dengue mosquito.

'They live in and around your home, have a short life expectancy, do not fly far and are likely to bite people on the feet during the day. You may not even notice them.

Areas in the world with confirmed cases of the Zika virus, which originates from the Zika forest in Uganda

Gordonvale is only a 23 minute drive from Cairns. It is known for growing sugarcane and has a population of under 7,000

'Removing breeding sites in and around homes and killing these mosquitoes needs to become as natural as putting out the garbage bins.'

Common dengue/zika mosquito breeding sites include tyres, buckets, toys and pot-plant bases.

Residents are also urged to ensure roof gutters are not blocked and breeding mosquitoes, and to use indoor surface spray, mozzie zappers and coils around the house.

Dr Gair said the type of mosquitoes that transmit Zika and dengue only bred around homes and in urban areas, not in swamps or creeks.

There have been no locally acquired cases of Zika virus confirmed in Queensland. There is currently no vaccine to protect against Zika virus.
It was supposed to be the best day of their lives, but one couple's wedding reception aboard a boat turned into disaster when their vessel ran aground.

Promised to be 'something out of a storybook romance', The Majesty, a Boston Harbor Cruises vessel, became stuck off Georges Island in Boston Harbor around 7 pm Saturday.

It was expected to be a romantic three hour cruise - but instead became a seven hour ordeal.

Disaster: One couple's wedding reception aboard a boat turned into disaster when their vessel ran aground

New husband Jamie Stern (pictured right with wife Fernanda) said the guests were just finishing dinner around 7 pm when the celebration came to a halt as the ship neared Georges Island

Crazy day: The groom (pictured) said: 'There were coast guards, everyone was moving, kids were crying, people were screaming - it was crazy!'

After the boat became grounded rescue teams were sent to the vessel and the passengers were evacuated

After the boat became grounded rescue teams were sent to the vessel and the passengers and crew were evacuated.

Speaking to The Boston Globe, groom Jaime Stern, 36 said: 'We're going to love each other no matter what  it's still a hell of a day.'

While wife Fernanda Stern said: 'It made it more memorable.

New husband Stern said the guests were just finishing dinner around 7 pm when the celebration came to a halt as the ship neared Georges Island.

He said: 'Suddenly a big noise, everything stopped. The music was playing and next thing you know, there were life jackets, little kids crying.'

And told ABC: 'There were coast guards, everyone was moving, , people were screaming - it was crazy!'

But despite the misfortune, the positive couple didn't let it ruin their day and took the party to a nearby bar.

Stern, who is originally from Boston but now lives in Tel Aviv, Israel, added: 'It's alright. My girl is still here.'

Alison Nolan, general manager of the cruise line told The Globe that all passengers were safely transferred to the Asteria, another Boston Harbor Cruises vessel.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Andrew Barresi said that five boats operated by the Coast Guard, state police, state environmental police and the Massachusetts Port Authority helped transfer the passengers.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Andrew Barresi said that five boats operated by the Coast Guard, state police, state environmental police and the Massachusetts Port Authority helped transfer the passengers

The Environmental Police tweeted a photo of the passengers being helped aboard the new vessel

When officers arrived at the scene they found the ferry hard aground.

There were approximately 152 people on board the ship, including crew and passengers.

The Environmental Police tweeted a photo of the passengers being helped aboard the new vessel, all of whom were safely returned to shore, according to US Coast Guard Petty Officer Andrew Barresi.

According to the Globe, the crew of the Majesty will remain with the vessel which 'will be moved when the tides improve.'

No one was injured and the couple are now heading to Brazil on their honeymoon.

And although it didn't work out for this unhappy couple, they are in good company. Billy Joel married his uptown girl Christie Brinkley on the same ship.

Billy Joel (right) married his uptown girl Christie Brinkley (left) on the same ship, The Majesty

No one was injured and the couple are now heading to Brazil on their honeymoon.
A man has been charged with torturing and sexually abusing a woman over a period of months.

Following a tip-off police conducted a search warrant at a Church Road residence in Zillmere, north of Brisbane at 5pm on Saturday where they allegedly found cash and drugs including methamphetamine and cannabis.

Following investigations police allege the woman, who was known to the man, was assaulted at the residence over a period of three months.

A man has been charged with torturing and sexually abusing a woman over a period of months (stock image)

Police conducted a search warrant at a residence in Zillmere, north of Brisbane where they allegedly found cash and drugs including methamphetamine (left) and cannabis (right) (stock images)

A 31-year-old Zillmere man has been charged with drug trafficking, torture, assault occasioning bodily harm, seven counts of sexual assault and one count of deprivation of liberty.

He was denied bail and is scheduled to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates court on Monday.

This comes after a 43-year-old man was charged with torturing a woman at a house in far north Queensland earlier this month.

Police allege the man assaulted the woman, who he knew, and threatened two children in an altercation at a Watsonville home on May 19.

He is due face Mareeba Magistrates Court on Monday.
A major tumble dryer manufacturer has come under criticism from trading standards officers for failing to recall potentially faulty machines - despite them being linked to fires at some 750 homes.

Whirlpool, which sells appliances under the Indesit, Creda and Hotpoint brands has issued a series of safety warnings on its tumble dryers.

Last July the company warned hundreds of thousands of dishwashers could be a fire risk after 18 people reported fires triggered by the appliances in their homes.

Whirlpool, which sells appliances under the Indesit, Creda and Hotpoint brands has issued a series of safety warnings on its tumble dryers (file image)

And in November the company issued a safety warning for over 5million of its machines manufactured over the last 11 years.

Investigations are ongoing as to whether the deaths of two men in a fire were caused by Whirlpool tumble dryers.

Around 750 homes have reportedly been damaged by fires caused by Whirlpool tumble dryers since 2004 according to research by Which? magazine.

Leon Livermore, the chief executive of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute has warned that Whirlpools refusal to issue a recall is putting lives at risk.

Mr Livermore told the Observer: Central government itself does have back-up powers to force companies into recalls and to take action. So we would call on the government, in particular the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills, to take action before someone dies.

Which? said the company has still not published a full list of the 127 affected models, relying on customers to enter their appliance on its online checker, and said customers are waiting around 12 weeks for their case to be logged and a further six months to wait for a technician.

And fire officers are investigating whether the deaths of Doug McTavish, 39, and Bernard Hender, 19, were caused by a blaze started by their Whirlpool dryer their flat in Conwy, North Wales in October 2014.

A report published by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills earlier this year concluded that the monitoring of product safety is underfunded and recommended a central agency to coordinate product recalls.

It also called for an online safety checker for consumers to see if their appliances are safe, and also called for deaths and injuries from household fires to be collated on a central database.

Around 750 homes have reportedly been damaged by fires caused by Whirlpool tumble dryers since 2004 according to research by Which? magazine (file image)

The law firm Leigh Day is representing 13 householders whose homes were damaged by faulty Whirlpool appliances.

Lawyer Jill Paterson said of the failure to issue recalls: The long delay to repair potentially dangerous Whirlpool appliances leaves consumers at risk of a devastating house fire, and demonstrates that the current product recall system is far from perfect.

They have advised that dryers are safe to use if supervised at all times, and recommend that lint filters are cleaned after each cycle.

But safety campaigners warn that this might not be enough.

A spokesperson for the campaign group Electrical Safety First advised consumers to stop using appliances that are affected.

A fire can also take hold very quickly and the risk is just too big to take. We are advising people to stop using affected appliances until they have been modified and declared safe.

Based on Freedom of Information requests to fire brigades, the Daily Mirror estimated that 6,000 fires may have been caused by faulty dryers in the past six years.

If correct, then it means that dryers have overtaken cooking appliances as the second most common cause of house fires, after cigarettes, cigars and pipes.

Whirlpool could not be reached for comment yesterday.

It said in a previous statement that there were a number of inaccuracies within the Which? report, but said: Any instances which are inconsistent with our high standards will be investigated.

The company added: Whirlpools response to the tumble dryer issue is at an unprecedented level, and our staff are working round-the-clock to ensure were able to resolve the matter as quickly as possible for our customers.

The safety of our customers is our number one priority. We are committed to doing everything we can to ensure that the modification programme is being carried out in a safe and timely manner and we are continually looking into alternative options which will allow us to progress the programme at a faster pace.

Whirlpool added: ;As we have repeatedly explained, we strongly believe that an online checker such as the one we have created offers a much easier solution for consumers than a lengthy list of model numbers. We believe that publishing a list of model numbers risks confusing consumers.

Our advice to all employees and across all communications is that consumers can continue to use their affected dryer whilst waiting for the modification. However, we require that consumers do not leave their dryers unattended during operation as an extra precaution, i.e. do not leave the house or leave the dryer on whilst asleep.
A new mortgage is being launched that will make it easier for older homeowners to help their children or grandchildren on to the housing ladder.

They would secure the loan against the value of their own property, but it would be paid off by younger members of the family buying a first-time home.

The move comes after Nationwide announced similar plans last week to launch new loans that will help younger generations use family money to get on the housing ladder.

A new mortgage is being launched that will make it easier for older homeowners to help their children or grandchildren on to the housing ladder

One Family, a mutual, is planning to launch its inter-generational mortgage within the next three months. It has not yet announced rates or other details.

But Georgina Smith, the firms managing director, said: Families are increasingly deciding about the best ways to defend the equity in parents or grandparents property and keep wealth cascading down through the generations.

But young people need protecting too when they are struggling to set up home. The logical next step is for equity to be released from the asset rich  like grandparents  via loans repaid further down the family line.

Rising property prices have meant that many 50, 60 or 70-year-olds, who typically bought their first homes in their early 20s, are sitting on lucrative investments.

Todays 60-somethings, who paid an average 12,704 for their first home in 1976, will have seen the investment rise 20-fold in value, this year reaching 292,000 with an annual growth rate of 8 per cent, according to the Office for National Statistics.

If they survive into their nineties, they will have accumulated 70 years in the property market and a potential nest egg of 3million.

It is believed that more lenders could follow the lead of One Family and Nationwide in the competitive mortgage market.

But David Hollingworth, a broker at the mortgage company London & Country, said: Affordability can be a problem because you require a certain level of income to pay a mortgage. Senior homeowners also need to think carefully about their own security later in life.

Ray Boulger, of brokers John Charcol, believes an inter-generational loan could be particularly valuable in the buy-to-let market.

He said: Sons or daughters may wish to keep the property as an investment and there is no reason why the mortgage should not pass on to them, with the equity. Buy-to-let mortgages are based on rental income, so there is no issue with affordability.

Nationwide, which announced a 23 per cent rise in profits to 1.3billion for the year to April, said last week it wanted to make it easier for parents and grandparents to pass on wealth to first-time buyers.

It also pledged to help older people release cash from their homes to ease money worries in retirement.

Chris Rhodes, group retail director of Nationwide, said wealth was increasingly tied up in property, with pension schemes becoming less generous.

Nationwide was looking at how you can transfer wealth of parents to children, he added, although he declined to give details of what the building society is working on.
Two stubborn kookaburras stared each other down for more than half an hour in a tense squabble over a scrap of meat.

An adorable video shows the birds going beak-to-beak as they battle over the morsel, with neither combatant willing to concede.

Numerous attempts to distract the birds failed and they were eventually covered in napkin blankets to keep them warm as their tussle ran on into night time.

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These two kookaburras became locked in a tense squabble over a piece of meat that lasted more than half an hour

The video shows the unflinching kookaburras staring each other down as they both grasp on to a small sliver of meat.

Twenty minutes into the contest an observer tries, and fails, to break their concentration by placing seashell hats on the birds' heads.

A pile of meat is then dumped in front of the birds but neither blinks an eye.

As the fight ticks over into the 30-minute mark the observer gives up and covers the kookaburras in napkin blankets to keep them warm.

Neither bird was willing to give an inch in the stand off and their beaks were so tightly locked on the morsel that an observer could not pry it away from them

The combatants were full of concentration and immune to distraction - neither batted an eyelid when seashells were put on their heads

The video's author said: 'These two would not give up on that piece of meat.

'So much so that whatever we did to them they didn't mind.

'Something needed to be done to spook these two.'

Kookaburras are carnivorous birds which are native to Australia and New Guinea.

They eat mice, snakes and small reptiles and also have a reputation for pinching meat from humans at barbecues and picnics.
It is the hospital ward where the critically ill are most in need of peace and quiet as doctors and nurses battle to save their lives.

But noise levels in intensive care units can hit 101 decibels - as loud as a revving motorbike, heavy lorry or a loud action scene in a Hollywood blockbuster.

Guidelines say that intensive care units [ICUs] should be just 35 decibels - the hushed tones of a traditional library.

Many patients in intensive care endure noise from life support machine alarms, beeping equipment and the din of staff doing rounds, which can lead to sleep deprivation - hampering patients recovery (file image)

Critically ill patients admitted to wards from casualty need quietness while staff need low noise levels to help them concentrate and work efficiently.

Instead many patients in intensive care have to endure a deafening racket from life support machine alarms, beeping equipment and the din of staff going about their business, which can lead to sleep deprivation - hampering patients recovery.

On average, the Belgian study found average sound levels by the bedside were 52.8 decibels [dBA] during the night and 54.6 dBA during the day - the sound of a loaded dishwasher.

But noise pollution in the ward meant there were 14 peaks above 80 dBA over a 24 hour period.

This is a similar level to a noisy restaurant, a busy street or lawn mower or a shouted conversation.

The highest peak was 101.1 dBA - louder than a motorbike, heavy lorry about seven metres away, a hand drill or action scenes in films.

At the nursing station, average sound levels of 52.6 dBA at night time and 53.9 dBA at day time were recorded. There were 11 peaks above 80 dBA with a maximum sound peak of 90.6 dBA.

The World Health Organisatin recommends average sound levels for hospital wards below 35 decibels (dBA) with a maximum of 40 dBA at night time.

A whisper in a quiet library heard from six feet away measures 30dB while normal conversation heard from three foot away measures 60 to 65dB.

By comparison loud rock concerts reach 115dB while a chainsaw measures between 115 to 120dB.

Following complaints from both patients and staff about the noise, researchers from Jessa Ziekenhuis Hospital in Hasselt, Belgium (pictured) measured noise levels in one 12 bed intensive care ward

Previous studies have found sound levels in ICUs are significantly higher with average sound levels always exceeding 45 dBA and for half of the time exceeding 52 dBA.

Following complaints from both patients and staff about the noise, researchers from Jessa Ziekenhuis Hospital in Hasselt, Belgium measured noise levels in one 12 bed intensive care ward.

Sound monitors were placed at the bedside of a two bed unit as well as at the nursing station recording 24 hours two weeks apart.

Dr Eveline Claes said: Since electronic sounds are more arousing than human voices, so it is highly likely that the peaks we measured are alarm activity.

The sound levels in our ICU clearly exceeded the WHO recommendations but are comparable with sound levels in other ICUs.

Those elevated sound levels as well as frequent sound level peaks can be responsible for the subjective feeling of noise pollution experienced by patients, nurses and doctors.

On average, the Belgian study found average sound levels by the bedside were 52.8 decibels [dBA] during the night and 54.6 dBA during the day - the sound of a loaded dishwasher (file image)

In our department, measures should be taken to reduce the average sound level and the incidence and magnitude of sound level peaks.

However, she adds: It is not easy to create an ICU without noise. We need the alarms to warn us about emergencies.

Various programmes of staff education, task scheduling, equipment repositioning and alarm threshold review have not lowered sound levels to within WHO-recommended levels.

The practical solution at present seems to be earplugs or other ear defender devices for patients, although there may be opportunities in the future to modulate alerts through the use of smart alarm systems and to develop equipment that produces less noise.
Migrants caught trying to sneak into Britain on ships from Germany are being sent back  and immediately freed to try again.

Two Albanians deported after being found on a freighter arriving in Immingham, Lincolnshire, this week were let go within hours of arriving in Germany.

They are among scores of young men from Albania released without charge after being discovered trying to smuggle themselves on to UK-bound cargo in the port town of Cuxhaven, close to Hamburg.

Caught: Two Albanian migrants sent back to the German port of Cuxhaven from the UK

German police have launched a crackdown after illegal immigrants used the North Sea port to open a new route into the UK.

But officers say there is no law to prosecute those they catch trying to stow away, so they have to release them.

Most are ordered to leave Germany within seven days, but officers admit there is no realistic way of enforcing this.

Several have been caught again days later trying to get back into the port and smuggle themselves on to another UK-bound ship.

The farcical situation comes amid concerns Germany is becoming a springboard for immigrants wishing to enter Britain illegally.

Critics blame Chancellor Angela Merkels decision to allow more than a million migrants into the country last year. Two Albanians, aged 22 and 24, sneaked on to a ship in Cuxhaven last week and made it to Immingham before being detected. They pair were escorted back to Cuxhaven by private security firm on Tuesday and handed to German Federal police immediately after landing.

Officers took their fingerprints photographed and interviewed them for an official report, before letting them go. Federal Police spokesman Holger Jureczko said: They have been told they must leave Germany within seven days, but it is possible we may see them again at the port soon. This has happened in the past. Some of them have been captured again a few nights later.

But we have no other choice. There is no law that we can take them to a prison or before a judge.

The pair are meant to pay the cost of deporting them, but it is unlikely they can afford it and the cash will probably never be recovered, police said.

Most of those attempting to get into the port of Cuxhaven are from Albania or Kosovo, and are believed to share messages about the new route on social media. They head to Cuxhaven from across mainland Europe.

One of the Albanians deported from Immingham had travelled to Cuxhaven by train from Belgium and another via Italy.

Most scale the gates surrounding the port and then slit open the roof of lorries, lower themselves in, and reseal the cut with tape.

Other sneak into lorries as they are parked at fast food restaurants near the port.

Cuxhaven is the only port in Germany with direct sea links with Britain.
The two groups clashed in ugly scenes with each other and with police

Protesters could be banned from wearing masks and there are calls to reinstate laws giving police more powers to control 'cowards' at rallies after violent clashes at a Melbourne rally.

Seven were arrested as more than 500 people attended anti-Islam and anti-racism rallies in Coburg on Saturday.

Five were arrested for riotous behaviour as well as assaulting and hindering police, while two more were arrested for carrying knives and other weapons.

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Protesters could be banned from wearing masks and there are calls to reinstate laws giving police more powers to control 'cowards' at rallies after violent clashes at a Melbourne rally (pictured)

Flag poles were used as weapons and police had to use pepper spray to bring outbursts of violence under control.

Victorian Police Minister Lisa Neville called those who covered their faces during the opposing rallies 'cowards', and said a ban on face masks could soon be introduced.

'It's a really disturbing trend that we've seen over the last few rallies ... where people cover themselves with either a full mask or partially [cover] their face in order to perpetrate violence,' Ms Neville told the ABC.

'We don't want to see this on our streets. We have, every year, hundreds of peaceful protests in Victoria.

Anti-Islam protesters (pictured) and anti-racism activists clashed with each other and police in Coburg, Melbourne

Seven people were arrested as more than 500 people attended the rallies held in Melbourne on Saturday

Five people at the rallies were arrested for riotous behaviour as well as assaulting and hindering police, while two more were arrested for carrying knives and other weapons

Two protesters using a flag and a shirt to cover their faces flee as police use pepper spray on them

'There is no room in Victoria for the violence and the attacks that they perpetrated on police ... each other and the community.'

It comes after it was a revealed a police taskforce will be created to catch people who hid their faces and sparked violent clashes between rival groups during the rally at Bridges Reserve.

Acting Premier James Merlino told media on Sunday he had talked with Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton and the government would 'be working closely' with Victoria Police to deal with people wearing masks at protests.

Flag poles were used as weapons and police had to use pepper spray (pictured) to bring outbursts of violence under control

Victorian Police Minister Lisa Neville called those who covered their faces during the opposing rallies 'cowards', and said a ban on face masks could soon be introduced

An anti-Islam protester is hit in the face with pepper spray (pictured) by police during the wild rallies in Coburg, Melbourne

Shadow attorney-general John Pesutto said move-on laws scrapped by the Andrews Labor Government in 2015 needed to be brought back to give police more powers.

Under the laws, police and the courts could identify repeat, violent offenders and ban them from going to areas or engaging in protests, Mr Pesutto said.

'How many more violent protests are we going to have to endure?' Mr Pesutto said.

A member of the True Blue Crew baits the left leaning Anti Racism supporters from behind police lines during the protests

'It's a really disturbing trend that we've seen over the last few rallies ... where people cover themselves with either a full mask or partially [cover] their face in order to perpetrate violence,' Ms Neville said

'We don't want to see this on our streets. We have, every year, hundreds of peaceful protests in Victoria,' Police Minister Lisa Neville said

Members of the anti-racism protest shout over the top of police officers in Coburg, Melbourne, on Saturday

Mr Merlino said Saturday's violence had 'no relation' to the repealing of the coalition's move-on laws and police had existing powers to order people away from events.

Victoria's Attorney-General Martin Pakula rebuked his shadow counterpart's comments, saying the claims were 'dishonest and wrong'.

'Police retain Move On power if they reasonably suspect breach of peace, damage to property, injury to any person, risk to public safety,' Mr Pakula tweeted on Sunday.

Victoria Police will introduce police taskforce will be created to catch people who hid their faces and sparked violent clashes between rival groups during the rally at Bridges Reserve, Coburg

Acting Premier James Merlino told media on Sunday he had talked with Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton and the government would 'be working closely' with Victoria Police to deal with people wearing masks

A man is seen suffering after being pepper sprayed during the ugly scenes at rallies in Melbourne on Saturday

Police were forced to deal with many protesters who hid their faces behind masks, clothing and other items on Saturday

Commander Sharon Cowden said on Saturday police would set up a task force to investigate anyone who hid their identity while committing a crime during the Coburg rally.

'We will be looking at the footage, finding out what else we can do, to track these people down and bring them to justice,' she said.

'We saw inappropriate and often cowardly behaviour with people wearing masks and hiding their identity.'

Commander Sharon Cowden said on Saturday police would set up a task force to investigate anyone who hid their identity while committing a crime during the Coburg rally

'We will be looking at the footage, finding out what else we can do, to track these people down and bring them to justice,' the commander said
Stephanie Wyatt, 16, who won Miss Dorset 2016

A furious row has erupted over a beauty pageant after the judges secret score sheets mysteriously fell into one of the losing finalists hands.

Charlotte Olsson raised questions over the results of Miss Dorset 2016 after finding a Tesco carrier bag stuffed full of the papers in her clothes bag when she unpacked it three days after the event.

When Miss Olsson, 21, shared her concerns with the other eight finalists in an on-line group chat, the contests organiser Kelly Levell demanded she remove her posts, accused her of slander and threatened to report her to the police for allegedly stealing clothes from the contests fashion show.

At the centre of the furore is the glittering contests Miss Popularity category.

It was won by 16-year-old Stephanie Wyatt - who got 130 fewer on-line public votes than another contestant, Georgia Lewis. Miss Wyatt went on to win the overall Miss Dorset crown too.

Miss Levell insists the judging was all done fairly - and says some of the finalists may have misunderstood how the scoring system worked.

But the unseemly fall-out has created such a cloud of suspicion that Miss Lewis, 22, who won Miss Bournemouth last year and whose sisters Chantelle, 23, and Sam, 30, also have a string of beauty titles to their names, has vowed never to compete in a pageant again.

Miss Lewis told the Mail: It has completely put me off entering another one. I didnt expect to win overall but I was expecting to get the Miss Popularity sash, then Stephs name was announced and I felt robbed.

Ive got nothing against Steph and am happy for her that she won Miss Dorset. But when things like this happen it makes you question how fair and square it all is. It feels almost like someone wanted those papers to be found.

Beauty consultant Miss Lewis, from West Parley, Dorset, added: It is my third year of beauty contests and you just want to have the feeling that its all being done right.

As the winner of the Miss Dorset final, which took place at AFC Bournemouth on May 21 before an audience of 150, Miss Wyatt, from Poole, goes through to compete in Miss England.

In Miss Popularity, Miss Lewis received 669 on-line votes and Miss Wyatt 539.

The winner was picked after taking into consideration how many votes the contestants received in the room on the night too, with members of the audience writing the name of the contestant they wanted to win it on cards.

The carrier bag found by Miss Olsson also contained some of these cards. The Mail has seen the bag and its contents  which included only about a dozen with votes for Miss Wyatt.

When Miss Olsson, a former winner of the Poole Carnival Queen title, questioned how Miss Wyatt won Miss Popularity, Miss Levell posted in the group chat: Please remove your post Charlotte or I will be forced to report you for slander. The judges score sheets are not your property and will need to be returned to me as soon as possible.

Miss Olsson, a hairdresser, replied: Regarding the judges sheets/votes I can t help it if they were put into my bag.

If I had taken them on the night, it would have been put on Facebook long before now. However from the scores that are on the sheets it is quite clear to me that Georgia Lewis should have won Miss Popularity.

Sister Georgia Lewis (left), Miss Bournemouth 2015 and Chantelle Lewis, Miss Poole 2015

Miss Levell, 28, then posted that she did not believe that someone put the score sheets in her bag and warned: I will not let you get away with ruining the competition for others.

Miss Levell, who runs an ethical fashion organisation that aims to reduce Bournemouths textile waste by educating shoppers how to renovate their clothing to reduce the amount of unwanted clothing sent to landfill, has also threatened to report Miss Olsson to the police for allegedly stealing a crop top and a pair of leggings from the fashion contest.

Miss Olsson, who categorically denies stealing the clothes or the judges score sheets, said she had offered to pay for the items but was now so disgusted with Miss Levells attitude that she no longer wants them and plans to give them back.

She posted: I do not wish to continue being a part of the Miss Dorset organisation Ill organise to meet you to return the goods as I no longer wish to purchase your items.

I do not wish to continue being a part of the Miss Dorset organisation Charlotte Olsson

Asked about the row by the Mail, Miss Levell, said There was a girl spreading rumours afterwards - its not unusual in this sort of competition.

Everything was done fairly. In Miss Popularity, the girls all got a score out of ten for how many votes they got in the on-line vote and a score out of ten for how many votes they got from the audience on the night.

'The two were added together to find the winner.

She said the contents of the carrier bag may have been incomplete or could have been tampered with, which could explain why it appeared Miss Lewis should have won Miss Popularity.

Miss Levell, from Bournemouth, said she had told her staff to put the judges score sheets in a rubbish bag after the final.

Most of the girls were happy with the competition, she added. There is no plan to review or restage the competition.

Miss Wyatt did not respond to the Mails request for a comment.

But after winning the title, she posted on Facebook: What an amazing night it was, a dream come true, also won popularity vote, natural beauty, beautiful mind and Miss Charitable
Opposition leader Bill Shorten has pledged $377 million in new funding to help protect the Great Barrier Reef if Labor wins the 2016 Federal Election.

Mr Shorten flew to Cairns on Monday to reveal a $500 million fund to boost research, improve water quality and eradicate pests like the crown of thorns starfish on the Great Barrier Reef.

The new money adds to the $123 million already pledged by the federal government.

Federal Labor has pledged $377 million in new funding to better protect the Great Barrier Reef by improving water quality and eradication pests

It includes a $50 million cash injection for the CSIRO for reef-specific research, which will include a focus on the impacts of climate change.

'The Great Barrier Reef is an environmental treasure Australia holds on trust for the world,' Mr Shorten said.

The reef is the world's largest coral system and is estimated to bring in $6 billion each year while creating 70,000 jobs.

The world heritage site faces risks from ocean warming and acidification, severe weather and water contamination from nearby agriculture, including run off of nitrogen from fertilisers.

Bill Shorten flew to Cairns (pictured) on Monday to reveal a $500 million fund to boost research, improve water quality and eradicate pests like the crown of thorns starfish on the Great Barrier Reef

Labor's funding includes a $50 million cash injection for the CSIRO for reef-specific research, which will include a focus on the impacts of climate change

Bill Shorten and Shadow Environment Minister Mark Butler took a glass bottom boat ride over part of the Great Barrier Reef on Monday after announcing $500 million in new funding in Labor wins

It comes after research from James Cook University revealed bleaching has killed 35 per cent of coral in parts of the reef.

An extensive aerial and underwater survey carried out by the ARC Centre of Excellence Coral Reef Studies confirms how much coral has died since mass bleaching began this year as a result of global warming.

WHAT DOES LABOR'S PLAN INCLUDE? $50 million for CSIRO Marine for reef specific research $50 million for reef research through universities $300 million investment in improving water quality and reducing sediment run off Boost number of boats culling crown of thorns starfish from one to three $100 million to bring all reef management bodies together.

Mr Shorten accused Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of letting Australians down with a lack of commitment to climate change and the reef.

'It is unacceptable that the Liberals have stuck their heads in the sand when it comes to protecting the reef,' Mr Shorten said.

Mr Turnbull maintains he's committed to climate change action, however has stuck with the widely criticised policies of his predecessor Tony Abbott.

Labor plans to implement an emissions trading scheme, although details of the final model are vague.

The Environment Department recently intervened to prevent the reef being listed in a United Nations agency report detailing the risks of climate change on world heritage sites.

The department maintains the report could have a negative impact on tourism but environment groups say the intervention amounts to government censorship.

The United Nations World Heritage Committee last year decided against listing the reef on its 'in danger' list, pledging to closely monitor its progress.
The naughty Princess of Monaco, beautiful but catty Catherine Grimaldi, was dismissive of Louis XIVs ability to satisfy her. His sceptre, she gossiped recklessly around the French kings court at Versailles, was tres petit.

She claimed to have this intimate knowledge of what lay beneath the royal culottes because, like countless others, she was the glorious Sun Kings lover.

In her case it was for just a few months until he tired of her and not only dumped her but, as a punishment for her impertinence, banished her back to unglamorous Monaco, then no more than a castle and a small coastal village.

Henriette and Louis: Henriette was also courted by Louis and taken to bed by him in one of those illicit apres-midi affairs he liked to indulge in. Expect exposed body-parts and nipples for sure bouncing buttocks

George Blagden as Louis XIV: Anything was possible in the sexual merry-go-round that characterised the lavish court of the most flamboyant monarch in European history, who occupied the throne of France for 72 years, from 1643 (when he was just four) to his death in 1715

But was her dissatisfaction because  as a bit of a swinger herself, in the words of one historian  she preferred women? Among her supposed female conquests was Henrietta, the kings sister-in-law.

Henrietta was also courted by Louis and taken to bed by him in one of those illicit apres-midi affairs he liked to indulge in.

Anything was possible in the sexual merry-go-round that characterised the lavish court of the most flamboyant monarch in European history, who occupied the throne of France for 72 years, from 1643 (when he was just four) to his death in 1715.

And now its highlights are to appear in a spectacular and raunchy ten-part drama series, Versailles, beginning on BBC2 on Wednesday.

Expect exposed body-parts, nipples for sure (though perhaps not sceptres), bouncing buttocks, queens (of all sorts) in flagrante, spiced with a lascivious dwarf, a cross-dressing heir to the throne, naked frolics in the fountain and lungfuls of heavy breathing.

It is all very unlike the life of our dear Queen (though similar to what Charles II and his court were up to at the same time in England)!

The series has already been described as among the filthiest TV ever.

More akin to Game Of Thrones than Downton, its brutal stuff. In the first of its ten episodes, there are torture scenes, eye-gouging, rape and self-flagellation, plus explicit sex scenes that leave little to the imagination.

And now its highlights are to appear in a spectacular and raunchy ten-part drama series, Versailles, beginning on BBC2 on Wednesday.

The series has already been described as among the filthiest TV ever. More akin to Game Of Thrones than Downton, its brutal stuff. In the first of its ten episodes, there are torture scenes, eye-gouging, rape and self-flagellation, plus explicit sex scenes that leave little to the imagination

Squeamish folk must prepare to look away. The curious will be diverted by the sumptuous clothes (where worn), the plot (complex, but fascinating as Louis imposes his will on rebellious nobles) and all those filthy shenanigans.

Was it really like that? Well, sex was a preoccupation and a currency in the French court. The Sun King spread his rays with total abandon, and all around him schemed to catch the light from his wandering eye.

Aristocratic mothers pushed their daughters towards him, minor princes and dukes their wives, in the hope of advancement.

It could be a life-changing move. The rise of the Soubise family, for example, was put down to its princesss beauty, and, according to her grateful husband, the use she made of it.

The nobility was at it all the time with adultery a way of life at court, in the words of one historian of the era. Loving ones husband was considered positively declasse.

The young king must always have been conscious of this. He grew up in a sexually charged atmosphere amid tongues wagging about the secret love life of his widowed mother, Anne of Austria, Queen Regent until he came of age.

She was very close to her chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin  body and soul, the gossips said  and it was with the cardinals flirty Italian nieces, the five Mancini girls, that the young monarch first dabbled in romance, and possibly more.

But his actual initiation into intercourse, at the age of 15, was a tackier business, in the voluptuous arms of one of his mothers ladies-in-waiting, the 40-year-old Baronne de Beauvais, known as One-eyed Kate.

She first pleasured the king on the prompting of his mother, and he obviously liked what had happened and went back for more. She was rewarded with a pension for life.

But it wasnt just sex that turned the young King on.

Marie Therese (left) and Madame de Montespan (right): Sex was a preoccupation and a currency in the French court. The Sun King spread his rays with total abandon, and all around him schemed to catch the light from his wandering eye

The nobility was at it all the time with adultery a way of life at court, in the words of one historian of the era. Loving ones husband was considered positively declasse

With girls of his own age, he was drawn to the slender ones he could dance with  ballet was a violent royal passion  and clever ones he could talk to, such as the plain but entertaining Marie Mancini.

She sang to him while he played the guitar, and it is said he wanted to marry her  until the idea was quashed by his mother and he was betrothed instead to the dumpy and dull Marie-Therese, daughter of the King of Spain.

She was pampered and pasty-faced, because she had never been allowed out in the sun, and went everywhere accompanied by her pet dogs and a pet dwarf.

This was a political union, supposedly ending the traditional enmity between the two countries (though it didnt). But it was also a love-match to begin with, in bed at least. They spent almost every night together and couldnt get enough of each other.

But then the new Queen got pregnant, and Louiss eyes, hands, and everything else strayed, alighting on the 17-year-old Henrietta, daughter of Englands executed Charles I and sister of the recently restored Charles II. She was married to Louiss younger brother Philippe, the Duke of Orleans, second-in-line to the throne and addressed at court by the courtesy name of Monsieur (as was tradition for the Kings younger brother).

With girls of his own age, Louis was drawn to the slender ones he could dance with  ballet was a violent royal passion  and clever ones he could talk to, such as the plain but entertaining Marie Mancini

No matter. He was gay, with a monsieur of his own, the handsome but conniving Chevalier de Lorraine, whom he openly paraded around court.

Philip did his duty and sired two children with Henrietta, but otherwise let her get on with her deepening affair with his brother.

Beautiful with perfect teeth and sparkling eyes, she was a perfect match for 22-year-old Louis. They swam in the lake, ate supper to the sound of violins and rode horses through the night.

Historian Antonia Fraser reckons the two were very much in love but she doubts it was a full-blown sexual affair  that Henriettas religious scruples held her back from sinning, and with her brother-in-law, of all people.

The Versailles series takes the opposite view. No holding back on its part  or hers.

It was too blissful to last. After a summer of love, his mother put an end to this excessive intimacy. Even her gay husband was getting jealous. Henrietta was warned off, and Louiss attention was diverted to one of her companions, the tomboyish Louise de La Valliere.

Surely she wasnt really his type? But it was becoming apparent the Sun King didnt have a type. His taste in women was all-encompassing.

Louise danced, she rode horses bareback, and was sweet-natured and submissive. According to Antonia Fraser, there was one drawback  she was flat-chested, which she tried to conceal with padding.

Aristocratic mothers pushed their daughters towards him, minor princes and dukes their wives, in the hope of advancement

This was offset by her huge blue eyes with a melting regard, fair hair and soft voice. Her childishly thin throat gave her an air of defencelessness.

The king was quickly smitten.

Louise pretended to resist  as any well brought-up girl would do  but then, convincing herself it was her religious duty to satisfy the king, she succumbed. Louis borrowed a friends apartment at Versailles  thats how difficult it was for him to get privacy  to relieve her of her virginity.

Have pity on my weakness! she was said to have cried, a red rag to the royal bull.

Louises religious scruples frequently interrupted the affair. She ran away. He begged her to come back. She sinned again. And again. She had four children by him.

The Queen was also producing offspring, and over seven years from 1660, the rampant Louis sired in total nine babies, the legitimate ones acclaimed as blood heirs, the bastards discreetly acknowledged and given aristocratic titles.

Not that Louise was ever the kings only dalliance.

There were scores of eager girls in what one historian describes as the royal seraglio  his harem. They could expect to be well treated, as long as they were discreet, unlike the scoffing Princess of Monaco, now claiming that the Kings cousin, Charles II of England, was much better endowed than little Louis.

One court custom was the after-dinner lottery, where tickets were handed out and rewarded with cash and jewels.

It was fixed to pay off his pets, the willing Isabelles, Maries and Charlottes who served his needs.

But there was always a No. 1 mistress, acknowledged as Maitresse en Titre and honoured at court. On state occasions, she sat next to him.

The Queen was also producing offspring, and over seven years from 1660, the rampant Louis sired in total nine babies, the legitimate ones acclaimed as blood heirs, the bastards discreetly acknowledged and given aristocratic titles

That position passed from Louise (who became a nun) to the stunning Francoise-Athenais, Marquise de Montespan, so beautiful that the king secretly spied on her in the bath. Realising he was there, she obligingly dropped her towel.

Long ringlets, pouting mouth, curved figure, a knowing look that was both sexy and imperious, she was a complete contrast from the fey Louise.

Witty and clever, with a forceful personality. Louise didnt stand a chance  nor did the king.With her he embarked on what Antonia Fraser describes as the great sexual adventure of his life.

As he grew more and more into the all-powerful Sun King, she was the goddess at his side, but an earthy one with no inhibitions about commerce, the contemporary word for sex, which she enjoyed to the full and without remorse, three times a day if she could get it.

She got her reward in terms of court status but also in riches beyond dreams. Louis told his finance minister: She must have anything she wants. Jewels, money and grand houses were showered on her.

Hers was the second finest apartment at Versailles, with direct access to the kings, where she lounged in her high-heel mules,massaged and perfumed, waiting for him. A rare contemporary portrait shows her as a voluptuous, gorgeous toy, reclining with a courtesans carelessness, according to her biographer, Lisa Hilton. Cupids swing above her head.

Louis XIV (fictional and real) There were scores of eager girls in what one historian describes as the royal seraglio  his harem. They could expect to be well treated, as long as they were discreet, unlike the scoffing Princess of Monaco, now claiming that the Kings cousin, Charles II of England, was much better endowed than little Louis

It was said the king scheduled two-hour sessions with her and couldnt wait for her ladies to properly undress her before throwing himself on her, such was his passion.

Their favourite place to make love was a suite on the ground floor at Versailles with an enormous bed, a huge mirror and an octagonal bath carved from a block of marble. The room resembled a sultans palace.

The only cloud hanging over this extravaganza of sensuality was Athenaiss cuckolded husband, a loathsome fellow who threatened to infect himself at the brothels he frequented and pass the disease onto his wife and to the king.

Louis sent him to prison and then banished him to his estates. Rumour had it he also tried to buy the mans silence with money, but Montespan continued to rail against the king, stoking up the fires of pious figures in Paris who threatened eternal damnation on Louis and his whore for their sins.

Like her predecessor, Athenais produced a crop of semi-royal children, seven in all, of whom four survived. For all her wiles  and the secret aphrodisiacs she allegedly administered to keep up his interest  even her days were numbered as the kings head mistress.

Her reign lasted more than ten years, but, now in her late-30s, though her face was as beautiful as ever, her weight had ballooned with all those pregnancies and a gluttonous appetite for food.

The king still came visiting, but his appetite for her had gone. There was a vacancy.

It was not going to be filled by any of the younger girls who now came forward to gee up the 40-year-old kings flagging sexual energy  the likes of Angelique de Fontanges, 18, embarrassingly the same age as his own eldest son, the Dauphin.

She served his purposes for a while, but for his new maitresse en titre he turned to Francoise de Maintenon, his love-childrens governess, more his age, a serious,slightly austere woman.

Although a strange choice, she reflected his own increasingly pensive nature after four decades of kingship.

By now, Marie-Therese, the wife he so long disregarded, was dead, and there were rumours he married Mme de Maintenon in secret.

Slowly, the vigour was slipping away from his court, along with all that sexual potency and energy.

Increasingly, Louis turned to his other passion  building Versailles into a palace of dreams.

It would last longer than all those love affairs, a fitting monument to reflect the unrivalled majesty of the Sun King.
Australian man Jamie Bright has been killed fighting against Islamic State forces in Syria, according to reports.

Numerous social media accounts associated with Kurdish military posted online about Mr Bright's death while fighting in Rojava, an area of northern Syria.

A video of Mr Bright, posted to Youtube on Sunday, said he had been shot and killed 'four days ago'.

Another Australian who had been fighting IS but returned home last December, Ashley Dyball, also known as Mitchell Scott on Facebook, posted: 'Your [sic] a great man and a top bloke your sacrafice [sic] will never be forgotten rest in peace'.

Scroll down for video

Australian man Jamie Bright, who has died fighting against Islamic State in Syria, according to reports

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was unable to confirm his death, 9 News reported.

In a statement, the DFAT said: 'The Australian Governments capacity to confirm reports of deaths in Syria is extremely limited.

'Due to the exceptionally dangerous security situation, DFAT is not able to provide consular assistance in Syria, which is listed as a do not travel destination in DFATs travel advice.'

In video of Mr Bright posted on Youtube, he explains: 'I came to Kurdistan five months ago. the reason I came to Kurdistan is because of the people. Their struggle, their fight.

'I have come to help them any way I can, minefields, booby traps, demolitions.'

In a video on Youtube, Mr Bright explains that he joined the fight against IS to help the people of Kurdistan
Michael Gove and Boris Johnson issued an extraordinary public challenge to David Cameron yesterday over his failure to cut immigration as MPs went public to demand a leadership challenge.

With one Tory backbencher suggesting the PM could be toast within days of the EU referendum, Mr Gove and Mr Johnson published a devastating letter, ridiculing Mr Camerons target to cut immigrants to tens of thousands and accusing him of corroding public trust.

They warned of the impact of EU free movement of people rules on public services, saying class sizes would soar and NHS waiting lists lengthen if Britain did not vote to leave on June 23.

As one Tory backbencher suggested the PM could be toast within days of the EU referendum, Mr Gove and Mr Johnson published a devastating letter, ridiculing Mr Camerons target to cut immigrants

And they claimed wages for the low-paid could fall  and that Britains national security could be put at risk  unless the country regained control of its borders.

With 25 days to go until polling, employment minister Priti Patel also launched a pointed swipe against Mr Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne, suggesting they were too wealthy to care about the effects of immigration.

She did not directly name them, but said: Its shameful that those leading the pro-EU campaign fail to care for those who do not have their advantages. Their narrow self-interest fails to pay due regard to the interests of the wider public.

And Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, warned that a vote to stay was a risk because migration in the EU was completely out of control.

PM IS 'TOO RICH TO CARE ABOUT IMMIGRATION' SAYS PRITI PATEL David Cameron and other leading pro-Europeans are too wealthy to care about the effects of immigration, a Cabinet minister claimed yesterday. Priti Patel launched a pointed swipe against the Prime Minister and Chancellor George Osborne, saying the luxury lifestyles of those in the Remain camp mean they are insulated from the impact of immigration. The Tory employment minister suggested they did not understand the consequences of rising immigration on the daily lives of millions of Britons. She said it was shameful that the Remain campaign leaders failed to consider the struggles of ordinary families. In an article for The Telegraph website, she claimed many pro-Europe campaigners only see the benefits of migration, such as cheap domestic help. Miss Patel wrote: Their narrow self-interest fails to pay due regard to the interests of the wider public. Downing Street said her intervention was an attempt to distract voters attention away from the economic risk of leaving the EU.

The attacks on the Prime Minister represented perhaps the most serious yet in a series of blue on blue exchanges between Leave and Remain Tory campaigners.

The news came as one MP said he believed at least 20 letters had been sent to the Tory 1922 backbench committee calling for a no-confidence vote in the Prime Minister, and Tory infighting burst into the open, with three MPs publicly suggesting they were ready to demand a no-confidence vote.

It also emerged that Mr Cameron will today join London Mayor Sadiq Khan on the Remain campaign trail  just weeks after savaging him for alleged links with extremists  to get out the Europe vote.

Mr Cameron pledged at the last election to bring annual net migration below 100,000  but last week the latest figures put it at 330,000.

In their letter to No10, Justice Secretary Mr Gove and Mr Johnson, the former mayor of London, along with Labour MP and co-chairman of Vote Leave Gisela Stuart, challenged the PM to admit five facts about what staying in the EU meant for Britain, including having to accept free movement, having to admit jobless migrants and having to defer to European courts on who we could remove from the country.

They said the tens of thousands promise was plainly not achievable as long as the UK is a member of the EU, and the failure to keep it is corrosive of public trust in politics. EU membership meant Britain didnt have control of its borders, they claimed, adding the population of Oxford to the UK every year just from EU migration and putting strain on public services.

Yesterday, former defence secretary Liam Fox said only Brexit would make it possible to meet the net migration pledge. He added: No Conservative MP who was elected at the last election can fulfil our pledge to the British people  including me  if we stay in the EU.

Michael Gove (pictured left) and Boris Johnson (right) issued an extraordinary public challenge to David Cameron yesterday over his failure to cut immigration as MPs went public to demand a leadership challenge

I am quite sure that the Prime Minister wanted to be able to get restrictions on free movement to be able to meet that target, but it wasnt on offer. There is no reformed EU, it is a fantasy. But Tony Blair, the former Labour prime minister, claimed leaving Europe would make no difference to immigration levels, adding: I dont discount it as an issue  its a really important issue, but its not going to go away if we leave the European Union.

Speaking to the Sun on Sunday, Mr Gove hit back at claims that the Leave campaign was fuelled by prejudice, saying: When people fling the charge of racism, they are attacking working-class people for wanting to maintain a decent standard of living. I think thats wrong.

Former Prime Minister Sir John Major accused the Leave side of lying, adding: They have, knowingly, told untruths about the cost of Europe. They have promised negotiating gains that cannot, and will not, be delivered.

They have raised phantom fears that cannot be justified, puffing up their case with false statistics, unlikely scenarios and downright untruths. To mislead the British nation in this fashion  when its very future is at stake  is unforgivable.

But Sir Vince Cable, the former Lib Dem business secretary, warned the tens of thousands immigration target could not be met anyway.

He said: I argued throughout the Coalition that it was not sensible to have a rigid immigration target that couldnt be met. It isnt just because of migration from the EU, you cant control emigration from Britain.

The letter to No10, by Justice Secretary Mr Gove and Mr Johnson, the former mayor of London, along with Labour MP and co-chairman of Vote Leave Gisela Stuart Dear Dave, This week the Office for National Statistics published migration statistics for 2015. Last year 270,000 people came to this country from the EU. Net migration overall was 184,000. That means we are adding a population the size of Oxford to the UK every year just from EU migration. This puts particular strain on public services. We are particularly concerned about the impact of free movement in the future on public services. Class sizes will rise and waiting lists will lengthen if we dont tackle free movement. As the euro crisis continues, more people from Southern Europe will want to escape unemployment and austerity in their countries by coming to the UK. Their arrival will put further strain on schools and hospitals. Last year, 77,000 jobseekers from the EU came to the UK. Its Government policy that EU migrants should have a job offer before they come here. But the EU did not agree to letting the UK implement that policy during the renegotiation of our membership. Its not just the strain on public services which gives rise to cause for concern. We are all committed to improving wages for working people. But continued free movement for jobseekers will place considerable pressure on the wages of low paid British workers in the event of a vote to remain in the EU. This is good for some of the multinationals funding the IN campaign. It is not good for British families struggling to make ends meet. And the current EU approach to immigration isnt just bad for us economically, it is also bad in security and humanitarian terms. Humanitarian There is a direct security concern for all of us because the European Court of Justice can interfere with our ability to deport criminals and others whose presence here is not conducive to the public good. The case of Abu Hamzas daughter-in-law underlined the way EU institutions fetter our ability to deport convicted criminals. [This refers to the case of the Moroccan woman, who has a British son, whose fight against deportation was boosted in February by the ECJs advocate generals opinion that EU law means the UK cannot automatically deport her simply because she has a criminal record unless she is deemed to pose a serious threat to society.] Perhaps most worrying of all, the EUs policies are failing in humanitarian terms. The tragic scenes unfolding in the Mediterranean underline how badly the European Union is handling population movements and migration pressures. People smugglers and organised criminals are exploiting this situation and the EU is failing to tackle this trade in human misery. If we remain in the EU the situation is only likely to get worse. The European Court of Justice can use the Charter of Fundamental Rights to overturn decisions of elected politicians on asylum policy. It is now in charge of how we implement the crucial 1951 UN Convention on Refugees. We need a new approach on refugees but the EUs institutions stand in the way. There is also the basic lack of democratic consent for what is taking place. Voters were promised repeatedly at elections that net immigration could be cut to the tens of thousands. This promise is plainly not achievable as long as the UK is a member of the EU and the failure to keep it is corrosive of public trust in politics. Given the publics desire for the facts ahead of the referendum, we would like you to confirm the following facts: A vote to remain is a vote to maintain permanently the EU Treaty principle of free movement of people. A vote to remain is a vote to ensure that we must admit economic migrants from the EU, whether or not they have a job offer. A vote to remain is a vote to affirm the European Court of Justices ultimate authority over whether we can remove persons whose presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good  in this and other respects we do not control our borders. Immigration A vote to remain is a vote to leave the European Court of Justice able to use the Charter of Fundamental Rights to strike down decisions of the UK Government and Parliament about asylum and immigration policy. A vote to remain is a vote for the UK to continue supporting the EUs failed policies to deal with the tragic crisis in the Mediterranean. We think that it is fundamentally important that immigration policy has democratic consent. We believe that the safer choice is to Vote Leave on 23 June and ensure that the public can vote for those who determine Britains immigration policy. We look forward to your response. Michael, Boris and Gisela

HE MUST GO, SAYS CAMERON'S TORY ENEMIES

Tory in-fighting over the Brexit debate erupted into open warfare yesterday as MPs went public to demand the toppling of David Cameron for telling outright lies.

Nadine Dorries, a long-term critic of the Prime Minister, warned he would be toast within days  even if the Remain side narrowly won  because of the way he had conducted the campaign.

Fellow backbencher Andrew Bridgen said he believed a leadership challenge was highly likely because Mr Cameron had put himself front and centre of a fairly outrageous Remain campaign.

Nadine Dorries, a long-term critic of the Prime Minister, warned he would be toast within days  even if the Remain side narrowly won  because of the way he had conducted the campaign

And last night a third Tory MP  Sir William Cash  suggested he would be ready to sign a letter demanding a no-confidence vote in the Prime Minister unless Mr Cameron improved his behaviour in the next two weeks and stopped churning out propaganda.

The Daily Mail revealed last week that dozens of MPs were considering demanding a no-confidence vote by writing to the backbench 1922 Committee.

But only now have rebels started to come forward publicly.

A total of 50 MPs names are needed to trigger a no-confidence vote  which would force Mr Camerons resignation as Tory leader if he lost. One MP told the Mail he believed at least 20 letters had been sent already.

But senior Leave figures Chris Grayling, Liam Fox and Iain Duncan Smith pleaded with Conservatives to concentrate on the referendum, saying talk of leadership challenges was not wise.

A source close to Michael Gove, the pro-Brexit Justice Secretary, said: People should concentrate on the fundamental issues at stake in this referendum. Whatever happens on June 23, the Prime Minister deserves support from Conservatives to serve a full term.

Dozens of Conservative MPs are angry about the use of the civil service by both Mr Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne to pump out anti-Brexit propaganda.

Sir William, chairman of the European scrutiny committee, told the Mail: It is completely unacceptable that these lurid scaremongering tales have been put out by the Prime Minister and George Osborne.

Its up to them  if they get it right in the next two weeks, and stop this relentless propaganda, then they can stabilise the situation  but if they dont, the fault will lie entirely with them.

Mrs Dorries said she had already sent a letter to the chairman of the 1922 Committee to demand a contest.

She told ITVs Peston on Sunday that she was particularly angry about the Prime Ministers claim that it was unlikely that Turkey would become a member of the EU  even though Turkish entry is government policy.

My letter is already in, she said. If the Remain campaign wins by a large majority, Id say it would have to be 60-40, then David Cameron might just survive, but if Remain win by a narrow majority, or if Leave, as I certainly hope, will win, hes toast within days. There are many issues about which David Cameron has told outright lies.

Mr Bridgen  who has not yet sent his letter  warned anger in the Tory party was now so intense a challenge was probably highly likely as he warned the alternative was a zombie parliament.

I think its going to be very, very difficult to pull all the sides together and have a working majority going forward, Mr Bridgen told BBC Radio Fives Pienaars Politics.

Asked if a vote of no-confidence against Mr Cameron would happen, the MP said: I think theres at least 50 colleagues who are dissatisfied with the way that the Prime Minister has put himself front and centre of a fairly outrageous Remain campaign.

No 10 said the Brexit attacks were an attempt to distract from a survey of 600 economists showing 88 per cent believed withdrawal would be damaging for the economy.

FURY THAT TRIGGERED EXPLOSIVE RESPONSE

By Andrew Pierce

After a gruelling return flight from the G7 summit in Japan, David Cameron was back at Chequers on Saturday and then the bombshell dropped.

Downing Street officials phoned to tell him about the extraordinary letter from Michael Gove and Boris Johnson, attacking him viciously over immigration.

The carefully crafted statement is the most direct challenge to the Prime Ministers authority from a serving Cabinet minister since he was elected in May 2010.

The hostile tone is all the more remarkable as before the referendum campaign began Mr Cameron regarded Justice Secretary Mr Gove as one of his closest political friends

The hostile tone is all the more remarkable as before the referendum campaign began Mr Cameron regarded Justice Secretary Mr Gove as one of his closest political friends.

Back in March, when Mr Johnson, then the London Mayor, declared he would back the Leave side in the referendum, he gave Mr Cameron ten minutes warning in a text.

This time there was no warning. The first No 10 knew about the letter was when officials caught sight of the front page of a Sunday newspaper on Saturday night.

Employment minister Priti Patel, seen by many MPs as a future Tory leader, chose the same day to launch her own Exocet in the form of a thinly veiled attack on Mr Cameron and George Osborne

A source close to Mr Gove and Mr Johnson explained the secrecy: In a general election campaign you never give notice to your opponents or the enemy of what you are planning next. Surprise is an important weapon in battle. We are taking this as seriously as the general election. We are in it to win it.

But the Gove/Johnson letter was not the only surprise manoeuvre from Vote Leave.

Employment minister Priti Patel, seen by many MPs as a future Tory leader, chose the same day to launch her own Exocet in the form of a thinly veiled attack on Mr Cameron and George Osborne.

Miss Patel, a leading Leave campaigner, may not have named them, but it was clear the PM and Chancellor were in her sights when she said the Remain camps leaders, with their luxury lifestyles, were insulated from the effects of immigration.

The reason for this co-ordinated surprise attack appears to have been Mr Camerons response to the latest immigration figures that came out on Thursday. While admitting that they were disappointing, he said: I do not believe that the right way to control immigration is to wreck our economy.

This flippant dismissal of Britains immigration problems  straight from the pages of Project Fear  was the final straw. Mr Gove and Mr Johnson were already outraged by Mr Camerons comment last week that it was immoral to campaign to leave the EU.

As a source in Vote Leave says, the Brexiteers had been subjected to personal insults and doomsday projections  now Mr Cameron had turned his back on the holy grail of solving immigration. They decided to hit back.

The unprecedented challenge to the PM is the clearest sign yet that Vote Leave is putting immigration at the heart of the campaign.

Parliament is in recess and a Cabinet meeting is not scheduled until the middle of next week when Mr Cameron and Mr Gove will be present. At G7, Mr Cameron said he was taking a vow of self-denying ordinance in a tacit admission the Remain sides attacks on Mr Gove and Mr Johnson had gone too far.
Scientists working towards a cure for cancer are included in a pension scheme that has millions of pounds invested in the tobacco industry.

Experts funded by Cancer Research UK are among thousands of academics whose pensions have links to British American Tobacco.

Accounts for the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS)  the main private pension scheme for academics in the UK  reveal it had 211million invested in the cigarette company in the year to March 2015.

Experts funded by Cancer Research UK are among thousands of academics whose pensions have links to British American Tobacco

This was the fifth biggest holding by the pension fund, which was worth 49billion in 2015.

One scientist, whose post at a leading university is funded by the charity Cancer Research UK, said she was horrified to learn that her money had been invested in an industry that is causing the disease she is trying to cure.

This means that, even if only indirectly through our time and labour, Cancer Research UK money is being invested in growing and supporting the tobacco industry, she told The Guardian. The idea that we all have our pension invested in British American Tobacco is outrageous.

All the work of this institute is done under the guidance of Cancer Research UK, and we are, quite rightly, regularly reviewed to ensure that [charity] money is being spent effectively and efficiently in the global fight against cancer. How can this possibly be in line with the fact that most of us will retire comfortably on money earned from tobacco investments?

Cigarette brands owned by British American Tobacco include Lucky Strike, Pall Mall and Benson & Hedges.

Universities UK, which represents vice-chancellors and principals, insisted that USS was a responsible investor. It said in a statement: USS, as part of its investment duties, takes into account wider social, ethical, environmental and governance issues, so long as that ensures that the assets of the scheme are invested in the best financial interests of members and their beneficiaries.

USS is also a responsible and engaged investor. They have, for example, undertaken engagement with tobacco companies on marketing approaches and regulations around e-cigarettes.

Cancer Research UK said university pension arrangements were beyond its control. The charitys tobacco policy manager George Butterworth added: The tobacco industrys deadly products are responsible for one in four cancer deaths.

Many people would be shocked to learn that their pensions are invested in tobacco company shares  especially those striving to develop cures for diseases caused by this lethal industry. Cancer Research UKs own pension funds are tobacco-free, but many of our researchers are based at institutions where that is not the case.

To help make it easier for organisations pension schemes to opt out of tobacco shares, were now funding the UK arm of [campaign group] Tobacco Free Portfolios to encourage investment funds to divest from tobacco stocks.

USS said it was an active and responsible share owner, an approach which USSs trustee believes will protect and enhance the long-term value of the fund.

Its statement added: In order to ensure appropriate diversification we invest in a wide range of companies and assets.

We have a significant in-house responsible investment team and work with the companies in which we invest to improve ethical, environmental and governance standards, in the best financial interest of our members and beneficiaries.

This has included engaging with tobacco companies on marketing approaches.

The trustee keeps its approach under review.

In March, the European Public Health Association called on investors to dump their holdings in tobacco firms.
Ever since he was exposed as an abusive husband in Radio 4s longest-running soap The Archers, the infamous Rob Titchener has been vilified by millions.

Sadly, however, the domestic abuse storyline that has gripped the nation is now also wreaking havoc in real life for actor Timothy Watson, who plays Titchener in the BBC show.

I can disclose that the impact of the plot, which sees Ambridges resident baddie turn against his wife, Helen, has reached disturbing new heights as Watson is now being attacked in the street in front of his own children by angry fans.

Ever since he was exposed as an abusive husband in Radio 4s longest-running soap The Archers, the infamous Rob Titchener has been vilified by millions

The show is going from strength to strength, but Tim is going through a very hard time, his concerned co-star, Carole Boyd, tells me.

Tim is very upset  hes beyond being comforted.

The Berkshire-born actor, 53, already admitted he was hounded off social media last year after receiving torrents of abuse from online fans. But Carole, who plays hotel receptionist Lynda Snell, reveals their rage has gone too far.

He told me the other day he was out with his two children when he was accosted in the street by women shouting abuse, she says. Because his children were there, he is very upset about it. I think its awful. He is in a very dark place.

Watson, who lives in Hampshire with his wife, Hollyoaks actress Helen Grace, 44, and their children  Mabel, 11, and five-year-old George  is said to be fiercely protective of his family.

But in an ironic twist, he has found the only person he can confide in about his real-life abuse is co-star Louiza Patikas, who plays his long-suffering victim, Helen Archer.

Carole adds: The only person who is really able to help him is Louiza  they are close. Of course, its just acting, but being abused in the street is just horrible. He is such a gentle and serious man, he was really upset.

Its gone too far  it is very silly to do that to a nice chap like Tim. After all, The Archers is only a soap.

Sadly for Watson, the distinction between fact and fiction is not so clear for others.

Elizabeth Hurley was slapped with the bridezilla portmanteau during her extravagant nine-day wedding to Indian textile heir Arun Nayar in 2007. But Arun, 51, whose marriage to Liz ended in 2011, can enjoy a much smoother ride the second time around with 30-year-old model Kim Johnson.

Were still in the midst of planning, but were very excited, Kim tells me ahead of their ceremony, which will take place in the South of France in July.

He definitely gets a say. I value his opinion on everything and I want him to enjoy the day just as much as I do. Confirming she is no bridezilla, she adds: I think the groom should always have a say in the wedding planning. Its not just about the bride.

A lesson for women everywhere.

After finding herself back in the spotlight thanks to her relationship with the Duchess of Cambridges brother, James Middleton, Donna Air has discovered theres only so much hard work a girl can do

Flitting between cocktail parties might be a full-time job for some, but former actress Donna Air is working hard to prove she has much more to offer.

However, after finding herself back in the spotlight thanks to her relationship with the Duchess of Cambridges brother, James Middleton, shes discovered theres only so much hard work a girl can do.

To be honest, my styling work and the fashion world has taken up so much of my time that Ive not had enough time for the jewellery, says Donna, confirming shes put her beloved line, Little Bird, on hold.

Its good to have different projects on the go, but you cant do everything at one time. Im pretty good at managing my time and I like to prioritise what Im excited about.

Perhaps that should include James? The two havent been spotted out in public together since December.

While women debate the need to wear high heels in the workplace, Savile Row designer Ozwald Boateng, whose suits are worn by Leonardo DiCaprio and Mick Jagger, has his focus on higher things.

Women in trouser-suits  a woman in a trouser suit is always sexy, he tells me. Ive got a lot of female friends in the acting business who have been demanding this of me for a long time . . . so its time I got on with it.

Daniel Craig has taken this selfie with his wife, actress Rachel Weisz, outside The Villagers pub in Blackheath, Surrey, to show support for the campaign for its re-opening

Saving the nation from evil is all in a days work for intrepid spy James Bond. But in reality, actor Daniel Craig is on a mission much closer to home: to save a local pub.

The 48-year-old has taken this selfie with his wife, actress Rachel Weisz, outside The Villagers pub in Blackheath, Surrey, to show support for the campaign for its re-opening.

The couple, who are renting a house nearby for six months while Weisz, 46, films My Cousin Rachel, did a good job of going incognito.
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From New York City to Budapest, the everyday lives of ordinary people traveling on metro systems around the world have been captured in a series of striking images.

During the last eight years, award-winning photographer Stan Raucher has spent countless hours riding and photographing a variety of people on metro systems across fifteen cities on four continents.

As Raucher observes the social landscape of urban regions around the globe, his candid black and white photographs reveal the emotions and interactions among the travelers, including mothers with their children and friends, as they head home, to work and other destinations.

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A woman leans against a pole and stares off into the distance as she travels on a Line 2 train near Lujiazui, Shanghai in 2009

Two friends feed a tiny puppy a bottle as they ride on a Line 3 train near Coyoacan, Mexico City in 2009

A woman helps a little boy out of a B train after it arrives at Manhattan's 42nd Street station in 2009 in New York City

Two women hold young children as they travel on a Line 8 train near Aculco, Mexico City in 2014

An elderly couple are captured in this candid photo while on Line 4 near Les Halles, Paris in 2007

The evocative images were taken between 2007 and 2014 during several trips Raucher made to cities including San Francisco, Shanghai, London, Sao Paulo and Warsaw, and have been gathered in his book, Metro: Scenes from an Urban Stage.

As he photographed his subjects on the metro, he attempted to be as discreet as possible. However, he found that on several occasions, people were in there own private worlds and were not aware of his presence.

'As individuals interact with one another in these tightly packed public spaces, occasionally extraordinary situations that are unexpected, mysterious, humorous or poignant unfold,' Raucher said of his project.

A woman looks out the window while her friend is captured in the middle of a conversation on Tren Ligero near La Noria, Mexico City in 2010

Passengers stand on the platform as they wait for a train to arrive at Metro 1 Deak Ferenc Ter Station in Budapest in 2011

A family sitting on a train enjoys a refreshing treat while on Line 8 near La Viga, Mexico City in 2014

A child rests his arm on his mother's leg while sitting on a Blue Line train near Karol Barg in Delhi in 2012

A woman lifts up strands of her hair for a man to smell while another passenger stares on Line 1 near Museo, Naples in 2011

'A strange or wonderful juxtaposition, a spontaneous gesture, a concealed mood or a hidden emotion may materialize and then vanish in a split-second...'

Raucher, who has been documenting aspects of the human condition across the world for more than a decade, grew up watching black-and-white films and TV as well as Life magazine photo documentaries, and has embraced this aesthetic in his work.

'The richness and depth of his black and-white photography add an important element to this work,' Ed Kashi, who wrote the foreword to the book, said.

'It enhances the emotional content and forces the viewer to dwell that much longer to absorb the textures of the scenes he has so adeptly captured.'

A woman talks with a man holding his baby girl on a platform inside Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center train station in Brooklyn New York in 2009

A group of friends embrace each other while on a train on London's Picadilly line near Hyde Park Corner in 2013

A couple are captured staring into one another's eyes in 2011 while on a platform in Metro U3 Stephensplatz Station in Vienna

Passengers are shown staring off into the distance as they travel on a Line 2 train in Montesanto Naples in 2011

A stylish woman holds onto the pole inside a train car on Line 1 near People's Square in Shanghai in 2009

A mother and her young daughter are captured as they wait for a train in Paris' Belleville Metro Station in 2013
Norman Tebbit warned economists have a history of getting predictions about Britain's finances 'wrong'

A Tory grandee yesterday warned that economists had a history of getting it wrong on Britains finances after several hundred warned about the risks of a Brexit.

In a poll of more than 600 economists, 88 per cent said they believed an exit from the European Union and single market would most likely damage Britains growth prospects over the next five years.

But yesterday Eurosceptic Norman Tebbit, the former Tory Party chairman, drew parallels with the 364 economists who famously said in 1981 that Margaret Thatchers economic plan threatened Britains social and political stability.

In a letter to the Times, they said an alternative course must be pursued. But soon after the letter, an economic recovery began that eventually resulted in one of Britains longest lasting booms.

Mr Tebbit, who stayed loyal to Mrs Thatcher, said: A lot of people at the time took their views very seriously, and indeed, it proved to be wrong by Margaret Thatcher getting re-elected.

They are just offering an opinion and on the whole the economists have got it pretty wrong.

If you look at a whole in their advising in the continent, theres terrible unemployment, and if they had a record of success in these matters I might listen to them.

He joked: I understood the Treasury were trying to exhume the 364 economists to add to their debate.

The poll  commissioned for the Observer and carried out by Ipsos Mori  was the biggest survey of its kind ever conducted.

82 per cent of the economists thought there would probably be a negative impact on household incomes over the next five years in the event of a Leave vote.

A total of 61 per cent thought unemployment would continue to rise.

Those surveyed were members of the professions most respected representative bodies, the Royal Economic Society and the Society of Business Economists.

The poll also found 57 per cent of respondents believed a vote for Brexit would blow a hole in economic growth, and cut national income by more than 3 per cent over the next five years.

Just five per cent thought there would probably be a positive impact.

Paul Johnson, director of the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the findings showed an extraordinary level of unity.

He said: For a profession known to agree about little, it is pretty remarkable to see this degree of consensus about anything.

It no doubt reflects the level of agreement among many economists about the benefits of free trade and the costs of uncertainty for economic growth.

Tebbit and Thatcher are pictured on stage together in 1985. Lord Tebbit believes current economists' fears around a Brexit is similar to that seen ahead of the economic reforms undertaken by Thatcher

The findings came as 37 faith leaders warned that Brexit would damage the causes of peace and the fight against poverty.

And four former Nato military commanders urged voters to recognise the vital importance of British leadership in the European Union and support retaining membership next month.

In a letter to The Sunday Telegraph, the American military figures said the UK has helped secure peace and integration on the Continent through the EU.

They also said the referendum result would have a significant strategic impact on the United States.
A former 'mommy blogger' has told of how her pastime became a grueling, life-sapping business that left her feeling depressed and disconnected from her children.

In 2013 Josi Denise was a restless 24-year-old former marketing director who found that raising two kids in Miami wasn't enough to still her restless mind.

As a distraction, she started her blog 'The American Mama,' which she turned into a powerhouse that attracted thousands of readers and free gifts from major companies. But her commercial success was a personal disaster, she told the NY Post Sunday.

Blogger: Jodi Denise (pictured), 27, started her blog 'The American Mama' in 2013. But she found herself turning every moment with her kids into a sponsored 'event' that stopped her enjoying her time with them

Sold: Denise's son, Nicholas (left), now seven, and daughter Gabriella (right), now four, had every playtime and special moment co-opted to sell chicken-fingers, iced tea and holiday trips, among other things

At first it seemed like the perfect plan: The blog would let her exercise her creative urges, her kids would give her material, and countless companies would send her free products to review, or pay her to mention their products.

But she realized pretty quickly that it was going to be a lot tougher than other bloggers made it seem.

'Anyone with Wi-Fi and some kids to take pictures of can start a blog,' Denise, now 27, told The Post. 'That's the lure that draws so many women in.

'It's only later that you start to realize there are a ton of things you hadn't thought of, from technical details to website design to joining all these networks and conferences where they teach you how to grow an audience, to, you know, how to actually make money doing this.'

How to make money, it turned out, was to find sponsors - companies willing to let bloggers try their products or services for free, and pay a (typically small) sum in exchange for coverage.

Theoretically that's as a simple as weaving a little story around the item for a blog entry, or even just featuring it in an Instagram post.

But the reality is that the companies make demands of their bloggers - or 'infliuencers' - that can seem frustrating and petty for someone who just wants to be creative.

'These posts take a lot of time, and the (brand) campaign leaders will critique everything you write and ask you to repost,' Denise said.

'For instance, when I got my first paid "shopportunity" with Tyson Foods for a game day, chicken-finger post, I wasnt allowed to say "Super Bowl," because its copyrighted. I had to say "the Big Game."'

To an outsider, that might seem like small potatoes for what seems like a pretty easy job with amazing perks.

After all, Denise did get a free $1,800 swimming experience with dolphins for her now-four-year-old daughter Gabriella, and a sponsored vacation to Kennedy Space Station for her son Nicolas, who is now seven.

And that's not even counting the money, which started off at $125-150 per post, but eventually became a massive $700-1,500 for each new blog entry.

Writing wrongs: Denise, like Gabriella (pictured), enjoys writing. But the need to be relentlessly positive and not to broach issues that actually mattered, in case sponsors were scared off, left her frustrated

But Denise found that her job was taking over her life: Jodi Denise was gone. She was now The American Mama.

'So there we all are, family time, grilling on Fathers Day with peach iced tea, but you cant enjoy the moment youre having with your kids, because youre taking endless photos and its all stage-directed,' she said.

'Youre worried about getting the company logo in the frame, and your kids smiling, and youre taking shot after shot. "OK, now you stand behind the grill!"

'I posted the pictures with a caption that said, "We had SUCH a great time grilling Sunday!" and its like, "No, actually we didnt even do that on Fathers Day. We did it a month ago so the content would be ready."'

And there was pressure not to be too 'real' - not to post anything that wasn't relentlessly twee, upbeat or intellectually mediocre; not to touch issues like marriage troubles or the politics of parenting.

That didn't just come from the brands, either.

'The other bloggers in your community wont share your content with their readers (if its not cheery),' she said. 'And if the (blogger) networks dont share the content, then your own numbers suffer.'

In December 2014, Denise walked out during a free insider look at a Cape Canaveral rocket launch: the braying mom-bloggers and scorn from other guests had gotten to her.

She sat by herself on a beach and watched the rocket enter the night sky from a distance. It was then, she said, that she realized this might not be the career for her.

But it wasn't until 2015, after the birth of her third child, Leonardo, that she knew she had to make a change.

Escape: In 2015, Denise gave birth to Leonardo (pictured), now one. Going through divorce and suffering postpartum depression, she decided to leave Miami and take the kids to Indiana, where she grew up

Gripped by postpartum depression and going through a divorce - neither of which were suitable topics for her blog - she fled Miami with her kids and returned to Indiana, where she grew up.

There she finally began to live as Denise again, not 'The American Mama,' enjoying the company of her kids and starting a relationship with her friend of 15 years.

'I felt like I was really me now, actually living a genuine life,' she said. 'If I had a romantic dinner, I didnt need to take a selfie. If the kids and I were having a great time, I didnt need to Instagram it.'

The honesty of her new life was so powerful that she not only stopped 'The American Mama' - she nuked it. The site no longer exists.

And on May 13 she posted an essay on her new site: 'Dear Mommy Blogger,' a darkly funny and impassioned screed with chapters titled 'Nobody is reading your s***' and 'There is no way in Hell you are actually that happy.'

Over the course of 4,100 words it completely dismantles the myth of the mommy blogger, concluding: 'Quit because your mommy blog f****** sucks. And its not going to get better.

'There are probably a dozen things you are actually good at. Find what you love, and what you do better than anyone else, and do that.'

Denise says she didn't mean to offend anyone - she just wants moms to stop pressuring themselves over their blogs and enjoy the time they have with their children.

'These days, If Im at a park with my kids now, Im there, at that park,' she said. 'I feel a real sense of community - not the false kind I tried to create online.'
She has made plenty of sacrifices over her 30-year career at the BBC  not least her decision to remain childless.

But diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall has said she does not regret her choice, preferring a successful career over starting a family.

The broadcaster, who covered the fall of the Soviet Union, said she has seen colleagues struggle to manage the pressures of the job while raising small children.

Diplomatic correspondent Bridget Kendall has said she does not regret her choice, preferring a successful career over starting a family

She said one colleague, who took over from her in Moscow, found it incredibly stressful coping with being at the beck and call of the BBC after having a baby.

Miss Kendall - who was previously married to journalist Nick Worrall but is now in a relationship with BBC editor Amanda Farnsworth - said it was just tough if a breaking story forces you to miss a childs birthday.

Speaking about the sacrifices she has made for her career at the Hay Festival yesterday, she said: Yes it was worth it. I didnt have children. I think maybe I wanted this more.

A colleague took over from me in Moscow and she had a small child. She didnt speak Russian which always meant shed enjoy it less but she found it massively stressful with a small child. Because its true, certainly at the BBC, that if theyre paying for you to be abroad youre at their beck and call.

Something can happen  if youre in Moscow and theres an earthquake in Turkey and they want you to get on the next plane and your childs got a birthday party then thats just tough.

Miss Kendall, 60, met her current partner just after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

Friends said the failure of her marriage led to her relationship with Miss Farnsworth, who has edited the BBCs 6 oclock bulletin and is now head of visual journalism at BBC News.

In June, Miss Kendall will leave the BBC and become the first female master of Peterhouse College at Cambridge University (pictured, file image)

Miss Kendall said: I think even if you have a partner whos very supportive it can come with huge stress. There are lots of unhappy marriages in journalism. But Amanda works at the BBC and she understands and shell help me pack and make me tea instead of saying thats so annoying.

The fluent Russian speaker, who has covered conflicts in Chechnya, Georgia and Tajikistan during her 33 years in journalism, said her career had at one point become all-consuming.

I think I went slightly doolally covering the end of the Soviet Union, she said. I was just totally obsessed with it. Its all right to do that for five years of your life  if what youre doing is worth it. For me the collapse of the Soviet Union was worth it.
A 24-year-old woman has died and a 29-year-old is severely injured after a horrific crash in Queensland which split a car in two.

The station wagon was found at the intersection of the Gold Coast Highway and Thrower Driver in Palm Beach just before 6pm on Sunday.

Parts of the vehicle, which included baby items, were found strewn along the stretch of road, reported news.com.au.

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A woman was killed after a car she was travelling in hit a traffic light and split in two. In the background, the distance between the top and bottom of the car is clear

Police believe 'excessive speed' was involved, as the vehicle hit a traffic light, splitting it in two  with one half of the car 'found 30 metres down the road.'

The 29-year-old driver was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital after she became trapped inside the car and had to be rescued by witnesses as she 'screamed for dear life'  a noise which left many onlookers shaken.

'All we could see was this tiny pod of fire that slowly got more explosive,' an unnamed witness told news.com.au

'There were a few explosions and then some screams from people.

'One woman was screaming for dear life at the top of her lungs.

'Everyone did a good job getting here really fast but it was too late.

'I've never seen anything like it, it's the worst I've ever seen.'

Police have credited the onlookers for their quick thinking, and Inspector Karen Shaw from Queensland Police told Channel Nine the incident 'could have been a double fatality'.

The 24-year-old passenger died at the scene.

The car was completely crushed by the crash and the driver is at Gold Coast University Hospital with serious injuries
Authorities will not tell his distraught family exactly where they were found

His backpack, laptop and camera were found by police in Brazilian city

Missing backpacker Rye Hunt argued with his friend about where they should go next on their world trip before he vanished from an airport in Rio de Janeiro, it has emerged.

The 25-year-old from Hobart has not been seen or heard from since getting in to a taxi at Galeao International Airport on May 21 after rowing with Mitchell Sheppard over their next destination.

Mr Hunt wanted to go to Bolivia but his friend was less interested and the pair exchanged 'heated' words before deciding to split up to cool off, his sister revealed on Monday.

They arranged to meet up again after 30 minutes but Mr Hunt never appeared, having fled the airport in a taxi at around 2.30pm.

Police in the Brazilian city have found the backpack he was carrying when he left the airport but refused to tell his distraught family where it was discovered.

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Rye Hunt (left) and Mitchell Sheppard (right) argued at an airport in Rio de Janeiro about whether they should fly to Bolivia moments before Mr Hunt vanished in a taxi

They also found his camera and laptop but will not disclose details of any other items found.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Monday, Romany Brodribb, Mr Hunt's sister, said her brother and Mr Sheppard had only decided to travel to Bolivia on the day of his disappearance.

After researching flights online they decided to go to the airport but fell out discussing 'when to go and how to get there', she said.

'They were arguing because they were trying to figure out how to get to Bolivia and what they would do there.

'Rye was a bit more keen to go than Mitchell. It got a bit heated and Mitchell said: "Look, lets take 30, go for a walk and get a coffee and well meet back here. Then Rye never met him.

The friends had already travelled to Thailand when they arrived in Brazil where they spent four or five days in the popular beach town of Copabanana in mid May.

They had intended to travel on through South America before jetting to Europe to round off the six-month trip.

CCTV footage showed Mr Hunt walking through the airport at around 2.30pm when he took a taxi away from the building

The 25-year-old's backpack, laptop and camera have been found by police. It's not clear whether his phone, wallet and passport were in the bag. Above, he is seen in an image shared by his girlfriend in a desperate plea for information

The pair had already spent time in Thailand (where they are seen above) when they travelled to Rio de Janeiro

The men's argument at the airport was their first after seven weeks of travelling, said Mr Hunt's sister

The men had been in Copacabana Beach for four or five days before deciding to move on. They travelled to Galeao International Airport together before Mr Hunt left alone in a taxi after their argument

On May 21 they researched flights to Bolivia online, she said, then went to the airport together to buy tickets but ended up fighting over the details.

When Mr Hunt did not reappear after their agreed-upon 30 minutes apart his friend scoured the airport in the hope that he had fallen asleep, his sister said.

After five hours Mr Sheppard returned to the hostel they were staying in Copacabana in the hope that he may appear but was left increasingly concerned.

His disappearance was reported to police some days later and a missing person's appeal was launched.

On Sunday the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told the Hunt family that Rye's backpack, laptop and camera had been found in Rio but failed to specify exactly where they'd been found.

They also failed to mention whether his iPhone, passport or wallet had been were in the backpack when they found it.

Mr Hunt has not made any contact with his friend, family or girlfriend since May 21. His family has not been informed where police found some of his belongings he was seen carrying as he left the airport

Mr Hunt's uncle and girlfriend Bonnie (left together) will travel to Brazil this week to look for him

Mr Sheppard (above with his brother) has remained in Brazil to look for his missing friend

A spokesman refused to comment on the case when contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Monday, citing the family's privacy as reason to conceal details from the media.

It is communicating with the family after receiving news from the Australian Embassy in Rio who are relying on Policia Civil for information.

But Mr Hunt's sister said the delay in communication and lack of specific detail had left the family 'frustrated'.

Mr Hunt is originally from Hobart but had been living in Western Australia for some time before the trip

'We're still waiting, we have a lot of questions.

'They're three things that are key for us  the phone, wallet and passport.

'We know his backpack and camera and laptop were found however there was no mention, or specific reference to those other things.

'Were frustrated that the information is taking so long to filter through but we are aware there's a process,' she said.

Mr Hunt's girlfriend-of-five-years, Bonnie Cuthbert, will fly to Brazil this week alongside his uncle to help Mr Sheppard look for him.

His parents are too upset to travel, said his sister, who is unable to fly herself at 39 weeks pregnant.

'Its just a really emotional time. It should be a really happy time with the anticipation but I feel so emotionally conflicted.

'Im hoping the baby can stay contained a few more days so that we can find Rye and get him home to meet his niece or nephew.

A GoFundMe page set up to help pay for the family's travel cost has raised more than $35,000 since being set up last week.

They shared their gratitude for donations on Monday as the search for Rye entered its second week.

'(The family) are overwhelmed by the generosity of those donating to the #FindRye GoFundMe campaign.
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A dilapidated cottage with rotting walls covered in graffiti is back on the market for almost $1million more than it was listed for just two years ago.

The property in the trendy, inner-city Melbourne suburb of Richmond is being sold for the third time in just four years and is expected to fetch more than $3m when it goes under the hammer.

The heritage-listed property is virtually unchanged since the 1960s even though planning permission was granted to build new townhouses on the site in 2012, reported Propertyobserver.com.au.

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This rotting cottage at 336 Burnley Street in Richmond, inner-city Melbourne, is back on the market for $3million

In 2012 the 777 square metre site at 336 Burnley Street was bought for $1.6m with the intention of using the in-demand location to build four new townhouses.

In 2014 the house changed hands again, this time selling for $2.5m to a consortium of Melbourne developers who also wanted to put townhouses on the section.

Under the planning permission, any development must incorporate the original 135-year-old dwelling because it is protected by a heritage overlay.

A listing for the property described it as a 'development opportunity not to be missed' with planning permission to build four new townhouses on the site

Any developments built on the site must incorporate the 135-year-old townhouse because it is heritage listed

Planning permission is still in-effect for the property and a listing on Domain.com.au described it as a 'rare development opportunity not to be missed'.

There is permission to build two three-storey, three bedroom units on the site and two, two-storey two bedroom units.

The listing said there is also the opportunity to re-jig the planning permission with the possibility of squeezing five smaller townhouses on the site instead.

The 135-year-old house was sold for $1.6m in 2012 and sold again for $2.5m in 2014 to a consortium of Melbourne developers

The property is in high demand with developers who want to build new townhouses on the 777 square metre section

Lindsey Hardman told Domain.com.au that the house on the site had not changed at all since he lived in it as a child in the 1960s.

He said: The outside of the house hasnt changed at all since the early 1960s when mum did the extension.

[But] the area has changed in terms of what people want to do.

Prior selling the house in 2014, the propertys former agent Allan Cove said a fair amount of work would be needed to salvage the original dwelling.

He said: There may be a possibility they have to replace whats already there because the house itself is pretty dilapidated.
The criticism comes just after MPs were accused of 'misleading' claims

He added that he thought the campaign

The former governor of the Bank of England has hit out at politicians on both sides of the EU debate for insulting the intelligence of voters.

Lord Mervyn King said both Remain and Leave were making wildly exaggerated claims - but he said the government must take responsibility for the overall tone of the campaign.

The criticism comes just days after MPs on the Treasury select committee said both sides had made misleading claims.

Lord Mervyn King said both Remain and Leave were making wildly exaggerated claims in the EU debate

Speaking at the Hay literary festival in Wales, Lord King said he had been deeply disappointed by the campaign so far  saying it did not deserve the name debate.

And he suggested David Camerons renegotiation had not been as successful as the government was suggesting.

Ive been very struck as I go round the country that people dont come up and ask me: Should I vote to stay in or to leave?, they seem to say: I want to make up my own mind but I cant find the arguments or the facts to do it, he said.

The one comment I will make is that I have been deeply disappointed, to put it mildly, at the tone of this whole referendum. The word debate is not justified.

Both sides have been engaged in a public relations campaign which insults the intelligence of the voters by making wildly exaggerated claims.

He added: The government has to take some responsibility for setting the tone of this.

Instead of saying to people: Well look its a difficult decision, there are arguments for staying in and leaving, weve tried to renegotiate a better deal for the UK maybe its not the best it could have been and we could have dreamt of but its better than where we are, so I recommend, all things considered, although there are arguments on both sides, my advice is that we should vote to stay in.

If both sides presented the case in that way, (a) they would be more successful in winning votes for their side and (b) It would have been a whole lot easier to try and pull the government together after the referendum.
The provost of Eton College last night threatened to resign from the Conservative Party over plans to make employers ask job candidates if they attended private school.

Lord Waldegrave of North Hill, a former Tory Cabinet minister, told party officials he could not accept the proposals.

He said the policy ran the risk of jobs being awarded not on merit but due to social engineering.

Lord Waldegrave (pictured) of North Hill, a former Tory Cabinet minister, told party officials he could not accept proposals to make employers ask job candidates if they attended private school

In plans published last week Matt Hancock, the Cabinet Office Minister, said employers should quiz candidates on their schooling in a bid to end discrimination against those from poorer backgrounds.

But Lord Waldegrave, who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major, said he thought the policy would put the privately educated at a disadvantage.

He told the Daily Telegraph: Fundamentally I think it is quite wrong to punish children for decisions taken by their parents, and to run the risk of choosing crucial public service jobs not on the basis of merit but of social engineering.

He added: 'The ablest candidates come from all possible backgrounds.

'I have told the Chief Whip in the Lords that I do not see how I could continue to accept the Whip if I believed that the Government was actively seeking to damage the charitable school of which I am a Trustee, and the many other schools like it which are meeting the justifiable demands of the Charity Commission to help the wider community.'

Wearing their traditional morning dress, pupils watch from behind barriers as the Queen is accompanied by Eton's Provost Lord Waldegrave, during a visit to Eton College in Windsor, Thursday May 17, 2010

The most senior individual at David Camerons former school added that he had spoken to the Lords Chief Whip about his possible resignation.

He said the new rules could have seen the likes of Winston Churchill turned down for jobs in Government.

He said: 'I have pointed out that non-government schools have played a very valuable part in getting children from deprived socio-economic groups into top universities.

'Good employers must of course get behind what Mr Hancock calls "polish".

'But I do not think we would have turned down Churchill in 1940 because the postcode would have revealed that he was born in Blenheim Palace, nor because he went to a great public school.'

Mr Hancock's proposals are part of Mr Cameron's 'life chances' agenda, which the Prime Minister says will spread economic opportunity to poorer children.

The proposals include a set of questions allowing firms to check the 'socio-economic background' of those applying for jobs.
A parody tourism advertisement has re-imagined the country's attractions and painted a bleak picture of Australia - but there's still mullet haircut-sporting, beer swigging blokes on beaches.

The short video posted to Youtube takes aim at the country's politicians and policies - including the Australian government's move to get the country removed from a United Nations report on climate change in world heritage-listed areas and attitudes towards indigenous people.

Titled 'Visit Australia! (Honest Government Advert)' it first describes the country as the most pristine place on the planet - with a s***load of natural wonders.

Among the scenes depicted in the video is that of a mullet-sporting, beer swigging man strolling down a beach

One of the attractions described in the video is the Great Barrier Reef 'bleached into a desolate coral graveyard'

A voice-over states: 'So tourists, by the time you get here and realise that 93 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef has been bleached into a desolate coral graveyard, you'll have already given us your money.'

But visitors shouldn't be concerned about reports climate change had made the country a little less tourist friendly, because Australians are 'fixers', the video goes on to say.

That's why the country's removal from the UN report on climate change-affected world heritage areas was requested, it says.

'It's part of our sanitise Australia Development Strategy,' the video continues.

The video also shows images of factories with chimneys billowing thick smoke into the air

The video describes a 'special package deal' on Nauru for asylum seekers wishing to get to Australia

It also claims 'invasion' and 'genocide' have been removed from Australia's history.

'We now have a spotless environment and history for you to come and enjoy - unless you're an asylum seeker.

For them, Australia has a 'special package deal for you and your family on Nauru', according to the ad.

Images of bleached, grey coral reefs, factories with smoke billowing from chimneys, mullet haircut-sporting, littering men drinking beer on beaches and child detainees on Nauru accompany the ad.

At the end of the video, made by The Juice Media, a statement claims it's been 'authorised' by the 'Australian Department of Environmental Irony and Mining Apocalypse, Canberra'.

Uluru is listed as one of Australia's 's***load of natural wonders' - and an image of it includes a sign saying 'don't climb w*****s'
Occupants of Nissan Skyline remain at large after fleeing the incident

Three people have been taken to The Northern Hospital in the city's north

Paramedics were called Grand Boulevard in Craigieburn before 10am

Two children are in hospital after they were struck by an out-of-control car

Two children have been taken to hospital after the pram they were sitting in was hit by an out-of-control car, the occupants of which remain at large after fleeing the incident.

Paramedics were called to Grand Boulevard, Craigieburn, on Melbourne's northern fringe, after reports a pram had been hit by a car at 9.50am on Monday.

Police say a two-year-old child, an eight-month-old child and a woman were taken to hospital as a precaution after they were struck by an out-of-control Nissan Skyline.

Paramedics were called to Grand Boulevard, Craigieburn, on Melbourne's northern fringe, after reports a pram had been hit by a car at 9.50am on Monday

Two children have been taken to hospital after the pram they were sitting in was hit by an out-of-control car, the occupants of which remain at large after fleeing the incident

Three occupants of the vehicle, believed to be two men and a woman, fled the scene on foot

Police say a two-year-old child, an eight-month-old child and a woman were taken to hospital as a precaution after they were struck by an out-of-control Nissan Skyline

A second woman who was with the children was not injured.

Three occupants of the vehicle, believed to be two men and a woman, fled the scene on foot before police arrived and remain at large.

The white Nissan Skyline has visible front and rear damage after leaving the road and striking three pedestrians, including the two children, before crashing into a fence.

The incident occurred at 9.50am on Grand Boulevard, Craigieburn, on a small bridge over Malcolm Creek

The white Nissan Skyline has visible front and rear damage after leaving the road and striking three pedestrians, including the two children, before crashing into a fence

An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said three people had been taken to The Northern Hospital, in Epping, all in a stable condition.

A witness told 3AW that seven police cars were at the incident.

Police are on scene investigating the incident.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
to his finger but

Mr Hagan said the spotted python was '1.2 metres in length and very fat'

Cairns snake catcher Matt Hagan was called to his home on Friday night

man is 'bitten on hand' by a

A man got the fright of his life when he was bitten by a snake that was hiding under his pillow.

'Jack' from Trinity Beach in Queensland said he was bitten on the finger by a spotted python on Friday night.

'He had lacerations all over his finger, the snake got him pretty good,' Cairns snake catcher Matt Hagan told Daily Mail Australia.

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A man got the fright of his life after he was bitten by a snake hiding under his pillow (pictured) as he was about to go to sleep

Jack from Trinity Beach in Queensland was bitten on the finger by a 1.2 metre spotted python (pictured) on Friday night

Mr Hagan was called to Jack's residence at about 11.30pm.

'Jack was just getting comfortable beneath his sheets when he slipped his hand under his pillow and was bitten on the finger by the enormous spotted python sharing his bed,' Mr Hagan said in a Facebook post describing the incident.

'When I arrived, Jack's wife was deciding whether it was more practical to burn the house down or move to New Zealand.'

After hearing noises Jack's wife went into the room and saw the huge snake curled up under the pillow.

Mr Hagan told Daily Mail Australia that the snake was '1.2 metres in length and very fat.'

'This was an unusually large spotted python.'

Jack suffered minor injuries to his finger but did not require further medical treatment.

If bitten by a snake Mr Hagan advises people to call emergency services before calling a snake catcher.

Cairns snake catcher Matt Hagan (pictured) was called to Jack's residence at about 11.30pm on Friday
It was a case of hair today and gone tomorrow for a Wollongong psychologist who had his dreadlocks cut off after growing them for 20 years - but it was all for a good cause.

Maris Depers is a Salvation Army drug and alcohol counsellor in the New South Wales town and had his long overdue visit to the barbers on Saturday to raise money for Supported Accommodation and Homelessness Services Shoalhaven Illawarra (SAHSSI).

Already $9,000 has been raised on his My Cause page Ease the Dread, and another $3,000 was added to this on Saturday when his dreadlocks - that are collectively more than 25 metres long - were shorn off.

Maris Depers had his dreadlocks cut off after growing them for 20 years

Fifty people attended the shearing at the at Cutting Edge Barber Shop, Unanderra, and when it was all cut off his dreadlocks weighed 900 grams.

Besides feeling really cold and realising yesterday that now the back of my neck can get sunburned its fine, Mr Depers told Daily Mail Australia

I have a mix of emotions looking at myself and thinking thats quite odd. Itll take a bit of time to get used to and theres certain things Ill definitely miss about them.

Saturday was a very emotional day and it was lovely to have so many people to come out and be very supportive of such an issue.

The Salvation Army drug and alcohol counsellor from Wollongong in NSW weighed his hair after it was cut and it weighed 900 grams

Fifty people attended the shearing at the at Cutting Edge Barber Shop at Unanderra

Mr Depers decided to raise money for SAHSSI in this way after encountering a woman through his work who shaved all her hair off so her partner could not grab it again and she could get away from him.

It was for this reason he decided to raise money for SAHSSI, which is a crisis and supported accommodation service that supports my community's most vulnerable women.

It was kind of a daunting thing to be sitting in front of 50 people and trying to work out what sort of hairstyle youd like to have for the first time in 20 years!, he told Daily Mail Australia.

Mr Depers has already raised $9,000 on his My Cause page Ease the Dread for SAHSSI

But it was a unique experience and it was for a very good cause. A whole lot of people got involved and they all amassed on Saturday as well.

It was very humbling. Ill always remember this as evidence what people can do to make change in the world and make it a nicer place.

'This has been a great example of this and lots of people played their part in it.'
A 33-year-old man was shot dead when a party at a $3.35million mansion listed on Airbnb got out of hand on Memorial Day Weekend.

Keivan Heath was shot at the home in Lynnfield, Massachusetts early Sunday morning and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities said Heath was discovered by officers responding to reports of gunfire at the home around 3am on Sunday.

Homeowner Alex Styller, 49, rented the home to a group of people who said they planned to hold a small college reunion at the 5,000 sq ft residence - which rents for $1,400 a night.

Keivan Heath, 33, was shot dead when a party at this $3.35million listed on Airbnb got out of hand this weekend

Homeowner Alex Styller, 49, rented the home to a group of people who said they planned to hold a small college reunion at the 5,000 sq ft residence - which rents for $1,400 a night

Authorities said Heath was discovered by officers responding to reports of gunfire at the home around 3am

One neighbor said the party started around 11am on Saturday and that girls in bikinis and college-aged partygoers could be seen entering the house

Styller was informed of the shooting at the home, which is currently on the market, from his real estate broker around 7.30am Sunday.

He found that the six bedroom mansion had been left a 'big mess' and discovered a bullet hole in the kitchen, Styller told the Boston Globe.

Styller said he was not certain where exactly in - or outside - of the home the shooting may have happened.

One neighbor said the party started around 11am on Saturday and that girls in bikinis and college-aged partygoers could be seen entering the house, they told CBS Boston.

Police have not revealed what led up to the shooting and the investigation remains ongoing. No arrests were made as of Sunday evening.

Homeowner Alex Styller, 49, rented the home to a group of people who said they planned to hold a small college reunion at the 5,000 sq ft residence - which rents for $1,400 a night

Styller said he was not certain where exactly in - or outside - of the home the shooting may have happened

Styller said he thought the planned reunion would include up to 20 people. Instead police informed him that anywhere from 60 to 100 people were at the home that night

Styller added that the renters were planning to pay professional cleaners to take care of the mess

Styller said he thought the planned reunion would include up to 20 people. Instead police informed him that anywhere from 60 to 100 people were at the home that night.

Paper plates, plastic cups and utensils were strewn about the street of the house, which is protected by a wrought-iron gate and requires that guests be buzzed in, according to the Boston Herald.

The home, which is 15 miles away from downtown Boston, is described online as being in one of the 'safest areas' in Massachusetts.

Styller said he believes the renters, aged 34 to 40, did not know the shooter or the victim and that they were 'very nice, very polite' people who were 'in shock'.

'They are very sorry and they feel extremely bad about what happened,' he told WCVB. 'They didn't expect this to turn out this way.'

Styller added that the renters were planning to pay professional cleaners to take care of the mess.

The property has been owned by Styller, who had the home built on site, since 2003.

He said he has been renting the home on the weekends for corporate retreats and family reunions for years and has only had positive experiences.

And Styller said he has no plans to stop renting it out in the future.

'I just continue to believe,' he said, 'That most of the people are great, wonderful, trustworthy, responsible, reliable people and individuals.'
Police have said the parents of a four-year-old who climbed into a gorilla's enclosure could face criminal charges after staff were forced to kill the beloved animal.

Harambe the 400lb gorilla was shot dead by Cincinnati Zoo officials just one day after his 17th birthday when the boy climbed through barriers and fell into the enclosure.

The incident, which was captured on cell phone, has sparked an outcry of emotion, with thousands of mourners branding it a 'senseless death'.

Many are placing the blame squarely on the parents of the boy. They are yet to be charged but police said prosecutors could choose to indict them.

Michelle Gregg, the mother of the boy, posted a message on Facebook saying: 'I want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers today. What started off as a wonderful day turned into a scary one.

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A special zoo response team shot and killed a 17-year-old gorilla named Harambe (pictured) that grabbed and dragged a four-year-old boy who fell into its gorilla exhibit moat, the Cincinnati Zoo's director said. His parents are now facing criminal charges

Footage taken by another visitor shows the gorilla grabbing on to the boy's shirt. Many are placing the blame squarely on the parents of a four-year-old boy, who investigators believe crawled through a railing barrier

'For those of you that have seen the news or been on social media that was my son that fell in the gorilla exhibit at the zoo. God protected my child until the authorities were able to get to him.

'My son is safe and was able to walk away with a concussion and a few scrapes... no broken bones or internal injuries.

'As a society we are quick to judge how a parent could take their eyes off of their child and if anyone knows me I keep a tight watch on my kids. Accidents happen but I am thankful that the right people were in the right place today.'

The family released a statement on Sunday saying they had taken their boy home.

It read: 'We are so thankful to the Lord that our child is safe. He is home and doing just fine. We extend our heartfelt thanks for the quick action by the Cincinnati Zoo staff.

'We know that this was a very difficult decision for them, and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla. We hope that you will respect our privacy at this time.'

A mother who was at the zoo said she tried to stop the child from going into the enclosure but couldn't grab him in time.

Brittany Nicely told WHIO the gorilla was also acting protectively towards the boy and was not behaving in a threatening manner.

'I tried to prevent it, I tried to grab him and I just couldnt get to him fast enough,' she said.

The zoo shot the beloved animal after he dragged the boy through the water, but many say he was simply trying to protect the child

The zoo's Gorilla World will be closed until further notice. Flowers and commemorative notes were left at a gorilla statue in the zoo on Sunday

'What the first responders saw, Im just not sure... They said he was violently throwing the child around, which seems crazy to me.

'They have a picture of the boy sitting in front of the gorilla moments before they shot him.'

A day after the incident, she said her kids are traumatized and do not want to go back to the zoo.

Deidre Lykins was also at the zoo when she saw the boy drop into the enclosure.

She described how Ms Gregg was calling out for her son and had just been next to him when he disappeared.

Then she had to stop her husband from going in to try and rescue him. But she insists Ms Gregg is not at fault.

She wrote on Facebook: 'This was an open exhibit! Which means the only thing separating you from the gorillas, is a 15 ish foot drop and a moat and some bushes!

'This mother was not negligent and the zoo did an awesome job handling the situation! Especially since that had never happened before!

'Thankful for the zoo and their attempts and my thoughts and prayers goes out to this boy, his mother and his family.'

More than 2,000 people have already signed a Change.org petition calling for the boy's parents to be 'held accountable for their actions of not supervising their child' - and slamming the zoo for putting Harambe down.

Brittany Nicely (left and right) said she tried to stop the child from going into the enclosure but couldn't grab him in time. She then tried to calm the boy's mother has the chaos unfolded

The small child said he wanted to get in the water before the incident, to which the mother, who was also watching several other children, replied: 'No, you're not, no, you're not,' according to one witness

The child said he wanted to go in the water moments before the incident, eyewitness Kim O'Connor said.

Ms Gregg, who was also watching several other children, is said to have replied: 'No, you're not, no, you're not.'

The zoo's animal response team assessed the 'life-threatening situation' and defended their decision to shoot Harambe rather than tranquilize him, but thousands took to social media to call it a 'murder'.

O'Connor told WLWT she heard the boy talking about getting into the water before she heard a splash, followed by frantic yelling when onlookers realized he was inside the enclosure.

Chilling footage showed Harambe picking up the boy and dragging him through the water, but more graphic portions were cut from the video.

According to O'Connor, the gorilla looked like he was trying to protect the boy from panicked bystanders who may have aggravated the tense situation.

She said: 'I don't know if the screaming did it or too many people hanging on the edge, if he thought we were coming in, but then he pulled the boy down away further from the big group.'

In the video that emerged on Saturday, a woman can be heard yelling, 'Mommy's right here... mommy loves you', before adding, 'Isaiah be calm', when the boy started crying.

Some said Harambe appeared to be guarding and defending the boy, but video footage also showed him dragging the four-year-old in the water

The zoo celebrated Harambe's birthday on Friday, just one the day before he died (left). His death has sparked an out pour of emotions, with many calling it a 'murder' and 'senseless death' (right)

Jerry Stones, who worked at the Gladys Porter Zoo, in Bronwsville, Texas, where Harambe was raised, said: 'It tore me a new one. An old man can cry, too. He was a special guy in my life. It's a sad day for us'

Director Thane Maynard supported the zoo's dangerous animal response team for their decision to put down the gorilla.

'They made a tough choice and they made the right choice because they saved that little boy's life,' Maynard said.

But outraged animal lovers took to social media declaring the western lowland gorilla's life was unnecessarily taken, and more than 3,000 have already joined the Facebook group Justice for Harambe.

While some defended the parents, many others were less sympathetic.

One Twitter user wrote: 'So a beautiful, innocent gorilla has to die because neglectful parents can't control their kids? Mankind sucks :( #Harambe #CincinnatiZoo'

Another user Chris Dasauchoit tweeted: 'Beautiful animals sadly paying for utter human stupidity and negligence with their lives. #Harame #CincinnatiZoo.'

Many are placing the blame squarely on the parents of a four-year-old boy

Zoo officials said three gorillas were in the enclosure when the boy fell in the moat, but the two female gorillas were called out immediately.

According to Maynard, the gorilla did not appear to be attacking the child, but he described it as 'an extremely strong animal in an agitated situation'.

'You're talking about an animal that's over 400 pounds and extremely strong. So no, the child wasn't under attack but all sorts of things could happen in a situation like that. He certainly was at risk,' he told WLWT.

According to a fire department incident report, the gorilla was 'violently dragging and throwing the child', who was between Harambe's legs when the gorilla was shot, WLWT reported.

Maynard explained that tranquilizing the gorilla would not have knocked it out immediately, leaving the boy in danger.

The child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center with serious but 'non-life threatening' injuries following the incident, which was reported around 4pm.

Zoo director Thane Maynard supported the response team's decision to put down the gorilla, but many disagreed. More than 1,000 people have already joined the Facebook group Justice for Harambe

Harambe came to Cincinnati in 2015 from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. He is a western lowland gorilla, which the World Wildlife Fund deemed critically endangered

He was still alert when he was taken to hospital, according to officials.

Officials said they could not release any information on the child, including his name and condition.

Zoo director Maynard noted it was the first time the team had killed a zoo animal in such an emergency situation, and he called it 'a very sad day'.

He said said in a statement: 'The Zoo security team's quick response saved the child's life.

'We are all devastated that this tragic accident resulted in the death of a critically-endangered gorilla. This is a huge loss for the Zoo family and the gorilla population worldwide.'

Jerry Stones, who worked at the Gladys Porter Zoo, in Bronwsville, Texas, where Harambe lived before he was transferred in 2015, said he was devastated by the news.

Stones, who raised the gorilla, told the NY Daily News: 'It tore me a new one. An old man can cry, too. He was a special guy in my life. It's a sad day for us.'

He added: 'He grew up to be a pretty, beautiful male. He was very intelligent. His mind was going constantly. He was just such a sharp character.'

Western lowland gorillas are deemed critically endangered by the World Wildlife Fund.

The child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center with serious injuries following the incident

Primatologist Julia Gallucci issued a statement through animal-rights group PETA, saying: 'Yet again, captivity has taken an animal's life.

'The gorilla enclosure should have been surrounded by a secondary barrier between the humans and the animals to prevent exactly this type of incident.'

The area around the gorilla exhibit was closed off on Saturday afternoon as zoo visitors reported hearing screaming.

The zoo is to be open as usual on Sunday but Gorilla World will be closed until further notice.

In March, two curious polar bears at the zoo wandered into a behind-the-scenes service hallway through an open den door, but never left a secondary containment area.

The zoo said the 17-year-old female Berit and the 26-year-old male Little One, entered an 'inappropriate' area but remained contained and were never loose or a threat to the public.

During that incident, zoo officials said staff followed protocols and safely returned the bears to their main holding area within two hours.
The leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, has been confirmed dead by the Pakistani government after it performed a DNA test on his body.

DNA taken from Mansour's body - which was charred but intact after the U.S. drone strike that killed the leader last week - was matched to that of a close relative, officials in the capital of Islamabad said Sunday.

The announcement came on the same day that it was revealed the family of Mansour's driver, who was also killed in the drone strike, plan to sue the U.S., Fox News reported.

Drone strike: Afghanistan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour (left) was killed in a drone strike on May 21 while being driven in a car (right) in Pakistan. Comparison with a relative's DNA confirmed his death Sunday

Killed: This is the car that Mansour and his driver, Muhammad Azam, were in when they were hit and killed. Azam's brother says he was an innocent taxi driver unconnected to Mansour or the Taliban

Mansour's death had already been confirmed by the U.S., Afghanistan and the Taliban - which announced his replacement earlier this week - but Pakistan's interior ministry held off until the DNA was confirmed.

The Taliban leader was killed on May 21 while being driven on the Pakistani side of the Afghan-Pakistan border, having entered the country from Iran using forged documents.

His driver, identified as Muhammad Azam, was also killed in the attack on the way to the Pakistani town of Quetta.

On Wednesday Azam's brother, Muhammad Qasim, filed a First Information Report with Pakistani police in which he accuses America of committing murder, terrorism and damage to property in the strike, The Washington Post reported.

'I seek justice, and legal action against the American entities responsible,' he said in the report, though he admitted that he didn't know the names of the American officials who authorized the bombing.

The U.S. claimed after the bombing that Mansour's driver was an enemy combatant, and that there had been no civilian casualties in the attack.

But in his report, Qasim says his brother was a taxi driver with no connections to the Taliban, who had taken Mansour thinking he was just a regular fare after being flagged down in the Pakistani border town of Taftan.

'My brother was innocent, and very poor. His four children are very young, and he was the familys sole breadwinner,' he said in the statement.

It's not clear whether Qasim is seeking a trial in absentia - and with it a potential symbolic legal victory - or compensation.

Mansour's death was unusual not just because the U.S. owned up to the attack, but also because it was targeted at a prominent figure in the Taliban, which has generally been off-limits under the Obama administration.

U.S. officials say that the strike was justified because Mansour was plotting to attack U.S. citizens.

On Wednesday it was announced that Haibatullah Akhundzada, a low-profile religious figure and one of Mansour's two deputies, had been appointed the new leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan, in a unanimous vote.
Donald Trump's top aide has defended his controversial comments about the governor of New Mexico and his decision not to debate Bernie Sanders.

Corey Lewandowski told Fox News that Republican governor Susana Martinez is 'not doing her job'.

'This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democratic issue. We stand by our statement,' Lewandowski said.

Republican party leaders took issue with Trump's statements about Martinez, a Latina governor, while in her home state.

Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski (pictured) has defended the GOP presumptive presidential nominees remarks about New Mexico governor Susana Martinez

Lewandowski says the issue is not partisan, and that the campaign stands behind Trumps comments that she needs to do a better job

Many speculated the Trump would tap Martinez to be his running mate. However, after his comments on Tuesday, those speculations were laid to rest.

Fox News reports GOP leaders are in desperate need of female and minority votes and Trump's remarks could hurt them in those demographics.

'Your governor has got to do a better job. She's not doing the job. Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going,' Trump said at an Albuquerque rally on Tuesday.

He also went after Martinez on issues pertaining to New Mexico's high state unemployment.

GOP leaders as House Speaker Paul Ryan, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and Florida senator Marco Rubio all came to the defense of Martinez.

'Apparently, Donald Trump doesn't realize Governor Martinez wasn't elected in 2000, that she has fought for welfare reform, and has strongly opposed the president's Syrian refugee plan,' Martinez's office said in a statement.

Apparently, Donald Trump doesn't realize Governor Martinez wasn't elected in 2000, that she has fought for welfare reform Martinezs office wrote on its website

Jobs, the economy and immigration are the issues Trump is focusing on, Lewandowski argued.

'We need to stop illegal immigration,' he said. 'We need to put people back to work, cut taxes. That's what this is about.'

Another issue Lewandowski brought up was Trump rescinding his agreement to debate senator Bernie Sanders.

Lewandowski said Trump 'was joking' when he agreed to the debate and that he only has his focus set on Hillary Clinton.
A cannibalistic tree frog has been caught green-handed eating his helpless cousin.

The amazing photo shows a large green tree frog eating a smaller Roths tree frog for a late-night snack in the Northern Territory town of Herbert.

In his dying moments the Roths frogs eyes bulge in terror as his legs are devoured before the green frog moves up his body for the main course.

The small Roth's tree frog screams in agony, eyes bulging with terror, as his large green cousin devours his legs

Herbert woman Kate Cook snapped the incredible photo after rushing outside to investigate the agonized squeals coming from her deck.

She said: I snapped this photo after investigating a horrible squealing noise outside last night.

[It was] not what I was expecting to see  a mean, green frog-eating machine.

Poor little frog, but I guess I just captured nature and the food chain doing its thing.

Ms Cook said the green frog returned to her house later that week where he was licking his lips in anticipation of another tasty meal.

She said: The cannibal frog is on the hunt again.

From the size of his belly I dont think he can match Monday nights meal.

Kate Cook said the greedy green tree frog returned to her house later that week. She said: 'From the size of his belly I dont think he can match Monday nights meal'

The Australian green tree frog is a native species which can grow as large as 16cm long  far bigger than most frogs in the country.

Roths tree frog is native to northern Australia and reaches a maximum size of 5cm long.

Charles Darwin University frog expert Keith Christian told Daily Mail Australia it was not uncommon for frogs to eat each other.

He said: Frogs are pretty generalist eaters and will often eat what is in front of them.
Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre has been sentenced to life in prison for war crimes, crimes against humanity and a litany of other charges, including rape.

The verdict brings a long-awaited reckoning to families of the up to 40,000 people killed and the many kidnapped, raped or tortured under his 1982-1990 rule as president of Chad.

Habre's trial by the Extraordinary African Chambers is the first in which the courts of one country are prosecuting the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes.

Victims groups who had travelled to Dakar to hear the verdict were visibly moved by a judgement that comes a quarter century after the abuses they suffered.

Hissene Habre (pictured) led Chad from 1982-1990, his rule marked by fierce repression of opponents and targeting of rival ethnic groups

'Hissene Habre, this court finds you guilty of crimes against humanity, rape, forced slavery, and kidnapping,' as well as war crimes, said Gberdao Gustave Kam, Burkinabe president of the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE) court.

'The court condemns you to life in prison,' Kam added, giving Habre 15 days to appeal the sentence.

Habre raised his arms into the air on hearing the verdict, shouting 'Down with France-afrique!' referring to the term used for France's continuing influence on its former colonies.

'The feeling is one of complete satisfaction,' said Clement Abeifouta, president of a Habre survivors association.

'It's the crowning achievement of a long and hard fight against impunity. Today Africa has won. We say thank you to Senegal and to Africa for judging Africa,' he added.

The case was heard by the CAE special tribunal set up by the African Union under a deal with Senegal, and is the first time a country has prosecuted a former leader of another nation for rights abuses.

Reed Brody, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch who has spent the last 15 years working with victims to bring Habre to justice, said the conviction was a warning to other despots.

Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre (centre) is escorted by prison guards into the courtroom for the first proceedings of his trial by the Extraordinary African Chambers in Dakar last year

'This verdict sends a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalise their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end,' Reed said in a statement.

'Today will be carved into history as the day that a band of unrelenting survivors brought their dictator to justice.'

Known as a skilled desert warrior often in combat fatigues to fit the role, Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby.

Witnesses recounted the horror of life in Chad's prisons, describing in graphic detail abusive and often deadly punishments inflicted by Habre's feared secret police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS).

Victims were subject to electric shocks and waterboarding while some had gas sprayed in their eyes or spice rubbed into their genitals, the court heard.

Mobutu Sese Seko, then president of Zaire, and Hissene Habre, then president of Chad, wave to wellwishers in August 1983, in N'djamena

Habre's defence team unsuccessfully sought to cast doubt on the prosecution argument that their client was an all-knowing, all-powerful head of the DDS, suggesting he may have been unaware of abuses on the ground.

For more than 20 years, the former dictator lived freely in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children, swapping his military garb for white robes and a cap.

He declined to address the court throughout the 10-month trial, refusing to recognise its authority.

'What we have seen today is not justice. It is a crime against Africa,' said Mahamat Togoi, part of a Habre supporters group. 'It's the dirty work of mercenaries in the pay of France-afrique.'

Amnesty International West Africa researcher Gaetan Mootoo said the verdict would serve as a guiding light for those living in repressive regimes around the world.
There are some things you can never un-see.

One of them is a hefty bearded man strip teasing down to his tiny briefs at the Libertarian party's national convention.

Late entry Livingston County Sheriff candidate James Weeks took the crowd by surprise Sunday as he began to take his clothes off to a tinny soundtrack, that he played from his cell phone.

Weeks took to the stage and after his timer was set, began slowly taking off items of clothing one by one, encouraging the audience to join in with clapping.

Late entry candidate James Weeks took the crowd by surprise Sunday as he began to take his clothes off to a tinny soundtrack

Weeks took to the stage and after his timer was set, began slowly taking off items of clothing one by one, encouraging the audience to join in with clapping

First he ripped off his tie with abandon, then his shirt, suspenders and finally his shirt and pants - all the way down to his tiny black briefs.

At first the shocked audience cheered and clapped along, but by the end of the two-minute slow tease, even the most liberal members were booing.

But Weeks didn't seem to mind. He continued to jiggle and wiggle and pace up and down the stage, even as a convention manager shouted into a mike: 'Moron! Idiot! You're making a fool out of yourself.'

After the music stopped he said into the mike: 'Sorry, it was a dare. I'm gonna go ahead and drop out.'

He then exited and the host returned to the stage, only to find that Weeks had left his phone on the lectern.

Many took to social media to comment on the spectacle.

First he ripped off his tie with abandon, then his shirt, suspenders and finally his shirt and pants - all the way down to his tiny black briefs

At first the shocked audience cheered and clapped along, but by the end of the two-minute slow tease, even the most liberal members were booing

But Weeks was not the only one who stood out at the event at the Rosen Centre Hotel and Resort in Orlando, Florida. Pictured: Vermin Love Supreme, left and Starchild, right

Many took to social media to comment on the spectacle at the Libertarian convention

Stephanie Ebert on Twitter: 'Is this what it means to #LegalizeFreedom? I have officially seen too much stripping at the Libertarian Convention.

But Weeks was not the only one who stood out at the event at the Rosen Centre Hotel and Resort in Orlando, Florida.

The room hosted an array of unusual outfits and attitudes.

Vermin Love Supreme, a well-known performance artist and political activist posed for cameras with his tongue out, as he donned a yellow tie and wellington boot as a hat.

Libertarian Party activist Starchild wore a skintight leopard print stress and array of political badges, which included slogans such as: 'The state SUCKS' and 'Free range human'.

There was still time for serious business however, and New Mexico Gov Gary Johnson, 63, was elected as its presidential candidate for the second time in a row.

Johnson secured the nomination over software entrepreneur John McAfee, who initially planned to run as the first-ever candidate for his new 'Cyber Party.'

Fruity crowd: Vermin Love Supreme, (left) is a well-known performance artist and political activist

Wacky: There was array of interesting get ups at this year's convention held in Florida

Libertarians say their ticket could play a big role in the 2016 campaign since Trump and Clinton are both viewed unfavorably by huge swaths of the electorate

The 63-year-old expressed some strong views about Donald Trump and described the real estate mogul's immigration policies as 'just racist,' particularly the Republican's call to deport 11 million undocumented people currently in the country.

Libertarians say their ticket could play a big role in the 2016 campaign since Trump and Clinton are both viewed unfavorably by huge swaths of the electorate.

Johnson's longshot campaign is based in Salt Lake City, home to his most trusted political adviser and in a state where Trump finished a distant third place in March's Republican primary election.

The local presence of Johnson's headquarters was a surprise to many Utah state legislators who met with the Libertarian candidate inside the state house last week.

With just $35,000 in his campaign coffers at the end of March, he doesn't have the money for TV ads, poll-tested messaging, or a paid presence in battleground states where Trump and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton are already beginning to invest resources.

The Johnson campaign will instead focus its resources on cheaper states where libertarians have done well in the past, places like Alaska, maybe New Hampshire, he says.

Johnson largely focuses his energy on marijuana, but also suggests that concern over narcotics such as heroin are exaggerated compared to the impact of alcohol or even smoking cigarettes.

He is a regular marijuana user, noting that he most recently took an edible form of the drug three weeks ago.
More than 57,000 people have signed petition for parents to be punished

The man who helped raise the 400-pound gorilla named Harambe who was shot dead by Cincinnati Zoo officials this weekend has called him a 'gentle giant' who was 'very intelligent'.

Harambe was killed after a four-year-old boy crawled through a railing barrier and fell 10ft into the gorilla exhibit's moat before he was dragged by the endangered Silverback for 10 minutes.

Jerry Stones, the director of Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas, said he was in tears after learning Harambe was killed just a day after the gorilla's 17th birthday.

A special zoo response team shot and killed a 17-year-old gorilla named Harambe (pictured) that grabbed and dragged a four-year-old boy who fell into its gorilla exhibit moat, the Cincinnati Zoo's director said

Footage taken from another visitor shows the gorilla grabbing on to the boy's shirt. Many are placing the blame squarely on the parents of a four-year-old boy, who investigators believe crawled through a railing barrier

The zoo shot the beloved animal after he dragged the boy through the water, but many say he was simply trying to protect the child

Jerry Stones (pictured with Harambe's half-sister Gladys), the director of Gladys Porter Zoo in Texas, said he was in tears after learning Harambe was killed just a day after the gorilla's 17th birthday

'An old man can cry, too,' Stones told the New York Daily News.

'Harambe was my heart. It's like losing a member of the family.'

Stones, 74, was Harambe's caretaker from birth until the gorilla's transfer to Cincinnati Zoo last year.

He said Harambe had been a 'sweet cute little guy' and a 'sharp character', but defended the zoo's decision to kill the gorilla to keep the boy safe.

'The child was in danger,' he said. 'It's a tragic set of circumstances that left a beautiful young gorilla in a situation that was foreign and ultimately ended up being dangerous for him.

'Can you imagine what was going through those parents' minds?'

'No matter what Harambe was doing, in their minds, they had to be petrified.'

But many have taken to social media to blame the boy's parents for Harambe's death.

Witness Kim O'Connor said she heard the boy telling his mother he wanted to get in to the water before the incident, only to be told by her: 'No, you're not, no you're not.'

The small child said he wanted to get in the water before the incident, to which the mother, who was also watching several other children, replied: 'No, you're not, no, you're not,' according to one witness

Some said Harambe appeared to be guarding and defending the boy, but video footage also showed him dragging the four-year-old in the water

O'Connor told WLWT she heard the boy talking about getting into the water before she heard a splash, followed by frantic yelling once onlookers realized he was inside the enclosure.

A video emerged on Saturday revealing some of the chilling moments where Harambe was dragging the boy in the water, although more graphic portions were cut from the footage.

According to O'Connor, the gorilla looked like he was trying to protect the boy from panicked bystanders who may have aggravated the tense situation.

She said: 'I don't know if the screaming did it or too many people hanging on the edge, if he thought we were coming in, but then he pulled the boy down away further from the big group.'

In the video that emerged on Saturday, a woman can be heard yelling, 'Mommy's right here...mommy loves you,' and before saying 'Isaiah be calm,' when the boy started crying.

Director Thane Maynard supported the zoo's dangerous animal response team for their decision to put down the gorilla.

'They made a tough choice and they made the right choice because they saved that little boy's life,' Maynard said.

But outraged animal lovers took to social media declaring the western lowland gorilla's life was unnecessarily taken, and more than 1,000 have already joined the Facebook group Justice for Harambe.

While some - like Stones - defended the parents, many others were less sympathetic.

One Twitter user wrote: 'So a beautiful, innocent gorilla has to die because neglectful parents can't control their kids? Mankind sucks :( #Harambe #CincinnatiZoo'

The zoo celebrated Harambe's birthday on Friday, just one the day before he died (left). His death has sparked an out pour of emotions, with many calling it a 'murder' and 'senseless death' (right)

The zoo's Gorilla World will be closed until further notice. Flowers and commemorative notes were left at a gorilla statue in the zoo on Sunday

Jerry Stones, who worked at the Gladys Porter Zoo, in Bronwsville, Texas, where Harambe was raised, said: 'It tore me a new one. An old man can cry, too. He was a special guy in my life. It's a sad day for us'

Another user Chris Dasauchoit tweeted: 'Beautiful animals sadly paying for utter human stupidity and negligence with their lives. #Harame #CincinnatiZoo.'

More than 57,000 people have since signed a Change.org petition titled 'Justice for Harambe' that is calling for the parents to face consequences for the incident.

'It is believed that the situation was caused by parental negligence and the zoo is not responsible for the child's injuries and possible trauma,' the petition reads.

'We the undersigned want the parents to be held accountable for the lack of supervision and negligence that caused Harambe to lose his life.'

'We believe that this negligence may be reflective of the child's home situation. We the undersigned actively encourage an investigation of the child's home environment.'

Cincinnati police on Sunday said the parents had not been charged, but that charges could eventually be sought by the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney.

The child's parents did not address the criticism in their statement regarding the incident on Sunday.

'We extend our heartfelt thanks for the quick action by the Cincinnati Zoo staff,' it read.

'We know that this was a very difficult decision for them, and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla.'

Many are placing the blame squarely on the parents of a four-year-old boy

Zoo officials said three gorillas were in the enclosure when the boy fell in the moat, but the two female gorillas were called out immediately.

Harambe remained in the yard with the child.

Some said Harambe appeared to be guarding and defending the boy, but video footage also showed him dragging the four-year-old in the water.

According to Maynard, the gorilla did not appear to be attacking the child, but he called it 'an extremely strong' animal in an agitated situation.

'You're talking about an animal that's over 400 pounds and extremely strong. So no, the child wasn't under attack but all sorts of things could happen in a situation like that. He certainly was at risk,' he told WLWT.

According to a fire department incident report, the gorilla was 'violently dragging and throwing the child', who was between Harambe's legs when the gorilla was shot, WLWT reported.

The boy was grabbed from between Harambe's arms by zoo officials after the gorilla was shot.

Maynard explained that tranquilizing the gorilla would not have knocked it out immediately, leaving the boy in danger.

Zoo director Thane Maynard supported the response team's decision to put down the gorilla, but many disagreed. More than 1,000 people have already joined the Facebook group Justice for Harambe

Harambe came to Cincinnati in 2015 from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas. He is a western lowland gorilla, which the World Wildlife Fund deemed critically endangered

The child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center with serious injuries following the incident

The child was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center with serious but 'non-life threatening' injuries following the incident, which was reported around 4pm.

He was still alert when he was taken to hospital, according to officials.

The boy was released from the hospital on Saturday night.

Zoo director Maynard noted it was the first time the team had killed a zoo animal in such an emergency situation, as well as the first time anyone had slipped through the barriers since the exhibit opened in 1978.

Maynard called it 'a very sad day' at the zoo but said the zoo security team's 'quick response saved the child's life'.

'We are all devastated that this tragic accident resulted in the death of a critically-endangered gorilla,' he said. 'This is a huge loss for the Zoo family and the gorilla population worldwide.'

Western lowland gorillas are deemed critically endangered by the World Wildlife Fund.

Primatologist Julia Gallucci issued a statement through animal-rights group PETA, saying: 'Yet again, captivity has taken an animal's life.

'The gorilla enclosure should have been surrounded by a secondary barrier between the humans and the animals to prevent exactly this type of incident.'

'Gorillas have shown that they can be protective of smaller living beings and react the same way any human would to a child in danger.;

Gorilla World at the zoo will be closed until furtner notice. The zoo was open as usual on Sunday, with fans of Harambe bringing flowers to memorialize the primate at a gorilla statue at the zoo.

In March, two curious polar bears at the zoo wandered into a behind-the-scenes service hallway through an open den door, but never left a secondary containment area.

The zoo said the 17-year-old female Berit and the 26-year-old male Little One, entered an 'inappropriate' area but remained contained and were never loose or a threat to the public.

During that incident, zoo officials said staff followed protocols and safely returned the bears to their main holding area within two hours.
Memorial Weekend travel turned into a disaster for those at JFK Airport's Terminal 7, after a massive computer outage led lines of up to 1,500 people waiting to check in Sunday evening.

The terminal's internet server went down at 4pm Sunday in the New York airport, leaving staff writing boarding passes by hand - and was still broken at midnight, eight hours later.

'Its been pretty packed. And pretty cramped and pretty unsafe at times,' passenger Mike Priestley told CBS.

Crowds: Lines of up to 1,500 people formed in JFK Airport's Terminal 7 Sunday night after internet outages left the staff having to deal with passengers 'manually' - which meant writing boarding passes by hand

Old-school: This Twitter user was held up on her honeymoon waiting for one of the boarding passes (pictured). Cathay Pacific, one of the affected airlines, said the problem was caused by a technical problem for Verizon

The server went down due to an 'outage map for Verizon,' according to a letter distributed to passengers by Cathay Pacific, one of the airlines that leases space from Terminal 7's owners, British Airways.

'Theyve had to call everyone individually so its quite disappointing,' passenger Andrea Pinna told CBS.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman Neal Buccino said that there were lines of up to 1,000 people waiting for check-in.

WPTZ later amended that figure to 1,500 people.

Buccino he said that the crowds have been orderly and that British Airways has been making regular announcements.

But another delayed passenger, Katherine Hicks, told CBS that those announcements are't much use.

'They keep naming announcements but you cant hear,' she said, 'so were just doing what everyone else is doing.'

And Priestly, who was supposed to fly to London on British airways at 9.55pm, said: 'Theres been pretty poor customer service.'

He added: 'The staff seems overwhelmed for as long as weve been here, which is now pushing five hours.'

Other airlines that lease Terminal 7 space including Iberia, Qantas and Qatar Airways. All were suffering delays.

Although crowds were not causing problems, the Port Authority deployed additional officers throughout the terminal to monitor safety.
A two-year-old boy who was seriously injured in a dog attack is being transferred to a Sydney hospital for treatment.

The little boy, Jayden, was bitten numerous times by a Bull Arab dog in the front yard of a home in East Nowra on the NSW South Coast, about 4pm on Sunday, 7 News reports.

He was taken to Shoalhaven hospital with injuries to his chest beck, head and legs.

He is in a stable condition and is being transferred to Westmead hospital, a NSW Health spokeswoman said on Monday.

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Jayden, two, was bitten numerous times by a Bull Arab dog on Sunday afternoon and was transferred to Westmead Hospital on Monday

Jayden's mother Melissa Laynes desperately tried to pry the dog's jaws open after he latched on to her son

Jayden's mother Melissa Laynes has described the horrific moments the Bull Arab attacked her little boy and her actions which potentially saved his life.

'I went to pick him [Jayden] up and the dog's just got him, like, I was too slow,' Ms Laynes told 7 News.

'I dived on my son, and with all my strength tried to rip his jaws open.

'I was just screaming. Jayden was screaming and it was horrible.'

Ms Laynes said the dog repeatedly got hold of the two-year-old and added the attack was 'horrible'.

He was taken to Shoalhaven hospital with injuries to his chest beck, head and legs after the attack about 4pm on Sunday

The dog has been taken to the RSPCA's Shoalhaven shelter, Mike Jarman from the Shoalhaven City Council Rangers told AAP on Monday

'I'm just glad he's all right,' she said.

The dog has been taken to the RSPCA's Shoalhaven shelter, Mike Jarman from the Shoalhaven City Council Rangers told AAP on Monday.

The dog's owners are known to the rangers, which they are attempting to confirm through a microchip scan.

'At the moment the dog is too unsettled and too aggressive to get near it to see if it's registered to the owners,' Mr Jarman said.

They don't have the power to put the dog down without the owner's permission, he said.

The Bull Arab is widely used for hunting feral pigs across the country, according to the Australian Bull Arab Registry.

It describes the breed as a 'tough, active dog' which 'needs to have the endurance and speed to be able to hunt and find but still the strength to control a Wild Boar'.

Jayden's mother Melissa Laynes said she dived onto her two-year-old boy and tried to rip the dog's jaws open
A husband and wife who survived a plane crash had to desperately search through the wreckage to find their cell phone and call 911.

They were both hurt but neither suffered life-threatening injuries from the crash in Stewart's Peak, Warner, New Hampshire, on Sunday night.

The couple had to search through the debris for more than an hour to find the phone to call 911, and rescuers used GPS locators to track their position then heard them yelling for help.

A husband and wife who survived a plane crash had to desperately search through the wreckage to find their cell phone and call 911, prompting a team of fifty firefighters to look for them

They crashed in a forest nearly a mile from the nearest road (pictured) and the plane was destroyed, with part of it still stuck 30 feet up a tree

The couple were both hurt but neither suffered life-threatening injuries after a small American Champion plane (similar to the one pictured) came down in New Hampshire at around 8.30pm on Sunday

The plane came down at Stewart's Peak, New Hampshire, and one of the people on board used their cell phone to call 911. They were rescued at around 10pm

The Warner Fire Chief, Ed Raymond, told WMUR 9 that they had hit bad weather and turned back to go to Concord airport when they went down in the small American Champion plane.

He said that they crashed in a forest nearly a mile from the nearest road and the plane was destroyed, with part of it still stuck 30 feet up a tree.

They made the call at around 8.30pm and were found at 10pm thanks to a rescue effort that took 50 firefighters.

A spokeswoman for the FAA says the agency is investigating, and local authorities have not yet released their identities.

The Warner Police Department would not release any more information late Sunday and the FAA says the National Transportation Safety Board will determine the probable cause.

The incident happened on the same day as two other small aircraft crashes in Arizona and Ventura, California.

Two people were killed in the California crash when a small homebuilt aircraft first designed by Burt Ratan in the 1970s caught fire in the air.
A Japanese journalist captured by Al Qaeda in Syria has appeared in a new photograph begging his government to save him.

The picture, apparently posted online yesterday, showed a bearded Jumpei Yasuda dressed in orange holding a hand-written sign in Japanese.

The message, written in shaky characters and signed with his name, read: 'Please help me. This is my last chance'.

Last-ditch plea: Japanese freelance journalist Junpei Yasuda holds a sign reading 'Please help me, this is my last chance' in a photograph posted online a year after he was captured by Al Qaeda in Syria

The Japanese government said today it was doing all it could to secure his release.

Yasuda's plight came to world attention in March when a video surfaced showing him reading a message to his country and his family.

Japanese media said he was captured by Al Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front, after entering Syria from Turkey last June.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the government was analysing the new photograph and believed it was Yasuda.

Chief Cabinet Spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the government was doing what it could to help, adding: 'Since preserving the safety of Japanese citizens is our most important duty, we are making use of a broad net of information and doing everything we can to respond.'

Asked if this meant contacting the Nusra Front, Suga said 'that sort of thing was included' but declined to give further details.

Yasuda (pictured before entering Syria) was captured by Al Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front, last June

Early in 2015, ISIS beheaded two Japanese nationals: a self-styled security consultant and a veteran war reporter.

The gruesome executions captured the attention of Japan, but the government said at the time it would not negotiate with the militants for their release.

Yasuda, a freelance journalist since 2003, was held in Baghdad in 2004 and drew criticism for drawing the Japanese government into negotiations for his release.

In December, media freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders retracted and apologised for a report it had issued that said Yasuda had been threatened with execution in Syria.
The first targeted drug test on a South Australian police officer has come back positive.

The officer was suspended with pay after testing positive for methyl-amphetamine and amphetamine.

The officer was working in an operational area of the police force.

A police officer in South Australia was suspended with pay after testing positive to using amphetamines

The sting was the first targeted test by the SA police force, who say they will not do random drug testing

Officers from the Internal Investigation Section will investigate the matter, and afterwards the targeted officer will face a Police Disciplinary Tribunal.

A spokesperson for the South Australian Police Force said: 'SAPOL will continue to act diligently to protect the safety of our community and our workforce and detecting drug misuse in our workplace through targeted testing is part of that approach.'

The testing began this week after nearly a decade of negotiations regarding a drug testing regime.

Police are checked after critical incidents, where firearms have been used, when officers apply for covert work or when high-risk driving has taken place.

Checks are also carried out when there are suspicions of drug or alcohol use.

Last week, former state police minister Robert Brokenshire told the ABC he didn't expect many positive readings from the testing.

'I would expect that it would be very minor to virtually nil, based on anecdotal evidence over the years that I've worked with police,' he said.

The police officer who was caught will be investigated and face a tribunal when the investigation is complete
A 29-year-old bank worker who killed university student Joshua Hardy, 21, in a violent, unprovoked attack outside a McDonald's restaurant that lasted only six seconds has been found guilty of murder.

A Victorian Supreme Court jury found Kyle Sirous Zandipour guilty on Monday of Mr Hardy's murder after two days of deliberations following a two week trial.

Following the conviction, Mr Hardy's father David said outside the court that 'everyone loses' from social violence and that 'two young lives have been shattered, families and friends of those lives are now broken'.

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Killer: Bank worker Kyle Zandipour, 29, pictured on Monday after he was found guilty of murdering university law student Joshua Hardy in an unprovoked attack outside a McDonald's in October 2014

A 29-year-old bank worker who killed university student Joshua Hardy, 21, (pictured) in a violent, unprovoked attack outside a McDonald's restaurant that lasted only six seconds has been found guilty of murder, a court has heard

Bank worker Kyle Zandipour murdered university student Joshua Hardy (pictured), 21, in a violent, unprovoked attack which lasted only six seconds, the Victorian Supreme Court has found

Mr Hardy was sitting outside St Kilda McDonald's in south-eastern Melbourne at 1.10am on on October 18, 2014, 'exceedingly drunk' after a valedictory dinner at Melbourne University.

The law student was 'doing nothing to provoke' an attack, prosecutors said when Kyle Zandipour grabbed Mr Hardy by the arm, flung him to the ground where the younger man lay face down as Zandipour kicked him three times to the head and then stomped on him.

Mr Hardy was rushed to the nearby Alfred Hospital, but was pronounced dead from head injuries less than an hour later.

Kyle Zandipour, 29 (pictured after his conviction) attacked Joshua Hardy in a vicious unprovoked assault outside a McDonald's at 1.10am when Mr Hardy had been celebrating after a university valedictory dinner

Mr Hardy (right) with his sister Rebecca (left) at a Melbourne University function only hours before he died. After leaving a valedictory dinner he was 'exceedingly drunk' but did not provoke his attacker, a court heard

Joshua Hardy's mother, Kim Hardy, and uncle, Shaun Hardy, speak following the appearance of bank worker Kyle Zandipour at the Melbourne Magistrates Court in late 2014

During Zandipour's murder trial, Crown prosecutor Andrew Tinny, SC, told the court that Mr Hardy had consumed a lot of alcohol while celebrating before Zandipour's assault.

Zandipour had also been been drinking and playing video games with his friend Matthew Bell when the two encountered Mr Hardy outside McDonald's on St Kilda Road.

Mr Hardy lifted his leg as Mr Bell passed, causing him to stumble, and then stood and asked to use Mr Bell's phone, the court heard.

Zandipour then grabbed Mr Hardy, swung him forcefully to the ground, kicked him several times and stomped on him, Mr Tinney said.

Within minutes of coming into contact with Mr Zandipour, Mr Hardy lay mortally wounded, Mr Tinney said.

An autopsy found bruises, abrasions and lacerations to the right side of Mr Hardy's head, Mr Tinney said.

Matthew Bell gave evidence during the trial for the prosecution, saying he never felt threatened by Mr Hardy.

Mr Hardy (pictured with his sister Rebecca) had consumed a lot of alcohol while celebrating, but did nothing to provoke Kyle Zandipour, Andrew Tinney, SC, for the crown, said

A Victorian Supreme Court jury found Kyle Sirous Zandipour (pictured) guilty on Monday of Mr Hardy's murder in October 2014 when the 29-year-old kicked and then stomped on the law student outside a Melbourne McDonald's

Kyle Zandipour (pictured in a court drawing) claimed he thought Joshua Hardy was about to rob him, but the murder trial heard evidence that Mr Hardy was non-threatening before he was killed by Zandipour

'Like brother like sister' Rebecca (left) posted a funny photo of them both in pigtails on Facebook a month before he was tragically killed

Zandipour, a bank worker, had entered a not guilty plea and faced an earlier trial which was unable to reach a verdict before the two week trial which has resulted in his conviction.

Zandipour's defence barrister Remy van de Wiel told the Victorian Supreme Court jury that his client was entitled to defend himself because he believed he was about to be robbed.

Zandipour told police he had acted to protect himself and Mr Bell and had not intended to kill Mr Hardy, who he thought was on drugs.

'I was intimidated by him, I thought he was out of control,' Zandipour told police, Mr van de Wiel said.

Mr Hardy, who was 182cm, was a 'big strong man' and a competent athlete while Zandipour is 170cm tall and does not play sport, Mr van de Wiel said.

'You are entitled, if you believe you are about to be robbed, you are entitled to prevent that,' Mr van de Wiel said.

An autopsy found a number of bruises, abrasions and lacerations to the side of Mr Hardy's (pictured, right of left and right) head

MJoshua Hardy (second left) who was 182cm, was a 'big strong man' and a competent athlete while Zandipour is 170cm tall and does not play sport, however the convicted man's friend said he did not find Mr Hardy intimidating on the night he died

'It is our culture that you are allowed to do those things. In fact you should.'

Mr Tinney said CCTV footage indicated Mr Hardy was 'still and helpless' on the ground when he was kicked.

'His only sin that night was to find himself in a helpless state as the result of the excessive consumption of alcohol,' Mr Tinney said.

Mr Hardy's father, David, told Fairfax News that in cases of 'social violence ... everyone loses'.

'Two young lives have been shattered, families and friends of those lives are now broken,' he said outside court.

'I would just ask people to step back and think when it comes to social violence because everyone loses. Actions have consequences, and unfortunately in our circumstance, the consequence has been tragic.'

Zandipour will return to court on June 21 for sentencing hearings.

Zandipour and his friend Matthew Bell (pictured on CCTV inside McDonald's) had been drinking and playing video games before they went to the fast food restaurant on St Kilda Road in south-eastern Melbourne)

Zandipour's defence barrister Remy van de Wiel told the Victorian Supreme Court jury that he was entitled to defend himself because he believed he was about to be robbed

Mr Hardy was sitting outside a McDonald's restaurant on St Kilda Road in Melbourne (pictured) when he encountered Zandipour, 29, and his friend Matthew Bell just after 1am on October 18, 2014

Kim Hardy breaks down in tears as she speaks outside Melbourne Magistrates Court in October 2014, less than a week after her son's death

The family of the accused murderer leave the Melbourne Magistrates Court after Kyle Zandipour was initially charged with Mr Hardy's murder
A hairdresser who went into cardiac arrest as she was cutting hair died three times before a bystander revived her with emergency CPR.

On Monday morning Lisa Boyd was busy with her first job of the day when she blacked out and collapsed on the floor of her barber shop in Taupo, New Zealand.

Ms Boyd, who describes herself as fit with no history of heart trouble, said she clinically died three times during the ordeal, reported Stuff.co.nz.

Barber Lisa Boyd suddenly collapsed while she was cutting hair at her shop in Taupo, New Zealand. She was having a cardiac arrest and 'died' three times before she was revived

Ms Boyd said: I went to work and was pretty much through my first hair cut when I just collapsed.

I had a sudden cardiac arrest.

I died three times that day.

'It was just so random. I'm quite fit and have never had heart trouble before.'

Hayden Carthew, a trained paramedic with more than 10 years experience, rushed to Ms Boyds aid from a nearby restaurant.

He said: I was told she was having a seizure.

When I got there she was on the floor and not breathing.

I just got on with the job at hand and no one else was there to do it. I just thought of her kids and instinct just kicked in.

A paramedic rushed into Ms Boyd's shop from a nearby restaurant and performed emergency CPR

A post by Ms Boyds sister Mandy on the Facebook page for Lisas barber shop said Ms Boyd was on the mend following the incident.

The post read: Thank you all for your caring thoughts and concern.
As his trial for alleged insider trading draws to a close Oliver Curtis' defence counsel has urged the jury to reject the Crown case against him.

The investment banker husband of PR queen Roxy Jacenko has pleaded not guilty to making an illegal deal with his then best friend John Hartman in 2007, to use confidential information to cash in on the share market.

Mr Curtis is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit insider trading and his defence counsel reiterated his innocence, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Stockbroker Oliver Curtis arrives with his wife Roxy Jacenko at the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney on Monday

The 30-year-old is accused of trading in financial instruments known as CFDs, or contracts for difference, based on information Mr Hartman supplied via Blackberry PIN messages.

In his final address to the jury Mr Curtis' defence council Murugan Thangaraj, SC, said his client acted like an innocent man as he had bought a BlackBerry for Mr Hartman on his own credit card rather than using cash.

He also said that the transaction was linked to his work address proving again that it was an innocent action.

'It's like someone robbing a bank, going up to a CCTV [camera], waving and leaving their address behind,' Mr Thangaraj said.

Mr Curtis has been accompanied daily to the trial by his wife Roxy Jacenko

'That suggests there's nothing sinister about it. Mr Curtis behaved as someone who was not involved in this alleged serious criminal conspiracy.'

Mr Hartman was previously sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for his own inside dealing charges, but he received a discounted sentence for agreeing to give evidence against Mr Curtis.

Mr Thangaraj asked the jury to consider if Mr Hartman was then acting in 'self interest'. He urged the jury to reject the Crown case as it just didn't 'make sense'.

John Hartman gave evidence against the husband of Sydney public relations queen Roxy Jacenko, at the New South Wales Supreme Court last Thursday

The St Ignatius' College, Riverview, old boys made $1.43 million betting on shifts in share prices between mid-2007 and 2008.

But the Crown alleges the pair used confidential information to accrue the profits acquired by Mr Hartman while he was an equities dealer at investment firm Orion Asset Management in Sydney.

Mr Curtis has pleaded not guilty to the charge and the Crown must prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt.

Money from the trades was allegedly used to fund a $60,000 Mini Cooper car, a $20,000 Ducati motorcycle, part of an 'extensive' overseas trip and a year's worth of rent on a $3,000-a-week Bondi apartment, the court heard earlier in the trial.
He continued and reached the peak but the

The husband of an Australian university lecturer who died climbing Mount Everest has said he 'blames himself' for her death after leaving her behind to climb the summit himself.

Robert Gropel continued up the mountain while his exhausted wife Maria Strydom held back after deciding she was not well enough to reach the top on May 20.

After a failed attempt to encourage her to keep going, he went ahead alone with her permission to complete the climb but said it 'wasn't special' because she had been left behind.

By the time they reunited at a lower camp he too had become unwell with altitude sickness. His 34-year-old wife died the following day as they made their way down the mountain.

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Robert Gropel continued climbing Mount Everest while his wife Maria Strydom suffered severe altitude sickness (above together). She died after he reached the top as they made their descent together, for which he 'blames himself'

Appearing on Channel Seven's Sunday Night, he said it was 'natural' that he felt responsible for her death.

'Because I'm her husband it's my job to protect my wife and get her home and it's just natural for me to blame myself,' he wept.

Recalling his decision to continue despite his wife's ailing condition, Dr Gropel said she encouraged him to complete the challenge.

'I didn't want to separate from her, I wanted her to keep going. I also understood that she was just very exhausted.

'I asked, "Do you mind if I go on?" and she said "you go on, I'll wait for you here."'

They were in the 'death zone' - the area between the summit and Camp 4 - when Dr Strydom became too unwell to continue.

A tearful Dr Gropel (above) told Channel Seven's Sunday Night program he felt responsible for his wife's death

The university lecturer encouraged her husband to continue without her because she was too unwell. She is seen above during a previous climb

After he reached the summit and descented back to where she was and the pair staggered around for hours before returning to Camp 4 for oxygen and medicine.

The following day they began their descent down towards Camp 3 and his wife appeared to be in improved health.

She suddenly collapsed and died around two hours from the site.

Arnold Coster, who organised the trip they were taking part in, explained how she may have finally succumb to exhaustion.

'You have to traverse and that's difficult, because you have to balance. She slipped, she fell in the rope.

'I think that was too much for her, and that's why she died - from exhaustion.

'Her husband tried to retrieve her, but that was all too late.'

Dr Gropel said he and his wife began their summit bid on Friday May 20 in clear weather, departing from Camp 4, but at the South Summit at nearly 8,000 metres, Dr Strydom slowed, stricken with illness

They finally stumbled to Camp 4 and received much-needed oxygen and medicine, but they would have to make it to Camp 3 to be in reach of rescue teams

Dr Strydom remained beneath the summit while her husband continued on but her condition deteriorated

Dr Gropel is still struggling to come to terms with what happened in those final moments.

'She was feeling strong, she was walking, I mean she was short-roped because she was still quite weak, but she was walking fine, very slowly but fine,' he said, according to Yahoo News.

WHAT IS ALTITUDE SICKNESS? 'Altitude sickness' refers to the group of potential dangers faced by high altitudes, and is also known as 'mountain sickness'. It is caused by gaining altitude too rapidly, which doesn't allow the body enough time to adjust to reduced oxygen and changes in air pressure, and causes hypobaric hypoxia (a lack of oxygen reaching the tissues of the body). In severe cases, fluid builds up within the lungs, brain or both. Symptoms of the illness include: headaches, lethargy, a lack of coordination, nausea, dizziness, vomiting, and insomnia. (Source: Better Health Victoria)

'She was talking, I had her back and I don't know what happened.'

Dr Strydom's body was recovered from Mount Everest and taken to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Friday.

Earlier, Dr Gropel said he hadn't thought about anything but retrieving his wife's body from the mountain and getting her back to Australia.

'I'm just trying to be strong, I'm learning to cope and block out what causes sort of, breakdowns, and trying to get the job done of bringing my wife home,' he told the ABC.

'All I am thinking is I want to get her home.'

In a moving tribute to his wife he described her as 'the perfect person', describing their many other happy mountaineering trips.

The rescue operation to retrieve her from the mountain was 'superhuman', he said.

'It was a superhuman effort, she was without oxygen for 20 hours ... because of the length of time it took her, and took us to get her down, and it ran out.

'She was my motivation idol, my hero, she was a very strong advocate for women, she was the perfect person.'

'She was my motivation idol, my hero, she was a very strong advocate for women, she was the perfect person,' Dr Gropel earlier said of his wife (seen above during a different climb)

Arnold Coster, (pictured) who runs climbing exhibitions and was on the maintain with the pair, explained Ms Strydom's final moments to Sunday Night

Dr Gropel was airlifted to hospital in Kathmandu on Monday to receive treatment for altitude sickness but was discharged (pictured) on Monday after his parents Heinz and Patricia arrived

Her body would have been brought down more quickly if it weren't for a bout of severe weather, said sherpas involved in the climb.

Dr Strydom's sister, Aletta Newman, who lives in Brisbane, said last week her family was eagerly awaiting Dr Gropel's return so he could shed some light on what happened during her sister's last night.

'He's probably the person who can give us the most answers in terms of what really happened because he was there,' she said.

'He is able to speak but obviously he's absolutely distraught - he's absolutely broken,' Ms Newman said.

'He's very determined not to leave Nepal without his wife.'

Dr Gropel's parnets, Heinz and Patricia, have flown from Melbourne to support him.

The couple acknowledged they'd been 'very worried' before their son and daughter-in-law embarked on their attempt to scale the world's highest peak.
They argue their 65 per cent stake was undersold in January 2012 for $US560 million

for less than it's worth while they were under 'duress'

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Indian glamour couple Pankaj and Radhika Oswal are seeking $2.5 billion in compensation from ANZ after claiming the bank undervalued shares of their business.

Lawyers say the couple, who own Perth's Taj Mahal on Swan' mega mansion, are entitled to a judgment against the bank after it brought in receivers to their West Australian fertiliser business the Burrup group in 2010.

The Oswals argue their 65 per cent stake was undersold in January 2012 for $US560 million.

Indian glamour couple Pankaj and Radhika Oswal are seeking $2.5 billion in compensation from the ANZ after claiming they undervalued shares of their business

Pankaj Oswal (right) left court in Melbourne on Monday, May 30, 2016. Lawyers have said the couple, who own Perth's Taj Mahal - a mega mansion - are entitled to a judgment against the bank after it brought in receivers to their West Australian fertiliser business

'Not only was it a breach of selling any asset rule 101, as it turns out it's a break of a duty of a receiver,' the couple's barrister Tony Bannon SC told the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday.

He said they are entitled to $1.5 billion or more in compensation.

The value of the compensation rises to $2.5 billion if the sale agreement is set aside and the shares are ordered to be divested, taking into account their current value, the court heard.

The shares were sold for $US560 million in January 2012, which the court heard, the Oswals contend was about half their true value.

Mr Bannon said the receivers and ANZ made it clear that their purpose was simply to clear Mr Oswal's debt, and effectively disclosed the reserve price to potential bidders.

Mr Bannon told the court the receivers 'effectively did ANZ's bidding'.

The value of the compensation will rise to $2.5 billion if the sale agreement is set aside and the shares are ordered to be divested, taking into account their current value, the court heard

The complex civil case, understood to be the biggest trial in Victorian Supreme Court history, is expected to last for at least three months and possibly six months

The complex civil case, understood to be the biggest trial in Victorian Supreme Court history, is expected to last for at least three months and possibly six months.

Opening arguments alone are expected to take about three weeks.

The entrepreneurs returned to Australia last month after a five-year absence and were barred from leaving the country when the Australian Tax Office (ATO) slapped them with a Departure Prohibition Order.

The couple are set to demolish their ambitious 'Taj Mahal on Swan' development to make way for luxury apartments.

Ms Oswal said they were within their rights to knock down the Peppermint Grove property, west of Perth, and undertake another development as long as they did not sell it until their tax matter was settled,The West Australian reported.

The couple agreed to knock down the eyesore last year and it is set to happen before September.

As part of this agreement, they have been asked to split up the 6,600sqm block that overlooks Swan River and start another project.

Ms Oswal said the couple would think about keeping one of the units in the planned luxury apartment block.

'My younger daughter was born in Perth and she has a special attachment to the city, so it's definite we would keep one of the properties,' she told The West Australian.

The entrepreneurs returned to Australia last month after a five-year absence and have not been allowed to leave the country when the Australian Tax Office (ATO) slapped them with a Departure Prohibition Order

After leaving in 2011, the couple left their Peppermint Grove property. It was expected to be worth up to $70 million when complete, but was covered in graffiti since being abandoned

'If we do choose to live here or temporarily reside here depends on the settlement.'

The Oswals' Burrup Fertilisers empire collapsed in 2010 and the couple left Perth and moved to Dubai a year later, leaving behind an eyesore mansion dubbed the 'Taj Mahal on the Swan', which was estimated to be worth up to $70 million when it was completed.

They also have a separate claim against the bank that alleges Mrs Oswal was forced into signing over her share to ANZ on threats that she would be sent to jail and that their children, who attend boarding school in Geneva, would become orphans.

'When I landed in Australia, I told my wife Radhika that ... we might be here for six months, or we might be here for a month, or we might be here for six years,' Mr Oswal said.

The order means the couple will not be able to leave Australia for a period of time.

Mrs Oswal still reportedly resents ANZ after signing over her shares, on what she alleges was a guaranteed floor that would have left them plenty, even after the $860 million debt was paid.

'So basically ... they raped me of my wealth...,' she said.

Mr Oswal's wealthy industrialist father passed away in March and he reportedly entered a dispute with his mother over the family inheritance.

An aerial view of the 6,600-square-metre Peppermint Grove property the couple abandoned five years ago

'My father passed away without a will and as my father's eldest son I have a right to a law-defined inheritance of his personal estate,' he told Press Trust of India.

After leaving in 2011, the couple left their Peppermint Grove property. It was expected to be worth up to $70 million when complete, but was covered in graffiti since being abandoned.

The local council has long wanted it gone and was delighted in October of last year when a breakthrough was reached.

Peppermint Grove shire president Rachel Thomas said an application filed by Ms Oswal with the State Administrative Tribunal to prevent the demolition was withdrawn.

'We believed we had a pretty good case and they've obviously decided that perhaps we did have a good case,' she said at the time.

Ms Thomas said police were regularly called to the unfinished property.

'It was a real nuisance for the immediate neighbours in particular because of the antisocial behaviour. And with the graffiti, it was a real blot on the landscape,' she said.

'We've had people smoking dope in there ... noisy parties ... it [was] a real problem.'

Peppermint Grove shire president Rachel Thomas said police were regularly called to the unfinished property
A volunteer fireman is missing after helping to rescue a woman caught in flash floods in Texas.

Stephen Espedal, 37, who works for the Kennard Voluntary Fire Department, was responding to the call for help in the San Luis Pass between Freeport and Galveston, Texas.

The woman managed to swim ashore and a passer-by rescued Mr Espedal's two colleagues in a boat but he has not been seen since about 8.20pm last night.

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Stephen Espedal, 37, who works for the Kennard Voluntary Fire Department, was responding to reports a woman was swept away in the San Luis Pass between Freeport and Galveston, Texas

It's feared Mr Espedal could become the seventh victim of flash floods caused by sudden heavy rainfall over the last few days which have led to widespread evacuations

A relative, Rachel Gaston, wrote on Facebook: 'Bubba come back,' posting a picture of Mr Espedal

Authorities in central Texas found two more bodies yesterday along flooded streams, bringing the death toll from flooding in the state to six. Pictured, three men escape after a truck became flooded in Magnolia Friday

It's feared he could become the seventh victim of flash floods caused by sudden heavy rainfall over the last few days which have also led to widespread evacuations.

A relative, Rachel Gaston, wrote on Facebook: 'Bubba come back,' posting a picture of Mr Espedal.

Authorities in central Texas found two more bodies yesterday along flooded streams, bringing the death toll from flooding in the state to six.

An eleven-year-old boy remains missing in Kansas and police found one body in Travis County near Austin, where two people are also missing.

On the San Luis Pass, near Houston, the Coast Guard has launched a boat crew and helicopter to help find Mr Espedal.

Rachel Gaston, who is listed as a family member on Facebook, also changed her profile picture to one of Mr Espedal, who has now not been seen since around 8pm last night

Meanwhile, a woman is in hospital after she was found unconscious in Galveston while swimming with her daughter and grandchildren, reports the Galveston County Daily News.

Galveston Island Beach Patrol Chief Peter Davis said a bystander found her unconscious in the water at about 8.40pm off Galveston Island Beach.

An off-duty police officer performed CPR until lifeguards arrived on the scene and she was taken for emergency care at the nearby John Sealy Hospital.

The latest victim of the floods identified by authorities was a woman who died when the car she was riding in was swept from the street by the swollen Cypress Creek, near San Antonio, west of Houston.

Kendall County sheriff's Cpl. Reid Daly said it happened at around 1.30pm yesterday and the car, with three occupants, was in Comfort, about 45 miles north of San Antonio.

The driver made it to shore, and a female passenger was rescued from a tree. But 23-year-old Florida Molima was missing until her body was found around 11am, Daly said.

Two people pilot a boat through the flooded Brazos River on Sunday near Houston, Texas, yesterday

A Rosenberg police officer checks rising flood waters from the Brazos River yesterday after floods over the memorial weekend

The floods caused widespread devastation in Texas. Pictured, water rushes down a canal in Brenham, Texas

The torrential rainfall swelled rivers and other waterways, washing away mobile homes and flooding other structures. Pictured, cattle are herded out of a flooded pasture Friday in Chappell Hill, Texas

She became the sixth flood-related death in Texas over Memorial Day weekend.

In Bandera, about 45 miles northwest of San Antonio, an estimated 10 inches of rain overnight led to the rescues of nine people.

The rain caused widespread damage, including the collapse of the roof of the Bandera Bulletin, the weekly newspaper, KSAT-TV in San Antonio reported.

Photos from the area showed campers and trailers stacked against each other, but no injuries were reported.

Near Austin, a crew aboard a county STAR Flight helicopter found a body Sunday on the north end of a retention pond near the Circuit of the Americas auto racing track.

Tim Bowlin checks the water level Saturday in Spring Creek in Spring, Texas. The water level in the creek rose after this week's torrential rains and was expected to crest sometime in the evening

Roland Courville steers a boat across Mill Creek Road as he helps people escape from a neighborhood cut off by a flooded Spring Creek, Friday

It is close to where two people were reported to have been washed away by a flash flood early Friday, Travis County sheriff's spokesman Lisa Block said. The body still must be recovered and no identification had been made.

To the southeast along the rain-swollen Brazos River near Houston, prison officials evacuated about 2,600 inmates from two prisons to other state prisons because of expected flooding, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said.

Inmates in a low-level security camp at a third prison in the area were being moved to the main prison building, Clark said.

All three prisons are in coastal Brazoria County, where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
The book tells a revealing story of Olympic gold medallist Grant Hackett high on sleeping pills on a flight with ex-wife Candice Alley back in 2005

'OLYMPIC HERO LOSES IT

It was 11 pm in Bangkok and the passengers connecting with the flight to London started piling onto the plane. It was one of the rare occasions that I was rostered on with both my two close friends, Malcolm and Marcus  they were working in business and I was working in first class. Wed just come off a riotous thirty-six hours in Bangkok and I was feeling like death warmed up. Between the heat of Bangkok and the whingeing of the boarding passengers, I wished I could click my heels and be back in Brussels.

Everything was running as it usually did in first  champagne corks popping, canapes flowing and passengers complaining before they even had their seatbelt buckled! As we settled the precious ones into their seats, there was a buzz from business class. Australias Olympic swimming hero, Grant Hackett, and his singer girlfriend, Candice Alley  soon to be wife; now ex-wife  were seated in 25J and 25K. There was general excitement from crew and passengers alike.

After the first- and business-class passengers were all put to bed, crew grabbed the cheese boards and gathered in the business-class galley on the main deck for our customary goss. The light over 25J went on and it was Candice. Grant was asleep.

She handed us a packet of the sleeping sedative, Stilnox, and asked us to please hide it, explaining that they reacted badly with him; hed just taken some. Thus instructed, we did as she asked. About two hours later, I was standing alone in the first-class galley flipping through a magazine when, smack bang, Grant Hackett came flying out of business class and through the first-class curtain followed closely by Malcolm and Marcus, who were desperately trying to restrain him.

'I should be in here,' he slurred. He then stepped towards the front right door and started to unzip his fly. Eventually, we wrestled him into the toilet; lets just say it was like getting a thoroughbred horse into a racing barrier. Although Id heard that some people had bad reactions to Stilnox  even sleepwalking  this was truly bizarre behaviour.

Grant Hackett is slightly shy of two metres tall. Somehow, when he emerged, we managed to steer him back to his seat; that was a lengthy struggle. Minutes later, he was amorously kissing Candice. While we found that amusing, Candice was clearly embarrassed. We were trying to assess what she wanted us to do when his behaviour suddenly became a great deal more intimate. Quick as a flash, we removed her from the situation by taking her to the business-class refreshment bar then I raced to get Grant some water.

When I returned with the water, he was laughing to himself while hop-scotching over Candices reclined seat. Everyone around him was shocked; our Olympic hero off his head on sleeping pills? Of course, years later, his battle with sleeping pill addiction would become public. Fortunately he settled, and during the breakfast service in the morning he appeared quite sheepish.

Before they disembarked, I quietly slipped Candice the Stilnox as she exited the toilet and she thanked me. Back in business class, Grant was looking under his seat and shaking out his blanket.

When I enquired whether everything was all right, he told me rather abruptly that he was looking for something.

Marcus travelled in to central London on the same Heathrow Express train as the celebrity couple and reported that Grant still looked upset about losing something.

He must have got over it because Malcolm, who was working on Grants return flight to Australia, told me it was uneventful.'
Up to 300 tiger sharks are killed annually across Queensland

She had a large following of scientists, school children and people online

A tiger shark was caught and killed by baited drumlines near Bundaberg

A beloved shark whose far-reaching ocean journeys were followed by hundreds of people has been killed after it was caught on a drum line as part of a government shark program.

Maroochy, a female tiger shark who was tagged last year by global scientific group OCEARCH, gathered a mass following of scientists, school children and everyday people who followed updates on the shark's location generally between Bundaberg and Fraser Island in Queensland.

But last week, the three-metre shark was caught and killed on a baited drum line in Bundaberg as part of the Queensland Shark Control Program.

Maroochy the female tiger shark being tagged last year by global scientific group OCEARCH (pictured)

Last week, the beloved shark was caught and killed on a baited drum line in Bundaberg as part of the Queensland Shark Control Program

Up to 300 tiger sharks are killed annually in Queensland as a result of the program.

Information on the shark's OCEARCH profile states Maroochy was in the area with baited drum lines several times before she was caught and killed.

Since tagging her in February 2015, she had travelled more than 6700 kilometres around Fraser Island and the occasional lengthy journey into the Pacific Ocean.

The shark had been named after Maroochy, the indigenous songwoman who is a high profile Aboriginal elder who took part in the Brisbane G20 last year.

Followers of the shark posted about their sadness to Facebook.

The shark had gained a legion of followers, including scientists and school children who followed her whereabouts generally between Bundaberg and Fraser Island in Queensland (pictured)

The shark whose far-reaching ocean journeys were followed by hundreds of people was killed (stock image)

'Maroochy's pings made us learn a lot about tiger sharks in the Australian reef zone. Made us like OCEARCH and their fantastic work and made us look daily at tagged sharks around the world. Poor Bundaberg!' Dagmar L. Hofferer wrote.

'Ohhh noooo! This is so sad! We use to track Maroochy using the App and it was so educational for our children. There are no drum lines here in Hervey Bay and we have had no incidents with sharks,' Jodie Lynch posted.

James Cook University professor Colin Simpfendorfer said the drum line project was an effective program to catch sharks near popular swimming areas, according to Huffington Post Australia.
Carl Williams later pleaded guilty to the murder of four of those figures

During that time 18 people were murdered as part of gangland killings

Former Melbourne home of gangland figure Carl Williams on the market

The former family home of slain underworld kingpin Carl Williams will go under the hammer next month.

The Hillside property in Melbourne was reportedly once the scene of drive-by shootings and criminal meetings, but is expected to fetch more than $590,000 at auction in June.

The house was owned by Carl's now widowed ex-wife Roberta Williams from 2000 to 2003, during the height of the citys infamous gangland war.

The 47-year-old had her only daughter, Dhakota, with Carl while she was living there in 2001.

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The former home of slain gangland figure Carl Williams will go under the hammer next month

Roberta Williams (left), the wife of slain gangland figure Carl Williams (right), lived at the Melbourne home from 2000 to 2003

Roberta Williams, 47, had her only daughter, Dhakota, with Carl while she was living at the Melbourne home in 2001 (Carl and Dhakota pictured posing at the front door of the same home)

During the three year period that Roberta lived in the home, eighteen people were killed as part of Melbourne's gangland killings. Four of those murders Carl Williams later pleaded guilty to

The immaculate five-bedroom property is expected to fetch more than $590,000 at auction in June

The property has recently been listed as a family home with three classicly styled bathrooms

During the three year period that Roberta lived in the home, eighteen people were killed as part of Melbourne's gangland killings.

Carl Williams pleaded guilty to four of those murders, but police from the Purana Taskforce suspect he was responsible for as many as ten.

Court documents from Mr Williams' sentencing in 2007 reveal that the front door of the Hillside home and a Mercedes Benz parked in the driveway were both damaged by shotgun.

It was also alleged that Mr Williams met with other criminal figures in the house's double garage.

With five bedrooms, a large outdoor entertaining area and a swimming pool, 20 John Paul drive has recently been listed as a family home.

Director at Barry Plants, Taylor Lakes, James Hatzimoisis said that with links to organised crime, the house may attract crowds at auction

'I imagine that the there will be an element of the sticky beak factor,' says director of real estate agency listing the home James Hatzimoisis

The home has five bedrooms, a large outdoor entertaining area and a swimming pool

All grown up: Dhakota Williams (right) was photographed with her step-sister Breanne Williams (left) at the funeral for Carl's father George Williams on May 23

Director at Barry Plants, Taylor Lakes, James Hatzimoisis said that with links to organised crime, the house may attract crowds at auction.

'There's a lot of notoriety attached to the home,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'I imagine that the there will be an element of the sticky beak factor.'

The home also features an upstairs gym or home theatre, three bathrooms and a double garage.

The backyard includes a large entertaining area and a pool house or granny flat.

Mr Hatzimoisis said that the double-storey house would be perfect for a 'family with a few kids that need a lot of room.'

Mr Hatzimoisis said the double-storey house would suit a 'family with a few kids that need a lot of room'

The house was owned by Ms Williams from 2000 to 2003, during the height of the citys infamous gangland war

With three bathrooms and five bedrooms, the luxury Hillside property has been billed as the perfect family home




Three veteran members of Germany's notorious Baader-Meinhof Gang appear to have come out of terrorist retirement after being linked to a series of armed robberies across the country.

Ernst-Volker Staub, Daniela Klette and Burkhard Garweg are believed to be behind a series of robberies at supermarkets which may have netted them 290,000, German media reports.

The trio have been wanted for decades as members of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, also known as the Red Army Faction (RAF), which rocked Germany with a wave of bombings, killings and kidnappings targeting political and business leaders from the 1970s to the early 1990s.

Police are hunting for three far left militants who are thought to have carried out the bungled raid on a security van in Germany and are members of the Red Army Faction. They are thought to be Burkhard Garweg, left, Ernst-Volker Wilhelm Staub, centre and Daniela Klette. The police have released images of how the three fugitives, who are now aged 47, 61 and 57, may look today

Police found DNA matching the three fugitives at the scene of a botched armed robbery last June, and prosecutors also linked the trio to similar attacks in October and December - a total of five incidents.

Staub, 61, Garweg, 47, and Klette, 57, are believed to be the three masked attackers that held supermarket employees and a cash courier at gunpoint, escaping with 70,000 (53,000), in Norheim in October, the Telegraph reports.

The failed June robbery saw three masked assailants armed with two AK-47s and a grenade-launcher opened fire on a money van near the northern city of Bremen.

Police said the attackers used a vehicle to block the security van that was carrying about one million euros (760,975) and may have used a jamming device to disable the mobile phone communications of the two guards.

They fled without any cash when the security guards locked themselves inside the armoured vehicle, and no one was injured.

The scene shortly after the Baader-Meinhof gang attacked the US Rhine Main airbase in August 1985

The Red Army Faction (RAF), also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, rocked Germany with a wave of bombings, killings and kidnappings targeting political and business leaders from the 1970s to the early 1990s

A wanted poster for several alleged members of the Baader-Meinhof gang, dated October 1993

'There is no evidence to suggest... a terrorist background,' said the Lower Saxony state prosecutors about the June attack.

'Rather it must be presumed the crime aimed to help finance their underground lives.'

There was also 'suspicion because of fresh results of investigations' that the three were involved in a third attack on a cash transporter, last December 28 in the central city of Wolfsburg, said federal prosecutors in Karlsruhe.

'There are parallels in the execution of the crime and the evidence,' Wolfsburg prosecution spokesman Klaus Ziehe told AFP in January.

Deadly: Moments after a Baader-Meinhof gang terror attack, the burnt out remains of a car lie on the street

The group, which had links to Middle Eastern militant organisations, declared itself disbanded in 1998

Staub, Garweg, and Klette were also chief suspects in a 1999 money transporter heist in the western city of Duisburg which netted more than one million Deutschmarks, or about 380,500.

The three are among a wider group of fugitives still on the run for membership of the RAF, which emerged out of the radicalised fringe of the 1960s student protest movement.

The group, which had links to Middle Eastern militant organisations, declared itself disbanded in 1998.

Staub, Garweg and Klette, alleged member's of the RAF's so-called 'third generation', have long been wanted as chief suspect in a 1993 explosives attack against a prison under construction in Hesse state.

In the attack, five RAF members climbed the prison walls, tied up and took away the guards in a van, then returned to set off explosions that caused about 600,000 euros worth of property damage, said prosecutors.
with Peshmerga flags start driving away in the background

This is the heart-stopping moment a brave TV reporter carries on broadcasting as an ISIS suicide car bomb is destroyed by a rocket just metres away.

Dramatic footage shows the man, who works for Kurdistan 24 TV, continue to speak on camera as cars with Peshmerga flags can be seen driving away.

Wearing a bulletproof vest, the broadcaster describes the scene as a huge explosion erupts behind him and clouds of black smoke fill the air in northern Iraq.

This is the heart-stopping moment a brave TV reporter stood just metres away from an ISIS suicide car bomb that was destroyed by a rocket

The clip was taken near Muftia village, west of Mosul.

Wearing a vest that reads 'Press' on the front and back, the reporter, although seemingly shaken by the explosion, continues to talk to the camera while a man signals behind him.

The Peshmerga vehicles, which appear to have been the target of the suicide bomb, look to have survived the attack.

Other Peshmerga soldiers appear on screen next to the reporter as he continues to broadcast.

Wearing a bulletproof vest, the fearless broadcaster describes the scene as a huge explosion erupts behind him and clouds of black smoke fill the air in northern Iraq

The camera zooms further in before a massive blast is heard and a huge mushroom cloud of grey and black smoke billows out

It comes after reports that a brave Kurdish fighter slammed his vehicle into an ISIS suicide truck to save other Kurdish soldiers in Iraq.

A Kurd supporter posted a tweet that appears to show a Peshmerga soldier in a large hole in the middle of a road.

They wrote alongside it: 'During the Tel Isqof battle between Peshmerga and ISIS, a Peshmerga drove at an ISIS SVBIED (suicide vehicle) to stop it.'

Earlier this year ISIS militant beheaded three prisoners in an extremely graphic ISIS video purportedly filmed in Iraq.

The harrowing footage shows the bearded ISIS fighter, thought to be of Kurdish origin, ranting to the camera in March and threatening Peshmerga forces and the Kurdish president Masoud Barzani.

The clip, which was taken in Muftia village, west of Mosul, shows cars bearing Peshmerga flags backing away

The Peshmerga vehicles, which appear to have been the target of the suicide bomb, were not destroyed in the attack

The propaganda video comes as ISIS have suffered heavy losses north of Raqqa, with Kurdish forces gaining significant ground in Hasakah province.

A largely Kurdish group called the Syrian Democratic Forces, backed up by commando training and US-led precision air strikes, captured the town of Al-Shaddadi.
Israeli police have called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjami Netanyahu's wife to be indicted over claims she used government money to throw lavish dinners and care for her sick father.

Sara Netanyahu was questioned by the police fraud squad in December over claims she misused funds and police now recommend she is charged for the offences, which she denies.

It is now up to state prosecutors to decide if they will take the case and drag her through the courts, which could lead to a significant political fallout for the Prime Minister.

Sara Netanyahu (pictured with husband Benjamin, Israeli Prime Minister) was questioned by the police fraud squad in December over claims she misused funds and police now recommend she is charged

Netanyahu spokesman Nir Hefez said: 'Mrs Netanyahu did not break any law, these are matters that do not even come close to breaking the law.

'We are certain that when the authorities check the facts they will find that there is nothing in them.'

Police said in a statement they had concluded the investigation and presented their findings to prosecutors, who will decide if she will be charged.

But the news they have recommended her indictment comes from reports in Israel's main media outlets, which do not cite their sources.

Police allege that Mrs Netanyahu's used state funds to pay a caregiver for her ailing father before his death, and hired an electrician who did not meet the requirements of a government tender. It's also alleged that she used government money to hold opulent meals.

The investigation was prompted by a government auditor's findings and by information provided by a former chief custodian at the official residence.

Police said in a statement they had concluded the investigation and presented their findings to prosecutors, who will decide if she will be charged, although she denies any wrongdoing

In February, he won damages for emotional distress after a labour court found that Mrs Netanyahu had repeatedly scolded him and other household staff.

In a separate report by the state auditor on Tuesday, Netanyahu was criticised over for taking free flights abroad for him and his family when he was finance minister more than a decade ago.

No criminal charges have been brought in that investigation and Netanyahu's lawyers said he had broken no laws in having travel and expenses covered by organisations that invited him to speak at events raising funds for Israel, or by private individuals associated with those groups.

Three years ago, Netanyahu and his wife caused controversy when a bedroom for the couple was fitted, at the cost to public coffers of $127,000, onto a chartered El Al flight to London, where the couple attended the funeral of former British leader Margaret Thatcher.
Tory big beast Ken Clarke has lashed out at Boris Johnson for treating the EU referendum campaign as a leadership bid - and likened him to Donald Trump.

The former chancellor, a supporter of ties with Brussels, said Mr Johnson should 'go away' as he is getting in the way of 'serious issues'.

However, Mr Clarke also risked increasingly the pressure on David Cameron from furious Eurosceptic backbenchers by admitting the Prime Minister's authority will be 'destroyed' if we vote to leave on June 23.

The intervention came as Tory infighting over the bitterly-contested referendum reached new heights, with MPs openly saying they wanted a vote of no confidence in Mr Cameron.

Former Chancellor Ken Clarke, left, has said Boris Johnson should 'go away' as he is not focusing on the key issues of the EU referendum campaign

Sir Bill Cash today followed colleagues Nadine Dorries and Andrew Bridgen in publicly stating that the PM might have to go for peddling 'monumentally misleading propaganda' during the campaign.

There is intense anger over the 'Project Fear' tactics of the Remain campaign, which has issued a series of bloodcurdling warnings about the consequences of Brexit.

Mr Cameron has suggested it could put peace in Europe at risk, while houses prices, wages and pensions are also said to be under threat.

WHY ARE TORY BACKBENCHERS SO FURIOUS WITH DAVID CAMERON? David Cameron has warned of war and recession during the referendum campaign The anger of Eurosceptics at the way David Cameron has pursued the EU referendum campaign could end his premiership even if he wins. The main accusation levelled at the Prime Minister is that he has abused government machinery and resources in a bid to skew the result in his favour. Some 9million of public funds was used to produce, promote and deliver pro-EU leaflets to every household in the country. Treasury officials also prepared a series of assessments predicting economic catastrophe if we Leave - including claims that we would lose 4,300 per household and property prices would slip. The way the figures were presented, and the way respected bodies like the IMF, OECD and Bank of England have popped up to offer similarly apocalyptic predictions, was enough to anger many Tories in itself. Backbencher Marcus Fysh spoke for many when he bluntly declared that the assertions were 'b******s'. But the blood-curdling language deployed by Mr Cameron inflamed tensions even further. The PM has branded Brexit 'self-destruct' option,and even suggested leaving could trigger another war in Europe. Mid Beds MP Nadine Dorries yesterday voiced particular fury at Mr Cameron's insistence that Turkey joining the EU was 'not on the cards'. Advertisement

The premier sought to demonstrate the breadth of his pro-EU push today by appearing alongside London Mayor Sadiq Khan.

The pair launched a 'guarantee card' with five pledges about our future inside the Brussels club, including 'full access to the single market' and 'workers' rights protected' .

Mr Cameron held out an olive branch to Mr Khan, whom he had repeatedly attacked during the mayoral campaign for having shared a platform with extremists.

'In one generation, someone who is a proud Muslim, a proud Brit and a proud Londoner can become mayor of the greatest city on earth  that says something about our country,' the premier said.

'Yes, there are still barriers to opportunity that we have to get rid of, there are still glass ceilings we have got to smash, there is still discrimination in our country that we have to fight.

'But I have always said, and I say it again today standing alongside our new mayor, that we can claim to be on track to be the best multi-faith, multi-ethnic, multi-opportunity democracy anywhere on earth.'

Mr Cameron said they would continue to disagree about many issues, but both believed that remaining in the EU was the 'best thing' for the country.

'Sadiq and I (support Remain) for this reason, which is that we love our country,' Mr Cameron insisted. 'We want our country to be the best it possibly can.'

In an apparently acknowledgement of the fury on Tory benches about his tactics, the premier said he would try to be 'positive' for the rest of the campaign.

'I will do everything I can over the next 24 days to speak clearly and speak positively ... this is the right course for our country,' he said.

But he again classed himself as a Eurosceptic - a description that has infuriated Conservatives in the past.

'I myself am a Eurosceptic. I am sceptical about some of the things that Europe has done,' Mr Cameron said.

Speaking on BBC Raido 4's Today programme this morning, Mr Clarke vented his frustration about the way the Leave campaign were focusing on personalities and immigration.

'There is no point turning the Leave campaign into a leadership bid for Boris Johnson,' Mr Clarke said.

'I'm afraid it is happening. I would rather focus on the added influence (the EU) gives to the world and the comfort it gives to our friends and leading members of the EU...

'All this about whether one or two backbenchers have signed letters calling for David Cameron, I think most of the public would agree, is a bit of a diversion.'

The ex-Cabinet minister compared Mr Johnson to Republican presidential hopeful Mr Trump, who has sparked controversy by suggesting he would build a wall on the border with Mexico and bar Muslims from entering the US.

'I think Boris Johnson and Donald Trump should go away for a bit and enjoy themselves and not get in the way of the serious issues which modern countries in the 21st century face,' Mr Clarke said.

All-rounder: Mr Johnson bowled some medium pace deliveries at a young batsman and also batted himself

BOTHAM: UK COULD BECOME 'CLUTTERED' IF COUNTRY VOTES TO STAY IN

Sir Ian Botham was speaking after watching Boris Johnson smash a few bowled balls over the boundary at Chester-le-Street Cricket Club Sir Ian Botham backed Boris Johnson's Brexit campaign with a warning the country could get 'cluttered' if the UK votes to remain. The pair met at a Vote Leave event in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, at a local cricket club close to Durham's ground where England had just beaten Sri Lanka. Patriotic Sir Ian, known as 'Beefy', said: 'I have been lucky enough to grow up in a wonderful country, a country that has always been able to look after itself.' But he felt power has been 'eroded by Brussels', adding: 'I think, hang on, enough's enough.' Sir Ian said if the EU was inviting the UK to join afresh, we would 'give it a very wide berth'. Asked about how the campaign was going, he said pollsters had been wrong before, and there was still three weeks to go. And when he was asked about concerns over job losses if the EU voted to leave, Sir Ian said: 'If we stay, who's going to get those jobs? 'The people coming into our country, they don't seem to have to come over with a job, any qualifications, just turn up. 'I think it will get cluttered. I would actually start thinking, 'hang on a minute, we've got enough people in this country'. 'If you want 100m people in this country, then so be it if that's what you want, do it. 'But I don't think people really want that. I think it would be nice to go back to being England.' Sir Ian then corrected himself, by saying 'the UK'. Advertisement

Former London Mayor Mr Johnson has staged a series of flamboyant photo ops on the campaign trail

'He's a much nicer person than Donald Trump but his campaign is remarkably similar in my opinion  and about as relevant to the real problems that the public face.'

In the wake of Tory backbencher Nadine Dorries stating that she had already sent a letter to the powerful 1922 committee calling for a no confidence vote in Mr Cameron, Mr Clark conceded that the PM's 'authority will be destroyed' if he loses the referendum.

But he insisted: 'The public are getting fed up with Tory civil war when they thought they were being asked about the future of this country for their children and grandchildren.

'I think one only has to ask themselves why are the Leave campaign turning the whole argument into Turkish criminals about to flood into the country and Boris Johnson's bid for the leadership.'

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has made controversial remarks about banning Muslims from entering the US

Wish you weren't here? Package firm offers Brexit: The Holiday

A package tour company is offering a Brexit-themed holiday in the run-up to the EU referendum.

The 2,700 trip promises to be a must for 'anyone seeking to understand what could be one of the most important votes in recent British history'.

It includes taking the Eurostar to Brussels to meet members of EU think tanks, as well as a visit to classic British seaside town Margate, and dinner with a former Tony Blair speechwriter in London.

There will also be stops in Birmingham and Manchester on June 23, where the referendum count is taking place.

The marketing material says: 'Britain's possible exit from the European Union could have a profound impact on the UK and its allies abroad.

'This tour follows the campaign in its final week and looks at the long term consequences whether or not the UK votes to leave.'

Journalist and commentator David Torrance is leading the holiday for Political Tours.

Patsy Franks, a retired art teacher from London, has signed up and told The Times:
It was reported that Sir Ian Gilmore, chairman of the Alcohol Health Alliance, was also on the board to set up the new guidelines

Anti-drink lobbyists helped to draw up new guidelines to lower the safety limits of alcohol.

The Government overhauled the NHSs alcohol guidelines in January amid rising concerns that even low levels of drinking can cause cancer, liver damage and heart disease.

These state that men and women should have no more than 14 units a week  six glasses of wine or seven pints of beer  and take several days off.

They also issued stark warnings, in particular to women, linking wine with breast cancer.

The report has now sparked further controversy with reports emerging that four anti-lobbyists were on the committee, but no-one from the alcohol trade were part of the discussions, according to The Times.

It was reported that Sir Ian Gilmore, chairman of the Alcohol Health Alliance, was also on the board to set up the new guidelines.

A scientist with knowledge of the panel's workings told the newspaper there had been a strong effort by 'temperance to 'demonise alcohol in the same way as cigarettes but without the justification'.

Sources at Westminster also said there was a 'serious cause for concern'.

The Department of Health told The Times it was important that the guidelines 'make sense to the public' and that it was considering the views of critics.

A spokesperson said the panel was 'chosen according to expertise and their individual ability. Details of the membership and declarations of interest of the members were published.'

Launching the new guidelines, health chief Dame Sally Davies advised the public to have a cup of tea to unwind on a Friday night in the place of alcohol.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that, although average consumption seems to be falling, it remains high among the middle aged and middle class.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Niall Campbell, an expert in alcohol addiction at the Priory hospital in Roehampton, South-West London, said: What is really worrying is this belief that exists that alcohol is relatively safe, even at binge levels, so people are rewarding themselves with large quantities.

For older people, often under considerable work and financial stress, there is more solitary binge drinking which is also highly dangerous, because there is no one keeping a check on levels. Theres this common feeling ... of keep calm and carry on and keep drinking.

Its created an atmosphere whereby people who once enjoyed an occasional glass of wine now finish a bottle and sometimes open another.

The Government overhauled the NHSs alcohol guidelines in January amid rising concerns that even low levels of drinking can cause cancer, liver damage and heart disease

These state that men and women should have no more than 14 units a week  six glasses of wine or seven pints of beer  and take several days off

Jackie Ballard, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, added: When it comes to alcohol, there are no safe limits of consumption.

Alcohol continues to be the leading risk factor for deaths among both men and women aged 15 to 49, and is linked to over 60 medical conditions including cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure.

We need to raise awareness of the health harms, especially the increased risk of cancer, associated with alcohol.

To ensure the public better understand units and the risks associated with alcohol, we are calling for mandatory health warnings on alcohol products.

Millions of Britons drink their weekly alcohol limit in a single day, figures revealed in March.

And those most likely to drink frequently and excessively are the middle class and middle aged.

Launching the new guidelines, health chief Dame Sally Davies advised the public to have a cup of tea to unwind on a Friday night in the place of alcohol

Doctors say many adults still see alcohol as being relatively safe despite repeated health warnings from the Government and other experts.

Statistics show that a fifth of high earners have a drink at least five times a week.

A quarter of these are considered binge drinkers as they drink the equivalent of three glasses of wine in one sitting.

An estimated 2.5million adults consumed their recommended weekly limit of 14 units in a single day.
Said she caught two trains and went to Noarlunga, hasn't been seen since

Her brother posted on Facebook that she left school in her

Paige Henry, 13, was last seen mid-morning on May 25 in

Police are seeking assistance with the search for a teenage girl who has been missing for the past five days in South Australia.

Paige Henry, 13, was last seen in Murray Bridge, about 76 kilometres south of Adelaide, around mid-morning on May 25, reported 9 News.

She is described as Caucasian in appearance, about 150cm tall with a slim build.

Paige Henry, 13, was last seen more than five days ago in Murray Bridge, about 76 kilometres south of Adelaide

She weighs approximately 46kg and has long, straight blonde hair.

Her family and police are reportedly seriously concerned about her welfare.

They have reached out on social media for help with finding Paige.

Her brother, Jesse Henry, posted a message to Facebook on Sunday afternoon.

Jesse Henry, Paige's brother, posted a message and collage of photos to social media on Sunday in the hope of locating his missing sister

'Please help find my sister!!!! Her name is Paige Henry, she's 13, been missing for 5 days and no one has heard a thing from her.

'She left at Murray Bridge High School in her school clothes, she caught two trains and went to Noarlunga that's the last place she was seen.

The police are out there looking for her, we are very worried and scared please help and SHARE this post!!! Thank u (sic).'

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Paige's brother said she left Murray Bridge High School in her school clothes, caught two trains and went to Noarlunga, which was the last place she was seen
Controversial: New NUS president Malia Bouattia, whose group has called for the abolition of prisons

An influential students' group has called for prisons to be abolished because they are 'sexist and racist' in the latest in a series of far-Left interventions by the student movement.

The National Union of Students black students' conference also voted to step up its fight against the Government's anti-extremism agenda.

The controversial votes at the conference in Bradford this weekend came after the current NUS black students' officer, Malia Bouattia, was elected president of the union, defeating the more moderate incumbent.

She has previously argued that it is Islamophobic to oppose ISIS and described one university as a 'Zionist outpost' because it has a large Jewish society.

One of the motions passed at the conference on Saturday was titled 'Prisons are Obsolete! Abolish Them Now!', and resolved to 'call for the abolition of the prison-industrial complex'.

The motion, which pointed to high rates of re-offending and the disproportionate number of black people in jail, concluded: 'Prisons are sexist and racist.'

Students also threatened to deploy 'direct action' to fulfil their aim of disrupting the current prison system.

The vote called for anyone detained under the Mental Health Act to be handed over into NHS care, but was silent on what should happen to other convicted criminals.

Last month the NUS women's conference passed a similar resolution, titled 'Prison Abolition is a Feminist Issue', which called for 'community and transformative justice' to replace incarceration.

In a separate motion on Saturday, the black students' conference voted to campaign against Prevent, the Government's main anti-radicalisation effort, being deployed in further education institutions.

Students compared the official campaign to 'Big Brother' and opposed attempts to teach 'British values' to sixth-formers and other FE students.

The black students' conference is supposed to represent the interests of all ethnic minority university and college students.

It is open to all students who consider themselves 'politically black' - and a motion to confine the definition of black to mean 'of African or Caribbean origin' was voted down by delegates this weekend.

Jail: The black students' conference claims that prisons are 'sexist and racist' and should be scrapped

The new black students' officer, Aadam Muuse, was endorsed by Miss Bouattia and has a track record of campaigning against Israel and Prevent.

In his manifesto, he vowed to fight 'the racists in Parliament wrecking black lives with impunity'.

He is currently an official at the students' union of Bradford University, which was responsible for proposing the anti-prisons motion at the conference.

The election of Miss Bouattia, 28, as NUS president last month prompted huge controversy because of her history of radical activism.

She once described her own university, Birmingham, as a 'Zionist outpost in British higher education', and opposed efforts for the union to issue a formal condemnation of ISIS because it would be a 'justification for war and blatant Islamophobia'.

Following her election, Labour MP and former NUS leader Wes Streeting said the union was 'lost', while his colleague John Mann said he was 'aghast' at her statements.

Several universities have since voted on whether or not to cut ties with the NUS, with Newcastle, Hull and Lincoln opting to disaffiliate from the union.
A police officer who sat next to a busker in a touching photo that went viral is now popping up next to stars like Marilyn Monroe and Miley Cyrus.

Constable Shawn Currie sat down next to the violinist in Halifax, Canada, and the photo was taken by passer-by Bruno Baurin then shared by thousands of people on social media.

The photo, taken on Thursday, has sparked scores of memes that have been shared on Twitter with the tag #HaliCop.

Touching moment: Constable Shawn Currie sat down next to the violinist in Halifax, Canada. Passer-by Bruno Baurin took a photo and shared by thousands on social media

Like it hot? But it also sparked hundreds of memes, placing the officer in various famous scenes, including this one next to Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch, with the tag #HaliCop

Wreck me: Another photo shows him taking the place of Miley Cyrus in the famous video to Wrecking Ball

Prefect fit: Constable Currie even made an appearance in his own version of Tetris in one of the memes

A whole new world: He appears as Aladdin, sitting next to Princess Jasmine on a Magic Carpet, in the Disney classic movie

Call me on my cell phone: The cop has made an appearance in the famous video to Drake's Hotline Bling

One shows him sitting on the floor in the iconic cinematic moment during which Marilyn Monroe's dress blows up in the classic black and white movie Seven Year Itch.

Another photo shows him taking the place of Miley Cyrus in the video to Wrecking Ball - which made headlines on its release because of its raunchy nature.

Constable Currie even made an appearance in his own version of Tetris in one of the memes.

He appears as Aladdin, sitting next to Princess Jasmine on a Magic Carpet, in the Disney classic movie.

The cop was placed in the famous video to Drake's Hotline Bling, sitting down amid a yellow background that made the viral music video stand out.

Const Currie was also added to the background of a picture of Canadian Ambassador to Ireland Kevin Vickers, who made headlines after wrestling a protester to the ground during a remembrance service in Dublin.

Flexible approach: It is not just movies and music videos that the officer has been placed in - this meme shows him sitting on top of two women doing yoga

Patriot: He has also been added to the background of a picture of Canadian Ambassador to Ireland Kevin Vickers wrestling a protester during a state ceremony to remember those who died during the Easter Rising

But as well as becoming a source of amusement, the touching gesture also pleased many people.

The busker he was talking to is a violinist who suffered a brain injury and has since struggled to deal with the challenges of life, according to local media.

'Steve is a violinist who plays with great skill. He is a gentle and kind man who has been dealing with the consequences of a car accident since 1997, during which he went through the windshield of his car head-first and suffered a terrible brain injury,' according to Halifax Noise.
A senior Tory branded a colleague an 'absolute c***' during a spat over whether a scientific research vessel should be named 'Boaty McBoatface'.

The government was faced with a tricky situation after more than 120,000 voted for the 200million ship to have the name in a public poll earlier this year.

But Culture minister Ed Vaizey faced the wrath of science minister Jo Johnson, who was responsible for the project, after arguing that he should 'respect the will of the people'.

According to The Sun, Mr Johnson - younger brother of former London Mayor Boris - fired off a text message to Mr Vaizey saying: "For the avoidance of doubt, you are an absolute c***".

Culture minister Ed Vaizey, left, apparently replied with a sad face emoji after receiving the rude text message from colleague Jo Johnson

Mr Vaizey is said to have replied with a sad face emoji.

Both men refused to comment on the exchange, but sources close to Mr Vaizey told the newspaper "he would frame the text message if he could".

The name RRS Boaty McBoatface topped the poll staged by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) with more than 124,000 votes, more than three times its nearest rival.

But it was eventually decided the research ship will be named RRS Sir David Attenborough.

The tribute to the veteran broadcaster had attracted 10,284 votes in the public vote.

The submarine on the ship will be christened Boaty McBoatface as part of the compromise solution.

Announcing the deal, Mr Johnson said: "The public provided some truly inspirational and creative names, and while it was a difficult decision I'm delighted that our state-of-the-art polar research ship will be named after one of the nation's most cherished broadcasters and natural scientists.

"This vessel will carry the Attenborough name for decades to come, as it fulfils its mission to explore the oceans and put Britain at the forefront of efforts to preserve our precious marine environment.

"The ship has captured the imaginations of millions, which is why we're ensuring that the Boaty name lives on through the sub-sea vehicle that will support the research crew, and the polar science education programme that will bring their work to life."

Sir David had been selected because of his work presenting wildlife documentaries on the BBC including The Blue Planet, Planet Earth and Frozen Planet, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said.

The Government will also fund a new 1 million Polar Explorer Programme to encourage young people into science and engineering.

The 128m-long, 15,000-tonne RRS Sir David Attenborough will be built in Merseyside, supporting 400 jobs and 60 apprenticeships, and is due to set sail in 2019.

Boaty McBoatface will be sent to collect data and samples remotely from the deepest waters of the Arctic and Antarctic.

Users on social media reacted with a mix of dismay and acceptance at the decision.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted: "Winning more votes than MPs dream of, Boaty McBoatface deserved recognition - thank you internet!"
A woman who is missing after being taken by a crocodile during a late-night swim on Sunday night in far north Queensland, was on holiday with her childhood friend from New Zealand.

Cindy Waldron, 46, from in New South Wales, was swimming with her friend, Leeann Mitchell, 47, at Daintree, north of Cairns around 10pm.

The pair had waded in to waist-deep water in an area known to have a high population of crocodiles, and as the woman was dragged away her friend tried desperately to free her from the creature's clutches.

Scroll down for video

Cindy Waldron, 46, (pictured) who lives in Lithgow in New South Wales is still missing, after going for a night-swim in crocodile infested waters on Sunday with childhood friend, Leann Mitchell, 47, from Cairns

Emergency services are pictured at the scene on Thornton Beach today following Sunday's attack

Ms Waldron, from Lithgow, and Ms Mitchell, from Cairns, were childhood friends from Hamilton, in New Zealand, reported the NZ Herald.

Ms Mitchell had reportedly recently undergone chemotherapy for cancer.

Ms Mitchell's cousin, Alan Frost, told the NZ Herald that Ms Mitchell was unhurt but in the incident at Thornton Beach, in Daintree.

He said she was recovering in Mossman Hospital.

'She has got good friends around her,' Mr Frost said. 'Leeann is a really good person, she has some really good support around her.'

In the meantime, Federal MP Warren Entsch has said the attack must not spark a hysterical debate about crocodile management in his electorate, instead blaming 'human stupidity'.

The crocodile suspected of carrying out the attack on Sunday is pictured near Thornton Beach six months ago

The pair were swimming at Thornton Beach at Daintree (pictured), an area with a high crocodile population

There are crocodile warning signs on the side of the Daintree River near where the attack took place

'You can't legislate against human stupidity,' he told AAP on Monday.

'This is a tragedy but it was avoidable. There are warning signs everywhere up there.'

Mr Entsch said he feared the attack might spark a reactive debate about how to manage crocodiles, but people must remember the attack happened inside a national park in an area where visitors are warned about the dangers.

'Let's not start vendettas. It's hard enough for some families to make a quid up there in the Daintree, showcasing crocs in their environment,' he said.

'People have to have some level of responsibility for their own actions.'

Earlier Senior Constable Russell Parker revealed details about the struggle which saw the 46-year-old taken away by a crocodile.

'Her 47-year-old friend tried to grab her and drag her to safety and she just wasn't able to do that,' he told ABC radio.

Federal MP Warren Entsch has said the attack must not spark a hysterical debate about crocodile management in his electorate. Pictured is a sign along the Daintree River

A search and rescue is currently underway for the missing woman (stock image)

'They had been walking along the beach and they've decided to go for a swim ... (it was) probably a very nice, clear night, but obviously (they) may not have been aware of the dangers.

'We believe they were visiting the area and weren't local to it,' Mr Parker said.

The swimmer's last words before she disappeared were 'a croc's got me', Channel Nine reported.

The friend then ran to a nearby business to raise the alarm, and was taken to hospital suffering shock and grazes.

Queensland Ambulance service said the woman was extremely traumatised, having watched her friend being pulled out into the ocean.

A search and rescue is currently underway for the missing woman - who is originally from New Zealand - after an extensive search overnight found no trace of the victim.

If fears about the woman's fate play out, it will be the second fatality involving a crocodile in a fortnight.

On May 17, Noel Ramage, 72, drowned after a crocodile reportedly overturned the boat he and his mate were in while crabbing near Gunn Point, about 40km northeast of Darwin.

The Victorian man was trapped under the capsized tinnie and drowned while his 72-year-old friend hurled spanners and spark plugs at the croc in a desperate bid to keep it at bay.
A police force will be investigated after a 42-year-old woman was found dead in a flat just hours after a man was arrested at the same address.

Officers had spoken to the woman, who had minor facial injuries, at the property in Oldham, Greater Manchester, after receiving an abandoned emergency call on Saturday night.

A 57-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault and was taken in for questioning. The woman was later found dead by officers who returned to take a statement on the incident.

Officers had spoken to the woman, who had minor facial injuries, at the property in Oldham, Greater Manchester, after receiving an abandoned emergency call. Pictured, the road where police were called

Greater Manchester Police has referred itself to the Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) over the incident.

A post-mortem examination will be conducted but it is thought there no are suspicious circumstances surrounding the woman's death.

Detective Chief Inspector Howard Millington said: 'First and foremost I would like to express our most sincere condolences to the woman's family for their tragic loss.

'Our thoughts remain with them at this terrible time in their lives and we currently have specially trained officers providing them with support.

Greater Manchester Police has referred itself to the Police Complaints Commission over the incident

'In line with our usual policy when an incident such as this occurs, we have made referral to the IPCC and we await their decision on whether or not they wish to investigate.

'In the meantime, we are continuing to investigating the circumstances surrounding the initial call that was made to police which prompted officers to attend and arrest a 57-year-old man on suspicion of assault.'
A number of areas have had to be evacuated as a result of

Authorities in central Texas have found two more bodies along flooded streams, bringing the death toll from the weekend's flooding in the state to six.

Torrential rains have caused heavy flash flooding in some parts of the US over the last few days, and has led to numerous evacuations in southeast Texas, including two prisons.

It is believed that at least two people are missing including an 11-year-old boy in central Kansas who disappeared while fishing with his friends in the swollen Brazos River.

Heavy rains caused flooding in the Brazos River and prompted prison officials to start evacuating about 2,600 inmates at the the Terrell and Stringfellow Units in Rosharon, Texas

Some 2,600 inmates have been evacuated from the Terrell and Stringfellow Units in Rosharon after the nearby Brazos River, near Houston, flooded this weekend.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark added that inmates in a low-level security camp at a third prison in the area are being moved to the main prison building.

All three prisons are in coastal Brazoria County, where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

'TDCJ officials continue to monitor the situation and are working with our state partners as the river level rises,' Clark said.

Another prison that's about 70 miles northwest of Houston saw a brawl between as many as 50 inmates and a number of correctional officers on Saturday that began when flooding caused a power outage.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice prisoners are evacuated from the Terrell and Stringfellow Units Sunday

Sixth Street is impassible due to rising flood waters from the Brazos River in Rosenberg, Texas

A home under construction is flooded as the Brazos River continues to rise in Rosenberg, Texas

Kendall County sheriff's Cpl. Reid Daly says the latest flooding victim identified by authorities was a woman who died when her car was swept from the street by the flooded Cypress Creek about 1.10am Sunday.

The body of Florida Molima, 23, was found 11am Sunday around eight miles downstream from Comfort, north of San Antonio.

In Bandera, about 45 miles northwest of San Antonio, an estimated ten inches of rain overnight led to the rescues of nine people.

The rain caused widespread damage, including the collapse of the roof of the Bandera Bulletin, the weekly newspaper, KSAT-TV in San Antonio reported.

Photos from the area showed campers and trailers stacked against each other, but no injuries were reported.

It is believed that two people remain missing in Texas in the wake of the flooding, while an 11-year-old boy is still unaccounted for in central Kansas

The threat of severe weather has lessened over the long Memorial Day holiday for many places, though Tropical Depression Bonnie continued to bring rain and wind to North and South Carolina.

Near Austin, a crew aboard a county STAR Flight helicopter found a body Sunday on the north end of a retention pond near the Circuit of the Americas auto racing track, which is close to where two people were reported to have been washed away by a flash flood early Friday, Travis County sheriff's spokesman Lisa Block said. The body still must be recovered and no identification has been made.

The rising water in several Houston-area rivers and creeks prompted Harris County officials on Saturday to ask about 750 families in the Northwood Pines subdivision to voluntarily evacuate their homes and apartments.

Officials also warned residents living near the west fork of the San Jacinto River, north of Houston, that rising waters were likely to flood homes, even those that are elevated, Sanchez said.

'The skies are clear and things look good. But we want to make sure people understand that we are not out of the woods yet. We have to keep an eye on water that's coming through our bayou system,' said Francisco Sanchez, a spokesman for the Office of Emergency Management in Harris County.

Four people died from flooding in rural Washington County, Texas, located between Austin and Houston, where more than 16.5 inches of rain fell in some places Thursday and Friday.

The bodies of two missing motorists were found Saturday in separate parts of the county, according to Judge John Brieden.

Tropical Depression Bonnie reached the South Carolina coast early Sunday, bringing heavy rain and rough tides to an area packed with tourists for the Memorial Day weekend.
Matthew Scott, 28, was spotted travelling at snail-like speed in his Ford Focus

An ex-army squaddie was stopped by police while crawling down a deserted street in his car, only for them to find that he was 50 times over the drug-drive limit.

Matthew Scott, 28, was spotted travelling at snail-like speed in his Ford Focus, down a quiet street in Carlisle in the early hours of the morning on December 30, 2015.

When he was stopped by Cumbria Police officers, tests revealed he had 2,772mgs of benzoylecgonine, a substance stemming from cocaine, per litre of blood in his system  when the legal limit is 50mgs.

Police told him that he had breached the terms of his licence, as he had been released early from a six-year prison sentence for robbery, and he would be recalled to jail.

Scott panicked and fled to Blackpool, sparking a public appeal for his recapture.

Earlier this month he was caught and he has been back at Durham Prison as he awaited his sentence for the pre New Year drug-driving offence.

Scott, who served in Afghanistan with an infantry regiment, was convicted of drug-driving in his absence at Carlisle Magistrates' Court after failing to appear in court.

He admitted further offences - uninsured driving, failing to appear in court when required for his trial, and speeding on December 21, when he was caught doing 36mph in a 30mph zone.

Prosecutor Diane Jackson told how in the December 30th drug-driving incident, officers noticed the defendant's Ford Focus driving through Carlisle in the early hours with barely any other traffic around.

Mrs Jackson said: 'It was driving very slowly. When he got out of the vehicle he appeared to be unsteady on his feet, his pupils were were dilated and his speech was slurred.'

Sara Budniak, for Scott, said the defendant had previously been given a six-year jail sentence for a robbery offence.

The lawyer said: 'He had received a telephone call from the police saying he would be recalled to prison and this gave him a shock.

'He didn't want to be recalled so he went to Blackpool to avoid going back to prison. He made admissions in respect of that.'

She said that Scott's lifestyle was erratic and any accommodation he had secured had now been lost so he may find himself homeless if released from prison.

Scott, who served in Afghanistan with an infantry regiment, was convicted of drug-driving in his absence at Carlisle Magistrates' Court after failing to appear in court

Passing sentence, District Judge Gerald Chalk told the defendant that he regarded the drug driving offence as very serious.

He said: 'So far as your reading for benzoylecgonine, it was over 50 times the limit, so I am sending you to prison for 120 days.'

For the uninsured driving charge, Scott was given a 12-month conditional discharge.

The judge also banned Scott from driving for three years for the drug-driving offence, and imposed an 80 victim surcharge.
A 15-year-old girl was gang raped by men who strangled her to death before hanging her body from a tree to make it look like suicide, police in India have revealed.

The teenager slipped out of her home in the Bahraich district of India's Uttar Pradesh while her family was sleeping before going to meet one of the men.

But when she arrived, she realised he had brought along two of his friends who then attacked her, said police Superintendent Salik Ram Verma.

A 15-year-old girl has been raped and strangled in India in what is the latest sex attack outrage to his the country. Activists from All India Democratic Women's Association are pictured demonstrating in February

When the girl resisted, they strangled her before hanging her body from a tree just under a mile from her home.

Police have arrested two men while a 'third accused is one the run', Verma told AFP.

The case is a grim reminder of a similar case in the same state two years ago and is the latest sex attack to cause outrage in India.

Verman said: 'When the girl resisted their bid, she was raped and later strangled. To make it look like a case of suicide, they hung her body from a tree and left the spot.'

Four local police constables have also been suspended after an initial lack of action over the incident sparked outrage among villagers.

'I have suspended four constables for laxity and have issued stern instructions to the inspector concerned to book the third accused soon,' Verma said.

Police have arrested two men over the attack while a 'third accused is one the run', authorities say (file picture)

'The medical report has confirmed rape and strangulation,' he added.

The case comes two years after two girls from a low caste were found hanging in a village in Uttar Pradesh. Their families said they had been gang-raped before being lynched.

The families said the cousins, aged 12 and 14, had been attacked after they went outside after dark to relieve themselves because their ramshackle homes did not have a toilet.

The case sparked a political row after federal investigators concluded the girls had taken their own lives and were not raped.

It also reignited anger about high numbers of attacks against women, after the public outrage that erupted over the fatal gang-rape of a student in Delhi in 2012.
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There is an east-west weather divide in Britain today with only half of the country basking in glorious Bank Holiday sunshine.

Wales and South West England are enjoying a fine morning with plenty of sunshine that has already sent temperatures climbing.

But it has been a cloudy and misty morning for eastern regions of the UK, putting a grey start on any family days out or barbecues with friends.

And while some of the cloud will burn off over the course of the day, gale-force winds and thunderstorms will sweep in from Europe overnight.

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Day out: Sara Cowan, 20, from Glasgow (left) and Niamh Rankin, 20, (right) from Belfast, enjoy the warm weather in Scotland's second city

Family fun: People out enjoying the sunny conditions at the Belfast Titanic Maritime Festival 2016 where temperatures hit 19C (66F)

Blue skies: Billie and Michael Weadon from Virginia at The Belfast Titanic Maritime Festival which celebrated the citys seafaring heritage

Sunny staycation: Dozens of Britons headed for the beaches of Newquay, in Cornwall, to bask in the glorious bank holiday weather

There they go! Competitors take part in a cheese rolling event at Cooper's Hill, in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, this afternoon

Fun in the sun: Families flock to the recently re-opened Jubilee Pool lido in Penzance, Cornwall, as they make the most of the weather

Breathtaking: Hot air balloons lift off into the clear skies above Cumbria this morning as Bank Holiday Monday gets underway

Curious: A deer is seen frolicking in a field in Oldstock, Salisbury, as parts of Britain woke up to glorious summer sunshine today

Rural oasis: Walkers made sure to get out and about early this morning as they took in the views of the River Brathay in the Lake District

Topping up the tan: Sun seekers were seen flocking to the beach at Whitmore Bay, Barry, South Wales, in their dozens this morning

Met Office forecaster Dean Hall told MailOnline: 'There is a very definite east-west split. We have got a lot of low cloud, mist and murky conditions across the east of the UK.

'In contrast, the west is having a fine morning with a good deal of sunshine around and it is feeling pleasant in the sunshine. And temperatures are already starting to creep up... while in the east temperatures are quite cool.'

Families who have headed down to Devon and Cornwall for a half-term 'staycation' are among those set to see the warmest weather today, with South Wales and South West England seeing highs of 21C or 22C.

Meanwhile coastal towns in North East England such as Skegness or Scarborough will only see temperatures reaching 14C or 15C.

Through the course of the afternoon, the low cloud that is hanging over eastern regions will start to burn back and will eventually leave clear skies for most regions. There is also the potential for the odd isolated shower or thunderstorm across parts of Scotland and over Belfast.

The west will continue to see the best of the weather and there will be a 'fine afternoon with nothing to spoil things', said Mr Hall.

Never-ending views: A red-and-blue hot air balloon floats across the sky over fields in Cumbria this morning

Sun, sea and sand: Sporting swimsuits and sunglasses, beach-goers soaked up the rays on the beaches of Newquay, Cornwall

Summer stillness: Trees, shrubs and the grassy banks were reflected in the clear waters of the River Brathay in the Lake District today

Overnight, the low pressure system that has brought fatal lightning strikes and flash floods to the continent will start to move across south-east England.

Mr Hall said: 'Winds are going to be strengthening again tomorrow in the east. In terms of temperatures in the east, you are looking at no better than 12C and 14C.

'The further west you are the better, but the rain will edge westwards over the course of tomorrow over the central parts of the UK. However it will fragment and become lighter and won't reach western parts of Wales and Devon and Cornwall.

'Temperatures again will be getting up to the high teens and low 20s in south Wales and south west England.'

Splashing around: Three-year-old Aston Morris can't keep the smile from his face as he paddles in the water at Whitmore Bay, Barry

Sandcastles and beach towels: Dozens of sun-seekers headed to the beach at Whitmore Bay, Barry, South Wales, this morning

Stretching out in the sun: Bathers soaked up the sun rays at the Grade II-listed Jubilee Pool lido in Penzance, Cornwall, today

Keeping fit: A gentleman dons his swim cap as he takes a dip at the Jubilee Pool lido in Penzance, on bank holiday Monday

Popular spot: Bathers queue outside the Jubilee Pool, which reopened this weekend following a major 3million refurbishment

Ready for the summer: Dressed in their binkinis and swim trunks, bathers made the most of the weather at the Jubilee Pool, in Penzance

He added that the weather front will bring with it strong winds which could reach gale force across the eastern coast, making temperatures feel even cooler. The winds could have some minor impact on flights in this region and will cause choppy waters in the North Sea.

The unsettled weather will continue on Wednesday. Mr Hall said: 'The system will continue to move steadily to the north and west, affecting the north of England and central England. There may be the heavier downpour through the course of Wednesday.

'There will be a lot of cloud, misty and murky conditions in the south and the east and it will become quite humid as well, particularly in the south.'

However conditions will be drier heading into the weekend. Mr Hall added: 'Once we get Tuesday/Wednesday out of the way, things will settle down quite well.'

Bright and beautiful: Patterned balloons fly over countryside cottages as they are released into the skies in Cumbria this morning

Up, up and away! The hot air balloons reach spectacular heights as they soar above the Cumbrian hills on bank holiday Monday

Leaping into summer: A deer is captured mid-air as it skips across the grass in a field in Oldstock, Salisbury, on bank holiday Monday

He's still the big cheese! 17-time champion takes the title at Cheese Rolling Race... but says he won't eat Double Gloucester prize as he hates the taste!

A 28-year-old soldier has taken the top prize at the death-defying Cheese Rolling Race for the seventeenth time.

Chris Anderson left other daredevils trailing in his wake as he sprinted, tripped and tumbled down Cooper's Hill in Brockworth, Gloucestershire.

However he won't be tucking into his prize - an 8lb Double Gloucester - as he does not like the taste of cheese. The women's race was won by Flo Early, 25, who first won as a teenager in 2008.

The big cheese: Chris Anderson holds up his wheel after winning the annual race, left. Right, women's race winner Florence Early

On your marks, get set... Competitors get off to a flying start as they take part in the cheese rolling festival in Brockworth, Gloucestershire

Taking a tumble: Competitors slip and slide down the grassy slope as they take part in the cheese rolling in Brockworth, Gloucestershire

Mr Anderson, who serves with 1 Rifles, dedicated the race and Double Gloucester in memory of his friend Izzy John, a champion cheese roller himself.

He said: 'It's brilliant, I'm really happy. My friend Izzy John sadly passed away recently so this is for him and his family. He won it multiple times.

'Cheese rolling is really important to Brockworth. It got cancelled in 2009 and the organisers this year have done a brilliant job and I'm really happy to win it for the community.'

Explaining his winning technique, Mr Anderson said: 'I try and get the same sort of line and try and do the same sort and thing and win.'

Miss Anderson said she only decided to take part at the last minute having been in hospital earlier this week with a kidney infection.

She said: 'I just got here and they said it was the girls' race, so I decided to take part. I've just come out of hospital and I'm not meant to be doing this. I can't use my right arm. My mum would be furious if she knew.'

Miss Early, who lives in Berlin, had returned to her family in Stroud for her brother's 30th birthday.

She said: 'It's pretty good to win and I like a bit of cheese.'

Explaining her cheese-winning tactics, she added: 'What was going through my mind? It really hurts and I don't know what my body looks like. Don't run, just fall, just go really, really fast. Don't try and stay up, just go like you are running a sprint. Don't try and have a technique.'

Metres from glory: Competitors somersault, roll and fall down the hill in the bid to become this year's cheese rolling champion

Prize-winning tactics: Miss Early said the best way to take the prize is to 'fall, really fast' down the hill. Pictured, competitors today

Free-spirit: One participant opted for a spooky-looking mask as they tumbled down the hill in search of cheesy victory

Relaxed approach: Winner Florence Early is cheered on by spectators as she nears the end of her prize-winning run

The third men's race was won by Ryan Fairley, 26, from Brockworth, who has now won four years on the trot.

'I'm getting old now. I'll be back next year and it's my mate's dad this cheese is donated to,' Mr Fairley, who was limping, said. 'It's the buzz of getting to the bottom. I've got to get me knee checked out. One more year then I'll retire.'

Some competitors travelled from across the world to take part in the series of madcap races, which attracted TV crews from around Europe, while thousands of people lined the course to watch.

Rebel cheese rollers have been staging their own unofficial event after health and safety fears caused the official competition to be cancelled in 2010. The cheese is chased 200 yards down the 1:2 gradient Cooper's Hill at Brockworth.

After a year's hiatus - when police warned against the use of a real cheese - the imitation lightweight foam cheese was binned in favour of the genuine article.

Long-time cheese-maker Diana Smart and her son Rod, who have produced cheese for the chase for more than 25 years, once again provided the wheels for this year's event.

Four cheeses weighing about 3kg each and three smaller ones, weighing about 1.5kg, are used. The unusual event has been celebrated for centuries and is thought to have its roots in a heathen festival to celebrate the return of spring.

The official event was cancelled after more than 15,000 people turned up as spectators to watch the 2009 competition. Since then it has been held unofficially with the police keeping a watchful eye. Local roads have been closed up to two-and-a-half miles around the slope.
A woman has died after being run over by her own car on her driveway.

Police and ACT Ambulance service were called to an address in Ngunnawal in Canberra on Saturday where a 44-year-old woman was hit by her car in her driveway, police said.

The woman was pronounced dead on scene and an investigation has started.

A woman in her mid-forties has died after being run over by her own car (stock) at her home in Ngunnawal, Canberra on Saturday. The ACT collision and Reconstruction team are set to prepare a report for the coroner

ACT collision investigators and the Reconstruction team will investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident and prepare a report for the coroner.

According to the Australian government there have been a total of 1,209 motor vehicle deaths between 2015 and 2014.

ACT policing have said that the road death toll has reached two on ACT roads this year.

In a comment posted to ACT policing in regards to the incident they said: 'Based on the circumstances surrounding the incident, it is considered a road related fatality.

'Therefore the current road death toll stands at two.'

The tragic incident comes as a 96-year-old man died in hospital on Saturday when he was dragged a short distance underneath the car of an elderly motorist.

The tragic incident comes as a 96-year-old man was killed after an elderly woman struck him when exiting her driveway

The 89-year-old woman hit the man as she reversed out of her driveway in a Toyota Corolla at Beacon Hill, northern Sydney, on Friday morning.

The man who was left suffering from head injuries was rushed to Royal North Shore Hospital in critical condition but later was put into an induced coma and died.

The elderly woman was taken to Manly Hospital for mandatory testing.
A motorcyclist who was flung from his bike after being clotheslined by a length of rope has faced the 12-year-old boy who viciously attacked him with a bottle as he lay on the ground with neck injuries.

Lawson Mills, from Perth, was given the opportunity to speak with the young offender, 12, who struck him in the back of the head with an empty whisky bottle moments after he rode into a dangerously placed piece of rope set up by another boy, 11, in December last year.

The 20-year-old said it felt 'amazing' to hear the boy, who was convicted of unlawful wounding, apologise for the attack that left him with around five stitches to his head, Perth Now reported.

Lawson Mills, from Perth, was given the opportunity to speak with the young offender, 12, who struck him in the back of the head with an empty whisky bottle after he was clotheslined by a length of rope

The 20-year-old said it felt 'amazing' to hear the boy, who was convicted of unlawful wounding, apologise for the attack that left him with around five stitches to his head

'I asked him to sort out whatever issues he had in his life and I was impressed with him,' Mr Mills told the Sunday Times after speaking to the boy via videolink.

The motorcycle rider said he felt the boy had courage for taking ownership of his actions, adding that the 'remorseful' offender had penned him an apology letter.

'These kids deserve a chance to learn from their mistakes,' Mr Mills said.

'I don't think that one mistake bars them from contributing anymore to a positive society. Given the right opportunity and guidance I think that many people can really give back.'

West Australian police released images of Mr Mills' injuries following the attack near Perth train station.

West Australian police released images of Mr Mills' injuries following the attack in last December

The young rider was seen wearing blood spattered clothing with serious rope burns around his neck

'The rope wrapped around my neck and slowed me down, pulling me off to the side of the road,' Mr Mills said

The young rider was seen wearing blood spattered clothing with serious rope burns around his neck.

'The rope wrapped around my neck and slowed me down, pulling me off to the side of the road,' Mr Mills told ABC.

He said he crawled on to the pavement after falling from his bike and removed his helmet before the bottled was smashed over his head.

'The rest of it is a bit of a blur. I fell to the ground and curled up,' he said.

Mr Mills said the private meeting had helped him put the incident behind him, Perth Now reported.
Plastic banknotes set to be unveiled this week stick together when new meaning that shoppers could find themselves accidentally handing over more than one note at once, it has emerged.

England's first polymer banknote, a new 5 featuring the image of Winston Churchill, will be formally revealed by the Bank of England on Thursday.

But the Bank itself has warned that the notes might stick together when they are new, raising the prospect of users handing over more money than they intend.

The change is likely to have a particular impact on the elderly because they are more likely to use cash than young people who have increasingly moved to card payments instead.

Innovation: An initial design for the new polymer 5 note which will feature Winston Churchill

In a Q&A briefing on the organisation's website, the Bank said: 'Brand new polymer notes can sometimes stick together, but this effect is short-lived once in use.'

Officials also said that the notes, which are made from artificial materials rather than the traditional paper, 'can feel slippery when new'.

And the briefing warned that the innovative notes 'begin to shrink and melt at temperatures above 120C', so that they should not come into contact with an iron or any other hot appliance.

The Bank is introducing polymer notes because they are supposedly 'cleaner, more secure and more durable' than the existing paper versions, lasting more than twice as long.

The first note to be switched is the 5, which will be launched this week at Blenheim Palace, Churchill's birthplace in Oxfordshire, and goes into circulation in September.

The polymer version of the 10 note will be introduced next year, with Jane Austen pictured on it, and the 20 will follow some time by 2020.

Warning: The new plastic banknotes could stick together when they are new, the Bank of England has said

They will be both smaller and lighter than the current banknotes, forcing retailers to update their systems in order to accept them in automated machines.

The first plastic notes in Britain came into circulation last spring, when Clydesdale Bank introduced a new 5 note.

More than 30 countries including Australia, Canada and Mexico currently use polymer banknotes, which were first invented nearly three decades ago.

However, some experts have warned that the notes could cause havoc in the UK, with one estimate stating that the overhaul will cost retailers 236million.

And scientists suggest that the notes may be a 'breeding ground' for bacteria, although the Bank of England denies this.
The pioneers of Vladimir Putin's new Young Army take their salute in an initiative with strong echoes of Russia's past during the Cold War.

The first 104 schoolchildren joined the revived Soviet military-patriotic movement 'Yunarmiya' - or Young Army - in the city of Yaroslavl, the first cadets on a scheme that will be rolled out across the country in September.

Web critics drew parallels to the Hitler Youth and feared a rise in militarization under Putin, but Russian defence officials insisted it is about raising a generation of children ready to build a bright future for themselves and their country.

Return to Soviet era? Vladimir Putin has set up Soviet military-patriotic movement 'Yunarmiya' or 'Young Army'

The first 104 schoolchildren joined and took part in the 'Young Army' initiation ceremony in Yaroslavl

The oath of male and female 'yun-armists' (young soldiers) reads: 'I swear to aim for victories in studies and sports... to be a patriot and a dignified citizen of Russia'

The oath of male and female 'yun-armists' (young soldiers) reads: 'I swear to aim for victories in studies and sports, to live a healthy lifestyle, to make myself prepared for the service and labour for the sake of the Motherland, to cherish the memory of the heroes who fought for freedom and independence of our Motherland, to be a patriot and a dignified citizen of Russia.'

The first-ever woman in space, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, 79, was on hand at an 'initiation ceremony' to welcome to new 'conscripts'.

'I hope that studies and practical training will give you a chance to join the Russian Army later and to become the true defenders of our Motherland,' she told the children, with some recruits said to be as young as ten.

The complicated international situation demands attention and training, she explained, alluding to perceived Western threats to Russia.

'I congratulate you. I want to hope that our joint work will produce new sportsmen and new heroes. I wish each of you becomes the decent officer of the Russian Army.'

Officially the new set-up is known as the Voluntary Society of Support for the Army, Air Force and Navy, known as DOSAAF.

General-colonel Alexander Kolmakov said that reviving an old tradition of children and youth organisations can lead to the 'growing of a generation of citizens who treat the history with care, who are kind and responsive, ready to build a bright future for themselves and for their country'.

The oath goes on: 'I swear... to make myself prepared for the service and labour for the sake of the Motherland, to cherish the memory of the heroes who fought for freedom and independence of our Motherland'

General-colonel Alexander Kolmakov said that reviving an old tradition of children and youth organisations can lead to the 'growing of a generation of citizens who treat the history with care, who are kind and responsive, ready to build a bright future for themselves and for their country'

His phrase 'svetloe buduschee' or 'bright future' was widely used in Soviet times to describe the expected great future of the USSR when Communism finally won the day.

'The Yunarmiya movement, created upon the initiative of the Russian Defence Ministry and supported by the President of Russian Federation, will unite all organisations and bodies that train the citizens before they join the army.

'And DOSAAF will allow members of the new movement to use its facilities for training.'

Serving cosmonauts added their messages of support from the International Space Station.

'You are the true patriots of your motherland. And you deserve the right to become defenders of your motherland, its interests, its cultural and spiritual traditions,' said said Alexey Ovchinin.

Young Russians will be taught to assemble assault rifles, as well as how to shoot.

They will be able to learn parachute jumping, but also theoretical subjects such as military history and tactics.

Students will wear uniform, and units will have their own 'headquarters' and banner.

Young Russians will be taught to assemble assault rifles, as well as how to shoot. Students will also wear uniform, and units will have their own 'headquarters' and banner.

The main age group of the new Putin Young Army will be 14 to 18, but children will be recruited from the age of ten.

Russia has witnessed a surge of nationalism since Putin's land grab in Crimea in 2014 and top brass want to make the country's 'growing number of patriotic military movements' more structured.

The main age group of the new Putin Young Army will be 14 to 18, but children will be recruited from the age of ten.

Officials stress that attendance will not be compulsory, and will be in addition to normal existing lessons.

Russia has witnessed a surge of nationalism since Putin's land grab in Crimea in 2014 and top brass want to make the country's 'growing number of patriotic military movements' more structured.

The initiative has been criticised, with Valentina Melnikova - who heads a soldiers' rights group - stating: 'Attempts to militarise children are a violation of their rights.'

One blogger accused the authorities of the 'fascistisation' of Russia.

'Putin-jugend got new members,' said another.

Pro-government pundit Andrei Kurochkin insisted there was a need to 'strengthen discipline, raise the prestige of the army and develop patriotic education'.

A source close to Putin's new initiative said: 'Yunarmiya will have a proper military-patriotic and military-sports programme.

'Military-type sports, army service studies ~ it is not only about assembling and dissembling guns, it is also a course for a young soldier with marching and firing training with pneumatic guns.

'Children will study tactics and the military history of Russia.'

They will also be taught the basics of first aid.

Children will be given rooms of Yunarmiya, with posters, library, a banner of their detachment and its symbols, a source told gazeta.ru
A senior member of the notorious Hells Angles outlaw bikie gang was caught with a semi-automatic handgun and drugs in his car, police said.

Detectives stopped a vehicle at Broadbeach, a suburb on the Gold Coast, and allegedly found a bag of cocaine, a .22 calibre semi-automatic handgun and a silencer.

Police photos show branded Hells Angles motorcycle helmets reading: 'Support Your Local Hells Angels Cabra Crew Australia.'

Detectives stopped a vehicle at Broadbeach, a suburb on the Gold Coast, and allegedly found a bag of cocaine, a .22 calibre semi-automatic handgun and a silencer. A senior Hells Angels bikie gang member has been charged

A 42-year-old man, who police said is a senior patched member of the outlaw motorcycle gang, will face weapons and drug charges at Southport Magistrates Court on Monday

A 42-year-old man, who police said is a senior patched member of the outlaw motorcycle gang, will face weapons and drug charges at Southport Magistrates Court on Monday.

Another man, 21, was also arrested and charged.

A police spokesperson said: 'A 42-year-old male senior patched member of the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gang was charged with one count each of possession of dangerous drug, possess category H weapon and possess category R weapon.

'He is due to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court this morning.

'A 21-year-old man was issued a notice to appear in Southport Magistrates Court on June 21, charged with one count each of possess category H weapon and possess category R weapon.'

Taskforce Commander Mick Niland said firearms and bikie gangs are a dangerous mix.

'Illicit firearms, particularly handguns, in the hands of outlaw motorcycle gangs is a recipe for disaster. It's another win for the community with every firearm we seize from crime gangs,'
But angry judge refuses because it risks her severing someone else's head

hospital so she can be treated

Now she's asked to be let out of

A Russian judge angrily slapped down the nanny who decapitated a four year old girl after she pleaded to be allowed out of a prison psychiatric hospital to serve her detention under house arrest.

Gyulchehra Bobokulova, 38, has claimed she was inspired to kill the helpless child in a copycat of gruesome jihadist beheadings which she watched online.

She also alleged she committed the atrocity on on 29 February in revenge for Vladimir Putin's aerial bombardment of Muslims in Syria, saying she was ordered by Allah to decapitate the girl.

The case sent shockwaves around the world when she brandished Anastasia (Nastya) Meshcheryakova's severed head in the street close to Oktyabrskoe Pole metro station minutes after murdering her with a knife in the girl's family home.

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Horrific: Killer nanny Gyulchehra Bobokulova told the court, 'I want to go back to Samarkand, to be treated there

Complaint: The babysitter told the judge in Moscow that she 'does not like it in jail' and pleaded to be allowed to return to her native Uzbekistan for treatment

Jail: Sources close to the investigation say it is likely that the nanny will never face a murder trial over the child's death after psychiatrists diagnosed her as 'insane'.

Defenceless: Anastasia (Nastya) Meshcheryakova was murdered with a knife in her cot in the family home

Bobokulova strode around near the metro - Underground - station with the girl's bloody head in her hand, shouting 'Allahu Akbar' (Arabic for God is Great) and threatening to blow herself up.

But the judge told the court if he freed her from the psychiatric clinic at Butyrskaya jail, she could go out and cut someone else's head off.

The burka-clad babysitter told the judge in Moscow that she 'does not like it in jail' and pleaded to be allowed to return to her native Uzbekistan for treatment.

'I want to go back to Samarkand, to be treated there,' she said after being led handcuffed into the court.

Judge Evgeny Naidyonov asked her: 'Treated for what?'

A tearful Bobokulova replied: 'For my head. I want to go home, under house arrest.'

But the exasperated judge snapped back: 'What home? Back to Oktyabrskoe Pole? In order to cut off someone else's head?'

The judge retired for five minutes before returning to deny her request to be sent home to Uzbekistan.

The case sent shockwaves around the world when the nanny brandished the girl's severed head in the street close to Oktyabrskoe Pole metro station minutes after murdering her

Bobokulova strode around near the metro - Underground - station with the girl's bloody head in her hand, shouting 'Allahu Akbar' (Arabic for God is Great) and threatening to blow herself up.

Tough: After the nanny asked to be freed, Judge Evgeny Naidyonov asked her: 'Treated for what?' A tearful Bobokulova replied: 'For my head. I want to go home, under house arrest.' But the exasperated judge snapped back: 'What home? Back to Oktyabrskoe Pole? In order to cut off someone else's head.'

He ordered that she remain under the control of Russian psychiatrists for another two months.

She remained calm as the judge read his verdict.

Sources close to the investigation say it is likely that the nanny will never face a murder trial over the child's death after psychiatrists diagnosed her as 'insane'.

However, investigators called on the judge to allow them more time to investigate the nanny's postings on social media in the weeks before she killed the child who she cared for.

The nanny protested saying from her cage in the court: 'No, I do not agree.'

Experts at the Serbsky State Scientific Centre for Social and Forensic Psychiatry found that the nanny is not fully responsible for her actions, and committed the crime in a bout of insanity, it has been reported.

If upheld by the court, Bobokulova will be judged 'not liable for criminal prosecution and the investigation will have to specify the necessity of administering compulsory measures of a medical nature to her in the indictment', reported Interfax.

The nanny earlier told one journalist: 'I saw online how they were cutting off heads. This hatred.

'There was a voice in my head: 'Do it to the girl'. '

She said: 'I saw how they cut off heads and I did it.

'The voices - I killed the girl, yes.
A video of a drunk driver trying to fool police by faking a breathalyser test 20 times has entertained millions.

The man shot to internet fame with his hilarious acting skills as he screwed up his face and pretended to blow into the device numerous times.

The comical scenes took place on the streets of Shenzhen, a major city in South China's Guangdong Province, where members of the Shenzhen Traffic Police were stopping motorists for random checks.

A viral video of a drunk driver trying to fool police by faking a breathalyser test 20 times has entertained millions

Officers suspected the driver in question of drink-driving, and they requested a breathalyser test to confirm their suspicions.

But the driver simply refused to carry out the test properly, knowing that he would receive a fine if found guilty of the offence.

In a short clip uploaded by the Shenzhen Traffic Police on Sina Weibo - also referred to as the Chinese Twitter - the man can be seen straining his face as he pretends to blow into the instrument.

The video, edited by the police force for comedic effect, shows the entire 13-minute back-and-forth between the driver and officers.

The man shot to internet fame as he screwed up his face and pretended to blow into the device numerous times on the streets of Shenzhen, a major city in South China's Guangdong Province

With his hands outstretched in front of him in mock confusion, the man pulls a series of agitated expressions that mimic the effort of blowing into the breathalyser

The man screws up his face and pretends to blow into the device for several seconds.

With his hands outstretched in front of him in mock confusion, he pulls a series of agitated expressions that mimic the effort of blowing into the breathalyser.

One police officer even urges him: 'Try to take the strength you used while singing karaoke.'

Another advises: 'You hold the instrument and blow. Close your mouth and breathe.'

The gentleman seems to roll his eyes in despair as the officers refuse to believe he has done it correctly.

The driver's exaggerated facial expressions brought laughs to the officers and the millions of netizens who have watched and shared the video

Reports said his blood alcohol level was recorded at almost double the legal limit in China

The driver's facial expressions brought laughs to the officers and the millions of netizens who have watched and shared the video, turning the drunk driver into an instant internet celebrity.

In the end, with the officers unwilling to fall for the man's antics, he begrudgingly completes the breathalyser test and admits to the drink-driving offence.

Reports said his blood alcohol level was recorded at almost double the legal limit in China.

While the police did not mention what punishment the man would face for his offence, they said: 'Though his acting was good, the driver could not escape punishment.'

During the 13-minute back-and-forth exchange, one police officer even urges him: 'Try to take the strength you used while singing karaoke'
A child psychiatrist has allegedly been caught filming a young boy in the bathrooms of a movie theatre in Canada.

Aaron Voon, 41, from Perth, Western Australia was filmed in a confrontation with the boy's father outside the toilets at West Edmonton Malls Scotiabank Theatre on May 22, reported The Global News.

While another man is filming, the man believed to be the boy's father can be heard saying to the camera 'Is this recording?'

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Child psychiatrist Aaron Voon (right) was allegedly caught filming a young boy in the toilets of a cinema in Edmonton, Canada on Sunday

Footage shows the father grabbing hold of Mr Voon's arm, before he tells the camera that Mr Voon was in the bathroom and had put his camera down next to his son.

The two men then demand for Mr Voon to 'show us your camera'.

'You were caught red handed with your camera angled when some boy was peeing' one of the men is heard yelling at Mr Voon.

The footage of the incident was later posted online by a local news site.

Mr Voon had reportedly been watching a screening of The Angry Birds film before the incident took place.

He was arrested by Canadian police and faces charges of possessing child pornography, making child pornography and voyeurism.

WA Today reported that administrators a Dr Voon's pediatric clinic, the Successful Development and Therapy Clinic in Cockburn Central, emailed parents and industry peers a message from Dr Voon.

Dr Voon was confronted by the boy's father outside the toilets, who grabbed him by the arm and yelled at him to show him what was on his phone

The father and bystanders are said to have restrained Dr Voon (pictured on the floor) until police arrived

'Dear colleagues, patients and family,' the message reportedly read.

'A most terrible thing has happened with me in the past week whilst overseas which I will need to manage urgently... I will have to cease practice immediately indefinitely.

'For patients and family I am so sorry for leaving you so suddenly. I can honestly state that these issues have been TOTALLY separate from work and I have always provided you and your children with the best possible, safe and appropriate care.

'For colleagues, I seek your urgent support in taking over care ... my deepest apologies again and grateful appreciation for the past opportunity to work together.

'I hope that I will have the chance to work solidly on my personal issues and start afresh some time in the future.'

Dr Voon (pictured), who runs a pediatric clinic in Perth, Western Australia, faces charges of possessing child pornography, making child pornography and voyeurism

When Daily Mail Australia contacted the clinic, an automated message said that due to unforeseen circumstances, the clinic would be closed indefinitely.

Dr Voon reportedly specialises in treating prepubescent children with social, emotional and behavioural issues and conditions including depression, anxiety, ADHD and autism.

There was apparently a three-month wait-list for appointments at his clinic, which range from $750-$990 for 90 minutes for initial consultations, and $395-$445 for subsequent appointments.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the government was providing consular assistance to an Australian man who had been detained in Canada.
Death certificates filed for eight murdered members of the same Ohio family have revealed new clues about their deaths showing exactly where they were shot.

The victims, who were all members of or connected to the Rhoden family, were found dead at four houses across Pike County.

Officers also discovered marijuana production at three of the four crime scenes and police are probing whether the massacre was fuelled by a turf war.

Christopher Rhoden Senior, left, who suffered gunshot wounds to the head and torso. Kenneth Rhoden, right was shot once in the head

Husband-to-be Frankie Rhoden and his fiancee Hannah Hazel Gilley, 20, were among those killed with a gunshots to the head

On Friday, Pike County Coroner David Kessler issued death certificates which stated all of the family members died of gunshot wounds.

According to Fox19, Christopher Rhoden Senior, was the only family member who was shot somewhere other than the head.

The death certificate shows he died from wounds to his head, torso and extremity.

His brother, Kenneth, was the only victim to be shot once. He died from a single bullet to the head and was found in his camper.

Dana Rhoden, left, and Christopher Rhoden Junior were also found dead after the massacre in Ohio

Hanna Rhoden, left, and Gary Rhoden, right, also suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head

All of the other victims - Hanna Rhoden, Dana Rhoden, Clarence 'Frankie' Rhoden, Christopher Rhoden Jr., Gary Rhoden and Hannah Gilley - died from multiple shots to head.

The filing of the death certificates come after local and state authorities continue to probe the killings but do not have any suspects or motives after more than a month.

Officers have said they expected the probe to be lengthy and a spokesperson has denied that the investigation was grinding to a halt.

The filing of the death certificates come after local and state investigators probe the killings but don't have any suspects or motives after more than a month of investigation

Asked if inquiries were not going as well as officers might have hoped, she said: I wouldnt say thatwe are looking for any clues that can be provided.

'We are looking for anything and everything.

Daily Mail Online revealed exclusively in the days after the murders that one of the bodies was left covered in dollar bills and CCTV cameras had been taken by the assassins.

It was also revealed three of the four properties where the killers struck were being used for marijuana production leading to theories that the massacres were the result of a turf war.

People turning out at a funeral for one of the victims. Police are also examining claims that one of the victims had a long running feud with rivals involved in derby demolition car racing and had been in a fist fight with rivals

Daily Mail Online revealed exclusively in the days after the murders that one of the bodies was left covered in dollar bills and video CCTV cameras had been taken by the assassins

Police are also examining claims that one of the victims had a long running feud with rivals involved in derby demolition car racing and had been in a fist fight with rivals.

Frankie Rhoden's fiancee, 20-year-old Hannah Gilley, was also slaughtered, but her four-day-old baby girl was found unharmed beside her. Another baby and a young child were spared.
The grieving mother of a four-year-old boy who tragically died after being trapped inside a vehicle that rolled into a river says she keeps reliving the moment she found out her son had died.

Lauren Hilton says she 'broke down in tears' and was left speechless when she learnt that her 'bright little boy' Bentley, 4, had drowned on Sunday morning.

'I tried to close my eyes last night and all I could see was him wanting to get out, yelling out for help,' she told Nine News.

Ms Hilton, who is separated from Bentley's father, claims she wasn't told of her son's death until Sunday afternoon.

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Lauren Hilton (right), the mother of drowned four-year-old boy Bentley (left), says she keeps reliving the moment she found out her son had died

'I tried to close my eyes last night and all I could see was him': Ms Hilton says she broke down in tears when she heard her son had died

Bentley Hilton tragically died after being trapped inside a vehicle that rolled into Hawkesbury River

Bentley was strapped to a seat inside the Ford Falcon XR8 (pictured) when it slid into the water and started to take on water

Her mother, Kacey Bainbridge, said police had withheld information from the family.

'They are keeping us all in the dark and it is very upsetting,' she said, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Bentley had been on a family outing with his dad and grandfather when tragedy struck.

Police say the young boy's grandfather was reversing a boat and trailer into the Hawkesbury River, north-west of Sydney, on Sunday morning, when it suddenly slid into the water.

Bentley's grandfather and father jumped in the river and made 'frantic' efforts to save him, but the vehicle quickly became submerged and was swept downstream by a strong current.

Divers spent a number of hours extensively searching the waters surrounding Lower Portland caravan park on River Road, recovering the boy's body from the murky water over four hours later.

Little Bentley, who had been strapped to a seat inside the Ford Falcon XR8, was found dead inside the vehicle shortly before 3pm.

Attempts by ambulance paramedics to revive him were unsuccessful.

Speaking to 7 News on Monday morning, Ms Hilton shared photographs of Bentley and described the heartbreaking moment she learnt she had lost her son.

'When I found out, I was just so upset ... I just broke down in tears, there was nothing more I could say.'

'I loved him from the first time I met him.'

Mourning family members have posted heartfelt tributes across social media, lamenting the loss of their 'perfect little man' who 'was always happy to see his mum.'

'Everyone keeps tell me that you are gone but you can't be none of this can be true your (sic) to young to leave us you have your hole life ahead of you,' step-aunt Heather wrote.

'Please just tell me they are all lying and come back to me, I love you so much Bentley more then you could ever imagine. So blessed to be your Aunty.'

'Rest in peace Auntys little man I'll be forever missed and love for u will never be forgotten Bentley,' wrote another aunt, Nikita.

Police say the young boy's grandfather (who was driving the car) and father jumped in the water to save him, but the blue utility truck was swallowed up by the strong currents before they could rescue him

Police divers recovered the vehicle (pictured) and young boy's body after a number of hours of extensive searching. Attempts by ambulance paramedics to revive Bentley were unsuccessful

Mourning family members have posted heartfelt tributes across social media, lamenting the loss of their 'perfect little man'

Lauren Hilton is pictured here with her son Bentley, who tragically drowned after a car slipped off a boat ramp

Inspector Ian Woodward said the grandfather, who left Windsor police station on Sunday evening after questioning, had left the car to unstrap a boat attached to the car.

'He got out of the car to get a small tin boat off the back of the ute,' Inspector Woodward said.

'A young four-year-old child was seated in the cabin of the vehicle.'

'As the man got out to unstrap the tin boat, the ute rolled back into the Hawkesbury River and he was submerged.

Inspector Woodward said the family had come to the popular holidaying destination for a weekend outing.

'The family is devastated. They came here for a family day out and unfortunately it has ended in tragedy.'

Divers scoured the murky water for signs of the vehicle after it slid into the river with the child inside

Emergency crews were called to the boat ramp on Sunday morning following reports of a submerged vehicle
They talked for hours even though star says he 'doesn't like large people'

Star: Francis Rossi, pictured with a dog for a recent charitable venture, has said that he doesn't like people who are overweight

Status Quo star Francis Rossi has come under fire after he said 'I don't like large people' in an interview while telling a bizarre anecdote about making friends with an overweight woman.

The 67-year-old guitarist told a newspaper that he had met an 'extremely large woman' at a festival in the US and spent hours talking to her backstage.

He added that the experience had been 'a learning curve' because he usually does not enjoy the company of people who are overweight.

But members of the public said they were 'disgusted' by his views, adding: 'He needs to have a good look in the mirror.'

Mr Rossi's outburst came during an interview with the Guardian in which he reminisced about the 'strangest person' he'd ever met at a festival in his 50-year career.

He said: 'There was a festival we did in America once, and I remember being sat next to this extremely large woman - and I don't mean tall, I mean in every which way.

'She was the nicest woman I'd ever met - I must have sat three or four hours with her.

'I felt perhaps that was a learning curve for me. I can still see her face. I knew I'd never see her, ever again. It was strange for me, because I don't like large people.'

After the comments came to light, fans spoke of their disappointment at his dismissive opinion.

Christine Brookes, 37, of Norwich, said: 'To just say you don't normally like large people is very, very offensive - he's basically alienated more than half of the British population.

'He really needs to think before he speaks - how can you judge someone by what they look like before even speaking to them?'

Claire Spence, 26, of High Wycombe, added: 'Francis Rossi's views are disgusting - how can you say you don't like large people? He needs to have a good look in the mirror.'

Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Rossi claimed that he had been approached by a murderer at a different festival but did not talk to him because he was about to go on stage.

Rock: Mr Rossi, left, with Status Quo co-star Rick Parfitt at the Live Aid concert in 1985

'We were working a festival in Scandinavia once, and this guy with long, blond curly hair came up to us, and he was covered in blood,' the rocker said.

'He said, "I've killed my friend," and the organisers said, "Yeah, wait a minute, mate, we've just got to get the band on." I've got no idea what happened to the bloke.'

A spokesman for the band did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Mr Rossi's remarks.

This is not the first time the veteran star has made unusual statements in interviews - he once dismissed Elvis Presley as 'just a fat d***head in a stupid suit'.
David Cameron has buried his differences with Sadiq Khan to campaign against Brexit - just weeks after condemning his links with extremists.

The Prime Minister lavished praise on the newly-installed London Mayor despite admitting that the pair did not always agree.

But Leave supporters said Mr Cameron's insistence that he was 'proud' to stand alongside Mr Khan was just was another example of his 'flip-flopping'.

David Cameron and Sadiq Khan were campaigning for a Remain vote in the EU referendum at an event in Roehampton, south west London.

The campaign rally in Roehampton, south west London, came with Tory tensions at their highest yet.

Sir Bill Cash today followed colleagues Nadine Dorries and Andrew Bridgen in publicly stating that Mr Cameron might have to go for peddling 'monumentally misleading propaganda' during the campaign.

Journalists were not invited to the Stronger In event in Roehampton this morning, where the PM and Mr Khan unveiled a 'guarantee card' featuring five pledges for if the country votes to keep ties with Brussels on June 23.

They include 'Full Access to the EU's single market' and 'Workers' rights protected'.

WHY ARE TORY BACKBENCHERS SO FURIOUS WITH DAVID CAMERON? David Cameron has warned of war and recession during the referendum campaign The anger of Eurosceptics at the way David Cameron has pursued the EU referendum campaign could end his premiership even if he wins. The main accusation levelled at the Prime Minister is that he has abused government machinery and resources in a bid to skew the result in his favour. Some 9million of public funds was used to produce, promote and deliver pro-EU leaflets to every household in the country. Treasury officials also prepared a series of assessments predicting economic catastrophe if we Leave - including claims that we would lose 4,300 per household and property prices would slip. The way the figures were presented, and the way respected bodies like the IMF, OECD and Bank of England have popped up to offer similarly apocalyptic predictions, was enough to anger many Tories in itself. Backbencher Marcus Fysh spoke for many when he bluntly declared that the assertions were 'b******s'. But the blood-curdling language deployed by Mr Cameron inflamed tensions even further. The PM has branded Brexit 'self-destruct' option,and even suggested leaving could trigger another war in Europe. Mid Beds MP Nadine Dorries yesterday voiced particular fury at Mr Cameron's insistence that Turkey joining the EU was 'not on the cards'.

Mr Cameron held out an olive branch to Mr Khan in the wake of his attacks during the mayoral campaign.

The most high-profile came during a rowdy PMQs session, when Mr Cameron accused Mr Khan of sharing a platform with an Isis supporter.

'Anyone can make a mistake about who they appear on a platform with ... but if someone does it time after time after time, it is right to question their judgment, the PM said last month to howls of protest from Labour.

He subsequently apologised for the remark after Mr Khan defeated Tory candidate Zac Goldsmith, blaming a 'misunderstanding'.

Mr Cameron said today that he was 'proud' to be standing with Mr Khan.

'In one generation, someone who is a proud Muslim, a proud Brit and a proud Londoner can become mayor of the greatest city on earth  that says something about our country,' the premier said.

'Yes, there are still barriers to opportunity that we have to get rid of, there are still glass ceilings we have got to smash, there is still discrimination in our country that we have to fight.

'But I have always said, and I say it again today standing alongside our new mayor, that we can claim to be on track to be the best multi-faith, multi-ethnic, multi-opportunity democracy anywhere on earth.'

Mr Cameron said they would continue to disagree about many issues, but both believed that remaining in the EU was the 'best thing' for the country.

'Sadiq and I (support Remain) for this reason, which is that we love our country,' Mr Cameron insisted. 'We want our country to be the best it possibly can.'

In an apparently acknowledgement of the fury on Tory benches about his tactics, the premier said he would try to be 'positive' for the rest of the campaign.

'I will do everything I can over the next 24 days to speak clearly and speak positively ... this is the right course for our country,' he said.

But he again classed himself as a Eurosceptic - a description that has infuriated Conservatives in the past.

'I myself am a Eurosceptic. I am sceptical about some of the things that Europe has done,' Mr Cameron said.

Mr Khan urged young people to register to vote, saying the referendum would have implications far into the future:

'We are wealthier, we are healthier and we are better educated than many, many others of previous generations,' he told the campaign rally.

'And why is that? It's because of good decisions taken by previous generations.

'But now it's our turn to make decisions that will affect future generations to come.'

Ukip MP Douglas Carswell said Mr Cameron was 'flip-flopping' on the EU:

'David Cameron cannot be trusted. Just a month ago he attacked Sadiq Khan as a terrorist sympathiser, yet today he hailed him as a great politician as he stood next to him on a shared platform,' he said.

'Today he trumpeted the benefits of the European Arrest Warrant but a few years ago he warned that it was dangerous and that it stripped away centuries old rights from the British people.

'David Cameron's flip flops show that he is not a man of principle - he is just desperate to cling on to power. He is only interested in saving his career not in what is best for the British people. People should not trust David Cameron.'

Vote Leave offered its own five-point picture of what Remain would look like, including sending further money to Brussels, facing greater immigration into the UK and being subject to regulation it said costs British companies 600m a week.

Mr Cameron happily posed for photographs with Remain campaigners at the event in south west London today

Journalists were not invited to the rally in Roehampton, meaning there were no awkward media questions for the Prime Minister or Mayor

It also said Britain would be unable to remove criminals and terrorists from the UK due to EU human rights laws, and would have to pay 43bn in tax refunds to multinationals.

Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott said: If people vote to stay, they are voting for the free movement of people from Europe to the UK, permanently.

"This will get worse when Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey join the EU.

If we Vote Leave on 23 June, we take back control of our money, our borders and our democracy. Thats the safer option for our future.

Veteran Eurosceptic Sir Bill Cash spoke out on the issue of Mr Cameron's future after Ms Dorries accused the PM of 'lying' and revealed she had sent a letter to the powerful 1922 committee demanding a formal vote of no confidence.

Fellow backbencher Andrew Bridgen has also raised the prospect of Mr Cameron going even if he wins the referendum, and suggested there could be a snap general election this Autumn.

Mr Khan said he would work with the Conservative government in the best interests of Londoners

The Prime Minister and Mr Khan said the issue of the EU referendum was more important than their other political differences

'My view is that they've been engaged in monumentally misleading propaganda.  They have relentlessly and fragrantly been anything but impartial and inaccurate,' Sir Bill told the Telegraph.

'Basically I think that they have got a very, very short time in which to correct all this. In my 30 year I've never seen anything on this including during Sir John Major's time.'

'I am certainly considering it. It is up to them. My powerful warning to them is get your act together, make sure that you put voters first and the country first.'
There was a time when Australian travellers would share their holiday memories with their friends and family with an unassuming postcard.

But the long-established method has become a primitive form of communication, new research revealed.

Australians are moving away from traditional photo albums, postcards and post-holiday debriefs and instead embracing digital channels to share their experiences.

Australians are moving away from traditional photo albums, postcards and post holiday debriefs and instead embracing digital channels to share their experiences (stock image)

There was a time when Australian travellers would share their holiday memories with their friends and family with an unassuming postcard, but the long-established method has become a primitive form of communication (stock image)

Unsurprisingly social media networks and email are taking charge.

The research, conducted by online travel search engine KAYAK.com.au, found that social media is undeniably the new postcard.

Today, only 18 per cent of Australian travellers use postcards, despite being one of the most popular ways of sharing travel experiences 10 years ago.

Physical photo albums are also on the way out, dropping from 47 per cent to 27 per cent in the last ten years.

Sharing travel experiences via social channels has overtaken other traditional forms, such as in-person meet-ups, with half of all Aussies preferring Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to share their holiday adventures.

Physical photo albums are also on the way out, dropping from 47 per cent to 27 per cent in the last ten years (stock image)

The research, conducted by online travel search engine KAYAK.com.au, found that social media is undeniably the new postcard (stock image)

Debby Soo, KAYAK.com.au Vice President, said the research was undertaken to gauge how travellers are embracing the ever-changing digital age.

'We wanted to understand the relationship Australians and their mobile phones have through all stages of today's travel cycle  particularly unearthing the shift in attitude, behaviour and perception, compared to ten years ago,' she said.

'Our research reveals technology is a driving force in the way our consumers source inspiration, book and share their travel experiences and with mobile devices growing in popularity among Aussie travellers and in particular millennials.'
A one-armed surfer who lost her limb in a shark attack when she was just 13 has charged into the quarterfinals of the Fiji Pro event after knocking out some of the world's best board riders.

Hawaiian wildcard Bethany Hamilton, 26, eliminated world number one Tyler Wright in the second round and backed it up to beat six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore in the third round.

The inspirational mother-of-one stunned her competitors at Fiji's famous Cloudbreak, scoring an impressive nine-point ride on the famous left-hander wave to clinch victory late in the second round.

Hamilton lost her left arm to a four-metre tiger shark in 2003, but was back in the water and surfing a month later. She secured her first national surfing title less than two years after the attack.

Hawaiian wildcard Bethany Hamilton, who lost her left arm in a shark attack at the age of 13, has beaten two of the world's best female surfers at the Fiji Pro (pictured)

The one-armed surfer, 26, eliminated world number one Tyler Wright in the second round and backed it up to beat six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore in the third round

'I know I am in a unique position to encourage young girls to make great decisions as they grow into women and to chase their dreams,' Hamilton said after her round two win (pictured) against Tyler Wright

'I think I am a reminder for the young girls that they can do it if they set their mind to it,' said Hamilton

Inspirational: After losing an arm in a shark attack when she was 13 in 2003, Hamilton's dedication and drive to become a professional surfer has inspired millions globally

The mother-of-one's moving life story led to a bestselling autobiography and a documentary titled 'Soul Surfer'

'I know I am in a unique position to encourage young girls to make great decisions as they grow into women and to chase their dreams,' Hamilton said on Monday.

'Even after losing my arm, I am still doing everything I've hoped I could do with my future and even more.'

'I think I am a reminder for the young girls that they can do it if they set their mind to it.'

Hamilton, whose moving life story led to a bestselling autobiography and a documentary titled 'Soul Surfer', said it was daunting to surf alongside such a quality pack of female athletes.

'Stephanie, Tyler and Carissa are three of my favourite female surfers, so it was daunting knowing I had Stephanie in my heat,' she said. 'I have so much respect for everyone on tour.

'I have been dreaming of surfing and competing here, so I was excited to receive a Wildcard entry into this event. I am honored that I can inspire people.'

Any nerves from before the event appeared to dissipate pretty quickly, as Hamilton went up against Australian surfer Tyler Wright to cause the biggest stir on day one of the tournament.

Wright produced scores of 7.33 and 7.57 to put herself in a commanding position with 10 minutes remaining in the heat before Hamilton produced a whopping nine-point ride to win by 1.20.

The one-armed surfing gun recently gave birth to her first child Tobias in 2015. She married youth pastor Adam Dirks in August 2013, and the pair finished third on the 25th season of reality television show The Amazing Race.

Hamilton said it was 'daunting' to go up against such a quality pack of female athletes at Cloudbreak

The one-armed surfing gun (right) married youth pastor Adam Dirks (left) in August 2013. Their first son Tobias (pictured) was born in 2015

Bethany Hamilton (right) eliminated world ratings leader Tyler Wright (left, from Australia) in the second round. She now faces Nikki van Dijk (centre, from Australia) in the quarterfinals

Hamilton proved her win was no fluke by taking down Aussie champion Stephanie Gilmore by 0.70 in their third round heat with a combined score of 15.47.

Australia's Sally Fitzgibbons won her third-round heat with a combined score of 16.37, returning to the same beach where she suffered a perforated eardrum in winning her second successive Fiji Pro last year.

The two other Australians in the event, Keely Andrew and Bronte Macaulay, were eliminated in the second round by South Africa's Bianca Buitendag and Enever respectively.

Australian surfing guns Stephanie Gilmore (left) and Tyler Wright both suffered upset defeats to Hamilton

Hamilton turned heads when she beat six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore (pictured) in the third round at Cloudbreak
worked at Mogadishu airport among the duo in court

Blast ripped open pressurised cabin in flight as the plane

A Somali military court sentenced 10 people who were behind a bomb blast that blew a hole in the fuselage of a plane bound for Djibouti in February.

In the incident, a suspected suicide bomber was sucked out of the Daallo Airlines plane through a one metre wide hole when a blast ripped open the pressurised cabin in flight, officials said.

Horror at 14,000 feet: An explosion ripped a hole in the side of the Airbus A321 just five minutes after it took off from the Somali capital Mogadishu

Blast: A hole measuring six feet by three feet tore through the Airbus A321 fuselage and an elderly passenger in his 60s was sucked out of the cabin

The plane made an emergency landing in the Somali capital Mogadishu. Somalia's al Shabaab insurgents said they were behind the blast.

Mumin Abdullahi, the deputy prosecutor for Somalia's national security forces, said among those sentenced were a security officer and an al Shabaab member who bankrolled the attack.

'Abdiweli Mohamed, the security head of the civil aviation, and Areys Hashi, who was the funder but absent, were sentenced to life imprisonment by the court,' Abdullahi said.

'Areys Hashi is a member of al Shabaab who funded the operation,' he added.

Abdullahi said eight others who worked in a range of jobs at the airport, including security screeners, a police officer, a porter and immigration officers were sentenced to jail terms ranging from six months to four years.

Carnage: In the blast, which ripped open the side of the cabin, one passenger told MailOnline how thick smoke filled the plane and passengers screamed in the chaos

Djibouti-bound Daallo Airlines flight D3159 pictured after a blast blew a hole in the side of the cabin

Five others were acquitted, Abdullahi said.

In February, Daallo's chief executive said the bomber was meant to be on a Turkish Airlines flight that was cancelled due to bad weather.

Daallo had picked up the 70 stranded Turkish Airlines passengers to fly them to Djibouti, including the suicide bomber. In total, the flight had 74 passengers.
Australian Federal Police said an Australian student charged with poisoning her friend in Indonesia wouldn't be executed if found guilty.

Former Sydney student Jessica Kumala Wongso, 27, was charged with the premeditated murder of her friend, Wayan Mirna Salihin, who died in Olivier cafe in Central Jakarta, Indonesia, on January 6.

Ms Wongso allegedly spiked her friend's coffee with a lethal dose of cyanide.

The Australian government has it in writing from Indonesia that she will not face the death penalty, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

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Wongso, 27, has been charged with the premeditated murder of her friend who died after drinking cyanide-laced coffee at a Jakarta cafe. The AFP say she won't be executed if found guilty, but Indonesian authorities wont rule it out

essica Kumala Wongso in Jakarta on Friday, May 27. She is alleged to have murdered Wayan Mirna Salihin, who died soon after allegedly drinking coffee laced with cyanide at a restaurant

Jessica Kumala Wongso (left) and Wayan Mirna Salihin (right) were friends that met in Sydney

'The Indonesian Government has given an assurance to the Australian Government that the death penalty will not be sought nor carried out in relation to the alleged offending,' a spokesperson from the Australian Attorney-General's Department told Fairfax Media.

But Jakarta Attorney Office spokesman Waluyo refused to publicly rule out the death penalty as a punishment when talking to local media, saying that 'it's possible'.

'It depends on facts found in the trial later,' he said.

Prosecutors will now have just under four months to prepare the indictment against Jessica.

The alleged murder may have been motivated by 'jealousy or revenge', according to forensic hypnotist Kirdi Putra, a consultant called in by the Indonesian police to help solve the murder.

Both woman studied together at Billy Blue College of Design in Sydney, but Wongso stayed to work in Australia after her graduation in 2008.

By the time she returned in December last year, she had drifted apart from Ms Salihin, according to Mr Putra, who has interviewed Wongso and others involved in the case.

'A possible motive is some kind of jealousy and revenge,' Mr Putra told ABC's 7.30.

Mr Putra said that some of Wongso's friends had become closer to Ms Salihin and she was not invited to her wedding in Bali.

'First, her friends get taken away, second one, [Mirna] got a better life than [Jessica's] life  that could be a motive.'

Ms Salihin died on January 6 at a Jakarta hospital after suffering convulsions moments after she sipped an iced coffee ordered by her friend.

Jakarta Attorney Office spokesman Waluyo refused to publicly rule out the death penalty as a punishment when talking to local media

Since studying together Ms Salihin (pictured) and Wongso had drifted apart, according to Kirdi Putra, a consultant working for the Indonesian police

Ms Salihin did not invite Wongso to her wedding in Bali, which has been speculated as a possible motive for the alleged murder

Police said Wongso arrived at the cafe around an hour before her two friends and ordered three drinks, including the Vietnamese iced coffee that is believed to have killed Ms Salihin.

Testing by a police laboratory found a deadly dose of cyanide in Ms Salihin's body.

Wongso has maintained her innocence since her former study partner's death, telling reporters that she 'does not know where the cyanide came from'.

There has been speculation in the Indonesian media that Wongso and Ms Salihin were lovers after the victim's father, Darmawan Salihin, revealed a Whatsapp message between the two.

'Jessica said 'Mirna give me a kiss. It has been a long time since you have given me a kiss',' he was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Post.

Wongso has maintained her innocence in dealings with the media since her former study partner's death

Mr Putra, who has interviewed Wongso and others involved in the case, said jealousy or revenge could have been a motive

However, Mr Putra, who has analysed the pair's text messages, told the ABC there was no evidence of a relationship between the two.

In a pretrial hearing at Central Jakarta Court in February, Wongso's lawyers argued there was a lack of evidence to link her to the crime and her continued detention was a 'gross violation' of human rights.

Wongso's lawyer Hidayat Bustam alleged police had conducted a search of Wongso's home without the required legal documentation and had on one occasion subjected his client to almost 12 hours of interrogation.
Vermont police say a man badly beaten at a homeless encampment in Burlington last week, has died of his injuries.

Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo said in a statement that 38-year-old Amos Beede of Milton died Sunday at the University of Vermont Medical Center of injuries that included head trauma, facial fractures and broken ribs.

Lt. Shawn Burke said the victim had a tent at the encampment, and they suspect the attacker resides there as well.

Burke said Beede was a transgender person who identified as a male, and did not rule out hate crime as a possible motive.

Fatal beating: Amos Beede, 38, was found unconscious with facial fractures, a subdural hematoma and broken ribs near a homeless encampment last week. He has since died from his injuries

Was Amy, now Amos: Investigators have not ruled out the victim's transgender status as a possible additional motive, and said they will work to determine what role if any it may have played as the investigation continues

Burke also said detectives were able to determine the victim was assaulted long before the initial call was made.

In a news release, police identified two persons of interest in the case, Erick Averill, 21, and Myia Barber, 23, both transient residents of Burlington. Police did not say whether they were suspects in the assault.

'This attack was directed at Amos,' Burke said. 'There was more than one perpetrator, the investigation is ongoing, and to share much more could compromise our efforts.'

'I hope somebody would have some more information about this individual,' Dr. Kim Fountain of the Pride Center of Vermont said to WPTZ.

Rapid decline: Initially, Amos's (left) recovery prospects seemed favorable. His condition deteriorated over the week until police announced on Sunday he had succumbed to his injuries

'We would love to be able to reach out, to find support in any way we can, and that is going to be part of the planning this evening, is to find out ways the community can support this individual.'

Police were called to the encampment in the area of the Barge Canal on Pine Street May 25, and found Beed lying on the ground.

An autopsy will be performed to determine Beede's cause of death.

The investigation is ongoing and Information about suspects, witnesses and evidence will be released at a later time, authorities said.
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This is the moment two snakes become tangled up in a vicious fight - as they battled over a third serpent they were both trying to eat.

The venomous Banded Kraits went at each other as they fell on the same prey in a patch of open land in the city of Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, India.

Pictures show them wrestling over the dead snake and tangling up in a ball as they battled for supremacy, before one of them emerges victorious.

The winner then drags its feast off into the undergrowth and images show the snake swallowing its food whole.

Banded Krait snakes are found on the Indian Subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. It is one of the largest kraits, with a maximum length up to 2.1metres.

Pictures captured the moment two snakes become tangled up in a vicious fight - as they battled over a third serpent they were both trying to eat

The venomous Banded Kraits went at each other as they fell on the same prey in a patch of open land in the city of Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, India

Pictures show them wrestling over the dead snake and tangling up in a ball as they battled for supremacy, before one of them emerges victorious

Banded Krait snakes are found on the Indian Subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. It is one of the largest kraits, with a maximum length up to 2.1metres

Tug of war: Venomous Banded Krait snakes can be seen fighting among themselves on May 29, 2016 in Jalpaiguri, India

Don't let go: The two snakes each tried to drag the dead serpent away as they looked to secure dinner in Jalpaiguri, India

The battle, involving two Banded Krait snakes, took place in an area of open land in the city of Jalpaiguri in India's West Bengal

One of the yellow and black snakes was clearly bigger than the other and gradually started to win the battle for the dead prey

Getting stuck in: Even when the dead snake was lifted up the two Banded Kraits refused to relinquish their grip on what was a potential meal

Banded Kraits are just two of the 39 different snake species that can be found in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal in India

The battle attracted plenty of interest and an inquisitive dog came over to watch as the winning snake dragged away its prey

Dinner time: The winner then drags its feast off into the undergrowth and images show the snake swallowing its food whole

Down in one: After securing its prize, the larger of the two snakes can be seen gulping down the dead serpent

The snake opened its jaws wide so it could swallow the prey. The scene unfolded in a clearing in Jalpaiguri, India

Feast: The snake eventual decided to slither off, taking its prey with it so that it could enjoy its dinner in private
Unwell: Prince Philip, pictured at his last public appearance on Thursday, will not travel to Scotland on medical advice

The Duke of Edinburgh will not attend commemorations marking the Battle of Jutland in Orkney following medical advice.

Prince Philip, 94, is understood to have no plans to cancel any other forthcoming engagements, and has not attended hospital.

Buckingham Palace has refused to say what the ailment is.

The Queen's husband is a proud Royal Navy man and will be very disappointed not to be able to make it to Scotland.

He was last seen in public last Thursday during the ceremony of Beating Retreat performed by the Massed Bands of the Royal Marines at Horse Guards Parade.

A statement from a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'Following doctor's advice, the Duke of Edinburgh has reluctantly decided not to attend the commemorations marking the Battle of Jutland tomorrow in Kirkwall and Hoy.

'The Princess Royal, who was already attending the events, will represent the Royal Family.'

The 500-mile journey from London to Orkney would have taken Philip around an hour and a half by plane, as well as extra travel to and from the airports

Descendants of those who fought at Jutland have been invited to join the commemorations, which include a service at St Magnus Cathedral on Kirkwall on Tuesday.

The 94-year-old Duke has continued to carry out a full schedule of Royal engagements alongside his 90-year-old wife, despite his advanced age.

However, this is not the first time that ill health has forced him to pull out of events - from 2011 to 2013 he was hospitalised four time for a variety of ailments.

Around Christmas 2011, Philip suffered chest pains and was admitted to Papworth Hospital - near the Royal Family's Sandringham estate - for emergency treatment.

The Duke had a coronary stent fitted to improve his blood flow after doctors discovered he had a blocked artery.

Illness: The Duke of Edinburgh leaving hospital in August 2012, when he had suffered a bladder infection

Princess Anne joined Nicola Sturgeon and naval leaders on Saturday to lay wreaths to mark the centenary of the largest naval battle of the First World War. She is still in Scotland

The next year, he suffered a serious bladder infection which was thought to be connected to the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, when he and the Queen had to stand on the Royal barge in the rain for hours.

Philip's bladder condition recurred later in 2012 and he spent six days at the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary recuperating with bed rest.

His most recent serious health scare came in June 2013, when he had abdominal surgery at a London hospital under general anaesthetic.

Previous periods of illness have prompted speculation that the Duke would have to scale back his workload, but he continues to accompany the Queen to most major events.

The Battle of Jutland was the largest sea battle in naval warfare history and changed the course of WW1

Badly burned survivors of the clash at Jutland - the battle on 31 May 1916 saw 6,094 British and 2,551 German personnel lose their lives

After the Kirkwall ceremony tomorrow, events will continue with a service at Lyness Cemetery on the island of Hoy - the final resting place for more than 450 service personnel who died in the war, including sailors killed at Jutland.

The cemetery stands close to Scapa Flow, from where the British Grand Fleet set out for the Jutland Bank to repel German forces attempting to break a British blockade.

Almost 250 ships took part, creating a scale of battle that has not been seen since.

Both nations claimed victory - Germany because of the 6,094 British losses compared to the 2,551 men it sacrificed, but Britain had seriously weakened the enemy's naval capability.

There will also be a remembrance service at sea where British and German naval representatives will scatter poppies and forget-me-nots - the German flower of remembrance - into the North Sea at Jutland Bank.

The Princess Royal will be accompanied by Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence as vice-chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Police said patrols have doubled and robberies have reduced since 2013

Two other incidents were filmed at stations in Lidcombe and Bankstown

She chased the men but fell down the escalators and was stepped over

Brazen thieves have been caught on CCTV cameras snatching belongings from unsuspecting commuters at train stations across Sydney.

One gang of men were filmed pursuing a drunk woman at Central Station, in Sydney's CBD, before assaulting her, snatching her mobile phone and fleeing down the escalators, Nine News reported.

The woman chased the group of men but ended up falling as she went down the escalators and lay injured on the steps as her attackers walked over her and escaped.

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One gang of men were filmed pursuing a drunk woman at Central Station, in Sydney's CBD, before assaulting her and snatching her mobile phone

The woman chased the group of men but ended up falling (left) as she went down the escalators and lay injured on the steps as her attackers walked over her (right) and escaped

The young woman was seen crying on a bench following the incident at Central Station in Sydney

Another man was pictured standing at Bankstown Station, in Sydney's west, before a group of unknown assailants - some wearing high-vis shirts - knocked his mobile out of his hand and cornered him.

The man was punched in the face before his attackers casually made off with his property.

CCTV footage, obtained by Nine News, also shows another victim giving chase after having his mobile phone snatched before getting in a physical altercation with the thief outside Lidcombe Station.

The victim (left with yellow bag) watched on as a group of men knocked his mobile out of his hand

The man was punched in the face before his attackers casually made off with his property

The images paint a distressing picture of how safe commuters are on Sydney trains, however data has shown the number of robberies on trains have dropped 30 per cent since 2013, Nine News reported.

Superintendent Jason Joyce from the NSW Police Transport Command said the number of officers patrolling public transport across the city has near doubled, with almost 600 officers keeping watch on Sydney trains.

'If you're committing those sort of crimes, then you're going to get caught,' he told Nine News.

CCTV footage also shows another victim giving chase after having his mobile phone snatched at Lidcombe
AEU says policy restricting teaching places for higher ATAR students should be

Australian students who receive an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) under 50 are now reportedly three times more likely to be admitted to university than they were four years ago.

The analysis of university entry standards has revealed that teaching, information technology and commerce degrees are admitting the most students with low ATARs, reported the Sydney Morning Herald.

The analysis of entry standards is part of a report by the Department of Education released on Friday.

Students who receive an ATAR under 50 are now three times more likely to be able to secure a place at university in Australia, than they were four years ago

More than 1,500 future healthcare workers have reportedly started degrees this year with ATARs below 50.

The number of students who are entering primary and secondary education degrees has almost doubled from 7.3 per cent in 2013 to 13.3 per cent in 2016.

In an article by the Grattan Institute, an independent think tank that helps develop public policy, it said according to a government report, four or more students out of 10 who score 60 or less in their ATAR don't complete their degrees.

This is reportedly contributing to more than $1.6 billion in unpaid HECS debts last year, meaning the government has to consider alternative options to bring the debt under control.

The Australian Education Union president Correna Haythorpe told the Sydney Morning Herald that teaching courses should be about turning high-achieving students into high-performing teachers.

She said it shouldn't be about 'helping students who struggled at school learn the basics before the enter the classroom'.

An analysis of university entry standards has revealed teaching, information technology and commerce degrees are admitting the most students with low ATARs

Principal researcher at the Australian Council for Educational Research, Lawrence Ingvarson, said in the past 10 years, it had reached a point where almost everyone who applied for university found a place in a teacher education program.

Dr Ingvarson has suggested teaching degrees should be turned into a strictly post-graduate qualification in a bid to counteract the number of underqualified teachers.

In the past, NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli has accused universities of using students as 'cash cows.'

Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham (front) said while he had asked for university admissions processes to be examined, the universities themselves were responsible for students they choose to enrol

Last year he implemented a policy restricting teaching places to students who had scored higher than 80 in three subjects in their HSC.

The AEU is calling for this policy to be implemented nationally.

On Monday, Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the government was 'rightly concerned' about trends in the sector.

'While I've asked the Higher Education Standards Panel to examine university admission processes, at the end of the day universities must take responsibility for the students they choose to enrol and support them to succeed.'
The 3,400 children ran among the graves during commemorations, as part of a stunt by German filmmaker

, died on the battlefield at Verdun in 1916

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Images of thousands of laughing children jogging through one of the most sacred Great War battlefields in the world have caused outrage.

They were taken on Sunday during commemorations at Verdun - scene of one of the bloodiest battles in military history.

The Battle of Verdun between German and French troops lasted over 300 days, and saw the deaths of more than 300,000 soldiers on both sides in 1916.

Outrage: Thousands of children and teenagers took part in the stunt at the French National cemetery outside the Douaumont Ossuary during a remembrance ceremony to mark the centenary of the battle of Verdun

The stunt took place on during commemorations at Verdun - scene of one of the bloodiest battles in military history, where some 330,000 soldiers lost their lives most of them French and German troops, in 1916

Some 3,400 children ran among the graves of soldiers who died in the battle of Verdun as part of a stunt choreographed by German filmmaker Volker Schlondorff, who argued that he was 'trying to depict the chaos of the battle'

But on Sunday, as French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid tribute to the fallen, many said the 'commemorative run' was in poor taste.

It saw some 3,400 children from France and Germany ran among the graves at Douaumont, a village that was completely destroyed during the Battle of Verdun.

The stunt was choreographed by German filmmaker Volker Schlondorff, who insisted he was trying to depict the chaos of the battle.

But National Front MP Marion Marechal-Le Pen said it 'violated the honour of our ancestors' and displayed 'immense contempt' for the unknown soldiers in the area.

Show of respect: French President Francois Holland and German Chancellor Angela Merkel pay their respects at a German cemetery in Consenvoye, northeastern France on Sunday

Criticised: Many said the 'commemorative run' on Sunday was in poor taste and disrespectful to the fallen soldiers

Hitting out: French politicians in particular slammed the event, with National Front MP Marion Marechal-Le Pen said it 'violated the honour of our ancestors'

Ms Marechal-Le Pen, granddaughter of National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, was joined by politicians from both Left and Right who complained about the 'bad taste' and 'lack of respect for the heroes of Verdun'.

Thousands of British people, including members of the Royal Family, will arrive in France in July to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme.

The Somme campaign was launched to take pressure off the besieged French at Verdun, as they were pulverised by German attacks supported by murderous cannon fire.

The Somme military battlefields are, like those all over France, viewed as sacred ground, and usually treated with honour and respect by all visitors.

The run took place as the 100th anniversary of the horrific World War I battle was held
A Rome university student was burned alive by her ex-boyfriend after he refused to 'accept' that she had dumped him.

Sara Di Pietrantonio, 22, died before dawn on Sunday after Vincenzo Paduano, 27, set her car on fire, in a slaying one investigator called the most atrocious crime he has seen in his career.

Prosecutors said Paduano chased her after she ran out of the vehicle in Magliana area of Rome, setting her ablaze when he caught up with her.

Slain: Student Sara Di Pietrantonio (left), 22, died after her ex boyfriend Vincenzo Paduano, 27, (right, the pair together) set her car on fire in the Magliana area of Rome

Pictured, the burned car belonging to slain 22-year-old student Sara Di Pietrantonio along a street on the outskirts of Rome

The attacker used a cigarette lighter to set Miss Di Pietrantonio's face on fire after he had doused her with alcohol.

'I can say that in 25 years in this work I have never seen something so atrocious,' said Luigi Silipo, the lead police official in the investigation.

Paduano is currently being held on suspicion of premeditated murder. He first denied killing his ex, but after eight hours of interrogation confessed to the crime.

Prosecutor Maria Monteleone said Paduano 'didn't accept being abandoned' by the woman,

She added: 'He organized, he planned the aggression.'

Silipo said the suspect walked off his job as a security guard about 3am and waited outside the home of Di Pietrantonio's current boyfriend.

Then, after the woman left the home and drove off by herself, Paduano drove off, eventually forcing her car to the side of the road.

'He got into her car, and after an argument, doused the car (interior) with a small bottle of alcohol, and doused Sara, too,' Silipo said.

Pictured, detectives inspect the site where the body of Miss Di Pietrantonio was found in the outskirts of Rome

Anger: Prosecutors say that Paduano attacked Miss Di Pietrantonio (pictured) after refusing to 'accept' she had ended their relationship

'She ran out, he torched the car, caught up with her, and after about 100 meters' set her ablaze, leaving her to die 'in an atrocious manner,' the police official said.

A surveillance camera in the area captured some of the events, including at least two cars that passed by while the woman screamed in vain for help as she tried to flee, authorities said.

Monteleone made what she said was a fervent appeal to citizens to help such women, 'not to look the other way.' She added that if passers-by had helped, the woman's life might have been saved.

She also encouraged women 'not to keep hidden any threatening behavior by those who insist they love you, but it's not that way.'

Calls for help: Police say that drivers failed to stop to assist Miss Di Pietrantonio despite her shouting out to them that she was in danger

Italian women's advocates have been trying to change mentalities in a country where men often turn violent when a women breaks off a relationship.

One such champion for women to be more assertive in protecting themselves is an Italian lawyer whose face was mutilated in an acid attack ordered by her ex-boyfriend. She courageously testified at the ex-boyfriend's trial.

Sounding a call Monday to Italian woman to denounce threats by men to police was Chamber of Deputies President Laura Boldrini.
Voters are being sent EU referendum postal ballots with a guide that seems to suggest they should be supporting Remain.

Bristol City Council has issued a 'how to vote by post' form alongside postal slips for the crucial poll on June 23.

The step-by-step guide includes routine advice such as to 'read the instructions carefully, then complete the ballot paper'.

But it also features an image of a hand hovering above the box stating 'remain a member of the European Union', and apparently about to tick it.

The guide sent out by Bristol City Council

Henry Michallat, an 18-year-old student who received the form from Bristol City Council, said he was 'appalled' by the guide.

'I am appalled by it. It should be neutral. When you see that bit of paper if you are not used to it or you are a first time voter that might imply 'you should vote Remain' and put the cross in the box.

'When I first saw these instructions I was disgusted. The Electoral Commission should never have allowed this to be sent.

'This is meant to be a democratic referendum and in my opinion these instructions contradict this.'

Senior Tory MP Bernard Jenkin, who chairs the Public Administration Committee, told MailOnline that any potential 'subliminal messages' should be investigated.

'If people think that a neutral authority is sending out some kind of subliminal message it should be reported. That should be investigated,' he said.

Bristol City Council confirmed that it had produced the form and initially insisted there was no problem with the image.

'I can confirmed this form was produced on behalf of Bristol City Council,' a spokeswoman said.

'This form is designed to explain the logistics of voting by post and not to suggest how someone should vote.

'The placement of a pen graphic is incidental. No cross (X) is shown and so it could not in our view be construed as indicating how to vote.'

However, a statement issued later said the image would be changed for future forms.

'This form is designed to explain the logistics of voting by post and not to suggest how someone should vote,' it said.

'The placement of the pen graphic was entirely incidental and we do not believe that anybody could reasonably be influenced by such a graphic.

'However given current sensitivities, for all future postal vote dispatches, the form and graphic will be amended.'

John Turner, chief executive of the Association of Electoral Administrators, told the Telegraph the forms could have gone out to tens of thousands of people if they were printed by a company which had contracts with other councils.

'Good practice would say that in any instructions to vote you do not put something which indicates you should vote in a particular way. Clearly this has not followed good practice,' Mr Turner said.

'Whether it is unsafe or not only a court can determine. My guess is that is one of the big companies that do postal votes and they act for a large number of authorities.

'This is not going to be restricted to Bristol if what I think is the case.'

David Cameron and Sadiq Khan joined forces to back a Remain vote today as the EU referendum battle gathers pace ahead of June 23

At a Stronger In event in Roehampton, south west London this morning, David Cameron and new London Mayor Sadiq Khan unveiled a 'guarantee card' featuring five pledges for if the country votes to keep ties with Brussels on June 23.

They include 'Full Access to the EU's single market' and 'Workers' rights protected'.

Mr Cameron held out an olive branch to Labour's Mr Khan, whom he had attacked during the mayoral campaign for having shared a platform with extremists.

'In one generation, someone who is a proud Muslim, a proud Brit and a proud Londoner can become mayor of the greatest city on earth  that says something about our country,' the premier said.

'Yes, there are still barriers to opportunity that we have to get rid of, there are still glass ceilings we have got to smash, there is still discrimination in our country that we have to fight.

'But I have always said, and I say it again today standing alongside our new mayor, that we can claim to be on track to be the best multi-faith, multi-ethnic, multi-opportunity democracy anywhere on earth.'

Mr Cameron said they would continue to disagree about many issues, but both believed that remaining in the EU was the 'best thing' for the country.
Some people will do almost anything to avoid the dentist, but the alternative chosen by a young boy seems even more terrifying.

Rick Rahim's son decided to have his tooth pulled out by a helicopter piloted by his dad at an airfield in Virginia.

The video shows Mr Rahim tie the string around his son's tooth, with the caption 'problem' flashing onto the screen as the brave boy prepares for the epic removal, seemingly unnerved by the experience.

Rick Rahim's son (pictured) has his tooth pulled out by a helicopter, which lifts off with string tied to the boy's tooth

The video shows the boy's wobbly tooth with the word problem, then 'solution' is splashed across the screen, followed by the 1,000 horsepower, twin engine helicopter flying past the camera (pictured)

It shows the helicopter land on the ground near where the boy will be standing for the unusual tooth removal

Mr Rahim (pictured) is inside the chopper, preparing to take it up in the air and pull out his son's tooth

Another man on the ground checks that the string - which is already attached to the helicopter - is securely fixed to the boy's tooth ahead of takeoff

The camera then follows the piece of string from the helicopter to the boy's mouth, then cuts to his father in the chopper giving the thumbs up (pictured)

Next, the word 'solution' is splashed across the screen, followed by the 1,000 horsepower, twin-engine helicopter flying past the camera.

The footage then follows the string from the helicopter to the boy's mouth, then cuts to his father inside the chopper giving the thumbs up.

Finally, the helicopter takes off from the ground and the string attached can be seen moving away from the boy, standing around 30ft away.

The line goes taught, then slack, and the man supervising the boy suddenly raises his hands in the hair and jumps up and down in celebration.

Meanwhile, the boy barely twitches as his tooth is pulled out by the huge machine.

The words 'mission accomplished' then flash onto the screen, and it cuts to the boy feeling the gap in his teeth.

Finally, the helicopter takes off from the ground and the line attached can be seen moving away from the boy, standing around 30ft away from the chopper

The words 'mission accomplished' then flash onto the screen, and it cuts to the young boy feeling the gap in his teeth after a successful mission

But despite how dangerous it may have looked, Mr Rahim, a veteran pilot, assured viewers that the stunt was perfectly safe

But despite how dangerous it may have looked, Mr Rahim, a veteran pilot, assured viewers that it was perfectly safe.

He said: 'Safety first. I'm the true helicopter dad, and that is the true helicopter son who lost a tooth today via a helicopter. Do everything safely in life and that's what we did today

'I flew the helicopter backwards away from the human beings and you'll notice we had plenty of room on the left and the right should there have been any sort of emergency.

'I want you to know that what we did today was perfectly fun, perfectly safe and I am a 13-year veteran of flying helicopters with over 1,000 hours.

'Whatever you do in life make sure your kids have much, much, much, more fun that you ever did as a kid. That's what it's all about.'
They were forced to use a mop, bicycle, tear gas and batons to disarm him

Polish police were forced to use a mop, a bicycle, teargas, and batons to disarm an enraged man after he stabbed an officer while high on drugs.

Footage showed more than 10 officers and paramedics trying to restrain the man as he swung his knife wildly, shouting that he wanted 'real policemen' to come and get him.

The man, who was badly injured after falling out of a window, was dragged by his foot while an officer hit him in the face with a mop during the arrest in Warsaw, Poland.

Polish police used a mop to disarm the man after he stabbed an officer while high on drugs

The arrest involved more than 10 officers and paramedics as the man swung his knife wildly, shouting that he wanted 'real policemen' to come and get him

Footage of the incident near Noakowskiego Street was filmed by a witness from a window.

Badly injured from the fall and needing medical attention, the man had threatened rescuers with a knife.

Police say he then stabbed an officer when two had approached to calm him down.

As the officer can be seen lying on the ground injured, the video shows other men trying to disarm the man.

Two men wearing orange high-vis jackets spray teargas at the man, who is lying on the ground and swinging his blade around madly.

Later, two plainclothes officers arrive at the scene. One points his gun at the man while the other rams a bicycle into his head, but it doesn't have any impact.

The man, who was badly injured after falling out of a window, was sprayed with tear gas but continued to swipe blindly at officers in a courtyard in Warsaw, Poland

Several officers pointed their gun at the man, while another officer tried to disarm him with a baton

An officer then drags the man by the leg into the middle of the courtyard as another man, dressed in black, squishes and flaps a wet mop in his face - to help, apparently.

At this point the second plainclothes police officer gets his gun out as well.

The blinded man can still be seen waving his blade around to stop anybody from approaching but as many as six officers now surround him, and one of them appears to start spraying him with tear gas again.

Two officers then proceed to use their batons but the enraged man expertly knocks one out of an officer's hand.

In the end, three officers eventually surround him and hit him repeatedly with their sticks.

Finally, the man is disarmed and arrested after a struggle which lasted several minutes.

The man had reportedly threatened arriving rescuers with a knife after he fell out of the window

The man was finally disarmed and arrested after a struggle which lasted several minutes

Police commissioner Yvonne Jurkiewicz confirmed that authorities are investigating the arrest to determine whether the intervention was appropriate.

Mrs Jurkiewicz said: 'The man was very aggressive, the first police officers who came to the scene had tried to talk to him, but unfortunately it did not bring any results.

'That's why the police were forced to use coercive measures. But the entire course of the intervention, of course, will be the subject of our investigation.

'They had to make a decision in a few seconds. They made the decision. And now it will be studied in detail. We need time to analyse it.'
A man has been arrested accused of cyber-stalking a state patrol officer who gave him a ticket for careless driving.

Joey Jason Holliman of Jackson County, Mississippi allegedly posted threatening messages on Facebook about Officer Michael Strickland shortly after being reprimanded for poor driving.

The Department of Marine Resources confirmed that Holliman was arrested on Thursday at his home in McHenry but was then released on a $2,500 bond.

Joey Jason Holliman, who was arrested for cyberstalking patrol officer Michael Strickland, who gave him a ticket for careless driving

Holliman first received his ticket on Wednesday when officer Strickland pulled him over in his car in Vancleave.

He was given the penalty for careless driving as well as driving a car without insurance.

But shortly after being given the ticket, he went on Facebook and ranted about officer Strickland, making derogatory comments.

DMR patrol chief Keith Davis told gulflive.com that his office had received numerous tips about the post.

A Jackson County judge then issued a warrant for Holliman's arrest and he was detained on Thursday.

Shortly after being given the ticket, Holliman went on Facebook, pictured, and ranted about officer Strickland, making derogatory comments

Mr Davis told the website: 'With the current climate of violence against law enforcement, this type of activity can not and will not be tolerated.

'Law enforcement across the Coast reached out to Marine Patrol regarding this post, and I am so thankful for the response and support from our local law enforcement community.'

Under Mississippi law, cyberstalkking is described as using electronic communication in any words or language to threaten bodily harm to that person or their child, sibling, spouse or dependent.
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These amazing pictures show how British and American aviation has progressed from its infancy 100 years ago into the modern fighter jets of today.

More than 20,000 people flocked to see the annual airshow at RAF Duxford's Imperial War Museum in Cambridgeshire over the bank holiday weekend.

And they were able to see iconic British Hurricane fighters alongside a display.

A Spitfire plane takes to the air at the annual airshow at RAF Duxford's Imperial War Museum in Cambridgeshire

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses 'Sally B' (pictured) was among the aircraft displayed at the bank holiday weekend event

People also dressed up in period costumes to show the development of American air power through both world wars

Across Saturday and Sunday, The American Air Show took place which showed the relationship between American and British aircraft - from the First World War to the present day.

People also dressed up in period costumes to talk about the development of American air power through the two world wars.

Esther Blaine, from the Imperial War Museum, said: 'It's been great, it's been a really good day today. The sun broke through the clouds as well this afternoon which was really nice.

'There were lots of families all having a great fun and we had three big screens across the site that accompanied the flying displays with lots of archive footage and interviews with veterans. I think people enjoyed that dimension as well.

'With different historical material in the flight displays, that sort of material on the big screens made it feel that much more real.'

Visitors enjoyed a flypast by the United States Air Force's Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, which provides core aerial refueling capability, and a Spitfire and Hurricane in The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

Also in the skies were a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker from the 100th Operations Support Squadron, RAF Mildenhall, two replica Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a biplanes and a replica Fokker DRI triplane - representing the war in the air during the First World War.

Esther Blaine, from the Imperial War Museum, said the two-day event had been 'great' and that there were lots of families having fun

Aircraft enthusiasts also got to explore the newly-transformed American Air Museum on the site, which contains the best collection of American aircraft on show outside North America

Aircrafts took to the air to recreate how the skies would look during different war periods, including America before Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

In addition to the dynamic displays, there was an Insitu-Boeing ScanEagle and a Bell-Boeing CV-22 Osprey on static display

Harvards (pictured) - which were key training aircraft for British and American pilots - flying in a tight formation

Taking place over the weekend, British and American aircraft could be seen at the special two-day show

Planes from all over came together at Duxford's Imperial War Museum to put on a unique show for thousands of spectators

The newly-transformed American Air Museum included the static display of an Insitu-Boeing ScanEagle

Crowds watched on as two warplanes, including a Hurricane (left), trundled down the runway at RAF Duxford's Imperial War Museum

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses 'Sally B' (pictured) symbolises Americas entry into the Second World War - post-Pearl Harbor

These colourful American planes, including a yellow Harvard plane (pictured), were also among the aircraft that took off

The American Air Show tells the story of American and British collaboration over 100 years, showing the impact of the American forces from the First World War to the present day

'We've had lots of public interest in it [the American Air Museum], we thought the story of the American Air Museum would be very exciting to make that into a live event,' added Esther.

Contemporary displays were given by the Patrouille de France while the Red Arrows and the Eurofighter Typhoon also took to the skies.

Aircraft enthusiasts also got to explore the newly-transformed American Air Museum on the site - which contains the best collection of American aircraft on show outside North America.

This included the static display of an Insitu-Boeing ScanEagle in the museum and a Bell-Boeing CV-22 Osprey on the airfield.

Other attractions including living history groups representing the United States Air Force in the Second World War and during the Vietnam era, while nostalgic music was performed by Miss Holiday Swing, The Bluebird Belles and Pete Wayre.

The Cambridge Lindyhoppers also performed 1940s-themed dances.

Esther Blaine, from the Imperial War Museum, added: 'We thought the story of the American Air Museum would be very exciting to make that into a live event'

Other attractions including living history groups representing the United States Air Force in the Second World War and nostalgic music performed by Miss Holiday Swing

These pictures show how British and American aviation has progressed from its infancy 100 years ago into the modern fighter jets of today

The Cambridge Lindyhoppers also entertained crowds on the day by performing 1940s-themed dances

Both young and old gathered at RAF Duxford's Imperial War Museum over the weekend

More than 20,000 people flocked to see the annual airshow at RAF Duxford's Imperial War Museum in Cambridgeshire

North American Havards (pictured) were a part of the flight named Forging an Alliance  America before Pearl Harbor

Contemporary displays were given by the Patrouille de France (pictured) - the French Air Force Aerobatic Display Team

Dornier Alpha Jets sped through the sky, leaving trails of red, white and blue as they zoomed past

Saturday's show started with a display from planes in Patrouille de France

Contemporary displays were given by the Patrouille de France (pictured) while the Red Arrows and the Eurofighter Typhoon also took to the skies
A man who disappeared 10 days ago after drinking with his friends is believed to be dead.

Sean Mitchell, 37, was last seen at a Murray Street beer cafe in Perth at about 5pm on May 20 and later that evening called to say he would be boarding another friend's yacht on Swan River.

A member of the public discovered a body in the water in the vicinity of Chidley Point Reserve in Mosman Park on Monday May 30 about 1.5 kilometres south of where Mr Mitchell boarded the boat.

Sean Mitchell (pictured), 37, was last seen at a Murray Street beer cafe in Perth at about 5pm on May 20 and later that evening called to say he would be boarding another friend's yacht on Swan River

A bag of Mr Mitchell's belonging were found by a diver at Blackall Reach May 22 which included personal items including the 37-year-old phone, reported The Western Australian.

A search party went out for the Samson resident on May 25 and the following day a yellow dingy believed to be used by Mr Mitchell was found on the beach at Chidley Point.

It is believed Mr Mitchell may have used the dingy to row to shore from the yacht.

Officers forensically examined the yacht and dingy but said the examination did not provide any further clues, reported ABC.

Western Australia Police initially suspended the land and air search on Monday, until they were alerted of the body by a member of the public.

Police spokesman Samuel Dinnison told Perth Now: 'It is believed the body is that of missing man Sean Mitchell, however at this time no formal identification has been completed.

'Mr Mitchell's family have been advised of this development.

'No suspicious circumstances have been identified.'

The 37-year-old's family have since been notified by police and a coroners report is being prepared.
This is the spine-tingling moment a plane gets hit by lightning at an airport in China.

Footage shows the airliner light up as it is struck at Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport during a wild storm on Monday.

The bolt of lightning makes the plane, which was parked at the airport, and the wheels flash a vivid purple.

The plane was struck by the bolt of lightning at Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport in China

The bolt of lightning makes the plane, which was parked at the airport, flash a vivid purple

The six-second clip appears to have been taken from CCTV footage.

Southern Airlines authorities told CCTVNEWS that the plane was hit as it was preparing for an overhaul at the airport. There were no passengers or crew members on the plane.

It comes as American Airlines passengers were left shaken after their plane was struck by lightning in March and forced to make an emergency landing.

The Embraer 175 sustained apparent scorch marks on its tail wing when it flew through stormy weather on a 90-minute flight from Raleigh-Durham airport in North Carolina to New York.

The plane was preparing for an overhaul at the airport amid heavy rain

There were no passengers or crew on the plane

Passengers described a terrifying scene as they witnessed a flash of light and heard what sounded like a massive explosion.

After the plane landed safely, passenger Diante Edwards told ABC 7: It was pretty terrifying, Im not going to lie.

Another passenger, Lou Luca, said the plane dipped and he felt like he was on a roller coaster, adding: I thought we got hit by a missile. Soiled my pants a little bit, it was bad.

In an interview with CBS New York, an unidentified passenger said: There was a flash of light right outside the first row window on the left hand side of the plane and then a tremendous bang. It just lit up blue inside the plane.

It comes as American Airlines passengers were left shaken after their plane to New York was struck by lightning in March and forced to make an emergency landing. Experts said an aircraft's metal body acts as a conductor, allowing the strike's electricity to pass through it (pictured)
A heartbreaking picture has been released showing a drowned baby in the arms of a charity worker during a week in which 700 migrants were killed crossing the Mediterranean.

The child's lifeless body was pulled from the sea on Friday off the south coast of Italy after the capsizing of a boat which had set off from Sabratha in Libya the night before.

German rescuers released the picture in a bid to persuade European authorities to ensure safe passage to migrants, after hundreds drowned in the Mediterranean in a matter of days.

The photograph shows the baby being cradled in the arms of a rescuer known only as Martin, who described how the 'sun shone into its bright, motionless eyes'.

Forty-five bodies arrived in the southern Italian port of Reggio Calabria on Sunday aboard an Italian navy ship, which picked up 135 survivors from the same incident.

A heartbreaking picture has been released showing a drowned baby in the arms of a charity worker during a week in which 700 migrants were killed crossing the Mediterranean

The humanitarian organisation Sea-Watch was operating a rescue boat in the sea between Libya and Italy when the picture was taken.

In an email, the rescuer, who gave his name as Martin but did not want his family name published, said he had spotted the baby in the water 'like a doll, arms outstretched'.

'I took hold of the forearm of the baby and pulled the light body protectively into my arms at once, as if it were still alive ... It held out its arms with tiny fingers into the air, the sun shone into its bright, friendly but motionless eyes.'

The rescuer, a father of three and by profession a music therapist, added: 'I began to sing to comfort myself and to give some kind of expression to this incomprehensible, heart-rending moment. Just six hours ago this child was alive.'

Like the photograph of the three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan lying lifeless on a Turkish beach last year, the image puts a human face on the more than 8,000 people who have died in the Mediterranean since the start of 2014.

Little is known about the child, who according to Sea-Watch was immediately handed over to the Italian navy.

Thousands of migrants have been rescued from stricken boats as they attempted to reach Europe from Libya

Migrants are pictured being rescued off the coast of Italy this morning. More than 700 migrants have died in the Mediterranean in a matter of days sea

Hundreds drowned between Wednesday and Friday when their boats all overturned off southern Italy, according to the UN refugee agency

Rescuers could not confirm whether the partially clothed infant was a boy or a girl and it is not known whether the child's mother or father are among the survivors.

Sea-Watch collected about 25 other bodies, including another child, according to testimony from the crew seen by Reuters. The Sea-Watch team said it unanimously decided to publish the photo.

'In the wake of the disastrous events it becomes obvious to the organizations on the ground that the calls by EU politicians to avoid further death at sea sum up to nothing more than lip service,' Sea-Watch said in a statement in English distributed along with the photograph.

'If we do not want to see such pictures we have to stop producing them,' Sea-Watch said, calling for Europe to allow migrants safe and legal passage as a way of shutting down people smuggling and further tragedies.

HOW THE DEATH OF THREE-YEAR-OLD AYLAN KURDI SHOCKED THE WORLD The heartbreaking picture of a drowned baby cradled in a rescuer's arms comes just months after the release of an image that shocked the world. In the grip of another migrant crisis, a photograph emerged in September of a boy's lifeless body, washed up on a Turkish beach. Images of three-year-old Aylan Kurdi's body being carried up the beach in the arms of a police officer sent shock waves around the world and sparked global debate about the plight of refugees. The youngster and four others - including his brother and mother - drowned last year when their boat capsized during the ill-fated journey from Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos. The image of theAylan's lifeless body lying face down on a Turkish beach galvanized world attention on the refugee crisis They were among the thousands of migrants to have perished since the start of 2014 trying to make the dangerous crossing to Europe. Earlier this year, a pair of Syrian people smugglers were cleared of negligence charges and were told they would serve just four years in prison for the death of Aylan. A court acquitted the two men of the charge of causing the deaths through deliberate negligence. The pair will serve just four years and two months in prison each after being found guilty of human trafficking. The defendants, Syrian nationals Muwafaka Alabash and Asem Alfrhad, had denied any responsibility in the migrants' deaths. Instead, they blamed Aylan's father, Abdullah Kurdi, for the deaths - accusing him of organizing the trip. Prosecutors had sought maximum 35 years in prison for each. Aylan's father Abdullah Kurdi has since returned to Syria. Advertisement

At least 700 migrants may have died at sea this past week in the busiest week of migrant crossings from Libya towards Italy this year, the UN Refugee agency said on Sunday.

The boat carrying the baby left the shores of Libya near Sabratha late on Thursday, and then began to take on water, according to accounts by survivors collected by Save the Children on Sunday. Hundreds were on board when it capsized, the surivors said.

It comes after it emerged that a woman migrant was decapitated in a horrific accident as a boat carrying 500 people started to sink in the Mediterranean.

The vessel, which had no engine, was being towed by another smuggling boat - also with hundreds on board - when it started to take on water off the south coast of Italy on Thursday.

More than 700 migrants have been killed in shipwreck disasters in under a week. A boat is seen capsizing on Wednesday

Hundreds drowned between Wednesday and Friday when their boats all overturned off southern Italy, according to the UN refugee agency

Survivors of the disaster, which claimed more than 500 lives, have told of horrific scenes as refugees started to panic and jump into the sea.

Others told how the Sudanese captain of the first boat then cut the tow rope which snapped back and decapitated a woman - though it is not clear which of the two boats she was on.

The second boat quickly sank, taking those packed tightly into the hold down with it.

Hundreds drowned between Wednesday and Friday when their boats all overturned off southern Italy, according to the UN refugee agency.

Describing Thursday's shipwreck, Carlotta Sami, the spokeswoman for the UN's refugee agency UNHRC, said: 'We'll never know the exact number, we'll never know their identity, but survivors tell that over 500 human beings died.'

Giovanna Di Benedetto, Save the Children's spokesperson in Sicily, told AFP it was impossible to verify the numbers involved but survivors of Thursday's wreck spoke of around 1,100 people setting out from Libya on Wednesday in two fishing boats and a dinghy.

'The first boat, carrying some 500 people, was reportedly towing the second, which was carrying another 500. But the second boat began to sink. Some people tried to swim to the first boat, others held onto the rope linking the vessels,' she said.

The Sudanese captain was arrested on his arrival in Pozzallo along with three other suspected people traffickers, Italian media reports said.

A woman is helped by medical staff abroad the Italian Navy vessel Vega at the Reggio Calabria harbour, southern Italy today

The Italian Navy ship 'Vega' arrives with more than 600 migrants and refugees this afternoon

'We tried everything to stop the water, to bail it out of the boat,' a Nigerian girl told cultural mediators, according to La Stampa daily.

'We used our hands, plastic glasses. For two hours we fought against the water but it was useless. It began to flood the boat, and those below deck had no chance. Women, men, children, many children, were trapped, and drowned,' she said.

One survivor from Eritrea, 21-year-old Filmon Selomon, told The Associated Press that water started seeping into the second boat after three hours of navigation, and that the migrants tried vainly to get the water out of the sinking boat.

'It was very hard because the water was coming from everywhere. We tried for six hours after which we said it was not possible anymore,' he said through an interpreter.

He jumped into the water and swam to the other boat before the tow line on the navigable boat was cut to prevent it from sinking when the other went down.

A 17-year-old Eritrean, Mohammed Ali Imam, who arrived five days ago in another rescue, said one of the survivors told him that the second boat started taking on water when the first boat ran out of fuel.

In 2014 and 2015, more than 320,000 boat migrants arrived on Italian shores, and an estimated 7,000 died in the Mediterranean as they sought to reach Europe, according to the International Organization for Migration.

Before today's estimate that 700 may have died this week, the IOM previously believed about 1,200 had died so far this year. Last year 4,000 migrants died in the Mediterranean.

Rescuers help a woman to safety. Some 70 dinghies and 10 boats had set off over the past week - over 15 a day

A bout of good weather as summer arrives has kicked off a fresh stream of boats attempting to make the perilous crossing from Libya to Italy

Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Saturday that Europe needed 'a quick agreement with Libya and African countries' to halt the crisis

Those who survived told mediators the dead included 'around 40 children, including many newborns', La Repubblica daily said.

'I saw my mother and 11-year old sister die,' Kidane from Eritrea, 13, told the aid organisations. 'There were bodies everywhere'.

Just 25 people survived the Thursday's disaster - 79 others were rescued by patrol boats and 15 bodies were recovered.

Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for UNHCR, added that an estimated 100 people are still missing from a smugglers' boat that was lost on Wednesday.

Sami said 45 more bodies were recovered from a shipwreck Friday and many more are reported missing.

A bout of good weather as summer arrives has kicked off a fresh stream of boats attempting to make the perilous crossing from Libya to Italy.

Italian news agency Ansa said some 70 dinghies and 10 boats had set off over the past week - more than 15 a day.

Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Saturday that Europe needed 'a quick agreement with Libya and African countries' to halt the crisis.

The chaos in the North African country since Muammar Gaddafi's fall in 2011 has been exploited by people traffickers.

Migrants are seen on a partially submerged boat before being rescued in the Southern Central Mediterranean off the coast of Libya

Italian navy and coastguard officials have attended a series of shipwrecks in the last week as people make increasingly desperate attempts to cross the Mediterranean

Migrants interviewed by La Repubblica in Sicily told the daily a new 'head trafficker' called Osama had taken control of departures from Libya's beaches and was offering 'cut-price' deals of 400 euros for the boat journey to lure in new customers.

'I was held captive for six months in a basement of an abandoned building in Sabratha. I saw many people executed, those who tried to escape were killed by the guards, who were all Libyans,' a Nigerian migrant told the newspaper.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz said in an interview with the Italian daily on Sunday that Italy's 'migration compact' idea was 'the best proposal so far' for stopping the boat crossings and preventing deaths.

Italy wants 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.

Germany has made it clear, however, that it is against one of the elements of Italy's plan: the issuing of EU-Africa bonds to finance it.

It comes after it emerged that 668 migrants were saved from boats in distress in the Mediterranean off Libya on Saturday.

Hundreds of migrants have been killed in a matter of days after the smuggling boats they were on capsized

Under a European Union deal, tens of thousands of those rescued at sea and seeking asylum were supposed to be relocated to other EU nations from Italy and Greece, whose shores have received most of the migrants in recent years

The rescues are the latest by a multi-national patrol south of Sicily that has saved thousands this week

They were rescued by Italian coast guard and navy ships, aided by Irish and German vessels and humanitarian organisations, Italian and Irish officials said.

The rescues are the latest by a multi-national patrol south of Sicily that has saved thousands this week.

The Irish military said the vessel Le Roisin, deployed earlier this month in the humanitarian search and rescue mission, saved 123 migrants from a 12-metre-long dinghy and recovered a male body.

A German ship, part of the EU Navfor Med deployment on patrol for migrant smugglers' boats, was also involved in what was a total of four separate rescue operations, the Italian coast guard said.

Meanwhile, with migrant shelters filling up in Sicily, the Italian navy vessel Vega headed toward Reggio Calabria, a southern Italian mainland port, taking 135 survivors, along with 45 bodies, from a rescue a day earlier. The Vega was due to dock on Sunday.

Under a European Union deal, tens of thousands of those rescued at sea and seeking asylum were supposed to be relocated to other EU nations from Italy and Greece, whose shores have received most of the migrants in recent years.

Treatment: A migrant lies on a stretcher as he is disembarked from Italian navy ship 'Bettica' in the Sicilian harbour of Porto Empedocle, Italy on Thursday

More than 650 migrants were saved from boats in distress in the Mediterranean off Libya on Saturday. A woman is pictured carrying a baby after being rescued on Thursday

But with resentment building in some European countries about taking in migrants, the plan never really took off, and only a small percentage have actually been moved.

At the Vatican on Saturday, Pope Francis told several hundred children, among them many migrants, who came from the Italian south to see him, that migrants 'aren't a danger but they are in danger'.

The pontiff held a red life vest, given to him recently by a volunteer, and told the children it was the vest used by a Syrian girl who died while trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos. 'She's in heaven, she's watching us,' Francis told his young audience.

Among those in the audience was a Nigerian youth, who lost his parents in 2014 as the family tried to reach Italy by sea.
is stable but doctors fear that he may lose his left eye

A driver has turned himself into police after a sheriff's deputy was shot in the face during a routine traffic stop in Atlanta.

Joe Lee Garrett was arrested in Alabama just hours after deputy Jamie White was blasted in the face on Saturday evening, with doctors fearing he may lose his left eye.

Police said that Garrett turned himself in to the Phenix City Police investigator in Alabama and was transported to the Russell County Jail.

Joe Lee Garrett, who was arrested in Alabama just hours after deputy Jamie White was blasted in the face on Saturday evening, with doctors fearing he may lose his left eye

He is being charged with aggravated assault on a police officer, and is currently being held as a fugitive from justice in relation to the shooting.

Garrett will have a court hearing today and is expected to be transported back to Harris County.

He faces additional charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, obstruction, possession of a firearm during a felony, and fleeing and attempting to elude

There were two women in the vehicle Garrat was driving - one in the front passenger seat and the other back seat.

Police have also arrested Lytishia Horace in connection with the shooting. She is being held as fugitive from justice in the Russell County Jail.

Three people were inside the 1994 blue Chevrolet Caprice on I-85 southbound, about 80 miles south of downtown Atlanta, when they were stopped by the deputy

According to authorities, Garrett pulled out a gun and shot White above the left eye during the traffic stop

Horace will be extradited from Alabama to Georgia. Police are still searching for the other woman. The car was caught on the deputy's dash cam video.

The shooting happened when police said three people were inside a 1994 blue Chevrolet Caprice on I-85 southbound, about 80 miles south of downtown Atlanta, when they were stopped by the deputy.

White took Garrett's driver's license and spoke with Garrett and the front seat passenger for about seven minutes.

Police have also arrested Lytishia Horace, pictured, in connection with the shooting. She is being held as fugitive from justice in the Russell County Jail

Garrett then pulled out a gun and shot White above the left eye, Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley said.

Once White was shot, Garrett exited the vehicle, got his license and drove away.

Today, Sheriff Jolly said deputy White was doing 'much better' but his left eye is still on danger.
The UN-backed Syria peace talks are at risk yet again, after the opposition's chief negotiator resigned and accused the West of not being 'serious' about ending the five-year civil war.

Mohammed Alloush, chief negotiator for the Syrian opposition, said on Sunday he was resigning over the failure of the talks to bring peace or ease the plight of civilians in besieged areas.

His resignation was followed by a series of airstrikes in the northern province of Aleppo on Monday, with both the government and rebels blaming the shelling on the each other.

No peace: A man carries the body of a girl, dug out from the rubble, following a reported attack by Syrian government forces on the Sakhour eastern neighbourhood, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo

No responsibility: The girl, believed to be a daughter or a relative of the man, was killed in an airstrike for which both the rebels and the government blame each other

The Syrian opposition will meet in ten days' time to decide who to send to future peace talks, further stalling the already slow progress in the peace process that began earlier this year.

Mohammed Alloush said he took the step to resign because the international community is not 'serious' about reaching a solution for the country's five-year civil war.

Resigned: Mohammed Alloush, Syrian opposition's chief negotiator, accused West of not wanting peace

Salem al-Muslat, spokesman for the opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC), told Al Hadath television the next meeting would re-assess a number of issues, not only who will be on the negotiating team.

'This is all the result of frustration felt by Syrians about the poor performance by the international community,' Muslat told Al Hadath television.

'The next meeting will take decisions on many issues.'

Alloush is also the representative of the powerful Jaish al-Islam rebel faction, and remains a member of the HNC in that role.

Russia, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and is playing an intermediary role in peace talks, has in the past asked the U.N to brand Jaish al-Islam a terrorist group.

A source familiar with what happened at HNC meetings last week in Saudi Arabia said there were discussions about replacing Alloush and delegation head Asaad al-Zoubi, a Syrian army defector.

'The idea was that the chief negotiator and head of the delegation should be a specialist, someone with experience in diplomacy and international law,' the source said, denying there had been foreign pressure for their removal.

Attack: Syrian civil defence volunteers help a boy out of the rubble following a reported attack by Syrian government forces in the Tariq al-Bab neighbourhood in the northern city of Aleppo on Monday

People inspect a site hit by an airstrike in the rebel held area of Aleppo's al-Sukari district, Syria, with both rebels and government forces blaming the opposing side for the strikes

Syrian civil defence volunteers evacuate a body following a reported attack by Syrian government forces on the Sakhour eastern neighbourhood, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo

The Syrian opposition in April suspended its formal participation in peace talks in protest at Syrian army offensives they said meant a ceasefire was effectively over.

U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura has not set a date for the resumption of talks.

Meanwhile, opposition activists reported intense government airstrikes in Aleppo, an area under siege by both government and rebel forces, as well as ISIS.

However, Syrian state media claimed that Monday's airstrikes in the provincial capital of Aleppo were carried out by rebels.

More than 160,000 civilians have been trapped by the fighting between ISIS and Syrian rebels and the aid group Doctors Without Borders last week evacuated one of the few remaining hospitals from the Aleppo area.
Many prisoners just need a job, a flat and a girlfriend to help them to reform their ways, Ken Clarke has suggested

Many prisoners just need a job, a flat and a girlfriend to help them to reform their ways, Ken Clarke has suggested.

The former justice secretary said too many of Britain's jails were 'overcrowded slums', and called for improved rehabilitation work to get offenders on the right track.

Lambasting what he called a 'ludicrous amount of incarceration in this country', he demanded parole boards be given more power to free criminals kept in jail longer than their original term because they were deemed a danger to the public.

Mr Clarke said it was 'absurd' that thousands of such prisoners remain inside despite the scrapping of a discredited type of indeterminate sentence called 'Imprisonment for Public Protection'.

The senior Tory scrapped IPPs in 2012 when he was in charge at the Ministry of Justice, calling them a 'stain' on the justice system.

But many remain behind bars because of 'ridiculous' rules requiring them to prove they do not pose a danger to the public, Mr Clarke told BBC Radio 4's Today as he renewed calls for their release.

Mr Clarke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'It is quite absurd that there are people who might be there for the rest of their lives, in theory, who are serving a sentence which Parliament agreed to get rid of because it hadn't worked as anybody intended.

'The trouble is this ridiculous burden on the Parole Board of saying they can only release people if it's proved to them that they're not really a danger to the public.

'No prisoner can prove that  you never know when people are going to lose their control, what's going to happen to them when they're released.'

Calling for more effective rehabilitation, he said the best chance for prisoners not to reoffend  providing they had no mental health or drug issues  was for them to 'get a flat, a girlfriend and a job'.

Current Justice Secretary Michael Gove has ordered a review of the cases where criminals have served more than the original tariff imposed by the courts.

It was originally estimated that 900 serious violent and sexual offenders would be subject to them but that number swelled to 6,000, some for relatively minor offences.

About 4,000 are still behind bars, 400 of whom have served more than five times the minimum term, the BBC said.

Mr Gove said: 'There are a significant number of IPP prisoners who are still in jail after having served their full tariff who need to be given hope that they can contribute positively to society in the future.'

Calling for more effective rehabilitation, Mr Clarke said the best chance for prisoners not to reoffend  providing they had no mental health or drug issues  was for them to 'get a flat, a girlfriend and a job' (file photo of a prison cell)

Mr Clarke told Today that IPPs  introduced by Labour in 2003  were a symptom of a justice policy 'determined for fear of the tabloid newspapers'.

He went on: 'You have a few thousand people still in our prisons with no idea when they are going to get out and a parole board that dare not let them out for fear of public attack if one of them does something serious when they said they were satisfied that they were safe. You can't be satisfied.
A thick sludge made from food scraps and sewage to create methane gas could soon become a viable source of renewable energy.

The new technology, which depends on mixing pulped fruit and vegetable scraps with wastewater, will soon be trialed at an Australian plant.

A sewage treatment centre in Cronulla, in Sydney's south, already generates about 50 per cent of its own power, but the food sludge is set to give the current process a boost.

Sludge made from food waste will be used to help create power at Cronulla Wastewater Treatment Plant

It's thought more than 60 per cent of the energy needs at Cronulla Wastewater Treatment Plant in Sydney's south will be generated the technology.

The trial could lead to the renewable energy technology being used elsewhere in the state.

'The energy that we save here (the 60 per cent) would be equivalent to the energy that about 800 to 1000 homes would use every year,' Environment Minister Mark Speakman said at the launch of the three-year trial on Monday.

'If this works here ... we'll look at rolling it out elsewhere up and down the coast of NSW.'

Wastewater treatment is energy intensive and the NSW government says the trial is part of a push to help lower power bills.

Sydney Water energy manager Phil Woods says the plant may one day become a supplier of electricity.

'Further down the track ... (with) the potential to take on more waste we could be a net generator of electricity and be exporting to the local network,' he said.

The Cronulla plant already generates about 50 per cent of its own power, but the food sludge will give the current process a boost (stock image)

A Sydney business will supply the waste from grocers who use their food pulpers.

The NSW government says the trial will save 150,000 wheelie bins of fruit and vegetable scraps from going into landfill every year, as well as take trucks off the road.

It comes less than a week after a Climate Council report gave NSW the worst renewable grading out of the states.

Falling 'percentage of renewable electricity, low large-scale renewable capacity per person, no renewable energy target and low levels of rooftop solar', were listed as reasons for the poor rating.

But Mr Speakman said the report failed to consider the hydro electricity the state generates.

'When you do that ... NSW is faring better than Victoria and Queensland - the other two major states,' he said.

Solids left over from the food and sewage power process will be used to create agricultural fertilisers.
Only counter-terrorism experience he had was role playing with colleagues

told inquest he had no experience in hostage situations

The primary police negotiator during the Lindt cafe siege has told an inquest he has never before worked in a hostage situation.

He also revealed that he had no counter-terrorism experience, other than role playing with colleagues.

The senior sergeant, identified only as 'Peter', had undertaken four weeks of formal training as a negotiator in 2004 and two subsequent weeks in 2005 and 2006.

He also told the inquest into the 2014 siege that he is 'not real good with technology', after being asked about missing recordings of conversations between negotiators and hostages, made in the early hours of the deadly event.

Hostages are pictured running from the Lindt cafe during the siege in December 2014. The lead negotiator has revealed to an inquest he had no previous hostage situation or counter-terrorism experience

He then completed a counter-terrorism course in 2009, which included some training in relation to Islamic extremism.

'I don't think I've had any formal courses since 2009,' he told the inquest on Monday, adding however, that he had been involved in more than 100 negotiations since 2004.

Asked by counsel assisting the coroner Jason Downing whether he had been involved in any hostage events, he replied: 'I've been in role playing ... having hostages ... but I haven't done any real situations where there were hostages.'

The officer, who has been with NSW Police for more than 29 years, also said he had never received any specific training or advice about whether the prospects of achieving a safe resolution in a terrorism situation were different to a domestic siege.

Peter also told the inquest he didn't think gunman Man Haron Monis was capable of carrying through on his threats, despite allegations he had committed 40 sexual assaults.

He said while he thought Monis may have been capable of 'overt violence', the sexual assaults had been conducted in a 'passive environment'.

The senior seargant, who has been with NSW Police for more than 29 years, also said he hadn't received any specific training or advice about whether the prospects of achieving a safe resolution in a terrorism situation were different to a domestic siege

At the time Monis took control of the Martin Place cafe in December 2014, he had been facing more than 40 counts of sexual assault, as well as charges related to murder.

It had been alleged Monis committed the sexual assaults while acting as a spiritual healer.

'It was a passive sexual assault environment,' the negotiator said.

When asked about Monis's extensive criminal history, he said: 'It still wasn't enough for me to say whether this person was a violent man with a gun and a bomb (and whether he could) carry it through.'

He told the inquest he didn't think gunman Man Haron Monis (pictured) was capable of carrying through on his threats, despite allegations he had committed 40 sexual assaults

He also told the inquest into the 2014 siege that he is 'not real good with technology', after being asked about missing recordings of conversations between negotiators and hostages, made in the early hours of the deadly event.

The recordings, which have never been found, cover a period up until 1.16pm on the day of the siege, during which the negotiation team worked from a 4WD, before moving to a cramped office at the nearby NSW Leagues Club.

The officer said he had not used a dictaphone before the siege, and could not remember what it looked like or what type it was. He later handed two dictaphones to a colleague.

'I'll let you know, I'm not real good with technology,' he said.

Police ultimately stormed the cafe shortly after 2am on December 16, 2014 after Monis shot cafe manager Tori Johnson in the back of the head.

Hostages Katrina Dawson and Monis were killed when police stormed the cafe.

The inquest continues.
Two men have appeared in court charged with the murder of a 27-year-old man who was allegedly pushed over a bridge.

Mark Munro, 30, and James Robertson, 26, are said to have attacked Russell Robertson on Bainsford Bridge in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The pair allegedly seized Mr Robertson by the neck, threw him to the ground and pushed him over the bridge railings before prising his hands loose as he clung on to the railings.

Russell Robertson, 27, pictured, was found dead in Falkirk in the early hours of Sunday morning

Mark Munro, 30, and James Robertson, 26, are said to have attacked Russell Robertson on Bainsford Bridge (pictured) in Falkirk, Stirlingshire, in the early hours of Sunday morning

Munro and James Robertson were remanded in custody following hearings at Falkirk Sheriff Court.

The victim's family today paid tribute, saying: 'We are totally devastated at the loss of Russell. He was a much loved son, brother, nephew and uncle.'

The stretch where the alleged murder is said to have taken place is near the city's Warehouse nightclub, where hundreds of people were partying until the early hours of Sunday morning.

Russell Robertson's body was found at around 5am. Police said they are not searching for anyone else in connection with the death but have appealed for information.

Detective Inspector Alec Cameron of Police Scotland's Major Investigation Team said: 'Our sincere condolences are with Russell's family and friends at this sad time.

'I want to thank the local community for their support and reassure people that we'll use all resources at our disposal to ensure a thorough investigation into Russell's death.'

Friends and family took to social media to remember the former college student, who was known to friends as 'Smeegs'.

Tributes: Flowers were left at the bridge near where Russell Robertson's body was found

Megan Cherry said: 'RIP Smeegs. Can't believe we're never going to see you again, absolutely devastated. You didn't deserve this. Thinking of his whole family right now. Going to miss you x.'

Greg Todd put simply: 'Rip smeegs.' Leigh Craig wrote: 'Such a cruel world we're living in.'

A single charge against Munro and James Robertson, on petition, reads that while acting together, they 'assaulted Russell Robertson, seized him by the neck, placed their arms around his neck and restrained him, seized him by the body, threw him to the ground, pushed him over the bridge railings, and whilst he was hanging from said railings, punched him on the hands and prized his hands from said railings causing him to fall to his injury, and murdered him'.

Sheriff Derek Livingston continued the case for further examination and remanded Munro, of Denny, Stirlingshire, and Robertson, of Falkirk, in custody. Neither entered a plea.
Bernie Sanders again refused to hit Hillary Clinton hard on her email scandal, but did suggest that voters and delegates should take a 'hard look' at the State Department Office of Inspector General's report that was highly critical of Clinton's use of a homebrew server.

'The Inspector General just came out with a report, it was not a good report for Secretary Clinton,' Sander acknowledged during an interview on Face the Nation. 'That is something that the American people, Democrats and delegates are going to have to take a hard look at.'

Sanders, however said he planned to stick to business as usual in his stump speeches. 'But for me right now, I continue to focus on how we can rebuild a disappearing middle class, deal with poverty, guarantee health care to all of our people as a right.'

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On yesterday's Sunday shows, Bernie Sanders talked abut the State Department Office of Inspector General's report that was highly critical of his rival, Hillary Clinton

Over on Meet the Press, host Chuck Todd asked Sanders if he thought Clinton needed a 'clean bill of health from the FBI' before accepting the Democratic nomination.

'Well, I have said many, many times that I'm trying to run a campaign based on the needs of the American people,' Sanders said, ticking off a number of his signature policy positions.

'But so I have not gotten into the email situation at all,' he continued. 'There is a process unfolding. There's an investigation that is going on. It will play out and we'll see what happens.'

Sanders said it's up to the FBI when to release the report and that he could foresee it being a political problem.

'But do I think that whenever that happens, if it happens, that that will be an issue that Donald Trump and the Republicans will seize on?' the Vermont senator mused. 'I think there is little doubt about that.'

Echoing what he said on Face the Nation Sanders said 'people will have to draw their conclusions from the inspector general report.'

'But again, you know, I think the American people are tired of that type of politics,' Sanders added.

Moving into friendlier territory, Sanders also articulated the type of politician he'd like to see Clinton choose as vice president, while reminding Todd that he was still campaigning to win the Democratic nomination from his rival.

Bernie Sanders told Chuck Todd that he thought Republicans would use the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails against his Democratic rival in the general election

'So I would hope, if I am not the nominee, that the vice presidential candidate will not be from Wall Street, will be somebody who has a history of standing up and fighting for working families, taking on the drug companies whose greed is going to much harm, taking on Wall Street, taking on corporate America, and fight for a government that works for all of us, not just the 1 percent,' Sanders said.

In short, Sanders wished for Clinton to pick a vice president from his more progressive camp in the Democratic party, saying Friday in an interview with The Young Turks that picking a conservative or moderate would politically be a 'disaster.'

Todd pressed Sanders on one particular politician, Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine, asking the democratic socialist if the governor-turned-senator from a purple state was 'too conservative or moderate to be on the Democratic ticket.'

'Again, Chuck, I don't want to shock you, but I think we are once again into a little bit of speculation,' Sanders replied. 'I have known Tim Kaine for years, I like him very much,' the senator added.

'My point was, and let me repeat it, that for Democrats to win, they're going to have to address the needs of the working people, they're going to have to address the needs of the middle class,' he continued.

'And that means standing up to Wall Street, standing up to the greed of corporate America. Even now and then, standing up to the media. And that means having a candidate who can excite working families, excite young people, bring them into the political process, create a large voter turnout,' Sanders said.

Sanders, of course, didn't respond to questions about the vice presidency without saying that he's still in the race.

This week the senator snaked through Southern California holding rally after rally, fitting media appearances  like one on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' on Wednesday night and 'Real Time with Bill Maher'  in between.

On Meet the Press, Sanders articulated a three-step way that he could still win the Democratic nomination.

First, he told Todd, he wanted to overtake Clinton in the pledged delegate count.

Sanders has repeatedly pointed out that he's won 46 percent of the pledged delegates from his wins in states who have held primaries and caucuses thus far.

In order to get over the 50 percent mark, Sanders would need to win the remainder of the states by big numbers.

Next, he said he's approach the superdelegates who are supporting Clinton in states that he won.

Finally, he'd approach the superdelegates who committed to Clinton before he jumped in the race and argue that he beats presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump by bigger margins in a bevy of general election polls.

'We're going to make the case for the superdelegates, 'Your job is to make sure Trump is defeated, that Bernie Sanders, in fact, for a variety of reasons, not just polling, is the strongest candidate,'' Sanders argued.

Todd pointed out that the senator was 'basically contradicting' himself.

'You're saying you want them to respect the vote in their state, then at the same time, you say, 'But, uh, by the way, for those of you that are superdelegates in a state that Clinton won, why don't you think about the general election?' 'It's a little bit hypocritical to be on both sides of those issues,' Todd said.

Sanders pushed back.

'No, no, no, that's not what I'm saying,' he said. 'What I'm saying is, there are over 400 superdelegates who made a decision to vote for Secretary Clinton before anyone else was in the race. Before they got a sense of what the campaign was about.'
hristian Jacobs, 5, pictured wearing a replica Marines uniform next to grave of his father - Srgt. Christian James Jacobs who was killed in a training accident in 2011

Families also paid tributes to their loved ones including C

More than 500 Gulf War veterans also preparing to march

President laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier while he urged everyone to do 'acts of remembrance'

Also paid tribute to Marines Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin and Charles Keating IV both killed fighting for their country

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Barack Obama has used his final Memorial Day as Commander-in-Chief to pay tribute to the brave men and women who have died fighting for their country.

The President laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, in Virginia, on Monday to honor members of the military who have been killed fighting in America's wars.

He also made a moving speech to the gathered families and friends of the fallen soldiers while he urged his fellow Americans to join him in 'acts of remembrance' during the holiday.

War widow Ashley Wheeler, who was holding her ten-month-old son, was moved to tears by Obama's speech as he paid tribute to her husband Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler.

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Barack Obama has used his final Memorial Day as Commander-in-Chief to pay tribute to the brave men and women who have died fighting for their country

War widow Ashley Wheeler, who was holding her ten-month-old son, was moved to tears by Obama's speech as he paid tribute to her husband Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler

The President laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, in Virginia, on Monday to honor members of the military who have been killed fighting in America's wars

The wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is an annual tradition during the Memorial Day weekend

Obama stood with Maj. Gen. Bradley A. Becker, during the wreath laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia

President Barack Obama, center, arrives with Maj. Gen. Bradley A. Becker, right, for the wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, on Memorial Day

Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (2nd R) also joined in with Memorial Day events, as she took part in a parade with former U.S. President Bill Clinton (L) and New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo (R) in Chappaqua, New York

MSgt Wheeler, a highly decorated Delta Force operator who earned 11 Bronze Star Medals including four with Valor Devices, was killed in firefight with ISIS jihadis in October last year, while rescuing 70 hostages held by the terrorist group in an Iraqi prison.

President Obama said one of the hostages described Wheeler, who enlisted in the military aged 19, and his rescue team as a heaven-sent force. While he said the soldier was a loving father who would write notes to his children in the piles of books he read.

'As Americans we try to be better citizens because of the likes of Joshua Wheeler,' Obama told the crowd, as he urged everyone to help keep their stories alive.

'We are so proud of them, we are so grateful for their sacrifice.

'My god bless the fallen and their families, may he bless all of you and may he bless these United States of America.'

Little Christian Jacobs, 5, of Hertford, North Carolina, was pictured by his father's grave, Marines Srgt. Christian James Jacobs who was killed in a training accident in 2011 - when his son was just 8 months old

Dressed as a Marine, Christian looked solumn as he stood by his father's gravestone which is adorned with flowers, cards and an American flag

The youngster told reporters later year that his father 'is always watching over me and makes sure he's proud of me'

Brittany Jacobs embraces her son Christian as they visit the grave of his father U.S. Marine, Christopher Jacobs, on Memorial Day

U.S. Army soldier Matt Weber breaks down in tears and is comforted by Jenny Fleming as he visits the grave of Jason Arnette at Arlington National Cemetery

U.S. Army soldiers Rick Kolberg (L) and Jesus Gallegos embrace as they visit the graves of Raymond Jones and Peter Enos on Memorial Day

Two visitors take flowers to a grave on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington after President Obama's speech

A woman carries red roses as she walks among graves on Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington

Laureen Lopez Berry lies at the grave of her husband Army Staff Sgt. Richard Liam Berry, who died July 22, 2012, while serving during Operation Enduring Freedom in Zharay, Afghanistan

Aiden Schmidt, 6, of Leechburg, sits next to his fathers's grave on Memorial Day. Aiden's father Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan P. Schmidt, died Sept. 1, 2012, in Batur Village, Afghanistan, while serving during Operation Enduring Freedom

A member of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment 'The Old Guard' walked with visitors among the graves at Arlington National Cemetery

People embrace and comfort each other on Memorial Day in section 60 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia

Amy Space pushes a double stroller carrying her son Nicholas Jerry Space 4, as her daughter Natalie Space, 6, to visit the grave of her brother Sergeant Major Jerry Dwayne Patton, 40, who died on October 15, 2008, during High Altitude High Opening training

An honor guard stood along the route as US President Barack Obama arrived at the Memorial Day observance at Arlington National Cemetery

Vietnam war veterans joined thousands of other guests at the Memorial Day observance at Arlington National Cemetery

The Vietnam veterans listened to the president's speech as he praised the soldiers who have given their lives for their country

The President had also paid tribute to Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin, a 27-year-old field artilleryman who died in March this year after ISIS militants launched a rocket attack on a coalition base in Makhmur in northern Iraq. His fellow Marines said that Cardin had just made sure everyone was safely in the bunker when he was killed.

Obama saluted Staff Sgt Cardin, who signed up to the Marines just three days after graduating high school, and thanked him for his sacrifice, saying he had given 'his life protecting the Marines in his command.'

'Putting others before himself was what Louis did best,' he added.

He also thanked 31-year-old Charles Keating IV for his sacrifice. The Navy SEAL is the most recent American to die in a US conflict after he was killed in a firefight with ISIS fighters earlier this month.

'The Americans who rest here and their families represent the best of us,' Obama said. 'They ask of us today only one thing in return: that we remember them.'

In his remarks, Obama called for Americans to honor the families and the battle buddies they left behind.

'We have to do better,' he said. 'We have to be there not only when we need them, but when they need us.'

Obama said Keating joined the Navy SEALs because it was the hardest thing to do. He quoted a platoon friend of Keating who told his parents in a letter soon after their son's death 'please tell everyone Chuck saved a lot of lives today.'

Ahead of today's solemn ceremony, the President had released a video urging Americans to remember the ultimate sacrifice made by so many US troops.

'Remembering them - searing their stories and their contributions into our collective memory - that's an awesome responsibility. It's one that all of us share as citizens.'

The President made a moving speech to the gathered families and friends of the fallen soldiers while he urged his fellow Americans to join him in 'acts of remembrance' during the holiday

US President Barack Obama praised those who had given the ultimate sacrifice for their country and he told the crowd 'As Americans we try to be better citizens because of the likes of Joshua Wheeler' - one of the fallen soldiers

President Barack Obama, left, accompanied by Defense Secretary Ash Carter, right, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, center, spoke at the Memorial Amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery

Gen. Dunford and Barack Obama saluted a member of the audience ahead of the president's speech at Memorial Amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery

President Barack Obama speaks at the Memorial Amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, during a Memorial Day ceremony

President Barack Obama addressed a huge crowd at the Memorial Amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery during the Memorial Day ceremony

Sandra Titus of Dallas, Texas, waves her flag while listening to President Barack Obama's moving speech on Monday

People listen as US President Barack Obama speaks during an event to honor Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery

People listen as US President Barack Obama speaks during an event to honor Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery

President Barack Obama speaks in the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington during a Memorial Day ceremony

President Barack Obama speaks in the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington during a Memorial Day ceremony

US President Barack Obama (2R) and US Major General Bradley A. Becker (R), Commander of the Military District of Washington, listen to Taps after placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

A young child receives a small American flag before President Barack Obama speaks at the Memorial Amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery

Obama paid tribute to Master Sergeant Joshua L. Wheeler (pictured) 39, of Roland, Oklahoma, was killed in action Thursday in Kirkuk Province, Iraq

But he said it was also important to do more than only honor their memory, such as hiring a veteran 'who is ready and willing to serve at home just as they did abroad.'

'We have to be there for their families. The debt we owe our fallen heroes is one we can never truly repay,' he said. 'But our responsibility to remember is something we can live up to every day of the year.'

Obama's speech at Arlington National Cemetery today continues a long standing tradition for the president to honor fallen soldiers and their families on Memorial Day. Prior to his speech at the cemetery, he had held a breakfast reception at the White House for family members of fallen service members and veterans groups.

Back in the cemetery, families mourned the loss of loved ones who died fighting for their country.

Little Christian Jacobs, 5, of Hertford, North Carolina, was pictured by his father's grave, Marines Srgt. Christian James Jacobs who was killed in a training accident in 2011 - when his son was just 8 months old.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, was all smiles as she gave a double thumbs up during a Memorial Day parade Monday,in Chappaqua, New York

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, center with glasses, walks in a Memorial Day parade Monday, in Chappaqua, New York

Hillary Clinton was joined by her husband, and former president, Bill Clinton - wearing a fetching pair of blue sneakers - Governor Andrew Cuomo at the parade

The Democratic president front-runner, who wore a bright blue suit and low heels, marched in the annual New Castle Memorial Day Parade in Chappaqua, New York

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, center with blue glasses, walked in a Memorial Day parade Monday, in Chappaqua, New York

A cheerful Hillary Clinton marched in the annual New Castle Memorial Day Parade in Chappaqua, New York giving a eave to photographers and supporters as she passed

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, center, greets parade goers as she walks in a Memorial Day parade

Firefighters salute as the Memorial Day parade - which included the likes of Hillary Clinton, her husband former President Bill Clinton, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo - passed by

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her husband former President Bill Clinton later attended a Memorial Day ceremony

Former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan., center, arrives before President Barack Obama speaks at the Memorial Amphitheater of Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Va., Monday, May 30, 2016, during a Memorial Day ceremony

Dressed as a Marine, Christian looked solemn as he stood by his father's gravestone which is adorned with flowers, cards and an American flag.

He told reporters later year that his father 'is always watching over me and makes sure he's proud of me.'

Jacobs had enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2000, according to the Marine Times. During his time in the military, he received several awards including the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Iraqi Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.

As the President was paying tribute to members of the armed forces that had been lost, more than 500 Gulf War veterans were preparing to march in the American Veterans Center's National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C.

The parade marks the 25th anniversary of Operation Desert Storm and participants will follow part of the same route that service members returning from the Middle East marched 25 years ago.

Outside of the capital, towns and cities across America held their own parades and ceremonies to mark Memorial Day.

In New York, thousands of people came out to catch a view of the Clintons, who waved to their supporters as they marched in the annual New Castle Memorial Day Parade in Chappaqua.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary, who wore a bright blue suit, blue sunglasses and heels, was joined by her husband and former president Bill Clinton and New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Despite Obama's efforts to end the US's involvement in the Middle East, almost 10,000 US service members remain stationed in Afghanistan, while a further 4,000 troops are battling ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Memorials to veterans in a Los Angeles neighborhood and a town in Kentucky, as well as a Civil War veterans cemetery in Virginia, were damaged in the run up to Memorial Day.

U.S. President Barack Obama participates in wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in observance of Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, U.S.

U.S. President Barack Obama participates in wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in observance of Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, U.S.

U.S. President Barack Obama participates in wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in observance of Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, U.S.

U.S. President Barack Obama participates in wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in observance of Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, U.S.

U.S. President Barack Obama participates in wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in observance of Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, U.S.

A Vietnam War memorial in the Venice area of Los Angeles was extensively defaced by graffiti last week. KCAL/KCBS-TV reported. The homespun memorial painted on a block-long wall on Pacific Avenue lists the names of American service members missing in action or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.

News of the vandalism came as another veterans-related memorial was reported damaged in Henderson, Kentucky. Police say a Memorial Day cross display there that honors the names of 5,000 veterans of conflicts dating back to the Revolutionary War has been damaged by a driver who plowed through the crosses early Saturday.

Meanwhile, in Virginia, the Petersburg National Battlefield has apparently has been looted, the National Park Service said. Numerous excavations were found at the Civil War battlefield last week,

Jeffrey Olson said looters ripped up parts of the battlefield in an apparent search for relics from a siege that led to the end of the American Civil War in 1865. Looting of such sites is a federal crime carrying a penalty of up to two years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

'This kind of aberrant behavior is always disgusting but it is particularly egregious as Memorial Day weekend arrives, a time when we honor the memories of our friends and family,' said Lewis Rogers, superintendent of Petersburg National Battlefield, in the statement posted on Friday.

Retired Army Maj. Gary S. Conley gets help from his granddaughter Kailynne Conley, 4, straightening flags at the Dayton National Cemetery in Dayton, Ohio

Former U.S. Air Force pilot James Mitchell, of Winchester, Virginia, walks among American flags on his way to a Memorial Day service at Shenandoah Memorial Park in Virginia

Marjorie Vassie visits the grave of her brother Pelham Revell, a World War II veteran, after the Memorial Day observance at Kent Forest Lawn Cemetery in Panama City, Florida




Kate and Gerry McCann have lodged a new legal bid to silence the former detective who claims they covered up their daughter Madeleine's death.

Lawyers for the British couple have launched an appeal to the Supreme Court in Portugal in the latest saga in the seven-year court battle with former policeman Goncalo Amaral.

The 57-year-old last month overturned a ruling which ordered him to pay the McCanns 380,000 in libel damages for claims he made in his book The Truth Of The Lie.

Kate and Gerry McCann have lodged a new legal bid to silence the former detective who claims they covered up Madeleine's death

The 57-year-old last month overturned a ruling which ordered him to pay the McCanns 380,000 in libel damages for claims he made in his book The Truth Of The Lie

Madeleine vanished from her familys holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007, as her parents dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends

The couple's Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte told The Sun that the appeal was sent to the court last Monday.

A family source told the newspaper: 'We hope the appeal will be successful. If they lose there will be a big legal bill to pay which will come from the fund set up to find Madeleine.

'When Operation Grange ends Kate and Gerry will have to finance their own private investigation again. They will never give up searching for Madeleine and worry that the continuing legal action could wipe out money they has put aside for this.'

More than 50,000 was raised by Britons  including an apparent group of police  in support of the Portuguese detective.

A student from Birmingham launched a GoFundMe page to pay for the appeal by the retired officer, who was sacked as head of the investigation after he launched an outspoken attack on British police.

One of the biggest payments to the detectives appeal fund was 1,000 claimed to be from a very large group of unnamed Met police officers who said they were outraged at the way the officer had been treated.

More than 50,000 was raised by Britons  including an apparent group of police  in support of the Portuguese detective

The couple's Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte told The Sun that the appeal was sent to the court last Monday

A McCann family spokesperson Clarence Mitchell told The Sun: 'The case against Mr Amaral remains in the hands of Kate and Gerry's lawyers. We are not commenting on an on going court case'

Madeleines parents said the detective had sparked a massive tidal wave of lies against them in his book

Madeleine, who will now be 13, vanished from her familys holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3, 2007, as her parents dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

Amarals book, The Truth Of The Lie, was published three days after the Portuguese authorities formally closed the inquiry in 2008 and cleared the couple of any wrongdoing.

Madeleines parents said the detective had sparked a massive tidal wave of lies against them in his book.

In an online post thanking his supporters after he won his appeal, Amaral said he felt extremely humble. He added: None of this would have been possible without you.

In her book, entitled Madeleine, Mrs McCann said: Goncalo Amaral has been convicted of falsifying statements Why is this man being allowed a platform from which to peddle his absurd and offensive ideas?
The Greek coastguard has rescued 29 migrants attempting to get to Italy from the Greek island of Lefkada.

It is the first time migrants have been picked up trying to cross to Italy by boat since the Greek land border with Macedonia was closed in March.

The migrants, including two children aged four and five, were found adrift in the Ionian Sea on Sunday. Their dinghy had apparently been cut adrift by smugglers around 15 nautical miles from Lefkada.

Thousands of migrants streamed through the Greek border with Macedonia last year heading for Germany via the Balkans.

But border controls have been tightened leaving thousands stranded in Greece, leading to fears many may now risk attempting to get to Italy by sea.

It is the first time migrants have been picked up trying to cross to Italy by boat since the Greek land border with Macedonia was closed in March

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a rally in Istanbul on Sunday

The EUs border agency Frontex yesterday revealed how 13,800 migrants were rescued between North Africa and Italy last week.

Meanwhile Turkey yesterday warned that it will rip up a 4.7billion deal with Brussels to stop migrants crossing to the Greek islands unless the EU makes it easier for its citizens to visit Europe.

The row threatens to wreck the agreement and re-open the route just as the continent struggles to cope with a mass influx of people into Italy from North Africa.

Officials said yesterday that nearly 14,000 migrants had been rescued off the coast of Libya in just the past week.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, prior to their meeting at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul last week

HUMAN RIGHTS MONITOR BLASTS NEW GREEK MIGRANT CENTRES New migrant centres set up to house migrants transferred from the Greek border camp of Idomeni do not meet international standards, a human rights monitor said Monday. Tineke Strik of the Council of Europe gave her assessment after visiting three new reception and registration centres in the northern city of Thessaloniki. 'I am impressed by what the Greek authorities have done in such a short space of time to create new facilities for the people from Idomeni,' said Strik, migration official for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Strasbourg-based Council. 'However, this has been a missed opportunity to create decent facilities that meet international standards. In the places that I visited, there was no privacy, no fire safety, no light and no ventilation and people have no information on their situation or their prospects,' she added. Strik, a Dutch deputy, visited the new centres on former industrial sites on Sunday and remains in Greece with a delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly visiting several refugee camps in Athens and on the island of Lesbos on Monday and Tuesday. Up to 12,000 migrants found themselves blocked in the Idomeni camp, on the Greece-Macedonia border, after the migrant route north through the Balkans was closed down at the start of March. Many of those transferred to Thessaloniki 'are hoping to be reunited with family members already in other European countries,' said Strik. 'Their psychological well-being will depend on the rapid completion of the pre-registration process and the ability to exercise their right to apply for asylum,' she added.

Under the deal signed by EU leaders and Turkey in March, it was agreed that Europe would hand over billions to fund Turkish refugee camps and loosen travel rules for its 80million citizens if it took back all migrants arriving on the Greek islands.

But the agreement is on the verge of collapse because Turkey has failed to meet all 72 criteria set out by the EU for it to fulfil before its people are allowed to travel to continental Europe without needing visas.

The main sticking point is a requirement for Turkey to change its laws so academics and journalists can no longer prosecuted as terrorists.

Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu yesterday said it was impossible for the country to make the alterations and warned the EU again that it is ready to abandon the deal.
Top of the list: Luis Macedo is the FBI's most wanted

The FBI is offering rewards for information leading to the apprehension of the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives.

1. LUIS MACEDO

Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution - First Degree Murder

REWARD: The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of Luis Macedo.

Luis Macedo is wanted for his alleged involvement in the death of a 15-year-old boy in Chicago, Illinois, on May 1, 2009. The victim was brutally beaten, shot, and set on fire by several alleged Latin Kings street gang members, after the teen refused to show a gang sign. Macedo allegedly initiated the attack.

Macedo's last known address was in Oak Lawn, Illinois. He may have traveled to Mexico or the Southeastern United States.





The FBI is offering a reward of up to $200,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of Jason Derek Brown

3. JASON DEREK BROWN

Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution - First Degree Murder, Armed Robbery

REWARD: The FBI is offering a reward of up to $200,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of Jason Derek Brown.

Jason Derek Brown is wanted for murder and armed robbery in Phoenix, Arizona. During November of 2004, Brown allegedly shot and killed an armored car guard outside a movie theater and then fled with the money.

Brown speaks fluent French and has a Masters Degree in International Business. He is an avid golfer, snowboarder, skier, and dirt biker. Brown enjoys being the center of attention and has been known to frequent nightclubs where he enjoys showing off his high-priced vehicles, boats, and other toys. Brown was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and completed his Mormon mission near Paris, France.

Brown has ties to California, Arizona, and Utah. In the past, he has traveled to France and Mexico. Additionally, he may be in the possession of a Glock 9mm and a .45 caliber handgun.





The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of Fidel Urbina

4. FIDEL URBINA

First Degree Murder; Aggravated Kidnapping; Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution - Aggravated Sexual Assault, Failure to Appear

REWARD: The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of Fidel Urbina.

Fidel Urbina is wanted for allegedly beating and raping a woman in March of 1998. While out on bond, he also allegedly beat, raped and strangled a second woman to death in October of 1998. Her body was later found in the trunk of a vehicle that had been burned. Both crimes occurred in Chicago, Illinois.

Urbina may be residing in Durango, Mexico. He also has ties to the Chicago, Illinois, area.

There's a $100,000 reward for information leading directly to the arrest of Eduardo Ravelo

5. EDUARDO RAVELO

Engaging in the Affairs of an Enterprise, Through a Pattern of Racketeering Activities; Conspiracy to Conduct the Affairs of an Enterprise, Through a Pattern of Racketeering Activities; Conspiracy to Launder Monetary Instruments.

REWARD: The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of Eduardo Ravelo.

Eduardo Ravelo was indicted in Texas in 2008 for his involvement in racketeering activities, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, and conspiracy to possess heroin, cocaine and marijuana with the intent to distribute. His alleged criminal activities began in 2003.

Ravelo is known to be a Captain (Capo) within the Barrio Azteca criminal enterprise and is allegedly responsible for issuing orders to the Barrio Azteca members residing in Juarez, Mexico. Allegedly, Ravelo and the Barrio Azteca members act as 'hitmen' for the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes Drug Trafficking Organization and are responsible for numerous murders. Ravelo has ties to Mexico and El Paso, Texas. He may have had plastic surgery and altered his fingerprints.

There's a $100,000 reward for information leading directly to the arrest of William Bradford Bishop, Jr.

6. WILLIAM BRADFORD BISHOP, JR.

Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution - Murder With a Blunt Instrument

REWARD: The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of William Bradford Bishop, Jr.

William Bradford Bishop, Jr. is wanted for allegedly bludgeoning to death his wife (age 37), mother (age 68), and three sons (ages 5, 10 and 14) in Bethesda, Maryland, on March 1, 1976. He then allegedly transported their bodies to Columbia, North Carolina, where he buried the bodies in a shallow grave and lit them on fire.

He had extensive camping experience in Africa. He also enjoyed canoeing, fishing, swimming, jogging, tennis, skiing and riding motorcycles. Bishop enjoyed working out several times a week. He was also a licensed amateur pilot who learned to fly in Botswana, Africa.

Bishop has an American Studies degree from Yale University and a Master's Degree in Italian from Middlebury College in Vermont. He was known to read extensively and may have kept a diary or journal. A longtime insomniac, Bishop reportedly had been under psychiatric care in the past and had used medication for depression. He drank scotch and wine and enjoyed eating peanuts and spicy food.

Bishop was described as intense and self-absorbed, prone to violent outbursts, and preferred a neat and orderly environment.





$100,000 is being offered for information leading directly to the arrest of Robert William Fisher

7. ROBERT WILLIAM FISHER

Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution - First Degree Murder (3 Counts), Arson of an Occupied Structure

REWARD: The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of Robert William Fisher.

Robert William Fisher is wanted for allegedly killing his wife and two young children and then blowing up the house in which they all lived in Scottsdale, Arizona, in April of 2001.

Fisher is physically fit and is an avid outdoorsman, hunter, and fisherman. He has a noticeable gold crown on his upper left first bicuspid tooth. He may walk with an exaggerated erect posture and his chest pushed out due to a lower back injury. Fisher is known to chew tobacco heavily. He has ties to New Mexico and Florida. Fisher is believed to be in possession of several weapons, including a high-powered rifle.

Alex Flores is wanted for kidnapping and murder

8. ALEXIS FLORES

Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution - Kidnapping, Murder

REWARD: The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of Alexis Flores.

Alexis Flores is wanted for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and murder of a five-year-old girl in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The girl was reported missing in late July of 2000, and later found strangled to death in a nearby apartment in early August of 2000. Flores has ties to Honduras.

9. YASER ABDEL SAID

Yaser Abdel Said is wanted for murder

Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution - Capital Murder - Multiple

REWARD: The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of Yaser Abdel Said.

Yaser Abdel Said is wanted for his alleged involvement in the murders of his two teenaged daughters. The girls died of multiple gunshot wounds on January 1, 2008, in Irving, Texas.

Said's physical features may vary in order to conceal his identity.

He always wears dark sunglasses, both indoors and outside.

Said was born in Egypt and may seek shelter in communities with Egyptian ties. He frequents Denny's and IHOP restaurants and smokes Marlboro Lights 100s cigarettes.

Said has ties to New York, Texas, Virginia, Canada, and Egypt. Said loves dogs, especially tan- and black-colored German Shepherds. Said is known to carry a weapon at all times.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading directly to the arrest of Victor Manuel Gerena

10. VICTOR MANUEL GERENA

Bank Robbery; Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution - Armed Robbery; Theft From Interstate Shipment

REWARD: The FBI is offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading directly to the arrest of Victor Manuel Gerena.

Victor Manuel Gerena is being sought in connection with the armed robbery of approximately $7 million from a security company in Connecticut in 1983.
Former Auburn deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has been pictured with two gangland figures ahead of a public inquiry into the controversial figure's background.

Mr Mehajer, who rose to fame after shutting down several streets for his gaudy wedding in August, is seen smiling alongside Kings Cross identity Fadi Ibrahim and the family's long-time body guard Semi Ngata, more commonly known as Tongan Sam, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Mr Ibrahim, often described as the most reserved and private of his five high-profile siblings, was shot five times after being ambushed by a gunman outside his luxurious Sydney home in 2009.

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Salim Mehajer (middle right) has been pictured with two gangland figures - Kings Cross identity Fadi Ibrahim (middle left) and the family's long time body guard commonly known as Tongan Sam (left)

Ngata proved his loyalty to the Ibrahim family for more than a decade and over the years faced a string of charges including assault, carrying a weapon with intent and possessing items intended to be used in the manufacture of ice.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the image was posted to Mr Mehajer's Facebook account recently - just before an investigation into whether the former deputy mayor used his position to for financial gain.

The inquiry, which is set to commence on Tuesday, will examine claims relating to alleged improper conduct by the local government including allegations that a number of councillors rezoned personal land and developments through a recently created loophole and that votes had been rigged.

Mr Mehajer, who is expected to be at the forefront of a public inquiry, was suspended from office after a report found the property developer had failed to disclose a pecuniary interest on three occasions.

The image was posted to Mr Mehajer's Facebook account recently - shortly before an investigation into whether the former deputy mayor used his position to for financial gain

Mr Ibrahim, often described as the most reserved and private of his five high-profile siblings, was shot five times after being ambushed by a gunman outside his luxurious Sydney home in 2009

The tribunal said the breaches, which related to a property owned by Mr Mehajer's company at 3 Mary Street, Auburn were 'extremely serious'.

Mr Mehajer had failed to disclose his financial interest prior to three council meetings about an amendment which would affect the development of the property.

A valuer said the rule change - which increased floor space ratios and height limits - would increase see the value of the property balloon by $1 million.

'The breaches were extremely serious as the pecuniary interest was high,' said principal member David Patten.

The controversial western Sydney figure was also criticised for showing 'serious lack of respect to investigators'.

Mr Mehajer had failed to disclose his financial interest prior to three council meetings about an amendment which would affect the development of the property

A public inquiry will follow, which will examine a number of claims of improper conduct by the local government

When the Office of Local Government requested an interview about the matter, he replied that he had many commitments.

'I have no issues with attending any interview. However, please work with me to allocate a time that suits my busy schedule,' he wrote in an email dated July 24, 2015.

All councillors were asked to stand down from their positions while the public inquiry takes place.

Local Government Minister Paul Toole said that if councillors still had access to 'council staff and records' during the investigation it could 'frustrate the public inquiry.'

Auburn councillor Irene Simms, who has publicly criticised Cr Mehajer in the past, said she was 'shattered' by the decision to suspend all of the Auburn councillors.

'Lots of people have wanted an investigation, and have wanted Salim Mehajer to go for a long time. But it's not just about Salim, it's about the council in general,' she said, according to the Parramatta Advertiser.

Embattled deputy mayor and property developer Salim Mehajer (pictured with his wife Aisha) is currently fighting a four-month suspension for failing to disclose a pecuniary interest
Eric Holder has admitted that Edward Snowden helped the country by leaking classified documents detailing the government's surveillance program on its own citizens.

But the former U.S. Attorney General says that doesn't mean Snowden should be exempt from the law.

Snowden has been living in exile in Russia since he leaked thousands of pages of documents detailing the National Security Agency's surveillance program in 2013.

President Barack Obama has said time and time again that if Snowden returns to American soil, he will be punished to the full extent of the law.

In an interview with David Axelrod on CNN podcast The Axe Files, Holder admitted some sympathy for Snowden.

In an interview on a CNN podcast, Eric Holder (left) said Edward Snowden (right) helped the country by starting a conversation on government surveillance

'We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in and by the changes that we made,' Holder said.

We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in and by the changes that we made. Edward Holder

'Now I would say that doing what he did - and the way he did it - was inappropriate and illegal,' Holder added.

Snowden was working as a contractor for the NSA in 2013 when he grew disillusioned with the government's system of spying - sometimes on its own citizens - through little-known methods involving cellphone and internet use.

So he released thousands of pages of documents showing the NSA's spying methods to the Guardian newspaper, and fled the country before authorities could arrest him for violating the Espionage Act.

Holder made clear in his interview that he was not condoning the means with which Snowden drew attention to the NSA's methods.

'He harmed American interests,' said Holder. 'I know there are ways in which certain of our agents were put at risk, relationships with other countries were harmed, our ability to keep the American people safe was compromised.

'There were all kinds of re-dos that had to be put in place as a result of what he did, and while those things were being done we were blind in certain really critical areas. So what he did was not without consequence.'

However, he thinks that if Snowden were to return to the U.S. for trial, a judge should take into account the good he did for the country by illuminating these issues when coming up with a sentence.

Earlier this month, Snowden said in a talk with the University of Chicago over Skype that he would consider returning to the U.S. if he could get a fair trial.
His family has confirmed a purchase was recorded on Mr Hunt's bank card

New details revealed he had checked into an apartment in Copacabana

They split up at airport to 'cool off' for 30 minutes but Mr Hunt fled

Missing backpacker Rye Hunt checked into an apartment and purchased an item, it has emerged

Missing backpacker Rye Hunt checked into an apartment and purchased an item with his bank card just hours after leaving the airport following a dispute with his travelling companion, new details have emerged.

The 25-year-old from Hobart has not been seen or heard from since getting into a taxi at Galeao International Airport on May 21 after rowing with Mitchell Sheppard over their next destination.

But a witness has come forward to authorities after identifying Mr Hunt, who failed to meet up with his friend at the Rio de Janeiro airport after they agreed to briefly separate to cool off.

In a statement released by his family on Monday night, Mr Hunt was said to have checked into an apartment at 3.30pm at Copacabana, just one hour after he was last seen at the airport.

He then left the apartment at around 6.20pm, leaving behind a number of personal items in the room, including his laptop, travel bags and a camera.

The owner of the property has since been questioned by police as his family confirmed a purchase was recorded on Mr Hunt's bank card around two minutes after leaving the apartment.

Despite no further details about his movements or locations, the latest information has given a glimmer of hope in the frantic search for the man.

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Rye Hunt (left) and Mitchell Sheppard (right) argued at an airport in Rio de Janeiro about whether they should fly to Bolivia moments before Mr Hunt vanished in a taxi

CCTV footage showed Mr Hunt walking through the airport when he took a taxi away from the building

The revelation comes after Mr Hunt wanted to go to Bolivia but his friend was less interested and the pair exchanged 'heated' words before deciding to split up to cool off, his sister revealed on Monday.

They arranged to meet up again after 30 minutes but Mr Hunt never appeared, having fled the airport in a taxi at around 2.30pm.

Police in the Brazilian city have found the backpack he was carrying when he left the airport but refused to tell his distraught family where it was discovered.

They also found his camera and laptop but will not disclose details of any other items found.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia on Monday, Romany Brodribb, Mr Hunt's sister, said her brother and Mr Sheppard had only decided to travel to Bolivia on the day of his disappearance.

After researching flights online they decided to go to the airport but fell out discussing 'when to go and how to get there', she said.

'They were arguing because they were trying to figure out how to get to Bolivia and what they would do there.

'Rye was a bit more keen to go than Mitchell. It got a bit heated and Mitchell said: "Look, lets take 30, go for a walk and get a coffee and well meet back here. Then Rye never met him.

The friends had already travelled to Thailand when they arrived in Brazil where they spent four or five days in the popular beach town of Copacabana in mid May.

They had intended to travel on through South America before jetting to Europe to round off the six-month trip.

The 25-year-old's backpack, laptop and camera have been found by police. It's not clear whether his phone, wallet and passport were in the bag. Above, he is seen in an image shared by his girlfriend in a desperate plea for information

The pair had already spent time in Thailand (where they are seen above) when they travelled to Rio de Janeiro

The men's argument at the airport was their first after seven weeks of travelling, said Mr Hunt's sister

The men had been in Copacabana Beach for four or five days before deciding to move on. They travelled to Galeao International Airport together before Mr Hunt left alone in a taxi after their argument

On May 21 they researched flights to Bolivia online, she said, then went to the airport together to buy tickets but ended up fighting over the details.

When Mr Hunt did not reappear after their agreed-upon 30 minutes apart his friend scoured the airport in the hope that he had fallen asleep, his sister said.

After five hours Mr Sheppard returned to the hostel they were staying in Copacabana in the hope that he may appear but was left increasingly concerned.

His disappearance was reported to police some days later and a missing person's appeal was launched.

On Sunday the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told the Hunt family that Rye's backpack, laptop and camera had been found in Rio but failed to specify exactly where they'd been found.

They also failed to mention whether his iPhone, passport or wallet had been were in the backpack when they found it.

Mr Hunt has not made any contact with his friend, family or girlfriend since May 21. His family has not been informed where police found some of his belongings he was seen carrying as he left the airport

Mr Hunt's uncle and girlfriend Bonnie (left together) will travel to Brazil this week to look for him

Mr Sheppard (above with his brother) has remained in Brazil to look for his missing friend

A spokesman refused to comment on the case when contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Monday, citing the family's privacy as reason to conceal details from the media.

It is communicating with the family after receiving news from the Australian Embassy in Rio who are relying on Policia Civil for information.

But Mr Hunt's sister said the delay in communication and lack of specific detail had left the family 'frustrated'.

Mr Hunt is originally from Hobart but had been living in Western Australia for some time before the trip

'We're still waiting, we have a lot of questions.

'They're three things that are key for us  the phone, wallet and passport.

'We know his backpack and camera and laptop were found however there was no mention, or specific reference to those other things.

'Were frustrated that the information is taking so long to filter through but we are aware there's a process,' she said.

Mr Hunt's girlfriend-of-five-years, Bonnie Cuthbert, will fly to Brazil this week alongside his uncle to help Mr Sheppard look for him.

His parents are too upset to travel, said his sister, who is unable to fly herself at 39 weeks pregnant.

'Its just a really emotional time. It should be a really happy time with the anticipation but I feel so emotionally conflicted.

'Im hoping the baby can stay contained a few more days so that we can find Rye and get him home to meet his niece or nephew.

A GoFundMe page set up to help pay for the family's travel cost has raised more than $35,000 since being set up last week.

They shared their gratitude for donations on Monday as the search for Rye entered its second week.

'(The family) are overwhelmed by the generosity of those donating to the #FindRye GoFundMe campaign.
Tens of millions of pounds over budget and years behind schedule it has become one of the most obvious symbols of EU extravagance and waste.

But the European Council is finally almost ready to unveil its new 240million headquarters in the heart of Brussels.

Pictures obtained by the Mail show for the first time inside the widely mocked and maligned Europa building, which David Cameron unsuccessfully tried to block.

The brightly decorated room where EU leaders will face each other at summits from next year.  Philippe SAMYN and PARTNERS architects & engineers, LEAD and DESIGN PARTNER. Philippe Samyn and Partners architects & engineers, Studio Valle Progettazioni architects, Buro Happold Limited engineers

The multi-coloured decor on carpets, ceilings and doors are supposed to represent the EUs diversity  Philippe SAMYN and PARTNERS architects & engineers, LEAD and DESIGN PARTNER. Philippe Samyn and Partners architects & engineers, Studio Valle Progettazioni architects, Buro Happold Limited engineers

At the heart of the construction, nicknamed the egg in a cage because of its unusual structure, is the brightly decorated room where EU leaders will face each other around a circular table at their summits from next year.

The multi-coloured carpets and ceiling are supposed to represent the EUs diversity but the garish pattern that even fills the inside of the buildings lifts seems more likely to give prime ministers a headache during late-night meetings.

Around the edge of the summit room are 32 interpretation booths  one for each of the EUs 24 languages with extras to spare ready for if countries such as Turkey are welcomed as member states.

The lavish headquarters, which has drawn criticism for simply duplicating summit rooms in the European Councils existing building next door, has been contentious since its design was first revealed in a 100,000 glossy brochure presented to EU leaders during a summit in 2011 about the Greek debt crisis.

A furious Mr Cameron dismissed the structure as a gilded cage and attacked the extravagant spending just as member states were being forced to make cuts, but was unable to get its construction cancelled.

You do wonder whether these institutions actually get what every country, what every member of the public, is having to go through as we cut budgets and try to make our finances add up, the Prime Minister told journalists.

I've only been to this building seven times in the last year, but it seems to do a perfectly good job of housing the European Council.

The 240million building has been nicknamed the 'Egg in a Cage' due to its unusual structure  Philippe SAMYN and PARTNERS architects & engineers, LEAD and DESIGN PARTNER. Philippe Samyn and Partners architects & engineers, Studio Valle Progettazioni architects, Buro Happold Limited engineers

Work on the building was supposed to be completed two years ago, but it has been repeatedly delayed and gone over budget with the latest estimate of cost at 313 million euros (240million).

On its website the European Council boasts about the eco-friendly credentials of its new home, which is covered in solar panels. The patchwork of windows that make up the exterior are all recycled and come from buildings that have been demolished or renovated across the continent.

Architect Philippe Samyn claimed the idea behind his design was to create a feminine and jazzy headquarters representing the EUs diversity.
A New York financier who was forced to pay $5.65 million in a sexual harassment lawsuit brought forward by a Swedish intern may now have to pay the same woman an extra $2.4 million for an alleged breach of contract.

Wall Street boss Benjamin Wey paid out his former intern Hanna Bouveng in 2014, after she accused him of pressuring her into sex and firing her when she refused his advances.

However part of the agreement was that Wey would have to pay Bouveng $10,000 for every negative tweet he published about her, and $50,000 for each time he tried to communicate with her, The New York Post reported.

Bouveng claims Wey has violated the agreement dozens of times.

More trouble: Wall Street boss Benjamin Wey (left) paid out his former intern Hanna Bouveng (right) $5.65 million in 2014, after she accused him of pressuring her into sex, but now she is seeking $2.4 million more

Breach of agreement: Bouveng's lawyers claim that Wey violated a deal made in the settlement that he would not speak negatively about his former intern on social media. Seen here is a tweet Wey posted in April

'The homewrecker': The financier is accused of trash-talking Bouveng online after agreeing he wouldn't

Wey has as slammed Bouveng on Twitter as a 'homewrecker', 'cocaine user' and 'failed extortionist', according to court papers filed in Manhattan federal court last week.

Bouveng's lawyers claim that 59 posts violate the $10,000 twitter agreement.

Of those tweets, 26 also breach the $50,000 stipulation, which brings the fine to $1.3 million.

A further $510,000 is also being sought based on other posts, bringing the total to $2.4 million.

The documents say that Wey approached Bouveng in a cafe in the Swedish town where she is from.

He also attempted to speak with her 19-year-old cousin at a bar, the documents note.

Neither Wey or his lawyers have commented on the claims, however they are expected to file a response on Tuesday.

Hanna Bouveng, 26, was told to 'take or leave' a settlement of $5.65 million in damages in 2014. She had originally sought $18 million

Wey, who is married, denied having sex with Bouveng - and his lawyers branded her lawsuit 'extortion'

The civil case involved Bouveng suing the married Wey, 44, for pressuring her into having sex and posting malicious false messages online saying she was cocaine-addicted prostitute.

She originally sought $18 million, but was awarded $5.65 million by the judge and told to 'take it or leave it'.

In an exclusive interview with The Post days after the verdict, Bouveng branded Wey a 'psychopath' who tried to 'control and isolate her'.

'He manipulated me, and he broke me down in various different ways. It could be the way he was acting in the office, depending on whether I had dinner with him or not,' she said at the time.

Wey's wife, Michaela, broke down in tears as she was questioned about the alleged affair in court.

Michaela Wey, wife of Wall street financier Benjamin Wey, leaves Federal Court in New York in June 2014

In a separate case, Wey was indicted on alleged stock manipulation charges, which he has pleaded not guilty to.

The Bouveng trial garnered lurid tabloid headlines bypitting the young woman against the Wall Street financier.

At trial, lawyers for Bouveng contended that Wey had engagedin a relentless campaign of harassment after hiring her in 2013when she was 24, buying her gifts and demanding sexual favors inreturn.

Bouveng's lawyers said Wey's actions led to sexualencounters before she rejected his further attempts. Wey then fired her after discovering another man in her apartment,which he was helping to finance, in April 2014.

After she filed her civil lawsuit, Wey wrote severaldisparaging articles in an online publication, TheBlot,controlled by FNL Media, a New York Global Group subsidiary.Both companies were also defendants.

Wey's lawyer, Glenn Colton, contended at trial that hisclient and Bouveng never had sex, and that Bouveng attempted toextort Wey after she was fired for substandard work.
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Many people turned to exploring local nature paths for their daily exercise when lockdown closed gyms and group sports took a hiatus amid the pandemic.

Amateur photographers who captured stunning images of animals in their natural habitat were quick to submit their snaps to Weekend magazine's annual Wildlife Photography Challenge in the hopes of winning a package worth over 1,000.

The entrants were split into five categories - Birds; Mammals; Insects; Under-18s; and Reptiles, Fish, Amphibians & Molluscs.

While each category winner received a Nikon mirrorless digital camera kit and a year's subscription to Nikon Owner magazine, the overall winner also received a trip to the Camargue with wildlife photographer Simon Stafford, courtesy of Create Away, for a four-night masterclass in photographing the region's wild horses, flamingos and bulls.

Judges David Suchet, Clare Balding, Lucy Cooke, Steve Brown, Kelly Brook and Michael Eleftheriades were impressed with Lee O'dwyer, 67, a retired engineer from Lancashire, who was awarded the overall winner for his shot of a long-tailed tit.

These runner-up snaps taken by talented amateur photographers prove choosing an overall winner was a tough decision...

BIRDS

PUFFIN: Taken by Joseph Bristow, 23, a retail supervisor from Llantwit Major. 'Arriving at 3am and queueing for the 6am ticket office to open. First in line I caught the boat over to Skomer Island. With only a few hours permitted on the island I had no time to waste. Surrounded by the Puffins was an amazing spectacle and allowed me to capture some amazing photos. I found this one puffin who seemed very tame and loved posing for the camera. As he stared down the barrel of my lens I took my shot and was pleased with the result. I found the black background really provides a provocative and striking image highlight the vibrant colour of the Puffins.'

KESTREL CHICKS: Taken by Jayne Kirkby, 20, from Braintree, Essex. 'Beautiful pair of Kestrel chicks, taken at Wrabness on 20th June 2020.'

KINGFISHER: Tim Clifton, a 59-year-old from, St Leonards on Sea, snapped this captivating photo of a kingfisher hunting for small fish

MALLARD: William Watson, 64, a semi retired HGV driver from East Dunbartonshire. 'Taken on the Forth & Clyde canal (December '19') Bishopbriggs, As I went to take this photo of this female Mallard it stretched creating a nice reflection....'

INSECTS

BUTTERFLY: Adam Lane, a 27-year-old host at Legoland, from Slough, captured a butterfly perched on a purple flower in specular detail

WASP: Shelia Moth took this captivating photo of a wasp on a thistle, capturing the insect and plant in immense detail

SPIDER: Taken by Geoffrey Wells, 67, a maintenance caretaker from North Yorkshire. 'This picture was taken in my back garden during the recent lockdown.'

REPTILES

MATING FROGS: Taken by Steve Jellett, 64, from Essex, who is retired. 'Taken in small garden pond when 21 frogs descended to mate.'

MAMMALS

ROE DEER: Tim Cliffton, a 75-year-old from St Leonards on sea, took a photograph of two roe deer spotted in a field

MOUSE: Taken by Cameron Parfitt, 20, a student at the University of Brighton, from Worthing. 'I would love to highlight that even in your back garden there are images to be had. This image is of a cheeky wood mouse that keeps stealing food from what we have now dubbed the mouse feeder. It's not unheard of for this little guy to be found inside the feeder without a care in the world stuffing himself with the bird seed.'

JUNIORS

FOX CUB: Billy Evans-Freke, 15, a secondary school student from East Sussex. 'It wasn't a long wait in the hide before the first fox cub woke up from its nap and came out into the open. It was soon followed by another cub. At first they stayed in the shadows of the bushes near the den. But once they gained their confidence they started coming closer. This cub in particular was very curious and came very close to the hide.'
A video showing a Saudi man proudly using pincers to remove the teeth of a snake before sticking its mouth shut with super glue has provoked outrage.

The short clip lasting just 31 seconds was massively criticised online with people demanding authorities track him down and take action.

The short film showed the man grabbing the snake by its head and then using pliers to pull out its teeth one after the other.

Shocking footage shows a Saudi man picking up a snake before removing its teeth with pincers

The gruesome video shows the man approaching the snake and dangling his pincers over its mouth

He then keeps the tiny snake pinned between his fingers, and grabs a tube of superglue which he deliberately spreads around the inside of the snake's mouth before closing it together.

Local media said viewers of the film that went viral accused the man of incredible cruelty.

Even those who were not fans of snakes said that the man should simply have killed it rather than leaving it to die what would eventually be a slow and painful death.

He then pulls out the snake's teeth one by one before superglueing its mouth shut
An alleged French jihadi network police say groomed one of the November 13 Paris attackers has gone on trial for engaging in terrorist activity.

The seven men, all from Strasbourg, were arrested in 2014 after returning from Syria, though court documents say there was no indication they were planning an attack at that time.

However, they have gone on trial most their most infamous member - Foued Mohamed-Aggad, a man killed in the Bataclan on the night of bloodshed that left 130 people dead.

The seven men (illustrated) are alleged to have been part of a terror cell that had spent time with ISIS in Syria

The defendants in today's trial in Paris - who include Mohamed-Aggad's brother Karim - insisted they had nothing to do with the Paris attacks. Two others died in Syria.

The men say they went to Syria for humanitarian reasons and were forced to join ISIS as one thing after another went wrong with their journey.

All returned to France by April 2014, telling investigators they were desperate to escape.

'Humanitarian or jihadist?' the judge asked each man sharply. With different levels of equivocation, each man said they went to Syria with the intention of helping.

The alleged jihadi group's 10th member, Foued Mohamed-Aggad, was killed in the Bataclan on the night of the November 13 terror attacks

Karim Mohamed-Aggad asked that the group be judged for what they had done, and not for the deadly November 13 attacks.

The group was recruited by Mourad Fares, who once boasted of grooming dozens of French citizens to join jihadists in Syria and who was arrested separately in late 2014 by French authorities.

The Strasbourg men uniformly blamed their plight on Fares, who was not among those on trial Monday.

Fares did not meet the group at the border as they arrived in Syria, they told investigators - instead, they said they were picked up by members of the group later known as ISIS and said they had little choice but to go along.

'We were had by smooth talk. Islam was used to trap me like a wolf.

'When we arrived there, it was clear to me that the people there had nothing to do with Islam,' Karim Mohamed-Aggad told investigators, according to court documents.

He did not know, however, if his brother felt the same.

'It is obvious that the shadow of Fouad Mohamed-Aggad hangs over this case,' said Eric Lefebvre, lawyer for defendant Mohamed Hattay.
A Venezuelan gang shot dead 11 people - including three school-children - after marching them out of their homes at gunpoint.

The victims were rounded up by their killers on Saturday morning in the state of Trujillo by a group of armed assassins who arrived on motorbikes.

They were forced from their houses and into a communal courtyard where they were all murdered.

A Venezuelan gang shot dead 11 people - including three school-children - after marching them out of their homes at gunpoint. The victims were rounded up by their killers on Saturday morning in the state of Trujillo (pictured) by a group of armed assassins who arrived on motorbikes

Eleven people, including a Colombian national and three minors, were killed, the Attorney General's office confirmed on Sunday.

The suspects fled the scene in cars and motorcycles, according to the statement.

The victims included adult males aged 18 to 76 and three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17.

The Colombian national was identified as 76-year-old Alberto Diaz Patino. Two prosecutors have been assigned to the case.

In March, an armed group killed 17 miners in the town of Tumeremo in far southeastern Venezuela near the border with Brazil.

Their bodies were later found in a pit.

Venezuela is one of the most violent countries in the world that is not at war, with 58 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2015 according to prosecutors.
Today Hillary Clinton changed her schedule for the week, canceling an event Thursday in New Jersey and announcing a California swing that would last through the eve of the state's delegate-rich primary.

Once considered an easy win for Clinton, California looks ripe for an embarrassment with rival Bernie Sanders gaining ground in the polls  with a survey out last week by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California showing Clinton up by just two points, within the poll's margin of error.

The former secretary of state doesn't need to win the Golden State to clinch the Democratic nomination. In fact, she'll likely officially have enough delegates before California's polls close on the 7th.

But optics count in politics and to lose such a big state at the end of the primary calendar could leave her hobbling, not strutting, into the Democratic National Convention in July.

Hillary Clinton was back on the East coast today, marching in a parade being held in her adopted hometown of Chappaqua, New York, but she'll jet back to the West coast earlier than originally planned

Sen. Bernie Sanders has dedicated nearly all of his resources to California, driving between towns in the state, hoping to beat Hillary Clinton by big enough margins to trip up her march to the nomination

Hillary Clinton (left) expected to have an easy win in California, but the state allows independents to vote in the Democratic primary as long as they register and some 850,000 have registered to vote

Bernie Sanders stayed put in California over Memorial Day weekend. He's been taking his motorcade through the state in a list ditch effort to grab the Democratic nomination from Hillary Clinton

In part because of its delegate haul and in part because of his financial situation, Sanders has thrown all of his campaign's eggs in the California basket.

Sanders, this cycle's best fundraiser, found himself at the beginning of May with just $5.8 million in hand, having blown through $160 million between January and April, according to the Huffington Post.

In turn, he's stayed on the West coast and engaged in a barnstorming tour by motorcade, holding multiple rallies per day, while participating in free media hits.

Sanders appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week and was interviewed by Bill Maher. He stopped at Puff Daddy's Revolt TV studios in Hollywood to participate in a town hall event with college students.

He made news by attacking Disney in Anaheim, California, just a block down from Disneyland. 'Is anybody making a living wage at Disney?' he asked, surveying his crowd.

Each of his crowds attracted numbers in the thousands. And each time he spoke he made the same general point about the state.

'If we win California big we're going to go marching into the Democratic convention with a lot of momentum. And if we go marching into the Democratic convention with a lot of momentum we're going to march out with a Democratic nomination,' Sanders said.

'And if we march out with the Democratic nomination, Donald Trump is toast,' Sanders said.

Hillary Clinton spent Memorial Day Monday alongside husband Bill Clinton (left) and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (right) at a parade in Chappaqua, New York

Meanwhile Hillary Clinton's campaign announced a change in her schedule, canceling a Thursday appearance in New Jersey and committing the candidate to spending Thursday through Monday in California instead

Ironically, while Hillary Clinton (pictured) could get bested by Bernie Sanders in California, she'll likely have enough delegates to claim the Democratic nomination before the state's polls close

Clinton also spent time in California last week, campaigning alongside actress Jamie Lee Curtis.

She blushed and said, 'it is a little distracting,' when her Anaheim audience included two bare-chested bros.

The Clinton fans  John Nelson and Dan Stifler  had drawn messages on their chests, one with the Hillary 'H' and the other that said, 'Hill is Perfect.'

Besides this colorful moment, Clinton's time in the state was tainted with the release of the State Department inspector general's report, which faulted her for using a private email server.

She avoided talking to reporters about the report for 24 hours, finally doing a bevvy of news interviews Thursday night.

On Friday, the Clinton campaign started running ads in the media markets of Los Angeles, Fresco and Sacramento, while the former secretary of state zipped back to the East coast.

Clinton avoided the Sunday shows, opting to be photographed today in her adopted hometown of Chappaqua, New York, walking alongside husband Bill Clinton and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in the town's Memorial Day parade.

Meanwhile her campaign sent out releases to the press noting that Clinton was canceling New Jersey and heading early to California.

The state's highly diverse racial makeup should be a boon for Clinton, but the younger voters in the state could help Sanders across the line.

Hillary Clinton began running ads in major California media markets on Friday, where she campaigned earlier in the week, and will now return for at least give days ahead of the June 7 primary

Hillary Clinton is on the East coast for her adopted hometown's Memorial Day parade, but she'll also campaign in New Jersey, where Democrats will also head to the polls on June 7

Hillary Clinton had hoped to be transitioning into general election mode, so she can face off against Republican Donald Trump, but Bernie Sanders is still in the race and has not signaled when he would drop out

Additionally, independents can vote in the Democratic primary in the Golden State, as long as they register to do so.

The state has seen a surge in registrations  more than 850,000  which could also indicate a more pro-Sanders crowd.

Sanders spent his Sunday answering questions about his fate in the state.

On Meet the Press for instance, Sanders referred to California as the 'big enchilada.'

'Obviously it is enormously important, and obviously we want to win it,' he said. 'But let me tell you something, you know, my campaign has been written off from before we started.'

'Nobody thought we would do anything. We've now won 20 states, primaries and caucuses, and I think by the end of the process, we may win half of the states,' Sanders continued.

'So I think we're going to fight 'til the last vote is cast and try to appeal to the last delegate that we can,' Sanders added.

Though the Vermont senator wouldn't say if losing California would signal the end of his campaign.

'Obviously, if we don't do well in California, it will make our path much much harder. No question about that,' Sanders relented. 'But I think we have a good chance of winning California, maybe win big, and maybe win four or five other states that are off on June 7.'
Medals won by one of the most distinguished Royal Navy pilots to fight in World War Two have been auctioned for 31,000.

Vice Admiral Sir Michael Fell was awarded a glittering haul of 13 medals during his illustrious career in the the navy's Fleet Air Arm.

Sadly he died soon after retiring in 1976 aged just 58, but his impressive set of 13 medals has now been auctioned by his family following the death of his widow, Lady Joan Fell, last year.

Hero: Vice Admiral Sir Michael Fell was awarded a glittering haul of 13 medals during his illustrious career in the the navy's Fleet Air Arm

Engaging in dog fights with the Luftwaffe and Italian Air Force over the North Sea, the Mediterranean and Egypt's Western Desert, the Vice Admiral fought bravely to defend our shores during World War Two.

He led air operations for Allied landings at Sicily and Salerno in Italy and the South of France as well as providing cover for the relief of Greece in the Aegean Sea.

One of his most important actions came in April 1944 when the huge German ship the Tirpitz, that terrorised the Arctic convoys to Russia, was bombed by him.

He was a Wing Leader for Operation Tungsten and deliberately distracted the ship's anti-aircraft gunners away from his comrades in the air by drawing their fire.

He then flew in at low-level under the thick smoke to bomb the vessel himself.

The Tirpitz crew suffered more than 430 casualties in the raid and the ship was put out of action for three months.

Sir Michael was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Service Order for the raid.

He went on to be twice awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, KCB after he stayed in the Fleet Air Arm and served in the Korean War.

His medals achieved a hammer price of 26,000 but with fees added on the total price came to 31,000.

A spokesman for London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb said: 'He was one of the most distinguished and decorated pilots in the history of British naval aviation.

'He was awarded the CB in the 1960s and this was elevated to KCB in 1974 - the most senior appointment in naval aviation.'

Sir Michael, who came from Stoughton, West Sussex, went to Harrow School but entered the Royal Navy as a midshipman in 1938 and then trained as a Fleet Air Arm pilot.

Pictured: Vice Admiral Sir Michael Fell with the Queen Mother during his decorated career in the Fleet Air Arm

He was first attached to the newly-formed 804 Squadron to ward off any potential threat of Luftwaffe attacks on Allied ships at Scapa Flow in Scotland from its bases in Nazi-occupied Norway.

While based there he scored one of just a few kills by a biplane in the Second World War when, flying a Gladiator, he shot down a Heinkel 111 bomber.

Sir Michael then served on HMS Ark Royal in the Mediterranean where he shot down two Italian Cant planes before moving to the Royal Navy Fighter Squadron in the Western Desert and helped destroy three more aircraft.

In 1943 he served on HMS Illustrious and commanded 878 Squadron and provided air cover for Operation Avalanche - the Allied invasion of Italy for which he was Mentioned in Despatches.

After the Tirpitz raid he led 10 fighter bomber attacks on enemy positions and transports in the South of France.

He was awarded the first DSC for leading 12 attacks in the Aegean Sea which included blowing up an E boat and three trains.
A technician has suffered extensive injuries after falling into a moving escalator he was in the process of repairing and having to be pulled out.

The unnamed workman was pulled into the device and miraculously managed to avoid being crushed to death by the machinery as only his head remained visible from the outside.

He was reportedly repairing the device in Beibei District of Chongqing, a major city in south-west China, when he accidentally fell into the escalator.

Shocking footage has shown the moment an engineer had to be rescued after becoming trapped in an escalator

The unnamed workman was reportedly repairing the device in Beibei District of Chongqing, a major city in south-west China, when he accidentally fell into the escalator

The outdoor escalator was stopped just in time as the worker was sucked into its moving parts, and local firefighters were called to free the man from within the machinery as hundreds of terrified shoppers gathered around to watch the drama unfold.

Those fearing the worst for the workman were relieved to hear that he was still alive inside the escalator, although seriously injured and quickly losing consciousness.

Arriving firefighters managed to prise his body out of the device and rush him to hospital.

The outdoor escalator was stopped just in time as the worker was sucked into its moving parts, and local firefighters were called to free the man

Hundreds of shoppers looked on as the man was pulled out of the escalator

Arriving firefighters managed to prise his body out of the device and rush him to hospital

He is now receiving treatment in the trauma centre of a hospital, but his condition is still unknown.

Reports said the escalator 'suddenly became operational' as the workman was fixing it.

Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the accident.

Firefighters rushed the man to hospital where his condition is currently unknown

Last week a pensioner in Shenzhen, a major city in South China's Guangdong Province, broke his leg after falling through a step-less escalator.

It was the last serious escalator-related injury before this week's event.
Firefighters pulled two children out of a building that caught fire in Harlem on Monday morning, injuring six people and destroying a hardware store.

The blaze began around 6.30am on West 145 Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in a six-story building that houses businesses and residential apartments.

Flames rose from a locksmith shop on street level as firefighters arrived to put out the blaze and take residents to safety.

One of them told CBS 2 he realized there was a fire only when he saw thick black smoke filling the hallway.

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Firefighters rescued two children from a fire in Harlem on Monday morning (pictured), which injured six people in total and destroyed a hardware store

The two children were still in their pajamas when the firefighters rescued them using a tower ladder, the New York Post reported.

It took an hour for firefighters to control the blaze, while the flames spread to the third floor.

Authorities expect the people injured in the fire to recover according to CBS 2 - but the New York Post reported that one of them was seriously injured.

The FDNY is still investigating to determine what caused the fire.

The blaze began around 6.30am on West 145 Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard in a six-story building. Firefighters arrived to put out the blaze and take residents to safety (pictured)

The FDNY (pictured at the scene) is still investigating to determine what started the fire. The owner of the destroyed hardware store fears a plumbing problem could be the cause

But the management group in charge of the building (pictured) wants to wait until the FDNY reaches a conclusion and says they cannot remember any issues

Viv Colquhoun, the owner of the destroyed hardware store, told CBS 2 he feared that a longtime plumbing problem could have started it.

A plumbing issue has caused water to leak onto electrical wires, according to Colquhoun, who has owned the shop for more than 25 years.

Colquhoun told CBS 2 he had alerted the landlord 'numerous times'.

But a representative for Noam Management Group, which is in charge of the building, told the station they couldn't remember any issues and would wait until the FDNY reaches a conclusion.

'It could be he came to us with plumbing issues, but I'm not sure that's the cause of the fire,' the representative told CBS 2.
Police say the husband of a woman who went missing a week after their wedding has admitted to killing her by accident when he pushed her during a row.

Samir Gabibov, 34, allegedly told officers that he killed Gyulnara, 23, and she fell awkwardly, hit her head and died.

Gabibov says he and his brother then put her body on a bicycle and pushed it six miles into a forest near Russia's second city of St Petersburg where they buried her.

Police say Samir Gabibov (left) has told officers that he killed his wife Gyulnara Gabibova (right) after she hit her head awkwardly when he pushed her during an argument

It is alleged he then buried her body in a forest with the help of his brother. He later directed police to the location, it was claimed

It was reported he police to the forest but at first struggled to remember where she had been buried. Eventually he found the spot and her body has been sent for an autopsy.

Police said the forensic examination could take some time as the body had been buried for more than a month.

Mrs Gabibova's family feared for her safety after her disappearance and her mother recorded a video message urging her to return.

She said: 'We are not blaming you. Please return, we are waiting for you. We do not understand what has happened.'

They were concerned about Gabibov as they knew very little about him, and didn't even know what he did for a living.

The family was also suspicious that he had been the last person to see her alive but couldn't remember what she had been wearing, other than a grey coat.

The newlyweds had spent very little time together before their wedding, in line with Azeri traditions.

However, they said that Gabibov was a jealous man who had banned his bride from using social media.

Police expect to charge Gabibov with murder and say he will face 15 years in jail if convicted.

However, the forensic examination of Mrs Gabibova's body could take some time as it had been buried for more than a month
On Sunday, the 60-year-old finished the race along with the

A 60-year-old man finished a 10K race on Sunday, 50 days and eight hours after he first set off from the starting line in Richmond, Virginia.

Bill Hughes was running the Monument Avenue 10K with his daughter Bethany Gorgon on April 9 when he started to have a heart attack midway through the race, and had to be taken to the hospital.

Luckily, Hughes survived the brush with death, but he was left feeling sad about not getting to finish the race.

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Bill Hughes, 60, finished a 10K race on Sunday - 50 days and eight hours after he first started the race

Hughes suffered a heart attack halfway through the race on April 9 and needed to be rushed to the hospital

Hughes pictured above running another race. The community helped him finish his race on Sunday

'It's just something that's been bothering me for seven weeks that I hadn't finished this race,' Hughes told reporters. 'To be able to now finish it means a lot to me.'

So on Sunday, police blocked off roads so that Hughes could finish the race - even in the pouring rain.

This time, the emergency responders and other witnesses at the scene who gave him life support in the moments after his heart attack started were there to support Hughes.

At a press conference that day, Hughes also got the opportunity to publicly thank them for saving his life.

'It's just something that's been bothering me for seven weeks that I hadn't finished this race,' Hughes said. 'To be able to now finish it means a lot to me.'

At the end of the race, Hughes was able to the people who saved his life the day of the original race

'It's overwhelming to think about how many people helped me that day and all of the timing the timing had to be just right,' he said. 'I'm just so blessed.'

While Hughes doesn't remember much right after he collapsed, his daughter Bethany was with him and detailed the ordeal to reporters on Sunday.

She says she felt her father grab her arm and then hit the ground, landing face forward.

Bethany is trained in CPR so she started the first compressions immediately after, before other paramedics could rush to her dad's aide.

'Two runners came over and just started praying with me, right there,' Bethany said.

An AED monitor was brought over to help in the CPR process, and it took about two minutes for a heart beat to come back.

It took just 17 minutes from the first 911 call to get Hughes from the race to the hospital.

Hughes says he hopes his survival story will inspire others to learn CPR.
The family and friends of Pearl Pinson believe the teenage girl is still alive, despite police calling off their search for her this weekend.

'She's alive, and I know it,' said Rose Pinson, Pearl's sister to NBC. 'I believe she is going to be found.'

A vigil was held for the 15-year-old who was kidnapped last week and has been missing ever since.

Police have called off the search for Pearl Pinson, 15 (left), who was last seen being dragged screaming and covered in blood across a highway by her suspected abductor Fernando Castro (right). He was shot dead in a confrontation by police on Friday

Helicopters and search teams were focused on a four-square-mile area around the mouth of the Russian River in a remote area of Sonoma covered with wild oak

Pearl was last seen on Wednesday as she walked to school in Sonoma County, California. She was seen being dragged across a highway, in Vallejo, by her abductor.

Blood and Pinson's cellphone were found on the pedestrian overpass where she was taken.

Officers on foot and helicopters were seen searching a four-square-mile area at the mouth of the Russian River on Friday afternoon.

On Saturday, more than 65 members of law enforcement scoured a remote area for the teenager, but they called off the search on Sunday after finding no trace.

Officials from State Parks and agencies in Sonoma, Mendocino and Marin counties helped pool resources on the ground and in the air, in order to look for the girl.

Youth pastor Robert Walker came to the vigil to offer prayers.

'It's tragic,' Walker said. 'I have been emotional for the last three days because I've known her, and just to think that something like this could happen to her is kind of tearing me up.'

Pearl was last seen being dragged across a highway while bleeding and screaming by an armed man that cops say was Castro

In a Facebook posting by the Solarno County Sheriff's office, the tone was downbeat.

'Nothing was found during the search that would indicate Pearl is there. Investigators continue to follow-up on leads, and any future search will depend on where those leads take us.'

Pearl was abducted Wednesday morning near her home in Vallejo by Fernando Castro, 19, whom she knew.

Detectives caught up with Castro the following day after his gold Saturn sedan was spotted driving through Santa Barbara county, some 300 miles away to the south, before he attempted to flee.

Castro shot at officers and then drove to a trailer park where he attempted to get into a different vehicle before being shot dead, according to police.

Despite Castro's death detectives still do not know where Pearl is, or why she has not sought help.

Pearl has green hair and was last seen wearing a gray sweater, black leggings and had a black and turquoise backpack. Her family has set up a GoFundMe account to help with their search.

Anyone with any information is asked to call their local law enforcement or 911.

The Solano County Sheriff's Office also provided a tip line for anyone who may have information about Pearl's whereabouts: 707-784-1963.

Blood and Pearl's cellphone were found on the pedestrian overpass where she was taken, but officers could not find any trace of the teenager during their five-day search
A woman who went missing after she was taken by a crocodile during a late-night swim was on holiday to celebrate the end of her childhood friend's cancer battle.

Cindy Waldron, 46, was swimming with her friend, Leeann Mitchell, at Daintree, north of Cairns, about 10pm on Sunday.

Ms Mitchell, from Cairns, had just completed a bout of chemotherapy and Ms Waldron, from Lithgow in New South Wales' east, was in north Queensland to support her friend, the New Zealand Herald reported.

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Cindy Waldron (left), 46, was swimming with her friend, Leeann Mitchell (right), at Daintree, north of Cairns, about 10pm on Sunday. Ms Mitchell had just undergone a bout of chemotherapy

Ms Waldron, from Lithgow in New South Wales' east, was in north Queensland to support her childhood friend

Emergency services are pictured at the scene on Thornton Beach today following Sunday's attack

Ms Waldron and Ms Mitchell were childhood friends in Hamilton in New Zealand.

Ms Mitchell's cousin, Alan Frost, told the New Zealand Herald she was unhurt in the incident at Thornton Beach, in Daintree, after the pair of friends waded waist-deep into the water that was known to have a high population of crocodiles.

Despite Ms Mitchell's desperate efforts to free her friend from the predator's clutches, Ms Waldron was dragged away as she screamed, 'a croc's got me, a croc's got me', 9News reported.

Ms Mitchell, who had felt something brush past her leg just moments before the attack, is now recovering in Mossman Hospital.

'She has got good friends around her,' Mr Frost said.

'Leeann is a really good person, she has some really good support around her.'

Ms Mitchell's cousin, Alan Frost, said she was unhurt in the incident at Thornton Beach, in Daintree, after the pair of friends waded waist-deep into the water that was known to have a high population of crocodiles

The crocodile suspected of carrying out the attack on Sunday is pictured near Thornton Beach six months ago

The pair were swimming at Thornton Beach at Daintree (pictured), an area with a high crocodile population

There are crocodile warning signs on the side of the Daintree River near where the attack took place

RECENT CROCODILE ATTACKS IN QUEENSLAND * May 29, 2016 A 46-year-old woman is snatched and dragged under water during a late-night swim with a friend at Thornton Beach in the Daintree National Park. Her friend tried in vain to save her. * March, 2016 Cooktown sailor Graham Clark fended off a crocodile with a piece of wood after it latched onto the side of his boat at the town's harbour. The 70-year-old was woken by barking fox-terrier Laddie. * December 2, 2015 Snorkelling off the coast of Lizard Island at night, Noosa man Mick Curwen was bitten on the arm by a 2.5m crocodile. He managed to shock the reptile by shining his torch in its eyes before frantically swimming to shore. * April 13, 2015 An elderly golfer was attacked at a Port Douglas course owned by Clive Palmer. The 70-year-old man disturbed a crocodile in a waterway at the 11th hole of the Palmer Sea Reef Golf Course and suffered puncture wounds. * March 9, 2011 A fisherman suffered a broken leg after being struck by a four-metre croc at Weipa in the Gulf of Carpentaria. The 28-year-old clung to mangroves before another fisherman was able to fight it off. * February 5, 2011 A north Queensland man was swimming at a popular watering hole near Weipa with his two daughters when a crocodile latched onto his arm. He punched it several times in the head before it let go. * February 8, 2009 Five-year-old Jeremy Doble was taken on the banks of the Daintree River in Cairns. He was playing with his older brother when he followed the family's dog into the water. * September 30, 2008 Vietnam veteran Arthur Booker, 62, was killed while checking a crab pot on the Endeavour River near Cooktown. Two weeks later remains were found in the stomach of a 4.3m crocodile.

Following the attack, federal MP Warren Entsch said the attack must not spark a hysterical debate about crocodile management in his electorate.

'You can't legislate against human stupidity,' he told AAP on Monday.

'This is a tragedy but it was avoidable. There are warning signs everywhere up there.'

Mr Entsch said he feared the attack might spark a reactive debate about how to manage crocodiles, but people must remember the attack happened inside a national park in an area where visitors are warned about the dangers.

'Let's not start vendettas. It's hard enough for some families to make a quid up there in the Daintree, showcasing crocs in their environment,' he said.

'People have to have some level of responsibility for their own actions.'

On Monday, Senior Constable Russell Parker revealed details about the struggle which saw the 46-year-old woman taken away by a crocodile.

'Her 47-year-old friend tried to grab her and drag her to safety and she just wasn't able to do that,' he told ABC radio.

'They had been walking along the beach and they've decided to go for a swim... [it was] probably a very nice, clear night, but obviously [they] may not have been aware of the dangers.

'We believe they were visiting the area and weren't local to it.'

Ms Mitchell then ran to a nearby business to raise the alarm, and was taken to hospital suffering shock and grazes.

Queensland Ambulance service said she was extremely traumatised, having watched her friend being pulled out into the ocean.

A search and rescue is currently underway for the missing woman - who is originally from New Zealand - after an extensive search on Sunday and Monday found no trace of the victim.

Acting Inspector Ed Lukin said the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection organised for traps to arrive on Tuesday afternoon.

'We expect to have them in the water, tide dependent, between 5 and 7pm tonight and theyll be on the water as well until 2am,' he said.

If fears about the woman's fate play out, it will be the second fatality involving a crocodile in a fortnight.

On May 17, Noel Ramage, 72, drowned after a crocodile reportedly overturned the boat he and his mate were in while crabbing near Gunn Point, about 40km northeast of Darwin.

The Victorian man was trapped under the capsized tinnie and drowned while his 72-year-old friend hurled spanners and spark plugs at the croc in a desperate bid to keep it at bay.

The friend was trapped in muddy mangroves for three hours before he was rescued.

Federal MP Warren Entsch has said the attack must not spark a hysterical debate about crocodile management in his electorate. Pictured is a sign along the Daintree River
Detectives revealed a major development in a 26-year-old cold case murder of a Kansas teen as they said they have identified a suspect.

Sarah Jo DeLeon was 19 years old when she was stabbed multiple times after suffering a head wound on December 29, 1989, according to the Kansas City Star.

Her body was dumped along railroad tracks near Interstate 435 and Wolcott Drive on the western edge of the city.

Detectives revealed a major development in a 26-year-old cold case murder of Kansas teen, Sarah Jo DeLeon (left and right) as they said they have identified a suspect. DeLeon was 19 years old when she was stabbed multiple times after suffering a head wound on December 29, 1989

Detective Scott Howard said they have identified a woman from the Kansas City metropolitan area as the suspect

Kansas City, Kansas detectives announced on Sunday that they found a pattern of behavior that might link DeLeon's murder to the unsolved 1994 murder of Diana Marie Ault in Independence and an abduction in Kansas City on February 13, 1987.

Detective Scott Howard told the Star that the suspect they have identified is a woman from the Kansas City metropolitan area.

He said the 'investigation has revealed that the suspect and an accomplice have been involved in other incidents'.

The case was reopened in July 2014 after new DNA collection and testing technology prompted them to reopen it.

Howard said the Kansas City Police Department has spent more than $50,000 in testing and manpower in the latest attempt to solve the case, according to the Star.

'We believe that we can show a pattern of behavior that links this to the DeLeon homicide and other crimes,' Howard told the newspaper.

In December of 1989, DeLeon was stabbed multiple times and she suffered a head wound.

Her body, which was dumped along railroad tracks near Interstate 435, was spotted by a train crew.

DeLeon's car was found earlier that morning, with the door open and the flashers on, about a mile from her home, according to the Star.

Detectives announced on Sunday that they found a pattern of behavior that might link DeLeon's (left) murder to the unsolved 1994 murder of Diana Marie Ault (right) in Independence and an abduction in Kansas City on February 13, 1987

At the time, police found no blood or evidence of a struggle around her car and there was no indication of sexual assault.

Police said DeLeon had left her boyfriend's house about 1am and was headed home.

DeLeon was a 1989 graduate of Washington High School and was attending Kansas City Kansas Community College when she was killed.

Ault, who was 26 at the time, was shot to death inside her home in Independence.

She was shot in front of her four-year-old son and six-month-old daughter on January 31, 1994.

Police found her car and a gun thought to be the murder weapon at a nearby church.

Ault and her husband had told police they had received several threatening phone calls, mostly from a woman, according to the Star.

Detectives haven't provided details about what connects the murders but both families believed that they were linked.
A man has been freed by emergency services after being trapped for over an hour when his car was involved in a crash with five other vehicles.

The man, aged in his 30s, was rushed to Liverpool Hospital with serious leg injuries after the collision about 500m south of the M5 interchange on the Hume Highway, near the Ingleburn exit, in Sydney's southwest around 6am on Tuesday.

Major delays are expected and traffic is backed up almost 15 kilometres.

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A man, aged in his 30s, has been rushed to hospital after being trapped for over an hour when his vehicle was involved in a crash with five other cars

The man was rushed to Liverpool Hospital with serious leg injuries after the collision on the Hume Highway, near Glenfield in Sydney's south-west around 6am on Tuesday

Two other motorists were also taken to hospital in a stable condition.

A witness said the crash involved a utility vehicle, a truck and multiple cars which were 'badly damaged,' The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

'Motorists are strongly urged to delay city-bound travel via Glenfield on the Hume Motorway,' A Transport Management Centre spokesman said.

Three city bound lanes were closed as paramedics attempted to free the man, but a NSW police spokesperson confirmed they were reopened by 9am.

Major delays are expected and traffic is backed up almost 15 kilometres. Pictured is the corner of the Hume Highway and Narellan Road looking north toward Liverpool at 8am

Major delays are expected and traffic is backed up almost 15 kilometres

Two other motorists were also taken to hospital in a stable condition

'Motorists are strongly urged to delay city-bound travel via Glenfield on the Hume Motorway,' A Transport Management Centre spokesman said
A suspected child sex offender was charged on Monday in Sydney's west

A suspected child sex offender has been charged after allegedly sending explicit messages to a woman he believed was offering her daughter for sex.

Detectives arrested and charged a 34-year-old man in Westmead, in Sydney's west, at 6.35pm on Monday after he allegedly messaged a woman online he believed was the mother of a young girl who was being exploited.

He allegedly sent several sexually explicit comments regarding the child who he believed to be aged between 10 and 16, and requested to meet the mother and child.

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Detectives arrested and charged a 34-year-old man (pictured left) in Westmead, in Sydney's west, at 6.35pm on Monday

He was charged after allegedly messaging a woman online he believed was the mother of a young girl who was being exploited

He allegedly sent several sexually explicit comments regarding the child who he believed to be aged between 10 and 16, and requested to meet the mother and child

Police conducted a search of the man and his car, seizing his mobile phone. They later searched a home in Thornleigh, in the city's north-west, and seized a computer.

New South Wales Police sex crime detectives began speaking with the man in November 2015, as part of a covert operation.

Police conducted a search of the man and his car, seizing his mobile phone. They later searched a home in Thornleigh, in the city's north-west, and seized a computer

New South Wales Police sex crime detectives began speaking with the man in November 2015, as part of a covert operation

The man was taken to Parramatta Police Station where he was charged with inciting sexual intercourse with a child between 10 and 16 years of age

The man was taken to Parramatta Police Station where he was charged with inciting sexual intercourse with a child between 10 and 16 years of age and using a carriage service for child pornography.

The man was arrested as part of Strike Force Trawler which investigates sex abuse and exploitation of children through the internet and mobile phones.

He was refused bail and remanded to appear at Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday.

The man was also charged with using a carriage service for child pornography

The man (pictured right) was arrested as part of Strike Force Trawler which investigates sex abuse and exploitation of children through the internet and mobile phones
Ministers were last night accused of staggering complacency for ignoring a string of warnings that Britains small ports are an easy target for people smugglers.

Four reports, the most recent last week, have sounded the alarm over lax border controls. But the Government claimed the threat was not currently assessed as being significant.

As evidence grew of smugglers repeatedly targeting small harbours, there are fears Britains soft underbelly has been left exposed.

Discarded: The motor dinghy found full of lifejackets on Dymchurch beach two weeks ago. Its occupants have vanished

Meanwhile it was revealed that:

 A Navy warship could be sent to the Channel to pick up migrants;

 Two British men appeared in court over Sundays bid to bring 18 Albanians into Dymchurch, Kent;

 Residents in the village revealed photos of a boat used in an earlier  apparently successful  attempt to smuggle migrants ashore;

 Border guards warned of an unprecedented number of small craft trafficking in migrants;

 Several experts warned the scenes in the Mediterranean, where thousands have died, could be repeated in the Channel;

 New powers are being introduced today to crack down on people smuggling.

Concerns about the vulnerability of Britains coastline were raised in two reports in 2010 and 2011 by John Vine, the then independent inspector of borders. Both found small ports were at risk from people smugglers.

THE FOUR WARNINGS...AND HOW MINISTERS DISMISSED CONCERNS Border fears: Ex-boss John Vine On the South West and Wales: Staff raised concerns that some of the smaller ports in the region were not staffed and there was a risk that potential immigration offenders were not being detected. John Vine  July 2010 On Northern Ireland and Scotland: Very little risk-assessment work was performed on the threats and risks posed by small airfields and harbours and it was unclear who had responsibility for this area. John Vine  May 2011 Border Force recognised that its knowledge of the threats and risks associated with general maritime was poor and needed to improve ... [It] should put processes in place to capture, enhance and analyse information, including evidence of criminal activity. David Bolt  January 2016 Levels of knowledge and understanding of the threats and risks [of general aviation and maritime] remain generally poor. Coverage of GM [general maritime] was poor in large part because of the absence of information about GM arrivals, over which Border Force had little immediate control. David Bolt last month The risk of people smuggling into the UK via [general aviation and general maritime] is not currently assessed as being significant. Home Office response to Mr Bolts report

Then in January, Chief Inspector of Borders David Bolt highlighted how a large number of small boats arrive each year from outside the EU with no checks being carried out by border guards.

His damning report said: Border Force recognised that its knowledge of the threats and risks associated with GM [general marine - or small boats] was poor and needed to improve.

Reacting at the time, the Government said: The risk of people smuggling into the UK via GA/GM [general aviation/general maritime] is not currently assessed as being significant. Mr Bolts warning was repeated in his annual report for ministers, published last week.

As far back as 2008 Lord Carlile, the then independent reviewer of terror laws, raised concerns about small aircraft which fly into and out of British airspace every day.

The Home Office insisted last night it remained vigilant to changes and pledged to strengthen our response should the risk picture change. But yesterday Mr Vine, his predecessor as independent borders inspector, accused ministers of ignoring warnings about the threat. He warned lives would be lost unless more resources were ploughed in to stop migrants trying to reach the UK on boats. Mr Vine said he found the issue wasnt a major priority when he raised concerns in the past.

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner Martyn Underhill said: Youre only as strong as your weakest link and at the moment the weakest link is our ports.

Lucy Moreton, general secretary of the Immigration Services Union, said large stretches of Britains coastline were left unpoliced. Officials simply did not know how many people have sneaked into the country undetected. Britain has three Border Force vessels to patrol more than 7,000 miles of coastline.

Labour MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said: The Home Office has repeatedly been warned about the vulnerabilities of our small ports and airports yet it is still a problem. This is staggering complacency.

Former immigration Minister, Damian Green told Channel 4 news: People may die. I think its as serious as that.

Chris Hobbs, a former Scotland Yard Border control officer, said: It could be that we get similar scenes to such that weve seen in the Mediterranean.

Last month the National Crime Agency warned that people smugglers are now targeting smaller ports and stretches of beach around Kent and Sussex.

Home Secretary Theresa May has been warned that organised criminals are already exploiting gaps in the largely unprotected eastern coastline using private boats to smuggle illegal drugs, migrants and weapons into the UK. She has ordered a shake-up of Britains coastal defences amid fears migrants are increasingly trying to access the East Coast.

The Home Office said it treated national security as a priority with its Border Force vessels using intelligence to intercept any suspicious craft. It said it would deploy a new fleet of rigid-hulled inflatable patrol vessels in the coming months to crack down on smuggler and people traffickers.

The Border Force replaced the UK Border Agency, which was scrapped in 2013 after a string of failures. It emerged the Border Forces budget has been slashed by nearly 50million in just three years  from 604million for 2013-14 to 558million this year  and that it is now using civilian volunteers.

Ready to protect our borders: HMS Sutherland already has the job of escorting foreign ships through UK territorial waters

Outcry in Britain's small ports

Abandoned on the same beach where 18 Albanians were brought ashore, this boat is feared to have been used to smuggle more migrants into Britain.

Residents of the seaside village of Dymchurch in Kent said CCTV footage from local businesses showed migrants being ushered up the sea slipway under cover of darkness two weeks ago.

The grainy films were handed to border officials but it did not appear to have stopped people smugglers from targeting the same spot again on Sunday.

Locals said their stretch of coastline was a soft touch for gangs whom they feared would continue to bring their human cargo ashore.

Their concerns were echoed by others around the country who voiced fears of unguarded coastline and harbours and a Border Force stretched too thinly without adequate resources.

The Daily Mail told yesterday how traffickers are using small ports, marinas and isolated beaches, targeting the same spots once frequented by smugglers of spirits, tobacco and tea.

Now residents in Dymchurch have told how they have regularly spotted large inflatables like this appearing abandoned on beaches overnight  dumped by the gangs once they have made it to British soil.

Phil Reay, 58, an HGV driver from the village, said: It has been quite regular in the past month. Personally I know of at least three occasions when these boats have appeared on the beach. Its only now there has been all the publicity about it that its finally come to light. Itll happen again, now they know our town is a soft touch.

Eighteen Albanians and two Britons were rescued and brought ashore in Dymchurch in the early hours of Sunday after their inflatable began to sink.

Residents said the abandoned boat used in earlier attempt, on May 11, appeared better equipped as it was larger and found packed with life jackets.

Towed away: The boat from which 18 Albanians were rescued on Sunday

Mark Wools, 53, who owns the Dymchurch Amusement Arcade, told the Mail his CCTV had captured footage shortly after 3am, showing men being ushered up the slipway and into waiting cars and a Ford Transit van. The empty inflatable was found hours later, abandoned on the slipway.

Mr Wools said: The footage shows a group of eight dark-skinned men in dark clothing walking along the slipway into two cars and a van, at around 3am.

They werent wearing life jackets and all of them were dressed in dark clothes. He said he had given the CCTV footage to border officials.Another local business owner said she had also handed in CCTV film from that day, which showed two cars and a transit van stopping at the seafront before racing off through the town.

Shortly afterwards, locals said they had seen two men in life jackets walking from the beach towards the town centre.

Police were called and examined the boat later that day, and interviewed two men on the beach. The Border Force refused to confirm or deny if it had been given CCTV footage. Ice cream seller Chris Hardy, 62, said: I suspect its happened before and will happen again. Its quite a worry for all of us. When they come ashore they are in a panic, so who knows what theyll do.

A second vessel, believed to be linked to the inflatable that got into trouble, was discovered on the beach on Sunday at Dymchurch and was seized by the authorities

Union officials have warned that Britains coastline is facing one of its biggest ever breaches of borders and that long stretches are left unpoliced. Britain currently has just three Border Force cutters to patrol more than 7,000 miles of coast. A fourth is in maintenance and a fifth in the Aegean Sea.

Investigators have found evidence of people-smuggling gangs charging up to 12,000 per migrant, meaning they are unlikely to give up their lucrative trade.

Arrests have been made at small ports from Devon to Norfolk. In Weymouth, Dorset, fishermen said they rarely see Border Force patrol boats, and warned the coastguard helicopter is being scrapped next year, meaning the closest will be in Portsmouth.

Paul Compton, 69, said: The whole south coast west of Southsea is completely open.

In Chichester, West Sussex, 17 Albanians and a British man were detained on a catamaran at the towns marina last week. Locals said smugglers could see it as an easy target.

Yachtsman Edward Reddish, 69, said: There are no immigration police down here and security is lax so they will more than likely get away with it.

The East Anglian coast has also been targeted by smugglers, who use its isolated creeks to land in secret. Locally there are fears that cuts to border patrols and policing will leave it vulnerable.

Chris Hobbs, an ex-Metropolitan Police Special Branch officer who worked in border control, warned that resources had been redeployed to cover the security threat facing major airports, leaving coastal defences almost non-existent.
A Royal Navy warship could be deployed to the English Channel to pick up migrants crossing the sea from France.

HMS Sutherland  already at high readiness defending Britains coastline  could be tasked with saving hundreds of migrants and dropping them off in the UK.

The Plymouth-based frigate is often used to escort Russian and Chinese warships which pass into UK territorial waters and through the Channel.

Navy sources have said it would take on a similar task to British ships currently in the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas.

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Ready to protect our borders: HMS Sutherland already has the job of escorting foreign ships through UK territorial waters

A source told the Daily Mail: If asked by the Home Office, it could be tasked with the job. In an extreme situation it would be very strange if the warship did not pick up migrants. The laws of the sea mean it would have to. In theory it could pick up hundreds of people.

But Vice Admiral Sir Jeremy Blackham, former deputy chief of defence staff, said the ship could become a magnet for migrants.

He said: The navy could certainly help but there needs to be both legal and political discussions about what we would do with the people we pick up as it will undoubtedly act as a magnet to attract more people to do the journey. He added: Its deployment is also bound to be at the expense of some other task [which] would have to be dropped.

Another Navy source said there would need to be a policy put in place in order to make it a directed task  like the mission in the Mediterranean  rather than one they just react to. It would require a request by the Home Office and then the Ministry of Defence would assign the ship.

Twice last month HMS Sutherland, based in Plymouth, was tasked with escorting a Russian ship in the English Channel. Trish Kohn, Commanding Officer of HMS Sutherland, said last month of the escort mission: Were ready to protect UK territorial waters.

It comes after Admiral Lord West, former head of the Navy, warned that Britains borders are at risk from terrorists and uncontrolled flows of migrants because so few boats patrol UK waters.

Discarded: A motor dinghy found full of lifejackets on Dymchurch beach two weeks ago. Its occupants have vanished

Just three Border Force vessels patrol 7,700 miles of coastline after another was deployed to the Aegean Sea to tackle the migrant crisis.

It comes after aerial surveillance of Britains shores was scrapped in January to save money. Both Britains Maritime and Coastguard Agency and HM Revenue and Customs officials are said to be deeply concerned that the UK has not got control of its territorial waters.

Earlier this month a report by peers said claims that Operation Sophia, the EU naval mission against people smugglers, would act as a magnet to migrants had some validity.

But retired naval officer Rear Admiral Chris Parry warned that if action was not taken more migrants will flood across the Channel during the summer months undetected. He said the Government should deploy a warship to the Channel to defend Britains shores rather than giving it to the Mediterranean migrant operation.

He told BBC Radio 4s PM programme: Most people who know how to use a boat could get across the Channel undetected and our border with France along the maritime coast is extremely porous.
Pawpawsaurus, the armoured cousin of the tank-like Ankylosaurus dinosaur, had a keen sense of smell.

That's according to scientists who examined the shape of a Pawpawsaurus skull that lived in what is now Texas around 100 million years ago.

Researchers believe the creature was a direct ancestor of Ankylosaurus, a ferocious creature which roamed the Earth roughly 35 million years later.

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Pawpawsaurus, the armoured cousin of the tank-like Ankylosaurus dinosaur, had a keen sense of smell. That's according to scientists who examined the shape of a Pawpawsaurus skull that lived in what is now Texas around 100 million years ago

THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD The Cretaceous period is the name given to the time between 145 to 66 million years ago. Oxygen levels, CO2 levels and temperature were all above today's average. Many researchers have traced the origin of flight back to this period. The end of the Cretaceous was marked by a mass extinction event that wiped out nearly all large vertebrates. It is thought this was due to a large asteroid hitting the Earth, causing a 'nuclear winter' as sunlight was blocked by dust particles. Advertisement

Pawpawsaurus's hearing wasn't keen, and it lacked the infamous tail club of Ankylosaurus.

But first-ever CT scans of Pawpawsaurus's skull indicate the dinosaur's's saving grace from predators was its acute sense of smell

The team take took the CT scans included researchers from Seoul University in South Korea and Southern Methodist University in Texas.

The scans allowed them to explore the structures of the brain and bone cavity to find out more about its features.

Paulina-Carabajal, one of the lead researchers said: 'Pawpawsaurus in particular, and the group it belonged to, Nodosauridae, had no flocculus'.

This is a structure of the brain involved with motor skills.

'[It also] had no club tail, and a reduced nasal cavity and portion of the inner ear when compared with the other family of ankylosaurs.

'But its sense of smell was very important, as it probably relied on that to look for food, find mates and avoid or flee predators.'

'We can observe the complete nasal cavity morphology with the CT scans.'

These scans revealed an enlarged nasal cavity compared to dinosaurs other than ankylosaurians.

That may have helped Pawpawsaurus bellow out a lower range of vocalizations.

It would also have improved its sense of smell, and cooled the inflow of air to regulate the temperature of blood flowing into the brain.

Pawpawsaurus had a slightly weaker sense of smell than Ankylosaurus, but it would have been sharper than the predators of its time, due to the unique bony ridges in their nasal cavities.

Pawpawsaurus, meaning 'Pawpaw Lizard', is a nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Cretaceous period

The nasal cavities of Pawpawsaurus resemble that of Panoplosaurus and Euoplocephalus (artist's impression pictured)

The scientists built a digital reconstruction of the dinosaur brain from the scans using computer software.

'Once we have the 3D model, we can describe and measure all its different regions,' Paulina-Carabajal said.

'We can then compare that to existing reptile brains and their senses of hearing and smell. Hearing, for example, can be determined from the size of the lagena, the region of the inner ear that perceives sounds.'

In this instance, sense of smell is estimated by the size ratio of a structure called the olfactory bulb in the brain.

Since Pawpawsaurus had a lower ratio than Ankylosaurus, scientists could conclude it had a weaker sense of hearing; but it was higher than others of the time.

The size of the lagena, and therefore strength of hearing in Pawpawsaurus is apparently comparable to modern crocodiles.

'CT imaging has allowed us to delve into the intricacies of the brains of extinct animals, especially dinosaurs, to unlock secrets of their ways of life,' said Jacobs, a professor in the SMU Department of Earth Sciences.
If this were the case, astronomers could detect energy flashes or beacons

And, researchers argue that other intelligent life could be

Philip Lubin says there is a chance aliens evolved in the same way as us

Astronomers have spent decades searching for intelligent extraterrestrial life.

Now, an experts suggest it might not be as difficult as weve thought.

As revolutionary concepts like Breakthrough Starshot plan to launch directed energy lasers missions, a scientists says its possible that other species in the universe could be using similar technology and this would make them easier to detect.

Astronomers have spent decades searching to no avail for evidence of intelligent extraterrestrial life. Now, some experts suggest it might not be as difficult as weve thought. Researchers say it's possible other species in the Universe could have similar technology to ours, making them easy to detect

HOW TO SEARCH FOR ALIEN LIFE In a new paper, Philip Lubin and colleagues propose new ways to look for alien life, which could be easier than it's been thought. They suggest that intelligent civilisations may be using technologies like the ones humans are developing, including 'directed energy.' These could be used by extraterrestrial life for the purpose of propulsion, defense, scanning, and communications, as humans plan to. Evidence of this could be found in nearby star or planetary systems if it's being used, the researchers explain. Surveys for these types of technology might be able to detect flashes of energy in a 'spill over,' or even a beacon.

Earlier this year, the radical project called Breakthrough Starshot revealed its plans to send tiny nanocraft to Alpha Centauri, flying on sails pushed by laser beams through the universe.

According to Philip Lubin, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who is involved with Starshot, these efforts might allow humans to broadcast our presence to other intelligent lifeforms, Universe Today explains.

Lubin details these ideas in a recent paper.

Along with Starshot, Lubin discusses Nasas DE-STAR project  the Directed Energy System for Targeting of Asteroids and exploration.

This will use lasers to target and deflect near-earth objects.

And, the researcher says other species in the universe may be creating similar lasers systems that can send signals to Earth.

This is based on the assumption that humans are not that technologically advanced and that other habitable worlds have evolved in the same way as ours.

For instance, using directed energy laser systems, aliens harness the power of a star like our sun and convert it into energy to send signals.

If aliens are using similar technology, then current explorations in nearby star and planetary systems might be able to detect flashes of energy in a 'spill over,' or even a beacon.

There are a number of reasons a civilisation would use directed energy systems of the type discussed here, the authors write.

If other civilisations have an environment like we do they might use DE system for applications such as propulsion or scanning systems to survey their local environment, power beaming across large distances among many others.

Directed-energy moves at the speed of light, so it would take a message more than four years to reach Earths nearest star, 1000 years to reach the Kepler planets, and 2 million years to get to Andromeda, the nearest galaxy. Andromeda is pictured above

Surveys that are sensitive to these utilitarian applications are a natural by-product of the spill over of these issues, through a systematic beacon would be much easier to detect.

These techniques would be very different from what SETI and other researchers have been doing, Lubin explains.

Earlier technologies limited this type of research to passive efforts.

The proposed methods, however, would not be without their challenges.

Directed-energy moves at the speed of light, Universe Today explains, so it would take a message more than four years to reach Earths nearest star, 1000 years to reach the Kepler planets, and 2 million years to get to Andromeda, the nearest galaxy.

By then, there would be better ways to communicate, they explain.

And, theres also the possibility that extraterrestrials might not actually be using these systems, the researcher acknowledges.

What is an assumption, of course, is that electromagnetic communications has any relevance on times scales that are millions of year and in particular that electromagnetic communications (which includes beacons) should have anything to do with wavelengths near human vision, the authors write.
How bumblebees find flowers to gather nectar and pollen was largely a mystery  until now.

Scientists have found tiny, vibrating hairs may explain how the industrious insects sense and interpret signals transmitted by flowers, leading them to the plants so they can gather pollen.

While it was known that flowers communicate with pollinators by sending out electric signals, experts were previously unsure how bees detect the fields.

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How bumblebees find flowers to gather nectar and pollen was largely a mystery. Now, scientists have discovered that static electricity causes the hairs to move and helps the bees find sources of pollen

Using a laser to measure vibrations, scientists at the University of Bristol found both the bees' antenna and the hairs on their bodies dance in response to an electric field.

However, they discovered the hairs move more dramatically and rapidly.

Looking at the bees' nervous system, they discovered it is the hairs that alert the bee's nervous system to this signal.

Dr Gregory Sutton of Bristols School of Biological Sciences said: We were excited to discover that bees' tiny hairs dance in response to electric fields, like when humans hold a balloon to their hair.

The findings, published in the international journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) today, suggest that electroreception in insects may be widespread.

A lot of insects have similar body hairs, which leads to the possibility that many members the insect world may be equally sensitive to small electric fields, Dr Sutton added.

Electroreception - the biological ability to perceive natural electrical stimuli - may arise from the bees' hairs being lightweight and stiff.

These properties suggest a rigid, lever-like motion similar to acoustically sensitive spider hairs and mosquito antennae.

Electroreception is common in aquatic mammals.

MEAN BEES KEEP THE BEST SPOTS A SECRET Bees learn the shortest and most efficient flight to flowers rich in nectar. But because competition is fierce, bees keep their favourite patches of flowers secret and don't help out their competitors. Dr Mathieu Lihoreau at Queen Mary University of London, said: 'Like other pollinators, bees face complex routing challenges when collecting nectar and pollen. 'They have to learn how to link patches of flowers together in the most efficient way, to minimise their travel distance and flight costs, just like in a travelling salesman problem.' In the experiment, published in Plos One, experts set up a huge flight cage including a range of artificial flowers, fitted with motion-sensitive video cameras, which had controlled nectar flow rates for the bees to visit. Two bees were allowed into it at any one time - one experience bee and another newcomer. While the newcomers did try to copy the choices of seasoned foragers, the more experienced bees didn't appreciate their behaviour, and frequently attacked the newcomers and tried to evict them from flowers. Dr Lihoreau said: 'Responses to intense initial competition between bees for nectar could explain how pollinators gradually learn to visit different patches of flowers across the landscape.

For example, sharks are equipped with sensitive, jelly-filled receptors that detect fluctuations in electric fields in seawater which helps them to home in on their prey.

Scientists are interested in understanding how floral signals are perceived, received and acted upon by bees, because they are critical pollinators of our crops and bumblebee populations are declining.

In Britain, 12 of 26 bumblebee species are rapidly declining, with rural development and the loss of wild meadows over the last century, thought to be major factors.

And in the US, in the last half decade alone, nearly a third of all bee colonies have perished.

Some scientists blame viruses, while others point to pesticides which harm the way bees navigate.

Previous research into the relationship between bees and flowers has revealed the plants and pollinators likely evolved together.

This finding has gradually led to the unravelling of this important network which keeps our planet green.
He was a key Apple employee, known as the 'father of the iPod' - and now Tony Fadell, who also invested the Nest smart thermostat, has beaten his old employer to launch an electric vehicle.

The $600 Arrow 'smart-kart' includes includes GPS and WiFi to keep drivers safe, and is aimed at 5-9 year olds.

Parents using a mobile app can geofence the kart's driving area, limit the top speed or even hit a stop button in an emergency.

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The $600 Arrow 'smart-kart' includes includes GPS and WiFi to keep drivers safe, and is aimed at 5-9 year olds.

SMART KART SPECS Electric Motors: Two independent 250W motors with 12mph top speed Brakes: Electronic regenerative braking Seat: Contoured seat with dual speakers, WiFi antenna and rear light Pedals: Adjustable accelerator and brake pedals Battery: Smart Lithium-Ion battery Proximity Sensor: Detects obstacles for automatic collision avoidance

There's also a proximity sensor to automatically prevent accidents.

Fadell co-founded Actev Motors, a Silicon Valley startup with the CEO Dave Bell.

'We want to teach the next generation about electric vehicles,' Fadell told Fortune.

The kart also comes with a huge range of customisable options, including different body styles, a higher-capacity battery and even a drift kit.

Fadell says he was inspired by soap box racers for the project, and admits his motivation was his own kids.

'It had to materialize before they got older because I really wanted to do this for them,' said Fadell, who has three children under the age of 10.

He also hinted to Fortune the firm is building a full sized version, saying his friends who saw the kart had all asked for one.

'They ask for an adult size,' he said. 'So you can imagine what we are thinking.'

Dave Bell, the CEO of Actev, said: 'As a long time-car enthusiast, I wanted to leverage my 35 years of technology experience to bring a whole new category of fun and safe vehicles to families.'

'Simple battery-powered ride-on cars don't excite today's kids  they seek high-tech interactive experiences.

'The Arrow Smart-Kart gets kids off the couch and outside, and behind the wheel of a real driving machine.'

Kids can also personalise their driving experience by downloading synthesized engine sounds from an online sound library.

The Arrow app also lets kids monitor stats such as total driving time, total distance and maximum speed.

Last year Fadell revealed Steve Jobs began talking about an Apple car in 2008, it has been revealed.

Kids can also personalise their driving experience by downloading synthesized engine sounds from an online sound library.

Ex-Apple employee Tony Fadell, known as the 'father of the iPod', told Bloomberg he discussed the plans for a car in 2008 with Jobs.

Fadell, the inventor of Nest and now a Google employee tasked with reinventing Google Glass, claimed that phones and cars are in fact similar.

Ex-Apple employee Tony Fadell (pictured), known as the 'father of the iPod', the inventor of Nest and now a Google employee tasked with reinventing Google Glass, told Bloomberg he discussed the plans for a car in 2008 with Jobs.

When asked if he ever talked to Steve Jobs about building a car,he told Bloomberg TV's Emily Chang.

'Yes, we did. We had a couple walks. And this was in 2008'

The pair posed hypothetical questions to each other, such as: 'If we were to build a car, what would we build? What would a dashboard be? And what would this be? What would seats be? How would you fuel it or power it?' Jobs decided not to move forward at the time.

The discussions took place when the American auto industry was on the verge of collapse, and Apple was busy trying to establish the iPhone as a mainstream product.

Fadfell says he was inspired by soap box racers for the project, and admits his motivation was his own kids.

'The Detroit auto industry was almost dead,' Fadell said in the interview.

Fadell pointed out, phones and cars aren't that different: 'A car has batteries; it has a computer; it has a motor; and it has mechanical structure.

'If you look at an iPhone, it has all the same things. It even has a motor in it.

Fadell (right) said his relationship with Steve Jobs (left) was 'dramatic'.

'But the hard stuff is really on the connectivity and how cars could be self-driving.'

In an interview last year, Apple board member Mickey Drexler said that before his death in 2011, Steve Jobs had considered building a car.

He told Paul Goldberger: 'Steve Jobs was gonna design an iCar.

'I think cars have an extraordinary opportunity for cool design.'

Fadell said his relationship with Steve Jobs was 'dramatic'.

'There were times when it was friendly.

'I wouldn't say we were friends, per se, you know, in terms of, like, hanging out.

'But it was very friendly and but it was tough at times. I'd call him on the crap sometimes. He didn't like that.'

Based on the technology currently being used in a range of electric and driverless cars Re/Code has designed a graphic showing all the companies currently involved in this space. The chips used to power electronics are shown being made by Qualcomm and Samsung, while firms listed under cameras include Mobileye and Valeo

'If there isn't tension then there's not creation. You need to have creative tension to really change things. It was a dramatic relationship.'

The full episode airs tonight on Bloomberg TV at 6PM PT/9 PM.

Apple is rumoured to be developing a self-driving car, joining the likes of Google and Tesla, and there are a range of firms already paving the way for such autonomous vehicles.

Based on this technology and these manufacturers, Re/Code designed a graphic showing all the companies currently involved in this space.

The chips used to power electronics are shown being made by Qualcomm and Samsung, while firms listed under the camera section include Mobileye and Valeo.

The graphic was designed by Re/Code using a stock image. It is not a rendering of an actual vehicle.

Rumours about an Apple car surfaced earlier this year after a prototype car was spotted fitted with cameras and sensors. After the first mysterious camera-mounted car was spotted in California, further sightings of Apple's minivans were posted online, with equipment on top (shown here)

In an article accompanying the piece, journalist Mark Bergen said: 'If Apple gets into the race, it's unlikely to build cars alone. Who will it turn to?

'Tesla has touted its recent advancements in autonomous driving, as have Daimler, Audi and BMW.

'The less-familiar companies are the ones behind the scenes - the manufacturers, suppliers and startups building the hardware and software that equip vehicles with autonomous features, or that build self-driving cars from scratch.'

He continued that several companies already provide parts to the likes of Google and Tesla, including Bosch and Continental, while others have been involved in smart dashboards, such as Qualcomm.

Other companies mentioned on the graphic include Velodyne, a market-leading Lidar firm.

Since then a number of designers have released concept drawings of what they think the vehicle will look like. This vision shows a semi-autonomous electric car in the minimalist tradition of Apple design, it features external LED screens at the front and back with a discreet hatch and doors that open laterally

Another designer embellished his curved iCar concept with Apple logos on the front and on all the car seats

Its advanced sensors are already used by trucking companies while it also offers an $8,000 smaller 'Puck' device.

Elsewhere Silicon Valley-based Atieva is currently designing and creating its own electric car and is in the process of hiring more than 100 engineers and designers.

In May, chip maker Qualcomm announced a 'strategic partnership' with Daimler.

This includes the development of Qualcomm's Halo Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging (WEVC) that doesn't need to be plugged in and can be recharged using kinectic power points.

If successful, Apple could take advantage of these charging breakthroughs.

Meanwhile, one of the retrofitters mentioned in the graphic is a start-up called Zoox.

An unnamed Apple employee recently hinted that the tech giant is developing a vehicle as part of a project that 'will change the landscape and give Tesla a run for its money.' It followed sightings of an Apple-owned car fitted with cameras (pictured) in California

In particular, Apple may be working on an electric car to rival Tesla's range (the Tesla P85D is pictured) or the rumours could be referring to an advanced iPhone in-car control system that would rival Tesla's software

PUBLIC COULD HAVE SELF-DRIVING CARS IN TWO YEARS The head of self-driving cars for Google expects real people to be using them on public roads in two to five years. Chris Urmson said the cars would still be test vehicles, and Google would collect data on how they interact with other vehicles and pedestrians. But Mr Urmson wouldn't give a date for putting driverless cars on roads en masse, saying that the system has to be safe enough to work properly. He told reporters last month at the Automotive News World Congress in Detroit that he wants to reach the point where his test team no longer has to pilot the cars.

Zoox was co-founded by computer scientist Jesse Levinson and is looking to build an autonomous vehicle from scratch.

Rumours about an Apple car surfaced earlier this year after a prototype car was spotted fitted with cameras and sensors.

An industry expert claimed Apple could have an electric car ready to go on sale by 2020 and since then, a number of designers have released concept drawings of what they think the vehicle will look like.

According to Tim Higgins from Bloomberg, automakers 'typically spend five to seven years developing a car'.

And a 2020 timeframe would underscore Apple's 'aggressive goals and could set the stage for a battle for customers with Tesla Motors and General Motors.'

Both of those are planning to release a sub-26,000 ($40,000) electric car in 2017 that can travel more than 200 miles (320km) on a single charge.

But Tesla boss Elon Musk doesn't feel threatened by the news.

He recently said during an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt that Apple is 'Tesla graveyard' full of his ex employees who didn't make it at his firm.

He added that cars are much more complex than the phones and watches Apple is famous for, and he isn't worried about the competition.

Alternatively, the vehicles spotted in California and Florida could be self-driving cars. The cameras on the mysterious vans could be used to scan the road and help engineers develop autonomous software, for example. If Apple was developing such systems, they would would rival Google's self-driving cars (pictured)

The Florida recording (pictured) was filmed in Coral Springs. This footage shows a white Dodge Caravan fitted with cameras on the roof. As the filmmaker pulls alongside the van, they wave at the two men inside and the passenger is seen concealing an iPad from view
For millennia it remained an untouched paradise of giant baobab trees, strange birds and a unique group of primates called lemurs.

But around 2,000 to 1,000 years ago the first humans arrived on the enormous and eccentric island of Madagascar, just off the east coast of Africa.

Now researchers have discovered the first archaeological evidence for where these first human inhabitants of Madagascar may have come from  southeast Asia.

Archaeologists have discovered residues of mung beans and rice in archaeological layers (pictured) from 18 ancient settlements in Madagascar and the near by Comoros Islands. It suggests these crops were brought from Asia around 1,000 years ago by Austronesians from the Pacific

Despite lying less than 300 miles from continental Africa, it appears the first people to live in Madagascar travelled not from the mainland but from thousands of miles away.

Archaeologists have found the remains of mung beans and rice these settlers brought with them on their journey across the ocean - a distance of more than 3,730 miles (6,000km).

WHO ARE THE AUSTRONESIANS The Austronesians are a range of aborigine and ethnic groups who speak the Austronesian family of languages. These include the Taiwanese aborigines and indigenous populations in Malaysia, East Timor, Philippines, Indonesia, Burnei, Polynesia, New Zealand and Hawaii. They are thought to have originally been a farming culture that spread from somewhere in southern China or Taiwan. They are thought to have begun spreading through the islands of Southeast Asia up to 10,000 years ago, using traditional canoe vessels. There are several theories for their migration through the islands but Austronesian people are thought to have treached Polynesia by around 1,000BC. They also settled on Easter Island by around 300AD and Hawaii by 400AD.

The findings support surprising genetic research that showed the inhabitants of Madagascar share close ancestry with people from Malaysia.

It also helps to explain the inhabitants of Madagascar speak Malagasy, a language otherwise unique to Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Dr Nicole Boivin, an archaeologist at the Univerity of Oxford and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, said it appears Austronesians made the journey to Madagascar around 1,000 years ago bringing crops they had lived on with them.

He said: 'Southeast Asians clearly brought crops from their homeland and grew and subsisted on them when they reached Africa.

'This means that archaeologists can use crop remains as evidence to provide real material insights into the history of the island.

'There are a lot of things we still don't understand about Madagascar's past; it remains one of our big enigmas.

'But what is exciting is that we finally have a way of providing a window into the island's highly mysterious Southeast Asian settlement and distinguishing it from settlements by mainland Africans that we know also happened.'

The distinctive baobab trees of Madagascar (pictured) are just some of the rare and unusual species that have evolved in Madagascar. Relatively cut off from the rest of the world for around 160 million years, the island was only colonised by humans around 1,000 years ago

Researchers believe the Austronesians made the journey to Madagascar - more than 3,700 miles - in traditional canoes. These canoes are still used in remote fishing villages on the country's east coast (pictured)

The researchers, whose work is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analysed plant materials at 18 ancient settlements in Madagascar and on neighbouring islands.

They looked at 2,500 plant remains and found distinct patterns in the species that were distributed around the island.

African crops such as baobab, sorghum and millet were found mainly on the east coast of the African mainland and on islands surrounding Madagascar like Mafia and Zanzibar.

The findings help to confirm theories that humans from the Pacific Islands colonised Madagascar, even though it is just 300 miles from the east African coast. Some scientists believe they may have arrived there as early as 300AD (illustrated), but the new findings suggest they arrived around 1,200 years ago

Among the unique species on Madagascar are the lemurs (pictured), not found anywhere else in the world

But on Madagascar itself, and its neighbouring Comoros Islands, the crops were distinctly Asian in origin.

However, the findings show that the Asian crops only arrived there between the 8th and 10th centuries AD.

The Austronesians were well known to be long distance ocean travellers, having spread from Asia to the Pacific islands and New Zealand up to 10,000 years ago.

Some researchers believe the Austronesians arrived on Madagascar around 300AD, but the new findings suggest they got there around 700-900AD.

Yet the relatively late arrival of humans onto Madagascar still presents a mystery.

The researchers believe it is possible Madagascar was colonised by people from Austronesia who had first settled on nearby islands or somewhere in East Africa.

Dr Alison Crowther, an archaeologist from the University of Queensland, Australia, said the researchers had been particularly surprised by the presence of Asian crops on Comoros.

The Austronesians introduced crops (pictured) including rice and mung beans to Madagascar together with the Malagasy langauge, which is otherwise unique to Southeast Asia and the Pacific

She said: 'This took us by surprise. After all, people in the Comoros speak African languages and they don't look like they have Southeast Asian ancestry in the way that populations on Madagascar do.

'What was amazing to us was the stark contrast that emerged between the crops on the Eastern African coast and the offshore islands versus those on Madagascar, but also the Comoros.'

Dr Boivin added: 'When we started looking more closely into research that has been carried out on Comorian languages, we were able to find numerous esteemed linguists who had argued for the exact thing we seemed to seeing in the Comorian archaeological record - a settlement by people from Southeast Asia.

'So we've been able to not only to show for the first time an archaeological signature of Austronesians, we've also shown that it seems to extend beyond Madagascar.
Before, it was long thought that only bats can fly in complete darkness

are known to do

This suggests it can fly, which no obligatory cave-

A bizarre creature discovered deep in a Croatian cave could upend the long-held principles of subterranean flight.

It's long been thought that bats are the only animals capable of flying in total darkness.

Now, researchers have found an insect with a combination of features that all point to blind flight, suggesting it may be the first flying obligate cave-dweller in the world.

A bizarre creature discovered deep in a Croatian cave could upend the long-held principles of subterranean flight. With pale colour, reduced eyes, and long legs, the researchers explain that the insect is in many ways a 'typical cave animal.' But, the presence of large wings makes Troglocladius hajdi unique

THE UNIQUE CAVE-DWELLER Troglocladius hajdi has a pale yellowish body and strongly reduced eyes. Its antenna is short, but has long hair-like features on some segments. Unlike most subterranean insects, T. hajdi has wings that are long and broad. It also has long forelegs, which may act as feelers during flight. The combination of these features suggests it is able to fly slowly or hover in the complete darkness of the cave.

The insect was discovered in the Lukina jamaTrojama cave system in Croatia, at a depth of nearly 1000 meters.

Lukina jama is the 14th deepest cave in the world.

With pale colour, reduced eyes, and long legs, the researchers explain that the insect is in many ways a 'typical cave animal.'

But, the presence of large wings makes Troglocladius hajdi unique.

In a recent paper, published to the journal Plos One, the researchers from Norway, Germany, and Croatia explain that the discovery challenges previous beliefs that only bats can fly in complete darkness.

Cave-dwelling creatures are divided among three categories: troglophiles, troglobionts, and trogloxenes.

While trogloxenes are 'accidentally' found in caves, using them for shelter and staying close to the light, the other two types are specially adapted to subterranean life.

Of the 21,000 cave-dwelling taxa in the world, there are no known flying troglobionts.

These spend their entire lives in the caves, while troglophiles  like bats  are able to survive outside.

The researchers haven't yet witnessed the creature in flight, but they say its physical features are indicative of this capability, despite its classification as a troglobiont.

'The combination of strongly reduced eyes and large, broad wings appears to be unique among troglobiotic organisms and might indicate that the species is able to fly slowly or hover in the total darkness of the cave,' the authors wrote.

'The long forelegs might serve as 'feelers' if they are stretched forward during flight and the large halteres might help the insect maintain balance.'

The insect was discovered in the Lukina jamaTrojama cave system in Croatia, at a depth of nearly 1000 meters. Lukina jama is the 14th deepest cave in the world. In a recent paper the researchers explain that the discovery challenges previous beliefs that only bats can fly in complete darkness

For the most part, cave-dwelling insects either lack wings entirely, or have reduced wings.

The researchers used sticky traps to collect the insects, and found that some of them ended up in the middle of the strips.

This suggests that 'they fly at least occasionally,' the researchers explain.

The species doesn't fit within any previously described genus, and researchers say T. hajdi may be parthenogenetic, reproducing asexually without the need for fertilization.

These types of animals are typically found in harsh environments, where mating is difficult.

In the expedition, the team only observed females.

As T. hajdi was found deep within the cave in a highly isolated location, the researchers say there's little chance they could communicate with life on the outside.
Families of British holidaymakers killed at a Mediterranean beach resort in Tunisia last year claim travel giant TUI Group ignored security warnings and put the victims at risk through 'unhappy and unfair' practices.

The tour operator has been accused of failing to warn customers of the unstable security situation in the North African country following an earlier terror attack and cutting prices to encourage bookings.

The allegations are outlined in legal papers submitted to the Tunisia Inquests on behalf of the relatives of 16 of 30 Britons who died in the June 2015 massacre, which left 38 people dead.

Thirty-eight people, including 30 British tourists, were killed in a terror attack on a beach in Sousse, Tunisia

The papers, submitted by Andrew Ritchie, QC, and obtained by MailOnline, claim TUI  the worlds largest travel company, with brands including Thomson and First Choice  ignored security warnings from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, offered steep discounts to sell packages despite being aware of security concerns in Tunisia, and discouraged cancellations with a policy that meant holidaymakers may not get all of their money back.

The families ague the FCOs travel advice on the heightened terrorism risk  issued after 22 people were killed in an attack on the Bardo National Museum in the capital of Tunis the previous March  should have been mentioned on TUIs website, in its brochures and on its booking forms.

Ritchie wrote in the papers: 'The families are very concerned that TUI and the travel industry in England and Wales more generally were and still are involved in a general practice which puts customers at risk by hiding or ignoring the FCO travel warnings in their brochures and booking forms.'

TUIs lawyer has rejected claims about the company's pricing strategies and that it was obliged to share FCO travel advice on its website or in its literature.

Howard Stevens, QC, acting for TUI, told a pre-inquest hearing last week: TUI would not accept the  assertion made by Mr Ritchie in relation to pricing strategies.

[It] would not accept either the suggestion that he made, that TUI was under an obligation to refer specifically to or summarise FCO advice  in other words, the content of that advice  on its website or literature.

Two tourists and a man stand at a memorial on the beach at the Marhaba Hotel three days after the attacks

FCO SECURITY WARNING This is the Foreign & Commonwealth Office's warning to Britons who plan to visit Tunisia, as of 30 May 2016: The FCO said the threat from terrorism, including kidnapping, in Tunisia is high and further attacks remain likely, including against foreigners. It said additional security measures have been put in place since the attack in Sousse, but it does not believe those measures provide adequate protection for British tourists in Tunisia at the present time. A state of emergency has been in effect in the country since a suicide attack on a police bus on 24 November 2015, and has been extended to 22 June 2016. Security forces are on high alert and visitors should be vigilant, avoid crowded places and follow the advice of Tunisian security authorities and their travel company, if they have one. Visitors who require consular assistance should contact the British Embassy in Tunis. The FCO advises against all travel to the Chaambi Mountain National Park area, the Tunisia-Algeria border crossing points at Ghardimaou, Hazoua and Sakiet Sidi Youssef, the militarised zone south of, but not including, the towns of El Borma and Dhehiba, and within 5 kilometres (3.1 miles) of the Libya border area from north of Dhehiba up to but not including the Ras Ajdir border crossing. The FCO advises against all but essential travel to the rest of Tunisia. Visit the FCO's website for the latest travel advice on Tunisia and other countries.

The papers claim TUI sold travel insurance which excluded cancellation cover caused by terrorism risks, and 'discouraged cancellation by penalising customers up to the full cost of their booked holidays if they chose to cancel as a result of learning of terrorist atrocities or risks from the FCO or elsewhere.'

After the Bardo National Museum attack the FCO warned Britons they faced an increased terrorism threat, including kidnappings, in Tunisia, and places visited by foreigners could be targeted.

Even though the FCO advised 'against all but essential travel' to Tunisia after the Sousse attack, 'TUI were still encouraging customers to holiday in Sousse with up to 40 per cent price reductions and still making no mention of the FCO warnings' as of last January, the papers claim.

The Tunisia Inquests, scheduled to begin on 16 January 2017 and expected to last six to eight weeks, will hear evidence from the victims families.

The inquests, to be heard by Judge Loraine-Smith, will look at, among other things, security measures at the beach and the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel, the emergency response to the attack, the background and preparations of gunman Seifeddine Rezgui and any accomplices, and the adequacy of the travel advice offered by the FCO and tour operators.

The latter will address what, if anything, the government, travel companies or the hotel knew about the risk of an attack on Sousse and what was done as a result.

Ritchie wrote in the papers: 'Some customers ... will say that they expressly asked TUI staff (in one case on numerous occasions) if Tunisia was safe before and after booking and were told that it was safe.'

The families represented by Ritchie are hoping through the inquest travel companies will be forced to inform their customers of relevant FCO warnings before they book.

On its website, the FCO said it has been working closely with Tunisian authorities to investigate the attack in Sousse and wider terror threat within the country.

The website states: 'Although we have had good co-operation from the Tunisian government, including putting in place additional security measures, the intelligence and threat picture has developed considerably, reinforcing our view that a further terrorist attack is highly likely.

'On balance, we do not believe the mitigation measures in place provide adequate protection for British tourists in Tunisia at the present time.'
Spain is the most popular destination for Brits according to new research but the actual cities booked by holidaymakers varies according to where in the UK they're from.

For example, people living in Edinburgh and Birmingham prefer to go to Barcelona while those living in Plymouth and Brighton enjoy the sunny climes of Gran Canaria.

Meanwhile, adventurous Londoners like to visit Marrakech and don't mind spending just three-nights in a five-star hotel for their breaks.

Adventurous Londoners like to visit Marrakech (above) and don't mind spending just three-nights in a five-star hotel for their breaks

Geordies were almost twice as likely to visit Costa Brava (pictured above) than other Brits living in other parts of the country

The research by teletextholidays.co.uk was based on over 100,000 booked holidays from last year.

Geordies were almost twice as likely to visit Costa Brava than other Brits while Liverpudlians are 48 per cent more likely to head to Costa Blanca than those living in another part of the UK.

The island of Fuerteventura is most popular with those from Leeds and Manchester while Majorca is the preferred destination of those from Cardiff and Belfast.

People living in Edinburgh and Birmingham prefer to go to Barcelona. Pictured above is Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in the Spanish city

Outside of Spain, Marrakech in Morocco is a top destination for Londoners and Paphos in Cyprus is a hit with those in Norwich.

In fact, residents of Norwich are 82 per cent more likely to book a trip to Paphos than Brits from the other parts of the country.

Meanwhile, Faro in southern Portugal is most popular for Bristolians.

The duration of the holidays varied as well.

Londoners were happy to go away for a three-night break but those in the North of England preferred a trip that was two weeks or longer.

While time away for Londoners is short, they're more likely to splash out and stay in a five-star hotel compared to three and four-star accommodation for those living in other parts of the country.
A pilot was forced to divert a passenger plane after cabin crew became worried about the 'suspicious behaviour' of two flyers on board.

Southwest Airlines flight 1271 was en route to Albuquerque from Los Angeles when the pilot took the decision to make an unscheduled landing at Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix.

Passengers on board the Boeing 737 had alerted staff to the behaviour of two people during the flight. This was relayed to the captain before he made the diversion.

A Southwest Airlines flight made a diversion on Sunday afternoon after cabin staff were alerted to the 'suspicious behaviour' of two of the passengers

Phoenix Police have confirmed that there was 'suspicious behaviour' on board, and that the actions of the two passengers 'interfered with the flight crew', according to 12 News.

The plane made a safe landing and was met by Phoenix Police on Sunday afternoon. The 131 passengers and five crew were then deplaned at the terminal, with the two passengers taken for questioning.

A full search was carried out of the aircraft, before the passengers were allowed to re-board, and the plane flew on to Albuquerque around 1 hour and 20 minutes behind schedule.

The two passengers were taken for questioning by Phoenix Police once the Boeing 737 had landed at Sky Harbor International Airport

A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines told MailOnline Travel: 'The captain in command of our flight 1271 from Los Angeles (LAX) to Albuquerque safely diverted to Phoenix Sky Harbor after Flight Attendants relayed Customer observations of behavior by two passengers on the aircraft.

'After an uneventful landing, the aircraft was met at the terminal by local law enforcement officers who questioned two customers.

'Out of an abundance of caution and in accordance with established procedures, the plane was inspected by both security and maintenance personnel.'

It is not known at the time of writing if the two were charged as a result of their behaviour.
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This is the moment a cheeky stag photobombed a snap of one of Scotland's most iconic mountains.

Last weekend, Erin Garrett visited Glencoe in the Highlands to capture the stunning scenery, including the majestic peak Buachaille Etive Mor.

Garrett, who travelled 4,500 miles from the US, set up her shot and had framed the towering mountain to capture the perfect picture.

But just as she whipped out her camera, a ballsy stag came up to her and stuck his nose right in front of the lens.

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This is the moment a cheeky stag photobombed a snap of one of Scotland's most iconic mountains

Erin Garrett set up her shot and had framed the towering mountain to capture the perfect picture when the stag came over (left) and started putting his nose into the lens

The tourist (right), who travelled 4,500 miles from the US, did eventually manage to take a shot of the mountains without the deer (left)

As a result, Erin captured a set of comical photographs showing the animal's huge face, which appears to be smirking with glee.

The first snap shows the curious stag walking towards the camera, with his large antlers obstructing some of the view.

In the second picture he is much closer, and looks to be smiling directly into the lens.

A final photograph consists mainly of his wet nose and whiskers as he pokes his face right into the camera - almost 'kissing' the lens and completely blocking the view in the background.

Garrett, who is from Tulsa, Oklahoma, travels to Scotland every summer to explore and take photographs.

She shared the amusing sequence on Facebook with the caption: 'Right - there's my piccy of Buachaille Etive Mor photobombed.'

Garrett said: 'It was the funniest thing the way that stag kept flirting with me. He even kissed me!'

Loved-up couple Deirdre Mead and Jonathan Itskov were visiting Six Flags Adventure Land in New Jersey, USA, and got a huge shock when Conan the giraffe decided to make a guest appearance. He made sure he was camera-ready by puckering up his lips and sticking his tongue out of his mouth

A couple of jellyfish completely eclipsed diver Richard Schneide's face when he took a dip at Jellyfish Lake in Palau in the South Pacific

This cheeky llama ruins what would have been a breath-taking shot of Machu Picchu for tourist Seung Eun Her

This pufferfish decided he should be the focus of this snap completely obscuring Regan Mizuguchi's selfie at the Kohala coast in Hawaii

The hilarious snaps attracted dozens of comments from amused Scots across the country.

Lynda Savon wrote: 'I love this - he's smiling for the camera!'

Alex Sutherland said: 'Photobomb level = genius.'

Lisa Provence added: 'What a nosey beast.'

Deer in the area are notorious for being friendly and coming up to tourists - and this is not the first time they have photobombed the impressive mountain that people travel miles to see.

In 2014, Alison Neilly snapped a hilarious picture of a deer sticking its tongue out in front of the picturesque backdrop.

And another animal was filmed eating a KitKat out of a visitor's hand - showing how docile they are.

But the stags are far from the only animal photobombing images of unsuspecting travellers.

People all over the world have captured the surprising moment where an animal invaded their screen like the jellyfish that completely eclipsed diver Richard Schneide's face in Palau or when Conan the giraffe stuck his tongue into a photo of Deirdre Mead and Jonathan Itskov in New Jersey.

Making a far more chilled out appearance is this adorable sloth who stuck his head right in front of the camera when Manuel Ramirez was trying to capture a snap of him and his pals in the Costa Rican rainforest

This photogenic llama decided to muscle in on a selfie with photographer Mauro Francomano, from Buenos Aries, who came across him in Mirador El Infiernillo, Argentina

A green sea turtle photobombed Diovani de Jesus's group photo during his holiday on Apo island in the Philippines

A cheeky stingray photobombed a special moment in Taylor Mckay and Chris Hammer's life. Chris was proposing to Taylor at an aquarium in Canada when the ray plastered himself against the tank glass partially obscuring the 'will you marry me?' sign

It seems parrotfish really do love the limelight as Gavin appears to grin for the camera alongside Tomomi Nakazawa who was diving at Green Island, off Australia's Great Barrier Reef

The Waving Whale snuck into shot behind Declan and Mandy Odonoghue while they were on one of Peter Lynch's Blue Dolphin Tours around Hervey Bay in Queensland, Australia

A happy ostrich photobombs Alexandre Araujo de Siqueira's photograph of giraffes at The Buenos Aires Zoo. Mr Siqueria said: I was trying to photograph some giraffes from a distance, because they wouldn't get closer to the fence, when all of a sudden, this ostrich comes and sticks its long neck in front of me, right as I snapped a shot of the giraffes in the background, as can be seen in the photo! Right then and there, I was sort of startled, but couldn't help laughing right away!'

A sifaka poses for the camera in a variety of incredible and hilarious poses as Stefan Cruysberghs tried to take photographs

Student Malte Woestefeld is joined by a zebra at Germanys Holte-Stukenbrock zoo (left) while a kangaroo grins at the exact moment the photo was taken (right)

Melissa Brandts and her husband set the timer delay on their camera for a photo on the banks of Canada's Lake Minnewanka when this squirrel popped up... even altering the automatic focus

Lauren Parker, 30, poses happily for a picture at San Diego Zoo  unaware that Otis the hippopotamus has joined her

A holidaymaker was happily taking a simple selfie on his smartphone when a quokka (left) suddenly arrived on the scene and two giggling children (right) are unaware they appear about to be eaten by a white beluga whale  luckily its behind glass

These animals look pretty happy to be snapped up. A laughing camel joins in this happy snap on the left while the hilarious image on the right went viral and even gained prime-time television coverage

A mountain goat strikes a pose behind a photographer while he adjusts his camera (left) while the family pet get in on the photo action on the right

Seal of approval: This diver was photobombed by the very friendly creature while taking this underwater selfie

Sealing the show: This cheeky pup shows that animals are even prepared to photobomb each others pictures

Something fishy's going on here: This swimming was upstaged by an exotic fish during a snorkeling expedition

You Dumbos: Volunteers at a wildlife conservation area in Zimbabwe miss the picture of a lifetime when a seven-ton elephant creeps up behind them
An Emirates flight from Sao Paulo to Dubai was forced to make an emergency landing in Nigeria so a seriously ill passenger could be rushed to hospital.

Nigerian media claimed the passenger was a suspected drug smuggler who had swallowed cocaine and began to feel unwell on the 13-hour flight.

He complained of severe abdominal pains and suffered three recurrent seizures before the Boeing 777-300ER touched down at Lagos international airport.

The plane was flying halfway around the world when it had to divert due to an ill passenger (file photo)

The passenger was in a critical condition when he was admitted to hospital, where doctors battled to save his life, a Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) official told the Sunday Punch newspaper.

He was responding to treatment, said Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah, head of the NDLEA to Vanguard Media.

The hospitalised man and three other passengers were screened by anti-narcotic officials after the plane landed in Nigeria on Saturday and accused of ingesting drugs.

An Emirates spokesperson told Gulf Business: Emirates flight EK262 from Sao Paulo to Dubai was diverted to Lagos due to a passenger medical emergency.

The man who fell ill on the plane was flying from Sao Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport (pictured)

Arrangements were made for the passenger to receive medical attention on arrival. Emirates apologises for the inconvenience.

The health and safety of our crew and passengers is of paramount importance.

In 2015, a drug mule who had ingested 40,000 worth of cocaine appeared to suffer a seizure and bit a fellow passenger in a violent rage on an Aer Lingus flight before dying.

John Kennedy dos Santos Gurjao, 24, from Brazil, had ingested 80 pellets containing nearly a kilo of cocaine.
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A Grade II Listed Art Deco seaside pool that suffered structural damage in the storms of early 2014, reopened this weekend after a 3million refurbishment.

Bathers have been pictured enjoying the Bank Holiday sun at the Jubilee Pool lido in Penzance, Cornwall, which has had its walls repaired, paving and handrails replaced and new drainage and electrical systems installed.

A seafront icon since it first opened in 1935, the lido is the UK's largest surviving seawater pool and there are plans underway to heat part of it with geothermal energy in the future.

A Grade II Listed lido that suffered structural damage in the storms of early 2014, reopened this weekend after a 3million refurbishment

Bathers have been pictured enjoying the Bank Holiday sun in Cornwall at the Jubilee Pool lido in Penzance, which has had its walls repaired, paving and handrails replaced and new drainage and electrical systems installed

The pool has been an iconic feature at the seafront since it first opened in 1935. Recently plans have been announced to heat part of it with geothermal energy

For years the Jubilee Pool on Battery Rocks in Penzance has been a popular tourist hot spot in west Cornwall.

The outdoor attraction was designed in the early 1930s by the borough engineer, Captain F Latham.

It opened in the year of King George V's Silver Jubilee, and from that point on was regularly used as a traditional bathing spot near the harbour.

According to its website, the triangular-shaped pool was designed to cope with the 'full ferocity of the Cornish seas,' but at the same time offer a pleasant environment to swim in, thanks to its 'gentle, curved edges.'

The first person to take the plunge was Penzance champion swimmer, Professor Richard Hicks, and it quickly became a popular amenity in the area.

Over the years the pool fell into disrepair, leaving many to question its place in the community.

The first person to take the plunge was Penzance champion swimmer, Professor Richard Hicks, and it quickly became a popular bathing spot in the area, regularly used by holidaymakers and locals alike as a place to swim near the harbour

According to its website, the triangular-shaped pool was designed to cope with the 'full ferocity of the Cornish seas,' but at the same time offer a pleasant environment to swim in, thanks to its 'gentle curved edges'

Look before you leap: A woman peers over the railing to gaze at the new lido, which has welcomed eager visitors since Saturday

Retired architect John Clarke came to the rescue in 1992, when he learned of plans to construct a copper coloured pyramid structure over the pool.

He created the Jubilee Pool Association and over the next two years worked voluntarily with Penwith District Council to get grant funding to secure the pool's future.

However, in February 2014 the pool was hit by severe storms which caused serious structural damage.

The website says that the main pool is ideal for all swimmers and there is a small childrens bathing pool for toddlers and younger kids

Fun day out: Guests are able to bring a picnic to the new lido area and there are also tables provided on the top terrace

For those who fancy a snack there is a licensed cafe at the poolside, serving daily refreshments and food during the summer

The pool remained shut throughout the summer of 2014, while the association campaigned to secure future funding for the much-needed repairs.

In August of that year, the Coastal Communities Fund granted Cornwall Council 1.95 million as a part of a repair and restoration project that totaled 2.94 million.

Work was finally completed in May 2016, with the pool having remained shut for two seasons.

This Bank Holiday the refurbished pool has enjoyed a new lease of life, welcoming its first bathers to cool off in the sunshine.

Popular spot: Bathers queue outside the Jubilee Pool, eager to see the new facilities after the construction work

The pool is finally open to the public for general swimming sessions or private events, after being shut for two seasons

Stretching out in the sun: Bathers soak up the sun rays at the Grade II-listed pool, which is the UK's largest surviving seawater pool

Keeping fit: A gentleman dons his swim cap as he takes a dip at the Jubilee Pool lido in Penzance, on Bank Holiday Monday

Ready for the summer: Dressed in their bikinis and swimming trunks, bathers make the most of the weather by relaxing around the newly opened pool

Former self: The Jubilee Pool pictured in 2006 before its suffered damage from storms and had its most recent transformation

This image, taken in 2006 before the refurbishment, shows the area that the Jubilee Pool lido takes up on the coastline in Cornwall
She's known for her adventurous fashion choices.

But Salma Hayek opted for a restrained look as she attended the Un Muro o Un Ponte seminar held by Pope Francis at the Vatican City on Sunday.

The 49-year-old actress wore a monochrome below the knee printed dress teamed with a pair of smart black shoes.

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Demure: Salma Hayek opted for a restrained look as she attended the Un Muro o Un Ponte seminary held by Pope Francis at the Vatican City on Sunday

In keeping with the church's dress code, she added a matching cardigan that covered her shoulders, but was left unfastened to flutter in the breeze.

Salma accessorised with a pair of fashionable sunglasses to keep out the glare and a black leather bag, which completed her formal outfit.

Her long dark tresses were worn pulled back in a ponytail, highlighting her glowing visage and understated stud earrings.

The Mexican-American former model appeared in high spirits as she was accompanied by her husband Francois-Henri Pinault and their daughter Valentina.

Elegant: The 49-year-old actress wore a monochrome below the knee printed dress teamed with a pair of smart black shoes

All smiles! Despite the heat, she added a matching cardigan that covered her shoulders, but was left unfastened to flutter in the breeze

Relaxed: Salma accessorised with a pair of fashionable sunglasses to keep out the glare and a black leather bag, which completed her formal outfit

French billionaire Francois-Henri, the CEO of fashion company Kering, looked dapper in a dark suit, crisp white shirt and a sombre black tie for the occasion.

The couple cheerfully greeted George and Amal Clooney, whom they were sat next to in Pope Francis's audience.

During the event, the Pope said he has no intention of quitting the papacy - a possibility opened up by his predecessor Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI - and highlighted the plight of migrants.

Earlier this month at the Cannes Film Festival, Salma said that she didn't feel the same pressures of ageing in Hollywood because she lives in France.

High spirits: The Mexican-American former model was accompanied by her husband Francois-Henri Pinault

Happy family! Salma talked to an aide as her daughter held her hand in the sunshine

Is it a bird? The actress pointed at something in the distance, but her aide appeared confused

Comparing female stereotypes in Europe and the US, the actress said that American women in the movie industry are often made to feel 'disposable' in their 30s.

She was addressing the Women In Motion talk at the festival when she expressed her thoughts on feminism and ageing.

She said: 'In France it's different. I think France is a little bit more intrigued and excited about women's stories. Even though there's still a big gap, there's a lot of support for women to be able to go to directors.

'The actresses are not disposable at 30 or 28, they don't have to start injecting the Botox at 14 so they don't lose jobs. Europe in general, I think the stereotypes are not as strong.'

Summery: The family looked to be enjoying the warm weather as they made their way into the Vatican building
They both recently returned from sun-filled holidays with their respective young families.

And Sam and Billie Faiers looked tanned and happy as they attended the Sky Kids Cafe VIP Preview in London on Sunday.

Reality stars Billie, 26, and her younger sister Sam, 25, added a touch of understated glamour to the event, both wearing fitted jeans and white tops.

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Sister sister: Reality stars Billie and Sam Faiers looked tanned and happy as they attended the Sky Kids Cafe VIP Preview with their children Nelly Shepherd and Paul Tony Knightley in London on Sunday

While Billie completed her look with a pink satin bomber jacket, Sam accessorised with a black quilted handbag.

The sisters went for minimal make-up, showing off their glowing skin and wearing their glossy blonde hair in loose curls.

Sam dressed her five-month-old son Paul Tony Knightley - named after his father and uncle, in a blue playsuit, while Billie dressed 22-month-old daughter Nelly Shepherd in a pink and white outfit with cute satin bows.

Yummy mummies: (L-R) Imogen Thomas and Siera, Sam Faiers and Paul, Billie Faiers and Nellie

Double denim: The sisters went for minimal make-up, showing off their glowing skin and wearing their glossy blonde hair in loose curls

Nellie the poser! Billie completed her look with a pink satin bomber jacket, Sam accessorised with a black quilted handbag

Fellow TOWIE star Lauren Goodger was also in attendance with her niece and nephew.

The 29-year-old reality star sported black zipped leggings, a dark top and a stylish leather jacket embellished with gold buttons, completing the look with a snake-print Chanel bag.

Going for bold brows, Lauren accentuated her famous pout with a nude lipgloss.

Pout! Lauren Goodger was in attendance with her niece, and looked stylish in black zipped leggings, a dark top and a stylish leather jacket embellished with gold buttons, completing the look with a snake-print Chanel bag

Family girl: She also posed with her adorable nephew

Lauren revealed in her New! Column last month that she has split from her on-off boyfriend Jake Mclean.

'I can confirm that Jake and I have sadly split. I don't want to go into too much detail because I don't want to sl*g him off, but I don't see us getting back together, put it that way', she said.

The reality star added that she feels 'so free' and has realised she needs to be on her own.

Coronation Street star Kym Marsh, 40, was also in attendance with her youngest child, five-year-old Polly.

Cute duo! Kym Marsh kept it casual in black leggings and a stripy top, letting little Polly steal the limelight in a bright floral sundress

Cheese! The 39-year-old Coronation street actress and her youngest daughter Polly, 5, posed for the cameras

The soap star kept it casual in black leggings and a stripy top, letting little Polly steal the limelight in a bright floral sundress.

Clutching a toy dog, the mother-daughter duo looked adorable as they posed for cameras.

On Saturday, Kym attended the British Soap Awards with her eldest daughter, 18-year-old lookalike Emilie.

Kym is mother to 21-year-old David and 19-year-old Emilie from her relationship with Dave Cunliffe, and had son Archie, who tragically passed away moments after his birth in 2010, and Polly, both from her brief marriage to Hollyoaks star Jamie Lomas.

Posers: Imogen Thomas brought 3-year-old daughter Ariana to the event, looking casual in ripped jeans a striped top and white jacket, dressing her little girl in a cute frilly dress, matching her silver glittery shoes to the bow in her hair.

Hot mum: The 33-year-old Welsh model is also mum to six-month-old daughter Siera with Australian boyfriend Adam Horsley

Imogen Thomas brought three-year-old daughter Ariana to the event, looking casual in ripped jeans a striped top and white jacket, dressing her little girl in a cute frilly dress, matching her silver glittery shoes to the bow in her hair.

This was the second event in the day the duo attended, having gone to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 premiere just hours earlier.

The 33-year-old Welsh model is also mother to six-month-old daughter Siera with Australian boyfriend Adam Horsley.

Also in attendance was EastEnders actress Kellie Bright, who recently announced she was pregnant with her second child.

TOWIE star Lydia Bright attended the event solo, having recently spoken out about her split from James Argent.

Baby on board: EastEnders actress Kellie Bright kept her baby bump under wraps in a pink dress at the Sky Kids Cafe launch party to celebrate the new Sky Kids App
She's committed herself to health and fitness since she split with boyfriend John Lyons last year.

And on Sunday, former TOWIE star Frankie Essex showed off the results as she attended the launch of The Polish Bakery in London.

The 27-year-old blonde put her hourglass figure on fine display by slipping into a flattering white playsuit that hugged her body in all the right places.

Stepping out: On Sunday former TOWIE star Frankie Essex attended the launch of The Polish Bakery in London

Despite covering up her impressive decolletage, the outfit still showcased her ample assets and tantalising curves as it clung to every contour.

She added a pop of colour with a pair of red trainers and pink nail polish.

The reality TV starlet played a very simple make-up game, juicing up her lips with a bit of gloss and adding the lightest lashing of mascara.

Low-key glam: In contrast to her red carpet looks, the reality TV starlet played a very simple make-up game, juicing up her lips with a bit of gloss and adding the lightest lashing of mascara

Fit: The 27-year-old beauty put her hourglass figure on fine display by slipping into a flattering white playsuit that hugged her body in all the right places

Last summer Frankie lost an impressive 21lbs during a body blitz mission and achieved a comfortable goal weight of 10st.

'Previously when I have put on weight, it would all go on around my hips and by-pass my boobs and upper body, she revealed to MailOnline.

'Well, I'm proud to say that I've lost my love handles and my bum is lovely and firm. I feel in incredible shape and have never felt sexier.'

Let's eat! During the event at The Polish Bakery, Frankie was seen nibbling on snacks and standing near a selection of sweet cheese buns, strawberry plaits and other pastries

Keeping warm: Prepared for London's constantly-changing temperatures, she at times bundled up in a chic leather jacket with gold zips and buttons

Despite her commitment to fitness, Frankie knows that sometimes you have to indulge.

During the launch event for The Polish Bakery, she was seen nibbling on snacks and standing near a selection of sweet cheese buns, strawberry plaits and other pastries.

Prepared for London's constantly-changing temperatures, she at times bundled up in a chic leather jacket with gold zips and buttons.

Delighted: Frankie left the Polish Bakery event with two bags filled with delicious treats

Her elegant playsuit was a variation on a recent theme.

On Thursday evening, during a fun night out with her gal pals, the blonde wore a white playsuit with lace over-lay and thigh-skimming shorts, with a cut-out detail on the back that flashed a touch more skin.

She added extra height and accentuated her long legs further with a pair of nude heels, adding a matching bag, while her glossy locks were styled into glam curls.

Bright: She added a pop of colour with a pair of red trainers and pink nail polish
They put the plans for their nuptials on the back-burner so that he could pursue his dream of becoming a chef.

But when Con Vailas was eliminated from Masterchef a week before the wedding to his fiancee Sarah was scheduled to go ahead, he saw it as a 'blessing in disguise'.

Sharing the details of their special day in New Idea magazine, the 32-year-old restaurant supervisor said although he would have liked to remain in the competition for a while longer, 'being eliminated was almost a blessing in disguise.'

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Just married: Con Vailas and his bride Sarah tied the knot in their native Tasmania just one week after the aspiring chef was eliminated from Masterchef

Eliminated: The Tasmanian restaurant supervisor was booted out of Masterchef after failing to impress judges last Thursday

Con was eliminated on last Thursday's show - which was filmed in January - after he mistook an Icelandic Vinarterta cake for a Continental Cake.

The countryside wedding, held at picturesque Home Hill Vineyard, was a whirlwind event for the Tasmanian native, who flew back from Melbourne just a week after he was booted out of the Masterchef kitchen.

Photos taken by Dan O'Day show the bride looking flawless in a strapless ivory gown that featured a sweetheart neckline and a soft tulle fishtail skirt.

Stunning location: The couple's nuptials were held at the picturesque Home Hill Vineyard in Tasmania

Her waist was accentuated with a ribbon belt with jewel-encrusted detail in the middle.

She finished the look with a pair of tear-drop earrings and wore her hair in sleek loose waves.

The groom meanwhile, wore a black three-piece tuxedo with a crisp white shirt.

Con and Sarah, 31, tied the knot in front of 250 guests and continued the celebrations at Hellenic House in Hobart.

Picture perfect: The bride stunned in a strapless ivory gown while the groom wore a black three-piece tuxedo with a crisp white shirt

The aspiring restauranteur made the night extra special by serenading his wife in front of their friends and family.

'Music has been a huge part of my life. So I got up and did a cover of Amy Winehouse's Valerie because I know Sarah adores that [song],' Con told the magazine.

Following his exit from the show, Con revealed he will be opening a cafe in Hobart with his friend Ben Korkmaz later this year.

Sounds like true love: Con serenaded his wife with a cover of Amy Winehouse's song Valerie at the reception

The eatery, Born In Brunswick - an homage to Con's lifestyle in Melbourne's hip inner city Brunswick East, where he previously lived with his his wife Sarah - will open in November.

'Every morning before work I'd go to a different cafe. That was our hobby in Melbourne,' he told AAP.

'Without living there, this wouldn't have happened, so it's my little way of saying thank you to Melbourne, even though it's going to be in Hobart,' he explained.

Con's food passion began when he relocated to Melbourne from Hobart, just two-and-a-half years ago.

Passionate: Con's food passion began when he relocated to Melbourne from Hobart, just two-and-a-half years ago

At the time, the amateur cook drew inspiration from trailblazers in the industry including Heston Blumenthal.

'I look up to them. For me, I wanted to learn how to do all this cool stuff, so I learned how to do it,' he said.

'But basic things like baking a cake or making a custard and knowing where it goes wrong and how to fix it, I just overlooked,' he explained.
She quietly split up with Thomas Cohen in April after five months of dating.

But it seems Daisy Lowe may have already moved on, after she was seen on a date with Funny Girl star Darius Campbell in London on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old model looked happy and relaxed in the 35-year-old West End actor's company, giggling as they linked arms.

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New man? Daisy, 27, looked happy and relaxed on a date with Funny Girl star Darius Campbell in London on Tuesday

Wearing a sleeveless navy tea dress with a pink collar and waist embellishment highlighting her toned waist, Daisy beamed as she walked arm-in-arm with former Pop Idol star Darius.

Keeping her hair loose and her make-up natural, the English model completed her vintage look with strappy sandals and a green shoulder bag.

Meanwhile Darius, who looked casual in jeans and a brown leather jacket, appeared engrossed in his phone as they arrived at the National Gallery in London's West End.

Dashing duo: Wearing a sleeveless navy tea dress with a pink collar and waist embellishment highlighting her toned waist, Daisy beamed as she walked arm-in-arm with former Pop Idol star Darius

Engrossed: Darius, who looked casual in jeans and a brown leather jacket, appeared engrossed in his phone as they arrived at the National Gallery in London's West End

At one point a smitten Daisy could be seen gesticulating at his phone, though that didn't appear to perturb him as he remained distracted.

A source told The Sun: 'They were being very coupley and laughing - enjoying each other's company.

'But when they thought they had been recognised they separated.

What's so interesting? Not even Daisy could distract him from his phone

'They're clearly trying to keep the fact they are spending time together private.'

The pictures were taken a few days before a source close to Daisy told the MailOnline that she had split from Thomas Cohen, widower of Peaches Geldof.

'Daisy and Thomas split about a month ago. It's all very amicable, they had lots of fun and a great time together. It just sort of fizzled out and had run its course', the source told the MailOnline exclusively on Friday.

Single: Darius recently revealed he was single and previously divorced wife Natasha Henstridge in 2013 after two years of marriage

Spotted: The pair appeared bashful in front of the cameras

Daisy, 27, and Thomas, 26, only went public with their romance at the start of the year, but are said to have noted a growing attraction as far back as October.

It appears they grew close while supporting each other over their mutual grief following the death of Peaches- Daisy's former best friend and the mother of Thomas' two sons, of a heroin overdose in 2014.

Talking to Now magazine, Daisy refused to officially confirm the romance, but said: 'I'm never going to talk about my personal life, never... I am so happy, thanks, yeah. I'm about good vibes all around.'

Fan: At the beginning of May Daisy tweeted her support for Darius, writing: 'I can't wait to see @sheridansmith being incredible onstage with the glorious @DariusCambell #funny girl', along with a heart emoji

Meanwhile Darius recently revealed he was single and previously divorced wife Natasha Henstridge in 2013 after two years of marriage.

He shot to fame on Pop Idol, and is currently starring in Funny Girl alongside Sheridan Smith - who is taking a few weeks off.

At the beginning of May Daisy tweeted her support fro Darius, writing: 'I can't wait to see @sheridansmith being incredible onstage with the glorious @DariusCambell #funny girl', along with a heart emoji.
Just hours earlier she joined Salma Hayek and Richard Gere in Vatican City for a seminar led by the Pope.

And Amal Clooney proved she could pull off any style, as she went from demure to girl about town in Rome on Sunday evening.

The 38-year-old human rights lawyer stunned in a shimmery silk off-the-shoulder dress gathered into a loose knot above the knee, as she headed out to dinner with husband George Clooney.

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Power couple: Amal Clooney went from demure to girl about town as she headed out to dinner with George Clooney in Rome on Sunday evening

Amal completed her futuristic look with matching gold heels and a small clutch bag.

Wearing her trademark glossy chestnut hair in loose waves, the Lebanese-British lawyer kept her make-up minimal, donning red lipstick.

Meanwhile, husband George, 55, looked dapper in a dark suit with a black shirt underneath.

The twosome looked quite the power couple as they headed to dinner in the Italian capital.

See George Clooney updates as wife Amal glams it up in Rome for date night

Versatile: The 38-year-old human rights lawyer stunned in a silk off-the-shoulder dress gathered into a loose knot above the knee, featuring diagonal metallic stripes

Going strong: George held his wife of two years protectively, as she navigated the traditional cobbled streets in her killer heels

George held his wife of two years protectively, as she navigated the traditional cobbled streets in her killer heels.

Earlier in the day the duo attended a seminar led by the Pope called 'Un Muro o Un Ponte' at the Paul VI Hall in Vatican City.

Amal looked demure in a black long-sleeved Versace lace dress which fell above the knees, along with nude shoes and a black head piece.

Ocean's 11 star George looked smart in a navy suit and tie and a crisp white shirt.

Ever the gentleman: George, 55, looked dapper in a dark suit with a black shirt underneath

More than just a pretty face: Wearing her trademark glossy chestnut hair in loose waves around her face, the Lebanese lawyer kept her make up minimal, donning red lipstick

Demure: Earlier in the day the duo attended a seminar led by the Pope at the Paul VI Hall in Vatican City

The event aimed to promote work by global educational initiative organisation Scholas Occurentes which works with young people all over the world, and highlighted the plight of migrants attempting to reach Europe.

Pope Francis awarded medals to Richard Gere, George Clooney and Salma Hayek for their contributions.

'Important values can be transmitted by celebrities,' said one of the organisers, Lorena Bianchetti, adding that the actors had agreed to be ambassadors for one of the foundation's arts projects.

Yesterday Pope Francis held an emotional meeting with hundreds of children on Saturday, including a Nigerian boy whose parents drowned in a shipwreck, and told them migrants 'are not dangerous, but in danger'.

The meeting followed a surge in migrant traffic this week between Libya and Italy, with more than 14,000 saved from overcrowded boats since Monday and three consecutive days of shipwrecks in which hundreds may have died.

Meeting the Pope: Pope Francis awarded medals to Richard Gere, George Clooney and Salma Hayek for their contributions
Although he had been conjuring professionally since the age of seven, the 24-year-old magician was especially nervous that afternoon  even though his audience consisted of just one man.

But then it was no ordinary man, and this was to be no ordinary performance.

British PoW Fergus Anckorn was facing Japanese lieutenant Yoshio Osata, commandant of the Chungkai camp near the notorious Burma Railway during the Second World War  who had earned himself a terrifying reputation among the Allied prisoners-of-war.

British PoW Fergus Anckorn found himself facing Japanese lieutenant Yoshio Osata, commandant of the Chungkai camp near the notorious Burma Railway during World War Two

Despite his nerves, Anckorn successfully made a coin disappear  and miraculously discovered it in a tin of fish on the lieutenants table.

I got to eat the fish, he later recounted. And thanks to his magic tricks, for the rest of the war he was able to secure vital extra food for his fellow PoWs toiling in the intense 120-degree heat.

Until Saturday night, few people had heard of the conjuror on the River Kwai.

But then a finalist on Britains Got Talent, 25-year-old magician Richard Jones, told how he had been inspired by the extraordinary story of this heroic man.

Jones, himself a serving soldier, presented the 97-year-old on stage with heart-stopping flourish before winning the competition.

I salute you Fergus, cried judge Simon Cowell, and thank you for everything you have done.

Despite what was clearly a heavily stage-managed stunt, no one could be more worthy of public acclaim than Fergus Anckorn.

For his very British blend of courage, determination, inventiveness and, above all, modesty could not be more different from the celebrity obsessed Britain that Cowells vacuous talent shows epitomise.

He was born in 1918 into a well-off family near Sevenoaks in Kent, and enjoyed an idyllic childhood. Nothing nasty ever happened, he wrote with bitter irony in his autobiography, and there was no such thing as nasty men  not to my knowledge anyway.

Back home he found it hard to adjust to civilian life but in January 1946, he married his sweetheart Lucille.

The young Ferguss greatest passion was magic tricks, and he spent hours practising sleight of hand.

However the advent of war, as it did for millions of others, was to change his life.

He joined the 118th Field Regiment Royal Artillery and the first two years of war were largely spent entertaining the troops with his magic.

But on 22 October 1941, he was shipped out to the Far East. Just before he left, he got engaged to his sweetheart, Lucille, a nurse who had cared for him after an acute bout of pharyngitis (throat inflammation).

Almost as soon as he arrived in Singapore, Anckorn was to witness the horrors of war. One morning, while working near the docks, he and his party were attacked by Japanese dive bombers.

Anckorn survived after jumping into the sea unaware that if a bomb hit the water, the blast wave would have killed him.

He emerged to find five of his comrades had been killed. It shocked me so much that I went about the dockside not really knowing what I was doing, he recalled.

Anckorn was to endure many more raids, some of which killed men standing right next to him.

Shortly before the fall of Singapore, he was ordered to drive a lorry along with, of all things, a large can of beetroot and an unexploded and primed shell.

The young Ferguss greatest passion was magic tricks, and he spent hours practising sleight of hand

He drove straight into an air raid, and saw a bomb land ten feet away.

The shell exploded in his lorry, and so did the beetroot  the red mush all over him caused his comrades to believe the worst.

In the Alexandra Military hospital, Anckorns wounds were found to be severe. His left leg was riddled with shrapnel, and it was only when the surgeon discovered that Anckorn was a conjuror that he decided not to amputate his right hand.

Even the hospital wasnt safe, for it was there that the Japanese were to carry out one of the most horrific atrocities of the war.

The troops entered the wards and bayoneted the wounded in their beds.

Anckorn could hear the thudding sounds of bayonets entering mens bodies. There were no cries, no screams, nothing, he recalled.

British prisoners in the Changi camp, run by Japanese guards during the Second World War

Just thud...thud...thud. I didnt feel fear and I dont think the man next to me did either.

Anckorn pulled his pillow over his face and waited for the inevitable. But in what seemed to be another miracle, Anckorn was spared.

He could only think the pillow over his face, and the quantity of blood on his sheets, must have made the Japanese suppose he was already dead.

Later, when other Japanese discovered he was alive, Anckorn was taken captive, and his arm was operated on in a barbarously rudimentary fashion.

Found to be gangrenous, the wound was disinfected by maggots, which gorged themselves on his rotten flesh, and then had to be removed from under the skin without anaesthetic. The treatment worked and Anckorns hand was saved.

In early 1942, Mr Anckorn was sent north, one of thousands of British prisoners trucked in to work on the infamous Burma Railroad, built to create a supply route between Burma and Thailand

In early 1942, he worked on the Burma Railway where he suffered from malnutrition and savage beatings like so many other PoWs.

One afternoon, he was ordered to climb 100 feet up a bamboo viaduct to apply boiling creosote to the struts. Suffering from vertigo, he managed to reach the top, only to find himself frozen with fear.

An enraged guard climbed up after him, and threw the hot creosote over Anckorns head.

Fortunately, I had a banana leaf hat on my head, he recalled, which protected my face, but I was aware of my shoulders and chest suddenly roasting.

Badly burned, Anckorn passed out, and he ended up at Chungkai camp, which was a hospital of sorts, although many regarded it more as a cemetery.

Allied soldiers died like flies, plagued by malaria, tropical ulcers, cholera and dysentery

However, for Anckorn, it proved to be a life-saver, as it was there that he started to practise his magic again, which was noticed by Osata, the brutal commandant.

As well as killing his pet dog for fun, Osata had once made six prisoners line up in front of six guards outside his hut, then ordered his men to beat them to within an inch of their lives.

An invitation to do magic for this man was not good news, recalled Anckorn.

But what made things worse was that his right hand and wrist were almost crippled. Would he be able to perform his old tricks?

Anckorn was passed a small coin by Osata. He successfully made it disappear  and miraculously discovered it elsewhere.

In early 1942, Mr Anckorn was sent north, one of thousands of British prisoners trucked in to work on the infamous Burma Railroad, built to create a supply route between Burma and Thailand

Release: Allied prisoners of war celebrating their liberation from Changi Jail, Singapore Read more

He had a tin of fish on his table, the magician later recounted, and I reached across, opened the can, and produced the coin from it.

A delighted Osata let the conjuror depart  along with the precious tin of food. I got to eat the fish, said Anckorn, because they wouldnt touch anything we had touched  we were verminous.

As he left, the magician suddenly realised  If I do magic with food, Im going to end up eating it.

After his first performance, Anckorn grew more brazen in his requests for food to be used as props for his tricks. On one occasion he used a trick which required a single egg.

Cheekily, Anckorn insisted he needed no fewer than 50 eggs to make sure the trick worked.

To his astonishment, his request was accepted.

Man of the hour: Richard shook the hand of 97-year-old Second World War veteran Fergus Anckorn after telling his tale as part of his emotional magic trick

He and fellow PoWs were able to tuck into a 49-egg omelette, while he saved the 50th egg for the performance.

After the show, Osata summoned Anckorn into his hut, and demanded to know why he needed so many eggs. Anckorn  aware he could be immediately executed - managed to convince Osata he needed the other 49 eggs for practice.

Unable to prove otherwise, the commandant spared his life.

At the end of the war, he weighed just six stone and was not allowed to return to Britain until he fattened up.

Heartfelt: The 25-year-old army bandsman wowed the judges with his incredible trick that saw him tell the story of a 97-year-old war veteran whilst performing a special card trick

Back home, he found it hard to adjust to civilian life but, finally, on 26 January 1946, he married his sweetheart Lucille.

Ever since then, he has lived a quiet life, combining his magic with his duties as a Special Police officer.

Despite the horrors he suffered, he is not a man for self-pity and even considers himself lucky: Ive been blown up, Ive been shot, Ive survived a massacre  and I also got away with that egg trick.

Perhaps that explains why he is so contemptuous of todays compensation culture.

It makes me laugh to see people getting thousands of pounds for something theyd witnessed, he said in an interview. You had to put up with it and deal with it.

Captivity, Slavery and Survival as a Far East POW: The Conjurer on the Kwai by Peter Fyans is published by Pen & Sword.
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They've been inseparable since they started dating 10 months ago.

So it was no surprise to see Duncan Bannatyne wanting to make an honest woman of his young girlfriend Nigora Whitehead as he got down on bended knee in Monaco on Saturday.

The Dragon's Den star, 67, proposed to Nigora, 36, at the Buddha Bar in Monte Carlo with a diamond ring, believed to have cost around 40,000.

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Has she tamed the Dragon? Duncan Bannatyne may have made his best investment yet, as he got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend of 10 months, Nigora Whitehead, on a break to Monte Carlo

The raven-haired beauty looked tickled pink as Duncan whipped out the ring and asked her to become the third Mrs Bannatyne.

The former dental receptionist couldn't help but beam as Duncan slid the opulent, glittering ring onto her finger.

Appearing to be similar in design to the diamond-encrusted Soleste Pear by Tiffany, the huge sparkler is believed to have set Duncan four times the value the company describe the ring starts at, 11,500.

Will you marry me? Duncan pops the question as he gets down on bended knee at the Buddha Bar

That look says yes! Nigora beams at her new fiance after accepting his proposal

Making it official: The Scottish businessman chose to confirm the couple's happy new in a tweet, hours after proposing on Saturday night, writing: 'It is true @wnigora_nigora& I are now officially engaged'

However, the business mogul and reality star - who is thought to be worth around 175million - appeared to have picked just the right ring, as Nigora couldn't keep a sweet and proud smile off of her face as she admired it.

Hours later, the Gym and Spa magnate announced the happy news hours after the romantic event on his Twitter page, on Sunday.

The Scottish businessman chose to confirm the couple's happy new in a tweet, hours after proposing on Saturday night, writing: 'It is true @wnigora_nigora& I are now officially engaged.'

So in love: The couple have been inseparable since they started dating 10 months ago

So happy: Nigella and Duncan seal their engagement with a kiss after the exchange of jewellery

That's some bling: The ring is believed to cost 40,000

Nigora retweeted a congratulations message from someone who urged her to 'ignore the haters' over their age gap, replying: 'Oh trust me, we don't! Our time is too pressures (sic). We are very happy to be with each other!'

Meanwhile, Duncan acknowledged he was a lucky man to be engaged to such a beauty when one of his Twitter followers said he was 'punching massively your weight Duncan man.'

He replied: 'Oh I know. I very much know.'

And it seems that Duncan has spared no expense when it comes to making the occasion one to remember, as the gruff reality star is believed to have splashed out 40,000 on the ring.

The couple have been dating for approximately 10 months, after going public with their romance in July 2015.

They met when Duncan visited the Harley Street Dental Clinic where Nigora worked as a 'coordinator'.

Previously, she had worked as a Russian and Uzbek translator for the government and graduated with a degree in chemistry from a Russian university.

Duncan - who split from his second wife, Joanne McCue, in 2011 - and Nigora have been almost inseparable since they started dating.

And Nigora was even in Australia to support Duncan during his stint in the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! camp in December.

Duncan has six children from his time with Joanne, and was married to first wife Gail from 1983-1994.

It fits! The pricey engagement ring seemed to be a perfect fit on Nigora's hand

Nigora retweeted a congratulations message from someone who urged her to 'ignore the haters' over their age gap, replying: 'Oh trust me, we don't! Our time is too pressures (sic). We are very happy to be with each other!'
He took a chance on a Hollywood career and relocated with his wife and son to America after leaving Home And Away in 2010.

But Bernard Curry has revealed his stint in Los Angeles proved to be one of the most difficult challenges of his life.

As the 42-year-old returns to Australia to star in Foxtel's Wentworth, he told TV Week: 'Looking back on those five years, I'm glad we did it. It was the hardest five years but the most rewarding.'

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Back on home soil: Bernard Curry, 42, has returned to Melbourne to star in Wentworth following a challenging stint in Los Angeles

Bernard made the move along with wife Sonya and their first son Fox, who is now six, in pursuit of a Hollywood break following his departure from Channel Seven's long-running soap.

But as the actor reveals, he failed to book a single job in the first year, due to the nature of the 'hyper-competitive industry.'

'If you go there, you have to keep knocking your head against a brick wall. Eventually, one brick will get loose and then it's just dismantling that wall brick by brick.'

New role: The 42-year-old actor is set to play the role of a corrections officer named Jake Stewart in Foxtel's prison drama Wentworth

Now Bernard has landed a role on the popular prison drama series, Wentworth, taking the actor full circle as he returns to his native Melbourne to film the show.

'Melbourne is where I was raised. I have a lot of family there,' says Bernard, who is thrilled to still be working as an actor after two decades in the industry.

Bernard and his wife met over a decade ago at the Melbourne International Arts Festival, where she was working as a production manager for Spiegeltent circus.

Soap star: Bernard played the role of Hugo Austin on the popular show Home And Away between 2009 to 2010

The couple welcomed their second son Banjo four years ago while living in LA.

Bernard played Hugo Austin in Home And Away from 2009 to 2010.

He was also famous for his role as Luke Handley in Neighours after making his debut in 1995.
Continuing to be by her husband Oliver Curtis' side during his trial, Australian PR guru Roxy Jacenko was once again spotted arriving at the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney on Monday.

The 34-year-old blonde arrived in a black dress on the day, after having previously sported the dark colour during earlier court appearances.

Roxy's sleek black dress featured just above the knee, and was teamed with a matching chic coat.

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Court appearance: Roxy Jacenko wore a black dress as she arrived at the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney with husband Oliver Curtis on Monday

It also featured metal embellishments across the front, and a few striking accessories were added to complete the look.

The mother-of-two slipped her feet into a pair of strappy black heels, while also donning a pair of stylish shades.

Meanwhile Oliver sported a sharp navy suit on the day, teamed with a crisp white shirt and maroon coloured tie.

On Friday, Roxy also wore a black outfit, sporting a leather Louis Vuitton dress.

Stylish: Roxy's sleek black dress featured just above the knee, and was teamed with a matching chic coat

Attention to detail: Her dress also featured metal embellishments across the front, and a few striking accessories were added to complete the look

Finishing touches: The mother-of-two slipped her feet into a pair of strappy black heels, while also donning a pair of stylish shades

The cap-sleeved number, officially called the Laced Lambskin Dress, retails for around $5,469 AUD.

It finished just above her knees, and featured stylish slits and lacing detail.

She slipped her feet into a pair of strappy black heels, while also wearing a delicate Cartier bracelet, which seems to be from its 'Divine collection' with products priced from $9,550 up to $122,000 in the range.

While accompanying her husband over the past few weeks, Roxy has sported an array of stylish ensembles, some of them even featuring a hint of colour.

Stunning: On Friday Roxy arrived in a sleek black leather Louis Vuitton dress

Earlier in the week: Roxy wore a colourful floral printed mini-dress from Mary Katrantzou, which retails for a whopping $2,835 to support husband Oliver at court trial on Tuesday last week

On Tuesday last week, she showed off her sartorial style in a bright floral printed mini-dress from Mary Katrantzou, which retails for a whopping $2,835.

The petite PR boss, who runs her own lucrative Sydney-based company Sweaty Betty PR, paired the feminine frock with a pair of $1,800 Azzedine Alaia stilettos, an item favoured by the likes of Kim Kardashian.

Meanwhile on Monday last week, she stepped out in a black dotted Christian Dior dress.

Spotted: The astute businesswoman has mostly opted for low-key ensembles in dark shades for her court room attire - pictured on Monday last week in a black and white Dior polka dot dress

While accompanying her husband two weeks ago, Roxy also opted for sleek black ensembles on more than one occasion.

On the Thursday of that week she cut a serious demeanour in all-black outfit, as she arrived for court on the arm of her beau.

The astute businesswoman wore a knee-length leather skirt teamed with a black knit and strappy stilettos.

The day before she also opted for a basic black ensemble featuring a wrap skirt tied at the waist paired with a matching fitted singlet.

Bright and beautiful: The mother-of-two added a splash of colour here and there throughout the trial. Pictured on Friday the week before the last

She did however manage to throw in a touch of her signature glam, capping her look off with her favourite Azzedine Alaia stilettos.

She later added to the streamlined look, throwing on a leather Balmain biker jacket which retails for around $5,500 AUD.

On the Monday of that week, Roxy opted for yet another monochrome ensemble, wearing a loose-fitting LBD from Miu Miu.

The long sleeve garment featured a conservative high neck and a leather belt around the hips before flaring out.

Dark days: Roxy wore black for the fifth time in a row as she attended her husband Oliver's trial on the Thursday three weeks ago

The Sydney socialite teamed the chic dress with a pair of nude and black Gianvito Rossi shoes valued at over $1,000 AUD, and wore her glossy blonde mane in a perfect blow dry.

On the first day of her husband's trial the Wednesday before, Roxy wore a conservative chic all-black ensemble, consisting of a high-neck top and a flared A-line skirt.

The PR owner dressed up her professional attire with a pair of strappy leather heels and a gold embellished Louis Vuitton belt.

Day two, saw Roxy dress in a smart miniskirt suit with her gaze hidden behind dark Ray-Bans as the pair walked into court.

Basic black: On Wednesday two weeks ago, the blonde beauty arrived in all-black attire, throwing a leather Balmain jacket over the top of a wrap skirt and matching tank

LBD: The fashionista also previously opted for another monochrome ensemble, wearing a loose-fitting LBD from Miu Miu

She struck a slightly less conservative figure than a day earlier in a shorter ensemble and opted for her more daring heels that laced up to the ankle.

Prosecutors allege Roxy's husband Oliver Curtis conspired with his former best friend to commit insider trading offences between 1 May 2007 and 30 June 2008.

The alleged offences netted the pair a reported $1.433 million, prosecutors told the New South Wales Supreme Court on Wednesday a week before the last.

Just prior to jury selection, the 30-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charge telling Justice Lucy McCallum and potential jurors: 'Not guilty, your honour.'
She started off her career on Home And Away.

But Esther Anderson, 36, has left Summer Bay far behind as she pursues her career in Hollywood, revealing she is permanently moving to Los Angeles with her fiance, Howard Moggs.

The actress, who was pictured without her engagement ring on last week, told the Daily Telegraph: 'We bought a home in LA, we moved a few days before we got engaged.'

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Staying put: Esther Anderson, 36 is pursing her career in Los Angeles and revealed to The daily Telegraph on Monday that it is looking like a permanent move with her fiance Howard Moggs

The brunette beauty has thrown herself into her career and attending plenty of auditions and castings since making the big move to the US.

Earlier this month, Esther and her fiance Howard travelled to New York as part of his 35th birthday celebrations, appearing very loved-up in snaps she shared on social media.

The brunette started her career through her role on Channel Seven's Home And Away playing the character of Charlie Buckton.

And while she is looking to further her career, she is also throwing herself into wedding planning, telling the Daily Edition last month about her romantic Valentine's Day proposal.

Esther said she was caught off-guard when her fiance Howard popped the question.

The big move: The 36-year-old beauty revealed that she and Howard purchased a home in Los Angeles just days before he popped the question

Celebrations: Earlier this month she and fiance Howard travelled to New York as part of his 35th birthday and appeared very loved up in the snaps she shared on social media

Surprise: Esther revealed in an interview with The Daily Edition earlier this year that she had no idea he was going to propose and it came as a complete shock

'I had no idea, it was incredible, it was Valentine's Day and he'll hate me for saying this but he's a bit of a romantic so I didn't pick up any clues,' she revealed.

In fact, she was so unaware of what was about to happen, Esther told hosts Tom Williams and Sally Obermeder she was more concerned about calling her mum back than sipping on champagne.

'He's like "No, let's just catch the sunset" and then he said "I've just got you something little" and he starts going down on one knee,' she explained.

Loved-up: The couple had been together 15 months before becoming engaged

While most women are quick to say 'yes' when proposed to, the former Dancing With The Stars contestant initially had a different response.

'I remember saying "Is this a joke?" and then I said "yes" before he could take it back,' Esther laughed.

The couple had been together 15 months before becoming engaged.
Caitlyn Jenner wore bright blue on Sunday to a baby shower in Santa Monica, California.

The 66-year-old reality star rolled up to the party in her brand new purple Porsche 911 GT3 RS.

Caitlyn also donned a black belt, short black jacket and open-toed black gladiator heels

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Feeling blue: Caitlyn Jenner wore bright blue on Sunday to a baby shower in Santa Monica, California

The I Am Cait star had her straight brown hair down and accessorised with black sunglasses.

Caitlyn was joined at the baby shower by son Brandon Jenner, 34, his wife Leah Felder, 33, and their 10-month-old daughter Eva.

Leah donned a pretty long pink dress for the baby shower while Brandon kept it casual in a green T-shirt, black jeans and sandals.

See Caitlyn Jenner updates as she arrives for baby shower in blue dress and new Porsche

Baby shower: The reality star rolled up to the baby shower in her new Porsche 911 GT3 RS

One year: The one-year anniversary of Caitlyn's debut following gender transition is on Wednesday

Eva wore a pretty white dress for the baby shower.

Caitlyn's good friend Ronda Kamihira also was spotted arriving at the baby shower.

The one-year anniversary of Caitlyn's debut following her gender transition is coming up on Wednesday.

Good times: Caitlyn was at the drinks station during the party

Family celebration: The guest list also included Caitlyn's son Brandon Jenner

Family portrait: Brandon carried daughter Eva while arriving at the party with wife Leah Felder

New addition: Leah and Brandon welcomed Eva in July 2015

Vanity Fair featured Caitlyn on its cover with the headline Call Me Caitlyn as the former Bruce Jenner announced her new identity.

Caitlyn has since starred in two seasons of the E! documentary series I Am Cait.

The series focused on her gender transition and how it affected her relationships with her famous family and friends.

Purple power: Caitlyn earlier this month was spotted in the new Porsche

Good friend: Ronda Kamihira also was spotted at the party arriving right after Caitlyn
House Rules' Claire and Hagan have the smallest house of all the teams on the show this season, being one bedroom with a shop front.

And on Monday night, it was their turn for renovations with their tiny 'shoebox' house getting the 'grandest renovation' in the show's history.

A whole second storey was added to the property, with Hagan at one point getting teary as he expressed their desire to have a nice big house for their two young daughters.

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Their turn: House Rules' Claire and Hagan's tiny 'shoebox' house gets the 'grandest renovation' in the show's history this week, with the pair getting emotional about it on Monday night's episode

When Claire was telling her fellow contestants and host Johanna Griggs about how hard it is to fit the four of them and their Great Dane pooch in the single bedroom house, Hagan got emotional.

'It's very hard, one of the hardest things Hagan and I had done in our relationship,' Claire said, with the pair buying the place so that she can have a hairdressing salon at the front.

Hagan continued: 'Especially with two little girls at the moment, it's not the best room and I'm probably going to start crying actually,' Hagan said.

His dream: Hagan at one point getting teary as he expressed their desire to have a nice big house for their two young daughters

Their property: The pair have the smallest house of all the teams on the show this season, being one bedroom with a shop front

Family: They are parents to three-year-old Matilda (R) and one-year-old Darcy (L)

'At the moment, it's not the ideal place for a family and we need somewhere we can raise our kids,' he said referring to three-year-old Matilda and one-year-old Darcy.

The pair added how excited they were for the make-over, with Hagan admitting it is 'a dream come true.'

They eventually left so that the teams could work on the house, not knowing what was happening and that a second storey was being added by builders.

Making more space: A second storey was added to their home, which will be a big surprise to the couple when they finally see it

The way it was: The pair didn't have much space for their family, with their kitchen, living room, dining room and laundry rolled into one

Even the teams didn't know, worrying how they would fit their respective zones in the one bedroom house.

The show's design expert Carolyn Burns-McCrave revealed they were adding another storey to the Mornington Peninsula house in Victoria.

The pair have a mortgage of $269,000, with Hagan describing the home as 'the ugliest and the cheapest, dirtiest place you can probably buy. It is basically a little shoe box.'

Cramped in! The family all sleep in the same bed

'A shoebox': The pair have a mortgage of $269,000, with Hagan describing the home as 'the ugliest and the cheapest, dirtiest place you can probably buy

'I want my kids to be proud of where they live': Claire said she gets upset when she thinks of her daughter pretending her bedroom is in the corner of the room

The home is so small, they have a washing machine in their kitchen and the family all sleep in the same bed.

'There's not a lot of time for romance anymore,' Claire admitted to camera with a laugh.

She almost cried when she said how Matilda pretends the corner of the house is her own room, admitting: 'I feel so terrible...I want my kids to be proud of where they live.'

Claire and Hagan's house is the last of the team's houses to be renovated and at the end of week one team will be the first to be eliminated.

Hard work: Claire and Hagan's house is the last of the team's houses to be renovated and at the end of week one team will be the first to be eliminated

So happy: The couple pose in front of their modest Australian home

It meant the pressure was on Monday night, with old rivals Rose and Fil going head-to-head about a cabinet.

Rose - who was trying to fit a TV in the living room - wanted to put the TV on a stud wall on the side of Fil and Joe's kitchen.

They agree on a cabinet to be built to house the TV, with Rose paying for it.

Humble: The home is so small, they have a washing machine in their kitchen and the family all sleep in the same bed

But things hit the fan when Rose heard the cabinet designed by Fil cost a whopping $3,500, and was complete with a wine rack.

Fil got annoyed, saying to camera: 'This is her TV going in my kitchen, but I'm sorry, as soon as you cross the border, it becomes mine, don't put it in my site if you want to design it, keep it in your site.'

She added she would have to look at other alternatives if she can't foot the bill.

However eventually, they redesign the cabinet for a cost of $1320, and share the costs.

Home is where the heart is: Claire and Hagan's house looked radically different before its House Rules makeover
He's well-known for his loud fashion choices.

And MasterChef Australia judge Matt Preston jokingly revealed the unusual fashion inspiration behind his eccentric style.

In a series of tweets shared on Sunday, the avid foodie named renowned Batman villain The Joker as one of his 'fashion icons.'

Fashion inspiration: MasterChef Australia judge Matt Preston jokingly revealed his 'fashion icon' to be Batman villain The Joker in a tweet on Monday which showed a photo of the late Hollywood actor Cesar Romero

The exuberant reality TV star, whose outfit choices often include his trademark cravat and colourful suits, posted a picture of the late Hollywood actor Cesar Romero who portrayed The Joker during the 1960s.

'One of my fashion icons #MasterChefAU,' he captioned the image.

He followed up the tweets with pictures of more modern day portrayals of the fictional character.

Colourful: The exuberant reality TV star, whose outfit choices often include his trademark cravat and colourful suits, posted a picture of the late Hollywood actor, who played The Joker during the 1960s

Famous faces: The reality star also named the late Heath Ledger for his portrayal as the fictional character in The Dark Knight

The first was of legendary actor Jack Nicholson as well as the late Heat Ledger, who won a posthumous Academy award for his role in The Dark Knight.

'And the last of them... #MasterchefAU. The Joker - best dressed villain of them all!' he captioned alongside an image of Ledger.

When a follower asked whether the Channel 10 star was really 'attempting to channel The Joker,' he confirmed that his tweets were all in jest.

Flamboyant style: Matt is renowned for wearing his trademark cravat and tailored suits on the Channel 10 cooking game show

'Just crackin' a smile...,' he replied.

Last week, the restaurant critic laughed of criticisms of a bright magenta coloured suit he wore on the popular cooking game show.

One seemingly unimpressed fan compared his loud ensemble to that of Disney's Governor Ratcliffe in Pocahontas prompting a funny response.

'I channel how Barney the dinosaur would dress if he ran a Colombian drug cartel,' Matt tweeted alongside a selfie of his bold look.
She has been reportedly getting co-stars' backs up by acting up on the set of Home And Away.

And despite claims Pia Miller likes to flaunt pap snaps of herself taken while filming the long-running soap, it was business as usual on Monday.

The actress, 32, paraded her sensational physique in a colourful stripy bikini top and cut- off denims while filming the latest installment of the Channel Seven series on Sydney's Palm Beach.

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Scorching hot: Pia Miller showcased her enviable figure as she was seen shooting Home And Away scenes with co-star George Mason in Palm Beach on Monday

Chilean-born Pia showcased her enviable figure in the two-piece while shooting scenes with co-star George Mason.

With her long brown hair cascading over her shoulders, she sizzled on the beach as she showed another side to feisty cop Katarina Chapman, whom she has portrayed since January last year.

At one stage she was seen kneeling down and adjusting her frayed shorts before padding around on the red sand barefoot.

Flawless: The actress, 32, paraded her sensational physique in a colourful stripy bikini top and cut- off denims while filming the latest installment of the Channel Seven series

Hot cop: With her hair cascading over her shoulders, she sizzled on the beach as she showed another side to feisty cop Katarina Chapman

Keeping warm: A member of the crew covered Pia up in-between takes on the chilly beach

The mother-of-two was seen flashing her characteristic dimpled smile as she squinted against the glare of the bright afternoon sunshine.

The filming of the scenes comes the same day a magazine report emerged claiming that her co-stars expressed their resentment at the model for showing off on the set.

With a recent Logie award nomination under her belt, Woman's Day magazine on Monday reported colleagues as saying she 'carries on like she's a five-time Oscar winner'.

Stripping off: Pia pulled off her pink top to expose her swimsuit while she knelt on a towel in the sand

Hello? The star took a call on her mobile phone

Natural beauty: The mother-of-two wore barely any makeup for her scenes as her brown hair fell around her shoulders

'People don't like Pia,' a source told the publication, adding the brunette can't resist flaunting her striking looks and likes to 'throw it' in the faces of her co-stars at every opportunity.

The insider went on: 'She has one of the smallest acting portfolios on the show, but carries on like she's a five-time Oscar winner.'

Pia reportedly also flaunts her sizzling bikini snaps to the show cast and crew members, brandishing them around the set on her mobile phone.

Diva antics? The filming of the scenes comes the same day a magazine report emerged claiming that her co-stars expressed their resentment at the model for showing off on the set

Romantic: She also filmed scenes with her on-screen beau Martin, played by George Mason

There's no doubt the television star enjoys taking flattering selfies, which pepper her Instagram account.

It is also reported the bombshell enjoys taking fun selfies while in her police woman uniform to play Summer Bay cop Katarina Chapman.

While attending the TV Week Logie Awards earlier this month, Best New Talent nominee Pia chose to walk the red carpet with her son Isaiah.

Gorgeous: The Chilean-born model reportedly flaunts her sizzling bikini snaps to the show cast and crew members, brandishing them around the set on her mobile phone

Working it: The television star enjoys taking flattering selfies, which pepper her Instagram account

However, when Home And Away won the Best Drama at the awards ceremony, Pia wasn't to be seen in the backstage cast photo after the victory.

The Channel Seven star, who announced her split from husband Brad Miller in October last year, chose to attend Channel Nine's Logies afterparty at Shane Warne's Club 23 later that night.

Despite her best efforts, she and new beau Tyson Mullane were refused entry.

In a video of the incident, an officious woman clutching a clipboard turned away the actress, telling her 'uh uh... wrong network'.

Where is Pia? When Home And Away won the Best Drama at the awards ceremony, Pia wasn't seen in the backstage cast photo after the victory

Awkward: The actress and new beau Tyson Mullane were turned away from the Channel Nine Logies after party

The woman told her brother Jesus Loyola, who was DJ'ing at the party: 'I can let you in,' before turning to Pia and Tyson saying: 'But you two guys...uh uh'.

'Sorry, wrong network, sorry darling.'

Looking a little worse for wear, the actress politely accepted the refusal to the bash around 2.40am.

Yet in the embarrassing video clip which filmed the moment, Pia and Tyson were seen later wandering up to the club door again and attempting to charm their way in for a second time.

In character: She often shares photos of herself on set with her over 445,000 Instagram followers

Cover girl: Pia has graced the covers of several glossies in the past 12 months since starring on the soap

Pia was first discovered in a Dolly modelling competition in 1998 when she was just 14 years of age.

In 2001 she took out the winning title during the second season of Search For A Supermodel, and went on to appear in several fashion campaigns.
Morgan Stewart was warned by her fiance Brendan Fitzpatrick on Sunday's episode of Rich Kids Of Beverly Hills that her raunchy new book could have serious repercussions for their marriage.

The drama unfolded after Morgan, 28, met with author Jennifer Weiner, 48, in New York to discuss her planned book titled 'Boobs, Lubes And B*** Jobs'.

But after telling his disapproving mother of his future wife's literary project, Brendan had serious reservations about the sexually charged tell-all book Morgan was proposing.

Aspiring author: Morgan Stewart moved forward with her writing career on Sunday's episode of Rich Kids Of Beverly Hills

'I am a little concerned over the title,' Brendan admitted to his finance over lunch after she got back from New York.

'What upsets you about the title, because the word b*** job is in it?' she shot back.

'You are not 23-years-old writing an essay, I want to know where you think you get away with having b*** job in the title?' he asked her.

'You knew me through every single episode I am going to write about, there are no secrets, that is the person I once was that I have now evolved out of.

Working title: Brendan Fitzpatrick was not thrilled about his' wife working title of Boobs, Lubes and B*** Jobs

'You cannot sugar-coat me and pretend and brush things under the rug. I am unapologetically myself and that is what I am going to write about,' Morgan proclaimed.

'We are getting married and I need you to support that but at the end of the day I am closer to 30 than I am 20 and I am going to make my own decisions,' she informed her fiance.

Brendan was still not happy.

Voice of reason: The future groom warned Morgan to think about their children reading her book

'This book is going to be on the shelves forever, your kids are going to be able to read this, they are going to be like ''Dad, my friends are talking about it.'' I am just saying,' he told her.

'You have to think about a lifetime. What I am not going to do is talk you through all the negative that is going to come with this book. I am just telling you things to think about.'

Brendan told her he would never bring up the title again but he also would not accept her second guessing the title or complaining to him about it down the line.

Took a stand: Brendan urged Morgan to seriously consider her working title of Boobs, Lubes And B*** Jobs

Morgan did not help the situation when she told him that Weiner thought the book should be called 'The Whore Of Beverly Hills.'

'Do you see what she is taking away from this?' Brendan asked her.

'I think I think my actions through a little bit more in-depth than my fiancee does,' he told the cameras seriously.

Future repercussions: The real estate agent warned Morgan there would be consequences

'I am not sure Morgan has thought about the future repercussions that this book may have on our relationship or our family eventually.'

'I want you to think this through from A to Z and see if you can handle this forever, because there will be consequences,' Brendan warned her.

Morgan earlier shocked her mother Susan by telling her that she and Brendan had almost eloped while in Las Vegas, much to her horror and disappointment.

Getting emotional: Morgan's mother Susan got emotional when they brought up nearly eloping in Las Vegas

Dorothy and EJ had her huge collection of Birkin's appraised to get them insured, with one of the luxurious bags appraised at $80,000.

Dorothy was told to appraise her bag collection for $250,000, which she thought was 'cute.'

The pair then went over the trip to Las Vegas and had sharp words for Bianca, who had shown up there with a bodyguard.

Designer bags: EJ Johnson and Dorothy Wang spent time together as she got her handbags appraised

Highly valuable: An appraiser told Dorothy she had about $250,000 worth of handbags

'Don't try and be that b**** if you are not that b****,' said Dorothy.

'She tried to come to my birthday to show up and show out, I mean relax. I hate when people are like that with us,' Dorothy said.

Jonny and Bianca caught up over guacamole and champagne and also went over the Vegas trip.

Catching up: Bianca Espada and Jonny Drubel caught up over guacamole and champagne

'I love Bianca but she is a crazy b****, you never know when she is going to flip on you,' Jonny told the cameras.

Bianca told him that she did not like Dorothy and she would rather have flown home commercial than take the private jet back with her.

'It is really nonsense and it clearly came from a point of jealousy,' said Bianca.

'She is a monster,' she added.

Still mad: The Las Vegas bash left Bianca angry with Dorothy

Morgan met with her publicist ahead of flying to New York to try on her wedding dress and admitted she was scared about the whole thing.

There she would be meeting the Good In Bed writer in the hope she could help Morgan get a book deal for Boobs, Lubes and B*** jobs.'

'I want to be the voice of my generation,' she told her publicist ambitiously.

The voice: Morgan told her publicist that she wanted to be the voice of her generation

Morgan and Dorothy then went to an all-romance book store to prepare for the meeting with Jennifer.

Morgan told Dorothy she was going to write about a previous relationship she thought was going to be 'the one.'

'He totally broke my heart into a million pieces, shattered,' she told Dorothy.

Book store: The aspiring author went to an all-romance bookstore with Dorothy to learn more about the genre

Morgan told Dorothy that Brendan knew about her past and that she had not hidden anything from him.

Brendan and his groomsmen then tried out tuxes for the wedding and started the planning for the bachelor party.

In New York, Morgan had a wedding dress fitting at Badgley Mishka.

Wedding dress: Morgan reacted as she tried on her wedding dress

'I was born ready,' she said before trying on the dress - which she teasingly hid from the cameras.

Dorothy and Jonny then shopped for groceries for Chinese New Year and he asked her how her relationship with Bianca was going.

Dorothy told him they had still not spoken and that it 'was up to her.'

Grocery shopping: Dorothy went grocery shopping with Jonny for Chinese New Year supplies

'I have done my part. I am not going to chase her,' Dorothy told him.

In New York, Morgan sat down with Jennifer and she realized that to be a successful author she would have to be fully truthful about her past.

Weiner told her she would have to change the title of her book as it would not be stocked by retailers and instead suggested the title 'The Whore Of Beverly Hills.'

Book talk: Morgan met with the acclaimed author of Good In Bed to discuss her book plans

That left Morgan open-mouthed in shock.

'Do you know how many whores there are in this town? I am not the epitome of whore that is going to title my book after that,' Morgan told the cameras.

Morgan told her that 'this is my moment' and despite the pressure of her wedding she could write her 50 pages to start off.

Fifty pages: The reality star said she could provide 50 pages of copy

Morgan met with friends Jon and Alex and told them she was writing about all her past sexual escapades.

'I am going to be morning-after pill detailed,' Morgan assured them.

With Morgan away Brendan took his mom and friend to a bakery to test-taste cakes.

Test taste: Brendan told his mother about Morgan's lewd book title while testing cupcakes

Over the cakes Brendan told his mother about Morgan's book aspirations and broke the news of the title to her.

'Really? For real? I think it is interesting she chose that,' his unimpressed mother said stony faced.

'I Would prefer a different title but I think it is catchy and I think she wants to do what she wants to do,' said Brendan.

Bachelor party: The groom to be talked bachelor party with his pals

He then told the cameras that his mom's reaction had made him unsure about the book and that he felt it 'could be a huge mistake.'

In New York, Morgan dropped in on Jonny as he got ready for his DJ appearance and he told her Bianca was going to the show.

At pre-show drinks Morgan confronted Bianca over the drama in Las Vegas.

On the decks: Jonny was shown DJing in New York City

'I was definitely attacked. God knows what resentment she (Dorothy) has over me?' Bianca told her.

Bianca then told the cameras she could never trust Morgan and that she felt she manipulated Dorothy to dislike her.

Bianca then justified having security in Las Vegas so she could get to the bathroom more quickly.

'What the f***, is Beyonce in the room? You want to talk about delusional?' Morgan said to the cameras.
Scott Lee is a newcomer to the long running Australian soap Home and Away.

And on Monday, the hunky 23-year-old was put through his paces as he filmed dramatic scenes for the show at Sydney's Palm Beach.

The actor  who plays Hunter King on the show  was spotted practicing his lifeguard skills, pulling a dummy out of the water before practicing CPR on it.

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Lucky it's not a real emergency! Home And Away's Scott Lee was put through his paces as he filmed dramatic scenes for the show at Sydney's Palm Beach on Monday, rescuing a dummy from the surf

Scott showed off his muscular physique and rippling abs as he ran around the shore in a pair of black boardshorts.

He could be seen jogging to the water and then running back to land, all while dragging out a bright orange dummy out of the sea and onto the dry sand.

The up-and-coming star then put it down on the beach before performing CPR exercises on another dummy.

Intense: The hunky 23-year-old could also be seen practicing CPR on a mannequin

Eye candy: The actor  who plays Hunter King on the show  was spotted practicing his lifeguard skills shirtless

Fit! Scott showed off his rippling abs as he ran around the shore in a pair of black boardshorts

Ready for fame? Scott is a newcomer to the long running Australian soap

At one point, he kneeled down and turned the mannequin which was just a torso  onto its side to perfect the exercise.

All the while, Scott showed off his bulging muscles as he worked up a sweat.

Also on the beach was castmate Shane Withington, who plays John Palmer on the show.

Familiar face: Also on the beach was castmate Shane Withington, who plays John Palmer on the show

Hard yards: He could be seen jogging to the water and then running back to land, all while dragging out a bright orange dummy out of the sea and onto the dry sand

Taking a dip! Scott completely immersed himself in the water and came out dripping wet

Training: At one point, he knelt down and turned the dummy  which was just a torso  onto its side to perfect the exercise

John is a member of the surf lifesaving club, and on Monday, Shane could be seen standing and watching Scott in character, with Hunter presumably taking a test to see if he can be a surf lifesaver.

Scott was also seen with fellow newcomer Raechelle Banno, with the pair standing under beach umbrellas and sharing a laugh.

She looked stylish wearing a red and white striped T-shirt with a pinafore dress on top.

In character: John is a member of the surf lifesaving club

Action! Hunter was presumably taking a test to see if he can be a surf lifesaver

Drying off: He also had a blue Nike singlet top for his day at the beach

Helping hand: Scott was seen giving his co-star a helping hand

Heavy lifting: Scott lifted the inflatable dummy, but it remains unclear how many times they re shot the scene

The blonde had her hair out in loose tousled curls over her shoulders.

On the soap, the 22-year-old plays character Olivia, having scored the role last year.

She previously told The Daily Telegraph: 'It's all feeling real now, it's very exciting. I do get to do a lot of the romantic scenes.'

Hello there! Scott was also seen filming scenes with fellow newcomer, Raechelle Banno

Pretty: The blonde had her hair out in loose tousled curls over her shoulders

Beach chic: She looked stylish wearing a red and white striped T-shirt with a pinafore dress over the top

Scott first joined the show last year.

'It's Home and Away, you grow up watching it and I just thought 'if I'd ever get on that show, it would be so out of this world,' Scott told The West Australian at the time.

'It was really bizarre and strange walking past Ray Meagher and all the people who have been on there that you grow up watching, I'm over the moon.'

New gig: Scott first joined the show last year, telling The West Australian at the time about how excited he was to join the iconic soap




Things may be tense in his personal life following his shock split from Jessica Marais.

But James Stewart appears to be having a ball at work as he enjoyed goofing around while filming scenes for Home And Away in Sydney on Monday.

The 40-year-old actor appeared in high spirits as he playfully chased a co-star along the sands of Palm Beach.

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On-set shenanigans: James Stewart, 40, was spotted chasing a co-star on the set of Home And Away as he filmed scenes for the soap in Sydney

Seemingly causing the girl to fall on the sand, James surrendered his hands as if to let others on set know it wasn't his fault.

The pair were both laughing as they mucked around while surrounded by fellow crew and cast members.

James wore a pair of sand-coloured cargo shorts and a striped tank top layered with a denim shirt.

Having a laugh: The actor appeared in high spirits as he joked around on the Palm Beach location on Monday

Laughing it off: James' co-star was pictured laughing along as she fell down onto the sand

He sported a pair of dark sunglasses to shield his eyes from the sun.

The Melbourne-born actor was also seen strolling along the beach with his co-star Isabella Giovinazzo.

James plays Justin Morgan, who is scheduled to debut on the Seven Network soap opera next month.

Filming: James plays Justin Morgan, who is scheduled to debut on the Seven Network soap opera next month

Meanwhile, the actor has spoken out about co-parenting his four-year-old daughter Scout with his ex Jessica Marais.

'It's called parenting couple, that's the professional name for it,' the 40-year-old explained to the latest edition of New Idea.

He went on to add: 'It takes a little bit of time and it takes a really big heart.

Co-stars: The Melbourne-born actor was also seen strolling along the beach with his co-star Isabella Giovinazzo

'But once you realise it's about Scout, everything's easy,' James continued.

The Home And Away actor went on to say that he and Jessica have managed to keep their 'dignity' during the public split for the sake of their daughter.

James' comments came one week after the pair were seen to be involved in a heated argument while at a local park for Scout's fourth birthday.

The former couple met as on-screen loves on family comedy/drama Packed To The Rafters in 2009.

Amicable: James Stewart has spoken out about co-parenting his four-year-old daughter Scout with his ex-partner Jessica Marais

However, they made their first public appearance as a couple at the Logies nomination breakfast in March 2010.

The pair got engaged in October that year and announced they were expecting their first child in November 2011, with Scout born in May 2012.

The glamorous couple of Australian television announced their separation in May 2015, with the pair issuing a statement confirming the split.

'Jessica Marais and James Stewart have amicably separated. Their main focus at this time is the co-parenting of their daughter and they ask that media respect their privacy,' it read.
In recent years her career has taken a focus on directing.

And while Jodie Foster is in Sydney for the Australian premiere of Money Monster, the latest thriller that she has helmed as director, she took some time out for a photoshoot on Monday.

The 53-year-old cut a very stylish figure in plum coloured leather trousers that clung tight to her slim pins as she spent time at the Park Hyatt on Sydney Harbour.

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She's still got it: Jodie Foster is in Sydney for the Australian premiere of Money Monster, the latest thriller that she has been at the helm of as director she took some time out for a photoshoot on Monday

Jodie bundled up in the blustery Sydney weather with a chic black blazer layered over a black blouse that featured a plunging neckline.

The actress turned director made her legs the focus of her look as she strolled around the outside of the lavish property.

Adding some extra height to her look she donned a pair of black peep toe pumps and layered several fine gold necklaces to finish her outfit.

Leggy in leather: The 53-year-old cut a very stylish figure in plum coloured leather trousers that clung tight to her slim pins

Stylish: The actress turned director bundled up in the blustery Sydney weather with a chic black blazer layered over a black blouse that featured a plunging neckline

Amping it up: Adding some extra height to her look she donned a pair of black peep toe pumps to her outfit

Keeping her look minimal she wore her blonde tresses straight and in a sleek side part paired with a natural makeup look finished with a muted pink lip.

During the morning the Silence Of The Lambs star took part in a photoshoot while admiring the beautiful harbour views from the location.

Ahead of the premiere of Money Monster, which stars Hollywood heavyweights George Cloony and Julia Roberts she appeared to be in very high spirits.

Strike a pose: During the morning the Silence Of The Lambs star took part in a photoshoot while admiring the beautiful harbour views from the location

Sophisticated: Keeping her look minimal she wore her blonde tresses straight and in a sleek side part paired with a natural makeup look finished with a muted pink lip

Engaged: At one point during a break in the shoot she engaged in a lively chat with the photographer

At one point during a break in the shoot she engaged in a lively chat with the photographer.

Jodie showed off her seemingly ageless complexion as she posed for a series of dramatic shots with the iconic Sydney Opera House in the background.

Leaning against the clear glass of the hotel the Panic Room star looked relaxed and flashed a perfect smile.

Beauty: Jodie showed off her seemingly ageless complexion as she posed for a series of dramatic shots with the iconic Sydney Opera House in the background

Back at the helm: Jodie takes the lead as director, following her previous efforts Little Man Tate, Home For The Holidays and The Beaver

Money Monster tells the story of a financial TV host (George), who gets taken hostage on-air along with his producer (Julia) by a troubled investor (Jack).

Jodie takes the lead as director, following her previous efforts Little Man Tate, Home For The Holidays and The Beaver.

Speaking at the iconic Cannes Film Festival earlier this month, the two-time Oscar-winner blasted the film industry for the roles it offers women before attending the screening of her new movie.

Striking: The 53-year-old showed off her incredible blue eyes as she posed against Sydney Harbour

Calm: The looming Australian premiere didn't seem to bother Jodie who looked relaxed throughout the shoot

'One of my biggest pet peeves as an actor, whenever a male writer was searching for motivation for a woman they would always just go to rape.

'It was ridiculous,' she said.

She also noted 'drastic changes' on film sets from her years as a child actor, when the only women on set were the make-up artists and the person playing her mother.
He's taken on the mantel of playing one of Britain's most treasured and heroic icons.

But it seems that Brian Cox was born to play the role of Sir Winston Churchill, as he proved on set on Monday, while filming scenes for the drama, Churchill.

And while the actor, 69, looked the spitting image of the Wartime Prime Minister, it seems that one item of his period wardrobe was not to his liking - as he swapped his shoes for trainers in-between takes.

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A dead ringer! It seems that Brian Cox was born to play the role of Sir Winston Churchill, as he proved on set on Monday, while filming scenes for the drama, Churchill

Filming scenes for the biopic - which focuses on the lead-up to D-Day in 1944 - the award-winning star looked to be deep in character as he filmed scenes alongside extras near the City Chambers.

And indeed the wardrobe department for the film had made sure that Brian was a dead-ringer for the cherished historical figure, something which appeared to help him slip further into the character.

Walking along, walking stick in hand, the actor puffed away on a cigar (something Chruchill was particularly fond of) as he strode through the set in the Prime Minister's iconic regalia.

Wearing morning suit trousers, a waistcoat, shirt and bow tie, along with a pair of black leather brogues, the actor also sported a slightly beaten homburg hat over his short red and silver hair.

Not quite from the period: While the actor, 69, looked the spitting image of the Prime Minister, it seems that one item of his period wardrobe was not to his liking - as he swapped his shoes for trainers in-between takes

And while Brian looked the spitting image of the the wartime leader, it seems that Brian wasn't a fan of the period shoes he'd been kitted out with, as in-between takes he traded them in for a pair of comfy flyknit trainers.

Chatting away to members of the crew, the Braveheart star looked to be in fine form as the day got underway - despite his uncomfortable footwear.

And it wasn't just Brian cutting a convincing figure form yesteryear in his finery, as a plethora of extras were also dressed up in wartime regalia for the scenes.

The actor and his co-star were seen shooting scenes alongside his co-star John Slattery in Edinburgh earlier on in the week, on Tuesday.

Strong likeness: Brian (left) has been channelling the former Prime Minister Winston Churchill (right) in his trademark hat and bow tie since filming began on the project, on Tuesday

Mr. Churchill, is that you? Filming scenes for the biopic - which focuses on the lead-up to D-Day in 1944 - the star looked to be deep in character as he filmed scenes alongside extras near the City Chambers

Flying back in time; And it wasn't just Brian cutting a convincing figure form yesteryear in his finery, as a plethora of extras were also dressed up in wartime regalia for the scenes

Convincing co-star: The actor and his co-star were seen shooting scenes alongside his co-star John Slattery in Edinburgh earlier on in the week, on Tuesday

The Troy star was seen shooting scenes alongside the Mad Men actor, who is playing US Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Puffing away on a cigar and with Churchill's signature hat on his head, the actor once-again looked the spitting image of the World War 2 leader.

Brian and John were seen shooting in the Scottish city for the film titled Churchill, which is set in the 48 hours leading up to the D-Day landings in June 1944.

Eisenhower served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and would go on to serve as 34th President of the US from 1953 until 1961.

Iconic: Dressed in a black overcoat layered over a grey pinstripe suit and bow tie, the Royal Shakespeare Company veteran looked uncannily like Churchill

Plum role: Brian was seen for the first time shooting scenes for a major new movie about British Prime Minister Winston Churchill

Stanley Tucci had previously been lined up for the role but was unable to commit due to scheduling conflicts.

The pair appeared to be engaged in a heated discussion, seemingly disagreeing about how to proceed with the operation.

Churchill was involved in a security row with Eisenhower in the hours before D-Day, according to a secret document released for the first time in 2002.

The British leader blocked the United States' attempts to extend a diplomatic black-out beyond the day of the 157,000-strong invasion of the Nazi-held French coast.

Taking a break: Mad Men star John Slattery, who has also appeared in Sex And The City and Desperate Housewives, was seen checking his messages

Important role: The suited and booted actor plays US Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower in the film. Churchill blocked the United States' attempts to extend a diplomatic black-out beyond the day of the 157,000-strong invasion of the Nazi-held French coast

Clash: Churchill was involved in a security row with Eisenhower in the hours before D-Day, according to a secret document released for the first time in 2002

Difference of opinion: The British leader blocked the United States' attempts to extend a diplomatic black-out beyond the day of the 157,000-strong invasion of the Nazi-held French coast

However, Eisenhower wanted to avoid British and American diplomatic activity to prevent the D-Day plans leaking out.

Brian was surrounded by a large crew as shots were set up in a city park, while further scenes were filmed at the National Monument.

Dressed in a black overcoat layered over a grey pinstripe suit and bow tie, the Royal Shakespeare Company veteran looked uncannily like Churchill.

Leading man: Puffing away on a cigar and with Churchill's signature Homburg hat on his head, the 69-year-old actor looked the spitting image of the World War 2 leader

Historical drama: Brian takes centre stage as the film focuses on the Prime Minister's 48 hours leading up to the allied invasion of Normandy in 1944

Major new movie: Brian was seen shooting in the Scottish city for the film titled Churchill, which is set in the 48 hours leading up to the D-Day landings in June 1944

Action! Jonathan Teplitzky, who has worked on TV hits like the recent Marcella and Indian Summers, will direct the new film, while author and historian Alex von Tunzelmann has written her debut screenplay

History: As well as Churchill's personal relationships, the film will focus on the huge D-Day operation, which saw Allied forces launch a combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France

Brian takes centre stage though, as the film focuses on the Prime Minister's 48 hours leading up to the allied invasion of Normandy in 1944.

It's thought the movie will focus heavily on Churchill's relationship during this short period with his wife Clementine, played by Miranda Richardson.

British model turned actress Suki Waterhouse has also joined the cast, alongside James Purefoy who will play King George VI.

Key moment in his leadership: While the operation contributed to the Allied victory on the Western Front, on the eve of the launch Churchill and his commanders were anxious

In character: Brian was seen puffing on a cigar as he waited for shots to be set up near Edinburgh's National Monument

Dapper: The stage and screen star has called the part 'the role of a lifetime'

THE D-DAY LANDINGS: Shortly after midnight on 6 June 1944, Allied forces launched a combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on D-Day, marking the the largest seaborne invasion in history. The 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword Beach. The operation contributed to the Allied victory on the Western Front. German casualties on D-Day were around 1,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead.

Jonathan Teplitzky, who has worked on TV hits like the recent Marcella and Indian Summers, will direct the new film, while author and historian Alex von Tunzelmann has written her debut screenplay.

'I'm looking forward to bringing this iconic but complex figure to life,' says Cox of the project.

'It's the role of a lifetime for me and I'm so pleased to be taking this journey with both Jonathan and our great cast.'

As well as Churchill's personal relationships, the film will focus on the planning for the huge D-Day operation, which saw Allied forces launch a combined naval, air and land assault on Nazi-occupied France.

While the operation contributed to the Allied victory on the Western Front, on the eve of the launch Churchill and his commanders were anxious, leading to the PM to bid his wife goodnight with the words, 'Do you realise that by the time you wake up in the morning twenty thousand men may have been killed?'

What a setting: Brian was surrounded by a large crew as shots were set up in a city park, while further scenes were filmed at the National Monument

Historically accurate: The film, which also stars Angela Costello, pays great attention to detail and costumes will be true to the war era

Shortly after midnight on 6 June, over 18,000 Allied paratroopers were dropped into the invasion area, Allied air forces flew over 14,000 sorties in support of the landings and nearly 7,000 naval vessels were launched.

Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on D-Day, marking the the largest seaborne invasion in history.

German casualties on D-Day were around 1,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead.

Stocking up on supplies: Brian was seen trying out different types of cigars with the help of a crew member

Nice view: A vintage car was parked up overlooking the city as Brian discussed the scene

Personal story: It's thought the movie will focus heavily on Churchill's relationship with his wife Clementine, played by Miranda Richardson

Leading lady: Harry Potter star Miranda Richardson, 58, is playing the politician's wife
She's been doing her best to focus on her burgeoning media career since tragically splitting with Blake Garvey last month.

And on Monday, aspiring lifestyle guru Louise Pillidge sported a stylish ensemble as she headed to the airport after hosting a local bridal event in Perth.

The 28-year-old has been splitting her time between Perth, where she lived with Blake, and her original hometown of Sydney since breaking up with The Bachelor hunk.

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Bye! Louise Pillidge left Perth on Monday after returning to the city, where she previously lived with Blake Garvey, to host a local bridal event

The one-time reality TV star cut a fashionable figure as she posed for an Instagram photo before catching her flight.

She looked confident in a pair of knee-high leather boots, which she wore over a pair of black skinny jeans.

The conservative starlet, who is known for her old-fashioned persona, added a burgundy skivvy underneath a black coat.

She ensured that she was colour coordinated with a matching black handbag, while her burgundy lipstick matched her top.

'My favourite pic from last night': She may be newly-single, but Louise Pillidge played the role of a blushing bride with confidence as she attended a bridal event in Perth on Friday

The newly-single Louise has made no secret about her desire to continue working on her media career and lifestyle blog since parting ways with her Bachelor beau.

And on Friday, she did just that by hosting a bridal event for WedStyle.

Taking to Instagram on Saturday to document the previous evening's swanky affair, Louise uploaded a photo of herself clad in an elegant bridal gown while posing next to a pair of models at the event.

'What a wonderful night so far': Louise Pillidge, 28, took to Instagram with this glamorous snap on Friday as she hosted theShe Wears White Bridal Fashion Fest in Perth

'My favourite pic from last night', the red-lipped blonde wrote in the caption as she modelled the lace-covered garment.

A day earlier, she shared another image taken during the event, this time featuring herself posing while gazing at a rack of bridal gowns.

'What a wonderful night so far - on to my next outfit for tonight', the blonde beauty wrote in the caption before adding the hashtag 'CostumeChange'.

Hours earlier, Louise shared another backstage photo of herself getting her makeup done before the big event.

Primped: Hours earlier, Louise shared another backstage photo of herself getting her makeup done before the big event

'Getting ready for tonight. Hosting the first EVER @wedstylewa Sundowner event!', she wrote in the caption as she beamed into the camera.

'Thank you to @eloquentialbride @shewearswhite @justinatfattys @lyoungers_makeup for the glam #nomakeup', she added.

Louise recently appeared in a bridal-themed photo shoot photographed by Peggy Saas, which she shared to her self-titled lifestyle blog.

Glamorous: Louise recently appeared in a bridal-themed photo shoot photographed by Peggy Saas , which she shared to her self-titled lifestyle blog

Posing with a suit-clad gentleman, Louise appeared to be in her element as she draped herself across a plush couch for the camera.

The images may cause a level of discomfort for her ex-boyfriend Blake, with whom she publically split only a few weeks ago.

Having met on the reality show The Bachelor, the couple decided to broadcast their breakup in an equally public manner by posing for a 'breakup photoshoot' in New Idea magazine.
They are one of the showbiz world's most adorable family units.

And Cat Deeley was at the helm of her clan as she clutched her five-month-old son while strutting through LAX airport on Sunday evening alongside husband Patrick Kielty.

The 39-year-old British beauty went make-up free for her trip, looking every inch the glowing new mum, while her funnyman partner, 45, kept things casual in a suede bomber jacket.

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Stunner: Cat Deeley was at the helm of her clan as she clutched her five-month-old son while strutting through LAX airport on Sunday evening alongside husband Patrick Kielty

Cat, who is the host of US show So You Think You Can Dance, looked completely radiant as she strutted through the airport looking low-key and lovely.

She sported an abstract animal print blazer boasting muted brown and khaki hues, which gave the look a muted feel yet gave a fashionable edge.

The West Bromwich-born stunner showed off her endless legs in a pair of flood length jeans comprising off an indigo wash.

Keeping things super casual in a pair of sandals, the leather flats featured three straps forming a T-bar styling while also boasting a metallic hue.

Happy families: The 39-year-old British beauty went make-up free for her trip, looking every inch the glowing new mum, while her funnyman partner, 45, kept things casual in a suede bomber jacket

Legs eleven: Cat, who is the host of US show So You Think You Can Dance, looked completely radiant as she strutted through the airport looking low-key and lovely

Cat went make-up free for her jaunt yet exhibited a flawless complexion which would no doubt be the envy of any new mum as she looked fresh and stunning.

Her flawlessly highlighted blonde locks were styled into billowing waves which framed her face perfectly while falling from a centre parting.

Following on was handsome Patrick who cut an edgy figure in a brown suede bomber jacket with a black crew neck T-shirt layered underneath.

Daddy cool: She sported an abstract animal print blazer boasting muted brown and khaki hues, which gave the look a muted feel yet gave a fashionable edge

Mummy dearest: Cat went make-up free for her jaunt yet exhibited a flawless complexion which would no doubt be the envy of any new mum as she looked fresh and stunning

Cat certainly had the glow that comes with motherhood, and she has said she's 'besotted with the baby.'

'People keep asking me if I've been hitting the gym, but I haven't! I think breastfeeding is key and it's worked well for me,' the British blonde recently told Closer magazine.

'Add to that running around after a new baby and you don't need to work out.'

Blonde beauty: Her flawlessly highlighted blonde locks were styled into billowing waves which framed her face perfectly while falling from a centre parting

Cat and the Irish comedian - who wed in Rome four years ago - have yet to release the name of their bundle of joy.

'Hey Now...That moment when you decide to rename your first born @jeffreytambor,' Patrick joked in a May 9 tweet while posing alongside the hilarious Arrested Development star.

The five-time Emmy nominee will next host the 13th season of So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation, which premieres Monday on Fox.

Nameless: Cat and the Irish comedian - who wed in Rome four years ago - have yet to release the name of their bundle of joy
She might be new to Summer Bay but Raechelle Banno is making fast friends.

On the Home and Away set at Palm Beach, the 22-year-old joked around with co-star Scott Lee while filming scenes for the long-running drama.

Looking relaxed in each other's company, the pretty blonde, who play Olivia, was seen laughing and smiling at Scott, who appeared to make humorous gestures as they soaked up the sun on the iconic beach front.

Fun times! On the Home and Away set at Palm Beach, Raechelle Banno joked around with co-star Scott Lee while filming scenes for the long-running drama

Raechelle looked stylish in red and white striped T-shirt with a black pinafore dress over the top, accessorising with a black handbag slung over her shoulder.

Her blonde tresses were styled out in loose tousled curls which fell at her shoulders, while Raechelle sported a more natural make-up look with a hint of sleek eyeliner, mascara and lightly bronzed cheeks.

Meanwhile Scott, who joined the show last year, sported a blue Nike singlet and dark printed board shorts.

At one point during filming Raechelle showed off her acting skills, giving her best shocked expression as she shot her scene.

All smiles: Looking relaxed in each other's company, the pretty blonde, who play Olivia, was seen laughing and smiling

Summery look: Raechelle looked stylish in red and white striped T-shirt with a black pinafore dress over the top, accessorizing with a black handbag slung over her shoulder

Having also joined the long-running drama in 2015, the actress opened up about her new role toThe Daily Telegraph.

'It's all feeling real now, it's very exciting. I do get to do a lot of the romantic scenes,' she told the publication.

Scott, who plays Hunter King, is a love interest of Olivia's on the show.

'It's all feeling real now, it's very exciting. I do get to do a lot of the romantic scenes,' she told The Daily Telegraph shortly after landing her role

Goofing around: Scott, appeared to make humourous gestures as the pair soaked up the sun on the iconic beach front

Shortly after landing the role, Scott spoke told The West Australian how excited he was to join the iconic show.

'It's Home and Away, you grow up watching it and I just thought 'if I'd ever get on that show, it would be so out of this world,' Scott said.

'It was really bizarre and strange walking past Ray Meagher and all the people who have been on there that you grow up watching, I'm over the moon.'

Showing off her moves: At one point the pretty blonde make her own silly gestures in between takes

Newcomer: Raechelle joined the long-running soap last year and plays Olivia
They tied the knot last weekend, in what appeared to be a beautiful ceremony in Cheshire.

But ahead of Coronation Street actress Catherine Tyldesley's wedding to her personal trainer fiance Tom Pitfield, he partook in a typically raucous-looking stag party, which hilariously saw him take inspiration from her for the 'do as he dressed up with large fake breasts and a blonde wig.

In a picture post shared by Tom's friend, the hunky trainer was seen clad in an eye-popping ensemble that included the ample assets and a mullet-style hairpiece, perhaps inspired by his lovely lady.

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Lads lads lads: Catherine Tyldesley's husband Tom Pitfield dressed up in a hilarious Olivia Newton-John outfit (perhaps inspired by the Coronation Street star) for his stag do in Marbella, weeks ahead of their wedding

Catherine plays the stunning barmaid Eva Price in the soap, and his costume appeared to be an accentuated take on her gorgeous appearance, with the extra additions of some 1980s exercise staples of fingerless gloves, legwarmers and a bum-bag.

Across his fake heaving chest, the then-fiance of Catherine bore the words of the hit retro Olivia Newton-John track Let's Get Physical.

Fun-loving Tom was made to wear the humilitating but typical stag 'do costume as he and his group of pals left the UK to head to Marbella, the handsome gent even having to keep it on while at the airport.

The funny snap was shared by his best man Andy Battersby, showing Tom looking thrilled ahead of the shenanigans that would take place in the Spanish resort.

Hilarious! Catherine plays the stunning barmaid Eva Price in the soap, and Tom's costume appeared to be an accentuated take on her gorgeous appearance, thanks to the large fake breasts and blonde wig

And, one of his other pals told The Sun: 'Tom let his hair down with us just like he used to do in the old days before he got involved with Catherine.

'Everyone knows he's into his fitness and likes big boobs  it was the perfect outfit. He was supposed to be Olivia Newton John from her music video Let's Get Physical.

The friend added: 'But with the blonde wig and knockers he looked just like his new wife.'

Catherine and Tom tied the knot in a private ceremony last weekend, and had a plethora of famous faces attend their big day, including her Corrie co-stars Samia Ghadie, Jane Danson and Shayne Ward among others.

There was no sign of the blushing bride, who has been secretive about her plans for the big day.

Gorgeous: The stunning 32-year-old soap actress tied the knot to her personal trainer beau last weekend in Cheshire, although the ceremony was a closely-guarded secret

Catherine, mum to one-year-old son Alfie with Tom - with whom she has been in a romance since 2014 - even told This Morning back in March that she was dragging her feet on the planning.

The 32-year-old said her wedding planner has been trying to hurry her up.

'I've been trying to plan it, but I've been so busy,' Catherine said. 'My wedding planner said I have to start concentrating and said, 'You are getting married'.'

Describing her dress, she added: 'It's absolutely stunning  and I'll feel like the luckiest girl in the world when I wear it to make my vows to Tom.'

Catherine also previously spilled that the couple's son Alfie will have a starring role at the ceremony as pageboy, with the actress explaining:

'We wanted to wait until after his first birthday in March to tie the knot so he could be part of the big day.'
She announced she is expecting her second child with husband Paul Stocker, just under a fortnight ago and EastEnders star Kellie Bright debuted her bump on Sunday.

The actress, 39, best known for playing Linda Carter in the BBC1 soap was glowing as she walked down the red carpet at the Sky Kids Cafe VIP Preview in London.

Wearing minimal make-up, she tied her blonde locks up in a high bun as she smiled for the cameras.

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Baby on board: She announced she is expecting her second child with husband Paul Stocker, just under a fortnight ago and EastEnders star Kellie Bright debuted her bump at the Sky Kids Cafe VIP preview on Sunday

She wore a pretty pink floral summery dress and clutched her tummy, highlighting her changing shape.

She completed her ensemble with a pair of contrasting red Swedish Hasbeen sandals.

Kellie took to Twitter earlier this month to share her good news with her fans, reassuring them that she wouldn't be taking too much time away from the soap.

The Strictly Come Dancing runner-up - who plays Linda Carter in the BBC soap - also revealed that she was expecting her new addition in November.

Baby number two: She wore a pretty pink floral summery dress and clutched her tummy, highlighting her changing shape

Coming soon: The Strictly Come Dancing runner-up also revealed that she is expecting her new addition in November

Dedicated: Kellie also reassured fans that she wouldn't be taking too much time away from the soap

Having a knees up: Kellie plays Linda Carter in EastEnders. She made her soap debut the previous year, alongside her on-screen husband Mick (Danny Dyer)

'Shhh... Don't tell anyone, but I'm pregnant!' she tweeted. 'My hubby and I are over the moon & looking forward 2 meeting our little person in Nov #mama@40.'

She added: 'And for those of you that want to know, I will be returning to @bbceastenders after I've had the baby #queenvicismyhome #LindaCarter4ever xx.'

Kellie and Paul are already parents to a four-year-old son Freddy.

Reality stars Billie, 26, and her younger sister Sam, 25, also added a touch of understated glamour to the event, both wearing fitted jeans and white tops.

Sister sister: Reality stars Billie and Sam Faiers looked tanned and happy as they attended the Sky Kids Cafe VIP Preview with their children Nelly Shepherd and Paul Tony Knightley

While Billie completed her look with a pink satin bomber jacket, Sam accessorised with a black quilted handbag.

The sisters went for minimal make-up, showing off their glowing skin and wearing their glossy blonde hair in loose curls.

Sam dressed her five-month-old son Paul Tony Knightley - named after his father and uncle, in a blue playsuit, while Billie dressed 22-month-old daughter Nelly Shepherd in a pink and white outfit with cute satin bows.

Yummy mummies: (L-R) Imogen Thomas and Siera, Sam Faiers and Paul, Billie Faiers and Nellie

Double denim: The sisters went for minimal make-up, showing off their glowing skin and wearing their glossy blonde hair in loose curls

Nellie the poser! Billie completed her look with a pink satin bomber jacket, Sam accessorised with a black quilted handbag

Fellow TOWIE star Lauren Goodger was also in attendance with her niece and nephew.

The 29-year-old reality star sported black zipped leggings, a dark top and a stylish leather jacket embellished with gold buttons, completing the look with a snake-print Chanel bag.

Going for bold brows, Lauren accentuated her famous pout with a nude lipgloss.

Pout! Lauren Goodger was in attendance with her niece, and looked stylish in black zipped leggings, a dark top and a stylish leather jacket embellished with gold buttons, completing the look with a snake-print Chanel bag

Family girl: She also posed with her adorable nephew

Lauren revealed in her New! Column last month that she has split from her on-off boyfriend Jake Mclean.

'I can confirm that Jake and I have sadly split. I don't want to go into too much detail because I don't want to sl*g him off, but I don't see us getting back together, put it that way', she said.

The reality star added that she feels 'so free' and has realised she needs to be on her own.

Coronation Street star Kym Marsh, 40, was also in attendance with her youngest child, five-year-old Polly.

Cute duo! Kym Marsh kept it casual in black leggings and a stripy top, letting little Polly steal the limelight in a bright floral sundress

Cheese! The 39-year-old Coronation street actress and her youngest daughter Polly, 5, posed for the cameras

The soap star kept it casual in black leggings and a stripy top, letting little Polly steal the limelight in a bright floral sundress.

Clutching a toy dog, the mother-daughter duo looked adorable as they posed for cameras.

On Saturday, Kym attended the British Soap Awards with her eldest daughter, 18-year-old lookalike Emilie.

Kym is mother to 21-year-old David and 19-year-old Emilie from her relationship with Dave Cunliffe, and had son Archie, who tragically passed away moments after his birth in 2010, and Polly, both from her brief marriage to Hollyoaks star Jamie Lomas.

Posers: Imogen Thomas brought 3-year-old daughter Ariana to the event, looking casual in ripped jeans a striped top and white jacket, dressing her little girl in a cute frilly dress, matching her silver glittery shoes to the bow in her hair.

Hot mum: The 33-year-old Welsh model is also mum to six-month-old daughter Siera with Australian boyfriend Adam Horsley

Imogen Thomas brought three-year-old daughter Ariana to the event, looking casual in ripped jeans a striped top and white jacket, dressing her little girl in a cute frilly dress, matching her silver glittery shoes to the bow in her hair.

This was the second event in the day the duo attended, having gone to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 premiere just hours earlier.

The 33-year-old Welsh model is also mother to six-month-old daughter Siera with Australian boyfriend Adam Horsley.

TOWIE star Lydia Bright attended the event solo, having recently spoken out about her split from James Argent.

TOWIE star Lydia Bright looked tanned and relaxed in her monochrome ensemble
They met the Pope just one day before, in which he was feted with a humanitarian award.

And Amal Clooney and her husband George looked as though they were still on a high from their religious experience as they stepped out of their Rome hotel on Monday.

The 38-year-old human rights lawyer looked typically flawless in an elegant 1960s inspired coat dress while her movie star husband, 55, was wholly more casual.

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Stunning stars: Amal Clooney and her husband George looked as though they were still on a high from their religious experience as they stepped out of their Rome hotel on Monday

Amal, famed for her graceful style, showed off a mass of leg in her thigh-skimming coat which boasted intricate brocade detailing.

Her long legs were the focus of the look as she remained relatively demure and covered upon the rest of her slender, model-like figure.

A demure suede court shoe was in-keeping with the graceful style on the ensemble, with just a slight heel boosting her already phenomenally statuesque height.

She shielded her flawlessly made-up face with the assistance of huge round lens sunglasses which once again looped in with the stunning theme of the ensemble.

See George Clooney updates as wife Amal oozes Sixties sophistication in coat dress

Elegance: The 38-year-old human rights lawyer looked typically flawless in an elegant 1960s inspired coat dress while her movie star husband, 55, was wholly more casual

Stunning duo: The pair walked hand in hand, displaying their close bond

Golden girl: Amal, famed for her graceful style, showed off a mass of leg in her thigh-skimming coat which boasted intricate brocade detailing

Off they go: Amal oozed elegance as she stepped out in her golden look

Amal clutched a hat box as she piled into a car, potentially holding the stunning hat she was sporting the day before for her big meet with the Catholic leader.

In a shocking contrast to his wife's super elegant look, George was sporting a promotional T-shirt from Casamigos Tequila brand paired with light coloured jeans.

He pulled on suede brown shoes while shielding his world famous face with a trendy pair of sunglasses.

During an Italian date night the previous evening, Amal stunned in a shimmery silk off-the-shoulder dress gathered into a loose knot above the knee, as she headed out to dinner with George.

Hat box: Amal clutched a hat box as she piled into a car, potentially holding the stunning hat she was sporting the day before for her big meet with the Catholic leader

Ever the gent: George held the door open for his beautiful wife as the headed into the car

Different locations: George and Amal looked as though they were headed to different venues in their contrasting looks

Amal completed her futuristic look with matching gold heels and a small clutch bag.

Wearing her trademark glossy chestnut hair in loose waves, the Lebanese-British lawyer kept her make-up minimal, donning red lipstick, while George looked dapper in a dark suit with a black shirt underneath.

The twosome looked quite the power couple as they headed to dinner in the Italian capital.

Heading in: The couple still seemed enamoured with one another as they headed into the car

A bite of the apple: George was weighed down with Apple products as he headed into the people carrier

One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor: He pulled on suede brown shoes while shielding his world famous face with a trendy pair of sunglasses

Strutting their stuff: It is indisputable that the pair make a very good looking duo

Making their way: The duo kept things low-key despite their movie star status

Power couple: Amal went from demure to girl about town as she headed out to dinner with George in Rome on Sunday evening

Versatile: The lawyer stunned in a silk off-the-shoulder dress gathered into a loose knot above the knee, featuring diagonal metallic stripes

Going strong: George held his wife of two years protectively, as she navigated the traditional cobbled streets in her killer heels

George held his wife of two years protectively, as she navigated the traditional cobbled streets in her killer heels.

Earlier in the day the duo attended a seminar led by the Pope called 'Un Muro o Un Ponte' at the Paul VI Hall in Vatican City.

Amal looked demure in a black long-sleeved Versace lace dress which fell above the knees, along with nude shoes and a black head piece.

Ocean's 11 star George looked smart in a navy suit and tie and a crisp white shirt.

Ever the gentleman: George, 55, looked dapper in a dark suit with a black shirt underneath

More than just a pretty face: Wearing her trademark glossy chestnut hair in loose waves around her face, the Lebanese lawyer kept her make up minimal, donning red lipstick

Demure: Earlier in the day the duo attended a seminar led by the Pope at the Paul VI Hall in Vatican City

The event aimed to promote work by global educational initiative organisation Scholas Occurentes which works with young people all over the world, and highlighted the plight of migrants attempting to reach Europe.

Pope Francis awarded medals to Richard Gere, George Clooney and Salma Hayek for their contributions.

'Important values can be transmitted by celebrities,' said one of the organisers, Lorena Bianchetti, adding that the actors had agreed to be ambassadors for one of the foundation's arts projects.

Meeting the Pope: Pope Francis awarded medals to Richard Gere, George Clooney and Salma Hayek for their contributions

Yesterday Pope Francis held an emotional meeting with hundreds of children on Saturday, including a Nigerian boy whose parents drowned in a shipwreck, and told them migrants 'are not dangerous, but in danger'.

The meeting followed a surge in migrant traffic this week between Libya and Italy, with more than 14,000 saved from overcrowded boats since Monday and three consecutive days of shipwrecks in which hundreds may have died.
She's known for her youthful looks and healthy lifestyle and actress Jane Fonda was channelling a very chic French-inspired look when she stepped out on Sunday evening.

The 78-year-old was pictured heading to Dan Tana's restaurant with her cute pet dog, Tulea, in West Hollywood, CA in a very Gallic ensemble.

Clutching her white pooch in her arms, she wore a Breton-style sweater teamed with white trousers as she made her way to the upmarket eatery.

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Ou la la: Jane Fonda, 78, was pictured heading to Dan Tana's restaurant with her cute pet dog, Tulea, in West Hollywood, CA, on Sunday, wearing in a very Gallic ensemble

She covered her blonde, perfectly styled locks with an oversized floppy white beret and completed her look with shiny silver T-bar shoes.

Wearing minimal make-up, she opted for the ultimate superstar accessory, a pair of designer shades.

And of course, no look would be complete without a royal blue quilted Chanel bag, which she slung artfully on one shoulder.

Cannes you believe it? Clutching her white pooch in her arms, she wore a Breton-style sweater teamed with white trousers as she made her way to the upmarket eatery

Jane's pooch is often seen in her arms as she likes to give the tiny Coton de Tulear the first class treatment.

Jane won the Best Actress Oscar twice, first in 1972 for her portrayal of a New York City prostitute in the film Klute. Her second win came in 1979 for the Vietnam War drama Coming Home.

In September 2011, Jane wrote on her website about Tulea, who has gone with her over the years to book signings, television interviews and theatre rehearsals.

Jane said she used to own Golden Retrievers, but after the death of her dog Spencer after 13 years together, she wanted a small dog and learned from an acquaintance about the Coton de Tulear breed.

It turned out to be the right choice.

'She goes just about everywhere with me and when I am without her I ache for her,' Jane wrote of Tulea's company. 'Its a physical thing. I feel a pang in my body and its harder to sleep.'
As far as mistaken identities go, being confused with an A-List movie star isnt so bad  especially if you are an equally talented and beautiful woman.

Two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster, 53, opened up about being constantly mistaken for Helen Hunt, 52, at the Sydney premiere of her newly-directed film Money Monster.

Ive been mistaken for Helen Hunt so many times and she for me. We talk about it a lot every time we see each other, she told Daily Mail Australia.

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'It happens so many times': Two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster, 53, opened up about being constantly mistaken for Helen Hunt, 52, at the Sydney premiere of her newly-directed film Money Monster

Its strange because shes at least five inches taller than me and the only similarity is that we part our hair on the same side.

Foster was almost right, Hunt stands at 1.7 metres compared to her 1.61 metres, a difference of about 3.5 inches.

The frequent mix-up first came to light a week ago when a Starbucks barista mistook Hunt for Foster and wrote Jody on her cup.

Similar? Its strange because shes at least five inches taller than me and the only similarity is that we part our hair on the same side,' Foster said

Starbucks slip-up: The frequent mix-up first came to light a week ago when a Starbucks barista mistook Hunt for Foster and wrote Jody on her cup

Longtime 'twin': It goes back even further as Hunt admitted to David Letterman in a 1994 interview that a supermarket cashier had once made the same mistake

The As Good As It Gets star laughed off the incident in a Twitter post writing: 'Ordered my drink @Starbucks asked the barista if she wanted my name. She winked and said "We gotcha".'

It goes back even further as Hunt admitted to David Letterman in a 1994 interview that a supermarket cashier had once made the same mistake.

Foster opted for fairly neutral attire to strut the premiere red carpet in, wearing a simple knee-length black dress under an equally black blazer.

Conservative style: Foster opted for fairly neutral attire to strut the premiere red carpet in, wearing a simple knee-length black dress under an equally black blazer

All black: She teamed the conservative outfit with a black clutch and matching toeless high heels, with just a single necklace to jazz it up

Mingling: Foster signed autographs and took selfies with fans at the Sydney premiere

She teamed the conservative outfit with a black clutch and matching toeless high heels, with just a single necklace to jazz it up.

The four-time director also discussed the Money Monster casting process, saying Jack OConnell was not her first choice.

The 25-year-old, who plays a disgruntled investor who takes George Clooneys character hostage, has to do his audition over Skype to get the role.

Hes very British and hes very young and my idea for the role was someone from Queens [New York City] who was 35 or 40, Foster said.

But the second I saw him I was blown away and couldnt imagine anybody else.

Had to audtion on Skype! The four-time director also discussed the Money Monster casting process, saying Jack OConnell (pictured) was not her first choice

High drama: The film's plot revolves around a star cable news financial analyst (Clooney) being taken hostage by an angry investor who lost everything because of a stock tip on the show Money Monster

OConnell, who was in Australia for months filming World War II film Unbroken two years ago, did not give his director many suggestions on where to go out while she was in Sydney.

Hes very into sport and has seen a lot of rugby games here so he suggested that, she said.

Foster had to call up stars Clooney and Julia Roberts but said the script was what sold them.

It was very clear and had really good characters and I think they both saw that, she said.

Steady hand: Julia Roberts (right) plays the show's director, who works to solve the crisis.

The film's plot revolves around a star cable news financial analyst (Clooney) being taken hostage by an angry investor who lost everything because of a stock tip on the show Money Monster.

Julia Roberts plays the show's director, who works to solve the crisis.

Foster has not appeared in a film since Elysium in 2013 and before that was The Beaver in 2011, which she also directed, but she did not feel like it was a big gap to now.

Everyone keeps saying its been such a long time between films but I feel like its only been a short time  I couldnt have done another one in between, she said.

I spent a lot of time working on the script to make the characters to be as complicated an interwoven as they were.

Looking smart: Also walking the Sydney premiere red carpet was Sunrise presenter James Tobin

Legs eleven! Also walking the Sydney premiere red carpet was E! Australia host Ksenija Lukich

The backdrops of the world of finance, high technology and broadcast infotainment and the weird way they melt together in our culture were what interested me.

Foster acknowledged that Money Monster was her biggest film and her first attempt at a mainstream production, as her previous three were fairly niche.

It need resources, it needed guns, bombs, helicopters and things like that and thats why it needed to be a mainstream film that made more money, she said.

Im still learning. I started making movies when I was 27 and have done four so thats not many but I have a lot of stories to tell.

Also walking the Sydney premiere red carpet was Sunrise presenter James Tobin, E! Australia host Ksenija Lukich, and actresses Tasneem Roc, Gracie Gilbert and Tess Haubrich.

Red hot: Also walking the Sydney premiere red carpet was actress Tasneem Roc
Barbara Palvin made sure to stop by and chat to Lewis Hamilton during the qualifying stages of the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday.

So it was little surprise that the Victoria's Secret model, 22, braved the downpour on race day to watch the 31-year-old British F1 star roar to victory at the famous circuit.

Slipping into a semi-sheer black maxi dress, which featured a seriously plunging neckline, the Hungarian beauty certainly claimed pole position in the style stakes.

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Getting into top gear? Barbara Palvin made sure to stop by and chat to Lewis Hamilton during the qualifying stages of the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday, so it was no surprise to see her at the main event on Sunday

Ignoring the gloomy and grey weather that descended on the previously sun-soaked principality, Barbara donned a seriously sexy summer number.

Straddling the line between racy and beach beauty chic, the model made sure she kept her modesty firmly in-tact whilst still showing a tantailizing amount of skin.

Featuring sheer detailing on the sleeves and lower leg, as well as a plunging nekline, the garment ensured Barbara showed a tantalizing amount of cleavage and skin.

In pole position for the style stakes? Slipping into a semi-sheer black maxi dress, which featured a seriously plunging neckline, the Hungarian beauty, 22, certainly claimed pole position in the style stakes

Cheering him on? Barbara was in town for the famous F1 race which takes place every year, and may have been one of the many stars cheering on her rumoured beau Lewis hamilton

The wraparound dress also featured a cinched in waistline and a thigh-high split, which only served to further highlight her phenomenal figure.

Adding a casual twist to her outfit, she teamed the floor-length dress with a pair of colourful slip on trainers.

And, clearly hoping for a break in the weather, Barbara accesorised with a pair of quirky oval shades - although she also made sure to bring an umbrella along.

Come rain or shine! Ignoring the gloomy and grey weather that descended on the previously sun-soaked principality, Barbara donned a seriously sexy summer number

Chic and sexy: Straddling the line between racy and beach beauty chic, the model made sure she kept her modesty firmly in-tact whilst still showing a tantailizing amount of skin

Sheer style! Featuring sheer detailing on the sleeves and lower leg, as well as a plunging neckline, the garment ensured Barbara showed a tantalizing amount of cleavage and skin

Showing some skin: The wraparound dress also featured a cinched in waistline and a thigh-high split, which only served to further highlight her phenomenal figure

A ray of hope? And, clearly hoping for a break in the weather, Barbara accesorised with a pair of quirky oval shades - although she also made sure to bring an umbrella along

Wearing her long chestnut locks tied up in plaited style, the alabaster beauty only served to highlight her striking and pretty features, which she accentuated with a natural palette of make-up.

Barbara was taking in all the pomp and pagentry of the Formula One alongside her sister, Anita, and the girls couldn't hide their delight at being able to stroll around the pit lane before the race.

And it seems that Barbara was in extremely high spirits as she sported a smile throughout the day.

The model was one of many famous faces at Monaca who witnessed Mercedes star Lewis roar to victory and claim pole position.

Ready for the race? Barbara was taking in all the pomp and pagentry of the Formula One alongside her sister, Anita, and the girls couldn't hide their delight at being able to stroll around the pit lane before the race

Roaring to victory! The model was one of many famous faces at Monaca who witnessed Mercedes star Lewis roar to victory and claim pole position.

And with the two having struck up a bond through their work as ambassadors for L'Oreal, it's almost certain that the model was celebrating the Brits win.

Only the day before, during the qualifying round, the model had been seen sharing a very flirty exchange with Lewis.

The gorgeous model appeared to be offering Lewis a tub of Nutella as part of an 'in joke', which made the F1 champion crack-up and laugh.

But it seemed that the Stevenage-born star managed to find the will power to turn down the sweet treat - much to the amusement of Barbara.

Their playful banter in the pits is only the latest in a series of exchanged that has seen romantic rumours regarding the A-List duo emerge.

MailOnline has contacted representatives for both Lewis and Barbara for comment.

Just flirty friends? Only the day before, during the qualifying round, the model had been seen sharing a very flirty exchange with Lewis

Is that for me? The gorgeous model appeared to be offering Lewis a tub of Nutella as part of an 'in joke', which made the F1 champion crack-up and laugh
Actors Topher Grace and Ashley Hinshaw are married.

The That 70s Show star and his fiancee got engaged a year-and-a-half ago, and tied the knot in upscale Santa Barbara, California on Sunday, reports People magazine.

Topher, 37, and Ashley, 27, began dating in 2014 and got engaged in January last year.

Mr and Mrs: Actors Topher Grace, 37, and Ashley Hinshaw, 27, wed on Sunday in Santa Barbara, California

Topher starred as awkward Eric Foreman in the hit sitcom, along with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderrama and Danny Masterson.

It is not yet known if any of his former costars were on the guest list for the wedding.

In addition to planning their nuptials, the actors have been busy with a number of upcoming projects.

Ashley has appeared in True Detective, Workaholics and True Blood, and her latest movie Me Estas Matando Susana was released in March.

She has also signed on to appear in new show Start Up, with Adam Brody and Martin Freeman.

Bride-to-be: Ashley shared a photo from her bridal shower on Instagram last month

Dazzling: The actress showed off her gorgeous engagement ring on Instagram after Topher proposed last January

Topher will next be seen in comedy musical Opening Night and in horror thriller Delirium, both due out this year.

He also has a role in Brad Pitt's upcoming Afghanistan political satire War Machine, which has been filming in London.

An excited Ashley shared an Instagram photo from her bridal shower last month on Instagram, saying she was surrounded by love.

'Couldn't ask for anything more,' the Indiana native captioned the snap, which showed her beaming under large gold 'Bride' balloons.

And the bride-to-be also shared a photo of her dazzling engagement ring soon after her engagement last year, with a Starbucks drink labelled 'Ashley the bride.'
She may have ditched her TOWIE role in favour of presenting on This Morning.

However, Ferne McCann proved that she was still the best of friends with her former co-stars as she joined them for a sizzling night out in Marbella, on Sunday.

The 25-year-old showed off her perfect pins in a plunging black and gold mini-dress that skimmed her toned thighs.

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Glamorous! Ferne McCann showed off her perfect pins in a plunging black and gold mini-dress that skimmed her toned thighs

And she made sure to keep her ensemble on-trend with some pretty cold shoulder detailing, that empahised her glowing golden tan.

Determined to coordinate, the Essex native also elegantly toted a gold clutch bag and added some height to her look with some strappy metallic sandals.

And she rounded off her outfit with one of her trademark chokers, which she wore in a chic gold and black design.

Gal pals! Ferne McCann proved that she was still the best of friends with her former co-stars as she joined them for a sizzling night out in Puerto Banus, Spain, on Sunday

Hitting the town: The trio looked lady-like as they wore contrasting shades of black and fuchsia

Ferne also stuck to her high glamour status in the hair and makeup department as she styled her brunette locks in a straight and sleek style that fell effortlessly around her shoulders.

And she drew attention to her plump pout with a slick of dusky rose lipstick.

Jess also decided to opt for a classic black style as she slipped into a skimpy playsuit with a lady-like bardot neckline.

Finishing touches: Ferne and Jessica both rounded off their looks with thick black chokers that accentuated their elegant necks

She also showed off her elegant neck with a thick choker and kept her hair off her face with a stylish chignon.

Meanwhile, Danielle went for a more vibrant vibe for the night out as she poured her curves into a silky fuchsia gown, that cinched in her tiny waist with a simple bow design.

But despite the eye-popping display, Danielle decided to keep the rest of her ensemble simple with a nude clutch bag and a pair of neutral heels.

Gatecrasher: Danielle's TOWIE lover James 'Lockie' Lock is also in Marbella and has joining in the girls' fun

And she let her golden tresses fall in natural beachy waves that cascaded down her back.

The girl's looked close as they walked down the street arm in arm after leaving Pangeo night club.

But TOWIE newcomer, Megan McKenna was not far behind.

Mix 'n' match: Jess also decided to opt for a classic black style as she slipped into a skimpy playsuit with a lady-like bardot neckline

Earlier in the day, the girls were seen enjoying the Champagne Spray Party at the Ocean Club in Marbella.

The trio arrived in Marbella on Thursday and documented their journey on their Snapchat accounts.

Jessica announced she was quitting TOWIE in February, having been one of the only original castmembers on the ITVBe reality show.

She made her big announcement on Instagram, saying: 'After five amazing years on The Only Way Is Essex it is time for me to step away.

'I've had the best time and I wanna say thank you all so much for your support. You will be seeing me soon and I'm also gonna be keeping up with all the goss in Essex. Love you all lots.'

Her exit came just a few days after Ferne announced she was taking a break from the show, but didn't rule out returning.

Ferne's career has gone from strength-to-strength since she was the runner-up on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! last year.

She has become a showbiz reporter for This Morning and played Tom Buchanan's mistress Myrtle Wilson in a recent production of Gatsby: The Musical at London's Union Theatre.

Pretty in pink! TOWIE newcomer, Megan McKenna was not far behind the other girls as she also left the nightclub in a floaty dress
Former radio host Mel Greig and Home and Away star Dan Ewing have flatly denied any romance between them since both recently splitting with their partners.

The 33-year-old shut down rumours in Mondays issue of New Idea during her regular appearance on Studio 10 and later told News Corp they were just friends.

Dan and I are close friends, his family stayed with me a couple of weeks ago including (his ex-wife) Marni, who is a mutual friend, she said.

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Not true: Former radio host Mel Greig has flatly denied any romance with Home and Away star Dan Ewing since both recently split with their partners. pictured out together in April

I still hold hope that they will reconcile. Dan and I have a mutually supportive friendship and he has a big year ahead of him.

Dan took to Twitter after Mels Studio 10 appearance writing: Well there you have it. Denied. Disproved. False. Happy Monday people.

He had earlier said it was interesting to read that New Idea thought they were together and handed it over to Mel to address it.

'We are saying never: When Mel announced her split from husband Steve Pollock she had hoped they could rekindle their romance but on Monday said that there was no chance of reconciliation at all'

Just close friends: 'His family stayed with me a couple of weeks ago including [his ex-wife] Marni, who is a mutual friend, Mel said

Holiday with your ex? She revealed the pair were soon going on holiday to Hawaii together for her best friends husbands 40th birthday with three other couples  a trip that had been booked before they broke up

New Idea had alleged the pair had been 'getting extremely close' after Dan joined Mel in co-hosting her 96.5 Wave FM radio show last month.

They were spotted on a cosy outing in Wollongong days after the co-hosting was announced and had been sharing pictures of each other one social media.

The 30-year-old Home and Away heartthrob and his wife Marni ended their three-year marriage earlier this year citing irreconcilable differences.

Split: The 30-year-old Home and Away heartthrob and his wife Marni ended their three-year marriage earlier this year citing irreconcilable differences

However, the pair said they would remain friends to co-parent their son Archer, one.

'We wish nothing but the best for each other and are both committed to focusing our attention on Archer, they said.

Mel last month announced she had split with her husband Steve Pollock after just over a year, saying Steve needed to rediscover himself and an individual.

'We wish nothing but the best for each other': The pair said they would remain friends to co-parent their son Archer, one

At the time she had hoped they could rekindle their romance but on Monday said on Studio 10 that there was no chance of reconciliation at all, we are saying never.

She revealed the pair were soon going on holiday to Hawaii together for her best friends husbands 40th birthday with three other couples  a trip that had been booked before they broke up.

Ive booked into a different hotel and made sure hes at the back of the plane and Im a little bit further up with some nice legroom, she said.

Despite swearing the marriage was unsalvageable, she was spotted on Saturday wearing the wedding band on her ring finger while posing up for a selfie.
He's one of three brothers who can all boast successful acting careers, so a little sibling rivalry would not be surprising.

In a new interview Hunger Games hunk Liam Hemsworth opens up about his relationship with his brothers Luke and Chris and admits he's not always seen eye-to-eye with the 32-year-old Thor star.

The 26-year-old star features in the new American Airline's American Way magazine and explains: 'Chris and I have similar personalities; we are both very stubborn. It wasnt until I started high school that we stopped arguing and fighting.'

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Sibling rivalry: Liam Hemsworth talks about his relationship with his two brothers Chris and Luke in an interview with American Airlines American Way magazine

Noting that he's always had respect for his sibling, the Australian star added: 'But I always looked up to him. He was my best friend.'

Liam revealed that he always got along with his eldest brother Luke, 35, because of their age difference.

'He was so much older than me I just wouldnt mess with him.' he said.

The former Neighbours star also revealed that he has always suffered from crippling shyness which made him terrified to read aloud in class during his school days.

'I know there was a competitive nature between us, but it was always a supportive one. I think it was initially just to not be stuck on our parents couch years down the track' Liam said of the sibling rivalry

Staying quiet: The actor said he keeps his private life private but recently confirmed his relationship with pop star Miley Cyrus is back on

He said that shyness was part of the reason he pursued acting, to help him overcome his fears - and he was inspired by his watching his brothers launch their careers years earlier.

'I was 16 when I saw Chris working on a TV set,

'After that, it was all I could think about. I got an agent and started auditioning as much as I could.' he explained.

Once he was working, Liam said it that the sibling rivalry was always there but that they 'pushed each other and motivated each other in a lot of ways'.

Movie heartthrob: The actor smolders in a photoshoot accompanying the feature

Suited up: The Hunger Games star is seen on the cover of American Way for its June issue

'I know there was a competitive nature between us, but it was always a supportive one. I think it was initially just to not be stuck on our parents couch years down the track. We successfully got off of that due to the support of one another.'

The actor recently got back together with ex-fiancee Miley Cyrus but refuses to got into detail about the romance.

He told American Way: 'Look, my private life is my private life and, you know, its important to me to keep it private.'

The actor briefly addressed the couple's relationship in a recent interview with GQ Australia, as he said: 'people will figure it out, they already have... They're not dumb.

'I make my decisions about what's going to make me happy, what I think is right and what I want to do  and I don't worry too much outside of that', he added.
She's was a firm fixture in the pits and the stands throughout the F1 weekend in Monaco, cheering on her friend and rumoured flame, Lewis Hamilton.

So it was little surprise to see Barbara Palvin celebrating alongside the 31-year-old F1 champion's following the race at the F1 OAK Pop Up Club.

And it seems the Victoria's Secret model was the life and soul of the party, with the beauty holding all of Lewis' attention with her funny antics and selfie snapping ways.

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Party over here! Barbara Palvin helped her friend and rumoured beau Lewis Hamilton celebrate his F1 win in Monaco at the F1 OAK Pop Up Club

Heading to the pop-up, hosted by luxury US club chain 10 OAK, at the five star Fairmont hotel, the duo looked thick as thieves as they partied the night away.

And the duo certainly appeared to be intent on celebrating Lewis' win earlier on in the day, as the pair of them laughed and joked around.

The Hungarian beauty looked particular intent on capturing some memories from the party, but also appeared equally determined to keep Lewis attention firmly on herself.

Life and soul: And it seems the Victoria's Secret model was the life and soul of the party, with the beauty holding all of Lewis' attention with her funny antics and selfie snapping ways

Close and personal: Barbara appeared to whisper something into Lewis' ear at the exclusive party

Only eyes for you! The party girl looked deep into Lewis' eyes as they danced to the music

Say cheese! Barbara beamed at the Formula One pro after he won the Monaco Grand Prix

Having fun: Lewis held Barbara's head in his hands as she seemed caught up in the music

Distracted: The pair crowded round one of their phones to check something as a friend looked on

Thirsty? The sportsman glanced at someone before he took a swig from his bottle of beer

Classy: Barbara appeared to be drinking a fancy cocktail at the exclusive pop up club night

Sweet nothings: The brunette beauty pulled Lewis close to whisper something into his ear at the party

Bright lights: A party goer is entranced by her phone as the two celebrities dance close together

Barbara Palvin had made sure to stop by and chat to Lewis Hamilton during the qualifying stages of the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday, so it was little surprise to see her braving the downpour on race day.

And despite the deluge, she appeared to be in high spirits as she witnessed the British F1 star roar to victory at the famous circuit.

Slipping into a semi-sheer black maxi dress, which featured a seriously plunging neckline, the Hungarian beauty certainly claimed pole position in the style stakes.

Capturing the moment: A member of the club's clientele took a snap of Lewis and Barbara having fun

Alone time? The pair seemed to move to a quieter part of the venue - perhaps to have a chat

Seductive: Barbara put on an impressive display on the dance floor with her sultry moves

Party time: Lewis looked on as Barbara moved to the music with the other excited guests

Shocked: The Victoria's Secret model seemed to be surprised at something Lewis said at the party

Attracting interest: Dancers at the clubs were keen to watch as the two famous faces got close and personal

Entranced: Barbara seemed transfixed by Lewis as the pair locked eyes in the crowded venue

Ignoring the gloomy and grey weather that descended on the previously sun-soaked principality, Barbara donned a seriously sexy summer number.

Straddling the line between racy and beach beauty chic, the model made sure she kept her modesty firmly intact whilst still showing a tantalizing amount of skin.

Featuring sheer detailing on the sleeves and lower leg, as well as a plunging neckline, the garment ensured Barbara showed a tantalizing amount of cleavage and skin.

Enjoy yourself! The guests went with the flow at the hedonistic party with attendees from across the globe

Getting into the party spirit: One guest wore a shiny outfit, which shimmered in the light

Feeling tired? Heartthrob Lewis appeared to flag slightly during the extended party

Here's looking at you! The F1 star appeared to point something out to Barbara who appeared impressed

Engrossed: A friend attempted to join Lewis and Barbara as they appeared to be absorbed by something together

Had a fright? The model didn't appear ready for a photo taken by one of the guests on their phone

On form: The duo busted their moves and enjoyed the atmosphere at the upmarket event

Relaxed: Barbara certainly seemed to be having fun and clutched her phone in case she received a message

Not impressed: The glamorous girl appeared to have a scare while she was partying

Keeping hydrated: Barbara clutched a drink and took regular sips to ensure she didn't get thirsty

All smiles! Lewis and Barbara remained close throughout the evening of fun and frolics

The wraparound dress also featured a cinched in waistline and a thigh-high split, which only served to further highlight her phenomenal figure.

Adding a casual twist to her outfit, she teamed the floor-length dress with a pair of colourful slip on trainers.

And, clearly hoping for a break in the weather, Barbara accessorised with a pair of quirky oval shades - although she also made sure to bring an umbrella along.

Getting into top gear? Barbara made sure to stop by and chat to Lewis Hamilton during the qualifying stages of the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday, so it was no surprise to see her at the main event

In pole position for the style stakes? Slipping into a semi-sheer black maxi dress, which featured a seriously plunging neckline, the Hungarian beauty, 22, certainly claimed pole position in the style stakes

Cheering him on? Barbara was in town for the famous F1 race which takes place every year, and may have been one of the many stars cheering on her rumoured beau Lewis hamilton

Wearing her long chestnut locks tied up in plaited style, the alabaster beauty only served to highlight her striking and pretty features, which she accentuated with a natural palette of make-up.

Barbara was taking in all the pomp and pagentry of the Formula One alongside her sister, Anita, and the girls couldn't hide their delight at being able to stroll around the pit lane before the race.

And it seems that Barbara was in extremely high spirits as she sported a smile throughout the day.

The model was one of many famous faces at Monaca who witnessed Mercedes star Lewis roar to victory and claim pole position.

Come rain or shine! Ignoring the gloomy and grey weather that descended on the previously sun-soaked principality, Barbara donned a seriously sexy summer number

Chic and sexy: Straddling the line between racy and beach beauty chic, the model made sure she kept her modesty firmly in-tact whilst still showing a tantailizing amount of skin

Sheer style! Featuring sheer detailing on the sleeves and lower leg, as well as a plunging neckline, the garment ensured Barbara showed a tantalizing amount of cleavage and skin

Showing some skin: The wraparound dress also featured a cinched in waistline and a thigh-high split, which only served to further highlight her phenomenal figure

A ray of hope? And, clearly hoping for a break in the weather, Barbara accesorised with a pair of quirky oval shades - although she also made sure to bring an umbrella along

Ready for the race? Barbara was taking in all the pomp and pagentry of the Formula One alongside her sister, Anita, and the girls couldn't hide their delight at being able to stroll around the pit lane before the race

Roaring to victory! The model was one of many famous faces at Monaca who witnessed Mercedes star Lewis roar to victory and claim pole position.

And with the two having struck up a bond through their work as ambassadors for L'Oreal, it's almost certain that the model was celebrating the Brit's win.

Only the day before, during the qualifying round, the model had been seen sharing a very flirty exchange with Lewis.

The gorgeous model appeared to be offering Lewis a tub of Nutella as part of an 'in joke', which made the F1 champion crack-up and laugh.

But it seemed that the Stevenage-born star managed to find the will power to turn down the sweet treat - much to the amusement of Barbara.

Their playful banter in the pits is only the latest in a series of exchanged that has seen romantic rumours regarding the A-List duo emerge.

A representative for Lewis told MailOnline: 'Lewis and Barbara are just friends and fellow L'Oreal ambassadors.'

Just flirty friends? Only the day before, during the qualifying round, the model had been seen sharing a very flirty exchange with Lewis

Is that for me? The gorgeous model appeared to be offering Lewis a tub of Nutella as part of an 'in joke', which made the F1 champion crack-up and laugh
Most of her The Only Way Is Essex co-stars have decamped to Marbella for the weekend.

However, Georgia Kousoulou was thousands of miles away as she enjoyed a sun-filled holiday in Mexico with her boyfriend and co-star Tommy Mallet.

The TOWIE star, 24, turned heads in an eye-poppingly revealing black bikini and matching skirt, making the most of her ample assets.

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Popping out: Georgia Kousoulou made the most of owning her own bikini line Summer dreams by Georgia k as she enjoyed a sun-filled holiday in Mexico over the bank holiday weekend

Beach bunny: Georgia showed off a peach strappy bikini with a sheer chiffon wrap

Wearing her blonde locks slicked back, the reality star looked happy and relaxed as she posed with boyfriend of one year.

Maintaining her glamour for the pool, Georgia went for bold lashes and nude lipstick, while Tommy showed off his toned tattooed chest and funky blue sunglasses.

The couple, who have been dating for almost two years, both shared the same picture to their Instagram accounts, with Tommy- who celebrated his 24th birthday on Sunday, captioning the picture with heart emojis.

The Essex duo jetted over to Mexico's exotic Hard Rock Hotel, Riviera Maya on the Caribbean coast last week, to celebrate Tommy's birthday in style.

Romantic getaway: The Essex duo jetted over to the Riviera Maya on the Caribbean coast last week, to celebrate Tommy's birthday in style

And they were keen to keep their followers updated on their romantic getaway.

Georgia modelled a sizzling range of bikinis from her own line, revealing that she was celebrating Tommy's birthday on English and Mexican time.

'Someone's birthday tomorrow kisses in the sea', she wrote on Instagram on Saturday alongside a snap of the blonde duo kissing in the swimming pool.

Solid: Despite not being engaged yet, the couple have talked openly about wanting a Greek-Irish themed wedding

Later on she shared a selfie wearing her hair in a high bun and a black vest, next to Tommy who wore a matching white t-shirt and cap, writing: 'It's my @tommy_mallet birthdayyyyyyyy ( UK time ) so he gets 2 birthdays woohoo! Happy birthday to my  I'm so excited to be celebrating in Mexico. I love you more everyday .. My best friend ! My teammmmm.'

And Georgia made sure she spoiled the birthday boy, arranging an intimate candle-lit dinner on the beach as a surprise.

Looking good: Georgia has been making every day a fashion moment during her holiday

Wearing a blue printed playsuit and her hair in a high sleek half bun, the sizzling couple looked happy as they toasted his special day with champagne.

The reality star appeared to be feeling sentimental, sharing another throwback snap of the pair with the caption:

'Our first picture taken in Ibiza.. Everyone doubted us , saying we wouldn't last.. Look at us now planning our future together.. Love you more everyday . Happy birthday my  @tommy_mallet'.

The couple have been dating for 20 months, and spoke to OK! earlier in the year about their romance.

Well have a big Greek and Irish-themed wedding,' Tommy told the magazine.

Loved up: Georgia modelled a sizzling range of bikinis from her own line, revealing that she was celebrating Tommy's birthday on English and Mexican time

'You get to smash plates, do some mad Greek dancing and pin 50 notes on each other!

And whilst they have the ITVBe reality show to thank for their blossoming romance, the loved-up pair explained they had to work extra hard on their relationship in order to avoid the dreaded TOWIE curse that has broken up so many of their friends.

It only puts pressure on you if you allow other people to get involved, Tommy said.

'The curse is going on personal appearances and cheating on your girlfriend, but I havent done that.

Now I dont have girls coming up to me and trying to stick it on me, they all just say how much they love us together,' he said.
He's not called The Rock for nothing.

And Dwayne Johnson showed that even his baby daughter is a fan of his incredible physique, as he flexed his muscles while posing with five-month-old Jasmine - explaining that she was a fan of his tattoos.

The sweet family picture came as the actor revealed he was thrashing out the final details for his next movie, a passion project based on comicbook hero Doc Savage.

As usual, the 44-year-old superstar shared all the details in long captions next to Instagram snaps.

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'I think it helps her digest': Dwayne The Rock Johnson posted this adorable snap of five-month-old daughter Jasmine checking out the tattoos on his back and biceps on Sunday

Dwayne posted the adorable photo of Jasmine checking out the tattoos on his shoulder and back.

He explained: 'After we feed her, Jasmine just loves looking at daddy's tattoos. I think it helps her digest.

'Can't wait to one day explain to her what all this means. Chat about her cultures (Samoan, Armenian, African American and Italian).

'And while these symbols may appear to be primitive, unsophisticated and crude - they're extremely sacred, thousands of years old and very powerful. My mana (strength).

New born: The tiny tot was first introduced to her 44-year-old dad's tattoos within minutes of being born

'Ironically enough the symbol she's fixated on is our ATUA (our God) protected by the small building blocks of my life and then by shark teeth.

'Yuuuuup, we gonna have some good daddy/daughter chats. Until then she'll continue to use daddy's tattoos as a place to scratch, drool and spit up.'

On Monday, the Fast & Furious 8 star was all business as he revealed Doc Savage is a go.

'It's official!' Dwayne and director-writer Shane Black, writers Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry, plus Hiram Garcia, VP of production at Dwayne's Seven Bucks, hashed out the Doc Savage details

He announced the news with a photo of himself sitting with director-writer Shane Black, writers Anthony Bagarozzi and Chuck Mondry, plus Hiram Garcia, VP of production at Dwayne's Seven Bucks Productions.

'It's official,' he said, confirming the long gestating rumours as he thanked the creatives for working with him on Memorial Day 'on this very cool project.'

Dwayne added: 'For all comic book fans you already know the world's first superhero (pre-dating Superman) is the "Man of Bronze" himself Clark "Doc" Savage.'

Passion project: Rumours that Dwayne has been working to bring Doc Savage to the screen have been circulating for months. He said, 'Can't wait to sink my teeth into this one-of-a kind character'

He went on to explain that Doc was trained from birth to become the perfect human specimen and a genius.

'But here's the #1 reason I'm excited to become Doc Savage.. HE'S A F****** HILARIOUS WEIRDO!'

Dwayne added: 'Can't wait to sink my teeth into this one-of-a kind character.'
Trump gets warm welcome at veterans biker rally

White House hopeful Donald Trump received a warm welcome Sunday as he addressed a motorcycle rally that attracted many military veterans to the US capital Sunday.

"I will protect every bit of the Second Amendment" right to bear arms, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee told several thousand people gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial, traditionally a favored spot for major political demonstrations in Washington.

"We have to rebuild our military" and "we are going to take care of our veterans" the billionaire said in a brief speech as the crowd -- consisting of leather-clad bikers, tourists and other spectators -- cheered him on.

Republican presedential candidate Donald Trump waves to veterans and supporters in Washington, DC on May 29, 2016 Andrew Caballero-Reynolds (AFP)

Trump asked during his address why other countries, nodding at Japan, aren't asked to pay "100 percent" of the cost of deploying US troops to overseas bases.

"Because we are stupid," responded a voice in the crowd.

The Rolling Thunder rally is an annual event that sees thousands of bikers -- many of them former service members -- roar into Washington.

Jack Bellamy, a 41-year-old veteran and biker from northern Virginia, was thrilled that Trump addressed the rally.

"The other candidates, they don't want to do anything for the vets," he said.

"We want to get rid of politicians" who "don't listen to people" and "put someone else in power," he added.

Bellamy lamented that things were not going well in the United States, pointing to federal government guidelines telling public schools to let transgender students use the bathroom of their choice as an example.

A group of states is now suing over the move.

"The whole bathroom issue ... they tried to shovel it down our throats," Bellamy said. "A man is a man, a woman is a woman."

First started in 1988, Rolling Thunder draws bikers from around the country to Washington on the Memorial Day holiday weekend honoring the nation's war dead.

Some 300,000 were expected for this year's event, according to the Pentagon, which on Sunday morning hosted the start of a flag-filled parade through the streets of downtown Washington.

Only a portion of the bikers were present for Trump's speech.

Trump promised that next year, the bikers would have an easier time accessing the area.
Third of coral 'dead or dying' in parts of Barrier Reef

At least 35 percent of corals in parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef are dead or dying from mass bleaching caused by global warming, scientists said Monday.

The assessment was made following months of aerial and underwater surveys after the worst bleaching in recorded history first became evident in March as sea temperatures rise.

Global warming was wreaking havoc on the World Heritage-listed site, said Terry Hughes, director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at the James Cook University.

Dead and dying staghorn coral on the central Great Barrier Reef STR (AFP)

"We found on average, that 35 percent of the corals are now dead or dying on 84 reefs that we surveyed along the northern and central sections of the Great Barrier Reef, between Townsville and Papua New Guinea," he said in a statement.

"This is the third time in 18 years that the Great Barrier Reef has experienced mass bleaching due to global warming, and the current event is much more extreme than we've measured before."

At least a decade is needed for the coral to recover, "but it will take much longer to regain the largest and oldest corals that have died", the joint statement from three leading universities said.

The reef is already under pressure from farming run-off, development, the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish, along with the impacts of climate change.

Researchers from James Cook said in April that 93 percent of the 2,300-kilometre (1,429-mile) long site -- the world's biggest coral ecosystem -- had been affected by the mass bleaching event.

Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their colour.

The impact was less severe in the southern parts of the reef as water temperatures were "closer to the normal (southern hemisphere) summer conditions", the scientists said.

Although fewer corals have died in the south, the stress from bleaching is likely to temporarily slow down their reproduction and growth rates, they added.

- Risk losing the reef -

The phenomenon has also damaged corals off Australia's west coast, with "extensive and patchy" bleaching and mortality.

"On the Kimberley coast where I work, up to 80 percent of the corals are severely bleached, and at least 15 percent have died already," the University of Western Australia's Verena Schoepf said.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society urged officials to heed calls to do more to save the reef.

"The federal government must release a climate policy that makes a credible contribution to delivering a healthy future for our natural wonder," said spokeswoman Imogen Zethoven.

"The alternative is we risk losing the reef, the Aus$6 billion ($4.3 billion) tourism industry and the 69,000 jobs that rely on it."

The government insists it is doing "more than ever before" to protect the reef, and Environment Minister Greg Hunt on Monday said it had invested Aus$460 million in efforts to help the reef since being elected in 2013.

He said the government had worked hard to protect the reef and had been recognised by the World Heritage committee as a "global role model".

"Only a couple of years ago they were looking at declaring, under Labor and the Greens, the reef in danger," he said, ahead of national polls on July 2.

Last week the environment department admitted that it pressured the United Nations to remove all references to Australia from a report on climate change and its impact of World Heritage sites, including the Barrier Reef.

It claimed negative commentary impacted tourism, sparking outrage from activists who accused Canberra of "trying to pull wool over Australians' eyes about serious threats to the future of our greatest natural wonder".

Bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef Adrian LEUNG, John SAEKI, Gal ROMA (AFP)
Being transgender: facts, myths and rights

Transgender people live under dramatically varying circumstances around the world -- often facing violent repression, but also conquering crucial new rights most notably in Europe and the United States.

There are few reliable statistics on the community, in part because many transgender people around the world are unable to come out. And there are sometimes misunderstandings of the complex and changing vocabulary involved.

- Transgender people -

Gender neutral signs are posted in public restrooms on May 10, 2016 in Durham, North Carolina Sara D Davis (Getty/AFP/File)

According to a study published in 2011 by The Williams Institute, an LGBT think tank, an estimated 0.3 percent of the US population is transgender. There are no reliable global statistics on the community, but India's historic transgender minority alone, known as Hijras, number half a million according to the 2014 census.

The term "transgender" or "trans" refers to people whose gender identity -- their innate, deeply-felt psychological sense of being a man, a woman, or neither -- is different than the sex assigned to them at birth.

It includes people who have had reassignment surgery, those who have had hormone treatments, or people who have had no medical treatment at all.

- A person who is born female and now identifies as a man is a "transgender man", or trans man.

- A person who is born male and now identifies as a woman is a "transgender woman," or trans woman.

Note that it is considered pejorative to use "transgender" as a noun. It is an adjective, as in "a transgender person."

The term "transsexual" is increasingly avoided.

- Transition -

A transgender person who is "transitioning" is shifting into their new gender identity by changing their "physical and sexual characteristics from those associated with their sex at birth," says the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association in the US.

This can be a complex process that might include surgery and body modification, but it does not always. It might also include hormone treatments, group or individual therapy, telling family or friends, or changing one's name on legal documents.

- 'Sex change or 'reassignment'? -

Transgender advocacy groups warn against use of the term "sex change" to describe the surgical processes that some undergo. The groups explain that this is an outdated term, and that transgender people actually put "their bodies in line with who they are" rather than changing who they are.

Their stance is borne out by a growing body of research indicating that sexual anatomy and gender identity are the products of different biological processes -- determined by genes as well as hormones -- that occur before birth. Sexual anatomy and gender identity usually match, but many events can lead to an incongruence between the two.

- Sexual orientation -

Gender identity is not the same thing as sexual orientation. A transgender man or woman can have any sexual orientation: gay, straight or bisexual.

- Anti-discrimination laws -

The situation varies greatly for transgender people around the world.

Human Rights Watch counts 80 countries that continue to criminalize consensual same-sex relations or discussion of LGBT rights, with punishments including prison sentences, flogging, and even the death penalty.

In Europe, the European Parliament adopted a resolution in 1989 prohibiting discrimination against transgender people. But among the 28 member states, laws vary greatly. Only 13 states explicitly prohibit violence against transgender people, according to "Transgender Europe", a European association.

In the United States, anti-discrimination laws are among the most advanced. But whether those laws are also applied to transgender people varies from state to state.
Crocodile takes woman during night swim in Australia

A woman is feared dead after being seized by a crocodile during a late-night swim at a beach in northern Australia as her friend struggled to save her, police said Monday.

The women went for a stroll on Thornton Beach on Sunday evening in the far north of Queensland state before making a fateful decision to take a dip in an area known to be infested with crocodiles.

"The woman was swimming with a female friend, also in her 40s, at 10.30pm when the incident occurred," police said in a statement.

Crocodiles are common in Australia's tropical north and they kill an average of two people each year William West (AFP/File)

Nine News cited witnesses as hearing the woman yell "A croc's got me, a croc's got me!"

Senior Constable Russell Parker said the women -- Australians visiting the area -- were in the water when one of them was grabbed, with her friend desperately trying to drag her to safety.

"They decided to take a swim in the ocean just in waist-deep water and at that point, we believe that a crocodile has taken one of the women, taken hold of her," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"Her friend tried valiantly to drag her to the shore but unfortunately wasn't able to do so and the woman subsequently disappeared.

"Now her friend raised the alarm with a nearby business and they subsequently contacted the police."

A rescue helicopter was sent up with thermal imaging equipment but was unable to find her.

Parker added that the surviving woman was "very, very shaken and shocked" but appeared to have escaped with only grazes.

The Brisbane Courier-Mail said Thornton Beach was next to a creek where croc-spotting tours were organised, and there were plenty of warning signs throughout the vicinity.

The attack is not the first in the area. A giant crocodile known as Big Jim took local postal worker Beryl Wruck in 1985 when she had a late-night swim about an hour's drive from Thornton Beach.

Crocodiles are common in Australia's tropical north and kill an average of two people each year.

Earlier this month, a desperate fisherman threw spanners and spark plugs to fight off circling crocodiles after his friend drowned when one of the animals overturned their small boat near Darwin.

Crocodile numbers have increased since the introduction of protection laws in 1971, with estimates putting the Northern Territory's population in the wild at about 100,000.
Chad's Habre: desert warlord turned brutal tyrant

A desert warfare specialist, Chad's Hissene Habre seized power in 1982 and quickly embraced the role of ruthless dictator, with brutal atrocities the hallmark of his eight-year reign of terror.

Often dressed in combat fatigues that complemented his "desert fighter" nickname, Habre fled to Senegal after he was ousted by Chad's current President Idriss Deby in 1990.

Sentenced to life on Monday for war crimes, crimes against humanity and a litany of other charges, the 73-year-old's rule was marked by fierce crackdowns on dissent, including alleged torture and executions of opponents, earning him comparisons to Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Chad's Hissene Habre seized power in 1982 and quickly embraced the role of remorseless dictator, his rule was marked by fierce crackdowns on dissent, including alleged torture and executions of opponents

Investigators found that more than 40,000 people were killed during his rule.

The son of a farmer, Habre was born on August 13, 1942 in Faya-Largeau, northern Chad, and grew up among nomads in the Djourab desert.

His intelligence landed him a job as a local official before he left for Paris in 1963 to study law and attend Sciences-Po, a prestigious political science school. One of his influences at the time was Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

Habre joined the Chad National Liberation Front a year after returning home in 1971 and became its leader, before breaking away to form another rebel group, the Northern Armed Forces (FAN).

He made headlines in 1974 when he kidnapped a French ethnologist who was held for three years before France agreed to terms for her release.

A staunch nationalist, Habre then served as prime minister in the government of president Felix Malloum and as defence minister under his sometime ally Goukouni Weddeye who later became president.

Habre, unlike Weddeye, was an outspoken opponent of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi and the relationship did not last.

Habre broke from his Tripoli-backed ally just months after the formation of Weddeye's 1979 government, triggering violence in Chad's capital, N'Djamena.

He fled the city for eastern Chad in 1980, but returned to fight his way to power in 1982.

- 'Emptying the coffers' -

During his rule, opponents -- real or imagined -- were arrested, tortured and often executed by the dreaded Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS), Chad's secret police.

Habre's reign ended as dramatically as it had begun when Deby, a formerly loyal general, led a rebel force that drove him from power and into exile in Senegal.

The former dictator lived freely for more than 20 years in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children, swapping his military garb for billowing white robes and a cap.

He was considered a discreet, generous neighbour and a pious Muslim who helped finance the construction of several mosques.

US lawyer Reed Brody, who investigated Habre's regime for Human Rights Watch, said the ex-dictator took the precaution of "emptying the coffers" before leaving Chad and built up a "protection network" in Senegal.

In his 2014 memoirs, then-president Abdou Diouf said it was a battle to convince Habre to return the Chadian state-owned plane that had flown him to Dakar.

The African Union (AU) mandated Senegal to try Habre in July 2006, but President Abdoulaye Wade delayed the process for years despite an agreement to create a special court for the process.

Belgium also sought his arrest over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity after three Belgian nationals of Chadian origin filed a suit in 2000 for mass murder, arbitrary arrest and torture during his regime.

Belgium issued an arrest warrant for him in September 2005, and he was arrested in Senegal shortly after, but the African country said its courts did not have the jurisdiction to rule on a Belgian extradition request.

Habre was arrested again in Dakar on June 30, 2013 and the AU decided his trial should take place there, making Habre the first African leader accused of atrocities to face justice in another African country rather than in an international court.
From exile to trial: major dates since Habre fled Chad

Key dates from former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre's overthrow to his life sentence for war crimes and crimes against humanity over his brutal 1982-1990 rule, in a landmark trial in Senegal.

- Exile in Senegal -

-- December 1990: Habre is overthrown by rebel troops led by Idriss Deby and flees to Senegal. His regime is accused of repressing, torturing or killing opponents.

A desert warfare specialist, Chad's Hissene Habre seized power in 1982 and quickly embraced the role of remorseless dictator, with brutal repression the hallmark of his eight-year reign of terror Joel Robine (AFP/File)

- Investigation -

-- May 1992: A Chadian commission of inquiry says Habre's regime killed more than 40,000 people, many of them political opponents and from rival ethnic groups.

- Charges -

-- January 2000: Seven Chadians file suit against Habre in Dakar for crimes against humanity and acts of torture. A judicial inquiry is opened.

-- February 2000: Habre is charged with "complicity in acts of torture" by a Senegalese judge.

-- November 2000: Chadians living in Belgium file charges against Habre in Brussels.

-- November 2005: Habre is detained after Belgium issues an international arrest warrant against him for crimes against humanity. Senegal's Appeals Court says it has no jurisdiction to rule on the extradition request and he is freed.

- Sentenced in Chad -

-- August 2008: Habre and 11 rebel leaders are sentenced to death in absentia in Chad for crimes against humanity.

-- June 2012: New Senegalese President Macky Sall says Habre will be tried in Senegal and rules out his extradition.

- Special tribunal set up -

-- August 2012: Senegal and the African Union sign an accord setting up a special court, the Extraordinary African Chambers, in Dakar.

- Arrested and charged -

-- June 2013: Habre is arrested and charged by the special court with torture, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Judges also order that he be held pending trial.

- Trial -

-- July 2015: Habre trial opens in Dakar.

-- February 2015: Trial wraps up with defence lawyers calling for an acquittal and prosecutors seeking a life sentence.

- Verdict -
I.Coast's ex-first lady prepares for second trial

Ivory Coast's former first lady Simone Gbagbo will be tried for crimes against humanity starting Tuesday, having already been jailed for 20 years for her part in 2010's post-electoral violence.

The wife of former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo is currently being held in Abidjan after being convicted of "attacking state authority" over her role in the post-election violence that left more than 3,000 people dead.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague had wanted to prosecute Gbagbo in the case, issuing a warrant for her arrest but Ivorian authorities refused to hand her over, claiming that she would face a fair trial at home.

Ivory Coast's former first lady Simone Gbagbo attends the opening hearing of her trial on charges of crimes against humanity at the courthouse of Abidjan, on May 9, 2016 Issouf Sanogo (AFP/File)

Ivorian prosecutors had originally held off trying her for crimes against humanity while negotiations were ongoing with their counterparts in The Hague.

She will now answer allegations of crimes against prisoners of war, crimes against the civilian population as well as crimes against humanity, according to a charge sheet obtained by AFP.

Her husband is currently on trial at the ICC for crimes also linked to the unrest following his refusal to step down after the 2010 elections.

The post-election crisis was sparked by his refusal to recognise the victory of President Alassane Ouattara in the November 2010 presidential poll.

- 'Fanciful accusations' -

One of Simone Gbagbo's lawyers, Mathurin Dirabou, has described the charges against her as "fanciful".

"These accusations have been created to please certain parts of the international community. It's a pity. Enough is enough," he added.

Joel N'Guessan, a spokesman for current President Ouattara's Rally of Republicans Party (RDR), insisted that the second trial was not excessive.

Gbagbo, nicknamed the "Iron Lady", appeared in court on May 9 during a pre-trial hearing flanked by 12 other defendants where she was the only one not to be handcuffed.

The 66-year-old was welcomed into the courtroom by several supporters whom she greeted as she took to the witness box, even hugging well-wishers when she left but declining to speak to reporters.

The upcoming trial will open just five days after Ivory Coast's Supreme Court rejected her final appeal against her 20-year sentence.

The decision to hold the legal proceedings in Ivory Coast has been seen as a snub to the ICC after Ouattara said in February that he would "not send any more Ivorians" to The Hague, insisting that his country has an "operational justice system".

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, has struggled to return to normalcy after years of civil war, which effectively divided the country between the mainly Christian south and the largely Muslim north.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague had wanted to prosecute Simone Gbagbo for crimes against humanity, issuing a warrant for her arrest but Ivorian authorities refused to hand her over Issouf Sanogo (AFP/File)
Fresh photo of missing Japanese journalist emerges

A fresh photo of a Japanese journalist who went missing in Syria last year has emerged online, showing the heavily bearded man holding a sign saying this is his "last chance".

The photo, which received widespread coverage in Japanese media Monday, shows freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda, who has been missing for almost a year, wearing an orange shirt, his hair and beard grown long.

He is seen holding a piece of paper with a handwritten message in Japanese that says: "Please help. This is the last chance. Jumpei Yasuda."

Japanese journalist Jumpei Yasuda has been missing for almost a year

Japanese public broadcaster NHK and other media showed the photo.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters that the man shown in the image is likely Yasuda.

"The government is now analysing the image," he said.

It was not clear when or where the image was taken, but it emerged after footage of Yasuda was posted online in March.

In the one-minute video, the bearded man wearing a black jumper with a scarf around his neck says in English: "Hello, I am Jumpei Yasuda. Today is my birthday, 16 March."

The footage was posted online by Tarik Abdul Hak, who told AFP it had been provided to him by a group called al-Noor, which he said "has been mandated by (the al-Qaeda-linked) al-Nusra to carry out a mediation for his release".

NHK reported that it was the same person who had posted the new photo online.

Militants from the self-styled Islamic State group last year beheaded Japanese war correspondent Kenji Goto and his friend Haruna Yukawa.

The government in Tokyo was criticised for what detractors saw as its flat-footed response to the crisis at the time, including apparently missed opportunities to free both men.

Earlier this month, three Spanish journalists, who had been held hostage in Syria by an Al Qaeda-linked group, were released.
Personal suffering fuels Malaysia trans advocate's fight

Nisha Ayub has endured virtually everything thrown at Muslim-majority Malaysia's repressed transgender community: contempt, violence, arrest and sexual assault in a prison where she was sent to become a "real man".

She has attempted suicide, beaten down by strict Islamic laws that activists say subject transgender people to increasing legal constraints, discrimination and marginalisation.

"The way they treat you is like you don't have any rights, you don't have any dignity," said Nisha, 37, dressed in the flowing skirt and long-sleeve shirt favoured by Malaysian Muslim women.

Malaysian transgender woman Nisha Ayub was arrested in 2000 by the feared state religious enforcers who swoop on Muslims suspected of "un-Islamic" behaviour Manan Vatsyayana (AFP)

But she channelled the fury over her mistreatment into advocacy, and has become the country's most prominent LGBT activist, despite the personal risk that entails.

In March she became the first transgender woman named one of the US State Department's International Women of Courage, which recognises those fighting for rights and equality.

A Muslim, Nisha's first overt gender-identity expression came at age nine in a costume contest at her straight-laced boy's school -- she dressed as a ballerina.

Years of family and societal rejection followed, she told AFP at SEED Foundation, an NGO she runs in a crime-ridden neighbourhood in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

In 2000, just 21-years-old, she was arrested by the feared state religious enforcers who swoop on Muslims suspected of "un-Islamic" behaviour.

A sharia court -- which handles civil-religious matters involving Muslims -- jailed her for three months under an anti-crossdressing law.

Nisha said she had fully transitioned to a woman by then, although like many in the transgender community she did not disclose details which are considered private. However, she was sent to a men's prison.

"So that I can come back as a real Muslim man," she ruefully recalls the judge saying.

Bald-shaven, she was mocked and repeatedly made to bare her breasts for other inmates. Once, several prisoners forced her to perform oral sex on them.

- Threat of violence -

She attempted suicide in prison, and again after release. Traumatised, she drifted briefly into sex work, like many others in her situation.

Human Rights Watch said in a 2014 report that Malaysia was "one of the worst countries" in the world for transgender people.

Advocacy provided Nisha a lifeline.

In 2010, she co-founded Justice For Sisters, which highlights trans persecution and, four years later, SEED Foundation, which assists transgender people, sex workers, HIV sufferers and other marginalised groups.

Transgender is the umbrella term for individuals who identify with a gender different to their sex at birth.

While there are no official figures for Malaysia, transgender women are commonly seen -- especially in the capital Kuala Lumpur -- working in restaurants and retail outlets.

But violent attacks remain an ever-present threat. One recent assault left a transgender woman in a brief coma, Nisha said. The attacker was fined just 400 ringgit ($100).

"And not just that, he entered the court wearing a homophobic t-shirt," she said.

Many transgenders fear seeking police help over abuses, and Nisha advises victims on where to turn if attacked or arrested.

Despite a thriving underground gay scene, homosexuality also is forbidden in Malaysia, where laws criminalising sodomy can result in imprisonment, corporal punishment, and fines.

Many keep their sexuality private even from their families. A 2015 HRW report said discrimination against such groups was "pervasive".

But Nisha believes the situation is worse for the nation's transgender community.

"You could see a gay person, or a lesbian, and not know they are. But usually with a transgender person, you can see," she said.

- No fear -

The State Department award recognised her courage and "deep sense of humanity", the US Embassy in Malaysia said.

Activists says Nisha was instrumental in engineering a court challenge to an anti-crossdressing law in Negeri Sembilan state.

That led to a landmark 2014 ruling that called the law, which can bring three years' jail, "degrading, oppressive and inhuman".

The victory was later thrown out on an obscure technicality, but attorney Aston Paiva, who argued the case, called it a building block for future challenges.

But Nisha's higher profile brings risks at a time when increasingly hardline views are tolerated by Malaysia's Muslim-dominated government as it seeks to maintain its conservative voter base.

Last year she was assaulted in the street by unknown assailants, an attack she thinks was retaliation for her work, yet she remains undaunted.

"Why should I be afraid about speaking the truth? I always believe in speaking up," she said.

Days after US Secretary of State John Kerry presented her with the award in Washington, Islamic enforcers raided a transgender fund-raiser at an upscale Kuala Lumpur hotel. Video of the chaos went viral.

"It's not going to be easy," Nisha said of the fight for acceptance.

"It's going to take a long time."

Nisha Ayub became the first transgender woman named one of the US State Department's International Women of Courage Manan Vatsyayana (AFP)
Starving Iraqis risk all to flee IS's crumbling rule

Eight hands stretch towards the aluminium plate -- it's the first meal of rice this Iraqi family who just escaped jihadist rule in the Fallujah area has had in two years.

The tent has just been put up, a sheet of bubble wrap strewn on the gravel as a makeshift rug and the heat is searing but Nasra Najm, her daughter and grandchildren have a smile on their face.

"We had been dreaming of this. I wasn't sure rice existed anymore, so when we saw this plate, we couldn't believe it," said the elderly woman with traditional tattoos on her face.

Displaced Iraqi children from Fallujah stand outside a tent at a newly-opened camp in the government-held town of Amriyat al-Fallujah on May 29, 2016 Ahmad Mousa (AFP)

She and her relatives reached the camp in Amriyat al-Fallujah 12 hours earlier, after walking through much of the night to dodge the surveillance of the Islamic State group.

Iraqi forces a week ago launched a broad operation aimed at retaking the city of Fallujah, one of IS's most emblematic bastions, in the western province of Anbar.

The progress of pro-government forces has created a window for some civilians to flee from the city's outlying areas and attempt to reach safety.

The Norwegian Refugee Council, which runs several camps in Amriyat al-Fallujah, south of Fallujah, is providing shelter and assistance to around 3,000 people who fled over the past week.

Their stories give an insight into the dire conditions endured by the estimated 50,000 people still trapped inside a city which has been largely cut off from the rest of Iraq for months.

In Nasra's tent, Maher Sabih, a tall middle-aged man explained it this way: "Look I used to weigh 103 kilos (235 pounds), now I'm on 71."

All the newly-arrived displaced civilians from the Fallujah area have the same stories of being deprived of rice or bread.

"It was an ordeal over there. We had to grind the stones from the dates to make flour," said Madiha Khudhair, sitting in her empty tent with her two daughters.

"It's very sour, no one wants to eat that," said the woman, who had been living in a village under IS rule near Fallujah.

Her sunken eyes, framed by a red scarf wrapped around her head, started watering when she recounted their flight.

"We just left it up to God, picked up our things and left. Actually, we ran. At one point, we spotted one of their (IS) trucks and we all crouched. Eventually, we made it," she said.

- Risk everything -

Rasmiya Abbas, a black-cloaked elderly woman cradling her five-day-old grandson, said IS (Daesh) fighters would ration the population and keep the good food for themselves.

"A bag of sugar lately was around 50,000 dinars ($40). For the rice, they sometimes gave a quarter of a kilo, barely enough to make a meal for the children," she said.

"We only had that dark barley bread. If you saw it, you wouldn't eat it. Daesh kept the rice, the good bread and all the best things for themselves," she added.

All of the 252 families housed in the Fallujah camp that opened on Saturday arrived over the weekend.

In the sand-coloured tents all tethered in neat lines, exhausted children sleep in the shade to recover from their journey and shelter from the noon sun.

Those who are awake fill plastic bottles from a water truck while others queue with their mothers in front of an ambulance handing out basic medicine.

Nearby, workers scramble to build latrines for the brand new camp's booming population.

The Fallujah battle yielded its biggest wave of displaced civilians on Sunday but as the fighting intensifies -- forces led by Iraq's elite counter-terrorism service entered the streets of the city on Monday -- a bigger influx is to be expected.

"We're pre-positioning more aid in order to give it to more families we're hoping will be able to escape," said Becky Bakr Abdulla, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Iraq media coordinator.

Ahmad Sabih said reaching the camp is dangerous.

"You have to try to pick a clear road but those who didn't know their way very well got killed," said the 40-year-old father, who reached the camp in Amriyat al-Fallujah at 4:00 am.

"I just decided to risk everything. I was either going to save my children or die with my children."

Displaced Iraqi women and children swarm a Red Crescent ambulance handing out medicine on May 29, 2016 at a newly-opened camp set up to shelter people fleeing violence around the city of Fallujah Jean Marc Mojon (AFP)
Iraq forces push into streets of IS-held Fallujah

Iraqi forces thrust into Fallujah Monday, ushering a new urban phase in the week-old operation to retake the jihadist bastion that also raised concerns over the fate of trapped civilians.

The drive to recapture the first city to be lost from government control in 2014 came as fighting also raged in neighbouring Syria, leaving huge numbers of civilians exposed.

Led by the elite counter-terrorism service (CTS), Iraq's best trained and most seasoned fighting unit, the forces pushed into Fallujah before dawn, commanders said.

Fallujah is expected to give Iraqi forces one of their toughest battles yet but the Islamic State group has appeared weakened in recent months and has been losing territory consistently over the past year Ahmad Al-Rubaye (AFP/File)

"Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air cover from the international coalition, the Iraqi air force and army aviation, and supported by artillery and tanks," said Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the commander of the operation.

Yahya Rasool, the spokesman for the Joint Operations Command coordinating the fight against IS in Iraq, said the jihadists had so far resisted mostly with snipers, booby-traps and suicide car bombs.

The forces have not yet ventured into the centre but they recaptured some areas in a southern suburb and took up positions on the eastern and northern fringes.

The involvement of the elite CTS marks the start of a phase of urban combat in a city where in 2004 US forces fought some of their toughest battles since the Vietnam War.

The week-old operation had previously focused on retaking rural areas around Fallujah, which lies just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

It had been led by the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, which is dominated by Tehran-backed Shiite militias.

They were still in action Monday, attempting to clear an area northwest of Fallujah called Saqlawiya, officers said.

- Civilians trapped inside -

Only a few hundred families have managed to slip out of the Fallujah area ahead of the assault on the city, with an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped inside, sparking fears the jihadists could try to use them as human shields.

The only families who were able to flee so far lived in outlying areas and took serious risks to reach camps while those in the heart of Fallujah have been unable to leave.

"Civilians are trapped inside the city of Fallujah as fighting intensifies. With every moment that passes, their need for safe exits becomes more critical," said Nasr Muflahi, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Iraq director.

In Amriyat al-Fallujah, a government-controlled town to the south of the jihadist stronghold, civilians trickled in, starving and exhausted after walking through the countryside for hours at night, dodging IS surveillance.

"I just decided to risk everything. I was either going to save my children or die with my children," said Ahmad Sabih, 40, who reached the NRC-run camp early on Sunday.

A senior police commander said his forces had assisted 800 civilians fleeing areas north of Fallujah on Monday.

Fallujah is one of just two major urban centres in Iraq still held by IS jihadists.

They also hold Mosul, the country's second city and de-facto jihadist capital in Iraq, east of which Kurdish-led forces wrapped up a two-day operation on Monday.

Nine villages were retaken from IS in the operation, which peshmerga officers said left 140 jihadist fighters and four peshmerga dead.

The jihadists holed up in Fallujah are believed to number around 1,000.

- Syria's Aleppo bombarded -

What resources IS will invest in the defence of Fallujah remains unclear. The city has been isolated for months but it looms large in modern jihadist mythology.

Fallujah is expected to give Iraqi forces one of their toughest battles yet but IS has appeared weakened in recent months and has been losing territory consistently in the past 12 months.

The government says IS now controls around 14 percent of the national territory, down from 40 percent in 2014.

However, as the "caliphate" it declared two years ago unravels, IS has been reverting to its old tactics of sowing terror by targeting civilians.

A fresh wave of bomb attacks claimed by IS struck the Baghdad area on Monday, killing 11 people in three separate blasts.

In northern Syria, clashes raged around the flashpoint town of Marea as IS pressed an assault on non-jihadist rebels.

The IS onslaught has threatened tens of thousands of people, many of them already displaced from other areas, who have sought refuge in camps near the Turkish border.

Gerry Simpson, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, told AFP 165,000 civilians were now stuck between IS fighters, Kurdish forces and the border.

"What more does the US, EU and UN need to call on Turkey to give these people refuge," he asked.

In divided Aleppo city, 15 people, including two children, were killed in the rebel-controlled eastern neighbourhoods in heavy bombardment on Monday morning, the civil defence said.

Iraq: the battle for Fallujah Valentina Breschi, Thomas Saint-Circq (AFP)

Iraqi pro-government forces part in a major assault to retake the city of Fallujah from the Islamic State group Ahmad Al-Rubaye (AFP)

Iraqi pro-government forces rest in al-Sejar village in Iraq's Anbar province, on the boundaries of Fallujah, on May 28, 2016 Ahmad Al-Rubaye (AFP/File)
Turkey offers US joint Syria operation -- without the Kurds

Turkey is offering to "join forces" with Washington for a special operation inside Syria on condition it doesn't include a Syrian Kurdish militia blacklisted by Ankara but seen as an ally by the US, the foreign minister said.

Washington's support of Kurdish fighters in Syria in the fight against Islamic State jihadists has angered Ankara, especially after AFP pictures last week revealed US commandos sporting patches of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) detested by Turkey.

"If we join forces, they (the US) have their own special forces and we have our special forces," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a small group of journalists in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya.

Armed men in uniform identified by Syrian Democratic forces as US special operations forces ride in the back of a pickup truck in the northern Syrian province of Raqa on May 25, 2016 Delil Souleiman (AFP/File)

Such a coalition could "easily" head to IS's de facto capital in Raqa to the south in a second front, he said.

There was no immediate reaction to the proposal from the United States, whose strategy for fighting jihadists inside Syria is pinned on its alliance with the battle-hardened Syrian Kurds.

The US is supporting an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), as the most effective fighting force on the ground against IS.

But the SDF is still dominated by the YPG, which Turkey sees as the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has fought a three decade insurgency against the Turkish state.

Cavusoglu said Syrian Arab opposition forces opposing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad could be backed up with special forces from Turkey, the United States as well as from France, Britain and Germany.

- 'Terror group as partner' -

"The subject we are discussing with the Americans is the closure of the Manbij pocket as soon as possible... and the opening of a second front," Cavusoglu said, referring to a backdoor border route favoured by IS for smuggling jihadists into and out of Syria.

"We say okay, a second front should be opened but not with the PYD," he said, referring to the Democratic Union Party, the YPG's political wing.

"Unfortunately, both Russia and the United States see a terrorist organisation as a partner and support it."

In Ankara, government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus declined to comment on details of any operation but said Turkey placed top priority on protecting a line stretching between Syria's flashpoint towns of Marea and Jarablus.

"Turkey is determined whatever is needed to protect the line from terrorist groups," he said on Monday after a cabinet meeting.

- 'US not keeping promise'-

The dispute over the role of the YPG has proved a major bone of contention in relations between the two NATO allies. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the weekend accused the US of dishonesty.

Cavusoglu lamented the delay in the delivery of American light multiple rocket launchers to be deployed along its border with Syria to combat IS.

The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) was to have been deployed along the Turkish border by the end of May, but Cavusoglu said it would now only happen in August.

"The United States is unfortunately not keeping its promise," he charged.

"We are completely ready. Not us, but the US is responsible for the delay."

The system would allow Turkey to hit IS positions within a 90-kilometre (56-mile) range, while Turkish artillery has a more limited range of 40 kilometres.

Yet Turkish cooperation is critical for the US-led fight against IS, with coalition war planes using the southern Turkish base of Incirlik as a hub for attacks on the group.

Cavusoglu said US support for YPG was "very dangerous" for the future of Syria.

Asked if could have implications for the US use of Incirlik, he replied: "The United States is our NATO ally, model partner. To be honest, we don't want the business to reach that stage."

The battle for Raqa Omar KAMAL (AFP)

The US is supporting an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in the fight against IS Delil Souleiman (AFP)
Australian killed fighting IS in Syria: reports

An Australian man has been killed in Syria fighting Islamic State jihadists, the country's third national thought to have died alongside Kurdish forces, reports said Monday.

Former Australian soldier Jamie Bright, in his 40s, was named on social media as having been "martyred" in recent days.

The Kurdish People's Protection Unit said on its Facebook page that Bright died alongside three other Kurdish fighters.

Under new Australian laws it is a crime for citizens to fight for militants on either side of the conflict in Syria Deljl Souleiman (AFP/File)

"He was shot about three or four days ago," an Australian friend who fought alongside Bright in Syria told News Corporation Australia.

The friend, who was not named, said Bright had travelled to Syria in early 2015 because he "saw something was happening that wasn't right and wanted to fix it".

"He saw governments doing nothing. He saw it as wrong and believed it had to be changed," he added.

Australia's foreign ministry said it could not verify if Bright had been killed as the "government's capacity to confirm reports of deaths in Syria is extremely limited".

"If confirmed, this latest death is yet another tragic reminder of the dangers involved for those who seek to travel and fight in conflict zones," it added in a statement.

At least two other Australians, Reece Harding and Ashley Johnston, were killed in 2015 while with Kurdish groups fighting the Islamic State group.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said "Australians must understand that if they go and fight in conflicts like that, they are breaking Australian law".

"If they come back within Australia's jurisdiction, they will be held to account for that."
Israel cabinet approves hardliner as defence minister

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet voted Monday to expand his coalition and appoint hardliner Avigdor Lieberman as defence minister, bringing weeks of political intrigue -- and outrage -- towards a close.

Netanyahu, accused of setting his government on a far-right course, was forced to resolve a last-minute dispute with another party in his coalition to see the move through.

Parliament was expected later Monday to approve the appointment of Lieberman, a former foreign minister and ultra-nationalist who has pledged harsh measures against Palestinian "terrorists".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wat the Knesset in Jerusalem on May 30, 2016, as his cabinet approved the entry of ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman to the ruling coalition as defence minister Menahem Kahana (AFP)

His Yisrael Beitenu party adds five lawmakers to Netanyahu's previous one-seat majority in parliament, giving him 66 out of 120 seats.

Both Netanyahu and Lieberman have sought to ease concerns over his appointment as defence minister, a key position in a country on a near-constant war footing.

One example of Lieberman's provocative style came recently in comments directed at Ismail Haniya, Islamist movement Hamas's leader in the Gaza Strip.

Lieberman said he would give Haniya 48 hours to hand over two detained Israeli civilians and the bodies of soldiers killed in a 2014 war "or you're dead".

Netanyahu said on Monday that "we will continue with a responsible and assertive security policy... and at the same time, will look for paths to peace, especially through regional developments, which we not only recognise but are also involved in."

- 'Legitimate questions' -

The deal for Lieberman's party to enter the coalition was struck last week, putting Israel on a path to form what has been called the most right-wing government in its history.

Netanyahu's moves have drawn concern both inside Israel and abroad.

The United States has said the new coalition raises "legitimate questions" about the commitment of Netanyahu's government to a two-state solution with the Palestinians.

In the wake of the agreement, environment minister Avi Gabbay of the centre-right Kulanu party announced his resignation, saying: "I do not think it is right... to form an extremist government."

Before that, Lieberman's predecessor Moshe Yaalon, from Netanyahu's Likud, warned of a rising tide of extremism in the party and Israel as a whole when he resigned as defence minister on May 20.

However, Netanyahu's troubles also went beyond such criticism, with the vote to expand his coalition opening up previous fissures in his government.

The religious nationalist party Jewish Home planned to block the addition of Lieberman's party by voting against it in parliament, possibly sparking fresh elections, unless demands for procedural reform were met.

Jewish Home holds eight parliamentary seats, enough to block Netanyahu's new line-up.

Netanyahu and Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett reached a compromise on Sunday night.

It had demanded the creation of a military liaison position in the government's security cabinet, a smaller forum of cabinet members which decides on matters of national security.

Bennett says such a post is needed to avoid security cabinet members being kept in the dark about important developments, pointing to aspects of the 2014 conflict with Palestinian militants in Gaza, among other concerns.

- Political rival's demand -

Under the compromise brokered by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of the United Torah Judaism alliance of ultra-Orthodox parties, security cabinet members will receive frequent personal briefings from the National Security Council as an interim measure as a committee of experts looks at ways to improve procedure.

While some analysts say such a change is needed, Bennett's demand is also seen as political manoeuvring ahead of the next general election, which is due by 2019 at the latest.

Bennett is widely seen as aspiring to replace Netanyahu, whose Likud party is currently the largest in parliament.

Also as part of the coalition changes, Yisrael Beitenu's Sofa Landver was approved as minister of immigrant absorption by the cabinet.

Veteran MP Tzachi Hanegbi, chairman of parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee and a member of Likud, is to become a minister without portfolio.

Israeli hardline MP and head of Yisrael Beiteinu party Avigdor Lieberman talks to the press during a meeting in Jerusalem on May 23, 2016 Menahem Kahana (AFP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Avigdor Lieberman (L), the head of hardline nationalist party Yisrael Beitenu, are seen during a ceremony in which they signed a coalition agreement on May 25, 2016 Menahem Kahana (AFP/File)
Rockets, mud and phalluses: parched Laos farmers pray for rain

In central Laos dozens of loud explosions pockmark the sky as men dressed in female clothing wielding large wooden phalluses dance, while others lubricated by the local rice whiskey simply roll in the mud.

Welcome to Laos' famous rocket festival, a raucous celebration and merit-making ceremony in which huge homemade rockets are launched into the sky in a bid to encourage the gods to send much needed rain.

"My rocket went very high," said elated San Pommati, a 42-year-old farmer, after his projectile arced across the sky leaving a fluffy smoke trail above the village of Houa Xeing, some 30 kilometres (19 miles) north of Laos' capital Vientiane.

Laos' famous rocket festival is a bid to encourage the gods to send much needed rain Lillian Suwanrumpha (AFP)

"It was beautiful, I am happy," he told AFP on Sunday.

Throughout the day dozens of homemade rockets, many decked out in flowers, were strapped to a large wooden launch pad and sent towards the heavens, accompanied by cheers, dancing and much drinking.

Practised across much of Laos and northeast Thailand, the Bun Bang Fai festival is an annual rite that celebrates the arrival of the monsoon, a magical moment that nourishes the fields after months of baking dry heat.

The rockets and accompanying vaudeville dance acts are designed to prod the gods into sending thunderstorms.

Laos and much of the Mekong region has been hit by some of the worst droughts in decades this year.

"It's a tradition for us to ask the spirit to bless our works and our crops," Somthet Surasont, a member of the local organising committee in Houa Xeing, told AFP.

Like neighbouring Thailand, Laos' Buddhism is infused with a blend of animist and pre-Buddhist traditions.

The festival is fiercely competitive. Each group builds and finances their own rockets while judges assess them against a string of criteria, from how dramatically they take off and how far they fly to the aesthetic qualities of the smoke trails they leave behind.

"We collected the money to build our own rocket," said 18-year-old Sa Yoopakdi, a street vendor, who was entering the competition for the first time.

"We like it because it's both traditional and fun," he added.

Communist and landlocked Laos remains one of Asia's poorest countries, with more than three quarters of the population still subsistence farmers.

According to the World Bank, 23 percent of Laos' seven million inhabitants live below the poverty line. Many will be praying enough rain falls to alleviate the ongoing drought and produce a bountiful rice harvest.

Practised across much of Laos and northeast Thailand, the Bun Bang Fai festival is an annual rite that celebrates the arrival of the monsoon Lillian Suwanrumpha (AFP)
Everest rescuers abandon recovery of Indian climbers' bodies

Nepali rescuers abandoned plans to retrieve the bodies of two Indian climbers killed on Mount Everest on Monday, hoping instead to bring them down next year, an expedition operator said.

The two men -- identified as Paresh Nath and Goutam Ghosh -- were near the summit of the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) mountain on 21 May when they lost contact with the rest of their team.

Rescuers found Nath's body last Friday near the South Col, located at an altitude of 8,000 metres and marking the beginning of the "death zone".

The two men -- identified as Paresh Nath and Goutam Ghosh -- were near the summit of Mount Everest on 21 May when they lost contact with the rest of their team Roberto Schmidt (AFP/File)

Ghosh's body was also spotted the same day on the Balcony -- a mid-way stop between the South Col and the summit, before strong winds forced back rescuers, Wangchu Sherpa of Trekking Camp Nepal told AFP.

With the short window for climbing on the mountain now closing and bad weather setting in, rescuers said they could not recover the corpses.

"Rescue workers have called off their operations to bring back the dead bodies of Indian climbers Goutam Ghosh and Paresh Nath because of bad weather," Sherpa said.

"We hope to recover (them)... next season."

The cause of their deaths has not been established. But the "death zone" is notorious for its difficult terrain and thin air, as low levels of oxygen raise the risk of altitude sickness.

The missing climbers were part of a team of four, one of whom -- Subhash Pal -- died after falling ill on Sunday while the fourth member, a woman, was rescued and taken to hospital.

Subhash Pal was the third mountaineer to die on Everest this season after an Australian and a Dutch climber succumbed to altitude sickness. All three bodies were transported to Kathmandu last week.

Some 400 people, including more than 150 foreigners, have summited Everest this season after two consecutive years of deadly disasters that led to almost all attempts being abandoned.

Hundreds fled Everest last year after an earthquake-triggered avalanche at base camp killed 18 people.

Only one climber reached the top in 2014 after an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides that year.

Despite the risks and recent disasters, Everest's allure remains undimmed, with Nepal issuing 289 permits to foreigners for this year's spring climbing season.

Mountaineering is a major revenue-earner for the impoverished Himalayan nation.
Bahrain doubles opposition leader jail term

A Bahrain court more than doubled a jail sentence against opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman Monday, in a ruling his bloc warned risked stoking fresh unrest among the Sunni-ruled kingdom's Shiite majority.

The appeals court increased the sentence for charges of inciting violence to nine years from the original four, a judicial official said.

Salman's Al-Wefaq bloc condemned the verdict as "unacceptable and provocative", warning that it "entrenches the exacerbating political crisis" in Bahrain.

Bahraini men hold placards bearing the portrait of Sheikh Ali Salman, head of the Shiite opposition movement Al-Wefaq, during a protest on May 29, 2016 against his arrest Mohammed Al-Shaikh (AFP)

Human rights group Amnesty International issued a statement denouncing the verdict as "clearly" politically motivated.

And Britain's visiting Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond tweeted: "Raised Sheikh Ali Salman sentence in Bahrain today. Understand there is a further stage in the legal process -- will follow case closely."

The 50-year-old Salman was originally convicted in July 2015, drawing condemnation from rights groups as well as both the United States and Iran.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets demanding his release.

Arrested in December 2014, he was also convicted last year of inciting hatred in the kingdom but acquitted of seeking to overthrow the monarchy and change the political system.

The court reversed the earlier acquittal, convicting Salman of "calling for a regime change by force", according to a prosecution statement.

"This verdict says the ruling family has no interest in dialogue, sharing power or recognising any views other than its own," Human Rights First said in a statement.

"Keeping the leader of the main opposition group in jail does nothing to end Bahrain's political crisis and everything to stoke further instability in the kingdom," the US-based watchdog said.

It described the verdict as a "dangerous move" by Bahraini authorities.

Bahrain's "allies in Washington and London should be alarmed at today's decision, and at the direction the ruling family is taking the country," it added.

- 'Clearly politically motivated' -

Amnesty International called for Salman's release.

"Salman's conviction is clearly politically motivated and is designed to send a message to others that even legitimate and peaceful demands for reform will not go unpunished," said James Lynch, deputy director of Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa programme.

"He is a prisoner of conscience and should never have been put on trial in the first place. He must be immediately and unconditionally released," he said in a statement.

Al-Wefaq was Bahrain's largest parliamentary bloc until its 18 MPs walked out in February 2011 in protest at the use of violence against demonstrators.

It said the verdict "reflects the Bahraini regime's settlement to reject national reconciliation by turning its back on international calls urging to address the country's political crisis".

The ruling also "further extends the political crisis in Bahrain amid an absence of national consensus and widening human rights abuses," it said, pledging to continue to call for "inclusive political reform".

The tiny but strategic Gulf state has been shaken by unrest since it crushed a month-long, Shiite-led uprising demanding reforms in 2011.

The Shiite-majority kingdom, connected to Saudi Arabia by a causeway, lies across the Gulf from Shiite Iran and is home to the US Fifth Fleet.

Despite the 2011 crackdown, protesters still frequently clash with police in Shiite villages outside the capital Manama.

Five years after the revolt, Bahrain is locked in a political impasse.

After the Arab Spring touched the small Gulf state on February 14, 2011, Bahrain's Shiites demanded a more representative government and a constitutional monarchy.

Scores have died in periodic unrest despite the suppression of the original uprising, and efforts at dialogue have failed.

The government denies discriminating against Shiites and regularly accuses Iran -- 200 kilometres (125 miles) across the Gulf -- of meddling in Bahrain's internal affairs.

Manama also frequently announces the dismantling of "terrorist" cells it says are linked to Iran, a charge the region's main Shiite power denies.

Bahraini protesters rally against Salman's arrest in the village of Sitra, south of the capital Manama, in January 2016 Mohammed Al-Shaikh (AFP/File)

Bahrain's Al-Wefaq opposition group leader Sheikh Ali Salman was convicted on charges of inciting violence Mohammed Al-Shaikh (AFP/File)
Duterte snubs his proclamation as Philippine president

Rodrigo Duterte snubbed his proclamation as the next Philippine president on Monday, reinforcing his image as a maverick outsider intent on challenging the nation's political establishment.

A joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate in Manila endorsed the official count of this month's election, which saw the trash-talking politician who revels in threats to kill criminals win by more than six million votes.

Duterte declined to attend the nationally televised event, preferring to remain more than 900 kilometres (560 miles) away in his southern hometown of Davao that he has ruled as mayor for most of the past two decades and he admits is his comfort zone.

Populist Rodrigo Duterte won the Philippines presidency by more than six million votes Manman Dejeto (AFP/File)

"I am not attending the proclamation. I've never attended any proclamation (in) all my life," Duterte, who will be sworn into office on June 30, told reporters on the weekend.

Duterte, 71, won the elections largely due to an incendiary law-and-order platform headlined by a vow to wipe out crime within six months.

He pledged to give security forces shoot-to-kill orders, and vowed that tens of thousands of criminals would die. Since the election Duterte has continued to encourage police to kill drug suspects, and said he would bring back the death penalty.

Another key message of Duterte's campaign was his pledge to take on the nation's political and economic elite, selling himself as an explosive political outsider that could shake up a power structure overseeing one of Asia's biggest rich-poor divides.

Duterte railed against the elites and promised to fight for the poor, despite having created his own political dynasty in Davao and his own vice presidential running mate coming from one of the nation's richest families.

- Davao new power centre -

Since the elections, Duterte has refused to travel to Manila and promised to remain in Davao until he assumes the presidency.

This has forced politicians, powerbrokers, business leaders and courtiers to fly to Davao for an audience.

In further blows for so-called "Imperial Manila", Duterte has named many politicians from the southern Philippines to cabinet posts.

Duterte has also repeatedly expressed his disdain for spending time in Manila, describing it last week as a "dead city" overrun by slums.

He also said he planned to spend as little time as president in the capital as possible, and that he hoped to be able to fly each day to and from Davao.

Duterte's absence at the Manila ceremony on Monday delivered a message that he would not be beholden to lawmakers, said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute of Political and Economic Reforms.

"As a symbolism he simply doesn't want to be confined by Congress," Casiple told AFP.

However even some of Duterte's supporters were disappointed that Duterte shunned such an important date on the Philippines' democratic calendar.

"We tried to convince him to change his mind but unfortunately, he did not," Vitaliano Aguirre, who Duterte has named as the next justice minister, told CNN Philippines television, while warning it was a sign of things to come.

"I can assure you this is not the only thing that's going to change."

At Monday's ceremonies in Manila, Leni Robredo was also declared the winner of the vice presidential election, narrowly edging out Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, the son and namesake of the late Philippine dictator.

Robredo, a member of Aquino's Liberal Party, climbed to the dais with her three daughters and raised her hands in victory alongside the House of Representatives' speaker and the Senate president.

But in anti-climactic scenes, the house speaker then congratulated Duterte and, with no-one there to accept, the Senate president quietly declared the session over.

In the Philippines, presidents and vice presidents are elected separately. The constitution limits them to serving a single term of six years.

New president of the Philippines
Kuwait upholds death sentence for mosque blast ringleader

Kuwait's supreme court on Monday upheld the death sentence handed down to the main convict in the Islamic State group bombing of a Shiite mosque that killed 26 people.

The court confirmed the sentence of capital punishment passed on Abdulrahman Sabah Saud, a stateless man who drove the Saudi suicide bomber to the mosque in June last year.

The court also upheld jail terms of between two and 15 years for eight people, including four women, and acquitted 15 others including three women.

On June 26, 2015 in Kuwait City, an Islamic State group suicide bomber attacked the Shiite Al-Imam al-Sadeq mosque during Friday prayers, killing 26 people YAasser Al-Zayyat (AFP/File)

The court did not hear the appeals of five others -- four Saudis and a stateless man -- who had been sentenced to death in absentia by a lower court.

Under Kuwaiti law, sentences issued in absentia are not reviewed by higher courts until those convicted appear in person.

The four Saudi men still at large include two brothers who smuggled the explosives belt used in the attack into Kuwait from neighbouring Saudi Arabia. The fifth man is a stateless Arab.

Twenty-nine defendants, including seven women, had been charged with helping the Saudi suicide bomber attack a Shiite mosque in the capital, which was the bloodiest in Kuwait's history.

An IS-affiliated group calling itself Najd Province claimed the bombing as well as suicide attacks on two Shiite mosques in Saudi Arabia in May last year.

Najd is the central region of Saudi Arabia.

The Sunni extremists of IS consider Shiites to be heretics and have repeatedly attacked Shiite targets in the region.

In addition to driving the suicide bomber, Saud was also charged with bringing the explosives belt from a site near the border and aiding the bomber.

At his initial trial, Saud confessed to most charges, but later denied them all in the appeals and supreme courts.

The death penalty in Kuwait is carried out by hanging, and to be implemented it requires the approval of the Gulf state's ruler.

Among the supreme court's main verdicts on Monday, the court upheld the commuting of the death sentence for the alleged IS leader in Kuwait, Fahad Farraj Muhareb, to 15 years in prison.

It also upheld the acquittal of Jarrah Nimer, owner of the car used to transport the bomber.
Hong Kong democracy protester given five weeks for police assault

A Hong Kong pro-democracy activist was sentenced to five weeks in prison Monday after he was found guilty of assaulting and resisting officers during mass rallies in 2014 when he splashed liquid on police.

Political activist Ken Tsang vowed to appeal the sentence over the liquid splashing incident, which happened the same night he was allegedly beaten by another group of police in a brutal attack captured by television cameras and beamed around the world.

Tsang's is the first conviction for a high-profile figure involved in the rallies, dubbed the "Umbrella Revolution", which blocked major highways in the city for over two months, with protesters calling for a free vote on the city's leader.

Political activist Ken Tsang outside Kowloon city court in Hong Kong on May 26, 2016 after he was found guilty of assaulting and resisting police officers during pro-democracy protests in 2014 Isaac Lawrence (AFP/File)

Activists have accused authorities of going after those at the forefront of the movement.

"We are going to stand until the last minute. We are going to fight until the last minute. We will never give up," 40-year-old Tsang told reporters, adding he would appeal the sentence.

Tsang was given concurrent sentences -- five weeks for one count of assaulting police and three weeks each for two counts of resisting officers during his arrest near the government's headquarters. He has been bailed pending appeal.

During sentencing, magistrate Peter Law said Tsang showed "extreme insult and provocation" towards police officers.

"Up to now he has shown no sign of remorse... I believe a jail term is the only option and it is indeed appropriate," he told the courthouse, which was packed with Tsang's supporters.

Tsang, a social worker and a member of Hong Kong's pro-democracy Civic Party, sat calmly as the sentenced was delivered.

Around 30 supporters, some carrying yellow umbrellas -- a symbol of the democracy movement -- protested outside the courthouse, shouting "shameful police" and "I want true universal suffrage".

Tsang has said police brought assault charges against him to distract from the case against them.

The police who allegedly beat him, who are not the same officers Tsang is convicted of assaulting, are to stand trial separately.

The two incidents took place at the height of mass protests seeking free leadership elections in Hong Kong, and rocked the reputation of the city's police force.

Video footage showed a group of men hauling a handcuffed Tsang to a dark corner in a public park and then one man standing over him punching him while three others were seen repeatedly kicking him.

The officers have pleaded not guilty to the charges and their trial is set to begin on June 1.

Ken Tsang (2nd L) protesting on May 2, 2016 against the sacking of a respected editor at a Hong Kong newspaper Isaac Lawrence (AFP/File)
Bomb attacks kill 11 in Baghdad area: police

Three bomb blasts in and around Baghdad killed at least 11 people and wounded dozens on Monday in the latest wave of attacks to hit the Iraqi capital, police said.

The deadliest attack was a car bomb blast in a market area at around 9:00 am (0600 GMT) that killed at least seven people, according to a police colonel.

Hospital officials confirmed the death toll and said at least 20 people were also wounded.

An Iraqi pro-government forces fighter stands guard on May 14, 2016 on a street in Amriyat al-Fallujah, a government-held town 50 kilometres (30 miles) southwest of Baghdad, after a raid by the Islamic State (IS) group Moadh Al-Dulaimi (AFP/File)

In nearby Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite neighbourhood of north Baghdad which has been repeatedly targeted, at least two people were killed when an explosives-laden motorbike was blown up.

In Tarmiya, on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, a car bomb went off in a residential compound for employees of a neighbouring industrial complex, police said.

At least two people were killed and 10 wounded, according to figures confirmed by hospital sources and an interior ministry official.

There was no immediate claim for the blasts but the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for nearly all such attacks in recent months.

The latest was a suicide attack on Sunday in the town of Moqdadiyah, in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.

IS released a statement naming the bomber, whose picture had been put up at checkpoints across Moqdadiyah after his mother tipped off the security forces but he was able to carry out the attack nonetheless.

Under heavy pressure on the battlefield, the jihadist organisation has struck back with bloody attacks in Baghdad.

The deadliest spate of bombings to hit the capital this year was earlier in May when three attacks on the same day, including a devastating blast in Sadr City, killed close to 100 people.

Iraqi forces thrust into the city of Fallujah on Monday marking a new and perilous urban phase in a week-old operation to retake the IS bastion just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad.
S. Africa baby kidnapper sentencing postponed

A woman convicted in a high-profile trial of kidnapping a newborn baby 19 years ago will remain in custody until sentencing on August 1, a South African judge ruled Monday.

The 50-year-old kidnapper stole the baby as her mother slept in a Cape Town hospital and raised the girl as her own child before an astonishing coincidence last year reunited her with her biological family.

The woman, who cannot be named because that would identify the girl, was due to be sentenced Monday but her lawyers requested more time to prepare their arguments in mitigation.

Celeste Nurse -- the biological mother of Zephany Nurse (not pictured) -- leaves the Cape Town High Court on May 30, 2016 Rodger Bosch (AFP)

Convicting the kidnapper in March, judge John Hlophe said she could face 10 years in jail.

The girl's real identity came to light in February last year, when her younger biological sister began attending high school and pupils pointed out her remarkable likeness to a final-year student.

The younger girl told her parents, who met the older girl and immediately believed she was their long-lost baby.

They called the police, and DNA tests confirmed that the girl was indeed their child, whom they had named Zephany Joy Nurse.

Without knowing it, the Nurse family had been living within a couple of kilometres (miles) of their kidnapped daughter, while celebrating her birthday every year and never giving up hope of finding her.

Zephany, who was raised under a different name and has shunned the media spotlight on the case, is expected to be called as a witness by the prosecution at the sentencing hearing.

Judge Hlophe ruled that the public and the media would be barred from the court during her testimony.
Life behind plastic in Syria's window-less city

In a city whose windows have been blasted from their frames, remaining residents of Syria's war-torn Aleppo go about their daily lives behind gaping holes covered with plastic.

For inhabitants of the battle-scarred and divided city, glass windows have become more of a liability than a luxury.

"Every window pane we have has been shattered by shelling," said Ammar Wattar, an English teacher, as he fitted a hard plastic sheet into the window frame of his home in the government-held district of Al-Midan.

Business goes on at this barbershop in a government-controlled district of Aleppo despite the damage inflicted by fighting George Ourfalian (AFP)

"We changed it the first time, then the second time, the third time -- until this time, we decided not to change it anymore."

The windows are regularly blown out in the frequent rocket attacks and air strikes on Aleppo city, turning the shards into dangerous projectiles.

Replacing them is also prohibitively expensive -- so residents have been opting to cover the empty frames with sheets of plastic.

In many neighbourhoods, children can be seen slipping behind white tarpaulin hanging like curtains from the doorways of their apartments.

Abandoned apartment buildings are often identified by the partly-smashed glass windows protruding like jagged teeth from the metal frames.

Clashes and bombardment have carried on in Aleppo despite a February 27 truce across parts of Syria and multiple attempts to secure a local freeze on fighting in the city.

- 'Bugs, dust, soot'-

Asraa al-Masri, a teacher in a regime-held district of the city, said a shard of glass flew into her daughter's leg during a rocket attack.

She has since stopped replacing her windows with glass, but she now faces a new set of worries.

"Bugs, dust, soot, loud noises, the burning smell of the generators, which are bad for your health and negatively affect our children while they're studying," she listed.

Perhaps no one has seen as much shattered glass as Mohammed Bouz, who used to sell it in a shop in Al-Midan.

"My stockpile has been destroyed many times during the shelling, and I haven't been able to get new deliveries," he told AFP.

Before Syria's war erupted in March 2011, a square metre of glass cost 425 Syrian pounds (70 cents) -- but it now fetches about 3,300 ($6).

Aleppo's desperate residents -- many of whom have been left jobless since war came to their city in 2012 -- opt for the much cheaper plastic at a maximum of 500 Syrian pounds per square metre.

- 'Plastic won't hurt' -

But for Umm Ahmad's conservative Muslim family, no proper windows means no privacy.

Synthetic canvas billows in the wind, "so my daughters and I can only change our clothes in the bathroom or in the hallways so our neighbours don't see us", the 52-year-old woman said.

Privacy "is something really sacred for Aleppan families".

Across the frontline in Aleppo's rebel-held east, shopkeeper Ali Makansi recounts sitting in his grocery store one day "when a mortar shell crashed into the roof of a nearby building".

"Because the explosion was so powerful, an entire window pane fell on me and cut the main nerve in my hand," said the 32-year-old whose shop is in the Al-Shaar neighbourhood.

"All the houses and commercial buildings in Aleppo are using plastic now instead of glass," he said. "Plastic is cheap and won't hurt anyone if there's an explosion nearby."

Mohammed Jokhdar, a 29-year-old Arabic language teacher, sent his family to Turkey after his brother was killed in shelling last year.

He lives alone in his apartment in Bustan al-Qasr district where he has covered the windows with sheets of transparent plastic.

"But the plastic doesn't protect from the weather and sometimes water leaks through. It doesn't block the noise either -- I feel like I'm in the street."

Abu Omar, 69, who lives in Tariq al-Bab neighbourhood, also complains about the noise and water leaks.

But "the biggest problem is the street cats... They tear the plastic and come into my home looking for food."

Windows of buildings are regularly blown out in the frequent rocket attacks and air strikes on Aleppo George Ourfalian (AFP)

For inhabitants of Aleppo, glass windows have become more of a liability than a luxury Karam Al-Masri (AFP)
Iraq: from IS gains to the battle for Fallujah

Events in Iraq from the breakthrough by Islamic State group (IS) fighters in 2014 to the government counter-attack.

2014: Jihadist breakthrough

On January 4, Iraq loses its first key town since the US-led invasion of 2003. Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and allies capture Fallujah and parts of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

The battle for Fallujah has been ongoing since the breakthrough and capture by Islamic State fighters in 2014 Ahmad Al-Rubaye (AFP/File)

The vast Anbar province that surrounds the two towns is predominantly Sunni Muslim and fiercely resisted US troops when they occupied Iraq.

On June 9, ISIL captures Mosul, the second largest Iraqi city in the north, and declares an Islamic caliphate on June 29, calling itself the Islamic State group.

The jihadists also control Tikrit, home town of late dictator Saddam Hussein north of Baghdad, and large parts of the country up to Iraqi Kurdistan. IS drives out tens of thousands of Iraqi Christians and Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking non-Muslim minority that lives around Sinjar near the border with Syria.

On August 8, the United States launches air strikes against IS and a month later has created a coalition to target the group in Iraq and Syria.

2015: Counter-offensives

On March 31, Iraqi troops and Shiite militias backed by neighbouring Iran recapture Tikrit.

By May 17 however, IS completely controls Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province which stretches west to Syria where IS has declared a de-facto capital in Raqa.

Later in the year, Iraqi forces and coalition air strikes begin driving IS back, and by mid-October they have recaptured Baiji and its strategic refinery north of Baghdad.

Kurdish forces backed by air strikes recapture Sinjar on November 13, severing an IS supply route between Iraq and Syria. Coalition strikes intensify after November 13, when attacks claimed by IS kill 130 people in France.

On December 27, Iraqi forces say they have liberated Ramadi, their biggest victory against IS to date. But the city is not totally cleared until February 9, 2016.

2016: Fallujah and Mosul

The government focuses on recapturing Fallujah and Mosul, IS's last strongholds in Iraq.

Officials have vowed to drive the jihadists out in 2016, but Washington is more cautious, evoking the fall of Mosul late this year or in early 2017. Observers say Fallujah is more of a priority for the Baghdad government.

In April, Washington says it will send attack helicopters and another 200 soldiers to train and assist Iraqi troops, bringing the total number of US military personnel in Iraq to more than 4,000.

On March 24, the army and allied militia begin an offensive in the northern Nineveh province around Mosul, making slow progress. On May 29, Kurdish peshmerga fighters backed by the international coalition recapture several villages east of Mosul.

To the south, coalition-backed Iraqi troops begin to squeeze Fallujah in March and capture Heet and Rutba, towns which control supply routes between Iraq and Syria.

On May 23, they begin an offensive to retake Fallujah, where several tens of thousands of civilians are trapped.

IS strikes back with suicide attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere, but is now estimated to control just 14 percent of Iraq, down from a peak of 40 percent in 2014.
S. Korea detects signs North preparing missile launch

South Korea's defence ministry said Monday it had detected signs that North Korea was preparing a ballistic missile launch, as Japan reportedly put its military on intercept alert.

UN resolutions ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology, although it regularly fires short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast.

Tensions have been running high on the divided Korean peninsula since the North's fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a long-range rocket launch the following month.

North Korean missiles roll through Pyongyang's Kim Il-Sung Square in 2015

And in recent weeks Pyongyang has voiced anger at Seoul's refusal to accept repeated offers of military talks to de-escalate the situation.

"We are tracking signs that North Korea is preparing a ballistic missile test and are maintaining combat readiness," a defence ministry official told AFP.

The official did not specify the missile type, but the fact that signs of a launch had been detected would point to a medium-range missile or larger.

In April the North tried and failed three times to test-fire a powerful new mid-range missile known as a Musudan.

In Tokyo, public broadcaster NHK said the Japanese government had put its military on alert for a possible launch, with orders to intercept any missile that threatened Japanese territory.

Under the order, the Self-Defence Forces will deploy Aegis destroyers equipped with missile interceptors offshore and PAC-3 surface-to-air anti-ballistic missiles, NHK said.

A Japanese defence ministry spokeswoman declined to confirm the news reports.

The Musudan is believed to have a range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres (1,550 to 2,500 miles). The lower range covers the whole of South Korea and Japan, while the upper range would include US military bases on Guam.

The missile has never been successfully flight-tested.

The three failures in April were seen as an embarrassment for the leadership, coming ahead of a party congress which was meant to celebrate the country's achievements.

During the congress, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un personally extended the offer of military dialogue with the South.
Victims cheer Chad ex-dictator's life sentence

A court in Senegal sentenced former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre to life in jail Monday for war crimes and crimes against humanity, an unprecedented conviction hailed as a blow to the impunity long enjoyed by repressive rulers.

The verdict brings long-awaited closure for relatives of the up to 40,000 people killed and many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during his 1982-1990 term as president of Chad.

Habre was guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, rape, forced sexual slavery and kidnapping, said the presiding judge Gberdao Gustave Kam.

Hissene Habre led Chad from 1982-1990, his rule marked by fierce repression of opponents and targeting of rival ethnic groups Dominique Faget (AFP/File)

The 73-year-old ex-dictator, who wore his trademark billowing white robes and sunglasses in court, had presided over "a system where impunity and terror were the law," Kam said.

The case was heard by a special tribunal set up by the African Union under a deal with Senegal, and is the first time a country has prosecuted a former leader of another nation for rights abuses.

On hearing the decision, Habre raised his arms in the air and shouted "Down with Francafrique!", the term used for France's continuing influence on its former colonies.

He had declined to address the court throughout the 10-month trial, and refused to recognise its authority.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said the conviction was "an opportunity for the United States to reflect on, and learn from," its involvement in Chad, referring to US and France's backing of his regime as a buffer against Libya's Moamer Khadafi.

An EU spokesman said the "historic" sentence set an "important precedent for international justice and the fight against impunity" and praised the determination of Senegal's authorities in bring the case to trial.

Habre has two weeks to appeal the sentence.

- Crowning achievement -

Victims groups who had travelled to Dakar to hear the verdict were visibly moved by the judgement.

"The feeling is one of complete satisfaction," said Clement Abaifouta, president of the Habre survivors association known by the acronym AVCRHH.

"It's the crowning achievement of a long and hard fight against impunity. Today Africa has won. We say thank you to Senegal and to Africa for judging Africa," he added.

In the Chadian capital N'Djamena up to 250 victims and their supporters gathered to watch the trial on television at their group's headquarters.

Women screamed with joy as the verdict was read out, embracing one another and shouting "We won!", before taking to the streets and blocking traffic as they spread the news.

- 'A powerful message' -

The precedent set by the verdict could be seismic, according to legal experts, especially after years of criticism that the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, has tried African leaders many say should be judged on the continent.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said the verdict showed "nobody is above the law" at a time when the world is "scarred by a constant stream of atrocities."

Reed Brody, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch who has spent the last 15 years working with victims to bring Habre to justice, said the conviction was a warning.

"This verdict sends a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalise their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end," Reed said in a statement.

"Today will be carved into history as the day that a band of unrelenting survivors brought their dictator to justice."

Habre's conviction for personally raping a woman was also a first by an international court trying a former world leader, according to Human Rights Watch.

Lawyers for the victims said Friday their next step would be to obtain compensation for their clients in a civil suit.

- Prison horrors -

Known as a skilled desert fighter often dressed in combat fatigues to fit the role, Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby.

Witnesses recounted the horror of life in Chad's prisons, describing in graphic detail abusive and often deadly punishments inflicted by Habre's feared secret police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS).

Victims were subject to electric shocks and waterboarding while some had gas sprayed in their eyes or spice rubbed into their genitals, the court heard.

Habre's defence team unsuccessfully sought to cast doubt on the prosecution's argument that their client was an all-knowing, all-powerful head of the DDS, suggesting he may have been unaware of abuses on the ground.

For more than 20 years, the former dictator lived freely in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children.

"What we have seen today is not justice. It is a crime against Africa," said Mahamat Togoi, part of a Habre supporters group. "It's the dirty work of mercenaries in the pay of Francafrique."

Hissene Habre: 'Africa's Pinochet' J-M.Cornu/S.Ramis/A.Bommenel, jj/ (AFP)

Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre C) is escorted by prison guards ahead of a 2015 court appearance in Dakar Seyllou (AFP/File)

Activists of Peace Mobilisation and African Justice Consolidation association hold placards reading, "Africa's youth asks for a African Criminal Court" outside Dakar Courthouse on May 30, 2016 Seyllou (AFP)
'Nowhere to go': MSF says IS Syria assault traps thousands

A surprise assault by the Islamic State group has trapped tens of thousands of terrified people on the Syrian border with Turkey, Doctors Without Borders said Monday, warning the situation was "unacceptable".

Pablo Marco, the regional manager of the charity known by its French acronym MSF, said concerns were rising for a large civilian population less than five kilometres (three miles) from advancing IS jihadists.

"We are talking about 100,000 people who are trapped a few kilometres from IS. They are terrified, there is nowhere to go," Marco said in a telephone interview with AFP.

IS offensive north of Aleppo Valentina BRESCHI (AFP)

IS swept towards the last rebel strongholds of Marea and Azaz in Aleppo province on Friday, forcing thousands to flee towards the northern frontier.

But Turkey has kept the border closed, leaving civilians stuck between the violent front line with IS to the east, the sealed border to the north, and the autonomous Kurdish canton of Afrin to the west.

"These people are now in a very small area of four by seven kilometres," said Marco.

"The situation is absolutely unsustainable and unacceptable for this population."

The United Nations has said the fighting has trapped up to 165,000 civilians between Azaz and the closed Turkish border.

MSF's Marco said many of those who were fleeing the IS onslaught in recent days had already been displaced two or three times from other parts of the province.

"You can imagine how hard it is for them."

More than half of Syria's population have fled their homes since the conflict first erupted in 2011, with nearly five million escaping to neighbouring countries.

An estimated 6,000 people have escaped the fighting in Marea either towards the border or west towards the Kurdish-controlled region of Afrin.

But with limited resources, Marco said, Kurdish authorities would not be able to take in an influx of displaced individuals.

As the circumstances grow increasingly dire, Marco called on the Turkish authorities to allow safe haven for those fleeing IS's speedy advance.

"We know that the Turkish authorities are very concerned about the situation. They have made big efforts as you know, but the situation is so terrible that it justifies (opening the border)."

But he also called on the European Union "to do their part" to both support Turkey and take in more Syrian refugees escaping violence at home.

"All actors who are involved need to find a solution... This is really a shame."
Egypt detains journalist union chief over 'false news'

The head of Egypt's press syndicate and two colleagues were in custody Monday after being charged with harbouring journalists and publishing false news, a lawyer and one of them said.

The arrests, which Amnesty International denounced as a "draconian clampdown" on media freedom in Egypt, comes weeks after the arrest of two reporters on allegations of incitement to protest.

Union chief Yahiya Kallash had denounced the arrests earlier this month and told a news conference that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government is "escalating the war against journalism and journalists".

The head of the Egyptian journalists union, Yahiya Kallash protests with journalists against the arrest of two reporters on May 4, 2016 in Cairo Mohamed El-Shahed (AFP/File)

On Sunday, the Cairo prosecutor summoned Kallash, union secretary general Gamal Elbashy and the head of its freedoms committee Gamal Abd el-Rahim for questioning, the latter told AFP.

Twelve hours later he charged the three with having "harboured fugitives" and "publishing false news", Abd el-Rahim and Elbashy's lawyer Abd al-Rady said.

The prosecutor then ordered the release of the three on condition that they post bail of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (1,000 euros, $1,100) each, until the outcome of the investigation.

"We refused to pay," Abd el-Rahim said by mobile phone.

As a result they were kept in custody until a decision by the prosecutor, who could revoke the bail or remand them in custody for four days.

Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Magdalena Mughrabi, said the arrest "signals a dangerous escalation of the Egyptian authorities' draconian clampdown on freedom of expression and demonstrates the extreme measures the authorities are prepared to take in order to tighten their iron grip on power".

By prosecuting them, the authorities seek "to send a strong message to intimidate all journalists into silence", she said, calling for their release and for the charges to be dropped.

Rights activists accuse Sisi of running an ultra-authoritarian regime that has violently suppressed all opposition since toppling Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

On May 1, police sparked media and opposition outrage by storming the journalists' union building in an unprecedented raid and arresting reporters Amr Badr and Mahmud al-Sakka.

Badr and Sakka work for the opposition website Babawet Yanayer and were both accused of incitement to protest in violation of the law.

The prosecutor said the pair would be held as part of an investigation which also includes allegations that they had called for a "coup".
India plans new law to combat human trafficking

India is drafting a new law to tackle human trafficking, a government minister said Monday, with millions of victims, mostly children, pushed into the illegal trade every year.

The draft law is the first to deal exclusively with trafficking and will overhaul the current regime under which victims are sometimes punished, Maneka Gandhi, the Women and Child Development Minister, said.

"At present both trafficked and the trafficker are sent to jail. But this bill is far more of compassion and makes a distinction between them," Gandhi said in New Delhi as the draft bill was launched for public consultation.

Maneka Gandhi has demanded action against the Delhi Zoo director for negligence

India's present hotchpotch of laws dealing with human trafficking has done little to quash the thriving trade.

A US State Department report in 2013 estimated up to 65 million people were trafficked into forced labour, both into and within India.

Trafficking victims, mostly children, are typically pushed into prostitution, forced labour or begging.

The law would jail traffickers who use drugs or liquor to exploit their victims, or who use chemical substances or hormones on minors to hasten sexual maturity -- offences that previously went unpunished.

"The proposed bill is an effort to plug loopholes and (include) additional crimes which have not found place in the Indian Penal Code," Gandhi said.

The bill, which will be tabled in parliament at the end of the year, would double jail terms for some offences and set up special courts to speed up the prosecution of offenders. It would also prevent the identity of victims from being revealed.

More than 14 million adults and children are trapped in modern slavery in India, the most of any country, according to the Walk Free Foundation's 2014 Global Slavery Index.

The proposed law also calls for joint working groups with neighbouring countries such as Nepal or Bangladesh to bring in preventive measures.
No longer just a job: the unlikely crew saving lives in the Mediterranean

They are unlikely members of the same crew: career seamen for whom it was initially just another job and landlubber humanitarian workers trying to make the world a better place.

But together, aboard the MS Aquarius, they get the job done. Since it joined the international search and rescue operation off Libya in February, the boat chartered by medical charity MSF and French NGO SOS Mediterranee has safely delivered some 1,500 migrants to Italian ports.

Once the property of the German coastguard, the Aquarius switched to oil prospection in 2009, surveying prospective fields from Nigeria to the Arctic.

The MS Aquarius is now used by humanitarian groups SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders to rescue migrants and refugees trying to reach Europe Gabriel Bouys (AFP)

Now it is stuffed full of life jackets, blankets, nutrition packs and bottles of water.

On the deck, SOS Mediterranee volunteers rotate the watch. Several of them are merchant seamen themselves, a mix of keen youngsters and salty old sea dogs. Most have given up three to six weeks of holiday time to help out.

"Working only for yourself is not necessarily what makes you proud in this life," said one of them, 25-year-old merchant seaman Antoine Laurent.

- 'A unique experience' -

Down several narrow flights of steps, the MSF medical team -- a doctor, midwife, two nurses and two technicians -- prepare to take charge of rescued migrants who will be spending anything from a few hours to several days on board.

Unlike the SOS Mediterranee crew, most of them had never set foot on a boat before but can call on vast reserves of experience acquired in humanitarian hotspots from the Ebola clinics of West Africa to the earthquake-ravaged mountains of Nepal.

Dutch doctor Erna Rijnierse, who has been working with MSF for a decade, describes the work on the boat as a one-off.

"I've been involved in long term projects, I've been involved in emergencies This however is very unique.

"There are elements of different MSF missions but the fact that you do this on water, with people in flight that have been travelling already quite a bit, and on the doorstep of Europe, makes it very unique."

What is notable aboard the Aquarius is the commitment of the boat's permanent crew -- a motley collection of taciturn Russians and Ukrainians, several Ghanians and a worrisome Greek. None of them chose the mission but all them have thrown their hearts into it.

Going to the aid of stricken boats is a moral and legal obligation at sea but picking up migrants represents a headache for merchant ships with deliveries and collections to be made, and fears of infection by sick shipwreck survivors abound.

But it is the veteran seamen who have the skills required. Aquarius seaman Ebenezer Tandot, 45, has long worked around North Sea oil platforms, where hypothermia can claim even the strongest swimmers in as little as eight minutes.

- 'Doing something good' -

So it is the Ghanaian who is tasked with guiding the first lifeboat to be launched.

"We pick up the migrants, we drop them off, it has become the routine," he tells AFP.

But his nonchalant tone changes quickly as he emotionally recalls the impact of rescuing men in a state of shock or paralysed by hypothermia and the relief at seeing them begin to come round and recover.

Such emotions help to explain how the crew has bonded, despite their vastly different backgrounds. "We actually feel like one big team trying to take the best care we can of the people we have rescued," says the MSF doctor.

The boat's skipper is Alexander Moroz, a 45-year-old Belarusian with a dry sense of humour. He is the point man who receives instructions from Italy's coastguard and directs operations.

The work has nothing in common with his boat's past. "But my feeling is I am in the right place and that I am doing something good."

Asked if the presence of rescue boats is only encouraging people traffickers to send their human cargoes to sea, the skipper adopts the same line as the humanitarian contingent on board.

"The only question is, if we were not here, how many more would die?"

Doctor Erna Rijnierse from the Netherlands, who has been working with MSF for a decade, describes working on the boat as a "unique" experience Gabriel Bouys (AFP)

Aqaurius captain Alexander Moroz, a 45-year-old Belarusian, receives instructions from Italy's coastguard and directs operations Gabriel Bouys (AFP)
Palestinian stabs Israeli in Tel Aviv: police

A Palestinian stabbed and slightly wounded an Israeli man in the coastal city of Tel Aviv on Monday before being arrested by security forces, police said.

Public radio identified the Israeli man as a soldier.

Channel 10 private television broadcast footage showing an assailant holding a knife and hiding in the staircase of a building after the attack, before police are seen arresting him.

Israeli police said a 17-year-old from the occupied Palestinian territories stabbed and slightly wounded an Israeli man in the coastal city of Tel Aviv Thomas Coex (AFP/File)

Israeli police said the assailant was a 17-year-old from the occupied Palestinian territories but gave no further details.

Since October 1, a wave of violence has killed 205 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.

Most of the Palestinians were killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks, according to the Israeli authorities.

Others were shot dead during protests and clashes.
Ugandan LRA rebel to go on trial for war crimes in December

A top commander of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army will go on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in December charged with keeping sex slaves and recruiting child soldiers, among other crimes.

Dominic Ongwen, himself a former child soldier who became one of the most LRA's most feared leaders, is charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity over his role in the group's reign of terror in northern Uganda between 2002 and 2005.

His trial will start on December 6, the Hague-based ICC said, adding that prosecutors would start presenting their evidence in January.

Ugandan commander of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) Dominic Ongwen, stands in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) during the confirmation of charges hearing in the Hague on January 21, 2016 Michael Kooren (ANP/AFP/File)

Ongwen, who surrendered early last year and was handed over to the ICC, is the only senior LRA commander currently in the court's custody.

The LRA's elusive chief Joseph Kony, who has also been charged by the ICC with war crimes, is the subject of a decade-long manhunt.

In March, the ICC confirmed 70 charges against Ongwen, saying there were "substantial grounds" to believe that he was responsible for crimes including murder, rape, sexual slavery, torture and conscripting children under the age of 15.

Ongwen was once Kony's deputy and one of the top commanders of the LRA, which is accused of slaughtering more than 100,000 people and abducting 60,000 children in a bloody rebellion against Kampala.

Prosecutors accuse him of being the "tip of the spear" of the group that has sown terror across several countries in central and eastern Africa.

The LRA first emerged in northern Uganda in 1986, when it took up arms in the name of the Acholi ethnic group against the government of President Yoweri Museveni.

Over the years it has moved freely across porous regional borders, shifting from Uganda to sow terror in southern Sudan before heading into northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and finally crossing into southeastern Central African Republic in March 2008.

Combining religious mysticism with astute guerrilla tactics and bloodthirsty ruthlessness, Kony has turned scores of young girls into his personal sex slaves while claiming to be fighting to impose the Bible's Ten Commandments.
Kerry to head to China for talks

Top US diplomat John Kerry will travel to Beijing for talks on a range of issues as part of a trip that will also take him to Mongolia and France, the State Department said Monday.

The June 5-7 visit comes at a time of heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing over the Asian giant's military expansion in the South China Sea.

The United States disputes China's sovereignty in the region and has conducted several "freedom of navigation" operations in which it deliberately sails or flies close to the islands, attracting the ire of Beijing.

US Secretary of State John Kerry gives a press conference during a foreign affairs ministers meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on May 19, 2016 John Thys (AFP/File)

Kerry will be in the Chinese capital starting Sunday for the eighth US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, for which he will be joined by US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

The Chinese co-chairs of the gathering will be State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vice Premier Wang Yang.

"The Dialogue will focus on the challenges and opportunities that both countries face on a wide range of bilateral, regional, and global areas of immediate and long-term economic and strategic interest," Kirby said.

Kerry will also attend the annual US-China Consultation on People-to-People exchange, a forum bringing together government officials and private sector representatives to strengthen ties in fields such as education, culture and sports.

Prior to his China visit, Kerry will be in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where he is due to meet with senior government officials, take part in a town hall gathering and attend a cultural festival.

Kerry kicks off his trip in Paris on Thursday for a French-hosted Middle East peace conference.
Victims of unrepentant Chad dictator celebrate justice

Hidden behind sunglasses and a white turban, Chad's former dictator was unrepentant Monday even as he learned he would spend the rest of his life in prison for crimes committed during his brutal rule.

In contrast, survivors of Hissene Habre's eight-year reign of terror, in courtroom four of Dakar's Palace of Justice to hear the verdict, wept with joy as he was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But Habre was in no mood for contrition, shouting: "Down with Francafrique!" as he was convicted, referring to France's continuing influence on former colonies like Chad and Senegal.

Senegalese security forces and civilians walk outside the Dakar courthouse on May 30, 2016 Seyllou (AFP)

It was one of the few statements he made during his trial that began in Senegal on July 20 -- the first time an African country has prosecuted the former leader of another for rights abuses.

The verdict has brought long-awaited closure to relatives of the up to 40,000 people killed as well as the many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during Habre's 1982-1990 term as president of Chad.

"The decision satisfies us perfectly. We won a victory today. Everyone is happy -- widows, orphans, other victims," said Fatima Oumar, a woman in her fifties whose husband was arrested in May 1989 and died a year later.

In the Chadian capital N'Djamena, up to 250 victims and their supporters gathered to watch the trial on television at their group's headquarters.

Women screamed with joy as the verdict was read out, embracing one another and shouting "We won!", before taking to the streets and blocking traffic as they spread the news.

- 'Africa has won' -

Habre greeted his supporters who, along with victims' relatives, had made the journey to the Senegalese capital, as he left the court for the first time as a guilty man under the watchful eye of a number of guards.

Throughout the trial, Habre has refused to recognise the authority of the court, declining to appoint his own lawyers to defend against the charges that he denied.

The judge, Burkina Faso's Gberdao Gustave Kam, condemned Habre's "insulting contempt" during the hearings.

"Habre showed no... compassion for his victims, nor expressed remorse," he said.

"Besides a turban with which he constantly hid his face, the accused ended up wearing sunglasses to hide his eyes."

After the verdict, guards moved in to protect the judges and prosecutors of the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE), a special tribunal set up by the African Union under a deal with Senegal, from the public gallery.

Victims' groups who travelled to Dakar to hear the verdict were visibly moved by a judgement that comes a quarter century after the abuses they suffered.

"The feeling is one of complete satisfaction," said Clement Abaifouta, president of the Habre survivors' association, known by the acronym AVCRHH.

"It's the crowning achievement of a long and hard fight against impunity. Today Africa has won. We say thank you to Senegal and to Africa for judging Africa," he added.
Egyptian prosecutors are investigating the death of a teenage girl during a female circumcision operation at a private hospital, it has been revealed.

Mayar Mohamed Mousa, 17, died in El Canal hospital on Sunday while under full anaesthesia in the province of Suez, said Lotfi Abdel-Samee, the health ministry undersecretary in the province.

'This is something that the law has prohibited,' stressed Abdel-Samee.

Egyptian prosecutors are investigating the death of a teenage girl during a female circumcision operation at a private hospital, health ministry and prosecution officials have revealed (file picture)

Despite the ban in 2008, female genital mutilation (FGM) is still widespread in Egypt, especially in rural areas. It is practised among Muslims as well as Egypt's minority Christians.

The law led to the first prison sentence against a doctor in Egypt in January last year, with the girl's father in that case given a three-month suspended sentence.

On SUnday, Mousa's sister had just undergone the operation before she was sent in for surgery.

The girls' mother is a nurse, while their late father was a surgeon. The operation was being carried out by a registered female doctor, according to Abdel-Samee.

Authorities shut down the hospital on Monday after transferring patients to other hospitals as prosecutors questioned the hospital manager and medical staff involved in the operation, Abdel-Samee said.

They have also spoken to the mother, a prosecution official said.

The case was opened after a health inspector reported the circumstances of the girl's death.

Despite the ban in 2008, female genital mutilation (FGM) is still widespread in Egypt, especially in rural areas

Medical examiners have carried out an autopsy, and are due to report the cause of death, said Abdel-Samee.

While 200 million women and girls worldwide have been subjected to the practise, there have been major strides in Egypt, as well as Liberia, Burkina Faso, and Kenya against FGM, according to Claudia Cappa, the lead author of a February UN children's agency report on the issue.

'The latest figures from the Egypt Demographic and Health Survey show that we're winning,' the United Nations Development Programme said in a report last year.

'Mothers' attitudes are changing, too,' UNDP said.

While 92 percent of mothers had undergone the procedure, only 35 percent of them 'intend to circumcise their daughters,' according to the UNDP report.
Treasure hunters to gather for celebration in New Mexico

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  Searchers fixated with finding a treasure hidden in the mountains north of Santa Fe will converge in the city.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports (http://bit.ly/1TGVEHj) that people are expected to gather Saturday for "Fennboree" and a screening of the documentary, "Fenn's Searchers."

The annual gathering is inspired by author Forrest Fenn, who stated in his 2010 memoir that he had hidden a chest containing nearly $2 million in coins.

The treasure has drawn interest for years.

Randy Bilyeu, of Colorado, disappeared in January after telling family he planned to search for it.

Some critics have said the search should be stopped because of the dangerous terrain.

Organizers of "Fennboree" say they will honor Bilyeu with a moment of silence.

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Beijing tracks the elderly as they take buses, go shopping

BEIJING (AP)  These days, when people over 80 in Beijing take a bus, see a doctor or spend money, their activities are digitally tracked by the government, as part of an effort to improve services for the country's rapidly growing elderly population.

The data amassed with each swipe of the multi-purpose "Beijing Connect" old person's card goes into a massive database of the elderly in the capital. City authorities hope the information will enable them to better cope with their burgeoning population of over-60s, which already stands at 3 million.

Though geared toward the elderly, the program demonstrates how China more broadly is using big data to better direct the use of government resources for the country's 1.4 billion people. Beijing's strategy is to use new technology and its heavily censored Internet to innovate and propel China's transformation to a services-based economy  a strategy that Premier Li Keqiang has said "will trigger a new Industrial Revolution."

In this April 1, 2016 photo, a worker swipe the "Beijing Connect" old person's card for a customer at a steamed bread store in a supermarket in Beijing. When people over 80 in Beijing take a bus, see a doctor or spend money, their activities are digitally tracked by the government, as part of an effort to improve services for the countrys rapidly growing elderly population. The data amassed with each swipe of the multi-purpose "Beijing Connect" old persons card goes into a massive database of the elderly in the capital. City authorities hope the information will enable them to better cope with their burgeoning population of over-60s, which already stands at 3 million. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

In a sophisticated example, Beijing municipal government is collecting the disparate data on the elderly in order to predict what services will be needed in the future. This is to make sure it has the necessary budget and services in place, by taking into account people's decreasing mobility, for example, said Bai Qiang, vice president of Beijing Community Service Association, a city government agency.

"All of the data we are collecting now, including visits to parks, the use of public transport and (numbers of) shopping trips, will help us to predict whether the elderly will become disabled in the future," Bai said.

The thinking is that if an elderly man is paying fewer visits to parks or taking buses less, that will show up in the data. The government can then judge what the disability rate will be in future and prepare a budget plan in advance, Bai said.

Cardholders interviewed said they weren't concerned about a loss of privacy and praised the program as far more convenient than the coupons the government used to give them for the same services.

"I've no worries. Elderly people don't have any secrets," said Liu Huizhen, 84, who was using her card to buy steamed bread in a small supermarket.

"It's hard for elderly people to count" coin-by-coin, Liu said. "And when you take the bus you just swipe the card, it's very simple and convenient."

The State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a plan to promote big data in August, calling for the accessing and sharing of government data to improve governance. In response, the southern province of Guangdong on April 25 announced a strategy promoting the collection and use of big data in areas including the integration of air and water monitoring information with pollution forecasting, the creation of electronic medical records and the sharing of information on tourists traveling to scenic spots to better manage traffic.

The Guangdong plan also called for the collection of population data on the elderly and a "comprehensive analysis" of their service needs, similar to what Beijing is now offering.

While China is still behind countries such as the United States, Britain and Germany in terms of the development of big data infrastructure, it is unique in its commitment to the project and the speed with which it is progressing, said Zhang Yue, managing director of The Boston Consulting Group in China.

Although China's national and local governments, ministries and departments are the owners of a large quantity of financial, residential and other data, they have yet to share the information among themselves, Zhang said.

"The government has realized that if they want to really take full advantage of (what is in) their possession they need to integrate those, otherwise the value of the data is quite limited," she added.

At the same time, China needs to deal with the needs of a rapidly aging population, the result of rapid economic development, longer lifespans and a strict, 35-year-long family planning policy that limited births, creating a shrinking working-age population. While the elderly were traditionally looked after by their children, they are increasingly turning to oversubscribed old people's homes or fending for themselves at home, sometimes with the help of visiting caregivers.

Other regional authorities are also using data-gathering to help the elderly, including in the northeastern city of Shenyang. The city is trying to use the information on the 1.6 million older residents in its database to better match them up with its more than 160 old people's homes.

However, none of those efforts are as wide-ranging and integrated as Beijing's own multi-purpose card, which is slated to be expanded to cover the nearly 20 million people aged 60 and above who live in Beijing and the neighboring regions of Hebei and Tianjin city by the end of 2018.

The card functions as ID and gives free access to public transport and public parks. The government also tops up the card with 100 yuan ($15) each month, and cardholders can activate an additional function to enable them to use it as a bank card onto which money can be transferred from an account.

Zhao Fangjun, strolling along in a park where a row of elderly were sunning themselves one morning, said that in addition to the government subsidy, his mother-in-law transfers 250 yuan ($38) onto the card each month. He said the card can be used not just in selected shops and restaurants, but also to hire a cleaner and take out a newspaper subscription.

Rogier Creemers, who researches China's governance of technology at the University of Oxford, said China is a world leader in the degree to which it is integrating such functions.

"What allows China to do something like this is the fact that behind everything you have a single unified network of power, which is the Chinese Communist Party," Creemers said.

Some cities, like Nanjing, have social security cards with an e-payment function that can be used for public transport and medical treatment and are available to all residents, not just the elderly. Shanghai, China's most populous city, has just introduced a card for people 65 and over that distributes government subsidies, offers discounts in restaurants and free rides on public transport and can also be used as a bank card. This card doesn't collect big data, however, according to Shanghai government's social security office.

Beijing's database, set up last year, aims to improve home-based care. It includes information on the numbers of elderly living alone, their incomes, and those requiring meal deliveries or simply someone to talk to. Elderly people applying for the card fill out registration forms with government offices found in every neighborhood.

Bai says the data is confidential and cannot be accessed or distributed by anyone without government approval.

"What we are doing is not monitoring, but collecting the data," he said. "All the data we collect aims to enable the government to provide better services to the elderly. For example, if we detected that a type of service was in great demand, we would get in touch with the relevant companies to request a discount."

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AP news assistants Dong Tongjian and Liu Zheng contributed to this report.

In this March 15, 2016 photo, Bai Qiang, vice president of Beijing Community Service Association, a city government agency, speaks against a data screen as he introduces the "Beijing Connect" old persons card at his office in Beijing. The data amassed with each swipe of the multi-purpose old person's card goes into a massive database of the elderly in the capital. City authorities hope the information will enable them to better cope with their burgeoning population of over-60s, which already stands at 3 million. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

In this May 25, 2016 photo released by Xinhua News Agency, visitors walk past the giant word for "Data" during the Guiyang International Big Data Expo 2016 held in Guiyang in southwestern China's Guizhou province. Authorities in China are using big data to direct the use of government resources for the country's 1.4 billion people. Beijing's strategy is to use new technology and its heavily censored Internet to innovate and propel China's transformation to a services-based economy - a strategy that Premier Li Keqiang has said "will trigger a new Industrial Revolution." (Liu Xu/Xinhua via AP) NO SALES

In this March 15, 2016 photo, Bai Qiang, vice president of Beijing Community Service Association, a city government agency, speaks as he introduces the "Beijing Connect" old person's card at his office in Beijing. The data amassed with each swipe of the multi-purpose old persons card goes into a massive database of the elderly in the capital. City authorities hope the information will enable them to better cope with their burgeoning population of over-60s, which already stands at 3 million. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

In this March 15, 2016 photo, Bai Qiang, vice president of Beijing Community Service Association, a city government agency, introduces a sample of the "Beijing Connect" old person's card during an interview at his office in Beijing. When people over 80 in Beijing take a bus, see a doctor or spend money, their activities are digitally tracked by the government, as part of an effort to improve services for the countrys rapidly growing elderly population. The data amassed with each swipe of the multi-purpose "Beijing Connect" old persons card goes into a massive database of the elderly in the capital. City authorities hope the information will enable them to better cope with their burgeoning population of over-60s, which already stands at 3 million. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

In this March 31, 2016 photo, a group of elderly women rest on their wheelchairs at a residential compound in Beijing. When people over 80 in Beijing take a bus, see a doctor or spend money, their activities are digitally tracked by the government, as part of an effort to improve services for the countrys rapidly growing elderly population. The data amassed with each swipe of the multi-purpose "Beijing Connect" old persons card goes into a massive database of the elderly in the capital. City authorities hope the information will enable them to better cope with their burgeoning population of over-60s, which already stands at 3 million. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

In this March 31, 2016 photo, elderly women chat as they rest at a residential compound in Beijing. When people over 80 in Beijing take a bus, see a doctor or spend money, their activities are digitally tracked by the government, as part of an effort to improve services for the countrys rapidly growing elderly population. The data amassed with each swipe of the multi-purpose "Beijing Connect" old persons card goes into a massive database of the elderly in the capital. City authorities hope the information will enable them to better cope with their burgeoning population of over-60s, which already stands at 3 million. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

In this April 1, 2016 photo, an elderly woman looks at the steamed bread on sale at a supermarket in Beijing. When people over 80 in Beijing take a bus, see a doctor or spend money, their activities are digitally tracked by the government, as part of an effort to improve services for the countrys rapidly growing elderly population. The data amassed with each swipe of the multi-purpose "Beijing Connect" old persons card goes into a massive database of the elderly in the capital. City authorities hope the information will enable them to better cope with their burgeoning population of over-60s, which already stands at 3 million. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

In this April 1, 2016 photo, an elderly woman swipes her "Beijing Connect" old person's card as she buys steamed bread at a supermarket in Beijing. When people over 80 in Beijing take a bus, see a doctor or spend money, their activities are digitally tracked by the government, as part of an effort to improve services for the countrys rapidly growing elderly population. The data amassed with each swipe of the multi-purpose "Beijing Connect" old persons card goes into a massive database of the elderly in the capital. City authorities hope the information will enable them to better cope with their burgeoning population of over-60s, which already stands at 3 million. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

In this April 1, 2016 photo, a worker swipes the "Beijing Connect" old person's card for a customer at a steamed bread store in a supermarket in Beijing. When people over 80 in Beijing take a bus, see a doctor or spend money, their activities are digitally tracked by the government, as part of an effort to improve services for the countrys rapidly growing elderly population. The data amassed with each swipe of the multi-purpose "Beijing Connect" old persons card goes into a massive database of the elderly in the capital. City authorities hope the information will enable them to better cope with their burgeoning population of over-60s, which already stands at 3 million. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
IndyCar hoping to carry momentum from 500 into future races

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)  Even before Alexander Rossi sputtered across the finish line to win the Indianapolis 500, race organizers and IndyCar officials were looking to seize the momentum from the historic 100th running of the showcase event.

They've put together a new ad campaign, kicked off a ticket renewal effort and have drivers urging everyone in the series to promote the sport.

"It's time to take that, maximize it, to get these fans, get them excited," American driver Graham Rahal said. "Get them to re-up on their tickets for next year. Are you going to see 400,000 here next year? No. Is it going to be as big as this year? Probably not. But I do think we can sustain it."

Fans crowd the aisles under the grandstands as they arrive for the sold out 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

That is the hope.

Last week, Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles and Mark Miles, the CEO of Hulman & Co., IndyCar's parent company, unveiled a new, sleek logo for the 101st race. Topping this year will be tough.

A dramatic finish on the first day of qualifying led to James Hinchcliffe's even more exciting pole-winning run the next day, capping an incredible comeback at the same track where he sustained a life-threatening leg injury in May 2015.

Three days later, organizers announced they had sold an estimated 350,000 to 375,000 tickets and that the race would be televised locally for the first time since the 1950s. Somehow, most or all of the fans managed to get to race without missing the green flag on Sunday, too.

The historic race included more lead changes (54) than caution laps (46) and more than one-third of the 33 starters in the field (13) led at some point, including Rossi, whose car made it across the finish line moments before it ran out of fuel. He became the second American in three years to win the race and made Michael Andretti a four-time winner as a team owner.

It doesn't get much better than that.

"Alexander did an awesome job at saving fuel, to the point where he's pulling in the clutch and coasting. It was just crazy," Andretti said. "I'm a bit speechless."

But there's no time for rest.

Race organizers have already released a sleek new logo for next year, which is tilted upward to signify that the race is moving forward. Ticket holders from this year's race have until June 19 to renew their tickets and receive special benefits including an invitation for a private party 101 days before the 2017 race.

The series is getting to work, too.

With 12 races left on the schedule, IndyCar will be airing new commercials with a new message.

"The creative theme is that this is an epic season and while it doesn't mention anything specifically about the 500, that we're coming to their tracks with the same heroes, the same champions, the same cars and during the same season," Miles said.

Time will tell if it works. But the early returns from Indianapolis certainly are encouraging.

In addition to what happened on the track, attendance increased for each qualifying day and Carb Day.

Plus, there was growing interest in the events around the 2.5-mile oval. Ryan Hunter-Reay's annual "Yellow Party" fundraiser for cancer research moved to a venue almost twice as large as the one he used in 2015.

All of it is giving IndyCar a high-profile chance to grow its fan base.

"I think this is a great opportunity to showcase what we have on track, our on track product and how great all these drivers are, how tight the competition is," Hunter-Reay said. "Hopefully we'll gain a lot of new followers."

If they can figure out a winning combination.

"They've done a good job of promoting it (the 500). They've captured that audience again that maybe we had lost there for a little bit," Rahal said. "Now we've got to keep their attention and keep it going."

Alexander Rossi kisses the bricks on the start/finish line after wining the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

James Hinchcliffe, of Canada, leads Ryan Hunter-Reay into the first turn during the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 29, 2016. (AP Photo/R Brent Smith)
Tips sought as search for missing teen keeps coming up empty

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)  Officials are hoping someone might provide information that helps lead them to a teenage girl abducted by an armed acquaintance after the latest widespread searches turned up nothing.

They made the public plea on Sunday after a two-day search along the Russian River in Sonoma County in Northern California.

The search included sheriff's divers, canine units and search and rescue teams for 15-year-old Pearl Pinson in the Willow Creek area of Sonoma Coast State Park.

This undated photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office shows Pearl Pinson. Authorities are hoping to find the missing teenage girl alive as they frantically search a wide swath of California for her Friday, May 27, 2016, a day after the man suspected of abducting her died in a shootout with police. (Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office via AP)

"Nothing was found during the search that would indicate Pearl is there," Solano County Sheriff's spokeswoman Christine Castillo said in a statement.

There are no plans for any specific searches, but authorities are hoping leads might tell them where to look.

"Investigators continue to follow-up on leads and any future search will depend on where those leads take us," she said.

Castillo encouraged those who may have seen the high school freshman after she was kidnapped Wednesday while walking to a school bus stop near her home in Vallejo to call 911 or their local police department.

A witness reported seeing a girl with a bleeding face screaming for help as a man armed with a handgun dragged her across a freeway overpass in Vallejo, about 25 miles east of San Francisco. Blood and Pinson's cellphone were found on the ground.

Authorities feared Pinson was in grave danger based on the witness' account and have been frantically looking for her. However, the search has been complicated by the death of her suspected kidnapper.

Fernando Castro, 19, was killed in Southern California on Thursday after police spotted his car and exchanged gunfire with him as he attempted to flee.

Surveillance cameras captured images of Castro's car traveling Thursday morning in Marin County, about 25 miles from where Pinson was taken and 300 miles away from where he was shot and killed hours later, authorities said. The gold Saturn sedan was spotted on a freeway near San Francisco Bay, prompting authorities to search the water's edge.

They narrowed their search Friday to the rugged Sonoma Coast, where divers, canine units and search-and-rescue teams scoured along the river and coast for Pinson. Castillo did not elaborate on what led investigators to the rural area, saying only that the strongest leads were there.

Authorities said the two teens knew each other, but they emphasized that they believe Pinson was taken unwillingly. Rose Pinson, the missing girl's older sister, said she had heard Castro's name but had never met him and described him as an acquaintance, according to the Vallejo Times-Herald.

This undated photo provided by the California Highway Patrol shows Pearl Pinson. Pinson is the subject of an Amber Alert as law enforcement agencies in Northern California were frantically searching Thursday, May 26, 2016 for the 15-year-old girl, whom a witness reportedly heard screaming for help as a young man dragged her across a freeway overpass. Fernando Castro, 19, is also being sought. (California Highway Patrol via AP)
Obama's pets Bo and Sunny living the good life

WASHINGTON (AP)  It's hardly a dog's life of just eating and sleeping for President Barack Obama's pets, Bo and Sunny.

The pair of Portuguese water dogs  Bo with his distinctive white chest and front paws, and the all-black Sunny  are canine ambassadors for the White House, very popular and so in demand that they have schedules, like the president.

"Everybody wants to see them and take pictures," Michelle Obama said. "I get a memo at the beginning of the month with a request for their schedules, and I have to approve their appearances."

FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2015, file photo, first lady Michelle Obama with dogs Bo, left, and Sunny, behind at right, are surrounded by children in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, where they made holiday crafts and treats during a preview of the 2015 White House holiday decor. Its hardly a dogs life of just eating and sleeping for President Barack Obamas pets Bo and Sunny. The Portuguese water dogs are popular canine ambassadors for the White House. Theyve become so in demand that they have schedules, like the president. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

The dogs have entertained crowds at the annual Easter Egg Roll, and Bo has been at Mrs. Obama's side when she welcomes tourists on the anniversary of the president's inauguration. The dogs also have cheered wounded service members, as well as the hospitalized children the first lady visits each year just before Christmas. In a sign of just how recognized Bo and Sunny are, authorities in January arrested a North Dakota man who they say came to Washington to kidnap one of the pets.

Bo, now 7, joined the Obama family in April 2009. He was a gift from the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., a key supporter of Obama's 2008 presidential campaign who became close to the family. Bo helped Obama keep a promise to daughters Malia and Sasha that they could get a dog after the election.

Sunny, nearly 4, came along in August 2013.

Bo already had a job as a "helper" to Dale Haney, the head groundskeeper at the White House, which happens to be a national park.

"He leaves every morning and he goes down with Dale ... and he's with all the National Park Service guys. And you'll see him, and he's like walking around with them and looking at the plants," Mrs. Obama said. "I think he thinks he has a job because he takes it very seriously. So if I go out and see him, he kind of ignores me when he's with his worker crew people."

The dogs have a pretty nice life. "They can sit on my lap, they sit on my chair, they cuddle with me," Mrs. Obama said. "I like to lay on the floor with them and blow in their face. I like to make them run and chase each other. But they're so cute, I just love to just cuddle them and massage them."

Presidential pets are always popular and many presidents kept dogs as companions. President Harry S. Truman famously advised: "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog."

President George H.W. Bush's English Springer Spaniel, Millie, "wrote" the best-seller "Millie's Book."

President Bill Clinton's chocolate Labrador Retriever, Buddy, helped Clinton weather the scandal over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

President George W. Bush's Scottish Terrier, Barney, had an official web page and starred in "Barneycam" videos that were filmed from a camera hung around his neck. Like Mrs. Obama, first lady Laura Bush was involved with the video scripts and the taping schedule.

President Lyndon B. Johnson angered animal lovers by lifting his pet beagle, Him, by the ears in front of news photographers.

Obama promised last year to "clean things up a little bit" before leaving the White House in January because the dogs "have been tearing things up occasionally."

Mrs. Obama said her four-legged family members had been nice overall, but she exposed Sunny's naughtier side.

"You know what she does sometimes? She leaves the kitchen and she'll sneak and she'll go poop on the other end of the White House," the first lady said.

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Follow Darlene Superville on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/dsupervilleap . Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/author/darlene-superville

FILE - In this Nov. 27, 2015, file photo, first lady Michelle Obama is pulled away by her dogs Bo and Sunny, after welcoming the Official White House Christmas Tree to the White House in Washington. Its hardly a dogs life of just eating and sleeping for President Barack Obamas pets Bo and Sunny. The Portuguese water dogs are popular canine ambassadors for the White House. Theyve become so in demand that they have schedules, like the president. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2013, file photo, Bo, right, and Sunny, the Obama family dogs, watch as children join first lady Michelle Obama in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington. Its hardly a dogs life of just eating and sleeping for President Barack Obamas pets Bo and Sunny. The Portuguese water dogs are popular canine ambassadors for the White House. Theyve become so in demand that they have schedules, like the president. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
Trump's movement campaign needs adjustments at margins

TAMPA, Fla. (AP)  Donald Trump calls his presidential campaign a mass movement, but he must show he can coax enough support from voters who twice delivered the White House to Barack Obama.

The billionaire businessman depended almost exclusively on conservative and GOP-leaning whites  a majority of them men  to secure the Republican nomination. Now he must look ahead to a wider, more diverse voting population in his likely general election matchup with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

His ability to seize on marginal shifts in the electorate may determine whether he can pull off a victory once unthinkable. Trump's task is critical to flipping back into the GOP column some of the most contested states that Obama won twice.

In this Friday, May 27, 2016, photo Jennifer Perelman poses for a photo at her home in Davie, Fla. In an election between two deeply unpopular candidates for president, the difference between winning and losing will come at the margins. Can Donald Trump turn out a few more white men? Can Hillary Clinton win over a few more suburban women? (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

This challenge is perhaps most evident in Florida, a culturally, racially and ideologically varied state where Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney four years ago by fewer than 75,000 votes out of more than 8.4 million cast.

That means small shifts anywhere in the electorate could make a difference  from turnout changes among white small-town and rural Republicans or urban, nonwhite Democrats to partisans, embittered by contentious nominating bouts, choosing third-party candidates or declining to vote at all; and if Trump can't close the gaps in Florida, he has little shot at winning key Rust Belt and Great Lakes states where Obama's advantages were greater.

"We still elect presidents using the Electoral College ... depending on states that are made up of diverse electorates," cautions GOP pollster Whit Ayres. "There aren't enough angry white people to create a majority in the new America of 2016, (and) running up your numbers with white males in Mississippi doesn't get you one more electoral vote than Mitt Romney."

One of Trump's vanquished primary rivals, Sen. Marco Rubio, told reporters this week Trump can win Florida, which has gone with the winner in every presidential contest since 1996, as long as he can "continue to be Donald." That brash outsider pitch has sewn up support from white men like Jack Oliver, a 66-year-old construction worker from West Palm Beach and 84-year-old Frank Papa, a retired grocery manager from Clearwater.

Oliver cites Trump's hard line on immigration and calls him a leader "who will finally give a damn about people like me." Papa, a New Jersey native, says Trump "speaks my language, talks and thinks like me."

But Trump must expand his reach. "If he can't unify Republicans, there really isn't enough votes for him to make up elsewhere," said Steve Schale, who ran Obama's 2008 campaign in Florida. He said Florida elections have been close for decades, noting 41 million combined presidential votes have been cast since 1992, with fewer than 131,000 votes separating the combined totals of Democratic and Republican nominees.

Trump gives lip service to the electorate's diversity, suggesting "the Mexican people" will "vote for me like crazy" and that he can win 25 percent of African-Americans. The highest number of African-Americans won by any GOP nominee since 1980 is about 12 percent. He said recently he could lure "40 percent" of voters backing Clinton's primary opponent, Bernie Sanders.

Some nonwhite Floridians mock Trump's claims about his own appeal.

"I haven't heard any of my (black) friends say they'll vote for Trump," said Tanisha Winns, 39, a black Democrat in Lakeland, located along central Florida's Interstate 4 corridor that twice helped give Republican George W. Bush the statewide victory before swinging in Obama's favor. "If anything, I'm hearing my white friends say they won't," Winns added.

For now, Florida polls suggest Trump and Clinton are running about even, with about 15 percent undecided. But there are variables that should give Trump pause.

In 2012, nonwhites accounted for almost a third of all votes cast in Florida, compared to 28 percent nationwide. But population growth, driven by Hispanics, suggests both numbers could be higher come November.

Obama beat Romney among Florida's black voters, with 95 percent. The president won Hispanics by a 60-40 margin, closer than his 71-27 advantage nationally, with many of Florida's conservative Cuban-American voters accounting for the difference. Those numbers still left Romney too reliant on whites. He managed 61 percent of Florida's white vote  better than his 59 percent nationally  but he needed to get closer to 63 percent to win the Sunshine State's 29 electoral votes.

Demographers and pollsters from both parties say Trump likely would have to push into the mid- to high-60s with whites  a level no candidate has reached since Ronald Reagan's 1984 landslide  to have a chance nationally. That's even more daunting considering an AP-GfK poll, taken in April, that found two out of three white women view Trump negatively.

Among them are Republicans the nominee absolutely must get.

In Clearwater, Republican Barbie Sugas says she's always voted for the GOP nominee, but the 47-year-old surgical technician said she's "kind of leaning toward Clinton" because she doesn't "trust Trump" with international affairs.

To be sure, Clinton also must shore up her Democratic base, still divided with Sanders in the race. Jennifer Perelman, a Sanders supporter, says she won't back the former secretary of state. But she won't vote for Trump either. Her plan: to vote for Sanders as a write-in candidate.

Ayres, the Republican pollster, affirmed that it's "not impossible" for Trump to fashion a winning coalition. But, he says, "You're basically arguing that somehow, a constant 20-year-plus demographic trend is just going to magically stop."

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Associated Press writer Jonathan Lemire in New York contributed to this report.

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Follow Barrow and Bustos on Twitter at https://twitter.com/BillBarrowAP and https://twitter.com/sbustosAP.
Philippine Congress proclaims next president, vice president

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  The Philippine Congress on Monday proclaimed crime-busting Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as president-elect and Rep. Leni Robredo as vice president-elect of a country that has been posting high growth rates but remains saddled with poverty, corruption and insurgencies.

Duterte did not attend the ceremony at the House of Representatives, telling reporters earlier he shuns such ceremonial proclamations. He has stayed in southern Davao city, where ambassadors, well-wishers and potential Cabinet members have met him, since the May 9 elections.

Robredo's three daughters joined her on stage for the brief ceremony. The House speaker and Senate president raised her hands to proclaim her victory as legislators applauded.

Congresswoman Leni Robredo is proclaimed Philippine Vice-president-elect by Senate President Franklin Drilon, second from left, and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, third from right, during a ceremony Monday, May 30, 2016 at the Lower House in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines. Robredo won over her closest rival Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., the son of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos who ruled the country for 20 years. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

"There's a tinge of nervousness," Robredo told reporters earlier. "But maybe it's more of excitement that I'm being given a rare chance to make a difference."

Monday's proclamation cements the stunning political rise of Duterte, 71, who won on an audacious promise to eradicate crime and corruption within six months as president. The pledge resonated among many crime-weary Filipinos, although police officials have said it is impossible to accomplish, noting that crime continues to hound Davao city, where the president-elect has served as mayor on and off for more than 22 years.

Human rights groups have expressed alarm over Duterte, who they suspect instigated extrajudicial killings of many crime suspects by motorcycle-riding gunmen dubbed the Davao death squads. The suspicions have been bolstered by Duterte's public threats to kill drug dealers and other criminals.

Robredo, 52, is a former rights lawyer who helped defend the rural poor in her home province of Camarines Sur southeast of Manila. A year after her husband, a popular reformist politician, died in a plane crash in 2012, she was reluctantly thrust into politics with a successful run for a seat in the House of Representatives.

In the Philippines, presidents and vice presidents are elected separately, and Duterte and Robredo come from rival parties.

Duterte won by more than 6 million votes over his closest rival, while Robredo finished only about 260,000 votes ahead of second-place candidate Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Marcos, son of late former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, has raised suspicions of election fraud and has sought an investigation.

Duterte and Robredo have different styles. The president-elect says his working hours may start at 1 p.m. and run late into the night, while his future vice president has been known as early riser, visiting far-flung rural villages to check on residents.

They also differ on some key issues, including a long-hanging proposal to bury the elder Marcos in a heroes' cemetery, which Duterte says he will allow but Robredo opposes.

"Even if I may disagree with some of his views, I will always assure him that he will have 100 percent of my support," Robredo said.

Congresswoman Leni Robredo is proclaimed Philippine Vice-president elect by Senate President Franklin Drilon, left, and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte during a ceremony Monday, May 30, 2016 at the Lower House in suburban Quezon city northeast of Manila, Philippines. Robredo won over her closest rival Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., the son of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos who ruled the country for 20 years. President-elect Rodrigo Duterte did not show up for the proclamation ceremony. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)

Supporters of vice presidential candidate Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. hold slogans and pictures during a protest outside the Philippine senate in suburban Pasay, south of Manila, Philippines Monday, May 30, 2016. Marcos, the son of a dictator ousted in a 1986 "people power" revolt sparked by widespread human rights abuses and corruption, has raised doubts on the election results of the vice presidential race. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)
NATO urged to show stronger resolve on Russia, boost defense

TIRANA, Albania (AP)  NATO's Parliamentary Assembly urged member nations Monday to stand up to Russia's military assertiveness as a senior official vowed to strengthen forces along the alliance's eastern borders.

A unanimously approved declaration called on alliance members "to provide reassurance to those allies who feel their security is under threat, focusing on the eastern and southern flanks of the alliance."

The declaration sought to strengthen conventional and nuclear deterrence measures, heighten NATO military preparedness, and boost cooperation with non-NATO members Sweden and Finland. All are expected objectives of the alliance's July 8-9 summit in Warsaw, where Polish leaders already have appealed for stronger NATO deployments in the east.

NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Alexander Vershbow Speaks at the Parliamentary Assembly's Spring session in Tirana, Albania, Monday, May 30, 2016. NATO's Parliamentary Assembly urged alliance members Monday to stand up to Russia's military assertiveness and to do a better job sharing the burden of collective defense. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

The assembly president, American lawmaker Michael R. Turner, declared that "Russia's aggressiveness comes with a price" as he appealed to European partners to boost defense spending.

"Moscow has decided that its own interests are better served if it works against us rather than with us," said Turner, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio. "The challenge from Russia is real and serious."

NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow said NATO would maintain dialogue with Russia "but there can be no return to 'business as usual' ... until Russia once again demonstrates respect for international law."

As Vershbow spoke his superior, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, traveled to Warsaw to lay groundwork for two days of talks on the July summit.

Vershbow said NATO members would seek to strengthen the alliance's defense capabilities and logistical support for other allies bordering Russia. He urged members to follow through on previous commitments to increase defense spending to at least 2 percent of national economic output.

"I expect leaders at Warsaw to agree on an enhanced forward presence in the east of the alliance," he said. Such increased military forces would ensure, he said, "that an attack on any ally will be swiftly met by the forces from across the alliance, from both sides of the Atlantic."

Monday's declaration noted, however, that NATO nations also should "continue to explore ways to reduce tensions with Russia and avoid miscalculations and incidents."

About 250 lawmakers from 28 NATO member countries and partners gathered in the Albanian capital, Tirana, amid tight security for the three-day assembly, which concluded Monday.

The lawmakers hailed Montenegro's recent invitation to become a full member and said they hoped eventually to offer membership to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Russian neighbor Georgia.

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Associated Press reporter Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this story.

NATO's Parliamentary Assembly participants unanimously vote on a declaration calling on alliance members at the July summit to provide reassurance to those allies who feel their security is under threat, focusing on the eastern and southern flanks of the alliance, in Tirana, Monday, May 30, 2016. Some 250 parliamentarians from 28 NATO-member countries and partners have gathered in a three-day session in the Albanian capital, Tirana under tight security measures. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Alexander Vershbow walks during the Parliamentary Assembly's Spring session in Tirana, Albania, Monday, May 30, 2016. NATO's Parliamentary Assembly urged alliance members Monday to stand up to Russia's military assertiveness and to do a better job sharing the burden of collective defense. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

NATO's Parliamentary Assembly President, US Congressman Michael R. Turner speaks at the Spring session urging alliance members to show resolve to Russia's increased military assertiveness and better share the burden of collective defense at the July summit, in Tirana, Monday, May 30, 2016. Some 250 parliamentarians from 28 NATO-member countries and partners have gathered in a three-day session in the Albanian capital, Tirana under tight security measures.(AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

NATO's Parliamentary Assembly President, US Congressman Michael R. Turner speaks at the Spring session urging alliance members to show resolve to Russia's increased military assertiveness and better share the burden of collective defense at the July summit, in Tirana, Monday, May 30, 2016. Some 250 parliamentarians from 28 NATO-member countries and partners have gathered in a three-day session in the Albanian capital, Tirana under tight security measures.(AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Alexander Vershbow walks during the Parliamentary Assembly's Spring session in Tirana, Albania, Monday, May 30, 2016. NATO's Parliamentary Assembly urged alliance members Monday to stand up to Russia's military assertiveness and to do a better job sharing the burden of collective defense. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Spring session urging alliance members include the Western Balkans, especially Kosovo in its ranks to increase the regional and global security, in Tirana, Monday, May 30, 2016. Some 250 parliamentarians from 28 NATO-member countries and partners have gathered in a three-day session in the Albanian capital, Tirana under tight security measures.(AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Spring session urging alliance members include the Western Balkans, especially Kosovo in its ranks to increase the regional and global security, in Tirana, Monday, May 30, 2016. Some 250 parliamentarians from 28 NATO-member countries and partners have gathered in a three-day session in the Albanian capital, Tirana under tight security measures.(AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

Montenegro's Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic speaks at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Spring session in Tirana, Monday, May 30, 2016, thanking for his country's invitation to become an alliance member. Some 250 parliamentarians from 28 NATO-member countries and partners have gathered in a three-day session in the Albanian capital, Tirana under tight security measures. (AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)

Albania's Parliament Speaker Ilir Meta speaks at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Spring session showing Tirana's resolve in support of the alliance policies on fighting terrorism, its stand on Russia, refugee crisis and other challenges, in Tirana, Monday, May 30, 2016. Some 250 parliamentarians from 28 NATO-member countries and partners have gathered in a three-day session in the Albanian capital, Tirana under tight security measures.(AP Photo/Hektor Pustina)
Uganda to stop security cooperation with North Korea

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP)  Uganda is cutting military ties with North Korea to comply with U.N. sanctions over North Korea's nuclear program, a Ugandan official said Monday following a meeting between President Yoweri Museveni and South Korea's visiting president.

Uganda's government is simply "disengaging from military co-operation" and not cutting diplomatic ties with the North Koreans, said Col. Shaban Bantariza, a spokesman for the Ugandan government.

The policy shift came as South Korean President Park Geun-hye visited Uganda. She later flew to neighboring Kenya for a three-day visit, the last leg of her three-nation African tour in which she has pressed for the isolation of North Korea and has offered trade and development agreements.

South Korea's president Park Geun-hye, center left, and Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, center right, attend a ceremony to open the South Korea-funded National Farmers Leadership Centre at Kampiringisa, south-west of the capital Kampala, in Uganda, Monday, May 30, 2016. Uganda is cutting military, but not diplomatic, ties with North Korea to comply with U.N. sanctions over North Korea's nuclear program, a Ugandan official said Monday following a meeting between Museveni and South Korea's visiting president. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)

Speaking to the African Union in Ethiopia on Friday, Park urged African leaders to support international efforts to persuade its hostile neighbor, North Korea, to stop its production of nuclear weapons.

In Uganda, Park attended a state banquet Sunday hosted by Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. At the event, Uganda and South Korea signed 10 cooperation agreements in areas such as defense, health and education. It appears Museveni assured the South Korean delegation he would sever security ties with North Korea, which has good diplomatic relations with Uganda.

North Korea has been training the Ugandan security forces in physical fitness, marine warfare and weapons handling, and senior leaders from North Korea have visited Uganda over the years.

Museveni, in power since 1986, previously praised Pyongyang as an exemplar of the fight against what he described as Western imperialism. In 2014 Museveni hosted a state dinner in honor of North Korea's ceremonial leader, Kim Yong Nam, and said the North Koreans are "friends who have helped Uganda for a long time."

Now, the recently re-elected Museveni is looking to seal development deals with Asian partners such as China and South Korea as this East African country tries to industrialize its economy. Chinese contractors are involved in road construction in Uganda and the Chinese national oil company has invested in Uganda's oil sector.

During her stay in Kenya Park is expected to sign bilateral agreements in security, health, agriculture, ICT, trade and culture, according to South Korean ambassador to Nairobi Young Dae Kwon.

South Korea's president Park Geun-hye, left, is shown South Korean food products as Uganda's First Lady Janet Museveni, second left, looks on, at the opening of the South Korea-funded National Farmers Leadership Centre at Kampiringisa, south-west of the capital Kampala, in Uganda, Monday, May 30, 2016. Uganda is cutting military, but not diplomatic, ties with North Korea to comply with U.N. sanctions over North Korea's nuclear program, a Ugandan official said Monday following a meeting between Uganda's President Museveni and South Korea's visiting president. (AP Photo/Stephen Wandera)

South Korea's president Park Geun-hye, receives flowers from a Kenyan girl as Kenyan Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Amina Mohamed, left, watches after arriving at the Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya, Monday May 30, 2016. South Korea's president has arrived in Kenya for a two-day state visit during which she is expected to discuss business and trade opportunities, the first such visit by a South Korean president. (AP Photo/Sayyid Abdul Azim)

South Korea's president Park Geun-hye, right, is welcomed by the Kenyan Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary, Amina Mohamed, after arriving at the Kenyatta International Airport, Nairobi, Kenya Monday May 30, 2016. South Korea's president has arrived in Kenya for a two-day state visit during which she is expected to discuss business and trade opportunities, the first such visit by a South Korean president (AP Photo/Sayyid Abdul Azim)
Turkey says it could seize IS stronghold with US

ISTANBUL (AP)  Turkey's foreign minister suggested his country could carry out joint military operations with the United States to oust the Islamic State group from Syria.

Speaking in Antalya late Sunday, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that operation could "easily advance to Raqqa," the main IS bastion in Syria.

American special operations forces and a coalition known as the Syria Democratic Forces have begun clearing areas north of Raqqa in preparation for an eventual assault on the city. A major player in the coalition is the Kurdish People's Protection Units, or YPG, which Turkey  unlike the United States  views as a terrorist organization.

Turkey is part of the U.S.-led coalition against IS and a Turkish air base is being used to launch bombing runs against IS.

But the involvement of Kurdish factions in the anti-IS effort has strained U.S.-Turkish relations. According to Vatan newspaper's Monday edition, Cavusoglu criticized the U.S. for dealing with the political wing of the YPG and said it would be better off uniting forces with Turkey.

"Unfortunately the U.S. is entering a phase that is very dangerous for the future of Syria," said Cavusoglu. "We have warned them."

The United States, Cavusoglu added, was not fulfilling its promises and had fallen behind on the delivery of HIMARS missiles which were due to arrive this month.

HIMARS stands for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. Their delivery is now expected in August, according to the foreign minister.

"We are ready but instead of implementing the agreement, (U.S. soldiers) are going and wearing the patches of the YPG," he said.

Images of U.S. special forces wearing the insignia of the Kurdish group while deployed in Syria sparked outrage among Turkish officials last week.
Paralympic jumper maintains Olympic hopes despite questions

COLOGNE, Germany (AP)  Paralympic long jump champion Markus Rehm is still hoping to compete at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro despite a scientific study's inconclusive findings on whether his carbon-fiber prosthesis gives him an unfair advantage over able-bodied athletes.

Wolfgang Potthast of the German Sport University in Cologne said Monday that it was "difficult if not impossible" to determine whether the 27-year-old Rehm gets an advantage or not.

The study conducted by the German Sport University along with the University of Colorado and the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tokyo found that athletes with a running-specific prosthesis have an impaired ability in the run up but a better technique for the long jump, leaving open the question of whether a prosthesis helps or hinders the athlete.

German so called blade jumper Markus Rehm attends a press conference in Cologne, Germany, Monday, May 30, 2016. Various scientists presented the outcome of an investigation if Rehm with his prosthesis has a technical advantage over able bodied athletes. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

"The study could not identify any advantage through the prosthesis, and I think that for me is a good result," said Rehm, who is hoping to compete both at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August and at the following Paralympics.

"I want to bring the Paralympic and Olympic sport closer together. To give both sides the chance to profit from this."

Rehm is aiming to be the second athlete with a carbon-fiber prosthesis to compete at the Olympics and Paralympics after South African runner Oscar Pistorius in 2012.

To become eligible under a new rule introduced last year by the IAAF, Rehm has to prove that his prosthesis gives him no advantage over athletes with a similar disability or non-amputee long jumpers.

"I've taken the first step with the study, so now I await a step in return from the world body," said Rehm, who lost his lower right leg in a wakeboarding accident when he was 14.

Rehm won the gold medal at 2012 London Paralympics and holds the world record in his competition class at 8.40 meters. Rehm also won the German national title in 2014 over non-amputee athletes, drawing a mixed reaction.

He was then prevented from competing for the German team at the European Championships, with track and field officials saying the prosthesis could give him an unfair catapult effect.

"Since the German championship in 2014 it has been an ordeal. It's difficult for me to hear these charges (of having an advantage). I don't want to have any advantage. On the other hand, you feel you have to apologize to other athletes," Rehm said. "There were times when I asked myself if it was worth it."

Under current rules, Rehm is not eligible for the German team.

"There is no finding that has found an advantage," Friedhelm Julius Beucher, president of the German National Paralympic Committee, said reacting to the study. "It's not a question of fairness but a case of discrimination."

German so called blade jumper Markus Rehm poses next to letters reading "jump to Rio" after a press conference in Cologne, Germany, Monday, May 30, 2016. Various scientists presented the outcome of an investigation if Rehm with his prosthesis has a technical advantage over able bodied athletes. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Cambodian police reach deal with opposition on protest

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP)  Police in Cambodia blocked an opposition protest march on Monday, but avoided possible violence by allowing a convoy of opposition lawmakers to drive through to present a petition complaining of government intimidation to the king.

The compromise, which kept a large group of grassroots opposition supporters from marching to the royal palace, came after the two sides traded threats in reaction to intensifying government pressure on political opponents.

Critics say Prime Minister Hun Sen is stepping up his attacks on the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party to cripple it ahead of the 2018 general election. The opposition mounted a surprisingly strong challenge to Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party in the 2013 general election, which it says it would have won if the government had not committed alleged electoral fraud..

Ho Vann, second right, a lawmaker of Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), talks with police officers near the CNRP headquarters on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, May 30, 2016. Police in Cambodia blocked an opposition protest march on Monday, but avoided violence by allowing a convoy of opposition lawmakers to drive through to present a petition complaining of government intimidation to the king. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

The government recently accused deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha of carrying on an illicit love affair. The tangled case, which began with recordings of intimate phone calls posted anonymously on the internet, has resulted in a series of charges and counter-charges that could lead to Kem Sokha losing his seat in Parliament, or even being imprisoned.

Earlier Monday, at a National Assembly session boycotted by the opposition, government lawmakers voted to endorse court orders allowing the arrest of Kem Sokha.

The government pressure, which began last year, is widely seen as aimed at weakening the opposition by depriving it of strong, charismatic leadership. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy is in exile to avoid imprisonment over a separate legal matter also seen as politically motivated.

Police set up a roadblock Monday about 500 meters (yards) from the opposition party headquarters, from which more than 1,000 followers were planning to march to the royal palace to present a petition to King Norodom Sihamoni to support their demand that the government stop arresting and intimidating opposition members.

After a standoff of about an hour, during which tensions were high but no clashes broke out, 23 vehicles carrying opposition officials were allowed to pass through. Police Col. Prum Channa said the opposition supporters lacked legal permission to march and could harm public order. A crowd of government supporters was also on the streets, but in a different location.

Late Monday, opposition lawmaker Eng Chhai Eang told a crowd of cheering party members in front of the group's headquarters that the petition had been handed over to palace officials. He said the party would do its best to protect the rule of law from being abused by the government.

Police officers set up a roadblock on the main street near the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) headquarters on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, May 30, 2016. Police in Cambodia blocked an opposition protest march on Monday, but avoided violence by allowing a convoy of opposition lawmakers to drive through to present a petition complaining of government intimidation to the king. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A Cambodian government supporter, second from left, tries to block the convoy of Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) lawmakers near the Royal Palace where lawmakers were trying to deliver a petition to King Norodom Sihamoni, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Monday, May 30, 2016. Police in Cambodia blocking opposition activists from staging a protest march avoided violence Monday, when they allowed a small convoy of opposition lawmakers to drive through to present their petition to the king complaining of government intimidation. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
Exhibit highlights artillery collection at Fort Ticonderoga

TICONDEROGA, N.Y. (AP)  A 1,300-pound hunk of iron on display at Fort Ticonderoga certainly has gotten around, despite its heft.

The well-traveled artifact, half of a mortar that split in 1776, is a featured piece in the fort's new exhibit, "The Last Argument of Kings: The Art and Science of 18th-century Artillery," which opened when the upstate New York historic site and tourist destination started its 2016 season earlier this month.

Curators have used a federal grant to conserve some of the fort's 180-plus cannons and mount a two-year exhibit that tells the story of a collection considered one of the most extensive in North America.

This photo provided by the Fort Ticonderoga Association shows an 18th-century split mortar that will be on display at the fort in Ticonderoga, N.Y. A new exhibit at Fort Ticonderoga tells the story of the tourist attraction's historic cannon collection, considered one of the most extensive in North America. The collection of more than 180 big guns is the focus of "The Last Argument of Kings: The Art and Science of 18th-century Artillery," a two-year exhibit that opened when the fort's 2016 season began May 7. (Courtesy of Fort Ticonderoga Association via AP)

The relic known as the split mortar has a story all its own.

Originally cast in France and capable of lobbing 13-inch-diameter, 200-pound shells more than 3 miles, the big gun was used in the French and Indian War to bombard British and American troops besieging the French-held fort, then known as Carillon. During the Revolutionary War, American troops hauled the mortar from upstate New York to Boston and later to Canada before it wound up back at Ticonderoga, where it split in two, lengthwise, while being test fired in 1776.

One 1,300-pound half of the mortar was used as ballast in a ship that was part of the American fleet Benedict Arnold commanded on Lake Champlain in 1776, four years before he turned traitor. Shifted to a British ship for ballast during the War of 1812, the split mortar was eventually pulled from a shipwreck on the lake's southern end in 1949. A year later, the privately owned fort bought the relic and put it on display on a rampart.

"Some of these stories we've known pieces of, but while researching for the exhibit we've been able to interlock those pieces and fill out some of these narratives," said Matt Keagle, the fort's curator of collections.

Another featured gun in the exhibit is a French-made cannon that fired 4-pound iron balls. It was found in the 19th century in Maine's Penobscot River, where an American expedition during the Revolutionary War was defeated in what proved to be the nation's worst naval defeat until Pearl Harbor.

The Pell family, which rebuilt Fort Ticonderoga as a tourist destination in the early 20th century, began buying cannons soon after it opened in 1909, Keagle said. The Pells bought historic artillery pieces from private owners and various foreign governments, Keagle said.

Today, the collection is among the largest privately owned artillery collections in the Americas. There are larger, publicly held collections in Europe, but most of those cannons were either government property or captured during wars, according to Les Jensen, curator of arms and armor at the West Point Museum at the U.S. Military Academy, home to more than 350 historic cannons.

"What's interesting about Fort Ticonderoga is that they went out and privately procured this stuff one by one," Jensen pointed, out, "and that's a lot harder to do."

The exhibit's title comes from the motto France's Louis XIV had engraved on his cannons to signify artillery's dominance on European battlefields. The exhibit runs through the end of the fort's season in fall 2017.

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Turkish leader Erdogan rejects family planning for Muslims

ISTANBUL (AP)  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken out against birth control and family planning, saying they go against Muslim traditions.

Speaking at an educational foundation in Istanbul on Monday, Erdogan declared: "I say this openly: We will increase our descendants, we will increase out population. Family planning, birth control, no Muslim family can practice such an understanding."

He adds that "whatever our Lord says, whatever our beloved Prophet says, we shall follow that path."

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a rally marking the 563rd anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul - formerly Constantinople - in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, May 29, 2016. Erdogan has criticized the United States, Russia and Iran for their presence in Syria and said their unwillingness to depose Syrian President Bashar Assad was contributing to Syrian peoples' massacre and pain.(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)

Erdogan, a devout Muslim, often courts controversy with divisive public comments. He has previously angered women's groups by stating that women are not equal to men and by urging women to bear at least three children. The Turkish leader has also raised eyebrows by attempting to outlaw abortion and adultery.

People wave national flags with an image of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during celebrations marking the 563rd anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, now Istanbul, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, May 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Poland, Iran seek to build business ties after sanctions end

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  Iran's foreign minister and Iranian businessmen are seeking to build economic ties with Poland at a forum for political and business leaders.

Mohammad Javad Zarif is on a two-day visit ending Monday, the first by Iran's foreign minister to Poland in 12 years. It is one of Zarif's first foreign trips since January's lifting of economic sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

Zarif met Prime Minister Beata Szydlo, Culture Minister Piotr Glinski and Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski. Both sides signed a document on forging political, economic and cultural cooperation.

Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski, right, talks with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during their meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, May 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Polish officials say trade between the nations could rise within a few years to $1 billion (900,000 euros). Trade slumped to $57 million (51 million euros) in 2014.

Separately, aides said the two foreign ministers discussed the conflict in Syria.
Residents brace for more flooding as Texas river crests

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP)  Residents of some rural southeast Texas counties braced for more flooding on Monday along a river that is expected to crest at a record level just two years after it had run dry in places because of drought.

National Weather Service meteorologists predicted that the Brazos river would crest at 53.5 feet by midday Tuesday in Fort Bend County, three feet above the previous record and topping a 1994 flood that caused extensive damage.

During four days of torrential rain, six people have died in floods along the Brazos, which runs from New Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico. A Brazos River Authority map shows all 11 of the reservoirs fed by the Brazos at 95 to 100 percent capacity.

Sixth Street is impassible due to rising flood waters from the Brazos River Sunday, May 29, 2016, in Rosenberg, Texas. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)

A man whose body was recovered late Sunday from a retention pond in the Austin area near the Circuit of the Americas auto racing track appeared to be one of two people reported missing earlier, said Travis County sheriff's spokeswoman Lisa Block.

There have been reports of others missing in Travis County, and crews will resume searching Tuesday, but Block said there's no confirmation yet of additional missing people.

Four of the six dead were recovered in Washington County, located between Austin and Houston, said County Judge John Brieden. Lake Somerville, one of the Brazos reservoirs, was "gushing uncontrollably" over the spillway, threatening people downriver. Two of the bodies were found Saturday in different parts of the county, Brieden said.

About 40 people were rescued from late Sunday to Monday from homes in a low-lying neighborhood flooded with up to three feet of water in Simonton, a town in Fort Bend County with about 800 residents. Aerial photos taken Sunday showed large swaths of the county under water.

The county had set up a pumping system to divert the water from the Simonton neighborhood, which sits on a flood plain. But the water levels overpowered the system, according to Beth Wolf, a county spokeswoman.

Wolf said any additional rain in southeast Texas would be a problem.

"The ditches are full, the river's high, there's nowhere else for that water to go," she said.

Further south in Rosenberg, about 150 households had been evacuated by Monday, and city officials were coordinating with the county's office of emergency management to have rescue boats in place, according to spokeswoman Jenny Pavlovich. In neighboring Richmond, a voluntary evacuation order was in place.

Flood warnings across Texas remained in effect Monday though only isolated rainfall was expected in parts of the southeast.

Elsewhere, authorities continued searching for the body of an 11-year-old boy who fell into a Kansas creek and is presumed dead. Relatives have identified the boy as Devon Dean Cooley, who disappeared Friday night in Gypsum Creek.

Devon's family, in a statement Monday, thanked firefighters for their tireless efforts to find the boy. The family planned to hold a cookout Monday evening to feed the rescue crews, followed by a candlelight vigil.

Tropical Depression Bonnie weakened near the South Carolina coast although it accounted for a wet Memorial Day holiday weekend in the area.

The depression fell apart early in the day about 45 miles north of Charleston, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Bonnie dropped about 8 inches of rain in southern South Carolina on Sunday, closing the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 about 20 miles north of the Georgia state line for about 16 hours.

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This version of the story corrects the spelling of Brieden in the 6th paragraph.

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AP writer Jim Suhr in St. Louis contributed to this report.

This NOAA satellite image taken Monday, May 30, 2016, at 12:45 AM EDT shows rain showers moving through the Mid Atlantic and Northeast due to an area of low pressure. More showers can be expected on Monday due to the influx of moisture from Tropical Depression Bonnie which is slowly moving NE along the South Carolina Coast. Another area of showers can be seen across southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky due to a cold front. More showers and storms are being observed across the Plains. A few of these storms might be severe. Partly cloudy conditions can be see across parts of the Southeast and Midwest due to areas of high pressure. (Weather Underground via AP)

The Brazos River has exceeded its banks and is flooding nearby properties Sunday, May 29, 2016, in Rosenberg, Texas. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Two people pilot a boat through the flooded Brazos River on Sunday, May 29, 2016, in Rosenberg, Texas. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Chad's ex-dictator convicted, sentenced to life for abuses

DAKAR, Senegal (AP)  Former Chad dictator Hissene Habre was found guilty Monday of crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and sex crimes during his rule and he was sentenced to life in prison, ending a trial more than 15 years in the making.

Victims, former prisoners and their relatives broke out into whoops of joy, hugs and tears in the courtroom when ruling was announced by the three-judge panel in the special court in Senegal.

A defiant Habre raised his fist and shouted to his supporters: "Long live independent Africa! Down with France-Africa!"

Chad's former dictator Hissene Habre raises his hand during court proceedings in Dakar, Senegal, Monday, May 30, 2016. Judge Gberdao Gustave Kam declared Habre guilty and sentenced him to life in prison for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture, in a packed courtroom, Monday.(AP Photo/Carley Petesch)

His wife wept and his backers called him a defender of Africa as the 73-year-old Habre was escorted from court.

He was convicted of being responsible for thousands of deaths and torture in prisons while in power from 1982 to 1990. A 1992 Chadian Truth Commission accused Habre's government of systematic torture, saying 40,000 people died during his rule. It placed particular blame on his police force.

The Extraordinary African Chambers was established by Senegal and the African Union to put Habre on trial for the crimes committed during his rule. It was the first trial in which the courts of one country prosecuted the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes, and the first universal jurisdiction case to proceed to trial on the continent.

The trial began in July 2015, but victims and survivors have been pursuing the case against their former leader for more than 15 years. Over 90 witnesses testified.

Judge Gberdao Gustave Kam, speaking for the panel, said evidence showed Habre was directly responsible, having given the orders for imprisonment and torture, and having also committed some of the crimes himself.

Habre has 15 days to appeal, and his lawyer, Mounir Ballal, said he will do so.

"We are surprised by the verdict, especially the severity of the verdict," he said.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the conviction, calling it "a landmark in the global fight against impunity for atrocities."

He also said it was "an opportunity for the United States to reflect on, and learn from, our own connection with past events in Chad." The U.S. and France were supporters of Habre when he was in power.

Reed Brody, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch who has been involved in the case, said it was "a huge victory for his Chadian victims, without whose tenacity this trial never would have happened."

"This verdict sends a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalize their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end," Brody said.

"Habre's conviction signals that no leader is above the law, and that no woman or girl is below it ... This is the first time in history that a former head of state has been convicted in an international trial of personally committing rape," he said.

The accusations of rape came out during witness testimony at the trial.

Clement Abaifouta, president of the Association of Victims of the Crimes of the Hissene Habre Regime and a former prisoner who was forced to bury dead prisoners, called it a "consecration of justice here in Africa."

"There must not be any more leaders like Hissene Habre in Africa or elsewhere. Because in fact, the elected leaders are there to represent people, to be for the people, not to kill the people, violate the people or steal from the country. So I must say, here in Africa and elsewhere, never again," he said.

Souleymane Guengueng, who began collecting accounts of survivors after being released from prison in 1990, expressed "joy and satisfaction for this victory."

"This is a lesson for other victims and dictators in the world," he said.

A second set of hearings to determine damages for the more than 4,000 registered civil parties will take place in the coming days.

Habre, who has lived a life of luxury in Senegal's capital of Dakar since fleeing Chad in 1990, had called the trial politically motivated. He refused legal representation, but the court appointed him Senegalese lawyers.

He and his supporters disrupted proceedings several times with shouting and singing.

Chad's current government, led by President Idriss Deby, who served as Habre's military adviser before pushing him from power, supported the trial.

Habre's son, Bechir, had harsh words for Deby before the verdict.

"Someone dies every day in Chad. There is a man responsible, Idriss Deby. He must respond. He is responsible for this," Bechir Habre told The Associated Press, gesturing to the group of victims.

Over the years, many of those who had been jailed by Habre's government or lost family members campaigned for his prosecution.

Habre was first indicted by a Senegalese judge in 2000, but legal twists and turns over a decade saw the case go to Belgium and then finally back to Senegal after unwavering pursuit by the survivors. The International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, cannot prosecute crimes committed before it was established in 2002.

In 2001, the archives of Habre's police force were found in its headquarters in Chad. The records dated to Habre's rule and mentioned more than 12,000 victims of Chad's detention network. Many of the records bore his signature, prosecutors said.

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Associated Press writer Babacar Dione contributed to this report.

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Follow Carley Petesch on Twitter at www.twitter.com/carleypetesch

Chad's former dictator Hissene Habre raises his hands after sentencing during court proceedings in Dakar, Senegal, Monday, May 30, 2016. Judge Gberdao Gustave Kam declared Habre guilty and sentenced him to life in prison for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture, in a packed courtroom, Monday.(AP Photo/Carley Petesch)
Turkey hopes it can mend ties with Russia soon

ANKARA, Turkey (AP)  A top Turkish government official expressed hope that Turkey and Russia can mend relations soon, adding that neither country is in a position to "sacrifice" ties.

Russian-Turkish ties have soured in November after a Turkish jet shot down a Russian warplane after it violated its airspace near the Syrian border. Russia halted package tours to Turkey and banned most agricultural imports from Turkey in retaliation.

Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said after a Cabinet meeting on Monday: "I am of the opinion that there is no problem that cannot be overcome. I hope that it will be possible for the countries to resolve the problem through dialogue."

People wave national flags with an image of Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during celebrations marking the 563rd anniversary of the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople, now Istanbul, in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, May 29, 2016. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Poachers in Zimbabwe use cyanide to kill 5 elephants

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)  Zimbabwean officials say poachers killed five elephants by poisoning them with cyanide.

Rangers discovered the carcasses of the elephants with their tusks removed in a western forest last week, Violet Makoto, spokeswoman for Zimbabwe's forestry commission, said Monday. No arrests have been made, she said.

Makoto said the poison was laced on salt licks, a method now regularly used by poachers to kill elephants in Zimbabwe.

FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013 file photo, a game ranger walks by a rotting elephant carcass, in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean officials say poachers killed five elephants by poisoning them with cyanide. Violet Makoto, spokeswoman for Zimbabwe's forestry commission, said Monday, May 30, 2016 that rangers discovered the carcasses of the elephants with their tusks removed in a western forest last week. No arrests have been made. (AP Photo)

She says poachers killed four other elephants in the same area in February.
Shark alert! Warnings high- and low-tech seek to protect

CHATHAM, Mass. (AP)  From drones and smartphone apps to old-school flags and signs, a growing great white shark population along the East Coast has officials and researchers turning to responses both high- and low-tech to ensure safety for millions of beachgoers this summer.

On Cape Cod, Massachusetts, new warning flags and signs are cropping up at some of the coastline's most popular beaches and a local shark research nonprofit is developing a shark tracking app for the entire Eastern Seaboard.

Researchers at Duke University and the University of North Carolina, meanwhile, are testing shark-seeking drones in a scientific study that may one day give beach lifeguards a new eye in the sky.

In this Wednesday, May 25, 2016 photo, a replica of the great white shark head used in the movie "Jaws" is displayed at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy's Chatham Shark Center in Chatham, Mass. Officials and researchers from Cape Cod to the Carolinas are looking at responses ranging from the high-tech to the decidedly low-tech as they deal with a growing great white shark population. (AP Photo/Philip Marcelo)

"The days of burying our heads in the sand and saying, 'What sharks? We don't have sharks here' are over," said Gregory Skomal, a Massachusetts state biologist who has been studying Cape Cod's surging white shark population. "It's time to move past that and be forthright and honest with the public about the presence of these animals."

The new measures are the latest acknowledgements of the new reality taking hold on Massachusetts' famous coastline, where Skomal's team identified 141 different great whites last year, up from about 80 the previous year.

The region, like others along the East Coast, has dozens of other species of sharks including blue and mako sharks, but many tend to stay farther offshore and be less aggressive than great whites, Skomal said.

The great whites are being drawn to Cape Cod's waters because seals, their favorite food, have dramatically rebounded there, thanks to a 1972 law that made it illegal to kill them.

Researchers, beach managers and public safety officials have been convening in recent years an unofficial "shark working group" to come up with ways to educate the public. Among the ideas they developed for this summer were the warning flags, which are purple and emblazoned with the unmistakable silhouette of a great white.

The flags will start flying at some town beaches starting this Memorial Day weekend and appear on beaches administered by the National Park Service starting June 16, when those beaches are staffed with lifeguards.

Towns are also posting dramatic billboards at beach entries. Many bear a large great white image and advise visitors against swimming near seals.

"It's certainly not to sensationalize the situation. You just really need to jam it down their throats," said Nathan Sears, natural resources manager for the Cape Cod town of Orleans. "Whatever you can give them  pamphlets, signs, flags."

By July, when Cape Cod's waters warm and great whites begin to appear in earnest, those measures will get high-tech reinforcement.

A smartphone app being launched by the Chatham-based Atlantic Great White Conservancy will let beachgoers from Canada to Florida monitor the movements of tagged great whites and report their own possible shark sightings.

That comes as North Carolina researchers study whether drones can effectively track sharks on the East Coast, as communities in California and Australia already do. They've been testing the technology on decoys so far, but they expect to begin tracking real sharks in the coming week.

The challenge is that the waters off the East Coast are murky. Mounting infrared cameras on the drones may be a solution, the researchers said.

"We are trying to find out at what range and what depths and under what conditions we are going to be able to use this technology," said Dave Johnston, at Duke's Marine Lab in Beaufort, North Carolina. "There will be conditions where it's just not going to work."

While the new measures provide a degree of security, researchers stress there's little chance beachgoers will become shark bait anyway.

Worldwide, there were only 98 unprovoked shark attacks in 2015, resulting in six deaths.

Of those, 59 were in the United States, including 30 in Florida and 16 in the Carolinas, according to the International Shark Attack File maintained at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

In the Cape Cod area, which includes the resort island of Martha's Vineyard, where "Jaws" was filmed, two kayakers escaped unharmed after they were knocked off their boats in 2014 by a great white.

But the last time a shark actually bit a person was in 2012, when a man bodysurfing suffered leg bites from a great white. The last fatal attack was in 1936.

Longtime residents welcome this year's new measures, but some hope officials soon turn their attention to what they see as a more pressing issue: controlling the seal population that's drawing the sharks in the first place.

"Even if they don't reduce the quantity of seals, they can at least figure out a way to scare them away from certain areas," said Justin Labdon, a shop owner who created Chatham Whites, a clothing line inspired by the town's latest attraction. "There really shouldn't be huge seal colonies on the beach where people are swimming with their kids and making a bull's-eye for great whites."

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Smith reported from Charleston, South Carolina.

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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/philip-marcelo

In this Wednesday, May 25, 2016 photo, Leslie Reynolds, chief ranger at the Cape Cod National Seashore, displays a shark-alert flag at the U.S. Parks Service's Cape Cod headquarters in Wellfleet, Mass. The new flags will be used to warn beachgoers to avoid going in the water at areas where sharks have been sighted. (AP Photo/Philip Marcelo)

In this March 11, 2016 photo made available by North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve, Matt Kenworthy, a student at UNC Institute of Marine Sciences, at Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort, NC., uses a drone to detect sharks in coastal waters. Researchers at Duke and the University of North Carolina will be using drones this summer to try and develop a better way to detect the presence of sharks in shallow water and alert swimmers to their presence. (Emily Woodward/North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve via AP)

In this March 11, 2016 photo made available by North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve, Matt Kenworthy, right, a student at UNC Institute of Marine Sciences and Julian Dale from Duke Marine Lab, stands at Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort, NC., using a drone to detect sharks in coastal waters. Researchers at Duke and the University of North Carolina will be using drones this summer to try and develop a better way to detect the presence of sharks in shallow water and alert swimmers to their presence. (Emily Woodward/North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve via AP)

In this undated photo made available by North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve, Martin Benavides, left, and Matt Kenworthy, both PhD students at the UNC Institute of Marine Sciences at Rachel Carson Reserve in Beaufort, NC. The students are setting out plywood shark decoys at low tide, and then fly drones to try to track the decoy sharks in varying water depths. Researchers at Duke and the University of North Carolina will be using drones this summer to try and develop a better way to detect the presence of sharks in shallow water and alert swimmers to their presence. (Emily Woodward/North Carolina Coastal Reserve and National Estuarine Research Reserve via AP)

In this Wednesday, May 25, 2016 photo, a shark-themed T-shirt is on sale in a souvenir shop in Harwich, Mass. Officials and researchers from Cape Cod to the Carolinas are looking at responses ranging from the high-tech to the decidedly low-tech as they deal with a growing great white shark population. (AP Photo/Philip Marcelo)
Thai wildlife officials start removing tigers from temple

BANGKOK (AP)  Wildlife officials in Thailand have begun removing some of the 137 tigers held at a Buddhist temple following accusations that the monks were involved in illegal breeding and trafficking of the animals.

The director of Thailand's Wildlife Conservation Office, Teunjai Noochdumrong, said three tigers were tranquilized and transported Monday in an operation involving about 1,000 state personnel that is expected to continue for a week.

The animals will be taken to three government animal refuges elsewhere in Thailand.

In this Monday May 30, 2016 photo, a sedated tiger lies in a cage at the "Tiger Temple" in Saiyok district in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand. Wildlife officials in Thailand on Monday began removing some of the 137 tigers held at a Buddhist temple following accusations that the monks were involved in illegal breeding and trafficking of the animals. (AP Photo) THAILAND OUT

The temple, a popular money-earning tourist attraction in the western province of Kanchanaburi, has been criticized by animal rights activists because of allegations it is not properly set up to care for the animals and flouted regulations restricting their trade.

The monks resisted previous efforts to take away the tigers, and impeded the effort again on Monday morning despite the massive show of force by the authorities. They relented after police obtained a court order. More than 300 officials remained at the temple overnight to ensure the tigers remained safe.

The temple recently made arrangements to operate as a zoo, but the plan fell through when the government determined that the operators failed to secure sufficient resources.

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This story has been corrected to show that the tigers will be taken to three animal refuges, not two.

In this Monday, May 30, 2016, photo, wildlife officials sedate a tiger at the "Tiger Temple" in Saiyok district in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand. Wildlife officials in Thailand on Monday began removing some of the 137 tigers held at a Buddhist temple following accusations that the monks were involved in illegal breeding and trafficking of the animals. (AP Photo) THAILAND OUT

In this Monday, May 30, 2016 photo, wildlife officials carry a sedated tiger on a stretcher at the "Tiger Temple" in Saiyok district in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand. Wildlife officials in Thailand on Monday began removing some of the 137 tigers held at a Buddhist temple following accusations that the monks were involved in illegal breeding and trafficking of the animals. (AP Photo) THAILAND OUT

FILE - In this Feb, 12, 2015 file photo a Thai Buddhist monk gives water to a tiger from a bottle at the "Tiger Temple" in Saiyok district in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand. Wildlife officials have begun removing some of the 137 tigers held at the Buddhist temple after accusations that their caretakers were involved in illegal breeding and trafficking of the animals, as well as neglected them. Teunjai Noochdumrong, assistant deputy director of the Department of National Parks, said three tigers had been tranquilized and transported Monday, May 30, 2016, in an operation involving about 1,000 state personnel and expected to go on for a week. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

In this photo provided by the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, a tiger looks out of a cage at the "Tiger Temple" in Saiyok district in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, May 30, 2016. Wildlife officials have begun removing some of the 137 tigers held at the Buddhist temple after accusations that their caretakers were involved in illegal breeding and trafficking of the animals, as well as neglected them. (Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand via AP)

In this photo provided by the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, tigers walk around their enclosure at the "Tiger Temple" in Saiyok district in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand, Monday, May 30, 2016. Wildlife officials have begun removing some of the 137 tigers held at the Buddhist temple after accusations that their caretakers were involved in illegal breeding and trafficking of the animals, as well as neglected them. (Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand via AP)
2 men sentenced to life terms for bombing Somali airliner

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP)  A military court in the Somali capital on Monday gave life terms to two men convicted of masterminding the bombing in February of an airliner which made an emergency landing with a gaping hole in the fuselage.

The explosion happened aboard Daallo Airlines Airbus A321 about 15 minutes after the jet, with 75 passengers, took off from Mogadishu airport.

Abdiweli Mohamed Maow, a former senior security officer at the Mogadishu airport, was convicted of preparing the laptop computer used to bomb the plane. Areys Hashi Abdi was convicted in absentia.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 file photo, of a hole in a plane operated by Daallo Airlines as it sits on the runway of the airport in Mogadishu, Somalia. A military court in the Somali capital has given life terms Monday, May 30, 2016 to two men convicted of masterminding the bombing in February of the airliner which made an emergency landing with a gaping hole in its fuselage. (AP Photo, File)

The attack, which was claimed by the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, killed one passenger, Abdullahi Abdisalam Borle, who was thought to be the suspected suicide bomber. A body believed to be Borle's was found in a town north of Mogadishu.

Somalia's military court also convicted eight other people, including a woman, for their roles in planning the bombing and sentenced them to between six months and four years in jail. Six other suspects were acquitted and ordered freed from custody.
US welcomes conviction of Chad's ex-dictator

WASHINGTON (AP)  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has welcomed the conviction of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Kerry says Habre's conviction is "a landmark in the global fight against impunity for atrocities."

Habre was sentenced to life imprisonment for being responsible for thousands of deaths and tortures in prisons during his rule from 1982 to 1990. A 1992 Chadian truth commission accused Habre's government of systematic torture, saying 40,000 people died during his rule.

Kerry says the case provides an opportunity for the United States to reflect on and learn from its connection with past events in Chad.
EU, Mexico officially launch update of free trade deal

BRUSSELS (AP)  The European Union and Mexico have launched talks to update a free trade agreement that one EU official says has already led to a rise of over 250 percent in goods traded between them.

Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said Monday the pact that went into effect in 2000 should be broadened to dismantle additional trade barriers and open markets more effectively.

Ildenfonso Guajardo Villarreal, Mexico's secretary of economy, said an updated agreement could be a win for both sides by benefiting Mexico's agro-industrial sector and EU financial and service industries.

The first round of formal negotiations is scheduled for mid-June.
Texas trying revamped sex offender treatment program

LITTLEFIELD, Texas (AP)  Outside of a struggling West Texas town, about a mile from the high school, sits a one-story brick building, its perimeter fencing topped with razor wire. Since last fall, it's been home to some of Texas' most violent sex offenders.

The former prison re-opened after the state overhauled its civil commitment program for convicted sex offenders following a state investigation that found the previous operation was poorly managed and ineffective for 16 years. The men had been scattered in halfway houses across Texas, and no one in the program had successfully completed it and re-entered the broader community.

It's at this facility, about 40 miles from Lubbock, where officials believe the in-patient treatment protocol will yield better results for those confined here by court order due to its more intensive and therapeutic nature, according to Marsha McLane, the top official with the Texas Civil Commitment Office.

In this May 5, 2016 photo, Marsha McLane, executive director of the Texas Civil Commitment Office, talks about her facility's operations at the Texas Civil Commitment Center, Bill Clayton Facility, in Littlefield, Texas. Many of Texas' most violent sex offenders have been housed for months in the former prison in rural West Texas. Officials believe the in-patient treatment protocol will yield better results for those confined here by court order due to its more intensive and therapeutic nature, according to McLane. (Mark Rogers/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal via AP) ALL LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

"We expect people to graduate ... and get out on their own and do what they need to do to be safe and law-abiding citizens," McLane said. "This is not a warehouse for sex offenders."

Critics, however, contend the new facility is just that. They also say the private operator is interested in only profit, not rehabilitation. Plus, the program's overhaul will be compared against those in 19 other states and the District of Columbia, all of which permit civil commitment of convicted sex offenders who are considered likely to commit new sex crimes after finishing prison sentences.

Minnesota's civil commitment program was ruled unconstitutional a year ago, and a class-action lawsuit called it tantamount to a life sentence. Seeing some similarities, Texas lawmakers closely watched that case and worked to correct problems in its own program.

About 210 men ages 27 to 78 are in the Texas Civil Commitment Center, which, though no longer a prison, looks like one with its heavy metal doors and drably painted cinderblock walls.

"It feels like a prison, but I don't view it as prison," said 52-year-old Alex Barrera, twice convicted for indecency with a child but is in the program's final treatment tier. "This is the next step to get back into the community."

The residents attend group treatment sessions six hours a week, double what they did in halfway houses, and receive individual therapy at least once a month, officials say. The program has four levels of treatment inside the facility, and the higher you go, the more privilege you get; tier three residents can have a calls-only cellphone and work paid jobs within the facility.

After a resident completes the fourth tier, McLane determines whether they're ready for the fifth  going back to the county where they were convicted to live and work under supervision by a case manager. She's approved two moves, one for a man in Fort Worth and another in Houston.

Before lawmakers overhauled the program, about half of those civilly committed were sent back to prison for violating one or more of about 200 treatment or supervision rules. Now, McLane said, there are only such four rules, including contacting their victim and tampering with the GPS monitors they wear.

The facility is run by Nashville, Tennessee-based Correct Care Solutions, a for-profit prison company that signed a two-year, $24 million contract last year after most of the state's halfway houses refused to renew their contracts because they had run out of room for more offenders.

The deal with the state has been a mixed blessing for Littlefield, a town of nearly 6,300 where cotton production drives the economy. Though people like 80-year-old Don Martinez are concerned about having sex offenders in the same town where his granddaughter lives  "I don't like it, but there's nothing I can do about it," he said  the facility has brought in about 100 jobs and will save the city about $750,000 in annual debt payments, which Littlefield covered since the prison closed in 2009.

Critics say Correct Care, which provides medical and behavioral health services to about 250,000 people nationwide and also runs a civil commitment operation in Florida, is only interested in profit.

"We feel that as a treatment provider they're totally unqualified because they are a private prison company at heart and the profit motives only incentivize cutting corners and compromising the quality of care," said Cate Graziana of the Austin-based nonprofit Grassroots Leadership, which works nationally to end for-profit prison operations.

Correct Care spokesman Jim Cheney responded to that accusation in an email, saying its patient care is "unparalleled in this industry."

Rehabilitation is possible if treatment is done appropriately, but doing so in institutional settings tends to not be as successful as community halfway houses, said Maia Christopher of the Oregon-based Association of Treatment of Sex Offenders. However, she said, in-patient institutional programs followed by supervised community placement, like Texas' new setup, does increase effectiveness.

"It is helpful to have people sort of being in the environment that they're going to be in so that they can practice skills and you can sort of monitor what's going on with real-time kind of feedback," Christopher said.

In this May 5, 2016 photo, razor wire is seen outside one on the office windows at the Texas Civil Commitment Center, Bill Clayton Facility, in Littlefield, Texas. Many of Texas' most violent sex offenders have been housed for months in the former prison in rural West Texas, a place that the head of the state agency who oversees the overhauled program believes will lead to successful rehabilitations. (Mark Rogers/Lubbock Avalanche-Journal via AP) ALL LOCAL TELEVISION OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT
Indonesian navy fires shots, seizes Chinese fishing boat

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)  Indonesia's navy said Monday it fired shots at a Chinese trawler when it refused to stop fishing in Indonesian waters, and then seized the vessel and its eight crewmembers.

An Indonesian frigate intercepted the trawler on Friday near the Natuna islands in Indonesia's exclusive economic zone, which overlaps with the southernmost reaches of the South China Sea, said navy western fleet command spokesman Maj. Budi Amin.

Amin said the frigate fired shots which hit the stern of the fishing vessel, Gui Bei Yu-27088, after it ignored repeated warnings to stop. He said no one was injured.

"This arrest was made to show the world that Indonesia will take firm action against ships that violate our territory," Amin said. He said Indonesia followed standard international procedures in dealing with foreign ships entering its territory, including providing warnings with flags, voices and warning shots.

China claims most of the South China Sea.

Tensions between the two countries flared in March when Indonesia intercepted a Chinese fishing vessel off the Natuna islands. A Chinese coast guard vessel collided with the trawler as it was being towed, allowing it to escape.

Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago nation, has taken a tough stance against illegal fishing since President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo took office in 2014.

Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti has overseen the capture of nearly 200 foreign fishing boats accused of fishing illegally.
Brazil's transparency chief quits over corruption probe tape

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  Leaked recordings of heavyweight politicians discussing Brazil's sprawling kickback scandal caused more headaches for acting President Michel Temer on Monday, with a new tape forcing his anti-corruption minister to quit.

Transparency Minister Fabiano Silveira was the second member of the interim administration to leave in only 16 days because of recorded conversations about the investigation into corruption at the state oil company Petrobras and the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.

The new turmoil started when TV Globo broadcast a recording of Silveira giving legal advice to the Senate president, who is under investigation for links to corruption at Petrobras. The recording also shows Silveira criticizing the investigation itself, which has implicated some of Brazil's most prominent politicians and businessmen.

Ministerial staff use brooms to scrub the office door of the Transparency Minister Fabiano Silveira demanding his resignation, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, May 30, 2016. A recording TV Globo broadcast late Sunday shows Silveira criticizing Operation Car Wash, a wide-ranging corruption probe of the state oil company Petrobras that has implicated numerous leading Brazilian politicians and businessmen. Protesters in Brazil use brooms as a representation to sweep away corruption. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

In its report late Sunday, TV Globo said Silveira had repeatedly contacted investigators in the Petrobras case to seek information on the accusations against Senate chief Renan Calheiros, but he did not succeed in getting any details. The conversation was recorded at Calheiros' residence some time before the Senate voted to suspend Rousseff pending an impeachment trial and put the government in Temer's hands.

Brazilian media had said Temer met with Cabinet ministers in the afternoon and decided to keep Silveira on the job for now, with Silveira saying he was not involved in any wrongdoing. But later Silveira sent a letter of resignation, saying it was best that he leave the job "despite the fact that nothing is hitting my behavior."

Temer did not announce any pick to succeed Silveira, who came under intense criticism from Brazilians and international groups following the TV Globo report.

According to the union for workers at the Transparency Ministry, about 200 officials of the anti-corruption body offered their resignations to protest Temer's initial decision to keep Silveira on the job. Earlier Monday, employees at the ministry blocked Silveira from entering the building in the capital of Brasilia. They also staged a protest in which they cleaned the front doors of the building and his office.

The newspaper O Globo printed an extra editorial to demand Silveira's resignation, echoing calls by allies of Rousseff, who argues that her foes ousted her because she allowed the Petrobras investigation to go forward.

The Berlin-based watchdog group Transparency International also called for Silveira to go. In a statement, the group said it would halt any conversations with Temer's interim administration "until a full investigation is conducted and a new minister with adequate experience in the fight against corruption is appointed."

Another leaked recording forced Temer's planning minister to take a leave of absence last week. In that recording, Romero Juca suggested there should be "a pact" to impeach Rousseff and appeared to link it to obstructing the Petrobras investigations. He denied any wrongdoing or intention to stop the investigations.

O Globo's editorial said that "Temer needs to apply the same rule that he applied to Juca: There can be no conspiracy against Operation Car Wash," a reference to the Petrobras probe. "It is the only way that his public commitment to support the operation and to fight against corruption will be taken seriously."

Meanwhile, the newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo reported that Temer's 7-year-old son, Michelzinho, is the registered owner of real estate properties worth $550,000. The interim president told the daily that he transferred the assets as a way to anticipate his will and that his daughters from previous marriages also received real estate in similar conditions.

The report also said Temer's total assets nearly doubled between 2006 and 2014.

Ministerial staffers take part in a protest demanding the resignation of the newly-appointed Transparency Minister Fabiano Silveira, pictured in the center of the poster along with Senate President Renan Calheiros, left, with a message that reads in Portuguese; "Ministry of Illegal Lobbying: Despicable Renan, Big Chief; Dirty Fabiano, Follows Orders; Trickster Narcio Tranquiera, Delinquent - WANTED!", at the ministry's headquarters, in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, May 30, 2016. A recording TV Globo broadcast late Sunday shows Silveira criticizing Operation Car Wash, a wide-ranging corruption probe of the state oil company Petrobras that has implicated numerous leading Brazilian politicians and businessmen. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
On cutting-edge voter data, Trump critically behind Clinton

PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Donald Trump trails Hillary Clinton by months, even years, in using fast-evolving digital campaigning to win over voters, data specialists working with the GOP say.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has dismissed the science that defines 21st century political campaigns, a tool that President Barack Obama used effectively in winning two terms and the Clinton campaign has worked on for nearly a year.

And while it is too early to tell whether the late start signals trouble for Trump, it illustrates the difference between Trump's proudly outsider campaign and the institutional knowledge within Clinton's.

FILE - In this May 10, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at Trump Tower in New York. Trump trails Hillary Clintons campaign by months - even years - in using the fast-evolving tool of digital campaigning to win over voters, say data scientists in the GOP ranks. Trump has dismissed the science that has come to define 21st Century competitive political campaigns, a political tool that President Barack Obama successfully deployed in winning two terms and the Clinton campaign has been working on for at least 11 months. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

"She's been able to prepare a general election campaign since the beginning," said Alex Lundry, former senior technology adviser to Mitt Romney's 2012 Republican presidential campaign. "That head start in terms of time is extraordinarily valuable."

Precision digital-marketing data, a person's online footprints, have become an electoral science that Democrats have dominated, and Republicans have chased, for a decade. Campaigns used the data at first simply to track supporters. The information now guides a range of decisions, like the types and volume of advertising, where to deploy campaign staff to mobilize voters and where a candidate should visit.

Trump's team has been unclear about its use of data in the general election.

Trump told The Associated Press this month the tool was "overrated" and he planned "limited" data use during the general election, though his campaign has worked with firms and a small in-house staff to track voters during the primaries.

Later, senior adviser Rick Wiley, who was hired in April, suggested Trump would run a "state of the art" campaign and use data strategically, relying on Trump's own list of supporters, the Republican National Committee's voter list and a data service financed largely by the RNC called Data Trust.

"All of the data points  whatever they are  our ability to harvest that data is invaluable," said Wiley, the RNC's former executive director. He has since left the campaign, after what a source close to the matter said were disagreements with Trump loyalists about who should lead campaign efforts in key states. The person spoke on condition of anonymity, lacking authorization to discuss internal campaign matters publicly.

Given how Republicans have long trailed Democrats in digital campaigning, Trump's grudging talk and Wiley's departure hardly signal a rush to catch up.

Trump spent more than $1 million in April on campaign paraphernalia like caps, T-shirts and signs. Even as he was effectively seizing the nomination, he spent less than a third of that amount on data and related functions such as telemarketing.

Obama's 2008 presidential campaign revolutionized the way technology could be used to identify and keep track of supporters who attended his campaign events and gave money to his candidacy.

In 2012, Obama's re-election campaign profiled potential voters by monitoring what online, mobile, reading and shopping choices they made. The data helped them project election outcomes based on advertising decisions in specific markets aimed at select voter types.

Obama's 2012 re-election was viewed as a breakthrough in the political application of what had been a commercial tool, while Romney's own data effort started late, was more limited in scope and ultimately crashed.

Clinton's campaign has been collecting data since she announced her candidacy 11 months ago. Elan Kriegel, an analytics director for Obama in 2012, now heads Clinton's analytics team. And, Jeremy Bird, credited with using the data in 2012 for decision-making that preceded the president's re-election, is advising the Clinton campaign.

Kriegel said the nearly yearlong preparation has allowed his team to build intricate voter turnout models aimed at predicting voter behavior, especially in potential swing states.

"If you weren't doing it several months ago, then you really are starting from scratch," Kriegel said.

Trump's challenge may be even more difficult, said Andy Burkett, the Republican National Committee's former chief technology officer.

As the party's nominee, Trump will have full use of the committee's data program, in which it has invested heavily in recent years. Still, capitalizing on that resource will require Trump's campaign to view data as central to its bid  and to put its own money behind it to tailor the data to preferences related to would-be Trump voters.

The Republican National Committee has recently added data scientists to its staff to assist with the general election. Also, an RNC data specialist first began working directly with the Trump campaign this month. But it takes time to turn raw data into meaningful models, Barkett said.

"It would take them six months to build and integrate the systems," said Barkett, who advised Jeb Bush's GOP primary campaign.
The Latest: Italy breaks up unofficial migrants' tent camp

POZZALLO, Sicily (AP)  The Latest on Europe's migration crisis (all times local):

9:20 p.m.

Italian authorities have broken up unofficial migrants' tent camp in the town of Ventimiglia near the French border.

In this photo taken Sunday, May 29, 2016 migrants attend to disembark from the Italian Navy Vega vessel, in Reggio Calabria, southern Italy, after being rescued in the Mediterranean Sea off the coasts of Libya. Survivor accounts have pushed to more than 700 the number of migrants feared dead in Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over three days in the past week, even as rescue ships saved thousands of others in daring operations. (AP Photo/Adriana Sapone)

The migrants, from Eritrea and other African countries as well as Pakistan and Bangladesh, had been camping out for weeks or months in hopes of managing to slip into France while eluding document controls.

After Ventimiglia's mayor ordered the camp dismantled, police Monday rounded up migrants for identification. Minors were taken to local social services centers. Only adults who had international protection documents were allowed to stay in Ventimiglia.

The Italian news agency ANSA said about 95 migrants were transferred to centers in Bari, southern Italy, and Catania, Sicily, for repatriation.

Many of Ventimiglia's residents provided free meals, blankets and other help to the migrants while they camped in the seaside town.

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9:10 p.m.

France's interior minister has signed the state on to pay 3.9 million euros ($4.34 million) to run a migrant camp in northern France built by Doctors Without Borders and opened in early March.

Bernard Cazeneuve committed the funds to the camp in Grande Synthe, outside Dunkirk, that replaced a sordid one nearby. It was the first time in recent years that the state has directly funded or become involved in running a camp.

The three-way convention committing funds is between the French state, the town of Grande Synthe and an association running the camp.

Despite the benevolence, there was concern the state funding may spell the end of the camp, made up of more than 300 wooden shelters, currently holding about 800 migrants, many of them Iraqi Kurds.

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6 p.m.

Serbian police say they have prevented the illegal transfer of 44 migrants to Hungary and arrested three Afghans accused of planning to smuggle them across the border.

Police said Monday the group was discovered in the border town of Subotica after coming off a local bus. They included people from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

Migrants increasingly have been turning to smugglers to help them reach the European Union after the closure of the so-called Balkan corridor in early March.

Their numbers could surge as the weather gets warmer in the summer. Aid groups have warned more migrants are using dangerous routes from fear of being caught.

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5:35 p.m.

Prosecutors have demanded prison sentences of up to a year for four men allegedly involved in rioting that erupted last year during a heated demonstration against a proposed asylum-seekers' center in a small Dutch town.

The violence broke out Dec. 16 in the town of Geldermalsen, 70 kilometers (43 miles) southeast of Amsterdam, while local legislators were debating plans to house asylum-seekers in the town. It underscored deep resentment among a section of Dutch society at the arrival of thousands of migrants last year.

Prosecutors on Monday asked judges to convict a 22-year-old and a 29-year-old for their alleged roles in the riots and sentence them both to a year in prison, with four months of the sentence suspended. Two other men face lower sentences if convicted.

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5:10 p.m.

It was the cries of children  and the moment they decided they must save themselves  that haunt the survivors of a shipwreck that claimed hundreds of lives.

Two Eritreans who arrived safely in Sicily told The Associated Press how the sea kept seeping into their rickety fishing boat despite all efforts to bail the water out. Eventually, the sea prevailed.

"When the morning came, I saw how the children were crying and the women," Habtom Tekle, a 27-year-old Eritrean, told the AP through an interpreter. "At this point I only tried to pray."

Between 400 and 550 on their smugglers' boat didn't make it, part of the estimated 700 migrants who perished in Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over three days last week in the deadliest known tally in over a year, as calm weather and sunny skies increased smuggling crossings from Libya.
Romania charges 77 doctors in bribery case

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  Romanian prosecutors say they have charged dozens of doctors with taking bribes after a pharmaceutical company paid for vacations for them in India in exchange for promoting anti-cancer medicine to patients.

Prosecutors said Monday that an unnamed pharmaceutical company ostensibly paid for 77 oncologists to attend a breast cancer congress in Bangalore, India, in March 2012. In reality, the doctors, some accompanied by family members, vacationed in New Delhi more than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) away.

The company paid 520,000 euros ($577,000) of which 417,000 euros ($463,000) were bribes, according to prosecutors. They called the congress "a pretext, a way of hiding the vacation given to medics by the company ... to guide patients to the company's generic products."
Few Memorial Day airport headaches, most wait times bearable

MIAMI (AP)  Travelers who had braced for long lines and long waits were instead moving through most U.S. airports fairly quickly Monday, as the busy Memorial Day travel weekend drew to close.

"Honestly it wasn't too bad," said Kendra Morehead of Wooster, Ohio, who flew from Detroit to Denver for a conference. "I got to the airport an hour and a half early, but security only took like 15 minutes."

However, the airlines weren't ready to say "mission accomplished" yet, as it's just the beginning of the busy summer travel season.

Airline passengers enter the main security checkpoint at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta on Monday, May 30, 2016. Travelers who had braced for long lines and long waits were instead moving through most U.S. airports fairly quickly Monday, as the busy Memorial Day travel weekend drew to a close. (AP Photo/Kathleen Foody)

"Things have been going pretty well so far this weekend and we are working hard to make sure that we have no repeat of what we saw in Chicago," said American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein, referring to Chicago O'Hare International Airport, which had some of the worst screening problems in recent weeks.

The TSA began deploying extra canine teams to the busiest airports months ago. The dogs can screen large groups of passengers for explosives, eliminating the need to remove shoes and laptops, TSA spokesman Mike England said last week.

The extra dogs were concentrated at the nation's largest airports, but they weren't used for all screenings. Many travelers still had to observe the usual procedures. England said the extra dogs would remain at security checkpoints well beyond the Memorial Day weekend.

At Miami International Airport, Fernando Del Gaudio arrived three hours early for a flight home to Buenos Aires, Argentina, only to find that the regular security lines and the pre-screened lines in the American Airlines terminal were empty Monday evening.

"We're more worried about the luggage, honestly," he said as his wife worked to close a very full carry-on bag.

In some parts of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, lines were nonexistent and ID-carrying travelers were outnumbered by clusters of TSA employees.

At John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, travelers arriving from major cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Miami said their security lines had been short.

Not everyone had a smooth trip, however. Bob Dunlap of Milford, Michigan, expected to wait an hour to get through a security line that snaked from the Denver airport's cavernous security plaza all the way back to baggage claim.

He had tried to expedite his screening by arriving three hours early and checking his baggage. "What can you do?" he said with a shrug. "I've never been in a line like this for security, ever."

At California's Sacramento International Airport, an early morning photo posted on Twitter showed a line into the airport stretching all the way back to a parking garage. The dispatcher said that was taken during the airport's busiest part of the day and the line had shrunk by late morning.

At Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, travelers swiftly wove through ropes directing them toward the main TSA checkpoint Monday afternoon. In recent weeks, passengers at the same checkpoint inside the world's busiest airport have waited in single-file lines stretching into the airport's atrium or back to baggage claim.

Reese McCranie, a spokesman for the Atlanta airport, said security wait times averaged 15 minutes or less throughout the weekend, aided by 30 TSA officers on loan from smaller airports and about 34 new officers who started work a week ago.

"Memorial Day is really a dress rehearsal for the rest of the summer," McCranie said. "We're hopeful that we're working toward a similar experience for all other major travel periods."

At Orlando International Airport, extra airport staff was helping keep wait times to just over seven minutes on Monday, said airport spokeswoman Carolyn Fennell.

The airport hired 27 extra customer service staff and added more disposal bins for prohibited items to help smooth out the security screening process, Fennell said. More than 600,000 travelers were expected to pass through Orlando from Friday to Tuesday, and 483,000 had already come through by Monday afternoon, Fennell said.

At JFK Airport in New York City, where a computer outage caused massive check-in delays on Sunday, officials and passengers said things were much better Monday for most travelers.

But not for everyone.

Bibi Ali, a banker from Queens, said she arrived extra early, fearing she might miss her flight because of security lines. "I was there early and it was one hour waiting in line" she said. "The flight is not bad, just the line, it's hectic."

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Associated press writers Kristen Wyatt in Denver, Colorado; Alan Scher Zagier in St. Louis, Missouri; and Charles Sheehan in New York City contributed to this story.

Members of Chicago Police SWAT team walk through the terminal after responding to a call at O'Hare International Airport, Monday, May 30, 2016, in Chicago. Travelers who had braced for long lines and long waits were instead moving through most U.S. airports fairly quickly Monday, as the busy Memorial Day travel weekend drew to close. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Members of Chicago Police SWAT team walk through the terminal after responding to a call at O'Hare International Airport, Monday, May 30, 2016, in Chicago. Travelers who had braced for long lines and long waits were instead moving through most U.S. airports fairly quickly Monday, as the busy Memorial Day travel weekend drew to close. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Travelers walk down the walkway between terminals at O'Hare International Airport, Monday, May 30, 2016, in Chicago. Travelers who had braced for long lines and long waits were instead moving through most U.S. airports fairly quickly Monday, as the busy Memorial Day travel weekend drew to close. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
Brazilian police: Gang rape happened but tests are not proof

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  Police investigating a gang rape possibly involving more than 30 men said Monday that they have no doubt the assault happened but that tests on the 16-year-old victim were done too late to provide conclusive evidence.

The attack has shocked Brazilians and put a spotlight on the endemic problem of violence against women in Latin America's most populous nation.

Two men, including a man investigators have said may have been her boyfriend, have been arrested in connection with the crime and four others sought by police are still on the loose. The men arrested were identified as Rai de Souza, 22, and Lucas Perdomo Duarte Santos, 20.

Rai de Souza, 22, a gang rape suspect is taken inside a police car to the police headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, May 30, 2016. Police are searching for the more than 30 men suspected in the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl, a case that has rocked Latin America's largest nation and highlighted its endemic problem of violence against women. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

The alleged attack happened in a slum in western Rio de Janeiro on May 21. It came to light because a video clip and images were shared on Twitter and WhatsApp.

Rio police chief Fernando Veloso said the rape kit tests were done five days after the incident, well beyond the recommended 72-hour window.

"We did not collect evidence of violence, but this does not mean that there was no violence," said Veloso, who added that authorities did not learn of the incident until the social media posts appeared several days later. "Traces were lost because of time."

Veloso said police believe the gang rape happened because at least three men were involved in the video. However, they were not able to determine how many people participated in total, he said. The girl has testified there were 33 men.

"The footage shows more than one voice, there is an account of the rape performed earlier. One of the men touches the teenager, who looks unconscious. That act alone is rape and it is in the footage. If the footage is true, and it looks to be true, there is no doubt it was rape," Veloso said at a news conference.

Veloso also said the head of the investigation was replaced for allegedly not taking the victim's account seriously. The male investigator was replaced by a female investigator, he said.

Cristiane Bento, police inspector in charge of the case, also said the video published on social media is enough for police to charge as an accessory a drug trafficker who controls the shantytown. Many of Brazil's shantytowns, known as favelas, are controlled by armed drug traffickers.

Many victims of rape "don't say anything because they are afraid of the traffickers," Bento said.

The attack has struck a nerve in Brazil, a conservative, majority Roman Catholic nation of 200 million people.

A study by the Brazilian Center for Latin American Studies found that between 1980 and 2010, more than 92,000 women were killed in crimes related to gender, involving incidents from rape to domestic abuse.

Last year, Congress passed legislation to sharply increase the punishment for violent crimes against women.

Advocates say changes in the law need to go hand-in-hand with changes in mentality.

"Brazilian culture is very sexist and rape is part of that culture even if as a society we deny it," said Luise Bello at the women's advocacy group Think Olga. "Rape is not rare in Brazil, but what is really shocking is the fact that more than 30 men raped a minor, filmed it and then shared the images on the internet."

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Associated Press writer Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.
Retired military officer close to Chavez slain in Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP)  Venezuelan authorities say they've arrested four men for the murder of retired Maj. Gen. Felix Velasquez, who was once chief of security for the late President Hugo Chavez.

Velasquez was shot to death on Saturday while driving with his granddaughter. Prosecutors initially said it appeared to be an attempt to steal his gun.

The national prosecutor's office said Monday that two of the suspects are police officers from the opposition-governed Chacao district of the capital. On Monday, the national police announced a "technical intervention" of the local force. Chacao Mayor Ramon Muchacho says he's not sure what that involves, but urged officials not to politicize the case.

An officer looks out from the window of the Chacao municipality police headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, May 30, 2016. Venezuelan authorities say theyve arrested four men for the murder of retired Maj. Gen. Felix Velasquez, who was once chief of security for the late President Hugo Chavez. The national prosecutors office said Monday that two of the suspects are police officers from the opposition-governed Chacao district of the capital. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
NATO summit to raise military presence in Poland, region

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that an upcoming "landmark summit" will enhance the alliance's defensive and deterrent presence in Poland and in the region, but decisions as to the number still haven't been finalized.

Stoltenberg spoke in Warsaw, which will host a July 8-9 NATO summit that will give security guarantees that Poland and other nations on the alliance's eastern flank have been seeking, concerned about a resurgent Russia.

He said that several battalions will be placed in Poland, the Baltic States and elsewhere in the region that will raise NATO presence in troops, equipment, prepositioning and infrastructure. The U.S. will be adding an armored brigade.

NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, gestures during a press conference with Polish President, Andrzej Duda in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, May 30, 2016. Stoltenberg came to Poland for a two-day visit ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw in July. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

Stoltenberg said the exact numbers and locations of the enhanced NATO troop presence are still being debated and the decisions will be made before the summit. It will be a rotational, international presence, he said.

"So let me be clear: there will be more NATO troops in Poland after the Warsaw Summit, to send a clear signal that an attack on Poland will be considered an attack on the whole alliance," Stoltenberg said after meeting Polish President Andrzej Duda.

Duda stressed that it's crucial for the summit to show that NATO is united and shows internal solidarity in the face of threats from the East and South.

Both leaders said the summit will also decide on ways of helping build stability in partner nations like Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova in the east and Iraq, Jordan and Tunisia in the south.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, left, and Polish President Andrzej Duda pose for a photo prior to a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, May 30, 2016. Stoltenberg came to Poland for a two-day visit ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw in July. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, left, and Polish President, Andrzej Dud,a shake hands after a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, May 30, 2016. Stoltenberg came to Poland for a two-day visit, ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw in July. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, gestures during a press conference with Polish President, Andrzej Duda, in Warsaw, Poland, Monday, May 30, 2016. Stoltenberg came to Poland for a two-day visit ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw in July. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)
Britain's Got Talent winner keen on pursuing magic career

Britain's Got Talent winner and Household Cavalry bandsman Richard Jones is hoping the army will be "flexible" enough to let him pursue his magic career.

Illusionist Jones triumphed in the grand final on Saturday, using his magic act to tell the story of Second World War veteran and former prisoner of war Fergus Anckorn. As a surprise, the 97-year-old himself then appeared on stage.

On whether he could combine his career as a magician and as a soldier, Jones, who is heading back to work on Wednesday, said he was optimistic.

Lance Corporal Richard Jones has become the first illusionist to win Britain's Got Talent (MoD/PA Wire)

He told the Press Association: "The army nowadays is very flexible.

"I'm aware that there's a rugby player, for example, who plays full-time for a professional rugby team, but he's also part of the army as well, and they give him a lot of time to pursue that."

Setting a precedent, lance corporal Semesa Rokoduguni combines his rugby union career with his position as a soldier in the British Army.

Jones said: " I'm expecting a talk with the army at some point, just to see if they're happy for me to keep going the way I am, because I love my job."

He said the army had been right behind him throughout his Britain's Got Talent journey, with his own band even joining him on stage for the final performance.

He had to struggle to keep from crying as the result was announced - because he was wearing uniform as part of the performance.

"I knew it would be emotional because obviously I've got my own band, I've got Fergus and it's very patriotic, and I was really emotional myself," he said.

"E specially because I was in uniform. You don't cry in uniform, it's against Queen's regulations."

Jones's winning performance was steeped in patriotism and focused on Mr Anckorn's experience as a prisoner of war in Japan for almost four years.

Mr Anckorn is also a magician and is the longest-serving member of the Magic Circle. He performed magic tricks for the guards as a way of getting food for himself and his fellow prisoners.

To the strains of I Vow To Thee My Country, Jones enlisted judge Amanda Holden to sign a playing card which he tore and burnt. The card was later revealed to be intact.

Mr Anckorn himself then appeared on stage.

"What a respectful, appropriate time to do something like that. Amazing. I salute you Fergus, thank you for everything you've done," said Simon Cowell.

Jones said he had first met the veteran when he joined the Magic Circle three years ago and the two bonded over their stories about the army.

He said: "W hen I first applied for Britain's Got Talent, I was actually sitting with Fergus a few days later and I said to him, 'If I ever get through to the final it would be great to have you on, and we could do it together' - not actually expecting that that would actually happen."

The two kept in touch as Jones got closer and closer to the final.

"Eventually last week when I spoke to him, I said: 'Fergus, I think this is actually going to happen, we're actually going to do it'," Jones said.

This year's Britain's Got Talent final attracted the lowest audience in the show's 10-year history.

ITV said Jones' triumph pulled in a peak audience of 10.5 million viewers and a 48% share of TV viewing at around 9.55pm.

Ratings figures showed the two-and-a-half-hour broadcast averaged 8,502,000 viewers across the show, equivalent to a 42.4% share of viewing.
Noise in intensive care unit 'clearly exceeded' recommended level

Hospital intensive care units generate a cacophony of noise that far exceeds World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, research suggests.

Staff running a typical intensive care unit (ICU) in Belgium carried out a study of noise levels in one ward after complaints from patients.

They used a sound level monitor to record decibels continuously for 24 hours beside a bed and at a nursing station.

Staff running a typical intensive care unit (ICU) in Belgium carried out a study of noise levels in one ward after complaints from patients.

At the side of the bed, average noise levels were 52.8 decibels (dBA) during the night and 54.6 dBA in the daytime. A total of 14 peaks above 80 dBA were recorded, including one that registered 101.1 decibels - equivalent to the sound of a pneumatic drill.

The WHO recommends an average sound level of below 35 dBA in hospital wards during the day and says they should not exceed 40 dBA at night.

Dr Eveline Claes, from Jessa Ziekenhuis Hospital in Hasselt, Belgium, said: "The sound levels in our ICU clearly exceeded the WHO recommendations but are comparable with sound levels in other ICUs.

"Those elevated sound levels, as well as frequent sound level peaks, can be responsible for the subjective feeling of noise pollution experienced by patients, nurses and doctors. In our department, measures should be taken to reduce the average sound level and the incidence and magnitude of sound level peaks."

Equipment, alarms, hospital machinery and staff activity are all likely to have contributed to noise levels in the ICU, said the authors, who will present their findings at the European Society for Anaesthesiology's annual meeting in London.

Dr Claes pointed out that it was "not easy" to run an ICU without noise.

She added: "We need the alarms to warn us about emergencies. Various programmes of staff education, task scheduling, equipment repositioning and alarm threshold review have not lowered sound levels to within WHO-recommended levels.

"The practical solution at present seems to be earplugs or other ear defender devices for patients, although there may be opportunities in the future to modulate alerts through the use of smart alarm systems and to develop equipment that produces less noise."
Revamped Top Gear fails to hit viewing numbers of last series

Top Gear returned to television with Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc at the helm but failed to reach the viewing figures of the last series with Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

The show drew 4.4 million viewers, with a peak of 4.7 million, while t he last series bowed out with 5.8 million viewers.

However, the BBC Two motoring show was still the most-watched programme in the 8pm time slot, beating Antiques Roadshow on BBC One and the British Soap Awards on ITV.

The revamped Top Gear with Chris Evans failed to reached the viewing figures achieved by the last series with Jeremy Clarkson

It also trumped the last time the show launched in 2002, when it got 3.5 million viewers.

The first episode of the new series saw Evans and LeBlanc driving Reliant three-wheelers from London to Blackpool in a UK vs USA competition, with Evans enjoying significantly more luck.

The show also featured the unveiling of new segment Star in a Rallycross Car, which replaced the popular feature Star In A Reasonably Priced Car.

Chef Gordon Ramsay and actor Jesse Eisenberg became the first celebrities on the leaderboard after racing a Mini Cooper around the track.
British pair remanded after 18 Albanians rescued in English Channel

Two British men have been remanded in custody charged with immigration offences after 18 Albanians were rescued from a sinking boat in the English Channel.

Mark Stribling, 35, from Farningham, Kent, and Robert Stilwell, 33, from Dartford, appeared at Medway Magistrates' Court to face charges under Section 25 (1) of the Immigration Act 1971.

They were ordered to stay in custody until the next hearing, at Maidstone Crown Court on June 27.

A search and rescue helicopter was deployed

Two children and a woman were among the group of 18 Albanians aboard the rigid-hulled inflatable boat which began to sink off Dymchurch, Kent, on Saturday night.

Along with the Albanians, two British men were also rescued by the Coastguard, working with the RNLI, and handed over to the Border Force.

It has been reported the people on board had alerted their families in Calais, who raised the alarm with the French authorities.

A second vessel, believed to be linked to the inflatable that got into trouble, was discovered on the beach on Sunday at Dymchurch and was seized by the authorities.

The incident has sparked fears that tragedies seen in Greece or Italy could start to occur in the Channel.

President of the French coastguard, Bernard Barron, told Sky News: "It's starting to become a very similar situation to that seen in the Mediterranean and my biggest fear is that the same kind of tragedies we see in Greece or Italy will start to repeat in the Channel."

He added that smugglers have found a new way of bringing migrants into the country after it became "virtually impossible" for them to enter via the Channel Tunnel or on ferries.

"They operate across the length of both the French and Belgian coastlines, between Ostend and into Normandy, finding new positions from where they can send their clients - the migrants - towards England," he said.

Mr Barron said that even though the smugglers are being given large sums of money, there are not providing suitable transport for a "sea filled with danger, with strong currents, storms and heavy traffic of larger vessels".

The incident came after 17 suspected Albanian migrants and a British man wanted on suspicion of murder in Spain were detained after a catamaran arrived at Chichester Marina in West Sussex on Tuesday last week.

The 55-year-old man, who was the subject of a European Arrest Warrant, was also detained on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration, while the 17 Albanian men were held on suspicion of entering the UK illegally.

The Albanians in this earlier incident have been detained pending Home Office consideration of their cases.

Last month, two Iranian men were found floating in an ill-equipped dinghy in the English Channel.
Duke of Edinburgh to miss Battle of Jutland commemorations after doctor's advice

The Duke of Edinburgh will not attend commemorations marking the Battle of Jutland in Orkney following medical advice.

A statement from a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "Following doctor's advice, the Duke of Edinburgh has reluctantly decided not to attend the commemorations marking the Battle of Jutland tomorrow in Kirkwall and Hoy.

"The Princess Royal, who was already attending the events, will represent the Royal Family."

The Duke of Edinburgh has been advised by his doctor not to take part in the Battle of Jutland commemorations on Orkney this week

Prince Philip, 94, is understood to have no plans to cancel any other forthcoming engagements, and has not attended hospital.

Descendants of those who fought at Jutland have been invited to join the commemorations, which include a service at St Magnus Cathedral on Kirkwall on Tuesday.

Events will continue with a service at Lyness Cemetery on the island of Hoy - the final resting place for more than 450 service personnel who died in the war, including sailors killed at Jutland.

The cemetery stands close to Scapa Flow, from where the British Grand Fleet set out for the Jutland Bank to repel German forces attempting to break a British blockade.

Almost 250 ships took part, creating a scale of battle that has not been seen since.

Both nations claimed victory - Germany because of the 6,094 British losses compared to the 2,551 men it sacrificed, but Britain had seriously weakened the enemy's naval capability.

There will also be a remembrance service at sea where British and German naval representatives will scatter poppies and forget-me-nots - the German flower of remembrance - into the North Sea at Jutland Bank.
Liberia grand jury indicts Sable Mining, officials for bribery

By James Harding Giahyue

MONROVIA, May 25 (Reuters) - A grand jury in Liberia on Wednesday indicted government officials, including the speaker of parliament and the head of the ruling party, along with London AIM-listed Sable Mining on charges including bribery.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered an inquiry into Sable's attempt to acquire an iron ore concession in northern Liberia after the watchdog group Global Witness made accusations of wrong-doing in a report earlier this month.

A grand jury in the capital Monrovia accused the defendants of bribery among other crimes, according to the indictment seen by Reuters.

The indictment alleged that the defendants conspired to use their positions to amend Liberia's public procurement and concessions law. It asserted that they succeeded in changing the law to give the Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy the power to declare a concession area as a non-bidding area.

The indictment did not specify how Sable Mining allegedly benefited from the change to the law and Reuters was unable to independently determine if Sable actually did.

In its report Global Witness claimed that the amendment was intended to allow the company to win the concession without a tender. In the end however, Sable Mining was not awarded the property, known as Wologizi.

A spokeswoman for Sable said the company would not comment on the accusations made in the indictment, which cover a period including 2010 and 2011.

Previously Sable said the Global Witness report appeared to be based on "unreliable" testimony from three former business partners.

The indictment named as defendants Sable Mining, parliament speaker Alex Tyler, Varney Sherman, a senator and chairman of President Johnson Sirleaf's Unity Party, and Deputy Minister of Lands, Mines and Energy Ernest C.B. Jones, as well as Christopher Onanuga, a Liberian businessman.

All four men were arrested in Liberia's capital Monrovia on Wednesday and were later released on bail.

Tyler has rejected the Global Witness report, which, like the indictment, alleged that bribery had been used to facilitate Sable's attempted acquisition of the concession.

He was not immediately reachable for comment. His office said he was not planning to comment on the indictment, which alleges he requested and received $75,000 to help amend Liberia's procurement and concession law.

As he left court on Wednesday, Sherman told reporters he would not comment on the indictment. While he acknowledged in a May 13 news conference that his law firm had worked for Sable, he denied the Global Witness allegations of wrong-doing.
Polish minister says missile shield no threat to Russia- report

WARSAW, May 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. missile shield to be located in Poland does not pose a threat to Russia's security, Poland's state-run news agency PAP quoted Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski as saying on Sunday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Poland and Romania could find themselves in the sights of Russian rockets because they are hosting elements of a U.S. missile shield that Moscow considers a threat to its security.

"President Putin should know very well that the anti-missile shield in Poland has no relevance to Russian security. This system is to defend Europe from a missile attack from the Middle East," Waszykowski told PAP in an interview published on Sunday.

"However, the military presence (in Poland) of the Americans and multinational NATO forces is a response to indeed aggressive behaviour by the Russian authorities, who are frightening us. This will be a presence of a defensive nature, not posing a threat to Russia."
Belgium's Bpost fails to agree takeover of Dutch PostNL

By Francesco Guarascio and Toby Sterling

BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM, May 29 (Reuters) - Belgian mail operator Bpost has discussed a possible takeover of Dutch peer PostNL, but the two companies have failed to agree terms.

The two companies said in almost identical brief statements on Sunday evening that they had discussed a friendly public offer by Bpost for all shares of PostNL.

"These negotiations have not, in the end, led to agreement on the terms of such a transaction", they said.

A Bpost spokesman subsequently said that the two had been discussing a potential merger in recent weeks, but come to the conclusion this weekend that a deal was not possible. He declined to specify the sticking points.

"For the time being negotiations are closed. Time will tell us what will happen," he said. "For Bpost (the merger) was an important opportunity but we will continue to deliver on our promises."

Shares in the two companies had been suspended on Friday afternoon after a report about a possible merger, which had driven up PostNL stock by 5.4 percent.

Belgian newspaper Le Soir had said on its website, without citing any source, that Bpost wanted to buy Dutch peer PostNL .

Both companies face shrinking mail deliveries while domestic parcel deliveries are increasing because of online shopping.

Bpost has a market capitalization of 4.9 billion euros ($5.45 billion), nearly three times that of PostNL, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Post Danmark and CVC jointly took a 49.99 percent stake in Bpost in 2006, Post Danmark then sold that stake to CVC in 2009. Bpost was first listed on the stock exchange in 2013.

Last year, Bpost reported a 2.3 percent decline in revenue to 2.4 billion euros, but operating profit rose 3 percent to 494 million euros.
Syrian opposition negotiator quits after peace talks' failure

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi

AMMAN, May 29 (Reuters) - The chief peace negotiator of Syria's mainstream opposition said on Sunday he was resigning over the failure of the U.N.- backed Geneva peace talks to bring a political settlement and to ease the plight of Syrians living in besieged rebel-held areas.

Mohammed Alloush, who is also the representative of the powerful Jaish al Islam rebel faction in the Saudi-based High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said in a statement sent to Reuters that the peace talks had also failed to secure the release of thousands of detainees or to push Syria towards a political transition without President Bashar al Assad.

The U.N.-backed parties have not set a date for the resumption of the peace talks after the HNC suspended their participation until the situation on the ground has radically changed.

Alloush also said that without any of the opposition demands met, peace talks were a "waste of time", adding that he did not expect peace talks to resume so long as the Syrian government remained intransigent and not ready to enter "serious negotiations".

The Syrian government does not recognise the right of the HNC to speak on behalf of the opposition and insists they were tools of foreign powers seeking to topple Assad and brand Alloush himself as a "terrorist".

The resignation was accepted in a meeting in the Saudi-capital Riyadh headed by HNC's chief coordinator Riad Hijab that sought to assess the peace negotiations.

Separately, the Turkish based Syrian opposition affiliated to the HNC called on foreign backers to step up military support for the moderate Free Syria Army (FSA) rebel groups.

They said such backing would allow their fighters to wrest back the mainly Arab inhabited city of Raqqa, the defacto capital of Islamic State militants in Syria.

The opposition criticised the arming and training of the U.S. backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), whose main component are the Kurdish YPG militia for pursuing a separatist agenda.

With the help of U.S special forces, they launched last week with allied Arab tribal groups an assault north of the city of Raqqa with the aim of capturing it.. They had gained a string of villages around Ain Issa, a town about 60 km north west of Raqqa city.

Head of the main Syrian opposition delegation Asaad al-Zoubi also told al Hadath TV channel that he too wanted to be relieved of his post in the HNC but did not confirm he had taken a similar step.

A source in the opposition said Zoubi was replaced in a reshuffle of the HNC negotiating team that includes both military factions and political groupings.

Zoubi said no real peace talks had taken place four months since the latest rounds of Geneva peace talks were launched and opposition pleas to get the U.N.-backed process to pressure the Syrian authorities to allow humanitarian aid to besieged areas went unheeded.
Bonnie downgraded as it swirls ups the South Carolina coast

By Harriet McLeod

CHARLESTON, S.C., May 29 (Reuters) - Tropical Depression Bonnie was swirling over the South Carolina coast on Sunday evening, dumping several inches (cm) of rain as it crawled up the East Coast.

Bonnie came ashore just northeast of Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday morning, bringing heavy rains, minor flooding and sustained winds of about 30 miles per hour (48 kph).

The system, the first tropical storm to reach the United States this year, dumped as many as 8 inches (20 cm) of rain in parts of South Carolina and Georgia, and caused flooding in low-lying areas and streets, meteorologists said.

"We're not out of the woods because the heavy rain could move back over us today if it really sits on us," said Carl Barnes, a forecaster with the National Weather Service in Charleston.

Heavy rains were still falling in eastern Georgia and portions of the Carolinas, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 p.m. ET advisory.

Bonnie is expected to maintain its strength over the next 48 hours and inch its way northeastward along the coast, passing over or near the North Carolina coast on Monday night or Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Forecasters warned that the storm would likely produce dangerous surf and rip currents along the U.S. Southeast coast, a particular concern during the Memorial Day weekend, when swimmers and surfers flock to beaches.

In spite of the risk, dozens of surfers gravitated to Folly Beach near Charleston over the weekend to ride the storm swell and lumpy waves.

Alli Pulley, desk clerk at The Tides hotel on Folly Beach, said guests were staying put despite the weather and the 132-room hotel was full.

A swimmer went missing in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, just south of Wilmington, and police and U.S. Coast Guard teams were searching the area, authorities said.

Thousands of visitors are also in Charleston for the opening weekend of Spoleto Festival USA, an annual, three-week international performing arts event.

In Texas, a separate storm system, which dumped up to 22 inches (56 cm) of rain in just a few hours, killed at least six people this week, according to local authorities.

Lela Holland, 64, died when her home was overcome by floodwaters and Jimmy Schaeffer, 49, died after driving his pickup truck into high water, police said. Two others bodies were found in nearby creeks.

Two more people were killed in the Austin area. Flora Molima, 23, died after taking a wrong turn and driving into waters that dragged her car into Cypress Creek, police said. Another person died after being swept away by floodwaters.

Emergency services said one person was missing in the area.

Heavy rain prompted the evacuation on Sunday of two prisons in Rosharon, Texas, as the Brazos River is expected to reach historic levels, Texas prison officials said.
Oil prices rise on start of peak U.S. demand season

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE, May 30 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged up in early trading on Monday as the peak demand U.S. summer driving season officially kicks off just as its crude production falls to its lowest level since September 2014.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $49.44 per barrel at 0108 GMT, up 11 cents from their last settlement.

International Brent futures were at $49.36 a barrel, up 4 cents.

"Oil prices stayed within touch of $50 per barrel despite news that some Canadian oil sands producers were planning on restarting operations," ANZ said on Monday.

Oil producer Suncor Energy is planning to ramp up output at its oil sands fields in Alberta this week after it was forced to shut down earlier in May due to massive wildfires.

Despite the expected rise in Canadian output, ANZ bank said that WTI price support "still lingers" after the large fall in U.S. oil inventories late last week by 4.2 million barrels to 537 million barrels due to strong demand.

Traders said that the official start to the U.S. peak demand summer driving season, which kicks off with Memorial Day on Monday, was the main reason for rising seasonal demand.

This came just as U.S. crude oil production fell to 8.77 million barrels per day (bpd), the lowest level since September 2014, and down 8.77 percent since their June 2015 peak.

In global oil markets, Brent prices have been supported by a series of supply disruptions in Nigeria, where militants have been staging a wave of attacks on oil pipelines, cutting the country's output to more than two decade lows.
China stocks up slightly, investors sidelined by policy, economic uncertainty

SHANGHAI May 30 (Reuters) - China stocks rose modestly on Monday morning with many investors keeping to the sidelines as they ponder the monetary policy outlook as the economy fails to show signs of a sustained recovery.

The CSI300 index added 0.2 percent to 3,068.06 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index also gained 0.2 percent to 2,826.19 points.

China CSI300 stock index futures for June tacked on 0.2 percent, to 3,039.8, 28.26 points below the current value of the underlying index.

Growing uncertainty over China's monetary policy and economic health is keeping investors from making bets in the country's stock and money markets, sending volumes plunging.

Official data on Wednesday is expected to show that growth in China's manufacturing sector likely stalled in May after slight expansions in the previous two months, a Reuters poll showed, throwing more cold water on hopes that the world's second-largest economy is reviving.

The Hang Seng index rose 0.7 percent to 20,719.78 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 0.7 percent to 8,657.39.

The index measuring price differences between dual-listed companies in Shanghai and Hong Kong stood at 132.86.

A value above 100 indicates Shanghai shares are pricing at a premium to shares in the same company trading in Hong Kong, and vice versa.

The northbound quota for the Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect, currently set at 13 billion yuan, saw net inflows of 0.45 billion yuan.

Total volume of A shares traded in Shanghai was 5.74 billion shares, while Shenzhen volume was 7.93 billion shares.

Total trading volume of companies included in the HSI index was 0.8 billion shares.
Romania - Factors to watch on May 30

Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Romanian financial markets on Monday.

DEBT TENDER

The finance ministry is expected to unveil domestic debt issuance plans for June.

So far this year, it has sold roughly 21 billion lei and 775 million euros of domestic bonds, and has tapped 2.25 billion euros ($2.50 billion) from foreign markets.

RUSSIA

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday warned Romania and Poland they could find themselves in the sights of Russian rockets because they are hosting elements of a U.S. missile shield that Moscow considers a threat to its security.

CEE MARKETS

The Polish zloty gained half a percent in thin holiday trading on Friday, while shares in Hungarian drug maker Richter gained as much as 4 percent after crossing a key price level.

For the long-term Romanian diary, click on

For emerging markets economic events, click on

For an index of all diaries, click on
Aluminium producer seeks Q3 premium of $110/T from Japan buyers -sources

By Yuka Obayashi

TOKYO, May 30 (Reuters) - A major aluminium producer has offered Japanese buyers a premium of $110 per tonne for July-September primary metal shipments, down 4-6 percent from the previous quarter, three sources directly involved in pricing talks said on Monday.

Japan is Asia's biggest importer of the metal and the premiums for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price set the benchmark for the region.

For the April-June quarter, Japanese buyers agreed to pay producers a premium of $115-$117 per tonne , up about 5-6 percent from the prior quarter, due to lower local inventories.

The latest quarterly pricing negotiations began late last week between Japanese buyers and miners including Rio Tinto Ltd , Alcoa Inc and South32 Ltd, and are expected to continue in June.

A source at a smelter said the decline mirrored falling inventories in Japan and weaker overseas premiums.

Aluminium stocks at three major Japanese ports - Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka - fell 6 percent from a month earlier to 324,800 tonnes at the end of April, according to trading house Marubeni Corp.

That inventory has been dropping since hitting a peak in May last year as buyers reduced imports, with the April figure down more than 30 percent from a year earlier.

"The U.S. and European premiums had weakened earlier this year though they have somewhat recovered since hitting bottoms," the smelter source said.

U.S. aluminium premiums on the CME are siting at 7.9 cents per pound, down from around 9 cents in late February, while take up of the contract is at record highs, according to open interest which is standing at around 28,000 lots.

Comex European premiums are standing about $78.30 a tonne, down from $113.80 in late December, but slightly firmer than six-month lows of around $70 a month ago.

One end-user source said Japanese buyers were not willing to accept the offer, blaming recent spot premiums standing at around $90 per tonne.

"We have been unhappy about the recent quarterly premiums as they had not reflected real market condition and had stayed above spot premiums," the source said.

"Some buyers may even want to change the way we negotiate premiums every quarter if producers continue to seek much higher levels than spot market."
PRESS DIGEST - Bulgaria - May 30

SOFIA, May 30 (Reuters) - These are some of the main stories in Bulgarian newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

-- Bulgaria is under migrant pressure, Prime Minister Boiko Borisov said after border police detained two groups of about 90 people crossing into Bulgaria from Greece. The Bulgarian army has been sent to back border police to help better protect the border. (Trud, Telegraph, Standart, Monitor, Sega, Capital Daily)

-- The support for the leading party in the centre-right coalition, GERB, remains strong at 25.4 percent, a recent poll by independent Gallup International showed. (Trud, Duma)

TRUD - Bulgaria's wheat exports from the Black Sea port of Varna have increased 33 percent to 1.6 million tonnes from July last year to May 22 on an annual basis, agriculture ministry data showed.
Iraqi army starts operation to storm IS-held city of Falluja

BAGHDAD, May 30 (Reuters) - The Iraqi army began an operation on Monday to storm Falluja, the Islamic State group's stronghold near Baghdad, a military officer told a Reuters TV crew near the front line.

A military unit is trying to advance in the city, he said as explosions and gunfire could be heard in Falluja's southern Naimiya district.

The Iraqi army, supported by Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia, began the operation to recapture Falluja on May 23, first by tightening its siege around the city, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, and has now begun a direct assault.
Czech Republic - Factors To Watch on May 30

PRAGUE, May 30 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Czech financial markets on Monday. ALL TIMES GMT (Czech Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA========================== Real-time economic data releases.................... Summary of economic data and forecasts........... Recently released economic data.................. Previous stories on Czech data............. **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: http://emea1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/Apps/CountryWeb/#/2E/events-overview ==========================NEWS================================== CENTRAL BANK: Czech central bank board member Jiri Rusnok would prefer the exit from the bank's weak crown policy to be as transparent as possible, calling a sudden exit "very unlikely", the future governor said on Sunday. Story: Related stories: COALITION: Czech ruling parties tried to calm a public row on Friday, agreeing to submit new anti-smoking legislation after some coalition lawmakers torpedoed a government-backed bill this week, angering the prime minister. Story: Related stories: Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babis' Agrofert group raised net profit by 41 percent to 8.6 billion crowns ($355 million) in 2015, mainly due to improved performance at the chemical division, the group said on Friday. Story: Related stories: CEE MARKETS: The Polish zloty gained half a percent in thin holiday trading on Friday, while shares in Hungarian drug maker Richter GDRB.BU gained as much as 4 percent after crossing a key price level. Story: Related stories: ---------------------- MARKET SNAPSHOT ------------------------ Index/Crown Currency Latest Prev Pct change Pct change close on day in 2016 vs Euro 26.989 27.022 0.12 0.03 vs Dollar 24.32 24.224 -0.4 2.18 Czech Equities 890.47 890.47 -0.09 -6.89 U.S. Equities 17,873.22 17,828.29 0.25 2.57 Pvs close or current levels vs prior domestic close at 1500 GMT For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX For updates on CEE currencies TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets Prague Newsroom: +420 224 190 477 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (Reporting by Prague Newsroom)
Thai junta lifts ban on overseas travel by politicians

BANGKOK, May 30 (Reuters) - Thailand will lift a ban this week on overseas travel by some politicians, the defence minister said on Monday, more than two years after the measure was imposed.

Over the last few months, Thailand's military government, which took power in a May 2014 coup, has begun easing some of its strict restrictions on political activity, in the runup to an August referendum on a draft constitution.

The lifting of the ban showed the junta's trust in politicians, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said.

"Politicians who have no legal cases are able to travel," Prawit told reporters. "Whether they go abroad and then take part in political activities is up to them."

The lifting takes effect on Wednesday, the junta has said.

But it excludes politicians such as former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, ousted in the coup, who faces criminal charges over alleged corruption in her government's rice subsidy program.

After the army took power in a move it called necessary to restore order after years of political upheaval, the junta banned political activity and ramped up prosecutions under tough sedition and royal defamation laws.

The junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order, summoned hundreds of politicians, activists, journalists and academics for so-called "attitude adjustment" sessions, often at military bases.

Many were made to sign agreements not to travel abroad without permission and to halt political activity. They were later released.

But the junta has begun easing some curbs ahead of the August vote, which could precede elections in 2017. Hundreds of protesters marked the coup's second anniversary with a march this month, despite a ban on gatherings.

Politicians of all stripes welcomed the decision to scrap the ban, but some said it should never have been introduced.
Slovakia - Factors To Watch on May 30

BRATISLAVA, May 30 (Reuters) - Here are news stories, press reports and events to watch which may affect Slovak financial markets on Monday. ALL TIMES GMT (Slovak Republic: GMT + 2 hours) =========================ECONOMIC DATA======================== Real-time economic data releases.................. Summary of economic data and forecasts......... Recently released economic data................ Previous stories on Slovak data.......... **For a schedule of corporate and economic events: http://emea1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/Apps/CountryWeb/#/1C/events-overview =========================EVENTS=============================== BRATISLAVA - Prime Minister Robert Fico will visit Volkswagen's construction plant, one of the country's biggest exporters. Related stories: =========================NEWS=============================== CZECH CENTRAL BANK: Czech central bank board member Jiri Rusnok would prefer the exit from the bank's weak crown policy to be as transparent as possible, calling a sudden exit "very unlikely", the future governor said on Sunday. Story: Related stories: For real-time stock market index quotes click in brackets: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX Main currency report TOP NEWS -- Emerging markets News editor of the day: Jason Hovet on +420 224 190 476 E-mail: prague.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com
HSBC boosts oversight of safety boxes in Hong Kong

HONG KONG, May 30 (Reuters) - HSBC has introduced stricter rules for the use of safety-deposit boxes in Hong Kong, which customers use to store valuables but which are at risk of being abused for money laundering and terrorism financing.

Safety boxes offer clients who lease them the possibility to store items such a jewels, art or any other valuable in a private and highly secure place, for instance a bank's vault.

"The nature of a safe deposit locker means it has the potential for misuse for criminal purposes," HSBC, Hong Kong's biggest bank, said in an emailed statement in on Monday.

"We have introduced several clauses to the conditions of lease for safe lockers to further strengthen our defences against financial crime and to enable us to co-operate with law enforcement agencies when required."

HSBC, which is also Europe's biggest bank by assets, did not elaborate on the changes that it was introducing or whether the new terms were being changed elsewhere. But it said the new, stricter rules, would apply also to old-time customers who started to lease the safety locker before December 18, 2014.

A report commissioned by the federal government of Switzerland highlighted in December how in certain circumstances safety boxes can be vulnerable to financial crimes.

HSBC agreed in 2012 to pay $1.92 billion in U.S. fines for failing to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in drug money from flowing through the bank in Mexico, and has promised to fix the problems.

The bank, which has also been caught up in a tax evasion scandal at its Swiss unit, has since been carrying out a thorough exercise to upgrade its compliance and risk globally.

HSBC said it was reaching out to customers asking them not to deposit any property of illegal nature such as illegal drugs, offensive weapons, stolen property or guns.

Holdings which could become a nuisance, for instance explosives were also not allowed.
Poland - Factors to Watch May 30

Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Monday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours):

SWISS-FRANC LOANS

Bank lobby and EY came up with a new proposal to solve the problem of Swiss-franc denominated mortgages in Poland, which would target only the most troubled debt holders and cost banks an estimated 2.7 billion zlotys, Puls Biznesu daily said.

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

If the row with the EU over the changes made to constitutional court intensifies, Poland will sue the EU's rule of law to the EU's Court of Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski the head of the ruling party PiS, told wSieci weekly.

ELECTRICITY

Coal subsidies paid by Polish households in electricity bills next year will be ten times higher than the subsidies for renewable sources of energy, Gazeta Wyborcza daily said on Saturday quoting the draft law on renewable sources of energy and think tanks.

DIPLOMACY

The U.S. missile shield to be located in Poland does not pose a threat to Russia's security, Poland's state-run news agency PAP quoted Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski as saying on Sunday.

****Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.****
Iraq joins Mideast rivals raising oil exports ahead of OPEC meeting

By Florence Tan and Rania El Gamal

SINGAPORE/DUBAI, May 30 (Reuters) - Iraq will supply 5 million barrels of extra crude to its partners in June, industry sources familiar with the issue said, joining other Middle East producers by lifting market share ahead of an OPEC meeting this week.

Iraq, which is the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, had already been targeting record crude export volumes from southern terminals next month of 3.47 million barrels per day.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, also plan to raise supplies in the third quarter.

A recovery in global oil prices from 12-year lows to above $50 a barrel and rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran have dampened expectations that OPEC will rein in supplies at Thursday's meeting.

While additional exports could make up for shrinking output and supply disruptions elsewhere, the new supplies also risk delaying a re-balancing of a global market still awash with oil.

"OPEC is indeed increasing supplies, practising their market share first strategy," said Victor Shum, managing director of downstream energy consulting at IHS, referring to a Saudi-led drive to boost OPEC's production to take back market share.

He said that additional oil from Saudi and Iraq may slow down a re-balancing of the global market, although this could be countered by supply disruptions from other places and strong seasonal demand.

Iraq's Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) allocated 5 million more barrels of Basra Light crude loading in June to upstream partners including PetroChina, Eni and Lukoil, three sources familiar with the matter said.

Foreign companies are paid in oil under technical service contracts (TSCs) signed with SOMO, although payments have been delayed after the oil price drop squeezed Iraq's budget.

A Gulf industry source said the additional oil was given "because of the pressure from the TSC contractors".

Iraq is also obligated to meet payments to contractors as part of conditions of an International Monetary Fund loan, he said.

The additional supplies come from an expansion of the Luhais and Artawi fields in southern Iraq. Iraq wants to increase its oil output by up to a third by 2020.

SOMO could not be immediately reached for comment.

A source from one of the companies that received the oil said the additional 1 million barrels of Basra Light was sold two hours after SOMO's notification, signalling that demand for Iraqi crude remained firm amid expectations the official selling prices (OSPs) would rise in July.
EU's Juncker accepts invite to Russia -spokeswoman

BRUSSELS, May 30 (Reuters) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has agreed to attend an event in Russia next month, a Commission spokeswoman said on Monday, in a move that may stir debate on the EU's fraught relations with Moscow.

"President Juncker has been invited and plans to participate in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on 16 June," the spokeswoman said.
PRESS DIGEST - RUSSIA - MAY 30

MOSCOW, May 30 (Reuters) - The following are some stories in Russia's newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

VEDOMOSTI

www.vedomosti.ru

- Russia's former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin is trying to convince President Vladimir Putin in the need of easing geopolitical tension to encourage investment from abroad which Russia's economy sorely needs, the daily writes.

- The Communications Ministry has worked out a draft law which gives the state the right to monitor critically minded Internet resources working in Russia, the daily says.

- President Putin has approved to channel 100 billion roubles ($1.51 billion) from the budget into the modernisation of the regional aircraft Illyushin 114 and the four-engine, long-haul Illyushin 96 designed for long distances.

KOMMERSANT

www.kommersant.ru

- The Communications Ministry recommends that Russia's military and state officials should be banned from using mobile message systems Gmail and Google for exchanging e-mails. The proposal has been sent to President Putin for the approval, the daily says.

- Demand for trips organized by travel agencies with packages exceeding 500,000 roubles ($7,560) has grown by up to 30 percent for some destinations despite the general worsening of the situation in tourist industry, the daily reports.

- State-paid allowances for jobless people could be doubled to 8,000 roubles ($121), but only for those who are "in an active search for a new job".

MOSKOVSKY KOMSOMELTS

www.mk.ru
Juncker's plan to visit Russia in June reopens EU sanctions debate

By Alastair Macdonald and Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS, May 30 (Reuters) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's plan to meet President Vladimir Putin in June in Russia on Monday reignited a debate about ties with Moscow as the bloc weighs renewing sanctions on the Kremlin.

Diplomats in Brussels still expect the 28-nation bloc to extend - most likely for six months - the energy, financial and defence sanctions against Russia, which were introduced over Moscow's role in the conflict in Ukraine and expire in July.

But they said that intensifying high-level contacts with Russia two years after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine signals the EU may soften its policy in the second half of the year.

While several EU leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel have visited Russia since the annexation in March 2014 and the backing of separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine, the trip will be Juncker's first as Europe's chief executive.

Putin was also in Athens last week.

It will come as the 28-strong EU tries to preserve unity on sanctions, which have been questioned by Hungary, Greece and Italy. The United States insists they must remain in place until Russia fulfils its part of the Minsk peace plan.

Lithuania and Latvia, former Soviet republics that are now EU and NATO members very wary of Russia, were critical.

"A visit by an official of this level always carries a symbolic value. I don't see any reasons why we would need to symbolically demonstrate to Russia that we're seeking contact," Lithuania's Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told Reuters.

His Latvian counterpart, Edgars Rinkevics said Juncker should avoid creating "an impression made that relations between Russia and the EU will hold the framework of 'business as usual' by ignoring the events of 2014".

Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said Juncker would "convey to the Russian leadership ... the EU's perspective regarding the current state of the EU-Russian relations".

"DESIRE FOR DIALOGUE"

Schinas reiterated EU sanctions policy on Russia, saying that Juncker's June 16 visit was not inconsistent with it. EU leaders are due to decide at their June 28-29 summit on whether to extend the sanctions.

"The duration of sanctions is clearly linked to Russia's complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine's sovereignty," Schinas said, referring to the stalled peace accord, which the EU says must be implemented for sanctions to be eased.

He said Juncker and Putin would meet during the economic forum in St Petersburg but declined to say whether there would be a separate face-to-face meeting. The Kremlin welcomed Juncker's visit, but said it was unlikely to be a breakthrough.

"The most positive element to this trip is that it shows a readiness and a desire for dialogue aimed at getting consensus on those issues where we still have strong disagreements," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Juncker, a former Luxembourg prime minister, has called for a "practical relationship" with Moscow and last November wrote to Putin suggesting closer trade ties between the EU and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.

He has at times been criticised by EU members more hawkish on Russia. Germany and France, on the other hand, want dialogue to avoid a further worsening of ties with Moscow, Europe's main energy provider.

Moscow may have given EU states advocating sanctions relief more arguments by last week returning to Kiev jailed Ukrainian military pilot Nadezhda Savchenko in a prisoner exchange welcomed by Western politicians.

An EU diplomat said on Monday that, while this may help "general mood" in ties with Europe, the economic sanctions were still most likely to be prolonged by six months from July.

EU's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said earlier this month that a broader review of the bloc's policy towards Russia was looming in the later in the year.
Australia miners merge, hope to boost lithium sales

By James Regan

SYDNEY, May 30 (Reuters) - Galaxy Resources and General Mining on Monday agreed to a A$216 million ($155 million) merger to consolidate their lithium mines in Australia, Canada and Argentina, with prices for the metal soaring on growing demand for electric vehicles.

The offer, swapping one General Mining share for 1.65 new Galaxy shares, is the latest in a push by Australian-listed companies to mine lithium, essential in powering non-internal combustion engines and led by companies such a Tesla Motors , Nissan and BMW.

The deal, announced by both firms during a call with media, is also aimed at assembling an institutional investment-grade company capitalised at around A$700 million to provide large investors with a way into Australian lithium, where most players are little more than penny stocks.

Shares in Galaxy and General Mining have appreciated some 1,100 percent and 1,400 percent respectively over the past year on the back of the boom in lithium.

Australia has seen a stampede of proposals to mine lithium in the past 12 months, with more than 20 companies in various stages of development in the Pilbara region of Western Australia state alone.

Lithium prices have risen to over $20,000 a tonne from about $7,000 a tonne last September, according to metals consultancy CRU.

Industry website Asian Metal says lithium carbonate, the compound used in batteries, has jumped by 76 percent in the past 12 months.

"The price of lithium today is incentivising companies to produce," said Shaw and Partners analyst Peter O'Connor. "People are coming out of the woodwork with lithium."

General Mining Managing Director Mike Fotios said he did not see oversupply emerging anytime soon.

"The rate by which we see new projects coming onstream in Australia and Canada, we only see the market reaching something like equilibrium in the next four to five years," Fotios said.

Goldman Sachs estimates that a 1 percent rise in electric-battery consumption will increase lithium demand by 45 percent.

"More and more and companies see an opening in lithium and that's driving mergers and partnerships in Australia," said Michael Hannington, exploration manager for Metalicity Ltd , which is accelerating a A$1 million programme to find more lithium in Australia.

Pilbara Minerals last month raised A$100 million to pay for exploration for a new mine in northwestern Australia, while Orocobre Ltd expects to reach full production at a mine in Argentina by September.
Bahrain toughens jail term on opposition leader to 9 years-Wefaq

DUBAI, May 30 (Reuters) - A Bahraini appeals court on Monday toughened a prison sentence on the leader of the country's main opposition group al-Wefaq, increasing his jail term to nine years from four, the group said on its website.
Poland's Kaczynski says may challenge EU rule of law procedure in court- report

WARSAW, May 30 (Reuters) - Poland may go to the top European Union court to challenge an EU rule of law procedure launched against it earlier this year if Brussels steps up its pressure on Warsaw, the head of the ruling conservative party has said.

The EU launched an unprecedented inquiry in January into whether Poland's new eurosceptic government had breached the EU's democratic standards through its attempted reform of the country's constitutional court.

The first use of the EU executive's new Rule of Law Framework, adopted in 2014, could eventually lead to sanctions such as a suspension of Poland's voting rights in the EU's executive.

"The procedure that is currently being used against us is a non-treaty procedure, a made-up one, and it can be challenged in the Court of Justice of the European Union at any moment," said Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the Law and Justice party (PiS).

"If it gets fierce, we will do this," he told the Do Rzeczy weekly in an interview published on Monday.

The row stems from changes Poland's new government imposed on the country's constitutional court late last year that increased the size of majorities required for rulings and changed the order in which cases are heard. The EU said those changes undermined the court's independence.

EU and Polish officials have met several times to discuss possible solutions to the standoff, but without success.

Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Szymanski signalled last week that Warsaw was ready to give some ground to end the crisis.
Lagarde remote control makes Europeans doubt IMF role in Greek deal

By Jan Strupczewski

BRUSSELS, May 27 (Reuters) - Another sleepless night in Brussels before another debt deal with Greece. So far, so routine in the euro zone crisis.

But for once it was not high-stakes calls to Athens that kept Europe's finance ministers up into the early hours. This time they were kept waiting for IMF officials to yield after months of wrangling with Greece's euro zone creditors over the Fund's demands that the Europeans give Athens debt relief.

The wait ended when absent International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde was reached on the phone as she travelled in Asia by her representatives in the room at the European Council's headquarters in Brussels.

But the signs of indecision in the IMF have prompted questions among EU officials about the Washington-based Fund's commitment to rejoining their bailout for Greece -- and about whether it is worth working with it in future.

Even Finnish Finance Minister Alexander Stubb, an ally of Germany in insisting on an IMF role as a guarantor for northern European voters that the Greeks will not squander their money, wondered out loud this week whether the euro zone should keep trying to get the Fund involved again "at any price".

Questions about the IMF's engagement were raised by about a dozen senior officials in private conversations with Reuters since the agreement was reached.

At 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem presented a "breakthrough" deal under which the euro zone agreed to criteria for granting Greece relief on what it owes them in 2018. Poul Thomsen, the IMF's director for Europe, pledged to seek IMF board approval for resuming its role in the bailout.

The agreement ended almost a year of Transatlantic argument in which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras's cash-strapped government has often been little more than a spectator.

The IMF says Athens's debt burden is unsustainable and refused to be part of a third bailout package agreed by the euro zone in August unless the Europeans -- not the Fund itself -- rescheduled some of their loans. Some Europeans, led by veteran German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, refused.

Schaeuble says Athens can survive for now and may be in a better position to pay in the future, and that writing off its debts would create a "moral hazard" that could undermine confidence.

During the negotiations this week, euro zone officials said they were startled by what they saw as unusually intense and difficult conversations among Thomsen and other IMF officials, and notably by the way in which the Dane had to wait for hours to reach Lagarde before finally accepting the accord.

"It seemed the IMF couldn't agree on a common position among themselves," said a senior euro zone official, who noted the Fund's top lawyer had flown in from Washington to vet the deal.

IMF officials said the delay was largely a matter of the logistics in reaching Lagarde, a former French finance minister, who was visiting Kazakhstan before going to the Group of Seven summit in Japan. Nor was it unusual to wait for her green light.

Another European official said Thomsen seemed "frustrated" during a final 10-minute call he made to Lagarde from a corridor outside the meeting room. He was heard saying the Fund should not agree but seemed to lose the argument, the EU official said.

IMF spokesman Gerry Rice dismissed that interpretation: "The suggestion of 'overruling' is nonsense," he said. "The parameters of our negotiation positions are, as always, discussed and agreed in advance."

A final call was "typical in such cases", Rice added: "The managing director fully backed Poul's position."

Whatever the reasons for the delay, Schaeuble, who has been insistent that the IMF be involved in order for him to persuade hawkish German lawmakers to give their blessing to the bailout, made no secret of his irritation with the Fund's behaviour.

"It might have been helpful if the managing director had been here," he told reporters, noting that it was Berlin, not the IMF, which was the main creditor to Athens.

A key euro zone argument in seeking a less dogmatic line from the IMF on debt relief than the Fund applies in other cases is that unlike most of the IMF's debtors, Greece can count on the euro zone to avert bankruptcy. For that reason, Europeans say, the Fund should worry less about seeing IMF loans repaid or the sustainability of Athens' debt in the long term and accept the role of fiscal overseer that Berlin wants it to play.

How far the Fund has accepted that position remains a question for the Europeans. Some IMF officials have briefed reporters since the deal that it will still require conditions to be met before the board will agree to lend Greece more.

Against that, several euro zone officials told Reuters that whatever the Fund's functionaries might think, the top-level political commitment given by its boss, demonstrated in the late-night call, was proof that it was on board.

"She is the real power player here," one European said.

Several EU officials believed the deal was essentially in the bag before the Eurogroup met on Tuesday -- when Lagarde met Schaeuble, Eurogroup President Dijsselbloem and French Finance Minister Michel Sapin at a G7 meeting in Japan last weekend.

That explained why Schaeuble had been so irritated by what he saw as Thomsen's hesitation past midnight.

Another euro zone official said: "I'm confident the IMF will be on board. There still needs to be an intensive discussion of possible measures later this autumn, before they join.

"But that should be OK."

Some Europeans also said, however, that it may be no great problem if the much sought after IMF return to the bailout falls through, and certainly even Germany may be less insistent on keeping the uncooperative Fund involved in any future bailout.
Bahrain more than doubles jail sentence of top opposition leader

DUBAI, May 30 (Reuters) - A Bahraini appeals court on Monday more than doubled the prison term imposed on the country's most prominent opposition leader, Sheikh Ali Salman, to nine years from four, a ruling that could increase political tensions in the Gulf kingdom.

Bahrain's public prosecutor said the stiffer sentence related to "crimes of promoting change to the political system by force", according to state news agency BNA.

Sheikh Salman's al-Wefaq Islamic Society denounced the decision as "provocative" and said it undermined any chance of resolving a political crisis in the Sunni-ruled kingdom tinged with sectarianism and rivalries among regional powers.

"The appeals court ruling ... will further strain the security and political situation in Bahrain," a joint statement by four leading opposition groups said.

Salman, a Shi'ite Muslim cleric, was sentenced in June to four years in prison for inciting unrest. Defence lawyers appealed in September, saying that prosecutors had presented as evidence excerpts of his speeches that were taken out of context.

Prosecutors responded with their own appeal asking the court to reverse Salman's earlier acquittal on more serious charges of seeking to overthrow the political system by force.

"He was in the habit of such incitement and promoted (it) in his speeches on various occasions, including extremist appeals in which he justified acts of violence and sabotage, provoking regime change and calling for jihad (holy war) as a form of religious duty," BNA said, quoting the prosecution.

The court extended his prison term as a result. His lawyers said they have 30 days to appeal against the ruling.

"The case stands on what Sheikh Ali Salman has said in his speeches, and there is nothing in his speeches that contained (substance reflecting) the charge against him," defence lawyer Jalila al-Sayed told a news conference.

Salman was arrested in December in a case that angered his followers and stirred unrest in the island kingdom, which has a Shi'ite majority.

Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, has experienced sporadic turmoil since a Shi'ite-led uprising in 2011 that demanded democratic reforms and a bigger role in government.
Iraqi army storms to edge of Islamic State-held Falluja; fresh bombings hit Baghdad

By Maher Nazeh and Saif Hameed

SOUTHERN OUTSKIRTS OF FALLUJA, Iraq, May 30 (Reuters) - The Iraqi army stormed to the southern edge of Falluja under U.S. air support on Monday and captured a police station inside the city limits, launching a direct assault to retake one of the main strongholds of Islamic State militants.

A Reuters TV crew about a mile (about 1.5 km) from the city's edge said explosions and gunfire were ripping through Naimiya, a largely rural district of Falluja on its southern outskirts.

An elite military unit, the Rapid Response Team, seized the district's police station at midday, state TV reported.

The unit advanced another mile northward, stopping about 500 meters (yards) from the al-Shuhada district, the southeastern part of city's main built-up area, army officers said.

The battle for Falluja is shaping up to be one of the biggest ever fought against Islamic State, in the city where U.S. forces waged the heaviest battles of their 2003-2011 occupation against the Sunni Muslim militant group's precursors.

Falluja is Islamic State's closest bastion to Baghdad, and believed to be the base from which the group has plotted an escalating campaign of suicide bombings against Shi'ite civilians and government targets inside the capital.

As government forces pressed their onslaught, suicide bombers driving a car and a motorcycle blew themselves up in the capital. Along with another bomb planted in a car, they killed more than 20 people and injured more than 50 in three districts of Baghdad, police and medical sources said.

Separately, Kurdish security forces announced advances against Islamic State in northern Iraq, capturing villages from militants outside Mosul, the biggest city under militant control.

The Iraqi army launched its operation to recover Falluja a week ago, first by tightening a six-month-old siege around the city 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

Falluja, in the heartland of Sunni Muslim tribes who resent the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad, was the first Iraqi city to fall to Islamic State in January 2014. Months later, the group overran wide areas of the north and west of Iraq, declaring a caliphate including parts of neighbouring Syria.

On Monday, army units were "steadily advancing" to Falluja's southern outskirts under air cover from a U.S.-led coalition helping to fight against the militants, according to a military statement read out on state TV.

A Shi'ite militia coalition known as Popular Mobilisation, or Hashid Shaabi, was seeking to consolidate the siege by dislodging militants from Saqlawiya, a village just to the north of Falluja.

The militias, who took the lead in assaults against Islamic State in other parts of Iraq last year, have pledged not to take part in the assault on the mainly Sunni Muslim city itself to avoid aggravating sectarian strife.

Between 500 and 700 militants are in Falluja, according to a U.S. military estimate. The U.S.-led coalition conducted three air strikes near Falluja over the past 24 hours, destroying fighting positions, vehicles, tunnel entrances and denying the militants access to terrain, it said in a statement.

ISLAMIST MILITANT STRONGHOLD

Falluja has been a bastion of the Sunni insurgency that fought both the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the Shi'ite-led Baghdad government that took over after the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in 2003.

American troops suffered some of their worst losses of the war in two battles in 2004 to wrest Falluja back from Al Qaeda in Iraq, the insurgent group now known as Islamic State.

The latest offensive is causing alarm among international aid organisations over the humanitarian situation in the city, where more than 50,000 civilians remain trapped with limited access to water, food and health care.

Falluja is the second-largest Iraqi city still under control of the militants, after Mosul, their de facto capital in the north that had a pre-war population of about 2 million.

It would be the third major city in Iraq recaptured by the government after Saddam's home town Tikrit and Ramadi, the capital of Iraq's vast western Anbar province.

Falluja is also in Anbar, located between Ramadi and Baghdad, and capturing it would give the government control of the major population centres of the Euphrates River valley west of the capital for the first time in more than two years.

On the northern front, the security forces of the autonomous Kurdish region launched an attack on Sunday to oust Islamist militants from villages about 20 km (13 miles) east of Mosul so as to increase the pressure on Islamic State and pave the way for storming that city.

The Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, have retaken six villages in total since attacking Islamic State positions on Sunday with the support of the U.S.-led coalition, the Kurdistan Region Security Council said on Monday. That represents most of the targets of their latest advance.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi hopes to recapture Mosul later this year to deal a decisive defeat to Islamic State.

Abadi announced the onslaught on Falluja on May 22 after a spate of bombings that killed more than 150 people in one week in Baghdad, the worst death toll so far this year. The worsening security in the capital has added to political pressure on Abadi, struggling to maintain the support of a Shi'ite coalition amid popular protests against an entrenched political class.

Monday's bombings targeted two densely populated Shi'ite districts, Shaab and Sadr City, and a government building in one predominantly Sunni suburb, Tarmiya, north of Baghdad.

A car bomb in Shaab killed 12 people and injured more than 20, while in Tarmiya eight were killed and 21 injured by a suicide bomber who pulled up in a car outside a government building guarded by police. In Sadr City, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed three people and injured nine.

The battle of Falluja is helping Abadi refocus the attention of Iraq's unruly political parties on the war against Islamic State, so as to defuse popular unrest prompted by delays in a planned reshuffle of the cabinet to help root out corruption.

In a speech to parliament on Sunday, he called on political groups to "put on hold their differences until the military operations are over."
Turkey's Erdogan accuses Russia of arming PKK militants -newspaper

ANKARA, May 30 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has accused Russia of providing anti-aircraft weaponry and rockets to militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), the pro-government Star newspaper and other local media reported on Monday.

Speaking to reporters on board his airplane after a visit to the southeastern province of Diyarbakir over the weekend, Erdogan accused Moscow of transferring weaponry to the PKK via Iraq and Syria, the Star newspaper said.

"At this moment, terrorists are using anti-aircraft guns and missiles supplied by Russia. The separatist terrorist organisation is equipped with these weapons. They have been transferred to them via Syria and Iraq," the Star reported Erdogan as saying.

The "separatist terrorist organisation" is a Turkish government term for the PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the state that has left more than 40,000 people dead, mostly PKK militants in the largely Kurdish southeast.

The government was not immediately available to confirm the report.

While Erdogan has previously castigated Russia for its support of Kurdish fighters in Syria, the latest comments appear to be the first time he has accused Moscow of supplying arms to the PKK, seen as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and Europe.

Ankara also considers the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters to be a terrorist group and has been enraged by both Russian and U.S. backing for the group, which is battling Islamic State militants in Syria.

Turkey, a NATO member, is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Syria and is also one of the most vocal opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Moscow is backing Assad, although it has said it supports the Syrian Kurds in the struggle against Islamic State.

Relations between Ankara and Moscow soured after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane over Syria last year, prompting a raft of sanctions from Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in April promised support for Syrian Kurds, saying they were a serious force in the fight against terrorism.
China hails brotherly Africa relations after "racist" ad outcry

BEIJING, May 30 (Reuters) - China and Africa are "good brothers" and China respects all people regardless of race, the government said on Monday after a detergent maker apologised for an advert showing a black man bundled into a washing machine that many called racist.

In the television advertisement for Qiaobi laundry detergent, a black man wolf-whistles at a Chinese woman, who beckons him over. She then stuffs a packet of detergent in his mouth and shoves him head-first into a washing machine.

A moment later, the woman opens the lid and a fair-skinned Asian man pops out.

State media reported the ad had first appeared in April but went viral after being posted on YouTube last week, where it racked up millions of views within a few days. Some Chinese and foreign internet users condemned it as racist.

"We express our sincere apologies and sincerely hope that the many internet users and the media will not read too much into this," Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics, the company that owns the Qiaobi brand, said in a statement at the weekend.

The company deleted an online version of the ad in response to the outcry, the state-backed Global Times reported, citing an interview with the firm. However, versions of it could still be seen on Chinese and foreign video platforms, including YouTube, on Monday.

A company representative declined further comment on Monday.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the ad was an isolated commercial act that had not prompted any diplomatic complaints and hoped people would not hype it up.

"Everyone can see that we are consistent in equality towards, and mutually respect, all countries, no matter their ethnicity or race. In fact, we are good brothers with African countries," Hua told a daily news briefing.

It is unclear if the black actor in the ad is from Africa.

Public discussion of racial discrimination is unusual in China, which is dominated by the ethnic Han majority but is also home to dozens of minority groups as well as a growing influx of foreign residents, including Africans.

"Even though the people who shot the ad may not have realized it, it really is racist," one user on the microblogging platform Weibo wrote. "Those who planned the ad strategy should really have read up first."

Government officials often insist that China enjoys largely harmonious ethnic relations, though tension has led to violence, particularly in its western regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, which have large minority populations.

The Global Times, a popular tabloid known for a nationalistic bent, said in an editorial Western media coverage was "too extreme" and China had no problems with discrimination.
Philippine Congress proclaims Duterte winner of presidential election

By Manuel Mogato and Karen Lema

MANILA, May 30 (Reuters) - Rodrigo Duterte became the 16th president of the Philippines on Monday when a joint session of Congress declared him winner of a May 9 election, succeeding Benigno Aquino who steps down next month after six years in office.

The tough-talking Duterte, mayor of Davao City in the south, campaigned on the single issue of crushing crime and now faces a daunting task of fixing infrastructure, creating jobs and lifting more than a quarter of the 100 million population out of poverty.

"I hereby proclaim Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Maria Leonor Gerona Robredo as the duly elected president and vice president of the Republic of the Philippines," Senator Franklin Drilon and Congressman Feliciano Belmonte said in a joint session of Congress.

Robredo is an ally of Aquino's. She beat the son and namesake of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos to become vice president.

Duterte, 71, was in Davao on Monday and was declared winner in absentia.

He won the ballots of nearly 40 percent of 44 million voters, lured by his success against crime in Davao, despite the questions his policies raised among human rights campaigners.

Duterte has been criticized for allowing a spree of vigilante killings, and critics fear he could let them happen on a larger scale as president.

He has denied ordering killings, but has not condemned them.

CONTINUATION IN ECONOMIC POLICY

The former prosecutor has said he will continue his predecessor's economic policies, which focused on infrastructure and fiscal efficiency, to help push growth up to 7-8 percent.

Growth has been on average 6 percent a year under Aquino, but it has not translated into jobs and improvement in the lives of ordinary Filipinos.

Among several appointments Duterte has announced is Ernesto Pernia, an economics professor from the University of the Philippines, as economic planning secretary, and a former agriculture secretary, Carlos Dominguez, as finance minister.

Duterte is due to announce his cabinet on Tuesday.

The president also inherits a territorial dispute with China but he has indicated his willingness to repair strained ties by inviting Chinese investment and offering to set aside sovereignty issues in exploring resources in the South China Sea. He has said he will not abandon Philippine claims.

Duterte has also said he would pursue peace with Marxist guerrillas and has even offered their leaders government roles.

He has said he wanted a more even distribution of power and wealth and has called on Congress to revise a 1987 constitution to allow for a more federal system of government to accommodate Muslim rebels in the south.

But confrontation looks to be looming with the influential Roman Catholic church.

Duterte has said he will defy the church and seek to impose a three-child policy and he has called Philippine bishops "sons of whores".
Roadside bomb kills two police in southeast Turkey - security sources

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 30 (Reuters) - Kurdish militants detonated a roadside bomb which tore through an armoured vehicle in southeast Turkey on Monday, killing two police officers and wounding another, security sources said.

They said the explosives, detonated by remote control around 11 am (0800 GMT), were planted by a road in a district of Van city in the country's mainly Kurdish southeast.

An air-backed security operation was launched in the area to find the perpetrators, they added.
Turkey's Erdogan accuses Russia of arming PKK militants

By Orhan Coskun and Ece Toksabay

ANKARA, May 30 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has accused Russia of providing anti-aircraft weaponry and rockets to militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), government officials said on Monday, confirming reports in local media.

Speaking to reporters on board his airplane after a visit to the southeastern province of Diyarbakir over the weekend, Erdogan accused Moscow of transferring weaponry to the PKK via Iraq and Syria, the pro-government Star newspaper said.

"At this moment, terrorists are using anti-aircraft guns and missiles supplied by Russia. The separatist terrorist organisation is equipped with these weapons. They have been transferred to them via Syria and Iraq," the newspaper reported Erdogan as saying.

The "separatist terrorist organisation" is a Turkish government term for the PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the state that has left more than 40,000 people dead, mostly PKK militants in the largely Kurdish southeast.

Two Turkish government officials confirmed Erdogan's comments, but Russia said Turkey must show proof for its claims.

While Erdogan has previously castigated Russia for its support of Kurdish fighters in Syria, the latest comments appear to be the first time he has accused Moscow of supplying arms to the PKK, seen as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and Europe.

Responding to the accusation, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying: "When someone says something, let them show evidence."

FIXING TIES

However, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus was relatively upbeat on Monday about the outlook for relations with Russia, a rare departure from months of tough rhetoric after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane last year.

"Neither Russia nor Turkey can afford to sacrifice their relationship with each other," Kurtulmus, the government's official spokesman, told a news conference.

"I wish such tensions had never emerged, but I believe that Turkish-Russian ties can be fixed in a short while. These two countries have no problems that cannot be overcome. I hope that these issues will be solved through dialogue."

He did not directly address Erdogan's comments about Russian military support for the PKK.

Ankara also considers the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters to be terrorists and has been enraged by both Russian and U.S. backing for the militia in its battle with Islamic State in Syria.

NATO member Turkey is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Syria and is also a vocal opponent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Moscow backs Assad but says it also supports the Syrian Kurds in the struggle against Islamic State.

Relations between Ankara and Moscow hit their worst point in recent memory after Turkey shot down the Russian plane over Syria last year, prompting a raft of sanctions from Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in April promised support for Syrian Kurds, saying they were a serious force in the fight against terrorism.
Traffic at France's Le Havre oil terminal -port authority

PARIS, May 30 (Reuters) - Two oil tankers had unloaded their cargo by Monday at Le Havre oil port in northern France, cutting the number of ships held up there by a rolling nationwide strike to nine from 11 on Friday, a port authority spokeswoman said.

Work has resumed at the port, she said, after dockers and port workers joined the protest called by hardline trade unions CGT and FO for on Thursday and Friday. The strike is part of a series aimed at forcing the government to withdraw planned changes to labour laws.

In the southern oil port terminal of Fos-Lavera, France's biggest oil port, an official of Fluxel, which manages the oil terminal, said on Monday some vessels were modifying their route but work has not resumed.

He said 15 vessels were at the quayside and another 26 in the harbour, of which 15 were waiting to unload and 11 waiting to load, with cargoes of oil, LNG, chemicals and products.

On Friday, about 38 oil tankers were held up at the Fos-Lavera port.
Greece tells lenders it can't implement some extra demands - letter

ATHENS, May 30 (Reuters) - Greece has told its European and International Monetary Fund creditors it cannot implement some of the extra changes sought in exchange for fresh bailout loans, three sources close to the talks said on Monday.

The move, if confirmed, could further delay the disbursement of the bailout funds which Athens badly needs to pay off IMF loans in June and European Central Bank bonds maturing in July and increasing state arrears.

Last week, after months of negotiations, Greece and its lenders concluded a key bailout review, opening the way for debt relief that Greece has long desired.

The lenders also gave the green light for the disbursement of 10.3 billion euros in tranches, on condition that Athens amends some recent laws concerning pensions, privatisations and freeing up the sale of bad loans.

But in a letter sent to the lenders last week, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said some of the additional demands could not be fulfilled, the sources said.

The finance ministry had no immediate comment and it was not immediately clear whether the release of the funds was at risk.

According to one of the sources, some of them were related to pension reforms.

"We cannot make any substantial changes. But we will proceed with the technical amendments discussed. Some of them are right," a government official told Reuters.
Chinese worker wounded in Pakistani bomb attack

KARACHI, Pakistan, May 30 (Reuters) - A Chinese worker and his driver were wounded in Pakistan on Monday in a bomb attack claimed by ethnic nationalists opposed to plans for extensive Chinese investment, police said.

The attack is likely to raise concern about a planned China Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC), involving $46 billion in Chinese investment in roads, power plants, railway lines and a new port in Pakistan.

Pakistan, battling Islamist militants as well as separatist guerrillas in parts of the country, has promised to ensure security for the project.

The Chinese man and his Pakistani driver were slightly wounded in the attack in the southern province of Sindh, provincial police chief Allah Dino Khawaja told Reuters.

"Apparently, the attack was aimed at the Chinese national," Khawaja said, adding that the man was travelling with his driver and a security guard.

A low-intensity bomb went off by the road in a suburb of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, shattering the windows of the van the men were travelling in. Television footage showed construction helmets in a rear seat.

A pamphlet signed by a group called the Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army, an ethnic Sindhi separatist group, was found at the site, police said.

"The world's most plunderous nation has set its eye on Sindh," the pamphlet said, according to a photograph of it seen by Reuters.

"They want to attack Sindh and enslave its people."

The group was apparently referring to the China-Pakistan corridor, which was announced last year, though it was unclear whether the unidentified Chinese national was working on a CPEC project.
Suspected al Shabaab fighters kill 3 village elders in Kenya - police

By Joseph Akwiri

MOMBASA, Kenya, May 30 (Reuters) - Suspected al Shabaab militants shot and killed three village elders, including a Muslim cleric, in Kenya's coastal region on suspicion of helping security agencies fight the insurgents, police said on Monday.

Village chairman Juma Mwanyota, religious leader Hassan Mwasanite and a member of local neighbourhood security group, Mohammed Manguze, were shot and killed separately on Sunday in Kwale county, south of Kenya's port city Mombasa.

Kwale county police chief Joseph Omija said they believed the killers were young recruits who had returned to Kenya from training by al Shabaab in Somalia.

"They (the suspects) think these elders have information about them which they are sharing with us and other security agencies, and that is why they are targeting them," Omija told Reuters by phone.

Al Shabaab has said in the past its frequent attacks in Kenya are in retaliation for Kenya sending its troops into Somalia in 2011. They are now part of an African Union peacekeeping force. Several raids targeted coastal sites.

The al Qaeda-linked group also seeks to overthrow the Western-backed Somali government and impose its own strict interpretation of Islamic law.

In early May, a young man who had returned from Somalia and surrendered to government was shot and killed by what Omija said was a group of al Shabaab militants.

Coast regional coordinator Nelson Marwa told a news conference in Mombasa they were seeking the suspects in Sunday's killings.

In 2014, a prominent Muslim cleric, Sheikh Mohamed Idris, was shot and killed at a mosque in Kwale county and police linked the killing to his stand against terrorism and radicalisation.

A madrassa teacher who was arrested and charged for the murder was found guilty and sentenced to death.

In 2014, about 100 people were killed by al Shabaab militants in the Mpeketoni area of Lamu County.

Police said in a statement late on Sunday they had arrested four suspects in connection with the killings, and published pictures of eight others they were looking for.
Germany plans draft law on nuclear storage costs in August

BERLIN, May 30 (Reuters) - The German cabinet plans to approve a draft law on August 3 that will require its utilities to pay billions of euros into a state fund to help cover the cost of nuclear storage, according to an Economy Ministry timetable seen by Reuters on Monday.

A commission recommended in April that Germany's "big four" power firms - E.ON, RWE, EnBW and Vattenfall - pay a total 23.3 billion euros ($26 billion) to remove unwanted long-term liability for the storage of nuclear waste.

The commission asked utilities to transfer provisions set aside for storage sooner than expected, starting with a first instalment totalling 17.2 billion euros no later than early 2017. The government is widely expected to adopt the commission's proposals.

The legacy costs stem from Germany's decision to end nuclear power by 2022 following Japan's Fukushima disaster five years ago.
Japan puts military on alert for possible North Korea missile launch

TOKYO/SEOUL, May 30 (Reuters) - Japan put its military on alert on Monday for a possible North Korean ballistic missile firing, while South Korea also said it had detected evidence of launch preparations, officials from Japan and South Korea said.

Tension in the region has been high since North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and followed that with a satellite launch and test launches of various missiles.

Japan ordered naval destroyers and Patriot anti-ballistic missile batteries to be ready to shoot down any projectile heading for the country, state broadcaster NHK said.

A Japanese official, who declined to be identified as he is not authorised to speak to the media, confirmed the order. A spokesmen for Japan's defence ministry declined to comment.

The missile tubes on a Patriot missile battery on the grounds of Japan's Ministry of Defence were elevated to a firing position.

The South Korean defence official declined to comment on what type of missile might be launched, but South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said officials believe it would be an intermediate-range Musudan missile.

"We've detected a sign and are tracking that. We are fully prepared," said the South Korean official, who also declined to be identified.

A Pentagon spokesman, U.S. Navy Commander Gary Ross, said: "We are closely monitoring the situation on the Korean Peninsula in coordination with our regional allies. We urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions that aggravate tensions and instead focus on fulfilling its international obligations and commitments."

Ross said he would not discuss U.S. intelligence assessments. The White House declined to comment.

North Korea tried unsuccessfully to test launch the Musudan three times in April, according to U.S. and South Korean officials.

Japan has put its anti-ballistic missile forces on alert at least twice this year after detecting signs of launches by North Korea.

North Korea's nuclear and missile tests this year triggered new U.N. sanctions. But it seems determined to press ahead with its weapons programmes, despite the sanctions and the disapproval of its sole main ally, China.

Last Friday, leaders of the Group of Seven industrialised nations, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama, met in Japan and demanded that North Korea comply with a U.N. Security Council resolution to stop all nuclear and missile tests and refrain from provocative action.

On the same day, North Korea threatened to retaliate against South Korea after it fired what it said were warning shots when boats from the North crossed the disputed sea border off the west coast of the Korean peninsula.

Japan has advanced Aegis vessels in the Sea of Japan that are able to track multiple targets and are armed with SM-3 missiles designed to destroy incoming warheads in space before they re-enter the atmosphere.
China protests to Indonesia over seizure of fishing vessel

JAKARTA/BEIJING, May 30 (Reuters) - China said on Monday it had lodged a "stern" protest with Indonesia after the Southeast Asian country's navy seized a Chinese vessel it suspected of fishing illegally in its waters.

The dispute comes amid heightened tension over China's reclamation activities in the South China Sea and its claims on swathes of the key waterway, where several Southeast Asian nations have overlapping claims.

The Indonesian military said it detained the vessel, Gui Bei Yu, last Friday, after it entered Indonesia's exclusive economic zone in the resource-rich Natuna Sea off the northwest coast of the island of Borneo.

"That ship is strongly suspected to have stolen fish in Indonesian territory," said Rear Admiral A. Taufiq R, adding that the types of fish aboard matched those commonly found in the surrounding waters.

Jakarta is not a claimant in the disputes over the South China Sea, but it has objected to China's inclusion of parts of the Indonesian-ruled Natuna Islands within a "nine-dash line" that Beijing marks on maps to show its claim on the waterway.

China has said it does not dispute Indonesia's sovereignty over the Natuna Islands.

The latest row follows a confrontation between the two countries in the same waters in March, when a Chinese coastguard vessel rammed a Chinese fishing vessel to release it after it had been seized by Indonesian authorities.

Last week's seizure was intended as a "notice to the world" that Indonesia would take stern action against ships that violate its jurisdiction, the Indonesian military said in a statement on Sunday.

China has lodged "stern representations" with Indonesia in response, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news briefing on Monday.
Israel's hawkish defence chief tries to smooth ruffled feathers

By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM, May 30 (Reuters) - When Israel scrambled two F-15 fighter jets last month to intercept an Egyptian airliner after faulty communication with the cockpit raised fears of a hijack, it took several tense minutes for the plane to be cleared to land.

Any last-resort shoot-down decision in such a situation could fall to Israel's defence minister if the prime minister were unavailable.

The defence post at the time was held by Moshe Yaalon, a former armed forces chief. The incident on April 23, after the plane-load of Christian pilgrims failed to identify itself on entering Israeli airspace, ended calmly.

Yaalon has since been replaced by Avigdor Lieberman, a far-right politician with meagre military experience and a reputation for having a "short fuse".

Lieberman, who was approved as defence minister by the government on Monday, is now battling to show he has the temperament and skill to hew to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's strategy of keeping security crises on a low flame.

Centrist opposition leader Isaac Herzog has warned of "war and funerals" following Lieberman's assumption of the second-most powerful cabinet post. Iranian newspaper Kahyan has likened Lieberman to the Islamic State insurgents fighting Tehran's regional allies in the Middle East.

Lieberman, who in the past ridiculed peace talks with the Palestinians and goaded Egypt and Turkey with critical comments, pledged "strong commitment" to building ties between Israel and its neighbours after signing the coalition deal with Netanyahu.

Two prominent former generals who have worked with Lieberman or advised him say the change of tone is significant, describing the veteran politician as attentive and circumspect in private.

"He is nowhere near as aggressive as his public image would suggest," said one of them. "I think that, as defence minister, he will continue in this vein. He knows what he doesn't know, and he knows how to listen to those that do know."

Many Israelis are not so sure. But some may be coming round.

A television poll aired on May 20, when it became public knowledge that Lieberman was being tapped for defence minister, found 27 percent of Israel's Jewish majority wanted him to have the job. More than half preferred that Yaalon stay on and 22 percent were undecided.

A week later, a television poll of the general public -- including the Arab minority -- found 44 percent thought he would be a good defence minister, 40 percent thought he would not, and 16 percent were undecided.

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Netanyahu says he will call the shots on core national security, but Israeli defence ministers have outflanked premiers before: Ariel Sharon pushed to deepen the 1982 Lebanon invasion, and historians say Moshe Dayan ordered an important offensive during the 1967 Middle East war despite instructions to hold off.

Amotz Asa-El, a fellow with the Shalom Hartman Institute, a liberal Israeli think tank, was skeptical about such comparisons.

He said Lieberman, whose Yisrael Beitenu party holds five of parliament's 120 seats, lacks those predecessors' political clout. Both Sharon and Dayan were also decorated veterans of the Israeli top brass, unlike one-time conscript corporal Lieberman.

"The dynamics around Lieberman are different," Asa-El said.

"Should he go rogue without Netanyahu's approval, for example by trying to turn a future war in Gaza into a more sweeping operation against the Hamas leadership, the senior military echelon are prone to team with Netanyahu against him."

Hours after the coalition deal was announced last week, an al Qaeda-aligned faction in the Gaza Strip launched a rocket into Israel. It caused no damage or casualties but the incident has been seen by some Israelis as throwing down the gauntlet before both Lieberman and Hamas, which has tried to maintain a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave since the 2014 war there.

When Israel last appointed a "civilian" defence minister, Amir Peretz in 2006, Hamas abducted one of its soldiers to Gaza and Hezbollah guerrillas killed two others and spirited their bodies to Lebanon. Israel launched offensives on both fronts.

Those groups' fortunes have since waned as the Arab Spring shook up their support networks running through Egypt and Syria.

Egypt, which sees Israel as a partner for stabilising the Sinai, has taken Lieberman's appointment in its stride, despite alarm in some circles in Cairo. Nor has Syria responded strongly. After years of civil war, Damascus is beholden to Russia, where the Soviet-born Lieberman is well regarded.

Hezbollah, too, is watching from the sidelines.

"Everyone is now analysing Lieberman, the arrogant, lunatic minister of war in Netanyahu's radical government," Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese Shi'ite group, said in a speech last week.
Six killed, many injured, by roadside bombs in southeast Turkey

By Seyhmus Cakan and Ayla Jean Yackley

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 30 (Reuters) - Roadside bombs killed at least six people in two separate attacks on security forces in Turkey's largely Kurdish southeast on Monday, security sources said, adding to the violence that has flared across the region in the last 24 hours.

One bomb hit a passing police vehicle in the town of Silopi in Sirnak province near the border with Iraq, the sources said, hours after Turkish warplanes struck camps belonging to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

Four civilians were killed and 19 other people were injured, including five security force members, in that attack, the sources said. Turkey's Dogan News Agency said the bomb had been placed inside a manhole and was detonated as a police vehicle passed.

Earlier, near the eastern city of Van, PKK fighters detonated a roadside bomb by remote control targeting a passing armoured vehicle. Two police officers were killed and a third was wounded, the sources said.

Clashes between Turkish security forces and the PKK have reached their most intense in two decades since the breakdown of a two-year ceasefire last July.

Thousands of militants and hundreds of civilians and soldiers have been killed since the PKK resumed its armed fight. The government has refused to return to the negotiating table and has vowed to "liquidate" the PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, Europe and the United States.

Late on Sunday, PKK snipers attacked a Turkish base located inside Iraq, killing a lieutenant, the sources said. In the past Turkey has garrisoned a battalion in Iraq's Kani Masi region to prevent PKK fighters from crossing into Turkey.

A man suspected of smuggling goods across the border between Iraq and Turkey was killed and five others injured, when unidentified forces opened fire on smugglers across the border in the Uludere district, they said.

Uludere was the site of an airstrike in December 2011 that killed 34 young men and boys after the military mistook them for PKK militants. Smuggling of cigarettes, fuel and household items is widespread in the poverty-stricken border region.

The PKK also attacked a base in the Turkish town of Siirt, killing one soldier, the military General Staff said. A police officer was also killed in Sirnak province, under a round-the-clock curfew since March 14, security sources said.

In the village of Kulp in Diyarbakir province, a civilian and five members of the village guard, a state-backed militia that fights the PKK, were wounded in a car-bomb attack, they also said.

The General Staff said on its website it had destroyed PKK shelters and weapon stores in the Metina area of northern Iraq on Sunday during the air strikes. It gave no casualty count.
Cambodian parliament approves court action against opposition leader

By Prak Chan Thul

PHNOM PENH, May 30 (Reuters) - Cambodia's parliament voted on Monday to allow a court investigation into an opposition leader accused of procuring a prostitute, a vote that could push the country closer to political turmoil.

The case of the opposition leader, Kem Sokha, and his alleged assignation has dominated politics for weeks and has raised tension in the run-up to a 2018 election that could prove to be veteran Prime Minister Hun Sen's most serious test at the ballot box.

Opponents of Hun Sen say the self-styled strongman is using the judiciary to neutralise his opponents. The government denies that.

Kem Sokha is acting chief of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

Party leader Sam Rainsy, a former finance minister, lives in self-exile to avoid arrest for an old defamation case he was pardoned for. His party has denounced the new warrant as politically motivated.

All 68 members of parliament from Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party voted to allow a court to proceed with an investigation into Kem Sokha stemming from a secretly recorded, and leaked, telephone conversation between him and a woman who the government says he was having an illicit affair with.

Prostitution was made illegal in Cambodia in 2008 even though it is widespread.

Kem Sokha has neither confirmed nor denied having an affair with the woman and has dismissed the action against him as politically motivated. He has ignored court summonses, most recently last Thursday.

Trade unions allied with the CNRP have called for protests if Kem Sokha is arrested.

"The CNRP wants Cambodia to be ruled by rule of law and a multi-party democracy," Son Chhay, a senior CNRP lawmaker, told a news conference.

"We will continue our fight."

The party said Monday's vote was unconstitutional.

The last election in 2013 marked Hun Sen's toughest electoral challenge in three decades of rule and the opposition is expected to mount a sterner test next time as younger voters seek change.

Hun Sen has warned that an election victory for the opposition would see a return to civil war.

The United Nations on Sunday voiced alarm at the escalating tension between Hun Sen's party and the opposition, in particular the arrest or attempted arrest of politicians.
Drowned baby picture captures week of tragedy in Mediterranean

By Steve Scherer

ROME, May 30 (Reuters) - A photograph of a drowned migrant baby in the arms of a German rescuer was distributed on Monday by a humanitarian organisation aiming to persuade European authorities to ensure safe passage to migrants, after hundreds are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean last week.

The baby, who appears to be no more than a year old, was pulled from the sea on Friday after the capsizing of a wooden boat. Forty-five bodies arrived in the southern Italian port of Reggio Calabria on Sunday aboard an Italian navy ship, which picked up 135 survivors from the same incident.

German humanitarian organisation Sea-Watch, operating a rescue boat in the sea between Libya and Italy, distributed the picture taken by a media production company on board and which showed a rescuer cradling the child like a sleeping baby.

In an email, the rescuer, who gave his name as Martin but did not want his family name published, said he had spotted the baby in the water "like a doll, arms outstretched".

"I took hold of the forearm of the baby and pulled the light body protectively into my arms at once, as if it were still alive ... It held out its arms with tiny fingers into the air, the sun shone into its bright, friendly but motionless eyes."

The rescuer, a father of three and by profession a music therapist, added: "I began to sing to comfort myself and to give some kind of expression to this incomprehensible, heart-rending moment. Just six hours ago this child was alive."

Like the photograph of the three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan lying lifeless on a Turkish beach last year, the image puts a human face on the more than 8,000 people who have died in the Mediterranean since the start of 2014.

Little is known about the child, who according to Sea-Watch was immediately handed over to the Italian navy. Rescuers could not confirm whether the partially clothed infant was a boy or a girl and it is not known whether the child's mother or father are among the survivors.

Sea-Watch collected about 25 other bodies, including another child, according to testimony from the crew seen by Reuters. The Sea-Watch team said it unanimously decided to publish the photo.

"In the wake of the disastrous events it becomes obvious to the organizations on the ground that the calls by EU politicians to avoid further death at sea sum up to nothing more than lip service," Sea-Watch said in a statement in English distributed along with the photograph.

"If we do not want to see such pictures we have to stop producing them," Sea-Watch said, calling for Europe to allow migrants safe and legal passage as a way of shutting down people smuggling and further tragedies.

At least 700 migrants may have died at sea this past week in the busiest week of migrant crossings from Libya towards Italy this year, the UN Refugee agency said on Sunday.
Bangladesh panel finds possible insider role in c.bank cyber theft

DHAKA, May 30 (Reuters) - Officials of Bangladesh Bank may have been involved in a brazen theft of $81 million from its account with the New York Federal Reserve Bank in February, the head of a government-appointed panel investigating the cyber heist told reporters on Monday.

Hackers broke into the computer systems of the Bangladesh central bank and issued instructions through the SWIFT network to transfer $951 million of its deposits held at the New York Federal Reserve Bank to accounts in the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

Most of the transactions were blocked but four went through, amounting to $81 million, sparking allegations by Bangladeshi officials that both the Fed and SWIFT had failed to detect the fraud.

"Earlier we thought no one from Bangladesh Bank was involved, but now there is a small change," Mohammed Farashuddin, a former governor of the Bangladesh central bank, said, after handing his final report to the finance minister.

He declined to say what the change was.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said the report would be made public in 15 to 20 days.

Farashuddin declined to provide details of the report, but said its findings were different from a previous one that mainly held SWIFT, the international banking payments network, responsible for one of the world's biggest cyber thefts.

He reiterated that SWIFT could not avoid responsibility, however. He has earlier said SWIFT made a number of mistakes in connecting up a local network in Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital.

SWIFT has denied the accusations.

Bangladesh Bank spokesman Subhankar Saha said its officials had yet to read the report or receive government instructions.
Chandimal century as Sri Lanka frustrate England

May 30 (Reuters) - Dinesh Chandimal completed a fine century as Sri Lanka continued to hold up England's bid to clinch the series by moving on to 403 for six at lunch on the fourth day of the second test in Durham on Monday.

The touring side, crushed in the opening test and bowled out for 101 in the first innings, are six runs ahead in the match after losing only one wicket in the morning session.

Chandimal, badly dropped by wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow off James Anderson on 69, was 108 not out at the interval with Rangana Herath on 37.

Sri Lanka had resumed on 309 for five and England's only success was the dismissal of Milinda Siriwardana for 35, well caught by Alex Hales at third slip off Anderson to end a sixth-wicket partnership of 92.
Frustrated Juncker urges EU leaders to back TTIP trade talks

BRUSSELS, May 30 (Reuters) - The European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will urge EU leaders at a summit next month to back free trade talks with the United States in the face of growing scepticism in member states.

The Commission, which negotiates on behalf of the 28 EU members, and U.S. President Barack Obama's administration want to conclude talks by the end of this year, but public debate is dominated in Europe by vocal opposition from anti-globalisation, ecological and consumer groups.

Juncker, who has set a balanced trade deal with the United States as a priority, is said to be exasperated that some of the EU leaders who approved the initial negotiating mandate in 2013 have become increasingly critical of the talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

"If we are deliver on this commitment, we have to make sure that we are all rowing in the same direction," a spokesman told a news conference.

He said Juncker felt EU leaders needed now to establish what they wanted from the TTIP talks and would ask them at the summit on June 28-29 to reconfirm the Commission's mandate. It is not the first time that Juncker has sought backing for the talks.

German Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel in a newspaper interview published on Sunday for saying that a trade deal was possible this year and questioned whether it was worth continuing negotiations with Washington.

French President Francois Hollande said last week there could be no agreement unless all the EU's requirements were met, while urging Washington to offer more.

The Commission spokesman said talks were advancing and entering a crucial phase. The two parties are aiming to have a text agreeing on as many issues as possible by the end of July, with the most difficult points left to the final months of 2016.

A sense of urgency to clinch an accord before Obama leaves office in January is building on both sides of the Atlantic amid concerns that his successor may not be as committed to free trade deals.
Mauritius ramps up security after gunshots fired on French embassy

By Jean Paul Arouff

PORT LOUIS, May 30 (Reuters) - Mauritius police said on Monday it had stepped up security after gunshots were fired at the French embassy and a hotel in the capital city.

A police official said nobody had been injured and an inquiry had begun to identify and apprehend the perpetrators, adding graffiti mentioning Islamic state was discovered on the wall of the French embassy.

"Police attended a request early in the morning in St Georges street and found traces of projectiles on the bay window of St Georges Hotel and a window found on the ground floor of the French embassy," police commissioner Mario Nobin told reporters.

He said security level had been raised in the country, but described the situation on the Indian island nation as under control.

Mauritius says Islamic State militant group has no presence on the island.
Brother of Paris attacker on trial over militant training

PARIS, May 30 (Reuters) - Seven people went on trial in Paris on Monday accused of travelling to Syria to train as militant fighters, among them the brother of one of the militants who killed 130 people in the French capital last November.

The seven, aged from 24 to 27, face up to 10 years in jail if found guilty of taking part in an Islamist recruitment network and receiving training in Syria from the Islamic State militant group.

The accused, a gang of friends from eastern France, were part of a larger number who in December 2013 travelled to Syria, where two of them died.

All but one of them returned to France in early 2014. The one who stayed behind was Foued Mohamed-Aggad, who took part in the three-man team that killed 90 people at the Bataclan concert hall during the multiple attacks in Paris.

Two of the three killed themselves by exploding their suicide vests and another was shot dead by police.

Foued's brother, Karim Mohamed-Aggad, is among the seven accused.

The defendants initially told investigators they had believed they were going to Syria on a humanitarian mission. Several admitted to handling weapons but said they did so under duress.

The group's defence team says the seven were duped and when they realised they had fallen into the hands of a militant network they looked for a way out.

"They were told they could be useful," said Martin Pradel, defence lawyer to one of the defendants, told Reuters ahead of the hearing. "Their mistake was to believe the propaganda."
Chile's copper output drops in April due to heavy rains

SANTIAGO, May 30 (Reuters) - Copper output in world No. 1 producer Chile fell in April as some mines in the central part of the country were hit by heavy rains and ore grades continued to decline, the government said on Monday.

Chile, which produces one-third of the world's copper, is struggling with dwindling ore grades in many of its aging deposits at a time when mining companies are implementing cost-cutting measures to address a steep drop in metals prices.

Copper mines in Chile produced 432,277 tonnes of copper in April, an 8.2 percent decrease from the previous year, the INE statistics agency said.

At the height of the El Nino mid-April rains, Anglo American Plc and state-owned producer Codelco temporarily suspended operations at two major copper mines with combined annual capacity of 880,000 tonnes.

From January through April, Chilean mines produced 1.83 million tonnes of copper, a 4.7 percent decrease from a year earlier.
Lufthansa says owed more than $100 million by Venezuela

FRANKFURT, May 30 (Reuters) - Venezuela owes Lufthansa more than $100 million in ticket revenue, the German carrier said on Monday, following news it was suspending flights there next month.

Like other airlines, Lufthansa has struggled to repatriate revenue held in the local bolivar currency due to exchange controls and had reduced flights to Venezuela to limit its exposure, before its weekend announcement of a suspension.

A Lufthansa spokesman said that the Venezuela government owed it a "low three-digit million" amount, later adding that the amount had already been written off.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has been pushing Caracas to free trapped airline revenue.

"What we want is to keep the place connected. Venezuela's economic difficulties will only get worse if they are isolated even more and unable to participate in trade because airlines aren't flying there any more," IATA Director General Tony Tyler said on Monday.
UAE acquits two Libyan-Americans and Canadian of militancy charges

DUBAI, May 30 (Reuters) - A security court in the United Arab Emirates on Monday acquitted two Libyan-American businessmen and a Libyan-Canadian charged with supporting Libyan militants, a lawyer and a family representative said.

"The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Abu Dhabi Supreme Court State Security Chamber found American businessmen Kamal and Mohamed Eldarat not guilty, after nearly two years of arbitrary detainment and a four-month trial," a statement from the Eldarat family said.

Kamal and son Mohamed were arrested at their home in the UAE in 2014, according to the family.

Paul Champ, a human rights lawyer representing Canadian co-defendant Salim Alaradi - who was arrested while visiting the UAE - said that although the three men had been acquitted, they had yet to be released from custody.

Alaradi "was apprehended back in August 2014, held in a secret prison and the state security didn't even acknowledge they were holding them for months, so we won't be comfortable until he's on a plane back home", Champ told Reuters by phone from Canada.

They were initially charged with terrorism-related offences, but the prosecutor in March changed the charges to providing support to Libyan militants and collecting donations without state permission.

The UAE official news agency WAM said the court had acquitted all the defendants in the case, without naming them. Authorities had begun procedures to release them, WAM said, citing a Justice Ministry official.

Canada's Foreign Minister Stephane Dion said Canada welcomed the acquittal and expected an "expedited process to promptly reunite him with his family and friends".

Alaradi's daughter, Marwa Alaradi, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp from Doha: "It is a relief that the courts have said that and confirmed my father is innocent but what we're waiting for is him getting out of prison."

The U.N. special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, said in February he had received credible information that the men had been tortured in custody, an allegation the UAE denies.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Friday the case had been raised with UAE officials by the U.S. ambassador, and a Canadian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Canada had expressed similar concerns.

The UAE and Egypt carried out air strikes against Islamist forces in Libya in 2014.
Failed postal merger causes political spat in Belgium

By Robert-Jan Bartunek and Toby Sterling

BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM, May 30 (Reuters) - Belgium's minister in charge of public companies accused his predecessor on Monday of scuppering postal operator Bpost's plans to acquire Dutch peer PostNL.

The two companies said on Sunday they had discussed a possible friendly takeover by Bpost but had failed to agree on terms, without specifying the sticking points.

Analysts believe the price was likely to have been a key stumbling block, but Alexander De Croo, a deputy prime minister in charge of the telecoms and post, blamed his predecessor.

Former minister Jean-Pascal Labille, of the opposition French-speaking Socialist party, disturbed secret negotiations between the two groups by announcing the government was seeking to sell its majority stake, De Croo said.

"I'll give you a scoop," Labille told radio station La Premiere on Friday. "Shortly, the mail services will lose their public character. The state will sell its stake."

Labille's comments caused trading of Bpost shares to be suspended and forced the company to make a statement on its plans.

"The information was wrong. The state has no intention at all to sell its stake, quite to the contrary. His only intention was to cause a strike," De Croo told radio station Radio 1 on Monday.

Labille said he stood by his comments.

Belgian Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt said the regulator would investigate whether Labille had illegally divulged insider information.

In an interview with Dutch daily Het Financieele Dagblad, Bpost CEO Koen Van Gerven said PostNL's supervisory board rejected the deal over the weekend after concluding remaining obstacles were too difficult to resolve in a reasonable time.

"We worked together well with the managing board, but that was apparently not sufficient," it quoted Van Gerven as saying.

He stopped short of blaming Labille outright, but said his comments "definitely did not help" and described them as "irresponsible and misplaced."

Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf cited an unnamed person closely involved with the negotiations as saying that the companies' management boards had agreed on a price of 5.10 euro per share, or 2.26 billion euros ($2.52 billion) in cash and shares for PostNL as early as April.

Van Gerven was to lead the combined company and PostNL CEO Herna Verhagen would leave.

However, the companies were mired in discussions over Dutch pension obligations and strategy questions, and it was uncertain whether major PostNL shareholders would support the deal at that price.

Shares in PostNL surged as much as 9 percent on Monday on the news, but fell back to trade up 3.7 percent at 1422 GMT. BPost shares were down 2.7 percent.

Bpost has a market capitalisation of 4.9 billion euros, nearly three times that of PostNL, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Analysts were not convinced about the business rationale of a combination of the two companies, saying that while both companies face shrinking mail deliveries there were not many synergies to counter this trend.

"We believe that Bpost's attempt may have been a rather opportunistic one to also take advantage of PostNL's extremely low valuation at the moment," ABN Amro analysts wrote in a note to clients. ($1 = 0.8977 euros)
Brazil needs to stabilize rising debt trend, minister says

SAO PAULO, May 30 (Reuters) - Brazil's interim government needs to stabilize the country's rising public debt burden to regain investors' confidence, Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said on Monday.

He said measures announced last week to limit public spending and early repayment of debts owed by state development bank BNDES will be implemented gradually and will be supported by other actions to rebalance public accounts.

He did not elaborate on these actions.

Meirelles, a former central bank chief widely respected by investors, reiterated that the administration has not ruled out raising taxes to plug a deficit that could top 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for a second consecutive year in 2016.

Interim President Michel Temer, who replaced President Dilma Rousseff after the Senate put her on trial this month for allegedly breaking fiscal rules, is facing a political scandal over leaked recordings of allies discussing interfering in a massive corruption investigation.
Turkey hopes to reopen Tripoli embassy, build economic ties - foreign minister

TRIPOLI, May 30 (Reuters) - Turkey's foreign minister said during a visit to Tripoli on Monday that his country hoped to be the first to reopen its embassy in the Libyan capital, following the arrival of a U.N.-backed unity government at the end of March.

Security in Tripoli remains fragile and the unity government's leadership has been operating out of a heavily guarded naval base as it gradually tries to gain control of ministries.

Tunisia and several Western European states including France and Britain said shortly after the unity government's leadership moved to Tripoli that they hoped to reopen their embassies, but no dates have yet been announced.

"God willing, we will be the first country to resume our embassy's work in Tripoli," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said, after meeting his Libyan counterpart Mohammed Siyala and Prime Minister Fayez Seraj at the naval base.

He also pledged Turkish support for the government's efforts to restore stability and security to Libya, and said Turkey hoped to boost its economic presence in the North African state.

"Turkish companies are looking forward with determination to continue their work and resume their activities in Libya in the sectors of transport and energy," he said.

Libya's oil-dependent economy has been hit hard by conflict and political chaos, with production dropping to about one fifth of the level it stood at before the 2011 uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

Most foreign employees working in the oil sector have left the country, and most Western diplomatic staff were evacuated from Tripoli in 2014 amid heavy fighting between rival factions.

As a result of the fighting, Libya's parliament and government moved to the east of the country, whilst a rival set of institutions were set up in the west in Tripoli.

Islamic State militants took advantage of a security vacuum to establish a foothold in Libya, seizing control of the coastal city of Sirte last year.
Suspected shark attacks in Florida, California over holiday weekend

By Barbara Goldberg

May 30 (Reuters) - Two people were injured in suspected shark attacks in Florida and California over the U.S. Memorial Day holiday weekend, but beachgoers returned to nearby ocean waters on Monday, officials said.

On Sunday, a 13-year-old boy was bitten on the right leg in Neptune, Florida, east of Jacksonville, and a woman in Newport Beach, California, was bitten on her torso and arms, according to police and local media reports.

"Even though we can't confirm it was a shark attack, we're treating it as a shark attack," Newport Beach Fire Department Lifeguard Battalion Chief Michael Halphide said of the California attack.

"I don't think there's a whole lot of doubt that these will be considered unprovoked shark attacks," said George Burgess, a shark expert at the University of Florida. "These are entirely predictable things just as you can predict drownings or car accidents as a result of this being a huge holiday weekend."

Officials closed a 5-mile (8-km) stretch of beach in Newport Beach on Sunday but reopened a 2-mile (3-km) piece on Monday as lifeguard patrol boats and police helicopters searched for sharks, Halphide said. If any are is found, they will be observed but not caught or killed, he said.

Still closed on Monday was Corona del Mar State Beach, located in Newport Beach, where the incident occurred, as well as some adjacent coastline.

"We expect good crowds, probably more than 75,000 people this holiday," Halphide said.

In Florida, Neptune Beach remained open the day after the 13-year-old was attacked just before 3 p.m. by what was described as a 5-foot shark, police said.

Cell phone video on NBC's "Today" program showed blood spattered sand as the boy was treated by rescuers.

Shark attacks in 2016 were expected to reach an all-time high, according to Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the university.

The Memorial Day holiday weekend signals the unofficial start of the U.S. summer vacation and beach season.

There were a record with 98 shark attacks worldwide last year, including 59 in the United States. Six were fatal worldwide, including one U.S. fatality in Hawaii. Of the U.S. attacks, 51 percent took place in Florida, according to the university's website.
REUTERS SUMMIT-Bulgaria targets 20 pct rise in FDI this year to S2.1 bln -inward investment agency

By Angel Krasimirov

SOFIA, May 30 (Reuters) - Bulgaria aims to attract 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 bln) in foreign direct investment this year, its investment promotion agency said on Monday, maintaining last year's 20 percent growth rate but still well below levels seen before the global crisis.

"Our goal is to keep the growth rate achieved in 2015," Stamen Yanev, head of the InvestBulgaria Agency, said in an interview in Sofia for the Reuters Eastern Europe Investment Summit. "It means we can expect up to 1.9 million euros in foreign direct investment (FDI) this year."

Bulgaria, the EU's poorest country, drew 1.6 billion euros in FDI in 2015, up 22.5 percent from 2014 but a far cry from 6-7 billion seen before the global financial crisis in 2008-09 put an end to a construction and real estate boom.

Yanev said 20-25 percent annual growth in investment was a realistic goal and would boost economic growth and help lift living standards in Bulgaria to closer to those of wealthier western European countries.

Yanev said InvestBulgaria has 21 projects in the pipeline that have been agreed, mainly car parts producers and outsourcing companies, and hoped this new investment will create 7,200 jobs in the next three years.

The government also expects strong foreign investor interest in a tender to operate Sofia airport, which it hopes can be sealed this year and bring in about 500 million levs ($285 mln) as upfront payment.

In recent years, cheap labour, low taxes and an educated workforce in Bulgaria have encouraged dozens of car parts producers and IT and business outsourcing companies to set up in the Balkan country, creating thousands of jobs.

Last month, U.S. car parts producer Sensata Technologies opened its third plant in Bulgaria. In March, German lighting manufacturer Osram Licht began construction of a new factory and warehouse, while Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling plans to open a new plant in the country.

Chinese companies are considering investments in luxury property developments, an airport and a metals mine in Bulgaria that could amount to more than 2 billion euros ($2.2 bln) in total, an advisor to the projects told Reuters on Monday.

Still, FDI dropped 37 percent in the first three months of the year from a year ago, central bank data showed and investors have warned that Bulgaria needs to carry out judicial reforms to ensure rule of law and cut corruption and red tape that are deterring inflows.

"Bulgaria has a lot of strong points - political stability, its membership in the European Union, the strategic geographical position, low tax and cheap labour. But at the same time we have to challenge the inefficient bureaucracy," Yanev said.

The average monthly salary in Bulgaria is about 480 euros, the lowest in the 28-member EU and many Bulgarians have left the country to study abroad and seek better pay.

Bulgaria expects its economic growth to slow to about 2.-2.5 percent this year from 3 percent in 2015, mainly due to an expected drop in EU-funded investment and a decline in exports to key markets such as Turkey and Russia.
One killed, several wounded in explosion in Turkey's Silopi -sources

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 30 (Reuters) - One person was killed and several more wounded in an explosion in the town of Silopi in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast on Monday, security sources said.

No other information was immediately available. Silopi, in Sirnak province near the border with Iraq, has been riven by clashes between Kurdish militants and security forces since the breakdown last year in a ceasefire between the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the government.
REUTERS SUMMIT-Poland aims to end long-term gas supplies from Russia after 2022

WARSAW, May 30 (Reuters) - Poland does not plan to renew a long-term gas supply contract with Russia when its current deal with Gazprom expires in 2022, a government official responsible for gas and power infrastructure told Reuters on Monday.

Polish state-run gas firm PGNiG buys up to 10.2 bcm of gas a year from Russian gas giant Gazprom, accounting for the bulk of Poland's annual consumption of nearly 15 bcm. The contract, signed in 1996, expires in 2022.

To reduce its reliance on Russian gas, Poland has built its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and plans to build a pipeline to the North Sea.

"We will be aiming at a situation where a long-term contract becomes a thing of the past. If the price of Russian gas is competitive enough we do not rule out buying it, but definitely not as part of a long-term contract," government energy official Piotr Naimski told the Reuters Eastern Europe Investment Summit at Reuters' office in Warsaw.

He said that thanks to the LNG terminal Poland will be able to import up to 5 bcm of gas annually. So far, one long-term contract has been agreed for the terminal - for Qatargas to supply PGNiG with 1.5 bcm annually.

PGNiG also plans to build a pipeline to carry gas from Norway to Poland to reduce Poland's dependence on Russia and is due to present details of its plan later this year. It would be up and running by 2022.

Naimski said Poland would be able to import 10 bcm of gas annually through the pipeline, which would run from Norway through Denmark and the Baltic Sea to Poland. The project is being analysed by gas grid operators from those countries and Naimski, who will visit Denmark on Wednesday to talk about the project, would not disclose the pipeline's estimated cost.

Poland is also still assessing whether to merge its oil and gas companies, he said.

Its treasury minister said in January he was considering tie-ups between the state-run oil refiners PKN Orlen and Lotos, and PGNiG, to forge central Europe's No.1 energy company and prevent any hostile takeover threat.

But since then government officials have softened their tone on the plan.

"Various options are being considered at the moment, but there is no rush. We are analysing, calculating, this is being influenced by external conditions, oil prices. It could happen that some steps will be taken, but there is no such decision at the moment," Naimski said.

"As a result of the analysis it could turn out that PKN Orlen and Lotos will remain separate companies, but it may also turn out that a decision about their merger is taken," he added.

Naimski also said that Poland, which generates around 80 percent of its electricity from highly polluting coal power plants, will remain dependent on coal in the foreseeable future.

"Our power industry relies on coal and this will remain so for more or less 30 years. The actions which are aimed at ruling out this kind of energy are against our interests," he said, referring to the EU's decarbonisation policies.
Libyan oil guard says captures coastal town from Islamic State after clashes

By Ayman al-Warfalli

BENGHAZI, Libya, May 30 (Reuters) - A force that controls oil terminals in eastern Libya said it had captured the town of Ben Jawad from Islamic State, pushing the militant group back along a coastal strip they control east of their stronghold of Sirte.

Spokesman Ali al-Hassi said five Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) fighters had been killed and 18 wounded in fierce clashes in the coastal town, and that fighting was continuing in the nearby town of Nawfiliyah.

A Ben Jawad resident told Reuters that PFG forces had entered the town and were combing the area to secure it. If the PFG can hold Ben Jawad it could prove significant, signalling the start of a new front in the campaign against Islamic State.

The PFG has declared its support for Libya's U.N.-backed unity government. Other brigades that back the government advanced last week to the outskirts of Sirte from the west.

"We launched today's attack to purge and liberate the central region from Daesh (Islamic State), and secure this area under the umbrella of the ministry of defence and the Presidential Council, the Supreme Commander of the Libyan army," Hassi said.

The Presidential Council is the unity government's leadership.

Western states hope the unity government, which arrived in Tripoli at the end of March, can resolve Libya's political crisis and bring together armed factions to fight Islamic State.

Islamic State took advantage of the security vacuum in Libya to seize control of Sirte last year, extending its presence along about 250 km (155 miles) of coastline either side of the city.

In January the group announced it had established full control over Ben Jawad, about 150 km east of Sirte. It also attacked the oil terminals of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, a little further east, clashing with the PFG and causing extensive damage.

Libya's unity government is designed to replace two rival administrations, backed by loose alliances of armed brigades, that competed for power from Tripoli, in the west, and from eastern Libya.

But the new government has struggled to win support in the east, where it is still seeking formal backing from the internationally recognised parliament.

Khalifa Haftar, the commander of forces loyal to the eastern government, has so far rejected the Presidential Council and has announced a separate campaign to capture Sirte. His forces have been mobilising close to PFG-controlled territory, but have not so far moved decisively towards the west.

The PFG is a paramilitary force of several thousand men that was set up to protect oil installations in eastern Libya but has acted independently and been split by internal divisions.
Air France-KLM in talks to sell stake in catering unit to China's HNA

PARIS, May 30 (Reuters) - Air France-KLM is entering exclusive negotiations with China's HNA Group to sell a stake in its catering business Servair, the Franco-Dutch airline group said on Monday.

A deal to sell 49.99 percent of Servair and transfer operational control to HNA would be based on an enterprise value of the catering unit of 475 million euros ($528.87 million), Air France said.

Aviation and shipping conglomerate HNA stepped up its global expansion by agreeing in April an all-cash deal to buy Swiss airline catering business Gategroup Holdings for $1.5 billion.
Four civilians killed, 19 people wounded by blast in SE Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, May 30 (Reuters) - Four civilians were killed and 19 people were wounded by an explosion in the town of Silopi in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast on Monday, security sources said.
EU chief Tusk slams utopian "illusions" of united Europe

LUXEMBOURG, May 30 (Reuters) - EU leaders promoting utopian "illusions" of a united Europe have lost touch with its peoples and risk losing out to eurosceptic populists bent on breaking up the bloc, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Monday.

Tusk, who will chair a summit of EU leaders next month days after Britain votes on whether to leave the Union, made the outspoken criticism in a speech to fellow conservatives from EU countries, including many supporters of a more federal Europe.

"It is us who today are responsible for confronting reality with all kinds of utopias -- a utopia of Europe without nation states, a utopia of Europe without conflicting interests and ambitions, a utopia of Europe imposing its own values on the external world," the former Polish prime minister said.

"Obsessed with the idea of instant and total integration, we failed to notice that ordinary people, the citizens of Europe, do not share our Euro-enthusiasm. Disillusioned with the great visions of the future, they demand that we cope with the present reality better than we have been doing until now ... Euroscepticism (has) become an alternative to those illusions."

Much of the British campaign to leave the EU in a referendum on June 23 has focused on fears of greater integration at the expense of national sovereignty -- concerns that are also strong in Tusk's native Poland, where his own centre-right party lost power last year to eurosceptic, right-wing opponents.

He made no explicit mention of the Brexit debate in his speech in Luxembourg to an audience that included German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker at a meeting of the European People's Party, an alliance that is the biggest bloc in the European Parliament.

However, Tusk, who has long defended states' rights against centralising forces in Brussels, has called a British departure a major risk for the EU. He urged leaders to change tack on confronting anti-EU forces, which include strong movements in France, the Netherlands, Hungary and several other countries:
Hitler's older brother was in fact younger and died early, historian says

VIENNA, May 30 (Reuters) - A brother of Hitler's who was thought to be older was actually younger and died within days, raising questions about how his death might have affected the future leader of Nazi Germany, a historian said in comments published on Monday.

Hitler is widely thought to have been the fourth of six siblings, but records from Braunau am Inn, the northern Austrian town where he was born, show that he was in fact the third, according to findings by the historian Florian Kotanko, reported by the newspaper Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten.

Otto Hitler, a brother of Adolf Hitler's thought to have been the last sibling born before him, was actually born three years after, on June 17, 1892. He died six days later of hydrocephalus, a swelling of the brain, according to the report.

"The conclusions of many Hitler biographers about the mental development of Adolf Hitler, who allegedly received special attention from his mother Klara as the only surviving child after the deaths of three siblings, are no longer tenable," Kotanko was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Six years ago, in December 2010, a Pakistani hacker group hacked into the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) website. Fast forward to 2016, attacks on such government websites persist with the Indian Railways site being hacked just a few weeks back.

Similarly, numerous attempts have also been made to break into the official Bhabha Atomic Research Centres (BARC) website. This forces us to contemplate if the Indian government needs the assistance of hacker groups themselves to form a solid layer of protection.

According to a source, a core member of PakXploiters, a hacker group based in Pakistan, 60 per cent of Indian websites are vulnerable to their attacks, leaving the majority of the Indian cyberspace susceptible to being defaced. This evidence is further supported by the fact that cyberattacks performed by Pakistani hacker groups (on Indian websites) have been steadily increasing since they first began in 1998.

The website of the Indian Railways was hacked a few weeks back.

In 2008, such attacks were in hundreds. Today, according to an Indian hacker group, four thousand Indian websites are hacked everyday. With most government developers being inexperienced and incapable to defend websites (according to Injector Devil, an infamous hacker, and core member of Hell Shield Hackers), and claims that the National Cyber Security Policy isn't quite there yet, there seems to be very little hope for improvement in the country's security.

In such a scenario, it might just be viable to seek the assistance of certain hacker groups, keeping in mind an ethical boundary. Highly skilled hacker groups would be able to pinpoint security flaws and in some cases, even fix them.

If the existence of such hacker groups is legalised, India would be one step closer to having its own official cyber army, similar to what countries like Iraq, China and the US have in place. Pakistan has gone one step ahead by fully funding their hacker groups.

On the other hand, considering Indian hacker groups such as Anonymous India have - in the past - targeted companies and organisations (for example Reliance Communications and BSNL), it may be tricky for government websites to openly seek their assistance, provide immunity or commit funding.
LONDON - England - There are five surefire nightmare certainties of staying in the European Union.

The UK will continue to send 350 million to Brussels every week. Free movement of people will continue permanently. This will get worse when Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey join the EU. EU regulation will continue to cost British companies over 600 million each week. We will continue to be unable to remove criminals and terrorists whose presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good. We will have to pay out up to 43 billion in tax refunds to multinational businesses.

Commenting, Vote Leave Chief Executive Matthew Elliott said:

If people vote to stay, they are voting for the free movement of people from Europe to the UK, permanently. This will get worse when Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey join the EU. British business will continue to be strangled by EU regulation and we will continue to send 50 million each week to Brussels.

If we Vote Leave on 23 June, we take back control of our money, our borders and our democracy. Thats the safer option for our future.

The UK will continue to send 350 million to Brussels every week.

In 2014, the UKs gross contributions to the EU budget were 19,107 million, or 367 million per week.

The Head of the UK Statistics Authority, Sir Andrew Dilnot, has said Yes, the 19.1 billion figure is a legitimate figure the official statistics are the 19.1 billion.

Free movement of people will continue permanently. This will get worse when Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey join the EU.

After the renegotiation, the unamended EU Treaties will still give every citizen of the EU the right to come to the UK. The EU Treaties provide that: Citizens of the Union shall enjoy the right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States.

In 2015, 270,000 persons came to the UK from the EU, the equivalent of the population of Newcastle. Net migration was 184,000, the equivalent of adding a city the size of Oxford to the UK population each year.

There are currently five candidate countries: Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. When they join, their 88 million citizens will also acquire the right of free movement. As the Government has admitted, once a country becomes a Member State of the EU its citizens have the same rights under EU law as other EU nationals.

EU regulation will continue to cost British companies over 600 million each week.

The 100 most costly EU regulations have been estimated to cost British business 33.3 billion each year, or over 600 million per week.

This is likely an underestimate. In 2005, HM Treasury admitted that: although Europes founders aimed to remove barriers and reap the benefits of expanded markets internally, they also sought protection and special treatment for particular aspects of their economies such as agriculture. This has brought costs: expensive subsidies still remain in some sectors and it is estimated that barriers to external trade and investment  such as tariffs, quotas and unjustifiably restrictive standards  could cost Europes consumers up to 7 per cent of EU GDP. This is the equivalent of 125.2 billion per year in todays prices, or 4,638 per household.

We will continue to be unable to remove criminals and terrorists whose presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good.

EU law prevents us from removing serious criminals. This includes violent killer Theresa Rafacz, a Polish national who killed her husband, including by kicking him in the face with a shod foot while he lay on the ground defenceless and drunk. Mr Justice Hart ruled the offence involved gratuitous violence. She was sentenced to four years imprisonment. Nonetheless, Mr Justice Blake later ruled that EU law prevented her removal, stating that there was no basis which could justify her deportation on the grounds of public policy.

EU law prevents us from removing persons our courts have concluded are terrorists. In 2015, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission ruled the UK could not exclude the French national ZZ from the UK because of EU law, despite the fact that he was a suspected terrorist. The Commission concluded that: We are confident that the Appellant was actively involved in the GIA [Algerian Armed Islamic Group], and was so involved well into 1996. He had broad contacts with GIA extremists in Europe. His accounts as to his trips to Europe are untrue. We conclude that his trips to the Continent were as a GIA activist.

We will have to pay out up to 43 billion in tax refunds to multinational businesses.

Rulings of the European Court have exposed the taxpayer to massive liabilities for tax refunds to big business. The OBR now forecasts that HMRC will pay out 7.3 billion from 2016-2017 to 2020-2021, an average of 270.43 per household. If HMRC also loses every case currently pending (a further 35.6 billion), the UK will be forced to pay out 42.9 billion, the equivalent of 1,589 per household.

The UK has tried to block these payouts before but its tax legislation has been overruled by the European Court. If we vote to stay, the European Court will continue to take control over our tax system and require multi-billion payouts to the multinational businesses.
LONDON - England - Leading IN campaigner, Sir Vince Cable, admitted that Michael Gove and Boris Johnson were correct on the subject of immigration.

Responding to Sir Vince Cables comments on Murnaghan this morning, Vote Leave Chief Executive Matthew Elliott said:

Vince Cable has finally admitted what everyone in the country already knows  we cannot control immigration if we stay in the European Union.

A vote to stay in is a vote for unlimited EU immigration and further strain on our schools and our NHS, which will only get worse when we pay for Turkey and its population of 77 million to join the club.

It is only by Voting Leave on 23 June that we will be able to take back control of our borders and the 50 million we hand over to Brussels every day.

Sir Vince Cable admitted that Michael Gove and Boris Johnson are right, that it is impossible to control migration within the EU.

On Murnaghan, former Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Sir Vince Cable, admitted that the points made by Michael Gove and Boris Johnson on immigration today were actually valid.

He said: I think what was said this morning about the immigration target this morning was actually quite interesting  Mr Gove and Boris Johnson  I mean the Liberal Democrats argued throughout the coalition that it was not sensible to have a rigid immigration target that couldnt be met. It isnt just because of migration from the European Union. You cant control emigration from Britain. I mean were not East Germany or North Korea and of course if you manage to reduce British emigration, if British people stay at home and work at home, of course you then make the net immigration position worse, so it was a foolish target to have met and you have got different groups of people, youve got asylum seekers, workers, families, overseas students, who are not actually immigrants at all, all in the same number and we urged them to drop this target because it wasnt achievable, and they repeated it again in 2015, so I think the basic point that Mr Gove is making is actually valid in its own terms.

Michael Gove, Boris Johnson and Gisela Stuarts open letter to the Prime Minister on migration was reported in the Sunday Times.

Sir Vince also slammed the Prime Ministers campaign to do Britain down for its exaggerated claims.

Sir Vince Cable admitted on Murnaghan that there is exaggeration on the part of the pro-EU campaign.

Sir Vince also admitted: I dont expect we are going to get Armageddon either way.
These so-called guarantees have been exposed as a collection of untruths, spin, and flip-flops by the Prime Minister.

David Camerons flip flop on Khan

Just a few weeks ago, David Cameron questioned Sadiq Khans judgement as he accused him of sharing a platform with an IS supporter. He said: Anyone can make a mistake about who they appear on a platform with but if someone does it time after time after time, it is right to question their judgement. Yet today he shared a platform with Khan.

David Camerons flip flop on the European Arrest Warrant

David Cameron claimed today that one of the main benefits of voting In is to keep the European Arrest Warrant. But in a previous article he argued that this policy was stripping away centuries old rights and safeguards.

He wrote in 2001: Are we really happy that with one telephone call from the Greek, Spanish or German authorities alleging that we did something wrong on holiday, we can be swept off to a continental prison? Rights and safeguards that we have enjoyed for centuries are being stripped away.

Commenting, Douglas Carswell said:

David Cameron cannot be trusted. Just a month ago he attacked Sadiq Khan as a terrorist sympathiser, yet today he hailed him as a great politician as he stood next to him on a shared platform.

Today he trumpeted the benefits of the European Arrest Warrant but a few years ago he warned that it was dangerous and that it stripped away centuries old rights from the British people.

David Camerons flip flops show that he is not a man of principle  he is just desperate to cling on to power. He is only interested in saving his career not in what is best for the British people. People should not trust David Cameron.

CAMPAIGN CLAIMS EXPOSED

In campaign claim 1: Full access to the EUs single market: supporting 3 million jobs, lower prices for families and a strong economy to fund the NHS.

Reality: EU membership means higher prices. The independent House of Commons Library has concluded that EU membership increases the costs of consumer goods, stating that the EUs Common Agricultural Policy artificially inflates food prices and that consumer prices across a range of other goods imported from outside the EU are raised as a result of the common external tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade imposed by the EU. These include footwear (a 17% tariff), bicycles (15% tariff) and a range of clothing (12% tariff).

The 3 million jobs figure has also been widely discredited. In 2000, Britain in Europe, the campaign to scrap the pound, claimed that 3 million jobs were facing the axe if the UK left the EU. The academic whose work they traduced, Dr Martin Weale, dismissed the claim as pure Goebbels. In many years of academic research, I cannot recall such a wilful distortion of the facts.

In campaign claim 2: Workers rights protected: paid leave, parental rights, holidays and anti-discrimination laws.

Reality: Workers rights were secured by the UK Parliament  and in a democracy it is the duty of a sovereign parliament to protect them. Paid leave, parental leave and paid holidays are more generous in the UK than EU law requires. UK anti-discrimination legislation goes much further than EU law. The Sex Discrimination Act, guarding against sexual harassment in the workplace and the Employment Protection Act, supporting mothers with paid maternity leave, was introduced by the UK Parliament and were both introduced in 1975.

In campaign claim 3: Keeping the European Arrest Warrant: fighting crime and terrorism, bringing criminals to justice.

Reality: Even David Cameron doesnt believe this. A 2001 article in the Witney Gazette quoted Mr Cameron as saying: Are we really happy that with one telephone call from the Greek, Spanish or German authorities alleging that we did something wrong on holiday, we can be swept off to a continental prison? Rights and safeguards that we have enjoyed for centuries are being stripped away.

In campaign claim 4: A special status in Europe: never joining the euro while keeping control of our borders, and new rules so EU nationals only have access to welfare once theyve paid in.

Reality: A special status is pure spin from Number 10: the term isnt anywhere used in David Camerons renegotiation agreement. The EUs own Five Presidents Report sets out plans for a Eurozone fiscal and political union, including a euro area treasury, and further pooling of decision-making on national budgets, with proposals for a new Treaty in 2017. The UK will be sucked in and eviscerated. In October 2015, the European Commission proposed a single Eurozone representative in the IMF. The draft Decision (on which the UK will not have a vote) provides that close cooperation with non-euro area Member States shall be organised within the Council and the EFC, on matters related to the IMF. Common positions shall be coordinated on matters relevant for the European Union as a whole.

Borders: As a member of the European Union, Britain has lost control over its borders. All EU citizens are automatically granted leave to enter the UK. The UKs border controls are also under constant attack from the European Court of Justice. In December 2014, the European Court said that the UK cannot require family members of EU citizens from other EU member states to have a permit issued by UK authorities. This is despite the fact that a High Court Judge had found permits from other EU countries to be systematically forged, stating Systemic abuse of rights and fraud calls for systemic measures. The European Courts rulings make it easier for terrorists and criminals to enter the UK using forged documents.

Welfare: EU nationals are able to claim jobseekers allowance after only 3 months in the country. EU nationals are able to claim full tax credits from day one if they are in work. Despite the Governments claims, the UK will still be obliged to pay child benefit to children residing elsewhere in the EU. The renegotiation agreement states that proposed new legislation (which could be vetoed by the European Parliament or European Court after the referendum) could give member states an option to index such benefits to the conditions of the Member State where the child resides. This only applies to new claimants. The UK would only be able to extend it to existing claimants in 2020. In addition, the UK will still be obliged to pay non-contributory in-work benefits to EU migrants during their first four years in the UK.

In campaign claim 5: Stability for our country: protecting living standards and avoiding potential recession

Reality: The greatest threat to the economy is the prospect of Eurozone collapse. Article 122(2) of TFEU remains in force after the renegotiation. This means the Treaties still allow the Council of Ministers by qualified majority to grant Union financial assistance as part of ad hoc bailouts of the Eurozone.

Uncontrolled migration is already eroding living standards for Brits. A Bank of England study in December 2015 concluded: the biggest effect is in the semi/unskilled services sector, where a 10 percentage point rise in the proportion of immigrants is associated with a 2 per cent reduction in pay. This significantly affects British workers  especially those on low wages. On top of that, uncontrolled migration is putting unsustainable pressure on housing and public services. Hospital waiting times are growing, and families are finding it harder to get their children into good schools.

At the current rate of migration we would need a new home every four minutes, night and day, just to house new immigrants and their families.

Cameron on Khan:

In April 2016 David Cameron said he was concerned about Sadiq Khans decision to share a platform with a man he claimed supports IS:

If we are going to condemn not just violent extremism but the extremism that seeks to justify violence in any way, it is very important that we do not back these people or appear on platforms with them. I am concerned about Labours candidate for Mayor of London, who has appeared again and again and again the right hon. Member for Tooting (Sadiq Khan) has appeared on a platform with Suliman Gani nine times; this man supports IS Anyone can make a mistake about who they appear on a platform with, and we are not always responsible for what our political opponents say, but if someone does it time after time after time, it is right to question their judgment.

Cameron on the European Arrest Warrant

In his speech today David Cameron said:

Third is this issue of a safer Britain in Europe. Ive been your Prime Minister for 6 years, I know we face big threats in terms of crime, in terms of terrorism. And of course the work of our police, the work of our intelligence services, they are vital for keeping us safe. But so is cooperation with our partners in the European Union.



Since we signed the European Arrest Warrant, 1100 criminals have been brought back to Britain to face justice. That used to take decades, now it happens in just weeks. All of us in London remember those 2005 attacks. One of those bombers, the July bombers, made it out of the country and got to Italy where he was arrested.



Before the European Arrest Warrant it would have taken years, possibly decades, to get him back to Britain. Now hes sitting in a British jail having faced British justice. Who wants to give that up when we think of voting on June 23rd?

But in an article in the Witney Gazette from 2001, David Cameron wrote:





Are we really happy that with one telephone call from the Greek, Spanish or German authorities alleging that we did something wrong on holiday, we can be swept off to a continental prison? Rights and safeguards that we have enjoyed for centuries are being stripped away (This is Oxfordshire, 17 December 2001).
It was the East Coast that drew twin brothers Nicolas and Salvador Pimentel to Dalhousie to study law. The Vancouver natives were eager for a change of scenery and the opportunity to explore the area where their mother grew up.



We did high school together, we did the same undergrad and thought that law school was maybe the right time to go to separate schools, says Nicolas. But we ended up getting into all of the same universities.



Since arriving at Dal, the collegial atmosphere and sense of community has had a big impact on the pair, inspiring them to give back to the community through student societies and events. They have both been actively involved in strengthening this community through participation in student societies and events.



We realized that what you have here is so rare, says Salvador. You have a great school, you have a big city, but they are both so close that everything there is to do here is within a 15-minute walk. So, it really makes you feel like youre part of something bigger.



As co-presidents of the Domus Legis Society, the duo organized social outings and events throughout the year to connect law students with one another. One of the most significant experiences for Nicolas was his semester working with the Dalhousie Legal Aid Clinic. The hands-on experience you get there, you cant get anywhere else, he says.



Salvador was also outreach co-chair of the Law Orientation Week, arranging events for incoming students. Its kind of nice immediately getting here and being welcomed by people that have already been through the same process, he says.



This summer, they will return to Vancouver where Salvador will be completing his articling at Borden Ladner Gervais and Nicolas with Alexander Holburn. It will also be the first time the two brothers wont be living in the same house.



Its going to be a new experience for us because the longest wed ever been apart was five days, says Nicolas.


The world economy can now depend on India for the growth push and it is not just China the world needs to depend on. (Representational Image)

Tokyo: Amid concerns of a slowing global growth, India is a beacon of hope and has the potential to drive the world economy for the next 10 years, former Singapore prime minister Goh Chok Tong said on May 30.

"India is a hope for us. India is at a stage China was 10 years ago to amend slack in the economy," he said speaking at the Future of Asia Conference organised by Nikkei here.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who arrived here yesterday on a 6-day tour to help mobilise investment, attended the conference, but did not make any statement. He is scheduled to speak at the conference tomorrow. The former Singapore prime minister felt that India should take advantage as China slows.

"One should pass the message to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi (that) India is growing... now and it is engine of the world for the next 10 years as China is slowing," he said.

He said the world economy can now depend on India for the growth push and it is not just China the world needs to depend on.

"(The world) not just depends on China for pushing growth, India can be a very big partner."

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) last month cut its 2016 global growth forecast for the fourth time in the past year to 3.2 per cent, citing China slowdown, persistently low oil prices and chronic weakness in advanced economies. This was down from 3.4 per cent projected in January.

In contrast, for India, it retained its 7.5 per cent GDP expansion forecast for 2016 and 2017, up from 7.3 per cent in 2015. "With the revival of sentiment and pick-up in industrial activity, a recovery of private investment is expected to further strengthen growth," it had said.

"In India, growth is projected to notch up to 7.5 per cent in 2016-17, as forecast in October. Growth will continue to be driven by private consumption, which has benefited from lower energy prices and higher real incomes."

It, however, wanted the government to cut down subsidies, initiate labour reforms and dismantle infrastructure bottlenecks to sustain strong growth. IMF had said a prolonged period of slow growth has left the global economy more exposed to negative shocks and raised the risk that the world will slide into stagnation.

It, however, upgraded its China growth forecast by 0.2 percentage point for this year and the next to 6.5 per cent and 6.2 per cent, respectively. China clocked 6.9 per cent growth in 2015 when India had recorded 7.3 per cent expansion.
New Delhi: The Finance Ministry should consider raising tax holiday for startups to 7 years from the current 3 years to encourage budding entrepreneurs, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said. Sitharaman said lots of inputs from startups have been received and "recommendations have gone to the Finance Ministry for extending the 3-year tax holiday to 7 years".

"We shall pursue it and there shall now be lots more interactions with them," she told reporters while briefing them on the initiatives taken by her ministry during the last two years. The minister said she would visit different co-work spaces of these new age companies to see the ground picture and infuse fresh energy.

Several startups have pitched for increasing the tax holiday period from the current three years as it would provide certainty on taxation matter. She said the government has announced the action plan for startups and is continuously interacting with them.

For 2016-17, the allocation of Rs 1,100 crore has already been made and 35 new incubators have been established, she said. On foreign direct investment, she said between June 2014 and January 2016, FDI equity flow has recorded a growth of 53 per cent to USD 60.04 billion, from USD 39.19 billion during the preceding 20 months. FDI inflows in the country increased to the highest ever of USD 51 billion in 2015-16, she added.

Further, talking about the 'twitter sewa' launched by the ministry, she said stakeholders are using this facility and their queries have been resolved on time. Within one month, 98 per cent cases have been responded to, the minister said, adding that out of 750 queries raised, 735 have been cleared.
Trai also ventured into the controversial issues of traffic management particularly of services that consume high bandwidth.

New Delhi: Telecom regulator has once again ignited the debate on net neutrality by issuing a pre-consultation paper on it which seeks to define the core principles of net neutrality in the Indian context.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said that the pre-consultation paper is an attempt to identify relevant issues in these areas, which will help it in formulating its views on the way forward for policy or regulatory interventions.

Trai has sought views on six question including what are the key issues that are required to be considered so that the principles of net neutrality are ensured.

It has asked what should be Indias policy or regulatory approach in dealing with issues relating to net neutrality?

Trai also ventured into the controversial issues of traffic management particularly of services that consume high bandwidth. There is a fine line between correctly applying traffic management to ensure a high quality of service and wrongly interfering with internet traffic, for instance, to limit applications that threaten the telecom service providers own lines of business, said Trai.

It said that in the absence of a clear regulatory framework on net neutrality, advanced traffic management techniques can potentially be used by an operator for discriminatory or anti-competitive purposes.

It said adherence to strict net neutrality rules could make it difficult for telecom service provider to deal with congestion and deliver the desired quality of service (QoS) to their users.

It has invited comments as to what are the reasonable traffic management practices that may need to be followed by telecom service providers while providing internet access services and in what manner could these be misused?

It further asked what precautions must be taken with respect to the activities of telecom service providers and content providers to ensure that national security interests are preserved?
The Fukuoka Prize is an award established by the city of Fukuoka and the Yokatopia Foundation to honor the outstanding work.

New Delhi: Legendary Oscar winning Indian music composer A.R. Rahman was on Monday awarded Japan's Fukuoka prize for 2016.

It is reported that Rahman has been conferred with the award for his outstanding contribution towards creating, preserving and showcasing South Asian traditional fusion music.

The Fukuoka Prize is an award established by the city of Fukuoka and the Yokatopia Foundation to honor the outstanding work of individuals or organizations in preserving or creating Asian culture. There are three prize categories: Grand Prize, Academic Prize, and Arts and Culture Prize.

Last year, noted Indian Historian Ramchandra Guha was conferred with Fukuoka Prize in academic category.

Rahman was the 1995 recipient of the Mauritius National Award and the Malaysian Award for his contributions to music. A four-time National Film Award winner and recipient of six Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, he has fifteen Filmfare Awards in his kity.

In 2009, for his Slumdog Millionaire score, Rahman won the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score, the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music and two Academy Awards (Best Original Score and Best Original Song, the latter shared with Gulzar) at the 81st Academy Awards.
Mumbai: Mohit Suri, who is going to start shooting for his next film Half Girlfriend soon, will be travelling a lot for the film. This will be the first time that Mohit will be away from his daughter and the director is not really happy with the idea so he came up with the best idea.

Mohit got his daughters name tattooed on his right arm so she can be with him wherever he goes.

Mohit and Udita, who tied the knot with in 2013, welcomed their first child earlier this year. They named their baby girl Devi.

Half Girlfriend is set for a world wind as the team will be shooting in different cities and continents such as Patna, Delhi, Rajasthan, Cape Town, New York. Half Girlfriend stars Arjun Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor
Mumbai: Ever since Priyanka Chopra made her debut on American television on ABC's new show, Quantico, she has been showered praises from all quarters. However, in an interview to Emme Magazine, Priyanka reveals that she was initially skeptical about foraying into Television.

Priyanka said, "I was not sure whether I wanted to do TV initially but when Keli Lee, the VP of casting came to meet me in India to pitch the idea of a deal. She just said You know what just come to LA and read the script, if you dont like it, you dont have to necessarily do it. I wanted to pick a show that I wanted to watch and Quantico was that to me. It was one kind of show which made me go Wow! I would love to see this one!"

Watch: Fans give Priyanka Chopra a warm welcome at Mumbai airport

Talking about how she landed the role Priyanka said, "It was not the first audition of my life but I was super nervous. I always knew what auditions were like but I never had to do it because I was Miss World and eventually movies just kept happening. I went to the bathroom to calm myself down and said You are 50 movies old, you do not have to be afraid of going in front of 5 people and performing. Whats the big deal?"

The actress spoke about her upbringing and her views about feminism, Priyanka said, "My dad always told me not to fit into a glass slipper, shatter the glass ceiling. Be who you want, say what you want. I was raised to be opinionated and have a mind of my own. I am a very proud feminist."

Watch the video here.
Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur along with the cast moved to director Shaad Alis cousins residence for the party which went on till wee hours.

Shraddha Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur recently wrapped up the last schedule of their upcoming film Ok Jaanu in Ahmedabad. The film, which is an official Hindi remake of Mani Ratnam's hit Tamil love story, O Kadhal Kanmani, was shot in 35 days.

After the late night pack-up on Saturday, the two along with the cast moved to director Shaad Alis cousins residence for the party which went on till wee hours. The team left for Mumbai immediately after the bash and clicked selfies during the flight.

Shraddha Kapoor posted a picture and wrote, "#OKJAANUWRAP! It's been a blast with this crazy gang!!! Going to miss it too much!!!"

DoP Ravi K Chandran too chimed in on the social media, raving about Aditya and Shraddha's crackling chemistry. He wrote, Thank you, Shraddha and Aditya, for your commitment, hard work and great chemistry. It's so romantic to shoot you guys.

OK Jaanu narrates the story of Aditya, an ambitious video game developer who moves to Mumbai and meets Tara, an architect. Shraddha, who was last seen in Baaghi will soon start prepping for her next film Half Girlfriend opposite Arjun Kapoor.

Karan Johar took to his social media account to announce the wrap. He wrote,
Thrissur: The police investigating the mysterious death of Kalabhavan Mani received the test reports of the actors viscera samples from Central Forensic Lab in Hyderabad on Sunday. Though the officers have not revealed its content, police sources said the presence of pesticides including chlorpyrifos, found by the regional government lab at Kakkanad earlier, was marked nil.

The Central Forensic Lab in Hyderabad has found traces of methanol or methyl alcohol in actor Kalabhavan Mani;s viscera samples. There was some confusion on the amount of methanol, and it would be clarified with the lab on Monday.

The special medical team to verify test reports would reach a conclusion on Monday or Tuesday if the presence of methanol were above normal, they said. Meanwhile, Manis brother RLV Ramakrishnan told DC that the new finding had aroused suspicion.

"The investigating team will be briefing us on the latest lab report, and we will ask them to conduct another test at Kakkanad. It is quite strange that the central lab could not find pesticides," he said insisting that it was not a natural death. He also said that the investigating team would most probably be reaching a conclusion that due to the liver ailment, methanol accumulated in his body. "We are not going to buy it," he said.
The upcoming Telugu film Vysakham, directed by B. Jaya, is the first Indian film shot in Kazakhstan. The unit recently returned to India after shooting two songs during a 15-day schedule.

I started this film as a small one, but once shooting started, it became big. In my earlier films, especially Lovely, the songs had been appreciated by everyone. I wanted the songs in this film to be even more beautiful, so I chose Kazakhstan, says Jaya.

Jaya is one of the few woman directors in Tollywood actively making films. I could have gone for regular locales like Spain, Switzerland, Bangkok or some other place, but I wanted to show something new. Though it was very difficult, in the end we came up with very good visuals, says the director.

They speak only Russian and it was very difficult for us to communicate. Members of our unit used the Internet on their mobile phones and translated every word in Russian and showed them. The temperature was sub zero in some places, she says.

Shooting in border areas was tricky. Drones are banned at the border area, but we used them for our shoot. The Indian Embassy and the local government really helped us, she says, adding that almost 60 per cent of the film is complete.

In Vysakham, Jaya is introducing Avantika, a model from Mumbai, as the female lead and Hari is playing the male lead. The initial budget of the film was around Rs 3 crore, but it has now gone up to Rs 8 crore, as they are also using robotics.

The film is being produced by Jayas husband B.A. Raju.
The civil engineering worker said he wanted to spend the money on an Audi RS7, a new home and a Safari in Africa for his honeymoon with fiancee Samantha. (Photo: Representational image)

London: A 25-year-old road-worker in the UK who became a millionaire after winning 1 million pound on a 5-pound lottery refused to give up his job and returned to work the next day.

Carl Crook, a resident of Manchester city, broke down in tears of joy and excitement after winning the jackpot on Thursday during when he went inside a local shop to buy a drink and a scratch card.

The father-of-two said he will not "blow" the money and carry on doing his 12 hours shift, but will give up the overtime.

"I just kept thinking to myself 'why am I here?' But I do enjoy my job, the company I work for and the people I work with. I've already spoken to my boss about having next week off so I can let things settle down. I will be staying on at work but without overtime," Crook said.

"The 1 million pound might go but we want to at least spend it on making memories instead of spending it on rubbish. We are not going to blow it," Crook said.

The civil engineering worker said he wanted to spend the money on an Audi RS7, a new home and a Safari in Africa for his honeymoon with fiancee Samantha.

"We are going to go on holiday this summer and to Lapland at Christmas. I would love to take the family to Florida and we might do that next year," Crook was quoted as saying by the 'Manchester Evening News'.

"I'm looking at getting a really nice car. I've always wanted an Audi RS7... Myself and Samantha got engaged last year and we want to get married this year and then go on a Safari tour in Africa for our honeymoon," he said.

Crook, who was seen celebrating wildly after winning the money, said he won the jackpot despite only gambling "once in a blue moon".

"It's only once in a blue moon that I buy a scratch card but I had a feeling that day and decided to have one more go" Crook said.

"I asked the shopkeeper for a 10 pound scratch card but he said he didn't have any and only had the 5 pound ones. I was scratching the numbers off and knew I had at least won my money back or got a tenner," he said.
The video shows a lecturer teaching a class on environmental science in the hall when student Trong Huynh crash unexpectedly to the floor. (Credit: YouTube)

Students attending a lecture at the University of Washington a few weeks ago got some comic relief thanks to a funny prank pulled by engineering student Trong Huynh. The stunt, which was captured on video by a fellow student, shows Huynh suddenly appearing on a table under the projection screen mid-lecture leaving the entire class stunned.

The video shows a lecturer teaching a class on environmental science in the hall when Huynh crashes unexpectedly to the floor before casually getting up and walking out of the room. Although the teach assistant present was seen caught off-guard, he did not make a big issue out of the joke and continued to teach the class.

The video of the stunt, which was uploaded on YouTube, has got more than 200,000 views. Huynh later wrote on his Facebook page: 'This is a recent prank I did at the University of Washington and I had no idea it was being recorded, but just today someone sent me this clip and I thought it was great.

Click on the link below to view the video:
Seeking Nijjars extradition, the Punjab government has submitted the report to the Ministry of External Affairs as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs. (Photo: PTI/file)

New Delhi: Indian Intelligence agencies have alerted the Canadian government about pro-Khalistan terrorists running a camp near Mission city in British Columbia planning attacks in Punjab, according to a media report.

Punjab intelligence officers have prepared a report mentioning that Canadian Sikh Hardeep Nijjar, the new operational head of Khalistan Terror Force (KTF), has formed a module comprising Sikh youths to carry out the attacks.

"Nijjar has been imparting arms training to his group in Canada after the arrest of former KTF chief Jagtar Tara in Thailand by Interpol last year. He took Mandeep Singh and three more Sikh youths recently for AK-47 training in a range near Mission where they were made to fire for four hours daily," the report said.

Nijjar is a baptized Sikh staying in Surrey since 1995 on a Canadian passport. Seeking Nijjars extradition, the Punjab government has submitted the report to the Ministry of External Affairs as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The disclosures were made in the report after an alleged KTF member, Mandeep Singh, was arrested in Ludhiana two weeks ago, following his phone calls to Pakistan-based terror outfit Dal Khalsa International's (DKI) chief Gajinder Singh and Nijjar.

The report also stated that Nijjar has been imparting arms training to his group in Canada after the arrest of former KTF chief Jagtar Tara in Thailand by Interpol last and was detained by Thai authorities when he was flying back from Lahore to Vancouver via Bangkok last year.

Both Mandeep and Nijjar have made frequent visits to Pakistan for arms training with the ISI, says the report. It has also attached their recent photographs brandishing AK-47s outside Nankana Sahib gurdwara in Pakistan.
"We had to work for long hours. Most of us were not allowed to access basic food and toilet facilities," a labourer said. (Photo: Representational Image)

Chennai: A raid by authorities rescued 328 bonded labourers, including 106 children, from a brick kiln in Thiruvallur district in Tamil Nadu.

The labourers rescued hail from Odisha and were allegedly made to work for 12 hours per day on a salary of Rs 20, officials said.

The raid was conducted by a district administration team led by revenue official S Jayachandran on Saturday based on inputs from an NGO, International Justice Mission, about the plight of the labourers.

Those have been provided Rs 1,000 each by the district administration which has requested the Southern Railway to attach three extra bogies in a train to send them to Odisha this evening, Jayachandran told PTI.

According to a bonded labourer, they were promised salaries of Rs 350-Rs 400 per day for construction work taken up at Pudhukuppam in Thiruvallur district.

"But, we were working (in the brick kiln) here on a mere salary of Rs 20 per day for 12 hours," another bonded labourer said. "We had to work for long hours. Most of us were not allowed to access basic food and toilet facilities," the labourer said.

He claimed that some of the labourers were working for several months. Some of the rescued children were below the age of 15, he added.

The owner of the brick kiln, who had employed the labourers, is absconding and a case has been registered, an official said.
The witnesses (dhaba owners) told police that their dhabas are located on the highway in the popular tourist pit stop. (Photo: PTI)

Chandigarh: Haryana government on Monday submitted Prakash Singh Committee's report on the widespread violence during the Jat protests and a status report on investigations into the alleged Murthal gangrapes to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in sealed cover.

Months after allegations of gangrapes and molestation by Jat quota agitators near Haryana's Murthal, eyewitnesses have confirmed to the police that women were dragged out of their cars and raped.

According to a NDTV report, a senior lawyer who is helping the High Court in the case, told the court that the 'dhaba owners' in the area have given their statements to the police confirming the rapes.

The witnesses (dhaba owners) told police that their dhabas are located on the highway in the popular tourist pit stop. On the night of February 22 they saw women being molested and raped.

However, a Special Investigation Team set up by the state government has opposed to the statements by dhaba owners stating that they had interrogated a dhaba owner for six hours, who denied the rape allegations.

Burnt vehicles by protesters are seen piled up in Rohtak (Photo: PTI)

"Some protestors, around the age group of 20-26 years, were seen moving around in two-wheelers. I saw them waylaying women and ripping off their clothes, and dragging them into fields," said the eyewitness.

Earlier, some locals, including truck drivers, had claimed they had seen women being dragged to the fields by the protesters. TV channels showed footage of garments worn by women strewn in some places. But, police officials refuted the claim saying that they had been looted from a shop.

The Jat quota agitation witnessed over 30 deaths and hundreds injured along with buildings being burnt down and cars attacked.
Sivaganga: A signet made of clay with ornamental design was among the about 3,000 ancient artefacts found at the Keezhadi Pallai Sandhaipudur village in this district during an excavation conducted by the team of experts from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

According to ASI officials, the ancient settlement at the village, which was on the highway travelled by traders all over the world once, had an underground drainage system which was on par with the Harappan system. The sewage drains had been laid with "baked clay pipe lines".

A team of ASI experts, including Superintendent K Amarnath Ramakrishna, Rajesh and Veeraraghavan were involved in the excavation work, which began on January 18 and is likely to continue till September this year.

"The drainage system is similar to what was found in Harappan civilisation site" they said. They claimed that the settlement was more than 2,500 years old, belonging to the ancient Pandiya era.

Apart from signets, arrows, iron and copper weapons, rare ornaments and scribbling nail, had been found, Amarnath Ramakrishna said. "It is very rare to find the constructions intact. The findings threw more light on the Sankakala Tamil civilisation", he said.

"The signs of urban civilisation were more in Keezhadi village. In fact it was much more than Kaveri Poompattinam," he said. The signets could have been used by the traders who sent their products with their seal, he said.
Singh also denied allegations that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was letting those accused in Hindutva terror attacks go scot free. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that it was wrong to call anyone born in India anti-national.

Speaking to NDTV, Rajnath said, We cant call any one anti-national, anyone who is born in India cannot be called an anti-national.

There have been statements made by the BJP and RSS in the wake of the JNU row, intolerance row and others, labelling individuals anti-national and asking them to leave the country for Pakistan.

Read: BJP to fight UP polls on development plank, not Ram temple issue: Rajnath Singh

Well-known celebrities including actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan were asked to leave India after their comments on the growing intolerance in the country.

On the controversy over Ishrat Jahans murder and Batla House encounter, the home minister said, As far as Ishrat Jahan case is concerned Ive given my statements in the parliament and have informed that some papers are missing. I made a committee on this and they are investigating the issue. I do not think it was a staged encounter, and you know for a fact that this matter was in court. The court has also given its stand on this issue. This is the first time that Intelligence Bureau and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are in front of each other and this is quite unfortunate.

Read: Jadavpur University hub of anti-nationals, VC supporting them: BJP

Singh denied allegations that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was letting those accused in Hindutva terror attacks go scot free. NIA is an autonomous investigating agency. After our government was made I have tried to give maximum autonomy to it. They can now report directly to the law ministry, he said.

Speaking about the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) controversy, Singh said, I am a citizen of this country and there is a sense of pride that we take in the fact. But when I heard the slogans it hurt me. Rajnath also took a shot at the Congress, saying that the Modi government had not fallen prey to a single allegation of corruption in two years, while the previous government was mired in corruption.

The Home Minister expressed confidence that BJP would do well in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. We will go to Uttar Pradesh and fight with full force, he said.

I feel a person who is the home minister of the country should speak less. I speak when it's required but also take precautions while speaking on certain topics on which investigations are going on, he quipped.
Chennai: A CBCID team has gone to Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh to seek custody of three SIMI activists suspected to be the conspirators behind the Chennai Central twin blasts that killed a woman software professional and injured others on May 1, 2014.

According to a CBCID source, the TN sleuths will have to approach the local court in MP to get custody of the suspects. The team is expected to start the procedure there on Monday and after completion of formalities and if the local court permits, the suspects will be brought to Chennai for further interrogation, a CBCID source said.

The suspects are Zakir Hussein (33), Sheik Mehaboob (26) and Amjad Khan (26). Two other suspects Mohamed Aslam and Mohamed Aijajuddin were killed in an encounter in Telangana in April last year. We are certain of the involvement of Zakir Hussein and Sheik Mehaboob. We may have to question the third suspect to know his involvement, sources added.

The three suspects were nabbed in Rourkela in a joint operation by Odisha and Telangana police in February this year. A CB-CID team from TN, which went to Rourkela after the arrest of the wanted SIMI activists, had interrogated the wanted men there. At that time the suspects had confessed that they had planted two bombs in the train before it left Bengaluru station.

The bombs were not meant to go off in Chennai or Narendra Modi's BJP rally in AP as reported at that time, but were aimed against the people of Assam who travelled in large numbers in that train, sources said.

Tension had been brewing between Bodo militants and Muslim migrants in Assam at that time after Muslims refused to heed the election boycott call of the militants. The bombers had faced a limitation in timing the blasts because they had only a 12-hour window in their timer devices.

The CBCID investigators here were trying to locate the suspects, who had left behind only digital evidence like mobile phone call locations in the last many months. The three along with another, who had escaped from MP jail, were involved in many other crimes across the country, according to NIA which has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh last July. The three had escaped from prison, with Mohammed Aijajuddin, Mohammed Aslam and Abu Faisal. While two were killed in an encounter in Telangana's Nalgonda district in April 2015 Abu Faisal, the leader of the group, was nabbed by the police in December 2013.
New Delhi: The central government is considering to launch a new initiative under which Indian post will deliver Gangajal at your doorsteps. It is planning to tap the e-commerce platform to bring the holy water at the doorsteps.

"I used to get several request that with vast network of post can we get Ganga water. I have directed Department of Posts to utilise e-commerce platform and make arrangement for providing pure Gangajal from Haridwar, Rishikesh to people. They have assured that they will take pro-active step to address cultural needs," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said while sharing details of the NDA government's achievements.

He said parcel revenue of post offices has increased by 80 per cent during his regime by delivering e-commerce products.

"If postman can deliver, mobile phones, sarees, jewellery, apparels then why not Ganga water," Prasad said.

He said speed post revenue of the department has increased from Rs. 1,372 crore in 2013-14 to Rs. 1,600 crore in 2015-16 and cash on delivery collections for e-commerce parcels has increased from Rs. 100 crore to Rs. 1300 crore in the same period.

"Today, core banking network of post offices is more than that of State Bank of India. SBI has 1,666 core banking branches while 22,137 post offices now have core banking facility," Prasad said.

He said by the end of this year all postmen in urban centres will be given smartphones, and handheld devices will be provided to postmen in 1.3 lakh rural post offices by March 2017.

"4,000 handheld devices have already been given. It will help in financial inclusion. It will be a moving ATM. Postmen of urban centres will get smartphones. We will provide (smartphones) by end of this year," Prasad said.
Panaji: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday said garbage and sewerage treatment is a "major scam" area as even those built as part of the central schemes are left unaudited.



"The garbage and sewerage treatment is a major scam area. Ninety per cent of the toilets built under Central government schemes goes into disuse after three to four years," Parrikar said while addressing a gathering here after inaugurating Solid Waste Management Facility at Saligao-Calangute plateau.



"Some people use these toilets to pile woodstock. Some people don't even use it for the purpose it is built. But no one can audit it. How can one audit whether toilet is functional or not without using it?" he asked.



The Minister said garbage treatment has become a big business across the country.



"There are vested interests in this sector...Comptroller and Auditor General audits everything but I have not seen the audit of the garbage treatment. Who will dare go in the dump of garbage?" he said.



The Minister also made some critical view at the judiciary claiming that some of the directions given by it are "senseless".



"I was reading report about Mercedes Benz company. They have stopped the investment in India because they say the decisions of the court are beyond the limit of understanding," Parrikar said.



"(They say) we don't understand the logic of banning diesel vehicle. We understand that you can ban diesel vehicle which is polluting but what is the point in banning a diesel vehicle which may not pollute or less polluting than the petrol vehicle," Parrikar said.
Hyderabad: Medical colleges showing ghost faculty as teachers and resident doctors will face police action, the Medical Council of India has warned.

In the last few years, complaints about ghost faculty in medical colleges have been on a rise, but MCI has failed to take action against these colleges.

In a bid to control and stop these practices, colleges have been warned that if the documents of the teachers or the doctors are fake, they will be liable to punishment. Dummy doctors and dummy patients too will not be spared and the MCI can register police complaints against colleges for indulging in these practices.

A senior MCI member in the city said, We have noted instances in the past where non-medical people posed as teachers and doctors in the colleges. At that time too, the colleges were warned. The practice continues when there is shortage of faculty from time to time. The last minute transfers and dummy candidates are becoming a major cause of concern.

The state governments have been requested to not opt for last-minute transfers in government colleges as they too will be scrutinized. The last minute transfers are often done to show faculty strength in a government college where the numbers are not adequate. After the inspection, the head of the department or professors go back to their original college.

Dr R. Madhu (name changed) a junior doctor in a private college, said, Post-graduates are teaching anatomy, gastroenterology and general medicine in most of the private colleges. When there is a visit by an MCI member or a government inspection, senior doctors are seen in the college. We are heavily relying on recorded lecture videos to understand these subjects.
New Delhi: Meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time after weathering a month-long political crisis in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Monday said the former has a "friendly attitude" towards all CMs, including him, and hoped it remains the same in future.

Terming the 30-minute meeting as "good", Rawat said he apprised the Prime Minister of Uttarakhand's requirements.

"There are certain issues we have with the central government, with various ministries. Various proposals are pending there. Some of the sanctioned projects, which need monetary support from the central government and which are on certain funding pattern, they get money from the central ministries. I have taken up that issue," Rawat said.

"There are certain flagship programmes also, which our state government is implementing with great enthusiasm. I explained to him how are we doing there. The PM expressed satisfaction," he said.

Rawat won trust vote in the state Assembly on May 10, six weeks after the Centre dismissed his government and imposed President's rule after nine Congress MLAs did not vote with the Rawat government on the Appropriation Bill.

Uttarakhand was brought under President's rule on March 27 by the Centre on grounds of "breakdown of governance" in a controversial decision in the wake of a political crisis triggered by a rebellion in the ruling Congress.

When asked what did he discuss in his first meeting with the Prime Minister, Rawat said, "We discussed development."

"He (Modi) has always a very friendly relationship with all Chief Ministers. He has had a friendly attitude towards me also and I hope it will remain in future as well. I need his friendship for Uttarakhand besides for me," Rawat said.

The Chief Minister had sought an appointment with the Prime Minister soon after his government was restored.

A day after winning the trust vote, Rawat had said he expects better cooperation from the Centre and would soon meet the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister.
Bihar, UP and West Bengal besides the Northeastern states, do not have many engineering colleges.

Hyderabad: Managements of private engineering colleges have come up with a plan to address the perennial problem of seats remaining unfilled every year.

They want to open their doors to students from the rest of the country to pursue engineering. Both state governments are yet to give their nod.

Bihar, UP and West Bengal besides the Northeastern states, do not have many engineering colleges. AP Private Engineering College Managements Association president Santhi Ramudu said, Around 35,000 to 40,000 seats are remaining vacant every year. We have deliberated on the issue extensively and come up with this proposal. This issue has been brought to the notice of the higher education department, he said.

Scores of students will get to realise their dreams of engineering study even if they do not get a seat in their state. Also, colleges will come out of financial troubles if a majority of their seats are filled. This would also benefit the exchequer, Mr Ramudu added.

Infographic

The colleges have ambitious plans to reach out to students in countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal as well as in Africa. Private colleges in Telangana too have brought this proposal to the notice of the government.

Unfilled seats have become a big headache for us. To overcome this, we want to give opportunities to students from other states. The government has to issue a GO to facilitate this. Either colleges should be given the chance to fill vacant seats after completion of counselling, or a special quota (management quota preferably) should be earmarked for this purpose, said Mr N Goutham Rao, president of Telangana Private Engineering and Professional Colleges Managements Association.

This model is being implemented in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and it is time we introduced it here to give a fillip to private engineering colleges, he added.
In Rayalaseema, up to 9.5 cm rainfall was recorded at many places in Anantapur district.

Hyderabad: The Indian Meteorological Department on Sunday issued a heavy rainfall warning for all districts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The IMD stated that till Tuesday, it is very likely that thunderstorms accompanied with squalls might occur at isolated places in all 10 districts of TS and 13 districts of AP.

Soaring temperatures continued to trouble people in Telangana as maximum temperature was recorded between 43-44C at most places in the state on Sunday. Heat wave conditions prevailed over many parts in Warangal and Karimnagar districts and the highest temperature of 45C was recorded at Hanmakonda in Warangal.

Some places in Mahbubnagar witnessed moderate rainfall; Alampur recorded 8 cm and Kollapur 6 cm. Some places in Khammam district experienced light rainfall.

In Rayalaseema, up to 9.5 cm rainfall was recorded at many places in Anantapur district. In Kurnool, different areas recorded between 2 and 7 cm rain. Guntur recorded 3 cmand light rainfall was recorded in some other places of coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Government of India will bear all expenses related to dispatch of mortal remains of Oliver, Vikas Swarup said. (Photo: Twitter/ANI)

New Delhi: India on Monday assured the family of the Congolese national, who was killed in a brawl in Delhi on May 20, of a speedy trial in the case and prosecution of all those responsible for the crime as per law.

This was conveyed by a senior official of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) who met the family members of Masonda Ketada Oliver at the airport on their arrival in Delhi.

Read: After Congolese youth killing, six Africans in Delhi beaten up in 30 mins

He also informed them that the government of India will bear all expenses related to dispatch of mortal remains of Oliver, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. He said that the family members thanked the Indian government for its assistance.

Read: Congolese national killing: Olivers father takes loan to get his body

They were told that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has instructed speedy trial in the case.

23-year-old Congolese national Oliver, who was a French teacher at a private institute, was beaten to death in Vasant Kunj area of South Delhi following a brawl over hiring of an autorickshaw.

Envoys of African countries had expressed shock and outrage over the killing following which India assured them of safety of African nationals.

The Group of African Heads of Mission have met and deliberated extensively on this latest incidence in the series of attacks to which members of the African community have been subjected to in the last several years, a statement by Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, ambassador of Eritrea and the dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, said.

Read: Congolese national killing: Olivers father takes loan to get his body

In his statement, Woldemariam said: Accordingly, the Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problems of racism and Afro-phobia in India.

He also called upon the media, civil society, think-tanks, research institutions, parliamentarians, politicians and community leaders to play major roles in addressing the stereotypes and prejudices against Africans.

Read: 23-year-old African national, attacked with stones, beaten to death in Delhi

Woldemariam said that the African group has requested that the Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on May 26 in Delhi be postponed.

They have also decided not to participate in the celebrations, except the cultural troupe from the Kingdom of Lesotho, the statement said.

Woldemariam said the African heads of missions have noted with deep concern that several attacks and harassment of Africans have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators.
Family members of the girl who were initially unsure if she was in a position to write the tests, said that they were happy with her performance and expected her to do better in future. (Representational photo: DC file)

Patna: Overcoming the violence that left her scarred early in life, the 15-year-old rape survivor from Nalanda, who was sexually assaulted by local RJD leader Raj Ballabh Yadav, secured first class in the recently held SSLC examination.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the student secured total marks of 335 out of 500, amounting to 67% in the recently concluded Bihar state SSLC examination whose results were announced on Sunday.

She was provided the examination centre of her choice and the district authorities also arranged for her security at both home and school, where she was given a separate room to attend the examination. She was also provided home tuition by the authorities.

Family members of the girl who were initially unsure if she was in a position to write the tests, said that they were happy with her performance and expected her to do better in future.

Earlier in February, the 15-year-old alleged that she was taken to Yadavs residence in Pathra, Nawada district, where she was raped by him.

The girl had identified the accused MLA when his photograph was shown to her and later she identified him in person also.

Yadav, who was absconding, surrendered to the police on March 10 after spending a month in hiding, and has since been in jail.
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday expressed concern over a string of alleged attacks on Africans in the country, saying it would be most unfortunate if the people of India were to "dilute our long tradition of friendship with the people of Africa".



Addressing the delegates of 7th Annual Heads of Mission Conference who called on him, the President said, "It would be most unfortunate if the people of India were to dilute our long tradition of friendship with the people of Africa and the welcome we have always extended to them in our country. African students in India should have no reason to fear for their safety and security."

Read: Govt assures murdered Congolese man's family of swift action



He said no impression which is not in line with our ethos or core values of our ancient civilization should be created.



"We shall have to create appropriate awareness in the minds of our youngsters who may not know the history, age old relations (between India and Africa)...India has had trading relations with African countries for centuries and everyone of the 54 countries of Africa has a thriving Indian community doing business, industry."



"We cannot allow these to be jeopardised in anyway and create a bad precedent which is not the ethos, which is not part of the core values of our civilisation," a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement quoted Mukherjee as having told the delegation.

Read: After Congolese youth killing, six Africans in Delhi beaten up in 30 mins



The President said he was happy that Ministry of External Affairs in consultation with Ministry of Home Affairs is proactively following up on the few isolated incidents that have occurred and working closely with authorities to ensure the safety of African students in India.



Mukherjee said the bonds between the people of India and the people of Africa have been forged since time immemorial.



"As a political activist, as a member of parliament, I have noticed how close we (India and Africa) are with each other. Almost a century ago Rabindranath Tagore wrote a beautiful poem titled Africa expressing his anguish, pathos, sense of pain on apartheid," he said.

23-year-old Congolese national Oliver, who was a French teacher at a private institute, was beaten to death in Vasant Kunj area of South Delhi following a brawl over hiring of an autorickshaw.

Envoys of African countries had expressed shock and outrage over the killing following which India assured them of safety of African nationals.
Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has reportedly decided to write again to the Central government, seeking restrictions on the Krishna River Management Board from taking control of all irrigation projects in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Sources in the irrigation department on Sunday indicated that Mr Rao is going to write to Union water resources minister, Uma Bharathi with a copy to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a day or two in this regard.

As per the AP Reorganisation Act, KRMB should take control of all structures and projects on the Krishna river including staff and officials for better administration of water distribution among the two states.

However when a draft notification was prepared by KRMB last year, Mr Rao had opposed it stating there is no use of bringing everything under the control of the board when final allocation of waters to various projects has so far not been finalised.

But the AP government had supported the proposed notification by the Centre to bring all under control of KRMB as per the Act. The irrigation department sources said that based on fresh orders from the Union water resources ministry, the board had sent a draft notification to the Centre, TS and AP governments.

The Telangana government was of the view that there is no use in bringing everything under the control of KRMB when water allocations to respective states have not been finalised.

So far, the Central government has not notified the final order of the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal on the allocation of the Krishna river waters among all riparian states following a stay order from Supreme Court. Also, there is no clarity on the jurisdiction of KRMB constituted under AP Reorganisation Act and it is pending before the same Tribunal for the last two years, a senior official of the irrigation department told DC.

The Centre has only tentatively made water sharing arrangements for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh till finalisation of the disputes. The official asked how the Centre can notify the KRMB control against this backdrop.

Sources said that the Chief Minister will now again write to the Centre seeking a stay on the proposed notification till finalisation of the disputes before the Supreme Court and the Krishna Tribunal.

Harish: T-TD leaders will get brickbats

Irrigation minister T. Harish Rao has stron-gly criticised the statements made by the leaders of Telagana Telugu Desam claiming that the Telangana need to take permission from AP for all the new projects taken up in the state.

Terming their arguments ridiculous, Mr Rao said on Sunday that Telangana TD leaders seems to have concentrated on the support they get from AP people and AP TD leaders but not bothered about the support from the Telangana people.

They got claps from AP people for their anti-Telangana speeches; but they seem to have forgotten that they will receive brickbats from the Telangana people. It is a shameful act on their part for talking against their own Telangana state and its interests, he said. He said there is no need to seek permission from AP for the projects as it is the right of Telangana to build projects that benefit the state.
The man was killed in a cruel way, by primitive mob justice. If the national capital treats Africans this way, there could be an exodus soon of Africans from it, warned Mr Bosco Kaweesi, legal adviser, All African Student Association. (Representational image)

Bengaluru: The recent racial attack on a 23-year-old Congolese teacher, Masonda Ketanda Olivier, who was lynched and stoned to death in Delhi and the subsequent attacks on Africans in the national capital, has left the African community in Bengaluru concerned and worried about their safety.

The man was killed in a cruel way, by primitive mob justice. If the national capital treats Africans this way, there could be an exodus soon of Africans from it, warned Mr Bosco Kaweesi, legal adviser, All African Student Association.

Noting that Bengaluru, which is home to thousands of African students enrolled in its many colleges, is no stranger to racial attacks on them, he says the Delhi police should take a cue from the city police's handling of hate crimes. Top police officials in Bengaluru sensitised all their subordinates including DCPs, ACPs and inspectors in dealing with such hate crimes. Though incidents of animosity between the locals and the Africans have been reported more often from the east and northern pockets of Bengaluru where a good numbers of African national students live and study, the police are now well versed in handling such cases in a sensitive manner, Mr. Kaweesi added ,also pointing out that Bengaluru has a bigger African population than Delhi. Our countrymen know the situation in the national capital, and most of them prefer to study in Bengaluru, he said.

The police, which has had to play peacekeeper between the locals in the city and the African students, especially in the aftermath of a Tanzanian girl being stripped and attacked after a Sudanese national ran over a pedestrian woman in his car, killing her on the spot in Hesaraghatta a few months ago, seems to be doing a good job of it so far. Other racial attacks have been triggered by trivial incidents of road rage incidents or of a shopkeeper refusing to give a cigarette to an African national.

We had to educate both sides. While we asked the Africans to respect the local culture and their sentiments, the locals were educated about the lifestyle of Africans and told that all foreigners could not be painted with the same brush based on isolated incidents, said a senior police officer.

We dont feel safe in India as this happened first in Bengaluru, then in Hyderabad and now in Delhi. I dont know why Indians cannot associate with Africans. Mubarak Abdullah, Sudanese student leader



The African community in Bengaluru is in a state of shock over what happened in Delhi. We are worried about our countrymen in the national capital. If such incidents happen frequently, it could have repercussions back in Africa where thousands of Indians live.Bosco Kaweesi, legal adviser, All African Students Association, Bengaluru



We are completely devastated by this incident. The locals feel we are all disrespecting Indian culture. But I do not know how we are doing this.David Edward, Sudanese student leader

Previous incidents

September 2015: A Congolese student, Borguy Mavinga was beaten up by locals for driving his car in a reckless manner and ramming into a compound wall. Mavinga claimed he was chased by a few youth who abused him for playing loud music in his car and so panicked.

August 2015: Pisse Hotto, an African student was beaten up by locals after he protested against a shopkeeper, who sold them cigarettes but not to him as he was an outsider.

March 2015: Mobs attacked eight Africans at Kothanur in separate incidents. Police claimed road rage triggered the attacks.

September 2014: A 23-year-old business management student, Ammar Khureshi from the Ivory Coast ,who lived in Kamanahalli, was assaulted by three men in Ambedkar Colony, as not aware of the local language, he answered in sign language when asked for a cigarette.

July 2013: A 44-year-old Chad national, Wandoh Timothy was assaulted by 10 persons in Hennur in a road rage incident.

May 2011: A police complaint by an African national that he was not allowed to enter a pub in the city due to his nationality sparked off debate on racism in the city.

January 2010: The beheaded body of Imran Mtui, an IT student from Tanzania, was found on a railway track in the city. Though his parents and the embassy demanded a thorough probe into the crime, the police concluded that it was not a racial or hate crime.
Mumbai: State industries minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Subhash Desai and revenue minister and senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse have taken pot shots at each other over a controversy arising over a land purchase by Mr Khadses family.

Pune-based builder Hemant Gawande has claimed that Mr Khadse had purchased land in the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation area of Bhosari in Pune worth crores at a paltry rate by abusing his power.

Mr Desai concurred with Mr Gawande that Mr Khadse had erred, but the BJP minister said that the plot was freehold land and his family had the right to purchase it.

Mr Khadse also had a meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at Mantralaya on Monday.

However, CMO sources as well as Mr Khadses office said that the meeting had nothing to do with any of the controversies surrounding Mr Khadse, but the two leaders had met to finalise the partys candidates for the state Legislative Council elections.
Power consumption for six-hour supply to agriculture is 11,662 million units For nine hours, it would be between 17,493 and 12,089 MU depending upon extent of agricultural operations.

Hyderabad: The state government should either allow a tariff hike or give money to power distribution companies to overcome their deficit. Improving internal efficiency and raising alternative sources of revenue will not be sufficient to meet the Rs 1,958-crore tariff hike sought by the discoms.

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had asked officials not to burden citizens with a tariff hike and develop alternative ways to raise revenues. But officials said reducing transmission and distribution losses, pilferage of energy and expenditure will at the most save Rs 150 crore.

The exercise to reduce T&D losses requires huge investments. Andhra Pradesh has planned to invest Rs 6,000 crore in the next few years to bring down T&D losses to less than 10 per cent.

Experts said the Chief Ministers suggestion was an effort to avoid bad name to his government before actually allowing a tariff hike. Even if the hike is allowed, discoms would still be left with a revenue deficit.

The CMs intentions may be good. But if he really wants to help the people, then the state should release the Rs 1,958 crore sought by the discoms, said Mr M. Venugopal Rao of the Centre for Power Development.

He said the government should announce a plan to fill up the `8,789-crore revenue gap of the two discoms. You cannot raise `1,958 crore in a year or two by improving internal efficiency and through alternative revenue sources, Mr Rao said.

The Telangana government has agreed to hike tariff every year in its Power for All agreement with the central government. Discoms have invested huge amounts to purchase power from private producers in addition to the state and the Centres share at the behest of the government which wanted 24x7 supply, said a retired engineer from the power sector.

Mr M. Thimma Reddy, convener, Peoples Monitoring Group on Electricity, said discoms seek a tariff hike after taking into account internal efficiency measures that would reduce losses.

If the state government neither wants a tariff hike nor extends financial support, the discoms would have to hypothecate their assets to survive, he said.

TSGenco chairman D. Prabhakar Rao said T&D losses of Telangana were 16.07 per cent compared to the national average of 27 per cent. We are trying to convince the Chief Minister that a tariff hike is essential. Another option is compensating the discoms with finances, he added.
Protesters stop an oil tanker in the city on Monday as part of oil truckers strike against imposition of higher VAT. The strike, however, was called off later in the day.  DC

Hyderabad: The indefinite strike by the petrol tankers? association was called off on Monday within hours after being announced.

The association claimed that the Telangana government had agreed to their demand of waiving 14.5 per cent VAT and had invited them for talks on Tuesday to make an official announcement in this regard.

About 3,500 fuel tankers and over 2,000 LPG cylinder transport trucks had remained off the roads from Sunday midnight demanding that the government withdraw the 14.5 per cent VAT. The tankers, however, resumed normal operations from Monday evening.

Though petrol pumps had the required stocks to meet demand for the next two days, the strike call triggered panic buying across the state on Monday, leading to shortage of stocks at some petrol pumps.

The government took up initiatives to minimize the impact of the strike by ensuring supply of petrol and diesel to pumps through tankers owned by petroleum dealers by providing police security.
Bhopal: A move is on to probe the infamous Vyapam scam of Madhya Pradesh, that witnessed death of at least 40 people in the age group of 25-40 during course of its inquiry by various investigation agencies since 2012, afresh by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

A signal to this effect emerged after the CBI, probing the scandal, has decided to reopen the case of mysterious death of an accused, Deepak Jain, in an road accident in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh on February one, 2014. The CBI had earlier closed the case after having failed to make any breakthrough in it.

We have reopened the case of death of Deepak Jain, one of the alleged racketeers involved in arranging admission of candidates to medical colleges in MP in fraudulent manner, CBI sources told this newspaper on Monday.

Accordingly, a Gwalior-based businessman Pawan Mittal, who employed the deceased in his firm, and one Vikram Singh Baghel who reported the incident to the police, were summoned for questioning by local CBI branch last week, sources said.
The allegation against the petitioner was that while the police sub-inspector and his staff were on patrol duty and registering cases pertaining to violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, the accused had shouted at them for registering false cases and harassing public. (Representational image)

Bengaluru: While carrying out routine checks, traffic policemen often get into heated arguments with motorists and sometimes the latter even get penalised for obstructing public servants from discharging their duties. In one such case a 50-year-old man had approached the high court seeking anticipatory bail, after he was charged with intentional insult, obstructing a public servant from discharging and criminal intimidation by the police in Arasikere.

The allegation against the petitioner was that while the police sub-inspector and his staff were on patrol duty and registering cases pertaining to violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, the accused had shouted at them for registering false cases and harassing public. Later a FIR was registered at the Arasikere Police Station. The accused was charged with offences punishable under Sections 353, 504 and 506 of IPC.

However, it was clear before the high court that there was no allegation of use of any weapons or violence by the petitioner and the allegation was that he has voiced his opinion regarding the action of the police.

There is no criminal antecedents to the petitioner and he is a permanent resident of Pavagada in Tumakuru district and is ready to abide by any conditions that may be imposed by this court, the petitioners advocate argued.

The court granted anticipatory bail by imposing certain conditions. It observed, In the facts and circumstances of the case, this court is of the considered opinion that the petitioner deserves to be enlarged on anticipatory bail, in the event of his arrest by the police. However, it is made clear that the observations made herein are for the purpose of considering the bail petition only and the trial court shall remain uninfluenced by the observations made in this case, it ordered.
Mumbai: The women's wing of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) staged a protest here on Monday against comedian Tanmay Bhatt for making fun of legends Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar in a Facebook post.

The agitated women raised slogans denouncing the AIB comedian and burnt his effigy.

The AIB comedian drew flak from the politicians as well as several Bollywood celebrities, including actors Anupam Kher and Riteish Deshmukh, for insulting the diva of Indian film music and the master blaster.

The Shiv Sena has dubbed Bhatt's video on Facebook titled 'Sachin vs Lata Civil War' as a 'desperate publicity stunt' and said it is a clear violation of freedom of speech.

The Mumbai Police Special Branch is inquiring into the complaint lodged against the AIB comedian for posting an irreverent video of a mock conversation between the singing legend and master blaster.
Chennai: Quite often the ace up his sleeve is his word play for the Periyar family scion and the present Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president E.V.K.S. Elangovan.

Soon after the 2011 Assembly elections, when the Congress party here was in alliance with the DMK  as it happened in the 2016 polls also  Elangovan was best remembered for his memorable one-liner stinging salvo in Tamil against the then TNCC leader K.V. Thangkabalu thus: Arupathimoorvaragalaga Sendrargal, Pancha Boothangalaga Thirumbi Vandhaargal.

That was how Elangovan sought to sum up the Congress election performance, drawing from a revered allusion to the 63 Nayanmaars (poet-saints) in the Shaiva Siddantha tradition, while the second part of his barb referred to the five elements of nature.

For the Congress was allotted 63 seats by the DMK in 2011 polls, but the countrys grand old party managed to win just five. Elangovans dig was then brilliantly couched in the language of popular religious folklore on how TNCC missed another poll opportunity.

Five years down the line, the DMK in the run-up to the 2016 Assembly elections, slashed its allotment to a split Congress by a third of those seats to 41 (after the Tamil Maanila Congress  TMC had broken away from the parent body under Mr

G.K. Vasans leadership last year), and Congress slightly improved its tally to eight seats this year.

As the number eight in religious lore, symbolically represents the auspicious 8 aksharas that make up the name of Lord Vishnu, Elangovan may be now drawing huge comfort that metaphysically, it is a great progress for the Congress in Tamil Nadu, from the five basic elements of nature in 2011, to the ultimate reality  Maha Vishnu  post-2016 polls.

In whichever manner the results might be read, in number terms, the plain fact is that DMK benefited more from its alliance with the Congress this time, than the national party would have hoped to get reciprocally when Mr Gulam Nabi Azad broke the ice with Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi at the latters Gopalapuram house in renewing their political ties after the DMK had pulled out of the UPA-II well ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Even both the Muslim parties that aligned with DMK now had won just one out of the 10 seats the Dravidian major had earmarked for them including the IUML.

Aside from the fact that senior Congress leader and former Union finance minister, Mr P. Chidambaram had expressed his dissatisfaction over his party being saddled with several un-winnable seats this time, what is interesting is that of the eight Assembly seats the Congress won now  Karaikudi, Mudukulathur, Killiyur, Vilavancode, Colachel, Nanguenri, Dharapuram and Ooty  six seats came from South Tamil Nadu, including three from the southernmost Kanyakumari district where Congress-DMK alliance swept the polls since BJP has been emerging as a force to be reckoned with, polarising voters on religious lines.

Barring the two seats Congress picked up from Western Tamil Nadu, the party drew a blank in major parts of the State including northern and Cauvery delta belts.

A closer look at the 2016 poll results reveal that TMC, as part of the PWA (Peoples Welfare Alliance)-DMDK front, had in several constituencies played the spoilsport for the Congress. This is not to berate the DMDK by itself  though it was decimated in the Northern Vanniyar belt by the PMK and in some segments with MDMK, have turned spoilers for the Congress. In Tenkasi for example, if not for TMC candidate Charles polling 7,324 votes, Congress Palani Nadar might have easily picked up that seat. In Poompuhar, at the tail end of the Cauvery delta, TMC eroded DMK-Congress front votes.

Nonetheless, in the face of the PMK, the third front parties all splitting the votes, it is a big achievement that Congress has emerged third after the 2016 Assembly polls with a 6.40 per cent vote-share under the stewardship of Mr Elangovan and that is how we look at it, says the TNCC spokesperson Mr A. Gopanna.

Contesting 41 seats along with DMK, the national party has now barely managed to retain its vote-share in Tamil Nadu, considering it had garnered 9.30 per cent of the total votes in 2011 contesting 63 seats.

These numbers could at best be small comfort for the Congress, say political observers, adding, it cannot detract from the larger organisational issues the party has been facing in several states including Tamil Nadu.

Mr Elangovan might have been politically correct in going by the Congress high commands ears, but the other factions in the Pradesh Congress have openly complained that he was unable to take on board all sections.

The Periyar legacy baggage, which Mr Elangovan carries, has helped to shore up with DMK, but at the cost of a certain insularity at the state leadership level, his adversaries within the Congress stress, adding, Elangovan, to strengthen the party, has to walk the extra mile to reach out not only to his detractors but to the TMC leaders as well.

Mr Elangovan, to an extent, tried that before the polls that saw few of the prominent TMC faces like Peter Alphonse returning to the mother party.

But for Congress to be split again, 15 years after the late Congress leader G.K. Moopanar wanted it to be merged in the larger interests of strengthening the secular forces, has come as a major setback for it.

No wonder the senior Congress leader Mr Kamal Nath said in a recent interview that Congress leadership has to be simultaneously built in each state to take on the BJP.
New Delhi: Faced with poll debacle in four states, Congress is expected to hold a 'chintan shivir' (brainstorming session) next month either in party ruled Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand next month.



It will be the first such exercise after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls which saw Congress securing its worst ever performance of just 44 seats in a House of 543.



A senior leader, who declined to be identified, said that such a programme is being finalised and most probably it will be held in a hill state. Karnataka, which is also a party-ruled state, could also be considered.



The brainstorming session is being held at a time when Rahul Gandhi's elevation to the party chief's post is being talked about in party circles.



Soon after the poll debacle, party leaders have said that a meeting of the Congress Working Committee to deliberate on the causes of the reverses would be held soon.



In 2003, Sonia Gandhi had organised a chintan shivir at Shimla where the Congress for the first time gave indications of its openness to share power at the Centre by calling for unity of secular forces. Next year, Congress-led UPA had ensured ouster of the NDA Government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.



In the last chintan shivir held at Jaipur in January 2013, Rahul Gandhi was elevated as the party Vice President and was the 'face' of the party in the Lok Sabha polls.



The chintan shivir is being held at a time when the party is facing an onslaught from the BJP and the Sangh Parivar on one side and on the other, secular parties are attempting to eat into its space.



The Congress wants the unity of anti-BJP secular parties but does not want to have a national-level alliance with them.



A section of party leaders believes that it is facing a threat to its very existence the way the Narendra Modi-led BJP and government is targeting it and its leadership.



The Congress has a challenge at hand with a series of Assembly elections including in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, on the cards next year. Polls in Goa, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Gujarat are also scheduled in 2017.



First such chintan shivir was organised by Sonia Gandhi at Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh in 1998 soon after taking over reins of the organisation.
Kolkata: The ruling Trinanmool Congress, which has been facing criticism from opposition parties over post-poll violence in West Bengal, on Monday hit back at them, alleging they were "instigating" such incidents in the state.

"An absolutely peaceful situation obtained. The law-and-order situation is absolutely fine. It is our party workers and cadres who are being attacked since the poll process started. It is the Opposition which is trying to instigate violence in the state," TMC secretary-general Partha Chatterjee alleged.

On Calcutta University vice-chancellor Sugata Marjit's unwillingness to continue in his post, Chatterjee, who is also the Higher Education minister, said if he was really keen on not continuing, a replacement would be found.

"We wanted him to continue. But if it is not possible then we will find a replacement. We were busy with polls, so things didn't move ahead. But the post will not remain vacant," he said.

Chatterjee said his priority will be to carry forward the development work in the education sector.
Bengaluru: Public pressure including protests by Kannada groups against the renomination of Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, seems to have worked.

The BJP Central Election Committee has decided to field Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Nirmala Sitharaman in his place in the biennial election to the Upper House on June 11.

In fact, social media has been witnessing a campaign against Mr Naidu titled Venkaiah Sakaiah with several organisations opposing his candidature claiming he had not spoken about Karnataka affairs in the Upper House in the last 18 years.

Mr Naidu tried to defend himself last week when he was in Bengaluru for a party event saying he had ensured that the IT City was in the reckoning for a slot in the Smart City list. But it did not work with the party deciding to make Venkaiah contest from Rajasthan.

According to sources, Ms Sitharaman has a Karnataka connection as her husband is from the state and has stayed here for some time. State leaders have described her as Karnatakada sose (daughter-in-law of Karnataka) because of this. She is expected to arrive on Monday to file her papers.

The election committee also cleared former minister, Mr V. Somanna for the Legislative Council polls. Though BJP state president, Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa had opposed Somanna's candidature. the Lingayat leader managed to garner the support of heavyweights like Union Fertilizer and Chemicals Minister Ananth Kumar, Union Minister for Law D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar.
Guwahati: In a significant development, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the name Debabrata Saikia, son of late chief minister Hiteswar Saikia as leader of the Congress Legislature Party in Assam.

In what was also an indication of sidelining the former chief minister Tarun Gogoi who dominated the state politics for past 15-years, the selection of two-time Nazira MLA Debabrata Saikia, the 51-year-old son of former chief minister Hiteswar Saikia has been widely welcomed in the Assam Congress.

The decision of the AICC came close on the heels of ex-chief minister Tarun Gogois willingness to lead the party.

A three-member AICC committee, comprising CP Joshi, Ambika Soni and Avinash Pandey, was here to meet the Congress legislators who in a resolution had authorized Congress presdent Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi to nominate the leader of the Congress party. Almost all 26 party legislators had proposed a change in the state leadership and wanted to see a fresh face as the CLP leader.

It is significant that heavy weight ministers of the then Gogoi cabinet like Rockybul Hussain and Ajanta Neog were also in the race of leadership.

Mr Saikia will also be given he status of leaders of opposition in the Assam assembly. The PCC in a letter to the Assam assembly secretariat has also informed the election of Mr Saikia as leader of Congress Legislature party on Monday night.
New Delhi: With Hindutva emerging as the main poll plank of the BJP, the Sangh Parivar is rooting for a hardliner to be the partys face for the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and week-long celebrations are being planned at Ayodhya from June 10 to revive the Ram mandir issue.

Union minister Mahesh Sharma and party MP Yogi Adityanath are reportedly being favoured by the Sangh Parivar over Union human resources development minister Smriti Irani and BJP Lok Sabha member Varun Gandhi. BJP hardliners and the RSS are trying to push Mr Sharma to the top of the list. To send a signal, Mr Sharma will be attending the Ram Janmabhoomi event at Ayodhya. The week-long celebration will be held to mark the birth anniversary of Ram Janmabhoomi Trust chief Nritya Gopal Das.

Sandwiched between the caste-based politics of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, the BJP intends to employ the politics of polarisation to try to consolidate the Hindu vote bank in its favour.
Hyderabad: Ending speculation over the names of probable candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls, Telugu Desam president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu nominated Union minister Y.S. Chowdary (Sujana Chowdary) and industrialist and former minister from Kurnool T.G. Venkatesh on Monday. He also announced TD support for the BJP nominee, railway minister Suresh Prabhu as the third candidate from the alliance.

The BJP national leadership on Monday evening cleared the name of Mr Prabhu from AP. The selection of Mr Chowdary for a second term was a foregone conclusion. Mr Naidu said Mr Chowdary had fought against bifurcation of AP state in the Rajya Sabha on every occasion. Mr Naidu said he was nominated from the backward Rayalaseema to ensure balance between the regions.

Suspense still continues on whether the TD will support an independent to file papers on Tuesday, hoping for a largescale shift of votes from YSR Congress MLAs who defected to the ruling party. While Mr Naidu had lengthy consultations with these YSRC MLAs, they could not come to a conclusion on whether to field a fourth candidate or not. Replying to a specific question, Mr Naidu declined to give a straight reply and said, It will be anyway known to you tomorrow, I dont know what the MLAs who have joined TD are going to decide.

Chandrababu Naidu makes fun of ticket for Vijay Sai

Telugu Desam president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu ridiculed the YSRCs nomination of party general secretary Vijay Sai Reddy, saying, Jagan (YSRC president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is the Accused No. 1 in all corruption cases and Vijay Sai is the Accused No. 2. I dont know but Jagan may send all the accused as Rajya Sabha nominees hereafter.

Mr Vijay Sai Reddy has filed his papers. If ultimately there is no independent candidate the election on June 11 will be unanimous.

In Telangana state, Chief Minister N. Chandrasekhar Rao has nominated D. Srinivas and Capt. V. Lakshmikantha Rao (retd) for the two RS seats. The election in all certainty will be unanimous. All the candidates will file their nominations on Tuesday.
New Delhi: With Hindutva emerging as the main poll plank of the BJP, the Sangh Parivar is rooting for a hardliner to be the partys face for the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls and week-long celebrations are being planned at Ayodhya from June 10 to revive the Ram mandir issue.

If Yogi Adityanath was the face of the partys Love Jihad before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, attempts are being made to project Union minister Mahesh Sharma as the Hindutva poster boy.

At this juncture in UPs caste cauldron the BJP is struggling to retain its Lok Sabha appeal. Riding the Modi wave during the 2014 general election, the BJP had bagged 73 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP.

Thats not going to work anymore and we might have to fall back on our tried and tested formula of Hindutva, a UP BJP leader said. A doctor by profession who runs a chain of hospitals, Mr Sharma has been a blue-eyed boy of the RSS.

On his personal website (http://www.drmaheshsharmabjp.com), the ]minister has been described as a staunch follower of RSS since childhood. His controversial remarks, starting from the Dadri lynching to the attacks on Africans, have apparently impressed local hardliners in UP. It may be recalled that after taking over as minister, Mr Sharma said on record that the Centre was committed to building the Ram temple.
It is gratifying that India has officially refrained from responding to the nuclear ravings of Abdul Qadeer Khan. The thoughtless man has just suggested that Delhi can be targeted from Kahuta, near Islamabad, in a time-frame of five minutes. Dr Khan, known as the father of Pakistans atom bomb, has no official status now. When he was caught by the international community for trying to run a nuclear Walmart, so deep and far-going were his efforts at peddling nuclear ware on the sly, the Pakistani authorities mothballed him in order to protect themselves and he was placed under house-arrest.

After being freed under a judicial order, the disgraced scientist, now feeling forlorn at age 80, is apt to feel that he hasnt received his due for services rendered to his country. This may possibly explain his militarist bombast. At the same time, the ease with which the dodgy scientist has made his vulgar observation marks him out as insensitive to the monstrous consequences of nuclear weaponry and uncaring attitude towards bilateral and geopolitical considerations.

Indeed, Dr Khan is just the sort of person the far right in Pakistan, including those ensconced in that countrys military establishment and a section of its political class, would seek to exploit to keep the momentum going for itself by appearing to be psychologically attacking India. We have our own crazies here, who at the drop of a hat urge members of a particular religious community to migrate to Pakistan. Some of these ideologically fraught personalities sit on the Treasury benches in our Parliament.

The government would do well to ensure that such personages do not go into a tit-for-tat mode against the motivated comments of Pakistans former nuclear czar. That would be playing into the hands of the Pakistani far right. Mature elements of the political spectrum in both countries, as well as senior policymakers, are aware of the nuclear balance and retaliation capabilities available to each.

Dr Khan was first a nuclear thief. He was caught by the Dutch smuggling nuclear designs out of Holland but was freed by them on a nod from the CIA. That in a nutshell is the well-recorded story of Pakistans nuclear journey about which Dr Khan is now trying to appear heroic. We shouldnt be paying attention to what he has to say. But we will have to keep a close eye on whether the Pakistani nuclear establishment, and the elements within the system that can take a call on mating the bomb to the means of its delivery, are not surreptitiously taken over by jihadists.
During a visit to the beautifully painted heritage havelis of Shekhawati in Rajasthan, I was struck by the gendering of space inherent in traditional architecture. The home complex is laid out in layers determined by the need to limit access to visitors from the outside in, and to women from the inside out. The women who lived in these havelis a century or so ago, were not in want of material comfort. They existed within the structures of home and family, governed by prevalent patriarchal norms that impacted their access to everything  the outside world, education, conversation, people, and so on.

One gets a sense of how inhibiting to the flowering of human potential such restriction can be, in the memoirs of Devaki Nilayamgode  Antharjanam: Memoirs of a Namboodiri Woman (OUP India, 2011). She recounts her childhood in a traditional Namboodiri home in Kerala in early twentieth century. The very term antharjanam meant those who live within  because they lived inside the illam or home, confined to the innermost courtyard, their lives severely restricted by their physical isolation, made worse by caste taboos.

Conditional access, or non-access, conditions the mind and what one believes about oneself. Beginning from within the home, the saga of inaccessibility, and by extension unavailability, spreads outwards to include public spaces and places of worship. Whether they were farmworkers or homemakers within familial set-ups, women were always expected to adhere to degrees of differential access in the name of tradition, ritual, norms and laws.

Temples like Ayyappa Swamis at Sabarimala, for instance, denied entry to all women of menstruating age, some Sufi shrines bar women from entering the sanctum, and male ascetics of orders such as the Sri Swaminarayan sect consider the sight or shadow of a woman taboo. In addition, there are countless examples in religious literature through the ages, including the Buddhist canon, where women are characterised as lustful and their allure likened to that of gold  kanchan-kamini, the twinning of gold and woman  which the ascetic must shun.

Male ascetics and devotees of celibate male deities must ask themselves this question  is lust inherent in the body and presence of a woman, or is it a product of their minds? And if it is indeed a function of their own minds, wouldnt they do well, as spiritual practitioners, to focus on the patterns of their thoughts, rather than expend their energies on banishing women from their sight?

Backed by the Constitution of the country, women have begun to demand equal access to places of worship. From being confined to a section of their own homes, to stepping out and seeking equal access to all spaces  physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual  is a journey that is perhaps just beginning for many women in India. As the veil lifts, inner potential too will find a more complete expression. That is our hope as women, as equal citizens, and as spiritual beings seeking inner empowerment.
California Institute of Technology has blamed Apple and Broadcom in relation to a patent infringement related to the WiFi technology used in iPhones. (Representational image)

Apple is one of the leading technology firms in the world and has come of with some ground-breaking devices, including its popular iPhone series. The iPhone, which is a result of numerous pioneering ideas packed into a single unit.

However, in the past, it has been proved that some of the technologies incorporated by the Cupertino-based company were already patented to another organisation.

After the tussle with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) last year, new reports have emerged suggesting that the company has again been sued over the iPhones Wi-Fi technology.

A report in technology website UberGizmo pointed out the California Institute of Technology has blamed Apple and Broadcom in relation to a patent infringement related to the WiFi technology used in iPhones.

According to the report, Apple and Broadcom have infringed four patents with regard to IRA/LDPC encoders and decorders, which were invented by researchers at the Caltech institute. All the smartphones, starting from the iPhone 5, iPad, Macbook Air, and the Apple Watch use the aforementioned tech related to WiFi.

According to a blog Patently Apple, which briefly covers issues related to Apple;s intellectual property, reported that the patent infringement case was filed in with the California Central District Court on May 26, 2016.

The formal complaint's mention of Apple states in-part that "Apple manufactures, uses, imports, offers for sale, and/or sells Wi-Fi products that incorporate IRA/LDPC encoders and/or decoders and infringe the Asserted Patents. Apple products that incorporate IRA/LDPC encoders and/or decoders and infringe the Asserted Patents include, but are not limited to, the following: iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5, iPad Air, IPad Air 2, iPad Pro, iPad Mini 4, iPad Mini 3, iPad Mini 2, MacBook Air, Apple Watch"

There are high chances that the California Institute of technology will be seeking damages for the infringement of technology and Apple has not yet commented on the issue.

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Last week, Samsung, staged a dramatic demo in Delhi. As the Telecom Regulatory Authority's Chairman, R.S. Sharma and the Unique Identification Authority of India's Director General A.B.P. Pandey, watched, a Samsung engineer used a just-launched tablet PC to scan the iris of Aloknath De, Samsung's India R&D head. Dr De supplied his Aadhaar number. Within a second, the tablet reported that it had successfully established that he was who he claimed to be -- and brought up his Aadhaar card on the screen.

The resounding taalis aside, this was a development whose potential is only now sinking in. Samsung's Bangalore-based engineers have designed and developed what is arguably the first -ever tablet PC-based system to authenticate a person's identity with near infallibility. To do this the team led by Dr De has incorporated a special camera to scan the iris of a person's eyes and uses a formula called 2-factor authentication to identify him or her to 99.9 percent certainty ( see box: Iris scanning: Infallible)

The Samsung Galaxy Tab Iris, replaces the front camera with an Iris scanner. In other respects this is a fairly standard 7 inch tablet with a quad core processor, a 5 megapixel autofocus rear camera, with a good 3600mAh battery running Android Lollipop 5.11, with 1.5 GB RAM. What is unusual is the 8 GB storage, expandable to a massive 200 GB -- and one can see why. In authenticating identities, the tablet may have to store thousands of records. In addition to the software to run the iris identity check with a single click, the makers have made the tablet fully compliant with the Aadhaar data base and has also been certified by the quality control organisation, STQC. They have placed the tablet's identity software development kit in the public domain so that developers can create applications where the iris scan can be used at ration shops, or for disbursing payments under MNREGA, pension payments and any number of e-citizen services.

If one wondered why Samsung chose India to create this technology, Dr Pandey suggested the logic. With Aadhaar enrolments crossing 1 billion, every seventh human being now holds an Aadhaar identity. Samsung is known to have filed for two patents in iris scanning and has registered two trademarks: 'Samsung Iris' and 'Samsung Eyeprint'. Don't be surprised if the company, besides leveraging the first mover advantage for this huge Indian business, also looks at the global potential of its Made in India technology.

So who is the immediate customer for the Galaxy Tab Iris? Don't all rush, because it is not for you and m -- yet. Public service departments who may want to authenticate beneficiaries with minimum delay are the obvious users. But there are other scenarios: rapid insurance claim settlements; preventing ghost mobile phone subscribers, quick clearance at airport immigration, preventing impersonation in examination halls, rapid opening of bank accounts at the customer's home.....you name it. At Rs 13,499, the tablet is reasonably priced for such a path breaking technology.

Iris scanners on devices like phones and laptops are not new. Microsoft launched two Lumia phones -- 950 and 950 XL -- last October with inbuilt iris scanners which helped owners unlock their phones using its Windows 'Hello' feature. But such applications are trivial compared to what was showcased last week -- and when it trickles down from being an enterprise tool to a consumer accessory -- that'll be the revolution. Consider, you could, from the comfort of your home, self-scan your iris -- and initiate a payment or a document like a passport without physical appearance. This is the ultimate selfie on steroids!

'Look into my eyes... and when you find me there, you'll search no more', sang Bryan Adams in another era on the sound track of the film 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'. Some lyrics can be so prescient -- in ways their writers never imagined.

Iris Scanning: Infallible

The iris scanner is built around a digital camera that uses visible and Infra Red light. By shining IR into the eye, it renders the pupil very black, making it easy to isolate the iris. It then locates the centre and edge of the pupil, the edge of the iris and the eyelid and eyelashes.

Together these factors provide 200 points of reference against around 70 when you take a fingerprint. While fingerprints degrade especially when the subject does manual labour, eyes remain unchanged even after surgery. The blind too, have an iris. The chance of mistaking one person's iris for another's has been rated as one chance in 10 raised to the power 78 -- or virtually nil. Glasses or contact lenses won't affect the scan. (Source: How Stuff Works)

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Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has directed the Department of Telecom to look into the call drop masking technology. (Representational image)

New Delhi: Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has directed the Department of Telecom to look into the call drop masking technology being used by mobile service providers.

Read: Telcos take cover under new technology to 'mask' call drops

"I have taken up this issue seriously. I have directed that the department (DoT), along with Trai, should take up this issue seriously," Prasad said when asked about the matter.

The call usually gets automatically disconnected in case of the user moving to a poor network area, making it a 'dropped call' under the current regulatory framework.

According to sources, the new technology ensures the call remains artificially connected until the caller or receiver decides to terminate it and the user is billed for the entire duration despite not being able to talk for full or part of the call duration.

Telecom operators are using Radio-Link Technology (RLT), which is helping them mask call drops, while the consumer is being billed for the time he is on the call, although it can be said to be artificially connected to a network, the sources said.

In such cases, the customer often disconnects the call himself, which is not counted in call drops. If the call in such a case is disconnected, the companies continue to charge customers.

"While RLT is helping companies improve their quality of service parameters and revenue, it is also helping them mask the dropped calls," the sources added.

Prasad said that while his department is looking into the issue, the industry has installed about 1 lakh mobile sites in last 8-10 months to improve service quality.

"I am minister for development of telecom and also for telecom consumers. Telecom operators have done good work by expanding services in the country and it is their job to ensure quality of service is good," Prasad said.

The Supreme Court recently quashed a rule of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) which mandated telecom operators to compensate consumers Re 1 for each call drop with upper limit at Rs 3 per day.

Telecom regulator Trai Chairman R S Sharma has said current norms are "inefficient" to provide any relief to consumers and it will finalise in two weeks its "position" in the wake of Supreme Court quashing a penalty provision.

Asked about steps taken by the government to empower consumers, Prasad said: "I think you are talking about the Supreme Court judgement. Trai is considering it. If Trai comes to us with some kind of suggestions on further empowerment of consumers, we will consider it."

At present, disputes between consumers and telecom operators are not taken up by consumer courts as a Supreme Court judgement of 2009 had barred seeking any such relief under the Consumer Protection Act, saying a special remedy is provided under the Indian Telegraph Act.

The National Telecom Policy 2012 envisages "to undertake legislative measures to bring disputes between telecom consumers and service providers within the jurisdiction of consumer forums established under the Consumer Protection Act".

However, it is yet to be executed by the government. Considering that the prevailing structure is not adequate or fully responsive to deal with consumer complaints in the telecom sector, Trai had recommended establishment of an Ombudsman in 2004 which has not fructified till date.

Prasad said that Sanchar Bhawan, which houses the telecom ministry, was a fit "text book case" of policy paralysis earlier and the new government has worked to clear pending policies for development of the sector, including spectrum sharing and trading, full mobile number portability, sharing of active and passive infrastructure, virtual network operators and the like.

"There are eight policy steps that I have taken. Virtual Network Operator is a big changer," Prasad said.

He said the government is going to soon auction 2,100 MHz spectrum which will further help telecom operators in improving service quality.

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Yamato, his older sister, mother and father came to a park near the forest on Saturday, but the parents became angry when the boy threw stones at cars and people, Japanese police said. (Photo: YouTube Screengrab)

Tokyo: Japanese rescuers scoured thick forest Monday in search of a seven-year-old boy whose parents left him in mountain woods inhabited by bears as a punishment, in a case that has infuriated the public.

The parents originally told police the boy got lost on Saturday while they were hiking to gather wild vegetables -- but later admitted they had left him in the forest to punish him.

The boy, Yamato Tanooka, went missing in mountains on Japan's main northern island of Hokkaido, which is inhabited by wild bears.

Read: Missing Japanese boy was left in mountains as punishment by parents

Yamato, his older sister, mother and father came to a park near the forest on Saturday, but the parents became angry when the boy threw stones at cars and people, Japanese police said.

On the way back home, they made Yamato get out of the car and left him alone in the forest, driving the car about 500 metres (some 550 yards) away, TV Asahi and other reports said.

"They said they went back to the site immediately, but the boy was no longer there," a local police spokesman earlier said.

About 180 rescuers and police officers widened the search area on Monday, mobilising sniffer dogs and horses to go deeper into the woodlands, according to broadcaster NTV.

Footage showed scores of officers clawing through overgrown forest and tall bushes as a helicopter hovered overhead.

Police searched in the dark Sunday night with torches in hand and calling out for the boy, who was wearing a black jacket, navy blue pants and red sneakers when he disappeared, according Kyodo news agency.

"I feel very sorry for my child," the father told an NTV reporter. "I am so sorry for causing trouble for many people."

Police said they will look into filing neglect charges against the boy's parents, according to Kyodo.

Japanese reacted with outrage on social media, condemning the actions of the parents.

"This is not punishment but abuse!" one Twitter post read. Another added: "The parents are so stupid that I am speechless."

Many also worried about the fate of the child in the forest, alone and reportedly with no food or water as heavy rain fell overnight.

Mitsuru Wakayama, a spokesman for the nearby town of Nanae, said local residents only occasionally pass through the mountainous area as a short cut.

"Not many people or cars pass by, and it gets totally dark as there are no lights," Wakayama said.

"It's not surprising to encounter bears anywhere in the area."
"I am not attending the proclamation. I've never attended any proclamation all my life," Duterte told reporters on the weekend in Davao. (Photo: File)

Manila: The Philippine parliament on Monday proclaimed Rodrigo Duterte the nation's next president following his landslide election win this month, but he snubbed the high-profile event.

A joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate in Manila endorsed the official count of the ballots, which saw Duterte win by more than six million votes. Duterte declined to attend, remaining instead in his southern hometown of Davao.

Read: Rodrigo Duterte wins Philippine presidency in official count

Duterte's refusal to attend broke tradition and disappointed even some of his supporters, reinforcing the foul-mouthed politician's reputation as a maverick who is happy to offend the political establishment.

Read: Philippines' President-elect Duterte again launches vulgar attacks on Church

"I am not attending the proclamation. I've never attended any proclamation all my life," Duterte told reporters on the weekend in Davao, a city more than 900 kilometres (560 miles) from Manila that he has ruled as mayor for most of the past two decades.

Duterte, who won largely due to an incendiary law-and-order platform headlined by a vow to wipe out crime within six months, is due to be sworn in on June 30.

Duterte pledged to give security forces shoot-to-kill orders, and vowed that tens of thousands of criminals would die. Since the election Duterte has repeatedly encouraged police to kill drug suspects, and said he would bring back the death penalty.

Also on the campaign trail, he variously denied and acknowledged links to vigilante death squads in Davao, the biggest city in the conflict-plagued southern region of Mindanao.

Duterte has promised to stay in Davao until his term starts, and has been holding midnight news conferences at various hotels. This has forced politicians, powerbrokers, business leaders and courtiers to fly from Manila for an audience.

He has also begun forming his cabinet from Davao, naming many regional politicians to key posts. He has also met with communist and Muslim guerrilla emissaries ahead of planned peace talks.

Duterte has said he wants to stay in Davao because he is comfortable there. He has also repeatedly expressed his disdain for spending time in Manila, which he described last week as a "dead city" that is overrun by slums.

At Monday's congressional session, Leni Robredo was declared the winner of the vice president election, narrowly edging out Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, the son and namesake of the late Philippine dictator.

Robredo, a member of outgoing president Benigno Aquino's Liberal Party, attended the event along with her family and supporters.

Highlighting the importance of the event to many in the Philippines, the ceremonies were broadcast live on national television.

In the Philippines, presidents and vice presidents are elected separately. The constitution limits them to serving a single term of six years.
Yasuda's plight came to attention in March, when a video surfaced showing him reading a message to his country and his family. (Photo: YouTube Screengrab)

Tokyo: The Japanese government said on Monday it was doing all it could to secure the release of a Japanese journalist being held hostage by an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, after an apparent photograph of the man was posted on the internet.

The photograph, apparently uploaded to the Internet late on Sunday, showed a bearded man dressed in orange holding a hand-written sign in Japanese. "Please help me. This is my last chance," said the sign, written in shaky characters and signed "Jumpei Yasuda.

Yasuda's plight came to attention in March, when a video surfaced showing him reading a message to his country and his family. Japanese media said he was capture by a group called Nusra Front after entering Syria from Turkey last June.

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the government was analysing the new photo and believed it was Yasuda, while Chief Cabinet Spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the government was doing what it could. "Since preserving the safety of Japanese citizens is our most important duty, we are making use of a broad net of information and doing everything we can to respond," Suga told a news conference. Asked if this meant contacting the Nusra Front, Suga said "that sort of thing was included" but declined to give further details.

Early in 2015, the Islamic State militant group beheaded two Japanese nationals - a self-styled security consultant and a veteran war reporter. The gruesome executions captured the attention of Japan but the government said at the time it would not negotiate with the militants for their release.

Yasuda, a freelance journalist since 2003, was held in Baghdad in 2004 and drew criticism for drawing the Japanese government into negotiations for his release. In December, media freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders retracted and apologised for a report it had issued that said Yasuda had been threatened with execution in Syria. The government said at the time it was seeking information.
Nicola Toso, a pizza baker, was acquitted on criminal charges of failing to pay child support after a judge ruled that he had done his best during difficult times to provide 400 Euros worth of pizzas, calzone and other goods from the take-out pizza place he was managing. (Photo: Pixabay, Representational Image)

London: An Italian court has ruled in favour of a divorced 50-year-old man who paid his monthly child support in the form of pizzas worth 400 Euros.

Nicola Toso, a pizza baker, was acquitted on criminal charges of failing to pay child support after a judge ruled that he had done his best during difficult times to provide 400 Euros worth of pizzas, calzone and other goods from the take-out pizza place he was managing.

Toso and his ex-wife Nicoletta Zuin divorced in 2002 and for several years all parties followed accords.

In 2008, Italy was hit by a deep economic crisis and Toso, who had remarried and had three more children, began struggling to pay child support, The Telegraph reported.

From 2008 to 2010 he offered Zuin free food instead of the 400 Euros stipulated in their divorce agreement.

In lieu of money, the defendant offered his ex-wife the same amount of compensation in the form of take-away pizzas from his workplace, an offer promptly rejected as beggars change, Judge Chiara Bitozzi wrote in her hearing.

Zuin then filed a criminal complaint. In Tosos defence, his attorney argued the pizza baker had fallen on hard times and big debts. He was even forced to close his business in 2010 after being unable to pay vendors and employees.

The attorney also noted that he had held up all his other custody obligations, such as not missing visits and helping his daughter develop cordial relations with his new partner and three step-siblings.

In 2011, Tosos daughter decided to move in with him. A civil court ruled that it was the ex-wife who was obliged to pay the father 300 Euros a month in child support.

Judge Bitozzi, therefore, wrote that there was no evidence that the pizza baker had committed a crime.
London: London's new mayor, a Labour Party member, is joining forces with Prime Minister David Cameron in the campaign to prevent a British exit from the European Union.

Sadiq Khan is making joint campaign appearances Monday with Cameron, the Conservative Party leader who also favours remaining part of the 28-nation bloc.

Read: London mayor Sadiq Khan reviews citys prepardness for terror attack

Campaigning is intensifying ahead of the June 23 in-out referendum with Cameron's Conservatives badly split over the issue of Europe. He is opposed by several Cabinet members who favor leaving the EU.

Read: David Cameron says Turkey 'decades' from joining the EU

Khan will join Cameron on a "Britain Stronger in Europe" bus trip. He said the issue is more important than political differences between the two men.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has refused to make joint appearances with Cameron, even though they agree on the EU issue.

David Cameron had earlier been vicious in his remarks against Khan when the latter was campaigning for the post of London mayor. The UK PM had questioned the Labour Party member's integrity and accused him of supporting extremists.
Amman: The chief peace negotiator of Syria's mainstream opposition said on Sunday he was resigning over the failure of the UN-backed Geneva peace talks to bring a political settlement and to ease the plight of Syrians living in besieged rebel-held areas.

Mohammed Alloush, who is also the representative of the powerful Jaish al Islam rebel faction in the Saudi-based High Negotiations Committee (HNC), said in a statement that the peace talks had also failed to secure the release of thousands of detainees or to push Syria towards a political transition without President Bashar al-Assad.

The UN-backed parties have not set a date for the resumption of the peace talks after the HNC suspended their participation until the situation on the ground has radically changed. Alloush also said that without any of the opposition demands met, peace talks were a "waste of time", adding that he did not expect peace talks to resume so long as the Syrian government remained intransigent and not ready to enter "serious negotiations". The Syrian government does not recognise the right of the HNC to speak on behalf of the opposition and insists they were tools of foreign powers seeking to topple Assad and brand Alloush himself as a "terrorist".

The resignation was accepted in a meeting in the Saudi-capital Riyadh headed by HNC's chief coordinator Riad Hijab that sought to assess the peace negotiations. Separately, the Turkish based Syrian opposition affiliated to the HNC called on foreign backers to step up military support for the moderate Free Syria Army (FSA) rebel groups. They said such backing would allow their fighters to wrest back the mainly Arab inhabited city of Raqqa, the defacto capital of Islamic State militants in Syria.

The opposition criticised the arming and training of the US backed Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), whose main component are the Kurdish YPG militia for pursuing a separatist agenda. With the help of US special forces, they launched last week with allied Arab tribal groups an assault north of the city of Raqqa with the aim of capturing it. [L5N18L5PY]. They had gained a string of villages around Ain Issa, a town about 60 km north west of Raqqa city.

Head of the main Syrian opposition delegation Asaad al-Zoubi also told al Hadath TV channel that he too wanted to be relieved of his post in the HNC but did not confirm he had taken a similar step. A source in the opposition said Zoubi was replaced in a reshuffle of the HNC negotiating team that includes both military factions and political groupings.

Zoubi said no real peace talks had taken place four months since the latest rounds of Geneva peace talks were launched and opposition pleas to get the UN-backed process to pressure the Syrian authorities to allow humanitarian aid to besieged areas went unheeded. The Syrian opposition suspended in April its formal participation in peace talks in protest at Syrian army offensives they said meant a cease fire was effectively over. They were however under strong pressure not to quit altogether.
Islamabad: An Afghan official on Monday met top Pakistani diplomat and discussed a host of issues, including the fate of Afghan peace process after the death of Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a US drone attack recently.

Afghan envoy Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal met the Prime Minister's advisor on foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad.

They discussed the fate of Afghan peace process in the wake of killing of Mullah Mansour and appointment of hardline cleric Mullah Haibatullah as his successor, according to diplomatic sources.

Pakistan was livid after the attack, saying it was major setback to Afghan peace process.

"The death of Mullah Mansoor in a drone strike on May 21 has added to the complexity of the Afghan conflict," Aziz has said after the drone attack.

"We believe that this action has undermined the Afghan peace process," he said.

It is believed that the peace process has been pushed back for several months as new Taliban leader will be under pressure to shun talks after killing of Mansour.

Pakistan had been active as part of four way group with Afghanistan, China and US to help start the peace talks.
Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour, who has been killed in an air strike by the United States in Balochistan (Photo: AFP)

Quetta, Pakistan: The brother of a man who was killed alongside the Talibans slain chief Mullah Akthar Mansour in an American drone strike in southwest Pakistan is pressing murder and terrorism charges against US officials, police said Sunday.

Mansour was travelling by car near the town of Ahmad Wal on May 21 when he was killed, a major blow to the Islamist group that has been waging a guerilla war in Afghanistan since being toppled from power in 2001.

US officials described the cars driver as a second male combatant but according to Pakistani security officials he was a chauffeur named Mohammad Azam who worked for the Al Habib rental company based out of Quetta, the regions main city.

His brother Mohammad Qasim said Azam was an innocent man who was providing for his four children and had been murdered.

US officials whose name I do not know accepted the responsibility in media for this incident, so I want justice and request legal action against those responsible for it, Qasim said in a police report dated May 25, a copy of which was seen by AFP.

My brother was innocent and he was very poor who has left behind four small children and he was the lone bread earner in the family, he added.

Local police and administration officials on Sunday confirmed charges had been filed, but declined to comment on what steps authorities would take to pursue the case, if any.

Mansour was appointed head of the Taliban in July 2015 and was succeeded on Wednesday by his deputy Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.

The US has carried out hundreds of drone strikes in Pakistan, mainly in the border tribal regions with Afghanistan, and leaked documents show Islamabad had quietly consented despite publicly protesting.

But this was the first by the US in Balochistan province and Pakistan -- whose spy agency has long supported the Taliban -- angrily denounced it as a violation of its sovereignty.

Islamabad says it hosts many of the Afghan Talibans top leadership to exert influence over them and bring them back to peace talks with Kabul.

Drone attacks have proven extremely controversial with the Pakistani public and rights groups. In 2013, Amnesty International said the US could be guilty of war crimes by carrying out extrajudicial killings.

A separate report on drone strikes in Yemen by Human Rights Watch accused the US of killing civilians and causing disproportionate civilian harm.
The Interior Ministry said yesterday that the tests proved that Mansour was killed in the drone attack. (Photo: AFP)

Islamabad: A DNA test has confirmed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour's death in a US drone strike in the restive Pakistani province of Balochistan on May 21, the government in Islamabad has said.

"The second man killed in the drone attack has been identified. It has been confirmed that the man killed in the attack was former Taliban chief Mullah Mansour. The exact identity was known through the DNA test which matched with a relative of Mansour who had come from Afghanistan to take the dead body," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Mansour, who was in his early 50s, and Muhammad Azam, a Pakistani driver, were killed on May 21 when US Special Forces targeted their vehicle in a drone strike in Noshki district of Balochistan while they were allegedly returning from Iran by road.

The US had announced soon after the attack that it had successfully targeted Mansour but Pakistan had said that DNA test would be performed to identify the victims.

The Interior Ministry said yesterday that the tests proved that Mansour was killed in the drone attack.

Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had said on Thursday that all indicators confirmed that the person killed in the drone strike was Mansour.

However, he had said that the final announcement in this regard will made after the DNA tests.

Pakistan government has described the US drone strike as a violation of its sovereignty.

Meanwhile, the family of the driver killed in the drone attack registered a police case yesterday against the US government, demanding justice.
10 terrorists, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, had left for India to carry out the Mumbai attack in 2008. (Photo: PTI/File)

Islamabad: A top Pakistan court on Monday issued notices to the seven Mumbai attack case accused, including 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, and the government over the prosecution's plea to form a commission to examine the boat used by the 10 LeT terrorists to reach India.

"The Islamabad High Court has issued notices to the accused of Mumbai attack case and the government on the prosecution's plea to form a commission to examine the boat at port city of Karachi," a court official told said.

He said the court has also sought record of the case from the trial court - Anti-Terrorism Court Islamabad.

The official said the date for hearing of the case will be fixed later.

The prosecution had challenged the trial court's decision to reject its plea to form a commission to examine the boat 'Al-Fauz' used by Mumbai attack terrorists so that the vessel could be made "case property".

Al-Fauz is in the custody of the Pakistani authorities in Karachi, from where the 10 terrorists, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, had left for India to carry out the Mumbai attack in 2008.

According to the Federal Investigation Agency, the attackers used three boats including Al Fauz to reach Mumbai from Karachi.

It said the security agencies had also traced the shop and its owner from where the culprits bought the engine and the boat while a bank and a money exchange company were also traced which were used for the transaction of money.

The 10 LeT terrorists had left Karachi on the boat on November 23, 2008.

En route to their destination, they hijacked another boat, killing four of its crew. They allegedly forced the vessel's captain to take them close to the Indian shores.

The captain was killed when the vessel reached Mumbai's coast.

The Mumbai attack case is facing inordinate delay as no proceedings practically have been held for more than two months.

The Mumbai case hearing is scheduled to be held once a week.

The lawyers associated with the case say as all Pakistani witnesses in the case have recorded their statements it may further be delayed if India does not send 24 witnesses to Pakistan.

They say Pakistan is awaiting India's response on sending the witnesses here for recording the statements in the case.

Mumbai attack mastermind Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz,Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum are accused of abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attack.

Lakhvi is living at an undisclosed location after he got released from jail on bail a year ago. The other six suspects are in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi.

The case has been going on in the country for more than six years.
Toilets in a government girls school in south Delhi do not get clogged these days. Also, many students also stopped taking long leaves from school during periods.





Thanks to a new sanitary napkin incinerator installed in a government school in MMTC colony, overflowing toilets have become history as girls are no more dumping used sanitary napkins in them.



The problem has been solved with the help of a corporate sponsor who bore the cost of the Rs 30,000 incinerator, said Rani Patel, head of NGO Aarohan that played a key role in offering a solution.



Sanitary napkin incinerators are as important as books in girls schools. I wish the government takes note of this schools model and helps in extending similar facility in all institutions, said Patel.



After the successful installation of the sanitary napkin incinerator, the attendance of students in the MMTC school also improved.



A school teacher, who refused to be identified, said: Students themselves tell us that they have stopped taking forced leave during periods. Clean toilets are also being appreciated.



Patel said teachers of the school were aware of the problem behind toilets getting clogged with used sanitary napkins but, for some reason, they could never raise the issue with department authorities.



The issue came up for discussion informally and we decided to help the institution, said NGO Aarohans chief.



The lack of facility for disposal of sanitary napkins and free napkins was also forcing girls to stay away from school for days together, said Patel, who is a nominated member of the MMTC-based schools management committee.



Her NGO, which holds tuitions for under- privileged girls studying in government schools also conducted a random survey among students to find out the real problem behind dropping out.



Some of the girls were upfront about the problem of disposal of sanitary napkins in schools and confided in us that most girls were just dumping these in toilets, resulting in insanitary conditions, said Patel.She said it took her some time to look for a solution and a sponsor.



Our corporate partners were sensitive enough to react promptly and support the cause, which is very important she said.
Social media extortion is the new crime trend which the Delhi police is grappling with and the fight has got tougher with three incidents reported back to back this month.





In all three incidents, the perpetrators created fake accounts on a social network site, uploaded morphed pictures and videos, and dropped messages demanding money  which ranged between Rs 15,000 - Rs 80,000  to get the accounts taken down, a police source said.



He further said, the complainants pertaining to the three matters are women in their early 20s, including the daughter of a south Delhi-based doctor.



A senior police official said, in such offences the probe starts with tracing the IP addresses. If such incidents have taken place, it is a serious matter and strict action will be taken against the perpetrators.



Fake accounts



The source further said, from preliminary investigation it emerged that the perpetrators are into mass creation of fake accounts.



In the matter related to the south-Delhi based doctors daughter, the IP address was traced and it emerged that the same had as many as 12 log-in terminals. IP addresses in the other cases are in the process of being traced.



A similar incident also took place with a Ghaziabad-based journalist and the matter was reported at Kavi Nagar Police Station there. In this matter, also reported this month, the accused demanded Rs 3,00,000 from her, said a source.



Interestingly, in all four cases, including that of the journalist, the accused persons tried to validate their extortion bid on the pretext of loan repayments, suggesting some sort of a modus operandi for gangs which have so far not been under the police scanner.



For instance, in one case, the perpetrator claimed to be the employee of a prominent bank and told the victim that he was doing so as she had not repaid a nearly nine-year-old loan, back when the woman was actually a student, the source added.



In September 2015, Delhi Police had come across the first case of extortion through social media, though it did not involve creation of any fake account.



A youth from Haryanas Kurukshetra district was found extorting money from a law student from Azerbaijan, whom he had befriended over a social networking site, threatening to upload her morphed photographs on pornographic websites.
Three of the four death row convicts in the December 16 gang-rape and murder case better known as Nirbhaya Case have moved the Delhi High Court challenging the 10-year jail term awarded to them by a trial court in a robbery case.





Akshay Kumar Singh, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma, who were convicted for dacoity and dishonestly receiving stolen property, have claimed that the trial courts order was bad in law and against the principle of natural justice.



Besides the trio, the trial court on September 2 last year had also awarded 10 year imprisonment to convict Mukesh, saying they do not deserve any leniency. It had also imposed a fine of Rs 1.01 lakh each on the four convicts, who are currently lodged in Tihar jail.

The convicts in their appeal, filed through advocate A P Singh, have sought setting aside of the trial courts decision saying the judgement did not pay heed towards facts produced by the accused persons during the trial of the case.



The plea stated that the prosecution has failed to prove its case and had not placed any material evidence, which could point to their guilt. Trial court had passed order (conviction and sentence) without applying its judicial mind and without taking into consideration the facts and documents placed by the convicts on record and has wrongly relied upon the version of the complainant, the convicts have said in their appeal. They have sought bail during pendency of their appeals.



Six persons, including a juvenile, had beaten up and had robbed carpenter Ram Adhar before raping and brutally assaulting a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus in south Delhi on the night of December 16, 2012. Thirteen days after the assault, she was transferred to a hospital in Singapore for emergency treatment, but succumbed to her injuries.



As per the charge-sheet in the robbery case, the police had claimed that bus driver Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Vinay, Pawan and Akshay, along with the juvenile, had snatched the 35-year-old carpenters mobile phone and Rs 1,500.



Mukesh, Vinay, Pawan and Akshay were awarded death penalty on September 10, 2013 by a trial court here in the gangrape and murder case which was later confirmed by Delhi High Court on March 13, 2014. Their appeals are pending before the Supreme Court.



Out of the six, accused Ram Singh had committed suicide in Tihar Jail on March 11, 2013 and proceedings against him were abated.



On August 31, 2013 the Juvenile Justice (JJ) Board sentenced the minor accused to a three-year stay in a special home for gangrape and murder of the girl. The juvenile, now 20-year-old, was recently released from the reformation home.
The Delhi government is gearing up to notify nearly 3,000 mohalla sabhas this week in its bid to empower people to local level governance, sources said.





The ground work for set up the mohalla sabhas is nearly done, said an official indicating that formal announcement on the creation of the citizen groups is likely early next month.



The proposed mohalla sabhas - colonybased citizen bodies  would have the power to prioritise development work and also inspect completed projects before giving a go-ahead for payment to contractors.



Mohalla Sabhas are Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals brainchild for involving community in governance and establishing Swaraj. A total of 2,969 Mohalla Sabhas are being planned.



These citizen bodies are going to be involved in overseeing construction of roads, maintenance of parks, upkeep of streetlights and other community services in a colony.



The mohalla sabhas would be a medium for the AAP government to crowd source the development agenda in colonies by empowering the resident groups that would represent around 4,000-5,000 voters each at the polling booth level.



As an experiment, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia last year started a pilot project in 10 Assembly constituencies. Each sabha was given a limit of Rs 20 crore within which it could suggest local development work.



This year Kejriwals dream project of implementing Swaraj  local self governance  has been extended to all the 70 constituencies and Sisodia, while presenting the Budget for 2016-17, allocated Rs 350 crore under the Swaraj Nidhi. The decision to involve the proposed mohalla sabhas in streetlight maintenance was taken after a few legislators complained to Sisodia about poor maintenance of streetlights in their constituencies.



After getting reports from the Mohalla Sabhas about dark spots, the Delhi governments Delhi Urban Development Authority will provide the funds, said sources in the government.



The addition of street light maintenance to the list of works that mohalla sabhas can perform is being seen as an attempt to help MLAs save time for other public dealing works, officials said.
Citing 'Make in India' and 'Start Up India' campaigns for boosting manufacturing and employment, tech giant Cisco's Chairman John Chambers has said the next US President should take a cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and outline the plan for growth of the American economy.





Weighing in on the 2016 US presidential race, Chambers said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump could be the next US President going by the "current momentum".



He, however, said the next US President, irrespective of the political party, should outline his plans for growing America's economy, leveraging technology and creating jobs just as Modi is doing in India.



"The real key issue is I think the next President should be the person who outlines what Prime Minister Modi is going to do when he comes here in the first week of June," Chambers said at the Bloomberg Breakaway Summit here on May 25.



He said Modi, who will address the US Congress during his June 7-8 visit, is "going to talk about a digital India, about growing its economy not 6-7 per cent a year, which will be the fastest in the world, but at 10 or 11 per cent."



Chambers said the Prime Minister will also talk about a "digital manufacturing India, a digital start up India" as well as about re-doing regulation and creating a million jobs per month.



Modi will also focus on his government's plan to providing cheap and fast broadband to every citizen in India and to change healthcare and education in the country, he said.



"That is what the national debate should be about. Both parties should win by saying here is how you change your country. We have let America down, we got to change so we are addressing the symptoms here as opposed to the underlying issues," he said.



Chambers added that the person he would like to see lead America as its next President, regardless of political party, should be one who has a plan and focus to "fix America" and grow the economy so that the average American sees a 10-15 per cent pay raise over the next decade.
Congress leader V Narayanasamy today called on Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi and formally staked claim to form government in the Union Territory. He was elected leader of the 15-member Congress Legislature party on Saturday.





The party also has support of two-member DMK in the 30-member Assembly. After meeting Bedi at Raj Nivas, Narayanasamy said he had submitted a letter to the LG regarding his unanimous election as Congress Legislature Party Leader and requested her to invite him to form the government.



He said he also presented to the Lieutenant Governor the letter of support from DMK.



Narayanasamy had yesterday called on DMK president M Karunanidhi at Chennai and obtained the Dravidian party's letter of support for forming the government.



Narayanasamy said he along with Puducherry PCC president Namassivayam would go to New Delhi later in the day and meet AICC president Sonia Gandhi and party Vice president Rahul Gandhi. "Very soon the new government would be formed", he said.



Narayanasamy was greeted by the Lt Governor on his birthday today during his meeting with her.



69-year-old Narayanasamy, who had served as Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office in the second UPA government after being MoS, Parliamentary Affairs, in UPA-I, did not contest the May 16 assembly polls and will now have to seek election to the legislature in a bypoll.



A law graduate, Narayanasamy did legal practice for more than 10 years and jumped into active politics in 1985. He was a member of Rajya Sabha for three terms.
BJP leaders and workers today staged a protest near Congress headquarters here, demanding an apology from Sonia Gandhi and her party leaders on their statements over the Batla House encounter issue.





"BJP wants that after the latest revelation that terrorists involved in Batla House shoot-out have IS links, the Congress president and her associates should apologise to the nation," said Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay who led the demonstration.



The protesters including party MPs Ramesh Bidhuri, Udit Raj, Meenakshi Lekhi and Vijay Goel were stopped by police near 24 Akbar Road, headquarters of Congress. Several protesters were detained when they tried to dismantle the barricades. They were later taken to Parliament Steet police station.



Last week, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh had stoked a controversy after he dubbed the 2008 Batla House encounter as "fake".



He asked the central government to order a judicial probe into the encounter in which two suspected terrorists and a police officer were killed.



"Batla House encounter was fake. I dare the BJP to go for a judicial probe. I still stand by my remarks on the encounter. I don't know who is Bada Sajid or Chhota Sajid," Singh had said.



BJP has latched onto an IS video where one of the men claimed that he was at Batla House when police had raided the premises and fled afterwards. However, it was not clear whether he was inside the same house where the two alleged Indian Mujahideen militants were killed in the encounter.



The NIA had said it was in the process of identifying all the six people who were part of the 22-minute video.
India-born CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella today said developers and entrepreneurs from India are playing a key role in driving innovation -- both in the country and outside -- and the company wants to be the platform for creators here.



Nadella, on a one-day trip to India, today met Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad as well as student developers and entrepreneurs this morning.



He is scheduled to call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the day. "It's so inspiring for me to come here to see this broad spectrum of student developers, entrepreneurs, artists and even some big brands, e-commerce companies who are all changing the landscape of India and thereby, the world," Nadella said while delivering keynote address at Microsoft's 'Tech For Good, Ideas for India' event.



He added that it is a "privilege" to be "a platform underneath this Indian success". "Our mission is to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more. It's not about celebrating our technologies. It's about celebrating technologies that you all in India create. In fact, I want us to be the platform creators that foster ingenuity of what is happening in India," he said.



This is Nadella's third visit to the country since he took over as Microsoft CEO in February 2014. In December, he was in Mumbai and had also visited T-Hub in Hyderabad.



Nadella quoted poet Mirza Ghalib's famous lines, "Hazaaron khwahishen aisi ke har khwahish pe dam nikle, Bahut niklay mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle" and encouraged youngsters in the audience to be bold and ambitious.



"I learn something new... there are so many layers there... My interpretation of that is... it's not just your dreams being fulfilled, it is your ability to dream that is worth dying for. It is a source of inspiration," he said.



Talking about the changing landscape of technology, Nadella said the "idea of conversations as a platform" is a transformative change in computing.



"When you change the way you see the world, you change the world you see," Nadella added.



Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, who was also present at the event, said technology is a platform of growth for India.



"If you innovate in India for India, you are going to be able to innovate for the world and India then can become the entrepreneurial engine for the next 6 billion people on the planet just like the US is the entrepreneurial engine for the top one billion people... That's the opportunity we have, and that is India's economic future," he stressed.



Earlier, in the day, Nadella met Prasad and discussed how Microsoft's contribution to the government's Digital India initiative can be enhanced.



"CEO @Microsoft @satyanadella met me today. Discussed in enhancing cooperation with Microsoft towards @_DigitalIndia," the minister tweeted after the meeting.



Hyderabad-born Nadella is also expected to attend a session with some key industry executives at an event being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
A cab driver was beaten up allegedly by a group of Africans in the wee hours today in south Delhi's Rajpur Khurd, the locality in which African nationals were attacked by groups of locals in four separate incidents last week.





The incident took place around 4 AM when the cab driver, identified as Nuruddin, went to pick up passengers from Rajpur Khurd in Mehrauli.



There were six of them -- four African men and two women. An altercation took place between Nuruddin and the passengers when he refused to accommodate all six of them in his cab, a senior police official said.



The group then allegedly attacked Nuruddin and ran away. The injured driver, however, managed to stop one woman, who is believed to be from Rwanda, and called up the police.



Nuruddin, who sustained injuries on his face, was rushed to AIIMS and the woman has been detained for questioning. A case has been registered and efforts are on to identify the other accused persons, the official added.



There has been a series of attacks on African nationals in the last few days including killing of a Congolese youth in national capital and assault on a 23-year-old Nigerian student in Hyderabad.



Five persons have been arrested in connection with the attack on African nationals.
A DNA test has confirmed Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour's death in a US drone strike in the restive Pakistani province of Balochistan on May 21, the government here has said.



"The second man killed in the drone attack has been identified. It has been confirmed that the man killed in the attack was former Taliban chief Mullah Mansour. The exact identity was known through the DNA test which matched with a relative of Mansour who had come from Afghanistan to take the dead body," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Mansour, who was in his early 50s, and Muhammad Azam, a Pakistani driver, were killed on May 21 when US special forces targeted their vehicle in a drone strike in Noshki district of Balochistan while they were allegedly returning from Iran by road. The US had announced soon after the attack that it had successfully targeted Mansour but Pakistan had said that DNA test would be performed to identify the victims.

The Interior Ministry said yesterday that the tests proved that Mansour was killed in the drone attack. Pakistan Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had said on Thursday that all indicators confirmed that the person killed in the drone strike was Mansour. However, he had said that the final announcement in this regard will made after the DNA tests.



Pakistan government has described the US drone strike as a violation of its sovereignty.

Meanwhile, the family of the driver killed in the drone attack registered a police case yesterday against the US government, demanding justice.
Human Trafficking victims will not be sent to jail, according to the first draft bill of trafficking, which was released by Union Minister Maneka Gandhi today.





"At present the law says the trafficked and the trafficker are both criminals and they both go to jail. Now, we are saying the victim will not go to jail. We will find different ways to reform her life," the minister said after releasing the draft bill on Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation).



She said decriminalisation of prostitution is a "grey area" which needs to be further discussed.



The provision was made in view of treating "victims as victims and not offenders", irrespective of the trade they are trafficked for, including sexual exploitation, which is currently punishable under Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956.



"There is a grey area and we are going to work on it. Let the draft go through everyone. Let everybody give their suggestions to this draft to see that those grey areas become less grey. For instance, suppose a girl has been in prostitution for 15 years. Is she still a victim or she is just a part of a trade. In which case does ITPA apply to her or we do. That also has to be thought about," Gandhi said.



She said the draft bill will be on the ministry's website for a month for public consultation and inviting suggestions from NGOs and stakeholders.



"This will be on our website for a month. During that period everybody is welcome to give suggestions and ask questions," she said.



The major provisions of the "victim oriented" bill include prohibition on disclosure of identity of the victim of trafficking and witness, penal provision for the use of narcotic drug or psychotropic substance or alcohol for the purpose of trafficking, use of chemical substance or hormones for exploitation and institution mechanism.



It also has provision for registration of placement agencies, setting up of s Special Investigation Agency, Special Court and creation of Rehabilitation Fund for victims by the state governments.



"If considered as trafficking, the victim will be produced in court, the district anti-trafficking committee will decided on what happens to the victim like will get sent to home to rehabilitated or will they get change of name," Gandhi said.



The bill recommends state governments to create specialised schemes for victims, especially for women engaged in prostitution or any other form of commercial sexual exploitation, to enable them to come forward and reintegrate into mainstream society.



The bill recommends constitution of Anti Trafficking Committees at State and district level and constitution of a Central Advisory Board.



The district level Committee would comprise of magistrate, social workers, lawyer and an official from the department women and child development. They will work for prevention, rescue, protection, medical care, psychological assistance, skill development, need based rehabilitation of victims.



The Central level Anti-Trafficking Advisory Board will oversee the implementation of the Act and advice the appropriate government on matters relating to prevention of trafficking, protection and rehabilitation of victims.



The draft Bill plugs loopholes in existing laws and brings within its fold additional crimes pertaining to trafficking which don't find a place in the existing laws.



"India is source, destination and transit country for trafficking...Under the Bill, an institutional mechanism is also sought to be set up to deal with this highly specialized subject which will also include members from Civil Society Organizations," Gandhi said said.



Since the problem is trans-border with our neighbouring countries, protocols will also be worked out for those trafficked from other countries.



The draft Bill has taken into account the various aspects of trafficking and its punishments as defined in section 370- 373 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 and aims to include other offences/provisions which are not dealt with in any other law for the purpose of trafficking.



For speedy trial with a view to increase prosecution and to reduce the trauma faced by the victims, the proposed draft Bill provides for establishing Special Courts in each district and experienced Special Prosecutors. Recovery of back wages and other monetary losses of the victim of trafficking is also proposed.



The draft Bill provides for mandatory reporting within 24 hours by a police officer, public servant, any officer or employee of Protection Home or Special Home having custody of the victim of trafficking to the District Anti-Trafficking Committee or in case of child victim to the Child Welfare Committee.



Human trafficking is third largest organised crime after drugs and arms trade, majority of which takes place within the country. There are also a large number of trafficked from Nepal and Bangladesh.






President Pranab Mukherjee today expressed concern over a string of alleged attacks on Africans in the country, saying it would be most unfortunate if the people of India were to "dilute our long tradition of friendship with the people of Africa".





Addressing the delegates of 7th Annual Heads of Mission Conference who called on him, the President said,"It would be most unfortunate if the people of India were to dilute our long tradition of friendship with the people of Africa and the welcome we have always extended to them in our country. African students in India shold have no reason to fear for their safety and security."



He said no impression which is not in line with our ethos or core values of our ancient civilization should be created.



"We shall have to create appropriate awareness in the minds of our youngsters who may not know the history, age old relations (between India and Africa)...India has had trading relations with African countries for centuries and everyone of the 54 countries of Africa has a thriving Indian community doing business, industry etc.



"We cannot allow these to be jeopardised in anyway and create a bad precedent which is not the ethos, which is not part of the core values of our civilisation," a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement quoted Mukherjee as having told the delegation.



The President said he was happy that Ministry of External Affairs in consultation with Ministry of Home Affairs is proactively following up on the few isolated incidents that have occurred and working closely with authorities to ensure the safety of African students in India.



Mukherjee said the bonds between the people of India and the people of Africa have been forged since time immemorial.



"As a political activist, as a member of parliament, I have noticed how close we (India and Africa) are with each other. Almost a century ago Rabindranath Tagore wrote a beautiful poem titled Africa expressing his anguish, pathos, sense of pain on apartheid," he said.



Mukherjee said leaders like Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana stood shoulder to shoulder with Jawaharlal Nehru at the Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung in 1955 and in founding the Non-aligned Movement in 1961.



"Nelson Mandela was an embodiment of Gandhian principles. India led the long international struggle for the end of colonialism and apartheid in Africa," the President said.



The President said in 1946 Government of India decided to stop any trade relationship with South Africa till apartheid was not lifted.



"At that time decision was a bold decision because South Africa accounted for five per cent of total international trade with India," he said.



Mukherjee said it was only in 1994, after the end of apartheid, that he as Commerce Minister restored normal trade relations with that country.



"Whole of India stood in support of African leaders like Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere and Kenneth Kaunda during this freedom struggle," he said.



Earlier, the President termed terrorism as a menace which needs to be collectively tackled by the world community with determination.



"There is no good terrorist or bad terrorist. Comprehensive cooperation by all countries of the world is essential to tackle this global menace," he said.



He called upon the Heads of Mission to do their best to expand contacts between higher education institutions of India and foreign countries.


Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and noted journalist M J Akbar figured in BJP's second list of six candidates today for the Rajya Sabha biennial polls with the two being fielded from Andhra Pradesh, where ally TDP has assured its support, and Madhya Pradesh respectively.





With one day left for filing of nominations for the polls, the announcement was made by the BJP even as Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu, noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti were among several candidates from different parties who today submitted their papers.



BJP vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, who heads a think tank affiliated to the party and is also in-charge of its affairs in MP, and Vikas Mahatme were nominated from Maharashtra while Shiv Pratap Shukla will contest from Uttar Pradesh and Mahesh Poddar from Jharkhand. It had yesterday released the first list of 12 candidates.



Elections for 57 seats in the Upper House from 15 states are due to be held on June 11.



BJP's general secretary Ram Madhav, whose name was doing the rounds as a contender, is not among the six candidates with sources saying he is likely to get a bigger responsibility in the organisation following a rejig expected soon.



Interestingly, the names of 12 candidates recommended by the BJP election committee in MP to the Central Election Committee for two Rajya Sabha seats did not have Akbar's name However, the veteran scribe pipped them all.



The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) nominated party chief Shibu Soren's younger son Basant Soren as its candidate from the mineral-rich state.



Shukla is a senior party leader from UP where the party wanted to field a Brahmin face, a key support base of BJP, ahead of the assembly polls next year. Poddar is a senior party leader from Jharkhand.



Madhav, who played an important role in BJP's win in Assam and earlier in Jammu and Kashmir, had said in a tweet yesterday that he would not be a candidate from AP, as speculated.



A senior party functionary said Madhav had opted out of the Rajya Sabha candidacy.



Another general secretary Anil Jain was also a contender from a seat from MP but Akbar, who represents Jharkhand in the Upper House, was preferred.



Prabhu currently represents Haryana in the Upper House but was shifted to AP after ally TDP accepted its request.



While 14 BJP members are retiring, its increased strength in states like Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand is likely to help all its 18 candidates sail through.



The other prominent candidates who filed their papers included Union Ministers Birender Singh and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and senior Congress leader Ambika Sonia.



Naidu, the Minister for Urban development and Parliamentary Affairs, BJP national vice president Om Prakash Mathur, Ramkumar Verma and Harsh Vardhan Singh were the four party candidates who submitted their papers from Rajasthan.



Verma and Vardhan are the new faces for elections to the Upper House from the desert state.



Vardhan is the grandson of former speaker of Rajasthan Assembly Laxman Singh and has links with erstwhile royal family of Dungarpur while Verma is a retired RBI official and engaged in social work.



Jethmalani, a former BJP MP, and Misa Bharti filed their papers as candidates of ruling alliance in Bihar where JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav also entered the fray today.



Along with Yadav, Ramchandra Prasad Singh also entered the fray on JD(U) ticket. Jethmalani, who was the law minister in Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government, and Bharti filed their papers as RJD candidates.



"All the candidates of alliance will definitely win," Lalu Prasad told reporters in Patna.





In Chandigarh, Rural Development Minister Birender Singh filed his nomination papers from Haryana while Soni, a Congress General Secretary, did so from Punjab.





Naqvi, Union Minister of State for Minority and Parliamentary Affairs, filed his papers from Jharkhand.





Three senior leaders of ruling BJD -- Prasanna Acharya, Bishnu Das and N Bhaskar Rao--filed their papers in Odisha.





Scrutiny of nominations will take place on June 1 and the last date for withdrawal is June 3.





In Karnataka, three Congress candidates including former Union ministers Jairam Ramesh and Oscar Fernandes filed their papers in Bengaluru.





Former IPS officer K C Ramamurthy (Congress) and B M Farooq (JDS) also submitted their papers.





In Uttar Pradesh, former union minister and senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal submitted his papers in Lucknow.





The elections were necessitated as 55 members from 15 states are retiring between June and August. One seat each from Rajasthan and Karnataka vacated by Anand Sharma (Congress) and Vijay Mallya (Independent) respectively will also go to polls.





Out of the total 57 seats, a majority of 14 each belong to BJP and Congress. While six members belong to BSP, five are from JD (U), three each from SP, BJD and AIADMK.





Two members each belong to DMK, NCP and TDP, while one member belongs to Shiv Sena. Mallya was an Independent member who resigned on May 5.





While a maximum of 11 members are retiring from Uttar Pradesh, six seats each will go to polls from Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.





From Bihar, five seats will go to polls, four each from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Rajasthan, three each from Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, two each are from Haryana, Jharkhand, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. One seat from Uttarakhand will also go for poll.








The effort to drill into the Chicxulub crater off the coast of Mexico has been declared an outstanding success. A UK/US-led team has spent the past 7 weeks coring into the deep bowl cut out of Earths surface 66 million years ago by the asteroid that hastened the end of the dinosaurs. Rocks nearly 1,300 metre below the Gulf seafloor have been pulled up. The samples are expected to reveal new insights on the scale of the impact and its environmental effects.





The operations manager on the project, Dave Smith, said drilling would likely to end soon. The core recovery, were all really chuffed about  the almost 100% core recovery and the quality of the cores weve been getting up. Its been a remarkable success. Weve got deeper than I thought we might do, the British Geological Survey man said. The original target was to get down to 1,500 metre, to drill through a feature called the peak ring. This was created at the centre of the impact hole where the Earth rebounded after being hit by the city-sized space object. In earlier geophysical surveys that were able to sense below the seabed, this ring looked like an arcing chain of mountains.



But even if the 1,500 metre mark was not reached, the team believes it has more than enough material now to answer its key science questions. Its been quite magical, said Imperial College Londons Prof Joanna Morgan, who spoke via a satellite link from the Myrtle drill platform. Before I came out here, I remember getting quite nervous, quite anxious  what would happen? Would we be successful? But since Ive been on the Myrtle, Ive been quite calm because things have been happening, and weve been getting lovely cores.



The rock samples in their metal casings have been stacked in a refrigerated container. They will be transported back to shore and sent first to an American lab for CT scanning, to examine their interior structure.Then they will go to Bremen, Germany, where the 33 individuals on the science team will gather to subject the rocks to a battery of tests.



The space object that slammed into the planet at the end of the Cretaceous Period instantly dug out a hole 100 km wide and 30 km deep. The debris hurled outwards would have darkened the sky and chilled the climate for months on end, driving many creatures to extinction, not just the dinosaurs. But the precise details of how the event progressed can now be refined by examining the drill cores. From the rocks, the research team should be able to tell better how the crater formed, the energy involved in its excavation, and the volume of material that was dispersed.



This will put new limits on the nature of the environmental changes that enveloped the globe. Other intriguing questions will be also be addressed, such as how fast life was able to return to the sterilised impact zone. There is even a suggestion that the hot fluids moving the fractured rocks left by the impact may even have embraced and fostered micro-organisms.



The team now has the data to test this idea. The scientists get a years exclusive access to the material, after which others in the research community can take a look. Ultimately, the cores go to a facility in Texas where anybody can then sample them. Everything is archived. If someone has a new geochemistry measurement, they can go look at the core for a long, long time into the future, said Prof Morgan.



The science team has members from the US, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Canada, and China, as well as the UK and 5 other European countries. The project was organised through the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling (ECORD) and the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). Max Alexander, who visited the Myrtle drill boat at the beginning of May, works a lot with the UK Space Agency (UKSA) and arranged for British astronaut Tim Peake, currently on the International Space Station, to take the spectacular photograph of Mexicos Yucatan Peninsula. Max has also taken images and they were taken for Asteroid Day (30 June)  a campaign that aims to raise awareness of asteroids, the impact hazard they may pose, and what we can do to protect our planet from them.




Researchers are pinpointing the genes that lie behind the varied beaks of Darwins finches  the iconic birds whose facial variations have become a classic example of Charles Darwins theory of natural selection. Last year, researchers identified a gene that helps to determine the shape of the birds beaks. In Science, they reported a different gene that controls beak size. Shifts in this gene underlay an evolutionary change that researchers watched from 2004 to 2005, during a drought that ravaged the Galapagos Islands, where the finches live.





The beak sizes of one population of finches shrank, so as to avoid competing for food sources with a different kind of finch  and their genetics changed accordingly. A big question was, Is it possible to identify genes underlying such evolution in action, even in a natural population? says Leif Andersson, a geneticist at Uppsala University in Sweden and one of the studys authors.



The story begins about 2 million years ago, when the common ancestor of all Darwins finches arrived on the Galapagos Islands. By the time of Charles Darwins visit in 1835, the birds had diversified into more than a dozen species, each adapted to different ecological niches. Some had massive beaks for cracking seeds, some had delicate beaks for snatching insects and some even had sharp beaks for feeding on blood.



To examine the genetic basis for this variation, the researchers compared the genomes of 60 birds representing 6 species of Darwins finches, along with 120 specimens from other species to help them tease out phylogenetic relationships. As expected, closely related species had the most similar genomes. But in those 6 finch species, 1 region of the genome correlated more with bird size than with relatedness. Small species had one variation of this genomic region, large species had another and medium-sized species had a mixture of the 2, suggesting that at least one of the genes in this region affected size.



The most likely candidate was HMGA2, which is known to affect size and face structure in other animals. Further analysis showed that in Darwins finches, the HMGA2 region is especially important in controlling the size of the beak.



After drought struck the Galapagos in 2003, many of the medium ground finches (Geospiza fortis) with larger-than-average beaks starved to death. They couldnt compete with a bigger species (Geospiza magnirostris) that had recently colonised the island and was better at eating large seeds. After the drought, the medium ground finches that managed to survive had smaller beaks than those that had perished, probably because they were better suited to eating the small seeds that their competitors avoided.



By analysing DNA from medium ground finches that lived around the time of the drought, the researchers found that the large-beak HMGA2 variant was more common in birds that starved to death, while the small-beak variant was more common in birds that survived.



The discovery opens up new questions for biologists to explore, such as when gene variants arise and how they contribute to splits between species, says Dolph Schluter, an evolutionary biologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. On the one hand it doesnt change anything, in that we already knew there was an evolutionary response to competition during that drought, says Dolph. But on the other hand, it changes everything, because we can point to a physical, material basis for that change.




Nestled in the Himalayas between India and China, Bhutan or the Land of the Thunder Dragon is one of the most pristine and exclusive global travel destinations. Bhutan presents a mosaic of rich cultural and natural heritage, with spectacular landscapes and cultural traditions still thriving. With an area of 38,394 square km, Bhutan has a total population of little over 7,00,000. This is a country that is fiercely proud of its heritage and wants to preserve it at all costs. The Bhutanese revere their natural heritage and consider it as their source of life.



A biodiversity hotspot



Bhutan connects two major biogeographic zones, the Indo-Malayan and Palearctic and is part of the Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot. It is considered to be one of the worlds 10 most biodiverse regions with ecosystems that include tropical/sub-tropical grasslands and forests in the southern foothills, temperate forests in the central mountains and valleys and alpine meadows in the northern mountains.



The country has 23 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) and a number of Important Plant Areas (IPAs), 10 of which are exclusively for medicinal plants. A significant indicator of the level of good protection of habitats and research is the rediscovery of the Ludlows Swallowtail butterfly in 2009 after its first sighting in 1934-35. As a predominantly agriculture-based country, it also has a diversity of agricultural crops with 80 species and several landraces that have evolved as a result of various micro-climatic conditions.



Protected Areas and connecting biological corridors cover 51.32% of the country. The Protected Area (PA) system of Bhutan is regarded as one of the most comprehensive ones globally as it represents all the major ecosystems found in the country with biological corridors providing a continuum. These Protected Areas are also considered as important carbon sinks.



However, PAs in Bhutan too are confronted with several emerging threats. There is a rise in human-wildlife conflict and subsequent increase in poaching. Bhutans geographic location makes it vulnerable to illegal wildlife trade that the authorities are finding difficult to control. Funding is critical to address these threats.



It is with this in mind that an innovative funding mechanism called Bhutan for Life has been established. Spearheaded by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), this is a

multi-donor initiative where funds will not be distributed until the total committed amount has been collected. This amount will then be placed under what is called a transition fund that will start making payments, high amounts to begin with but will steadily decline over the projected period of 14 years.



The Royal Government of Bhutan will simultaneously increase its own funding and at the end of the 14-year period, will be financially supporting the Protected Area system entirely on its own. Potential internal sources of funding include a green tax levied on import of vehicles, payment of ecosystem services primarily from hydropower and revenue generated from ecotourism in protected areas.



Bhutan has a forest cover of 72% in response to the Bhutanese constitution that makes it mandatory to have at least 60% of the country under forest cover. This is a significant factor that makes Bhutan a carbon neutral country. In fact, as stated by its dynamic Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, it is a carbon negative country with a carbon sink absorbing 3 times more carbon dioxide emissions than its population produces.



Despite this, the tiny Himalayan country is still vulnerable to climate change. Glaciers are melting causing flash floods and landslides. Bhutan has over 2,700 glacial lakes out of which 25 have been declared as potentially dangerous. About 80% of Bhutanese practise subsistence agriculture and variations in climate are already impacting livelihoods.



But Bhutan is gearing up to this challenge. The forest cover and the PA system are Bhutans investment to combat climate change. There is also a focus on the transport sector with a move to create more user-friendly transport and discourage the use of private cars. Bhutan made a commitment at the Copenhagen Conference of Parties (COP) 12 in 2009 stating, We commit ourselves to keep absorbing more carbon than we emit  and to maintain our countrys status as a net sink for greenhouse gas. In December 2015, at Paris COP 21, Bhutan reiterated its promise of remaining carbon neutral, now and in the future.



Tourism gains

Bhutan opened up to tourism in 1974 with the primary objective of showcasing Bhutans unique heritage, as also generating revenue to support the development of the country. However, the royal government was aware of the negative impacts of mass tourism and hence approached this with caution. Thus came into being the policy of high value-low volume tourism that would enable control over both the type as well as the number of tourists from the very beginning.



The concept of a daily tariff of US$250 for each tourist in the peak season and US$200 in the low season was introduced. The daily tariff includes the visa, accommodation, meals, transportation and guide services. Out of the daily tariff ,a percentage is a tourism royalty that contributes to the countrys overall support to free healthcare and education. The rest of the tariff is for local tour operators to provide services to the tourists.



The imposition of a daily tariff discouraged low-budget tourists and captured high-spending ones. This strategy was also based on Bhutans Gross National Happiness (GNH) philosophy that the formula of the countrys progress would need to consider equitable economic development, environmental conservation, cultural protection and good governance rather than the standard Gross Domestic Product (GDP).



This is a well thought-out system and Bhutan is indeed a pioneer in regulating tourism in the country, but still earning revenue from it. However, Bhutan is now facing a serious dilemma in tourism. There has been a drastic increase in regional tourists from India, Bangladesh and Maldives over the last few years. The number of regional tourists have gone up from 53,492 in 2012 to 1,09,051 in 2015. The reasons for this are many.



Bhutan has gained popularity as an exotic destination over the years. Regional tourists do not require a visa to enter Bhutan and unlike other tourists, are exempt from the daily tariff. This makes Bhutan an easily accessible and affordable destination for visitors from neighbouring countries. Bhutan is also easily reachable by road and regional tourists can drive their own vehicles once they get through immigration at the border.



Bhutan is aware of this challenge too and is looking at ways to resolve it. Perhaps, the most important at this stage would be to determine the carrying capacity of the country as a whole or of the key tourist destinations. This is of course easier said than done, but again if seriously tackled, will set an example for the rest of the world. Theres a lot to learn from Bhutans progressive and eco-friendly policies. Maybe its time we took some lessons from them.
When Gabe Brown and his wife bought their farm near Bismarck, North Dakota, from her parents in 1991, testing found the soil badly depleted, its carbon down to just a quarter of levels once considered natural in the area.



Today, the Brown farm and ranch is home to a diverse and thriving mix of plants and animals. And carbon, the building block of the rich humus that gives soil its density and nutrients, has more than tripled. That is a boon not just for the farms productivity and its bottom line, but also for the global climate.



Agriculture is often cast as an environmental villain, its pesticides tainting water, its hunger for land driving deforestation. Worldwide, it is responsible for nearly a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions.



Now, though, a growing number of experts, environmentalists and farmers themselves see their fields as a powerful weapon in the fight to slow climate change, their very soil a potentially vast repository for the carbon that is warming the atmosphere. Critically for an industry that must produce an ever-larger bounty to feed a growing global population, restoring lost carbon to the soil also increases its ability to support crops and withstand drought.



Everyone talks about sustainable, Brown said. Why do we want to sustain a degraded resource? We need to be regenerative, we need to take that carbon out of the atmosphere and put it back into the cycle, where it belongs.



Since people began farming, the worlds cultivated soils have lost 50% to 70% of their natural carbon, said Rattan Lal, a professor of soil science at the Ohio State University. That number is even higher in parts of south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean, he added.



Globally, those depleted soils could reabsorb 80 billion to 100 billion metric tonnes of carbon, reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide by 38 to 50 parts per million, Lal said. That does not include the carbon that could be simultaneously sequestered into vegetation, but the numbers are significant on their own, equaling up to 40% of the increase in concentrations since pre-industrial times. Last year, atmospheric carbon dioxide for the first time hit a monthly average of 400 parts per million, a symbolic threshold but one that many experts say could indicate that warming will soon spiral beyond control.



When carbon escapes from soil, it combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. Sometimes the loss is gradual, the result of ploughing that leaves upturned layers of earth exposed to the elements, or of failure to replant or cover fields after harvest.



Sometimes it happens more suddenly. The thick prairie sod of Americas Great Plains was a rich carbon store until settlers tore it up for farms, leaving hundreds of millions of tonnes of topsoil to be blown away in the Dust Bowl years. The destruction of millions of acres of carbon-rich Indonesian peatlands for palm oil plantations is helping to drive climate change today.



Low carbon levels leave the ground nutrient-poor, requiring ever-greater amounts of fertiliser to support crops. They also make for thin soil that is vulnerable to erosion and less able to retain water, so yields suffer quickly in times of drought.



To bring levels back up, a set of techniques known as carbon farming, or regenerative farming, encourage and complement the process by which plants draw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, break it down and sequester carbon into soil. They include refraining from tilling, or turning, the soil; mixing crops together rather than growing large fields of just one type; planting trees and shrubs near crops; and leaving stalks and other cuttings on fields to decay.



Brown keeps his fields planted for as much of the year as possible to minimise nutrient loss. When he mixes clover and oats in the same field, the clover fixes nitrogen into the soil. After the oats are harvested, livestock graze the clover and leave their manure behind.



Such strategies have allowed him to stop using synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, reducing costs. And the rich soil not only yields higher volumes, but the crops are more nutritionally dense than those grown on depleted land, he says. Economically, its much, much, much more profitable, he said.



Browns approach is very different from the techniques of industrial-scale farming that have taken hold in the US and other wealthy countries, where single crops stretch over many acr-es, and fertilisers and pesticides are used heavily.



Things are worse in poorer nations, where farmers desperation often means they are unable to care for the soil, Lal said. He recalled seeing a Mexican sharecropper carting corn straw away from the fields to sell: I said, Why dont you leave it on the land? The land will be better next year. And he said, This land will not be mine next year, and I need money now."



There is some momentum behind a shift. The French government, which helped broker the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, is pushing an effort to increase soil carbon stocks by 0.4% annually, which it says would halt the rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.



Lal called the target unrealistic, but said achieving just a quarter of that sequestration would be meaningful. In a generation, he said, agriculture could become carbon neutral, removing all the emissions it creates, for example through the energy used by farm equipment.



Financing new techniques

Farmers need financing to help them adopt new techniques, though generally only through a two-to-three-year transition period, said Eric Toensmeier, author of The Carbon Farming Solution. That money could come through a higher price charged for foods whose cultivation encourages sequestration, via a carbon tax or through trading systems in which polluters buy credits to offset their emissions, he said.



Programmes known as payment for environmental services, in which governments or others pay farmers for stewardship of land, are another potential avenue.



With that kind of support, the industry could be ready to do things differently, said Ceris Jones, a climate change adviser at the National Farmers Union in Britain. People say that farmers are pretty conservative, but actually practice can change quite quickly, she said.

Another obstacle is the lack of an agreed-upon system for measuring carbon sequestration in soil, which will be required as the basis for any payments, Toensmeier said.



Technically, though, many elements of carbon farming are ready to be put into practice quickly, he said. Something as simple as planting trees around fields drastically increases the amount of carbon fixed into soil, Toensmeier said.



Its not just crops. The earth beneath the wor-lds grasslands, from Americas Great Plains to the Tibetan Steppe and the Sahel of Africa, holds about a fifth of all soil carbon stocks, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates. In many places that soil is badly depleted. This land is waiting to be filled up again with carbon if we could manage it sustainably, said Courtney White, author of the book Grass, Soil, Hope.



That means moving livestock frequently so each patch of land is grazed just once a year, he said. The combination of stimulation during animals brief presence and long periods of rest encourages plants to lay down more carbon.



With policies that encourage change, Toensmeier said, agriculture could benefit the climate rather than harming it. There do seem to be a remarkable number of win-win opportunities, which is great news, he said. You dont hear a lot of great news about climate change.




As President Pranab Mukherjee visited China last week, Indias entry into the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), whose members can trade in and export nuclear technology, emerged as the latest battleground in the growing Sino-Indian contestation. With Indias push for admission into the NSG gaining momentum ahead of the annual plenary session of the Group next month, Beijing is making it clear that it intends to make life difficult for India.





China has relied on an obstructionist argument and has called for further discussion on whether India and other countries who have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty can join the NSG. Where the US and other supporting members have called for Indias inclusion based on New Delhis non-proliferation track record and the US-India civil nuclear accord, China has made the NPT signature as its central argument to scuttle Indias entry.



Beijing is claiming that a compulsory requirement for NSG membership is that the NSG members must be signatories to the NPT. Apart from the rhetoric about the NPT, China has also encouraged Pakistan to apply for NSG membership so as to link New Delhis entry with that of Islamabads knowing well that there will be few takers for Pakistans case. The US State Department, for its part, promptly came to Indias defence reaffirming the view that India meets missile technology control regime requirements and is ready for NSG membership. The US has declared its support for Indias full membership since 2010.



The Modi government is investing a lot of diplomatic capital in seeking NSG membership. It has reached out to the New Agenda Coalition, group of states in the NSG including Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland, which remain committed to disarmament, and has been able to secure their support. The NSG chairperson too visited India last year to take this process forward. Membership in the NSG will be the final step in Indias inclusion into the global nuclear order.



Not surprising, therefore, that China is taking such a strong stand on this issue despite the fact that its own non-proliferation track record remains abysmal. In fact, it was Chinas support for Pakistans nuclear programme that led the way for Indias overt nuclearisation.



China has played a major role in the development of Pakistans nuclear infrastructure and emerged as Islamabads benefactor at a time when increasingly stringent export controls in Western countries made it difficult for Pakistan to acquire materials and technology from elsewhere. The Pakistani nuclear weapons programme is essentially an extension of the Chinese one. Despite being a member of the NPT, China has supplied Pakistan with nuclear materials and expertise and has provided critical assistance in the construction of Pakistans nuclear facilities.



Sino-Pak nuclear relationship is perhaps the only case where a nuclear weapon state has actually passed on weapons grade fissile material as well as a bomb design to a non-nuclear weapon state. After the 2008 US-India civil nuclear pact, China made it a point to further enhance nuclear cooperation with Pakistan, despite criticism from other nuclear powers.



When the NSG was approached for the waiver for the passage of the US-India pact, China was the last state standing in opposing the India specific waiver. When it failed to scuttle the deal, China quickly moved to sign an agreement with Pakistan for two new nuclear reactors at the Chashma site in addition to the two that it was already working on there.



Nuclear transfers

This action of China was in clear violation of NSG guidelines that forbid nuclear transfers to countries that are not signatories to the NPT or adhere to comprehensive international safeguards on their nuclear programme. China suggested that there were political reasons concerning the stability of South Asia to justify the exports, echoing Pakistans oft-repeated complaint that US-India nuclear pact had upset stability in the region by assisting Indias strategic programme. And now China and Pakistan are working together to block Indias bid to gain entry into the NSG.



India was able to get a one-time clean waiver from the NSG in 2008 as it was able to convince the group of the effectiveness of its export control regime which was deemed to be in line with global standards. The Bush Administration lobbied for India extensively with President George W Bush himself talking to his Chinese counterpart after Beijing refused to budge till the last minute.



Today, India wants to be part of the decision-making at the highest levels of global nuclear architecture. As a rising and responsible nuclear power, it should be a part of this structure and it will also be good for the NSG if India is part of the decision-making process.



China has taken a hard-line on this issue and it seems unlikely that it will change its opposition to Indias entry. During Pranab Mukherjees visit, China indicated that it might be willing to fine-tune its stance. However, there was no commitment. China and India will support each other on regional and international occasions and jointly utter China's and India's voice together on the international stage, Chinese government spokesperson said in reply to a question about India's desire to enter the NSG.



If China continues to stick to rigid stance, to many in India this will further reinforce the perception that China is willing to sacrifice long term strategic partnership with a rising power for the short-term objective of trying to scuttle its rise. This wont be helpful for Sino-Indian ties but Beijing wants to go down fighting. New Delhi should brace itself for a bumpy ride ahead.



(The writer is Professor of International Relations, Kings College London)




A woman was gang-raped in a moving car at the citys eastern fringes on Sunday night and thrown off the vehicle in the early hours on Monday in Kolkata.





The incident brought back memories of the much talked-about Park Street rape case in 2012.



The recent gang-rape comes within days of Mamata being sworn in as the chief minister for the second term. The young woman, a bar dancer of Nepalese origin, was forced to get into a car at around 10:30 pm on Sunday and was gang-raped in the moving vehicle. She was picked up from Baguihati, when she was set to meet some friends and visit a nightclub at Sector V, the citys IT hub.



While details are still sketchy, the police have launched a manhunt for the four accused. Senior officials said that the girl lived in a working womens mess at Baguihati, close to the bar she worked in. She was found unconscious on early Monday morning at Baisakhi traffic island in Salt Lake, a township adjacent to Kolkata. Seeing her on the footpath in torn cloths, some morning walkers called the Electronic Complex Women Police Station.



Authorities took her to a nearby state-run hospital, where she is currently undergoing treatment. After recording her statement, the police started the case and lodged a formal complaint against four youth, whose names have not been disclosed. Officials suspect the men were regulars at the bar where the girl in her early-twenties performed. Were not yet sure whether she was abducted or she willingly got into the car because she recognised them, a source said.



Officials said the men took turns to rape her as they moved around Salt Lake in the car, before dumping her at dawn.
A dalit cobbler was made to polish the cops shoes to register the theft of a mobile phone in Uttar Pradeshs Muzaffarnagar district, nearly 500 kilometres from Lucknow.





Fifty-year-old Sittu, belonging to Haibatpur village in Muzaffarnagar, had approached cops at the Charthawal police station to report that someone stole his mobile phone and requested them to find out the missing gadget as he was too poor to buy a new one. Upon learning that he was a cobbler, the cop responsible for registering complaints at the police station asked Sittu to polish the shoes of the cops there if he wanted the complaint to be registered.



As the cobbler returned with the polishing kit from home, police seemingly rushed to get the free service. However, the cops failed to keep their end of the bargain, telling the hapless Sittu that the mobile phone stolen from him could not be traced as it was harder to recover stolen cell phones. The issue came to light when the video went viral on social media.


Trouble is mounting for senior BJP leader Eknath Khadse who is facing charges on multiple counts, including links with fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.





Khadse, a high-profile minister in the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance government in Maharashtra led by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has three charges surrounding him.





He holds the portfolio of Revenue, Agriculture, State Excise and Minority Affairs. Firstly, his personal assistant, Gajanan Patil was caught by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, following a complaint by Ramesh Jadhav, an economist, who wanted an NOC from Khadses office seeking a review of the previous government order regarding allotment of a revenue land in Nilje village in Kalyan taluka of Thane district.





Secondly, his name figures in the call logs of Dawood Ibrahim, a sensational charge by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national spokesperson Preeti Sharma Menon following groundwork done by Vadodara-based ethical hacker Manish Bhangale.

He has now moved the Bombay High Court seeking a CBI probe into the incident.

Thirdly, a Pune-based builder Hemant Gavande had accused Khadse of purchasing the three acre land in Bhosari for a throwaway price at approximately Rs 3.75 crore from the original owner in the name of his wife Mandakini and son-in-law Girish Chaudhary.





Gavande claimed that the market value of the land was Rs 40 crore. He had stated that the land was purchased from the original owner Abbas Ukani, a resident of West Bengal, and the MIDC, the current owner, was not aware of it.

Over the last few weeks, the Congress and the NCP have demanded sacking of the minister.A delegation of Congress led by Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam on Monday called on Governor C H Vidyasagar Rao to discuss the issue and demand action against him.




Under pressure from the government to earn more from the industry, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) looks up to big corporates to sell home-grown technologies at a price lower than imported technologies.





While three CSIR institutes in Karaikudi, Pune and Delhi set up a fuel cell test bed on a Reliance premise, another CSIR institute in Dhanbad sold a technology of collecting coal dust to make briquettes to Tata Motors, which are now selling these vans in coal-belt towns in eastern India.



Another institute in Bhubaneswar transferred a technology to a Aditya Birla group plant in Dahej for producing Tellurium, a critical component in the manufacturing of solar cells.



Though CSIR is mandated to generate a third of its annual budget from the industry through contract research and consultancy, the target was barely met in recent years, sources told DH. The government has now asked the council to pull up the socks.



We will open all CSIR laboratories to small, medium and big industries and encourage them to come. We will handhold with the industry. This is the vision that we are going to follow in the next few years. We have ambition even to set up an industry, said CSIR director-general Girish Sahni.



In the last two years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had several meetings with Indian scientists in which he asked them to emphasis on research that alleviate common mans problems.



We have been told to identify the low-hanging fruits that could be offered to the industry for commercialisation in the next two years. Each CSIR laboratory will pick up two technologies that can readily be offered to the industry, said the director of a CSIR laboratory.



The idea of wooing the industry more was conveyed to the directors of 37 CSIR laboratories at the last directors meeting in Dehradun.



Unlike the Department of Science and Technology and Department of Biotechnology, CSIR did not witness any rise in its annual budget in 2015-16.



Sahni said though CSIR contributes to many societal, commercial and strategic applications, the council did not receive the recognition it deserves. We work in silent satisfaction and many in the CSIR laboratories are unsung heroes, he said.




Enforcement of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production Supply and Distribution ) Act, 2003 (COTPA) appears to have taken a back seat in the city for lack of coordination among various agencies.





The COTPA bans smoking in public places and violators can be fined Rs 200. Anybody failing to pay Rs 200 for smoking in public places can be arrested and produced before magistrate. The police say that nobody has been arrested so far in the city so far.



The Act empowers various departments and officials to levy fine. They include: heads of educational institutions, assistant commissioners of labour department, health inspectors, police department officials, heath officers of local bodies, office-bearers of panchayat raj institutions, finance heads of district health programmes at district-level, district hospital health officers, PHC officers, CHOs, education and health departments directors, block development officers, nodal officers of National Tobacco Control Programme.



There is no coordination among these officers and hence people are seen smoking even in at railway stations, Kempegowda bus terminus, Cubbon Park, Lalbagh, Vidhana Soudha, Vikasa Soudha, and campuses of educational institutions.



Nothing much has been done except displaying boards against smoking, the police say. Its a social issue that needs awareness and education. Mere enforcement will not end the problem. Imposing penalty on violators is not police departments priority, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner N S Megharik said and added:  The police are coordinating with other agencies to levy penalty.



Some officers say COTPA enforcements failure was due to the complicated nature of the act itself.  The provisions of the Act are such that, it is very difficult to enforce them. You cant blame the police for poor enforcement as they are occupied with too many tasks. There needs to be an exclusive enforcing authority, says former IGP Gopal B Hosur.



Deputy Directors of Public Instruction (DDPIs) should submit a monthly online inspection report regarding the section 6 of COTPA to Additional SPs or DySPs at district levels, but neither the DDPIs nor the Additional SPs or DySPs are bothered about the guidelines. Education department officers rarely submit the report to DCPs in city, added the police. The police estimate that there are more than two crore tobacco consumers in the state and more than one-third of them die a premature death due to cancer, heart and lung diseases.
The Department of Health and Family Welfare, along with the Home department, has begun a drive to bring a ban on the sale of cigarette packets without 85% pictorial warnings covering the display area.





Earlier this month, K C Samria, Joint Secretary to Government of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, had written to the chief secretaries of all the states and Union Territories seeking that the 85% pictorial warning be implemented by May 31.



A circular has been sent from the Department of Health and Family Welfare to the Home, Customs and Excise departments in this regard. Action is being initiated.



Even as the exact figures would be known by the first week of June, the Home department has begun taking action and seized several packs that do not comply with the new warnings, said an official from the Department of Health and Family Welfare.



However, when Deccan Herald did a reality check at stores selling cigarette packs in Bengaluru, it was found that none had complied with the new rules. Most packs on the market shelves continue to have only about 40% pictorial warning as against the recommended 85%. According to sources in the Department of Health and Family Welfare, with inadequate co-ordination and minimal enforcement personnel, the violators of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA, 2003) are going scot-free.



On World No Tobacco Day, WHO has suggested that plain packaging be adopted. Plain packaging refers to the removal of branding and promotional information, replace it with graphic health warnings, dull colour combinations, a brand name and a product and/or manufacturers name in standardised font. The aesthetic impact of plain packaging is significant with studies showing that it has tangible effect on the desirability of tobacco products, the organisation has said in a note.



On World No Tobacco Day, we must consider the harm the regions tobacco epidemic is doing and consider ways to counter it. We must all get ready to support plain packaging, said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia.




The Centre on Monday once again reassured the students from Africa, stating that protecting the foreign citizens studying in India was an article of faith for it.





Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar met some students from Africa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan  the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs  on Monday. He sought to reassure them, as the government continued its damage-control exercise in the wake of the recent spurt in attacks on African nationals in India.



Ensuring safety and security of foreign students is an article of faith for us, Vikas Swarup, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, quoted the foreign secretary telling the students. Swarup also posted pictures of Jaishankar and students from Africa on Twitter.



Whatever we had to convey, we have done that on Africa Day. Now, it is up to the Indian government to take action on the assurances given to us, Dean of African Group Head of Missions and Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam said when asked if the group would again raise with India the issue of fresh attacks against African nationals.



After the killing of Oliver, Woldemariam had last week issued a strongly-worded statement seeking stringent action to guarantee safety of Africans in India.



The cousins of Masunda Kitada Oliver, a national of Democratic Republic of Congo, who was killed at Vasant Kunj in Delhi on May 20, arrived here to take back his mortal remains.



Birender Yadav, Joint Secretary (West Africa) in the MEA, met Olivers cousins and conveyed heartfelt condolences. One of the victims brothers talked to journalists and expressed disappointment over lack of security for African students studying in India.



Meanwhile, some African students staged a protest at Jantar Mantar here demanding that the Government of India ensure safety of the students from the continent and act promptly on such incidents.




A cab driver was beaten up by a group of African nationals on Monday morning near south Delhis Rajpur Khurd, the area where some Africans were thrashed by a group of local residents last week, the police said.





The incident happened around 1 km from Rajpur Khurd village near a farmhouse, said police.



Fifty-one-year-old Nuruddin was thrashed by six people, including two women, when he refused to board all of them in his cab, citing restrictions on carrying more than four passengers.



As per the driver, the taxi No DL1YE5087 was booked through Ola to go from Rajpur to Dwarka. The driver, who sustained injuries on his face in the altercation, is presently being treated at the AIIMS trauma centre, said a police officer.



Nuruddin also said that the African nationals robbed some money before fleeing from the spot.



After attacking the driver, the assailants fled. Nuruddin, however, managed to stop a woman, who claims to be from Rwanda. The police are verifying her credentials.



We have registered a case and are interrogating the Rwandan woman to identify the others who were with her at the time of the crime, said a senior police officer.



Police have filed a complaint against the African nationals for assaulting the cab driver. They said they are scanning CCTV footage from the area to ascertain the sequence of events.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday promised to help a young Pakistani citizen now living in India get a seat in a medical college in the country.





Sushma promised to help 19-year-old Mashal Maheshwari, who moved to Jaipur in Rajasthan from Hyderabad in Sindh province of Pakistan two years ago, after she told a TV channel that although she was keen to study medicine, she could not appear for the entrance examination as she was not a citizen of India. Mashal moved from Pakistan to India with her parents, both of whom are doctors.



She scored 91% marks in her Higher Secondary examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education.



She was not allowed to take the All India Pre Medical Test, as only Indian citizens, Non-Resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin are allowed to appear for the entrance examination.



Mashal  Don't be disappointed my child. I will personally take up your case for admission in a Medical College, Swaraj posted on Twitter.



I am really very happy that the External Affairs Minister has assured me of support in getting admission in a medical college. I am thankful to her, said Mashal, after being reassured by Sushma.
The Congress has run into fresh trouble in Uttarakhand after it decided to nominate Pradeep Tamta, a confidant of Chief Minister Harish Rawat, for the Rajya Sabha elections.





The Progressive Democratic Front (PDF), which had bailed out Rawat in the Supreme Court-monitored confidence vote earlier this month, has staked claim for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in the state.



It announced the nomination of Tourism Minister Dinesh Dhanai for the June 11 elections.



In a bid to embarrass the Congress, the BJP has announced support to Dhanai forcing Rawat into yet another round of fire-fighting exercise.



With Uttarakhand Congress leader Yashpal Arya also challenging Tamtas nomination, the chief minister flew to Delhi to hold consultations with party leadership.



He was closeted with Ahmed Patel, the political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.



There will be only one candidate. That much I can say, Rawat told reporters to a volley of questions over the Rajya Sabha elections after meeting Patel.



However, the Congress appears to be in no mood to withdraw Tamta from the race and is working overtime to reach out to the aggrieved PDF.




The Indian Air Force opened another advanced landing ground (ALG) on the Sino-Indian border in Arunachal Pradeshs Mechuka on Monday.





On the same day, the Indian Army treated the Chinese army personnel with Indian delicacies during Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) at Bum La in Arunachal Pradesh.

Boosting the nations rapid airlift capability for forward operations and troop deployment, the IAF on Monday inaugurated the ALG at Mechuka. This comes within months after the IAF re-activated and upgraded its ALGs at Ziro and Along in state.



The ALG was inaugurated on Monday by Air Marshal C Hari Kumar, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command. The decision of building up a state-of-the-art ALG at Mechuka was taken in 2013.



The IAF has decided to upgrade several ALGs in Arunachal Pradesh to better monitor the Sino-Indian border. The outlay plan for the upgradation of ALGs alone is nearly Rs 1,000 crore, official sources added.



Meanwhile, the Chinese Army officer and troopers were completely bowled over by the Indian cuisines served by the Indian Army on Monday during Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) at Bum La in Arunachal Pradesh on Monday, Army sources added.



The Indian delegation was led by Brigadier D S Kushwaha, Brigade Commander of Tawang Brigade while a Senior Colonel Liu Xun headed the Chinese Army delegation to the meeting at Heap of Stones at Bum La pass in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.




The Centre on Monday pleaded with the National Green Tribunal not to extend the ban on registration of diesel vehicles above 2,000 cc outside the National Capital Region.





The NGT bench headed by chairman Justice Swatanter Kumar, however, rapped Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal for failing to provide exact data about the air quality and vehicle density in their cities.



The panel gave them time till Tuesday to submit their response, including on the total number of vehicles, along with their bifurcation (diesel/petrol) and the total population in those cities, failing which bailable warrants would be issued against the respective chief secretaries.



It also slammed the Central Pollution Control Board for failing to provide the requisite data in metropolises.



The tribunal had taken note of air pollution in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Patna, Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Nagpur, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Pune. It directed states to file a comprehensive affidavit stating the steps taken by them for prevention and control of air pollution.



In its plea, the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises told the tribunal that extending the Supreme Court-mandated ban would have an adverse effect on the momentum of growth of the automobile industry.



Filing an application for impleadment in a case related to air pollution, the government urged the green panel not to apply any restrictions on the "sale and registration" of new vehicles in any cities, which are complying with the statutory emission norms irrespective of the fuel used.



The Supreme Court had on December 16, 2015, banned registration of SUVs and private cars of the capacity of 2,000 cc and above using diesel as fuel in the NCR. On April 30, the court maintained status quo till the next hearing.



The extension of the ban imposed by the Supreme Court to 11 cities by the NGT would have an adverse effect on the momentum of growth of the auto industry," the ministry said in its plea, before a bench headed by Justice Kumar.


Microsoft chief Satya Nadella on Monday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed issues pertaining to the IT sector, and ways to enhance partnership for initiatives like Digital India.





The government, on its part, told Nadella that it favoured an open-source policy, and welcomed Microsofts participation in it. Nadella also met Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, MoS Finance Jayant Sinha and a host of industry leaders and developers.



The PM told Nadella that the policy behind the open-source software under Digital India was to "ensure efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs".



Prasad said the open-source policy is gathering momentum across the world, and governments and enterprises are increasingly looking at leveraging the benefits of this software, which eliminates licence costs. The policy shall be applicable to all Central government organisations.



State governments are free to adopt this policy, which makes it mandatory for all software applications and services of the government to be built using open source software, Prasad is said to have conveyed to the Microsoft CEO.



On his part, India-born Nadella, on his third visit to his home country since taking over as Microsoft head in February 2014, discussed country-specific projects with the PM.



According to sources, the meeting also involved engagement of Microsoft for linking Skype and Aadhaar and enhanced cooperation for cloud services in the government sector.



Nadellas visit comes close on the heels of Apple CEO Tim Cook's four-day tour of India. Cook had also offered support to government's initiatives like Digital India and Startup India. "Discussed various issues pertaining to the IT sector with @Microsoft CEO @satya nadella @MicrosoftIndia," Modi tweeted after the meeting. Details of the discussions were, however, not disclosed.
The state government will conduct counselling for medical and dental seats that would be made available under NEET.





Minister for Medical Education Sharan Prakash Patil had earlier proposed to Union Health Minister J P Nadda that the state would have a single agency to counsel students for seats in private, government, deemed and minority colleges. According to sources in private colleges, the minister made a similar proposal at a meeting with them on Monday. Patil, along with Higher Education Minister T B Jayachandra and the respective principal secretaries, held a meeting, which saw the participation of private colleges.



While members of the Karnataka Professional Colleges Foundation stuck to their stand that they would not spare the government any seats in private colleges, but fill them only through NEET, the government is trying to negotiate with them. We are still in talks with them. Discussions have taken place on several issues and we are exploring the possibilities. We will consider legal options if they dont budge from their stand, he added.
After a break of nearly three months, Upalokayukta Justice Subhash B Adi resumed office on Monday. Last week, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Kagodu Thimmappa dropped the proceedings on the motion to remove Justice Adi as Upalokayukta after a report by Justice R B Budihal gave him a clean chit.





Justice Adi had gone on leave on March 3, 2016, after a communication from the Speaker's office that he was precluded from discharging duties as Upalokayukta.



Subsequently, Justice Adi stopped using the official car and moved into his personal residence. The Upalokayukta had not vacated his official residence in Sadashivanagar, but moved into his personal residence three months ago. This (Monday) morning, the official car was sent to pick him up from his official residence. He came to office by 11.30 am, an official said.



Justice Adi went through a few pending files till evening. When asked about the state government's decision to take away the Prevention of Corruption Act from the ambit of the Lokayukta police, Justice Adi said, I was away from work for almost three months. I have not seen the notification yet. I feel people suffering due to maladministration can still get remedies through the provisions of the Lokayukta Act. I will discuss this with Upalokayukta Justice N Ananda, and we will expedite pending enquiries, he said.



Justice Adi refused to comment on the motion moved by 79 Congress MLAs and the enquiry that followed. I have not received the enquiry report yet. The Speaker's office has only sent the ruling passed as per section 6 (10) of the Lokayukta Act. Hence, it is not proper to comment on the allegations and the report. This institution (Lokayukta) is more important than the people here,'' he said.
A toddler died and about 20 people were injured in wall collapse incidents during the thunderstorms that lashed the national capital on Sunday night.





Many trees were uprooted and hoardings were flung in the air by gusty winds.



In Motia Khans Peepalwaali Gali, the outer wall of an adjoining four-storey building fell over a tin-roofed house in which a family of five was sleeping. Two-and-half-year-old Mantaza died and her four-year-old-sister Kahkashahs leg was fractured. Four members of the family were injured.



Doctors have advised amputation for the injured girl, said neighbours. The other injured were discharged from hospital after medical treatment. The dead childs father works at a bag-making unit.



Local residents alleged that the adjacent wall which fell on the familys home was made of sub-standard material. Usually the thickness of a wall here is 9 inches.



This one was only 4-inch thick, said Ajit Kumar, an elderly neighbour.



The building, which came up in just four months, is owned by a building material trader Chhote Khan, residents said. They alleged that Khan ran a belt-making factory in the building.



The use of machines constantly vibrates the thin walls of the building and makes its foundations shaky, said Arun, another neighbour.



Wall collapse incidents left several people injured in Anand Parbat, Najafgarh, Naraina, Narela and Rohini.



Four people were injured in central Delhis Anand Parbat area when the wall of a house collapsed on sleeping people. In outer Delhis Narela, five people were injured in a similar mishap. In Naraina, two persons were injured when the wall of a medical store fell on Sunday night.




The police have decided to issue notice to three people, including the son of a retired IAS officer, his wife and a photographer of a Hyderabad-based company, in connection with the Mysuru Palace photo-shoot case.





Speaking with Deccan Herald, Police Commissioner B Dayananda said, The city police will serve notice to B N Aditya, son of Nandakumar, his wife Navyatha, and photographer of Photriya Photography, Venkatesh, who were illegally involved in a photo shoot inside the Mysuru Palace.



Our attempts to contact all the three have turned futile. Our team will serve notice to the couple at their residence in Bengaluru and to the photography company in Hyderabad. Investigation of the Palace Board employees is almost over, he added.



Revenue Minister V Srinivas Prasad alleged that lapse of security and negligence were the reasons behind the photo shoot at the palace.



What was the palace security doing during the photo shoot? The palace faces the threat of terrorist attack due to security breach, he said and demanded a detailed probe into the case.



The truth will come out if the police take the photographer into custody, Prasad said.

DH News Service
After facing technical and design hurdles, the proposed steel flyover is now facing financial hurdles. So much so it could trickle down to commuters.





For, the government is considering making the stretch of the flyover from Basaveshwara Circle to Hebbal a tolled road. This means those going from south Bengaluru will have to pay more for using the 6.9-km steel flyover in addition to the toll on the national highway.



A senior official in the Urban Development department told Deccan Herald that Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) was finding it difficult to finance the project on its own. The government is now exploring various options to raise funds, including imposing toll. The toll proposal is still in the preliminary stage. The Cabinet will decide on this, the official said.



The estimated cost of the steel flyover is Rs 1,300 crore. The Centre had earlier promised to fund the project, but the NDA dispensation has now refused to sanction funds.



If the flyover has to be tolled, then the government will have to amend the BDA Act and the Karnataka Municipal Council Act, as roads within the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike limits cannot be tolled. This will also be the first time where a road in the city will be tolled. Toll is normally levied on roads connecting other cities or are maintained by private organisations like Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises, which introduced the first tolled road in Bengaluru from Tumakuru Road to Electronic City.



BDA Commissioner T Sham Bhat said it was the governments decision and not decided by the board. It is still in the discussion stage; the road could be tolled. It is done in other cities and countries and can be done here, too. Its new, but not unusual, he said.



A model of the whole project, including toll, has to be prepared and submitted to the chief secretary and the chief minister and other ministers. Based on the outcome of the meeting, the next course of action will be decided. It will take another 15-20 days to get some clarity, he said.
Hebbal lake, one of the three historic lakes created by Bengaluru founder Kempegowda I has literally turned into a watery grave. Hundreds of dead fishes were found in the lake and along the shore.





The incident has occurred barely two weeks after the fishkill incident at Ulsoor lake. According to locals, the number of fish deaths is in the hundreds and the dead fish have been surfacing in the lake for the past two days.



Environmentalist Vijay Nishanth, who visited the spot, said, Most of the dead fish were cleared by Monday morning by the BBMP staff. However, I could still see a couple of them at the bottom of the lake and along the shore. He said that sewage flow and low level of oxygen in the water body had led to the fishkill.



Ramprasad, lake activist and founder of Friends of Lake, said that sewage enters the lake directly from MS Palya, Thindlu, Sahakarnagar, Vidyaranyapura and surrounding localities.



One of the residents said that there is a sewage treatment plant (STP) inside the water body, but it is not working efficiently. Had it been functional, the fish deaths would not have occurred, the resident said.



Mohan Kumar, another resident, said that many people had been using the lake as a dumping yard and some even urinated there.



The fence around the lake is not strong and is left open at a few places, he added.



Lake Development Authority (LDA) officials, under whose ambit the lake falls, said that they had leased out the lake to East India Hotels Limited (EIHL) for a period of 15 years, for maintenance and the STP had been set up by them.



EIHL sources told Deccan Herald that there were no direct sewage inlets into the lake which could lead to water pollution.



In order to maintain the quality of the water, regular cleaning is done as well as water quality checks are conducted. We also had the water quality checked by Fisheries Research and Information Centre (Inland) and their recent report states that the water body is having desirable oxygen concentration, the sources said.




The decision of the JD(S) to field B M Farook as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls has put Congress MLA Mohiuddin Bava B A in a fix.





Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has warned Bava that he will not get the party ticket to contest the next Assembly polls if his brother  JD(S) candidate Farook  does not withdraw from the fray. The chief minister threatened Bava at the Congress legislature party meeting held at the Vidhana Soudha on Monday, sources in the party said.



Bava is the party MLA from Mangaluru city north constituency, while his younger brother Farook, a realtor, has jumped into the RS election fray as the JD(S) nominee. The Congress legislature party meeting was convened to introduce the partys candidates for the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Council polls.



Angered by Farooks move, Siddaramaiah took Bava to task at the party meeting. When the MLA tried to wash his hands of saying he had nothing to do with his brothers decision, the chief minister curtly retorted asking him why he had recently approached him seeking clearance of Farooks wind-energy project if he had nothing to do with his brothers affairs.



The party has been facing embarrassment because of you and your brother. You should ensure that he (Farook) withdraws. Otherwise, the party will not give you the ticket to contest in the next polls (2018 assembly polls), sources quoted Siddaramaiah as saying at the meeting.



The Congress would not find it difficult to get its first two candidates  Oscar Fernandes and Jairam Ramesh  getting elected. But the third candidate  K C Ramamurthy  would have to get non-Congress votes to win. Sources said the Congress leaders had told Bava that his brother should back out in the interest of his political career. They even went to the extent of accusing him of joining hands with the JD(S) to embarrass the Congress in the Rajya Sabha polls.

DH News Service





Bava not at fault

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president G Parameshwara has said JD (S) candidate B M Farook was free to take independent decisions though he happened to be the brother of Congress MLA Mohiuddin Bava.



Parameshwara, while finding no fault with Bava, said that just because Farook was Bavas brother, it didnt mean he was not free to take independent decisions. Parameshwara said he was certain that the Congress MLAs would not betray the party. All our MLAs are with us, including Bava. We are certain to win, he added.
Revenue Minister Srinivas Prasad on Monday called for a dalit prime minister, stating that the country had a large number of dalits. His remark comes at a time when the state is witnessing hectic political activities over a call for a dalit chief minister.





Prasad said the country had considerable number of dalits and one should make use of the opportunity to become a prime minister. He was speaking at a programme to release literary works on former deputy prime minister Babu Jagjivan Ram, at Crawford Hall on Monday.



He cited the example of Barack Obama who became the President of the United States overcoming all odds in a country which was known for discrimination against blacks.



The minister recalled the visit of Jagjivan Ram, the then railway minister, to Mysuru in 1957, when he (Prasad) was just a 10-year-old boy, to lay the foundation for Siddhartha students hostel. Prasad, who later joined politics, claimed that he was privileged to be a co-parliamentarian, sharing space with Babuji in 1984.

DH News Service


JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy and his brother H D Revanna on Monday said the BJPs intention to free the state of the Congress would come true soon.





The BJP will not have to do anything. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijaya Singh are enough to free the state of the Congress, they said, charging the duo with misrule. Singh is in charge of the partys affairs in the state. Kumaraswamy said it looked like the duo had taken supari to free the state of the Congress. Referring to anti-party activities by JD(S) MLAs, Kumaraswamy said it was a matter of time before disciplinary action was initiated against legislator Zameer Ahmed Khan, who has openly rebelled against the party to align with the Congress.
The elections to the posts of Hassan zilla panchayat president and vice president were postponed for the third time on Monday. The JD(S) members abstained from the meeting, leading to lack of quorum.





The 40-member ZP has 23 JD(S) members, 16 Congress and one BJP member. As JD(S) enjoys a majority, it was speculated that Bhavani Revanna, wife of MLA H D Revanna, would become the ZP president. But, the party was disappointed as the post was reserved for ST woman.



In its efforts to prevent Congress from capturing power, the JD(S) has been boycotting the elections for the past one month. The elections were deferred twice early this month and are now are scheduled for June 3.

DH News Service
The JD(S) on Monday sprung a surprise by fielding two candidates for the polls to the Legislative Council. It is banking on the support of the BJP to win the second seat.





The party last week had announced former MLC K V Narayanaswamy as the candidate. On Monday, it introduced a new face to the party - S M Venkatapathi, who is runs a chain of hospitals and educational institutions in Bengaluru. He hails from Hoskote. Both the candidates filed their papers on Monday.



The elections (if required) are scheduled to be held for seven seats of the Council on June 10, with MLAs as the electoral college.



A candidate needs a minimum of 29 votes to get elected. The ruling Congress, with 123 MLAs, can win four seats, while the BJP and the JD(S) with 44 and 40 MLAs respectively, can win one each. The BJP and the JD(S) will be left with excess votes.



It is these excess votes that the JD(S) is banking on to get its second candidate elected. The BJP has 15 and the JD(S) 11 excess votes, after allotting votes to their first candidate.



The JD(S) legislature party, held on Monday, formally endorsed the name of Venkatapathi as the candidate. He is the chairman of the East-Point group of educational institutions and hospitals. A native of Hoskote, he is a Vokkaliga and a one-time close associate of the late Jeevaraj Alva in the erstwhile Janata party.



We are in talks with the BJP, seeking their support for our second candidate. They should remember that we suported their candidate, Mallikarjun, in the 2014 Council elections and reciprocate, Kumaraswamy told a press conference.



On Monday, two of the four candidates fielded by the Congress - Veena Achaiah and Youth Congress president Rizwan Arshad - filed their papers. Former KPCC president Allum Veerabhadrappa and former minister B B Thimmapur will file their papers on Tuesday.

DH News Service



It may be a quid pro quo

If the BJP and the JD(S) come to an understanding, then all seven candidates in fray will get elected unopposed to the Council, reports DHNS from Bengaluru.



If the BJP wants to hold the reins of administration in the BBMP council, it will have to heed the request by the JD(S) and not field a second candidate for the Council elections.



The Congress may lose the support of the JD(S) in the BBMP. Talks are on between JD(S) leader Kumaraswamy and BJP leaders R Ashoka and D V Sadananda Gowda, sources said. The BJP nominee is V Somanna. It has not totally given up the idea of a second candidate. The names of Lehar Singh and Katta Subramanya Naidu have cropped up.



Kumaraswamy said, We may have to take some hard decisions when it comes to the BBMP. His efforts to get the support of the Congress to win a Rajya Sabha seat have failed. Hence, he is in talks with the BJP.
After 10 years of experience in the New York fashion industry and working with noted French designer Christian Lacroix and American actresses Brooke Shields and Katrina Bowden, designer Tina Tandon launched her modern fusion ethnic-chic label Posh Pari Couture in 2006 and her mainstream contemporary American label T.TANDON in 2008.





Tandons silhouettes are modern with a hint of American vintage, blending the two to create newly inspired classic pieces that are timeless, yet effortlessly modern and chic. The designer, who was recently invited to showcase her collections at the at Cannes Fashion Festival in France, talks to

Metrolife about her love for designing.

Excerpts:



What is fashion for you?

Fashion to me, is a form of art and I see myself as an artist. I feel fashion is the most mobile, personal, and customisable form of art.



How would you differentiate style from fashion?

Style is the personalisation of fashion. Style is how you wear fashion, what represents you and your take on it. Style is constant, while fashion is variable.



What is the USP of your creations?

I make a conscious effort to use natural fabrics that are bio-degradable at the end of the product cycle. I try to create designs that can be worn over and over because I believe in versatility, functionality and practicality. The designs are often simple and classic, infused with construction details and embellishments to make them unique and global in appeal. One can get it online from www.poshpari.com @PoshPariCouture and www.ttandon.com @TTandonNY.



Having worked extensively in foreign countries, what difference have you seen in the Indian fashion scene?

Indian fashion scene is extremely wedding driven. So, most designers concentrate on bridal and party wear. Everyday style is mostly left to major European and

American brands.



How well is Indian fashion accepted on global platforms?

Nothing can compete with intricate embroideries, bead-work and embellishment techniques of India. Fashion brands all over the world look forward to India for these. Now, with Indians being spread all over the world and the increasing purchasing power of the young generation, many fashion houses and department stores want to cater to them specifically. Even major European houses like Chanel, Louis Vuitton, McQueen, and Dior have come up with collections inspired by Indian fashion.



Has Indian fashion evolved?

Seven or eight years ago, I used to think that Indian women dont care about fashion, style or designer wear. Local designers and tailors were there go to. But, in the recent times, as European and American brands have penetrated the Indian market, India has come up a long way. People are now well versed with international brands and their current collections. Western designs have become more popular in India and Indian designers have also started making western collections.



What next are you working on?

I am working on a new active wear/ yoga line, for the US market. Also, we are planning to showcase our collection in India fashion week very soon.




Peter Clarke, EETimes

5/27/2016 01:01 PM EDT

LONDONThe fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator (FDSOI) chip manufacturing process championed by STMicroelectronics has become almost the default choice for digital manufacturing within the automotive and discrete group (ADG) business unit at ST, according that group's senior executive.

And that emphasis on FDSOI will continue through the manufacture of automotive microcontrollers in 28nm FDSOI, said Marco Monti executive vice president responsible for the ADG business unit.

Monti said that while ST's most advanced microcontrollers are on 40nm CMOS the next generation will be on 28nm FDSOI with some sort of non-volatile memory possibly based on phase-change memory. "The use of FDSOI in MCUs at ST is driven by automotive," said Monti. Rival European chip company and automotive supplier NXP Semiconductors is also expected to develop MCUs based on 28nm FDSOI (

Click here to read more ...














Fawad Khan Speaks Up About Working In Salman Khan's Next
Hazaaron khwahishen aisi ke har khwahish pe dam nikle. Bohat niklay mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle, said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, quoting Ghalib, the famous Urdu poet from the Mughal era. Nadella was addressing audiences at an an industry meetup for young entrepreneurs and startups that use Microsofts technology and services in India.

The event titled Tech For Good, Ideas for India was organised by Microsoft in New Delhi, and was also presided by Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Finance. Here, Nadella delivered his keynote address highlighting Microsofts presence in India and its growing efforts towards encouraging entrepreneurship. He said, I grew up here and I come back here often. But, everytime I come back, I go back energised and Its phenomenal. He went on to add, In my life, there have been two passions that have driven my dreams. Its poetry and Computer Science.

In his inspirational address, Nadella stressed on the importance of being cloud first and mobile first in powering the Digital transformation of the future. Here he quoted examples of startups such as iBot - maker of the worlds first connected processor that creates the Internet of Your Things, My Easy Docs Locker - an online document verification, storage & sharing service and Docs Wallet - another platform for securely sharing and receiving digital documents on the cloud.

The event was also attended by known Indian Fashion Designer, Masaba Gupta, who swore by the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 for designing her garments. Speaking about her views on technology in a creative field, Masaba said, I think the world today is moving at a very rapid pace, even when it comes to fashion and design. The consumer today is very impatient, they want much more design at a faster speed. The rotation time between design and production is becoming smaller as we speak. I think the only way to move forward is to involve technology in all aspects of design. I think a lot of artists and designers around the world are going to stop using pen and paper.

Nadella, who attended the event for a short duration, also spoke about Microsofts latest AI venture into Bots, which the company first announced at the Microsoft Build Conference, earlier this year. Encouraging developers in India to build upon the Microsoft Bots platform, Nadella said, What if all you did was you spoke or you texted to get work done? Thats the world I think you can create. Infact, you will build bots that have this fundamental understanding of human language. It is clear that Microsoft is focussing its strengths on creating computing experiences using artificial intelligence and human dialogue, and that the company wants developers around the globe to adopt to their Bots framework.

Augmented Reality was also one of the themes for the afternoon. Now for the first time in our history, we are able to take what is our field of view, and turn that into an infinite display. Here of course, Nadella was talking about the Microsoft Hololens. Microsoft announced its HoloLens back in 2015.The device comes with its own CPU and GPU built into the headset, and helps users interact with Holograms wirelessly.

Nadella ended his keynote by reiterating Microsofts three key areas of focus - Cloud, Bots and Augmented Reality. As Microsoft increases its presence, investments in India, we can expect much more from all 3 platforms in the near future.


The Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) is not the smartphone you should buy. It is quite underpowered compared to other offerings in the market, doesn't have a fingerprint sensor, and its pros don't outweigh the cons. The compromise isn't worth Samsung's brand value.

Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 detailed review

The Samsung Galaxy J5 is a very important device for Samsung India. The company claims that its J series is the highest selling smartphone series in the country, which means that a lot of its revenues depend on this series, perhaps even more so that the flagship Galaxy S devices. Being a market leader, Samsung fights its battle on two fronts. It has Apple on one side and a sea of Chinese manufacturers on the other. While the Galaxy S flagships tackle the iPhone, The Galaxy J series takes on the aforementioned Chinese players.





The Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) leads the charge here. At Rs. 13,999, it falls squarely in the most competitive market segment in the country. In many ways, its a quintessential Samsung smartphone, but then again, there are questions that need to be answered. The Galaxy J5, on paper, is massively underpowered, and not a worthwhile buy. But specs dont always translate to user experience, and thats what I shall yearn to explain, with the Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) review.

Build and Design: Oh so Samsung

Its a distinctly Samsung design, this one. The Galaxy J5 has the candy bar design that Samsung built its business on, and one that has often been called boring. But thats just the looks, and whether you like it or not will differ from person to person. From a build point of view, theres little to complain about, at least as far as the quality is concerned.

The Galaxy J5 (2016) has a metallic frame, with matte-ish plastic on the back, and it feels well made. There are no noticeable noises or nicks to hinder the design.

That said, the matte plastic back, to me, feels too two-years-ago. The Moto G4 Plus has a plastic design, but the grooved finish on it feels better, and the Lenovo Zuk Z1 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, priced around the same, feel even better. The Galaxy J5 isnt slippery, like the Redmi Note 3, but it isnt premium either. Its feels like budget phone, except that budget phones are fast starting to change their persona.

Display: Vibrant and bright...

The display is easily the strongest aspect of the Galaxy J5. Samsungs Super AMOLED panel looks colourful and vibrant. Comparing side by side with a Redmi Note 3, the crisp colours and warmth of the J5s display really pops out. Of course, the Redmi Note 3 is far from the best display in this price bracket. The Moto G4 Plus poses a more realistic threat to the Galaxy J5 in this department, and I still find the Lenovo Zuk Z1 to be the best amongst these devices.

As good as the colours are, though, the Galaxy J5s major weakness is in the fact that the resolution lies at 720p only. That said, this will be apparent to you only if youre comparing side by side with the 1080p devices mentioned above. For the most part, you should like the Galaxy J5s display.

Performance: Samsung vs the world

At a time when phones in the sub-15k range are almost as powerful as mid-ranged flagships, Samsung chose the Snapdragon 410 for its Galaxy J5. The last gen SoC is royally mismatched against competitors in this price segment. Motorolas Moto G4 Plus is about 40% faster than the Galaxy J5, while the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is almost 65% faster. The Lenovo Zuk Z1 and LeEco Le 1s are about 55% faster than the Samsung Galaxy J5.

In fact, while I could make do with the uninspired design, and good but low-resolution display, the performance makes it an absolute deal breaker for me. I see slight frame drops even in games like Temple Run 2, and these are amplified much more when you move to more demanding games like Injustice: Gods Among Us.

Even if youre not much of a gamer, the app load times are high, even for apps like Facebook. This keeps increasing as you try heavier apps. The fact that this phone is too weak was evident right from the setup.

Camera: Not the Samsung we know

While f/1.9 is an impressive number for a smartphone camera, its not the only thing that determines image quality. It allows for a shallow depth of field on the Galaxy J5, but the camera algorithm seems to pump up the ISO in lower light situations. To understand, one must recognise that the aperture, shutter speed and ISO, together determine the amount of light captured.

Hence, while f/1.9 is good for the Galaxy J5, its low light performance is still not the best. Theres quite a bit of noise and images arent as bright as youd expect. Under well lit conditions, the Samsung Galaxy J5 is right up there with the Moto G4 Plus, in fact, at times it shows better details, but images under low light are less than ideal.

To be clear, Id still recommend this camera over a Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, but if youre looking for the best, my moneys on the Moto G4 Plus.

Battery: Almost there...

The Galaxy J5 has a small battery, and 2600 mAh really doesnt sound like much nowadays, but Samsung somehow made it work better than I expected. On heavy usage, the battery ran dry in about 10 hours, but this included extensive gaming, about half an hour of YouTube streaming, lots of texts and emails, and over 15 phone calls. Cutting the gaming and streaming, got this up significantly.

Youre not going to get two-day battery life out of this device, but if you try hard enough, youll get it to last you a whole day.

Bottomline: A deal breaker

The Samsung Galaxy J5 has a satisfactory camera, pretty good display, and even passable battery life. For me, though, the performance is an absolute deal breaker, and given its competitors, I cant recommend the smartphone to any one.

The only real reason you would want to buy this is because it has Samsungs name attached to it, and perhaps the fact that its easy to buy. Even so, I do not think that the compromise in performance and other features is worth going for Samsungs brand value. The phone doesnt have a fingerprint sensor, and less than 1GB of free RAM is just not enough for everything we do on our phones today. The Samsung Galaxy J5 is quite underpowered and not worth your money.
The display features a pixel density of 806ppi, 350nit brightness and a 97% colour gamut

Samsung has showcased a smartphone display that is specifically at VR. The display was showcased at the Display Week conference in San Francisco and as per a report by UploadVR, the 5.5-inch display features a 4K display with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels and a pixel density of 806ppi. The display also features 350nit brightness and a 97% color gamut. It was noted in the report that the display seemed to be running at a lower refresh rate for VR. However, this could be because the display being demonstrated is a prototype. Samsung also showcased a new technology called Bio Blue, which aims to reduce blue light levels in displays. This could potentially reduce eye strain and allow users to enjoy longer playing times.

It is unlikely the Samsung will use the display in its upcoming phone, the Galaxy Note 6 (which may be called the Galaxy Note 7). However, the display might be utilized in the next generation of flagship devices by the company, most notably the Samsung Galaxy X. Reports suggest that the device will not only feature a 4K display, but will also be foldable. Currently, the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium is the only smartphone in the market with a 4K display, while the other flagship devices such as the Galaxy S7 and the LG G5 sport QHD displays with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels.
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7 places to find pumpkin-flavored treats in Columbus

Just days before Halloween is National Pumpkin Day, which takes place Wednesday. Want to celebrate? Here are some suggestions to help.
ONGC Videsh plans oil trading JV with Azerbaijan's SOCAR: report

ONGC Videsh (OVL), the overseas acquisition arm of state-owned explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC, has signed an initial pact with the trading arm of Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, as part of its move to enter oil trading business.

OVL plans to initially sell its share of oil from the large Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli (ACG) group of fields in Azerbaijan through the new venture, reports quoting OVL sources said.

The company, which is traditionally into the business of exploration and production, proposes to use the vertical to market its oil from other assets once it has sizeable hydrocarbon volumes to sell.



The aim is to develop own marketing capability to capture better value of its hydrocarbons and whatever it produces, BusinessLine quoted Narendra K Verma, OVL managing director, as saying in an earlier report.

OVL currently owns stake in oil and gas assets in 16 countries, including Russia, Sudan and Brazil and produced about 178,400 barrels per day of oil and gas equivalent in the fiscal year ended 31 March 2016.

Currently, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), a subsidiary of ONGC, trades in oil produced by OVL.


EU regulator grants conditional approval to HeidelbergCement-Italcementi's $4.1-bn merger

The European regulator has approved Germany's HeidelbergCement AG's proposed acquisition of its Italian rival Italcementi SpA for 3.7 billion ($4.1 billion) with conditions.

The European Commission (EC) cleared the acquisition on condition that that HeidelbergCement sells Italcementi's entire business in Belgium.

The divestment includes all of Italcementi's cement, ready-mix and aggregates assets in Belgium, its stake in an existing limestone joint venture with LafargeHolcim, as well as a portion of HeidelbergCement's limestone quarry in Antoing provided in exchange for a portion of Italcementi's Barry quarry, which will be retained by HeidelbergCement.

Margrethe Vestager, the head of antitrust policy at the EC said, "Competitive markets for cement and concrete are essential for the EU's construction sector. I welcome the proposed commitments as they will ensure that HeidelbergCement's multi-billion euro takeover of Italcementi will not harm effective competition."

Since both companies' operations have substantial overlaps in Belgium and its neighbouring regions with combined market shares above 50 per cent, the EC had concerns that the merged entity would face insufficient competition from the remaining players and that the takeover would have led to higher prices for cement and ready-mix concrete in the area.

The EC said that HeidelbergCement's commitment to divest Italcementi's business in Belgium addresses these concerns.

In July last year, HeidelbergCement, the world's second-biggest cement maker, struck a deal to buy rival Italcementi for 3.7 billion, its biggest acquisition since it purchased Britain's Hanson Plc in 2009 for 7.9 billion.

HeidelbergCement offered to buy Italmobiliare SpA's 45 per cent stake in Italcementi for 10.6 per share in stock and cash, or a total of 1.67 billion, and then offer the same price for each share held by outstanding investors.

HeidelbergCement is active in Northern, Western and Central Europe whereas Italcementi focuses on Southern Europe, operating cement facilities in Italy, France, Spain and Greece. Italcementi is also active in Belgium and Bulgaria.

HeidelbergCement operates two cement production sites in Belgium as well as three production sites in the Netherlands. Italcementi operates one cement production site in Belgium, which also serves customers in France and the Netherlands, as well as several production sites in France.

The EC had concerns that the remaining suppliers in these markets would be unable to exercise a sufficient competitive constraint on the merged entity and thus to avoid price rises for grey cement and ready-mix concrete.

''We are very pleased with the positive decision of the European Commission'', said Dr. Bernd Scheifele, chairman of HeidelbergCement. ''This decision is an important milestone on our way to the full acquisition of Italcementi.''

With annual revenues of 13.5 billion in 2015, HeidelbergCement is one of the world's largest building materials companies employing around 45,450 people and operating in more than 40 countries.

Its core business includes the production and distribution of cement and aggregates, the two essential raw materials for the manufacture of concrete.


Citic Metal in talks to buy minority stake in Freeport-McMoRan's assets

Citic Metal, China's largest diversified metals trading company, is in talks with Freeport-McMoRan Inc to buy a minority stake in the US-based natural resources company's North and South American operations, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Freeport-McMoRan is also in talks with at least one other investor group for the asset sale and other parties might be interested, the report said.

Freeport-McMoRan North American assets include seven open-pit copper mines, Morenci, Bagdad, Sierrita, Safford and Miami in Arizona, and Chino and Tyrone in New Mexico, and two molybdenum mines - Henderson and Climax in Colorado.

Its South American assets include two copper mines in South America - Cerro Verde in Peru and El Abra in Chile.

The sale, which comprises around 20 per cent of the company's assets, could be worth about $2 billion, the report added.

Arizona-based Freeport-McMoRan is trying to reduce debt and restore its balance sheet through sale of stake in some of its assets.

In February, it sold a 13-per cent stake in its Morenci open-pit copper mine located in South Arizona to Japan's Sumitomo Metal Mining Co for $1 billion, and earlier this month, agreed to sell its majority stake in the Tenke copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo to China Molybdenum Co for $2.65 billion.

Freeport had acquired McMoRan Exploration Co in 2013 for $9 billion and Plains Exploration & Production Co, both purchases that loaded it with debt and compounded the problem when energy prices declined just after the ill-timed acquisitions.

In April, it said that it would cut 25 per cent of the oil-and-gas workforce, or 325 jobs, as part of an overall restructuring in that business.


SoftBank president Nikesh Arora gets $73 million pay package

Nikesh Arora, the India-born president of SoftBank Group Corp, overcame investor criticism to secure an 8.04 billion yen ($73 million) pay package for the company's latest fiscal year, remaining one of top paid executives in the world for the second year in a row.

Arora's pay package for Arora is in the same range as those for Apple chief executive Tim Cook and Walt Disney's Bob Iger, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Masayoshi Son, SoftBank's founder and CEO, received compensation totaling 130 million yen ($1.2 million).

Arora who joined SoftBank from Google Inc in 2014, was paid 16.6 billion yen in the previous fiscal year, when he started working at SoftBank, setting a record for compensation in Japan.

SoftBank said at the time that the pay package included a signing bonus. Arora held unvested Google stock options and other securities worth more than $76 million at the end of 2013, according to the last proxy statement before his departure.

Arora's pay package is a lot of money by Japanese standards and this could help attract overseas talent to Japan, say analysts.

Cancer-research company NantKwest Inc's Patrick Soon-Shiong is currently the highest-paid CEO, with compensation valued at $329.7 million. Blackstone group president Hamilton Evans James too had a bigger pay package than Arora. Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sachs's CEO, was paid $33.1 million, according to Bloomberg's executive-pay analysis.

Arora's compensation includes 1.56 billion yen paid by other SoftBank units, according to a proxy issued by the mobile and internet company on Thursday. SoftBank's Ken Miyauchi, who runs the domestic business, was awarded 317 million yen.

Son has said that Arora is the most likely candidate to succeed him. Arora, who is responsible for global operations, plans to invest about $3 billion each year as SoftBank seeks to invest in startups that can become the next Alibaba Group Holding, the Chinese e-commerce company that pulled off the world's largest initial public offering in 2014.

Arora has led SoftBank's investments in India's e-commerce provider Snapdeal.com, ride-hailing service Ola Cabs, real-estate website Housing.com and hotel-booking app Oyo Rooms. In October, SoftBank led a $1 billion fundraising round for US-based online lender Social Finance Inc.

Arora has also made an enormous personal bet on the future of SoftBank. Last August, he said he would buy 60 billion yen of the company's shares, worth $483 million at the time. That was the largest insider purchase by an executive in Japan for at least 12 years.

SoftBank's stock is down about 20 per cent since Arora joined the company. The shares fell 3.7 per cent to 5,975 yen in Tokyo trading.

Arora, meanwhile, is being targeted by a group of investors over a range of issues, including alleged conflict of interest, They are calling on SoftBank's board to investigate and possibly dismiss him, for a range of issues, including alleged conflicts of interest. The group also cited Arora's compensation as an area of concern, according to a letter to the board dated 20 January.

Son, however, said he has "complete trust in Nikesh and one thousand percent confidence in him."

He ''remains a highly valued leader with proven investment abilities and we are confident he will continue to make great contributions at SoftBank in the years ahead.''

Arora, 48, also denied allegations against him as baseless.

''I take my fiduciary responsibilities seriously and have acted appropriately and in the best interest of shareholders throughout my tenure at SoftBank and Sprint, just as I have conducted myself throughout my professional life. I am completely confident the allegations in the letter are baseless,'' he had said in a statement.
The seaside village of Dunfanaghy has launched a new information website for the area.

Last Thursday a large crowd gathered in Mollys Bar to officially launch the Dunfanaghy area website, under its new name of www.deolas.com. The name Deolas, comes from D for Dunfanaghy, followed by the Irish word for information  eolas.

Lisa McGrath of the Dunfanaghy Area Community Network explains the site is to beneift all the community.

What we have here, in Dunfanaghy, is the complete package  and that is what the website sets out to portray. Tourism is a vital employer in these parts, and we need employment, and therefore we need tourists. In creating the website, we have found it is easy to be enthusiastic and talk about Dunfanaghy, and how attractive a village it is.

The website represents and promotes the village in its entirety, as one attractive, cohesive unit.

Already the website has been instrumental in bringing many tourists with many people working behind the scenes of the site.

Pictured: Lisa McGrath pictured with Shawn Jones and Stephen Inglis at the launch of the new website.
Donegal county councillors want the council to inform relevant authorities that Donegal has enough designated Special Areas of Conservation and Special Areas of Protection.

Fianna Fail Cllr. Paul Canning told councillors at today's May meeting of Donegal County Council that any further restrictions in the county in relation to the EU Habitats Directive, "would stifle the very existence of the human race".

Cllr. Canning tabled a motion at the meeting, seconded by his party colleague, Cllr. Seamus O Domhnaill, calling on the council to make it clear that Donegal "has more than met" its conservation objectives under the Habitats Directive.

The Inishowen-based councillor said Donegal has 7 per cent of the land cover in the country and 12.5 per cent of the country's SACs. "We have a lot of designations, SACs, that stifle development within certain areas," Cllr. Canning said.

In seconding the motion, Cllr. O Domhnaill said the European Commission "want to close down more swathes of land in Ireland for the benefit of birds, animals and flowers," adding there was, "no realisation the human race also needs a habitat to live in and survive in".

Cllr. O Domhnaill said, "We are happy to work with those species and habitats but we will not be pitted against those animals and species."

See Thursday's Donegal Democrat for more from today's meeting of Donegal County Council.

Pictured: A scenic image with Muckish in the background.
Donegal county councillors want the expert panel investigating problems with concrete block work to review the problem of those blocks in council-owned properties.

Sinn Fein Cllr. Albert Doherty called the current terms of reference of the panel, "totally inadequate" to investigate the extent of the problem for householders.

At today's (Monday) May meeting of Donegal County Council, Cllr. Doherty tabled a motion calling on the council to urge the new Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Simon Coveney, TD, to widen the terms of reference to include an investigation of the extent of the defective blocks and mica problem on publicly owned buildings, schools, council houses and council buildings.

Cllr. Doherty welcomed the establishment of the expert panel and said he appreciated the panel's recent visit to County House.

However, he said the council must seek a face-to-face meeting with Minister Simon Coveney to present the nature of the problem in Donegal and reasons why the panel's remit must be extended.

Last week Minister Coveney said he would await the outcome of the panel's report and see the recommendations that were suggested. But Cllr. Doherty said the minister had also said local authorities would be responsible for addressing any problems that emerged in their buildings.

Financial Burden

"Donegal County Council must now carry the financial burden of remediation," Cllr. Doherty said.

Cllr. Doherty had requested that a cross-party delegation from the council meet the previous minister on the issue, but this was not granted, he said.

Sinn Fein Cllr. Jack Murray, who seconded the motion, said, "For the life of me I can't understand why the minister decided [council buildings] should be excluded."

Joe Peoples, council director of corporate, housing and cultural services, said the council will be looking to the expert group to advise the council, and that council proposals for addressing the blocks issues will be consistent with the panel's findings.

See Thursday's Donegal Democrat for more from today's May meeting of Donegal County Council.

Caption:

Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Simon Coveney, TD, to widen the terms of reference to include an investigation of the extent of the defective blocks and mica problem on publicly owned buildings, schools, council houses and council buildings.
Ryan Tubridy began his week long journey along the Wild Atlantic Way today (30th May 2016) with a visit to the local Post Office in Buncrana where he picked up his first stamp on his Wild Atlantic Way Passport - a new visitor passport developed by Failte Ireland and An Post to encourage greater visitor exploration along the west coast route.

The Wild Atlantic Way Passport provides visitors to the west with a recorded souvenir of their journey along some, or all, of the 188 Discovery Points on the worlds longest coastal touring route. Each Passport contains a section for each of the various zones along the route and visitors to Discovery Points can call in to the local Post office to have their passport stamped with a unique motif for each one.

Just as the new initiative is launched, The Ryan Tubridy Show is embarking on a series of outside broadcasts as part of Failte Irelands summer marketing campaign. The show will tour the west coast route this week broadcasting live, each morning from various locations along Irelands West coast.

Pictured:

Joan Crawfrod, Failte Ireland with Ryan Tubridy began his week long journey along the Wild Atlantic Way today (30th May 2016) with a visit to Buncrana where he picked up his first stamp on his Wild Atlantic Way Passport - a new visitor passport developed by Failte Ireland and An Post to encourage greater visitor exploration along the west coast route - Photo:- Clive Wasson

Ryan Tubridy broadcasting live from Buncrana earlier today (Monday May 30th). Photo:- Clive Wasson
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With dpa ElectionsData you get access to a unique collection of data. Via a programming interface (Rest-API), your developers can access detailed information, candidate profiles and live results for all national elections in the European Union and important international elections, like the US Midterm elections etc.

The data pool also includes all heads of state and government as well as about 20,000 elected members of parliament throughout the EU. In addition to their data (name, party, constituency or list position), we collect social media profiles and official websites of individuals and parties.
Meet Renault's vision for the ultimate hot hatch.

Built to go on show at the Monaco Grand Prix, The Clio R.S. 16 celebrates the brand's performance heritage by blending the best attributes of its two hot hatches.

Starting with the svelte body of the compact Clio hatch, Renault engineers ditched that car's turbocharged 1.6-litre engine and dual-clutch automatic transmission in favour of a more powerful 2.0-litre motor from the range-topping Megane RS 275.

The result is a machine that offers 205kW and 360Nm performance in a fun-sized package.

The R.S. 16 also brings the Megane's conventional manual transmission and limited slip differential arrangement that should make the concept much more engaging than a conventional Clio.

Finished in the same shade of yellow as the brand's latest Formula One machinery, the Clio features 19-inch wheels, a 60mm-wider body, twin-outlet Akrapovic exhausts and fog lights in the shape of Renault Sport's chequered flag logo.

Officially a concept for now, the Clio R.S. 16 will tour the Monaco GP and Goodwood Festival of Speed before making a likely appearance at the Paris motor show. Renault hasn't said whether the Clio is in consideration for production, though it's unlikely hot hatch fans would reject such a compelling product.

Read all the latest Renault news and reviews here
Superstar entrepreneur and Virgin Group founder, Sir Richard Branson regaled attendees at last weeks World Business Forum in Sydney with tales from his storied career, including lessons learned. But it was a symbolic act early in the proceedings that seemed to perfectly sum up Bransons business and life philosophy.

Appearing on stage to meet with session facilitator Alex Christou, Branson gleefully pulled a pair of scissors from his jacket when he spied Christous neck tie. Not another one of these tie jobs, Branson chided Christou, before advancing on the helpless facilitator and using his scissors to liberate him from the noose around his neck, much to the audiences amusement.

Christou, director of corporate relations & partnerships at Melbourne Business School, briefly lamented the loss of his tie (It was a good tie) but he took the gesture with good humour, quickly engaging the affable entrepreneur in a lively discussion full of useful business advice and insights.

Delegate and promote from within

Early on in life, I had to learn the art of delegation. If you dont delegate, youre not going to become a true entrepreneur, youre going to become a manager of the first company you set up. I would recommend that, if you are going to have a decent life, try to put [yourself] out of business. I dont mean that literally; I mean find someone who, if possible, is better than yourself at running it on a day to day basis  and maybe even retreat from the building because people always want to deal with the top person in the building  and then you can think about the bigger pictureand not get bogged down with the minutiae of running a company. If you can, find the time to pick the right person. Often they are right under your nose. I think too often, people go and get the so-called experts from outside but right within their own company there could well be someone that if you give them the chance, would really excel. Try to promote from within when you can.

Businesses born of frustration

Any time Ive felt somethings not being done well I just say lets give it a go, lets see if we can tilt this sector or that sector. Its been the most fascinating university education I never had.

Ive come across situations where, out of frustration, Ive thought, damn it, lets see if we can put this right. The best businesses come out of frustration.

Treat your workers as family

At Virgin Group, for the last three years, weve told people you can have as much time off, whenever you want, paid  just get your work done. You dont have to tell us when you need time off. If you go off for a month, thats okay. If you go off for two weeks, thats okay. If theres a funeral, if theres a birthday party, you dont have to ask. Were experimenting with treating everybody as youd expect to be treated at your family home. People havent misused or abused it because theyve felt theyve been treated like adults. It seems to have worked really well. It wont work in every companybut in offices, thats something I think can be made to work.

Good leaders love people

To be a really good leader, I think you have to love people. I get out there and really try to listen to people, immerse myself. Youve just got to listen. Listen, listen, listen and youll be able to get things right.

The best advice my mother ever gave me was if I ever said something unpleasant about somebody or gossiped, she would send me straight to the mirror and make me look at it for ten minutes, basically just to argue that it reflects so badly on yourself. The power of a good leader is to always look for the best in people.

[I look for leaders] who love people and who look for the best in people, who are good at praising people and motivating people, and working really hard to try to make their particular company the happiest Virgin company in the world and the most productive as a result.

Just get out there and do it

As an entrepreneur, the best way of learning something is just to get out there and do it. Go for it, fall over and pick yourself up. Go for it, fall over and in the end youll end up walking and youll have a successful venture.

Solving the worlds problems

I think business people can see the problems in this world with much greater clarity, sometimes, than the social sector and the politicians. At the very least, they can help the social sector and the politicians to sort out some of the problems in the world. If we can get every single business person in this world to adopt a problem If youre a small business, find out in your local community whos suffering, who needs to be helped and make a difference in your local community. If youre a slightly bigger business, make a difference nationally. If youre a bigger business still, make a difference in the world.

Final words of wisdom

Im a great believer in working hard and playing hard.  Branson on his work ethic.

Protecting the downside of any deal is critical.  Branson on risk management in the context of launching Virgin Atlantic.

Sometime you need to take the mickey out of your bigger competitors.- Branson on his BA cant get it up!! stunt.

Over the years, Ive learnt that using yourself you can get your brand on the map.  Branson on entrepreneurs being their own brand ambassador.

Design is incredibly important but a lot of companies dont spend enough effort on it. Its tough enough to build a spaceship and go to space but if youre going to get there, you might as well make sure youre travelling on something that really makes you feel good and look good.  Branson on Virgin Galactic.
Embrace your tax audit are the last words youd expect to drop from the lips of a financial advisor, but thats exactly what the head bean-counter from First Class Accounts is asking us to do.

Clive Barrett, Executive Chairman of First Class Accounts, said the very idea of a tax audit struck fear into the hearts of small business owners across the country, however that frown could be turned upside down if we instead looked at the situation as an opportunity for growth.

With a tax audit, the ATO is simply telling us theyve found something amiss, Clive said. And our immediate response is to put our heads in the sand and hope it will all go away.

However, if your doctor told you theyd found something amiss, youd want to know immediately what the problem was and how to correct it. Wouldnt you?

With that in mind, Clive said the dreaded tax audit should instead be viewed as an opportunity to get to understand the health of your business and how to address problem areas before they became too big to manage.

An audit forces you to conduct financial forensics in a way you never would do voluntarily. However, you cant manage something as big as a tax audit alone, he said. In the same way you need a team of medical professionals to help with a serious health problem you also need a team of financial professionals to help with a tax problem.

Ensure you have a good support network to guide you, and youll save yourself a lot of unnecessary pain.

For many small business owners however the expense of engaging accountants and bookkeepers for the extended period required of an audit, is prohibitive, and Clive said many tried to go it alone.

While you might be a wizz at preparing your own BAS, unfortunately there are just too many pitfalls in tax audits for someone who doesnt deal with the tax system on a regular basis.

Clive said there were many small and inexpensive things small business owners could implement today that could save them thousands of dollars, not to mention their sanity, should the tax auditor come knocking in the future:

Get organised:

Ensure your filing is in order and you have easy access to all your financial records.

We see small business owners lose receipts, misplace important documents and not know how to access information from their own accounting software.

Take advantage of the time-saving and stress-reducing cloud-based software available on the market today. Rather than wade through mountains of paperwork and receipts you can hit Ctrl F to find the exact document youre looking for.

There are programs available that allow you to take a picture of an expense and upload it into your account management software automatically, also storing it for easy access. 

Take out tax audit insurance:

Tax audit insurance is an inexpensive step business owners can take to protect themselves but it is a little known option. Research conducted by First Class Accounts showed that 48 percent of business owners had no idea that tax audit insurance existed.

Tax audit insurance costs just a few hundred dollars a year for most small business owners. When you compare this to the potential thousands of dollars it can cost to engage accountants, bookkeepers and lawyers, tax audit insurance starts to make sound economic sense.

Volunteer information

Fast-track the whole audit process by helping the ATO do their job. Volunteer information and records that the ATO are looking for.

The ATO would prefer that you volunteer the problem area straight up, correct the error and pay the fine. It saves all parties a lot of time, money and hassle.

And if you voluntarily disclose any errors in a prompt fashion, the ATO may even revoke any fines imposed and you can avoid the whole gruelling audit process. Thats the best case scenario that we all aim for.

Get in the professionals

Hire a professional accountant or bookkeeper to keep an eye on things and advise financial planning options.

A professional takes out the guesswork and gives you peace of mind, especially at a time when you need it most.

Clive Barrett is the Executive Chairman of First Class Financial Group, Australias largest financial support services franchise providing bookkeeping, finance and tax services. www.firstclassaccounts.com.au
The past, present and future of innovation in the technology sector, including opportunities for startups, were examined by thought leaders at a roundtable hosted by Oracle Australia.

The event, held on Tuesday, 10 May at the Altitude Restaurant at Sydneys Shangi-La Hotel, featured the following speakers:

Tim Ebbeck , Regional Managing Director of Oracle Australia  a provider of integrated cloud applications, platform services and engineered solutions.

, Regional Managing Director of Oracle Australia  a provider of integrated cloud applications, platform services and engineered solutions. George Parthimos , General Manager at Connexion Media  an ASX-listed Internet of Things (IoT) technology company specialising in smart car technology for the automotive industry.

, General Manager at Connexion Media  an ASX-listed Internet of Things (IoT) technology company specialising in smart car technology for the automotive industry. Ross Dawson , futurist and Founding Chairman of the Advanced Human Technologies group of companies, which includes international consulting and ventures firm Advanced Human Technologies, think-tank Future Exploration Network and events company The Insight Exchange.

, futurist and Founding Chairman of the Advanced Human Technologies group of companies, which includes international consulting and ventures firm Advanced Human Technologies, think-tank Future Exploration Network and events company The Insight Exchange. Chris Holmes, Managing Director of Single Cell  an Australian owned IT consulting company servicing large enterprises, State and Federal Government.

Here are eight insights and thoughts from the roundtable:

1. We have to think global

The consensus ten years ago was that nothing good in technology comes out of Australia. Thats now changed. Look at what Atlassian has done overseas. Look at companies like Bigcommerce, which has offices in Sydney. They are helping to break down barriers of misunderstanding around what Australia can provide. Weve gone through a transition of people not knowing Australian innovation to people understanding it and embracing it. The key advantage we have is our pricing is quite competitive compared to development in the US. The talent and capability of local resources is as good as what youll find overseas. Were an innovative lot here in Australia because we have to think global.  George Parthimos.

2. Success is not guaranteed

The arrogant view that were always going to be successful doesnt cut it anymore. We need to be disruptive, we need to change. Its not just us, our customers need to change too. There is a cultural issue organisations need to confront: how do organisations handle this different world going forward? How do organisations create low-cost  certainly, low upfront cost  services that will help individual parts of an organisation to function?  Tim Ebbeck.

3. Innovation through collaboration

Innovation doesnt come out of thin air, it comes from networks and connections. No organisation can have sufficient innovation within its own walls. The idea of collaboration and co-creation in innovation is fundamental, particularly in the supplier/client relationship. Large organisations working with small organisations or other large organisations  there must be innovation within that relationship. Many large organisations thought they had all their corporate capabilities, they had all they needed. Now they are realising they must collaborate, they must work with their clients. A lot of what we should see more of in Australia is this mentality of building value into your relationship with your clients, buyers and suppliers.  Ross Dawson.

4. A global network of talent

We must have global networks. Theres this idea of brain drain, where talented Australians go global. Another way of looking at this is the formation of global networks out of which innovation stems: Australians who are well-connected to talented Australians here and [abroad].  Ross Dawson

5. Mentoring in all directions

At Oracle, we have a very diverse workforce. Theres the old and bolds, the young and vibrantsand everything in between. One of the things that is happening is collaboration. Whats the benefit of mentoring? The duality. We have a lot of younger employees learning from some of the more experienced peers but theres a lot of mentoring going back the other way in terms of thought process and approach.  Tim Ebbeck

6. On-demand, cloud solutions

Its easier today to launch a startup up than it was even five years ago. Think about the cloud: its not just about the services you provide the customer, its also about the services you as a business consume. Ten years ago you had to have your own dedicated email server with someone to support it, and you needed back up tapes  all that sort of stuff. The transition from having in-house services for the business to on-demand or cloud solutions has been hugely positive. Startups have been able to get going a lot quicker and a lot cheaper. Having said that, it creates a lot more competition. The [old] barrier of requiring a certain amount of capital to start has come right down, meaning there are more startups playing in the space.  George Parthimos

7. Looking beyond STEM to design

I think design is more important, certainly in the short term, than pure maths because at the end of the day, its about how people engage. Theres all this focus on STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics]but thats generational. More importantly, how do people engage. Leaving aside where Apple is heading as a company, they focused entirely on design for a long time, controlling the experience as distinct from building everything. Theres an important lesson in that. Its about the experience that people have and the simplicity in design is, to me, more important than just the technology. We have a pedigree in design in Australia and thats what I think we should be focusing on in the short-term.  Tim Ebbeck

8. Niche solutions and agility

Theres always going to be a role for the very big organisations because they genuinely represent a known quantity and stability[but] we provide niche, specialized solutions that really give [larger companies] agility. As a small enterprise, our ability to be rapid and agile and react to new technology and new trends and plug that straight into Oracle and Microsoft is a really good place to be.  Chris Holmes
(Photo: Russian Orthodox Church)Russian Patriarch Kirill and Russian President Vladimir Putin light a candle in 2015.

Russian President Vladimir Putin made a visit to the monastic community of Mount Athos, one of Orthodox Christianity's holiest sites, as the last leg of his two-day visit to Greece.

The Russian leader took part in ceremonies marking there marking 1,000 years of Russian monasticism, the Tass news agency reported.

"As Putin, completing his visit to Greece, reached Athos this Saturday, the monks welcomed him as a superstar, and even more: as the defender of their faith and a loyal ally of Greece," Spiegel Online wrote according to Sputnik International.

Putin said, "Today, as we resurrect the values of patriotism, historical memory and traditional culture, we hope for ... a strengthening of relations" with Mount Athos, Russia Today reported.

The Russian leader came together with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow to mark 1,000 years of Russian presence on the holy mountain and was not wearing his necktie at the ceremony, like the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras.

"The role of Mount Athos is particularly important to Russian Orthodoxy," Putin noted , referring to over 11,000 Russian faithful who visit the area annually, Agence France-Presse reported.

Putin was joined on his visit by Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias.

The Greek foreign minister is a former Communist who clashed with European Union peers last year over the Ukraine crisis, arguing that the bloc should avoid "spasmodic" moves against Moscow, a reference to sanctions imposed after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014

Putin joined the celebrations at the St. Panteleimon monastery to mark 1,000 years of Russian monks at Mount Athos and was accompanied by Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Mount Athos is an enclave of 20 monasteries where women have been banned since it began.

In both Greece and Russia Orthodox Christianity is the dominant religion.

Putin first arrived in Karyes, the administrative center of the Holy Mountain, where he visited the Church of Protaton making the journey to the peninsula by boat as there is no road access.

Putin was an officer in Russia's secret service, the KGB, in Communist times, at a time when the Soviet State scorned religion.

He has shown himself to be a supporter of the Orthodox Church, which he came into contact with as a child and is known to have a strong relationship with Patriarch Kirill, already prominent in the church in Soviet times.
(Photo:REUTERS / Ronen Zvulun)Patriarch Kirill (C), the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, visits the Church of Mary Magdalene on the Mount of Olives outside Jerusalem's Old City November 12, 2012.

GENEVA - Talk of a Holy war in Syria is deeply worrying U.N. advisers and the second ranking United Nations official says the religious or ethnic partition of Syria would be part of an extremely dangerous trend.

U.N. Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson spoke to journalists in Geneva Oct. 15 and was asked to comment on growing fears of a partition of Syria expressed by mediating officials.

"Any division of a country is a very painful process and can just lead to a continued civil war. I would, both in the case of Syria and in the case of Iraq, strongly make the case for keeping the nations together.

"I say this also from the perspective of a fear that I have that ethnic and religious factors divide nations more and more. This is an extremely dangerous trend," said Eliasson, a former Swedish foreign ministry official.

He said there is diversity in practically every nation which is a source of richness.

"It might seem easy way to divide countries to solve the problem, but what you do in fact was you build in, you confirm that religious and ethnic divisions legitimize the separation of a country.

Earlier in the week two senior U.N. human rights specialists expressed alarm at the rise in violent rhetoric by influential religious leaders - including calls for "holy war" against certain faiths - in relation to the situation in Syria.

The U.N. Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Adama Dieng, and Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, Jennifer Welsh issued a joint statement after pronouncements from religious leaders.

HOLY WAR CALLS

In it they condemned the recent call by clerics in Saudi Arabia for Sunni Muslims and their States to support a "holy war" against Shia Muslims and Christians in Syria, as well as against States and non-State armed groups perceived to support them.

"Such rhetoric can aggravate the already extremely volatile situation in Syria by drawing religiously motivated fighters to join all parties to the conflict, thus escalating the risk of violence against religious communities," said the advisers.

They noted that "advocacy of religious hatred to incite or justify violence is not only morally wrong, but also prohibited under international law."

Dieng and Welsh also expressed concern at reports that Russian Orthodox clerics had referred to the Russian participation in the conflict in Syria as a "holy battle" against terrorism.

That came after Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia expressed hopes on Sept. 30 that Russia's participation in the solution of the Syrian conflict will bring peace to the region, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

"The Russian Federation has made a responsible decision on the use of armed forces to defend the people of Syria from the sorrows caused by the arbitrariness of terrorists.

"We believe this decision will bring peace and justice closer to this ancient land," the patriarch said in a statement quoted by the press service for the Synodal Information Department, Interfax reported.

"Wishing peace to the peoples of Syria, Iraq and other countries of the Middle East, we pray for this tough local conflict not to develop into a major war, for the use of force not to lead to the death of civilians, and for all Russian military [personnel] to return home alive," the patriarch said.

"We know about the catastrophic situation that the people who have become the targets of extremists and terrorists are now in, and not from hearsay, but from personal meetings with the religious leaders of the Middle East," he added.

Then on Oct. 2 Agence France-Presse quoted Russian Orthodox Church spokesman Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin telling Interfax, "The fight against terrorism is a holy struggle and today our country is perhaps the most active force in the world to combat terrorism."

Dieng and Welsh said, "Statements of this kind can be manipulated, feed suspicion and increase polarization of communities."

The special advisers also noted the response by Russian authorities, who reportedly denied that there was any religious connotation to their involvement in Syria.

They praised the organization Syrian Christians for Peace for rejecting the concept of a Christian "holy war" and condemning those who invoke it.

The U.N. advisers called on States to dissociate themselves from and condemn any form of advocacy of religious hatred.

They said they should promote dialogue and protect and empower all those religious figures and human rights defenders who are working towards enhancing interreligious respect and harmony.

The officials also called on religious leaders around the world to refrain from any form of advocacy of religious hatred and incitement to violence.

They said they should counter any use of such rhetoric, emphasizing that "religious leaders should be messengers of peace, not of war."

"In situations in which tensions are high, as in Syria, religious leaders should call for and foster restraint and dialogue, rather than fanning the flames of hatred," they cautioned.
Dont specialise so early

Undergraduate (UG) courses, which lay the foundation for higher studies, must be broad-based. Specialised courses at the UG or school level are damaging. For example, without learning the basics of biology, how can one pursue specialised subjects like bioinformatics or biotechnology? Even the general BSc courses at most universities and colleges do not allow students to study both maths and biology. This is a serious disadvantage for cutting-edge research. All students need not study for a Bachelors degree since neither is everybody interested in it nor can all of them find jobs. We need training that can help students earn a livelihood. Instead of specialised courses, vocational courses generating self-employment are essential. The academic community and regulatory authorities must work to overhaul the system. Finally, parents need to let children make their decisions about the careers they like.

In 2009, the Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Sciences prepared a joint document about restructuring of post-school education to provide broad-based learning so that the first one or two years of BSc courses teach the basics of all pure sciences such as physics, chemistry, biology, maths and earth sciences. It recommended stopping all specialised courses offered by schools and colleges. This report was provided to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, University Grants Commission and Planning Commission.

--Subhash Chandra Lakhotia, emeritus professor, department of zoology, Banaras Hindu University

No must-dos

There are no must-dos when it comes to planning a career  no special subjects nor courses or institutes that will guarantee success. What is essential is to know what you do best and the study route that will enable you to use that knowledge to reach your goal. Planning for the future involves more than just knowing how to ace the JEE or a host of other competitive tests and opting for a course depending on your score. It is becoming increasingly clear in todays competitive world that success comes from identifying ones goals and working towards them. Once you have an idea about what you want to do in life, you can start thinking about the kind of after-school study you need to do.

When sure about your career choice, you can directly begin a professional or specialised course of study. If not, a general Bachelors degree in a subject of interest could be the best option. The third choice could be to take up a vocational course depending on the kind of work that appeals to you, while doing a degree through correspondence, so that you have the option of further study should the need arise.

Every degree programme gives you knowledge of the subject, leading to a career related to it as well as certain transferable skills  creative and analytical thinking, decision-making, oral and written communication skills  that you can use for any number of other careers. Therefore, before diving into any particular specialised course of study or college, you need to develop a career plan, by identifying your interests and abilities and the kind of jobs best suited to you.

-- Usha Albuquerque, career counsellor , Delhi

Good grounding in college

Excessive specialisation should be avoided at an early stage of ones academic journey as it leads to a weak understanding of the foundations of the sciences. It limits the students vision and makes it much more difficult for him/her to study further. Also, since the subject matter at the basic level has grown over the past few decades, it makes sense to devote the undergraduate years to a good grounding in the basics, followed by a specialisation later. For those who wish to continue in science, be it in teaching or research or both, once again a reasonable exposure to and understanding of the basics of two or more allied areas, or even a combination of physical sciences and life sciences, is invaluable. Such broad exposure can be most exciting and intellectually satisfying. At least for those students who are attracted by such prospects, there should be institutions and opportunities of reasonable quality that offer these options. This holds true for other streams like humanities as well.

-- N Mukunda, INSA CV Raman research professor, Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore



For more job options

Students should take a decision regarding the course depending on their interest, aptitude and the career path that they have chalked out for themselves. While traditional degree courses allow students to pursue their hobbies as well as other professional courses, students pursuing these courses have to wait until their final year to pursue a specialisation.

Self-financed courses, on the other hand, give students a better exposure and widen their scope for employment. Students study a variety of subjects over six semesters. This gives them an edge over students pursuing traditional degree courses. Students go on field visits, attend lectures by industry experts, seminars, workshops and debates, inter-college festivals, etc. These courses instil confidence in students to interact on public platforms and help them gain practical knowledge of the subject. They equip students with the skills required to become future entrepreneurs and find good job opportunities.

-- Minu Madlani, principal, KPB Hinduja College, Mumbai

-As told to Ruchi Chopda
To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020.
Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank, currently on a five day visit to China today visited a transformational forestry project in Inner Mongolia. The 31,000 hectare Inner Mongolia Forestry Project is the first forestry operation in China financed by the European Investment Bank in China. Since 2008 the European Investment Bank, the worlds largest lender for climate related investment, has supported forestry projects across China in 14 provinces.

The visit to Inner Mongolia took place a day before President Hoyer will formally agree to strengthen cooperation between the European Investment Bank and China to finance climate related investment with Finance Minister Lou Jiwei.

The European Investment Bank is committed to supporting investment around the worlds to tackle climate change and protect vulnerable environments from a changing climate. We are pleased to support the flagship Inner Mongolia Forestry Project as the leading international financial institution supporting forestry projects in Asia. Experience gained from this project has strengthened the European Investment Banks efforts to reduce desertification and erosion of vulnerable areas across China through afforestation. said Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank.

The Inner Mongolia Forestry Project helps to reduce desertification and wind erosion in the north-western region of China. During the visit the EIB Delegation also met with the Provincial Governor of Inner Mongolia and saw how local district heating systems were being converted to use gas instead of coal.

The European Investment Bank is providing EUR 580 million to support total investment of more than EUR 1.2 billion in forestry projects in 14 provinces across China. These programmes include afforestation schemes and rehabilitation of degraded forests, as well as initiatives to improve forest management. Together the schemes will enable long-term natural storage of 1.6 million tons of carbon dioxide a year through carbon sequestration.

The individual schemes have been selected to reduce erosion and prevent landslides, combat desertification and wind erosion, including in Inner Mongolia and reduce the risk of flooding. The forest projects will produce sustainable timer and non-timber forest products.
The European Investment Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank today agreed to broaden cooperation to support investment in strategically important projects, seek to jointly finance projects and increase cooperation in countries where both institutions are active.

I am delighted to sign this framework of cooperation with the European Investment Bank as a sign of our expanding partnership in addressing the monumental infrastructure financing needs around the world, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank President Jin Liqun said. AIIB was created with the goal of promoting regional cooperation and partnership in addressing development challenges, and we no doubt have a strong partner in EIB. Through joint efforts we can be a steadying force in this complex global economic environment and create enduring positive development outcomes.

International Financial Institutions play a crucial role supporting long-term investment that improves crucial infrastructure, supports job creation and improves lives. I am pleased that the already fruitful cooperation between European Investment Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank colleagues can be strengthened. I look forward to working together with President Jin and his team to address challenges that no single institution can overcome alone, such as tackling climate change, ensuring sustainable transport and providing clean water. The framework signed today will enable more effective cooperation between our respective institutions. said Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank.

The EIB and the AIIB have already established a strong track record of cooperation, including through the sharing of technical and financial expertise. The new framework, which was signed by President Jin and President Hoyer at the AIIBs headquarters in Beijing, will build on this cooperation, including through streamlining the joint financing of projects and ensuring regular dialogue between the two institutions.

EIB President Hoyer is currently on a five-day official visit to China, the focus of which is strengthening the EIBs partnership with China on addressing Climate Change. The EIB is the worlds largest lender for climate related investment and global leader in issuing green bonds.
Ministers from across the EU signed the Pact of Amsterdam today, putting the European Investment Bank at the heart of the drive to build sustainable communities through local and regional governments.

The Pact lays out the framework for the Urban Agenda for the EU, which directs EU institutions to work for better funding, regulation, and knowledge-sharing for local and regional governments. Thats important, because 70% of Europeans live in urban areasa figure thats expected to increase to 80% by 2050.

The Urban Agenda of the EU is a blueprint for the economic, environmental, and social future of our cities and our citizens, said European Investment Bank Vice President Jan Vapaavuori, whose responsibilities include urban development. The Urban Agenda specifies the importance of the EIB in providing smart funding to our smart cities. The Bank is key to improving funding and knowledge-sharing for urban authorities across Europe. The EIBs range of Urban Agenda services and products will be vital in accomplishing the aims laid out in the Pact of Amsterdam.

The Pact specifies the important role of the EIB, the EU bank, in:

financing investments in areas covered by the Urban Agenda, including the blending of grants and loans

cooperating with the European Commission to develop financial instruments that improve funding for local and regional governments

directing its urban lending, grant-loan blending, and advisory services toward areas covered by the Urban Agenda, thus supporting sustainable urban development

The Urban Agenda for the EU aims to stimulate growth and make urban areas better places to live. To get that job done, it promotes cooperation between Member States, the Commission, other EU institutions, and urban governments. For the EIB, a key partnership is with the European Committee of the Regions, the vital link between central EU institutions and hundreds of regional and municipal governments in all 28 Member States.

President of the European Committee of the Regions Markku Markkula said, By involving all levels of government, the Urban Agenda will put the EU on a new track towards a more efficient collaborative culture that delivers results our communities expect. Local and regional authorities bear responsibility for 60% of public investment, but often this is not nearly enough to create truly sustainable and inclusive cities, which is why we need more public-private partnerships. The Committee will continue to work closely with the EIB to improve innovative investment and access to funding which is paramount.

The EIB and the CoR worked together on The EU Urban Agenda Toolbox, an aid to local and regional governments seeking to learn how the two institutions can help build sustainable communities. Read the Toolbox and other information on the EIBs projects in urban development at http://www.eib.org/urban

For recent articles about the Urban Agenda, including case studies in EIB urban lending and a list of the Urban Agendas policy themes: http://blog.eib.org/

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Matt Rees, m.rees@eib.org, tel.: +352 43 79 84257
Mushcup's Brian Steff takes his turn in 'My Favorite Guitar'

Mushcup's Brian Steff has an arsenal of guitars though his favorite is one loved and admired by fans
Ely, Cambridgeshire is best known for its majestic cathedral dubbed the 'Ship of the Fens' because it dominates the flat landscape. The city, which is the second smallest in England, is about 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge and about 80 miles by road from London.

13:33, 25 OCT 2022
Police investigations continue after second bomb threat

Investigations are continuing in a bid to catch those responsible for making two hoax bomb threats towards an Island school.

That's the message from police after the telephone scares at Ashley Hill Primary School in Onchan on Tuesday and Friday last week.

Officers say they're taking the matter "very seriously" and efforts are continuing to bring those responsible to justice.

Schools will re-open as normal tomorrow.
Glenn Beck: Fooled by Facebook? By Selwyn Duke

In the wake of reports that Facebook censors conservative voices, media figure Glenn Beck met with company chairman Mark Zuckerberg and emerged from the meeting, as he put it, "convinced that Facebook is behaving appropriately and trying to do the right thing." Nothing to see here, move along. Unfortunately, this is nonsense. Beck admits in his article on this subject, "I am not an expert on data or AI or algorithms." Neither am I. But the Facebook censorship in the news isn't about artificial intelligence but human intelligence  and its biases. In fact, the focus on technology could be (I'm not implying this is the case with Beck) an effort at Machiavellian misdirection: "Watch what the machine is doing, watch the machine, so you don't see the man behind the curtain." I'll get right to the point. Fraudbook employs a group of young journalists, known as "news curators," who are empowered to manage the algorithmic results and "refine" what qualifies for the site's "Trending Topics" section. As company vice president of search Tom Stocky put it, the curators "audit topics surfaced algorithmically: reviewers are required to accept topics that reflect real world events, and are instructed to disregard junk or duplicate topics, hoaxes, or subjects with insufficient sources." So already evident is a Fraudbook deception: the Trending Topics section is supposed to reflect "popularity," not politically correctness. Who decides what constitute "real world events"? What is a "junk" topic and who defines such? Should "duplicate topics" be disregarded if that duplication reflects trends and popularity? Why should "insufficient sources" disqualify a story, given that great breakthroughs  in science and news  often begin with one person's endeavors? (When the story becomes well known, or "popular," other journalists investigate the matter and separate fact from fiction; this can't happen if it's suppressed in the first place.) And while no one wants hoaxes promoted, we could even wonder how often incredible but true stories are labeled hoaxes by credulous or biased curators. And who are these people empowered to decide who is an unreal-world, junky, topic-duplicating, insufficiently-sourced, possible hoaxer? Gizmodo.com, which broke the recent Fraudbook story, tells us they are "a small group of young journalists, primarily educated at Ivy League or private East Coast universities, who curate the trending' module on the upper-right-hand corner of the site." LOL, c'mon, Glenn, are you gonna let these people spit down your back and tell you it's rainin'? While tech workers are notoriously liberal, as the statistics here show, journalism majors from "Ivy League or private East Coast universities" make them look like William F. Buckley2. Fact: giving people the power to "refine" news is synonymous with human bias entering the equation. And you cannot give young, hardcore liberal journalists from "elite" schools that power without a strong liberal bias entering the equation. Of course, the nature of biases is that people generally aren't aware, at least not fully, of their biases. Just consider a Guardian defense of Fraudbook. The news organ interviewed an ex-Fraudbook curator who challenged Gizmodo's report and related, writes the paper, "that newsworthiness was determined by how often a story appeared on a list of trusted news outlets including this publication [the Guardian], the New York Times and the BBC." Are you getting this, Glenn? That the ex-employee and Guardian consider this exculpatory of Fraudbook tells the tale: they're so oblivious to their own biases they consider left-wing, mainstream-media news sources "unbiased" arbiters of newsworthiness. Obviously, if you use leftist entities to "refine" your algorithmic results, you'll get Al Gore-rhythmic results. So as Gizmodo put it, "In other words, Facebook's news section operates like a traditional newsroom, reflecting the biases of its workers and the institutional imperatives of the corporation." Without a doubt. Liberal journalists censoring the news? Check. Institutional guidelines elevating supposed real-world events and disqualifying supposed junk? Check. Reliance upon other left-wing sources to determine real-world quality, junkiness and newsworthiness, creating a liberal echo chamber? Check. Fraudbook's trending team couldn't be more like a traditional newsroom if it tried. So while a selling point of big social media is that it's a democratic arena in which "the people" determine what's seen and heard, it's instead more like professional wrestling circa 1980: certainly fake but still claiming authenticity. Of course, Fraudbook has a right (at least under our system, as opposed to the statist one Zuckerberg is working to visit upon us) to adopt whatever policies it wishes. But how about some truth in advertising? Don't claim to be presenting merely what's "popular." Beck should also note that Fraudbook has been caught censoring news time and again. As the Gatestone Institute wrote in February, "It was only a few weeks ago that Facebook was forced to back down when caught permitting anti-Israel postings, but censoring equivalent anti-Palestinian postings." Even more damning, at a UN development summit in New York in September, Zuckerberg met with German chancellor Angela Merkel. "As they sat down," continued Gatestone, "Chancellor Merkel's microphone, still on, recorded Merkel asking Zuckerberg what could be done to stop anti-immigration postings being written on Facebook. She asked if it was something he was working on, and he assured her it was." And I'm sure Merkel would describe Zuckerberg as someone who was "humble, open, and listened intently," which, by the way, are the precise words Beck used to describe the Fraudbook figures (including Zuck) he met with. Zuck told Merkel what she wanted to hear, which happened to be the truth; and Zuck told Beck what he wanted to hear, which happened to not be. Zuck is concerned about making money and Fraudbook's stock price, you see. Having said this, I doubt Zuck is fully aware of the news curators' shenanigans. Again, people, liberals especially, are often blithely unaware of emotionally satisfying biases woven into organizations. Stories of Fraudbook censorship of conservatives are legion, however. And while it involves not censorship but an effort at undermining, I have one myself. Aside from my syndicated pieces, I write exclusive news/commentary articles for The New American (TNA), which has both a website and hard-copy magazine. And as many sites do, TNA has Fraudbook's "Like" button at the top of every article; it indicates how many Fraudbook users read, liked the piece and chose to click the button. Well, for more than a year and ending only about a year ago, I and members of TNA's staff noticed a strange and consistent phenomenon: likes would accumulate on a piece and then "poof!" they'd disappear with the counter having been dialed back to zero. This happened consistently across all TNA articles; in one case, one of my pieces had 30,000 likes before they were sent to the gulag. One might consider this a glitch, but I never observed the phenomenon at any liberal/mainstream-media site. And why does it matter? Because likes are a good metric for not just popularity but also level of readership, and people are influenced by what's popular. Make an article's content appear unread and unpopular and people are more likely to dismiss it as a fringe view. I always assumed, and this accords with Gizmodo's findings, that the like-button manipulation was the work of one or two rogue (and petty) employees  who were operating in a liberal organization that would turn a blind eye to such shenanigans. Yet Beck's thoughts are different. In a further glowing endorsement of Fraudbook, he was quoted in a May 19 Time piece as saying about his meeting with the company's representatives, "I thought it was great. I thought they were sincere. And as I was leaving, I thought: What company has done that with conservatives?' Especially a media company." That's what he thought, alright. And here's what I think: that Facebook has two faces, and one of them is seen only by big names that Zuck et al. can use for photo-ops and public-relations purposes. And that's likely what happened with you, Mr. Beck. You found Zuck and Company cordial  they just find you useful. Contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on Twitter or log on to SelwynDuke.com. Home
Blood and treasure  The price of liberty By Mark Alexander

Monday is Memorial Day. Of course, you already knew that  not only because you're among millions of American Patriots who honor the memory of their fellow Patriots, but, sadly, because you can't escape the crass commercialism of the "Memorial Day Sale." To suggest I take offense at such commercialization is wholly understated  that anyone would associate the word "memorial" with the word "sale" is profoundly idiotic. However, given the degraded state of our consumerist culture, Memorial Day has been sold out, along with Washington's Birthday, Independence Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. And it's no wonder, given that government schools no longer teach civics or any meaningful lessons in history, and left-wing courts have excluded God (officially) from the public square. However, we know that Memorial Day is not for sale  and we know that more than a million American Patriots have already paid the full price. In my most recent column for Armed Forces Day, I wrote about the latest examples of the Left's relentless assault on our uniformed Patriots and the fundamental standards that have sustained American Liberty since our nation's founding. Since the opening salvos of the American Revolution, nearly 1.2 million American Patriots have died in defense of Liberty. Additionally, 1.4 million have been wounded in combat, and tens of millions more have served honorably, surviving without physical wounds. These numbers, of course, offer no reckoning of the inestimable value of their service or the sacrifices borne by their families, but we do know that the value of Liberty extended to their posterity  to us  is priceless. It is for that reason that we set aside the last Monday in May to honor all those fallen Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coastguardsmen who have refreshed the Tree of Liberty with their blood, indeed with their lives, so that we may live free. This week, pause with me to ponder the story of just one of the Patriots who have given their lives in defense of their brothers in arms and in fulfillment of their sacred oaths to defend Liberty. Army Chaplain Emil Kapaun was the son of Czech immigrants who settled in Pilsen, Kansas. Father Kapaun was a Catholic priest who became a military chaplain in 1944. He served on domestic installations and then in Burma in 1945-46. After returning home, he earned a graduate degree from the Catholic University under the G.I. Bill but returned to active duty in 1948. In 1949, he took his ministry to Japan and a year later, as chaplain to the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, he departed Tokyo for Korea  after the North invaded the South. The 1st Cavalry made the first amphibious landing of the Korean War. A month later he was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and headed for the front. On Nov. 1, 1950, Captain Kapaun and other soldiers with the 8th were overrun and taken prisoner by the Red Chinese. They, and others taken captive, were marched 90 miles to a temporary prison camp at Sombakol and then to a permanent POW camp at Pyoktong, North Korea. It was his fearless actions caring for other soldiers on that march and in the POW camps that would result in Emil Kapaun being awarded the Medal of Honor. He risked his life every day to serve those around him, as recalled by former POWs held captive with Kapaun. According to his Army biography, Fr. Kapaun "distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism, patriotism, and selfless service." I invite you to read his Medal of Honor citation. You can also watch a narrative about his service and sacrifice. On May 23, 1951, Father Kapaun died in the prison camp. Years earlier, he wrote, When I was ordained, I was determined to 'spend myself' for God. I was determined to do that cheerfully, no matter in what circumstances I would be placed or how hard a life I would be asked to lead. Indeed he did. In 1962, Gen. Douglas MacArthur addressed the cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, delivering his farewell speech, "Duty, Honor, Country." He described the legions of uniformed American Patriots as follows: "Their story is known to all of you. It is the story of the American man at arms. My estimate of him was formed on the battlefields many, many years ago and has never changed. I regarded him then, as I regard him now, as one of the world's noblest figures  not only as one of the finest military characters, but also as one of the most stainless." On Memorial Day of 1982, President Ronald Reagan offered these words in honor of Patriots interred at Arlington National Cemetery: "I have no illusions about what little I can add now to the silent testimony of those who gave their lives willingly for their country. Words are even more feeble on this Memorial Day, for the sight before us is that of a strong and good nation that stands in silence and remembers those who were loved and who, in return, loved their countrymen enough to die for them. Yet, we must try to honor them not for their sakes alone, but for our own. And if words cannot repay the debt we owe these men, surely with our actions we must strive to keep faith with them and with the vision that led them to battle and to final sacrifice." President Reagan continued: Our first obligation to them and ourselves is plain enough: The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we  in a less final, less heroic way  be willing to give of ourselves. It is this, beyond the controversy and the congressional debate, beyond the blizzard of budget numbers and the complexity of modern weapons systems, that motivates us in our search for security and peace. ... The willingness of some to give their lives so that others might live never fails to evoke in us a sense of wonder and mystery. One gets that feeling here on this hallowed ground, and I have known that same poignant feeling as I looked out across the rows of white crosses and Stars of David in Europe, in the Philippines, and the military cemeteries here in our own land. Each one marks the resting place of an American hero and, in my lifetime, the heroes of World War I, the Doughboys, the GIs of World War II or Korea or Vietnam. They span several generations of young Americans, all different and yet all alike, like the markers above their resting places, all alike in a truly meaningful way. As we honor their memory today, let us pledge that their lives, their sacrifices, their valor shall be justified and remembered for as long as God gives life to this nation. ... I can't claim to know the words of all the national anthems in the world, but I don't know of any other that ends with a question and a challenge as ours does: "O! say does that Star-Spangled Banner yet wave, O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?" That is what we must all ask. The greatest American presidents, from George Washington to Ronald Reagan, understand that war is an ugly thing. Though no Patriot wants war, it is a fool who believes that Liberty requires no defense. In his essay "The Contest In America," 19th century libertarian philosopher John Stuart Mill wrote, "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." Millions of our fellow countrymen have distinguished themselves as "better men" in their service to our nation. In honor of those American Patriots who have died in defense of our great nation, lower your flag to half-staff from sunrise to 1200 on Monday. (Read about proper flag etiquette and protocol.) Join us by observing a time of silence at 1500 (your local time) for remembrance and prayer. Offer a personal word of gratitude and comfort to any surviving family members you know who are grieving for a beloved warrior fallen in battle. On this and every day, please pray for our Patriot Armed Forces now standing in harm's way around the world in defense of Liberty, and for the families awaiting their safe return. "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." John 15:12-14 Mark Alexander is the executive editor of the Patriot Post. Home
Looking at the annual rankings of Polish universities and colleges, 2003-2015 (Part Four) By Mark Wegierski

The main ranking is "the ranking of academic institutions" (88 in 2012; 83 in 2013). Another ranking is of non-public institutions that offer master's degrees (93 in 2012; 84 in 2013). A third ranking is of non-public trade-school institutions (that usually offer licentiates -- which are roughly the equivalent of an Anglo-American B.A.) as well as state trade-schools of higher learning (75 in 2012). This was divided into two categories in 2013  state trade-schools of higher learning (29); and non-public licentiate schools (29). The drop in the number of institutions may have occurred because colleges that didn't fill out the survey forms requested are automatically dropped from the rankings. In 2014, all non-public licentiate institutions were dropped from the rankings. Thus, 88 "academic institutions", 80 "non-public institutions that offer master's degrees", and 27state trade-schools of higher learning, were included in the issue. In 2015, 87 "academic institutions", 70 "non-public institutions that offer master's degrees", and 30 state trade-schools of higher learning, were included in the issue. Despite the large number of colleges included in the rankings (especially prior to 2014), it's clear to me (from the separate publications on "first degree" studies) that a considerable number of colleges have been left off the ranking lists, which, of course, is just as it should be. For a more reflective person, perusing the annual ranking issues, as well as the other publications mentioned above, can provide many hours of intellectual enjoyment. It is a bit amusing to see those colleges located in various smaller towns, to remind oneself where the small town lies in Poland, and to try to envision how the college fits into the small town. Also, with the ubiquity of the Internet, one can check out the websites which virtually every college now has, if one is curious about one or another of them  and possibly see the actual physical buildings through an Internet tool like Google Earth. I personally remember how difficult it was to obtain information even about major universities like the Jagiellonian in the early 1990s. Now, the information is readily available on the Internet, and one doesn't have to rely so much on one's relatives or acquaintances to keep current. It is of some interest to me whether there might be appearing, in the future, assessments of Polish universities and colleges in a style similar to those put out by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute ( isi.org) in the United States (about American  and a few Canadian -- colleges). The moderately traditionalist ISI publishes a Guide to Universities and Colleges which emphasizes the colleges which uphold humane learning and resist the excesses of "political correctness". The time may be coming in Poland where such a Guide to Polish universities and colleges might in fact be helpful to some students. Perhaps some more patriotic-minded think-tank in Poland could take up the task. It may be seen as somewhat ironic, that after the waves of Communist attempts to undermine free academic inquiry in Poland, there appear to be taking place now, new waves of attempts to set the higher-education system in certain "politically correct" directions. Nevertheless, I still feel the academic situation in regard to the imposition of "p-c" is considerably better in Poland, than, for example, in Canada. (An earlier version of this article has appeared at Quarterly Review (UK) (September 28, 2012).) Mark Wegierski is a Toronto-based writer and historical researcher. Home
Democrazy: Venezuela needs a military coup By Selwyn Duke

With Venezuela spinning out of control, it's said that U.S. officials fear a military coup. We ought to ask "Why?" Democracy on the brain can be a dangerous condition. George W. Bush pursued his unwise "nation-building" policies under the assumption that, as he put it, "democracies don't go to war with each other." (Note: technically we're speaking of "republics," not democracies.) So WWI was the "war to end all wars," and now there's the political system to end all wars; hey, if a military solution didn't change man's nature, maybe a political solution will? But it was more correct to say that democracies hadn't yet gone to war with one another. Since Bush's days, the representative government in Russia chose to invade Georgia and Ukraine, both of which also have representative governments. Remember, too, that we, the standard bearer for "democracy," have launched our share of military campaigns (this isn't to imply some weren't justified, but it's worth noting). Then there was Barack Obama's demo-folly, the so-called "Arab Spring," which quickly devolved into the Jihadist Winter. Is Libya better off now than under Muammar Gaddafi? Was "democracy" going to give Egypt a better leader than Hosni Mubarak? Has it done so? For that matter, is Iran better off today than under the Shah? Going back further, Woodrow Wilson asked for a declaration of war against Germany in 1917, saying the world must "be made safe for democracy." Germany got an unstable democracy with the Weimar Republic and then descended into tyranny (as is so often the case with nations) with Hitler. Of course, the lure of democracy is understandable; after all, having balancing powers within a nation can temper the capricious ambitions of a man. Nonetheless, democracy is sometimes just millions of people making the bad decisions slowly and inefficiently that a dictator could make with the stroke of a pen. Sometimes you're just making the world safe for collective stupidity. This brings us to Venezuela. It has more proven oil reserves than any other nation, eight times those of the United States. With a wiser populace  which would beget a better government  it could be as rich as Norway, which reaps the benefits of its vast natural resources. Instead, it has descended into chaos. Power has been cut and there is little food, with a hamburger "officially" selling for $170 and a hotel room for $6,900 a night. Not surprisingly, a Caracas mayor is reporting that people "are hunting dogs and cats in the streets, and pigeons in the plazas to eat." The capital also has the world's highest crime rate, with a resident victimized every 28 seconds. The reason for this is no mystery. Venezuelans have stubbornly empowered vile, economy-rending socialist demagogues; the buffoonish Hugo Chavez was elected and then re-elected three times, which is akin to the Titanic backing up to hit the iceberg again. When Chavez was finally taken by cancer, Venezuelans decided to help their national cancer further metastasize and elected his ally, Nicolas Maduro. It just seems that some people hate the rich more than they love themselves. Considering this brings to mind the rhetorical question asked by former Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf (I'm paraphrasing): "What good is so-called democracy if Pakistan becomes a failed state?" Venezuelans' childish electoral decisions have led to their current plight  and they need a military coup. And, hopefully, they'd get a military leader such as Musharraf. A coup wouldn't be a panacea. But given the phenomenon of regression to the mean (in other words, it's hard for Venezuela to go anywhere but up right now), there's a decent chance they'd end up with a leader who might at least have some semblance of economic literacy. As for human rights, which ostensibly also concerns U.S. officials, it's not as if Chavez and Maduro have respected them. And there have been relatively good military governments. After Chilean strongman General Augusto Pinochet steered his nation toward domestic tranquility and prosperity, he agreed to a restoration of representative government and peacefully stepped down in 1990. Of course, Pinochet was not a saint, and the Left despises him because he emerged from a coup that vanquished a devout socialist, Salvador Allende. But he was wise enough to consult with famed economist Milton Friedman when devising policy, and Milton beats Marx every time. Admittedly, one big difference between Pinochet's ascendancy (1973) and today is that the U.S. would aid such men decades ago; we understood that a pro-American, anti-communist dictator was preferable to a democratically elected Marxist or jihadist, that a decent zookeeper is better than a democracy of two lions and one sheep voting on what to have for dinner. Now Western leaders are content to create democratically made sheep as long as they're fleeced by socialist shears. Now, advocating autocracy here can seem remarkably un-American, especially to those who see being socialist as thoroughly American. Of course, these same people cheered when our courts repeatedly violated the Constitution and trumped popular will in striking down marriage-preservation laws. The point is that most all of us reject democratic determinations we consider grossly immoral or untenable; it's just that not all of us know what morality is. But a larger point is that autocracy is not a moral or immoral choice, but the inevitable fate of an immoral people. Our second president, John Adams, once observed, "The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue; and if this cannot be inspired into our people in a greater measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty." This applies in all times and places. Now, question: how much virtue do you see in the world today? Do the populations of Afghanistan, Iraq, Venezuela, Libya and Syria  all places that many insist must have "democracy"  strike you as particularly virtuous? We so often speak of "liberty" as if it emerges in a vacuum or has no prerequisites, ignoring that morality is the fertilizer of the tree of liberty and the monster of tyranny feeds on man's vice. For example, George W. Bush once marketed his nation-building by saying that all people want freedom. Yet polls informing that large numbers of Muslims prefer Sharia law to Western civil law shows that they certainly don't want our conception of freedom. Just as significantly, however, there is a difference between wanting and acquiring. Most everyone wants wealth, but not all possess the ability and discipline to achieve it. Everyone wants health, but some still smoke and drink heavily and dig a grave with a knife and fork. And everyone wants good government, as they conceive of it, but some still glom onto demagogues who promise bread and circuses. So people may want freedom. All right, so does a caged beast. So does a toddler. But neither has the capacity to freely negotiate civilization without hurting himself or others. The issue is that a people may want better than what they are, but they cannot be better than what they are. A person's early life is always one of captivity and control, with the babe safely placed behind bars in a crib, with his life micromanaged and liberty curtailed by his nanny state, the parents. As he becomes civilized and his moral compass develops, he can incrementally be given more freedom and, ultimately, enjoy the full rights of adulthood. Yet if this civilizing process  which includes insulation from corruptive influences  isn't effected properly, the person can remain morally stunted, barbaric, in a childlike state of virtue. And then he may end up back in a crib, one with iron bars and no mother's loving embrace. And as it is for one individual, so it is for two, ten or enough individuals to make a group  even a nation-size group. It is then, to quote British statesman Edmund Burke, that we become those men of "intemperate minds" who "cannot be free," those men whose "passions forge their fetters." And this is a cautionary tale for us. Even now we have a popular presidential contender who calls himself a "democratic socialist." And when socialism is instituted democratically, it's a good indication that your days of making decisions democratically may be numbered. Contact Selwyn Duke, follow him on Twitter or log on to SelwynDuke.com. Home
Compensating workers dying of silicosis is an important legal breakthrough.

The 4 May direction by the Supreme Court in an ongoing case on occupational health hazards and compensation to affected persons is significant in many respects. The Court has directed the Gujarat government to immediately pay an amount of 3 lakh each to the next of kin of 238 workers who died after contracting silicosis. It has also asked the Madhya Pradesh (MP) government to compensate 304 workers who are afflicted with the disease and unable to work.

Silicosis is a deadly occupational disease, a silent killer. Exposure to fine silica dust in mining, construction, stone crushing, gem cutting and other such industries impairs lung function, leaving people vulnerable to diseases like tuberculosis (TB). As a result, it is difficult to establish causality between early onset of silicosis and death due to TB. Most of the people employed in such industries are already very poor and undernourished and work without any protective gear. Although silicosis is recognised as an occupational disease in India and listed as a notified disease under the Mines Act, 1952 and the Factories Act, 1948, rarely have workers succeeded in proving that illness or death was caused by exposure to silica dust.
The noble gases, also called rare gases, such as xenon, are the most inert atomic group, but can become reactive under extreme conditions. An international team of scientists used a combination of several synchrotron techniques and ab initio modelling to investigate a possible direct reaction between xenon and oxygen at high pressure. Their results demonstrate that xenon is reactive at pressures relevant to the Earths interior. This study, published in Nature Chemistry, could help to resolve the so-called missing xenon paradox by providing evidence for a possible storage of this element in the deep Earth planet.

The noble gases, also called rare gases, such as xenon, are the most inert atomic group, but can become reactive under extreme conditions. An international team of scientists used a combination of several synchrotron techniques and ab initio modelling to investigate a possible direct reaction between xenon and oxygen at high pressure. They managed to synthesise two oxides under high pressure. Their results demonstrate that xenon is reactive at pressures relevant to the Earths interior. This study, published in Nature Chemistry, could help to resolve the so-called missing xenon paradox by providing evidence for a possible storage of this element in the deep Earth planet.

Noble gases are characterised by their high chemical stability. The high school paradigm in chemistry classes states that nothing can force a noble gas atom into chemical bonding. This inertness is used in geochemistry, where the quantities of noble gases contained in the Earths different layers is used to build models of the evolution of the deep Earth and atmosphere.

Of the six noble gases, one especially puzzles researchers: xenon (Xe). The chemistry of xenon is much more complex than expected. In fact, the binding of the external electrons to the ionic core of a noble gas atom decreases when the size of the atom increases, and xenon is one of the biggest rare gases (by order of size: neon, argon, krypton, xenon, radon). Since the 1960s, compounds containing oxidized xenon (which has lost some external electrons) have been synthesised; but xenon oxides are unstable. Recently, theoretical proposals have emerged for the formation of strongly bonded and stable xenon compounds under pressure. However, experimental data for xenon oxides have not been reported previously at the high pressures at which xenon oxides might become stable.

Laser-heating set-up on the ESRF's beamline ID27 dedicated to high-pressure X-ray diffraction. Credit: ESRF/McBride.

Xenon is a geological enigma. The atmosphere contains much less xenon than expected from the composition of the stony meteorites similar to those which have formed the Earth some 4.54 billion of years ago. One proposal for resolving this missing xenon paradox is that xenon is stored in the deep Earth, thus motivating a study to provide a better understanding of the chemistry of xenon under geologically relevant pressures (up to 3.6 million atmospheres at the centre of the Earth).

The team of researchers investigated the possibility of a chemical reaction under high pressure between xenon and oxygen, which is the most abundant element in the Earths mantle. Mixtures of xenon and oxygen gases were loaded into diamond anvil cells, then compressed up to the million-atmosphere range and heated with an infrared laser to induce reactions. Indeed, reactions were observed and the products have been characterised with microfocused X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption on beamlines ID27 and BM23 dedicated respectively to these techniques, at the ESRF, the European Synchrotron, Grenoble, France. Experimental data were interpreted with the help of ab initio1 modelling performed at the University of Cambridge, which also predicted new compounds stable under high pressure. Two oxides were synthesised thanks to the combination of these techniques: Xe 2 O 5 and Xe 3 O 2 (the latter was ab initio predicted).

Left: An open diamond anvil cell. The conical diamond is visible in the centre of the left disk. Right: A very thin beam of synchrotron X-rays is sent to the sample compressed between two diamond anvils; the diffraction pattern of deflected X-rays is recorded on a bidimensional detector. A chemical reaction is detected by the appearance of a new diffraction pattern which characterizes the products. Credit: ESRF.

Sakura Pascarelli and Mohamed Mezouar, scientists in charge of the ESRF beamlines, explain  The structure of the new oxides has been solved thanks to the high performance of the European Synchrotron and the combination of several techniques: XRD (X-ray diffraction), at ID27, and XAS (X-ray absorption) at BM23, coupled to ab-initio modelling. The use of these complementary methods was essential for the unambiguous determination of long and short range order in these materials. Its a complex scientific problem with many experimental challenges that have been overcome for the first time .

These two compounds are predicted to be stable above about 0.5 million atmospheres, which is lower than previous estimates and indicates greater chemical reactivity in xenon oxides than previously thought. This is due to an unexpected role of d electrons in the bonding. This study also shows that xenon atoms adopt mixed valence states in the oxides stable at the lowest pressure (+4 to +6 oxidation state in Xe 2 O 5 , 0 to +4 in Xe 3 O 2 ), yielding unusual chemical formulas for oxides. This may be a general trend in compounds formed under high compression.

Structures of the stable xenon oxides. a, Xe 2 O 5 and b, Xe 3 O 2 . Xenon atoms are shown in blue shades and oxygen atoms in red shades. The oxygen atoms have an oxidation state of -2, and the darker shade of red indicates an oxygen atom that bonds only to one xenon atom. The oxidation states of the xenon atoms are indicated by different shades of blue. (Courtesy of Nicholas Worth, University of Cambridge)

Agnes Dewaele, main author, CEA, explains:  There is increasing evidence that xenon becomes very reactive under high pressure. In addition to our study, calculations have recently predicted that xenon reacts with iron and nickel, the major components of the Earths deepest envelope, the core, under relevant conditions; this remains to be verified experimentally. We dont know yet how this reactivity has affected the path of xenon atoms after the Earths accretion. However, these studies suggest that the geochemical definition of xenon, which is classified as a volatile and atmophile2, could be revised, as well as the use of xenon isotopes to date processes of the Earths differentiation3. 

1- A calculation is said to be ab initio (or "from first principles") if it relies on basic and established laws of atomic physics without additional assumptions or special models. 2 - An atmophile element is a chemical element whose existence in nature in the solid state is marginal. Because of their volatility, atmophiles are very rare elements within the Earth and are mostly present in the atmosphere. 3 - The differentiation of the Earth means the mechanisms that resulted in core formation, mantle, crusts, atmosphere, that is to say envelopes with very different chemical composition from a star of initially homogeneous composition.

References
Research by Dr. Shernaz Bamji, from the University of British Columbia, uncovers the mechanism of action of an enzyme called DHHC9 in the normal development and function of neural networks in the brain. Mutations in DHHC9 have been identified in certain patients suffering from X-linked Intellectual Disability, however the specific role of DHHC9 was not known. Dr. Bamji's work shows this enzyme plays a vital role in promoting the growth and branching of the ends of neurons and also in maintaining the balance between excitatory and inhibitory signals being formed onto neurons (called excitatory and inhibitory synapses, respectively).

"To understand how genetic variants of DHHC9 identified in patients with X-linked Intellectual Disability, impact the development of neural circuits, we expressed them in neurons", says Shernaz Bamji. " We observed a severe reduction in the growth and branching of the neurons expressing these DHHC9 mutations. Moreover, there was a decrease in the number of inhibitory synapses being formed onto the neurons making the neurons more excitable. This is of great interest as a significant number of patients with X-linked Intellectual Disability are prone to seizures".

For proper brain development to occur, neurons must extend processes, branch, and make connections with other neurons. The Bamji laboratory has shown that a specific type of modification of neuronal proteins can impact all of the above processes and impact the proper development of the brain. This modification is called 'palmitoylation', and involves the addition of a small fatty acid called palmitate onto a protein. The palmitoylation of proteins can have profound effects on their location within the neuron, which in turn can significantly impact the proper development and function of the neuron. Protein palmitoylation is mediated by a family of 23 DHHC proteins. Genetic variations in 9 of the 23 DHHC proteins have been identified in patients with diseases of the nervous system including a number of neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. This underscores the importance of this family of proteins in the development and functioning of the brain.

Recent research in the Bamji laboratory has investigated the localisation and function of one such protein, called DHHC9. Her work has shown that DHHC9 is present in both neurons that activate and those that inhibit other neurons, and that it affects an important signaling molecule, called Ras GTPase. Adding a palmitate to Ras enhances its trafficking to the cell membrane, where it plays an important role in regulating the growth and the branching out of neurons, and the density of synapses, or connections, it forms with other cells.

Previous work in the Bamji laboratory had shown the importance of cell adhesion proteins, such as cadherins, in regulating synaptic plasticity. They had shown that a family of proteins inside the cell called catenins regulate the activity of cadherins, and that catenins themselves are regulated by palmitoylation. Another palmitate transferring protein, called DHHC5, mediated the addition of palmitate to catenins.

"We believe that a better understanding of the function of DHHC proteins will lead to a better understanding of the normal functioning of the brain, and will help identify novel targets for therapies aimed at correcting disorders that affect synapse form or function, including many neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases", concludes Shernaz Bamji.

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About Shernaz Bamji

Shernaz Bamji is Associate Professor in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences at the University of British Columbia (UBC), a member of the Djavad Mowafaghian Center for Brain Health at UBC, and Head, LSI Neuroscience Research Group. Learn more about Dr. Bamji on her laboratory website: http://www.bamjilab.com/

About the Canadian Neuroscience Meeting

The Canadian Association for Neuroscience is holding its 10th Annual Meeting in Toronto, May 29 to June 1 2016. Two public lectures will take place May 28 in Toronto, featuring Charles Tator and Margot Taylor, on the impact of innate vs. acquired brain disorders. Held yearly since 2007, it brings together researchers working in all fields of neuroscience research. Organized by neuroscientists and for neuroscientists, it highlights the best and most novel neuroscience research in Canada every year. Learn more about our meeting: http://can-acn.org/meeting2016

About the Canadian Association for Neuroscience:

The Canadian Association for Neuroscience is the largest association dedicated to the promotion of all fields of neuroscience research in Canada. Learn more about our association: http://can-acn.org
New research presented at Euroanaesthesia 2016 (London 27-30 May) shows that patients undergoing breast cancer surgery need less painkilling medication post-surgery if they have anaesthesia that is free of opioid drugs. The study is by Dr Sarah Saxena, Jules Bordet Institute, Brussels, Belgium, and colleagues,

While opioid drugs provide an excellent painkilling (analgesia) effect throughout operations, they also have side-effects. Post-operative complications, such as respiratory depression, post-operative nausea and vomiting, itching, difficulty going to the toilet and bowel obstruction are well known examples of such side effects.

In this study, painkiller requirements were examined after patients received opiate anaesthesia and non-opiate anaesthesia. A randomised controlled trial was conducted, containing two groups each containing 33 breast cancer patients undergoing a mastectomy or lumpectomy. The study took place between September 2014 and July 2015 at the Jules Bordet Institute, Brussels.

Perioperative non-opiate analgesia was obtained by combining clonidine (0.2 mcg/kg), ketamine (0.3 mg/kg) and lidocaine (1.5 mg/kg). An extra bolus of ketamine (0.2mg/kg) was given if necessary. Opiate analgesia was obtained via a combination of remifentanil infusion, ketamine (0.3 mg/kg) and lidocaine (1.5 mg/kg). Both groups received intravenous paracetamol (1000mg/6h) and intravenous diclofenac (75 mg/12h). Patients received a PCA (patient-controlled analgesia) pump for breakthrough pain during the first 24 hours post-operatively.

Clinical characteristics and post-operative piritramide painkiller consumption (through the patient controlled pump) were assessed during the first 24 hours post-operatively. Data were not complete for two patients in the non-opiate group, and thus a total of 64 patients were included in the study. The total mean piritramide usage 24 hours post-operatively was 8.1 mg (range 2.0-14.5) in the non-opiate group and 13.1 mg (range 6.0-16.0) in the opioid group. The difference observed was statistically significant.

Dr Saxena concludes: "Our results show that patients in the non-opiate group require less painkillers, but receive adequate pain relief. Patients require less analgesics 24 hours after a non-opiate anaesthesia than after an opiate anaesthesia."

She adds: "This study shows a possible interesting benefit of this type of approach, which needs to be confirmed in further studies. Non-opiate anaesthesia in breast cancer surgery might avoid several opiate-related side effects such as post-operative nausea and vomiting. It might also reduce cancer recurrence. However, it is too early to recommend non-opiate anaesthesia to all breast cancer patients. We will be doing further research to confirm and extend our findings."

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A new study finds that implementing the United Nations targets for HIV testing and treatment would be an expensive but ultimately very cost-effective way to increase survival, reduce the number of children orphaned by HIV, and contain the global AIDS epidemic. That is the conclusion of researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the University of Cape Town and the Yale School of Public Health, who estimated the likely impact of the so-called "90-90-90" program.

"Based on our findings, there is nothing overstated about the suggestion that 90-90-90 could lay the foundation for a healthier, more just and equitable world for future generations," says Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, of the MGH Division of Infectious Disease, who led the study that will appear in the May 31 online edition of Annals of Internal Medicine. "Yes it would be very expensive, but it would be worth every penny."

Launched in September 2014 by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the 90-90-90 program has three key objectives - diagnosing 90 percent of HIV-infected persons worldwide; linking 90 percent of identified cases to antiretroviral therapy (ART); and achieving virologic suppression among 90 percent of ART recipients. The program's overall goal is achieving viral suppression - reducing the viral load to an undetectable level - among 73 percent of HIV-infected persons worldwide by 2020, a marked improvement from current estimates of 24 percent.

Critics have expressed concern that successful implementation of 90-90-90 would require unprecedented cash infusions from donor organizations such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the Global Fund, and the World Bank. Study co-author Linda-Gail Bekker, MD, PhD, of the Desmond Tutu HIV Centre and University of Cape Town in South Africa, notes, "Recent funding from these sources has been flat. Our goal for this study was to provide donors and partner countries with pragmatic estimates of what it will cost and what return they can expect by investing in 90-90-90."

The study used South African epidemiologic data and results from HIV screening and treatment programs to give a realistic picture of the likely impact of 90-90-90 in South Africa and compared it with the current pace of HIV detection and treatment over the next 5 and 10 years. Using a well-published computer simulation model developed by the research team, their analysis revealed that, over the next decade, the 90-90-90 strategy would avert more than 2 million new HIV infections, more than 2.4 million deaths and over 1.6 million orphans - saving an additional 13 million patient-years of life compared with the current strategy.

Over the same period, the cost of the 90-90-90 effort would be $54 billion, a 42 percent increase over the costs of current scale-up activities that still suffer from challenges related to both linkage to care and treatment retention. But taken as a whole, the study found that investment in 90-90-90 would yield a cost-effectiveness ratio of $1,260 per year of life saved, well within what would be considered very cost effective for South Africa and a ratio similar to that of HIV treatment itself.

A. David Paltiel, MBA, PhD, professor of Public Health (Health Policy) at the Yale School of Public Health and senior author of the study, says, "We're convinced, based on the results of our analysis, that successful implementation of the 90-90-90 targets would effectively put an end to the AIDS epidemic worldwide,"

Publication of the study coincides with a June 8-10 United Nations meeting of world leaders, HIV program implementers, government representatives and other key stakeholders to solidify a plan to put an end to the global AIDS epidemic by 2030. "Implementation of 90-90-90 would represent a 'virtuous circle' of care - leading to earlier HIV diagnosis, more rapid treatment initiation, longer survival for HIV-infected persons, and fewer new cases of HIV transmission," says Walensky, a professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "The time to jump-start this worthy global undertaking is now."

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Additional co-authors of the Annals of Internal Medicine report are Emily Hyle, MD, SM, Andrea Ciaranello, MD, MPH, and Kenneth Freedberg, MD, MSc, MGH Division of Infectious Disease; Ethan Borre, MGH Medical Practice Evaluation Center; Robin Wood, FCP, MMed, DSc, University of Cape Town; and Stephen Resch, PhD, and Milton Weinstein, PhD, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the Steve and Deborah Gorlin MGH Research Scholars Award.

The Yale School of Public Health was founded in 1915 and is one of the oldest accredited schools of its kind in the United States. Today the school has nearly 250 full- and part-time faculty who conduct a wide range of research around the world to addresses current health problems as well as emerging diseases. The school also has some 4,500 alumni who work in 70 countries and in virtually every field of public health. Through its collaborative approach to research, education and training, the Yale School of Public Health has fostered meaningful innovations that have improved the health and well-being of communities throughout the world.

Massachusetts General Hospital, founded in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH Research Institute conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the nation, with an annual research budget of more than $800 million and major research centers in HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, reproductive biology, systems biology, photomedicine and transplantation biology. The MGH topped the 2015 Nature Index list of health care organizations publishing in leading scientific journals, earned the prestigious 2015 Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service and returned to the number one spot on the 2015-16 U.S. News & World Report list of "America's Best Hospitals."
Researchers have helped solve one of the enduring mysteries of the ancient world: why the inhabitants of Madagascar speak Malagasy, a language otherwise unique to Southeast Asia and the Pacific - a region located at least 6,000 km away. An international research team has identified that ancient crop remains excavated from sites in Madagascar consist of Asian species like rice and mung beans. This is thought to be the first archaeological evidence that settlers from South Asia are likely to have colonised the island over a thousand years ago. The findings are published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Genetic research has confirmed that the inhabitants of Madagascar do indeed share close ancestry with Malaysians, Polynesians, and other speakers of what is classed the Austronesian language family. To date, archaeological research has identified human settlements in Madagascar that belong to the first millennium. There are also findings suggesting that Madagascar may have been occupied by hunter-gatherers who probably arrived from Africa by the first or second millennium. Until now, however, archaeological evidence of the Austronesian colonisation has been missing. The team were able to identify the species of nearly 2,500 ancient plant remains obtained from their excavations at 18 ancient settlement sites in Madagascar, on neighbouring islands and on the eastern African coast. They examined residues obtained from sediments in the archaeological layers, using a system of sieves and water. They looked at whether the earliest crops grown on the sites were African crops or were crops introduced to Africa from elsewhere. They found both types, but noted a distinct pattern, with African crops primarily concentrated on the mainland and the islands closest to the mainland. In Madagascar, in contrast, early subsistence focused on Asian crops. The data suggested an introduction of these crops, both to Madagascar and the neighbouring Comoros Islands, by the 8th and 10th century.

Senior author Dr Nicole Boivin, from the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford and Director of the Department of Archaeology at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, said: 'Southeast Asians clearly brought crops from their homeland and grew and subsisted on them when they reached Africa. This means that archaeologists can use crop remains as evidence to provide real material insights into the history of the island. There are a lot of things we still don't understand about Madagascar's past; it remains one of our big enigmas. But what is exciting is that we finally have a way of providing a window into the island's highly mysterious Southeast Asian settlement and distinguishing it from settlements by mainland Africans that we know also happened.'

The analyses also suggest that Southeast Asians colonised not only Madagascar but also the nearby islands of the Comoros, because again the crops that grew there were dominated by the same Asian species. By contrast, crops identified on the eastern African coast and near coastal islands like Mafia and Zanzibar were mainly African species like sorghum, pearl millet and baobab.

Commenting on the Southeast Asian influence in the Comoros, study lead author Dr Alison Crowther, from the University of Queensland, Australia, said: 'This took us by surprise. After all, people in the Comoros speak African languages and they don't look like they have Southeast Asian ancestry in the way that populations on Madagascar do. What was amazing to us was the stark contrast that emerged between the crops on the Eastern African coast and the offshore islands versus those on Madagascar, but also the Comoros.'

Dr Boivin added: 'When we started looking more closely into research that has been carried out on Comorian languages, we were able to find numerous esteemed linguists who had argued for the exact thing we seemed to seeing in the Comorian archaeological record: a settlement by people from Southeast Asia. So we've been able to not only to show for the first time an archaeological signature of Austronesians, we've also shown that it seems to extend beyond Madagascar. This is really exciting, and highlights how much we still have to learn about this fascinating migration.'

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For more information, contact the University of Oxford News Office on +44 (0)1865 280534 or email: news.office@admin.ox.ac.uk Notes for Editors

*The paper, 'Ancient crops provide first archaeological signature of the westward Austronesian expansion', is published in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) and embargoed until Monday 30 May, at 3pm US Eastern Time.

*Images are available on request.

*Funding was provided by the European Research Council (SEALINKS project); British Academy (Postdoctoral Grant); Natural Environment Research Council; and the (Oxford University) Fell Fund.
As foreign exchange markets resumed for the new week, the EUR to GBP exchange rate climbed as sterling faced fresh pressure from the latest EU-ref poll. We examine the latest euro-related fx forecasts targeting the sterling and the US dollar in the short, medium and long-term forex outlooks

Confidence in the Pound (GBP) declined further on Wednesday morning after the latest ICM telephone poll gave the Leave campaign the lead.

This prompted a sharp increase in Brexit worries, as telephone polls are typically considered to be the more accurate gauge of voter sentiment.

Today's sterling investors find the British pound to euro exchange rate trending well below 1.30 after yesterday's Brexit news continues to plague the UK currency. See today's update below.

The EUR/GBP spot rate rallied nearly one per cent, eroding sterling's recent gains against the single currency.

In a notable U-turn, the Leave campaign now alarmingly appears to be ahead in the Guardian poll released today.

Foreign exchange markets were encouraged earlier on Tuesday by the news that Germanys Unemployment Rate had fallen to a fresh low of 6.1% in May, boosting the single currency.

Although Eurozone inflation was found to have remained in negative territory for another month this was not enough to prevent the EUR/GBP exchange rate from extending its uptrend.

Other Pound Sterling / Currency Exchange News

Latest Pound/Euro Exchange Rates

On Tuesday the Pound to British Pound exchange rate (GBP/GBP) converts at 1

At time of writing the pound to pound exchange rate is quoted at 1.

Today finds the pound to us dollar spot exchange rate priced at 1.147.

FX markets see the pound vs south african rand exchange rate converting at 20.87.

The GBP to CHF exchange rate converts at 1.141 today.

NB: the forex rates mentioned above, revised as of 25th Oct 2022, are inter-bank prices that will require a margin from your bank. Foreign exchange brokers can save up to 5% on international payments in comparison to the banks.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shocked commentators by criticising neoliberal economics, with euro exchange rate investors left wondering what its comments on austerity would mean for the Eurozone.

The rise of anti-austerity parties across the Eurozone has been of particular concern to investors in recent months, proving to be a recurring drag on EUR/GBP, EUR/USD exchange rates.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) - already the cause of multiple investor sell-offs thanks to its role in the Greek debt relief negotiations - sparked further concern on Friday after releasing a paper in which three of its top economists criticised neoliberal economic policies.

In a time where Eurozone countries are having to implement harsh austerity measures, sometimes in order to avoid breaching EU legislation or to meet bailout repayments, the IMFs comments on cutting public expenditure are likely to cause even more political volatility.

Anti-austerity parties have seen a huge surge in popularity in several Eurozone countries and are likely to use as evidence to support their stance the latest IMF comments that:

Austerity policies not only generate substantial welfare costs due to supply-side channels, they also hurt demandand thus worsen employment and unemployment.

Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates Forecast to Remain Bearish on Policy Divergence

Volatile market expectations of a US rate hike have had a significant impact upon the euro exchange rates, but according to United Overseas Bank, the outlook continues to remain bearish.

The approaching June 15th policy meeting of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has been weighing on the minds of investors for several weeks now.

Even if the FX markets decide that a rate hike isnt likely next month, the continuing likelihood of a greater divergence between US and Eurozone monetary policy is likely to weigh on the Euro, especially with several Fed officials floating the possibility of up to three rate hikes before the end of 2016.

According to United Overseas Bank, the outlook for the Euro remains bearish:

The strong rebound yesterday has diminished the odds for further EUR weakness. However, confirmation of a shortterm low is only upon a break back above 1.1230. This appears to be a likely scenario unless EUR can move and stay below the recent low of 1.1125/30 within these 1 to 2 days.

Todays confidence index scores and German consumer price index figures for May could generate significant Euro movement.

Better-than-expected consumer confidence survey results on Friday helped Pound Sterling (GBP) to hold opening levels against the Euro (EUR).

UK consumer confidence failed to drop in May as analysts had predicted, rising from -3 to -1, helping to provide the Pound with some strength after Thursdays slump against the Euro, even though the results remained negative.

Joe Staton, GfK Head of Market Dynamics, explains:

Optimists will point to the fact our views on personal finances and our willingness to make major purchases are all up on last year. Perhaps this shows consumers are more confident over areas where they have more direct control.

However, he also notes that the score is still in negative territory and suggests that the impact of the Brexit referendum is having an impact on consumer outlook:

Pessimists will emphasise that the music is different when it comes to the General Economic Situation. Despite the tiny uptick this month, our confidence in economic matters, whether we look back or ahead 12 months, remains way below last year. Is it because the Brexit gremlins are hard at work? Almost certainly yes.

Pound Sterling (GBP) Exchange Rates Find Support as G7 Intervene in Brexit Referendum Debate

A final-hour addition to the G7s latest declaration surprised investors and commentators after the leaders jointly issued a warning against a Brexit.

A line from the statement, which did not appear in an earlier draft posted online, cautioned that A UK exit from the EU would reverse the trend towards greater global trade and investment, and the jobs they create and is a further serious risk to growth.

Wednesday could be the first day in which data plays in a key role in driving Pound Sterling exchange rates, with the Markit manufacturing PMI for May set for release.

With the Purdah period for the referendum campaign officially started, there will be no more Treasury or government analyses of the impact of a Brexit, but independent forecasts and commentary from both sides of the campaign are likely to crop up during the coming days.

Pound to Euro Forecast: Close to Recent Best Conversion Rate

Wednesday's key UK data release, the Manufacturing PMI, came in above-forecast, however, this did little to stop the GBP/EUR exchange rate plunging further.

Lloyds, in their latest briefing to clients, note the GBP EUR exchange rate is trading close to recent best conversion levels:

"Sterling fell modestly yesterday, but is still trading close to recent highs. Todays domestic data releases are not expected to lead to a significant move in the pound."
Smeg said: We know you are half French EH and my OH family also (if you remember) is from the Vosges.



My point has always been the same. The Dordogne and SW France unnaturally attracts a vast amount of expats for the wrong reasons. A lot come a cropper because they have been attracted to the region by trend rather than any other logical reason. You need a reason to move to a particular area. That needs to be personal to you.



The Dordogne has become a theme park. If that is what you want fair enough. I have no problems with that. There are however more logical places to live in France that will give you a better taste of France and faster broadband.



I have travelled and lived all over France and I will stick by that.



The OP my not understand that point but it is a point that needs to be made to help the OP in their decision making process. Click to expand...

But as you have said you do not know SW France which is a huge area and sparsely populated in relation to landmass. I do not know (nor do my expat or French contacts) of any who have in the last few years become a "cropper". Almost all here now are long term residents who have lived here 5-40 years. If you are a so called "property speculator " you can fail in any country.Smeg, you need to accept that not all expats who come to France chose where to live for the "wrong reasons". You cannot believe all that is written in the Daily Mail! We are not idiots who have worked hard for our money and are going to risk all for a "dream". Most research, do a pros and cons list, visit or rent before buying. Life is not decided by house prices or the "herd instinct" but by location, suitability, medical facilities, lifestyle and lots more. If you have to work to earn a living, sometimes you have to live in an area you would not do so by choice. Maybe what pushes your button is what also does to so many of us. The people who join the forum with a list of questions that they can easily find out for themselves but are too lazy to do so. Some however like the OP question is valid - unless you ask someone here you cannot find out the current costs of utilities.Most expats live around the Il de Paris. Have they picked there for the wrong reasons? When offered a job should they have not chosen to live and work in what is in truth Europe's biggest theme park?
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Saudi Arabia has been fighting with fellow OPEC members since the oil rout started two years ago. For the first time this week, it can argue convincingly that its strategy of squeezing rival producers is succeeding.

By stifling high-cost suppliers, the Saudi approach has now almost eradicated the global oversupply, spurring a price rally of 80 percent to nearly $50 since January. All but one of 27 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will stick with the strategy rather than set output limits when ministers gather in Vienna on Thursday.

It might not look a victory compared with when oil was $100 a barrel, but the Saudi strategy is working as youve got significant production declines showing up in a lot of places, and prices are grinding higher, said Seth Kleinman, head of energy research at Citigroup Inc. Which makes the odds of them abandoning the plan even more remote.

Lower prices have taken their toll on production from the U.S. to Nigeria. Analysts from the International Energy Agency to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. say the crude glut is dissipating as supply and demand move back into balance. That shift may mean a less contentious meeting than the last gathering in December, which ended with public criticism of Saudi Arabias position from fellow members Venezuela and Iran.

Oil production outside OPEC is headed this year for its biggest drop since 1992 as the U.S. shale oil boom that fostered the world surplus sputters out, the Paris-based IEA forecasts. U.S. output has fallen for 11 weeks to its lowest since September 2014, and will average 8.5 percent lower this year than 2015, the Energy Information Administration estimates.

Kuwaits acting oil minister, Anas al-Saleh, said earlier this month that OPECs policy has been working well.

Any action that raises prices would only rescue U.S. drillers and jeopardize the return to equilibrium, said Mike Wittner, head of oil market research at Societe Generale SA in New York.

The Saudis might be concerned that if prices go a little higher and sustain it, that could nip the rebalancing in the bud just when its getting going, Wittner said. I dont know they have a whole lot of incentive to particularly do anything.

While the economies of OPEC members such as Venezuela and Nigeria remain under strain, they are probably resigned to the course set by Riyadh, said Jason Bordoff, director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University in New York.

Countries like Venezuela have been pushing OPEC for over a year now to do something to get the prices up, Bordoff said. They probably recognize that thats a futile effort at this point. The Saudi strategy of allowing low prices to do the work of low prices is working.

The chances of reaching any supply agreement look especially dim after OPEC failed to complete an accord with Russia and other nonmembers on freezing supply levels in Doha last month, according to Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of consultant IHS Inc.

The deal collapsed at the last minute when Saudi Arabias Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman insisted that political adversary Iran, which had ruled out participating, would need to join.

The clash between Iran and Saudi Arabia makes it very difficult for OPEC to do anything, Yergin said in a Bloomberg television interview. Its pretty hard to have any deal at this point.

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.

Iran  a key advocate of output restraint in previous years  is unlikely to push for a new group limit as it remains focused on restoring exports previously constrained by sanctions, Societe Generales Wittner said.

The only analyst surveyed who predicted an agreement, Phil Flynn at Price Futures Group Inc. in Chicago, expects the group to follow up on the aborted Doha initiative by deciding to freeze production at current levels.

OPECs previous ministerial meeting in December ended without any agreement on a group output ceiling, abandoning the target of 30 million barrels a day that the organization had held  and mostly ignored  since late 2011.

While prices collapsed after that gathering amid OPECs inaction, just as they had when the approach was first revealed in November 2014, the response probably will be subdued this time as the market has accepted the laissez-faire policy is here to stay, said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity markets strategy at BNP Paribas SA in London.

The Vienna meeting will be the first opportunity to assess the stance of new Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, appointed this month when Ali al-Naimi stepped down after two decades, according to Tchilinguirian.

Al-Falih is close to Prince Mohammed, whose plan to partly privatize the state oil company has sparked speculation it may further expand production capacity and market share, severing its ties to OPEC.

That change in Saudi leadership means the meeting will still be pivotal for the cartel and its future, said Tchilinguirian.
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Many South Texas communities were dying a slow death before the shale drilling boom arrived around 2009 and injected the region with economic adrenaline.

Now that oil prices have cratered  with prices down by more than half from the peak, in 2014, to nearly $50 per barrel Friday  cities and counties are trying to figure out what the future holds for the 400-mile-long Eagle Ford Shale oil field and the beleaguered energy industry that has become a key piece of their economic health.

The communities that have been on oils wild ride will gather Friday at the Omni San Antonio Hotel  the fifth annual gathering of the Eagle Ford Consortium, a group founded so the region could share ideas and experiences.

Thomas Tunstall, a research director at the University of Texas at San Antonio who has tracked the economic impact of the field, said everyone is looking to see how the region stabilizes with oil prices.

The naive optimism that oil prices would bounce back has subsided, Tunstall said. Well see what reality leaves us with.

Communities in and around the oil patch had to deal with an unprecedented influx of workers and truck traffic during a yearslong period of high oil prices, when crude was selling as high as $100 per barrel.

Now theyre dealing with a drop in tax collections of all kinds and worker layoffs.

The number of drilling rigs working in the Eagle Ford is at 29, down from 204 at the start of 2015, according to the Baker Hughes rig count. Some of the biggest companies operating in the Eagle Ford  firms that collectively hold more than a million acres in the region  have pulled their rigs out of South Texas entirely.

With oil briefly topping $50 per barrel last week, many experts are saying the low came and went with prices as dismal as $26 in January and February. But Tunstall thinks it will take time for drilling rigs to start moving back into the Eagle Ford.

There seems to be a lot of flurry about them reaching $50. Theyre going to have to stay at that level for a while for things to really change, Tunstall said.

Jeff Labenz-Hough, a retired program manager with engineering company HDR Inc., who volunteers with the consortium, said the conference will look at topics that include the future of the Eagle Ford, the potential for oil and gas production in neighboring Mexico, and the ongoing, workaday stuff of the Eagle Ford  the production and maintenance that continues no matter that days oil price.

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Our focus is to remind people that just because the price of oil has dropped doesnt mean South Texas has gone back to 2008, said Labenz-Hough. There are still more people and businesses. Theres maintenance and monitoring, and those jobs have to be local.

The consortium includes government, business and education officials from 20 South Texas counties impacted by the Eagle Ford Shale oil field.

Speakers for the conference include Darin Turner of Invesco, North Dakota state Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, Jarl Pedersen of the Port of Corpus Christi, Olivia Varela of the Laredo Development Foundation and attorney Alejandra Bueno of AEM Bi-National Energy Committee.

Tickets cost $175. For information, visit eaglefordconsortium.org.

jhiller@express-news.net

Twitter: @Jennifer_Hiller
San Antonio employers are facing an uphill battle as they strive to comply with the Department of Labors new rule governing the so-called white collar exemptions to overtime pay. The recently issued rule increase the salary overtime-exempt employees must make by 101 percent.

More than 1.2 million Texas employees will be affected by the new exemption requirements, which go into effect Dec. 1, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

What is in the new rule?

The new rule:

Increased the minimum annual salaries white-collar employees must earn to be exempt from overtime to $47,476, or $913 weekly, from $23,660, or $455 weekly  a 101 percent increase. White-collar employees are those who are classified as executive, administrative and professional employees.

Increased the minimum salaries that employees must make to qualify for the highly compensated employee overtime exemption to $134,004 from $100,000  a 34 percent increase.

Included automatic increases to the salary levels every three years beginning Jan. 1, 2020.

Included a provision allowing employers to count nondiscretionary bonuses, incentives and commissions toward up to 10 percent of the required salary level for the standard exemption, so long as these payments are made on a quarterly or more frequent basis. The final rule also included a provision allowing employers to make a catch-up payment at the end of each quarter to preserve the exemption.

The rules biggest surprise involved no change at all. Many of us expected to see changes to the duties test, which evaluates the job duties employees perform. However, after receiving more than 270,000 comments when the rule was proposed, the Department of Labor opted out of these changes for now. All white-collar exempt employees must meet the requirements outlined in the duties test in addition to the salary requirement.

Where do we go from here?

Now is the time to do what is necessary to remain in compliance with the rule. Analyze the exemption requirements, evaluate whether your employees will be affected, and develop a plan.

Employers have several options to maintain compliance. The top three you should consider are:

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Give raises when possible. If currently exempt employees salaries are near the new minimum, a solution is to simply meet the new salary minimum. If those employees are earning $45,000 a year, it may be easier for the employer to bump them up to $47,476 a year rather than make other, more drastic changes.

Pay overtime. Employers may choose to convert lower-paid salaried employees to a nonexempt (usually hourly) status and pay them for overtime hours worked. In this scenario, employers may require employees to obtain management approval before working overtime hours to keep costs down. But remember, if an employer does this, it still has to pay for all time worked, even if the employee has violated the rules. Employers cannot refuse to pay for time actually worked.

Adjust hours and hire additional staff. Companies may decide to reduce current employees hours to no more than 40 and hire additional employees to do the work that the current employees no longer will have time to do.

Compliance with the new regulations can be complex, and evaluating how your organization may be affected requires a high level of expertise. It may be wise to consult a skilled labor and employment attorney who can properly advise you.

Bob Kilgore is an attorney in the San Antonio office of Fisher Phillips, a national firm specializing in representing employers in labor and employment matters. He is board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in the area of labor and employment law. You can reach him at rkilgore@fisherphillips.com.
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Mail theft is on the rise in San Antonio, with crooks using crowbars or other tools to pry open cluster mailboxes at apartments or neighborhoods  sometimes pulling them out of the ground altogether, officials said.

Exact figures were not available but the region has seen a spike in such thefts in recent months, said Michael Martinez-Partida, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which investigates the incidents.

We have seen an increase around the city of San Antonio, usually around the holidays and near tax season and combined with May because people mail gift cards for graduation, Martinez-Partida said.

On the Northeast Side alone, in and near the Royal Ridge neighborhood, someone broke into seven cluster mailboxes  the aluminum mailboxes that serve newer subdivisions  in a single stormy night in mid-May, according to authorities and area residents. But all areas of the city have reported thefts  from Stone Oak to the South Side  according to police and court records.

We never had any trouble here at all, until recently, said Jim Patton, who lives in Royal Ridge and helps keep watch as part of the civilian Royal Ridge Security Patrol. Its always been a quiet area. ...Thats hell when you cant even have mail without someone trying to steal it.

More Information To prevent mail theft: -Get your mail daily. -If you leave town, request a mail hold or have a friend pick up your mail. -If expecting parcels, have them delivered to a friend's house where someone will be home or have them shipped to your workplace. -Report mail theft by calling 1-877-876-2455. Source: U.S. Postal Inspection Service See More Collapse

He watched Wednesday as Postal Service employee Jerrod Williams fixed some of the damaged mailboxes. Patton surmised thieves are also after hail storm insurance claim checks.

Sometimes, there are arrests. Court records show prosecutors filed 52 cases since 2000 against people charged with stolen mail crimes, with three indicted since January of this year. That doesnt take into account cases where drug charges, or other counts, are filed instead of mail-theft charges because they carry higher penalties.

A single suspect can account for vast amounts of pilfered mail. In 2014, for instance, Linda Mae Ortiz, 40, who has drug charges in her history, was arrested outside the Merry Oaks Apartments on the Southwest Side with more than 2,500 pieces of stolen mail in the stolen car she was in, court records show. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Police often find mail thieves when they get reports of meth labs or other suspicious activity at area motels and officers checking the rooms find mail scattered with drug paraphernalia.

The two usually go hand in hand, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Ponder, noting crooks often go after mail for checks, credit cards and other things they can use for money to help feed their drug habits.

In January, Boerne police arrested James Joseph Taylor Jr., 42, after he and two accomplices were reportedly seen breaking into cars at a Toyota dealership. The ensuing investigation led authorities to suspect that Taylor has been stealing mail for years.

Postal inspectors were already looking into an incident in which a man resembling Taylor was seen on video Aug. 22, 2015, taking mail from the Savannah Oak Apartments in the 14800 block of Vance Jackson. The man used a key to access the mailboxes, court records said. When Taylor was arrested in January in Boerne, investigators found a briefcase in his truck that contained mail stolen from San Antonios 78240 zip code and two Postal Service keys that had been reported missing in 1994 from the Thousand Oaks Post Office on Henderson Pass.

Taylors father, now retired, used to work there from 1990 to 2000, court records said. One key opened apartment mailboxes and neighborhood cluster mailboxes. The second key opened padlocks used on blue stand-alone mailboxes.

The keys accessed any mailbox in San Antonio, Ponder said.

Taylor was charged with Brittany Snyder and Tracy Cooper with engaging in organized criminal activity.

Taylor was indicted separately in San Antonio on two federal counts of illegal possession of a Postal Service key, each charge punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and three counts of possession of stolen mail, each count carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

After being let out on bail Feb. 12, Taylor tested positive for methamphetamines and his bond was revoked in March, records show. He is now back in federal custody awaiting trial in July. He has pleaded not guilty.

gcontreras@express-news.net

Twitter: @gmaninfedland
Farming organisations have expressed deep disappointment at this weeks Government proposals to further restrict support for the growing Anaerobic Digestion (AD) sector.

From January 2017, feed-in tariffs for electricity from small-scale biogas plants (under 500 kilowatts) will be cut by a further 27 per cent and the tariff for larger plants will fall to zero (from 7.8p/kWh currently).

This is according to a six-week consultation by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, closing on July 7.

Just over two years ago, the FITs for small and medium AD were 14-15p/kWh, nearly three times the new proposed 2017 rates of 5.5p and 6p/kWh.

There has been no corresponding reduction in capital costs, which have decreased only modestly as the industry has grown.

"Yet again, this Government seems determined to throttle the life out of the emerging renewable energy market," said Dr Jonathan Scurlock, NFU chief adviser on renewable energy.

"After slashing support for the growing solar and biomass industries, this seems like the unkindest cut of all.

"The multiple environmental and soil management benefits from widespread deployment of on-farm AD will be lost, including the huge potential for avoiding farmyard methane emissions from manure and slurry  a bit of an own-goal for DECC, given that this is a powerful greenhouse gas."

The NFU also has serious reservations about the practicability of quarterly reporting of feedstock sustainability and the proposed maximum threshold for inclusion of crop feedstocks.

"This is bad news for the rural economy, and bad for agricultural efforts to tackle climate change," said Dr Scurlock.

"The NFU will work with our members and the AD industry to make a robust response to this consultation."

AD can 'deliver with the right support'

Charlotte Morton, Chief Executive, Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA) commented: "This consultation does nothing to address DECC's fundamental lack of ambition for AD and community scale renewables.

"Instead, it proposes restrictions to plant sizes and feedstocks that will make it even harder to deploy viable AD plants using waste, crops or agricultural residues.

"Removing support for new plants above 500kW is completely unjustified and will kill off projects which could otherwise have delivered DECC's objectives while representing good value for money.

"The government needs baseload electricity to ensure energy security, and technologies that reduce emissions from agriculture and waste to meet our carbon budgets.

"AD can deliver all of that, at scale, now - but only with the right support.

"We will be working with our members to put together a strong response to this consultation, and making the wider case for supporting anaerobic digestion to cut carbon, deliver energy security and recycle critical nutrients."

This DECC consultation looks at the generation tariffs for anaerobic digestion (AD) and micro-combined heat and power (mCHP) and sustainability criteria and feedstock restrictions for AD, and closes on 7 July.
EU agricultural co-operative Copa and Cogeca have emphasised the critical state of the dairy market at the European Parliaments Public Hearing, with calls for action to be stepped up.

With a drop in milk prices of over 40% seen in the last 2 years, Copa and Cogeca have called for action to be increased.

At the hearing, many participants - from MEPs, Ministers to the EU Commission - agreed that theres a bad dairy market situation caused by several factors which are not in the hands of farmers.

For example, the political export ban imposed by Russia and low oil prices, with increasing market volatility.

Speaking at the Hearing, Copa & Cogeca Chairman of the Milk Working Party Mansel Raymond said: "Prices have been under pressure for the past two years and have plummeted by over 40% over this period.

"The price the producer gets doesnt even cover his production costs and they are suffering from severe cash flow problems, which makes many farmers go out of business."

"Whilst in the longer term, prospects are promising with global demand expected to rise by 2% annually, the short-term situation remains extremely difficult.

"Actions are consequently needed to address the short term problems to ensure its profitable in the future", Raymond stressed.

'Aid must be paid out'

Outlining actions, he said: "Aid under the first EU crisis package must be paid out.

"I am disappointed that only around half of it has been paid out by Member States so far, which reduces the impact of it.

"The delays in direct aid payment is also a problem. Producer organisations, interbranch organisations, cooperatives, who handle 85% of milk in the EU, also have the opportunity to adapt their production using Article 222 over the period mid-April to mid-October 2016.

"But it seems that currently this is not used because there are no financial incentives for it.

"Possible EU financing should not affect the crisis reserve. Producers need their fair share of the margins through the food supply chain."

Importance of opening up new markets

Vice Chairman of the Milk and Dairy Products Working Party, MrAbrate, went on underline the importance of opening up new markets, especially in Japan.

"Cooperatives are moving ahead to face the challenges of the internationalization of the dairy products markets.

"Here we need to look into using export credit insurance to give traders more certainty when they export."

The crisis was also debated with EU Farm Commissioner Phil Hogan at Parliaments plenary session and MEPs demanded further action to rescue dairy farmers.

Talks are set to continue at Copa & Cogecas meeting for Presidents in the Netherlands next week.
Who will win the title of NFU Cymru / Principality Building Society Wales Woman Farmer of the Year and the 500 prize money?

This is the question on everyones lips as the closing date for entries is creeping closer.

Rural women are being urged to enter the NFU Cymru/Principality Building Society Wales Woman Farmer of the Year 2016 competition, which is now in its 20th year, and help celebrate the contribution of women in what is still a very male-dominated industry.

The reality today is that many farms are run in partnership and the farmer is not always a man.

Women are not only running farms, but also in todays tough financial climate, often running a separate business or going out to work to bolster the family income, while juggling childcare and family life.

Raising the profile of women in farming

Previous winners have raised the profile of women in agriculture and used their success to reach out and encourage other women, says NFU Cymrus Communications Adviser, Sarah Jones.

"Women in farming are still very much the hidden heroines of the industry. Very few want to claim the limelight, preferring instead to contribute behind the scenes.

"Many children have been raised on farms sitting in pushchairs watching mum pull calves, milk cows or drive the tractor.

"This competition is for ordinary women, who perhaps dont realise that what they are doing is extraordinary," said Sarah Jones.

Pat Ashman, the Sponsorship & Events Manager for Principality Building Society, the competitions sponsor, said: "There are hundreds of women throughout Wales that make a tremendous contribution to farming and by shining a spotlight in their direction, we can champion them as role models and challenge the notion that the farming industry is a mans world.

"It never fails to amaze me how women involved in farming manage to accomplish so much.

"Their contribution, determination and motivation are inspiring and will hopefully encourage more women to enter into this field."

The winner of the NFU Cymru/Principality Building Society Wales Woman Farmer of the Year 2016 competition will receive 500 and the two runners up 100. The closing date is Monday, 6 June 2016.

If you are interested in entering or nominating someone for the competition, please contact NFU Cymru in Builth Wells for an application form.
Michelle McIlveen has been appointed the Northern Ireland Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.

Welcoming her new role, Miss McIlveen said: "I want to ensure that DAERA helps to strengthen Northern Irelands economy by sustainably growing our agri-food and fisheries industries.

"We must capitalise and deliver on the significant opportunities offered through initiatives such as 'Going for Growth' and the 'Year of Food and Drink 2016'."

The Ulster Farmers Union has welcomed this appointment for the new Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

It says it looks forward to working with the new minister, stressing that she will be in charge of an industry that shapes the Northern Ireland countryside and which is a key driver of the local economy.

It says it is confident that the new minister will live up to commitments by the DUP during the election campaign to deliver for rural communities.

"Michelle McIlveen takes on the agriculture brief at a time when the industry is under extreme financial pressure.

"This makes the job a big challenge  but at the same time there is considerable scope for a new minister to deliver," said UFU president, Barclay Bell.

The key issues the new farming minister faces

The key issues the UFU will be pursuing were set out in its manifesto before the election.

These include securing more fairness along the food supply chain, driving the Going for Growth strategy, easing the path of young people into the industry, opening new markets and ensuring the direct CAP payments farmers rely on reach them speedily.

"The income crisis will be at the heart of our initial discussions," said Mr Bell who added that there were issues the UFU believed the minister could deliver on very quickly.

"These include faster implementation of the rural development programme, including the farm business investment and agri-environment schemes; better access to finance for the farming industry, payment of the Emergency Assistance scheme to those farmers affected by last winters flooding, the signing off of the delayed environmental prosperity agreement, and active consideration of easing cash flow pressures by a possible early release of direct CAP payments," he said.

Mr Bell added that an easy red tape cutting decision for the new minister would be the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board which has become even more unnecessary following the recent introduction of the National Living Wage.

"Speedy action on issues like these will boost farmer confidence in the new minister," said the UFU president.
France is planning a trial of origin labelling of milk and meat in processed products.

A European Commission decision is expected mid-June, and France would then run the trial until the end of 2018.

"British pig producers will watch progress with interest, as they too would like to see processed meats subject to mandatory country of origin labelling, to help shoppers choose British bacon, ham and gammon", the National Pig Association says.

The French initiative has been warmly welcomed by the cooperative Cooperl and its processing arm Broceliande, acquired in 2009.

Origin labelling on ham is as a strong selling point. Sales were up 3 percent in volume with origin declared and down 6.9 percent without.

However, other processors fear an increase in prices as France is not self-sufficient for legs.

Today, 60 percent of charcuterie products mention country of origin of the meat, which represents 75 percent of total volumes.

European Union MEPs have pressed strongly for the introduction of mandatory origin labelling of processed meats, but the Commission is not keen, arguing it would increase regulatory costs.
The millionth tonne of grain to be exported through Gleadells deep-water port facility at Peel Ports Great Yarmouth was loaded this week, underlining the ports role as a strategic outlet for grain grown on East Anglian farms.

The milestone comes six years after Gleadell invested 5m to develop its export business in the port.

Since then cargoes of wheat, barley, oilseed rape and pulses have departed to destinations across Europe and North Africa.

Gleadell grain trader Paul Dowson, who is based at the companys Swaffham office, said: "East Anglia is a major grain-producing region, but until the facility at Peel Ports Great Yarmouth opened the nearest deep water ports regularly in use for grain were Immingham and Tilbury.

"The development enables us to load load larger vessels from the region  Peel Ports Great Yarmouth is one of only seven or eight English ports capable of loading vessels over 13,000t in a grain surplus area.

"This has opened up a wider spread of markets, helping to ship the UKs exportable surplus. The port also directly benefits the regions farmers, as it reduces haulage distances from farm to a deep water port."

Reaching the 1m tonne mark was a major achievement, Mr Dowson said.

The facility, which includes a grain store, shiploader, offices, laboratory and weighbridges, had only seen three normal export years in the six years it has been open.

Commissioning took place in 2010/11, and the UK had two problematic crop years in 2012/13 and 2013/14.

"This current season represents our biggest volume to date from Great Yarmouth, with over 250,000t having been exported," he added.

In conjunction with new port owner Peel Ports, the grain export facility now offers ship-owners a fast, efficient and professional service and provides farmers with a deep-water port on their doorstep, Mr Dowson said.

"The value to farmers is demonstrated by the large growth in the tonnage committed to the facility via the Great Yarmouth Growers Club, which offers specific storage and market benefits to farmer members."

The millionth tonne came from grower Matthew Baker of David Baker Farms, who farms land in Norfolk and Suffolk and is based at Boundary Farm, Ilketshall St Margaret, near Bungay.

It will join a further 26,999t of feed wheat on the MV Resko, which is destined for Spain.

Mr Baker, who grows 1800ha of combinable crops, puts a significant tonnage of feed wheat, soft wheat and oilseed rape through Great Yarmouth every year using his own lorry when possible.

Strategic importance of Great Yarmouth

"We cant store all our grain, so having this facility close by, and the associated storage, has been valuable to our business," Mr Baker said.

"Its on the doorstep for us, so we can move tonnes pretty quickly. It reduces our haulage costs and, more importantly, means we can get an extra load in per day.

"By growing soft Group 4 and Group 3 varieties that suit the export market, we hope to achieve a small premium as well."

Peel Ports Great Yarmouth port director Richard Goffin said the new owner was committed to developing opportunities at the port, investing in existing and new opportunities for a sustainable future.

Mr Goffin said: "These record breaking tonnages from Gleadell highlight the strategic importance of Great Yarmouth in exporting grain grown from East Anglian farms.

"Gleadell was one of the first users of the Outer Harbour since its opening six years ago. It recognised the advantages of consolidating volume at the most easterly deep-water port in the UK capable of handling its vessels sizes.

"This strategic decision to partner with the Port of Great Yarmouth continues to play a significant part in contributing to the growth of the UK economy, the region of East Anglian and the local community."

Great Yarmouth is already well established as a key port for handling vessels carrying bulk cargoes, such as grain, aggregates and fertilisers.

The Norfolk port also supports the offshore wind power generation sector.
A Sheffield dairy farm known for the eye-catching Our Cow Molly branding of its milk processing business is the winner of a BBC Food & Farming Award.

The Andrew family were announced as winners of the Future Food Award at a presentation ceremony where judge Julia Glotz, Managing Editor of The Grocer magazine, described the Our Cow Molly approach to dairy sales as a model that could help save many more of the UKs struggling dairy farmers.

The 216-acre family-run farm has a dairy processing business that has increased the proportion of milk sold locally  either in liquid form or as ice cream  by promoting the benefits of superfresh milk, which is delivered to shops and cafes in Sheffield within hours of the cows producing it.

Customers are enocuraged to grow a Pasture Pot for Open Farm Sunday

"It makes a real difference to a cappuccino  the milk froths better and has a sweetness that makes a good coffee taste even better," says Eddie Andrew.

"Were supplying a growing number of shops and cafes in Sheffield, including the University."

Our Cow Molly milk is stocked in small stores and used in Sheffield cafes

Investment in a new facility completed last year has provided the processing and bottling capacity to meet increased demand and trials are currently underway to add Our Cow Molly butter to the product mix.

The colourful branding used on containers and delivery vans and imaginative and frequent use of social media has helped offset the decline in traditional doorstep deliveries by promoting sales of fresh milk and the varied flavours of Our Cow Molly ice cream sold on the farm.

"This is the last farm in Sheffield processing its own milk and for years we just milked the cows, delivered the milk and didnt tell anyone about it," says Eddie Andrew.

"Through our branding and promotion at events, and by using Facebook, Twitter and other social media, weve built a strong reputation for a quality local product with good nutritional and green credentials.

"That enables us to sell a greater proportion of our milk more profitably and to invest in the new processing facility, creating opportunities for expansion and safeguarding jobs on the farm," he adds.

Last spring, the Andrews took delivery of one of the first of a new range of McCormick tractors. The X6.420 was handed over to Graham Andrew at Cliffe House Farm, Dungworth by Mick Rimmer of McCormick dealership Barlows of Henbury to become the farms main tractor.

Apart from handling routine field work, the new machine proved a great attraction at the farms Open Farm Sunday event last year when visitors young and old could dress up in McCormick overalls and have their picture taken with the tractor.

They can do the same this year - but regular visitors to the Our Cow Molly farm, students at Sheffield University and coffee shop customers are being encouraged to pick up a PasturePot and grass seed from the ice cream parlour and take the resulting mini sward along on Open Farm Sunday where plant scientists from the university will explain the features and characteristics of soil and show rooting structures in specially planted glass-sided pots.
The Ulster Farmers Union have officially launched the 2016 Cereal Competition.

The annual cereals competition which is held each year is a great opportunity for leading cereal growers across Northern Ireland to show case their talent and celebrate the excellence thats within the cereals industry.

UFU Seeds and Cereals Chairman Allan Chambers said: "We are very pleased to be running the Annual Cereals Competition again this year.

"Northern Ireland has a very reputable cereals industry, which produces high quality cereals that are equal to the best across the British Isles.

"The growers who enter the competition have wealth of expertise, which deserves to be recognised and this is evident in the high standard of entries we receive every year.

"We are also delighted to be working with our competition sponsors Bayer Crop Science; Clarendon Agri-Care; Joseph Morton Ltd; ORIGIN NI and BASF; and Syngenta.

"The sponsors continued commitment to the cereals industry is evident in their valued support of this competition and we are delighted to continue to work closely with them and have them on board supporting our competition."

The categories for the 2016 Cereals Competition include: Winter Barley (sponsored by Syngenta); Oats (sponsored by Mortons and Bayer); Winter Wheat (sponsored by Origin NI and BASF); and Spring Barley (sponsored by Clarendon Agri-care and Bayer).

The competition is open to UFU members across Northern Ireland and those interested in entering this years competition should contact their local UFU Group Manager for further details.
Farmers who were either underpaid or are still waiting for their full 2015 Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payment are being advised to check their claim statements carefully and to instigate an appeal as soon as possible if they feel there has been an error on the part of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA).

Stemming from issues with the new online system introduced in 2015 and embarrassing last minute U-turn back to paper form applications, the RPA could be facing a barrage of appeals from angry farmers chasing payments.

The blame has been squared on processing delays with the paper RLE1 forms however Ben Compton from the rural team at Bruton Knowles is saying its all well and good finger pointing where the issues lie but brings little comfort to beleaguered famers struggling to make ends meet.

With the 2016 May deadline now passed, Compton is advocating farmers look into an appeal not only to place a complaint but to speed things up.

Ben said: "The web-based system was created by the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) as part of CAP reform, and was set up to allow applicants to submit annual claims, map land, alter personal and business details and transfer entitlements.

"It was however beset by a host of issues including a lack of broadband in many rural areas resulting in a lot of farmers not being able to gain access.

"As a result many farmers are still waiting for their full 2015 payment and there are some that have received penalties that have been incorrectly applied, resulting in payments well below what they were expecting. This has serious implications for some and could be the difference between survival or going out of business.

"Were also advising that applicants double check that any entitlement transfers are correct, again stemming from issues with the online system and the last minute switch to paper forms last year.
Dennis Bork is testing for soil health and potential profits

By Diego Flammini

Assistant Editor, North American Content

Farms.com

A farmer in Illinois has split 40 acres of land into five zones to study soil health and profitability of different tillage approaches and cover crop applications.

Dennis Bork is using parts of his Argenta, Illinois farm to compare conventional tillage to strip till, with and without cover crops, and compare conventional tillage to no-till, with and without any cover crops.

Hes in the second year of a five-year project with the Macon County Soil and Water Conservation District. The goal is to help consider current and future profits, as well as any benefits to water quality.

The project also considers herbicide costs and savings, total input costs and potential yield advantages.

Bork told Iowa Farmer Today that sometimes new approaches need to be explored.

Its too early to determine the results, but Bork said the highest yield came on the strip-till land.

For his cover crops, hes considering using annual rye and radishes. Hes tried cereal rye in the past but it had to be killed and field cultivated.

Hes opened his farm for tours, allowing producers to get a firsthand look at the results on Borks farm and employ similar practices on their lands.

Kathy Kaesebier attended a tour on May 3 and said peer pressure among the agriculture community is huge.
7 things to know about Wawa as it plans a Fayetteville location

Wawa, the convenience store chain eyeing Fayetteville, has a cult-like following. What's so special about it, and what is it known for?
Memorial Day is complicated. We honor not war but those who do not return from war.

How do we know that war itself is never a proper subject for celebration, on this day or any other? Heres some help from Walt Whitman.

He was already 42 when the Civil War began. He didnt fight but worked in army hospitals around Washington, D.C.

After the war ended in 1865 he wrote in his notebooks an entry called the real war will never get into books.

* * *

Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background of countless minor scenes and interiors, (not the official surface-courteousness of the Generals, not the few great battles) of the Secession war; and it is best they should not  the real war will never get in the books. In the mushy influences of current times, too, the fervid atmosphere and typical events of those years are in danger of being totally forgotten.

I have at night watchd by the side of a sick man in the hospital, one who could not live many hours. I have seen his eyes flash and burn as he raised himself and recurrd to the cruelties on his surrenderd brother, and mutilations of the corpse afterward. (See in the preceding pages, the incident at Upperville  the seventeen killd as in the description, were left there on the ground. After they dropt dead, no one touchd them  all were made sure of, however. The carcasses were left for the citizens to bury or not, as they chose.)

Such was the war. It was not a quadrille in a ball-room. Its interior history will not only never be written  its practicality, minutia; of deeds and passions, will never be even suggested. The actual soldier of 1862-65, North and South, with all his ways, his incredible dauntlessness, habits, practices, tastes, language, his fierce friendship, his appetite, rankness, his superb strength and animality, lawless gait, and a hundred unnamed lights and shades of camp, I say, will never be written  perhaps must not and should not be.

___

Richard L. Cassin is the publisher and editor of the FCPA Blog. Hell be the keynote speaker at the FCPA Blog NYC Conference 2016.
Dogs may be able to sniff out malaria through their acute sense of smell, thereby saving thousands of lives through quick and noninvasive detection, scientists have claimed.



The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a grant to commission research into the possibility to scientists at Durham University, Medical Detection Dogs and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.



It is hoped the animals may be able to detect odours associated with the condition and which are too subtle to be identified by human smell.



Previous research has suggested dogs can be highly accurate in detection cancer in humans.

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Indian medical colleges are churning out doctors but barely any researchers, if a report published in the revered medical journal Lancet is an indication. "India's medical schools have neglected research as a focal point of academics and they produce few publications," the report says.



According to a study cited in the report, over 332 of 579 (57%) medical colleges didn't publish a single research paper between 2005 and 2014. It refers to a recent report of the parliamentary standing committee on health, which called for the scrapping of the Medical Council of India (MCI), mentioning that the Supreme Court has described the state of medical colleges as "rotten", and says research is seen as a "non-profitable activity" by Indian medical schools.



The report blames a massive patient burden and lack of resources and faculty for the phenomenon. Experts believe this will have serious implications on handling healthcare challenges in India. Lack of infrastructure is another impediment.



The study points out that only 25 (4.3%) institutions produced more than 100 research papers in a year and their contribution was 40.3% of the total output. "The states with the highest number of private medical colleges fare the worst - more than 90% of the medical colleges in Karnataka and Kerala have published no paper. In contrast, the annual research output of the Massachusetts General Hospital was 4,600 and Mayo Clinic 3,700," the study added.



The study concludes that medical education has becomes a business and hence research is looked at as a non-profitable activity. "A drastic overhaul of Indian medical education is necessary, similar to that initiated by Abraham Flexner in the US," the study says.



Lack of data and and irregular patient follow-up leads to inadequate research, says Dr B S Ajai Kumar, renowned oncologist, founder and CEO, HealthCare Global Enterprises Ltd. "Definitely, research has been neglected in Indian medical schools over the years. The institutions focus on academics and clinical analysis and ignore research. There is enormous clinical material for research in India," he said.



Recalling his days at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, where he pursued postgraduation in oncology in the 1970s, Kumar says spending 2-3 hours a day on research was a must for every student. "In Indian medical schools, students are suggested to read journal reviews but not encouraged to come up with publications based on their own research. We are not innovators but copy cats. We don't invent drugs but use the same compound in a drug to come up with generic ones," he added. In the West, multiple medical schools come together to work, something which should be encouraged here too. But the oncologist believes the scenario will not remain the same. "Things are changing now. Collaborative research is picking up," he says.

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Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre (RGCIRC) has urged the government to appoint prominent people, including Amitabh Bachchan among others, as brand ambassadors for the better impact of its tobacco control programmes.



The organisation -- one of the best cancer treatment centres in Asia -- questioned the government whether the high revenue generated by the tobacco industry was the reason behind not appointing any prominent celebrity as an ambassador of its anti-tobacco campaigns.



"The cost of tobacco use, according to WHO, are measured in its toll of disease, suffering and family distress. Why not a massive awareness campaign on the line of polio," wondered A.K. Dewan, medical director and chief of head and neck services, at RGCIRC.



"Why can't we rope in an Amitabh Bachchan or an Aamir Khan, a Shahrukh Khan or a Sachin Tendulkar as a brand ambassador on anti-tobacco campaign," Dewan asked.



Questioning if it was because of enormous revenues linked to the tobacco industry or an interplay of politics and business, Dewan said: "The government can take a leaf out of its experiences in polio and filariasis, two debilitating diseases, that it so handsomely contained."



"A solid two-pronged strategy -- of massive awareness drive, and on-ground intervention by mass drugs administration led to the success of these two campaigns. Why has such experiment not been done for cancer and tobacco, especially the awareness part."



According to WHO, tobacco causes 22 percent deaths every year globally, with a large chunk of such cases in India.



"High taxation is one demand-reduction policy advocated across the globe as well as in India, and that certainly is one push factor that must be taken up seriously. Many governments argue against coming down heavily on tobacco through taxation pleading that it will lower revenue, increase illicit activities, affect employment and leave smokers impoverished," said Dewan.



The theme of 'World No Tobacco Day' for the year is 'Plain Packaging'.



Dewan is also part of WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which is asking all the countries to get ready for plain packaging of tobacco products.



India has recently implemented 85 percent pictorial warnings on the packets of all tobacco products, as part of its efforts to regulate the consumption of tobacco.



However, the step was opposed by various business chambers and tobacco growers, contending that it will compel the country to face revenue loss and lead to suicides among farmers.



The pictorial warning was part of Cigarettes and other Tobacco Product Act (COTPA) 2003, which stipulates that all specified warnings on tobacco products should be legible, prominent and conspicuous in size and colour.



Considering their demand, the government gave the tobacco companies more time, and the pictorial warnings came into force on April 1, 2016.



Health experts said mass media campaigns, graphic warnings and alternative crop options for tobacco growers can help stop or reduce the estimated 800,000-900,000 tobacco-attributed deaths every year in India.



According to Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS), tobacco use is a major preventable cause of death and disease and is responsible for one in 10 death among adults worldwide.



Approximately 5.5 million people die around the world every year -- and India accounts for nearly a fifth of this.

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It is amusing how even the strictest parents sometimes give in to their child's wish just to bring a smile on her face. This sort of indulgence didn't came too often in my life as my father is a man of principle but when it came, it broke me within.



Despite working for the biggest judiciary system of our country, I had never seen him flex muscles to get some private work done, except one time when he had showed his ID card to bail mom out of a traffic situation. I remember sharing that story with my school mates and they were quite in awe.



I was in class 7th and the classes were getting shuffled in the next session. I was separated from my closest friends and I threw quite a ruffle at home. I insisted my dad to talk to the principal and may be use his position to influence but he plainly refused. He personally knew my principal's friend and just put in a word saying, "You can just check with the Principal. It is no big deal if it doesn't happen. Kids should after all learn to adjust." I remember not talking to him for days because he didn't assert enough and so I had to move on with the same class. I did manage to make some of my closest friends in that class though.



I understood dad didn't like using his professional position to get any personal work done so I also stopped requesting. But when I got my board results, I wanted to desperately pursue English (Hons). I was not eligible to get admission in the college I was interested in and in that mindset I ignored the 2-3 colleges that were easy to get. I spoke to a counselor in the same college and opted for Botany (Hons), thinking that at least I will get admission in the same college. But within a week or two, I realized this was not what I wanted to do. I started to snap at my parents and used to cry for being a fail. My parents did the best they could to counsel me but I was clearly very disturbed. This evidently disturbed my parents and my mother pushed him to talk in a college to give me a seat mid-session. He kept on refusing for a while but had to finally give in.



Dad was clearly not comfortable but he agreed to approach one college where I would fit percentage-wise. I was super kicked because one of my dear school friends was also in the same college. I remember my dad taking leave from work one day and asking me to pack all my papers and go with him to the college. I was convinced that I will get through and excitedly shared the news with my friend.



When we reached the college, we were asked to wait outside the Dean's room. We waited and my heart was beating faster. But when I looked at my dad, I felt weak. He had a sordid look on his face. I knew I was making him do something he didn't want. After some 20 minutes, we were called inside a big room. The dean had a straight face, he shook hands with my dad and asked us to sit. My dad started to tell about my academic achievements but the dean didn't move his expression any bit. It was beginning to bother me. Then the dean suddenly asked me to go inside a small room inside his cabin. "I want to talk to your dad alone." I obliged and went inside with my heart ready to pump out of my chest.



While I was inside the room, I could hear the things he was telling my dad. He didn't give my dad any chance to speak but kept on telling him how he is being unjust to his profession by wanting a favour on the basis of his position. The dean started to flaunt his son's achievements who he said is a 'high-flying lawyer abroad'. I don't even want to recall all the things he said to my dad but it made him feel small, and made me feel smaller. I just wanted to undo the entire episode. I felt hurt, guilty and a host of negative emotions welled up inside of me. I wanted to cry.



Then I was called outside and my dad said, "Let's go home." We didn't talk the whole way. Probably he knew I was hearing everything or he was feeling let down; may be his biggest fears came alive inside that room. Shortly, I got admission in a Journalism course and I put the episode behind me but the thought of that day still hurts me. I wish I had not asked him to ask for that favour; the one favour that still haunts me...

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While we drudge through a 40-hour week, and sometimes more, countries like France, Sweden and Belgium are putting employee satisfaction before anything else. Shorter work-day and additional benefits, along with the right-to-disconnect after work hours are helping these countries achieve a better work-life balance. Read on:

France

France already operates on a 35-hour work week and is all set to pass a new law giving workers the right to disconnectto ignore work emails outside of their contracted hours. Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri is still thrashing out the final details of the new employment law but it is said to come into force within a few weeks.



Sweden

The average worker in Sweden clocks in 36 hours of work per week. To top that, Swedish authorities mandated that their employees should leave their work desks after six hours of work so as to achieve a better work-life balance. Moreover, Swedish parents are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave, of which 90 days are reserved for the father. In fact parents can make use of this facility at any time over the first eight years of their childs life.



Germany

Germans work for an average of 27.8 hours per week and part-time work is becoming increasingly common in the country. Whats more, the labour ministry has also banned managers from calling or emailing staff out of hours or on holidays, except in case of emergencies.



Belgium

In order to prevent workers from getting burnt out, the government created career breaks where every Belgian worker is entitled to a one-year break during their working lifetime. During this time off, the worker receives an allowance from the government. On an average, a Belgian works for 35 hours a week.



Norway

With lenient and generous labour laws, a Norwegian worker gets a minimum of 21 paid vacation days every year and they even allow parents with young children the right to reduce their work hours. In addition, maternity leave can extend to a fully-paid 43 weeks or 53 weeks at reduced pay. They have a 33-hour work week.

Photograph: Shutterstock
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The actor, playwright and director talks about taping with Naseruddin Shah in new hospital drama Waiting, her new Mumbai pad and other milestonesJust to be able to work with Naseer who has so much talent and experience was incredible. His approach to scenes was so unpredictable that it kept the actor in me on my toes...all the time.It has been exhausting but fulfilling as well. I have learnt a lot about direction and acting. I had to look at acting from a directors point of view, which gave me a new perspective altogether.Im patient and probably a little too kind. Im not too strict about timings, and about learning lines on time. But I can get really emotionally high-strung if things are not working out. I just say, If you dont want to do this, lets quit. And thats worse than shouting (laughs).It took about six months of looking at apartments before I finalised on this 2BHK. Since it was an old house, I had to do a lot of work. I made a very nice open kitchen and placed a big tub in my bathroom. I have a lot of colonial furniture from Puducherry, paintings and plants in the house.I called over all my friends who live close by and opened a bottle of Moet & Chandon champagne that my mother had preserved in the back of her cupboard for a special occasion. We also cut a cake. The next day was even more overwhelming as I received flowers from Priyanka Chopra , Siddharth Roy Kapur (MD & CEO of Disney India) and my management team.
Call it bizarre, but researchers from the University of Oklahoma have claimed that those who watch porn more than once a week tend to become more religious and it may be because of guilt associated with it.



According to lead researcher Samuel Perry, assistant professor of sociology and religious studies, exposure to pornography may inspire guilty feelings, especially if a person is violating the rules of their religion.



"As pornography viewing increases, people may find ways to rationalise their behaviour or even turn to religion to try and overcome the behaviour that is making them feel guilty," he noted in a paper appeared in the Journal of Sex Research.



To reach this conclusion, the researchers followed the participants over a period of six years and measured their pornography use and religiousness along the way.



The sample included a nationally representative group of 1,314 adults who answered questions about their pornography use and their religious habits, Medical Daily reported.



"After controlling factors like age and gender, use of pornography was associated with low religiousness at the end of the study until the rate of consumption became more frequent than once a week. At this point, religiousness increased," the study noted.



While scholars typically assume that greater religiosity leads to less frequent pornography use none have empirically examined whether the reverse could be true, the authors noted.



"The findings suggest that viewing pornography may lead to declines in some dimensions of religiosity but at more extreme levels may actually stimulate, or at least be conducive to, greater religiosity along other dimensions," Perry explained.

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Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) will raise its concern over regional trade agreements at the World Trade Organisation today and will seek its initiative to put forward the agenda of duty-free market access to the developed country Ahead of the WTO Dialogue with Business in Geneva today, BGMEA said regional trade agreements like the 12-nation Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) signed bypassing WTO laws is an impediment to multilateral rule-based trading system. The TPP trade bloc represents nearly 40 per cent of the world's GDP.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) will raise its concern over regional trade agreements at the World Trade Organisation today and will seek its initiative to put forward the agenda of duty-free market access to the developed country. Ahead of the WTO Dialogue with Business in Geneva today, BGMEA said regional trade#

WTO Dialogue with Business is aimed at discussing the opportunities and challenges facing business people to conduct trade operations and how WTO can help deal with them.A three-member BGMEA delegation led by its President Siddiqur Rahman is attending the business dialogue.The Bangladeshi RMG sector is apprehensive that a trade bloc like the TPP will limit the space for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and create an unfair competition.The Bangladeshi RMG sector have urged the WTO to take the lead to ensure enough policy protection for the LDCs from regional trade associations like the TPP by engaging developed members in discussions with a spirit to ensure level playing field. (SH)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk  India
Right after Farhan Akhtar parted ways with his wife Adhuna Akhtar, rumours started doing the rounds that Shraddha Kapoor is having an affair with her Rock On 2 co-star Farhan Akhtar. Not only was Farhan Akhtar linked up with Shraddha Kapoor, he was also linked up with Aditi Rao Hydari & Kalki Koechlin.

However, the rumour about Farhan Akhtar's link up with Shraddha Kapoor made the loudest noise and the dust is not settled yet.

In an interview with Filmfare Magazine, Shraddha Kapoor came out all guns blazing against rumourmongers and the actress looked visibly upset with the entire issue. Shraddha Kapoor was quoted as saying,

"There's a limit to everything. You can't just cook up anything you want to write about. You have to consider people's sentiments; you have to think about the people involved."

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During the Baaghi success bash, Mumbai Mirror had reported that Farhan Akhtar and Shraddha Kapoor got too close for comfort and were dirty dancing on the dance floor showcasing some naughty moves to the onlookers.

Mumbai Mirror had reported as,

''They may claim to be buds, but their body language belies their relationship status. Shraddha Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar are quite the item, simply going by their dirty dancing at the success party of her latest film last week. Both were reasonably inebriated, and onlookers were aghast to see Kapoor and Akhtar light up the floor with their naughty moves.''

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The report further stated, ''Of course her parents were there too. But as soon as Shakti Kapoor left, Shraddha beat a retreat too. She hopped into Akhtar's car and exited the party together. It seems her car followed them. The two don't seem to mind the tongue-wag since they have a film together coming up."

Now that Shraddha Kapoor has rubbished the link up rumour with Farhan Akhtar, we hope this issue would close here itself.

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Kunchacko Boban, the romantic hero is all set to share the screen with the super-talented actress Parvathy. Kunchacko and Parvathy will play the lead roles in editor Mahesh Narayanan's directorial debut.

The movie, which is reportedly titled as Virgin, was initially planned with Fahadh Faasil in the lead role. But later, Fahadh backed out of the project due to some undisclosed reasons.

Later, the team roped in Kunchacko Boban for the role. Parvathy is pairing up with Chackochan for the first time in her career. The major portions of the movie will be shot in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq.

It is the first Malayalam film to be shot in Baghdad. Ernakulam, Hyderabad, and Dubai are the other locations of the movie. The team is expected to confirm the title and announce the rest of the star cast soon.

The project is scripted by Mahesh Narayanan himself, along with PV Shaji Kumar. Sanu handles the cinematography. The project is produced by Anto Joseph, under the banner Anto Joseph Film Company.

Kunchacko Boban is currently busy with his production debut, Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho, in which he also plays the lead role. Parvathy is on a break from films, after the huge success of Charlie.
Zee TV's popular daily soap Tashan-E-Ishq is all set to switch on a gloomy mode in the upcoming episodes. It looks like the good old days are gone, with Kunj's death and Twinkle's sorrow, the show is all set to take its first leap soon!

In the latest episode, Kunj (Sidhant Gupta) gets shot and he falls into the sea. Yuvi (Zain Imam) informs the police and they search for Kunj, but in vain. Twinkle (Jasmin Bhasin) comes to the sea side in search of him. She gets to know about Kunj's accident and unable to bear the shock, she faints.

Click on View Photos to see the pictures

In the upcoming episodes, Twinkle informs Leela about Kunj's death. Leela will be shattered by this news and informs Kunj's family about this. All are shocked. Yuvi, who is sure that Anita is behind Kunj's accident, is furious and decides to get her arrested.

Anita, known for her smart moves, picks up a knife and threatens to slit her throat if Yuvi informs the police! Yuvi, puzzled by Anita's act will be in a dilemma as to whether to inform the police or not. Will Yuvi fight for justice or not?

After this, the show will take a leap. Post leap, Yuvi will be seen taking care of Twinkle and her child. Twinkle will try to move on from her past, and decides to settle down with Yuvi for the sake of her child.

Meanwhile, Kunj makes an entry in Twinkle's life again, but with a new face. It is evident that Kunj is alive after the accident and he comes back to meet his beloved wife, Twinkle. But, on seeing her happy with Yuvi, he will be devastated!

Thinking that Twinkle has betrayed him, he vows to destroy her life!
Blackpeak Group, an Asia-based strategic advisory firm, has expanded its corporate investigations practice in Greater China and its disputes resolutions business in Southeast Asia to meet growing demand from financial investors and corporations.

It has made five new appointments across its offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou, which was opened earlier this year.

In addition to the significant work we undertake for financial investors, demand from MNCs for corporate investigation work continues unabated. Fraud, and corruption remain major issues for these companies operating in Greater China and we will continue to develop our geographic footprint and staffing to meet this demand, says Jack Clode, a founding Blackpeak partner.

At the same time, the firm is developing its disputes practice business in Southeast Asia in response to growing demand for investigations and dispute resolution strategies. Requests come from distressed debt and special situations funds in restructuring situations, from financial and corporate investors in commercial disputes, and from law firms in complex litigation and arbitration cases.

As a result, Blackpeaks Singapore office has recently added staff from Indonesia and Vietnam.

Recent significant growth in investor interest in Southeast Asia, coupled with often unpredictable regulatory and legal frameworks, is giving rise to multiple disputes between foreign and local parties, a trend we expect to continue, says Chris Leahy, also a founding partner. We have a strong track record in the region and will continue to grow our capabilities and presence to meet this demand.

According to Blackpeak, the increase in demand for corporate investigations and disputes services in the region is a function of increasing capital flows into Asia.

Multinational companies in the region are facing unprecedented levels of risk within their business operations due to the complexity of supply chains, growing public demand for increased corporate responsibility as well increased regulatory oversight.

Disputes between foreign capital providers and local partners could rise because of poor investment decisions. Foreign firms might then need support because of the limitations of legal systems in many Southeast Asian countries.

Blackpeak helps clients deploy capital more effectively, provides investigative and advisory services (including due diligence, dispute support and fraud investigations) as well as corporate and strategic advice for M&A, investment sourcing and transaction execution.

Its clients include private equity, distressed debt, institutional, hedge and sovereign wealth funds, as well as a wide range of non-financial companies.
Thailands military-backed government wants to get things moving  literally.

On March 29, the cabinet approved the construction of two new lines for Bangkoks elevated monorail (or Skytrain) network under a private-public partnership arrangement. A winning bidder was due to be announced in May, with construction set to start in June.

Thats not all. Four dual-track train projects are expected to be submitted for cabinet approval in May, with bidding processes scheduled before the end of June and construction of the metre-gauge routes to begin before year-end. A red line for the Skytrain has already been approved and is scheduled for completion by 2020.

And if Thailands road projects are executed to plan, they would add 2,647 kilometres of roads  equivalent to 20% of the amount in the country today.

New train lines and motorways form the core of a set of transportation projects planned by the government of prime minister and former general Prayut Chan-o-cha. All told, the government has earmarked Bt1.6 trillion to Bt1.9 trillion ($45.66 billion to $54.22 billion) in spending across 20 projects.

We are seeing small steps in the right direction, Phumchai Kambhato, chief country officer at Deutsche Bank, said. Infrastructure development has been talked about in Thailand not just for years but decades. There are several projects that look like theyre going ahead.

The goal is to offer a fillip to Thailands laggardly economy, which only grew by 2.8% last year, largely underperforming the rest of the region.

Traditional Thai transport

Thailand has a mixed track record for infrastructure execution but the junta-backed government seems to be making progress where predecessors have failed.

The experiences of this government compared to previous ones leads me to believe the government has a good chance of succeeding, Prinn Panitchpakdi, country head of Thailand for CLSA, said. [Former Prime Minister] Thaksin Shinawatra got zero railway lines approved between 2001 and 2006, and neither did [his various succeeding associates], including his sister Yingluck. But so far three [skytrain line] projects have been approved by this government.

Thailand has historically made great strides in power and telecommunications. The World Bank estimates that $52 billion of power and telecom infrastructure projects were rolled out in the 25 years between 1990 and 2015, helping to electrify 83% of Thai houses and creating phone penetration of 108% in 2010.

But Thailands railway plans, particularly in and around Bangkok, have not enjoyed the same level of success, leaving a gap in the countrys infrastructure needs. The BTS Skytrain project, for example, opened its first line in December 1999 but it took 10 more years to add the first extension. In addition, the capital has just one mass rapid transit subway line (which opened in 2004), although a new, elevated track is set to open this summer.

Prayuts financial team, led by former finance minister Somkid Jatusripitak, intend to add many more roads and railways (see tables below) as a way to bolster GDP growth and improve the countrys efficiency.

Thailands logistics costs stand at around 14 percentage points of GDP. Adding roads and railways could cut this by around two percentage points, saving businesses Bt260 billion a year, according to Maybank.

CHALLENGES

To get the process rolling, the junta government has got a grip on the biggest traditional blocks to infrastructure projects.

First, it is sourcing the land. The government has allocated Bt95.4 billion towards land appropriation for these projects and it has the decisiveness to push such appropriations through.

Second, it has rapidly sought to approve projects and tender them out. Its speed in doing so appears a deliberate attempt to ensure that these projects retain momentum, even if the military government stands down on or before 2017.

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Thats one of the benefits of this type of government; they can control the bidding process, Tim Leelahaphan, Thailand economist for Maybank Kim Eng, told FinanceAsia.

He believes the new projects could add 1% to GDP this year, and a multiplier effect of these projects could cause GDP in 2017 and 2018 to rise to 4% to 5%.

To be sure, for all the progress to date there are still headwinds, not least the traffic chaos that will inevitably ensue as the road and rail track building begins.

Thailand also has too few large construction companies capable of undertaking projects on this scale, so foreign groups will need to be involved, including Chinas highly experienced railway construction companies. But it could cause due diligence headaches and differing expectations of government support between Prayuts administration and foreign companies.

A recent example of this took place on April 1 when a China-Thailand high-speed railway project to link a string of key cities was abandoned. In the end, two years of negotiations failed to bridge differences over the investment sharing, costs, and loans backing the project. So the Thai government instead announced a less ambitious, all-Thai railway project between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima, 250km northeast of the capital.

Click for full view

Given this precedent, its hard to imagine all other projects will go entirely to plan.

Then there is the danger of corruption. Infrastructure projects are enormously costly and large sums of money can easily be frittered away.

The ultimate sticking point over these projects could end up with the countrys banks. They will want strong rules and transparency around the contracts that get handed out, before offering up project financing.

The new rules and regulations need to ensure no dodginess takes place in these contracts, said CLSAs Prinn, adding that he would like to see open bids to minimise the chances of shady activities winning construction contracts.

PROMISING SIGNS

Still, there are grounds for optimism.

The central government looks set to pay for around 70% of the overall costs of building the planned transportation links.

It has plenty of room to raise debt and looks willing to do so. From around 40% at the end of 2015, Prayut has said that he is prepared to see Thailands public-debt-to-GDP ratio rise to 50%, or another $39.5 billion. That is still well below the legally prohibited level of over 60% of GDP.

Additionally, Thailands local banks have plenty of spare liquidity to help support infrastructure project financing. And they will probably be willing to offer it up, so long as these projects are sufficiently transparent and come with a government guarantee.

It could be tough for the private sector to jump in and make returns [through project finance investments] in a reasonable time, so these projects will need government support, Deutsche Banks Phumchai said. And weve already seen interest from other government and export credit agencies, as well as supranational and bilateral agencies.

Thai and international private investors have also shown themselves to be very amenable to infrastructure-linked IPOs and bonds.

Skytrain operator BTS Group structured its ticket receivables into an infrastructure fund that it then sold through a hugely successful public listing in April 2013. The company looks to have kept most of the $1.2 billion war chest it earned to help bid for new lines.

Further infrastructure funds require a new structure now that international IFRS accounting standards have rendered the old model obsolete. But Phumchai is optimistic that new iterations of these funds could be developed.

Thats several years away yet. Before then, the Thai government looks more likely to call upon banks and bond investors to help funds its transportation plans.

Added into that is the potential capital that could be raised by construction companies and property developers seeking to gentrify real estate along the new railway lines and motorway links.

Thailands economy might be idling right now but if the government has its way it could soon be able to shift up through the gears.
Where in Southeast Asia are political developments likely to affect sovereign credit trends?

Local political developments have the most potential to shape sovereign rating trends in in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. For Malaysia, the risk is that the ongoing 1MDB saga could lead to an abrupt change in the government and unsettle investor and consumer confidence. The key question in the Philippines is whether political stability and economic policies will change under the incoming new administration. And, in Thailand, the main uncertainty is when political normalisation will happen to allow policymakers to focus on issues that affect the long-term growth potential of the economy.

Do you see the weak external environment of recent years affecting sovereign credit quality in the region?

Global economic uncertainty remains a risk, along with pressures on credit metrics from weaker commodity prices and the continuing deceleration in Chinese growth. Despite the weak external environment, major economies in Asean have performed relatively well and credit support for sovereigns in much of the region has remained broadly stable. Real GDP growth in 2015 fell from 2014 levels in some cases. However, most developing economies in the region had kept growth above 4.5%. And despite lower commodity prices affecting export receipts, most of the economies maintained current account surpluses. In Indonesia, where an external shortfall exists, the current account deficit shrank to 2.1% of GDP. Fiscal deficits in most cases either improved or deteriorated but remained at modest levels. Developments on these fronts have helped to maintain mostly stable outlooks on our sovereign ratings for Asean countries.

Is credit quality deteriorating for the banking sector in Asean?

Banks in Asean countries have had a bumpy ride so far in 2016. Asset quality has been deteriorating and loan growth has been reducing, largely due to a slowing regional economy and a decline in commodity prices. However, we expect most banking systems in the region to remain resilient to external macroeconomic headwinds. Their fair-to-satisfactory profitability and generally sound capitalization should mitigate any erosion in asset quality.

The majority of the Asean banks we rate have stable outlooks, reflecting our expectations that these banks have built sufficient buffers over the years to absorb the difficulties. Many of these banks are systemically important and enjoy a high likelihood of government support. In our opinion, 2015 was the turning point in the credit cycle for most Asean banking systems, and nonperforming loans (NPLs) will continue to rise in 2016. Our base case, however, assumes a gradual deterioration, rather than a sharp spike in delinquencies.

What are the major credit trends in the Asean corporate sector?

Debt is still rising. However, debt accumulation appears to be slowing down after years of annual double-digit growth. In fact, gross reported debt for our sample of Aseans 150 biggest companies declined to below US$300 billion in 2015, from about US$310 billion in 2014, using yearly exchange rates. That said, this decline is primarily due to a stronger U.S. dollar rather than a shift in financial management of Asean companies. We estimate that gross reported debt for the sample grew about 4% in 2015 to about US$340 billion using constant 2011 exchange rates. In addition, capital spending and dividend payments are, on aggregate, moderating. It is too early to tell if this is a structural trend toward more prudent financial undertakings or merely a pause in spending. But this trend is helping companies control leverage amid a tougher operating environment and a persistent decline in return on capital. Among other major trends, substantial differences remain in risk tolerance and balance sheet management among the largest companies in the region.

Does slowing debt growth mean credit quality has improved?

Not yet. Debt accumulation was slower in 2015, but tough operating conditions in some sectors affected earnings and operating cash flows. Median revenue grew 2.5% in 2015 for the companies we reviewed, a further steep decline from about 6.5% in 2014 and more than 10% annually at the beginning of the decade. Margins also declined. As a result, the main indicators of credit quality that we look at--namely leverage, cash flow adequacy ratios, or interest servicing ratios--merely stabilized in 2015 instead of improving (see chart).

Click for full view

Credit quality across the sample of 150 companies is still far from homogeneous. Balance sheets and financial policies remain polarizeda trend we have been observing since 2011. Close to a third of the companies we reviewed had debt-to-EBITDA ratios exceeding 4.0x, and a fourth had the ratio exceeding 5.0x, a level that we deem as an indication of high leverage. The proportion of companies with a capital structure that we view as very conservativewith debt-to-EBITDA below 1.0xfell to a multi-year low of 25% in 2015. That compares with 28% in 2014 and more than 40% in 2010 (see chart 2). Here too, the erosion appears to be slowing down.

Click for full view

The article is authored by Kim Eng Tan, Senior Director of Sovereign and International Public Finance Ratings; Ivan Tan, Director of Financial Institutions Ratings; and Bertrand Jabouley, Director of Corporate Ratings at S&P Global Ratings
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - Destatis releases Germany's import prices for April in the pre-European session on Monday at 2:00 am ET. Import prices are forecast to drop 6.2 percent annually in April following a 5.9 percent drop in March. Ahead of the data, the euro showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the euro rose against the yen and the Swiss franc, it held steady against the U.S. dollar and the pound. As of 1:55 am ET, the euro was trading at 0.7595 against the pound, 1.1052 against the Swiss franc, 1.1103 against the U.S. dollar and 123.52 against the yen. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Asia Plantation Capital will be providing industrial training for undergraduate students from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) starting in June 2016.

Operations at Asia Plantation Capital's purpose-built agarwood distillation and research centre has been in full swing for the past year, and is now ready to open its doors to interns from local universities. Asia Plantation Capital Berhad has recently confirmed collaborations with Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) to be a part of these universities' internship or industrial training programmes.

To commence proceedings, each university is sending one student to the Asia Plantation Capital Johor facility for a period of three months, to fulfil his or her industrial training requirements. The placement will begin in June of this year.

With UPM, Asia Plantation Capital joins forces with the University's Faculty of Forestry, to provide industrial training for undergraduate students under the Bachelor of Wood Science and Technology programme. The first intern from this faculty will be placed in the Asia Plantation Capital's research and development (R&D) department at the Johor distillery and research centre. Within this department, the intern will be assisting in production processes, and will participate in the developmental research that has been designed to increase oil-producing resins from agarwood.

Asia Plantation Capital's partnership with IIUM is specifically with the University's Kulliyyah (Faculty) of Engineering. With this collaboration, Asia Plantation Capital is opening its Johor facility to provide industrial training for undergraduates from the Biochemical-Biotechnology Engineering programme, who are required to participate in the Engineering Industrial Training (EIT) programme in order to complete their Bachelor's degree. The first intern from this programme will be assisting in matters relating to inoculation and DNA barcoding of agarwood.

Steve Watts, Asia Plantation Capital's Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific, said, "The objective of industrial training in a university's undergraduate programme is to allow students to gain first-hand experience of the actual working environment in an organisation within an industry. This is always difficult to achieve within the confines of a university's premises or in a purely academic setting. Our distillery and research centre in Johor will be a perfect place for these students, not only to experience working life and to learn how, when and where to apply their skills and knowledge, but also to expose them to the environment of an international company in a purpose-built facility. We hope and expect that these students will learn and grow within the three months of their internship with us," he concluded, "and we encourage more students from UPM and IIUM to join us, see what we're doing, and benefit from a relationship with us during the course of their industrial training."

Asia Plantation Capital's state-of-the-art agarwood distillation and research centre is located in the Masai Industrial Park, Johor, Malaysia, and has been fully operational since early last year. To mark its first anniversary of operations, Asia Plantation Capital will be celebrating with an official opening ceremony of the facility, which will be launched by YB Datuk Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) on the 2nd of June 2016.

Notes for Editors

For further information, please contact:

Zaahira Muhammad

Senior PR & Marketing Executive

Email: zaahira@asiaplantationcapital.com

Office: +6012 203 5344

Samantha Tham

PR & Marketing Executive

Email: samantha.tham@asiaplantationcapital.com

Mobile: +65 9144 0933

About Asia Plantation Capital

Asia Plantation Capital Berhad in Malaysia is currently investing heavily in the Malaysian plantation sector, developing new plantations and factories for the production of agarwood (gaharu) and other associated products for international export markets. The company is further strengthening its presence in Malaysia by moving its headquarters to downtown Kuala Lumpur, a year after opening Southeast Asia's biggest agarwood processing factory and distillery in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

The Asia Plantation Capital Group is a multi-award-winning sustainable plantation operator and management company, with projects across four continents, and a global workforce in excess of 2,000. A market leader in the industry, its Scientific Advisory Board is comprised of leading academics from various countries (China, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates), who have, between them, developed and patented industry-leading technologies and systems.

With a focus on commercial plantation projects and vertically integrated businesses that offer a combination of commercial, environmental and community benefits, Asia Plantation Capital has created a successful and dynamic 'triple bottom line' company.

Photo - http://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20160530/8521603476
OTTAWA (dpa-AFX) - Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO, SU) announced Sunday that it has begun the safe and staged restart of its operations near the fire-ravaged community of Fort McMurray, Alberta. In a statement, the Canadian crude-oil producer said start-up activities are well underway at Base Plant and the MacKay River in situ facility. The company expects initial production to commence by the end of this week, subject to conditions in the region. Suncor's assets Are safe and all sites have enhanced fire mitigation and protection. Also, the region experiences improved conditions with cooler weather and several days of precipitation. The company's statement indicates that the Canadian oil sands outages caused by the massive wildfires that started in early May, ?are slowly coming to an end. Suncor said it has moved over 4,000 employees and contractors back into the region, including Fort Hills workers. Over the coming weeks, the company anticipates to move approximately 3,500 additional people to support its return to operations. Suncor Energy had shut down its RMWB operations in early May and safely moved over 10,000 people, as the fire ravaged the area. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
TORONTO, CANADA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/30/16 -- Eloro Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: ELO)(FRANKFURT: P2Q) ("Eloro") and Tartisan Resources Corp. (CSE: TTC) ("Tartisan") are pleased to announce that they have entered into a Letter of Intent Agreement (the "Agreement") for Eloro to acquire Tartisan's 100% undivided interest in La Victoria property ("La Victoria" or the "Property"), in consideration for: i) 6 million common shares (the "Shares") and 3,000,000 non-transferable warrants ("Warrants"), ii) staged cash payments totalling C$350,000, and iii) the granting of a 2% royalty interest (the "Royalty"), half of which (1%) can be repurchased by Eloro for C$3 million (collectively, the "Transaction"). The Property, consisting of 8 mineral concessions totalling approximately 34.4 km2, is held by a Peruvian-based Tartisan subsidiary and is located in Huandoval District, Pallasca Province, Ancash Department, in the North-Central Mineral Belt of Peru. On completion of the proposed Transaction, Eloro will hold an undivided 100% interest in the Property, subject to the Royalty.

Transaction Highlights

-- Acquisition of Tartisan's 100% interest in the Property currently governed by the La Victoria Option and Joint Venture Agreement dated July 3, 2014 (the "Option and Joint Venture Agreement"), as amended, in consideration of: i) the issuance of 6,000,000 Shares and 3,000,000 Warrants of Eloro, ii) a cash payment of C$250,000 on closing, with a further payment of C$100,000 six months from closing (the San Markito mineral claim will not be transferred by Tartisan to Eloro until such time that the final C$100,000 payment is made). The Option and Joint Venture Agreement will be terminated upon completion of the Transaction. -- Each Warrant will give Tartisan the right to purchase one Share of Eloro at a price of $0.40 for a period of three years after closing, subject to acceleration in certain circumstances. -- All securities issued to Tartisan in the Transaction would be subject to a lock-up agreement whereby Tartisan will be restricted from transferring securities of Eloro for a period of 18 months following the closing date of the Transaction, subject to certain exceptions, and transfers subsequent to that period will be subject to further restrictions, whereby should Tartisan wish to proceed with a disposition, it would be restricted to 1 million Shares every six months and Tartisan would agree to provide Eloro 45 days' notice prior to any sale, during which time Eloro could identify a purchaser or purchasers of the Shares and would have the right of first refusal to place the Shares pursuant to the terms of a mutually agreeable sale. -- Eloro would grant Tartisan a 2% Royalty on the Property, with a buy-down provision for one-half (1%) of the Royalty for consideration of C$3 million. -- During a two year term, Eloro would grant Tartisan a pre-emptive purchase right to participate in future Eloro financings to concurrently purchase such number of Eloro shares as would allow Tartisan to maintain the same beneficial ownership in aggregate, up to a maximum of 19.9%, as Tartisan owned immediately prior to the closing of the proposed financing. -- Tartisan will be entitled to nominate its C.E.O., Mr. Mark Appleby, to the Board of Directors of Eloro, during such time that Tartisan holds more than 10% of the outstanding Eloro Shares. -- For a four-year term, Tartisan will not vote its Shares of Eloro against any nominees to Eloro's Board of Directors proposed by Eloro or vote against any resolutions supported by the Board of Directors of Eloro, subject to certain exceptions.

The proposed Transaction would create a new "Control Person" in Eloro pursuant to applicable securities legislation as it is proposed that Eloro issue Tartisan 6 million Shares and 3,000,000 Warrants (representing 22.8% of the Shares of Eloro on a non-diluted basis, and 30.7% of the Shares of Eloro on a partially-diluted basis, assuming the exercise of only the Warrants). In accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"), disinterested shareholder approval is required for the creation of a new Control Person.

The Transaction remains subject to several conditions, including: (i) the satisfactory completion of a due diligence review of the Property by Eloro, (ii) the completion and execution of a Definitive Agreement, iii) approval of the Board of Directors of each of Eloro and Tartisan, (iv) the receipt of all necessary approvals, including the approval of the TSXV for Eloro and of the Canadian Securities Exchange for Tartisan, and (v) shareholder approval from the shareholders of Eloro and if applicable, the shareholders of Tartisan. Eloro will be making a submission to the TSXV in order to obtain conditional approval for the Transaction and will schedule an Annual and Special Meeting of its shareholders in order to obtain the required shareholder approval for the issuance of the securities pursuant to the Transaction. Any securities to be issued by Eloro pursuant to the proposed Transaction would be subject to a 4-month hold period.

La Victoria Property, Peru

The La Victoria Property is free of royalties and consists of two adjacent, but not contiguous, properties totalling eight mining concessions encompassing approximately 34.4 square kilometres. The La Victoria Property is within 50 kilometres of several producing mines, with three producers visible from the Property, which has good infrastructure with road-access and nearby sources of water and electricity.

About Eloro Resources Ltd.

Eloro is an exploration and mine development company with a portfolio of gold properties in Peru and precious and base-metal properties in northern and western Quebec. Eloro has been granted an option to acquire a 60% interest in La Victoria property, located in the North-Central Mineral Belt of Peru.

About Tartisan Resources Corp.

Tartisan is a mineral exploration and development company based in Toronto, Canada with an emphasis on properties in Peru. The company owns the La Victoria property located in the northern Ancash Department, Peru. La Victoria property is located within 50 km of several producing mines including: La Arena owned by Tahoe Resources, Lagunas Norte (Alto Chicama) owned by Barrick Gold Corporation and Santa Rosa owned by Compania Minera Aurifera Santa Rosa (COMARSA).

Information in this news release may contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information express, as at the date of this news release, the Corporation's plans, estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations, or beliefs as to future events or results and are believed to be reasonable based on information currently available to the Corporation. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Neither the TSXV, CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV or CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Eloro Resources Ltd.

Jorge Estepa

Vice-President

(416) 868-9168



Tartisan Resources

Mark Appleby

CEO

(416) 804-0280




PJSC MegaFon / Notice of AGM PJSC MegaFon: Notice of AGM 30-May-2016 / 12:34 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement, transmitted by EquityStory.RS, LLC - a company of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. MegaFon Notice of AGM Moscow, Russian (30 May 2016) - Public Joint Stock Company 'MegaFon' (LSE: MFON), a leading Russian telecommunications operator, ('MegaFon' or the 'Company') has today announced that the Company's Annual General Meeting of Shareholders ('AGM') will be held at the Company's main office at 30 Kadashevskaya Embankment, Moscow, 115035, Russian Federation at 12.00 (Moscow time) on Thursday, 30 June 20161. Registration shall start at: 11.00 (Moscow time). The Proposed AGM agenda is as follows: 1. Approval of 2015 Annual Report of the Company 2. Approval of 2015 Annual Accounting (Financial) Statements of the Company 3. Distribution of profit, including payment (declaration) of dividends, and losses of the Company based on 2015 Financial Year results 4. Payment (declaration) of dividends based on Q1 2016 results 5. Election of the Board of Directors of the Company 6. Election of the Company's Chief Executive Officer 7. Approval of the number of seats in the Management Board of the Company and election of the Management Board of the Company 8. Approval of the Company's Auditor 9. Election of the Revision Commission of the Company. In connection with this, the following documents have been posted or otherwise made available to shareholders today: 1. Notice on convocation of the Annual General Shareholders Meeting, including the procedures for distribution of information (materials) to be submitted to the Shareholders during preparation for the Annual General Shareholders Meeting of the Company 2. Voting ballot for voting at the Annual General Shareholders Meeting of the Company 3. Annual Report of the Company for 2015 4. Report of the Revision Commission of the Company confirming the accuracy of information in the Company's Annual Report for 2015 5. Annual accounting (financial) statements of the Company, including the opinion of the Auditor of the Company for 2015 6. Recommendations by the Board of Directors regarding distribution of profit, including amount of annual dividend on shares, method and procedures for its payment, and losses distribution based on the results of 2015 financial year 7. Recommendations by the Board of Directors regarding payment (declaration) of dividend on shares, method and procedures for its payment based on the results of Q1 2016 financial year 8. Information on candidates nominated to the Board of Directors of the Company and information regarding availability or absence of written consents from the candidates nominated to the Board of Directors of the Company 9. Information about the candidate to the position of the Chief Executive Officer of the Company and information regarding availability or absence of written consent from the candidate nominated to the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Company 10. Information on candidates nominated to the Management Board of the Company and information regarding availability or absence of written consents from the candidates nominated to the Management Board of the Company 11. Information on candidates nominated to the Revision Commission of the Company and information regarding availability or absence of written consents from the candidates nominated to the Revision Commission of the Company. The list of persons entitled to participate in the AGM was compiled on the basis of the Company's Shareholders Register as of 11 May 2016. The shareholders, who will not be able to participate in the AGM on 30 June 2015, can deliver the executed voting ballots to: ATTN: Computershare Register CJSC Address: 8 Ivana Franko Street, Moscow 121108, Russian Federation Deadline: 18.00 (Moscow time), 27 June 2016 Starting from 30 May 2016, the information (materials) shall be provided for examination to the persons entitled to participate in the Annual General Shareholders Meeting of the Company at the following address: 30 Kadashevskaya Embankment, Moscow, Russian Federation. The above information (materials) shall be submitted during the Annual General Shareholders Meeting of the Company to its participants. The materials provided to shareholders in preparation for the AGM can also be obtained from the Company's website at: http://corp.megafon.com/investors/shareholder_meetings/annual_general_shareholder_meeti/ . On request by a person entitled to take part in the Annual General Shareholders Meeting, the Company shall submit to him/her copies of these documents. Payment taken by the Company for such copies may not exceed the cost of their production. In compliance with the recent amendments of the applicable legislation, the disclosure of depositary receipts owners and other persons exercising rights to depositary receipts shall be required if voting. In order to register as participants, shareholders will need to provide his/her passport or any other personal identification document. A shareholder's representative must have the duly issued power of attorney for participation in the Annual General Shareholders Meeting and/or documents that confirm his/her right to act on behalf of the shareholder without the power of attorney. 1Please note that the Company' Annual General Shareholders meeting shall not be catered full-course - end - For More Information PJSC MegaFon Media: Peter Lidov Tel: + 7 926 200 6854 ydorokhina@Megafon.ru Investors: Dmitry Kononov Tel: + 7 926 200 6490 dkononov@megafon.ru Notes to Editors MegaFon PJSC is a leading Russian integrated telecommunication service provider, operating in all segments of the telecommunications markets in Russia, and in the Republics of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Tajikistan. MegaFon is a recognized market leader in the provision of mobile data services, was the first operator in Russia to launch commercial operation of a third generation (3G) network and was the first operator in the world to launch commercial operation of an LTE-Advanced (4G) data network. MegaFon is traded on the Moscow Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange under the symbol MFON. Additional information about MegaFon and the products and services provided by MegaFon can be found at http://www.megafon.ru Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements Some of the information in this document may contain or refer to projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of the Company. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as 'expect', 'believe', 'anticipate', 'estimate', 'forecast', 'intend', 'will', 'could', 'may', or 'might' the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. The Company wishes to caution you that these statements are only predictions, and are based upon various assumptions which are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control. We may not achieve or accomplish these plans or predictions. The Company does not necessarily intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Many factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in projections or forward-looking statements of the Company, including, among others, general economic conditions, the competitive environment, risks associated with operating in Russia, rapid technological and market change in the industries in which the Company operates, as well as many other risks specifically related to the Company and its business and operations. 30-May-2016 The EquityStory.RS, LLC Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Archive at www.dgap.de/ukreg Language: English Company: PJSC MegaFon 30, Kadashevskaya Emb. 115035 Moscow Russia Phone: +7 (499) 755 2155 Fax: +7 (499) 755 2175 E-mail: info@megafon.ru Internet: www.megafon.ru ISIN: US58517T2096, RU000A0JS942 WKN: A1J8Y3 Listed: Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart; Open Market in Frankfurt; London Category Code: NOA TIDM: MFON Sequence Number: 3187 Time of Receipt: 30-May-2016 / 12:34 CET/CEST End of Announcement EquityStory.RS, LLC News Service 467491 30-May-2016

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 30, 2016 06:35 ET (10:35 GMT)
ALBANY, New York, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research entitled"Managed Print Services Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024,"the Managed Print Services Market is expected to reach US$ 94.97 Bn in revenue by 2024, rising from US$ 26.18 Bn in 2015. The market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 14.8% during the forecast period from 2016 to 2024.

In a cost-sensitive environment, organizations are highly influenced by the cost benefits offered by MPS by reducing the operational costs of their printing activities. This is one of the major factors attracting organizations to adopt MPS. The need for the streamlining of the printing workflow and for monitoring and control of printer usage by employees have added to the cost reduction benefits achieved through the implementation of MPS. The growth of the MPS market is also expected to be driven by environmental benefits such as a reduction in paper wastage and efficient use of energy achieved through the implementation of MPS. Growth in awareness about the benefits of MPS in the SMEs is expected to further boost the growth of the MPS market in the coming years. The SMEs segment of the MPS market is projected to grow faster than large enterprises in terms of the adoption of MPS during the forecast period.

Get Sample Report Copy or for further inquiries, click here: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=7859

Channel partner/core MPS providers accounted for the largest share of the total MPS market in 2015. In order to cater to the ever increasing demand for MPS in the discrete SMEs sector, lead MPS vendors have turned to channel partners in order to expand their customer base by targeting untapped opportunities. Furthermore, cloud-based deployment was the largest segment of the MPS market in 2015 and is likely to dominate over the forecast period. The cost effectiveness of cloud-based MPS deployment and reduction in the burden on organizations' internal servers are some of the major factors expected to drive the cloud-based MPS market in the coming years.

The government and public end-use segment was the largest in 2015 and is likely to hold its top position in terms of revenue share the forecast period. Government authorities deal in a high amount of paperwork and their high preference for security of these vital documents/data has influenced the dominance of the government and public sector segment in the MPS market.

The major key companies operating in MPS market include Xerox Corporation, ARC Document Solutions, Inc., Ricoh Company Ltd., Lexmark Corporation, Canon, Inc., Konica Minolta, Inc., KYOCERA Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, HP Development, L.P., and Print Audit. Key players are focusing on increasing the number of channel partners and geographical expansion to increase their market presence.

Browse In Detail Regional Analysis: http://www.europlat.org/global-managed-print-services-mps-market.htm

The managed print services (MPS) market is segmented as below.

Managed Print Services Market

By Channel

Printer/Copier Manufacturers

Channel Partner/Core MPS Providers

By Enterprise Size

SMEs

Large Enterprises

By Deployment

On-premise

Hybrid

Cloud-based

By End-use

BFSI

Telecom and IT

Government and Public

Health care

Education

Legal

Construction

Manufacturing

Others

By Geography

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Middle East and Africa

and Latin America

Other Research Reports by Transparency Market Research:

Peer-to-Peer Lending Market:

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/peer-to-peer-lending-market.html

Digital Asset Managementmarket:

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/digital-asset-management-market.html

Interactive Whiteboard Market

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/interactive-whiteboard-market.html

About Us:

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company,providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experiencedteam of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.

Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.

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TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/30/16 -- Volunteers from across Ontario will travel to Ontario's Legislature on Tuesday May 31, where together with the Ontario Health Coalition, the total vote tally for the massive grassroots referendum will be released. Volunteers will deliver their communities' ballots to the Legislature in a highly visual media event.

Leaders and representatives of the Opposition Parties in the Legislature will be on hand to receive the ballots and will be asked to bring the message that Ontario's hospital cuts must stop, into the Legislature. They will also be asked to ensure that the ballots are delivered to Ontario's Premier Kathleen Wynne.

When & Where

Tuesday May 31

Toronto, 11:30 a.m., Ontario Police Memorial Park (corner of Grosvenor St. & Queen's Park Cres. E.) Contact Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Ontario Health Coalition, 416-441-2502 (office), 416-230-6402 (cell); Kim Johnston, Campaign Director, Ontario Health Coalition, 647-381-7025 (cell).

What Media events to release the total cross-province vote tally as part of Ontario-wide volunteer-led referendum.

Who Ontario Health Coalition and local coalitions across Ontario.

Local Coalition/Key Contacts across Ontario

Brockville Curtis Coates, co-chair, Brockville Health Coalition, 613-246-2015.

Chatham Shirley Roebuck, co-chair, Chatham Health Coalition, 226-402-2724.

Durham Trish McAuliffe, co-chair, Durham Health Coalition, 905-706-5806.

Essex County Kim DeYong, co-chair, Essex County Health Coalition, 519-839-6328.

Guelph Magee McGuire, co-chair, Guelph Health Coalition, 519-767-0084.

Hamilton Rolf Gerstenberger, co-chair, Hamilton Health Coalition, 289-260-9547.

Kawartha Lakes Marlene Beaman-McQuay, chair, Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition, 705-324-6028.

Kingston Harold Pickering, co-chair, Kingston Health Coalition, 343-333-6412.

London Peter Bergmanis, co-chair, London Health Coalition, 519-860-4403.

Midland Fran Moreau, 705-245-7611.

Niagara Sue Hotte, co-chair, Niagara Health Coalition, 905-932-1646.

North Bay Mike Bisaillon, co-chair, North Bay Health Coalition, 705-492-8818.

Northumberland Linda Mackenzie-Nicholas, co-chair Northumberland Health Coalition, 416-809-2601.

Orillia Lynne Hancock, co-chair, Orillia Health Coalition, 705-259-2750.

Ottawa Al Dupuis, co-chair, Ottawa Health Coalition, 613-808-7710.

Oxford County Bryan J. Smith, Oxford Coalition for Social Justice, 519-456-5270.

Quinte West Rhonda Reynolds, Campaign Organizer, reyron12@gmail.com.

Sault Ste. Marie Margo Dale, co-chair, Sault and Area Health Coalition, 705-255-1498.

Sarnia Shirley Roebuck, co-chair, Chatham Health Coalition, 226-402-2724.

Smiths Falls Kathy Gilligan, 613-283-6495.

St. Joseph Island Maria Smith, St. Joseph Island Health Coalition, 705-246-2483.

St. Marys Chris West, 519-284-3310.

Stratford Treena Hollingworth, co-chair, Stratford and Area Health Coalition, 647-537-4357.

Thunder Bay Jules Tupker, co-chair, Thunder Bay Health Coalition, 807-577-5946.

Timmins Linda Dolbec, 705-363-7666.

Wallaceburg Shirley Roebuck, co-chair, Chatham Health Coalition, 226-402-2724.

Windsor Ken Lewenza Jr., co-chair, Windsor Health Coalition, 519-819-0830.

Background

Ontario's hospital cuts are the deepest in the country, and despite claims by government, the services that are being dismantled in local public hospitals are not replaced in community care. In fact, many communities are losing vital services and across the province whole categories of services are being privatized. Without any sound capacity planning, hospital redevelopment decisions seem to be driven by political opportunism and divorced from service needs. Tens of millions are wasted in renovations and redevelopments, only to find services closing down within a few years. Planning, such as it is, bears no relation to community need anymore.

The cuts are devastating. Entire community hospitals are on the line. Services like birthing; emergency departments; medical and surgical beds; mental health units; chronic care beds; surgeries and diagnostic tests; and thousands of nurses, health professionals, caregivers, and vital patient support workers and all the work they do --- all of these are threatened with cuts in different communities. In many communities hospitals are running at dangerous levels of overcrowding.

By every reasonable measure, Ontario has now dropped to the bottom of the country in hospital services. We have the fewest hospital beds left - by far - of any province. Only Chile and Mexico in the entire developed world have fewer hospital beds than does Ontario. We have the least amount of nursing care per patient (both RN and RPN combined). Patients are moved out of hospital earlier in Ontario than any other province - and we have the highest readmission rates as people end up back in emergency departments.

Every service that is being cut is privatized, moved out of town or lost entirely. Patients are now required to drive longer and longer distances for care, or are being charged hundreds or even thousands of dollars in private clinics for cataract surgeries, colonoscopies and other care than used to be provided - under OHIP - in our local public hospitals. People are waiting on stretchers, in the worst cases for days, for admission to hospitals that are filled to overcapacity.

Contacts:

Natalie Mehra

Executive Director

Ontario Health Coalition

416-441-2502 (office)

416-230-6402 (cell)



Kim Johnston

Campaign Director

Ontario Health Coalition

647-381-7025 (cell)




AMSTERDAM, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Positive conclusion of a European DCP for approval of a tiotropium bromide-based maintenance treatment for those people living with COPD in a new inhaler (Zonda)

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., announced today that it has received a positive conclusion of a DCP for BRALTUS (tiotropium bromide) as once-daily tiotropium bromide maintenance bronchodilator treatment for adult patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Tiotropium bromide is the most widely prescribed maintenance treatment for people with COPD. BRALTUS contains a new dry-powder formulation of tiotropium bromide, delivered through a new capsule based inhaler, the Zonda inhaler.

"We are all excited at the news of the positive conclusion for the DCP in Europe, and our local companies are looking forward to the opportunity of bringing BRALTUS to their local COPD communities," said Luca Frangoni, Head of Respiratory Europe. "It is an important goal of our growing respiratory franchise to bring new treatment options to healthcare professionals who support people living with long-term chronic conditions including COPD. We want to give patients an effective role in their own treatment while at the same time aiming to reduce costs for healthcare systems."

COPD is a progressive disease that affects up to 10% of adults in Europe; it is currently ranked sixth on the World Health Organization's mortality list, and is projected to be the third leading cause of death by 2020.[1] There are high numbers of people with poorly controlled COPD who consequently require treatment escalation or acute care, resulting in up to 1.1 million hospital admissions each year.[2] Almost half of the total annual financial burden of lung disease in Europe is due to COPD, and it accounts for more time off work than any other illness.[1]

About BRALTUS

BRALTUS is indicated as a once-daily bronchodilator treatment to relieve chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in adults. The BRALTUS European DCP has been positively concluded. National Marketing Authorisations and launches will take place in selected markets over the coming months as assessed by national Teva companies.

About Teva Respiratory

Teva Respiratory develops and delivers high-quality treatment options for respiratory conditions, including asthma, COPD and allergic rhinitis. The Teva Respiratory portfolio is centered on optimizing respiratory treatment for patients and healthcare providers through the development of novel delivery systems and therapies that help address unmet needs. Teva's respiratory pipeline and clinical trial program are based on drug molecules delivered in proprietary dry powder formulations and breath-actuated device technologies, as well as a targeted biologic treatment for severe asthma. Through research and clinical development, Teva Respiratory continually works to expand, strengthen and build upon its treatment portfolio to positively impact the lives of the millions of patients living with respiratory disease.

About Teva

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE and TASE: TEVA) is a leading global pharmaceutical company that delivers high-quality, patient-centric healthcare solutions used by millions of patients every day. Headquartered in Israel, Teva is the world's largest generic medicines producer, leveraging its portfolio of more than 1,000 molecules to produce a wide range of generic products in nearly every therapeutic area. In specialty medicines, Teva has a world-leading position in innovative treatments for disorders of the central nervous system, including pain, as well as a strong portfolio of respiratory products. Teva integrates its generics and specialty capabilities in its global research and development division to create new ways of addressing unmet patient needs by combining drug development capabilities with devices, services and technologies. Teva's net revenues in 2015 amounted to $19.7 billion. For more information, visit http://www.tevapharm.com.

References

1. European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients' Association, COPD Explained http://www.efanet.org/get-advice/copd [accessed April 2016].

2. European Respiratory Society, European Lung White Book http://www.erswhitebook.org/chapters/the-burden-of-lung-disease/ [accessed May 2016].
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/30/16 -- Simavita Limited ("Simavita" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: SV) (ASX: SVA), a global leader in the digital healthcare sector, is pleased to release its financial results for the third quarter ended March 31, 2016, reported in Australian dollars and in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS").

Quarterly highlights

Notable highlights during the September quarter included:

-- Revenue from the sale of the Company's incontinence diagnostic tool kit of $178,174 representing an increase of 11% over the same prior year period. -- The number of facilities at which Company's incontinence diagnostic tool kit has been deployed, or contracted to be deployed, continues to grow and as at date is 147. In North America some facilities are co-located on the same site. The number of sites has increased to 135 and the number of beds under contract has now passed 12,800. -- Revenue for the period also included the first major sale in Europe through Danish distributor, Abena, who signed a contract to distribute the Company's incontinence diagnostic tool kit in the Municipality of Aarhus, Denmark. -- Further strengthening the Company's global patent portfolio, with the filing of 6 new patents during the quarter bringing total patents filed to 34, including 32 granted patents.

Immediately post the quarter:

-- On April 27, 2016 the Company issued secured notes totalling $3,063,000. The terms of the secured note issue provide that the secured notes will automatically convert into CDIs on the Company obtaining shareholder approval. A Special General Meeting has been convened on 23 June 2016 to consider approval of this conversion. The conversion price under the secured notes is AUD$0.05.

About Simavita

Simavita is a medical device company operating in the digital healthcare sector that has developed an innovative, world first solution for the management of urinary incontinence, with a focus on the elderly. The first product is the SIM incontinence diagnostic tool kit which is an instrumented incontinence assessment application that provides evidence based incontinence management care plans to the residential aged care market.

About SIM

SIM is a wireless sensor technology that delivers evidence-based instrumented incontinence data on individuals. It provides user friendly tools and software to assess the incontinence condition and to help plan better outcomes. SIM is used to detect, record and report incontinence events and related nursing interventions during a compulsory or recommended assessment period in residential aged care facilities; and to then develop evidence-based person-centred incontinence care plans.

Conducting assessments is mandatory in many countries and the incontinence assessment creates an influential element of care of each individual. For more information on Simavita or SIM, please visit www.simavita.com.

The TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") has in no way passed upon the merits of the transactions set out herein and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Release.

Except for historical information, this announcement may contain forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. These forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainties, which may cause, but are not limited to, the anticipated date of on the ASX, changing market conditions, the establishment of corporate alliances, the impact of competitive products and pricing, new product development, uncertainties related to the regulatory approval process, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's ongoing quarterly and annual reporting.

Forward-Looking Information

This document may contain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities laws ("forward-looking information"). This forward-looking information is given as of the date of this document.

Forward-looking information relates to future events or future performance and reflects Simavita management's expectations or beliefs regarding future events. Assumptions upon which such forward-looking information is based include that Simavita will be able to successfully execute on its business plans. Many of these assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of Simavita and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct.

In certain cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "potential", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or information that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. By its very nature forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Simavita to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to actual results of current business activities; changes in business plans and strategy as plans continue to be refined; other risks of the medical devices and technology industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of development activities; as well as those factors detailed from time to time in Simavita's interim and annual financial statements and management's discussion and analysis of those statements. Although Simavita has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Simavita provides no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Contacts:

Peta Jurd

Chief Commercial Officer

+61 2 8405 6361

www.simavita.com




SINGAPORE, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The Pearl of the Orient, China Hong Kong, is living up to its nickname and has defied a pattern of decline among Asian economies to supplant the United States of America (USA) as the world's most economically competitive country, according to the latest ranking released by the IMD World Competitiveness Center.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160527/372928-INFO )



The territory claims top spot in the 2016 edition of the prestigious World Competitiveness Ranking, returning to the number-one position for the first time since 2012. Singapore, ranking 4th is the only other Asian nation in the Top 10.

The USA ranked first in 2013, 2014 and 2015, with China Hong Kong slipping as low as fourth, but the sheer power of the US economy is no longer sufficient to maintain its dominance. Countries who take strategic action to compete, as in China Hong Kong's efforts to create a business friendly environment, or in Singapore's investment in infrastructure, especially around shipping, are able to stand up to large economies.

The latest ranks China Hong Kong first, Switzerland second and the USA third, with Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada completing the top 10.

Besides China Hong Kong and Singapore, the research suggests Asia's competitiveness has declined markedly overall since the publication of last year's ranking.

Taiwan (14th), Malaysia (19th), Korea Republic (29th) and Indonesia (48th) have all suffered significant falls from their 2015 positions, while only China Mainland stayed in the top 25.

Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, said: "On the whole, there has been a significant drop in Asia's competitiveness since our last ranking.

"This general decline has been caused by the fall in commodity prices, a strong dollar and the deterioration of balance sheets in both the private and public sectors."

Professor Bris added that China Hong Kong's consistent commitment to providing a favorable business environment had been central to its ability to defy the region's wider woes.

A leading banking and financial center - like Singapore - the territory encourages innovation through low and simple taxation and imposes no restrictions on capital flows.

It also offers a gateway for foreign direct investment in Mainland China, the world's newest economic superpower, and enables businesses there to access global capital markets.

IMD analyses over 340 criteria derived from four principal factors - economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure - to produce its rankings.

Professor Bris said: "One crucial fact that our research underlines year after year is that current economic growth is by no means a guarantee of future competitiveness.

"The common pattern among all of the countries in the top 20 is their focus on business-friendly regulation, physical and intangible infrastructure and inclusive institutions."

IMD business school has published the ranking each year since 1989.

More details of the ranking are available at https://worldcompetitiveness.imd.org/Press/ - Please contact IMD media relations for press credentials.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The IMD World Competitiveness Center has laid bare the plight of Latin America's economies by including only Chile in the top 40 of a ranking of the world's most economically competitive countries.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160527/372936 )



The prestigious World Competitiveness Ranking, published each year since 1989 from IMD business school , is widely regarded as the foremost analysis of its kind.

The 2016 edition ranks Chile 36th out of 61 nations - a fall of one place from its position last year - with all of the region's other representatives confined to the bottom 20.

Mexico (45th) and Brazil (56th) have both slipped down the table, with Colombia maintaining its position of 51st, and only Argentina - up from 59th to 55th - climbing. Venezuela remains in last place.

At the other end of the ranking, China Hong Kong has defied a pattern of decline in Asia to displace the USA as the world's most competitive economy for the first time in three years.

Switzerland claims second position, the USA drops to third, and Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada round out the top 10.

Commenting on Latin America's woes, Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, said: "The public sector continues to be a drag on these economies.

"It's notable that Chile is the only Latin American economy not in the bottom 20 and that Argentina is alone among the region's nations in improving its position since last year.

"The common pattern among all of the countries in the top 20 is their focus on business-friendly regulation, physical and intangible infrastructure and inclusive institutions.

"At the present time no Latin American economy comes close to possessing these qualities to anything like the extent required to make significant progress up the ranking."

IMD analyses over 340 criteria derived from four principal factors - economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure - to produce its ranking.

Responses from an in-depth survey of more than 5,400 business executives are also taken into consideration.

While Brazil once showed promising hopes to develop into a superstar among Latin economies, its performance dwindles.

"The main factor for Brazil's decline is its economic performance. A sluggish GDP growth, rising unemployment, an increase in the perception about relocation-threats in combination with increasing risks for investors have greatly impacted the economy," Bris said.

A full breakdown of the ranking is available at https://worldcompetitiveness.imd.org/Press/ - Please contact IMD media relations for login credentials.

About IMD

IMD is a top-ranked business school, recognized as the expert in developing global leaders through high-impact executive education.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The USA has surrendered its status as the world's most competitive economy after being overtaken by China Hong Kong and Switzerland, according to the IMD World Competitiveness Center.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160527/372929 )



The sheer power of the economy of the USA is no longer sufficient to keep it at the top of the prestigious World Competitiveness Ranking, which it has led for the past three years.

The IMD World Competitiveness Center, a research group within IMD business school, has published the ranking each year since 1989 and it is widely regarded as the foremost annual assessment of the competitiveness of countries.

The 2016 edition ranks China Hong Kong first, Switzerland second and the USA third, with Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada completing the top 10.

Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, said a consistent commitment to a favourable business environment was central to China Hong Kong's rise and that Switzerland's small size and its emphasis on a commitment to quality have allowed it to react quickly to keep its economy on top.

"The USA still boasts the best economic performance in the world, but there are many other factors that we take into account when assessing competitiveness," he said.

"The common pattern among all of the countries in the top 20 is their focus on business-friendly regulation, physical and intangible infrastructure and inclusive institutions."

A leading banking and financial center, China Hong Kong encourages innovation through low and simple taxation and imposes no restrictions on capital flows into or out of the territory.

It also offers a gateway for foreign direct investment in China Mainland, the world's newest economic superpower, and enables businesses there to access global capital markets.

China Hong Kong and Singapore aside, however, the research suggests Asia's competitiveness has declined markedly overall since the publication of last year's ranking.

Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea Republic, and Indonesia have all suffered significant falls from their 2015 positions, while China Mainland declined only narrowly retaining its place in the top 25.

The study reveals some of the most impressive strides in Europe have been made by countries in the East, chief among them Latvia, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

Western European economies have also continued to improve, with researchers highlighting the ongoing post-financial-crisis recovery of the public sector as a key driver.

Meanwhile, 36th-placed Chile is the sole Latin American nation outside the bottom 20, while Argentina, in 55th, is the only country in the region to have improved on its 2015 position. While Brazil once showed promising hopes to develop into a superstar among Latin economies, its performance dwindles.

"The main factor for Brazil's decline is its economic performance. A sluggish GDP growth, rising unemployment, an increase in the perception about relocation-threats in combination with increasing risks for investors have greatly impacted the economy," Bris said.

Each ranking is based on analysis of over 340 criteria derived from four principal factors: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.

Responses from an in-depth survey of more than 5,400 business executives, who are asked to assess the situation in their own countries, are also taken into consideration.

Professor Bris said: "One important fact that the ranking makes clear year after year is that current economic growth is by no means a guarantee of future competitiveness.

"Nations as different as China Mainland and Qatar fare very well in terms of economic performance, but they remain weak in other pillars such as government efficiency and infrastructure."

Data gathered since the first ranking was published more than 25 years ago also lend weight to fears that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer, said Professor Bris.

"Since 1995 the world has become increasingly unequal in terms of income differences among countries, although the rate of increase is now slowing," he said.

"The wealth of the richest countries has grown every year except for the past two, while the poorer countries have seen some improvement in living conditions since the millennium.

"Unfortunately, the problem for many countries is that wealth accumulation by the rich doesn't yield any benefits for the poor in the absence of proper social safety nets.

"Innovation-driven economic growth in poorer countries improves competitiveness, but it also increases inequality. This is obviously an issue that demands long-term attention."

Notes for editors

A full breakdown of the IMD World Competitiveness Center's Ranking is available at https://worldcompetitiveness.imd.org/Press/ - Please contact IMD media relations for login credentials.

The ranking has been produced every year since 1989 by the IMD World Competitiveness Center and is widely acknowledged as the leading annual assessment of the competitiveness of countries. In 2015 the top 10 consisted of the USA , China Hong Kong, Singapore , Switzerland , Canada , Luxembourg , Norway , Denmark , Sweden and Germany .

Since 2014 the IMD World Competitiveness Center has also published the IMD World Talent Report, an annual assessment of how countries sustain talent for the businesses operating within their economies. The 2015 edition featured a top 10 of Switzerland , Denmark , Luxembourg , Norway , the Netherlands , Finland , Germany , Canada , Belgium and Singapore .

About IMD

IMD is a top-ranked business school, recognized as the expert in developing global leaders through high-impact executive education.

MEDIA CONTACT: Matthew Mortellaro, +41-21-618-0352 matthew.mortellaro@imd.org
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/30/16 -- Cogeco Inc. (TSX: CGO) and Cogeco Communications Inc. (TSX: CCA) plan to release their financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2016, ending May 31, 2016, on Wednesday, July 6, 2016, after market closing.

The companies will hold a conference call on Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) to discuss their financial and operating results.

A live audio webcast will be available on Cogeco's web site at http://corpo.cogeco.com/cgo/en/investors/. The webcast will be available on Cogeco's website for a three-month period. Members of the financial community will be able to access the conference call and ask questions. Media representatives may attend as listeners only.

Please use the following dial-in number to have access to the conference call 5 to 10 minutes before the start of the conference: Canada/USA Access Number: 1-800-505-9573 International Access Number: 1-416-204-9498 Confirmation Code: 5432616 An audio rebroadcast of the conference call will be available until July 13, 2016, by dialing: Canada and USA access number: 1-888-203-1112 International access number: 1-647-436-0148 Confirmation code: 5432616

Contacts:

Source:

Patrice Ouimet

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc.

514-764-4700



Information:

Rene Guimond

Senior Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications

Cogeco Inc. and Cogeco Communications Inc.

514-764-4700




VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/30/16 -- A British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) panel has reciprocated enforcement orders against three individuals sanctioned by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and the Ontario Securities Commission. They are:

Amy May Hanna-Rogerson Gurpreet Singh Pawar David James Rogerson

For more information on the orders, search for the person's name at www.bcsc.bc.ca.

The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) maintains national databases for disciplined persons and firms and cease trade orders. These databases include all persons in Canada disciplined for securities trading offences.

About the British Columbia Securities Commission (www.bcsc.bc.ca)

The British Columbia Securities Commission is the independent provincial government agency responsible for regulating capital markets in British Columbia through the administration of the Securities Act. Our mission is to protect and promote the public interest by fostering:

-- A securities market that is fair and warrants public confidence -- A dynamic and competitive securities industry that provides investment opportunities and access to capital

Learn how to protect yourself and become a more informed investor at www.investright.org.

Contacts:

Media Contact: British Columbia Securities Commission

Alison Walker

Media Relations

604-899-6713

mediarelations@bcsc.bc.ca

www.bcsc.bc.ca



Public inquiries:

604-899-6854 or 1-800-373-6393 (toll free)

inquiries@bcsc.bc.ca




CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 05/30/16 -- Harvest Operations Corp. ("Harvest") today announced an amendment to its previously announced offer to exchange (the "Exchange Offer") any and all of its outstanding 67/8% Senior Notes due 2017 (the "Old Notes") for new 2.33% Guaranteed Notes due 2021 (the "New Notes") issued by Harvest and unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed (such guarantee, the "Guarantee") by Korea National Oil Corporation ("KNOC") and related consent solicitation (the "Consent Solicitation") to adopt amendments to the indenture governing the Old Notes, which include eliminating certain of the covenants therein

The Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation are being made pursuant to the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the offering memorandum and consent solicitation statement dated May 16, 2016 (as amended or supplemented from time to time, the "Offering Memorandum") and the related letter of transmittal, and where applicable, the Canadian Private Placement Memorandum.

To encourage additional Eligible Holders (defined below) to tender their Old Notes, Harvest is extending the previously announced "Early Tender Time" of 5:00 p.m., New York City time on May 27, 2016 to 11:59 p.m., New York City time, on June 13, 2016, which is also the previously announced "Expiration Time." Accordingly, Eligible Holders who validly tender their Old Notes prior to the Expiration Time will be eligible to receive the previously announced "Total Exchange Consideration" of $900 principal amount of New Notes for each $1,000 principal amount of Old Notes accepted for exchange.

All other terms and conditions of the Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation remain unchanged.

The previously announced withdrawal deadline for the Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation has now passed and all Old Notes tendered pursuant to the Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation may not be withdrawn.

The settlement date for the Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation will be promptly following the Expiration Time and is expected to be within three business days after the Expiration Time.

The Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation are subject to conditions, including a requirement, unless waived by Harvest, that it receives consents to the Proposed Amendments from holders of a majority of the outstanding principal amount of the Old Notes. Currently, the conditions to the Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation have not been satisfied. Accordingly, unless additional Old Notes are tendered prior to the Expiration Time, Harvest will have no obligation to consummate the Exchange Offer. Harvest does not intend to waive the conditions to the Exchange Offer, although it reserves the right to do so.

Only holders of Old Notes who certify, by visiting the eligibility website at http://www.dfking.com/harvest, that they are (i) "qualified institutional buyers" within the meaning of Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), or (ii) not "U.S. persons" and are outside of the United States within the meaning of Regulation S under the Securities Act (such persons, "Eligible Holders"), are authorized to receive and review the Offering Memorandum and to participate in the Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation. To the extent the holder of Old Notes is a resident of Canada, such holder must also certify that it is an "accredited investor" as defined under National Instrument 45-106 - Prospectus Exemptions ("NI 45-106"), and, if required by a dealer manager that is relying on the "International Dealer" exemption in Canada, that such holder also qualifies as a "permitted client" as defined under National Instrument 31-103 - Registration Requirements, Exemptions and Ongoing Registrant Obligations.

Any questions or requests for assistance related to the Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation or for copies of the Offering Memorandum and the related letter of transmittal may be directed to D.F. King & Co., Inc., the exchange agent and information agent in connection with the Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation, at +1 (877) 732-3619 (U.S. toll-free) or +1 (212) 269-5550 (banks and brokers) or email at harvest@dfking.com.

This press release is not an offer to exchange or a solicitation of acceptance of an offer to exchange any securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offering, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. None of the Issuer, the Guarantor, the dealer managers, the trustee with respect to the Old Notes, the fiscal agent with respect to the New Notes, the exchange agent and information agent, or any affiliate of any of them, makes any recommendation as to whether Eligible Holders should participate in the Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation and no one has been authorized by any of them to make such a recommendation.

Neither the New Notes nor the Guarantee has been or will be qualified for distribution under applicable Canadian securities laws. The New Notes are being offered in the provinces and territories of Canada on a private placement basis in accordance with NI 45-106 without the filing of a prospectus. Neither the New Notes nor the Guarantee has been registered under the Securities Act, or any state securities laws of the United States, and they may not be offered or sold directly or indirectly within the United States or to or for the account or benefit of a U.S. person except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

HARVEST CORPORATE PROFILE

Harvest is a wholly-owned, subsidiary of KNOC. Harvest is a significant operator in Canada's energy industry offering stakeholders exposure to exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas (Upstream) and an oil sands project under construction and development in northern Alberta (BlackGold).

KNOC is a state owned oil and gas company engaged in the exploration and production of oil and gas along with storing petroleum resources. KNOC will fully establish itself as a global government-run petroleum company by applying ethical, sustainable and environment-friendly management and by taking corporate social responsibility seriously at all times. KNOC has also unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed Harvest's 2.125% Guaranteed Notes due 2018. For more information on KNOC, please visit their website at www.knoc.co.kr/ENG/main.jsp.

ADVISORY

Certain information in this press release constitutes "forward-looking statements" which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Words such as "expects", "anticipates", "projects", "intends", "plans", "will", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "should", "may", "could", and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. A list and description of the forward-looking statements contained herein and the risks, uncertainties and other matters regarding Harvest, KNOC, the Exchange Offer and Consent Solicitation, the New Notes and the Guarantee can be found in the Offering Memorandum.

Readers are cautioned that the forward-looking information may not be appropriate for other purposes and the actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Although management believes that the forward-looking information is reasonable based on information available on the date such forward-looking statements were made, no assurances can be given as to future results, levels of activity and achievements. Therefore, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. Although we consider such information reasonable at the time of preparation, it may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Harvest assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances, estimates or opinions change, except as required by law. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement

Contacts:

INVESTOR & MEDIA CONTACT:

Greg Foofat, Investor Relations

Harvest Operations Corp.

Toll Free Investor Mailbox: (866) 666-1178

information@harvestenergy.ca

www.harvestenergy.ca




TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 05/30/16 -- EEStor Corporation (TSX VENTURE: ESU) ("EEStor" or the "Company") today announced its financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2016. All amounts are expressed in Canadian dollars.

Financial Results

The net loss for the three months and six months ended March 31, 2016 with the comparative results for the comparable periods are summarized as follows:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three months Three months Six months Six months ended ended ended ended March 31, 2016 March 31, 2015 March 31, 2016 March 31, 2015 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net loss $594,299 $707,812 $1,131,166 $1,407,243 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Non-controlling interest $37,684 $170,048 $162,343 $412,079 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total loss $631,983 $877,860 $1,293,509 $1,819,322 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net loss per share $0.01 $0.01 $0.02 $0.03 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Company also announces the grant of stock options to acquire an aggregate of 180,000 common shares to certain officers of the Company under the Company's stock option plan. Each option is exercisable to acquire one common share at a price of $0.19. The options vest quarterly over a twenty four month period. These options will expire five years from the date of grant.

About EEStor Corporation

EEStor Corporation's mission is to be the provider of leading edge capacitor and energy storage solutions and related technologies. The Company operates on the principle and belief that a fundamental breakthrough in high voltage capacitance and related energy storage will be the catalyst for positive environmental and economic change globally. The Company's current business strategy is focused on licensing and partnership opportunities across a broad spectrum of industries and applications building on its recent technology achievements in the capacitor industry.

The Company holds an approximate 71.3% as-converted equity and voting interest and certain technology rights to a solid-state capacitor and related energy storage technologies currently under development by EEStor, Inc. The acquisition of the controlling interest in EEStor, Inc. aligns the businesses of both companies and now allows EEStor Corporation to benefit from other revenue streams that should be available to EEStor, Inc., including applications throughout the capacitor industry and not limited to high density energy storage applications.

EEStor, Inc.'s capacitor and energy storage technology is still under development and a number of further development milestones must be achieved before commercial viability can be fully established. There are significant risks associated with the development of new technologies such as EEStor, Inc.'s capacitor and energy storage technology and readers are directed to the "Risk Factors" disclosed in EEStor Corporation's most recent Annual Information Form filed on SEDAR.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Ian Clifford

Chief Executive Officer

EEStor Corporation

416-535-8395

ian.clifford@eestorcorp.com




(ASX:HFR) Highfield Resourceshas signed its first memorandums of understanding with 3 fertiliser companies active in the Spanish and French markets.

The MoUs represent up to 320,000 tonnes per annum of K60 Muriate of Potash from its Muga mine.

Ongoing discussions are underway with additional European and North African buyers for the remaining production available.

Managing Director Anthony Hall has indicated the focus on Spain and Southern France is deliberate and is due in part to the potash price premium in the region and the ability of the company to deliver on a just-in-time basis.

Highfield Resources reported a net loss of $2.7 million at 31 December 2015.
Staffbase, a Chemnitz, Germany-based provider of an employee intranet app for internal communications, raised 2.02m in Series A funding.

The round was led by Capnamic Ventures and Kizoo Technology Ventures.

The company intends to use the funds for US expansion, setting up a branch office in New York, internationalizing the marketing and sales department, and investing in the further development of the platform.

Led by Dr. Martin Bohringer, CEO & Co-Founder, Staffbase enables companies to launch their own intranet app to manage content like corporate news, forms, documents, calendars, shift plans, through an intuitive user interface. The focus is on non-desk workers, home-office employees and others, without direct access to the internal company network.

Customers include Siemens, Viessmann and T-Systems MMS.

FinSMEs

30/05/2016
Last week, in Vienna, Austria, Pleo, a Copenhagen-based provider of smart payment cards for employees, won the Piooners Festival startup competion, which has seen about 3,000 companies from 93 countries applying in 2016. In conjunction with the victory, Jeppe Rindom, who co-founded the company along with Niccolo Perra in 2015, answered our questions about himself, Pleo, the solution and its features, and future plans.

FinSMEs: Hi Jeppe, can you tell us a bit more about you?

Jeppe: I am a consultant by school but an entrepreneur by heart. I started my career at McKinsey & Co. 12 years ago and spend 5 years in consulting during which time I also moved on and focused on Mergers & Acquisitions. In 2009 I moved to a Danish bioscience company, Chr. Hansen. I was leading the business development department and led the IPO of the company in 2010. It was the biggest Danish IPO in a century and today a $10bn company. After that, I got bored and I decided to reboot my career and focus on entrepreneurship. I joined Tradeshift, at the time a small very young Danish startup building a platform for digital trade between companies. I was the CFO but in reality I spend more time on Operations, Financial products and partnerships. We raised $40mio. during my time and moved the company to San Francisco. After 3 years, when Tradeshift was operational in 4 markets and had 100 employees, I decided to return to Denmark to build my own thing from scratch.

FinSMEs: Why did you build Pleo? Which problem do you want to solve?

Jeppe: We are building Pleo because business spending has changed a lot in the last 10 years and I have been frustrated that no good products to accommodate this were available.

Today, most things you need to run a business are only a few clicks away. Really! All you need in terms of software, hardware, subscriptions, hosting etc. etc. Its all very available. But transactions have become more complex. No longer are we only making one-off transactions. Suddenly a high proportion of transactions are repeat purchases or subscriptions, which are harder to manage.

Employees, have started to act like consumers. Whenever they need something for work, they prefer to buy it themselves. Why should they ask and instruct an assistant to buy that flight, when its done in two minutes?

BUT, reality is that the tool for business spending  the company credit card  has not changed in the past 25 years. It takes 8 weeks to get a card, paperwork by mail etc. . Once you have one, you can do pretty much everything up to a certain limit and the financial overview is delayed by nature. So you need to have a lot of trust in place before an employee is offered a card. Therefore, in most businesses, only few people get the privilege of a card.

Current processes creates pain everywhere in the organisation. Employees are frustrated about having to pay out-of-pocket, they feel mistrusted and we all hate the classic expense report. Financial people face a lot of complexity caused by cards being shared and missing documentation. Some companies have more than 50% unknown transactions every months, where they subsequently liaise with the employees to collect the receipts and check if subscriptions are being used. Managers lack real time insight into their budgets because todays spend data is super delayed.

FinSMEs: How does it work?

Jeppe: Pleo is the first company card to come with an artificial assistant.

We onboard companies in minutes as opposed to weeks. You can delegate cards and payments very easily and set up rights and restrictions as you are comfortable. As an employee all you have to do is spend. We work hard (through machine learning technology) to automate the rest so you dont have to spend time on collection of receipts, categorizations etc. For example, if you buy a flight online, we will automatically collect the receipt in your inbox, match it with the transaction and categorize it travel. Done.

Were on a mission to revolutionize business spending. Much more to come :).

FinSMEs: Where are you in terms of growth?

Jeppe: Were currently in private beta with a very limited number of users. 10 employees. Hundreds of companies have signed up in line representing more than 10,000 employees.

FinSMEs: You just won the Piooners Festival competition and raised 500k in seed funding from SpeedInvest. How are you using the funds?

Jeppe: Right now our focus is on our launch, which is going to happen in a few months in the UK and Denmark.

FinSMEs: Future plans?

Jeppe: Further expansion into other European countries. Making our solution available to other card issuers as a service.

FinSMEs

30/05/2016
Swanlaab Venture Factory, a Madrid, Spain-based venture capital firm, has held the first close of its first fund, at 40m.

Limited Partners in The Swanlaab Giza INNVIERTE Venture Fund I, include CDTI, which has committed 12m, and other domestic and international investors.

The fundraising phase ot the fund will end at the beginning of 2017.

Established in 2014 by Israeli VC firm Giza Venture Capital and led by CEO Mark Kavelaars, Swanlaab aims to invest from 1m to 3m in Spanish startups at their earlier stage operating in such sectors as Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, storage and data management.

The fund can also make follow on investments to further support companies at the growth stage.

Beyond Kavelaars, the team of Swanlaab also includes Zeev Holtzman, Veronica Trapa, Yuval Avni, Juan Revuelta, Zvi Schechter and Tal Mizrahi.

FinSMEs

30/05/2016
European Investment Fund (EIF), Undersecretariat of Treasury, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organization of Turkey (KOSGEB) and the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB) have established the Turkish Growth and Innovation Fund to support innovative and technology oriented businesses with a rapid growth potential.

The 200m fund will be Turkeys next generation of Fund of Funds succeeding the Istanbul Venture Capital Initiative (iVCi), which was launched in 2007 and made 10 investments.

It will focus on private equity, venture capital, business angels and early stage investments in Turkey.

In details, the Turkish Growth and Innovation Fund will invest:

 40% of its aggregate commitments in funds which have a focus on investments into seed, early stage and start-up businesses; suitable technology transfer accelerators; or investments involving business angels, and

 60% in funds which have a focus on investments into expansion capital, replacement capital, mezzanine and buy-out stage or other similar growth investments.

Investors in the vehicle included the Undersecretariat of Treasury (60m), SME Development Organisation of Turkey (60m), the Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (20m) and European Investment Fund (60m), which is also adviser to TGIF.

FinSMEs

30/05/2016
The controversy over comedy group All India Bakchod (AIB)'s Knockout video, popularly known as the AIB Roast, was probably enough to put the faint-hearted off offbeat humor. But months and several hilarious videos later, AIB are prepared to do it all over again.

When asked if the group is open to doing another roast, member Rohan Joshi was all for it, according to a report by Hindustan Times. Yeah, sure... why not! he is quoted as saying.

Joshi's 'Why not' is a very valid question as the Roast was one of AIB's biggest hits, despite (or maybe because of?) the controversy which included FIRs and allegations of obscenity that led to AIB taking down the video. As co-founder Gursimran Khamba points out in the Hindustan Times report, "I dont know where this thing about it being a flop came from. I mean, 11 million people saw it on YouTube in just two days. You think people didnt like it?

When you know illegal copies of the roast are being sold for one hundred bucks, then you know people are watching it and liking it as well," adds Joshi.

A Roast, popular in the Western media, is a comedy event where celebrities are publicly mocked in their presence. AIB attempted to host India's first ever Roast with Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh as the targets back in December 2014 which was attended by several celebrities.

The video was uploaded on YouTube earlier this year and that's when the controversy began thanks to the explicit content. An FIR was filed against the venue, attendees and participants including Karan Johar, Ranveer Singh, Rohan Joshi, Tanmay Bhatt, Gursimran Khamba, Ashish Shakya, Aditi Mittal, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Rajeev Masand and Arjun Kapoor. However, while celebrities like Aamir Khan criticised it, it was well received by Bollywood and even clocked in over 10 million hits before it was taken down by AIB.

While we do not know who the next Roast will involve or what will it result in, but we do look forward to seeing what AIB has to offer next on the subject.
After a fracas with the Kejriwal government in Delhi, Ola and Uber have landed into trouble with the Karnataka government over a slew of issues, with surge pricing being one of the trouble points as it was in Delhi.

The Karnataka government has come down heavily on taxi aggregators like Uber and Ola by asking them to get a licence from the government if they want to ply in the state. Procuring a licence would put roadblocks in the ease with which Ola and Uber currently operate with their own fixed fares, surge pricing  increasing fares during peak time, and not registering with transport authorities to ply in the state.

Will Ola and Uber toe the line of regulations as directed by the Karnataka government on April 2, or will it choose to go off the roads from today? App based taxi aggregators in Karnataka have been obtaining a licence following the Radio Taxi Scheme 1988 bypassing the Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules 2016.

Ola filed an application only on Saturday evening while Uber has so far not followed government rules, according to Karnatakas Transport Commissioner Ramegowda.

According to a statement issued by the Transport Commissioner's office on Saturday, "Companies which have not obtained licences from the concerned authority should stop operations with immediate effect otherwise strict action will be taken against such operators."

The Commissioner said some of the taxi aggregators were yet to comply with government rules such as approaching the police to verify drivers background, while one aggregator has now initiated procedures to complete a bulk of the governments requirements.

The state transport had filed 300 cases against Ola and Uber and confiscated around 1,000 taxis in the past two months. Ola and Uber drivers had taken to the streets to protest at what they termed as harassment by transport authorities.

Uber and Ola continued to ply on Sunday in the state without paying heed to the government directive. The government, it is believed, did not take any action as Sunday was the finals of the IPL in Bangalore.

This is not the first time that the Karnataka government has hauled taxi aggregators. In March, both Ola and Uber had to suspend their bike taxi services, which the government said bikes could not be used as taxi services.

What will be the next move of Ola and Uber in Bangalore, India's own Silicon Valley?
New Delhi: Several African students on Monday staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against increasing attacks on them and demanded that the Indian government act swiftly to stop such incidents.

We want the government's support as the incidents of attacks on people from African continent are increasing in the city. The Indian government needs to ensure safety of African nationals and act swiftly on such incidents, said a protestor at Jantar Mantar.

The protests come in the wake of a string of attacks on African nationals, especially students, in the national capital and elsewhere, which has caused outrage among them.

On 20 May, a Congolese national was beaten to death by three men after an altercation over hiring of an auto-rickshaw in Vasant Kunj area turned violent.

On 25 May, a Nigerian student in Hyderabad was allegedly beaten by an Indian over a parking dispute.

On 28 May, four separate cases of alleged assault on African nationals in the national capital was reported, adding to the growing number of such attacks.

The Indian government has assured angry African envoys of protection to their nationals in India, with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj personally monitoring the developments.
Jaipur: IAS officer Neeraj K Pawan and RAS officer Anil Kumar Agrawal were arrested by Anti-

Corruption Bureau of Rajasthan on Monday in connection with a bribery case worth Rs 1.5 crore. "Pawan and Agrawal were summoned at the Bureau headquarters and arrested today after initial interrogation in a case of graft registered against them," IG ACB V K Singh told PTI. The accused were arrested under Prevention of Corruption Act.

On 18 May, the ACB had busted a nexus between senior officers, including Pawan, and a middleman in the office of

National Health Mission of Medical and Health Department. A FIR was registered on 17 May by the complainant and raids were conducted at 18 premises on 18 May. The complainant, whose identity has not been disclosed, had given over Rs 1.5 crore as bribe to the main accused, Ajeet Soni, in the last few months to get work orders worth Rs 7 crore. Soni used to collect bribes in the form of consultancy fees from firms after getting them tenders from the department in collaboration with the officers.

Soni would distribute the bribe among the officers, including former Additional Mission Director of the National Health Mission Neeraj K Pawan, Additional Director IEC Anil Kumar Agrawal, Chief Accounts Officer Deepa Gupta and store keeper Joji Varghese. Soni, Gupta and Varghese were arrested on May 18 whereas Pawan was questioned for few days before the arrest.

"Soni used to influence the tender process in connivance with the officers. He became consultant to firms which work for the NRHM and helped in getting tenders allotted to them in lieu of hefty amount. Since the tenders were awarded by him, Pawan was a strong suspect," the officer said. Singh said the ACB sleuths have recovered several important documents, files, electronic devices which have crucial details about the bribes. Pawan, a 2003 batch IAS officer, was last posted as Commissioner in the Agriculture Department and he along with Agrawal were placed under Awaiting Posting Orders (APO) status on 19 May after the ACB's action.
New Delhi: Envoys of African countries are adopting a "wait and watch" policy regarding India's assurance in ensuring safety of their citizens after they had demanded concrete steps against "racism and Afro-phobia" last week in the wake of killing of a Congolese national.

Dean of African Group Head of Missions and Ambassador of Eritrea Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, who had issued a strongly-worded statement seeking stringent action to guarantee safety of Africans in India, said it was up to the Indian government to take action on the concerns conveyed by the envoys.

"Whatever we had to convey, we have done that on Africa Day. Now, it is up to the Indian government to take action on the assurances given to us," he said when asked if the Group would again raise with India the issue of fresh attacks against African nationals.

Echoing his views, another African envoy said the African countries were waiting for MEA's follow up action on its assurance that security for African nationals would be enhanced.

Congolese national Masonda Ketada Oliver was killed on 20 May following a brawl in Vasant Kunj area. More cases of alleged assault on African nationals came to fore in South Delhi's Mehrauli area last week in which six persons from the community sustained injuries.

In his statement, Woldemariam on 25 May had demanded concrete steps against "racism and Afro-phobia".

Meanwhile Olivier's brother Michael said "We are disappointed about security in India for our students. We have asked for a speedy trial (into Oliver's killing). What happened to him can happen to any one of us.

"We are scared. I hope government of India will improve things for our safety."

The African students are planning a protest in New Delhi on Tuesday seeking justice to Oliver and better security for the African nationals.

Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh is likely to meet African students on Tuesday.
New Delhi: With attacks on African nationals continuing to hog limelight, the government today promised

strictest possible action if such assaults were found to have a racial angle.

"If racial angle is found in any of the case, strictest of possible action will be taken," Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters in New Delhi.

The minister was replying to a question on whether the recent incidents of attacks on African nationals in Delhi allegedly had a racial angle.

"We have taken up all the incidents very seriously. Action is being taken and some arrests have already been made," he said.

On the attack on a taxi driver allegedly by a group of Africans in New Delhi on Monday, Rijiju said anyone taking law in their hands would be punished.

"Maintaining law and order is our responsibility. Be it Indian citizens or foreign nationals, anyone who takes law in their hands won't be spared," he said.

There has been a series of attacks on African nationals in the last few days, including killing of a Congolese youth in the national capital. A 23-year-old Nigerian student was also assaulted in Hyderabad.

Five people have been arrested in connection with the attacks on African nationals in New Delhi.
Protesters lay seige outside Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's residence on Monday after senior party leader Digvijaya Singh made inflammatory remarks regarding the Batla encounter case.

On 25 May, AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh had asked the central government to order a judicial probe into the "fake" 2008 encounter at Batla House in Delhi in which two suspected terrorists and a police officer were killed. He had also dared the BJP to go for a judicial probe.

"The Congress and especially Sonia Gandhi have always been double-faced. When the Batla encounter took place, the Congress leader said the encounter was fake," BJP leader Satish Upadhyay said.

"We demand an apology from Sonia Gandhi. The Congress should not play the politics of dividing the nation," Upadhyay said.

Delhi BJP media coordinator Praveen Shankar Kapoor demanded that the Congress should apologise for maintaining that "the encounter was state-managed".

Delhi: BJP stage protest against Congress outside AICC office over Batla House encounter case pic.twitter.com/ImsQfKXiVR  ANI (@ANI_news) May 30, 2016

The encounter, which had taken place when the Congress-led UPA government was in power, had cropped up amid a claim made by an alleged Islamic State operative that he had fled Batla House right before the police raided it.

One of the men in the 22-minute video which was released by the Islamic State had claimed that he was at Batla House when police had raided the premises and fled afterwards.

The Batla House gunfight had taken place a week after five serial blasts in Delhi on 13 September, 2008 in which at least 30 people were killed and over 100 injured.

The issue of an alleged "fake encounter" was also used politically chiefly by the Samajwadi Party and the Congress.

Seven Delhi police personnel had stormed an apartment building in Batla House in Delhi's Jamia Nagar where Indian Mujahideen terrorists were allegedly hiding.

Two suspected terrorists were shot dead while one named Shahzad was arrested and a fourth reportedly managed to escape.

With inputs from PTI and IANS
New Delhi: With the Finance Ministry rejecting waiver of mandatory local sourcing for Apple Inc to

set up single-brand stores in India, the Commerce Ministry on Monday said it will again push the case of the iPhone maker and a consensus decision should be reached soon.

At the same time, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she is not in favour of Apple's another proposal to import refurbished phones and sell in India.

She said her ministry has taken a line that the 30 per cent local sourcing requirement can be waived off for high-end technology products.

"Now the Finance Ministry has already taken a different position, we will certainly talk to them... I want more clarity on that... We will talk and make sure that sooner we will come out with some decision," she told reporters.

Explaining her position on Apple's proposal, Sitharaman said, "We are not talking about changing the rule for manufacturing. We are just saying let's be clear on single-brand retailing.

"... Why do we want to have something which is not going to change in any way the parameter in the market and therefore we want to explain it out to the Finance Ministry," she added.

"This is the issue on which we have genuine concerns and therefore, within the government, I want a

consensus to evolve," she said.

The Finance Ministry is against relaxing the 30 per cent domestic sourcing norms, as sought by iPhone and iPad maker Apple as a pre-condition to setting up single-brand retail stores in the country.

The US-based giant has sought exemption on the ground that it makes state-of-the-art and cutting-edge technology products for which local sourcing is not possible.

On Apple's proposal to import refurbished phones and sell in India, Sitharaman said, "We would not be in favour of whatever you may call them -- used but refashioned, remodelled, updated... used goods. We are not in favour of bringing them here."

To further encourage start-ups in the country, she said the Commerce Ministry has recommended to the Finance Ministry to raise tax holiday for start-ups from three years to seven years.
Several African students on Monday staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi against increasing attacks on them and demanded that the Indian government act swiftly to stop such incidents. "We want the government's support as the incidents of attacks on people from African continent are increasing in the city. The Indian government needs to ensure safety of African nationals and act swiftly on such incidents," said a protestor at Jantar Mantar.

The protests come in the wake of a string of attacks on African nationals, especially students, in the national capital and elsewhere, which has caused outrage among them.

Meanwhile, amid brutal attacks, Goa Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar on Monday said that Nigerian nationals not just "create problems" in Goa, but across the country too. The minister's comment comes even as a group of African students also met Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar in the regard.

Parulekar, asked to comment on accusations of rape and kidnapping against two Africans levelled by a woman at Mapusa police station on Sunday, said that Nigerian students commit crimes on purpose to prolong their stay, sell drugs and indulge in "unwanted things".

He also said that a strict pan-India law should be enacted to deport them within one month.

"Nigerians create problem not just in Goa, but in the entire country. Nigerian students come to Goa and India to study, they get an FIR filed (against them), make it a judicial matter and then try to stay in India or Goa and indulge in drugs and other unwanted things," Parulekar said.

"Two years ago I had heard they had blocked the (national highway 17) highway. India should have a strict law, where the police force can catch them and deport them back. But that law is not in India at the moment, therefore it is a weak point in matters of governance," Parulekar said, adding that those who have been "black-listed" or have committed crimes should be deported within a month.

Interestingly, the same Parulekar, who is passionately talking about police force and "strict law" was hauled up by the High Court for illegal grabbing of Serula comunidade land case involving him, his brother and nine others. The High Court of Bombay at Goa held that his whole conduct including that of others is an illegal expedient to usurp the land of the Comunidade without sanction of law.

On 8 May, the court had observed that Parulekar had "no legal right to put the subject construction as he had no allotment in accordance with the code of communidade". The district and sessions court is also hearing an appeal against criminal proceedings to be initiated against Parulekar in the same case.

Police in Goa are on the lookout for two young Africans, who late on Saturday allegedly kidnapped a woman at knife-point and later raped her at a rented room in Assagao village, 20 km north of Panaji.

The exact nationality of the African nationals is still not confirmed, according to the police.

On 20 May, a Congolese national was beaten to death by three men after an altercation over hiring of an auto-rickshaw in Vasant Kunj area turned violent. On 25 May, a Nigerian student in Hyderabad was allegedly beaten by an Indian over a parking dispute.

On 28 May, four separate cases of alleged assault on African nationals in the national capital was reported, adding to the growing number of such attacks.

The Indian government has assured angry African envoys of protection to their nationals in India, with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj personally monitoring the developments.

As Devparna Acharya of Firstpost argues in this piece that while this nasty game of superior race is being played out in the foreground, the damage it does to India, which is projecting itself as one of the growing regional powers, is unimaginable.

With inputs from IANS
Bhaderwah, J&K: Security forces on Monday busted a militant hideout and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition in Chirala forest of Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district.

Troops of 26 Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operation Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police launched a joint search operation in Sunarthwa forest near Gosti Bowl in Doda district and unearthed the hideout, an Army officer based in Thathri said.

"After a 36-hour operation, they busted a terrorist hideout from a natural cave and seized four weapons and other arms and ammunition including one AK 56 rifle, two 9mm pistols, one country-made pistol, seven AK magazines, two 9 mm pistol magazines, one Pika magazine, four UBGL grenades, five Pakistan-origin hand grenades and 1,696 rounds of 7.62 mm AK 47," he said.

Following inputs about suspicious movement of militants in the area for the last three months, the army had strengthened vigil there, the Army officer said.

Three columns (of 50 to 70 personnel each) of the Army, six SOG personnel and a head constable were part of the team that carried out the operation, he said.

The military officer said it was suspected that the seized arms belonged to one of the terrorist outfits active in the area in the past. They were handed over to the Thathri police and an FIR was subsequently registered.
With the Jat community threatening to launch a fresh agitation for reservation, prohibitory orders under Section 144 (banning assembly of five or more persons) of the CrPC have been imposed in eight districts of Haryana.

On Sunday, Section 144 was also imposed in Sonipat, which along with Rohtak had been the epicentre of the Jat quota agitation earlier this year, official sources said.

While the Central Armed Police Forces were deployed in many sensitive districts  in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonipat, Hisar, Bhiwani, Jind and Kaithal  across the state, security has been strengthened at Munak canal, the sources said.

Terming it to be an administrative move, Haryana Chief Minister Manoharlal Khattar said, "This is administrative work, whatever is required in an area is done. We have been assured of a peaceful protest on 5 June. Cannot take away the right of a peaceful protest from anybody."

This is administrative work, whatever is required in an area is done:ML Khattar,Haryana CM on Sec 144 in 8 districts pic.twitter.com/xjJgesxCfZ  ANI (@ANI_news) May 30, 2016

Protesters had disrupted water supply to the national capital by damaging the Carrier-Lined Channel (CLC) of Munak Canal during February's agitation.

Haryana Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu had on Saturday said the government would not allow the recurrence of a similar situation in the state.

Two days back, a sedition case was registered against Jat Sangharsh Samiti chief Yashpal Malik and 125 others for allegedly threatening peace and communal harmony in Haryana by instigating people to launch a fresh quota agitation.

The Samiti also held a meeting in Delhi on Sunday to chalk out its future course of action.

Unmoved by the FIRs registered against many Jat leaders, Yashpal Malik has maintained they would go ahead with their stir on 5 June, which will begin after a meeting in Hisar district.

Jat community leaders from several states including Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and UP would be participating in the meeting next Sunday.

Samiti leaders have alleged that Haryana Government was misusing the police force to suppress their right to freedom of speech and expression.

Earlier this week, Punjab and Haryana High Court had stayed the reservation for Jats and five other communities provided by the Haryana government under a newly carved Backward Classes (C) category.

Thirty people were killed and property worth hundreds of crores of rupees was destroyed during the violent agitation in February this year, with districts including Rohtak, Jhajjar and Sonipat, being the worst affected.

With inputs from Agencies
New Delhi: An Ola cab driver was allegedly assaulted on Monday morning by several African nationals after he refused to allow more than four persons in his cab, police said.

According to police, the incident took place in South Delhi's Mehrauli area around 4 am when a group of Africans (five men and one woman) booked a cab from CDR chowk in Mehrauli area to Dwarka.

"As Naruddin (Ola cab driver) refused to carry more than four passengers in his car, he was thrashed by the six people, including a woman," a senior police official told IANS.

"Naruddin has sustained injuries on his face and was shifted to Jai Prakash Narayan Trauma Centre for treatment," the officer said, adding: "A case has been registered at the Mehrauli police station against the Africans for assault."

After thrashing the driver, the five men fled but the woman was apprehended by the driver, police said.

According to the driver, the taxi no.DL1YE5087 was booked through Ola mobile app from CDR chowk to Dwarka in the national capital.

Earlier on Friday, Delhi Police registered four separate cases relating to assault of African nationals in the Mehrauli area.

On May 20, a 23-year-old Congolese national Masonda Ketada Olivier was beaten to death by some youths after a spat over hiring of an auto-rickshaw in Vasant Kunj area of south Delhi
Bahraich: A teenage girl was allegedly abducted, gangraped, murdered and her body hanged from a tree in Nanpara area in Uttar Pradesh.

The incident has triggered outrage, prompting the authorities to swing into action.

Four constables have been suspended for dereliction of duty and two of the three accused named by the victim's father have been arrested so far, police said.

The incident took place on Friday when the 15-year-old girl went missing and her body was yesterday found hanging from a tree outside the village, they said.

Police suspect the body was hanged from a tree so as to give an impression that she committed suicide.

An FIR has been registered on a complaint of the victim's father against Imran, Sarvjeet Yadav and Ghanshyam Maurya for abducting, raping and killing his daughter.

He alleged that the three had tried to abduct the victim earlier also but failed.

Superintendent of Police Salik Ram Verma said the body has been sent for post-mortem and whether she was raped could be confirmed only after the report has been received.

Police arrested Sarvejeet Yadav on the night of Saturday and Imran on Sunday, while a hunt is on for the third accused, he said.

Expressing dismay and outrage over the incident, women activists lashed out at the Centre saying that those who are celebrating two years of governance, need to pay more attention to curbing violence against women.

"This needs to be condemned and protested... The government which is celebrating its two years of governance needs to pay more attention to curbing violence against women," said former National Commission for Women (NCW) member Nirmala Samant.

Women rights activist Jagmati Sangwan said the law and order situation has totally collapsed in Uttar Pradesh as criminals have no fear of police and the government.

The incident revives memories of the Badaun case, in which two teenaged girls of a family were allegedly gangraped, killed and hanged from a tree at Katra village in May 2014, triggering a massive public outcry. Later, the CBI, which was entrusted with the probe into the incident, ruled out rape of the two girls.
If you look for news related to suicides in India, on just the first results' page, youre likely to come across a number of cases (there were no fewer than 10 on 27 May 2016, when this piece was written).

In just a little over a month after the suicide of Balika Vadhu actress Pratyusha Banerjee, there have been several other shocking instances that grabbed headlines. There were the two sisters from Haryana who shot themselves with their fathers service revolver. There was the 17-year-old astrophysicist aspirant from Jaipur, who killed herself a day after the JEE results were declared (Firstposts Vishnupriya Bhandaram wrote an in-depth piece on the pressures that drive students to suicide after the news was reported).

So when The Lancet released a report this month, stating that suicide was the leading cause of death among youngsters aged 15-24 in India, it didnt seem very surprising.

While statistics and reports like these often invite much analysing of Indias suicide problem, those who perhaps have the most valuable insights to offer are the ones fighting on the front lines: counsellors, mental health experts, helpline volunteers.

Firstpost spoke to several of these professionals  the last hope for troubled souls  to gain an insight into the challenges of helping the suicidal regain their reason to live.

Therapists don't have a magic wand to make the pain go away in seconds, and for some clients, this is difficult to accept

Divya Srivastava, a Mumbai-based counsellor and psychotherapist, lost a friend to suicide. When she set up The Silver Lining (an organisation that addresses mental health issues), in each client who showed suicidal tendencies, she hoped to rescue the friend she had lost.

It was an instinct she needed to work on.

As her practice progressed, Divya realised that no matter how difficult things seemed to be, even people who were contemplating suicide, didnt really want to end their lives. Suicide (or attempting it) was a cry for help.

The goal is to recognise this cry and help them in dealing with their issues, says Divya. I remember a case where a client, very successful, at top-management level in her organisation, came for a session where she confessed that she had tried to slit her wrists but could not gather the strength to go through with it. The underlying issue was a troubled relationship. No matter how successful she was in the professional sphere, on the personal front, her partner made her feel worthless and damaged her to such an extent that she was sure if she left him, she would end up alone. Helping her out of her situation of physical and emotional abuse was quite a journey but I admire her courage in being able to overcome it.

Every client Divya works with is different, as are the challenges presented in working with them. Many, severely depressed, are looking for instant relief and seeking counselling isnt their first choice. Unfortunately, therapists don't have a magic wand to make the pain go away in a matter of seconds For some clients, this is difficult to accept, Divya says.

Also, not all clients come in of their own accord. Often, it is a friend or relative who has brought them to a therapist. Not only is the client unwilling, he/she may also feel that there is no way out and nothing is going to help  an attitude that is challenging to deal with. There is also the rare client who likes to play the victim, in which case, an expert like Divya has to help them adopt a healthier perspective.

It is troubling to see so many people in India still suffering from depression and yet, none of them actually come forward to seek help, rues Divya. Life is difficult but that is what makes it beautiful. In this super-competitive world, no one has time for failure, I feel. We all want pizza in 30 minutes and solutions to world-problems with the mere click of the mouse to sign a petition  but none of us actually wants to invest resources in building a better self. The youth will spend on designer-wear, expensive restaurants but not speak to someone about their deep-seated issues. We are all pretending and everyone knows that the person in front of them is living many lies but confrontation is ugly and no one wants to be tactful. The apathy is what troubles me.

Depression breaks down a person's sense of self

As a senior consultant psychologist at the Institute for Exceptional Children, Trinjhna Khattar has seen cases where people in severe emotional distress were helped, and cases where they were not.

One notable case was that of a 22-year-old student who had suffered an emotional breakdown. After receiving therapy at the IEC, she was able to not just finish her masters coursework, but also appear for her final exams and relocate successfully to her hometown.

More importantly, her family was educated in a way that they moved from denial to understanding her condition, and worked on ways to help her have a more meaningful and effective life.

Trinjhana recalls, The girl who met me in the first session, crying uncontrollably and feeling miserable, not only looked different and refreshed, but I think the greatest achievement for me was when she said, I feel like myself again Depression breaks down a persons sense of self. Mental health professionals help safeguard peoples inner sense of self.

A sadder case was that of a 20-year-old who came in for counselling as he was finding it difficult to concentrate on his studies. Deeper enquiry revealed that he was caregiving for a seemingly psychologically distressed girlfriend, who he kept supporting and helping in his own way. While Trinjhana could help him deal with stress to some extent, it was difficult to do more because the girlfriend would not agree to come in for counselling. The boy feared losing her or having her distance herself from him, and so never mustered the courage to get her for counselling. Although I was aware of her suicidal ideation and appropriate authorities were informed, I am unaware if she has been provided with any psychological care so far. Eventually, the boy has also discontinued counselling, says Trinjhana.

A person who is contemplating suicide is in significant emotional pain. Emotional pain that is beyond measure; that is being suffered (often) silently; that is not understood by near and dear ones; that is not understood by the sufferer herself/himself, says Trinjhana.

One of the biggest challenges when dealing with a person who is severely depressed, is that the condition at times, disempowers them to think clearly and find strength to seek treatment  go for therapy, consult a psychologist, she adds. I think an even bigger challenge is the fact that often, the caregivers of the sufferer remain in denial or perhaps disbelief that this is happening to their daughter or girlfriend or husband. They will continue to question the recommendations of the psychologist. They will say, she tends to overthink, he takes things too seriously, it will settle down, we need to give it some time. Such an attitude creates a barrier to treatment and progress becomes slow.

A lot of them indulge in self-sabotaging

One of clinical psychologist Rochelle Gomes toughest cases was of a young boy who was diagnosed as HIV positive. His mother was also HIV positive, and Rochelle describes all the sessions with the boy as extremely emotional. It was so difficult to shake off the anger and sadness, she says.

When working with clients who may have attempted to take their own lives or exhibit a suicidal ideation, Rochelle focuses on how they can achieve meaning and purpose in their lives once again. This of course, is easier said than done.

A lot of them indulge in self-sabotaging, and their reality perception about themselves and the world around them is grossly underrated, Rochelle says. Getting them to focus on the here and now and forming a healthy perception of reality is a challenge.

Most callers who feel suicidal are between the ages of 11-40, with nearly 50 percent of those being in 21-30 age group

In the quiet Tata Institute of Social Sciences campus in Mumbai, a team of 12 counsellors operates out of two large rooms, working in shifts to man the helpline known as iCALL. Ever since it was set up in 2012, an initiative of TISS School of Human Ecology, iCALL has been seen as among the more successful programmes of its kind in India, helping people in emotional distress receive the help they need.

Paras Sharma, the programme coordinator for iCALL tells us that when they started, the helpline received about 150-250 calls a month on an average Today, that figure is close to 1,200-1,500 calls in an average month  and as many as 2,500-3,000 calls in a busy month. Email counselling usage has grown dramatically  from next to nothing, to 200-250 emails a month, says Paras.

On an average, the counsellors get 35-50 calls a day, from callers across all age groups, and for issues that range from emotional distress, relationship issues (parent-child, marital, intimate, or peer relationships), mental health, violence against women, suicidal ideation, and work-life balance.

At any given point in time, 5-10 actively suicidal cases are handled at the helpline, both over calls and emails; about 30-50 such crisis calls in a month. The proportion is definitely less than 10 percent of those who approach us with emotional distress, but that is not to say that someone who is in emotional distress today cannot be suicidal tomorrow, says Paras.

At iCALL most of the calls, across all issues, come from the 11-40 age group, and the data corresponds with that of the National Crime Records Bureaus Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India report, whereby the number of suicides peaks in the 21-30 years age group. iCALLs observations show that most callers who come to us feeling suicidal are between the ages of 11-40, with nearly 50 percent of those being in 21-30 years age group, while the remaining are equally divided between 11-20 years and 31-40 years, says Paras.

What clients are looking for  when they reach out over phone or email  is simply for someone to hear them out. Finding an empathetic counsellor at the other end of the line is a major relief.

In other cases, people need someone to just soak up their outpouring of negative emotions and tell them that they are going to be okay, says Paras. There are also many cases where people want counselling therapy/support in conjunction with psychiatric treatment as well.

Counsellors at iCALL can be reached on 022-2552 1111 from Mondays-Saturday, between 8 am-10 pm or at icall@tiss.edu

For The Silver Lining, call on 022-2550 7663 or write to thesilverliningcentre@gmail.com

For Institute of Exceptional Children, dial 022-23003064
The three-cornered contest in the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections (SAD-BJP, Congress and AAP) has got a new entrant. After months of deliberations, Swaraj Lehar or Swaraj Abhiyan, the breakaway group of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab on Sunday announced the formation of Swaraj Party to contest assembly elections in Punjab next year.

The announcement came after a convention in Chandigarh on Sunday in which a large number of delegates of Swaraj Lehar, from all over Punjab, unanimously passed a resolution for the formation of the political outfit, namely Swaraj Party with professor (retired) Manjit Singh as its president.

Talking to Firstpost, Singh said a state working committee of 41 members has been constituted to expand the base of the newly formed Swaraj party at the block and village level. Swaraj Lehar had earlier enrolled members from all over the state and in half the districts already elected district committees have been constituted. The organising of district committees in the remaining 11 districts would be completed in the next two weeks, he said.

The convention unanimously elected Manjit Singh as party president, Santokh Singh Aujla as senior vice-president, G B Sahota vice-president and Harbans Singh Dhalewal is the general secretary.

Manjit Singh said Swaraj Party will be a state level party. The national level Swaraj Party under Yogendra Yadav will be formed at a later stage. Taking into account its limited resources, manpower and fund, the Swaraj Party will contest only on a few seats in Punjab Assembly elections. The party will not go for any alliance with other parties and will not compromise on its policies and principles.

With similar ideals like AAP, the Swaraj Party may hurt the election prospects of not just AAP, but other parties as well. Akalis and the BJP are struggling with the anti-incumbency factor and Congress is trying to manage the assembly election campaign with poll strategist Prashant Kishor. AAP, on the other hand, is depending on the charisma of Arvind Kejriwal to work. In such a situation, the entry of a new party with possible support from Dharamvira Gandhi and Harender Singh Khalsa will cut into the vote banks of all the parties.

Talking about the objectives of the Swaraj Party, Manjit Singh said it would truly be based on the principles of Swaraj. According to Article II of the party constitution, passed in the convention, Swaraj underlined fighting all sorts of exclusion, discrimination and domination. The party will have transparency, democracy and accountability. The party will make every effort to bring marginalized sections to the central stage both in terms of organizational structure and in prioritizing issues for political action.

On the surface, Swaraj party looks like a replica of the AAP, with the same ideals and principles. But Manjit Singh assures that the Swaraj Party will be different from AAP and all other existing parties in the country. It will be committed to fight for a corruption-free society. It will work for free education, free health and medical services and a debt-free rural Punjab.

The party will stick to the Constitution that asserts autonomy in public affairs and grants due space to conflicting interests in Punjab. Speculation had been rife for some time that the Swaraj Lehar was working on an agenda for the formation of a political party to be able to contest elections in Punjab. Lehar has also prepared a party constitution.

The newly formed party will fight for the implementation of the riparian principles on the distribution of river waters of Punjab. The party is determined to make Punjab drugs-free and take care of the environment protection, said Singh.

He also showed a copy of the letter sent by suspended AAP MP from Patiala, Dharamvira Gandhi from Patiala congratulating Swaraj Lehar for the formation of the Swaraj Party. In the letter, he stated that the other national political parties had failed to live up to the peoples expectations, but the new political entity promises hope. Another suspended AAP MP, Harender Singh Khalsa has also welcomed the Lehars move, said Singh.

Speculation had been rife for some time that Swaraj Lehar was making moves for the formation of a political party. Lehar leaders had admitted earlier that there was pressure on them from party cadre to do so.

Earlier founding members of the Swaraj Abhiyan, including Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan and some others had broken away from the AAP because they could not work under the alleged dictatorial attitude of the AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Later, two of the four AAP MPs elected in Punjab-Dharamvira Gandhi and Harvinder Singh Khalsa also started questioning the dictatorial attitude of the party leaders Kejriwal, Sucha Singh Chhotepur and Sanjay Singh.

The two AAP MPs were then suspended from the party for anti-party activities. Till date their suspension has not been revoked. After breaking away from AAP, Swaraj Abhiyan also known as Swaraj Lehar had only acted as a front taking up cudgels on behalf of the farmers and the weaker section of society, urban and rural poor.

The idea of launching a new political party by Swaraj Abhiyan had been floating for quite some time, but the urgency of it is being felt more now, what with assembly elections in Punjab drawing closer.
Now, one more mega project is lined up for the extravaganza of the cash-strapped government of truncated Andhra Pradesh.

The state government will install a humongous statue of NT Rama Rao in Amaravati, the new capital. The statue will be 115.5-foot (35 metres) tall, commemorating the 35th year of the Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) formation. The project is christened as 'Inspiration of Telugu Pride'. One may recall that NTR floated the TDP to safeguard the Telugu Pride, striking an emotional chord with the people.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced this at the Mahanadu, the annual jamboree of the TDP marking the 94th birth anniversary of its founder at Tirupati.

This is the next big statue project the government has embarked on, after creating a Buddhist centre, an Ambedkar museum and a 125-foot-tall statue of BR Ambedkar that was estimated to cost Rs 250 crore.

Going by these standards, the NTR statue project, which according to Naidu should be a symbol of inspiration to visitors, will cost anywhere around the same amount. The grandeur of the project can't be beyond anybodys imagination, for Chandrababu Naidu almost defied NTR, recalling the late legendary actors powerful on-screen performances, and said that his statue would inspire and bless anybody who wanted to embark on a new task.

Chandrababu Naidu waxed eloquent about NTR to such an extent that he stopped short of saying that he was God. Is this a knee-jerk reaction to the backlash of christening about 15 government schemes after Chandranna (Naidu himself), which were partially rescinded later? The answer is anybodys guess.

Adding to the profligacy is Chandrababu Naidu's decision to move his family into a three-bedroom service apartment in the five-star property of Park Hyatt, located in the upmarket Banjara Hills in Hyderabad.

A casual enquiry by Firstpost about the rental apartment revealed that a swanky three-bedroom service apartment would cost a whopping Rs 6.75 lakh a month, excluding service tax. An executive of Park Hyatt in Hyderabad responded to a phone call and said that there were two three-bedroom service apartments, and both were not available at the moment. A two-bedroom service apartment would cost Rs 5.25 lakh in Park Hyatt. Service apartments in this hotel can be booked only if the minimum stay is for a month.

These opulent service apartments are fully-furnished and equipped with a kitchen that has a functioning dishwasher. If food and beverages are sourced from the hotel, that would cost extra. It is not clear whether the chief ministers family had taken both the three-bedroom apartments. Efforts to find out whether the security personnel were provided with any facility there did not materialise.

Considering the profile of the chief minister's family, the cost of the stay can be easily calculated. If the family members of an NSG-protected high-profile politico in office, avail 24/7 security and other expenses, the cost would zoom through the roof.

YSR Congress (YSRC) partys nominee for the Rajya Sabha elections and YSRC general secretary V Vijay Sai Reddy described it as reckless extravagance of public money. Where is the necessity for the chief minister and his family to stay in a star hotel, where access for the common man is totally denied? How do they justify this? And at whose cost are they staying there? When a chief minister and his family stay in a star hotel, naturally the expenditure is borne by the government. Whose money is it? Isnt it public money, Sai Reddy asked.

A few days ago, the Chairman of Public Accounts Committee of AP Legislative Assembly, B Rajendranath Reddy listed out the various ways of squandering of public money by the Chandrababu Naidu government. He pegged the expenditure on the temporary and permanent offices and residences of the chief minister in Hyderabad and the new capital at Rs 250 crore to Rs 350 crore

The BJP in the state, which is of late at loggerheads with the TDP, through one of its proxies had the improvidence listed on a Facebook page. Though the veracity of the figures published in this are subject to verification, almost all the opposition parties are crying hoarse over the spendthrift behavior of Chandrababu Naidu.

The post listed out the expenses, including the refurbishment of the CMO twice in the Hyderabad secretariat, the camp office at Lake View Guest House, the shifting of his residence to another location in Jubilee Hills, from there to Madinaguda farmhouse, and from there to Park Hyatt owing to different reasons. The amount is estimated to be at Rs 42 crore. It also enlisted the expenditure in making or renovating the temporary camp offices and residences of the chief minister in Vijayawada.

Chandrababu Naidus use of a chartered aircraft and splashing of funds to overseas consultants for the construction of the new capital city and the conduct of various functions associated with it have all been enumerated by the opposition. It is high time the government came up with a statement of expenses and contained its ways of going for the overkill, especially when it is fighting with the Centre for financial support and for special category status to the state, which have been elusive.
Anand: Lamenting that both politicians and bureaucrats are "far removed" from the rural problems, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday said that despite provision of funds and efforts to boost the agriculture and rural economy, the "desired results" were still elusive.

He was addressing the students of Indian Institute of Rural Management here during its 35th convocation.

"I have been living in Delhi for several years but the voice of villages does not reach Delhi," Gadkari said, "Politicians and bureaucracy are far removed from the problems of rural India. And because of this, the amount of efforts that should be taken to resolve their problems is not happening.

"No primacy is given to connect rural areas with roads. We have purchased helicopters worth Rs 70,000 crore but our villages do not have water for drinking or irrigation," he said, in an apparent swipe at the UPA Government.

"Agriculture hardly generates 8 to 14 per cent of GDP," the Minister noted, adding "our finance minister has set aside Rs 9 lakh crore for agricultural crop finance and Rs 20,000 crore for interest subsidy in this year's budget. And several states are even offering interest-free agricultural loans. But

despite all this, we are not getting the results that we should be getting."

Nearly 25-30 per cent of the rural population had unwillingly migrated to the cities because villages have no "no school, no college, and no proper roads," he said.

"If we only connect 6.5 lakh villages in the country with roads, it will contribute Rs 1,40,000 crore to the economy," the senior cabinet minister asserted.
Vijayawada (AP): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said on Monday that the opposition parties were creating hurdles as they were "jealous" of progress of the state under the TDP rule.

"Under the TDP rule, Andhra Pradesh is making progress more than other states. With the vision to move ahead with investor-friendly policies, the state is attracting huge investments for industrial advancement and to provide better employment opportunities," Naidu told TDP workers while interacting with them via video-conferencing from here.

According to a release by the Information and Public Relations Department, Naidu told his party men that the state government successfully conducted CII summit, where MoUs for investment of about Rs 4.71 lakh crore.

The state government also convinced many multinational firms at the recently-held World Economic Forum at Davos to set up their units in the state, Naidu was quoted as telling the party men.

"But all such efforts by the state created jealousy in the minds of opposition leaders and hence they create disturbances to pose difficulties in the path of development," he said.

The Chief Minister asked his party men to explain to the people the facts on both the success of the government in many fields and the role of opposition in disrupting development initiatives.
For the politicians and chauvinistic groups of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the contentious Mullaperiyar Dam is an eternal tinderbox; but with a single line comment on the issue on Saturday, Pinarayi Vijayan, the new Chief Minister of Kerala, has sought to chart a bold new new path.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, he said that the view of the Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court on the safety of the dam cannot be overlooked. And whats the Committees view? That the dam is safe.

In other words, at least obliquely, Pinarayi doesnt agree with the consensus view Kerala has drummed up over the years that the dam is unsafe. In fact, till about two years ago, the fear of the dam breaching and washing away three million people downstream had gripped the entire state even as the Supreme Court had said that the dam was safe and the level of water can even be raised.

When he spoke his mind, Pinarayi didnt give credence to the majority sentiment of the state possibly because it was irrational; neither did he stick to the views of other political parties or his own party. He also said, rightfully, that there was no need to whip up passion on the issue and it needed to be settled amicably between the two states concerned. Even if the dam has to be rebuilt, it cannot be done without the consent of Tamil Nadu, he said.

Undoubtedly, Pinarayis statement is the sanest political voice on the issue in a long time.

No politician, either from Kerala or Tamil Nadu, has ever taken such a reconciliatory stand earlier even when parochial sentiments boiled over on several occasions, sometimes leading to violence and loss of property.

The dam, built in Kerala 120 years ago to exclusively ameliorate the water scarcity in southern Tamil Nadu, is the latters lifeline; but for Malayalis, its a permanent pet-peeve, a prick to its sense of sovereignty and a source of fear that has been manufactured and fanned by politicians  mostly from the Syrian Christian dominated Kerala Congress  local chauvinistic groups and a major media house over the last 35 years.

In Tamil Nadu, which has a stronger base of parochial politics, the passions are stronger and people from Kerala are physically targeted even when theres a faint opposition to its stand on the dam.

Kerala thinks the dam is unsafe and hence wants to decommission it, but is happy to build a new one while Tamil Nadu feels its absolutely safe and the idea of a new dam is to deny them their right to water. Tamil Nadu also wants to raise the level of water to 142 feet, while Kerala wants to cap it at 135 feet.

Pinarayis statement makes a lot of sense because he rightfully echoes the views of the technical experts of the Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court that in 2012 declared the dam safe. The team comprised top experts and it conducted several rounds of tests before certifying its safety. Pinarayi seems to have backed science than political expediency, parochial sentiments and vested interests. Theres no point in fighting a phantom.

The only other person from Kerala who took a similar stand was Justice KT Thomas, a member of the Committee. In an interview to India Today, Justice Thomas, who once was a judge of the supreme court, had said that the dam was strengthened thrice and was stronger than a new one.

It was me who argued for the new dam in the Empowered Committee and got the approval for a new dam in the committee. But our experts have found out that the old dam is far stronger. There has been greater strengthening of the dam done in 1979, 1989 and 1981. But it has not been reported by the media. It was since 1979 when there were fears on the strength of the dam, two points emerged. One was to build a new dam and the other one was to strengthen the dam. Strengthening was the better option, experts suggested. That is how the strengthening happened in three phases. The 2006 Supreme Court verdict was based on these facts, he said in the interview.

Thomas was instantly slammed for not safeguarding Keralas interests and for siding with Tamil Nadu. Protesters had burned his effigy and stoned his house.

Now with his unpopular view, Pinarayi too has come in for an all-round attack. Except the leaders of his party, everybody else seems to be angry with him. They are unanimous in their opinion that he has compromised on the states interests. They find it unacceptable that he is taking a line that is inconsistent with the resolutions passed by the state assemblies during the LDF and the UDF rules. In fact, Pinarayis party predecessor in the Chief Ministers office, VS Achuthanandan was a strong supporter of the anti-dam agitators and had never accepted the Committees view. The local unit of the CPI, Pinarayis partner in government, also had taken a lead role in the agitations.

Mullaperiyar is the most sensitive political issue that pits people and politicians in Kerala and Tamil Nadu against each other. The spar on its safety, fuelled by provincial nationalism by both the states, and business interests has been raging for more than three decades. Kerala Congress leaders, who are influential in the hill ranges, have been on the vanguard of the agitations. Its alliance partner, the Congress, however was less enthusiastic. Even at the height of the controversy, neither Oomen Chandy, the then Chief Minister, nor Ramesh Chennithala, the then Pradesh Congress Committee President, appeared to have been overtly worried.

The last round of judicial interventions started in 2006 when the Supreme Court ordered raising of the level of the water in the dam from 136ft to 142ft; but Kerala, through a legislation in the assembly blocked it in 2008.

Tamil Nadu went to court against it, and in 2010, the Supreme Court left it to an Empowered Committee to conduct various safety studies and apprise the court. The Committee said in 2012 that the dam was safe, which was endorsed by the Supreme Court in 2014. The apex court also said that the level of water can be raised. Keralas legal chances practically ended there.

Therefore, Pinarayis statement doesnt harm the interests of his state as his rivals, and probably his own alliance partners, allege because it has no other option but to buy the Committees view. Its better not to fight a case that had been lost at the cost of good neighbourly relations with Tamil Nadu.

Thats precisely what Pinarayi has done. And he must stick with it.
Hyderabad: There is no consensus on the issue of full statehood to Delhi and the situation on the ground has not changed, Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said on Monday.

"That issue is pending since long. There is no consensus on that issue. The situation has not changed on the ground. Simply AAP has come to power, that's why it is saying. Congress was in power for last 10 years. They did not," he told PTI during an interview.

He was replying to a query on the demand of full statehood to Delhi.

The AAP government had on 18 May released a draft bill on full statehood to Delhi, seeking to bring police, land, municipal corporations and bureaucracy under its control and invited suggestions from the public till 30 June, opening another front for tussle with the Centre.

According to 'The State of Delhi Bill 2016' placed on government's website for public comments, New Delhi (NDMC) and Delhi Cantonment areas will be kept out of the jurisdiction of the proposed Delhi state. The term Lt Governor will be replaced with Governor.
New Delhi: Locked in a face-off with key ally PDF and a section of his Congress party over nomination for the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Harish Rawat indicated on Monday that the row has been resolved and asserted there will be only one nominee from Congress and PDF which together run the state government.

Asked whether the political storm over the Rajya Sabha nomination was over, Rawat, who met the party high command in New Delhi, said, "It was never there. We are very disciplined soldiers. We always abide by the decision of the high command. But there may be certain issues, which we take up with the high command or people who matter."

Upset over "not being taken into confidence" by the Congress, ally PDF with six members in Assembly named state minister Dinesh Dhanai as its candidate for election to the Upper House after Congress decided to field former Almora MP Pradeep Tamta.

Besides, a senior Congress minister in the state, Yashpal Arya who had raised a banner revolt during the recent political crisis in Uttarakhand, has reportedly threatened to resign from the Cabinet and the party if the decision to nominate Tamta was not revoked.

Rawat, who was in Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also had a separate meeting with Ahmed Patel, political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, to defuse the situation.

Downplaying a contention that ally PDF, which rescued his government during the recent floor test, is angry over announcement of Tamta's name and Congress not considering the PDF demand for a Rajya Sabha seat, the chief minister said, "There is no question of anger. Congress and PDF are one. The government that is there is of both of us. We call it Congress-PDF government."

"They have supported us and their support remains. They wanted that PDF candidate should get support this time. If for some reasons, it does not happen even then we have full faith that they will support our joint candidate," he said.

Rawat insisted that there will be one candidate of Congress and PDF. "There will be only one candidate. That much I can say," he said replying to questions.

Replying to a question on whether there could be reconsideration on Tamta's name, Rawat put the ball in the court of the high command, saying it is for the AICC President to decide on that issue.

"I cannot say anything on it," he said when asked if there is any such possibility.

When asked whether the issue has been resolved, Rawat said, "We are already on way to resolving these issues. It will be our candidate. Our means

Congress and PDF candidate. It is almost over. We are on way to resolve the issue between ourselves and PDF." Tuesday is the last day for filing

nominations.

The chief minister also downplayed reports that senior party leader Yashpal Arya, who had earlier also opposed him, was miffed at not getting a Rajya Sabha nomination this time.

"He is a senior leader. Senior leaders do not get angry. They place their suggestions, put forth their views. There is no anger," Rawat said.

Tamta, a former Lok Sabha member for Almora, is a close associate of Rawat. He had revolted against the Congress leadership for naming Vijay Bahuguna as the chief minister after the party's victory in the he 2012 assembly elections.

Rawat replaced Bahuguna in 2014 after an intense intra-party battle. Rawat's detractors say that the chief minister's functioning is "autocratic" and he has been giving all key posts and positions only to his loyalists, citing Tamta's case as the latest example.

With the support of PDF, a front consisting of two BSP MLAs, one UKD and three Independents, Rawat government had sailed through the floor test after nine Congress MLAs revolted against him and joined hands with opposition BJP.

The BJP has 27 MLAs and can win the Rajya Sabha seat only if the PDF backs the party. BJP has already expressed its keenness to either back the PDF candidate or enlist its support for the saffron party candidate, an offer not accepted by the latter.

Indications from the Congress camp is that its candidate will eventually get the backing of PDF. Hours after Congress announced Tamta as its candidate for Rajya Sabha poll on 28 May, PDF nominated Dhanai as its nominee for the Upper House of Parliament causing considerable consternation in the Congress which hurriedly held a meeting with PDF leaders to assuage ruffled feathers but to no avail.

PDF minister Prasad Naithani had rued despite the fact that PDF had already announced its decision to field a candidate, it was not taken into confidence by Congress before announcing its nominee for Rajya Sabha.

Compounding Rawat's problems, former PCC president Arya, who is arguably the tallest Dalit leader in the party from Kumaon region, is understood to have opposed the candidature of Tamta and even threatened to resign from both the state Cabinet and the party.

Arya, who had twice headed the state Congress, has himself been a contender for the Rajya Sabha seat.

After Rawat got a hint of Arya's resentment he sent a chopper to Haldwani to bring him to Dehradun and lend him an audience. They were closeted for over an hour during which Arya is understood to have made it clear that he was being ignored by the party, sources said.

However, Rawat's meetings with both PDF and Arya, apparently intended to prevent the possibility of yet another revolt in the ruling alliance, reportedly failed.

Having failed to bring PDF and Arya round to the party's view, Rawat left for New Delhi this morning to acquaint the party high command with the current situation which does not augur well for the party still smarting from the effects of a political crisis that saw his ouster from power and imposition of President's Rule in the state for over a month.
The CPM politburos decision to offer veteran party leader VS Achuthanandan a post with a cabinet rank has put the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala in a tight spot. Party sources said accommodating the nonagenarian leader in the government headed by his arch-rival and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, without disturbing the power equations, wouldnt be easy given their differences.

The politburo wanted the senior leader to be given an independent charge which does not necessitate any reporting to the chief minister, but ensures that he continues to receive all the benefits he has been getting as opposition leader in the last five years. The politburo has not specified the post. It has left the matter to the decision of the LDF and the Vijayan-government. However, from the deliberations, it appears that the politburo is trying to sideline him by offering an ornamental position.

It is not clear whether the former chief minister will agree to hold any position without powers. Achuthanandan avoided questions on the politburos decision saying that he had not received any official communication from Delhi. The 92-year-old leader, who was christened as Fidel Castro of Kerala by party general secretary, Sitaram Yechury, prefers to be chairman of the LDF with cabinet rank like the position Sonia Gandhi held in the UPA governments.

A note he handed over to Yechury expressing his preference, during the swearing-in-ceremony of the Pinarayi government, on 26 May, had sparked off a controversy. The note also demanded his reinstatement in the state secretariat, which is the policy-decision making body of the CPM.

However, LDF insiders feel it would create two power centres and that may affect the smooth functioning of the government. They believe that such an arrangement did not create friction in UPA as the then prime minister Manmohan Singh was Sonia Gandhis choice and Singh never sought to question her authority as the president of the Congress and UPA chairperson.

Though Kerala started the coalition experiment in the country, neither fronts never had a separate chairman. Both the fronts and the governments were headed by the person who was chosen as chief minister. In fact, the CPM politburo also wants to avoid two power centres in the state as there are sharp differences between the two senior leaders.

While Achuthanandan is a hardliner who sticks to the party ideology, Vijayan is known as a pragmatic leader who thinks that the development of the state is not possible without private capital investments. In fact, the Chief Minister has made his pro-capital approach clear in the interactions he had with the media since he has assumed office. Achuthanandan considers Pinarayis development concept more capitalistic and a clear deviation from the Left policies. The former chief minister does not brook any deviation from the Left ideology. The differences between the two had led to open clashes resulting in the suspension of the two from the politburo in the past.

The two had buried the hatchet following the intervention by the national leadership on the eve of the election. It had sought to present the united face of the party in the election by asking the two to lead the campaign jointly. The strategy paid off well with the LDF registering a thumping victory by winning 91 of the 140 seats in the polls.

Many believe that the CPM decision to anoint Pinarayi as the Chief Minister was a travesty of the mandate as the campaign was led by Achuthanandan from the front. CP John, Communist Marxist Party leader and former Planning Board member, has termed the denial of chief ministership to Achuthanandan as a betrayal of the electorate. He said that the selection of Pinarayi as the Chief Minister was an act of hijacking.

The Chief Ministers camp is apparently worried over the popularity of Achuthanandan. Pinarayis followers fear that Achuthnandan might eclipse the Chief Minister if he is given an independent position in the government. Achuthanandan has already made his intentions clear by saying that he will remain as a sentinel of the people, taking up their issues, with or without power.

In fact, the advisors of the Chief Minister have been trying to make a conscious effort to project Pinarayi as the undisputed leader. An advertisement featuring him released in the newspapers across the country on the day of the swearing-in of the government is considered as part of this exercise. This many consider as a deviation from the partys ideology that discourages promotion of personality cult. The advertisement with a picture of the Chief Minister said: The Pinarayi Vijayan government is committed to keep its promise.

In fact, the attempt to project Pinarayi had began even before the elections. His picture had dominated the posters and flex banners erected for the Nava Kerala March he led from Kasargod to Thiruvananthapuram in the run up to the election. Achuthanandan, who was the star campaigner in the election, had not figured anywhere in the promotion. However, he topped the popularity ranking in almost all the pre-poll and exit poll surveys. Pinarayi came even behind former chief minister Oommen Chandy in the ranking.

The Pinarayi camp will, therefore, be extra cautious while deciding a suitable position for Achuthanandan, who, despite his advanced age, is not losing any opportunity to be with the masses. They apparently do not want the rival leader to be a thorn in Pinarayis flesh.
New Delhi: Calling the recent attacks on African nationals as "racist", South African envoy Malose William Mogale on Sunday said he has firm belief in the government here to deal with such incidents.

"It's racist attacks. But it is not government policy. It is people who might want to tarnish the image of the country, India, to be portrayed to the world that it is the country where there is an emerging trend of racism and more foreigners are not allowed," he said.

Mogale, acting High Commissioner of South Africa in New Delhi, said these African human beings come to help country in its growth as some of migrants come with a set of skills to assist the economy in leap forward.

"We have firm belief in the capacity of Indian government to deal with these incidents," he told Times Now.

The envoy said the attacks come as a surprise "especially given the fact (that) our relations are decade and decade old".

Mogale said the issue was raised in private conversation between the two countries representatives about two weeks ago in South Africa.

"It is indeed a tragedy, especially that South Africa and India have shared a common history of colonisation and

oppression," he said.

There has been a series of attacks on African nationals in the last few days including killing of a Congolese youth in national capital and assault on a 23-year-old Nigerian student in Hyderabad.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma and expressed concern over the attacks.

"Spoke to Commissioner of Police, Delhi regarding the incidents of physical assault against certain African nationals. Such incidents are condemnable.

"Instructed CP Delhi to take strict action against the attackers and increase patrolling in these areas to ensure security of everyone," he tweeted.
Beijing: China's Confucius Institute, commonly known as Hanban and projecting the country's soft power abroad, has refuted online reports that all of its 109 branches in the US were shut down, saying all institutes are functioning "normally".

"All 109 Confucius Institutes in the US are operating normally, and not a single institute has been shut down," official media reported here, quoting a Hanban statement.

The statement slammed an article allegedly posted by WeChat account "Jinwen365" as "completely fabricated and wrong."

China has about 500 Confucius institutes all around the world which focus on Chinese language teaching and culture.

The institutes have come under criticism in the US and western countries for restricting academic freedom and advancing China's political policy like Taiwan being part of China.

An accusatory article, which has been reposted by the official WeChat accounts of several influential individuals last week, also noted that the institute has been suffering from huge financial losses caused by lack of transparency in its operations and financial management, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Deriving its name from the renowned Chinese educator and philosopher Confucius, who lived from 551 BC to 479 BC, the Confucius Institutes are non-profit institutions affiliated with China's Ministry of Education.

Their mission is primarily to promote Chinese language and culture at schools and universities throughout the world projecting China's soft power. China had opened 500 Confucius Institutes and 1,000 Confucius classrooms in 135 countries as of the end of 2015, according to the latest annual development report released by Hanban.

The headquarters had spent $ 310 million on all Confucius Institutes and classrooms worldwide last year, including $ 228 million on operational funds.

A total of 1.9 million people are studying Chinese language and culture in 500 Confucius Institutes and 1,000 Confucius classrooms in 134 countries, Wang Yongli, deputy chief of Hanban, had said last year.
Beijing: China on Monday termed a commercial ad by a detergent company showing a black man washed into white

as "improper" but rejected that it has racial overtones, saying none of the African countries have lodged any complaint against the controversial advertisement.

"The report you mentioned I have seen that. I also noted that you have linked the improper action by a certain single company to a political issue," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here while replying to question on the "racist" advertisement, which was subsequently withdrawn after it drew adverse global publicity.

"As far as I have learnt it is just an improper action by a certain single company and it has already made an apology to that," Hua said.

She also said she is not aware of any complaint by African countries over the racial overtones of the laundry detergent commercial in which a Chinese woman puts a black man into a Washing machine who after wash came out as bright white Chinese man.

"We haven't got any information about any complaint by any other government," Hua said when asked whether any of the African countries made any complain against the racial overtones of the advertisement.

"In China no matter what races and communities people come from, we respect and have good communication with them. With

African countries we are in good and close cooperation with them. We hope people will not magnify this issue," Hua said.

"The company has already made any apology for what they have done. With regard to the issue of racial discrimination we are the signatory party to the international convention on racial discrimination and we have been fulfilling our international obligations," she said, adding, we have been trying our best to eliminate racial discrimination.

The coverage of the advertisement by the foreign press drew sharp reaction from an official daily which accused western media for "magnifying racism" in China using the laundry advertisement.

Condemning the Ad, state-run Global Times said "whoever designed the callous commercial seems to be completely unaware of racial discrimination and its sensitivity in the Western society."

Raising questions over the branding capability of Qiaobi, the company behind the commercial, the paper said that the firm was little known until the advert was released.

"It is highly doubted whether the firm will have a future if it maintains the unscrupulous style," it said.

"Meanwhile, the Western media might have gone to the extreme by intensively reporting on the advert and accusing the Chinese of racial discrimination. Chinese society has never clearly distinguished races and hence the racial issue has never been part of Chinese thinking but always considered as an alien phenomenon," the editorial said.
Bamako: At least five UN peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in central Mali by suspected militants on Sunday, the UN and police sources said.

The attack is the first time the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, has recorded fatalities in the centre of a country long beset by violence in its vast and desolate north.

"According to preliminary information, five peacekeepers were killed. Another was seriously hurt and is being evacuated," MINUSMA said in a statement.

The UN did not immediately confirm the nationality of the dead soldiers but a Bamako police source indicated a group of Togolese peacekeepers "came across a mine and a terrorist attack some 50 kilometres out of Mopti."

First reports had indicated four Togolese peacekeepers were killed in the mid-morning attack on a MINUSMA convoy some 30 kilometres (20 miles) west of the town of Sevare in Mopti region.

MINUSMA mission head Mahamat Saleh Annadif condemned the attack as an "odious" act of terror.

"I most strongly condemn this abject crime which adds to other terrorist acts targeting our peacekeepers and which constitute crimes against humanity under international law," said Annadif.

Sunday's attack came just two days after authorities reported five Malian soldiers killed and four wounded on Friday when their vehicles hit a mine in the north and then came under sustained fire.

Last week also saw five peacekeepers from Chad killed and three others wounded in an ambush in the northeast by Ansar Dine jihadist fighters.

The Mali mission is the most dangerous active deployment for UN peace keepers and it has been hit by sharp internal tensions since its launch in July 2013.

With Sunday's attack, at least 64 MINUSMA peacekeepers have been killed while on active service, while another four have died in friendly fire incidents, UN figures show.

The north has seen repeated violence since it fell under the control of Tuareg-led rebels who allied with jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012.

The Islamists were largely ousted by an ongoing French-led military operation launched in January 2013, but they have since carried out sporadic attacks on security forces from desert hideouts.

Rival armed factions and smuggling networks mean the region has struggled for stability since Mali gained independence from former colonial power France in 1960.
Baghdad: A wave of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group targeted commercial areas in and around Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 24 people in attacks that came as Iraqi troops poised to recapture Fallujah, a city held by the extremists group west of Iraq's capital.

The bombings by IS, which has been behind several recent deadly attacks in Baghdad and beyond, are seen as an attempt by the militants to distract the security forces' attention away from the front lines.

The Iraqi military, backed by paramilitary troops and aerial support from the US-led coalition, launched the operation to dislodge the militants from Fallujah about a week ago but have still to start the final push into the city center.

The deadliest of Monday's attacks took place in the northern, Shiite-dominated Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad where a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a checkpoint next to a commercial area, killing eight civilians and three soldiers.

The explosion also wounded up to 14 people, a police officer said.

A suicide car bomber struck an outdoor market in the town of Tarmiyah, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Baghdad, killing seven civilians and three policemen, another police officer said, adding that 24 people were wounded in that bombing.

And in Baghdad's eastern Shiite Sadr City district, a bomb motorcycle went off at a market, killing three and wounding 10, police said. Medical officials confirmed casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

In an online statement, IS claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they targeted members of the Shiite militias and a government office. The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the statement but it was posted on a militant website commonly used by extremists.

Fallujah is one of the last major IS strongholds in western Iraq. The extremist group still controls territory in the country's north and west, as well as Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.

On Sunday, Iraqi Maj. Dhia Thamir said troops have recaptured 80 percent of the territory around Fallujah since the operation began and are currently battling IS to the northeast as they seek to tighten the siege ahead of a planned final push into the city center.

In a televised speech Sunday to parliament, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called on Fallujah residents to either leave the city or stay indoors. Government officials and aid groups estimate that more than 50,000 people remain inside the center of the Sunni majority city.
Tokyo: Japanese rescuers on Monday expanded the search for a seven-year-old boy who has been missing for three days, after his parents left him in a mountain forest inhabited by bears as a punishment in a case that has infuriated public opinion.

The parents originally told police the boy got lost on Saturday while they were hiking to gather wild vegetables, but later admitted they had left him in the forest to punish him.

The boy, Yamato Tanooka, went missing in the mountains on the northern main island of Hokkaido inhabited by wild bears.

Yamato, his older sister, mother and father came to a park near the forest on Saturday, but the parents became angry as the boy threw stones at cars and people, Japanese police and media reports said.

On the way back home, they made Yamato get out of the car and left him alone in the forest, driving the car about 500 metres (some 550 yards) away, TV Asahi and other reports said.

"They said they went back to the site immediately, but the boy was no longer there," a local police spokesman earlier told AFP.

Some 180 rescuers and police officers widened the search area on Monday, mobilising sniffer dogs and horses to go deeper into the woodlands, NTV footage showed.

"I feel very sorry for my child," the father told an NTV reporter. "I am so sorry for causing trouble for many people."

Japanese public opinion reacted with outrage at the actions of the parents.

"This is not punishment but abuse!" one Twitter post read.

"The parents are so stupid that I am speechless," said another.

Many also worried about the fate of the child in the forest alone with reportedly no food or water as heavy rain fell overnight.

Mitsuru Wakayama, a spokesman for the local town of Nanae, said the mountainous area is a place that only local residents pass through occasionally as a short cut.

"Not many people or cars pass by, and it gets totally dark as there are no lights," Wakayama said. "It's not surprising to encounter bears anywhere in the area."
Punjab's intelligence agencies have reportedly alerted the Canadian government on pro-Khalistan terrorists running a camp near Mission city in British Columbia to carry out strikes in Punjab, The Times of India reported.

According to the report, Canadian Sikh Hardeep Nijjar has taken over as the operational head of Khalistan Terror Force (KTF) and formed a module comprising Sikh youths to carry out the attacks.

Making a reference to the recent Pathankot airbase attack, the report to Justin Trudeau's government said that Nijjar "was to arrange weapons from Pakistan but due to high alert on the border in the wake of Pathankot incident, it could not materialise", according to The Times of India.

Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh accused of being involved in the 2007 Shingaar cinema blast is a wanted terrorist in Punjab, International Business Times. He has been staying in Surrey since 1995 on a Canadian passport.

In April, according to a Hindustan Times report, the Indian government had intelligence inputs indicating that Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was "attempting to whip up support for Khalistan" in Canada.

Why should India be worried

A movement by separatists group is taking roots in Canada even as the Narendra Modi government is working on many measures to take forward the outreach to Canadas Sikh community. According to analysts support for Khalistan is dwindling.

According to the report in Hindustan Times, many pro-Pakistan Kashmiri separatists are Khalistan sympathisers and Pakistan's Consul General in Toronto, Asghar Ali Golo's support for Khalistan is well-known. In fact in April this year, the Pakistani diplomat "didn't seem to mind that a Khalistan flag flew in the background and a banner seeking a referendum fluttered in the frame."

After the Gurdaspur terror attack, there were speculations about a Khalistan link, even though every evidence pointed towards a fidayeen attack. But like Sandipan Sharma of Firstpost observed, "Heavens will fall if the perpetrators point to a Khalistan link."
Islamabad: A court in Pakistan on Monday issued notices to the seven Mumbai attack case accused, including 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, and the government over the prosecution's plea to form a commission to examine the boat used by the 10 LeT terrorists to reach India.

"The Islamabad High Court has issued notices to the accused of Mumbai attack case and the government on the prosecution's plea to form a commission to examine the boat at port city of Karachi," a court official told said.

He said the court has also sought record of the case from the trial court -- Anti-Terrorism Court Islamabad. The official said the date for hearing of the case will be fixed later.

The prosecution had challenged the trial court's decision to reject its plea to form a commission to examine the boat 'Al-Fauz' used by Mumbai attack terrorists so that the vessel could be made "case property".

Al-Fauz is in the custody of the Pakistani authorities in Karachi, from where the 10 militants, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, had left for India to carry out the Mumbai attack in 2008.

According to the Federal Investigation Agency, the attackers used three boats including Al Fauz to reach Mumbai from Karachi.

It said the security agencies had also traced the shop and its owner from where the culprits bought the engine and the boat while a bank and a money exchange company were also traced which were used for the transaction of money.

The 10 LeT militants had left Karachi on the boat on 23 November, 2008.

En route to their destination, they hijacked another boat, killing four of its crew. They allegedly forced the vessel's captain to take them close to the Indian shores. The captain was killed when the vessel reached Mumbai's coast.

The Mumbai attack case is facing inordinate delay as no proceedings practically have been held for more than two months. The Mumbai case hearing is scheduled to be held once a week.

The lawyers associated with the case say as all Pakistani witnesses in the case have recorded their statements it may further be delayed if India does not send 24 witnesses to Pakistan.

They say Pakistan is awaiting India's response on sending the witnesses here for recording the statements in the case.

Mumbai attack mastermind Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz,Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum are accused of abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attack.

Lakhvi is living at an undisclosed location after he got released from jail on bail a year ago. The other six suspects are in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.

The case has been going on in the country for more than six years.
Beijing: Legal experts have called for more education and stricter law enforcement to increase awareness of racial sensitivity after the release of an advertisement that caused widespread outrage in China.

The advertisement, for the Chinese detergent brand Qiaobi, went viral on the internet, The China Daily reported on Monday.

It featured a black man being transformed into a fair-skinned Chinese after being washed by the detergent in a Washing machine .

Shanghai-based Leishang Cosmetics, which owns the brand, has halted the ad, which was shown on social media and in some movie theatres in China.

It posted a statement on its micro-blog account on Saturday to apologise to those who may have felt offended by the commercial.

On Chinese micro-blogging platform Sino Weibo, the news hashtag #controversy caused by laundry detergent, attracted nearly 3 million views, with many netizens leaving critical comments.

Li Jun, vice-president in charge of the Qiaobi brand, said on Sunday, "The creative idea for the commercial was to add some comic drama by using artistic exaggeration. There was no intention of racial discrimination, and we didn't realise initially that it might lead to viewers getting the wrong impression."

Liu Junhai, a professor of civil and commercial law at Renmin University of China, said the commercial reflects the lack of public awareness about racial issues in China.

According to China's Advertisement Law, which was updated last year, any content containing or implying national, racial, religious and gender discrimination is prohibited in adverts, and incurs penalties.
In 2014, a twenty-year-old Pakistani Hindu Mashal moved to India along with her family. She was hoping for a brighter future and an escape from religious persecution.

Two years later, she aced her CBSE results with a score of 91 percent. She aimed to be a doctor. Only one glitch  she couldnt give the pre-medical test, as according to the rules, one either has to be an Indian or an Overseas citizen of India (NRI) to qualify for the All India pre-medical test (AIPMT).

Subsequently, in interviews to the media, her middle-class doctor parents discussed how they quit their jobs in Sindh and how they moved to Jaipur on a long-term visa following which they secured admissions in private schools for their children.

When Mashal moved to India, she lost an academic year when her Level A exams (under the Cambridge IGCSE curriculum) were due. She said that she wouldn't like to lose another year, as she wanted to sit for the centrally-organised all-India NEET-2 entrance exam scheduled for 24 July.

Keeping the deadline in mind, the family sought help from the ministries of External Affairs, Health and HRD. They also placed a request on the Prime Minister's portal, as per a report in Hindustan Times.

Subsequently, the 20-year-old received help via social media. After following the news reports on Mashal's plight, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, expressed her support on Twitter and assured her that she would personally take up her case in a medical college.

Mashal - Don't be disappointed my child. I will personally take up your case for admission in a Medical College. @aajtak  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 29, 2016

She also shared her contact number on the micro-blogging platform Twitter and asked Mashal to get in touch with her.

Mashal - I am watching you on CNN News. Please contact me on Telephone : 011-23794344. I am waiting for your call.  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 30, 2016



Here's hoping this cross-border story has a happy ending.
Sydney: An Australian man has been killed in Syria fighting the Islamic State (IS), the country's third national thought to have died alongside Kurdish forces, reports said on Monday.

Former Australian soldier Jamie Bright, in his 40s, was named on social media as having been "martyred" in recent days.

The Kurdish People's Protection Unit said on its Facebook page that Jamie Bright died alongside three other Kurdish fighters.

"He was shot about three or four days ago," an Australian friend who fought alongside Bright in Syria told News Corporation Australia.

The friend, who was not named, said Jamie Bright had travelled to Syria in early 2015 because he "saw something was happening that wasn't right and wanted to fix it. He saw governments doing nothing. He saw it as wrong and believed it had to be changed," he added.

Australia's foreign ministry said it could not verify if Bright had been killed as the "government's capacity to confirm reports of deaths in Syria is extremely limited".

"If confirmed, this latest death is yet another tragic reminder of the dangers involved for those who seek to travel and fight in conflict zones," it added in a statement.

At least two other Australians, Reece Harding and Ashley Johnston, were killed in 2015 while with the Kurdish groups fighting IS group.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said, "Australians must understand that if they go and fight in conflicts like that, they are breaking Australian law. If they come back within Australia's jurisdiction, they will be held to account for that."

Under new laws designed to stop citizens travelling overseas to join jihadist groups, it is a crime to fight for militants on either side of the conflict in Syria.
Dakar: A special court in Senegal is due to deliver its verdict on Monday in the war crimes trial of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre, bringing a long-awaited reckoning to victims and their families.

Habre, 73, was president of Chad from 1982-1990, during which time he is alleged to have committed crimes against humanity and torture. Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence.

Habre went on trial last July in the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE), a special tribunal set up in Dakar by the African Union under a deal with Senegal, the first time a country has prosecuted a former leader of another nation for rights abuses.

Reed Brody, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch who has spent the last 15 years working with victims to bring Habre to justice, said the landmark case could encourage others to bring similar action.

"The trial of Hissene Habre shows that it is possible for victims, with tenacity and perseverance, to bring their dictator to court," Reed told AFP on Sunday.

"We hope that other survivors, other activists will be inspired by what Habre's victims have been able to do."

Often dressed in combat fatigues in line with his "desert fighter" nickname, Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby.

Habre has declined to address the court, refusing to recognise its authority. Neither he nor his legal team will be in court for Monday's hearing, they told AFP.

But his court-appointed lawyers will attend and are hoping for an acquittal. "We have developed our arguments sufficiently well to prove that Hissene Habre is innocent," said Senegalese lawyer Mbeye Sene.

"If the law is correctly applied, we will go straight to an acquittal for Mr Habre," added Sene.

Investigators found that at least 40,000 people were killed during Habre's rule, which was marked by fierce repression of opponents and the targeting of rival ethnic groups.

Witnesses have recounted the horror of life in Chad's prisons, describing in graphic detail abusive and often deadly punishments inflicted by Habre's feared secret police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS).

Victims were subject to electric shocks and waterboarding while some had gas sprayed in their eyes or spice rubbed into their genitals, the court heard.

Habre's defence team has sought to cast doubt on the prosecution argument that their client was an all-knowing, all-powerful head of the DDS, suggesting he may have been unaware of abuses on the ground.

Mahamat Moussa, a former detainee, said a guilty verdict would provide solace to many families left without answers 25 years after Habre left office.
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In case you haven't noticed, NASA's lease on the International Space Station is about to expire, and moving day is just around the corner.

Russia plans to begin disassembling the International Space Station sometime in 2023, or 2024 at the latest. Assuming it follows through on the threat, detaching its modules from ISS and using them to build a new all-Russian station, ISS could be uninhabitable in less than a decade. So where will NASA move next?

Space entrepreneur Orbital ATK (OA)has a suggestion: Let's move to the moon.

Space 1999, redux

Since at least as far back as 1975, when Space: 1999 was on the airwaves, America has dreamed of a permanent moon base. Others have predicted a permanent manned presence on the moon for even longer. Robert A. Heinlein, for example, wrote The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress way back in 1966.

Last week, the dream came one step closer to reality when Orbital ATK sent its Space Systems Group President, former NASA astronaut Frank Culbertson, to Congress to recommend setting up "a lunar-orbit habitat [to] extend America's leadership in space to the cislunar domain." (Cislunar refers to the area between Earth orbit and the moon.) According to Culbertson, nearly two decades' "experience gained in long-duration human space flight on the International Space Station," combined with the new Space Launch System being jointly built by Orbital, Boeing (BA 3.08%), Lockheed Martin (LMT 0.15%), and others, have brought us to a point where it's now possible to envision setting up an "initial outpost" in lunar orbit.

In fact, NASA has already hired Orbital to begin planning a cislunar outpost, utilizing Orbital's Cygnus spacecraft as a "building block" from which to construct a space station. A habitable space station in lunar orbit would make for a useful base station from which to explore the moon itself in the 2020s. At the same time, Boeing has advocated developing a cislunar outpost as a way station for assembling rocket parts needed to build a vessel capable of carrying men from Earth to Mars.

How to do it?

Orbital is developing quite a reputation as an outside-the-box thinker in space exploration. The company has already started building bare-bones "spaceships" to service orbiting satellites -- the space tow-truck service that I wrote about last month. As regards America's next space station, Orbital thinks the first step to setting up a lunar space station would be to pre-position a Cygnus module in lunar orbit in 2020 (or even sooner). Orbital says it can put a Cygnus in lunar orbit within three years of NASA shouting "Go!"

Then, when NASA launches its first manned SLS mission in 2021, the spaceship will have someplace to actually "go" to -- rendezvousing with the Cygnus capsule. Subsequently, Orbital suggests using additional Cygnus modules to expand the nascent space station in multiple missions running from 2022 to 2025.

What does it mean for investors?

While other companies are still focused on how to keep American astronauts in Earth orbit once ISS goes away, Orbital ATK has, once again, stepped out of the box, and started thinking about what comes next. (And also: "What's so great about continuing to do what we've already done? Let's try something new!")

That's the kind of thinking calculated to capture the imagination of the public -- and potentially, a bit of funding from Congress, as well. It's also the kind of thinking that Orbital ATK needs NASA to adopt if Orbital is to exceed the 10% revenue growth rate it showed last quarter, and move closer to the 12% earnings growth rate that most analysts hope to see it achieve over the next five years.

Simply put, there's only so much work to go around lofting a few dozen satellites a year into Earth orbit. Boeing and Lockheed Martin already have a lock on much of this work, and SpaceX is rapidly gobbling up the rest. If Orbital wants to claim a bigger piece of the space-exploration pie, it needs to advocate for -- and win -- new contracts for more-adventurous undertakings.

Establishing a lunar space station, and eventually a moon base on the lunar surface itself, would be one great way to do that.


If you read the news on a regular basis, you know it's no secret that many Americans aren't prepared for retirement. A big part of the "retirement crisis" is a simple lack of knowledge. Too many Americans have no idea how much they'll need for a comfortable retirement, how much they can expect to receive from Social Security, or how to save for retirement while simultaneously cutting their tax bills.

With that in mind, here's what you need to know to formulate a plan of attack for your own retirement savings.

How much do you need to save?

As my colleague Sean Williams points out, although most people have a number in their head as far as retirement savings goes, more than half (53%) of Americans are guessing. In other words, they have no idea what they really need to save for a comfortable retirement.

There's no one-size-fits-all way to determine retirement needs, but here's a good way to get an estimate:

Experts generally say you'll need 80% of your pre-retirement income after you retire. So, take your current salary (or what you expect it to be at retirement) and multiply it by 0.8.

Next, subtract your expected Social Security income for your intended retirement age, which you can find by creating an account at www.ssa.gov, and viewing your Social Security statements. This tells you how much income you'll need from savings.

Finally, a good rule of thumb is that you can reasonably expect to withdraw 4% of your savings each year, and never run out of money in retirement. So multiply the income you'll need from savings by 25.

For example, if you earn $100,000, you will need $80,000 after retirement. If you expect $25,000 per year from Social Security, that implies you'll need $55,000 from your savings. Multiplying that number by 25 tells you that you should aim to save $1.375 million.

As I mentioned, this formula isn't an exact science, but it can be modified to fit your goals. For instance, if you plan to travel the world after you retire, 80% of your pre-retirement income may not be enough. Conversely, if you're more of a saver, and plan to live a conservative lifestyle, you may be able to get by on considerably less than 80%. Adjust the formula accordingly. The point is that your retirement number shouldn't just be a guess -- it should be a well-thought-out estimate of your actual needs.

Don't rely too much on Social Security

As of March 2016, the average Social Security benefit for a retired worker is $1,345 per month. To be perfectly clear, Social Security isn't intended to be your only source of retirement income, nor is it likely to be enough for a reasonable quality of life all by itself.

To get an estimate of how much you can expect to receive from Social Security, you can create an account at www.ssa.gov, and view your most-recent Social Security statement. Here you'll find an estimate of your monthly benefit at full retirement age, as well as how much you'd get if you filed as early as possible (age 62), or waited as long as you could (age 70).

Keep in mind that this is just an estimate, and it makes some assumptions that may or may not be accurate, such as your salary remaining the same for the rest of your career. However, for retirement-planning purposes, it's a good estimate to start with.

It's also important to know that Social Security is unsustainable in its current form, and starting in 2034, there will only be enough money coming in to cover about three-fourths of promised benefits unless something changes. Something will almost certainly be done to fix this shortfall, and could come in the form of tax increases, benefit reductions, or both.

Another big assumption that your statement makes is that nothing will change, and that's simply not likely to be the case. I've written before that, although it's unlikely (but entirely possible), full retirement age could be 68 or even higher by the time you get there.

Know how to maximize your tax advantages

You may not realize it, but any money you contribute to your 401(k) isn't counted as taxable income. For example, if your salary is $50,000, and you put $3,000 into your retirement plan, only $47,000 of your salary will be reported as federally taxable earnings. As of 2016, you can choose to defer up to $18,000 of your salary into your 401(k), plus an additional $6,000 if you're over 50, so take advantage of this tax shelter.

Similarly, there are tax incentives to contribute to an IRA, as well. You can contribute up to $5,500 to an IRA for the 2016 tax year ($6,500 if over 50). Traditional IRA contributions could be deductible on your tax return, depending on your income and eligibility to participate in an employer's plan. Roth IRA contributions aren't eligible for a deduction, but your qualifying withdrawals will be 100% tax free.

In addition to these benefits, if you're in the low- to moderate-income range, you may also qualify for free money to save for retirement, thanks to the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit, also known as the "saver's credit." This can be worth up to $1,000 back per person, so if you're single and earn less than $30,500, or married and earn less than $61,500 combined, this is definitely worth taking advantage of.

It's far better to over prepare

As a final thought, when you're determining how much you need to save, or estimating your Social Security benefits, one thing to keep in mind is that it's far better to over prepare for retirement, even if it means tightening your belt, and saving more than you think you need now.

According to the Social Security Administration, the average 62-year-old can be expected to live to about 83. However, that doesn't mean that you should plan for your financial needs just until that age.

You should assume that you're going to live to be 100. After all, what happens if you're 90 and run out of money? What will you do, go back to work?

The same logic applies when estimating your income needs and Social Security benefits. Plan on needing a little bit more than you think you will, and plan on receiving a little less from Social Security than you expect. While it may seem like a burden in the short term, your future self will thank you for the peace of mind this extra preparation will provide.
Business messaging start-up Slack raised $200 million during its latest round of funding in April, which gives it a valuation of $3.8 billion. This means that Slack is now worth more than BlackBerry , which has an enterprise value of $2.6 billion. BlackBerry was once the king of business email and messaging, but it's been losing ground to disruptive messaging apps like Slack.

Slack has about 3 million daily active users, while BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) had 190 million registered usersat the beginning of 2015 -- but less than half were monthly active users. But should a seven-year-old start-up really be worth more than a former tech leader which has been around for over three decades? Let's take a closer look at Slack's core business to find out.

Slack's iOS app. Image source: Slack.

How much money does Slack make?

Slack runs on a freemium model, where users can get more features by subscribing to monthly plans which either cost $6.67 or $12.50 per month. It also offers a more robust enterprise package for $48 per month. Nearly a third of its daily active users now pay for the service. That's a more straightforward strategy than BlackBerry's clumsy attempts to monetize BBM, which included selling stickersto users and offering content channels to paid partners.

Slack expects to generate about $64 million inrecurring revenue this year. That would be more than double the $30 million it "expected" to generate in 2015, but the company hasn't released any concrete annual figures yet. However, co-founder and CEO Stewart Butterfield stated last year thatSlack wasn't profitable, and that its losses totaled a "couple hundred thousand dollars" per month.

How do we value Slack?

Since we have a rough estimate of Slack's 2015 sales, we can divide its last valuation by that total to get an EV/Sales ratio of 127 -- which would be extremely high for any private or public company. By comparison, BlackBerry has an EV/Sales ratio of just 1.2.

However, Slack might deserve that high valuation due to its steep growth trajectory. If it doubles its revenue in 2016, it would certainly be much more impressive than BlackBerry's expected growth rate of 3%. That could be easy for Slack, since its daily active user base has tripled within the past six months.

Slack for Apple Watch. Image source: iTunes.

We should also compare Slack to other tech companies which are expected to post comparable sales growth this year, but EV/Sales ratios can vary widely. For example, Chinese online finance marketplace Yirendaiis expected to grow sales 98% this year, but it only trades with an EV/Sales ratio of 2.3. Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networksis expected to report 47% sales growth this year, but it trades with a much "pricier" EV/Sales ratio of 11.

If Slack had the same EV/Sales ratio as Yirendai, it would be valued at just $69 million based on its 2015 revenue. If it were valued the same as Palo Alto, it would have a valuation of $330 million. But both figures are well below its current valuation of $3.8 billion.

But didn't Microsoft almost pay $8 billion?

Slack's valuation seems to defy fundamental gravity, but Microsoft was reportedly interested in buying the company for $8 billion earlier this year. However, CEO Satya Nadella and co-founder Bill Gates shot down the idea. Instead of buying Slack at more than 260 times its trailing sales, Gates reportedly wanted Microsoft to improve Skype as a communications platform.

This also highlights a long-term challenge for Slack -- if Microsoft improves its enterprise messaging and collaboration offerings with Skype, Yammer in Office 365, and other cloud-based features, it might prevent Slack from becoming more widely adopted. Facebook'sintroduction of Facebook at Work, which enables employees to form workgroups and collaborate online, is another major threat. If Slack spends more heavily to widen its moat against big gorillas like Microsoft and Facebook, its losses could widen.

Should Slack be worth more than BlackBerry?

Slack is a hot tech unicorn, but it shouldn't be worth more than BlackBerry. Assuming that Slack generates $64 million in recurring revenue this year, that would only be equivalent to about 2% of BlackBerry's projected sales for the year.

Slack would need to post several more years of triple-digit sales growth to justify its current valuation, but I'm not confident that it can achieve that with bigger enterprise players all eyeing the same market. That's probably why the company is reportedly already getting ready foran IPO -- it wants to go public before it loses its start-up momentum.

The article Should Slack Really Be Worth More Than BlackBerry Limited? originally appeared on Fool.com.

Leo Sun has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Facebook. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends Palo Alto Networks. 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.
Bank stocks performed tremendously well in 2016, but there could still be more upside in the years ahead. If you're thinking of adding a bank stock or two to your portfolio as we head into 2017, here are three you may want to consider.

Image Source: Getty Images.

Bank stocks had a great 2016

The financial sector was one of 2016's best performers, up 20% for the year, which was about double the gain of the S&P 500.

XLF data by YCharts

If you take a closer look at the chart, you'll notice that financial sector underperformed the S&P for most of the year. Most of the gains took place over the last two months -- specifically, after the election.

In a nutshell, the market thinks the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States, as well as a Republican majority in the House and Senate, could be the magic formula to catapult bank profits higher. Rising interest rates would translate into higher profit margins, deregulation could lower ongoing costs and make it easier for banks to do business, and Trump's job and wage growth plans could produce more demand for banking services.

... but the rally could be just getting started

Although the "Trump rally" in bank stocks has been substantial, we may not be done just yet. Without getting too technical, the bank stocks are currently pricing in the possibility of all the things I mentioned, as well as the possibility that they won't happen. For example, it's entirely possible that economic growth will be much less than expected and the Federal Reserve won't raise interest rates.

The point is that if the positive catalysts the market expects actually happen, there could be another leg up. And, bank profits could stay elevated for years to come.

Three smart ways to play it

Having said all of that, I have a positive outlook for bank stocks in general over the next few years at least. There are many great bank stocks to buy, but here are three of my favorites right now.

1. Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) was one of the best performers of 2016, up by more than 30% for the year. And there's good reason the bank was a big beneficiary of the Trump rally -- it stands to benefit from higher interest rates more than peers. Simply put, the bank has more noninterest-bearing deposits than the rest of the "big four" U.S. banks, which should allow the bank to capitalize on its interest-bearing assets, such as loans, more than peers. In fact, the bank has said that its net interest income would increase by $5.3 billion annually with a 100-basis-point increase in rates. Along with its most recent earnings report, Bank of America announced that even though its share price is higher, it is boosting its buyback plans by more than 70%, which tells me that management still considers the stock to be a bargain.

2. Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEMKT: XLF) is a great choice if you believe the banking sector will perform well, but don't want to choose individual stocks. The fund has a low 0.14% expense ratio, and is designed to track the performance of the financial sector as a whole. The fund's top holdings are:

Company % of Fund's Assets Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) 10.8% JPMorgan Chase 10.8% Wells Fargo 8.7% Bank of America 7.8% Citigroup 5.9% Goldman Sachs 3.1%

Data Source: TD Ameritrade. Information is current as of 12/31/16.

3. BofI Holding (NASDAQ: BOFI) is a more speculative choice, but one that deserves serious consideration. The bank, whose name stands for "Bank of Internet", is the oldest internet-only bank in the U.S. By maintaining an online-based business model, the bank enjoys competitive advantage such as low overhead and the ability to offer better rates on loan and deposit products than peers.

The bank's growth has been impressive, especially in recent years. Since 2012, the company has grown its earnings per share at a 34% annualized rate, and has increased its return on equity (ROE) to a staggering 19.4% (the industry standard is 10%). Furthermore, over the past few years, the bank has successfully transitioned away from a time deposit (CD) business model to an asset portfolio dominated by checking and savings accounts. Impressively, the bank has produced its growth while maintaining significantly better asset quality than peers -- BofI's net charge-off rate is less than one-tenth of the average for a bank of its size.

These are not low-risk stocks, so invest accordingly

No stock that is capable of the gains these banks generated in 2016 is without risk. There is a lot that could potentially go wrong -- for example, the economy could enter a recession and interest rate growth could grind to a halt. While I believe with a Republican-controlled Congress, President-elect Trump will succeed in lowering taxes and rolling back regulations, it's far from certain at this point.

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Matthew Frankel owns shares of Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and Goldman Sachs. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) and BofI Holding. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
NVIDIA's Titan X graphics card. Image source: NVIDIA

NXP Semiconductors is the largest provider of automotive chips in the world. Last quarter, about 36% of the company's revenue came from its automotive division -- its single largest segment. The rest of NXP's revenue comes from several different sources, including, most notably, the NFC chips it supplies to smartphone makers.

NVIDIA in contrast, is mostly dependent on the market for video games -- PC games in particular. Gamers purchase the company's GPUs in droves, as they're required to power graphically intense modern PC games. Just over half of NVIDIA's revenue last quarter was gaming-related. The rest mostly came from graphics professionals and data centers. NVIDIA is also an automotive supplier, but less than 10% of its revenue last quarter was automotive-related.

But that overlap still makes for an interesting comparison, as both companies appear well-poised to capitalize on the growing shift toward autonomous vehicles. Investors looking to add some chip or autonomous car exposure to their portfolios might consider buying shares in one of the two companies. But which is the better pick?

The connected, autonomous vehicle

In terms of its product portfolio, NXP is more diversified than NVIDIA, with dozens of different products spanning many industries. Its top customers include smartphone makers Apple, Samsung, and Huawei, as well as automotive suppliers Delphi and Continental, and electronics companies Philips and Delta Electronics. In addition to automotive, NXP divides its business into four other segments: Standard Products (about 12% of revenue),Secure Identification Solutions (about 9.5% of revenue), Secure Connected Devices (about 22% of revenue), and Secure Interface & Infrastructure (about 19% of revenue).

NXP's Standard Products business is broad based, and includes many general semiconductor components. Its Secure Identification Solutions business provides chips for chip-based credit cards, public transportation services, and secure government documents. Secure Connected Devices is NXP's Internet-of-Things business, and includes NFC chips and low-power bluetooth controllers -- technologies designed to allow objects to interact with one another. Finally, NXP's Secure Interfaces and Infrastructure business consists of chips used in networking, power chargers, and display signals (such as the HDMI transceivers found in home theater receivers).

In short, NXP is a diversified provider of chips for both consumer and enterprise electronics. If the market for electronic devices continues to expand, NXP could do well.

But for investors, the most intriguing aspect of NXP's business may be its automotive exposure.NXP provides a wide variety of chips designed for automobiles. Most are relatively pedestrian (no pun intended) -- environmental sensors, security systems, in-car networking -- but some are more exciting. Earlier this month, NXP announced its BlueBox system, an off-the-shelf autonomous driving solution that should allow automakers to sell fully autonomous vehicles by the end of the decade. NXP's system relies on its automotive sensors and its chips for processing power. Given its deep ties to the automotive industry, NXP could emerge as a major supplier of autonomous vehicles in the years ahead.

Virtual reality and AI

NVIDIA's automotive business issimilaritypedestrian, in the sense that most of its automotive revenue is currently coming from in-car infotainment systems. But like NXP, NVIDIA is also working on solutions for autonomous vehicles.

Earlier this year, NVIDIA unveiled DRIVE PX 2, its second-generation autonomous car platform that relies on some of NVIDIA's most powerful chips. DRIVE PX 2 is effectively a supercomputer for the car, designed to process data from a variety of sources autonomous cars may depend on, including LiDAR, radar, and video cameras. Right now, NVIDIA isn't actually selling automobile manufacturers chips, but rather working in tandem with them to develop solutions. In total, NVIDIA's automotive division generated about 8.6% of its revenue last quarter. That was up an impressive 47% annually, but most of that was driven by infotainment sales.

But NVIDIA has exposure to other interesting growth markets beyond autonomous cars, including virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

The Oculus Rift and Vive -- the two most advanced virtual reality headsets currently on the market -- require powerful graphics cards to function. NVIDIA dominates the market for discrete graphics cards, and its recently unveiled GTX 1080 and GTX 1070 may help sustain its lead for the foreseeable future. Virtual reality headsets have yet to go mainstream, but if they do, it will likely mean that NVIDIA finds itself selling many more GPUs in the months and years ahead. NVIDIA's GPUs are also popular in data centers, and NVIDIA is increasingly selling ever-more powerful GPUs to companies experimenting with artificial intelligence. Last month, NVIDIA unveiled its DGX-1, a $129,000 box designed specifically for AI solutions.

NXP is a cheaper stock

From a valuation perspective, NVIDIA is clearly the more expensive stock. On both a trailing- and forward-price-to-earnings ratio basis, NVIDIA is priced much more aggressively than NXP.

NXPI PE Ratio (TTM) data by YCharts

But that difference in valuation makes sense. NVIDIA's business is growing more rapidly, and it has more exposure to a wider variety of next-generation technologies. Last quarter, NVIDIA's revenue rose 13% on an annual basis -- while NXP's declined almost 16%. (NXP reported annual revenue growth of nearly 52%, but that growth was driven by the acquisition of Freescale. NXP's total first-quarter revenue was actually below the first-quarter revenue of both companies combined in 2015.)

Both stocks look attractive, but appear to offer different risk profiles. NVIDIA may offer more upside, but NXP could be the safer pick.

The article Better Buy: NVIDIA Corporation vs. NXP Semiconductors originally appeared on Fool.com.

Sam Mattera has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Nvidia and NXP Semiconductors. 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.
A burger flipper is looking to flip company-owned restaurants, and that's good news forJack in the Box investors. Shares of the quick-service restaurants operator moved 14% higher last week following an encouraging investor and analyst presentation.

The head-turning announcement during Wednesday's annual investor and analyst meeting is that Jack in the Box is looking to increase the percentage of its eateries that are franchisee-owned. The company behind the Qdoba and namesake chains is hoping to have 90% to 95% of its locations operated by franchisees within two years, a move that should deliver earnings-per-share growth in the mid-teens through the next couple of years.

Just 82% of its 2,251 burger restaurants are presently owned by franchisees. Only 51% of its 683 Qdoba burrito joints are run by franchisees. The plan has already been in motion. Jack in the Box had just 72% of its locations in the hands of franchisees four years ago. Jack in the Box is spelling out how unloading its lower volume company-owned locations would result in significant upticks in earnings-per-share growth.

The profit-popping move got Wall Street pros to notice. Baird upgraded the stock, increasing its price target from $80 to $95. Barclays boosted its goal from $79 to $86.
It's hard to believe, but over the past year, the pharmaceutical industry has fared worse in the stock market than the energy sector. Some sword-rattling from political candidates sent theSPDR S&P Pharmaceutical ETF crashing to a level it hasn't seen since late 2013.

Despite the recent drop, the ETF tracking bigger pharmas is still miles ahead of the broad market. And although the industry as a whole has fallen out of favor recently, I believe once the dust settles after November this group will continue its march upwards.

In the meantime, a handful of big pharmas are trading at ridiculously low prices based on their forward earnings estimates. Shares of Allergan, Merck & Co. ,Novartis , Pfizer , andRoche are trading at clearance rack prices.

Let's take a closer look at some of the individual bargains.

Allergan is growing quickly

This is the smallest of the five, and wouldn't have made the cut if I didn't believe it could reach the size of its older, larger peers in the coming decade.

Allergan, or Actavis depending on your point of view, began a spending spree a few years back,growing revenue 585% since the end of 2013 toburning through an astounding $17.84 billion over the last twelve months.

My first thought when I see figures like this is: "Are shareholders benefiting as much as the company's top line?" Allergan used combinations of cash and shares (lots of shares) to make these acquisitions, which reduces investors' slice of future profits.

Far too often, acquisition sprees result in big top line growth, but the profits don't follow. This hasn't been the case for Allergan.

Despite the massive share dilution the acquisitions caused, long term Allerganinvestors have seen free-cash-flow rise on a per-share basis at an astounding rate.

When the bottom dropped out of the Pfizer merger, the market turned its back on Allergan. They've started returning, but you can still buy this big pharma stock for about 16 times this year's earnings estimates. For a company growing so fast, that's ridiculously cheap.

Merck has an exciting cancer pipeline

With the hiring of Amgen's former R&D head,Roger Perlmutter, a few years back, Merck began shaking off its stodgy old pharma image. The plan's working.

Merck's exciting new cancer therapy, Keytruda, makes it difficult for tumors to hide from the immune system, and helped send former President Carter's case of melanoma -- which had spread to his brain and liver -- into remission.The drug is in over 270 clinical trialsacross more than 30 tumor types. More than 100 of these trials are in combination with other therapies. Through collaborations and outright acquisitions, Merck aims to become an immuno-oncology giant,and "stodgy" hardly describes this company any longer.

Some billionaires have become fans of this big pharma stock, and retirees looking for a source of income in the form of dividends should be too. It's raised distributions for five consecutive years, and currently offers a juicy 3.4% yield.

First quarter sales of Keytruda rose 16% over the previous quarter, and the drug's on pace to pass the $1 billion blockbuster mark this year.Whether or not Merck's oncology aspirations will offset losses from its aging top sellers will become clearer after the company presents findings in a slew of new tumor typesat a scientific conference early next month.

The market has begun noticing Merck's potential, but at a price of around 15 times this year's earnings estimates the big pharma stock is still insanely cheap. Depending on the data presented next month, it might not stay that way much longer.

Novartis' heart failure drug primed for growth

Late last year, I predicted sales of Novartis' new heart failure drug would explode this year. First quarter Entresto sales of just $16 million makeme look ridiculous, but I'm not changing my tune.

Entesto is currently approved for treatment of about 3 million Americans who suffer from a certain form of heart failure. Novartis has a growing stack of studies, one of which shows the drug reducesthese patients' risk of death or hospitalization due to cardiovascular causes by 20% or more over the former standard-of-care.

That's right: U.S. and EU guidelines now recommend Entresto, instead of the previous standard treatments.

An annual cost of about $4,500 per yearmade reimbursement a huge hurdle, but one I think it's finally crossed. When the company last reported, it claimed over 90% of Medicare patients have access to the drug, with 65% at the lowest branded co-pay by plan.

Entresto isn't the only potential blockbuster to emerge from Novartis' pipeline recently. Its Sandoz division has a handful of biosimilars referencing some of the world's best-selling biologic therapies. Some of these biosimilars could eventually reach annual sales over the $1 billion mark themselves.

Novartis has raised its annual dividend, in Swiss Francs, for 19 consecutive years, and ADRs in the U.S. sport a tempting 2.9% yield, or 3.4% depending on how you're taxed.With a late-stage pipeline ready to pump up profits, a recent price of about 14.4 times this year's earnings estimates is just plain silly.

Pfizer for dividends

Pfizer has been acquisitive in recent years. However, there are some key differences between the No. 1 and No. 2 cheap big pharma stocks on this list. First, in recent years Pfizer lost exclusivity for Lipitor (once the world's best selling drug) and U.S. and Canadian sales of Amgen's Enbrel.

Another feature that sets Pfizer apart from Allergan is a lack of recent share dilution. Since the Wyeth deal in 2009,Pfizer hasn't been diluting shares to make acquisitions, although not for lack of effort.Instead, it's using smaller, but still enormous, cash flows to purchase smaller companies, such as Hospira, and more recently Anacor Pharmaceuticals.

Also helping the company return to growth is its late-stage pipeline. Approved just last year, first-in class breast cancer therapy Ibrance finished the first quarter with $414 million in sales. Another label expansion in February should help propel it toward peak annual sales estimates north of $3 billion sooner than expected.

Pfizer's shares have been recovering ever since the Allergan deal collapsed, but it's still ridiculously cheap at less than 14-times this year's earnings estimates.Not only is Pfizer trading at bargain basement prices, this big pharma stock boasts a hefty 3.6% dividend yield.

Roche is firing on all cylinders

Roche's top selling drugs Rituxan and Herceptin are widely expected to face pricing pressure from biosimilar competition in the years ahead. In the first quarter the pair made up 28% of the company's reported total sales of about $12.5 billion.

While that's certainly a significant concern, the company has a handful of drugs on pace to reach over $1 billion in sales this year that grew sales by double-digits in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. It also boasts what I think is the most exciting late-stage pipeline in big pharma. Its latest approval, Tecentriq for treatment of bladder cancer, is the first in its class, although it limits cancer cells' ability to hide from the immune system along the same path as Keytruda does. It's early, but this difference might lead to approvals for more indications not yet served by drugs in this class, such as bladder cancer.

Another drug under priority review at the FDA could be another first-in-class therapy for at least 10% of multiple sclerosis patients who currently have zero available therapies to slow the progression of their disease. It's also under review for the wider relapsing population, and I believe it could become the best selling multiple sclerosis treatment in the years ahead.

I think Roche's future looks better now than it did several years ago, and recent prices of around 16 times this year's earnings estimates don't make much sense. Consider the dividend yieldbetween 3.2% and 2.6%, depending on your tax situation, and about $31.60 per share just looks absurd.

Like Novartis, Roche pays annually, and has increased its distribution, in Swiss Francs, for 29 consecutive years. That's just a few years longer than the Clintons have been railing against high drug prices.

I won't share my predictions for this November's elections, but I doubt Roche, or any of these big pharma stocks, will be this cheap for much longer.

The article These 5 Big Pharma Stocks Are Ridiculously Cheap originally appeared on Fool.com.

Cory Renauer has no position in any stocks mentioned. You can follow Cory on Twitter @TMFang4apples or connect with him on LinkedIn for more healthcare industry insight. 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.

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For most Americans, Memorial Day is a time of celebration and remembrance. Its a day when we honor the sacrifice of our service members who gave the last full measure of devotion for our freedom.

But while most families are attending Memorial Day parades and listening to family members tell stories about their days in the service, others are calling for the destruction of the memorials created to celebrate our military heroes.

Over the past several years, a handful of atheists, humanists, and others have launched an all-out-war on some of our most cherished veterans memorials. These groups are committed to stripping all religious imagery from public view  including imagery chosen by military families not for religious purposes but merely to honor their dead.

For example, the Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial near San Diego, California was erected in 1954 to honor Korean War veterans. Although it has become a beloved feature of the community, the ACLU waged a decades-long battle to force the government to demolish the memorial simply because it features a cross.

Lest anyone think this a West Coast phenomenon, the Bladensburg, Maryland World War I Veterans Memorialerected almost 100 years ago by the local post of The American Legion and mothers who wished to honor their sons who died during World War Iis now the subject of a similar lawsuit by a humanist group. The groups sole objection to the monument is this: that mothers chose to remember their sons with a cross-shaped monument.

Even memorials in the heartland are not immune to attack. In March, Americans United threatened a lawsuit against the Welcome Home, Soldier Monument in Albia, Iowa because it includes a row of 21 white crosses in the style of military gravestones. The crosses, engraved with the names of veterans, symbolize the 21-gun salute, one of our militarys highest honors.

If these activist groups are successful in their misguided mission to strip the nation of any religious imagery, including those used to honor our fallen service members, the consequences could be staggering.

What will happen to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, who is known but to God? What will be the fate of the Argonne Cross Memorial, erected in 1923 in honor of Americans who died fighting in France? Will the Canadian Cross of Sacrifice in Arlington National Cemeterya symbol of Canadas gratitude to the thousands of American dough boys who volunteered for Canada during World War Istill stand? Will the Normandy crosses, erected to honor the heroism of our service members on D-Day, be destroyed?

These memorialswhether in California, Maryland, Iowa, or in hundreds of other locations across the national landscaperemind us that freedom is not a birthright. It was purchased at a terrible price: nothing less than the blood of Americas sons and daughters.

This Memorial Day, as we relax with family and watch parades, lets remember the price paid by our military service members and their families. And lets honor them by committing to defend the monuments erected in their memory.

Throughout our nations proud history, our veterans have given their lives for us. The least we can do is guard and defend the memorials that honor them.

Mike Berry is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.
A Green Party candidate hopes to derail Hillary Clinton's bid to become the first woman president by offering herself as a purer progressive alternative.

"It's a fallacy that Hillary Clinton is the lesser evil here," presumptive Green Party nominee Jill Stein told Rolling Stone. "Another Clinton in the White House is just going to fan the flames of the right-wing revolt."

Stein talks like the quintessential liberal activist when she criticizes Clinton, faulting the former secretary of state for supporting airstrikes in Syria and promising to implement a $15-per-hour minimum wage if elected. Her effort is the corollary to the bid of former Gov. Gary Johnson, R-N.M., to unite the Libertarian Party behind two former Republican governors, as polls show widespread dissatisfaction with the two-party system.

Stein is also trying to co-opt Clinton's political brand as a champion of women's rights. "When there's economic injustice, when there's racial injustice, when there's sexual violence, when there's health injustice, women are very vulnerable," she said. "We're vulnerable in part because we're busy taking care of young people, and we take care of our parents and our families and our communities When there is injustice out there, it tends to flow in our direction."

Read more on WashingtonExaminer.com
Donald Trump on Sunday took his campaign promise of better treatment for military veterans to the foot of the Lincoln Memorial, appealing to hundreds of Rolling Thunder bikers who rally every Memorial Day weekend in the nations capital.

"We have to take care of vets, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee told the group, dedicated to remembering prisoners of war and those killed in action. Illegal immigrants are taken much better care of in this country than our vets.  We're not going to allow that to happen any longer."

The speech at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was Trumps latest outreach to veterans groups, including many angry over his comments last year about liking "people who weren't captured" in wars.

The remark was a dig at Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain, who was captured and held for more than five years during the Vietnam War. Trump claimed that McCain was a "war hero because he was captured" and has refused to apologize to McCain.

Since then Trump has worked to try to repair the damage. He frequently honors veterans at his rallies and he has come out with a plan to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He also held a fundraiser for veterans' causes, in place of an Iowa debate that he skipped. However, Trump, who avoided the draft through a series of deferments, drew scrutiny for not immediately distributing the $6 million he'd claimed to raise, including $1 million he'd pledged himself.

He said Sunday that he would hold a press conference Tuesday to announce the names of the charities selected to receive the money.

In his roughly 30-minute speech honed for the audience, Trump also vowed to "knock the hell out of" the Islamic State terror group by building a bigger and better military.

Trump said his plan to cut wait times for veterans needing medical care, which in recent years has at times reached crisis levels, includes allowing such patients to see a private doctor and the government paying "the bill.

He touted his support for the Second Amendment, pointing out his endorsement from the National Rifle Association. And he vowed to rebuild the military, which he said has been "decimated."

Trump has a loyal following with bikers, who frequently attend his rallies, where they sometimes clash with Trump protesters.

We love the bikers? Trump said to applause. My people said theyre here to protect you. Youre all going to behave yourselves, right?  There wont be any paid agitators in this group."

Among those eager to hear Trump speak was Louis Naymik, 52, of Clarksburg, Maryland, who said he served in the Ohio Army National Guard for four years.

"There's history in the air here," he said. "We're living in historic times in our country today with the election and the choosing of a new president. And I just wanted to give honor to those who have fallen and sacrificed their lives for our country."

The Associated Press contributed this report.
EXCLUSIVE: The State Departments former top watchdog, in an interview with Fox News, rejected Hillary Clintons repeated claims that her personal email use was in line with her predecessors  while saying he would have immediately opened an investigation if he caught wind of a secretary of state using such an account.

Howard Krongard, a George W. Bush administration appointee who served as the State Department inspector general from April 2005 to January 2008, cited his own experience in challenging Clintons insistence that her practices were nothing out of the ordinary.

Certainly to my knowledge at least, Secretary [Condoleezza] Rice did not have a personal server. I certainly never either sent an email to one or received an email from one, said Krongard, who served during Rices tenure.

Further, he said, I would have been stunned had I been asked to send an email to her at a personal server, private address. I would have declined to do so on security grounds and if she had sent one to me, I probably would have started an investigation.

Krongard noted that during Clintons four-year term, from January 2009 to January 2013, there was no Senate-confirmed inspector general in place. Suggesting the Clintons show a pattern of avoiding oversight, Krongard indicated that Hillary Clinton benefited from the fact there was no IG during her term.

"I wouldve been the most unpopular person in that building [had I been there]," Krongard said, emphasizing that the inspector general has broad powers and the ability to rein in even the most senior political appointees. "They are the people who enforce the rules, and there was no one enforcing the rules during that time."

Krongard spoke with Fox News before the current State Department inspector generals office, led by Steve A. Linick, issued an extensive report on email practices of previous secretaries of state.

The day that report was issued, Clinton said in an interview that her use of personal email was consistent with predecessors Colin Powell and Rice.

"Just like previous secretaries of state, I used a personal email. Many people did. It was not at all unprecedented," she said.

But, as Krongard indicated, the May 25 IG report clearly stated that Rice did not use personal email for government business. It said Powell used personal email on a limited basis to connect with people outside the department, and he worked with the State Department to secure the system. The report found Clinton did neither.

The report concluded Clintons use of a private server and account was not approved, and broke agency rules. The report said by the time she became secretary, the rules had repeatedly been updated, and were considerably more detailed and more sophisticated.

Krongard resigned from the IG position in December 2007 after accusations he blocked Iraq-related investigations, charges he denied.

Regarding the 2,100 emails on Clintons server found to have contained classified information -- and another 22 Top Secret messages containing intelligence deemed too damaging to national security to make public  Krongard questioned how that material got there. He said it would take a deliberate act for the intelligence to "jump the gap" between the classified computer networks and Clinton's personal server.

"It could be done by taking a screen shot with  a camera of a classified email, take a screen shot and send it to an unclassified network. It could be copied, but there are restrictions in the State Department and elsewhere as to what copiers can work from a classified network and it can only be a secure copier. So that may not have been easy," Krongard said.

Asked if it could happen by accident, Krongard simply said, "No."

He also challenged Clinton and State Department claims that the emails in question were retroactively classified.

"I don't understand it, because it was either classified by the creator or it was classified by reason of where it came from or what network it was on, Krongard said.

Clinton consistently has claimed nothing she sent or received was marked classified at the time. While technically correct, this distinction also appears misleading. A January 2009 non-disclosure agreement signed by Clinton confirms her understanding that "classified information is marked or unmarked.

Rather, it is the content and source that determine classification. Former intelligence officials say the emails were improperly handled by Clinton and her team and, once reviewed by the authority that originated the information, the emails were given proper classification markings.

While there is no public confirmation the Clinton server was breached, former senior military and intelligence officials -- including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and former Defense Intelligence Agency chief Mike Flynn  have said they believe foreign intelligence services targeted Clinton's email system.

In a recent interview with Fox News, the Romanian hacker who goes by the name Guccifer said he accessed the Clinton server with ease in March 2013. Anonymous government officials were quick to dismiss the hacker's claims, while admitting he was very skilled and breached the accounts of 100 Americans, including Powell.
Even as Donald Trump and Republican Party bosses diligently work Capitol Hill in hopes of bringing the party together after a fractious presidential primary, convention planners could still be looking at a block of empty seats for the July convention.

A growing roster of senior GOP figures  from governors to senators to, most notably, nearly every living GOP presidential nominee  is vowing to skip the convention in Cleveland, despite the candidate starting to win over the rank-and-file.

In an unconventional election season where Trump has capitalized on an anti-establishment fervor, the case can be made that Trump does not need the blessing of party elders, or their attendance.

Trump is a master entertainer and more than likely going to put together a convention program that attempts to highlight his strengths and sideline some of the major absences, Republican strategist Ron Bonjean told FoxNews.com.

Still, since wrapping up the nomination, Trump and his surrogates have been regularly meeting with Hill Republicans, showing at least an effort to pursue party unity  a message that high-profile absences in Cleveland could undercut.

Trump hit the unity theme again Sunday night, as he responded to the latest prediction that an independent candidate would soon enter the race. On Twitter, Trump warned, if the GOP can't control their own, then they are not a party.

Yet Trumps contemporaries will be nowhere near Cleveland.

Of all the living Republican presidential nominees and former presidents, only Bob Dole is expected to attend  and even then, only briefly, for the purpose of catching a luncheon hosted by his law firm, a source told Fox News earlier this month.

Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush have said they will not attend, as have 2008 nominee John McCain and 2012 nominee Mitt Romney. Former 2016 White House candidate Jeb Bush also is expected to skip.

Of them, Romney is working most actively against Trump, having delivered a major address attacking his candidacy and frequently sparring with the now-presumptive nominee on Twitter. He also reportedly has been the focus of efforts to recruit an independent candidate, though so far to no avail.

Others claim to be skipping in order to focus on their own election battles  some of those potentially made more challenging by Trumps primary success.

McCain seemingly counts himself among that group. The Arizona senator is facing a tough re-election fight in a state with a heavy Hispanic population, and has said Trump complicates his race.

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte also has said she will not be attending the convention, citing a tough re-election battle.

"Unlikely," Ayotte told CNN. "I've got a lot of work to do in New Hampshire, I have my own re-election and I'm going to be focusing on my voters in New Hampshire."

Other senators who do not plan to be in Cleveland include: Wisconsins Ron Johnson, Alaskas Lisa Murkowski, Kansas Jerry Moran, Missouris Roy Blunt, and Illinois Mark Kirk, according to McClatchyDC. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. told CNN "Im more valuable outside of Cleveland than inside of Cleveland," but his spokeswoman later said his schedule is still being finalized.

FoxNews.com reached out as well to Republican governors for an attendance tally.

Most of those RSVPs remain outstanding, but representatives for Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Wyoming Gov. Matthew Mead told FoxNews.com they would not be in Cleveland. Meads spokesman cited a busy summer as the reason for the governor not making it.

No-shows could be more common for lawmakers in the House, where a faction remains skeptical of Trumps candidacy. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, R-S.C., a co-founder of the House Freedom Caucus, told The Hill about 10 other conservatives are planning not to attend.

Many lawmakers and their staff remain tight-lipped about whether theyre attending, and their rationale.

Asked for comment on whether Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., would show up, a representative for the senator sent FoxNews.com a Boston Globe article in which Flake is quoted as saying, Ive got other things to do. Meanwhile, a rep for South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley linked to a YouTube video in which the governor said she was undecided on whether to go.

This may be because Republicans are still evaluating how to deal with Trumps victory.

House Speaker Paul Ryan, for one, is rumored to be close to endorsing the billionaire, though he hasnt yet. Now that Trump has reached the necessary 1,237 delegates to clinch the nomination, according to the latest AP tally, more top GOP lawmakers could feel pressured to step in line.

Marco Rubio, once an outspoken Trump rival who sold #NeverTrump merchandise on his website, said Sunday he will get behind the presumptive nominee.

I want to be helpful, the Florida senator said on CNN's "State of the Union."

The big unknown is whether Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who suspended his campaign in early May, will similarly get on board.

While the absence of major figures at the convention could damage the partys ability to present a united front against likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, some argue that Trump will be able to manage the dissension in the ranks.

The absences wont hurt Trumps ability to unite the party, Bonjean said, but he must keep his focus now on Hillary Clinton and avoid getting into fights with other Republicans that may not agree with his pending nomination.

It is not unheard of for Republicans, especially those in tight re-election races, to skip the national convention when political waters look choppy.

In 2008, several top Republicans chose to skip. Some were due to urgent state issues -- like then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger grappling with a budget stalemate or Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal dealing with Hurricane Gustav. Gustav even forced then-President Bush not to attend, making him the first sitting president since Lyndon Johnson not to attend his partys convention. Instead, he delivered his address by satellite hookup from the White House.

Sens. Pat Roberts, of Kansas; Susan Collins, of Maine; Gordon Smith, of Oregon; and Elizabeth Dole, of North Carolina, also stayed home from the GOP convention in order to campaign. At that time, Bushs approval ratings were hovering around 30 percent.

This was a departure, however, from the 2000 convention where various interest groups in the party all came together behind their candidate with a single-minded determination to take back the White House. It didn't hurt that Bush was leading in the polls and had seen his last primary challengers fade away months before.

At that convention, there were no reports of prominent Republicans choosing not to attend.
Millions of Americans fired up their grills and headed off to the beach this holiday weekend for the unofficial start of summer.

But for Army veteran Patrick Murphy, this is a Memorial Day unlike any other.

The former active-duty captain is now the Army's second-highest ranking civilian  serving as under secretary of the Army since January. In that role, Murphy oversees the management and operation of the U.S. military's largest branch, an organization whose size and scale rival that of a Fortune 10 company.

It's being back home right now, to be back with these soldiers, Murphy told Fox News.

Now, Murphy faces the challenge of a lifetime: Running the worlds premier fighting force at a time of declining resources, and making sure it continues to attract Americas best.

And boosting recruitment is a fundamental goal.

"We need more Americans coming into our military," Murphy told Fox News.

To this day, military service tends to run in the family. According to Murphy, 79 percent of the Army's current recruits have family members who also served. Murphy himself is a third-generation veteran.

But even as the country is engaged in its longest-running wars, less than 1 percent of the population has served.

"Right now, we bring in about 132,000 Americans each year -- and leave each year. Whether they serve for three years or 30 years, we need America's sons and daughters," Murphy said.

A new kind of Army success story, however, may prove valuable in recruiting younger generations.

Army veterans are more likely to be employed, more likely to own small businesses and more likely to vote, Murphy said. Business tycoons including Bill Bowerman, the co-founder of Nike, and Alex Gorsky, CEO of Johnson & Johnson, are Army veterans  the challenge is making sure those stories are told.

"These stories aren't out there and we have to do a better job of not just telling our story, but asking other Americans to tell our story," Murphy said.

Murphy understands the toll of military service better than most in Washington. He was deployed twice overseas  first to Bosnia in 2002, and then to Iraq in 2003. While there, his unit lost 19 men in combat.

Serving as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, I led convoys up and down ambush alley in Baghdad, said Murphy. I wished the folks in Washington understood war and what were asking of our sons and daughters.

That sentiment brought Murphy to Washington in 2007, as a freshman member of Congress  the first Iraq war veteran to serve on Capitol Hill. A Democrat, Murphy represented Pennsylvanias 8th District in the U.S. House, serving on the Armed Services and Appropriations committees. He lost his seat in 2010 when the Tea Party wave rolled through Congress.

At the time, the Armys budget was nearly $240 billion. Today, that number hovers closer to $150 billion.

While Murphy knows the strain felt by soldiers on the ground, he also knows Washingtons political imperatives  and so he makes the case that the Army can do more with less.

He says the administration's budget gives the Army the right resources.

The answer isnt about size, he explained. The principal strategic issue being addressed is not force structure, but readiness. This is our number one priority."

Not everyone agrees on the issue of resources. Earlier this year, Republican lawmakers pushed back hard on Army plans to cut thousands of active-duty soldiers.

In a letter to colleagues earlier this month, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., called for an end to the budget-driven reduction, citing threats from the Islamic State, Russia and beyond.

This Memorial Day, as he struggles with these competing pressures, Murphy said his job is to make sure troops are prepared to go into harms way  and to ensure they are the best-manned, best-trained and best-equipped Army this nation has ever seen.
Former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio said Sunday that he fully supports former rival Donald Trumps White House bid, apologized for his personal attacks in the bruising primary and hinting that hed even speak for Trump at the July nominating convention.

I want to be helpful, the Florida senator said on CNN's "State of the Union."

Rubio argued that supporting Trump, now the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is the only way to keep Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton from becoming president, regardless of some of his scorched-earth campaign rhetoric.

Despite all my differences with Donald Trump, I have a better chance to get a conservative-nominated Supreme Court with him than I ever will with Hillary Clinton, he said.

Rubio said Trump also will support other parts of the conservative agenda including the repeal of ObamaCare and rolling back federal regulations that are damaging to the U.S. economy.

Rubio suggested early last week that he wanted to help Trump defeat Clinton but that his decision was difficult.

Trump, through the primary season, which concludes June 7, repeatedly attacked Rubio, calling him Little Marco and suggesting his response to a debate attack in New Hampshire by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was a meltdown and robotic.

With his campaign failing, Rubio later went on the counter-attack, challenging Trumps manliness by saying he had tiny hands.

On Sunday, Rubio said he privately apologized to Trump for the remark.

Rubio also suggested no single mistake led to his failed campaign, which he ended in mid-March after losing his home-state primary. But he suggested the personal attacks on Trump and not attacking Christies record in the debate were significant.

If I had to do it over again, I just would have gone after him and attacked his record, Rubio said.

Rubio, who is not seeking re-election in November for his Senate seat, was non-committal about his political future, saying again only that he might have sought re-election had friend and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera not entered the race.
Top Donald Trump aide Corey Lewandowski on Sunday defended Trumps recent criticism of New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a fellow Republican, and deflected a host of other complaints about Trump's presidential campaign, saying the real issues are jobs and the economy.

The governor is not doing the job, Lewandowski said about Martinez on Fox News Sunday, in a sharp exchange with host Chris Wallace. Lets get it right.  This is not a Republican issue. This is not a Democratic issue. We stand by our statement.

Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, is being chastised by party leaders and others for attacking a Latino Republican governor, in her home state, particularly when Republicans sorely need the minority and female vote to win the general election.

"Your governor has got to do a better job," Trump said at a rally Tuesday in Albuquerque, hitting Martinez on high state unemployment and other issues. "She's not doing the job. Hey, maybe I'll run for governor of New Mexico. I'll get this place going."

The remarks quelled speculation that Trump might pick Martinez, also chairman of the Republican Governors Association, as his running mate and brought to her defense such GOP leaders as House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whom Martinez endorsed for the partys presidential nomination.

Martinez's office responded by telling reporters in a statement: "Apparently, Donald Trump doesn't realize Governor Martinez wasn't elected in 2000, that she has fought for welfare reform, and has strongly opposed the president's Syrian refugee plan."



Lewandowski on Sunday argued the real issues are jobs, the economy and immigration.

We need to stop illegal immigration, he said. We need to put people back to work, cut taxes. Thats what this is about.

Lewandowski also argued his purported disputes with fellow top campaign adviser Paul Manafort are media hype, saying they speak several times daily and work together on key decisions.

He also defended Trumps decision not to debate Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, suggesting the billionaire businessman was joking when he brought up the idea.

Lewandowski said the campaign is solely focused on beating Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Were not going to waste our time debating Bernie Sanders when hes not going to be the nominee, he said.

Sanders said Friday night on HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher that he would still love to debate Trump and essentially asked him to reconsider.

Trump claims to be a real tough guy, pushes people around. Hey Donald, come on up and let's debate about the future of America," Sanders said.



Lewandowski also defended against criticism that the campaign staff is too small to win a general election against one as deep and far-reaching as Clintons.

Weve been leaner with better results, said Lewandowski, arguing the campaign wont have 700 or 800 people, like Clintons. We spent less money, got better results.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
An animal rights group expressed outrage Sunday at the killing of a 400-pound, 17-year-old gorilla to protect a small child that had fallen into a shallow moat at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Two witnesses said Sunday that they thought the ape, named Harambe, was trying to protect the 4-year-old boy before getting spooked by the screams of onlookers. The animal then picked the child up out of the moat and dragged him to another spot inside the exhibit, zoo officials said.

Fearing for the boy's life, the zoo's dangerous-animal response team shot and killed.

"Yet again, captivity has taken an animal's life," Julia Gallucci, a primatologist with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said in a statement. "The gorilla enclosure should have been surrounded by a secondary barrier between the humans and the animals to prevent exactly this type of incident.

"Gorillas have shown that they can be protective of smaller living beings and react the same way any human would to a child in danger," Gallucci added.

Witness Brittany Nicely told ABC News that the gorilla "rushed the boy, but did not hit the boy ... He almost was guarding the boy, was protecting him." Witness Tangie Hollifield agreed, tellingWCPO-TV that Harambe "just held onto him, and went up the ladder and just threw him ... But I dont think he was hurting him."

Zoo Director Thane Maynard agreed that the gorilla didn't appear to be attacking the child but was "an extremely strong" animal in an agitated situation. He said tranquilizing the gorilla wouldn't have knocked it out immediately, leaving the boy in danger.

"They made a tough choice and they made the right choice because they saved that little boy's life," Maynard said.

The boy's family released a statement Sunday that the boy was home and doing fine.

"We extend our heartfelt thanks for the quick action by the Cincinnati Zoo staff. We know that this was a very difficult decision for them, and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla," the family said.

Lt. Steve Saunders, a Cincinnati police spokesman, said there are no plans to charge the parents.

Witness Kim O'Connor told WLWT-TV she heard the boy say he wanted to get in the water with the gorillas. She said the boy's mother was with several other young children.

"The mother's like, 'No, you're not. No, you're not,'" O'Connor said.

O'Connor shared video she and her family recorded of the boy and Harambe. The two appear in a corner of the exhibit while visitors yell, "Somebody call the zoo!" and "Mommy's right here!" The station did not air portions of the video showing the gorilla dragging the boy.

Maynard called the killing a tragic death of a critically endangered species and a huge loss for the zoo and the gorilla population worldwide. The gorilla came to Cincinnati in 2015 from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas.

Visitors left flowers at a gorilla statue Sunday. Gorilla World remained closed, but the rest of the zoo was open.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A computer outage left hundreds of international travelers stranded at New York's Kennedy Airport Sunday.

A Port Authority spokesperson said a Verizon Wireless server crashed at around 4 p.m. local time, disrupting Wi-Fi service in the airport's Terminal 7. The terminal is operated by British Airways, which leases space to other airlines, including Iberia, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas.

The outage meant that airline agents were forced to scrap their usual check-in procedures and handwrite boarding passes and baggage claim tickets.

As of late Sunday, approximately 1,200 people were waiting to be checked into nine flights scheduled to take off between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m., according to PIX 11.

Passenger Mike Priestly was scheduled to fly to London on British Airways at 9:55 p.m., he told CBS New York. An hour later, he was still waiting.

"Its been pretty packed. And pretty cramped and pretty unsafe at times," said Priestly, who also complained of "pretty poor customer service. Theres been no public announcements to any of the customers waiting in there."

The Port Authority said the outage did not affect TSA operations at the airport. The agency had no immediate estimation of when the server would be up and running.

Click for more from Newsday.
A convicted felon wanted in the murder of his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn child was arrested Sunday night, less than two weeks after being added to the FBIs 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Philip Patrick Policarpio, 39, was arrested by agents with the U.S. Customs Border Protection as he was crossing into the United States from Tijuana, the FBI said in an email statement to Fox News.

Policarpio -- whose aliases include Bugsy, Sinister, and Sins -- is alleged to have killed his girlfriend, Lauren Olguin, in April, while on parole for a 2001 conviction for assault with a firearm and other violations. Olguin reportedly was 17 weeks pregnant.

His pattern is one of violence, and he is always armed, FBI Special Agent Scott Garriola said in a statement earlier this month, NBC News reported. "He is the definition of a continuing threat to the community."

The FBI says 508 people have been on the list, which was established in March 1950, and 475 fugitives have since been apprehended.

Additional information will be provided by the FBI and other law enforcement Tuesday morning.

Fox News' Lee Ross and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Florida teenager was rushed to a local hospital Sunday after he was bitten on the calf by a shark, officials said.

The attack happened in Neptune Beach at approximately 3 p.m. local time. Police said the 13-year-old was standing in approximately two feet of water when he was bitten by the 6-foot-long shark.

Witness Lou DeMark told Action News Jax that he saw a woman rush into the water to get the boy to shore.

"All you see is just blood, dripping and dripping out for about 50 feet," DeMark said.

First responders bandaged the teen's leg while his family tried to calim him down, according to another witness.

"The father got on top of his son," Frank Gamble said. "While he was talking to him, [the boy] says, 'I cant feel my toes' or something, so he was hurting."

The boy was taken to a local hospital, where he was listed as being in stable condition.

The attack occurred approximately eight miles south of where an 11-year-old girl was bitten by a shark on her back, arm and hand last weekend.

Click for more from Fox30Jax.com.
When America honors its fallen warriors on Memorial Day, the state of Georgia also will pay tribute to a U.S. Army captain who by all rights should have died on a battlefield northwest of Saigon on May 29, 1969.

Tommy Clack will be among 300 Vietnam veterans honored with a certificate from the Peach State as they stand together to remember patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice. Perhaps as much as any other living service member, Clack will wonder how an explosion that hit a 22-year-old fighting for a scrap of land so far from home known as Angels Wing could have taken three limbs, yet spared his life.

My records show I was pronounced dead, but obviously God had something else for me to do, Clack, who over the years has been a much studied medical case for near-death experiences, told FoxNews.com. All those details of when I died are very vivid to me. It is there. They dont go away.

Clack was leading a small platoon through the jungle, running interference for another unit, when they suddenly found themselves surrounded by North Vietnamese fighters. Half an hour into a fierce firefight, Clack saw a flash and felt an explosion from a rocket-propelled grenade that launched him into a strange state between dream and void. He was taken for dead, but not left behind: His comrades covered him and others who died that day with plastic ponchos. When medics came to treat the wounded, one was curiously compelled to lift the edge of the poncho covering Clack.

He doesnt even know why he did that, the veteran said of the medic. God sent him to that poncho and that is why I am still here he saw something.

He would drift in and out of consciousness over the next days and weeks, and still has gauzy memories of nurses and doctors hovered around him, and a figure pointing a finger at him and saying Now is not your time.

Clack, 69, has spent nearly a half-century since honoring those who came home from war, serving as special assistant to the director of the Atlanta Veterans Administration and then in the Conyers office of the Georgia Department of Veterans Services. He retired in 2012 only to take over as president and chairman of the Walk of Heroes, a veterans war memorial in Rockdale County, Ga.

Along the way, Clack earned his degree at Georgia State University, attending in the early 1970s when the campus air was charged with anger and protest.

He felt the contemptuous stares of peers who had not served, endured insults from those who believed his permanent injuries were deserved and, in his mind, saw his assignments and tests downgraded by professors whose anti-war sentiments extended to ill will toward young men drafted into service.

I have always believed you dont bring yourself down to the level of those putting you down, Clack said simply.

Walk of Heroes is seeking donations to repair the sprawling, three-acre, tranquil tourist attraction and ceremonial site in Conyers, Ga., devoted to remembering those who paid the ultimate price. The group then intends to build six educational enclaves, each one marking the major conflicts of the 20th century from the two world wars through to Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and the global war on terror.

We want future generations to understand the cost of freedom because freedom is not free, Clack said. The younger generation needs to grasp the reality that there is a world out there that wants to do them harm. And I hope that this May 30th everyone takes a moment to say thank you for that sacrifice.

Clack, an 8th generation U.S. Army veteran and father of a soldier son, is grateful for the miracle that allowed him to survive. But he has always been ready to take his place among those the nation honors on Monday.

I would gladly die tomorrow if I had to, to preserve my faith in God and belief in my country, he said. It is worth it.
A Bellevue gun collector once detained as a material witness in the slaying of a federal prosecutor in Seattle is suing the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Albert K. Kwan was not a suspect in the still-unsolved October 2001 shooting of assistant U.S. attorney Thomas Wales, but investigators detained him for three weeks in 2005 because they believed he might have information about the case.

Kwan's complaint, filed May 20 in U.S. District Court, says that in March the ATF denied him a federal firearms license, which allows people to import, manufacture or sell firearms. It says the ATF found that he had "willfully violated" the Gun Control Act, but it does not say how Kwan allegedly did so.

Kwan's lawyer, Joseph Conte, said last week that he does not believe the denial was related to the Wales investigation. Instead, he said, it was partly because of an earlier dispute in which Kwan had declined to allow ATF agents to search his bedroom during a premises check.

"The one has nothing to do with the other," Conte said.

Kwan has an impressive and valuable collection of weapons and hopes to open a museum, he said, though "there would be some buying and selling."

Kwan previously held four federal firearms licenses that allowed him to manufacture and import firearms in Bellevue and to manufacture firearms in Boise, Idaho. The agency declined to renew his licenses in 2003, saying Kwan had not used them as intended and because he was uncooperative during a premises check.

He sued over that decision, but his complaint was dismissed by a federal judge.

Kwan also sued U.S. Customs and Border Protection in 2003 over the seizure of his van at the Canadian border. The van had a hidden compartment that agents believed could have been used for smuggling. Kwan was never charged and said he simply wanted to be able to store items out of sight. But a judge dismissed his complaint in that case as well.

In 2005, agents searched Kwan's home as part of the investigation into Wales' death. They did not believe he was involved in the killing, but they were trying to track down a gun part that may have been used in it. Wales was killed with a Makarov pistol outfitted with a replacement barrel, and sale records indicated that Kwan had purchased two such barrels.

Kwan denied ever owning more than one barrel, which he turned over to the FBI.

During the search, agents found an unregistered short-barreled rifle, and a jury convicted him of illegally possessing the weapon in 2007. However, Kwan won a motion for a new trial and federal prosecutors dropped the case.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Kwan and a business partner, Mark Van Scoy. Van Scoy said that he was not aware the complaint had been filed, and that he wanted a federal firearms license to give him something to do in retirement.
Specialist Gabriel Texidor served in the Army for five years. He had been deployed in Iraq for a year in 2009 when he was struck by a roadside bomb. While he suffered physical injuries, his post-traumatic stress has been even harder to overcome.

The father of four has had difficulty re-acclimating to civilian life and has a hard time even leaving his house. But one thing Texidor does enjoy is watching his eldest son, Gabriel Jr., learn martial arts. The 3  year old, who goes by the nickname Bubba has his martial arts class paid for with a grant from the non-profit organization Our Military Kids that helps military children do the things they love.

Gabriels wife, Callie, who also served in the Army, says the classes have helped Gabriel and Bubba, but dealing with her husband's PTSD is still a daily test.

Every day is just a constant struggle, even though we have four beautiful children and were extremely blessed to have them, Callie told FOX411 in their Edison, NJ, home. When it comes to loud noises, we leave the door open because if we know that someone is coming over, people dont ring the doorbell. Everything has to be organized so that way his train of thought doesnt get off track.

Gabriel is also helped by his service dog, a German Shepard named Rocky.

Just him playing with me helps a lot, and being able to take him out and just have that time walking with him is really good for me, Gabriel explained.

Taking Bubba to martial arts class also enables Gabriel to strengthen the bond with his son.

I think its helped a lot because I never feel like I do enough for him, and being there in the karate class with him, it makes me feel

like Im closer to him, especially at the end of class. They always tell them to run to the parents, and he just forgets his shoes and just runs straight to me instead of running to go get his shoes first. Hes just like Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!'" said Gabriel. "It's a good feeling."

Gabriel said being a veteran brings him pride, and when people recognize the sacrifice veterans make, it makes everyone feel better.

"A lot of people here are ignorant to whats really going on within a veteran," he said. "Even if you just stop to say thank you or say hi ... theyll be grateful for it.

Seeing Gabriels daily struggle with PTSD weighs heavily on his wife, but she says there is hope ahead.

When I see my husband go every single day crying and struggling, and not being able to walk outside, and not being able to deal with another [unemployment], but then he knows

he can take Bubba to martial arts class -- thats a miracle.


The leader of the armed group that took over a federal wildlife reserve in Oregon last January is complaining about what he says is a big injustice: the lack of Internet access inside his jail cell.

Ammon Bundy and his brother Ryan Bundy have requested Internet access in jail to help them prepare for a Sept. 7 federal trial, the Oregonian reported.

The two brothers are among 26 defendants indicted on federal conspiracy and weapons charges related to the 41-day armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon. The occupation began Jan. 2, with Bundy and others demanding the federal government turn public lands over to local control.

The Bundy brothers are arguing that they cannot sufficiently prepare for their Sept. 7 trial, alleging a violation of their civil rights, according to the newspaper.

In response, the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said the brothers and their co-defendants could have iPads in their jail cells, as long as their lawyers preload the devices with the discovery documents and videos needed to prepare for trial, the newspaper reported.

But Ammon Bundy's lawyer wrote in a court document last week that such an arrangement wouldn't work because the case discovery program is web-based.

"They attempted to work through these issues with jail staff, but now are forced to evaluate other viable options to protect their rights as citizens who stand accused with the weight of the government against them,'' Ammon Bundy's lawyer, Mike Arnold, wrote in a report on jail conditions filed in court Tuesday, according to the paper.

Bundy and his co-defendants also have complained about not having the opportunity to see one another to discuss trial strategies and pray together.

"My right to live is being violated,'' defendant Ryan Bundy wrote. "All of my First Amendment rights are being violated...I am not allowed to see my brother and move about....This violates my freedom of assembly...My Second Amendment rights are being violated. I never waived that right.''

Click here for more from OregonLive.com
A man was shot and killed Sunday morning during a house party at a multimillion-dollar mansion in Massachusetts and police are hunting for the suspect, Fox 25 reported.

Massachusetts police responding to the home in Lynnfield at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday found a man who was shot several times. The victim was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the station reported.

The victim was identified as 33-year-old Keivan Heath.

The mansions owner, Alex Styller, has been renting out his four-bedroom, 4-bath home for about a year and says this is the first time there has ever been a problem.

The renters told Styller they did not know the victim or the shooter.

"Probably this party got out of hand and some uninvited people came in," Styller told NECN.

Local resident Jane Fagel described the scene to the station: Many, many cars parked on the street, and girls walking up and down the street in bikinis."

The home is currently on the market for $3.3 million, according to Realtor.com.
Residents of some rural southeast Texas counties braced for more flooding on Monday along a river that is expected to crest at a record level just two years after it had run dry in places because of drought.

National Weather Service meteorologists predicted that the Brazos river would crest at 53.5 feet by midday Tuesday in Fort Bend County, three feet above the previous record and topping a 1994 flood that caused extensive damage.

During four days of torrential rain, six people have died in floods along the Brazos, which runs from New Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico. A Brazos River Authority map shows all 11 of the reservoirs fed by the Brazos at 95 to 100 percent capacity.

A man whose body was recovered late Sunday from a retention pond in the Austin area near the Circuit of the Americas auto racing track appeared to be one of two people reported missing earlier, said Travis County sheriff's spokeswoman Lisa Block.

There have been reports of others missing in Travis County, and crews will resume searching Tuesday, but Block said there's no confirmation yet of additional missing people.

Four of the six dead were recovered in Washington County, located between Austin and Houston, said County Judge John Brieden. Lake Somerville, one of the Brazos reservoirs, was "gushing uncontrollably" over the spillway, threatening people downriver. Two of the bodies were found Saturday in different parts of the county, Brieden said.

About 40 people were rescued from late Sunday to Monday from homes in a low-lying neighborhood flooded with up to three feet of water in Simonton, a town in Fort Bend County with about 800 residents. Aerial photos taken Sunday showed large swaths of the county under water.

The county had set up a pumping system to divert the water from the Simonton neighborhood, which sits on a flood plain. But the water levels overpowered the system, according to Beth Wolf, a county spokeswoman.

Wolf said any additional rain in southeast Texas would be a problem.

"The ditches are full, the river's high, there's nowhere else for that water to go," she said.

Further south in Rosenberg, about 150 households had been evacuated by Monday, and city officials were coordinating with the county's office of emergency management to have rescue boats in place, according to spokeswoman Jenny Pavlovich. In neighboring Richmond, a voluntary evacuation order was in place.

Flood warnings across Texas remained in effect Monday though only isolated rainfall was expected in parts of the southeast.

Elsewhere, authorities continued searching for the body of an 11-year-old boy who fell into a Kansas creek and is presumed dead. Relatives have identified the boy as Devon Dean Cooley, who disappeared Friday night in Gypsum Creek.

Devon's family, in a statement Monday, thanked firefighters for their tireless efforts to find the boy. The family planned to hold a cookout Monday evening to feed the rescue crews, followed by a candlelight vigil.

Tropical Depression Bonnie weakened near the South Carolina coast although it accounted for a wet Memorial Day holiday weekend in the area.

The depression fell apart early in the day about 45 miles north of Charleston, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Bonnie dropped about 8 inches of rain in southern South Carolina on Sunday, closing the southbound lanes of Interstate 95 about 20 miles north of the Georgia state line for about 16 hours.
A gunman walked into an auto detailing shop in Houston Sunday morning and began shooting, killing another customer and putting the neighborhood on lockdown before being fatally shot by a SWAT officer, police said.

Six others were injured, including two deputy constables who had been released from a local hospital as of late Sunday. Three men and one women were also hospitalized with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. Police said they were investigating whether one of the injured men played any role in the shooting. The unidentified man was initially described as a suspect because he was present at the scene and armed.

Police said they got their first call about the shooting at 10:15 a.m. local time. The deceased victim, described as a man in his 50s, had just driven in to the auto shop. Within a minute or two, authorities said, the gunman came in and started shooting. Others in the shop ran out to take cover nearby and call for help.

Neighbors described hearing many gunshots, and some of the victims taken to the hospital were shot while driving their vehicles. Police say they believe a fire at a gas station next door began when gunfire hit a pump. At least three police vehicles were damaged by gunfire, one of them struck 21 times, and a police helicopter was shot at with a "high-powered" weapon and was hit five times, authorities said.

Neither the gunman nor the victims have been publicly identified, and police said they had no information on a possible motive.

The gunman was killed by the SWAT officer about an hour after the shootings began, said Police spokesman John Cannon.

"If he hadn't taken that action that quickly, this likely would have been a lot worse than it was," Cannon said.

The county medical examiner may identify the gunman on Monday, Cannon said.

Houston Police Union President Ray Hunt says an officer who was hit several times in the chest was wearing both a metal breastplate and a bulletproof vest. The second officer was shot in the hand.

Stephen Dittoe, 55, lives in the house right behind the shooting scene, separated by a fence and tall shrubbery at the end of cul-de-sac.

"I heard the first shot and I thought it was a transformer" exploding, he said. His wife, Ha, 41, said it went on too long for that and described the series of staccato sounds.

She took their two children, ages 6 and 7, into the bathroom, told them to eat breakfast in there, and called 911.

About two hours later, Ha Dittoe said police arrived at their house and asked if anyone was being held captive, and if they could walk around the backyard.

The streets were still blocked off late Sunday afternoon with many police cars and fire trucks on the scene. A police SUV was seen with a shattered windshield and the back window broken out, and police said two patrol cars were riddled with bullets.
Nearly 72 years after a young U.S. sailor was killed on D-Day, his remains were laid to rest Saturday in his Minnesota hometown in a ceremony for a hero whose grave was unknown for decades -- but who was never forgotten.

The quest to bring home the remains of 24-year-old Motor Machinist Mate 1st Class John E. Anderson is one that took years, stymied by misinformation and a lack of effort by the French and U.S. governments. The dogged pursuit of his nephew -- who was a boy when Anderson left for World War II -- an amateur military researcher and a U.S. senator all made the burial in Willmar, Minn., possible.

"I feel relieved and pleased that I was able to honor him," said Don Franklin, a 77-year-old retired professor from Pittsburgh who spent years trying to find the uncle he fondly remembers as "cheery" and "always thinking about family."

"My grandparents and mother had always been upset there was no body to honor," Franklin told FoxNews.com. "Today he's finally home."

Anderson died on June 6, 1944 -- D-Day -- when the engine room of a landing craft was destroyed by enemy fire in the invasion of Normandy. Anderson, who was alone in the boiler room, died instantly -- the only casualty in the attack. His family was told at the time his remains had washed out to sea.

But family members had long suspected otherwise and, determined to investigate it, they enlisted the help of Willmar resident Jon Lindstrand several years ago.

Lindstrand, 36, spent four years tracking down the whereabouts of Andersons remains, and in 2009 the family learned that Anderson may have been buried in a grave in a Normandy American Military Cemetery.

DNA testing was needed to prove the person buried at Normandy was Anderson. In 2011, Franklin's mother, who is Anderson's eldest sister, provided a DNA sample before her death shortly thereafter at age 97. But Lindstrand said he and the family were turned down twice when they requested the test on the remains in the Normandy cemetery.

"There were a couple of times when you just wanted to give up," Lindstrand told WCCO television. "It just seemed like there was no way to get past the bureaucracy."

With the help of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., France agreed in October to disinter the remains at grave site X-91 in the American Cemetery in Normandy. In April, long-awaited DNA testing revealed that those remains belonged to John Anderson.

"If DNA werent used, this probably would not have happened," said Franklin, who credits Klobuchar for her crucial role in the positive identification -- personally sending a letter to the Department of Defense on behalf of the family.

Even after two denied requests from the Pentagon, John Andersons family remained determined to have the remains of an unmarked grave in Normandy disinterred. When they reached out to our office for help, I wrote in support of the familys request and the Navy took action, Klobuchar said in a statement to FoxNews.com.

On Saturday, Anderson -- who was awarded the Purple Heart posthumously -- received the military burial he never got, almost 72 years to the day after he was killed in the line of duty.

The ceremony in Willmar, marked with a 21-gun salute, opened with the Navy Hymn and ended with "American the Beautiful."

Anderson was laid to rest next to his parents, Swedish immigrants Oscar and Anna Anderson.

For Franklin, the burial of his uncle was a testament to the power of hope and determination, he said.

"I remember him as always smiling in his crisp uniform," Franklin recalled. "He would come to our house and bring a little gift. Before he left for the war, he said, 'Oh, I hope Im going to be able to come back and raise a family.'"

"He was very aware of the danger," Franklin said. "He was always thinking of his home and his family."

FoxNews.com's Cristina Corbin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Jack Holder survived the attack on Pearl Harbor and aerial combat over Midway and the English Channel unscathed. But the 94-year-old World War II veteran recently fell victim to a sweepstakes scam that cost him $43,000 in what he called the "worst tragedy of my life."

Holder received a phone call last March informing him he was the winner in the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes -- and would be rewarded with $4.7 million and a new Mercedes-Benz, the Arizona Republic newspaper reported.

In order to claim his prize, Holder had to provide some personal information and open a bank account where the money could be deposited, according to the paper.

But days later, thieves made off with $43,000 from Holder and his fiancee, 78-year-old Ruth Calabro.

"I can't believe that anything like this ever happened to me," Holder, of Sun Lakes, Ariz., told Fox affiliate KSAZ. "I faced almost five years in combat during the war and made it out alive."

"This is the worst tragedy I've ever experienced," he said.

The Arizona Republic reports that the scam involved at least four different callers, three addresses in Brooklyn, Mount Vernon, N.Y. and Hoboken, N.J. and two phone numbers in Gilbert and Nichols, N.Y.

The Chandler Police Department and the FBI are reportedly investigating the scam, which authorities say it not uncommon.

A GoFundMe page has since been set up to help Holder and his fiancee reclaim the money they have lost.

Click here for more from Fox 10
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Iraq's special forces completed a troop buildup around Fallujah on Sunday ahead of an operation to retake the Islamic State-held city west of Baghdad, a military officer said, as the militants attacked a newly-liberated town to the west.

Teaming up with paramilitary troops and backed by aerial support from the U.S.-led coalition, the government launched a large-scale offensive to dislodge IS militants from Fallujah a week ago.

The city, located about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad, is one of the last major IS strongholds in Iraq. The extremist group still controls territory in the country's north and west, including Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.

The last battalion from Iraq's Special Forces Service arrived at dawn Sunday at the sprawling Tariq Camp outside Fallujah, said Maj. Dhia Thamir. He declined to comment on troop numbers or the timing of the expected assault.

He said troops have recaptured 80 percent of the territory around the city since the operation began and are currently battling IS to the northeast as they seek to tighten the siege ahead of a planned final push into the city center.

In a televised speech to parliament, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the "current second phase of the Fallujah operation" will last less than 48 hours, after which the offensive to recapture the city will begin.

Al-Abadi called on residents of Fallujah to either leave the city or stay indoors. Government officials and aid groups estimate that more than 50,000 people remain inside the center of the Sunni majority city.

As he cleared his weapon and checked his Humvee at the camp, soldier Ali al-Shimmari said he was "totally ready" for the battle. "I phoned my family in the morning and asked them to pray for me to get back safe to them," he added.

"I'm determined to end Daesh," al-Shimmari continued, using the Arabic acronym for the group.

The militants meanwhile launched an attack Sunday on the town of Hit, 85 miles (140 kilometers) west of Baghdad, which was recaptured by government troops last month. A military officer said the extremists entered three neighborhoods and were engaged in heavy clashes with Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led airstrikes.

By late afternoon, the forces had managed to push the militants out and were in control of the whole town. The officer was not authorized to release information so spoke on condition of anonymity.

Fallujah, which saw some of the heaviest fighting of the 2003-2011 U.S.-led military intervention, was the first city in Iraq to fall to IS. The extremists seized control of Fallujah in January 2014, six months before they swept across northern and western Iraq and declared a caliphate.
Israeli police have recommended indictments against the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged misuse of state funds and inflated household spending, according to multiple reports in the Israeli media Sunday.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz and Channel 2 TV, among other outlets, reported that police believe they have enough evidence to bring Sara Netanyahu to trial in relation to three separate affairs.

Haaretz reported that an indictment is recommended against Sara Netanyahu for allegedly using private money to pay for food and private chefs for family events. She is also accused of paying for a live-in caregiver for her father with money earmarked for the prime minister's residence, as well as using state money to pay for electrical work at her family's personal residence.

In a statement, police announced the end of their investigation but offered few details. A police spokesman would not comment further.

Benjamin Netanyahu denied the allegations in a Facebook post. "In the police statement there was no recommendation to bring Mrs. Netanyahu to trial. In contrast to reports, Mrs. Netanyahu did not commit any crime."

The Netanyahus have long faced scrutiny over their spending and have fended off accusations that their lifestyles are out of touch with ordinary Israelis.

Sara Netanyahu in particular has been accused of using government funds to support her expensive tastes and alleged abusive behavior toward staff.

In February, a former employee won a court case against her alleging he was subjected to abusive language and insults.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from Haaretz.


The teacher crisis is real, and were not going to work our way out of it simply by making it easier to hire teachers.
Biotherapeutics Consumption Industry 2016 : Industry Size, Share And Growth Report By Radiant Insights,Inc

RadiantInsights.com includes new market research report on "Global Biotherapeutics Consumption Industry Size, Share And Trends Report Up To 2016 : Radiant Insights" to its huge collection of research reports.

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Biotherapeutic is a therapeutic material formed by using biological means. The process includes recombinant DNA technology. Biotherapeutic are basically agents, used to treat and avoid human disease by interrelating with the microbial ecology of the host. Additionally, Biotherapeutic manufacturing includes many regulations such as signal processing, biology and engineering process control.

Browse Full Research Report With TOC on http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-biotherapeutics-consumption-industry-2016

Live biotherapeutic product consist of complete, live microorganisms such as yeast or bacteria. The expansion approach of SynCO for LBP includes purification, culture development and propagation, thus, boosting the biotherapeutics consumption industry. The list of potential critical process parameters used to control the process is generated, before the establishing of the development. Synco involves the development of fully closed and scalable aseptic production process. There are currently fewer well-conducted clinical trials exhibiting any considerable benefits of probiotics in humans. Therefore, Biotherapeutic agent such as yeast saccharomyces boulardii has benefited antibiotic prevention related with diarrhea.

Innovative approaches have been undertaken as a substitute to antibiotic, boosting the therapeutic consumption industry demand. It includes agents such as faecal enamels and yeast. It also looks in for BioTherapeutics agents which are Probiotic organisms. These organisms improve the host immunity. Additionally, they basically stimulate the inherent of the immune system. These are highly effective set of preserved mechanisms. It recognizes and counters the threat of microbial infections.

Request A Sample Copy Of This Report at: www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-biotherapeutics-consumption-industry-2016#tab4

A major application of live therapeutic products is clinical. It has significantly helped in reducing infection and also maintains the gastrointestinal metabolism, influencing the market demand. Furthermore, the process development efforts are emphasizing in considerate manufacturing and biologic variables defining the protein quality. Key firm such as Bend Research has collaborated with several pharmaceutical partners for development of advanced technologies.

Browse All Reports of This Category at: http://www.radiantinsights.com/catalog/biopharmaceutical

Table of Contents

1 Industry Overview of Biotherapeutics

1.1 Definition and Specifications of Biotherapeutics

1.1.1 Definition of Biotherapeutics

1.1.2 Specifications of Biotherapeutics

1.2 Classification of Biotherapeutics

1.3 Applications of Biotherapeutics

1.4 Industry Chain Structure of Biotherapeutics

1.5 Industry Overview and Major Regions Status of Biotherapeutics

1.5.1 Industry Overview of Biotherapeutics

1.5.2 Global Major Regions Status of Biotherapeutics

1.6 Industry Policy Analysis of Biotherapeutics

1.7 Industry News Analysis of Biotherapeutics

About Radiant Insights,Inc

Radiant Insights is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. We assist and facilitate organizations and individuals procure market research reports, helping them in the decision making process. We have a comprehensive collection of reports, covering over 40 key industries and a host of micro markets. In addition to over extensive database of reports, our experienced research coordinators also offer a host of ancillary services such as, research partnerships/ tie-ups and customized research solutions.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-biotherapeutics-consumption-industry-2016

Contact Info:

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Email: sales@radiantinsights.com

Organization: Radiant Insights

Address: 28 2nd Street, Suite 3036 San Francisco, CA

Phone: 1-415-349-0054

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Intravenous Solutions Market to Grow at 5.79% CAGR Driven by Growing Popularity of Intravenous Vitamin C Therapy in Cancer Treatment

RnRMarketResearch.com adds Global Intravenous Solutions Market 2016-2020 latest research report, the analysts forecast global intravenous solutions market to grow at a CAGR of 5.79% during the period 2016-2020.

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The growth of the global intravenous solutions market is driven by several factors. The increasing incidence of gastrointestinal disorders, diabetes, and cancer is one of the major factors that are expected to increase the rate of adoption of intravenous solutions among consumers. The rising popularity of intravenous vitamin C therapy in cancer treatment is one of the major trends in the intravenous solutions market. The intravenous vitamin C solution has been observed to have an increased toxicity to cancer cells and improve the patients' quality of life.

Complete report on intravenous solutions market spread across 53 pages, analyzing 4 major companies and providing 16 data exhibits is now available at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/global-intravenous-solutions-market-2016-2020-market-report.html

Global Intravenous Solutions Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years.

The Intravenous Solutions Market is divided into the Following Segments Based on Geography: Americas, APAC, Europe and MEA

The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global intravenous solutions market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sale of various type intravenous fluids:

o Crystalloids

o Colloids

o Free H2O solutions

Order a copy of Global Intravenous Solutions Market 2016-2020 report @ http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/contacts/purchase?rname=582851

The following companies are the key players in the Global Intravenous Solutions Market: Baxter, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Fresenius Kabi AG, and Hospira Inc.

Other Prominent Vendors in the market are: Bioscrip, Claris Lifesciences, Grifols, IV Solutions, JW Life Science, Sichuan Kelun Pharmaceutical, Terumo, Thai Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Omnicare, Vifor Pharma, and Widatra Bhakti.

The infusion of liquid substances, such as nutrients and drugs, directly into a vein is referred as intravenous therapy. Intravenous fluids are extensively used to treat electrolyte imbalances, maintain fluid balance, and replace fluid losses. These fluids are dispensed in volumes ranging from 25-1,000 milliliters and are available in either plastic bags or glass bottles. A complete mixture of all essential nutrients is also available in multi-chamber bags, and these bags are gaining immense popularity among numerous end-users.

Further, the intravenous solutions market report states that the presence of stringent regulations introduced by governments leads to unnecessary delays and additional costs in manufacturing. This hinders the growth of the vendors and, therefore, the market.

Another related report is Global Immunoglobulin Products Market 2016-2020, the analysts forecast global immunoglobulin products market to grow at a CAGR of 6.84% during the period 2016-2020. As plasma therapeutics is often expensive, vendors provide co-pay assistance to patients to enable the purchase of these drugs. For instance, Baxter's Gammagard liquid support program provides financial assistance to individuals with primary immunodeficiency. According to the Gammagard Liquid SubQ CoPay card, an eligible patient receiving treatment with Gammagard Liquid SubQ for primary immunodeficiency is entitled to save up to $2,500 on the coinsurance/co-payment costs over a 12-month period. Browse complete report @ http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/global-immunoglobulin-products-market-2016-2020-market-report.html

key players in the Global Immunoglobulin Products Market: Baxalta, Biotest Pharmaceuticals Corp., CSL Ltd., Grifols SA, Kedrion SpA, and Octapharma.

Other Prominent Vendors in the market are: Abeona Therapeutics, Admabiologics, Anthera, Beijing Tiantan Biological Products (China), Bharat Serums and Vaccines (India), Bio Products Laboratory, China Biologic Products (China), Emergent Biosolutions, Gliknik, Greencross, Hansamedical, Hualan Biological Engineering (China), Immunomedics, Innate Pharma, Integrated Biotherapeutics, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Kamada, LFB Group (France), Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma, Momenta Pharma, Patrys, Shanghai RAAS Blood Products (China), Sichuan Yuanda Shuyang Pharmaceutical (China), and Sorrento Therapeutics.

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For more information about us, please visit http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/global-intravenous-solutions-market-2016-2020-market-report.html

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Address: UNIT no 802, Tower no. 7, SEZ Magarpatta city, Hadapsar, Pune, Maharashtra 411013, India.

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Source: http://marketersmedia.com/intravenous-solutions-market-to-grow-at-5-79-cagr-driven-by-growing-popularity-of-intravenous-vitamin-c-therapy-in-cancer-treatment/116962

Release ID: 116962

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Tomerlin-ERP Delivers Report On What To Expect From Epicor 10.1 ERP System

A smooth upgrade awaits users of Epicor 10, with useful new features like mobile framework adding significant value, Tomerlin-ERP observes

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Tomerlin-ERP, one of the world's leading Epicor consultancies, issued a new report on the 10.1 release of the widely deployed enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. From offices in California, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Utah, Canada, and Mexico, Tomerlin-ERP regularly assists businesses throughout North America with the installation, upgrading, maintenance, and customization of the Epicor ERP platform.

With the much-anticipated version 10.1 of Epicor now available to all, the new Tomerlin-ERP report details what those considering an upgrade or a new installation can expect. Despite being an ostensibly incremental upgrade over the already widely utilized 10.0 version of Epicor, the new update includes an all-new mobile framework that many are finding to be a valuable addition. The new Tomerlin-ERP report on Epicor 10.1 is available now at www.tomerlin-erp.com and delves into this and other important developments.

"As always, any new release of Epicor is a major event for the many organizations that rely on this powerful software system," Tomerlin-ERP founder Monte Tomerlin said, "While each update tends to bring some important improvements, many Epicor users quite understandably wait to hear from others before making the leap themselves. We're happy to report that we are finding the transition from Epicor 10 to be an extremely straightforward and reliable one. Between the new mobile facilities and the thousands of fixes and tweaks found elsewhere throughout the platform, our customers are reporting this to be one of the most welcome upgrades in quite some time."

ERP systems vary in terms of their scope and features, but all share the trait of centralizing data about a variety of business processes to allow for more productive analysis and reporting. The Epicor ERP system offered by the Austin-based Epicor Software Corporation is one of the most popular products of this kind, emphasizing collaboration, responsiveness, and flexibility of deployment in a way that many modern businesses find appealing.

Since 1998, Tomerlin-ERP has been one of the world's leading sources of assistance with and support for this powerful software system. With offices located all across the United States and in Canada, as well as the soon to be opened branch in Monterrey, Mexico, the company's highly qualified, certified consultants provide personalized services that facilitate the installation, optimization, customization, training, upgrading, and business-empowering usage of the Epicor ERP system.

The new Tomerlin-ERP report on the most recent version of Epicor ERP therefore stems from an especially informed and capable source. The concise report details the major enhancements, fixes, and new features that Epicor ERP users can expect with the 10.1 upgrade. The new report is available now at http://www.tomerlin-erp.com, where visitors can read about the full range of Tomerlin-ERP service offerings.

About Tomerlin-ERP:

With an unrivaled depth of knowledge, experience, and dedication, Tomerlin-ERP delivers a comprehensive range of consulting and IT services that help clients make the most of the Epicor ERP system and related products.

For more information about us, please visit https://www.tomerlin-erp.com

Contact Info:

Name: Monte Tomerlin

Organization: Tomerlin-ERP

Address: 2662 Santa Maria Road Topanga, CA 90290

Phone: 818-887-9162

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/tomerlin-erp-delivers-report-on-what-to-expect-from-epicor-10-1-erp-system/117173

Release ID: 117173

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Claybrooke Life Insurance Launches Campaign To Make Public Aware Of Massive Need

Life insurance: not a luxury explains Claybrooke.org.uk, but a responsibility of good parents and all adults

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According to behavioral finance studies, consumers who are confused will invariably put off making decisions. Additional research has shown that this is particularly true for people shopping for life insurance. In fact, the use of such terms as accelerated benefits, death benefit, annuity and protection have been shown to further confuse the customer and according to research, makes them less likely to trust the life insurance industry as a whole.

In response to news such as this, Claybrooke Life Insurance out of Cardiff, UK has launched a campaign to make local consumers aware of the great need of life insurance and their own personal commitment to customer care. Says Kate Reid, spokesperson for Claybrooke Life Insurance, "Part of being a responsible adult and parent means making sure that those who love you and depend on you are financially cared for if you unexpectedly pass away. The best way any parent or guardian can do this is with life insurance. At Claybrooke Life Insurance, we want everyone to know how important it is to safeguard your family in the event of your passing, to take the steps now, before it's too late."

Reid goes on to say that many people put off applying for life insurance because they feel their current pre-existing health issues will make it impossible to obtain. "Individuals with pre-existing health conditions often hold the belief that it is impossible for them to acquire life insurance and even if they succeed, the policy will cost them heavily. While it may seem unlikely, Claybrooke (www.claybrooke.org.uk/pre-existing-conditions/) can find life insurance policies with competitive prices for those with pre-existing conditions."'

Even those living with Irritable Bowel Syndrome or IBSare often reluctant to apply for life insurance for fear they will face exorbitant rates or be declined all together, says Reid. "If you have already been living with IBS for several or more years, then the condition will qualify as a pre-existing condition on the application." However, at www.claybrooke.org.uk/pre-existing-conditions/ibs-life-insurance/, Claybrooke Life Insurance explains how they can help. "A savvy health insurance buyer can always find a reasonable policy. So at this point, read up on IBS and life insurance to make sure that you are protected."

Finally, in their quest to make the public more aware of their options where life insurance is concerned, mental health is always a concern says Reid. "Mental health can have many different impacts when it comes to life insurance, with it often depending on how severe and recent the condition was. The good thing to know is many different medical conditions still allow individuals to obtain life insurance to protect debts or their families. Depending on the circumstances and after being subject to the underwriting process, it is possible to obtain life insurance while having anxiety, depression, stress, bipolar disorder, panic attacks, and incidents of self-harm and suicide attempts. Please see our web page at www.claybrooke.org.uk/pre-existing-conditions/life-insurance-mental-health-coverage/ for more information."

About Claybrooke Life Insurance:

Claybrooke Life Insurance offers critical illness, income protection, and life insurance. In order to provide their clients with the best prices, their life provider does a detailed analysis of current insurance providers to find the best rates and benefits to match their customers' current budget and needs. The team at Claybrooke Life Insurance prides themselves on their exceptional customer service. In addition, they strive to provide their users with the best team of personal protection experts available in the business today.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.claybrooke.org.uk

Contact Info:

Name: Kate Reid

Organization: Claybrooke Life Insurance

Phone: 0203 150 1349

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/claybrooke-life-insurance-launches-campaign-to-make-public-aware-of-massive-need/117211

Release ID: 117211

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North York Office Space Provider Sloan Property Completes Building Renovation

Sloan Property Management is celebrating its 9th year anniversary by adding over 10,000 square feet of new office space. More information on the business can be found at http://www.4646dufferin.com/

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Sloan Property Management is celebrating their 9th Anniversary, which commemorates 9 amazing years in business. This is a huge milestone for the North York office space provider, which has offered property management to Business Professionals and Entrepreneurs since 2007. The company also announced the completion of building renovations with over 10,000 sq ft of new office space for business owners and professionals seeking office space in North York, Toronto and Vaughan.

Sloan Property Management got its start in 2007 when founder Allen Sloan wanted to connect community of business professionals, including accountants, lawyers and marketers, who share ideas and help one another succeed, while getting business referrals from other tenants so they can grow through word of mouth.

One of the earliest challenges Sloan Property Management faced was finding a central location in the north end of Toronto, where they can provide a viable office location for other business professionals in the Vaughan and North York area, while still maintaining a Toronto address.

While every business of course faces challenges, some, like Sloan Property Management are fortunate enough to enjoy real successes, wins and victories too. Once such victory came when 4646 Dufferin St. became available which solved several challenges related to having a Toronto address that would suit the needs of business owners working on a realistic budget.

Rick Gold, Chief Operating Officer at Sloan Property Management was also quoted when discussing another big win. "One of the high points of Sloan Property Management's history so far was finding a prime real estate location that's within minutes from a variety of restaurants including Mr. Greek, Tim Hortons, Subway and more, as well as banks including CIBC and BMO, as well as supermarkets like the Real Canadian Superstore. ."

Sloan Property Management's Founder, Allen Sloan says "We're delighted to be celebrating our 9th Year Anniversary. I believe the secret to getting this far in business today is building trust and strengthening relationships. Our business tenants choose us for their office space and amenities they need, but also because this is a true co-working community. My administrative staff and I make sure entrepreneurs feel welcome and supported so they can focus on running their business."

Sloan Property Management currently consists of 15 employees and has big plans for the upcoming year. One of their core objectives is to help several business owners looking for a Vaughan office space, save on start-up costs and avoid starting from scratch by offering a turn-key solution facility with convenient amenities, while providing credibility to their customers. Their tastefully designed facilities and administrative services help their tenants look professional and build client trust.

Sloan Property Management would also like to thank friends, customers and all its partners for their well wishes on this happy occasion.

More information on the business can be found at http://www.4646dufferin.com/

For more information about us, please visit http://www.4646dufferin.com/

Contact Info:

Name: Rick Gold

Email: info@4646dufferin.com

Organization: Sloan Property Management

Address: 4646 Dufferin St. Suite 6 Toronto, ON M3H 5S4

Phone: (416) 649-7715

Release ID: 116868

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Nix Auto Repair in Sikeston MO Announces New Mobile App

Nix Auto Repair of Sikeston, Missouri announces a new Android mobile app is available for downloading and will keep Nix Auto Repair customers updated with the latest auto care information and auto service updates and special discounts.

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Sikeston, MO May 18, 2016 --Nix Auto Repair of Sikeston, Missouri announces that a new Android mobile app is available for downloading and will keep Nix Auto Repair customers updated with the latest auto care information and auto service updates. All customers of Nix Auto Service can now receive instant notifications of auto repair service requirements and special discounts.

Benji Nix, owner of Nix Auto Repair said, "This was specifically held back to announce after our Grand Opening. We wanted to give our customers something extra this year to make it easy to access emergency services and specific information to meet their auto care needs." Benji Nix said "We worked hard this year to complete this project and the timing is just perfect to coincide with the 2016 Summer Driving Market". Benji went on to say "If you don't want to miss out on the latest in new auto care service requirements, new techniques and other services offered as well as special discounts then this will be an ideal tool to help you. It couldn't be any easier to download and install". Download access is available from the Nix Auto Repair website www.NixAutoRepair.com and from the Google Play and Amazon Apps websites as well ", simply by searching for Nix Auto Repair.

Jeremy Nix went on to say "While our Mobile App currently is only is designed for Android phones, tablets and laptops, we are working on expanding to include the Apple products". Jeremy said "When it comes to having the systems to help our customers have the best experience with auto care and service at Nix Auto Repair, we're always finding ways to top ourselves, and this year isn't any exception with the new mobile app we are introducing". Benji went on to say "We are striving to become The Primary Car Mechanic for Sikeston."

The 2016 Grand Opening has started off with a bang. Nix Auto Repair has had a phenomenal January, February and March with adding new clients. The staff thrives on helping their clients solve any repair and mechanical issues affecting the summer driving season. Nix Auto Repair is truly one of a kind customer oriented team and is building its reputation on always meeting a customer's highest expectations. The mobile app and mobile website will offer emergency service and auto care information for the following markets served by Nix Auto Repair: Sikeston, Miner, Benton, Bertrand, Charleston, East Prairie, Morehouse, and Matthews area.

About Nix Auto Repair Benji and Jeremy's passion for vehicle maintenance has continued through the years and continues with the opening of Nix Auto Repair. The new auto repair shop works on all makes & models of foreign and domestic vehicles, providing a variety of services from premium oil changes to quality brake repair, including complete engine overhaul and much more. Customers will find a friendly and courteous staff at Nix Auto Repair, providing the highest standard in auto care service. Nix Auto Repair is proud to serve vehicle owners in the community of Sikeston, and Scott County with the goal of becoming the "Primary Car Mechanic".

With ASE certified technicians, an industry leading 2 Year/24,000 mile limited warranty, extended customer convenient hours and 24-hour towing service, Nix Auto Repair will become Sikeston's leading complete auto shop that is solely based on the Nix Brothers basic mission of auto repair to meet and exceed every client's needs. Complete information and appointments can be made by visiting www.NixAutoRepair.com or calling 573-475-8763

For more information about us, please visit http://www.NixAutoRepair.com

Contact Info:

Name: Jeremy Nix

Email: Jeremy@nixautorepair.com

Organization: Nix Auto Repair

Address: 135 N Frisco St Sikeston Missouri 63801

Phone: 573-475-8763

Release ID: 116873

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Strength of Bus Industry in China is Projected to Exceed More Than 690,000 Units by 2017: Radiant Insights

Radiant Insights has announced the addition of "Global and Chinese Bus Industry, 2015 Market Research Report" Market Research report to their database

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The Chinese bus industry is projected for great gains over the forecast period (2014-2020). The total bus strength of buses in China is projected to exceed more than 690,000 units by 2017. Major products within the bus industry are light buses and heavy buses. Light buses had a 17% rise from 2012, with above 300,000 buses released in the same year.

Download Full Research Report on Bus Industry @ https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-and-chinese-bus-industry-2015-market-research-report

The Chinese bus industry has invested in extensive R&D to create buses that are suited to its population. On an experimental note, the bus industry launched the 'Straddling Bus', a unique bus model which allows cars to pass underneath it. The Straddling Bus could carry 1400 passengers and frees up two road lanes of driving.

Electric buses are creating market opportunities for the bus industry due to the population and congested roads. Electric buses can be charged a power line and produces 35% less emission than a non-autonomous bus. Since China is accountable for 70% of lithium ion batteries, it can easily incorporate the demand for electric buses. The Chinese government has announced subsidies for electric and plug-in vehicles.

Request a Free Sample Copy of this Report @ https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-and-chinese-bus-industry-2015-market-research-report/request-sample

Local rules and restrictions which are constantly fluctuating could hamper growth of the Chinese bus industry. The industry exports its buses to Europe, Asia, and Africa. The industry needs foreign technology and understands the foreign customer base to keep afloat in the market. The bus industry is accountable for supplying most number of school buses to foreign countries.

Prominent Chinese bus manufacturers include Yutong, AK Bus, Chongqing Hengtong Bus Co., Ltd., Brilliance Jinbei Automobile, Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co., Ltd., and Ankai. Yutong, one of the major bus manufacturers in China, has decided to expand in Europe by starting its first production plant in Bulgaria. Brilliance Jinbei had garnered 31.5% demand of the Chinese bus industry. It reached a sales volume of 103,800 units in 2013.

Browse All Reports of This Category @ https://www.radiantinsights.com/catalog/chemicals

About Radiant Insight

Radiant Insights is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. It assist and facilitate organizations and individuals procure market research reports, helping them in the decision making process. The Organization has a comprehensive collection of reports, covering over 40 key industries and a host of micro markets.

For more information about us, please visit https://www.radiantinsights.com/research/global-and-chinese-bus-industry-2015-market-research-report%20

Contact Info:

Name: Michelle Thoras

Email: sales@radiantinsights.com

Organization: Radiant Insights, Inc

Address: 28 2nd Street, Suite 3036

Phone: (415) 349-0054

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/strength-of-bus-industry-in-china-is-projected-to-exceed-more-than-690000-units-by-2017-radiant-insights/117257

Release ID: 117257

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iPhone 8 Release Date, Specs, News & Update: Imminent Smartphone May Be Better Device To Wait On Over iPhone 7? What We Know So Far

The iPhone 7 is expected to be out by September though it has been advised by critics to save their money for the iPhone 8. The reason behind that is belief that the iPhone 8 will be the smartphone carrying major changes though such is not likely to stop Apple buyers to still get one.

A quick rundown on the iPhone 7 shows minimal changes that will cover an expected more powerful processor, a slightly tweaked design and the probably inclusion of a dual-lens camera module (though it is believed this will be for the iPhone 7 Plus version only). Aside from those, there is not much to look forward to.

So how about the iPhone 8? Rumors are coming in left and right on what the next Apple flagship for 2017 will carry and leading the pack is a rumored AMOLED display. This is somehow tied up to the fact that Apple is negotiating with Samsung on AMOLED technology which spurs up the chances of the iPhone 8 coming with an AMOLED screen.

Aside from the display, the iPhone 8 could come out with a new waterproofing technology as well. This may have something to do with a filed patent (20150326959) or something referred to as the Liquid expulsion from an orifice.

If this patent gains steam, it means that the iPhone 8 will be able to dry itself by simply pumping liquid out through the speaker grilles of the smartphone.

Inside, there will be big bumps in the internal specs as well. The iPhone 8 is rumored to be coming with a powerful A11 processor that will be backed by 4 GB of RAM. Aside from that, a DSLR-like camera could be another perk it may carry plus better (lithium-air) battery life aided with wireless charging capability.

On the outside, the iPhone 8 will also come out in an all-glass design per Allen Horng, the CEO of Catcher Technology.

Apple will make its 2017 iPhone using a glass casing. Breaking down the radical shift, Horng said using a glass chassis would prove expensive and that Catcher requires advanced processing technology to pull it off. He also explained that the chassis would need to be reinforced by a metal frame.

There will be plenty more features likely stressed before the iPhone 8 becomes official but before all that, focus is on the iPhone 7. But again the question remains, should you hold off getting the iPhone 7 and wait for the revolutionary iPhone 8?
At the risk of stating the obvious, memory is at the core of Memorial Day  in fact, lest we forget, there it is in the first few letters of the word memorial.

But it is so easy, so convenient, to forget. Its so easy for us to forget the reason for the national start-of-summer holiday we celebrate today.

So let us pay tribute today to those people who call our attention back to the reasons why we remember Memorial Day.

Consider Les Whittle, the 85-year-old man who for years has been the driving force behind the annual Memorial Day ceremony at the National Guard Armory in Corvallis. This year, Whittle is passing the torch for the ceremony to his daughter, Becki Goslow. Anyone who knows Goslow knows the event is in good hands. But theres no doubt that this ceremony wouldnt be the event it is without the tireless work of Whittle, a Korean War-era veteran.

Or consider Randy Martinak, who will serve as the master of ceremonies for this years Linn County Memorial Day service. Martinak looks for ways to connect civilians to the annual service by finding family members to act as representatives for those who never came home.

Its though Martinaks work that we know of people like Leland Crocker, a North Albany native who enlisted in the Navy in 1943. In April 1945, the destroyer upon which Crocker served, the USS Haggard, was attacked by Japanese planes: Crocker was one 13 sailors killed in the attack. Martinak said his work is intended to help fulfill a simple pledge: "We will remember."

Here are other words to help us remember. These are from the declaration by Maj. Gen. John A. Logan that set aside May 30, 1868 as Decoration Day, the day we now celebrate as Memorial Day.

Logans proclamation calls on the living to guard, with sacred vigilance, the graves of those Americans who have died serving their country. The toll to date is more than 1.1 million Americans.

Logan wrote: Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic. ... If other eyes grow dull and other hands slack, and other hearts cold in the solemn trust, ours shall keep it well as long as the light and warmth of life remain in us.

Today, it falls to each of us to remember this solemn trust. Our eyes are not yet dull, our hands not yet slack. Our hearts still possess the light and warmth of life.

Today, we can join the national moment of remembrance at 3 p.m. If a mere moment seems insufficient, we can attend any of the numerous ceremonies held throughout the mid-valley to mark the day.

After all, the contributions we can make today are a pittance compared to the sacrifices made over two centuries by more than a million Americans. We need to remember how those sacrifices paved the way for the freedoms we enjoy, today and every other day.
Alarm at Cologne/Bonn Airport : 62-year-old Spaniard arrested

Cologne/Bonn A major police operation and evacuation was caused at Cologne/Bonn airport Monday midday by a man looking for a short-cut.

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At midday Monday, a security breach caused a major police operation at the Cologne Bonn Airport and some flights had to be stopped. A man made it into the secured area at around 11 a.m. without having went through security controls. Terminal 1 was affected and all secure areas had to be evacuated and people checked through security a second time.

At around 1:30 p.m., the security area was opened again. Sniff dogs had gone through the area beforehand. Federal police answered an inquiry from General Anzeiger, saying that a suspect had been identified and arrested, a 62-year-old man from Spain. Apparently, the man had nothing sinister in mind, he was just looking for the shortest way to his plane. Police took him in for questioning.

According to airport information, he went through the exit for people who only have hand luggage and in that way gained entrance to the Terminal. Further information relayed, Five aircraft had to remain in their parking positions. All flights have not been stopped. Starts and landings are taking place at Terminal 2.

A passenger told General Anzeiger, We all had to get out and be controlled again. We were led through the whole Terminal. Its completely dead there. No passengers and no personnel. Lucas Kuhl communicated with GA on Facebook, saying his flight to Edinburgh was cancelled after he went through the security line for the second time. Passengers were sent from one counter to the next, only to encounter long waits. Now we are being sent to another counter where about 300 people are waiting for information, wrote Kuhl.

Janine Kretschmar from Chemnitz was totally unnerved. Her flight from Leipzig to Cologne was fine, and her connecting flight to Dublin was scheduled for 11:15 a.m. We sat in the aircraft without any information for one and a half hours and then had to deplane. Our flight wasnt shown and we didnt know when we would fly. We booked a rental car and I hope this works. Its just annoying because we dont know whats going on apart from the fact that the security area was evacuated, she explained.

Passengers were informed about the closing of Terminal 1 over the loudspeaker system in the airport. During the waiting period, they were provided with water. Many delays were caused, affecting around 2,500 passengers.
Indian dance at Marktplatz Bonn : International and Intercultural Festival

A dancer of the Indian-German society dances at the stage in front of the "Alten Rathaus" in Bonn. Foto: Maximilian Muhlens

Bonn Music from India, colorful garments and a potpourri of culinary specialties from all over the world drew thousands of visitors to Bonn city center on Sunday.

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More than 80 different organizations, institutions and associations from the realms of integration and intercultural work, dance and music groups were in full swing Sunday in Bonn city center. They were part of the international festival called Diversity! "The Bonn International and Intercultural Encounters Fest" held at the Marktplatz and Munsterplatz.

We had a really lovely fest and even great weather to go with it - after reading the weather forecast, we hadnt planned on that, said Stephanie Clemens-Kramer from the City of Bonn. The rollicking atmosphere and good mood wasnt even dampened by a fire in one of the food tents. Police and fire units were able to extinguish the fire quickly and luckily, no one was injured.

Mayor Gabriele Klingmuller gave a welcoming speech in which she commented, The diversity of cultures, languages and religions has always been a marker of our city which is open to and interested in the world around it. Further, she remarked Its also clear that we are against racism and any form of violence. The festival was viewed as a way of allowing people from different cultures to get to know one another.

Especially splendid was the original Kyrgyz yurt, a round tent covered with felt which is typically used as a dwelling by nomads in Central Asia. Visitors could go inside and have a look. Paul Seibert explained, The yurt is made of wood and sheeps wool, all natural products - that is very important to us. At the fest, he and his family sold Kyrgyz felt products made of sheeps wool. The detailed items showed animals or people and some had been made into key chains. A person can make about seven of these in one day, he commented. The young man also remarked that he felt very comfortable living in Bonn, and that the city was open and welcomed everyone with open arms, also before the refugee crisis.

Jasmin Kadiri of the Afghanistan Support Association painted Henna tattoos on skin for five euros. Born in Bonn, Kadiri commented, People in Bonn are very helpful. Many come here for medical treatments. People help them to find their way here and I think thats wonderful. Besides the henna tattoos, her and two other women sold traditional Afghan clothing and culinary specialities.

Hillary Sang from Kenya has been living in Bonn for four years, working at the United Nations for an environmental program. I have been here for a long time but my German is unfortunately not so good, he said in excusing himself.

The German language wasnt exactly needed at his stand anyway. We sell various products from Kenya to collect money for Neema International, he explained. The organization has been in Bonn since 2011, and its goal is to help improve the living situation for the less fortunate in Kenya, and finance schooling for Kenyan orphans. He likes the international feeling of Bonn and commented, Bonn residents are really nice and helpful.
India needs comprehensive legal framework for cyber security: Expert News oi -GizBot Bureau

At a time when the governments the world over are struggling to tackle cyber attacks and data breach, India needs to come up with a more comprehensive legal approach and framework to address various issues in cyber space, an expert said here on Friday.

"Today, a lot of work in personal, professional, social and governance space is being done on the internet. Therefore, there is a need to look at the issues in cyber space. It is here that issues like cyber law, cyber crime and cyber security come in," Pavan Duggal, president, cyber laws.net and Supreme Court advocate, told IANS on the sidelines of a round table on cyber law, cyber crime and cyber security here.

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Talking about the recent cyber space trends in India, Duggal said big trends like cyber terrorism and radicalisation are going to hit big time in India.

"We quickly need to put legal framework to check this before it happens. Unfortunately, we do not have it. We have a provision but it is not completely effective," added Duggal, a cyber law expert. Talking about the global trends, he said the focus is now shifting on cyber resilience.

"Everybody is vulnerable. It is given that you will be attacked, and the bigger issue is not that you should be attacked or not, it is once you are attacked, how quickly are you able to come back to normalcy," he noted.

For cyber resilience to get enforced, there is a need of enabling legal frameworks where law does not penalise you in case your network is accessed in an unauthorised manner.

This framework should save companies from being slapped with various lawsuits by users who say their personal data has been breached, Duggal pointed out. To a question about changing trends in accessing the information and attack on the internet, Duggal said that attacks will constantly happen.

"Till now, companies were attacked from superficial net but now attacks are happening from the 'dark web' where the identity of the attacker is difficult to be found out," he told IANS.

"We need cyber laws to give companies power to fight these attacks. People will start getting confidence into your ecosystem once they realise their is a legal framework in place which actually allows state to prosecute cyber criminals effectively," Duggal added.

On being asked the definition of cyber crime on the basis of hacking by hackers and hacking by enforcement agencies (as done in recent Apple's feud with FBI over unlocking of an iPhone used by terrorist in San Bernardino attack), he said hacking is grey concept and, legally speaking, it is a crime.

"But when law enforcement agencies themselves conduct it, then the line becomes blurred. We need to have more clarity. If it is a crime, it should be a crime for an individual person or any law enforcement agency," Duggal explained.

He noted that many sovereign countries do many covert and overt activities for the purposes of ensuring that their sovereign interests in the cyber space are adequately protected.

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The participants of the roundtable also raised concerns on issues related to cyber crime, including increasing child porn, sexting, sex trafficking, cyber bullying/trolling and violence against women.

"Sexting, sextortion on the internet - mainly with young boys, child porn, violence against women in the form of revenge porn and cyber terrorism are turning into a huge issue in India and they should be taken care as soon as possible," said Parry Aftab, a US-based lawyer and internet safety expert who founded the internet safety organisation WiredSafety.

Source IANS

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LeEco rumored to unveil its next generation Super products on June 8 News oi -GizBot Bureau

After disrupting the smartphone market in India and globally, the internet and technology conglomerate, LeEco is rumored to unveil its next generation of Super products in New Delhi on June 8th.

This much anticipated event reportedly themes as, "2Future" is expected to be attended by about 1500+ people including industry veterans, media, fans and influencers.

SEE ALSO: Beat the scorching heat while getting the best deal on the popular Le 1s Eco

While speculations around what LeEco will launch at the event are all in the air at the moment, the event invite is suggestive of what users can expect! As per the media invite that has been rolled out by the global internet and ecosystem conglomerate, the event will be centered around the theme, "2Future".

That has triggered varied speculations among industry veterans and the media. Some believe that the company is either going to roll out its second, "Made for India device" after Le 1s Eco or its second generation of its Superphones in India.

SEE ALSO: LeEco strengthens its leadership team in India, hires top exec from Qualcomm and Myntra

On the other hand, some industry analysts are of the opinion that given the company's tradition of launch events, LeEco might launch their VR headsets on June 8th. Many brands are tapping into the booming virtual reality market, the industry leader LeEco is no exception.

It launched the LeVR COOL 1 in December last year and takes the lead in developing wearable tech at disruptive pricing.

On the same day when it launched its second generation phones and concept Super Car in Beijing on 20 April 2016, it has organized a VR live streaming event in Bangalore where attendees watched the launch event simultaneously through the company's VR headsets.

For this upcoming grand launch, it can be expected that the company may have some major announcements around virtual reality.

Some business analysts are also connecting the dots between the upcoming event in New Delhi and the Mumbai event LeEco hosted on May 3, 2016. It is rumored that after bringing alive content partnerships with Eros Now and YuppTV and announcing a new one with Hungama Music in Mumbai, LeEco would now look at scaling things on the content front.

LeEco has transformed people's internet lifestyle globally and the company has time and again reiterated its intentions of replicating its successful ecosystem model in India.

Since the company recently launched its first, "Made for India" Superphone, Le 1s Eco, it can be believed that the June 8th event will be a step ahead in bringing its ecosystem to consumers in India.

Another product that the company potentially will be launching is its Super TV. LeEco has started its TV businesses in 2013 and it has successfully sold out more than 3 million units in 2015.

The sales target for 2016 is 6 million units, making LeEco a household name in the smart TV market in China. There is no reason LeEco won't bring this star product into India.

Perhaps it may be even more ......something totally unexpected! As per some media experts, the time is ideal for LeEco to target an altogether new segment of users by offering them premium Superphones with high end specs that are flaunt-worthy.

This is because the company has already established itself as a market disruptor in India across price points with its Superphones Le 1s (Sub 15K), Le Max (Sub 40K) and Le 1s Eco (Sub 10K).

The internet major boasts of having a powerful content ecosystem that has one of the world's largest content library. In India, LeEco's unique content ecosystem brings alive the company's partnerships with Eros Now and YuppTV, through its platforms - Levidi and LIVE.

The third premium content under LeEco Membership Program will be LeMusic powered by Hungama Music. This gives users access to 2000+ movies (in 10 languages), 100+ live premium TV channels, which will happen soon through an OTA software update.

Apart from that, users will get access to *3.5 million songs in 25 languages that will come live in Q3 of 2016. The vast repertoire of content makes Le Super products as consumer's favorite.

With a record of bringing path breaking innovations to the country, come June 8th, LeFans can expect another Super announcement from LeEco.

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Military Strikes Continue Against ISIL in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 29, 2016  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Bomber, attack, and fighter aircraft conducted nine strikes in Syria:

-- Near Raqqah, two strikes struck an ISIL vehicle bomb factory and an ISIL weapons storage center.

-- Near Manbij, four strikes destroyed 11 ISIL fighting positions, an ISIL ammunitions facility and an ISIL heavy machine gun.

-- Near Mar'a, three strikes struck two separate ISIL tactical units and destroyed two ISIL tactical vehicles and an ISIL vehicle.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack and fighter aircraft conducted 21strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of the Iraqi government:

-- Near Baghdadi, two strikes destroyed an ISIL vehicle bomb and an ISIL weapons cache.

-- Near Fallujah, a strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL vehicles, two ISIL mortar systems, an ISIL vehicle bomb, an ISIL weapons cache, an ISIL tunnel entrance, and an ISIL heavy machine gun.

-- Near Habbaniyah, two strikes struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL fighting position, 12 ISIL rocket rails, and an ISIL bunker.

-- Near Hit, a strike struck a large ISIL tactical unit and destroyed two ISIL fighting positions, two ISIL heavy machine guns, and an ISIL boat.

-- Near Kisik, two strikes struck an ISIL tactical unit and an ISIL headquarters and destroyed an ISIL fighting position.

-- Near Mosul, 12 strikes struck eight separate ISIL tactical units and an ISIL headquarters, damaged an ISIL assembly area, suppressed three ISIL tactical units, and destroyed 15 ISIL assembly areas, an ISIL supply cache, five ISIL weapons caches, four ISIL vehicles, and two ISIL command and control nodes.

-- Near Qayyarah, a strike destroyed five ISIL rocket rails with rockets.

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 a 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, the region, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

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Houthis, Hadi loyalists clashes claim lives of 50 in southern Yemen

Iran Press TV

Sun May 29, 2016 8:15PM

Around 50 people have been killed as clashes erupt between Ansarullah troops and forces loyal to former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, in south Yemen.

The fighting broke out on Sunday as Houthi forces launched an attack on the Hadi loyalists -- backed by Saudi forces -- in the Bayhan region located on the border between the country's Shabwa and Marib provinces.

According to reports, 28 Ansarullah forces and 20 loyalists were killed in the firefight.

The loyalists released a different death toll, announcing that a total of 69 people died in the clashes, 22 of whom were pro-Hadis.

Yemen has seen almost daily military attacks by Saudi Arabia since late March 2015. More than 9,400 people have been killed and at least 16,000 others injured since the onset of the aggression. Saudi Arabia launched its offensive against Yemen in a bid to bring Hadi, a staunch ally of the Riyadh regime, back to power and undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The Sunday incident occurred despite a ceasefire between the warring which has been in place since April. Moreover, UN-mediated talks is being held in Kuwait between representatives of the Saudi-backed former regime and a delegation comprised of the Houthi Ansarullah movement and allies.

However, the Houthis have refused to give in, setting their own preconditions, including a full halt to aerial and ground attacks by Saudi Arabia.

The Houthi delegation on Saturday submitted a protest to the UN officials against Saudi Arabia's attacks, saying such blatant cases of truce violation could lead to a full collapse of the peace talks.

Sources in the capital Sana'a said the Houthis were pondering a withdrawal from the talks if the other side keeps breaching the terms of the truce.

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Deadly blast claims five lives in northeast Nigeria

Iran Press TV

Sun May 29, 2016 4:4PM

A deadly explosion has claimed the lives of five people in northeast Nigeria, where the Takfiri Boko Haram militant group has been operating for years.

According to Nigerian military officials, the incident occurred on Sunday morning when a rickshaw driving close to a military checkpoint on the outskirts of the town of Biu in the country's northeastern Borno State ran over an improvised explosive device (IED).

"The preliminary investigation shows that the IED was buried a long time ago without being detected. It exploded when the tricycle erroneously stepped on it," said Sani Usman, the Nigerian military spokesman.

"The IED exploded instantly killing four persons, comprising of a woman with her baby and two other male adults," Usman said, adding that a soldier injured by the blast died later in hospital.

While he did not explain whether the IED had in fact been planted by Boko Haram, the spokesman did say that the military would continue to counter Boko Haram undeterred.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden," says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government. It has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings in various parts of Nigeria since the beginning of its militancy in 2009.

An estimated 20,000 people have been killed and some 2.5 million others made homeless during Boko Haram's campaign of terror.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had set a deadline to uproot the militants by December 31, 2015.

The terrorist group has pledged allegiance to Daesh, which is primarily wreaking havoc in Syria and Iraq.

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At least 12 Boko Haram terrorists killed in Niger

Iran Press TV

Sun May 29, 2016 7:23AM

Niger's military says it has killed at least 12 terrorists belonging to the Nigeria-based Boko Haram Takfiri group in a gun fight with the militants in a border area.

The clashes occurred in the southeastern region of Bosso near the border with Nigeria, where the terror group has been wreaking havoc for the past seven years.

Around a dozen terrorists were killed and several dozen others were wounded and carried away by the fleeing attackers, a statement read by Nigerien army spokesman Colonel Moustapha Ledru said on Saturday.

The army troops also seized a number of machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers and cell phones from the terrorists.

According to local resident Ibrahim Chetima, civilians living in the area took shelter in the nearby woods from the battle which lasted about 15 hours.

The border rural commune of Bosso, located in Niger's southeast Diffa region, is home to thousands of refugees and internally-displaced people, fleeing Boko Harm's atrocities in neighboring Nigeria's embattled Borno State.

The region has witnessed several attacks in recent months. The terrorists infiltrate into Niger after crossing the Komadugu Yobe River, which separates the two countries.

Niger's army has been battling Boko Haram militants in the volatile region since February last year.

The country has joined a regional military alliance alongside Cameroon, Chad and Nigeria against Boko Haram elements, whose violence has spilled over into several African nations.

In January 2016, Niger's army chief said that the landlocked West African country was close to winning the war against Boko Haram.

Boko Haram says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government. It has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings in various parts of the country since the beginning of its militancy in 2009.

An estimated 20,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million others made homeless during its reign of terror.

The Takfiri terrorist group has spread its attacks from its traditional stronghold in northeastern Nigeria to the neighboring countries of Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.

The terrorists have pledged allegiance to the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, which is primarily wreaking havoc in Syria and Iraq.

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Latvian Military Says Registered 4 Russian Aircraft Near Country's Borders

Sputnik News

19:21 29.05.2016

The Latvian National Armed Forces (NBS) said on Sunday that they had registered four aircraft of Russia's Aerospace Forces in the airspace near the borders of the Baltic nation.

RIGA (Sputnik)  The Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania do not possess air patrol capabilities. Since joining NATO in 2004, the three countries' airspace has been defended by a rotating NATO mission.

"On May 29, 2 Russian Su-27 [fighter aircraft] and 2 An-26 [transport aircraft] were identified over the neutral waters of the Baltic Sea near the territorial waters of the Republic of Latvia," the NBS said on their Twitter account.

NATO and its Baltic member states have accused Russia over the last years of multiple sorties in the Baltic region as relations between the West and Russia soured over Ukraine.

In response, Moscow said that these allegations distract public attention from the increased NATO military presence in the Baltic and along western Russian borders.

 Sputnik

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Russian Glonass-M Satellite Reaches Target Orbit on Soyuz Carrier Rocket

Sputnik News

15:43 29.05.2016(updated 19:17 29.05.2016)

The Glonass-M navigation satellite, launched from Russia's Plesetsk space center atop a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket, was brought to its target orbit by the Fregat upper stage, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  This is the third liftoff of the Soyuz-2.1 type rocket from Plesetsk in 2016, following the Soyuz-2.1b's successful launch on February 7 and Soyuz-2.1a's successful launch on March 24.

"The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket successfully brought the Russian navigation space apparatus Glonass-M to its target orbit at the set time," the ministry told RIA Novosti.

The Russian navigation Glonass-M satellite brought to the orbit by the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket established contact, according to the ministry.

"Contact was established with the space apparatus, and stable telemetric connection is being maintained. The onboard systems are functioning well."

 Sputnik

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Nuclear patrol to boost China's own security

People's Daily Online

(Global Times) 10:48, May 29, 2016

Western media, including the Guardian, recently reported that China will send a submarine armed with nuclear missiles into the Pacific for the first time.

The Pentagon also predicted in an earlier report that China will probably conduct its first nuclear deterrence patrol in 2016.

There is no official comment from the Chinese government on the news.

Strategic nuclear missiles are the foundation of a military deterrence. China has been adopting an "effective nuclear deterrence" strategy, with much fewer nuclear warheads than the West powers. Also, China is the only one among the nuclear powers to announce a no-first-use policy. It means that China's nuclear deterrence lies in its capability to strike back.

In the meantime, China's nuclear deterrence must be real and effective so as to play an important role in the US government's making of its China policies - just as when any country assesses the US power, it will immediately think about the US aircraft carriers and not risk a head-on military confrontation with the US.

However, the US might not have a clear idea of China's nuclear deterrence. Two US scholars predicted in 2006 that the US was capable of destroying all the nuclear forces of both Russia and China. Herman Cain, a 2012 US presidential election candidate, did not know China was a nuclear power. It reflects the lack of recognition in the US of China's strategic capabilities.

As Sino-US tensions build, it is necessary for China to strengthen its capability for nuclear retaliation. It will help with balance in the Asia-Pacific region and enhance the US willingness to seek peace with China.

China's technologies related to nuclear-powered submarine and the launch of strategic missiles from below the water have been advancing. It is time the People's Liberation Army sends nuclear submarines into the depth of the Pacific Ocean for regular patrols.

China's land-based ballistic missile mobility has also witnessed significant upgrades. The survival capability of China's nuclear forces are much better than in the past.

History shows that balanced power better contributes to peace. China should increase its number of nuclear weapons, and enhance their survival power and capability to hit the targets. It is the most important foundation of China's national security.

The US first built the world's largest nuclear arsenal, then developed missile defense systems in order to destroy nuclear threats from other countries and keep itself the absolute leader in strategic deterrence. China must ruin its plan.

A nuclear-free world is only possible when nuclear powers are balanced. A single nuclear power will only lead to hegemony.

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Commentary: Uncle Sam's more frequent military moves only escalate tensions in South China Sea

Xinhua

Source: Xinhua 2016-05-29 23:32:32

BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The United States' more frequent military moves in the Sea China Sea in violation of international law and in defiance of protests from a sovereign country concerned, only leads to escalation of tensions in the region.

Over recent years, the United States has insisted on its military operations across the South China Sea, with some senior U.S. officials making statements saying that such moves will be even more frequent in future.

Some Western media on Sunday called the recent U.S. military moves in the South China Sea the "new normal" in spite of continuous opposition from China.

A former U.S. defense official, quoted by media reports, said what's the United States doing was for "freedom of navigation" and "following the rules."

By launching frequent moves in the South China Sea one after another, Washington is just deliberately blurring the distinction between commercial navigation and military operation in the region. But such unlawful moves by the United States can never serve to cover up its gross violation of other countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity, or to whitewash its excessive ambition of maintaining a dominant presence in the region.

In the name of "freedom of navigation or overflight," Washington repeatedly shows its force as a global sheriff, neglecting the fact that the South China Sea had enjoyed decades of peace and commercial prosperity before the 1970s.

Launching the "Freedom of Navigation (FON)" program in 1979 under the Jimmy Cater administration, Washington just wants to legitimize its undeserved interests around the world depending on its military supremacy.

Furthermore, Washington has always pointed its finger at China, saying the Asian country's development in the South China Sea inflames regional tension. But such accusations can't hold water either.

In fact, despite the complicated territorial rows between China and some of its neighbors, China has kept exercising restraint and has meanwhile devoted a lot to consultation with other related parties in order to peacefully settle disputes.

As an advocate of freedom of navigation, China also views the South China Sea vital to global trade and its own development, and consequently has no reason to unsettle the region.

Ma Zhaoxu, China's permanent representative to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said on Friday that the South China Sea issue must be resolved peacefully through constructive and meaningful negotiations with neighboring countries.

"To uphold freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea is not only an obligation under the international laws. It is also in line with China's own interests, as well as the interests of all countries in the region," Ma said.

It is advisable for the United States, an outside party, to halt its interference in the South China Sea.

Moreover, Uncle Sam's play of political brinkmanship in the South China Sea should come to an end for the sake of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the hard-won mutual trust with China.

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IRGC navy commander: US dares not to attack Iranian nation

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Bandar Abbas, May 29, IRNA -- Navy Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps underlined that no foreign power, including the US, can threaten the Iranian nation.

"The US is looking to create a deterring power against Iran's Islamic Revolution through conducting regional and transregional mischiefs," Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said on Sunday.

'We at the IRGC Navy and in the sea give no care to the US power and our speedboats don't recognize the US aircraft carriers,' he added.

'Due to the presence of IRGC forces, the Americans do not dare to get near the Iranian borders,' Rear Admiral Fadavi told reporters.

Referring to the failed US wars of the past decade, he said, 'Washington seeks to weaken and marginalize countries that follow the Iranian Revolution as their role model; however, this is doomed to fail too.'

'The US presence in the region causes insecurity and therefore it should leave,' Rear Admiral Fadavi added.

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Iran to continue boosting defense capabilities: Minister

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Sun 29 May 2016 - 11:56

TEHRAN (ISNA)- Iran will continue enhancing its defense capabilities, Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan said.

Speaking at a local ceremony, Dehqan said that defense capabilities and national authority constitute Iran's two major power elements.

Iran's move towards realizing its revolution ideals under the guidelines of its leadership has forced the enemies to retreat, the commander added.

He underlined that the enemies are monitoring all Iran's programs and movements.

They are looking for a chance to penetrate the country's decision-making centers, the minister said.

The enemies particularly the United States and its allies are mulling annihilating elements of Iran's power, Dehqan added.

He noted that the US has targeted Iran's national economy in order to weaken the elements of the Islamic Republic's power including the defense capablities and national authority.

Elaborating on the enemies' economic war aginst Iran, the defense minister said that enemies imposed oppressive sanctions against us to deny Iran access to technology while they prevented other countries to improve ties with the Islamic Republic.

Calling Islmophobia, Iranophobia and Shiaphobia parts of the enemy's psychological war against Iran, he said that the US, Saudi Arabia and their allies have created religious wars in the region in a bid to guarantee the security of Israel.

Unfortunately some ignorant, dependent states of the region are equipping the terrorists in the same way the US does, IRNA quoted him as saying.

End Item

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Larijani elected Iran's new parliament speaker

Iran Press TV

Sun May 29, 2016 4:35AM

Lawmakers have voted Ali Larijani as the temporary speaker of Iran's new parliament following February elections.

Larijani, a Principlist, won the post on Sunday with 173 votes in a race against Mohammad Reza Aref who had been fielded by the Reformist camp and secured only 103 votes.

Independent members were apparently crucial in electing Larijani because no single party holds an overall majority in the new Majlis.

He was also the the speaker of the previous parliament dominated by Principlists.

The vote served as the bellwether of the 290-member chamber's direction as several lawmakers from the Reformist camp broke ranks to vote against the head of their own List of Hope.

The election is the second victory for Principlists over the past week after the Assembly of Experts - a body tasked with appointing or dismissing Iran's Leader - voted Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati as its new chairman.

A vote for a permanent speaker is due to be held in the next few days, after the full house approves the credentials of individual MPs, as required by Iran's constitution.

The Fars news agency quoted Reformist MP Mohammad Ali Vakili as saying that Aref will not run again for the post, meaning Larijani is almost certain to secure the position.

On Saturday, President Hassan Rouhani praised Larijani for supporting Iran's nuclear pact and called for greater "interaction" between parliament and the government to "solve the problems and crises of the country."

The parliament was inaugurated Saturday in the presence of 265 members, with three seats vacant after votes for two MPs were nullified by Iran's constitutional oversight body, the Guardian Council, and a third member died in a car accident.

The new parliament includes a record 18 women, an achievement Rouhani said made him "very happy."

In a message to the opening, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei hailed the big turnout of the people in the February elections as the "re-allegiance with Islamic Republic."

The Leader called on the elected legislators to be vigilant in the face of regional and international challenges.

"The turbulent state of the region and the world and the international adventurism of oppressors and their vassals have confronted the Islamic Iran with conditions more complicated than before," said the message, read to a packed parliament chamber.

"It is the revolutionary and legal duty of you to make the parliament a stronghold against the schemes, charms and impudently excessive demands of the Arrogance," the Leader said.

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Badr Forces Commander: Iraqi forces to liberate Fallujah

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Fallujah, May 29, IRNA -- Head of Iraqi Badr Organization underlined that the people of Fallujah and popular forces will liberate the Iraqi city in Anbar province themselves.

"Fallujah is an Iraqi city and it belongs to the sons of Iraq and the Iraqi themselves will take control of it themselves without paying attention to some unfavorable voices from some regional countries," Hadi al-Ameri said on Sunday.

'I won't tell you hours but the breach of Fallujah will happen very soon,' al-Ameri added.

He pointed to Fallujah as the center for conducting many terrorist attacks against Baghdad, and said, "We believe that the terrorist attacks in different part of the Iraqi capital will continue as long as the terrorists are not purged from Fallujah and the outskirts of Baghdad."

Al-Ameri, arrived in the center of operations in Fallujah and Saqlawiyah, on top of eight brigades of the Badr Forces for the Liberation of Fallujah and Saqlawiyah from control of Daesh terrorist three weeks ago, after the completion of the initial preparations of these areas cordoned off and isolated from the surrounding areas.

Al-Ameri, during his visit oversaw the completion of all the necessary preparations to start the battle to liberate Fallujah and Saqlawiyah.

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Iraqi troops closing in on Fallujah in liberation operation

Iran Press TV

Sun May 29, 2016 10:7AM

Iraqi forces have encircled Fallujah as part of a massive military operation to liberate the central city from the grip of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group.

"We are advancing on and closing in," Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Brigadier Rasool Yahya said, adding, "Our forces have isolated and surrounded the city of Fallujah," Yahya told Qatar's al-Jazeera television.

The first phase of the liberation operation was completed, he said, adding, "We have achieved our objectives."

Leader of Popular Mobilization (Hashid al-Shaabi) units in Anbar Province announced on Saturday the beginning of the second phase of the Fallujah liberation a week since the battle began.

Some 50,000 civilians remain trapped in the city, with the United Nations saying it has reports of people dying of starvation and for refusing to fight for Daesh.

On Saturday, Iraqi forces said they had found underground tunnels dug by the extremists to approach and escape the Fallujah frontline.

Fallujah, located just 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, fell to Daesh in January 2014.

The fall came some six months before the terrorist group launched a major offensive in the Arab country and occupied Mosul and other areas.

The Iraqi military recaptured the central city of Ramadi, Anbar's provincial capital, last December.

Daesh raid on Hit repelled

On Sunday, Iraqi forces thwarted an attack by Daesh on the city of Hit in Anbar Province, killing 60 Takfiri militants.

Fierce clashes erupted between the Iraqi army soldiers and Daesh in which commander of the Iraqi special force Fazel al-Namravi was injured, Iraq's al-Sumaria satellite TV network reported.

According to the report, 33 Daesh members trying to enter Hit with their explosives were neutralized.

Iraqi forces liberated Hit in April after weeks of fighting,

Elsewhere on Sunday, Iraq's Kurdish fighters managed to wrest control over several villages in northeastern Mosul.

Gruesome violence has plagued the northern and western parts of Iraq ever since Daesh launched an offensive in the Arab state two years ago.

The Iraqi military and volunteer fighters are engaged in joint military operations to win back militant-held regions.

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Tony Blair won't be investigated in Iraq War inquiry

Iran Press TV

Sun May 29, 2016 4:3AM

Former UK prime minister Tony Blair will not be investigated for breaking laws in the upcoming Iraq War inquiry report, in spite of assertions that the military intervention was illegal.

The report to be published on July 6 is not set up to take a view on whether the acts of individuals or events were legal.

The Chilcot Report would "not seek to determine the guilt of innocence of anybody on trial," sources close to the inquiry said, according to The Sunday Telegraph.

The report will not make "any judgments on the legality or anything like that" either, the sources added.

The report, however, includes the question of whether the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was legal and whether any lessons can be learned, the sources noted.

The US with strong UK backing invaded Iraq in March 2003 under the pretext that the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. No such weapons, however, were ever found in Iraq.

More than one million Iraqis were killed as the result of the invasion, and subsequent occupation of the country, according to the California-based investigative organization Project Censored.

The invasion plunged Iraq into chaos, resulting in years of deadly violence and the rise of terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, which was a precursor of Daesh.

Blair has already admitted that he "profoundly" underestimated the complexity of the politics in the Middle East and the possible turmoil that would ensue following the invasion.

According to Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, the Iraq War was illegal and that anyone who had committed a crime should be tried, including Blair, who served as Labour prime minister between 1997 and 2007.

"If [Tony Blair has] committed a war crime, yes. Everyone who's committed a war crime should be [charged]," Corbyn, who voted and campaigned against the war, said earlier this week.

"I think it was an illegal war, I'm confident about that, indeed [former UN secretary general] Kofi Annan confirmed it was an illegal war, and therefore he has to explain that."

"Is he going to be tried for it? I don't know. Could he be tried for it? Possibly," he added.

In October 2015, a damning White House memo revealed that Blair had agreed to support the war a year before the invasion even started, while publicly the British prime minister was working to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis.

The document also disclosed that Blair agreed to act as a spin doctor for former US President George W. Bush and convince a skeptical public that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction, which actually did not exist.

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Iraqi Forces Poised For Attack On Fallujah, Kurdish Troops Attack IS Near Mosul

May 29, 2016

by RFE/RL

Iraq's military says its special forces have been deployed around Fallujah as part of an operation aimed at retaking the city from so-called Islamic State (IS) militants.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Kurdish forces have launched more attacks in northern Iraq as part of a strategy aimed at cutting off IS militants who control the city of Mosul.

Dhia Thamir of Iraq's Special Forces Service said the final battalion that is taking part in the Fallujah operation arrived at dawn on May 29 at the sprawling Tariq Camp near Fallujah.

Since that operation began on May 22, Iraqi forces, which include Iran-backed Shi'te militias, have seized control of several areas around Fallujah in Anbar Province.

The predominantly Sunni city is about 70 kilometers from the capital, Baghdad.

Thamir said troops have recaptured 80 percent of the territory around Fallujah since May 22.

He did not comment on the troop numbers or the timing of a planned assault in the city itself.

Fallujah, overtaken by IS militants in 2014, is one of two major Iraqi cities that is under control of the extremist militant group. The other is the city of Mosul in northern Iraq.

The U.S. military has said that some 50,000 civilians remain trapped in Fallujah.

The United States says these residents have been informed by paper leaflets dropped into the city that they should avoid areas close to militant positions and put white sheets on their roofs.

Meanwhile, a powerful Iraqi Shi'ite cleric -- the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani -- has called on Iraqi forces to protect the civilians trapped in Fallujah.

Speaking through his representative, Sistani said on May 27 that "saving innocent people from harm's way is the most important thing, even more so than targeting the enemy."

IS militants have prevented many of the civilians who remain in Fallujah from leaving the city.

Fallujah was seized by IS militants in January 2014, six months before the extremist group swept across large swaths of territory in northern and western Iraq and in neighboring Syria, declaring a caliphate.

Also in Iraq, Kurdish Peshmerga forces, backed by U.S-led air strikes, announced on May 29 that they have launched a major attack aimed at retaking areas from IS militants to the east of Mosul.

The "Peshmerga-led ground offensive, backed by international coalition warplanes" started before dawn, the security council of Iraq's Kurdish regional government said.

It said the operation involved around 5,500 Peshmerga fighters who were focusing on trying to retake several IS-controlled villages controlled near Khazir, to the east of Mosul.

The Kurdish regional government said the operation was part of ongoing preparations for an eventual assault on Mosul.

Kurdish regional officials said that six hours into the May 29 operation, Pershmerga forces had retaken the village of Mufti.

Peshmerga fighters have in recent months a played a key role in ousting IS from territory and cutting off IS supply routes in northern Iraq.

Aziz Wessi, a Peshmerga commander, said the May 29 attack was ordered by the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, Massud Barzani.

Wessi told reporters that Peshmerga victory in this operation would help secure the autonomous Kurdish region's capital, Irbil, from danger.

With reporting by AFP, AP, and dpa

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/iraq-fallujah- elite-forces-islamic-state/27763721.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Concerns Over Civilian Suffering as Iraqi Forces Surround Fallujah

by Sharon Behn May 29, 2016

Iraqi security forces have surrounded Fallujah on four sides ahead of a full scale offense, but there are growing concerns over the plight of civilians trapped inside the Islamic State held city.

"They (IS) have put bombs in the roads, they are using suicide bombers," said Muhamed, an Iraqi special forces soldier on the front line contacted by telephone, speaking on condition his full name not be used.

Fallujah, a Sunni stronghold, has been held by IS longer than any other city in Iraq and the fighters are believed to be deeply entrenched in the city.

"We are just waiting for the order to move in, and kill Daesh (Islamic State)," he said.

As the fighting and airstrikes around the city have intensified, the plight of civilians trapped inside has worsened. While some 800 people have managed to escape, thousands of others have not.

Horrific civilian suffering

UNHCR says it is receiving reports of horrific civilian suffering.

"We have dramatic report of increase in the number of executions of men and older boys unwilling to fight on behalf of ISIL," UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said. "Other reports say that a number of people attempting to depart have been executed or whipped. In addition, many people have reported to have been killed or buried under the rubble of their homes in the course of ongoing military operations."

Humanitarian agencies have repeatedly called for the civilians to be allowed to leave the city.

Those who have managed to escape are separated, with the men and older boys taken to special security screening locations.

There is a lot of suspicion in Baghdad surrounding those Fallujah residents who have been under IS control for more than two years.

"They are brainwashed by now," said one Iraqi federal police officer who would only give his initials as H.K. as he was not allowed to speak to the press. "They should be placed in a special camp."

Under siege for six months

Fallujah has been under siege for six months, with very little food or medicine entering the city.

One displaced man who gave his name as Alahin told UNHCR of the horrors of the last few months.

"Families started to suffer when (IS) closed the exit routes from the city. Families started suffering from psychological problems and some of them committed suicide. Some of them set fire to themselves and some of them drowned their children," he said. "As God is my witness, everything I say is true."

It was not possible to immediately verify any of the reports.

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Turkey's Erdogan slams Washington over US soldiers' use of YPG emblem

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Sun 29 May 2016 - 12:48

TEHRAN (ISNA)- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized the United States over American troops wearing insignia of Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Unit (YPG) during an operation in Syria.

In a Saturday speech in the mainly-Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, Erdogan "condemned" Washington as not being "honest."

"Those who are our friends, those who are with us in NATO, should not and cannot send their soldiers to Syria with the sign of the YPG," said Erdogan.

The president also said, "Saying solely 'We are against terrorism' does not mean standing against terrorism."

On Wednesday, several photos appeared in media apparently showing US soldiers wearing the emblem of YPG on their uniforms during an operation to liberate the militant-held Syrian city of Raqqah.

US Colonel Steve Warren said on Friday that American troops were not authorized to wear the insignia of YPG, which is fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorists, saying they had been ordered to remove them.

"Wearing the YPG patches was unauthorized and it was inappropriate - and corrective action has been taken," he said.

The YPG has been engaged in battle with Daesh for months, shutting down their supply routes from Turkey into Syria near Raqqah, which is the de facto capital of the terrorist group.

Turkey accuses the YPG of being linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militant group, which has been engaged in a three-decade fight for autonomy in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast.

Ankara and Washington both regard the PKK as a terrorist organization. The United States does not consider the YPG to be a terrorist group.

Since late September 2014, the US along with some of its allies has been conducting airstrikes purportedly against Daesh extremists inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or the United Nations.

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.

Ankara has widely been blamed for the surge in the conflict in Syria as it has been supporting anti-Damascus militants with funds, training and weapons.

End Item

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Militant infighting kills nearly 140, forces 1000s to flee northern Syria

Iran Press TV

Sun May 29, 2016 2:45PM

Fierce infighting between the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group and rival militants for control of two towns in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo has killed nearly 140 people and forced thousands of civilians to flee their homes.

The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Sunday that at least 29 civilians have died in the crossfire since Daesh launched an assault against the towns of Marea and Azaz in Aleppo early on Friday.

The militant infighting has also killed at least a total of 108 extremists on both sides over the past days, the Britain-based monitoring group added.

There are many women and children among the over 6,000 civilians who have been forced to leave the troubled towns, which are on the outskirts of the provincial capital city of Aleppo.

The United Nations (UN) has expressed concern about some 165,000 civilians who have been trapped by the fighting between Azaz and the closed Turkish border.

The two towns have been under the control of extremist militants, which Daesh is attempting to push out.

An anesthetist who fled Marea with his family after five relatives were killed has said that Daesh surrounded the town's hospital for 10 hours on Friday, injuring two members of the staff. The militants also forced doctors to operate on an injured militant without electricity since the terrorist group had deactivated the hospital's generator.

The international medical charity, Doctors Without Borders [Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)], has also announced that it was evacuating patients and staff from the hospital in the neighboring town of Salamah as it was just three kilometers from the front line.

In recent months, Daesh terrorists have been losing ground in both Syria and Iraq, where they have been involved in a campaign of terror over the past years.

Some US-led Western countries and their regional allies are accused of supporting the militant groups that have been wreaking havoc in Syria over the past five years.

United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the crisis that has gripped Syria since March 2011.

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China Slap at Unmarried Taiwan President Highlights Gender Divide

by Ralph Jennings May 27, 2016

A slap from China at new Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's status as a single woman exposes a divide in how two ethnic Chinese societies, which are already at odds politically, see gender and leadership amid different development pressures.

People in mainland China often believe that women, while acceptable in the workforce, should strive foremost for marriage and make family prosperity their top goal. Confucian values dating back 2,500 years enshrine those ideas, which have reemerged since around 2000 with the waning of China's old Communist revolutionary fervor that advocated gender equality.

On the mainland today, single women over the age of 30 are often referred to as "leftover women."

In Taiwan, which is 98 percent ethnic Chinese, marriage remains an ideal, but women increasingly shun it to pursue careers, income and freedom from family obligations that may include taking care of a husband's parents plus their own children.

China already dislikes Tsai for rejecting its call for dialogue, on the condition both see themselves as part of China. Taiwan and China have been political rivals since the 1940s. The two Asian neighbors are self-ruled, but China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and insists that it be brought under its control as a conclusion to the Chinese civil war of the 1940s. Surveys show that most Taiwanese prefer today's degree of autonomy.

China's official Xinhua News Agency ran a commentary on Tuesday saying, "as a single female politician, [Tsai] lacks the emotional encumbrance of love, the constraints of family or the worries of children."

Wang Weixing, an analyst with the People's Liberation Army and a board member of the semiofficial body in charge of dialogue with Taiwan, wrote the piece.

Tsai focuses too much on details and short-term goals, not broader strategic matters, the Xinhua piece added. "Her style and strategy in pursuing politics constantly skew toward the emotional, personal and extreme," it said.

Xinhua has removed the article, but other Chinese media were carrying it later in the week.

But few Taiwanese remarked publicly on the 59-year-old law scholar's gender or marital status as she campaigned last year for president against two men. She won by a landslide in January and took office May 20 as Taiwan's first female president.

"The people of China need to understand that this is now the 21st Century," said Raymond Wu, managing director of the political risk consultancy e-telligence in Taipei. "Some of these things do not carry any weight let alone credibility with the people of Taiwan. Something like this is counterproductive to the stability of cross-Strait relations and this is almost personal."

Joanna Lei, a female former legislator and chief executive officer of the Chunghua 21st Century think tank in Taiwan, calls the piece a personal attack that reveals gender bias in Beijing.

"This is a backhanded way to launch a personal challenge to Tsai Ing-wen," Lei said. "However, it is very clear that when male politicians are not subject to the same of criticism, female politicians should be subject to such criticism either.

"I simply think that Taiwan has a high level of female participation in politics, so there might be a difference in terms of experience for the standards applied to female versus male politicians," she said.

For China, she added, "I think as the country gradually moved into its current political arena, the old sort of Chinese heritage and baggage came into play."

Childbirth in Taiwan declined to less than one baby per woman in 2011, alarming the island government about long-term labor productivity. But women in other relatively affluent parts of Asia, such as ethnic Chinese Hong Kong and Singapore, are also passing up childbirth to build careers.

By contrast, in China 46 percent of people lived in rural areas as of 2014, according to World Bank data. Those often lived on farms and near the poverty line. Those conditions enforce traditional gender roles as men focus on hard agricultural labor and women run households.

Taiwanese prize women who balance family and career, including politics, said Chen Ying, a female ruling party legislator of eight years. "Just about all women, due to their work, find it hard to pay attention to both, so voters will feel sympathy on this matter because we invest a lot of time in our work," Chen said.

Some voters even prefer female politicians because of the perception they understand better than men the issues faced by families, she added.

Few women get top jobs in China's ruling Communist Party. A modern-day standard bearer of female politicians was Wu Yi, a Politburo member popularly dubbed the "iron lady" for her negotiation skills. But she retired in 2008.

The presidential office in Taiwan declined comment Friday on the Xinhua commentary.

But her government responded quickly to a rash of stern political remarks from China over the past week. Beijing's government has warned against any push in Taiwan for legal independence and questioned whether Tsai wants talks with Beijing.

Tsai rejects the "one-China" dialogue precondition, which underscored overall upbeat talks between Beijing and her predecessor Ma Ying-jeou since 2008. She has voiced support for talks under Taiwanese laws, if the island's public approves.

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President Tsai inspects military bases in eastern Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

2016/05/29 13:58:29

Taipei, May 29 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen () flew to Hualien County, eastern Taiwan Sunday for an inspection visit to two military bases there.

It was Tsai's first inspection of military troops since she was sworn in as the country's first female president on May 20. She is also the first female commander in chief of the Republic of China military.

"I am the commander in chief. Beginning today, the honor and disgrace of the military is also my honor and disgrace. I will join with you, devoting every effort to let the people have pride in the military," Tsai said as she spoke to on-duty soldiers and officers at Hualien Air Base.

Tsai took a special flight on the "Air Force One" Boeing 737 aircraft for the trip. She visited the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing at the Hualien base and the neighboring Jiashan Air Base.

Hualien Air Base is one of the crucial locations where the Air Force keeps its combat force. It is also the major target during the Air Force's annual tactical drill, code named "Tien Lung (Sky Dragon)."

As for Jiashan base, the key hub of Taiwan's military combat force, it holds an important strategic position in the East Asian region.

According to the military, the base hosts flight and technical skill training programs in peacetime, while in the event of a war, it will be transformed into an air combat command center.

(By Sophia Yeh and Elizabeth Hsu)

ENDITEM/ke

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During 1st defense inspection, Tsai vows 3 commitments to military

ROC Central News Agency

2016/05/29 17:43:29

Taipei, May 29 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen () said Sunday that during her tenure, she will deliver on her three commitments to the military: elevate the dignity of military personnel, make a career in the armed forces an attractive career option, and lead the military into a new era.

"I will always bear those things in my mind," Tsai said as she spoke to soldiers and officers at Hualien Air Base.

The president flew to Hualien County in eastern Taiwan that day for an inspection visit to two air bases there. It was Tsai's first inspection of military troops since she was sworn in as the country's first female president on May 20.

She is also the first female commander in chief of the Republic of China military.

"The first thing in my mind is the dignity of soldiers," Tsai said, noting that military personnel represent the nation and the people hold them to a high standard.

Although the military had received some criticism in the past, "I believe that every challenge is an opportunity. With our joint efforts, the military will definitely continue to make progress," Tsai said while revealing that her first commitment to the military is to elevate the dignity of military personnel.

"I am the commander-in-chief. Beginning today, the honor and disgrace of the military is also my honor and disgrace. I will join with you, devoting every effort to letting the people have pride in the military," she said.

The second commitment she has pledged is to make a career in the armed forces a career option for talented youth.

The new government will do its utmost to improve the living conditions on military installations and the management of troops in an effort to attract young people to join the military, Tsai said.

She will also allow military personnel to acquire a second specialty apart from military skills, so that when they return to civilian life, they will be competitive professionals, she added.

The third commitment she will make for the military is to lead it into a new era through clear strategy guidance, careful policy planning, stable reform steps, comprehensive social communication and abundant resource support, Tsai noted.

Tsai took a special flight on Taiwan's "Air Force One" Boeing 737 aircraft for the Sunday trip to Hualien. She visited the 401st Tactical Fighter Wing at Hualien Air Base and adjoining Jiashan Air Base.

In her address, the president expressed her satisfaction with the performance of the officers and soldiers being stationed at the bases.

"I want to tell you all, as well as all people of the nation, that every day in the future, I will stand by the side of the military, promoting reforms and defending (our) home and country," Tsai said.

She further said that the Hualien and Jiashan bases play two important strategic roles for Taiwan's national defense.

First, they are Taiwan's most important bases for military exercises and training, Tsai said.

During her inspection, she saw everyone at the bases following the strictest of standards while fulfilling their duties in fields ranging from maintenance and repair of military aircraft to flight operations, she said.

Secondly, the Jiashan base is the most important place where Taiwan's combat capabilities are maintained, Tsai said, praising the military personnel there for having kept all equipment stored in an underground depot in their best operating condition.

Hualien Air Base is one of the crucial locations where the Air Force keeps its combat force. It is also the major target during the Air Force's annual tactical drill, code named "Tien Lung (Sky Dragon)."

As for Jiashan base, being the key hub of Taiwan's military combat force, it holds an important strategic position in the East Asian region.

According to the military, the base hosts flight and technical skill training programs in peacetime, while in the event of a war, it will be transformed into an air combat command center.

(By Sophia Yeh and Elizabeth Hsu)

ENDITEM/ke

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British forces, tanks headed for Russian borders: Report

Iran Press TV

Sun May 29, 2016 2:29PM

The United Kingdom is ready to deploy at least 1,000 troops to the Baltic States bordering with Russia, backing them with tanks and artillery in order to boost the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)'s buildup in the region, a new report has revealed.

London is expected to announce the decision at the upcoming NATO summit which will be held in the Polish capital of Warsaw in July, The Times reported.

The US-led military alliance plans to deploy up to 4,000 additional troops in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania and the British deployment would make up one of NATO's battalions, the newspaper added.

Originally, the US had planned to provide half of the forces, while Germany and the UK shouldered the rest.

However, Washington changed its mind later on and said it would only provide one 1,000-strong battalion, urging the European members of the alliance to spend more on their own defense.

According to the Times, UK military officials are considering plans to stockpile tanks and other heavy equipment across Eastern Europe to further NATO's so-called "enhanced forward presence."

British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said in February that "2016 will see a particular focus on the Baltic region" to deter "the Russian aggression."

"Increasing our NATO deployments sends a strong message to our enemies that we are ready to respond to any threat, and defend our allies," he added.

The UK's plan includes sending five extra ships to the Baltic, in addition to HMS Iron Duke and several other warships already there. More troops are also slated to be stationed on a rotational basis in six countries bordering Russia.

In late April, Fallon announced plans to deploy four Royal Air Force (RAF) Typhoon warplanes to the Baltic countries to defend them against Russia.

Russia and NATO have been locked in a deepening dispute since they cut all practical cooperation in 2014. The military alliance accuses Russia of backing militias in eastern Ukraine.

Moscow, however, denies the allegation, arguing that the Western military pact is using the years-long conflict in Ukraine as an excuse to move closer to its borders.

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Britain selling record amount of weaponry to repressive regimes

Iran Press TV

Sun May 29, 2016 2:13AM

The British government is selling record amounts of weaponry such as missiles, bombs and grenades to repressive regimes identified by its Foreign Office as having dubious human rights records, including war crimes.

More than $4.4 billion worth of British-made weaponry was licensed for export in 2015 to 21 of the Foreign Office's 30 "human rights priority countries"  those listed by the UK government as being where "the worst, or greatest number of, human rights violations take place", or "where we judge that the UK can make a real difference," The Observer reported Sunday.

The listed regimes that made major purchases of British armaments last year include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and Burundi, according to the report.

According to the figures accessed by the UK daily, in 2014 Britain only licensed $248 million worth of arms to 18 of the 27 countries then on the "priority countries" list. The massive surge in the arms sales in 2015 is largely attributable to sales of weapons to the Saudi kingdom.

The largest export license granted was for $2.48 billion of fighter jets, agreed in May 2015. Additionally, the UK approved the export of $1.45 billion of air-to-air missiles to the Saudi regime in July 2015.

In September, it further approved the sale of $90.5 million worth of bombs to Riyadh. All three sales took place after the Saudi's brutal bombing campaign of Yemen began in March 2015, prompting concerns that civilian buildings have been targeted in widespread human rights violations.

In 2015, the British government also approved licenses of $123 million in sales of military equipment to Egypt, despite concerns over the country's repressive policies since the July 2013 coup that ousted the country's first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi.

Figures further indicate that in July 2015, a month after the UK refused export licenses for the sale to Egypt of components for machine guns and training small arms ammunition, it approved the sale of sniper rifles, ammunition, pistols, body armor and assault rifles.

"This is a clear case of the government saying one thing and doing another, and exposes the blatant doublespeak and hypocrisy that lies at the heart of UK foreign policy," said Andrew Smith of the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), which compiled the export sales figures.

The UK, the second-largest exporter of weapons in the world, approved licenses for the sale of $11.2 billion in armaments last year, but its licensing export regime is under acute scrutiny amid fears British weaponry, including cluster bombs, is being routinely used in Yemen.

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Five Ukrainian soldiers killed in clashes in troubled east

Iran Press TV

Sun May 29, 2016 12:32PM

At least five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in a fresh wave of clashes with pro-Russia forces in the troubled eastern parts of the country, Ukraine's military says.

"Unfortunately, over the past 24 hours, five Ukrainian soldiers have died and four more have been wounded," said military spokesman, Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, on Sunday.

The loss of servicemen lives is the second largest death toll in one day this year for the army. Seven army soldiers were killed and nine others wounded on May 24.

According to Motuzyanyk, Avdiivka and Opytne villages, near Donetsk, were the epicenter of the clashes.

On Saturday, Ukraine said another one of its soldiers had also been killed in similar fighting near the city of Mariupol.

Conflict erupted in eastern Ukraine after people in the country's Black Sea peninsula of Crimea voted for reunification with Russia in March 2014. The West brands the development as Moscow's annexation of the territory. The US and its allies in Europe also accuse Moscow of having a major hand in the crisis in eastern Ukraine, a charge that Moscow denies.

Ukraine's eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations later in April 2014 to crush pro-Moscow protests there.

The crisis has left over 9,300 people dead and over 21,000 others injured, according to the United Nations.

In September 2014, the government in Kiev and the pro-Russians signed a ceasefire agreement in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk in a bid to halt the clashes in Ukraine's eastern regions.

The warring sides also inked another truce deal, dubbed Minsk II, in February 2015 under the supervision of Russia, Germany and France.

Since then, however, both parties have on numerous occasions accused each other of breaking the ceasefire.

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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - May 30, 2016) - Scientific Metals Corp. ("STM" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:STM) is pleased to announce that, further to its press release dated May 12, 2016, the Company has entered into an arm's length definitive agreement to acquire the Deep Valley Lithium Property (the "Property") which is located in the Fox Creek - Sturgeon Lake area of west-central Alberta. The Property encompasses 6,648 ha (16,427 acres) and is located approximately 55 km due west of the community of Fox Creek. The Property is underlain by Leduc Formation aquifers that are known to be highly enriched in lithium, potassium, boron, bromine and other commodities. Within the central part of the Property, historic samples of formation waters (brines) have returned 140 mg/L (ppm), which are amongst the highest values recorded within the Province of Alberta as reported by the ERCB in its report of October 2011 entitled "Geological Introduction to Lithium-Rich Formation Water with Emphasis on the Fox Creek Area of West-Central Alberta (NTS 83F and 83K)".

The terms of the proposed transaction provide as follows: STM shall acquire a 100% interest in the Property in consideration for a cash payment of $15,000 and the issuance of 4,000,000 common shares of the Company. An existing 3% net smelter royalty shall remain on the Property, of which 1% can be repurchased by the Company at any time in consideration for a cash payment of $1,500,000. An arm's length finder's fee is payable in connection with the transaction in the amount equal to $38,625, such finder's fee to be satisfied on the closing date by the issuance of 386,250 common shares of the Company at a deemed price of $0.10 per share. The transaction has been conditionally approved by the TSX Venture Exchange and is expected to close within the next week.

Mr. Garry Clark, P. Geo., of Clark Exploration Consulting, is the "qualified person" as defined in NI 43-101, who has reviewed and approved the technical content in this press release.

Reader Advisory

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. . In particular, forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to timing and completion of the acquisition. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information.

Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions in Canada and globally; industry conditions, including governmental regulation and environmental regulation; failure to obtain industry partner and other third party consents and approvals, if and when required; the availability of capital on acceptable terms; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; stock market volatility; liabilities inherent in water disposal facility operations; competition for, among other things, skilled personnel and supplies; incorrect assessments of the value of acquisitions; geological, technical, processing and transportation problems; changes in tax laws and incentive programs; failure to realize the anticipated benefits of acquisitions and dispositions; and the other factors. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed acquisition and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

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.
May 30, 2016 / TheNewswire / New Carolin Gold Corp. (the "Company" or "New Carolin") (TSXV: LAD / OTCBB: LADFF). The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Chris Taylor, P.Geo, to the Company's Board of Directors.

Mr. Taylor is a professional geologist with over 15 years of experience, including tenures with both mid-tier producer and exploration stage mining companies. Mr. Taylor has a bachelor's degree in Earth Sciences and a master's degree in Structural Geology from Carleton University. Mr. Taylor currently serves as a director of a number of publicly traded companies, and is a director, President and CEO of Great Bear Resources Ltd. and Dunnedin Ventures Corp. Mr. Taylor is a published author on gold deposits and his work as a structural geologist has focused on resource expansion in near-term development and brown field stage mining projects.

Mr. Taylor will assist the Company with technical oversight of upcoming work at the Carolin mine, and with corporate development activities.

About New Carolin Gold Corp.

New Carolin Gold is a Canadian-based junior company focused on the exploration, evaluation and development of our 100% owned property consisting of 144 square kilometers of contiguous mineral claims and crown grants, collectively known as the "Ladner Gold Project" (Project). The Project is located near Hope, BC in the prospective and under-explored Coquihalla Gold Belt, which is host to several historic small gold producers including the Carolin Mine, Emancipation Mine and Pipestem Mine, and numerous gold prospects.

For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.newcarolingold.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"Robert L. Thast"

President & Chief Executive Officer

Phone: 604.542.9458

Cell: 604.220.5031

E-mail: ceo@newcarolingold.com

Web site: www.newcarolingold.com

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

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 the accuracy of this press release.

Caution concerning forward-looking information

This news release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on the Company's expectations, estimates and projections regarding its business and the economic environment in which it operates. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties that are difficult to control or predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements and readers should not place undue reliance on such statements. Statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update them publicly to reflect new information or the occurrence of future events or circumstances, unless otherwise required to do so by law.

Copyright (c) 2016 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
Chefs Coskun Uysal and Murat Ovaz inside Tulum Turkish restaurant. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Address 217 Carlisle Street Balaclava, Victoria 3183 View map Book online Opening hours Tue-Sat 5pm-11pm Features Licensed, Accepts bookings, Bar, Vegetarian friendly, Gluten-free options, Family friendly, Outdoor seating Prices Moderate (mains $20-$40) Chef Coskun Uysal Payments eftpos, Cash, Visa, Mastercard Phone 03 9525 9127

Turkish chef Coskun Uysal has been visiting Australia for 10 years, doing work experience at top restaurants like Vue de Monde and Attica, and popping up at Mark Best's Pei Modern. In between, he worked and studied in London, (Jamie Oliver's Fifteen, River Cafe, Leiths School of Food) and ran hotel dining rooms and cafes in Turkey. Uysal always found Melbourne's food culture thrilling but also lamented that the Turkish food here is often stuck in an immigrant time warp and doesn't reflect the exciting modern food now seen in Istanbul.

Tulum, named after a sheep's milk cheese, is Uysal's upbeat retort, a contemporary restaurant that shows  deliciously, successfully - that Turkish food isn't just dips, pide and kebabs.

The restaurant has already created a sensation in Balaclava, which has great cafes and good comfort food but not much in the way of destination dining. Tulum is modest in size but ambitious in outlook.

Cilbir (egg with smoked yoghurt and chicken skin shards) Photo: Wayne Taylor

It isn't the ideal place to bring the kids for six o'clock chow (though if you do, get them the cilbir immediately, an upscale take on Uysal's favourite after school snack, comprising smoked yoghurt and poached egg topped with brown butter crumble and crisp shards of chicken skin).

This is more a venue for grown-up eating adventures, a tasty dance through Turkish heritage, honoured and updated.

Take the karides (prawns), which paddle in tarhana, a soupy sauce made from a rehydrated crumble of dried tomatoes, capsicum and yoghurt. Tarhana is a peasant stand-by, sun-scorched on roofs across Turkey. It's luxed up here: the prawns are big, fat and doused in garlic butter, there's pastrami for sophisticated saltiness, and concentrated earthy, summery sourness from the tarhana.

Ordek (duck breast) with black tahini. Photo: Wayne Taylor

See also the ordek (duck). Pan-fried breast is ostensibly the star of the plate but it's the accompaniments that bring the noise. Black tahini (milled from black sesame seeds using a stone grinder), crunchy vine leaves, fennel-and-cinnamon-flavoured duck pastrami and a puree made from vinegared dried apricots combine to create a handsome dish, its powerful flavours cleverly harnessed.

Sutlac (rice pudding) is a Turkish classic, generally eaten cold. Uysal's update is an homage to his mother's recipe and his own impatience. He serves his sutlac warm because he could never wait for it to cool down before eating. Here, he gives it a savoury edge by adding Jerusalem artichoke, now in season, sweet, strange and succulent.

Uysal has history in delivering new experiences to great food towns. When he developed menus for Istanbul's trendy House Cafe, he caused a sensation by introducing eggs benedict and American pancakes.

Sutlac (rice pudding) with Jerusalem artichoke. Photo: Wayne Taylor

Just as Istanbul went crazy for breakfast dishes it hadn't seen before, I suspect Melbourne will throng to try Turkish food that's rich in tradition yet sparkling with creativity.

Rating: Four stars (out of five)

http://tulumrestaurant.com.au/
A Sicilian scene replaces Mighty Mighty's cowboy mural. Photo: Supplied

Red Hill locals may remember Biagio in Musgrave Road dishing up hearty Italian fare with a seafood slant for five years. They sold up in 2012 and Colle Rosso moved into the neighbourhood.

In a kind of reverse sea-change, Biagio restaurant owners Biagio and Sarah Biuso have returned to Brisbane from Cairns, where they've lived for the past few years, and have hung their shingle in Fortitude Valley's M&A Lane, in the tenancy recently vacated by Mighty Mighty.

"Returning to Brisbane is more of a lifestyle change for our family than anything else  we missed the hustle and bustle of Brisbane and wanted to reconnect with our friends and customers," says Sarah Biuso.

Chocolate tart at Casa Nostra. Photo: Supplied

"When the opportunity to open a new restaurant came up, we took it as a sign it was time to come home."

Casa Nostra ("our house") opened quietly last Monday, with Mighty Mighty's macho cowboy wall mural replaced by a Sicilian scene.

As at Biagio, the menu is a mix of traditional and contemporary Italian with everything made in house, including the pasta for dishes such as fettuccine served with local seafood in Biagio's Sicilian sauce, made to a family recipe, and agnolotti d'Arogosta filled with lobster and bechamel, with crustacean bisque sauce and cherry tomatoes.

Homely tabletop touches at Casa Nostra (Our House). Photo: Supplied

Other dishes include a veal agrodolce (sweet and sour) and a less-traditional prawns with feta and avocado. There's also tomato sauce-based pizza and pizza "in bianco" (no tomato sauce), and a selection of $20 lunch specials.

As well as plenty of Australian drops, the wine list features about 30 Italians, from nebbiolo from Piedmonte, to a rose from Sicily's Mount Etna region.

Open Mon-Sat, noon-2.30pm and 5.30pm-late.

Shop 6, 100 McLachlan Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3257 0007, casanostraristorante.com.au
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H-E-B donates $75K to SAMFA

H-E-B has donated $75,000 to the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts through its Tournament of Champions, a program to support organizations that serve youth in Texas.

"SAMFA has been nationally recognized for its dedication to the community, and in a 2004 ceremony at the White House, was presented with the National Museum Service Award. SAMFA is also accredited by the American Alliance of Museums," H-E-B said in a news release earlier this month.

Realtor appointed to state board

San Angelo Realtor Kandi Pool has been appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to a five-year term on the Texas Board of Respiratory Care. The board advises the Texas Medical Board, adopts rules to establish the certification and permitting program for respiratory therapists and sets minimum qualifications for respiratory care practitioners, standards of conduct and grounds for disciplinary actions, a news release from the governor's office said.

"It has been an honor to work with the governor's office during this selection process, and I am very excited to serve the state in this capacity," Pool said. "I have no experience with respiratory care, however, I have served as a chairman and a team member on many executive boards and task forces for over 35 years. I appreciate the governor's appointment, and look forward to working with the medical professionals on this important state board."

Applications invited for insurance board

AUSTIN  The Texas Department of Insurance is accepting applications for the board that governs the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements Plan, which provides residential property insurance in underserved areas where it's not readily available through the private market.

Applications are being sought through June 30 to fill five vacancies on the Texas FAIR Plan Association Governing Committee  two public members, two insurer members, and one general property and casualty agent member.

Application forms are available on the TDI website at: www.tdi.texas.gov/committee/gr/index.html.

For more information about FAIR Plan Association Governing Committee applications, contact TDI Government Relations at 512-676-6605.

Business group sets monthly meeting

Young Professionals of San Angelo will hold its monthly lunch meeting at noon June 16 in the Riverview Room at the San Angelo Visitors Center, 418 W. Avenue B. Free lunch will be provided by TimeClock Plus to everyone who registers before June 14.

Each month the YPSA meets to network, meet new members, and learn something new about our community. This month's topic: "Wanting to Want To Be Successful"  many business professionals think they want to be successful, but really they want to want to be successful. Excuses, plan B's, and the workaholic mythology all play a part in preventing the business professional from doing whatever it takes to become successful.

Nonmembers are welcome at the event. For information, go to ypsanangelo.org.

Pet service adds new specialist

The Royal Touch Pet Sitting is announced the appointment of a new associate, Marcia Wickes, whose association with the company became official March 1.

Wickes has worked with animals for many years, the company said, and was involved with animal rescue when she lived in Illinois. In addition to her love for dogs and cats, she has worked with reptiles, birds, sugar gliders, chinchillas, guinea pigs, even a hedgehog. Wickes, a retired special education teacher, has also cared for animals with medical issues.

The Royal Touch Pet Sitting, in its 18th year of serving San Angelo, offers visits to clients' homes up to 4 times daily to care for pets. Information is available at royalpetcare.com.

Business plan training offered

The Angelo State University Small Business Development Center will offer a training event, "How to Write Your Business Plan Part II: Focus on Financials," at 3 p.m. Tuesday at no cost.

The seminar will focus on the financial sections of business plans. Participants will learn how to draft cash flow projections and review financial reports.

Advance registration is requested. To find out more call the ASU-SBDC at (325) 942-2098 or register online at www.sbdc.angelo.edu

Marketing course coming in June

The Angelo State University Small Business Development Center will offer a training event, "Successful Marketing: Secrets & Strategies," at 6 p.m. June 7 for $75.

Participants can learn the basics of marketing, marketing strategies, how to write a marketing plan, formulating a budget and more at the four-part, interactive series covering various tools and information designed to help the small business owner make smart and effective choices when it comes to their marketing.

All attendees will receive a copy of the book: "Successful Marketing: Secrets & Strategies" which will be used throughout the series.

Part I: Marketing Essentials  June 7

Part II: Traditional Advertising  June 14

Part III: Person-to-person and Print Advertising  June 21

Part IV: Online Marketing and Other Types of Marketing  June 28

Advance registration is requested. For more information, call the ASU-SBDC at (325) 942-2098 or register online at www.sbdc.angelo.edu.

JCPenney discount marks holiday

In honor of Memorial Day, JCPenney will offer a five percent discount May 30 to current and former military personnel and their immediate family members. The discount can be combined with additional coupons and special offers.

JCPenny will also have a Memorial Day sale in-store and online at jcp.com with offers such as $2.99 Women's flip flops, $4.99 JCPenney bath towels and 50-60 percent off swimwear for the entire family along with an 80 percent off final markdown on clearance items.

Customers who donate $1-5 at the register to support the Armed Services YMCA will receive a small American flag to take home with them.
Associated Press PHOTOS Irene Martinez, who lives near the Brazos River, leaves her flooded home Sunday in Richmond. Martinez lives there with her two sons, and they are evacuating because the river is expected to rise another several feet.

SHARE Texas Department of Criminal Justice prisoners are evacuated from the Terrell and Stringfellow Units on Sunday in Rosharon. Heavy rains have caused flooding along the Brazos River and prompted prison officials to start evacuating about 2,600 inmates. "We're just trying to get ahead of it," Major Richard Babcock said.

By Michael Graczyk, Associated Press

HOUSTON  Authorities in Central Texas found two more bodies along flooded streams Sunday, bringing the death toll from flooding in the state to six.

It's unclear whether a body found in Travis County near Austin is one of the two people still missing in Texas. An 11-year-old boy is still missing in central Kansas, too.

The latest flooding victim identified by authorities was a woman who died when the car she was riding in was swept from the street by the flooded Cypress Creek about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Kendall County sheriff's Cpl. Reid Daly said.

The car, with three occupants, was in Comfort, about 45 miles north of San Antonio. The driver made it to shore, and a female passenger was rescued from a tree. But Daly said 23-year-old Florida Molima was missing until her body was found around 11 a.m. Sunday about 8 miles downstream. She becomes the sixth flood-related death in Texas this Memorial Day weekend.

In Bandera, about 45 miles northwest of San Antonio, an estimated 10 inches of rain overnight led to the rescues of nine people. The rain caused widespread damage, including the collapse of the roof of the Bandera Bulletin, the weekly newspaper, KSAT-TV in San Antonio reported. Photos from the area showed campers and trailers stacked against each other, but no injuries were reported.

Torrential rains caused heavy flash flooding in some parts of the U.S. over the last few days, and led to numerous evacuations in Southeast Texas, including two prisons. But the threat of severe weather has lessened over the long Memorial Day holiday for many places, though Tropical Depression Bonnie continued to bring rain and wind to North and South Carolina.

Near Austin, a crew aboard a county STAR Flight helicopter found a body Sunday on the north end of a retention pond near the Circuit of the Americas auto racing track, which is close to where two people were reported to have been washed away by a flash flood early Friday, Travis County sheriff's spokesman Lisa Block said. The body still must be recovered and no identification has been made.

To the southeast along the rain-swollen Brazos River near Houston, prison officials evacuated about 2,600 inmates from two prisons to other state prisons because of expected flooding, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said. Inmates in a low-level security camp at a third prison in the area are being moved to the main prison building, Clark said.

All three prisons are in coastal Brazoria County, where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

"TDCJ officials continue to monitor the situation and are working with our state partners as the river level rises," Clark said, noting that additional food and water has been delivered to prisons that are getting the displaced inmates and sandbags have been filled and delivered to the prisons where flooding is anticipated.

Another prison about 70 miles northwest of Houston saw a brawl between inmates and correctional officers on Saturday that began when flooding caused a power outage.

The rising water in several Houston-area rivers and creeks prompted Harris County officials Saturday to ask about 750 families in the Northwood Pines subdivision to voluntarily evacuate their homes and apartments. Officials also warned residents living near the west fork of the San Jacinto River, north of Houston, that rising waters were likely to flood homes, even those that are elevated, Sanchez said.

"The skies are clear and things look good. But we want to make sure people understand that we are not out of the woods yet. We have to keep an eye on water that's coming through our bayou system," said Francisco Sanchez, a spokesman for the Office of Emergency Management in Harris County.

Four people died from flooding in rural Washington County between Austin and Houston, where more than 16.5 inches of rain fell in some places Thursday and Friday. The bodies of two missing motorists were found Saturday in separate parts of the county, according to Judge John Brieden.

In Kansas, the search for the missing 11-year-old resumed Sunday and expanded beyond the swollen creek he fell into Friday night, according to Wichita Fire Department battalion chief Scott Brown.

"We are more in body-recovery mode than rescue," Brown said Saturday night.
Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News A PT-19 Primary Trainer airplane rests in the hangar at the National WASP World War II Museum in Sweetwater. Deceased WASPs will once again be able to have their ashes inurned at Arlington National Cemetery, thanks to a bill passed by Congress and expected to be signed by President Obama.

SHARE Courtesy of the U.S. National Archives Elizabeth L. Gardner, a member of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, sits at the controls of a B-26 Marauder at Harlingen Army Air Field sometime during 1943-44. Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News Signatures of past WASPs decorate an aluminum aircraft door around an image of Fifinella, the mascot for the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, at the Sweetwater museum. Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force Frances Green (left), Margaret (Peg) Kirchner, Ann Waldner and Blanche Osborn leaving their plane, "Pistol Packin' Mama," at the four-engine school at Lockbourne Army Air Field, Ohio, during WASP ferry training for the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. The undated photo was taken between 1943 and 1944. Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News The hands of Millicent A. Peterson Young are preserved in concrete at the National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater. Associate director Carol Caine said any past member of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots who never has visited the museum for their group is asked to mak a handprint sculptures.

By Ronald Erdrich, Abilene Reporter-News

SWEETWATER  It's been a difficult year for fans and former members of the Army's Women's Airforce Service Pilots.

The WASPs, if you are unfamiliar with local history, were female pilots trained in Sweetwater during World War II to fly military aircraft in the United States and Canada. The first women who applied for the civil service jobs were required to already have 500 hours of flight time (compared with 200 for men), received lower pay than any male counterpart, and could only fly the smallest trainers or liaison aircraft.

That changed over time, at least partially. Eventually, only 35 hours were required for entry. But more importantly, the 1,102 WASPs who served during the war ended up flying every type of aircraft in the nation's arsenal.

WASPS ferried aircraft across the country, or performed flight duties while training male pilots. Two WASPs flew the B-29 bomber, notorious then for catastrophic engine fires, and demonstrated to the reluctant male pilots that it could be done safely.

"Jackie Cochran herself called these the 'dishwashing jobs of the Army,'" said Sarah Byrn Rickman, referring to WASP founder Jacqueline Cochran. An author of seven books about the WASPs, Rickman spoke by phone from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

"They were the jobs the men really didn't want to do because they considered them boring or beneath them," she continued. "But the women wanted to, because they would do anything to fly."

That included towing targets 50 yards behind an airplane for anti-aircraft gunners on the ground to practice on. Or taking a plane up into the air to see if the mechanics had really done as good of a job as they said they had on a reconditioned engine.

Thirty-eight WASPs lost their lives in the line of duty. Most of the casualties were due to mechanical failure; others were simply accidents, such as Cornelia Fort's.

Fort died March 21, 1943, during a mission to ferry BT-13s to Love Field in Dallas. One of the male pilots flying alongside clipped Fort's plane, causing it to crash near Merkel. She never had time to bail out, and Fort was the first female military pilot to die.

Another WASP death was more mysterious.

On the website Wings-AcrossAmerica.us, Susana J. Kelly writes how Betty Taylor, a California WASP, was ferrying a camp chaplain in September 1943 when their A-24 flipped during landing. The weight of the aircraft crushed the canopy, killing them both.

An investigation determined traces of sugar were found in the fuel tanks; just a small amount would seize up any engine. The saboteur never was caught.

Given the amount of flight hours earned by WASPs, the percentage of deaths within the program was low. Still, WASPs were denied government insurance and death benefits. The pilots' families had to pay for their funerals.

The WASP program ran from early 1942 until it was closed in December 1944.

"They went home, they got married, they had kids, they got jobs. They did all the things all the other women did," Rickman said. "They didn't forget about their WASP service, but they were basically told not to talk about it."

WASP records were sealed and for 30 years forgotten. The women who tried to describe their service were met with disbelief  surely if there had been such a program, everyone would have known about it, right?

In the mid-1970s some newspapers began reporting on women entering military academies for the purpose of flying for the Navy and Air Force.

"First women pilots to fly military airplanes," the headline read.

"The WASPs read that and said, 'Absolutely not! We were the first,'" Rickman said. Shortly after, WASP records were unsealed, and in 1977 the group was officially recognized as World War II military veterans. The benefits of that recognition included the option of placing their ashes inside aboveground structures at Arlington National Cemetery. The first WASP inurnment, as it is called, was at Arlington in 2002.

In March 2015, however, then-Secretary of the Army John McHugh declared the WASPs never should have been allowed to be inurned at Arlington. Army lawyers concluded that WWII veterans such as the WASPs and Merchant Marines could only be buried in cemeteries run by the Veterans Affairs Department, not at Arlington, which is run by the Army.

The WASPs, who already had endured a third of a century with the Army denying their service, were not happy.

"Any WASP that you talk to, they are all disgusted with the turn of events," Rickman said. "They feel like they fought for the country, and then they were told to go home."

She called the WASPs a remarkable story, one that proved women could fly any plane they wanted.

"The aircraft does not know what sex is flying it; the aircraft responds to the body that is flying it, whoever it belongs to," Rickman said. "That's what they proved, but somehow the world in 1945 or '46 decided we didn't need to know about that."

A movement began. A petition at www.change.org already had received 178,000 signatures by Sunday. That and thousands of letters and post cards sent to Washington, D.C., led to the passage of the WASP AIR Act by both ch houses ambers of Congress last week. On Thursday, t The bill was sent to President Barack Obama, who was expected to sign it into law.

Rickman celebrated it's passage with 13 of the WASPs when they me e t for a reunion in Sweetwater at 11 a.m. on May 28 Saturday at the National WASP World War II Museum. Of the 1,102 original members, only 104 are still living.
Horsehead Crossing Trails of Time Living History Event returns

The Horsehead Crossing Trails of Time Living History Event makes its return this weekend along the Pecos River between Imperial and Girvin, Texas.
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The following editorial appeared in the May 18 Dallas Morning News:

It's a common practice in private business to extend financial packages to certain departing staffers that allow them to stay on the payroll after they've packed up and left. But in the state of Texas for government workers, severance pay is against the law.

That's why it was troubling to learn that at least three ex-staffers in Attorney General Ken Paxton's office were paid long after they'd stopped doing any work for the state. And now comes the disturbing news that dozens of former highly paid workers across a wide spectrum of state agencies were paid hundreds of thousands of tax dollars for months after they'd left their jobs.

Paxton and other agency heads say they're allowed to use "emergency leave" provisions for "good cause" to continue to pay the ex-staffers. But that sort of pay is supposed to be for real emergencies  like family deaths and health issues  and for employees who are returning to work.

Take the Teacher Retirement System. It doled out $235,000 in unworked hours. An ex-investment manager there received pay for four months to the tune of $58,000 after she'd left. And that's just a single department amid myriad departments. Unacceptable.

Gov. Greg Abbott should call for a full accounting to end this practice. Sen. Jane Nelson of Flower Mound and Sen. Royce West of Dallas have vowed to crack down on the leave misuse, which apparently has been going on for years, but it would help for the governor to drive the reforms home.

So why has the practice been allowed to occur for so long? Chalk it up to political backscratching: "Sorry, we have to let you go but here's some extra money to soften the blow in hopes you'll go away quietly." It's this political backscratching that has so infuriated the electorate, giving rise to anti-establishment protest campaigns. Ironically, Paxton is the beneficiary of just such a protest campaign, yet he perpetuates the very sort of political backscratching he rails against. ...

The News' analysis showed that ex-employees were paid at least 5,248 unworked hours, hours that could be better spent elsewhere  say, hiring enough caseworkers in the besieged CPS agency to save the lives of abused and abandoned children.

Through an aide, Paxton has defended his decision to pay his departing staffers by calling it a "compassionate" way to continue to pay people "who worked tirelessly" for the state. ... You'd think the state's top law enforcement official, of all people, would be eager to show how he's following the law. We urge him and his colleagues to do so now.
On Friday, in the morning, at St Johns Anglican Cathedral, Brisbane, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC, attended the Palliative Care Queensland Thanksgiving Service to celebrate National Palliative Care Week, where the Governor delivered a reading.

In the afternoon, at Government House, the Governor received the Honourable Dr Annabelle Bennett AO SC, Chancellor, Bond University.
On Saturday, in the morning, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey departed Brisbane for an official visit to the South Burnett region.

Following, at Coolabunia State School, the Governor and Mrs de Jersey attended the Schools 125th Anniversary Celebrations, where His Excellency addressed guests, unveiled a commemorative plaque and officially opened festivities, before returning to Brisbane.

Earlier, at ANZAC Square, Brisbane, the Governor was represented by Honorary Aide-de-Camp, Captain Luke OBrien, Australian Army, at the UN Peacekeepers Service, where Captain OBrien read the UN Secretary Generals Message and laid the first wreath.
Alain Prost thinks the time for Renault to switch its full focus to 2017 is now approaching.

The quadruple world champion, now an ambassador for the French carmaker and a paddock television pundit, hailed Renault for the improvements it has made to its power unit this year.

Prost was speaking in Monaco, where the Renault customer Red Bull was driven to pole by Daniel Ricciardo, who then only narrowly missed victory due to a pitstop bungle.

"This was an extremely fast turnaround" by Renault, Prost told the French daily Ouest France.

"It's pretty rare that it happened in a very calculated world like formula one. It can happen with something like aerodynamics but not so often with the engine.

"It's good for the morale of the people working on the Renault project," said Prost.

On the other hand, Ricciardo's Mercedes-beating pace in Monaco also demonstrated the shortcomings of the works Renault chassis, which is fitted with the same power unit.

"It showed all the work that Renault must do with the chassis," confirmed Prost. "Honestly, it's a very big task."

Team boss Frederic Vasseur has acknowledged that Renault has to work hard to get ready for 2017, but he also says the 2016 chassis will not be abandoned as it may affect the 'competitive spirit' of the Enstone based team.

"There is a choice to be made but it isn't mine," insisted Prost. "It's a management decision.

"It is not easy but at some point, a decision has to be made. The important thing is to build for the future. This is precisely what Mercedes did for three years and then took advantage of the change in regulations" in 2014, he added.

(GMM)
'Naidu Running A Corrupt Government In Andhra'

New Delhi: The opposition YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh has accused Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu of running a "corrupt" government and "making a mockery of democracy" by engineering defections to the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

"Emboldened by the ill-gotten money amassed through corruption, it (TDP government) has brazenly started to poach our party MLAs. The TDP government has so far poached 17 of our MLAs," YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy said in a statement here.

He said the MLAs of YSR Congress Party were being "lured" with ministerial berths, and questioned how could such MLAs be sworn in as ministers while they continued to be YSRCP MLAs.

Meanwhile, the YSR Congress has published a book titled 'Chandrababu -- Emperor of Corruption 144,571 crores' on the alleged corruption of the TDP government.

The book lists out a series of alleged fraudulent cases, including those pertaining to 'AgriGold', skyrocketing expenditure on Polavaram project, sand mafia and corruption in the name of the new state capital Amravati.

On the alleged Rs.1 lakh crore scam vis-a-vis the new capital, the book says: "In the guise of building a world-class capital city, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister is running a real estate business... he leaked information on the actual location of the capital city to his coterie and helped them accumulate land."
Electrovaya Inc. signed a Multiyear Service Agreement (MSA) with a US-based Fortune 1000 OEM to supply Lithium Ion Battery Modules, Battery Management Systems and related services. The Agreement is expected to generate revenues of up to $80 million over the next three years.

The revenues from this agreement starts in Q2 CY2016, growing through rest of CY2016 and accelerates in 2017.

Electrovaya has already received the first purchase order from this MSA; the Fortune 1000 Company is Electrovayas first major customer for the new LITACORE1000 module, which uses the LITACELL40. (Earlier post.)
Joe and Terry Graedon, the co-hosts of The Peoples Pharmacy, will be the speakers at the Greensboro Kiwanis Club on Thursday.

The Greensboro Kiwanis Club meets from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Thursdays at the Greensboro Downtown Marriott, 304 N. Greene St. in Greensboro. Lunch is $15 and parking passes for the Marriott parking garage are provided to guests.

To attend, contact Mack Arrington by Wednesday at (336) 856-1600 or visit www.greensborokiwanis.org.

***

An Open House and Artist Reception featuring the original works of Greensboro artist Ashley Vanore will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Fahrenheit Kollectiv, 313 S. Greene St., Suite 201 in Greensboro.

Proceeds will benefit the Mental Health Association in Greensboro.

For information, call (336) 373-1402.

***

The seventh annual Kernersville NF Walk will be Saturday at the Fourth of July Park, 702 W. Mountain St. in Kernersville.

NF Walks are community-based events organized by local volunteers to raise money for the Childrens Tumor Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending neurofibromatosis through research.

Registration is at 9 a.m. with the walk following at 10 a.m.

There will a raffle, food, childrens crafts and games. Leashed dogs are welcome.

To register, visit www.nfwalk.org/kernersville.

***

The Adult Center for Enrichment is offering Family Caregiving: Coping with Grief and Loss, from 10 a.m. to noon June 15 at the Womens Resource Center, 628 Summit Ave. in Greensboro.

While caring for a loved one with a chronic illness, grief and loss are often experienced. Lenora Gray, a therapist with Presbyterian Counseling Center, will explore different types of loss, how to navigate through grief and how to find ones new normal.

The session is free, with contributions accepted. To register, contact Jodi Kolada at (336) 274-3559 or visit www.ACEcare.org. Let Kolada know by June 8 if care for a loved one is needed during this time.

***

Dr. Todd Reiter of UNC Regional Physicians Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation will talk about the causes of various aches and pains and the treatments available at 11:30 a.m. June 8 at the Millis Regional Health Education Center, 600 N. Elm St. in High Point.

Lunch will be provided.

To register, call (336) 878-6888.

***

A gospel concert featuring William Willard will be at 7 p.m. June 11 at the Sunset Theatre, 234 Sunset Ave. in Asheboro.

Proceeds will benefit Hospice of Randolph County. Concert tickets are $10 each and can be purchased in advance at Hospice of Randolph County, 416 Vision Drive in Asheboro. For information, call (336) 672-9300.

***

The Autism Society of North Carolina has created an online database of resources available to families in North Carolina. The goal of the Resource Directory is to provide a searchable, accurate and easy-to-use directory of resources related to autism and other developmental disabilities.

The Resource Directory, which can be found at www.referweb.net/asnc, was supported in part by UNC-Chapel Hills Autism Spectrum Disorder State Implementation Grant from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Medical Health Homes for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Initiative of the N.C. Council on Developmental Disabilities.
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GREENWICH  About 100 people paid tribute to fallen service members at the Indian Harbor Yacht Club Monday morning.

American Legion Post 29 sponsored Memorial Day observances that included a keynote address from Navy Rear Admiral John Weigold. Freedom has a price, and every generation has to pay its due, said the admiral, a graduate of Greenwich High School. Today is the day to give thanks to those who paid the debt.

Weigold encouraged the attendees to pay attention to veterans issues and the sacrifices made by men and women in uniform during previous conflicts. They gave up their lives, we owe them more than one day, he said, Their history deserves telling and re-telling.

The admiral said it was up to the present generation to educate younger Americans about the sense of duty and obligation which the military embodies. Weigold recently gave a presentation to eighth-graders at the Eastern Middle School in Greenwich on career day.

First Selectman Peter Tesei noted the tranquillity and calm of the waterfront on a quiet Monday morning. I cant think of a more fitting place than the Indian Harbor Yacht Club to remember, respect and reflect on the lives given in service of the country, he said.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal noted that Greenwich had a strong military tradition. The community really has some great heroes here who help us remember, he said.

The senator talked about the need for veterans services, especially in relation to mental health. Blumenthal cited a statistic that some 20 veterans a day are dying from suicide and urged greater attention to the problems faced by veterans suffering from post-traumatic disorder.

When you think about the fallen on this day, let us think about those who take their owns because they suffer from post-traumatic stress, the senator said. Let us remember those who come back with invisible wounds.

American Legion Post Commander Christopher Hughes called for a round of applause for veterans taking part in the event. Having had the honor of serving in uniform with the U.S. Marines, I am equally grateful to you for your service, he said.

State Rep. Fred Camillo read the names of Greenwich residents who have died in conflicts overseas since 2001.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, a wreath was laid in the waters of Long Island Sound from a Greenwich police boat.
WASHINGTON  As co-author of major legislation to infuse life into the nations resource-starved mental health care system, Sen. Chris Murphy believes theres an overlap between mental illness and the uptick of mass shootings, including Sandy Hook.

But hes dead-set against any suggestion that putting mental health care on par with its physical health counterpart will automatically solve the epidemic of gun violence.

I understand clearly theres an intersection, but the failure of one system is not causal of the other crisis, Murphy, D-Conn., said Thursday at the conclusion of his Senate Mental Health Summit, aimed at building support among mental health professionals and advocates for the Mental Health Reform Act that Murphy has written along with Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.

So I worry when people suggest that fixing the mental health problem will fix the gun violence problem, Murphy said.

Advocacy of rebuilding the nations mental health system is something upon which Republicans and Democrats can find agreement. But GOP lawmakers and gun-rights advocacy groups like the national Rifle Association take it a step further and argue that mental illness  not the availability of large-capacity, semi-automatic rifles and other lethal weaponry  is the root of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre and other shootings like the one at the Aurora, Colo., movie theater the same year.

So even as he advocates for his bill to fix what he terms the broken mental health system in America, Murphy is careful to put some daylight between mental illness and gun violence.

On the Senate floor Wednesday, he said conflating mental illness and gun violence . . . may serve the political ends of those in the Senate who oppose background checks and other gun-control measures.

Murphy also argued the U.S. does not have a higher rate of mental illness than those of other developed nations. The difference he said, is that mass shooters with mental problems, like Adam Lanza at Sandy Hook, have access to weapons of war.

The ability of such people to instantly transform themselves into mass murderers is unique in this country, Murphy said.

After the summit, Murphy said, the nexus is not as big an intersection as some people would like to believe. So Im trying to be responsible and tease out the subtleties of this debate.

Hes not alone in advocating an all of the above approach.

Lanza of course had a mental health problem, said Lauren Alfred, the policy director of Sandy Hook Promise, who attended the Thursday summit. But were very strong proponents of background checks and commonsense (gun) laws . . . anything that makes our schools and communities healthier and safer.

At the summit, advocates displayed boxes of over 200,000 signatures calling on Congress to pass the Murphy-Cassidy bill. Murphy said he hoped it could come to a vote on the Senate floor in the coming months.

The measures general aim is to put mental health care on equal footing with physical health care. It also would establish grant programs for early intervention as well as biomedical research.

dan@hearstdc.com
GREENWICH  More people are expected to die from drug overdoses in Connecticut this year than last year, continuing a disturbing trend.

One fatality was recorded at Greenwich Hospital in the first quarter of 2016, and the community has been hit hard by the scourge of overdoses, along with many others across the country.

A 26-year-old man died in the Midcountry section in December of a heroin overdose, according to town police. A 19-year-old college student from Greenwich died last year in another jurisdiction, and a Greenwich woman died in Stamford the year before, among other local residents to have fallen victim to hard drugs

Meanwhile, the states biggest cities seem to have the highest overdose death rates, but experts said that data could be misleading.

According to a report from the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, there were 208 accidental overdose deaths in the first quarter of 2016. Based on that, there are expected to be 832 overdose deaths this year  compared with 729 in 2015.

Its an escalating problem, said Gail DOnofrio, chief of emergency medical services at Yale-New Haven Hospital. We do see more and more drug overdose deaths (in Connecticut), which reflects whats going on in the country.

More Information Overdose deaths by town In the first quarter of 2016, 208 people died of overdoses. The state data reflects the town of death, not the town of overdose, so towns with hospitals have higher rates than others. Bridgeport: 14 (11 at a hospital) Brookfield: 1 Danbury: 6 (3 at a hospital) Derby: 4 (3 at a hospital) Greenwich: 1 (at a hospital) Milford: 6 (1 at a hospital) New Haven: 24 (14 at a hospital) New Milford: 2 (1 at a hospital) Norwalk: 4 (3 at a hospital) Oxford: 1 Seymour: 1 Shelton: 1 Stamford: 1 (at a hospital) Stratford: 2 Trumbull: 1 Westport: 1 Hartford: 14 (8 at a hospital) Waterbury: 20 (12 at a hospital) Source: State medical examiner's office See More Collapse

The state has also released town-by-town data on overdose deaths for the years first quarter, with the most deaths  24  occurring in New Haven. Other cities with high numbers include Bridgeport (14), Hartford (14) and Waterbury (20).

In Greenwich, Dr. Jeremy Barowsky, director of addiction medicine at Greenwich Hospital and a psychiatrist specializing in substance abuse, has seen an increase in the number of people seeking treatment.

Barowsky said a community initiative was making progress locally.

In Greenwich, in general, public education is very good, and theres a lot of services, theres a lot of outreach. Its an integrated multi-disciplinary approach that will net results in this terrible epidemic were in, Barowski continued.

Were providing medication, were getting people into treatment, were de-stigmatizing the disease, were teaching people, were teaching families. So I do see hope, he said. People are talking about it, which is often the biggest barrier to the successful treatment of substance abuse.

He said the medical community in Greenwich and elsewhere was responding.

Were becoming much more cognizant of the guidelines, in term of prescribing pain medications, which we know directly affects peoples use of heroin. Because when the prescriptions wear out, they go to heroin, he said.

Greenwich police spokesman Lt. Kraig Gray said local law enforcement was working to improve capability for regional cooperation, since the spread of drugs typically crosses town and state lines. Theres also a greater emphasis on speed in going after drug dealers.

When paramedics found the dead man in the Midcountry section in December with signs of a heroin overdose, detectives were quickly on the scene. They contacted law enforcement colleagues in Brooklyn with information about a suspect who had apparently sold the lethal dose of drugs.

They were able to make an undercover buy and an arrest on heroin possession, on the same day as the Greenwich mans death, Gray said. The case is now being prosecuted through the federal courts.

This type of investigative cooperation, and rapid response, is happening more frequently, the lieutenant said.

Greenwich paramedics are now carrrying Narcan, an opiate antidote that can save lives following a heroin overdose.

Earlier this year, town leaders commissioned a study on opioid overdoses to be conducted by the town Department of Social Services and Liberation Programs, a Fairfield County-wide substance abuse counseling and treatment center.

Skewed statistics

The latest report on the locations of drug deaths do not tell the whole story. Chief Medical Examiner James Gill said the numbers may be misleading, as the report only lists the town or city in which each person died, not the one in which the overdose occurred. That means cities with hospitals, such as Bridgeport and New Haven, would have higher numbers that dont necessarily indicate their rates of overdose.

Gill said the state likely wont release the information on which cities the overdoses took place in, as the staff members who prepared the report were laid off due to budget cuts.

Not including that information does create some difficulty with the numbers, said Dr. Michael Werdmann, an emergency room physician at Bridgeport Hospital. He said many hospitals, including Bridgeport, serve patients from multiple towns and cities.

However, the experts said, the underlying issue isnt which town had the most overdoses, but the fact that drug-related deaths continue to rise in the state.

This does confirm what weve all perceived, which is that theres been an increase in patients having overdoses, Werdmann said.

According to the state, heroin continued to be the most abused drug, as 110 of the 208 deaths involved heroin, either alone or in combination with another drug.

An emerging threat

One major concern raised by the report is that deaths linked to the opiate fentanyl are rising. There were 83 deaths involving fentanyl in the first quarter of 2016, and there are projected to be 332 by the years end. Thats an astronomical rise from 2012, when there were only 14 fentanyl related deaths for the entire year.

Experts said fentanyl is a powerful narcotic, sometimes used to relieve extreme pain, such as after surgery. The drugs strong high has increased its popularity as an illegal drug, and fentanyl is increasingly laced into heroin  with deadly results.

Fentanyl is about 20 times more powerful than heroin, so people can miscalculate what the strength will be, added Barowsky, the substance abuse specialist at Greenwich Hospital.

Dr. John Douglas, clinical director of Silver Hill Hospitals Outpatient Addiction Program in New Canaan, echoed those thoughts. People who use fentanyl, either alone or in combination with another drug, are at a much higher risk of using too much and overdosing, he said.

The medical examiners report offers a ray of hope, by stating that, though drug deaths are expected to rise between 2015 and 2016, theyre not projected to increase by as much as they did in past years. The number of accidental overdoses went up 28 percent between 2014 and 2015; they are only expected to jump by 14 percent between this year and last.

DOnofrio, however, isnt even buying that kernel of optimism.

I dont know that thats going to happen, she said. I dont think we can talk about rates going down this early in the year.

She said people are still dying from drugs in large numbers because we havent done anything to stop it, frankly. As with any other epidemic, it wont just disappear. Its really about increasing awareness.

 With Staff Reporter Robert Marchant
GREENWICH  James MacKay remembers the fear he felt before he first entered battle during World War II, and he remembers the advice George Patton gave the troops when MacKay saw him.

He said, Youre going to be frightened or scared like hell, but the main thing  just keep shooting,  MacKay, now 95, said the other day in his Riversville Road home, where he lives with his wife of 74 years, Catherine.
The Russian phone customization experts at Caviar are at it again, revealing the newest Putinphone. This one's based on Samsung's Galaxy S7, and like all other Putinphones before it comes with President Putin's face engraved on the back. And, to give your handset that extra shot of bling it so desperately needed, one version of the S7-based Putinphone features 190 actual rubies around Putin's face (as seen in the image below).

Everything else on the back is gold, and only three of these "Caviar Samsung Supremo Putin Rubino" models will be made. You can be the lucky owner of one for the measly sum of RUB 1,790,000, or $27,213.

If you want Putin's face on your phone but simply can't afford the Rubino Galaxy S7 described above, perhaps you do have enough dough to buy the Mixed Metals iteration, which is only RUB 169,000 ($2,570). This one has yellow and white gold on it, no rubies though.

Finally, the peasant's Galaxy S7 Putinphone is the RUB 159,000 ($2,418) "Caviar Samsung Supremo Putin", which boasts a titanium plate on the back that's gold-colored.

All of these are up for pre-order now from Caviar's official website. All have the Russian coat of arms engraved on the back underneath Putin's head, and in the lower part two lines from the country's national anthem.

If you love Russia, but don't want Putin's head on your phone, the "Caviar Atlante Russia Ornamento" is for you. For just RUB 149,000 ($2,266), you get a colored version of the Russian coat of arms and the traditional Russian painting technique called Khokhloma showing you some very colorful berries and flowers.

Source (in Russian) | Via
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If you recall, back in March this year, there were reports that the Google-owned robotics engineering firm Boston Dynamics has been put up for sale. At that time Toyota and Amazon were named as possible buyers.

Now, it is being reported that Toyota is in advanced talks with Google over a possible deal, with the report saying that the "ink is nearly dry." The financial details aren't yet known though.

The report notes that Toyota plans to make Boston Dynamics part of the Toyota Research Institute (TRI), a recently-announced division (based in Silicon Valley) that focuses on artificial intelligence and robotics research.

Earlier this year, Google's robotics division head James Kuffner left the company to join TRI as Area Lead in Cloud Computing.

Via
Charles Jenkins' London tour was an "awesome" success. The singing songwriter known for No. 1 American gospel hits such as "Awesome" and "#War" hit the ground running with hours of radio, newspaper and television interviews. On Friday morning, Charles started the day co-hosting "The Gospel Breakfast Show" with Lady T, a veteran radio announcer, at Premier Gospel, the largest Christian radio network in the United Kingdom.



Around 3 p.m. people, some of whom drove from as far as three hours away, began to queue for the 7:30 p.m. concert at Rock Tower where the line stretched for blocks. "This concert sold out within the first six days of tickets becoming available," says Muyiwa Olarewaju, the program director at Premier Gospel that co-sponsored the concert with House On The Rock church.



As the concert opened with the high energy smash "Your Love Is Enough," the audience collectively danced with joy and they never sat back down even as the show featured with an unstoppable 20 minute rendition of "Awesome." Pastor Temi from House on the Rock said, "It was simply amazing." Pastor Jenkins was then welcomed by UK influencers for a series of business meetings throughout the week, including visits with one of the leading British Broadcasting Company's (BBC) radio executives.



On Sunday morning Pastor Jenkins and his team rocked the stage at London's largest church, Kingsway International Christian Centre's Prayer City location. Jenkins then headed back to The US to co-headline the 10th annual McDonald's Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour that kicked off May 25th at The Greater Grace Temple Apostolic Church in Detroit, MI. The show's explosive open features Pastor Jenkins introducing gospel greats such as Donald Lawrence, Marvin Sapp, Karen Clark Sheard, Canton Jones, Jonathan McReynolds and Doug Williams as they each individualize his #1 smash "#WAR!" This exciting tour also features comedian Small Fire and is hosted by Lonnie Hunter. All concerts are free of charge. Fans can obtain tickets by visiting www.365Black.com. The multi-city tour will make stops in 13 markets, including: Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Greensboro, Houston, Jackson, Los Angeles, Memphis, Philadelphia, Raleigh, St. Louis and Washington, D.C.



 May 25 - Detroit, Greater Grace Temple

 June 1 - Raleigh, Wake Chapel Church

 June 2 - Greensboro, Mount Zion Baptist Church

 June 3 - Charlotte, The Park Church

 June 16 - Jackson, Jackson Convention Center

 June 22 - Philadelphia, Dell Music Center

 July 22 - Houston, New Light Center

 August 4 - Chicago, House of Hope

 August 12 - St. Louis, Friendly Temple Missionary Baptist Church

 August 19 - Atlanta, Changing a Generation Full Gospel Baptist Church

 September 8 - Memphis, Greater Imani Cathedral of Faith

 September 12 - Washington, D.C., The Kennedy Center

 October 15 - Los Angeles, Taste of Soul Family Festival



McDonald's Inspiration Celebration Gospel Tour is an extension of the brand's 365Black platform, an initiative that celebrates the pride, heritage and achievements of African-Americans year round. Dr Pepper also returns as the tour's sponsor, showing its appreciation and commitment to the African- American community. The tour is produced by Hoyett Owens, Chairman of Faith Based Communications. Visit www.365Black.com to learn more about the 10th annual tour and McDonald's 365Black initiative. Follow @365Black on Twitter for tour updates and join the conversation using #365BlackGospel.





Tags : charles jenkins celebration gospel tour charkes jenkins tour charles jenkins news
Published on 2016/05/30 | Source

Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Min-ho together are returning to the small screen through writer Park Ji-eun's new drama.

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On May 20, SBS has announced, "Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Min-ho will play the leading roles in 'The Legend of the Blue Sea' (working title) slated for November this year".

'The Legend of the Blue Sea' is a drama that borrowed motifs from 'The Little Mermaid' written by Hans Christian Andersen. The drama is drawing attention for being a new drama by writer Park Ji-eun, who wrote "My Love from the Star".

It has been known that, from the early stage of planning to write 'The Legend of the Blue Sea', writer Park Ji-eun already had Jun Ji-hyun and Lee Min-ho in her mind.

Jun Ji-hyun is returning since she gave birth in February this year and also this is her comeback drama in two years since "My Love from the Star" by writer Park Ji-eun.

Lee Min-ho also is returning to the small screen in three years since "The Heirs".

Meanwhile, it is also known that 'The Legend of the Blue Sea' has been offered half million dollars per episode from a video streaming company in China. This proves how powerful the effect of two actors could be.
Published on 2016/05/30 | Source

On the episode 19 of MBC's Monday & Tuesday drama, "Monster - 2016",Kang Gi-tan (Kang Ji-hwan) and Do Geon-woo (Park Ki-woong) revealed their heart towards Oh Soo-yeon (Sung Yu-ri) in each one's own way.

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On this day, Gi-tan realized that Soo-yeon was his first love, Cha Jeong-eun. When her younger brother Dong-woo was hospitalized, he went to visit him. The two who were high school students at the time were infected by the same virus at a hospital. Since then, they had been living their life believing the other had died at the time being critically ill due to the virus.

Gi-tan liked Jeong-eun, who was nice to him endlessly despite all the shortcomings of his. He after all made a confession of love to her, saying "You just start liking me. It seems you'll keep feeling sorry for me any ways. If that doesn't work, should I like you?"

However, Soo-yeon said, "No, it's ok. You don't have to go through troubles because of me. I'll be careful with everything from now on. Farewell, friend" She pushed him away although it was not what she really wanted.

Do Geon-woo believed that, if they would use So-yeon as their commercial model for Dodo Group while she was a whistleblower, it would wash off the negative image of the company. He told Do Choong (Park Young-gyu), "I will normalize the revenue of the company within 6 months". As Soo-yeon refused to become the model for the company, he told Soo-yeon, "You're pretty, very pretty" and then he told his younger sister, Do Sin-yeong (Jo Bo-ah) that Soo-yeon was a woman he liked.

Watch on Viki
It also will make new, innovative services available both to public and private establishments across the Ile-de-France, including Carestreams Clinical Collaboration Platform that will be offered as a cloud-based service, creating the speed for migration and scalability necessary to allow growth for future subscribers.

The tender was issued by the Healthcare Co-operation Group (Groupement de Cooperation Sanitaire (GCS)) and known as Service Numerique de Sante (Sesan). It updates a previous framework agreement, Region Without Film (RSF), which ended in April 2015.

These cloud-based services will provide secure exchange and sharing of medical imaging data, allowing healthcare professionals and patients across the Ile-de-France to collaborate on patient care. Examples of services offered include:

The creation of a unique and holistic patient folder at a regional or territorial hospital group (GHT) level, giving privileged access to all prior images available, no matter in which S-PRIM member facility the preceding exams were carried out.

The ability to create integrated clinical pathways and treatment plans, for example to manage requests for second opinions from selected experts.

The capacity to share results with prescribing doctors and patients via a portal that is fully integrated with the regional digital health space (lEspace Regional Numerique de Sante or ENRS), and which will offer all users unique, simplified and secure access to their data, no matter in which establishment the exam was carried out.

Diagnostic Imaging services will be improved considerably by creating dynamic multimedia enhanced reports, to advanced post-processing tools that are natively integrated with diagnostic viewer, and to tools for managing images other than from radiology. These will all be available without constraints to users on the move. Finally, healthcare establishments will be able to subscribe to the long-term repository service, which is designed to support forensic and research purposes, and is more economical for them.

The 39 organizations participating in the RSF framework today will migrate the 10 million exams already archived to S-PRIM, in addition to managing two million exams per year. This will be one of the biggest enterprise repository of medical data in Europe designed with scalability for growth. Numerous other establishments in the region have also expressed interest in joining the project and at least one of the services proposed in the new six-year Framework Agreement.

Our project aims to set the Ile-de-France region on a new path, offering subscribers access to the most advanced clinical and collaborative tools at an affordable cost, thanks to a proven strategy of co-operation. Over the 12 month tender period, Carestream convinced us of its ability not only to provide continuity for RSF, while deploying its cloud-based service within very short timescales, but also to offer subscribers reliable solutions that sit at the forefront of current technology, said Pierre Boiron, Director of GCS Sesan.

In addition, the S-PRIM project provides for an incubator dedicated to developing new technologies in response to the regions future needs. This includes solutions relating to big data and the management of specialist data from ophthalmology, pathology and dermatology teams, and other areas.

We are proud to welcome GCS Sesan, with the S-PRIM project, into the community of partners putting their confidence in Carestream, added Patrick Koch, Managing Director, Carestream France and Benelux. This includes the hospitals in the AP-HP hospital group (the Greater Paris University Hospitalsthe largest hospital group in Europe), the Midi-Pyrenees, Central, Pays de la Loire and Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur. Subscribing hospitals will be connected gradually to our Vue Cloud platform, which is already being used by more than 100 healthcare establishments in France and for which we have accreditation from the French government to host personal medical data.
Finland must not ignore public opinion in the event that it decides to re-consider its position on Nato, President Sauli Niinisto stated in an interview on YLE TV1 on Saturday.

All three candidates to become the next chairperson of the National Coalition Party  Elina Lepomaki, Petteri Orpo and Alexander Stubb  contrastively announced in a seminar in Seinajoki on 24 May that they do not consider a referendum on the possible membership to be necessary, writes Helsingin Sanomat.
Susanna Koski (NCP) and Timo Heinonen (NCP), for example, expressed their concerns about the bill during a question time session on Thursday.

A bill that would oblige bakeries, grocery shops and municipal operators to donate food that, despite being edible, is no longer sold for human consumption to non-profit organisations for distribution to disadvantaged households is not without its opponents in the Finnish Parliament.

The bill acknowledges that it would have no significant impact on the public economy. However, you must take into account the costs and additional obligations and responsibilities that the bill, if passed, would impose on proprietors, shop-keepers, stated Koski.

The best and most efficient way to reduce food loss is to anticipate, added Heinonen. This applies both to households and to the sundry of commercial operators.

Heinonen is concerned that the bill could exacerbate the situation further and reminded that food items that are about to pass their expiration date are currently first offered to customers at a reduced price and then donated to non-profit organisations.

Related posts: - Bill to reduce food loss receives support from across party lines (09 May, 2016)

Food is also used for bio-ethanol, he pointed out.

Households, on the other hand, have every reason to look in the mirror as they waste an average of 2030 kilos of edible food every year  more than twice the amount wasted by the retail sector, highlighted Heinonen.

Would it be possible to find a way to reduce packaging sizes? We have a growing number of one and two-member households, he said.

Finns, he also pointed out, often mistakenly think of the expiration date as the last use date.

Satu Taavitsainen (SDP) responded to the criticism by estimating that while food aid is by no means a substitute for basic social security, the bill would encourage the retail chain to demonstrate moral and ethical leadership.

I think it's alarming that more than one-fifth of food aid recipients experience hunger constantly or regularly. Food aid doesn't fix the holes in our basic social security and isn't an answer to poverty, but it's a moral and ethical choice. It's great that a bill on food loss has finally been drawn up, she said.

Spokespersons for both Kesko and S Group expressed their reservations about the bill in an interview with Uusi Suomi earlier this month.

Timo Jaske, the sustainability manager at Kesko Food, said he would prefer to continue developing co-operation with authorities and businesses associated with the food chain. Veli-Matti Liimatainen, a deputy managing director at HOK Elanto, warned that the costs and regulative hurdles possibly created by the bill could prove a disincentive for retailers.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

Photo: Heikki Saukkomaa  Lehtikuva

Source: Uusi Suomi
Sugarloaf one of five NC schools to win national honor

Peggy Marshall accepts a bouquet from county schools personnel director John Bryant in this file photo from October 2015.

Sugarloaf Elementary School is one of five schools in North Carolina honored for its successful implementation of a transformational program that empowers students with leadership and life skills and results in measurable improvements.

The performance improvement company Franklin Covey Co. named Sugarloaf a "Leader in Me Lighthouse School" based on its outstanding results in school and student outcomes through Covey's The Leader in Me process.

We are honored to become a Leader in Me Lighthouse School," said Sugarloaf principal Peggy Marshall, Henderson County's 2015 principal of the year. "As a school, we have seen amazing results from implementing The Leader in Me process, such as increased academic ownership, student leadership and parent/community involvement. This process has had a positive impact on all students both personally and academically, and we expect to see greater results over time.

The Leader in Me is a whole-school transformation modeldeveloped in partnership with educatorsthat empowers students with the leadership and life skills they need to thrive in the 21st century. It is based on secular principles and practices of personal, interpersonal, and organizational effectiveness.

The Leader in Me differs from other whole-school transformation processes in that it offers a holistic, schoolwide experience for staff, students, and parents, and creates a common language and culture within the school. The leadership principles and lessons are not taught as a curriculum, but instead are incorporated into coursework, traditions, systems, and culture.

The Lighthouse Milestone is a highly regarded standard set by FranklinCovey and the designation is given to schools that have demonstrated the following:

 The school campus environment reinforces the leadership model by displaying leadership language that emphasizes individual worth and potential in hallways and classrooms.

 Teachers integrate leadership language into school curriculum and instruction.

 Staff collaborates and works together to effectively build a culture of leadership.

 Students are provided with meaningful student leadership roles and responsibilities, such as mentor, public speaker, school tour guide, and greeter.

 Parents are given opportunities to learn The Leader in Me model and the 7 Habits and are involved in activities that support the leadership model.

 A system is in place for setting and tracking school-wide, classroom, academic, and personal goals.

 Leadership events are held to allow students to practice their leadership skills (e.g. public speaking, sharing data, confident greetings, etc.) with community business partners, parents, and other educators.

 The school leadership team meets regularly and oversees school-wide implementation of the leadership model with the help of students, staff, parents, and community members.

 Measureable improvements in teacher engagement, parent satisfaction, student behavior, and academic alignment are shown by comparing baseline data with the tracking of ongoing data.
A teenage student has appeared in court accused of driving his own mother's car without her permission.

Newton Lawani (19) had the case against him adjourned after Blanchardstown District Court heard he was accused of using a vehicle without the owner's permission, but the alleged owner was his mother.

Judge David McHugh remanded Mr Lawani on continuing bail when he appeared in court on the charge.

Mr Lawani, with an address at Foxborough Road, Lucan, is charged with unlawful use of a vehicle, an 04D-registered car, without the consent of the owner.

The owner is his mother, Atinuke Lawani.

The charge alleges that the offence may also have been committed "with or without other lawful authority".

The incident is alleged to have happened at Balgaddy Road, also in Lucan, on May 8 last.

The accused is further charged with driving without insurance at the same place and on the same date.

Tougher

Garda Sergeant Mary Doherty told Judge McHugh the DPP is directing summary trial of the case.

This means it can be dealt with at district court level, instead of being sent forward to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, which has tougher potential sentencing powers on conviction.

Asked by the judge for more information on the unlawful use charge, the sergeant replied: "It was his mother's car."

Evidence of the defendant's arrest, charge and caution had been given to the court previously.

After hearing an outline of the allegation, Judge McHugh said he was accepting jurisdiction to allow the case remain in the district court.

Free legal aid was granted to the defendant after the court heard he was not working and there was no garda objection.

The alleged offences are contrary to Sections 112 and 56 of the Road Traffic Act.

No more details of the case have been given in evidence yet, and the defendant has not yet indicated how he intends to plead to the charges against him.

He did not address the court during the brief hearing.
A former catering worker at the Gresham Hotel claims she was sacked after alleging a supervisor told her he'd like to "slap your a**e" as she walked up a stairway.

Dubliner Lorraine Dolan claims she was unfairly dismissed by the Dublin landmark hotel for gross misconduct after making three allegations of sexual harassment against her former male supervisor.

Ms Dolan, who worked two shifts a week as a part-time worker, is seeking reinstatement of 8,217 in wages as compensation.

Certain

A hearing at the Employment Appeals Tribunal on Friday, was told that Ms Dolan alleged the incidents took place on various dates between April and September, 2014. However, she was not certain of the dates.

On one occasion, she claimed the supervisor remarked "I'd like to slap your a**e" as she was walking up a stairway. On another, the same co-worker allegedly asked her for a kiss after she put on a new uniform.

She also alleged he rubbed his hands on her back near her bra strap. There were no witnesses to any of the alleged incidents, the hearing was told.

But after the hotel's management held investigations, they determined through rosters and other records that the worker at the centre of the allegations was either on annual leave or not rostered to work when the incidents allegedly took place.

During a disciplinary hearing, the hotel's HR manager, Sharon Coleman, dismissed Ms Dolan for gross misconduct for what she claimed were "unfounded and malicious" allegations made against the supervisor. The dismissal was upheld following an appeal.

The hearing was told that Ms Coleman noted during the same hearing that Ms Dolan had made previous claims of harassment against a colleague that were "unfounded".

Christine Rowland, a retired representative for SIPTU, who represented Ms Dolan during the disciplinary process, said Ms Dolan "was adamant" she had been sexually harassed by the supervisor, while he was "equally adamant he hadn't".

The case was adjourned until September 28.
One of the chief suspects for the murder of Gareth Hutch has been hospitalised after taking ill while in garda custody.

Gardai believe the individual was one of the gunmen who blasted the 35-year-old to death at the Avondale flat complex in Dublin's north inner city last week.

Just hours after the murder, the 29-year-old handed himself into gardai, but has maintained that he had nothing to do with the killing.

It has now emerged that the suspect was rushed to hospital over the weekend after swallowing an object while in custody.

A source said that he was discovered "in obvious pain" after suffering suspected internal injuries from swallowing the implement.

He was brought to the Mater Hospital - which is located directly opposite the garda station - on Saturday afternoon and was treated by medical professionals.

Concerns

However, despite previous concerns over his injuries, he was discharged yesterday morning and continues to be in garda custody.

He is currently being detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, and can be held for a period of up to seven days.

The Herald previously revealed how the chief suspect handed himself in to investigating detectives after being urged to by his mother.

Another two women are still being questioned by gardai in relation to the killing.

One of the women is suspected of providing crucial logistical support to the two gunmen who murdered Gareth Hutch.

The other woman being questioned is in a relationship with the second gunman, who is currently on the run after fleeing to the north. Gardai do not believe this female had any involvement in the murder.

The funeral of Gareth Hutch, who is a nephew of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, is expected to take place later this week.

Independent councillor Nial Ring, who had met with Gareth Hutch the day before he was shot dead, said his family could get "some form of closure" with a funeral service.

"From the time the coroner finishes the post mortem, he or she has to keep the body for five days so it looks at being the middle of the week," Mr Ring said.

"At least if they could have the funeral there would be some form of closure, but with that hanging over them it is terrible.

"Not only have they this bereavement but they also have this threat hanging over anyone with the name [Hutch].

"The majority of them aren't [involved in any criminality].

"[Chief Supt] Pat Leahy is absolutely confident and determined. He said: 'We will catch these people and bring them to justice. I am not having this on the streets of Dublin'. That is exactly what you want to hear," Mr Ring added.
Migrants are rescued from a capsized boat during a rescue operation by Italian navy ships "Bettica" and "Bergamini" off the coast of Libya. Photo: Reuters

More than 700 migrants are feared dead in three shipwrecks south of Italy in the last few days.

The shipwrecks appear to account for the largest loss of life reported in the Mediterranean since April 2015, when a single ship sank with an estimated 800 people trapped inside.

Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for UNHCR, said that an estimated 100 people are missing from a smugglers' boat that capsized off the coast of Libya last Wednesday.

The Italian navy took horrific pictures of that capsizing even as it rushed to rescue as many people as possible from the sea.

Sami said about 550 other migrants and refugees are missing from a smuggling boat that capsized on Thursday morning after leaving western Libya a day earlier.

Refugees who saw that boat sink told her agency it was carrying about 670 people, didn't have an engine and was being towed by another packed smuggling boat before it capsized. She said about 25 people from the capsized boat managed to reach the first boat and survive, 79 others were rescued by international patrol boats and 15 bodies were recovered.

Italian police said survivors identified the commander of the boat with the working engine as a 28-year-old Sudanese man, who has been arrested.

In a third shipwreck on Friday, Sami said 135 people were rescued, 45 bodies were recovered and an unknown numbers of migrants were still missing. Because the bodies went missing in the open sea, it is impossible to verify the numbers who died.

Warmer waters and calmer weather of late have only increased the migrants' attempts to reach Europe in unseaworthy smuggling boats, the UN refugee agency said.

Last week, over 4,000 migrants were rescued at sea in one day alone.
Jillian Thornton, who died in a car crash on the N2

The family of Jillian Thornton, killed when the car she was travelling in crashed during a garda pursuit, has called for a full investigation into the incident.

Ms Thornton's sister Elaine told the Herald the family wants to see the people responsible for what happened to be held to account.

She paid tribute to her sister, a childcare worker and skilled darts player who would have turned 21 on July 14.

"She was the most bubbly, happy person you could meet. Everyone loved her, she was a great sister, a great aunty and a great friend," she said. "We are all in absolute shock. She would have been 21 in July, but now she is never going to see her 21st."

Jillian was fatally injured when the Mitsubishi Colt she was in crashed into a Volkswagen Passat just after 10.30pm on Friday. The crash took place on the N2 at Waterside Great, Duleek, in Co Meath.

It is understood that the collision was nearly head-on and that the young woman, who was in the back seat, was thrown from the car.

"We want to see the person or persons held accountable for what they have done," Ms Thornton said.

"She [Jillian] had just finished her childcare course. She absolutely loved children. She loved playing darts and she was a great darts player."

She said that her sister played with the Louth darts team. Ms Thornton also appealed for privacy to allow the family to mourn.

Gardai have released without charge a man arrested in connection with the crash and a file will be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Officers have confirmed that at the time of the crash they were following the Colt because they wanted to speak to the driver.

The Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) confirmed it is also carrying out an investigation.

"The fatal road traffic incident which occurred in the N2 was referred to GSOC because the car which crashed was under pursuit by gardai prior to the incident occurring," GSOC said in a statement.

"GSOC investigators attended the scene. There are parallel investigations under way. GSOC's investigation will focus primarily on matters relating to the conduct of the garda pursuit."

Beautiful

Over the weekend her friends posted tributes to Jillian.

"I love you beautiful. RIP. So hard to believe I was only talking [to you] the other day. I'll miss you loads," one friend commented.

Another girl said: "My beautiful best friend. May God give you the best bed in heaven you truly deserve it I love you so much."

Jillian's funeral takes place on Thursday at 11am at St Mary's Church, James' Street, Drogheda.
HPD offers reward for information on suspect in slaying

The man "should not be approached and is considered armed and dangerous," HPD said in a news release.
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On the heels of its provocative step to prevent the United Nations Security Council sanctions committee from designating Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a terrorist, China has publicly opposed Indias membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). In both cases Chinas all weather friendship with Pakistan and disdain for Indias reaction have influenced the decision-making. Chinas policy of trying to box India in the subcontinent is being stretched to the point of treating both the terrorism and NSG membership issues as ones of managing India-Pakistan rivalries.

Read | In-depth talks needed for Indias entry into nuclear group: China

China would want to deprive India of diplomatic advantage over its iron ally in forums where it can hold up consensus. It has chafed at the India-US nuclear deal, openly questioning US favouritism towards India and advocated a similar deal for Pakistan. Its decision to build two additional nuclear power plants beyond the two it grandfathered while joining the NSG is a violation of its NSG commitments. It was intended as a signal to the US that it cannot have a monopoly on decisions on non-proliferation matters and that China can balance the US nuclear gesture towards India with one of its own towards Pakistan.

Read | Pakistans nuclear program threatens the world, not just India

Undeterred by its egregious proliferation record (the AQ Khan affair), blocking of the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) negotiations in Geneva, the frenetic build up of its nuclear assets, the introduction of tactical nuclear weapons in the sub-continent, and its public threats to use nuclear weapons against India, Pakistan is aggressively seeking parity of treatment with India on nuclear matters. It uses its irresponsible nuclear conduct to coerce the US/West into giving it an India-like nuclear deal as an incentive to be responsible.

China has been the biggest proliferator with its well-established nuclear transfers to Pakistan. Its continued nuclear cooperation with Pakistan as a non-NPT country, without any NSG exemption in the latters favour, is itself a serious act of proliferation. That the Chinese built reactors are under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards is irrelevant, as India, before the Indo-US nuclear deal and the NSG exemption, had offered putting all its foreign-aided nuclear reactors under IAEA safeguards but the proposition was not acceptable even to friendly countries like Russia and France because of their international obligations. In Chinas case, its civilian nuclear cooperation with Pakistan is accompanied by the construction of reprocessing plants that are not under IAEA safeguards. It is these plants that are giving Pakistan the capability to produce plutonium and develop miniaturised warheads for tactical nuclear weapons. China is not accountable for all this activity.

Read | No wrong direction: Obama cautions India, Pak on nuclear arsenals

Just as in Masood Azhars case the Chinese explanations for its position were misleading and duplicitous, Chinas reasons for opposing Indias NSG membership are hollow, and even arrogant. It explains its opposition on the ground that as a member of the UNSC we are the watchdog of the world, we must ensure that rules are followed. And we must also think it is not just India who wants an exception to the rules. Humbug apart, this is an astonishing language of entitlement and privilege. China feels it must follow the rules as a global watchdog when it comes to India and the NSG, but is not obliged to do so when it comes to the East China and South China Seas. It pleads helplessness in having to oppose India because the rules were made by western powers and we just have to maintain them, ignoring conveniently its repeated tilting at the West-imposed international rules governing the international system. China finds it normal to defy these rules in the western Pacific, where it wants its own rules to apply. Its concern about being the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) watchdog disappear when it protects the North Korean regime from sanctions and insists on dialogue to resolve the issue of its NPT violations.

Read | Maritime power: China planning to build floating nuclear power plant

Read | Beijing to build nuclear power platforms in South China Sea

China  after opposing the NPT as discriminatory for years  is now taking the position that only NPT countries can be members of the NSG. Russia, US, France and the UK, all four recognised nuclear weapon states under the NPT, do not take this position. The US, which initiated the NSG as a stringent export control mechanism to deny access to certain critical nuclear technologies even to NPT member states, has repeatedly said that India is eligible for NSG membership and is committed to making it happen. The NSG is just an ad hoc body, it is not a treaty. The logic of China demanding that India sign the NPT in order to become an NSG member is malevolent on another count. India cannot sign the NPT as a nuclear weapon state as the NPT has been permanently extended without any scope for amendment. China is therefore implicitly asking India to sign as a non-nuclear weapon state, which means dismantling its weapons programme under international supervision. This is consistent with its non-recognition of India as a nuclear weapons state. The arrogance of this position is astounding.

In the past, before high level visits, China has staged provocations as part of both engaging India and pressuring it. Significantly, it chose to pique India just before President Pranab Mukherjees visit to China. This way China maintains the upper hand and sets the terms of the relationship. In any case, having been cajoled by president Bush to agree to the NSG exemption for India, China has already yielded on substance. The purpose of blocking Indias NSG membership therefore makes little sense apart from power politics to boost its client Pakistan and diminish Indias standing. As regards the argument that China has hardened its position because India is drawing closer to the US, it needs recalling that Xi had in effect proposed a G2 to Obama.

Kanwal Sibal is a former foreign secretary. The views expressed are personal.

Read | Pranab seeks Xis intervention in quest for NSG membership
Their honeymoon period is far from over: Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover, who got married on 30 April, went to Maldives for their honeymoon and have been going overboard with their love-filled pictures flooding social media. But looks like that is not enough, the couple plans for a second, longer honeymoon soon.

Speaking about the Maldives trip on The Kapil Sharma Show, Bipasha said, It was extremely hot... We have roamed around a lot, but the typical honeymoon was short. But we might go for a longer honeymoon, Bipasha said.

Read: Bipasha, Karan write their love in stone

About how life has changed after marriage, Bipasha said, Everything about us is still pretty much the same. Were the same people, we love each other the same way. Everyday a little more. Now on Instagram I write my name as Bipasha Basu Singh Grover.

Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover on The Kapil Sharma Show. (Instagram)

Asked if they knew each others pluses and minuses already, Karan said, If in 28 days you come to know the minus points then its not a good thing.

Bipasha also said, Karan sings really well and writes songs as well since the beginning. I feel good about it. At the wedding, he sang three of my favourite songs and performed with the band. That was the best surprise for me ever. My sisters started crying when he started singing. It was quite romantic.

On a lighter note, when Bipasha asked Karan who was the boss? Karan said, Youre the boss, boss. I have a boss now.

Newly-weds Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover are giving us all the perfect relationship goals, especially concerning insecurities and fears - The two actors have revealed that they are open to working together in a film if both like the script, and havent decided on any clauses such as no kissing or no lovemaking in films.

Speaking at The Kapil Sharma Show on Saturday, Karan and Bipasha were asked if they would act in a film together after marriage. Bipasha said, If we like something; we are two different individuals. Definitely we want to work with each other. But both have to like it.

Bipasha and Karan tied the knot on April 30, 2016.

Read: Newly weds Bipasha and Karan talk about each other, marriage and more

Incidentally, there are some actor couples, who didnt work with each other after their marriage. Kareena Kapoor-Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar-Twinkle Khanna, Soha Ali Khan-Kunal Kemmu to name a few.

Reportedly actors add clauses in their contracts as no kissing, no lovemaking scenes, no bikini scenes in their contract after marriage. When asked if they also have such clauses, Bipasha said, No, we dont have any such clause. But well think about it. You have given a good point... (To Karan) Nothing for you. And Karan added, We havent written anything like that.

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Aishwarya Rai Bachchans purple lips at Cannes garnered mixed reaction. While, she maintained that she was happy with the feedback, father-in-law, actor Amitabh Bachchan, has now spoken in her defence. He said that though he didnt check tweets, there was nothing wrong with the look trending online.

Actor Aishwarya Rai on the red carpet as she arrives for the screening of the film Mal de pierres at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes. (REUTERS/Regis Duvignau )

In an interview to BollywoodLife.com he said, Social media gives someone the opportunity to express themselves. Youve never had that opportunity before, you never knew what others were thinking about you, at least now you know. And the good part is, it lasts for a day or half-a-day; the next day, something else comes up. Things move so rapidly in todays life that you dont have time. Ones attention span is so limited and so small. Thats how life has become. Social media gives everybody a voice, everybody an opportunity, everybody a democratic opportunity to express themselves. Whats wrong with that?

Read: I even joked, called myself Picasso: Aishwarya on her purple lips
Potterheads, a group of researchers have found out that the magical plant Gillyweed and Skele-Gro potion that Harry Potter makes use of, requires magic, for it defies scientific concepts.

In the world of Harry Potter, the boy wizard undergoes two magical biological transformations: eating Gillyweed to grow gills and drinking Skele-Gro to repair broken bones.

Students from the University of Leicester in the UK and McMaster University in Canada have put these medical practices to the test  and concluded that they are not scientifically feasible.

The first Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, released in 2001. (Instagram/harrypottercast)

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry consumes Gillyweed, which allows him to breathe underwater by causing gills to grow on his neck.

The students estimated the gills to measure about 60 square centimetres based on their appearance in the film.

Read: Cursed Child wont be JK Rowlings only new Harry Potter book this year

Taking into account the oxygen content of the Black Lake and the maximum oxygen use of swimming, they then examined Harrys weight, suggesting that if he had a normal body mass index (BMI) and the average height of a 14 year old boy, he would need to process 443 litres of water at 100 per cent efficiency per minute for every minute he was underwater.

This would mean the water would have to flow at 2.46 metres per second  twice the velocity of normal airflow and therefore far faster than he could inhale and exhale, causing him to suffocate.

Emma Watson played the role of Hermione Granger in the series. (Instagram/harrypottercast)

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry breaks his arm during a Quidditch match, a competitive sport in the wizarding world.

After his broken bones are removed, the matron Madam Pomfrey then gives Harry a dose of Skele-Gro, used for growing bones that are missing.

Read: Harry Potter fans! You can finally visit his childhood home in London

Students aimed to find how the rate of normal bone growth compares to this accelerated growth, and how much energy Skele-Gro would need to provide in order to rebuild Harrys broken arm.

Observing the timings in the chapter in which Harry is hurt, the students suggest he is healed within the space of 24 hours, Skele-Gro must have accelerated restorative properties.

Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe played Ron Weasley and Harry Potter respectively. (Instagram/harrypottercast)

The students calculated the time taken for Harry to regrow all the bones in his arm with Skele-Gro as being at least 90 times quicker than is possible in real world.

Skele-Gro should have the capacity to supply the additional 133,050 kilo-calories worth of energy required by the body to regenerate bones without causing any negative side effects  a power output of 6,443 Watt.

Read: A new Harry Potter book is out this July and we cant stop celebrating

The students concluded that Skele-Gro must indeed contain unexplained magical properties that allow it to hold such a vast amount of energy and apply it in a short period of time.

The research was published in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics.

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The income tax department is likely to increase the use of phone tapping in its crackdown on black money. The measure is currently used sparingly, but taxmen say call records can be used as proof for taking action against tax evaders.

Call records are legal proof which cannot be refuted. This is an exercise adopted on a case to case basis where the department is unable to catch enough proofs, a senior tax official said.

According to law, the tax department is required to take permission from the ministry of home affairs to tap phones, which the official said is usually forthcoming.

Ending black money was one of the planks on which the Narendra Modi led-NDA had fought Parliamentary elections two years ago, and the government has initiated several measures to curb the so-called parallel economy.

PMO EYES WINDOW

The next initiative, a limited period window for declaring hidden domestic income and wealth, and pay tax and penalty on it, opens on June 1.

According to a senior income tax official, the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) will monitor all the declarations and the measures that will be a part of the one-time compliance window.

PMO has told the revenue department to submit regular updates of declarations, of the queries that people and chartered accountants are raising, and also the measures that the department was taking to spread awareness of the scheme and expand its reach.

The tax department will collect information from all chief commissioners across India and submit these reports on a regular basis to PMO, the official said.

PMO wants the scheme to both government-friendly as well as taxpayer friendly, the official said. It feels that if the scheme is taxpayer friendly, it would yield more undisclosed income, which will be in-turn beneficial for the government.

This will be the second such compliance scheme under the NDA government.

Last year, the government had given citizens a similar opportunity to declare illicit funds in overseas accounts, and assets worth Rs 4,000 crore were disclosed in that period.

According to a FICCI report, about a third of Indias black money transactions are believed to be in real estate, followed by manufacturing, and purchase of jewellery and consumer goods.
A slowing China presents a great opportunity to India to become the growth engine of the world but New Delhi must work harder to boost its economic productivity, speakers at a conference of leaders and policymakers said in Tokyo on Monday.

India, which overtook China at the end of last year to become the fastest growing major economy in the world, has been hailed as a bright spot in times of flailing global growth. But the economy is far from realising its potential, leaving investors to wonder if it would ever be able to scale up economic activity.

There is tremendous slack in the economy, Goh Chok Tong, Singapores Emeritus Senior Minister, said at the 22nd International Conference on The Future of Asia, referring to a measure of the quantity of unemployed resources in the economy.

India is where China was a couple of decades ago. But India now has the opportunity to be the engine of the world.

The high-profile conference, which runs through Tuesday, is organised by one of Japans largest media corporations, Nikkei.

Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley, who was in the audience, will deliver his speech at the conference on Tuesday.

Goh, who served as the city-states prime minister for 14 years, said although the United States remained the most influential global player, emerging economies such as India were developing a greater confidence in how they could expand their influence.

The comments were echoed by several other speakers, including Trinh Dinh Dzung, deputy prime minister of Vietnam who also referred to New Delhis growing economic and strategic heft.

Indias engagement with Asia-Pacific has been on the rise, especially over its oil and gas assets off Vietnam that are viewed as a valued presence in the South China Sea for regional strategic balance.

Further to the east, Japan remains one of Indias biggest investors and a key trading partner, but the overall levels of New Delhis engagement with Asia-Pacific remain far below potential.

Earlier, Naotoshi Okada, president and CEO of Nikkei Inc, opened the conference by speaking about the global economys growing uncertainties and the fact that Asia had become the economic driver accounting for 60% of world growth.

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank and a number of investors in Japan have shown a keen interest in investing in Indias infrastructure growth story.

Jaitley said this in Tokyo on Sunday, as he kicked off his six-day visit to Japan aimed at attracting investments from Asias second biggest economy.

After a meeting with Jaitley, SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son said he was also interested in Internet companies as well as the solar energy sector, where he has already announced 20 billion US dollar investment through a joint venture.

In June last year, the SoftBank had announced that the group was forming a joint venture to invest in renewable energy in India.

The joint venture would aim to generate 20 gigawatts of electricity. Jaitley said they have made considerable headway and have identified location and it would probably be one of the largest investments in the energy sector.

The Finance Minister will meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday at the 22nd International Conference on The Future of Asia organised by Nikkei Inc.

He will also deliver keynote address at the Round Table on National Investment and Infrastructure Fund, NIIF.

The 40,000-crore rupees NIIF is an investment vehicle for funding commercially viable greenfield, brown-field and stalled projects.

The Government will have 49% holding in the NIIF and the rest will be of private investors.

During his stay, Jaitley is scheduled to meet several key investors. The Finance Minister will return to the Delhi on Saturday.
In July 2005, a 23-year-old pregnant woman with hearing and speech impairment stepped out of her home in the early hours to relieve herself. This was the daily routine for most women in her neighbourhood because the west Delhi slum where she lived had no public toilets. That morning, three men spotted her behind a bush. They dragged her into their van and drove around the city for six hours, raping her. Finally, she was dumped in a garbage pit near her slum.

Two weeks back, a 13-year-old with Downs Syndrome went to fetch water a kilometre from her home in a slum in southeast Delhi when she was kidnapped. The next morning, she was found by a neighbour  raped, severely injured and left to die by railway tracks.

Eleven years apart, the two cases tell the same story  a failed city system leaving its poor the most vulnerable.

The gang-rape of the physiotherapy student on December 16, 2012, triggered mass outrage nationwide. The government announced legal reforms: stricter penalties, better-defined laws on sexual assaults, fast-tracked trials for all rape cases and fixing polices responsibility in registration and investigation of such cases. Had these laws been in place, the 2005 rape survivor would not have to shuttle, after her six-hour ordeal, between two police stations fighting over jurisdiction.

Read: 40% Delhi women were sexually harassed in 2015. Mostly during daytime

Post-2012, our cops usually deal with these cases more sensitively. But is mere registration of cases enough? Judicial remedies or police reforms, though absolutely necessary, are mostly curative, rather than preventive, measures. Gender-based violence, to quote the Justice Verma report on legal reforms, that cannot be overcome by laws has to be overcome by administration. We have to also find solutions in the wider matrix of urban development.

Failure of policing is blamed for any meltdown of the rule of law that encourages violent behaviour. But when it comes to gender-based violence and womens safety, one must also take failure of governance into account. In the absence of public transport, she is forced to take a bus plying without permit and manned by drunkards. In the absence of a toilet or a water tap near her home, she is forced to walk long distances, mostly at odd hours. It is during these journeys that she is so much more vulnerable and is often harassed or attacked, even raped.

Delhi Polices own data shows that almost 50% of the crimes committed in the capital are in the working class areas, the citys worst blind spots. It is here that the police presence is patchy, governance weak and civic infrastructure nondescript. If the response of the police and the rest of the administration to middle-class demands are often knee-jerk, one can imagine how the so-called underclass is treated. It is not surprising that their complaints are rarely heard and almost never attended to.

Read: 80% cases tried by HC led to acquittals, shoddy probe blamed

The Delhi Human Development Report on the perception survey conducted in 2013 found that the lack of civic services such as functional street lights and safe public toilets was the biggest concern in the poorer areas of the city. This showed that inadequate attention was paid to gender-sensitive urban planning, contributing to the fear of violence in public spaces among women, particularly those from poorer backgrounds. However, this perception has not always found an echo in the official statistics, the report concluded.

The bulk of necessary preventive measures that make a city safer can be achieved by ensuring that basic civic infrastructure and administration are functional and reliable. How difficult can it be for authorities to ensure that the city is well-lit uniformly and not just in VIP patches and affluent areas? That poorer neighbourhoods have access to potable water and toilets; that walking space is free of encroachments; that public transport is reliable and last-mile connectivity is dependable even during late hours? Much of these are anyway on the AAP governments five-year agenda.

Preoccupied with their livelihood battles, the working-class women have little time or motivation to organise protest marches demanding safety. But that doesnt mean they have given up their basic rights. Anyway, safety is not a privilege that this city of rich and powerful can deny its ordinary women.

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The Taliban have a new leader  Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, one of the deputies of Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, who was taken out by a US drone strike in Baluchistan after he crossed the border from Iran. Akhundzada is seen as a religious scholar and was a senior judge during the insurgent groups five-year rule in Afghanistan. It was the first ever US drone strike in Pakistans Baluchistan province, despite years of American bombing runs on al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan.

The decision to kill Mansour in his Pakistani sanctuary signals a new aggression in the US approach to compensate for lack of any movement in peace talks. Washington is hoping that this strike, much like the raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, will inflict a lasting blow on the Taliban by sapping its morale and disrupting long-term planning.

Pakistans official response has been quite predictable, accusing the US of crossing the red line. The US is signalling that it is now willing to take the fight to Afghan insurgents in Pakistani sanctuaries.

For some time now Pakistans efforts to broker peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have been going nowhere. Despite cooperating with the US in targeting al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban leadership, the Pakistani military had been protecting the Afghan Taliban, refusing strikes in Baluchistan.

Pakistans unwillingness to fully cooperate in the fight against the Taliban has had some far-reaching consequences. Recently, the US Congress has asked Islamabad to pay for the F16s it wants and is also tightening the screws on disbursal of military aid. As the Taliban expanded its operations in Afghanistans south, the Obama administration decided to do away with its earlier restrictions on the numbers of strikes, even at the risk of antagonising Rawalpindi.

The US success in taking out Mansour may not lead to any change on the part of the Taliban as far as its hard-line position on peace talks is concerned. But what is clear is that the Taliban are now under a kind of pressure that they had not felt in recent years. And Pakistan has been warned that there are limits to its policy of running with the hare and hunting with the hounds.

India should be watching these developments closely. At a time when Pakistans negative role in Afghanistan is once again under scrutiny, Indias more positive involvement with the signing of the Chahbahar trilateral agreement should give it greater strategic space to manoeuvre.

Harsh V Pant is professor of international relations, department of defence studies, Kings College London.

The views expressed are personal.
On a blistering May afternoon, a group of street children from Sarai Kale Khan gather at a large, colourful basement in Gautam Nagar. Everyone is holding a copy of a black-and-white newspaper. 19-year-old editor-in-chief Chandni beckons them to sit on a large mat in the centre. After a few minutes, the editorial meeting starts. A couple of 16-year-old reporters demand to know why their stories werent published in the recent edition of the newspaper. Sub-editor Shambhu,17, tries to pacify an annoyed reporter whose story didnt make it to page 1.

Later the reporters pitch new story ideas for the next edition  a street child getting married twice, unique bond between a boy and a dog, a couple of children collecting garbage by going door-to-door, a kid forced into child labour on the promise of education, etc. The editorial team discusses the stories they missed in the last edition and articles that require more investigation. Stories are assigned region-wise and field visits are decided.

This scene plays at almost every editorial meeting of Balaknama, an eight-page monthly newspaper run by street children on stories that reflect their lives. The tabloid is printed in Hindi and English.

There are 14 main reporters and 70 batuni reporters. Batuni reporters are those kids who cannot write and so dictate their stories to the main reporters. Stories are noted down in Hindi; the main reporters submit these for English translation to the editorial team.

The idea for Balaknama came up when these children realised that they need to pen down their stories, experiences and aspirations. The society needs to understand that these children have an identity and the right to live a dignified life, said Sanno Khan, advisor and former editor.

The kids gather for editorial meetings at a large, colourful basement in Gautam Nagar. (Tribhuwan Sharma / HT Photos)

Balaknama is mentored and supported financially by an NGO, Chetna. The newspaper was launched as a quarterly edition of two pages in Hindi on September 2003. It became a popular medium for street children to share stories. Child reporters from Delhi, Agra, Jhansi, Mathura and Gwalior contributed to the newspaper. Slowly, the circulation increased.

We distribute the newspaper free of cost among street children. Also, people who know about Balaknama buy it from us for Rs 2, said Chandni. An English version was launched in December 2014. Today, the group produces 5,000 Hindi and 3,000 English copies each month.

Reporter Jyoti, 16, joined Balaknama when she was eight. Poverty at home forced her to pick rags and beg on the streets. I had never gone to school. But Chetna volunteers enrolled me in their basic education classes. I began learning basic English, Hindi and Math. There, I was made to lead 35 children and became a batuni reporter, said Jyoti.

All reporters attend classes in the morning and go for reporting later in the afternoon.

Shambhu came to the Capital with his father and would sell cucumbers around Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station. I was often beaten up. Private contractors and police would ask for bribes. I wanted to go to school, get a proper education and come out of this cruel lifestyle. But all hope was lost, or so I thought, before Chetna approached me, he said. Today Shambhu is a student of class 10. When he learnt about Balaknama, he decided to contribute. He began doing field visits, talking to other street children and wrote stories on child labour, police brutality and human interest stories on street children.

Balaknama reporters say it takes 10-12 days to investigate and write a story. Reporters travel by buses to reach their destinations. Reporters from Agra and Mathura send their stories as scanned copies or through courier service.

They face many hurdles while investigating a subject. Recently, some hostile locals restricted their entry after a negative story appeared from their area.

Some kids are scared to speak to us. We promise not to publish their names in the newspaper. Only then they tell us about cases of police brutality or sexual abuse. Some parents discourage their children from meeting us. This is a big problem, said Chandni.

She said there is no census or proper case study to determine the number of street children in Delhi. So we decided to do it ourselves. We went to Sarai Kale Khan and did a survey. There are 1,320 street children living in that area alone, said Chandni.

Balaknama team laments that they are struggling to find advertisers or financial assistance. Another problem is that the newspaper cannot be registered because majority of the staff is underage.

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NEW DELHI: The number of VIPs protected by central security guards has risen significantly over the past few years  standing at a staggering 454 people in 2016, to be precise.

The list has made a quantum jump since 2012 when 332 people were under the protection of security agencies that report to the Union home ministry.

Any addition to the list increases the burden on taxpayers, who foot the bill for VIP protection, and strains the resources of security forces that are not raised or trained to guard VIPs  such as personnel from the National Security Guard (NSG).

The elite NSG commandoes, the bulwark of Indias counterterrorism and anti-hijacking defence, and central paramilitary forces such as the CRPF, BSF, ITBP and CISF are deputed to do VIP security duty.

Except for the CISF, which gets special training for the purpose, no other paramilitary force has the mandate for VIP security. But such limitations are apparently ignored to accommodate an outpouring of requests to put people on the VIP security list  sometimes considered a status symbol rather than a necessity.

A home ministry spokesman dismissed allegations that the list is prepared arbitrarily. The number of protectees keeps changing depending on reports and inputs received from the security agencies, he said.

Sushil Kumar Shinde, the UPA-era predecessor of home minister Rajnath Singh, said as much. Only on the basis of recommendations from the Intelligence Bureau (IB), we order security for anyone. We dont do it on our own, he said.

A government official said it was during Shindes and Singhs tenures that the number of central protectees increased rapidly. When Chidambaram was home minister  the IB never got any requests from the ministers office to provide security to anyone.

The current list includes nine expelled Congress lawmakers from Uttarakhand who revolted against chief minister Harish Rawat and joined the BJP on May 18. It has BJPs Kisan Morcha chief Vijay Pal Singh Tomar too.

Some officials allegedly wanted to upgrade the security of jour nalist Umesh Kumar, who carried out a sting on chief minister Rawat, from the existing Y-category to Z. But the idea was shelved to avoid a political backlash.

There are two types of security, positional and threat-based, divided into four categories: Z-Plus, Z, Y and X. The Z-Plus has more than 40 guards while Z, Y, and X have around 30, 20, and three.

In 2012, there were 20 people on the Z-Plus list, which has now risen to 49. Likewise, the Z list has increased from 48 in 2012 to 72 in 2016.

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NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court has ruled that judges should not mention the name of victims in the judgments passed in sexual assault cases to protect their reputation.

Justice SP Garg said this while noting that a magistrate as well as district and sessions judge had mentioned the name of victim in their orders in a molestation case.

The trial court was not expected to indicate the victims name in the judgment, the court said.

The mistake has been carried out by the district and sessions judge too. Presiding officers must avoid disclosing identity of the victim/prosecutrix in such cases in the judgment to protect her reputation, it said.

The court noted it while dismissing a revision petition filed by a man challenging the legality and correctness of a July 2014 judgment passed by the district and sessions judge on his appeal against a magisterial courts verdict convicting him for the offence under section 354 (molestation) of IPC.

The magistrate had awarded one-year jail term to the man for outraging the modesty of a seven-year-old girl in Okhla here in July 2012.
NEW DELHI: Delhi Police arrested five people on Sunday for allegedly attacking Africans last week and advised the foreigners against late-night partying and drinking in public, saying such behaviour disturbs local residents.

None of the suspects were charged under racial abuse sections despite victims claims of race-motivated violence and mounting outrage over the spate of recent attacks on Africans in the city.

The polices views resonated in comments by minister of state for external affairs VK Singh, who blamed the media for blowing up the minor scuffles.

Why is media doing this? As responsible citizens let us question them and their motives, he said.

But South African envoy Ma lose William Mo gale described the attacks as racist and said he believed in the governments ability to deal with the violence.

Senior ministers Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj also attempted to contain the fallout of the row and promised strict action with increased patrolling.

Spoke to commissioner of police, Delhi regarding the incidents of physical assault against certain African nationals. Such incidents are condemnable, Singh tweeted.

Six Africans were attacked in south Delhis Mehrauli last Thursday, roughly a week after a Congolese man, Masunda Kitanda Oliver, was bludgeoned to death in Vasant Kunj.

The repeated attacks have dented Indias image worldwide and sparked tit-for-tat violence on Indian-owned shops in Congo. A group of African diplomats threatened to boycott the governments flagship Africa Day celebrations but were persuaded to desist. Several students and professionals from the continent living in Delhi have called for a protest in central Delhis Jantar Mantar on Tuesday.

Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said she spoke to Singh and Delhi lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung, asking them to ensure security to Africans.

They assured me that the culprits will be arrested soon and sensitisation campaign will be launched in areas where African nationals reside, she tweeted.

But police downplayed the incidents and said loud music and public consumption of liquor led to the violence last Thursday, calling on the local population to not misbehave with Africans.

The situation is perfectly peaceful and no planned attacks have been carried out against the foreign nationals. These were only minor scuffles, a Delhi Police statement said.

But Mogale disagreed. It is a racist attack. But it is not government policy. It is people who might want to tarnish the image of the country, he said.

The envoy said the attacks come as a surprise especially given the fact (that) our relations are decade and decade old.

The five arrested  Babu (32), Om Prakash (24), Kunal ( 20), Ajay ( 25), and Rahul (24)  live in the Mehrauli village of Rajpur Khurd and fled after the attacks were reported, police said. They were charged with wrongful restraint, causing hurt and criminal intimidation.

We sought help from our local intelligence and they were arrested within 24 hours. Though no African came forward to lodge any complaint, we took action and registered the FIRs. Efforts are on to arrest the remaining persons, deputy commissioner of police (south) Ishwar Singh said.

He said police met local residents and Africans on Thursday evening to discuss their concerns with the foreign nationals and asked them to get in touch with lawenforcement authorities in case of any difficulty.

A meeting was also held with residents of villages Rajpur Khurd and Maidan Garhi (both in Mehrauli), attended by 250 villagers where they were sensitised to prevent recurrence of such incidents, he added.

Separately, foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said government will transport back home Olivers mortal remains.

In the unfortunate death of Mr. Masunda Oliver, the government will assist his family to travel to India to receive his mortal remains, he said.

This is not the first time India is in the international news for alleged racially motivated attacks on Africans. In January, a mob in Bengaluru allegedly dragged a Tanzanian woman out of a car and stripped her. Last year, a mob in Delhis busy Rajiv Chowk metro station allegedly attacked three African students.
Four robbers snatched the Audi Q7 car of additional solicitor general of India Vikas Singh from his driver at gunpoint in South Extension early on Sunday morning. The robbers abducted the driver, beat him and threw him out in west Delhis Jwala Heri and sped away in the car, police said.

The driver, Ravi, was pinned down on the cars floor between the front and middle seats while the assailants drove around for 20 kilometers on the arterial roads without being stopped at any of the police check posts in the city.

Ravi was attacked with the pistols butt leading to multiple cut wounds. He received five-six stitches.

Ravi said he was bleeding and had to walk for more than a kilometre before getting help. He said passersby, including two patrolling policemen and some private security guards, refused to help him.

Even though I was bleeding they took me to the spot where I was dumped instead of getting me medical help. They seemed relived when they found that the place did not fall under their jurisdiction. They dropped me at a petrol station near the Mianwali Nagar police station and asked me to seek help there, said Ravi.

He said he called up his employer from the phone at the police station.

Senior advocate Vikas Singh confirmed the incident. The SUV was purchased by his son, Venkatesh, a Supreme Court lawyer, three months ago, said police.

Ravi said on Saturday midnight he was waiting on the main road in South Extension market where Venkatesh had gone to have dinner with his friends at a restaurant. Around 1 am, Ravi said, he saw his employers friends coming out of the restaurant.

As I was opening the cars door, somebody kicked me from behind. Suddenly, I saw three more men entering the vehicle. One of them pointed a pistol at me and threatened to kill me if I raised an alarm. They pushed me inside and pinned me down. They snatched my mobile phone and kept hitting me with the pistols butt. I was finally dumped near a flyover in Jwala Heri, said Ravi.

It was the most horrible experience of my life. I thought they will kill me but god saved my life, he said.

The personnel from Mianwali Nagar police station brought Ravi to the Kotla Mubarakpur police station where a case was registered. He was admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre for treatment.

There is no substantial lead in the case but our teams are working to identify the robbers and recover the robbed vehicle, said RP Upadhyay, joint commissioner (southeastern range).
Thousands of Delhi University teachers along with their families marched the street of national capital on Monday in protest against the UGC 3rd amendment regulation.

The 3rd amendment regulation defines the service conditions for teachers. The new regulation will lead to thousands of ad-hoc teachers losing their jobs and also making promotion difficult. The regulation has altered the teaching hours of the assistant and associate professor and excluded tutorials and practical from direct teaching hours.

The morning rain failed to deter teachers as they marched from Mandi House under the banner of Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA). They were to march till Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) but they were stopped at the Parliament Street.

We demand the complete rollback of UGC Gazette Notification (3rd Amendment), which will push thousands of working teachers out of their jobs. The API scheme imposed by MHRD is virtually denial of promotion, said Rajesh Jha of Academics for Action and Development (AAD) and teacher at Rajdhani College.

As a mark of protest teachers have boycotted the evaluation process till Wednesday. Since May 24 the teachers have not been evaluating the examination papers.

On Monday, the staff associations of Hindu College, SRCC, PGDAV, Ram Lal Anand College, Zakir Hussain College and others had turned up in large numbers.

The ad-hoc teachers who faces the greatest threat from the regulation also turned up in large numbers. There are close to 5,000 ad-hoc teachers in different DU colleges.

The march was a powerful clarion call for a widespread movement against the MHRDs narrow parameters on workload calculation and impossible API targets for promotions. Teachers and students are resolute in their determination to not submit to the MHRDs bullying and will leave no stone unturned to fight against attack on public-funded higher education, said Nandita Narain, DUTA president.

Teachers under the umbrells of the Indian National Teachers Congress (INTEC) will hold a protest at Jantar Mantar.
The African student and community leaders based in Delhi on Monday tried to defuse tension by saying that there is no conflict between the two communities and they would make an extra effort to normalise the situation.

Commenting on the attack on the 51-year-old Ola cab driver who was allegedly thrashed by a group of six Africans, who used metallic punches to scar his face, for refusing to accommodate more than four passengers, president of All India Nigerian student and community association, Arinze Nelson said that there are some unruly miscreants trying to take advantage of the situation and create trouble.

It is a one-off incident and I would not call it some kind of backlash or reaction to what happened to Africans in Mehrauli. We Africans are very peaceful people, however, there are a few elements trying to take advantage of the existing tension and flare up things, Nelson said.

The incident of the cab driver being attacked has just coincided with the episode of Africans being attacked and are not connected, he said.

Also Read | Delhi cabbie beaten up by African nationals for refusing extra passengers

There is absolutely no conflict between the two communities and we shall find ways to defuse the tension instead of escalating it. We have also conducted a meeting with our people residing in Mehrauli to discuss how to bring about a balance.

Some students, however, raised concerns over the security for their community. Celestine,a Delhi University student living in Saket told HT, Such attack on people coming from Africa is not normal at all. It has become a serious security concern.

Oliviers father arrives

Edmon Ketanda, father of Olivier, who was allegedly beaten to death by three men in South Delhis Vasant Kunj area on May 20 after an argument with them over hiring an auto, reached Delhi on Monday to take back Oliviers body to Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ketanda had to take a loan for his trip to India to take back Oliviers body, which has been lying in AIIMS mortuary for the past 10 days.

On Monday, he along with is cousin met the officials from the external affairs ministry and from the Embassy of Congo. India has promised to help the family take back Oliviers body.
A dust storm, followed by rains, earlier this week led to chaos on colony roads in south Delhi. Strong winds (98kmph) uprooted several fully grown trees in different localities. Defence Colony was the worst affected area where more than 50 trees were damaged. According to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), complaints of trees falling or being uprooted were received from Lajpat Nagar-I, Defence Colony, Andrews Ganj, Vasant Vihar, South Extension-II and Sanwal Nagar. No loss of human life was reported but several vehicles were damaged after trees or branches fell on them. Residents said most of trees destroyed during the storm were either overgrown or aged.

Andrews Ganj councillor Abhishek Dutt said he had received complaints from 66 places regarding the damage to trees. He visited several locations and directed the horticulture department of SDMC, Public Works Department (PWD) and Central PWD for removing the fallen trees or branches from the roads. However, even after three days, the agencies have not finished the task. This is not the first time that I approached authorities. In March, I wrote to the municipal corporation to arrange pruning of trees in many localities. But they failed to get a permission from the forest department and thus no work was done.

In the letter to SDMCs horticulture department, Dutt mentioned the location of 11 trees which were old and could fall at any time. Apart from these trees, the councillor had also shared the locations of 433 trees which need immediate pruning. During the recent rains, most of the trees mentioned in the list were toppled due to strong winds.

Two trees were uprooted in Ishwar Nagar. Residents said the PWD had left a renovation work near the trees midway. The trees fell in the strong winds as the soil was loose there. (S Burmaula / HT Photos)

About six cars were damaged as branches fell on them during the storm. The front mirror of my car was damaged. The incident could be averted if pruning was done on time, said KD Singh, a resident of Andrews Ganj.

Two trees were uprooted outside the main market in Ishwar Nagar, on Mathura Road close to Modi flyover. According to shopkeepers, PWD was in the process of renovating a drain outside the market and the trees were next to it. The agency had dug the road but the project was left midway. The digging work loosened the soil and the trees fell down with strong winds, said a local shopkeeper.

Irked by the slow response of the agency, residents of Vasant Vihar asked the authorities to take immediate action and remove fallen branches on arterial roads. Complaints from 11 places about falling of trees were forwarded to departments including SDMC and PWD. And even after three days PWD has failed to remove them from T-points near Basant Marg and Paschimi Marg, said Shashoi Nag, member of Vasant Vihar Welfare Association. According to him, the association has already shared a list of dead trees with the forest department, but it hasnt received any reply.

During the last rains, healthy trees also lost due to the heavy winds, so it wont be appropriate to blame the agencies alone for the mess. As far as the pruning of trees is concerned we have already shared the list with forest department. But they want us to get permission letters from RWAs as well. We are collecting them now, said KS Meena, deputy director, horticulture, SDMC.

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NEW DELHI: A young doctor at Safdarjung Hospital in south Delhi was reportedly molested by a staff member in the early hours of Thursday, police said. The doctor was on a night shift when the crime took place.

The accused, who was in charge of the duty room at the hospital, has been absconding after the woman brought the matter to the notice of senior hospital authorities. He has been identified as Abhay Kumar. Police said the matter was brought to their notice a day after.

Nupur Prasad, additional deputy commissioner of police ( south), confirmed the crime. He said they had registered a case of molestation against Kumar. We have formed a team to look into the case. Efforts are on to arrest the accused. Raids are being conducted at his possible hideouts, she said.

A police officer said the crime occurred at 1.30am when the doctor was resting in her office after visiting patients at the hospital. Kumar, who was in charge of the duty room, entered her office on the pretext of serving her a cup of tea.

He locked the door from inside and forced himself on the doctor. She fought him off and managed to flee from the room, said the officer.

The doctor immediately brought the matter to the notice of her senior colleagues, while Kumar escaped from the hospital premises. An internal probe was ordered into the incident and Kumar was suspended, the officer said.

During the probe, the officer said, it was learnt that Kumar had been molesting women staff members. Around six months ago, a female nurse had complained against him to the hospital administration.

The matter, however, was sorted out after Kumar apologised to the woman and the hospital authorities, said sources in police.
NEW DELHI: Private schools are allegedly fleecing parents for ferrying their children to and from home on Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses, charging amounts that are several times the stipulated rate.

The DTC charges the schools Rs 40 per km for a standard bus and Rs 60 per km for a low-floored one. A resident of east Delhi whose daughters school is 2km away says he pays Rs 1,950 per month for morning and afternoon commute. This is the minimum bus fees the private school charges from each student.

However, as per the DTC rate card, the parent needs to pay only Rs 240 per month for a low-floored bus. Assuming the vehicle runs at optimum capacity of 33 students each day, the school makes at least Rs 56,000 per month on this single route.

Many of my neighbours are victims of such open loot by private schools and there is no solution to it because school bus is a safe mode of transport. I cannot leave office and pick my daughter up from school every day, the parent says on condition of anonymity.

And he is not alone. Rekha Rani, councillor from east Delhis Bhajanpura, says she has received several complaints from harrowed parents who say schools are charging exorbitant amounts as bus fees.We have collected the complaints and will meet the citys transport minister for action against these schools.

Why should private organisations fill their coffers when they are getting subsidised facilities from the government, she says.

The DTC is well aware of the issue. An official, who did not wish to be named, says the contract signed with each school clearly mentions that the children are to be charged according to the distance travelled by them. We know that several schools pocket a major share (of the bus fees). Why do they have to charge extra from parents when DTC maintains the buses and provides drivers too. Even I end up paying Rs 3,950 monthly bus fees for my child, he says.

But there is little the corporation can do, he says. As long as we are getting the stated payment, we cannot get into the internal functioning of schools.

HT put forth the allegations to two school associations who denied them and said students were being charged as per guidelines. The DTC charges us on a per kilometre basis. The charges apply from the time the buses leave depot. In some cases, buses travel a longer distance to reach the school. This fare is divided among students who take those buses, says RC Jain, president of the Delhi State Public Schools Management Association.

A DTC official, however, rubbishes the claims, saying the charges apply from the time the buses report to the school for duty. The routes are charted in a way that buses are in the vicinity of the school during drops and pick-ups, the official said.

SK Bhattacharya, chairman of the Action Committee Unaided Private Recognised School, says the bus fees is meant to cover other transport-related expenses as well. The amount charged from students is used to pay the bus rent. Apart from that, the school also has to take care of their own establishment maintenance like paying the transport clerk, staff and others.

A resident of south Delhi whose child studies at a private school, however, says no transport staff is present in the bus. My son has been taking the DTC bus for over five years now and the school has increased the bus fee every year. I have never seen a dedicated transport staff on the bus. Teachers who share the route manage the children. We cannot see these extra facilities the schools claim to provide, he says.

At present, 84 private schools across the city have 725 DTC buses in their fleet.
Chhole bhature is a quintessential must-have breakfast in the Capital. In fact, it is an equaliser. From rich and poor to students and professionals, the lip-smacking North Indian speciality is loved by one and all. There are many places in South Delhi where chana bhatura or chhola bhatura cannot be missed.

For students, food not just has to be tasty, but also something that is easy on the pocket and this popular dish meets their requirement. In the vicinity of two prestigious educational institutions Jawaharlal Nehru University and Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, an eatery, Shree Ram Sweet Centre, is popular with students from all over Delhi. Students from nearby colleges like Indian Institute of Mass Communication also come here to have chhole bhature.

Established in 2001, this sweet shop and eatery in the DDA market of Ber Sarai serves delicious North Indian fare, but chhole bhature remains the most sought after item. As soon as the shop opens its doors at 8am, the hungry throng the place to have the best meal of the day. It stays open till late in the night.

The bhature, at times stuffed with cheese to enhance the taste, go well with lassi. Chhole bhature arent healthy, but they are yummy, filling and pocket-friendly. A plate of chhole bhature costs Rs 40 and a glass of lassi comes for Rs 25 here. So I love coming to this place, said Anadya Sharma, a student of IIMC.

From rich and poor to students and professionals, the lip-smacking North Indian speciality is loved by one and all. (S Burmaula / HT Photos)

There are several other places where one can get chhole bhature of much better quality, but not at this price, said Rakesh Singh, a JNU student. Since there is no dining area here, students can be seen enjoying their meal on bikes, two-wheelers or roadside and thats not an issue.

Another popular food joint in the market is Kakaji Corner, which was established in 1997 by the Khandelwal family from Rajasthan. The corner serves to hundreds of customers in a day, who come from different parts of Delhi. The bhaturas are served with a tasty chickpea curry, and carrot and green chilli pickle. The bhaturas are crispy and are available at Rs 50.

Manoj Khandelwal, owner of the outlet, said, We get many customers as we serve delicious and affordable food. Students specially come here to have our chhola bhature. In fact, some of our customers get chhole bhature packed for their relatives as well.

Another must-visit place for chhole bhature is Durga Sweets in Sarojini Nagar. It was opened in 1988 and since then it has been selling a variety of sweets like kaju barfi and kalakand to its countless customers.

They swear that the cheese-stuffed bhaturas here have no match. David Thompson, an Australian chef, restaurateur and cookery writer, known for his expertise in Thai cuisine, has also visited Durga Sweets for its chhole bhature.

Jitender Dawar, owner, claims that chhole bhature from his shop have travelled to London, Philippines, Singapore and Switzerland. We use 36 different spices to prepare our chhole and customers always come back to us to have more, he said.

During lunch hours, his shop remains packed and customers have to wait to place their order. People from as far as RK Puram, INA, Green Park, Chittaranjan Park come to this place for freshly made chhole bhature. A plate of chhole bhature for Rs 50 with a glass of raita that costs Rs 15, one can have a filling breakfast or lunch.

Eatopia at India Habitat Centre also serves good quality chhole bhature at Rs 140. The food court is open to all and has a variety of choices of the cuisines varying from Indian to Chinese to continental. The chhole bhature here are equally popular with the arty crowd and intellectuals.

I usually avoid oil-rich food, but whenever I come to India Habitat Centre, I come here to have their chhole bhatura. Its okay to sin once in a while, says Madhavi Sharma, an artist.

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NEW DELHI: A 29-year-old woman delivered a baby boy in a Delhi Police PCR van while she was being rushed to a hospital on Sunday.

The woman, Arti, was travelling in a train from Gwalior to Samalkha in Panipat when she felt labour pain. Her in-laws, who were accompanying her, got down at Sabji Mandi railway station and sought help.

A railway employee called the police control room and help arrived quickly. As the woman was being taken to hospital, she delivered a baby in the PCR van, said R K Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (PCR).

The woman and her newborn child have been admitted to the Bara Hindurao Hospital, said the officer.
The Republican Party leaderships last and always slender hopes of preventing Donald Trump from becoming their presidential candidate were killed off last week with the maverick tycoons securing of a majority of the party delegates who officially choose the nominee at the party convention in July.

The leadership had vaguely hoped that a Trump who failed to secure a majority of delegates at the time of the convention, thus forcing the vote into two or more rounds, could be thwarted by procedural means and the promotion of another candidate. If anything, just discussing the idea played to Trumps image as the anti establishment outsider battling an out-of-touch metropolitan elite.

Read | Stop worrying and get to know the real Donald Trump

Trump, the presidential candidate, has been paralleled by the continuing ability of Bernie Sanders, another outsider, to inflict electoral humiliations on the Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. The two themes that seem to be emerging from the United States presidential campaign are two sides of the same coin. One is that voters are down on those who claim to represent the status quo or are even perceived to represent the same. With the race heading to a Trump versus Clinton battle, this would mean the latter will be burdened with a major handicap that she will find hard to get rid of. The other is that, in the case of Trump and Sanders, the US party system is starting to fissure. What makes Trumps candidacy most peculiar is that he does not adhere to most of the ideological principles associated with a Republican candidate. Clinton is actually closer to the pro-trade, pro-immigrant, tough defence and foreign policy agenda that has been the hallmark of conservative candidates in the past.

Read | Trump versus Clinton battle is all about who is more unfavourable

Trump may prove, inadvertently, to be the catalyst for a major shift in the political landscape of the US on a scale not seen since the presidencies of Ronald Reagan or even Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His ability to combine leftwing economics with nativist ethnic politics is already causing many fissures in the Republican ranks, especially between its socially conservative base and its free market elite.

The possibility that the combination of Trumps agenda and his abrasive personality could lead to the defection of a large portion of urban Republican voters to the Democratic camp cannot be ruled out. Something similar could happen on the Sanders side with many of his white working class supporters seeing more in Trump than they do in Clinton. A Trump revolution may be in the offing. But it is not about Mexican walls or the dismantling of the Atlantic alliance. It is about shining a bright, if prejudiced and comical, light on the Republican and Democratic Parties as they exist today and showing that they need to both be restructured to keep up with the new realities of American society and polity.

Read | Americas most unwanted
Kerala, with its high rate of literacy, remittances from the Gulf, a robust tourism industry and lush plantations, is Indias highest ranked state in human development, and theoretical comparisons with nations put it in the same league as Bahrain at 104  way above Indias rank of 130. Yet, it has been an irony that the state has been a virtual no-go for investors, who have faced obstacles from organised trade unions and activist non-governmental organisations (NGOs). It is heartening, therefore, to see a communist-led government in Kerala trading its red flag for a red carpet to invite private investors. Pinarayi Vijayan, the CPI (M) chief minister of the newly-elected Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has invited multinationals to invest in the state. This would have been virtually unthinkable two decades ago. Vijayans unlikely camaraderie with finance minister Arun Jaitley in line with his promise to create a million jobs over the next five years is a significant omen. The chief ministers tough-guy pragmatism can possibly introduce the state to a high-growth culture. Like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was a tea seller in his youth, Vijayan comes from a family of toddy tappers. The two share a penchant for earthy pragmatism and salesmanship. The Centre should set aside ideological animosities to show Kerala a new way in this new equation.

Read | Congress going soft on BJP to counter us: Pinarayi Vijayan

Vijayan has met Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan, who hails from Kerala, and even spoken of creating Silicon Valley-like hubs in the state, which already has a startup hub not far from the picturesque beach of Kovalam. However, intentions do not turn automatically into investments. The CPI, a junior partner in the LDF, has already sounded some ifs and buts on investment policies.. The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), affiliated to the CPI-M, often challenges CPI(M)s seemingly powerful Marxist czars. CITU keeps its cards close to the chest. From Apollo Tyres to Coca Cola, several high-profile companies have been hurt by union problems or activist protests in Kerala and anecdotal reports of arbitrary demands from militant unionists have put off wary investors. It is time to change all that.

Read | Keralas LDF govt not to reopen bars closed by previous regime

Both trade unions and managements are taking a cooperative attitude. We will be in favour of bringing in new industries, Vijayan has declared. He should now start a robust internal dialogue within the Left to build a consensus that might transform what is already a healthy Indian state into a global high-growth zone. The states high HDI ranking should be turned into an advantage to attract investors. Can we dream of a future when the educated Keralite will find enclaves of opportunity in her own backwaters rather than in a distant desert across the seas?
Among the many bounties that Bihar lost after its bifurcation to form Jharkhand was the Netarhat Awasiya Vidyalaya, an institution that has produced many luminaries  from academicians to top bureaucrats.

The Simultala Awasiya Vidyalaya (SAV) was established on August 9, 2010, to fill that void.

The objective was to provide a platform to talented students from underprivileged sections of society to nurture creative excellence and human values. The Netarhat Old Boys Association played a pivotal role in setting the schools foundation.

Located in picturesque Simultala on the Bihar-Jharkhand border, the school  considered a dream project of chief minister Nitish Kumar  is reminiscent of Netarhat, but different.

For one, it is co-educational.

It was first conceived as a CBSE English-medium school to keep pace with modern times. However, it was converted into a Bihar board school, though the English medium was retained.

Read more | Bihar boards: SAV students dominate Class 10 results

The founding principal of the school, Prof Shankar Kumar of Patna Science College, who conducted the two-tier statewide test of over 22,000 students to shortlist 60 boys and 60 girls in 2011-12, recalls the talent the students showcased at the Class 6 level.

Away from the glamour of public schools, these students showed huge potential lying hitherto unnoticed and today they have proved it, he said.

Though the school has had its fair share of problems  delayed academic sessions and dropouts in higher secondary  the talent of the students has kept reminding the authorities about the need to give it the right attention.

In 2013-14, the school had to skip a session as the process for admission could not be started on time. Last year, after the chief minister expressed displeasure over the prospect of his dream school skipping another academic session on a trot, authorities swung into action and belatedly held an abridged entrance test to catch-up.

This year the admission process for Class 6 is delayed as well  ideally the academic session should be underway from April 1. The school also does not have its own campus, and runs from a few rented bungalows.

Read more: Bihar board Class 10 exam results 2016 declared, check it here

Yet, what remains undiminished is the students passion to excel, said a former member of the schools advisory board. They know the worth of the opportunity that has come their way and want to make the most of it under the guidance of their teachers. Boarding schools have wide-ranging demand. It is not only about six hours of schooling; it is a home away from home for the little ones.

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Oscar-winning filmmaker Sam Mendes, who directed the last two James Bond films Spectre and Skyfall, has announced that he will not return to helm another film in the popular franchise.

It was an incredible adventure, I loved every second of it. But I think its time for somebody else, Mendes said at the Hay Festival 2016 in Wales, reports variety.com.

Im a storyteller. And at the end of the day, I want to make stories with new characters, he added.

Read: Daniel Craig turns down 68m James Bond deal, wont play 007 again

Its unclear whether actor Daniel Craig, who has been playing the role of the famous British spy since last four instalments, will return for next film.

Rumours have swirled about his potential replacement, the most prominent names being Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba and Jamie Bell.

Read: Has Jamie Bell met the James Bond producers to replace Daniel Craig?

Follow @htshowbiz for more
When the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) claimed last week that it was not allowed to hold functions at Jammu University (JU), it triggered a storm of protests and several BJP leaders threatened action against the vice-chancellor.

A week later, vice-chancellor RD Sharma continues to hold office and the ABVP is still barred from the campus. But the controversy did serve a purpose: it brought to focus the state of student politics, or absence thereof, in Jammu and Kashmir.

ABVP isnt the only organisation barred from the JU campus. The university restricts all student bodies that have political links.

Anybody who has any political linkage will not be allowed to function in the campus. Nothing new about it, its a rule, says the Jammu University vice-chancellor. And its not for any specific group, but all such political student groups.

Read: Banning ABVP in Jammu is varsity V-Cs misuse of autonomy, says BJP

A similar situation exists in Kashmir University (KU), where a blanket ban has existed since 2009. No political activity is allowed in KU, no students union. You can say it is because of the larger issue of the Kashmir conflict, says prominent political scientist Prof Noor Ahmad Baba.

In 2007, KU authorities recognized a students union called the KUSU, but banned it two years later. In May 2010, the KUSU office was bulldozed.

Today, the union exists only informally. Students get together to hold public meetings or protests, but the body enjoys no official sanction. New recruits join only through word of mouth. Students involved with the informal union say they pursue an ideology of resistance politics while the administration is pro-India.

Politics in Jammu is markedly different from that in the Valley, explains Aala Fazili, a PhD student in the pharmaceutical sciences department at KU  student activism in Kashmir has always challenged the narrative of the state, which has not happened in Jammu in recent times.

Yet, all that JU has is a Jammu University Research Scholars Executive Association (JURSEA), membership of which is limited only to research scholars.

Read: Campus politics ban not meant to target ABVP, clarifies Jammu univ V-C

Instead of open elections, as practiced in most universities, JU follows a closed election pattern in selecting the members of the JURSEA. Research scholars in all 33 departments vote for a department representative and from that the president is chosen, says Lokinder Singh, a JU student leader.

Singh belongs to the ABVP, but the university does not allow his political ideology to bear upon his activity on the campus, unlike in Jawaharlal Nehru University or Delhi University in the national capital.

The basic aim is to give students a good education. Student activism should be a part of it but in order to achieve that aim, we should not lose the basic purpose of education, says state education minister Naeem Akhtar. Moreover, that decision [to allow student politics] is subject to the universitys autonomy, which demarcates our area of influence in their operation.

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The Bajrang Dal is set to hold its controversial self-defence training camps in Rajasthan after a similar exercise in Uttar Pradesh in which members of the Hindu right-wing organisation brandished lathis, swords and firearms as part of the routine, a leader said.

The outfit has not taken permission from local authorities for the camps, arguing that it has been holding such programmes for the past 27 years and never used any objectionable weapons.

Jalore additional superintendent of police Raghunath Garg said the administration was not aware of any such camp. If they hold weapons training, it is against the law. We will take action, he warned.

Read: FIR against Bajrang Dal workers over Ayodhya training camp, leader held

Tonk district collector Mahavir Prasad Sharma agreed. They need to take permission for any such gathering where weapons will be on display.

The week-long Shaurya camps, in which members are trained counter-terrorism tactics, will be held in Jalore districts Bhinmal, 400km from Jaipur, from May 31 and at Newai in Tonk district from June 9.

Earlier this month, Bajrang Dal camps in Ayodhya and Noida in Uttar Pradesh came under scrutiny as its members used swords and firearms during drills.

Besides, the outfit released a video on self-defence that shows terrorists in skull caps and robes, triggering outrage that it was trying to cleave the electorate in poll-bound UP on religious lines. A leader of the outfit, Mahesh Mishra, was arrested for hurting religious sentiments of Muslims and spreading communal hatred.

Read: Bajrang Dal organises self-defence camp in Noida

Bajrang Dal leaders in Jaipur brushed off the UP incident.

Ravindra Sharma, a Bajrang Dal member and the Vishwa Hindu Parishads Jaipur media-in-charge, confirmed plans on the Jaipur camp.

He alleged that the Samajwadi Party government in UP gave the camps communal colour. We are not against Muslims. We are working for the welfare of the country, he said.

If we want to train people to defend themselves in case of a terror attack or make Hindu girls aware about being exploited by Muslim men or prevent cows from being slaughtered, how is that communal? asked the outfits Jaipur convener Ashok Singh Rajawat.

Around 300 members between 15 and 35 years will attend each camp in Rajasthan. Leaders from the Bajrang Dal and VHP will give weapons training and hold academic sessions on Indian history, culture, and society.

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African students should not fear for their safety, President Pranab Mukherjee said on Monday as the government took multi-pronged measures to contain a diplomatic disaster over a spate of vicious attacks on Africans living in India.

The Presidents remarks at a gathering of Indian envoys complemented steps by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and foreign secretary S Jaishankar to calm the anxiety and anger of Africans over racism and Afro-phobia in the country.

It would be most unfortunate if the people of India were to dilute our long tradition of friendship with the people of Africa and the welcome we have always extended to them in our country. African students in India should have no reason to fear for their safety and security, Mukherjee said.

Read | Nigerians create problems in Goa, all of India: Goa minister Parulekar

The crisis was triggered by the murder of Masonda Ketada Oliver, a 29-year-old from Congo, in an altercation over hiring an autorickshaw in south Delhis Vasant Kunj on May 20. This was followed by four separate attacks on Africans in south Delhis Rajpur Khurd last week.

Foreign minister Swaraj moved swiftly to reassure African envoys of the safety of their nationals. Foreign secretary Jaishankar tried to calm frayed nerves, telling a group of students that their security is an article of faith for the government.

The students raised visa issues, problems in getting accommodation and the need to make police aware of African sensitivities when they deal with them. Jaishankar assured them all help.

Read | Foreign secy meets African students; Congolese mans brother scared

Foreign ministry officials received family members of Oliver at the airport and assured a swift trial to punish his assailants. The government will bear the expenses for transporting Olivers body  currently kept at a morgue in AIIMS  home.

The governments crisis management is on overdrive as the 54-nation African bloc is the pivot of Indias plans to expand its international footprint, especially the countrys push for a permanent members seat at the United Nations Security Council.

A snowballing diplomatic row could endanger efforts to take ties with Africa to a new high, which includes new partnerships and high-level visits.

We shall have to create appropriate awareness in the minds of our youngsters who may not know the history, age-old relations with Africa. India has had trading relations with African countries for centuries and each of the 54 countries of Africa has a thriving Indian community doing business, President Mukherjee said.

Read | Delhi cabbie beaten up by African nationals for refusing extra passengers

He is scheduled to visit Namibia, Ghana and Ivory Coast early next month. Vice-President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi too are likely to visit the continent this year.

Incidents of assaults on African nationals in recent years have put ties under strain. Earlier in January, a mob in Bengaluru allegedly dragged a Tanzanian girl out of a car and stripped her. She was travelling with friends, who were assaulted too.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday protested in front of Congress president Sonia Gandhis New Delhi residence over the partys statement on Batla House encounter.

Protestors accused Congress leaders of propagating falsehoods in connection with the Batla House case.

Congress and especially Sonia Gandhi have always been double-faced. When the Batla encounter took place, the Congress leader said that the encounter...was fake, BJP leader Satish Upadhyay told ANI.

The Batla House encounter took place in September 2008 in Jamia Nagar in the national capital. Two suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists and a police officer were killed in the incident.

Today the main accused of the Batla house encounter is being seen in an ISIS (Islamic State) video, in which he says that he has come from Batla House and will destroy India, he added. So this demonstration is against those who have brewed and nurtured terrorism in the nation.

Another BJP leader said Congress, by dubbing the encounter as fake, not only projected the facts wrongly but also insulted martyrs such as Mohan Chand Sharma, the police inspector killed in the encounter.

Whatever happened during the Batla House encounter was projected wrongly. The Congress party should feel ashamed of propagating such false sentiments. The Congress insulted our martyr and hailed the terrorist by saying that the encounter was fake, said a BJP worker.

Last week, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh stoked controversy after he dubbed the 2008 Batla House encounter as fake and asked the Centre to order a judicial probe into the matter.

The Batla House encounter was fake, said Singh. I dare the BJP to go for a judicial probe. I still stand by my remarks on the encounter. I dont know who is Bada Sajid or Chhota Sajid.

Mohammed Sajid aka Bada Sajid, one of six people in the 22-minute video allegedly released by the IS, was one of the terrorists claimed to have been killed in the encounter. The case, which took place during the UPA tenure, returned to the limelight after the suspected IS operative claimed that he had fled Batla House right before the police raid.
The Congress leadership decided to stick to its plans to nominate Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawats loyalist despite the spectre of revolt in the hill state.

The decision came hours ahead of the nomination filing process, and on a day that Rawat rushed to Delhi to meet the central leadership.

National parties dont change standparty will go ahead with the Pradeep Tamta told a senior Congress leader to HT on Monday evening, after reports that it may drop Tamtas name to quell the differences.

Read: Rawat in a soup again after RS nomination for key aide Tamta

The decision to announce former parliamentarian Pradeep Tamta last week as the Congress candidate for the Upper House of Parliament, for which election is due on June 11, did not go down well with alliance partner Peoples Democratic Front (PDF) and senior cabinet minister Yashpal Arya.

Tamtas nomination was a surprising move even for Congress leaders in the state.

He has offered to give up his candidature after the controversy, sources said. In a letter to Ambika Soni, the Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttarakhand, he mentioned that the party should nominate someone else to end the crisis.

Some semblance of reconciliation was noticed on Monday as Congress chief whip Indira Hridayesh said the lawmakers will ensure victory for the candidate chosen by party president Sonia Gandhi.

I am not interested in knowing (what Tamta has written). Our job is to ensure victory for the official candidate, she said.

Meanwhile in a bid to placate Arya, government on Monday appointed two officials of his choice in the US Nagar district. IAS

Brijesh Sant was appointed as district magistrate while IPS AS Takawale was appointed as senior superintendent of police.

Similarly Dinesh Dhane, an independent legislator who stated that he will be contesting RS poll was also mollified. Dhane who is tourism minister in Rawats candidate was reportedly annoyed with an IAS official C Ravishankar, heading government run corporation  GMVN. The official was removed from the post.

What fun in politics if one doesnt face challenges, CM Rawat said jokingly before leaving for New Delhi, apparently hinting on crisis management.

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A cab driver was allegedly assaulted overnight by a group of African nationals in Delhi, police said on Monday, potentially escalating a row over a string of racist attacks that left a Congolese teacher dead in the national capital.

The 51-year-old cab driver, identified only by his first name Nuruddin, was allegedly thrashed by six people including two women following an altercation in the wee hours of Monday near Mehrauli, police said.

Police said the victim with multiple cuts and bruises on his face was taken to AIIMS where he received six stitches.

Since six people, four men and two women of African origin, wanted to board the car, the cab driver objected, citing restrictions on carrying more than four passengers. The group then allegedly thrashed him, a senior Delhi Police officer told Hindustan Times.

Nuruddin also alleged that the Africans robbed some money before fleeing from the spot.

One of the attackers, a woman from Rwanda, was left behind though the others managed to escape after the incident.

We have registered a case and are interrogating the Rwandan woman to identify the others who were with her at the time of crime, said Ishwar Singh, deputy commissioner of police, south. Police said they were scanning CCTV footage from the area to ascertain the sequence of events.

Spate of racist attacks

The incident comes in the backdrop of a series of attacks in Delhi on people from African countries, leading to a diplomatic row and a possible backlash in Congo.

Last week, residents in Congos capital Kinshasa fired shots and attacked shops owned by Indians. Two Indians were injured in the violence which came after a Congolese was bludgeoned to death allegedly by three men after an argument over hiring an auto-rickshaw.

Read | Congolese mans murder: Govt assures victims kin of speedy trial

On Sunday, police said they arrested five people accused of assaulting Africans, after African diplomats urged the Indian government to ensure the safety of their nationals living in the country.

In a rare statement issued after the attack, a group of African ambassadors said African nationals were living in a pervading climate of fear and insecurity in Delhi.

The diplomats also warned that they may recommend to their governments not to send students to India until safety conditions improve, following a string of what they said were unpunished racial attacks. Police have arrested two of the three suspected of the killing.

Read | Six Africans assaulted in Delhi village, cops say attacks not planned

While external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj promised swift action against those involved in the incidents as well as a sensitisation campaign, Union minister VK Singh accused the media of overreacting to minor incidents.

Thousands of people from African countries study and work in India but several incidents have raised concerns of racist violence and discrimination.

In 2013, a Nigerian national was killed by a mob in the tourist state of Goa, with a state minister later calling Nigerians a cancer.

Delhis former law minister Somnath Bharti was accused in 2014 of harassing African women after he led a vigilante mob through an area of the capital, accusing them of being prostitutes.

Read | Dont party and drink in public, Delhi cops tell African nationals

(With agency inputs)
Foreign secretary S Jaishankar met a group of African students in New Delhi on Monday and assured them of their security in India after a string of attacks on African nationals.

Thousands of African students in India were outraged after a 29-year-old man from Congo was allegedly assaulted and battered to death by three men in south Delhi following an argument over hiring an auto-rickshaw around 10 days ago.

In the wake of a debate on racial bias, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj was personally monitoring the outreach to the Africans, assuring swift action against culprits and a sensitisation programme.

Continuing outreach to African community. Foreign secretary meets a group of African students, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

Foreign secretary to students: Ensuring safety and security of foreign students is an article of faith for us, he added.

Read: Delhi cabbie beaten up by African nationals for refusing extra passengers

Jaishankars move came as several African students staged a protest at Jantar Mantar and demanded that the Indian government act swiftly to stop such incidents.

A Nigerian student in Hyderabad was allegedly beaten up over a parking dispute on May 25 and four separate cases of alleged assault on African nationals in the national capital were reported three days later. However, police say some of these incidents are non-racial in nature.

We want the governments support as the incidents of attacks on people from African continent are increasing in the city. The Indian government needs to ensure safety of African nationals and act swiftly on such incidents, said a protester at Jantar Mantar.

Read: As African envoys raise racism concern, Swaraj tries to allay fears

Oliviers family in Delhi

The family members of Masonda Ketada Olivier, the Congolese national who was killed on May 20, arrived in India to take back his remains. A senior external affairs ministry official met them at the airport.

We are disappointed about security in India for our students, Olivers brother said.

What happened to him can happen to any one of us...were scared.

African envoys threatened last week to boycott the Africa Day event over Oliviers murder. The Indian government stepped in to assure the envoys of the safety of their nationals after which they attended the May 26 event.

Read: Dont party and drink in public, Delhi cops tell African nationals
A student collapsed and was admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital on Monday after the Gauhati University expelled him for anti-varsity activity following an objectionable Facebook post and an RTI application seeking the institutes financial status.

The university also rusticated two other students for a year.

An order signed by the 68-year-old state universitys secretary, Hemanta Nath, said post-graduate student Milton Handique has been expelled. Rezaul Karim, pursuing law, and Hrittick Saikia, pursuing mass communication have been rusticated.

Handique, his colleagues said, collapsed after he was served the notice. He is in the ICU of a private hospital where he was taken after the university hospital declined to admit him, a students leader said, seeking anonymity.

He added that students across all departments would be protesting the design to destroy the career of students who exercising their right to know.

A spokesperson of the Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, where Handique is admitted, said his condition was serious.

A notification issued by the university said: ...after completion of the enquiry and hearing conducted by the Residence, Health and Discipline Board (R.H&D), GU, in its meeting held on 22-04-2016 and as approved by the Vice Chancellor, Gauhati University, dated 27-05-2016, disciplinary actions have been taken.

The enquiry found the students guilty of indulging in activities detrimental to the university amounting to indiscipline, it added.

Nath and other university officials did not take phone calls made by Hindustan Times.

The students, however, said the rustication was politically motivated since the trio had been criticising the university authorities, including vice-chancellor Mridul Hazarika, for alleged financial irregularities.

Handiques fault was that he used Facebook to criticise the university authorities for a third semester paper leak last year. He did not name anyone, but the authorities had been on a witch-hunt since, a colleague said.

Karim and Saikia, students said, had a few months ago filed an application under the Right To Information Act seeking the GUs balance-sheet and details of expenditure made in the past few years.

Students organisations said the GU was following the dangerous dictatorial trend that Delhis Jawaharlal University set in April by rusticating Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya besides imposing a fine on Kanhaiya Kumar.

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In a few weeks, thousands of Pandits from across India will arrive at Tulla Mulla in Ganderbal, around 27 km from Srinagar, for the Kheer Bhawani mela, a religious festival associated with Goddess Ragnya Devi.

While Kashmiri Muslims make arrangements for the fair, the Hindus hold night-long prayers at the temple. The fair, in a way, is symbolic of the valleys religious harmony that came apart in the early 90s when Pandits were forced to leave.

Never in history, perhaps, have the celebrations held more meaning than this years, coming in the backdrop of rising tension over a proposal to rehabilitate displaced Pandits in separate colonies, allegedly on the lines of Jews-only settlements built by Israel in occupied lands.

Read:J-K: Separatists strike over plan for Pandits colonies hits normal life

Since 1990, most of the valleys 1.5 lakh Pandits fled their homes for fear of persecution by militants fighting for Kashmirs azadi (independence). Around 5,000 Pandits, however, stayed back, assured of safety by their Muslim neighbours and friends. Some returned over the years. But most of the displaced are still living away from their home, hoping and waiting.

The controversial proposal  which the PDP-BJP government denies  has brought the Kashmiri separatist groups on the same page after many years. Kashmiri Muslims are wary of the seemingly divisive move. Pandits who stayed back too say the exclusive colonies are not the answer.

On Saturday, chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said the colonies would be transit accommodations that Pandits can use till they feel safe to move to other residential places. The colonies will be composite in nature with 50% reservation for Pandits, she added.

Moderate separatist Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, however, doubts the governments sincerity.

The problem is, the PDP says composite colonies in Srinagar and BJP says something which is totally contradictorythe return has to be dignified.

The All India Kashmiri Samaj, a conglomerate of 23 organisations, says that no one in the community wants a rehabilitation plan like an Isreali settler.

Vijay Aima, the president, of the samaj, however, has a doubt over the entire business. But my question is plain and simple, this is welcome, (but) where do we go? Most people have sold their houses be it distress selling, or even genuine.

Read:Separate enclaves will deeply polarise Kashmir

Aima says the only solution was colonies in different areas or districts marked by government where Pandits can buy land and settle. Suriender Kachroo, a Pandit who returned to Srinagar with his wife in 2014, says that proposed colonies can be composite with 50% given to Kashmiri Pandits and rest open for sale to other communities. There are mohallas of Shias, Sikhs, even Tibetans in the city. So a mohalla for Pandits should not be a problem. The couple hopes that Kashmiri Pandits take a stand and dont wait for the last gun to fall silent. We can die anywhere, any accident can happen, his wife Santosh says.

There is a flip side to the issue as well.

Lack of opportunities and uncertainty in the valley is also keeping the new generation away. Our generation and our parents have that yearning for Kashmir and resettlement. For our children Kashmir is just another state. And even we dont want to move back, we have a life of 25 years outside, says Meeta Kaul (name changed) a teacher in Bengaluru who left Kashmir as a class 8th student.

For many, the economics just dont add up. Despite all the emotions attached to a valley which is as green as it was many years ago.

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Exactly two weeks after the law secretary of Haryana government came up with a formal notification to bring into effect the law enacted to provide 10% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to Jats and five other castes, things are back to square one.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on May 26 put a stay on the operation of the Jat quota provisions of Haryana Backward Classes (Reservation in Services and Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, 2016.

Exasperated Jat organisations are gearing up for yet another stir sending alarm bells ringing in the corridors of power, the memories of the February violence still not erased.

Not a surprise

The writing was on the wall the day Haryana assembly passed the Bill to provide 10% reservation to Jats and five other castes. It was pretty obvious the quota law would not stand legal scrutiny and it was primarily a move to buy some time to pacify Jats.

Reason: The BJP government had predominantly relied on the recommendations of the re-constituted Haryana Backward Classes Commission of 2011 headed by Justice KC Gupta (retd) to make out a case for grant of quota to Jats and five other castes. The recommendations of the Justice Gupta Commission however were trashed by the Supreme Court in its March 17, 2015 order by which it had set aside the inclusion of Jats in the central list of other backward classes (OBCs). So there was no tenable ground, data and justification for Manohar Lal Khattar government to enact a law for providing reservation to Jats.

The apex court had said the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) also found that the report of Justice KC Gupta Commission, the primary document pertaining to Haryana, had inherent flaws which made it unworthy of acceptance.

Securing quota law

The Jat organisations as well as Haryana and Central governments were well aware the quota law will not withstand the legal test, a reason why the state government chose to delay the notification of the law and devised an escape route by first constituting the Haryana Backward Classes Commission.

The state government did not immediately notify the quota Bill passed by the state assembly on March 29 and assented to by the governor on April 1 as it was expected to be challenged in a court of law as soon as it was notified.

The government instead chose to notify the Haryana Backward Classes Commission Act, 2016, to set up a permanent statutory mechanism for examining requests of inclusion and complaints of over-exclusion and under-inclusion of backward classes.

Subsequently it constituted a four-member commission under the chairmanship of a former judge, Justice SN Aggarwal. The idea behind constituting the Backward Classes Commission first and then notifying the quota law is that once the quota law is challenged in the courts, the state government will take a plea before the court that since a commission to examine requests of inclusion of backward classes has been set up, the court should refer the matter to the commission.

Ninth Schedule: Easier said than done

While the state government had decided to make a request to the Central government to include the quota law in the Ninth Schedule to the Constitution to secure the enacted quota law from judicial review, it was easier said than done. For including the Haryana quota law in the Ninth Schedule to the Constitution, a Constitution amendment Bill will be required to be introduced by the Union government in the Parliament. A Constitution amendment Bill has to be passed in both Houses of Parliament by a special majority which is by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than 2/3rd of the members of the House present and voting. Also in case of any disagreement between the two Houses of Parliament on a Constitution amendment Bill, there cannot be a joint sitting of the Houses of Parliament on the Bill as Article 368 of the Constitution required each House to pass the Bill by the prescribed special majority.

The proposal to include Haryana quota law in the Ninth Schedule was to ensure that the quota law cannot be challenged as violative of fundamental rights and gets protection under Article 31-B of the Constitution.

Agitated Jats not listening

However, fidgety Jat organisations are not willing to buy any argument on this and are questioning the intentions of the state government. National chief of All India Jat Aarkshan Sangharsh Samiti (AIJASS), Yashpal Malik said: Haryana government passed the quota law on March 29. The Central government had asked them to send the law for inclusion in the Ninth Schedule. But the quota law was notified when the session of the Parliament had come to an end. When the quota law was challenged in the high court, the state machinery did not respond. The law officers of the state government did not act even when the matter was listed.

Even securing a law in the Ninth Schedule though would not mean blanket protection from judicial review as has been held by the Supreme Court in IR Coelho v/s State of Tamil Nadu case. In its January 2007 order, a nine member apex court bench said all amendments to the Constitution made on or after April 24, 1973 by which the Ninth Schedule is amended by inclusion of various laws therein shall have to be tested on the touchstone of the basic or essential features of the Constitution as reflected in Article 21 read with Article 14, Article 19, and the principles underlying them.

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India has the largest population of modern slaves in the world with more than 18 million people trapped as bonded labourers, forced beggars, sex workers and child soldiers, a global survey report said on Monday.

The Global Slavery Index by human rights organisation Walk Free Foundation said the number was 1.4% of Indias population, the fourth highest among 167 countries with the largest proportion of slaves.

Existing research suggests all forms of modern slavery continue to exist in India, including inter-generational bonded labour, forced child labour, commercial sexual exploitation, forced begging, forced recruitment into non-state armed groups and forced marriage, said Grace Forrest, co-founder of the Australia-based foundation.

The survey said an estimated 45.8 million people are living in modern slavery globally and 58% of them are concentrated in India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan.

The Gallup survey was conducted across 15 states and covered nearly 80% of Indias population, the foundation said.

The report coincided with the Centre unveiling a draft bill that envisages punishment for gangs involved in human trafficking and scrutiny of placement agencies, many of which are accused of forcing children into bonded labour and prostitution.

The Cabinet recently cleared proposals to address new forms of bondage such as organised begging rings, forced prostitution and child labour. India abolished bonded labour in 1976 but gangs continue to trap people from poor rural areas with the promise of better jobs. Most of them are sold into domestic work, prostitution, or to brick kilns, textile units and farms.

The foundation requested the Centre to frame a policy for private employers so that they keep a check on bonded labour in their supply chain, an issue repeatedly raised by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, who runs a campaign called Bachpan Bachao Andolan against child labour.

His organisation said on Monday the true test of the draft bill will lie in ensuring time-bound prosecution and rehabilitation, and fixed accountability and stringent monitoring parameters for law enforcement agencies.

The survey produced case studies to highlight individual cases, underpinning social and economic reasons behind this.

This is an old disease in the village that if you are not able to pay off your debts you will have to work as a bonded labour in the field of a powerful person. My husband was employed far from the village so that he cannot run away, the report quoted a woman as saying.

Another woman working as a domestic help said she was never paid wages and in the name of debt, I was made a victim of sexual violence. It said a skewed sex ratio in some parts of India has fuelled trafficking of women for forced marriage.

The report also highlighted the recruitment of child soldiers by militant groups active in several states, including Jammu and Kashmir, and Jharkhand, and the Northeast.
An Indian couple launched $1.5-billion lawsuit, one of the biggest in Australias legal history, against ANZ Bank on Monday for allegedly undervaluing shares of their fertiliser firm to recoup millions in debts.

The case launched by Pankaj and Radhika Oswal in the supreme court of Victoria is the biggest in the legal history of Victoria and revolves around the forced sale of the Oswals Western Australia-based company Burrup Fertilisers after it was seized by receivers in 2010.

The couple has alleged that Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) and the receiver PPB undervalued their share of the chemical business by $1.5 billion.

The ANZ brought in receivers to the Burrup group of companies in 2010 and the Oswals argue their 65% stake in Burrup Holdings was undersold in 2012.

They argued that their stake in Burrup was sold on the cheap to cover a $900-million loan from ANZ instead of for the $2.5-billion they say it was worth.

Tony Bannon from the Oswals defence team said the couple was entitled to a judgment against the bank and receivers in excess of $1.5 billion.

The Oswals had borrowed over 800 million dollars from ANZ. They claimed that the receivers sold the plant for $800 million below its value but just enough to repay ANZs debt.

Oswal is also suing ANZ for alleged bullying.

According to media reports, the court heard Monday that the value of the compensation rose to $2.5 billion if the sale agreement was set aside and the shares were ordered to be divested, taking into account their current value.

Bannon said the receivers and ANZ made it clear that their purpose was simply to clear Oswals debt, and effectively disclosed the reserve price to potential bidders.

Not only was it a breach of selling any asset rule 101, as it turns out its a breach of a duty of a receiver, Bannon said, adding the receivers effectively did ANZs bidding.

The legal battle has already seen millions of dollars spent with over 25 barristers in court on Monday.

Openings in the trial are expected to last three weeks, with the trial itself expected to last up to six months.

The couple is also accused of misappropriating $150 million from the fertiliser company for personal use.

The Oswals left Australia in December 2010, when receivers were appointed to Burrup, and only recently returned to be in Melbourne for the court case.

As owners of Burrup Fertilisers, Oswals became part of the WA champagne set, building an enormous home on the banks of the Swan River in Peppermint Grove, an affluent suburb, nicknamed by locals as the Taj on Swan.

The home, a half-built enterprise estimated to cost $70 million, will be demolished at taxpayers expense.
Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Sunday criticised Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Muftis cat-pigeon analogy while talking about the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley and said she has lost her mental balance after attaining power.

Comparing Kashmiris (sic) as cats is very humiliating statement on the part of Mehbooba Mufti, a Hurriyat statement said on Sunday.

Geelani said Kashmiris are like pigeons and Indian Army was behaving like cars and mercilessly killing innocent Kashmiri people (pigeons) and destroying their nests.

He said there will be no threats to Kashmiri Pandits if they returned to their native places and they can peacefully live with their Muslim brothers there.

He said: Geelani sahab reminded Mehbooba Mufti that there are hundreds of Pandit families in Kashmir with their Muslim brethren and they did not leave the Valley. They are not only safe in their native places but their Muslim neighbours share their grief. Even the Muslim neighbours perform the last rites of their Pandit brethren. We will welcome our Pandit brethren on their ghar wapsi and they will get respect and love from their Muslim neighbours (sic) alike in the past. He said nobody will have any objections if the state government provided them Rs 30 lakh instead of Rs 20 lakh for their rehabilitation.
Large diesel-powered carmakers have no reason to fear a ban on the sale of such vehicles, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Monday, describing it as a temporary step in a market that was large enough to not hurt the industry.

Jaitleys comments are seen as seeking to reassure global auto giants after the Supreme Court put a temporary ban last year on the sale of vehicles with engine capacity of higher than two litres to clean up Delhi and its suburbs toxic air.

Jaitley meets Osamu Suzuki, the chairman of Suzuki Motor Corp, on Tuesday as part of a six-day visit to Japan to attract investment.

I think the Indian auto sector is extremely comfortably placed. This is all transient phase which happens and I dont think that with the kind of large market that Suzuki has, it is in any way likely to be adversely affected, Jaitley was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.

Maruti Suzuki is Indias top automaker, accounting for 60% of the petrol vehicle market and 28% of the diesel-powered segment.

The top court has extended twice the ban it first imposed in December. The regulatory uncertainty has sparked fear among carmakers that the court-led initiative could be a precursor to a nationwide ban.

This has prompted companies to consider ways around the hurdle.

For instance, Tata Motors said in April it was reducing the size of its engines to skirt the ban. Mahindra & Mahindra launched 1.99 litre diesel engines in January and is said to be working on developing petrol engines for most of its vehicles.

Automakers have warned that a lack of clarity on when the ban might be lifted could derail a tentative recovery in auto sales, and have called for a comprehensive plan, rather than court-mandated moves, to stabilise the regulatory environment.

But green groups want to extend the ban to smaller diesel cars and other smog-choked cities, and have also urged the court to impose a pollution cess on car sales.

The New Delhi ban is part of a raft of judicial initiatives undertaken to clean up Delhis air that is among the filthiest in the world.
Jats from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi on Sunday resolved to resume their agitation for quota across several states in the country. A call for Nyay Rally has been given by All India Jat Aarkshan Sangharsh Samitis (AIJASS) national president Yashpal Malik from June 5 to press for their demand of reservation and withdrawal of cases against Jat youths booked during the communitys quota stir in February.

HT Analysis | High court stay: Justification for new Jat quota law was flawed

Paramilitary forces were rushed to seven districts in Haryana after several reports of Jats launching a protest from Sunday (May 29). The forces are regularly conducting flag marches in the cities, which in turn is making people anxious. The security has been beefed up at places which bore the brunt of arson in February.

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday put a stay on the quota bill passed by the BJP government in Haryana to give reservation to Jats and five other communities. Protesting the move, members of the community on Sunday staged a dharna outside the house of home minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi and Malik later held a meeting with the Union minister.

Rapid Action Force personnel deployed at the Jat Dharamshala in Rohtak on Sunday. (Manoj Dhaka/HT Photo)

We held a meeting with Rajnath Singh today who assured us of justice. He also spoke to chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar who has promised a meeting with us to resolve all the issues. But, our protests from June 5 will continue across several states in the country, Malik told Hindustan Times. A sedition case against Malik and five other Jat leaders was registered in Jind on Friday. However, Malik said, It doesnt matter if Im one of the 21,000 people the government has falsely booked. Our protest will continue without fail. The government had passed a bill for Jat quota after several districts of the state witnessed large scale violence and arson in February in which 30 people were killed and property worth hundreds of crores was damaged.

Other Jat groups non-committed

Other Jat groups have not made a commitment on joining Malik in the protests from June 5. However, they criticised the police for booking him (Malik) and several others under sedition. Several khap meetings were held on Sunday across Haryana where a call to wait for the governments stand on HCs stay was taken before taking any action. Another Jat group led by Hawa Singh Sangwan has decided to fight a legal battle with the government on the Jat quota issue. Sangwan said, Everyone is fighting for reservation. I am in contact with my community leaders and we will decide on June 5 protest soon.

Jat Ekta Manch, comprising young members from the community, has decided to bring all the groups and khaps together to launch a big protest. Jat youth leader Naveen Malik said, Time has come to launch another protest. We are requesting everyone to stop holding talks with the government and together launch a protest.

Be prepared, Hisar IG to junior officers

Hisar range inspector general of police (IGP) OP Singh said, Two companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have been called. One has been positioned at Jat Dharamshala and second at Hansi. We are prepared for any kind of situation.

He said they would keep a close eye on the developments and no one would be allowed to breach law. He also held a meeting with the SPs, DSPs and SHOs of five districts of the range.

Section 144 in Sonepat

The administration in Sonepat on Sunday imposed Section 144 (ban on assembly of five or more people and carrying weapons) in the district for next 60 days and DCs of other districts have ensured strict action against those indulging in violence. Jhajjar DC Anita Yadav said, We will take strict action against those blocking traffic or causing any kind of disruption.
A Mumbai court is on Monday expected to decide on an NIA plea for the release of Pragya Singh Thakur, two weeks after the anti-terror body dropped all charges against the religious leader and five others in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Filing the charge sheet, the national investigation agency on May 13 said charges against Thakur and five others were not maintainable, saying a shoddy probe by Maharashtra authorities forced the U-turn.

The agency also dropped all charges under the stringent Maharashtra control of organised crime act (Mcoca) and alleged the state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) planted explosives on one of the accused. It charged 10 people under the anti-terror unlawful activities (prevention) act.

Read | Malegaon blast: Holes in ATC evidence let Pragya Thakur off the hook

The September 2008 blast in the Muslim-majority Malegaon town killed six people and injured 101. It was the most prominent in a string of alleged Hindu terror cases.

The charge sheet said an assistant police inspector Shekhar Bagade went to the house of an accused, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, when he wasnt at home on November 3, 2008. But the officer kept the visit a secret, even asking one of the witnesses to not reveal anything.

On November 25, ATS officials searched Chaturvedis house and found a detonator and gunny bag, among other materials.

The samples on cotton swabs taken from his house  sent to the forensic science laboratory (FSL) in Mumbai  had traces of RDX. FSL said the explosive ingredients recovered from the blast site at Malegaon were similar to the samples from Chaturvedis house.

The NIA later examined accused Prasad Purohit and Ramesh Upadhayay, who revealed Bagade visited Chaturvedis house  a fact corroborated by an army major and a subedar.

The charge sheet questioned Bagades visit and his request for secrecy. This creates doubt on this recovery of swabs of RDX keeping the charge sheet said.

This recovery becomes suspect on the ground that the ATS Mumbai may have planted the RDX traces to implicate him, and the other accused in the case.

Bagade, now a senior police inspector with Navi Mumbai police station, dismissed the charge as wild allegations. How can somebody plant RDX? I had gone to check the address of Chaturvedi, and it is on record, he said.

The NIA took over the Malegaon and six others alleged Hindu terror cases in 2011.

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Media bodies have slammed Union minister VK Singhs statement that an attack on African nationals in the national capital was a minor scuffle blown up by news organisations.

On Sunday, Singh tweeted: Why is media doing this? As responsible citizens let us question them and their motives.

Singh was deputed by his senior colleague Sushma Swaraj to reach out to African students after envoys of several African nations protested against growing racial attacks in India.

The Broadcast Editors Association (BEA), a television editors body, condemned the former army chiefs comments. BEA secretary NK Singh said the minister is in the habit of making this kind of absurd statements which are not in consonance with the spirit of democracy.

We would advise the Prime Minister to give lessons in Indian Constitution to the minister, Singh was quoted as saying by PTI.

Read: Minor scuffle blown up by media: VK Singh on attack on African nationals

He said news organisations were independent and the incidents of growing racial intolerance were detrimental to the image of the country and to the Make in India programme, which the Narendra Modi-led NDA government was pursuing.

Former editor HK Dua told HT the ministers comment was unwarranted. Instead of showing sympathy and assuaging the feelings of those attacked, he has used the word minor scuffle, which looks like hes taking it lightly.

Dua, who has also served as a media adviser to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said unlike the external affairs minister Swaraj, who has acted wisely, Singh has erred by dismissing concern over the attack, given the repercussions it can have on relations between India and African countries.

If our students get beaten up abroad, will we like it if it is described as a minor scuffle? he said, adding: Blaming the media is an old habit (for him). He has a testy relationship with the media, but now is not the time to score points with them.

Read: Africans attacked in Delhi again: Swaraj, Rajnath assure prompt action

The ministers comments about the media have been created controversies in the past, with him coining the term presstitute, a play on the word prostitute to show disdain for news organisations.

Commenting on the ministers uneasy relation with the media, senior journalist and media critic Sevanti Ninan said: Its bad enough that you have a minister who tweets like a troll, as The Hindu said about him on an earlier occasion. Its worse that a minister in the MEA thinks the reporting of racism against foreign nationals is the real problem -- not the racism itself. And sides with the police in downplaying it.

The ministers comments drew a sharp reaction from Seema Mustafa, editor of The Citizen and a member of the Editors Guild. She said the ministers comments were reprehensible and justifying the unjustifiable.

Mustafa also criticised the minister for failing to assuage the students. Fortunately India is still not a military cantonment. Instead of addressing these issues to the media, he should address these to the African envoys who are very unhappy about the attacks on their citizens.
India on Monday assured the family of the Congolese national, who was killed in a brawl in New Delhi on May 20, of a speedy trial in the case and prosecution of all those responsible for the crime as per law. This was conveyed by a senior official of External Affairs Ministry (MEA) who met the family members of Masonda Ketada Oliver at the airport on their arrival in New Delhi.

Read: Congolese mans murder: Govt faces tough questions from African diplomats

He also informed them that the government of India will bear all expenses related to dispatch of mortal remains of Oliver, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

In the unfortunate death of Mr. Masunda Oliver, the Government will assist his family to travel to India to receive his mortal remains  Vikas Swarup (@MEAIndia) May 29, 2016

He said that the family members thanked the Indian government for its assistance.

Read: Dont party and drink in public, Delhi cops tell African nationals

They were told that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has instructed speedy trial in the case.

Congos Masonda Ketada Oliver, 29, was beaten to death by three men around 11.30pm on Friday after an altercation over hiring an auto-rickshaw near Kishangarh village in Vasant Kunj area in south Delhi.

The Group of African Heads of Mission have met and deliberated extensively on this latest incidence in the series of attacks to which members of the African community have been subjected to in the last several years, a statement by Alem Tsehage Woldemariam, ambassador of Eritrea and the dean of the Group of African Heads of Mission, said late Tuesday night.

Read: Minor scuffle blown up by media: VK Singh on attack on African nationals

In his statement, Woldemariam said: Accordingly, the Indian government is strongly enjoined to take urgent steps to guarantee the safety of Africans in India including appropriate programmes of public awareness that will address the problems of racism and Afro-phobia in India.

He also called upon the media, civil society, think-tanks, research institutions, parliamentarians, politicians and community leaders to play major roles in addressing the stereotypes and prejudices against Africans.

Read: Attack on Africans in Delhi: Cops arrest 4, detain 4 amid growing pressure

As for the Africa Day celebrations being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) on May 26 in Delhi, Woldemariam said that the African group has requested that the event be postponed.

They have also decided not to participate in the celebrations, except the cultural troupe from the Kingdom of Lesotho, the statement said.

Woldemariams statement said Oliver and his friend Samuel had gone to meet another friend and on the way back Oliver flagged an auto-rickshaw which stopped a few metres away.

However, as he tried to board the vehicle, three Indian men standing nearby jumped on to it. An argument ensued following which Oliver was thrashed.

They pushed Oliver to the ground and kicked him in the face and abdomen repeatedly, the statement said. One of the Indians picked up a large stone from the roadside and hit Oliver on the head.

According to the statement, a passer-by who stopped to help the Congolese was also beaten up and the attackers fled the scene when they saw that Oliver was unconscious.

Oliver was rushed to a private hospital from where he was referred to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Trauma Centre but he died on the way.

Woldemariam said the African heads of missions have noted with deep concern that several attacks and harassment of Africans have gone unnoticed without diligent prosecution and conviction of perpetrators

This is not the first time India is in the international news for alleged racially motivated attacks on Africans. In January, a mob in Bengaluru allegedly dragged a Tanzanian woman out of a car and stripped her. Last year, a mob in Delhis busy Rajiv Chowk metro station allegedly attacked three African students.

With inputs from Agencies
Goa tourism minister Dilip Parulekar said on Monday that Nigerian nationals dont just create problems in Goa, but across the country, too.

The ministers comment comes even as African nationals in New Delhi staged a protest against rising attacks on them and a group of African students also met foreign secretary S Jaishankar.

Read: Foreign secy meets African students; Congolese mans brother scared

Parulekar, asked to comment on accusations of rape and abduction against two Africans levelled by a woman at Mapusa police station on Sunday, said that Nigerian students commit crimes on purpose to prolong their stay, sell drugs and indulge in unwanted things.

He also said that a strict pan-India law should be enacted to deport them within a month.

Nigerians create problem not just in Goa, but in the entire country. Nigerian students come to Goa and India to study, they get an FIR filed (against them), make it a judicial matter and then try to stay in India or Goa and indulge in drugs and other unwanted things, Parulekar said.

Read: After attack on Africans, Delhi police say dont party at night

Two years ago I had heard they had blocked the (national highway 17) highway. India should have a strict law, where the police force can catch them and deport them back. But that law is not in India at the moment, therefore it is a weak point in matters of governance, Parulekar said, adding that those who have been black-listed or have committed crimes should be deported within a month.

Meanwhile, the Goa Police on Monday claimed to have arrested a Nigerian who has been accused of kidnapping and raping a 31-year-old woman here late on Saturday night.

Read: Woman allegedly held at knifepoint, raped by Nigerian national in Goa

Speaking to reporters, superintendent of police Umesh Gaonkar said the accused, one of two who are accused of committing the alleged crime, was nabbed in a train at Panvel railway station in Maharashtra.

I do not have any more details about the accused. He has been arrested. He will be brought to Goa later tonight, Gaonkar said.

The victim has claimed that two Africans had abducted her at knife-point and later raped her at a rented room in Assagao village, 20 km north of Panaji. Police were on the lookout for the accused since late Saturday night, when the complaint was registered.
She completed two years in office last week with rumours of her imminent ouster continuing to swirl. But, Gujarats first woman chief minister Anandiben Patel says all the talk is just speculation. She will believe it if it comes directly from Prime Minister Narendra Modi or BJP president Amit Shah.

In an interview to HTs Hiral Dave, the 74-year-old BJP leader says her equation with Shah has always been labelled as strained and it was the police violence against Patidar protesters that cost BJP the panchayat elections last year.

Edited excerpts:

How would you evaluate your two-year tenure?

Three months before I assumed office, all government work was at a standstill, as the code of conduct -- for 2014 Lok Sabha elections -- was in place. The first challenge was to get things back on track. To clear the backlog, we introduced Gatisheel Gujarat for time-bound implementation of government schemes. In the three phases -- each had around 100 tasks for various departments -- we have had so far, we have accelerated the implementation of projects. For example, 5,000 of the total 13,000 villages have toilets. Of all the toilets built across India under Swachhata Mission, Gujarats share is 70%. Along with education, infrastructure and industry, special attention has been paid to women and child healthcare that includes free cervical and breast cancer tests and treatments. Mukhya Mantri Swalamban Yojana has been introduced to sponsor economically backward students while women have been given 33% reservation in government jobs.

How difficult was it to step into Narendra Modis shoes?

With Modi at the Centre, it has been rather easy for me. I didnt face the hurdles that he did. Like, for seven years, the UPA didnt allow gates to be installed at Sardar Sarovar Dam to supply Narmada water to parched areas. He gave the nod within 17 days of taking over as the PM. Lots of land and funds have been cleared by the Centre for the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro rail project. But its not only Gujarat, other states, too, have benefited under the NDA rule.

Reports are doing the rounds that you could be named governor of Punjab or some other state. Are they true?

Did Prime Minister Narendra Modi say so? Did party president Amit Shah announce this? Or, for that matter, did my state BJP president (Vijay Rupani) mention any such thing? I will not believe them till they say so. These are mere rumours.

Why these rumours? Are these the handiwork of your party members?

This is definitely the work of rumour-mongers but I do not know where these are coming from.

There is a lot of talk that your equation with Shah is strained and it has divided the Gujarat BJP into two groups.

This is being said from the very beginning but there are no groups or division in the party.

Are you going to seek a second term as CM?

Im focused on serving the state. The 2017 assembly election is far away.

You had ruled out OBC status for your own Patidar community after they launched an agitation in August. You remained firm until a fortnight before 10% EBC (economically backward class) reservation was announced in April. Though it is the governments job to allot and implement any new quota in the state, why was the announcement made by the state party president?

What is the problem if the party makes the announcement? I was present when the announcement was made. Though it is for the government to implement (the decision) but it was a policy decision. A kind of policy that will have far-reaching impact that is why the party chose to take the matter in its own hand.

It was on your watch that the BJP -- for the first time in three decades -- lost the countryside to the Congress in the last years panchayat elections. What led to the defeat?

Patidar agitation was the reason, but not their core demand for reservation. They (Patels) were angry with one thing: police beat us, police beat us. (Nine youth were killed and several injured in clashes with police).

Were police at fault? Patidars have been demanding stern action against the personnel responsible for the clashes.

Even we didnt have much choice. What can police do when there is a mob on the rampage?

In the backdrop of debacle in the panchayat and municipal elections, how are you preparing for the 2017 assembly poll?

After I was sworn in, we won 33 of the 38 local bodies and also retained all the seven municipal corporations that went to polls in 2015 and 2016. The BJP believes in working with the people and for the people. Through programmes like Lok Samwand Setu (communication link) and online Swagat Grievances, the government has established a link with the people and that has been the key to BJPs success.

Patels are the backbone of BJPs vote bank. Did BJP underestimate the scale of the agitation when it started?

There was no other way to handle it. Patidar elders knew and accepted the fact that granting OBC status was beyond the powers of the government and they should approach the commission (for backward classes). It was the youth who continued the agitation.

So, Patidar youth and elders were not on the same page?

The community elders are still trying to make the youth understand the situation.

Patidar protest leader Hardik Patel has been in jail for seven months facing sedition charge. His three close aides were given bail last month. Why is the government taking a different stand on Hardik by continuing to object to his bail applications?

We have not been opposing the pleas. Whether bail is granted or not depends on their (defence) arguments and the court.

The Punjab and Haryana high court has stayed reservation granted to the Jat community by the Haryana government. Do you think you will be able to sustain the 10% EBC quota in Gujarat, where 50% reservation limit has already been reached?

We brought the EBC quota after a thorough research. We are prepared for any legal arguments, if such a situation arises. Our motto is Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas. The announcement made on May 1 (Gujarat foundation day) will open up doors for EBC students in higher education and government jobs without disturbing reservation benefits available to SC, ST and OBC students.

Read: Why Patels, including Anandiben, are unhappy over Gujarats 10% quota

Read: Anandiben Patel rubbishes reports of her exit as Gujarat CM

Read: Big changes ahead? Anandiben Patels position as Gujarat CM in peril

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A seven-year-old boy, who went missing from his home in Pakistans restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province two years ago, has been traced to Rajasthan following a social media post, a media report said on Sunday.

Tufail Ismail was said to be in Rajasthans Ganga Nagar district after his maternal uncle in Saudi Arabia saw a picture on social media shared by Indian social worker Sujewa Pereira nearly two months ago, the Dawn quoted the childs father Zafar Ali as saying.

Zafar also said Pereira had shared a contact number beneath the photo and requested social media users to share the post so the child could be reunited with his family. When Tufails uncle dialled the number, he was told the missing boy was in police custody in Ganga Nagar district.

A 7 year old boy who went missing from Pakistan, 2 years ago was found in the Indian state of Rajasthan. pic.twitter.com/THZoUdjW3z  Farah khan (@farah17khan) May 29, 2016

However, DGP Rajasthan Manoj Bhatt and Sri Ganga Nagar superintendent of police Rahul Katakey denied having knowledge of any such child. They told PTI that it might be a rumour.

The Dawn report said Ismail went missing on June 6, 2014, while his family was shifting their home from Sardaryab to Tarnab in Charsadda district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The report also said it had been 45 days since Zafar learned of his sons whereabouts but had been unable to bring him back. The family is now hoping the Pakistani government will help in this.

Ismails parents appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterpart Nawaz Sharif to help bring their son home, the report said.
A top Pakistani court issued on Monday notices to the seven Mumbai attack case accused, including 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, and the government over the prosecutions plea to form a commission to examine the boat used by the 10 LeT terrorists to reach India.

The Islamabad High Court has issued notices to the accused of Mumbai attack case and the government on the prosecutions plea to form a commission to examine the boat at port city of Karachi, a court official said.

He said the court has also sought record of the case from the trial court -- Anti-Terrorism Court Islamabad.

The official said the date for hearing of the case will be fixed later.

The prosecution had challenged the trial courts decision to reject its plea to form a commission to examine the boat Al-Fauz used by Mumbai attack terrorists so that the vessel could be made case property.

Al-Fauz is in the custody of the Pakistani authorities in Karachi, from where the 10 militants, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, had left for India to carry out the Mumbai attack in 2008.

According to the Federal Investigation Agency, the attackers used three boats including Al Fauz to reach Mumbai from Karachi.

It said the security agencies had also traced the shop and its owner from where the culprits bought the engine and the boat while a bank and a money exchange company were also traced which were used for the transaction of money.

The 10 LeT militants had left Karachi on the boat on November 23, 2008.

En route to their destination, they hijacked another boat, killing four of its crew. They allegedly forced the vessels captain to take them close to the Indian shores.

The captain was killed when the vessel reached Mumbais coast.

The Mumbai attack case is facing inordinate delay as no proceedings practically have been held for more than two months. The Mumbai case hearing is scheduled to be held once a week.

The lawyers associated with the case say as all Pakistani witnesses in the case have recorded their statements it may further be delayed if India does not send 24 witnesses to Pakistan.

They say Pakistan is awaiting Indias response on sending the witnesses here for recording the statements in the case.

Mumbai attack mastermind Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz,Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum are accused of abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attack.

Lakhvi is living at an undisclosed location after he got released from jail on bail a year ago. The other six suspects are in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi.

The case has been going on in the country for more than six years.
As India and France look at closing the multi-billion Euro deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets soon, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar will meet his French counterpart Jean Yves Le Drian in Singapore this week.

Parrikar will be travelling to Singapore on June 2 to attend the Shangri-La Dialogue from June 3-5.

Both Indian and French Defence Ministers will meet on June 3. Rafale among others will be discussed, a defence source said.

The issues like consensus on actions to be taken in case of a material breach, stringent liability clause and guarantee by French side are likely to be discussed.

Parrikar had last week said the government is looking at concluding the much-hyped Rafale deal next month, more than a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the purchase of 36 fighter jets during his visit to France.

The deal was announced by Modi in April last year during his visit to France when he said India would purchase 36 Rafales in a government-to-government contract.

Soon after the announcement, the Defence Ministry scrapped a separate process that was on to purchase 126 Rafales, built by French defence giant Dassault Aviation.

It is expected that the deal would work out to be about 7.8 Billion Euros including the missiles and other support system.

The Shangri-La Dialogue is an inter-governmental security forum held annually by an independent think-tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies, and is attended by defence ministers and military chiefs of 28 Asia-Pacific countries.

Last year, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter had attended the dialogue along with German and the French Defence Ministers among others.

Subjects to be debated in this years dialogue include how to meet Asias complex security challenges, how to manage military competition in Asia and how to make defence policy in uncertain times. PTI SAP AMS ZMN AMS
President Pranab Mukherjee said on Monday India had a close relationship with African countries, calling for the safety of African nationals living in the country.

Thousands of students from Africa were outraged over the murder of a 29-year-old Congolese man in south Delhi and a string of other attacks that triggered a debate on racial bias.

how can we tolerate this? How can we even comprehend it? Should Africans not feel safe in India? said Mukherjee, who is scheduled to visit three African nations -- Namibia, Ghana and Ivory Coast --- early next month.

Addressing a gathering of Indian envoys at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, he said: It would be most unfortunate if the people of India were to dilute our long tradition of friendship with the people of Africa and the welcome we have always extended to them in our country. African students in India should have no reason to fear for their safety and security.

Read: Foreign secy meets African students; Congolese mans brother scared

The President said he was happy that the government took prompt action, appreciating the initiatives taken by the external affairs ministry in consultation with the home ministry and others.

His remarks came on the day foreign secretary S Jaishankar met a group of African students in New Delhi and assured them of their security.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj was personally monitoring the outreach to the Africans, assuring swift action against culprits and a sensitisation programme amid a diplomatic crisis after African envoys raised concerns.

Masonda Ketada Olivier, a Congolese national, was killed in Delhi on May 20 following an argument over hiring an auto-rickshaw around 10 days ago. A Nigerian student in Hyderabad was allegedly beaten up over a parking dispute on May 25 and four separate cases of alleged assault on African nationals in the national capital were reported three days later. However, police say some of these incidents are non-racial in nature.

Mukherjee stressed the need for creating awareness about the history of the Indo-African relationship among the youth.

We shall have to create appropriate awareness in the minds of our youngsters who may not know the history, age-old relations with Africa. India has had trading relations with African countries for centuries and every one of the 54 countries of Africa has a thriving Indian community doing business, industry etc.

We cannot allow these to be jeopardised in anyway and create a bad precedent which is not the ethos, which is not part of the core values of our civilisation.

Read: Nigerians create problems in Goa, all of India: Goa minister Parulekar
Nepali rescuers abandoned plans to retrieve the bodies of two Indian climbers missing on Mount Everest on Monday, hoping instead to bring them down next year, an expedition operator said.

The two men -- identified as Paresh Nath and Goutam Ghosh -- were near the summit of the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) mountain on 21 May when they lost contact with the rest of their team.

Rescuers found Naths body last Friday near the South Col, located at an altitude of 8,000 metres and marking the beginning of the death zone.

Ghoshs body was also spotted the same day on the Balcony -- a mid-way stop between the South Col and the summit, before strong winds forced back rescuers, Wangchu Sherpa of Trekking Camp Nepal told AFP.

With the short window for climbing on the mountain now closing and bad weather setting in, rescuers said they could not recover the corpses.

Rescue workers have called off their operations to bring back the dead bodies of Indian climbers Goutam Ghosh and Paresh Nath because of bad weather, Sherpa said.

We hope to recover (them)... next season.

The cause of their deaths has not been established. But the death zone is notorious for its difficult terrain and thin air, as low levels of oxygen raise the risk of altitude sickness.

Read | Nepal honours Sherpas who helped put climbers on Everest after two years

The missing climbers were part of a team of four, one of whom -- Subhash Pal -- died after falling ill on Sunday while the fourth member, a woman, was rescued and taken to hospital.

Subhash Pal was the third mountaineer to die on Everest this season after an Australian and a Dutch climber succumbed to altitude sickness. All three bodies were transported to Kathmandu last week.

Some 400 people, including more than 150 foreigners, have summited Everest this season after two consecutive years of deadly disasters that led to almost all attempts being abandoned.

Hundreds fled Everest last year after an earthquake-triggered avalanche at the base camp killed 18 people.

Only one climber reached the top in 2014 after an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides that year.

Despite the risks and recent disasters, Everests allure remains undimmed, with Nepal issuing 289 permits to foreigners for this years spring climbing season.

Mountaineering is a major revenue-earner for the impoverished Himalayan nation.

The successful summits this season is expected to boost the industry, which was left reeling after an earthquake last year killed almost 9,000 people nationwide.

Read | Indian climber Rajib Bhattacharya dies while descending Mt. Dhaulagiri
Defence minister Manohar Parrikar criticised the judiciary on Monday claiming that some of its directives are senseless and without any scientific basis.

Senseless directions are being given without any scientific basis. Some people who do not understand science have begun interpreting it, he said while speaking at a public function in Panaji.

I was reading a report about Mercedes Benz company. They have stopped investment in India because they say the decisions of the court are beyond the limit of understanding. (They say) we dont understand the logic of banning diesel vehicles. We understand that you can ban diesel vehicles which are polluting but what is the point in banning a diesel vehicle which may not pollute or be less polluting than the petrol vehicle, Parrikar said.

The minister was addressing a gathering after inaugurating a solid waste management facility in Saligao-Calangute plateau.

Parrikar said garbage and sewerage treatment is a major scam area as even those built as part of the central schemes are left unaudited.

The garbage and sewerage treatment is a major scam area. 90% of the toilets built under central government schemes goes into disuse after three to four years, Parrikar said. Some people use these toilets to pile woodstock. Some people dont even use it for the purpose it is built. But no one can audit it. How can one audit whether toilet is functional or not without using it? he asked.

Parrikar said garbage treatment has become a big business across the country.

There are vested interests in this sector...Comptroller and Auditor General audits everything but I have not seen the audit of the garbage treatment. Who will dare go in the dump of garbage? he said.
A special CBI court here has directed the agency to inquire into allegations of disproportionate assets amassed by a former secretary of the countrys elite snooping agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

An earlier order on February 18, 2013 by Tis Hazari special court asking CBI to probe the assets of A K Verma, the then chief, RAW, was challenged by CBI in the Delhi high court and was quashed.

Thereafter, the complainant (former RAW employee R K Yadav) had prayed for issuing summons to the accused persons, for facing the trial for the offences punishable under Section 13 (1) (e) read with Section 13(2) of the P.C. Act, as well as for the offence under Section 109 IPC, special judge Brijesh Kumar Garg said in his order.

He said Yadav had examined a total of 13 witnesses in support of his contentions, in pursuance to the orders passed by the court on September 7, 2010.

These witnesses have brought on record, the various documents pertaining to the various movable and immovable assets of the accused persons. But the complainant has failed to produce concrete evidence in respect of a large number of movable and immovable assets, allegedly acquired by the accused No.1, during his tenure as the chief of RAW, he said.

The judge pointed out in the present case also, the accused persons are the residents of Noida, beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the court.

Furthermore, an incomplete evidence has come on record, in the presummoning evidence of the complainant, regarding a large number of movable and immovable assets, allegedly acquired by the accused persons, during the service period of accused No. 1, he noted.

Citing Supreme Court orders, the judge directed CBI director to conduct investigation in the form of an inquiry by an officer not below the rank of superintendent of police regarding the income and assets of the accused persons under Section 202 CrPC and submit report to the court within three months to the court.
The CPI-M politburo has come down heavily on the partys Bengal unit for holding the Congress hand in the recent assembly elections  signalling fissures within the communist establishment.

In a rare outburst of anger, a politburo communique said: The electoral tactics evolved in Bengal was not in consonance with the Central Committee decision based on the political-tactical line of the party which states that there shall be no alliance or understanding with the Congress.

The key body met in New Delhi to review the assembly results in four states -- West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Reacting sharply to the CPI-Ms remarks, Congress Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: There was no formal alliance with the Left. It was a conscious arrangement. We are not in war with them. One should be graceful in both victory and defeat.

The CPI(M)-led Left Front stood at the third position with just 32 seats in the 294-strong assembly, while rival Trinamool Congress improved its tally to 211 seats, clinching a second term for the government.

Pointing out that the informal alliance was an outcome of the peoples wishes, a politburo member told HT: Nowhere in the party document is it written that the Bengal unit cant go with the Congress, especially when there is an exceptional situation in the state. The leader added: What is the point in saying now that the partys political-tactical line was violated. The Bengal leadership had decided to go with the Congress two months ago.

Another politburo leader said: At the Central Committee meeting, many members had warned the Bengal unit that fighting the election with the Congress would be disastrous.

More fireworks are expected next month when the Central Committee would meet for an in-depth analysis of the poll results. In the central panel, the Bengal leaders are expected to come under attack from their Kerala counterparts.

Bengal leader Suryakant Mishra maintained that the Congress-Left unity was a result of a mass movement and it cant be abandoned.

While the party leadership snubbed the Bengal leadership over the poll strategy, it recognised the need for a joint campaign with the Congress against the ruling Trinamool Congress to resist attacks.

The CPI(M) calls upon the people of West Bengal to unitedly resist this murder of democracy and civil liberties in the state. The strength of the peoples unity is the answer to meet this unprecedented unleashing of violence, the release said.

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A woman was allegedly raped by a Nigerian national near Mapusa town in North Goa district, police said on Monday.

The 39-year-old woman was waylaid by two Nigerian nationals at Parra village on Sunday, a police spokesman said.

One of the two men took her to a room at knifepoint and raped her, he said.

A case has been registered under relevant sections of IPC, he said, adding further investigation is on.
A dance bar employee in her late twenties has alleged gangrape in a moving car in an IT hub on the outskirts of Kolkata, officials said.

The woman alleged that she was thrown out of the car after the assault on Sunday night, officials said.

The police have initiated a case of gangrape against unknown persons, an official said after receiving her complaint on Monday.

Read| Stabbed 16 times, Bihar woman who alleged gangrape fights for life

The incident took place in Sector 5 of Salt Lake, which is in North 24-Parganas district.

The incident brought back the memories of the 2013 Park Street gangrape where five men raped a 37-year-old woman inside a moving vehicle.

Though West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had initially doubted the claims of the Park Street victim, a court later found all the five accused guilty.

India brought in more stringent laws after the fatal gangrape of a student in Delhi in December 2012, but they have failed to stem the tide of violence against women across the country.

In her complaint, the dance bar employee, who lives in the Baguihati area, said she boarded an Uber cab around 11:30pm on Sunday night to reach a restaurant at Salt Lake.

Read | Runaway minor gangraped in Noida, three arrested

She alleged that as soon as she got off the car - a few paces away from the eatery - an SUV stopped near her and some men dragged her inside.

The woman complained to police that her mobile phone and purse were also stolen after the assault.

Officials were not sure why the woman got off the cab before reaching her destination. They were trying to locate the Uber taxi to get the drivers statement.

Officials were also examining CCTV footage at different intersections of Salt Lake to track down the SUV.

(An earlier version of this copy said the woman was from a northeastern state and a call centre employee. While police said she worked in a dance bar, they did not specify where she was from.)

Read | Mumbai woman gangraped in Delhi, locked up, forced to drink alcohol
A clash between two rival groups in the high-security Arthur Road jail around 8.30pm on Monday has left five inmates injured, said jail officials, adding that one of the accused involved in the fight is a former member of the D-gang.

According to jail officials, Muddassar Ismail Ansari, 30, Sarvar Maksud Khan, 32, and Suleman Mehmood Patel assaulted Vishal Chndrashekar Amkar, 31, and Murgan Mani Nadar, 52.

They attacked Amkar and Nadar with a kapri [a sharp weapon made from aluminium plate and tin sheet], said deputy commissioner of police (Zone III) S Jaykumar.

While the jail staff conducts checks every 24 hours, senior officials said the inmates are skillful and must have made the weapon within a day, said jail officials.

While Amkar sustained injuries to his cheeks, chest and left thigh, Nadar sustained injuries from his lower lip to chest, said Jaykumar.

Muddasar sustained a head injury and a self-inflicted injury on his wrist, said jail officials.

The jail authority said they used reasonable force to control the fight. The situation was brought under control within seven minutes, said jail officials, adding that the attack took place at the spur of the moment. The scuffle broke out in circle number seven, which is occupied by 900 undertrials.

The injured inmates have been admitted to JJ Hospital.

Explaining the sequence of events, a source said, around 8.30pm, the jail authorities let the inmates out of the barracks. Amkar was exercising outside his barrack. Khan, who was passing by Akram, kept staring at him. This angered Amkar and led to a brawl between the two, said the source.

Khan then returned to his barrack and brought along Ansari and Patel. The trio then started assaulting Amkar. Nadar, who shares a barrack with Amkar, intervened to save Amkar, but was injured in the fight instead, said the source.

Additional director general (prisons) BK Upadhyay said that deputy inspector general (prisons) Swati Sathe has been asked to conduct an inquiry into the incident. He said they have informed the local police to take action as per the law.

Sathe visited Arthur Road hail to take stock of the situation. At least 12 people were involved in the attack, four of whom have sustained serious injuries. They are accused in different cases, said Sathe.

In her inquiry report, Sathe will have to explain details such as what led to the fight and whether the inmates had a tiff in the past. The officials will also have to inquire to ascertain if any past rivalry between the inmates led to the scuffle. Officials will probe if the fight took place over breakfast or due to other issues such as lack of sleeping space.

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MUMBAI: The scheme of affordable housing has invited serious opposition from activists, amongst a galore of other issues, in the proposed draft Development Plan (DP) 2034.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) released the DP on Saturday, giving citizen activists and NGOs 60 days (until July 28, 2016) to suggest changes to the plan. Aftab Siddique, chairperson, 33 Road Khar ALM 144 said, A 60-year-old major slum inhabited by the dabbawalas in H/West ward didnt get any legal designation in the DP. Also the plan of occupying open spaces and salt pans for constructing houses is bizarre. 

Prakash Padikkal, president of Hillside Residents Welfare Association (HIRWA) said, In a flood-prone area like Mumbai, it is unreasonable to use salt pans for housing and so is the usage of open spaces. HIRWAs suggestions will be on these concerns.

Sanjay Porwal, an architect & president of VOICE Organisation said, BMC must not lay their hands over open spaces especially Aarey and salt pans. They should instead come up with more creative ideas for getting land, for instance using the space occupied by huge pipelines coming from Lonavala for constructing roads.
PATNA/MOTIHARI: The Bihar police on Sunday rescued abducted Nepalese industrialist Suresh Kedia from Kotwa of east Champaran district of Bihar. It also arrested one of the alleged abductors and seized a luxury vehicle and a firearm from his possession.

Bihar DGP PK Thakur confirmed that Kedia, who was abducted by an armed gang from Bariyarpur in Nepal on May 26, had been rescued. Kedia is the owner of Kedia Group of Companies and along with his brothers has business ventures in both Nepal and India.

The abductors had demanded Rs 100 crore for Kedias release. Police sources said the industrialist was abducted by the members of a gang led by Bablu Dubey.

Kedias rescue provided a relief to both central and state governments that were under pressure from Nepalese authorities due to the prominent status the tycoon enjoys in his country.
DEHRADUN: Five more people were killed over the past 24 hours in Uttarakhand as heavy rains triggered by a series of cloudbursts hit Tehri and Uttarkashi districts. Uttarkashis Chinyalisaur area reported four fresh deaths. The toll in cloudburst now stands at six.

Four persons, including three women, were swept away in mudslide when a series of cloudbursts hit several villages in Chinyalisaur at 5pm and 10pm on Saturday, SDM Vijay Nath Shukla, who is on a visit to affected areas, told PTI.

The deceased have been identified as Shartna Devi, Sunaina and Godambari Devi (55) who hailed from Dargarh, Junga and Murogi localities.

Sunainas body has been recovered and a search is on for the rest, he said. Munshi Lal (40) was also swept away by a flood triggered by a cloudburst in Suri village, he said, adding 13 cattle were also buried alive under the debris.
CHANDIGARH: Former Punjab chief minister Beant Singhs grandson Harkirat Singh Kotli was killed on Sunday morning at his residence by a bullet, which police said he fired from his own 0.30-mm revolver.

The 40-year-olds history of depression and prima-facie evidence suggest it to be a case of suicide, though the family claims the firearm went off while cleaning.

Harkirat was getting treated for depression from Chadigarhs Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER).

Harkirats wife and gunman, Gurdev Singh, took him to PGI, where he died at about 2pm. Although police did not find any suicide note, they said Harikrat shot himself in his room.

At 10.30am, he came to his house from somewhere feeling low. He told a servant to bring him juice, and asked his wife to prepare his bath. When she stepped into the bathroom to open the tap, she heard a gunshot behind her and got back to find her husband in a pool of blood. Since he was fighting depression and mood swings, the family never used to leave him unattended, said a family source.

The younger brother of Khanna legislator Gurkirat Singh and cousin of Ludhiana member of Parliament (MP) Ravneet Singh Bittu, Harkirat belonged to a political family. He was sarpanch of his native village, Kotli, and had entered politics from the grassroots. His father, Tej Parkash Singh, has been a former Punjab transport minister.
As many as 100 advocates from the city on Monday joined the Aam Aadmi Party at a hotel here in the presence of partys Punjab convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur.

Chhotepur welcomed more than 100 members of the District Bar Association (DBA) into the party fold at a hotel on Ferozepur road.

Also read I Aam aadmi vs royalty: What AAP gets from dinners is Capts coffee bill

There is a total failure of the law and order in the state. The youth are in the grip of drugs and the religious leaders are under attack. There is anarchy-like situation in Punjab, said Chhotepur. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should seek resignation from deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who holds the home portfolio, for the spurt in crime.

He said Badals were more concerned about their personal interests than ensuring safety of the common man.

Desecration of Guru Granth Sahib, killing of Namdhari matriarch Chand Kaur and recent attack on Ranjit Singh Dhadiranwale are some examples of failure of the law and order, he said.

Also read I Swaraj Abhiyan split? Punjab unit launches party for self-rule

Advocate DS Gill said they joined the AAP as it looked the most promising in putting an end to corruption and freeing the state of drugs.

Among others present on the occasion were former district and sessions judge VV Handa, Punjabs former additional director prosecution and litigation Amarjot Singh Sidhu, advocates Varinder Khara and Inderjit Singh.

Hotel staff join AAP too

At the hotel on Ferozpur Road where the advocates joined the AAP, the waiters, security staff and some other employees came up to Chhotepur, expressing their desire to join the party. They were included in the party on the spot.

Also read I Jagmeet Brar not welcome in Aam Aadmi Party: Chhotepur
The Pakistan high commission in India has denied visa to all the 102 Sikh pilgrims who wished to travel to Pakistan from June 8 to 16 to take part in an event to mark the martyrdom day of fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Dev.

The pilgrims were to visit Gurdwara Dera Sahib in Lahore and Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal in Pakistan.

Sources in Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) said Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara parbandhak committee (PSGPC) and Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) look after the arrangements for the pilgrims and visas too are given on their recommendations.

They (Pak authorities) want us to send the jatha from June 16 onwards as per their programme to commemorate the martyrdom day. Their programme starts on June 16 as per the original Nanakshahi calendar, but we planned the pilgrimage as per the Akal Takht-approved amended Nanakshahi calendar as per which the Gurpurb falls on June 8, said DS Bedi, additional secretary of SGPC.

Bedi said SGPC had recommended visas for 102 pilgrims but all of them were turned down by the Pakistan high commission.

Sources say since the change of guard in PSGPC in April, they are strictly adhering to the original Nanakshahi calendar for observing Gurpurbs and other religious events. They Pak Sikh body also want pilgrims from India to come as per their schedule.

On April 1, the ETPB appointed Tara Singh as the acting president of PSGPC after death of incumbent Sham Singh.

Pilgrims from all across the world travel to Pakistan during the Gurpurabs observed there as per the original Nanakshahi calendar. Only pilgrims from India follow a different schedule, and, as sources revealed, it becomes difficult for the Pak agencies to make special arrangements accordingly.

PSGPC general secretary Gopal Singh Chawla told HT that they wanted pilgrims to come as per their schedule. We dont want Sikhs to be divided on dates of Gurpurbs. For us all pilgrims are equal and we welcome them and give them full honour, Chawla said.

Pilgrims visit Pakistan mainly on four occasionsBaisakhi in April, Guru Nanak birth anniversary in November, martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev in June and death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh, also in June.

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A seven-year-old boy drowned in the swimming pool run by Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) at Urban Estate, Dugri, on Saturday evening.

The deceased has been identified as Vivek Kumar (7) of Dugri. Younger among three siblings, Vivek was a student of Class 2.

Dugri station house officer (SHO) Joginder Singh said, He had left the house on Saturday evening when rain and storm hit Ludhiana. When he did not return back till 8.30pm, the family started searching for him.

He got into the pool without knowledge of caretakers. When caretakers noticed the body floating on the surface, they immediately took it out and informed the police. Dugri police handed over the body to the family after conducting post-mortem on Sunday, the SHO said.

Singh said, His father, Baldev Krishan runs a grocery shop in Dugri area. He alleged that his son had died due to the negligence of caretakers of the pool.

Meanwhile the caretakers stated that the boy was not a member of the pool. They were not aware about when he entered the pool, the SHO said.

The SHO said, It is suspected that the boy jumped into deeper side of the pool and drowned. Following his fathers statement, police have lodged an FIR against pool caretakers under 304-A (causing death due to negligence) of the IPC. Police have also been investigating the role of caretakers in the incident.
Police on Monday arrested a Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) militant near the Rahon bus stand here. The militant, identified as Surjeet Singh, hails from Batala. He is a close associate of BKIs Arvinder Singh, alias Mitha Singh, who was arrested on May 24 from Nawanshahr. Surjeets arrest is a result of revelations made by Mitha, say cops.

Surjeet was produced in a local court that sent him to a five-day police remand.

Sources said Surjeet and Arvinder had held several meetings to expand the terror cell by roping in Sikh youths. Surjeet had recently visited the UAE.

Nawanshahr senior superintendent of police (SSP) Snehdeep Sharma said the duo was also in touch on Facebook.

Mitha was also produced before the court of the chief judicial magistrate who remanded him in police custody till June 6. A quick response team (QRT) was deployed around the judicial complex during the hearing.

Police had last week busted two sleeper cells of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and BKI that were preparing to target different dera heads, retired top-ranking police officers and activists of right-wing Hindu organisations.

Apart from Mitha, a KTF operative Mandep Singh was held in Jagraon near Ludhiana.

Also read I With arrest of two key men, Khalistani terror cells busted in Punjab

Nawanshahr BKI ultra was drafting youth on Facebook for bomb attacks

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Not only the Congress leaders and workers but also the other politicians and Harkirat Singh Kotlis friends at his ancestral village of Kotli in Payal jurisdiction, about 37 kilometres from here, are stunned by the news of his death.

Beant Singhs grandson Harkirat killed by own revolvers bullet

Socially, he was very active, said Congress leader and family friend Pankaj Prabhakar, adding: He would attend the village functions with his father. Another family friend Ravinder Pal Singh Brar remembered how Harkirat had got solar-powered lights installed at the village for the weddings other functions of underprivileged people. He used to say that the rich could afford generators but the poor could not. After recovering from a road accident about a year ago, he would work with a plastered hand, he said.

Read more: Harkirat Singh died by his favourite weapon

Congress leader Amarjit Singh Tikka said it was difficult to believe that such a soft-spoken and socially active man could take his life.

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Paramilitary forces have been deployed in Amritsar ahead of the Operation Bluestar anniversary falling on June 6.

Five companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and one of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) have taken guard at key locations across the city.

Police are also gearing up to make the security foolproof. The Amritsar has 3,500 cops and more will be called from the neighbouring districts.

Paramilitary troops deployed at Hall Gate in Amritsar on Monday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT Photo)

The troops have taken positions at Hall Gate, Lawrence Road, Kitchlew Chowk and in walled city. The paramilitary troops will also assist the police in night surveillance and frisking at bus stand, railway station and other public places.

Amritsar police commissioner Amar Singh Chahal said, The paramilitary troops have been deployed. Six companies have reached us and a couple of more are expected. We will also get additional police personnel.The police are also planning to install cameras at some locations in the city.

Troops deployed at Lawrance Road on Monday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT Photo)

The paramilitary troops will also be deployed outside and on roads leading to the Golden Temple.

Notably, last year also there were clashes between members of Sikh radical groups and SGPC employees inside the shrine. A group of youths who were rallying around brandishing swords had also clashed with cops.

In 2014, a clash took place between the radicals and SGPC Task Force, in which several people were injured.

Read: Another militant nabbed, Babbar Khalsa cell busted: Nawanshahr police

Dal Khalsa gives call for Amritsar bandh on June 6

To mark the 32 years of the Operation Bluestar, radical Sikh body Dal Khalsa has given a call for Amritsar bandh on June 6.

The organisation will also take out a Remembrance Parade from its party office to Akal Takht in the evening on June 3marking the day when the military action had started at the shrine.

Dal Khalsa spokesperson Kanwar Pal Singh said, Young activists associated with the organisation carrying saffron flags and placards will march across the city.

Read: AIATF cautions Modi govt over Khalistan terrorists planning India attack

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After being found guilty in a departmental inquiry of submitting fake reservation certificates to get admission nearly 35 years ago to a medical college and job thereafter, a cheating case was registered on Sunday against a senior medical officer (SMO) in Patiala.

An FIR has been lodged against Surinder Singh Saini under Section 420 (cheating) at the civil lines police station in Patiala on the complaint of former principal of the local Medical College, from where the accused doctor had completed his MBBS degree. The accused doctor is currently posted at Bhol Kalota of Mukerian in Hoshiarpur district.

In 2014, a medical officer in Jalandhar had complained against Saini, a native of Kandala Sekha village in Dasuya tehsil of Hoshiarpur district, after which Association of Dalits for Democratic Rights took up the issue.

The medical education and research department conducted an inquiry and concluded that the SMO had indeed submitted a fake scheduled caste certificate to get MBBS admission.

The inquiry report also mentioned that Saini completed his MBBS under the SC quota, but got a government job under the Backward Class (BC) quota in 1990 on the basis of a fake certificate. In the certificate furnished to the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) for the job, Saini had claimed that he was a resident of Bathiyanbat village in Ludhiana.

After the inquiry, department of health and family welfare was requested to issue Saini a show-cause notice and a communication was sent to the principal of Medical College, Patiala, recommending registration of an FIR against him.

Principal KD Singh submitted a police complaint against Saini a case was registered against him.

Timeline

1981

Surinder Singh Saini takes admission in MBBS course at Government Medical College, Patiala, under the SC quota.

1990

Rrecruited by Punjab Civil Medical Services as a doctor under the other backward class (OBC) category

2014

A medical officer files a complaint against Saini. A Dalit association takes up the issue.

2015

The medical education and research department detects fake certificates submitted by Saini.

June 1, 2015

The department of health and family welfare issues a show-cause notice to Saini.

August 5, 2015

Medical education and research department secretary writes to principal of Medical College, Patiala, recommending registration of an FIR against him.

May 29, 2016

FIR registered against the accused doctor.
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday said chief minister Parkash Badal Singh was suffering from severe symptoms of selective dementia as he has forgotten the present and was only brooding over the past.

And that is the reason the rampant lawlessness and anarchy does not concern him as he seems to be blissfully unaware of whatever is happening in Punjab and still believes that the state is peaceful and prosperous, Amarinder said in a statement here.

Badal is not able to remember the recent killing of a policeman in broad daylight by criminals, the attack on a religious preacher, killing of the Namdhari sect matriarch and many moire such incidents. He will still try to make us believe that Punjab is a completely peaceful state, he added.

Amarinder pointed out that almost every day there were reports of farmers committing suicide or the gangsters killing each other and at times even policemen and youth dying of drug overdose and addiction or in a shootout.

And Badal has the audacity to describe all these happenings as petty incidents, he added.
Citing non-availability of computers, Faridkot-based Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) has rescheduled Punjab Medical Entrance Test (PMET) from June 12 to June 11. The PMET will go online from this year.

A circular uploaded at universitys website says since the expected number of applicants appearing in the test is up to 16,000, many centres have been set up in Punjab.

Also read I MBBS as SC student, job in BC quota: 35 yrs on, doc booked for fake certificate

Because of this high number, the university has no option but to set up some centres in adjoining states such as Haryana and Jammu. However, efforts are being made to allocate a centre which is near to candidates home district, said the document.

As per the latest schedule, the candidates can seek correction in their online registration data by June 6. The result will be declared on June 15, two days after submission of submission of objections pertaining to the question paper and answer keys.

No decision yet on NRI admissions

The latest instruction did not mention anything about NRI quota admissions. Medical education secretary Hussan Lal said that fresh directions would be issued in day or so as legal opinion on the recent ordinance of the central government was awaited.
The Indian Railways on Monday signed an MoU with PEC University of Technology to set up Kalpana Chawla Chair on geospatial technology at the Chandigarh-based institution for her contribution to aerospace engineering.

The Indian Railways have decided to set up the academic chair in geospatial technology at Kalpana Chawlas alma mater, a Railways statement said in New Delhi.

PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh (Photo: pec.ac.in)

Chawla was a student at the PEC University, earlier known as Punjab Engineering College, during 1978-82.

The railways will provide a corpus of Rs 10 crore to the university for the chair.

It will carry out academic activities at the university through teaching, research and development in the thematic area of geospatial technology and its application to railway engineering.

The chair will liaison with the Indian Railways to advise them on technology-demanding rail projects where use of remote sensing data or global positioning system is required, the statement said.

It added: This will enable railways to develop in-house solutions to problems which are otherwise often outsourced to western countries.

Read: From climbing Everest to social work, here are Haryanas women of substance
A high-level delegation of Shiromani Akali Dals (SAD) Uttar Pradesh unit on Monday met governor Ram Naik and demanded release of compensation sanctioned by the Centre for the families of 1984 riot victims.

President of SAD UP and Uttarakhand units Dr Rai Singh said the delegation apprised the governor of the fact that of the Rs 800 crore sanctioned by the Union government, only Rs 200 crore were utilised by the state government while the remaining Rs 600 crore was returned to the Centre, resulting in discontentment among the victims families.

The delegation also brought to the governors notice the issue related to Gurdwara Gyan Godri Sahibs (Haridwar) land. The government had promised to give alternative land in return for the acquisition of gurdwara land for purpose of providing more space to pilgrims visiting Har Ki Pauri. However, after the bifurcation of the state in 2000, no alternative land has been allotted yet.

Raj Singh also told the governor about clashes over a piece of land belonging to Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Saharanpur, between members of the two communities in 2014.

After the clashes, the Sikh victims were neither given adequate compensation nor were cases against them withdrawn, Rai Singh told the governor.
A labourer died while three others were rescued after they got buried under a heap of earth while laying sewage pipes in Ram Nagar Colony area on the Majitha Road bypass here late on Saturday evening.

The deceased has been identified as Anil Kumar, who hailed from Purnia district in Bihar. The incident comes just four days after three labourers lost their lives in a similar incident, while replacing sewage pipes in Fatahpur area.

The labourers had dug up to 8 feet, when around 7pm the earth started caving in and those working in the ditch got trapped, said eyewitnesses.

One of the labourers, identified as Captain, managed to climb up, but others  Bavarchi, Ram Parsad, Ashok and Anil Kumar  got buried under the soil. As other labourers raised the alarm, a number of people gathered there to rescue the labourers.

After a few minutes, the police and fire brigade, too, reached the spot and managed to rescue three labourers. After making efforts for around two hours, the rescue team pulled out Anils body.

Authorities shun responsibility

With two similar fatal mishaps taking place within a week, questioned are being raised on safety measures put in place for labourers working for contractors hired by government authorities for development projects in the city.

Municipal commissioner Sonali Giri said it is the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) that is responsible for ensuring safety of workers during sewerage work. As far as our role is concerned, we get an assurance from the contractor that safety of workers will be ensured.

PWSSB executive engineer Rahul Kaushal put the onus for the first mishap on the public works department (PWD). As far as the second incident is concerned, precautions had been taken while undertaking the laying of sewage pipes. The sewerage system, being old, collapsed and the earth caved in, leading to the unfortunate death.
Two persons were killed and four were injured as torrential winds and rain lashed the holy city in the wee hours of Monday. Ranjit Yadav, 40, was killed after the roof of his shanty collapsed at Islamabad area. The other death was reported from Chheharta area. The deceased has been identified as Kunan Singh, 70.

The four injured were admitted in a private hospital in Amritsar on Monday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT Photo)

The rain and hailstorm that started around 3am left a trail of destruction across the city. The 115 km/hour high-velocity winds resulted in uprooting of trees and electricity poles.

A cop trying to cross a sign board that collapsed at Kitchlew Chowk flyover outside deputy commissioner office in Amritsar on Monday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT Photo)

Airport, roadways workshop damaged

Parts of the rooftop of the airport terminal blew away due to the wind. The wind also overturned a few training planes. The airport authorities, however, were able to clear the congestion. We acted swiftly and cleared the congestion in time, said airport director Venkateshwar Rao. At the Punjab Roadways workshop near Durgiana Temple, sheds fell damaging two buses.

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Actor Priyamani, who has worked in all four south Indian languages including National Award-winning Tamil film Paruthiveeran, got engaged on Friday. She took to Twitter to make the announcement on Sunday.

Happy to announce that Mustafa Raj and I got engaged on Friday the 27th at a close and private function at home, Priyamani shared on her Twitter page on Sunday.

Read: Priyamani seduces Shah Rukh Khan?

Read: Tamil actress Priyamani signs first Kannada film

Priyamani, according to a source close to her, met Mustafa during Indian Premiere League (IPL) a few years ago. Mustafas association with IPL is via his event management company. Priyamani had met him during a match in Bangalore a few years ago. Since then theyve been dating and finally decided to settle down, said the source.

Priyamani currently awaits the release of her Kannada film Dana Kayonu.

Happy to announce that Mustufa Raj and I got engaged on Friday the 27th at a close and private function at home! pic.twitter.com/0QX51YLdUQ  priyamani (@priyamani6) May 29, 2016

Watch Priyamani in a song sequence from Chennai Express here:

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Veteran film and television actor Suresh Chatwal, who was seen on popular show FIR as the Commissioner, has died after prolonged illness.

The actor died on Saturday in Mumbai, his son Yaman Chatwal said in a statement. He was cremated on Sunday.

With great grief, I inform you that my father, Suresh Chatwal is no more between us. He left for heavenly aboard yesterday succumbing to his ongoing illness, it stated.

Read: Kavita Kaushik content with her boyfriend, doesnt believe in marriage

Chatwals FIR co-star Kavita Kaushik took to her social media account to express her grief.

our beloved commissioner of f.i.r Shri Suresh Chatwal no more,A man full of high energy and old filmy stories , He Always blessed me..R.i.p  Kavita kaushik (@Iamkavitak) May 29, 2016

Chatwal made his acting debut in the year 1969 with Rakhi Rakhi and was seen in films like Karan Arjun, Koyla and Munna Bhai MBBS.

He was last seen on the big screen in Nakshatra in 2010.

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His next movie, Warcraft, is coming to the big screen soon but Dominic Cooper is still urging Amazon to pick up Marvels Agent Carter following its cancellation.

Speaking at MCM London Comic Con, the 37-year-old actor noted that hed be well up for doing more Howard Stark as long as theres more story to tell, reported Digital Spy.

The fact that people have got behind it and want to see it return means a huge amount to Hayley (Atwell) and James (DArcy), he explained.

Im sure theres people talking about it now. Whats wonderful about Amazon and other streaming sites, whereas that might have been the end of the road completely, now theres hope that it might not be.

Meanwhile, Agents of SHIELD star Elizabeth Henstridge has her own theory behind the Agent Carter cancellation.

Hayley Atwell in a still from Agent Carter. (ABC)

I always think theres a conspiracy theory that it didnt get picked up because actually theyre making a movie, she joked, although she was quick to point out that it was merely wishful thinking on her part.

Amazon is the UK home of Coopers new show Preacher, which premiered last week.

Read: Hayley Atwell calls Bafta Awards sexist

Agent Carter actor Lotte Verbeek also appeared at the event with the SHIELD cast and thanked fans for their support.

She also admitted getting axed felt like letting the fans down.

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The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a petition challenging the bail to actor Rahul Raj Singh, accused of abetting the alleged suicide by actress Pratyusha Banerjee who had wooed the nation in a hit TV series.

Pratyusha, who was in a relationship with Rahul, allegedly committed suicide on April 1 at her apartment in Mumbai.

Police have booked Rahul for abetment of suicide but Pratyushas parents say she was murdered.

A vacation bench of justices PC Ghose and Amitava Roy said there was no compelling or strong reason for them to interfere with the Bombay high court that gave pre-arrest bail to Rahul. He had approached the high court after the trial court refused to grant him relief.

Read: Pratyusha Banerjee suicide- Who said what in the case

The bench referred to the trial court judges observation and said though there were differences between the two actors, the last conversation reflected there was intense bond of love too. In the conversation they express love, the bench said.

The SC also told the parents counsel that preliminary investigation points to a case of abetment to suicide.

The investigation is still on, the judges said, allowing the parents to withdraw the appeal.

Prayusha and Rahul Raj Singh in a picture from her Instagram profile. (Instagram)

Pratyushas family says that inexplicable injury marks on her body indicate it was not a suicide but murder.

In her appeal before the apex court, Pratyushas mother alleged that police did not deliberately arrest him for over a week, giving him time to approach the HC.

Read: Pratyusha was tortured by Rahul, he should rot in jail, say her parents

By granting anticipatory bail, the high court has deprived the police authorities the critical opportunity of custodial interrogation of the accused which could have thrown significant light on the death of the deceased and the role of the accused with respect to the same, the appeal said.

Born in Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, Pratyusha, 24, became a household in the country name after portraying the character of Anandi in the hit TV serial Balika Vadhu.

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UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon denied on Monday that his current South Korea visit was testing the waters for an eventual presidential bid, saying his comments on the subject had been exaggerated.

Ban arrived in his home country last week for a six-day visit that has been dominated by speculation over a possible run for the South Korean presidency in 2017 -- after he steps down from his UN post at the end of this year. An initial statement that he might seek advice on what to do when he returns to South Korea as an ordinary citizen, was jumped on by local media as the clearest indication yet that he is considering the role.

But today, Ban said he was baffled by the exaggerated spin put on his remarks and insisted there was no personal or political element to his visit.

I hope you will refrain from over-interpreting or speculating about my actions here, Ban told a press conference in the southern city of Gyeongju, where he is attending a UN conference of NGOs.

Actually, Im the person who best knows what I plan to do and I will have to do the decision-making, he added.

However, the 71-year-old did not offer a direct denial of his presidential ambitions, and speculation over his intentions will only intensify in South Korea as his term as UN chief nears its end.

Ban enjoys high popularity ratings in South Korea, where his UN position is a source of substantial national pride.

Recent opinion polls show him with a clear lead over any potential rivals should he decide to run for president.

A career diplomat, Ban never joined any South Korean political party, although he served as foreign minister under the late liberal president Roh Moo-Hyun from 2004 to 2006.
Prime Minister David Cameron was accused of lying on the EU referendum, prompting a serious bid by his Conservative MPs to challenge his leadership position in another indication of how the acrimonious campaign is reshaping British politics.

As top Tories sparred in public, Cameron turned out on bank holiday Monday with London mayor Sadiq Khan, who he had previously accused of sharing the stage with extremist elements. Both forcefully made the case for Britain to vote to remain in the EU on June 23.

Now sharing the stage himself with Khan, Cameron congratulated him on his victory in the mayoral contest, saying: "I'm proud to be here with the mayor of London - with the Labour mayor of London - on this vital, vital issue.

He hailed the fact that someone who is a proud Muslim, a proud Brit and a proud Londoner can become mayor of the greatest city on Earth. That says something about our country. He expected many disagreements with Khan but said they were both part of "an incredibly broad campaign" in favour of EU membership.

Under Conservative Party rules, a leadership contest can be triggered if 50 Conservative MPs ask for it. Three party MPs openly called for Cameron to quit and initiated the process of seeking a leadership contest, while others predicted a mid-term poll before Christmas.

History is against Cameron: the last two Conservative prime ministers  Margaret Thatcher and John Major  faced serious trouble due to rebellions in the party over Europe initiated by one or two MPs.

The three MPs who came out openly against Cameron are Bill Cash, chair of the European Scrutiny Committee, Nadine Dorries and Andrew Bridgen. Dorries said Cameron had lied profoundly over the referendum, while Bridgen said he was finished.

Dorries confirmed that she had initiated the letter seeking a party leadership contest, while Cash said he was infuriated by what he called Camerons monumentally misleading propaganda, and called for a more conciliatory tone in the campaign.



Senior Conservative leader and former chancellor, Ken Clarke, suggested that star Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson was exploiting peoples fears about immigration in a similar way to Donald Trump, US presidential candidate.

Clarke said: I think Boris and Donald Trump should go away for a bit and enjoy themselves and not get in the way of the serious issues that modern countries in the 21st century face. Hes a much nicer version of Donald Trump but the campaigns remarkably similar in my opinion and about as relevant to the real problems the public face.

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Germany is experiencing a part-brutalisation of its society amid a surge in attacks on refugee and migrant shelters in the country, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere warned.

There have been 449 assaults on such centres so far this year, the minister told Funke Media Group in an interview to be published on Monday. If that pace is maintained over the rest of the year, the figure could match last years total of 1,029.

There were only 62 reported attacks on shelters for migrants and refugees in 2013 and 199 in 2014, but the arrival of more than one million migrants in Germany last year led to a significant increase in assaults, de Maiziere said.

In addition to the attacks on centres, there were 654 crimes against migrants and asylum seekers in Germany, including 107 violent incidents, he said.

A significant proportion of the suspected perpetrators had not been known to the police for similar offences and came from areas neighbouring refugee camps, the minister said.
Its hardly a dogs life of just eating and sleeping for President Barack Obamas pets, Bo and Sunny.

The pair of Portuguese water dogs  Bo with his distinctive white chest and front paws, and the all-black Sunny  are canine ambassadors for the White House, very popular and so in demand that they have schedules, like the president.

Everybody wants to see them and take pictures, Michelle Obama said. I get a memo at the beginning of the month with a request for their schedules and I have to approve their appearances.

The dogs have entertained crowds at the annual Easter Egg Roll, and Bo has been at Mrs Obamas side when she welcomes tourists on the anniversary of the Presidents inauguration. The dogs also have cheered wounded service members, as well as the hospitalised children the First Lady visits each year just before Christmas. In a sign of just how recognised Bo and Sunny are, authorities in January arrested a North Dakota man who they say came to Washington to kidnap one of the pets.

First Lady Michelle Obama is pulled away by her dogs Bo and Sunny, after welcoming the Official White House Christmas Tree to the White House in Washington. (AP File Photo)

Bo, now 7, joined the Obama family in April 2009. He was a gift from the late senator Edward M Kennedy, D-Mass., a key supporter of Obamas 2008 presidential campaign who became close to the family. Bo helped Obama keep a promise to daughters Malia and Sasha that they could get a dog after the election.

Sunny, nearly 4, came along in August 2013.

Bo already had a job as a helper to Dale Haney, the head groundskeeper at the White House, which happens to be a national park.

He leaves every morning and he goes down with Dale ... and hes with all the National Park Service guys. And youll see him, and hes like walking around with them and looking at the plants, Mrs. Obama said. I think he thinks he has a job because he takes it very seriously. So if I go out and see him, he kind of ignores me when hes with his worker crew people.

US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, with the Easter Bunny and their two dogs, Sunny, and Bo (right) walk past costumed Star Wars Storm Troopers during the White House Easter Egg Roll at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo)

The dogs have a pretty nice life. They can sit on my lap, they sit on my chair, they cuddle with me, Mrs Obama said. I like to lay on the floor with them and blow in their face. I like to make them run and chase each other. But theyre so cute, I just love to just cuddle them and massage them.

Presidential pets are always popular and many presidents kept dogs as companions. President Harry S Truman famously advised: If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.

President George HW Bushs English Springer Spaniel, Millie, wrote the best-seller Millies Book.

President Bill Clintons chocolate Labrador Retriever, Buddy, helped Clinton weather the scandal over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

President George W Bushs Scottish Terrier, Barney, had an official web page and starred in Barneycam videos that were filmed from a camera hung around his neck. Like Mrs Obama, first lady Laura Bush was involved with the video scripts and the taping schedule.

First Lady Michelle Obama with Bo, surrounded by children in the State Dining room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo)

President Lyndon B Johnson angered animal lovers by lifting his pet beagle, Him, by the ears in front of news photographers.

Obama promised last year to clean things up a little bit before leaving the White House in January because the dogs have been tearing things up occasionally.

Mrs Obama said her four-legged family members had been nice overall, but she exposed Sunnys naughtier side.

You know what she does sometimes? She leaves the kitchen and shell sneak and shell go poop on the other end of the White House, the first lady said.

President Barack Obama's dogs, Sunny and Bo, arrive before President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama as the Easter Bunny arrives for the White House Easter Egg Roll at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo)
Republican Donald Trump told a motorcycle rally on Sunday that people in the US illegally often are cared for better than the nations military veterans, without backing up his allegation.

Thousands of people are dying waiting in line to see a doctor. That is not going to happen anymore, Trump told veterans gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial as part of the annual Rolling Thunder event, which brings thousands of motorcyclists to Washington each Memorial Day weekend.

Trump has repeated his comparison of the treatment of immigrants and veterans frequently during the campaign. Congress and many states have written an assortment of laws and policies designed to restrict government services to people living in the country illegally.

The Veterans Affairs Department, meanwhile, has come under criticism and congressional scrutiny for a number of failures, from cutting off benefits of thousands of veterans who were wrongly declared dead to chronically long wait times for medical services at VA health care sites. As many as 40 patients died while awaiting care at the Phoenix VA hospital alone.

The Rolling Thunder event is organized to draw attention to veterans issues and dedicated to remembering prisoners of war and service members missing in action.

Were with you 100 percent, Trump told the crowd.

Trump, now the presumptive Republican nominee for president, angered veterans last year when he said he liked people who werent captured in wars. That had been a dig at Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the partys 2008 nominee, who had been captured and held for more than five years during the Vietnam War after his plane was shot down. Trump claimed that McCain was a war hero because he was captured.

Trump quickly tried to walk back the comment but has refused to apologize to McCain.

Many veterans groups were furious, but since then Trump has worked to try to repair the damage. He frequently honors veterans at his rallies, and he has come out with a plan to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs. He also held a fundraiser for veterans causes in place of an Iowa debate that he skipped.

Still, Trump, who avoided the draft through a series of deferments, drew scrutiny for not immediately distributing the $6 million hed claimed to raise, including $1 million hed pledged himself. He is expected to hold a news conference Tuesday to announce the names of the charities selected to receive the money.

Rolling Thunder spokeswoman Nancy Regg estimated Sundays event drew about 5,000 people  smaller than the crowds Trump typically attracts. The large plaza between the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall had large, empty pockets with no long lines for security, despite the thousands of bikers in town for the groups ride from the Pentagon and through the streets of Washington.

Trump, who frequently boasts about his crowd size, however, claimed that 600,000 people were outside trying to get in.

I thought this would be like Dr. Martin Luther King, where the people would be lined up from here all the way to the Washington monument, right? Unfortunately, they dont allow em to come in, Trump complained as he finished up his speech.

Trumps comments on McCain were also on the minds of many at the event, including John LeBoutillier, a former New York congressman who spoke at the event.

LeBoutillier said Trump got a little twisted up with his anger when he spoke about McCain, but said the comment was totally justified.

There has never been a public official whos been worse on the POW issue than John McCain, he said.

McCain, in fact, has a long record of supporting veterans issues in Congress. Most recently, he was instrumental in the passage of landmark legislation to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs to alleviate the long delays in getting care, and another aimed at reducing a suicide epidemic among military veterans. He has also pushed for the VA to do more to fire poor-performing employees.

Sen. McCain has made veterans issues, specifically fixing the broken VA health care system, one of his top priorities, McCain spokeswoman Rachael Dean said in an email. However, Sen. McCain is the first to argue there is still work to be done  the VA system is painfully bureaucratic, slow to change and to react.

Still, LeBoutilliers sentiment was echoed by veterans, including Mike Sukeena, who said that hed discussed Trumps comment with his fellow veterans.

McCain was a prisoner of war, but I dont know  I think hes deserted the veterans, I really do, said Sukeena, 72, who served in Vietnam during his six years in the Navy, and now lives in Manassas, Virginia. All of them have turned their back on the veterans.

Sukeena said at first he was dismayed by the comment but no longer holds it against Trump and plans to vote for the candidate.

I like the fact that hes going to make America great again and that hes going to work for our veterans, he said.
Iraqi forces started pushing into the city of Fallujah on Monday as a wave of bombings claimed by the Islamic State group in Baghdad and near the Iraqi capital killed at least 24 people.

The advance is part of an offensive to rout militants from Fallujah and recapture the city west of Baghdad, which has been held by the Islamic State for over two years. The offensive on Fallujah, backed by paramilitary troops and aerial support from the US-led coalition, was first launched about a week ago.

The battle for the strategic city is likely to be a protracted one, with Iraqi forces advancing slowly to minimize civilian casualties. Tens of thousands of civilians are believed to be still inside the city, trapped by the fighting.

Meanwhile, the bombings by the Islamic State, which has been behind several recent deadly attacks in Baghdad and beyond, are seen as an attempt by the militants to distract the security forces attention from the front lines.

The deadliest of Mondays attacks took place in the northern, Shiite-dominated Shaab neighborhood of Baghdad where a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a checkpoint next to a commercial area, killing eight civilians and three soldiers. The explosion also wounded up to 14 people, a police officer said.

A suicide car bomber struck an outdoor market in the town of Tarmiyah, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Baghdad, killing seven civilians and three policemen, another police officer said, adding that 24 people were wounded in that bombing.

And in Baghdads eastern Shiite Sadr City district, a bomb motorcycle went off at a market, killing three and wounding 10, police said. Medical officials confirmed casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to release information.

In an online statement, IS claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they targeted members of the Shiite militias and a government office. The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the statement but it was posted on a militant website commonly used by extremists.

Iraqi security forces stand near the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad northern Shaab district, Iraq. (AP)

Since launching the Fallujah offensive and until Monday, Iraqi government troops have mostly been fighting IS in the outskirts of the city to tighten the siege ahead of a planned final push into its center. By Sunday, the troops had recaptured 80 percent of the territory around Fallujah, according to Iraqi Maj. Dhia Thamir.

At dawn Monday, Iraqs elite counterterrorism forces started pushing into Fallujah from its southern edge, said Brig. Haider al-Obeidi. He described the clashes as fierce, with IS deploying snipers and releasing a volley of mortar rounds on the Iraqi forces.

Fallujah, which is about 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad, is one of the last major IS strongholds in western Iraq. The extremist group still controls territory in the countrys north and west, as well as Mosul, Iraqs second largest city.

In a televised speech Sunday to parliament, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called on Fallujah residents to either leave the city or stay indoors. Government officials and aid groups estimate that more than 50,000 people remain inside the center of the Sunni majority city.
Ankara will abandon a deal with the European Union to reduce migrant flows if its citizens are not granted visa-free travel to most of the bloc, Turkeys foreign minister has warned.

With the two sides locked in an increasingly-bitter standoff, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was impossible for Ankara to change anti-terror laws that Brussels wants to see narrowed in exchange for the visa-free travel to the Schengen zone.

We have told them we are not threatening you but theres a reality. We have signed two deals with you (the EU) and both are interlinked, Cavusoglu told a small group of journalists, including AFP, at the southern holiday resort of Antalya.

This is not a threat but what is required from an agreement, he said.

Building on a threat by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week, Cavusoglu said Turkey would use administrative measures to block the deal if needed.

There have been growing concerns that Turkish nationals will not be given visa-free travel by the end of June, the target date, putting the future of the migrant deal at risk.

EU leaders are insisting that Turkey meet 72 conditions before the visa exemption is approved, including narrowing its definition of terror to stop prosecuting academics and journalists for terror propaganda.

Which definition are you talking about? Each country in Europe has different terror definitions, the minister said, pointing to stringent measures in France.

Cavusoglu said Turkey was currently battling more than one terrorist group including the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

In such a circumstance, it is impossible to change terror laws.

Despite the increasingly-acrimonious picture, diplomatic efforts will be stepped up in the coming weeks to overcome the visa-hurdle, the minister said.

In the coming days, there will be expert-level talks between Turkey and the EU followed by a possible leaders summit involving Erdogan, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and top EU officials, the minister said.

Well finalise the deal and make it ready before the EU Council meeting on July 7-8. We have the determination. (AFP) AYP
European Commission president Jean-Claude Junckers visit to Russia next month is unlikely to lead to a breakthrough in Russias strained relations with Europe but Moscow is always ready for dialogue, the Kremlin said on Monday.

I would probably not be overly optimistic when it came to looking for signs of a breakthrough in every separate step (by the EU), Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters.

(But) President (Vladimir) Putin has repeatedly spoken about his interest and of Moscows interest in leading and widening this kind of dialogue.

A Commission spokesperson said on Monday that Juncker had agreed to participate in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 16, a move that may stir debate on the EUs fraught relations with Moscow.

The visit comes at a time when the 28-nation bloc is reported to be preparing to renew sanctions it imposed on Russia over the Ukraine crisis.
Stephen Hawking understands the workings of the universe  but says he cannot fathom the popularity of Donald Trump.

The British astrophysicist told ITVs morning show Monday that the presumptive Republican Party candidate for US president is a demagogue who seems to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

Hawking also appealed to British voters to vote to keep the United Kingdom inside the European Union in a June 23 referendum. He said remaining within the EU provided essential support for British scientific research as well as its economy and security.

He said, Gone are the days we could stand on our own against the world. We need to be part of a larger group of nations, both for our security and our trade.
Whether hidden in coffins or hollowed-out watermelons, contraband whiskey regularly found its way into camp.

During the Civil War, as with all wars, excessive drinking was not limited to high-ranking officers. Humble men in the ranks also turned to alcohol to relieve the tensions and terrors of battle and the wearying tedium of camp. But while officers could simply requisition their whiskey supplies, the men serving under them had to resort to a variety of ingenious ploys to fill their cups.

One enterprising group of Rebs once created a circus diversion in front of a Southern store, distracting the shopkeepers attention long enough to switch a full barrel of liquor with an empty one. The soldiers lugged the heavy barrel back to camp and buried it above a spring where they went to draw their water. To the bafflement of their officers, they always returned from water detail in a notably better humor than when they left.

A Mississippi company smuggled a half-gallon of whiskey into a tent in the center of a hollowed-out watermelon, which the men buried beneath the tent floor and tapped into with a long straw. Whenever one of the culprits wanted a drink, he would simply lie flat on the floor and suck through the straw.

Sometimes Nature herself lent a helping hand to thirsty soldiers. The 48th New York Regiment was stationed on Tybee Island, S.C., in June 1862 when a vicious storm blew ashore a treasure trove of beer and wine. The New Yorkers proceeded to get roaring drunk.

In the 2nd Tennessee, an Irish private (inevitably nicknamed Pat) caught the attention of his colonel by upending his rifle and taking a long pull from the muzzle. When questioned about what he had in the gun, Pat immediately responded, Colonel, I was looking in the barrel of my gun to see whether she was clean. The weapon should have been cleanPat had poured the better part of a pint of whiskey into it.

On occasion, men concocted their own bootleg whiskey, which they variously nicknamed bust-head, pop-skull, old red eye, spill skull, knock-knee, tanglefoot, oh, be joyful and nockum stiff. In 1863, a correspondent for the Richmond Enquirer noted (with perhaps more than an impersonal professional interest) that the scarcity of good whiskey had led to widespread whiskey doctoring by as arrant a race of rogues as ever breathed. They make whiskey out of apple brandy, and French brandy out of whiskey, all sorts of brandies and wines out of ingenious concoctions of all three. The whiskey is not composed of but about thirty percent of genuine alcohol, and the rest is made up with water, vitriol, and coloring matter. An old and mellow taste is secured by adding the raw flesh of wild game, or young veal, or lamb and soaking for three or four weeks.

Soldiers stationed in or near large cities would simply avail themselves of local supplies. Wisconsin Colonel Hans Heg (later killed at Chickamauga) wrote to his wife that he had lost three men while passing through Chicago and many others got awfull drunk. The Richmond Examiner noted sourly that one could go into the streets any night and see hundreds of good looking young men wearing the uniform of their countrys service, embruted by liquor, converted into barroom vagabonds. The newspaper noted, with scarcely concealed satisfaction, that dozens of drunken soldiers had been knocked down and robbed during their revels.

For soldiers stationed in camps too far from the cities, registered sutlers and casual camp followers often supplied contraband liquor. A correspondent from the Augusta Chronicle noted that a visitor to the Confederate camp at Dalton, Ga., would be smitten with the great number of mysterious men seen walking around with canteens by their sides and tin thimbles in their hands retailing pestilence at the rate of two dollars a jigger. Sutlers resorted to elaborate stratagems to market their wares. One brought into camp a case marked canteens; the canteens in question were filled with whiskey. Another smuggled in a supply of wine and beer in a wooden coffin, alerting wised-up customers to the ruse by nailing up a sign reading, No Licker Sold to Soljers.

Such whiskey peddling was illegal in both armies, and numerous attempts were made to combat the practice. One sutler for a New York regiment who had been caught selling whiskey to soldiers was summarily drummed out of camp with a dozen liquor bottles dangling from his neck. Another, convicted of peddling condensed corn, was made to stand on a barrel for hours, while his equally guilty wife was forced to carry a heavy log through camp.

As officers have learned throughout history, however, no measureshowever stringentcan completely prevent thirsty soldiers from drinking. Mississippi Lieutenant John Brynam spoke with the voice of experience when he noted resignedly, A soldier will get whiskey at any riskif anywhere in the neighborhood. Or even near the neighborhoodUnion General Abner Doubleday once overheard an Irish infantryman lament, after watching his captain pour out a cache of rotgut: Dennis, if Im kilt in the next battle, bring me back and bury me here. Doubleday neglected to say whether the dispirited soldier got his wish.

Roy Morris, Jr., Editor, Americas Civil War
Nearly 50 years after the fact, the legacy of the Battle of Seven Pines still caused one old Union veterans blood to boil. No large body of troops engaged in the Civil War was treated with greater injustice than [Brig. Gen. Silas] Caseys division of the 4th Army Corps, attached to the Army of the Potomac during the Peninsular campaign, wrote Corporal Luther S. Dickey, who as a member of the 103rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment of Caseys division had fought at Seven Pines. No battle of the Civil War has been more misrepresented than the battle of [Seven Pines]yet, when the final word is written of the battles between the North and the South, the battle which occurred May 31, 1862, will head the list of the decisive contests of the Civil War, and the division which was made the scapegoat for the [fight] will receive credit for doing more to frustrate the plans of the Confederate commander than any other division engaged in the battle.

As Dickey bemoaned, the Battle of Seven Pines is often viewed as a relatively small affair, fought by only a few thousand troops with no decisive results. That contest, however, was the first great battle between the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia. No other battle was fought so close to the Confederate capital, and if Caseys division had not fought as well as it did under the circumstances, or if the Confederate attack plan had not misfired, at least one or two corps of the Army of the Potomac would have been destroyed.

Caseys division was in Maj. Gen. Erasmus D. Keyes IV Corps, Army of the Potomac, and consisted of three brigades of infantry and one battalion of artillery. The 1st Brigade, led by Brig. Gen. Henry M. Naglee, consisted of the 52nd and 104th Pennsylvania Infantry, the 56th and 100th New York Infantry regiments and the 11th Maine Infantry. The 2nd Brigade, commanded by Brig. Gen. Henry W. Wessells, contained the 85th, 101st and 103rd Pennsylvania Infantry regiments and the 96th New York. Brigadier General Innis N. Palmer led the regiments of the third and final brigade, the Empire States 81st, 85th, 92nd and 98th Infantry regiments. Colonel Guilford D. Bailey, one of the divisions few Regulars, was in charge of Caseys artillery battalion. Baileys charges were four spanking-new New York batteries: A and H, 1st New York Light Artillery, and the 7th and 8th, New York Independent Light Artillery.

The 103rd Pennsylvania was representative of the caliber of troops in the division. In the fall of 1861, the regiment was assembled several miles northeast of Pittsburgh near the hamlet of Kittanning. It consisted of 10 companies of infantry whose men were recruited from mountainous western Pennsylvania counties. Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Lehman of the 62nd Pennsylvania, a unit that had been raised a few months before, became the colonel of the regiment. In late February, the regiment entrained for Harrisburg, the state capital, where it received its numeric designation and its colors, equipment and uniforms. On March 2, the 103rd moved out for Washington and Camp Lloyd, where they received the pitiful remnants of the Armys weapons, including aged Austrian muskets that proved to be bulky and inaccurate.

Casey was in charge of Camp Lloyd and was one of the most seasoned officers from the Old Army. The 54-year-old Rhode Islander and West Point graduate was a decorated veteran of both the Seminole and Mexican wars, and in 1855 was given command of the 9th U.S. Infantry Regiment. When the Civil War broke out, Casey was a colonel and one of the most senior officers in the Army. Yet other officers of lesser experience and ability were promoted before him. When Casey finally did receive his star, on the last day of August 1861, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan delegated to him the Olympian task of establishing severalschools of the soldier to train the incoming recruits. Casey had published a well-received infantry drill manual before the war, and he was the logical choice to organize such a system.

Caseys important work, however, seemed to go unnoticed. When Lincoln chose the four corps commanders for McClellans newly constituted Army of the Potomac in the spring of 1862, Casey remained in charge of the training camp that indoctrinated new troops, like the men from the recently arrived 103rd Pennsylvania. It was not until March 13 that General McClellan finally issued orders for the men currently under Caseys care to be formally organized into a division and be readied for immediate movement to the field. On March 28, the rawest troops of the army, as described by Corporal Dickey, marched out of their training camp. They were, according to one veteran, jubilant and light hearted as they marched toward Alexandria. Since they started late in the day, it was not until well after midnight that the volunteers reached their prescribed destination. As they bedded down for the night, they had to endure a snowstorm, and many became sick from exposure.

On March 31, the division shipped out for Fortress Monroe, Va., at the eastern tip of the peninsula formed by the York and James rivers, landing on April 3. There it was directed to march west about six miles, a little beyond Newport News, where it established Camp Casey.

On April 16, camp was broken, and the division started its march up the peninsula. After a few days, Confederates dug in along the Warwick River stopped the advance cold. The strong line of earthworks was anchored on Yorktown and was known as the Yorktown Line. Over the next few weeks, as McClellan carefully marshaled his forces to disperse the Southerners, the men of Caseys division were ordered to dig trenches and cut timber with inadequate tools, practice drill and engage in patrolling activities. In doing so they got into a few scattered skirmishes with the enemy. In a bit of bright news, the men did receive new shelter tents on April 18.

On the night of May 3 the Confederates abandoned the Yorktown Line and fell back toward Richmond. The next day Casey was directed to form up his men with only their arms and minimal equipment and move out in pursuit of the Rebels. The decision to leave the tents behind would soon plague the division. After crossing the abandoned enemy works, Caseys tentless men, who also lacked overcoats and blankets, pushed on another seven miles and camped in a heavy rain. One veteran of that march, Captain John Donaghy of the 103rd Pennsylvania, remembered the especially harrowing experience: It rained hard all night and the air was cold and the men were without tents, blankets or overcoats. Tired and sleepy as they were, they could only stand and take the rain. They leaned against trees or crowded together in large groups to keep warm. When they stood thus for awhile some would fall asleep supported on their feet by the others. When the majority of them were overcome by sleep the whole mass would lurch over and fall to the ground, only to gather themselves to renew the process. The next morning Casey wanted to send back for the packs and equipment, worrying that he had lost a great manymen from that exposure, as they were obliged to lie down in the mud, exposed to the rain, without any protection whatever. But Brig. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner of the II Corps, McClellans left wing commander, overruled the division commander. Caseys troops were ordered to continue pursuing the enemy.

On May 5, a rainy overcast day, the Federals bumped into the next Southern line, a series of redoubts east of Williamsburg that were anchored on Fort Magruder. A sharp one-day battle ensued, during which elements of the III and VI corps engaged a Confederate rear guard. Caseys division, however, remained in reserve.

After the Confederates retreated the evening of May 5, the Union army continued to move up the peninsula, but at a very slow pace while McClellan brought up the forces he believed were needed to totally overwhelm the enemy. In the meantime, Caseys soggy soldiers continued to suffer increased illness from their lack of shelter.

By the evening of May 17, Caseys division was camped at White House Landing on the Pamunkey River, a tributary of the York River. There the men were finally reunited with their packs and were able to rest for two days. From White House, Caseys division, the smallest and greenest of McClellans vast arsenal, was inexplicably ordered to lead the armys advance on Richmond. On May 20, after a small clash with the Confederate rear guard, it reached the Chickahominy River at Bottoms Bridge. The span had been partially destroyed, but Caseys soldiers were able to repair it and cross over. Likewise, the Confederates had set afire the upstream railroad bridge, but the flames were extinguished, and some of the bluecoats used that span to cross the rain-swollen river. On May 25 Keyes corps advanced several miles along the Williamsburg Stage Road, which led to Richmond, to a defensible position a mile east of a crossroads called Seven Pines and dug in. That same day the two divisions of Brig. Gen. Samuel P. Heintzelmans III Corps took up positions two miles west of the Chickahominy and Heintzelman was given command of the Federal troops south of the river. On May 28, McClellan ordered Keyes to advance again, this time to hold Seven Pines in force. In accordance, Caseys green troops marched to an advance position three-quarters of a mile west of the crossroads, while the IV Corps other division, Brig. Gen. Darius N. Couchs, occupied Seven Pines.

Having established his troops in a large field that surrounded two identical houses, Casey deployed a picket line that covered the Williamsburg Stage Road. The Twin Houses, as they were called, were situated 135 yards south of the road, in line with each other. The surrounding land had been under cultivation, and the open space extended west about 800 yards to a swampy forest filled with tangled undergrowth. While Caseys pickets were posted near the foreboding woods, the Confederates of Maj. Gen. Daniel Harvey Hills division waited patiently about 200 yards farther west, concealed by the dense growth.

As soon as his brigades reached their assigned positions, Casey ordered fatigue details to begin at once to fortify the exposed position. His exhausted men erected an earthen redoubt, called Fort Casey, flanked by trenches that stretched out into the thick woods. He next had the men slash timber for two rows of abatis, one to their front, running parallel to the western wood line, and the other about 500 yards behind the fort.

Casey, meanwhile, protested his assigned position to Keyes. Five of the enemys seven known divisions were just a stones throw away, and most of the rest of the Federal army was deployed several miles to the north, safely behind the Chickahominy. The only other Union troops on the south side of the river were Couchs division and Brig. Gens. Philip Kearnys and Joseph Hookers divisions of the III Corps. If the Confederates attacked, Caseys brigades, with their flanks in the air, could not possibly stop them.

On the morning of May 29, the 23rd North Carolina Infantry of Brig. Gen. Samuel Garlands brigade probed Caseys pickets. Taking advantage of a heavy fog, they drove the startled Federals back through the woods to the unfinished abatis. Once the Yankees had re-formed, they counterattacked and drove back the Carolinians.

The next day around noon, as the men of the division felled timber, dug trenches and cut firewood, the 23rd North Carolina once again reconnoitered in force and drove the Federal pickets back to the abatis. This time Casey put his entire division on alert while Colonel Baileys guns shelled the woods. Casey next sent the 100th New York forward to support the outposts and re-establish the picket line.

To this point in the campaign, Confederate commander General Joseph E. Johnston and President Jefferson Davis had been feuding about how the campaign should be conducted. Johnston had resented Davis insistence that he hold and fight at Yorktown and Williamsburg. Davis resented the fact that Johnston had allowed the invading Federal army to get to within seven miles of the Southern capital. But when the 23rd North Carolinas probes revealed the presence of the IV Corps near Seven Pines, Davis and Johnston finally came to terms. Caseys exposed men would reap the full fury of the Confederates first offensive of the Peninsula campaign.

Johnstons hastily devised, ambitious plan was to crush Keyes corps quickly, while it was isolated from the rest of the Army of the Potomac by the Chickahominy. (The Confederate commander was evidently unaware that the III Corps had also crossed the river.) Harvey Hills four brigades, supported by Maj. Gen. James Longstreets division, were to advance along Williamsburg Stage Road and attack the enemys front.

At the same time, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Hugers division was to march via the Charles City Road to the south and hit the enemys left flank,and Maj. Gen. Gustavus W. Smiths division, temporarily led by Brig. Gen. William H.C. Whiting, was to fall on the enemys right flank. Meanwhile the rest of Johnstons army would remain on the defensive.

At dawn on May 31, 1862, the day of Johnstons grand attack, the already worn-out men of Caseys division were drenched once again. A horrendous rainstorm the night before had flooded trenches and campsites. One soldier remembered that the unfinished rifle pits were filled, and every depression in the roads and elsewhere had become tiny lakes. Although his troops were hungry and miserable, Casey wisely put them back to work. All was quiet until about 9 a.m. when one of Johnstons staff officers accidentally rode into some pickets from the 100th New York. Although the snared Southerner refused to cooperate during his interrogation, Casey surmised that something big was up and notified his superior, General Keyes, of his concerns. Caseys fears were soon realized when Captain Simon Townsend of the 85th Pennsylvania, also manning the picket line, noticed considerable Confederate activity to his front.

Casey at once ordered Major Audley Gazzams 103rd Pennsylvania (Colonel Lehman was sick) to reinforce the pickets astride the Williamsburg Stage Road, where their own Company C was deployed. While Gazzam collected his disparate command, D.H. Hill launched his attack with Sam Garlands brigade. The 300-man 2nd Mississippi Battalion led as skirmishers. After they had advanced only several hundred yards, the 103rds Company C opened fire. Outnumbered four to one, the Keystoners quickly yielded to the advancing Rebels and retreated 50 yards to the rest of their regiment. For a few key minuteswhich gave the rest of the division at least some time to gather its forcesthe 450 or so men from the 103rd Pennsylvania dueled with 2,000 Southerners. The Confederates cascaded forward, and Captain Reynolds Laughlin, on the far right of Gazzams line, noticed that the regiment was being flanked. He called for the men to fall back as quickly as possible.

The tangled undergrowth prevented the 103rd from falling back in any kind of order. To make matters even worse for the Pennsylvanians, Casey ordered his artillery to shell the woods through which they were retreating. Pushed beyond the breaking point, the 103rd fled. A tree limb hit Major Gazzam in the face, knocking him from his mount, while he was frantically trying to reassemble his men. If not for the courage and dedication of some of his men who quickly pulled him to safety, Gazzam, a former attorney from Pittsburgh, would surely have been snagged as a prisoner.

With the 103rd Pennsylvania and the rest of Caseys picket line smashed, Garlands brigade began to negotiate the abatis. That bought time for Casey to personally lead parts of six regiments from Naglees and Palmers brigades, reinforced by Battery H, 1st New York, forward into line about 200 yards behind the abatis. There the desperate Federals dueled with Garlands winded brigade, bringing it to a standstill.

At that juncture, with most of Caseys division engaged in front, Hugers and Whitings divisions should have been falling on the Federal flanks and Longstreets troops ready to reinforce Hills. But because of jealousy, ineptitude and a general lack of coordination, all the follow-up divisions were still bundled up in the rear.

As Garlands brigade exchanged volleys with Caseys second line, Hills right wingthe brigades of Brig. Gens. Robert Rodes and Gabriel Rainshurried forward after their advance had been delayed. Rodes troops exited the woods on the south side of the Williamsburg Stage Road and entered the fray. Hill detached Rains troops, ordering them to advance around Caseys left flank and take his works from behind. Colonel George B. Andersons brigade, meanwhile, was working around the northern edge of the field and the Union right. In all, 6,500 Confederates would be sent against 3,500 Federals.

Casey directed a general withdrawal to the redoubt and its adjoining trenches. But Battery H needed time to move its guns to the rear, and the Confederates were coming fast. The division commander therefore ordered General Naglee to have three regiments on the north side of Nine Mile Roadthe 104th Pennsylvania, the 11th Maine and the 100th New Yorkcharge and buy time for Battery H. The spoiling attack, one of the first committed by Federal forces in the war, froze the Confederate advance. I never saw a handsomer thing in my life than that charge was, Casey later recalled.

While D.H. Hill waited for his troops to deploy, Casey patched his line together as best he could. He also sent back another frantic request to General Keyes to send up Couchs three brigades, to help solidify his line. Keyes was in fact sending forward reinforcements, but he did so piecemeal, and curiously he did not communicate with either Casey or Couch. As a result, the few regiments that did come to Caseys aid were too little and too late.

In front of Hills Confederates stood the remains of the smallest division of the Army of the Potomac. The keystone of their final line was the redoubt, manned by six Napoleons from Battery A. Caseys remaining batteries, the 7th and 8th New York, were poorly deployed, however. Colonel Bailey had ineptly positioned the 8th behind Battery A, with no clear targets, and he situated the 7th New York on the far right of the line, behind infantrymen who presented an obstacle and gave the gunners a poor field of fire.

Casey prayed that Keyes would deliver reinforcements before the long Confederate line advanced for the final blow. But then Captain Thomas Carters King William (Virginia) Artillery began an intense cannonade against Baileys guns, which were generally ineffective in returning the fire. Soon Rains troops were in position and firing on the rear of the redoubt. Hills Confederates advanced to within 60 yards of Caseys line, where they were momentarily stopped by musketry. One Confederate equated the Federal fire with unabated fury, and a soldier from the 85th Pennsylvania similarly remembered: We had a full and near view of the enemy and could almost see the whites of their eyes.They presented a most formidable appearance being eight or ten deep.We could take dead aim, and firing in so dense a mass, to miss was almost impossible.

Knowing that his men could not withstand the fire, Lt. Col. Bryan Grimes of the 4th North Carolina, Andersons brigade, ordered his regiment to charge. The subsequent attack, which pierced the 85th Pennsylvanias line, was, according to one veteran, like an avalanche. Colonel Bailey, seeing the conflagration developing on his right, ordered the guns in the redoubt spiked.

As he moved forward to help a gunner perform the task, he was shot dead. The cannons from the 8th New York opened up, and one shell burst prematurely over the heads of the 85th New York, killing or wounding several. That only hastened their decision to retreat.

By 3:30 p.m., sheer pandemonium had enveloped Caseys faltering line. Hills victorious Confederates were swarming in from three directions, Carters battery was brought forward to rake the redoubt with canister or shot, and what was left of the division was running to the rear for their very lives, despite Caseys desperate attempt to rally them. One officer remembered seeing the general raging among his retreating men, hatless, his white hair streaming in the wind. Another veteran of the battle wrote, Old Casey was as brave as a lion, and remained while his men would stand; he lost everything but the clothes he stood in. At that point, Keyes and two regiments from Couchs division finally arrived on the field. Shocked by the carnage and may-hem, the IV Corps commander quickly ordered all his forces to fall back to Seven Pines and await the arrival of Heintzelmans two divisions.

General Hill again ordered his men to press their advantage. By 5 p.m., they had driven what was left of Keyes IV Corps and parts of Heintzelmans III and Sumners II corps out of Seven Pines. It was not until later that evening that Johnston finally arrived down the Nine Mile Road with parts of Whitings and Longstreets divisions. Elements of Sumners II Corps led by Brig. Gen. John Sedgwick and some units of Couchs IV Corps division stopped them, however, about a mile north of the Twin Houses. While observing the twilight battle rage, Johnston was horribly wounded, first in the shoulder by a bullet and then in the chest by a piece of shrapnel, and was quickly evacuated to Richmond. The next day, his second-in-command, Gustavus Smith, brought up some of the other wayward divisions and tried to renew the attack. But the Federals, now fully aware of the Confederate plans, drove them back.

If Huger, Whiting and Longstreet had supported D.H. Hill at Seven Pines on the 31st as ordered, or if Caseys outnumbered division had not fought as long as it did, there is little doubt that the III and IV corps of the Army of the Potomac would have been wiped out. All told, the Battle of Seven Pines cost both sides about 6,000 men. The casualty tally of Caseys division was appalling: 177 dead, 934 wounded and 322 missing.

Following the battle, the remnant of Caseys division retreated to White Oak Swamp to guard the extreme left of the army. While there, McClellan relieved Casey of duty, erroneously believing that he and his division had simply let Hill walk through their position, and ordered the dishonored drillmaster back to White House Landing. The division, now commanded by Brig. Gen. John J. Peck, was subsequently consolidated into two brigades, that of Naglee and Wessells.

Caseys career never recovered after Seven Pines. McClellan continued to blame him for the Federal collapse on May 31 and refused to acknowledge the tough fight put up by the old Regulars green division. Though he did get promoted to major general, Casey never again enjoyed a field command and spent much of the rest of the war in charge of troops in the defenses of Washington. He retired from the Army in 1868 after 46 years of service, and died in 1882.

A few weeks after Seven Pines, General Robert E. Lee, Johnstons replacement, attacked McClellan at Mechanicsville and Gaines Mill, at the beginning of what later became known as the Seven Days campaign. Caseys old division was kept from the fray, relegated to digging trenches near Harrisons Landing. When the brutal Seven Days were over in July, McClellan held a grand review of the army at Harrisons Landing. As he passed by Caseys former troops, the men purposely turned their backs to him.

In August, when the Army of the Potomac was ordered to evacuate the peninsula, Caseys old divisionat McClellans behestwas separated from the army and sent down to the backwater of Suffolk, Va., to pay penance for their alleged sins at Seven Pines. From there, in 1863, the division was dispatched to the coast of North Carolina, where it performed admirably in several small but important actions near New Bern, Kingston, Whitehall, Goldsboro and Plymouth.

Caseys old troops misfortunes continued. In April 1864, after many of the men had just re-enlisted and were preparing to go home on a well-deserved furlough, a Confederate division under Maj. Gen. Robert F. Hoke overwhelmed Wessells brigade at Plymouth. The brigade surrendered and was sent to Andersonville, Ga. Of those men, the infamous Plymouth Pilgrims, less than half ever returned home.

In 1863, General Casey testified before the Joint Committee of the Conduct of the War, a congressional committee that investigated Union military operations, about his role in the Battle of Seven Pines. Casey vigorously defended the mettle of his division and stated: In my humble opinion from what I witnessedI am convinced that the stubborn and desperate resistance of my division saved the army on the right bank of the Chickahominy from a severe repulse, which might have resulted in a disastrous defeat. The blood of the gallant dead would cry to me from the ground on which they fell fighting for their country had not I said what I have to vindicate them from the unmerited aspersions which have been cast upon them.

This article was written by Gary Schreckengost and originally appeared in the May 2002 issue of Americas Civil War magazine.

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On June 25, 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and 12 companies of the 7th Cavalry attacked a massive Lakota-Cheyenne village on the Little Bighorn River in Montana Territory. Custer lost not only the battle but also his life, and in so doing achieved immortality. In the 130 years since, the death of Custer and every man in the five companies of his immediate command has grown to mythic proportions. This demand for information and answers to why and how resonate down to us today, wrote historian Bruce Liddic. Except for the result, exactly what happened to Custer and his five companies will never be known with certainty.It has been the subject of more controversy, dissension, [and] dispute than almost any other event in our history.

Not that controversy was anything new to Custer by the time he died. He had already experienced many ups and downs, and yet had made a dashing mark in American history.

Shortly after the Civil War began in April 1861, Custer graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In the coming years, he exploded across the American scene like a skyrocket. From the beginning, he exhibited his desire for action while showing no fear against the enemy. If a task needed to be accomplished, Custer was the man. His attitude brought him to the attention of his superiors, and in May 1863 Custer became aide-de-camp to Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton, commander of the 1st Division of the Union Cavalry Corps. The following month, the young aide was photographed sitting astride his horse. Mustachioed, with collar-length hair, Custer struck a swashbuckling pose. Although not yet a household name, he had begun to carefully craft an image uniquely his own, that of a cavalier from days of yore.

On June 9, 1863, when his commanding colonel was killed during an attack on Confederate Brig. Gen. J.E.B. Stuarts camp at Brandy Station, Va., Custer took command of the regiment and led a saber charge through the surrounding Confederate forces. Pleasonton recognized his subordinates common sense in hot situations, and his fearlessness and enthusiasm  all of which were in short supply in the Cavalry Corps. After Custer rallied faltering troops at Aldie, Va., in mid-June 1863, Pleasonton recommended him for a generals star.

Custer received his appointment as brevet brigadier general on June 29, 1863. Unimpressed with his uniform, he jettisoned the standard-issue cavalry jacket and trousers, replacing them with a loose-fitting velvet coat that had golden braids adorning its sleeves, and velvet pants he tucked into knee-length top boots. He had a silver star sewn onto each lapel of a light-blue, broad-collared Navy-issue shirt. To complete the refashioning, he looped a scarlet cravat about his neck and donned a black hat with a lower crown and wider brim than those of standard-issue hats.

With long golden-red curls falling to his shoulders, the Custer image was complete  wherever he now appeared, everyone knew who he was. Still only 23, the newspapers dubbed him the boy general. Always at the front of his command, his blazing necktie marking him as a recognizable target, Custer found himself the darling of not only his men but also the artists sketching the conflict. As historian Gregory Urwin wrote, That was the key to all the Boy Generals foppish affectations  he made himself conspicuous on purpose, deliberately courted danger to allay his soldiers fears and to always let them know where he was in a fight.

Commanding the Michigan Brigade for the first time, Custer attacked and forced Stuarts cavalry brigade from the field east of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. During the war, Custer had been promoted to captain in the Regular Army and eventually was breveted to the rank of major general, commanding the 3rd Cavalry Division. Although the cost of his bravura was high in the number of men who died serving under him, he had forged a glorious public record. By wars end Maj. Gen. Philip Sheridan, who commanded the Cavalry Corps, considered Custer his ablest man.

After the Civil War, Congress reduced the size of the Army and curtailed its role to what were basically two policing assignments  keeping the peace in the defeated South during Reconstruction and protecting westward expansion from Indians who objected to the invasion of their land. Given the reduction in force, many Regular Army officers were reduced to ranks lower than those they had attained during the rebellion. Custers war record, however, had garnered him several strong backers and preferential treatment. Sheridan stood by him and, therefore, instead of being demoted from his regular rank of captain at wars end, Custer received a promotion to lieutenant colonel of the newly formed 7th Cavalry.

Custer took pride in his revived career and new command, but the situation had drastically changed. During the Civil War, soldiers fought and died by the thousands, and though there were desertions and discontent, most willingly fought for what they viewed as a cause, a crusade. The new Indian-fighting army, however, had little sense of crusade. The recruits came from recent immigrants, many of whom couldnt speak English, and the dregs of society  an unhealthy mixture of drunks, thieves and murderers. These were men looking for a meal, clothing, weapons and a horse, and many of them soon had thoughts of deserting at the first opportunity. Sculpting them into any type of cohesive unit took bullying and brutality, which many noncommissioned officers joyfully performed, creating an atmosphere of fear, loathing and indifference.

The soldiers of this Indian-fighting army faced another problem: They had no understanding of their new foe  the free-roaming Indians of the northern and southern Plains, mainly the Lakotas (or Sioux), Cheyennes, Arapahos, Comanches and Kiowas. Unlike the military, which fought pitched battles, Plains Indians almost always scattered when a village was threatened unless escape had been cut off. Most military men viewed the aborigines with scorn and disdain, and felt their superior numbers, strategy and firepower would awe their poorly armed adversaries into capitulation.

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While in pursuit of an enemy that scattered whenever he drew near during the Armys 1867 Plains campaign, Custer re-created himself as a buckskin-clad Indian fighter  a persona that would far eclipse his image as boy general. He also made several ill-advised decisions that would have far-reaching consequences. Facing mass desertions, he dealt with runaways harshly. Then, when a cholera epidemic raged across the Great Plains, fearing for his wife Elizabeth, Custer himself went AWOL, racing off to see her. Ultimately, Custer was court-martialed and found guilty on eight counts, including ordering several deserters to be summarily shot without benefit of a hearing and being absent without leave from his command by going to find his Libbie. He was sentenced to a one-year suspension from the Army without pay.

As the Indian wars heated up again the following year, Sheridan, as commander of the Department of the Missouri, planned a winter campaign. He lobbied for and obtained an early end to Custers suspension. On November 27, 1868, Custer was back in the saddle, attacking and destroying a Cheyenne village on the Washita River in present-day Oklahoma. Custers official report claimed 103 Indians killed, more than 40 of them women and children. Custers fame and popularity as an Indian fighter soared and continued to grow as the years passed.

In 1870 Secretary of War William Belknap created a monopoly when he implemented a regulation that required soldiers to buy supplies from only the post trader even though they could be purchased elsewhere for less money. As part of the political patronage system, applicants for the trader positions paid large sums of money to government officials to secure these lucrative jobs that allowed traders and agents to line their pockets with cash and retire early. To protect the scam, Belknap created another regulation in 1873, calling for all Army complaints to be channeled through his office, effectively eliminating any public exposure.

With Republican President Ulysses S. Grant pushing for a third term, the Democratic press called for an investigation into the criminal activities of his administration, and Pennsylvania Congressman Heister Clymer chaired the House Committee on Military Expenditures that oversaw the investigating. To escape prosecution, Belknap resigned on March 8, 1876, before the hearings began that spring. Even though he was preparing to command the Dakota column, which would soon take the field, Custer (who earlier had complained of the corrupt practices instituted by Belknap) was summoned to Washington to testify. His testimony on March 29 and April 4 implicated several government officials and Grants younger brother Orvil. Although much of Custers attestation was hearsay, history has proved him correct on all counts.

Trapped in Washington by the hearings, Custer wrote Libbie on April 17: The Radical papers continue to serve me up regularly. Neither has said one word against Belknap. He probably was referring to failed Republican attempts to prove he had committed perjury during his testimony before the committee. Custer had also earned the enmity of President Grant, who retaliated, as was reported in an article in the May 2 issue of the New York Herald headlined: Grants Revenge. He Relieves General Custer of His Command. The Generals Reward for Testifying Against the Administration.

Desperate, Custer appealed for help to Brig. Gen. Alfred Terry, who had assumed overall command of the Dakota column. When Sheridan added his endorsement, Grant relented, and Custer quickly headed west to report for duty.

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Custers command was part of Sheridans tri-column policing action to round up non-reservation Indians (roamers) and force them back onto the reservations. None of Sheridans columns [Brig. Gen. George Crook, Colonel John Gibbon, or Terry, under whom Custer now served] feared or expected an attack, historian Robert Kershaw wrote. The militarys greatest fear was not being able to encircle its foe and therefore prevent him from escaping. Continuing, Kershaw wrote: Like modern peace-keeping armies conducting expeditionary police operations, the U.S. Army saw itself as restoringsanity and civilization in its support of continental westward expansion.

There is little doubt that Custer was aware that more warriors were off the reservations than reported by the Indian agents. He saw the signs as the trail he followed to the Little Bighorn grew. Interpreter Fred Gerard sat with Custer just before the night march of June 24-25. When Custer asked how many warriors were to their front, Gerard replied, not less than 2,500. The morning of the 25th, scout/interpreter Mitch Boyer told Custer: Well, general, if you dont find more Indians in that valley than you ever saw together, you can hang me. Still, Custer never anticipated the massive size of the village or the number of warriors ready to fight for their freedom. Not a fool, Custer certainly listened to the warnings, but a village of this immensity probably hadnt existed in the past, and it would never exist again. Fearing the Indians might scatter, he attacked immediately and, as he had done at the Battle of the Washita, he split his force so his columns could attack the camp from two sides at once. Contrary to his expectations, the warriors in the village didnt flee. They counterattacked.

The results of the Battle of the Little Bighorn are well known. Many of the troopers who attacked from the south in Major Marcus Renos command escaped with their lives by retreating and taking up a defensive stand on a hilltop, where they were soon joined by Captain Frederick Benteens command. Custer and the roughly 210 men in his immediate command did not live to fight another day. The results of Custers Last Stand would shock the nation.

In the 100 years since the United States had declared independence, it had grown from a hodgepodge of 4 million people scattered thinly throughout 13 colonies to a nation of more than 40 million. Great increases in wealth, expansion of territory from the Atlantic to the Pacific and the growth of industrial centers such as New York, Chicago and St. Louis marked the passing of the nations first century. The future seemed boundless. With the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia as the center for the grand celebration, excitement gripped the nation as July 4, 1876, approached.

The Exposition was designed to show that the American experiment had produced a society that was not only morally and ethically superior to that of the Old World, historian Richard Slotkin wrote, but economically more potent as well. Mechanical symbols dominated the halls in pseudo-Gothic temples proclaiming Americas emergence as the country leading the world into the 20th century. To honor their recent  and fast vanishing  frontier past, many states built pavilions resembling huge log cabins.

On July 5, a day after the official opening of the celebration, the shocking news of Custers demise reached Bismarck, Dakota Territory. The War Department had unconfirmed reports of the disaster by July 6, but Sheridan stated they arrived without any marks of credence. No one in his wildest dreams could imagine this happening. Custer was indomitable. The famed Civil War general and Indian fighter par excellence represented the nations pride, the preservation of the Union and the opening of an expansive frontier to a population ready to reap the benefits of a new fertile land.

Custers defeat was viewed as incomprehensible and tragic, and it left the public with a gaping wound. As news spread, the Little Bighorn debacle cast a dark shadow on the nations hopes for a glorious second century. Partially to regain the honor and prestige lost at the Little Bighorn and partially to fulfill Manifest Destiny once and for all, the U.S. Army redoubled its efforts to overwhelm the Plains Indians. Waging total war, soldiers destroyed Indian homes, food, clothing and supplies. They did not distinguish between combatants and noncombatants. Although the so-called Great Sioux War was over by the spring of 1877, one last major action took place more than 14 years after Custers defeat. On December 29, 1890, elements of the 7th Cavalry surrounded a group of mostly Minneconjou Dakotas and killed about 150 of them at Wounded Knee Creek in Dakota Territory. The Battle of the Little Bighorn, which had ushered in this new era of fierce westward expansion, immediately created a firestorm of controversy that continues today.

At least two of Terrys reports, written soon after Custers defeat, found their way into newspapers. In one of those reports, Terry stated: I do not tell you this to cast any reflection upon Custer. For whatever errors he may have committed he has paid the penalty and you cannot regret his loss more than I do, but I feel that our plan must have been successful had it been carried out.In the action itself, so far as I can make out, Custer acted under a misapprehension. He thought, I am confident, that the Indians were running. For fear that they might get away he attacked.

Although Terry attempted an explanation for Custers actions, he appeared to accuse Custer of disobeying orders by attacking too soon, and indeed Sheridan commented to Commander in Chief of the Army William T. Sherman after reading it: Terrys column was sufficiently strong to have handled the Indians, if Custer had waited for the junction. President Grant, perhaps still seething at Custer for helping expose the corruption in his administration and his brother, declared in September, I regard Custers Massacre as a sacrifice of troops, brought on by Custer himself, that was wholly unnecessary  wholly unnecessary.

To protect itself, the military scrambled to find a scapegoat on which to pin the blame for the disaster. As a result, fingers were pointed in many directions. Custer was accused of dividing his command prior to battle, even though this was the accepted mode for attacking villages, and of attacking early. Subordinates Major Reno and Captain Benteen were accused of disobeying Custers orders and not supporting him. Indian agents were accused of under-reporting the number of warriors off the reservations. But, for some, it was easier to blame a man who could not defend himself.

Later statements by Sheridan and Sherman that Custer was rashly imprudent to attack such a large number of Indians marked a change in the public portrayal of Custer, as historian Craig Repass pointed out: Prior to his involvement in the Belknap Affair, Custer was not publicly referred to as reckless or imprudent. After his demise those labels were continually applied to him in the armys efforts to discredit him. Still, Custer was buried with full military honors at West Point on October 10, 1877.

For many, in death Custer became an instant hero for a nation, a patriot who fought valiantly to the end. As W.A. Graham explained in his book The Custer Myth, As Terrys languagecompelled the inference that he had accused the popular Custer of that heinous military sin  the disobedience of orders  his partisans and admirers  and they were legion  immediately started the hue and cry in their search for a scapegoat on the one hand, and proof that their hero had been maligned, upon the other. Soon after the battle, Frederick Whittaker began writing A Complete Life of General George A. Custer. When it was published in December 1876, it proclaimed Custers heroism to the public. And that proclamation of heroism continued for decades, due in large part to the steady efforts of his wife. In the 57 years after her husbands death, Libbie Custer penned three classic books  Boots and Saddles, Tenting on the Plains and Following the Guidon  that jealously protected and embellished her beau sabreurs image. But soon after her death on April 4, 1933, detractors renewed the attack. Frederick F. Van de Waters 1934 biography, Glory Hunter: A Life of General Custer, ravaged Custers image, accusing him of being a celebrity-seeking martinet.

By that time Custer had been portrayed in many Hollywood films  the first in 1909  and would appear in many more over the coming years. Most of these early movies presented Custer as an out-and-out hero. In 1941, with America on the verge of entering World War II, Warner Bros. produced an extremely positive film biography of the fallen cavalier, They Died With Their Boots On. As Custer, Errol Flynns performance set a standard to which all Custer portrayals are still compared. While riddled with inaccuracies  problems pointed out by numerous critics  the film adeptly intertwines Custers struggle with the government, his view of American Indians and his love for Libbie.

But it is Flynns portrayal of Custer that is of the utmost importance. Flynn once said, [I will] beremembered for Robin Hood, but [feel] Custer was one of [my] best characterizations. He was right, for he captured the spirit of Custer, inspiring a number of historians to begin studies of Custer and the American Indian wars. Paul Andrew Hutton, author of Phil Sheridan and His Army and editor of The Custer Reader, has said that after seeing They Died With Their Boots On for the first time, it quickly became my favorite film. Premier Indian wars historian Robert Utley claimed: I am a Custer nut because of Errol Flynn.He so stirred my imagination by his portrayal of General Custer in [the film], my career ultimately turned from law to history. Like Hutton and Utley, Flynns Custer became the spark that eventually led me to become a writer interested in race relations on the frontier.

The Custer image reached a crossroad during the mid-20th century when a new wave of negativity surfaced. Martinet and egotist still stuck, but in the 1950s and 60s, bloodthirsty racist bent on genocide and adulterer were added to his resume. Mari Sandoz, in the 1953 history Cheyenne Autumn, claimed that Custer sired a child with Monahsetah, whom he captured at the Washita. There is one major problem with this claim  Monahsetah delivered her child in early January 1869, less than two months after she was captured by Custer and his men.

In 1957 David Humphreys Miller based Custers Fall: The Indian Side of the Story on statements of aged Indian veterans of the Little Bighorn that he interviewed beginning in 1935. Unfortunately he provided no corroborative documentation. According to Miller, while riding to determine if he could see the village on the morning of June 25, Custer told Arikara scouts Bob-tailed Bull and Bloody Knife, If we beat the Sioux, I will be President of the United States  the Grandfather. In 1968 Sandoz, in The Battle of the Little Bighorn, embellished Millers earlier report by claiming that Custer had rushed to attack the Indians on the 25th because he needed a victory to secure the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis on June 27.

Since news of the tragedy didnt surface until July 5, it is highly unlikely that word of a victory would have had any chance of reaching the convention in time to affect its outcome. There is no firm proof anywhere that Custer craved the White House. One of the few known Custer quotes regarding politics came in a letter he wrote to Libbie in the fall of 1864: I believe that if the two parties, North and South, could come together the result would be a union closer than the old union ever was. But my doctrine has ever been that a soldier should not meddle in politics. Nevertheless, the damage had been done: Custers image had forever changed and the anti-Custer propaganda would continue, often becoming more and more negative.

Although TVs 1968 Legend of Custer portrayed him as true hero, in Thomas Bergers 1964 novel Little Big Man and the movie it spawned in 1970, Custer appears as a genocidal raving lunatic. Soon after the Berger and Sandoz books, Vine Deloria Jr. catapulted to the forefront of the American Indian Movement (AIM) with the publication in 1969 of Custer Died for Your Sins. A passionate  if biased  statement of the Anglo-Indian conflict, it became the battle cry for native people across America, as well as non-Indians who rallied to their cause. Delorias declaration that Custer was the Adolf Eichmann of the Plains pounded another nail into the coffin of Custers heroic legend. The Berger-Sandoz-Deloria image couldnt be denied, and it turned Custer, the long-haired hero of the idealized West, into a representation of all the evils of Manifest Destiny  an image the media readily embraced.

Into the 1970s, Custers name continued to be smeared: He came to represent bitter racial hatred. Poverty dominated Indian reservations and emotions ran high, leading to an armed confrontation between AIM members and the FBI near Wounded Knee, S.D., in 1973. Two agents and a native died. In his 1983 book, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, Peter Matthiessen claimed to document the FBIs war on AIM. And the tarnishing of the myth of Custer continued in what is perhaps the most accurate Custer film to date, the 1991 television miniseries Son of the Morning Star. Based on the biography by Evan S. Connell, it presents Custer as a bombastic, uncharismatic bore.

In addition, although purporting to be factual, Turner Films 1994 Lakota Woman: Siege at Wounded Knee, which dramatized the 1973 AIM-FBI 71-day standoff at Wounded Knee, added another lie to the negative Custer myth. Two minutes into the film, the main character, talking about the 1890 tragedy at Wounded Knee, states, Custers men shot down 300 Lakota men, women, and children. Custer had been dead for 14 years by the time of that massacre, and Indian casualties were half that number.

Yet Custer seems to live on in the national consciousness, and even the Custer experts seem hard-pressed to explain why. Historian Utley has commented: Everyone has heard the name Custer. For most, the name summons at least a fleeting image of a soldier who died fighting Indians. His true role in history cannot account for the nearly universal name recognition. For that explanation, one must probe the murky realms of mythology and folklore. Beneath the layers of legend, however, a living human being, possessed of a remarkable range of human faults and virtues, made his brief mark on the history of the United States.




ON FEBRUARY 20, 1855, seven years before Mathew Brady displayed pictures of the bloody battlefield of Antietam on the door of his New York photography studio, Roger Fenton sailed from London for the Crimea to photograph the British Army and its allies at war against Russia. N Taking a camera into battle was a revolutionary idea, and photography itself was a relatively new art form. There was no demand for journalistic images; newspapers and popular journals employed sketch artists and engravers to produce illustrations. Except for portraits, art photographs were luxury items purchased as books of views by private collectors. N Fenton was a major figure in British photography at the time. Born into an upper-middle-class family,he studied painting in London and Paris in the 1840s. In 1852, he took up photography, perhaps in response to the photographic exhibition at the first Worlds Fair, at Londons Crystal Palace in 1851.

Fentons photographs, like the Crimean War itself, teetered on the border between the past and modernity

A competent painter at best, he proved both a talented photographer and an innovative promoter of the art form. He helped organize popular exhibitions and created what would become the Royal Photographic Society. Several years before the Crimean War, he traveled to Russia, where he took the first known photographs of Moscow. He was also the favorite photographer of the royal family, taking pictures of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their children.

Fentons photographic expedition to the Crimea was partly commercial and partly official. Publisher and print seller William Agnew financed the trip in exchange for the right to distribute Fentons work. But it was the Duke of Newcastle, then secretary of war, who arranged Fentons passage on the transport HMS Hecla. Prince Albert provided Fenton with letters of introduction to the British field commander, FitzRoy James Somerset, first Baron Raglan. Fentons dual roles as a quasi-representative of Queen Victoria and commercial photographer in search of a salable portfolio would shape his experience of the war and his photographic compositions.

FENTON ARRIVED AT BALAKLAVA HARBOR, in what is now Ukraine, on March 8, 1855, with 2 assistants, 36 crates of supplies, 5 cameras, 700 glass slides packed in specially grooved wooden boxes, and a wine merchants van that he had converted into a mobile home and darkroom.

He took photographs under technically challenging conditions, using a cumbersome wet-plate technique. His large box cameras with their glass-plate negatives were unwieldy, and the regions oppressive heat made the collodion on the plates dry too quickly, so Fenton couldnt range far from his darkroom. Dust spoiled many pictures; more still were ruined by the jostling of what he described as the crowds of all sorts who flock round, each soldier hoping Fenton would take a portrait he could send home.

Royal patronage gave Fenton privileges not enjoyed by correspondents and artists who came to the Crimea for the London papers, but it could not protect him from the realities of the war. He occasionally came under enemy fire, his van apparently mistaken for an ammunition wagon even though Photographic Van was painted on its side in large letters. He was at the front in late March when the Russians made four sorties against the British and French trenches.

He observed the French capture of the Mamelon on June 7 and the unsuccessful attack on the Redan on June 18. (The Mamelon and the Redan were two of the Russian forts that protected Sevastopol.) He visited the field hospital, and his letters home give a vivid, if understated, sense of the battlefield. He turned his glazing eyes upon us, then closed them, panting vainly for breath. He died in a few minutes, he wrote of one soldier who had been at the Redan. News kept coming of well-known names henceforth only to be memories.

His photographs do not give such a sense. Unlike Brady and other war photographers who followed, Fenton did not take pictures of the dead and wounded. Explicit pictures of the horrors of war fit neither of his sponsored roles. Over the course of just 14 weeks, Fenton captured some 360 images that combine superb photographic technique and a painterly sensibility. With an eye toward historical importance and commercial viability, he took formal portraits of officers, occasionally in incongruous settings. He made studies of the more exotic troops who made up what he described as a Noahs Ark of an army: Zoaves, Croats, and Turks, not to mention highlanders in their kiltsthe equivalent of Orientalist character studies by contemporary painters. He created panoramic landscapes, views of encampments and mortar batteries, and cheerful group portraits of the ordinary soldiers who helped move his van across the rutted battlefields.

Some of his most engaging photographs are carefully staged scenes of soldiers in campessentially historical genre paintings created with film. Using neoclassical compositional rules, he arranged seemingly casual groupings, each focused on a slight action: hussars gathering around their cook fire, men playing with a dog, an officer relaxing with a glass of wine.

He also used the limitations of his medium to great effect, turning out-of-focus tents into a theatrical backdrop behind a shallow foreground and using the contrasts of the strong southern light to create bold geometric forms. The resulting scenes have the immediacy of snapshots despite their long exposure times and artful construction.

In addition to photographing the British Army and its allies, Fenton found a visual expression of the destruction of war in the barren landscape of the Crimea, which defied the picturesque conventions of English landscape art. His most famous photograph, The Valley of the Shadow of Death, became the iconic image of the war. The subject was a ravine given that name by soldiers because of frequent Russian shelling. The photograph is desolate rather than bloody. A painter would have presented the ravine at its dramatic height, under fire and complete with the lifeless bodies that Fenton eschewed. The photographer shows only what the warring armies left behind: a scattering of cannonballs on a road that seems to lead nowhere under a bleak sky.

ON JUNE 26, ILL WITH CHOLERA, depressed by the death of friends at the Redan, and running low on photographic supplies, Fenton sailed for England, two months before Sevastopol fell to Britain and its allies. After the war, Fenton continued to photograph various subjects, including some critically acclaimed still lifes.

But in 1862, after just 11 years behind the camera, during which he became one of the most prolific and versatile photographers of the 19th century, according to one biographer, he shocked the art world by quitting and returning to the practice of law. He died after a brief illness in 1869, aged 50.

Victorian audiences found an immediacy in Fentons war photographs that is lost to us today, obsessed as we are with the action and casualties of war. Dr. W. J. Thoms, editor of the journal Notes and Queries, wrote of them in 1855, The stern reality stands revealed to the spectator. Camp life with all its hardships, mixed occasionally with some rough and ready enjoyments, is realized as if one stood face to face with it.

Fentons photographs, like the Crimean War itself, teetered on the border between the past and modernity, abandoning the romanticism of history painting without yet reaching Bradys bloodied realism. A prescient review in the September 1855 issue of the journal Athenaeum predicted that Fentons photographs were the first step on a new road: As photographers grow stronger in nerve and cooler in head, we shall have not merely the bivouac and the foraging party, but the battle itself painted.
Just months after 23-year-old reporter Joe Galloway got to Vietnam, he found himself with Lt. Col. Hal Moore and his beleaguered 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment at Ia Drang. The epic Nov. 1965 battle, where Galloway took up arms to save soldiers livesfor which he received a Bronze Star with V Deviceforged a deep friendship between the two men. Their collaboration led to two books, We Were Soldiers OnceAnd Young and We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam, and the film We Were Soldiers Once, destined to be a classic on the war. Galloways storied career of reporting around the globe has spanned more than four decades. His unyielding commitment to truthand to Vietnam vetsis as solid as ever.

You were born just before Pearl Harbor. Did WWII have an impression on you?

I did not meet my father until the end of 1945. He was gone to war, as were five of his brothers and four of my mothers brothers. So my earliest memories are of living in houses full of frightened women, peering out the window for the telegram man. It kind of sensitizes you to that stuff. I was young, but I followed the Korean War too. I well remember a local boy, a Marine killed in Korea, coming home to a heros funeral.

Were you destined to be a war reporter?

I had read Ernie Pyles columns and his collected work and I thought if a war comes along in my generation, I want to cover it. And preferably as Pyle covered his war. I didnt see myself as doing it for a lifetime or a career.

Did you see the Vietnam War coming?

I was reading the early dispatches by David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan, Malcolm Browne and I knew we were going to have a war there and it would be our generations war. I was in Topeka, Kan., covering state politics and some juicy murder trials and things like that for the UPI.

How does a kid reporter in the Midwest get to cover Vietnam?

I thought it was be a big war and Ive got to see and experience this. I thought, its coming, and its my generations war and Im going to be there, come hell or high water. Id actually been working to get there since 1963. I just started writing a letter each week to my bosses, explaining why they should send me to Vietnam. Well, you know, right after the 1964 election was over, I got a call from my boss asking if you have a trench coat. I didnt know what he was talking about and I said no. He said, Well you better buy one, because youve been transferred to Tokyo. It was the UPI Asia headquarters, so at least I was propositioned for Vietnam. So I got out there in November 1964, and the first thing I did was put in for a transfer to Saigon. The chief laughed at me and said I just sent a second man to Saigon. Theres no way in the world well need any more than that. I said, Well, well see.

Did you know much about the place?

I read like a madman trying to get the history right and get a feel for this place and these people. There were many times that I wished some of those who were ordering this war and commanding it had done the same thing.

Your wish didnt take long to come true?

The Marines landed in March 1965, and they had to start shuffling people in, and I came along a few weeks later, in April. They shipped me in and I had two days in Saigon and then I was off to cover the Marines. I cut my teeth on the Marines and made every operation in I CorpsI even made a combat amphibious assault landing. I was only 23, but I had been working for UPI since 1961, and Id worked for papers for a couple of years before that.

Were you prepared for what you found?

Ive got to say I arrived knowing nothing about war firsthand. Id seen some John Wayne movies and such and I thought, with the Marines landing, I need to get there in a hurry because it might be over pretty quick.

How long before reality set in?

I was disabused of that notion pretty early on with the Marines. I hadnt even got to the black market to get fatigues and combat boots. I was still wearing chinos and loafers when Henri Huet, who was shooting pictures for UPI at Da Nang, dragged me onto a C-130 and we were off to someplace I didnt know. We landed in Quang Tri city. It was under so much heavy enemy pressure that the Americans would fly in to operate in the day but flew back out at night back to Da Nang. We got off that bird and Huet ran over to a Marine UH-34, talked to the crew chief and then waved at me to get on this thing. I still didnt know where we were going but were off and soon we were circling a hill in the middle of a rice paddy. I could see concentric rings of fighting holes and people in them. So we dropped down and landed, and the guy shut down the engine. When he did, there was literally dead silence on that hill and there was a battalion of South Vietnamese all dead. These guys hadnt had time to dig a proper foxhole, but just to scrape out a little depression. Their hands were out like they were still holding rifles, but all the rifles were gone. We were there to pick up the bodies of the two American advisers. We stayed that night at the MACV compound, and it got mortared and the ARVN compound across the road was hit with a satchel charge. I then began to wonder just how long this might war might take. It didnt seem to be going our way.

So, even before Ia Drang, you were having doubts?

No, it didnt take Ia Drang to convince me that we didnt have enough force to counter a guerrilla force the size of the Viet Cong, never mind the NVA. If you read your Clauswitz, you know you need 10 regulars for one guerrilla, and we sure didnt have that.

And the South Vietnamese werent up to it?

They didnt look to be. But its like we walked in and said, OK, were taking over this war. And, you know, the Vietnamese had been fighting a long time themselves and they were more than happy to sit back and see how we did.

So, your views of the war were getting shaped right away?

Shortly after I got to Da Nang, an old UPI hand, Ray Herndon, took me to meet a Vietnamese corps commander. He was a very intense guy and we were sitting there, drinking tea, when he leaned forward in his chair and said: Are you Americans serious about this? Are you here for the long run? Because weve been fighting this war for 20 years and if you come in and take it over, I want you to know if you cut and run, your helicopters taking you out will have people shooting at them, and it will be me and my troops. I sat there thinking, these are questions for Westmoreland, not me!

But, you were confident we could defeat the Viet Cong?

Well, at that moment I knew they were damn good local guerrilla boys, they knew the terrain and all the hiding holes and we didnt. They were very skilled at what they did and made do with not a lot. But they were more a nuisance if you were a Marine battalion unless they laid a battalion-size ambush, and then youd have your hands full.

How did Ia Drang affect you?

Thats when the chill really ran up my back, when the NVA were coming at us in division-size force. And those guys, there was no quit in them, they came through a sea of our fire to close with us. Hal Moore looked at me one time and said, You know, Im really glad we dont have to walk to work through that. Thats when I really realized that wed bit off a really big chunk here and I wasnt sure it going to turn out very well at all.

You thought that, but couldnt say it in your reporting?

I worked for UPI. We were not paid to have an opinion and if we did we were to keep it to ourselves. And for me, there was the other thing. I thought, This war we cant win but Im not going to say that, because I dont want to hurt my friends, the soldiers who are fighting this war. You know the one thing about soldiers is that if they are in combat and they are losing their friends and buddies, you cant tell them that they died for nothing. You cant say that, you wound them, you hurt them, you damage them. And that I could not do.

Do you regret that you couldnt express what you were beginning to believe?

I did the best I could through my pictures and my stories. I did go home on leave in 1966, and the local paper sponsored a talk about the war. I showed some of my pictures and I told them the truth as I saw it. I said: You know we are really up against it, and Im not sure this will come out well. This will take a lot longer and a lot more of your sons, and even then you have to know, if we are going to go into this thing, are you going to stick with it? Because this is going to be a lot harder than anybody thinks. I dont know what of that audience absorbed, you know, it was very early in the war and the folks down here are very patriotic.

Were they feeling the war directly by then?

There were probably 25 young men from a 100-mile radius around my hometown who fought in the Ia Drang Valley. Some of them were the best friends of my life and all but one of them was Hispanic. They were drafted, late 1963, early 1964. And who got drafted then? If mama had money to get you into college, you didnt get drafted or if you had some plausible excuse, but these kids got drafted.

Youve been called a soldiers reporter. Why is that?

It was the Ernie Pyle thing. I didnt go over there to cover Saigon politics, I was there to cover soldiers in the field, which was what I saw as my job. There were maybe 500 accredited correspondents at any give time in Vietnam, but I saw the same 15 or 20 on most of the operations or in most of the battles. There were just those people that did their job and it was the one they wanted to do even though it was not particularly easy to spend a lot of nights on the ground and in a foxhole and get shot at a lot. But if youre going to be reporting on soldiers in a war, thats where you have to be.

What was that experience like, diving into an operation?

Almost always the same. You hooked up with a company and you were dressed like they were, you marched alongside them and sooner or later there was time for a smoke break and youre sitting there in whatever shade you can find and the Marine or GI next to you looks around and says, Who the hell are you? When you say youre a reporter, he looks at you and says: Youre a civilian and youre out here with me? Damn, they must pay you a lot of money. When Id say, No, I work for UPI, the cheapest outfit in the world, hed say, Well, then youre crazy! Then the next guy down the line asks, Who is that guy? Hes a crazy damn reporter. But if you stay the night, and the next day you became their crazy damn reporter. And nobody understands crazy like the infantry. They didnt have much but they were the soul of generositythe grunts would share their last canteen of water with you. They didnt have much, but they would share it all, including their lives and their deaths.

Was it tough when guys you were with were suddenly gone?

I went out once to spend a day and night with an amtrac crew. Three days later they hit a mine and killed them all. Those things happen and they are stunning in the intensity of it. And as you get into worse fights, then youve got dead and wounded people all around you and, you know, you just have to do like the soldiers do. Youve got to do your job first.

And there is not time to deal with it?

There was one time General Moore was taking several of us who had been at a reunion out to the Fort Benning cemetery. I had a young woman photographer with us and one of the guys shed been talking to, Tony Nadall, whod been a company commander at Ia Drang, found the headstone of a sergeant who was his radioman on the first day at LZ Xray. There were five of them abreast with Nadall out forward when a burst of machine gun fire came across and killed the other four. Nadall didnt see it and couldnt hear it because of the din of battle. He only knew something was wrong when the cord on his radio stretched to the max. He turned back and saw them all lying there. Well, when he saw this tombstone, he just knelt down and wept. Later, the photographer asked him, You know, that was a long time ago, why are you weeping now? Nadall said: At the time nobody could stop to grieve, if we did stop to grieve for every man who was killed, wed all die. We had to keep going to do the job. We told ourselves wed deal with this some other time. Well this is the time for me, the first time Ive seen his name carved on that white marble marker.

Has time helped you all heal the pain?

It doesnt stop. It doesnt go away, I think we all know that now. Hal Moore and I used to hope, OK, well get the book done, that will close the loop. But, when all those men were dying around us, we were all young, we didnt know what life held, or even understand what those around us dying were giving up. You know, the joy of a wife, having kids and seeing grandkids, and shit, even the bad stuff that happens in life. So your appreciation of their sacrifices only grows as you understand more of what there is good in life, that they gave up. So the passage of years doesnt make it easier, in fact it makes it harder.

You also had to be a soldier.

Only on occasion, when it got so intense that I thought my helping would make a difference. And I have no apologies. It really pissed me off to have people shooting at me. You know, they gave reporters these lovely little ID cards, and in the tiniest print it said that I was a civilian noncombatant with the equivalent rank of major in the U.S. Army, and if I fall into the hands of the enemies of the U.S. Im to be afforded all the privileges they would afford a major in the army. You know your chances of waving that card at some guy with a bayonet on his AK coming at you are not very good at all. I figured, they didnt sign up for the Geneva Convention and I didnt either. The first time I was introduced to General Giap in Hanoi, he turned to me and said: Ah yes, the reporter who carried a rifle. I heard about you.

How did Hal Moore impress you?

I watched him in battle, I watched him back at base camp and I saw a man who was born to be a soldier, to be a commander. Ive known him for 46 years and we call each other best friends. He is the least changed individual that I ever met over those many decades. A man of high morals, high integrity. He likes to say that he graduated at the very top of the lower 20 percent of his class at West Point. He worked hard to get into and through that school, and he totally applied himself to the job of leading soldiers. On the boat headed for Vietnam in July 1965, he had a box of books with him. He was reading the history of the conflict, the country and the people. He became as knowledgeable as he could as fast as he could, so as to be more effective. He was the finest commander on a battlefield that I ever saw. He had the knowledge base with which to fine tune his instincts and he was focused like a welding torch. Of all of us on that battlefield at Ia Drang, there was really only one guy who was certain that we werent going down, that we were going to defeat that enemy in that place. Everybody else, including Sergeant Major Plumely, the three-war guy, had doubts. But out there, Hal Moore was supremely confident that we could do it, that we would do it, that we would prevailor at least survive

Your deep relationship was forged there and in subsequent operations?

When we left Ia Drang, we did get off by ourselves and talk. And any time he was planning an operation, he would get word to me or even sometimes send a chopper to get me and sometimes I would sit in on the planning. I was back and forth often and he would always put me with the 1st of the 7th. To this day, I consider that battalion my home in the Army. So I saw him often and then I marched with the battalion when it had other commanders, during my first tour.

Hal Moore left before you ended your first tour?

And I watched them try to get him to leave when his tour was over. He didnt want to. He kept saying, I got one more thing I need to do. And they had his replacement standing by for about a month, as he ran a couple more operations before he finally gave up and went home.

What finally got you to end your first tour, after 16 months?

My first tour lasted until September 1966, and I swear to God I would have stayed but for one thing, all my buddies had served their 12 months, or 13 if they were a Marine or Hal Moore, and they went home. All the sudden Im out there marching among a bunch of greenhorns, and thats a bad situation to be in. As the statistics show, its that first three months that youre in combat that you take 65 to 70 percent of your casualties for the year. Its a real steep learning curve, and if you are marching with them you are vulnerable to all the mistakes youve already seen made and you have to wait for them to wake up in the situation, and that can be depressing and dangerous. Sometimes I went on these operations with a Vietnamese who shot movie film for UPI. He was a veterannot sure which side he fought onof the war against the Viet Minh. We could be marching along with an American infantry outfit, through the rubber country, for instance, and Id see his eyes get real big and hed say to me, Mr. Joe, this is a bad situation, they dont have flanks out. He knew and I knew the VC could snap an ambush in rubber country from a quarter-mile on your flank and whack you before you knew what was happening. In a case like that, Id try, diplomatically as possible, to say something to the colonel, and sometimes theyd listen and sometimes theyd say, Who the hell are you to tell me how to run the battalion? And with that Id just put up my hands and say, Hey, the next helicopter that comes by, would you have it give me and my cameraman a ride out of here? You know, it was best just to leave.

Years later, you learned how your experience at Ia Drang was a model for the final thrust of the NVA?

We were desking the fall of Cambodia out of Saigon. And I was sitting there working on that when the end started in the Central Highlands. It all seemed very familiar. Later I talked to the NVA General Man. By 1975 he was senior general, but back in 1965 he was a division commander at LZ Xray. He was an old revolutionary and he had a twinkle in his eye as he told me: You know, we tried to cut the country in half with that operation in 1965, we were going to besiege Plei Me camp, draw a relief force out of Pleiku with the last of the troops there, draw them into regiment-size ambush, turn and take Pleiku and ride on down the highway to the coast. The only thing to stop that from happening was the intervention of the First Cavalry. You were able to bring artillery and hopscotch along with the relief column and really lay the air cover on, so our plan didnt work. So in 1975, all we had to do was pull that plan off the shelf, dust it off, make a few changes and this time it worked real good.

Are you amazed you survived more than two years covering the war?

When I was 23 living with my roommates in our animal house in Saigon, wed make book on who among us might actually live to see our 25th birthdays. Some didnt make it. Im the luckiest man you ever talked to.

Was the reporting coming out of Vietnam getting it right?

You know, it may seem counterintuitive, but I say it was mostly right. Now, the truth was not palatable to the politicians and certainly not the commanders at times, but I think the reporting in the field was pretty good. I know it was bought at a terrible price. Some 70 of my friends paid for those stories with their lives. I think the field reporting and reporting on the war itself by the people at the front, such as it was, was accurate. And one reason why it was so good was that I knew that I could go out with a company of Marines, and might spend three hours, three days or a week, and eventually I would leave and write a story and ship my pictures. I knew chances were real good that my story would run in Stars & Stripes. It might take weeks, but eventually my story would filter back to that company. Or, if it didnt run in Stars & Stripes, it would run in their hometown paper and mama would cut it out and put it in their next letter. And I knew I could see those guys again, and you really dont want to screw up a story about men who are armed and dangerous and who you will likely see again. It makes you a very cautious and careful reporter with the facts. That was one of the benefits of learning the trade in a deadly place. Im fortunate because I sort of came of age on the battlefields of Vietnam, professionally and personally.

Were reporters lied to by the military and government?

I would go back to Saigon and everyone there would be bitching and complaining about the Five OClock Follies. Theyd say, Joe, they are lying to us. Id say: Well, come out with me. Nobody lies to you within the sound of the guns.

Has Vietnam been the most uncensored war in our history?

Absolutely. Every war up to then had some form of censorship. WWII was absolute, every line of your copy had to be read by an official Army censor, every picture had to be looked at. They had absolute authority. They could take out a paragraph, a page or throw your whole story into the waste can. Reporters wore a uniform and were subject to the Code of Military Justice. Korea was not so much official censorship, but through control of communications and transport there was censorship by more subtle means. When you come to Vietnam, there is no censorship at all. You come in, you get a letter from somebody saying youre writing for them or are a staff member and you signed a one-page, five-paragraph set of simple rules of operational security, and thats it. In Vietnam, in 10 years I think maybe five correspondents had their accreditation removed for violating those simple rules. By contrast, I would say Im one of the few people who has ever read the embed agreement in 2003. It was 36 pages, single-spaced, and clearly had taken thousands of JAG man-hours to put together. Everybody signed it and nobody read it, including the battalion commanders. They were given their five media people and were told to take care of them. They would sit them down and say I dont know about this document, but Ill tell you how things work in my battalion. Thats how it worked.

If the reporting was so unfettered, how did the war become so unpopular and still drag on for so long?

On the whole, we did a good a job in reporting the war itself. I dont speak to politics in Saigon, or the efficacy, or lack thereof of our commanding generals and things like that, just about American soldiers at war.

In light of Vietnam, how could we have gotten into another decade-long war?

If there was a lesson to be learned from Vietnam experience, obviously we didnt learn it. The easiest thing in the world is to start a war and the hardest is to stop one and get out of it. Someone may be farsighted enough to see victory at the end of that hole in Afghanistan, but I dont. I dont even know how you could define victory there, unless it is just getting out alive. The puzzling thing to me is that we are all big boys and we learned when we were kids, especially if you lived in a city, there are neighborhoods you didnt go into. Yet, as a country and a people we dont seem to have a facility for picking out weaker people to fight. We pick out the ones who have the bark on em.

And we even had the Soviet experience to study to boot?

When I was in Moscow and the Soviets began making their move in Afghanistan, I hotfooted to see my minder in the foreign ministry. I usually went there to bitch about something, so he asked me, Why are you here, Joseph? I said, Im here to congratulate you, because youve invaded Afghanistan. Ill tell you, if you gave me the most powerful computer in the world and I have plenty of time to work out the one place for you to invade in the world so you could end up like we did after Vietnam, it would spit out Afghanistan. But you guys figured it out without the computer. He was outraged, but it was true.

Did you try to tell that story to someone at the Pentagon?

I wrote my column every week for eight years and tried my best to wave them off this war, to no avail. There are all these great books and history and all the lessons learned, but nobody seems to read itno politicians anyway. I look at those Afghans and Iraqis and their improvised explosion devices, IEDs, and they cost us 65 percent of our casualties in Iraq. We never saw the enemy; he blew us up from a quarter mile away with a cell phone, or 200 meters away with a garage door opener. People have no conception of what an IED can do. It makes your blood run cold. Try six 155mm shells in the bottom of the pit, onto that put 60 pounds of C4 explosives and just for fun put five gallons of gas on top of that. Then just put the road back over it and sit back until some Americans drive by.

How do you respond to those who claim the media lost the Vietnam War?

It wasnt the media. It wasnt me. It wasnt Peter Arnett or Walter Cronkite. The war was lost at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by a succession of American presidents. They all had a hand in it. It was easy for the embittered military officers, sitting around the clubs in the years after Vietnam to bitch and moan about how the press lost the war. We didnt do it. We did not lose the war. The media does not have the power now to start or end a war. But, frankly, I wish I could have gotten myself out of LZ XRay and sat down and written a story so powerful about that battle that it would have driven LBJ to withdraw the American forces and cut our loses. If I could have done that, if Id had that power, then there would only be some 1,100 names on that Wall in Washington instead of 58,270. And I would be proud to have carved on my tombstone, He stopped the war. But thats not the way it works, its not how it happened. The press didnt lose it, and we couldnt win it, all we could do was our job and that was to try to tell the truth about what was going on.

Beyond Washington, was our military leadership flawed?

It didnt help that the commander in the crucial years was William Westmoreland, who was a fine fellow and certainly looked every inch a general. But even his own aide wrote a book later about the war and said that Westmorelands idea was a strategy of attrition, and a strategy of attrition is the proof they you have no strategy at all. And certainly, attrition was never going to work there. There was never one year in the Vietnam War when we killed a number of the enemy that equaled or exceeded the natural birth rate increase in North Vietnam alone. So every year looking out into the farthest future there would be a fresh crop of draftees up there. We certainly were not going to win with those tactics and Im not sure what other tactic we could have used to win short of nuking North Vietnam and turning into a parking lot. And if we had, I guarantee our sons would be out there garrisoning that place now, and people would still be shooting at them.

How do you feel when vets say that the press stabbed them in the back?

Well, first of all there are not many people who will say that to my face. If theyve got a real bone to pick with somebody, its usually Cronkite or Arnett. All I can do is explain who did lose the war. If you really want to get down to why the war was lost, it is that our military was a draftee force that was at the height of the war taking 20,000 young men a month out of whatever comfortable life they had, giving them a very fast basic training and a little advanced, and bang, they are on there way to Vietnam. And what that meant was the coffins came home to every town and village in America. The first few boys that came back were viewed as heroes and affection was lavished on them and their families. But in a small town, by the third or fourth one, the people begin to wonder: How long is this going to last. When and how is it going to end? Somewhere there after Tet, the American people changed their minds about the war. It was costing too much, taking too many lives and it didnt look like it was ending any time soon.

Your emotions must be very mixed when thinking of the war?

Vietnam is so complicated. You know, these kids who went there and survived and came home, they werent given any kind of welcome to speak of. I dont know that everybody who thinks he was spat upon at the Oakland airport actually was, but I think the attitude of the people that represents was there, and the returning vets felt it deeply. It was shameful that the American people could not separate the war from the young men they sent involuntarily to fight it. And then turned their backs on them, thats the part that just drives me up the wall. These guys, the veterans of Vietnam, are such patriots. They still love this country in spite of all that, and I think most of them have forgiven the country. But Im not sure I have yet, not for anything done to me, but for what was happening to my friends. Im still angry on their behalf. I was proud to be permitted to stand alongside the men who fought in Vietnam, and Im proud to stand beside them today in the other wars they have to fight.

Did we learn from Vietnam that we must never turn our backs on our war veterans again?

We have to take care of them. I dont want to hear we dont have any money left because we pissed it all away on the wars that destroyed those people. Cough it up because you owe it, just like the Vietnam veterans and all the others. Youve got to do whats right. I cant say it better than Hal Moore, who says, Hate war, but love the warrior.

We sent them there, we owe them all of the support, all that we promised them. You know, I look at these kids today, pulling five or six tours in Iraq and now Afghanistan, and I know what 12 months in Vietnam could do to a kid, and I know what five or six such tours would have done to them, and its not pretty. We are going to be dealing with the consequences, and the cost, of taking care of many of those young men and woman for the rest of their lives. And every war weve ever had we say we will do the right thing, then somehow the money doesnt get voted in by Congress. Read Kipling:

For its Tommy this, an Tommy that, an Chuck him out, the brute!

But its Saviour of is country when the guns begin to shoot.
For the first time ever, researchers have sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of a 2,500-year-old Phoenician. Dubbed the "Young Man of Byrsa," the genome was sequenced using DNA from remains from Carthage, North Africa and suggests maternal ancestry located on the North Mediterranean coast, most likely on the Iberian Peninsula.

The new data is the earliest known evidence of the European mitochondrial haplogroup U5b2cl in North Africa. Haplotypes are genetic groups that individuals inherit from a parent.

"U5b2cl is considered to be one of the most ancient haplogroups in Europe and is associated with hunter-gatherer populations there," said Lisa Matisoo-Smith from New Zealand's University of Otago and lead author of the study. "It is remarkably rare in modern populations today, found in Europe at levels of less than 1 percent."

"Interestingly, our analysis showed that Ariche's mitochondrial genetic makeup most closely matches that of the sequence of a particular modern day individual from Portugal," she added.

Phoenicians are believed to have originated from what is now Lebanon. However, they also created settlements and trading posts across the Mediterranean and west to the Iberian Peninsula. After establishing themselves in the city of Carthage in Tunisia, Phoenician colonists from Lebanon used the port for trade.

During the course of the study, the team examined the mitochondrial DNA of 47 modern Lebanese people and found that none were of the U5b2cl haplogroup.

A previous Nature Communications study revealed that U5b2cl was present in two ancient hunter-gatherers in an archaeological site in northwestern Spain, which led to Matisoo-Smith to consider the possibility that Phoenicians made their way to Carthage due to Punic and Phoenician trading.

"While a wave of farming peoples from the Near East replaced these hunter-gatherers, some of their lineages may have persisted longer in the far south of the Iberian peninsula and on off-shore islands and were then transported to the melting pot of Carthage in North Africa via Phoenician and Punic trade networks," she said.

Over the course of history, Phoenician culture and trade has played a large part in shaping Western civilization, including the introduction of the first alphabetic writing system.

"However, we still know little about the Phoenicians themselves, except for the likely biased accounts by their Roman and Greek rivals - hopefully our findings and other continuing research will cast further light on the origins and impact of Phoenician peoples and their culture," Matisoo-Smith said.

The findings were published May 25 in the journal PLOS ONE.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A 4-year-old boy is home and doing fine after he fell into a gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo on Saturday, but some animal lovers and activists are questioning the zoo's decision to shoot and kill the gorilla to save the boy's life while a petition is even calling for the boy's parents to be held responsible for the animal's death.

Zoo personnel shot and killed Harambe, a 17-year-old mountain gorilla, after the boy fell into the enclosure and was grabbed and dragged by the animal, who seemed to act alternately protective and aggressive toward the child.

And on Monday, the woman who captured the video the incident that went viral, said she overheard the boy say he was going to breach the barrier and enter the enclosure.

"I heard the exchange while I'm waiting. 'I'm going to go in.' 'No, you're not.' 'I'm going to go in.' 'No, you're not.' The mother turns around to her other children," Kim O'Connor said.

Zoo director Thane Maynard regretted the endangered ape's death, but he said "the right choice was made."

Maynard said "the right choice was made" but expressed remorse that the Western lowland silverback, a critically endangered species, had to be killed.

"The zoo's in the business of taking care of endangered animals, and we don't want to be in the situation in which they have to be killed," Maynard said. "Harambe was a good guy."

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which maintains that animals should not be kept in captivity in the first place, also criticized the zoo for not having a second protective barrier between the gorillas' home and the public.

"Even under the 'best' circumstances, captivity is never acceptable for gorillas or other primates, and in cases like this, it's even deadly," the organization said in a statement. "This tragedy is exactly why PETA urges families to stay away from any facility that displays animals as sideshows for humans to gawk at."

However, some well-known animal experts applauded the zoo's actions, despite the unfortunate loss of the beloved primate.

"They cannot tranquilize it. It takes five to 10 minutes," said Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, also in Ohio, and a well-known TV personality. "We are all sorry. All of us in the zoo world are heartfelt for this thing, but thank goodness a human being is alive today because the decision the Cincinnati Zoo made."

The incident came about a week after zoo staffers in Chile shot and killed two lions to save a man who had entered their enclosure and stripped off his clothes.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
This week a new kind of hotel experience debuted in Amsterdam. The opening of the very first Zoku concept represents a real turning point, one where trend becomes design, and design becomes the hype. For years hotel strategies have skirted the evolution mobile, tech, and a stoked Millennial Generation. Now Zoku makes a first-of-a-kind concept hotel, one where business dissolves into pleasure. We talk a lot about the space where high tech trends intersected with guest experience and progress, but this hotel seems designed to create, rather than to prognosticate.

Zoku is Japanese for "family", and according to the creators of the new hotel synergy, it's a hybrid just in the nic-of-time. The evolution of business, the high octane, no-time-to-waste world has spurred a new work meets play lifestyle in every sector of business. Naturally, time crunching our lives has changed everything. And the need for business travelers to have a home-office away from home arose. Before Zoku, hotels only "bandaged" this hole hospitality. So, based on what we saw at Zoku's grand opening, a totally new category promises a cure instead of a bandaid. Zoku provides the services of an office, in an atmosphere where social buzz permeates.

(L to R) Zoku co-founder Hans Meyer, airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczykand and Zoku co-founder Marc Jongerius in Zoku's Living Room - During @startupfesteu 24 May, 2016. Photo by facebook.com/livezoku

The Zoku loft layout is Spartan, elegant, no-nonsense  Photo by Zoku and concrete

Aimed at true hotel industry disruption, Zoku visionaries, co-founders Marc Jongerius and Hans Meyer collaborated with the concrete concept geniuses, to create something truly stunning, and really logical too. Zoku seems intent on creating more than a building with nice beds and smiling faces. Meyer gives us clues as to the depth of design thought that went into creating this new class:

" Zoku reflects Amsterdam's modern values of diversity, entrepreneurship and creativity . Our objective is for Zoku to connect thinkers from various industries, and facilitate the emergence of a new hub where talented international travelers mingle with locals. "

Eat, sleep, work, hang out, pummel the punching bag  Photo by Zoku and concrete

The allusion is transparent here; Zoku melds geography, design, the architecture of business, and lifestyle into a sort of "summit magnet", a place not just to serve guests, but to cultivate socializing, and potentially the synthesis of ideas too. Inside the hotel contemporary design has been sculpted for beauty and utility, services like health and beauty are boosted by local wellness partners, and extended stay amenities are accentuated with connectedness features. Social spaces, Zoku's Sidekicks and Community Manager's efforts, and a new concept called "Better Together" really do show Zoku's differentiation. Better Together is a new kind of meeting space that helps promote openness and collaborative business-style.

The further convergence of technology onto the collaborative design of Zoku, reveals the visionaries teaming up with StayNTouch, to more perfectly connect guests to hotel staff. The Bethesda, Maryland innovators of cloud-based hotel PMS, leads the way in solving one of the industry's biggest problems. Guests of Zoku can tailor their experience via a touch of their mobile, and the hotel can streamline operations and efficiency as well. Jos Schaap, StayNTouch founder and CEO elaborated on how Zoku leapfrogs forward with this integration:

"This innovative property is a model for what a forward-looking hotel can be, offering full choice of service (without a front desk) for guests, the opportunity for full check in and out via mobile phone with 100% integration of mobile door lock technology, social engagement and digital promotions, and complete back of the house implementation of tablet-based communication for management and housekeeping - all provided via one simple cloud solution. The ultimate result is higher guest engagement and superior guest service - and we are pleased to help them drive it."

Other similarly progressive elements have gone into the planning of this first-in-a-class hospitality property. One innovation I was curious about at first, is the way Zoku Lofts are designed. The refocus on a living-centric space, versus a sleep-centric model disturbed me initially. Then the simple genius sunk in. Zoku exists the way we live and breathe. I recall my experiences in Paris boutiques, and the big-as-a-house beds that occupy the whole space. Puffy as they are, Paris hoteliers are "shooing" their guests out into the streets. Zoku rooms are not bedrooms, they are economical apartments without the upkeep and cost, situated inside a social sphere. At least this is one way of expressing what my first impressions are.

Zoku shared spaces promote create a seamless social-business climate  Photo by Zoku and concrete

The long and short of this new Zoku concept is, a new category of stay for business nomads has been created. And from what we've seen, Zoku's team has elevated the bar. They've created the benchmark for this "nomad" class of hotel. The founders tell us this first Zoku is the prototype. Logically located on Amsterdam's Weesperstaat, the home-office away is right next door to an international co-working spadce called WeWork. Smack in the middle of the so-called "Knowledge Mile" commercial buzz center of the city, Zoku clearly turned over every stone forging this new class of hospitality.

Zoku's PR people tell us the brand is set to roll out in London, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Berlin, Vienna and Paris next.

Phil Butler

Senior Partner

Pamil Visions PR
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The shooting at T.I.s Irving Plaza show on Wednesday May 26th resulted in four victims. BSB affiliate Ronald McPhatter died from bullet wounds, while Troy Ave (who is being held in custody for attempted murder) suffered a reportedly self-inflicted gunshot to the leg. Christopher Vinson, 34, was also injured by gunfire (but is now in stable condition), as was 26-year-old model Maggie Heckstall, who was struck with a stray bullet in the leg. Heckstall, who is said to be girlfriend of New York rapper, Maino, reportedly has plans to sue over the shooting and her subsequent experience with the NYPD.

Heckstalls lawyer announced plans to take those responsible for the shooting to court in a statement made to the New York Post, also suggesting that they could be pursuing a case against the NYPD. Emel McDowell, who is representing Heckstall, claims that her recovery at Bellevue Hospital has been interrupted by NYPD presence, as the police force has instated guards for her door and denied visitation from family members, which McDowell claims is unnecessary.



[Police] want to investigate and we get that, but dont make her life miserable because she took a stray bullet, McDowell said.We understand the NYPD is doing their job, but shes not under investigation Shes not in custody for the crime. She didnt ask for police protection. Shes obviously a victim in this. Theyre making her life worse by doing this.



A cease-and-desist letter has been sent to the NYPD calling for the removal of the guards.



McDowell reports that Heckstall has had a rod implanted in her leg to treat her injuries, and was in the green room of teh venue when the shooting took place. It was initially three, four shots, then another shot, then four more  pop, pop, pop. She felt the burning sensation, then started screaming and hit the ground.



Heckstall addressed her frustrations with the NYPD presence at the hospital on Instagram, stating that she does not know who shot her, and that she has not given a statement to detectives. I dont need protection. The bullet was a stray and my family coming to see doesnt tamper with the detectives investigation.



Troy Aves court date in regards to the shooting has been postponed as he undergoes surgery for his own gunshot injury. He has been charged with attempted murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon.





Maggie Heckstall
The upcoming WWII drama was highly sought after following it's premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

Bleecker Street eventually won out the rights to Anthropoid and announced a US release date of August 12 which must mean that we shouldn't have to wait much longer.

Anthropoid stars Jamie Dornan and Cillian Murphy as the two leads under the direction of the Oscar winner Sean Ellis. The real life drama follows the plot of the attempted assassination of the SS Commander General Reinhard Heydrich, the third in command of the Nazi party. 72 years ago on May 27 1942, Operation Anthropoid went underway in Plague. The top-secret mission saw two Czech soldiers parachuted into their homeland in order to carry out the assassination of 'The Butcher of Prague' Heydrich.

Speaking at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Dornan spoke passionately about the project; The first I learned of Operation Anthropoid is when I read the script, and I was blown away by it. I find fascinating that a story of that magnitude can exist and you not know about it. I thought its a very important story to be told and one I wanted to be involved in.

Murphy and Dornan are both kept busy with their own individual projects; Murphy is starring in the incredibly successful Peaky Blinders which was recently granted a fourth and fifth season. Meanwhile Dornan has just wrapped up filming Season 3 of Northern crime drama The Fall. We will let you know as soon as Anthropoid acquires its official Irish release date.
Houston's poet laureate wants to know: What's your favorite poem? And why?

Robin Davidson is asking Houstonians to name their favorite poem, whether it's a sonnet or a haiku, a classic or something new and experimental. She'll accept submissions for the next month, then put them in an anthology of Houston's favorite poems - a book that should reflect the diverse tastes and experiences of the nation's fourth-largest city.

After all, Houston is large; it contains multitudes.

"This project is a celebration of poetry as an art form, for sure," Davidson said. "But it also is intended to demonstrate its real and unboundaried reach."

Since she launched the project last month, Davidson has received a few dozen early responses. "Most of these people are poets, teachers and students," she said. "But I've noticed recently that we've had a few (submissions) from computer programmers, scientists, a biostatistician  ."

One woman submitted Walt Whitman's poem "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer." The short verse depicts a man listening to an astronomer's lecture, an oppressively tidy presentation of proofs and figures, charts and diagrams. "How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick," the poem ends, "Till rising and gliding out I wander'd off by myself, / In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, / Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars."

The woman who chose this poem recalled falling in love with astronomy in the fourth grade, when she visited a planetarium and got her first telescope. She opted to major in astronomy when she got to college, but "it felt all math, no awe." Then, in a course on astronomy and the humanities, "we read this poem. I went back to my dorm, cried, and switched majors the next morning." She didn't pursue astronomy, and Whitman's poem has stayed with her ever since.

That's the sort of story Davidson hopes to hear more of.

The Houston anthology was inspired by the national Favorite Poem Project, launched by Robert Pinsky during his three-year tenure as the U.S. poet laureate. In 1997, Pinsky invited Americans to share their favorite poems, and 18,000 people responded, sending in heartfelt notes about their favorite lines of verse. A portion of those poems were published together in 1999 as "Americans' Favorite Poems: The Favorite Poem Project Anthology." Since then, two more printed collections have followed.

"Americans are sometimes viewed as though we're all a bunch of yahoos who don't understand or like 'high culture' things like poetry," Pinsky said. He's quick to point out that this "unjust stereotype" is often applied to Texans - "indeed, even Houstonians."

"Maybe there's a civic pride in saying, 'Look, these people from Houston love poems from Williams Wordsworth and Emily Dickinson," he added.

More Information Submit your favorite poem: Search Facebook for "Favorite Poem Project Anthology: Houston" or go to calypsoeditions.org/favorite-poem-project-anthology. You'll be asked to submit the title and author of your favorite poem and, in no more than 200 words, explain why it's important to you. Submissions will be accepted through July 1. See More Collapse

These days, the national project focuses on producing videos, not books; its website, www.favoritepoem.org, features about 50 videos of Americans introducing and reading their favorite poems - works by William Shakespeare and Li Po, Julia De Burgos and Sylvia Plath.

Duy Doan, the Favorite Poem Project's director, organizes readings in cities across the country, where members of the community stand up to read their favorite lines. "You learn more about people," Doan said. "You'll have a police officer reading a T.S. Eliot poem. It's surprising."

Great poets: Click on these poets' names to hear some of their most famous poems being read. Emily Dickinson Maya Angelou Elizabeth Barrett Browning Shel Silverstein Wallace Stevens Edgar Allan Poe Elizabeth Bishop T. S. Eliot Langston Hughes Robert Frost

Davidson has known Pinsky for decades. In the mid-'80s, when she took graduate writing courses at the University of Houston, Pinsky filled in one semester for a professor on leave.

"What he had each of us do was craft a favorite poem anthology of our own," Davidson recalled. She assembled hers into a simple book, typing each one by hand, and has kept that collection for 30 years. Now she requires her own students to assemble anthologies.

When they're selected and gathered together, "those poems really become a part of your interior life," she said. "Words of wisdom or comfort, consolation, joy - those travel with you as you move through your life."

To choose poems for the Houston anthology, Davidson has assembled a team of Houston poets, including Rich Levy, who's also the executive director of Inprint.

"We're going to go through what I hope is a big pile of beloved poems," Levy said. And he's hoping that pile will include submissions from people of different ages and cultures, with a variety of interests, experiences and occupations.

"I think Houston is such a rich, interesting place," Levy said, "and it would be great for this anthology to capture that somehow."

Davidson plans to work with the Houston Public Library to set up a station at each branch, inviting visitors to submit their poems on the spot. Inprint, Writers in the Schools and other groups will reach out to students and organizations, urging people to join in. And anyone, of course, can go online to submit a poem from home.

One of the poems submitted already is "Revenge," by the Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali, which begins with a wish to kill: ("At times  I wish / I could meet in a duel / the man who killed my father") but grows more reflective and conciliatory with each stanza. The submitter heard the poem at a reading "and it blew her away," Davidson said.

Another one - submitted by a clinical researcher - is "The Lanyard" by Billy Collins, a funny but fraught reflection on the mother/child relationship. The narrator recalls weaving a lanyard as a gift for his mother at some summer camp of childhood: "Here is a breathing body and a beating heart, / strong legs, bones and teeth, / and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered, / and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp."

Right now, the anthology is scheduled to be published next April, which is National Poetry Month. It'll be printed by Houston's Calypso Press and will be sold online and at locations around town.

Davidson expects that many of the poems submitted will be in the public domain, but she has a small budget to buy the rights to reprint some newer poems. The project is sponsored by the Houston Public Library, the mayor's office, Houston Arts Alliance, Inprint and the University of Houston-Downtown English department, where Davidson teaches.

In the anthology, each poem will be accompanied by a short introduction from the person who submitted it. Those introductions will be an opportunity to see a poem - and a piece of the world - through someone else's eyes, Levy said. "That's one of the purposes of literature, anyway."

Pinsky himself believes there's a "civic aspect" to a project like this. He started the national Favorite Poem Project because he was determined to make poetry less exclusive and elite. For the national project's readings and videos, Pinsky and his staff specifically choose participants who aren't part of the writing community.

"I used to say, 'No poets allowed,' " he said.

Davidson is just as firm about making her anthology one that will represent all of Houston.

People see poetry "as an elite art form that's hard to understand, and it's just not true," she said. "There is no single audience for poetry. Poetry belongs to all of us."
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In the summer of 2000, just as the Tour de France was wrapping up and Lance Armstrong was about to win his second yellow jersey, I met a young winemaker named Louis Barruol at his property, Chateau de Saint Cosme, in the charming village of Gigondas in France's southern Rhone Valley.

I was a big fan of Barruol's grenache-based wines, having been turned on to them a couple of years earlier by Spec's buyer Bear Dalton.

Because Barruol, a genuine wizard in the cellar, already was selling a lot of wine in Houston thanks to Spec's, I was warmly welcomed. But there's no denying he was a tad irascible and highly opinionated, a man who wasn't remotely inclined to suffer fools gladly.

Straight away, he told me two things I've never forgotten:

1. Armstrong was doping.

2. Bulgaria had the potential to produce some of the world's greatest wines.

Enough said about the former. As for the latter, Houston is finally getting a chance to judge for itself thanks to Wine & Food Week, presented by H-E-B, which starts Monday and runs through the following Sunday in The Woodlands. Originally, 15 Bulgarian winery representatives were planning to make this inaugural pilgrimage to Houston - to the U.S., for that matter - to showcase what they're doing with varietals well known in the West but also indigenous grapes such as the red mavrud (the Greek word for black) and melnik and Bulgaria's most widely planted white, dimyat, which makes a sweet dessert wine.

The trip came together on short notice, though, so six failed to get visas in time. The nine "survivors" are traveling with Galina Niforou, a French-trained enologist and wine marketer who chairs the Bulgarian Wine Export Association and once worked at a winery in Long Island, N.Y.

At first, Food & Vine Time Productions' Constance McDerby, the brains and brawn behind Wine & Food Week, feared that Niforou had gotten seriously confused, believing The Woodlands was somewhere on the outskirts of Manhattan. And though Niforou admits she did "accidentally" become interested in Houston as a possible venue for her group's American coming-out party, subsequent research told her our city would be the perfect place.

"I see that it is the fourth-biggest town in the United States and that it has a strong wine culture," she said. "I really felt that we would be in the right hands."

McDerby, for her part, said, "I'm really passionate about discovering something new. That area (Bulgaria) was doing almost more wine production than any place in the world not very long ago and has been making wine for centuries."

More Information In its 12th summer, Wine & Food Week presented by H-E-B offers pleasures for foodies and oenophiles, culminating in the Wine Rendezvous Grand Tasting & Chef Showcase at the Marriott on Saturday, when $5,000 will be awarded to the champion chef. The theme this year is "New York State of Mind," and the guest "Wizard Gourmet" will be chef Tristen Epps of the Red Rooster and Streetbird Rotisserie restaurants in New York's Harlem. Also, Houston's Tony Vallone, whose eponymous restaurant celebrated its 50th anniversary last year, will be inducted into the Chef of Chefs Hall of Fame during the Saturday-night festivities. For more information and tickets, visit wineandfoodweek.com. Monday Wines of Campania, Italy, trade tasting: At Amalfi Restaurant, 6100 Westheimer. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Contact Christina Truong at christinat@foodandvinetime.com for reservations. Duckhorn Vineyards wine dinner: At The Refuge, 24 Waterway. 6:30 p.m. $95 plus tax and gratuity. 713-389-5674. Tuesday Dr. Konstantin Frank wine dinner with Denman Moody: At Nick's Fish Dive & Oyster Bar, 20 Waterway, No. 105. 5:30 p.m. $65. 832-419-8885. It's a Guy Thing: At Mercedes-Benz of The Woodlands, 16917 I-45. 7-10 p.m. $25 in advance, $30 at the door if available. JUNE 8 Women, Wine and All Things Fashionable: At The Woodlands Country Club, 100 Grand Fairway. 6-9 p.m. $25 in advance, $30 at the door if available. Eponymous Vintner's Dinner with winemaker Robert Pepi: At The Refuge, 24 Waterway. 6:30 p.m. $125 plus tax and gratuity. 713-389-5674. June 9 H-E-B Wine Walk: On the north side of Market Street. 5-8:30 p.m. $35 in advance, $40 at the door. (VIP package allows entry at 5 p.m. $75 in advance) Dona Paula wine dinner: At Americas, 21 Waterway. 7 p.m. $59.95 plus tax and gratuity. 281-367-1492. June 10 Ladies of the Vine luncheon: At Carlton Woods Country Club, 1 Carlton Woods. Noon-3 p.m. $85 in advance. Sips, Suds and Tacos: At The Woodlands Waterway Marriott, 6 p.m. $20 in advance, $25 at the door. June 11 Industry Trade Tasting of The New Wines of Ancient Thrace: At The Woodlands Waterway Marriott. 4-6:30 p.m. Contact Christina Truong at christinat@foodandvinetime.com for reservations. Northwestern Mutual Platinum Wine Vault Tasting: At The Woodlands Waterway Marriott. 4:30-6:30 p.m. $250 in advance. Revana Wines Master Class: At The Woodlands Waterway Marriott. 5:30-6:45 p.m. $55. Wine Rendezvous Grand Tasting & Chef Showcase: At The Woodlands Waterway Marriott. 7-10 p.m. $125 in advance, $135 at the door, if available. (VIP Experience, $175 in advance, $190 at the door if available). June 12 East Coast Oysters and Bottomless Champagne Brunch: At Nick's Fish Dive & Oyster Bar, 20 Waterway, No. 105. 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. $42. 281-419-8885. Wine & Food Week calendar of events See More Collapse

Like six millennia. How do we know? Because most of the gold relics that have been unearthed celebrate a passionately entrenched wine culture. And, before the Iron Curtain fell, the Bulgarians were producing a gazillion gallons annually, thanks to government subsidies. In other words, the Communists had their own "opiate of the masses." Most, unfortunately, was plonk.

But the industry regenerated and reinvented itself in the post-Soviet era. The cream rose to the top, and it's these best and brightest vignerons who are bringing their bottles to us.

Wine & Food Week visitors will have the opportunity to taste them June 9, at the H-E-B Wine Walk in The Woodlands Town Center, then again the next night at the Sips, Suds & Tacos soiree. The Bulgarians will have meet-and-greet tastings set up at both venues. Niforou will translate.

They'll also conduct a trade tasting on Saturday afternoon for potential importers/distributors.
HONOLULU - When you come upon an ocean bay that has features known as "Toilet Bowl" and "Witch's Brew," you may not envision a welcoming tropical oasis. But Hawaii's Hanauma Bay, nestled inside a breeched volcanic cone on the southeastern shore of Oahu, has some of the state's calmest waters, most pristine beaches and world-renowned snorkeling over coral reefs that teem with colorful fish.

For the second year in a row, a beach in Hawaii has been selected as the best beach in America by a Florida professor who's made a career ranking and studying beaches around the country. This year's top spot goes to Hanauma Bay, a picturesque nature reserve with gin-clear, turquoise water and abundant sea life.

Florida International University professor Stephen Leatherman, also known as Dr. Beach, uses about 50 criteria to assess and rank beaches across the country. In recent years, he has given extra points to beaches that prohibit smoking, saying cigarette butts are not only environmentally damaging, but can ruin the experience for beach-goers. Safety and environmental management are other major factors, he said.

"It's so safe and easy. A lot of times if you want to see those kinds of fish you've got to go offshore, you've got to go take a boat ride somewhere," Leatherman told The Associated Press in a telephone interview last week. "I've never seen so many fish swimming around your feet."

Other beaches that made the list this year, in order of ranking, are: Siesta Beach in Sarasota, Florida; Kapalua Bay Beach in Maui, Hawaii; Ocracoke Lifeguarded Beach on the Outer Banks of North Carolina; Coast Guard Beach on Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Grayton Beach State Park in Florida; Coronado Beach in San Diego; Coopers Beach in Southampton, New York; Caladesi Island State Park in Clearwater, Florida; and Beachwalker Park on Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

Hanauma Bay became a marine life conservation area and underwater park in 1967. In 1990, local officials formulated a plan to better protect the area. All first-time visitors who come to the popular snorkeling spot are required to watch an informational video that teaches them about preservation and conservation, as well as the safety rules for the bay. It's against the law to mistreat any marine life in the bay, and visitors are not allowed to touch or walk on the coral reefs.

Leatherman says Hanauma Bay was the first beach in the state to ban smoking because they found that fish were eating cigarette butts.

"We don't really want these cigarette butts on the beaches anyway, because kids eat them, too," Leatherman said. "They're disgusting."

Now all public beaches in Hawaii prohibit smoking, which helped give the edge to last year's winner, Waimanalo Bay Beach Park on Oahu.

Now in his 25th year of ranking beaches, Leatherman has reset the list and allowed all beaches to be eligible for the top spot in 2016. Until now, any beach that won previously had been disqualified for another win, and Hanauma Bay won the honor about a decade ago, Leatherman said.

"It's one of the most unique beaches in the world, there's no doubt about that," he said.

Safety is an important factor in Leatherman's decision, noting that the water in Hanauma Bay is relatively shallow and calm and that you don't have to go very far offshore to see the marine life. The park also has lifeguards posted across the beach and many signs warning visitors of the dangers that do exist.

The area is not without hazards, however. There have been 51 drowning deaths at Hanauma Bay since 1995.

Honolulu Emergency Services Department spokeswoman Shayne Enright told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday that inexperienced snorkelers often underestimate the dangers of swimming in the bay.

Only four of the 51 drowning victims at Hanauma Bay since 1995 were Hawaii residents, 28 were from other countries and the remaining 19 were from out of state, according to the Hawaii Department of Health.

Yichuan Chiang, who has lived in Honolulu for about 45 years and comes to the park three times a week to swim laps in the "Keyhole" section of the bay, says the fish, scenery and warm water are the reasons he loves the beach so much.

"I don't think there's any other place like this in the state," he said as the sun rose above the horizon on an early May morning. "There are probably 200 varieties of fish in the bay, so you're bound to run into some of them every time you're out there."

Hanauma Bay is closed to visitors on Tuesdays, Christmas Day and New Year's Day to allow the fish to feed without the stress of swimmers nearby.

President Barack Obama spent New Year's Day in 2015 snorkeling with his wife and daughters in the bay. They spent more than four hours at the site, which was closed to the public during their visit. The Obamas visit nearly every year.

There are only about 300 parking spaces available so guests should plan to arrive early if they want to drive to the bay. There are also tourist shuttle buses from Waikiki that operate daily.
Memorial Day is one of America's most confusing holidays. Depending on the celebrant, it can be a day of grief, gloryor backyard barbecues.

It's not a bad thing to have such disparate takes on a day of remembrance. And don't worry: You're not a bad person if you choose to sit back and enjoy your day off. But sometimes it pays to think about why we get the day off in the first place and ponder the mysterious forces that bind hot dogs, tears, and flags all together.

Decoration Day, as the holiday was once known, arose in the years after the Civil War as a way to grieve for the 750,000 soldiers who had perished over four bloody years. Families who stifled their mourning during wartime sought public ways to pay tribute to the fallen in peacetime. Understandably, graves become a focus for the bereaved, and mourners took flowers to cemeteries to decorate them.

This practice first received semi-official sanction in 1868 when General John Alexander Logan, the head of a large fraternal organization of Union veterans, designated a day each year "for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion." Southerners didn't take too kindly to this initial effort, but by 1890 all the Northern states had recognized the holiday.

This emphasis on the Northern dead wasn't just born of sectional spite. The ultimate sacrifice made by hundreds of thousands of men to preserve the Union elevated the value of the nation to its citizens. Lacking the traditional building blocks of other nations (such as centuries of shared history on the land or ancient blood ties), the U.S. had long had a difficult time forging a unifying national culture. The idealistic nature of American nationhood left people hungry for a more flesh-and-blood connection to their country.

It was the Union dead who first seemed to prove that America was more than a mere idea. "Before the War our patriotism was a firework, a salute, a serenade for holidays and summer evenings," wrote essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1864. "Now the deaths of thousands and the determination of millions of men and women show that it is real."

James Russell Lowell, the first editor of The Atlantic Monthly, thought that the enormity of the Union Army's sacrifice also proved something to condescending Europeans. "Till after our Civil War," he wrote in 1869, "it never seemed to enter the head of any foreigner, especially of any Englishman, that an American had what could be called a country, except as a place to eat, sleep, and trade in. Then it seemed to strike them suddenly. 'By Jove, you know, fellahs don't fight like that for a shop-till!'"

The holiday overcame sectional tensions around World War I, when Southernersthough many still revered the heroes of their Lost Causerejoined the fold, and the day's scope was expanded to honor Americans who died fighting in any U.S war. Commemorating the fallen is one way that governments rebuild the morale of nations that have suffered great loss. Even in victory, losses are real to families, and depictions of a triumphant nation thankful for its heroes can be comforting to a populace trying to move forward. The U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, also known as the Iwo Jima Memorialwhich was unveiled in 1954 in Arlington, Virginia, and shows five Marines and a Navy corpsman hoisting the American flag during one of the bloodiest battles of World War IIis the quintessential depiction of perseverance and a classic commemoration of war.

But in the aftermath of no war do grief and glory intersect seamlessly. The needs of the state, bereaved families, and surviving veterans do not always coincide. In his book Remaking America: Public Memory, Commemoration, and Patriotism in the Twentieth Century, Indiana University historian John Bodnar describes the main sides of the late 1970s and early 1980s controversy over the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. On the one side, he writes, were national leaders, many patriotic veterans, and private citizens "who saw in the monument a device that would foster national unity and patriotism." On the other were veterans who fought in Vietnam, people who cared about them, and bereaved families who were less interested in the memorial being a display of unity or patriotism than an expression of empathy for the soldiers who suffered and died. Empathy is paramount to the monument that was ultimately erected. The memorialwith the names of the fallen etched into black granite walls that sink into the National Mallwound up symbolizing, in Bodnar's words, "the human pain and sorrow of war rather than the valor and glory of warriors and nations."

The annual Memorial Day holiday doesn't elicit the same depth of emotional intensity as the planning of a permanent, national war memorial. But the interplay between grief and glory is ongoing. The politics and public reaction to war is ever-changing, and families who have lost soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan are likely to observe the day differently than somebody who has not had a relative in uniform since the Korean War.

Memorial Day also has divided the public in another way: between those who chose to observe the holiday and those who saw it as a chance for leisure time. While there's no way to accurately estimate the size of each group, historians Richard P. Harmond and Thomas J. Curran suggest it's likely that the latter always has been larger than the former. And that gap is probably growing wider.

Rather than harangue about some presumed decline of patriotism or gratitude in America, I'd suggest that backyard barbecues are also fundamental to Memorial Day's building of national morale. Yes, it is absolutely critical to remember the fallen and the wars they died in. But, as the 19th-century French scholar Ernest Renan argued, forgetting is "an essential factor in the creation of a nation." We also need to move beyond old divisions and the brutality of history. That, my fellow Americans, is where the hot dogs come in.

Gregory Rodriguez is the founder and publisher of Zocalo Public Square, where this essay first appeared.

Ponder the mysterious forces. Bookmark Gray Matters.
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The typically quiet Wilchester neighborhood off Memorial erupted into chaos Sunday morning, as a man armed with two guns opened fire on bystanders, police and even a helicopter.

Houston Police and SWAT team members swarmed the unsuspecting west Houston area around 10:15 a.m., hunting what they believed to be two active shooters. By midday, two people - one of whom was the shooter - were dead and six others injured, including two officers.

The gunman fatally shot another man and fired five bullets from an AR-15 rifle at a police helicopter circling over the scene before he was killed by a SWAT officer.

"We do not know what started this. But what we do know is that they were shooting randomly, just at whoever happened upon the scene," interim Houston Police Chief Martha Montalvo said Sunday afternoon.

One of the stray bullets likely sparked a fire that engulfed a portion of a nearby gas station.

Two constable's deputies escaped with minor injuries, and three other bystanders were injured, police said.

A second man armed at the scene, initially thought to be a second shooter, was seriously wounded but, like the others injured, is expected to survive. Police interviewed him at an area hospital, trying to ascertain his role in the incident.

Police have not yet publicly identified the suspect, victims or motive.

Blockades put up

The incident unfolded at 10:15 a.m. in the 13200 block of Memorial, as some residents were making their way home from church. The first officer responded to reports of an active shooting at Memorial Drive Tire and Auto, where he was "immediately shot upon" by a suspect, Montalvo said. The officer quickly called for backup and a SWAT team. The department later released a photo of the primary responding officer's SUV, its windshield and hood riddled with 21 bullet holes. Two other police vehicles were also struck by bullets.

SWAT members soon moved in, blockading most of the routes leading to the neighborhood as they secured the perimeter. Authorities told residents to take shelter and advised drivers to avoid the area.

For nearly an hour, the main suspect unloaded his ammunition on Memorial. He used a pistol to shoot a man in his 50s in the head as he sat in his car, said John Cannon, an HPD spokesman. Cannon said the victim, the only to die of his injuries, may have been a regular customer at the body shop. The suspect also sprayed bullets indiscriminately in the area, hitting three other bystanders, and fired repeatedly at a police chopper overhead.

One Precinct 5 constable's deputy was shot in the hand. Another was saved by his bullet-proof vest when he was struck in the chest. Both deputies were released from the hospital later Sunday. The three other victims, two men and a woman, were also transported to area hospitals but are expected to live.

Around the same time, a fire flared at a Conoco gas station across the street. Police said it may have sparked by stray bullet that struck a gas pump.

Finally, at 11:10 a.m., a SWAT officer trained his gun on the main shooter and killed him. His quick action prevented the situation from being "a lot worse than it was," Cannon said.

"They just did a phenomenal job, everybody who was involved," said Ray Hunt, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union.

After the main suspect had been killed, police went door-to-door in the neighborhood, interviewing witnesses and ensuring all victims were accounted for, Montalvo said.

As police continued to investigate throughout the day, witnesses in a nearby parking lot helped piece together the day's events, Cannon said. Those statements and an interrogation of the second armed man will be used to determine whether he was affiliated with the main shooter.

Into the evening, a bomb squad combed the scene for unspent ammunition.

'Scared for my family'

The violence left residents feeling shaken and bewildered.

Sean Stone, 49, lives in a small cul-de-sac on Pebblebrook off Wilcrest, where the SWAT team stationed their vehicles and team members.

When he began hearing gunfire, Stone was inside his home. At first he didn't recognize what was happening, but the sound of the second round of shots was "plain as day." He shepherded his family into the home's interior, away from the windows. He saw a swarm of police officers, but he was still worried about the assailant running in the area on foot.

"I was scared for my family," Stone said. "It was pretty unnerving."

By late afternoon, yellow tape surrounded his neighbor's home. He said SWAT officers had entered earlier in the day because the house's backyard had a clear view of where the gunmen had been.

Stone, the director of a conservation organization, said the incident was uncharacteristic for a residential neighborhood that sees very little crime.

"It's phenomenal," he said of the area. "We live in the bubble."

Across the street, Bill Schwartz witnessed some of the shootout firsthand. He and his wife passed the tire center on their way home from church at 10:10 a.m. They chatted about how they might get their car detailed there soon.

Schwartz, 62, said they saw a shirtless man with tattoos, who he said he later realized was a gunman. Another man had his hands up.

When the couple heard a loud pop, at first they thought it was a blown tire. Then more gunfire ensued, sounding almost like firecrackers, Schwartz's wife remarked to him.

When they returned to their home of 25 years, officers told them to go inside. When Schwartz emerged later, he was told one of the suspects had been shot but the other was still actively firing at officers. A retired staffer from Houston's Parks and Recreation Department, Schwartz said he later learned from a police friend about the helicopter, which he was told landed in a nearby parking lot after it was hit.

Schwartz said his wife was afraid. He wished he could assist somehow.

"I was trying to see what I could do," he said. "But we're not armed."
ROME - The migrant ships kept sinking. First came a battered, blue-decked vessel that flipped over on Wednesday as terrified migrants plunged into the Mediterranean Sea. The next day, a flimsy craft capsized with hundreds of people aboard. And on Friday, still another boat sank into the deceptively placid waters of the Mediterranean.

Three days and three sunken ships are again confronting Europe with the horrors of its refugee crisis, as desperate people trying to reach the Continent keep dying at sea. At least 700 people from the three boats are believed to have drowned, the U.N. refugee agency announced Sunday, in one of the deadliest weeks in the Mediterranean in recent memory.

The latest drownings - which would push the death toll for the year to more than 2,000 people - are a reminder of the cruel paradox of the Mediterranean calendar: As summer approaches with blue skies, warm weather and tranquil waters prized by tourists, human trafficking along the North African coastline traditionally kicks into a higher gear.

Taking advantage of calm conditions, smugglers in Libya send out more and more migrants toward Italy, often on unseaworthy vessels. Drowning deaths are inevitable, even as Italian coast guard and navy ships race to answer distress calls. Last year, more than 3,700 migrants died in the Mediterranean, a figure that could be surpassed this year.

In a statement Sunday, the U.N. Children's Fund said many of the migrants who drowned in the past week were believed to be unaccompanied adolescents.

The grisly week also underscored the complex problem that the refugee crisis poses for Europe. The Continent's leaders, facing an anti-immigrant backlash in many countries, have signed a controversial deal with Turkey that has sharply reduced the migrant flow into Greece; last year, roughly 1 million people marched through the Balkans toward Germany.

Yet closing the Greek route has shifted attention to the longer, more dangerous sea route from Libya to Italy. As of Wednesday, roughly 41,000 migrants had been rescued at sea after leaving Libya, nearly the same number from the same period last year, according to the United Nations and the International Organization for Migration.

The potential for a sudden increase in traffic is clear: An additional 4,000 migrants were rescued Thursday alone, the same day that as many as 550 people died on the second migrant boat that sank.

"This was a very intense and exceptional week for the number of fatalities," said Federico Fossi, a spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

The deaths also point to the lack of solutions to the migrant crisis, which has been exacerbated by the violent chaos in Libya and fueled by the conflict in Syria.

Officials with the refugee agency have been interviewing survivors of the three shipwrecks after they have been delivered to Italian ports. Those interviews ...(Continued on next page)
HAVANA - Fidel Castro responded Monday to President Barack Obama's historic trip to Cuba with a long, bristling letter recounting the history of U.S. aggression against Cuba, writing that "we don't need the empire to give us any presents."

The 1,500-word letter in state media titled "Brother Obama" was Castro's first response to the president's three-day visit last week, in which the American president said he had come to bury the two countries' history of Cold War hostility. Obama did not meet with the 89-year-old Fidel Castro on the trip but met several times with his 84-year-old brother Raul Castro, the current Cuban president.

Obama's visit was intended to build irreversible momentum behind his opening with Cuba and to convince the Cuban people and the Cuban government that a half-century of U.S. attempts to overthrow the Communist government had ended, allowing Cuban to reform its economy and political system without the threat of U.S. interference.

Fidel Castro writes of Obama: "My modest suggestion is that he reflects and doesn't try to develop theories about Cuban politics."

Castro, who led Cuba for decades before handing power to his brother in 2008, was legendary for his hourslong, all-encompassing speeches. His letter reflects that style, presenting a sharp contrast with Obama's tightly focused speech in Havana. Castro's letter opens with descriptions of environmental abuse under the Spaniards and reviews the historical roles of Cuban independence heroes Jose Marti, Antonio Maceo and Maximo Gomez.

Castro then goes over crucial sections of Obama's speech line by line, engaging in an ex-post-facto dialogue with the American president with pointed critiques of perceived slights and insults, including Obama's failure to give credit to indigenous Cubans and Castro's prohibition of racial segregation after coming to power in 1959.

Quoting Obama's declaration that "it is time, now, for us to leave the past behind," the man who shaped Cuba during the second half of the 20th century writes, "I imagine that any one of us ran the risk of having a heart attack on hearing these words from the President of the United States."

Castro then returns to a review of a half-century of U.S. aggression against Cuba. Those events include the decadeslong U.S. trade embargo against the island, the 1961 Bay of Pigs attack and the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner backed by exiles who took refuge in the U.S.

He ends with a dig at the Obama administration's drive to increase business ties with Cuba. The Obama administration says re-establishing economic ties with the U.S. will be a boon for Cuba, whose centrally planned economy has struggled to escape from over-dependence on imports and a chronic shortage of hard currency.

The focus onU.S.-Cuba business ties appears to have particularly rankled Castro, who nationalized U.S. companies after coming to power in 1959 and establishing the communist system into which his brother is now introducing gradual market-based reforms.

"No one should pretend that the people of this noble and selfless country will renounce its glory and its rights," Fidel Castro wrote. "We are capable of producing the food and material wealth that we need with work and intelligence of our people."
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Taliban militants overran several checkpoints in southern Helmand province and killed at least 25 policemen over the past two days, officials said Monday, in the first major assaults in the province since the insurgents named a new leader last week.

While the Taliban made major inroads in Helmand last year, the violence had seemed relatively contained in recent months, after broad changes by the Afghan Army there and a new influx of U.S. troops and advisers. But the fighting has once again intensified, with an increased tempo of attacks in the districts of Nad Ali, Gereshk, Sangin and Marja, as well as in Babaji, a suburb of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah.

Death toll varies

Gul Agha, a commander of Afghan Local Police militia forces in Gereshk District, said Taliban fighters overran five checkpoints in the district bordering the provincial capital and killed 12 fighters and executed their unit commander.

"A local commander named Safar Muhammad Akka was dragged and hanged in Yakhchal area of Gereshk by Taliban," Agha said. "He was an old man, but very anti-Taliban."

A regional police commander, Esmatullah Dawlatzai, put the death toll at 25 members of the national police and Afghan Local Police militia fighters, with an additional 15 wounded, across three districts over the past two days. But the head of the Helmand provincial council, Abdul Karim Attal, said Monday that as many as 35 to 40 policemen were killed or wounded in the past 24 hours of fighting across several districts.

Attal said the government had repeatedly announced operations to clear Taliban threats, but little progress had been made.

"The reason is that the security officials are involved in corruption - they are selling weapons, bullets and want to continue the same condition," Attal said. "If we don't see keen focus to change the overall security policy here, we will lose the province."

After their supreme leader was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan, the Taliban announced the promotion of his deputy, Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, as their new leader Wednesday. As happened with the insurgency's leadership change last summer, officials expect violence to escalate after the selection of Mawlawi Haibatullah, a former judge with deep religious credentials but who is not known for military victories.

Following a pattern

However, Farhad Dawari, a university lecturer and analyst based in Lashkar Gah, said the escalation in Helmand followed the patterns of previous years and probably had less do with Mawlawi Haibatullah's selection.

The Taliban use the winter months for training and the early spring months to reap the taxes and other benefits from opium fields. With those two things behind them, he said, the insurgents will begin pressing the Helmand provincial capital again.

"What we are hearing is that the Taliban's elite force is trying is to make its way from Musa Qala District and is set on taking Lashkar Gah," Dawari said.
Child hunger

Regarding "Feed the children" (Page A22, Wednesday), follow the path of a hungry child. Look into his eyes and you will see many things: despair, depression, anger, loneliness and more. A child who comes to school without eating is one who can't focus on learning, often falls asleep, gets in trouble. It starts to spiral downward. Being poor does not mean you are not smart. There are so many things involved if children come from food-insecure households.

Don't give me numbers and percentages. Feed every child in need breakfast and lunch and a sack lunch for the weekend. These kids are going to grow, in spite of our ignoring them. They will be getting into gangs, violating other laws and start out in juvenile detention, then on to prison where really learn how to be a criminal.

Poverty is not the crime. Not doing something for our children is.

Noel Foreman, Houston

Politicians

Regarding "In the case of election disaffection, vote"(Page A15, May 24), how is it possible that we will almost certainly end up choosing between two of the most disliked candidates for president in history?

Is it that only power-hungry people with little or no integrity would even consider running for president or is it that voters are too apathetic to even understand what is going on much less to change it?

We have come to accept that our choice will be the lesser of two evils, but the current choice is beyond the pale and demands that changes must be made. Politics is recognized as a dirty business and causes many people of good character to avoid going into it. We cannot tar all politicians with the same brush, as there are some who do serve with honor and integrity. But they are few and far between.

We must ask how we have allowed this situation to develop and take the necessary steps to correct it.

Ralph Tibiletti, Spring

Historical notes

Regarding "Mexican-American text is courting controversy" (Page A1, May 23), provide our Mexican-American, Hispanic and other children with a true and well-documented history of our ancestors' contributions to our country because that documentation does exist. This is the history that children (and some adults) need to know because, after all, pride and knowledge are what we want to instill and provide them with - a pride in their country and how we and all of our ancestors have contributed to its greatness.

As a former educator, I know that the State Board of Education should be challenged on this issue and I know that our professional educators deserve a better and appropriate curriculum than the one proposed on our Mexican-American culture. Knowing our educators, they will not want this to be part of the school curriculum.

Sylvia Garza, Sugar Land

Obama-speak

Regarding "Obama: World leaders rightfully 'rattled' by Trump" (HoustonChronicle.com, Thursday), Obama's negative remark about Trump in Japan was way out of line.

This subject should have never been brought up there, or any other country. It is an unpleasant reminder of his previous apologies for this country when addressing foreign audiences.

Jane Scoppa, Pearland
Few Americans will awake in peril this Memorial Day because many others have done so during our nation's history, some this morning. It is a time to honor those who died in harm's way, paying the price for our freedoms. It is well we remember their sacrifice. Life cut short. Families with an empty chair at the table. A kid whose parent never walks back through the door. A fiance never married. A friend whose letter comes back unopened. A batting champ who never gets an at-bat. A poet whose poems are not written. Songs unsung.

In 1944, my cousin Pete was the kid whose dad never came back through the door. His father, tailgunner Gene Nixon of Newcastle in North Texas, was killed when his plane went down in the European Theater. He left a widowed wife, baby Pete and parents too young to lose a son. The death was very personal then, long forgotten now. His story is not special because Gene was my uncle; it is important because millions of Genes put themselves on the line without fame or fanfare out of duty to country. Duty often comes with a high cost of which we should be more mindful.
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Many of our biggest companies are doing it: Adobe, Gap, Netflix, and GE. Microsoft has played with it. Yahoo is being challenged in court for not doing it. And the world of Human Resources is buzzing about it. Whats it? Im talking about taking steps to rework traditional performance management and its attendant performance reviews, an increasingly hot topic now that the tide has shifted to understanding that old-school performance management simply doesnt work. The intent of traditional performance management  to drive organizational performance and support individual development  is solid. But I firmly believe that review programs destroy trust between management and employees. They also do little to advance either the development of employees or of the organization as a whole. Im not alone: a 2014 study by Deloitte showed that only 8% of companies felt their performance management processes drive a high level of value. And a recent Corporate Executive Board survey showed that 95% of managers arent satisfied with their organizations performance management processes. The same survey showed that 90% of HR professionals dont believe their companies performance reviews provide accurate information. It also reported that 66% of employees say the performance review process interferes with their productivity. I could keep going, but I think you probably get my point. &qu...
Companies working to recruit and retain todays top talent need to be strategic and creative when executing a talent acquisition plan.Based on insights from 24 global experts, Korn Ferry Futurestep has put together a list of talent trends that have emerged during the past 12 months as well as those predicted to dominate during 2016. The trends that Futurestep believe will shape the global recruitment and talent management industry in 2016 are: 1. Candidates are in the drivers seat 2. Investment hiring to edge out competition 3. Smart data to source and develop talent 4. Streamlined HR technologies enabling centralized global recruitment 5. Candidate Concierge Experience 6. Talent from within will be realized as a true asset 7. Graduate recruiting for today and into the future 8. Embracing diversity proving key to growth 1. Candidates are in the drivers seat According to McKinsey's 2015 Global Growth Model study, from 2005-2015 there were three times as many workers as retirees. By 2025, the ratio of workers to retirees will be 1:1, making the candidate pool much smaller. Couple that with a need for specialized employees, especially in the technology and life sciences fields, and it is clear candidates are in the drivers seat. Often entertaining multiple job offers, workers are choosing the employer whose values align with their own and one that lays out a clear path to career advancement for them  making a stro...
ecent case seen by the Employment Relations Authority is debunking a common Kiwi misconception that casual workers arent subject to the same rights as standard employees.Member of the authority Rachel Larmer was presiding over a case in which Waikato employer Timbertank had dismissed project manager Gary Maiden after 17 years on the job.Timbertanks administration no longer wants to use you, rough and ready, tank cleans not being done and return trips for leaking liners meaning a different approach was required, Maiden was told via text. Sorry and good luck.Maiden filed a personal grievance following the digital dismissal  which came without notice or valid reason  but the water-reservoir building business insisted he couldnt pursue the claim because he was a casual employee.The Employment Relations Authority, however, quashed the notion.Timbertank believes that because Mr Maiden was a casual employee (who was only employed on an as required basis so had no minimum hours, pattern or days of work) then he cannot pursue a personal grievance claim. That is a misconception, stated Larmer.An employee such as Mr Maiden who has no set or regular work pattern is still subject to the rights and protections of minimum code legislation. He was not working under a valid trial period, she continued.Larmer also clarified that Maiden was not employed on a fixed-term basis because none of the requirements laid out in the Employment Relations Act were met.Ultimately, Larmer found that Timbertank failed to comply with its good faith obligations because Maiden was dismissed without warning. She also found that the company violated procedural fairness tests and didnt have an adequate reason for dismissing the long tenure employee.She went on to award Maiden six months actual lost remuneration, which she instructed to be calculated based on his average weekly earnings over the last six months of his employment.In addition, Larmer ordered Timbertank to pay Maiden $9,000 for the hurt, humiliation and stress he suffered as a result of the unjust dismissal.The company was also forced to cover $1,750 of Maidens legal costs as well as $71.56 to reimburse his filing fee.
dman Sachs Group has announced it will revamp performance reviews for its 36,500 employees. The bank will get rid of the current system  which rates staff on a scale of one to nine  and bring in an online system which collects and provides continuous feedback.Employees want more direction with respect to how they can improve, Edith Cooper, global head of human capital management at Goldman Sachs told Wall Street Journal.When asked about improving internally conducted surveys, staff wanted more frequent and constructive feedback, according to a companywide memo the publication saw.The new online system, Cooper hopes, will produce more frequent one-on-one conversations between employees and managers, she said.Cooper also said the bank would provide staff with specific instructions on how they could improve in the future instead of simply grading their work from the previous year.With current economic conditions meaning thousands of senior job cuts for banks, the morale of junior staff members has become even more imperative. The new performance evaluations are hoped to go some way towards this.Ranking performance on a numerical scale can be difficult on all workers, Josh Bersin, principal at Deloitte told the Wall Street Journal. The person receiving the rating is now stuck with the number for an entire year that labels them, he said.Deciding to supply more frequent feedback is a natural move for a competitive organisation such as Goldman Sachs, Ryan Frankel who used to work in the firms special situations group told WSJ.The new system would allow workers to course correct and elevate their own performance, he said.Goldman Sachs will also retain its 360-degree annual performance reviews through which staff gain feedback from managers and certain colleagues.
Efforts towards a guaranteed basic income are now official policy of the Liberal Party of Canada  though not necessarily that of the federal Liberal government.

Delegates to the partys convention last week voted in favour of a grassroots resolution declaring that the Liberals, in consultation with the provinces, develop a poverty reduction strategy aimed at providing a minimum guaranteed income.

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Under a minimum guaranteed income, or basic income, governments would replace numerous benefit programs such as employment insurance or Old Age Security with a single, regular paycheque to all households, regardless of income or status.

Proponents say the policy would reduce inequality and provide a measure of financial security for households at a time when many jobs are being lost to technological change. Opponents fear such a policy would create a disincentive to work  though what research exists suggests this would not be a major problem.

The resolution doesnt commit the federal Liberal government to any course of action on the basic income.

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A spokesperson for Social Development Minister Jean-Yves Duclos stressed to HuffPost Canada in an email that party policies are not automatically governmental policies.

That makes the resolution a somewhat weaker commitment than the one the Ontario Liberals made earlier this year, when they announced in their latest budget their intention to run a pilot project on the basic income.

Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa, has said the province will launch that pilot project this fall.

"It's something that many people seem to have an interest in us testing out, so we're looking at something in the fall," he said. "Other jurisdictions are using it, and I want to see if it makes sense for us, so it's important for us to pilot, to test it out, and see what happens."

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The basic income idea has gained political support in recent years, and policymakers in some places are putting it to the test.

Finland plans to outline a basic income plan for its citizens later this year, while the Dutch city of Utrecht launched an experiment in January, involving welfare recipients, to see what effect a basic income would have.

The Swiss will vote in a referendum this Sunday (June 5) to decide whether to implement a basic income of some C$3,200 per month  much more generous than most basic income proposals and experiments.

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The Liberal Party resolution suggests a basic income would be revenue neutral  it would not cost the government more than the current patchwork of social programs it would replace.

It cites an experiment carried out in Dauphin, Manitoba in the 1970s, which showed that, during the experiment, hospital visits dropped 8.5 per cent, with fewer incidents of work-related injuries, and fewer emergency room visits from car accidents and domestic abuse."

Additionally, the period saw a reduction in rates of psychiatric hospitalization, and in the number of mental illness-related consultations with health professionals.

 With earlier reporting and a file from The Canadian Press

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Add Canadian oil giants to the list of people who are calling bulls*** on U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The presumptive Republican nominee said last week he would approve TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline so long as the U.S. government took a "share of the profits," The Hill reported.

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"I want the Keystone pipeline, but the people of the United States should be given a significant piece of the profits," he said.

"That's how we're going to make our country rich again, and it's how we're going to make America great again."

Trump made the remarks ahead of an energy speech in North Dakota on Thursday. He said the U.S. government should receive a share of the pipeline's profits both because the project is traversing American land, and because "we're making it happen."

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But Trump's comments didn't impress Brian Ferguson, the CEO of oilsands operator Cenovus Energy.

Ferguson told Business News Network (BNN) that Trump needs an education in how energy projects work.

"It would be my expectation that if [Trump] were to become president that his advisors would explain the economic benefit to him of having more Canadian heavy oil available to U.S. refiners," he said. "[Also] to the construction jobs, those sorts of things."

A spokesman for TransCanada wasn't impressed either.

"The role of the U.S. government in such transactions is that of a regulator  ensuring various laws and regulations are followed  and granting appropriate permits," James Millar told The Hill.

"We would expect to continue to follow this model that has been in place for decades."

In his speech, Trump outlined his "America First Energy Plan," which aims to increase U.S. energy production by getting the "bureaucracy out of the way," among other things.

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The Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry crude from the oilsands to refineries in the U.S., forms a key part of his energy strategy. In his announcement of the plan, he slammed U.S. President Barack Obama for rejecting the pipeline despite a State Department report saying it wouldn't likely alter greenhouse gas emissions around the world.

As part of his plan, Trump says he'll ask TransCanada to "renew its permit application for the Keystone pipeline" and that he will "lift moratoriums on energy production in federal areas."

Encouraging though that may be for the industry within the United States, the "America First" strategy is also a source of concern for Cenovus, as Canada's oil and gas industry depends almost completely on the U.S.

"Having a level playing field is really all that Canadian industry wants and is asking for, whether it's on environmental policy or ... access to markets," Ferguson told BNN.

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A Children's Book About Donald Trump's Hair That's Perfect For Bedtime See Gallery
Millennials, or those born between 1980 and the mid-1990s, have dominated media and marketing for the greater part of the last decade. Known for their love of social causes, social media, socialism and all other things 'social,' they are now the largest generation in the world. With $2.45 trillion in spending power, they have used their influence to push fashion brands to be greener, faster and more digitally savvy.

Ironically, as pop culture lurches towards the final season of "Girls," Lena Dunhams penultimate love letter to Millennial ennui, it may also be twilight for her generations reign over the popular zeitgeist. On the horizon, the dawn of a new cohort is shedding light on whats to come: Gen Z.

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   A photo posted by Girls on HBO (@girlshbo) on Apr 2, 2014 at 1:59pm PDT

Born immediately after the Millennials, between the mid-1990s and approximately 2010 (give or take a year or three), Gen Z are the first generation after the world wide web  making them the first true digital natives (read: addicts).

With 92 per cent online daily and 24 per cent online constantly, they went from the playground to plugged in short time. And while they may not have much money now as teens, in just four years they will represent 24 per cent of the US workforce and 40 per cent of consumer spending. For fashion brands hoping to start a lifelong relationship, step one is understanding theyre not just mini-Millennials.

"On the horizon, the dawn of a new cohort is shedding light on whats to come: Gen Z."

As Farla Efros, president of retail strategic firm HRC Advisory, tells HuffPost Canada Style, "I think the fundamental difference is their savviness with online and the Internet, and the number of devices. I think thats one piece. I think the other piece is theyre very much out there; everything they do is on social media, especially Youtube."

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Calvin Klein Jeans Limited Edition capsule @calvinklein #MyCalvins A photo posted by Cameron Dallas (@camerondallas) on Apr 27, 2016 at 3:42pm PDT

"I think the fundamental difference [between Gen Z and Millenials] is their savviness with online and the Internet, and the number of devices."  Farla Efros, president,HRC Advisory

As Linda Chang, VP of Merchandise for Forever 21, tells HuffPost Canada Style, "With the rise of social media, teens have access to fashion 24/7. We understand that more than simply having a presence, we need to engage our Gen Z customers. Their favourite styles are available to them with a simple tap of their phone, and its important to be part of that."

As Chang continues: "We have conversations with them, and we listen to their feedback. They ask us for something and we do our best to meet their needs."

Brands should heed her advice. Started by her father, Don Chang, Forever 21 had $4.4 billion in sales last year. Alongside fellow fast fashion mainstays H&M and Zara, they dominate the market with a combination of price and style sensitivity.

Summer vibes on full blast #F21Insiders @sidewalk.stories (shop link in bio) A photo posted by forever21 (@forever21) on May 12, 2016 at 9:00am PDT

For fashion retailers hoping to emulate Forever 21s success with Gen Z, being relevant online and on mobile has become a do-or-die adjustment. The problem is, this generation is spending less on clothes and more on tech, meaning retailers have to work extra hard. Those who dont risk disappearing faster than a photo on Snapchat.

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Look to Aeropostale: the former teen mall giant recently closed all its Canadian locations. Unable to compete with the prices and designs of fast fashion brands like H&M and Zara and relying too heavily on physical retail spaces, the brands worth fell from $2.6 billion to about $2 million USD.

"With the rise of social media, teens have access to fashion 24/7 ... their favourite styles are available to them with a simple tap of their phone, and its important to be part of that."  Linda Chang, VP of Merchandise for Forever 21.

Aeropostales reluctance to leave their formerly tried-and-true logo designs may have been what was ultimately lethal to them. Social media-savvy Gen Zers are exposed to so many different styles, theyve grown to value individuality over conformity.

As the New York Times reports: "47 per cent of the youths [Futures Company] surveyed (ages 12 to 17) say they 'care a lot about whether their clothes are in style,' compared with 65 per cent for millennials surveyed in 1999." Their viewpoint is already have a down-up effect on mainstream fashion  for evidence, look no further than Gen Zer Jaden Smith dressed androgynously for Louis Vuittons SS16 womens campaign.

The Heroines by Bruce Weber for #LVSERIES4 with @christiaingrey In Tampa, Florida, the group takes to the street with the haughty insouciance of an idealistic age, when the world holds nothing but the promise of conquest. @NicolasGhesquiere #LouisVuitton #LVSS16 A photo posted by Louis Vuitton Official (@louisvuitton) on Jan 7, 2016 at 9:26am PST

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Social media isnt the only driving forces behind Gen Zs purchasing decisions; they are also highly socially conscious, even more so than Millennials. On a limited teen budget, theyll only spend on brands that reflect their values  and will ravenously research a companys history to ensure it does.

Not only are they actively teaching themselves, but they are also teaching their parents. As Efros notes: "Gen Z is so tapped in that theyre educating the parents and helping them make the right choices. Especially around anything animal-based and furs."

"Social media-savvy Gen Zers are exposed to so many different styles, theyve grown to value individuality over conformity."

She points to more pervasive environmental values during their childhoods  or, as she puts it, "growing up green"  as the root of their social consciousness.

Ultimately, the brands that will survive and thrive are those that can provide value for dollar and a values-oriented ethos  alongside strong digital and social strategy. And there is hope: unlike its peer Aeropostale, American Eagle tapped into these insights and has seen sales climb.

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As Efros shares, "[American Eagle] went back to basics. They went back to what theyre so good at, which is great jeans, great denims, great shorts, great basics at a reasonable price. Theyre not the cheapest by far, but its really reasonable. And its stylish, and casual, and doesnt really go out of date."

The brands Aerie line has also made headway with its 'Aerie Real lingerie campaign. Featuring un-retouched images and real women like 19-year-old plus size model Barbie Ferrieria, its been a big win. As Business of Fashion notes, in the first nine months of 2015, same-sale stores of the Aerie brand rose 17 per cent.

As the Gen Zers move out of their teens over the next few years, what should fashion retailers keep in mind? Efros says, "Theyre pushing the status quo. Theyre making us think harder and faster and be more nimble. Theyre forcing it. And theyre not accepting it.

"As retailers, thats why its so important to study them. We can learn a lot from them."
Albertans are out of step with with the international scientific community due to their reluctance to link the Fort McMurray wildfires to climate change, Naomi Klein told a Calgary audience Sunday.

"It is still something of a controversial statement to say in Alberta. People think it is somehow not compassionate, not polite, to make the connection with climate change, and I just want to say though it is difficult we have to do it," Klein told the audience at Congress 2016, an annual academic conference held this year at the University of Calgary.

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Environmental activist Naomi Klein says climate change is one of the causes behind the Fort McMurray wildfires. (Photo: Adam Berry/Getty Images)

The wildfires in northern Alberta destroyed thousands of buildings and forced more than 88,000 people to flee their homes.

Experts have said there could be multiple, complex causes behind the wildfires including the regular weather phenomenon known as El Nino.

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"Climate change is unlikely to explain the specific timing of this event in April to May, instead natural variability associated with an extreme El Nino event likely enhanced the dry warm conditions that generated the extreme fire weve seen in central Canada," wrote climate scientist Paul Roundy in a blog about the wildfires.

But Klein told the audience, "This is, yes, El Nino, but it is El Nino supercharged with climate change. Thats why temperature records are being broken all around the world.

"Its hot, way hotter than it should be, and its also dry because theres less precipitation, and thats why boreal forests are burning at a rate unprecedented in 10,000 years."

Klein suggested the best solution to extreme weather events is to keep fossil fuels "in the ground." She jokingly acknowledged the irony of making the argument at a university where some of the overflow audience was seated in a room named after Husky Oil.

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Thousands of people were forced to flee as a massive wildfire entered Fort McMurray in early May. (Photo: Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Klein softened her comments by talking about the resiliency of the evacuees and the generosity of those  including the University of Calgary  who have taken them in, but some still felt her remarks were ill-advised.

To take our tragedy and turn it into part of your advocacy feels inappropriate, Donna Kennedy-Glans, a former Alberta MLA, told the Calgary Herald.

Calgary-based Friends of Science  an anti-climate change organization  was furious with Klein's comments, sending out a torrent of tweets accusing the University of Calgary of giving a "platform to industry-destroying ideology."

"To take our tragedy and turn it into part of your advcoacy feels inappropriate."

Another Congress 2016 speaker, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, told the audience it wasn't helpful to pin blame directly on the fossil fuel industry.

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Capitalism vs climate, I dont get that, Nenshi said on Saturday, referencing the title of Klein's talk.

Were moving to a low-carbon future, but theres still a role for carbon," he added, according to the U of C's blog.

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Canada is among many developed and developing countries facing a shortage of nurses, according to a survey released from job-indexing site Indeed.com earlier this month.

Jobs for registered nurses make up more than one per cent of all postings in Canada  a large portion given the hundreds of different positions employers hire for.

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The situation doesnt seem as dire in Canada as it does in some other countries.

In the U.S., 8.4 per cent of all job postings indexed by Indeed.com are for nurses. Nursing jobs account for 3.4 per cent of all hiring ads in the U.K.

The current supply of nursing talent is not keeping up with skyrocketing demand, Indeed.com said on its blog. Weve all heard technology jobs are notoriously hard to fill  but in fact, in the U.S. today its actually harder to find nurses than software engineers.

Indeeds assessment lines up with recent data from Statistics Canada. Most of the jobs with the largest number of vacancies in Canada were low-paid, with a notable exception: Jobs for nurses and aides and orderlies.

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The country could be short as many as 60,000 nurses by 2022, the Canadian Nurses Association estimates.

No guarantee of employment

An aging population across much of the world is behind growing demand for nurses, Indeed says.

The average age of employed nurses is rising as well, from 42.7 in 2000 to 44.6 in 2010.

But rising demand for nurses' services isnt necessarily a guarantee of a job. Nurses in Canada continue to face job cuts when governments announce tighter spending measures.

Nurses leaving profession

Montreal is experiencing gridlock at its emergency rooms after the provincial government cut costs by integrating a number of hospitals and reducing staff, the Gazette reported earlier this month.

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Many staff, many nurses have exited the system, a Montreal health care manager told the newspaper anonymously.

Nurses recently protested cutbacks to front-line nursing staff at some Ontario hospitals as well.

Were hearing horror stories in communities where these cuts are occurring, Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said earlier this month. She added that nurses are under an epic level of stress.

But Health Minister Eric Hoskins reaffirms the overall number of nurses in Ontario has grown by about 8,000 over the past four or five years. Were employing many new nurses, he said.

Better work conditions, please

The stress that comes with a nursing job is among the things holding people back from choosing the profession, Indeed says.

When hospitals have insufficient staff, nurses are overworked, stressed out and more likely to be dissatisfied with their jobs. As a result, patient care can suffer," the report says.

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It can also be emotionally taxing, and the hours are often long and irregular  with the result that healthcare employers often struggle to fill roles.

Among Indeed's recommendations to attract more people to the career: Better compensation, greater professional autonomy, stronger management and training programs, and more flexibility in location and scheduling.

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Alija via Getty Images Pregnant woman looking at departure monitor

Reports of Zika virus are terrifying for expectant parents. The disease is usually banal for the average person, with mild symptoms that rarely escalate to anything more than a few days of feeling under the weather.

However, the virus has the potential to cause two major complications: Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which your immune system attacks your nerves; and serious birth defects in unborn children, including a brain defect called microcephaly.

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Babies with microcephaly have heads that are smaller than the typical size of other babies of the same sex and age, which can mean that the skull and brain stopped developing either during the pregnancy or after birth. Severe microcephaly is an extreme form of the condition.

How can you get Zika? The disease can be contracted in areas of active outbreaks via a specific type of infected mosquito or can be sexually transmitted.

Here is a list of countries and territories where cases of the Zika virus have been confirmed. If you're expecting or planning to become pregnant, these are the places you should be aware of.

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Canada, United States, Mexico, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Barbados, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Barthelemy, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua, Guadeloupe, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Cuba, Dominica, Saint Lucia

Brazil, Colombia, Suriname, Paraguay, Venezuela, French Guiana, Guyana, Ecuador, Bolivia, Curacao, Aruba, Peru, Argentina, Bonaire, Trinidad and Tobago

France, Spain

Cape Verde, Uganda, Tanzania

Maldives, Vietnam, South Korea, Bangladesh, Laos

Tonga, Marshall Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, New Caledonia, Kosrae (Federated States of Micronesia)

Canadians should remain informed when making travel plans, but the Government of Canada reports that the risk of acquiring Zika, even when travelling to affected countries, remains low.

There are currently no Canadian CDC Level 3 travel warnings, meaning essential travel only, for Zika-infected areas. All of the Zika travel warnings are currently Level 2, meaning travellers should practice enhanced precautions.

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If you are travelling to an affected country, take safety measures against mosquitoes, including full coverage, appropriate repellents and remaining inside in places with window and door screens, as well as air conditioning.

To learn more about the Zika virus, check out four things pregnant Canadians need to know.

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Portra Images via Getty Images Close up of son holding his mothers hands in hospital

On June 6th, the Supreme Court of Canada's decision concerning "medical assistance in dying" will take effect with or without a federal law to control it.

The adoption of bill C-14 or the Carter decision's coming into effect will certainly give place to appeals within the court system to widen the use of euthanasia in Quebec, available to its citizens for the past five months. Pressures will also be felt to provide assisted suicide as defined by Bill C-14: "the prescribing or providing by a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner of a substance to a person, at their request, so that they may self-administer the substance and in doing so cause their own death."

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Today, I wish to address myself especially to the persons that have "a grievous and irremediable medical condition, (including an illness, disease or a disability) that causes enduring suffering that is intolerable." [1.]

Oftentimes, I repeat that the Church's position is not to highlight the value of suffering.

The life you have received, the breath that sustains you, the personality that characterizes you are imprinted with beauty, nobility and greatness. The love you have received, the love you have given are always present and make you -- like all of us -- people that are vested with great dignity in all circumstances. What you have been, what you are today require, among other things, respect, accompaniment and appropriate care to help you grow to the very end.

To respect the sanctity of life, the Catholic Church firmly opposes euthanasia and assisted suicide. She deplores that all the scenarios put forward by the federal government eventually allow a growing number of people to ask to end their life.

Oftentimes, I repeat that the Church's position is not to highlight the value of suffering. Yes, faith can give a sense to suffering, but Christians, just like Jesus, wish to avoid suffering when possible: "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done" (Luke 22:42). I am firmly convinced that God loves us with an eternal love, just as we are here and now, and until our death when he will receive us with open arms. Just listen to our emeritus Archbishop Maurice Couture's recent conference on our diocesan web television ECDQ.tv to be convinced of it.

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Until next June 6th, I collectively challenge ourselves. You surely know a person who can recognize him or herself in the Quebec and (soon to be) Canadian criteria for access to medical assistance in dying. Listen to that person express to the very end his or her suffering and fear. Tell that person that he or she has a great worth in your eyes and will always be able to count on your presence. Remind him or her of your unconditional love.

The calls for assistance in dying usually disappear when suffering people are well accompanied. Doctors and palliative care personnel have so many times witnessed it to me. I thank them for pursuing their role in this new legislative context in Quebec. Their efforts to relieve physical and moral suffering carry real fruits and investments in palliative care must continue. For those who oppose euthanasia -- still a majority -- their objection of conscience must be protected. If a doctor does not wish to refer a patient to his medically provoked death, the doctor's wish must be respected without being questioned.

I also want to thank the caregivers. The present debate puts us at risk to forget their dedication, courage, strength, but also their sense of presence to others and their respect for life. These persons have a great need to be recognized and supported.

My personal journey in accompanying people in end of life situations confirms to me that it is dangerous to allow permission to provoke the death of another person, even with his or her consent. Not only does the law dictate, but it educates and gives a demand of the right and a suggestion of duty. With time, customs are affected and the rarity of the gesture cedes way to habit. In my humble opinion, it is a very sad "progress." We have the responsibility, the mission to accompany with gentleness and tenderness the life of our close ones who suffer, and that, without recourse to a law that promotes death. In this context, we are invited to prevent this suicidal mode by choosing to recognize the dignity of life.

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[1.] This description corresponds to the Canadian Supreme Court's decision to amend our criminal code by June 6th to offer "medical assistance in dying."
Sam Edwards via Getty Images Businesswoman sleeping in office chair

As I write this, I'm in England visiting my family. While this is a trip I've taken many times since emigrating to Canada seven years ago, it's the first time I'm doing so as a full-time entrepreneur. Previous trips involved asking permission to take time off from a day job -- something I resented immensely. I'm a grown woman and I'll take time off when I want to, thank you very much - that I would ultimately return to two weeks later.

But this time it's different. I'm my own boss. If I choose to stay in England for an extra week or, hell, an entire month, there's very little that inhibits me from making this decision. Having this level of freedom is the very reason I started my business in the first place. It was my sole motivation behind setting up a digital practice, too.

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One that allows me to pick up my office -- my MacBook and its accessories plus my iPhone -- and hop on a flight to wherever the heck I please. And the whole experience has prompted me to cast my mind back to those days when I was working a full time day job while I was setting up my business. It was my reality for around 18 months and it's still very much fresh in my mind.

I didn't talk about it at the time. I chose not to share with prospective or current clients why I was able to meet them at 3pm on a Tuesday. The reason? I had started working at my office job at 7am that day to enable me to leave early and arrive on time. Why wasn't I more open about this? Well, to put it bluntly, I was embarrassed. I thought having a day job made me less of an entrepreneur. Now look back and realize I was simply an entrepreneur at an early stage of her journey.

There are many of you who are currently experiencing this. So if you're reading these words from your office cubicle, I have some encouragement for you. There is a long list of business moguls who rolled up their sleeves and worked a 9-to-5 as they built their empire. Here are just three of them.

The brilliant Sara Blakely is the well-known founder of Spanx, but what you may not know is that she worked a day job selling fax machines for the first two years of her business and sold her hold-em-ups in the evenings. She of course went on to quit her day job, but only once she was sure her business model was solid and she had a steady cashflow from those sales. It goes without saying that it paid off massively. In 2012, Sara Blakely was named as the world's youngest self-made female billionaire and today Spanx is sold in more than 50 countries throughout the world.

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The British business mogul is arguably one of the world's best known entrepreneurs, owning more than 200 companies in over 30 countries with an estimated net worth of $4.9 billion. But did you know his current success can be attributed to a venture he started to make ends meet? Yep. Back in 1966, he dropped out of high school and founded a magazine named Student. He needed funds to help grow his publication and so he started a mail-order record company called Virgin. It became a bricks and mortar store on London's Oxford Street and in 1972 he was able to build a recording studio. And we all know where the story goes from here.

Raised by a single Mom in Queens, the Shark Tank regular built his empire on good old-fashioned elbow grease. Without enough money to go to college, Daymond John diligently worked as a waiter at Red Lobster. Around this time, he was inspired by the thriving hip-hop scene and decided to create clothing under the name of For Us By Us (FUBU). The first items were sewn by him and his mother in their living room and with time and hard work, the items became popular. By the early 90's, FUBU clothing was featured in music videos by artists like Beyonce. Today, the former waiter has an estimated net worth of $250 million.

A bonus tidbit of information for you -- a paper in the Academy of Management Journal found that entrepreneurs who take on a full-time or part-time job to support building their business cut their risk of failure by a third. Yep -- a third.

If you're reading this at your dreary office cubicle and feeling exhausted by your side hustle, rest assured that you are simply earning your stripes as an entrepreneur.
Vergil Kanne via Getty Images

The current presidential race may have many Americans looking to immigrate to Canada but the IRS will follow them across the border

The U.S. presidential race is certainly interesting to watch from Canada. And as the primaries continue, it would appear that people in the U.S. are starting to explore their options beyond voting for the candidate of their choice. Some people don't look at either choice as being ideal.

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Searches that involve the phrase "immigrating to Canada" seem to be growing and some Canadian communities are seeing it as a marketing opportunity to attract new people. So if the possibility of Trump or Clinton becoming president may make you think about leaving the country, there are some things to consider beyond just immigration rules if you want to come to Canada.

U.S. citizens are taxed based on residency and citizenship. Even if you come to Canada, you will probably still have to file a tax return with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) every year unless you also decide to renounce your citizenship. Renouncing your citizenship is not an easy task and you cannot use it to solve any tax issues. Once you give up your U.S. citizenship, you cannot get it back with a few exceptions.

The U.S. Canada Tax Treaty does mean you will not be taxed twice on your income. Usually, the taxes you pay to Canada on your Canadian income more than offset what you would pay in the U.S. But Canada and the U.S. do not treat some tax deferred plans the same way. For example, if you set-up a Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) in Canada, it does not receive the same tax treatment by the IRS. Or if you have a Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA), Canada will only allow tax deferral if an election is made in the first year you arrive in Canada and you do not contribute to it while residing in Canada. In fact, there are some investments that U.S. citizens living outside of the country should not consider because of the tax implications.

But the treaty does help on other fronts.

A 401K - the U.S. equivalent of an employer-sponsored Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) - can be left in the U.S. and will continue to grow tax deferred in U.S. and Canada. But it will be taxable in both the U.S. and Canada when you start withdrawing funds. On the U.S. side, when you take money out of a 401K, it is considered a distribution and will be subject to both income tax and a 10 per cent penalty tax if you are under 59 and a half years old when you receive it - with a few exceptions. The distribution will also be taxable in Canada, but you can use the tax payable and 10 per cent penalty towards a foreign tax credit.

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Unfortunately, you cannot transfer a 401K to Canada - only a traditional IRA. But there will still be US tax consequences with the possibly of a 10 per cent penalty if it is done before the age of 59 . It usually involves a direct transfer which means the funds are moved from one financial institution to another without ever touching the beneficiary. If you have contribution room, you can always just deposit some or all of the distribution into an RRSP to avoid immediate Canadian tax implications.

Once you move to Canada, you can contribute to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and there are specific instances when you can contribute to U.S. Social Security if you choose to for another five years. This would at least get you past Trump's or Clinton's first term. When it is time to collect Social Security, you will be given credit for the amounts paid into CPP and Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) if you have not earned the right to collect from both.

Besides your taxes, there are other issues to consider. Your credit does not automatically transfer when you cross the border and can make it difficult if you want to secure a mortgage or even a credit card. If you plan on buying all your furniture on credit, you may need to juggle your finances until you build a Canadian credit rating.

And value all of your accounts and assets on the day you enter Canada. You will need the figures if you decide to return to the U.S. and have to pay the Canadian exit tax. Or if you decide to sell or dispose of your accounts and assets.
mokee81 via Getty Images Severely distraught young man sitting in front of a computer with a judgmental hand pointing at him from within the computer monitor which shows the man being either computer bullying bullied or Facebook social media stalking stalked.

In just one decade, social media has become an integral part of everyone's lives. Over 1.6 billion people have created profiles, collectively posting hundreds of millions of photos every day, and tweeting six thousand times every second -- indeed one recent survey revealed that Canadians socialize more online than in real life.

Which begs the question, if we're all having such a great time socializing, then why does study after study indicate the country is suffering from rising levels of anxiety, stress, depression and even suicide? The latest research suggests up to 20 per cent -- or one in five -- of Canadians under the age of 19 are affected by a mental illness.

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One explanation can be found in Professors Wiszniewski & Coyne's groundbreaking contribution to the 2002 Cambridge University publication "Building VirtualCommunities." Their now prophetic insight identified that increasingly when an individual interacts in a social sphere, they portray a mask of their real life identity.

Whether we know it or not, we're all guilty of this -- selling a different version of our identity on LinkedIn, than on Instagram. Posting differently on Facebook because PAW (parents are watching) than through Snapchat. Given the multitude of social networking platforms, and the countless permutations of friends, family members, or complete strangers that we interact with in each, we are never done selling our different public identities, all the while concealing our "real" identity.

This phenomena can be seen in the heartbreaking death of University of Pennsylvania student athlete Madison Holleran. While her Facebook photos and posts projected the identity of a healthy, successful, and popular student, Holleran's struggle with mental illness led to her tragic suicide. University of Montreal professor Shalini Lal, who specializes in adolescent mental health, observed that:

"Everyone tends to express the happiest version of themselves on Facebook or Instagram ...We have public personas on these social media platforms... So people may be comfortable expressing certain aspects of their lives with certain people, but not necessarily to 200 friends on Facebook."

This constant selling of multiple filtered and fabricated identities online, leaves the majority of users on social networks feeling "ugly, jealous, and lonely." Research released by the UK disability charity Scope found that almost two thirds [62 per cent] of Facebook and Twitter users found their own achievements inadequate when up against the posts of others. Such feelings of inadequacy lock users into a competitive arms race of trying to out-do each other by further self-promoting and amplifying a fabricated online identity.

Not surprisingly, a large captive audience of emotionally insecure and stressed people is the perfect environment to sell and promote consumer products. Feeling ugly and lonely? You need this acne cream. Worried about your weight gain? Buy these running shoes and a juicer. Falling behind in your career? These important books will change your life. The net result is a constant stream of strategically staged selfies that sell our fabricated online identity. Complete with digitally filtered skin, fabulous travel itineraries, and stockpiles of unread books -- just to remind our "friend" that we really love life and if only they could be half as happy as the identity that we've constructed online.

One could argue that this isn't really a new phenomenon. After all, the cars we drive and clothes we wear also project a certain identity. In the real world however, we can simply not look at our neighbour's car. But in the hyper-accelerated always-on digital world we're constantly immersed and being pushed information by the same neighbour. This is why social networks became a how-to in shallow humanity, conditioning us to become experts in dissociating and compartmentalizing our true feelings and identities. There's a clinical term for people who excel in such environments -- psychopath.

So the next time you type the word LOL, but don't actually laugh out loud. The next time you "like" a friends post, that you didn't actually read to the end. Or the next time you find yourself retaking a selfie five times, running it through filters to scrub perceived imperfections prior to uploading it -- you may want to consider: is this the real you? Or have you accidentally fallen into a psychopathic training academy?

Still I guess being a psychopath can't be all that bad for your career. In fact, if you want to run the largest social network in the world and earn $17 billion per year by making 1.6 billion people feel ugly, jealous, and lonely, it's probably an advantage.

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Witoon Mitarnun via Getty Images The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the Criterion (of right and wrong). Quran 2:185

The holy month of Ramadan is upon us. This is a time when Muslims all around the world abstain from all food, drink and sexual pleasure during daylight hours. To Muslims, Ramadan is much more than just not eating and drinking; it is a time to purify the soul, refocus attention on God, and practice self-discipline and sacrifice.

It is also a time when Muslims remember those less fortunate around the world by giving a portion of their wealth to charitable causes. Every Ramadan, here at Islamic Relief Canada, we pick a global issue that we campaign and fundraise on; and this month we're calling for more action towards ending the global refugee crisis. It's a topic that's on the top of the agenda at the World Humanitarian Summit and one that the Canadian government has recognized and acted upon with the welcoming of Syrian refugees.

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From Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan to Yemen and Somalia -- war, conflict and persecution have forced over 60 million people worldwide to flee their homes. As one of the world's leading Muslim NGOs, each year we're finding a greater need for us to respond to the refugee crises. The effects of global climate change and wars in the middle east are destroying lives and forcing people from their homes.

As an aid worker, I've travelled to many countries during time of war and conflict and I've witnessed the compassion that local communities have shown refugees in places like Pakistan, Jordan and Lebanon. We've also seen action from world leaders and millions of people around the world.

Sadly as the number mounts and scale of the crisis increases for the first time, we are seeing global antipathy toward refugees. While countries such as Turkey, Jordan, Germany and Canada have opened their doors, others countries are turning to far right politicians hoping to stem the flow of people seeking refugee and settle as their neighbours. For many of us around the world, we've been desensitised to images of refugees walking hundreds of miles, drowning in the Mediterranean Sea and living in refugee camps for their entire life.

We are too caught up in high level political discourse on ways to end conflicts and wars, that we've forgotten the impact seeking refugee has on the ordinary people who seen their lives decimated.

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For Muslims around the world, Islam specifically outlines specific rules and responsibilities with regards to refugees. This is shown through the example of the Prophet Muhammad when he urged his followers to flee persecution and to seek refuge in the Christian community of Abyssinia. There's a powerful quote in the prophetic traditions which says:

"You cannot be a real believer unless you love for your brother what you love for yourself."

This is an issue that all of us here at Islamic Relief Canada feel passionate about. This Ramadan we've partnered up with leading Canadian NGOs, under the umbrella body of the Humanitarian Coalition to commemorate World Refugee Day. We want to remind the world that we have a responsibility to respond to this refugee crisis.

As a British-Yemeni living in Canada, I've been amazed at the generosity of Canadians from all races, religions and backgrounds who have come together to welcome Syrian refugees.

The world can learn from Canada's example. No one wants to be a refugee. This is a crisis that isn't going away anytime soon and we must act now for a solution.
Caiaimage/Sam Edwards via Getty Images Students taking notes in adult education classroom

I am proud to say that I received my education from the public school system in British Columbia. The education I had in Vancouver in the '70s and early '80s prepared me well for both higher education and the business world.

I have vivid memories of my Algebra 12 teacher drumming the quadratic formula into my thick teenage skull. I recall my Chemistry 11 teacher reviewing periodic tables, formulas and inert gases. Although I didn't go on to higher education in science, years later when I was working in international shipping I could at least have a basic understanding of the difference between sodium chloride and sodium chlorate. (No Google search in those days.)

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Through chance, hard work and that B.C. education, my career took me away from B.C. for 13 years (three in Toronto and 10 in Montreal). I moved back to Vancouver in 2011 with my girls -- then ages 6 and 9 -- who had up to that point been educated in the French immersion program in Quebec.

I didn't expect the province that I grew up in to have changed their priority on public education so much that there will be a lost generation of students.

When I enrolled my children in the public school system in B.C., I had every reason to expect that they would get the benefit of the quality elementary and high school education that I had. Sadly, I was wrong.

I overlooked the fact that Grade 4 math in B.C. is taught in Grade 3 in Quebec. I also overlooked that in reading was introduced in Grade 1 in B.C., while in Quebec reading starts in kindergarten.

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What I couldn't ignore was the critically overcrowded schools in the Surrey school district, where I chose to live in Cloverdale.

I didn't expect to be moving back to a province where government enacts draconian measures to cut funding to education. I didn't expect to see brand new schools that could not afford textbooks.

I didn't expect the province that I grew up in to have changed their priority on public education so much that there will be a lost generation of students.

The announcement last week by B.C. Premier Christy Clark that there would be more money poured into the Surrey school district to accommodate another 2,700 students is a mere drop in the bucket and, frankly, too little too late.

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My youngest daughter is in Grade 5. She attends a new school in Cloverdale which opened in 2011. That school had portables from the moment it opened and now is up to 12. Built for 280 students, there are over 500 and the number continues to grow.

The high school is worse. My oldest daughter started Grade 8 in the fall of 2015. She attends a school built for 1,400 students. There are over 2,400 pupils in that school and it continues to grow.

She tells me that the hallways are so crowded getting bumped and pushed trying to move from one class to another is a normal part of the day. It gets worse.

My daughter's Grade 8 science class takes place in a portable. The portable is not set up like a lab, it is simply a building with four walls, chairs and desks. About half the Grade 8s in the school are lucky enough to be in proper science labs and the rest are in portables.

In a meeting with the teacher (who was clearly frustrated), I learned that there will be no lab time at all for my daughter or any of her classmates this year.

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I researched the Grade 8 science curriculum to see how much the students will be short-changed. The curriculum says the following: Students will learn to select and carefully use appropriate technologies including microscope, balances and other measurement tools."

Without science instruction in a proper lab, these students will be denied what is clearly in the Ministry of Education curriculum. Why are these students denied what is a right? Public education is by definition a public good. One person's consumption of that good should not interfere with another's. There are bound to be countless other examples.

The high school which is now being built will not be ready until 2018. This means my daughter's high school will be at 170% - 200% capacity until then.

The entire situation is so sad and could have been avoided by making public education a priority. I never had a single class in a portable in my elementary school years and had only a single class in a portable in high school. Not a single person I went to school with took Grade 8 science in anything but a proper lab.

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Yes, I am proud to say I had a good public education in this province. Will my children be able to say the same?

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Dimitri Otis via Getty Images Vintage childrens alphabet blocks spelling ADHD

As the debate rages on in Ontario over access to provincially funded Intensive Behavioural Intervention (IBI) therapy for children with autism over the age of five, let's not forget about autism's close cousin, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Though identified up until now as two distinct conditions, autism and ADHD are related in the sense that they both share similar symptoms and having one increases your chances of having the other.

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New research is also looking into whether they are closer in relation than originally thought.

"If you're an ADHD kid with impaired social function, your ability to read emotions is as bad as a kid with ASD [autism spectrum disorder]. So it cuts across disorders," says Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou, a researcher at the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorders (POND) Network.

And what works for one, may also work for the other.

"Because autism and ADHD often have overlapping symptoms, some of the interventions for one can be helpful for the other," writes Boston Children's Hospital, Developmental Behavioural Pediatrician, Elizabeth Harstad.

But while kids with autism in Ontario are provided with therapy through the Autism Intervention Program, respite services, march break and summer camp funding and Autism Spectrum Disorder consultants for schools, kids with ADHD get nada.

I've been at the system for three years since my daughter started school and still, most days are a struggle to get the support she needs.

"The majority of students with ADHD are currently not identified as a student with special needs in Ontario," states the Centre for ADHD Awareness, Canada (CADDAC) on its website. CADDAC is advocating for ADHD to be officially recognized by the Ontario Ministry of Education as "a legitimate disability qualifying students for special needs status under the designation of a medical condition in the Physical/Medical category."

To quote my daughter's pediatrician who treats children with ADHD and autism, "ADHD is just as equally disruptive as autism, if not more so in some cases."

Tell me about it. I've been at the system for three years since my daughter started school and still, most days are a struggle to get the support she needs.

When Eva was officially diagnosed with severe hyperactive ADHD just prior to the start of grade one, I thought OK, now that we know what's going on it should be easy to get Eva the support she needs at school.

After all, it was 2015.

I was wrong.

Over the summer, I made sure to inform the VP about Eva's ADHD and asked for an Independent Education Plan (IEP) and an Educational Assistant (EA).

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I was told both wouldn't be necessary.

I was shocked.

Here I was with an official diagnosis on paper but it was as if it meant nothing.

On the first day of school, I was called within the first hour.

"We found Eva hiding in the hallway," said the VP. "She screams any time anyone comes near her and is refusing to go into the classroom."

A few more months of this and the VP still thought an IEP wasn't necessary. Instead, I was advised to fill out an application for an Occupational Therapy (OT) assessment which would provide Eva with sensory items in the classroom.

I filled out the OT form, was called six months later, and placed on an 18 month wait list.

In the meantime, Eva's outbursts continued. At times, the class had to be evacuated because Eva would become so overwhelmed that she'd lash out and start throwing things around the classroom.

"Can we please do an IEP?" I asked again. "And is it possible for Eva to get some breaks with an EA?"

The VP finally agreed to an IEP in December and allowed me to bring in one of those big exercise balls for her to sit on instead of a chair, markers to draw with and some fidget toys. Assignments continued to be difficult for Eva so I purchased an Ipad and put learning apps on it for her to use at school. She also finally started getting ten minute breaks with an EA.

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But it wasn't enough. She needed more.

"At what point can we call you to come pick her up?" asked the VP one day. During difficult periods, Eva would spend time in her office colouring.

"Never," I said. "Eva needs more than what is being provided currently. She's a smart girl and needs more one on one support with someone specially trained who can teach her and be with her for longer periods of time in and out of the classroom."

Instead of a special education teacher, I was presented with a Safety Plan. But all that did was give the school more leverage to get Eva out of the classroom if she was posing a threat to herself or her classmates.

This month, I asked for an Identification, Placement and Review Committee (IPRC) meeting to declare Eva as "exceptional" and get her the special education support she needs.

But the VP cautioned that it wouldn't change anything because ADHD isn't recognized as a special need.

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Though ADHD is recognized as a disability by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, school boards have been slow to respond despite a 2011 memorandum by the Ministry of Education to school boards stating that students with ADHD have the right to access to special education through an IPRC.

"Many if not all school boards are very reluctant to officially recognize students with ADHD as exceptional through the IPRC process, preferring to do an IEP alone, since an IPRC is accompanied by legal requirements," writes CADDAC. "The difficulty with this is that an IEP without a legal IPRC mandate can be pulled by the school at any time."

Over the summer, Eva will be undergoing autism testing and I can't help but hope she gets a diagnosis just so she can get access to more resources at school and in the community.

Because if this continues, I'll have no choice but to homeschool her.

And I definitely don't want to nor can I afford do that.

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By the time Fort McMurray was evacuated this spring, Canada had suffered its worst wildfire in generations. Images of the small Canadian city engulfed in flames went viral, as frightened city residents fled for their lives. Despite boasting first rate infrastructure, first world resources and a multi-provincial firefighting brigade, the wildfire still burns out of control.

It is not surprising that Canadians responded with record donations to charity organizations purporting to help domestic refugees displaced persons. However, foreign aid is not something Canadians are accustomed to (aside from the bilateral natural disaster emergency collaborations with its U.S. neighbour and ally).

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Russia immediately offered to help battle the inferno with its massive water bombers and fire fighting specialists. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused. On the other hand, South Africa's aid offer is seemingly welcomed. Some 300 Africans have reached Canada, received "refresher training" and are poised be deployed in the coming days.

All 300 @wo_fire firefighters enjoy every moment in Canada. Flying SA Flag high  #ABWildfires #WOFinCanada #BeSafe pic.twitter.com/wMdhf3pU8I  Lauren Lo Howard (@LaLolly) May 26, 2016

This deployment of wildland fire fighters is the biggest foreign deployment ever for South Africa (save armed forces' deployments). The South African P.R. machine casts the aid as "repaying a debt to the Canadian people for their support for the anti-apartheid struggle". It's an interesting re-interpretation considering Canada's weak anti-apartheid record and deteriorating diplomatic relationships with South Africa.

Quid Pro Quo: When Canada Sent Troops, Tyranny to South Africa

South Africa has a special place in the history of Canada's armed forces. The Boer War (1899-1902) marked Canada's first official dispatch of troops to an overseas conflict.

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Canadian troops helped the British take control of the territory. During the war, 120,000 people were herded into racially segregated detention camps, where an estimated 27,000 Boers (white farmers of Dutch ancestry) and 20,000 Black South Africans perished.

Veteran Affairs' website says Canada's experiences in the South African War would only be the beginning of an impressive tradition of international military service.

Canada Inspires South Africa...

Canada would help South Africa again in the 1940s. The South African government examined Canada's Indian reserve system. Canada's Indian Act, and its system of "infantilizing status Indians" served as inspiration for Apartheid.

"[T]he Canadian Indian Act formed much of the basis for the oppressive apartheid policies in South Africa," according to First Nations elder Shannon Thunderbird. Thunderbird said the Indian Act served as the blueprint on how to oppress a people within a democratic system.

Canada's Business Links to Apartheid-Ruled South Africa

While Apartheid parties consolidated their power in South Africa and became a republic, Canada joined India and a few African nations to force South Africa's exit from the British Commonwealth. Revealing its moral courage, Canada was the only white-majority Commonwealth country to oppose South Africa's membership bid in 1961.

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Despite being kicked out of the Commonwealth, Brits and Americans continued to collaborate with South Africa, turning a blind eye to human rights violations and even branding Nelson Mandela "a terrorist". Canada, too, maintained trade ties with the racially stratified nation. Trade with South Africa doubled from the 1970s to the 1980s.

Canada's 1980s era "voluntary trade embargo" against South Africa and other toothless sanctions barely made a dent in the anti-apartheid movement. In 1988 alone, Canadian imports from South Africa jumped by 68%.

On countless occasions, African National Congress (ANC) representatives commented on the weakness of Canadian governmental policy on apartheid. [...] Cherry-picking a few generous remarks made by Mandela about PM Mulroney hardly negates the general awareness [...] Canada's government was no real friend of the anti-apartheid struggle. [source: Media Coop, 2013]

The impotent sanctions were quintessentially Canadian in their attempt at seeming morally upright without substantive actions to match.

Then the Tides Turned...

After Mandela ascended from infamous political prisoner to famous President, the Canadian establishment frequently overstated their role in Apartheid's abolition. Even Canadian politicians took credit, they rarely implement any meaningful measures to curb domestic racism.

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When South Africa drew its post-Apartheid constitution, they looked to Canada. The South African constitutional text was modeled largely on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, with liberal borrowings from Germany and the USA. [source]

A New Chapter in South Africa-Canada Relations?

Since 2000, diplomatic relations between Canada and South Africa have deteriorated, according to the Globe And Mail's Africa correspondent. Geoffrey York enumerates the grievances.

In 2009, Canada granted refugee status to Brandon Huntley, a white South African who claimed to be persecuted by black criminals. In 2011, South Africa's president blasted PM Harper for opting out of the Kyoto protocol, an international climate treaty. Until at least 2012, Canada maintained a visa ban on ANC leaders, requiring them to apply for special exemptions if they want to visit. Canadian diplomats were conspicuously absent from the centennial celebration of Mandela's political party.

The Conservative Party's apartheid-friendly roots could party explain the cool relations.

The Prime Minister Harper did not make any trips to the G20-member nation until Mandela's funeral forced his hand.

Now a large contingent of brave South Africans has pledged to quell the wildfires of Alberta, braving the elements and defying African stereotypes in one fell swoop. As the wildfire dies down, perhaps the two nations can rekindle the flame of friendship as the open a new chapter in bilateral relations.

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As I tucked into my muesli this morning, the discussion on Radio 4's Today programme turned - as it does most days at the moment - to the issue of EU referendum.

Given the magnitude of the decision the British people are being asked to make on 23 June, and the possible impact of that decision, it is only right that the BBC and other media outlets are giving as much prominence to the EU question as possible. We need to have a national discussion about this issue. But it can't just be about noise: the debate needs to be as informed as possible, based on the facts, if we are to expect people to make an informed choice when they come to cast their vote.

This morning, sadly, wasn't a great example of an evidence-based debate. The specific subject was pensions, and the impact that Brexit would have on UK pensioners. Asking the questions was Justin Webb, and setting out the government's case was Pensions Minister Ros Altmann. Given the calibre of both interviewer and interviewee, you would expect a highly-charged, highly-informed debate.

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Unfortunately, though, when the discussion turned to proposed EU rules on pensions, it became bogged down in bold assertions and bland statements. Webb insisted that new EU pension rules were a threat to British pensioners, and in response Altmann ummed and ahhed without really saying anything. I'm not sure anyone listening would have come away from that debate feeling more enlightened on the subject.

So here are the facts. Two years ago, the EU proposed a new law revising the way that pensions work across Europe. Their aim was to make cross-border pensions more attractive, so that people who work for companies that operate in more than one country - like BMW for example, who are headquartered in Munich but have factories in cities like Oxford, in my constituency - can keep paying into a single pension pot even if they move from the British office to the German one for a few years. As long as it is done well, this is an admirable aim - hoping to support an increasingly mobile workforce to avoid bureaucratic hassle or the risk of losing out on pension rights.

It was first drafted by civil servants in the European Commission. The law then has to pass through two sets of democratic checks: it must be amended and approved by MEPs like me in the European Parliament, and by representatives of elected national governments in the European Council. Only once a proposal has been approved by both bodies can it become national law.

Before the original proposals were drafted, there were rumours that the Commission might include some elements which would have made British pensions more expensive, although in the end these never materialised. When the proposal was published, it is true to say that there were still aspects that we didn't like. But that's a fact of all law-making, and the whole purpose of the democratic approval process is to ensure that the final product is as good as it can possibly be.

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That's why I worked with people ranging from the Confederation of British Industry to the Trade Union Congress to make sure that the amendments I submitted to the directive were all intended to make the final law work as well as possible for British businesses, British workers and British pensioners.

The law is now almost finalised, with representatives from the European Parliament and national governments hammering out the final points. Those elements which were worrying from a UK point of view have been removed, and we amended the rules about protecting pension-holders and making sure they are fully informed about their rights and responsibilities without placing an unnecessary burden on companies.

On this, as on so many other areas where the EU is operating - from combatting tax avoidance, to tackling climate change, to protecting consumers - the system works. A rough draft of a proposal is put forward by technical civil servants, and then democratically-elected representatives fine-tune it until a compromise is reached that works for as many people as possible - just as happens in Westminster all the time.
It was reported today that the head of Eton, Lord Waldegrave of North Hill has threatened to leave the Conservatives, because of his disagreement with Government policy. He was apparently pushed towards this decision by Matt Hancock's announcement last week of plans to boost social mobility and enhance life chances, with the particular focus of his ire being the idea of monitoring whether job applicants have attended a private school.

I am sure that schools such as Eton continue to provide an excellent education and enable their students to have wonderful careers, and make a real contribution to society. But it would be a grave misunderstanding to view these measures as attacking these schools, or punishing students for choices made by their parents.

Instead this is about making sure that every single person in Britain, no matter who they or their parents are, what postcode they live in or what school they went to, has the exact same equal opportunity in life as anyone else.

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And in truth this vision of a One Nation Britain is the central purpose of this Government; it's at the heart of everything they are doing. We know that part of building this better Britain, is helping schools to improve, and that is why Michael Gove and Nicky Morgan have undertaken reforms, improved standards, and enabled academies to break free from the one sized fits all control of Whitehall.

We also know that young people need to be given the skills required to find a career and shine when given the opportunity to do so. That's why universities have been set free from student number caps, so that the best universities aren't arbitrarily constrained from providing their amazing opportunities to as many students as possible. And it's why the Government is providing three million apprenticeship starts by 2020, while Nick Boles and Sajid Javid work simultaneously to drive up standards, increase routes into apprenticeships, and make higher level apprenticeship qualifications more common.

But this is not all that we should do. Politicians can no longer afford to be smugly comfortable with a situation in which only 7% of our children attend private schools, and yet these lucky few still dominate so many of the highest paid and most prestigious jobs in the country. We cannot wait to see what happens in the future while, every single high status career has this problem; whether it is the judiciary, politics, the media, theatre, or almost any other sector you can think of. We have to work with those offering these great careers, in both the public and private sector to ensure that they are providing these opportunities on a free and fair basis.

It should be emphasised that this suggestion, of monitoring whether an applicant went to private school, is entirely voluntary. Businesses will not be forced into taking this action, and no legislation is being passed. Additionally, this is about monitoring who is being hired, it's not removing opportunity from anybody, and you can't understand a problem, or whether it is improving unless you have data on it.

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And the beauty of this suggestion is that it is not just about fairness, it also makes perfect economic sense. It is poor business and economic inefficiency if you end up hiring from the same old pool, over and over again. If you unintentionally find yourself cut off from these alternative sources of talent, then this is not just a sad waste of individual potential, but the potential these individuals had to change your company, to come up with new ideas, to use their personal understanding of your target markets and to be set free from the same old group think. The value in this for everyone is shown by the companies that have already signed up to work on this - from Deloitte to Barclays, from Accenture to the Bank of England.

My party will always do what it can to help those who want to get on in life and improve their lot. We are the party of Margaret Thatcher, the greengrocers daughter, and John Major, the working class kid from Brixton. This Government is unashamedly backing social mobility; the measures we have already taken have made a huge difference, but we can always do more. That's why these suggestions have been put forward, and I look forward to seeing them develop.
This week has officially reduced my background level of "tired", to a new low of "barely functional".

On Saturday, while I was on a little mama date, with my friend at a local food show, my son rode down a hill on his bike, ran out of talent, grabbed a handful of front brake and turned himself into a human cannonball.

I'm reliably informed that nobody thought anything of the fall - my son himself was sure that he would be fine if only he were allowed to have a drink of orange juice - but my husband very wisely decided to go and have him checked out anyway.

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By the time they reached the Urgent Care Centre, my son wasn't quite so sure that all was right with the world.

By the time I spoke to my husband, he had revised his position again, and was wailing; but the story I was told, made heavy use of the words "suspected", "broken", and "fine".

So, as the mother who isn't prone to panicking over suspected anythings, I carried on mooching round the food show with my friend, before catching a bus to engage my first born in some casual teasing.

Lesson The First: Use an appropriate level or urgency when telling your life partner that there has been an accident.

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By the time I arrived at the Urgent Care Centre, I was greeted by a very pale and quite boy, who was waiting for an ambulance ride. Apparently, there was now less suspicion and more certainty: my son had broken his femur.

Now, I want to preface the rest of this story by saying that my son is my utter hero for the way in which he dealt with his first hospital visit. He's a pretty independent and stoical child, as these things go, but his composure and strength over these few days was breath-taking.

That said, he is also a six year old boy, who had broken the biggest bone in his body.

Lesson Two: Seeing your child on drugs is scary.

The ambulance that arrived to blue light my son to hospital, also heralded his first experience in hard drugs.

First up, ketamine, which quickly turned his pupils to yoyos, and his attitude to something approaching the habitually drunken uncle, who sits in the corner of family weddings, and occasionally pipes up with a few choice nuggets of Anglo-Saxon, before retreating back into an internal monologue.

Having arrived at hospital, the doctors cracked open the morphine, just to ratchet up the party. I'm glad they did, because the things that needed to be done to my son, were best done with a side order of oblivion.

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I stood by his bed, talking a constant stream of drivel just so that he would hear my voice, while his leg was put into traction. He, in response, would close his eyes and drift off, only to come round a few seconds later in a full scale panic, kicking and thrashing about, until I was able to talk him down again.

It is singularly terrifying to be caught between the maternal drive to comfort your child, while knowing that they are out of reach of both your words, and of reason.

Lesson Three: Self-care is vital

There is an old saying that you can't pour from an empty cup, but I was shocked at how quickly my ability to support my son was compromised. Something as basic as not eating properly, or sleeping a full night, hell, even something as small as not having open access to hot drinks, add up fast; which I learned to my cost once we moved to the children's ward.

Admittedly things weren't helped by the fact that I had accidentally sent my wallet home with my husband, or that my son wouldn't let me out of his site for even a moment, or that we were living in rooms with no access to daylight, but I see these as marginal influences against the endless emotional onslaught of looking after an acutely sick child, in a room full of other acutely ill children, all fighting their own battles against pain, and fear.

It took me a while to grasp it, but the reality is that I did my child no favours by running myself into the ground. There was no value to me being the martyr who didn't take breaks to eat, drink or read a chapter of my book. And despite everything my ego wanted to believe, my son was just fine while I was away.

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Lesson Four: Responsibility is daunting

In the few days we were guests of our local hospital, I felt like I was on one long episode of Mastermind. For your specialist round, you have chosen Your Offspring's Lifelong Ability To Walk, your time starts ... NOW. The questions came at me hard and fast, and I was against the clock. I felt very young, very ill prepared, and I found myself looking around for someone to adult; a more adulty adult than me, someone with quiet wisdom, who wasn't motivated by a singlular desire to throw ANY-DAMN-THING at the situation that would a) stop my child hurting and b) not leave him with any long term consequences.

Perhaps in some ways, the rapid pace of the decision making was a blessing, because it stopped me from endless agonising; and being the less squeamish of our partnership, I was definitely the right choice to be with my son. Still, there is still that seed of doubt; a small voice that says "This is for real. This matters. If you get this wrong, you will have to live with this forever. You will have to account for your actions". That isn't a world that I am used to living in, where I dwell, there is usually the chance of a do-over.

Lesson Five: You are enough

While I was mired in self doubt about what the hell I was doing, I received some wise words from a friend who has far more experience than I do, when it comes to supporting a child in hospital:

Stay strong and don't let him see you cry. All he knows is that you are a rock, he needs you to steady his nerves, do anything you can. Do explain to him what is going on, honesty will help later on. Ask him if he has any questions for you, not just the surgeons. He will be able to communicate much better with you than any others.

Which was exactly what I needed to hear, but found nigh on impossible to do. I tried really hard to pretend I wasn't upset, but it turns out that I'm not that good an actor, so all I was left with, was honesty.

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Things came to a head when I walked with my son into surgery, and he got very upset at having to remove his treasured pounamu.

In reality, I think that for both of us it was simply an excuse to vent the tension of the previous 24 hours, because we went from "fine" to floods of tears so fast I was left wondering how the hell things had escalated so quickly. He was crying, and I was crying and I could. not. stop.

Instead, I opened my heart to him and said "I'm upset that you are upset, my son. I know that you are going to be fine having this surgery, but it makes me super sad to see you cry like this." Which I don't see as a raging success on the "being a rock" front, but it was pretty much all I had in me to say, at that point.

My friend was right about knowing my child, and communication, though.

When one of the nurses confused my son with her "on a scale of one to ten" pain ratings, I helped him translate it by using my hands.

When my son was feeling low and wallowing in self pity, I helped him find the motivation to pick himself up with the threat of having to be under the care of a particularly "bossy nurse" for another night.

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When he was using strange words to describe how his tummy felt, I advocated for him to the nurses until they got an ultrasound, and realised he had over 300ml of pee in his bladder, and a ton of bruising stopping it coming out.

And when we were alone, his body held against mine, and I heard him quietly whisper "I love you mum", I knew that all the millions of ways that I beat myself up as a parent counted for nothing, because my presence, my support, and my love, were all my son needed from me.
A soldier from the 3rd US Infantry Regiment, 'The Old Guard,' places flags at grave sites during the 'Flags-In' ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on May 22, 2014. A US American flag was placed one foot in front of more than 220,000 graves in the cemetery to mark the Memorial Day. AFP PHOTO/Jewel Samad (Photo credit should read JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images)

If you're not in the office on Memorial Day, thank your company. But government policy may have played a role in that as well, even if you aren't a federal employee.

Congress declared the first federal holidays in the 1870s -- a handful of observances, though Memorial Day wasn't one of them, according to a 2014 Congressional Research Service report. However, those holidays applied only to federal workers in the District of Columbia. By 1885, Congress had extended the holidays to federal workers across the country.

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Even today, Congress' edict doesn't apply to anyone else. Congress and the president have never tried to establish holidays that apply to the states, the CRS report says. Instead, states determine their own holidays -- though most adhere (more or less) to the 11 federal holidays declared by Congress, meaning that employees of those states' governments receive time off work.

According to the Council of State Governments' Book of the States 2014, all states have adopted New Year's Day, Independence Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. All states also honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday in some way, although a few celebrate it with a more general name, such as Civil Rights Day. Only nine states don't celebrate Washington's Birthday, also known as Presidents Day.

"The federal government sets a benchmark," Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told The Huffington Post. He noted that most private employers, but not all, give extra compensation to employees who work on federal holidays.

These federal holidays were created at different times and in response to different movements. Here's how they each came to be.

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NEW YEAR'S DAY, INDEPENDENCE DAY AND CHRISTMAS DAY

Fireworks light up the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., July 4, 2014.

These federal holidays, three of the first to be established, were created in 1870. In discussing the rationale for the creation of the holidays, members of Congress implied that most states were observing the holidays already, the CRS report says.

"They always call the states the laboratories of democracy, and quite often things do begin at the state level and then percolate their way up to the national level," Senate Historian Don Ritchie told The Huffington Post.

Members of Congress probably wanted to be in their home states during those holidays, according to Ritchie, which would have contributed to the push for a national observance. Having people off on the same days in neighboring states also made more sense when it came to interstate commerce, as well as metropolitan areas that straddled a state line.

The dates of these holidays were tied to the traditional celebrations of New Year's Day on Jan. 1, Independence Day on July 4 and Christmas Day on Dec. 25.

THANKSGIVING DAY

"Any day appointed or recommended by the President of the United States as a day of public fasting or thanksgiving" was also included in the original 1870 legislation. Although President George Washington had issued declarations for a day of thanksgiving a few of the years he was in office, the idea wasn't celebrated annually until 1863. That's when President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation setting its date for the last Thursday of November.

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For decades after that, each president issued a yearly proclamation designating Thanksgiving as the last Thursday of November. In 1939, however, the final Thursday fell on Nov. 30, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt worried that wouldn't allow enough time for holiday shopping, so he moved Thanksgiving to the third Thursday of November. Confusion ensued as some states followed his lead and others opted to still observe the holiday a week later. In 1941, Congress permanently declared Thanksgiving Day to be the fourth Thursday of November. Many workplaces also take the following Friday off, and some states have even designated that day as a holiday, but it's never been recognized as such at the federal level.

PRESIDENTS DAY

The federal holiday many Americans know as Presidents Day still officially goes by its original name of Washington's Birthday, referring to the country's first president. It was established by Congress in 1879 and set for Feb. 22, the date in 1732 when George Washington was born.

Washington's birthday had been recognized before that, though, with celebrations across the country, including many recitations of his farewell address, the Center for Legislative Archives says. To this day, the Senate maintains its tradition, which began in 1862, of an annual reading of the address.

The date for celebrating Washington's Birthday changed in 1968, when Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. That law set the commemoration of Washington's Birthday as the third Monday of February, and shifted the commemorations of some other holidays to Mondays as well. Congress said the move would "bring substantial benefits to both the spiritual and economic life of the Nation," according to the Archives. Congress reportedly considered the new law an opportunity for increased time for family, travel and leisure, as well as an end to workweek interruptions from midweek holidays.

MEMORIAL DAY

Memorial Day, initially called Decoration Day, was created in 1888 for federal workers in D.C. The holiday was already celebrated in many Northern states to honor Union Civil War casualties, and was likely designated a federal holiday because many government employees had served in the war and would want to commemorate it.

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The holiday now commemorates dead service members from both sides of the Civil War, as well as other wars, and is celebrated in all states.

The holiday was shifted from May 30 to the last Monday of May with the 1968 Uniform Monday Holiday Act.

LABOR DAY

The creation of Labor Day in 1894 was also a case in which Congress was influenced by the states, since 23 had already established their own Labor Day holidays by that time.

The House Labor Committee noted that time off was important to make an employee "more useful as a craftsman," according to the CRS.

The CRS report also says: "By honoring labor with a holiday, the committee report suggested, the nation will assure that the nobility of labor [will] be maintained. So long as the laboring man can feel that he holds an honorable as well as a useful place in the body politic, so long will he be a loyal and faithful citizen.'"

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VETERANS DAY

Vietnam War veteran Edward Goehring touches the name of a friend he served with who was killed during the war at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 11, 2014.

In 1938, Armistice Day was designated an annual holiday on Nov. 11 to commemorate the end of World War I and serve as a "national peace holiday," according to the CRS. The day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954 and broadened to honor service members from other conflicts as well.

The 1968 Uniform Monday Holiday Act initially applied to Veterans Day as well, stipulating that it be observed on the fourth Monday of October. However, veterans groups opposed the change and most states kept their Veterans Day commemorations on Nov. 11, the date in 1918 when World War I fighting ceased. In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed a law that moved the holiday back to Nov. 11, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

INAUGURATION DAY

Inauguration Day was named a permanent holiday in 1957 for those in the Washington, D.C., area. It applies every four years on Jan. 20 when a new president is sworn into office.

COLUMBUS DAY

Columbus Day was created in 1968 as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act and set for the second Monday in October. At the time, Christopher Columbus was already honored with a holiday in 45 states.

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Today, Columbus Day is the annual federal holiday most disputed among states. For many, the focus has shifted to the fact that people had been living in the Americas long before Columbus "discovered" them, and the arrival of Europeans led to widespread disenfranchisement and death for these people. According to the Council of State Governments, at least a dozen states don't observe Columbus Day at all, and some states and municipalities celebrate it under a different name: It's Native Americans' Day in South Dakota, and Indigenous People's Day in Seattle and Minneapolis.

BIRTHDAY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Fifth-graders from Watkins Elementary School in the District of Columbia take turns reciting from memory excerpts of the "I Have a Dream" speech to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Jan. 18, 2013.

In 1968, the year Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, members of Congress began introducing bills to create a holiday honoring the civil rights leader. Yet the holiday wasn't established until 1983. Many fiscal conservatives had argued the holiday would cost the government too much money, the House History, Art and Archives website reports. In the end, the observation was set for the third Monday of January, as opposed to King's actual birthdate of Jan. 15, to avoid the burden on federal offices that a midweek holiday might create.

NEW HOLIDAYS BEING CONSIDERED

In recent years, frustration with low voter turnout has led to a push to designate Election Day -- the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November -- as a national holiday. A number of bills to this effect have been introduced in recent years, though none has made it through the legislative process. In November 2014, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced legislation to create the holiday, though it didn't go anywhere in the 113th Congress.

Another proposed holiday is Cesar E. Chavez Day, which would honor the labor leader's contributions to civil rights and education. Earlier this year, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation declaring March 31, 2014, to be Cesar Chavez Day. However, Congress would have to pass an act, signed into law by the president, for any commemoration to become a permanent federal holiday.

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Shoppers look at merchandise at a Walmart store in Secaucus, New Jersey, November 11, 2015. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

If you think presidential elections are rigged, watch Wal-Mart's annual meeting this Friday.

I bought one share of Wal-Mart stock in 1994 as a way to keep an eye on the company. As a shareholder, I have a right to go to Bud Walton Arena on the campus of the University of Arkansas on June 3rd to vote for 12 nominees to the Wal-Mart board, and 3 shareholder proposals. Of the 12 Board members to be coronated, only one is new: Steuart Walton, 34, who is replacing his dad, Jim Walton. Rob Walton has been on the Board for 38 years. He is joined by the company's current CEO and former CFO. It's an in-bred corporate culture. What makes the Wal-Mart board like the White House race, is that very rich people win every time.

As for the shareholder's proposals, the Wal-Mart Board of Directors always opposes them---and they always fail.

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A decade ago, for example, the Wal-Mart Board recommended against six shareholder proposals, ranging from humane poultry slaughter to a political contributions report. According to the company's August, 2006 10-Q report to the S.E.C., the "shareholders voted upon and rejected" all six proposals.

In 2005, the Sheet Metal Workers National Pension Fund submitted a proposal dealing with executive compensation. A resolution from the United Methodist Church sought a company "sustainability" report. A third resolution proposed studying whether "there is an equity compensation glass ceiling at Wal-Mart." A resolution was offered by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters to produce a political contributions report. The Sisters of Charity in New Jersey asked for an equal employment opportunity report. None of these proposals got any traction at all.

In 2008, all seven shareholder proposals received 17% or less of the total shares voted.

In 2013, four shareholder resolutions went to defeat with 83% or more of the voting shares against them. In 2014, there were three shareholders resolutions. None were adopted.

Last year, shareholders presented five proposals, all of which were opposed by the Wal-Mart Board of Directors, and none of which gained more than 18% of the vote.

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And so it goes, year after year.

In 2014, I spoke with Sonia Kowal, Director of Socially Responsible Investing at Zevin Asset Management, who introduced a Wal-Mart shareholder resolution calling for "full disclosure of our company's lobbying." Kowal's resolution got 11.7% of the votes cast.

Kowal told me that shareholder resolutions at Wal-Mart are a steep climb. "We recognize that it is very unlikely that we will achieve a very sizeable vote for this resolution given the high percentage of insider ownership," Kowal said, "but it is still important for us to shine a light on the company's lack of disclosure and strongly encourage them to improve." Kowal said the "dirty little secret" in proxy voting "is that fund managers may feel pressure to side with management against shareholders' best interests because they manage (or want to manage) those companies' 401(k) plans."

This Friday at Bud Walton arena, 3 shareholder proposals will die. The Wal-Mart Board doesn't like any of them. One proposal calls for the retailer to develop criteria for operating in nations with "a questionable record on human rights [read gay rights] and religious freedom," like Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and China. Another proposal asks the company to create an independent board chairman: "Recent developments---including ongoing investigations into bribery and corruption at the Company's subsidiaries in Mexico, China, Brazil and India; revelations of accounting fraud at the Company's China operations; the Company's refusal to compensate families of workers killed and injured in a fire at a supplier factory in Bangladesh; and a ruling...against the Company for its illegal discipline of employees who exercised their rights---highlight the need for enhanced oversight of corporate culture and behavior. A board led by an independent chairman is best positioned to drive such change."

But shareholders are not the only ones clamoring for culture change at Wal-Mart. It's own employees are getting into the act again this year. The group OUR Walmart is organizing a social media "thunderclap" for 9 am on Friday morning, to "blast a wave of posts from Twitter, Facebook, and/or Tumblr from supporters at a particular time." The workers want "family-sustaining wages and...full-time hours." "Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world," OUR Wal-Mart says, "owned by the richest family in America. Paying poverty wages is a choice. Keeping hours and staffing levels low is a choice...If enough people spoke out about these things, the Waltons might make a different choice." A group of OUR Walmart members will attempt to gain the floor at the Bud Walton Arena "to deliver our call for $15, full-time hours, and respect."

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Wal-Mart's Board of Directors has been wired against shareholder-driven change since the 1960s. The Walton family controls sufficient shares to bottle up any grassroots initiatives.

Rather than stay in a totally rigged game, these institutional shareholders---who own millions in Wal-Mart shares---would do better to dump their WMT stock entirely. By investing their money in socially responsible companies, they will create a "thunderclap" that will shake the rafters inside Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.

Al Norman is the founder of Sprawl-Busters. He has been helping communities bust sprawl for 23 years. His most recent book is Occupy Walmart.
As a teacher and as a citizen I am worried, but I do not feel powerless. Anti-democratic movements are growing in size and power in western democracies. They use the mechanisms of democratic process to threaten the fundamental ideas that democracy is based on. Their success underscores the importance of promoting democratic values in school, the media, and society, not just focusing on elections as if they were sporting contests.

The news, right now, is not good for people who believe in democratic values like liberty, equality, and brotherhood. The right-wing French Front National has growing support among youthful voters ages 18 to 30 while Germany's even more vitriolic anti-immigrant and anti-Islam Alternative for Germany shows increasing strength in public opinion polls. Austrian voters, fueled by antagonism toward refugees from Mid-Eastern conflicts, nearly elected a far-right candidate as President. The Israeli Prime Minister just welcomed into his cabinet a rabid ultra-nationalist as Defense Minister. The Turkish parliament voted to end parliamentary immunity so that the government could prosecute Kurdish members. Hungary, Poland, and Croatia all have right-wing governments.

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An opinion article in the British newspaper The Guardian warned that Europe was veering to the right at its "peril." The author, a Croatian philosopher, argued, "In today's disintegrating Europe, we are at a historical and decisive moment." But with the Republican Party in the United States poised to nominate Donald Trump as its Presidential standard-bearer, it is not only in Europe that democracy is in danger. At rallies Trump leads the crowd in chants of "Build that Wall" and the campaign has also attracted very nasty support from anti-Semitic neo-Nazi groups.

In his November 19, 1863, address at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as "government of the people, by the people, for the people." But which people? Does it include basic rights for all of the people or just those who marshal electoral majorities or seize the reins of power? As part of coverage of the 2016 Presidential election these questions need to be openly explored in every classroom.

In the United States, an expressed goal of education is the creation of an active citizenry committed to democratic values. Promoting democratic values means that teachers need to be involved in developing antiracist, nonsexist curricula that allow students to explore social contradictions. A major theme in U.S. history classes can be examining the conflict between the promise of America outlined in the Declaration of Independence and the reality of life in the United States. Through involvement in this kind of historical exploration, students learn how societies change, how people can become agents of change, and reasons to embrace the pledge of "liberty and justice for all."

When Ted Cruz denounced "New York values" during his Presidential bid, I created an "I  NY Values" iron-on tee shirt promoting New York and democratic values. The shirt listed respect, dignity, equality, fraternity, peace, justice, diversity, education, caring, and commitment, but I am sure it should have included others.

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American citizens, including students, should start defining democratic values by reaffirming a commitment to two of the nation's most subversive documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the United States Constitution.

The Declaration is based on the "self-evident" truths that "all men are created equal" and possess "unalienable rights" that include "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The Preamble to the United States Constitution states that "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Equality. Unalienable rights. Justice. Domestic tranquility. General welfare. Liberty. As the United States celebrates Memorial Day, these are democratic values worth teaching about and preserving.
Being in the midst of history sometimes mean events are not seen in the "big picture" view that historians often later take, when looking back at the period. Case in point: what will America's ongoing war eventually be known as? To date, we've been at war since October 2001, or a mind-boggling period of 15 years. This war was initially called "The Global War On Terror" by the Bush administration, which lumped in the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq with all the skirmishes in various other North African and Middle East countries. The Obama administration has dropped the term, but they've never really replaced it with anything else. But what I wonder this Memorial Day is what it will be called in the future. Right now, it'd be the "Fifteen Years' War" -- but few expect all conflicts will end by the time the next president is sworn in, so eventually that number will likely be higher.

Three wars (that I'm aware of) are historically referred to by their length: the Seven Years' War, the Thirty Years' War, and the Hundred Years' War. The only one that is strictly accurate is the Thirty Years' War, which took place from 1618 to 1648. The Seven Years' War was actually fought over nine years' time, from 1754 to 1763, but it got two years lopped off because it didn't really get underway until 1756. And the Hundred Years' War raged from 1337 to 1453 -- much longer than a single century.

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Most Americans know little about any of these wars, it's worth pointing out. The only one American schoolchildren even regularly learn about is the Seven Years' War, but by a different name. To us, it was the French and Indian War, and in some ways it was a precursor to our own Revolutionary War (Britain levied a bunch of taxes on the American colonies in the mid-1760s largely to pay the costs of the Seven Years' War, which the colonists did not take kindly to, especially in Boston). Interestingly, the Seven Years' War is now considered by some to be the first "world war," since it involved so many countries all over the globe. This was a contributing influence on American thinking about involvement in the wars which periodically raged in Europe from the country's founding onwards, especially after the pointless War Of 1812 drove the point home. Shortly thereafter, America embraced the Monroe Doctrine which stated in part that Europe should leave the Americas alone and the United States wouldn't get involved in European conflicts. Later on, America was very reluctant to get involved with both twentieth-century world wars because of this long-held belief that Europe should solve its own problems.

The Thirty Years' War was religious in nature, at least at the start. It was the last big battle between Protestants and Catholics in Europe. The Hundred Years' War was mostly waged between England and France (in a nutshell, France had ruled England since the Norman Conquest, and the English thought it'd be a better idea if they ruled France, instead). Both were long drawn-out conflicts with periods of calm interspersed with major battles in various places. It was thinking of these two that made me wonder whether in the future the period America and the Middle East now find themselves in might be called something like the "Twenty Years' War" or perhaps the "Quarter-Century's War." And that's being optimistic, of course.

This is the longest period of American history when we've been constantly at war. The level of our involvement has waxed and waned, from having over a hundred thousand soldiers on the battlefield to merely conducting drone strikes from above. We've been overtly involved to some degree or another in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen. But America has always seen this as a war without borders, so it has spilled over into plenty of other countries in other ways (such as a raid conducted within Pakistan to capture Osama Bin Laden, for instance). There are proxy wars going on, often involving the animosity between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Groups like the Islamic State and Al Qaeda have tried to expand into as many franchises as they can in as many different countries as they can, with varying degrees of success.

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Right now the hottest war is being waged in Syria. This is truly a global conflict, with the Americans and the Russians backing different sides in a multiplicity of fighting groups. The Islamic State is benefiting from the fighting between the other groups, in fact. In Iraq, the Americans have backed the Iraqi army (and, to a lesser degree, the Kurds), and the Islamic State has lost major ground -- albeit a lot slower than America might wish. The battle for Fallujah is going on right now, although looking back with a historian's eye the current fight will likely be labeled the "Third Battle of Fallujah," since American forces have their own hard-fought battles to remember in this town. Fallujah was where an American military contractor was killed and his burnt corpse hung from a bridge, in case you've forgotten. The final big battle in Iraq will come in the northern city of Mosul.

Iraq is right now a success story for the Iraqi government's side, which is a big turnaround from when their army fled in terror a few years ago (while the Islamic State moved in blitzkrieg fashion from town to town, getting ever closer to Baghdad). Starting roughly a year ago, the tide has turned completely and the Islamic State has lost almost half the Iraqi territory they once held. The progress is slow, but has been consistent -- the Islamic State has lost every major conflict, and has never regained major ground once lost.

It is hard to see an end to the overall war, even at this point, fifteen years in. America's new normal is being at war -- although in a barely-noticeable fashion. Since Barack Obama took office, our troop presence has been drastically reduced in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the conflicts didn't exactly end in either place. We've been drawn in to new battlefields (Yemen, Syria), and other countries also look ripe for America to get drawn into (Libya) in the near future, depending on who becomes our next president. Who now can see an end to this region-wide conflict? The chances now actually seem better that the war intensifies -- perhaps as Saudi Arabia and Iran get closer to more-overt hostilities. American soldiers might be deployed in this conflict for a long time to come, in various countries around the region.

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It is remarkable that we've spent the last decade and a half at war. It's gotten to the point that most people don't even think about it in any way -- a natural reaction to the (so far) Fifteen Years' War. But what's really remarkable to consider today is that we've gone through the longest period at war in our entire history and we still have an all-volunteer army. Conscription has not returned. The politicians learned their lesson well from Vietnam -- when young men (and, now, women) face being drafted, then the public gets a lot more involved in war decisions.

This Memorial Day I'll be remembering all who died in service to the United States military. Especially all those who have died in our current and ongoing wars -- every one of whom volunteered to do his or her duty, so that your son or daughter or other loved one wasn't forced to. But I do wonder how many more of our fighting men and women will be memorialized before the Twenty Years' War (or Quarter-Century's War, or whatever) is finally over.

Chris Weigant blogs at:
This report was originally published on The Signal. To follow stories about tech, data, and culture, subscribe today.

***

When the Indonesian government threatened to remove democratic local elections, 118,000 citizens signed a petition to preserve their right to vote.

Inspired by public outcry and a petition signed by 140,000 people, a court of appeals exonerated American Tyrone Hood after being wrongfully imprisoned for 22 years.

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In Canada, two teenage girls convinced school districts to make consent part of Ontario's sex ed curriculum all with the support of a virtual community.

And in The Gambia, the president finally declared a ban on female genital mutilation after a single online petition caught on like wildfire. What inspired these global initiatives? One place on the internet that does one simple thing very well.

That place is Change.org, the world's largest online petition platform, whose 146 million users create over 200,000 successful campaigns a year.

"With the web mobilizing these internet campaigns, Change.org harnesses the power of scale to help our users turn passion into real life impact," said Andy Veluswami, director of data science and analytics. And thanks to Andy and his team, the mechanics behind social activism, and how movements spread and gain momentum, are far clearer because of Change.org's unorthodox practice of data science.

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It turns out being a data scientist isn't just about crunching the numbers to uncover deep insights. According to Andy, cultural understanding and language are key drivers in how Change.org discovers, serves, and grows its community.

The stakes are high at Change.org, considering its users are often victims of injustices or defendants of the disenfranchised.

But no matter what kind of company you are, any product manager or data scientist can relate to Change.org's universal tenet: users aren't just "users" - they are people, and tech is here to serve those people in whatever capacity it's set out to do. This is no easy task.

While dealing with the large datasets can get convoluted, scale is not the toughest part of the job. The real work of data science is in grappling with the difficult choices outside the realm of numbers. According to Andy and his team at Change.org, "data science" is more interdisciplinary than the name might suggest.

Another frontier

In the Change.org offices in Portero Hill, Andy was wearing a typical Silicon Valley uniform - stylish jeans, a gray hoodie, salt and pepper beard. He looked the part of a quant, but anyone who talks to Andy for more than two seconds would get the impression that he stands out from the typical techie. He's always loyal to the data, but his sheer passion for social activism helps him see the greater context behind the viral spikes and trending petitions.

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Not only was Andy involved with grant administration in a past life, but he has also been involved with several nonprofits throughout San Francisco. He counts among his personal heroes Jaha Dukureh, "an incredible woman who created the petition that banned female genital mutilation [in The Gambia]," he told me.

After his time at Zynga, the mobile gaming company who set the model for how a lot of companies do analytics today, Andy joined Change.org, bringing all of his experience to bear on social activism.

"What we're doing here at Change.org is another frontier. There's such a hunger in the world to learn not only about the numbers and underpinnings behind a movement, but how we can make people feel empowered in society," he said.

Feeding this hunger is not just about parsing the numbers, but also about grappling with the cultures and politics that drive these movements. As an example of this, Andy shares how data and research were important in empowering Change.org's users in India.

Finding new voicesFor a country of 1.2 billion people, India's internet usage is exceptionally high, and it's largely on mobile. About 10% of the population speaks English, so after three years, Change.org's audience in India was modest, but sizable.

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However, after conducting market research, Change.org realized that they needed to localize in another, vernacular language for a non-English-speaking audience. Not only were they missing 90% of Indian citizens, but that 90% didn't have the same advantages as their English-speaking counterparts.

"English speakers in India are generally more elite, more urban, better-educated and have connections to the diaspora of international folks and government postings," Andy told me. This socio-economic breakdown gave English-speakers more agency in their political and social systems but, it was a much different story for those who didn't speak English.

Change.org found that Hindi speakers, about 400 million people, are generally more rural and less elite. Not to forget to mention, "Hindi speakers don't have all the opportunities that English speakers have in India," Andy said. "In addition, the income difference between the two groups is significant, estimated to be anywhere between 9x and 100x." It quickly became apparent to their team that Hindi speakers needed a platform to express their political will.

"We have to mobilize these people," Andy remembered, "These are the people that don't necessarily have the loudest voice at the table."

In October 2015, the Hindi site launched, and Change.org witnessed the impact it had on its Indian user base.

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"We noticed the political orientation of users had differences between the English and Indian sites. An example that illustrates this is 'reservation'."

"In India, caste-based 'reservation' is essentially a form of affirmative action where India sets aside quotas to help disadvantaged minorities," Andy explained, "It's very similar to what we do in the US with race-based admissions, often called 'affirmative action.'"

This is where their data science team saw a direct relationship between language and the nature of petitions being created.

"On the English site, we saw a rather large petition that supported the ending of the reservation system. After we launched the Hindi site, we noticed petitions being created on the other side of the debate - i.e. in support of affirmative action."

They realized that the language their platform supports only helps those that speak that language. So in diversifying their product, Change.org gave more people "a seat at the table."

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The multitudes in data science"With our scale at Change.org, I see a lot of opportunity for data science to help users make an impact, and for our platform to gather more insight into what drives a movement and who we need to help," Andy said. Even as a glass-half-full type of data scientist, Andy is not blind to the complexities of the job. Data science unlocks insights, but it also comes with limitations.

"Data science is great at parsing through numbers. If you've got data, it can be crunched. But what data science can never analyze are things on a deeper level, like the motivations behind someone starting a petition," Andy said.

At Change.org, crunching numbers evaluates a petition's performance and reach, or the quantitative "success." Whereas, understanding the data from different perspectives - with political, cultural, or even personal insight - can get closer to pinpointing the motivation behind a user who created or signed a petition.

"Looking at the numbers and mapping it onto our understanding of a culture has been essential when figuring out where our next opportunity lies," Andy said.

This is why data science doesn't just encompass "data" and "science." Rather, data science is a practice involving a multitude of disciplines, such as politics, culture, psychology, anthropology, and beyond. Without a doubt, it's notoriously difficult to define, leaving it up to debate amongst the experts.

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Data science DNAAccording to Brad Schumitsch from Twitch, "data science brings together three things: statistics, programming, and product knowledge." Unsurprisingly, Andy defines how to be a data scientist differently, adding in a fourth category I hadn't heard before.

"Here, we have four teams with distinct and interdependent functions that make up our data science and analytics practice: data engineering, quantitative analytics, machine learning, and content science," he told me, sharing some slides that have made the rounds at data science meetups.

The first three components make sense, sure, but content science? I honestly didn't know what that meant. I have since learned that another term for "content science" is "taxonomy," or the art and science of categorizing and naming things.

"One of the exciting and unique things about being a data scientist is that content sometimes falls under our domain," Andy tells me. That was exciting. I never thought that content, which is often seen as a "soft skill" to engineers, would play such an intrinsic role in data science. However, after hearing what an impact different languages made to Change.org's Indian users, it made complete sense. But, it's not only about the overarching language on the website, but also the specific terms used to describe things.

From a user's perspective, when there are hundreds of thousands of petitions to search through, how each is labeled and categorized greatly impacts how a campaign is discovered.

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From the website's perspective, how a petition is labeled also informs Change.org's recommendation engine, an internal tool that learns the interests of a user based on what petitions she's signed in the past.

For example, if a user advocated for a PETA campaign, then the recommendation engine is likelier to serve up a petition calling "to stop the barbaric ritual of harvesting bear bile," than a petition supporting the open carry of guns, i.e the right to "bear" arms. Content science, in essence, impacts Change.org's user experience, keeping someone engaged and retained, ultimately signing more and more petitions over time.

Parsing vs. understanding"Some topics, like human rights, are much more complex to categorize," Andy said, "We have to do a lot more sophisticated kind of number or text crunching to be able to definitively say a petition is a human rights petition."

Andy gives a classic example of how a computer could screw up: "A 'right to bear arms' isn't an animal rights issue. It's a political one. A computer doesn't have cultural context to know what this phrase means, but a person wouldn't trip up on this categorization."

At this juncture, you can see how the interdisciplinary nature of data science (and just being a human) becomes more important than programming. A major part of Change.org's taxonomic efforts go into figuring out what the correct and most up-to-date terms are, that way nothing gets miscategorized.

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"It's an art and a science," Andy continued. "Luckily we have some great political scientists and political minds in DC and New York and across the world helping us understand what are the right terms people and campaigners are using."

These political scientists also help determine what is a "right-leaning" vs. "left-leaning" campaign, a job a bit too nuanced for a computer to automate and do by itself.

"The political leaning of a petition is not always obvious. We really need that human layer and it's critical to our analytics process at Change.org," Andy said. Even on the algorithmic side, Andy explains to me, Natural Language Processing (NLP) still needs that human processing.

"Certain words in petitions or political trends cycle in and out depending on what's going on in the world. There's no way a computer would be able to know that," explained Andy.

"'Human rights' doesn't index well but 'refugees,' for example, did really well in Q3. Now there might be other terms that are trending, like 'migrants.' Our content science is a continuously evolving conversation that requires insight from our political scientists."

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People with cultural and language fluency are vital to Change.org's operations, and it would be nearly impossible to reach the scale that it does without its diverse employee network.

Take the Hindi site. It couldn't have been created without those who speak and write native Hindi. Why? Meanings and definitions can get lost in translation. Have you ever compared a translation tool to a native speaker? Having the experts that understand the idioms of trending topics is key for accuracy in content science.

It goes to show that no matter the systems in place to collect and analyze data, cultural understanding offers insight that can't be replaced when building a product. And for startups trying to acquire new users, compiling other disciplines into data science - even empathy - will be that irreplaceable "soft skill" for product teams when finding that product-market fit. It also requires higher levels of emotional intelligence to weigh a situation's urgency, even if the numbers don't reflect that magnitude.

Even in small numbersWhen the Hindi site launched in October 2015, its impact didn't just allow citizens to voice their opinions on hot button issues. The platform became a vehicle for change, even at a smaller scale, Andy explained.

"Villagers in a small town were petitioning big industries that were polluting their rivers. Because of the petition, the village council and the chief councilor decided to set up a committee to regulate the pollution of the water," said Andy.

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"The Hindi petition had 110 signatures," Andy continued. "It underscores the fact that petitions don't need a large number of signatures to win -- we realized that 'critical mass' is case-by-case, and the definition of 'success' is relative."

Despite their massive scale, Change.org learned that being a data scientist, especially for social activism, included some counterintuitive thinking. Sometimes it's not a numbers game. Sometimes it's not about getting as many signatures as humanly possible on the internet. What matters is that the numbers make an impact, in context to the community it's trying to serve, no matter how small.

***
Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton applauds at a campaign event in San Jose, California, U.S., May 26, 2016. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

Contrary to click-bait headlines this week, the State Department inspector general's report proves that Hillary Clinton is by a long shot the most qualified and trustworthy candidate running for president. But don't take my word for it, take five minutes and read the report yourself. The section about Clinton "breaking the rules" is less than six pages long.

The actual rules, however, would take weeks to read. They are mostly contained in the "Foreign Affairs Manual," and just skimming them is dizzying. They make the report's conclusion that "longstanding, systemic weaknesses related to electronic records and communications have existed within the Office of the Secretary that go well beyond the tenure of any one Secretary of State" come as no surprise

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No surprise either that with its budget declining and national security mission growing for decades, "records management" hasn't been a high priority for the State Department.

What may be surprising is that had Clinton used a government server and email address, we would know nothing more about anything today; in fact, we'd probably know less since Clinton's records retention system was far more sophisticated, well-maintained, secure and organized than the government's. What definitely came as a shocker in the report was the government's so-called "system" for retaining email: 1. Print every one and stick it in a box in random order. 2. Put said box on a shelf somewhere. 3. Start a new box. Seriously. Read the report. There are thousands of boxes of emails in no order, with no way of knowing whether they are comprehensive.

Well, I guess we know they're not comprehensive. The report clarifies that Colin Powell, for instance, hasn't printed any of his emails from his private server.

"Printing and filing remained the only method by which emails could properly be preserved within the office of the secretary in full compliance with existing FAM Guidance," says the report, and "80 percent of agencies had an elevated risk for the improper management of electronic records reflecting serious challenges handling vast amounts of email, integrating records management functionality into electronic systems, and adapting to the changing technological and regulatory environments."

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How's that for a confidence booster?

The specific "rule" Clinton allegedly broke states that the "general policy" of the State Department is for employees to use government email service on a government-issued device, but it then goes on to provide the conditions under which exceptions are made. The report acknowledges that Clinton had been openly using her private email server since she was a senator, through her 2008 presidential campaign and then as secretary of state. In fact, during her tenure at the State Department, 55,000 emails were sent by Clinton using her clintonemail.com email address, all of which have been printed and made available, more than any other previous secretaries.

The report also clearly states: "Laws and regulations did not prohibit employees from using their personal email accounts for the conduct of official Department business." And nowhere in the report is there suggestion that Clinton's use of a private email address and server was "illegal."

Instead, the thrust of the criticism of Clinton is that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Bureau of Information Resource Management were not asked permission by Clinton to use her private server. Had she asked, the new person in charge says, permission would have been denied.

How the new person in charge of security knows what the old person in charge of security when Clinton was secretary would have done is not explained, but bureaucrats under a microscope are like cockroaches when the lights come on. They scatter.

"These officials all stated that they were not asked to approve or otherwise review the use of Secretary Clinton's server and that they had no knowledge of approval or review by other department staff. These officials also stated that they were unaware of the scope or extent of Secretary Clinton's use of a personal email account, though many of them sent emails to the secretary on this account."

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So let's get this straight: The bureaucrats "in charge" of security knew Clinton was using a private email server since 2001 -- and they sent her email regularly to it between 2009 and 2013 -- but they wouldn't have given her permission to do that?

They sent her emails to her personal address, but they didn't know she had a personal address?

This was no covert operation, for heaven's sake. It's not like Clinton was secretly selling arms to Iran and funding the Contras. The Clintons paid out-of-pocket for a few techies to work in their basement keeping this server humming and free from cyber breaches. Staffers from the Bureau of Diplomatic Security inspected the email system, looked at the logs and communicated with these people on a regular basis. The bureau even refused to help fix it when Hurricane Sandy disrupted power "because it was a private server," according to the report.

Clinton reasonably believed her private server was allowed because the bureaucrats in charge of security allowed it. This present-day conviction for violating rule 12 FAM 544.2 after the fact means nothing of any consequence. Nobody was hurt. No security was breached. Who cares?

Oh, but other rules were broken --12 FAM 592.4 and 12 FAM 682.2-6 to be exact. These fault Clinton for failing to report a suspected a cyber-security "incident."

Sounds Benghazi-like, right? Sounds pretty darn serious, right?

Wrong. The "incident" was Clinton sending an email to her under secretary that said, "Is this really from you? I was worried about opening it!"

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The use of an unnecessary exclamation point might be fair game for critique, but really, in the grand scheme of things, do you care that she didn't report this "incident?"

It's not like she had nothing better to do as secretary of state. In 55,000 pages of email one alleged incident went unreported, so that makes her untrustworthy? Compared to whom? Trump? Bernie? How about reporting your tax returns, fellas?

The inspector general's report found the State Department under Secretaries Albright, Powell, Rice and Kerry fell short of rules around the management, storage and protection of email transmission -- as do virtually every other government agency and corporation.

In Maine we have rules, too, about document retention, and guess what? Nobody follows them, including Gov. Paul LePage. Until a document-shredding scandal was exposed, the Secretary of State's office wasn't even aware that 60 percent of state agencies didn't have a records custodian, the board responsible for rulemaking was defunct and retention schedules were 30 years old.

Does this justify bad behavior? Of course not, but there's a reason why so many people don't care about Hillary Clinton's 55,000 emails. The fact is, had she followed the letter of the law, our lives would be no better or worse. We would have had boxes of printed emails and instead we have boxes of printed emails. There's not one iota of evidence of any motive to do harm, break the law or personally gain.

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So to the people who were hoping the inspector general's report would be the second-to-last nail in the coffin before a much-anticipated criminal indictment: sorry. Clinton remains the most qualified, experienced and trustworthy candidate by a long shot. She neither blames others for the technical rule violations, nor tried to cover up or conceal emails she sent or received.
Former U.S. governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks to reporters at a news conference in Algiers June 25, 2013. REUTERS/Louafi Larbi (ALGERIA - Tags: POLITICS ENTERTAINMENT)

Will California Republicans' "Last Action Hero," Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, rally behind his party's presumptive nominee? That's the head scratching question most viewers who watched Meet The Press on NBC yesterday were pondering after the governor dodged the issue of whether or not he'll endorse the Republican Party's presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, before California's June 7 primary.

The governor's hesitancy underscores Trump's continued challenges when it comes to coalescing support and developing synergy with GOP leaders as he pivots to the general election. Just last week Trump was grappling with the issue of why New Mexico's Republican Governor and chair of the Republican Governors Association, Susana Martinez, hadn't backed his candidacy. By evading repeated inquiries on Meet The Press yesterday, it also raised questions of whether or not Governor Schwarzenegger, like Martinez, will ever even endorse Trump.

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After all, Schwarzenegger is a California Republican. He came out in support of gay marriage, calling the U.S. Supreme Court's move "the right decision." Schwarzenegger also broke with party orthodoxy to recognize climate change and signed arguably one of the most sweeping environmental laws in the nation, AB32 the Global Warming Solutions Act, which taxed carbon in an effort to reduce greenhouse gases.

There's no doubt that Schwarzenegger and Trump have many similarities. They were cut from the same political cloth in terms of taking the Republican Party by storm and starting their campaigns with sky-high name identification which stemmed from their celebrity status. Both Republicans also come from big coastal cities, and they share a shoot from the hip approach when it comes to campaigns and attacking their opponents. Beyond these optical elements, however, there's not much else they share.

In the Republican primary, Schwarzenegger enthusiastically endorsed and campaigned for Ohio Governor John Kasich. The move made sense given his deep ties to Ohio, the hub of the yearly bodybuilding competition called Arnold Classic Worldwide. And because of his relationship with Kasich, who has refused to endorse Trump or even contemplate serving as his Vice Presidential running mate, Schwarzenegger may be reluctant to side with Trump.

Furthermore, since leaving office, Schwarzenegger has spent much of his time establishing and promoting the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy at the University of California (USC). There, he's advanced a dialogue around many of the ideas he worked to champion as Governor. One issue in particular that has gobbled up a significant portion of his post Governorship time is addressing climate change.

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Saying climate change is "the issue of our time," Schwarzenegger has frequently debated its deniers. In 2015, he spent a week with California's Democratic Governor Jerry Brown in Paris, working to advocate for the United Nations Paris Agreement. He's even founded organization's like R20 Regions of Climate Action that are laser focused on combatting global warming.

Schwarzenegger's work and passion surrounding reducing greenhouse gases and curbing the impacts of climate change stand in sharp contrast with the philosophy of the Republican Party's new standard bearer. Notably, the day Trump announced that he clinched the 1,237 delegate threshold to become the Party's official nominee, he was in North Dakota to give a speech on his vision for energy policy at an oil conference.

During his remarks, Trump vowed to scrap the Paris climate change agreement, increase fossil fuel drilling, slash environmental regulations and advance the Keystone XL pipeline. Even worse, in 2012 he tweeted, "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive." Back in March, Trump said that as President, he would eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Last week, he denied that there was a drought crisis in California.

In light of Trump's plans to obliterate all the recent progress that both the nation and California have made in recognizing and dealing with climate change, clearly a life calling issue for Schwarzenegger, how does the former governor figure all this into his political calculation when it comes to making an endorsement?

Does Schwarzenegger line up behind his Party's new leader or does he embrace the mission statement at the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, which reads, "is committed to advancing post-partisanship, where leaders put people over political parties and work together to find the best ideas and solutions to benefit the people they serve."

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In 2008, former Secretary of State and U.S. General Colin Powell bucked his own Republican Party and endorsed Barack Obama for president. The question is, will Schwarzenegger pull a Powell in 2016 by putting people over political party and back a candidate who recognizes global warming and is determined to tackle it head on, rather than a candidate who clearly still denies it.

And if so, will it even make a difference?
Who am I?

No...This is not some existential, philosophical, New Age-type question. Au Contraire!

Google tells me that they have no clue...even as they sell my data (hmmmm) to others and inundate me with irrelevant ads that actually prove they have no clue.

Amazon purports to know me well through my orders, which are lots of kids books and paraphernalia; home care and personal care; kindle and physical books, and lots of varied gift stuff.

Facebook has me down pat through my connections, my posts and my Twitter and Instagram links.

Twitter has a handle on me through my tweets.

Instagram has intimacy through my pictures.

LinkedIn profiles me based on my thought leadership posts and by the data I provided them.

And on and on and on...Netflix, Hulu, Samsung, Pandora, Apple, Microsoft, Sirius, Uber, various airlines, my bank, Dark Sky, publishers too numerous to mention...and I am only scratching the surface.

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The outcome?

According to Internet Society, in an articled called "Defining an Online Identity:"

Your online identity is not the same as your real-world identity because the characteristics you represent online differ from the characteristics you represent in the physical world. Every website you interact with has its own idea of your identity because each one you visit sees you and your characteristics differently. For example, Amazon has established a partial identity for you based on the products you buy, whether it's you at the keyboard or someone else using your account. Yahoo! Finance has established a partial identity for you based on the stocks you are following, whether you actually own those stocks or not. Neither one has your full identity, even if they were to put together your partial identities.

Google can't figure me out because so many of my searches are contradictory and cross defined lines of demography and such -- I'm a grandfather and a gamer; a Doors diehard fan and a Peter, Paul and Mary acolyte; I love Shakespeare and Captain America, Moby Dick and Lord of the Rings...age doesn't define me, place doesn't define me and on and on...

Amazon has no clue about what I buy for myself or for my family or for my friends. They have no idea about what motivates my purchases or even searches.

The various social network platforms -- many of which I link - only see a small side of me - I post carefully, conscious of many factors and filters, with a bottom line that reflects my accountability to the company I work for, my family and yes my friends.

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As for the rest - what do they really know other than what is in my mind or rather my digit (true digital) at the moment I press.

And as Internet Society articulates it, continuing from above:

The result is that you have one true identity and many partial identities. Some of the information associated with a partial identity is under your control; other information may be out of your control or even completely invisible to you....

And there you have it..."some in your control" like the profiles you agree to complete; some "out of your control" like the data that is collected about you and some? Who knows??? Profiles created by algorithms that then share the data with other algorithms and on and on until even your mother wouldn't know you...and yet your identity is sold as you every step of the way.

Frankly, to be fair, none of this concerns me. At best I find it amusing to see what I am being served and at worst mildly annoying...in fact less annoying than the robot calls of the '80s and '90s that I still get!

Younger people, though, seem to be more concerned.

According to Time, "More than 11 million young people have fled Facebook since 2011."

WHY WOULD THEY LEAVE?

According to a study of 80 American college students, there appear to be three reasons:

Few college students want their parents to see their Friday night photos... "Those pics are there forever!" Having grown up with these platforms, college students are well aware that nothing posted on Facebook is ever truly forgotten, and they are increasingly wary of the implications.... Increasingly, young people are being warned that future employers, college admissions departments and even banks will use their social media profiles to form assessments. In response, many of them seem to be using social media more strategically. For example, a number of my students create multiple profiles on sites like Twitter, under various names. They carefully curate the content they post on their public profiles on Facebook or LinkedIn, and save their real, private selves for other platforms.

And again, I call attention to their real private selves versus the "carefully curated" versions of themselves they actually post.

Think of the implications - we purport to know you, sell that notion to advertisers, and proceed to create "intimate interactive immersive experiences" for you...but for which you?

And I haven't even begun to talk about the privacy issue and the Gawker/Hulk Hogan controversy that is in fact linked here as well, as there is an issue of persona vs person.

Clearly, I might add, I am not alone:

The average Internet user had 5.4 social media accounts in 2015." (Global Web Index) In 2015, the average number of email accounts was 1.7 globally, predicting 1.8 in 2018 and 1.9 in 2019. (Radicati)

And, while some of us curate or hold back on our identities for good, legal and ethical reasons, others take advantage of their 5.4 social media accounts and multiple email accounts to rip off and cause damage to the unsuspecting. Which by the way is not a new phenomenon...it's just been made more efficient by our digital world:

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According to Vice, in an articled titled "How Catfishing Worked Before the Internet (a reality show about people who lie on the Internet):"

Desperate, dishonest people have been pulling this shit for millennia. Though the etymology of the word catfish is sort of strange, it's a useful term to describe a type of con artistry that is centered around crafting a fake identity. What's fascinating about catfishers throughout history is that usually they weren't after financial gain--like their contemporary counterparts, their behavior seems to have been compulsive and driven by personality quirks or frustrations... In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, "Lonely Hearts Killers" were the Craigslist Killers of their time. But Henri Desire Landru, Harry F. Powers, Sweden's Gustav Raskenstam, and the married couple of Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck were all out to make a buck-- using a personal ad to lure people to a secluded place in order to kill them for their cash is awful...

Scary stuff with more permanent consequences than how we curate our privacy...

Bottom line, we cannot allow ourselves to lose who we really are because online entities see only parts of our whole and then claim to fill in the rest - selling that to others who do the same and...you got the picture.

But don't despair -- the issue of "Who I am/Who am I" is not new. It is not an outcome of our 24/7 connected, data-driven, algorithmically run world. Socrates, himself, said "Know thyself."

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Yet, today it is amplified. So as much as we can drive clarity and transparency, we can drive equal confusion and obfuscation.

So remember...Listen:

Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment. Lao Tzu

Yes, we can know others. Somewhat. And maybe it does give us some wisdom...or sellable data...but do not lose sight of yourself.

Perhaps the late Margaret Mead supplied the ultimate expression for our world today.

Listen:

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.

And there you have it. The most important point of all. The point that will keep us human and ourselves so long as we let it.

We are, in the end, no more or less than who we are.

And while anyone of the entities I mentioned and thousands more claim to know all about us, all there is to know about us, they don't really.

And therein lies the lesson for marketers, politicians, pollsters, demographers, and you and me.

Who are you?

What do you think?
Happy Memorial Day, the unofficial launch of summer and summer holidays. Where to go? And what to eat? A growing number of vegan tour groups make travel more fun and remove the worry about what's in your dinner. Think of it as plant-based Trip Advisor.

Why vegan travel? Demetrius Bagley, award-winning producer of Vegucated has been working -- and playing -- with Vegano Italiano because their tours offer all the fun, none of the stress. "Rather than printing out a gazillion pages from Happy Cow," he says, Vegano Italiano, a specialized tour series organized by husband-and-wife travel pros Gretchen Sheridan and Pasquale Tierno "makes it easy." The Vegano Italiano team has over 40 years travel experience and the Italy-based couple bring their insider knowledge and passion to tours of Italy. So do all-star culinary instructors like Julieanna Hever and Fran Costigan.

Photo credit: Franco Pecchio

Many people choose vegan tours for the same reason they go vegan in the first place -- wellness. That was Sandy Pukel's thought when launching Holistic Holiday at Sea. Pukel spent years living and teaching meatless nutrition, macrobiotics and wellness only to watch clients backslide into old, unhealthy ways. His idea -- get them away from their routine long enough to let good habits take hold. "Of course it has to be fun, too. We have parties every night," says Pukel. But participants always rate the classes and instructors including vegan celebs like T. Colin Campbell and Rich Roll "as their #1 reason for coming." The pioneering vegan cruise has grown exponentially since it began 14 years ago. Now 35 presenters, 20 vegan chefs and 1,850 attendees commandeer half the MSN Divina for a week-long Caribbean trip to wellness.

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More intimate but just as wellness-focused are Blissed Out Retreats organized by vegan chef, athlete and wonderwoman Christy Morgan. Her wellness workshops (which like Vegano Italiano tours are limited to 20) take place in exotic locales like Bali and Mexico and attract an equal mix of vegans and omnivores "which I love because I l get to expose omnivores to vegan food," says Morgan. "Many comment on how amazing they feel and will continue when they get home -- this is a great feeling as an activist."

Photo credit: VegVoyages

The food is amazing, of course, but the tours also reflect the increasing sophistication of vegan travel, incorporating a in-depth, hands-on experience. We're talking really hands-on -- making your pasta in Italy, strolling the markets in India, sharing a home-cooked vegan meal in the home of a local host. "We focus on cultural immersion," says VegVoyages co-founder Zac Lovas. "We work closely with communities where the adventure is taking place to introduce local cultures and customs in a responsible and respectful manner."

VegVoyages offers 25 tours of Southeast Asia, and all integrate the green living attitude that's a core part of being vegan. "The best part," says Lovas, "is bridging cultural gaps and hopefully making the world a little smaller for all of us." Winner of the 2015 Green Festival Green Dream Award, VegVoyages is also VegNews' go-to company for the magazine's upcoming tours of India and Thailand. "They meet our standard of excellence every step of the way," says VegNews editor Colleen Holland, who always returns from the tours "recharged and full of gratitude."

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Lovas and Morgan both say the biggest tour challenge isn't logistics, it's getting guests to leave behind pre-conceived notions -- fear of different places -- and to turn off the noise (and cellphones) of their life back home.

Some destinations are challenging. There has yet to be a vegan tour of ham-loving Germany or Spain, but Vegan River Cruises gets you pretty close, with cruises down the Danube and Rhone. Most tours focus on the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Southeast Asia, where plant-based food is intrinsic to the culture and cuisine. It's pretty spectacular, too, and for a change, you can eat it all.

There's a vegan tour for you wherever you want to go, whatever your passion and price point. Remember, though -- the real investment here is in yourself. Pack your bags.

Photo credit: Green Earth Travel





Crema di Pistacchio (Pistachio Butter) If like me, you have a weakness for nuts and nut butters, this recipe from Fran Costigan is so luscious, it's dangerous. Use to top crostini, as a base for gelato or eat out of the jar. As Fran says, "The taste is pure Italy." Recipe reprinted with permission from Fran Costigan. 8 ounces shelled, raw, unsalted pistachios (from about 16 ounces in-shell pistachios )

5 tablespoons superfine sugar

1/8 teaspoon sea salt

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, more if needed to adjust consistency. Process the pistachios in a food processor until very fine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the sugar, salt and olive oil. Process until a smooth and almost runny paste is achieved. This can take up to 10 to 12 minutes in a standard food processor. Spoon into a clean jar with tight fitting lid. Refrigerated, this spread should stay fresh for a couple of weeks. Makes 1 cup.
Oscar Wilde's story - his rise and fall - remains fascinating. His plays were the toast of London and his 1895 masterwork The Importance of Being Earnest, was being staged at the time of his scandalous trial.

His is now a familiar story.

Bosie Douglas, Wilde's young lover, bullied him into bringing a libel suit against his loathsome father, the Marquess of Queensberry, who accused him of being a "sodomite." When it became clear that various rent boys would support the claim, Wilde dropped his suit. He was then charged with "gross indecency," and, with the threat of jail imminent, given time to flee England.

Wilde holes up at the Cadogan Hotel as his friend Robbie Ross (Cal MacAninch) begs him to leave. Bosie (Charlie Rowe), still pushing his own agenda, wants him to stay and fight. Wilde, known to be pompous and arrogant, is, in David Hare's The Judas Kiss, now at BAM's Harvey Theater, a kinder, gentler Oscar: still witty and clever, but more reflective and melancholy.

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Noting how many young men are en route France in the wake of the scandal, Wilde muses: "Opera will be stone dead."

Wilde is played to perfection by Rupert Everett, who channels the legendary writer at every turn -- his wit, charm, exasperating ways and inexplicable Bosie obsession. His sharp, rueful performance alone is worth the price of admission.

The play is Hare's thoughtful meditation on why Wilde chose to stay, since his inaction will lead to ruin. By act two, a shattered, broke Wilde is in Naples, inexplicably reunited with the ever-demanding, delusional Bosie, busy flaunting his boy toy.

Hare tries to reconcile Wilde's public and private selves, to determine why he participates in his own downfall. (Wilde did not martyr himself for homosexuality at his trials, but stood for personal privacy.) The conniving Bosie, beset by daddy issues, is perceived as indifferent to Wilde's fate. His concerns, first, and foremost, are for himself.

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How did such a clever man, gifted at peeling the artifice from the aristocracy, allow himself to be used in such a spectacularly horrible fashion?

The Judas Kiss, which enjoyed a successful run at the Hampstead Theater in London, isn't so much a dramatic effort as a compelling examination into the complexities and contradictions of Wilde.

The tension in act one is intense, thanks to Neil Armfield's tight direction, but ultimately, it is more about the inexplicable decisions that altered his life.

The play showcases the wonder of Wilde -- and mourns the loss of his considerable talent. The instinct for self-preservation -- if not for himself and his genius, then his children -- is appallingly MIA.

And always, there is the scheming, self-involved Bosie. Rowe is well cast; he captures Bosie's manipulative ways, as well as his hair-trigger temper, with precision.

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It's been 116 years since the great playwright's death -- yet Hare's The Judas Kiss reminds us that the ill-fated alliance proved Wilde right: "Each man kills the thing he loves."

In Wilde's case, it's himself.
As the nation once again honors American war dead on Memorial Day, instead of spouting the usual nationalistic platitudes that U.S. soldiers fought to keep the country "safe and free," perhaps we should analyze whether that is really true.

Since the 9/11 attacks, more than double the number of Americans killed in those terrorist attacks have been sent to their deaths in the war on terror (for example, in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq), not to mention the U.S. government's killing of an order of magnitude more people in many Islamic countries using conventional military forces and drone attacks. Yet during this 15-year period, Americans have been in denial about why Islamist terrorists attack or threaten U.S. targets at home and overseas. U.S. politicians don't want to discuss the unpleasant reality, because it might anger some voters and threaten their all-important chances for re-election. The American media -- putting on what the public wants to see, hear, and read to get big advertising revenues -- overhype coverage of Islamist groups like ISIS, because sensationalist coverage of diabolical villains doing heinous acts sells, but astutely bury the reasons these groups attack the United States.

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American media coverage of Islamist terror groups has focused on their proliferation and their increasing savagery -- for example, ISIS's beheadings of hostages, its brutal methods of rule, and its barbarous destruction of archeological treasures -- but never examines the question of how much of a threat many of these groups pose to U.S. targets at home and abroad and why these groups would want to attack a country so far away.

In fact, fundamentalist Islam has been around for centuries, just as radical branches of other religions have been, and most radical Islamist groups have local or regional grievances -- for example, ISIS in Iraq, Syria, and now Libya; Boko Haram in Nigeria and surrounding countries; Al Shabab in Somalia; and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in the region of West Africa. Jenifer Cooke, director of the Africa program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies was recently quoted in a New York Times article about the U.S. military giving assistance to various governments across Africa to fight such groups.

She made a very telling, if understated comment, "Some of the threats, whether it's Al Shabab, ISIL[ISIS], Boko Haram, or AQIM, pose a more direct and sophisticated threat to African states, to European allies, and potentially to the United States."

The last phrase is used as a euphemism by experts on terrorism to acknowledge that the United States is harder (but not impossible) for such groups to attack, because it is more distant across oceans and it doesn't have as many radicalized sympathizers to shelter prospective "evildoers."

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The fact is that most of these groups would have no reason to attack the United States if it didn't assist local governments in attacking them or attack them directly. For example, even ISIS didn't start beheading Western journalists and trying to attack European targets until a U.S.-led coalition, which included European countries, started bombing ISIS in the Middle East.

The U.S. government has used the "Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler at Munich in 1938 led to a snowballing threat" rationale as the excuse for excessive U.S. military action during and after the Cold War to address any threat, no matter how remote, so that it didn't multiply into something worse. This simplistic Munich analogy led to many needless overseas overt and covert interventions; to quagmires, such as the wars in Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan, and Iraq; and is now leading to blowback terrorism.

In recent CNN program, "Why Do They Hate Us," Fareed Zakaria does mention U.S. foreign policy, but then quickly skips on to the question of whether Islam is an inherently violent religion and asks why the Vietnamese (Buddhists) didn't use terrorism against the United States. One reason might be that they were not as weak as the Muslims are against U.S. power -- terrorism is used by the weak against the strong when no other means are available -- and the second might be that the U.S. government has focused most of its post-World War II military interventions on the Middle East rather than Southeast Asia, including attacking or invading at least seven Muslim countries since 9/11.

Most Americans do not focus on the fact that their country has statistically been the most aggressive country in the world after World War II and that some people don't like the U.S. government meddling in their affairs using armed force. This rage does not excuse heinous behavior or attacking civilians, as al Qaeda, ISIS and other groups have done, but it does at least explain their behavior.

Since World War II, the U.S. military has been used for imperial policing, not defending the country as the Constitution stipulates. Unfortunately, many of the recent military deaths that we are mourning have been unnecessary and even counterproductive -- as new more radical groups are spawned from the ones U.S. intervention helped create in the first place -- al Qaeda and al Qaeda in Iraq.

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Myanmar Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi speaks during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry (not pictured) following their meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Myanmar's capital Naypyidaw on May 22, 2016.Kerry met Aung San Suu Kyi for Washington's first high level talks with her new civilian government, offering fresh support to her country's democratic progress after decades of army rule. / AFP / POOL / NYEIN CHAN NAING (Photo credit should read NYEIN CHAN NAING/AFP/Getty Images)

In Burma, the urgency for just leadership is intensifying. Leadership defines a nation. Some leaders take their country higher and some take their country lower. Those on the lower side are forgotten and those on the high side are remembered; legacy counts. I strongly believe that Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK) is coming to a fork in the road for her career. In the last election, she won every district. Her nation believes in her. Despite her house arrest, her people stayed with her for 16 years and never wavered. Her numerous international honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize, prove the world believes in her. But moments come that define leadership. No one asks for these moments but they do come. Nelson Mandela chose a positive path and Robert Mugabe took the lower path. I hope ASSK takes the higher path. Let me explain.

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In my time as a Peace Corps director in Lesotho, 1977-1981, two prominent leaders existed in southern Africa, Mandela of South Africa and Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Although both men would eventually lead their nations, during my time in Lesotho, they faced disenfranchisement by their respective governments. Mandela was in jail and the Mugabe was in exile, fighting from Mozambique to topple Ian Smith of Rhodesia. Despite their perilous positions, both men had devout people behind them, including their militaries. While Mandela and Mugabe would rise to power, the decisions these men made polarized their legacies. Mandela moved his new government to the West and Mugabe pushed his government to the East. Depending on where you were living in southern Africa, the UK and the USA became friend or foe.

Mandela died with the world weeping in respect. When Mugabe goes, Zimbabwe will be weeping as well but in infamy, not respect. Mandela stayed for one election and he was determined to use his time to improve South Africa as best he could. To the contrary, Mugabe ran for himself in multiple elections, which have drawn opposition from critics who claim the elections were undemocratic. He has been in office since 1987. History will remember Mandela kindly but will shun the long serving Zimbabwean President.

Under Mugabe, Zimbabwe has almost become a failed state, while South Africa limps along under poor leaders like Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. Despite these recent failures, South Africa will always have the legacy of Mandela to be proud of and a standard worth remembering, set by the likes of Rovina prisoners from the African National Congress (ANC). Thus, the southern African example displays the two kinds of leadership. Mandela a success and Mugabe a failure. Although Burma is a world away, ASSK will be judged in exactly the same manner as the likes of Mandela and Mugabe.

In February of 1999, my partner and I were admitted into the headquarters of the National League for Democracy, a little wooden home really, and met ASSK. Like Mandela and Mugabe, ASSK had been disenfranchised from her government. She had been placed under house arrest, where she remained for over a decade. Due to her situation, everyone told us we would be unable to meet with her. My taxi driver whispered to me "she gives out rice once a week" and drove us past the NLD headquarters. My partner sat inside in a sarong. She waited and waited. Finally, a white Toyota drove up close to the entrance. Quickly, a woman in white jumped out and dashed inside. There were many soldiers around the general area. My partner waited as ASSK met her followers and discussed matters. Finally her opportunity came, and she asked ASSK if she would meet me. Fortunately, she agreed.

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My partner came out and got me. I spent about 15 to 20 minutes speaking with ASSK. I got her autograph and a few photos. Her words were simple and clear, "tell everyone to keep unity and strength. If we stay as one movement, we will do fine." Leaving Rangoon that night felt awfully good. Not many beyond the diplomats had even seen her for years, and thus I felt our trip had been wonderfully successful.

The next month I sent a delegation with Ebet Roberts and Nancy Anderson to do the same visit, except this time to record. They did and brought back rare footage. I tried to give that footage to CNN as news but the producer told me "you are making news," we do not make news we cover it. I asked him how would she call for a press conference to accommodate him since she was under house arrest? No answer and no coverage on CNN.

Now 17 years later, the Nobel winner and leader of Burma (I call it Burma until the 25 percent of military in parliament are no longer automatically part of the legal and legislative process) who won every district is struggling to get a hold of the vast government and deal with the people's problems like education, health, housing and so on.

In part, her problems stem from Burma's ethnic diversity. Historically, the tribes along the Thai border have resisted the Burman majority government. These tribes would like at least a "Montreal" type arrangement with their government. They have faced military abuse for years. Soldiers have become infamous for raping and killing tribe members. Despite their marginalization by the Bamar majority, the tribes threw in their support for ASSK. The political hopes of these tribes run high, and it will not be easy to meet those expectations by Rangoon's new government.

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Recently, when Secretary Kerry was in Rangoon, ASSK asked for time when it came to the issue of the Rohingya. In fact, she asked that that name Rohingya might be avoided so as to give her time to set this situation with the Rohingyas. All this sounds good until you dig into the facts of how the Rohingyas are treated on a daily basis.

The Rohingyas are a Muslim minority that has existed in Burma for centuries. This is a historical fact, though much of the Burman majority resist this fact. Buddhist monks are part and parcel of the opposition that are attacking, killing and relocating these people. The Buddhists feel that the Rohingyas are outsiders that threaten the sovereignty of the Burman people. Due to the opposition they face, the Rohingyas live in squalor. They do not possess papers and are not citizens because the government refuses to issue them passports. Simply put, they are poor and unprotected. Thousands have attempted to escape Burma by sea to avoid rape, regular beatings, burning of villages, and starvation. Unlike 17 years ago, when I attempted to give CNN the recordings of ASSK under house arrest, the Western press is on the case. Secretary Kerry raised this basic issue of human rights with ASSK.

Her response was lackluster. Instead of taking action, she wanted more time to address the issue. Furthermore, she asked the nations of the world to stop referring to the Rohingya, which can be seen as a concession to national extremists. I have been one of those urging space and time; however, we have simply run out of time. Human rights of the Rohingya must be protected. Not tomorrow but today. She must demand an end to the violence led by the Buddhist monks; the military and vigilantes need to step back. She must arrange with the United Nations to get foodstuff into this northeast area of Burma.

With their nutritional concerns cared for, ASSK must begin a process, legal and fair, to find out who is and who is not a citizen. National and international scholars must settle on criteria. The world's decency cannot wait any longer. Steps to improve Burma can be taken immediately. These steps are normal and ASSK could get help from around the world if she chose. Although she is highly respected, if the human rights concerns of the Rohingya are not addressed, she is about to lose the halo given to her for her courage and determination to deliver freedom and democracy to her people. Before her lie two paths, one leads to a Mandela-like legacy and the other to infamy of Mugabe.

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It probably goes without saying but, with 5 kids, we've been on every side of the bullying issue. But, I'll never forget one incident that my family refers to as, "The White Ribbon Campaign." It's a saga about an unfortunate 5th grade boy, budding body parts, a spool of white satin ribbon, some Hitler-esque armbands and feminism gone awry. Unsurprisingly, my third daughter was right in the thick of things, yet again...

It started on a seemingly innocuous Wednesday afternoon in March, as I pulled into the parking lot of my children's Catholic grade school to drop something off. It doesn't matter what it was now -- a library book, a forgotten lunch, a signed permission slip. Trust me -- the events that transpired afterwards were enough to permanently erase minor details from memory. As I negotiated my parking space, I waved at Sue, another mother I vaguely knew, who was walking out of the school office with her son Chandler in tow. She did not wave back. Neither one of them looked happy. In fact, Chandler, a "spirited" boy, looked downright broken.

I hoped there wasn't a bug going around.

Turns out - there was a "bug!" I just didn't yet realize the bug was my very own daughter, one of the Queen Bees in a hive that buzzes around the 5th grade. My prescience hadn't kicked in full-throttle yet. I dropped off whatever it was in the school office and didn't give the matter a second thought, until later that afternoon in the carpool pick up line.

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One thing I have to say about my darling offspring, if I listen for the right cues, and then proceed with the proper questioning, she will give herself right up. It's like watching an episode of "Law and Order" MVU (Mini Van Unit). One of the first things she rattled off about her school day was that, "Chandler went home early."

"Oh, yeah ... I saw him with his Mom. Was he sick? What did he have? What were his symptoms?"

When she hemmed and hawed around with her answer, I started to smell a rat, or at the very minimum I smelled a story. Something more interesting than a kid getting sick at school -- I mean, that happens every day, right? It's not exactly headline news.

"Remember I told you he was acting like such a PERV the other day?" She said.

"Telling other boys that he could see all the girls' training bras through their white uniform blouses?" I said, nervously, mom antennae rising. Yes, I remembered that.

"Yeah!" she answered. (She was visibly relieved that I recalled how inappropriate his behavior was, so I would be fully onboard with the consequences that got meted out at the hands of the 5th grade female criminal justice system.)

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A group of girls in their class decided that the "pervertedness" of the boys in their class needed to be dealt with swiftly and surely. There was no time for pesky parental or teacher intervention. This called for vigilante justice. They would take the law into their own hands the very next day by making an example of Chandler.

Sure enough, the next morning, one of the girls brought a brand new unused spool of white satin ribbon and a pair of scissors from her mother's sewing kit and rallied several of the other girls outside of their classroom before school for a ribbon cutting ceremony of sorts. They cut lengths of ribbon, tied them around their forearms and called them "purity bands." They spent the rest of the day smugly impressed with their own homespun brand of sisterhood-inspired solidarity.

The original explanation that spread like wildfire throughout the school, was that the armbands were a sign of "the girls vs. the boys" and the girls, "not wanting remarks and undue attention called to their undergarments." (Bravo ladies -- very discreet!) But, like all things 5th grade-related, it morphed, and by third hour, kids were whispering that every girl wearing a white ribbon, "Hated Chandler!" Needless to say, it was all more than young Chandler was equipped to handle. Devastated, he could barely make it through his math class, and ended up in the principal's office until his mother could arrive to rescue him from the throes of vigilante justice.

Like an experienced priest in a confessional, I pulled the entire tale out of my daughter before we made it to the third traffic light home. The rest of the drive I was stunned and in disbelief, trying to decide the exact right course of action. There was not a doubt in my mind that I had a phone call to make and that my daughter had some serious amends to make. I was just sick when I looked in my rear view mirror at my own two innocent little boys in the backseat, just a few short years away from making their own ill-advised, pre-pubescent "bra remark" as Chandler had, only to pay a price excessively dear.

I called Chandler's mother and told her the story verbatim as I learned it from my daughter. (Well ... maybe I left out the word, "PERV!") The most important points seemed to be that:

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-the girls should not have done what they did

-the girls did not dislike Chandler, just his remarks

-my daughter would be publicly apologizing to Chandler for her part and setting an example for her cohorts to do the same

In addition to acknowledging the snowball effect of her and her friends' actions, another thing I wanted my daughter to understand, was that her younger brothers, will probably "step in it" at some point down the road. Will she be comfortable with any level of disciplinary action meted out and deemed appropriate by a jury of their female peers? Something to think about ... she sure adores those younger brothers.

We required our daughter to apologize to Chandler. Her friends followed suit. Chandler apologized for his behavior as well. The entire episode blew over (as they always seem to do) after a few days.

Today all the kids involved are happy, healthy young adults who learned valuable life lessons when they were young. They love God, family, friends and are loved in return. With a modicum of awareness, parents can seize and actually embrace life's "teachable moments" to help their children grow into the kind and compassionate human beings they are truly meant to be.

For my part, I was determined that, feminist or not, with or without a bra, you've got to nip (pun intended) that homespun "wearing o' the white" to make a social statement. No good ever came from that...

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Previously published on:

http://agingersnapped.com
Arab media aren't facing up to their responsibility of not fanning the flames of hate speech and sedition, and should exert more effort to mitigate conflicts they help provoke.

"A hashtag I never wanted to use. A Christian 70yo woman stripped naked& paraded in sectarian clashes," tweeted Suzy Hanna.

The Twitter hashtag in question, "Masr It'arret" (Egypt Stripped), went viral when an angry mob of Muslim men stripped naked an elderly Coptic Christian woman and paraded her through the streets of her town in the conservative "Saeed" (Upper Egypt) province of Minya on hearing rumors her son was having an affair with a Muslim woman.

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Egypt's Coptic Christians are largest minority (Abu-Fadil)

The assailants burned her house and six other dwellings as police officers reportedly took two hours to respond to the incident.

Sectarian bouts of violence are common in Upper Egypt where extra-marital dalliances (and marriages) between members of different religions are more than frowned upon.

Muslim men are allowed, though not encouraged, to marry Christian women, while Christian men must first convert to Islam if they wish to marry Muslim women

"What pains me as a 'Saeedi' man in the incident of stripping an elderly woman of her clothes in a 'Saeed' governorate is that what's left of 'Saeedi' society's decent customs have almost dissolved or disintegrated with time," wrote Egyptian Maamoun Fendy in the pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

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Fendy, who called for serious introspection from the highest echelons of leadership to the lowest rungs of society in a column headlined "A Manhood Movement," said Egyptians used to see a reservoir of manhood in the "Saeed" and that the Minya incident had shaken a national conviction in the values of chivalry, nobility and honor.

"The Coptic lady's incident isn't an isolated detail, notably with the media's ongoing approach in handling such matters in a repugnant fashion that contradicts the truth, and falsifies the truth about the deep afflictions that have shaken up society," wrote Lebanese journalist Diana Moukalled in the same paper.



Ethical Journalism Network's 5 points on hate speech (Abu-Fadil presentation)

Internal, regional and international conflicts have had a serious, and often adverse, impact on Arab media. The advent of social media has also exacerbated matters, and the first victim is invariably ethics.

While mudslinging via and by the media is daily fare in Egypt, where press freedom is endangered and "security" is a pretext for cracking down on journalists and activists, it's not exclusive to that country.

Terrorism, civil war, sectarianism, and economic hardships are reflected in other Arab countries' media, often with lethal effect.

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Last month I pulled all the stops for 10 days in Jordan to co-train Libyan journalists and media managers on conflict-sensitive reporting.



Libyan journalists at Amman confict-sensitive reporting workshop

(courtesy Issam Alfitori)

Libya has been racked by infighting, terrorism, divisions, and an influx of refugees and migrants from other African states trying to get to Europe since the overthrow and killing of former dictator Muammar Qaddafi in 2011.

Some of the trainees traveled from Libya, Tunisia and Egypt to Jordan. Others were already in Amman, since they work for Libyan media based in the Jordanian capital.

The program organized and funded by UNESCO, along with help from the US Embassy in Libya and the Finnish Foreign Ministry, involved two workshops on how to go about covering news in conflict-sensitive zones, and a final event to produce a code of ethics for Libyan media.



Magda Abu-Fadil on rumors and 5th columnists in conflict zones

(courtesy Issam Alfitori)

I provided presentations and videos, tailored exercises and assignments for this project, and, engaged with the participants to create a base of knowledge and best practices in conflict-sensitive reporting, and journalism in general.

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The ethical dimension was ever-present in all sessions and presentations in a bid to create a solid base for fact-finding, reporting, producing and disseminating accurate, fair, balanced and humanitarian content.



UNESCO's Raja'a El Abasi briefs Libyan journalists (Abu-Fadil)



We began with definitions of conflict-sensitive journalism and bias.

I drew on case studies from Lebanon's civil war and residual internecine tensions and how provocative language in the media was, and can still be, a trigger for violence.

We focused on the spreading of false and misleading information. The journalists were also shown how to assess propaganda in its historical, political, social, and psychological contexts.

The ISIS PR machine we examined is a more contemporary example of media manipulation, given the organization's very strong presence in Libya.

There was a session dedicated to rumors during which I deconstructed the concept in psychological warfare and how various governments and factions use them to promote their agendas with the help of compliant media.

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The power of visuals and how they are used as media tools in conflicts involved a review of photographs, infographics, charts, illustrations, maps, caricatures and videos, their shocking impact through legacy media, and their even more potent punch via social media.

There was a separate session on traditional online media, digital multimedia, and social media.



Journalism of terrorism (Abu-Fadil presentation)

Religious incitement and how to cover religious affairs was another session with ample case studies and videos about the monitoring of religious and sectarian incitement in the media and tips on how to cover the topic.

A final session in the main workshops centered on peace journalism and how a culture of peace can permeate newsrooms when publishers, editors, producers and managers buy into the concept of positive interaction and engagement.

Participants were shown how newsroom diversity, professionalism and cohesion lead to better coverage of conflicts. Libya's political, ethnic and tribal diversity can be a stumbling block to that culture of peace.

The final event, a workshop grouping some of the participants from the second training and others who complemented the assemblage, focused on hammering out a code of ethics to be adopted by Libyan media.

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It came on the heels of earlier efforts by UNESCO to establish a base for media ethics in Libya.



Journalists watch video on sectarianism (courtesy Issam Alfitori)

While most of the allotted time in the final workshop was dedicated to putting in place workable guidelines for good journalistic practice, I provided additional presentations, case studies, exercises and examples of how codes of conduct are formulated, what other countries' media had adopted as ethical standards, and how such codes can be implemented.

That included intense discussions on media ethics, hate speech, verification, documentation, and fact-checking, as well as reminders of the basics of journalism across all news platforms and media.
A few months ago, I went to visit my friends Ilan and Fanny, and their two beautiful children in a small town an hour's drive from the city. I crashed at their place, and in the morning woke up to the sounds of Fanny playing with Shia (4) and Aliya (3). I hopped out of bed, picked up a toy and got in the mix... and after a few minutes Shia asked his mom, "Where's Daddy?" Fanny replied, "Daddy's meditating." Shia nodded, and the fun continued.

When I heard this, I had two thoughts that came one after the other... "Whoa, these kids are really lucky!" followed by, "Whoa, I wish my Dad meditated when I was growing up."

You see, my life can be divided into two chapters: life before meditation, and life after. Life after meditation has less stress, increased presence and more happiness. I have a greater sense of purpose in my work and much healthier relationships. My only regret about meditation, is that I didn't start it sooner.

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That's why realizing my friend's children were growing up in an environment where meditation was as common as the concept of cereal for breakfast got me really excited. Here are a few of the implications I think this has:

1. Happier Couple, Happier Kids

My parents have an amazing relationship, but that wasn't always the case. Throughout a lot of my childhood they fought quite a bit. They were both super stressed about finances and their parents health issues, and they didn't have the tools to deal with that stuff in a healthy way.

The way my parents handled disagreements and stressful situations had a really big impact on my worldview. I didn't realize how significant the effect was until years later when I started doing work on myself. It took a lot of time for me to clear up the decisions I made about life made in the infinite wisdom of a 5-year-old.

Research shows that people that meditate experience greater relationship satisfaction and have better communication. The tone and environment that's created by parents is something kids are keenly aware of, and it's clear to see that the type of partnership my friends cultivated is one that sends a really positive message to Shia and Aliya.

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2. Keep Calm And Carry On

Have you ever seen someone jam their toe and flinch in sympathy, or instantly felt sad when someone emotionally shares a hardship they're going through? You're able to instinctively understand and feel what someone else is experiencing because of something called mirror neurons, a special class of brain cells that get triggered by simple observation.

This is the scientific explanation for why people often say that kids tend to have a similar temperament to their parents. It's also a big part of why it's recommended that all pregnant women and new moms get screened for depression.

Since meditation helps people maintain a calm disposition, if parents adopt the practice, it's more likely that a peaceful temperament will rub off on their children. Since being a new parent can be highly stressful, it's a great time to develop a practice.

3. Inner Guidance System

When we asked our users at Expectful what annoyed them most during pregnancy, the almost universal response we got was "unsolicited advice". There are so many opinions about how parents "should" raise their children, which can be counterproductive and lead people that are really concerned with being great parents, to feel like the odds are stacked against them.

Just like the heart knows how to beat without any training, I believe that deep down parents have all the tools they need to be incredible parents. It's something that already exists inside that simply needs to be uncovered, not learned. Meditation is a simple tool that can help people get more in touch with their inner knowing, and allow access to the answers that are already there.

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This is one of the things I love about Ilan and Fanny, they are incredible parents that also beat to their own drum. Although they're very informed, ultimately the decisions they make seem to come from what feels right to them, vs the opinions of others.

4. The Zen Toddler

I began meditating when I was 29, but wish someone encouraged me to develop a practice while I was still hanging on monkey bars and drinking chocolate milk like it was my job. I still remember thinking that everything my dad did was the coolest thing ever (I still kinda do), and I'm sure if he meditated, I would have wanted in.

The incredible benefits of meditation aren't just for adults. Children that learn the skill also benefit from improved concentration, more creativity, higher self esteem and greater self awareness.

If kids grow up around meditation, it's much more likely they'll begin doing it themselves. What a great gift to give them, especially with all of the challenges they can face in today's world.
NEW YORK: Goodyear Satire Company-

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump today reflected on his storied military career while laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Shareholder.

Trump's military career began at the age of 18, when, the Vietnam War raging, he courageously battled the United States Selective Service for four consecutive years, earning not only four student deferments but a Bonze Medal from the campus Chuck E. Cheese.

Even after the early Vietnam years, Trump's fire to fight and possibly die for his country burned within his soul. He wanted to serve in the worst way, like his father didn't, and his father's father didn't, either.

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Donald Trump's Paternal Grandfather, Frederick Drumpf

Not content with sitting on the sidelines when so many of his brothers-in-arms were dying for their country, Trump was undeterred. He rejoined his battle with Selective Service after his student de, and bravely fought for and received the classification he was unfit for military service on medical grounds. Trump was devastated at the turn of events.

Trump had been pronounced fit for service at 18, but the stress of Trump's battles with the government caused him a service-related disability. For his injuries, he was awarded a 4-F which he took as a sign, as it paralleled the 4-F's he had received in college.

Trump was well trained for his military service, having previously enlisted in the New York Military Academy at the age of 13. He battled foes many months his senior to prevail and achieve the rank of Cadet Captailn, roughly equivalent to four-star general. Based on his military academy experience alone Trump "always felt that I was in the military."

Trump is proud to be a veteran. And with his vast military experience, Trump is critical of those who had fewer heroic military exploits than he, saying of John McCain, a Vietnam-era POW, that he "likes people who were not captured."

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Trump is well known as a military hawk.

Trump has said America should torture family members of ISIS combatants. "We have to beat the savages." This principled stand is a reminder of the esteem America's troops hold for Trump.

Memorial Day: a day made for the War Hero Donald Trump!
"Age shall not weary them." (Laurence Binyon)



It's a phrase that resonates as we remember the warriors, the heroes, the veterans, those we continuously applaud, and particularly on Memorial Day, for their service. In his 400th commemoration year, being celebrated in every country of the world by the British Council and the UK's GREAT campaign, we are reminded yet again of how it is often Shakespeare who has the phrase and the insight for our common feelings. "Age shall not wither her" he writes of Cleopatra, another victim of a world at war who takes her own life after her lover Antony has died after his military defeat at Actium.



It's extraordinary how Shakespeare's echoes and perceptions inform the progress of important events during our year. He spoke to us, in celebration, at Twelfth Night and, politically, at the Ides of March. He's pointed up with wit and wisdom the follies and fallibilities of the US primaries and of other world happenings, some tragic, some less so. Shakespeare will inspire us through midsummer nights, through the autumn ("the sere, the yellow leaf"), through winters tales and "Christmas gambolds." But it is on this Memorial Day, as it will be on November's Veterans Day, that the greatest weight of Shakespearean feeling can transfigure the aching of our loss.



There are more of Shakespeare's plays than not that are gripped by gruesome national and international conflict. Each of the English and Roman histories tells a war story. All the great tragedies are circumscribed by civil or European war. Even in a clutch of the comedies, the shadows of past warfare threaten the present mirth and present laughter. But it is not the tactics of battle or the disposition of troops that cause Shakespeare to return repeatedly to the exigencies of war. For Shakespeare warfare distils the most human of stories, created of the experiences that most test the defining virtues and vices of the human spirit at its most bestial and at its most evolved - the virtues of courage, honor and magnanimity, the traumas of cowardice, anger and savagery.



War's panorama of human initiative and response provides the infrastructure, sometimes sanctified, sometimes violating, of the societies and civilizations that Shakespeare explores. In Coriolanus and Julius Caesar it is militarism that ultimately defines and defends The State. In the "Richards" and "Henries" it is civil war that determines the character and mission of the evolving British enterprise and its contiguities with Western Europe. And in Troilus and Cressida the iconic war between European Greece and Asian Troy--the war in which worlds, literal and metaphoric, were won and lost--both posits the formative Western myth while, in Shakespeare's cutting cynicism, simultaneously undermining it through subjection to human hypocrisy, egoism and callousness.



On this Memorial Day, however, it is the nexus Shakespeare draws between war and remembrance that is most potent. On the night before the decisive battle of the Hundred Years War between Britain and France, it is memory, and the anticipation of future Memorial Days, that is the most emotive feature of Henry V's pep talk to his alarmingly outnumbered troops, to his "band of brothers." Yes, that treasured US military phrase, too, is Shakespeare's.



"For he today that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother, be he ne'er so vile."



Prince Hal, now King Harry of England rallies his men, with contingents from Wales, Scotland and Ireland as well as England, on the night before the onslaught. To command the present, he foresees the future. No denial here; death is likely and they are all probably "marked to die." But this truly is a death "devoutly to be wished," as Hamlet, written at the same time as Henry V, would have it. This would be a death of "honor", that noblest military prize and the one most scorned by Harry's eventually spurned mentor Jack Falstaff. And honor lasts, honor matures in the memories of nations and descendants such that Henry, even before the battle is fought, can predict the commemorations of future Memorial Days.



"And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by

From this day to the ending of the world

But we in it shall be remember'd;"



And those of us who commemorate,



"Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon St Crispin's Day."



That other great military leader, Othello, in his last words before he dies says, "I have done the state some service, and they know't."



Those that have fought in battle, who bear its scars and who have seen their comrades pass, can only truly share their memory with their bands of brothers and sisters. As "we that are left grow old" we cannot share, we cannot remember. We can only honor, only bow the head and thank them for their service. As of Shakespeare's oldest warrior, the dead Lear, "we that are young, shall never see so much, nor live so long."
When ideologies change so do the statues on the square. And with the end of the Cold War about 25 years ago, statues from Vilnius to Varna came tumbling down. Bulgaria, so subservient to Mother Russia throughout its 45-year-long communist nightmare, had more than its share of these propaganda statues. And many of them fill the backyard of the art museum in its capital city, Sofia.

I remember visiting the tomb of Georgi Dimitrov (the father of the Bulgarian Communist Party) here in Sofia back in the day. It was like going to a mini-wannabe Lenin's Tomb. Today, no one even thinks of him. And his statue is just another face in this stony junkyard of propaganda.

I love to visit places like this and think of politics -- compromise, diversity, respect, democracy, pluralism -- and the treasure we have in our freedom. Here's a quick tour.
A couple of months ago, it appeared that the Republican presidential field was a fragmented fratricidal mess, with party disarray and deadlock on display all the way to the Cleveland Convention. The Democrats, meanwhile, were on track to an early nomination and party unity.

Things didn't quite work out that way. Hillary Clinton could still lock up the nomination by the last primaries on June 14, but not without relying on super-delegates. Here are the numbers:

Clinton has 1,769 pledged delegates won in caucuses and primaries, out of 2,310 delegates required for nomination. There are 913 yet to be awarded in the last round of primaries. To go over the top before the convention, not counting super-delegates, Clinton needs to win 541 more delegates, or well over half. But with Sanders surging nearly everywhere, that seems extremely unlikely.

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So the state of play after the six states vote June 7 (DC votes June 14, but has only 20 delegates) is likely to show Clinton with 50 to 100 votes short, Sanders with momentum, and the Sanders campaign mounting a last ditch effort to persuade most of the 712 super-delegates (541 of whom have already declared for Clinton) to reconsider, on the premise that Sanders has the better shot at beating Trump.

Changing that many minds seems vanishingly unlikely. However, the Sanders campaign is increasingly in a go-for-broke mood.

Many Sanders supporters are far more militant than Sanders himself, and some are openly expressing the hope that Clinton will be indicted for some aspect of the email dust up.

That also seems highly improbable.

However, Clinton has been unable to catch a break. The theme of her campaign has been experience and competence, but her improper use of a private email server suggested neither. It gives Trump a huge opening to challenge her honesty and probably signals a further decline in voter trust in Clinton.

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For the past couple of weeks, many progressives who sympathize with Sanders on the issues have urged him to recognize that he will not be nominated and to think about how else to exercise his substantial influence to to push both Clinton and the Democratic Party to the left in the coming political era. There is also the small matter of not inviting a Trump presidency.

Robert Reich, a fervent Sanders supporter, urged the Clinton camp to stop requesting Sanders to exit the race -- but called on Sanders and his backers to support Clinton for the greater good once she wins the nomination.

Some of you say even if Hillary is better than Trump, you're tired of choosing the "lesser of two evils," and you're going to vote your conscience by either writing Bernie's name in, or voting for the Green Party candidate, or not voting at all. I can't criticize anyone for voting their conscience, of course. But your conscience should know that a decision not to vote for Hillary, should she become the Democratic nominee, is a de facto decision to help Donald Trump.

Harold Meyerson, vice-chair of Democratic Socialists of America, executive editor of The American Prospect, and one of the most astute analysts of the Sanders phenomenon, called on Sanders and his supporters to look beyond the election to build a movement, and warned against the self-indulgence of the self-righteous:

What is arguably the most successful left campaign in the nation's history stands in danger of being undone by an infantile fraction of its own supporters. The threats of violence, the shouting down of such lifelong liberals as Barbara Boxer, and the growing desire of some in the campaign, both on its periphery and at its core, to walk away from the real prospect of building left power by refusing to work with allies and potential allies in the Democratic Party -- all these now threaten the campaign's potential to bring lasting change to American politics. I write this as a strong Sanders supporter (albeit one who never thought he could win the nomination), as a lifelong democratic socialist (indeed, for some years, Bernie and I were probably the two most out-of-the-closet socialists in D.C.) who's been astounded and thrilled by Sanders's success so far in pushing the national and Democratic discourse to the left. I write this with the hope that the Sanders legions can come out of this election year with the networks and organizations that can reshape the American economic and political order -- bolstering workers' power, altering corporate governance, diminishing the scope of finance. But to do that effectively, they'll have to make common cause with progressives who've backed Hillary Clinton.

Peter Dreier, another savvy Sanders supporter, spelled out a five-point plan for Sanders and his followers to build a durable left in America, something that has eluded progressives since FDR.

Many progressive politicians have promised to transform their electoral campaigns into ongoing movement operations, but few have had the patience or resources to do so. Many of Jessie Jackson's supporters hoped that his presidential efforts in 1984 and 1988 would evolve into a permanent Rainbow Coalition of progressive activists, but it didn't happen. After Obama won his brilliantly-executed 2008 campaign -- built by an army of seasoned political and community organizers who trained hundreds of thousands of volunteers in the art of activism -- he created the nonprofit now known as Organizing for Action (OFA). OFA has not lived up to its early promise, in large part because Obama made it an arm of the DNC in a bid to build support for his legislative agenda.

I find these arguments very persuasive. But first, Democrats need to avoid the ritual of the circular firing squad during the period between the last primaries and the July convention.

The challenge is that Sanders has built one of American history's most potent mass movements for progressive change, reflecting deep frustrations on the part of young and working class people, and they are not about to quietly step aside and let Clinton have the prize. Nor are they in any mood to listen to elders still repenting their youthful votes for Eldridge Cleaver rather than Hubert Humphrey in the fraught 1968 election, opening the way for Richard Nixon. Each generation gets to define its own politics and make its own judgments and mistakes.

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If Clinton had some momentum, if she were not the victim of her own missteps, if she had found a plausible voice to puncture Trump's pretentions, then she would have a much stronger case that Sanders and his people should get on board. But it's Sanders with the momentum, Clinton who keeps stumbling, and even her own strongest supporters are dismayed that her campaign seems mechanical and joyless.

Last Tuesday, Senator Elizabeth Warren delivered the keynote speech to the gala of the Center for Popular Democracy. It was one of the most effective demolitions of Donald Trump ever. She said, referring to the fact that Trump bragged about betting on a housing collapse in 2006:

What kind of a man roots for people to get thrown out of their houses? What kind of a man roots for people to get thrown out of their jobs? To root for people to lose their pensions? I'll tell you exactly what kind of a man does that. It is a man who cares about no one but himself. A small, insecure, money-grubber who doesn't care who gets hurt, so long as he makes a profit off it.

Clinton makes similar arguments, but it is Warren who does it with verve, wit and devastating effect, and Clinton who manages to sound mechanical.

The period between the last primaries and the convention is shaping up as a time of maximum risk for Democrats. Political logic dictates that Democrats should unite behind Clinton because of the greater threat of Trump. But she is such a flawed candidate that political passions in many quarters dictate otherwise.

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Sanders evidently believes that not only that he should be the Democrats' nominee but that if events break right, he still can. Assuming Hillary Clinton is nominated, it will take rare statesmanship and leadership for Sanders to urge his followers to support Clinton while he keeps on building a movement.

--

Robert Kuttner is co-editor of The American Prospect and professor at Brandeis University's Heller School. His latest book is Debtors' Prison: The Politics of Austerity Versus Possibility.
There is no symbol more emblematic of the American southwest than the saguaro tree -- standing tall with two arms reaching out from it toward the sky. If you've ever purchased El Paso brand Tex-Mex products at the grocery store, you've seen at least some version of this tree. (It's worth noting here that saguaro trees don't actually grow in El Paso.) With countless brands using artful renditions of this cactus to visually describe the southwest, it makes seeing the real thing up close very surreal. This park takes the cake in terms of sense of place.



The magical saguaro tree standing tall on the desert skyline. Photo credit: Jonathan Irish

Instead of looping our experience into one long narrative, we're going to switch it up for this article and neck down on our very favorite aspects of this park. These are listed in no particular order, and a couple of them don't even live inside the park -- but they did enhance our Saguaro National Park experience, so we're including them. Without further ado, here it goes:



All set up just in time for sunset... Catching a minute to look just with our eyes on Cactus Loop Drive in the Rincon Mountain District, Saguaro East. Photo credit: Stefanie Payne



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1. Two parks in one. Saguaro National Park is split into two sections -- the Tucson Mountain District sits west; the Rincon Mountain District sits east; and the city of Tucson and its 1-million residents sits in between the two. While the two sides of the park bare the same name and share likeness in desert landscape, they are quite different in terms of nuance. Saguaro West is home to the dense saguaro forests that rise from the hillside. Here you will find low-desert grasslands, shrubs, and densely populated saguaro forests. Saguaro East is the area of parkland originally preserved by Herbert Hoover when he dedicated it as a monument in 1933. It is the jumping off point to backcountry and the habitat of elusive wildlife such as the rare Gila monster and the Caoti. Here you will find high-elevation conifer forests, in addition to saguaros and desert mainstays such as cactus and wildflowers. In a general sense, Saguaro West is more manicured; Saguaro East is wilder.



Stefanie Payne pushing to the top of Tucson, Wasson Peak at 4,687 feet, along the Kings Canyon Trail, Saguaro West.

2. Big hikes. In Saguaro West, we found our big adventure along the Kings Canyon Trail. The beauty of this hike is that it connects to several trails throughout, allowing you to choose your own adventure. We chose to push past the 7-mile roundtrip loop and blaze in another direction, extending the whole of our experience to 11 miles. This was kind of an accident--a happy accident though, as it led us to the highest point in Saguaro West: Wasson Peak standing at 4,687 feet and towering above Tucson. (Friends in Tucson, you know who you are, we waved and said "hello" from above!)

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When you think of the American southwest, you are most likely envisioning Saguaro National Park. Photo credit: Jonathan Irish

3. Iconic scenes to photograph. We figured that we could capture an iconic shot of the lone saguaro tree in the forested west so we started there. However, the denseness of the trees made getting a shot of an isolated saguaro a difficult (but not impossible) challenge. Ultimately, we found our favorite saguaros to photograph on the east side. Either is great though, especially against a backdrop of gradient pink and blue desert skies. Photography here is all about capturing desert silhouettes, and those exist everywhere you look.

4. Scenic drives. The Cactus Forest Loop in Saguaro East is a paved, one-way, 8-mile road with pull offs that overlook the valley -- an easy way to pick and find easy trails into the wilderness. When we found our sunset stop, bikers blazed passed us hollering "hey, nice spot!" and the like as we set up camp chairs perched above the valley. Connecting with people who are enjoying the park too is by far one of the greatest aspects of this journey.



Wally the Airstream dazzles at the Gilbert Ray Campsite in Saguaro West. Photo credit: Jonathan Irish

5. Rock-star campgrounds. For a full-time RV-er, it says a lot about a campsite if it doesn't have wifi or electricity and you still prefer to stay there more than any other place. The Gilbert Ray Campground was perfect -- inside the park and nestled inside saguaro trees and desert shrubs with the mountains in the background cradling the moon. In point #3, we talked about finding the best sunset spots in the park and this was without a doubt one of them. We were able to take in all of the desert beauty without leaving Wally the Airstream's doorstep.

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6. Close proximity to great Tex-Mex food. We don't want to be mean, but Tex-Mex in DC sucks. Sorry to all who disagree, that is our opinion after 8 years of living there. Tucson on the other hand has one restaurant that made some of the best Tex-Mex either of us had ever had. I don't know if that's just because absence makes the heart grow fonder or what but... The authentic mariachi, perfect house made tortillas, margaritas made from real margaritas -- no joke: best ever Tex-Mex food.



A beautiful Big Horn Sheep at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. Photo credit: Jonathan Irish

7. World-class wild habitats. There is boundless wildlife living inside of the national park, and as wildlife is generally elusive, could be hard to spot during the daytime when they tend to hide from heat and visitor traffic. A worthwhile remedy for all of those wildlife lovers out there is a visit to one of the most popular and most visited museums in the United States, just steps from Saguaro National Park in Tucson. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum gave us one of the most awesome experiences we've had yet this year, and we've seen and done a lot already... Read more about our visit to the Desert Museum in our "Stops Along the Road" section.



Sharp detail of a saguaro during sunset. Photo credit: Jonathan Irish

8. The comical saguaro tree! The saguaro tree is the largest cactus in North America. They may look like loving characters from a child's storybook, but these are some serious trees. They can weigh up to nearly 5,000 pounds and live up to 200 years old. We spent a lot of time looking for "the perfect tree" and determined that there is a tree for everybody. Maybe you like the perfect-looking two-armed saguaro, maybe you like the saguaro with many wrangled arms reaching out in all directions. Their differences make them fun to photograph, characterize, and admire.

This is a go-back park. Can't wait to go back.





16 parks down, 43 to go!

We dont know what you do for a living, but we do know you likely need a break. And, nearly halfway through the year, were challenging you (yes  busy, overworked, financially stretched you) to #TakeABreak. During the month of June, well help you nail down how many vacation days you have at your disposal, figure out where to go, and plan a trip you can actually afford. For 30 days of travel tips, cheap flight hacks, vacation ideas and wanderlust galore, sign up for our Take A Break action plan here!

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It's difficult to measure all of the positives that can come from just one visit to a U.S. National Park. By simply dipping your toe into the waters of America's great outdoors, your world is touched by greater health, improved mood, increased knowledge, all the while you are offering support to the preservation of one of the world's finest treasures... and, national parks are a perfect place to go play.



Wahoo! at Joshua Tree National Park. Jonathan Irish catches Stefanie Payne in mid-air while playing on the rocks.

With 14 parks in the bag in just 10 short weeks, all we really wanted to do by the time we got to Joshua Tree was to relax and regroup, goof off and unwind for a minute. This park is ideal for that--it really is a perfect place to go play. It is also a perfect place to camp. The clear skies and temperate spring climate found in the California desert makes pitching a tent, building a fire, and practicing the lost art of conversation a lot more relaxing.





A balanced rock and Juniper Tree right next to our perfect campsite, site #18, at the Jumbo Rock campground.

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Luck was on our side the day we arrived, because not only did we find a campsite at the popular Jumbo Rock campground during a particularly busy week, but we found the best campsite one could possibly hope for--set beneath a balanced rock formation and a beautiful outreached tree that climbed upwards toward the sky. It was not only an "aw, that's really nice" view; but a "brilliant, we can step outside of the tent in the middle of the night to capture star-stuff and photograph the sunrise five minutes after waking with coffee in hand" kind of view. A little dose of inspiration to kick off our park visit dedicated to "relaxness" (relaxness: noun, The state of being completely relaxed.)

Beyond the the Joshua tree forests lies a world of adventure that appeals to three important factors that compel people to enjoy it: accessibility, the draw of adventure, and inspiration.

First, it's easy to get there--just a couple hours east of L.A. and you are traversing well-maintained scenic roads from one awesome landmark to the next. Trails start flat and rise and fall over geological formations in all directions allowing families spanning generations to head off on the same trails together, adopting exertion levels that suit their personal ability.



A "Cinemagram" of Wally the Airstream exploring Joshua Tree.

On the adventure front, climbers find here a world-class climbing and repelling playground. Photographers visit to capture silhouettes of wonder-shaped trees against the backdrop of the sun, moon, and stars. Equines go there to ride horseback, birders to bird, mountain bikers to ride, nature walkers to walk, campers to camp... It's the "every man" park--a true wilderness playground.

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And for our hearts, there is inspiration. Famous artists and musicians have taken from Joshua Tree ideas that have manifested into creative works that we all know and love... anybody out there a fan of Dr. Seuss? How about U2, Selena, John Lennon, Victoria Williams, Keith Richards, Gram Parsons, and Jim Morrison? At a more grass-roots level, inspiration is gleaned every day in the park. One can see the very act of discovery occurring all around. Kids scamper with cotton-tail rabbits through the brush and climb upon rock formations shouting to mom or dad, "can I go up here?!" Gown-up kids stand aside Joshua Trees that are the park's namesake taking selfies to share with their friends on Facebook and Insta. Solo explorers sit atop boulders looking into the distance taking in moments of solitude. And then, there are the Joshua Trees themselves. Like snowflakes and fingerprints, each is one of a kind. Every slight change of angle in your view produces what seems like an entirely different tree to look at. The sun shines, the birds soar, and it is just another stroke of great luck to be able to participate in the makeup of the landscape any day of the year.



Hiking stick medallions from Joshua Tree National Park.
Facial expressions may be a universal language. Where does that leave people with facial paralysis? Icerko Lydia via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

By Kathleen Bogart, Oregon State University

Facial expressions are important parts of how we communicate and how we develop impressions of the people around us. In "The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals," Charles Darwin proposed that facial expressions evolved to quickly communicate emotional states important to social survival. He hypothesized that certain facial expressions are innate, and therefore universally expressed and recognized across all cultures.

In 1971, psychology researchers Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen tested Darwin's hypothesis. They enlisted members of the Fore tribe in Papua New Guinea, who at the time had little contact with Western culture, to do an emotion recognition task. An interpreter read stories about emotional events to members of the tribe, such as "her child has died, and she feels very sad." The Fore were then asked to match photos of Americans' facial expressions to the story. The researchers also took photos of the facial expressions of the Fore people and showed them to Americans later.

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People from both cultures showed the same facial expressions for six "basic" emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise) and were able to recognize their meaning in others. This is strong evidence that certain emotions are evolutionarily based. In the decades since, research has continued to support Darwin's hypothesis: for instance, showing that congenitally blind people display the same spontaneous expressions as sighted people. Indeed, facial expression may be one of the only universal languages.

So where does that leave people with facial paralysis? As a psychology professor with Moebius syndrome, a condition involving facial paralysis, I'm personally and professionally interested in what happens when the face is no longer the primary means of expression. My Disability and Social Interaction Lab at Oregon State University has been investigating this question.









Author provided





Types of facial paralysis

Each year, approximately 225,000 Americans are diagnosed with facial paralysis. It can be congenital, like Moebius syndrome or hereditary facial paralysis. It can also result from birth trauma if the facial nerve is damaged in the birth canal or by forceps delivery.

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Acquired facial paralysis from an illness or an injury is far more common. Bell's palsy, acoustic neuroma, Lyme disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, ear infections, injury to the facial nerve and others can all lead to facial paralysis. Bell's palsy, which typically affects one side of the face, is the most common. While it's usually temporary, approximately 15 percent of people with Bell's are left with paralysis that does not improve.

In a series of published and unpublished focus groups and interviews, my colleagues and I found that people with facial paralysis reported hearing all sorts of "interpretations" of their appearance. Strangers asked them if they had just gotten a Novocain shot, if they were having a stroke, or if the condition was contagious, deadly or painful. Some people made connections to the person's character, assuming them to be unfriendly, unhappy or even intellectually disabled.

Making a first impression

In landmark research published in 1993, psychologists Nalini Ambady and Robert Rosenthal asked strangers to view short (six- to 30-second) silent video clips of high school and college teachers while they were teaching. The strangers then rated their impressions of the teachers' personalities, based on their nonverbal behaviors - things like expressions and gestures. Today this sort of research using very short experiences to form judgments of individual behavior is called thin slice research.

The strangers' ratings were remarkably similar to teaching effectiveness ratings from the teachers' students and their supervisors who knew them and their work very well.

Our social world has an overwhelming amount of information, but numerous thin slice studies suggest we can navigate it efficiently based on a "gut" reaction. People's first impressions are surprisingly accurate in predicting many social characteristics: personality, depression, even gayness.

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While facial expressions aren't the only thing that go into a first impression, they are a pretty big element. So basing our impressions of others on their facial expressions is usually an effective strategy. However, the accuracy of impressions breaks down when people encounter someone with facial paralysis. At first glance, a person with a paralyzed face may look unfriendly, bored, unintelligent, or even depressed. And indeed, people with facial paralysis are often mistakenly ascribed these characteristics.

People with facial paralysis compensate

My own research has found that many people with facial paralysis increase expression in their bodies and voices, something I call "compensatory expression."

In a 2012 study my colleagues and I video-recorded interviews with 27 people with different types of facial paralysis. Research assistants (who were unaware of our hypotheses) watched the interviews and rated the vocal and bodily expressivity of the people with facial paralysis.

Interestingly, we found that people with congenital facial paralysis, like Moebius syndrome, used significantly more compensatory expression than people with acquired facial paralysis. For instance, they used more emotion words, vocal inflection, laughter, gestures and head and body movements. They were also louder and more talkative.

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It's possible that people with congenital facial paralysis are better adapted, perhaps because they navigated early developmental milestones with facial paralysis.

People who acquired facial paralysis after birth, but have lived with it for a long time, may also adapt well. However, our early data suggest that there may be a unique adaptation advantage for people with congenital conditions.

Thin slice research on facial paralysis

Facial expressions play such a critical role in forming first impressions, so what does that mean for people with facial paralysis?

In a series of experiments, we showed thin slice videos of people with disorders that affect facial movement, including facial paralysis and Parkinson's disease to strangers. We asked the strangers for their first impressions based on the videos.

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People with severe facial movement impairment were rated as less happy and sociable compared to people with mild facial movement impairment. Participants also had less desire to form friendships with them.

Our results across these studies have found that there is a very large bias against people with facial movement disorders.

Crucially, participants rated people with facial paralysis who use a lot of compensatory expression as happier and more sociable than those who use less, regardless of the severity of their paralysis. We are developing communication skills workshops encouraging the use of compensatory expression for people with facial paralysis.

In another thin slice study, Linda Tickle-Degnen along with Kathleen Lyons found that even clinicians with expertise in facial movement disorders viewed people with facial movement impairment in negative ways.

This indicates how hard it is to override the natural human tendency to form impressions based on the face. And for clinicians, it is of special concern. Their facial expression bias may be a barrier to rapport or even clinical judgments of depression and pain in patients with facial paralysis.

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Raising awareness can help

In a recent experiment, we found initial evidence that raising awareness improves how people perceive facial paralysis. Some participants read a few educational paragraphs about facial paralysis (much like the information in this article), and some were not given any information about facial paralysis. Next, all participants watched thin slice videos of people with facial paralysis. The participants who read the educational information rated people with facial paralysis as more sociable than those who did not read the information.

We are continuing to develop educational materials for clinicians and the general public to raise awareness and reduce bias.

In our focus groups, the most common comment from people with facial paralysis was a call for greater public awareness. They know firsthand that people are confused by their facial difference. They often wonder if they should explain it to others, but to do so every time they meet someone new would be awkward and burdensome. Widespread awareness would reduce the need to explain their condition, and would educate others to pay attention to the compensatory tactics they use to communicate their emotions.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images INDORE, INDIA - MARCH 1: Students appearing the class 12th CBSE exam at St. Paul School on March 1, 2016 in Indore, India. CBSE class X and XII board exams have begun from today and will end on March 28 and April 22, respectively. This year, over 25 lakh students has registered for the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exams, around 6.3 per cent more than last year's total. Nearly 15 lakh students are expected to appear for 10th and over 10.5 lakh for the 12th exams. The exams for class 10th will continue till March 28th and class 12th exams will end on April 22nd. (Photo by Arun Mondhe/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

A year after mass cheating in Bihar's schools captured international attention, stricter protocols for conducting exams in the state seem to have had a direct impact on students' results. According to reports, less than half students who gave the class 10 exams in the state have managed to pass.

"The results are not as expected," state education minister Ashok Choudhary told journalists. "But, they show the actual merit of students. Those who have passed will be able to clear competitive exams."

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ALSO READ: Parents Climb School Wall To Pass Chits To Class 10 Students In Bihar

Around 15.47 lakh students (more than 1.5 million) appeared for the centrally-administered exams this year. While more than half of them failed, which is a drop of more than 28 percent from last year, only 10.86 percent managed to get first division marks, reported The Times of India. Last year, more than a fifth of the students had passed with first division marks in Bihar.

In this photograph taken on 19 March, 2015, Indian relatives of students taking school exams climb the walls of the exam building to help pass candidates answers to questions in Vaishali in the eastern state of Bihar.

Results indicate that the students who have done well in Bihar are concentrated in only a few good schools, and that the majority of schools in Bihar continue to have very poor results.

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Bihar had made international headlines last year when parents of students giving the class 10 exams scaled the school building walls to pass them answers to questions in the exam. At the time, the state education minister PK Shahi had said, "Over 14 lakh students are taking the examination. You tell us what can the government do to stop cheating id parents and relatives are not ready to cooperate? Should the government give orders to shoot them?"

ALSO READ: Lalu Yadav Offers Bizarre Advice On Mass Cheating In Bihar

Former Bihar chief minister Lalu Yadav too had made some bizarre suggestions on the matter, claiming that even if students copied directly from the school books, they would still fail. More than three-quarters of the students managed to pass these exams last year. This year's poor showing is a fallout of the state administration's cracking down on cheating, according to officials.

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On Saturday, newly-weds Karan Singh Gover and Bipasha Basu made a joint appearance on The Kapil Sharma Show.

Madness Fun Celebrations on #thekapilsharmashow .Thank you kapil and team for this mad love that you guys showered us with! A photo posted by bipashabasusinghgrover (@bipashabasu) on May 28, 2016 at 1:01pm PDT

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The couple, who tied the knot on April 30 in a glitzy ceremony in Mumbai, recently returned from Maldives where they celebrated their honeymoon.

Speaking about how much life has changed since the marriage, Basu said, "Everything about us is still pretty much the same. We're the same people. We love each other the same way. Every day a little more. Now on Instagram, I write my name as Bipasha Basu Singh Grover."

However, it seems that the honeymoon didn't go as well as the pictures on their Instagram accounts made it appear. "It was extremely hot. We have roamed around a lot, but the typical honeymoon was short. But we might go for a longer honeymoon," Bipasha said.

Missing our Holiday ! A photo posted by bipashabasusinghgrover (@bipashabasu) on May 18, 2016 at 8:11am PDT

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On the most romantic thing Grover did for Basu, the actress said, "Karan sings really well and writes songs as well. feel good about it. At the wedding, he sang three of my favourite songs and performed with the band. That was the best surprise for me ever. My sisters started crying when he started singing. It was quite romantic."

Sugar , Love me like you do & Chasing Cars  @iamksgofficial thank you for this beautiful surprise. Singing my fav songs to me Best part of our wedding! My rockstar husband A photo posted by bipashabasusinghgrover (@bipashabasu) on May 2, 2016 at 12:42am PDT

When asked if the two will now add a 'no-kissing' or 'no-lovemaking' clause in their respective contracts, Basu said, "No, we don't have any such clause. But we'll think about it. You have given a good point."

"Nothing for you," she said jokingly, pointing to Grover.

Mr and Mrs. He he he! A photo posted by bipashabasusinghgrover (@bipashabasu) on May 1, 2016 at 11:34pm PDT

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MUZAFFARNAGAR -- In a shocking incident, a complainant was allegedly asked by the Muzaffarnagar Police to polish their shoes, in order to get his complaint filed.

The video of the complainant polishing the shoes of the cops went viral, which created public uproar.

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The incident took place in Charthawal police station where 50-year old Sittu, a cobbler, went to the cops to file a complaint for his lost mobile phone.

The cops at the police station allegedly asked Sittu his profession, following which they asked him to shine their shoes, only after which they said they would file his complaint.

#WATCH: A complainant shine shoes of cops at the police station in Muzaffarnagar (UP) (29/05/16)https://t.co/ziSWVMqhXd  ANI (@ANI_news) May 30, 2016

The shameful incident was captured by a person present at the police station.

Taking cognisance of the matter, Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar said, "The probe is underway and action will be taken accordingly."

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In a another shameful incident at the same police station, the cops had allegedly had asked a widow to get married instead of filing complaint against her step son and daughter-in-law.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images NEW DELHI, INDIA - FEBRUARY 17: Entrepreneur Robert Vadra at Red Mango Anniversary Party at Ludus, Saket on February 17, 2013 in New Delhi, India. (Photo By Manoj Verma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

The finance ministry is reviewing an investigative report submitted by enforcement and tax officials that says an arms dealer had fronted for Robert Vadra in 2009 when he bought a mansion in London.

Though Vadras lawyer has denied the charges, the inquiry report cites from mails sent by him and his executive assistant Manoj Arora as well as from the statements of defence dealer Sanjay Bhandari, according to an NDTV report.

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Vadra and his executive assistant had sent many mails to Sumit Chadda, a relative of Bhandari, referring to the funding for the renovation of the house, 12 Ellerton House, Bryanston Square, London, which was acquired in October 2009 for 19 lakh GBP. This house was sold in June 2010, NDTV reported, quoting from the investigative report.

Vadras lawyers however told the news channel that their client does not own directly or indirectly a house described by you as No 12, Ellerton House, Bryanston Square, London. They added that neither Vadra nor his assistant had entered into any transaction of a financial nature with Sanjay Bhandari and were not even aware that Bhandari was involved in any defence transaction.

According to an investigative report out of the two accessed by NDTV, Chadda, in an email sent to Vadra on 4 April 2010, had mentioned about the ongoing renovation work and had sought reimbursement of the expenses.

Vadra had then replied to Chadda assuring him that he will look into the issue and added that his secretary Manoj will be in touch with Chadda regarding the same. The report mentions that as promised by Vadra, his secretary Manoj did contact Chadda from an email id that went by the name of Exim Real Estate, the NDTV report said.

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Government officials on condition of anonymity told NDTV that the communication via email was regarding the renovation of the property including chandeliers.

"It is shocking but not surprising," said BJP parliamentarian Kirit Somaiya to NDTV.

"I would approach the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax, and request them to check the property and any non-transparency in the transaction," he added.

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Bishop Mar. Jacob Muricken/Facebook

A bishop in Kottayam district of Kerala has decided to take the cue from Pope Francis and ensure that his call to make 2016 a 'Year of Mercy' doesn't go in vain.

Jacob Muricken, the Bishop of Pala diocese of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, will donate his kidney to 30-year-old Sooraj Sudhakaran, who has been undergoing dialysis for over a year after both his kidneys failed.

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For the 53-year-old bishop, the recipient's religion was never a concern. "It is only a simple sacrifice for a fellow being," he said.

Muricken is the first serving bishop who has volunteered to donate a kidney, while alive.

"Our church and Pope Francis truly believe and back such acts of organ donations. It's in the spirit of the church. I believe this should be a strong message for people around me, to be open to donating organs," Bishop Murickan told NDTV.

If I can save the life of Sudhakaran, a family would be saved," the Bishop told The Indian Express.

The transplantation surgery is scheduled to be held at a private hospital in Kochi on June 1.

What the Bishop calls a 'simple sacrifice' is nothing short of a miracle for 30-year-old Sudhakaran, whose kidneys failed a year and a half ago.

As a result, Sudhakaran, the only earning member of his family, had to sell his house. Struggling to meet the expenses for his treatment, he had registered himself with the Kidney Federation of India last year, and was desperately waiting for a donor.

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The bishop learnt of Sudhakaran's plight from the chairman of the Kidney Federation of India, Father Davis Chiramel, who himself donated one of his kidneys seven years ago.

I told the father that I will be happy to part with one of my kidneys. He told me about Sooraj. Happy that it is happening in the Year of Mercy, he said.

Inspired by Chiramel, so far, 15 priests and six nuns have donated kidneys to non-related recipients through the organ donation network, Kidney Federation of India.

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Puneet Vikram Singh, Nature and Concept photographer, via Getty Images A man plucking a mango from the tree.

It all started over half a dozen mangoes. Two neighbours who co-owned a mango tree in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, which coincidentally is also Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency that won him the 2014 general elections with a record margin, had a disagreement over the division of the fruit.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, the kin of one of the neighbours, Ramji Yadav, allegedly plucked 24 mangoes, and gave only six to the other neighbour  Hakim Yadav. This led to an argument, and Hakim decided to notify the police of the matter.

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The police's attempts to pacify the two neighbours were in vain, and the matter was escalated to the sub-divisional magistrate, who tried to mediate a compromise between the neighbours. When neither side agreed to relent  Ramji refused to part with any more mangoes, and Hakim wouldn't pick some of his own from the tree to equalise the share  the local police had to file a case against both of the men, "in apprehension of breach of peace", and both of them were arrested.

This is not the first time that an argument over mangoes has resulted in major tension and police action in UP. Last year, a young girl was burnt alive in Fatehpur district after two families accused each other of stealing mangoes, leading to arguments over several days. The girl had apparently plucked some mangoes from a farm that belonged to her murderers.

The previous year, in 2014, a man and his young son were shot dead in UP's Pratapgarh while two others from the family were injured when the teenaged boy plucked a mango from a tree that stood on disputed land.

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NOAH SEELAM via Getty Images Members of the African Students Association hold placards during a protest in Hyderabad on February 6, 2016, in support of Tanzanian nationals assaulted by a local mob in Bangalore. Indian authorities suspended two policemen and made four more arrests over a mob attack on a Tanzanian student in Bangalore, police said February 5, in a case that has caused widespread outrage. AFP PHOTO / Noah SEELAM / AFP / NOAH SEELAM (Photo credit should read NOAH SEELAM/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW DELHI -- On May 20, Masunda Kitada Oliver, a student from the Democratic Republic of Congo, was killed in a dispute over an auto-rickshaw in Delhi. Since then, nationals from Cameroon, Uganda and Nigeria have been attacked in the national capital.

Ten days on, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs V.K. Singh has kicked up a storm by describing the attacks on Nigerian nationals on Thursday as a "minor scuffle," which was being blown out of proportion by the media.

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Even if Singh is right, and one of these dreadful episodes is a "minor scuffle," there is no denying that Indians are deeply prejudiced towards nationals of African countries who work and study here. And nothing exposes our racism more than words such as "kalu" (black) and "habshi", an Arabic word used to describe African and Abyssinian slaves, which we use to describe them. This really needs to stop.

In the United States, words such as "negro" and "nigger" were willed out of common parlance by the sheer force of it being frowned upon by society. The fact that terms such as "kalu" and "habshi" are used against Africans, and chinkis" and "momos" are used against persons from the Northeast of India, without any resistance or backlash, goes to show that casual racism is part of our daily life.

In the wake of attacks against persons from the Northeast, last year, the Modi government proposed making any words, signs and gestures, which insult the race of a person, punishable with five years in prison. But Centre is yet to fulfill its promise of outlawing "racial discrimination."

But more than any law, we really need to frown upon our own families and our friends who use derogatory language against nationals from countries in Africa, whether they use it with racial undertones or casually. Only then can we stop seeing them through a singular lense of black, black and black.

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Those who dismiss this suggestion as naive, only have to look outside our borders to find examples of how public pressure has been the biggest factor in phasing out offensive language. There are countless examples of celebrities in the West apologizing for making insensitive remarks when they are shamed in public, and everyday people are rethinking and weeding out words and symbols which carry the stench of slavery, colonialism and racism.

To argue that Americans willed words such as "Negro" or "Nigger" because it reminds them of the darkest period of their history and we don't carry the weight of three hundred years of slavery, is to ignore the weight of the still prevalent caste system, and its worst manifestation of untouchability. Prejudice of one sort sanctions another.

Here are some examples of how the world is reacting to words and symbols which reinforce prejudice:

Apple has received grief over the definition of "Bitch" given by Siri, which included black slang for women? In December, the definition was prefaced with a tag that says "offensive," instead of "black slang."

British actor Benedict Cumberbatch called himself an idiot and a fool, and apologized for using the term colored people. The correct term to describe people who do not have white skin is people of color.

Harvard University decided to remove the term master in titles because students protested that its a thrown back to the era of slavery.

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Harvard Law School has decided to drop its seal with a crest which belongs to a 18 century slaveholder, who played a key role in the schools history, but also owned slaves in Massachusetts and treated them cruelly.

The term uppity has come under attack in the United States because it was a term that racist southerners used for black people who didnt know their place. Conservative pundits in the U.S. have used it do describe President Barack Obama and First Lady Michele Obama.

The phrase "sold down the river" has a sinister origin. Slaves belonging to northern states of the United States, who caused trouble, were sold down the river to Mississippi in the South, where conditions were far worse.

The term gyp or gypped, used to describe the act of stealing or defrauding, stems from Gypsy, which is commonly used to describe the Romani people. Using it is deeply insulting to them.

Several nursery rhymes and songs have also been traced to back to their racist beginnings which were aimed at mocking African Americans or portraying them as inferior.

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One such nursery rhyme, popular the world over used to go: Eenie, meenie, miney moe, Catch an [N-word] by the toe, If he hollers, let him go, Eenie, meenie, miney moe. Instead of the N-word, children now say spider or frog. But should children be singing it at all?

Lyrics of Baa Baa Black Sheep are also believed to have racist connotations. It has been banned in some schools in Australia. In some play schools in India, white sheep and brown sheep have been included to make it racially neutral.

The racist Golliwog dolls, named after a blackface minstrel-like character in Florence Kate Upton and Bertha Upton's 1895 book, have gradually disappeared from toy stores around the world. But these dolls do pop up from time to time. Over Christmas, shoppers in Australia forked up as much as $110 for the Golliedolls."

Niggardly - is fine!

In 1999, the term "niggardly" set off a nationwide debate about racism in the U.S., when the D.C. Mayor fired his aide over its use. Turns out, the term doesnt have a racist connotation, but simply means miserly. The D.C. mayor rehired the aide.

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Ellis Nadler via Getty Images A broken iPhone 3 with cracked screen

Go to Urbandictionary.com and type "iPhone Killer". This is the definition you will get:

"Little is known of the iPhone Killer. Having never been seen in person, it is impossible to describe its appearance, nor has it even been proven to truly exist. There are many versions of the Legend of the iPhone Killer, each of which is wildly varied from the last. However, each and every version agrees that it is coming in a few months."

As it turns out, this is largely correct. The fabled iPhone killer is not unlike a mythical creature -- fascinating to think and talk about, but with no real proof of its existence.

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If, over the years you have acquired a couple or more non-Apple smartphones, there is a good chance that at least one of them was labelled 'the iPhone killer' at some point. It is a marketing tagline, used by several device manufacturers over the years. The first iteration of the iPhone was launched 9 years ago, but no other smartphone since has been able to 'kill' it.

Apple unveiled the first generation iPhone in January 2007. Back then, normally there would be a gap of 2 to 3 months after a phone's launch before a rival would would announce plans to launch a competing product. During that period, users and reviewers would have had the time to use and give their verdict on a phone. But such was the hype around Apple's iPhone that within a mere two weeks of its launch, rivals Samsung and LG were announcing plans to make their "killer" versions of the phone.

The iPhone has always been owner's pride and neighbour's envy. Sure, iPhone has hardly ever been the phone with the best specification, but Apple's value as a brand which delivers premium product and experience has never been doubted. The criticism aimed at the iPhone has always been about specific modules such as lack of Bluetooth, the number of apps, RAM size, and megapixels in the camera.

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The early iterations of the iPhone ran on OS X. Other manufacturers were also going through a lot of changes and the 'iPhone killers' of that era kept switching to different operating systems. There was Nokia launching 5800 and E71 on Symbian. Samsung was launching Omnia phones on Windows phone mobile and Instinct one. Even Blackberry was in the race for becoming the Apple assassin with its Blackberry Storm. Google, in the meantime, released their first Android phone, G1.

Sure, it is fair to compare your product to one of the best smartphones of the generation. Your phone might have some superior features compared to the iPhone and that's a great thing. But that doesn't really add up to making the whole package (your smartphone) as good or better than the iPhone.

One reason the iPhone is so popular is that it has been in a tightly bound system, with the operating system on the phone. Most of the features work seamlessly. Across generations and newer iterations, some things have stayed constant. And the major changes have been done over the iterations so that users never feel at sea. There has always been the assurance of picking up an iPhone and figuring things out in minutes. (Advanced options and settings can always be learnt over time.)

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Early in 2010, Google launched the first Nexus. Initially, it too was dubbed the 'iPhone killer' but with time the Nexus line gained its own reputation. Google worked with many manufacturers on the Nexus series and still they managed to create an impression of a series with stock software and fast updates. Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 were huge hits for the company even with their few flaws. Just as iPhone is identified with Apple, Nexus began to get associated with Google. At some level, Samsung's Galaxy S series has also acquired that reputation but they still have a long way to go.

A lot of companies such as OnePlus with OnePlus One and 2, Xiaomi with Mi-series have claimed the iPhone Killer crown in recent times. Other companies such as Asus and Huawei have tried too. But if at all there have been real iPhone killers lurking around all these years, they have failed to 'assassinate' it. Apple is running stronger than ever.

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ANI

Delhi policemen Sanjeev and Sanjay had a strange task at hand on Saturday when they got a call from the railway control room seeking help to rush a pregnant lady passenger to the hospital.

23- year-old Aarti was travelling with her in-laws from Gwalior to Samalkha in Haryana on the Dadri Express, when she went into labour. At around 5 a.m, her in-laws informed the ticket checker about the emergency, who in turn informed the railway control room.

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The train made an unscheduled halt at Delhis Subzi Mandi station where a police van was waiting for Aarti.

With the help of head constable Sanjeev and constable Sanjay, Aarti delivered a baby boy in the van where the cops had arranged for hot water and towels for the just born.

Woman gives birth in Delhi police PCR van on way to hospital, both mother and child safe. pic.twitter.com/4q56LZ5X0g  ANI (@ANI_news) May 29, 2016

"The situation could have gone out of hand as there was no medical aide in the train. But the PCR reached us just in time and the policemen helped us immensely," said Kashi Ram, Aarti's father-in-law to The Times Of India.

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The Kingston Trio comes to Hutchinson

All three current members, have links to and experience with the original group.
Rapper Troy Ave Charged In T.I. Concert Green Room Shooting

New York City police on Thursday arrested Brooklyn rapper Troy Ave, whose real name is Roland Collins, in connection with a green room shooting during a T.I. concert at Irving Plaza that left one dead and three injured.

Police charged Collins with attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon. Officials said the investigation was continuing and that additional charges were pending, the Wall Street Journal said.

Surveillance video released by the NYPD shows Troy Ave stepping out of the green room and onto a balcony at Irving Plaza with a gun in hand, firing one shot and then running out of frame with the gun raised, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Collins was also one of the 4 people injured by gunfire in the incident when a bullet struck his leg, but it is unclear if there was another weapon involved, or if his injury was self-inflicted. Investigators said they recovered 5 shell 9mm shell casings from the green room and adjacent balcony, 4 of which came from one gun. The 5th casing is still undergoing testing.

Authorities said that the shooting started with a dispute that became a brawl in the green room that involved as many as 40 people. Authorities allege that Mr. Collins burst into the room in the midst of the brawl and started firing. T.I. was reportedly on the venue's main floor at the time of the fight and not involved, authorities said.

via Celebrity Access

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Martin Senn, the former CEO of Zurich, has died. A statement on Zurichs website reads:It is with great shock and sadness that we must inform you of the sudden death of Martin Senn. His family informed us that Martin took his life last Friday.Mr Senn stepped down as the firms global chief last December following the insurers failed takeover bid for RSA Insurance.Swiss newspaper Blick reports that he was found dead at the familys holiday home in Switzerland.Zurichs statement pays tribute to its former leader: With the passing of Martin, we lose not only a highly valued former CEO and colleague but also a close friend. Our thoughts are with his bereaved family and friends, to whom we extend our deepest sympathies.Insurance companies must work together with banks, property owners and governments to avoid significant and increasing financial losses from the effects of climate change.The warning has been made in a report from Australian-based Climate Institute called There Goes the Neighbourhood which highlights the large number of properties that are exposed to risks.People continue to buy homes that continue to be built and sold in areas that may be at more risk than they realize, said institute CEO John Connor. Limited sharing of information possessed by public authorities, financial institutions and other stakeholders means buyers arent always adequately informed, nor is relevant policy and decision-making.The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents is inviting nominations for four awards which will be announced at a luncheon in September.The categories are: National company of excellence; Company representative of the year; Managing general agency of the year; and Excellence in social media.The awards ceremony will form part of the associations Fall Governance Meetings in Omaha, Nebraska.
We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector

We work towards an equitable,

gender-just, self-reliant and

sustainable fisheries,

particularly in the small-scale,

artisanal sector
Imperial Valley News Center

More Than A Myth: Drink Spiking Happens

Washington, DC - Google the term spiked drink, and youll get more than 11 million hits, directing you to pages that describe being slipped a mickey, tips on how to avoid becoming a victim and even kits to test drinks for illicit drugs. So is drink spiking a growing problem or are these tales of people who just drank too much? Or is this phenomenon merely an urban legend?

A research team led by Suzanne C. Swan, PhD, of the University of South Carolina, sought to answer some of those questions. Their study, published by the American Psychological Associations journal Psychology of Violence, sought to determine the prevalence of drink spiking by looking at survey data from 6,064 students at three universities.

What the researchers found was 462 students (7.8 percent) reported 539 incidents in which they said they had been drugged, and 83 (1.4 percent) said either they had drugged someone, or they knew someone who had drugged another person.

These data indicate that drugging is more than simply an urban legend, Swan said.

The study found significant gender differences. Women were more likely to be the victims of spiking and reported more negative consequences than men, the study found, although men comprised 21 percent of the victims. Women were also more likely to report sexual assault as a motive while men more often said the purpose was to have fun. Other, less common reported motives included to calm someone down or make someone go to sleep.

Even if a person is drugging someone else simply for fun with no intent of taking advantage of the drugged person, the drugger is still putting a drug in someone elses body without their consent  and this is coercive and controlling behavior, Swan said.

Given the nature of the subject, there were clear limitations to the study. We have no way of knowing if the drugging victims were actually drugged or not, and many of the victims were not certain either, the researchers wrote. It is possible that some respondents drank too much, or drank a more potent kind of alcohol than they were accustomed to. Additionally, many common drugs, including over-the-counter medications, can interact with alcohol. And victims often dont remember what happened when they were drugged, the authors noted.

There has been scant research into drugging, the researchers wrote. Two other studies looking at U.S. college students and young adults found anywhere from 6 percent to 8.5 percent reported having been drugged by someone else. One Australian study of 805 Australians age 18-35 found 25 percent had experienced drink spiking. Swan and her colleagues focused on college students because of the risky behaviors that are present on campuses, particularly binge drinking.

Given their findings, the researchers said interventions should be developed to target those doing the drugging, not just victims. Because many of those who drug others believe that the behavior is fun and minimize the risks, interventions could provide information about the dangers of overdosing, Swan said. They could also target the issue of consent. Just as people have a fundamental right to consent to sexual activity, they also have the right to know and consent to the substances they ingest.
AMA Statement on VA Proposed Rule on Advanced Practice Nurses

Washington, DC - Stephen R. Permut, MD, JD Board Chair, American Medical Association:

"The American Medical Association (AMA) is disappointed by the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) unprecedented proposal to allow advanced practice nurses (APRN) within the VA to practice independently of a physician's clinical oversight, regardless of individual state law.

"While the AMA supports the VA in addressing the challenges that exist within the VA health system, we believe that providing physician-led, patient-centered, team-based patient care is the best approach to improving quality care for our country's veterans. We feel this proposal will significantly undermine the delivery of care within the VA. With over 10,000 hours of education and training, physicians bring tremendous value to the health care team. All patients deserve access to physician expertise, whether for primary care, chronic health management, anesthesia, or pain medicine.

"There are many examples from across the nation demonstrating that physician-led team-based care results in improved access to high-quality, cost-effective health care. From patient-centered medical homes to some of the nation's largest health care systems, physician-led interprofessional team-based health care has proven to be a successful model in the delivery of health care. The nation's top health care systems rely on physician-led teams to achieve improved care and patient health, while reducing costs. We expect the same for our country's veterans, and look to these systems as evidence that physician-led, team-based models of care are the future of American health care.

"The AMA urges the VA to maintain the physician-led model within the VA health system to ensure greater integration and coordination of care for veterans and improve health outcomes."
UK Train Passenger Praised for Refusing to Give Up Her First Class Seat to Old Woman
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Although there may be many internal concerns over the DC cinematic universe's future, that's thankfully nothing Jesse Eisenberg needs to concern himself with.

He's currently focused on, and only on, whether he'll actually be returning in any capacity as Lex Luthor. Though Batman v Superman predictably ended with the villain jailed, his final lines of dialogue suggested he'd been in contact with some greater force, and that greater force is headed straight to Earth.

This, of course, seems most likely a reference to Darkseid; a major foe of DC comics already hinted at in the Omega symbol seen in Batman's dream.

So, if Justice League: Part One will presumably formally introduce Darkseid to the films; one would think Lex Luthor would reappear in some capacity, though Eisenberg's involvement is yet to be confirmed.

However, the actor told an audience at MCM London Comic-Con (via Digital Spy), "I'm kind of in wait. They just started filming Justice League, so I'm kind of like waiting for my crack at it. I don't know what I'm allowed to say, because I feel like there's probably some drone following me from DC, and if I say anything wrong I get, you know, picked off."

 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Clip - Day Versus Knight

"But yeah I think so, and I love it, and I love everybody who's in it. You know, it's a really talented group of people."

Eisenberg's Lex joins the likes Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), the Flash (Ezra Miller) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher), Commissioner Gordon (Willem Dafoe); with Lois Lane (Amy Adams) also making an appearance.



33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 Show all 34 1 /34 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 1. Captain America: Civil War Release date: 6 May 2016. Iron Man and Captain America are set to face off in this superhero blockbuster that will feature nearly all the Avengers but wont be an Avengers film. It will also mark the first time Spider-Man will feature in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Sony having made a deal with Marvel Studios. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 2. X-Men: Apocalypse Release date: 27 May 2016. Following the success of Days of Future Past, Apocalypse will follow the young X-Men team as the battle against Oscar Isaacs titular villain as he gathers his four horsemen; Magneto (Fassbender), Angel (Hardy), Storm (Shipp), and Psylocke (Munn). Expect carnage and no Wolverine. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 3. Suicide Squad Release date: 5 August 2016. The first supervillain film, Suicide Squad is also based in the DCEU (DC Extended Universe, where Batman and Superman live) and will introduce the world to Margot Robbies Harley Quinn and Jared Letos Joker. One of the more exciting upcoming DC films thats for sure. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 4. Doctor Strange Release date: 4 November 2016. Benedict Cumberbatch will debut in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe, where Captain America and Iron Man live) as the Sorcerer Supreme. The film already has an incredible cast, including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachael McAdams and Tilda Swinton. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 5. Untitled Lego Batman film Release date: 20 February 2017. Kicking off 2017 is the Lego version of Batman, who will lead his own spin-off, having already featured in the amazing Lego Movie. Will Arnett voices the titular character, while Zach Garfianakis - from the Hangover - will voice The Joker. But will he better than Leto? 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 6. Untitled Wolverine film Release date: 3 March 2017. Having not starred in X-Men: Apocalypse, Wolverine will return to the big screen in a solo film which was recently made R-Rated following the success of Deadpool. It is expected to be Hugh Jackmans last outing as the titular character. Fox 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 7. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Release date: 5 May 2017. Chris Pratt and the crew are returning to space in the sequel to the surprisingly successful Guardians of the Galaxy. According to director James Gunn, the film will not feature Thanos, even though he will to play a major role in phase MCU Phase 3. Cast includes newcomers Kurt Russell and Pom Klementieff, as well as, rumour has it, Sylvester Stallone. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 8. Wonder Woman Release date: 23 June 2017. Gal Gadot is returning to the DCEU in her very own film, marking the first female-led superhero film on this list. Chris Pine is on board to play Wonder Womans love interest. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 9. Untitled Spider-Man reboot Release date: 7 July 2017. Yes, it is another Spider-Man reboot, having previously been redone with Andrew Garfield as the lead. However, this time it is part of the MCU, with Tom Holland as the titular character, and a heavily rumoured cameo by Iron Man could be in the pipeline. We can dream. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 10. Untitled Fox film Release date: 6 October 2017. In a strange announcement, Fox decided to withhold the release of Gambit until a future, as-yet unannounced date, which could be here, or this could be a completely separate project. Many suspect Deadpool 2 could nicely fit here, Fox capitalising on the success of the first film. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 11. Thor: Ragnarok Release date: 3 November 2017. Chris Hemsworth will be returning as the Norse God in his third solo MCU film. Flight of the Conchords Taika Waititi is on board to direct, and promises a fun adventure that will likely lead into Marvels next project, Infinity War. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 12. Justice League Part One Release date: 17 November 2017. Hot on the heals of Thor comes Justice League Part One, the first DCEU team-up flick which will see Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg work together to fight bad guys. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 13: Untitled Fox film Release date: 12 January 2018. Kicking off 2018 will likely be the second Deadpool film, but then again, this could very well be another X-Men team-up. Theres also talk of an X-Force film, with Deadpool and other mutants teaming up to fight evil. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 14. Black Panther Release date: 16 February 2018. The first non-white male-led superhero film in the MCU comes in the form of Black Panther, with Chadwick Boseman reprising the titular role, having also starred as the Panther in Civil War. Creeds Ryan Coogler is on to direct what could be a very exciting film. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 15. The Flash Release date: 16 March 2018. The Flash will be the first DCEU film since Justice League, and sees Ezra Miller take the lead. Phil Lord and Chris Miller were supposed to pen the film before Disney snapped them up for the Han Solo-film, leaving Seth Grahame-Smith to take charge. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 16. Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 Release date: 4 May 2018. And so, we finally get to the point of all these Infinity Stones! Thanos will be the big bad, with the Avengers needing to team up to defeat their biggest foe yet. It has previously been described as the end of the Avengers as we know it. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 17. Ant-Man and The Wasp Release date: 6 July 2018. Peyton Reed will be back to direct this surprise sequel to one of the better received MCU films. While the name is ridiculous, at least Marvel are finally having a leading female superhero. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 18. Untitled Fox film Release date: 13 July 2018. Again, not much word on this one except it is thought to be X-Men spin-off New Mutants, something Josh Boone has been hit up to write. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 19. Animated Spider-Man Film Release date: 20 July 2018. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Amy Pascal - the team behind the live-action Spider-Man films - are producing this unrelated animated adaptation of the hero. Because you can never have too much Spider-Man, right? 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 20. Aquaman Release date: 27 July 2018. Another Justice League spin-off, Jason Momoa plays the leading man. Furious 7s James Wan is on to direct, but little else is known about the film. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 21. Captain Marvel Release date: 8 March 2019. Weve hit 2019, and the first confirmed superhero film will be the first proper female-led MCU film. No-one is confirmed to be in the titular role of Carol Danvers just yet. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 22. Shazam Release date: 5 April 2019. Dwayne Johnson stars as the villain in this DCEU film which will be somewhat separate to the other DC films. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 23. Avengers: Infinity War Part 2. Release date: 3 May 2019. The conclusion to the long drawn MCU saga. Expect a big finish with at least a few planets being destroyed. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 24. Justice League Part Two Release date: 14 June 2019. Soon after the Infinity War story reaches its conclusion, so will the Justice Leagues. Not much is known, except Darkseid will likely be the villain for at least one of the parts. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 25. Inhumans Release date: 12 July 2019. The concept of Inhumans (or Marvels mutants) has already been introduced in TV, through Marvels Agents of Shield, yet the film is expected to introduce the Royal Family who have yet to be seen in the show. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 26. Cyborg Release date: 3 April 2020. Having debuted in Justice League Part One three years previously, Cyborg will finally be making his own outing, with Ray Fisher as the titular character. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 27. Untitled MCU film Release date: 1 May 2020. The first of three untitled Marvel films. There are a couple of contenders, the first is a likely sequel to Spider-Man with Sony, or a third Guardians of the Galaxy film, thus finishing the trilogy. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 28. Green Lantern Corps. Release date: 19 June 2020. Before you start to worry, this has nothing to do with the Ryan Reynolds-starring flick that hit cinemas a little while ago. Instead, this will be another DCEU film that will likely spin-off from Justice League after the Green Lantern Corps cameo in one of the parts. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 29. Untitled MCU film Release date: 10 July 2020. As well as Spider-Man or Guardians of the Galaxy sequels, a Doctor Strange or Black Panther one could fit in nicely here. Or perhaps Black Widow may finally get the solo-film she deserves. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 30. Untitled MCU film Release date: 6 November 2020. Some speculators also think a Blade film could fit in here, marking over 20 years since the first Blade. But many believe the character may be better suited to a Netflix series, as with Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Theres also talk of a Runaways film reaching cinemas at some stage. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 31. Untitled Ben Affleck Batman film Release date: TBA. Now were onto the TBA release dates, the first of which is a Batman solo film, written and directed by Ben Affleck. When this is due, no one is quite sure but expect it sooner rather than later if Batman v Superman is a success. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 32. Suicide Squad 2 Release date: TBA (rumoured 2017). A sequel to Suicide Squad is expected to come in 2017 according to recent reports, but nothing has been confirmed. If the first is successful, it should come as no surprise for Warner Bros to rearrange their schedule to fit in this surefire hit. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 33. Venom Release date: TBA. This is an odd one, as it has been confirmed Sony are wanting to release a Venom film completely unrelated to the upcoming Spider-Man reboot. Venom, as you may know, is a Spider-Man villain, intrinsically linked to Spider-Man, so it seems odd they would release a film unrelated to the rebooted project and not linked to the MCU. 33 Superhero films set for release between 2016 and 2020 Anything else? Well, now you mention it, theres also that sequel to Fantastic Four that has seemingly been dropped by Fox. Plus, theres the Gambit film which has been put on hold (but will likely fill an untitled Fox slot so we havent added it extra). Then again, it could be shoehorned in somehow Marvel



Justice League: Part One hits UK cinemas 17 November 2017.
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Game of Thrones season 6 episode 6, 'Blood of my Blood' felt a bit like filler - bar the return of another Stark - so attention is already swiftly turning to the trailer for next week's instalment.

We learn two main things in it:

Jon appears to find some men with which to take back Winterfell

"He died for us. If we are not willing to do the same for him we are cowards," wildling leader Tormund Giantsbane declares, though getting the wildlings to take on Ramsay is surely a hard sell when they know what horrors lurk beyond the Wall.

As Ser Davos later puts it, "The real war is between the living and the dead, and make no mistake, the dead are coming."

Game of Thrones episode 6 'Blood of My Blood' photos Show all 6 1 /6 Game of Thrones episode 6 'Blood of My Blood' photos Game of Thrones episode 6 'Blood of My Blood' photos Arya Stark Game of Thrones episode 6 'Blood of My Blood' photos Daaro Naharis and Daenerys Targaryen Game of Thrones episode 6 'Blood of My Blood' photos High Sparrow and Margaery Tyrell Game of Thrones episode 6 'Blood of My Blood' photos Lady Crane Game of Thrones episode 6 'Blood of My Blood' photos Jaime Lannister Game of Thrones episode 6 'Blood of My Blood' photos Tommen Baratheon

Bronn is back

He is a popular character, being both badass with a sword and providing a little humour, so it's nice to see him finally back in the show.

The mercenary will be at Jaime Lannister's side as he heads to The Riverlands to confront Blackfish on King Tommen's orders.

A quick recap: In exchange for orchestrating the Red Wedding, Walder Frey was given rule of The Riverlands but his sons lost it to the tough Tully. In episode 6 however, it didn't seem as though Jaime was very keen to do what his son told him, given Tommen is being used as a puppet by the High Sparrow. Expect Jaime and the Blackfish to establish some sort of pact or mutual distance.

Elsewhere in the trailer, Sansa reiterates her mission to bring back the good name of Stark to Westeros, Olenna scolds Cersei, and Yara and Theon hatch a plan to take back the Iron Islands from their uncle Euron.
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We all know it's important to exercise.

The CDC recommends adults get two and a half hours of moderately intense activity  like briskly walking or riding a bike  each week.

But finding the time and energy to do it can be a struggle: Nearly 80% of adults don't meet these basic fitness goals.

You might be familiar with the physical benefits of regular workouts, but the psychological ones are equally important.

Regular exercise may help with everything from boosting your mood to improving your sleep schedule. Keeping these in mind could help push you to hit the gym a little more frequently.

Here are some of the biggest psychological benefits of exercise, which we compiled using research from the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP):

1. It lifts your mood.

Research has shown that regular exercise can help give your mood a boost. Several recent studies suggest that, whether you lift weights or go for a run, working out can help reduce anxiety and improve overall mental health.

A recent study of 8,000 Dutch people between ages 16 and 65 found that, in general, people who exercised regularly "were more satisfied with their life and happier than non-exercisers at all ages, the authors wrote in their paper.

The American Psychological Association (APA) has also said that exercising can help make you feel happier  and in some cases the results can be felt pretty quickly. The link between exercise and mood is pretty strong, Boston University psychology professor Michael Otto told the APA. Usually within five minutes after moderate exercise you get a mood-enhancement effect."

2. It reduces stress.

The CDC recommends weight training major muscle groups at least twice per week.

Working out can help reduce overall stress levels, as well as improve your ability to cope with and respond to mentally taxing situations.

"Exercise may be a way of biologically toughening up the brain so stress has less of a central impact," said Otto.

3. It boosts your confidence.

In addition to lifting your mood, regular exercise can also help support a healthier body image, according to a growing body of research.

Whether it's a result of physically changing your body or being proud of completing a set amount of exercise, the positive effects of establishing a workout routine can translate into increased self-satisfaction, the AASP reports.

4. It helps you sleep.

And as we all know, more sleep means more energy throughout the day. And regular workouts can help you keep a regular sleep schedule.

A recent study of young people found that those who worked out intensely in the evenings slept better than their peers who didn't work out or who worked out less intensely. The ones who exercised more vigorously also tended to fall asleep faster, wake up fewer times throughout the night, and sleep more deeply than those who exercised less vigorously.

Read more:

 13 useful life hacks you can learn in a minute

 Why Microsoft's chatbot turned into a racist

 Everyone is worried that the China bubble will pop

Read the original article on Business Insider UK.  2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
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Richard Dawkins has said people who think atheists are violent because of their lack of belief "don't know what violence means".

The evolutionary biologist, 75, gave his response to the question "Why is the Atheist Religion so violent?" during a Reddit AMA.

"There is no atheist religion," Dawkins replied. "And 'violent'? Did you say 'violent'?

"Oh yes, I was forgetting. All those atheists beheading people, setting fire to them, cutting off their hands, cutting off their clitorises.

"If you think atheists are violent you don't know what violence means."

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.

The author of The God Delusion also described Islam as "the most dangerous religion".

"Anyone who believes that what is written in a holy book is true even if the evidence is against it is dangerous," he wrote.

"Christianity used to be the most dangerous religion. Now Islam is.

"Of course that doesn't mean more than a small minority of the world's Muslims. But it only takes a few if their beliefs are sufficiently strong, fanatical and unshakeable."

Last week, Dawkins said religion should be "offended at every opportunity".

 What marriage would be like if we followed the bible

His comments came after a study found Christians in England and Wales are outnumbered by people who do not ascribe to any religion.

In 2014, 48.5 per cent of people said they had no religion compared to 43.5 per cent of people who identified as Christian, researchers at St Marys Catholic University in Twickenham found.

The percentage of people with no religion has almost doubled from 2011, when 25 per cent of people referred to themselves as such.

Data from Scotland and Northern Ireland was not examined in the report, however in April findings from the Scottish Social Attitudes survey found more than half of people in Scotland have no religion.

Fifty-two per cent of Scottish people said they were not religious, compared to 40 per cent when the survey began in 1999.

Earlier this year, Dawkins was forced to cancel appearances in Australia and New Zealand after suffering a stroke.
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An Australian family threatened with deportation from Scotland on Tuesday have been allowed to remain in the UK until August but will be refused the right to work.

Gregg Brain and his wife Kathryn moved from Australia to Dingwall in 2011 with their son Lachlan who, now seven, speaks Gaelic as his first language.

The father and son came to Scotland as dependents of Mrs Brain while she studied Scottish history at the University of the Highlands and Islands on a student visa.

The family had intended to obtain a two-year-post study visa after Mrs Brain completed her studies, but the scheme was abolished by the Home Office in 2012. The family were then forced to apply for a more rigorous teir 2 visa.

Gregg, Kathryn and Lachlan Brain meet Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the Scottish Parliament garden lobby on May 26 (Getty Images ) (Getty Images)

After a series of last minute appeals at Holyrood and Westminster, the SNPs Ian Blackford - MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber - said he was informed by the Home Office on Monday evening the Highland-based family had been granted leave to remain in the UK until 1 August but would not have the right to work, despite Mrs Brain having been offered a job by GlenWyvis distillery in Dingwall, which they hoped would meet visa requirements. Mr Brain has also been offered a job by a local company, according to the Guardian.

Mr Brain said the mood within the family was currently somewhere between elated a furious.

He told Press Association Scotland: We're not sure how to take it.

I'm grateful to Mr Brokenshire for giving us the extension but that gratitude is tempered by the fact that I am - as a direct result of home office actions - homeless, unemployed, my passport remains confiscated, they have said they will be writing to the DVLA recommending that our drivers' licences be cancelled and that consideration has been given to freezing our bank accounts.

Mr Brain said he was having difficulty avoiding the conclusion that we're being set up to fail because of the financial requirements they believe they may be asked to meet.

Mr Blackford has described the decision as utterly incredulous and called on UK Immigration Minister James Brokenshire to rethink.

The familys case has attracted the support of the local community in Dingwall who have pulled together to raise money for legal fees and helped the family when they were forced to leave their rented accommodation.

Politicians, including First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, have also rallied round the family amid fears they would be deported on Tuesday.

Mr Blackford said:"I find it utterly incredulous that Home Office minister James Brokenshire has decided to extend the Brain family's right to stay in their home in Scotland but refused to grant them the right to work," said Mr Blackford.

"How does he expect Kathryn, Gregg and Lachlan to make ends meet until the beginning of August while the UK government refuses to allow them to work?

"Both Kathryn and Gregg have secured jobs in the local area, which would benefit the local economy and allow them to continue the enormous contribution that they have already made to life in the Highlands.

"What's more is that Kathryn's job for GlenWyvis Distillery is a role aimed at increasing funding for the start-up company which will in turn drive up investment and create more jobs in the Highlands.

"The Tories must urgently rethink this unfair and pig-headed decision - it cannot be right that a young family should have to live with such uncertainty and worry to continue to stay in their home."

Additional reporting by Press Association
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Refugees trying to cross the English Channel are just as likely to die as those who have perished in the Mediterranean, a former chief inspector of the UK's border force has warned.

His warning follows the rescue of 18 Albanians, including two children, from a sinking boat off the Kent coast on Saturday night.

Two British men, aged 33 and 35, have been charged with immigration offences.

John Vine, who was independent chief inspector of borders and immigration until 2014, said a series of warnings about the threat had failed to result in "sufficient resources" being devoted to the issue if lives were not to be lost.

"In the context of small ports, we just don't know the extent of this," he told BBC Radio 4. "But I think it is reasonable to assume that this is something that might have been happening and if this is now the start of a new trend we certainly need to gather the intelligence and the resources to nip it in the bud."

He said he found the issue "wasn't a major priority" when he raised concerns in the past.

"That is entirely reasonable: if an organisation has limited resources, it has to prioritise where its enforcement activity is," Mr Vine said.

Recommended Read more More than 700 refugees feared dead in three Mediterranean shipwrecks

"But clearly if this is now the start of something new, then really that... needs to be reassessed and resources need to be put in."

He added: "We have seen the tragedies that have occurred in the Mediterranean.

"I am not a nautical person but I would have thought crossing the Channel  with all the hazards in terms of cross-Channel traffic as well as the weather and the sea conditions  are going to mean there is an equal chance of people losing their lives unless this is stopped."

It has been reported the people on board had alerted their families in Calais, who raised the alarm with the French authorities. A second boat was later discovered off the coast of Dymchurch.

His warning was echoed by Bernard Barron, the president of the French coastguard, who said: "It's starting to become a very similar situation to that seen in the Mediterranean," he said. "My biggest fear is that the same kind of tragedies we see in Greece or Italy will start to repeat in the Channel."

He added that smugglers had found a new way of bringing migrants into the country after it had become "virtually impossible" for them to enter via the Channel Tunnel or on ferries.

"They operate across the length of both the French and Belgian coastlines, between Ostend and into Normandy, finding new positions from where they can send their clients  the migrants  towards England."

Mr Barron said that even though the smugglers were being given large sums of money, there were not providing suitable transport for a "sea filled with danger, with strong currents, storms and heavy traffic of larger vessels".

The discovery has also led to calls for increased security off the English coast.

Lord West, the former head of the royal navy, told the Daily Mail: "We are taking a calculated risk with our own territorial waters. Already we have seen these illegal immigrants and I don't believe there aren't clever traffickers using the smaller ports to send them and I'm sure terrorists are aware of the route too.

"We need to get a grip on this. We are taking a gamble that nothing will ever happen in our seas and that is a risky view to take given the dangerous world we are in."

However, David Monk, Conservative leader of the local authority, said he believed high levels of surveillance in the English Channel would mean most boats crossing the channel would be identified.

He added: "I am pretty sure our security is good. I cannot recall a previous incident but this should act as a warning to the authorities to be even more vigilant."

The rescued Albanian have been detained pending Home Office consideration of their cases.

The National Crime Agency recently revealed migrants trying to reach the UK are paying smuggling gangs up to 13,500 for their journey.
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Prince Philip will be missing a commemoration of the largest naval battle of the First World War following advice from his doctor.

The Queen's husband has been told to miss the Battle of Jutland commemoration which saw the Royal Navy fight the Imperial German Navy off the coast of Denmark from 31 May to 1 June in 1916.

The 94-year-old, who celebrates his 95th birthday on 10 June, has not been to hospital and is not expected to need an appointment any time soon.

"The background is that this is on the doctor's order, but there are no plans for him to go to hospital," a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told The Independent.

"This is a temporary health thing."

The Battle of Jutland involved the Royal Navy trying to destroy the Imperial Germany Navy, or at least keep them contained near Denmark and away from British shipping lanes.

More ships and twice as many sailors were lost by the British, but both sides tried to claim victory, with the Germany navy avoiding fleet-to-fleet contact thereafter.

Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Show all 62 1 /62 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II on a walk-about in Portsmouth during her Silver Jubilee tour of Great Britain, 1977 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The future Britain's Queen Elizabeth II (R) pictured with her younger sister Princess Margaret (L) in 1933 AFP/Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The 9-year-old Elizabeth attends an aristocratic wedding with her mother and younger sister. Later in that year with the death of her Grandfather and the Abdication of her Uncle Edward VIII she became first in line to the throne, 1936 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of King George VI in 1937, Elizabeth aged 10 became the heir apparent to the throne Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth and her sister arrive at Waterloo station to say goodbye to their parents as they leave to tour Canada. Elizabeth was thought too young to escort her parents on the tour and was described as "tearful" as they departed. She and her parents made the first ever transatlantic telephone call during their time away, 1939 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The 13-year-old Elizabeth and her sister Margret address children who have been evacuated from the cities on BBC's 'The Chilrens Hour' She said "We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our share of the danger and sadness of war. We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well", 1940 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Just before the end of the war Elizabeth took part in training to become an ATS officer. She is pictured learning to change a tire, 1945 AFP/Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The official announcement of Princess Elizabeth and Phillip Mountbatten's engagement. The pairing was incredibly controversial as Prince Phillip had no financial standing and he was foreign born, the prince of Denmark and Greece (though he served Britain in the war and was given British Citizenship), 1947 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II (in coach) and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh are cheered by the crowd after their wedding ceremony, on 20 November 1947, on their road to Buckingham Palace, London Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth smiles at her first child, a month old Prince Charles. Charles was born on 14 November 1948 Corbis Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The couples second child Princess Anne was born in 1950 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Arriving back in England upon hearing the death of her father King George VI. The Kings health had been in decline for a number of years and Elizabeth had been filling in for him on an official visit to Australia by way of Kenya. As his heir Elizabeth became Queen aged 26 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth's coronation took place on 2 June 1953. It was the first ever coronation to be aired live on television, being one of the most watched events in history with millions gathering around their TV sets to see the new monarch Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II standing next to her daughter Princess Anne, 1960 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II President Eisenhower (centre) with the British Royal family (L-R) Prince Philip, Princess Anne, HM Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Captain John Eisenhower, at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, 1959 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II as she turns to smile and talk to an unidentified officer, during the Trooping of the Colour by the First Battalion of the Jamaica Regiment at Up-Park Camp, Kingston, Jamaica, 1966 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II walking cross country at the North of Scotland Gun Dog Association Open Stake Retreiver Trials in the grounds of Balmoral Castle in 1967 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to the Chelsea Flower Show in London, a regular fixture in the royal calendar, 1971 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh during their traditional summer break at Balmoral Castle. The highland retreat is one of the Queen's favourite places, each year, she heads off to Scotland for the summer. "It is rather nice to hibernate for a bit when one leads such a moveable life," she once said, 1976 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II during a walkabout in Muscat while visiting Oman, 1979 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II with some of her corgis walking the Cross Country course during the second day of the Windsor Horse Trials. The monarch is responsible for introducing a new breed of dog known as the "dorgi" when her corgi Tiny was mated with a dachshund "sausage dog" called Pipkin which belonged to Princess Margaret, 1980 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II (L-R) the Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince William, Prince Harry and the Prince and Princess of Wales after the christening ceremony of Prince Harry, 1984 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II taking the salute of the Household Guards regiments during the Trooping of the Colour ceremony in London, 1985 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Diana, Princess of Wales and Queen Elizabeth II as they smile to well-wishers outside Clarence House in London, 1987 AP Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II, with Chief Instructor, Small Arms Corp LT Col George Harvey, firing the last shot on a standard SA 80 rifle when she attended the centenary of the Army Rifle Association at Bisley, 1993 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II South Africa's President Nelson Mandela greets Queen Elizabeth II as she steps from the royal yacht Britannia in Cape Town at the 1995's official start of the her first visit to the country since 1947 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II smiles as she visits Bowring Park in St. John's, Newfoundland, on the third day of a 10-day official visit to Canada, 1997 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh make their way into St. George's Chapel at Windsor for the annual Garter ceremony, 1999 AFP/Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and Pope John Paul II as they meet at the Vatican, 2000 AP Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother leaving church by horse drawn carriage on the Sandringham Estate, Norfolk, 2000 PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth rides her horse in the grounds of Windsor Castle, 2002 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth arrives for the world premiere of James Bond movie "Casino Royale" at the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square in London, 2006 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth boards a scheduled train at Kings Cross station in London, 2009 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II planting a tree at Newmarket Animal Health Trust, during a royal visit which marked her 50th year as the charity's patron, 2009 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II talking with Pope Benedict XVI during an audience in the Morning Drawing Room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh during a four day visit by the Pope to the UK, 2010 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II visiting the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2010 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II receives flowers from the crowd during her visit to Federation Square in downtown Melbourne, 2011 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth watches a preview of her Christmas message wearing a pair of 3D glasses, studded with Swarovski crystals in the form of a "Q", at Buckingham Palace in central London, 2012 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Members of Britain's royal family (front L to R) Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles cheer as competitors participate in a sack race at the Braemar Gathering in Braemar, Scotland, 2012 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Britain's Prince Charles kisses the hand of his mother Queen Elizabeth at the end of her Diamond Jubilee concert in front of Buckingham Palace in London, 2012 Reuters Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge laughs as Queen Elizabeth gestures during a visit to Vernon Park in Nottingham, 2012 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip attend a service for the Order of the British Empire at St Paul's Cathedral in London, 2012 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II meets young people during an official visit to The Shard building in central London, 2013 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Actress Angelina Jolie is presented with the Insignia of an Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1844 Room at Buckingham Palace, London, 2014 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red evolving art installation at the Tower of London, 2014 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the State Opening of Parliament, 2015 AFP/Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II (L-R) Britain's Princess Anne, Princess Royal, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge holding his son Prince George of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry (back), Prince Andrew, Duke of York (back), James, Viscount Severn (front), Princess Beatrice of York (back), Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Eugenie of York (back) stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace waiting to view the fly-past during the Queen's Birthday Parade, 'Trooping the Colour,' in London, 2015 Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The Trooping of the Colour is an annual celebration marking the Queen's birthday, 2015 Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Britain's Queen Elizabeth II stands with Kate the Duchess of Cambridge whilst pushing Princess Charlotte in a pram as they leave after attending the Christening of Britain's Princess Charlotte at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, 2015 AP Photo/Matt Dunham, Pool Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II arrives at the Broadway Theatre in Barking, 2015 Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II greets wellwishers during a 'walkabout' on her 90th birthday in Windsor in 2016 AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Members of the Royal Family during trooping of the colour in 2017 AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The Queen waves at Prince Harry and Meghan after their wedding in 2018 POOL/AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex gesture during their visit to the Storyhouse in Chester, Cheshire in 2018 AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Prince Charles reacts as he sits with his mother Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during an event to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, in Portsmouth in 2019 AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are joined by her mother, Doria Ragland, as they show their new son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, to the Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle Chris Allerton/Sussex Royal/PA Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II reacts as she visits the Haig Housing Trust in Morden in 2019 POOL/AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II takes her seat on the The Sovereign's Throne in the House of Lords next to Prince Charles, before reading the Queen's Speech during the State Opening of Parliament in 2019 POOL/AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II looks at the coffin of Britain's Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh during his funeral service at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle POOL/AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II and Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales pose alongside the tree which they planted to mark the start of the official planting season for the Queen's Green Canopy (QGC) at the Balmoral Cricket Pavilion, Balmoral Estate in Scotland POOL/AFP via Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Britain's Queen Elizabeth II cuts a cake to celebrate the start of the Platinum Jubilee during a reception in the Ballroom of Sandringham House, the Queen's Norfolk residence on February 5, 2022. - Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday will became the first British monarch to reign for seven decades, in a bittersweet landmark as she also marked the 70th anniversary of her father's death AFP/Getty Queen Elizabeth II: Life in pictures Queen Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth II arrives in Westminster Abbey accompanied by Prince Andrew, Duke of York for the Service Of Thanksgiving For The Duke Of Edinburgh on March 29, 2022 in London Getty

Prince Philip, who was a commander in the military before marrying the Queen in 1952, has had a couple of health incidents in the last few years.

In 2013, he had pre-arranged surgery on his abdomen which had previously caused him to pull out of engagements with the Royal National Institute of Blind People and with the BBC.

When asked at the time how her husband was, the Queen replied: "I don't know. He's not ill."

Prince Phillip was also hospitalised twice in 2012 with a recurring bladder infection following the Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the River Thames, and had surgery to clear a blocked artery in 2011.

At the last YouGov poll, 68 per cent of the UK said the monarchy was good for the country.
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A university student has been fined 562 for a 2.20 train journey after she was caught using the wrong ticket.

Parys Lanlehin, a 20 year-old student at the University of Nottingham, was found to be using a return train ticket on the wrong day, going in the wrong direction, almost two years ago.

She was issued a 20 penalty fine on the Nottingham to Beeston train, which takes approximately five minutes to complete, but the fine was never paid.

Ms Lanlehin, who now lives in London, signed a declaration to say she was unaware of legal proceedings taking place in Nottingham at Stratford Magistrates Court.

Parys Lanlehin was found guilty of travelling using an invalid train ticket (Facebook)

She was found guilty of boarding a train without a valid ticket after she failed to attend the case at Nottingham Magistrates Court last week and was fined 300 in prosecution costs.

 Polish train driver runs down carriages to warn of impending crash with lorry

The student was also fined a 200 fee and 22 government surcharge, as well as the original 20 penalty.

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Ms Lanlehin has been given two weeks to pay the fines and was issued a collection order, which could be passed on to bailiffs should the outstanding fines not be paid in full.

Earlier this year a passenger on a train in south Devon was fined almost 800 after he was caught without a ticket which would normally have cost him 2.70.

Train fare evasion costs the rail industry around 240m each year, according to Great Western Railway.
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Sir Bill Cash has become the third Conservative MP to publicly say he is considering a vote of no confidence in David Cameron, following weeks of in-fighting in the party over the European Union referendum.

Mr Cash, a veteran Eurosceptic who chairs the European Scrutiny Committee, branded the Prime Ministers EU Remain campaign as monumentally misleading propaganda in an interview with the Telegraph.

He added he is certainly considering submitting a letter of no confidence in the party leader to Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee - a backbench group of Conservative MPs in Westminster.

Recommended Read more Tory rifts deepen as MPs call for Cameron to quit

"My view is that theyve been engaged in monumentally misleading propaganda they have relentlessly and flagrantly been anything but impartial and inaccurate, he said.

Basically I think that they have got a very, very short time in which to correct all this. In my 30 year Ive never seen anything on this including during Sir John Majors time.

His intervention follows Nadine Dorries, who in a frank admission, revealed to ITVs Peston on Sunday that she believed Mr Cameron will be toast within days of a Brexit vote. She added that she had already submitted a letter of no confidence and confirmed she is now backing Boris Johnson, the former Mayor of London, as the future leader of the party.

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.

Party rules dictate that 50 backbenchers must follow suit to trigger a vote of no confidence. However, it is likely that Mr Cameron would survive such a vote.

She said: My letter is already in. If the Remain camp wins by a large majority  I think it would have to be 60/40  then David Cameron might just survive; but if Remain win by a narrow majority or lose ... hes toast within days. He has lied profoundly, and I think that is actually really at the heart of why Conservative MPs have been so angered. To say that Turkey is not going to join the European Union as far as 30 years is a lie."

Prominent backbencher Andrew Bridgen also said that more than 50 MPs were ready to move against the Tory leader if Britons vote for Brexit on June 23.

But Tory peer Lord Finkelstein said on Sunday it was unlikely that any coup against the Prime Minister would be successful.

Appearing on the Westminster Hour, he said: I think it will not be difficult to find 50 people who are discontented with David Cameron at the end, probably more, but I think it would be very hard to produce a majority of the Conservative Party that wanted to remove him if he, or indeed even enough people to want to remove him and that I think will make even those who are against him think twice before they start a letter campaign that might end up strengthening him not weakening him.
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The Electoral Commission have warned Bristol City Council to stop issuing EU referendum voting guidance leaflets, following claims they are bias towards the Remain campaign.

Graphic instructions on a voting guide sent out with 47,000 postal votes in the city show a pen hovering over the Remain box.

The election watchdog said the picture instructions shouldnt have been used and the guide has been attacked by pro-Brexit campaigners as unfair.

Similar pictures are believed to have been reported in other parts of the country.

Bristol City Council said the position of the pen was "entirely incidental" and no-one could be "reasonably influenced" by it. It has promised to revise the leaflet for all future postal vote dispatches.

Others have called on the council to re-issue the guidelines.

Tory MP Bernard Jenkin told the Telegraph: "This is an absolute outrage Bristol should reissue the forms to the 47,000 people who have received a biased form."

Mike Hookem, a UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, also complained about the forms. He told the BBC: Any ballot papers which have gone out with marks showing either remain or leave boxes being ticked in the example need to be recalled and the person responsible needs to be investigated.

The Leave.EU campaign has tweeted images of the voting instructions and urged its followers to contact them if they have received the voting packs.

A Commission spokeswoman said while the graphic appeared "unlikely" to sway voters, it "clearly shouldn't have been used". She said they are examining reports of other incidents.

"As a precaution, we are contacting all counting officers to make clear to them that if they are using images the same as, or similar to, the image used by Bristol City Council, they should ensure that these are changed before any further postal votes are distributed," she said.

Vote Leave's national organiser Stephen Parkinson said: "It is completely unacceptable for official guidance from local councils to appear to tell people which way to vote.

"We have contacted the Electoral Commission to find out how many ballot papers might have been influenced in this way, and to ask them to take urgent steps to correct it.

"With the full weight of the Government machine campaigning to keep us in an unreformed EU, it's all the more important that local authorities and the Electoral Commission show that this referendum is being conducted fairly and impartially."

A Bristol City Council spokesman said: "This form is designed to explain the logistics of voting by post and not to suggest how someone should vote.

"The placement of the pen graphic was entirely incidental and we do not believe that anybody could reasonably be influenced by such a graphic.

"However, given current sensitivities, for all future postal vote dispatches the form and graphic will be amended."

Additional reporting by Press Association
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David Cameron has described Sadiq Khan as a proud Muslim and proud Brit  just weeks after attempting to link the mayor of London to a supporter of IS.

Speaking at the launch of a Britain Stronger In Europe battle bus, Mr Cameron sought to deflect attention from a weekend of attacks from his own MPs and hailed the extraordinary coalition rallied behind Britain remaining in the EU.

The apparent show of solidarity follows accusations that Mr Cameron was supporting an "Islamophobic campaign" against Mr Khan, when he said he was concerned that Labours candidate for mayor of London had shared a platform "again and again and again with people he described as violent extremists.

Mr Cameron said at the time: "Suliman Gani  the honourable member for Tooting [Mr Khan] has appeared on a platform with him nine times. This man supports IS [Islamic State]. I think they are shouting down this point because they dont want to hear the truth.

The Prime Minister was met with cries of "racist" by Labour MPs as he spoke and Mr Ghani later accused him of "defamation at its highest level".

But speaking at the launch alongside Mr Khan, Mr Cameron publicly shook hands with the mayor.

"In one generation someone who is a proud Muslim, a proud Brit and a proud Londoner can become mayor of the greatest city on earth," he said as he offered his congratulations.

"That says something about our country.

"There are still barriers to opportunity that we have to get rid of. There are still glass ceilings we have got to smash. There is discrimination in our country that we have to fight.

Mr Cameron also laughed off suggestions by pro-Brexit campaigners that widespread warnings of an economic shock if Britain votes to leave were "part of some massive establishment conspiracy".

"It would be a pretty exquisite conspiracy that could bring together the Labour mayor son of a bus driver and the Tory son of a stockbroker Prime Minister. Sadiq and I say it for this reason: because we love our country, we want our country to be the best we possibly can, to be the strongest, to be the greatest.

"For our economy to be strong, for families' finances to be secure, to go on creating jobs. This is not, in the end, an argument about Europe. It is an argument about Britain."

He acknowledged there was "uncertainty and confusion" amid claims of scaremongering by both sides and pledged "to speak clearly, to speak positively" for the rest of the campaign.

Vote Leave was quick to respond, with Ukip MP Douglas Carswell saying: "David Cameron cannot be trusted. Just a month ago he attacked Sadiq Khan as a terrorist sympathiser yet today he hailed him as a great politician as he stood next to him on a shared platform."

 Nastiest moments in the London mayoral election

Mr Khan, appearing alongside the PM in front of students in south-west London, said he would work closely with the Tory government "where it is in Londoners' interests".

"The reason why London is the greatest city in the world  and it is  we have never taken an isolationist approach, we are open-minded, we are outward-looking, we embrace other cultures and learn from other cultures and ideas as well," he said.

The renewed crticism follows a torrid 48 hours for Mr Cameron. On Sunday, Nadine Dorries said Mr Cameron had "lied profoundly" during the EU campaign and claimed he would be "toast within days" if Britain votes for a Brexit.

Prominent backbencher Andrew Bridgen also said that more than 50 MPs were ready to move against the Tory leader if Britons vote for Brexit on June 23. In another attack, employment minister Priti Patel said Mr Cameron was too rich to care about immigration

The Conservative election tactics during the mayoral race  and their candidate Zac Goldsmith  have been condemned by senior party members for harming community relations after Mr Khan swept to victory in early May.

Sayeeda Warsi, the former co-chairwoman of the Tory party, said the campaign was appalling, while Andrew Boff, the partys leader on the Greater London Assembly launched a devastating attack on the way the campaign was run. He said it had done real damage and blown up bridges the Tories had built with Muslim communities.

Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Show all 5 1 /5 Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Tackle the housing crisis Khans key policy is an ambitious target to make 50 per cent of all new homes being genuinely affordable, and improving conditions for people renting Getty Images Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Freeze transport fares Khan says he will freeze London transport fares for four years and introduce a one-hour bus Hopper ticket, paid for by making TfL more efficient and exploring new revenue-raising opportunities. He claims Londoners wont pay a penny more for their travel in 2020 than they do today Getty Images Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Make London safer Resore neighbourhood policing, tackle gangs and knife crime, and a new plan to tackle the spread of extremism, and a review of the resourcing of our fire service Getty Images Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Restore London's air quality Pedestrianise Oxford Street and prioritise measures to improve Londons air quality Getty Images Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Make cycling and walking safer More segregated cycle routes with a promise to spend money improving dangerous junctions Getty Images

Former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman, and ex-Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell, have appeared with the Prime Minister, but the head of the party's Remain push, and former home secretary, Alan Johnson, has joined Mr Corbyn in refusing to be seen campaigning with Mr Cameron.
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David Camerons tenure as Prime Minister is in danger regardless of the result of the EU referendum, a number of Tory MPs have told The Independent.

In a torrid weekend, Mr Cameron has come under sustained attack from members of his own party suggesting he should quit.

But now it appears that while his position is not under immediate threat from an internal coup by disgruntled supporters of Brexit, there is a growing feeling among numerous Tory MPs that  win or lose the EU vote on 23 June  Mr Cameron should set out a clear timetable for when he will step down as Prime Minister.

Three Tory MPs have publicly criticised his handling of the referendum campaign and threatened to call for a vote of no confidence.

Bill Cash, a veteran Eurosceptic who chairs the European Scrutiny Committee, branded the PM's EU Remain campaign monumentally misleading propaganda" while Nadine Dorries, another Eurosceptic, called Mr Cameron an outright liar live on television. Prominent backbencher Andrew Bridgen also said that more than 50 MPs were ready to move against the Tory leader if Britons vote for Brexit on 23 June.

Recommended Read more Tory rifts deepen as MPs call for Cameron to quit

One senior Tory backbencher who backs Brexit said to The Independent he was not surprised at the events over the weekend. Theres a lot of discontent, he said. What is happening is that most people are concentrating on trying to win the referendum. I do think one thing is for sure: if we win the referendum and come out of the EU then the Prime Minister will resign straight away out of principle.

It may well be of course  and theres a theory going around that has some credence  that even if he [Mr Cameron] wins the referendum he might say Ive achieved my legacy and kept the UK in the EU and say Im going in six months. The source added: If he did that it would stop any movement in its tracks.

The criticism of Mr Cameron and speculation over his future has not been supported by all of those on the Eurosceptic wing of the party, with many urging their colleagues to put quarrelling over the leadership of the party to one side and concentrate all efforts on the upcoming referendum.

 Nadine Dorries on Peston on Sunday

But Andrew Rosindell, a pro-Brexit Tory MP and member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said that while any chatter over the leadership was a distraction from the referendum many of his colleagues remained very upset by the way the campaign has been conducted.

He said: It was only a year ago in the general election when we were promising people fundamental change in our relationship with the EU. Well, that never happened and the worlds going to fall apart if we dared to leave. We are pretty, pretty upset about this. But who will be Prime Minister is a matter for another day. Clearly, hes already said hes standing down at some point.

I think we can discuss this as much as we like on the 24th of June but today is not really the time.

I personally would find it hard to see how any Prime Minister having fought this kind of campaign then he lost how he could just carry on business as usual.

I think if we do leave the EU I think, probably, I would anticipate that he would conclude that his time as Prime Minister will be shortened and there has to be a timetable for him to leave. If he wins I think that should be even more dangerous for him really because of the way the campaign has been conducted. But I dont think its an issue today, its an issue for after the referendum.

 Cameron's ISIS Brexit warning

However, former Cabinet minister John Redwood  a longstanding critic of the European project  urged his colleagues to take maximum advantage of this crucial opportunity to get us out of the European Union. He added: I would urge everybody of goodwill and common sense to collect every vote, free our democracy and restore an independent country. Theres no more important task than that.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, another prominent Eurosceptic MP, added: Although I strongly disagree with the Prime Minister on the EU, in other aspects I admire and support him. He has a mandate that is only a year old so I think ought to carry on.

Speaking to The Independent Steve Baker, a Tory MP and co-chairman of Conservatives for Britain, said: There obviously is a problem. But I think we need to make sure we focus on the issue the public care about The problem is weve now got three MPs appearing in the press expressing public concern about the leadership because of the conduct of the campaign. My point is that it would be better to focus on the issues that help the public make up their minds.

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.

Jason McCartney, Conservative MP for Colne Valley, dismissed outbursts from the three Tory MPs at the weekend who threatened a no confidence vote in Mr Cameron. I thought she [Ms Dorries] had put her letter in years ago to be honest, he said. The same with Andrew Bridgen. I know both of them but I dont think its any surprise or even news that they are not the biggest fan of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.

Mr McCartney chuckled at the suggestion from Mr Bridgen that 50 MPs were ready to fire off letters demanding a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister. I can genuinely say Im friends with not only the 2010 intake but the 2015 intake as well  no, not at all I just cant see how it is news.

Mr McCartney pointed to the Prime Minister sharing a platform with the new London Mayor Sadiq Khan on Monday afternoon in south London. He added: Two weeks ago they were at each other hammer and tongs but they were able to put that to one side for a shared aim. Come June 24 me and my backbench colleagues have one shared aim with the Prime Minister: to make sure Jeremy Corbyn never runs our country. Thats what unites us."
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The Provost of Eton College has threatened to resign from the Conservative party over plans for companies to ask job candidates if they went to private school.

Lord Waldegrave of North Hill, a former Conservative Cabinet minister, has told party officials he is unhappy at the plans which form part of the Government's "life chances" agenda.

Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock said employers should ask job applicants if they went to private school in an attempt to stop discrimination against the poor.

Lord Waldegrave, the crown-appointed provost of Prime Minister David Cameron's former school, told the Daily Telegraph the policy would discriminate against the privately educated.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty UK news in pictures 12 September 2022 Crowds line the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, as King Charles III joins a procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral following the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II Katielee Arrowsmith/SWNS UK news in pictures 11 September 2022 Members of the Public pay their respects as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, is driven through Ballater AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 10 September 2022 Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales, Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Britain's Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, wave at well-wishers on the Long walk at Windsor Castle AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 9 September 2022 King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort wave after viewing floral tributes to the late Queen Elizabeth II outside Buckingham Palace Getty UK news in pictures 8 September 2022 A screen commemorating Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Piccadilly Circus, London Britain EPA UK news in pictures 7 September 2022 Police officers stand guard after Animal Rebellion activists threw paint on the walls and road outside the Houses of Parliament in protest, in London, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 6 September 2022 Queen Elizabeth II welcomes Liz Truss during an audience at Balmoral, Scotland, where she invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2022 Visitors at the PoliNations garden in Victoria Square, Birmingham, which is made up of five 40ft high tree installations and over 6,000 plants. The PoliNations programme aims to explore how migration and cross-pollination have shaped the UKs gardens and culture PA

"Fundamentally I think it quite wrong to punish children for decisions taken by their parents, and to run the risk of choosing crucial public service jobs not on the basis of merit but of social engineering," he told the paper.

The ablest candidates come from all possible backgrounds.

"I have told the Chief Whip in the Lords that I do not see how I could continue to accept the Whip if I believed that the Government was actively seeking to damage the charitable school of which I am a Trustee, and the many other schools like it which are meeting the justifiable demands of the Charity Commission to help the wider community."

 David Cameron doesn't see himself as posh

Mr Hancock's proposals include a set of questions allowing companies to check the "socio-economic background" of job applicants.

He said employers must look to "spot potential, not polish".

Critics claim too many professions and senior positions are dominated by the seven per cent of people who attended independent schools.

Suggested questions include asking the area where someone lived up to the age of 14, whether they received free school meals and asking about their parents' professions.

The Government is urging major companies to adopt the social mobility agenda.
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A third Tory MP has broken ranks and publicly criticised David Cameron's handling of the EU referendum, saying he is considering calling for a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister.

Bill Cash, a veteran Eurosceptic who chairs the European Scrutiny Committee, branded the PM's EU Remain campaign monumentally misleading propaganda". He added he is certainly considering submitting a letter of no confidence in the party leader to Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee - a backbench group of Conservative MPs in Westminster.

His comments follow a weekend of Tory attacks on Mr Cameron, which were led by Nadine Dorries, who said she believed he will be toast within days of a Brexit vote and branded him an "outright liar".

Prominent backbencher Andrew Bridgen also said that more than 50 MPs were ready to move against the Tory leader if Britons vote for Brexit on June 23.

In another attack, employment minister Priti Patel said Mr Cameron was too rich to care about immigration.

In an extraordinary intervention on ITVs Peston on Sunday , Ms Dorries said that Mr Cameron will be toast within days of a Leave vote and revealed that she has already submitted a letter to the chairman of the 1922 Committee  the group of backbench Tory MPs in Westminster  calling for a vote of no confidence in Mr Cameron. She confirmed she was supporting Boris Johnson, the former Mayor of London, to succeed Mr Cameron.

Party rules dictate that 50 backbenchers must follow suit to trigger a vote of no confidence.

 Nadine Dorries on Peston on Sunday

She said: My letter is already in. If the Remain camp wins by a large majority  I think it would have to be 60/40  then David Cameron might just survive; but if Remain win by a narrow majority or lose ... hes toast within days. He has lied profoundly, and I think that is actually really at the heart of why Conservative MPs have been so angered. To say that Turkey is not going to join the European Union as far as 30 years is a lie."

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.

There are many issues about which David Cameron has told outright lies, and because of that, trust has gone in both him and George Osborne ... and it will be very hard for either of them to survive in the future.

Ms Dorries insisted a considerable number of Tory MPs shared her view while Mr Bridgen said that tensions were so intense in the party that a challenge was probably highly likely as he warned the alternative was a zombie parliament.

I think it's going to be very, very difficult to pull all the sides together and have a working majority going forward, Mr Bridgen told BBC Radio 5 Lives Pienaars Politics.

Dorries: 'Writing is very good for my mental health' (Rex)

Asked if a vote of no confidence against Mr Cameron would happen, the MP said: It depends how the next few weeks go, but if true to form, I think there's at least 50 colleagues who are dissatisfied with the way that the Prime Minister has put himself front and centre of a fairly outrageous Remain campaign. I think that's probably highly likely.

The MP insisted the situation was now so dire that an emergency general election would be needed before Christmas to restore order.

He added: We have a very small majority on paper. I think we've seen over the past six months there's no effective majority for the Government to get necessary deficit reduction plans through, and I don't see how that's going to change moving forward. We could end up in a situation where we have a four-year zombie Parliament.

 EU Referendum: Latest Poll

The party is fairly fractured, straight down the middle, and I don't know which character could possibly pull it back together going forward for an effective government. I honestly think we probably need to go for a general election before Christmas and get a new mandate from the people.

Another rebel MP told The Sunday Times: I don't want to stab the Prime Minister in the back  I want to stab him in the front so I can see the expression on his face. You'd have to twist the knife, though, because we want it back for [George] Osborne. All we have to do is catch the Prime Minister with a live boy or dead girl and we are away.

Meanwhile, Michael Gove and Mr Johnson launched an unprecedented attack on the Prime Minister's authority as they accused him of a having a corrosive impact on public trust in politicians because he had not lived up to promises to cut immigration.

And in an article forThe Daily Telegraph, Ms Patel wrote: Its shameful that those leading the pro-EU campaign fail to care for those who do not have their advantages. Their narrow self-interest fails to pay due regard to the interests of the wider public.

Mr Cameron also began to show signs the pressures within the party were beginning to have a considerable effect on him. In an interview with GQ magazine, published today, he spoke of his frustration at the open division within his Cabinet, adding he was sorry Mr Johnson was not on his side in the increasingly bitter campaign over the EU referendum.

The Prime Minister said: Of course it's frustrating, and I'm sorry Boris isn't on the In side. Because, as he said before, he's never been an Outer. I don't like having senior colleagues on different sides of the argument ... I didn't want that, but it is a subject of sufficient importance there was always going to be some of that.

I'll leave it to Boris to explain what he's doing; he can explain that himself. I don't have to.

As the war of words heightened, Tory former PM Sir John Major said the Leave side had "knowingly told untruths about the cost of Europe  they have promised negotiating gains that cannot and will not be delivered".

They have raised phantom fears that cannot be justified, puffing up their case with false statistics, unlikely scenarios and downright untruths. To mislead the British nation in this fashion, when its very future is at stake, is unforgivable, Mr Major wrote in the Mail on Sunday.
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A former coalition business minister has called into question Brexit campaign claims that EU directives prevented Britain from offering more time off work for new mothers and fathers.

After Boris Johnson was criticised for claiming the EU limited the number of bananas in bunches sold in the UK, Steve Hilton has now suggested the EU blocked attempts by the Government to extend paternity and maternity leave.

David Camerons former strategy guru, who has come out strongly in favour of Vote Leave, was defending himself against accusations the campaign wants to bring down social Europe, including the right to paid holiday and maternity leave.

He said his aim was totally [the] opposite, adding: In government I wanted to EXTEND parental leave but BLOCKED by EU.

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Jo Swinson, a former business minister whose portfolio in the Coalition included women and equalities issues, told The Independent there was no conceivable universe in which the EU could prevent Britain from offering workers extra parental leave.

And in a damning indictment of former colleagues in government who appeared to have changed their tune in the run-up to the EU referendum, Ms Swinson accused the likes of Boris Johnson of pursuing personal ambition above the best interests of the country.

Ms Swinson said that far from campaigning for more time off for new mothers and fathers, the Conservatives actually fought tooth and nail against a Liberal Democrat initiative to extend parental leave.

She said her party, led by Nick Clegg, had wanted to follow a successful Scandinavian trial which saw men take up a fairer portion of paternal leave if a greater number of weeks were offered to the couple as a whole.

Maybe he (Mr Hilton) was negotiating on his side and it was blocked by his Conservative colleagues, she said.

But in my time, it was very much the Conservatives who were fighting tooth and nail our attempts to make shared parental leave a success.

The way EU directives work is that they set out a minimum number of weeks; if we wanted to offer more we would be able to, she added.

I was minister from 2012 and parental leave was in my portfolio. I do not understand in what conceivable universe it could be true that the EU blocked plans here.

Ms Swinson was a coalition minister for three years from September 2012, some months after Mr Hilton left Downing Street to work as a visiting lecturer in California, and as such did not have any personal dealings with the then-Tory special advisor.

Mr Hilton was not immediately available to explain his comments further when contacted by The Independent.

But comments like his and Mr Johnsons, Ms Swinson suggested, showed how uninspiring the tone of the EU debate has become.

We desperately need to hear more about the positive case for Britain being a strong member of the EU, she said. Yet as it is again in todays papers, the issue is reduced to a squabble in the Tory party and the fight for Tory leadership.

The Conservatives should recognise that there is a greater national interest at stake here, and that this is about the future of the country.

Mr Hilton entered the EU debate last week with the claim that his former boss Mr Cameron was a closet Brexiteer, an accusation the Prime Minister has described as nonsense.

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.

Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Hiltons former colleague and fellow Downing Street spin doctor Andy Coulson described the intervention as a bit below the belt.

The Prime Minister never said anything of the sort during my time working with him, and that was at a time when it would have been far less politically toxic for him to have expressed such a view, Mr Coulson said.

Ms Swinson, who after leaving government founded a consultancy to push for gender equality in the workplace, said she welcomed genuine contributions to the EU debate.

I have respect for people who have been anti-EU their entire time in politics who are now making that case rationally, and you think Fair enough, that is probably what they really think.

But you also have people who it looks like are doing it for their own political ambitions. It is actually entirely un-statesmanlike for someone who inspires to lead the country to do that.

Apart from anything else, this is supposed to be about what is best for Britain going forwards, and it is very disappointing to see the way Boris has conducted himself, she said.
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London Mayor Sadiq Khan is to put his differences with David Cameron aside and campaign to keep Britain in the European Union alongside the Prime Minister.

It comes just weeks after Labour MPs shouted Mr Cameron down as racist in the Commons for his attacks on the winner of the race for City Hall. The unlikely political allies will jointly launch a Britain Stronger In Europe battle bus, despite Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn refusing to engage in joint appearances with Mr Cameron.

Speaking on ITVs Peston on Sunday, Mr Khan said: Is it in London's interest for me to hold grudges? Is it in London's interests for the mayor of London to be at permanent war with the Conservative prime minister?

We're never going to be best friends, but what is important is that the mayor of London argues the case for London and for Londoners to remain in the European Union. This debate is far more important than David Cameron or me. It's about our city's future and country's future, he added.

The Conservative election tactics during the mayoral race  and their candidate Zac Goldsmith  have been condemned by senior party members for harming community relations after Mr Khan swept to victory in early May.

 Nastiest moments in the London mayoral election

Sayeeda Warsi, the former co-chairwoman of the Tory party, said the campaign was appalling while Andrew Boff, the partys leader on the Greater London Assembly launched a devastating attack on the way the campaign was run. He said it had done real damage and blown up bridges the Tories had built with Muslim communities.

Former Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman, and ex Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell, have appeared with the Prime Minister, but head of the party's Remain push, and former home secretary, Alan Johnson, has joined Mr Corbyn in refusing to be seen campaigning with Mr Cameron.

Mr Khan also had warm words for Chancellor George Osborne, saying: "George Osborne, from the meetings I've had with him, and the conversations we've had, understands why it's in the country's interests for London to do well.

Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Show all 5 1 /5 Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Tackle the housing crisis Khans key policy is an ambitious target to make 50 per cent of all new homes being genuinely affordable, and improving conditions for people renting Getty Images Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Freeze transport fares Khan says he will freeze London transport fares for four years and introduce a one-hour bus Hopper ticket, paid for by making TfL more efficient and exploring new revenue-raising opportunities. He claims Londoners wont pay a penny more for their travel in 2020 than they do today Getty Images Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Make London safer Resore neighbourhood policing, tackle gangs and knife crime, and a new plan to tackle the spread of extremism, and a review of the resourcing of our fire service Getty Images Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Restore London's air quality Pedestrianise Oxford Street and prioritise measures to improve Londons air quality Getty Images Sadiq Khan's 5 most significant policies Make cycling and walking safer More segregated cycle routes with a promise to spend money improving dangerous junctions Getty Images

"He cares about devolving power away from Whitehall, and to give him credit he's given more power to SNP Scotland, more power to Labour Wales, more power to a Labour Greater Manchester and I believe genuinely he'll give more power to London as well."
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The families of military personnel killed during the Iraq war are planning to use the results of the Chilcot inquiry to sue Tony Blair, former minister and generals.

The Iraq Families Action Group, which was set up to seek justice for the 179 soldiers killed in the eight-year war, is looking to bring lawsuits against former officials for unlimited damages.

The Iraq Inquiry, chaired by Sir John Chilcot, began hearings in November 2009 and will release its final report on 6 July after much criticism over the time and expense taken.

Roger Bacon, whose son Matthew died in 2005 when his Snatch Land Rover was hit by a roadside bomb, said the group will look to use the inquiry's report to take legal action over alleged failure to provide effective equipment to the troops.

He told The Times: We want to see if it [the inquiry] will point some legal liability at anyone. In the back of our minds from the beginning has been the idea that, if appropriate, we would carry things forward.

Theres the legality of going to war and issues with equipment. For me, the issue is the duty of care to the soldiers...and for us in particular that refers to the Snatch Land Rover.

"Why did they get it so wrong? To me that makes them culpable.

The families are most likely to accuse ministers and officials of misfeasance in public office or breaching their duty of care, legal experts claim.

Misfeasance of public office is a charge dating back to 1703 which means the misuse or abuse of power while in public office.

The Iraq War: A timeline Show all 16 1 /16 The Iraq War: A timeline The Iraq War: A timeline 11 September 2001 Terrorists belonging to al-Qaeda use hijacked aeroplanes to kill 2,996 people in attacks on the east coast of the US. AP The Iraq War: A timeline 12 September 2001 Tony Blair promises George W Bush that the UK will support the US, whatever the President decides to do. AFP/Getty Images The Iraq War: A timeline 25 March 2002 Jack Straw, Foreign Secretary, warns Blair that invading Iraq would be legally dubious. Getty Images The Iraq War: A timeline June 2002 Tony Blair asks defence officials to outline options for UK participation in military action against Iraq. afp/getty images The Iraq War: A timeline 24 September 2002 The government publishes a dossier about the threat from Iraqs weapons of mass destruction. A foreword by Tony Blair states that Saddam Husseins military planning allows for some of the WMD to be ready within 45 minutes of an order to use them. It is subsequently alleged that this dossier was sexed up for political reasons. Getty The Iraq War: A timeline 2 October 2002 Congress authorises President Bush to use military force against Iraq. Getty The Iraq War: A timeline 8 November 2002 UN Security Council passes resolution 1441, insisting that weapons inspectors be allowed back into Iraq and calling on the regime to give up its WMD or face the consequences. Simon Walker/AP The Iraq War: A timeline 18 July 2003 David Kelly, an expert in biological warfare, is found dead after being named as the source of quotations used by the BBCs Andrew Gilligan to suggest that the dossier of September 2002 had been sexed up. Lord Hutton is appointed to chair a judicial inquiry into his death. GETTY IMAGES The Iraq War: A timeline 13 December 2003 Saddam Hussein is captured near Tikrit, after nine months in hiding. REUTERS The Iraq War: A timeline 2 March 2004 Bombings in Baghdad and Karbala kill nearly 200 people: the worst attacks since the fall of Saddam. Getty Images The Iraq War: A timeline 14 September 2005 Bombs in Baghdad kill 160 people and injure more than 500. EPA The Iraq War: A timeline 30 December 2005 Saddam Hussein is executed. Getty Images The Iraq War: A timeline 28 May 2009 The last British combat troops leave Iraq. Getty Images The Iraq War: A timeline 24 November 2009 The Chilcot inquiry holds its first public hearing. Getty The Iraq War: A timeline 2 February 2011 The Chilcot inquiry holds its final public hearing. AFP/Getty Images The Iraq War: A timeline 21 January 2015 Sir John Chilcot confirms that his report will not be published before the general election in May 2015. Getty Images

Solicitor Matthew Jury, from McCue & Partners, who is representing 29 of the families in the group, said he will be scrutinising the report once it is published.

He said: "Before the report is published, it would be premature to say anything other than...the families will decide on any appropriate action at the proper time.

"After all this time and in matters of such rare gravity, unrushed and full examination will be essential for the sake of the families, the armed forces and for the British public itself."

Mr Blair has hinted he could dispute the report's findings.

 Blair hints he could reject the findings of the Chilcot inquiry

Asked on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show whether he would accept the report's conclusions, the former Prime Minister responded: Well its hard to say that when I havent seen it.

"Well, of course, you dont see the report until it comes out so lets wait for that point but I think when you go back and look at what was said I dont think anyone can seriously dispute I was making it clear what my position was.

"By the way, the thing that will be important when it does happen is that we then have then a full debate and I look forward to participating in that. Make no mistake about that."
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Former president of Chad Hissene Habre has been found guilty of crimes against humanity, rape and sexual slavery.

Habre has been sentenced to life in prison by an African Union-backed court in Senegal.

The Special African Chamber found him to be directly responsible for the executions that took place while he was president from 1982 to 1990.

Judge Gberdao Gustave Kam delivered the verdict and sentence Monday in a packed courtroom.

 Chadian despot Hissene Habre's trial to begin in Senegal

The landmark trial is the first in which the courts of one country are prosecuting the former ruler of another for human rights crimes.

More than 90 witnesses came face-to-face with Habre, accusing him of war crimes.

The trial previously descended into chaos after the former president was dragged from court shouting that the trial was a "farce".

"This is not a trial, this is a masquerade!" the dictator shouted as he was taken away by prison guards before the trial began without him.

"There is no trial. There are no lawyers. This is a false trial. Down with colonialism."

A file photo taken on January 17, 1987 shows then Chadian President Hissen Habre in N'Djamena. (DOMINIQUE FAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

In 1992, the Chadian Truth Commission accused Habre's government of systematic torture, saying 40,000 people had died during his rule and placing particular blame on his political police force.

Habre was first indicted by a Senegalese judge in 2000, but legal twists and turns over a decade saw the case go to Belgium and then finally back to Senegal after unwavering pursuit by the survivors and their supporters.

The verdict marks the end of a 16-year battle by victims and rights campaigners to bring him to justice in Senegal, where he fled after being toppled in a 1990 coup.

A court in Chad sentenced him to death in absentia for crimes against humanity in 2013.

He has been given 15 days to appeal.

Additional reporting by agencies
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The refusal of the Foreign Office to relax its travel advice for Tunisia almost one year after 30 Britons were killed is allowing the terrorists to believe they are on the winning side, the countrys UK-based tourism officials have said.

The attack, on June 26 last year, happened when gunman Seifeddine Rezgui opened fire in the coastal resort of Port El Kantaoui and killed 38 people. Many more suffered gunshot wounds and other serious injuries after Rezgui fired at tourists on a beach before entering the Hotel Riu Imperial Marhaba to continue the bloodshed.

Isis claimed responsibility for the the atrocity and it resulted in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advising against all but essential travel to the North African country.

But the incident has also deeply affected Tunisias tourism industry: In 2014 around 440,000 Britons visited the country, according to the Office for National Statistics. Since the attack near Sousse, however, 192 hotels  a third of Tunisias total  have closed, officials said.

Tarek Aouadi, director of the Tunisian National Tourist Office (TNTO) in the UK, fought back tears as he insisted it was wrong for his home country to be punished as a result of the attack. He told the Press Association: "Tunisia shouldn't be penalised because very hurtful, criminal people wanted to damage its economy.

UK tour operators stopped selling holidays to Tunisia following the Foreign Office advice, which warns that "further attacks remain highly likely". Mr Aouadi said no other country has issued the same advice as the UK.

Speaking to The Independent a Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesperson insisted the safety of British nationals is our main concern. They added: We know our travel advice can have a knock-on effect on the local economy and political considerations, but we dont let this influence the advice we give.

We know our travel advice can have a knock-on effect on the local economy and political considerations, but we dont let this influence the advice we give" <p>FCO spokesperson</p>

We are working closely with the Tunisians to understand the terrorist threat better and to help them to strengthen measures to protect tourists further. Our travel advice is under constant review and we will change it as soon as the security situation permits.

Mr Aouadi said Tunisia does understand that "security comes first", but added: "What we are after is to soften this ban a little bit while working on achieving the best possible situation as far as security is concerned.

In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Show all 32 1 /32 In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The coffin of Denis Thwaites is carried from an RAF C-17, which repatriated the bodies of eight British nationals killed in the Tunisia terror attack, at RAF Brize Norton near Oxford in Britain In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The coffin of John Stollery is carried from an RAF C-17, which repatriated the bodies of eight British nationals killed in the Tunisia terror attack, at RAF Brize Norton near Oxford in Britain In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The coffin of Elaine Thwaites, one of the victims of the terrorist attack, is taken from the RAF C-17 aircraft at RAF Brize Norton in Tunisia In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Hearses carrying the victim's of last Friday's terrorist attack arrive at Tunis Airport Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia An RAF C17 transport aircraft arrives at RAF Brize Norton Airport in Oxfordshire carrying the bodies of 8 British people killed in the Tunisia gun attack Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Ambulances carrying the victim's of the terrorist attack arrive at Tunis Airport Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Armed police continue to patrol Marhaba beach in Sousse Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia National guard members patrol at the beach near the Imperiale Marhaba hotel, which was attacked by a gunman in Sousse In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Military personnel attending to injured British nationals on board an RAF C-17 aircraft en route back to the United Kingdom, in Tunisia In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Military personnel attending to injured British nationals on board an RAF C-17 aircraft en route back to the United Kingdom, in Tunisia In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Holidaymakers lay flowers on Marhaba beach Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Tourists pay tribute to the victims of the Sousse attack at a makeshift memorial on the beach at the Imperial Marhaba resort Reuters In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The Home Secretary Theresa May pays her respects with her counterparts, Frances Bernard Cazeneuve, left, Germanys Thomas de Maiziere, second left, and Tunisias Najem Gharsalli, in Sousse Reuters In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Two tourists pay respects to victims of IS attack on beach in Sousse, Tunisia Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP/Getty In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Many people remain unaccounted for and many of their relatives have taken to social media in the hope of obtaining information about those who are still missing (Getty) Getty In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia A boy holds a Tunisian flag at the spot on the beach where the attack took place Reuters In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia A man kisses a Tunisian flag at the site of a shooting attack on the beach in front of the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Port el Kantaoui, on the outskirts of Sousse In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The front of the Marhaba hotel Getty In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Tunisian Ennahdha party member and former minister Houcine Jazir speaks with Belgium survivor couple Corman (R) and Claude Pesser after a mass shooting in the resort town of Sousse In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The bloodstained belongings of a tourist are seen on the sand in the resort town of Sousse AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia A broken glass window of the Imperiale Marhaba hotel is seen after a gunman opened fire at the beachside hotel in Sousse Reuters In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Blood stains cover the ground at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse, Tunisia after mass shooting Fethi Belais/AFP/Getty In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Policemen patrolling the beach in front of the Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse where tributes have been laid to the dead AFP/Getty In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia People stand in silence next to flowers during a gathering at the scene of the attack in Sousse, Tunisia Getty In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Messages and flowers are left on Marhaba beach where 38 people were killed in a terrorist attack in Souuse Getty Images In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Police officers control the crowd while surrounding a man suspected to be involved in opening fire on a beachside hotel in Sousse, Tunisia In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Medics help an injured man in Sousse In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia A body lies on a street in Sousse In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia Members of the Tunisian security forces in an armoured vehicle patrol a street in Sousse In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia The beach where the massacre took place Lionel Tunisiano/Twitter In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia A general view of the deserted pool and deck chairs at the Imperial Marhaba Hotel EPA In pictures: Tunisia hotel attack Tunisia A woman looks toward a glass door shattered by a bullet at Imperial Marhaba Hotel EPA

"It's not a day job, it's not an overnight job, it's going to take timeBut at least if the FCO soften this ban it will give a glimpse of hope to that economy, to that country."

Mr Aouadi said the incident was "a big wake-up call" for Tunisia, and since then security has been "visibly" upgraded including more checks on people entering hotels, greater use of weapons scanners and CCTV cameras.

Asked whether the country was now safe for British visitors, he replied: "The Tunisian authorities are implementing the utmost of what they can do towards security within the available means of that tiny country.

"Saying 100 per cent safe would be a lie (as for) anywhere in the world."
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An overturned blue truck, lying on a bank next to gushing floodwater, was the last sign of Darren Charles Mitchell.

The 21-year-old National Guardsman from Navasota reportedly called his family before vanishing amid heavy rain and flooding in Texas.

He rang his brother, Ro Mitchell, to say he was trapped but had made it outside of the truck.

Shortly afterwards, he posted a picture on Facebook showing the floodwater rising outside of his truck windows.

He wrote: And all I wanted to do was go home.

One witness, Lashandoe Smith, told CBS News that she watched as Mr Mitchell climbed in and out of his truck, apparently undecided, and about 10 minutes after he finally got back in, the car flipped upside down into the water.

(Darren Mitchell / Facebook (Darren Mitchell / Facebook)

His body was discovered in Kuykendall Creek on Sunday morning.

Mr Mitchells death is the latest in a growing line of fatalities in the state as at least six people were killed over the weekend and authorities search for three more, two of whom are children.

Texans are braced for more extreme weather as strong winds, large hail and possible tornadoes have been forecast for Texas this week.

Large hail and damaging wind gusts are the biggest concerns, The Weather Channel reported, adding that isolated tornadoes can't be ruled out.

Many people were drowned by quickly rising waters or when they found themselves trapped in their cars. In the past week alone, six people have been found dead.

(AP (AP)

Lela Holland, 64, was drowned when floodwaters flooded her home in Washington.

Jimmy Wayne Schaeffer, 49, from Brenham, drove his truck into high waters and was swept away. The town of Brenham was hammered with more than 19 inches of rain in 48 hours - more than Los Angeles usually gets in a year.

Pyarali Rajebhi Umatiya, 59, was found dead in Yegua Creek on Saturday, about 60 miles west of Houston.

Florida Molima, 23, also drowned in her car, while her husband, a cousin and another passenger survived.

One more man who drowned is being identified.

Flash flooding is a real risk as creeks can suddenly burst their banks within less than an hour.

 TV reporter saves man from Houston floods during live report

Texas received $6.8 million in emergency funding and launched a new website to gather updates from hundreds of existing river gauges across the state, and 30 more will be installed over the next few months, some updating every 15 minutes.

Some gauges will also have cameras for viewers to watch the rising waters.

Evacuations across the state continue. Around 2,600 inmates from two prisons along the Brazos River in Fort Bend County near Houston were evacuated by bus over the weekend and sent to other prisons, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Authorities are still searching for the missing. They include a 10-year-old boy who slipped into the Brazos River after he had been fishing with some friends.

In Wichita, the search is ongoing for 11-year-old Devon Cooley who was swept away by water.

A 37-year-old man called Stephen Espedal is also reported missing after he was swept out to sea while trying to rescue a woman.

The rain stopped on Friday but much of the south-eastern areas remain clogged with water.

Travelers faced more misery over the weekend. At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, 24 flights were channeled and 104 delayed on Sunday, according to tracking website FlightAware.

The Houston area suffered its wettest April on record in 2016 and was declared a disaster zone with almost 14 inches of rain. A total of eight people were killed and around 1,000 homes were flooded.

The previous record was almost 11 inches of rain in April 1976.
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A man most wanted by the FBI who murdered his pregnant girlfriend in front of family and friends has been arrested.

Philip Policarpio, 39, was detained when he tried to enter the US from Mexico, according to authorities.

The drug-user and convicted felon was placed on the FBIs top 10 most wanted fugitive list on 19 May.

The month before he viciously punched his girlfriend, who was 17 weeks pregnant at the time, while he held a gun in his other hand, and then he shot her in the forehead.

The murder of 32-year-old Lauren Olguin by the 180-pound man had taken place following an argument in front of a gathering of at least half a dozen friends and associates in East Hollywood, according to the FBI.

Authorities had asked members of the public for information and promised a reward of $100,000.

They said Mr Policarpio has a tattoo on his chest that reads: Only God Can Judge Me, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Police Department.

At the time of the murder of his girlfriend on 12 April, he was already on parole from a conviction in 2001.

His pattern is one of violence, said Special Agent Scott Garriola, a member of the FBIs Los Angeles Fugitives Task Force, and he is always armed. He is the definition of a continuing threat to the community.

According to Ms Olguins mother, Jerilyn Olguin, Mr Policarpio had already spent 17 years in prison for shooting another person in the head.

She told NBC that her daughter got into drugs after she graduated from a Catholic high school and they had not seen each other since 2011.

Mr Policarpio was taken into custody by US Customs and Border Protection agents at the San Isidro Port of Entry as he was crossing into the US from Tijuana.

The FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list was created in 1950. Mr Policarpio was the 508th person to be put on that list.
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A multi-million dollar mansion that specified no parties on its Airbnb listing has become a crime scene after a party thrown by tenants got out of control.

33-year-old Keivan Heath was fatally shot at the Massachusetts home, which the homeowner had rented out for the Memorial Day weekend via a website called FlipKey.

The property is also listed on Airbnb and demands that renters do not have parties or events for groups of more than 15 people.

Homeowner Alex Styller, 49, told CBS News that he is still in shock.

He said he had agreed to rent his home over the long weekend about three months ago to a small group of people for what he thought was a small college reunion.

Mr Styller said the group seemed very nice, very polite, very responsive.

He told the Boston Globe that his estate agent had informed him of the shooting on Sunday morning.

Police informed Mr Styller that the renters did not appear to know the victim, and that between 60 and 100 people were at the party.

The home, worth $3.35 million, is listed for $1400 per night for a maximum of 11 guests. It has six bedrooms, a heated swimming pool and three acres of private land.

The house was a big mess from the party with a bullet hole in the kitchen, said Mr Styller.

FlipKey is part of travel website TripAdvisor. The guests arranged to have the house professionally cleaned and said they were very sorry for what had happened.

Despite the incident and that the police has not made any arrests, Mr Styller said he would continue to rent out his home on the websites.

I just continue to believe that most of the people are great, wonderful, trustworthy, responsible, reliable people and individuals, he said.

On Airbnb, the house says guests will have  total privacy and also features a first aid kit.
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A technology malfunction meant thousands of travelers over the long weekend were left in massive queues and were given hand-written boarding cards.

The Verizon internet disruption, which took place at the British Airways-operated Terminal 7 at John F Kennedy International Airport, resulted in an estimated 1,500 people queueing outside the airport doors and back up to the elevated roadway that leads to the terminal.

According to Neal Buccino, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, the disruption began around 4 pm on Sunday.

Recommended Read more EasyJet to turn away late arriving travellers from flights

Mr Buccino said the server that provided wireless internet and computer services for the terminal had some kind of problem, as reported by the New York Times.

Although operated by British Airways, Port Authority police were sent to the airport to manage the crowds, as passengers from other airlines like Qantas, Iberia and Cathay Pacific were also delayed.

Frustrated economy passengers described Terminal 7 as terminally awful and cramped and unsafe.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused to our customers last night, as a result of a system outage at JFK airport in New York, British Airways said in a statement. British Airways colleagues worked to assist customers during the outage to ensure all flights departed.

Terminal 7 is now reportedly running as normal.

Chaos over the Memorial Weekend in the US, which runs in parallel as the UK bank holiday, comes as the Transport Security Administration is dealing with public backlash over increasing security-screening bottlenecks, massive lines and long delays across the country.

Thousands of Verizon customers have received internet services disruption across the East Coast over the last seven weeks as the telecoms giant saw around 39,000 workers walk out on strike.
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The Libertarian Party convention saw an unexpected striptease after a candidate for the party chair began dancing and stripping down to a thong during his two minute speech.

The candidate began his routine by telling members of the convention at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida he thought the event could use a little fun.

Some delegates at the Libertarian National Convention initially clapped and danced along, but the crowd became quiet once he began to remove his suit, The Washington Times reports.

The striptease appeared to be the result of a dare with the man heard saying, Im sorry, that was a dare, after finishing the dance, adding that he would immediately pull out of the race.

Delegates at the event seem unimpressed by the striptease with the Wall Street Journals Byron Tau overhearing one member of the convention saying: At a time when we need to be taken seriously.

It remains unclear who the man is, however pictures and video footage of his risque act have been circulating on social media.

The Libertarian Party nominated former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson as its presidential candidate on Sunday.

Mr Johnson, 63, won the nomination on the second ballot at the party's convention, defeating Austin Petersen, the founder of The Libertarian Republic magazine, and anti-computer virus company founder John McAfee.

The delegates selected former Massachusetts Governor William Weld to be his vice presidential running mate.

 Pie attack on politician

Recommended Read more Libertarian Party selects Gary Johnson as its presidential candidate

The party's nominee in 2012, Mr Johnson told the delegates during his acceptance speech that his job will be to get the Libertarian platform before the voters at a level the party has not seen.

"I am fiscally conservative in spades and I am socially liberal in spades," said Mr Johnson.

"I would cut back on military interventions that have the unintended consequence of making us less safe in the world."

Additional reporting by Associated Press
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The search has resumed for a seven-year-old boy who was left alone in the mountains as a punishment by his parents.

Yamato Tanooka is being sought for the third day running by about 130 rescue workers in Nanae, an area on the southern tip of Japan's northern-most island, Hokkaido.

His parents have admitted they drove about a third of a mile away from their son to punish him after he threw stones at nearby cars during a day at the park.

When they returned to the area, which is also a habitat for wild bears, the boy was no longer there.

The parents left the boy in the mountains as punishment, a police spokesman told the Japan Times.

They said they went back to the site immediately but the boy was no longer there.

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. 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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. 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The boy's 44-year-old-father, Takayki, had originally told the police their son had disappeared while they were picking wild vegetables but an hour later admitted they had made him get out of the car "as discipline".

The father told a TV Asahi reporter he did not dare admit the truth while requesting a search.

Kyodo News say police are investigating whether the case is subject to child abandonment.
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A teenager was kidnapped, gang-raped and then strangled to death, before her body was hung from a tree to make it appear like suicide.

The 15-year-old was kidnapped by three men from Nanpara, in Uttar Pradesh, India, NDTV reports.

Her body was found the next morning hanging from a tree by her scarf in the Nanpara area.

India protests against sexual violence Show all 20 1 /20 India protests against sexual violence India protests against sexual violence April 2015 School girls wear black bands on their faces during a protest rally against the rape case of a 16-year-old girl at Dhupguri town in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal Reuters India protests against sexual violence March 2015 Students of Convent of Jesus and Mary School participate in a protest against the alleged gang rape of a nun in her 70s AP India protests against sexual violence March 2015 Official figures for the number of women raped in India are often disputed by Women's Rights experts who claim the numbers are far higher SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images India protests against sexual violence March 2015 Women protest after the horrific rape and murder of Jyoti Singh in India BBC India protests against sexual violence June 2014 Women in India protest against rape and other attacks on women and girls in the country AP India protests against sexual violence June 2014 Indian activists from the Social Unity Center of India (SUCI) shout slogans against the state government in protest against the gang rape and murder of two girls in the district of Badaun in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and recent rapes in the eastern state of West Bengal, in Kolkata AFP/Getty India protests against sexual violence June 2014 Supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were protesting against the rape and hanging of two girls Reuters India protests against sexual violence May 2014 Members of Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union shout slogans during a protest against a gang rape of two teenage girls in Katra village, outside the Uttar Pradesh state house, in New Delhi. A top government official said the northern Uttar Pradesh state has sacked two police officers who failed to respond to a complaint by the father of the two teenage girls who went missing and were later found gang raped and killed. The placard at right reads, "Punish the culprits of gang-rape and murder of two Dalit girls" AP Photo/Manish Swarup India protests against sexual violence January 2014 Student protesters outside a Suri hospital where a rape victim is being treated Andrew Buncombe India protests against sexual violence January 2014 West Bengal Women's Forum activists walk a protest rally against a rape case in Calcutta, eastern India. A young girl was gang-raped on October 25 and afterwards repeatedly threatened by the accused, following which the disturbed girl set herself on fire December 23. She was admitted to the hospital with 40 percent burns and finally succumbed to her burn injuries on 31 December EPA India protests against sexual violence August 2013 Republican Party of India supporters protest in Mumbai against the rape of a female photographer Reuters India protests against sexual violence May 2013 Indian demonstrators shout slogans at the police during a protest calling for better safety for women AFP/Getty Images India protests against sexual violence April 2013 An Indian woman holds a poster as she protests with others against how Indian authorities handle sex crimes near the Parliament in New Delhi, after a second suspect was arrested in the rape of a 5-year-old girl. Child rights activists say the rape of the girl is just the latest case in which Indian police failed to take urgent action on a report of a missing child. Three days after the attack, the girl was found alone in locked room in the same New Delhi building where her family lives AP India protests against sexual violence March 2013 Indians protests against all-too-common gang-rapes in their country Getty Images India protests against sexual violence January 2013 Indian students of various organisations hold placards as they shout slogans during a demonstration in Hyderabad Getty Images India protests against sexual violence January 2013 A protester chants slogans as she braces herself against the spray fired from police water canons during a protest against the Indian government's reaction to recent rape incidents in India, in front of India Gate on December 23, 2012 in New Delhi Getty Images India protests against sexual violence January 2013 Indian children paint messages during a gathering to mourn the death of the 23-year old rape victim. Her statement was used in the trial AP India protests against sexual violence January 2013 Indians hold a candlelight vigil in Delhi in memory of a gang-rape victim. Five men have been charged with murder AP India protests against sexual violence December 2012 Indian protesters are escorted by police as they demonstrate against the brutal gang-rape of a woman AP India protests against sexual violence December 2012 Indian protesters destroy a police van during a violent demonstration near the India Gate against a gang rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus AP

Two men have been arrested from the same village and a manhunt has been launched to find the third.

One of the accused allegedly asked the girl to meet him before two other men arrived and attacked her.

Police Superintendent Salik Ram Verma told NDTV a post-mortem had confirmed the girl was raped and strangled.

The girl's father also said the three accused had tried to kidnap her earlier in the week.

Four constables have been suspended for failing in their duties after an initial lack of action sparked outrage, the New Indian Express reports.

 India Uber taxi driver arrested after rape allegation

A spate of recent attacks in India has renewed public anger over the country's inability to combat violence against women and girls.

In a similar case last month, the body of a 16-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree after she was gang-raped by three men in Andhra Pradesh state.

In March, a 28-year-old woman was raped on a bus in Utter Pradesh by two men, while her daughter hid in the corner.

Many drew parellels with the rape of Jyoti Singh, the 23-year-old medical student who died of her injuries after a gang-rape on a bus in Delhi.
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The husband of an Australian university lecturer who died climbing Mount Everest has said he blames [himself] after leaving her behind to press on to the summit.

Maria Strydom, 34, was forced to turn back just 15 minutes from the top of Everest when she fell ill with altitude sickness. On her way back down the mountain she started struggling to speak or walk before she collapsed and could not be revived.

She died in the arms of her husband, Robert Gropel, who told Australias Seven Network he still cant look at any pictures of her because it breaks my heart.

I asked, Do you mind if I go on, and she said, Yes, you go on, Ill wait for you here, said Mr Gropel, who himself suffered attitude sickness and later had to be airlifted to Kathmandu. From that position the summit didnt look that far, 15 minutes away.

When I made it to the summit of Everest it wasnt special to me, because I didnt have her there, he said.

I just ran up and down and it didnt mean anything to me.

Mr Gropel said his thought processes were hampered by his own sickness when he returned to Ms Strydom after reaching the summit.

It took a while for me to register that I had medication, and so as soon as I realised I gave her a dexamethasone injection, he said.

Sherpas brought more oxygen and, with that and the medication, Ms Strydoms condition began to improve. But it did not last, and she died at an altitude of around 8,000 metres last Saturday.

Mr Gropel said: Im her husband, its my job to protect my wife and get her home and its just natural for me to blame myself.

Mr Gropel, a vet, and his wife were both vegans and determined to climb the worlds highest peaks to prove that vegans can do anything and more, Ms Strydom said in March.

Everest officials said on Friday that the body of an Indian climber had been found above the South Col (7,900 metres), bringing the death toll since the mountain was re-opened this spring to four.

Everest has been climbed by more than 7,300 people since 1953 when Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary made their pioneering ascent. In that time and including this weeks deaths, at least 283 people have died trying to make the expedition.
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Police have arrested a man on suspicion of entering a secure area at Cologne airport, sparking a security alert which prompted the evacuation of a terminal and the suspension of flights.

Terminal 1 at Cologne Bonn Airport was cleared of passengers after a "suspicious person" reportedly passed through a passcode-protected door next to a supermarket.

A police spokeswoman told the Germany news agency DPA all flights had been stopped until the security alert could be resolved.

But a statement from the airport later said that while five flights had been held on the tarmac, planes continued to take off and land at Terminal 2.

Recommended Read more Cologne airport terminal evacuated due to security breach

The main terminal was evacuated, police said, so that all those who had passed through security could be checked again.

And speaking to the German edition of The Local, an airport spokeswoman said: "A person illegally entered the secure area. Federal police are evacuating Terminal 1, and all flights from that terminal have been stopped."

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German media desribed the person who sparked the alert as a man around 1.8 metres (5ft 11in) tall wearing red trousers.

The departures board at Cologne showed delays, and the head of communiations at Deutsche Telekom, Philipp Schindera, tweeted that his plane was stuck on the tarmac.

 Brussels airport reopens

Security has been a concern at Cologne Bonn Airport recently, most notably when a terminal was evacuated because a woman had walked through security without being checked.

It later emerged that the woman had been a plain-clothes police officer who had pushed her way through without submitting to security checks.
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Danish politicians are planning to limit the number of the Queen's grandchildren who will receive an annual salary from the state.

Queen Margrethe II has eight grandchildren with politicians stating that "simple mathematics" would require them to look again who is eligible for funding.

There has been cross-party that Crown Prince Frederik's son, Prince Christian, will continue to receive the state-funded salary as he is second-in-line to the throne.

Prince Christian's three younger siblings and the four children of the Queen's second son, Prince Joachim, are thought to lose their eligibility.

A MP for the ruling Venstre party, Jan E. Jrgensen, told Politiken: "Simple mathematics dictate that there needs to be some sort of limit.

"Otherwise within a few generations there will be several hundred princes and princesses who need an annual salary."

Queen Margrethe (3rd L), Prince Henrik (5th L), Crown Prince Frederik (L) and Crown Princess Mary (6th R) and their children, Prince Christian (4th L), Princess Isabella (2nd L), Prince Vincent (6th L) and Princess Josephine (5th R). Also pictured: Princess Alexandra (4th R) of Berleburg and Count Jefferson (3rd R) with their children Countess Ingrid (Reuters)

Critics in the Folketing (Danish Parliament) have called for the heir to the throne, Crown Prince Frederik, to share his own salary with his children instead of the government paying them their own stipend.

Tax spokesman for the Liberal Alliance party, Ole Birk Olesen said: "I'd rather go back to the old system, so that only the Crown Prince Frederik's first-born, who are entitled to annuities.

The 10 most prosperous countries in the world Show all 10 1 /10 The 10 most prosperous countries in the world The 10 most prosperous countries in the world 10. Ireland The 10 most prosperous countries in the world 9. Finland The 10 most prosperous countries in the world 8. Netherlands The 10 most prosperous countries in the world 7. Australia The 10 most prosperous countries in the world 6. Canada The 10 most prosperous countries in the world 5. Sweden The 10 most prosperous countries in the world 4. New Zealand The 10 most prosperous countries in the world 3. Denmark The 10 most prosperous countries in the world 2. Switzerland The 10 most prosperous countries in the world 1. Norway 2008 Getty Images

"Government finances should only have the task of supporting one of his children, who will inherit the throne after him."

The Royal Family's spokespeople have declined to comment on which of the grandchildren they want to receive annuities.
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The German Vice Chancellor has condemned the current state of the TTIP trade deal with the United States, calling it "a bad deal".

Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel is the Economy Minister and the chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) - the junior coalition partner to Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU).

Mr Gabriel criticised Angela Merkel for repeatedly stating negotiations for the US-EU trade deal by the end of the year "under any circumstances".

He told German Newspaper group, RND: "It was wrong that, in the euphoria of [President Barack] Obama's visit to Germany, the Chancellor said that we will be able to conclude negotiations under any circumstances by the end of this year  and that she recently repeated that statement.

"The SPD will not to be part of a bad deal, I will never approve an agreement that retains [the right for the companies to appeal to] non-transparent private commercial courts."

German political commentators have suggested Mr Gabriel has been under pressure from the left-wing of the SDP to reject any involvement in the negotiations.

Mr Gabriel added: "If the Americans hold fast to this position, we don't need the free trade treaty. And TTIP will fail.

"TTIP in the form, in which it is negotiated now, will never lead to success...we need more fair trade instead of just more free trade."

Earlier in the month, Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt from the CSU criticised the Americans for hardly making "any serious concessions".

Mr Schmidt said the country would not stand for American compromises regarding the German automotive industry at the expense of German agriculture.

He said: "We won't sacrifice our high food safety standards in a barter trade for approval of European car blinkers."

 What is TTIP?

There has been opposition across the European Union with protests having taken place in Hanover during negotiations with the United States.

French President Francois Hollande has stated he would reject the current deal as they "oppose unregulated free trade" and as such the TTIP goes against France's "essential principles".

Despite David Cameron's denials, campaigners claim the TTIP could lead to selling off of the NHS by breaking down protections of public services.

Mr Cameron said: "There are plenty of reasons that people dont want to see trade expanded.

"I think they should be honest about it and say they dont like trade deals rather than using the red herring of the NHS to distract from a trade deal that could add tens of billions to our economy and generate jobs."
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said no Muslim family should practice contraception and urged women to have more children.

Speaking at an educational foundation in Istanbul on Monday, Mr Erdogan said: "I say this openly: We will increase our descendants, we will increase our population.

"Family planning, birth control, no Muslim family can practice such an understanding".

He added: "Whatever our Lord says, whatever our beloved Prophet says, we shall follow that path".

In his speech he said women had a duty as "well-educated future mothers" not to use birth control as it was contrary to Muslim traditions.

The outspoken President - who served as Prime Minister for 12 years before that - has previously attracted the ire of womens rights campaigners for calling on women to have at least three children and saying they were not equal to men.

The father of four called contraception "treason" when speaking at a wedding in 2014.

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. 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In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. 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. 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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. 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Although the country has a secular constitution, Mr Erdogans Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has been in power since 2002, has a strong Islamic tradition and the core of its support is typically found in the more conservative countryside.

The Turkish Statistical Institute says the countrys fertility rate was 2.14 children per woman in 2015 - which is just above the replacement level and one of the highest in Europe, the BBC reports.

But this rate is approximately half of what it was in 1980 as approximately one fifth of all married women now use birth control, according to a UN report.
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In what has been called Africas trial of the century, the former dictator of Chad has been found guilty in connection with a reign of terror involving rape, torture and mass murder.

Hissene Habre was once backed by Americas Cold War-era CIA, but in a landmark for African justice, a specially convened court has sentenced him to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, rape, sexual slavery and ordering killings.

The trial, the first time an African Union-backed court has tried a former ruler for human rights abuses, heard that Habre had presided over a regime where opponents were tortured using electric shocks and waterboarding, and women were kept as sexual slaves. The ex-dictator has also become the first former head of state to be convicted of personally raping someone.

One estimate suggested that under the direct control of Habre, Chads Directorate of Documentation and Security (DDS) killed at least 40,000 civilians  in a country of 7 million people  and tortured hundreds of thousands more.

Habre, 73, who had ruled Chad between 1982 and 1990, had protested his innocence and dismissed the legitimacy of the trial. But Judge Gberdao Gustave Kam delivered a guilty verdict at the Extraordinary African Chambers convened in the neighbouring country of Senegal.

Praising the victims of Habre who were instrumental in bringing the former dictator to justice, Reed Brody, legal counsel for Human Rights Watch, said: Today will be carved into history as the day that a band of unrelenting survivors brought their despot to justice.

For many years, he added, The common refrain was that they would never succeed. But they pressed forward. In a case which looked dead so many times, the victims made it clear that they would never go away.

The 26-year campaign to bring Habre to justice had led to him being described as Africas Pinochet.

While the arrest of the former Chilean dictator in London in 1998 had been a process led by the developed world in the form of a Spanish magistrate issuing an international arrest warrant, Habre was tried in Africa, with much of the campaign against him led by his African victims.

On the eve of Habre's trial in July last year, Mr Brody told The Independent: This is the case that shows it is possible for African victims to bring African dictators to justice in Africa. It doesnt show it will be easy. It doesnt show it will be quick. But it does show that dictators who commit atrocities will never be fully out of the reach of justice.

Mr Brody added that because of the Habre trial, he had been approached by the victims of other African dictators about the possibility of bringing them to trial.

The Habre case is also thought to have been the first in the world in which the courts of one country prosecute the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes.

The trial had begun with Habre having to be dragged into court by a policeman, kicking and screaming that the judges were valets of America. The accusation had a certain irony given that Habre had reportedly been propped up by the Reagan-era CIA, which viewed him as the quintessential desert warrior and a useful bulwark against Libyas Colonel Gaddafi.

When Habre eventually fell silent, he was forced to sit through weeks of testimony detailing what he had done to his own people.

The court heard how victims were tortured in an underground prison, suffering electric shocks, waterboarding and asphyxiation. Some said women were kept as sex slaves and others spoke of having spice rubbed into their genitals.

The trial also heard from members of forensic teams that had discovered mass graves, and a handwriting expert who identified Habres writing on police documents. A former DDS agent claimed the director of police had visited Habre every day with documents for the dictator to sign.

Among the witnesses for the prosecution was Souleymane Guengueng, an accountant who had vowed to bring Habre to justice after nearly dying in one of the dictators jails. After being released following the 1990 coup which saw General Idriss Deby seize power, Mr Guengueng started collecting testimony from his fellow former prisoners.

This proved a dangerous task, because despite the coup, many of Habres henchmen remained in positions of power in Chad. Mr Guengueng told The Independent that his car had been tailed and masked men had threatened him.

My friends told me I was mad, he said. But I couldnt stop.

Others involved in the trial took similar risks. Jacqueline Moudeina, the lawyer who represented victims, still has shrapnel in her leg from a 2001 grenade attack that was allegedly ordered by one of Habres former security chiefs, who was still a figure of authority in Chad despite the 1990 coup.

The Chadian victims were assisted by Mr Brody, a man who has acquired the nickname the dictator hunter. In 2001 he and his colleagues stumbled upon piles of dust-covered documents in the abandoned headquarters of the DDS, comprising prisoner lists, interrogation reports, and 1,265 direct communications to Habre himself about the status of 898 detainees. Mr Brody called it the smoking gun.

Mr Guengueng and his team spent six months photocopying every document. After the verdict against Habre was delivered, he said: I feel 10 times bigger now than Hissene Habre.

It is expected that Habre will serve his life sentence in Senegal, where he had been living in comfortable exile after being deposed by the coup in 1990. His defence has about 15 days to appeal.

A second set of hearings on damages for the more than 4,000 registered civil parties will take place in the coming days.
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A disfiguring tropical disease is sweeping across the Middle East as a combination of heavy conflict and a breakdown of health care facilities in Isis-occupied areas leaves swathes of people vulnerable to the illness.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is transmitted exclusively through bites from sand flies and can result in horrible open sores as well as disfiguring skin lesions, nodules or papules if left untreated.

Leishmaniasis has been endemic in Syria for centuries and was once commonly known as the Aleppo evil. Until 1960, the disease's prevalence in Syria was restricted to two areas - Aleppo and Damascus. However, as Syrias civil war continues the resulting refugee crisis has triggered a catastrophic outbreak of the disease, with the regions most affected under Isis control.

Children suffering from Cutaneous Leishmaniasis, a disfiguring and disabling skin disease (Getty Images ) (Getty Images)

Research published on Thursday in the scientific journal PLOS has found the disease is now affecting hundreds of thousands of people living in refugee camps or trapped in conflict zones.

Around 4.2 million Syrians have been displaced into neighbouring countries and Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan have accepted most of these refugees. As a result, cutaneous leishmaniasis has begun to emerge in areas where displaced Syrians and disease reservoirs exist side by side.

We're seeing lots of diseases, including leishmaniasis in these conflict zones and we need to ring-fence them, by providing access to essential medicines for cutaneous leishmaniasis sufferers living in conflict zones, or risk another situation like Ebola out of the conflict zones in West Africa in 2014, Peter Hotez, dean of the US National School of Tropical Medicine, US Science Envoy to the Middle East, and lead author of the PLOS research told the Digital Journal.

A woman receives treatment for a tropical skin disease (Getty Images ) (Getty Images)

Syrias healthcare system has been devastated by years of conflict. In 2015 it was reported that more than half of the public hospitals in the country  previously a regional leader in healthcare  were closed or only partially functioning, leaving some patients forced to travel up to 100 miles to the nearest hospital.

While the disease is treatable, Syria's present condition has seen the number of leishmaniasis cases reported to the Ministry of Health double from 23,000 before the start of the civil war in 2011 to 41,000 in 2013, according to the PLOS research.

Neighbouring countries, which have received millions of refugees are also reporting many leishmaniasis cases. In Lebanon, cases rose to 1,033 in 2013 from six in the previous 12 years. Hundreds of cases have also been reported in Turkey and Jordan.

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

According to scientists, eastern Libya has also reported increasing numbers of leishmaniasis. In Yemen, an estimated 10,000 new cases are reported every year. With Yeminis migrating to Saudi Arabia, concerns have been raised the disease may spread further.

Dr Waleed Al-Salem, Consultant at Saudi Ministry of Health and formerly of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, has stressed that while cutaneous leishmaniasis cases are increasing there is no risk of the disease spreading to areas of Europe such as Britain or Germany.

"Many areas in Syria and temporary refugee settlements are pre-disposed to cases due to factors such as rubbish accumulation, bad sanitation and poor housing. This coupled with abundant sand fly populations and wanting medical facilities has created an environment for the disease to thrive.

"Countries where sand flies are not common and where living standards and medical facilities are far more proficient are not in danger of cutaneous leishmaniasis."

Sand flies, not people, transmit the disease, which are found throughout the tropics and subtropics but are unable to survive in colder climates. Leishmaniasis is already endemic in parts of southern Europe including Spain, Italy and the south of France, but typically the disease will only manifest itself in people with weak immune systems and those in prosperous regions where people have nutrition and general good health and are at limited risk.

Dr Salem told the Independent: When people are bitten by sand flies - which are tiny and smaller than a mosquito - it can take anything between two to six months to have the infection.

 UN seeks Syria aid access as civilians risk starvation

Someone might have picked it up in Syria but then they may have fled into Lebanon or Turkey as they seek refuge.

Prior to the outbreak of war there was good control of diseases, parasites and sand flies but when the conflict started no one cared, conditions worsened and the health system broke down, which has created an ideal environment for disease outbreaks.

The researchers behind the report are calling on clinicians and medics in refugee-hosting countries to be suitably trained to diagnose cutaneous leishmaniasis, for developments in tracking the disease to identify those populations at high risk and for prompt diagnosis and treatment of new outbreaks.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is one of 17 tropical diseases categorized by WHO as neglected. The organisation says greater awareness of the disease, better monitoring, training for clinicians and vector control could go some way to halting the epidemic.
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The Iraqi army has started an operation to storm Fallujah, where around 50,000 civilians are trapped in Isis's stronghold near Baghdad.

Troops backed by artillery and tanks entered the city from three directions in the early hours of Monday morning, commanders told the AFP news agency.

A Reuters TV crew reported hearing explosions and gunfire in Fallujah's southern Naimiya district.

"Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air cover from the international coalition, the Iraqi air force and army aviation and supported by artillery and tanks," Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the commander in charge of the operation, told reporters.

 Iraqi forces surround Fallujah as they push to drive out ISIL

"Counter-terrorism service (CTS) forces, the Anbar police and the Iraqi army, at around 4am, started moving into Fallujah from three directions," he said.

"There is resistance from Daesh," he added, using the Arabic acronym for Isis.

On Sunday, Iraqi Major Dhia Thamir said troops had recaptured 80 per cent of the territory around Fallujah since the operation began

Inside Isis secret tunnels Show all 7 1 /7 Inside Isis secret tunnels Inside Isis secret tunnels Network of underground tunnels was discovered by Kurdish forces after they regained the town of Sinjar in Iraq Inside Isis secret tunnels A member of the Peshmerga forces inspects a tunnel used by Isis militants in the town of Sinjar, Iraq Reuters Inside Isis secret tunnels An entrance to the tunnel used by Islamic State militants is seen in the town of Sinjar, Iraq Inside Isis secret tunnels The secret tunnels allowed militants to freely move underground Inside Isis secret tunnels The tunnels appear to be wired with electricity Inside Isis secret tunnels Some of the tunnels are 30 feet deep Inside Isis secret tunnels Concerns remain that parts of the tunnels are rigged with explosives

The Iraqi army, supported by Iranian-backed Shia militia, began the operation to recapture Fallujah on 23 May.

The military warned the between 50,000 and 60,000 civilians trapped inside to get ready to leave before fighting started. The jihadists have been preventing from residents leaving for months.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said around 3,000 people had managed to escape the area this week.

Isis execution squads with orders to kill anybody trying to flee or surrender have appeared in the streets of Fallujah. Groups of Isis fighters are saying they will kill anybody in Fallujah who leaves their house or waves a white flag, Ahmed al-Dulaimi, a political activist, told The Independent's Patrick Cockburn, reporting from Iraq.

Fallujah, a long-time bastion of Sunni Muslim jihadists, became the first city to fall to Isis in January 2014, six months before the group swept through large parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria. The extremist group still controls territory in Iraq's north and west, including Mosul, the country's second largest city.

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.

Additional reporting by agencies
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A Nigerian man has been executed in Saudi Arabia for the murder of a police officer, marking the 95th execution carried out by the kingdom this year.

Fahd Houssawi was executed in the city of Taif on Sunday, Saudi press agency SPA reported. He had been convicted of the murder of a security man named Abdul-Ghani Al-Thubaity.

Houssawi had knocked the man to the floor and repeatedly hit his head on the ground, beating him to death, before wounding another security man as he attempted to escape, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Recommended Read more Saudi Arabia on course to double number of beheadings this year

Human rights organisations have voiced increasing concern over the rate of executions carried out by Saudi Arabia. Earlier this year UK organisation Reprieve urged the British Government to pressure its allies in the Gulf to stop the executions, which looks set to reach a new record high if the current rate continues.

A total of 158 people were killed by death penalty in Saudi Arabia last year  a surge of 76 per cent on 2014. Most were beheaded or killed by firing squad, Amnesty International reported, with the bodies sometimes displayed in public after the executions.

The number of executions carried out this year is already higher than the number recorded at the same point last year, the human rights organisation said, adding that the number of people put to death could reach more than 100 in the first half of the year.

Reprieve claimed the total number of deaths could reach a new record high of 320 people by the end of 2016 if the current rate of executions continues.

A number of non-lethal crimes also carry the death penalty in the country, from armed robbery to adultery, kidnapping and rape, and apostasy.
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Track changes

Japan will welcome two new luxury touring trains next spring. The Twilight Express Mizukaze will visit Kyoto, Matsue, Izumo and Miyajima in western Japan, as well as taking in the coast of the Sea of Japan, Mt Daisen, and the Seto Inland Sea islands. It will accommodate just 30 passengers at a time. The Train Suite Shiki-Shima will launch on 1 May and travel from Tokyo through the north-eastern region of Tohoku and on to Hokkaido with space for 34 passengers. Applications for tickets are open now. seejapan.co.uk

Star performer

Eurostar Snap is a new digital hub enabling passengers to book tickets to Paris and Brussels for as low as 25 one-way between 2-30 June. The catch? You must be prepared to travel at a time of the operators choosing (although you can specify morning or afternoon), likely to be periods of low demand such as late night and during the middle of the day. You must also book at least a week in advance and tickets are non-refundable. Times are confirmed 48 hours before departure. snap.eurostar.com

Motorists queuing at a petrol station in Combourg, western France (Getty)

Tanked up

In response to the ongoing strikes across France, the petrol price comparison site mon-essence.fr has produced a (French-language) map displaying petrol stations across the country where fuel is currently running low or unavailable. The worst-affected areas are Paris/Ile-de-France and Loire Atlantic, as well as port regions such as Pas de Calais and Seine Maritime and the Cote dAzur.

Designs for the good life

Following the Papaya Playa and San Giorgio hotel projects in Tulum and Mykonos respectively, Design Hotels has opened a wellness retreat in Ibiza this summer. La Granja is a members-only retreat in an old, stone farmhouse. Guests can book a room to become a single-use member, or pay 200 (152) to become a full member. The 10 elegantly styled bedrooms will be bolstered by a programme of farm workshops, yoga and meditation sessions and more. lagranjaibiza.com

La Granja

Grape expectation

Opening on Wednesday, Bordeauxs ambitious 63m Cite du Vin will celebrate the regions most celebrated export. Modelled on a swirl of wine, the futuristic glass museum is full of interactive elements, tasting rooms and 20 themed areas, as well as a shop stocking 800 different wines. Workshops, tours and restaurants will complete the sensory experience. Admission 20 (15). laciteduvin.com

Animal encounters

Timbuktu Travel is a new digital platform enabling users to put together a safari in Africa, rather than buying an off-the-peg itinerary. Trips are available in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia and range from on a shoestring (from 1,120pp) to offbeat Zambia. Once a holiday has been decided on, Timbuktu uses local outfits and ground handlers to put the trip together. While the holidays don't include international flights, they are financially protected by SATSA (Southern Africa Tourism Services Association). timbuktutravel.com

Thai closure

All of Thailands marine national parks close annually during the monsoon to allow them to recover from the busy tourist season, however, Koh Tachai island in Similan National Park off Phangnga province is now closed indefinitely and will not reopen in October. The islands popularity often means it is overcrowded, withmore than 1,000 people on the beach at one time, so a decision has been made to allow it to rehabilitate. It is thought that some companies are still selling trips illegally, however. uk.tourismthailand.org

Koh Tachai

Down on the farm

New York-based British chef April Bloomfield and Tom Adams of Londons Pitt Cue barbecue restaurant and brewery are teaming up on a new project in Cornwall. The pair are converting a Georgian dairy farm near Launceston to a guesthouse, farm and dining room that will host workshops and events throughout the year. Coombeshead Farm is slated to open later this summer. coombesheadfarm.co.uk
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What is it?

The GlocalMe G2 is a portable wi-fi hotspot. In short, you turn it on, top it up and it creates a wi-fi network you can log into from your phone or other device, just as you would with a normal internet connection.

Unlike some similar devices, it doesnt need a sim card, though there are two sim slots if you prefer to buy and top up a local sim instead of paying through GlocalMe.

Where can you use it?

According to the manufacturers, it works in 100+ countries, including all of the EU, holiday favourites like the US, Canada, Australia and Thailand, and some more surprising destinations such as Guam.

What does it look like?

Measuring 117mm x 63.8mm x 20.9mm, its a pretty chunky thing. It looks a bit like an older-generation iPhone, but twice the thickness, and fairly heavy at 224g (by comparison, an iPhone 6 weights 129g).

How much does it cost?

The device itself costs 199, and while it can be bought online in the US, in the UK its only available by phone or email order, which seems a little old-fashioned for a tech company.

You can choose an amount to top up (priced in euros) or select from the data packages, some of which are heavily discounted. Top ups are made via a smartphone app, not using the device itself.

With the price of mobile calls and data within the EU now capped and roaming charges set to be scrapped altogether next year, its hard to see the need for a device such as this in Europe. Indeed, GlocalMe charges the same as the current EU cap for mobile providers (0.05 per megabyte).

Globally, however, it makes a little more sense. A 1GB worldwide package costs 29.90 and is valid for a year. By comparison, my mobile network, EE charges 40 (52) for a data bundle of half that size, valid for one week in the US.

Low-cost alternatives include 3s Feel at Home deal (no extra charges for calls or data in 19 countries worldwide) and buying a local sim.

But if youre happy with your current setup, and youre a frequent long-haul traveller  or youre planning an extended trip to multiple destinations  GlocalMe represents good value.

Whats the verdict?

I tried out the GlocalMe G2 on a recent trip to Taiwan, while researching 48 Hours in Taipei.

I started out with 50 credit and used it frugally, turning it on only when I really needed it. This was still a few times a day though, and I came home with 24 remaining. The battery life was also good, lasting around three days.

While sometimes a little slow to pick up a signal, the device was very reliable once it got going, and worked well for all my essential travel apps: Google Maps, Uber, Whatsapp, Skype and, slightly less essentially, YouTube.

Calls made using Whatsapp and Skype were clear with no time delay, maps loaded quickly and were never lost, and videos (watched while bored on the bus back to the airport) streamed smoothly.

The device does use data while on standby, so I felt like I was turning it on and off a lot, plus the extra weight in my bag was noticeable. If the manufacturers are working on a third-generation device, Id recommend slimming it down.

Overall, though, it was an extremely useful gadget to have in a city like Taipei where English isnt that widely spoken  I was glad to be able to find my way around without making terrible attempts at speaking Mandarin. But Im not sure Ill be rushing to buy one until the price comes down, and it can be ordered online.

Click here to view the latest travel offers, with Independent Holidays.
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Have you ever tried to repair something only to end up throwing the whole thing into the dustbin? Brexiteers are campaigning to do just that with Britain. If a majority of Brits decide they want out of the European Union, all outcomes are possible. But theres one very real possibility that Brits are ignoring: that a vote in favor of a Brexit could conceivably lead to the breakup of Britain and then of the Commonwealth. Meanwhile, what remains of the British government in Westminster would be so handicapped it could do almost nothing about it.

The idea that a win for the Brexit campaign could result in Britain breaking up isnt new. However, Brexit supporters are willing to believe that everything will be rosy in the event of a Brexit victory, an optimistic view verging on pie in the sky. The dismantling of Britain is a far more logical and likely outcome.

Assume that the current national polling within the UK is going to remain fairly accurate. That means the Brexit campaign can only win because a majority of English voters want out, while a majority of voters in Scotland, Northern Ireland and (possibly) Wales support remaining within the EU.

 EU Referendum: Latest Poll

What next? The Scottish Nationalists will demand another independence vote. In fact, they are already doing just that.

Nicola Sturgeon has made no secret of her desire for another referendum should Britain choose to leave the EU. She has already argued, rightly, that the last independence referendum in Scotland was based on a background of Britain remaining a part of the EU.

With the backdrop changed so dramatically, based largely on English votes, the calls for another independence vote will be deafening. And this time the Scottish Nationalists know they will win.

Given a choice between leaping into the unknown handcuffed to England and remaining as part of a stable (if risky) European Union, Scots will take their chances with Europe. More than just avoiding a leap into the unknown, remaining as part of the EU while England leaves represents a once-in-a-lifetime economic opportunity for Scotland.

Every business that might consider leaving England for mainland Europe following a Brexit might instead consider moving to Scotland. Scotland will probably adopt the Euro as currency, is more conveniently situated for mainland Europe than Ireland and has a highly advanced renewable energy sector.

Commonwealth Games: amazing athletes Show all 5 1 /5 Commonwealth Games: amazing athletes Commonwealth Games: amazing athletes Maria Toorpakai Wazir The 23-year-old Pakistani squash player was brought up in the highly conservative region of Waziristan, where girls are not allowed to play sport. In order to take part, she disguised herself as a boy by cutting her hair. Her family started receiving threats for allowing Wazir to play sport and she was eventually forced to practice in her room in case the squash court where she played was bombed. In 2011 she moved to Canada and joining a squash academy. I am a warrior, I was born a warrior, I will die like a warrior, she said. BBC Commonwealth Games: amazing athletes Adrien Niyonshuti The Rwandan cyclist lost 60 family members, including six brothers, during the genocide of 1994 which killed an estimated 800,000 people in 100 days. Then aged seven, he survived the horror and took part in his first cycling race, the Tour of Rwanda, at the age of 16 on a bike that he borrowed from a relative. The 27-year-old has said of his sport: Its the thing that helps me forget my problems. Getty Images Commonwealth Games: amazing athletes Sophie Pascoe In 1995, when she was two years old, the 21-year-old New Zealand swimmers legs were caught under a ride-on lawnmower being driven by her father, Garry, at the family home in Christchurch. Her left leg was amputated below the knee following the accident, but she took up swimming at the age of seven and went on to become a six-time Paralympic gold medallist. Her father has spoken of being haunted by what happened to his daughter, saying last year: I dont think Ive really recovered from it It just leaves a black dot in my life. Getty Images Commonwealth Games: amazing athletes Steve Way Seven years ago, he weighed 16 stone and smoked 20 cigarettes a day  now he runs marathons. The 40-year-old Englishman was selected for the squad after finishing a surprise 15th in this years London Marathon, becoming the third Briton to reach the finish line behind Mo Farah and Chris Thompson. Not bad for someone who only took up running in order to lose weight. It turned very quickly away from being a form of exercise to get healthy and lose weight to a competitive sport, he said recently. Within six months of starting this journey Id almost forgotten why I started running  to lose weight and give up smoking  and it turned into more of a competitive hobby. Commonwealth Games: amazing athletes Abdul Rashid Bangura When he was a teenager, the 27-year-old middleweight boxer was forced to flee his home town of Makeni, Sierra Leone, as rebel forces from the Revolutionary United Front took over. A longing to see his father made him return, but he was captured and forced to work crushing rice. His trip to Glasgow will be his first out of Africa  but his father, formerly Sierra Leones boxing coach, will not be there to see it, as he died this year. The only time my father was happy was when I was boxing, Bangura said.

The numbers dont even need to be huge for Scotland to emerge as a big economic winner. If 5 per cent of American companies in the UK moved their European HQ north it would be a major economic windfall for the country.

Plenty of Brexit campaigners want Britain to remain whole; they argue that Scotland wouldnt become an automatic member of the EU and may not achieve favorable membership terms. But alternatively  and just as likely  the EU desperately, wanting to stick it to England, might fast track Scottish membership, granting the country very favorable terms indeed. Independence is tantalisingly within reach; Sturgeon must be willing the English to do their part.

But no matter what campaign dilemmas Sturgeon faces now, they will pale in comparison to those Prime Minister Boris Johnson will face  assuming, as most now do, that the Brexit campaigns figurehead becomes PM in the event of a Brexit win. He cant then beg the Scots to stay, having led a Brexit campaign based on national sovereignty and self-determination arguments; Scotland will go.

Where politics and religion have failed to unite Ireland in the past, EU economics might. Ulster has  and always has had  a far greater affinity with Scotland than with England. Ulsters loyalist identity is very much based on being a part of Britain. If Scotland leaves the UK then Britain no longer exists, will that identity remain strong as a part of England?

And where does that leave Ulster? A united Ireland might seem unlikely  the peace process is nothing if not fragile  the idea that Ulsters Protestant majority would be persecuted by a Catholic national majority is rooted in the past. Over the last 20 years Ireland has gone from being one of the most religiously repressed nations in Europe to one of the most socially liberal and progressive. Unity is possible.

 What to believe about the EU referendum

Wales is the least likely to go it alone. Regardless, if England forces Wales out of the EU, calls for a Welsh independence will get louder.

Not all English people consider losing Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales a problem; breaking up the UK may, for them, be just another reason to vote for Brexit. A set of dominoes may soon begin to fall.

What about the Commonwealth? The British monarch is still the official head of state in Commonwealth nations, but for how much longer? Its possible that an independent Scotland could decline membership of the Commonwealth. Support for republicanism isnt at the levels recorded a decade ago, but if Britain no longer existed then sentiments may change.

At some point, Prince Charles is set to become head of state. Like him or loathe him, he doesnt have quite the same gravitas as his mother. That, in itself, might be enough to provoke Australia and Canada to think more seriously about an elected president.

The Brexit campaign has made much of its ties to the Commonwealth, particularly its richest members, based on some very naive assumptions. With the exception of Nigeria and India, the population of Commonwealth nations is increasingly diverse. It doesnt take a great leap of imagination to see that a British break up could sever what remains of their umbilical cords, at least in terms of sovereignty, if not trade and sport.

A Prime Minister Johnson, it bears repeating, would be irrevocably tied to support for national sovereignty and self-determination. How could he oppose, for example, an Australian referendum on Commonwealth membership?

Despite what voters hear from most politicians there is one other certainty about the Brexit  that there are no easy answers. In many (if not most) ways Europe is a pretty unattractive place right now: a stagnant economy, a refugee crisis that lurches from open arms one minute to callous disregard for human life the next, an out of touch bureaucracy that has spent half a century failing to explain what it does. No wonder the Brexit campaigners have the bit between their teeth.

A united Britain standing alone against European tyranny sounds attractive in comparison. It fulfills the romantic notion many Brits cling to, the lone hope against an evil empire.

Recommended Read more Britain is at war in Libya and nobody thought to tell us

Indeed, there is no guarantee that the doomsday predictions of many economists, should Britain exit the EU, will turn out to be correct. Theres a reasonable chance that the economy might do just fine once the dust has settled; that as some trade doors close others open; that investment might not be affected at all.

But nothing is guaranteed. At least with Europe Britains place at the top table is assured.

A vote to leave the EU could result not only in the breakup of Britain, but of the entire Commonwealth. A dismantled Britain is a greatly diminished Britain. All of this might not come to pass, of course. But it might.
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In or out, the ballots cast by the British electorate on June 23 may prove to be the most important in half a century.

While voters may live to regret their choices in a general election, they are free to have their say yet again a mere five years later. A disagreeable government may be overturned. Not so with the matter at hand in just two weeks time. Our membership of the European Union  or, if it so transpires, our decision remove ourselves from it  is a choice that will, and can, only be put to the people once in a generation. One way or another, we will live with the consequences for decades to come.

That is why it is so important that turnout on polling day is high, and that every eligible citizen has ensured that they are properly registered to vote. Yet, millions of UK citizens  in particular, the young people who will feel the effects of that decision most significantly during their working lives  are still missing from the electoral roll.

Since mid May more than 1.35 million people have signed up to vote, according to the Electoral Commission. But that figure is dwarfed by the 7.5 million estimated still not to be on the electoral register who could easily swing the final result.

Recent figures suggest that up to 1.5 million of the 6 million UK residents aged between 18 and 24 are not registered, and a further quarter of the 8 million aged between 25 and 35.

21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Show all 21 1 /21 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Portugal drinks more wine than France Tindo - Fotolia 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Young Italians, by some distance, are the most likely to live at home with their parents 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Britain is on course to overtake Germany as Europes most populated country 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Greek workers work the longest hours in the EU 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Estonia has, per capita, more drug-related deaths than anyone else 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe The fastest download speeds are to be found in Romania 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Slovenia, Malta and Poland have the smallest gender pay gaps 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe France hates its leader more than other European countries 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Eastern and Western Europe are very divided on the issue of gay marriage 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Germany has the most millionaires 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Everyone likes Christmas, apart from France 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Germany accepts by far the most asylum applications 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe The UK and France have some of the most positive views of Muslim people 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Europe's largest Muslim population is in Germany 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Danes are the most trusting Europeans, and Cypriots the least 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Finland has the worst economy in the EU 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Italy has cut back its military spending more than any other major European Nato member 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Everyone is sad about the refugee crisis 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe People in Spain are also the most likely to live in flats (Brits are most likely to live in houses) 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Spain is the most likely to feel neighbourly 21 maps and charts which will challenge perceptions of Europe Luxembourg is home to the highest proportion of foreign nationals

Those who rent and move home address regularly are less likely to be registered, and they are more likely to be young. Other young people may have dropped off the electoral register thanks to changes to the registration system which came into effect last year. Parents are no longer allowed to register their adult children, even if  as is increasingly the case, given the depth of the housing crisis  they are still living under the same roof; universities cannot register their students en masse, automatically enrolling everyone living in student halls of residence. It is now up to young people to take responsibility for their right to vote  and it is a right that many grant too little credence.

You have Days Hours Minutes Seconds left to register

Opinion polling indicates that those under the age of 35 are more likely to back the In campaign than their older friends and relatives. Aware that registration and turnout among younger citizens may proof crucial to their eventual victory, the In campaign is trying to inspire young people to engage with the EU referendum debate. Their methods have, however, proved questionable.

A poster and video campaign launched portrayed young people as workin, earnin, shoppin, ravin, chattin and  here comes the punchline  votin. The video was quickly condemned as patronising. It was also a rather embarrassing attempt at mimicking youth culture  a sure way to provoke eye-rolling as opposed to interest. If this is the best that the In campaign can do to reach out to the young and disenfranchised over a matter of such crucial importance to their lives, it must hope that it does not, in the event, rely on the support of that constituency to win the day.

There is, however, time to vote in the EU referendum expires on June 7. The Independent strongly supports remaining in a reformed EU, but it prizes above that the democratic right to vote and the importance of exercising it.

Whatever your views on the EU, we urge you to ensure that you are properly registered and listed on the electoral roll so that, when referendum day comes, you are able to make your voice heard. It is, after all, one of the most significant democratic decisions in which you will ever play a part.

The EU referendum debate has so far been characterised by bias, distortion and exaggeration. So until 23 June we will be running a series of question and answer features which will explain the most important issues involved in a detailed, dispassionate way to help inform your decision.

Will we gain or lose rights by leaving the European Union?

What will happen to immigration if there's Brexit?

Will Brexit make the UK more or less safe?

Will the UK benefit from being released from EU laws?

What will Brexit do to UK trade?

How Brexit will affect British tourism

What will Brexit mean for British tourists booking holidays in the EU?

Will Brexit help or damage the environment?

Will Brexit mean that Europeans have to leave the UK?

What will Brexit mean for British tourists booking holidays in the EU?

Will leaving the EU save taxpayers money and mean more money for the NHS?

What will Brexit mean for British expats?
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Last week The Independent was awarded a prize by the International News Media Association for its #refugeeswelcome campaign. The campaign was launched back in September as debates raged about how Britain  and Europe  should best respond to the refugee crisis precipitated by conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere.

Pictures of a little boy, Aylan Kurdi, whose dead body was found washed ashore on a Turkish beach seemed to symbolise both the tragedy of the situation and the failure of authorities to get to grips with the reality of what was happening. Kurdi was simply one among many desperate people, seeking a better life in Europe but never making it across dangerous seas.

We published pictures of Kurdi because we believed policymakers here were ignoring the plight of others like him. The response of our readers, in urging the government to act, and soon afterwards the Prime Minister's announcement that Britain would take in more refugees, vindicated the decision.

 Italy: Vessel carrying 550 refugees capsizes off Libyan coast, 5 dead

Yet, only eight months later, refugees and migrants continue to perish in large numbers as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean.

A deal between Turkey and the EU has, to a degree, reduced the numbers seeking to enter Europe from the warzones of Syria and Iraq. Refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey itself and other countries in the Middle East, are more likely to be the destination point for those fleeing Isis, or Assad's army, or Jabhat al-Nusra, or whichever force it may be that day. But for those coming from Libya, the journey to Europe remains frighteningly straightforward: find a people smuggler, pay your money and a berth on a barely seaworthy vessel is yours. Whether you actually make it to Italy is another matter.

Medicins Sans Frontier estimates that 900 people drowned last week attempting the crossing. The UNHCR reckons the number is closer to 700. Either way, that's a lot of bodies. Many are children too  the front page of Sunday's Independent daily app edition noted that a third of the refugees entering Europe so far this year are estimated to be under 18. There are dozens of Aylan Kurdis.

So why not run pictures of them all? There are any number of photographs available if we want to use them.

Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Show all 15 1 /15 Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Sean O'Grady Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Jamie Merrill Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Mollie Goodfellow and Marie Le Conte Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Naomi Westland Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign DJ Kooper Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Zuhura Plummer Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Christine Gingter Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Andy Kavanagh Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Martijn van Calcar Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Dan O Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Kerry F Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Eulette Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Sarah Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Barefoot Mower Twitter Refugees Welcome: Supporters back The Independent's campaign Swim Deep Twitter

Publishing pictures of dead people is not something to be done lightly, in part because we don't want to go out of our way to upset readers for the sake of it; but also, conversely, because the worst thing that could happen would be for readers to become acclimatised to such horrors, or fatigued by the grimness.

A reader recently complained about another image of a dead refugee child, which we had used some months after the coverage of Aylan Kurdi's death. It was in its own way just as upsetting: it depicted, in the final analysis, the same tragic climax to a dashed hope. But the reader suggested we were disrespecting this child, using him as clickbait to drive traffic to our website.

That, I know with confidence, is absolutely not the case. But it shows how easily ulterior motives can be ascribed to our publishing decisions. Likewise, we don't publish images of dead people in the hope that we might be awarded accolades by our peers.

Shock tactics ought to be used sparingly. And yet it remains deeply shocking that, month upon month, hundreds more people die in overcrowded ships as they attempt to escape war, persecution and poverty.

It is horrifying that they take the risk; it is mortifying that Western nations appear paralysed in their attempts to find a lasting solution. In that context, oughtn't it be a shock that the refugee crisis isn't on the front page of every paper and the homepage of every news website almost daily?

In graphics: Refugees in the EU Show all 3 1 /3 In graphics: Refugees in the EU In graphics: Refugees in the EU Refugees in the EU (Maximise window for full graphic) In graphics: Refugees in the EU Refugees in the EU (Maximise window for full graphic) In graphics: Refugees in the EU Refugees in the EU (Maximise window for full graphic)

Well actually, no. One of the things which makes us human is that we can hold many thoughts in our brains at once. By thinking about the EU referendum, we are not intrinsically forgetting about dying refugees. When a media outlet leads with a story about NHS doctors' contracts, it isn't saying that refugees no longer matter.

Journalism may be an early draft of history. As such, some stories may be shown in due course to be less significant than others. Day-to-day we should do our best to give more attention to those matters which we believe are most important  which is why the refugee crisis has been so extensively covered by The Independent. But that doesn't mean that we should ignore other issues: readers quite rightly have a range of concerns after all.

Likewise, our readers are sophisticated and understand that the refugee crisis raises any number of incredibly complex questions. If we were only to show pictures of dead children every day, we would be understating that complexity in favour of sensationalism.

Yes, we should be shocked, but we must also find a way to see beyond the simplistic horror in a way that helps to explain why thousands continue to risk their lives in rickety boats.

Will Gore is Deputy Managing Editor of The Independent and the London Evening Standard
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As humans, we have a voracious appetite for gossip. We might pretend we dont check the sidebar of shame for the latest celebrity tittle-tattle, or strain our ears when we hear our neighbours rowing, but something in our DNA always makes us want to know more.

Just last week my evening was interrupted by the unmistakeable sound of a couple having sex. Did I close the window and turn up the music? Did I heck; I leaned in to listen, trying to work out where it was coming from, and if she was faking it. I decided  without any evidence whatsoever  that below my flat a sordid office affair was being conducted. And that she was probably faking it.

Which is the conclusion of the internet gossip-mongers over Amber Heards claims that Johnny Depp allegedly assaulted her last week.

The truth is, it doesnt matter what we think happened. We werent there and we dont know either of the parties involved any more than I know my neighbours. But that doesnt seem to matter to those keen to take a judgement on the woman in question. The claims against Depp have not been substantiated.

By wading into the wider debate on domestic violence, casting our opinions this way and that, we are putting the lives of thousands of women and men at risk. Domestic violence affects one in four women and one in six men in the UK  thats almost as many women as cancer affects in the UK, and we all know someone who has had cancer.

 Johnny Depp accused of assault

The chances are that we all know someone who is, or has been, a victim of domestic violence, whether we realise it or not. On average two women are killed every week, and 30 men each year, as a result of domestic abuse.

The strongest weapon in the vast armoury of the abuser is silence. In accusing Heard of telling lies  even if it turns out she is  we are handing a weapon to someone who could even live next door to us, be on the invite to our summer barbecue, or sit on the school board; someone who silently, and behind closed doors, reigns terror and violence on their partner.

The claim that if Heard  wealthy, beautiful and successful as she is  had been a victim of domestic abuse then she would have left her husband earlier ignores the fact that only 35 per cent of all domestic violence incidents are ever reported to the Police.

In exchanging gossip about the private lives of two famous people well never know, what are we telling those women and men who have been too afraid to report their abuse, for fear of not being believed?

A victim of domestic abuse doesnt openly walk into the arms of a violent man or woman, they walk into the arms of someone charming, loving and complimentary. They walk into the arms that everyone outside the relationship sees, when they talk about the person who couldnt possibly have been abusive. Could they?
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With Israeli politics, we must be getting past the point of surprise. Were certainly wearing out our superlatives, because every ushering in of a new Benjamin Netanyahu government, or a coalition reshuffle, is described as the most right-wing to date.

So it is with the Israeli Prime Ministers latest cabinet manoeuvring, by which he has given the ultra-nationalist, ultra-hardline and ultra-polarising Avigdor Lieberman, of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, the role of defence minister.

Netanyahu is no fan of Lieberman  indeed he was sniping about the man mere months ago  but has brought him in to the cabinet to shore up support for his shaky coalition government, thus securing his own position at the top. For Netanyahu, the new defence minister  approved by the cabinet on Monday  is less of a threat on the inside, so the appointment is also an enactment of the adage about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.

Lieberman, you may recall, proved how antagonising and uncompromising he could be during his tenures as foreign minister, from 2009 to 2012 and again between 2013 and 2015. The man now in charge of the Israeli army and the military occupation of Palestinians in the West Bank is a Jewish settler, wants more settlements expansion, has previously vowed there will never be a Palestinian state (although has more recently made claims  which have been received with scepticism in many quarters  he supports a two-state solution), wants to re-occupy Gaza, urges a transfer of Israels Palestinian citizens into the West Bank and has threatened to both assassinate the Hamas leader and blow up Egypts Aswan dam.

 Israeli minister resigns after row with Netanyahu

Oh yes, and he wants to bring in the death penalty for Palestinian terrorists. And thats just a selection of his choice declarations.

For many commentators outside Israel, and for what remains of the political centre within the country, this is calamitous news  another superlative lurch to the right and another death knell for the peace process. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak described the move as sowing the seeds of fascism. An Israeli veteran military affairs commentator lamented live on air that he could no longer urge my children to stay here, because it is a place that is not nice to be in.

But for the tiny, besieged Israeli left  in a country where the term left-wing is now virtually synonymous with traitor  Netanyahus latest self-interested ploy has served to underline, again, the writing that has been on the wall for some time: that the peace process died long ago, and that the logic of the hard-right, revisionist Zionist ideology propelled by Netanyahu creates a momentum that can only move further rightwards.

It is a political climate that the Prime Minister and his settler-nationalist coalition propagate and then reap the rewards of so doing; within such a framework, there is nowhere else for Israeli politics to go. If you need proof of that effect, check the polls. They document how Israelis have grown less supportive of a two-state solution (as have Palestinians), less approving of Palestinians in Israel having equal rights, more racist and hostile to the Palestinian people specifically and Arabs in general.

Or, for anecdotal evidence, chat with Israeli teens or millennials and see how much more right-wing they are compared with their parents. The generational difference is stark.

The Israeli left, or what remains of it, is hanging on the tiny slither of political bandwidth in which it is allowed to operate. That space is being eroded by the Government, which is pushing laws that will silence left-wing human rights groups; a bill requiring leftist organisations to declare sources of foreign funding passed its first Knesset reading in February.

Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Show all 12 1 /12 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict The fire in my heart is beyond my ribs. You left me beloved - Soliman Shaheen, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict Let me get enough of you, as Im still hungry for your smile my son - Soliman Shaheen, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict They besiege me in my homeland so I flew to heaven - Rodaina Al Agha, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict And I am still facing the pain all by myself - Lama Shakshak, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict My brother, I watched you go while my heart was tearing - Helen Mo'amar, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict My new doll is lonely in the rubble - Ayah Sha'ath, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict When a soul hugs another soul they never split, even in death - Ismail Matar, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict Everyone is gone and I stayed alone to make the world witness the injustice done to me - Hamza Shaheen, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict The hand that carries the arms carries roses too - Madeeha Al Majayda, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict My eyes tell you about a dream that overcame the fence - Soliman Shaheen, 15 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict A childhood caught in an unjust siege - Hadeel Quidh, 16 Remembering the Israel-Gaza conflict Remembering Israel-Gaza conflict All the details are torn after you - Hamza Shaheen, 17

The government is currently busy trying to shut down Breaking the Silence, a group that documents anonymous testimonies of Israeli army abuses in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Meanwhile, human rights activists and organisations have come under personal attack from right-wing organisations accusing them of treachery and have spoken about media smear campaigns against them. In April, Amnesty International urged the Israeli government to stop intimidating human rights defenders and protect them from attack.

What stands out, though, are the small glimpses of humanity, beacons of decency that show what could be possible. When a young Bedouin man was brutally beaten by police outside his Tel Aviv workplace some weeks ago, a crowd-funding campaign to raise university study funds reached its goal within 12 hours. Hundreds of Israelis donated to the campaign to support the 19-year-old Mayasem Abu Alqian, doubling the funding target. Writing for the Israeli blog +972 Magazine, Michal Rotem, who works for the organisation behind the campaign, pointed out: This tiny project served as proof for many Arabs and Jews that there is hope out there.

Set against an overwhelming tide of intolerance, it is tiny. But for many that remain on the left, small stories of hope provide one more reason to keep going.
Professor John Fitzgerald (pictured) urged the IDA to avoid companies that want to "re-domicile" in Ireland. Photo: Tom Burke

The IDA has been warned not to chase finance services firms from Britain at any cost, if the UK votes to leave the European Union, by a key figure on the board that oversees the Central Bank.

Businesses should not be courted to come here, if they will not provide a real benefit to the economy, former ESRI chief and current member of the Central Bank governing commission, John Fitzgerald said.

Speaking at the Federation of International Banks in Ireland (FIBI) conference, Mr Fitzgerald, who is now a Trinity professor, urged the IDA to avoid companies that want to "re-domicile" in Ireland.

Mr Fitzgerald said he had no doubt that the IDA's "vultures" were circling the city of London.

Significant

"Significant parts of the international financial sector are very important to the Irish economy. They create jobs, bring in taxation, but there are significant parts that do nothing for Ireland.

"They bring nothing in terms of employment, nothing in terms of taxation, but we have to pay an additional EU contribution on as a result of their activity," he said.

"We should be selective and I'm concerned we're a little gung-ho in this area," Mr Fitzgerald said. In the wake of the banking crash the Central Bank's mandate was changed, ending a requirement on the regulator to promote the Irish financial services sector.

But bringing new business to Ireland remains an imperative for other agencies, notably the IDA.

In response to Mr Fitzgerald the IDA's head of international financial services, Kieran Donoghue, said the agency would not specifically look to attract high-risk investments. "We're not going to go into the marketplace and target high risk activities and bring them to the jurisdiction, because we have a duty of care to resisting investors to preserve the reputation of the jurisdiction.

"I think between the Department of Finance, Central Bank, ourselves, and also the risk managers that are sitting in the institutions that we are talking to will make the best possible investment," Mr Donoghue said.

The potential impact of a Brexit was a major theme for the international bank executives attending the event in Dublin.

FIBI chairman and JP Morgan Ireland chief financial officer Jonathon Lowey said Ireland needs to level the playing field when it came to how regulation is interpreted here in comparison to other competing jurisdictions.

"The banking landscape is evolving all the time. But, as international banks with operations here in Ireland, our over-riding objective remains the same: namely, to maintain our existing business lines as well as win new business from competitors and, more significantly, internally within our own organisations," the FIBI chairman said.

Regulation

In a reference to so-called "gold plating" of European Union law, Mr Lowey said Ireland needs to interpret regulation in the same way here as it is in competing jurisdictions, in order for cost competitiveness to be maintained.

Mr Fitzgerald spoke in a personal capacity at the banking event, but his comments echo a recent speech by Central Bank governor Philip Lane.

Last week, at a separate banking conference, Mr Lane said regulators plan to step up oversight of some types of off-shore assets based in Ireland, regardless of whether they pose a direct risk to the economy here.
Tech giant Amazon is to create 500 new jobs in Dublin over the next two years as the firm bids to up its European headcount.

Amazon, which is headed up by Silicon Valley chief Jeff Bezos, is looking to add data centre technicians, software engineers, and customer support staff.

The announcement is part of the company's larger intentions to create thousands of jobs across Europe this year.

Amazon came to Ireland 12 years ago and currently employs 1,700 here after adding a further 300 people in 2014.

The new roles will be based in its online retail arm and its data storage unit, Amazon Web Services, both of which will be based in Dublin.

The company also has another base in Cork.
As many as 44pc of Irish exporters have said they had difficulty finding suitably qualified workers (stock photo)

Half of Irish exporters quizzed for a survey said they had taken on extra staff since the start of the year. But 44pc said they had difficulty finding suitably qualified workers.

Half also said sterling fluctuations had negatively impacted their business in the first quarter, yet 73pc are not hedging.

Although sterling has recovered over a third of its losses since early April as opinion polls give the 'remain' campaign in the Brexit referendum a wider margin, the pound is still some way off the level it was at last November.

The UK currency is trading at around 76p to the 1, down from the 81p it was trading at in early April but well above the 69p level last autumn.

A survey by the Irish Exporters' Association (IEA) found increased business costs were also a concern, including insurance, exchange rates, labour, regulatory burden costs and legal costs. Simon McKeever, IEA chief executive, said the underlying problem identified throughout the review was cost competitiveness.

"Firstly, the impending referendum in the UK is having an impact, 63pc of respondents are transacting in Sterling and 50pc have said that Sterling fluctuation has negatively impacted their financial performance in the last quarter, yet 73pc are not hedging this risk," he said.

Costs

"Secondly, the rising costs of doing business in Ireland were cited by 15pc of members as one of the biggest challenges currently facing them.

"And lastly ... the skills shortage in Ireland that has been left in the wake of the most recent recession is really being felt by our members."

The survey is the first quarterly review by the agency this year.
Rural groups have pleaded with the Government to speed up its broadband roll-out, claiming firms are moving away because of the lack of internet available to one in three homes and businesses.

"A lot of companies are telling us they were waiting to see if they'd get broadband next year," said Seamus Boland, chief executive of Irish Rural Link, which represents 500 community groups around the country.

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"But now that it's been pushed out until 2022, they're telling us that they've stayed in the sticks long enough and are moving to the city. We're now looking at depopulation.

"Students who would normally come home are now staying in Dublin because they don't have the internet at home," he added.

The pleas come after a survey from Amarach Research and Vodafone revealed one-in-four rural residents would consider moving to urban areas because of broadband.

And Irish companies that were able to survive on low broadband speeds before say it is commercially unviable to do so anymore.

"Without a proper, fast internet connection we're absolutely dead in the water," said Seamus Quinn, managing director of MyItDepartment.ie, based in Athleague, Co Roscommon.

"Business has changed. We switched over to a cloud-based system last year. We were in Roscommon town and while the broadband was OK for a while, it was holding us back."

Mr Quinn's company recently moved to a facility close to a broadband mast in a rural part of Roscommon. The company was told it would have to dig its own fibre connection if it wanted city-speed broadband.

"The connection is only a mile away but we were told we'd need to dig it ourselves," he said.

"So we searched for a wireless company. We now pay 700 per month for a 100 megabit connection. For us the cost is OK because we're an online company, but you can't tell a farm supply company up the road they have to pay 700 a month for broadband. It's not viable."

According to the Government's rural survey figures, 757,000 rural homes and businesses remain outside modern broadband infrastructure. That figure equates to a third of all Irish premises.

The Government's National Broadband Plan is scheduled to connect all of the rural premises to fibre-speed broadband in a public-private partnership deal. However, delays to the plan mean the roll-out will not now begin until mid-2017, while completion is set for 2022.

Last week, a number of Ireland's biggest broadband operators said that the rural roll-out could happen "much quicker" than 2022.

"Once the contract is signed, we can do anything if we put our mind to it," said Vodafone Ireland chief executive Anne O'Leary. "We can certainly do it within three years."

Of rural homes that have some form of broadband, almost one-in-four uses the internet at home for work, according to the latest survey from Amarach and Vodafone. And nearly 150,000 of those say they would choose to avoid commuting some or all of the time because they can connect to work through the internet.

"Businesses and potential employees won't consider places with poor broadband infrastructure," said Gerard O'Neill, chairman of Amarach Research.

"It also suggests that having proper broadband improves the chance of attracting returning emigrants, many with skills."

Communications Minister Denis Naughten said he planned to investigate 4G mobile coverage as an "interim" solution to the lack of broadband. However, the Government has yet to provide any detail of such proposals.
Garret Maguire has a successful film and TV production company, with commissions from channels throughout Ireland and Britain.

However, you will not find him or any of his six staff in their editing suite or studio in Co Cavan when they are ready to send packages to their clients.

The only place they can get a decent enough signal to use the internet is in a cattle shed on a neighbouring farm.

"It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?" said Garret, "but that's the reality of life in rural Ireland for companies like ours."

Having worked for Sky News, Garret left behind fibre-optic cables in Belfast for dial-up. He returned to his native county to start his own TV production company, Maguire Media, installing a state-of-the-art studio in Mountain Lodge, 10km north of Bailieborough.

However, he soon realised that simply getting online was going to be a nightmare.

"We tried everything," he said. "We went through several suppliers. We tried fixed line and we tried satellite, but nothing worked."

Eventually, he settled for a 3G dongle from Three.

"We can see the mast from the office. It's 1km away and we thought this would do us," he said.

"But for the past three years it has been a nightmare. It would work okay. It wouldn't be great, but we could work with it, then we would lose the signal and it would be a month before it would come back again.

"It would take seven hours to send a relatively small file and it was becoming impossible again.

"I found myself ringing the supplier every day for a month."

The poor signal issue was finally resolved a few months ago.

"We jumped in the car and turned on the computer and dongle and drove around the area for a while and eventually discovered the best signal from the nearby mast was in a cattle shed on a neighbour's farm," said Garret.

"So that's what we have to do when we're sending files. If anyone is going to Dublin we'll get files sent from there instead, but I just feel rural Ireland has been abandoned by the State when it comes to connectivity.

"Millions of euro were poured into the national broadband scheme, but it appears not a lot was done with it.

"We covered the General Election count in a modern gym on the edge of Cavan town. It took an hour to send a package to TV3. That's crazy."

Garret is sceptical of any sort of quick fix. "We might have to wait another 10 years, and that's if we're lucky," he said.
Slowly but surely, the White House race is starting to influence the price investors pay to protect their equity holdings from sudden shocks.

The best illustration of this may be through measures of expected volatility in options tied to the S&P 500 Index that expire at different points throughout the year. While a broad upward slope is normal in a market where anxiety about the future gets worse with time, price jumps are now noticeable around the time of the Republican National Convention in July and the US November election.

While it's almost impossible to ascribe changes in options prices to a single catalyst, strategists see increasing evidence the presidential race is a factor.

As Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump look like they are heading for a showdown, it will only get more expensive for investors to protect their portfolios from damaging swings that can come without warning as the campaign rhetoric heats up.

"We're heading into political conventions that most people will admit are pretty scary events," said Tom Mangan, senior vice president of James Investment Research in Xenia, Ohio. "While most people have decided which side they'll come down on, the support is very tepid. The potential is there for big surprises and, of course, markets don't like surprises."

Between the Federal Reserve, China, the evolving outlook for global growth and plunging earnings, so many bombs have been falling on the US stock market that strategists have been reluctant to assign any impact to politics - so far. The S&P 500 has separately plunged 11pc and rallied 14pc in 2016, both during stretches when Clinton and Trump were effectively locking up their nominations.

Trump has secured enough votes to lock up his party's nomination, and his candidacy is upending the normally reliable Wall Street predilection for Republican administrations.

Without a clear thesis into what's good or bad, traders are making use of the options market, where you needn't speculate on the direction of a shock, just that it will happen. The cost of equity market insurance is expressed in implied volatility, the key variable in price that shows where demand is clustering at points in the future.

"More and more people are buying options targeting expiries tied to specific events and trading around them," said Stephen Solaka, managing partner of Belmont Capital Group in La. "They're either hedging or making directional bets, and that's why you see kinks in the curve. It's a fairly common tactic, and it's getting more popular."

Nothing that affects equity prices happens in isolation, and one trader's anxiety over politics mingles with another's about economic growth. Take the bump in volatility expectations that occurs from July 22 to 29 on the S&P curve. It coincides with the Republican National Convention on the four days ending July 21, but also with a Fed policy announcement scheduled for July 27. Either way, there's strong evidence something is bugging options traders around those dates.

After spiking up, volatility expectations quickly calm down in the weeks after, a classic sign of event risk to BNP Paribas. "At that point, the general electorate and investors will have a much better sense how successful Donald Trump might be," said Anand Omprakash, an equity-derivatives strategist at the firm. The slope of expected price swings starts higher again at the end of July and continues rising through the end of September, a period that includes the September 21 FOMC decision. For September 16 to 30, S&P 500 options are embedding a price swing that's 1.5 percentage points above the historical median.

Implied volatility falls the following week, a move that's anomalous to a curve that should rise with every subsequent data point. The expected volatility is calculated using forward S&P 500 options with an exercise price of 2,075.

The rising curve also captures the premium being paid prior to the presidential election. For an event of that magnitude, it's not uncommon for investors to start positioning in the preceding months. (Bloomberg)
The latest recession in the oil sector has thrown up some truly remarkable business paradoxes.

Imagine, if you can, a company which suffers a $200bn plunge in revenues and sees its operating profits collapse by 93pc.

Imagine that company surviving such a life-threatening trauma but being resilient enough to get stuck into the acquisition of a serious competitor.

Well, that's been the precise up-to-date experience of Royal Dutch Shell (Shell). And the rival it picked up amidst all its woes is BG plc. But then oil companies are a law unto themselves and some can afford to ship revenue and profitability damage, which would be fatal for most other corporations.

Royal Dutch Shell has come through a fair number of trade wars over the years.

It earned a share of notoriety as one of the famous 'Seven Sisters', a shadowy oil cartel that pretty much controlled the Middle Eastern oil production after World War II and whose dominance was broken up by the OPEC 'oil shock' in the 1970s.

Today, Shell is involved in all aspects of technical development and commercial activity. Through its subsidiaries it explores for oil, refines it, produces petroleum and operates filling stations worldwide.

Investors take some solace in the experience that unlike its competitors, Shell resisted the sell-off of its refining assets. This part of the business now accounts for most of its profits.

The Anglo-Dutch company, valued at 100bn, operates in over 70 countries, has an interest in 23 oil refineries worldwide and employs 90,000 people but is planning a headcount reduction of 12,500.

The company is famous in all parts of Ireland, trading continuously for over a century until it sold its business to Topaz.

However, it is perhaps best known in the West, as the operator of the endlessly controversial Corrib Gas project; but as its long history around the world has shown, controversy is no stranger.

Last February, Shell announced it had acquired the UK- quoted gas and oil operator BG for 47bn. Some analysts think it's a game changer, acquiring good assets in a down cycle. BG's Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) assets in both Australia and Brazil support Shell's rationale for the merger. As a result, Shell is now the largest producer globally of LNG. The acquisition also increases its oil reserves by 25pc.

An added attraction of BG is that it less reliant on oil revenues and its performance in the face of plunging oil prices has held up. However, some have criticized the takeover, accusing Shell of over paying.

Investors are happy that Shell's capital discipline and cost savings have helped it retain its dividend payments but some analysts worry should the oil price slump continue into 2017 dividends costing $15bn per annum could be under pressure.

In truth, Shell has an unsurpassed payout history. It hasn't missed a dividend since 1942. That's my sort of company. Consequently, the well-supported stock trades at 18, which is some way off its 10-year high of 22 in mid-2014. The decimation of the oil industry is shown in Shell's pre-tax profits (it reports in dollars) which plunged to $2bn last year - some considerable distance from $33bn five years earlier. The profits came mainly from its downstream business, helped by favourable exchange rates and lower costs.

Last year, it reduced its operating cost and capital expenditure but analysts are of the opinion more cuts will follow and should consider exiting 10 to 15 countries, concentrating on its core competency. Debt levels remain manageable but Shell recently had its debt rating lowered - its first since Standard and Poor's started in 1990 - and it is not alone. The world's biggest oil company, Exxon, was also downgraded.

The question for investors is whether oil prices have reached the bottom of the brutal slump. Shell's projections for this year is $67 a barrel, $75 next year and $95 in 2018.

So does the adventurous investor believe that Shell is best poised to lead the recovery? I believe it is.

Nothing in this section should be taken as a recommendation, either explicit or implicit to buy any of the shares mentioned.
A young Irish woman has caused a stir online after she was told by phone company to 'translate her name into English' to use their website.

Caoimhe Ni Chathail (21) from Donegal reached out to Three on Twitter to complain that she couldnt use her Irish name on their website.

She was advised by customer service to use her English name" as their system doesnt recognise special characters.

Caoimhe who is a fluent Irish speaker said that the website failed to recognise the word Ni.

The fact that its an Irish company and an Irish website means that it should be able to pick up Irish names. Its another example of the disrespect and ignorance that people have of the Irish language, Caoimhe said.

The phone company's response has sparked both backlash and hilarity on social media.

Speaking to Matt Cooper on Today FM's The Last Word, Caoimhe said the issue is a recurring one.

"Every month I go onto the website to top up my phone and every month it doesn't put the fada on the Ni of my name," Caoimhe said.

"This morning I was particularly angry so I said I would tweet Three and ask why is it that I can't write my name.

"They said it doesn't accept fadas. For a company working here in Ireland, it's ridiculous.

"I couldn't believe that was the answer.

"And the fact that they suggested what the translation may be. Of course I know what it is, I just have no interest in using it."

Video of the Day

And it's not over yet.

Caoimhe said she will follow up today's events with an email to see if Three will fix the issue.

"I'm not the only one who spells her name in Irish and I'm not the only one who uses her name in Irish," she added.

Three have apologised for the slip-up and said they are working to rectify the issue.
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 04: Gabriel Byrne attends the 2016 Tony Awards Meet The Nominees Press Junket at Diamond Horseshoe at the Paramount Hotel on May 4, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Matthew Eisman/Getty Images)

Irish actor Gabriel Byrne poses during a photocall for the film "Louder than Bombs" at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southeastern France, on May 18, 2015. AFP PHOTO / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT (Photo credit should read ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP/Getty Images)

CANNES, FRANCE - MAY 18: Actor Gabriel Byrne attends the "Louder Than Bombs" Photocall during the 68th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2015 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

Gabriel Byrne is up for a Best Actor Tony Award for his role in Long Day's Journey into Night on Broadway, but the Irish star couldn't care less what he wears on the night.

According to the Financial Times, Editor in Chief of American Vogue Anna Wintour offered to style Byrne (65) for the event if she could have the final say over what he wears.

"I couldn't give a f***," he told the newspaper. "Stylist? Style myself, I say."

Byrne's co-stars Jessica Lange and Michael Shannon are both also up for awards for their roles in Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer Prize-winning stage classic, which is currently enjoying a hugely successful run at New York's Roundabout Theatre.

Expand Close NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 27: Gabriel Byrne, Jessica Lange, Michael Shannon and John Gallagher Jr. Perform during the "Long Day's Journey Into Night" Broadway Opening Night at American Airlines Theatre on April 27, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images) / Facebook

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Whatsapp NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 27: Gabriel Byrne, Jessica Lange, Michael Shannon and John Gallagher Jr. Perform during the "Long Day's Journey Into Night" Broadway Opening Night at American Airlines Theatre on April 27, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)

It's Byrne's second nomination after his 2000 nod for his role in A Moon for the Misbegotten.

Speaking to the New York Times about the play, he said O'Neill addresses what is "perhaps a kind of nihilism about life.

"Love does not save you. Family doesn't save you. Truth, the expression of it, doesn't save you. You still push into night. Faith doesn't really mean anything in the face of darkness. There's a kind of comfort in knowing we are all headed that way."

When co-star Lange suggested the play is innately Irish, Byrne quipped, "I hate to say it, but I think that's a load of bollocks.

"It sounds great, but actually when you examine it, it's a way of defining an entire people with an easy kind of aphorism. We are a very complex multifaceted family of human beings."

Of his Tony nomination, he told the FT, Its nice to be called up to the front of the class, Byrne concedes, but we make way too much of awards . . . When are plumbers going to be recognised for what they do?

The 70th Annual Tony Awards will broadcast live on June 12 and will be hosted by James Corden.
Jodie Foster is a pretty good director, so her return to behind-the-scenes film work after five years raises expectations. Add to that the stars of her project - George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O'Connell (who was so good in '71) and Dominic West - with a plot about the evils of big business, and you'd imagine you're on to a sure-fire winner. But dream teams don't always make dream projects, and while Money Monster is entirely watchable and very often enjoyable, it misses its mark on too many occasions.

Lee Gates (Clooney) is an obnoxious TV host whose show highlights stock opportunities. He has a sort of jocular wife/mammy relationship with his director Patty (Roberts) and they are mid-show when Kyle Budwell (O'Connell), a Joe Soap who lost all his money on stock recommended by Gates, takes him hostage live on air. At first it seems that Walt Camby's (West) company lost money because of a technical glitch, but Walt leaves most of the explaining to his press woman Diane (Catriona Balfe) - who soon begins to suspect dodgy dealings.

The direction is good and the stars all very engaging - George is George, dammit - and there are some light-hearted moments, but therein is part of the problem. Should there be funny moments in a hostage drama about the little guy being shafted by the inherent corruption of the economic system?

Where the far superior The Big Short outlined an inherently corrupt system, this paints a picture of one 'bad egg' company. Lee isn't that bad after all, and for all the guns and semtex, there is no sense of threat. The plot is far-fetched, but the real problem is the lack of a mission statement. The film doesn't say anything - so it lacks depth. 2 Stars

Love & Friendship

Cert G; Now Showing

The last time Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny were together on screen, it was because auteur Whit Stillman had cast them in his semi-autobiographical film The Last Days of Disco, set in the early '80s in New York. The three are reunited again now in Stillman's version of a very early and unfinished Jane Austen novella named Lady Susan. It takes place at the end of the 18th century, so 20 years on from being costumed in leg warmers, Beckinsale and Sevigny find themselves in corsets.

Lady Susan (Beckinsale) is a widow of a certain age who finds herself having to leave one set of hosts when rumours about her dalliances with the husband get out of hand. She takes refuge in her brother-in-law, Charles's (Justin Edwards) quiet, stately home. With no money of her own and a lifestyle she is keen to uphold, Lady Susan is seeking both a husband for her daughter Frederica (Morfydd Clark) and herself.

Among the candidates are the extraordinarily dim, but very wealthy, Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett) and the dashing, but moderately dim, Reginald de Courcy (Xavier Samuel) - whose sister and parents (Emma Greenwell, Jemma Redgrave and James Fleet) are horrified at the prospect of Lady Susan, but delighted by her daughter. Sevigny plays the American friend in whom she confides.

Utterly charming and thoroughly ruthless, Lady Susan is a fantastic character - and Beckinsale nails it. The whole cast are excellent and the script bang on. It is often laugh-out-loud funny, it's beautiful to watch (it was shot around Dublin) and has far broader appeal than standard period drama. 5 Stars

Aine O'Connor

Alice Through the Looking Glass

Cert PG; Now Showing

Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is all grown-up and now the captain of her father's ship. When she arrives back in England she has made great discoveries and had great adventures, but things have been difficult for her mother (Lindsay Duncan), who has had to make certain compromises.

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One of those involves their landlord and shipping company boss, whose marriage proposal Alice had previously turned down. But that doesn't matter enormously, because the real adventures take place through the looking glass - whence Alice is summoned by the Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman).

There she finds that the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and the other assorted characters are very concerned about the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp, right), who has turned into a dark curmudgeon, adamant that his family are still alive, and raging that he cannot find them and that no one will believe him. It falls to Alice to access Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) and travel through it to investigate.

Alice's first trip courtesy of Tim Burton had his trademark visuals and this, although directed by James Bobbin (Burton is listed as a producer), maintains that very distinctive look. The Oscar-winning costume design and make-up are fantastic again, and the CGI is amazing - not just for the action, but for the faces, too. Especially so for Depp - you just can't wear that much make-up at 50-odd and not look 90-odd.

It looks fabulous and it's busy, bombastic and sometimes funny. All of which mostly serve to cover up a thin plot. It's long too, but should make a good family outing. 3 Stars

Aine O'Connor
Whit Stillman is no stranger to Dublin, and jumped at the chance to shoot 'Love and Friendship' in the city. Photo: Mark Condren.

Since his first film, the almost cult Metropolitan in 1990, American writer-director Whit Stillman has made only five films and one TV pilot. His latest feature, Love & Friendship, is an adaptation of an early Jane Austen novella which was shot here in Ireland - a country with which he has a long and fond relationship. All of his work features wonderful female roles, and here he delivers another - Lady Susan. He clearly likes women. "Oh yes," he says in a voice reminiscent of John Malkovich. "I think it's because I'm deranged."

One of the women Whit Stillman has long admired is Jane Austen, although when he first read her work he was not a fan. Over the years, however, with further reading and research, he learned not only to love the work, but to greatly admire the woman. He feels that the romantic element of Austen's work has been exaggerated - and that she was saying so much more.

"Often it is adapted in pink with bows - they do Jane Austen as Barbara Cartland, but she was no Barbara Cartland," he says. "She was pretty clear-eyed about a lot of things."

Love & Friendship is a case in point. Based on a very early work which was published after Austen's death by her nephew, who called it Lady Susan, it is quite different in setting and tone from what might be considered more typical Austen fare.

"It's a lot racier," he agrees. "As she grew older she was a sort of thermometer of piety and respectability, she always had her own mind and sense of vision but she did become religious and more Victorian as time went on.

"Lady Susan was high spirits of younger years, and is also set in the 18th century - which was really different to the 19th. This is not long after Dangerous Liaisons, and it's a funny British Dangerous Liaisons - rather than a serious French one."

It also looks different. Stillman put award-winning Irish costume designer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh in charge, and the costumes are gorgeous.

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"This is the earliest Jane Austen period," he says. "It's before Regency, it's Georgian - and we tried to set it in the time when fashions were still really sharp, before it became that maternity dress look. It's so much sexier because they have their cleavage and the wonderful tailoring."

The film opens with the beautiful widow Lady Susan, played by Kate Beckinsale (below), leaving the home of the Manwaring family under a cloud of suspicion. Lord Manwaring is smitten with her, his wife, Lady Manwaring, is neither pleased nor quiet about her displeasure. Lady Susan, broke but with a lifestyle to uphold, moves to her in-laws', where she sets about targeting potential husbands for herself and her daughter.

Romance is a means to an end and much of the film, thanks to script and cast, is really funny - not least because Lady Susan is a great character.

"She's not up to any good," he admits. "I think that she is a scoundrel in an amusing way. She will say anything to anyone else to get an advantage, but to herself and her best friend she is totally honest."

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So, while a scoundrel, she is likeable - sort of.

The Love & Friendship project began many years ago, almost for fun between other projects.

"It was something that I didn't take very seriously, it seemed like the unlikeliest of things I was working on," he says. "But it was never tainted with contracts and money - it was my pleasure thing, and that kept it nice. I wasn't sweating over deadlines."

Despite the leisurely creative pace a lot of the precise work didn't happen until the shoot began, and he explains: "I didn't start adapting this until we started shooting, and then I had all these ideas that I couldn't have until I was with the actors and seeing what they were doing."

He adds that the strict Irish crew shooting schedule worked in his favour, explaining: "A lot of the American producers complain about it - 'Oh, you have to start at 8am and you end at 7pm and you can't vary that', but I found it a godsend. That last hour really concentrates the mind! It meant that I could get up at 4am and write the scenes."

It worked so well that the shoot, which was meant to be 27 days, finished a day early, his personal best.

Stillman has been visiting Ireland since the '90s for work and had been very taken by Trinity College. He says: "I remember thinking 'this is the most amazing campus I've ever seen, and to have it in the centre of the city'"

His eldest daughter had been wondering where to go to college and, after beginning a relationship with an Irishman, happened upon Trinity - and her thoughts echoed her father's. She read law in TCD and ended up staying in Dublin for 11 years. Whit visited often, so he knew exactly what to expect when it was suggested that Georgian Dublin and surroundings might prove an excellent location for Love & Friendship. He had been told that Irish crews were experienced in period drama and he was not disappointed - he is full of praise for both the crews, who he found almost created themselves through their network, and the Irish Film Board.

Born in Washington in 1952, he was raised between there and upstate New York. He experienced severe depression around the age of 12 - a depression that lifted when his parents divorced.

"It was a very strange thing... here are these divorced people worrying about their kids but, for me, it was a huge relief," he admits. "I was sad about being kicked out of the house I loved, but sometimes just direct sadness about something explicit is better than the weirdness of a family that's not working. And I'm not sure if that coincided with me being less crazy at the same time my parents were separating and divorcing, or if it was related somehow."

He did not especially enjoy his own time in college, studying history in Harvard, saying: "I wasn't right for Harvard. I did good things by leaving it - I learned Spanish in Mexico, which helped me a lot."

Since then he has travelled extensively and has lived mainly in Europe for many years. He met his wife in Barcelona in 1980 and they have two daughters - the eldest is now back living in New York and their youngest is a medical student in Florida.

He is a firm believer in writing what you know, saying: "I use personal things to get a feeling of authenticity and originality, so you delve into what you remember and what you went through."

Austen, he feels, expresses a universality of story and cites the many and varied adaptations that work - like Bridget Jones' Diary and Clueless - so making her relevant was not an issue. He is currently working on another personal first, a TV series for Amazon.

"I hope it works, it would be nice to create a world and just keep going with it and not have to reinvent it every time," he adds.

Love & Friendship is now showing nationwide.
Daniel O'Donnell photographed with wife Majella, daughter Siobhan, her husband Gavin, baby Olivia and Michael. PIC: Daniel O'Donnell Facebook

Daniel O'Donnell and his wife Majella celebrated the wedding of her stunning daughter Siobhan McLennon to fiance Gavin Shields.

Fresh from their four-month world cruise, Daniel and Majella looked tanned and relaxed in a family photo taken on the grounds of the luxury Sotorgrande resort in the Costa del Sol.

Also appearing in the snap is Siobhan and Gavin's adorable 9-month-old daughter Olivia and Siobhan's brother Michael.

Majella (50) shared the pic with her 5,00 Twitter followers while Daniel also shared it with his fans on Facebook.

"My beautiful daughter with her new husband Gavin on their wedding day. Fabulous location and very proud mum & dad!" she wrote.

Daniel (54) said, "What a fantastic day we had yesterday at our beautiful daughter Siobhans wedding. This is one of our family photos from yesterday with Michael, Siobhan, her husband Gavin, our grandchild Olivia, Majella and myself."

The bride looked stunning in an elegant high-necked gown while her mum went for a glamorous Julien MacDonald midnight blue dress.

Daniel and Majella will return to Ireland shortly to shoot the second series of Daniel and Majella's B&B Road Trip which will air on RTE.
While the murder rate in Ireland has climbed over recent decades, this still remains one of the safest countries in the world. A genuinely shocking development, though, has been the rise in adolescent killers.

Last night's one-off TV3 documentary Teen Killers looked at four of the most disturbing. Here are ten things we learned:

1. Prevalence

Sixteen Irish teenagers have been convicted of unlawful killing since 2000. Criminologist John OKeeffe here highlighted the increasingly adult nature of teen crime in Ireland today.

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2. Victims

Some of those were eventually convicted of manslaughter, some of murder. Many of their victims were also adolescents, or in the case of Michaela Davis, a child of just 12.

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Victim Michaela Davis

3. It's not limited to Dublin

This phenomenon is spread around the country, and not limited to Dublin. Darren Goodwin killed classmate Darragh Conroy in Mountmellick, Co Laois in 2003; the notorious Limerick feud saw Richard Treacy, Shane Kelly, Joseph Keane beat fellow teen Darren Coughlan to death two years later.

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4. Innocent people get caught in the crossfire

Daniel McDonnell was only 17 when he shot Melanie McCarthy McNamara  one year younger  in Tallaght in 2012, in a case of mistaken identity. He was aiming for her boyfriend Christy Moran, then 21. McDonnell had been involved in serious crime since he was just 14, and already had numerous convictions.

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5. Some murderers are proud of their act

McDonnell wrote letters from prison to his brother and girlfriend, bragging about the killing: two in the head, the bitch is dead. These, and cell-wall graffiti, were the only evidence against him. Experts reckoned he simply didnt care about incriminating himself  this wannabe gangster had made his mark.

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6. Gang culture

A feral street gang caused the deaths of Polish men Pawel Kalite and Marius Szwajkos, in an incredibly brutal 2011 attack. David Curran, then 17, was convicted of the double murder. His pal Sean Keogh was found guilty of assault causing harm. Interestingly, two girls and a boy who were also members of the gang had no charges brought against them.

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7. Sometimes it's personal

Unlike those two, the murder of Michaela Davis was more personal. Eighteen-year-old Jonathan Byrne raped, beat and strangled the girl in Clonsilla, Dublin in 2010. She had just finished her first day of secondary school. Byrne tried to pin the blame on another boy Michaela had known.

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8. Sentences may be shorter than you think

Darren Goodwin, then aged 15, killed 14-year-old Darragh Conroy with a metal hammer he'd taken from school. He had earlier told his classmates he would would love to kill someone that nobody cares about, someone like Darragh Conroy. Goodwin is due to be released this July.

9. Reasons

The reasons why teens kill are manifold. Former Governor of Mountjoy John Lonergan blames drug culture and social disconnection.

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10. Risk factors

According to psychologist Dr David Carey, the risk factors for becoming a homicidal teen mostly involve a history of violence in early life, abuse or severe neglect, extreme disruption in their environment and  the reason, I suppose, why most people dont murder another, regardless of their upbringing  an inability to regulate their own behaviour.

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Being a woman, I'm supposed to enjoy nagging men about how little housework they do. You know the sort of thing. Magazines and newspapers are always banging on about it. Some feminist spends a thousand words complaining that her fella doesn't pick up his socks, or clean the sink, or run a hoover over the carpet on the stairs, and everyone's supposed to agree that it's the most awful injustice since that mad woman was forced to fling herself under the king's horse to protest about the lack of female volleyball on Sky Sports.

Or something.

It's one of the fiercest front lines in the age-old battle of the sexes. One woman in Romania got so annoyed with her husband, when he refused to help around the house on International Women's Day this year, that she ripped off his testicles with her bare hands.

As you do.

If you're mental.

The thing is, though, that I don't blame men for not wanting to do any housework. Why would they? It's boring. It's thankless. Worst of all, it's never-ending. Your only reward for tidying up the house is that, a few days later, you have to do it again. Yippee. Not.

If hair is purported to clean itself after not washing it for a few months, why shouldn't houses do the same? Men are simply waiting to test if that theory is true, but they never get a chance to find out, because some overly fastidious female always comes along, insisting that they put their dirty underthings in the washing machine.

It's not that I like dirt. I hate it. But then, I'm not a man, and men just don't seem to feel the same way about it that women do. As a general rule, I mean, because, obviously, there are exceptions. Such as men who are trying to get a bit more action between the sheets, by pretending to be all progressive and gender-friendly.

I'm not knocking it.

Whatever works, right?

To most men, dirt simply seems to be a natural phenomenon, like gravity, and no one expects them to do anything about that, do they?

If they were constantly demanding that we cleaned the house from top to bottom every night when we come in from work, then, fair enough, they'd be the misogynist pigs that feminists always claim they are. But very few of them do. They only want to collapse onto a sofa and watch TV, and they'd be perfectly happy for their other halves to do likewise. In fact, they can't for the life of them understand why we don't.

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Of course the house would quickly look like a tip, with mushrooms growing on the inside of the shower, but that's the point. Men still wouldn't care, as their feet started sticking to the carpet, and even the mice moved out in protest at the falling standards.

The real question, then, is: why do we expect men to be more like us, when an equally workable alternative, as Professor Higgins points out in My Fair Lady, is for us to be more like them?

Women could learn not to care about the sight of a pair of pants lying on the stairs for six weeks, or spaghetti Bolognese congealing on the plate, to the stage where it takes an industrial drill to get it off again. We could train ourselves up so that the sight of mould on the inside of coffee cups no longer revolted us to the core. Then we'd be as happy, smelly and downright disgusting as they are.

It's not as if the great campaigners for women's rights in the past gave a monkey's about the ironing, after all. They had better things to do. So do we, if only we'd wise up and admit it.

But would we be happy being happy? There's the rub. That would mean admitting that we might have been wrong all along in expecting men to see the world in the same way as women - and, if we were wrong about that, then who knows what else we might have been mistaken about as well?

Whatever equality was supposed to mean, it can't be about letting men just be themselves, otherwise what was the point of trying to improve them? If we're not happy with the way we are, why the hell should they be?
Three major unions are set to investigate each other's finances in a move that could scupper plans to create a public service super-union for more than 80,000 workers.

Impact, the Public Service Executive Union (PSEU) and the Civil, Public and Services Union (CPSU) will begin a due diligence process in the coming months after talks to merge the unions got the go-ahead at their annual conferences.

Following the crucial audit, members of the unions, who work across the civil and public service, will decide whether to join the super-union in a ballot next year.

The powerful new entity would pool the resources of the three unions, including 'fighting funds' for industrial action worth more than 50m.

Impact has a dispute 'war chest' worth 44m, while the PSEU's assets are in the region of 15m, which includes a dispute fund. Among its assets, the PSEU owns and occupies 30 Merrion Square. It also bought the historic 1 Holles Street two years ago.

The unions' leaders have largely argued in favour of the super-union proposal in documents presented to their members. But the general secretary of the PSEU, Tom Geraghty, said an audit was critical "to make sure we're not taking over anyone else's debts".

Impact spokesman Bernard Harbor said it was "something you have to do".

One document presented to members, entitled 'New Union Project', says: "Size does matter when it comes to financial strength. Deeper pockets, with the finances managed prudently, wouldn't go unnoticed on the other side of the bargaining table . . . A new combined union won't be a pushover for anyone."

But there is uneasiness in at least one union. The CPSU recently informed members it has had a "steady but cautious" engagement with the project, but is also considering a merger with British-based Unite or continuing to stand alone.
An ex-businessman, who burned with others a female garda's private car after she had seized a vehicle for having no insurance, has been spared jail despite an appeal by prosecutors.

Neil Kelly (41), with a last address at Bohatch, Mountshannon, Co Clare, had pleaded guilty at Ennis Circuit Criminal Court to the criminal damage of Garda Aine Troy's car at Scarriff Garda Station in the early hours of March 19, 2013.

He was given a wholly suspended three year sentence by Judge Gerard Keyes on May 1, 2015.

The Court of Appeal refused to review Kelly's sentence today following an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions on grounds that it was unduly lenient.

Giving judgment, Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan said it was a borderline case but the suspended sentence imposed by the Circuit Court judge was within the margin of appreciation obliged to be afforded to him.

Giving background, Mr Justice Sheehan said Garda Troy was on mobile patrol near Scarriff when she noticed a vehicle, which she had stopped the previous evening, at a service station. It was being driven by a third party and was seized by Garda Troy at the service station for having no insurance.

Mr Justice Sheehan said Kelly's co-accused had been abusive to Garda Troy and had said to her that you'll see a silver spark later and you'll know who did it.

Kelly had intervened on Garda Troy's behalf at the time and endeavoured to get his colleague to desist from misbehaving, to behave himself and submit to the garda's request, the judge said.

The three men left, having taken some cans of beer from the car, and went to the pub where they stayed for some time. They returned to Scarrif Garda Station two hours later where they set fire to Garda Troy's car, the judge said.

Mr Justice Sheehan said Kelly had a good working record and had a successful car valeting business but this collapsed immediately after locals became aware of his involvement in the offence.

He said Kelly paid Garda Troy 6,000 compensation and was also remorseful. Detective Sergeant Oliver Nevin had said, from what he had come to know, that Kelly's behaviour on the night in question was out of character.

He had also disassociated himself from his co-accused and had moved to another address.

Mr Justice Sheehan said the evidence suggested that Kelly's co-accused was the person who initiated the offence.

It was not only an offence against Garda Troy but effectively an attack on the rule of law that would require a prison sentence on that fact alone.

Mr Justice Sheehan said that, in one sense, a garda is always on duty and this crime interfered with Garda Troy in this regard and with the protection of the wider community.

The offence had a serious affect on Garda Troy, happening shortly before she was due to be married. The compensation paid by Kelly and his co-accused meant she was at no financial loss.

Mr Justice Sheehan said this was a borderline case and Kelly was just about on the correct side of that border.

There was sufficient mitigation  his guilty plea, his remorse, absence of relevant previous convictions and his intervention earlier in the evening when his associate was disrespectful  to allow the Circuit Court judge to impose a suspended sentence, he said.

Mr Justice Sheehan, who sat with Mr Justice George Birmingham and Mr Justice John Edwards, refused the DPP's application for a review of sentence
Audrey Mahon said she has "forgiven" her husband who has been found guilty of killing her son, but "has not forgotten" what happened.

Dublin man David Mahon (45) was found guilty of the manslaughter of his stepson by a jury at the Central Criminal Court earlier this month. He will be sentenced on Monday week.

In her victim impact statement today, Audrey Mahon said, that like all mothers, she had a "special bond" with her son Dean, recalling his "cheeky grin" and "heart of gold".

She said that nothing can compare with the tragedy of Dean's loss, and she cannot disagree with the jury's decision.

Mrs Mahon also said she has "forgiven Dave but has not forgotten" what happened, adding that Mr Mahon will "always be my husband and best friend".

David Mahon had denied murdering his stepson Dean Fitzpatrick on May 26, 2013, a day after the deceased interfered with his bicycle to annoy him.

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He claimed father-of-one Mr Fitzpatrick walked into the knife he was holding and his death was an accident.

His legal team argued that Mahon's account of what happened was not contradicted by the scientific evidence.

It was the prosecution case that Mahon was drunk, angry and agitated and he stabbed his stepson, before fleeing the scene and leaving him to die on the street.

Dean Fitzpatrick was the older brother of teenager Amy Fitzpatrick who went missing in Spain in 2008.

The 23-year-old received a single stab wound to the stomach outside the apartment his mother Audrey shared with Mahon at Burnell Square, Northern Cross in Malahide.

Earlier this month, a jury of six men and six women took eight hours and 16 minutes to reach a verdict that Mahon was guilty of manslaughter.

Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan said she will impose sentencing on Monday, June 13.

During the sentence hearing, defence barrister, Sean Guerin SC, said Mr Mahon accepted the jury's decision and there would not be an appeal against conviction.

Mr Guerin said he had also been instructed by his client to apologise to all those who knew Mr Fitzpatrick.

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In his victim impact statement, Dean's father Christopher Fitzpatrick said his son took his first breath into the world in March 1990, and he was "so small and precious" and he was so "full of joy" to have a son.

Mr Fitzpatrick said his daughter went missing in 2008 and his "world came crashing down again" in May 2013 when he had to identify his son's body in Beaumont Hospital.

He said Dean's death has taken its toll on him, and he has been hospitalised due to stress.

Mr Fitzpatrick also said that all he now has of Dean is "visits to his resting place".

Dean's partner Sarah O'Rourke said, in her victim impact statement, that her "world fell apart" when gardai told her that Dean had died, and while the couple had their "ups and downs", she "loved him as he loved me".

Ms O'Rourke said Dean was so proud of the couple's young son, and she will "never forget him and what they had".

The court heard that the couple's son was only 18 months old when Mr Fitzpatrick was killed.

In her victim impact statement, Ms O'Rourke said it "broke her heart" to hear their young son calling "da, da" following his death.

When her son picks up Dean's picture and asks "where's my daddy", Ms O'Rourke said that she tells him he is "a star in the sky and angels took him to heaven".

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Ms O'Rourke said Mr Fitzpatrick was "cruelly taken away from his son". She said he talks about Dean all the time, and is missing out on things that other children can do with their fathers.

Defence barrister Sean Guerin SC said Mahon's circumstances have changed greatly since he lived in Spain and ran a successful property business.

Mr Guerin said the defendant had always worked since leaving school, but he is currently on disability after undergoing two hip operations. The court also heard that Mahon is urgently waiting on a second operation on one of his hips and this is causing him pain.

Mr Guerin also said this case was "truly an involuntary manslaughter case" and "a lenient approach to sentencing is a just approach".
A juror who sat through the longest criminal trial in the State's history has been hospitalised and will not be able to conclude deliberations.

Jurors have been deliberating for over 28 hours over the course of six days days in the trial of four former bankers alleged to have conspired to mislead investors about the true financial health of Anglo Irish Bank.

They will return tomorrow to begin a seventh day considering a verdict.

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Today on day 82 of the trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Martin Nolan was handed a note by the jury foreman stating a female member of the jury is in hospital and will not be available for at least a week.

Judge Nolan said he was happy to allow jurors continue deliberating with 11 people. The foreman told the judge they were making progress.

Anglo's former head of capital markets John Bowe (52) and the bank's then finance director Willie McAteer (65) along with former chief executive of ILP Group Denis Casey (56) and ILP's former finance director Peter Fitzpatrick (63) have been on trial since January last. It is the longest running criminal trial in the State's history.

Bowe from Glasnevin, Dublin, McAteer of Greenrath, Tipperary Town, Co. Tipperary, Casey from Raheny, Dublin and Fitzpatrick of Convent Lane, Portmarnock, Dublin have all pleaded not (NOT) guilty to conspiring together and with others to mislead investors by setting up a 7.2 billion circular transaction scheme between March 1st and September 30th, 2008 to bolster Anglo's balance sheet.
A pregnant woman hit two security guards with her car as she tried to flee a shopping centre after a suspected theft, a court heard.

Mother-of-three Mary Gavin (27) pinned one man up against another car and struck the second guard as she turned to escape, but was caught when she got stuck in heavy traffic.

Judge Bryan Smyth jailed her for five months.

She pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to two counts of assault and one of dangerous driving. There was no theft charge.

The incident happened at Liffey Valley Shopping Centre on December 15, 2010.

The accused, of Moyne Park, Baldoyle, was fleeing security after an alleged theft incident, the court heard. She left the car park at speed but became stuck in a queue of traffic.

There was a suspicion there were stolen goods in the car.

At Bothar Na Life, the two security guards stood in front of the car. She moved it forward, pinning one of them to the car in front. He fell onto the bonnet of her car and then onto the ground.

Gavin then turned right, striking the second security guard. The court heard it had been obvious that the guards were standing in front of her to stop her moving on.

After striking the second security man, she managed to get onto the other side of the road, where she again became stuck in traffic. Both victims had made full recoveries and were back at work.

Gavin was under a lot of financial pressure at the time, was pregnant and suffering from panic attacks, her solicitor said.

When the security men came after her, she panicked and acted in a manner "beyond her own comprehension", he said.

She could not remember the incident. She was on no drugs other than prescription medication from her GP.

"It was all her own doing, she has only herself to blame," her solicitor added.

Her youngest child was ill and Gavin was the only person able to bring the child for hospital visits.

It was an isolated, unusual incident and she was "terrified of being taken away from her three children". She also admitted a series of other unrelated motoring charges.

The judge said he found it surprising that the accused could not remember the incident. He said it was an "appalling set of facts".

"Maybe she did panic, but she continued and didn't stop," he said.
A SON of Sinn Fein TD Aengus O Snodaigh has been spared a criminal conviction and a possible sentence for stealing a box of Desparado beer.

Lorcan O Snodaigh (18) pleaded guilty to the theft the beer worth 10 at Supervalu on Talbot Street in Dublin 1 on April 12 last year. However, he was let off after making a 50 court poor box payment.

The youth's case was heard at the Dublin Children's Court because he was aged 17 and still a minor at the time of the shoplifting incident. However, he has since turned 18 and reached adulthood by the time the summons was issued.

Defence counsel Damian McKeone told Judge John O'Connor that the youth who is from the Naas Road, Bluebell, Dublin 12, was pleading guilty to the charge.

The teen was accompanied to the proceedings by his father Aengus O Snodaigh, Sinn Fein TD for Dublin South-Central constituency and party spokesperson on Social Protection and Communities.

Lorcan O Snodaigh spoke to confirm he did not want the case to be dealt with before a jury in the circuit court which has tougher sentencing powers. He said, Keep it in this court when given the choice.

Judge O'Connor accepted jurisdiction.

Garda David Leahy told the court that he had responded to a call that a security guard had detained a male in the shop. He also viewed CCTV footage which showed the youth took a box of Desparado beer and passed all points without payment.

The beer was recovered in saleable condition the youth was co-operative, the garda said.

The court heard he had eight prior criminal convictions which included entering with intent to commit an offence, criminal damage, and six for thefts which led to him being bound to the peace.

Mr McKeone defending asked the court to note that the offence went back to last year and his client has since turned 18. He had been going to college but dropped out and hopes to resume a computers course in September.

Pleading with the court to spare him a conviction, Mr McKeone said the youth was drunk at the time of the incident, accepted it was a foolish thing to do and was remorseful. Counsel said the young man, who is getting a disability payment, had 50 to offer to charity.

The judge said he was sure the young man has turned it around and he accepted the offer which he said would go to St Vincent de Paul charity. Once the money was handed over the judge marked the facts proven but the case was struck out.
The father-in-law of innocent gangland murder victim Martin ORourke has hit out at Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald for acting too late to halt the bloody Kinahan and Hutch feud which has already claimed seven lives.

A grief stricken Larry Power, father to Martins fiancee Angeline, said the violence that has gripped Dublin's inner city in recent months has been allowed to go on too long.

The Minister for Justice like she saying about putting armed Gardai on the street, its too late now isnt it?, he told Claire Byrne during an emotional exchange on RTE One.

You know theres no regard whatsoever for human life anymore.

People told me down there in Sheriff St that if it had have been 20 minutes earlier some of the kids could have been shot coming out of the creche.

He added: To be honest about it, if a person gave me any amount of money to go out and kill a person, I wouldnt kill a person for money. I would like... who gives me the right to take another persons life? Im not God.

Expand Close Tragic shooting victim Martin O'Rourke pictured with his partner Angelina Power / Facebook

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Innocent Martin ORourke (24) was gunned down in a botched hit by a Kinahan gunman who mistook him for Hutch associate Keith Murtagh in Dublin last month.

The father-of-threes partner Angeline was three months pregnant at the time, and tragically lost her baby, which her father claimed was due to grief.

Asked if any good could come from the murder of his son-in-law, Mr Power said it was too late, adding that if Martins death could have stopped the feud it would have happened by now.

My message would be now to the people that are carrying out those killings is to please try and think about the distraught and the torment and the upset and the suffering that youre putting into peoples lives, for the rest of their lives.

Expand Close Martin ORourkes fiancee Angelina Power leans against the hearse containing his body. Photo: Caroline Quinn / Facebook

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[Martin] didnt deserve it you know, three kids dont deserve to grow up without a father for something that they didnt do.

He was in the wrong place at the wrong time you know and as for that guy that done Martin, I do know he has to live with that.

Expand Close The coffin of Martin ORourke is carried to St Michans Church accompanied by a piper. Photo: Caroline Quinn / Facebook

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And its not one death, its two deaths he has to live with.

"He has to live with the death of my unborn grandchild and the death of my son-in-law Martin.
Health Minister Simon Harris will appeal directly to his EU counterparts in efforts to overcome their objections to a tough proposed law on alcohol labelling and pricing.

Officials have signalled that the planned Public Health Alcohol Bill will continue its passage through the Dail and Seanad in spite of heavy opposition from up to a dozen EU states and reservations from the policy-guiding EU Commission.

All of these have expressed objections under EU single market rules to plans for minimum unit-pricing and to new rules that labels must carry a health warning and a calorie count. The Irish Government has been given three months to file a reply and could ultimately face penalties in the EU Court of Justice if found to be impeding the free movement of goods.

Dublin Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes, who has done a lot of work on the issue, yesterday warned that member states' concerns must be allowed to trump EU single market rules. "Member states must be able to react to ongoing health concerns, which are particular to those member states, in a determined and co-ordinated way," he told the Irish Independent.

Government officials said the draft bill remains at an early stage in the law-making process and the intervening time will be used to discuss the objections at EU level. Mr Harris said he would take up the issue with his fellow EU health ministers.

"Alcohol abuse is a serious issue for Ireland and we must deal with it. It is my personal view that we cannot be obliged to proceed at the pace of the slowest within the EU on this issue," Mr Harris told the Irish Independent.

Mr Hayes said the measure is a landmark piece of public health legislation with measures including minimum pricing, advertising rules and restrictions on promotions. The most controversial element is the requirement for labelling - no such laws exists in any other EU country.
Ireland is to almost double its military involvement in a country that has the most dangerous peacekeeping mission in the world.

Additional troops are being sent to Mali in west Africa as part of the Government's response to a call for help from France to its EU partners after the terrorist atrocity in Paris last November.

France was anxious to withdraw some of its military personnel from international peacekeeping missions to bolster security at home.

Ireland agreed to provide additional personnel on the basis that it would not breach the country's neutrality or put the lives of Irish soldiers in danger while deployed on other missions around the world.

Mali was plunged into conflict after its president was ousted in a military coup in 2012 and its forces divided into several factions, with one group hijacked by Islamist extremists.

After the EU set up a peacekeeping force, Ireland initially agreed to send 10 troops to join British personnel in a 24-person training team.

It was the first time Irish and British troops were deployed together on an operation involving standard military training as well as programmes in international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians and human rights.

Six of the Irish personnel formed an infantry training group within the British team and the rest joined headquarters and logistical staff.

Earlier this year, the mission mandate changed to using mobile training teams travelling to various regions.

However, the Irish will not be contributing to those teams and personnel will be deployed only in Koulikoro and Bamako.

Last week, Ireland's deployment increased to 13 and will be boosted to 15 next month, with three more in September.

The Irish are now primarily deployed in logistics and technical roles.

Junior Defence Minister Paul Kehoe told the Irish Independent last night that he would continue to keep Ireland's partic- ipation in the mission under review.

However, the Irish are all deployed in relatively safe jobs and will not be active in danger zones.

The Irish have no connection with another UN mission, Minusma, regarded as the most dangerous in the world, suffering more than 50 fatalities among its 10,000-strong contingent since 2013 as a result of improvised explosions, rocket strikes and suicide attacks.
Several units from the Dublin Fire Brigade responded to multiple car fires across Dublin last night.

One unit from Tallaght fire station responded to a blaze off the Blessington Road at around 9pm yesterday evening.

Witnesses reported that the fire crew was at the scene within ten minutes of being alerted to the car fire.

Meanwhile, firefighters from Finglas station attended a car fire in the locality at around midnight.

One unit from Tallaght fire station has dealt with a car fire off the Blessington Rd pics @_melaniemay @soundcheque pic.twitter.com/WRVKddkZFe  Dublin Fire Brigade (@DubFireBrigade) May 29, 2016

Crews were required to wear breathing apparatus to protect them from the toxic gases coming from the blaze.

There were no reported injuries as a result of either incident.
GARDA Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan has said she was not aware of a private meeting between Fianna Fail TD John McGuinness and her predecessor Martin Callinan.

Mr McGuinness - the former chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last week told the Dail that the meeting took place in January 2014, around the time that Mr Callinan told TDs that he personally viewed two whistleblowers' actions as "disgusting".

The Carlow-Kilkenny TD claimed that Mr Callinan warned him in a private meeting in a car park that whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe "was not to be trusted".

Sgt. McCabe's allegations about Garda malpractice were later investigated by the O'Higgins Commission which found that he had raised legitimate concerns and performed a genuine public service.

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A Garda spokesman released a statement on the meeting this evening.

"Commissioner OSullivan was not aware of any private meeting between former Commissioner Callinan and Deputy McGuinness as outlined by Deputy McGuinness in the Dail," he said.

"In relation to whistleblowers, Commissioner OSullivan has consistently stated that dissent is not disloyalty and as a service we are determined to learn from our experiences. An Garda Siochana agrees that whistleblowers are part of the solution to the problems facing the service," he added.

"The Commissioner has recently appointed a Protected Disclosures Manager and an appropriately trained dedicated team will be established to oversee all matters related to whistleblowers.

"Transparency Ireland has agreed to work with An Garda Siochana to help ensure protected disclosures and people making them are welcomed and protected in An Garda Siochana," the statement continued.
Paschal Donohoe: 'When the Taoiseach decides, at a point of his choosing, that he wants to move on to other things, I will not be putting my name forward' Photo: Photocall Ireland

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has cleared the path for a three-way battle to replace Enda Kenny as leader of Fine Gael.

Front-runners Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and Frances Fitzgerald will vie for the role before the next general election.

In an interview with the Irish Independent, Mr Donohoe said he wants to be straight about his ambitions.

When the Taoiseach decides, at a point of his choosing, that he wants to move on to other things, I will not be putting my name forward, he said.

The removal of Mr Donohoe from the equation makes Tanaiste Ms Fitzgerald the clear favourite of Mr Kenny to succeed him as leader.

However, Justice Minister Ms Fitzgerald is fighting several fires and is viewed as having a month to show she has a handle on the various garda management controversies.

Failure to restore public confidence in the justice system will undoubtedly cost her the top job.

Following his promotion to the powerful Public Spending portfolio, Mr Donohoe is seen a rising star of the party and is tipped to become the next Finance Minister after Michael Noonan.

As a result, he is expected to remain an influential figure in the Fine Gael leadership.

In his first interview since taking up his new job, Mr Donohoe adopts a hard line with unions seeking pay rises, saying that the Lansdowne Road Agreement is the only show in town.

The minister is also telling young, new teachers and gardai, paid less than their older, established counterparts, that the wage gap wont be closed.

The message Id like to give is that we want to work with them, but we have to work inside Lansdowne Road, he said.
Fianna Fail TD John McGuinness is under pressure to explain why he waited for more than two years to make claims about a private conversation he had with former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan.

Mr McGuinness's Fianna Fail colleagues expressed "dismay" at his new allegations against the former commissioner, and especially at his timing.

Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty also questioned Mr McGuinness's judgment in meeting with Mr Callinan and then remaining silent until well after a special inquiry reported.

The Kilkenny TD yesterday repeated allegations he originally made in the Dail.

He has said that when he was the chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the then Garda Commissioner Mr Callinan warned him in a private meeting in a car park that whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe "was not to be trusted and there were serious issues about him".

Mr McGuinness said the meeting took place in January 2014, around the time that Mr Callinan controversially told a PAC hearing that he personally viewed two whistleblowers' actions as "disgusting".

The TD called on the former commissioner and his successor, Noirin O'Sullivan, to clarify any efforts that were made to discredit Sgt McCabe.

Mr Callinan was opposed to Sgt McCabe being heard by the PAC. It is now alleged that part of that opposition led to the then garda chief seeking a meeting with Mr McGuinness, who has now set out his account.

"The Garda Commissioner confided in me in a car park on the Naas Road that Gda McCabe was not to be trusted and there were serious issues about him," he told the Dail on Thursday.

"The vile stories that circulated about Gda McCabe, which were promoted by senior officers in An Garda Siochana, were absolutely appalling."

Mr McGuinness told the Dail this during the debate on the O'Higgins commission of investigation, which examined Sgt McCabe's allegations of garda wrongdoing in the Cavan-Monaghan division.

Fianna Fail justice spokesman Jim O'Callaghan could not be contacted for comment, but other TDs, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were unhappy with Mr McGuinness's actions.

"I presume any such meeting was supposed to be confidential between Commissioner Callinan and John McGuinness. Why did he not respect that? And if not, why wait until long after the commission of inquiry to speak out?" one senior Fianna Fail TD wanted to know.

Mr Doherty said the idea of such a meeting was "baffling", and he questioned Mr McGuinness's waiting until now to speak out.

"It was an error of judgment on Mr McGuinness's part, considering the seriousness of the matter," he told RTE.

In London to speak about the Brexit poll, Taoiseach Enda Kenny brushed aside questions about Mr McGuinness.

"I'm here to talk about Brexit and I haven't heard about the comments you refer to," Mr Kenny told reporters.

An Garda Siochana said it did not comment on third-party statements.

However, a garda source pointed to Ms O'Sullivan's recent comments about respect for whistleblowers generally and Sgt McCabe in particular.

A spokesman for Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald will ask the Policing Authority to examine how senior gardai deal with whistleblowing.

Other sources said it was likely that Ms O'Sullivan would be asked about the issue before long.
Gareth Hutch was shot dead outside the Avondale House flats in Dublin

One of the chief suspects for the murder of Gareth Hutch has been hospitalised after taking ill while in garda custody.

Gardai believe he was one of the gunmen who shot dead 35-year-old Hutch outside the Avondale House flats in Dublin's north inner city last week.

The 29-year-old suspect handed himself in to gardai at Mountjoy Garda Station only hours after the murder, but has maintained he had nothing to do with it.

It has emerged that he was rushed to hospital at the weekend after swallowing an object. A source said he was found "in obvious pain" after suffering suspected internal injuries.

He was taken to the Mater Hospital, opposite the garda station, on Saturday after- noon and received treatment. Despite earlier concerns, he was discharged yesterday morning and returned to garda custody. He can be held for up to seven days.

The Irish Independent previously revealed that the suspect handed himself in to investigating detectives on the orders of his mother.

Two women are still being questioned in relation to the killing.

One of them is suspected of providing crucial logistical support to the two gunmen.

The other is in a relationship with the second gunman, who is on the run after fleeing to the North.

Gardai do not believe this woman had any involvement in the murder.

The funeral of Gareth Hutch, who was a nephew of Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch, is expected to take place in Dublin later this week.
Well, thank goodness we have a Government at last. Nobody knows what direction it will take, but the Taoiseach's selection of independent-minded ministers may give us a clue as to what parts of the country might benefit. If your wish-list includes fast-speed broadband up in Roscommon, a Luas track up to Enniskerry, and extra childcare facilities for Tallaght, this could be Enda's best little Government ever, in the history of the State.

Those of us who play doctors and nurses are watching our new puppy with delight and wondering how quickly we can train him in. Boy Simon may have hopped into Hawkins House in short pants with a recently completed vaccination schedule, but he comes with a reputation as a clean-shaven young man in a hurry. Those close to the ether fumes of Fine Gael leadership whisper the name of young Harris as one who might usurp the prime-ministerial ambitions of more talked-about candidates.

For the second time in a row, the Taoiseach has appointed the youngest member of his cabinet as minister for health. His pick has much to learn, and fast. The chamber of Greystones Town Council and a junior ministry for flooding may be excellent primers for development of political nous, but Health has a language and powerplay all of its own.

Young Harris will need urgent tuition in the dark arts from the very best. He will need to know that there are two types of oncologist, mixed up at your peril. He will learn that an otorhinolaryngologist and an ear, nose and throat man are one and the same. At prolonged meetings of EU health ministers he needs to use the word magenschleim-hautentzundung (German shorthand for tummy upset) if he wants to escape the tedium and get back to his teddy bear at the hotel. Young Harris is in the very interesting position that he has no local acute hospital to support. It's traditional for health ministers to splash the cash in the home parish, but Simon's constituents in Wicklow and East Carlow have to go outside their counties to access acute care. St Columcille's in Loughlinstown and St Michael's in Dun Laoghaire have been life-savers for generations, but both hospitals have been on the 'deprived and critical' list for some time. The focus and funding has been shifting further away from his patch up to St Vincent's at Elm Park.

With the exception of the campus at Letterkenny Hospital, there won't be too many watery floods for the new minister to deal with. There will be floods of a different kind. The begging letters and emails are already piling up on his desk. The civil servants want him to sign the oath never to use the word 'change'. The consultants will offer to examine him and warn of their fees in advance. The nurses will rearrange his pillows for an extra hour off. The GPs want him to appreciate their forgotten talents. The pharmacists want to be his best friend. And on it goes and goes and goes. The former minister for flooding will discover that there is no shortage of drains in healthcare. He will learn that the words 'service' and 'salary' are interchangeable. He cannot improve one without improving the other. And so most things remain the mediocre same. My wife has wanted me to be minister for health for decades. "Nobody knows as much about it as you do," she whispers softly into my ear. Which is one good reason that I could never do the job. And the reason young Simon could possibly do a very fine job indeed.

The fluffy elephant in Simon's bedroom, however, is that Fine Gael, like Fianna Fail before them, has failed miserably in Health. Micheal Martin recreated the dinosaur with his HSE. Simon has been given the job of dismantling it, or changing its name to something else. Fine Gael failed to live up to the promise of universal health insurance and free check-ups for everybody. Private health policies were quite reasonable when Dr Reilly announced their plans for universal coverage, but the mandatory Irish delay in implementing any plan gave insurance companies a chance to double their premiums. This bungling means there is no universal access, and those who already had cover are now struggling to pay it. Many have either dropped out or dropped down to policies they don't really understand. Like the one that offers an extra slice of toast on public wards if you pay an excess yourself for the breakfast.

I once worked for Denis Gill, now retired professor of paediatrics at Temple Street Hospital. He was simply the best teacher of children's medicine in Ireland and beyond. His common sense and his intuition about his little patients and their parents was legendary. He also had that great gift of making the complex simple and making the thickest of junior doctors feel that they had something to contribute. Alf Nicholson is his successor as professor and he shares that ability to teach well.

Professor Alf has just co-authored a book with writer Grainne O'Malley, called When Your Child is Sick: What You Can do to Help. Published by Gill Books, this is an excellent encyclopedia of everyday parental worries. Chestiness, tummy troubles, foreskin ailments, skin rashes, restless sleep, food troubles, growth worries - they are all covered. In my childhood, every sensible Irish mother had a reference book called Baby and Child Care by Dr Benjamin Spock. When Your Child is Sick is a most worthy successor.

Dr Maurice Gueret is editor of the 'Irish Medical Directory'

drmauricegueret.com
Composite image: An Aer Lingus aircraft takes off from London Heathrow in 2015 (Photo: Matthew Lloyd/Bloomberg via Getty Images) with vintage poster of 1950s cabin crewmember (inset).

Members of 'Ireland on Parade', pictured at Dublin Airport before their departure to USA 11 September 1964. Part of the Independent Newspapers Ireland/NLI Collection

Johnny Sexton was In Dublin Airport. where he was unveiled as an Aer Lingus ambassador. Photo: INPHO/Billy Stickland 2015

Christoph Mueller Aer Lingus CEO (centre) with Aer Lingus cabin crew Lesley Murphy and Grainne Frawley launching flights from Shannon to Boston Aer Lingus.

John Hinde postcard of the Old Terminal and Pier A at Dublin Airport. Source: Dublin Airport/Pinterest

The Golden Shamrock class, as regularly advertised in holiday magazines throughout the 1960s

In 1967 Aer Lingus flew fresh shamrock to Manchester to present to George Best

An Aer Lingus Super Constellation, known as the Super Connie. The propeller-driven were built by Lockheed Corporation between 1943 and 1958 at Burbank, California.

An original ticket for Aer Lingus's (then Aer Linte) early transatlantic flights. Flights departed Dublin and flew via Newfoundland to JFK Airport in New York. They first departed in 1958.

The Most Rev. Dr.Dermot Ryan greets his brother Andrew and his sister Sr.Madeline at Rome Airport. He arrived for his installation as Archbishop of Dublin in a cermony conducted by the Pope. Pic Matt Walsh 10/2/73 - indo pic Scanned from the NPA archives.

Rev. Fr.Peyton, the rosary priest, waves goodbye at Dublin Airport for Lourdes. 06 October 1954. Part of the Independent Newspapers Ireland/NLI Collection.

Stock Photo. An Aer Lingus jet prepares to land at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, in 2010. Photo: Tim Boyle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

An Aer Lingus poster from the 1950s courtesy of Tony Murray, taken from Doesn't Time Fly? Aer Lingus - Its History by Mike Cronin

Liz Jackson and Russell Gleeson presenting flowers to Pope John Paul II at Dublin Airport upon his arrival in Ireland in 1979.

Monsignor James Horan and Crew at Knock Airport, in the 1980s. Part of the Independent Newspapers Ireland/NLI Collection

A passenger at Knock Airport for the first commercial Aer Lingus flights which took off on a pilgrimage to Rome in 1985. Photo: Independent News And Media/Getty Images

Aer Lingus pilot Davina Pratt poses with the Ryder Cup after arriving at Dublin Airport on September 18, 2006. Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

The first Aer Lingus Boeing 747 jumbo jet on arrival at Dublin Airport, circa March 1971. Part of the Independent Newspapers Ireland/NLI Collection).

An old postcard of Dublin Airport. Source: Dublin Airport/Pinterest

Iolar ('eagle'), the first Aer Lingus aircraft, a DH84 Dragon EI-ABI that flew from Baldonnel to Bristol on May 27, 1936.

Audrey Hepburn and Mel Ferrer at Dublin Airport. Photo: 13/08/1964. Part of the Independent Newspapers Ireland/NLI Collection

Pictured with the Iolar at Bristol airport are Aer Lingus cabin crew Laura Mc Cabe and Catherine McDonnell, both wearing the very first Aer Lingus uniform worn by cabin crew in 1945. Photo: Dan Regan

An undated photo of a flight attendant with Aer Lingus. Photo by David Reed/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

Aer Lingus at 80: Feast your eyes on eight decades of airline nostalgia! Close

From Aer Lingus's first flight to its acquisition by IAG, the airline has come a long way. Here are some of the highlights.

80 years ago today - on May 27, 1936 - Aer Lingus launched its first ever flight from Baldonnel to Bristol on Iolar, a De Havilland 84 Dragon.

The first flight carried just five passengers. Today, the IAG-owned carrier boasts a fleet of 62 planes servicing 117 destinations in Europe and North America.

In 1936, Aer Lingus flew 892 passengers. In 2016, it will fly 12 million.

It's been quite a journey as our gallery (above) attests.

Aer Lingus: 80 years in the life

1936: Aer Lingus Teoranta was registered as an airline.

1940: Aer Lingus moved into the newly completed Dublin Airport.

1946: Paris was added to the network, the airline's first continental city.

1954: First Vickers Viscount 700s delivered (world's first turboprop airliner)

1958: Aerlinte Eireann operates first transatlantic service to New York

1960: Aer Lingus enters the jet age with Boeing 720s

1968: Flight 712 crashes off Tuskar Rock. 61 lives are lost.

1971: The first Aer Lingus Boeing 747 is delivered.

1979: Pope John Paul II visits Ireland on an Aer Lingus 747

1986: Aer Lingus celebrates its 50 Anniversary.

1994: Airbus A330s are introduced into service on transatlantic routes.

1995: The last Aer Lingus 747 flight takes place

2001: A survival plan is introduced to compete with low-cost carriers

2006: Aer Lingus is floated on the Irish and London Stock Exchanges

2011: The original Iolar aircraft is restored

2011: The original Iolar aircraft is restored 2012: Aer Lingus launches its Facebook page

2014: A new business class with lie-flat seats is unveiled

2015: IAG acquires Aer Lingus for a reported 1.3 billion

View more images on the Independent Archives here.

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Billy Keane Opinion Even a dash to the Croke Park toilet wasnt enough to get rid of space invader who gave me Covid

I did the time, but there was no crime. Banged up I was, under house arrest after two red bars showed up on the Covid test. Im not too bad, thanks for asking. I have it down on a man who was nearly close enough to kiss me at the All-Ireland football final between Kerry and Galway.
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John Downing Opinion New British prime minister Rishi Sunaks succession proves an important milestone in British political inclusivity

There is an old saying in British politics that goes: The right looks for converts while the left seeks out traitors. It comes to mind when one reflects upon the election of Rishi Sunak as the UKs first non-white prime minister in a party traditionally seen as most opposed to mass immigration and the dilution of national identity via multiculturalism.
Michael O'Doherty: 'Flashy, shallow and full of cliches - Lord of the Dance perfect for Trump'

It's unusual for an organisation to publicly deny it was involved in one of the highest-profile events of the year. However, this was the course of action adopted by the Riverdance people who, on their official Twitter feed last Thursday, stressed that they were not performing at Donald Trump's inauguration party. For good measure, they said it again on Saturday.
Photographer David Bailey now wants Britain to leave the EU, the opposite of the position he took in the 1970s

David Bailey has revealed he wants Britain to leave the EU - more than 40 years after he featured on a celebrity-filled poster urging voters to stay in Europe.

The renowned photographer joined artist Henry Moore, author JB Priestley and actress Janet Suzman on a poster of famous faces urging the country to "join them" in "voting yes" for Europe.

But Bailey, 78, revealed to the Press Association that he has changed his mind and now wants Britain to leave the EU.

A spokeswoman for Britain's most famous photographer said: "Mr Bailey would like you to know that he is for leaving the EU in June - Out will have his vote."

The revelation comes a month after Dame Janet said she is still in favour of remaining in the EU and suggests those who once united in enthusiastically backing the Union are now divided.

Bailey, who has photographed everyone from the Queen to the Kray twins, rarely talks publicly about politics and has not commented before on the upcoming EU referendum.

Although in an interview with The New Statesman magazine in 2012 he revealed he had only ever voted once, for the Conservative Party, and he "hates" Tony Blair because of his alliance with George W Bush.

Bailey also revealed he liked George Osborne and Boris Johnson, Tory politicians on opposite sides of the referendum debate.

He told the magazine: "I like George Osborne. He came here a couple of times; he had a sense of humour. He seemed to make sense to me.

"And I like Boris, because he brings a sense of life to politicians: the most dreary people in the world - who wants the country to be run by them?

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"So Boris is a breath of fresh air and an amusement. He's a bit of a joke, but he is a good joke."
Roz Purcell and Bressie, pictured with Brent Pope, at a photocall in 2012

Niall Breslin (Bressie) who completed the Dublin's first Ironman 70.3 triathlon in Phoenix Park today, with 2,500 athletes taking part with girlfriend Roz Purcell after the race

Model Roz Purcell booked a trip to London amid news she had split with her boyfriend of four years, Bressie.

The best-selling cookbook author (25) and The Voice of Ireland judge (35) were one of Ireland's most private power couples and Roz confirmed on Sunday they broke up "some time ago."

She posted a pic of them together on New Year's Eve and wrote, "Myself and Niall decided to end our relationship some time ago.

"We are still friends & love each other very much.

Expand Close Roz Purcell in London. Picture: Instagram / Facebook

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"We won't be saying anything else about it so appreciate if you could respect that."

Prior to the announcement, she flew to London with her sister Rachel, who shared an apartment with her and Bressie and photographer Evan Doherty.

The trio hit the town on Friday night and she made the most of the sunshine as she hit Life Festival in Westmeath with her sister on Sunday and shared her antics on Snapchat.

Meanwhile, Bressie, who recently reunited with his former band The Blizzards, has moved out of their city centre apartment and spent the weekend in Galway making the most of Connacht's historic Pro12 victory over Leinster.

Expand Close Model Roz Purcell and boyfriend Bressie on New Year's Eve. Picture: Roz Purcell/Instagram / Facebook

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Whatsapp Model Roz Purcell and boyfriend Bressie on New Year's Eve. Picture: Roz Purcell/Instagram

Although hes devastated things had to end, the bands comeback is helping to keep his mind off things," an insider told the Irish Daily Mirror.

The pair just adopted a Jack Russell puppy Wilko in April from the ISPCA.

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Model Faye Dinsmore is set to head to New York after joining one of the most prestigious agencies in the world.

The Donegal native has been signed up by Ford Models, the Herald can reveal, and will fly to the US for several weeks later in the summer to start meeting potential clients.

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Ford Models has helped the careers of many superstars, including Elle Macpherson, Christy Turlington and Christie Brinkley, as well as British heart-throb David Gandy.

Redhead Faye is also on the books of agencies in London, Paris and Barcelona and is looked after by Distinct Model Management in Dublin.

"Faye is in Spain at the moment, but her visa for America came through two weeks ago so she'll be heading over there soon," a spokesperson told the Herald.

"They are very interested in her over there and think she can do very well - plus she has a couple of jobs lined up already, which is really positive."

The 25-year-old beauty is so busy at the moment that she and her Wicklow-born fiance, Paddy Cosgrave, have had little time to plan their wedding, despite getting engaged two years ago.

Faye's long-term partner, who is the brains behind the Dublin Web Summit, proposed in June 2012.

"They're still engaged, just very busy," the spokesperson confirmed.

Since breaking into the fashion industry, Faye has become one of Ireland's most sought-after catwalk queens and spends most of her time globetrotting with Paddy whenever she's not working in front of the camera.

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The Trinity College graduate, who has a degree in French and Classics, has featured in a number of high-profile shoots, including campaigns for L'Oreal, Raymond Weil, Ralph Lauren and Lynx.

(The Herald)
I could really do with your help.

I am a male, mid-50s, married to the love of my life for over 30 years, who is also in her mid 50s. We started going out when we were very young and I love her now as much as ever. The family are now grown up and money is not a problem for us, so we manage to keep the bills paid and have a holiday each year.

That sounds perfect, you might say. But it's the usual problem - we hardly ever have sex. I will say that my sex drive is much higher than hers and has always been.

Up until about three years ago, while we did not have intercourse very often, we did cuddle each night and she did stroke me and got me aroused; but for the most part that was as far as it went. I was happy enough with this together with the odd bit of intercourse, but still craved for sex more often. But even this has now ceased. I would love to make love to her a few times a week.

She has been going through the change of life for many years. I have tried talking to her about the problem but she seems to have very little interest in talking about the situation. We do a lot of things together and have a good circle of friends. I am really struggling with this lack of closeness.

I know that I would never go looking for this elsewhere, but am afraid that if a situation arose where it was available I might be tempted to take it, which I know would ruin everything between us.

As I said, she has always been the love of my life and all I want is to be close to her. Please help.

Mary replies: I was taking part in a radio programme recently where one of the queries was lack of sex in a relationship, and the producers were taken aback by the amount of correspondence it generated from people in a similar situation. It is a very common complaint, but each case needs to be looked at individually because there are lots of different reasons for a person to experience lack of desire.

In your particular case, your wife's drive was never as high as yours, so you cannot expect that to change. It certainly looks like the menopause has been having an effect on her libido. There are actual physical reasons for this, and bear in mind that the effects of the menopause can last for up to ten years. During menopause, the ovaries gradually decrease their production of estrogen, which in turn leads to vaginal dryness. Without using a lubricant, then intercourse can be painful and I wonder if this happened with your wife. Hot flushes and night sweats are also a feature, which can mean that a woman might not get much sleep and is left feeling pretty exhausted. She certainly doesn't feel very sexy while all of this is going on. This may not all apply to your wife, but some of it will. A very good resource for any woman going through the menopause is the website www.mysecondspring.ie and you should suggest that she at least take a look at this and see that she is not alone.

We cannot, however, blame everything on the menopause. You have been together an awfully long time, and it is so refreshing to read your lovely comments about your wife. But the length of time may mean that your life together has become very predictable. When was the last time you surprised her? Even something small like a bunch of flowers for no particular reason can let her see how much she means to you. A weekend away - or even one night in a hotel just for the heck of it - can bring a certain freshness to the relationship and make her feel more loving towards you. Likewise, an unexpected breakfast in bed earns a lot of brownie points.

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At the end of the day it is about communication, but with tact. Explain that you know she doesn't like talking about all of this but tell her that you miss the intimacy that you once had and tell her about your fear of straying should the opportunity arise. Don't blame her or criticise her but put your point of view across lovingly. Hopefully, she will respond and you can go forward together.

My drinking days are over, so I need a social life outside the pub

Question: I am writing this email in despair. I am a 50-plus male who never married or got close to it. I am financially secure. I work in construction, and early in life I did drink a lot but due to the recession and health concerns, I no longer drink. In fact, the pub was my social life. Unless a female was interested to going to the pub I would have no interest. Hence my present problem. I have limited contact with my old pub pals. I did have a steady relationship but it foundered. I live in Dublin during the week and visit the country at weekends. I attend local gyms.

I now find myself isolated after employment hours and at weekends. I have tried online dating but it is like buying a lottery ticket. I have lots of interests. I wonder if you could advise or help me improve my social life without having to visit pubs.

Mary replies: You signed your email 'not looking forward' which I take to mean not looking forward to the rest of your life. If so, that is very sad. Life is for living and we should make the most of every day.

Well done on cutting alcohol out of your life. We are such an alcohol-oriented society it cannot have been easy for you. But as you are avoiding pubs you are finding a chunk is missing in your life and that is what you are seeking to replace. Online dating has indeed got a lot of advantages but it also has drawbacks. Nothing can really beat live face-to-face interaction, because even if a couple are getting on really well online they often find that there is no chemistry whatsoever when they meet. So I would encourage you to investigate an organisation called Meetup whose aim is to help people meet other people in their local community with shared interests. There are groups set up all over the country consisting of single, separated and divorced people of many different ages and the activities are so varied - anything from hill-walking to dancing to theatre nights and many more - that you are bound to find some group that would suit you. Bear in mind that each person in whatever group you chose has gone there for the first time on their own so people watch out for one another: www.meetup.com/cities/ie will let you know what groups are in your area.

Another way for you to meet people is by volunteering your time to whatever organisation interests you. This has the benefit of helping out a worthy cause as well. It is difficult to be specific as I don't know what interests you, but hospitals, hospices, and Meals on Wheels all have a big need of volunteer workers who are willing to give a few hours a week.

I hope you find some outlet for your non-working hours. There is a lot going on all over Ireland so you do not need to be alone.

You can contact Mary OConor anonymously by visiting www.dearmary.ie or email her at dearmary@independent.ie or write c/o 27-32 Talbot Street, Dublin 1. All correspondence will be treated in confidence. Mary OConor regrets that she is unable to answer any questions privately.
What type of dinosaur is George Hook?

It's a question which continues to baffle anthropologists, as the man from the land that time forgot continues to spout opinions that most of us thought were long extinct.

A brontosaurus, perhaps - the enormous, lumbering, tree-munching monster that slayed all in its path? It's a possibility.

A velociraptor - the lightening quick, agile predator that hunted down its prey with graceful ease? I don't think so.

Expand Close 28/05/15 To mark the season finale of the Late Late Show, well-known Irish personalitie George Hook pictured in dancing costume as The Late Late Show goes In The Mood For Dancing... Pic Stephen Collins/Collins Photos / Facebook

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Whatsapp 28/05/15 To mark the season finale of the Late Late Show, well-known Irish personalitie George Hook pictured in dancing costume as The Late Late Show goes In The Mood For Dancing... Pic Stephen Collins/Collins Photos

Most likely, George is descended from the Ornithorhynchus anatinus: a sea-loving mammal whose globular features marked him out as little-maligned upon extinction.

Except, however - and this is where the association with Hooky is most evident - it is not extinct like its contemporaries, living on in the shape of the charming, though tragically ugly, duck-billed platypus.

As evidence of George's prehistoric lineage, he recently engaged in a debate about Dublin cyclists, wheeling out lazy, cliched and appallingly outdated generalisations, dismissing cyclists as "criminals.'

Stuck in a time when the car was king, George has seen evolution pass him by, unfettered by the convenience, environmental friendliness, and personal health benefits to be derived from getting on your bike.

Expand Expand Previous Next Close George Hook at the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel in Dublin. Picture:Arthur Carron George Hook posed a selfie on his Twitter account prior to his knee operation / Facebook

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And lest one thought that his advocacy of the neanderthal "four wheels good, two wheels bad" argument was a once-off, the Hookosaurus came out with an even more extraordinary proposition last week.

Discussing the controversial judgement which saw rapist Magnus Meyer Hustveit walk free after a series of assaults on his girlfriend while she lay sleeping, George threw out the argument that what he did might not be a crime.

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"You're sharing a bed with somebody," George suggested, "and obviously sexual congress takes place on a regular basis because you're living with someone. Is there not an implied consent therefore that you consent to sexual congress?"

While there is no suggestion that George agrees with this proposition, his very asking of the question, without any qualification on his part, was at best astonishing clumsiness, and at worst the re-airing of long discredited beliefs.

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It seems extraordinary now, but up to 25 years ago, no matter how often he forced himself on his wife without her consent, a husband could not be accused of rape in Ireland - the wife having 'implied' that her consent was always going to be present once she agreed to marry him.

But in 1990 the law was changed, as society's attitude to domestic violence, along with previously tolerated ills such as homophobia, drinking and driving, or polluting the planet, have evolved.

It is, perhaps, strangely reassuring to hear echoes of the dark ages sometimes rekindled, as George did last week, because it reminds us how far we've come.

But unless he learns to adapt more quickly to the changing environment, the Hook-billed platypus of Newstalk is in danger of heading in the same direction as all the other dinosaurs: extinction.
Parts of Texas has been devastated by the floods

An overturned blue truck, lying on a bank next to gushing floodwater, was the last sign of Darren Charles Mitchell.

The 21-year-old National Guardsman from Navasota reportedly called his family before vanishing amid heavy rain and flooding in Texas.

Truck driven by missing 21 year old Navasota man caught in flood. Called family before he vanished. @KPRC2 4/5/6 pic.twitter.com/PsnvSn9tTa  Joel Eisenbaum (@KPRCJoel) May 27, 2016

He rang his brother, Ro Mitchell, to say he was trapped but had made it outside of the truck.

Shortly afterwards, he posted a picture on Facebook showing the floodwater rising outside of his truck windows.

He wrote: And all I wanted to do was go home.

One witness, Lashandoe Smith, told CBS News that she watched as Mr Mitchell climbed in and out of his truck, apparently undecided, and about 10 minutes after he finally got back in, the car flipped upside down into the water.

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His body was discovered in Kuykendall Creek on Sunday morning.

Mr Mitchells death is the latest in a growing line of fatalities in the state as at least six people were killed over the weekend and authorities search for three more, two of whom are children.

Texans are braced for more extreme weather as strong winds, large hail and possible tornadoes have been forecast for Texas this week.

Large hail and damaging wind gusts are the biggest concerns, The Weather Channel reported, adding that isolated tornadoes can't be ruled out.

Many people were drowned by quickly rising waters or when they found themselves trapped in their cars. In the past week alone, six people have been found dead.

Lela Holland, 64, was drowned when floodwaters flooded her home in Washington.

Jimmy Wayne Schaeffer, 49, from Brenham, drove his truck into high waters and was swept away. The town of Brenham was hammered with more than 19 inches of rain in 48 hours - more than Los Angeles usually gets in a year.

Pyarali Rajebhi Umatiya, 59, was found dead in Yegua Creek on Saturday, about 60 miles west of Houston.

Florida Molima, 23, also drowned in her car, while her husband, a cousin and another passenger survived.

One more man who drowned is being identified.

Flash flooding is a real risk as creeks can suddenly burst their banks within less than an hour.

Texas received $6.8 million in emergency funding and launched a new website to gather updates from hundreds of existing river gauges across the state, and 30 more will be installed over the next few months, some updating every 15 minutes.

Some gauges will also have cameras for viewers to watch the rising waters.

Evacuations across the state continue. Around 2,600 inmates from two prisons along the Brazos River in Fort Bend County near Houston were evacuated by bus over the weekend and sent to other prisons, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Authorities are still searching for the missing. They include a 10-year-old boy who slipped into the Brazos River after he had been fishing with some friends.

In Wichita, the search is ongoing for 11-year-old Devon Cooley who was swept away by water.

A 37-year-old man called Stephen Espedal is also reported missing after he was swept out to sea while trying to rescue a woman.

The rain stopped on Friday but much of the south-eastern areas remain clogged with water.

Travelers faced more misery over the weekend. At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, 24 flights were channeled and 104 delayed on Sunday, according to tracking website FlightAware.

The Houston area suffered its wettest April on record in 2016 and was declared a disaster zone with almost 14 inches of rain. A total of eight people were killed and around 1,000 homes were flooded.

The previous record was almost 11 inches of rain in April 1976.
The mother of Johnny Depp's children has defended his reputation, describing the film star as "sensitive" and "loving" and dismissing as "outrageous" the claims that he assaulted his estranged wife, Amber Heard.

Vanessa Paradis (43), who was in a relationship with Depp for 14 years, said: "In all the years I have known Johnny, he has never been physically abusive with me, and this looks nothing like the man I lived with for 14 wonderful years.

"I believe with all my heart that these recent allegations being made are outrageous."

Depp's teenage daughter also indicated her support for her father.

Model Lily-Rose Depp (17) did not directly address the allegations, posting instead a childhood picture on Instagram.

"My dad is the sweetest most loving person I know. He's been nothing but a wonderful father to my little brother and I, and everyone who knows him would say the same," she wrote.

The couple also have a son, Jack.

A judge issued a restraining order against the actor last week after Ms Heard (30) said he had repeatedly assaulted her.

Ms Heard, who had a bruise on her cheek when she appeared in a Los Angeles court to file for divorce, claimed Depp had thrown an iPhone into her face.

The actor had an "exceptionally scary temper", said Ms Heard, and she had sometimes felt that her life was threatened.

Intervened

But Ms Paradis sent a handwritten letter in defence of Depp, dated 27 May 2016, to celebrity news site TMZ.

Depp's ex-wife, Lori Anne Allison, also intervened in his defence.

The actor was a "soft person" who had never shouted during their two-year marriage in the 1980s, she said. Ms Allison and Depp are believed to remain friends. They were reported to have spoken after Betty Sue Palmer, the actor's mother, died last week at the age of 81.

Depp's representatives have claimed that Ms Heard's allegations of violence are a fabricated attempt to achieve a "quick financial settlement" in the divorce.

"Given the brevity of this marriage and the most recent and tragic loss of his mother, Johnny will not respond to any of the salacious false stories, gossip, misinformation and lies about his personal life," said a statement. ( Daily Telegraph London)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves to veterans and supporters after an event at the annual Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom parade ahead of Memorial Day in Washington, DC, yesterday. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump told a Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally yesterday that people in the US illegally often are cared for better than the nation's military veterans.

"We're not going to allow that to happen any longer," Mr Trump told supporters gathered at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington DC.

Dedicated to remembering prisoners of war and those killed in action, the crowd cheered - a sign, perhaps, that some veterans' groups are stepping past their anger over Mr Trump's comments last year in which he said he likes "people who weren't captured" in wars.

That had been a dig at Arizona Senator John McCain, who had been captured and held for more than five years during the Vietnam War.

Mr Trump claimed that Mr McCain was a "war hero because he was captured."

Mr Trump has refused to apologise to McCain.

Many veterans' groups were furious, but since then Mr Trump has worked to try to repair the damage. He frequently honours veterans at his rallies and he has come out with a plan to overhaul the Department of Veterans' Affairs. He also held a fundraiser for veterans' causes in place of an Iowa debate that he skipped.

Still, Mr Trump, who avoided the draft through a series of deferments, drew scrutiny for not immediately distributing the $6m (5.4m) he'd claimed to raise, including $1m he'd pledged himself. He is expected to hold a news conference tomorrow to announce the names of the charities selected to receive the money.

Yesterday, Mr Trump also vowed to "knock the hell out of" the Isil militant group by building a bigger and better military, and to cut wait times for veterans needing medical care.

"If there's a wait, we're going to give the right for those people to go to a private doctor or even a public doctor and get themselves taken care of and we're going to pay the bill," he said.

Mr Trump has a loyal following among bikers, who frequently attend his rallies, where they sometimes clash with anti-Trump protesters. Among those eager to hear Mr Trump speak was Louis Naymik (52), of Clarksburg, Maryland, who said he served in the Ohio Army National Guard for four years.

"There's history in the air here," he said. "We're living in historic times in our country today with the election and the choosing of a new president. And I just wanted to give honour to those who have fallen and sacrificed their lives for our country."

Mr Naymik, who works in radiology, was wearing a Trump shirt and said he had been a supporter since the day Mr Trump announced his candidacy.

"What I like about Trump is that he is one of us. He's not a politician," he said, adding that Mr Trump would bring the country back to its old values, put American citizens first and honour its veterans.

Meanwhile, former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio yesterday ruled out becoming Mr Trump's vice presidential running mate, but said he'd be "honoured" to play some kind of a role in helping him win the White House.

Mr Rubio, who clashed bitterly with Mr Trump in the brutal race for the Republican nomination, said his policy differences with the real estate mogul were too great.
The woman died after being attacked by the croc

A woman killed by a crocodile in northern Australia has been criticised for her stupidity by a local MP who criticised her decision to swim at night at a notoriously dangerous beach.

Warning against a crocodile backlash, Warren Entsch, an MP from the ruling Coalition, said the coastal area where the 46-year-old disappeared had numerous signs warning visitors of the danger.

You can't legislate against human stupidity," he said.

This is a tragedy but it was avoidable... You can only get there by ferry, and there are signs there saying watch out for the bloody crocodiles . If you go in swimming at 10 o'clock at night, you're going to get consumed.

Tourist Cindy Waldron, 46, was swimming in waist-deep water with a friend at 10.30pm on Sunday night and yelled that she was being attacked by a crocodile before disappearing.

Her friend, a local resident aged 47, was grazed on the arm after she tried to pull the victim from the jaws of the crocodile.

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"[She] tried to grab her and drag her to safety and she just wasn't able to do that," police senior constable Russell Parker told ABC News.

"They had been walking along the beach and they've decided to go for a swim just in waist-deep water and [it was] probably a very nice, clear night, but obviously [they] may not have been aware of the dangers."

The incident occurred at Thornton Beach in the popular Daintree region in north Queensland, where a 16foot crocodile has been spotted in recent weeks.

The area, north of the tropical city of Cairns, is known for its large crocodile population, which has been a drawcard for tourists.

"The whole of Cairns and up into Cape [Tribulation] is known for its large crocodiles," said Neil Noble, from the state ambulance service.

"Certainly one has to be very careful around our waterways. Stay well away from the water when you can, especially when you can't see.

Mr Entsch said the latest incident occurred in a national parkland and urged the public not to start a backlash against crocodiles which could affect local tourism.

Let's not start vendettas, he said. "People have to have some level of responsibility for their own actions."

Earlier this month, a desperate fisherman threw spanners and spark plugs to fight off circling crocodiles after his friend drowned when one of the animals capsized their small boat near Darwin.

Crocodile numbers have increased since the introduction of protection laws in 1971, with estimates putting the Northern Territory's population in the wild at about 100,000.
Two scenes from the detergent ad by Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics Ltd. Co. are shown on computer screens in Beijing. Photo: AP

A Chinese detergent maker has blamed foreign media for controversy over an ad in which a black man "washed" by its product is turning into an Asian man.

Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics apologised and said it strongly condemned racial discrimination but it pointed the finger at news reports for overblowing the ad, which first appeared on social media in March.

The company pulled it, though, after the clip went viral and drew both outrage and scores of media reports outside the country.

"We express regret that the ad should have caused a controversy," the statement said. "But we will not shun responsibility for controversial content.

"We express our apology for the harm caused to the African people because of the spread of the ad and the over-amplification by the media," the company said. "We sincerely hope the public and the media will not over-read it."

The ad for Qiaobi laundry detergent drops shows a black man entering a room and attempting to flirt with an Asian woman. He is carrying a tin of paint, wears soiled clothes and has paint on his face.

She then feeds him a detergent drop and stuffs his body into a top-loading washer.

When the cycle completes, a fair-skinned Asian man in a clean white T-shirt emerges to the delight of the woman.

When speaking to the Chinese nationalist newspaper 'The Global Times', a company representative, named as Mr Wang, said the critics were "too sensitive".
Around 2,500 passengers were affected when a security alert led to the temporary suspension of a number of flights at a German airport earlier today.

A man trespassed at a security checkpoint at the Cologne-Bonn airport in western Germany this morning, prompting police to declare a state of alert that brought all flights to a halt.

Police ordered all planes that were on their way to take off to taxi back to the gates as they searched for the man in question.

Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle reports this afternoon that the man has been identified by federal police and brought to the station for questioning.

His is currently being asked why he attempted to pass the security checkpoint without being checked, the media channel reports.

More to follow
The Tory civil war on Europe intensified as David Cameron was put on notice that he faces a leadership challenge after the EU referendum.

More than 50 MPs are ready to move against the British prime minister, according to prominent backbencher Andrew Bridgen.

Breaking ranks to talk openly of a bid to topple the prime minister, Mr Bridgen warned that anger in the Tory party was now so intense a challenge was "probably highly likely" as he warned the alternative was a "zombie parliament".

Asked if a vote of no confidence against Mr Cameron would happen, the MP told BBC Radio Five's 'Pienaar's Politics': "It depends how the next few weeks go, but if true to form, I think there's at least 50 colleagues who are dissatisfied with the way that the prime minister has put himself front and centre of a fairly outrageous Remain campaign. I think that's probably highly likely."

The MP insisted the situation was now so dire an emergency general election would be needed before Christmas to restore order.

"I think it's going to be very, very difficult to pull all the sides together and have a working majority going forward," he said.

Nadine Dorries, a long-term critic of Mr Cameron, branded the PM an "outright liar".

The Mid-Bedfordshire MP said she had already sent a letter to the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, the usual route for urging a leadership contest.

Ms Dorries told ITV's 'Peston on Sunday': "If the Remain campaign wins by a large majority, I'd say it would have to be 60-40, then David Cameron might just survive, but if Remain wins by a narrow majority, or if Leave, as I certainly hope, will win, he's toast within days.

"There are many issues about which David Cameron has told outright lies and because of that trust has gone in both him and George Osborne ... and it will be very hard for either of them to survive in the future."

Pro-Leave Cabinet minister Chris Grayling insisted the push to oust the PM did not have the 50 signatures needed to trigger a contest.

He told 'Pienaar's Politics': "I don't think there are 50 colleagues gunning for the prime minister.

"I can assure you that those people who fought to win their seats 12 months ago are definitely not gunning for a general election by Christmas."

The in-fighting erupted after Brexit heavyweights Michael Gove and Boris Johnson launched an unprecedented attack on the prime minister's authority as they accused him of a having a "corrosive" impact on public trust in politicians because he had not lived up to promises to cut immigration.

The Office for National Statistics estimates that in 2015 330,000 more people arrived in the UK than left, despite the government pledging to get the figure below 100,000.

Number 10 said the Brexit attacks were an attempt to "distract" from a survey of 600 economists showing 88pc believed withdrawal would be damaging for the economy.

With 25 days to go until polling, Employment Minister Priti Patel also launched a pointed swipe against Remain campaign leaders Mr Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne, even though she did not directly name them in an article for the 'Daily Telegraph' website.

"It's shameful that those leading the pro-EU campaign fail to care for those who do not have their advantages.

"Their narrow self-interest fails to pay due regard to the interests of the wider public," Ms Patel wrote.

Labour former prime minister Tony Blair warned the referendum will be the biggest decision the UK has taken since the Second World War.

Former Tory leader and prominent Leave campaigner Iain Duncan Smith insisted he would back Mr Cameron in any leadership challenge as he urged fellow Brexiteers to concentrate on winning the referendum.

Tory anti-EU ex-defence minister Liam Fox also said he would want Mr Cameron to stay as PM if the Brexit side won.

Lib Dem ex-business secretary Vince Cable ridiculed the Tory slogan from the last general election that it was a choice between Cameron and chaos, telling Sky News: "We now have Cameron and chaos."
Eighteen Albanians and two British people have been rescued from the English Channel after their inflatable boat began to sink.

The UK Coastguard received a call for assistance just off the coast of Dymchurch in Kent at 11.40pm on Saturday.

A search-and-rescue helicopter was deployed as well as lifeboats and coastguard rescue teams.

The rhib (rigid-hulled inflatable boat), with 20 people on board, was found at 2am and the matter was handed over to Border Force.

It has been reported the people on board had alerted their families in Calais, who raised the alarm with the French authorities.

A Coastguard statement said: "The UK Coastguard has co-ordinated an incident off Dymchurch to rescue the occupants of a rhib overnight. A call was received at 11.40pm (on Saturday) requesting assistance to the rhib, which was taking on water.

"The HM Coastguard search-and-rescue helicopter from Lydd, RNLI lifeboats from Dungeness and Littlestone, and coastguard rescue teams from Dungeness and Folkestone were sent. The rhib was located at 2am and the incident handed over to UK Border Force."

A Home Office spokesman said: "A total of 20 people were picked up in a search-and-rescue operation. 18 were Albanian, and two were British. They were taken to Dover and are currently being interviewed by Border Force officers."

Councillor Mary Lawes, Ukip group leader on Shepway District Council, said she was concerned for the security of the region as well as the safety of migrants.

She said: "We are not doing enough to control our coastline, the Government has to address border controls, something has to be done to protect these people from harm and our borders."
Former Chad dictator Hissene Habre has been sentenced to life imprisonment for abuses during his time in power at the end of a trial that began in July 2015.

Cheers and fists pumping the air from scores of Habre's former prisoners and their supporters greeted the ruling from Judge Gberdao Gustave Kam in a Senegal courtroom .

Habre's trial by the Extraordinary African Chambers is the first in which the courts of one country are prosecuting the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes.

He was convicted of being responsible for thousands of deaths and tortures in prisons during his rule from 1982 to 1990.

A 1992 Chadian Truth Commission accused Habre's government of systematic torture, saying 40,000 people died during his rule. It placed particular blame on his political police force.

The ex-dictator, who has lived in Senegal's capital Dakar since fleeing Chad in 1990, has denounced his trial as being politically motivated.

He and his supporters have disrupted proceedings several times with shouting and singing. He refused legal representation but the court appointed him Senegalese lawyers.

Chad's government, led by President Idriss Deby, who served as Habre's military adviser before pushing him from power, supported the trial.

The trial of Habre was forged by many of those who had been jailed by his government and who have campaigned for his prosecution for more than 15 years.

"This case was not started by a prosecutor in the Hague or by the Security Council. The architects, the visionaries of this case, are the Chadian victims themselves and their supporters," said Reed Brody, counsel for Human Rights Watch who has been working on the case since 2000.

The work by the survivors to bring Habre to justice influenced all aspects of the trial including the way the charges were framed, he said.

Habre was first indicted by a Senegalese judge in 2000 but legal twists and turns over a decade saw the case go to Belgium and then finally back to Senegal after unwavering pursuit by the survivors.

In 2001, the police force's archives were discovered on the floor of its headquarters in Chad, records which went back to Habre's rule and mention more than 12,000 victims of Chad's detention network.

The extraordinary court was formed by Senegal and the African Union to try Habre for the crimes that took place during his rule.

A second set of hearings on damages for the more than 4,000 registered civil parties will take place in the coming days.

The defence has about 15 days to appeal. If they do, an appeals court must be set up.
Smoke rises from an explosion during an offensive by Iraqi military forces into Fallujah (AP)

Civilians inspect the aftermath of a bomb attack in the Shia predominant district of Sadr city, Baghdad (AP)

Iraqi special forces expect to encounter fierce resistance as they push into Fallujah in a bid to free the territory from Islamic State (IS) control.

The city 40 miles west of Baghdad has been under militant control longer than any other part of Iraq, and IS fighters have had more than two years to dig in.

Networks of tunnels like those found in other IS-held territory have already been discovered in the city's north-eastern outskirts.

The Iraqi troops, also known as the counter-terrorism forces, are leading the assault on Fallujah, slowly moving up from the southern edge in a column of armoured vehicles.

Their advance is expected to be slow because tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in Fallujah and hidden bombs are believed to have been left throughout the city, according to special forces commanders at the scene.

They expect fierce resistance from the jihadis, who have nowhere to run.

"This is the decisive battle for us and for Daesh," said General Saad Harbiya head of Fallujah operations for the Iraqi army, using an Arabic acronym for IS.

The offensive, supported by air strikes from the US-led coalition, was launched a week ago.

In that time, other wings of Iraq's security forces have cleared the city's edges. Shia militia forces under the government umbrella of the Popular Mobilisation Forces and the federal police lead operations that have taken back 80% of the territory around Fallujah, according to Iraqi Major Dhia Thamir.

The predominantly Sunni city in Anbar province is one of the last major IS strongholds in Iraq.

The extremist group still controls territory in the north and west, as well as the second-largest city of Mosul.

Gen Harbiya said Fallujah "is like the Kaaba" for IS, referring to the most sacred Muslim site in the world in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

The 500-700 IS fighters holed up in Fallujah are expected to be some of the group's best-trained, a special forces commander at the scene said.

The counter-terrorism forces started pushing into Fallujah from its southern edge at dawn, said Brigadier Haider al-Obeidi.

He described the fighting as "fierce," with IS deploying snipers and releasing a volley of mortar rounds on the Iraqi forces.

Humanitarian groups say that as the violence intensifies, their concerns for civilians trapped inside Fallujah mount.

"With every moment that passes, their need for safe exits becomes more critical," said Nasr Muflahi, the country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, an international humanitarian group active in Anbar province.

In past operations, Iraq's Shia militia forces have been accused of committing abuses against civilians in majority Sunni towns and cities.

Sunni politicians already have accused the security forces of using indiscriminate force that has endangered the more than 50,000 civilians estimated to be still inside Fallujah.

Shia militia commanders have routinely rejected the accusations.

"The troops have been recommended to respect families and treat them gently," said Hadi al-Amiri, the Shia militia commander who also heads the Badr Organisation political party, while overseeing operations outside Fallujah.

IS extremists, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for a wave of bombings Monday in and around the capital that killed at least 24 people.

IS has been behind many of the recent deadly attacks, and the bombings show the group's enduring ability to launch operations despite territorial losses. Iraqi officials say the bombings are an attempt by the militants to distract the security forces' attention from the front lines.

"By launching such attacks, the militants aimed at thwarting our determination and resolution to continue with our victories in Fallujah," said Arkan Jabbar, a soldier manning a checkpoint in Baghdad not far from where one of the blasts hit.

The deadliest of the blasts took place in the northern, Shia-dominated Shaab neighbourhood of Baghdad, where a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a checkpoint next to a commercial area, killing eight civilians and three soldiers.

The explosion also wounded up to 14 people, a police officer said.

A suicide car bomber struck an outdoor market in the town of Tarmiyah, about 31 miles north of Baghdad, killing seven civilians and three policemen, another police officer said, adding that 24 people were wounded in that bombing.

And in Baghdad's eastern Shia Sadr City district, a bomb on a motorcycle went off at a market, killing three and wounding 10, police said.

In an online statement, IS said it was responsible for the attacks, saying they targeted members of the Shia militias and a government office.
Special forces from Jaish al-Izzah, part of the Free Syrian Army, take part in a military display as part of a graduation ceremony at a camp in the north of Hama province, Syria, on Saturday. Photo: Reuters

Thousands of civilians fled an Isil offensive yesterday as the terrorist group achieved its most significant advance along the Turkish border for two years.

The three-pronged attack threatened to overrun the last swathe of territory in eastern Aleppo province held by non-jihadist rebels.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group, said that over 6,000 people had sought safety in Kurdish-controlled territory to the west.

Others joined the burgeoning number of civilians camped along the Syrian side of Turkey's now closed border.

As many as 165,000 displaced people may now be scattered in fields and informal settlements along the frontier, as well as in the nearby town of Azaz.

Although Turkey says it has an open-door policy for Syrians fleeing war, the border remains closed to all but the most severely injured, and Turkish police have shot refugees trying to cross illegally.

By clearing rebel forces from Azaz and the nearby town of Marea, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) would strengthen its hold on a stretch of land along the Turkish border.

Control of the area would allow the terrorists to threaten the Bab al-Salama border crossing - the strip of territory where thousands of civilians are now concentrated, and thousands more are expected to gather in the coming days.

Isil appears to be using its new territory to restart its war against the Turkish state.

After a two-week lull, Isil launched fired more projectiles at Kilis, a Turkish border town where refugees and local residents now live in fear of the group's rockets.

Marea has long been a bastion of relatively moderate rebel forces fighting to topple Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

During almost six years of war, the town has survived regime tank and air assaults and the effects of Isil's chemical weapons.

But the terrorists finally entered the town on Friday, surrounding its hospital for 10 hours before being pushed back.

"We are very scared inside this hospital. We know Isil is coming back," said one member of the staff, asking for his name to be withheld.

Hours later, Isil gunmen did return - and the fighting continued as night fell.

Activists said that rebel forces had managed to counter-attack against Isil, retaking two villages, Kafr Shoush and Braghida, and expanding their buffer zone around Azaz.

But Isil has often used such retreats strategically, tiring out its rebel foes and then returning to take the territory with less of a fight.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
The man was also banned from travelling abroad for eight years after he is released

A Saudi court has sentenced a member of an independent human rights organisation to eight years in prison in the latest guilty verdict to be issued against the group's members, Amnesty International said.

Abdulaziz al-Shubaily is a founding member of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights, known by its Arabic acronym, Hasem.

He had acted as a legal representative for nine other founding Hasem members.

Amnesty said he was tried on Sunday by the Specialised Criminal Court - established to try terrorism cases, but increasingly used for trials of political activists whose work is deemed a national security risk.

A sweeping anti-terrorism law came into effect in 2014, defining acts as vague as "defaming the state's reputation" as terrorism.

Amnesty said al-Shubaily was also barred from travelling abroad for eight years after his release and forbidden from writing on social media.

His charges included "communicating with foreign organisations" and providing information to Amnesty for use in its reports.

He was additionally charged with inciting people to breach public order and accusing security forces of repression and torture, according to Amnesty.

In 2013, prominent founding Hasem activists, Mohammed al-Qahtani and Abdullah al-Hamid, were sentenced to 10 and 11 years respectively.

Soon after, other verdicts against the group followed against nearly a dozen members.

In April of this year, Issa al-Hamid, another founding member of Hasem and Abdullah al-Hamid's brother, was sentenced to nine years in prison in what Amnesty International described at the time as part of a wider "ruthless onslaught against civil society" by Saudi authorities.

The group was shut down three years ago, not long after a swell of Arab Spring uprisings demanding political reforms, transparency and social justice swept across much of the region.
Charles is a long-standing supporter of rural traditions in Romania

The Prince of Wales has returned to Romania to visit a charity which promotes skills and training in rural Transylvania.

Charles, a long-standing supporter of Romanian rural traditions, met president Klaus Iohannis and prime minister Dacian Ciolos after arriving in Bucharest.

He discussed topics including Romania's cultural heritage, durable rural development and traditional architecture.

Charles will then travel to Transylvania, where he owns two properties which he visits regularly.

On Wednesday, he will celebrate the first year of the Prince of Wales Foundation Romania, which supports the Eastern European nation's heritage and rural life as well as assisting sustainable development.

Charles first visited Romania in 1998.
The director of Cincinnati Zoo has insisted the decision to kill a gorilla after a boy entered its enclosure was the right one.

Thane Maynard told a news conference that the four-year-old boy's life was in danger when he strayed into the moat at Gorilla World.

He said the 420lbs gorilla called Harambe was agitated and disoriented and acting erratically. He added the western lowland gorilla was extreme strong and could crush a coconut in its hand.

A witness reported hearing the boy tell his mother he wanted to get in the water at the enclosure on Saturday afternoon. She said no, but the boy entered a moat in the gorilla exhibit anyway.

Mr Maynard said the zoo was reviewing security measures to ensure both visitors and animals are safe.

He revealed staff had received messages of support and condolences from around the world after the decision to shoot the gorilla, but acknowledged there were also critics of the zoo's decision, describing the situation as "very emotional".

"Not everyone shares the same opinion and that's OK," Mr Maynard said. "But we all share the love for animals."

Jack Hanna, the host of TV series Jack Hanna's Into The Wild and director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, backed the zoo's decision.

He said he saw video of the gorilla jerking the boy through the moat and knew what would happen if the primate was not killed.

"I'll bet my life on this, that child would not be here today," he said.

He said killing the gorilla was the only way to protect the child. It would take up to 10 minutes for a tranquilliser to set in and the gorilla would be agitated after getting shot, he added.

Earlier animal rights activists staged a vigil for Harambe at the zoo.

Anthony Seta, of Cincinnati, called the animal's death "a senseless tragedy", but said the purpose of the vigil was not to point fingers but to pay tribute to the gorilla, named Harambe.

"People can shout at the parents and people can shout at the zoo," Mr Seta said. "The fact is that a gorilla that just celebrated his birthday has been killed."

The gorilla's birthday was on May 27, the day before he was shot.

There has been an outpouring on social media of people upset about the killing. A Facebook page called Justice for Harambe has drawn wide attention, along with online petitions and another page calling for a protest at the zoo on June 5.

Videos taken by zoo visitors showed the gorilla at times appeared to be protective of the boy, but he also dragged him through the shallow moat.

The boy was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Centre for treatment and was released on Saturday night. His parents said in a statement on Sunday that he was "doing just fine".

Many social media commenters have criticised the parents and said they should be held accountable.

Villanueva, a 28-year-old mother of two, said: "I do think there's a degree of responsibility they have to be held to. You have to be watching your children at all times."

A Cincinnati police spokesman said there are no charges being considered. A spokeswoman for the family said they have no plans to make additional comments.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released a statement from its primatologist Julia Gallucci saying the zoo should have had better barriers between humans and gorillas.

"This tragedy is exactly why Peta urges families to stay away from any facility that displays animals as sideshows for humans to gawk at," the statement said.

The zoo said it is the first such spectator breach at Gorilla World since it opened in 1978 and that the exhibit undergoes regular outside inspections. The zoo said earlier this year it plans to expand the exhibit.

Gorilla World remained closed on Monday.
Winfield Jones, 82, whistles as he does yard work in the Gaines House, an old historical home, on Thursday, May 26, 2016 in Anderson.

SHARE Winfield Jones, 82, does yard work at the Gaines House, an old historical home, on Thursday, May 26, 2016 in Anderson. Winfield Jones, 82, does yard work at the Gaines House, an old historical home, on Thursday, May 26, 2016 in Anderson. Winfield Jones, 82, holds onto a tree as he does yard work at the Gaines House, an old historical home, on Thursday, May 26, 2016 in Anderson. Jones cut the tip off his finger in an accident while working at a Christmas Tree Farm. Winfield Jones, 82, does yard work at the Gaines House, an old historical home, on Thursday, May 26, 2016 in Anderson.

By Charmaine Smith-Miles of the Independent Mail

Winfield Jones has been working for more than 70 years, and he still whistles while he works.

Jones, a tall, thin 82-year-old man, is up early most days and spends many of his hours helping maintain this 105-year-old home on Roberts Street in Anderson. He paints, fixes fences and works on other projects around the house.

Jones has spent so much of his time over the years working with the home's owners, the Gaines family, that he is more than the home's caretaker  he is family.

"If something should happen to Winfield, I would very likely sell this house and move," said Barbara Gaines, whose late husband, Bobby, inherited the home from his family. "Bobby would often say, 'Winfield's my best friend.' We took him his first ever birthday cake when he turned 75. We love Winfield."

But the Gaines family isn't the only group of people who have come to love and appreciate Jones' work ethic, quiet determination and attention to detail.

Through the years the lifelong worker has become a pillar of his community.

In all started when Jones was 9 years old and grew up on his grandfather's farm in Townville. He said his family raised crops and livestock and gave a quarter of everything they raised to Mr. Broyles, a man who owned farmland in Townville.

Jones' mother, Alberta, died giving birth when he was 3 years old. Jones said his paternal grandparents, Wilson and Mamie, raised him and his baby sister. His three older siblings were raised by his aunt on his mama's side.

Jones attended Mount Pleasant School in Townville, but he didn't he wasn't able to graduate.

"I had to go to work," he said. "All my uncles were away, fighting in the war. And granddaddy was old. So I had to milk the cows, plow the fields and feed the hogs."

Jones said he can remember being so young when he started working that his grandfather had to fix the handles of the plow just so he could reach them.

"Everybody left from around home, all the men anyway, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor," Jones said. "Some of the women had to farm, because all of the men were drafted."

Jones was not immune to that call from Uncle Sam either.

When he was 17, he was drafted to serve in the Army. He ended up serving in the infantry during the Korean War. There, along the 38th parallel, which serves as the border marking North and South Korea, Jones worked yet again. This time in much tougher conditions and for longer hours.

"You don't have special hours in the combat zone," Jones said. "We spent hours fighting. We fought in the rain and the wind and about froze to death."

Those freezing temperatures caused Jones to suffer severe frost bite  something that would flare up in his legs every winter for years. But he never stopped working.

"They wanted to amputate it, but I wouldn't let them," Jones said. "I had faith that it was going to be all right. I began to walk a little bit at a time."

He was eventually stationed back stateside where he went to work at Fort Benning in Georgia. There he helped train new Army officers who were coming out of college. He also served as a military police officer.

When his military service was over, Jones came back to Anderson County and picked back up doing what he did before he left. He worked at farms in Townville, helped clear the land that would eventually become the bed of Lake Hartwell, and spent some time in the maintenance department at Clemson University.

In the 60s, he went to work for Bobby Gaines, helping him on his tree farm, and then doing the odd repair jobs at the Gaines' family home. Those who know Jones said that his work ethic even extends to his life in the church.

For years he has been part of the Stone Hill Baptist Church in Fair Play. The church's pastor, Rev. John Michael Johnson said: "I grew up in that church and he was part of the church when I grew up. And he has always been an inspiration to others. He was instrumental in the work to build our fellowship hall. He is a man of integrity and great faith."

Johnson said Jones has been a deacon at the church for 20 years and has taught Sunday school for 15 years. Together, Jones and his late wife, Emma "Polly" Jones, were always together, and were pillars of the congregation.

"They were a dynamic duo," Johnson said. "Winfield has always been a faithful leader and servant. He is quiet, and when he speaks, he speaks volumes. He always has these golden nuggets that he shares. One of my favorites that he says is, 'The Lord left us but he didn't leave us alone.' Winfield is greatly loved in our church because of his faith."

At times it all has been a grind, but Jones is happy about his lifetime of work. He said his hard work has paid off with seeing his children and grandchildren succeed. One his grandsons, whom Jones and his wife helped raise, works in Washington, D.C., around the White House. One day, his grandson surprised him with a new truck, as a way of saying thanks for raising him up right.

"I made him stay in school," Jones said, laughing. "It paid off for him and for me. And now, when I look back on all my years of working, I am proud. It wasn't easy. But that was a way of life. I can look back now and say, "I made it through.' And I am proud of that."

Follow Charmaine Smith-Miles on Twitter @Charmaine_AIM.
Government Approves New Capital Goods Policy

The Union cabinet has approved the first ever national capital goods policy that was announced by the government earlier this year. The goal is to incentivize the domestic production of manufacturing equipment and subsequently increase their exports. Altogether, the capital goods policy hopes to increase Indias production of capital goods from US$ 34.34 billion (Rs 2.3 lakh crore) to US$ 111.99 billion (Rs 7.5 lakh crore) and create 30 million jobs by 2025.

Specific areas of intervention are identified by the new policy  improving the technology depth across the capital goods sub-sectors, skill development and enhancement, ensuring mandatory standards, and promoting the growth and capacity building of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

The Department of Heavy Industry is expected to secure approvals for schemes to roll out key aspects of the policy. India is currently a net importer of capital goods  domestic production contracted by 2.9 percent in 2015-2016 as per the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) while import of industrial machinery rose 5.2 percent to US$ 9.7 billion and that of electrical machinery and equipment was flat at US$ 6 billion. The indigenous development of this sector will, therefore, be integral to the success of the Make in India program spearheaded by Prime Minister Modis government.

Intel India Introduces New Initiatives to Support Digital India Program

Intel India recently launched three projects that support the governments Digital India program. The new initiatives are designed to accelerate digital literacy at the rural grassroots level, up-skill citizens in semi-urban cities and beyond, and encourage innovation from the local level.

The first project was the Ek Kadam Unnati Ki Aur initiative to accelerate access to technology in rural India that is now followed by the e-launch of Unnati Kendra at Common Service Centre (UK at CSC) in Karnal, the first in Haryana. The UK at CSC will seek to expand Intel Indias common access digital learning centers across 10 states this year; 10 such facilities are already set up in the southern state of Telangana. Intel India has also set up the Digital Unnati website in collaboration with the CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd. This website aims to educate Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) with the know-how to assemble a personal computer and add to their technology skill set online. The technology company is also preparing for the second chapter of the Intel and DST  Innovate for Digital India Challenge for later in the year. The challenge is a nationwide competition that seeks to create innovative technology solutions that solve real problems faced by citizens.

Forex Reserves Increase in FY 2015-2016

Indias total foreign exchange reserves were up by US$ 18 billion in the financial year 2015-2016, over the previous years levels, reaching US$ 360 billion by March end. The forex reserves also account for non-dollar currencies and their revaluation impact against the US dollar.

However, this rise in reserves is not steep, especially given the record foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows of US$ 55 billion in the 2015-2016 financial year. Experts explain that this is due to the Reserve Bank of Indias (RBI) efforts to utilize the forex reserves as a buffer to stem the Rupees volatility owing to falling crude oil and commodity prices as well as the ongoing economic slowdown in China. When the Rupee reached record lows in September 2013, the RBI reintroduced the Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR (B)) scheme to raise US$ 25 billion to stabilize the rupee. The FCNR (B) scheme matures this September, following which RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan is confident it will not result in any acute pressure on the domestic markets.





Managing Your Accounting and Bookkeeping in India

In this issue of India Briefing Magazine, we spotlight three issues that financial management teams for India should monitor. Firstly, we examine the new Indian Accounting Standards (Ind-AS) system, which is expected to be a boon for foreign companies in India. We then highlight common filing dates for most companies with operations in India, and lastly examine procedures and regulations for remitting profits from India.

Taking Advantage of Indias FDI Reforms

In this edition of India Briefing Magazine, we explore important amendments to Indias foreign investment policy and outline various options for business establishment, including the creation of wholly owned subsidiaries in sectors that permit 100 percent foreign direct investment. We additionally explore several taxes that apply to wholly owned subsidiary companies, and provide an outlook for what investors can expect to see in India this year.

An Introduction to Doing Business in India 2015 (Second Edition)

Doing Business in India 2015 is designed to introduce the fundamentals of investing in India. As such, this comprehensive guide is ideal not only for businesses looking to enter the Indian market, but also for companies who already have a presence here and want to keep up-to-date with the most recent and relevant policy changes. We discuss a range of pertinent issues for foreign businesses, including Indias most recent FDI caps and restrictions, the key taxes applicable to foreign companies, how to conduct a successful audit, and the procedures for obtaining an employment visa.
Maruti Suzuki India has started exporting its Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) Super Carry to South Africa and Tanzania.

The first lot of nearly 100 Super Carry LCVs has been dispatched for shipment, Maruti Suzuki India said.

The shipment to South Africa and Tanzania comprises petrol variant of Super Carry, which is powered by G12B engine.
Tata Motors: Tata Motors will announce its financial results today. IIFL estimates the companys net profit to rise to Rs.3,249 crore at 89.2% yoy; however, it is likely to fall 7.4% qoq.



Hindalco Industries Ltd: Hindalco Industries posted a net profit of Rs.3563.30 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 whereas the same was at Rs.1595.30 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.



Tech Mahindra: Tech Mahindra has agreed to enter into an agreement to acquire Target Group, one of the leading processing platform companies in the UK.



Mahindra & Mahindra: Mahindra & Mahindra will announce its Q4 numbers today. As per IIFLs forecast, the companys net revenue for Q4 FY16 is expected to soar to Rs.10,377 crore at 8.6% yoy; however, the same is likely to fall 5.7% qoq.



DLF: DLF is eyeing new sales booking of Rs.3,000-3,500 crore in the current fiscal, according to reports. The company achieved net sales bookings of Rs.3,150 crore in the last financial year ended March 31.



Sun Pharma: The pharma company has received a grand jury subpoena from the anti-trust division of the US Department of Justice seeking documents from the company and its affiliates relating to corporate and employee records, generic products and pricing, communications with competitors and others regarding the sale of generic pharmaceutical products, the company said.



Suzlon: CLP Group is in advanced negotiations to buy stakes in a 100 MW solar park project in Telengana from Suzlon Energy, according to reports.



ONGC: ONGC is reportedly planning to buy majority stake in GSPCs Krishna Godavari basin gas block which will help prevent the Gujarat government firms Rs.19,500 crore loan from turning into a non-performing asset (NPA).



Coal India Ltd: Coal India posted a net profit after taxes, minority interest and share of profit of associates of Rs. 42479.30 mn for the Quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs. 42385.50 mn for the Quarter ended March 31, 2015



Reliance Infrastructure Ltd: Reliance Infrastructure posted a net profit after taxes, minority interest and share of profit of associates of Rs. 6598.50 mn for the Quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs. 4591.10 million for the Quarter ended March 31, 2015.



Jet Airways: Jet Airways will take back all six wide-body Boeing aircraft leased out to its investment partner Etihad Airways in the next six months, according to reports.



HPCL: HPCL has received clarity from the central government to clear its USD23mn oil dues to Iran.



Crompton Greaves Ltd:Crompton Greaves posted a net loss of Rs.1021.70 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs.1921.40 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.



Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd: Jaiprakash Power Ventures posted a net loss of Rs.3528.50 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 whereas the same was at net profit of Rs.1415.40 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.



Jindal Stainless: Jindal Stainless reported net loss of Rs.212.18 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.



Indian Overseas Bank: Indian Overseas Bank posted a net loss of Rs.9361.90 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to net profit of Rs.355 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.



Thomas Cook: Thomas Cook (India) Ltd reported consolidated Financial Results for the year ended March 31, 2016 with an increase in Total Income from Rs. 32.9 bn. during the 15 month period ended March 31, 2015 to Rs 42.8 bn. for the 12 months ended March 31, 2016.



NHPC Ltd: NHPC posted a net profit of Rs. 1040.80 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 whereas the same was at Rs. 6445.10 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.



Jaiprakash Associates Ltd: Jaiprakash Associates posted a net loss of Rs.13873 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to net loss of Rs.8580.7 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.



Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd: Jubilant FoodWorks posted a net profit of Rs.294.663 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs. 315.322 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.



Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd: HDIL posted a net profit of Rs.561.40 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 whereas the same was at Rs.318.90 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.



Divis Laboratories Ltd: Divis Laboratories posted a net profit of Rs.3222.20 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs. 2289.10 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.

PNC Infratech Limited: PNC Infratech reported total income from operations at Rs.2,395 crores in FY 2015-16 on consolidated basis, up 28.7% from Rs.1,861 crores in FY 2014-15.



National Aluminium Company Ltd: National Aluminium posted a net profit of Rs.2079.40 mn for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to Rs.3548.70 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2015.
The issue in the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) School Board race isnt how to best educate kids, but the role of big, big money, and whether outside money interests will control this 30,800 student district. Money has always been a part of IPS elections. (Dont think racists didnt spend money to elect those segregationist IPS board members back in the day.) When the Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) was in their prime, campaign cash flowed to their preferred school board candidates. ISTAs reach has substantially weakened now. The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce has always been a big money player in IPS elections. This year, theyve invested $28,400 in their three backed candidates.

But the new, more odious player in the IPS race is a group with an innocent name  Stand for Children. It is flooding IPS district mailboxes with slick, multi-color direct mail pushing their endorsed candidates Kelley Bentley, Mary Ann Sullivan and Lanier Echols.

But in a live interview Oct. 17 on our WTLC-AM (1310) Afternoons with Amos program, Stand for Children/Indiana Executive Director Justin Ohlemiller flatly refused to disclose the amount of Stands campaign contributions and spending in the IPS race.

Oct. 17, every candidate and political action committee in Indiana had to file campaign finance statements of their activity through Oct. 10. But Stand claims their IRS filing status exempts them from any public disclosure of their campaign spending. Ohlemiller and Stands attitude smacks of the worst excesses of campaign financing and the hubris of predominately white education reformers.

If you believe Stand for Childrens rhetoric, they empower parents (especially African-American parents) to get involved and engaged in their childrens education. Theyre active in local politics with registered political action committees in nine states. But Stands refusal to be open and honest about their campaign spending, reminds me of the worst excesses of the white mans burden concept. No one knows if Stand for Childrens spending $1,000, $100,000 or $1,000,000 on the IPS race. But political experts tell me Stands spending could approach $500,000!

Stands silence is more indicative of Carl Rove, the Koch Brothers or even Nixonian secretive power politics than acting with the best intentions for IPS students, parents, and residents. The candidates Stand supports  Kelly Bentley, Mary Ann Sullivan and Lanier Echols  should publicly demand that Stand release their contributions and spending through Oct. 10 like everyone else in the 2014 campaign.

Bentley, Sullivan and Echols dont really need Stand for Childrens filthy lucre. Respectively, theyve raised $41,723.65; $51,477 and $32,028.73 for their own campaigns. MORE than enough to be competitive without Stands hundreds of thousands.

Bentley and Sullivans dollars have virtually all come from Hoosiers. Just 16.1 percent of Bentleys campaign cash and 9.1 percent of Sullivans came from outside the state. Lanier, the only African-American endorsed by Stand, is the disturbing exception. NEVER has an Indy African-American candidate for a non-Federal office raised a greater percentage of campaign cash from outside Indiana than from within. Unlike the other IPS candidates, Lanier Echols has been an Indianapolis resident a hot minute (since summer 2008) when she began as a Teach for America teacher in IPS after graduating from Florida State.

Despite her teaching career and involvement in education reform she couldnt garner more than $1,750 in contributions from individual Hoosiers? Her biggest local contribution: $7,000 she got from the Indy Chamber. Including $1,400 in contributions from Echols family in Florida, 72.7 percent of her campaign cash is from outsiders like Sheryl Sandberg, the Facebook CEO and Lean In author, and Emma Bloomberg, the former NYC mayors daughter and Stand for Childrens Board Chair. Why would the Facebook biggie and Bloombergs daughter invest in an unknown Black educator who, if elected, would be the youngest IPS board member ever? They dont know Indy, or IPS, or Echols. Of the five other African-American candidates in the race, including incumbents Michael Brown and Samantha Adair-White, only Light of the World Pastor Dr. David Hampton has raised substantial campaign funds  $22,105; with 9.5 percent from out of state. I interviewed all but one of the IPS candidates last week on Afternoons with Amos. The difficult part of the IPS race is that despite Stand and the arrogant education reformers, theres some great candidates running. In the District 5 race, theres no contest! Michael Brown (no relation) is far, far better than Lanier Echols, the outsider fueled by Stand for Childrens secretly funded campaign.

In District 3, Samantha Adair-White deserves re-election. Shes her own woman and looks out for the interests of IPS residents, not big money interests. In the at-large race, Mary Ann Sullivan represents the big money education reformers who really dont have the interests of IPS and minority children at heart. Dr. Ramon Batts and Dr. David Hampton each would be great IPS board members. On this race Im truly torn.

Most important, IPS residents should rise up Nov. 4 and in the words of Scripture smite down Stand for Children and the influence of big money education rustlas.

If you dont, youll send IPS down a path that in the short and long term would be extraordinarily detrimental to our children and our African-American community!

What Im Hearing in the Streets

Note to IPS Superintendent, Dr. Lewis Ferebee. All IPS candidates support changing IPS policy and believe IPS should notify the public if students and others are arrested with deadly weapons at an IPS school. So change the policy now!

Our feckless Indiana State Board of Education bent their rules again for Christel House Charter School. They allowed the schools poor high school test results not to count, so instead of a D Christel House got a B in the 2014 state accountability grades. Last year, Indys charters did poorly on the state grades. I cant reveal this years grades for two more weeks, but it wont be pretty!

See ya next week!

You can email comments to Amos Brown at ac-brown@aol.com.
"Its disturbing for me to think about it. Its as if someone kept on chasing me from behind. It was a tall man all dressed in black and with a big beard and it felt like he was trying to strangle me. My friends say I was screaming desperately, but I dont remember much, said one of the school girls affected by an apparent "demonic possession". Another schoolgirl recalling the inexplicable event to the local media said she was having trouble breathing and was desperately holding her neck as if someone was trying to suffocate her. She kept screaming, "Take it out."

squarespace.com

Did I read demon?

In a very mysterious turn of events, nearly 100 school children started experiencing muscular convulsions leading to terrifying seizures including fainting, vomiting, delusions and frothing at the mouth. The strange occurrence has left rationalists around the world completely clueless, and parents petrified. It could have been dismissed as a one-off incident, but nearly a hundred children from one particular school experiencing common symptoms and talking about similar visions is pretty hard to ignore.

Contagious demonic possession?

End of April, around 20 children from the Elsa Perea Flores School in Peru fell seriously ill. What truly baffled the eye-witnesses was that these children, between 11 and 14 years of age, were sharing a common hallucination of a "tall man in black with a beard" trying to kill them. The 'condition', captured on video, turned out to be contagious as an alarming total of 80 to 100 children have been affected since. The school authorities, confused as the rest of us, are calling it a mass case of "contagious demonic possession or interference."

The children, screaming, shuddering and evidently delirious, had to be transported in trucks to the nearby hospitals for treatment. Another anonymous girl, 13, said, "Several children from different classrooms fainted at the same time. I got nauseous and started vomiting. I heard voices. A man in black chased me and wanted to touch me."

viralscape.com

Doctors don't know what's going on

Since the devilish outbreak, the school authorities have tried practically everything to figure out why this was happening. From a team of doctors to holy men, even exorcists have been asked to investigate the case but nothing has worked till now. Talking to their national network Panamericana TV, Dr Antony Choy said,"We dont understand how this has kept on going on. We know it started on April 29 and now it is still happening. Now there are more than 80 pupils (still affected).

metro.co.uk

Did the kids bring it upon themselves?

According to the initial reports which may also be deemed as a rumour, it was said that some of the children had been experimenting with an ouija board in order to call up spirits to haunt the school. A lot of locals feel this could be the reason behind the inexplicable outbreak since it is believed that the school had been built on land that was once used as a mass grave by the Peruvian mafia.

metro.co.uk

Something very similar happened just 10 days before in another part of the world.

Barely 10 days before the episode in Peru, something very similar happened on the other side of the world in Malaysia. On the 18th of April, a small group of students from the SKM Pengkalan Chepa 2 school claimed that they had seen a mysterious "black figure" lurking around the school. As the word spread, as many as 100 people including some school teachers admitted to having seen the same figure. Some even said they felt a "heavy" or "supernatural" presence around them. A teacher even said she felt a "black figure" tried to enter her body. The panic stricken school had to eventually shut down because of the hysteria which lasted about three days. Nothing has been reported since.

A figure, supposedly of the apparition, caught on camera by a SMK Pengkalan Chepa 2 student #Hysteria pic.twitter.com/SGUOyR87KC  Philip Golingai (@PhilipGolingai) April 18, 2016

Other cases of such oddity

A real thing to wonder here is how it's been affecting girls more than boys. Between 2011 and 2012, more than a dozen students from the all-girls Leroy High School in New York started showing symptoms of Tourettes Syndrome - a nervous system disorder involving uncontrollable repetitive movements or unwanted sounds (tics), such as repeatedly blinking the eyes, shrugging shoulders or blurting out offensive words. Some of their tics became so extreme that the parents started believing there was something poisonous in the air that the kids were breathing. However, studies didn't show anything wrong with the air or water. Doctors later concluded that the kids were suffering from a conversion disorder, a kind of hysteria that shows real symptoms without any known cause.

filmstage.com

In October of 1965, as many as 85 school children (again, all girls) 14 and younger started feeling dizzy and fainting in a school in Blackburn, England. At first, people thought the bizarre event was caused due to contamination in the food, water or air, but post investigation these claims were rubbished.

15th century Germany had nuns biting each other in an epidemic that spread across countries in Western Europe. The "dancing plague" hit the population of Strasbourg in the early 16th century. Groups of people would keep dancing until some of them ended up dying due to exhaustion.

1.bp.blogspot.com

But an incident that really stands out happened on the 30th of January back in 1962 in Kashasha, Tanzania. Authorities didn't take it too seriously when three girls from a mission-run boarding school started laughing incessantly. Within minutes, the "laughing sickness" spread to 95 of the 159 students studying there. The children, aged between 12 and 18, experienced uncontrollable laughter lasting between a few hours to as long as 16 days! Funnily enough, the teachers remained immune to it. By the 18th of March, 1962, the school had to shut down, but that wasn't the end of the laughing epidemic. It spread to the municipality of Nshamba where a few girls from Kashasha lived. By May of that year, as many as 217 people( all young adults and school children) were affected by the mysterious disease. June saw it spread further to neighbouring towns and cities. The bizarre epidemic lasted for a full year and a half, shutting down 14 schools and affecting 1000 Tanzanians, before stopping just as suddenly as it began.

Cover image used for representative purposes only.
Lovebirds Deepika and Ranveer have never been vocal about their relationship but their gestures for each other definitely say a lot. Remember how Ranveer Singh had flown to Toronto earlier this year to meet his bae on the sets of xXx. Looks like Deepika too was sorely missing Ranveer and therefore, she flew to Paris to meet him.

(Read: 11 Times Ranveer-Deepika broke all PDA records.)

According to a report by bollywoodlife.com, After wrapping the shoot of xXx: The Return Of Xander Cage last week, Deepika planned to meet Ranveer, who is shooting for Aditya Chopras Befikre. Some sources close to Deepika informed the media that she wasnt able to meet Ranveer in Paris. Deepika has returned to India over the weekend, Ranveer is still in Paris.

A source claimed,

Twitter

Deepikas visit was a hush-hush one as she didnt want anyone back home to know about her visit. Unfortunately for her, some fans spotted her in Paris. She even spent time on the Befikre sets, where the cast and crew were given strict instructions not to click any pictures of her. The actress has a lot of work piled up, including her brand endorsements and script readings in Mumbai, so perhaps that is why she didnt want it known that she had taken a few days off for a holiday.

Talking about Deepika and how committed she is towards her work, the source added,

Deepika is a committed, professional actress, but shes also a young girl in love. Ranveer and she havent met for months because of their respective film shoots, which are across two different continents. Its natural that she would want to spend time with her beau before she gets crazy busy in India again.

If this is indeed true, this shows that both are giving their best in making this relationship work. Remember how both of them did FaceTime at an award ceremony? They're definitely made for each other, isn't it?

Someone, please get me a bae like Ranveer? Ranveer, youre ONE lucky man for sure!
Big B is one actor who is definitely doing social media right. From recalling his old films and posting pictures that make his fans nostalgic to writing about his day to day experiences, Big B is also one of the most 'followed' Indian celeb on Twitter.

Big B now is proud of his Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao experience. Big B took to various social media platforms to express that he will always cherish the experience of hosting the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao segment at the government's second-anniversary gala.

The 73-year-old National Award-winning actor also spoke about the campaign at a function Ek Nayi Subah, that was held at India Gate, New Delhi, on May 28.

Big B shared this experience in his personal blog and he wrote:

"The Saturday of the 'beti bachao beti padhao' campaign at India Gate... an experience to cherish and be proud of..."

PTI

He took to Twitter to describe his experience. He wrote:

T 2272 - On 'beti bachao beti padhao' some of the thoughts expressed by me :       (cont) https://t.co/VUcnEGmw9S  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) May 30, 2016

T 2272 - " Beti bachao beti padhao " expressed some points on this on an earlier tweet, a minute ago .. pic.twitter.com/Ts5ZA6dHvR  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) May 30, 2016

ndtv

At the event, the "Piku" star had stressed on the importance of protecting and nurturing the girl child.

youtube

Earlier, Bachchan had faced criticism when his name started doing the rounds as the host of the government's planned cultural function but the actor had clarified he was only hosting a small segment for 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', as he is attached to the campaign.

TOI
Donate blood and add an extra per cent while applying for admission in any government college in Rajasthan. This is according to the new admission policy 2016-17 unveiled by the state government.

BCCL

How this works? Students who produce a proof of donating blood thrice in three years in a row will now get a bonus 1% at the time of admission. Higher education minister Kalicharan Saraf said

"Students have to produce a certificate of donating blood from state government-affiliated blood donation centres in order to get the bonus per cent. This move has been taken to encourage students towards social service,"

BCCL

And this does not end here. The new policy further says that students who have taught at least three illiterates in three consecutive years will get a bonus of 0.5 per cent.

Also Read: B-School Dream Now A Costly Affair, ISB Hyderabad Raises Fees To 24 Lakhs
In the rigidly feudal and patriarchal hinterland of Haryana, infamous for its skewed sex ratio of 834 girls to 1,000 boys, this non-descript village in Karnal is an unlikely pioneer. In Dera Halwana, a village with a population of around 7,000, the sex ratio is a surprising 1,500 girls for 1,000 boys. What's more, this is the not the result of extensive government campaigns to save the girl child.

BCCL

That people here not just accept baby girls but actually hanker for them can be attributed to the tradition of "Kanyadaan". Take the case of Manjit Kaur, a mid-day meal cook at a government school and her husband, who tried to have a girl for years. She said.

"Kanyadaan is the biggest offering. A house without a girl is not auspicious. So we tried to have a baby girl,"

Manjit, who has four children, three sons and a daughter, says many others in the village followed the same course.

Also Read: Mumbai Registers Significant Improvement In Child Sex Ratio, At 933 It Is An All Time High

Residents are proud of the status accorded to girls in the village. Sarpanch Kamlesh Kaur, her husband Jeet Singh and former sarpanch are quite particular about the figures.

"A blackboard outside the anganwadi kendra put up the wrong figures. We were shocked and challenged them about the sex ratio. Whether it is the Anganwadi Kendra or the village school, we have more girls than boys,'' asserted Jeet Singh.

BCCL

School headmaster Sanjay Kumar said of the total of 708 students, there are 386 girls and 322 boys. Former sarpanch Dhyan Singh and Gulab Singh attributed the respect for the girl child as a tradition inherited from the elders who shifted from Layalpur, Pakistan at the time of partition.

BCCL

"Here, marriages are solemnised within the village. We only forbid marriages in the gotra of the mother and father. Except for that, we don't have any reservations. We prefer marrying off children in our own people. There's No DJ or pre-wedding bash. Just traditional rituals. Our ancestors suffered several hardships after coming from Pakistan. So those traditions are still followed," said Dhyan Singh.

Karnal's DC Mandeep Brar also elaborated upon various schemes. Brar said.

"Despite the fact the people may not be well off, they appear to be content. This village is an example for all,''
A teenage girl was allegedly abducted, gangraped, murdered and her body hanged from a tree in Nanpara area here.

thebhojpuri.com/Image for representation only

The incident has triggered outrage, prompting the authorities to swing into action. Police Said:

"Four constables have been suspended for dereliction of duty and two of the three accused named by the victim's father have been arrested so far."

The police added:

"The incident took place on Friday when the 15-year-old girl went missing and her body was yesterday found hanging from a tree outside the village."

Police suspect the body was hanged from a tree so as to give an impression that she committed suicide.

An FIR has been registered on a complaint of the victim's father against Imran, Sarvjeet Yadav and Ghanshyam Maurya for abducting, raping and killing his daughter.

He alleged that the three had tried to abduct the victim earlier also but failed.

Superintendent of Police Salik Ram Verma said the body has been sent for post-mortem and whether she was raped could be confirmed only after the report has been received.

He said:

"Police arrested Sarvejeet Yadav on Saturday night and Imran on Sunday, while a hunt is on for the third accused."

Expressing dismay and outrage over the incident, women activists lashed out at the Centre saying that those who are celebrating two years of governance, need to pay more attention to curbing violence against women.

TOI

Former National Commission for Women ( NCW ) member Nirmala Samant Said:

"This needs to be condemned and protested. The government which is celebrating its two years of governance needs to pay more attention to curbing violence against women."

Women rights activist Jagmati Sangwan said the law and order situation has totally collapsed in Uttar Pradesh as criminals have no fear of police and the government.

The incident revives memories of the Badaun case, in which two teenaged girls of a family were allegedly gangraped, killed and hanged from a tree at Katra village in May 2014, triggering a massive public outcry. Later, the CBI, which was entrusted with the probe into the incident, ruled out rape of the two girls.
The classical period of witch hunting dates back to the 14th century when certain people were labelled as 'witches' and executed across Europe, Africa and Asia. The victims included Joan of Arc who was burnt alive at the tender age of 19 at the stake for heresy on May 30, 1431.

In India, witch hunting dates back hundreds of years. It emanated in the Morigaon district of Assam which is now infamously known as the Indian Capital of Black Magic. People from far-flung areas would come here to learn 'witchcraft'. Even today, witch hunting is being practiced in the State and has become a burning issue, where predominantly women fall prey to this heinous crime.

What is witch hunting?

BCCL

Witch hunting involves the branding of victims, especially women as witches, either after an observation made by an 'ojha' or 'bej' or a witch doctor. The victim who is branded as a witch is subjected to numerous forms of torture, beatings, burns, paraded naked through the village, forced to eat human excrement and sometimes even raped. In some cases their hair is cut off and the victim and their children are socially ostracised and even put to death.

The practice of witch hunting is also connected to the prevalence of patriarchal attitudes and an opposition to women's rights over property. Lack of education and health services have contributed to the continuation of this antiquated practice of witch hunting.

ALSO READ: More Than 150 Woman Were Killed Across India In 2014 Because They Were Thought To Be Witches

Mythical India

The fact that witch hunting has been making headlines in all local newspapers of Assam for quite some time, is not only disturbing but also alarming.

According to some reports, about 1,000 women have been killed across India in the past decade for "practising witchcraft". According to the Assam Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rockybul Hussain, at least 77 persons were killed and 60 others were injured in witch hunting incidents across Assam since 2010, and 35 of them were women. Though official cases have been filed against witch hunters, not much progress has been made due to absence of witnesses.

What are the motives of witch hunters?

Assam Times

Some cases that were reported bore testimony to the fact that the witch killings were an act of the Land Mafia. Miscreants use social superstitions to uproot families from the land they have an eye on and later acquire their property at throwaway prices. Even the police have claimed that some alleged witch killings were nothing more than murders.

Another motive is the brainchild of the Ojaa and Beez, who con people and make a living by providing medication to the villagers for several diseases. Due to the lack of development and unavailability of doctors in the villages, the villagers have no choice but to rely on the Ojaas, who eventually fleece the poor.

Also read: Family Accused Of Performing Witchcraft Hacked To Death By Mob In Odisha

Some even use witch hunting as a sexual motive

DW

Education and medical care in rural areas is an urgent necessity to drive out this mess. Moreover, civil societies, medical bodies, educational bodies, the police and local bodies have to work hand-in-hand to educate people and make them aware.

The Assam government had launched a project 'Prahari' in 2001 to curb the practices of witch-hunting. Under Prahari, regular health camps are organised. Through qualified experts, villagers are imparted knowledge about health and hygiene and local women are trained.

ALSO READ: Witch Hunting On The Rise Across Several Indian States

On May 8, 2015, the Assam state assembly unanimously passed Assam Witch Hunting (Prohibition, Prevention and Protection) Bill, in a bid to eliminate rising cases of superstition leading to the murder of so-called "witches". This Act provides for more effective measures to prevent and protect persons from witch hunting practices and helps eliminate their torture, oppression, humiliation and killing by a section of the society.

The Act prohibits a person from committing witch hunting or witchcraft with the intent to cause injury or harm to another person.

Moreover, the Act prohibits the practice of witch doctors that cause injury and harm. The Act now recognises all cases of witch-hunting as non-bailable, cognizable and non-compoundable. A person practicing witchcraft would be heavily penalised. The punishment for leading a person to commit suicide after intimidating, stigmatising, defaming and accusing as a witch may be extended to life imprisonment and fine up to Rs 5 lakh. The Act also talks about various measures that the administration and police need to initiate along with NGOs and civil society to educate people about witch hunting.

Rediff

Birubala Rabha, a tribal woman from Assam, has been crusading against witch-hunting since the 1980s , when her son was called a 'witch' owing to his mental illness and put through periods of misery. She decided to change the course of events by herself. On 4th July 2015, her efforts were recognised and she was awarded the 12th Upendra Nath Brahma Soldier of Humanity in Kokrajhar.

In spite of the above, this crime still persists in Assam. The state needs not just one but several Birubalas to stand up and fight against this heinous crime.
Over the last fortnight, the sleepy Horti village in the drought-hit Osmanabad has been witnessing a sudden rush of activity. More than 700 farmers have been toiling day and night, to deepen a canal in their village. "Actually, we're working on rewriting our fate," is how a villager describes it.

bccl/Image for Representation only

Besides their own contribution, the villagers have also take help of an online crowdfunding forum to rake in more funds.

Most fields of this village in Tuljapur taluka have not seen any production for the last two agricultural seasons due to irregular rainfall and a dearth of irrigation facilities.

TOI

Villagers work at a frenetic pace as JCB operators roar with activity to widen, deepen and desilt the 8-km-long canal that runs across their farms. The aim is to increase the water-holding capacity of the dam before monsoon.

Cost of the work has been pegged at Rs 6 lakh. Of this, the villagers have collected nearly Rs 3 lakh. The rest is being raised through an online crowdfunding campaign. So far, the crowdfunding campaign has yielded more than Rs 1.9 lakh.

TOI

Ranganath Thota, of the crowdfunding platform, Fueladream, said that the villagers are incredulous that people who do not even know them are offering to contribute.

A resident of Horti village, M K Kulkarni, helped bring the villagers together besides contributing a huge chunk of the funds. He said:

"Most farms have been lying idle since two years. We have not had sufficient water supply. Even in such hard times, villagers too chipped in so work could begin."

A retired government employee, Kulkarni says that it would have taken months for the government machinery to complete this work. He says:

"Besides, the cost would have been much more."

Read Also: El Nino Weather Phenomenon Which Caused Severe Droughts Is Over. Here's Why It's A Good Thing And Bad!

Currently, the work has been going on in three shifts, with each farmer from the village inspecting the goings-on around the vicinity of his farm.

TOI

Farmer S G Kharade, who owns orchards in the village, recalled how the canal was always flush with water throughout the year. He said:

"Over the years, its maintenance was neglected due to which its water-holding capacity reduced."

The hard times, said Kharade, have also brought about a streak of positive things within the village. "We've learnt the importance of unity. While executing this massive project, we had initially expected differences of opinion among villagers. So far, not a single person has raised any kind of objection of any kind, thereby facilitating timely completion of the task," said Kharade.

For now, villagers are hopeful that their attempt to revive the canal and the prediction of a good monsoon will wash away their woes.

Read Also: In Drought Struck Latur, These Psychics Find Water Better Than Government's Groundwater Department
The Pakistani Hindu girl, who came to India in the hopes of becoming a doctor, has found a strong ally to help her achieve her dream. The 20-year-old Mashal, who migrated to Jaipur from Pakistan, was being denied to take the all-India pre-medical test due to her status as a foreign national.

The Indian Express

And promising her admission in a medical college is none other than the Indian Minister of External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj. She took to Twitter yesterday to extend her help to Mashal:

Mashal - Don't be disappointed my child. I will personally take up your case for admission in a Medical College. @aajtak  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) May 29, 2016

Mashal, who already lost a year changing countries, can now look forward to fulfilling her dream.
Today, most Indians have an implicit faith in the Supreme Court righting any wrongs done to any citizen by the government. But there was a dark period during the Emergency (1975-77) when even the Supreme Court bowed down to the diktats of the government and robbed the citizens of the country of their final hope of grievance redressal.

What was the case

ADM Jabalpur v. Shiv Kant Shukla, or the Habeas Corpus case as it came to be known, was a blot on the judiciary. No citizen had any right to move to the courts against any arbitrary action by the government, which resulted in the loss of his/her liberty or even life.

supremecourtofindia

Four of the five judges on the Supreme Court bench came to this conclusion at a time when Mrs. Gandhi's emergency regime was rounding up opposition political figures, trade unionists, student leaders, civil society activists etc. and throwing them into jail for their crime of speaking up against the brutal emergency regime. This violated the most fundamental principles of democracy with impunity.

How it led to the making of draconian law

Chief Justice A N Ray, beholden to Mrs. Gandhi for his appointment as the Chief Justice after superseding other senior judges, chose to disregard the unanimous conclusion advanced by all the other high courts of the country on the same question. They all agreed that, even in the darkest period of political turmoil, a citizen could approach the high courts under Art. 226 of the Constitution for appropriate remedy through writ jurisdiction. CJI Ray chose to overrule all those judgments and closed the gate of the courts to the ordinary citizen of the country demanding justice in very unjust times.

thestatesman

The Judge who didn't budge

Justice H R Khanna, the lone dissenting judge on the Supreme Court bench that decided ADM Jabalpur, paid the price for his dissent when he was superseded by Justice M H Beg for the post of Chief Justice.

What's Habeas Corpus

The phrase "Habeas Corpus" means "have the body" and is usually used to challenge illegal detention by the government. Its roots can be traced back to the Magna Carta of England in 1215. When the SC decided to rob the citizens of the remedy through Habeas Corpus, it not only dealt a blow to the principles enshrined in our constitution, but also positioned itself against a legal principle dating back more than 750 years and recognised by all civilised democracies around the world.

How the case unfolded

Mr. Shanti Bhushan, Mr. Ram Jethmalani, Mr. Soli Sorabjee and Mr. Anil Divan argued for the detainees. The government was represented by Attorney General Mr. Niren De. The Attorney General argued that the detainees had no right to move to the court under a writ of Habeas Corpus as all fundamental rights including Article 21 of the constitution were suspended during the emergency. This lead Justice Khanna to ask, "Article 21 also contains life. Would government arguments extend to it also?"

The Attorney General replied, "Even if life was to be taken illegally during the Emergency, the courts are helpless".

The Attorney General would later justify his outrageous defense of the Emergency with these words, "I wanted the robes to rage against that violent view I propounded and come down on such Emergency inhumanity. But, to my surprise, barring Khanna, the other justices heard but did not furiously resist. I felt sad as a jurist but found success as Counsel."

The Habeas Corpus case has been dubbed the biggest blow to the Supreme Court  by the Supreme Court by the People's Union for Civil Liberties. Justice V R Krishna Iyer, an eminent jurist, called the judgment a disgrace at par with an American judgment that ruled that Negroes were slaves to be owned, not humans who could own. H M Seervai, another eminent jurist, said that through the judgment, the four Supreme Court justices had propounded the maxim "lawlessness be thou our law".

As for Justice Khanna and his role during the gloomy days of the Emergency, these words from an editorial by the New York Times are more than enough to sum up the tale of one of the darkest cases in India's judicial history:

If India ever finds its way back to the freedom and democracy that were proud hallmarks of its first eighteen years as an independent nation, someone will surely erect a monument to Justice H.R. Khanna of the Supreme Court. It was Justice Khanna who spoke out fearlessly and eloquently for freedom this week in dissenting from the Courts decision upholding the right of Prime Minister Indira Gandhis Government to imprison political opponents at will and without court hearings... The submission of an independent judiciary to absolutist government is virtually the last step in the destruction of a democratic society, and the Indian Supreme Courts decision appears close to utter surrender.
southernmoverspackers

By training, Yogita Raghuvansh is a lawyer. Her actual job is much more dangerous - she's a truck driver. The mother of two undergraduate students has been moving goods across India for the last 16 years. She was driven into this profession due to an ill-fated marriage, despite her degrees in commerce and law.

1. Donate Blood And You'll Get 1% Extra Marks For Admission In Rajasthan Government Colleges

BCCL

Donate blood and add an extra per cent while applying for admission in any government college in Rajasthan. This is according to the new admission policy 2016-17 unveiled by the state government.

2. Electric Car Created By Students Of IIT Bombay Revs Up To Compete With International Models

indianexpress.com

A racing car developed by over 75 students of IIT Bombay is set to compete against similar models designed by over 100 student teams from around the world. It took the team nine months to design the car, named 'ORCA'.

3. Here's How Smoking 5 Cigarettes A Day Can Cost You A Crore By The Time You Turn 60

bccl

If the dreadful pictures on cigarette packs can't make you quit smoking, here's a more alarming warning. Smoking burns a bigger hole in your finances than you can possibly imagine. ET Wealth estimates that a 30-year-old who smokes five cigarettes a day would lose over Rs 1 crore due to the habit by the time he is 60.

4. Since The Govt Isn't Helping Them, Drought Struck Farmers Are Raising Money For A Canal Online!

bccl/Image for Representation onlya

Over the last fortnight, the sleepy Horti village in the drought-hit Osmanabad has been witnessing a sudden rush of activity. More than 700 farmers have been toiling day and night, to deepen a canal in their village. "Actually, we're working on rewriting our fate," is how a villager describes it.

5. The Prostitutes Of The Future Will Be Robots, According To This Study

dailybeast

A tech driven future is coming, and youll be coming, tech-driven, with it. Experts say that sex machines could be the new wave of prostitution, ending associations with crime into a respectable guilt-free business in Amsterdams red light districts, reports the Mirror.
College students found themselves arrested, interrogated and lashed 99 times lashes - all for partying, the New York Times reported. The graduation party in question included men and women, which according to Iran's judiciary is against the nation's hardliner regime. The punishment was meted out in Qazvin, about 90 miles northwest of the capital, a local news agency revealed.

fusion.net

The prosecutor, Esmail Sadeghi Niaraki, said that the women at the party were "half naked" - they weren't wearing Islamic coverings, scarves and long coats. They were arrested while "dancing and jubilating" after authorities received a report that a party attended both by men and women was being held in a villa on the outskirts of Qazvin.

"We hope this will be a lesson for those who break Islamic norms in private places"

theberkeleygraduate

The party set off many triggers - Mixed-gender parties, dancing, alcohol consumption - even though these have become common over the past decade, especially in cities. The nation has been meting out lashings as a punishment since the Islamic revolution of 1979.

BCCL

Also Read: While Iran Arrests Models For Not Wearing Hijabs, A Pakistani Pornstar Decides To Wear Them

BCCL

This crackdown is part of reforms after sweeping victory of a reformist and moderate coalition in the Tehran constituency in this year's parliamentary elections. Just this month, the judiciary has announced the arrest of several so-called Instagram models for similar acts of alleged dissent.
Do you know that dogs can feel just like humans do? When attacked, they feel pain and fear just like we do. And when they see their own kind being hacked to death, they exhibit the same panic that humans would.

The Yulin Festival is a barbaric dog-eating festival organised every year in China. It will be held again in June this year.

AFP

Every year, there are fresh reports of dogs being stolen from their owners, then bled to death to be consumed with wine as part of this festival.

With the international attention brought on by the Chinese has done little to deter them from continuing the "tradition" of culling nearly 10,000 to 15,000 dogs every year, it has made other countries more conscious of their practices. Nepal's temple trust announced to cancel all future animal sacrifice at the country's Gadhimai festival  the world's biggest animal sacrifice event held every five years.

Change.org

While the international attention against the festival has gained momentum in the past few years, Marc Ching, Founder of Animal Hope and Wellness Foundation (AHWF) has decided to launch a physical mission with the help of international volunteers in June to put an end to the festival. Ching, who runs the Compassion Project, will visit five countries, eight regions, and ending in Yulin for the festival where many International media and activists will be protesting the dog meat trade at the festival.

Also read: A 65 Year Old Retiree Who Is Saving Dogs From The Yulin Meat Festival

AP

Thousands of dogs are reported to be captured, transported in cages under horrific conditions and slaughtered every year for this Dog Meat festival, Congressman Alcee Hastings said on the House floor this week as he introduced a resolution in the US Congress in this regard, according to a PTI report.

It is a spectacle of extreme animal cruelty for commercial purposes. This practice, in my opinion, is completely unacceptable, and can be stopped by the diligent efforts of members of the Chinese government, Hastings added.

Also read: Why 'Yulin's Dog-Eating Festival' Is The Cruelest Food Festival On The Planet

Flickr

Nearly 2,500,000 people across the world have signed a petition by Avaaz to Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, asking him to stop the festival. India's Ali Raza has also initiated a petition on www.change.org asking the Chinese government to stop the torture, among many other petitioners from around the world.

Have you had your say yet?
As the June 23 U.K. referendum on European Union membership approaches, the outcome looks more uncertain than ever. Some polls show a slight lead for the remain camp, while others show the opposite. Previous experience suggests that the outcome of referenda is unpredictable, but the probability of the U.K. leaving the EU is certainly high enough to merit a thorough analysis of its implications, By Guntram Wolff
Memorial Day 2016

Avenge US Military War Dead By Arresting Todays US Leaders

By Carl Herman

May 30, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " WashingtonsBlog " - avenge : to take vengeance on behalf of

vengeance : from Latin vindicare to set free, claim, avenge (see vindicate)

The only thing new in the world is the history you dont know.  President Harry Truman, Plain Speaking: An Oral Biography of Harry S. Truman (1974) by Merle Miller, pg. 26.

3-minute video : Police, Military  Was your Oath sincere?

Memorial Day is to honor US military who died during active duty. Honorable US military enlist to protect and defend American values explicit in the Declaration of Independence, and American rights explicit in the US Constitution. Importantly, all US military and many categories of government employees take an Oath to protect and defend the US Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

But how can we the living best honor our fallen family, friends, and countrymen when we discover that US .01% leaders have lied us to serve in illegal Wars of Aggression for most of our nations history?

Indeed, the United States of the 21st Century has become among the most dangerous, destructive, and psychopathically vicious rogue state in Earths recorded history. Moreover, this conclusion is obvious in Emperors New Clothes clarity for anyone caring to look at objective and easily verifiable facts.

This article will:

Define rogue state. Define United States from our values in the Declaration of Independence and lawfully guaranteed rights in the US Constitution. Contrast the rhetoric of what the US lawfully promises with its most prominent current policies in order to prove the US as a rogue state. Propose Americans demand arrests of .01% US leaders in government and corporate media as obvious lawful recourse to best honor all Americans, living and dead.

1. Defining rogue state:

Components of a rogue state include:

violate international law with focus on destruction of human life,

threaten other nations security,

rule by authoritarian regimes,

severely restrict human rights,

sponsor terrorism,

proliferate weapons of mass destruction,

lie to their own people through controlled media,

behave irrationally and not in its own best interests.

Consider two basic definitions of rogue state:

rogue state: A nation regarded as breaking international law and posing a threat to the security of other nations. ~ Oxford Dictionaries

rogue state:  ruled by authoritarian regimes that severely restrict human rights, sponsor terrorism, and seek to proliferate weapons of mass destruction. The term is used most by the United States  A common presumption applied to rogue states is that they do not necessarily behave rationally or in their own best interests. ~ common understanding of the term from Wikipedia

Lets prove the US of today is both rogue and in Orwellian opposition of its founding ideals and constitution.

2. Defining United States from the Declaration of Independence and US Constitution:

The Declaration of Independence emphasizes:

unalienable rights for everyone from our Creator,

it is the function of government to secure those unalienable rights,

our government only derives its power from the consent of the governed. Please note that securing unalienable rights is in Orwellian opposition of in your face explicit legislation to destroy those rights, and that government only derives its power from the consent of the governed.

The US Constitution is the rules of US government; that is, the promises by government to the public for the limits of its authority. The essential term, limited government, means the boundaries beyond which government action becomes unlawful. Limited government is the Enlightenments response to end unlimited government through claimed divine rights from kings. Limited government is also codified in the US Constitutions 9th and 10th Amendments.

The US Constitution is the legal definition of United States what it means to be American. This form of limited government is called a constitutional republic, with express intent that government power is clearly understood and strictly limited by what is said in its constitution.

Importantly, its explicit and required under this form of government that if officials act beyond Constitutional limits of authority that they face impeachment and/or arrest to remove them from exercising unlawful power for unlawful acts.

It was from English violation of the 1689 Bill of Rights that our Founding Americans petitioned their government for restoration, and then revolted when King and Parliament refused to uphold rights that were crystal-clear in letter and intent (here for Jeffersons argument in A summary view of the rights of British America). The specific violations included no representation in Parliament and no vote for taxation, a standing army on American soil, open-ended search warrants, mercantilism that acted as a de facto tax transferring wealth from Americans to a British oligarchy of politicians and insider merchants, and attempting to remove the peoples arms in militias for their defense that were paid and managed by local taxes.

The US Constitution documents detailed rights to all persons in the US Bill of Rights from prosecution by the US federal government, not citizens. These rights include freedom of speech and press without fear of being declared an enemy of the state, freedom from searches unless government obtains a specific warrant from a judge upon probable cause of having committed a crime, right to juries of ones peers (both a Grand Jury to examine the evidence before a trial, and then to determine the facts of the case for innocence or guilt), freedom from helping the governments case through ones own testimony, a speedy and public jury trial, being informed of the governments charges of alleged crimes, freedom to engage directly with government evidence and witnesses, immediate right to attorney representation, no excessive bail, and no torture.

Again, the US Constitution defines what the United States is and being American. If facts prove that our government is no longer limited by the laws in its constitution, we have to change its basic description from constitutional republic to another term. Keep this in mind.

3. Contrasting US lawful promises of limited government and rights with actual policy to match the US as a rogue state:

Now that Ive reminded you of what the United States is as its constitutional limits and rights, lets compare those lawful promises with the components of a rogue state. Articles linked in this list fully explain, document, and prove factual claims:

Violating international law, with focus on destruction of human life: the two most important international laws to follow for any nation are to not engage in Wars of Aggression, and not to engage in Crimes Against Humanity. The US ongoingly commits these crimes with:

a. Unlawful and lie-began wars that have killed ~30 million and counting; 90% of these deaths are innocent children, the elderly and ordinary working civilian women and men. The sum of 30 million means the US has war-murdered more than Hitlers Nazis.

b. Intentional policy to continue deaths from poverty that total ~400 million just since 1996; most in gruesomely-slow agony, and a death total more than all wars in human history. Policy choices for illegal and lie-started wars rather than repeatedly promised policies to end poverty with less than 1% of national income make the US the most viciously psychopathic and deadly nation in Earths recorded history.

c. Since WW2, Earth has had 248 armed conflicts. The US started 201 of them (81%).

Threatening other nations security: the US is recognized as Earths greatest threat to peace; voted three times more dangerous than any other country. Educated people outside the US more easily recognize US ongoing unlawful wars and threats for more war. Current threats to other nations security:

a. Ongoing political, financial, military, and propaganda support for Israels sadistic military siege and War of Aggression on Gaza.

b. Ongoing threats of nuclear attack on Iran based on easily-proven lies.

c. Ongoing threats and attacks on Syria.

Rule by authoritarian regimes: the US dictates election results among a narrowed field of the rich and sponsored elite given attention by propagandistic corporate media, then decided through election fraud with unaccountable electronic voting machines. The US is also an authoritative regime through its monetary system of so-called money that is actually debt that creates accelerating and unpayable total debt.

Severely restrict human rights: the US has destroyed nearly all rights lawfully guaranteed in the US Bill of Rights within the US Constitution, and in Orwellian inversion of limited government.

Proliferate weapons of mass destruction: the US violates the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) (and here) by doing the Orwellian opposite of nuclear disarmament while denying Irans NPT right for assistance of nuclear energy and medicine. The US support of Israels nuclear weapons program, unlawful war on Iraq when they accepted currencies other than US dollars for oil beginning in 2000, and rhetoric for regime change in Iran when they accepted other currencies than US dollars for oil in 2003 are best explained as gangster business for petrodollar control under the threat of nuclear attack from the US and/or Israel. In addition, when Libya began discussing a rival African currency in 2009, Gaddafi was targeted for regime change.

Lie to their own people through controlled media: the above documented crimes, destruction of elections and rights, terrorism, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (as well as the US as the global leader of weapons exports), are only possible by covering the crimes with lies by corporate media.

Behave irrationally and not in its own best interests: perhaps irrational is better understood as psychopathic: a veneer of socially-acceptable behavior covering viciously destructive acts. The best case study to prove this point is the King Family civil trial with overwhelming evidence the jury found conclusive to convict the US government as guilty for assassinating Martin. The familys conclusion for motive was to prevent Martins occupation of Washington, D.C. until the illegal Vietnam War was ended, and with those funds used to end poverty. In addition, the evidence that the US government assassinated President Kennedy is also overwhelming. Assassinations of public leaders, illegal wars on lies, accelerating debt, Orwellian corporate media, and destruction of its citizens rights are only rational for psychopaths.

4. Demanding arrests as the required and obvious public response:

The categories of crime include:

Wars of Aggression (the worst crime a nation can commit). Likely treason for lying to US military, ordering unlawful attack and invasions of foreign lands, and causing thousands of US military deaths. Crimes Against Humanity for ongoing intentional policy of poverty thats killed over 400 million human beings just since 1995 (~75% children; more deaths than from all wars in Earths recorded history).

US military, law enforcement, and all with Oaths to support and defend the US Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, face an endgame choice:

Demand arrests , with those with lawful authority to enact it. An arrest is the lawful action to stop apparent crimes, with the most serious crimes documented here meaning the most serious need for arrests.

Watch the US escalate its rogue state crimes that annually kill millions, harm billions, and loot trillions.

In just 90 seconds, former US Marine Ken OKeefe powerfully states how you may choose to voice very obvious solutions: arrest the criminal leaders (video starts at 20:51, then finishes this episode of Cross Talk):

These War Crimes and war lies are usual: I document in my eleven section history series (hyperlinks to be updated as series is published, with original links now for your convenience):

Thorsten Pattbergs 5-minute March of the US Empire:

George Washingtons final public message was for We the People to recognize if the US devolved into a rogue state:

In the cumulating message of his 45 years of service with his Farewell Address, George Washington wrote an open letter to the American public.

Please give George two minutes of your attention:

All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated.

Georges admonition of impostures of pretended patriotism to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities is exactly what the US has become: a rogue state, and requires public voice for lawful arrests to end its vicious destruction.

It is also what Benjamin Franklin predicted would be the eventual outcome of the United States. On September 18, 1787, just after signing the US Constitution, Ben met with members of the press. He was asked what kind of government America would have. Franklin warned: A republic, if you can keep it. In his speech to the Constitutional Convention, Franklin admonished:

This [U.S. Constitution] is likely to be administered for a course of years and then end in despotism when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic government, being incapable of any other.  The Quotable Founding Fathers, pg. 39.

These warnings extend to all social science teachers of the present:

As educators in the field of historysocial science, we want our students to understand the value, the importance, and the fragility of democratic institutions. We want them to realize that only a small fraction of the worlds population (now or in the past) has been fortunate enough to live under a democratic form of government.  History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools, pgs. 2, 7-8

Do you have the intellectual integrity and moral courage to at least act with the honesty of a child to speak the Emperors New Clothes truth?

Will you honor Memorial Day and fallen family, friends, and community members who were lied into illegal wars by demanding justice through lawful arrests of lying US leaders today?

If you will not demand such arrests, how much do you honor the lives of US military who served in good-faith effort, and died from those war lies?

**

Note: I make all factual assertions as a National Board Certified Teacher of US Government, Economics, and History, with all economics factual claims receiving zero refutation since I began writing in 2008 among Advanced Placement Macroeconomics teachers on our discussion board, public audiences of these articles, and international conferences . I invite readers to empower their civic voices with the strongest comprehensive facts most important to building a brighter future. I challenge professionals, academics, and citizens to add their voices for the benefit of all Earths inhabitants.

**

Carl Herman is a National Board Certified Teacher of US Government, Economics, and History; also credentialed in Mathematics. He worked with both US political parties over 18 years and two UN Summits with the citizens lobby, RESULTS, for US domestic and foreign policy to end poverty. He can be reached at Carl_Herman@post.harvard.edu
Assad Must Go......

Americans Go On Swallowing The Wrong Pill



By Paul Edwards May 30, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - Its no news the world has grown used to--and bored with---the pompously dingbat pronouncements with which those smarmy horses asses, our sorry leaders, have serially embarrassed us, if not themselves. One, from on high, youll remember--delivered like a eulogy--was Assad must go!



All the Executive Bozos jumped on that one, including our Manly Girls at the UN and the NSC, led by our Peace Prize himself, the Imperial Flim-flam Man, ranked with Demosthenes and Cicero by sycophants for his stagey pregnant pauses and the ability to finish sentences, rare in Presidents.



But, dang, it didnt happen. Surprised? Every sententious American fatwa since Operation Enduring Haemmorhage has been vacuous trash talk, throughout a decade and a half of the most absurdly conceived and shamefully bollixed string of military clusterfucks in recorded history.



America leads the world in weapons production, public debt, and bullshit.



You heard the one about the invasion of Iraq paying for itself? Remember The Imperial Dumbell, playing pilot, landed on a carrier as cargo, tarted up like an extra from The Twilight Zone, with his Mission Accomplished sign? Then our ruling ninnies boldly ordered Putin out of Crimea. Take that, Vlad!



The turgid effluent of hogwash Obama and Kerry have emitted about our mission in Syria exactly matches the imbecility of U.S. actions there. One shining example: CIA jihadis actually fought Special Forces jihadis recently, Aunt Sam funding both. There never was, and can never be, justification for our villainy in that death-stinking charnel house our arrogance created.



And yet, in spite of Obamas endless chain of baldfaced howlers, and his finest fighting force the world has ever seen having its ass handed to it bloodily and repeatedly by various tribesmen, bedouins, and zealots glad to die rather than be ruled, Americans go on swallowing the wrong pill.



Barnum and Mencken noted a national propensity for acting the rube, a sucker born every minute. And all types... Obama Suckers, plenty of those. And Trump Suckers, those ingrown doofuses who long to make America great again, despite the fact that its so abundantly peopled with them. These last overlap with millions of Koch Suckers, whose imaginary pals are billionaires, and whose economic aspirations center on Powerball.



So, in an Empire that has devoted itself, by all possible means, to creating a citizenry of passive, fearful, obedient, braindead consumers without the will or fire to defend themselves from relentless abuse and exploitation that they dont even recognize as such, what might be hoped for still?



Well, a Black Swan event might. And, mirabile dictu, were having one. In what has progressed--if that word can be used--in a Presidential race that has combined the most appalling elements of mud wrestling and greased pig chases, we see a man--not young, not charismatic--who represents, in the main, wisdom, humanity and integrity. This, of course, is hard for us to recognize, after so many decades of ingesting homogenized bullshit.



I mean, really: after full frontal exposure to the likes of Reagan, the Bushes, Clinton, and Obama, could you expect ordinary people to know truth if it bit em in the ass? Millions of Americans alive today have never heard it spoken, on any topic, by any American politician, in their lifetime.



If Sanders sticks his improbable landing, it will be due in part to the brash tendency of youth to reject the tired, cowardly surrenders of their parents. Hell have some support from Blacks, Latinos, and Feminists, but many in those groups are so vacantly oblivious to where their actual interests lie, and who might give them importance, that they will go down with the good ship identity politics without ever trying to get into the obvious lifeboat.



How this will all play out will be known soon, and as the Eagles sang, We may lose, or we may win; but we will never be here again.



What cannot be known, if Sanders goes down, and either of the decayed, moribund parties monsters prevails, is how long it will take for the demise and decomposition of the nation once called the last, best hope of mankind. Paul Edwards is a writer and film-maker in Montana. He can be reached at: hgmnude@bresnan.net
There Has Been A Coup In Brazil By Paul Craig Roberts May 30, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - In Brazil the countrys largest newspaper has published a transcript of a secret recording leaked to the newspaper. The words recorded are the plot by the rich Brazilian elite, involving both the US-corrupted Brazilian military and Supreme Court, to remove the democratically elected president of Brazil under false charges in order to stop the investigations of the corrupt elites who inhabit Brazils senate and bring to an end Brazils membership in BRICS. The Russian-Chinese attempt to organize an economic bloc independent of Washington has now lost 20% of its membership. Democracy has been overthrown in Brazil as in Ukraine, Hondurasindeed, everywhere the dirty evil hand of Washington falls, including the US itself. Glenn Greenwald reports on the extraordinary leak of the 75-minute recording of the conversations between Brazilian elites laying out the plot to frame the President of Brazil in order to protect themselves. The Government of President Dilma Rousseff was dealing with the corrupt Brazilian elite in a legal, not a revolutionary, way. This was a strategic error, as neither the Brazilian elites nor their backers in Washington care a hoot about legality. For them power is the only effective force. They used their power to remove Rousseff from the presidency, demonstrating to Brazilians that their votes are powerless to determine the government. The world has seen this so many times. That is why the French Revolution, Marx, Lenin, and Pol Pot concluded that change was impossible unless the elites were exterminated. In Latin America the populist governments that managed against all odds to be elected bind their own hands by extending the protection of the rule of law to their bitter domestic enemies, who take advantage of the protection afforded them to use their power to overthrow the elected government. It will ever be so. Without a Lenin, there will be no change in Latin America or anywhere in the corrupt and elite-controlled Western world. In the Western world voting is a waste of time. The election hype is nothing but cover for elite control. Electorates, always hopeful, never catch on. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts' latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West , How America Was Lost , and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order .
Turkey is Preparing an Offensive Military Operation in Northern Syria By Said Al-Khalaki May 30, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - Its been quite a while since the treaty on cease-fire in Syria had been signed. We can say February 27 became the new anchor for the people of Syria who are tired of war and havoc. However, the situation doesnt suit the main sponsors of the Syrian revolution, i.e. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar which had already planned how the country would be divided between them. Turkey is interested in Syrias division most of all. The most attractive piece for Turkey is Northern Syria and its destroyed economic capital Aleppo. Obviously, the seized Northern territories would be a step forward in Erdogans plan to resurrect the Ottoman Empire he is dreaming about. That is why the seizure of Aleppo is a strategic goal for Erdogan and his partners. The Turkish government has been supporting Syrian terrorists from the very outset of the war in March 2011. As the Egyptian news site El-Badil reports, in late 2015 the Turkish government was supplying the Syrian opposition with money and food. Also, it allowed them to cross the border between Turkey and Syria. The fact that militants from terrorist groups fighting in Syria can freely cross the border is also reported by the Kurdish news agency ANHA. According to it, militants go through Bab Al-Salama border crossing point to the North of Aleppo from the Turkish city Kilis towards the Syrian town Azaz. As a rule, militants visit Turkey for two reasons: to undergo a qualified medical treatment to heal their wounds or to attend a military training in a special camp where Turks and Saudis work. Despite all the efforts of Turkish officials to conceal their support in favor of the terrorists, the (Turkish and Western) media has nonetheless acknowledged Ankaras insidious role. Even the Syrian oppositions leaders have never hidden such facts. For example, in last September, one of its leaders Ahmed Tuma told the British newspaper Al-Arabi that Turkey was supplying Syrian militants with fuel and food. Tuma is proud of his relations with Turkish leaders and highly appreciates the role of Turkey in forming the so-called new Syrian state. And its no wonder as the oppositional leader lives on money received from Turkey. According to the activists of the media center Syria from Inside in Ankara, all the operations of sponsoring the Syrian opposition leaders and field commanders of armed groups are conducted through a number of accounts in a Turkish based bank. Moreover, through this bank, Turkey finances NGOs whose main purpose is to support the Syrian revolution. Besides that, Turkeys support for Syrian militants, i.e. financing and training, is included in the US secret program Timber Sycamore, according to a New York Times reported in January, 2016. The NYT acknowledges that Turkey has been sponsoring Syrian terrorists since 2013. Its obvious that the cease-fire in Syria is not to the advantage to Ankara, whose political leaders seek to overthrow the government of Bashar al Assad. Now, the most important point of the face-off is Aleppo province. As locals say, more than 1000 terrorists arrived there between April to mid-May. The fighters were accompanied by trucks with arms and ammunition and off-road vehicles with large-caliber machine guns. Notably, the vehicles deployment is covered by Turkish artillery, regularly shelling Syrian border regions from the Turkish side. Its clear that all these actions are the evidence of the fact that terrorists are preparing a large-scale offensive in Aleppo. No doubt, the attack on Aleppo is a part of the hybrid war implemented by Turkey in Syria. The artillery shellings of Syrian territories and the support for Syrian terrorists  Turkish news agency Anadolu calls these a fight against ISIS. And the Turkish government justify Erdogans desire to seize Northern Syria by claiming that it is just an attempt to create the so-called safety zone for refugees. While the world is trying to reach a peace treaty in Syria, Turkish leaders are planning large-scale operations involving opposition terrorists and radical groups. However, we want to believe that their plans wont be crowned with success as everyone in Syria understands who is behind the opposition and what the revolutionists want to achieve.
Target Russia. Target China. Target Iran By Pepe Escobar May 30, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " SCF " - Not a day goes by without US Think Tankland doing what it does best; pushing all sorts of scenarios for cold  and hot  war with Russia, plus myriad confrontations with China and Iran. That fits into the Pentagons Top Five existential threats to the US, where Russia and China sit at the very top and Iran is in fourth place  all ahead of terrorism of the phony Daesh Caliphate variety. Here I have come up with some concise realpolitik facts to counterpunch the hysteria  stressing how the Russian hypersonic missile advantage renders useless the whole construct of NATOs paranoid rhetoric and bluster. The US Aegis defense system has been transferred from ships to land. The Patriot missile defense system is worthless. Aegis is about 30% better than the THAAD system; it may be more effective but their range is also limited. Aegis is not a threat at all to Russia  for now. Yet as the system is upgraded  and that may take years  it could cause Russia some serious concern, as Exceptionalistan is increasingly pushing them eastward, so near to Russias borders. Anyway, Russia is still light-years ahead in hypersonic missiles. The Pentagon knows that against the S-500 system, the F-22, the awesomely expensive F-35 and the B-2 stealth airplanes  stars of a trillion-dollar fighter program  are totally obsolete. So its back to the same old meme: Russian aggression, without which the Pentagon cannot possibly fight for its divine right to be showered with unlimited funds. Washington had 20,000 planners at work before WWII was ended, focused on the reconstruction of Germany. Washington had only six after the destruction of Iraq in 2003s Shock and Awe. That was no incompetence; it was Plan A from the get-go. The former USSR was deemed a mighty threat at the end of WWII  so Germany had to be rebuilt. Iraq was a war of choice to grab oil fields  mixed with the implementation of hardcore disaster capitalism. No one in Washington ever cared or even wanted to rebuild it. Russian aggression does not apply to Iraq; its all about Eastern Europe. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov anyway has made it clear that the deployment of the Aegis will be counterpunched in style  as even US corporate media starts to admit that the Russian economy is healing from the effects of the oil price war. Take a look at my liquid asssets Here my purpose was to show that China is not a House of Cards. Whatever the real Chinese debt to GDP ratio  figures vary from as low as 23% to 220%  that is nothing for an economy the size of the Chinese, especially because it is entirely internally controlled. China keeps over $3 trillion in US dollars and other Western currencies in reserves while it gradually delinks its economy from the real House of Cards: the US dollar economy. So under these circumstances what does foreign debt mean? Not much. China could  although they don't do it yet  produce more yuan and buy back their debt, as much as the US with quantitative easing (QE) and the European Central Bank (ECB) as it asks certain 'favorite countries' (strong NATO supporters) to produce more than their share of euros. And yet Beijing doesn't really need to do this. China, Russia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and what's left of the BRICS (Brazil is on hold until at least 2018) are slowly but surely forging their own internal currency and currency transfer system (in China and Russia it works already internally) to sideline SWIFT and the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). When they are ready to roll it out for the rest of the world to join them, then US dollar-based foreign debt will be meaningless. US Think Tankland, as usual, remains clueless. As one of my Chinese sources explains, whenever a Western big mouth mentions China's debt problem they quote a figure that seems to come out of thin air, and it includes all debts, central, provincial, city government levels, estimated all corporate debts, loans from banks outside China. Meanwhile, they compare this total number in China with those of Western countries and Japan's central government debt alone. The source adds, China is operating with a balance sheet of the equivalent to $60 trillion. Loans from external sources is in the $11 trillion range while cash and equivalent is in the $3.6-4 trillion range. All this cash  or very liquid asset  is the biggest discretionary force in the hands of China's leaders while nothing worth mentioning is in the hands of any other Western government. Not to mention that globally, Beijing is betting on what the World Economic Forum calls the Fourth Industrial Revolution. China is already the central hub for global production, supply, logistics and value chain. Which leads us to One Belt, One Road (OBOR); all roads lead to the Chinese-driven New Silk Roads, which will connect, deeper and deeper, Chinas economy and infrastructure all across Eurasia. OBOR will simultaneously expand Chinas global power while geopolitically counterpunching the so far ineffective pivot to Asia  Pentagon provocations in the South China Sea included  and improving Chinas energy security. Sanctions, like diamonds, are forever Another major Exceptionalistan fictional narrative is that the US is worried  about the inability of European banks to do business in Iran. Thats nonsense; in fact, its the US Treasury Department that is scaring the hell out of any European bank who dares to do business with Tehran. India and Iran have struck a $500 million landmark deal to develop the Iranian port of Chabahar  a key node in what could be dubbed the New India-Iran Silk Road, connecting India to Central Asia via Iran and Afghanistan. Immediately afterwards the US State Department has the gall to announce that the deal will be examined  as the proverbial Israeli-firster US senators question whether the deal violates those lingering sanctions against Iran that refuse to go away. This happens in parallel to a mounting official narrative of unrest contaminating former Soviet republics in Central Asia  especially Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. CIA-paid hacks should know those sources of unrest well  as the CIA itself is fomenting it. India doing business with Iran is suspicious. On the other hand, India is more than allowed to formalize a historic military cooperation deal with the US hazily dubbed the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA)  according to which the two militaries may use each others land, air and naval bases for resupplies, repairs and vaguely-defined operations. So its all hands on deck all over Exceptionalistan to counter Russia, China and prevent any real normalization with Iran. These localized offensives  practical and rhetorical  on all fronts always mean one thing, and one thing only; splitting and fracturing, by all means necessary, the OBOR Eurasian integration. Bets can be made that Moscow, Beijing and Tehran simply wont be fooled. Pepe Escobar - Independent geopolitical analyst, writer and journalist
Yoruba guys, popularly called yoruba demon are the MVP in vogue.

You could identify them by their attire; a danshiki native outfit and cap, and some could add an agbada to make the look complete.

The usual trademark of the yoruba demons is moving in flock like a pack of wolves out for a hunt.

Recently, ladies of class and styles have raised alarm on the rate at which these yoruba demons break hearts, they would date dupe, ebiere, monica, ayishat, yewande, moji all at the same time, while feigning to be in an exclusive relationship with each of them, without breaking a sweat.

Some even go to the extent of introducing you to their folks, dissipitating every iota of doubt from the mind of unsuspecting prey. Enough said, so how do you identify a yoruba demon, even when he is not adorned in his full regalia.

1.He refuses to pick calls when he is with you , be careful, it might be be other chicks calling him. You could gently tell him to pick his calls while you listen to his response

2. YOU manage to Snoop through his phone without a single text message on his phone. Trust me BAE has successfully wiped them away. Yoruba demons play smart, dont be fooled.

3. His words are not consistent with his actions. He tells you he could kill a lion for you, but does not even give a hoot when you carrying some damn heavy bags. You just have to carry them by yourself. Yoruba demons are not that nice.

4. You have been dating for a minimum of 5 years, but he has not popped the question. Yoruba guys wont manage to propose to a girl that he has not certified to be a wife material.

Dear girls, what are you waiting for? Ask him what he needs from you, ask him when he intends setting down, If he is not specific, my dear run!

#justteetalking#
Former Chief Security Officer, CSO, to the late Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd.), has again challenged former President Olusegun Obasanjo to an open debate over claims by the latter that the former CSO was contracted by immediate past President Goodluck Jonathans administration to help it train 1,000 snipers and assassins.

Mr. Obasanjo made the weighty allegation among others, in his now infamous 18-page stinker to Mr. Jonathan in 2014.

Al-Mustapha denied the allegation then just as former President Jonathan in his own stinker to Obasanjo, fell short of accusing the Ota farmer of treason.

Addressing some select journalists in Lagos, on Monday, on some number of issues relating to his 15 years incarceration over the alleged assassination of Chief Kudirat Abiola, wife of the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential elections, Chief M.K.O Abiola, the former de-facto second in command to the late Abacha, also debunked insinuations that Jonathan interfered with court process to facilitate his release from prison to enable him (Al-Mustapha) help train the killer squad or procure the former presidents success in the North during the last general elections.

It would be recalled that Al-Mustapha was acquitted of the murder of Mrs. Abiola by the Court of Appeal in Lagos on July 12, 2013.

However, speaking today on his travails, Mr. Al-Mustapha said ab initio, he had no case to answer but for the plots of his persecutors to see him eliminated because he stepped on their toes while he served as the CSO to late Gen. Abacha.

He added that the Appellate Court acquitted him when it determined that he had no case to answer of all the charges leveled against him.

He said: Firstly, ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was not the one that facilitated my release. Rather, my release was facilitated by the content of the case as determined by the Court of Appeal. We were not even supposed to have been arrested in the first place. After all, witnesses were induced and contracted to implicate us. At the end of the day, we were subjected to all manner of torture and abuses of our human rights. Today, despite the fact that we were convicted on grounds that were baseless without evidence and even against the submissions of their witnesses, they did the contrary outside what was before the court of law.

So, when the Appellate Court looked at the matter in totality, we were released based on purely the rule of law. So, anybody saying Jonathan facilitated my release is either one of my persecutors or those who have taken money from them. There are public documents in the public for all to see these facts.

Adding, he said, On the allegation by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that I was contracted by the Jonathan administration to train 1,000 snipers, I have challenged him to an open debate to substantiate his allegations. Obasanjo cannot go about creating an allegation that is totally false. If that assertion of Obasanjo was true, now that President Muhammadu Buhari was in power, now that the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA is being x-rayed, now that those who collected money from that office are being x-rayed by different committees, that allegation of Obasanjo would have come to fore.

Nobody contracted me to catch 1, 000 mosquitoes under the Jonathan administration, not to talk of human beings. I am Al-Mustapha, I have my background. away from the propaganda peddled by the likes of Obasanjo. Obasanjo has had his day, I am doing my investigation, and I have discovered so many things as to what gave him (Obasanjo) that input to have made such allegation then. I have it. I will release it very soon and that is why I have challenged him to an open debate.

Obasanjo is my senior militarily, he was a former Military Head of State in this country, but when issues of law and rights of man are being discussed, definitely equality comes to the fore. You cant put an allegation against your junior because you are a senior, and you believe the junior would keep quiet. No, I would not. That would amount to ignorance. I am not ignorant about our laws. I challenge Obasanjo to an open debate, so that he can substantiate his allegations before the whole world, but he is yet to oblige the challenge. Thank God today, a new government is here, where he (Obasanjo) can bring up the issue again, requesting it to scrutinise, and if there is any contract between President Jonathan and I, to catch one single mosquito, I want to say that I am guilty and want to be tried.
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, has appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the All Progressives Congress and the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to fulfill all its campaign promises to Nigerians.

He said this at an interdenominational service held at the Government House Chapel in Owerri, the capital of Imo State, to mark the Democracy Day.

Governor Okorocha said the Buhari-led administration was currently breaking down the faulty foundation built by the previous government to pave way for a better foundation that would give birth to a new Nigeria.

Speaking on his own achievements in five years in office, Okorocha said they have surpassed that of his predecessors. He also said his programmes and policies had impacted the lives and well-being of the people of Imo State.
Today marks one year of our dear president Buharis in office.It is based on this that INFORMATION NIGERIA brings to you the lovely text that he shared with us all this morning in his own word.

My compatriots,

It is one year today since our administration came into office. It has been a year of triumph, consolidation, pains and achievements. By age, instinct and experience, my preference is to look forward, to prepare for the challenges that lie ahead and rededicate the administration to the task of fixing Nigeria. But I believe we can also learn from the obstacles we have overcome and the progress we made thus far, to help strengthen the plans that we have in place to put Nigeria back on the path of progress.

We affirm our belief in democracy as the form of government that best assures the active participation and actual benefit of the people. Despite the many years of hardship and disappointment the people of this nation have proved inherently good, industrious tolerant, patient and generous.

The past years have witnessed huge flows of oil revenues. From 2010 average oil prices were $100 per barrel. But economic and security conditions were deteriorating. We campaigned and won the election on the platform of restoring security, tackling corruption and restructuring the economy. On our arrival, the oil price had collapsed to as low as $30 per barrel and we found nothing had been kept for the rainy day. Oil prices have been declining since 2014 but due to the neglect of the past, the country was not equipped to halt the economy from declining.

The infrastructure, notably rail, power, roads were in a decrepit state. All the four refineries were in a state of disrepair, the pipelines and depots neglected.

Huge debts owed to contractors and suppliers had accumulated. Twenty-seven states could not pay salaries for months. In the north-east, Boko Haram had captured 14 local governments, driven the local authorities out, hoisted their flags. Elsewhere, insecurity was palpable; corruption and impunity were the order of the day. In short, we inherited a state near collapse.

On the economic front, all oil dependent countries, Nigeria included, have been struggling since the drop in prices. Many oil rich states have had to take tough decisions similar to what we are doing. The world, Nigeria included has been dealing with the effects of three significant and simultaneous global shocks starting in 2014:

A 70% drop in oil prices. Global growth slowdown. Normalization of monetary policy by the United States federal reserve.

Our problems as a government are like that of a farmer who in a good season harvests ten bags of produce. The proceeds enable him to get by for rest of the year. However, this year he could only manage 3 bags from his farm. He must now think of other ways to make ends meet.

From day one, we purposely set out to correct our condition, to change Nigeria. We reinforced and galvanized our armed forces with new leadership and resources. We marshaled our neighbours in a joint task force to tackle and defeat Boko Haram. By the end of December 2015, all but pockets and remnants had been routed by our gallant armed forces. Our immediate focus is for a gradual and safe return of internally displaced persons in safety and dignity and for the resumption of normalcy in the lives of people living in these areas.

EFCC was given the freedom to pursue corrupt officials and the judiciary was alerted on what Nigerians expect of them in the fight against corruption. On the economy, in particular foreign exchange and fuel shortages, our plan is to save foreign exchange by fast tracking repair of the refineries and producing most of our fuel requirements at home. And by growing more food in Nigeria, mainly rice, wheat and sugar we will save billions of dollars in foreign exchange and drastically reduce our food import bill.

We resolved to keep the Naira steady, as in the past, devaluation had done dreadful harm to the Nigerian economy. Furthermore, I supported the monetary authoritys decision to ensure alignment between monetary policy and fiscal policy. We shall keep a close look on how the recent measures affect the Naira and the economy. But we cannot get away from the fact that a strong currency is predicated on a strong economy. And a strong economy pre-supposes an industrial productive base and a steady export market. The measures we must take, may lead to hardships. The problems Nigerians have faced over the last year have been many and varied. But the real challenge for this government has been reconstructing the spine of the Nigerian state. The last twelve months have been spent collaborating with all arms of government to revive our institutions so that they are more efficient and fit for purpose:

That means a bureaucracy better able to develop and deliver policy

That means an independent judiciary, above suspicion and able to defend citizens rights and dispense justice equitably.

That means a legislature that actually legislates effectively and

Above all; that means political parties and politicians committed to serving the Nigerian people rather than themselves.

These are the pillars of the state on which democracy can take root and thrive. But only if they are strong and incorruptible. Accordingly, we are working very hard to introduce some vital structural reforms in the way we conduct government business and lay a solid foundation on which we can build enduring change.

An important first step has been to get our housekeeping right. So we have reduced the extravagant spending of the past. We started boldly with the treasury single account, stopping the leakages in public expenditure.

We then identified forty-three thousand ghost workers through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information system. That represents pay packets totalling N4.2 billion stolen every month. In addition, we will save Twenty-Three Billion Naira per annum from official travelling and sitting allowances alone.

Furthermore, the efficiency unit will cut costs and eliminate duplications in ministries and departments. Every little saving helps. The reduction in the number of ministries and work on restructuring and rationalization of the MDAs is well underway. When this work is complete we will have a leaner, more efficient public service that is fit for the purpose of changing nigeria for the good and for good.

As well as making savings, we have changed the way public money is spent. In all my years as a public servant, I have never come across the practice of padding budgets. I am glad to tell you now we not only have a budget, but more importantly, we have a budget process that is more transparent, more inclusive and more closely tied to our development priorities than in the recent past. 30% of the expenditure in this budget is devoted to capital items. Furthermore, we are projecting non-oil revenues to surpass proceeds from oil. Some critics have described the budget exercise as clumsy. Perhaps. But it was an example of consensus building, which is integral to democratic government. In the end we resolved our differences.

We have, therefore, delivered significant milestones on security, corruption and the economy. In respect of the economy, I would like to directly address you on the very painful but inevitable decisions we had to make in the last few weeks specifically on the pump price of fuel and the more flexible exchange rate policy announced by the central bank. It is even more painful for me that a major producer of crude oil with four refineries that once exported refined products is today having to import all of its domestic needs. This is what corruption and mismanagement has done to us and that is why we must fight these ills.

As part of the foundation of the new economy we have had to reform how fuel prices had traditionally been fixed. This step was taken only after protracted consideration of its pros and cons. After comprehensive investigation my advisers and I concluded that the mechanism was unsustainable.

We are also engaged in making recoveries of stolen assets some of which are in different jurisdictions. The processes of recovery can be tedious and time consuming, but today I can confirm that thus far: significant amount of assets have been recovered. A considerable portion of these are at different stages of recovery. Full details of the status and categories of the assets will now be published by the Ministry of Information and updated periodically. When forfeiture formalities are completed these monies will be credited to the treasury and be openly and transparently used in funding developmental projects and the public will be informed.

On the Niger Delta, we are committed to implementing the United Nations Environment Programme report and are advancing clean-up operations. I believe the way forward is to take a sustainable approach to address the issues that affect the delta communities. Re-engineering the amnesty programmes is an example of this. The recent spate of attacks by militants disrupting oil and power installations will not distract us from engaging leaders in the region in addressing Niger Delta problems. If the militants and vandals are testing our resolve, they are much mistaken. We shall apprehend the perpetrators and their sponsors and bring them to justice.

The policy measures and actions taken so far are not to be seen as some experiment in governance. We are fully aware that those vested interests who have held Nigeria back for so long will not give up without a fight. They will sow divisions, sponsor vile press criticisms at home and abroad, incite the public in an effort to create chaos rather than relinquish the vice-like grip they have held on Nigeria.

The economic misfortune we are experiencing in the shape of very low oil prices has provided us with an opportunity to restructure our economy and diversify. We are in the process of promoting agriculture, livestocks, exploiting our solid mineral resources and expanding our industrial and manufacturing base. That way, we will import less and make the social investments necessary to allow us to produce a large and skilled workforce.

Central Bank of Nigeria will offer more fiscal incentives for business that prove capable of manufacturing products that are internationally competitive. We remain committed to reforming the regulatory framework, for investors by improving the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the first steps along the path of self-sufficiency in rice, wheat and sugar  big users of our scarce foreign exchange  have been taken. The Labour Intensive Farming Enterprise will boost the economy and ensure inclusive growth in long neglected communities. Special intervention funds through the Bank of Agriculture will provide targeted support. Concerns remain about rising cost of foods such as maize, rice, millet, beans and gari. Farmers tell me that they are worried about the cost of fertilizers, pesticides and the absence of extension services. The federal and state governments are on the same page in tackling these hurdles in our efforts at increased food production and ultimately food security.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation for the increasing role that our women are playing in revitalizing the agricultural sector. Modern farming is still hard and heavy work and I salute our Nigerian women in sharing this burden. In this respect I am very pleased to announce that the government will shortly be launching the national womens empowerment fund, which I have approved to provide N1.6 billion in micro-finance loans to women across the nation to assist in rehabilitating the economies of rural communities, particularly those impacted by the insurgency and conflict.

With respect to solid minerals, the minister has produced a roadmap where we will work closely with the world bank and major international investors to ensure through best practices and due diligence that we choose the right partners. Illegal mining remains a problem and we have set up a special security team to protect our assets. Special measures will be in place to protect miners in their work environment.

For too long, ours has been a society that neglects the poor and victimizes the weak. A society that promotes profit and growth over development and freedom. A society that fails to recognize that, to quote the distinguished economist Amartya Sen  poverty is not just lack of money. It is not having the capability to realize ones full potential as a human being.

So, today, I am happy to formally launch, by far the most ambitious social protection programme in our history. A programme that both seeks to start the process of lifting many from poverty, while at the same time creating the opportunity for people to fend for themselves. In this regard, Five Hundred Billion Naira has been appropriated in the 2016 budget for social intervention programmes in five key areas. We are committed to providing job creation opportunities for five hundred thousand teachers and one hundred thousand artisans across the nation. 5.5 million children are to be provided with nutritious meals through our school feeding programme to improve learning outcomes, as well as enrolment and completion rates. The conditional cash transfer scheme will provide financial support for up to one million vulnerable beneficiaries, and complement the enterprise programme  which will target up to one million market women; four hundred and sixty thousand artisans; and two hundred thousand agricultural workers, nationwide. Finally, through the education grant scheme, we will encourage students studying sciences, technology, engineering and maths, and lay a foundation for human capital development for the next generation

I would like to pay a special tribute to our gallant men and women of the armed forces who are in harms way so that the rest of us can live and go about our business in safety. Their work is almost done. The nation owes them a debt of gratitude.

Abroad, we want to assure our neighbours, friends and development partners that Nigeria is firmly committed to democratic principles. We are ready partners in combating terrorism, cyber crimes, control of communicable diseases and protection of the environment. Following on the Paris Agreement, COP 21, we are fully committed to halting and reversing desertification. Elsewhere, we will intensify efforts to tackle erosion, ocean surge, flooding and oil spillage which I referred to earlier by implementing the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.

We are grateful to the international community notably France, the US, UK and China for their quick response in helping to tackle the recent Ebola outbreak in our sub-region. We also acknowledge the humanity shown by the Italian and German governments in the treatment of boat people, many fleeing from our sub-region because of lack of economic opportunity. We thank all our partners especially several countries in the EU.

We appreciate the valuable work that the UN agencies, particularly UNICEF, ICRC, the World Food Program have been doing. We must also appreciate the World Bank, the Gates Foundation, the Global Fund and Educate A Child of Qatar for the excellent work in our health, education and other sectors.

Fellow citizens let me end on a happy note. To the delight of all, two of the abducted Chibok girls have regained their freedom. During the last one year, not a single day passed without my agonizing about these girls. Our efforts have centred around negotiations to free them safely from their mindless captors. We are still pursuing that course. Their safety is of paramount concern to me and I am sure to most Nigerians. I am very worried about the conditions those still captured might be in. Today I re-affirm our commitment to rescuing our girls. We will never stop until we bring them home safely. As I said before, no girl should be put through the brutality of forced marriage and every Nigerian girl has the right to an education and a life choice.

I thank you and appeal to you to continue supporting the governments efforts to fix Nigeria.
The erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, has denied reports of a petition against former President Goodluck Jonathan, over the ongoing arms probe.

There were reports over the weekend that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, which is probing the alleged mismanagement of $2.1 billion by the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, had received a petition demanding a probe of the former president for his role.

The petition reportedly emanated from a former member of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Ikenna Ejezie, through his counsel, Barrister Osuagwu Ugochukwu.

Mr. Jonathans name has featured prominently in ongoing investigation of the $2.1 billion meant to purchase arms and ammunition for the Nigerian Armed Forces but which was diverted by the ex-NSA to fund the former presidents failed re-election campaign.

Reacting to the petition, which was said to be the first to be written to the anti-graft agency against the immediate past Nigerian leader, Metuhs counsel, Ben Nwosu, in a statement over the weekend, described the said petition as a hoax because the alleged petitioner is fictitious as there is no record of the name  Ikenna Ejezie  existing, as a former member of the Enugu Assembly.

Mr. Nwosu further said the report of the petition was calculated to sway the public and the judiciary against Mr. Metuh.

It is clear that their assertion is neither based on the statement our client made at the EFCC nor on the evidence placed before the court, which has clearly established our clients case that the N400 million approved by the former president was not for personal and private use, he said.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has denied a claim that the health of a former Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Domestic Affairs, Dr. Waripamowei Dudafa, is failing in detention.

The commission said suspects arrested in connection with alleged corruption prefer its detention facility to prison custody.

The EFCC is probing the former presidential aide for his alleged role in the withdrawal of $47 million and 5.6 million (N10 billion) from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Mr. Dudafa reportedly handled the cash, which he later allegedly distributed to delegates that took part in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDPs presidential primary election on November 27, 2014.

The former domestic aide to Mr. Jonathan, who went underground when the EFCC launched investigations into the campaign funding of the PDP, was eventually arrested at the Lagos Airport on April 18 by the Department of State Services, DSS, and taken into custody.

However, a spokesman for Dudafas family, Engr. Thomas Akpoebi, on Monday issued a statement alleging that the detainees health had deteriorated in the last two weeks in EFCC custody.

The statement also dismissed as false, a report that the anti-graft agency had released Dudafa.

The statement said: We members of the Dudafa family are frightened at the level of deliberate neglect and abandonment Dr. Waripamowei Dudafa has been subjected in the EFCC custody since his incarceration about 50 days ago.

This is the first time we are constrained to say something to the world since the arrest and detention of our brother and this is deliberate in order for the law to take its full circle despite the media trial that has been orchestrated.

We are particularly disturbed that the EFCC told a national daily on Wednesday last week that Dudafa had been released.

This is far from the truth and an attempt to mislead the public in order to endanger our brothers life in their custody. This is a despotic way of fighting corruption.

The Head of Media and Publicity of EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, however dismissed the claim.

He said: The commission will not be distracted by any false alarm regarding the health condition of any suspect as all suspects in the custody of the EFCC have access to the best available medical care.

All inmates also have access to their lawyers and family members at the designated visiting hours.

The quality of care in the EFCC holding facility is the reason why accused persons regularly plead in court to be remanded in EFCC custody.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Lagos State has appealed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, to look into the continuous refusal of the Federal High Court in Abuja to grant Chief Olisa Metuh permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.

Mr. Metuh, who is the erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, is standing trial before Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja for alleged unlawful receipt of N400 million from the Office of the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.).

Metuh and his company, Destra Investment Limited, were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, before the court on seven count charges.

In the course of his trial, the former PDP spokesperson suffered a spinal cord injury he claimed required urgent surgery abroad but could not travel due to the fact that his passport was surrendered to the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court as part of his bail conditions.

An application filed by his lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) seeking the courts permission to allow Metuh travel abroad for treatment, was last week denied by Justice Abang.

Reacting to the denial of his application, the Lagos PDP said in the spirit of democracy and freedom, Metuh should be allowed to enjoy his fundamental human rights.

Appealing to the CJN in a statement issued on Sunday by its spokesperson, Gani Taofik, the party asked Justice Mohammed to give his opinion on the denial of the request by Metuh.

It said in view of Metuhs family ties to the country, he would not be a flight risk.

The PDP said, We ask the state not to take the ordinary prosecution to be a persecution as the whole efforts would be defeated if, God forbid, the defendant becomes permanently incapacitated due to lack of medical care for his peculiar ailments.

He (Metuh) has survived several attacks and we think that this prosecution should not turn into persecution. We are of the belief that it is not the wish of the judicial system that a defendant dies or is permanently incapacitated during trial in circumstances that are ordinarily avoidable. Olisa Metuh is a lawyer and is aware of the implication of jumping bail. He is not likely to jump bail. We appeal that justice should be tempered with mercy as this is very appropriate in this circumstance.

For the Federal Government not to kill the opposition, this (May 29) celebration is an auspicious moment to allow Metuh enjoy medical care in any place of his choice. This is a strong appeal to the conscience of the trial judge, the prosecutor and, indeed, the Chief justice of Nigeria to have a second consideration for the full bail of Chief Metuh, who is obviously very ill and unable to continue the rigours of the trials.
What was supposed to be a peaceful procession on Monday by the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra, MASSOB, turned into a bloodbath as people suspected to be members of MASSOB clashed with policemen in Asaba, Delta State.

The MASSOB members were marching along Anwai Road in the Delta State capital to demand for the creation of Biafra when they clashed with the policemen, eyewitnesses said.

Witnesses said some persons, including policemen, injured in the fracas, were taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, for treatment.

According to an eyewitness, Uche Okelue, the incident happened when a team of policemen threw teargas at the MASSOB members in a bid to disperse the procession.

The police used teargas on the MASSOB people as they were protesting along Anwai Road this morning, so the people got angry and attacked the policemen with knives and broken bottles, Mr. Okelue said.

They caught one policeman, beat him up before stabbing him to death; it was a fierce confrontation as everyone ran in different directions, he added.

Another eyewitness, Ben Onwordi, told News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, that another violent confrontation ensued between the police and MASSOB members at the popular Mammy Market Junction on Nnebisi Road, Asaba.

As the group were protesting, the police patrol vehicle came behind them and tried to disperse them but the MASSOB people resisted and in the process they clashed and many people were injured.

The MASSOB people damaged the police patrol vehicle, vandalising the windscreen and doors before all of them fled into different directions, Mr. Onwordi said.

It was further learnt that another clash occurred at the River Niger Bridge on the border between Delta and Anambra states when some MASSOB members tried to conduct a similar rally.

A police source, who pleaded anonymity, said that MASSOB members had attacked some policemen at the bridge head, overpowering two of them, before throwing them over the bridge into the river.

We have been able to retrieve one of them from the river. He was brought out in an unconscious mood and rushed to the hospital, however, the second victim is still missing, he said.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Police Command in Delta State, Charles Mouka, said the police were still monitoring the situation.

We are still waiting for information on the incident. As I speak to you now, we are in the field, so I cannot say anything for now, said Mr. Mouka, a Superintendent of Police.

(NAN)
President Muhammadu Buhari has been called upon to order an investigation into the role being played by the various stakeholders in Borno State in the intractable nature of the Boko Haram insurgency.

The Nigerians in Diaspora Monitoring Group, NDMG, which made the call on Sunday, lamented that the abducted Chibok girls were still in Boko Haram captivity even as others celebrated this years Childrens Day.

The group said the abducted Chibok girls continue to be in captivity because several persons and groups are making political capital and possibly economic gains out of the captives unfortunate situation.

The NDMG in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its UK Coordinator, Engr. Adeka Onyilo, pointed out that the development around the two recently rescued Chibok girls, information reportedly supplied by other freed Boko Haram abductees and the reported confessions of captured fighters of the terror group, have confirmed earlier held beliefs that the insurgency has the blessing of highly placed persons in Borno State.

Onyilo stressed that the Presidency can no longer shy away from ordering a special investigation into what is truly going on in that state, particularly when other Northeast states to which the insurgency spread, are now back on the way to recovery while Borno state continues to relapse.

Our recommendation at this point is for the Federal Government to set up a Board of inquiry into the roles being played by all those that present themselves as the leaders of that State.

Events in Borno have shown that Boko Haram terrorists thrive on more than the support of urchins and unemployed youths.

The insurgents have proven that the support they enjoy in the area is at an organizational level and possibly with State dimension. The Federal Government can therefore not make headway in the place if those that pretend to support it in the anti-terror fight are actually undermining its efforts by deliberately creating situations that allow the crisis to persist.

To make sure that the terror group is dealt a final blow that will allow the country know peace, anyone or group implicated in sustaining Boko Haram, whether directly or through acts of sabotaging the Federal Governments efforts must be made to face the law.

Mr President can no longer allow such compromised persons to continue wielding influence in Borno and environs as their continued support for terrorism could drag the ongoing fight into a stalemate, the statement warned.

The NDMG stressed that the abducted Chibok girls, being peoples children, must not be allowed to spend another Childrens day in captivity.
Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State on Sunday gave a damning verdict of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, saying in just one year, the All Progressives Congress-led federal government has ruined the countrys economy so much that States could no longer pay workers salaries, millions of jobs were lost, prices of essential commodities skyrocketed to the extent that Nigerians could no longer afford common tomato to cook and the middle class wiped away completely.

Mr. Fayose, in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, was reacting to the one year anniversary of the Buhari administration.

According to him, all his pre-election warnings about the president and the hardships Nigerians would pass through under Mr. Buharis leadership have been justified.

Despite President Buharis electoral promise to reduce petrol pump price from the N87 per litre that he met it and make life more bearable for Nigerians, he increased the price of petrol to N145, increased electricity tariff in spite of lack of power supply, he said.

The governor recalled that the last time Nigeria experienced food scarcity was between 1983 and 1985 when Buhari was military head of state, pointing out that in 2016, with him at the helm of affairs of the country as a civilian president, Nigerians have again found themselves in a situation where they are unable to feed.

Fayose, who said Nigerians should remove party, ethnic and religious sentiments and ask themselves what they have benefitted in the last one year of the APC-led government, reminded them that Foreign Reserve was $28.6 billion, Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $2.07 billion, dollars was less than N200, petrol was N87 per litre and most importantly, one bag of rice was N8, 500 and power generation was over 5,000MW when Buhari assumed office.

However, Today, power generation is less than 1,400, Foreign Reserve has reduced to $26.5 billion, dollar is now over N350, petrol has increased to N145 per litre and one bag of rice is now over N15, 000! I read the presidents speech and all that I saw was a president still sounding like he was campaigning for votes more than one year after winning election, the Ekiti governor said.

He continued: It is disappointing that the Presidents speech was once again about promises, not about what has been done.

Not even a mention of one kilometre of road tarred by this administration, no single job was created except the ones created in Central Bank of Nigeria for their cronnies and children, not a single megawatt of electricity generated. This is shameful.

The reward Buhari gave to Nigerians for electing as president was to increase petrol pump price by N58.50 and get the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo to justify the increment by saying Nigeria was broke!

In other words, President Buhari increased petrol pump price because the country was broke and it needed to shore up its revenue base. The N58.50 added to the previous pump price of N86.50 was an Indirect Tax imposed on each litre of petrol purchased by Nigerians.

It is even more worrisome that we have a presidency that is not coordinated. The president says one thing; his vice says another while his ministers also singing discordant tunes. This is a clear sign of cluelessness and unpreparedness for governance.

I cannot but agree with the position of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Obiageli Ezekwesili and others that President Buhari has no clue economically.

The governor likened the situation in the country today to a case of the visually impaired leading those who can see, adding But I warned Nigerians, and I am still warning Nigerians now that as it happened in 1984 when our President was a military Head of State, the economy of Nigeria may collapse!

Therefore, as we look forward to the end of the honeymoon of Buharis presidency, I wish to state that if supposed men of honour are going underground because of possible harassment and intimidation, I, Peter Ayodele Fayose will not; because this is our fatherland.

Most importantly, those regarding President Buhari as a saint should know that he is not. The president is not also the Almighty God that cannot be questioned. After all, the beauty of democracy is in credible opposition.

Today, I have expressed my mind concerning the one year of Buharis presidency as I did before the election. This I have done basically to remind Nigerians that I told them then, and it is happening now.

May God be with the President and bless Nigeria, the statement concluded.
The immediate past Minister of National Planning and self-appointed spokesperson of ministers under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, Abubakar Suleiman, has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his efforts in the fight against insurgency in the country.

Mr. Suleiman, who gave the commendation Sunday in llorin, the Kwara State capital shortly after the presidents nationwide broadcast to mark Democracy Day and one year of his administration, pointed out that there is now peace in parts of the country that hitherto had recorded mass casualties and displacement due to attacks by the insurgents.

He, however, urged the Buhari administration to consolidate on the achievement recorded so far to engender development in the area.

According to Suleiman, no meaningful development could be attained in an atmosphere of rancour, hatred and acrimony.

He also advised President Buhari to bring his ministers closer to him, to be able to get direct information on issues affecting the country including the feelings and aspirations of Nigerians.

The ex-minister also suggested the inclusion of more economists into the present administration to fast track the countrys economic recovery.
The Lagos State Police Command has expressed fears that alleged wife killer, Jafaru Sogei, may be mentally unstable.

Sogei, 49, is believed to have slaughtered his wife of 26 years  Rose  last Friday at their Araromi Street, Oshodi residence while she slept at about 1am.

The suspect was also said to have ingested a poisonous substance after the atrocious murder of his wife and is currently receiving treatment at a police hospital in Lagos.

But the acting spokesperson of Lagos Police Command, Chukwuma Ozoani, said there was possibility that the Sogei is mentally unstable because his speech is incoherent at the moment.

Ozoani, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said: We are carrying out various tests on him. There is the possibility that he might be mentally unstable. He might have psychiatric problem. He is in police hospital; we are checking his mental health. It is an all-inclusive thing. He cannot stand on his own nor speak what we understand.

He only looks and murmurs and so we are going the extra mile to look at the issues and observe him.

Confirming the development, a credible police source said it was initially thought that Sogei was on drugs until it was discovered that his poor state of health was due to poison he ingested after allegedly slitting his wifes throat.

He was rushed to the hospital and has been there since then. There is a possibility he is mentally unstable. Our psychiatric doctors are checking him. He is not in a good state at all. He took poison. He is not well so we are treating him at the police hospital.

You cannot investigate someone who is at the point of death. But once he recovers, we would begin investigation into the case, said the source.
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday failed on his promise to publish looters list on Democracy Day as he passed the responsibility to the Ministry of Information.

So far, what has come out, what has been recovered in whatever currency from each ministry, department and individual, I intend on the 29th to speak on this because all Nigerians are getting from the mass media is the number of people arrested either by the EFCC, DSS. But we want to make a comprehensive report on May 29, Buhari had said while attending an anti-corruption summit in London earlier in the month.

After explaining how difficult the recovery process has been, Buhari said: Full details of the status and categories of the assets will now be published by the Ministry of Information and updated periodically. When forfeiture formalities are completed these monies will be credited to the treasury and be openly and transparently used in funding developmental projects and the public will be informed.

Later on Sunday, the Minister of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed said during a television programme that he would disclose the recovered loot this week.
A former governor of Benue State, Senator George Akume, has donated a giant fish to the senator representing Kaduna Central on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Shehu Sani.

Akume, who represents Benue North-West senatorial district on the platform of APC, made the donation weekend at the Tudun Wada residence of Senator Sani during the seven days fidau prayers of Hajiya Fatima Sani.

Hajiya Fatima, who is Sanis mother, passed away penultimate Saturday at the age of 75 after a brief illness and Senator Akume was among senators that attended the fidau prayers.

The giant fish, which became the centre of attraction as soon as Akumes aides brought it out from the car, was lifted by two men and taken into Senator Sanis compound where residents and well-wishers began taking photographs with their mobile phones.

Earlier, Akume, who came in the same car with Senator Abdullahi Gumel (APC, Jigawa Northwest), said the number of people that came for the prayers showed that Senator Sani was a grassroots politician.

The senator, therefore, offered prayers for the repose of the soul of Hajiya Fatima and urged parents to always ensure good and qualitative upbringing of their children.
Nigerians have been reminded that tough economic decisions, which may lead to hardships, must be taken to reposition the economy.

President Muhammadu Buhari stated this Sunday morning in his Democracy Day broadcast.

The president reiterated his administrations resolve to keep the Naira steady against the U.S Dollar as devaluation had done dreadful harm to the Nigerian economy in the past.

He said he supported the monetary authoritys decision to ensure alignment between monetary policy and fiscal policy, saying that government would keep a close look on how the recent measures affect the Naira and the economy.

But we cannot get away from the fact that a strong currency is predicated on a strong economy. And a strong economy pre-supposes an industrial productive base and a steady export market. The measures we must take may lead to hardships, he noted.

President Buhari, who acknowledged that the problems Nigerians had faced in the last one year had been many and varied, stressed that the real challenge for his government had been reconstructing the spine of the Nigerian state.

This, he said, has been the focus of his administration in conjunction with all arms of government in the last one year  to revive institutions so as to make them more efficient and fit for purpose.

That means a bureaucracy better able to develop and deliver policy. That means an independent judiciary, above suspicion and able to defend citizens rights and dispense justice equitably. That means a legislature that actually legislates effectively and above all; that means political parties and politicians committed to serving the Nigerian people rather than themselves. These are the pillars of the state on which democracy can take root and thrive. But only if they are strong and incorruptible. Accordingly, we are working very hard to introduce some vital structural reforms in the way we conduct government business and lay a solid foundation on which we can build enduring change, he said.

Buhari further admitted that his government had made the very painful but inevitable decisions in the last few weeks, specifically on the pump price of fuel and the more flexible exchange rate policy announced by the Central Bank.

The president said it was even more painful for him that Nigeria, a major producer of crude oil with four refineries that once exported refined products, today had to import all of its domestic needs.

This is what corruption and mismanagement has done to us and that is why we must fight these ills, he maintained.

He said as part of the foundation of the new economy, his administration had to reform how fuel prices had traditionally been fixed.

Explaining how the federal government arrived at the decision to hike fuel price from N86.50 to N145, Buhari said: This step was taken only after protracted consideration of its pros and cons. After comprehensive investigation, my advisers and I concluded that the mechanism was unsustainable.
The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has defended President Muhammadu Buharis decision not to release details of looted asset recovered from corrupt former office holders.

Our correspondent reported on Sunday that Buhari disappointed many Nigerians due to his failure to disclose details of looters and recovered assets in his Democracy Day nationwide broadcast yesterday.

The disappointment, the report said, stems from the promise the president made on May 14 in London, on the sidelines of the Anti-Corruption Summit hosted by Prime Minister David Cameron that he would make a comprehensive report available to Nigerians on May 29 (yesterday).

But during his nation-wide address on Sunday morning, President Buhari failed to make the details public, instead, passing the responsibility to the Information Ministry, which he said would soon release relevant details.

Justifying the presidents failure to keep to his promise on Sunday evening hours after the Democracy Day broadcast, Mr. Mohammed cited legal reasons.

Yes, he initially said so (that hell give specific details about recovered loot), but he was advised against doing so for legal reasons, the minister was quoted as saying during an interview on Channels Television.

He also said the president has the right to reverse himself in apparent reference to the condemnation of Mr. Buharis reneged promise.

Of course, he has a right to reverse himself on that, he said.

Mr. Mohammed, however, assured that before the end of this week, the administration will publish some details of recovered loot.

We will get the list but not today; before the end of the week. But I must say not with the names, he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday justified his decision not to talk too much on the recovery of looted funds by his administration in a nationwide address on Democracy Day and one year anniversary in office on Sunday, May 29.

The president received flaks from a cross-section of Nigerians for reneging on an earlier promise he made to give full account of recovered asset looted by former officials.

Speaking when he hosted State House Correspondents to a luncheon at the New Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, earlier today, Mr. Buhari said if he begins to divulge the details of recovered looted funds, technicalities will set in and make his government recover less than what it intends to recover.

He, however, said his government was still trying to get the cooperation of the international community on the recovery of the stolen assets.

President Buhari, who noted that his administration had to do this (not talk too much) with a lot of respect to the judiciary, said We cant go out and talk too much. We have to allow the judiciary to do their work. We give them the facts, the name, country, bank account. If you talk too much, technicalities will come in, then, we will realise less than what we want to realise.
Rival U.K. firms Aspect Capital, Man AHL and Winton are doubling down on machine learning and other quantitative investing efforts, but dont expect them to short human ingenuity.

When panic struck the Chinese stock market last August, Man AHL wasnt caught flat-footed. The London-based systematic trading firm avoided losses during the massive sell-off thanks to a machine learning algorithm that analyzed its positions and reacted faster than traders could to the spike in volatility. Machine learning helps us to spot patterns that humans cant easily spot or couldnt spot at all in the sheer amount of data being created today, says Sandy Rattray, CEO of $19 billion Man AHL.

The firm began its life in 1987 as commodity trading adviser AHL, the quantitative investing pioneer founded by Michael Adam, David Harding and Martin Lueck that spawned Aspect Capital and Winton Capital Group. Almost 30 years later, the three rival hedge fund players are investing heavily in machine learning and data science as they seek to capitalize on renewed investor interest in quant strategies.

Earlier this month Man AHL announced that it would be expanding the scope of its Oxford-Man Institute (OMI), a quantitative finance joint venture founded in 2007 with the University of Oxford. OMI, which aims to create a machine learning and data analytics hub at Oxford, will also join the universitys Department of Engineering Science in August.

The OMI expansion is part of a broader push by Man AHL, a unit of U.K. alternative-investment giant Man Group, to develop machine learning that enables better financial algorithms. The firm trades four main strategies: classical long-term trend following, proprietary trend following, multistrategy and long-only. Under Rattrays leadership, Man AHL has been developing machine learningdriven algorithms for half a decade. The results of that work have been filtering into select client products over the past three years, in some cases driving significant gains.

We have spent a lot of time on machine learning; it is the single biggest area of research spending for the firm, says Rattray, who joined Man AHL in 2007 from Goldman Sachs Group, where he was a managing director specializing in quantitative trading. We are looking at people, data, hardware  its not just one aspect that is going to bring this all together. Of Man Groups 1,000-plus staff, 130 focus on trading strategy; many of them are doing machine learning research that supplements OMIs work.

Machine learningbased trading algorithms operate much differently than their rules-based counterparts. Historically, a portfolio manager would have created an algorithm based on a financial model or data set and fashioned rules for how it would behave when trading.

With machine learning, a computer sifts through billions of data points, picking up patterns. Armed with this knowledge, it learns trading behaviors such as buying dips or selling high over time, based on what it has gleaned about the market from past and present data. Man AHLs algorithms work off vast data sets that include 1.5 trillion price ticks as well as options information and index feeds. Billions of new price ticks can be added to the system in a single day.

The firm has invested in high-powered hardware to process this information. But traders and scientists must know how the algorithms work and how to avoid overfitting data to a trading hypothesis, warns Anthony Ledford, chief scientist at OMI. The important thing to realize with machine learning is that you have to understand both the problem and the data, and fit them together carefully, Ledford explains. You always run the risk of overfitting.

Man AHLs research effort comes after a few challenging years for the firm, whose assets under management still havent recovered to their peak of $24 billion before the 200809 financial crisis. Year-to-date through April, the $4.6 billion Man AHL Diversified Programme was down 0.34 percent, according to Atlanta-based data provider eVestment. But systematic trend follower Aspects flagship, $4.7 billion Diversified Fund fell 4.8 percent during the same period. At CTA Winton, the $18.5 billion Winton Diversified Fund (Luxembourg) and the $13.3 billion Winton Futures Fund lost 2.85 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.

Aspect co-founder and CEO Anthony Todd started his London-based firm in 1997 with research director and fellow University of Oxford physics graduate Lueck after they left AHL, which Man had acquired in stages from 1989 to 1994. Investors are coming back into strategies like ours because theres no yield in fixed income and they want a diversifier alongside equities, Todd says. We were well positioned for the sell-off that started at the end of last year. Our programs reacted dynamically.

Aspects trading program is actually seven in one, operating at a range of frequencies by capturing trends of between two weeks and six months. Those different frequencies matter in choppy conditions like the first quarter of 2016. After markets stabilized in late February, the Aspect strategies with the shortest-lived positions fended off potential losses by allowing the firm to move quickly, Todd says: We actually built up a small short position in the dollar and went long Brent crude, he recalls. Still, the Aspect Diversified Fund was down 4.69 percent in March, eVestment reports.

When it comes to quantitative finance, Aspect occupies a middle ground, blending human intuition and rigorous research to create trading programs that arent just autonomous algorithms. The medium-term trend follower keeps refining its models through research and opportunistic acquisitions, Todd says.

In March Aspect acquired $1.4 billion, Jersey, U.K. based rival Auriel Capital Management. Besides boosting total assets to $6.3 billion, this takeover gave Aspect access to a unique currency overlay for its trading programs. The firm has also cherry-picked individual talent, bringing over Franck Lauri, formerly of French asset manager OTEA Capital, who specializes in statistical arbitrage, and Antonio Botelho and Constantin Filitti from London-based hedge fund firm Capula Investment Management. Lauri, who joined Aspect late last year, brings 15 years experience in systematic strategies; the Capula duo arrived in mid-2014 to run Aspect Tactical Opportunities, a $10 million systematic multistrategy futures program.

Todd, who is on the lookout for other small firms to acquire, seeks intellectual property that Aspect can use to refine its funds with road-tested ideas. The firm is also delving into areas like deep learning  training neural networkbased algorithms for trading purposes  examining new ways of sifting through big data and beefing up its cloud infrastructure to add storage capacity and processing power.

But Aspect is hardly going all in on artificial intelligence. Our research approach has always been hypothesis-driven, Todd says. Of course were developing these areas, but we are more incremental. One of the draws of medium-term trend following is that its intuitive, so we want to maintain that balance between intuition and algorithms.

David Harding founded London-headquartered Winton a year after departing AHL in 1996. Like Lueck he was always more interested in research and trading than being part of a large institution. Today Winton is also expanding its research capability; to that end, the $34.5 billion firm has opened a San Francisco data science center to tap Silicon Valley talent.

Founder and CEO Harding, who holds a physics degree from the University of Cambridge, sees a future in building proprietary data sets. Winton wants top-shelf scientists to help, he told Institutional Investor at Mays Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California.

Harding is taking a little from column A and a little from column B, matching up computing and intellect to find a new way forward. With plans to grow Wintons San Francisco team from six scientists to as many as 40, hes open to ideas when it comes to building investment hypotheses and gathering data.

The Bay Area outpost will also house the North American arm of Winton Ventures, a new venture capital unit that is on the hunt for data-driven start-ups. Were interested in companies where really understanding what can be inferred from the data  drawing valid conclusions from the data  is essential to the success of the business, Harding says. We are also open to working with companies that have the potential to enhance Wintons existing business.

For John Moody, a computational finance expert who runs his own CTA firm in Portland, Oregon, the resurgent popularity of quantitative trading strategies is part of a broader trend. People have difficulty thinking statistically; they let cognitive bias get in the way, says the founder of $152 million JE Moody & Co. The research suggests that because of this, it can be less risky to let formulas do the work when it comes to making investment decisions.

An invention like Googles autonomous car (see Autonomous Vehicles index), which learns as it drives, has made people more comfortable with that idea, Moody notes. As society becomes more reliant on machine learning algorithms for a wide range of decisions, Moody expects their use in finance to keep growing  a potential boon for quant shops.

Like Aspects Todd and Man AHLs Rattray, Harding is philosophical about how far computers can take his firm. The development of machine learning can be traced from the 1950s all the way through to today, he says. People talk about it like algorithms are going to run everything, but these are really incremental advances that weve achieved. We will have to keep up the work in order to stay ahead, and talented people will always be at the helm of that work.

See also: The Rise of the Tech Model May Soon Make You Obsolete
It is the first jurisdiction in Australia to introduce such a product
ANZ has remained quiet on whether or not the business is looking to sell on part or all of its insurance business.Reports from Reuters last week linked the major bank with a sale of its insurance operations , valued at $4 billion, in a bid to boost funds at the company.An ANZ spokesperson, speaking to InvestorDaily, said that it was not appropriate to comment on current market speculation."ANZ's chief executive Shayne Elliott announced in January that Alexis George, the managing director of the bank's Wealth Australia business, would be undertaking a strategic review of the business," the spokesperson said."That internal review is expected to be completed mid-year and any recommendations are expected to be considered by ANZ during the third quarter."It's not appropriate to comment on market speculation in the interim."The business currently holds a 8.5% share of the Australian life insurance market which is currently valued at $86 billion, according to IBISWorld. Zurich In March, it was announced that had reached an agreement with Macquarie Group to purchase the life insurance business of the company.
The largest initiative the transfer pricing world has seen, since the introduction of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations (Current TP Guidelines), is in its final stages and will result in material changes in the way the global operations of corporate organisations are structured and international transactions are reported.

On October 5 2015, the OECD released the final report of its 15-point Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). The BEPS Action Plan was an ambitious project that addressed a number of concerns relating to international corporate tax planning. Actions 8 to 10 and Action 13 deal specifically with transfer pricing concerns and, in addition to the introduction of Country-by-Country Reporting (CBCR), contain significant revised guidance in the form of amendments to the Current TP Guidelines (Amended TP Guidelines).

In brief, the OECD's BEPS initiative, as it pertains to transfer pricing, attempts to prevent aggressive profit-shifting strategies by amending the Current TP Guidelines to better align transfer pricing outcomes with value creation. This is accomplished by placing more emphasis on the allocation of profits to the jurisdiction where substantive functions are performed, including the control functions related to risks assumed and capital employed. The Amended TP Guidelines, intended to be clarifying in nature and not a departure from the arm's length principle as enshrined in the Current TP Guidelines, now provide the tools and support the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), and presumably other tax administrations, need to successfully challenge tax-motivated transfer pricing strategies where substantive people functions are not transferred with the intangible property (IP).

This paper examines the OECD BEPS initiative as it applies to the transfer pricing aspects of intangibles and the impact on tax-motivated IP migration strategies. It is widely recognised that the primary objective of an MNE is to maximise profits and, as such, MNEs are constantly evaluating their international operations in an effort to maximise revenues and minimise costs, including tax expenses. Historically, where the commercial opportunity existed, companies often adopted IP migration transfer pricing strategies that allocated significant profits to lower-tax jurisdictions. In the most extreme cases, no or minimal functionality (i.e. no employees) was transferred with the IP (e.g. cash box companies). Many of these strategies, and the tax savings that arose from them, whether rightfully or wrongfully, were thought to be legally effective and in line with the arm's length principle as described in the Current TP Guidelines. Such tax-motivated IP migration cases have often come under careful scrutiny by tax administrations. Notwithstanding such scrutiny, there was a lack of clear guidance and policy application by the CRA's Audit Division, Appeals Directorate and Competent Authority. In many cases the CRA accepted these structures as they were generally thought to be tax efficient and in line with the arm's length principle regardless that significant profits were allocated to that lower tax jurisdiction. This is about to change

BEPS changes to current TP guidelines in respect to intangibles

The OECD's BEPS Action Plan was an enormous undertaking covering many areas of international tax and only time will tell what the collective impact will be as a consequence of all the final report recommendations. However, what is widely agreed upon in the international tax community is that the most immediate, and likely most significant, impact from the BEPS project will be in the world of transfer pricing. The new CbCR and the Amended TP Guidelines are reality and are here to stay.

The OECD's work related to transfer pricing under the BEPS Action Plan focused on three key areas. Action 8 looked at transfer pricing issues related to transactions involving intangibles, Action 9 considered the contractual allocation of risks and the resulting allocation of profits to those risks, and Action 10 focused on other high-risk areas including the possibility of re-characterisations where transactions were not commercially rational. The Amended TP Guidelines arising as a consequence of the OECD's work on Actions 8 to 10 are significant and amend several chapters and sections of the Current TP Guidelines. The following is a brief summary of the new guidance dealing with intangibles:

Legal ownership of intangibles by an associated enterprise alone does not determine entitlement to returns from the exploitation of intangibles;

Associated enterprises performing important value-creating functions related to the development, enhancement, maintenance, protection and exploitation (DEMPE) of the intangibles can expect appropriate remuneration;

An associated enterprise assuming risk in relation to the DEMPE of the intangibles must exercise control over the risks and have the financial capacity to assume the risks including the very specific and meaningful control requirement;

Entitlement of any member of the MNE group to profit or loss relating to differences between actual and expected profits will depend on which entity or entities assume(s) the risks that caused these differences and whether the entity or entities are performing the important functions in relation to the DEMPE of the intangibles;

An associated enterprise providing funding and assuming the related financial risks, but not performing any functions relating to the intangible, could generally only expect a risk-adjusted return on its funding; and

If the associated enterprise providing funding does not exercise control over the financial risks associated with the funding, then it is entitled to no more than a risk-free return.

An example of the new approach

To see how the allocation of profits from IP transfers differ between a pre- and post-BEPS world, consider example 17 from the Amended TP Guidelines. In the example, the following facts/assumptions are assumed:

Parent is a large pharmaceutical company. Parent conducts its operations in country X. Parent regularly retains independent (unrelated) contract research organisations (CROs) for research and development (R&D) activities, including designing and conducting clinical trials. CROs are not engaged in the blue sky research to identify new compounds. When retained, Parent actively participates with CRO engaged in clinical research activities. CROs are paid a negotiated fee for services and do not have an ongoing interest in the profits. Parent transfers patents related to Product to Subsidiary operating in country Y. Product is early stage pharmaceutical drug (high risk, low probability of commercialisation). Payment based on anticipated future cash flows  expected cash flow discounted by appropriate discount rate. Subsidiary has no technical personnel for ongoing research activities. Subsidiary contracts with Parent to carry out research related to Product. Subsidiary funds all Product research, assumes risk, and pays Parent based on cost plus margins earned by similar CROs.

The fact pattern given above is the classic example of an early stage pharmaceutical company wanting to realise future profits in a low-tax jurisdiction. In the pre-BEPS world, a significant portion of the profits would have moved to country Y. It was generally recognised that given the Subsidiary was the legal owner, it was entitled to any excess profit or loss after paying routine amounts for the R&D activities, even where the important value-creating functions of the IP did not take place in the Subsidiary's country. The transfer of the IP would have been done at a low value (although arm's length) as the prospects of successful commercialisation were very uncertain at the time of the transfer. In regards to future development of the intangible property, Parent, as a service provider, would have been entitled to a cost plus mark-up on costs incurred.

In a post-BEPS world, less emphasis is placed on legal ownership and more on economic aspects of substance. In the example above, Parent controls functions and manages patent risks owned by Subsidiary and is entitled to compensation. The Amended TP Guidelines, including the analysis to example 17, will support that Parent's compensation is not appropriately recognised by the profits earned by a CRO. Parent's transactions with CROs are not comparable to the Subsidiary/Parent arrangement given that the functional profiles differ, i.e. parent is in control of function and is the more appropriate party to assume the risks of success or failure. While Subsidiary legally owns the patents it lacks the capability to control research risks while Parent performs key decision making functions and thus should be appropriately compensated.

Clearly there has been a fundamental shift in the way we look at the division of profits due to the introduction of BEPS. In a pre-BEPS environment, Subsidiary would be better able to keep profits given it legally owned the intangibles and paid arm's length prices for development functions. Post-BEPS, it is clear this will change with an emphasis on functions, including control of those functions and risks.

Moving intangible property offshore in a transfer pricing setting  pre-BEPS & post-BEPS

Intangibles are becoming an increasingly valuable component of a company's value. Intangibles often account for a larger stake in an enterprise's value than traditional tangible assets. When you factor in the mobility of these assets, it is not a surprise that IP migration strategies have frequently been relied upon to move profit-generating assets to lower tax jurisdictions. However, there are other legitimate reasons for migrating intangibles, including:

Protection of intangible property

Capital funding

Sharing in intangible development risks

Tax credit issues

From a tax perspective, during both the pre-BEPS and post-BEPS era, moving IP from one jurisdiction to another, including lower tax jurisdictions, can be justified and legally tax effective if the corresponding functions, assets and risks are moved with the IP. Historically, the legal owner took all, or a material portion of, the residual profits after routine profits were paid to entities that performed functions related to the DEMPE of the intangibles and the management of the risk. In the post-BEPS environment however, a shift has occurred in that people functions, particularly controlling functions related to the DEMPE of the intangibles and controlling functions regarding the assumption and mitigation of risk, have far greater value than legal ownership, direct funding and contractual assumption of risk.

The old transfer pricing adage of "functions, assets and risk" is now misleading as functionality seems to be highly relevant in all three of those factors. In other words, if transfer pricing is supposed to be based on economic reality, does economic reality support allocation of residual profits to purely functions (e.g. labor) rather than ownership (e.g. capital)? This is one of the main reasons there is debate in the international tax community, and particularly in the Canadian tax community, regarding whether the Amended TP Guidelines are clarifying in nature or whether they constitute a fundamental change to the arm's length principle. Unfortunately, this debate is a moot point because the opinion of the OECD and tax administrations, which ultimately prevails over that of the taxpayer, is that the revised guidelines are clarifying in nature and not a fundamental departure from the arm's length principle. The CRA has confirmed its view that the revisions are clarifying in nature.

In the post-BEPS world, if tax-motivated IP migration strategies are to be carried out in an acceptable manner, it is imperative that substantive functions be transferred with the intangibles. From the OECD's perspective, its BEPS initiative successfully eliminates the tax benefits behind cash box companies and other structures that were pushing the envelope with respect to lack of functionality in the lower tax jurisdiction.

Rectifying pre-BEPS structures that are inconsistent with the amended TP guidelines

Many enterprises are concerned about how taxing authorities, such as the CRA, will treat existing tax structures involving IP migration that were created before BEPS. As mentioned above, the Amended TP Guidelines are considered by the OECD and the CRA to be clarifying in nature and are, for all intent and purpose, retroactive in effect. If taxpayers believe that their existing structures are not consistent with the Amended TP Guidelines and make no attempt to rectify them, they run the risk of being exposed to transfer pricing adjustments should they be audited by the CRA. In the event taxpayers decide to rectify the situation on a prospective basis only (e.g. by amending their transfer pricing documentation to reflect the Amended TP Guidelines for future years), this could red flag problems and deficiencies to the CRA with respect to their filed taxation years.

To date, the CRA hasn't made public statements regarding possible relief for taxpayers trying to rectify existing IP migration structures that have been reported in a manner that is inconsistent with the Amended TP Guidelines. In the author's view, this silence, or lack of concern, is unfortunate considering the significance of the changes which are, arguably, beyond clarifying in nature. What is more troublesome is the CRA's position that these changes are clarifying in nature and retroactive in effect despite having agreed to countless audit, appeal and mutual agreement settlements over the years on IP migration structures, supposedly on a "principled" analysis of the arm's length principle, in a manner that is not consistent with the Amended TP Guidelines. In other words, tax administrations have routinely settled transfer pricing cases in a manner that is not consistent with the Amended TP Guidelines and have allowed varying degrees of profits to be reported in lower-tax jurisdictions where little functionality has taken place.

In the absence of guidance from the CRA on this matter, taxpayers should proceed with caution before deciding on a rectification strategy. Canadian taxpayers can file amended tax returns for those open taxation years where their reported transfer prices are inconsistent with the Amended TP Guidelines. However, if the taxpayer's pending upward transfer pricing adjustments for filed taxation years are significant and subject to possible penalties, taxpayers may consider the CRA's voluntary disclosure program (VDP). The CRA has little experience in its VDP with respect to transfer pricing cases and the waiver of transfer pricing penalties, so there is some uncertainty in this avenue of recourse. Also, Canada's VDP has stringent conditions for eligibility that often prohibit taxpayers from applying, particularly those taxpayers who are under constant audit activity by CRA. Taxpayers could also consider applying for an Advanced Pricing Agreement (APA) which assists taxpayers in determining transfer pricing methodologies for prospective years (generally three to five years). One of the benefits of the CRA's APA program is the ability for taxpayers to ask to apply the terms and conditions of an APA retroactively to non-statute-barred taxation years (i.e., an APA rollback). Where APA rollbacks are accepted, the taxpayer will not be subject to transfer pricing penalties.

Taxpayers would be well advised to seek tax counsel before deciding on first, whether self-rectification of unaudited filed years is advisable and, if so, what specific course of action to take.

Post-BEPS  is there now more uncertainty?

As a consequence of the BEPS project and the resulting Amended TP Guidelines, profits must be aligned with the location of value creation. There is no ambiguity in the OECD's message to the tax community on this issue. However, the guidance from the OECD, including example 17, does not provide much in the way of how the actual intercompany transfer prices should be documented. In a typical IP migration strategy, there is often only two intercompany transactions taking place: i) the initial transfer of the IP to the subsidiary located in the lower tax jurisdiction; and ii) the intercompany R&D service contract. The final sale of the IP or the ultimate exploitation of the IP by the foreign subsidiary will be done with arm's length parties (i.e. customers). In the event the CRA decides not to recharacterise the transaction, the first intercompany transaction will simply involve valuation issues. With regards to the second intercompany transaction, the OECD expects future revenues to be properly allocated to the parent company for its efforts in contributing to the value of the IP. However, in the absence of guidance from the OECD and tax administrations on how this should be documented, taxpayers are left in the dark.

From a practical point of view, profits should be set such that the simpler of the two parties be given a routine return while the more complex party receives the residual profits/losses if such profits materialise. The profits attributable to each party will depend on the functions performed, assets utilised, and risks assumed by each party. If the subsidiary is simply the holder of IP with no corresponding functions, it may only be entitled to an unadjusted return on capital. If the subsidiary performs routine functions in addition to holding the IP, a risk adjustment return on capital may be warranted.

The decision to allocate excess profits/losses to the parent may cause audit controversy for a number of reasons. It is the author's experience that governments are risk averse and want to see some level of compensation in the immediate term even though they may only be entitled to larger atypical profits or losses when the intangibles are fully utilised. Consider the possibility that, in the example above, the IP generated large losses in the initial post transfer years. Will the CRA allow the parent company, performing and controlling key functions and risks, to report the losses even though it did not own the IP and is simply a service provider according to the intercompany R&D service contract? It's doubtful.

Tax authorities such as the CRA may have difficulty accepting that a service provider should not receive at least a cost plus mark-up on services it renders (in addition to some share of the profits if they materialise). It is very likely that setting intercompany pricing on an intercompany service agreement such that the parent company service provider incurs losses will trigger an audit. The guidance, in our view, does not shed sufficient light on the mechanics of profit allocation and seems to add more confusion to an already uncertain landscape. Example 17 of the Amended TP Guidelines is a common IP migration structure but it is highly likely that the annual reporting of the service contract during the start-up years where no profits are being realised will be treated differently between taxpayers and tax administrations until further guidance is developed.

The Amended TP Guidelines will likely result in fewer companies carrying out IP migration strategies, which was one of the unwritten goals of the BEPS initiative. Consequently, the OECD and tax authorities may not be overly concerned about its lack of guidance on reporting issues during the start-up years where the legal ownership of IP was in fact transferred offshore. This is unfortunate because some IP migration strategies involving low-tax jurisdictions may still be carried out, regardless of the Amended TP Guidelines, without the initial movement of functions. This could, for example, be an acceptable strategy where a start-up company wants to keep its options open (e.g. relocate the appropriate DEMPE functions to the jurisdiction that holds legal title of the intangibles) once it has a better idea of the potential value and income earning capacity of the intangible. Even though the Amended TP Guidelines will need to be considered regarding the lack of functionality in the low tax jurisdiction in that initial start-up period, there could be future departure tax savings by transferring ownership of the intangibles at the earliest stage possible.

Conclusions

The BEPS initiative was designed to ensure multinational corporations report profits in jurisdictions based on actual functions, assets and risks and to combat aggressive tax planning structures. The new guidance moves away from placing significant emphasis on legal ownership and towards economic substance and control. The introduction of the Amended TP Guidelines will provide taxing authorities, such as the CRA, more tools to raise and support transfer pricing adjustments. Consequently, taxpayers must be aware of this new guidance before carryout out any IP migration planning.

From a Canadian perspective, an unfortunate aspect of the BEPS project is the lack of guidance provided by CRA with respect to these new guidelines. In the author's opinion, now that the CRA has endorsed these changes as clarifying in nature, having both retroactive and prospective effect, it is inappropriate for the CRA to remain silent on self-rectification and contemporaneous documentation issues.

The jurisprudence is clear that legal form prevails in Canadian transfer pricing cases. The Supreme Court of Canada has on many occasions addressed the doctrine of economic substance and significantly limited the CRA's ability to ignore the facts and circumstances, and substitute economic fiction.

Two recent transfer pricing cases heard by the Tax Court of Canada (TCC) also comment on the CRA's discretion to substitute legal reality with economic theory. In McKesson (2013 TCC 404)), the TCC concluded that the CRA can only recharacterise the legal reality under paragraph 247(2)(b), a special GAAR-like anti-avoidance rule in the Canadian taxing statute. In the absence of a reassessment under this recharacterisation provision, "[a] reassessment under [paragraphs] 247(2)(a) and (c) does not permit a recharacterisation of the transactions entered into by non-arm's length parties, nor can another different transaction entirely be substituted therefore." In Marzen (2014 TCC 194), the TCC agreed with the respondent's reference to the Current TP Guidelines in support of respecting legal reality which states "[a] tax administration's examination of a controlled transaction ordinarily should be based on the transaction actually undertaken by the associated enterprises as it has been structured by them." Both these transfer pricing cases are consistent with the earlier Supreme Court of Canada decisions concerning the appropriate use of the doctrine of economic substance.

With Canada's tax system having such a strong emphasis on legal form, one might question how a Canadian court would view a transfer pricing adjustment made by the CRA to an R&D service contract as per example 17 above, once CRA has chosen not to recharacterise any of the transactions. That is, the OECD's approach under its Amended TP Guidelines is to reward the company that forms the value creating function while ignoring the traditional entrepreneurial principle of rewarding legal ownership with all or at least a portion of residual profits. In other words, the OECD seems to want to treat the company that contributes to the value creation of the IP as the beneficial owner of the IP in cases where they do not feel they have the grounds to recharacterise the transaction. However, issues will arise in the absence of further guidance on how to properly document these transactions in those early years where no revenues are generated. It will be interesting to see how these cases will play out in a Canadian court.
Pillar two will change the international tax system forever. Here Christian Kaeser, global head of tax at Siemens, looks at how businesses and tax administrations can simplify pillar two compliance.
Ce un centrocampista del Brescia, un genio napoletano che si occupa di progetti spaziali, unappassionata di divulgazione economica. La lista dei 100 giovani italiani under 30 piu promettenti del 2020 e un patchwork che va dal nord al sud del Paese e copre vari settori: dalla sanita allinformazione, dal marketing alla giurisprudenza. Gli under 30 [] sono la prova che il futuro sara nuovo, eccitante e profondamente diveso scrive la storica rivista economica. Una giovane generazione di imprenditori pronti a sfidare il mondo.

Erica, sorella di Technogym

Come Erica Alessandri, figlia di Nerio, il celebre imprenditore e fondatore della societa leader internazionale nella produzione di attrezzi per lo sport ed il tempo libero con sede a Cesena. A lei, Forbes Italia dedica la copertina. Erica non si accontenta di avere le redini di unimpresa fondata dal padre, che oggi fattura oltre 600 milioni di euro allanno. La giovane occupa un posto nel board aziendale e punta a un futuro sociale dellimpresa: Ho un fratello piu piccolo, Edoardo, che studia ancora e una sorella maggiore con cui condivido tutto, anche i segreti. Si chiama Technogym ironizza lei. I 100 under 30 selezionati da Forbes Italia saranno protetti e aiutati dai brand italiani leader nel proprio settore in qualita di tutor per seguirli nei progetti nelle loro aree di competenza.

Matteo: da Napoli allo spazio

Tra gli italiani piu influenti nel settore della scienza, ce Mattia Barbarossa, che Interris.it ha intervistato lo scorso luglio. Entro il 2021 il giovane, che ha fondato nella sua Napoli una piccola azienda, Sidereus Space Dyamics, sta sviluppando dei satelliti transorbit per circumnavigare la luna. Lobiettivo e quello di sfruttare leconomia per fare esplorazione spaziale, ma anche sviluppare le tecnologie spaziali per uso terrestre dichiarava a Interris.it. Cento giovani sono una grande dose di speranza per un Paese che, per altri versi, mostra tutte le sue incertezze.
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Emerging market funds seek to capitalize on the return opportunity presented by emerging market economies. Funds may invest in emerging market debt or equity to build a diversified fund offering for investors. Numerous debt and equity options are available for investors seeking to invest in a single country or a diversified portfolio of emerging market countries.

In the emerging markets category, investors will also find both passive and active funds providing emerging market exposure across the market segment. Funds offer a range of options across the risk spectrumcurrency risk, inflation risk, political risk, and liquidity risk, among othersand are generally attractive investments for growth investors.

Investors may want to consider the different kinds of riskscurrency, inflation, political, and liquidity, among othersbefore investing in emerging market funds.

Special Considerations

Companies are typically categorized based on where their economies are in terms of developmentdeveloped, frontier, or emerging. Developed nations, also referred to as industrial nations, have fully developed economies with infrastructure that is technologically advanced. Frontier economies are slightly less developed than a fully industrialized nation, but a little more than an emerging economy.

Then there are the emerging market economies. As noted above, these countries offer higher returns with higher risk, relative to developed market countries. They are usually considered more stable than frontier markets. Emerging market countries can be identified by market index providers and are defined by various characteristics.

The emerging markets also offer market segments that are attractive for investment. Asia ex-Japan emerging market funds include securities from Asia excluding Japan. This region offers exposure to the Asian emerging markets. Similarly, BRIC funds will include securities from Brazil, Russia, India, and China. The BRIC countries are known to be four of the most dominant economics in the emerging markets.

Types of Emerging Market Fund Securities

Here's a look at some of the most common types of securities that make up emerging market funds on the market.

Emerging Market Debt

Emerging market debt can offer the least risk among emerging market investments. Credit quality is a leading objective that differentiates emerging market debt funds, providing access to debt investments with varying levels of risk. Investors can invest in both passive and active funds. Leading indexes for passive market investment include the J.P. Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index and the Bloomberg Emerging Markets USD Aggregate Index.

Emerging Market Equity

Emerging market equity encompasses a broad range of companies from emerging markets around the world. Investors can invest in passive indexes for emerging markets exposure or seek actively managed funds. Top indexes include the MSCI Emerging Markets Index and the S&P Global Broad Market Index.

Examples of Emerging Market Funds

The American Funds Emerging Markets Bond Fund (EBNAX) is a good investment for investors seeking exposure to emerging market debt. This fund is actively managed and invests in emerging market government and corporate bonds. As of 2022, its largest holdings were in Mexico, Russia, and China.

The American Century Emerging Markets Fund (TWMIX) is an example of an emerging markets equity fund. The Fund is actively managed and uses fundamental analysis to choose stock investments for the portfolio. As of Q1 2022, the fund's top countries were in three emerging market countries including China at 43%, Taiwan at 14%, and South Korea at 13%.
Crude oil holds a prominent position in the global commodities market because oil price changes impact the global economy. Thus, those countries or groups that produce crude oil also impact economies worldwide.

Oil prices are largely dependent on two factors: geopolitical developments and economic events. These two variables can lead to changes in oil demand and supply levels, which drives oil price fluctuations from one day to the next. For instance, the 1973 Arab oil embargo, the 1980 Iran-Iraq war, the 1990 gulf war, the Asian financial crisis of 1997, and the global financial crisis of 2007 to 2008 are some of the historical geopolitical developments that have significantly impacted oil prices.

Key Takeaways: Oil prices are driven by many factors including supply and demand.

OPEC member countries produce about 40% of the world's crude oil.

OPEC's oil exports represent about 60% of the total petroleum traded internationally.

OPEC (especially Saudi Arabia) have the upper hand in determining the direction of oil prices, but Russia has also become a key player.

Evidence is inconclusive as to whether non-OPEC countries are influential in determining crude oil prices.

Understanding OPEC and Oil Prices

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an organization that sets production targets among its members to manage oil production. OPEC member countries produce about 40% of the world's crude oil. Additionally, OPEC's oil exports represent about 60% of the total petroleum traded internationally, according to the United States Energy Information Administration.

Because of this market share, OPEC's actions have a huge influence on international oil prices. In particular, OPEC's largest producer of crude oil, Saudi Arabia, has the most frequent effect on oil prices. Historically, crude oil prices have seen increases in times when OPEC production targets are reduced.

The Impact of OPEC and OPEC+ on Oil Prices

Countries involved in global oil production are either members of OPEC, OPEC+, or non-OPEC nations. OPEC has 13 members: Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

Ten non-OPEC nations joined OPEC to form OPEC+ in late 2016 to have more control on the global crude oil market. These countries were: Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan, and Sudan. Not surprisingly, OPEC+ has a level of influence over the world economy that is even larger than OPEC's.

Responding to the highly dynamic economic and geopolitical developments, these groups make changes to their oil production capacities, which impact the oil supply levels and result in oil price volatility.

OPEC's Control of the Market

OPEC's oil exports account for roughly 60% of the total petroleum traded worldwide. The Energy Information Agency also reports that more than 80% of the worlds proven crude oil reserves lie within the boundaries of the OPEC countries. Of that, roughly two-thirds lay within the Middle Eastern region in 2018.

Additionally, all OPEC member nations have been continuously improving technology and enhancing explorations leading to further enhancements to their oil production capacities at reduced operational costs.

Saudia Arabia

Within the OPEC group, Saudi Arabia is the largest crude oil producer in the world and remains the most dominant member of OPEC. It is also the leading exporter of crude oil globally. Each time there is a cut in Saudi oil production, there is a sharp rise in oil prices, and an increase in Saudi oil production stimulates a drop in oil prices.

Since the 1973 Arab oil embargo, Saudi Arabia has managed to call the shots as far as oil prices are concerned, by controlling supply. All major oil price fluctuations in recent history can be attributed to changing production levels in Saudi Arabia, along with other OPEC nations.
Many wealthy individuals and corporations use tax havens to legally reduce their tax liabilities. Normally offshore, these states, territories, and nations tend to be politically and economically stable. Although some tax havens do report a small amount of information to (foreign) tax authorities, there are plenty of places that don't share any information at all with other international parties.

Offshore bank accounts are fairly popular among people who seek out tax havens. Most corporations that do so may use these accounts and record them under shell companiesentities that don't have any significant business operations or assets.

Many countries in the Caribbean have favorable situations for people who are looking for tax havens. This article looks at Belize and its status as a tax haven.

Key Takeaways Belize is a tax haven that allows individuals and corporations to legally reduce their tax liabilities.

Incorporating offshore companies is simple in Belize thanks to its International Business Companies Act.

Belize does not share information with international taxing authorities, providing corporations and individuals with the utmost confidentiality.

U.S. residents must still report earnings to the IRS unless their company does business solely in Belize.

The Foreign Income Tax Exclusion shields up to $108,700 of offshore earned income for those who qualify.

Belize as a Tax Haven: An Overview

Belize is on the eastern coast of Central America, sharing borders with Mexico and Guatemala. The country's economy is driven primarily by tourism, agriculture, and construction. Belize's national currency is the Belize dollar (BZD), which is pegged to the U.S. dollar. The population was estimated to be just under 399,600 in 2020.

Belize a tax haven in the purest sense. Incorporating offshore companies is totally legal and is fairly simple in Belize. Doing so helps individuals and companies manage their assets, providing them some protection from taxation on earnings from abroad.

The tax code in Belize defines offshore income as dividends, capital gains, earned interest, and revenues. Dividends paid by offshore companies incorporated in Belize to non-citizens of the country are also tax-free.

Becoming a Tax Haven

In the early 1990s, the government of Belize began the process of becoming a tax haven. It did so after taking the cue from the legislative practices of many Caribbean countries to create an environment that would attract offshore companies.

The government's primary objective was to eliminate taxes on a wide range of income sources including dividends, interest, capital gains, and revenues earned offshore. To create a pure tax-free environment, the country also eliminated its stamp dutya tax charged to certify the veracity of documentation for the incorporation of companies, trusts, and foundations.

To fast-track the incorporation of businesses, trusts, and foundations, the country established the International Business Companies Act (IBCA), the Trusts Act, and the Offshore Banking Act in 1996. As a result, Belize is considered to be one of the most corporate-friendly nations in the world. Features of the legislation include an incorporation process that is relatively easy to complete, tax-free status, and no reporting requirements.

The incorporation process in Belize can be completed within a few hours, granting tax-free status with no reporting requirements.

The key features of establishing a Belize International Trust under the provisions of the Trusts Act include a permanent exemption from personal and business taxes on earnings generated by assets in a trust. Estates also receive comprehensive exemptions from taxes related to inheritance, succession, and gifting.

One of the key provisions in the Offshore Banking Act allows financial institutions with a minimum of $25 million in capital to apply for an unrestricted license, which allows for banking operations without local regulation. Smaller institutions can apply for a limited license by meeting a capital requirement of $15 million.

Financial Privacy in Belize

Privacy barriers have progressively weakened in traditional tax havens such as Switzerland and Luxembourg, opening the door for countries like Belize to establish their status as the next generation of tax havens.

To secure the financial privacy of companies, foundations, and trusts incorporated in the country, banking regulations mandate that names and account information can only be disclosed after the submission of documentation related to criminal investigations, followed by a court order.

To extend confidentiality for account holders, Belize places no restrictions on currency movements in and out of the country. The absence of an exchange control policy provides offshore businesses incorporated in the country with the ability to transfer unlimited amounts of currency without reporting requirements. Belize also has few tax treaties with other governments, which have been used to weaken financial privacy protections, particularly in Europe.

Don't Forget Uncle Sam

Just because you've set up shop in Belize, don't think you're completely off the hook from paying your taxes. You still have to report your assets to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) if you're a resident of the United States.

If you're a resident of Belize, though, you can get an inclusion that will help you protect and shield up to $108,700 (in 2021) of your income. This includes any earnings from an offshore company in Belize. Anyone living in Belize and away from the U.S. for 330 days within a consecutive 12-month period may qualify for the Foreign Income Tax Exclusion.

Corporations do not have to pay any taxes to the IRS if the offshore company doesn't conduct any business in the U.S. You still have to establish ownership, though. This can be done by filing Form 5471 with the IRS.
Memorial Day is upon us again and summer peeks over the horizon. What better way to pass a lazy summers day than reading a good book.

Here are our 'summer reads' suggestions.

The Immortal Irishman

by Timothy Egan

New York Times columnist Timothy Egan tells the incredible story of County Waterford native Thomas Francis Meagher, Irish patriot, soldier, revolutionary who was an Irish Colossus during the time of the American Civil War. He counted Abraham Lincoln among his admirers and visited him at the White House. He died at age 43 as governor of Montana in deeply suspicious circumstances.

He is arguably the greatest Irish-born person to ever hit Americas shores and Egans book does him credit.

Read more: New book proves who was the greatest Irishman in American history

Irelands Exiled Children, America and the Easter Rising

by Robert Schmuhl

The author, a professor at Notre Dame, has written a superb book with deep insight into the American and Irish American mind set before and after 1916. The chapter on the duplicity of President Woodrow Wilson is especially gripping. There is also a wonderful account of John Devoy, the Irish American who did more than anyone to make The Rising happen.

Read more: Americas role in the Easter Rising

Where the Bodies Were Buried

By T J English

If you read just one book about the Whitey Bulger case in Boston this should be the one. An inside look at how high up officials were aware of Whitey being out of control long before it became public knowledge.

English, an Irish American who has written extensively about the Irish mob, has an instinctive feel for his subject and nails the insane perversion of Irish Catholic culture in Boston that made Whitey possible.

For the first time you will understand what drove Whitey and why so many were invested in keeping him from being arrested and spilling the beans.

Read more: TJ English on the real story of the Irish mafias Whitey Bulger

Little Red Chairs

by Edna OBrien

O'Brien's first novel in ten years and well worth waiting for. The story line involves a Balkan general coming to live in rural Ireland. The Guardian reviewer stated:

Edna OBriens new novel, her first in a decade, has already been hailed as her masterpiece by that master-of-them-all Philip Roth. And hes right. This is a spectacular piece of work, massive and ferocious and far-reaching, yet also at times excruciatingly, almost unbearably, intimate. Holding you in its clutches from first page to last, it dares to address some of the darkest moral questions of our times while never once losing sight of the sliver of humanity at their core.

Hope a Memoir of Survival

By Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan

In 2013, Amanda Berry made headlines around the world when she fled a Cleveland home and called 911, saying: Help me, Im Amanda Berry. . . . Ive been kidnapped, and Ive been missing for ten years.

A horrifying story rapidly unfolded. Ariel Castro, a local school bus driver, had separately lured Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight to his home, where he kept them chained. In the decade that followed, the three were raped, psychologically abused, and threatened with death. Berry had a daughterJocelynby their captor. Berry and Dejesus tell their horrific, but lie-enhancing tale to Jordan and Sullivan.

"Hope" is a harrowing, yet inspiring chronicle of two women whose courage, ingenuity, and resourcefulness ultimately delivered them back to their lives and families. What could have been a profoundly depressing book in the skilled hands of Jordan and Sullivan becomes a strangely uplifting tale.

Room

by Emma Donoghue

The Irish authors 2010 book became an Oscar winning movie this year and it is not for the fainthearted. Donoghue came up with the idea for her novel after reading about the Josef Fritzl case in Austria where Fritzl kept a woman captive for 24 years.

In Room five-year-old Jack has been held captive since birth in the titular room, along with his mother who spends their tortured existence conceiving of ways to entertain and educate her son. The story is told from Jack's perspective.

Brooklyn

by Colm Toibin

If, like many, you caught the movie but never read the book you are in for a treat. The characters are far less one dimensional and beautifully drawn by Colm Toibin, one of Irelands foremost fiction writers. Like Thomas Flanagan in The Year of the French who made you feel like you were alive in 1798,Toibin catapults us backwards in time to New York and rural Ireland in the drab fifties to the point where we inhabit the characters. Far better than the movie.

Read more: Book news on IrishCentral

Easter 1916

by Charles Townshend

Reviewer John Banville wrote in The Guardian, Some may disagree, but it seems likely that Townshend's book will be the definitive account of what started as little more than an urban skirmish and in the end proved to be the first serious crack in the edifice of the British empire. The book is fantastically detailed yet wonderfully readable, especially the account of the week's fighting. The author has devoted his life to the study of Irish history and this huge work is the pinnacle of his labors.

This is the one book about 1916 you should read if you have not yet done so..

Behind The Mask

By Patrick Treacy

In the summer of 2006 Michael Jackson arrived in remote Westmeath and spent six months living incognito among the Irish.

Among the Irish who befriended him was Dr. Patrick Tracey, a plastic surgeon who was called in to treat him.

While the Michael Jackson tale only makes up two chapters in the book, those two chapters are gripping and well told and worth the price of the book itself.

Read more: Confessions of Michael Jackson's Irish surgeon

Tracey knows that many who buy his autobiography "Behind The Mask," published in July 2015, will immediately skip ahead to the two chapters where he discusses his world famous celebrity client and friend.

They met in Ireland in 2006, when Treacy, a celebrity surgeon in his own right, appeared on the Ryan Tubridy show on RTE, Ireland's national broadcaster. After the show aired, Treacy discovered a young African-American woman waiting in the green room, who told him she represented a celebrity who would like to meet him.

I had no idea who it would be, explains Treacy. We opened the clinic late at night to avoid the press but at this stage I didn't know who to expect. When he arrived he said, Hello I'm Michael Jackson, and then he added, Thank you for the work you do for the poor in Africa.

The Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland

by Dan Barry

This nonfiction work about a very dark corner of the American employment landscape, is based on a series of New York Times stories by reporter Dan Barry.

Colum McCann, an award-winning author, says that Mr. Barrys book, just out this month, had to be written  the same way that 'Grapes of Wrath' had to be written. Going further, McCann says. Barry is the closest we have to a modern Steinbeck.

The book is written about dozens of intellectually disabled men kept in virtual servitude in a squalid farmhouse in Iowa, where they got out of bed every day  decade after decade  and eviscerated turkeys for $65 a month. The local community accepted and befriended the men, known as boys, but failed to notice obvious signs of their neglect, exploitation and the abuse they had endured. No one said anything for 30 years

13 Ways of Looking

by Colum McCann

Irelands best storyteller and arguably Americas too is back in fine form with four novellas in one in his book of short stories.

The New York Times loved it remarking;

The powerful title story loiters in the mind long after youve read it. Its own title comes from Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, Wallace Stevenss lovely, opaque poem about the fluidity of time, the beauty of the quotidian in nature and the imprecision of perspective.

Each section begins with a stanza from the poem, some as spare as haiku. The protagonist is a judge, retired from Brooklyn Supreme Court, whose allusive, wandering mind were invited inside.

Read more: Book news on IrishCentral
Bruce Springsteen - ahem, The Boss - comes from a line of Irish hell-raisers, and we couldn't be prouder!

Genealogists found that American rock star Bruce Springsteens family tree can be traced back to County Kildare.

The Bosss great-great-great-grandfather, Christy Gerrity, from Rathangan, was, in fact, a bit of a hell-raiser.

The Irish Independent reported that in 1823 Gerrity was arrested and imprisoned under the Insurrection Act, which targeted those protesting the social injustice of excessive tithes, rent payments, and related evictions of the time.

However, in 1827 he married Catherine Kelly. They lived in a simple mud cabin in the townland of Mountprospect and had eight children. Gerrity worked as a carrier transporting people, goods, and livestock, researchers at the Irish Family History Centre discovered.

In 1853, due to the Famine, the family left Ireland for New Jersey.

Springsteen discussed his Irish roots, in 2010, during his Ellis Island Medal award. During his speech, Springsteen thanked the Irish side of his family the OFarrells, Garrity, and McNicholas clans, and stated his wife Patty who is also part Irish and he had continued the great Mid-New Jersey tradition of Irish and Italians marrying.

His Irish grandmother settled in the town of Freehold, NJ where Bruce himself was born 71 years ago.

Springsteen went to the Catholic St Rose of Lima School, where he was taught by Irish nuns. It had a lasting impact on him. Some of his later music reflects a Catholic ethos and includes a few rock-influenced, traditional Irish-Catholic hymns.

In a 2012 interview, he explained that it was his Catholic upbringing rather than political ideology that most influenced his music. He noted in the interview that his faith had given him a "very active spiritual life," although he joked that this "made it very difficult sexually." He added: "Once a Catholic, always a Catholic."

Did you know about Bruce Springsteen's Irish roots?

* Originally published in May 2016. Updated in 2021.
Five hundred new jobs are being created over the next two years by the technology firm Amazon.

The company is looking for data centre technicians, software engineers and customer support staff for its European hub in Dublin.

With more than a million customers worldwide the business is growing its retail side with new products for devices like the Kindle.

Amazon set up in Ireland in 2004 and already employs more than 1,700 people here.

Its last expansion was two years ago when it hired an extra 300 workers and valued its Irish operations at around 1.5bn.

"We have already exceeded our previous talent growth targets for Ireland set in 2014, which is testament to the abundance of expertise we have been able to find in the country," said Jeff Caselden, general manager, Amazon Ireland.

"We've been an active member of the Irish technology community for over a decade now and Ireland's creative culture and the diverse set of technical skills we're able to recruit for here make it an ideal location for our rapidly-expanding business.

"Some of our most exciting creations we have at Amazon stem from the work we do here for our customers."

The investment is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through IDA Ireland.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said: "The Irish Government is continuing to prioritise making Ireland a fantastic location for investment and innovation.

"This announcement of 500 new jobs by Amazon is a testament to Ireland's reputation as a leading European location for technology and digital industries."
Donald Trump says people in the United States illegally are cared for better than the nation's military veterans.

Mr Trump was speaking at the annual Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally, which honours prisoners of war and service members missing in action.

Mr Trump was warmly received by the crowd despite having once said he prefers "people who weren't captured" when criticising Arizona Senator John McCain, a war prisoner during Vietnam.

Mr Trump told the crowd that if elected he plans to "knock the hell out of" the Islamic group by building a bigger, better military.

He also reiterated his promise to build a wall to keep out people from entering the country illegally.

"Who's going to pay for the wall?" he bellowed. The crowd yelled back: "Mexico."

''Not even a doubt," he replied.

The US congress and many states have written an assortment of laws and policies designed to restrict government services to people in the country illegally.

Veterans groups were furious following Mr Trump's comments about Mr McCain but, despite not apologising to the former Republican presidential nominee, he has worked to try to repair the damage.

He frequently honours veterans at his rallies and has come out with a plan to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He also held a fundraiser for veterans' causes in place of an Iowa debate that he missed.

But Mr Trump, who avoided military draft through a series of deferments, attracted scrutiny for not immediately distributing the 6 million US dollars he had claimed to raise, including 1 million dollars he had pledged himself.

He is expected to hold a news conference on Tuesday to announce the name of the charities selected to receive the money.

Mr Trump said he would cut waiting times for veterans needing medical care.

"If there's a wait, we're going to give the right for those people to go to a private doctor or even a public doctor and get themselves taken care of and we're going to pay the bill," he said.

Mr Trump has a loyal following with bikers, who frequently attend his rallies, where they sometimes clash with Trump protesters.

Among those eager to hear Mr Trump speak was Louis Naymik, 52, of Clarksburg, Maryland, who said he served in the Ohio Army National Guard for four years.

"There's history in the air here," he said. "We're living in historic times in our country today with the election and the choosing of a new president. And I just wanted to give honour to those who have fallen and sacrificed their lives for our country."

Mr Naymik, who works in radiology, was wearing a Trump shirt and said he had been a supporter since the day Trump announced his candidacy

"What I like about Trump is that he is one of us. He's not a politician," he said, adding that Mr Trump would bring the country back to its old values, put American citizens first and honour its veterans.
The aim is also to provide entrepreneurs in the food industry with ideas on innovation and growth opportunities through informative and insightful articles.

Changes in European Union legislation, subsidy and regional protection for food products are among topics the magazine addresses.

More than 70% of the 400,000-plus food producing SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in the EU have less than 10 employees.

Yet, these companies are responsible for 49.6% of the total turnover and for 63.3% of employment in the food and drink industry.

Dr Helena McMahon, commissioning editor, Institute of Technology Tralee, said keping in mind the time demands of running a business, Taste of Science provides a high return on time invested.

It connects, informs, and supports food entrepreneurs with technological and business intelligence that is application ready, she said.

Taste of Science is an initiative of the European Union funded TRADEIT Network led by the Institute of Technology Tralee alongside nine European hubs.

It is in association with the European Federation of Food Science and Technology(EEFoST), which pushes sustainable and healthy food production by facilitating knowledge exchange.

Editor-in-chief, Jeroen Knol, said food production is challenged with globalisation, resource scarcity and changing demands.

On top of tasty and safe foods, consumers want food to tell a story, have natural ingredients and be prepared in a transparent and sustainable way.

He said the free online magazine Taste of Science presents solutions that inspire and enable food producers like bakeries, cheese and sausage-makers to meet these demands.

www.tasteofscience.com
Over the last month, many parts of the country have played host to large scale productions, bringing a significant commercial boost to local communities in everything from hotels and B&Bs to restaurants and taxis.

One fitness club in Dingle has even taken to opening at 5am to accommodate visiting actors who need to hit the gym before filming begins.

Amongst the productions currently bringing lights, cameras, and action, the latest Star Wars project has garnered most media attention as its enormous carriage and crew moved across the country, taking in much of the Malin, Mizen, and Dingle headlands.

With wookies and droids now a common sight on many a main street, one Kerry local put the revenue bonanza in perspective: We all thought Ryans Daughter in the 1970s was the biggest thing to ever happen here, but this space age stuff is even better. And they keep coming back for more.

Other productions, albeit with smaller budgets, currently underway include: Dawn, a new Morgan OSullivan produced series filming in Wicklow; Maze, the infamous 1983 prison breakout of 38 IRA prisoners, filming in the recently decommissioned Cork Prison; and drama series Redwater, a spin-off of the Eastenders soap, filming at Dalkeys Coliemore Harbour and Dunmore East in Waterford.

Long established for stunning locations and landscapes, Irelands attractiveness to global film productions is now cemented with solid foundations right across the production chain.

American writer-director Whit Stilman, whose latest film, the 18th-century set Love & Friendship, currently showing in cinemas, and which was shot in various Irish locations, said: Working here was absolutely ideal. This is the best place I have ever shot a film, definitely the best crew I have ever worked with.

Any project I could possibly shoot in Ireland in the future, I will definitely shoot them here.

High praise indeed from an Oscar-nominated filmmaker. An associated industry spin off  set jetting  is fast becoming a growing tourist niche market, with tours from Dublin and Belfast to the filming sites in Game of Thrones now a hot ticket for visitors keen to experience places like the Dark Hedges and Tollymore Forest.

A further measure of the industrys confidence was demonstrated by the announcement last week by the Audiovisual Federation, the Ibec group representing the audiovisual sector in Ireland, of proposals to build a major studio on the former Irish Glass Bottle site at Dublins Ringsend.

James Morris, the founder of Windmill Lane Studios, and film producer, Alan Moloney, are developing proposals to build a 180,000 sq ft studio on the site, with several individual sound stages and large indoor sets.

Audiovisual Federation Director Torlach Denihan said: If the proposed development comes to fruition it will be a further strengthening of Irelands audiovisual industry, where a strong momentum is now established.

He cautioned that films have a lengthy planning horizon, and the sector is still recovering from a 40% reduction in capital spending by the Irish Film Board during the period 2008-14.

Open Casting Call Coming Up for "Vikings" in Dublin - Auditions Free https://t.co/RYr0Yx9mie  Kirk Carlson (@KirkBCarlson1) November 13, 2015

The wider audiovisual industry employs more than 6,000 people in approximately 1,000 companies, most of which are SMEs, and has an annual payroll of the order of 270 million.

He added that 18% of tourists cite film or television as the reason for their visit to Ireland.

Northern Irelands burgeoning film industry has also taken a leap forward with plans for a new 10m (13.2m) film studio complex on the outskirts of Belfast.

North Foreshow Film Studios will be developed by Belfast Harbour on a former landfill site, compromising four buildings with significant production, workshop facilities, and stages.

The success of Game of Thrones has propelled the North into the international spotlight as a filming location and recent figures show that the past five seasons of the series has injected more than 115m (151m) into the local economy  supported by an investment funding of 12.45m (16.38m) from Northern Ireland Screen.

Rounding out the industrys overall positive outlook across Ireland is the soon-to-open Troy Studios in Limerick.

The studio, located in the cavernous former Dell Computer complex at Castletroy, has confirmed it has negotiated a deal with the UKs Pinewood Studiosto handle its international bookings.

Troy Studios pulled in funding of 2.7m earlier this year, and will shortly unveil facilities extended to 340,000sq ft of high-specification sound studio and support facilities for film and television productions, providing the perfect set-up for large scale movies and/or high-end television series.
Joe Healy, president, also warned that the outcome for 2016 will be significantly worse that it was this year.

Mr Healy, who met with EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan, called on him to act without delay to ease the problems.

His meeting with Mr Hogan in Brussels followed the Teagasc National Farm Survey result published last week.

These revealed that strong cattle prices boosted farm income in 2015, but there was a big fall in milk price.

The preliminary estimates show that family farm income increased by 6% last year, bringing the average figure to 26,526. However, the IFA president warned that a real income crisis on farms is being heightened by negative price pressures across all sectors.

He said the IFA has identified the immediate issues as poor product prices, lack of retail regulation, input costs and European Union trade talks with the Mercosur group of South American countries.

We need real action immediately here and in Brussels to deliver positive change for farmers, he said.

Mr Healy said direct payments make up a significant element of income, particularly for drystock and tillage farmers.

There is an opportunity for the minister to boost income by raising GLAS (Green Low-Carbon Agri- environmental Scheme) entrants to over 50,000 and by bringing forward the Government commitment to increase Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme payments.

A 70% advance on the basic payment in October would help cashflow, he said.

The IFA president said it is clear from the Teagasc figures that the abolition of milk quotas resulted in an increase in cow numbers and expansion in milk output.

Combined with reduced input expenditure on concentrate feed, these tempered the significant drop in milk price of 20%.

However, the poor growth conditions in spring 2016 and continued poor milk means that a 4% income drop in 2015 is an income crisis for dairy farmers in 2016, he said.

Mr Healy said the increase in tillage income masks the underlying problem in the sector of falling returns for the investment. The inability to re-invest is unsustainable for the sector.

He said the IFA will continue its campaign to abolish tariffs on fertiliser and deliver a price reduction for farmers of a key input.

On the drystock sector, Mr Healy said he has met Agriculture Minister Michael Creed and made a strong case for the re-opening of the Beef Data and Genomics Scheme to applicants this year to support the suckler cow.

He also welcomed the commitment to 25m for a new sheep scheme which is essential to maintain our national ewe flock.
As National president of Macra na Feirme, we have been working on these issues for many years and will continue to do so with the new Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The programme sets out and confirms the ambitious plans which were contained in the recently published Foodwise 2025.

Central to all these elaborate targets being achieved are farmers on the ground.

These are the men and women who work hard during unsociable hours on cold, dark and dreary nights calving the cow or lambing the ewe, or in finer weather in the field sowing and harvesting their crops.

Everyone is working tirelessly to produce high-quality, traceable, safe food.

The poor prices being paid at present for all commodities has farmers under severe stress and strain, contributing to increased negativity across the industry.

The success of this government and its programme will be judged on returning a decent margin to us farmers.

The programme deals with protecting farm incomes. In spite of the tough times, we, as the new generation of farmers are excited about our future.

The government has a responsibility to help us put the building blocks in place for a successful career in farming. Were ambitious, energetic and educated.

Generational renewal has to be facilitated with young farmer-friendly measures and dealing with the issues facing us  like access to schemes, education, land, affordable finance and income.

Macra na Feirme in itself is facilitating generational change via the land mobility service and providing young farmers with continual professional development via our young farmer Skillnets training programme.

The commitment to continue all the young farmer CAP schemes is welcomed.

I have no doubt that the presence and input of a number of rural Independent TDs around the government formation negotiation table, has resulted in a commitment in the programme to seek recognition for the forgotten farmers as a group with significant disadvantage, under the National Reserve.

The forgotten farmers are a group of farmers who are under 40 years and who started farming pre- 2008 and have no or very low-value payments.

I welcome this commitment in the programme and it is a positive step forward for this cohort of young farmers.

The focus now turns to the Governments delivery on all aspects for the programme but in particular for young farmers.

The five-year rule, associated with all the Cap schemes is creating two tiers of young farmers.

Macra na Feirme has been consistently flagging the five-year rule as an issue as far back as December 2013 when the Cap legislation was first published.

We have not witnessed any positive movements by Minister Coveney or the Department of Agriculture on the case of new entrant, parent-partnership, young farmers either, whose cases are a lot more straightforward than the forgotten farmers.

We have now raised the issue with new minister Michael Creed.

There are around 240 young farmers who did not go onto the herd number but entered Teagasc-registered, family-production partnerships to get priority access to buy extra milk quota in the mid-2000s.

They were not classified as young farmers in the old Cap and are now not classified as young farmers in the current Cap when they activate a herd number.

There has been a lack of political will at a government level to make a decision to provide a budget for a young farmer national reserve in 2016, despite a commitment being made in the programme to prioritise the role out of a national reserve.

There is also a lack of agreement among farmer organisations on the funding of a national reserve. Macra na Feirme is a lone voice on the proposed linear cut to fund a national reserve.

This poses the question; where is the money going to come from for a national reserve to provide a payment to the forgotten farmers who deserve to be looked after?

Based on our experiences so far on the issues above, my initial view on prospects of the Government delivering for these forgotten farmers is one of scepticism.

We will battle on.
The poll, which the Observer newspaper said was the biggest of its kind, drawing responses from more than 600 economists, is a boost for Prime Minister David Cameron, who is leading the campaign for Britain to stay in the 28-member bloc at a referendum on June 23.

Carried out by pollster Ipsos-MORI, the poll found that 88% of those asked said an exit from the EU and the single market would damage Britains growth prospects over the next five years and 82% said there would probably be a negative impact on household incomes.
It is 200 years since the Luddites were active.

The Luddites were a group of English industrial workers who smashed up the machines that were displacing them from their jobs as weavers.

They caused considerable disruption eventually provoking parliament into passing a law making industrial sabotage a capital offence.

Could the Luddites be on the point of making a comeback?

This may seem a strange question to pose given that employment in much of the advanced world is approaching record levels with Irish unemployment at levels last seen in 2008 and Britains labour market continuing to offer opportunities to hundreds of thousands across the globe.

A couple of years ago, the US Bureau of Labour Statistics confidently predicted that numbers at work in America in 2020 would be almost 15% higher than in 2010.

Among their predictions was a 70% increase in the number of home health and personal care aides and a 60% increase in the number of biomedical engineers.

But something strange has been happening. The pace of automation appears to be accelerating and with it, disquiet about the implications for global society.

In the past week, it has been reported that the Chinese manufacturer, Foxconn, has axed 60,000 jobs at its facilities, while the German shoe giant, Adidas, is building a new plant back in Germany which will be entirely staffed by robots.

The result, once again, will be large-scale job losses in Asia. Rival, Nike, is also engaged in the introduction of robotics into its facilities.

Of course, robots have been around for decades, particularly in Japan and across the auto industry. Its just that they seem to be getting a lot cleverer.

In Japan, the worlds most rapidly ageing society, nursing robots have been developed: the little creatures are able to lift patients into wheelchairs and it is reckoned that humanoid robots will take over much of the care of the elderly in their homes.

Should the use of these beings become widespread, it could possibly play havoc with those projections of increased employment in the caring sector, not least given the heavy financial pressures that local authorities and private nursing homes are currently faced with.

In the transport sector, Volvo is already trialling unmanned vehicles in underground mines in partnership with Swedish mining group, Boliden.

Last month, the European Union ran a trial of unmanned juggernauts, taking part in convoys of trucks in close proximity to each other, as part of an energy saving measure.

Could the Yorkie-chomping long distance truck driver be about to join the 19th century weavers and 20th century coopers in the industrial junkyard? And will taxi men and chauffeurs be far behind?

Volvo is planning, next year, to trial 100 driverless cars in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, with a similar number being rolled out in Greenwich and Milton Keynes.

Gothenburg University academic, Ola Benderim, cautions that it will be some time before these automatic pilots are in a position to replicate human beings behind the wheel.

But Volvo boss, Haken Samuelsson, predicts that the advent of such technology will bring about an 80% reduction in the number of car crashes by 2035.

That, in turn, could put a whole industry at risk, the insurance sector. It could also leave some nurses and doctors with time to spare.

Insurer, Swiss Re, has warned that the premium income in the 14 large motor insurance markets in the world is set to drop by $20bn a year by 2020.

By that stage, more than two-thirds of new cars sold will have some form of connection to both the internet and to other cars.

All of which has led experts and leaders to conclude that the fourth industrial revolution is around the corner, and with this conclusion has come an added sense of panic about the implications of what threatens to be the greatest displacement of established employment in history.

At the extreme end of the alarmist spectrum is Andrew Haldane, chief economist of the Bank of England. He believes that robots could threaten 15m jobs with the labor market being hollowed out and the gap between rich and poor widened.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned that seven million jobs in the worlds largest economies could be at risk over the next five years from robotics and 3D printing alone.

The political implications of massive job displacement in Asia and other regions are only now being pondered.

North Africa and the Middle East serve as cautionary tales for what can happen when job markets fail to absorb an expanding youth cohort.

Klaus Schwab, founder of the Davos forum, has called for a debate on the response to this fourth industrial revolution.

The political and business establishment, trade unions included, have been silent while our technology bosses press ahead with the implementation of their panglossian visions.

A serious discussion and follow-on intervention is required before a host of awkward facts become established on the ground.
The CBRE Ireland Logistics & Supply Chain Confidence Index also found 83% of businesses are unlikely to enjoy a net gain from the introduction of Eircode.

The head of the industry body representing freight businesses said the findings are a sign that Eircode is going nowhere.

The survey, carried out by CBRE Ireland and market research firm Analytiqa, was commissioned by KPMG and the Freight Transport Association of Ireland. Participants included Aer Lingus, Tesco, DHL, Topaz, Bord na Mona, and Bausch & Lomb.

Marie Hunt, head of research and executive director at CBRE Ireland said the findings were surprising, in that while the results suggest a very low uptake of the system, 64% of respondents still said they believe Eircode has been a positive development for logistics and e-commerce in Ireland.

Perhaps there is a bedding-in period, and the use of Eircode is not being enforced so those using it are doing so by choice, she said.

While the survey did not ask respondents why they have not adopted the use of Eircodes, Ms Hunt said the industry cost of accessing the Eircode database has been cited as one reason .

Anecdotally we have heard that it is quite expensive. Users need subscriptions to access a lot of addresses and that is quite costly.

While the survey had only 50 respondents, they are 50 of the biggest businesses in the supply chain sector.

Neil McDonnell, general manager of the FTAI, said:

The structure of Eircode as a random, database tool means that, despite the proliferation of systems and software in the market, even large operators and their customers have no use for it. Its use is confined to government services and database users such as banks and insurance companies, which to be fair, can exploit its power as a database.

Mr McDonnell added that recent moves by one of the Eircode consortium to offer a newly-labelled small area code system to operators was indicative of how the industry has responded.

The rollout of small area codes by one of the Department of Communications largest contractors, Autoaddress, confirms Eircodes failings as a postcode for business, he said.

It is doubly frustrating that this company was to the fore in rubbishing structured postcodes, yet is now asking for our help in marketing one to industry. It is an explicit admission of failure by one of the States principal contractors. [Communications Minister Denis] Naughten was sympathetic to our views on Eircode in opposition, it will be interesting to see his views as minister. Eircode is going nowhere, Mr McDonnell said.
He will speak about Cork in the 18th century and give an insight into life in Shandon around the time of the local birth of Mary Harris who, afterwards, became the renowned US trade union leader Mother Jones  once dubbed the most dangerous woman in America.

This is a tremendous honour for us at the summer school and festival, said Jim Nolan, spokesperson for the festival, now in its fifth year.

Dr Pettit is a true Cork legend and his lecture will be eagerly awaited by many in Shandon, he said, adding organisers are now finalising a programme for the summer school which will take place over the August weekend.

The five-day 2016 Spirit of Mother Jones Festival/ Summer School will be held in Shandon in Cork City from Thursday, July 28 until Monday, August 1.

Designated by Cork City Council as Mother Jones Day, Dr Petit will speak on the Friday afternoon at the Maldron Hotel.

The festival celebrates the life and unstinting work of the Cork-born activist, dedicated to inspirational people everywhere who fight for social justice.

The committee has erected a plaque in Shandon to honour her.

Born in Cork in late July 1837, Mary Harris was baptized in the local North Cathedral on August 1. She lived through the famine in Cork and later left with her family for Canada. She later emerged as one of the most celebrated and feared union leaders in the US and was a passionate defender of miners and the rights of workers and those discriminated against everywhere.

Another speaker at this years event will be Laurence Fenton, who has written an account of the visit of Frederick Douglass to Cork in 1845, when a young Mary Harris lived in the city.

Frederick Douglass, a former slave and later anti-slavery campaigner spent three weeks in Cork City in October 1845 and, say organisers, it is certain Mother Jones would have been influenced by Douglass in the US many years later.

Mr Fenton will present a lecture on the visit of Douglass to Cork also at the Maldron Hotel on Friday, July 29 at 11.30am.

We are extremely proud that this is the fifth festival and we have managed to retain the unique, convivial and informal character of the summer school located as it is in Shandon, the very heart of Cork city.

Our full five-day programme of talks, films, music and exhibitions will be announced shortly.

www.motherjonescork.com
Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes said the minority government is determined to continue with the new legislation as any U-turn due to other EU members concerns would set a dangerous precedent and must be opposed.

It emerged over the weekend that 11 EU countries  Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, and the Netherlands  have lodged objections to the Governments imminent public health alcohol bill.

The bill, which was approved last year and is currently at the second stage in the Seanad, includes plans to introduce health warnings and calorie counts on bottles and cans of alcohol sold in Ireland.

The key legislation, which medical groups have insisted is vital if Ireland wants to address chronic binge drinking, also includes provisions to block the sale of cheap alcohol and to ban TV and radio adverts promoting the products before the 9pm watershed.

However, despite the benefits of the would-be legislation, the 11 EU countries named above have said that they are worried about its possible effect on trade into and out of Ireland.

While Ireland has until the end of July to respond to the concerns, Mr Hayes yesterday stressed there is little possibility in the Government backing down.

In a statement, he said: Member states must be able to react to ongoing health concerns, which are particular to those member states, in a determined and coordinated way.

Health concerns and a proper response to Irelands binge drinking culture are best tackled at a local level, irrespective of internal market concerns.

The commission issuing warning shots against Ireland on this issue denies the principle of subsidiarity and hampers public policy making in Ireland. It sets a dangerous precedent and must be opposed, he said.

Doctors groups including the Irish Medical Organisation and the Irish Hospital Consultants Association have repeatedly called for increased legislative ways to highlight the dangers of alcohol amid growing concern about Irelands binge drinking culture.

They also believe the proposed new legislation, which was first pushed by ex-health minister James Reilly before being taken up by his replacement and new Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar, is key to tackling alcoholism in Ireland.
Among these are the earlier opening date to apply to Student Universal Support Ireland (Susi), which has been accepting details online since April 5. Last year, students could not apply until late April.

By the middle of last week, over 47,500 applications were received, including 21,500 from first-time applicants. The remainder were from those who had a grant in the past college year.

Up to last week, nearly 21,000 students had been told they qualify for a grant or to have their 3,000 student fees paid or part-paid, depending on family incomes. While most of these were renewal students, who have already been receiving support through Susi this year, 3,200 are first-time applicants.

A further 1,110 applications have been refused by Susi since it opened for business eight weeks ago for the 2016/17 college year.

Last year, 108,000 applications were received, but almost 28,000 of the 83,000 who got a grant or a fee waiver were paid in September. This was the first time students have been paid their grants before October.

In addition to the continued streamlining of the system, more students may qualify this year for the top rate of grant  as high as 5,915 for those studying more than 45km from home  due to changes to qualifying criteria.

Although grant rates are unchanged since last year, a budget of 375m has been set aside, down 12m on what was spent last year. The spend in 2015 had jumped from 345m to over 387m last year, partly due to the fact that the student contribution paid on behalf of grant recipients increased to 3,000  a figure that remains unchanged this year.

With an expected rise in applications to more than 110,00 this year, Susi communications and customer service manager Graham Doyle said availing of the early application date is more important than ever. Not only did applications open earlier, but students must also register before an earlier deadline this year in order to be prioritised for processing their grants later in the summer. They or their families must apply by July 8 or face what could be considerable delays later in the process. Last year, 17,000 applications were received after the priority application dates.

Students who believe they may be entitled to grant support should submit their applications before the priority closing dates so that they can benefit from earlier decisions and grant support, said Mr Doyle.

Were awarding people now, whereas in previous years our new applicants such as those doing the Leaving Cert couldnt be awarded until they had received their exam results.

While they may previously have been given provisional award, this development is expected to offer more peace of mind to families. They can be assured of being qualified for support well before getting results and any college offers in the middle and late August. But applying on time is not enough to guarantee quicker turnaround on applications.

Students are also required to return requested documentation complete and on time to enable the processing of their applications, said Mr Doyle.

The key thing is to encourage people to apply before June 6 for those applying for grant renewals and July 8 for new applications. You dont have to wait until you get your Leaving Cert results and CAO offers.

The Leaving Cert results are expected to issue this year on Wednesday, August 17, and offers for most college applicants go out the following Monday, August 22.

We take the named course they nominate at application, and if they end up being accepted on to another course, that will be notified to us if they have ticked the relevant box on their CAO application, Mr Doyle said.

Although final confirmation of registration on a course will still be required from colleges before grant payments issue, this is one of many streamlined processes being run by Susi to reduce the paperwork involved in running the system.
Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said recent attacks on hospitals and medical facilities were appalling and he condemned the blocking of convoys of medicines, food, and baby food.

Some 2m of the 3m destined for Syria is going to groups working inside the country  1m is going to the International Committee of the Red Cross, 1m to the United Nations Turkey Humanitarian Pooled Fund which delivers aid into northern Syria, and another 1m to Unicef.

Another 2m is going to the UNs Yemen Humanitarian Pooled Fund, which makes use of local knowledge to ensure that front-line organisations are given the means to reach those in need.

Mr Flanagan said civilians in Syria are in dire straits.

Life inside Syria has become almost impossible, and 13.5m people there are in need of humanitarian assistance, he said.

Mr Flanagan called on armies involved in the war in Syria to allow sustained humanitarian access to the country. I condemn the cowardly attacks on hospitals and medical facilities, and I am appalled that convoys of medicines, food supplies, and even baby food have been prevented from reaching their destinations, he said.

The funding is part of Irelands commitment to pay 20m in humanitarian support for the Syrian people this year, and 62m since the war began more than five years ago.

Meanwhile, a child refugee who lost her parents in the Syrian conflict smiled for the first time after meeting a group of Irish circus artists.

Clowns Without Borders have just returned from a tour of the refugee camps of Jordan.

Amid harrowing scenes of deprivation and bereavement, the volunteers hit the funny bones of children whose lives had been devastated, organisation founder Colm OGrady said.

We have a track record in doing incredible work where we have a child who has not smiled for six months, who has seen their parents killed and they are there laughing.

One camp inhabitant, a boy aged 17, even accompanied the troupe in Jordan as a juggler.

The group of around 50 performers from Ireland visited settlements including Zaatari, Jordans largest refugee camp.
Barrister Marie-Louise Donovan, 24, from Moyvane in Co Kerry, jetted out to the US at the weekend to begin a three-month voluntary placement with the Innocence Project which has freed over 340 wrongfully convicted prisoners, some of whom were facing the death penalty.

She is one of just three Irish lawyers chosen by the Bar Council of Ireland to work this year on the project founded by lawyers Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, who were both on OJ Simpsons defence team in his famous murder trial in 1995.

Each US state now has its own Innocence Project, which, since its foundation in 1992, has proven the innocence of and secured the freedom of over 340 wrongfully convicted inmates, at least 20 of whom served time on death row. The inmates served an average of 14 years before being cleared.

The Wisconsin Innocence Project helped highlight Steven Averys case which was the focus of the global hit Netflix documentary Making a Murderer. Avery, who has been in jail for 18 years, remains behind bars despite serious questions over his conviction.

Ms Donovan will be based in Cincinnati until August, working with the Ohio Innocence Project which has, since its foundation in 2003, exonerated 23 inmates in a state where the current method of capital punishment is lethal injection.

I applied to work on the Innocence Project when I was 21, shortly after qualifying as a barrister, but I was told I was too young, Ms Donovan said.

Looking back now, they were probably right. But Im really looking forward to it now. It is such a worthwhile cause and Im looking forward to helping. I think this is a very worthwhile cause and we are always striving to improve our own criminal justice system here so I am very much looking forward to moving over to Ohio and working with the Innocence Project there over the next few months.

It should be a very educational and rewarding experience. It will be a privilege.

Ms Donovan, whose parents are teachers in Listowel, started school aged four, sat her leaving cert aged 16, graduated from UCC with a law degree aged 19, and was called to the bar shortly after her 21st birthday, making history by becoming the youngest person to qualify as a barrister in Ireland.

After three years working in Dublin, she is now working on the South Western Circuit covering Kerry, Limerick and Clare.

She will spend the summer recess working voluntarily in Ohio with other lawyers from around the world to help exonerate wrongfully convicted inmates who are serving life sentences or who are on death row.

The Innocence Project teams take on certain cases post conviction and specialise in using advances in DNA testing, uncovering evidence of police misconduct, and in driving reforms of the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.

They also review cold cases and engage in fieldwork interviews with key witnesses in the hope that they can prove a persons innocence before they are executed.

Ms Donovan said witnesses often come forward with new evidence or testimony years after a person has been convicted.

She said some of the cases she will be working on will involve inmates who are facing execution soon.

I hope to provide a fresh pair of eyes. Coming from another jurisdiction, we might see things that may have been overlooked, she said.

An Irish Innocence Project was founded in Dublin in 2009 by David Langwallner, the Dean of Law at Griffith College

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About half of Central Applications Office (CAO) each year use the change of mind facility.

Patricia McGrath, principal of Hewitt College in Cork city, advises students to check their options in the week or more between final exams and the July 1 deadline to use the CAO facility. Regardless of how many times students alter their course choices, it is those listed at 5.15pm on that date which will be used to determine how places are allocated.

Often the CAO is the last thing on students minds when they are in the midst of studying, and once the exams are finished, the need to revisit their application can also fall by the wayside, said Ms McGrath.

But this can be the best time to review CAO choices.

When the stress and pressure of exams is finally over, students often find that they can reflect on their CAO choices with a clearer mind. The danger is that many can forget to do so because of the euphoria of finishing the Leaving Cert, she said.

I would urge students to use these days to look back over their forms and ensure they have chosen the courses they really want to do. Its vital to do this beforeJuly 1st, which doesnt leave a huge window of time.

CAO general manager Joe OGrady says most CAO applicants can use the facility to add, remove, or re-order their course choices. There are, however, restrictions on adding courses for which interviews, portfolio submission deadlines or other additional assessment dates have already passed.

Ms McGrath said students are likely to see some impact on college places due to a rise in applicant numbers. The record 76,081 people who had applied up to February 1  with late applications also received up to May 1  was 1,657 more than the same time last year.

Most colleges have responded to rising demand in recent years by allowing more first-year entrants. So any rise or fall in points will depend on whether there are more or fewer applicants for a particular course, the CAO points of those applicants, and whether numbers of places are up or down.

Ms McGrath advises double-checking entry requirements for every course a student is interested in to ensure they have the right subjects at the right levels. While a higher-level C3 in Leaving Certificate Irish is required for entry to primary teaching courses, for example, there are other subjects with requirements that are not as obvious.

Students of speech and language therapy in UCC, for example, will require a higher level C1 grade in a language other than English, she explained.

Colleges course requirements can be checked online at www.qualifax.ie.

Ms McGrath added that students should focus on course preference over anticipated points scores, or past points requirements. She said applicaionts should always have a couple of fallback options and ensure they thoroughly research every course choice.

A safety net is a great asset. By filling in all 20 course choices on the CAO form, students give themselves the best chance of success, she said.

Many colleges offer Level 7 courses with the option to continue studies for an added year and graduate with a Level 8 degree.

Other options for Leaving Certificate students include the available places facility, open in August. It offers places that remain unfilled in particular courses after all offers have been made and waiting lists have been exhausted.

Ms McGrath added there are other choices beyond the CAO, with an increase in students choosing to attend university in the Netherlands.

The admissions process for Dutch universities is very different to the Irish system. As a general rule, you are eligible for a place on any course with six subjects at Leaving Certificate, with two higher level C3 grades. In addition to the very attractive student loans offered by the Dutch government, there are other grants and loan schemes for which students may qualify. Also, as an EU citizen, if you qualify for a SUSI grant, you may take that with you to the Netherlands.

She highlighted that just 39,832 of the 52,058 CAO applicants who got a round one offer in 2015 accepted it.

Applicants who are not offered their first choice can, she said, consider other choices. The UKs clearing option, which is how universities and colleges fill any places they still have on their courses, is available from July to September.

Get advice in advance from a guidance counsellor who has experience with UCAS applications and UK universities, see whats available at www.ucas.com, write a personal statement, contact universities, and get an offer before entering a clearing choice on a form.

There is also the option of following in the footsteps of Malia Obama, the oldest daughter of US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, who will attend Harvard University in 2017 after taking a gap year. If students choose to take a year off, it can be hugely beneficial.

They can do a post-Leaving Certificate course, which is a great way to continue their education, broaden their options, study close to home to save money to put towards future college expenses and to mature a little, she said.

There is also the option of going abroad to learn a language, study new skills or volunteer abroad.

One in six first-year college students do not progress on their course. There are so many better ways to spend this year than struggling, going through the motions of a course in which you have no interest, she said.
The centenary of Kents death and swift burial at Cork Military Detention Barracks was marked earlier this month.

The free public lecture at University College Cork next Thursday will hear from the experts who helped last year to confirm the burial spot and then establish that the remains found in the shallow grave were those of the north Cork Irish Volunteers leader.

Thomas Kent was given a State funeral in his native Castlelyons near Fermoy last September, more than 99 years after his court martial and execution in May 1916.

Jens Carlsson will explain the genetic analyses used to verify that the remains located in the grounds of Cork Prison last summer were his.

Many have heard about genetic identification methods used by forensic laboratories across the world. However, the Thomas Kent case turned out to be a very challenging task that demanded development of novel genetic identification methods, said Dr Carlsson, a lecturer at University College Dublins school of biology and environmental science.

Archaeologist Tom Condit of the Department of Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltachts National Monuments Service will speak about the geophysical survey techniques used to confirm where the remains lay.

Members of the public had an opportunity on the centenary of his death to visit the prison cell where Thomas Kent spent his last night, and to see the spot where he laid buried for almost a century.

The CSI 1916 lecture takes place at the Boole 4 lecture theatre in UCC at 8pm on Thursday, June 2, and no booking is required.
Six ministers on both sides of the Government, speaking to the Irish Examiner, have confirmed that relationships between Taoiseach Enda Kennys ministers and the Independents are in a very poor state.

Relations are not good, severely strained in fact. They dont like us and we dont like them. So it is not a good place, one minister said.

It is understood significant teething issues between the two sides have emerged.

These include refusal to agree on key staff appointments, the ill-treatment of Independent ministers, difficulties in exchanging information, and the adding of three Fine Gael junior ministers behind the backs of the Independents.

Most recently, Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkars slapping down in the Dail of Communications Minister Denis Naughtens proposal to link child benefit to school attendance has caused much anger in the Independent ranks.

These overt tensions are on top of a general fear around the instability of the arrangement underpinning the Coalition, given it is reliant on Fianna Fail support and has a working majority of just one vote in the Dail.

Specifically, Fine Gael ministers stand accused of being arrogant towards their coalition partners, while in return, several Fine Gael ministers have spoken of their irritation in having to deal with people who are diametrically opposed to them.

There is absolutely no love for each other in the Cabinet room. It is business- like. We are not going for pints with them or anything. But we are trying to make it work, but it is a struggle, said another minister.

There remains considerable anger among the Independent ranks as to the treatment of super junior ministers Finian McGrath and John Halligan by their Fine Gael counterparts in relation to their opposition to water charges.

Mr Halligan recently gave voice to his anger, telling Fine Gael ministers to shut their mouths and leave them alone.

However, one Independent minister described the unease between the sides as being as much the fault of Independents as Fine Gael.

It is not out of malice, there are bedding-down issues. But that is as much our fault as it is Fine Gaels side. There is some naivety on our side of the fence, the minister said.

While there is considerable animosity towards Mr Kenny, several Independent ministers have spoken warmly about the role Finance Minister Michael Noonan has played in securing their agreement, and also in keeping them at the table.

One Independent Alliance minister said that, had it not been for the skills of Mr Noonan, no deal would have been reached and the country would have been forced into a second election.

Noonan was brilliant, terrific. He was compassionate to our positions and our concerns. The rest of them were dreadful. Leo was dreadfully arrogant in his dealing with us and nothing has changed, the minister said.

We were running into roadblocks and he managed to ease our souls on many fronts and his willingness to go to the death with Michael Fitzmaurice over turf showed us we could do business with him.

Several Fine Gael ministers have singled out Transport Minister Shane Ross and Mr Halligan for criticism, saying Mr Ross description of the Taoiseach as a political corpse was deeply hurtful.

They have accused Mr Halligan of being too flaky and diva-esque, and said they believe the Waterford TD will find some reason to pull out of office before too long.
It comes as the HSE last night said that if a decision in relation to new medicines would have a substantial budget impact , then the decision on whether to acquire those drugs would be batted back to Government departments for approval.

Last week, oncologists criticised delays in funding Nivolizumab and Pembrolizumab and warned patients could die if the drugs were not made available immediately.

The HSE said the two new cancer drugs were being assessed to determine value for money and patient benefits.

In a statement issued last night that could be viewed as cranking up the pressure on the HSE, Mr Harris said he had been in contact with the HSE throughout the weekend on the issue.

I want the assessment process progressed urgently, he said.

Both of these drugs have been considered by the National Council for Pharmacoeconomics as part of the assessment process, and I understand that they are scheduled to be further considered by the HSE in the course of this week.

I have been in contact with the HSE throughout the weekend and have emphasised the need for the assessment process to be completed as quickly as possible.

My absolute priority is the care of the patients and I have asked the HSE to report back to me on this matter as early as possible this week.

Shortly afterwards, the HSE issued a statement of its own which indicated that where the proposed costs of new drugs would significantly impact on its budget, the decision would revert to departments such as the Department of Health.

The HSE will continue to assess and make decisions in relation to new medicines in the normal manner, the HSE statement outlined.

However, decisions that would have a substantial budget impact for the HSE also require approval by the appropriate Departments in consultation with Government.

Earlier, Mr Harriss Cabinet colleague Leo Varadkar said that ministers would not be approving the funding of the life-saving cancer drugs.

The Social Protection Minister, who was previously health minister, was responding to an article in a Sunday newspaper that politicians would have the final call on spending on new medicines.

He said rules on spending were much tighter now, adding that there should be a debate on how much we were willing to pay for new medicines.
The Fine Gael leader issued the warning as he met with Irish people living in London yesterday in a bid to convince them to register to vote before the June 23 decision.

Speaking as he attended the Mayo v London All-Ireland GAA match, Mr Kenny said a substantial percentage of the British electorate are Irish citizens who could ultimately decide the referendum result.
Mr Varadkar said the issue had been raised by newly elected Fianna Fail TD Frank ORourke, who had pointed out that it was quite common for students aged 18 and older to be still at school.

In a Dail response last week, the minister told Mr ORourke that the child benefit scheme was introduced at a time when few children completed transition year.

Mr Varadkar said he would look at the possibility of extending child benefit to 18- and 19-year-olds who were still in 6th year, but it would have to be looked at in the context of everything else.

Speaking on RTE radio yesterday, Mr Varadkar said he would also consider other areas of social protection to see if the 60m needed for child benefit for all 18-year-olds could be better spent.

He also announced that the carers support grant, formerly known as the respite care grant, is to be paid to 86,000 carers on Thursday.

The grant is automatically paid to some carers, but the minister urged all carers to apply for the grant.

Mr Varadkar said carers who provided full-time care for more than one person might also be entitled to 1,700 for each person they cared for.

The estimated expenditure on the carers support grant this year is 157.6m. Mr Varadkar said that the payment had been reduced by 325 because of the economic crisis.

The head of communications at Family Carers Ireland, Catherine Cox, welcomed the restoration of the payment that had been cut by 19% three years ago.

Ms Cox said there were more than 200,000 carers in the country, and she believed a significant number did not realise that they were entitled to claim the payment.

She was also concerned that cuts in home help hours by the HSE was having a huge impact on family carers.

It is very difficult for carers to take a respite break if they are not getting the support to allow them to do that, said Ms Cox.
While promoting his latest film, he told the Independent, Ill never make a film with supermodels again after having worked with her on Begin Again. Knightley made a name for herself in movies, but has also appeared in ad campaigns and on the cover of major fashion magazines.

In Begin Again, Knightley played a songwriter dumped by her musician boyfriend, played by Adam Levine. Carney praised Levine and Mark Ruffalo, but had less fond memories of working with Knightley.
By all accounts, the much-anticipated Seventh Congress of the Workers Party of Korea was a non-event.

If the first such meeting of North Koreas highest organ in more than 35 years had any impact at all, it was to dash any hopes that the countrys irascible leader, Kim Jong-un, would turn his attention to economic reform.

In the time Kim spent avoiding discussing North Koreas shambolic economy, he made it abundantly clear that the countrys real pride is its nuclear programme.

Despite past pledges to abandon nuclear weapons development, the government has lately been pursuing new research, evidently in the hope of proclaiming the achievement of some new technological milestone.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, most of the world has jumped on the free-market bandwagon. But North Korea has held fast to its isolation. Its cult-like regime has encouraged a hyper-nationalist worldview, according to which any systematic co-operation with another country  much less the international community at large  is considered a threat to North Koreas sovereignty. And, as the latest party congress made clear, this will not change anytime soon.

Nowadays, however, North Korea is beginning to look less like an outlier than a forerunner in a broader trend toward nationalism, autarky, and authoritarianism.

Global trends, as measured by Freedom House and other nongovernmental authorities, include a surge in despotic regimes not seen since the first half of the 20th century.

The rise of nationalism can be seen virtually everywhere, from conflict-prone regions to the worlds most robust democracies.

While the emergence of another North Korea is not in the cards, the growing momentum of nationalism and illiberalism is troubling, to say the least.

No country is free of structural problems, especially given the ease with which central governments can become exhausted, and corrupt. And it is never easy to balance the power of the centre with the preferences of minorities, the rights of regions, and the authority of local entities.

But, over the years, solutions have emerged to ease these internal imbalances and clashes.

One such solution is integration into broader structures, such as the European Union. Strife in the Balkans, for example, was supposed to be resolved with progress toward EU membership. Other kinds of supra-national structures and alliances that help countries to recognise and advance common interests have a similar impact.

Unfortunately, that model is not what it used to be. And, nowadays, public opinion polls indicate that supra-national entities are losing their appeal.

Perhaps the most salient example is the UKs referendum on continued EU membership next month. Eurosceptic parties are on the rise across Europe, and have even joined government coalitions in some places.

Meanwhile, countries left out of European integration  such as Turkey  now seem pleased to have missed the boat, as they attempt to chart their own way forward (or, it often seems, backward) without external interests or responsibilities constraining their behaviour.

But, as Turkey moves to shape Middle Eastern affairs, it looks less like a robust nation-state than like a bumptious regional power that has learned little and forgotten less.

Of course, the Middle Easts ongoing turmoil is one of the main challenges facing the entire world, not just Turkey.

Those who believed that the Arab Spring would give rise to a new era of democracy and participatory governance in the Arab world never anticipated the power of retrograde forces  such as the self-described Islamic State  to push the region toward more primeval forms of tribal and sectarian loyalty.

Even countries that have fought hard to maintain secular government have fallen into a familiar trap, with the military emerging as the only cohesive body capable of imposing its will. Egypt, which seemed to be establishing democracy in the wake of the Arab Spring revolutions, is the poster child for this trap.

Weakening democracy is accompanied by another disturbing trend: The re-emergence of hostility among countries that would benefit far more from co-operation than competition.

Vladimir Putins Russia has become a major revisionist power, seeking to change by force the terms of the Soviet Unions breakup, and even decisions taken at the height of Soviet power (namely, the incorporation of Crimea into Ukraine).

China, too, has engaged in unilateral efforts to assert its territorial claims, especially in the South China Sea. That has not only complicated its relations with its Southeast Asian neighbours, which have watched Chinas rise with growing trepidation, but also with the US, which maintains treaty ties with several of those states.

But the US has its own problems. The presidential primaries  specifically, Donald Trumps rise to become the Republican Partys presumptive nominee  are raising doubts about Americas capacity to help lead the world through troubled times.

Trumps campaign has been marked by bellicose nationalism and anti-immigrant proposals  from the construction of a massive wall to keep out immigrants to a ban on all Muslims from entering the US  as well as reckless criticisms of Americas relations with friends and foes alike.

Yet he remains electorally viable; indeed, he commands a large and often virulently loyal following.

The internal political strain that this reflects and reinforces highlights how vulnerable the world order is today.

With his blustery and reckless style, Trump seems to lack the knowledge, wisdom, and temperament needed to execute the steady stewardship that todays world requires.

In that sense, he has quite a lot in common with the callow Kim  except that, if Trump gains power, he will have control of a far more influential country.

Christopher R Hill, former US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, is dean of the Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, and author of Outpost: Life on the Frontiers of American Diplomacy.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2016.
It is surely time for an open, direct, and formal renunciation of Humanae Vitae  the 1968 anti-contraception encyclical from Pope Paul VI.

This ill-conceived document has caused enormous harm, not least to papal authority, and been the source of worry, stress, and misery for millions of Catholic couples around the globe.

Its publication on July 25, 1968, caused widespread disappointment and even dismay, and sparked a huge controversy.

At the time, I wrote that the crisis it created was the greates the Catholic Church had faced since the Reformation in the 16th century.

In retrospect, that was no exaggerated claim, and today  nearly 50 years later  we are still living with the divisions stemming from that encyclical. In the aftermath of its appearance, millions of Catholics stopped going to confession and many others abandoned the Church altogether.

The encyclical was published three years after the end of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), when there was a broadly shared expectation that the ban on artificial methods of contraception would be lifted.

That ban can be traced back to Pope Pius XIs encyclical on Christian marriage, entitled Casti Connubii and published on December 31, 1930. This was a response to a general conference of the Anglican Church at Lambeth, which had said that contraception could be permitted in special cases.

Pius XI, who was Pope from 1922 to 1939, said the conjugal act is of its nature designed for the procreation of offspring, and he ruled that any use of matrimony whatsoever in the exercise of which the act is deprived, by human interference, of its natural power to procreate life, is an offence against the law of God and of nature.

Later, Pope Pius XII (1939-1958) referred to this pronouncement, and said: This precept is as valid today as it was yesterday, and it will be the same always, because it does not imply a precept of human law, but is the expression of a law which is natural and divine.

That was how the doctrine remained until 1963, when Pope John XXIII, who had convened Vatican II, appointed a six-man commission to advise him on the birth control question.

But Pope John died in June of that year before the commission had even met. Nevertheless, a precedent had been set for his successor, Paul VI, and he enlarged the membership so that men and women, married and single, were involved. The enlarged commission included one Irish member, Archbishop Thomas Morris of Cashel.

Altogether, a total of 72 people (five cardinals, nine bishops, and 56 theologians and lay members) served on the commission, which met in sessions between April 1964 and June 1966.

The commissions final report was given to Pope Paul VI on June 28, 1966. This was the majority report; a second report, from a small group of members headed by Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani, was also presented to the Pope. This opposed any change, and the group included Archbishop Morris of Cashel.

The majority report, which urged the Pope to change the Churchs teaching on birth control, was widely expected to be adopted by Paul VI and used as the basis of an encyclical by him. That never happened, and it came to be known as the encyclical that never was (the title of a brilliant book by Robert Blair Kaiser of Time magazine).

The majority report, recommending change, was never officially published by the Vatican. But copies were leaked. An Irish-born American journalist, Gary MacEoin, played a role in helping to get the document to two journals.

Understandably, it added greatly to the belief among ordinary Catholics that change was on the way. What followed was a period of official silence in Rome. But a lot of lobbying went on behind the scenes. Such signals as came from the papal apartments were ominous: Paul VI had been persuaded that his encyclical would have to fall into line with the teaching of Casti Connubii enunciated by Pope Pius XI in 1930.

The publication of Humanae Vitae in July 1968 came as a great shock to many. The key passage, and the cause of all the trouble, reads: The Church, calling men back to the observance of the natural law, as interpreted by her constant doctrine, teaches that each and every marriage act must remain open to the transmission of life.

In other words, artificial intervention to prevent pregnancy was against the natural law. It was always wrong, always sinful. Imagine the consequences of this for a couple over the span of, say, a 30-year or 40-year marriage.

Great numbers of Catholic couples simply ignored the encyclical. In and through what came to be known as the birth control debate, many Catholics  possibly an 85% majority  found out that in matters of their own marital morals, the Pope wasnt in charge. They were, wrote Kaiser.

But that fact has never resonated with the Vatican. During his long pontificate, Pope John Paul II steadfastly upheld the teaching of Humanae Vitae, as did his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. Will it be the same with Pope Francis?

Clifford Longley, contributing editor of The Tablet, is sure the ground is shifting. In a recent column in that journal, he claims to detect in Pope Franciss apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), published on March 19, a redefinition of natural law.

He links this with an earlier remark by Francis about the zika virus  that intervening to prevent pregnancy could, in such cases, be the lesser of two evils. Longley argues that the whole edifice of Paul VIs encyclical has been undermined: And now Pope Francis has done precisely that. Almost without meaning to, he has shot Humanae Vitae dead. And I have to say, it will not be missed. The Church will be better without it.

It remains to be seen if Pope Francis will go further. Something more explicit is called for. And Amoris Laetitia, a document on marriage and the family surely provided the ideal context for a move away from Humanae Vitae; instead the document contains supportive references to Paul VIs encyclical.

To be sure, an out-an-out renunciation of Humanae Vitae is highly unlikely; that would be too radical a break with the past. What might happen is that we could see a new document, a new encyclical, where the emphasis would be on the evolution of doctrine, with a redefinition of the role of natural law. This is a process described by Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Austria (who was chosen by Pope Francis to introduce Amoris Laetitia to the Vatican press corps) as the organic development of doctrine.

The notion of the evolution of doctrine wouldnt be entirely new. We saw this at the Second Vatican Council from which emerged a new understanding of religious liberty and the role of the individual conscience. The emphasis would be on continuity through progress. Will that happen? Sooner or later, it must.

As Robert Kaiser noted, many Catholics have long since recognised that, when it comes to birth control, the only arbiters of what married couples can  or cannot do  in bed are the couples themselves.
Barack Obama visited Hiroshima this week, the first American president to do so. Thats something. He met and listened to hibakusha  the survivors of the explosion whose bodies and lives were re-shaped by the atomic bomb. Thats something, too.

He did not, however, apologise for America dropping the bomb. That might have been a step too far. It was more manageable to talk vaguely of lessons learned and moralities refined than to break faith with the central tenet of American, and indeed Allied, belief regarding the destruction of Nagasaki and Hiroshima: that the dropping of those bombs constituted the single factor that forced Japan to surrender and abandon a war to which they were committed with an ideological ferocity unreachable by military attrition.

Theres no arguing with that central tenet, because it was tattooed into the oral history of the Second World War from the date of the Japanese surrender. The Nazis surrendered on May 7, 1945, but Japan fought on. The Potsdam Declaration was made in July, 1945, threatening dire consequences for continuation of the war. Japan fought on. The Americans dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6. Japan fought on. Three days later, the Americans did the same to Nagasaki. Japan surrendered within days.

In the months after the surrender of the Nazis, the rest of the world learned slowly of the death camps, with their piles of skeletal dead. Similarly, in the months after the surrender of Japan, the rest of the world learned something of what it was like when  as the song recorded  the bomb arrived, shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death bringing death in a blinding flash of hellish heat.

They learned of children incinerated, leaving a shadow of themselves on a nearby wall, of grievously burned and irradiated victims throwing themselves into rivers in a desperate search for something to cool their ruined skin.

They learned of the spectacle, but were constantly reminded of the fact that the bombs had resulted in surrender, and for the most part, that was enough. Little interest was evinced by the Allies in offering co-ordinated free medical treatment to bomb victims. Indeed, the very garnering and sharing of information on the topic was deliberately constrained by the occupying forces.

At the first meeting of the Special Commttee for the Investigation of A-Bomb Damages, for example, the person in charge served notice that further surveys and study of A-Bomb matters by the Japanese would require permission from GHQ and publication of A-bomb data was thenceforth prohibited.

In other words, lets not go looking for damage, lets not study it, and above all, lets not tell anybody else about it. Film footage was confiscated and filming prohibited. Even when civil servants on the ground did reports about the needs, particularly, of female victims, those reports were suppressed.

Some non-Japanese reporters told some of the truth, despite the best efforts of officialdom. One of them was John Hersey, an American reporting for the New Yorker. His reports made it into book form, and for the first time, Americans and others learned of the horrific nature of the damage done to innocent individuals.

Hersey talked to men like Dr Tomin Harada, an expert in plastic surgery from Hiroshima, who was studying in Tokyo at the time when the bomb was dropped, and who hastened home to serve in his home town. What he found was that roughly 80% of the survivors had keloid scars. Keloid scarring involves the raising and twisting of the skin as it heals over the lesion, so that survivors who were burned and irradiated in the face hardly looked human at all.

I dont know how to describe her face, Harada later wrote of the first victim he treated. The entire surface was like some rough reddish earthenware. The nose was practically nonexistent except for two small holes... The shrunken mouth was shut tight as if bolted. There were no eyebrows except for their distorted vestiges arching up improbably towards the brows. The eyelids folded outwards, making blinking an impossibility.

The girl in question said her face was so horrifying that she couldnt look at it in a mirror without feeling sick to her stomach.

Complicating the horrific appearance caused by keloids was the limitations in movement they caused. Burn victims ended up with clawed unusable hands. Others could not walk far or, in some cases, at all, because their feet looked  and acted  as if they had been tightly bound using electrical cord. An additional misery, particularly for the young girls who suffered most from keloids (they affected children and elderly people less) was the shunning factor. They became sub-human, no longer acceptable to be seen by members of the public, demonstrably unfit for marriage. This in turn led to isolation, desolation and dereliction.

One Japanese clergyman created a prayer group for what became known as the Hiroshima Maidens the girls grievously damaged by the bomb. The writers organisation PEN got involved, as did Norman Cousins, an influential American editor. The end result was that a large group of Hiroshima Maidens were brought to the US for corrective plastic surgery. The girls lived, in between their sequential surgeries, in the home of neighbouring Quakers.

The surgery, in many cases, was successful, although the results were not uniformly beneficial to their appearance and functioning.

For public consumption, the story was cast as giving the girls an appearance which would allow them to be acceptable as marriage objects when they returned to Japan. No mention was ever made of any other value attaching to their tragic lives. No mention was ever made, either, of the fact that the number vouchsafed this plastic surgery was the tiniest proportion of those scarred for life. Assuredly, no mention was made of the fact that, for the most part, they were converts to Christianity, and therefore, one must assume, perceived as being particularly worthy of treatment.

Partly because of language, partly because the girls were firmly in role as passive recipients of goodwill on the part of those involved, their voices are not strikingly present in any of the accounts of the Hiroshima Maidens.

An exception was the girl who, post-surgery, told a journalist that she was glad that America had dropped the Atomic bomb on her home city, because it had ended the war. This comment fit so neatly into the established narrative of the West that it could have carried its own QED.

One of the few people to cut through the narrative of justified action followed by generous charity  the narrative that underpins Obamas verbal imprecision in his Hiroshima visit  was Norman Cousins who always said his involvement was based essentially on guilt. I found it difficult to digest the fact that the United States was the first country in history to drop the atomic bomb on human beings, he wrote.

Little interest was evinced by the Allies in offering medical treatment to bomb victims
Survivor accounts have pushed to more than 700 the number of migrants feared dead in Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over three days during the past week, even as European ships saved thousands of others in daring rescue operations.

The shipwrecks appear to account for the largest loss of life reported in the Mediterranean since April 2015, when a single ship sank with an estimated 800 people trapped inside.

Humanitarian organisations say many migrant boats sink without a trace, with the dead never found, and their fates are only recounted by family members who report their failure to arrive in Europe.

The situation is really worsening in the last week, if the news is confirmed, said Giovanna Di Benedetto, a Save the Children spokeswoman in Italy.

Warmer waters and calmer weather have only increased the migrants attempts to reach Europe.

The largest number of missing and presumed dead was aboard a wooden fishing boat being towed by another smugglers boat from the Libyan port of Sabratha.

It sank on Thursday and estimates by police and humanitarian organisations range from 400 to about 550 missing in that sinking alone.

A survivor from Eritrea, Filmon Selomon, 21, told The Associated Press that water started seeping into the second boat after three hours of navigation, and the migrants tried vainly to get the water out of the sinking boat.

It was very hard because the water was coming from everywhere. We tried for six hours, after which we said it was not possible any more, he said through an interpreter.

He jumped into the water and swam to the other boat before the tow line on the navigable boat was cut, to prevent it from sinking when the other went down.

Eritrean Mohammed Ali Imam, 17, who arrived five days ago in another rescue, said one of the survivors told him that the second boat started taking on water when the first boat ran out of fuel.

Police said the line, which was ordered to be cut by the commander when it was at full tension, whipped back, fatally slashing the neck of a female migrant.

According to Italian police, 300 people in the hold went down with the second boat when it sank, while around 200 on the upper deck jumped into the sea. Just 90 of those were saved, along with about 500 in the first boat.

Italian police said survivors identified the commander of the boat with the working engine as a Sudanese man, 28, who has been arrested and faces possible charges for the deaths. Three other smugglers involved in other crossings also were arrested, police announced.

Most of those on board were Eritrean, according to Save the Children, including many women and children.

An estimated 100 people are also missing from a smugglers boat that capsized on Wednesday off the coast of Libya. In a third shipwreck on Friday, 135 people were rescued, and 45 bodies were recovered.
The Tory Party civil war on Europe intensified as David Cameron was put on notice he faces a leadership challenge after the EU referendum.

More than 50 MPs are ready to move against the British prime minister, according to prominent backbencher Andrew Bridgen.

Breaking ranks to talk openly of a bid to topple the prime minister, Bridgen warned anger in the Tory party was now so intense a challenge was probably highly likely as he warned the alternative was a zombie parliament.

Asked if a vote of no confidence against Cameron would happen, the MP told BBC Radio Fives Pienaars Politics: It depends how the next few weeks go, but if true to form, I think theres at least 50 colleagues who are dissatisfied with the way the prime minister has put himself front and centre of a fairly outrageous Remain campaign. I think thats probably highly likely.

The MP insisted the situation was now so dire an emergency general election would be needed before Christmas to restore order.

I think its going to be very, very difficult to pull all the sides together and have a working majority going forward, he said.

Nadine Dorries, a long-term critic of Cameron, branded the PM an outright liar.

The Mid-Bedfordshire MP said she had already sent a letter to the chairman of the backbench 1922 committee, the usual route for urging a leadership contest.

Dorries told ITVs Peston on Sunday: If the Remain campaign wins by a large majority, Id say it would have to be 60-40, then David Cameron might just survive, but if Remain win by a narrow majority, or if Leave, as I certainly hope, will win, hes toast within days.

There are many issues about which David Cameron has told outright lies and because of that, trust has gone in both him and George Osborne ... and it will be very hard for either of them to survive in the future.

Pro-Leave cabinet minister Chris Grayling insisted the push to oust the PM did not have the 50 signatures needed to trigger a contest. He told Pienaars Politics: I dont think there are 50 colleagues gunning for the prime minister.

I can assure you that those people who fought to win their seats 12 months ago are definitely not gunning for a general election by Christmas.

The in-fighting erupted after Brexit heavyweights Michael Gove and Boris Johnson launched an unprecedented attack on the prime ministers authority as they accused him of a having a corrosive impact on public trust in politicians as he had not lived up to promises to cut immigration.

The Office for National Statistics estimates 330,000 more people arrived in the UK in 2015 than left, despite the government pledging to get the figure below 100,000.

Number 10 said the Brexit attacks were an attempt to distract from a survey of 600 economists showing 88% believed withdrawal would damage the economy.

With 25 days to go until polling, employment minister Priti Patel also launched a pointed swipe against Remain campaign leaders Mr Cameron and chancellor George Osborne, though she did not directly name them in an article for the Telegraph website.

Its shameful that those leading the pro-EU campaign fail to care for those who do not have their advantages. Their narrow self-interest fails to pay due regard to the interests of the wider public, Ms Patel wrote.
The Iraqi government teamed up with paramilitary troops to launch a large-scale offensive, backed by aerial support from the US-led coalition, to dislodge militants from IS, also known as Daesh, from Fallujah last week.

The city, about 65km west of Baghdad, is one of the last major IS strongholds in Iraq. The extremist group still controls territory in the countrys north and west, including Mosul, Iraqs second largest city.

The last battalion from Iraqs Special Forces Service arrived at dawn yesterday at the Tariq Camp outside Fallujah.

Troops have recaptured 80% of the territory around the city since the operation began and are currently battling IS to the north-east as they seek to tighten the siege ahead of a planned final push into the city centre.

Soldier Ali al-Shimmari said: Im totally ready for it. I phoned my family in the morning and asked them to pray for me to get back safe to them. Im determined to end Daesh.

The militants, meanwhile, launched an attack yesterday on the town of Hit, 140km west of Baghdad, which was recaptured by government troops last month.

A military officer said the extremists entered three neighbourhoods and were engaged in heavy clashes with Iraqi forces backed by US-led air strikes.

By afternoon, the forces managed to push the militants out from two neighbourhoods, while fighting continued in another.

Fallujah, which saw some of the heaviest fighting of the 2003-2011 military intervention, was the first city in Iraq to fall to IS. The extremists seized control of Fallujah in January 2014, six months before they swept across northern and western Iraq and declared a caliphate.
China:

With drinks served in breast-shaped cups and beers opened with bottle openers shaped like a wooden penis, the father and daughter team behind a Beijing S&M restaurant are encouraging customers to mix food with sex.

Owner Lu Lu, a 27-year-old divorcee, said business has been good since opening just under a year ago, with young Chinese streaming in to feast on seafood, such as lobster, under the gaze of mannequins wearing bondage gear.

Lus father overcame initial reservations about some of the decor and took charge of the kitchen, dishing up a menu that features items such as Horny and Sensuous World.

Food and sex are the basic desires of humans, and the phrase has not changed in more than 5,000 years, Lu told Reuters. Release your basic instincts and Liberate yourself are the two concepts we used as the basis for the restaurant.

Lu said she was catering to a new generation of educated city residents who are increasingly willing to explore sex.

Chinese society has long left behind the days when talking about sex was taboo, but sexual education in schools remains almost non-existent. The government also keeps a tight rein on what it views as vulgar content on television or online.

Venues like Lus can also fall foul of the authorities. But apart from one visit by police, Lu said, she has been left to continue to run her establishment, where inflatable naked dolls sit on shelves and waiters wear aprons with breasts on them.

That may change, though, with Lu planning to ramp up the kinkiness by putting women customers in handcuffs and getting their male companions to feed them.

She also wants to offer customers the chance to whip the waitresses.

Record bid a washout

Romania:

Torrential rain has dashed hopes in Romania of setting a Guinness Book world record for Greeces famous sirtaki dance.

Romanians were attempting to break the world record for the dance made famous in the 1964 movie Zorba the Greek before a storm struck this Black Sea port on Saturday.

Organisers declared the attempt a washout, then had a change of heart and called people back to the beach in the port, 250km east of Bucharest.

The current world sirtaki record was set in Volos, Greece, in 2012, when 5,614 people danced.

Organisers in Romania claim more than 6,000 people took part in Saturdays record-breaking attempt. Guinness representative Seyda Sibasi Gemici declared the attempt invalid, however, saying it had become too dark to do an accurate count.

Firm has to come clean

China:

A Chinese detergent maker has apologised to black people hurt by an advert in which a black man washed by its product was transformed into a fair-skinned Asian man.

Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics Ltd said it strongly shuns and condemns racial discrimination.

But it blamed foreign media for the over-amplification of the ad, which first appeared on Chinese social media in March.

The ad was halted after it drew protests this week following media reports.

We express regret that the ad should have caused a controversy, the company said. But we will not shun responsibility for controversial content.

We express our apology for the harm caused to the African people because of the spread of the ad and the over-amplification by the media.

The advert for Qiaobi laundry detergent drops shows a black man entering a room and attempting to flirt with an Asian woman. He is carrying a can of paint, wears dirty clothes and has a soiled face.

She feeds him a detergent drop and stuffs his body into a top-loading washer. When the cycle completes, a fair-skinned Asian man in a clean white T-shirt emerges to the delight of the woman.

When speaking to the Global Times newspaper, Mr Wang of Leishang said the critics were too sensitive, and the issue of racial discrimination never came up during the production of the video. The ads content rekindled discussions on racial discrimination in China, where prejudices against black people are likely to be dismissed.

Churchill note

UK:

The full design of the new 5 banknote featuring Winston Churchill will be unveiled this week. The new fiver will be issued in September and in a break from the current paper notes it will be printed on polymer, a thin flexible plastic film, which is seen as more durable and more secure.

The 5 note will be unveiled at Blenheim Palace, Churchills birthplace, on Thursday. The current 5 note features prison reformer Elizabeth Fry and the announcement in 2013 that she would be replaced with Churchill caused an outcry as it could have meant that, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, there would be no female faces on the UKs notes.

It was subsequently announced that novelist Jane Austen would be the face of the new 10 note. Like the new fiver, the new 10 and 20 notes will also be printed on polymer.
Frances president and Germanys chancellor want their countries improbable friendship to be a source of hope for todays fractured Europe as they commemorated the centenary of the longest battle of World War I.

In solemn ceremonies yesterday in the forests of eastern France, Francois Hollande of France and Angela Merkel of Germany marked 100 years since the 10-month Battle of Verdun, which killed 163,000 French and 143,000 German soldiers and wounded hundreds of thousands of others.

Between February and December 1916, an estimated 60m shells were fired in the battle. One out of four didnt explode, and remain in the soil. The front line villages destroyed in the fighting were never rebuilt.

The battlefield zone still holds millions of unexploded shells, making the area so dangerous that housing and farming are still forbidden.

With no survivors left to remember, the commemoration now focuses on educating youth about the horrors and consequences of the war.

Some 4,000 French and German children took part in the events, which concluded at a mass grave where French president Francois Mitterrand took German chancellor Helmut Kohls hand in 1984 in a breakthrough moment of friendship and trust by longtime enemy nations.

Merkel said on Saturday the event shows how good relations between Germany and France are today and the achievements of European unity.

In a world with global challenges, it is important to keep developing this Europe, she said in a weekly address, expressing hope that Britain would not vote to leave the European Union in a June 23 referendum.

Amid rising support for far right parties and divisions among European countries over how to handle refugees, Hollande said he wants to work alongside Merkel to relaunch the European ideal.

We must take action... at a moment when Europe is affected by the disease of populism, he told France Culture radio this week. He also noted the threat from violent extremism, saying the EU must protect the people especially against terrorism.

Hollande and Merkel spent the entire day together, starting at the cemetery of Consenvoye where 11,148 German soldiers are buried. Then they visited Verdun city hall to honor the martyred city, almost entirely in ruins at the end of the war.

After lunch, they visited the newly renovated Verdun Memorial. The museum, which reopened in February, immerses people in the hell of Verdun through soldiers belongings, documents and photos.

The visit follows the steps of the soldiers. First reaching the front, moving into shell holes, fighting, surviving on the front line, the daily life, said historian Antoine Prost.

The main ceremony took place in the afternoon at the Douaumont Ossuary, memorial to 130,000 unidentified French and German soldiers.

Verdun has become a common place of remembrance because Its a place of massive death equivalent for the French and the Germans, Prost stressed.

The ceremony conceived by German filmmaker Volker Schlondorf included children re-enacting battlefield scenes to the sound of drums amid thousands of white crosses marking graves.

Merkel, noting the importance of spreading the message of peace to younger generations, said, I dont think you can shape the future if you dont also concern yourself with the past.
Asia In Asia Pacific, a Tense Game of Political Brinksmanship

US military maneuvers across the South China Sea represent the new normal in US-Pacific relations despite rising tension with China and Moscow.

WASHINGTON  American ships and fighter jets maneuvering across the South China Sea and the Sea of Japan represent the new normal in US-Pacific relations despite rising tensions with China and Moscow.

US moves in recent months have led to angry protests from China and Russia, which contend the Obama administration is fueling unrest in the Asia Pacific and conducting illegal and unsafe transit in the region. US military leaders defend the operations and say they will continue to exercise freedom of navigation, and may do so more frequently as time goes on.

The escalating rhetoric reflects efforts by China and Russia to show military superiority in an increasingly crowded and competitive part of the world. And it sets up a tense game of political brinksmanship as leaders from the two countries and the United States thrust and parry across the military and diplomatic fields of play.

The military maneuvers have shadowed President Barack Obamas pivot to Asia, a decision early in his tenure to try to focus the relationship with Pacific partners on economics and trade.

Were at a moment when China, Iran and Russia are all testing us, engaging in reckless behavior and forcing policy makers with the question of how far we push and when, said Derek Chollet, a former assistant defense secretary for international affairs and now a senior adviser at the German Marshall Fund.

Were for freedom of navigation and following the rules, and to an extent we are pushing back against changing the rules.

Admiral John Richardson, chief of naval operations, said that for the first time in 25 years, the United States is facing competition for maritime superiority as China and Russia build up their navies.

Chinas island development in the South China Sea has inflamed regional tensions, including with nations that have competing claims to the land formations. Most fear that Beijing, which has built airfields and placed weapons systems on the man-made islands, will use the construction to extend its military reach and perhaps try to restrict navigation.

Three times in the past seven months, US warships deliberately have sailed close to one of those islands to exercise freedom of navigation and challenge the claims.

In response, China has deployed fighter jets and ships to track and warn off the American ships, and accused the United States of provocative action.

Twice this year, Defense Secretary Ash Carter has flown to US aircraft carriers in the South China Sea with reporters, sending a message that the United States will not cede navigational rights. He plans to return to the area next week for an annual Asian national security conference.

China has taken some expansive and unprecedented actions in the South China Sea, pressing excessive maritime claims contrary to international law, Carter said Friday during a speech to graduates at the US Naval Academy.

The result is that Chinas actions could erect a Great Wall of self-isolation, as countries across the regionallies, partners, and the unalignedare voicing concerns publicly and privately, at the highest levels.

Similarly, Russian attack planes buzzed a US Navy warship in international waters in the Baltic Sea last month, and last week Moscow lodged a formal protest about a US reconnaissance flight over the Sea of Japan.

The United States says its missions are meant to underscore the rights of the United States and others to traverse the region freely and to block efforts by any nation to unlawfully extend their boundaries or territorial rights.

To the degree that we could advocate more strongly, we need to do enough of these things so that advocacy is well understood, Richardson said in an Associated Press interview.

Certainly if you wanted to dial those up in frequency, well I think that we can support that. The United States is establishing a new normal level of activity or interaction that comes with Russias and Chinas return to great power competition.

Richardson noted that freedom of navigation operations happen hundreds of times a year in the backyards of friends and foes.

Even though theres a tremendous amount of visibility on the South China Sea right now, it is important to keep those in context, he said. We do these around the world against a lot of these excessive claims.

Under the Law of the Sea, a country can claim up to 12 nautical miles beyond its coastline. In some cases countries try to claim more than that.

In other cases, countries try to restrict what others can do within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone thats allowed under international law. For example, they may require advance notice of a flight or ship passage within that zone or prohibit certain military activities there.

The Pentagon releases an annual report that lists the countries where the United States has conducted freedom of navigation operations, but includes no details.

US military officials said that at least 80 percent are done by ships, but US aircraft also conduct flights to challenge excessive airspace claims.

The most frequent US operations are in the narrow Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds of times a year ships pass through territorial waters claimed by Iran and Oman. Both countries try to restrict movement through the strait, but international law allows innocent passage.

The Iranian military often hails US ships and tells them to leave. The two sides essentially follow a script, as the US ship continues on its way.

In other places around the globe, including portions of India or large swaths of the South American coast, US ships routinely sail within claimed territorial waters or refuse to provide advance requests for transit. Often the operations go unnoticed or trigger no reaction or protest.

In some cases, US officials said, countries are only aware of the operation after the Pentagon releases the annual report.

According to the 2015 report, the United States formally conducted freedom of navigation operations as a way of challenging excessive claims made by 13 countries during the budget year ending Sept. 30.
Burma News Agency Denounces Nationalist Monks For Obstructing Reporter

A Burmese news agency has publicly condemned a hardline Buddhist nationalist group for allegedly intimidating one of its junior reporters.

RANGOON  In what it has called an assault on press freedom, Burmese news agency Myanmar Cable News has publicly condemned the Myanmar Patriotic Monks Union, one of several hardline Buddhist nationalist groups in Burma, for allegedly obstructing and intimidating one of its junior reporters.

The reporter was covering a meeting between the monks union and the management of the luxury Sedona Hotel in Rangoon. According to the news agencys statement issued on Monday, members of the monks union stopped the reporter from filming the meeting, and attempted to delete the footage taken, even though the news agency had obtained permission from the hotel to film the meeting.

The meeting was held in response to a recent controversy, after photographs were circulated on social media last week of a porter at the hotel receiving guests, and carrying their baggage, while dressed in a supposed royal costume from the Bagan era.

The Bagan Kingdom was founded by King Anawratha in Burmas central dry zone and flourished between the 11th and 13th centuries.

The photographs prompted outrage from some Burmese Buddhist conservatives, which has been channeled by the Myanmar Patriotic Monks Union, who complained directly to the hotel.

Burmas most prominent Buddhist nationalist group, the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion (known popularly by the Burmese-language acronym Ma Ba Tha), which is led by monks, issued a statement on Friday. The statement denounced it as an insult to the dignity of the country that a hotel porter, who occupies one of the most menial positions within the hierarchy of a luxury hotel, should be dressed in the costume of Burmas ancient heroes.

The news agencys statement was also addressed to the office of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, the Presidents Office, the Ministry of Culture and Religious Affairs, the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee (which regulates Burmas monkhood), and the Press Council. The statement condemned the behavior of the Patriotic Monks Union as an assault on press freedom, and demanded that action be taken against them.

Sensitivities over Burmese Buddhist identity have sharpened in recent years, alongside a rapid expansion of both conventional and social mediathe latter aided by a dramatic rollout of internet connectivity, linked primarily to the mobile phone network, across the previously isolated country. Much of the Buddhist nationalist rhetoric since 2012 has focused on stigmatizing Muslims as an existential threat to Buddhism in Burma.

However, this is the first time that Buddhist nationalist outrage has been directed at a seemingly secular subject: the attire of medieval Burmese royalty.

In 2014, New Zealand national Philip Blackwood was arrested and later imprisoned for his alleged role in posting an image of the Buddha wearing headphones on a Facebook page promoting a cheap drinks night at the Rangoon bar he was managing. He was released as part of an amnesty for 102 prisoners announced by outgoing President Thein Sein in January, after a year spent in Rangoons Insein prison.

In June 2015, National League for Democracy (NLD) information officer Htin Lin Oo was handed a prison sentence for outraging and wounding religious feelings (in accordance with provisions of Burmas colonial-era Penal Code) after delivering a public speech criticizing Buddhist ultra-nationalist groups in October 2014.
Burma Parallels Drawn Between Ranong Murder, Koh Tao Case

Some activists claim that Burmese migrant workers accused of Ranong murder are being scapegoated in a way that smacks of the controversial Koh Tao case.

RANGOON  Htoo Chit, executive director of the Foundation for Education and Development (FED), argued at a press conference on Monday that four Burmese migrant workers are being scapegoated in a case he says smacks of the high-profile Koh Tao double murder that saw two Burmese men controversially convicted and sentenced to death.

Orawee Sampaotong, a 17-year-old Thai high school student, was killed on Sept. 28 in Thailands Ranong province, which borders Burma. Police allegedly found no leads in the case after investigating for nearly a month, but on Oct. 20, four Burmese migrant workersKyaw Soe Win, Moe Zin Aung, Sein Ka Tone and Wai Linwere arrested near Kuraburi seaport, located more than 60 miles from Ranong province, Htoo Chit said.

A year before, in September 2014, two British backpackers were murdered on the Thai island of Koh Tao. A pair of Burmese migrant workers were eventually arrested by police and, on Dec. 24 of last year, sentenced to death by a court in Koh Samui, despite vocal claims of malfeasance in investigators handling of the evidence and police conduct in their interrogations of the suspects.

Htoo Chit said he believed this most recent murder investigation was meant to trap the migrant workers as some say was done in the Koh Tao case, citing holes in the investigation.

For instance, although police say they found several scars on Moe Zin Aungs face allegedly made by scratches from the victim, Htoo Chit said that, according to the suspects family, the scars were the result of injuries from a bicycle accident a week prior to his detention.

The suspects employer has also sought to prove his workers innocence, saying the victim was killed around 9 pm on Sept. 28, but that his employees were still working at his fish factory close to the time of the murder, at 8 pm. However, after examining CCTV footage, Ranong police said there was no evidence that the men were at work at that time.

According to a report released by FED at the press conference in Rangoon, the employer said that he was surprised that his employees had disappeared from the CCTV footage after police took it from him because, he claims, he had seen the four migrants on the footage with [his] own eyes.

The four suspects are currently being held in different prisons. FED intends to deliver documents and reports to Thai authorities and to the Myanmar Human Rights Commission, the Ministry of Labor, Immigration and Population, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the latter headed by Aung San Suu Kyi.

According to Htoo Chit, who estimates that there are more than 1,000 Burmese migrant workers in Thai prisons, 29 people are willing to testify on behalf of the four suspects.
Burma Peace Negotiator to Meet NCA Non-Signatories

Peace negotiator Tin Myo Win will meet this week with ethnic armed groups that did not sign last years nationwide ceasefire agreement with the government.

Government peace negotiator Dr. Tin Myo Win will meet with leaders of the ethnic armed organizations that did not sign 2015s so-called nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) later this week in an effort to include them in the peace dialogue process.

A Panglong-style peace conference is scheduled to convene in July and the current National League for Democracy (NLD)-led government has been unclear as to which groups will be invited. Modeled after a 1947 summit convened in Panglong, Shan State by independence leader Aung San, the subsequent agreement signed between representatives of three of Burmas ethnic minorities and the Burman majority has come to be seen by many as a rare symbol of inclusivity and interethnic cooperation in a country since plagued by civil war.

Wed like to meet with every group, to include them in the process, if possible, said Hla Maung Shwe, a member of the conference preparation committee and senior advisor to the Myanmar Peace Center, which oversaw the NCA. He added that Tin Myo Win wanted to meet with non-signatories as soon as possible, with whom Hla Maung Shwe and other representatives have been tasked with negotiating.

Continued active fighting throughout Burma has made it unclear whether groups that are currently clashing with the Burma Army will be included in the dialogue process. The Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Arakan Army (AA) had all been excluded from talks by the previous government.

The NLD government has formed two sub-committees, one led by Tin Myo Winpersonal physician to State Counselor and NLD party leader Aung San Suu Kyito negotiate with NCA non-signatories, and another led by Lt-Gen Yar Pyae of the Burma Army to take care of preparations for the conference.

These committees are part of the overarching Union Peace Dialogue Joint Commission (UPDJC), whose 48 members from Parliament, the Burma Army and the eight non-state NCA signatories are tasked with drafting the framework for political dialogue.

UPDJC chairwoman Suu Kyi said the peace conference would follow the foundation laid out by the former administration and be based on the current NCA, even though she has restricted some political parties from the process.

Burma has over 90 political parties and under the former government, UPDJC representatives could be selected from all of them. Suu Kyi has said that new representatives will only come from parties that hold elected seats in Parliament, while other parties will be able to voice their concerns through civil society forums.

Some countries allow civil society groups to sit at the peace table, but others allow them to play a parallel role and express their concerns through forums. We will use the latter approach, she said, adding that involving hundreds of civil society groups in peace negotiations would affect implementation of the process.
Burma Police Pursue Drug Traffickers After Big Bust in Shan State

More than US$35 million worth of drugs is seized in Shan State, but two alleged drug traffickers, one of whom was already a fugitive, remain on the lam.

Two suspected criminals associated with a record seizure of 42.1 billion kyats (US$35.5 million) worth of drugs in a village in Shan States Kutkai Township are still at large, said the Kutkai Township Police Force.

A local drug enforcement squad seized over 21 million yaba pills, or methamphetamine, worth 42.1 billion kyats from a 12-wheel semi-truck on May 28 en route from Kaung Kha, in Muse Township, to Kutkai. Aung Aung, the driver, was arrested.

One of the criminals, Liu Zhi Xiao, is a fugitive and is wanted by police for over 36 billion kyats (US$30.2 million) worth drugs seized on May 5 in Mandalay, according to the Burma Police Force.

Were still interrogating the driver, police officer Ye Myint Thu of the Kutkai Township Police Force told The Irrawaddy.

The police believe this bust was part of the same drug trafficking ring that was caught with 600,000 yaba pills on March 3 in Rangoon.

Drugs are readily available in some places here. Previously, drug deals were done in the countryside. But now, theyre done out in the open on some city streets, said a Kutkai local who did not want to be named.

Rangoon police made the countrys largest ever seizure of narcotics in July last year, seizing 2.67 tonnes of methamphetamine tablets worth 133 billion kyats (nearly US$111.6 million) from a truck in Mingaladon Township in the outskirts of the former capital.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko.
Burma Suu Kyi to Visit Thailand in June

Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmas state counselor and foreign minister, will visit Thailand next month, following last weeks visit to Thailand by the Burma Army chief.

RANGOON  Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmas state counselor and foreign minister, will visit Thailand in June, according to the Presidents Office.

Zaw Htay, the offices spokesperson, confirmed that the trip would take place next month but said the exact dates of travel are still being negotiated.

Zaw Htay declined to comment on whether Htin Kyaw, Burmas president, would join Suu Kyi on the trip.

However, inside sources said the trip would be between June 23-25, and that Htin Kyaw would be joining.

In their first trip abroad since the Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) formed a government at the end of March, Htin Kyaw and Suu Kyi flew to Laos in early May. On May 19, Htin Kyaw went to Russia for the 20-year anniversary of the Asean-Russia relationship.

On May 9, Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai visited Burma and met with Suu Kyi and Htin Kyaw, a confidant of the NLD leader who effectively serves as her proxy due to constitutional restrictions barring her from the presidency.

Last week, Burma Army chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing visited Thailand for three days at the invitation of the chief of the Royal Thai Army, Sommai Kaotira. During his visit, Min Aung Hlaing also met with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan.

The neighboring Southeast Asian nations and their citizens have experienced an interesting reversal of political circumstances in recent years. Burmas government has moved haltingly toward more openness and democracy since 2011, brought into stark relief with last years NLD triumph in an election that swept Suu Kyi to power. Thailand, on the other hand, remains under military rule two years after a military coup saw Prayuth seize the levers of power. Freedoms of press and assembly, as well as other forms of dissent, have been sharply curbed by the Thai junta.

Millions of Burmese have sought work in Thailand over the years, while tens of thousands remain in refugee camps along the countries shared border, where they fled, some decades ago, from conflict between the Burma Army and ethnic rebel groups, or otherwise sought an escape from oppression under Burmas former military regime.
Burma Sweden Lends Women of Burma Its Support

The Swedish government is offering women in Burma its support in furthering gender equality and protecting them from violence over the next four years.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden  The Swedish government says women in Burma can count on its support in furthering gender equality and protecting them from violence over the next four years.

Under Swedens recently adopted National Action Plan for 2016-20, Burma has been identified as one of 12 specially prioritized conflict or post-conflict countries struggling to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1325 and subsequent resolutions on Women, Peace and Security.

With Burma home to the worlds longest-running ongoing armed conflict, Burmese women have suffered sexual violence and other forms of abuse in conflict-affected areas for decades. In the countrys ongoing peace process, women have largely been excluded from participation, and womens rights advocates say the few women who are officially involved in negotiations are not accorded the same voice as their male counterparts.

The action plan adopted earlier this month is mainly focused on strengthening womens participation in the countrys peace process and state-building, and protecting them from harm. Efforts will be underpinned by the crux of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325: Passed in 2000, it highlights the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.

The structure of the action plan emphasizes approaching issues of Women, Peace and Security from a gendered perspective.

We have decided to prioritize the works in focused countries, Disa Kammars Larsson from Kvinna till Kvinna, a Swedish foundation focused on peace and gender equality that was involved in drawing up and implementing the action plan, told The Irrawaddy.

She said that unlike Swedens previous two National Action Plans, the 2016-20 iteration has much stronger political ownership, with the inclusion of the Swedish Foreign Ministry in implementation of the plan allowing it the opportunity to better wield influence with Burma and the other targeted countries with respect to womens rights.

It clearly included political dialogue; that if Swedish diplomats and ministers visit to the focus countries, he or she has a responsibility to raise this issue and the Swedish Embassy in the country has the responsibility to report back to Sweden annually on the situation.

The National Action Plan would require regular consultation with womens rights defenders on the ground in Burma, she added.

Thandar Oo, a womens rights and peace activist from Shan State, urged the international community to support womens advocates working at the grassroots level to enhance these activists capacity to increase womens participation in all realms of society.

Under the action plan, Burma is joined by Afghanistan in Asia; Iraq, Palestine and Syria in the Middle East; Colombia in Latin America; the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Mali and Somalia in Africa; and Bosnia-Herzegovina and Ukraine in Europe, as priority nations.
Burma Twilight Over Burma Tells Tragic Tale of Austrian Shan Princess

Movie about Inge Sargent, an Austrian who became a Shan princess, is screened in Thailand, shedding light on human rights abuses past and present.

CHIANG MAI, Thailand  The real-life tale of an Austrian woman who became royalty in Shan State has made it to the big screen in Southeast Asia, with a showing held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Saturday.

It took nine years to make Twilight Over Burma, a film about the former Hsipaw Saopha Sao Kya Seng and his wife, Inge Sargent, which is based on her autobiography, Twilight Over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess.

It was released late last year in German and was screened privately with English and Thai subtitles in Thailand twice this month.

Special screenings were held in Chiang Mai, home to a large Shan community, on Saturday night and in Bangkok last Thursday.

Charm Tong, a Shan human rights activist, said: For me it [the movie] shows the atrocities. This was a very horrible life. [The film] shows the lives of the people in Shan State at that time.

Chao Inge Sargent, the former Mahadevi of Hsipaw, is still alive, so you can imagine how hard it has been for her whole life, she added, using the Shan word for princess. Not only this is her story, it is the story of Shan. This is just one example of what happened in Shan state.

The movie begins in 1948 and covers the early years of Burmas independence up to a few years after the 1962 military coup, revealing not just the conditions of Shan State, but the situation in Burma as a whole.

Sargents husband, Sao Kya Seng, was a US-educated mining engineer who returned to his home of Hsipaw to assume the role of saopha, a Shan royal title. In her book, Sargent describes her arrival in Rangoon by ship in 1953 and the revelation that her husband was a Shan princea fact only revealed when she saw on the docks hundreds of well-wishers displaying banners, playing homemade musical instruments, carrying bouquets of flowers.

Sao Kya Seng instituted land reforms and promoted democracy, but was arrested by the army during Gen. Ne Wins coup and later killed in prison under mysterious circumstances.

Charm Tong said ethnic minorities in Burma still lack equal rights, and there is no genuine peace or democracy yet in the country, highlighting the Burma Armys recent air strikes and major offensives in northern Shan State.

In Burma and Shan State, we can still see atrocities and injustice, and also human rights violations [are] still taking place inside Burma, she added.

The Chiang Mai showing was attended by about 100 viewers, including the female lead Maria Ehrich, the Austrian Ambassador to Thailand Enno Drofenik and Kaung San Lwin, the Burmese consul-general in Chiang Mai.

Kaung San Lwin told The Irrawaddy: Generally speaking, as a movie, it is a good one, which portrayed the tragedy of a Shan prince and his family.

I hear it will be shown in Burma next month and Burmese audiences are also excited to see it, he added.

The movie is scheduled to have its Burma premier at the annual Human Rights Human Dignity International Film Festival, which will be held from June 14-19 in Rangoon.

Burmese people should watch it to learn more about history, and also those who lived at that time could reflect on the films historical accuracy, the consul-general said.

Drofenik said his government hopes to have the film shown more widely in Burma and they have been talking to the Burmese Ministry of Culture about it.

Drofenik said supporting a societal consensus and respecting minority rights were preconditions for a functioning democracy in which all groups in the society are part of the decision making process.

It is always very interesting for me to hear about the changes in Burma, said Ehrich, the German actress who played the role of Sargent.

She told The Irrawaddy: For people who do not really know the story, it may seem like  a great, fantastic movie. But I hope [the Burmese people] enjoy the film and I hope things will change.

Correction: The Human Rights Human Dignity Film Festival will be held in Rangoon only, not Naypyidaw as an earlier version of the story reported.
It appears that the union workers might be facing a new legal battle on their own. Recent news and updates regarding the Verizon strike has revealed that a certain Delaware Judge is not on friendly terms with the strikers and even threatened the union workers with contempt.

Delaware Chancery Court Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laste's contempt for Verizon union strikers is all about the strikers not doing their responsibility. The Delaware Judge issued a stern warning on Thursday to the unions representing the striking Verizon employees, threatening to hold them in contempt if they do not accept responsibility for threatening and intimidating replacement workers, reports Delaware Online.

"I will not allow people to be threatened or put in danger of being hurt," said Delaware Chancery Court Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster. "It's not just a violation of my order, but it really runs contrary to what you are trying to achieve, which is respect for your own positions."

The judge said that if the unions, Communications Workers of America Local Nos. 13100 and 13101, do not disavow such actions, he would not only hold them in civil contempt but would also consider criminally contempt and possibly fine them, according to the same post.

Moreover, "You need to take responsibility for the problems you've created," Laster said to the unions' lawyers.

Meanwhile, iTech Post formerly reported that owing to the strike, Verizon has hired temporary workers to fill the void and it was even noted as a boomerang effect of the rising strike.

It is also undeniable that the tech firm is now experiencing the boomerang effect of the strike. And it has been noted that the tech giant's last resort is to hire temporary workers to keep the operations running, as further noted by the same post.

The #VerizonStrike is effective b/c working people make the company run. It's time for a fair contract! #StandUp2Vz https://t.co/GZeDnZ31ol  Richard L. Trumka (@RichardTrumka) May 26, 2016

The Verizon strike for this year 2016 has not only affected the union workers, the company but even the temporary hires as well. It is something that Delaware Judge, Chancery Court Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster could not pass on; thus, the contempt threat was rendered to the union workers that are liable and are involved in the issue.
The Dutch National Police Corps and Dutch firm Guard from Above (GFA) are now training eagles to take down drones that enter restricted airspace, Try Modern reports.

Drones are becoming a growing annoyance, with the flying device being accessible to everyone, resulting in more careless drone owners. Drones can also potentially fall into the wrong hands, particularly spies and terrorists.

With the growing threat of drones being used for terrorism, police agencies around the world have tried numerous methods to resolve this issue. Dutch police, however, have introduced the idea of using eagles to take down drones, pitting nature against machines.

The GFA and the Dutch National Police have turned an unused military airfield, Valkenburg Naval Air Base, into an eagle training facility, where the birds are being trained to combat the drones, The New York Times stated.

The Detective Chief Superintendent of the Dutch police, Mark Weibes, commented that the tests are "very promising" and the eagles are most likely going to be utilized by the police in the Netherlands, subject to a final assessment. Meanwhile, in the UK, London's Metropolitan Police Service is also interested in employing the trained birds.

The birds of prey are most likely the safest choice when it comes to catching and destroying drones. Eagles can swoop down on the machine and bring it safely to the ground, rather than letting it crash on its own, which poses a huge risk for the people below.

"We have seen a number of incidents around airfields, and, in the end, we want to be prepared should anyone want to use a drone for an attack of some sort," Wiebes said.

The project is a brainchild of security consultant, Sjoerd Hoogendoorn, who thought of the idea while researching about drone threats in his home. The consultant then reached out to experienced bird handler Ben de Keijzer. The two formed GFA and pitched their idea to the Dutch police in 2014.

Hoogendoorn said that the project was considered by the force because of its potential to use "a low-tech solution for a high-tech problem." "Mostly, the most crazy ideas work the best." Hoogendoorn quipped.

The consultant also states that the safety of the eagles are considered as a top priority, adding that the team is working on a glove-like sheath protection for the eagles' talons.
Recent news and updates regarding the Verizon strike may bode well as reports of the strike say that it has ended. It appears that a deal has been reached between the company and the union workers. However, with the strike ending, notions of the tentative deal and its reliability arise as well as the notions of the union workers finally at ease with development escalate.

After six weeks, a tentative deal was reached on Friday between Verizon and the two unions representing nearly 40,000 striking workers, from Massachusetts to Virginia, to get people back to work, and winning big gains for workers, reports The Inquistr.

#VictoryAtVerizon! After 44 days, 40k workers celebrate big gains after coming to agreement in principle w/ @verizon https://t.co/hyal3TAZjo  CWA (@CWAUnion) May 27, 2016

It appears that after the meet up, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) were able to discuss a 4-year contract that will need to be ratified by the members of both unions, as further noted by the same post.

.@NABETCWA Local 52031 bargaining team reached a tentative agreement at PBS. RT to show them some <3 https://t.co/Nx1PzxeFj3  CWA (@CWAUnion) May 28, 2016

Looking back, it is undeniable that the Verizon strike has affected not only the union workers but it has crippled other entities as well. It has even pushed the White House to intervene. iTech Post formerly shared on how the union workers were ready to prolong the strike until their call for change is met.

According to the same post, the union workers will not give up, and strikers will prolong the agony until Verizon offers a fair deal. As talks were underway, many were insinuating that the strike would end sooner than expected -- and indeed, it had.

Nevertheless, although a fair deal was struck, it remains uncertain on how strong the tentative deal truly is and on whether it can meet the expectations the Verizon strikers have demanded. Along that line, as the Verizon Strike ended, many are hoping that the unrest and uncertainties of the union workers would finally be put at ease.
The man behind the Phonebloks modular phone concept has spoken out about the progress of Project Ara. According to him, Google can do so much better than what they are currently working on.

Dave Hakkens said that Google's progress with Project Ara falls short of expectations. He imagined Phonebloks to have every single component of the smartphone to be replaceable. However, the latest news is that only optional components can be replaced and most of the key components are still embedded within the skeleton, Engadget reported.

Project Ara is offering a modular phone concept that has the processor, battery, antenna, sensor and screen to be part of the main skeleton. Optional add-ons like camera, speakers and projector are the swappable bloks.

As anyone can imagine, Hakkens' concept is much harder to execute in reality. He defended his position however and said that a company like Google is the best one to pour in resources to develop the technology as he originally saw fit.

Additionally, Hakkens also believes that Google must cooperate with other companies to create an ecosystem of modules instead of taking all the responsibility.

Hakkens commented that a modular phone that has key components still in a single skeleton would mean that users would still throw out their old phones after a while. His dream of reducing e-waste in this way is also affected.

All in all, a semi-modular phone like Project Ara is reminiscent of the LG G5. This technology, as Forbes put it, is modular in design but not in spirit. Google still has a long way to go before every part of the phone can be customizable.

Hakkens is happy about one thing: the external design. Project Ara still has the same blocky design that he first imagined. However, the praises end there.

The Phonebloks concept was first introduced in 2013. When Hakkens learned that Motorola was also pursuing the same concept, the two collaborated into what is now known as Project Ara.
Google's new messaging app Allo is scheduled for release this summer. An expert raises serious concerns about the app's security settings, though, tagging the app as dangerous by default.

Edward Snowden is known in online circles as a whistle-blower to many controversies, including one recently reported by Independent UK. Snowden pitched that a Trojan Horse of sorts is included in Google's Allo messaging app, one that disables end-to-end encryption as a default setting.

"Google's decision to disable end-to-end encryption by default in its new Allo chat app is dangerous and makes it unsafe. Avoid it for now," Snowden stated in a tweet, responding to a blog by Thai Duong, a Google security expert.

Blog Confession: A Google PR Hiccup

Duong's comments were made as someone not part of the team consulting on Allo's security. Snowden noted the blog was edited after it was uploaded. In the blog update, Duong also commented on the edit:

"I erased a paragraph from this post because it's not cool to publicly discuss or to speculate the intent or future plans for the features of my employer's products, even if it's just my personal opinion."

A report by TechCrunch quoted the deleted part in Duong's blog, which asserts that if Allo's Incognito mode is so useful, why did its creators choose Normal mode as default?

Allo's Smart Reply Feature Comes with a Tradeoff

Allo competes with services, like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, with the help of its smart reply feature, suggesting replies to users after scanning and gleaning from messages. Allo also integrates Google's other services into the app, like Google Search and Google Map.

The app comes with two privacy settings, normal and incognito. Even though messages are encrypted in both settings, the default normal setting allows Google's AI to read and analyse messages to derive suggestions for its smart reply feature.

In Incognito mode, only users on each end of the conversation can see and read the messages. Users have to manually toggle this mode on to activate the precaution.

Google's Allo app is released this summer, on iOS and Android.
An Oxford University professor said computers will soon be eligible to the same civil rights humans currently have. The statement was made in observation to advancements in computing, with artificial intelligence already having a semblance to the human consciousness.

Marcus du Sautoy, a professor at Oxford and author of "What We Cannot Know, "asserts that it is now possible to measure consciousness. In a Telegraph report, he also said the future of "living" technology is within sight. The advancements could lead to devices developing their own consciousness; this qualifies technology to have "human rights."

Self-Aware AI Imminent?

Many scientists also agree computers are near the point of achieving self-developed intelligence. This intelligence is independent from programming and instruction, an event termed as a "technological singularity."

"It's getting to a point where we will be able to say this thing has a sense of itself and maybe there is a threshold moment where suddenly this consciousness emerges," Sautoy said at UK's Hay Literary Festival last Sunday. He noted that consciousness is an unexplored concept in the last decade because there's no practical method of measuring it.

Measured Consciousness, A Breakthrough

Sautoy says this is a golden era in research. Similar to Galileo's time; the discovery of the telescope is similar to the discovery of methods that peek into the human brain. If artificial intelligence is recognized as a level of consciousness, then it follows there's a need to grant rights to devices with AI.

Scientists are racing to ace the Turing test, a challenge to erase the distinction between artificial intelligence and human intelligence. If a human cannot tell the difference between responses from a machine and a real person, the machine has passed the Turing test.

Research in the field discovered brain activity is different during sleep and scientists have derived from this difference a coefficient for measuring consciousness. A CNET report also confirms devices like smartphones currently exhibit behaviour comparable to humans, based on configured "moods" and similar presets.
The Federal Treasury moves its travel and expense management to the cloud, with a minimum 36% accounting rate of return increase.

8common Limited announced today it received final sign-off from long-term customer, the federal Department of Treasury, to migrate to the Expense8 travel and Expense8 management platform on a Software as a Service (SaaS) basis.

The Treasury has been using 8common's iCMS product for five years, but now is the first federal government agency to adopt Expense8's SaaS product, on a three-year contract.

8common states the three year contract will provide a positive impact to the next financial year and beyond, with additional features to be used by Treasury to enhance employee productivity and performance.

In addition, this agreement provides a platform for Treasury and 8common to collaborate and onboard more Federal Government agencies onto Expense8 under the Federal Governments shared services initiative.

Nick Gonios, CEO of 8common Limited, said This new milestone both extends and transforms 8commons presence across Australian Federal Government. It enables Treasury to drive greater process and cost efficiencies with their pre-trip approval (travel) and expense management needs together with having a unique shared service offering in partnership with 8common.

Expense8 is an integrated software solution that streamlines the accounting, reporting, tax compliance (GST, FBT) and governance of employee generated expenses and corporate travel bookings. Tailored for each client, Expense8 provides organisations with all the tools needed for employees to plan and book business trips; and reconcile travel and corporate expenses.

Expense8 government customers include Federal Department of Finance, NSW Department of Education, NSW Police, whole of Northern Territory Government, and Transport NSW.
Optus Business and Macquarie University are partnering to jointly establish a multi-disciplinary Cyber Security Hub designed to support businesses and government to recognise and protect themselves from increasing cyber threats.

The new "Optus Macquarie University Cyber Security Hub" will provide research, short professional courses and consultancy services to the private sector and government agencies.

Optus and Macquarie say the new security hub represents a $10 million investment that will draw on the expertise of Optus and leading Macquarie University academics from various disciplines and industry experts to cover three academic areas  computing & IT, business & economics and security studies & criminology.

They say the new hub will focus on providing a holistic approach to cybercrime, how it is perpetrated, how it affects the economy and how it impacts policy.

The partnership includes degree programs, executive and business short courses, professional recruiting opportunities and thought leadership through cyber awareness events and international engagements in areas such as intelligence, technology, criminology, finance and governance.

Optus managing director, Optus Business, John Paitaridis said as Australian enterprises and government agencies increasingly embrace the digital economy and shifting consumer expectations of online experience, cyber security is a top priority for Executives and Boards.

While cyber attacks are increasing in frequency and sophistication, most organisations lack the right expertise and skills across their business to identify and manage these attacks.

As organisations adopt more online and digital channels, they also need to have a fully integrated approach to cyber security involving all staff training, management buy-in, effective technology solutions and knowledge of todays cyber threats.

Paitaridis said the Optus Macquarie University Cyber Security Hub addresses all these areas, providing businesses and government agencies with a unique and unparalleled cyber offering to help them navigate a complex landscape.

We are committed to empowering every person, business and organisation to confidently operate in the digital world, and this partnership is a significant step in helping us deliver on that promise."

Optus says the new Cyber Hub will have a range of initiatives to enhance Macquarie Universitys teaching and research offering, and the Optus workforce will also be a key focus, with the partnership increasing awareness, as well as equipping and upskilling staff with the latest cyber security skills and expertise. The telco will offer the same opportunity to its enterprise and government customers.

David Wilkinson, deputy vice-chancellor (corporate engagement and advancement), Macquarie University said, Education underpins the very success of the governments Cyber Strategy, and is the cornerstone of any cyber security program.

Cyber security has become one of the defining issues of this decade, which is why Macquarie University was one of the first in the country to establish a dedicated policing, intelligence and counter-terrorism degree.

The opportunity to partner with Optus, an organisation that deals with cyber threats and challenges on a daily basis, was something we welcomed as it enables us to improve cyber security education at all levels  from the C-level executive through to every employee.

Wilkinson said that by collaborating with industry to tailor the universitys study programs, it would give students a head-start in their careers, placing them at the top of Australias cyber security talent pool.

These initiatives will also work to support the wider expansion of cyber security training within organisations to better secure and protect their networks and infrastructure.

Optus and Macquarie University signed the agreement in May and say they envisage the Cyber Security Hub will attract partners from the public and private sector who want to generate knowledge and foster enhancements in cyber security technologies and governance, through research and innovation.
Hemisphere Technologies will distribute the full portfolio of Trustwave security products and services across Australia.

Information security company Trustwave has selected Hemisphere Technologies to cover Australia with its cloud-based TrustKeeper cloud platform, through which Trustwave delivers automated, efficient and cost-effective threat, vulnerability and compliance management.

John Hines, Trustwave general manager for Australia and New Zealand, said, Hemisphere Technologies brings both its channel expertise and enthusiasm for innovative Trustwave cybersecurity products and managed security services to the Australian channel. With Hemisphere Technologies now on board as a full value added distributor, were looking forward to even more success over the coming years.

Andrew Mamonitis, managing director of Hemisphere Technologies, said the announcement reflects Hemispheres growing clout in the channel as it continues to strengthen its partnerships with global IT security companies, especially industry leaders like Trustwave.

Were proud of having utilised the full resources of the team at Hemisphere to deliver the benefits that come with partnering with us. The base weve built during our partnership leaves us in good stead moving forward with the entire portfolio Trustwave offers, he said.
Never mind nice offices, free lunches or foosball it appears that all workers want is good technology that works and makes their lives easier. Tech is the new perk.

Adobe has shared new findings revealing that a surprising 70% of U.S. office workers report loving their jobs, and access to cutting-edge technology is the top contributor to their overall satisfaction, above perks like food and slick office design.

The report highlights tech as the new perk (note initial statistics are for the US).

81% of office workers say state of the art technology is important at work, outranking food and beverages (72%), a beautiful office design (61%) and on-site amenities (56%)

26% believe that their companys technology is ahead of the curve. Indians are slightly more bullish (30%) while the U.K. is especially pessimistic (15%)

Those who said their companys technology is ahead of the curve love their work about twice as much and feel about twice as creative, motivated and valued compared to those at behind the times companies

85% say technology makes them more productive (93% in India, 76% in U.K.)

60% say that technology gives them the freedom to work where and when they want (64% in India, 54% in U.K)

70% believe technology improves work-life balance (83% in India, 68% in U.K.)

74% believe better technology would make their workday better and easier (91% in India, 64% in U.K.)

The report covers a lot of work related issues but iTWire is concerned with the tech.

53% believe menial office tasks will be done by a machine or technology in the next 20 years (61% in India; 53% in U.K.)

77% believe public health will worsen as people become more attached to devices. (80% in India; 78% in U.K .)

79% believe relationships will suffer as people become fixated on devices (81% in India; 75% in U.K.).

55% think their job requires human abilities and interaction that technology will never replace (60% in U.K.)

66% of Indian office workers feel that machines are likely to take over their jobs within the next 20 years

Comment

How can you argue with Adobes findings? The recurrent theme I see in SMEs to enterprises is that staff happiness is directly related to how good and reliable the technology is. More than that it is how responsive the IT guys are in implanting line of business apps and software that makes people more efficient.

Millennials get a special mention. 81% of them want tech as the perk and will leave to work in a place with demonstrably better tech.
Australian chief information officers (CIOs) are embracing the innovation trend in the wake of the federal governments heightened focus on innovation.

According to a newly published survey from recruiter, Robert Half, 97% of the countrys CIOs are implementing measures to boost innovation in their companies after the governments announcement of proposed new tax breaks and the funding of a marketing campaign to promote Australia as an innovative technology destination.

The survey reveals that, even though nearly one fifth (19%) of Australian CIOs believe their company is highly innovative and give themselves a score of 5 out of 5, when it comes to their level of innovation in the organisation, the majority still believe there is room for improvement, with the average score given by CIOs at 3.9 out of 5.

David Jones, senior managing director of Robert Half Asia Pacific, said, All companies thrive on innovation, whether theyre a start-up or an established business. Business success is governed by a future focus, new ideas, and creativity. Incorporating innovation throughout the organisation will help companies gain a competitive edge.

Technology is without a doubt a driver of innovation. Digital technologies like mobile, cloud, and big data have created massive opportunities for IT innovation to deliver company progression. Leveraging new technologies to optimise customer experience, automate processes and enhance employee efficiency are examples of how technology can be the catalyst for innovation.

The survey also reveals that the overall majority of Australian companies are taking measures to boost innovation with an approach that consists of a combination of both technology and people.

According to Robert Half, human capital tops the list with more than half (51%) of CIOs planning to employ IT talent with unique skills over the next 12 months for the purpose of building a more innovative business  almost half (49%) will reshape network infrastructure to improve operational processes, followed by 48% who point towards building data centres to leverage big data more efficiently.

In order to maximise the return on investment in technology, companies need to make sure they have the best human resources to develop and support IT initiatives. Investing in and continuously optimising the technological infrastructure as well as recruiting talented IT staff are both crucial elements in establishing an innovative culture, Jones says.

According to Jones, top tech talent are looking for professional opportunities where they can have a meaningful impact by developing and driving innovation.

This is why companies with a visibly innovative culture have an advantage in attracting and retaining the best IT professionals. The better a company communicates its focus on innovation, the more attractive it will be to the top IT professionals.

Heres what measures Robert Half says CIOs will take to build a more innovative business over the next 12 months:

Employing IT talent with in-demand/unique skills 51% Reshaping network infrastructure to improve operational processes 49% Building data centres to leverage data more efficiently 48% Developing/enhancing software 46% Focusing on a more collaborative work environment 33% Developing new technology tools to improve customer experience (eg. App development) 29%

Source: independent survey commissioned by Robert Half among 160 Australian CIOs  multiple answers allowed.
Telstras deal to sell down the majority of its stake in China online auto sales company Autohome to Chinese insurer Ping An for $2.1 billion is under a cloud, with a court action against the telco in the Cayman Island tax haven taken by some minority shareholders of Autohome.

Telstra has said it will fight the court action by some of the Autohome minority shareholders, including its chief executive, James Qin, who are opposed to the share sale to Ping An Insurance Group.

Media reports reveal that a consortium of shareholders led by Qin had been planning to buy Telstras stake in Autohome and, in a court petition in the Cayman Islands, now express concerns over the Telstra selldown, alleging misconduct by Telstra and the telcos directors on the board of Autohome.

According to media reports the consortium led by Qin made several offers to buy Telstras stake in Autohome.

As, Telstra announced it was selling 47.7% of its shares in Autohome to Ping An, leaving it with a minor stake of just 6.5%.

Telstra originally bought a 55% stake in Autohome in 2008, with chief executive Andy Penn saying that it was the right time to realise significant value for Telstra shareholders from the sale, referencing the telcos role in Autoholmes rapid growth since 2008.

Penn also said Telstra believed that Ping An was a good partner for Autohome.

And, early in May, Penn announced that Telstra would return $1.5 billion to shareholders in a capital management program using the proceeds from the sale of its majority stake in Autohome.
Australian subsea cable network operator, Trident Subsea Cable, has appointed former iiNet chief executive officer David Buckingham and the telcos former business business officer and chief technology officer Greg Bader, as non-executive directors.

Buckingham (left) and Bader join the Trident board following their recent roles as adjunct advisors to the companys executive management and the board.

Trident chief executive officer Alexis Pinto says the appointments will augment the companys industry expertise, financial and corporate management, and ability to scale into international markets as the company progresses towards construction phase to build a high capacity, fibre optic subsea cable linking Perth, Jakarta and Singapore.

The Trident Board is pleased to welcome David and Greg as Non-Executive Directors at a critical stage of corporate and operational development. Tridents ability to secure leading industry professionals of this calibre is testament to the companys strength and progress to date.

Both Greg and David offer invaluable knowledge and distinct skill sets, having been part of the team that managed iiNets growth from a local ISP to a major national carrier. Gregs understanding of the global ICT industry and role in the PPC-1 cable provides operational and business development expertise, and Davids financial and corporate management background and M&A experience, will add firepower to the Companys funding program and overall corporate growth plans.

Trident remains on track to deliver the highest capacity, lowest-latency fibre optic cable connecting Australia and Asia. We look forward to leveraging David and Gregs experience and networks in the telecommunications sector, and expertise in financial and operational management, as we work towards this goal.

Buckingham joins the Trident board with more than 18 years experience in the domestic and global telecommunications sector. He was iiNet chief executive officer until November when the company was acquired by TPG, and is now the current chief financial officer at ASX-listed global education provider, Navitas.

Buckingham also held a number of senior financial roles at Virgin Media, the UKs largest residential ISP and cable TV operator.

Bader joins the Trident board with more than 20 years experience in the ICT industry, having worked in Australia, Asia, the Middle East and Europe for both telecommunications operators and vendors.

As well as his most recent role as iiNets chief business officer, Bader spent nine years as the telcos chief technology officer and led the deployment of the companys ADSL2+, VoIP and IPTV networks.
After three years, the Business Software Alliance has suddenly resurfaced with a report on software piracy. The report is important for what it doesn't reveal, rather than the tired old mantra that it tries to spin. It has a new name too: BSA|The Software Alliance.

The report, covered by iTWire here, titled "Seizing opportunity through licence compliance", goes over all the same old tripe that it has recycled year after year, ever since it started putting out these reports.

But, the authors of this report are often experts at denying the reader a perspective which would add to the stats that it cites.

For example, the report still claims that there is a correlation between pirated software and cyberattacks. Some statistics  remember the late Benjamin Disraeli's famous statement about those?  are cited to try and make it all seem more real.

But really? There are plenty of people who use Windows 7 without having paid a cent to Microsoft. They get their service packs from sources other than the company. And they are probably much better skilled at keeping their computers free of malware and all the scumware that Microsoft's products attract.

What they are using is exactly what Microsoft sells. The only difference is that they downloaded that software from some site or the other, and obtained the service packs in similar ways.

Are these pirated copies of Windows any more vulnerable to viruses, malware, scumware, ransomware and all the delights than the Windows that I run at home, the official version blessed by Microsoft? The answer is no.

Of course, people could be using those unlicensed copies to launch cyberattacks. But then there are perfectly respectable people, who go to church on Sundays, vote for right-wing parties and have sex only in the missionary position, who quietly use pirated versions of Windows. And a lot more.

Software piracy was given the official thumbs-up many years ago by no less an individual than Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. These were his words: "Although about 3 million computers get sold every year in China, but people don't pay for the software... Someday they will, though. As long as they are going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade."

Once people are hooked on piracy and the habit of getting something for nothing, it is exceedingly difficult to get them to go cold turkey. But then Gates, who is not above watching the occasional pirated movie on YouTube, was only interested in the money.

The BSA report, unfortunately, is not trying to educate. It is still trying to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt and while it is using such tactics it will only convince the uneducated. Any half-educated person will only laugh with derision when he or she reads this guff.

At the beginning of this article I made a claim that the report hides more than it reveals. Here are three examples:

The BSA report says 430 million new pieces of malware were discovered in 2015, up 36% from 2014. Presumably, nobody would be foolhardy to write such malware unless there was a ready platform on which they could be used to good effect. But the BSA does not tell us the platforms that are the most vulnerable  that would be a helpful stat as chief information officers could then avoid such platforms.

Another factoid that the BSA doles out is that organisations experience some form of malware attack every seven minutes. Once again, what platforms are being attacked? Ah, I fear that is information which would perhaps make those who fund this report somewhat uncomfortable.

The report also says that in 2015 more than half a billion personal information records were stolen or lost through data breaches. What does this have to do with unlicensed software? Most of the breaches that have taken place have been due to lack of patching in time. Software systems were vulnerable and attackers pounced.

So who pays for this organisation to run branches in 60 countries as it claims? Ah, that is information the BSA is not willing to disclose, presumably for fear that it would reveal why it does what it does.

Any proprietary software company affected by piracy can easily ensure that its software stops working after 30, 60 or 90 days. Companies like Adobe, for example, offer downloads of their software for 30 days on a try and buy basis. The only fiat is that the mechanisms devised to guard the software from being used without a licence are fool-proof.

When companies start doing that, then it will be possible to believe that they are serious about stopping piracy. Until then, one needs to take the BSA's report with a pinch  nay, a couple of kilos  of salt.
The past few years have been challenging for Samsung as it struggled to move from a mega South Korean manufacturer to a prestige brand.

There is no doubt that it is under attack on almost every front  components, smartphones, TVs, appliances, monitors, and much more. And it is important to note that Samsung is not just a smartphone maker.

To its credit, instead of just cutting prices, it has tried to "out-design" the competitors products, make better and more innovative products, offer better support, and change from a South Korean manufacturer to a leading technology design company.

To do that it set up a Global Innovation Centre and the Samsung Strategy and Innovation Centre at Silicon Valley where it has engaged some high-profile "western" designers. In the smartphone arena, Samsung can no longer be accused of copying Apple  analysts agree that its Galaxy S7 is superior to Apples current offerings (it is hard to argue that point but it is Apples turn next to shine).

Another strength is that it makes so many of the components it uses in its products  vertical integration makes a stronger company. By comparison, Apple outsources all of its manufacturing to third parties. Apple is Samsungs biggest components customer and has predicted its first sales decline in a decade. Chief executive Tim Cook said it was seeing extreme conditions unlike anything it had ever encountered, with economic growth in China at its weakest in 25 years. If Apple and Samsung sneeze, the rest of the world gets the flu.

It has shaken up management of all its divisions including some very astute appointments  head hunts  in its major markets.

On the marketing front, it has out-marketed, and out-spent Apple and the results show. Noted brand measurement agency Interbrand stated, Samsung has evolved as rapidly as the technology they create. As theyve developed the latest products, theyve recognised the need to develop deeper customer relationships and build the value of their brand as a whole. As a result, Samsung has transformed into a design-led market leader, rising to number seven on the Best Global Brands ranking. Apple and Coke are neck and neck as the top brand.

The result is a new, focused Samsung with pretty much best-of-breed products across the range  be they TVs, smartphones, home appliances and more.

On the smartphone front its main premium competitor is Apple  yet in many respects, Apple is not the main competitor as it has its iOS ecosystem of happy users and will continue to do so. Its main competitors are Chinese companies like Huawei, OPPO/VIVO (BBK), Xiaomi, and Lenovo that are aggressively pursuing Android market share.

Samsung took some gutsy decisions with the Galaxy S7. It agonised over camera specifications, ultimately defying the industry trend to more megapixels by opting for fewer, larger pixels in exchange for improved autofocus features and low-light performance. It has also given away a Samsung Gear VR headset as an incentive to buy, moving the handset into a new market where Apple has yet to tread.

"In the past, based on our past decision-making process, we never would have gone back," said Kim Gae-youn, vice-president in charge of Samsung's smartphone product planning. "If you're in the trenches, you want to have a machine gun, a grenade, a mine on hand. There are also different needs depending on individual markets, so regional sales staff naturally can't be happy when the company moves to rationalise and restructure from a global structure. The transition process is painful."

Samsung has not made a profit out of its flagship Galaxy series since the S4 but, "We've now gotten to a point where we can secure a baseline profit even if the market stagnates, so long as we don't make a bad mistake. I'm confident we can hold our ground, he added. The result was that the Galaxy S7 has set first-year sales records.

But the most telling, forward-looking statement, was from Samsungs chief executive and vice-chairman of the board, Oh-Hyun Kwon, about research and development and innovation  future bankable assets. The race for [smartphone] supremacy will be in real innovations like foldable displays and apps. Samsung cannot afford to fall into the "tick-tock" cycle rut that has been evident in Apples iPhone. He hinted that the Note 6 may be the device that redefines the smartphone.

It is also more discerning about what products it invests in. While Samsung has not made a formal announcement, it is likely that they will pull out of unprofitable markets and product lines. It no longer has to make everything from rice cookers to aerospace unlike its role model of old  mega-corporation General Electric  did.

It is slowly assessing its strengths and recently withdrew from the digital photography market. While its cameras were good, they could never hope to overtake Nikon or Canon. It has shut down unprofitable services like Milk music and much more.

The Wall Street Journal in an article titled Why Samsung Suddenly Finds Parts Fitting Together" says that after a spell of simultaneous struggle for several of its big businesses, a turnaround may be on hand for Samsung Electronics. It is referring to the memory, processor and parts business and says Samsung shares are a cheap bet on the recovery of its major businesses.
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Cellphone jammers prevent phones from working. They're being used in cars, public places and exam halls.

Jammers aren't new -- they've been around for years -- and they're illegal in many countries, including in the U.S., but use of jammers is growing fast.

But are phones really the problem? And are jammers really the solution?

I think cellphone jammers are being used as a Band-Aid, as the wrong solution to solve three societal problems that should be solved by much better technology.

Here are the three biggest problems cellphone jammers are trying, and failing, to solve, and what I think are the better solutions.

1. The 'phones-are-dangerous' problem

A Florida man named Jason R. Humphreys wanted to save lives by preventing people along his daily commute from using their phones while driving. So Humphreys installed a cellphone jammer in the back of the passenger seat of his SUV. The scheme worked for two years, as far as Humphreys knew. But the police, whose own communications were occasionally disrupted by his jammer, were less than thrilled. So they tracked him down and caught him two years ago. Last week, the Federal Communications Commission fined him $48,000 for breaking U.S. laws against the use of jammers.

As I've expressed in this space before, I think that drivers distracted with smartphones would be distracted by something else without smartphones. In other words, smartphones don't cause accidents, humans do.

The horrible reality is that human drivers kill around 1.24 million people a year worldwide. That's a far higher annual rate than the number of people who die in wars.

Humphreys' misguided action was the wrong solution to the problem. What we really need is to transition to self-driving cars as quickly as possible. The sooner we do it, the more lives will be spared.

2. The 'phones-are-annoying' problem

A Chicago man named Dennis Nicholl was arrested recently for allegedly using a cellphone jammer on a commuter train. Police were tipped off when photos of the man with his jammer started circulating online. After other commuters started talking on their smartphones, Nicholl pulled out a jammer, flipped a switch, and all the phones went silent. Nicholl's attorney said his client only wanted a little peace and quiet.

Comedian Dave Chappelle recently used a product from a company called Yondr to silence calls during 13 of his comedy gigs in Chicago. Yondr makes a lockable, radio-proof bag -- a kind of Faraday cage. As they entered the venue, Chappelle fans were required, as a condition of admission, to put their smartphones inside a Yondr bag, which was then locked. They were allowed to keep possession of the bags, but those who wanted to use their phones had to leave the no-phone zone and have someone unlock the Yondr bag as they exited.

The problem that Nicholl and Chappelle are trying to solve is that other people's smartphone use is annoying and distracting, respectively.

Silencing all the phones is the wrong way to go. The better solution is the coming age of hearable computing, which I wrote about last year. This new generation of wearable processes all of the sounds coming into your ears before letting you hear them. By using a smartphone app, you can adjust and customize what you hear and what you don't. When these smart earbuds hit the market for real, Nicholl will be able to produce his own peace and quiet, and Chappelle -- and his audience, for that matter -- can choose to hear only his own brilliant humor, plus the sounds of laughter and applause, regardless of whether someone in the audience is rudely chatting on the phone.

3. The 'phones-let-you-cheat' problem

Cheating is a massive problem worldwide, especially for entrance exams for colleges, universities, professional training and the military.

India's northernmost state, Jammu and Kashmir, is tackling the problem of cheating by installing 800 cellphone jammers at testing centers statewide.

One recent high-visibility case illustrates the problem: A student in India named Wasim Ahmed at Nawab Shah engineering college was caught cheating. He kept a smartphone in his underwear with a microphone in his shirt and a Bluetooth receiver in his ear. He whispered the questions to a confederate on the phone, who gave him the answers.

Behavior like Ahmed's is repeated around the world, though the specifics may vary.

Earlier this month, a scandal erupted at Thailand's Rangsit University medical college when four students were caught cheating on entrance exams. Two of them wore glasses with built-in cameras, and three wore smartwatches. The glasses captured photos of the exam questions. On a break, the test-takers handed the glasses to someone who took them and sent the photos to confederates at an ad-hoc "command center" located elsewhere. The accomplices researched the questions and texted answers back to the test-takers, who could see the SMS messages on their smartwatches. The good news is that they were caught. (These aren't the kind of people you want controlling your general anesthesia during surgery.)

The problem of using Internet-connected devices to cheat is so bad that Iraq actually turns off much of the nation's Internet to prevent sixth graders from cheating.

Internet-assisted cheating appears to be a major problem. But the real problem is that most exams are built around an antiquated concept of learning. If cheaters can cheat by getting data from the Internet, there's no reason to memorize that information in the first place.

We're all becoming information cyborgs, with instant, real-time information and communication, artificial intelligence bots, and all the world's knowledge at our fingertips at all times.

Meanwhile, our most advanced computers are no match for the human brain, and may never be, despite what the futurists are always telling us. Everyone will be far better off, and cheating will be obsolete, when we teach and test human creativity instead of human memorization.

Or, better yet, all exams should be "open smartphone" exams, where one's ability to use a smartphone to look up facts, details and answers is part of what's being tested. Because that's how the world works now. The students taking exams today will never live in a world without the mobile Internet.

When people use cellphone jammers, they're almost always trying to solve a problem that's different and much larger than the one they think they're solving.

The reality is that smartphones exist. Wireless communication exists. Access to the Internet from anywhere exists. And smartphones and wireless gadgets are quickly becoming universal and ubiquitous. The best solution to whatever societal problems these realities appear to create is rarely to simply block the phones.

The best solution to the problems created by technology is always better technology.
The Verizon strike 2016 may be nearing its conclusion. The carrier and unions have reached an "agreement in principle."

The Guardian reported that the company and unions now have a tentative deal to end the Verizon strike 2016. On Friday, U.S. Labor secretary Thomas Perez announced that both parties have arrived at an agreement.

Nearly 40,000 workers walked off their jobs last Apr. 13, protesting the disappointing terms of the new contract. Verizon's shares jumped at about 1.2 percent after the announcement was made and trading went up almost 1 percent at $50.62.

"The parties are now working to reduce the agreement to writing, after which the proposal will be submitted to CWA and IBEW union members for ratification," Perez said. Apparently, the Verizon strike 2016 participants will be back on their jobs next week.

The Verizon strike 2016 lasted for 44 days. The tentative agreement is believed to be a victory with "big gains" for workers.

"The addition of new, middle-class jobs at Verizon is a huge win not just for striking workers, but for our communities and our country as a whole," Chris Shelton, Communications Workers of America (CWA) president, said. "The agreement in principle at Verizon is a victory for working families across the country and an affirmation of the power of working people."

According to Philly.com, CWA VP Edward Mooney described the agreement as a "great contract." It will also protect their members and bring about additional jobs.

"Verizon is very pleased with this 'agreement in principle,'" Verizon chief administrative officer Marc Reed said in a statement. "The agreement is consistent with our objective of creating high-quality American jobs and achieving meaningful changes and enhancements to the contracts."

Workers will be receiving an increase in wage. Moreover, the issues concerning pensions and the location assignment of employees were also settled in favor of the unions.

Verizon has agreed to add 1,300 employees instead of coursing the calls to outside contractors. The deal will add 300 jobs in Pennsylvania, which has call centers for the carrier.
Tesla's Gigafactory 1 is set to hold a grand opening on July 29 at their location just outside the east of Reno, Nevada.

The electric car maker Tesla Motors announced their plans on their blog. The new factory is already producing batteries designed for the company's Powerwall and Powerpack units.

Despite Tesla's Gigafactory is estimated at only 14% complete, the electric car manufacturer is adamant that they will be ready to open its doors for the world to see. Though the event is by invitation, some of which expected in attendance is their customers who had won tickets to the event, according to Fortune.

Its lobby showcases a classic design; large glass windows, high ceilings, and black leather seats to contrast the predominantly white lobby area. The date was revealed to the public when the email containing the invite was posted on Reddit. The email was sent by Tesla to customers, whom of which won tickets to the event.

The grand opening is expected to be focused mainly on Tesla's customers rather that a formal press event.

The large factory is estimated to cost the company about $5 billion to build, which would cover an area of about 5.8 million square feet on the Nevada desert, Bloomberg reports.

The ambitious factory is being built in sections and is expected to be fully operational in a few months. Towards the end of July, the factory is expected to start its production on Tesla's Model 3.

The highly anticipated electric car from Tesla, which boasts 325,000 reservations, is expected to be on the high priority list of output for the up and coming mega factory. The Model 3 is expected to cost at about $35,000, which is relatively cheaper than the company's $71,000 Model S, according to CNET.

The expected sales of Tesla, based on their data posted on the company's website, would likely see the factory to pay for itself in a matter of months
Born: Aug. 18, 1810

Died: April 17, 1878

Israel Lash worked to improve economic opportunities in the region. As a property owner, he played a part in divorcing political control from property ownership. As a Unionist, he was vehemently opposed to secession and supported the peace movement. And as a businessman, he ran the first independent bank branch in Salem and founded the first bank chartered in Salemsetting the stage for one of the strongest banks North Carolina has ever produced.

Born in Bethania in 1810, Lashs local Moravian roots were planted deep. He worked the family farm until the age of 20, when he opened a mercantile followed quickly by a cigar business. Both businesses would flourish, and Lash became revered for his financial acumen.

He would move both businesses from Bethania to Salem in 1845. Two years later, he became Salems first banker as cashier of a branch of the Wilmington-based Bank of Cape Fear. (Unlike today, the cashier was an executive officer elected by shareholders.)

The Bank of Cape Fear would collapse after the Civil Warlargely under the weight of Confederate war debt and federal taxation of state-issued moneyyet Lash pressed on. In 1866 he founded the first bank in the region, the First National Bank of Salem. He served as president of the company and hired his nephew, William A. Lemly, as the cashier. Following Lashs death in 1878, Lemly moved the bank uptown to Winston and rechartered it as Wachovia National Bank.

Aside from banking, Lash also enjoyed a successful run as a politician. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1867 and served two terms. During this time, he served as a delegate to the much-contested 1868 state Constitutional Convention. Disgruntled Conservatives boycotted the gathering, which allowed a more progressive document to be approved: It gave all male adults the right to vote and hold office regardless of race, literacy, or property ownershipand it also established free public segregated schools for all children. Controversial as it was at the time, many of the principles outlined in the document remain intact today.

Lash, who died at age 68, is buried in God's Acre at Bethania Moravian.
Today

Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low near 50F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low near 50F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.

Tomorrow

Chance of a morning shower. Morning clouds will give way to sunshine for the afternoon. High 71F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
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The first time Paul Zilly heard of his risk assessment score  and realized how much was riding on it  was during his sentencing hearing on Feb. 15, 2013, in a Barron County courtroom.

Zilly had been convicted of stealing a push lawn mower and some tools. The prosecutor recommended a year in county jail and follow-up supervision that could help Zilly with "staying on the right path." His lawyer agreed to a plea deal.

But Judge James Babler had seen Zilly's score.

The defendant was rated a high risk for future violent crime and a medium risk for general recidivism. "When I look at the risk assessment," Babler said in court, "it is about as bad as it could be."

Babler overturned the plea deal and imposed two years in state prison and three years of supervision.

Scores like this are increasingly common in courtrooms across the nation. They are used to inform decisions about who can be set free at every stage of the criminal justice system, from assigning bond amounts to even more fundamental decisions about defendants' freedom. In Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Virginia and Washington, the results of such assessments are given to judges during criminal sentencing.

Rating a defendant's risk of future crime is often done in conjunction with evaluating a defendant's rehabilitation needs. The U.S. Justice Department's National Institute of Corrections now encourages the use of combined assessments, and a landmark sentencing reform bill currently pending in Congress would mandate the use of assessments in federal prisons.

However, a ProPublica analysis has found the risk scores used on Zilly and others remarkably unreliable in forecasting violent crime. Only 20% of the people predicted to commit violent crimes actually went on to do so. When a full range of crimes were taken into account  including misdemeanors such as driving with an expired license  the algorithm used to determine the score was somewhat more accurate than a coin flip. Of those deemed likely to re-offend, 61% were arrested for any subsequent crimes within two years.

The analysis also found significant racial disparities. In forecasting who would re-offend, the algorithm made mistakes with black and white defendants at roughly the same rate, but in very different ways.

The formula wrongly labeled black defendants as future criminals at almost twice the rate as white defendants. White defendants were mislabeled as low risk more often than black defendants. The disparity could not be explained by other factors.

ProPublica found people like Brisha Borden, who in spring 2014 was running late to pick up her godparent's daughter from school when she spotted an unlocked kid's bicycle and a silver scooter. Borden and a friend grabbed the bike and scooter and tried to ride them down the street in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Coral Springs.

Just as the 18-year-old girls realized they were too big for the tiny conveyances  which belonged to a 6-year-old boy  a woman came running after them saying, "That's my kid's stuff." Borden and her friend immediately dropped the bike and scooter and walked away.

But it was too late  a neighbor who witnessed the heist had called police. Borden and her friend were arrested and charged with burglary and petty theft for the items, which were valued at a total of $80.

Compare their crime with one from the previous summer: Vernon Prater picked up for shoplifting $86.35 worth of tools from a nearby Home Depot store.

Prater, 41, was the more seasoned criminal. He had already been convicted of armed robbery and attempted armed robbery, for which he served five years in prison, in addition to another armed robbery charge. Borden's record was limited to misdemeanors as a juvenile.

When they were booked into jail, a computer spit out a score predicting the likelihood of each committing a future crime. Borden  who is black  was rated a high risk; Prater  who is white  was rated a low risk.

Two years later, Borden has not been charged with any new crimes. Prater is serving an eight-year prison term for subsequently breaking into a warehouse and stealing thousands of dollars' worth of electronics.

Building a tool

The algorithm used to generate the risk assessment scores in both the Wisconsin and Florida examples is a product of a for-profit company, Northpointe.

In a letter, it criticized ProPublica's methodology and defended the accuracy of its test. "Northpointe does not agree that the results of your analysis, or the claims being made based upon that analysis, are correct or that they accurately reflect the outcomes from the application of the model," the company said.

Northpointe was founded in 1989 by Tim Brennan, then a professor of statistics at the University of Colorado, and Dave Wells, who was running a corrections program in Traverse City, Mich.

Brennan and Wells shared a love for what Brennan called "quantitative taxonomy"  the measurement of personality traits such as intelligence, extroversion and introversion. The two decided to build a risk assessment score for the corrections industry.

Brennan wanted a tool that addressed the major theories about the causes of crime.

Brennan and Wells named their product the Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions, or COMPAS. It assesses not just risk but nearly two dozen so-called "criminogenic needs" that relate to the major theories of criminality, including "criminal personality," "social isolation," "substance abuse" and "residence/stability." Defendants are ranked low, medium or high risk in each category.

As often happens with risk assessment tools, many jurisdictions adopted Northpointe's software before rigorously testing whether it works. Nevertheless, today it is among the most widely used assessment tools in the country.

The appeal of risk scores is obvious: The United States locks up far more people than any other country, a disproportionate number of them black. For more than two centuries, the key decisions in the legal process, from pre-trial release to sentencing to parole, have been in the hands of humans guided by their instincts and personal biases.

If computers could accurately predict which defendants were likely to commit new crimes, the criminal justice system could be fairer and more selective about who is incarcerated and for how long. The trick, of course, is to make sure the computer gets it right. If it's wrong in one direction, a dangerous criminal could go free. If it's wrong in another direction, it could result in someone unfairly receiving a harsher sentence or waiting longer for parole than is appropriate.

In the 1980s, as the nation was the engulfed in a crime wave, lawmakers made it much harder for judges and parole boards to exercise discretion in making such decisions. States and the federal government began instituting mandatory sentences and, in some cases, abolished parole, making it less important to evaluate individual offenders.

But as states struggle to pay for swelling prison and jail populations, forecasting criminal risk has made a comeback.

Most modern risk tools were originally designed to provide judges with insight into the types of treatment an individual might need  from drug treatment to mental health counseling.

"What it tells the judge is that if I put you on probation, I'm going to need to give you a lot of services or you're probably going to fail," said Edward Latessa, a University of Cincinnati professor who is the author of a risk assessment tool that is used in Ohio and several other states.

But being judged ineligible for alternative treatment  particularly during a sentencing hearing  can translate into incarceration. Defendants rarely have an opportunity to challenge their assessments. The results are usually shared with the defendant's attorney, but the calculations that transformed the underlying data into a score are rarely revealed.

"Risk assessments should be impermissible unless both parties get to see all the data that go into them," said Christopher Slobogin, director of the criminal justice program at Vanderbilt Law School. "It should be an open full court adversarial proceeding."

Proponents of risk scores argue they can be used to reduce the rate of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, such as Napa County, Calif., the probation department uses risk assessments to suggest to the judge an appropriate probation or treatment plan for individuals being sentenced. Napa County Superior Court Judge Mark Boessenecker said he finds the recommendations helpful. "We have a dearth of good treatment programs, so filling a slot in a program with someone who doesn't need it is foolish," he said.

However, Boessenecker, who trains other judges around the state in evidence-based sentencing, cautions his colleagues that the score doesn't necessarily reveal whether a person is dangerous or if they should go to prison.

"A guy who has molested a small child every day for a year could still come out as a low risk because he probably has a job," Boessenecker said. "Meanwhile, a drunk guy will look high risk because he's homeless. These risk factors don't tell you whether the guy ought to go to prison or not; the risk factors tell you more about what the probation conditions ought to be."

'Correctional pinball machine'

Wisconsin has been among the most eager and expansive users of Northpointe's risk assessment tool in sentencing decisions. In 2012, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections launched the use of the software throughout the state. It is used at each step in the prison system, from sentencing to parole.

In a 2012 presentation, corrections official Jared Hoy described the system as a "giant correctional pinball machine" in which correctional officers could use the scores at every "decision point."

Some Wisconsin counties use other risk assessment tools at arrest to determine if a defendant is too risky for pretrial release. Once a defendant is convicted of a felony anywhere in the state, the Department of Corrections attaches Northpointe's assessment to the confidential presentence report given to judges, according to Hoy's presentation.

In theory, judges are not supposed to give longer sentences to defendants with higher risk scores. Rather, they are supposed to use the tests primarily to determine which defendants are eligible for probation or treatment programs.

But judges have cited scores in their sentencing decisions. In August 2013, Judge Scott Horne in La Crosse County declared that defendant Eric Loomis had been "identified, through the COMPAS assessment, as an individual who is at high risk to the community." The judge then imposed a sentence of eight years and six months in prison.

Loomis, who was charged with driving a stolen vehicle and fleeing from police, is challenging the use of the score at sentencing as a violation of his due process rights. The state has defended Horne's use of the score with the argument that judges can consider the score in addition to other factors. It has also stopped including scores in pre-sentencing reports until the state Supreme Court decides the case.

"The risk score alone should not determine the sentence of an offender," Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Christine Remington said last month, during state Supreme Court arguments in the Loomis case. "We don't want courts to say this person in front of me is a 10 on COMPAS as far as risk, and therefore I'm going to give him the maximum sentence."

That is almost exactly what happened to Zilly, the 48-year-old construction worker sent to prison for stealing a push lawn mower and some tools he intended to sell for parts. Zilly has long struggled with a meth habit. In 2012, he had been working toward recovery with the help of a pastor when he relapsed and committed the thefts.

After Zilly was scored as a high risk for violent recidivism and sent to prison, a public defender appealed the sentence and called the score's creator, Brennan, as a witness.

Brennan testified that he didn't design his software to be used in sentencing. "I wanted to stay away from the courts," Brennan said, explaining that his focus was on reducing crime rather than punishment. "But as time went on I started realizing that so many decisions are made, you know, in the courts. So I gradually softened on whether this could be used in the courts or not."

Still, Brennan testified, "I don't like the idea myself of COMPAS being the sole evidence that a decision would be based upon."

After Brennan's testimony, Judge Babler reduced Zilly's sentence, from two years in prison to 18 months. "Had I not had the COMPAS, I believe it would likely be that I would have given one year, six months," the judge said at an appeals hearing on Nov. 14, 2013.

Zilly said the score didn't take into account all the changes he was making in his lifehis conversion to Christianity, his struggle to quit using drugs and his efforts to be more available for his son. "Not that I'm innocent, but I just believe people do change."
Ceria M. Travis Academy, 4744 N. 39th St. in Milwaukee, is a longtime participant in the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Credit: Journal Sentinel files

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A longtime voucher school operator that has tangled with the state Department of Public Instruction for years has sued Superintendent Tony Evers in federal court, saying Evers illegally withheld more than $600,000 from the school this spring, putting it in jeopardy of closing.

Ceria M. Travis Academy Inc., which operates a kindergarten-through-12th-grade school at 4744 N. 39th St., filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee.

The lawsuit alleges Evers violated the school's constitutional right to due process by withholding the payment, due through the state's Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, without an evidentiary hearing.

DPI withheld the payment because it argues that Travis Academy owes the state $2.9 million, according to Jennifer Walther, the school's attorney.

"We dispute that, and there has to be a hearing," Walther said. "Ceria is trying to protect its rights to its property and what it views as a wrongful taking," she said.

The lawsuit says Evers' actions "are a continuation of the types of unlawful conduct (he) has engaged in in the administration of the Choice Program."

Officials with DPI could not be reached for comment.

The nonprofit Travis Academy is headed by CEO Dorothy Travis Moore and at one point operated two private schools that had received more than $35 million in taxpayer-paid voucher payments since 1996.

The other school, Travis Technology High, was forced to close in 2014 after the Department of Public Instruction banned it from participating in the Milwaukee choice program for failing to comply with terms of the program and a settlement agreement between the school and the state.

The lawsuit alleges Evers also illegally withheld more than $388,000 in voucher payments in that dispute, despite two court orders mandating he release the funds. And, it says, Evers demanded more than $2.9 million, the school's total payments for the 2014-'15 school year.

Travis Academy had come under heightened scrutiny in 2014 after current and former staff raised concerns about its operation. Staff complained that the school's administrators earned six-figure compensation packages while classroom resources were inadequate, and that the school hired an unusually high number of Travis family members.

Complaints filed with the state in 2014 and obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel through an open records request also alleged the school violated state law by employing people without bachelor's degrees to teach students.

School officials countered that a then-recent review of the schools by an independent accrediting organization found the programs to be operating in accordance with state law.

That review was requested by the Department of Public Instruction as it sought to follow up on the claims made via email about unqualified teachers at the school.
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When doctors try to figure out whether a patient might become addicted to opioid painkillers, they rely on clinical risk factors like family history, medical history and other social and environmental clues.

Now, two companies  Proove Biosciences and Canterbury Healthcare's Innovative Medical Testing  want to add genetic information to that picture to improve risk prediction.

But experts say they may be getting ahead of the science.

Both tests are already being used in clinics around the United States  even though experts interviewed by MedPage Today say there are no data on exactly how well they predict risk.

"Any expert in the field would tell you that genetic vulnerability to addiction would involve dozens of SNPs (genetic variations)," said Mary Jeanne Kreek, an expert in addiction genetics at Rockefeller University in New York City. "The idea that anyone would say they are currently able to definitively evaluate an individual's genetic vulnerability to addiction by testing 1, 2 or 20 variants is quite frankly absurd."

The tests are allowed on the market because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration classifies them as "laboratory developed tests," a category that includes screens as simple as vitamin D assays. Most genetic tests fall into this category, and have enjoyed lax oversight and freedom in making marketing claims.

Getting the nation's opioid addiction epidemic under control is a top priority for U.S. public health officials as overdose deaths continue to climb  with nearly 19,000 deaths related to prescription opioid painkillers and more than 10,000 deaths related to heroin in 2014 alone.

But the question remains as to whether the companies making these tests are advancing scientific knowledge rapidly, or if they are profiting off patients who may be put at risk.

Genetics of addiction

Addiction is estimated to be about 40% to 60% heritable, meaning genetics likely account for about half of a person's risk.

That means the other half of addiction risk comes from environmental, social and cultural factors, like "being exposed to peer pressure, individual coping skills, chronic pain, depression, the properties of drugs themselves," said Zena Samaan of McMaster University in Canada, who studies the genetics of addiction.

Over the years, scientists have studied many likely candidates involved in genetic risk of opioid addiction, such as gene variations responsible for proteins on the surface of brain cells known as receptors.

But the science is far from settled, Samaan said.

"We have some good ideas about the genes controlling opioid receptors, and some ideas about genes controlling impulsive behaviors, but these are not the only genes involved in addiction risk," she said.

Samaan added that there may be additional genes involved in addiction risk that haven't yet been discovered.

And therein lies the danger: Patients who are reassured by a false low risk may not be as cautious about using opioids and could end up getting addicted, she added.

The Proove Biosciences test relies on a panel of 12 genetic variants, including those in opioid receptors, COMT, and serotonergic and dopaminergic receptors, to assess genetic risk.

In a phone interview, Proove Biosciences CEO Brian Meshkin said the panel of genetic variants was derived from reviewing the existing medical literature and was validated in studies conducted by the company.

That genetic information is then combined with more traditional information to make a prediction about risk.

Much of that information is drawn from the Opioid Risk Tool, known as ORT, one of the most commonly used addiction screens, which was developed by pain specialist Lynn Webster. Webster, a physician, sits on the board of Proove.

But those screens have inherent flaws: "We're asking you to tell the truth about whether you're going to lie about your prescription," Meshkin said of devices like the ORT. "Genetic information allows us to pull objective information about someone."

Proove's test combines both types of information to get a weighted risk score that's designed to help a physician decide whether patients should be on opioids. Generally, 50% of patients are low risk, 45% have a moderate risk, and 5% are high risk and should not get opioids, Meshkin said.

Proove's competition, Canterbury Healthcare's Innovative Medical Testing subsidiary, would not disclose any information about its genetic test to MedPage Today.

Such testing fits into the company's broader goals, as Canterbury is focused on reducing costs in the worker's compensation system and already offers drug testing to help payers determine whether patients are taking their drugs correctly or if they are using other illicit drugs.

Adding genetic testing would help payers determine whether a worker "already has a proclivity to becoming addicted to prescribed medications," according to a company news release.

Yet, the company doesn't disclose any information on the genes that the tests screen for, nor does it state if it combines the genetic information with environmental factors to assess risk.

Through a spokesman, the company declined to answer questions from MedPage Today, and calls to Dean Clifton, whose phone number is listed as the main contact on the website, were not returned.

Defining risk

The main criticism of these genetic tests is that there are no data on the tests' predictive value  at least not in the public domain, said Eduardo Butelman of Rockefeller University.

"There are no data on how you can build a risk score by combining all of those (genetic variations) together," he said. "And no one has shown mathematically how you can combine that genetic information with environmental information."

"It seems a little premature to use it for actual diagnostic purposes," he added.

On its website, Proove Bioscience claims its test is 93% accurate.

Although the genes involved in the Proove panel are "reasonable genes," Butelman said, the problem with picking them from the literature is that various studies were done in different populations under various circumstances  and ethnicity plays a major role in genetic risk.

Another problem with gene variants for opioid risk has been replication, said Dawei Li of the University of Vermont.

"Many of the positive genetic association reports were eventually not able to be replicated in other populations or within the same population but just by another research lab," Li said.

"We are nowhere near having any diagnostic genetic test for a disease as complex as a psychiatric disorder," she said. "We don't have a single group of genes to say this is the culprit, that this is what's causing addiction."

Some physicians who are deploying the genetic tests believe they are simultaneously helping patients and furthering science.

Damon Kimes, a physician who owns and operates a pain clinic and a surgical center in Roswell, Ga., in the Atlanta metropolitan area said: "If your grandfather had an addiction, you may not know that. That might have been kept secret."

The FDA has acknowledged a need for better regulation of genetic tests that fall under its "laboratory developed test" category, which was developed in 1976. Technological advances and newer business models have pushed the limits of that classification.

Surveys have indicated that there may be some 60,000 genetic tests on the market, accounting for about half of the entire LDT market.

In 2010, the agency said it would develop a regulatory pathway, but that has not been finalized yet.

In 2014, the FDA stopped 23andMe from marketing its genetic tests over concerns about interpreting the health data it offered  but these were marketed directly to consumers, so tests that are managed by physicians may not be as much of a priority for the agency, Butelman said.

FDA spokeswoman Lyndsay Meyer said the agency has "long had regulatory authority over these tests, but we have been exercising enforcement discretion."

That means the agency is essentially hands-off unless the test is found to cause serious harm.

Meyer said the FDA acknowledges that there have been "increasing concerns about LDTs being marketed without clinical studies to support their use," and that it will likely deploy a risk-based framework for regulating these tests.

Under this system, there would be low-risk tests, LDTs for rare diseases, traditional LDTs and LDTs for unmet needs.

The agency plans to issue a final guidance this year, Meyer said.

MedPage Today provides a clinical perspective for physicians on breaking medical news at medpagetoday.com.
Re-enactor Prentice E. Jones (left) unfurls a flag before a memorial service for Civil War veteran William Reed on Monday at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee. Credit: Mark Hoffman

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When William Reed died of tuberculosis in 1895, he was buried at Milwaukee's Forest Home Cemetery and quickly forgotten.

The Civil War veteran's final resting place was noted on the cemetery map, but no headstone marked the spot. He qualified for a free grave marker, which the U.S. government began issuing in 1873, but it's likely his widow, Nancy, didn't know that.

Reed enlisted in Madison as a private in Company F, 29th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry Regiment, which fought at the sieges of Petersburg and Richmond and participated in the Appomattox Campaign  some of the unit's soldiers were at the war's surrender at Appomattox Court House.

When members of a Milwaukee Civil War re-enactment group learned that Reed was buried in an unmarked grave, they raised the $275 fee to install the grave marker and filled out the required paperwork.

They did it because it's the right thing to do and because they represent the same Army company Reed served in. And on Memorial Day, the re-enactors gathered to remember Reed and give him the military honors guaranteed to every honorably discharged American service member.

"It's an honor and an obligation and a duty," said Ricky Townsell, a retired Army major who is a member of Company F re-enactors group.

"We have a soldier who knew the horrors of the Civil War, who knew the things that were faced by black troops. Regardless of the circumstances of his death or life after the military, the man deserved the same honors as any other fallen hero. Today that would be unconscionable to have a fallen soldier put in an unmarked grave," Townsell said.

A crowd gathered Monday morning around Reed's new headstone flanked by a blue 29th U.S. Colored Troops Infantry flag and a U.S. flag with 36 stars to take photos and listen to Townsell speak about Reed's service, watch re-enactors clad in dark blue wool Union uniforms fire muskets and pay tribute to a forgotten man.

Townsell said it was the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery that motivated Reed and 175,000 other black men to join the Union Army.

"It wasn't for states' rights, it wasn't for self determination. It was for the freedom of their children and the freedom of their children's children," said Townsell.

Not much is known about Reed, but researchers learned that he was born in Missouri in 1839, was a free man when he enlisted in Company F in April 1864 and was mustered out in November 1865. Company F was comprised of soldiers enlisting from Wisconsin.

He moved to Fond du Lac after the Civil War and lived there 10 years where he married and worked as a cook. He lived in Beloit from 1875 to 1884, then in Madison until 1888 before moving to Milwaukee.

At the time of his death he was working as a porter at the Plankinton House Hotel at the corner of Wisconsin and Plankinton avenues at what's now the Shops of Grand Avenue.

Local historian Tom Ludka was contacted by Company F re-enactors inquiring about Reed's final resting place and discovered his wife, Nancy, had applied for a widow's veteran pension. She's also buried in an unmarked grave at Forest Home.

Ludka's research found Reed listed on Company F's muster rolls. Ludka, who recently retired as Waukesha County's veterans service officer, has helped get headstones for many unmarked veterans graves at Forest Home Cemetery, which opened in 1850.

At the sprawling cemetery on Milwaukee's south side, 966 Civil War veterans are buried. A total of 152 Union veterans are buried in unmarked graves. They are men who died before 1873, when the government began providing free headstones, or who died later but whose families didn't know about the service.

"If the family didn't have money to spend, you didn't get a headstone. Unfortunately, people are surprised there are that many Civil War veterans buried at Forest Home that way," Ludka said.

Ludka's research shows Reed is one of only two black U.S. Colored Troops soldiers buried at Forest Home Cemetery. The other soldier fought in a Pennsylvania unit but died in Milwaukee. There are some officers who served in the U.S. Colored Troops buried at Forest Home, but they're white men  all of the officers in black units were white.

There is no cost for the markers and for burial in military cemeteries, but private cemeteries charge a fee to install the marker. That's where the Company F re-enactors stepped in to arrange for the marker featuring Reed's name, his unit and birth and death dates, and raise the money for installation.

After prayers for Reed and the assembled crowd, a bugler sounded Taps and a bag piper played "Amazing Grace" as Company F re-enactors, veterans and well-wishers stood to honor a man who answered the call to duty of a nation split over the issue of enslaving people because of their skin color.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a United Food and Commercial Workers International union Legislative and Political Affairs conference last Thursday. Credit: Associated Press

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Donald Trump isn't the only presidential candidate with credibility problems. The State Department's inspector general delivered his report on Hillary Clinton's emails last week  and it wasn't good news for the presumptive Democratic candidate.

In spare bureaucratic language, the inspector general, an Obama appointee, said the former secretary of state clearly violated State Department policies when she insisted on using a personal email server instead of the government's email system.

On several points, the inspector general's findings refuted claims Clinton has made about the way she handled the issue.

Three examples:

Clinton has long said she used a personal email server solely as a matter of "convenience." But the result wasn't very convenient; because of State Department spam filters, Clinton's emails weren't getting through to her own department. According to the report, when an aide proposed giving her a government email address, Clinton agreed, but added: "I don't want any risk of the personal being accessible."

Clinton has emphasized that the law did not prohibit her from using personal email for official business  and that's true. But the inspector general notes that State Department rules required her to get permission to use a personal server, and she never complied.

And Clinton has said she turned over all her business-related emails as soon as the State Department asked for them. The inspector general says her submission of documents was "incomplete" and later than the law requires.

The inspector general's report did not examine whether Clinton's use of personal email had compromised any highly classified information; that's the subject of an FBI investigation that's still underway. But the report did note, rather dryly, that "the use of non-departmental systems creates significant security risks."

One more thing: Clinton and several of her top aides refused to submit to interviews with the inspector general.

Most of those findings aren't surprising. It's been clear for months that Clinton skirted the rules. She has even acknowledged, once or twice, that using a private server wasn't a good idea.

And that's why the official response to the report from the Clinton campaign was so surprising  and disappointing.

An official statement from campaign spokesman Brian Fallon stopped just short of claiming that the inspector general's report was actually a vindication.

"While political opponents of Hillary Clinton are sure to misrepresent this report for their own partisan purposes, in reality, the inspector general documents just how consistent her email practices were with those of other secretaries and senior officials at the State Department who also used personal email," the statement said. (Actually, the report said there were "significant differences" in those other cases.)

The statement included no direct response to the inspector general's main findings, and certainly no acknowledgement of error.

Instead, the campaign's message boiled down to: Everybody did it, and most of the criticism is just politics.

It read like spin. And for a candidate with a credibility problem, it probably didn't help.

Doyle McManus is a columnist for The Los Angeles Times. Email doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com Twitter: @DoyleMcManus
Pedestrians flood the intersection of Linden Drive and N. Charter St. last October on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. Credit: Mark Hoffman

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As a military veteran, I believe Memorial Day is a time to pause. It's an opportunity to reflect on and share gratitude for the sacrifices of comrades I served alongside in Vietnam, and to remember the men and women who did not come home.

Throughout Wisconsin, many of us will gather today to honor those of all eras who died in service to our country  whether it's by sharing memories with families and friends of citizen soldiers, visiting the local cemetery or sitting on the curb to watch the procession of high school marching bands and members of the American Legion.

In the University of Wisconsin System, we are proud to demonstrate all year long our deep respect for those who made the ultimate sacrifice. We honor the fallen by focusing our resources and services on the futures of our student-veterans, strengthening an array of benefits that offer a path to lifelong success.

The Wisconsin GI Bill is the finest state higher education benefit for veterans in the nation. Eligible veterans, as well as the children and spouses of disabled veterans, can go to college and are not charged tuition and fees for up to 128 credits  or approximately four full years of tuition and fee remission. In the UW System, the benefits can be used for undergraduate or graduate education and are available to full-time students, part-time students and students enrolled in the UW Flexible Option, our self-paced, competency based educational format.

This year, nearly 4,000 eligible veterans and 1,800 family members of disabled veterans are taking advantage of the Wisconsin GI Bill along with related federal benefits  adding up to nearly $23 million in UW-funded tuition, fee and related benefits.

Student-veterans find our institutions to be welcoming and supportive places. Each UW campus has a dedicated veterans' benefits coordinator who counsels students on how to maximize their benefits and succeed in college. Veterans Resource Centers, available on several of our campuses, are another important resource hub that supports campus life and learning, and also helps to address the unique needs of student veterans.

Our campuses also are working to make classrooms and teaching approaches even more welcoming and relevant to student-veterans, affirming their experiences and removing barriers to educational success. An innovative UW-Stevens Point class, for example, recently published a critically acclaimed book of essays titled, "See Me for Who I Am: Student Veterans' Stories of War and Coming Home," which addressed widespread and damaging stereotypes of veterans. Across our campuses, veterans' service and sacrifice are influencing and empowering the knowledge and skills of so many other students.

Today, as we all reflect on the fallen, I hope that you will join me in recognizing our efforts to honor their sacrifices through our shared investment in and focus on the future.

Ray Cross is president of the University of Wisconsin System.
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Immigrants and language

In her letter, "Learn English," Denise Sokolowski falsely claims that previous generations of immigrants such as Germans and Poles made no push for their own languages (Letters, May 26).

In fact, the German language was a major political issue in the late 19th century. The Wisconsin Legislature passed the Bennett Law in 1889 requiring that all schools recognized by the state use English as the language of instruction in all major subjects. Germans and others viewed this as an unwarranted attack on parochial schools run by German immigrants. As a result, George W. Peck was elected governor in 1890 on an anti-Bennett Law campaign. After he took office, the law was rescinded and schools were free to teach in languages other than English.

The upshot is that immigrant groups always have preferred to use their native language, even as they work to learn the new language. Ethnic neighborhoods exist in cities across America where Russian, Chinese, Korean, Spanish and many other languages are spoken widely. New immigrants find comfort in being able to communicate without struggling, and over time become more familiar with the English language.

As native English speakers, the rest of us should show some respect to newcomers rather than shaming them for not speaking a language we take for granted.

Shan Nelson-Rowe

Milwaukee



Walker's debt

I recently read Gov. Scott Walker's column, "Wisconsin comeback continues," and I'd like to focus on one particularly appalling aspect of Walker's statements regarding his job assistance and education programs (Opinions, May 9).

When referring to the participants in these programs, Walker stated: "They are confirming what we've always known  people want to work. They want the dignity and independence that comes from having a job that allows them to support themselves and their families." Fine. No problem there.

However, I do have a problem with Walker's hypocrisy. He came out of his failed 71-day presidential primary campaign $1 million in debt. Did this so-called fiscal conservative then find the "dignity and independence" to support his own debt? No, of course not! He simply asked for contributions from his supporters to take care of his own personal financial responsibilities. Basically, just another form of welfare. How does that correlate to the goals his programs are supposed to accomplish?

I don't get it  but what's new? Walker has been living off of the taxpayers and other supporters for most of his adult life.

Mike Eklund

Mercer



Elect business leaders

It occurred to me on May 24, when local news reported the final approval of the Milwaukee Bucks' regrettably hideous arena, with its enormous public financial taxpayer commitment, that a hard-nosed business executive would have driven a much better deal for Milwaukee ("Council OKs arena designs," May 25).

I would be horrified to see a Donald Trump speaking for the United States on international issues, or leading social and economic domestic agendas, but purely on our city-specific problems, there are veteran CEOs with admirable records of success who I think would not have rolled over and played dead in the unfortunate negotiations with the Bucks hedge fund billionaire owners the way that the mayor and Common Council have done.

Business leaders in the community such as Michael Cudahy, Ed Zore and Jeff Joerres come to mind. Harnessing their strengths and hard-nosed business acumen for Milwaukee, as elected city leaders, would be a lasting benefit to the community.

Mary Harriman

Milwaukee

Please email your letters to jsedit@jrn.com, or mail them to Letters to the editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, P.O. Box 371, Milwaukee, Wis. 53201-0371. Letters are generally limited to 200 words and are subject to editing.
Milwaukee Area Technical College students Dana Lavake (left) and Jessica Jackson work together in their digital electronic class in this April photo. Credit: Angela Peterson

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Student loan debt sits today at about $1.3 trillion. Studies show that many 30- to 40-year-old college graduates will have a lower standard of living than their parents and are not able to purchase homes because of one thing  student loan debt.

Seventy percent of all jobs require a two-year degree or less, yet we dangle the mantra that career and academic success ride on the attainment of that proverbial four-year bachelor's degree. In other words, we are encouraging our students to mortgage their futures for a college degree that might not be necessary. Why?

The annual Manpower Talent Shortage Survey lists the top 10 jobs companies cannot fill. Most require an education level of a two-year degree or less. A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee skills gap report shows that 70% of prospective job openings in Wisconsin through 2020 will require an education level of a high school diploma or less, and then goes on to say, "even if every unemployed person were perfectly matched to existing jobs, over 2/3 of all jobless would still be out of work." Why?

When I speak to high school career planning classes, I ask if anyone is considering a two-year degree, diploma, or apprenticeship. Five to six percent of the students respond with a "yes." The rest of the students indicate they are looking at colleges offering four-year degrees. We then whiteboard their career areas of interest. Ninety-five percent of them would require only a two-year degree or less to enter their chosen field. Only 7% to 9% of high school graduates go on to a technical college. The average age of a technical college student is 30. Why?

In Milwaukee, certain demographic populations have unemployment rates between 30% and 50%. Employers are starved for skilled employees. Technical colleges cannot attract enough students to meet the industry demand for skilled workers, and enrollments are down over 10% at Wisconsin technical colleges. Why?

For years, we have told students to stay out of the trades, factories, customer service and information technology careers because they were being outsourced or they were "dead end" positions. They all now reside at the top of the Manpower Talent Shortage Survey. We tell our children throughout their K-12 years that they need a college degree to be successful. You even hear, "in the future, every job will require a college degree" even though the data does not support that. Why?

We need to rethink the whole notion of higher education, its value, and who really needs it. Not everyone needs formal education after high school. We need to look at the career and academic planning processes used by our schools to make sure parents, students and counselors really understand the educational and career landscape, their options, costs and time frames.

We need to make sure students know which careers match their personal attributes and encourage them to pursue careers in these areas. Students should understand the job market, which careers are in high demand, and which have longevity. Today's graduates will work more than 50 years before they can retire. We need industry to step up and invest in more internships, job shadowing and student sponsorship opportunities that target areas with high unemployment and high schools where students have been literally brainwashed since kindergarten that a four-year college was their only hope for success.

Finally, students need to understand the concept of a career pathway: starting with a two-year degree or diploma, gaining work experience, obtaining further education (preferably employer paid), taking on more responsibility within the workforce, making more money, and on it goes. It is called lifelong learning.

Remember, it does not matter what kind of degree you have or where it is from  if you have no experience, you start at the entry level position, as no one starts at the top. Therefore, target the minimum education needed in order to obtain an entry level job within a field that matches your personality and interests. Do not drink excessively from the student loan well, and do not overeducate yourself.

Steve Burleson is an instructor at the Milwaukee Area Technical College and MATC Virtual Campus Administrator.
State Sen. Frank Lasee lists an apartment in this building at 1645 Swam Road in De Pere as his voting address. Credit: Mark Hoffman

It was surprising enough to learn that state Sen. Frank Lasee was renting out his official residence through the popular online lodging website Airbnb.com.

But here's the real kicker:

At the same time he was doing that with his De Pere apartment, he was pushing legislation that would bar municipalities from imposing room taxes or certain regulations on individuals who post rooms, apartments or homes on short-term rental websites.

Websites like, you know, Airbnb.

"It's a clear conflict of interest," said Madison Mayor Paul Soglin.

Or, at the very least, it raises interesting questions.

Soglin, who opposed Lasee's bill, said the lawmaker should have let people know that he was making his "luxury apartment" available online for anyone to rent at any time for $210 a night.

Then people could decide for themselves if it was proper for the nomadic lawmaker to push the Airbnb bill.

Lasee and his wife, Amy Joy Lasee  the registered host for the rental  pulled the online listing after the Journal Sentinel and other media outlets began publicizing the arrangement just recently. More than a half-dozen people had posted favorable reviews of his apartment.

Republicans and Democrats have long questioned whether Lasee lives in De Pere. His wife owns a house in Racine, and he has said he stays there from time to time. State senators are required to live in their districts once they take office.

Lasee is one of three GOP candidates vying for U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble's soon-to-be vacant seat this fall. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives must simply live in the state that they represent, though it's always good politics to have a place in the district.

Reached last week, Lasee offered a terse response when asked to discuss his Airbnb bill.

"No," the peripatetic senator snapped before hanging up.

Anyway, just because a bill has an impact on a lawmaker doesn't mean he or she has to take a pass on it.

What matters is whether the measure affects an entire class of people and not just a single individual. For example, a representative who is a teacher can vote on or sponsor a bill raising teacher pay because the lawmaker is part of a larger group affected by the measure.

Also, it's not clear if Lasee's bill would have had a direct impact on his apartment rental.

His measure would have prevented local governments from imposing room taxes  which are paid by hotels and bed-and-breakfast inns  or certain other regulations on places rented out for at least seven days.

Lasee's Airbnb listing looked like it would have allowed rentals of any length of time. It offered no discount for weekly or monthly rentals, the listing said.

Lasee has said he mainly rented it out for Packer parties. Lasee's wife made no mention of this when she rejected a request from a Journal Sentinel staffer to stay at the De Pere apartment last month.

Shortly after refusing to take any questions on the issue, Lasee sent a short statement on the need for his Airbnb bill. The bill passed the Assembly this year but died in the Senate. Lasee was the only senator to sponsor the legislation.

"Senate Bill 446 would have greatly benefited homeowners and tourism economies all over the state," Lasee wrote. He added that it would have "reinforced property rights."

Specifically, the bill would have barred any municipality taking steps to prohibit or "unreasonably" restrict the rental of a residential dwelling for seven consecutive days or longer, according to a Legislative Reference Bureau. Local governments also would not have been allowed under the bill to regulate how long or how often a place could be rented out.

Lasee said in his email that his legislation would have helped thousands of Wisconsin families and created a framework for villages and cities to regulate the emerging market of short-term rentals.

"SB 446 didn't deal with rentals shorter than seven days," Lasee wrote. "It would have kept current law that allows municipalities to regulate rentals shorter than seven days as they see fit."

Soglin still was not keen on the plan.

The mayor said he fears the popularity of short-term rentals through Airbnb and VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) could have a harmful effect on communities if not regulated.

He likened the situation to the surge in student housing in Madison after World War II. As a result, affordable housing disappeared in certain neighborhoods, services such as dry cleaners moved out and more than a half-dozen schools closed, Soglin said.

Beyond that, the Democratic mayor said there was no real public discussion of the merits of the legislation before it was approved by the GOP-led Assembly.

No one knew, he said, that Lasee was using Airbnb personally while pushing a bill dealing with Airbnb rentals. Soglin thinks Lasee should be required to disclose such potential conflicts of interest when backing a bill.

"No question about it," said Soglin, who has said he is interested in hiring a new city employee to collect unreported room tax revenues from short-term rentals.

In his annual personal financial disclosure statement, Lasee makes no mention of the fact that he was making money via Airbnb during 2015.

Lasee does list five pieces of "noncommercial real estate" on the form, including his wife's Racine house. The form says lawmakers do not have to list their "principal residence" as noncommercial real estate. Lasee left blank the section on "income-producing real estate."

Lars Fiorio, communications director for Lasee, said the senator's financial form "has been filled out correctly and completely."

Of course, this doesn't matter so much now that Lasee has taken down his Airbnb listing.

Soglin said he was a little surprised the senator responded so quickly to the criticism.

"He's not as bold as I thought," the mayor said.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.
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.
The Venegas family is seen in an undated photo provided by a relative.

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The numerous victims in Saturday's deadly crash in rural Walworth County included a vibrant young family on its way to a relative's wedding.

Carlos Venegas, 26, Maria Flores, 27, and their 2-year-old son, Carlos, were killed when the family's pickup truck was broadsided by a semitrailer truck at Town Hall Road and Highway K in the town of Sharon.

The couple's 6-year-old daughter, Giselle, survived and was in stable condition Monday at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. She is expected to remain there for days, said Rosa Venegas, her aunt.

At least one other person in a third vehicle died, and three others were hospitalized after the crash.

"In 30 years as a firefighter and EMT, it was by far the worst scene I've been to," Sharon Fire and Rescue Chief Bruce VanderVeen said.

Rosa Venegas, 18, said her brother worked two jobs to support his family, his parents and her. She said the family all lived together in Delavan.

She said the couple and their children were on their way to Maria's sister's wedding in Sharon. The bride and groom only knew the family was delayed due to a crash and didn't learn of the severity until after the ceremony.

A funeral Mass was being planned for Friday, said the Rev. Angel Anaya, pastor at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Delavan.

The family has established a page on GoFundMe.com to raise money for expenses. His sister said Venegas worked for several years for Balistreiri Environmental and ran his own landscaping service. Flores worked for U.S. Bank in nearby Elkhorn.

The Walworth County Sheriff's Office initially reported Saturday that an eastbound pickup truck failed to stop at the intersection and was hit by a fully loaded semi going north on Highway K.

The collision sent both vehicles into the path of a southbound GMC Envoy driven by a Rockford, Ill., couple, identified Monday by the sheriff's office as Carol Terry, 67, who was killed, and Mark Terry, 68, who was flown to a Janesville hospital where he remained in critical condition.

The semi driver, Jerry Morris, 52, of Elkhorn, and his passenger, Kevin Grethe, 46, of Sparta, were also hospitalized. The Sheriff's Office's Monday update said their conditions remained the same. VanderVeen said one of the men had been released as of Monday.

The area is generally open and flat, with 55 mph speed limits on both roads. Just a year ago, a motorcyclist was killed at the same intersection by a semi after it entered Highway K without stopping. A neighbor said the stop sign for drivers westbound on Town Hall is often obscured by foliage from an adjacent tree nursery.

Ray Paez, a bilingual teacher who taught Giselle the last two years, said Monday he and school officials were scrambling to have grief counselors on hand when school is back in session Tuesday.

"It's devastating. I'm still reeling," said Paez. He said the area has very tight-knit Latino community, which he expects will do everything it can to support the Venegas family.

"They are a super-nice, hardworking family, and Giselle is just a dream of a student," he said.

VanderVeen, the Sharon Fire and Rescue chief, said it was also traumatic for the 30 or so emergency responders from more than a dozen agencies.

"We had seven people out there at first, and we saw we had eight victims. We were a bit overwhelmed," he said, thanking the many others who came to help.

Three helicopters were at the scene, along with four paramedic ambulances and two doctors. Mark Terry was flown to Janesville and Giselle to Wauwatosa. The third helicopter wasn't needed.

The intersection was blocked off until about 9 p.m. Saturday, VanderVeen said, as the semitrailer had to be unloaded before it could be removed.

He said there was a debriefing scheduled for Monday night, to work out both emotional and procedural aspects of the response.

"We're a small town. We don't get much for a long time. Then when we do, it's nasty," VanderVeen said. "We'll carry it a long time"
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By James Miller | ( RFE/ RL )

The fight against extremists from the Islamic State (IS) militant group is heating up on two fronts.

Since May 23, a coalition consisting of the Iraqi army and primarily Shi'ite militias, backed by U.S. air strikes, has advanced towards Fallujah, 40 kilometers west of Baghdad.

There are estimates that between 50,000 and 100,000 civilians remain in the city, and some residents told USA Today that IS fighters are using them as human shields.

"The Islamic State began moving families living in the outskirts to the center," resident Salem al Halbusi said by telephone. "They are locking some families down inside the hospital building," added al Halbusi, who did not want other information about him disclosed to protect his safety.

The civilian populace could slow Fallujah's liberators down, but those who have successfully fled the city told Reuters that the trapped population could starve before Islamic State is defeated, or be killed while they are trying to flee. Either way, all eyes will be on the coalition that the United States has helped build.

As David Patrikarakos wrote earlier this week for RFE/RL, even if the IS militants are defeated quickly in Fallujah, there is a risk that sectarian tension could be inflamed further in the process. Defeating IS militarily is just the first step toward healing Iraq's and Syria's sectarian wounds and ensuring that another, similar group does not emerge.

A similar pattern is playing out in the battle for Raqqa in northeastern Syria, the capital city for the self-declared Islamic State. As Wladimir van Wilgenburg explained earlier this month, efforts to defeat IS on the Syrian side of the border are being led by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition that includes both Arab and Kurdish fighters. But while the SDF is diverse  and becoming more so  it is still dominated and led by the People's Protection Units (YPG), the fighting branch of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is closely associated with Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Escalation In Turkey

The problem with this is that the PKK  which is designated as a terrorist organization by both the United States and Turkey  is effectively at war with Turkey, a NATO ally and a major stakeholder in the outcome of the war in Syria. In April, U.S. State Department spokesperson John Kirby told the press corps that "YPG's not a designated foreign terrorist organization. PKK is. Nothing's changed about that."

Crucially, however, Turkey does not see a distinction between the PKK and the YPG. Neither do several experts whom RFE/RL consulted in researching this article. One source in territory controlled by the Kurds, who wished to remain anonymous due to security concerns, told RFE/RL that there is no doubt that the YPG reports directly to the PKK's guerrilla leadership.

A report by The Atlantic Council's Aaron Stein and Michelle Foley has established the link between the YPG and PKK, and Kurdish fighters have also confessed that the two are part of the same organization. That report suggests that Turkey was willing to tolerate the YPG as long as IS and the Kurdish group were fighting each other, but that tolerance has reached its end as the fighting between Turkey and the Kurds has heated up.

U.S. soldiers are supporting the YPG on the ground in Syria. Photos taken this week by an AFP photographer show U.S. Special Forces soldiers operating alongside Kurdish fighters near the front lines in Raqqa Province. Some of those soldiers are wearing patches of the YPG and their all-female battle unit the YPJ  patches that, as Syrian expert Michael Weiss points out, are derived from the PKK's flag.

On May 27, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told journalists that "wearing an insignia of a terrorist organization by U.S. soldiers, who are our ally and are assertive about fighting against terrorism, is unacceptable. Our suggestion to them is that they should also wear Daesh [IS], al-Nusra, and al-Qaeda insignias during their operations in other regions of Syria. They can also wear the Boko Haram insignia when they go to Africa.

Hours later, U.S. Army Colonel Steve Warren, the spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the U.S.-led coalition against IS, announced that the soldiers had been instructed to stop wearing the patches, a reversal from statements made by the military just the day before.

Fighting between the PKK and Turkey has escalated in recent weeks.

On May 13, a PKK fighter shot down a Turkish AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter with a Russian-made shoulder-fired SA-18 missile. Experts at The Aviationist and in Turkey said this was the first time the PKK has successfully used an antiaircraft weapon against a Turkish aircraft.

While the source operating in Kurdistan told RFE/RL that the PKK have had such weapons for some time, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War suggested that, while the weapon could have come from Syria or Iraq, "more likely that the PKK acquired the weapon from an external actor."

A likely candidate for supplying the weapon is Russia, which has seen its relationship with the Turkish government disintegrate since the Russian air campaign in Syria began last September. Tensions rose when the Turkish air force shot down a Russian jet in November following several warnings from Turkey that Russian jets were violating its airspace.

The idea that Russia  or its allies in Syria and Iran  could be arming the PKK has been amplified through the Turkish press. The Anadolu Agency has reported that, according to its sources, such efforts began sometime in December after the Russian jet was shot down. Regardless of whether this is true, such accusations could fuel a proxy war between Turkey and Russia, which could further inflame the region.

Pyrrhic Victory?

But which side of that proxy war does the United States take if its main allies in the fight against IS in Syria are the very fighters that Turkey says are waging war against them across the border?

In February, there were heavy clashes between YPG fighters in northwestern Syria and multiple rebel groups, which had been backed and trained by the CIA and Turkey. One now-infamous video showed a rebel group, Liwa' Suqour al-Jabal (The Mountain Hawks Brigade), firing a U.S.-made TOW antitank missile into a YPG tank in the town of Azaz. This led some analysts to conclude that the United States was "in a proxy war with itself" in Syria since it supports some Syrian rebel groups and, via the SDF at least, the Kurdish YPG.

This has two potentially dangerous consequences. The first is that Turkey is a NATO ally that is already under immense pressure. Turkey has signaled that it feels abandoned, or even betrayed, by U.S. policy in Syria, a sentiment which could weaken the NATO alliance. But Turkey is also a Sunni state, and the Sunnis already feel that they have been the victims of U.S. policy in Iraq and Syria. Both of the major offensives against IS, in Syria and in Iraq, could further exacerbate this dynamic.

The sectarian tension between groups that the U.S. currently backs  whether it's the Shi'ite/Sunni tensions in Iraq or the Kurdish/Sunni tensions in Syria  should not be easily dismissed. One should remember that it was sectarian tension in both Iraq and Syria which gave rise to Islamist extremism and sectarian violence there, and the Islamic State militant group is just the newest and most radical incarnation of that tension. Victory over Islamic State is important, but if it weakens the NATO alliance or sets the stage for future sectarian conflicts, it could only be a Pyrrhic victory.



Via RFE/RL

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Related video added by Juan Cole:

Euronews: US troops in Syria to remove Kurdish insignia after Ankara outburst
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By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

On Memorial Day, it is as well to remember that US troops are still at war. Afghanistan is our nations longest such military engagement.

But although there are only about 3,000 troops in Iraq and just a couple hundred in Syria, they are at the front lines in confronting the most dangerous terrorist groups.

After having caught sight of US special operations forces fighting alongside the leftist Kurdish YPG militia in Syria near the Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) HQ of al-Raqqa, Agence France Presse got another coup on Saturday by discovering similar US forces embedded with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters of the Kurdistan Regional Authority in their assault on Daesh position at Khazir to the east of Mosul. The Peshmerga are attempting to liberate from Daesh control several villages near Khazir, which were historically populated by Kurds but had been taken over by the terrorist organization in 2014. AFP reporters were instructed to delete any photographs they took of the US troops.

A former US military officer has said that US troops are actively engaged in fighting at both major remaining fronts against Daesh, al-Raqqa an Mosul. Some 5,000 Peshmerga are involved in the taking of Khazir, which the Pentagon described as one of several shaping operations being engaged in in the Mosul area to soften up Daesh in preparation for the ultimate assault on that city.

The line of the Obama administration had been that US troops on the ground in Iraq and Syria were only trainers and advisors. But in a Sky News interview yesterday, former assistant secretary of state and former brigadier general Mark Kimmitt admitted that here and there the US forces had exceeded that role. He also admitted that it had become difficult for the US to keep it secret. He said it had been found ineffective for US advisers to proffer their counsel from 50 miles away, and that it had been determined that it was better for them to advise while on the battlefield at the front.

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AFP: Iraq Kurds launch offensive east of Mosul
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TeleSur |  

The presumptive GOP nominee told supporters in Fresno, California on Friday that he does not believe the state is currently facing drought-like conditions.

During an electoral campaign speech on Friday, Republican presumptive presidential candidate Donald Trump told California voters that he can solve the states water crisis by simply declaring there is no drought.

Trump accused state officials of diverting precious crop water to protect a three-inch fish, at the behest of environmentalists.

Trump appeared to be referring to longstanding federal laws designed to protect endangered fish by ensuring the species have enough water. The rules dictate how much water from the Sacramento River must run into the ocean.

If I win, believe me, were going to start opening up the water so that you can have your farmers survive, Trump said.

Trump said he spent 30 minutes before the rally meeting with more than 50 farmers who complained to him about their struggles.

The comments came a day after Trump outlined an energy policy plan that relies heavily on expanding U.S. fossil fuel exploration and reducing environmental regulations.

Trump has said in the past he believes global warming is a concept that was invented by China to hurt the competitiveness of U.S. business.

Meanwhile, last week, Donald Trump vowed to renegotiate the global accord on climate change if elected U.S. president causing concern

Via TeleSur



Related video added by Juan Cole:

CNN:  Trump: I will solve California drought
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA / May 30, 2016 / MGX Minerals Inc. (MGX or the Company) (CSE: XMG / FKT: 1MG) is pleased to announce assay results from recent field reconnaissance at its Longworth and Wonah silica properties (collectively the Properties).

Rock chip sampling was carried out by MGXs Vice-President of Exploration, Andris Kikauka (P. Geo). Samples from both Properties were taken from exposed bedrock surfaces. Average assay samples from the Longworth silica property (Longworth) within the Snow zone averaged 99.34% silicon dioxide (SiO2), up to 99.9% SiO2. Assays from the South and Central zones of the Wonah silica property (Wonah) averaged 99.4% SiO2, up to 99.9% SiO2. Rock samples were analyzed by ALS Minerals of North Vancouver, British Columbia using a modified Prep 31 assay preparation package (carbide pulzerizing ring ALS code PUL-33) and finished using whole rock analysis fused bead lithium borate fusion method (ME-ICP-06).

Longworth Silica

MGX owns a 100% undivided interest in 15 contiguous claims covering 1,198 hectares (2,959 acres) located approximately 80 kilometers northeast of Prince George, British Columbia. The primary target for high purity silica at Longworth is Silurian age Nonda Formation quartzite, which has been identified as steeply dipping layers approximately 100-300 meters in width along the western flank of the Bearpaw Ridge, reaching a thickness of up to 400 meters. Longworth features four zones of high purity silica- the Snow, Rain, Long and Doll zones- consisting of white colored quartzite approximately 100-400 meters in width and intermittently exposed over a strike length of six kilometers.

It is reported as pure, massive and homogenous, and composed of well-sorted and well-rounded quartz grains averaging 0.5 mm in diameter. Consolidated Silver Standard Mines ("Silver Standard") conducted exploration and metallurgical work at Longworth during the 1980s (MINFILE No. 093H 038). Internal reports by Silver Standard suggested positive results as a potential feed source for silicon metal smelting (Quartermain, 1986). Of the 42 samples collected and analyzed by Silver Standard, 28 met the required chemical specifications with silica dioxide (SiO2) levels ranging between 98.84 and 99.80 percent (Assessment Report 14815). Twelve of 16 samples also boasted acceptable levels of thermal shock resistance for production of silicon metal. Sampling of outcrop across the Snow claim has shown consistent high grade (~99%) SiO2 levels. Longworth is listed as one of the top silica occurrences in the Province of British Columbia by the BCGS (Simandl, 2014).

Major oxide analysis results from five of ten samples taken at Longworth from the Snow zone are shown in the table below:

Sample ID % SiO2 % Fe2O3 % CaO % MgO % Al2O3 % Na2O % K2O % LOI % Total 903 99.5 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.13 0.04 0.04 0.09 99.85 907 99.6 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.27 0.01 0.06 0.23 100.24 908 99.9 0.03 0.01 0.01 0.14 0.06 0.04 0.07 100.27 909 99.8 0.03 <0.01 0.01 0.17 0.01 0.05 0.15 100.23 910 98.7 0.03 0.01 0.02 0.4 0.07 0.13 0.18 99.56

Average values from 10 rock chip samples taken from the Snow zone at Longworth are listed below:

% SiO2 % Fe2O3 % CaO % MgO % Al2O3 % Na2O % K2O % LOI % Total 99.34 0.028 0.012 0.014 0.205 0.039 0.06 0.122 99.834

Wonah Silica Discussion and Results

The Wonah silica property consists of two minerals claims covering 166.5 hectares (411.3 acres) located approximately 45 kilometers northeast of Cranbrook, British Columbia. A ridge where steeply dipping Ordovician age Wonah Formation quartzite is exposed over a total strike length of approximately 850 meters was sampled. The Wonah Quartzite forms two lenses- the Central zone, which has been traced for approximately 500 meters, and the South zone, which has been traced 350 meters along strike. The quartzite is a pure white colored, highly competent unit that is 50 meters in width, steeply dipping and trending north-northeast. A total of 11 rock chip quartzite samples (ID 15WONAH-1 to 11) were taken from the Central and South zones. Highlights from whole rock geochemical analysis are summarized in the table below:

Sample ID % SiO2 % Fe2O3 % CaO % MgO % Al2O3 % Na2O % K2O % LOI % Total 15WONAH-3 99.7 0.02 0.03 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.01 <0.01 0.08 15WONAH-4 99.5 0.04 0.04 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.03 <0.01 0.1 15WONAH-6 98.9 0.05 0.03 0.01 <0.01 0.01 0.03 <0.01 0.1 15WONAH-8 99.9 0.06 0.04 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 <0.01 0.11 15WONAH-10 99.5 0.03 0.03 0.01 <0.01 0.02 0.03 <0.01 0.11

Average geochemical analysis values from quartzite samples 15WONAH-1 to 15WONAH-11 are reported in the table below:

% SiO2 % Fe2O3 % CaO % MgO % Al2O3 % Na2O % K2O % P2O5 % LOI % Total 99.4 0.042 0.006 0.012 0.067 0.013 0.027 0.010 0.124 99.71

Discussion of Results

The relatively high SiO2 content (98.7-99.9% SiO2) of rock samples from the Properties compare favorably with other silica sand producers operating near Golden, British Columbia. Impurity compounds of interest (Al2O3, MgO, CaO and Fe2O3) approach specifications considered suitable for production of silicon metal, glass making (including production of fiberglass & ceramics), filler applications and ferrosilicon. Development of these Properties could support new silicon metal production which generally requires the high purity quartzite form of silica found at the Properties as opposed to silica sand. There are currently no silicon metal producers in western North America and advancement of the Properties has the potential to provide feedstock in support of the development of west coast production and for export to the high demand markets of the Pacific Rim.

Further metallurgical testing for use of material for silicon metal or ferrosilicon production and other end uses is warranted. The SiO2-reactivity test (also known as the Hanover drum test), which measures thermal stability of quartz and tests for reducing agents, is important to optimize the effectiveness of process design. Primary silicon metal end use markets include solar panels. Additional metallurgy and exploration work on the Snow and Rain zones at Longworth and the South and Central zones at Wonah are planned for the near future.

Qualified Person

This press release was prepared under the supervision and review of Andris Kikauka, P. Geo. and Vice President of Exploration for MGX Minerals. Mr. Kikauka is a non-independent Qualified Person within the meaning of National Instrument (N.I.) 43-101 Standards.

Contact Information

Jared Lazerson

Chief Executive Officer

MGX Minerals Inc.

Telephone: 604.681.7735

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information or forward-looking statements (collectively "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "postulate" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various factors. The reader is referred to the Company's public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects which may be accessed through the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com
[JURIST] The US District Court for the Southern District of California [official website] ordered [order, PDF] Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump [political website] on Friday to release internal documents pertaining to Trump University, the terminated education program that is currently the focus of two class action lawsuits. The suits were brought [WP report] by two San Diego students who accused Trump University of making false promises to those that enrolled. The Washington Post [official website] intervened in the case and requested the court to unseal exhibits of public interest by way of the First Amendment right of access. Judge Gonzalo Curiel granted the Posts request, finding that Trumps status as the Republican front-runner of the 2016 presidential election places the integrity of [the] court proceedings at issue. While Trump argued that the release of trade secrets and business playbooks would damage the possibility of revitalizing the program, Curiel found that such assertions were not well supported. In response to the order, Trump expressed concern that the judge issued a politically biased determination. Curiel has currently set a trial date for November to settle the matter.

Trump University was a real-estate educational program that operated [CNN report] from 2005 until its closing in 2010. Though the program had no physical location and was not licensed as an educational institution, it enrolled an estimated 10,000 students in classes geared towards achieving business success. In 2013, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman [official profile] brought [NYT backgrounder] a $40 million lawsuit against Trump University accusing the program of defrauding over 5,000 students.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] expressed confidence [HRW report] on Monday that former first lady Simone Gbagbos upcoming trial in Ivory Coast for crimes against humanity could be a pivotal moment for justice. HRW also warned that if the trial is to be meaningful to victims, it must be credible, fair and followed by trials of other high-level rights abusers in the 2010-11 post-election crisis, regardless of their respective allegiance or political affiliation. The prosecution alleges Gbagbo participated in a crisis committee consisting of leaders from the political party of her husband Laurent Gbagbo [BBC profile] and key government ministers that planned and organized abuses against Ouattara supporters that resulted in 3,000 deaths. According to the prosecution, this was done to keep her husband in power at all costs. Gbagbo has also been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] for crimes against humanity during the post-election crisis. HRWs West Africa Researcher Jim Wormington stated that Simone Gbagbos trialthe first in Ivory Coast for crimes against humanityshould be an opportunity for victims of pro-Gbagbo forces to learn the truth about her alleged role in abuses. Gbagbo has been in custody in the Ivory Coast since April 2011 and is awaiting trial which is scheduled to begin this Tuesday. The ICC trial of Laurent Gbagbo began last January in The Hague.

In November 2010 Laurent Gbagbo ran for reelection against former prime minister Alassane Ouattara [BBC profile]. The EU recognized that Ouattara defeated Gbagbo, but Gbagbo refused to concede victory [JURIST report]. Gbagbo has been accused [JURIST report] of starting a civil war after losing the presidency, which resulted in 3,000 deaths and the displacement of one million people. In May 2015, a panel of appeals judges for the ICC affirmed [JURIST report] a ruling against former first lady Simone Gbagbo that allows the case to go forward to trial. However, the Ivory Coast government has so far refused to turn Simone Gbagbo over [JURIST report] to the ICC, instead insisting that their own courts can effectively dispense justice. However, some human rights groups representing the victims have refused to participate in Gbagbos trial citing an incomplete investigation into her role in the abuses and breaches of Cote dIvoires criminal procedure in the preparations for the trial. At the time of announcement of her trial, Gbagbo was already sentenced to 20 years in jail for attacking state authority in the 2010-11 post-election period. Laurent Gbagbo pleaded not guilty in January to charges of crimes against humanity at the start of his trial at the ICC. He faces four charges of crimes against humanity for murder, attempted murder, rape and persecution during a wave of post-election violence between December 2010 and April 2011.
[JURIST] A court in Senegal convicted former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre [BBC profile] of crimes against humanity committed during his rule from 1982 to 1990 and sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday. He was found guilty [BBC report] of sex slavery, rape and the ordered killings of an estimated 40,000 people. Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] lawyer Reed Brody, who initiated the trial, stated [official Twitter]:

This verdict sends a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalize their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end. Today will be carved into history as the day that a band of unrelenting survivors brought their dictator to justice.

This trial marks the first time a court with backing from the African Union [official website] has tried a former ruler for human rights violations, and also the first time a former African head of state was found guilty by an another African country. Habre has fifteen days to appeal the sentence.

Habre, who fled to Senegal after being deposed in 1990, was indicted [JURIST report] by the Extraordinary African Chambers in July 2013 and placed in pretrial detention. In September the former leader was carried into court [JURIST report] by masked security agents following his refusal to participate in his own trial. In July the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal suspended [JURIST report] his trial on charges of crimes against humanity, torture and war crimes, reportedly due to the need for court appointed lawyers to prepare the former leaders defense. In March 2015 a criminal court in Chad sentenced [JURIST report] Habre-era police officers to prison tor torture. In 2013 more than 1,000 victims filed for civil party status, asking the Extraordinary African Chambers to officially recognize them as parties with an interest in the matter. The African Union began talks with Senegal to come up with a plan for Habres trial after the International Court of Justice [official website] ruled [JURIST report] in July 2012 that Senegal must either try Habre promptly or extradite him to Belgium for trial.
[JURIST] The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) [official website] on Friday expressed concern [press release] over the poor living conditions of several refugee camps located in northern Greece. Refugees were recently transferred [official report] to the sites of concern after being properly evacuated from the makeshift camp at Idomeni, located on the Greek border. While it was agreed that evacuation was a necessary action, the UNHRC deplored the lack of toilets, showers, electricity, air circulation, food, water and aid in the new camps, in violation of basic human rights. Refugees echoed the UNHRCs concerns, stating that the new camps do not adequately provide basic requirements. The UNHRC is currently cooperating with the Alternate Minister of Interior to improve conditions where possible and find alternatives that meet humanitarian standards.

The rights of refugee and migrant populations has emerged as one of the most significant humanitarian issues around the world. Last month, several aid organizations urged [JURIST report] EU leaders to stop deportations of migrants from Greece to Turkey and to stop detaining asylum seekers. Also last month, Human Rights Watch reported [JURIST report] that the first deportation of 66 people from the Greek island of Chios to Turkey was riddled with an array of irregularities. This deportation is significant, as it gives the EU cause for concern over Turkeys respect for human rights, and earlier in April the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights called on [JURIST report] Turkey to focus on human rights in the wake of their anti-terrorism security measures. Last month UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged [JURIST report] world leaders to accept more refugees and to combat the growing international anti-refugee sentiments. In addition, last month, an independent UN human rights expert encouraged EU leaders to remain steadfast [JURIST report] in their obligations to handle the recent influx of migrants to the EU and to avoid making Turkey the gatekeeper
KEARNEY  Buffalo County will be housing six Nebraska State Penitentiary inmates as part of a deal to temporarily relieve prison overcrowding.

The Buffalo County Board of Supervisors approved an agreement Tuesday with the state to house the inmates at the Buffalo County Jail. The county will receive $75 a day per inmate, and the state will pay for all medical expenses incurred by the inmates. Sheriff Neil Miller described the deal as a cooperative agreement between the state and Buffalo County.

I think we can make it work, Miller said. We can try six and see how it goes. For six inmates, its a good deal for the people of Buffalo County.

Miller said the jail will not be taking on inmates who have committed major crimes such as murder or sexual assault of children. The inmates will be housed in a separate cell block from the jails pre-trial or pre-sentencing inmates and will be treated differently from those prisoners.

The county has the right to send inmates back to the state at any time if the agreement is not working out, Miller said.

Miller said if the first six inmates work out, the jail could house more in the future.

After a couple of months, if it works out, we could go to 12, Miller said. But thatd be as much as Id wanted to take on.

In other business, the board approved several changes to its employee reimbursement policies.

Buffalo County employees who go on overnight trips or conferences now will be reimbursed for meal expenses through a per-diem policy. Currently, Buffalo County employees must submit receipts for actual expenses to get reimbursement.

Supervisor Sherry Morrow of Kearney said she was completely in favor of switching to per diem, calling actual expense reimbursement a flipping nightmare.

Im real opinionated about this. (Taking receipts) is a tremendous time waster, she said. We spent way more on employee costs than just going to a per diem.

Deputy County Attorney Kari Fisk, who presented the policy changes to the board, said an employee will be required to submit a conference agenda, and the per diem amount will not include money for any meals or banquets that are included in the conference.

County Attorney Shawn Eatherton and Miller also expressed their support for per-diem reimbursement. The board approved the switch.

The board tabled until its July 22 meeting a resolution to make approving and denying fringe benefits more consistent. Fisk said the county has a policy in place, but it needs to be a more uniform process. She will draft a form for county employees to use.

A discussion about taxing unmarked county vehicles being used for commutes also was tabled until July 22. The county would tax employees $1.50 per commute. A log policy is needed so there are more concrete travel records, Fisk said.

The county also is exploring whether or not entering into an agreement with a rental car company would be cheaper than maintain and owning some county vehicles, Fisk said.

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GIBBON - Seven Gibbon- and Shelton-area servicemen will be honored Friday for their service as they prepare to ship out to Iraq.

A "We Care" troop recognition barbecue, sponsored by the Sons of the American Legion and Legion posts in the two communities, is planned for 6 to 9 p.m. Friday behind the Gibbon American Legion. If the weather is bad Saturday, the event will be Sunday.

The 1195th Transportation Company of the Nebraska National Guard, based in Kearney, will be deployed in April.

The men to be honored Friday are James Perot, Jacob Borgmann, Andrew Galloway and Zach Altwine, all of Shelton, and Brycen Gillming, Tim Smallcomb and Chad Ohlman, all of Gibbon.

The barbecue is open to the public. Donations will be accepted to defray the cost of the meal and the cost of postage to send care packages to local soldiers stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Also, the Fort Kearney Chapter of the American Red Cross is collecting donated items to include in gift bags for 1195th soldiers when they are mobilized. Items the Red Cross hopes to collect are phone cards, stationary, envelopes, individual drink mixes, nonperishable snacks, hand sanitizer and similar items. For a complete list of items, call 234-2770.
GRAND ISLAND  Grand Island police officers responded to possible threats involving Grand Island Senior High School Wednesday morning prior to the arrest of a second teenager for a weekend shooting.

Eight or nine officers manned entrances at GISH from shortly after 7 a.m. until they were notified Billy Aguilar Jr., 16, was arrested at 10:20 a.m., said Police Chief Steve Lamken.

Aguilar had been wanted for the Friday night shooting of 15-year-old Thuc Akur at 719 W. Ninth St.

Akur was shot in the chest and has been hospitalized in Kearney in stable condition.

Another Grand Island teenager, Tyler Porter, 17, was arrested at about 4 p.m. Monday in connection with the same shooting. He has been charged with aiding and abetting first-degree assault.

The officers who responded to GISH Wednesday morning were armed with standard-issue rifles in addition to their handguns, Lamken said.

They are more accurate than a sidearm, he said. They were the right tool.

Questions about the use of the rifles angered the chief, and he reiterated they were the right equipment for the job.

Police presence was explained during a news conference at GISH in which Superintendent Steve Joel and Senior High Principal Kent Mann described security measures taken after rumors of alleged retaliatory threats were texted between students. At least three Connect-Ed calls were made Wednesday morning to parents and guardians letting them know about the rumors and security actions.

Lamken said it is hard to know whats real and whats rumor.

However, in this case, the information that was circulating named Aguilar, who was already a suspect in a serious crime, Lamken said.

Id rather err on the side of safety, he said.

The chief added that some students left school while police were on scene but that was handled by the school. He said the school district and police have a good relationship and worked together Wednesday morning.

A warrant had been issued for Aguilar, charging him with first-degree assault and using a gun to commit a felony. He will likely appear before a Hall County Court judge this morning.

According to the arrest warrant affidavits filed with Aguilars and Porters charges, the shooting occurred after a fight broke out at a Ninth Street residence, which is the home of Everett Ramirez. At one point, Porter and Aguilar tried to break through the back door and managed to break it enough so Aguilar was could reach in and fire six rounds. As the shooter was leaving, one round was fired through a window and another was fired through the living room window, according to the affidavits.

Philbeck said he had no information of any other suspects being sought in connection with the case, which officers initially reported as potentially being gang-related.

Porter, Aguilar and Akur all have juvenile and adult criminal records. All three have also been state wards.

Porters criminal history includes shoplifting, curfew violations, obstructing a police officer, driving under the influence, theft, criminal mischief and four counts of being a minor in possession of alcohol. The cases date back to August 2005.

Aguilars history includes at least four counts of third-degree assault, three counts of burglary, and one count each of criminal mischief, driving under suspension, DUI, trespassing and resisting arrest. His cases date back to February 2008.

Akur has been charged in the past with theft by receiving stolen property, a curfew violation, driving under suspension and the unauthorized use of a propelled vehicle. His cases date back to April 2008.

Philbeck said Aguilar is the son of Billy R. Aguilar, 33, of Grand Island. The older Aguilar is currently serving a sentence of 23 to 40 years at the Lincoln Correctional Center for the attempted murder of his cousin, Mario Aguilar, whom he shot in February 2003.

Grand Island (NE) Independent
KEARNEY  Two Kearney teens are accused of selling marijuana near Kearney High School.

Jordan Poff, 19, and Sable Sawyer, 17, are charged as adults in Buffalo County Court with felony distribution of the drug in a school zone. Theyre also accused of felony possession of two controlled substances and misdemeanor possession of a third controlled substance.

Court records outline the case against them:

Wednesday, Kearney Police Department officers went to Poff and Sawyers home in the 400 block of West 24th Street looking for a third woman. When police obtained permission to search Poffs home for the woman, they smelled a strong odor of marijuana. In a bedroom, police found a marijuana bong and several posters with pictures of marijuana leaves on them.

Police detained Poff until they could obtain a search warrant for her home. After the warrant was obtained, police found a glass jar containing 15 plastic bags of suspected marijuana, a prescription bill bottle containing three pills and a digital scale, all in a footstool.

The prescription bottle was not for Poff or Sawyer.

Two additional baggies were located elsewhere in the house. In all, the drugs weighed about 3 ounces.

Also located in the footstool were two Flexeril and one Xanax pill. In the bathroom of Poffs home police also located Dyhyrodo-PE cough syrup.

Flexeril is a muscle relaxant, while Xanax is used for behavioral issues. The cough syrup contained codeine, a narcotic controlled substance. All of the medications are illegal to possess without a prescription. However, none of the prescriptions were issued to Poff.

The home is within 1,000 feet of Central Elementary School.

Poff was arrested and taken to the Buffalo County Jail where she posted 10 percent of $20,000, or $2,000, and is free. She is scheduled to appear in court in February.

Sawyer was arrested later, given a personal recognizance bond and released.

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OMAHA -- An up-close look at the elephants didnt appear to disappoint any in the huge crowd that surged through the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquariums gates Sunday.

Ive been watching their story through Facebook since they brought the elephants here from Swaziland, said Jean Rolf of Brookings, South Dakota. Im glad that we found the opportunity to get down here and see them.

Rolf and her husband, Gary, were among the thousands visiting the zoo Sunday, the first weekend of its $73 million, 28-acre African Grasslands exhibit, which opened Friday.

More than 8,000 people had passed through the front gates within the first two hours. By late afternoon the number exceeded 20,000, according to a zoo spokeswoman. A typical Sunday draws 7,000 to 8,000 total.

That meant plenty of waiting.

For some visitors, the normal 10-minute trip from downtown to the zoo took about 45 minutes as cars lined 13th Street in both directions. Officers from the Omaha Police Department were on hand to direct traffic coming off Interstate 80.

A tour of the zoo parking lots found license plates from as far away as Michigan and Arizona. Surrounding states like South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa and Kansas were well-represented.

Crowd favorites on exhibit Sunday included elephants, giraffes, sables and lions. The muddy ground and ongoing construction, however, meant that the elephants and giraffes were in smaller enclosures than they normally will be. It also meant that they were close to visitors  in some cases, within 15 feet.

Robert and Irina Pavlovic brought their 3-year-old daughter, Arianna, from Kansas City, Missouri, without knowing it was a special weekend for the zoo. They liked being able to get a close look at the elephants and giraffes.

Im absolutely in love with it, Irina Pavlovic said. Its amazing to see these animals. We love the elephants. Thats our favorite.

The traffic getting to the zoo was the biggest surprise for her husband, who is a police officer in Kansas City. He had to recheck a traffic app on his smartphone when it told him that he was only 4 miles  but 40 minutes  away from the zoo.

Other than the crowd, everything has been great, he said. As a police officer, Im kind of, like, Look at all these people! 

Some visitors, such as Thomas and Sara Hembry of St. Louis were getting reacquainted with Nebraskas No. 1 tourist attraction. The Hembrys and their 3-year-old daughter, Olivia, came for a wedding Saturday and stayed over to see the animals.

Its amazing what theyve done, said Thomas Hembry, who last visited the zoo 15 to 20 years ago. My favorite things are the indoor rain forest and the aquarium.

For his wife, the close proximity to the animals is the zoos best feature.

You can get up close to everything they have, she said. Thats the really neat part for me.

The big crowd meant sometimes bumping into other guests. Jenny Holmes of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, found a table with an umbrella out of the way to rest with sons Ian, 6, and Logan, 3, before a ride on the zoo train.

She expects to deal with crowds when the family visits the zoo about once a year.

Last year we came down over Labor Day, and traffic is just as bad this time, she said. We figured it would be busy, and we were right.

The farther from the African Grasslands exhibit visitors got, the more room there was to roam.

Jordan Johnson, Bailey Pierce and Braeden Whitney of Salt Lake City were worried about the crowd when it took about 30 minutes to get tickets.

I dont like crowds, so I was kind of grumbling, Johnson said.

But its not too bad after you get down in here away from some of the (more popular) exhibits, Johnson said. (Bailey) loves animals, so shes been in heaven for the whole three hours weve been in here.

Whitney said a zoo back home in Utah cant even compare with the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium.

For me, I like how spacious everything is, he said. Theres a lot of people here, but theres really lots of room.
FILE - In this Wednesday, May 25, 2016 file photo, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter comments on the course an unmanned surface vehicle traveled in the bay, which he had plotted on a computer at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, R.I. China on Monday, May 30, lashed out at criticism from Carter, accusing him of harboring a Cold War mentality and saying Beijing has no interest in "playing a role in a Hollywood movie" of Washington's design. (AP Photo/Jennifer McDermott, File)
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This past month I had the opportunity to present at a medical conference; my research topic was burnout and depression in osteopathic family medicine residents. A variety of attending physicians and residents stopped by my poster, excited to see this topic being brought to light. With the recent rise in physician dissatisfaction and suicide, there has been increased attention to finally start addressing this issue.

I was super excited about giving an intellectually stimulating presentation on a topic I am very passionate about and having a meaningful conversation with my judge. I smiled and shook the hand of the elderly physician who walked up to me with a click board. He fumbled while trying to find his grading sheet seeming discombobulated. After giving him a helping hand, I was ready to start the conversation. To my surprise, one of the first comments out of my judges mouth was You look cyanotic. I glanced down at my hands thinking that maybe I was cold, however confused I looked back up at him. Your nail polish, he remarked.

Now, being that the conference was in Puerto Rico, I had decided to get a manicure and pedicure after successfully completing my fourth year of medical school and getting accepted into my number one residency choice. As it is a tropical place, I decided to get a teal color  something light and fitting. As a female in medicine, I am used to hearing remarks in regards to how I dress, my haircut, my nails and all things superficial from both patients and other colleagues.

However to have this brought up as the first thing my judge noticed about me was appalling; he didnt ask about my accomplishments or the fact that I had successfully conducted and published the research study I was presenting on. No, he instead chose to focus on my appearance and outwardly vocalize his disapproval.

Well, being the kind of person I am, I brushed this off and continued enthusiastically giving my presentation. The judge quickly showed his lack of knowledge and interest in the topic. He constantly interrupted before I had a chance to explain and provide further information; it was as if he was trying to speed me up, though I was well within the time frame given me.

The best part was yet to come. The elderly physician proceeded to ask, Do you think there is an age difference in regards to burnout? I responded, In the two studies that we conducted we didnt find a significant difference in age. However if I was to postulate based on previous studies, I would say that burnout rates are higher among older physicians as they have been exposed to much more. At this, he scoffed, I think its the opposite. Burnout is higher in younger docs, do you know why?

As I tried to quickly ponder over the hours of research, I read to come up with an intellectual reason for this statement I was at a loss. So I proceeded to ask the judge as to why he thought this was the case. Well you see, he began, You new generation of doctors are a bunch of wimps. When you guys get hit in the head with a beam you sit down and cry; but when my generation got hit, wed get up and keep going. Burnout and depression were never any issues in my generation of doctors.

At hearing this, I was absolutely shocked; I didnt know how to respond. I had a bunch of facts I wanted to shoot out at him, but by the look on his face, he didnt want to hear them. I missed a teaching opportunity out of fear of being perceived as disrespectful or condescending. So now, after taking some time to digest what this judge said I wanted to present some basic facts:

The term burnout was first introduced in the 1970s by psychologist Herbert Freudenberger, who noted that this syndrome was most commonly seen in helping professions, such as doctors and nurses.

Since that time, burnout has been studied in all stages of the medical training trajectory: from student to resident to attending physician.

There is high occurrence of burnout among medical students and physicians, with rates ranging from 25 percent to 75 percent.

During residency training, burnout is the most prevalent resident impairment, more so than either depression or substance abuse.

Burnout has been linked with poor health, sleep issues, depression, hypertension, anxiety, alcoholism, and myocardial infarction.

Medical errors have also been linked with burnout in a cause and effect relationship: For each 1-point increase in depersonalization, there is an 11 percent increased likelihood of reporting a major medical error.

Burnout and physician dissatisfaction are related to increased rates of job turnover, absenteeism, decreased job performance and reduced job commitment.

Over half of current physicians state that if given the opportunity to choose again, they would not choose medicine as a career.

Suicide rates are steadily increasing, with male physician rates being 70 percent higher and female physician rates being 250 to 400 percent higher when compared to their nonphysician gender counterparts.

Further, patients of unhappy physicians are less likely to follow prescribed treatment plans.

So no, burnout was not created by a new generation of wimps. No, it is not OK to keep ignoring something that is killing almost an entire class of medical students a year. Yes, burnout did and does exist in your generation of doctors, the only difference is no one was willing to talk about it; just because something is swept under the rug doesnt mean it doesnt exist.

And to you, dear judge, I sincerely hope you never actually get hit in the head with a beam, but if heaven forbid you do I hope the physician taking care of you isnt so emotionally exhausted and depersonalized that she/he isnt able to properly take care of you.

Jessica Lapinski is a family medicine resident.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Click to Listen http://palisaderadio.com/george-glasier-uranium-legend-talks-upcoming-uranium-boom-and-best-way-to-play/

Palisade Radio is brought to you by First Majestic Silver Corp., one of the worlds purest and fastest growing silver mining companies.

Palisade Radio Host, Collin Kettell: Welcome back to another episode of Palisade Radio. This is your host, Collin Kettell. On the line with us today is a guest you might be familiar with if you have been in the uranium business for some time or if you participated as an investor in the last major uranium boom. His name is George Glasier and he was previously the president and CEO of Energy Fuels from 2006 until 2010. George, welcome to the program.

President and CEO, Western Uranium, George Glasier: Thank you, Collin.

CK: During your time at Energy Fuels you managed to put together a world class management team, acquire several uranium projects, and successfully permit the Pinon Ridge uranium mill in Colorado which was the first uranium mill to be permitted in the USA in 25 years. We were just talking about before we hit record on the interview that in your first year as president of Energy Fuels the stock appreciated by 4500%. That is not a typo. It went up 45 times in 2006 and ended the year as a biggest gainer by far on the TSX.

I want to start by highlighting the power of uranium as an investment for people coming into the space. There are so few companies to invest in; so few of quality that when interest comes into the space, as we have seen in the past, there are explosive moves. George, what is going to make another uranium boom come like we had back from 2002 to 2007?

GG: Well, I think the same forces are in play today. Basically the worldwide supply will not meet the worldwide demand. You take a look at all the projections and starting as early as maybe 2018, 2019 we are going to be short of uranium. Of course when the supply cannot supply needs prices are going to go up and it takes a long time to bring a uranium project on line. What we have is a situation where the shortage of uranium will not be satisfied even with a drastic increase in the price because it takes so long to bring projects on line. We have seen over the last couple of years projects being curtailed or actually shut down because of the low price of uranium we have today. That is going to compound the problem and theoretically skyrocket that price in that time frame.

CK: Well, George, let us step back a little bit to before 2006 and talk about how you found yourself in the small niche space like uranium. You quickly rose to the top and had one of the most successful companies at the time. How did you find yourself in the uranium space?

GG: Well, I started in uranium business back in the late 70s with a startup company, a privately-owned company. It became the largest producer in the United States; twice as big as anybody else. That company was very, very successful. But we sold the company because of the death of the majority owner. I got out of the uranium business in the early 90s. The price of uranium was pretty low on those days so I got into some other business ventures and stayed in those things until the uranium price started up in 2003, 2004 time period.

I started looking at the industry again and in 2005 decided it was time to try it again, so I set up a company called Energy Fuels and listed it on the Toronto Stock Exchange. That was when you talked about the drastic increase in the share price of Energy Fuels in 2006. We listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange with a reverse merger with a shell corporation and basically took that corporation and put in the key uranium assets that I had acquired. Obviously that is the company called Energy Fuels today which is a very, very successful uranium company in the US although I am not in management I'm still a shareholder in that company. That is kind of my real quick background.

I got out of the management of Energy Fuels in 2010 to take care of some of my other business interests and then got back into the uranium business about two years ago with the acquisition of some assets from Energy Fuels. That was how Western Uranium really got its start by acquiring some of the original assets I acquired for Energy Fuels. We did another reverse merger to go public and this time on the Canadian Stock Exchange and that is where we kind of stand the day.

CK: Well, we are going to get into Western Uranium a little bit more as we get deeper into the interview here. In terms of uranium, one of the reasons that I find it to be such an exciting investment is it is one of the few commodities where when the price of the actual commodity skyrockets, it does not necessarily affect the use of the commodity. That is because nuclear reactors, as a percentage of other costs, their fuel cost is only about 1 or 2%. When the price of uranium goes up substantially it does not cut back on the amount of people or utilities that want to use nuclear power. George, can you talk a little bit more about all of the reactors going on line and then the upcoming demand that we are going to see in the next few years that is going to drive the uranium price up?

GG: Sure. Of course in the world today we are our producing a great deal of electricity with nuclear energy. In the US we are the biggest producer of nuclear electricity, not as a percentage but actually in production. We got about a hundred reactors in operation and about three or four under construction and that is going to continue. There is no reason to shut these reactors down. There had been a number of reactors  a few reactors of the older design  shut down because they are somewhat inefficient and could not meet the new safety standards. But the new reactors being built now will produce some of the cheapest power that we have in the US.

This is the case around the world. China, India, and Russia are all building nuclear power plants at a break neck pace because the fact is, I think as you said, the fuel cost of reactors is almost insignificant in cost of production of electricity, and, of course, they are carbon free. It is one of those sources that produce electricity 24 hours a day without any carbon output. That is another real plus if you are looking at global warming. You have got to go to some sources to produce electricity around the clock. Nuclear is the only one that does carbon free other than, of course, hydro. But hydro is, again, limited by your hydro resources. Those countries that do not have that resource are looking to nuclear power. That is one of the things that are going to drive the boom of uranium. To fuel all our reactors, you got to have the uranium supply.

CK: Well, George, you just highlighted the demand for uranium in the USA. What you did not touch on is the source of uranium, which many of our listeners might know, primarily is sourced from outside the United States and imported that was done through a deal with Russia which has expired a couple of years ago where they were disassembling warheads and using the fuel for power in the US. Now a lot of the fuels coming from other countries, only a few million pounds, are actually produced in the US. That might be part of the reason why the new company you started just about 18 months ago, it is called Western Uranium; it is listed on the Canadian Exchange under WUC. You actually just got your listing earlier this week on OTCQX, which is significant in that US investors can now easily buy shares of the company. Congratulations on getting that listing.

But just in twelve to eighteen months you have already assembled some great assets. You have over 100 million pounds of uranium in the United States and you have control of a proprietary mining technology which we can talk about that is going to totally revolutionize the uranium mining business. On top of all that you have access to a fully permitted mill and a tolling agreement with an already existing mill. George, why not start out by giving us the overview of Western Uranium that you would give to an investor hearing it for the very first time?

GG: Okay, I would be happy to do that. We started the company only about eighteen months ago by acquiring some of the key assets in Colorado and Utah from Energy Fuels. Along with this were seven mines that were already permitted for operation and that is a key. Having mines you can put into production fairly quickly will allow us to be one of the next producers in the US or in the world. The assets you mentioned with the acquisition, the merger with another company called Black Range Minerals; that created a very large asset base in the United States. All of our assets are in the United States and that is one of the keys. The US now produces less than 10% of its consumption when you are talking about nuclear energy fuel. We think the US will be a key in providing additional fuel especially the US utilities that generate nuclear power.

We are asset based including as you mentioned the only fully licensed uranium mill that has yet to be built in the United States and a toll-milling agreement with the only existing mill that is operational in the United States. We are in a position to be in production fairly quickly, so that is kind of the basis. Then along with the acquisition of Black Range we acquire the rights to this new technology called ablation mining technology, which should, in our estimation, reduce the cost of production of uranium from the type of deposits that we have. This technology has been tested on a commercial scale, but it has not been employed at a mine site yet. Our next goal is to put this technology, actually at a permitted mine, and start the production.

CK: Well, worldwide cost of production, as defined by most mines which are hard rock mining techniques, are $50 to $60 per pound. Therefore, you have a lot of companies out there that are in a sitting and waiting game. You have pure optionality plays. Most of the uranium companies that exist today have spent tens of millions of dollars building up deposits that have no viability to go into production at current prices. While we do believe that uranium prices will go to $60 and beyond possibly in the next few years, you have decided to go ahead and put together a company that could be viable at $30, $35, $40 per pound and quite profitable through this ablation technology.

I would rather let you explain the ablation than me doing so, but essentially it is a technology that works within the mine. It turns the sandstone into a slurry. It then under high pressure shoots the slurry at itself which upgrades the uranium/vanadium ore by seven to eight times, and so by the time that you get your ore out of the mine gate you already are upgraded by a factor of eight times, which, of course, cuts down significantly on the cost. Do you mind adding to that a bit?

GG: I think that is a good description of the process. It is a patented process that was developed by some scientists from Wyoming, and even though it sounds simple it is not as simple as it sounds. There had been attempts to upgrade uranium ore over the past fifty years to find ways to cut the cost. The biggest problem in a lot of these is it could not be put into a commercial production scenario where the ablation technology has been put into a commercially or continuous slow process. It will take basically the rock out of the mine and allow you to remove a good part of that rock and just leave it at the mine site without using any chemicals. In the milling process, to remove the uranium from the rock you use chemicals. You dissolve uranium and sulfuric acid and then go through steps to precipitate it out and take it back out of the dissolved solutions.

The ablation process uses no chemicals. It is a physical process that you described where the slurry is driven against particles are driven against each other and it releases that uranium coating from the sand. Then the sand, which is almost then like a clean beach sand, is re-deposited right into the mine. It does not change your mining cost you still have to mine it. What it changes is your transportation cost and your milling cost. If you take a look at the equations, and this is just common industry knowledge, of all those three, mining, milling, and hauling, the milling cost is the most expensive process. If we can reduce the quantity of product that we have to put through the mill we obviously reduce the cost.

Environmentally, it is also a real plus because the biggest problem with uranium mill is the disposal of the tailings, the waste from the milling process. We are cutting down. As you said, we upgrade this or we reduce the volume of material up to 80% of what we put through the mill. That means 80% less of these tailings material we have to dispose of, and that is a real economic advantage because we are producing less tailings so less disposal areas and less exposure to the environment. It is a real plus from that standpoint.

And we think the technology obviously could be used around the world will be first used in the US because we have the commercial machines ready to go. We have permitted mines. But we have some interest from other countries about using this and whether it is licensed to the other producers that is something yet we have not decided. Again, it works on all types of sandstone-hosted uranium deposits.

CK: George, Western Uranium, as you pointed out, has seven permitted mines which literally equates to tens of millions of dollars of past underground work, exploration already done and then, of course, the proprietary technology of ablation. You guys just got your OTCQX listing, also oversubscribed a recent placement. It is a cover basic G&A cost and cost for moving forward. But what is next? What does it cost to get into production and with uranium hovering around $29, $30 per pound, is it time to go into production right now or would you prefer to wait for slightly higher uranium prices?

GG: Well, higher prices certainly would not hurt. We are looking at a kind of a term price right now which is a bit more than the $29, $28. But with the term price today, our mines, we believe, would be economical. We are looking at the next stage is building. We have one commercial ablation machine. But for a mine like the Sunday Mine Complex, which is a complex of five permitted mines, we need to have maybe three or four of these machines to handle the output.

Our next step, obviously, will be to build additional ablation machines to put at the mine site. It is much more efficient to run that mine at full capacity. We could put one or two machines there, but when you staff up a mine like that, if you can get up to full production, your economics just look better. What we will be doing over the next few months is working on the construction of additional ablation machines to move to the Sunday Mine Complex probably sometime mid 2017. It looks like that would be the time frame we would start. Uranium price may or may not go up by then, but we will be in position. We announced we do have one contract with a US utility so we need to start producing to deliver into that contract.

CK: Well, based on the valuation of Western Uranium, the leadership team, the assets controlled, I am of the opinion that Western Uranium is extremely undervalued. I am a substantial shareholder of Western Uranium as a disclosure. Western Uranium is currently being valued as if it is an optionality play, meaning investors are currently just valuing it based on the amount of pounds in the ground and even at that point it is deeply undervalued. But when put in a context of a potential near term producer and a low cost producer there is tremendous upside available to investors that are willing to buy now. Of course, as George pointed out, a rise in the price of uranium does always help. But a company that has a new technology and can produce at a substantially lower cost than his peers is always going to be an attractive place to put money.

George, I want to ask you as we start to close up the interview here, for interested investors, of course, they can go ahead and go to your website. They can also look up the stock which is listed on the CSE and OTCQX. Is there any way for people to get in touch with you or other people on the management team to hear more about the company?

GG: Sure, absolutely! My phone number is listed on our website. I am happy to talk to investors or potential investors anytime. I have got an email address. There are several ways to contact me. Feel free or the investors should feel free to contact me. I am always happy to talk about the company and give what information I can to investors and potential investors.

CK: All right, George, thank you so much for coming on the program; truly a legend in the uranium business. Hopefully, as we have another boom coming up here investors positioned properly are going to make a fortune as they did back in 2002 to 2007 particularly with companies like Energy Fuels.

GG: Thank you, Collin.

Mr Glasier was previously President and CEO of Energy Fuels Inc (TSX:EFR). During his time at Energy Fuels, he was responsible for assembling a first-class management team, acquiring a portfolio of uranium projects, and leading the successful permitting process that culminated in the licensing of the Pinon Ridge uranium mill; planned for construction in western Montrose County, Colorado. The Pinon Ridge mill will be the first uranium mill to be licensed in the USA in more than 25 years.

More recently, Mr Glasier was President and CEO of American Strategic Minerals Corporation (ASMC), which in early 2012 had established a joint venture with Ablation Technologies LLC for the ablation process. After ASMC elected to focus its efforts away from uranium, he resigned as CEO and was assigned ASMCs rights to ablation. As announced on the 6th July 2012, BLR has in turn acquired all of the rights held by Mr Glasier with respect to ablation. BLR has subsequently established its own joint venture with Ablation Technologies LLC to commercialise the ablation process for use in uranium on a world-wide basis.

Palisade Global Investments Limited holds shares of certain companies discussed in this interview. We receive either monetary or securities compensation for our services. We stand to benefit from any volume this interview may generate. The information contained in such write-ups is not intended as individual investment advice and is not designed to meet your personal financial situation. Information contained in this report is obtained from sources we believe to be reliable, but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The opinions expressed in this interview are those of Palisade Global Investments and are subject to change without notice. The information in this interview may become outdated and there is no obligation to update any such information. Do your own due diligence.

By Palisade Radio
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Kirk Nordby (left) and Nick Motil are Bear Market Riot.

SHARE CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Bainbridge Island native Kirk Nordby (right) returns with Bear Market Riot bandmate Nick Motil for a June 12 performance at the Treehouse Cafe.

By Michael C. Moore, mmoore@kitsapsun.com

You can credit Songwriters At Play's Steve Key for bringing the two members of power-folk duo Bear Market Riot  Kirk Nordby and Nick Motil  together.

While you've got the scorebook open, though, you might want to give an assist to Paul Simon.

Nordby and Motil, who travel from their Central California base to Nordby's boyhood home of Bainbridge Island to play a June 12 set at the Treehouse Cafe, met at a songwriters' workshop hosted by Key's organization, found they had much in common, musically, and decided that two heads  or in their case, two beards  might be better than one.

"We got put together on a Paul Simon tribute," said Nordby, who played a much more flamboyant  not to mention clean-shaven  role fronting the Roman-candle Bainbridge band the Gruff Mummies. "We both went, 'Boy, we really have the same taste.' (For the Simon tribute) we each would've played at least two of what the other guy had picked."

The Gruffs (Nordby, guitarist Paul Brinkley, bassist Cameron Snyder, drummer Caleb Strickland and keyboardist Geneva Pritchett), who won a regional Sound Off competition for the right to play a Sky Church show at the 2005 Bumbershoot Music and Art Festival, flamed out soon after. Nordby moved on to acting, playing a featured role in Bainbridge Performing Arts' 2007 production of Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia" before heading for school, first at Seattle Central and then The Evergreen State College in Olympia. He traveled to Guatemala and Southeast Asia, teaching performance and guitar to youngsters there, before returning to Olympia and finding his way down the Pacific Coast.

He and Motil hadn't necessarily been looking for writing partners when they met. Motil, who moved with his then-pregnant wife to Pismo Beach in 2014, gravitated to Nordby  who'd been cooking at local restaurants by day, busking and fitting in solo gigs by night  more for somebody to hang out and play music with.

"He said he just moved here," said Nordby, who'd become a fixture in kitchens and on stages around the SLO circuit since settling there in 2011. "He said all his wife's friends were the only people he knew, and he didn't have anybody to play music with.

"I asked him if he wanted to hang out with me at the farmers market where I was playing, and play along. That's how we started, really, with friendship."

The duo, Nordby said, seemed like "a very natural fit. We started throwing harmonies out, just to see what they sounded like, and we realized our voices blended really well, along with our guitar-playing styles."

They settled, after what sounds like copious discussion, on a name, and began gigging heavily at wineries, farmers markets and coffeeshops around central California. Nordby eventually hung up his apron to concentrate on booking as many shows as they could manage. They worked their way up to spots in local festivals, and at one such venue were approached about venturing north to play the Bottles, Brews and Barbecues festival June 11 at Prosser.

Nordby saw a twin opportunity  to score another gig and make a quick visit to the island.

"I called the Treehouse, because I remember it from when I was growing up," he said. "I watched it become a business, and I remember thinking what a great performance space it would be and that I couldn't wait for the shows to start rolling through there." He said he also was inspired to seek the Treehouse gig by the Brothers Comatose, a San Francisco Bay-area outfit the Bear Market Riot boys had met while playing a festival (Nordby called it a "giant community group hug") called Beaverfest in Paso Robles. The Brothers are veterans of several stops at the Treehouse.

In their live sets, Bear Market Riot play some originals and some covers. The originals are a yours-mine-and-ours patchwork of both Nordby's and Motil's solo work and songs they've written together. A CD due for release this summer will be built from their collaborations.

The covers? "Eclectic might not be strong enough a word.

"We like to get imaginative," Nordby said. "We've been known to play Paul Simon. We might re-interpret a Rolling Stones' song, a Men At Work Song. Our version of R. Kelly's 'Ignition (Remix)' is a favorite with the local DJs at Krush 92.5 (Paso Robles radio station KKAL). We try to take songs in a fun direction."

Nordby won't have much time to enjoy his Bainbridge return. He and Motil have to be back in California by midweek after their Sunday Treehouse gig for a busy schedule that includes the Live Oak Music Festival in San Luis Obispo and the 2016 edition of Beaverfest.

"I'm super excited to be on the island, and, yeah, I'd like to have longer to visit," he said, "But we've got some things going on back down here. I'm not complaining. It's good to be busy."

PREVIEW

BEAR MARKET RIOT

Where: Treehouse Cafe, 4569 Lynwood Center Road, Bainbridge Island

When: 7 p.m. June 12

Tickets: Donation (all ages)

Information: 206-842-2368, treehousebainbridge.com
<p>Lucille Fox, founder of Bainbridge Beeswax Works, pours melted beeswax into candle molds in her Bainbridge Island kitchen.</p><p>TAD SOOTER / KITSAP SUN</p>

SHARE Lumps of raw beeswax await the melting pot in Lucille Foxas kitchen. The Bainbridge Islander sources some of her wax from island hives. TAD SOOTER / KITSAP SUN Finished beeswax candles in Lucille Foxas kitchen are ready for market. TAD SOOTER / KITSAP SUN Freshly-poured beeswax candles rest on Lucille Foxas kitchen counter. The wax takes several hours to fully set. TAD SOOTER / KITSAP SUN Bainbridge Beeswax Works founder Lucille Fox says beeswax candles burn longer and cleaner than paraffin. TAD SOOTER / KITSAP SUN

By Tad Sooter of the Kitsap Sun

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND  The rich smell of honey permeated Lucille Foxs kitchen on a spring afternoon.

The scent wafted up from a pot of melted beeswax Fox was straining through a paper filter above her sink. Bits of honeybee suspended in the amber liquid proved it was fresh from the hive.

When the filtering was finished she carefully poured the pure wax into rows of aluminum candle molds arranged on her counter. The smell of honey lingered.

I dont ever get tired of it, Fox said.

Thats good, because beeswax unexpectedly has become Foxs occupation and, to an extent, her obsession.

The Bainbridge Islander started tinkering with candle making about a year ago while working as buyer for a local boutique. Customers kept requesting candles made from natural ingredients, she said. Fox discovered those candles were harder to source than shed imagined, so she began experimenting with candle-making techniques, settling on beeswax as her material of choice.

At first Fox gave away her creations to friends. Their positive response soon emboldened her to sell the candles at farmers markets, and Bainbridge Beeswax Works was born.

Fox gave up her job to work with beeswax full time. She produces about 300 candles a month, all hand-poured in her south island kitchen. She also creates bars of pure beeswax and tins of skin salve and lip balm.

The work is laborious Fox said, but she revels in the act of transforming raw blocks of beeswax into products that are elegant and useful.

Its not easy, its not a glamorous kind of thing, its just fun, Fox said.

Beeswax is a tacky substance naturally produced by bees. Worker bees use the wax to build the honeycombs needed to store honey in their hives. When beekeepers harvest honey, beeswax becomes a byproduct.

People have used the flammable substance in candles for hundreds of years. Most mass-produced modern candles are made from paraffin wax.

Fox is happy to extol the virtues of beeswax candles, which she says burn longer and cleaner than their paraffin counterparts. The natural honey smell is an added bonus.

Fox orders her wax several hundreds pounds at a time from bee farmers in Washington and Idaho. A small portion is gathered from backyard hives on Bainbridge Island.

The beeswax isnt cheap and neither are the candles Fox makes. Her taller pillar candles sell for about $25 each, but can burn for more than 60 hours. You definitely get your moneys worth, she said.

Fox sells her candles online, at farmers markets and a handful of stores. She hopes to keep growing the business and establish her own bee hives to supplement her wax supply. Eventually shell need to move into a dedicated production facility.

Im outgrowing my kitchen in a rapid way, she said.

While painstaking, the candle-making process is engrossing and somewhat nostalgic, Fox says. Her father kept bees when she was a child growing up in Dublin, Ireland. She remembers her parents giving her lumps of honey-soaked beeswax to chew on, telling her it was gum.

Decades later, and a world away, shes brought beeswax back into her life, stirring up old memories.

For Fox, the smell of honey is a smell of home.

Bainbridge Beeswax Works What: A Bainbridge Island company selling beeswax candles and skin care products. Where: The business sells online, at the Bainbridge Farmers Market and a few stores. Info: Bainbridge Beeswax Works is online at www.biwaxworks.com and can be found on Facebook and Twitter.
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By Ed Friedrich of the Kitsap Sun

BANGOR

A sailor killed aboard the ballistic missile submarine USS Nebraska on Sept. 20 neglected posted safety warnings and got pinned by the ram that operates the ship's rudder, the Navy reported on Wednesday.

Machinist Mate 3rd Class Michael Gentile of Fairfield, Maine, died from blunt-force trauma and excessive bleeding in his lower-body, according to his mother, Julie Gentile. The Bangor-based submarine had been conducting routine operations off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii.

The investigation confirms what the Naval Safety Center had stated three days after the accident, that Gentile became "entangled and pinned" in the rudder ram.

Gentile, 21, was standing watch when the accident occurred, while much of the crew was conducting a "field day," or ship cleanup, said Submarine Group Trident spokesman Lt. Kyle Raines.

The accident prompted the Navy to check that safety measures were being followed on all of its submarines, Raines said. An investigation found that they were in place on the USS Nebraska when the accident occurred.

"They did require each sub to inspect the compartment that contains the rudder ram to ensure that designed safety features are present," Raines said.

None of the Nebraska's leaders will lose their jobs, although they could receive milder sanctions, Raines said.

"The decision regarding whether to relieve any leadership is taken very seriously, and after careful deliberation Submarine Force leadership determined that the appropriate course of action in this instance was to address the shortcomings through administrative actions," such as letters of reprimand, Raines said.

Those actions won't be made public, Raines said.

The Nebraska was beneath the surface at the time of the accident. Gentile was given emergency medical treatment on board the sub and was placed on a medical helicopter, but he died before reaching The Queen's Medical Center in Hawaii.

No other sailors were injured and the submarine was not damaged in the accident.

Gentile joined the Navy soon after his graduation in 2005 from Lawrence High School in Fairfield. He had been assigned to the Nebraska's Blue Crew since Nov. 15, 2006. Before that he had served on the USS Alaska, also based at Bangor.

The Nebraska has been assigned to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor since October 2004.
Gabina VOA is designed to be an infotainment youth radio show broadcasting to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the Amharic language. The show brings varied perspectives on issues concerning young people in the Horn of Africa region. Gabina in the Amharic language is a front row taxi ridesymbolic of the shows content as a fun ride that takes audiences from point A to point B. Gabina VOAs main goal is Enlightening young people, introducing them to cutting-edge technological innovations, exposing them to new processes and ideas so they can be productive, informed and self-governing citizens.
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By Josh Farley of the Kitsap Sun

PURDY  The eastbound lanes of Highway 16 remained closed for hours Sunday, as crews worked to retrieve a semi that had gone down a ravine days earlier in a crash, according to the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Workers began the hefty task early Sunday near the 144th Street overpass close to the Kitsap-Pierce line. It took crews into the afternoon to finish the job.

"This was an extremely difficult process," WSDOT spokesman Doug Adamson said.

A detour using Highway 302 was set up to keep traffic moving during the closure, but motorists from Kitsap reported lengthy backups throughout the day.
Sunday visitors to the Bremerton Marina walk past the Dominion, a World War II-era tugboat that is being restored as a museum and classroom for boatbuilding. Sunday's sunnier weather attracted more to the docks for the Kitsap Harbor Festival. JOSH FARLEY / KITSAP SUN

SHARE Dave Clark stands in the pilothouse of the Dominion, a World War II-era tugboat he's working to restore. JOSH FARLEY / KITSAP SUN The Dominion, a World War II-era tug that is being restored as a museum and classroom for boatbuilding, looms large within the Bremerton Marina. Sunday's sunnier weather attracted more to the docks for the Kitsap Harbor Festival. JOSH FARLEY / KITSAP SUN Christian Lint, owner of several historic vessels in the Bremerton Marina, stands in the pilothouse of the Bumpkin, a small tugboat he purchased in Kingston and is used to move the large vessels around. "This is the most photographed boat in the whole marina," he said. JOSH FARLEY / KITSAP SUN The Dominion is a World War II-era tugboat being restored as a museum and classroom for boatbuilding. JOSH FARLEY / KITSAP SUN Related Coverage Historic vessel towed out of Bremerton

By Josh Farley of the Kitsap Sun

BREMERTON  If the Dominion, a mammoth 122-foot tugboat in the Bremerton Marina, needs a part, there's no need to panic.

"If something's missing," owner Dave Clark said, "we just haven't found it yet."

Such is life aboard the World War II-era tug, a workhorse whose job for decades was to salvage U.S. military ships like the nearby USS Turner Joy destroyer.

Today, it is the Dominion that needs resuscitating, and Clark believes he can restore it as a "living museum" and create a floating campus to teach future mariners.

The captain traded a piece of land for the chance to own this rare slice of the sea. Few of the tugs remain. He's assembled a small team, started a nonprofit organization and established a Gofundme page aimed at raising $15,000 to ready the first classroom on board, one he hopes will train a new generation of seafarers. The group has had success so far in reaching out to maritime schools and local colleges, he said. But he admits they have a long way to go.

The Dominion was among many historic vessels on display in the marina during this weekend's Kitsap Harbor Festival. The tugboat was one of the more than 60 Miki class vessels produced by the Army during World War II. Built in 1944 at Grays Harbor Shipbuilding Co. in Hoquiam, the Dominion is one of the few left in the world.

Its engine, a turbocharged eight-cylinder Enterprise, was once known for powering locomotives and small Midwest towns.

It's a "direct drive" boat  meaning its 8-foot propeller can push it forward and backward but it has no neutral. That made it impossible to get the vessel into the harbor under its own power. But Clark has had help in Christian Lint, a fellow owner whose collection at the marina includes a ferry that once plowed the Columbia River and a 19th-century steam-powered yacht. In Kingston, Lint found a small tug called Bumpkin that they used to help steer the Dominion into the dock.

Bumpkin, now parked adjacent to the Dominion, has been popular with visitors  Lint called it the "most photographed" vessel in the marina  but it also has been inspirational for Clark's family. His father, Gary, is working to create a replica Bumpkin they can use to traverse the often stiff currents in Bremerton's marina and travel Puget Sound promoting the Dominion on its own.

Clark and his crew now joke that working on the vessel is inspiring  it might even be possessed. They believe it desires to return to its former grandeur.

"You get sucked into this boat," he said. "It's waiting for its turn to run around some more."
Stuff reports:

Labour employment spokesman Grant Robertson said the catering staff in question were doing the same job older workers were.

If people are doing the same job, they should be paid the same wage.

Robertson did not believe the concept of youth wages had a future in New Zealand.

Delaware North has been approached for comment.

The food and beverage concession company is headquartered in Buffalo, New York. Its website says Wellington Airport is its only New Zealand operation.

National, United Future and ACT voted in favour of legislation to reintroduce youth rates in 2013.

By law, employees aged 16 or older must be paid at least the adult minimum wage rate, unless theyre starting-out workers or trainees, for which there are several definitions.

Employees must be paid at least the minimum hourly wage rate for any extra time worked over eight hours a day or 40 hours a week.

STARTING-OUT WAGE CANDIDATES:

* Workers aged 16 or 17 yet to complete 6 months continuous employment with their current employer.

* Workers aged 18 or 19 who have been paid a specified social security benefit for 6 months or more, and who havent completed 6 months continuous employment with any employer since getting a benefit.
The Washington Post reports:

William Weld, a former governor of Massachusetts who made a late-career leap to the Libertarian Party, won its vice presidential nomination Sunday after a close and raucous convention vote.

This is a national ticket, Weld said. We can offer something meaningful and realistic to the country.

Welds nomination, secured after a day of drama and in-person lobbying, gave the 45-year-old party the most electorally experienced ticket in its history. Gary Johnson, a two-term governor of New Mexico, won the partys presidential nomination for the second time. He made two trips to the stage of the convention, held at Orlandos Rosen Centre, to ask delegates not to write off Weld as a latecomer or interloper.
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Alan C. Lowe, first director of the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee, will become director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill., in July.

Since leaving Knoxville in 2009, he has been director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on the campus of Southern Methodist University near Dallas.

"I will be at the Bush Library until the end of June (and) then we pack up and head to Illinois. We have loved Dallas but can't wait to get to work at Lincoln," Lowe said in an email.

A statement from the Bush Center said Lowe will oversee operations at the Lincoln Museum and Library. The facility opened in 2005 and is administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

The museum is not affiliated with the National Archives and its system of presidential libraries like the Bush Center. Lowe worked for the National Archives in 1989 as an archivist at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, served as acting director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library in New York and worked in the Office of Presidential Libraries.

SEEKING RECOGNITION: U.S. Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., R-Knoxville, has introduced a resolution for a Medal of Honor to be awarded posthumously to Knoxvillian Roddie Edmonds, a World War II veteran and Army master sergeant recently recognized by Israel for saving the lives of 200 Jewish-American prisoners of war.

Edmonds' son, the Rev. Chris Edmonds of Maryville, spoke of Duncan's resolution at a recent Yom Hashoah Service, which remembers the Holocaust and heroism, sponsored by the Knoxville Jewish Alliance at Temple Beth El.

Duncan has been working with the family for several years trying to figure out how best to honor Edmonds, since the Medal of Honor is awarded for personal bravery or self-sacrifice during actual combat with an enemy of the U.S.

Edmonds' heroic action was in a POW camp.

In January, Edmonds was given the Righteous Among the Nations award, which recognizes the heroics of non-Jewish people who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Edmonds was the highest-ranking official in the POW camp.

The resolution has been assigned to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel, where a hearing has not yet been scheduled.

LEADERSHIP AWARD: Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero received the Distinguished Alumni Award of Leadership Knoxville on May 23 at the annual Mayors' Leadership Luncheon at the Knoxville Convention Center. She was in the class of 1992.
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By News Sentinel Staff

KNOXVILLE  A shooting left two people wounded in North Knoxville on Sunday night, authorities said.

Knoxville Police Department officers responded around 10:45 p.m. to 2451 Teeple St. in response to the shooting, according to a news release from KPD Sgt. David Sanders.

Officers found a victim at the scene with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg, the release states. He was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

Earlier, a second victim in the shooting was dropped off at an area Tennova hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to his leg, according to the release.

The shooting remains under investigation.

More details as they develop online and in Tuesday's News Sentinel.
SHARE Katelyn Cass, left, shows the date on a headstone to 6 year-old Patricia Cornelius before a ceremony at the Knoxville National Cemetery Monday, May 30, 2016, in Knoxville. (WADE PAYNE/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL) Mike Downs give a history of the Civil War during a ceremony at the Knoxville National Cemetery Monday, May 30, 2016, in Knoxville. (WADE PAYNE/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL) Ben Richardson, 10, takes a break from the sun after a ceremony at the Knoxville National Cemetery Monday, May 30, 2016, in Knoxville. (WADE PAYNE/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL) Related Photos Photos: Memorial Day ceremony at Knoxville National Cemetery

By Megan Boehnke of the Knoxville News Sentinel

A young girl dressed in a Civil War-era dress placed a purple thistle on the headstone of a fallen Union soldier at Knoxville National Cemetery Monday.

A few minutes later and several yards away, Carolyn Herron filled a vase with red roses at the grave of her husband, a Vietnam veteran who died in 1985.

"It's important to support our military, especially since the veterans of the Vietnam era got such shoddy treatment," Herron said.

Herron and the re-enactors were among hundreds of people across East Tennessee who honored fallen veterans on Memorial Day.

At World's Fair Park, the names of men and women from 35 East Tennessee counties who died during active service in the military were read aloud beginning at sunrise. In Alcoa, a celebration included a motorcycle procession led by the East Tennessee Veterans Honor Guard. In Oak Ridge, the community band offered a free Memorial Day concert dedicated to veterans.

Hiske Jones attended the service at the national cemetery on Tyson Street with her two children, Elly, 11, and Harrison, 9. It was their first time attending a memorial service on Memorial Day, and she plans to return next year with her family, including her husband who is a pilot in the Air National Guard.

"We just wanted to do something to honor the fallen veterans," she said. "We'd never been to a service like this, and we didn't have anything going on today and wanted to come out and do what the day was supposed to be about."

The service kicked off with a nine-man re-enactment of the 79th New York Highlanders, a Union regiment in the Civil War that spent six months fighting in East Tennessee, said Shane Miles, one of the actors.

The group marched with flags through the cemetery to a bugle playing "Taps." William Beard, the group's musician and historian, gave a short speech on the importance of the day and the legacy of the Highlanders.

"It's an honor for us, for you all, to pay homage to every soldier here whether in the Civil War when this cemetery was started or current conflicts," Beard told the crowd.

A woman wearing a hoop skirt and small children dressed in costume placed flowers on stones for the soldiers.

The cemetery was established by the Union in 1863  while still in the throes of the war. The first men buried there had been exhumed from Cumberland Gap and other places in the region, said Mike Downs, the department commander for the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War.

Tennessee supplied more than 31,000 men who fought for the Union and suffered 6,776 casualties, Downs said. The cemetery went on to include soldiers who fought in subsequent U.S. wars.

At World's Fair Park, about 45 minutes after the ceremony at Knoxville National Cemetery, a large contingent gathered for another ceremony hosted by the American Legion Post 2.

Dozens of people gathered under pop-up tents at the plaza of a memorial for fallen veterans. Behind them, children climbed on a playground and ran across fountains in the park.

Eddie Mannis, the president of Prestige Cleaners and founder of Honor Air Knoxville, which provides trips to Washington, D.C., for veterans wishing to visit war memorials, gave the keynote speech.

Honor Air, founded in 2008, has flown more than 2,700 veterans on 20 trips, Mannis said. The group will take its 21st trip on June 8.

"Time after time I hear the people who have travelled with us say that their visits to the memorials is a lifetime of reflection and a way to honor the memory of those who never made it back home," Mannis said. "While we are here today to cherish the memory of those who have come before and sacrificed their lives, we are reminded to do everything in our power to support our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that are still here with us."
A tanker truck is pictured that's used to transport radioactive sludge from a city of Oak Ridge wastewater treatment plant to a Perma-Fix Northwest treatment facility in Richland, Wash. (UCOR/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS SENTINEL)

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By Frank Munger of the Knoxville News Sentinel

OAK RIDGE  Levels of radioactivity at a city of Oak Ridge sewage treatment plant have been reduced by 90 percent over the past two years, according to a U.S. Department of Energy contractor in charge of the cleanup.

Anne Smith, a spokeswoman for URS-CH2M Oak Ridge, said the contractor recently completed its 18th shipment of radioactive sludge  totaling 90,000 gallons  to a treatment facility in Washington state.

Sludge has been removed periodically from the Rarity Ridge Wastewater Treatment Plant to help reduce the levels of radioactive technetium-99, which infiltrated pipelines leading to the sewage plant during demolition activities at the former K-25 uranium-enrichment facility.

The technetium in the sewer system was discovered in early 2014, prompting a number of actions  although officials have said the radioactivity doesn't pose a threat to workers at the sewage-treatment plant and hasn't been elevated in discharges to the Clinch River.

Levels of technetium-99 in the sewage plant's "sludge digester" have dropped from 904,000 picocuries per liter in April 2014 to 91,100 picocuries per liter in March 2016, Smith said.

A picocurie is one-trillionth of a curie, a standard measure of the intensity of radioactivity in a sample of radioactive material.

The UCOR spokeswoman said it would be "speculative" to estimate how many more shipments of sludge will be needed to complete the cleanup effort and bring radioactivity levels back to normal at the city's plant.

A return to "normal" levels will be a "collaborative decision" based on an evaluation of numerous factors related to the technetium levels, she said via email.

The sludge removed from the Oak Ridge sewage-treatment plant is shipped to a Perma-Fix waste-treatment facility in Richland, Wash. The residual material after thermal treatment is sent to a landfill in Utah for disposal.

Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said there has been notable progress in the cleanup effort.

"I think the technetium has steadily gone down once that awareness came about," he said. "They estimate that to be about a three-year cycle (to complete the cleanup)."

Watson said the project seems to be "moving along," with the radioactive contamination continuing to decline.

He said he expects the city and the DOE will sit down at some point and discuss the conclusion of the project.
By John Shearer of the Knoxville News Sentinel

As a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II, James "Bud" Mynatt flew his first mission with his B-24 crew on a date easy to remember  June 6, 1944, or D-Day.

The date was also the birthday of his girlfriend and future wife, Carolyn.

To this day, Mynatt has not forgotten the view looking down during the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, while on his way to bomb transportation targets in northern France to help disrupt German movement.

"I got to see something very few people ever saw from 20,000 feet up  all these hundreds, no thousands, of boats," recalled the 92-year-old veteran last week at his West Knoxville home. "They were so close together it looked like you could walk from one to the other."

As Mynatt continued during his 35 missions, he went from looking down to looking up for heavenly support, particularly during the seventh mission.

During that flight, he was part of an attack on a German petroleum base that was met with hard resistance.

"I could not believe the anti-aircraft fire," Mynatt said. "The sky got black."

What bothered him the most, though, was seeing two American B-17s collide. Mynatt thought his time to die had come  until he felt a strange peace come over him.

"I started praying, and I prayed like I had never prayed before," he said. "I asked for the forgiveness of my sins, but the words never got out because I got calm. The good Lord took care of me."

Mynatt said from then until the end of the war  and even until today, 72 years later  he has not feared anything.

As Mynatt, a retired automobile dealer, reflected on his time of service, he said he has great appreciation for those who have served or been killed.

"I think they are due a special recognition that they have never had," he said.

Reared in Fountain City, Mynatt graduated from Central High School in 1942. While there, he began dating Carolyn Cruze, who was two years his junior. That summer after graduating, he decided to join the Army Air Corps rather than be drafted.

He was not called to active duty for several months, but the pace quickly picked up. After earning his wings at Valdosta, Ga., he did further training at Salt Lake City and later Mountain Home, Idaho. He then flew a circuitous route to England via Florida, Brazil, and North Africa to eventually begin flying the combat missions at the height of the war.

Although the youngest pilot on his base, who just turned 20 about six weeks before D-Day, he had to grow up in a hurry.

His most harrowing mission, he said, was likely his 29th, when his B-17 caught fire after being attacked on a mission to bomb a ball-bearing factory in Berlin. All 10 crewmen had to bail out.

Mynatt jokingly remembered that one crewman during the training had said he was never going to jump out of a plane, but he ended up being the first out.

Mynatt was the first to land safely on the ground. He said the crew had a small bet going after pooling $100 together; the first to make it back to base after such an emergency could get the money.

Thinking about that during the chaotic exit of the plane, which he never saw again, he was slow to pull his parachute.

"I was determined to get there first," he said. "I had a free fall of 12,000 feet deliberately."

Mynatt up getting back to base first, but not before the crew had some brief downtime. With the help of a British vehicle they spotted, they reached Brussels, Belgium, safely and had quite a party celebrating their survival. Mynatt recalled with a wry smile that he drank too much champagne.

While he had been busy focusing on the enemy for two years, he had time to think about one special friend  Cruze. She wrote him daily from study hall while still in high school, and they decided to get married in late 1944.

She was with Mynatt while he served as a military flying instructor in San Antonio during the remainder of the war after he and his crew survived their 35 missions. They had one child, Jeanne Scholze, who today is an executive with Lodge Manufacturing Co. in South Pittsburg, Tenn.

Mynatt eventually worked with his father-in-law, Roy Cruze, who had the dealership that sold what became American Motors cars on Gay Street.

By chance, Mynatt was eating at Regas restaurant downtown in 1962 and started talking to a man who was looking for someone to open a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Knoxville.

The firm eventually moved from downtown to Bearden to what is now the Mercedes Place shopping center. It was later sold to Sam Furrow, but Mynatt stayed on until retiring in 1995 after 50 years in the automobile business.

Mynatt  who along with his wife still enjoys mostly good health and regularly attends church  said he has enjoyed a fortunate life.

"I've been blessed from Day One," he said. "I've had a good life."
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By Michael Collins of the Knoxville News Sentinel

WASHINGTON  U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn insists there's no partisan agenda behind the investigation she's leading into the medical procedures and business practices of abortion providers.

But the investigation has been roiled by partisan warfare for weeks, with Democrats charging that Blackburn and Republicans on the panel conducting the probe are abusing their authority and putting lives at risk.

Democrats ramped up their attacks last week when they sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan asking him to disband the panel.

"While the panel's investigation has never been fair or fact-based, its pattern of reckless disregard for safety has escalated over the past few weeks," said the letter, which was signed by 181 of 188 House Democrats.

The letter describes a litany of alleged abuses by Blackburn and GOP investigators, including misuse of subpoena power to intimidate scientific researchers, doctors, clinics, health-care providers, universities and others. The investigation reached "a new low" earlier this month, the letter says, when the panel issued a news release identifying an abortion provider and his clinic by name.

"The press release's hyperbolic rhetoric and misleading allegations pose a real danger to the doctor, the staff at the clinic and the patients of the named clinic," the letter says. "These recent steps are completely outside the bounds of acceptable congressional behavior. We disgrace ourselves by allowing this misconduct to continue."

Blackburn defended the investigation and fired back at her Democratic critics.

"The question everyone should be asking," the Brentwood Republican said, "is why are Democrats so afraid of letting the truth come out."

Ryan didn't set up the committee, which is formally known as the House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives. Former House Speaker John Boehner helped form the 14-member panel and named Blackburn as its chairwoman in one of his final acts before stepping down late last year.

But Ryan also has given his backing to the panel's work.

"Speaker Ryan supports the select committee's continued efforts to protect infant lives," said his spokeswoman, AshLee Strong.

The committee, made up of eight Republicans and six Democrats, was formed after a firestorm over undercover videos that accused Planned Parenthood of breaking laws by selling tissue and organs from aborted fetuses.

Planned Parenthood and its supporters argued the videos were deceptively edited, and a various state investigations have cleared the organization of any wrongdoing.

But Blackburn, a staunch abortion opponent and vocal critic of Planned Parenthood, has plowed ahead with her investigation, arguing its focus is not Planned Parenthood but the larger issue of fetal-tissue procurement.

The panel has issued at least two-dozen subpoenas to medical supply companies and others involved in fetal tissue research. Two weeks ago, it announced that it has opened an investigation into the practices of a Maryland physician who provides late-term abortions.

The panel has even subpoenaed two financial institutions in an effort to obtain the accounting and banking records of StemExpress, a biomedical company that provides research labs with cells, fluids, blood and tissue.

Blackburn said those subpoenas were necessary because the institutions have refused the panel's repeated requests to turn over the documents, which she said are needed to get a complete understanding of the company's practices.

"We must continue to pursue these records if we are ever to get the facts that we need in order to complete our investigation," she said. "The American people deserve nothing less."

In Democrats' view, however, the investigation amounts to "a virtually unprecedented abuse of congressional power, perhaps only matched by the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s."

Michael Collins is the News Sentinel's Washington correspondent. His weekly Tennessee in D.C. column highlights Volunteer State lawmakers, causes and connections. Contact him at 703-854-8927 or mcollins2@gannett.com.
On Sunday, May 29, 2016, the Libertarian Party again nominated former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson as its presidential candidate, believing he can challenge presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton because of their poor showing in popularity polls. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)

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By Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News Sentinel

NASHVILLE  Tennessee's Libertarian Party has launched a drive to collect at least 33,844 voter signatures to have Gary Johnson, chosen as the party's presidential nominee last weekend, listed on the state's November ballot by party affiliation rather than as an "independent" candidate.

Under current state law, anyone can be listed as an independent presidential candidate on Tennessee's general election ballot with just 275 voter signatures on a qualifying petition and, for most other offices, only 25 signatures are required, according to the state Division of Elections.

But to have the candidate's party affiliation listed on the ballot, a different set of rules applies  revised by the Legislature in recent years after legal challenges to the state's "ballot access" provisions.

For the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees, the party label is virtually automatic once a candidate is formally nominated. Under current statutes and court rulings, affixing the party label for other groups requires a qualifying petition signed by 2.5 percent of those who voted in the move recent gubernatorial election  the 33,844 that is the target of the new petition drive.

Actually, the Tennessee Libertarian Party website says the goal is to get twice that number of signatures to assure that enough signatures can be validated as registered voters by the Division of Elections. The deadline for filing the petition with an appropriate number of signatures is Aug. 10.

In 2012, Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico, was also the Libertarian nominee for president, though listed on the Tennessee ballot as an independent. In that year, the nominees of the Green Party and the Constitution Party were identified on the Tennessee ballot by party affiliation under a federal court order tied to one of the lawsuits. The Libertarian Party, because it was not involved in the lawsuit, was not included in the special listing by party affiliation.

Johnson got 18,623 votes in the November 2012 Tennessee presidential election, according to official returns. Republican Mitt Romney won the state with 1,462,330 votes while Democrat Barack Obama got 960,769. Still, Johnson was ahead of Green Party nominee Jill Stein with 6,545 votes statewide and Constitution Party nominee Virgil Goode with 6,022 votes.

Both Johnson, in comments widely reported by national media, and Tennessee Libertarian Party Chairman Jim Tomasik of Memphis, in comments reported by the Columbia Daily Herald, say the political landscape for a Libertarian candidate could be much improved in 2016 with polls showing high negative ratings for both the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

Tomasik won a court ruling in 2013 that allowed him to run with the party label in a special House District 91 race, held to choose a successor Rep. Lois DeBerry, D-Memphis, who died in office. The race was won by Rep. Raumseh Akbari, D-Memphis, with 3,087 votes to 369 for Tomasik.

"The current political climate has many people looking for alternatives to the two major parties," Tomasik told the Columbia newspaper. "In Tennessee, we in essence only have one major party due to the fact that the Democratic Party is dominated overwhelmingly by the Republican supermajority."

Johnson has noted that he is the only alternative to Clinton and Trump who will appear on the November ballot in all 50 states  though in some, like Tennessee, he may be listed as an independent rather than identified by party. He and his chosen vice presidential running mate, former Republican Gov. William Weld, nominated amid considerable reported controversy Sunday at the Libertarian convention in Florida, have now launched a campaign to raise millions in campaign contributions  money that would be used for adverting presumably linked to party identify.

The Tennessee petition drive, if successful, would allow Libertarian candidates to be identified by party label on other races as well as for president. In 2014, the party had candidates for governor, the U.S. Senate and some other offices  though all were listed on the ballot as independents.

Of the Libertarian party candidates in 2014, the leader in votes was gubernatorial candidate Daniel Lewis with 8,315 supporters statewide. In that election, the Green and Constitution Party candidates were also identified by party label as a result of federal court proceedings and both did better than Libertarian candidates  Constitution Party nominee Shaun Crowell had 26,580 votes for governor while Green Party gubernatorial nominee Isa Infante got 18,570.

Republican Gov. Bill Haslam won re-election in 2014 with 951,796 votes while Democratic nominee Charlie Brown got 309,237.

According to the Tennessee Libertarian Party website, over 30 political parties existed in Tennessee and were identified by party label on ballots between 1831 and 1961, the year the state Legislature first enacted rules granting special status to the Democratic and Republican parties and making it more difficult for third parties to be labeled on the ballot.

"Since 1961, over 90 percent of independent Presidential Candidates in Tennessee were actually the nominee of an alternative political party. This is why the Libertarian Party of Tennessee is seeking to be recognized as a political party," says the website posting.

In ruling on the lawsuit brought by the Green and Constitution parties, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court decision declaring state law has in the past violated the equal protection provisions of the U.S. Constitution.

Access the ballot drive here.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz

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By Tom Humphrey of the Knoxville News Sentinel

NASHVILLE  Tennessee Democratic Chair Mary Mancini says it was "not logistically possible" for Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to honor a prior commitment to speak publicly to Knox County Democrats on Thursday, the day she will be attending a private DNC fundraiser in Knoxville.

As reported previously by the News Sentinel, Wasserman Schultz had scheduled a private fundraising event Thursday at the Knoxville home of Leanne and Rusty Comer, who have a son, Scott, employed at DNC's national headquarters.

She had also initially scheduled an appearance at a Knox County Democratic rally for local candidates on the same day, but subsequently canceled her appearance at the rally while keeping the fundraiser on her schedule. Knox County Democratic Chairman Cameron Brooks said he was "extremely disappointed" with the move.

Mancini then sent an email statement to media, described as a "clarification" to the previous News Sentinel report by Democratic Party Communications Director Spencer Bowers, that says:

"We wholeheartedly welcome DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz to Tennessee anytime she's able to visit. She's proven to be a real friend to us, and has already visited the Volunteer State to show her support for our efforts. The DNC chair gratefully accepted our invitation to rally in Tennessee. Unfortunately, it was not logistically possible this time. We look forward to hosting her again in the near future."

Mancini could not be reached Monday for elaboration on Wasserman Schultz' inability to make one event but not the other. Wasserman Schultz's office also did not respond to inquiries. Bowers said in an email that he believed the move "had to do with her flight schedule."

Among Knox County Democrats criticizing the move is John Stewart, who once worked as DNC communications director and who is the father of state Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville, chairman of the Democratic Caucus in the state House of Representative.

John Stewart said Wasserman Schultz's action is "incomprehensible," given the "pretty lame excuse" that she had an unexplained scheduling conflict.

"We've worked hard in this county to have a pretty decent slate of candidates, facing an uphill climb (against entrenched Republicans)," Stewart said.

The prospect of getting recognition for underdog efforts from a national party figure had excited and inspired local Democrats, Stewart said, while Wasserman Schultz' cancellation is "really disheartening to the local folks."

Nationally, Wasserman Schulz has recently been widely criticized by supporters of Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders for supposed favoritism toward former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary race and some Sanders supporters are calling on her to resign the position.

Wasserman Schultz serves as a U.S. representative from Florida and Sanders himself recently endorsed her primary opponent.
George Korda hosting his "State Your Case' radio talk show. (Jack Lail / News Sentinel)

Old sayings become old sayings because they have meaning. One such old saying is, If you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one.

Thats been true for months for the University of Tennessee and its Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Gov. Bill Haslams decision to let a cut of nearly $446,000 to the University of Tennessees Office of Diversity and Inclusion become law without his signature is the result of the university not responding strongly enough to legislative concerns about publicity surrounding the offices conduct.

It also suggests that this one-year reduction is a probationary period: if no public disruptions occur in the next year the school will get back the money.

But, as will be explained later in this column, there remains no lack of on-campus offices devoted to diversity and inclusion.

Funds for the 2016-2017 academic-year will instead be put into scholarships for minority engineering students. The bill prohibits UT from spending state funds to promote the use of gender-neutral pronouns, to promote or inhibit the celebration of religious holidays, or to fund or support Sex Week.

With the funding cut the university disbanded the Knoxville campus diversity and inclusion office. Vice Chancellor Ricky Hall, noticeably both silent and unavailable throughout his offices controversies, has accepted a position at the University of Washington.

To recap the self-inflicted wounds of the ODI, it suggested the use of gender-neutral pronouns on campus for individuals who didnt want to be identified within the gender binary, as in, him or her, and suggested that Christmas parties go unidentified as such and religiously-themed cards go unused.

Campus leadership essentially reacted to the ensuring uproar against the ODI in two ways: to take control of the ODI website, and pledge continuing devotion to promoting diversity and inclusion.

It wasnt enough.

In an Oct. 21, 2015, column on this subject I wrote the following about the ODI website:

One section promotes the Pride Center and its programs, such as, Out@UT; inQUEERies; SexEd Queered; the Ambassador Program, a student leadership initiative for LGBTQIA+ and ally students (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual); and SpeakOut, which reports its goal is to reach members of the university community in their classroom, office, or residence hall to create dialogue on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Pride Center was formerly named The OUTreach: LGBTQ+ & Ally Resource Center. The name was changed in August. The Diversity and Inclusion office hailed the change in a news release on its website, announcing a grand re-opening on Oct. 6 with an ice cream social. In other words, study it, talk about it, celebrate it.

But Christmas parties? The best practice suggested by the ODI website was to

Ensure your holiday party is not a Christmas party in disguise.

There is a difference between discussion, disagreement, hatred, and the never-ending claims that someone is a type of phobe if he or she does not agree with generally-approved diversity groupthink.

That was one reason for taxpayer and legislator reaction to the ODI. Another is likely whats taking place around the country in schools and on college campuses. Heres an example, from the Daily Beast website, sharing a list of demands made by a group of students at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York: Limiting freedom of speech; discouraging white faculty from leading departments; hiring of financial advisers to solely work with students of color; allocating student government seats specifically for marginalized and underrepresented groups; and erecting a statue in honor of the Oneida Native Americans are all among the demands.

Were told that college campuses, largely bastions of liberal thought, are actually cesspools of racism, bedeviled with micro-aggressions and triggers that send subtle signals of racism, hatred, and phobias, the depth and extent of which boggle the mind.

Then again, perhaps a lot of people are on a hair trigger to be offended. That seems to be a way of life on college campuses today (if in doubt, just Google college student demands. Youll get an eyeful).

In light of publicity surrounding the ODIs suggestions, Tennessee legislators said no, were not going there, and they also didnt want to answer questions about why theyd done nothing posed by constituents and potential election challengers.

The argument for continuing the ODI was that it was necessary to make the campus diverse, inclusive, and to apparently to man the barricades against a UT racist or phobe students no one can specifically identify.

Otherwise, whats the problem?

The offices elimination was opposed by some of UTs students and faculty. Though they failed, it appears the barricades will still be well-manned.

The May 23 edition of UTs newspaper, the Daily Beacon chronicled a considerable list of offices that will take up the ODIs slack: programs under the Office for Diversity and Inclusion will be redirected to the control of different offices on campus, including the Office of Multicultural Student Life, the Office of Equity and Diversity, the Educational Advancement Program, the Commission for Blacks, the Commission for LGBT People, the Commission for Women and the Council for Diversity and Interculturalism.

However, the Pride Center administration will not be redirected; instead it will not (sic) longer be staffed by university employees. The building will remain as an open area for students.

It begs a question: just how many offices does UT need to demonstrate diversity and inclusion?

Heres a suggestion, offered in the best interest of the university, its administration, and students. If you havent already, please look up this column on the internet: This is not a day care. Its a university! by Dr. Everett Piper, president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University.

The University of Tennessee is preparing students to become adults. When they become adults, in the real world, theyll find precious few safe spaces.

Theres no time like the present to learn.

George Korda is political analyst for WATE-TV, appearing Sundays on Tennessee This Week. He hosts State Your Case from noon  3 p.m. Sundays on WOKI-FM Newstalk 98.7. Korda is a frequent speaker and writer on political and news media subjects. He is president of Korda Communications, a public relations and communications consulting firm.
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The death toll from a war can continue to rise years, even decades, after the hostilities end.

Acknowledging that unfortunate fact, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund established the In Memory Program in 1999 to recognize Vietnam War veterans whose post-war deaths can be traced to their wartime experiences.

Fred Hunter Richmond III of Knoxville and Claude Edward Goble of Loudon will be among 312 deceased Vietnam veterans to be honored through the In Memory Program at a June 18 ceremony on the East Knoll of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Richmond served in the Navy. He died Jan. 26, 2005. Goble, who served in the Army, died Sept. 30, 2012.

It is fitting to honor them along with all who have died fighting for our nation on this Memorial Day as well.

More than 58,000 Americans died during the Vietnam conflict. As of Memorial Day last year, 58,307 names were engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington.

The In Memory Program honors more than 2,500 deceased Vietnam veterans who do not qualify under Defense Department guidelines for inclusion on the memorial. A plaque in their honor on the memorial's grounds reads: "In Memory of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service. We honor and remember their sacrifice."

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund reviews applications, which include death certificates and military records, for inclusion in the program from survivors. Causes of death that fit the criteria include illnesses or incidents related to post-traumatic stress disorder, illnesses caused by exposure to Agent Orange and cholangiocarcinoma (ingesting raw fish or contaminated water containing the Southeast Asian liver fluke, a parasitic flatworm, is a risk factor for this particularly lethal bile duct cancer).

These men and women  and those whose deaths similarly came after the shooting stopped in other wars  might not be listed as officially dying in combat, but their sacrifices are just as honorable as those who never returned home.

Since the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the start of the American Revolution, more than 1 million Americans have died while serving in the military during wartime, according to numbers compiled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department. No single number, however high it may be, can convey the sacrifices that American service members have made to establish and protect the liberties we all enjoy.

Memorial Day observances began on Saturday and will be held through today, when volunteers will gather at sunrise (6:21 a.m.) to begin reading the more than 6,000 names engraved in stone at the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial in World's Fair Park prior to a memorial service at 11:45 a.m. Memorial services and programs also will be held at Knoxville National Cemetery, East Tennessee State Veterans Cemetery and Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Knoxville; the Veterans Memorial; and A.K. Bissell Park in Oak Ridge.

Please set aside some time today to reflect on the debt every American owes to those who have died in our country's service.
An oil tanker is ready to leave port in Korea with petroleum processed by GS Caltex. / Courtesy of GS Caltex



By Jhoo Dong-chan

GS Caltex is cruising toward an export-driven company profit structure through its aggressive overseas marketing strategy and continuous investments in R&D.

An official of the private oil refiner said Monday in a press release that the company's export ratio of its total sales reached nearly 70 percent last year. It was at only 26 percent in 2002 but exceeded 50 percent in 2006, recording 67 percent in 2012 and 68.2 percent in 2013.

Also, the company's export sales reached $20 billion in 2011, the nation's first oil refinery and second private company to record such overseas performance. In the following year, its export sales exceeded $25 billion.

"GS Caltex's strong performance in its export market is attributed to the company's timely investments in refinery and production facilities," said an official.

"Now, the company has crude oil-refining facilities with a capacity of 785,000 barrels per day, and can desulfurize 272,000 barrels of kerosene and diesel each day."

In a bid to satisfy global demand for clean and efficient energy, GS Caltex built heavy oil upgrading (HOU) facilities in 1995, which can process about 94,000 barrels of atmospheric residue each day.

In 2007, the company completed the construction of its second HOU facility, its third in 2010 and fourth in 2013 in line with the increased demand for light petroleum products.

GS Caltex also set up overseas corporate bodies in Singapore, London and Abu Dhabi as a part of the company's overseas business operations, and is receiving 80 types of high-quality crude oil from 30 oil-producing countries, including Middle Eastern, Southeast Asian and African countries.

The company also began environment-friendly polypropylene production in 1988, reaching an annual output of 180,000 tons in 1989.

GS Caltex expanded its polypropylene production capacity with two Chinese facilities in 2006 and 2010 as well as another complex in the Czech Republic in 2011.

GS Caltex first started commercial operations in 1969, producing 60,000 barrels per day at its Yeosu production complex. It has now become the world's fourth-largest single-site oil refinery.
The president of U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis hinted at a possible U.S. rate hike in the near future Monday, claiming the world is well prepared for a U.S. rate hike.

"My sense is that markets are well prepared for a possible rate increase globally," James Bullard told reporters here. "My idea is that if all goes well, this will come out smoothly, and you won't get too much of a reaction in the global financial market."

The St. Louis FRB president was on a visit to attend an international conference hosted by the Bank of Korea. (Yonhap)
James Bullard



By Kim Jae-won

James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said Monday that it is inappropriate for a central bank to be directly involved in corporate restructuring.

His remarks come as the Korean government has demanded the Bank of Korea print new banknotes to recapitalize cash-short state-run banks which need to reschedule the debt of ailing shipbuilders and shippers.

Bullard said that recapitalizing state-run banks which lead corporate restructuring is a job for the National Assembly because lawmakers should decide whether to use taxpayers' money or not.

"If this kind of issue came up in the U.S., the Fed would not be involved in the restructuring of these industries," said Bullard during an international conference hosted by the Bank of Korea (BOK). "Because I think it interferes with central bank independence and alters the course of monetary policy on the grounds that there have been perhaps ill-advised loans made in the past."

The BOK has been under pressure to invest in the Export-Import Bank of Korea and the Korea Development Bank directly by printing new banknotes.

The central bank has opposed the recapitalization scheme led by the government, saying it can only use such an emergency measure when the financial system is in crisis.

Bullard said that a central bank should pursue a monetary policy that is right for the economy as a whole rather than focusing on specific industries.

He said that parliament is the appropriate institution that should deal with the matter.

"As far as the issue about bank loans to the shipbuilding companies, I think that's appropriately handled through the legislature, which would debate it and if the taxpayers wanted to pay or recapitalize the industries then I think the legislature would have a vote and do it that way."

However, the Korean government is afraid to take the matter to the National Assembly, saying it would take too much time, while it is urgenly pushing for restructuring at the troubled shipbuilders and shippers.

In terms of the U.S. rate hike, Bullard said that it may come in the near future, saying the world is well prepared for it.

"My sense is that markets are well prepared for a possible rate increase globally," he said. "My idea is that if all goes well, this will come out smoothly, and you won't get too much of a reaction in the global financial market."

Market watchers expect that the Fed will raise its key rate in June or July as leaders of the bank, including its chair Janet Yellen, signaled that they would raise the rate in the coming months.
Korean hip-hop group Dynamic Duo will play in five cities in Korea. / Courtesy of Amoeba Culture

By Kim Da-hee

Korean hip-hop group Dynamic Duo will perform in five cities in Korea, production agency InterPark ENT said Monday.

The group, comprising popular musicians Gaeko and Choiza, decided to hold the first solo concert in three years to give thanks to their fans.

They will play in Seoul, Busan, Gawngju, Daejeon and Daegu in an updated version of their North American tour "Dynamic Duo Grand Carnival," which ended on March 27.

The Korean tour will start from Seoul on July 23-24 and end at Daegu on August 6.

"To mark the 12th anniversary of their debut, Dynamic Duo is working hard to make their first Korean concerts in three years their best," the agency said. "The two are really looking forward to meeting fans."

Tickets will be on sale from June 1.
K-pop boy band EXO / Korea Times file



By Kim Da-hee

K-pop boy band EXO gave some hints about its upcoming album at a fan meeting in Shanghai on Saturday.

The group's four members  Chanyeol, D.O., Kai and Sehun  attended a promotional event for hat brand "HAT'S ON" for which they model.

In response to a fan's question about the band's new album, to be released in June, Kai confidently responded, "The new album is something unusual, but great."

"We've prepared a powerful performance that fans can really look forward to."
By Choi Sung-jin



The Environment Ministry has its back against the wall because of fine dust and aggravating air quality. The ministry has taken a back seat in the two consecutive conservative administrations that put economic growth ahead of environmental concerns over the past eight years or so.



That changed at a Cabinet meeting three weeks ago, during which President Park Geun-hye told the ministry to "work out special countermeasures to reduce fine dust."



The ministry has since gone all-out, asking the finance ministry to raise the price of diesel fuel while calling for the trade and industry ministry to suspend the operation of old thermal plants. However, responses from other related ministries are not very favorable, ranging from displeasure to embarrassment.



"This is an issue that should seek a compromised solution through several months' public debate, but the environment ministry is playing with public opinions after making demands in a facile manner," said a finance ministry official.



A trade and industry ministry official said, "The environment ministry caused the problems and is passing the buck to other ministries."



The environment ministry, for instance, asked the finance ministry to raise the price of diesel from the 85 percent level of gasoline now, to 91 percent by 2019. But a finance ministry official said, "We cannot readjust the prices of oil products without listening to opinions from consumers, including the owners of diesel-fueled cars and the freight transport industry, because a number of interest parties are involved in this matter."



Equally embarrassed is the trade and industry ministry, which was told to remodel or close aged thermal plants. "The nation has its long-term energy plan, which we cannot easily change without finding an alternative supply source," a ministry official said.



Officials at economic ministries complain that the environment ministry should present a comprehensive and detailed data about fine dust before it tells others to do this or that, saying the latest data on air pollutant emission is the one made in 2012, by the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) under the ministry's wing.



"The environment ministry has poured trillions of won into reducing fine dust in vain and is pointing its finger at other ministries, triggering inter-agency conflicts," an official at an economic ministry said. "The environmental officials are releasing a series of half-baked measures to avoid rebukes from the president and public, which will end up only causing more problems."



Private experts say that both the environment ministry and economic ministries are half right -- and wrong. The experts agreed on the need to reduce the operation of diesel-fueled vehicles and coal-fired power plants but the environment ministry should have done its homework before asking for other ministries' cooperation.



A case in point is the ministry's failure to control condensable particulate matter (CPM) emitted from industrial plants.



Unlike filterable particulate matter (FPM) which is solid or liquid when it is emitted, CPM is in vapor and forms solid or liquid particle upon cooling and diluting. According to scientists, CPM accounts for 61.2 percent of fine dust emitted by thermal plants, and 73.5 percent of dust from other smokestack industrial facilities. CPM is also far more harmful for health because it is PM 2.5 or less in size, compared with FPM of between PM 10 and PM 2.5.



The environment ministry has not grasped the exact amount of CPM emission or even worked out ways to measure them, unlike the U.S. and European governments that had separate methods of measuring them, the experts said.



"It is true we should take into account CPM to monitor the emission of particulate matters correctly," said NIER researcher Lee Sang-bo. "We have prepared to gauge them, and to start to do so next year by examining American and European methods."



Private scientists are skeptical, pointing out that it would take more time to measure the CPR emitted by motor vehicles.



If CPM is taken into account, the share of fine dust coming from China would decrease out of total air pollutants while that of domestic thermal plants would rise they said. In 2011, the final year of the former Lee Myung-bak administration, the environment ministry even considered excluding fine dust from total pollutant control in the capital area, but scrapped its scheme in the face of objections from opposition parties.




By Yi Whan-woo



U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has triggered an early race for the 2017 presidential election by engaging in controversial activities during his Korea trip.



Ban participated in activities that were seen as being linked to a presidential bid before returning to New York, Monday, and left open the possibility of running in the election.



Analysts said Monday that Ban was "provocative enough" to fuel competition among probable presidential contenders from major parties although the presidential election is not until December 2017.



Ban, whose tenure as U.N. chief will end this year, is rumored to have the backing of President Park Geun-hye as a ruling Saenuri Party candidate.



"Ban's visit will have made other presidential hopefuls, especially those in the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) and the minor opposition People's Party, nervous and prompt them to take early actions to not stay behind in the race," said Shin Yul, a political science professor at Myongji University.



Ban asked commentators to "refrain from excessive interpretation and wild speculation" concerning his visit during a press meeting at the U.N. Department of Public Information (DPI)/NGO Conference in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Monday. He flew back to New York afterwards.



"There has been exaggeration about my remarks concerning the presidential election and it makes me embarrassed," he said.



In a forum with senior Korean journalists on Jeju Island, Ban said he will contemplate his future and decide what he should do after his U.N. term ends.



Lee Kang-yun, a journalist-turned political commentator, claimed it was Ban who "explicitly showed his will to seek power."



He said Ban's meeting with former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil and his visit to Hahoe Folk Village in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province over the weekend was aimed at bolstering his status as a Saenuri Party candidate in the Chungcheong and Gyeongsang regions.



Kim, 90, was a powerful politician based in the Chungcheong region, which has been critical for rival parties to win any election. Ban is a native of North Chungcheong Province.



The Gyeongsang region is a stronghold for the conservative party.



"Despite the defeats of the Saenuri Party's presidential hopefuls in the April general election, it doesn't mean Ban is guaranteed to win the presidential nomination. And it seems that Ban is preparing for a possible presidential primary within the party."



Some of the party's probable presidential contestants include former Chairman Kim Moo-sung, Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil and Jeju Province Governor Won Hee-ryong.



Meanwhile, pollster Realmeter speculated Ban could disrupt the presidential bid of two possible opposition candidates  the MPK's former Chairman Moon Jae-in and People's Party co-leader Ahn Cheol-soo.



Ban was ranked top with a 38 percent approval rating against Moon's 34.4 percent and Ahn's 21.4 percent in a hypothetical three-way race conducted by Realmeter in mid-May.



On May 26, Moon visited Andong in what was seen as an attempt to woo voters there ahead of Ban's trip to Hahoe Folk Village.



The opposition parties continued to pour harsh criticism on the U.N. chief, Monday.



The People's Party floor leader Rep. Park Jie-won said "It is questionable whether Ban would have acute judgment and leadership as president."



Calling Ban "chaotic," Rep. Lee Jong-kull of the MPK said, "People will dump Ban's name into the sewer if he is elected president."




Boxes of mackerel piled up during an auction at Garak Market, southeastern Seoul, Monday. The price of mackerel has plunged since the government's announcement last week that frying mackerel at home creates a highly harmful level of fine dust particulates. / Yonhap



Fishermen dispute links between cooking and pollution



By Kim Se-jeong

The family of Lee Kyung-soon, 51, a Seoul resident, loves mackerel. For her son, she used to grill the fish three times a week. Even now when her son is in the military, she still grills it at least once a week.

But now she thinks twice before buying the fish.

"After the news last week, I am not sure if grilling fish at home is safe," Lee said.

The news refers to the Ministry of Environment's May 23 report that frying mackerel was the worst indoor cause of housing air pollution, generating a harmful level of fine dust particulates when cooked without proper ventilation.

Lee is one of a growing number of consumers driving the price of the fish down in markets.

At Garak Market in southeastern Seoul, Monday, a 10-kilogram box of small mackerel was auctioned off at 12,000 won, down from 40,000 won a week earlier.

Fishermen have expressed their frustration to the ministry.












By Lee Kyung-min

A district court sentenced a woman to three years in prison, Monday, for embezzling 450 million won in company funds. She spent 150 million won of the money on an Internet show host.

According to the Busan District Court, the woman, surnamed Choi, 22, a bookkeeper at a shipping company, was indicted last year for transferring the 450 million won to her personal account over 18 months starting early 2014.

Choi spent 150 million won on buying "star balloons," an online currency costing 100 won each. She sent the host up to 30,000 such balloons a day.

Many viewers of the show hailed her as "the rich chairwoman," and Choi became addicted to being worshiped, the court said.

Choi said she spent the money because the Internet was the only place where she could be at the center of attention, according to the court. She was single and lived alone with a dog.

She initially embezzled the money for living expenses, but later her main purpose for the embezzlement switched to buying the online currency, the court said.

"Choi committed the crime for a long time without any sense of guilt and she caused a large amount of losses to the company," the court said.
A room at the Ppeulang motel near Konkuk University, eastern Seoul, which is specially designed for parties, and has a whirlpool and a bar. / Courtesy of With Innovation



By Lee Kyung-min

Motels are shedding their seedy image as short-term lodgings for clandestine lovers.

They are reinventing themselves as places for young people who opt to spend time there for other reasons.

An increasing number of young people are choosing motels as a viable alternative to bars, clubs or cafes. Many motels offer spacious private rooms with nicely designed interiors, serving as an ideal hangout for a small group to have a party or after-work gathering, or even use as a study room.

"It's like a group of friends gathering at someone's home," a woman in her 30s said.

"If we have friends over at home, the host has to clean up, cook, clean again after the gathering is over and get mentally prepared for the burden of having visitors in general. So a simple reservation at a clean, decent motel is a great option for all of us involved."

"Nowadays, motels are not what they used to be. The rooms are clean, spacious, and well-decorated. It's a great economical alternative to having a gathering at unnecessarily expensive hotels."

According to a survey by lodging reservation app "Yeogieottae" of 1,440 users from March to April, 46.9 percent said they have used motels for various purposes other than sex.

Those surveyed included 38 percent who've used the rooms for parties, 29.1 percent who engage in pastimes such as watching a movie or playing online games, 9.6 percent for events such as proposing to their significant others and 3.4 percent for group study.

Some motels have separate rooms only for party purposes with a large table, chairs and karaoke machine. Some other rooms are equipped with spa bathtubs, barbecue grills or even swimming pools.

For a group of university students, a motel room is a great place to prepare for exams. Daytime use of a room usually costs 30,000 won for up to six hours.

After studying for a while, they can take a nap when they get tired. Students can ask one another questions, read their study materials aloud or have a debate, all of which they dare not dream of doing at school libraries, where only the sound of turning pages is allowed.

"My friends said a motel is sometimes better to gather at to prepare for group assignments, because we can work with our laptops turned on," a student from a university in Seoul said.

"We can't spend hours preparing for our presentation over some cups of coffee in cafes or cafeterias in and around schools. We can't concentrate on our work at such places anyway as they are noisy."
President Park Geun-hye, right, and her Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni shake hands after opening the National Farmers' Leadership Center, an institute to train local people in agriculture, in Mpigi, central Uganda, Monday. The training center will teach Korea's Saemaul Undong, a rural development program initiated by Park's father, former President Park Chung-hee, in the 1970s. / Yonhap



By Kang Seung-woo

The timing of President Park Geun-hye's current trip to Africa and France is the focus of much discussion.

Critics say a range of foreign and domestic issues are pending, but the President ignored them and pushed ahead with the Africa trip mainly focusing on the "Saemaul Movement," a rural and agricultural development project that was initiated by her father and former President Park Chung-hee.

Park arrived in the Kenyan capital Nairobi Monday  the last stop on her three-nation African trip that included Ethiopia and Uganda. She will return home Sunday after traveling to France.

According to media reports, host Japan "informally" discussed President Park's attendance at the summit of the Group of Seven as an observer, but she refused to do so due to the pre-arranged African trip. The world leaders there voiced strong condemnation of North Korea for its provocations.

In addition, on the sidelines of the summit, U.S. President Barack Obama visited Hiroshima and honored the victims of the U.S. atomic bomb attack during World War II  a symbolic incident showing a stronger U.S.-Japan alliance through Washington's "pivot to Asia" policy.

When Obama was visiting Hiroshima, Friday, President Park delivered a speech at the headquarters of the African Union in Ethiopia, a first for a Korean president.

"The U.S. President's visit to Hiroshima is strengthening ties between the U.S. and Japan and reducing Korea's diplomatic presence. At this important point, the President is on a visit to Africa," said Minjoo Party of Korea floor leader Rep. Woo Sang-ho.

"With the geopolitical landscape encircling the Korean Peninsula changing rapidly, the President needs to choose her overseas trips, considering the national interest."

In April last year, President Park also skipped the Asia-Africa Conference in Indonesia to visit four South American countries. At that time, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and North Korean ranking official Kim Yong-nam attended the event.

Locally, hours after President Park departed for Ethiopia, United Nations (U.N.) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived on Jeju Island and hinted at a possible presidential run next year, raising speculation in political circles that she intentionally left the country to pave the way for Ban to express his presidential aspirations.

"Ban's unexpected indication of his presidential bid seems to be aimed at decreasing the growing negative sentiment toward President Park and the ruling Saenuri Party," said Bae Jong-chan, the chief director of political pollster Research and Research.

"Whether it is intentional or not, her overseas trip is drawing suspicion."

The political analyst also said that Park's absence, while the National Assembly begins its new term on Monday, is putting her in hot water.

"It would be unimaginable in the United States, given that support from the parliament is absolutely necessary for the head of state in handling state affairs," Bae said.

"The basis of government operations here is the opening of the National Assembly."
Vice floor leaders of rival parties  from left Rep. Park Wan-joo of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea; Rep. Kim Do-eup of the ruling Saenuri Party; and Rep. Kim Kwan-young of the minor opposition People's Party  hold hands during their meeting at the National Assembly, Monday. The parties are in negotiations to pick the heads of Assembly committees by June 9. / Yonhap



By Kim Hyo-jin



Rival parties expressed their hope and determination on the opening day of the 20th National Assembly, Monday, paying much attention to preparations for the presidential election next year.



Rival parties held their first general meeting, pledging to present more bills aimed at improving the livelihoods of the citizens.



The ruling Saenuri Party lawmakers raised their voice for unity amid rampant intra-party factionalism, pointing out the new parliamentary environment where the opposition parties outnumber the ruling party.



"I don't want to hear about factional competition anymore," said party floor leader Chung Jin-suk. "Being scattered, we won't be able to make things work. But with 122 lawmakers working together we can ward off opposition parties' populist offensives."



Kim Hee-ok, the appointee to head the reformist emergency planning committee, also vowed to root out factional conflicts, saying any remarks and actions fueling factionalism will be contained systemically.



"People are fed up with our in-house fighting. It's time to respond to public sentiment reflected in the results of the general election," Kim said. "I plan to regulate words and actions widening the chasm between factions through an ethics panel. I need your support."



Kim was picked as interim leader of the emergency planning committee last week, ending the factional feud over leadership of the ruling party ahead of the national convention. The party is expected to endorse Kim and his appointment of committee members during the national committee meeting scheduled on June 2.



Rep. Kim Gwang-lim, Saenuri's chief policy maker, said the party will propose a bill to increase the number of the jobs for young people as its first bill in the 20th Assembly, along with a bill to ease regulations in the service sector and a labor reform bill. The controversial cyberterrorism prevention bill is expected to be sponsored as well.



Meanwhile, the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea (MPK) made a resolution that it will focus more on legislative issues instead of being mired in political strife with the ruling party.



"We should show our earnest attitude prioritizing improvement of citizens' livelihoods," said Kim Chong-in, the party's interim leader.



The MPK launched taskforces to devise policies for economic democratization and to reform the imposition system of health insurance fees. The party appointed Choi Woon-youl, the chair of the MPK's economy monitoring office, as the head of the economic democratization task force.



It took a cautious attitude not to launch an offensive against the government, conscious of the concerns that the new Assembly could be embroiled in turmoil due to a clash over the hearing bill with Cheong Wa Dae.



"I will never forget the fact that our party should be heading to the goal of helping people's livelihoods," Rep. Woo Sang-ho said.



The party held a meeting to discuss how to prepare for the national convention later that day and fixed the date for the event on August 27.
By Kim Bo-eun

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Monday requested an arrest warrant for lawyer Hong Man-pyo for alleged influence-peddling on behalf of high-profile clients, including cosmetics brand Nature Republic CEO Jung Woon-ho.

Hong, a former prosecutor himself, allegedly received 300 million won in fees from Jung last August, when prosecutors were investigating the CEO's habitual gambling allegations, in return for pledging to make the prosecution drop the investigation by utilizing his ties with incumbent prosecutors.

Hong is also suspected of receiving 200 million won from Jung and another unidentified figure in September 2011 in exchange for peddling his influence over Seoul Metropolitan Subway officials in order to help Jung's company lease store space in subway stations. This was a month after Hong retired from his position at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

In addition, Hong allegedly evaded some 1 billion won in taxes by not reporting hundreds of millions of won in legal fees he had received since September 2011.

The lawyer could face a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine of up to 30 million won for receiving bribes in return for exercising influence on judges and prosecutors. He could face another prison sentence of three years for tax evasion if the amount of taxes evaded is between 500 million won and 1 billion won a year.

Last Friday when being questioned by the prosecution, he partially acknowledged the accusations of tax evasion but denied other allegations.

Prosecutors also requested an arrest warrant for Jung, for his alleged embezzling of 14.2 billion won in company funds. Jung has been serving an eight-month jail term for overseas gambling and is set to be released on June 5.
South Korea's business community voiced hope Monday that President Park Geun-hye's trip to Uganda this week will help expand economic partnerships between the two countries.

"(The two sides) need to spread government-level cooperation to the civilian sector," Park Yong-maan, president of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), said at a business forum held in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.

More than 250 South Korean and Ugandan officials and business leaders attended the event. They include President Park Geun-hye and Uganda's Trade Minister Amelia Kyambadde.

South Korean firms are interested in investing in the African nation, especially in the infrastructure and oil sectors.

"But they suffer troubles in launching businesses there due to lack of experience," the KCCI head said. "They will be able to provide big support for the Ugandan economy as well as its efforts to resolve social problems such as poverty, health care and education."

In the forum, Kim Il-soo, director of the Korea-Africa Center, stressed that South Korea is an optimal partner for Uganda, given its success in developing its economy and democracy at the same time.

He said the two sides can cooperate in the agriculture, energy, ICT, textile and tourism fields.

"If South Korea's technology and Uganda's affluent natural resources are combined, it will create big synergy," he pointed out. (Yonhap)
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni vowed Sunday to cut off his country's security and military cooperation with North Korea in the latest increase in international diplomatic pressure exerted on Pyongyang over its nuclear program, a South Korean official said.



North Korea is under the toughest U.N. sanctions ever over its fourth nuclear test and its long-range rocket launch earlier this year. Still, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called his country a "responsible nuclear state" in the clearest sign yet that he won't give up its nuclear program.



"I have instructed officials to faithfully enforce the U.N. Security Council resolution, including disengagement from North Korea in the security, military and police sectors," Museveni said in a summit with his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye, according to South Korean presidential spokesman Jeong Yeon-guk.



Museveni's pledge illustrates growing international pressure on North Korea over its defiant pursuit of a nuclear weapons program. He also sent a clear message to Pyongyang that Uganda is on the same page as South Korea and the international community, and not siding with North Korea.



Museveni's commitment "is expected to be a big help in convincing other African countries to enforce the U.N. resolution," said Kim Kyou-hyun, senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs.



Kim also described Uganda's disengagement as very "meaningful" as Uganda is one of the major African countries that has a close relationship with North Korea.



Uganda has been maintaining military cooperation with North Korea, and the long-time Ugandan leader has visited Pyongyang three times. Some 50 North Korean military and police personnel are believed to be working in Uganda, according to South Korea.



It remains unclear whether Uganda will deport the North Korean personnel.



Repeated calls to the North Korean embassy in Uganda seeking a comment went unanswered on Sunday. In a symbolic gesture of Uganda's policy shift, the African country signed a deal with South Korea on defense cooperation.



"Uganda appears to have made a strategic judgment that it should give more weight to substantial cooperation with us rather than military cooperation with North Korea as Uganda pursues a strategy for national development," said Kim.



Also Sunday, Park had expressed confidence that her summit with Museveni would serve as a good opportunity to boost friendship and cooperation between the two countries.



Park is the first South Korean president who has visited Uganda since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1963.



The summit -- the third such meeting between the two leaders -- came as South Korea is reaching out to Africa to boost business opportunities with the continent that has huge growth potential.



Museveni has cited South Korea as a model for his country's economic development.



South Korea has become a donor country from a key recipient of U.N. aid in half a century, a transformation that has inspired many developing nations to follow in the footsteps of the Asian country in advancing their economies.



Park told Museveni that she anticipates the two countries will strengthen cooperation in infrastructure, resource development, education and culture.



After the summit, Park and Museveni watched as their representatives signed 10 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) between the two nations.



The MOUs call for, among other things, bilateral cooperation in the energy and plant sector, a move that Seoul says could help South Korean companies make inroads into Uganda's infrastructure market.



A consortium led by GS Engineering & Construction, a major South Korean construction firm, has been in talks with Uganda over a US$1.5 billion project to build a refinery near Hoima in western Uganda.



Museveni said he hopes South Korean companies will actively participate in establishing an energy infrastructure, including the construction of a refinery.



One of the pacts calls for bilateral cooperation in the generation, distribution and transmission of electrical power.



Uganda is pushing to build two hydroelectric power plants by 2020 to increase its power generation capacity to 2,500 MW from 827 MW in 2014. It also plans to ramp up per capita power consumption to 578 kWh by 2020 from 80 kWh in 2013.



"Both of our countries can obtain successful results if South Korean companies can continue to participate in major infrastructure projects," Park said in a separate meeting with about 250 business leaders from the two sides at a hotel.



Separately, Park watched a cultural performance that featured B-boy dancing, a demonstration of the traditional Korean martial art of taekwondo as well as Uganda's traditional dancing.



Uganda is home to about 10,000 people who have been practicing taekwondo since the Korean martial art began to spread in the African country in the late 1960s.



Uganda is the second stop on Park's swing through Africa. The trip is set to take her to Nairobi on Monday for talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta. (Yonhap)




South Korea's unification ministry said Monday that North Korea appears ready to kick off another campaign designed to push its people to work harder starting in June.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said that the "200-day campaign of loyalty" will be launched in a bid to implement the five-year strategy of economic development, which he unveiled at the congress of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) in early May, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

In February, the North launched the 70-day work-hard drive to prepare for the WPK's congress, which served as a venue to help Kim reaffirm his one-man leadership. The earlier campaign mobilized a large number of people for construction and other projects.

South Korea said that the North's new campaign is likely to start on Wednesday and continue into mid-December.

"North Korea is set to launch the 200-day battle not very long after it completed the campaign (to prepare for the party congress)," Jeong Joon-hee, spokesman at Seoul's unification ministry, told a regular press briefing.

The KCNA reported that Kim's remark was made during a visit to the construction site of a factory to produce oxygen for medical use outside Pyongyang, ordering the completion of its building by Sept. 9, the founding anniversary of North Korea.

Jeong said the communist country launched back-to-back dayslong campaigns of loyalty in 1988, 2009 and 2012.

In 2012, North Korea waged consecutively hard-work drives to prepare for the 100th anniversary to mark the April 15 birthday of the country's founder Kim Il-sung, he said. (Yonhap)
China recently agreed to give 'humanitarian' food-aid to North Korea for postponing nuclear tests / Courtesy of Twitter



By Lee Han-soo

North Korea has postponed a nuclear test after striking a food-aid deal with China, according to Boxun, a Chinese newspaper based in the U.S., citing unidentified Beijing sources.

According to the paper, the deal was struck after China sent an envoy after learning that North Korea was planning on an airborne nuclear test during its recent congress.

The source also claimed that Pyongyang deliberately leaked intelligence about the planned nuclear test so it could get food and supplies from China and other organizations to counter the present famine.

The Chinese government reportedly urgently sent the envoy because China feared an airborne nuclear disaster along its border with North Korea.












Kim Yang-soo, the author of the online comic "My Lawyer, Mr. Jo"

/ Korea Times

By Kang Hyun-kyung

The dark days for KBS dramas came to an end with the success of the online comic-based TV series "My Lawyer, Mr. Jo" starring acting legend Park Shin-yang.

Park plays the title character, the heroic lawyer Jo Deul-ho, who fights social ills and economic injustice for underprivileged clients. The show's ratings have remained in the double digits since it first aired in March.

In recent years, dramas with such ratings are not common because of the production glut that began in 2011 when the cable networks began to see the drama market as a cash cow. Before Mr. Jo, KBS dramas that aired on Mondays and Tuesdays struggled to increase their market share, with ratings hovering at only 2 to 3 percent.







Mr. Jo, the final episode of which is to air on Tuesday, topped the list in a recent Gallup survey of Koreans' favorite TV series. The polling agency conducted the survey of over 1,000 people in May to ask for their favorite TV programs that were airing.

Another thing that makes the Mr. Jo series special, according to Kim Yang-soo, the author of the online comic, is its realism, which helps draw sympathy from the viewers, who are ordinary citizens.

"I know some drama fans are sick and tired of the soap operas dealing with unrealistic stories," he said. "Such dramas failed to convince viewers. I think my comic was able to captivate them because it raises fresh, ongoing issues directly affecting their lives."





In the show, lawyer Jo Deul-ho brings a greedy businessman known as Chairman Chung to justice for his corrupt business practices. Chairman Chung lobbied influential politicians and key judiciary figures to advance his business's interests at the expense of the public.

Kim, 35, believes that webtoons, a term for Korean online comics, can innovate TV dramas, which have been stuck in the all-consuming ratings competition that eventually led to the dramas' decline. Compared to dramas, the cartoonist said, online comics are innovative, creative and inspiring, and the genre, which began in 2003 on the popular Korean Internet portal Daum, has played on these strengths within a relatively short period of time. Since then, online comics have been growing rapidly owing to the rising popularity of web-based content.





Actor Park Shin-yang, second from left, plays the title character in the popular drama "My Lawyer, Mr. Jo" that premiered on KBS in March. / KBS photo



Today, the $170-million webtoon market has over 5,000 online comics, some of which are available via subscription.

With their creativity and realism, online comics are a breath of fresh air in the saturated TV drama market. Some webtoon-based TV dramas, such as cable network tvN's "Misaeng" or "An Incomplete Life" (2014) have become huge successes. The popular comic on which the show is based tells the story of a young college graduate as he struggles with underemployment and job insecurity in a precarious labor market.

Competition among TV and cable networks has become tougher since the latter joined the drama market in a bid to increase profits. Until 2010, the number of TV series released yearly was only around 70 or so, but since then, the figure has risen to over 100 with the release of several cable network-produced dramas.





And the more intense competition has prompted television and cable networks to focus on producing profitable content, that is, content that is expected to have sufficient viewer ratings to cover the high production costs. Experts say the production of each episode costs some 300 to 350 million won ($300,000). The "makjang," a drama style that has gone too far, and the Cinderella style dramas, have been dominating the drama market until recently. In the makjang drama, the main characters are portrayed as people who are greedy, corrupt and will do anything to get what they want in their careers or lives; most of the time, their actions come at the expense of others' wellbeing. These characters often face tragic ends near the end of the dramas.

A TV series only has to follow one of the two formulas to succeed, with success measured by profits large enough for the TV and cable networks to cover the high production costs. A number of dramas with similar story lines have been released as a result.

Kim said the tough market makes it more difficult for TV series writers to produce creative stories.







"I understand that the production of dramas requires an enormous budget and thus, the financial risks become very high when they fail to garner high viewer ratings," he said. "We cartoonists are fortunate because unlike TV drama writers who have to work in the high-risk environment of drama productions, we can work freely. We don't need a huge budget to produce an online comic. This means even though our comic projects fail, the losses that we have to absorb are not that huge. So for us cartoonists, it is easier to try new topics and explore whatever we want. I think this helps us create online comics that appeal to the readers."

Kim, who majored in graphic design in college, said he spent a year researching law and the courtroom before he debuted as a cartoonist in 2013. He frequently visited a small courtroom in his hometown of Gyeongju for three months to sharpen his understanding of legal cases.

One day, Kim was approached by a judge, whom he didn't name; curious about the young man who always showed up in the courtroom, the judge asked what he did for a living. "When I told him that I was an aspiring cartoonist, he seemed a little disappointed," Kim said. Kim also recruited a legal expert who could give him pieces of advice as he worked on his drafts. Lawyer Park Jin-hee saw the aspiring cartoonist's message on an Internet forum for lawyers and volunteered to share her expertise in intellectual property rights.

Some say the stunning performance of actor Park, who had taken a five-year hiatus after his last appearance on the TV crime thriller "Sign" played a role in My Lawyer, Mr. Jo's success and broad appeal.

Author Kim agreed, lauding the great actor's talent and dedication. "When I first heard last year that he was shortlisted for the male lead, I thought he was an excellent candidate because I know he is a great actor," he said. "He has done a fantastic job since the first episode was aired. The way he interpreted the character was exactly what I had in mind when I worked on the online comic."

Mr. Jo is Kim's first webtoon released by the nation's largest internet portal, Naver.

Since the comic was released in 2013, it has received reviews by over 15,000 users, over 90 percent of whom gave it a score of 9.9 out of 10. Some of Kim's fans are lawyers and other legal professionals. The success of the comic's first season has motivated Kim to work on the second season.
By Anais FaureFor about a decade now, South Korea's foreign policy has been marked by the active usage of "middle power diplomacy." The concept itself iswidespread in high-level policy statements, while on the practical side, the main mechanism to advance this strategy has been network diplomacy  strengthening bilateral and multilateral relations through expanded cooperation across all regions.As is only natural, President Park Geun-hye's overseas state visits play a key role within these efforts. In 2015, some notable examples of "middle power networking" were Park's Latin American tour through Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Chile in April, and the first ever Korea-Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) Summit held in Prague in December.But when it comes to 2016, the nature of bilateral summits held in Korea and overseas so far suggest that the push for middle power-based network diplomacy is ever more at the forefront of Park's agenda. And within this push, two main trends emerge: the global scope of this year's summits  compared with 2015's regionalized focus  and the drive for positioning Korea as key partner for key regional powers across the globe.Taking a closer look at the President's summit diplomacy agenda further illustrates this.On Feb. 18 and March 3, respectively, Korea-Palestine and Korea-Egypt Summits were held at Cheong Wa Dae. And, after attending the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C., President Park flew to Mexico City for the Korea-Mexico Summit on April 5.Later that month, Cheong Wa Dae hosted the Korea-Norway Summit on the 15th, followed by the first-ever Korea-Iran Summit in Tehran on May 2. With two working-level meetings with Kuwait's Prime Minister and Argentina's Vice-President in between, the most recent summit was the Korea-Indonesia one hosted in Seoul May 16. Park is in the midst of a tour that included Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda by the end of this month, followed by her second state visit to France.The state visits to Africa were also very relevant, as they featured the first-ever visit of a Korean President to the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa and the official launch of Korea Aid, the newest overseas development assistance (ODA) initiative targeting African countries.Notably, development assistance is an integral component of Korea's middle power diplomacy, as the country's self-positioning as a bridge between developed and developing countries  based on its own experience  has allowed it to play an increasingly important role in international development.And last but not least, Park's state visit to France highlighted deepening ties between the two countries.As portrayed above, so far this has been a busy year for President Park. And, in contrast to the convoluted domestic political context, her foreign policy agenda has shown a clear drive for expanding Korea's networks by actively combining summit, cultural and economic diplomacy.All in all, this underscores two main aspirations: enhancing Korea's status from a middle power to that of a leading middle power and, in line with domestic concerns, giving renewed influx to a stagnating economy by conquering new markets.Anais Faure recently attained a master's degree in Korean studies from the Academy of Korean Studies and also holds a master's degree in development policy from the KDI School of Public Policy and Management. Write to faure.ag@gmail.com
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is right in its concerns about the Korean government's "unorthodox" approach of using the Bank of Korea (BOK) to finance the restructuring of troubled shipbuilding and shipping companies (see The Korea Times' Saturday edition for more on IMF's concern about government pressure on BOK).



The IMF team, led by Kalpana Kochhar, deputy director at the Asia and Pacific department, was in Seoul on the mission, among other things, to inquire about Seoul's bid to use quantitative easing (QE) on a limited scale for the restructuring of specific areas, contrary to the basic concept that the central bank should be used as the lender of last resort.



The Korean-style QE was first broached by President Park Geun-hye during a meeting with senior journalists in April, causing more than a few heads to turn because there was believed to be no need for QE for the time being. Missing pieces fell in place soon as the finance ministry announced its plan to use the BOK to replenish its restructuring war chest.



The BOK balked, correctly arguing that there should be a "consensus" throughout society for its unique money-printing authority to be called into action. Even in the 2008 financial crisis, the BOK didn't print more money, settling for the auxiliary role of chipping in for a fund that was not fully used.



The IMF took the BOK's side, obviously fathoming that the government was trying to bypass the National Assembly, now controlled by opposition parties, to secure billions of dollars needed for restructuring. By an extension of its logic, the IMF might as well suggest that the government should draw up a supplementary budget because of its sound fiscal status.



All told, the IMF was also of the same opinion with those who asserted that the government still considered the central bank as its pocket on the side, being ready to relegate its independence to the matter at its convenience.



The unmistakable evidence for this was the fact that the government wants the BOK to participate as an equity investor in the Korea Development Bank (KDB) in violation of the pertinent law and increase its equity in the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank). The two state banks are heavily exposed as state financiers in the two troubled industries.



Central banks in advanced countries don't hold stakes in state or private financial institutions as the BOK does, critics say, adding that the divesture is a key to BOK independence that is also pivotal in helping normalize the nation's financial system by keeping its monetary role in the tool box for a real crisis.



The government should heed the IMF's advice that a sword shouldn't be used for a situation that needs a pair of tweezers.




Sangmyung University President Goo Kee-heon, left, and Sangmyung Academic Foundation Chairman Lee Jun-bang, second from left, participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch a European porcelain exhibition at Sangmyung University Museum in Seoul, Monday. Posing with them are Executive Vice President for Development and External Affairs Kim Chong-hee, second from right, and Vice President Hong Seong-tae. / Courtesy of Sangmyung University



By Chung Hyun-chae



The Sangmyung University Museum launched a three-month exhibition featuring 200 pieces of European porcelain, Monday, to celebrate the 79th anniversary of the Sangmyung Academy Foundation and the 51st anniversary of Sangmyung University.



"Ours is the only university museum that holds European porcelain in our collections," said Lyu Han-su, director of the museum.



The exhibition includes a Meissen Blue Onion Tea Set decorated in Chinese patterns, made by potters in Meissen, eastern Germany, in the 18th century.



Also on display is the Royal Crown Derby Imari Tea Set having Japanese patterns, manufactured by an English potter in the 17th century.



"The exhibition will help visitors appreciate cultural heritages related to exchanges between the East and West," curator Whang A-ra said.



The museum's porcelain collection was donated by Bokjeon Young-ja, director of the European Porcelain Museum, which is part of the Bucheon City Museum in Gyeonggi Province.



The museum regularly runs an art and cultural program related to porcelain.

"We hold a 12-week porcelain-painting class twice a year which many local residents participate in," Whang said.





[caption]



Sangmyung University President Goo Kee-heon, left, and Sangmyung Academic Foundation Chairman Lee Jun-bang, second from left, participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch a European porcelain exhibition at Sangmyung University Museum in Seoul, Monday. Posing with them are Executive Vice President for Development and External Affairs Kim Chong-hee, second from right, and Vice President Hong Seong-tae.

Courtesy of Sangmyung University
After meeting and falling in love on the set of "Blood," co-stars Ahn Jae Hyun and Goo Hye Sun have finally tied the knot, but in a not-so-orthodox manner.

On May 21, the couple officially submitted their marriage resistration documents, but instead of having an all-out ceremony and reception, the two decided to give back to the community instead.

According to HellpKpop, a day after registering their marriage, the two went to the children's wing of Severance Hospital in Seoul, where they donated the money.

Rather than wearing a wedding dress and tuxedo, the two showed up in more casual clothing, where the medical team expressed their gratitude and thanks for the couple's generosity.

The names of the newlyweds were also printed on a sign and placed in one of the treatment rooms as way to thank the couple for their donation.

The money will be used for disease research and rest facilities for children who are patients.

"We want to have a worthwhile life where we help others, so we decided to make our thoughts reality through our wedding," the couple stated. "We would like to give hope and strength to young patients who are fighting disease and illness."


About 400,000 people have been displaced while many have lost their lives following severe flooding over the last few days throughout the Island affecting 22 out of the 25 districts in Sri Lanka. The relief and rescue operations are being conducted by the Ministry of Disaster Management with the support of the tri forces and other agencies.



We appeal to the Sri Lankan expatriate community and well wishers in Switzerland to assist in providing relief to the affected people. Given the urgent needs, the Government Authorities have decided to call for financial donations in order to purchase immediate relief items locally and to distribute them through the Government Agents in the Districts.



All financial donations can be made by Cash or Bank Deposits payable to the following official account of the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Geneva in Swiss Francs (CHF) and receive an official receipt of acknowledgement.

Name of the Bank: Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS)

Bank Account No. 240.256121.30A

Account Name: Consulate General of Sri Lanka

IBAN: CH 350024024025612130A

Clearing No. 240



Copy of Bank Deposit slip with the name and address may be kindly communicated to the Mission by email, fax or post once the deposit is made, in order to issue an official receipt of acknowledgement.



If you wish to make any donation in term of material kindly note that the authorities have requested to limit them to be following immediate relief material and medical items;



Relief Material

1. Folding Mattress

2. Generators (5 KVA/20 KVA) (220V/240V)

3. Emergency Lights

4. Life Jackets

5. Mobile Toilets

6. Tapeline

7. Tents

8. Toilet Cleaning Tablets

9. Water filters

10. Water Purification Tablets

11. Out Boat Motors (25.40 hp.)

12. Out Boats

Medical items



1. Tents for Health Service Provision

2. Vehicle for Transportation of Health Staff

3. Water Pumps

4. Electric Generators

5. Emergency Lamps

6. Boots

7. Rain Coats

8. Umbrellas

9. Torches

10. Mobile Water Purification Plants

11. Mini Mobile Hospitals

12. Insecticides for fly control as Solfax

Also, please note that all costs related to packing and transportation will need to be borne by the donors.



Funds received will be transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo for disaster relief use. Your contributions for the welfare of the affected people in Sri Lanka is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Consulate General of Sri Lanka Geneva

Postal Address

Consulate General of Sri Lanka

56, rue de Moillebeau,

P.O. Box436,

1211 Geneva 19.


Policy Development Office (PDO) of the Prime Ministers Office is hosting a website about rural polas/village fairs. The pola or santhai is a weekly village market that plays an important role in rural life in Sri Lanka. It is a meeting place for the community and also serves as the backbone of rural economies. A sizeable amount of retail trade takes place at village fairs, sales by primary producers and purchases of non-local products brought in by distributors. By helping to modernize and build capacity in village markets, it is intended to boost rural economics throughout the island. This website can be accessed by http://villagefair.pmoffice.gov.lk/ and provides a mechanism to link those who want to help develop Sri Lanka directly with village markets in need of essential infrastructure, especially in rural communities around the island. This initiative is about making it easy for donors to fund micro-projects in Sri Lanka, projects that will make a big impact in the lives of many. The needs of individual village markets are listed. Village markets that receive funds are obligated to follow up on the progress of each micro-project. Photographs of the completed micro-project will be uploaded on to the website to maximize transparency. So far, details of Matale and Colombo polas can be viewed. Down the line, we will keep the public updated on the progress of the website. For feedbacks and innovative concepts, write to us on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Website: http://villagefair.pmoffice.gov.lk

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/weeklyvillagefair

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Press Release in Sinhala

Press Release in Tamil

Press Release in English
The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary

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Calixto Bieito is Catalan for Eurotrash.

Not really. But Bieito is the provocative opera director who first comes to the mind of many worried about an art form sinking into Tarantino-esque sex, violence and overall nihilism.

While his productions are seen in many of Europes major opera houses, the Spanish director seems to get particularly under the skin of the British, who even have a term for it: Bieito-baiting. Of course, Bieito did once, for English National Opera, set the opening of Verdis Un Ballo in Maschera in the stalls of a grubby mens room, the chorus singing while sitting on toilets.

As for Bieitos Carmen, the Daily Mail summed up the production as tacky, tawdry and tasteless, qualities a British tabloid should be expected to know of whence it speaks. Such talk has been more than enough to inspire fear in the hearts of wary American opera companies.

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But thanks to San Francisco Opera, Bieitos Carmen, which originated in Catalonia in 1999, is finally his first opera production to come to our shores. It opened Friday night at War Memorial Opera House here and runs, with two casts, through July 3.

It is neither tacky nor tasteless, and if tawdry, thats an essential part of its disturbing realism. Yes, there is brief nudity, but it is so dimly lighted that you can barely tell. Meanwhile, the intimations of sex would be considered restrained on cable TV; the violence tame by network TV standards.

The company does offer the standard caution for viewer discretion. Nonetheless, the July 2 performance will be simulcast live and for free to San Franciscos AT&T Park for an audience of 30,000.

I saw the second performance of Carmen on Saturday night. It featured Ginger Costa-Jackson, an exceptional young Sicilian American mezzo-soprano, who brought a dangerous, animalistic vibrancy to the title role. No one else in the cast was up to her level vocally or theatrically. But this was still an evening of powerful, illuminating theater.

What is perhaps most surprising about this production of an opera that has already been treated to every gimmick imaginable is how little the sex or violence means. They are for Bieito the natural survival instincts Carmen symbolizes. A worker in a cigarette factory, a member of an oppressed class, she is a revolutionary who fights back against society and conformity. But Bieitos inspiration is to show her dominated not by lust, which she can control, but by forces greater that she tragically cant control.

The stage is often bare. A post-Franco military dominates a chaotic public square. Gypsies cavort in old Mercedes, a visual pun on the name of one of them. A naked toreador enacts the ritualistic ceremony of bull fighters exposing themselves to the bulls the night before the fight to take possession of the animals spirits.

The revelation is that by evoking this ceremonial, near mystic, aspect of Spanish life, Bieito also creates a setting that heightens a culture in which nerves are always on edge and inhibitions inevitably reduced. Dance plays a big part. The director has a special feel for choreographing crowds, and they move in ways that an ocean flows, even as they are made up of wildly characterful individuals.

Costa-Jackson embraces all this with conspicuous complexity. There is a lusty yet somber quality to her strikingly dark mezzo, the ideal voice for Carmen. Carmens arias are dances, and Costa-Jackson, always in control of the moment, makes them sexually insinuating. But she also uses that control to mask her deeper defenselessness. As a threat to the status quo, she knows she will be eliminated not as an unfaithful lover but as a lover.

At Saturdays performance, the contrast between Carmen and the world around her came across as slightly too obvious, given a bland Don Jose (Adam Diegel), a conventionally operatic Micaela (Erika Grimaldi) and an Escamillo (Michael Sumuel) of little toreador charisma. Carlo Montanaros conducting was fluid but lacked dramatic point. But there was plenty of life in the others, and in the crowd, in the details of the staging.

Nor is San Franciscos Carmen exactly Bieitos American operatic debut. The staging was undertaken by a revival director, Joan Anton Rechi.

But the company has broken ice that needs breaking. There can now be no going back. The Metropolitan Opera is on board to bring Bieito to New York in 2017 to direct Verdis La Forza del Destino. Meanwhile, Bieito is inescapable in Europe. His upcoming production of Halvys La Juive at Bavarian State Opera will inevitably invite controversy, and the company will bravely stream the opening performance, June 26, live on its website.

mark.swed@latimes.com

@markswed
With a splendid cast both well- and little-known, Historys new version of Roots, which premieres Monday night, is the very model of a modern major miniseries.

Billed as a re-imagining, it follows the same characters and timeline as the iconic ABC miniseries but has been reconfigured (four two-hour episodes, each filmed separately under a different director), multi-platformed (it will air simultaneously on History, A&E and Lifetime) and historically fine-tuned.

Though sleeker and more graphically brutal than its ancestor, Roots remains a celebration of resistance through survival.

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More important, it reminds us precisely what all the fuss was about the first time around.

And thats important; sometimes the success of a creative work can overwhelm its real significance.

Over the years, the 1977 miniseries has come to stand for many things. A surprise hit that enthralled the nation, Roots defined the notion of a television event, with more than 100 million people watching the final episode.

Playing out over eight successive nights, it turned the miniseries, previously an occasional oddity, into a popular American art form.

Its success helped identify the historically overlooked black audience while disproving the notion that white viewers were interested only in stories about white people.

And though some complained about certain characters being softened, Roots also provided a stinging, and long overdue, antidote to the Taras Theme sentimentality that still hung over the early history of the American South.

All of which was, and is, very important. Just not as important as the thing itself: a chronicle of American slavery told by four generations of slaves.

That is most certainly a story worth retelling, especially now. Amid all the heated conversations about racism, demographically specific anger and national identity, we need to be reminded of our actual history, which, on civilizations timeline, occurred the day before yesterday.

This Roots begins with some of its best re-imagining  an extended look at Kunta Kintes (Malachi Kirby) life in West Africa as he trains to be a Mandinka warrior.

Though inter-tribal hostilities, enflamed by the slave trade, threaten the area, Kuntas father (Babs Olusanmokun) holds fiercely to Mandinka traditions of faith and family, which means he openly opposes those tribes who sell captives to white slavers, but also Kuntas dream of life in the larger world.

Though Kunta rebels against his father, it is those values that sustain him after he is sold into slavery, and that dream becomes a living nightmare.

Mondays first episode follows his journey from Africa to a plantation in Virginia. Stirring moments of outright rebellion  captives singing plans to take the ship even as the slavers force them to dance; Kunta, calling to the field slaves to help after he briefly frees himself  give way to a more seething fury. Kunta is put in the care of the seemingly assimilated slave Fiddler (Forest Whitaker) who, because he can play violin, is treated slightly better than the field slaves.

1 / 11 Roots (Clockwise from left: ABC Photo Archives / ABC via Getty Images; Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times; Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times; ABC) 2 / 11 Now: The original members of the TV show Roots, pictured on May 11, 2016: John Amos, left, Lynne Moody, Ben Vereen, Leslie Uggams, Georg Stanford Brown, Louis Gossett Jr., Sandy Duncan. Here are some photos from their roles in 1977 and now. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 11 Now: LeVar Burton on May 9, 2016. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 11 Now: John Amos on May 11, 2016. (Amy Sussman / Invision / Associated Press) 5 / 11 Then: Ben Vereen as Chicken George in a scene from ABCs Roots, which aired in 1977. (Amy Sussman / Invision / Associated Press) 6 / 11 Now: Ben Vereen on May 11, 2016. (Amy Sussman / Invision / Associated Press) 7 / 11 Now: Lynne Moody on May 11, 2016. (Amy Sussman / Invision / Associated Press) 8 / 11 Now: Leslie Uggams on May 11, 2016. (Amy Sussman / Invision / Associated Press) 9 / 11 Now: Sandy Duncan on May 11, 2016. (Amy Sussman / Invision / Associated Press) 10 / 11 Now: Georg Stanford Brown on May 11, 2016. (Amy Sussman / Invision / Associated Press) 11 / 11 Now: Louis Gossett Jr. on May 11, 2016. (Amy Sussman / Invision / Associated Press)

But as Fiddler attempts to tame Kunta, Kunta re-animates Fiddler; the desire to pass on the essential nature of the Mandinka warrior fuels the series. A lullaby becomes one of the threads connecting the generations to their original home, as does a naming ceremony and a necklace of beads.

But most important is the storytelling itself. Kunta tells stories of his homeland; his children and grandchildren tell stories of him (which makes the notion of a remake symbolically fitting).

As in the original, Roots follows Kuntas lineage; in the second episode, we meet his daughter Kizzy (Anika Noni Rose), who also is brutally broken until she manages to rebuild herself. She, in turn, fights to keep the Mandinka spirit alive in her son, Chicken George (Rege Jean-Page); his son, Tom (Sedale Threatt Jr.) lives to see emancipation and to pass on the story of Kunta Kinte.

With television more graphic than ever, the grim realities of slavery  from the crowding of the slave ships to the horrors of rape and torture  are even more disturbing. But for all its righteous refusal to sentimentalize slavery for even one moment, Roots is not a polemic; its a very human drama, with deep belief in the ability of love, family and personal courage to transcend even the most brutal circumstance, even the most painful history.

Roots

Where: A&E, History Channel, Lifetime

When: 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday

Rating: TV-14-LV (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14, with advisories for coarse language and violence)

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Just when it looks like the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) and his fanatic followers are about to be driven from Kings Landing, their power grows greater than ever on Blood of My Blood, Episode 56 of HBOs Game of Thrones.

Queen Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer) once despised the High Sparrow and mocked his Faith of the Seven religion. After being imprisoned to ponder her many sins, however, Margaery has a change of heart. She embraces the ancient faith she once scorned.

Its not an easy thing, admitting to yourself what you really are, Margaery confesses to her husband, King Tommen Baratheon (Dean-Charles Chapman).

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Ive had lots of time to think about how good I was at seeming good, she adds, referring to her self-promoting excursions to help the poor. Its such a relief to let go of those lies.

When the High Sparrow presents Margaery to a throng of common folk, it appears shell make the infamous Walk of Atonement. This deeply humiliating exercise requires her to be stripped naked before passing through a jeering crowd.

No way thats happening, Margaerys grandmother Lady Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg) vows.

Olenna summons her troops, guided by Lord Mace Tyrell (Roger Ashton-Griffiths) and Ser Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), to save Margaery and her still-imprisoned brother Ser Loras (Finn Jones).

Every last Sparrow will die before Margaery Tyrell walks down that street, Jaime threatens.

To die in the service of the gods would please each and every one of us. We yearn for it, the High Sparrow replies. But there is no call for it today.

Margaery has already paid for her sins, the High Sparrow reveals, because she persuaded her husband to join the faithful.

The Crown and the Faith are the twin pillars upon which the world rests, Tommen announces to the startled onlookers. Together, we will restore the Seven Kingdoms to glory!

As for Jaime, hes no longer fit to serve as lord commander of the Kingsguard, Tommen declares.

Instead, Jaime must lead an army to recapture Riverrun Castle from Brynden The Blackfish Tully (Clive Russell), who escaped the bloody Red Wedding orchestrated by Lord Walder Frey (David Bradley). Now Frey aims to retake the castle with Jaimes assistance.

In other developments:

 Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) plans to study at the Citadel while his Wildling girlfriend Gilly (Hannah Murray) and her baby stay at Horn Hill, the Tarlys ancestral home. But after being cruelly rejected by his father, Randyll (James Faulkner), Sam, Gilly and Little Sam slip out during the night. We belong together, all of us, Sam emphasizes.

 Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) has orders from the Faceless Men assassins guild to poison actress Lady Crane (Essie Davis). But when Arya realizes her targets understudy paid for the killing, Arya refuses to follow through. She retrieves her sword, Needle, from its hiding place and awaits the consequences of her actions.

 Aryas warg brother Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) and his companion Meera Reed (Ellie Kendrick) are nearly killed by wights, undead minions created by the White Walkers. Riding to the rescue is Brans uncle Benjen Stark (Joseph Mawle), a Nights Watch ranger whos mastered the art of slaying supernatural beings.

 Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) solidifies her leadership of the Dothraki by performing a flyover on the back of Drogon, her awesome dragon. Will you ride the wooden horses across the black salt sea? she asks her followers. Will you kill my enemies in their iron suits and tear down their stone houses? Will you give me the Seven Kingdoms? Judging by the wild shouting that ensues, the answers are yes, yes and yes.

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From a veranda overlooking Avalon harbor, real estate broker Mark Malan gazed at oceanfront cottages, a curved promenade and passing sailboats with brightly colored pennants.

To tourists, it was a place to bask in sun and surf just an hour from the California coast. But thats not what the Long Beach businessman saw.

Malan aims to turn his real estate office here into the first medical marijuana dispensary on Santa Catalina Island, and hes trying to make the idea attractive by promising to share a small portion of the revenue with local schools and city government.

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Its going to create wheelbarrows of money, Malan said, adjusting his broad-rimmed straw hat over a confident smile. But just how much of that windfall would go to schools is unknown.

A petition drive he led gathered enough signatures to put an initiative on the ballot that would repeal a current ban on medical marijuana dispensaries and allow at least two facilities in the 3-square-mile resort community with a population of roughly 3,800.

The Avalon Medical Cannabis Facility Act of 2016 would impose an annual license tax of $10,000 per dispensary and direct 50% of that amount to Avalon Schools, a K-12 complex of 750 students operated by the Long Beach Unified School District.

The initiative would also impose a 12% transaction fee for all medical marijuana purchases, which would be directed as follows: 1/3 to drug and alcohol education for local students, 1/3 to Avalons general fund and 1/3 to its parks and recreation department.

It would prohibit dispensaries within 1,000 feet of a public school.

Critics say the amount of money for schools is small and argue that it is a transparent gesture to try to win public support.

All hes doing is creating a marijuana problem  then giving back a pittance to deal with it, said Scott Chipman, Southern California chair of Citizens Against Marijuana. I wouldnt care if he put every penny into schools. Its making a deal with the devil.

When critics point out that most of the revenue would go to Malan and his associates, Malan counters with a question: Why do you hate kids?

Malan said he hoped voters would keep an open mind. Think of all the field trips and summer programs that will pay for to help students, he said.

The Avalon City Council next week is expected to decide when to put the initiative on the ballot, where it will require a 2/3 majority to pass.

The council has three options: it can hold a special election in June, place the initiative on the November ballot or delay a vote until the next election cycle in 2018.

Malan and his business associates have already filed applications making them eligible to open two dispensaries, including one in his Santa Catalina Real Estate office, a few doors down from the main entrance to the new $10-million Catalina Island Museum.

Critics say I just want to open a dispensary there because it will attract some of the visitors flocking to the new museum, he said. You know what? Theyre right.

A majority of the five-member council signed the petition: Mayor Anni Marshall and Councilmen Richard Hernandez and Joe Sampson. Two others  Oley Olsen and Cinde MacGugan-Cassidy--chose not to sign it.

In an interview, Sampson summed up his support: Money going to schools and medicine going to sick people---whats wrong with that?

Olsen disagrees. I dont think this is a good idea for Avalon, he said. Kids have enough access to drugs and alcohol.

Unknown is whether the Long Beach Unified School District would accept funds from a medical marijuana dispensary. Chris Eftychiou, a spokesman for the district, declined comment except to say, Final decisions are up to our board.

The election could be hotly contested. The city of about 2,000 registered voters has a reputation as deeply resistant to change.

About 88% of the 75-square-mile island is owned by the nonprofit Catalina Island Conservancy. The Catalina Island Co. about 11% of the land mass, and about 1% is owned by private individuals and the city of Avalon.

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Louis.Sahagun@latimes.com

@LouisSahagun
Nine years after she lost her apartment in North Hollywood and began couch-surfing and living in her van, Laura Luevano received a federal rent voucher to return her to the world of the housed.

Two months later  after calling 23 apartments for rent with no luck  the 65-year-old disabled woman is sleeping on a cramped couch on a back patio in Sylmar, one of at least 2,200 homeless people in Los Angeles County with a voucher but no place to use it.

With more than 35,000 people sleeping on sidewalks and in alleys, underpasses and riverbeds, the city and county are leaning on rent subsidies for private landlords to bring quick relief to homeless people while elected officials struggle to fund a $1.87 billion construction program.

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But in the last two years, rents have soared far above baseline federal voucher caps  $1,150 for a one-bedroom apartment and $1,500 for two-bedroom units. And with the countys rental vacancy rate at a scant 2.7%, voucher holders are tripping over one another in fruitless apartment hunts lasting months.

A lot of people think once you have a voucher, thats it, you have some golden ticket, said Michelle Solis, Luevanos case worker at Housing Works, a Hollywood-based homeless housing services provider. But its not. You have to compete with everyone else.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >> >>

The city and county are trying to lure more landlords into taking vouchers with financial incentives to sweeten the deal.

We only have a limited number of tools: We can build new housing, we can rehab housing. The rest of it is we have to use existing private housing, said County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.

The city has set aside $5 million, and the county $3 million, to cover security deposits and first and last months rent, set up damage funds and pay initial water and power bills for formerly homeless voucher holders.

Some local governments also pay for $1,000 holding fees to tide over landlords while inspections and approvals are underway; a new program in Santa Monica offers a $5,000 signing bonus to landlords who rent to voucher holders.

But some landlords fear formerly homeless tenants will cause trouble or fall behind on rent. Subsidies are issued through a variety of programs to homeless and low-income people, but generally, tenants contribute 30% of their income, leaving the government to cover the rest.

Veterans families with vouchers in hand are taking four months to find housing; for single adult veterans, the wait is eight months.

There are about 800 homeless veteran vouchers wandering the streets of Los Angeles looking for apartments, said Philip Mangano, the former federal homelessness czar under President George W. Bush.

 Work crews and police remove homeless encampments along a highly visible stretch of the 101 Freeway downtown Los Angeles.

In addition to the financial lures, officials launched campaigns to educate landlords about the benefits of vouchers  guaranteed rent, close supervision by case managers and mediation of tenant problems. And theyre appealing to their sense of civic responsibility and, in the case of veterans, patriotism.

Many landlords, even in this competitive market, when they find out their rent is going to be more consistent than in the regular market, they sign on, said Alisa Orduna, Mayor Eric Garcettis homelessness deputy. We have to hook them in.

At a recent meeting of landlords in Van Nuys, the pitch met with mixed results.

Alan Bernstein, who runs a residential property management company that manages or owns 500 units, said he wants to help alleviate homelessness but has held back because of the lengthy documentation and inspection process.

Youre keeping units off the market longer than you would have to when youre renting directly to the tenant, Bernstein said.

With the homeless, there are also concerns about  making sure that theyre not doing anything that would cause concern for their neighbors, he said.

Melissa Aardema, who rents out several townhouses in the Lancaster area to voucher holders, said the guaranteed rents overrode her fears of trouble with tenants.

I know that Im getting my check deposited every month, and for that Im thankful, and Im thankful that I can teach our kids and our other family members the importance of giving back to the community, Aardema said.

But in gentrifying downtown Long Beach, landlords are pulling out of the voucher program altogether, forcing tenants out, said Alison King of the citys housing authority.

Pasadena, meanwhile, has quit receiving voucher referrals because there is nowhere to take them, said Anne Lansing, project planner for the city.

The federal government is also stepping in to ease the voucher housing shortage.

The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs covers move-in costs for veterans, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to set rent caps by ZIP Code instead of metropolitan area, bringing allowable lease payments more in line with reality, spokesman Ed Cabrera said.

Santa Monicas rent caps already were raised to about $1,900 for a one-bedroom apartment. But the money set aside for vouchers didnt grow, meaning fewer people may get help, said Santa Monica housing administrator Jim Kemper.

Kemper also noted that people with vouchers are competing against other poor people for the same scarce low-rent units.

1 / 9 An LAPD officer makes contact with Ry Thounry, 50, while she tries to clean up her tent on the Main Street overpass above the 101 Freeway in downtown L.A. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 9 A service dog belonging to a homeless woman waits while city sanitation crews clear out and clean a homeless encampment on the Main Street overpass above the 101 Freeway in downtown L.A. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 9 A homeless woman cries while a police officer reminds her that she must take her belongings off the Main Street overpass above the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 9 Ry Thounry packs up her tent on the Main Street overpass above the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles while sanitation crews move in to clean the homeless encampment. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 9 The LAPD and city sanitation crews clear out a homeless encampment on the Main Street overpass above the 101 Freeway in downtown L.A. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 9 A rat scurries away while city sanitation crews clear out the homeless encampment. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 9 The homeless living on the overpass were given a 72-hour notice to move their belongings so that city sanitation crews could clean the area. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 9 Officers arrested seven to nine homeless people on outstanding warrants or for possession of allegedly stolen shopping carts and other misdemeanors during Tuesdays homeless sweeps, authorities said. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 9 Sanitation crews stuff debris, trash and some belongings from a homeless encampment into a trash truck on the Main Street overpass above the 101 Freeway in downtown L.A. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Mollie Lowery of Housing Works said local governments need to do more, including opening year-round, 24-hour shelters and working on homelessness prevention.

Lowery said her agency recently had to get a lawyer to stop a landlord who said he was leaving the voucher program from evicting two elderly sisters from a rent-controlled building in Los Angeles.

Why didnt the housing authority know that, or why didnt they tell them? she asked.

The city of L.A.s housing authority helps tenants prevent illegal evictions, including with referrals to legal aid groups, said Carlos VanNatter, director of the authoritys voucher program.

Solis said she wonders if officials understand how difficult it can be to unravel the tangled lives of clients like Luevano so they can get housing.

Luevano developed diabetes and arthritis, and a stubborn leg wound had her in and out of the hospital six to seven times last year, Solis said. She pays $200 of her $300 disability check  Solis is trying to help her raise the amount  to sleep on the Sylmar patio, amid the owners dogs and stored belongings.

She can sleep inside when its cold, and use the kitchen and bathroom, but is expected to leave in the daytime, when she jots down information on room-for-rent signs and visits parks, McDonalds and the library. She recently had to leave her van in North Hollywood because it was overheating.

I feel as though time is flying by and Im not getting anywhere, Luevano said, her eyes filling with tears.

Luevano has an appointment Wednesday to see an apartment in the Crenshaw district.

Two other voucher holders are vying for the same unit, Solis said.

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gale.holland@latimes.com

Twitter: @geholland

abby.sewell@latimes.com

Twitter: @sewella
A man on the FBIs most-wanted list for allegedly killing his pregnant girlfriend during a card game earlier this year was arrested Sunday at the Mexican border, the FBI said.

Philip Patrick Policarpio had been on the run since April when his girlfriend was discovered dead, according to the FBI. Policarpio, 39, was charged with first-degree murder on April 22 in Los Angeles, and authorities issued local, state and federal warrants for his arrest.

The FBI said he was caught by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the San Ysidro point of entry as he crossed into the U.S. from Tijuana.

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According to authorities, Policarpio and his live-in girlfriend, Lauren Elaine Olguin, attended an April 12 gathering at a friends home in the 500 block of North Virgil Avenue in East Hollywood.

He stormed into a room where Olguin, 32, was playing cards and became angry, officials said.

Policarpio started beating her on the head with his fists, according to a U.S. District Court criminal complaint. He then pulled out a handgun and shot Olguin once in the forehead, authorities said, killing her. She was pregnant.

Witnesses told investigators that Policarpio dropped the gun, then retrieved it again and fled. Based on cellphone records, authorities think he was selling narcotics after the shooting and may have fled to Las Vegas, according to the complaint.

The Homicide Report: A story for every victim >>

At the time of Olguins death, Policarpio was on parole for multiple counts of attempted murder stemming from a 2000 case in Burbank.

In that case, he fired multiple rounds at an occupied vehicle. A woman was shot in the head and survived. A man was struck by gunfire in the shoulder and also survived.

Authorities were offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

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Santa Ana police have arrested the suspected driver in a hit-and-run collision last month that killed a Saddleback High School drum-line instructor, authorities said.

Despite going to great lengths to evade police, Tracy Capp, 36, was arrested Saturday night, said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna of the Santa Ana Police Department. Capp had dyed her hair pink, changed her eye color with contact lenses and tattooed a dragon on her face to avoid detection, he said.

This was a case that we have been working nonstop, Bertagna said. She knew we were looking for her.

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Based on a tip, police placed a home in the southeast section of the city under surveillance and observed the suspect leaving the home in a stolen vehicle Saturday, Bertagna said.

When police tried to pull her over, Capp sped away and led police on a brief pursuit before stopping and running from the car, Bertagna said.

Capp was eventually apprehended with the help of a police dog and was taken to a hospital to be treated for injuries, Bertagna said.

She remained hospitalized Sunday, and was expected to be booked on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, vehicular manslaughter, felony reckless evading of police and battery on a police officer, Bertagna said.

The hit-and-run occurred last month when a black, four-door BMW fatally struck 26-year-old Chris Chavez as it was running a red light.

A witness photographed the female driver, who stepped out of the sedan, looked at the victim and then drove away, Bertagna said.

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garrett.therolf@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter: @gtherolf
Lifeguards in Orange County said Monday that some beaches will remain closed after a possible shark attack left a woman with serious injuries.

A woman swimming about 150 yards offshore at Corona del Mar State Beach about 4:15 p.m. Sunday was apparently mauled by a shark or another animal, according to Tara Finnigan, a spokeswoman for the city of Newport Beach.

Newport Beach lifeguards used a boat to pull the injured woman from the water, Finnigan said.

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The woman, who had been wearing a wetsuit, appeared to have bite marks on her torso and arms, Finnigan said. The woman was conscious and talking to emergency responders during her rescue.

See the most-read stories this hour >>

Beachgoers are seen near the Newport Pier. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times )

Newport Beach officials on Monday said they did not have an update on the womans condition.

Lifeguards have not yet been able to confirm that it was a shark that bit a female swimmer about 150 yards offshore from Corona del Mar State Beach yesterday. However, due to the nature of the incident and the type of injuries the victim sustained, lifeguards are treating it like a shark-bite incident and are continuing to take action to protect beachgoers and ocean users, they said in a statement.

We are treating this as a shark-bite incident and are asking everyone to please stay out of the water in the closure area, Finnigan said.

Late Monday afternoon, a hospital spokesman confirmed that the wounds were indeed shark bites, she said.

Though people were welcome on the beachfront and pier, lifeguards were asking anybody entering the water to return to the shore. With skies overcast and temperatures chilly Monday, several beachgoers said it was too cold to swim anyway.

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The woman was outside the protected swimming area during the incident, Newport Beach Fire Department Assistant Chief Rob Williams told KTTV-TV. The area is popular among long-distance swimmers and triathletes, he said.

The stretch of the beach from Corona del Mar to the Newport Beach Pier was evacuated while authorities responded. Authorities surveyed the water in a helicopter to find the shark or other animal that injured the woman.

Sharks are occasionally seen off Southern California and less frequently inflict injuries on beachgoers. In October, a hammerhead shark was spotted off Newport Beach, forcing lifeguards to shut down a mile-long stretch of the beach.

In recent weeks, sharks have been spotted off the Orange County coast. A surfer was bumped by a shark in Huntington Beach in March. The next month, a great white shark was recorded leaping out of the water near Sunset Beach.

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For more California news, follow me @MattHjourno. E-mail me at matt.hamilton@latimes.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

UPDATES:

5:59 p.m.: This story was updated with confirmation that the woman was bitten by a shark and other details.

9:43 a.m.: This story is updated with details about the beach closures.

9:25 a.m. May 30: Updated with new information abut beach closures.

11:04 p.m. May 29: This story was updated with additional details.

This story was originally published at 6:58 p.m.
An off-duty Los Angeles County sheriffs deputy was killed in a fiery motorcycle crash in Corona, authorities said Sunday.

Deputy Philip Borja, 25, was pronounced dead at a Riverside hospital after the Friday afternoon crash that involved two cars and two motorcycles, according to the Corona Police Department. A resident of Upland, Borja was assigned to the Sheriffs Departments station in Norwalk.

Borja and a 24-year-old man were each riding motorcycles eastbound on Hidden Valley Parkway, just east of the 15 Freeway, police said.

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Shortly before 4:30 p.m., a 57-year-old woman exited a shopping center in a white Ford sedan and came into the path of the two motorcycles.

Borjas motorcycle struck the sedan before crashing into a Volkswagen Beetle in a westbound lane, police said. The other motorcycle swerved and avoided the Ford sedan but also struck the Beetle.

The Beetle and Borjas motorcycle burst into flames, police said.

Borja and the other motorcyclist were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. The other motorcyclist was treated and released Saturday, police said.

The driver of the Beetle, a 22-year-old woman, and the driver of the Ford sedan were not injured. The crash is under investigation by Corona police, and authorities have not arrested or cited anyone in connection with it.

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O.C. beach evacuated after woman injured in possible shark attack

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For more California news, follow me @MattHjourno. E-mail me at matt.hamilton@latimes.com.
Officials said that the damage from a graffiti attack on a veterans memorial in Venice was so extensive that it will take some time to restore the monument.

Volunteers removed much of the graffiti over the Memorial Day weekend but it appears more work will be necessary to fully restore the memorial.

The memorial is painted on the side of a Metro building.

We were initially hopeful that the graffiti could be removed without damaging the memorial, but Metros contractor says the damage is too extensive, Metro CEO Phil Washington said in a statement. Metro will work with the community to gather historical photos so the wall can be restored. In the meantime, Metro will cover the wall as a gesture of respect to the fallen whose names were covered by the graffiti.

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Residents expressed outrage over the vandalism.

Its sad and shocking, said Venice Chamber of Commerce Vice President George Francisco. Such ignorance and animosity.

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The damage, he said, feels especially personal -- his father was a Green Beret in Vietnam and did two combat tours.

The mural along Pacific Avenue has a message at the top reading You Are Not Forgotten and bears the names of 2,273 soldiers counted as either prisoners of war or missing in action in Vietnam.

After the murals dedication in 1992, the artist, Peter Stewart, said he was inspired to paint the wall after attending a welcome-home parade for Operation Desert Storm veterans.

Since then, the now-fading mural along one of Venices main streets has become an important icon.

When longtime resident Stewart Oscars drove by Wednesday evening, he noticed the damage and turned to his wife and friend.

Holy mackerel, he blurted. Look at this thing.

Oscars, who lives a mile or so from the mural, said he felt instantly nauseous.

His mind raced with memories of his classmates who had fought in Vietnam -- a couple of whom he understands never returned. He thought, too, of Memorial Day and how veterans families will feel when they see the vandalism.

Its like a direct attack, he said. If you have any sense of history, youd never do this.

Oscars said the graffiti stretched on for about 100 feet.

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UPDATES:

2:32 p.m.: This article was updated with a statement from Metros chief executive.

This article was originally published at 10:25 a.m.
The weather was warm and sunny with a soft breeze, a perfect day to head to the beach, fire up the grill or hit the outlet sales. But for Rafael Vila, the only destination that made sense Monday was the flag-dappled lawn of Los Angeles National Cemetery.

I dont know if theres any place else Id rather be than honoring people who served, said Vila, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran from Long Beach. With graves stretching in perfect lines behind him, he said the sacrifice of the military made possible the freedoms Americans love.

They are the reason people are able to go shopping at the mall today, Vila said.

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 Memorial Day at Los Angeles National Cemetery (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times)

Vila and his wife, Angelica, were among hundreds who gathered at the cemetery Monday morning for a ceremony featuring music, prayer, reenactors on horseback and a salute to the Tuskegee Airmen, the all-African American World War II flying squadron that paved the way for military integration. Eight members of the group, including Walter Crenshaw, a 106-year-old believed to be the oldest living Tuskegee Airman, attended and received a standing ovation.

The crowd was enthusiastic, but many said it should have been larger, especially given the number of Americans currently deployed abroad. More than 88,000 veterans and family members are buried on the 114-acre Westwood property, which opened in 1889.

God bless you for taking the time to be here, the keynote speaker, retired Army Lt. General Rick Lynch, told the gathering. Lynch, whose four-decade military career included commanding 25,000 in the Iraqi surge, said he starts every morning in prayer for the 153 of his troops killed in that campaign.

I believe that every day should be Memorial Day, he said. He contrasted those present with others spending the holiday hanging out in some barbecue or beer joint and noted a recent poll that found that more than three-quarters of Americans admitted not understanding the challenges facing veterans.

So 75% of the public is just walking around oblivious. They are just enjoying the freedom we provided them and that aint right, Lynch said, urging the crowd to spread the holidays true meaning to those folks who didnt make time to be here.

In her invocation, Mindie Snyder, a rabbi in Flagstaff, Ariz., whose father was permanently disabled while serving in the Army, described the cemetery as the home of 80,000 stories of bravery and asked those gathered to join her in a vow of remembrance.

As long as we live, they too shall live as she began.

We remember them, the crowd responded. One man in a row of veterans lifted his sunglasses to wipe away tears.

David Houck, who lives near the Westwood cemetery, brought his 6-year-old son, David Jr., and a large American flag. He said they have attended every year of the boys life. Beyond the attractions to a youngster  weapons displays, cannons, plane flyovers and uniforms  Houck said the day held important lessons.

I have a great deal of respect for our freedoms, and I want to teach those values to my son, Houck said.

Ray Polo of Torrance said he hoped visiting the cemetery would help his 6-year-old son, Lucas, better understand what hed learned about the holiday in kindergarten.

Theres so many distractions, Polo said. What you hear on TV [about Memorial Day] -- its all about sale this, sale that. Gesturing toward the acres of gravestones and waving flags, he said, When he saw this, he said, Thats a lot of flags, Dad, and I said, Yep. Thats what it takes. 

harriet.ryan@latimes.com

@latimesharriet

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A bill to restrict welfare for Cuban immigrants would save U.S. taxpayers a whopping $2.45 billion over the next decade, congressional analysts estimate.

The proposed legislation, spurred by a Sun Sentinel investigation and introduced in recent months by U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo and Sen. Marco Rubio, both Florida Republicans, would make most Cuban immigrants ineligible for refugee cash, medical benefits and other assistance unless they prove they are political refugees persecuted by the Castro government.

The Congressional Budget Office, which provides nonpartisan budget and economic data for policymakers, studied the proposal and calculated the potential savings to taxpayers.

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The bill is expected to cut spending by $50 million in the first year, and another $2.4 billion through 2026, Curbelos office said.

With all the talk about paying for Zika virus funding, maybe this is one of the ways we can pay for some of that. But lets get it done, Rubio, who is shepherding an identical bill in the Senate, told his colleagues Wednesday.

The legislative proposal followed a Sun Sentinel investigation showing Cubans taking advantage of U.S. welfare then returning to the Communist-led island to visit multiple times or even to live  while still collecting U.S. aid.

What weve seen people [do to] abuse the system over and over again is they figure out a relative in the U.S. that goes to the bank every month, takes a cut and sends the rest to them, Rubio said on the Senate floor.

Thats your money thats being sent. The American people are generous people, but right now those who abuse the system are taking American taxpayers for fools and we need to stop this.

Cubans are fleeing to the U.S. in droves since the Obama administration renewed diplomatic ties in late 2014. Those who reach land can stay, even if they arrive illegally.

Most say they are coming to find better work opportunities in the U.S., and because they fear the U.S. will eventually end their special status and unique advantages as newcomers.

After a year and a day they can become permanent U.S. legal residents. Many then go back and forth between the U.S. and Cuba to visit and bring money or goods to family and friends.

These return trips have raised questions about why Cubans are treated as political refugees  entitled to generous U.S. aid  when they quickly return to the island that oppressed them.

Immigrants from most other nations are barred from collecting aid in the U.S. for their first five years. Those here illegally are not eligible at all.

NEWSLETTER: Get the days top headlines from Times Editor Davan Maharaj >>

Curbelo, the son of Cuban exiles, titled his bill the Cuban Immigrant Work Opportunity Act, saying: Cubans coming to the United States will have the same opportunity as immigrants from other nations, like Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Central America -- from any country -- to work and earn an honest living while contributing to our great nation.

The legislation would not apply to those already living in the United States.

Despite the enormous potential savings cited by the Congressional Budget Office, the figure is low when compared with the full cost of aid to Cubans calculated by the Sun Sentinel.

In its investigation, the newspaper estimated that welfare to Cuban immigrants -- federal refugee assistance, food stamps and aid to seniors and the disabled -- cost more than $680 million a year.

About 42% of that is Supplemental Security Income  cash for impoverished seniors. The Sun Sentinel found large numbers of elderly Cubans immigrating here and immediately getting such aid even though they never held jobs here.

Megan OMatz writes for the Sun Sentinel.

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The stallion kicked out, nostrils flaring. In the ring, it faced off against a 32-year-old former infantryman.

Months ago, Mitchell Reno was sitting in a hotel room with half a gallon of vodka and dark plans. But this April afternoon found him serenely still as a stallion kicked up sawdust in an arena in Poplar Grove in northern Illinois. Slashes across the horses heaving belly and back revealed fights in the Wyoming wild.

The horse zeroed in on Reno, who wrestles with post-traumatic stress disorder and knows a thing or two about scars, the kind you can see and the kind you cant.

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Whenever I get in the ring, its just me and the horse, said Reno, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003. Nothing else matters.

Mitchell Reno works with a wild mustang named Boo-Yah. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune )

An explosion in Iraq left Reno with a traumatic brain injury, ending the Texas natives military career.

Mustangs help him in a way, he said, that years of therapy, medication and turning to alcohol couldnt.

Reno and the mustangs are part of BraveHearts, the countrys largest free equine-assisted services program for veterans, says Meggan Hill-McQueeney, BraveHearts president.

Many veterans arrive at BraveHearts after trying medication and therapy. The program provides work and hope for vets who are looking for purpose  a goal to work toward.

Veterans gentle the stallions  themselves traumatized by being relocated  acclimating them to things like saddles and halters.

The veteran doesnt want to change because of what Im telling them, said Patrick McKevitt, BraveHearts director of operations. They want to change because youre going to help the horse. And the horse ends up helping you.

Reno is sober now. He can sleep at night. But not everything is perfect  its hard to be away from his wife and the kids whose grinning faces fill his iPhone photo stream.

The horses, though, make life worth living, he says.

I came back, and I hated myself. The pills didnt fix anything.  Mitchell Reno, veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan

BraveHearts, serving soldiers since 2007, works with the federal Bureau of Land Management to corral wild horses from Wyoming in an effort to curb population growth. Veterans work with the horses once they arrive in Illinois, and McKevitt and Hill-McQueeney help them train.

McKevitt and Hill-McQueeney pull people right out of the gutter, says Reno.

The gutter has been a familiar place for Reno.

Earlier this year, he was in a hotel room with the half-gallon of vodka, making a noose out of parachute cord.

Hed already used the vodka to swallow his wedding ring. Hed tossed his cross necklace into the Chicago River.

The suicide attempt capped rocky years when he was arrested for assault, divorced twice and often drunk.

I came back, and I hated myself, he said. The pills didnt fix anything. The booze just hid the feelings of guilt.

Reno first came to BraveHearts two years ago while at the PTSD program at Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in Chicago.

Veteran Ron Hathaway rides Wyatt, who BraveHearts workers say was abused and can be easily startled. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune )

He met the horses, which reminded him of the three he had growing up, but that bright spot barely pushed back struggles that were years in the making. He found his way back to booze and eventually the hotel room.

Renos wife, Corinne, remembers the time as one of many when she couldnt reach him. Shed call friends, hospitals, the VA.

Then she called McKevitt.

McKevitt summoned Reno back to BraveHearts.

Reno said he finds calm with the tense, distrustful animals and knows he can help.

I have a lot of the same feelings, he said.

The idea of working with stallions almost seems counterintuitive. Wouldnt the best animals for veterans seeking stability be gentle and reliable?

Hill-McQueeney has found its the wild ones.

Mustangs dont trust humans, said Steve Mantle, who runs a wild horse adoption facility in Wheatland, Wyo.

They dont want anything from you. They were fine on their own, said Mantle, who shared his mustang-training techniques last year at BraveHearts.

The vets maybe come from that same position of needing to trust someone but not sure they can, he added. So the two meld together.

Reno readily acknowledges that people who knew him years ago would not recognize him today  hes chosen a calmer life and talks openly about his feelings.

Im starting to have a little bit of patience for myself, he said. I havent had a life until recently, honestly. Not any kind of life that anybody would want.

Working with horses seems to be working for Reno, and many advocates hope that bringing veterans to stables will be as common a treatment for PTSD as medications and therapies offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Back in the arena, McKevitts soft, Irish brogue encouraged Reno. Gentle, gentle, he repeated. Bring your hand down, but just so. Dont get too close. Youre in the strike zone. Watch his left hoof.

Hes kind of like you, McKevitt said. Hes a tornado.

McKevitt instructed Reno how to move a rod with a silver sack tied to the end, just so, to touch the horse from afar.

The idea is that its like a hand, helping the mustang adjust. To learn trust.

Renos slow, calm movements toward the horse turned the arena so still that the only sounds were buzzing fluorescent lights.

Two steps forward, one step back. A delicate dance of hoofs and work boots.

After inching close enough to touch Boo-Yahs cheek  a successful moment with a stallion whod been haltered only the day before  Reno climbed the fence, grinning.

You get a sense of peace like no pill they could put down your throat, he said. Im starting to look forward to the next 20 years of my life.

Mitchell Reno works to develop trust with Boo-Yah. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune )

Reno hopes to return to his family in Texas and help other veterans into the saddle. It helps them, he said, walk out with a little bit of hope and strength.

Mary Apper, 35, also knows how the bond with horses soothes.

After returning from a Navy deployment to Afghanistan, Apper said, the only solace she found from wrestling with PTSD and rage was her 29-year-old quarter horse, Satin.

On the worst nights, she slept in Satins stall.

She was literally the only thing that could melt my anger, said the damage controlman, who is on active duty. My mom always said that my love for her was stronger than my anger for what Ive been through.

Horses, medical and animal experts say, force calm.

They have a level of hypervigilance, said Dr. Anthony Peterson, section chief of the PTSD program at Lovell. So if you have a population of individuals with PTSD who themselves carry a level of nervousness or anxiety on a day-to-day basis, when they interact with the animals, it really challenges them.

Veteran Nicholas Montijo, 28, greets the busload of Milwaukee veterans arriving each Tuesday. BraveHearts served more than 500 veterans in 2015.

Before coming to BraveHearts, Montijos mind was buzzing with replays of the chaotic calls he received as a radio operator in Afghanistan.

I relive a lot of that stuff, he said. It goes through my brain like a big old recording.

His first deployment, he remembers, was fun  traveling to exotic ports, experiencing different cultures. But the second, to Afghanistan, was haunting.

He returned a man without purpose  broken and silent.

You couldnt get me to talk, he said.

Now, his colleagues joke, thats not a problem.

Showing a guest around the ranch, pointing out horses and their quirks  this ones pals with the donkeys, this one thinks hes getting fed soon  it was hard to believe he was ever anything but a friendly greeter and natural leader.

Riding gave him purpose, a goal, a bond.

Apper, who is stationed at nearby Naval Station Great Lakes, is teaching Montijo to be a riding instructor for other veterans.

Barking out orders, Apper directed a riding group trotting single file on a recent afternoon. Her clipped, confident tone revealed her drill-instructor background.

When her beloved horse, Satin, had to be put down last August, her mother flew out and pretty much forced me to come out here, Apper said of BraveHearts.

Devastated, she hesitated to be near horses again. But during that visit, someone told her about a filly needing work.

Mary Apper with her new mare, CC. (Alison Bowen / Chicago Tribune )

I just got this ridiculous feeling, she said. And I realized, Oh, my God, Im happy.

A few months ago, she was surprised by streamers and balloons affixed to a stall with the news that BraveHearts was giving her CC, a beautiful gray mare with white eyelashes.

When Apper walks to her pasture, the horses head bobs up immediately, nose lifted to nuzzle.

This little filly saved my life, she said.

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Alison Bowen writes for the Chicago Tribune.
The Central Valley brings out the sarcasm in Bernie Sanders -- directed toward Donald Trump

Bernie Sanders and Federico Chavez, nephew of civil rights leader Cesar Chavez, viewed IFW property in Delano pic.twitter.com/99DCR0dbMI  Cathleen Decker (@cathleendecker) May 30, 2016

For the second straight day, Bernie Sanders found a reason to poke at Donald Trump, the man he would like to face off against in the fall.

On Saturday night in Bakersfield, Sanders mocked big macho guy Trump for refusing to meet in a one-on-one debate in which Trump had once agreed to participate.

On Sunday in Visalia, he mocked a remark that Trump made Friday in Fresno about the drought.

Trump had repeated what he said was a farmers assertion that there is no lack of rain in California and that water shortages had been caused by environmental laws.

In his re-telling, Sanders suggested it was Trumps personal belief that there is no drought.

We dont fully appreciate the genius of Donald Trump, who knows more than all the people of California, who knows more than all the scientists, and he knows there is no drought, Sanders told a few thousand supporters in Visalia, who roared their approval.

Not to mention -- and I love this one -- that Trump has concluded that climate change itself is a hoax, Sanders added. Again he finds himself in disagreement with virtually the entire scientific community.

What surprised him, the Vermont senator said with something approaching delight, was that Trump had said the climate change hoax was perpetrated on us by the Chinese.

Now I would have thought that he thought climate change was a hoax perpetrated on us by Mexicans or Muslims, Sanders said, referring to two groups Trump had targeted in unrelated matters.

But why the Chinese? I could not say.

Sanders, who held multiple events Saturday and Sunday in the Central Valley, insists that he will overcome his delegate deficit to Hillary Clinton with big wins in California and other states voting on June 7.

But he has also said that if he does not win the Democratic nomination, he will do all he can to deny the presidency to the presumptive Republican nominee, Trump.

Translation: Barring a Sanders miracle against Clinton, theres more mockery to come against Trump.
On Dec. 20, 1860, a convention called by the governor and legislature of South Carolina voted unanimously to secede from the United States of America, setting in motion the events that led to the shelling of Ft. Sumter the following April, and the onset of the Civil War. That brutal and bitter conflict was, at its heart, about the Souths insistence on maintaining the institution of slavery.

As students of Southern history will tell you, no single flag represented the Confederacy. The Confederate States of America adopted three successive designs before the war ended, and those were different still from the flags that Rebel troops carried into battle to separate friend from foe. But the most lasting of those banners is known as the Southern cross, the familiar diagonally crossed blue lines adorned with white stars and set against a red background. That flag picked up fresh currency in the 1950s among opponents of the civil rights movement. Today, it remains a potent symbol of white supremacy, racial intolerance and oppression.

Yet the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs continues to fly it over some national cemeteries on Memorial Day and on Confederate recognition days, the latter celebrated under different names on four different days by eight different Southern states.

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That practice is insupportable and an amendment to a congressional spending bill now moving through Congress would end it. The Republican-dominated House is to be commended for approving the measure even though a majority of Republicans voted against it. The ban should remain in the bill as it passes through the Senate, where it should be approved, and then it should be sent on to President Obama for his signature.

The U.S. government should not be flying the flag of the secessionists whose traitorous actions more than 150 years ago posed the most serious threat to the nations existence. But notably, the bill would not bar individuals from decorating their ancestors graves with small Confederate flags on the commemoration days. Thats an objectionable practice, but it is a matter of free speech, protected by the 1st Amendment.

No region of the United States has a morally pure history. By the time the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1788, six of the 13 original states had ended slavery within their borders. As admirable as that might have been, it also means the states had previously allowed, and profited from, the practice. And Northern states have their own legacies of racism and segregation, which in truth have been a stain on this nation from the first European encounters with Native Americans and which continued long after slavery was abolished nationwide.

But the most sharply drawn sin was going to war to defend an economic system built on the subjugation of another race in the belief that it was inferior to whites. Theres a reasonable argument to be made that historical leaders should be measured against the norms of their times, and not retroactively condemned by a later standard they couldnt imagine. But kidnapping, buying and selling human beings as chattel  and beating, raping and murdering them along the way  are moral transgressions no matter the era.

Flags are symbols, and the Stars and Stripes reflects the stitching together of disparate states into a whole. It is the banner under which millions of people have served and fought to defend the concept of the United States and the values it seeks to uphold.

The Confederate soldiers, even those who also fought in service of the United States, opted during those four bloody years to fight against the United States. White Southerners may see the flag as a symbol of Southern heritage, but for African Americans and others it is a fluttering reminder of one of the lowest moments in this countrys history.

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Moscow solidified its hold on Crimea in April, outlawing the Tatar legislature that had opposed Russias annexation of the region since 2014. Together with Russian military provocations against NATO forces in and around the Baltic, this move seems to validate the observations of Western analysts who argue that under Vladimir Putin, an increasingly aggressive Russia is determined to dominate its neighbors and menace Europe.

Leaders in Moscow, however, tell a different story. For them, Russia is the aggrieved party. They claim the United States has failed to uphold a promise that NATO would not expand into Eastern Europe, a deal made during the 1990 negotiations between the West and the Soviet Union over German unification. In this view, Russia is being forced to forestall NATOs eastward march as a matter of self-defense.

The West has vigorously protested that no such deal was ever struck. However, hundreds of memos, meeting minutes and transcripts from U.S. archives indicate otherwise. Although what the documents reveal isnt enough to make Putin a saint, it suggests that the diagnosis of Russian predation isnt entirely fair. Europes stability may depend just as much on the Wests willingness to reassure Russia about NATOs limits as on deterring Moscows adventurism.

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After the Berlin Wall fell, Europes regional order hinged on the question of whether a reunified Germany would be aligned with the United States (and NATO), the Soviet Union (and the Warsaw Pact) or neither. Policymakers in the George H.W. Bush administration decided in early 1990 that NATO should include the reconstituted German republic.

In early February 1990, U.S. leaders made the Soviets an offer. According to transcripts of meetings in Moscow on Feb. 9, then-Secretary of State James Baker suggested that in exchange for cooperation on Germany, U.S. could make iron-clad guarantees that NATO would not expand one inch eastward. Less than a week later, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev agreed to begin reunification talks. No formal deal was struck, but from all the evidence, the quid pro quo was clear: Gorbachev acceded to Germanys western alignment and the U.S. would limit NATOs expansion.

Nevertheless, great powers rarely tie their own hands. In internal memorandums and notes, U.S. policymakers soon realized that ruling out NATOs expansion might not be in the best interests of the United States. By late February, Bush and his advisers had decided to leave the door open.

After discussing the issue with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl on February 24-25, the U.S. gave the former East Germany special military status, limiting what NATO forces could be stationed there in deference to the Soviet Union. Beyond that, however, talk of proscribing NATOs reach dropped out of the diplomatic conversation. Indeed, by March 1990, State Department officials were advising Baker that NATO could help organize Eastern Europe in the U.S. orbit; by October, U.S. policymakers were contemplating whether and when (as a National Security Council memo put it) to signal to the new democracies of Eastern Europe NATOs readiness to contemplate their future membership.

At the same time, however, it appears the Americans still were trying to convince the Russians that their concerns about NATO would be respected. Baker pledged in Moscow on May 18, 1990, that the United States would cooperate with the Soviet Union in the development of a new Europe. And in June, per talking points prepared by the NSC, Bush was telling Soviet leaders that the United States sought a new, inclusive Europe.

Its therefore not surprising that Russia was incensed when Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Baltic states and others were ushered into NATO membership starting in the mid-1990s. Boris Yeltsin, Dmitry Medvedev and Gorbachev himself protested through both public and private channels that U.S. leaders had violated the non-expansion arrangement. As NATO began looking even further eastward, to Ukraine and Georgia, protests turned to outright aggression and saber-rattling.

NATOS widening umbrella doesnt justify Putins bellicosity or his incursions in Ukraine or Georgia. Still, the evidence suggests that Russias protests have merit and that U.S. policy has contributed to current tensions in Europe.

In less than two months, Western heads of state will gather in Warsaw for a NATO summit. Discussions will undoubtedly focus on efforts to contain and deter Russian adventurism  including increasing NATO deployments in Eastern Europe and deepening NATOs ties to Ukraine and Georgia. Such moves, however, will only reinforce the Russian narrative of U.S. duplicity. Instead, addressing a major source of Russian anxieties by taking future NATO expansion off the table could help dampen Russia-Western hostilities.

Just as a pledge not to expand NATO in 1990 helped end the Cold War, so too may a pledge today help resuscitate the U.S.-Russian relationship.

Joshua R. Itzkowitz Shifrinson is an international security fellow at Dartmouth College and assistant professor at the Bush School of Government, Texas A&M University. His article, Deal or No Deal? The End of the Cold War and the U.S. Offer to Limit NATO Expansion was published in the spring issue of International Security.

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Whitewater? Vince Foster? For Trump, its back to the 90s

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Latino leaders in California working to mend the GOPs relationship with their community were filled with dread, not joy, as Donald Trump clinched their partys nomination for the presidency.

The businessmans campaign, staked on a hard-line approach and incendiary rhetoric about illegal immigration, threatened to unravel the progress theyve made to repair a schism created by a 1994 ballot measure that sought to deny taxpayer-funded services to those in the country illegally.

The state GOP lost a generation of Latino voters in the aftermath of that ballot measure, Proposition 187. And now Latino Republicans fear they will lose yet another generation as a result of Trump becoming the standard-bearer of their party.

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I am concerned, and Im saddened, and Im bewildered, said Luis Alvarado, a GOP media strategist who, like many other Latino officials in California, said he will not vote for Trump. We had fought for every inch in changing the minds and hearts of not just fellow Latinos, but also fellow Republicans in understanding how we need to work together. And Trump comes along and everything just gets pushed aside.

The Republican Partys problem with Latino voters predate Trump because of the partys stance on immigration. GOP strategists often say that Latinos may agree with the party on social and economic issues but wont listen to their pitch if they believe Republicans want to deport their family members.

In California, there are 4.1 million registered Latino voters, with 55% registered as Democrats, 16% Republican and 25% having no party preference.

Trump insists that Latinos love him, but polling does not bear that out. A Fox News poll in May found Latino voters favored Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton over Trump 62% to 23%.

Many have had a visceral reaction to Trumps proposals that include deporting 11 million people and building an enormous border wall. Protests greet Trump whenever he holds rallies in California.

When former Downey Mayor Mario Guerra was wrongly listed as a Trump delegate, the Republican received many angry emails and phone calls from his constituents, accusing him of being disloyal to his ethnicity.

People said, Youre betraying your people. What are you thinking? said Guerra, who is treasurer of the California Republican Party.

It was a particular affront because Guerra is among a number of Latino Republicans who have been working for years to improve his partys relationship with his community. In recent years, they had begun to see some successes.

In September, the state GOP voted to soften the immigration language in its party platform. Republican legislators have called on their counterparts in Washington, D.C., to pass comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship for those in the country illegally. The partys standard-bearer in the 2014 gubernatorial election also supported comprehensive immigration reform. A group co-founded by Guerra has helped elect more than 100 Latino Republicans to local offices throughout California.

Hector Barajas, a Republican strategist, said Trumps candidacy will make them redouble their efforts to recruit and train Latino candidates.

Our message to folks is, look, youre going to have to create your own Republican party, create your own organizations within your own community, said Barajas, who says he will not vote for his partys nominee and plans to hoist a Trump pinata at his daughters birthday party in August.

Others worried that any goodwill that has been earned in recent years is at stake because of Trump.

The unfortunate part is that right as the specter of Prop. 187 was disappearing in the rear-view mirror, we are now seeing the rise of a new generational problem for the Republican Party, said Mike Madrid, a Republican expert on Latino voting trends.

He and others were optimistic at the start of the presidential campaign.

The national GOP appeared to recognize their problem with Latino voters in the aftermath of the 2012 election, when party leaders put out a report that said the partys future successes depended in part on tamping down heated rhetoric about illegal immigration and improving how Latinos viewed the GOP.

Some of the Republicans who ran in the 2016 race made efforts to court Latinos  former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, for example, spoke Spanish in his campaign kick-off speech and talked frequently on the trail about his Mexican-born wife.

That message of inclusion did not resonate with voters or Trump as he romped to victories in primaries and caucuses, in part by appealing to disaffected working-class white male voters by pounding on illegal immigration.

The day he announced his candidacy, he said Mexico was sending its drug dealers and rapists to the United States. He campaigned alongside some of the most strident voices in the debate over immigration, including Arizonas Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former Gov. Jan Brewer.

Trumps first ad featured footage of immigrants scurrying over a border and ominous music. The imagery and the tone were startlingly similar to an infamous pro-Proposition 187 ad in California that had a tagline, They keep coming, that is seared into the memory of many Latinos in the state.

Ruben Barrales, a former San Mateo County supervisor and member of George W. Bushs administration, experienced deja vu when he saw Trumps ad.

Im hearing the music and thats taking me back to 1994, he said, adding that the decades-old ad offered a cautionary tale. It was successful  187 passed  and it showed appealing to fears and anxieties can win elections. But at what cost are Republicans willing to win one election cycle but potentially lose a generation of Latino voters?

He urged national Republicans to look at what happened to the state GOP in California in the aftermath of Proposition 187. We can win the battle but lose the long-term war, he said.

The ballot measure was championed by California Republicans, notably then-Gov. Pete Wilson, and overwhelmingly approved by voters. It was later largely nullified by the courts, but since then, voter registration data in California show how badly the party has faltered among Latino voters.

In presidential elections before the measures passage, Republicans received one-third or more of the Latino vote in California, according to a study by Latino Decisions. Ronald Reagan hit a high-water mark with 45% in his 1984 reelection.

But after the ballot measure, Latinos steadily stopped voting for Republicans at the same time as their numbers grew. By the 2012 election, only 22% supported Mitt Romney.

The lack of support from Latinos is among the reasons the state GOP last elected a candidate statewide a decade ago, and the partys registration has dwindled to 27.5% of voters in the state.

Its a preview of coming attractions for the national GOP, Madrid said. Ive seen this story. I know how it ends, and its not good.

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Bernie Sanders looks for success in an unlikely place: Californias Central Valley

California officials ponder: Now that theyre registered, how do we keep new voters interested?

Senate hopeful Tom Del Beccaro is forging his own version of the California GOP

seema.mehta@latimes.com

For the latest on national and California politics, follow @LATSeema on Twitter.
The long road Bernie Sanders traveled Sunday took him past Buck Owens Boulevard and Merle Haggard Drive, past thousands of acres of grape vines and almond trees, past cattle barns and packing plants and banners declaring that no water = no food.

This great expanse, the southern end of the Central Valley, is vastly different territory than the presidential candidates usually traverse. And it shows.

On Friday in Fresno, Donald Trump naively repeated a farmers assertion that there is no drought. On Saturday in Bakersfield, Sanders expressed shock that many people here cannot drink their tap water because of contamination. The place that feeds the nation a quarter of its food remains pretty much a mystery to outsiders.

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As Sanders found out over the course of two days in the valley, it also is the nexus of many of the issues foremost in the campaign, particularly among Democrats: lagging incomes, immigration complications, environmental woes.

No one, however, has delved into the central complication of the region: The very industries that cause pollution, water and income issues here are the ones on which it relies for survival: agriculture and the oil and gas industry.

Instead, in the days before the June 7 primary, the areas struggles have been wedged neatly into the candidates preexisting ideologies. For Trump, that meant only environmental rules, not the dearth of rain, were to blame for the dryness that has savaged the area.

For Sanders, that meant that rapacious corporations were to blame for contamination of drinking water, not a problem just as intractable: In some areas, the drought has served to concentrate contaminants naturally present in the groundwater  when there is any groundwater.

Sanders campaigning here was heavy with imagery of the past. On Sunday, he traveled to the first headquarters of the United Farm Workers for a tour with relatives of Cesar Chavez who, an audience in Bakersfield was told Saturday, would surely have campaigned with the Vermont senator were he alive.

That was in some way a tit for tat for the endorsement of his rival, Hillary Clinton, by the mother of the farmworkers union, Dolores Huerta.

Sanders stood under a broiling sun in Delano as Federico Chavez, Cesars nephew, pointed to the sites of struggles past and current.

Although progress has been made, Sanders said in lauding the historic site, there is no question but that a lot more work needs to be done.

But apart from banning pesticides and fracking, the practice used here to draw gas from the ground, he offered no specifics on how he would go about making good on his pledge to restore clean water to all. He also said almost nothing about the continuing drought.

Sanders unfamiliarity with the Central Valley was the subject of laughter in Visalia when he told the crowd about his visit to the United Farm Workers headquarters.

Just a few hours ago I was in Delano, he said, accenting the first syllable. The crowd murmured, then laughed with him.

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De-LAY-no? All right, I was in De-LAY-no. Hows that? he replied with a laugh of his own.

Whatever the stumbles, the visit here was notable for one thing: Sanders, whose speeches rarely differ by more than a sentence no matter the location, began incorporating the stories he heard into his remarks.

I did not know that there are thousands of homes right around here  that is unbelievable!  that people have got to go out and buy bottled water. Is that the case? he asked in Visalia. Yes! thousands roared back.

One assumes if living in the United States of America you can turn on the faucet and drink the water that comes out of the tap, Sanders replied. When were elected president, brothers and sisters, we are going to end that atrocity.

Sanders is a long way from the presidency, of course, and some distance even from winning the California primary, although he insisted confidently at each stop this weekend that he would not only win but also claim the nomination.

The Central Valley is Republican country, home to the greatest concentration of conservatives in the state. Still, the numbers of Democrats are growing.

Sanders goal was to activate the same band of young voters and liberals who helped drive Barack Obama to a stunning victory in Fresno County in the 2008 general election.

His pitch, here as elsewhere, was built on his bedrock belief that corporations act on greed alone and that governments bend to their will because of campaign donations.

That view overtakes all other explanations. For instance, his rationale for why Californias public colleges and universities now charge tuition, unlike earlier:

What happened is the greed of the big money interests said that young people should not be able to get that free education, he said, bypassing entirely the complications of the states budget.

Sanders hasnt had the valley to himself among Democrats. Bill Clinton has already campaigned in Stockton and Fresno, where Sanders appeared on Sunday night. Hillary Clinton is expected to hit the valley before the primary.

The Clinton campaign here, as it is elsewhere, is counting on support from Latinos, a big component of the electorate here. The winner of the 2008 California primary, she also has the advantage of more than two decades spent gauging Californias political realities. For Sanders, this is new ground.

At his first stop, in Bakersfield on Saturday, he recounted how hed driven in from Santa Maria.

Ive never been in this part of the world before  its unbelievable, Sanders told community leaders at the Kern County fairgrounds, a sound of awe in his voice. I mean it really is. I probably went through a part of California which is bigger than the state of Vermont. The amount of agricultural land that we saw is unbelievable.

That day, he expressed some surprise at conditions experienced by farmworkers.

Their faces are in the pesticides, theyre inhaling that stuff? he asked. Do we see illnesses as a result of that?

When another speaker said pesticide companies had blocked full-scale investigations, Sanders returned to his comfort zone.

Nothing new  thats what these guys always do, they live on the greed and all they want to do is make as much money as they can, and if people get sick or exploited or die that is not their concern, he said.

David Villarino-Gonzalez, Cesar Chavezs son-in-law and head of a farmworker education institute, gave Sanders points for listening.

There are not a whole lot of people who independently know, outside of the valley, about the valley, he said.

But Villarino-Gonzalez, who has endorsed Sanders, also had praise for Clinton. Each of them, he said, would make a good president.

And there is no doubt, he said, that Democrats will be anxious to cast general-election ballots. That is because Trump, the bane of Democrats here, will be on the ballot.

Sanders found that out as a fairly new line swiftly became the one generating the loudest shrieks of agreement.

If we come out with the nomination, he said at each event, Donald Trump is toast.

cathleen.decker@latimes.com

Twitter: @cathleendecker. For more on politics, go to latimes.com/decker and subscribe to the free daily newsletter.

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California Latino Republicans see Prop. 187s ghost in Trumps campaign

Updates on California politics

Live coverage from the campaign trail
Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, a Democratic Assembly candidate from the small Northern California farming town of Winters, got a surprise when she bumped into a friend at a local coffee shop.

A friend said, Oh, I saw your commercial,  recalled Aguiar-Curry, the towns mayor. I said, Youre mistaken. I dont have a commercial. 

That was technically true  it wasnt her commercial, even though it was aired to support her campaign. Like many advertisements flooding airwaves and mailboxes this year, it was paid for directly by powerful interest groups seeking the upper hand in the California Legislature.

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Independent expenditures already have cracked $24 million in the run-up to the June 7 primary, with millions more likely to come in over the next week. The spending has set a record and is a hefty increase from $16.7 million spent two years ago.

The result? Voters are hearing less from the candidates theyre electing and more from oil companies, education advocates, business groups and labor unions.

The candidate is not controlling the message, said Bob Stern, an attorney who helped write Californias campaign finance rules. Its special interests trying to control the race and buy their way into the Legislature.

One of the most lopsided examples of the role played by independent expenditures this year can be found in Aguiar-Currys campaign. Shes raised only $164,000 in direct contributions for her primary run, but outside groups have spent more than $1.7 million to support her.

Its a situation Aguiar-Curry described as awkward  some of the money is coming from oil and tobacco companies, organizations whose cash she said she doesnt want in her personal campaign account.

I would like to have control over what is said about me, said Aguiar-Curry, a businesswoman whose family owns a walnut farm. I cant do anything, and so its really put me on my heels a bit.

One of her four opponents, Davis Mayor Dan Wolk, a Democrat, has received $38,000 in assistance from teachers and consumer attorneys.

State law prevents candidates from coordinating with independent groups, which can spend unlimited amounts while contributions to legislative candidates are capped at $4,200 per donor. Although sources of the money to the independent groups are publicly disclosed, the donations often are funneled through political action committees, Californias equivalent of the super PACs that have become increasingly influential in federal elections.

In one Assembly race in San Bernardino County, the biggest players are the Coalition to Restore Californias Middle Class, a committee financed by oil companies that are supporting Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, and Neighbors United for a Stronger Middle Class, which is funded by unions backing Browns challenger, attorney Eloise Gomez Reyes.

The battle between the two Democrats has attracted some of the highest levels of independent money in the state: roughly $2 million at last count. By comparison, the candidates themselves have raised less than $1 million.

Its a reflection of how Californias new primary system, approved by voters in 2010, has increased the significance of rivalries among Democrats. The top two finishers in the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their party. Given the unmistakable dominance of Democrats in state politics, business groups that once backed Republicans are now switching sides in hopes they will continue to wield influence in the Capitol.

The various interest groups have learned, especially on the business side, that they can have an impact with the top two and open primary that they could not have when we still had a closed primary, said Tony Quinn, a veteran Republican election analyst.

There are also higher stakes in legislative elections because of the 2012 change in term limits. Once a lawmaker reaches Sacramento, he or she can serve up to 12 consecutive years in the Assembly or the Senate.

Another driving factor in the race between Brown and Reyes is the battle over climate change legislation. Brown is one of the Democrats who opposed a state measure to cut oil consumption for transportation in half by 2030.

RELATED: Independent expenditures 101: An introduction to outside spending in state races>>

The union-backed group opposing Brown has pegged her as Chevron Cheryl, accusing her of allowing dirty air by taking dirty money. The group supporting Brown, meanwhile, thanks her in its campaign videos for standing up to fancy-pants politicians who it said wanted to limit the amount of gasoline available.

Asked whether she is being pegged as an oil candidate, Brown said, I dont see where its such a horrible thing. In our area, people want to be able to go to work, and they want to have clean air.

But we have no mass transportation in the Inland Empire, she added. And the buses do not go where the jobs are.

Chevron has put $2 million into the independent group backing Brown and other candidates, in addition to $2 million from Valero, $1 million from Tesoro and $500,000 from the California Resources Corp. In a statement, Chevron said it wants to help advocate positions designed to support free markets and fair energy industry legislation and regulations.

A similar battle is playing out in the Bay Area among two San Jose Democrats. Sen. Jim Beall, aided by billionaire environmental activist Tom Steyer, is defending his seat against a challenge from Assemblywoman Nora Campos, who is backed by oil companies.

If we want our leaders to stand up to powerful interests and do right by our families, we cant allow Big Oil to bully them into silence, Steyer said in a statement. Hes pledged to put $500,000 behind Beall.

Chevron, Tesoro and Valero have put $340,000 into efforts to support Campos, who criticized Beall and Steyer as out of touch and clueless to the plight of the working-class men and women of our region.

Another heavy spender in this years primaries is EdVoice, which has put more than $4 million into six races. The organization has been supported by several wealthy donors, including Arthur Rock, a Silicon Valley investor who has contributed $1 million. Bill Bloomfield, a Los Angeles-area businessman, gave an additional $1.4 million this year.

Bill Lucia, president of EdVoice, said the group is looking to help candidates who will come and be champions for kids in Sacramento rather than look at public education as a full employment program for adults.

The Legislature has been split by disagreements on school policies, particularly over how important student test scores should be when evaluating teachers, or whether to weaken tenure rules to make teachers easier to replace.

One of EdVoices favored candidates is Tim Grayson, a Concord City Council member running for an Assembly seat in the Bay Area.

Theyre perceiving me as someone who is definitely serious about dealing with the real issues of education, Grayson said.

Graysons opponent is Mae Torlakson, a member of a local park district board and the wife of Tom Torlakson, the state superintendent of public instruction. Education groups unsuccessfully tried to prevent his reelection to the states highest education post in 2014, and now theyre trying to block his wifes ascent to the Assembly.

I know they do not represent the people, and most of them are not from the district, Mae Torlakson said. They see me as a threat for some reason.

Torlakson, of course, has her own powerful supporters. A union-backed group paid for polling and mailers, and the California Teachers Assn. spent $100,000 to produce and air television advertising.

She said their support is different because it comes from groups representing middle-class workers.

This will be a people-powered campaign, she said.

Times staff writer Christine Mai-Duc contributed to this report.

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These Hollywood stars are crisscrossing California in an RV for Bernie Sanders

California officials ponder: Now that theyre registered, how do we keep new voters interested?

Senate hopeful Tom Del Beccaro is forging his own version of the California GOP

chris.megerian@latimes.com

Twitter: @chrismegerian
The Chinese Internet was awash in debate over sexism Monday, spurred on by an unlikely subject: parking lots.

On Saturday night, the Qianjiang Evening News, a state-run newspaper, reported that since March, a highway service area in the eastern metropolis of Hangzhou had been offering extra-large parking spaces specifically for women. The womens-only spots -- 1.5 times the size of normal spaces  are framed in pink, and marked by icons representing a skirt-wearing woman.

The bigger parking spaces are for women drivers whose driving skills are not superb, Pan Tietong, the service areas manager, told the newspaper. He said he had encountered female drivers who were unskilled at backing up into spots, and sometimes asked security guards to help them park.

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The spots are especially designed for women drivers, he said. Its a humane measure.

The report aroused accusations of sexism on Sina Weibo, Chinas version of Twitter. Many users said that the spaces perpetuated the stereotype that women are worse drivers than men.

This is sexism under the name of showing concern -- whether one can park well depends on driving skills, not gender, said one user. They should be called newbie drivers spaces instead, said another.

Yet a vocal group of Internet users was on board with the plan. According to a survey on Weibo, 63.7% of 1,700 respondents called that the provision of women-only parking spots a good idea. (On site, at least, the spots appear to be well-received: Eight out of 370 total parking spaces in the area are for women only, according to the Qianjiang Evening News, and each is used about 15 times per day.)

Many women counted among the supporters: Although I can park in normal parking spaces, my other female friends may need bigger spaces to park, said Lin Zhuzi, a 34-year-old woman in Quanzhou, a city in southeastern Chinas Fujian province, who has been driving for eight years.

Womens rights activists in China were also divided over the scheme. Its a stereotype that women drivers are less skillful than men drivers -- no one has proved that so far, said Li Sipan, director of the Women Awakening Network, a Guangzhou-based womens rights NGO.

This wasnt the first time that a Chinese business offered womens-only parking. In 2014, a shopping center in the northeastern city Dalian also found itself in hot water when it introduced extra-wide parking spaces that read respectfully reserved for ladies. (Women make up most of our customers, a female manager at the mall reportedly said in defense).

Nor was it even the first time this year that a Chinese organizations female-friendly service has sparked controversy. Early this month, the Beijing Capital International Airport officially launched female-only security lines after a three-month trial. The lines boast pink boards that read female only, as well as extra baggage-checkers; officials have claimed that it would reduce harassment from male passengers, as well as protect womens privacy if theyre asked to remove clothing or open their bags.

Although many Internet users called the female-only line discrimination -- some called for male-only lines, to protect their privacy as well  an airport employee defended the service.

Female passengers have more cosmetics with them, so its more likely that their luggage needs to be examined, the Beijing Morning Post quoted an unidentified security employee as saying. With more checkers, the female-only lines are 25% more efficient than normal lines.

Yang is a special correspondent

Follow @JRKaiman on Twitter for news from Asia

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Iraqi pro-government forces surrounded Fallouja on Sunday and took control of almost all entrances to the city, in preparation for the next phase of their week-long effort to seize it back from Islamic State.

Retaking Fallouja is seen as an important step toward rolling back Islamic States presence in Anbar, Iraqs largest province. The offensive has been supported by dozens of airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition.

Iraqi army soldiers advanced alongside special forces, police and Shiite paramilitary units to the northern and western outskirts of Fallouja, some 35 miles west of Baghdad, according to a statement released by the governments Joint Operations Command.

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Fighters said that Karma, a town nine miles northeast of Fallouja long used by the Islamic State as a forward line of defense, was almost completely under government control.

Karma is almost finished. The Popular Mobilization Forces have left it and given it over to the government. Now only Saqlawiyah remains before us, said Taleb Hilfi, spokesman for the Risaliyoon, a Shiite faction that is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, in a phone interview on Sunday from Baghdad.

The Popular Mobilization Forces are paramilitary units first activated in 2014 to bolster the ranks of the Iraqi army. The groups are organized around religious lines and often supported by Iran, and Iraqi and Western leaders have insisted they take a secondary role in the Fallouja offensive.

A member of the Iraqi pro-government forces walks past a heavily damaged building Saturday during an offensive to retake the city of Fallouja from Islamic State. (Sabah Arar / AFP/Getty Images )

The retaking of Saqlawiyah, roughly five miles northwest of Fallouja, would complete the noose around the city, Hilfi said, and would mark the end of what Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Abadi described on Sunday as the second phase of the offensive.

Fallouja, a city that once boasted a population of 300,000, has long been viewed as a flashpoint of Sunni extremism. It became a symbol of Iraqi defiance during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2004, most notoriously after a mob killed and mutilated the bodies of four workers with Blackwater, a private company contracting with the U.S. military.

More recently, its fall to the Islamic State in January 2014 served as a harbinger of the Iraqi armys stunning collapse six months later during the extremist groups assault on the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Speaking in a televised parliamentary session on Sunday, Abadi added that the third phase to take the city was expected to begin within 48 hours.

However, counterattacks by Islamic State on Sunday demonstrated that the fight would not be an easy one. The group responded with suicide attacks northwest and south of Fallouja, according to local media outlets. It also launched an attack in Hit, a city approximately 43 miles west of Ramadi where the militants had been ousted last month.

The offensive comes as part of a wider regional push to excise Islamic State. Iraqs Kurdish fighters, a militia known as the Peshmerga, made further gains near the city of Mosul, in what they said was one of the many shaping operations expected to increase pressure on Islamic State in preparation for an eventual assault on the city.

Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters fire an anti-tank cannon on the front line near Hasan Sham village, east of the city of Mosul, Saturday during an operation aimed at retaking areas from Islamic State. (Safin Hamed / AFP/Getty Images )

Kurdish fighters in Syria also pressed on with their own U.S.-backed offensive set to pave the way for an assault on Raqqah, Islamic States de-facto Syrian capital.

Prime Minister Abadi reiterated his call to Fallouja residents to either exit [the city] through safe passages or remain in their homes until the city is liberated. Earlier this month, Iraqi warplanes dropped leaflets imploring citizens to stay away from Islamic State buildings in the city, and to put a white sheet over their homes.

Hundreds of civilians have already escaped as government troops have closed in, but an estimated 50,000 people are thought to still be trapped in the city. Both the U.N. and the Anbar governors office have prepared tent cities to deal with the influx of refugees fleeing the city.

Fallouja residents contacted via social media, however, said it was difficult to leave.

Daesh is preventing civilians from leaving the city, Izz din Kabeesi, a Fallouja resident contacted via Facebook on Sunday, said, referring to Islamic State by its Arabic acronym.

The safe passages are also more than seven kilometers [roughly four miles] away from the city and there is no transportation. Besides, the roads are not secure and are full of mines.

Kabeesi added that there was also fear of sectarian-fueled attacks by government troops  a notion that was echoed by other activists with relatives in the city.

Many people want to escape but especially the men are afraid of being accused of being part of Daesh and assassinated by the security forces, said Abu Majd, an activist with the Fallouja of Peace Facebook page who goes by a nom de guerre for reasons of privacy.

People are now stuck between the hammer of Daesh and the fear of being killed.

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Iraqi government troops began storming the Islamic State-held city of Fallouja on Monday, army officials said, even as the jihadist group waged suicide attacks in the nearby Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Security forces from the counter-terrorism and army and  Anbar police units began at dawn this morning a wide-scale military operation to breach the center of Fallouja city, Lt.-Gen. Abdul Wahab al-Saaidi said to Iraqs Sumariyah News.

He added that government troops had achieved notable progress in the attack, which came from south of the city.

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Media pages associated with the Iraqi special forces posted images depicting dozens of black-clad troops wearing full combat gear preparing for the offensive, while video uploaded on YouTube showed army soldiers running in disparate groups toward the front line as sounds of gunfire could be heard.

Activists with relatives inside Fallouja said the attacking forces had entered through the Nuamiyah neighborhood, home to a small army barracks on the south side of the city. They had progressed through the adjacent Shuhadaa neighborhood on their way to the citys center.

Shuhadaa neighborhood is one of the important Daesh centers in the city, said Ali al-Jumaili, a member of the We are all Fallouja Facebook community page, in an interview on social media from Baghdad. He referred to Islamic State by its Arabic acronym. The group is also known as ISIS or ISIL.

Smoke billows on the horizon as Iraqi military forces prepare for an offensive to retake Fallouja from Islamic State militants in Iraq on May 30, 2016. (Khalid Mohammed / Associated Press )

The long-awaited assault comes as the culmination of a weeklong offensive that saw a combined force of government troops and auxiliary Shiite fighters work with warplanes of the U.S.-led coalition to surround Fallouja. It followed similar campaigns elsewhere in Sunni-dominated Anbar province, in the cities of Ramadi, Hit and Rutbah, all of which were restored to government control this year.

Yet Fallouja, a city of about 300,000 in 2010 once known as The City of the Mosques, is considered to be the hardest campaign undertaken by the armed forces in Anbar. The jihadists, who consider themselves Sunni Muslims, have been bunkered in the city for more than two years and are thought to have the support of many of its Sunni residents.

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During the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Fallouja was the site of punishing clashes between the U.S. military and insurgents. It gained notoriety in 2004 after four contractors with the U.S. private military company Blackwater passing through Fallouja were dragged out of their cars, beaten to death and then set on fire. Their mutilated corpses were then hung from a bridge over the nearby Euphrates River.

Over the last decade, it became known as a bastion of antigovernment fervor during the vicious sectarian bloodletting that was one legacy of the U.S. invasion of the country, which overthrew the Sunni-dominated government of Saddam Hussein.

Fallouja residents often joined hands with militant groups such as Al Qaeda and Islamic States progenitor organization, the Islamic State in Iraq, to battle what was perceived as a Shiite-controlled central government that replaced Husseins.

Government troops finally abandoned the city to the jihadists in January 2014, in what was seen as a prelude to a larger breakdown of the Iraqi army less than six months later, when Islamic State militants blitzed virtually unopposed through large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria, including Mosul, one of Iraqs largest cities.

That advance pushed the U.S. to forge a wide-scale air campaign to roll back the groups presence in the country. Religious leaders in Baghdad, fearing the jihadists were poised to snatch the capital, activated paramilitary factions, known as Popular Mobilization Forces, largely made up of Shiite Muslims.

Although Islamic State still holds Mosul, the crown jewel of Iraqi cities under its control, Falloujas loss would nevertheless be a significant blow to the extremist group.

Iraqi military forces carry out an offensive to retake Fallouja on May 30, 2016. (Khalid Mohammed / Associated Press )

Its proximity to Baghdad, 35 miles to the east, have made it an ideal staging area from which militants prepare and mobilize suicide attacks on targets inside the capital - a fact highlighted once again on Monday morning by two suicide bombings in northern Baghdad that killed at least 30 people, according to local media.

Islamic State media claimed responsibility for the attacks, which it said targeted apostates from the Shiite security services.

The group, which adheres to a harsh interpretation of Sunni Islamic law, brands Shiites as well as other religious groups as apostates or infidels who must be killed.

The Fallouja campaign is also seen as an opportunity for Iraqs often-maligned army to redeem itself after its 2014 collapse. The U.S. and other Western countries have since ramped up their training and support for Iraqi troops.

Western leaders have also insisted that the Popular Mobilization Forces, which spearheaded government offensives in other Sunni-majority cities such as Tikrit last year, should be relegated to the sidelines in the battle for Fallouja, in what was seen as a nod to sectarian sensitivities in the city.

Over the last week, the Shiite factions have given fire support to advancing government forces but have not entered Fallouja, which is thought to have at least 50,000 Sunnis trapped inside.

Earlier last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi exhorted residents to either leave the city through safe passages set up by security services or to stay indoors during the offensives.

But civilians trying to escape the city put their lives at grave risk in the attempt, according to a report released by the U.N. on Friday, facing a gantlet that involved traveling on foot hours at night, moving across fields and hiding in disused irrigation pipes.

The report added that a number of people trying to depart had been executed or whipped and those men and older boys who refuse to fight alongside the extremists also have been executed.

The difficulties have meant that only about 800 people have been able to flee Fallouja, mostly from outlying areas, according to the U.N.

Yet activists contend that those civilians who do succeed in escaping Fallouja face sectarian-fueled reprisal attacks.

Civilians are besieged inside from Daesh, and if they manage to escape they fall into the clutches of the [Shiite] militias that are surrounding Fallouja, said a member of the Anbar Youth Union, who refused to give his name for security reasons.

This means that the young men are executed while those who are old are imprisoned, he said.

Bulos is a special correspondent.

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The Memorial Day weekend has become a time to both pay homage to the departed and mark the arrival of what's to come.

The holiday started to commemorate the dead of the Civil War and is observed on the last Monday in May, but it wasn't always that way, as the day was initially set for May 30, no matter what day it fall on.

Day Now Celebrated in Several Ways

With that, the day has become a paid, national holiday for many and a time for vacation and travel for even more.

"This loss of memory and shift into recreation and leisure is a trend in American history," says Matthew Dennis, a history professor at the University of Oregon. "It was a tumultuous time in American history, and the levels of patriotism were quite low at this point in the wake of Vietnam."

The history of the day dates all the way back to the time immediately following the Civil War, a time during which more American soldiers died than any other war in U.S. history.

In the beginning, the day was known as Decoration Day because of the tradition of decorating graves with flowers, flags and wreaths. During the first Memorial Day celebration, former Union Gen. and Ohio Congressman James Garfield made an impassioned speech at Arlington National cemetery to a crowd of at least 5,000.

"We do not know one promise these men made, one pledge they gave, one word they spoke; but we do know they summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens," said Garfield. "For love of country they accepted death, and thus resolved all doubts, and made immortal their patriotism and their virtue."

New York First State to Celebrate Day as State Holiday

The event inspired patriotic feelings among others and in 1983 New York became the first state to make Memorial Day a state holiday. After World War I, the day was expanded to honor the deaths of all those who have died fighting American wars after World War I. With that, came its declaration as a national holiday.

In 1971, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established that Memorial Day would be celebrated nationally on the last Monday in May and each year now the president or vice president lays a wreath at Arlington at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Among the national events scheduled for the day is the National Memorial Day Parade down Constitution Ave. in Washington D.C.
Jan Emanuelli-Cleland, otherwise known as Mr. Puerto Rico 2016, was assaulted by two strangers on May 15 and was left bruised with various injuries.

The 28-year-old model told Primera Hora that he was riding his bike at night after leaving work and decided to take a shortcut when a car approached him. Two men got out of the car and proceeded to attack him.

Emanuelli-Cleland was left with his face disfigured because of his swollen eyes and lips, lumps and cuts on his cheekbones. He also received several bruises all over his body.

"It was all so fast that I didn't even think that they could have had a weapon. The only thing I remember is that the two men that attacked me were of dark skin and they didn't have hair," Emanuelli-Cleland said.

He also recalled there being a third guy who was the driver and waited while the other two robbed and attacked him.

Emanuelli-Cleland was chosen to represent Puerto Rico in the international Mr. Real Universe 2016 competition, which will be held in Ecuador this fall.

Watch the Telemundo news report below.
Americans around the country will celebrate Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial kickoff to summer, with cookouts, road trips, and family outings.

Memorial Day is one of few federal holidays most businesses will close for. In doing so, they honor noble servicemen and women lost protecting the United States. It's easily confused with Veterans Day, the two holidays were created for entirely different reasons.

Veterans Day honors those who enlisted in the military, but many not have necessarily served in battle. Memorial Day recognizes personnel who sacrificed themselves for country, beginning with the Civil War some 150 years ago.

While national parks, restaurants, and retailers like Walmart and Target chose to stay open Monday, most government-run facilities will not. Here is a list of closed businesses, along with some offering discounts throughout the weekend.

What's Closed

U.S. Post Office - Mailmen and women will take Monday off, as well as expeditors like UPS and FedEx.

Federal Offices - All Department of Motor Vehicles offices are closed. State and local courts will pick up proceedings on Tuesday.

Banks - All banks, including Wells Fargo, Chase, Citibank and Bank of America, are closed. Last year, smaller banks like SunTrust and PNC remained open, but it's best to check with local branches.

Libraries - Most across the country are closed.

Retailer Discounts

Amazon - The online retailer is offering 70-percent discounts as part of their Memorial Day sale.

Barnes and Noble - Save 40 percent on history books through Tuesday.

Best Buy - Major appliances are 35-percent off through June 8. Those who purchase or lease a Samsung S7 or S7 Edge through June 4 receive a free 32' Samsung HDTV.

Bloomingdales - Get a $50 gift card with every $200 spent through the extended weekend.

Hotels.com - Book by June 14 and get a 40 percent off select destinations.

Hyundai - The car dealer is offering $1,000 discounts for military members and their spouses for all 2015, 2016, and 2017 model-year vehicles.

Kohl's - Get 50 percent off as part of their Memorial Day sale. Online shoppers can use code TREEBUD through June 14 for an additional 15 percent off.

Macy's - Use online code MEMDAY to get 20 percent off through May 30.

PacSun - Sale items are 50 percent off through the weekend.

Target - The embattled retailer is preparing for summer by offering discounts on swimwear, tank tops, and outdoor grills and patio furniture. Deals range from 20 to 50-percent off.

Under Armour - Military personnel receive 15 percent off their purchase with a valid ID as part of their Under Amour Freedom campaign.

Victoria's Secret - Online users get 40 percent off swimwear and cover-ups by using SAVE40SWIM at checkout, through May 31.

Walmart - Take 50 percent off select items through Monday.

Restaurant Deals

Applebee's - Servicemen and women get 10 percent off with valid military ID.

Hooters - Present valid ID on Memorial Day and get either a free burger, 10-piece wings, or a buffalo chicken salad.

McCormick and Schmick's - Miltary personnel get a free lunch or dinner entree on Monday. Options include beef medallions, beer-battered fish and chips, and buttermilk fried shrimp.

Red Robin - Get a free appetizer with any $10 purchase through the weekend, though Red Robin Royalty signup is required.
Attorneys for reputed drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman are threatening to sue Netflix and Univision if the two networks make good on a plan to air a new series about his life without compensating him.

Andres Granados insists the two networks are obligated to pay his client for the use of his name and nickname in the series. Currently, Guzman is being held in a Mexican prison and facing extradition to the U.S. on a slew of federal drug trafficking charges.

"If they air this, they are immediately going to be sued," Granados recently told reporters. "They, by necessity, need the authorization of Mr. Guzman, because he is not dead."

El Chapo Might be Open to Deal

Granados later added at the right price his client "could supply more information to make it a better project for them."

The two networks recently announced plans to produce an original drama about El Chapo that could hit the airwaves by as soon as 2017. Univision recently released its first trailer for the project, which features a series of scenes representing different eras and aspects of Mexico sullied by overflow rivers of blood.

Meanwhile, U.S. authorities recently dropped as many as a dozen murder charges against "El Chapo" with little public mention.

U.S. Murder Charges Dropped

Word is federal prosecutors in New York removed the brutal acts from a list of formal charges filed against the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel leader as part of a plan they hope will prove easier to convict him.

Lawyers for Guzman are reported to be in the midst of fighting his extradition, while federal prosecutors from New York's eastern district are rumored to have won the right to prosecute him here after competing with rival cases in Chicago, San Diego and El Paso.

"It is a calculus that involves a lot of different issues, but what it boils down to at the end of day is: who's got the best charges and who's got the best evidence," said Theresa Van Vliet, a former chief of narcotics at the justice department. "It's as simple as that."
Australian scientists have discovered remnants of an extinct marsupial that roamed the earth some 15 million years ago and survived by eating snails.

Known as "malleodectes mirabilis," researchers further describe the creatures as "equipped with huge, hammer-like premolars that allowed them to eat snails whole."

Creatures Linked to Tasmanian Devil

Additional findings suggest that the creature was a relative of such contemporary animals as the Tasmanian devil. Tracings were first found near Queensland, around Riversleigh World Heritage Fossil Site, where scientists have uncovered eye-opening remains before.

"Malleodectes mirabilis was a bizarre mammal, as strange in its own way as a koala or kangaroo," said University of New South Wales paleontologist Mike Archer, the lead author of a study published in Scientific Reports, said in a statement.

The main traces of the animal came in dental form, with isolated samples of teeth and dentitions being uncovered over several years. With that, scientists dubbed the escargot-loving family of creatures The Marvelous Hammer Biter, in deference to their ability to chomp through snail shells.

Researchers came to the point of declaring the animals a family of their own after finding a portion of a skull from a young member of the marsupial group in the cave deposit.

Scientists discovered the cave in the 1990s, and it has been a continual source of information, with such fossils as a marsupial capable of searching for food like a woodpecker and a tusked kangaroo-type animal. Arguably, the most memorable creature discovered has proven to be the large Dromornis bird known as the "The Demon Duck of Doom."

Species now Extinct

Still, Archer seems convinced the young marsupial may be one of a kind, with the animals becoming extinct not long after the juvenile from his study perished largely due to a drastic climate change that has taken place over the last 15 million years.

They went extinct not long after the juvenile from Archer's study died, thanks to a period of intense climate change that transformed Australia's rain forests into dry grasslands. If the baby malleodectid has any siblings, they're probably buried in the ground.
A Washington man left a 7-year-old boy behind following a fishing trip at Shabbacong Creek, township police said.

Police at 9:36 a.m. Saturday received a report of an abandoned child at Rite-Aid, 354 Route 57, Washington Township. The child had walked to the store alone from Shabbacong Creek, according to police.

It was determined Steven Polgar, 50, who was legally responsible for the child's care, had left the child he had taken fishing alone at the creek and returned home, according to police.

Polgar is charged with endangering the welfare of a child and disorderly conduct. He also had outstanding warrants totaling $544 out of Roxbury Township.

The NJ Department of Child Protection & Permanency responded to take custody of the child, who was later returned to a parent.

Polgar was arrested and sent to Warren County jail in lieu of $3,000.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
Clonminam Business Park could be the site of a new battery storage facility for the containment of renewable energy obtained from wind turbines.

In an application to Laois County Council, Gaelectric Energy Storage Ltd claims that the construction of an electrical substation in the local business park will help to maintain the long term stability of the electricity system in Ireland. and its deployment in Portlaoise will be a positive signal for future development in the town.

The operation will be a battery storage facility with a single storey electrical substation of some 60msq, along with a hardstanding area for external battery equipment, as well as signs, fencing and a security gate, at the Midlands Container Depot Ltd, Clonminam Business Park, Knockmay, Portlaoise.

In a report submitted to the council on behalf of the applicant by GES Planning, it is claimed that Gaelectric Holdings PLC, founded 2004, have become a leading independent developer and operator of renewable energy projects in wind, bioenergy and solar on the island of Ireland and in Great Britain.

The company proposes developing a grid-level battery storage facility, which will house batteries which can generate power for up to a number of hours.

It says that the development will contribute towards the DS3 Programme devised by Eirgrid and SONI, which has projected a target of 40% of all electricity consumed to come from renewable sources by 2020.

With its isolated electricity system and market, the island of Ireland faces numerous challenges as a result of its rapidly increasing wind penetration, says the company.

The applicant says that there are no residential dwellings within 300m of the site and claim that noise from battery equipment will only occur when the battery is operational and will therefore be intermittent.

Maintenance staff only will be required for the plant.

The application also describes Clonminam as the industry and business hub for Portlaoise with a total of 200 companies located there.

A decision is due on the planning application from Laois County Council by June 27.
Leitrims Sinn Fein Deputy Martin Kenny made a number of allegations of Garda Malpractice in the county from 2009 to this year in Dail Eireann last Thursday, May 26.

Here we publish the full trasncript of his speech in the Dail.

Deputy Martin Kenny, The reality is that malpractice is not confined to Cavan-Monaghan, which the OHiggins report deals with, or indeed to Donegal where investigations were held in the past. At the outset, I want to state clearly that in my area of Leitrim, as in other places, the vast majority of gardai are doing their job honestly and diligently.

I intend to use this debate to raise issues of alleged Garda malpractice that have been brought to my attention by whistleblowers, both serving gardai and former gardai. Central to the many events I will now outline is the allegation that gardai were engaging informants who were active criminals, which was in breach of the rules of the CHIS programme. CHIS is an acronym for the covert handing of intelligence sources. Another allegation is that gardai were running their own informants outside the official CHIS programme. A third allegation is that some rogue gardai have used informants or criminals over whom they have control to set up and entrap people for crimes and then prosecute them. The fourth allegation is that there were high ranking gardai who protected these rogue gardai and covered for them with secrecy and denial.

The following are some of the allegations that have been brought to my attention over the past two years until recently. There is an allegation that a garda informant, working under the direction of two gardai, robbed tools and a generator from a builders shed and then sold the generator to a man whose house was searched the next day and the stolen property recovered. The man was subsequently charged and convicted in relation to having stolen property.

Another allegation is that a Garda informant was allegedly instructed by his handlers to set a trap for a person at an NCT centre. He placed money in a car as a bribe to get the car through the test. The car had some minor defect and should not have passed the NCT. The informant then told an employee at the NCT centre that the car was nearly okay and he had left a few euros in it. The car was passed and later that employee was charged, convicted of accepting a bribe, and lost his job. The main witness in the case was a Garda informant.

A man was wrongly charged with possession of a stolen tractor, although there was no evidence other than that the tractor may have been collected from beside a farmyard owned by this man. He had co-operated totally with the initial Garda investigation and was not considered a suspect at any time by local gardai. The investigation was taken over by a detective sergeant who instructed that the man would be charged, to the dismay of the other gardai. As the man left the Garda station this detective sergeant followed him and waved the charge sheet at him saying: I can make this go away if you bring me the real culprit.

One of the more serious incidents in Leitrim is the case of threats to the safety of two serving gardai from a criminal gang. The detailed plans of a group of criminals preparing to attack these two gardai at their private homes was known about by senior gardai and for weeks the information was withheld from those men, both of whom have young families.

The two serving gardai accidentally found out that this gang was preparing to attack their homes and had been at their houses on a number of occasions. They later discovered that one of the gang was reporting criminal activity to CHIS and that he was also working outside the formal informant programme for other gardai. When confronted on the issue, a senior garda in the Sligo-Leitrim division eventually admitted that he knew about the planned attacks, but said they "needed to protect the source of the information". The distraught gardai were then assured that this would never happen again and any potential threats to members would be communicated and appropriate action taken.

However, a short time after this, one of the gardai was on duty alone in a Garda station in Leitrim. He went off duty at 4 a.m. and went home. At 8.30 a.m., he got a call to come back in because the station had been attacked and vandalised. During questioning of a man who admitted the attack on the Garda station, he claimed he was paid 100 to do it by another local man with a criminal record. The garda later learned that there was information in the possession of more senior gardai that the station could be the subject of an arson attack on that very night. This Garda was in the station alone all night and was not informed of the possibility of an attack. The man who it was alleged paid to have attack carried out was an informant who worked for CHIS.

I also have serious concerns around the investigation into the disappearance of a man who went missing in 2011 from his home in Aughavas, County Leitrim - my home parish. Mr. Pat Herran was a man who struggled with addiction problems. However, he was held in high regard in the local community. Around the time he was reported missing, a memorandum was distributed to gardai about a "Pat from Leitrim" having been abducted and killed. When local gardai arrived at the home of Mr. Herran to check into the report that he was missing, they considered the possibility of something sinister and wanted to have the house sealed off as a possible crime scene. However, senior gardai dismissed this possibility and told them to make the usual inquiries and he would turn up drunk somewhere. After some time, when Garda management finally agreed to seal off and examine the house, they found it had been burgled in the meantime and was, therefore, forensically violated for the purposes of evidence gathering. There were also a number of individuals with links to Pat Herran whom the investigation team never even questioned, to the dismay of local gardai. It is now known that a Garda informant was among the last people to be in Pat Herran's company before he disappeared. Pat Herran has never been found and his mother and siblings are heartbroken. The question is: was the protection of informants put before the proper investigation into the disappearance of Pat Herran?

Now it is important to point out that, in 2009, two members of An Garda Siochana stationed in Leitrim brought their concerns about the handling of intelligence sources to the attention of the then Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan, and they were fobbed off. In 2012, they first brought it to the attention of the then Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter, and again in 2014, after which the Minister delegated two officials from his office, including one of his chief advisers, to meet the two Garda whistleblowers. Most of the concerns I have outlined were expressed during a four-hour meeting. Indeed, documented detail of all these incidents was given to the Ministers office at that time. Nothing ever came out of this meeting, save a letter from the Ministers private secretary stating that no action would be taken. These past failures to deal with matters in the Leitrim district highlight the need to promptly establish a commission of investigation into Garda malpractice. I have this information and detail because, in 2014, I was made aware of allegations of Garda malpractice in Leitrim by two Garda whistleblowers and, indeed, how it related personally to me and my family. A man who claims to have been a Garda informant told me that he had been asked by certain named gardai to carry out a robbery at my house. The informant claims he did not carry out the robbery. However, my house was broken into in March 2007 and items of value were stolen. I was an elected member of Leitrim county council at that time.

While these incidents are several years old, I have also been contacted in the past few months by other serving gardai who have also made allegations of malpractice in the Leitrim district.

It is alleged that senior officers have reprimanded gardai who have tried to investigate or raise concerns about criminal activity, including drugs offences, breaches of bail conditions and firearms offences. It is also alleged that senior gardai in Leitrim have been engaged in aggressive and vindictive behaviour towards other members of the Garda and that abuses of positions of authority are common practice, leading to an atmosphere of fear and tension throughout the ranks.

In February 2015, gardai discovered a pipe bomb along a road near Drumshambo, County Leitrim. The two uniformed gardai who discovered the pipe bomb are being disciplined for their activity around the discovery. There is widespread disquiet at all ranks in the county about the fact that these gardai, who did their job properly, are being disciplined. It could have the effect - some believe the intended effect - of discouraging other gardai in the county from taking an interest in criminal activity in case they too are disciplined.

Earlier this year, a detective garda in Leitrim became aware of the existence of a gun in the possession of a member of a criminal gang operating in the area. However, the information was not put on the PULSE system, no searches were carried out and it was kept secret from almost all gardai in the Leitrim district. A uniformed garda inadvertently found out about it and confronted the detective, who confirmed it had been reported to him but was being kept quiet. The garda immediately reported this to a sergeant who, in turn, confronted senior Garda management, who confirmed that they had known about it since the initial reporting. The sergeant expressed concern that uniformed members should have been made aware of this. As a result of this, a document was sent informing gardai in the Sligo-Leitrim division that this person might have a gun. This was nine days after the initial report and this was despite the fact that the alleged criminal was carrying out his activities throughout a wide region. Failure to inform gardai nationwide placed them at enormous risk. The failure to investigate this also placed members of the public at risk.

Allegations of malpractice in Leitrim not only go back a number of years but are right up to date. The vast majority of honest, hardworking gardai in Leitrim are totally opposed to illicit activities and malpractice. If true, the conclusion of these accusations is that a small cohort within the Garda in Leitrim have considered criminal activity as an opportunity for their own advancement and, at times, have manipulated situations for their own advancement. The only way forward is for the Minister to establish a commission of investigation into the matters I have raised and into any other instances of alleged malpractice that may come forward in the future.

Further details of this story and reaction to the allegations will be in this weeks Leitrim Observer, out on Wednesday, June 1.
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As the South American country located the furthest from the UK, Chile has never been an easy destination to reach. But thats all about to change in 2017, when British Airways launches the first direct flight from the UK to Chiles capital, Santiago.

Travellers with Chile on their travel bucket list: rejoice! British Airways plans to launch the first ever direct flights between the UK and Chile starting in January 3rd, 2017. Flights will depart from London Heathrow and land in Santiago and will become the airlines longest route: 14 hours and 40 minutes.

The flights to Santiago will operate four times a week.

It will be the first time a direct flight has connected the UK and Chile. BA previously operated flights to Santiago between 1993 and 2000, but it was only an add-on service to their flights to Buenos Aires. The route will be operated with the airlines newest aircraft, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner so you can expect to travel in style.

Img: Santiago de Chile by Reindertot / Flickr cc.
THE Chief Executive of Limerick Chamber is calling on the government to begin the planning process for a new motorway between Limerick and Cork "as soon as possible".

James Ring made his comments after it was confirmed that an upgrade of the N20 is likely to be given the green light following a review of the current Capital Spending Plan.

While the review will not take place until 2018, Dr Ring says the planning process should be started now rather than in two years time.

We have already lost two years and the cost of the planning process is only a small part of the total cost, he said.

The overall cost of the project is likely to be around 1bn but it is thought the planning process will cost in the region of 30m.

Last week, Minister Simon Coveney said it was his hope and instinct that the motorway would be put back on the agenda.

A statement from a minister at the level of Simon Coveney is really powerful, said Dr Ring who added that there is strong political support for the project in Limerick and Cork.

He says he has also spoken with Minister Michael Noonan who was very receptive to his proposal.

It has to happen, there is a political will (for it) and there is an economic case for it to happen, said Dr Ring who says a motorway between the two cities is the last piece of the jigsaw".

Plans to upgrade the N20 were shelved in October 2013 by the then Transport minister, Leo Varadakar, who said the cost was not feasible given the state of the countrys finances. Just over a year ago, his successor, Paschal Donoghue (now Minister for Public Expenditure), reiterated the government position, despite strong pressure from local business groups.
A MULTI-million euro state-of-the-art primary healthcare centre is to commence construction in Limerick city centre this week, the HSE has revealed.

The new multi-facility complex will be located at Sarsfield Court, Lord Edward Street, and is expected to hugely benefit residents in the city centre and Ballinacurra-Weston area.

The Minister for Health Simon Harris recently announced the construction plans, which are expected to commence as early as today.

The new facility will provide GP, community nursing, dental, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, social work, speech and language therapy, mental health, counselling, home help, and nutrition services.

According to the Department of Health, the centre will be open for at least five days a week, with extra hours at weekends and evenings for some services.

This is part of a public-private partnership, where a large share of the 70m funding has been backed by the European Investment Bank, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and German insurance company, Talanx.

Fine Gael Senator Maria Byrne welcomed the announcement. She said that the complex will be a versatile unit, adding that the Kings Island care centre was a success story.

It is good to see a facility such as this moving into the area because people, especially older people, will now be able to access services within their own locality and that is the most important message.

It is going to have a mixture of everything and I think that is good, she commented.

Labour councillor Elena Secas said that medical professionals have been eager to know of the projects time of arrival, over the past year.

I think that it is a good thing that this is happening. It is a good thing for Limerick, and my feeling is that it will definitely benefit, first of all, the community.

While there have been critics of a public-private arrangement, Cllr Secas said with the right approach, it can be managed very well.
May 30, 2016, 5 AM

Keelin ONeill from Northern Ireland smiles while holding an Inverted Jenny necktie offered for sale by the American Philatelic Society. ONeill found a real Inverted Jenny, a rare United States error stamp missing for more than six decades, in a box of i

This 1918 Jenny Invert airmail error stamp, position 76 from the original pane of 100, was recovered in early April after being missing for more than 60 years. It was once part of the McCoy block of four Jenny Invert stamps that was stolen in 1955. Image

By Michael Baadke

The red and blue stamp was a gift from his grandfather.

My grandfather gave me a bunch of stuff two months before he passed away, Keelin ONeill said in an interview May 28. I wasnt aware I actually had the stamp there.

The stamp his grandfather gave him in October 2011 was an Inverted Jenny, the 1918 24 airmail error that shows the blue Jenny airplane in the middle of the design printed upside down. Its considered the most famous of all United States stamp errors, perhaps the most famous U.S. stamp of all.

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And this particular Inverted Jenny, it turns out, had been missing for more than 60 years. It was once part of an intact block of four known to collectors as the McCoy block, which was stolen from its exhibition frame in 1955 during the American Philatelic Society convention in Norfolk, Va.

But to most people, a stamp is just a stamp. And it appears that Keelins grandfather, who like Keelin lived in Northern Ireland, had no knowledge of this stamps story either.

He never really pointed out to me what it was, Keelin said. He didnt mention, Oh, by the way, theres a stamp in there thats so rare theres only a hundred. 

The Jenny Invert was in a simple stock card, stuck inside an envelope along with an old and odd letter that seemingly described a stamp transaction that took place in New York in the 1960s.

Somewhere along the way some of the stamps perforations had been altered, presumably to disguise its identity, and most of its gum is now gone.

The recovery of the stamp was reported in April by Linns after the Spink USA auction firm and the American Philatelic Research Library revealed the find.

Keelin, in his mid-20s, decided to acknowledge that he was the finder of the stamp while attending World Stamp Show-NY 2016 in New York City.

If all goes as planned, he expects to be present when the American Philatelic Research Library takes possession of the stamp at the show on Thursday, June 2.

The stamp is from position 76 in the only sheet of 100 error stamps, and its now the third stamp from the purloined block of four to be recovered.

Before she died in 1980, collector Ethel McCoy, who owned the block when it was stolen, signed over her rights to the missing stamps to the APRL, now located in Bellefonte, Pa.

Scott English, the APS executive director, has been working with Keelin and federal authorities as they puzzle out the mystery and negotiate the legal hurdles.

It is expected that the stamp, currently under FBI jurisdiction and in the care of the Philatelic Foundation of New York, will be returned to the APRL.

Keelin had no idea that the single stamp tucked inside the paper envelope was one the philatelic world had long been searching for.

I didnt know exactly what it was, he said, so I did a little bit of research, and then I contacted Spink.

At the London auction firm he was referred to its New York office, and because Keelin was planning to visit the United States on vacation, he took the stamp with him.

When he got to the New York Spink office, the staff there told him they had to take the stamp away for examination.

Soon after, he was contacted by the FBI.

And here we are, he said with a smile.

The story behind the stamps 60-year journey is still largely unknown.

Keelins grandfather used to go to car boot sales, he explained.

Cars pull up in a field, and sell all their stuff out of the back of their car, he said with a laugh. So, I used to go with him when I was a kid.

But Keelin doesnt really know how his grandfather wound up with the stamp. He said he didnt think his grandfather was ever a stamp collector, so he imagines he simply bought the stamp at one of the car boot sales. Where it came from, and how it got to Northern Ireland, is likely to remain a mystery.

The box of stuff his grandfather gave him included old antique records, an antique clock  and just one stamp.

For a while Keelin didnt really do anything with the items in the box, he just held on to them as something to remember his grandfather by.

One day he was thinking about his grandfather, started looking through the box, and decided to check out the odd stamp.

Once I was told that it was stolen, Keelin said, I wanted to give it back to the rightful owner.

English told Linns that the APRL has reached an agreement with Keelin and the U.S. Attorneys office. Asked if Keelin will be the recipient of the $50,000 reward offered in 2014 by Mystic Stamp Co. president Donald Sundman for the recovery of a stamp from the McCoy block, English said, That would be the expectation once the stamp is safely returned.

How does that sound to Keelin?

Yeah, good, he said, Im just happy they get it back.

More news from World Stamp Show-NY 2016:

Intaglio-printed WSS-NY '16 stamps shown

Opening ceremony honors military fleet

Hi-tech gear hits the WSS-NY 2016
To allow for site preparation, service on the Port Washington Branch will be reduced from half-hourly to hourly in both directions for 12 hours on Saturday, June 4, beginning 6 a.m. and ending at 6 p.m. During that same period, buses and vans will replace trains in the single track area between Port Washington and Great Neck stations.

Westbound

Customers boarding at stations Port Washington through Manhasset will board buses or vans up to 25 minutes earlier than normal for travel to Great Neck where train service resume.

Eastbound

Customers will traveling to Manhasset, Plandome and Port Washington will travel by train to as Great Neck and board buses or vans to their final destinations arriving up to 25 minutes later than normal.

For More Information

Customers should consult the Port Washington Branch Special Timetable for Saturday, June 12 here or contact the LIRRs Customer Service Center by calling 511, the New York State Travel Information Line, and say: Long Island Rail Road. If you are deaf or hearing impaired, use your preferred relay service provider for the free 711 relay to reach the LIRR at 511.
School & Education, Local News, Travel & Local Attractions, Press Releases

By WFSD News Published: May 30 2016

Grumman Memorial Park has become a local attraction and periodic destination for the William Floyd High School NJROTC cadets.

Mastic Beach, NY - May 27, 2016 - For over half a century, aircraft manufacturing took place at a plant in Calverton on land owned by the Navy and known to thousands of folks simply as Grumman, where flight testing and development of Navy jets was conducted. Today, that same land is the largest remaining grassland on Long Island and home to endangered short-eared owls; the illustrious warplanes are all but gone.

Eventually, the Navy would donate some of the land at Calverton to form a National Cemetery, making it the largest national cemetery in the country. But today, in one corner of the airport, lie a small tract housing the Grumman Memorial Park. It has become a local attraction and periodic destination for the William Floyd High School NJROTC cadets.

Gone are the days when aircraft carriers had mostly planes that had been assembled at the Calverton facility, but when textbook pages turn to naval aviation, the cadets head to the memorial, where the centerpiece of the exhibit is a couple of Grumman built aircraft. High up on a concrete pedestal is an F-14 Tomcat fighter and located nearby is an attack A-6 Intruder all-weather bomber.

Interestingly, both Tomcat and Intruder aircraft can be found as non-flying static displays around the county, like the two here in Grumman Memorial Park. However, several of the last A-6 aircraft were sunk off the coast of Florida to form a fish haven alled "Intruder Reef.

When the Memorial was dedicated in the year 2000, more than 2,000 people attended and the William Floyd NJROTC was there to present the Colors. In honor of that event, when cadets returned recently, they once again presented the Colors. The endangered short-eared owls enjoyed the pageantry!

Alfred Thayer Mahan

Lets see, if you wanted to read about Alfred Thayer Mahan, arguably the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century, where would you look for his book on naval warfare? Well, you might want to check the cadet library at William Floyd High School. The NJROTC just finished a chapter in their textbook devoted to Admiral Mahan and yes, they have a copy of his 1890 book, in fact, they have two copies of The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783.

As the cadets will tell you, there are lots of details and lots of pages, all to do with the role of sea power throughout history. Much of his thinking can still be found in Navy doctrine today. In fact, his writing caused an arms race with the United States, Germany, Japan and Britain when initially published.

He was a ship Captain during the Civil War, then a lecturer on naval history and tactics at the Naval War College before becoming College President. His ideas and lecture notes while there became the foundation of his book. Mahan believed a great country needs a great navy.

He became a close friend of Theodore Roosevelt, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy, before he retired in 1896. He eventually wrote more than 100 articles on politics, the importance of sea power and many related topics. His influence was widely recognized and his writing influenced every major navy in the lead up to the First World War.

Knowing all this, the naval science students made plans for a curriculum-based educational class trip. First, they found out he is buried in the Quogue Cemetery here in Suffolk County and not that far from the high school. Second, they got permission to visit, and that no burials were scheduled on the day of their visit to Mahans grave. They were also granted approval for to do a gravestone rubbing; much like the drawing you get from rubbing a coin over a piece of paper.

So, armed with materials supplied by the William Floyd High School Art Department, they set out on a Saturday to preserve a bit of history for their classroom. With no threat to his stone, the cadets obtained a couple of really nice headstone rubbings. This was their first attempt at the art form.

Aside from his name, the simple stone marker is just engraved, United States Navy. In honor of the event, cadets formed an honor detail alongside his grave and then presented the Colors.
Local News, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 30 2016

Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald is called on to address the deteriorating conditions at the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC).

Northport, NY - May 25, 2016 - Representatives Steve Israel (NY-03), Peter King (NY-02), Kathleen Rice (NY-04), and Lee Zeldin (NY-01) sent a bipartisan letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald calling on him to address the deteriorating conditions at the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC).

Recent reports have indicated that an aging ventilation system has caused harmful particles to collect on medical instruments in five operating rooms at the Northport VAMC. Due to the health risks associated with the particles, the entire surgical unit has been closed for more than two months, forcing Long Island veterans to travel elsewhere to receive surgical care.



Long Island veterans must have access to quality healthcare and medical facilities, said Rep. Steve Israel (NY-03). The reported operating room closures at the Northport V.A. are troubling and we need answers on whats being done. That is why I am leading this bipartisan letter with my Long Island colleagues to request specific information on how many veterans have been impacted and what steps need to be taken to reopen these operating rooms and ensure the safety of patients and staff throughout the facility.



Were not talking about athletes foot here, said Rep. Peter King (NY-02). This is a serious situation. If a veterans hospital cant provide surgery, the public needs answers.



With only one VA hospital on Long Island and one of the largest veteran populations in the country, we cant let these operating rooms stay closed while veterans in need of surgical care are forced to go elsewhere or delay their treatment, said Representative Kathleen Rice, a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. I have no doubt that officials at the Northport VA are eager to reopen these rooms as soon as possible, and every member of this delegation is ready to do whatever it takes to help make that happen. Thats why were urging the VA to give us this information so that we know the full scope of the problem, exactly what must be done to fix it, and how long it will take.



The Department of Veterans Affairs needs to immediately fix whatever issues exist that are keeping the Operating Rooms closed at the Northport VA., said Congressman Lee Zeldin (NY-01), member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. Failure is not an option. Its also completely inexcusable that the VA never came to the Long Island congressional delegation to inform us of this situation and ask for assistance over the course of these past few months while these issues have lingered. This is an inexcusable failure for Long Island veterans. The entire Long Island delegation agrees that our veterans deserve better, which is why we look forward to a quick response from the VA and an aggressive achievement of an immediate and long term solution."



In February, the Northport VAMC suspended all surgical procedures involving incisions and open wounds after detecting sand-sized particles that had accumulated in some of the facilitys operating rooms. Newsday reported that since February, 117 veterans have had to reschedule surgeries at the facility. 69 of these veterans elected to receive their treatment at other facilities and 48 chose to postpone their surgeries until operations resume at Northport VAMC.



The full text of the delegations letter can be found below:



May 25, 2016





The Honorable Robert A. McDonald

Secretary

United States Department of Veterans Affairs

810 Vermont Ave NW

Washington, DC 20420



Dear Secretary McDonald,



We are very concerned about reports of deteriorating conditions at the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Northport, New York. As you know, Long Island is home to a significant veteran population and constituents from our combined four Congressional Districts have all sought care at the Northport VAMC. We believe these veterans deserve the best care available and want to make certain the staff at the Northport VAMC have the resources necessary to care for them.



Reports indicate that operating rooms have closed, but the Northport VAMC director indicated publicly that one operating room may reopen next month. Meanwhile, patients requiring urgent operations have been sent elsewhere in New York, an inconvenience our nations veterans should not have to bear. With no indication of when the additional operating rooms will reopen, immediate action must be taken to fix these issues and provide our veterans with high quality care.



We are writing today to draw your attention to this matter and to request information regarding how many veterans across Long Island have been impacted by these issues at the Northport VAMC, what steps will be taken to reopen the operating rooms and ensure the safety of patients and staff throughout the facility, and how long you expect these actions to take. The Northport VAMC serves thousands of veterans in our districts and these veterans deserve the highest level of care available. This is a standard that should be applied throughout the entire country at every single VAMC.



We appreciate your assistance with this matter and commend your commitment to American veterans. We look forward to your timely response.
Tech & Science, Local News, Business & Finance, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: May 30 2016

Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano attended the grand opening of Digital Ballpark, located at 110 Terminal Drive in Plainview, on Wednesday, May 25th.

(Left to right): Raj Mehta, President of Infoist International; Paul Trapani, VP of LISTnet; Peter Goldsmith, President of LISTnet; County Exec. Edward P. Mangano; Nick Auletta, BOD of United Way; Theresa Sanders, Head of United Way; and Fabrizio Bustos, VetsBuild.

Plainview, NY - May 27, 2016 - Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano attended the grand opening of Digital Ballpark, located at 110 Terminal Drive in Plainview, on Wednesday, May 25th. Digital Ballpark is a technology-based incubator and business accelerator, started by the Long Island Software & Technology Network (LISTnet), as an IT training facility for Veterans.

Thanks to the tireless dedication of Peter Goldsmith and his partners, LISTnet has successfully provided office space and IT training opportunities for Veterans right here in Nassau, said County Executive Mangano. Through businesses like Digital Ballpark, we are able to continue to support and strengthen Nassaus entrepreneurial spirit and job industry, while helping residents find meaningful employment opportunities.

Digital Ballpark will house 9 small to mid-sized tech companies, who will be aiding in the training of Veterans in a creative and educational environment. All 9 companies have already signed on to participate in the 3 months since the idea was originated. Digital Ballpark will also be partnering with United Ways Mission United, in their project to train Veterans in Information Technology, as well as with the Urban League, to help train minorities.
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
Abu Dhabi Ports - the master developer, operator and manager of ports and Khalifa Industrial Zone in the Emirate - presented the integrated offerings of Khalifa Port and Kizad at an exclusive business event in Abu Dhabi.

Organised by Abu Dhabi Ports in association with the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China to UAE and the Chinese Business Council, the invitation-only event for Chinese businessmen attracted over 80 top Chinese businessmen from across the UAE.

The value proposition represented by Kizad, the integrated trade and industrial hub of Abu Dhabi, and Khalifa Port, the maritime gateway to Abu Dhabi, were detailed in the half-day event titled Opportunities in Abu DhabiA Global Trade, Manufacturing and Logistics Hub.

Keynote speeches were delivered by Mr He Song, the Economic and Commercial Counsellor at the Chinese embassy in the UAE, and Captain Wang Song, Chairman of the Chinese Business Council. Mana Mohammed Saeed Al Mulla, Chief Operating Officer, Kizad delivered the welcome address.

Abu Dhabi Ports values the collaboration of the Chinese Embassy and the Chinese Business Council, who share a common goal of contributing to the economic development of the UAE. Our aim is to present a new platform of opportunities, said Al Mulla.

With Khalifa Port at Kizads door step, the outstanding access to markets, world-class infrastructure and tailored solutions available, will prove attractive to Chinese businesses and I am confident that our offerings have the potential to support their efforts to boost trade ties between China and the UAE, he continued.

Mr He applauded the efforts of Abu Dhabi Ports in reaching out to the Chinese business community: There are many Chinese investors keen to expand their businesses into Chinas largest Middle East market. This event will contribute to the bilateral economic relations between China and the UAE. Exploring new opportunities to further invest in attracting additional businesses to the emirates is a welcomed initiative.

The industrial zone also provides solutions to meet investors evolving requirements, and has recently launched Phase 2 of its Kizad Logistics Park warehouses. Currently Kizad has around 90 national and international investors, and a total of 13 million square metres of land leased that represents a total investment of more than AED 55 billion.

Khalifa Port recorded a 32% annual growth in 2015 making it the fastest growing port in the Middle East with an existing capacity to handle 2.5 million TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units/containers) and 12 million tonnes of general cargo.

Khalifa Port currently serves over 20 shipping lines  three of which are Chinese  and is directly linked with more than 52 destination ports  10 of them being based in China.
Thailands Mermaid Maritime said it has been awarded a number of subsea contracts in the Middle East with a total worth of $11million.

It has also reached an agreement with builder China Merchants Industry Holdings to postpone the delivery dates for its new assets currently under construction.

Off Qatar and Saudi Arabia, Mermaid's western hemisphere business unit won seven subsea projects with an estimated aggregate value of US$11 million.

The subsea projects involve survey, inspection, repair and maintenance and light construction in various offshore fields including Manifa, Safaniya, Zuluf and Tanajib in Saudi Arabia. Most projects will be completed by the end of August, Mermaid said.

Chalermchai Mahagitsiri, Mermaids CEO, said: Mermaid Endurer is the pride of the fleet of Mermaid, and we are pleased to have the ship deployed once again here in Qatar. Additionally, the chartered-in DP2 construction barge Mubarak Supporter has just completed a successful cable laying campaign, and will demobilize in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the coming days.

Meanwhile, it has deferred taking over two newbuild rigs and one dive support construction vessel (DSCV) from China Merchants Industry Holdings in view of the sluggish market.

Originally scheduled for delivery at various periods in 2016, delivery date for performance-class tender rigs MTR-3 and MTR-4 have been pushed to 31 December 2016, while delivery for the DP2 multipurpose subsea dive support and construction vessel Mermaid Ausana will be on 30 June 2017.

To mitigate financial exposure, Mermaid Maritime says it had already recorded an asset impairment write-off on the entire deposit and associated costs related to projects in its 2015 Financial Statements.

Headquartered in Thailand, Mermaid Maritime operations span from Saudi Arabia to the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Singapore, and Indonesia.
Hanjin Paradip resume its sailing from South Africa as talks continue with owner over unpaid charter fees. The ship had been detained in Richards Bay, South Africa earlier last week over unpaid charter fees.

The vessel in 82,158 deadweight tonnage (DWT) was used to carry grain and minerals.

We agreed with the ship owner that the normal vessel operation is the most important for interests of the both parties, Hanjin said, without specifying the owners name. We agreed to resume operation first and decide on the charter fees through additional negotiations.

According to Yonhap, the incident took place while the shipping company has been negotiating with tonnage providers to get rates cut on chartered ships, a crucial first step outlined by bondholders of the financially-troubled company.

Hanjin Shipping is one of many Korean maritime-related firms that has been forced to enter restructuring recently on the back of dire financial results.

Hanjin operates 95 container ships and 56 bulk carriers, 91 of them chartered by foreign owners.
South Korea's STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. has filed for receivership, following massive losses that have mounted up over the past two years, says a report in the WSJ.

According to multiple sources from the shipbuilding industry, creditors and STX Offshore & Shipbuilding have decided to put Goseong Offshore & Shipbuilding under court management early next month and have begun taking necessary steps.

The decision has been made after judging that it would be difficult for the small shipbuilder to sustain after its parent company goes under although its order backlog is sufficient to maintain operations until the end of next year.

A Korea Development Bank spokesman said the firm's creditors will decide on how to proceed with the court receivership process by the end of the month, as the company lacks sufficient funds to meet its financial obligations at end-May.

South Korean shipbuilders - Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Hanjin Shipping Co Ltd - are facing severe financial troubles as sluggish global economic growth and weak oil prices drove them into deep losses.
DP World has reached an agreement to manage the Berbera port in Somaliland, which would allow it to become a major hub for goods to transit to and from the Horn of Africa, the Wall Street Journal reported.

DP World signed a US$442 million agreement with the government of Somaliland to develop and operate a regional trade and logistics hub at the Port of Berbera.

Under the terms of the deal, the newspaper citing a person who has seen the document, Somaliland will grant the Dubai-based company the right to manage the Red Sea port of Berbera for 30 years.

DP World is bullish on Africa and will expand further across the continent following a deal to create a new gateway in Somaliland, on its eastern coast.

"I am very bullish about Africa and I believe it still has a very huge potential," the DP World chairman Sultan bin Sulayem said.

"The reason why we go to Africa is because we get a lot of knowledge and experience and they are the two factors for success."

The agreement comes as part of a larger government-to-government memorandum of understanding between the Dubai and the government of the Republic of Somaliland to further strengthen their strategic ties.

DP World has existing operations in Senegal, Egypt, Mozambique, Djibouti and Algeria, and Berbera port will be the eighth DP world operation in Africa when completed.

Over past five years DP World has invested over $1 billion in capex and added 2,275,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEU) of capacity at its terminals in Africa, bringing the total annual capacity to 6.2 million TEU.
Hidd, Khalifa Bin Salman Port, Bahrain - APM Terminals Bahrain, operators of Khalifa bin Salman Port (KBSP), has recently made significant advances in Safety performance and information technology systems, including the successful completion of a Load Collision Prevention System (LCPS) pilot project scheduled to be implemented throughout the APM Terminals Global Terminal Network.



Our HSSE, Terminal Asset Management and IT teams have all been working closely together on the recent Safety initiatives that APM Terminals is implementing globally, stated APM Terminals Bahrain Managing Director, Mark Hardiman.



APM Terminals Bahrain was selected as the first terminal to introduce and live-test the LCPS, (Load Collision Prevention System) following two years of research, engineering and initial testing by APM Terminals to reduce the risk of accidents due to collisions in the container yard between container handling equipment and stacked containers. Technical innovations and procedural changes were put into place on KBSPs Rubber-Tire Gantry Cranes (RTGs) and Reach Stackers (RS). The investments made in collision avoidance and distance detection systems included installation of state-of-the-art cameras on all of the RTGs to remove blind spots faced by the operators and enhanced night vision features. The success of the program, known as Project Stack, has led to plans to introduce the new equipment and procedures at other APM Terminals facilities next year, as the improved safety features are rolled out globally.



Equally important, APM Terminals Bahrains Equipment Maintenance and Repair (EMR) department is implementing a Total Productive Maintenance program, designed to maximize equipment reliability and performance. Operators and maintenance teams were trained in new skill sets to reach the goal of reducing equipment breakdowns by 90% in three years. KBSP is now in the final phase of TPM Club of India Certification.



APM Terminals Bahrains IT department has also completed the successful implementation of a Differential Global Positioning System on terminal RTGs. The system ensures that container positions are updated automatically, eliminating the possibility of human error and creating a safer working environment. Reduced handling times will yield higher productivity.



Other significant advances include the establishment of internet access points at the terminal storage buildings, enabling enhanced data coverage and analytics. Working closely with the existing Terminal Operating System (TOS), covering gate transactions and the container yard, the IT department is upgrading the system to include Verified Gross Mass (VGM) capability to help customers comply with the recent IMO amendment to SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) requirements.



A new General Cargo Terminal Operation System with VGM functionality, will reduce paperwork and make it easier for customers to see cargo activities through a more customer-friendly interface. Terminal customers will gain access to better reports, tracking and monitoring. The system also enables APM Terminals Bahrain to achieve more sophisticated statistical analysis essential to financial and commercial goals and resource deployment.



Our goal is to ensure we have safe operations. These initiatives create a safe place to work for our employees, contractors and the external truck drivers visiting the terminal," added Mr. Hardiman.


The Boston Harbor Cruises' Majesty ran aground in Boston Harbor on Saturday. All 137 passengers were unharmed and transferred to the Asteria, another Boston Harbor Cruises vessel, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

One couple's wedding reception was going aboard as the boat turned into disaster when their vessel ran aground. New husband Jamie Stern said the guests were just finishing dinner around 7 pm when the celebration came to a halt as the ship neared Georges Island.

The 113-foot Boston Harbor Cruises ship will be inspected by Coast Guard marine inspectors and investigation officers.

The ship did not appear to have been damaged Saturday when it ran aground near Georges Island about 7 p.m., the Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Andrew Barresi says five boats operated by the Coast Guard, state police, state environmental police and the Massachusetts Port Authority helped transfer the passengers.

Its unclear why the ship grounded. The bride and groom said they hope they get a refund, but for now theyre headed to Brazil for their honeymoon.

Boston Harbor Cruises "is fully cooperating with the Coast Guard in the investigation of the grounding," according to a news release.

The Massachusetts Environmental Police tweeted a photo of evacuated passengers aboard a ship named "Thomas Paine," with the "Majesty" in the background.
Marines and sailors marched through the streets of the Village of Hastings-on Hudson, New York, in a parade hosted by the towns fire department, May 29, 2016.



The parade was intended to honor fallen services members from prior and current wars as well as have the Marines and sailors interact with local residents.



Today is a memorial service here in the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson. It is a great opportunity for veterans and people of the community to recognize all those who died in prior wars, said retired U.S. Army Col. Timothy Tillson, the post commander for the villages Veteran of Foreign Wars detachment.



The day started out with the service members being greeted and welcomed by the Villages fire department.



We had an excellent greeting from the people of Hastings, particularly the fire department. Chief gave us a very warm welcome and we hung out for a little bit and had a nice lunch before forming up for the parade, said Pfc. Parker McGinnis, a machine gunner with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment.



Hastings-on-Hudson has a population of almost 8,000 people and thousands of their residents showed up to show support to the service members.



I think the town is very pleased with the Marines and sailors coming. We enjoy having a Fleet Week and through our fire department we invite the Marines and sailors every year, said Tillson. It is a great privilege for us to have them here. They have given their time in defense of this country, so I appreciate all of them coming.



The parade also featured the villages fire department, police department, the VFW, and emergency medical services.



It was very motivating walking through the streets. You can definitely tell this event meant a lot for the people of Hastings, and I was very thankful for all of it, said McGinnis.



After the parade, the Marines and sailors, along with Maj. Gen. Brian Beaudreault, the commanding general of 2nd Marine Division, participated in a wreath-laying ceremony in front of the VFW post.



My favorite part of the day was the wreath-laying ceremony for Memorial Day and for the fallen veterans. It definitely struck a chord and it was a resounding response from the crowd and military members, said McGinnis.



As the events ended, the Marines and sailors took part in a barbecue hosted by the fire department.



Out of my entire experience in New York, Hastings has been my best experience. It has been laid-back, very local, and Ive enjoyed every second of it, McGinnis added. I want to give a big thank you to Hastings-on-Hudson.



More Media
Long Live the Flags of Dixie!

On May 19, the House of Reprehensibles passed a proposal that would essentially ban the display of Confederate flags from national cemeteries. The amendment was added to a Veteran Affairs spending bill.

Not surprisingly, House Speaker Paul Ryan allowed the measure to be voted upon in hopes of not disrupting the appropriations process. Yes, by all means Paul, the redistribution of taxpayers confiscated wealth should take precedent over a draconian attempt to eradicate a heroic symbol of the countrys past. Hopefully, Ryan will be ousted this November as both Speaker and Congressman for not only his consistent sell out to Obummer and the Democrats on the budget, but his lack of understanding and appreciation of what is arguably the most important period of American history.

In a certain sense, the Confederate flag should not be displayed in national cemeteries or for that matter flown alongside those of the Union. The two are representations of dramatically opposed political ideologies. Liberals and political opportunists of all sorts have deliberately smeared the Souths attempt at secession as being entirely over the issue of slavery. The Civil War (which that struggle has become known by) is now seen through Politically Correct hindsight.

A civil war, in the truest sense, is a conflict between factions attempting to gain control of a government typically for their own aggrandizement. The bloody conflict between the North and South was not that, nor was it solely over slavery although the institution played a role in it.

The Confederacy wanted no part of the Washington establishment at the time, which it believed had become too tyrannical, and attempted to secede from it. The remaining states of the North, under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, prevented this at the cost of more than 600,000 lives, the vast destruction of property, and the impoverishment of a people who simply sought to rule themselves.

The Souths action was nearly identical to what the colonies, North and South, did some 80 years previously in breaking away from the British Empire and becoming free and independent states under the benign rule of the Articles of Confederation.

As Americas Founding Fathers saw their liberties violated by King and Parliament, Southerners witnessed similar tyrannies and wisely anticipated more federal oppression with the election of Lincoln.

This interpretation has been ably supported by scholarship, though the view is rarely acknowledged in academia or in the mainstream media. In an essay from an insightful collection titled Secession, State and Liberty, Donald Livingston persuasively describes the ideological content of the Declaration of Independence, the revolution it inspired, and its influence on the Souths leadership.

He writes: Overall, the Declaration is an argument designed to justify the secession of the new self-proclaimed American states from the British state. . . [It] is a document justifying the territorial dismemberment of a modern state in the name of the moral right of a people to self-government.*

The South, imbued with such logic and the example of the Revolutionary generations break with Great Britain, attempted to separate from the Union on similar grounds and, in Livingstons view, had a much stronger claim than the Founding Fathers had for independence:

[T]he colonies were not and never had been recognized as sovereign states, either by others or even by themselves. At the time of the Civil War, however, the southern states had been and still were sovereign states, and so they could mount not only a moral argument but a legal one as well. And it was the legal argument they primarily insisted upon. Each state used the same legal form to secede from the Union that it has used to enter, namely, ratification in a convention of people.**

Although slavery was a part of the Souths final break with the North, the Confederacy could never have been built on such a narrow foundation. Those who seek to paint Southern secession as a movement solely designed to protect their peculiar institution have either misunderstood the genesis of that struggle or do so for political gain.

While Southern secession is mercilessly condemned by the Establishment, scholars like Professor Livingston see it and the War for Southern Independence in a much different and far nobler light: With the orderly, legal secession of the southern states, the American genius for self-government reached its highest moral expression.***

The Northern and Southern flags which fly in national cemeteries across the land are indeed representative of different traditions, but not what the Politically Correct crowd would have everyone to believe.

The defenders of Dixie and the flags that commemorate their courageous actions have long since been morally justified. The Union flag, on the other hand, has been one of aggression and domination, at first, brutally directed at its fellow countrymen who simply sought self-determination, and afterwards against millions of peoples from Vietnam to Iraq.

Hopefully, in the not too distant future as economic conditions worsen and American hegemony can no longer be maintained, the Union flag and the empire in which it represents will receive greater vitriol than the Confederate flag has gotten for its innumerable mass murders, destruction, crimes, and chaos which it has wantonly brought to every corner of the planet.

*David Gordon, ed., Secession, State & Liberty. Donald W. Livingston, The Secession Tradition in America. New Brunswick (U.S.A.), Transaction Publishers, 1997, p. 7

** Ibid., 18.

*** Ibid., 19.

Antonius Aquinas@AntoniusAquinas

By Antonius Aquinas

http://antoniusaquinas.com

 2016 Copyright Antonius Aquinas - All Rights Reserved Disclaimer: The above is a matter of opinion provided for general information purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Information and analysis above are derived from sources and utilising methods believed to be reliable, but we cannot accept responsibility for any losses you may incur as a result of this analysis. Individuals should consult with their personal financial advisors.

 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.




Tens of thousands of electric cars were to be rolling off assembly lines by now at a Mississippi factory funded by millions of dollars in foreign money. But last year, GreenTech Automotive, the company Terry McAuliffe co-founded and described as part of a rebirth for American manufacturing, produced just 25 vehicles and sold none, according to federal records.

A total of 75 people worked at the plant in rural Tunica County and at the companys Virginia office  less than a fifth the number of employees the company projected in 2011. The operation lost money from 2009 to Aug. 31, 2015, the records state. A GreenTech business plan pledges better days to come, but the federal agency that decides whether the companys foreign investors get green cards doesnt buy it. Company projections, a federal official wrote, are not credible by the preponderance of the evidence.

That conclusion helped prompt officials to reject an EB-5 green card application filed by a GreenTech investor from Inner Mongolia, China, according to a 34-page U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services decision obtained by The Roanoke Times. The document provides a rare and deep look inside the struggles of the company McAuliffe left behind in December 2012 to concentrate on his successful run for governor.

His foreign business dealings before taking up residence in the Executive Mansion are being investigated by the federal Department of Justice, James Cooper, an attorney for the governor, said last week. The governor has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Cooper has said officials have mentioned the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which requires people to register if they are seeking to influence the domestic or foreign policy of the United States on behalf of a foreign entity. CNN has reported that the Department of Justice investigation into McAuliffe began roughly a year ago. Federal authorities have declined to comment.

An inspector generals report published March 24, 2015, said McAuliffe received favorable treatment from former immigration services chief Alejandro Mayorkas in 2011, when the GreenTech chairman and future governor sought help getting EB-5 visas approved for foreign investors in his fledgling car company. Cooper said in an email to The Roanoke Times that McAuliffes lobbying of Mayorkas is not a focus of the probe. The governors lawyer could not be reached for further comment on whether GreenTech is part of the investigation in any respect.

Asked earlier this month about GreenTech, McAuliffe replied: Ive been out of the company three and a half years and I have no idea what theyre doing today.

Several months after losing the Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2009, McAuliffe advocated for GreenTech to Virginia economic officials, who raised concerns about the companys reliance on EB-5 money.

Under the federal program, foreign nationals who have invested at least $500,000 in a domestic business venture may receive green cards if they show their investment generated at least 10 jobs or comparable economic value. An investor seeking a green card may present either tax records of 10 qualifying new employees or a company business plan that demonstrates a need for 10 new employees and lists their likely hiring dates.

Nicholas Colucci, chief of the federal immigrant investor program, signed the decision that said companywide payroll at GreenTech, which operates an office in McLean in addition to the Tunica factory, totaled 75 people. The decision also dismissed a company projection that GreenTech would employ 125 people this year, 175 next and 250 in 2018.

GreenTech said three years ago it had lined up almost 150 EB-5 investors; the company would have needed to create at least 1,500 jobs, or exhibit the potential to do so, for those petitioners to win green cards.

That number seemed possible in the fall of 2009, shortly after McAuliffe joined Xiaolin Charlie Wang in founding GreenTech. The company touted plans to Mississippi officials to bring to the state a $1 billion plant employing 1,500 people.

A former Wall Street securities lawyer raised in China, Wang led the firm with McAuliffe, a revered Democratic fundraiser who guided longtime friend Hillary Clintons unsuccessful 2008 bid for the partys presidential nomination.

Following his earlier gubernatorial defeat, McAuliffe turned his pitchman skills to GreenTech, describing it as part of a wave that would reshape American manufacturing as well as automobile travel. A new line would feature two-seat, low-speed electric vehicles with ranges of 50 to 115 miles per charge.

GreenTech, McAuliffe predicted, would producethousands of high-quality manufacturing jobs starting with the factory in Mississippi and possibly including a second plant in Virginia.

I want to create jobs here that will be around for the next 20, 30, 40 years, McAuliffe told an interviewer in 2011.

A site near Martinsville was included among potential locations for a GreenTech plant when McAuliffe first queried state officials about locating in Virginia. But GreenTech never came through when asked to provide Virginia economic officials with more information.

Tunica County, in Mississippis northwest corner, embraced GreenTech, hoping to diversify an economy built on agriculture until the 1990s, when casinos came to the region. A March 2013 GreenTech prospectus described investments of $73 million by 146 EB-5 investors. And the company sought more.

In mid-2011, state and local officials in Mississippi packaged loans, tax rebates, exemptions and other support worth at least $8 million for GreenTech, which agreed to invest $60 million and create 350 jobs paying at least $35,000 annually apiece by the end of 2014. A temporary plant in Horn Lake, Mississippi, hosted a celebration attended by former President Bill Clinton and then-Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour in summer 2012.

Five months later, McAuliffe left the company. In fall 2014, with McAuliffe in the governors mansion and his GreenTech shares sold, the company finally opened its Tunica factory. The plant was smaller than expected. Hiring moved slowly. By the end of the year, GreenTech had reached neither its investment nor jobs goals, said Jeff Rent, a spokesman for the Mississippi Development Authority.

Last year, GreenTech asked officials to renegotiate its 2011 incentives deal, Rent said.

At this time, Rent said, there is not a modified agreement, but the state of Mississippi is working with the company to best protect its investment and to keep Mississippians working at the plant.

Local officials are undaunted.

When you come in and start a new business, Tunica Mayor Chuck Cariker said, theres always setbacks that you dont foresee. As long as youre working to meet the goal and obligation, Im glad theyre here.

Coluccis decision was less sanguine.

In a year when new vehicle sales in the U.S. hit a record 17.5 million, GreenTech records showed that as of December 2015, the company had produced 25 vehicles  10 for demonstration, 10 for engineering and testing and five for marketing, according to the Colucci decision. GreenTech business plans submitted in the companys early years turned out to be unattainable.

The projections for this company have gone from, in July 2009, a factory, machine shop, office building, museum and residential housing while having the expectation of being able to produce one million vehicles a year, to the December 2015 business plan where GTA has produced 25 vehicles, the decision said.

Past struggles cast a shadow over company forecasts, Colucci wrote, describing GreenTech as experiencing a general lack of credibility from the failure to meet any projected timelines. Colucci raised doubts about the companys production targets of 2,050 vehicles in 2016, 6,200 in 2017 and 12,400 in 2018.

Regulators said they had yet to see proof of a market for the companys products, which include a gasoline-engine pickup and van and the electric MyCar, which is 5 feet shorter than a typical 14-foot American sedan, specifications show.

Neither federal immigration officials nor a lawyer named in Coluccis decision would comment on the document. The investor whose visa application was rejected could not be reached for comment.

Investors rejected for EB-5 visas can appeal but must have federal approval to enter and remain in the country. A GreenTech financial prospectus says investors denied green cards may request repayment of their investment.

Immigration services spokesman Steve Blando said investor petitions are judged on a case-by-case basis and denied for failure to meet specific eligibility requirements. He declined to summarize agency rulings on GreenTech investor petitions or to address the outcomes for other GreenTech investors who relied on the company meeting its business plans to back their visa applications.

Asked if he still wished GreenTech had located in Virginia, McAuliffe said: Its not fair for me to talk. Im not part of the leadership of the company.

Wang did not respond to multiple requests for comment left at his McLean office and another left at his Great Falls home. Minnie Xin, Wangs assistant, said Wednesday that he was out of the country on business. She said she did not know when he would return.

Xin said she could not locate a representative of Gulf Coast Funds Management, GreenTechs fundraising affiliate, to talk to a reporter. Gulf Coast is based in the same McLean office as GreenTech. The firm formerly was headed by Tony Rodham, Hillary Clintons brother, who traveled across China with Wang seeking EB-5 investors.

Eighty-five percent of EB-5 green card applicants in fiscal year 2015 were from China, according to the State Department.

Virginia economic officials have softened their resistance to EB-5 since McAuliffe took office, according to emails obtained by The Roanoke Times.

In 2015, a Shanghai law firm posted a Facebook ad soliciting EB-5 money for China-based UniTao Pharmaceuticals a few months after the company said it was idling a Petersburg project where it planned to invest $22.5 million and hire 376 people. McAuliffe helped broker that deal, meeting with company officials in China to discuss a project in Virginia and approving a $1 million grant for the company. UniTao did not collect the grant.

Signed into law in 1990, EB-5 was largely obscure until the recent recessionary credit crunch sent investments under the program soaring. Concerns also began rising.

In April, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused two men and their companies of misusing portions of $350 million raised from EB-5 investors to build a ski resort and biomedical research plant in Vermont. A civil complaint outlined what regulators called a massive, eight-year fraudulent scheme.

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, a longtime EB-5 supporter, said the case proves the need for reform.

Congress has authorized EB-5 to continue until Sept. 30 while lawmakers debate fixes. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has said the program is deeply flawed and lacks adequate oversight.
AGAWAM -- Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday referenced Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address while marking Memorial Day at the Massachusetts Veterans' Memorial Cemetery in Agawam.

"The last full measure of devotion," Baker said. "That is what we are here today to celebrate, to honor and to remember."

Baker told the crowd of several hundred gathered on the cemetery's parade ground of his home on Monument Avenue in Swampscott. The street gets its name from the row of monuments Swampscott has erected over the centuries -- markers for every war and conflict, engraved with the names of every Swampscott resident who served.

Those who gave their lives -- their last full measure of devotion -- are marked with a star, Baker said.

"If you live in town for more than a few years, you know the names," Baker said.

He described seeing families gather at the monuments, an older relative pointing out one name or another: "You can tell they are telling stories about a member of their family."

He also described seeing an older veteran play taps over the monuments at dusk each Memorial Day. "And everything stops," the governor said.

Baker also attended the Cedar Grove Cemetery Memorial Day Parade in Dorchester Center, and planned to visit the Holyoke Soldiers Home later on Monday.

The Massachusetts Veterans' Memorial Cemetery in Agawam covers 61 acres and opened in 2001. In that time, it has interred approximately 10,000 veterans and their dependents.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, also spoke, along with State Sen. Donald F. Humason Jr., R-Westfield; State Rep. Benjamin Swan Sr., D-Springfield; State Rep. Nicholas Boldyga, R-Southwick and Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno.

Neal reminded the crowd that the United States created 1 million more veterans with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of those, he said, 5,000 were killed and 50,000 were wounded. All need the services they were promised, he said.

"Sometimes there is a gap between the pat on the back you get when you sign up and the needs that must be addressed when you come home," Neal told the crowd.

Swan, an Army veteran, spoke of his trip last week to a Memorial Day observance conducted by and for veterans incarcerated at Massachusetts Correctional Institution in Shirley. He described how the prison group helps the veterans deal with ongoing issues in their lives.

"And we must do all we can to help them," he said.

Eugene Murphy of Holyoke served in an Army mortar platoon in South Korea from 1960 to 1963 -- after the active fighting of the Korean War, but while tensions on the peninsula were still strong. He said a visit to the veterans cemetery is a fitting way to spend Memorial Day afternoon.

"Our brothers are here," Murphy said. "They sacrificed so much for us."
1401160201342661021_v2.jpg

Doug Gray of the Marshall Tucker Band

(File Photo)

The Marshall Tucker Band has announced plans for a 45th Anniversary tour that will include several Connecticut dates.

The group will perform at the Sun Valley Resort in Stafford Springs on July 10 and Town Center Park in Hamden, CT on July 29.

The band concludes its run with a show at Mohegan Sun's Wolf Den on Dec. 17.

The band, formed in 1972, still features original member Doug Gray along with with Pat Elwood (bass), Rick Willis (guitar, vocals), B.B. Borden (drums), Marcus Henderson (keyboards, saxophone, flute, vocals), and Chris Hicks (guitar/vocals).

Information on tickets for the group's various local shows is available on the group's website.
photo(43).JPG

2015 Miraval Rose

(Photo by Ken Ross)

I didn't plan on writing about Rose wines again this week. Two weeks ago, I wrote about Rose wines from France. Then last week, I wrote about Rose wines from around the world.

I thought I was free from writing about Roses this week. But as Michael Corleone famously said, just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.

And what pulled me back in was another terrific Rose from the Provence region in France - 2015 Miraval Rose ($26.99 at Table & Vine in West Springfield).

If you have heard of this wine before, it's probably because of the winery's famous owners - Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The winery's also famous for its recording studio, where many well-known musicians have recorded albums, from Sting to Sade and Pink Floyd, who recorded "The Wall" here in 1979.

But if you think this winery is just another celebrity vanity winery, think again. Thankfully, the Hollywood super couple teamed up with a superstar of the wine world to make their wines at Miraval - the Perrin family of Chateau Beaucastel, one of my favorite wineries in the Chateauneuf-du-Pape region of France.

Like many Rose wines imported to the United States in recent years, the Miraval rose is thankfully dry and crisp. Gone are the days when the only Roses we seemed to get from France were syrupy sweet and cloying.

And like some of the other terrific Roses I reviewed over the past two weeks, this one blends together several different grapes. In this case, the Miraval rose is made with Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, Rolle grapes

Cinsault grapes are often used to make red wine in the Languedoc region and other warm climates (including Algeria and Morocco) due to their ability to flourish in high temperatures

Grenache grapes grow all over the world but they're especially common in one of my favorite wine regions in the world, the Rhone region and particularly Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Syrah (or Shiraz) grapes are also often blended with other grapes when making great Rose wines from France.

And like Syrah, Rolle grapes go by several different names depending on where they come from. In Italy, this light-colored grape used to make white wine is called Vermentino.

Add these four grapes together and you get a gorgeous looking, pale-pink wine. And best of all, the Miraval rose tastes as great as it looks.

This floral-tasting wine has a delightful, light finish that lingers on the tip of your tongue. Miraval's crisp, clean Rose also has hints of fresh raspberries that go great with oysters and other seafood.

But like any great wine, you don't need certain foods to appreciate this wine's fragrant flavors. You can enjoy a glass or two all on its own.

That's why I decided to make a detour back to Rose wines from France again one more time this week. Because when a wine tastes this great, why not linger a little longer in a wine region as beautiful and charming as Provence.

Cheers!

Wine Press by Ken Ross appears on Masslive.com every Monday and in The Republican's weekend section every Thursday.
LYNNFIELD A 33-year-old man is dead after he was gunned down in the midst of a holiday weekend party in a rented multi-million dollar mansion.

Lynnfield police said Keivan Heath was found shot multiple times in the 8 Needham Road home. He was rushed to Lynn Union Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

There was a large party at the house over the weekend neighbors said. They said many cars were parked in the street and girls wearing bikinis walked up and down the street.

Police were called to the address for the report of a shooting and found Heath

While homicide detectives tended to the murder scene, the homeowner told NECN he rented out the $3.3 million home for the weekend and came home to a murder scene.

The home rents for approximately 4,000 a weekend.

The homicide is being investigated by Lynnfield police and Massachusetts State Police detectives attached to the Essex County District Attorney's office
AMHERST -- The annual Memorial Day Parade in Amherst was canceled on Monday, but ceremonies were held at the Veterans of Foreign War Post 754, where about 200 people packed the room, with many standing.

Veteran Victor Nunez said the decision to cancel the parade was in part out of concern for guest speaker Ray Elliott, who's 92 years old.

Hopkins Academy Marching Band members were also concerned about getting their instruments wet, said Central Hampshire Veterans Services director Steven Connor. So the Hadley band did not attend.

The room had its advantages. Connor said there's an "isolation between those who served and those who didn't serve." But seeing the veterans lining the front wall provided the opportunity "to get to know people from your community," he said.

Without a band or a flagpole, they had to improvise.

Elliott spoke for about 20 minutes, first about his father William Elliott and then about his life as black man in a white man's army. He spoke of racism suffered by black soldiers, and yet they served.

He is a member of the Veterans Education Project and often tells his story in public schools.

Ray Elliott, a member of the Veterans Education Project, speaks at the Amherst Memorial Day ceremony Monday.

He got a standing ovation when he finished, and State Rep. Ellen Story, D-Amherst, said she could listen to more stories and suggested people get to together to listen to more.

After Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941, signaling the United States' entry into World War II, Elliott said his plan was to join the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at Northeastern University in Boston, where he was a student, because of what he described as the injustice his father suffered in World War I.

France needed reinforcements, he said. and the United States didn't want to send white troops. But he said, "No white officer was willing to command." He said the stereotype was "blacks wouldn't be competent and would run under fire." France took the troops under its wing, and he said the troops fought valiantly.

His father received France's highest medal, the Croix de Guerre, yet when he came back to the United States, "he was not welcome in the VWF."

So he started his own branch in Cambridge.

Because of how his father was treated as a returning war veteran, Elliott said he did not want to be drafted. "This is a white man's war," he figured. But, he said, "I was tricked into the standing Army by a recruiter."

He ended up serving three and a half years, creating survey maps for the building of landing strips in the Pacific Islands.

He talked about racism in Biloxi, Mississippi, where his platoon was stationed.

He said black soldiers were warned always to take a buddy when they went into the community. He said one day, he went off alone and by mistake ended in the white part of the community. He was trying to take a bus back to the base.

He stood away from the others waiting, but a man came up to him and told him "to step down into the gutter," he said.

He was wearing his army uniform, but it made no difference, he recalled. Those gathered started to threaten him and he ran away and found the black part of the community.

Elliott said when they returned, black soldiers had a double V campaign. They celebrated victory against fascism, and also were pushing for a victory against racism so they could "have victory when we got home."

Story, speaking at her last Memorial Day in town as a state representative because she's retiring, said that with Memorial Day distractions "It's easy to forget (the sacrifice of veterans).

"Let's try not to forget," she said. She urged people to "to focus on the sacrifice."
Chicopee Memorial Day ceremony.JPG

Vasily Tokarev, minister of the Church of New Covenant, leads a prayer during a Memorial Day ceremony at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park in Chicopee. May 29, 2016.

(Brian Steele, The Republican)

CHICOPEE - "Killed in action, sir."

Paul Chrzan, commander of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 111, read aloud the names of chapter members who lost their lives in battle.

Ralph Phelps. Raymond Marcel. Peter Graham. The list, sadly, goes on.

After each name, a chapter member said, "Killed in action, sir," just one part of a ceremony honoring veterans on the eve of Memorial Day.

About 50 people attended the ceremony Sunday night at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park on Chicopee Street, including the families of fallen service members. Fifteen men from Chicopee were killed in the war between 1966 and 1970. They are memorialized with plaques at the park.

"War is destruction," said Vasily Tokarev, minister of the Church of New Covenant. "It inevitably means someone's death, someone's tears, pain, loss, separation and grief. War is children orphaned, wives widowed."

The annual ceremony remembers those who made that sacrifice for their country, as well as their families.

Prisoners of war and those missing in action were also honored. One candle was lit for each of the 50 states, in memory of those who never came home from war, and for the veterans from Canada, Panama and elsewhere who joined the fight on behalf of the United States.

State senators Eric Lesser and Don Humason each represent parts of the city. They spoke of the need to support returning veterans and the families of the fallen.

"This ceremony in particular is a poignant and a powerful one," said Lesser, "and a reminder of those who gave the last full measure, and what we owe to those men and women who gave of themselves so that we could enjoy these freedoms and enjoy this city and enjoy this state and this country."

Mayor Richard Kos urged everyone present to keep the history alive, never allowing veterans' service to be forgotten.

A Memorial Day parade planned for Monday has been canceled due to inclement weather in the forecast. A ceremony will take place at the American Legion Post 452 at 10 a.m.

The 15 Chicopee men killed during the Vietnam War are: Army Sgt. Carl L. Glasscock, Army Cpl. Edward P. Stefanik, Army Pfc. Roger J. Dumont, Marine Sgt. Harold J. Gilbert, Army Sgt. Robert R. Litwin, Army Lt. Robert O. Gagne, Army Pfc. Zygmunt P. Jablonski Jr., Navy Chief Petty Officer Donald E. Kulacz, Marine Cpl. Robert R. Tolpa, Army Spc. John J. Laskowski, Army Spc. Thomas J. Wilk, Army Pfc. Robert R. Dowds, Army Spc. Michael P. Bouchard, Army 1st Lt. Mark H. Rivest and Marine Pfc. Edward J. Downey Jr.
Tyler Junk arrest.JPG

Tyler Junk, 32, of Windsor, Conn., was arrested on Leyden Street in Greenfield at about 2:40 a.m. Sunday. He faces numerous drug charges. May 30, 2016.

(Courtesy: Massachusetts State Police)

GREENFIELD - Massachusetts State Police have charged a Connecticut man with numerous drug offenses, including cocaine possession.

Tyler Junk, 32, of Windsor, Conn., was arrested on Leyden Street at about 2:40 a.m. Sunday. Troopers pulled him over because his car did not have a license plate light.

State police said Junk's passenger was having an unspecified medical emergency at the time, and was treated at the scene. Troopers say they found a large bag of green candy, believed to contain THC, and nine bags containing three-and-a-half ounces of THC, as well as two open cans of Bud Light beer in the car.

THC is the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana.

Junk also had a bag of cocaine on him, and a brass knuckle knife was found in the car's center console, state police said.

He's charged with possession with intent to distribute Class B, C and D substances; possessing an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle; carrying a dangerous weapon; a number plate violation; and failing to possess vehicle registration documents.

Junk was released on $500 bail.
Because I want to Be TV program was launched by the Office of First Lady of Ghana and Merck Foundation (Merck-Foundation.com) at the same time; Merck Foundation No More Diabetes song and New Children Storybook, Sugar Free Jude launched by Merck Foundation; Merck Foundation met their Alumni from Accra, Ghana to network and discuss their scholarship issues; during the launch, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej also felicitated the winners of Merck Foundation More Than A Mother and Mask Up With Care Media Awards 2021 and More Than A Mother Fashion Awards 2020 & 2021.

CEO of Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany launched Our Africa TV Program during an exclusive premiere in Ghana. Because I Want to Be TV Program by The Office of the First Lady of Ghana was also launched during the same premier.

Our Africa by Merck Foundation is a pan African TV program that is conceptualized, produced, directed, and co-hosted by Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation to feature African Fashion Designers, Singers, and prominent experts from various domains with the aim to raise awareness and create a culture shift about wide range of social and health issues across Africa. The show is co-hosted by Brian Mulondo from Uganda.

TV program is being broadcaThe sted on GH One TV Ghana, LNTV Liberia & AYV Sierra Leone and posted on all social media channels of Merck Foundation and TV channels. Our Africa by Merck Foundation was also broadcasted on KTN Kenya and NTV Uganda.

I am very happy to be here in Ghana and launch Our Africa by Merck Foundation, a first-of-its-kind TV program that is set to be the voice of the voiceless and break the silence about many critical and sensitive social and health issues in Africa like Breaking Infertility Stigma, Importance of early detection & prevention of Diabetes, Supporting Girl Education, Ending Child Marriage, Stopping Gender-Based Violence, promoting a Healthy Lifestyle, Ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Coronavirus Health Awareness, Gender-Based Violence (GBV), Sustainability, and many more.

I have always believed that Fashion and Art are powerful tools to address and raise awareness on pressing and sensitive social and health issues in our beloved Africa and beyond. Fashion and Art have a purpose beyond just entertainment and looking good and we must make the most out of these platforms to advocate for the causes we work towards every day. Hence, I came up with the idea of this informative yet entertaining show. The TV program is doing extremely well and is receiving a lot of love from its audience and also our social media followers, added Dr. Kelej.

The show is broadcasting on the following TV channels:

 Every Sunday @ 2 pm on (GMT) GH One TV, Ghana; re-runs on Monday @ 1:30 pm (GMT)

 Every Saturday @ 6 pm (GMT) on LNTV, Liberia; re-run on Sunday @ 4:30 pm (GMT)

 Every Wednesday @ 4.30 pm (GMT) on AYV, Sierra Leone

Because I want to Be TV Program was also launched by the Office of the First Lady of Ghana in partnership with Merck Foundation, as part of the Educating Linda program. This program helps young girls who are unprivileged but brilliant to continue their education.

During the ceremony, Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation also launched a Song  No More Diabetes sung by Cwesi, a popular singer from Ghana; and also a Childrens Storybook  Sugar Free Jude. I am very excited to present to you Merck Foundations new song  No More Diabetes and a brand new childrens storybook  Sugar Free Jude, both have been launched with the aim to promote a healthy lifestyle and raising awareness on the early detection and prevention of Diabetes. I hope everyone likes this song and enjoys reading this new Storybook, said Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej.

Merck Foundation in partnership with the First Lady of Ghana has provided scholarships to more than 100 young doctors from Ghana in critical and underserved specialties such as  Oncology, Diabetes, Preventative Cardiovascular Medicine, Endocrinology, Sexual and Reproductive Medicine, Acute Medicine, Respiratory Medicine, Human Assisted Reproduction and Embryology & Fertility specialty and much more.

Moreover, during the ceremony, Merck Foundation CEO also felicitated the winners of Merck Foundation Africa Media Recognition More Than a Mother 2021 and Merck Foundation Fashion Awards More Than a Mother 2021 & 2020 from Ghana. She also announced the Call for Applications for 2022 awards in partnership with Ghana First Lady, announced the Call for applications for their 8 important awards for Ghanian Media, Musicians, Fashion Designers, Filmmakers, students, and new potential talents in these fields.

Winners from Ghana in partnership with The First Lady of Ghana, H.E. REBECCA AKUFO-ADDO & Ambassador of Merck Foundation More Than a Mother campaign are:

MERCK FOUNDATION MEDIA RECOGNITION AWARDS MORE THAN A MOTHER 2021

PRINT CATEGORY WINNERS: FIRST Position:

Dzifa Tetteh Tay, The Spectator, GHANA

SECOND Position:

Jonathan Donkor, Ghanaian Times, GHANA

Efia Akese, The Mirror, GHANA

THIRD Position:

Yaw Asirifi-Twum, Freelance Journalist, GHANA

ONLINE CATEGORY WINNERS: FIRST Position:

Zadok Kwame Gyes, Daily Graphic / Graphic Online, GHANA

SECOND Position:

Neta Kris Abiana Parsram And Emmanuel Kwasi Debrah, Multimedia Group Limited, GHANA

Benedicta Gyimaah Folley, Ghanaian Times, GHANA

THIRD Position:

Agnes Opoku Sarong, New Times Corporation, GHANA

RADIO CATEGORY WINNERS: FIRST Position: Nyadror Adanuti Nelson, Diamond FM, Tamale (Northern Region), GHANA

MULTIMEDIA CATEGORY WINNERS: SECOND Position:

Akua Oforiwa Darko, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, GHANA

THIRD Position:

Beatrice Senadju, Ghana Broadasting Corporation, GHANA

MERCK FOUNDATION MASK UP WITH CARE MEDIA RECOGNITION AWARDS 2021 PRINT CATEGORY WINNERS: FIRST Position:

Dzifa Tetteh Tay, The Spectator, GHANA

SECOND Position:

Ama Tekyiwaa Ampadu Agyema, New Times Corporation (Ghanaian Times/The Spectator), GHANA

Alfred Nii Arday Ankrah, The Spectator Newspaper, GHANA

THIRD Position:

Efia Akese, The Mirror, GHANA

Benedicta Gyimaah Folley, Ghanian Times, GHANA

ONLINE CATEGORY WINNERS: FIRST Position:

Prosper Kwame Kuorsoh, Ghana New Agency, GHANA

SECOND Position:

Prince Kwame Tamakloe, Rainbow Radio Int and Zami Report, GHANA

THIRD Position:

Mavis Offei Acheampong, GHANA BROADCASTING CORPORATION (GBC), GHANA

RADIO CATEGORY FIRST Position:

Mavis Offei Acheampong, GHANA BROADCASTING CORPORATION (GBC), GHANA

MULTIMEDIA CATEGORY WINNERS: FIRST Position:

WENDY LARYEA, TV3 Network Ltd., GHANA

SECOND Position:

Clara Mlano, Ghana Broadasting Corporation, GHANA

THIRD Position:

Beatrice Spio-Garbrah, TV3, GHANA

MERCK FOUNDATION FASHION AWARDS MORE THAN A MOTHER 2021

Solace Akos Sakah

Linda Mensah

Destinee Mouanda Biyeri

Pwatani Theresa

David Kwabena Appaih

Catherine Natang MERCK FOUNDATION FASHION AWARDS MORE THAN A MOTHER 2020

Leticia Ashie Owusu

Gifty Amonu Essel

Kizito Ronald Jr

Placid Leke

Anuja Bharti

Paul Akrofie

Desmond Nhyira Amankonah

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A new study suggests that the link between a persons health and the quality of their marriage may be less straightforward than we might assume. It finds that  compared with happily married peers  men in unhappy marriages are less likely to develop diabetes, and if they do, it arises later and is better managed.

Share on Pinterest One explanation the researchers suggest is having a wife that nags him about his diabetes monitoring may benefit a mans health, even if it puts a strain on his marriage.

The study, led by Hui Liu, an associate professor in sociology at Michigan State University in East Lansing, is published in the Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences.

In 2012 there were 29.1 million Americans  or 9.3 percent of the population  living with diabetes. This figure includes 8.1 million undiagnosed people.

However, among older Americans, the prevalence of diabetes is much higher: 25.9 percent of adults aged 65 and over  11.8 million seniors  are thought to have the disease.

In this context, the goal of the study was to examine the link between marital quality and both the risk of developing diabetes and how well it is managed after it develops in later life.

The study uses data from the first two waves of the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP).

The NSHAP data  which includes biomeasures and survey responses collected in interviews and in self-reports  covers many facets of social life, health, aging, and relationships in older, community-dwelling Americans.

The data set that Prof. Liu and colleagues analyzed covered 1,228 married men and women who were aged 57-85 at the time of the first wave survey (conducted 2005-2006). At the time of the second wave survey (2010-2011), 389 of the participants had diabetes.
A dermoid cyst is a sac-like growth that is formed in or on the skin. The growth is present at birth and usually occurs on the face near the eyebrow, beneath the skull, on the lower back scalp or on the chest over the collarbone, and in the ovaries. These cysts may contain fluid, pus that is identical to that found in a pimple.

These cysts have a slow rate of growth and have to be ruptured for tenderness. Facial dermoid cysts which are superficial can be removed without complications. However, rarer dermoid cysts need special techniques and training.

In some cases, dermoid cysts extend below the skin and may even penetrate the bone. They are found very rarely inside the body. Dermoid cysts get bigger with time and may become infected and therefore must be removed as they do not go away on their own.

This sac-like structure results during fetal development when skin and skin structures get trapped. Their cell walls are almost similar to that of the outer skin and multiple skin structures like hair follicles, sweat glands, teeth, hair or even nerves may be present.

In the case of ovarian dermoid cysts, it usually develops from a totipotential germ cell that is retained within the egg sac (ovary). As the cell is totipotential, it can give rise to all cell orders so as to form mature tissues and recognizable structures like hair, bone, oily (sebaceous) material, neural tissue and teeth.

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There are no symptoms. But, in some cases symptoms may vary in intensity. Common symptoms include:

Painless lump over the midline of the neck, face or hands

Skin colored lump, or may have a yellowish tinge

In case of abdominal or ovarian dermoid cyst:

Pain in abdomen, pelvic or lower back pain

Difficulty urinating and urine retention

Menstrual pain, which is worse than normal

Unexplained weight gain

Abnormal vaginal bleeding

Nausea, may or may not have vomiting

Pain in sexual intercourse

In quite a few cases, the condition is serious and may require immediate attention. If dermoid cysts get infected, they can hurt, swell and become red or burst. Infected cysts can also cause fever.

Initial diagnosis for checking of dermoid cysts is:

Physical Examination

Medical History

Tests to determine if cysts are attached to tissues in head and neck include:

X-ray: Shows the images of the face, head, neck or other areas where the cyst is located.

CT Scan (Computed tomography scan)

MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging)

Dermoid cysts are treated by their complete surgical removal at once and no spillage of cyst contents.

In case of children, dermoid cysts treatment is specific and depends on:

Child's age

Overall health

Medical history

Extent of condition

Tolerability of child with regards to specific medications, procedures, or therapies

Course of the condition

Opinion or preference of parents

In cases of dermoid cysts in the ovaries, treatment depends on:

Age

Type and size of cyst

Symptoms

Your doctor may further suggest following:

Waiting may be needed to re-examine if cyst goes away on its own in few months time, irrespective of age.

Birth control pills may be recommended to reduce the chance of occurrence of new cysts in later menstrual cycles.

Surgery may be required to remove the cyst if it's large; not looking like functional cyst; is growing or lasts through two to three menstrual cycles. If cysts cause pain, their removal may be recommended.

If a cystic mass is cancerous, total removal of ovaries may be recommended by your doctor. Surgery may also be recommended if cystic mass develops on ovaries post menopause.

Though there is no fixed method to prevent the occurrence of dermoid cysts. In cases of dermoid cysts in the ovaries, regular pelvic examinations may be needed. Also, a close watch should be kept if there is any change in your monthly cycle, that includes symptoms that accompany menstruation. Talk to your doctor about any concerns.

Self-removal of facial cysts is not recommended as cysts will grow again if not completely removed. Also, chances of infection, bleeding and other complications are on the high if cysts are removed by self.

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For Ovarian Dermoid Cysts:

Avoid exposure to estrogen (most common cause of hormonal imbalance) and xenoestrogens by:

Restricting soy foods



Take DIM (diindolylmethane) supplements



Stop using skin care products having mineral oil and parabens



Don't take water from plastic bottles



Avoid alcohol, wheat, caffeine and sugar

Use natural progesterone cream to balance estrogen and progesterone levels, as this will help to reduce ovarian cysts and chances of recurrence in the future.

Eat foods rich in omega-3essential fatty acids as they can control hormonal disturbances and also insulin resistance, linked with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

Take organic foods as far as you can.
Russia This Week is a new weekly review by the MEMRI Russian Media Studies Project, covering the latest news and analysis relating to Russia from media in Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe.

Cartoon Of The Week



(Source: Vk.com/13studiya, VitalyPodvitsky, May 25, 2016).

Ukrainian pilot Nadyia Savchenko, who was recently freed in Russia, is portrayed as a dog.

On the t-shirt: "Aidar", name of a Ukrainian battalion, took part in the war in Eastern Ukraine against pro-Russian separatists.

Next to Savchenko: "Now you'll see what it means when you have a bitch set free"

Zakharova Dixit

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova is one of the most-quoted Russian officials. She is known for using colorful language when describing Russian foreign policy in her weekly press briefings. The following are Zakharova's quotes of the week:



(Source: Mid.ru)

"NATO is building up its activity everywhere. I believe there is no place on the map where the North Atlantic bloc has not built up its activity. First, the biggest problem is not that it is building up its activity, which is its mission, but that it is doing so in the regions where nothing threatens it or its member states. Second, another problem is that NATO is not building up its activity where a threat exists. This is the biggest mystery. Why is it not working to deal with real threats or to increase its capacities to fight against, say, terrorism?"

(Mid.ru, May 26)

Quotes Of The Week :

Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security, Franz Klintsevich, said: "They [the U.S. and NATO] just cannot get used to the idea that there are other independent centers of world power beside them. Reverting to a unipolar system, in which only one country decides for the entire world, is now unthinkable."

(Regnum.ru, May 23)

The President of the International Center for Geopolitical Analysis, Ret. Colonel General, Leonid Ivashov, said: "The U.S. faces two main international challenges: the E.U. and China. By forcing the E.U. to spend more money on security, the U.S. is weakening the E.U. economically. The [U.S.' real] goal is to colonize the E.U. markets. [emphasis ours] From the U.S. perspective, this goal [of 'colonizing' the European market] justifies all means including the Islamization of Europe and fomenting tensions between NATO and Russia."

(Tass.ru, May 23)

In The News

Russia-NATO Relations: Putin Warns Romania And Poland That Hosting NATO Ballistic Missile Defense Systems Puts The Two Countries In Russia's "Cross-Hairs"

During a visit to Greece intended to mend ties between Russia and the E.U., Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia will target Romania, which has recently opened a NATO ballistic missile defense base, and Poland, which plans to do so by 2018. Putin said: "If yesterday people simply did not know what it means to be in the crosshairs in those areas of Romania, then today we will be forced to carry out certain measures to ensure our security. And it will be the same with Poland...At the moment the interceptor missiles installed [in Romania] have a range of 500 kilometers, soon this will go up to 1000 kilometers, and worse than that, they can be rearmed with 2400km-range offensive missiles even today, and it can be done by simply switching the software, so that even the Romanians themselves won't know... We have the capability to respond. The whole world saw what our medium-range sea-based missiles are capable of [in Syria]. But we violate no agreements. And our ground-based Iskander missiles have also proven themselves as superb...NATO fends us off with vague statements that this is no threat to Russia... That the whole project began as a preventive measure against Iran's nuclear program. Where is that program now? It doesn't exist...We have been saying since the early 2000s that we will have to react somehow to your moves to undermine international security. No one is listening to us.'

(Rt.com, May 28)

(See MEMRI Special Dispatch,Official Russian Campaign Against NATO's Ballistic Missile Defense System in Europe - Part I, May 16, 2016. See also MEMRI Special Dispatch,Official Russian Campaign Against NATO's Ballistic Missile Defense System In Europe - Part II, May 17, 2016; See also MEMRI Videoclip,Anger in Russian Media at U.S. Missile Defense System in Romania NATO Base - Military Expert Talks about Possibility of Use of Tactical Nuclear Weapon against System, May 10-16, 2016)

Ahead of NATO summit in Warsaw next July, Polish schoolchildren will start learning about NATO along with national history and civic studies.

(Rt.com, May 23)



Sputniknews.com, VitalyPodvitsky, May 23, 2016.

Polish children learn that a NATO tank is a member of their family.

Russia-EU Relations: Putin: "Harmonizing European And Eurasian Integration Processes Would Be An Important Step"

During a visit to Greece intended to mend ties with between Russia and the E.U., Russia's President Vladimir Putin met with Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. During the press conference, Putin said: "We [Russia and Greece] must translate the exceptionally good mutual relations and mutual sentiments of the two peoples into economic growth and cooperation - not only in the energy sector, but also in high-technology industries and infrastructure. These, of course, should be mutual investments."

(Kremlin.ru, May 27)

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said that "European security cannot be achieved without cooperation and dialogue with Russia," and that he does not believe that Europe "can move forward or ensure compliance with international law while caught in a vicious circle of sanctions, militarization and Cold War rhetoric."

(Rt.com, May 27)

Ahead of his visit to Greece, the Greek newspaper Kathimerini published an article by Vladimir Putin, titled "Russia And Greece." In the article, Putin discusses Russia-E.U. relations, stressing the need to foster a European and Eurasian integration. Putin writes: "Russia proceedes from the need to establish dialogue with the E.U. in the spirit of equality and genuine partnership...However, we do not yet see our European colleagues' willingness to follow such a mutually beneficial and promising path. Nevertheless, we believe that our relations with the E.U. do not face any problems that we cannot solve...Today, Russia and the E.U. have come to a crossroads, [emphasis ours] where we need to answer the following question: how do we see the future of our relations and which way are we heading? I am convinced that we should draw appropriate conclusions from the events in Ukraine and proceed to establishing, in the vast space stretching between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, a zone of economic and humanitarian cooperation based on the architecture of equal and indivisible security. Harmonizing European and Eurasian integration processes would be an important step in this direction."

(Kremlin.ru, May 26)

In an interview to Russia's state-owned Rossiyskaya Gazeta, State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee head Aleksey Pushkov said: "From a political point of view, the E.U. made a huge mistake in admitting [Eastern European] countries as [member states]. The elites which came to power in those countries after the fall of the Soviet Union perceive the geopolitical game against Russia as the main goal. It's part of their self- identification. If the Estonian, Latvian or Lithuanian policy was deprived of the Russophobia component, what would be left? [emphasis ours] The governments of those countries exploit the fact that they have a common border with Russia in order to be a priority for the U.S. and NATO..."

(Rg.ru, May 24)

Russian commentator Lubov Lulko said that Russia needs to support European politicians from the oppositions such as French politician Marine Le Pen. Lulko wrote: "We need to promote anti-U.S. European politicians in our universities and support local pro-Russia new politicians. Russian security services need to work in Europe by fostering 'color revolutions' [referring to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and the Rose Revolution in Georgia that ousted pro-Russian leaders] [so that] if the [political] situation is going bad in their [countries], the Europeans won't have time to mess with us." Lulko further elaborated on the issue, saying that there are good prospects for instability in Europe. According to the Russian commentator, the Greek crisis and the economic problems in Portugal and Spain are all favorable factors for Russia.

(Pravda.ru, May 23)

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin:"Sanctions [against Russia]...won't be the same as now -because Europe cannot afford to maintain bad relations with Russia."

(Ria.ru,May 24)

Russia-U.S. Relations: Ret. Gen. Leonid Ivashov: "When The Americans Sense A Threat As in 1962, They Will Propose That We Sit At The Negotiation Table"

The President of the International Center for Geopolitical Analysis, Ret. General Leonid Ivashov said: "We should realize that the Americans stand behind... the anti-Russian hysteria and NATO's military build-up. Thus, we should create a military group, which would be able to work in the U.S. territory. The U.S. is actively developing its air defense system in order to neutralize our intercontinental ballistic missiles. So, we should create a group of precision-guided tools. Cruise missiles should be deployed within striking distance in close proximity to U.S. territory. The American air defense can also be neutralized in such a way. A real threat to the US, which is a mastermind of all of these processes, should exist. When the Americans sense a threat as in 1962 [during the Cuban missile crisis], they will propose that we sit at the negotiation table" [emphasis ours].

(Pravda.ru, May 20)

Russia And Ukraine: Zakharova: "The Savchenko Case Is Not Linked To The Minsk Agreements."

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko appointed former NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen as his non-staff advisor.

(Sputniknews.com, May 27, 2016)

On May 25, Ukrainian pilot Nadyia Savchenko, 35 years old, was freed by Russia as part of a swap for two Russian citizens jailed in Ukraine. Savchenko was captured, while fighting against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in June 2014. Following her release, Savchenko declared that she is prepared to become Ukraine's President. "Ukrainians: if you need me to become your president, then I will be president," said Savchenko at the first press-conference since she arrived in Ukraine.

(Themoscowtimes.com, May 27)



Vk.com/13studiya, Vitaly, May 27

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman: Petya [diminutive for Petro, referring to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko] maybe we committed a mistake when we placed this Savchenko sparrow so high up?



Vk.com/13studiya, Vitaly, May 26, 2016

On the dog: Savchenko

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko: "I've got the gut feeling that Savchenko will become a headache for me.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman: Head?!

Commenting on Savchenko's release, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that "the Savchenko case is not linked to the Minsk Agreements [that enjoins the release and exchange of all hostages and illegally held persons]"

(Mid.ru, May 26)

Russia And The G7 Summit

The G7 gathered in Japan for the Ise-Shima summit on May 26-27.

See MEMRI Special Dispatch, Renowned Russian Intellectual Fyodor LukyanovOn Valdai Discussion Club Website: 'The End Of The G8 Era: Russia Does Not Need Western Hierarchy', May 11, 2016.

Ahead of the G7 meeting in Japan, State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee head Alexey Pushkov commented on U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Hiroshima on May 27. Pushkov wrote on his Twitter account: "Nobel Laureate Obama is not going to apologize for U.S. atomic bombings on Japan.[Obama] talks about humanism for dumb asses. Obama [proved himself to be] the worthy successor of [U.S. President Harry] Truman."

(Lenta.ru, May 22)



Vk.com/13studiya, VitalyPodvitsky, May 27

G7 members led by U.S. President Barack Obama steepping over the corpses of victims in Libya and Ukraine, while pretending to talk about peace.

Russia's Economy: Putin: "If We Do Not Find New Sources of Growth, We Will See GDP Growth Of Around Zero"

Russian economist and senior economic assistant to the President of Russia, Andrey Belousov, said that Russia could afford to spend an additional 50-100 billion rubles ($767 mln - $1.53 bln) from Russia's National Wealth Fund on investment projects in case oil prices stabilize at $40 per barrel.

(Tass.ru, May 26)

Belousov also said that the Russian government cannot sell the stake of the state-owned oil company Rosneft on the public market. According to Belousov, selling the stake to two strategic investors would be the best way to privatize the company.

(Tass.ru, May 26)

Belousov claimed that the current Russian economic model imposes a 1-2% ceiling on annual growth. Furthermore, Belousov noted the existence of a budget deficit and that an additional 5 million people had recently fallen beneath the minimum wage level.

(Echo.msk.ru, May 25)

May, 25. Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting of the Economic Council Presidium to examine sources of growth for Russia's economy through 2025. Putin said that most experts agree that "the Russian economy has stabilized." He then added: "the current dynamic shows us that the reserves and resources that served as driving forces for our economy at the start of the 2000s no longer produce the effects they used to. I have said in the past, and want to stress this point again now, economic growth does not resume entirely on its own. If we do not find new sources of growth, we will see GDP growth [rates] of around zero, and then our possibilities in the social sector, national defense and security, and in other areas, will be considerably lower than what we require to really develop the country and make progress."

(Kremlin.ru, May 25)

Commenting on the meeting of the Economic Council Presidium, the Russian daily Moskovskij Komsomolets said that the meeting was held in the National Security Council room that is always off limits to journalists. Aside from Putin's opening remarks, the meeting was barred to journalists The Russian daily also mentioned that the former Russian minister of finance Alexey Kudrin attended the meeting, but still bore the title of dean of the economic faculty at St. Petersburg University, although he was recently appointed deputy chair of the president's economic council.

(Mk.ru, May 25)

LGBT Rights in Russia

According to a report published by the Russian LGBT Network Lgbtnet.org, in 9 regions of the Russian Federation 52 physical attacks against LGBT people were registered in 2015. According to Lgbtnet.org, in most cases the Russian police refused to open official investigations against the attackers.

(Lgbtnet.org)

The Weekly Point Of View



(Source: M.rus.delfi.lv, May 25)

In a lecture that he delivered in Latvia on Russian politics, editor-in-chief and moderator at the liberal Echo of Moscow radio station, Alexei Venediktov, said that the Russian President Vladimir Putin views the world as black and white: there are enemies (NATO and the West) and there are friends (Eastern Europe and former Soviet republics). According to Venediktov, according to Putin the world enjoyed stability solely because in the post WWII settlement, the USSR and the U.S. divided it into their spheres of influence. However, following the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, everything went wrong (i.e. terrorism, migrations, etc.). Putin's foreign policy is not aimed at restoring the USSR, but creating Russian zones of influence that will form the basis of a new Russian imperial idea. Venediktov predicts that Putin's immediate successor will be Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

(M.rus.delfi.lv, May 25)



Twitter.com/sharzhipero, May 22, 2016.

Putin's garage:

Family car: for Central Russia

Tank: for negotiations

Russian SUV: for Siberia

Bear: for the soul

Strange But True

Evgeny Tunik, who heads the Institute for Analysis of Political Infrastructure, advised Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, to bar Russian officials, including ministers and the CEO/Governor of Russia's Central Bank, from issuing predictions on ruble rates and currency fluctuations. Tunik said that this measure would prevent the Russian population from being "manipulated" to the advantage of interest groups.

(Ria.ru, May 26)

Russia's Supreme Court has approved a bill that makes an insult to Russia's national anthem a criminal offense and sets a prison sentence of one year as the maximum penalty for violators of the new law.

(Rt.com, May 24)

In the Moscow region, a local retired social activist wrote to U.S. President Barack Obama asking him to apply pressure on Russia to extend the gas pipelines to a number of small villages in his region. Many local residents (the majority of them elderly people, including WWII veterans) cannot afford to buy charcoal to heat their houses.The activist has been invited to a meeting at the U.S. embassy in Moscow.

(Mk.ru, May 23)

See previous MEMRI RTW's reviews published in May:

 Russia This Week - May 16-23, 2016

 Russia This Week - May 9-16, 2016

 Russia This Week - May 2-9, 2016

Follow the MEMRI Russian Media Studies Project on Facebook and Twitter.
The Alternate Foreign Minister for European Affairs, Nikos Xydakis, met today with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Aleksey Yurievich Meshkov, within the framework of his three-day visit to Moscow.



The meeting, which took place following Russian President Vladimir Putins visit to Greece earlier this week, was a follow-up to the political consultations between the two countries on further tightening of bilateral relations.



The Russian delegation briefed the Greek side on Russias positions on issues concerning Russias relations with the European Union. The issues of sanctions and visa liberalization were discussed, and Mr. Meshkov commented pointedly on the EUs European Neighbourhood Policy/Eastern Partnership, as well as on the EU-Ukraine-Russia relations triangle.



The consultations between the two delegations also looked at matters of cooperation in the sectors of energy and tourism. Mr. Xydakis briefed his counterpart on the Greek governments intention to continue to work systematically so that Greek-Russian cooperation in these sectors can bring the optimum results for both sides.



During Mr. Xydakis three-day visit to the Russian capital, a Consular Meeting will be held, as will a meeting with the head of Russias Federal Agency for Tourism, Oleg Petrovich Safonov.
Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will participate tomorrow, Tuesday, 31 May, in the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), which is taking place in Pravets, Bulgaria.



The meeting of Foreign Ministers will look at the latest developments in Southeast Europe and the impact of these developments on regional cooperation. Also to be explored are ways to strengthen the SEECP on the occasion of the 20 anniversary of the organizations founding.



On Wednesday, 1 June, Mr. Kotzias will represent Greece at the Summit Meeting of heads of state and government of SEECP member states, which will be held in Sofia.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. John Fisher, Director of Music Administration of the New York Metropolitan Opera will arrive in Yerevan on June 4, at the invitation of the Aram Khachaturian -Competition Cultural Fund.

Fisher will be present at the Aram Khachaturian 12th international competition of conductors on June 6.

Outstanding musicians and art-managers from around the world will also attend the event.

The Khachaturian Competition is organized by the Ministry of Culture, the Aram Khachaturian  Competition Cultural Foundation and the Komitas State Conservatory.

The Competition is held under the high patronage of the First Lady of Armenia Mrs. Rita Sargsyan.
The men arraigned by video Saturday were 30-year-old Cleveland Smelley, 21-year-old Deonta Bennett and 32-year-old Antoine Smelley. They have been charged with assault with intent to murder and other crimes. They were denied bond and are scheduled to return to court June 9.

Wayne County prosecutor spokeswoman Maria Miller says her office hasn't been contacted by any lawyers representing the defendants.

Prosecutors say shots were fired at many people in a car Wednesday night. It was preceded by a fight, threats and the pouring of juice over the head of a woman preparing to go to prom.

Makanzee Oldham was shot in the head and is in critical condition.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Germany must reckon with the reality of the Armenian Genocide in order to completely get rid of the black pages of the history, Director of the Oriental Institute of the NAS of Armenia Ruben Safrastyan gave an interview to Armenpress.

Germany has a partial responsibility over the Armenian Genocide. German political, social and scientific circles understand that their country has a big share of responsibility. It could have stopped the genocide, however, it didnt. The evidence of these are the letters of the German diplomats. If Germany wants to completely get rid of the black pages of the history, it must reckon with the reality of the Armenian Genocide, Safrastyan said.

Referring to the upcoming discussion over the resolution of the Armenian Genocide in the German Bundestag, Safrastyan said it is hard to say what will be the faith of it. Of course, there are positive signs from Germany, there are statements which say this time the process will have its logical conclusion, however, from the other side, we see how Turkey puts pressures on Germany. And we have seen previously that Germany gave a way to Turkish pressures. Therefore, I cannot surely say with such statements the resolution will be adopted or not, he stated.

Eventually, at this stage there are certain restrictions in the EU-Turkey relations. To the question whether the existing situation can lead to the adoption of the Genocide resolution, Ruben Safrastyan said we must remember that EU needs Turkey, and vice versa.

Yes, after Davutoglus resignation there are some disagreements between the EU and Turkey over the refugee issue. However, the EU needs cooperation with Turkey on the issue of refugees. Turkey wants to use this situation, receive the EU support and solve its issues related to the elimination of visa. In any case, we see the criticism against Turkey, especially Erdogans dictatorship is increasing among the German political, social circles. In addition, Erdogan strengthens the tension with his statements, Safrastyan said.

As we can see, at this moment the EU-Turkey relations are unstable. And in these circumstances, the issue of the resolution comes. It can be said nothing is clear yet. The situation changes every day, the two sides cooperate on trade, he stated recalling the statement by German Chancellor Angela Merkel who said the past should not be used to solve the current problems.
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.
President Barack Obama on Monday marked Memorial Day by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and calling on Americans to care for veterans and families of the fallen.

"I'm honored to be with you once again as we pay our respects as Americans to those who gave their lives for us all," he told a crowd of military dignitaries, veterans and surviving family members at Arlington National Cemetery.

"Here at Arlington, the deafening sounds of combat have given way to the silence of these sacred hills," Obama said. "The chaos and confusion of battle has yielded perfect, precise rows of peace. The Americans who rest here and their families -- the best of us, those from whom we asked everything -- ask of us today only one thing in return: that we remember them."

The wreath-laying ceremony has become a presidential tradition to honor the more than 1 million members of the military who died while serving their country.

Since last year, Obama said, more than 20 members of the U.S. military were killed in combat in Afghanistan, where the Taliban is seeking to reclaim territory, and another three were killed in fighting in Iraq, where the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, has made inroads.

After drawing down the number of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, the president now oversees U.S.-led military operations in those two countries, as well as Syria. He took time during the ceremony to share stories of the fallen, including Navy SEAL Charles Humphrey Keating IV, who was fatally wounded May 3 in a gunfight with ISIS militants.

"Charles Keating IV, Charlie, Chuck or C4 was born into a family of veterans, all American athletes and olympians, even a gold medalist," Obama said. "So naturally, Charlie and the love of his life Brooke celebrated their anniversary on the Fourth of July.

"She called him the huge goofball everybody wanted to be friends with, the adventurer who surfed and spearfished and planned to sail around the world," he said. "When the Twin Towers fell, he was in high school and he decided to enlist, joined the SEALs because, he told his friends, it was the hardest thing to do.

"He deployed to Afghanistan and three times to Iraq, earning a Bronze Star for Valor and earlier this month, while assisting local forces in Iraq who had come under attack, he gave his life," Obama said.

"A few days later, one of his platoon mates sent Charlie's parents a letter from Iraq. Please tell everyone Chuck saved a lot of lives today, it said. He left us with that big signature smile on his handsome face, as always," Obama said. "Chuck was full of aloha but was also a ferocious warrior. Today, we honor Chief Special Warfare Officer Charles Keating IV."

Obama, who before the ceremony at Arlington held a breakfast reception at the White House for veterans groups and family members of fallen service members, called on Americans to honor those who sacrificed their lives by helping survivors and veterans.

"For the living, those of us who still have a voice, it is our obligation to fill that silence with our love, gratitude and not just our words, but our actions," he said. "We have to do better; our work is never done."

Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, noted more than 40 million people have served in the U.S. armed forces since the nation was founded. Of the more than 1 million killed in action, more than 100,000 died in World War I; more than 400,000 in World War II; almost 40,000 in Korea; more than 50,000 in Vietnam; and more than 5,000 since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, he said.

"These statistics are compelling, but they don't begin to capture the enormity of the sacrifice," Dunford said. "For the loss of each individual brings untold anguish and grief.

"Those statistics represent sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, good friends," he added. "Those statistics represent children who grew up without mothers and fathers. Those statistics represent lives shattered, hopes and dreams never realized.

"Today is a reminder of the real cost of freedom, the real cost of security," Dunford said, "and that's the human cost."

-- Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry.
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ANN ARBOR-- Hundreds of residents of the Ann Arbor area gathered at the Greenbrier Park Monday morning for the annual Memorial Day parade hosted by Glacier Highlands Neighborhood Association.

The participants marched through the neighborhood to Glacier Highlands Park. A memorial service followed the parade to honor the Michigan servicemen and women who have fallen over the past year.

Ann Arbor resident Erica Perkins participated in the event with her daughter Laniyah Moore, 5, to honor her grandfather J.B. McColor of Detroit who served during World War II.

Perkins said, "It is great to honor the ones who served and continue to serve for the country."

Glacier Highlands resident Kevin Bohnsack is the chief organizer of the event. Bohnsack has been an active duty serviceman in Air Force for than 10 years and deployed overseas four times.

Bohnsack said, "This event allows people here in Ann Arbor to celebrate and honor. Particularly those who have fallen over the past year." He said, for him, researching the names and stories of the Michiganders who had fallen is very meaningful part of the event.

These are the fallen Michigan veterans honored at the event: Death from deployment overseas: Air Force Master Sergeant Gregory Kuhse of Kalamazoo, Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Jason P. May. Death from other causes: Electrician First Class Orland Powers, Airman Christian Nash, Captain Gregory Gullahorn, and Airman Ahmad McDaniel.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. The Foreign Ministry of Nagorno Karabakh has refuted the Azerbaijani absurd allegations which stated as if Islamic architectural monuments, which are located in the territory of NKR, are being used for military purposes.

The ministrys statement reads: The announcement of the Press Service Head of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, which stated as if the Islamic architectural monuments in the Nagorno Karabakh territory are being used for military purposes, is another unsubstantiated and false accusation among many others. Azerbaijan, which has great experience in using religious monuments for military purposes, an evidence of which is the transformation of the Cathedral of Christ the Holy Savior into an weapons depot in 1992, is once again trying to attribute its conduct to Nagorno Karabakh.

There are numerous undeniable evidences, which prove Azerbaijan is deliberately and continuously destroying structures of Armenian cultural heritage not only across the entire Azerbaijani territory, but also in the occupied Nagorno Karabakhi region of Shahumyan.

The most egregious act of vandalism is the destruction of a medieval Armenian cross-stone cemetery in Jugha (Julfa) Nakchijevan, and the construction of a shooting range on that very site in 2005.

Despite numerous international calls, the Azerbaijani side is not allowing international experts to visit the site of the cemetery until now, in order to avoid responsibility.

If indeed the Azerbaijani leadership is interested in researching historical and cultural monuments, and not just merely in political or propaganda goals, then we have the right to expect that the research works will start with visits to the occupied Shahumyan region of NKR and Nakhijevan.

Meanwhile, it is necessary to note that all architectural monuments across the Nagorno Karabakhi territory, regardless of origin, are enlisted in the history and culture list of NKR and are under state protection.

Nagorno Karabakh continuous to be open for international cooperation for protection and preservation of cultural and historic heritage, and expects the same open conduct from Azerbaijan.
The North Koreans caught him four days before his 19th birthday during the first U.S. engagement in the Korean war. What followed his capture was a year of beatings, nights in snow-covered fields and days with a meal of only boiled corn.

The soldier, Pfc. Alfred Bordeau, was Bay County's first POW and casualty in the Korean War, The Bay City Times reported at the time. Bordeau was assigned to "Task Force Smith," a small detachment of American GI's sent to delay the North Korean advance, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission.

The force was outnumbered and outgunned.

Bordeau, 19, died in a North Korean POW camp of malnutrition, according to the commission's listing.

A nephew he never knew, Bay City resident Duff Zube, recently took interest in his story, interviewing survivors that, along with Bordeau, were forced on a nearly 100-mile trek known as the "Tiger Death March."

A Department of Defense listing confirms Bordeau's death as occurring several months after the march.

The nine-day march was called that because of the inhumane conditions the civilian prisoners and POWs suffered, and for the indiscriminate killing by the North Korean officer leading the march, who they called "The Tiger," Zube said.

It began on Halloween 1950 in an effort to keep civilian and soldier POWs out of U.S. and Allied hands, Zube said.

The North Koreans decided to move the POWs north, through a snow-capped mountain pass. Those too feeble to keep pace, be they women missionaries or male soldiers, were shot when they lagged behind, he said.

On the second night of the march, the prisoners were herded into a schoolhouse, positioned shoulder to shoulder and sleeping with knees tucked to their chests, Zube said. Four prisoners were found dead in the morning from smothering.

Out of an estimated 700 prisoners, nearly 103 of them died along the march, most from being shot, Zube said, citing survivor accounts.

Bordeau died June 30, 1951, of malnutrition in the An-dong POW camp on the border of North Korea and China. Zube said there weren't many options for his uncle besides enlistment.

"When he turned 18, he pretty much had no other option than to join the Army," Zube said. "He only finished 8th grade, because he had to work on the farm and help with fishing."

After reading a book on the Tiger Death March, Zube dug up all the old war records and memorabilia his grandmother had given him, then he began interviewing survivors of the march. He found them through a veterans group called The Tiger Survivors, and traveled to Texas to interview one of them.

While the investigation into his uncle's past combines Zube's love of history and genealogy, the effort is something much more, he said.

"It's kind of sad that once a generation is gone, no one knows about them anymore," he said. "Now, (my children and grandchildren) don't have to start from scratch in learning their past."

What floored him about the Tiger Death March and the prison camps is the sheer will needed to survive the conditions, Zube said.

"Would you be able to survive just on cabbage soup with no cabbage in it and millet, which is basically bird seed?" he said. "You just look at that and just say, 'I don't think I would've survived.'"

Throughout his investigation what was most apparent is the cost of war - whether it's facing starvation or being separated from family while in service, he said.

"You realize that war should be the last resort, because many innocents die," Zube said. "Veterans deserve everything we can give them. Our veterans and current servicemen deserve whatever recognition and gratitude we can give them, because they sacrificed a lot for our standard of living and the freedoms we enjoy."

Zube is travelling to Seoul, South Korea, on June 18 with former POWs and family members of MIA soldiers for an annual appreciation event hosted by the Sae Eden Presbyterian Church.
BAY CITY, MI -- Bay City resident Jim Petrimoulx spent nearly 16 years looking for a relative of James VanKleeck -- one of 23 Civil War soldiers with an unmarked grave in Pine Ridge Cemetery.

Petrimoulx mailed nearly every VanKleeck in the U.S. in hopes of finding a blood relative to sign for a new headstone, he said.

He was without luck. That is, until Cheryl Dickerson dug through old records of her husband's family.

Husband Dan Dickerson, a pastor at the Calvary Baptist Church in Midland, was floored. Not only was his great, great uncle James VanKleeck a Civil War veteran, he was once a state representative, Bay County's prosecuting attorney, the commander of a statewide organization for Civil War veterans and, well, the list goes on.

But what struck Dan Dickerson the most was the kindred spirit shared between. Petrimoulx did some research and found that VanKleeck, only about 16 or 17 at the time, was shot twice in a battle and thought dead.

He later recovered but had lost something: his Bible. Nearly 30 years later, Petrimoulx said, a Pennsylvanian soldier who found the bible on the battlefield would use the letter inside to track VanKleeck down and return it.

"He carried a New Testament with him," Dan Dickerson, a pastor, said. "He's a man of faith."

Petrimoulx sent Dan Dickerson much of his research, along with a paper to sign for a new headstone for the great, great uncle -- the old one was stolen or broken long ago and couldn't be replaced until a relative signed for its replacement.

With the help of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, that headstone was commemorated on Memorial Day at Pine Ridge Cemetery.

Along with the headstone commemoration and prayers for the fallen Civil War soldiers, a plaque holding the names of 22 soldiers without a marked grave in the cemetery was unveiled.

The Questers Wenonah Chapter raised money for the plaque.

Without Cheryl Dickerson digging back through history, James VanKleeck would've been among those names, Petrimoulx said.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. The PKK attacked the Turkish Police using an improvised explosive device in Van, says Anadolu.

Two police officers were killed in the attack, another wounded.

The IED exploded when the police vehicle was passing by.

Search operations are underway for apprehending the suspects.
Yangon Region government is taking a fresh stab at dampening land speculation in the citys industrial zones in the hope of freeing up thousands of vacant plots to be developed into factories.





Roughly 40 percent of land in Yangons 29 industrial parks is idle, held by speculators who are betting that the value will continue to rise, real estate agents said. Their grip on supply has pushed land prices beyond the reach of those who really want to build factories.

The previous government tried to take on the problem in 2014 by asking all landowners to submit detailed business development plans, but was ultimately unsuccessful.

U Tint Lwin, Yangon parliament MP for Pazundaung township, said last week during a parliamentary meeting that many problems still exist including vacant land, land speculation, and rent and resale.

He said the former government had inspected the industrial zones and tried to control the problem, and asked whether the current administration would pursue new solutions.

The former government told industrial land owners to present their project plans within 60 days or risk confiscation of their property. But then the election came around and the former government did not handle the problem effectively, so this government needs to try again, he said.

In November 2014, the former government compiled a list of land plots in 29 industrial zones and found that 4418 sites were vacant, while 1299 housed empty warehouses but no industries.





The inspection deadline was December 2014 and according to the chair of Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone [the largest in Yangon Region] only 20pc of idle land owners came forward to present project plans, he said. Others called for more time and ultimately the government did not penalise anyone.

Industrial land contracts between the government and buyers state that the owners must start to build factories within three months, said U Tint Lwin.

This does not happen in reality, which impacts genuine factory owners and the land market as a whole, he said.

A newly formed regional government inspection team conducted field studies in nine industrial zones between May 12 and May 24, said Daw Nilar Kyaw, regional minister for industry, electricity and transportation.

We will continue to try and control industrial zones where land is being held vacant. After the government took power, it formed an inspection team to look at the problem in more detail and compile more detailed data, she said.

The team includes representatives from the Yangon Region government, Yangon City Development Committee, the military-run General Administration Department, the Department of Industrial Inspection, the Department of Urban and Housing Development, and the Industrial Planning Committee.

The team will split up into four to inspect all 29 industrial zones before submitting its findings to the government for review, said Daw Nilar Kyaw.
Smart planning is urgently needed to accommodate millions of people expected to move to Yangon over the next 20 years and to rebalance existing population densities, urban development experts say.





The citys population is expected to rise from 5 million in 2012 to an estimated 14.25 million in 2042, and 18.48 million in 2052, said U Toe Aung, deputy director of Yangon City Development Committees Department of City Planning and Land Administration.

We need to enlarge and develop new cities in time for that increasing population, he said during a May 27 seminar at BuildTech Yangon 2016.

But mere expansion is not enough without better balance, he added. Every day, 40pc of employees commute to the central business district in downtown Yangon. To relieve the resulting congestion, it is necessary to rebalance the distribution of population, he said.

If a secondary business district were established, population density, overcrowding and congestion would be reduced. According to a YCDC survey, population density downtown exceeds 365.5 people per acre, but is only 10 people per acre uptown.

More than half Yangons population is in the lower income bracket, so effective and efficient housing policy is an urgent necessity, said U Toe Aung.

The government is responsible for looking after the long-term interests of the community, so that future generations will inherit a city which is convenient and pleasant to live in, he said. An urban blueprint for the city recommends the creation of seven new satellite towns, over 118,732 acres. Land-use policies have to be established for those new cities. Many existing townships in Yangon already lack public spaces, and the new cities should have playgrounds, parks, schools, hospitals and all the necessary infrastructure, he added.

There is a particular need for additional housing in Thilawa special economic zone, where dozens of new factories are being built, he said.





We need to build a new city near Thilawa, in Thanlyin township, for the 20,000 workers we expect to move there, he said. We will need a new seaport near Thilawa otherwise the traffic from the existing port will be too heavy, he said, adding, To build a new city is not easy. It cannot be done by a single developer, but we can divide each new city into zones to be developed separately.

Urban expert U Kyaw Latt said much of uptown Yangon is unoccupied land that could be used to rebalance the citys population distribution.
Washington: recognised by the worldwide Myanmar community, a philanthropic doctor has been awarded the Citizen of Burma prize for his good works, often carried out in the face of great difficulty and risk.





Dr Than Min Htut, the founder of Phan Mee Ein (Glass Lamp), a philanthropic organisation in Shan State, was presented with the US$10,000 award on May 22 in Maryland, United States. In a recorded acceptance speech, he said, We leave footprints wherever we go. I wanted to leave traces of my work for my community.

Dr Than Min Htut, who works at the Pindaya township general hospital, Shan State, has helped build a school, provide water supplies and organise the community to protect the environment. He has travelled to hundreds of remote villages in the township to provide emergency healthcare.

Every morning I pray that I can do some good work before I die, he said.

The Myanmar communities in the United States, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Europe present the award to an individual or organisation for services to Myanmar as a sign of their appreciation of contributions made through knowledge, labour, skills and resources to the Myanmar people.

Awards committee liaison officer Ko Htain Lin told The Myanmar Times that his organisation encouraged and honoured works that supported local communities.

We love our country even though we no longer live there, he said.

Other prize winners included Myanmar Story Tellers Group, who keep alive folk tales and have distributed hundreds of thousands of free story books to children, preaching peace, tolerance and diversity through telling stories, and Daw Khin Ma Ma Myo, who was awarded a prize in special recognition of her active involvement in the transition to democracy through literature and awareness-raising.





The Lutlat Nyein Chan Pan Ye Lan social network won a special recognition award for supporting constitutional amendment, fundraising for flood victims and boosting electoral support for the National League for Democracy through song. Each received a $1000 prize.

Anyone can nominate a person or institution for consideration through the organisations website, www.citizenofburma.org.
About 60 self-described nationalists, including monks and laypeople, gathered at Yangons Shwedagon Pagoda on May 28 to commemorate the death of Ma Thidar Htwe. The 27-year-old was raped and murdered in Kyauk Ni Maw village, Rambre township, Rakhine State on May 28, 2012. Three Muslims suspects were blamed for the attacks, and arrested and sent to jail.





Furor over the incident and subsequent events led to the first outbreak of riots in Rakhine State in June 2012, which was followed by more mob violence in October.

The four-year commemoration group gathered this weekend at Kyae Thon Pagoda in the east side of Shwedagon to pray.

A prominent cleric, Magwe Sayadaw U Parmaukkha, addressed the crowd. This sad event woke us from our sleep and drew our attention to the 135 nationalities in Myanmar. We commemorate her death by recalling the need to protect our race and our religion. He was apparently referring to the number of ethnic minorities recognised by the Myanmar government.

The protesters released a statement calling Ma Thidar Htwe a light who motivated the patriotic spirit of the country and urging patriots to consider their social, commercial and marital relations with Muslims.

Ma Thidar Htwes murder was used to justify a revenge attack on Muslims which triggered widespread violence across Rakhine State, resulting in at least 167 deaths and the displacement of over 140,000 people, according to government figures. The two communities have remained segregated since then.

Outspoken Ma Ba Tha monk U Wirathu released a six-minute trailer of a re-enactment film in February. He threatened to release the whole video, called The Black Day, after the National League for Democracy took office.





The trailer was reported as hate speech, and removed by Facebook.

The competition in this country is not really between the National League for Democracy and the Union Solidarity and Development Party. It is really about the 135 nationalities ability to cohesively fight religious extremists, said one participant of the commemoration ceremony.

The commemorators marched to Shwedagon and stopped at Mahar Aung Myay to pray for about half an hour.

Organiser Ko Win Ko Ko Latt said, Some posters on social media have accused me of spreading hate speech and disturbing the peace. But we are warning the 135 nationalities that they could face a similar situation in the future, especially their women.

The group donated K180,000 to the Shwedagon Pagoda board of trustees.
Ethnic armed groups are worried that the upcoming 21st-century Pang-long Conference proposed by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will further complicate the peace process rather than solve it.





Few details about the conference, which is set for July, have yet been announced. Representatives of ethnic armed groups told The Myanmar Times they were concerned even about the use of the term Panglong.

The Panglong Conference is named for the 1947 talks hosted by Daw Aung San Suu Kyis father, Bogyoke Aung San, with Shan, Kachin and Chin ethnic leaders. The historic agreement granted full administrative autonomy to the frontier areas after the country gained independence. But the agreement was never honoured.

Chair of the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA) Lieutenant General Yawd Serk said that he is worried about the coming meeting.

We are still having internal armed conflicts as a consequence of the failure to follow the first Panglong Conferences provisions. We are concerned that this second Panglong Conference would make the situation more complicated, he told reporters on May 27.

Several representatives of signatory groups from the divisive nationwide ceasefire agreement last October also expressed concern about whether the government would maintain the foundations of the peace process laid down by the previous administration. They said they have requested a meeting with the state counsellor, the military commander-in-chief and the president.

When The Myanmar Times asked leaders of armed ethnic groups outside the ceasefire process for their perspectives on the 21st-century Panglong Conference, they declined to comment, saying that they did not have much information about the governments peace policy or the conference.





In the run-up to the conference, the government has reformed the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee, which was formed after the signing of the NCA.

In a two-day meeting held last week in Nay Pyi Taw, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi proposed that political parties occupying at least one seat in parliament will be represented in the joint committee.

The joint committee initially consisted of 48 members  16 representatives from the Tatmadaw and the parliament, 16 from armed ethnic groups that signed the ceasefire agreement with the previous government and 16 from political parties.

Minister for the State Counsellors Office U Kyaw Tint Swe told reporters after the meeting of the joint committee that political parties had accepted that representatives of parties without seats would no longer be allowed on the committee. New representatives from political parties will soon be selected.

Assuming the position of chair of the UPDJC, a position held earlier by then-vice president Sai Mauk Kham, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi appointed U Kyaw Tint Swe as vice chair number 1 and U Tin Myo Win, the governments peace negotiator, as vice chair number 2.

The sub-committee in charge of talks with non-signatory groups is likely to hold its first meeting with the groups in June to discuss the organisation of the Panglong Conference. Excluded from earlier talks were the Taang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army.

Previously, the armed ethnic groups told the former government if there were guarantees for the three groups, then they would consider signing the ceasefire pact with the government. When we meet with them, we will ask them what those guarantees are and will start negotiations, said U Khin Zaw Oo, government negotiator and retired lieutenant general.

Lt Gen Yawd Serk, whose army is currently fighting with non-signatory group the Taang National Liberation Army in northern Shan State, said he agreed with including all groups in the conference.

Political analysts said that they think the governments urgent push for the peace process is motivated by its wish for constitutional reform to granting rights to ethnic minority peoples and to remove the clause banning Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency.

Consensus among all stakeholders, including ethnic minorities, needs to be achieved to change the charter.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing previously said that democratic maturity and attaining internal peace would fasten the military establishments withdrawal from the legislature, which currently accounts for 25pc of all elected MPs.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Ambassador to Georgia Yuri Vardanyan paid a working visit to the Samtskhe Javakhk region, where he met Samtskhe Javakhk governor Akaki Machutadze, press service of the MFA of Armenia informed Armenpress.

The situation created as a result of the incident between Armenian and Georgian youth overnight April 23-24 and the steps aimed at overcoming that consequences were at the center of discussion. In this context, Ambassador Vardanyan expressed his concern over this issue and stated that the guilty of the incident should be punished and concrete steps should be taken to exclude the repetition of such incidents in the future.

Governor Machutadze ensured that he will continue to keep under his direct control the criminal cases related to the incident and will regularly provide information to the Armenian side over the developments.

Ambassador Yuri Vardanyan also visited Akhalkalak where he met an MP of Georgian Parliament Samvel Petrosyan, Chairman of the District Assembly Hamlet Movsisyan, Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the District Council Eduard Agasaryan and Harutyuna Hovhannisyan.

A wide range of issues related to the Armenian community of Javakhk were discussed.

Ambassador Vardanyan highlighted the necessity of taking consistent measures to make more active the community life and to develop joint programs.

Ambassador Vardanyan presented details of his meetings and phone talks over the issue of April 23 incident.

Armenian Ambassador also visited the Armenian Holy Cross Church.
Thousands of Kyaukme township residents took to the streets on May 28 in protest against the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and in favour of its military rival, the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army. Placards in the English, Myanmar and Shan languages denounced what they called the unlawful treatment of civil society and the need for an RCSS/SSA presence in northern Shan State.





The protest is in favour of peace and reconciliation, Kyaukme community group chair U Tin Maung Thein told The Myanmar Times.

Fighting between the two ethnic armed groups in the state has driven thousands from their homes as their livelihoods and lives come under threat, as well as producing a surge in human rights violations.

People are suffering because of conflict between the two armed groups. Protesting about only one is no solution, U Tin Maung Thein said.

Taang Student and Youth Organisation general secretary Mong Myo Aung said, Im worried the protest could lead to worse ethnic conflict between the Shan and the Taang.

Locals say what began as a territorial fight between two ethnic armed groups split over last years government-brokered nationwide ceasefire, risks developing into a wider communal conflict between ethnic Shan and TaAng (Palaung) villagers who have long lived together in northern Shan State.

Feelings were running high after photos and opinions on the conflict spread on social media, exacerbating relations between the two communities.

Mong Myo Aung said, Most of the protesters are ordinary local residents. Some of my Shan friends do not welcome the protest. We want peace, but this protest will not bring peace.





The TNLA spokespeople could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The Rakhine State government has announced families displaced by fighting can return home, but civilians are reluctant to abandon temporary shelters without evidence of stability. Staying in the camps however means facing an ever-diminishing quantity of supplies and no chance for their children to enroll in the fast-approaching school year.





The families are still worried about returning to their home villages even though the fighting [between the Tatmadaw and the Arakan Army] has quieted now, said U Myat Hla Phyu, a member of the camp committee at the Rae Soe Chaung IDP camp in Rathedaung township.

He added that local residents are not inclined to immediately trust the state announcement issued last week.

But while the families remain in the IDP shelters, their children have few educational opportunities.

We heard government was planning to set up temporary schools for IDP children but we havent seen any evidence that this information might be true, U Myat Hla Phyu told The Myanmar Times.

The Union government announced that the school year will resume the first week of June. Enrolment began on May 25.

U Hla Kyaw Thar, a father of two students from Buthidaung, said his children will likely not be able to enroll on time.





My children want to go to school and I also dont want them to lose time in the classroom, he said.

According to the state government lists, there are nearly 400 families in temporary shelters in Rathedaung, Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun and Buthidaung, and among them are almost 150 school-aged children.

We have to set up a temporary school, and build resettlement houses as soon as possible, said U Chan Thar, minister for social welfare in Rakhine State.

But U Min Aung, Rakhine State minister for urban development, said that plans are already under way to start instituting temporary schools by the end of the month.

We are planning to build five temporary schools at Kyauktaw, Ponnagyun and Buthidaung townships and will spend around K10 million on each, he said.

Including the cost of providing the temporary schools, K80 million has been budgeted for displaced families in Rakhine, according to the state information department.

Those at the shelter say they have yet to see the planned spending in practice, however, and added that so far, most assistance has come from local people and local civil society groups.

U Kyaw Aye, camp leader at the Nga Zin Roye IDP camp in Kyauktaw village, said he has not been informed of any government plan to support the shelter. He added that they are already facing food shortages after the recent storm.

If they [the government] built houses and a temporary school for us, it would help us. But since the monsoon has started, we urgently need a safe shelter, he said.
A Senior monk has spoken out against fellow clerics who criticise other religions. U Sandi Marbhivamsa, secretary of the State Sangha Nayaka Committee, spoke to The Myanmar Times shortly after returning from an interfaith conference held in Indonesia.





He said the Buddha did not attack other religions or races, but some monks were venturing into politics with their criticisms. Some monks court political popularity with such views. That kind of provocation is not conducive to peace in the country, he said.

His recent experience in Indonesia had shown him that the majority- Muslim population there, one of the biggest in the world, had no prejudice against Buddhists, said U Sandi Marbhivamsa.

He had participated in a Buddhist conference at the Borobudur Temple on May 19, along with representatives of five other countries  Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka  as well as Indonesia.

That was the first time foreign monks were been invited to celebrate Vesak Day [Kasone full moon day] and Buddhist monks from other ASEAN countries attended the Borobudur conference, Ms Rizki Handayani, director of promotions for Southeast Asia in the Indonesian tourist ministry, told a press conference.

Normally, between 500 and 700 Indonesian monks take part in the annual Vesak Day celebrations in Mageland province, filing in procession from Mendut Temple to Borobudur Temple. In the evening, the

Buddhas life story is portrayed and a festive crowd releases sky lanterns.

U Sandi Marbhivamsa took the opportunity during his visit to tour other Buddhist monuments and temples in Mageland province. I knew Indonesians respected Buddhism, despite being a majority-Muslim country, he said. They are not extremists.





He said Buddhism had flourished in Indonesia between the 7th and 9th centuries, and there are still many Buddhist monuments and temples, some of which are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

We in Myanmar can protect Buddhism without insulting other religions. People of different religions can work together in a peaceful way. There is no need for religious extremism. We can learn from Indonesia in that respect, he said.

Buddhism is fundamentally about loving kindness, though other religious also teach compassion. If we can accept each others ideas, there can be peace both in Myanmar and throughout the world.
More than 25 years on, MPs elected in the 1990 election that was set aside by the military regime are taking another crack at changing the constitution. The Members of Parliament Union 1990 want to make radical changes to the military-drafted 2008 charter.





Attempts to amend the constitution in the last parliament, particularly the provisions guaranteeing 25 percent of parliamentary seats to the military and barring Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency, all failed. Though the National League for Democracy won a huge majority in both houses of parliament last November, the military still retains 25 percent of seats, giving it a veto over any change.

The party seems content for the time being to work around the national charter, not least by creating the position of state counsellor for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The MPU celebrated the 26th anniversary of the 1990 election on May 27, and decided to form a constitutional amendment committee with the leaders of ethnic political parties and armed groups, experts, and civil society organisations.

U Khun Tun Oo, chair of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy and elected representative of Thibaw/Hsipaw township, Shan State, in 1990, said at the ceremony that the government could not create a federal union without amending the constitution. Referring to the fighting in Shan State, he said, This is happening because of the [defects of the current]constitution.

The NLD has in the past attempted to harness public support to force through constitutional amendments. In 2014, it partnered with the 88 Generation to launch a petition calling for changes to section 436, which gives the military a veto over constitutional change, and section 59(f), which bars Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from the presidency. More than 5 million signatures were subsequently gathered and submitted to parliament.

Last year, the NLD also proposed changes through a constitutional amendment committee set up by former Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann. However, the two amendment bills put forward were blocked by the military.

Analysts have suggested that the NLD will call a national referendum on the constitution, which the partys lawyer has also spoken in favour of.





Both President U Htin Kyaw and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi highlighted constitutional reform in speeches soon after taking office, insisting it remains the partys top reform priority.

Political analyst U Yan Myo Thein told The Myanmar Times in April that any attempt to write a new constitution should be based on an all-inclusive political dialogue comprising the Tatmadaw, political parties, ethnic armed groups and other stakeholders.

U Khun Tun Oo told The Myanmar Times that the peace conference proposed by the NLD would not succeed without the prior agreement of all ethnic armed groups to a ceasefire, and he would not attend the conference if invited.

We cannot understand why the NLD government is proceeding without the agreement of the ethnic parties. They must make the effort to bring us in. Weve instructed our partys MPs to unite with the Arakan National Party MPs, though this does not constitute an opposition, he said.

On May 27, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said all parties holding at least one seat would be invited.

The MPU says it will also work with the Union of Farmers Association and CSOs active in agricultural issues.

U David Hla Myint, elected for Ngaputaw township, Ayeyarwady Region, in 1990, said the MPU would form committees in every ward in the country to look into human rights issues and to protect human rights and the rule of law.

We will also demand the cancellation of projects that affect the environment, including the Myitsone dam project, and press for the release of all remaining political prisoners, he said.

On May 27, 1990, the National League for Democracy, led then as now by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, won 392 of the 492 seats in what was to be a parliamentary constitutional committee to draft a new constitution.

The poll was the first multi-party election held since 1960. However, the military regime, shocked at the enormity of its defeat, refused to recognise the results and continued to rule, increasingly relying on force and repression, and deepening its isolation.
Government peace negotiator U Tin Myo Win will meet with armed groups left out of last years ceasefire accord within the next few days, according to the Panglong Conference preparation committee. The senior National League for Democracy official wiil seek collaborators for the administrations peace plan.





We have tried to contact the [ethnic armed groups]. U Tin Myo Win wishes to meet them all at the same time and explain the governments policy. We will consider what to do based on their responses, said U Hla Maung Shwe, secretary of the preparation committee for the 21st-century Panglong Conference.

The former government rushed to sign a long-awaited peace deal in October last year just before the countrys landmark elections. It was signed by only eight out of 15 groups that were invited to sign, while other armed groups were excluded.

State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has urged the Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) to show the benefits of a ceasefire deal to non-signatory groups in order to involve all of them.

A detailed schedule for the upcoming meetings has not yet been confirmed, but according to U Hla Maung Shwe the first meeting will be held with the United Wa Solidarity Party/Army (UWSP/UWSA), the National Democracy Alliance Army (NDAA) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K).

We will meet within a few days, he said.

U Hla Maung Shwe did not reveal any plans for talks with three groups that are currently fighting the Tatmadaw and were excluded from talks under the previous government; the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and the Arakan Army (AA).

We are seeking ways to include all [armed ethnics groups] in the peace talks that the government in planning to hold in July this year. However, everything is decided by the government. We can only report their attitudes, U Hla Maung Shwe said.





The government had earlier scheduled the meeting for June, but then decided to allow more time for negotiations with the armed groups, in the hopes of including them all. The Pang-long Conference is now planned for the end of July.

We can discuss with them how they can be involved in the peace talks step-by-step. We aim for the process to be finalised in June, said U Hla Maung Shwe.

Colonel Khun Okkar, chair of the Pa-Oh National Liberation Army, said during the UPDJC meeting on May 27 Daw Aung San Suu Kyi suggested the conference agenda include two main things, political issues and security.

We agreed with her because many things are addressed under the title of politics and security. Discussing those issues at the conference will benefit the peace process, U Khun Okkar said.
Less than one-third of medical staff in the nations flagship hospital wash their hands after treating patients, a medical superintendent revealed. Health officials have vowed to raise the rate to 52 percent over the next 100 days as part of the new governments drive to improve services.





Nay Pyi Taw Hospital medical superintendent Dr Thida Hla told The Myanmar Times on May 26 that the improvement drive would also entail improving service at the reception counter of the 1000-bed hospital in Zabuthiri township, and disposing of medical waste on par with international standards.

All medical staff, including specialists, have to wash their hands before and after treating patients. We want to raise the number of those who do so from 32pc to 52pc within 100 days, she said.

In addition, used syringes and other waste will also be disposed of in accordance with World Health Organization rules and regulations.

A three-day course, running May 25 to May 27, was given to hospital social workers in providing better services at the hospital reception desk.

Weve put up signboards to remind people. Reception staff will provide improved service to patients coming to the hospital, said Dr Thida Hla.

The specialist treatment available at the hospital attracts patients from Mandalay, Magwe and Bago regions, Shan and Kayah states, and elsewhere in the country.





The treatment for cancer, heart and brain diseases that we provide here cannot be had in other hospitals, she said.

The hospital, set amid 167 acres, opened in 2014, offering surgery, paediatrics, departments for ear nose and throat and ophthalmic treatment, an X-ray department, diagnostics, outpatient services, and an ER unit. Subsequent expansions equipped it with a heart and chest cavity unit, urology and kidney centre, brain and nerve treatment centre, and a unit for stomach, intestinal and liver ailments. It also offers dental treatment and psychiatric services, as well as treating infectious diseases.

The latest renovation added facilities for the radiation treatment of cancer, a blood bank and a joint department. Medical services are provided at reduced cost, sometimes as low as 50pc, but the hospital has been criticised for not fulfilling initial promises of free treatment.

No country can provide free treatment. The main priority is to reduce the cost for patients. Some have misunderstood that goal, Dr Thida Hla said.

Translation by Khant Lin Oo
Nationalist monks are taking issue with hotels that make their lobby staff dress in historic costumes.





The Sedona hotel in Yangon came under fire last week after the Myanmar Patriotic Monk Union ridiculed Facebook pictures of a staff member adorned in red and gold attire.

Union members visited the hotel on May 25 and demanded to meet the hotel management over the outfit, which was deemed inappropriate.

The pictures show a lobby staff member in traditional Bagan costume greeting guests.

After we saw these pictures online, our members discussed the issue and we decided we must go to the hotel to ask if what we saw online was true, said U Thu Citta, MPMU secretary.

We were told we could not meet with the manager about it then, but to come back, he said.

This outfit was worn by our heroes from Bagan history. They were the kings of Myanmars third generation. We must preserve their dignity, he told The Myanmar Times.

This behaviour is not relevant to the situation. [The outfit] can only be worn for a special ceremony. So we condemn this action, the sayadaw said.





Ministry of Hotels and Tourism deputy director general Daw Khin Than Win said she did not know about attire at this particular hotel. She added that in general, Our ministry has granted permission for the traditional national attire to be worn when greeting customers.

She said that Sedona will be re-checked to determine whether they are abiding by ministry stipulations.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Armtech conference, which this year is entitled Armenia: IT Forum, will be held in Silicon Valley Synopsys Mounatin View Campus on June 10. Forum aims to present and discuss the tendencies of the IT development in Armenia and its prospects in the international arena, to promote the international cooperation and involvement of investments, to contribute to the cooperation between the IT specialists.

Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia Emil Tarasyan said the event is being held under the patronage of the Prime Minister, and with the participation of the IT community representatives from Armenia and the US. This years forum is exclusive in a sense that it will be devoted to the start-ups. 5 start-ups will participate in the conference, he stated. Minister said previously numerous agreements were signed within the framework of the Armtech. This year the organizers of the forum also plan to sign such memorandums which will lead to the implementation of new projects in Armenia.

Director of the Enterprise Incubator Foundation Bagrat Yengibaryan stated that two important issues will be discussed during the conference: progress of Armenian organizations in the world, especially in the US market, and the education issue, in particular, how to promote human resource development in Armenia. He highlighted that this year the conference is being held at Synopsys company, the representative of which is the largest IT company in Armenia. These year we have a number of foreign speakers in the conference who are representatives of the multinational organizations. They are not guests that come to know what happens in Armenia, what developments exist in Armenia and what are the challenges to develop the IT sector here, the director said. He also stated that a focus will be put on the development of the newly created companies, representatives of such companies will take part at the conference and will present their projects to the investors.

Chairman of the Union of Employers of Information and Communication Technologies Armen Baldryan mentioned that Armenia with such conference shows that it is ready to new reforms in the IT sector. We will present one of our initiatives at the conference which is the creation of the Technology University in Yerevan, he stated.

Chairman of the Union of Information Technology Enterprises Alexander Yesayan also welcomed this event. He informed that the Union also will concentrate on the issue of education and will present the project of engineering laboratory.

Executive Director of the Synopsys Armenia CJSC Hovik Musayelyan said the experience of Armtech shows that holding this conference in the Silicon Valley is justified. He stated that their company will present the project with physics and mathematics orientation which was launched in 5 high schools of Yerevan.
Former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre (C) is escorted by prison guards into the courtroom for the first proceedings of his trial by the Extraordinary African Chambers in Dakar on July 20, 2015. By SEYLLOU (AFP/File)

30.05.2016 LISTEN

Dakar (AFP) - A special court in Senegal was due to deliver its verdict Monday in the war crimes trial of former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre, bringing a long-awaited reckoning to victims and their families.

Habre, 73, was president of Chad from 1982-1990, during which time he is alleged to have committed crimes against humanity and torture.

Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence.

Habre went on trial last July in the Extraordinary African Chambers (CAE), a special tribunal set up in Dakar by the African Union under a deal with Senegal, the first time a country has prosecuted a former leader of another nation for rights abuses.

Reed Brody, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch who has spent the last 15 years working with victims to bring Habre to justice, said the landmark case could encourage others to bring similar action.

"The trial of Hissene Habre shows that it is possible for victims, with tenacity and perseverance, to bring their dictator to court," Reed told AFP on Sunday. "We hope that other survivors, other activists will be inspired by what Habre's victims have been able to do."

Often dressed in combat fatigues in line with his "desert fighter" nickname, Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby.

Habre has declined to address the court, refusing to recognise its authority. Neither he nor his legal team will be in court for Monday's hearing, they told AFP.

But his court-appointed lawyers will attend and are hoping for an acquittal. "We have developed our arguments sufficiently well to prove that Hissene Habre is innocent," said Senegalese lawyer Mbeye Sene.

"If the law is correctly applied, we will go straight to an acquittal for Mr Habre," added Sene.

- Prison horrors -

Investigators found that at least 40,000 people were killed during Habre's rule, which was marked by fierce repression of opponents and the targeting of rival ethnic groups.

Witnesses have recounted the horror of life in Chad's prisons, describing in graphic detail abusive and often deadly punishments inflicted by Habre's feared secret police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS).

Victims were subject to electric shocks and waterboarding while some had gas sprayed in their eyes or spice rubbed into their genitals, the court heard.

Habre's defence team has sought to cast doubt on the prosecution argument that their client was an all-knowing, all-powerful head of the DDS, suggesting he may have been unaware of abuses on the ground.

Mahamat Moussa, a former detainee, said a guilty verdict would provide solace to many families left without answers 25 years after Habre left office.

"A verdict proportionate with the crimes committed by Habre will allow many families to properly mourn and offer some comfort from the suffering we former prisoners endured," Moussa said, speaking at the headquarters of a victims' association in Chad's capital, N'Djamena.

"I hope he spends the rest of his life in prison," he added.

For more than 20 years, the former dictator lived freely in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children, swapping his military garb for billowing white robes and a cap.

The African Union asked Senegal to try Habre in July 2006, but the country delayed the process for years under former president Abdoulaye Wade, despite an agreement to create the special court.

If convicted, Habre can expect a sentence of between 30 years and life with hard labour, that will be served in Senegal or another African Union country.

"While some African leaders have claimed that Africa is unfairly targeted by international courts, the challenge has been to put teeth into African justice," said Brody of Human Rights Watch.

"This case is a tremendous precedent to show that African courts can deliver justice for crimes committed in Africa".
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Dakar (AFP) - Key dates from former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre's overthrow to an expected verdict in his crimes against humanity trial in Dakar on Monday.

- Exile in Senegal -

-- December 1990: Habre is overthrown by rebel troops led by Idriss Deby and flees to Senegal. His regime is accused of repressing, torturing or killing opponents.

- Investigation -

-- May 1992: A Chadian commission of inquiry says Habre's regime killed more than 40,000 people, many of them political opponents and from rival ethnic groups.

- Charges -

-- January 2000: Seven Chadians file suit against Habre in Dakar for crimes against humanity and acts of torture. A judicial inquiry is opened.

-- February 2000: Habre is charged with "complicity in acts of torture" by a Senegalese judge.

-- November 2000: Chadians living in Belgium file charges against Habre in Brussels.

-- November 2005: Habre is detained after Belgium issues an international arrest warrant against him for crimes against humanity. Senegal's Appeals Court says it has no jurisdiction to rule on the extradition request and he is freed.

- Sentenced in Chad -

-- August 2008: Habre and 11 rebel leaders are sentenced to death in absentia in Chad for crimes against humanity.

-- June 2012: New Senegalese President Macky Sall says Habre will be tried in Senegal and rules out his extradition.

- Special tribunal set up -

-- August 2012: Senegal and the African Union sign an accord setting up a special court, the Extraordinary African Chambers, in Dakar.

- Arrested and charged -

-- June 2013: Habre is arrested and charged by the special court with torture, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Judges also order that he be held pending trial.

- Trial -

-- July 2015: Habre trial opens in Dakar.

-- February 2015: Trial wraps up with defence lawyers calling for an acquittal and prosecutors seeking a life sentence.

-- May 30, 2016: Verdict to be announced.
29.05.2016 LISTEN

I know fully well that his quite sensitive position as New Patriotic Partys Communications Director makes it very necessary for Nana Akomea to gingerly toe a diplomatically constructive path towards negative government policies. Still, sometimes the former Member of Parliament and Communications Minister, in the government of President John Agyekum-Kufuor, makes one scratch ones head and wonder whether his current position as New Patriotic Party (NPP) Communications Director entails the mollycoddling of a clearly unabashedly partisan and pathologically dictatorial Mr. John Kudalor.

In less than one month, the Inspector-General of the Ghana Police Service has pontifically declared that he is far less interested in the administration of democratic justice and political accountability in the country than passively taking instructions from the Mahama-led government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). And yet, somehow, the New Patriotic Partys Communications Director would have Ghanaians believe that Mr. Kudalor is a first-class law-enforcement professional who is as equally concerned about his public image as his publicly stated determination to staunchly uphold the law, not to the highest standards of the ethics of his profession, as one would ordinarily expect of him, but rather to the utmost satisfaction of the man who named him to the highest job in the Ghana Police Service (See Kudalor Risks Being Worst IGP  Akomea Classfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 5/28/16).

In his latest attempt to peremptorily and summarily silence democratic dissent and transparency in the way and manner in which Ghanaian leaders are selected via the polling booth, Mr. Kudalor has declared that come rain or sunshine, he intends to shut down all social media networks in the country come November 7, the date scheduled for Election 2016. Needless to say, such declaration of raw power is perfectly in character with a man clearly appointed to ensure that his primary patron and benefactor retains his rocky occupancyof the Flagstaff House at all costs. And the most poignant response to such intended sinister act of downright criminality is for Nana Akomea to lamely admonish Mr. Kudalor to give some sobering thought to his professional image and legacy as possibly the worst IGP of postcolonial Ghana?

Maybe somebody ought to inform Akufo-Addos communications right-hand man that earning the reputation of Ghanas worst Inspector-General of Police is far better than being ingloriously bunched up with those nobody former IGPs whom scarcely any living Ghanaian citizens remember. In other words, being dubbed or labeled as the Worst IGP still renders one a professional standout from among a largely nondescript pack. Of course, you may want to speak about the purportedly invaluable price of sporting or earning a good name and reputation, but the question worthy of critical examination is as follows: How about those past IGPs whose existence nobody remembers or even cares to remember any more?

Well, the story is humorously told of a police sergeant of the Nkrumah era who was spotted taking a miserly amount or payola  or bribe  from a commercial passenger-bus driver somewhere on the Accra-Kumasi trunk-road. Asked by a clearly puzzled onlooker whether he did not care about bringing down the name and reputation of the members of the Ghana Police Service, Sergeant Abongo Frafra scowled and sharply retorted, Young man, mind your own damn business! Na titles I go chop? In other words, both personal and institutional image and reputation were of absolutely no relevance to a woefully underpaid policeman.

You see, rather than apologetically admonish the IGP to find the technology that can allow [Mr. Kudalor and his uniformed Abongo Boys and Girls] to trace unpalatable [behavior] and people who will abuse the media, Nana Akomea and his colleagues and associate leaders of the political opposition ought to be huddling together and attempting to devise creative and inventive means of effectively neutralizing Mr. Kudalor.

Indeed, they have been fortunate enough to be alerted well beforehand that our national security operatives are hell-bent on muddying the electoral waters in order to ensure that their chief patron and paymaster escape with murder at all costs come Election 2016, and all Nana Akomea can say in response is Please, look at your image and reputation in the mirror and from the history books and have mercy on us? Huh, who born you by mistake, Nana Akomea?!

*Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Karen Nazaryan attended a conference headlined The current phase of Armenia-EU relations and tools for civil society engagement held in Yerevan. The event was organized by the Armenian National Platform of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Civil Society Forum and the EU delegation to Armenia, press service of MFA Armenia informed Armenpress.

The Deputy Minister highlighted in his speech that the Armenian Government attaches great importance to the civil society both in terms of implementing joint Armenian-EU projects and domestic reforms. Karen Nazaryan also mentioned that the civil society plays a vital role in the relations of Armenia and the EU.

During the conference the Deputy Minister introduced the results of the recent developments of relations and political interactions between Yerevan and Brussels, touched upon issues of bilateral cooperation with the EU member states, the positions of the sides on regional issues. A reference was made to the process of reviewing the European Neighborhood. Karen Nazaryan also touched upon the negotiation process over Armenia-EU new legal document, the active partnership on the parliamentary level and the EU position on Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement.
Recently Donald Trump met with Jack Kemp protege House Speaker Paul Ryan. As the Washington Post aptly put it, Ryan has the House. Trump has the party. To quote the founder of the Republican Party , Abe Lincoln, who was quoting Scripture: A house divided against itself can not stand.

This meeting was an iconic moment that distilled the dynamics and douleurs of GOP 2016 perfectly. The modern GOP is the House That Jack  Jack Kemp  Built. That House is in disarray.

Jack Kemp championed, and inspired presidential aspirant Ronald Reagan to adopt, the economic formula that rescued America from decades of stagflation. Kemp unleashed an era of epic world prosperity.

Also, Kemp described himself as a heavily armed dove. Kemp was an exemplar of the peace through strength philosophy that Reagan embodied. Both used this philosophy to revive America as a force for peace and dignity in the world.

Is Trump the Anti-Kemp? Or is he a force of creative destruction that might resurrect the now decayed Kemp model? If the former, Trump is Ryans worst nightmare and greatest threat. If the latter, Trump embodies Ryans greatest aspiration and is an essential ally.

The iconic nursery rhyme that presaged our current political riddle has it:

The House That Jack Built

This is the horse and the hound and the horn

That belonged to the farmer sowing his corn

That kept the rooster that crowed in the morn

That woke the judge all shaven and shorn

That married the man all tattered and torn

That kissed the maiden all forlorn

That milked the cow with the crumpled horn

That tossed the dog that worried the cat

That killed the rat that ate the malt

That lay in the house that Jack built.

Will Trump turn out to be the man that kissed the maiden all forlorn, us immiserated voters? Or is he merely milking the cow, the GOP, whose horn has been crumpled by tone deaf political consultants?

James Hohman of the Washington Post nailed it in Jack Kemps ghost haunts Paul Ryan as he agonizes over Trump :

Paul Ryan considers the late Jack Kemp one of his greatest mentors. The Speaker of the House described himself last month as a Jack Kemp-Ronald Reagan Republican. Donald Trump is a Donald Trump Republican, he added. When he announced last week that hes not ready to support the presumptive Republican nominee, he said he wants Trump to change first. This is the party of Lincoln, of Reagan, of Jack Kemp, Ryan said on CNN. What a lot of Republicans want to see is that we have a standard bearer that bears our standards.

Jimmy Kemp, president of the Jack Kemp Foundation (with which I have a professional relationship), was quoted as stating:

If he chooses not to represent the conservative ideals and principles that the Republicans have represented, then its not incumbent upon others to bow down and kiss the ring and do whatever Mr. Trump wants, said Jimmy Kemp, who is president of The Jack Kemp Foundation. My dads not here; I dont know what he would think, the younger Kemp added during an appearance on Fox News earlier this week.

What do the tea leaves have to say?

Politico reports that the GOP nominee-apparent has turned to two bearers of Kemps Supply Side torch to refine the first sketch of his tax plan:

Donald Trumps campaign has enlisted influential conservative economists to revise his tax package and make it more politically palatable by slashing the $10 trillion sticker price. 

Trumps initial proposal, rolled out with fanfare at Trump Tower in Manhattan last September, has been in the spotlight since he became the presumptive Republican nominee last week and promptly declared that it was only a starting point for any negotiations with congressional Democrats, should he become president. But it turns out Trumps team is open to revamping it far sooner than that; the campaign last month contacted at least two prominent conservative economists  Larry Kudlow, the CNBC television host, and Stephen Moore of the Heritage Foundation and a longtime Wall Street Journal writer  to spearhead an effort to update the package. 

What weve been trying to do is help advise him a little bit to try to reduce the cost of the plan and still encourage economic growth, Moore said in an interview. Trumps initial plan has come under criticism from both the right and left for vastly expanding the deficit, with the nonpartisan Tax Foundation estimating it would add $10 trillion to the federal deficit in the next decade. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has moved quickly to tattoo the plans steep price tag onto Trump, with her team holding a call on Monday calling it a reckless expansion of debt. 

Kudlow and Moore are well known voices in conservative economic circles. They are two of the founders, with economist and former Ronald Reagan adviser Art Laffer and former GOP presidential candidate Steve Forbes, of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, established last year to advance for conservative economic policies.

Meanwhile, Trump has extolled a major, unfinished, Jack Kemp policy initiative: the gold standard.

Donald Trump :

In a GQ video interview , the billionaire said he would support  the gold standard. Bringing back the gold standard would be very hard to do, but boy, would it be wonderful, the billionaire continued. ["We'd have a standard on which to base our money."]

This was not the first time Donald Trump expressed his admiration for the gold standard.

Trump, on WMUR last year:



WE USED TO HAVE A VERY SOLID COUNTRY BECAUSE IT WAS BASED ON A GOLD STANDARD FOR IT WE DO NOT HAVE THAT ANYMORE. THERE IS SOMETHING VERY NICE ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF THAT. IT WOULD BE VERY HARD TO DO AT THIS POINT AND ONE OF THE PROBLEMS IS WE DO NOT HAVE THE GOLD. OTHER PLACES HAVE THE GOLD.

In 2010, at Fox News Opinions I called Kemps Gold Standard Act of 1984  co-sponsored by, among others, then-Reps. Newt Gingrich, Vin Weber, Connie Mack  Kemps Unfinished Symphony. And as I wrote in The Hills Congress Blog in 2014, [The] Spirit of Jack Kemp rides again :

As a result of neglecting Kemps demand for good money, choosing instead the seductive but bad road of cheap money, job creation  and upward mobility by workers  slowed to a snails pace. 

Kemps Gold Standard Act, the missing link for restoring job creation and equitable prosperity, is even more important today than it was when first introduced. Want more jobs, better jobs, stable prices, and a quickly diminishing deficit  and happy voters of all parties? Look no further than the Gold Standard Act. The Spirit of Jack Kemp rides again.

To preempt the customary ridicule by Paul Krugman of The New York Times and Matt OBrien of The Washington Post, let it be noted in passing that in a 2004 speech at Washington and Lee University then Federal Reserve Governor Ben Bernanke stated:

The gold standard appeared to be highly successful from about 1870 to the beginning of World War I in 1914. During the so-called classical gold standard period, international trade and capital flows expanded markedly, and central banks experienced relatively few problems ensuring that their currencies retained their legal value.

And Herr Dr. Jens Weidmann, head of the Bundesbank, in a notable 2012 speech , stated,

Concrete objects have served as money for most of human history; we may therefore speak of commodity money. A great deal of trust was placed in particular in precious and rare metals  gold first and foremost  due to their assumed intrinsic value. In its function as a medium of exchange, medium of payment and store of value, gold is thus, in a sense, a timeless classic.

And one obscure economist by the name of John Maynard Keynes wrote in the Commercial Manchester Guardian Reconstruction Supplement on April 20, 1922:

If the gold standard could be reintroduced..., we all believe that the reform would promote trade and production like nothing else, but also stimulate international credit and transfers of capital to the places where they are most useful. One of the greatest elements of uncertainty would be suppressed.

This observation was used by Lewis E. Lehrman, founder and chairman of the Lehrman Institute (with which I once had a professional relationship), as the epigram to his definitive Paper Money or The True Gold Standard: A Monetary Reform without Official Reserve Currencies (The Lehrman Institute, 2012). Later Keynes changed his tune about gold.

But this proffer  we all believe that the reform would promote trade and production like nothing else  shows the gold standard to be far from ridiculous. Indeed, in 2010, authoritative Keynes biographer Lord Skidelsky observed in the FT:

Keyness famous dismissal of the gold standard as a barbarous relic does not quite capture his opinion of the metal, which he thought would be useful as a constitutional monarch but disastrous as a despot.

Begin with an across-the-board reduction of marginal tax rates, now in the hands of Kemp acolytes and trusted Ryan and Trump advisors Kudlow and Moore. Conjoin it with the resurrection, far easier than Speaker Ryan or Mr. Trump may think, of Jack Kemps Gold Standard Act of 1984 .

Ryans chief of staff Dave Hoppe, once upon a time Kemp's chief of staff, was a key architect of the Gold Standard Act, together with Lehrman and former Kemp economist John Mueller . Together the tax rate cut plus gold standard hold the essence of Kemp's recipe for prosperity and justice for all.

Fuse Trump's intuitive grasp of the spirit of equitable prosperity with Ryan's fine-tuned grasp of the way the world works and critical mass is achieved to the benefit of both and of America. The Kemp recipe for growth with fairness, a value both men share, is the great opportunity to unify the GOP and win this fall.

After their meeting Paul Ryan and Donald Trump jointly stated:

While we were honest about our few differences, we recognize that there are also many important areas of common ground. We will be having additional discussions, but remain confident theres a great opportunity to unify our party and win this fall, and we are totally committed to working together to achieve that goal.

Will Donald Trump prove to be the man capable of dramatically resurrecting the Kemp legacy of economic growth with economic justice? Will Paul Ryan hand Donald Trump the means of giving credibility to his pledge to become the greatest jobs president that God ever created?

The Ryan-Trump meeting may have opened the door to the restoration of the House That Jack Built.

Originating at Forbes.com
29.05.2016 LISTEN

Its still like a dream. Since I got that phone call on that black Saturday, I have been wishing every morning as I wake that it goes away like every bad dream, but its like this is a reality. Are you really gone Chichi? Tell me. You were a great woman, a lioness, so brave and audacious. You were my second mummy and guardian, very protective and possessive of me and our younger sister. You were our comrade-in-struggle.

You mean you departed without saying good bye to us, especially to me your only brother. Why? This is very unfair. You loved and treated me like your first son. You monitored my well-being as if I was a child. I will miss all these now - those your prophetic counsels, affection, warnings and insights. You always see ahead and beyond the present. You were very vocal and forthright and the world doesnt like these.

You were a great lover and extremely generous. You were kind and friendly to a fault. You loved and even help and defended your enemies. You fought for the oppressed. You trusted everybody. You trusted, dined, lived with and always gave them your best and I also think that that was your weakness. But God blessed you because he that waters must be watered. You were always ready to share your little and last with everybody. But who is this peoples princess?

Lillian Chichi was born in August 24, 1972 to the family of Onowu Prince and Mrs. Patrick Ifeanyi Agbo of Amechi, Awkunanaw in Enugu State. Her father was the immediate past traditional prime minister of the town. She is a double princess. Her paternal grandfather Chief Mathias Agbo was the traditional ruler of Amechi and her grandmother Princess Uzo Nwanbanta Agbo the daughter of the famous Chief Mbanta; the wealthy and influential paramount ruler of Amodu Awkunanaw. She was traditionally named after the Princess Uzo, our grandmother.

She attended WTC primary School and City Girls Secondary school Enugu. She taught in several schools including Success Gate Primary and Secondary, Peace Academy School, Alagbado  Lagos, and was in the process of establishing her own school. She also was a teacher in Fountain of Glory Church, Alagbado.

She loved education so much and pressed to establish a good school to raise good future leaders. In fact, she was already in the process of establishing her own school. This was her burning dream. Will this dream ever come to pass again? Maybe now, memorial school in her name? She is survived by her husband, two sons, three daughters, a grandson, a daughter-in-law, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, uncles, aunties, mother-in-law and others.

Now Chichi, why did you leave at the time of harvest? We labored together, we wept together, we were betrayed together, we were scorned together and we hoped together. Why did you choose to go at the point of reaping?? I thought the bible said that those that plant should also reap? Who will reap all our efforts with me?? Well, I thank God for you. You came, you saw and you conquered. As if you knew that you were about to be translated, few days before you departed you brought your kids together and were lecturing them on forgiveness. You told them to forgive no matter the depth of the offense.

Thank you for being my sister. Thank you for all you did for us. Thank you for all you love and kindness. Thank you for holding forth even when and where the bravest men will give up. We are celebrating you. Chi baby you did well. I am very proud of you. Go and rest in the bosom of the LORD my kid sister Princess Lillian Chichi Duru (nee Agbo). We will see again as our great God and Savior  Jesus appears. Till then, goodnight!

Your brother Gabriel

Agbo is the author of the book power of midnight Prayer. E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 08037113283 Website: www.authorsden.com/pastorgabrielnagbo
30.05.2016 LISTEN

Ghanaians have been experiencing astronomical increases in electricity tariffs far above what was approved by the utility regulator, Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) since December 2015. In fact, domestic and commercial bills are so high that there is hue and cry in Ghana. This article is the analysis of the current electricity tariffs and other related matters.

I once predicted in an earlier article that President Mahama should forget a second term if his government failed to resolve dumsor and it appears that prediction could be on course to becoming reality but this time its not because of his governments failure. Instead, forces within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) are at work to deny Mahama a second term. The power crisis has been with Ghana as far back as 2013. Initially, I assumed President Mahama had taken his eye off the ball but a reliable source in Ghana indicated that the president was indeed on top of the problem but the technocrats were not being honest with him on the extent of the problems and how to resolve them.

In the midst of dumsor and to the disappointment of many came the sharp increases in electricity tariffs. PURC approved electricity tariff increment of about seventy percent in 2015. ECG claims that in addition to the seventy percent, there are other taxes approved by parliament to be added. For the sake of this analysis, lets assume that the PURC approved increment and the parliament approved taxes add up to hundred percent increment. That means a household that paid an average monthly electricity bill of Ghc 200.00 should now pay Ghc 400.00 (assuming their average monthly consumption remained the same).

However, the experiences of both domestic and commercial consumers are far over and above what was approved by PURC plus the taxes approved by parliament. In reality, many have seen between five hundred to thousand percent increment (after ECG installed new prepaid metres). According to one consumer who spoke to Citi FM, his electricity bill has shot from Ghc 200.00 a month to Ghc 2,000.00 (at the same level consumption). This amounts to an increase of nine hundred percent. This is fraud, theft, day light robbery of consumers and an illegality by ECG which in my view is a deliberate sabotage with a political objective.

Households and businesses across the country are facing the same plight. Consequently, some small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) have either folded up or are going out of business because they cannot afford to pay the astronomical electricity bills. Yet, institutions such as PURC, ECG, the Ghana Standards Authority and the Ministry of Power that are charged with the responsibility of assisting the president to govern the country in the best interests of the people, have failed to do anything about this theft, fraud and illegality for six months.

Let me explain why I suspect that the defrauding of electricity consumers by ECG through the abnormal tariffs is a deliberate sabotage against Mahamas government and politically motivated to damage his electoral success in November.

Under the US Power Africa programme President Mahamas government through the Partnership for Growth and the Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a $498.2 million Second Compact with the US in August 2014 for the power sector in Ghana. The conditions for Ghana accessing the money is the liberalisation of the power sector. In other words, the ECG is to be privatised or to be opened up for public, private partnership (PPP). Others including ECG believe that the privatisation of or the PPP within ECG is part of the IMF conditionalities.

It is public knowledge that ECG staff are strongly opposed to the privatisation of ECG or the PPP because many of them fear losing their jobs after the PPP. ECG staff are also aware that the main opposition partys presidential candidate has promised to review the IMF agreement if he becomes president. The ECG staff are therefore working to ensure that President Mahama loses the November presidential election, in the hope that the new government will review the IMF conditions and stop the privatisation of or the PPP. Sadly, this is wishful thinking because the ECG PPP has nothing to do with IMF but the US government conditions for Ghana accessing the $498.2 million Second Compact money not renegotiate by a future government.

The second reason for the ECGs sabotage is the arguments used by those us in favour of privatisation or PPP is that, ECG is inefficient, cannot break even financially, have to rely on government subvention for its survival, staff make illegal connections for consumers and pocket the money, failure to send out bills to consumers and collect bills etc. (of course, the state also owes ECG in millions of unpaid bills). If ECG can now collect enough revenue from consumers to be able to break even or make a profit this year, then it can argue that there is no need for the PPP if ECG is making profit. This is why ECG has manipulated the metres to collect more than what has been approved. ECG has forgotten that the PPP is not only about breaking even but also to bring in expertise. The effect of ECGs theft is making Mahamas government unpopular and unelectable in November because of very high cost of electricity.

The other reason behind the sabotage is that if businesses cannot pay their electricity bills, they fold up and lay off workers, unemployment rate gets worse. Ghana also becomes unattractive to both domestic and foreign investors because of the high cost of electricity. Already, there are reports of some businesses in Ghana relocating because of the high cost of electricity. Businesses and the public blame it on Mahamas government. That would definitely have negative political implications for the president or government that introduced abnormally high electricity tariffs to collapse business and make life unbearable for the people.

Moreover, according to Kwesi Pratt, ECG staff told him that a prepaid meter installed at his printing press was known as Usain Bolt, meaning it runs as fast as the 100 metres world record holder. This is an unwitting confession by ECG that it is aware of the abnormality of the prepaid metres, yet it has done nothing to correct anomaly. Its deliberate robbery of consumers designed to make President Mahama and his government unpopular.

Finally, my strongest suspicion of the abnormal tariffs being politically motivated sabotage is the reason given by ECG. The ECG claims the extra ordinary increases in electricity bills is due to software error. That is baloney because its a complete lie and an excuse to get away with murder. Though I am not an IT expert, it is common knowledge that software is written by programmers and software has codes. It is what the programmer tells the software that it does. If it is software malfunctioning, then all what is required is the reprogramming of the code and I have checked this with an expert in power sector. Why has ECG waited for nearly six months and not corrected the software malfunctioning? Because it has an axe to grind with the Mahama government, to make it unelectable in November to stop the privatisation of ECG.

I understand from the expert I spoke to that reprogramming the software to correct the anomaly should take days and not weeks, so why ECG is not doing that? If ECG purchased the software through a contract, then it must go back to the contractor to correct the mistake within days but the expert tells me that the software malfunctioning could be deliberate to defraud consumers.

The irony of this whole theft by ECG is that the excess money from the astronomical tariffs will end in the pockets of ECG staff and as revenue for the state. Moreover, no one at ECG will be sanctioned for this fraud. If President Mahama wants to secure his success in November, he should speak to experts outside ECG to know the truth. That way he can hold those responsible for this politically motivated fraud on the people accountable. Some heads must roll at ECG, PURC, the Standards Board Authority and Ministry of Power because they have directly allowed the perpetration of this illegal and criminal act by ECG. PURC because what they approved is not what ECG is charging consumers but it failed to act to stop ECG acting outside the law. Standards Board Authority because it is the body with the mandate to check the quality standards of goods and services in Ghana and it also failed to check that ECGs new metres met the approved tariffs and finally the power ministry as it has the ultimate responsibility.

The technocrats are deceiving the president about the root causes of the problems with electricity generation and distribution as well as the solutions for far too long. For example, I cannot understand why Ghana should rely heavily on unstainable sources of energy (natural gas and diesel) to produce electricity when the sun is in abundance in Ghana. A policy to shift to solar would have resolved the problems in three years. I suggested in an earlier article that businesses and home owners in Ghana should be given tax incentives to import and install solar panels to generate their electricity, instead of generators which are not only expensive but also pollute the environment. The expert I spoke also recommended that all public institutions in Ghana from the presidency to district assemblies and public educational institutions should install solar panels to generate their own electricity to reduce demand on the national grid.

Instead of a solar policy for the future electricity needs of Ghana, I understand some lunatics within the government are talking about building coal power station. There are no coal deposits in Ghana so where will Ghana get the coal from? President Mahama should reject this stupidity outright for very good reasons. Coal will pollute the environment and cause health problems for generations to come. For example, coal power station built in Accra will pollute areas in the radius of from Accra to Cape Coast. When most countries with coal deposits in Europe and the US are turning to solar why should Ghana with sun in abundance turn to coal from China? The money for building coal power station should be invested in renewables such as solar.

President Mahamas government must be strategic in finding short, medium and long-term solutions to the electricity shortage in Ghana. It must avoid anything and everything goes mentality because that could create more problems than solutions in the future. For example, full cost recovery must only come from consumers but also efficiency savings by ECG through staff reduction and increased productivity. The problem of wastage within the distribution system must be addressed. At moment twenty percent of electricity produced is lost through distribution because of old distribution network. That is compounded by theft through illegal connection with the connivance of ECG staff.

Resolving the power crisis in Ghana should be multifaceted but certainly not coal. The first point of call is more reliance on renewable and sustainable sources of power and that is solar. There is no or very little transmission cost for solar because it is produced locally and used locally. The sun is in abundance throughout Ghana and solar panels could be installed in the remotest corners of Ghana. The future government policy should be solar, solar and solar.

In conclusion, the extraordinary electricity tariff charged by ECG is deliberate and politically motivated sabotage against the president because he agreed to PPP for ECG under the Power Africa programme. Too kind President Mahama must crack the whip and stop this nonsense immediately. Those responsible for this theft, fraud and sabotage must be held accountable for every pesewa collected and prosecuted for illegal and criminal acts or President Mahama will go down in history as the first one term president. Heads must roll at ECG, PURC, Standards Board Authority and Ministry of Power. President Mahama must as a matter of urgency appoint a substantive minister for power because the greatest threat to his second term remains electricity or lack of it and the price consumers pay for it.

Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK
One of the ironies of being a Pakistani living abroad, especially in the West, is having to pose as Indian. According to Asghar Choudhri, the chairman of Brooklyns Pakistani American Merchant Association, a lot of Pakistanis cant get jobs after 9/11 and after the botched Times Square bombing of 2010, its even worse. They are now pretending they are Indian so they can get a job, he told a US wire service.

That is because while Indians are highly integrated immigrants  besides being the highest educated and best paid of all ethnic groups in the US  Pakistanis have taken part in terrorist activities in the very lands that gave them shelter. (Even the frequent Gallup surveys conducted in the US, found out repeatedly that the biggest threat to the international security and peace are: nr. 3 Saudis; nr. 2 Pakistanis, and nr.1  surprise, surprise  the US itself.)

From Ramzi Yousef, who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 (8 years before Bin Laden) and is now serving a 240-year prison sentence to Mir Aimal Kansi, who shot dead CIA agents and was later executed by lethal injection, to Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square Idiot Bomber, there is a long line of Pakistanis who have left a trail of terror.

The San Bernardino, California, attack of December 2015 by a Pakistani American couple was the most spectacular in recent times. The husband was American-born raised and yet he chose to launch a terror act against the people of the United States.

But while Pakistanis wear an Indian mask for Western consumption, back home its business as usual.

Two incidents amply demonstrate that Pakistanis have learnt nothing. One was the widespread outrage across the country over Osama Bin Ladens killing by American commandos. In response to Americas exposure of Bin Ladens hiding place, Pakistan moved to shut down the informant network that lead the Americans there.

The other was the unholy fracas over CIA shooter Kansis execution. The day after Kansi was sentenced to death by an American court, four Americans were shot dead on the streets of Pakistan. His funeral was attended by the entire civilian administration in his hometown Quetta, the local Pakistani Corps Commander, and the then Pakistani ambassador to the United States.

Thousands of mourners turned out as Quetta city shuttered down. Kansis coffin, draped in black cloth with verses from the Koran embroidered on it in gold, was carried on the shoulders of young men some 10 miles from the airport to his familys home in Quetta. In Islamabad, the capital city, lawyers and university students poured out on the streets.

Misplaced sympathy

The irony of outpourings of support for hardened terrorists is that Pakistan is seriously impacted by terrorism. A global study by the London-based Institute for Economics and Peace ranks Pakistan fourth on the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) list, behind Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

According to the study, Terrorism remains highly concentrated with most (58 per cent) of the activity occurring in just five countries  Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria.

It mentions the most fatal terrorist attack in Pakistan, of 2014: Assailants detonated an explosives-laden vehicle and then stormed the Army Public School in Peshawar city, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. At least 150 students and staff were killed and 131 were wounded in the attack. All seven assailants were either killed by security forces or detonated their explosives-laden vests.

The gunmen belonged to the terrorist group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is also known as the Pakistani Taliban because it is based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is an offshoot of the original Taliban which was created by Pakistan as a weapon to be used against Afghanistan and India.

State sponsored terror

That Pakistan is a state sponsor of terror is well known. In Hillary Clintons words to Islamabad, if you harbour snakes in your backyard, dont expect them to only bite your neighbour.

It was Pakistans demagogue dictator General Zia-ul-Haq who declared that we will bleed India with a thousand cuts. The reckoning was that since Pakistan can never hope to win a war against India, then India must be hit with terrorism. To this effect, Pakistan first supported Kashmiri and Sikh separatists, armed them and provided them safe bases on its territory.

When both these terror campaigns failed, Pakistan created an alphabet soup of home grown terror groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami. These two were complemented by the Haqqani network and the original Taliban, which has now split into dozens of splinter groups, some of which are still controlled by the Pakistan military and its chief intelligence agency, the ISI.

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of US, Mike Mullen has described the Haqqani Network as the veritable arm of Pakistan's ISI. Mullen said the ISI was supporting the Haqqani network, which attacked the US embassy in Kabul in September 2011 and also the September 2011 NATO truck bombing which injured 77 coalition soldiers and killed five Afghan civilians.

In a November 2014 interview to the BBC, the adviser to the Pakistani Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz said Pakistan should not target militants like the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network, which do not threaten Pakistan's security.

Indeed, Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world which believes in good terrorists (who attack the West, India and Israel) and bad terrorists (who target Pakistan). An example of a good terrorist group is the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which regularly conducts mass rallies and congregation, advocating jihad in Kashmir. For its December 2014 rally, Pakistan ran two special trains to carry the crowd to Lahore. India's foreign ministry termed this as nothing short of mainstreaming of terrorism. The congregation was held near Pakistan's national monument, the Minar-e-Pakistan, where 4000 policemen provided security.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is the group responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai terror attack, which led to the deaths of 156 innocent people. On December 3, 2008 Indian officials named Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhavi, a top leader of the Lashkar, as one of four possible major planners behind the attacks. Four days later, Pakistani armed forces arrested Lakhvi in a raid on a training camp near Muzafarabad in Pakistani Kashmir.

Destroying evidence

Pakistan doesnt want to bring terrorists like Lakhavi to justice because that would expose its sponsorship of terror groups. After India produced evidence of the Lashkars hand in the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan did the predictable. In order to claim that none of these guys were technically within Pakistan, the ISI asked the terrorists involved in the attack to leave the country.

But it turned out to be a big mistake as one of these terrorists was caught in Saudi Arabia, which presented him on a platter to India. During his interrogation by Indian investigators, the terrorist revealed he was one of the key people tasked with training the 10 Mumbai attackers. He said he was in the control room near the international airport in Karachi from where Lakhavi was directing the attackers. He also said that after Lakhvi's arrest in December 2008, the Pakistanis destroyed the control room in Karachi.

Pathankot denial

The January 2016 attack on an air force base in Pathankot, India, in which seven Indian security guards and six terrorists were killed, will give you an idea of how Pakistan continues to deny links with terror groups on its own soil.

After the Indians allowed a Pakistani investigation team to visit the air base, the Pakistanis raised the outrageous claim that the attack was carried out by India to defame Islamabad. This has a parallel in 9/11 deniers in Muslim countries where everyone seems to be convinced that Israel and the US were behind the Twin Tower attacks.

According to the Indian Express newspaper, the Pakistani investigators were given a full transcript of the telephonic conversations between the terrorists and their Pakistani handlers along with their identity. The Indian side gave the Pakistanis the links of Pakistani officials, believed to be ISI personnel, with the handlers of the terrorists. They were provided with electronic and forensic evidence regarding the slain terrorists Pakistani links, name of the terrorists and several other critical evidence after an exhaustive probe conducted by India.

The Pakistani team was given concrete proof that a senior terrorist leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed was in constant touch with the terrorists and giving them necessary instructions during the three-day carnage.

And yet Pakistan claims it was a stage managed attack by India.

Pakistans image

The stark reality is that Pakistan has now become synonymous with terror. An unfortunate fallout of the countrys long association with terror is that ordinary Pakistanis worldwide appear tainted. A broad survey released on June 27, 2012 by the United States-based Pew Research Centers Global Attitudes says that in a number countries, including China, as well as several Muslim countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and Lebanon, the majority populations negatively view Pakistanis.

Pakistan is not only a universally disliked country but the Pakistanis themselves have learnt nothing from their history, continuing to support the very actors who are responsible for Pakistans negative image.

It is a measure of Pakistans penchant for exporting terrorists, counterfeit currency and drugs that India has constructed a 1400 km long steel fence across its border with its wayward western neighbour. The floodlit fence, which is patrolled 24/7, can be seen from space as a bright orange line snaking from the coast to Kashmir.

Iran is also building a 700 km steel and concrete security fence along its border with Pakistan to prevent border crossing by terrorists and drug traffickers. When complete it will make Pakistan the most fenced-in country in the world.

In four of the five predominantly Muslim nations covered by the survey, over half gave Pakistan negative ratings. Jordan (57 percent), Lebanon (56 percent), Tunisia (54 percent) and Egypt (53 percent) had an unfavourable opinion of Pakistan. The only exception was Turkey, where attitudes were divided (43 percent negative and 37 percent favourable).

In East Asia, 52 percent of Chinese saw Pakistan unfavourably, as did 59 percent in Japan and 59 percent in India. The Chinese statistic is not surprising as Pakistan-trained Chinese Uighur Muslims have launched terror strikes in their remote province in China. Japan deported around 15,000 Pakistanis after 9/11.

Beaten, corrupt military most loved

Every country has an army but the Pakistan Army has a country. The Pakistani military is the most corrupt institution in the land, with a finger in every national pie. Army officers get prime plots of land post-retirement at a third of the market price. It is certainly a case of generals fattening at the expense of an increasingly poor population.

The Pakistani military has lost fours against India. After every war, Pakistan has lost territory, face and the credibility of its fighting forces. And yet Pakistanis rate this military very highly.As many as 77 percent said the military has a good influence on the country.

The media came next with a 68 percent rating, followed by religious leaders at 66 percent.

With religious zealots getting a solid two-thirds rating, is it any surprise that support for using the Pakistani military to fight extremist groups has declined over the last three years? Opposition to using the army to fight extremist organisations is especially high in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (where 54 percent opposed) and Baluchistan (50 percent).

Biting the hand that feeds

India does not get any aid from the United States and yet among all 21 nations Pew surveyed, Indians seemed most favourably disposed towards it. Only 12 percent said they had unfavourable opinion of the United States. On the other hand, 80 percent of Pakistanis had a negative opinion of America, with 74 percent regarding it as an enemy country.

American aid efforts were seen in a negative light by Pakistanis although the country continues to get billions of dollars of US aid. Around four-in-ten (38 percent) said US economic aid was having a mostly negative impact on Pakistan, while just 12 percent believed it was mostly positive. Similarly, 40 percent thought American military aid was having a mostly negative effect, while only 8 percent said it was largely positive.

This is a snapshot of Pakistan, where the arrow of time is travelling backwards, taking them into a cycle of medieval madness. Where the death of a terrorist merely means he will be instantly replaced by a hundred clones.

About the author:

Rakesh Krishnan Simha

New Zealand-based journalist and foreign affairs analyst. According to him, he writes on stuff the media distorts, misses or ignores.

Rakesh started his career in 1995 with New Delhi-based Business World magazine, and later worked in a string of positions at other leading media houses such as India Today, Hindustan Times, Business Standard and the Financial Express, where he was the news editor.

He is the Senior Advisory Board member of one of the fastest growing Europes foreign policy platforms: Modern Diplomacy.
Okoe Vanderpuije

30.05.2016 LISTEN

ACCRA, May 26-- --The cordial and symbiotic relations that have existed between the church and state over decades are drawing to a close as Mayor of Accra, Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije is portraying another side of state power towards churches.

A sinister agenda which has had the use of the names of Education Minister, Prof. Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang and the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afote Agbo is being unleashed against churches throughout the Accra Metropolitan Area (AMA).

Last year a directive was issued by the AMA boss for all churches which had rented classrooms for use for evening and Sunday services to vacate these classrooms, with immediate effect.

At least a landlord would have given the tenant a few months to look for a new place, but Okoe Vanderpuijes directive was with immediate effect.

When some of the clergy sought and got audience with the beaded mayor under whose reign the city and county witnessed in June 2015 the worst ever effect of flooding, with the loss of about 150 lives, he told them point bank, their activities on the school premises were the cause of the abysmal performances being churned out by the schools .

All explanations and pleadings fell on deaf ears and the Mayors edict held sway with just a little consideration that the churches could use the compounds but not the classrooms.

The mayor who is an elder in the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) told the church leaders that the decision was part of the policy of this particular government to stop churches from using classrooms for worship, although the worship times do not coincide with school hours.

Some of the churches which could not move immediately therefore procured canopies under which they worship on Sunday mornings and at evening services.

The use of classrooms by churches at non-class hours, which is a gestation or transitional period for many churches and church branches within the hours of 5 pm and 8 pm two week days and then on Sunday morning which in all wont be more than 12 hours on the average for majority of churches has its own positive sides.

Admittedly some few churches may have mishandled some school furniture, but once that is brought to the attention of the their leaders, these attitudes get curtailed.

Notwithstanding the fact that the churches rent the classrooms for which they pay at least a token to the school authorities, majority of the churches also contribute towards maintenance of some of the school structures fixing electrical fittings and even installing burglar proofing windows and doors for the schools to prevent the constant break-ins by thieves which is a regular occurrence in most of the basic schools in Accra, some school heads admitted.

In many communities, including Boundary Road Schools at Adabraka, Ringway Estates JHS, Kanda Cluster of Schools, Anunmle, Cluster of Schools, Nmai Jor just to mention a few, hooligans had been the school premises as dens for smoking weed, defecating and other forms of social vices. Some members of the communities even slept in the classrooms at night.

But in all these places heads of schools and Circuit Supervisors confirmed that where churches have teamed up with school authorities to put effective measures in place the crimes and anti-social practices on the school premises have reduced drastically.

It is therefore surprising that the Accra Mayor and his advisors are, in the style of Emperor Nero in AD 60 citing church activities for the weak results some of the schools churn out.

To make matters worse, another directive was issued by the AMA in March 2016 citing the orders of the Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo that even the use of the school compounds by the churches must cease.

When contacted. Public Relations Officer (PRO) of AMA, Numo Blafo asserted that the order being executed came from the AMA boss.

It is an order from the MCE that is being executed, the PRO said on Wednesday morning via telephone.

When pressed further as to whether the order wasnt coming from government or the education ministry Blafo responded in the negative insisting that it was Vanderpuijes orders.

END.

Justice Lee Adoboe Senior Correspondent Accra Bureau of the Xinhua News Agency Tel. 0302771128 Fax. 0302771196 Cell. 233243364994/233267220568 web: www.xinhuanet.com/enlish-Africa www.fighana.com
30.05.2016 LISTEN

"...I am trained to be objective and resolute...The shrewd Lee Kwan Yew kept himself in power amidst strong opposition at home, just like Dr. Nkrumah, and prevailed upon his enemies to transform his country from a third world to first world country...The question we all should ask ourselves is, how come CPP, a party of that won two elections hands down...has been reduced to a rump spectacle in Ghana politics...Nkrumah failed in many fronts - politically and economically...Where is OAU today? Where is Ghana, Guinea, Mali confederation today? People of Ghana supported the CIA induced coup mainly because of economic hardship at the time...Ghana's tax structure which was the bait to attract foreign investors was non-existent, and is still the case today...Nkrumah himself never paid taxes as far as we know...Ghana is still losing millions in revenue leakage. Had Nkrumah set the tone for taxation, how could Rawlings have enshrined it in Ghana's constitution that Presidents are exempt from paying taxes....", (Kwabena Yeboah, comments to Prof Lungu, May, 2016).

Dogs can also be trained to be resolute and objective, to dog owner and stranger, alike, practically!

As we've said more than once, these essay are for a particular class of individuals and the corrupt institutions they support and champion. As such, it ain't about Kwbena Yeboah, per se, bizarre and unfair as his arguments are to the work of Kwame Nkrumah.

It is a lot more important than that!

At 60 years old by our rounding privilege, one ought to be more boastful about the number of young ones mentored, those being mentored, the societal and positive effects on transference to others you do not even know, by your deed.

Parading objectivity on your forehead while at the same time ascribing every conceivable Ghanaian problem worth measuring on Dr. Kwame Nkrumah today, even Rawlings indemnity clause, and the high executive tax-free racket, all that do not objective you make.

Never mind, if Kwabena Yeboah was truly objective, he would have reported that those Rawlings schemes are nowhere in the 1957 Constitution, or even in the 1960 Constitution under which Kwame Nkrumah became President of Ghana. But, he never bother to check, he does not care, or he is more interested in propaganda.

And so, Rip Van Winkle has now come full circle!

That is your effective self, now reduced to blaming time for the stuff your "training" never prepared you to conceptualize.

Fairness is a human attribute that even dogs understand.

We present data and facts "trained" dogs can't even understand, and you refuse to interrogate the data.

And you refuse to present your own, as you dig into your solitary corner hurling all kinds of invectives at everyone.

You are under a contract, yet your words are naturally a poor reflection on whoever awarded you the contract you claim to have won, if you have a modicum of reflection in you. Your "peer-reviewed" paper also informs the world, objectively, that you did not actually write the paper by your solitary damn self, being a reflection of you and your "peers".

And we have written and reviewed some of those too!

And more important documents and communiques!

Moving on further, the only significant external challenge that Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore faced was the one from President Sukarno of Indonesia. When Sukarno resigned in March of 1966, Mr. Yew had no hands in that at all. It was a benefit bestowed on Yew, by other forces.

Kwame Nkrumah's CPP government was overthrown the previous month, in February, the same year.

And we are supposed to understand that the Kwabena Yeboah's are erudite "intellectuals", in their attempts to hologram Kwame Nkrumah's image and record on their wicked, ungrateful, and unforgiving "property owning" screen.

It was colonial over-lord Gordon Guggisberg who built Takoradi Harbor!

But, Kwame Nkrumah never built anything but waste Ghana's money.

Nice try loving your selves and brains!

Dear reader, many individuals confuse our project for Kwame Nkrumah with support for the CPP of today, or a quarter century ago. One has nothing to do with the other. One does not have to be too intelligent to know that never in our work, not anywhere, have we made a case for today's CPP.

But, why wise and reflective "intellectuals" the likes of Kwabene Yeboah do not know the reason the CPP of Ghana "has been reduced to a rump spectacle in Ghana politics," confirms again that the Kwabena Yeboahs are indeed living in the world of Rip Van Winkle.

THE LAST WE HEARD IT UNDERSCORED RECENTLY, IT WAS ADOLESCENT GHANAIAN STUDENTS WHO OBSERVED THAT, AT THEIR AGE, KWAME NKRUMAH IS THE ONLY LEADER FROM GHANA WHOSE IMAGE, RECORDS, AND ACHIEVEMENTS FOR GHANA, HAVE BEEN BANISHED FROM SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS ALL ACROSS GHANA.

And it does not take a rocket scientist to understand the linkage to the question our Kwabena Yeboah wants answers to. All they need to do is take a look outside, at the Texas School Board in the United States, and the adoption of "text" in public school textbooks.

And of course, the outlawing of the CPP itself by the original coup plotters, and those who followed, for generations.

Yes, Kwame Nkrumah is the only leader from Ghana whose image, records, and achievements have effectively been banished from school textbooks all across Ghana.

So, sir, go mentor those adolescents, and many more like them, and promise to do right by those conscious and intelligent adolescents.

Go fetch that, "trained" Kwabena Yeboah!

Take your case elsewhere.

Still moving forward, our group of 60-year olds (some promoted to "age" by rounding privilege as we've noted), are arguing as if the "CIA induced coup" (this is the first time our Kwabena Yeboah has mentioned the "CIA" in almost a month of back-and-forth), was broadcast as such. It is as if the event was broadcast all over Ghanaian and African radio, television, and newspaper headlines, when Kwame Nkrumah's government was overthrown in 1966.

Obviously, that was never the case, unless you are Rip Van Winkle!

The Ankrah-Harlley-Kotoka-Nunoo traitor bunch did not announce to Ghanaians that the "CIA induced coup" was in fact "induced" by the Johnson CIA. And they had every opportunity to do that the same week, even in Addis Ababa, just as the OAU was getting ready to meet, in 1966.

But they didn't!

And there are official records that prove that the Johnson government cajoled many African Heads of State, from Liberia, to Ethiopia, to swiftly support publicly the coup plotters, before the US did, just so the People of Ghana, Africans, and the World, would not know that, that original coup on Ghana was actually a "CIA induced coup".

With respect to Singapore, if we must repeat, Lee Kwan Yew, brilliant as he was, owned his successes in part to the resignation of President Sukarno, which he did not have a hand in. Yew owned his success in part to the fact that the first most critical aggressive actions taken against the Singapore opposition, against so-called communist and socialists, against even members of Yew's own PAP party, were actually conducted and accomplished by another individual, before Yew even won an election. Yew owned his success in part because of the location of Singapore (i.e. geo-political factors). Singapore was an "island". Ghana never was. Yew owned his success in part to the idea the British built a more substantive military and industrial base in Singapore, and the almost 50% higher GDP per capita for Singapore at the start, compared to Ghana, is a testament, as we've discussed previously. (How does that mean we said Singapore was "industrialized" those early years?).

But, the United States already had Liberia, in West Africa, and their Informer-Head-President!

So, what use, Ghana, to President Johnson's CIA?

What use, even as Johnson battled racists in the south of the United States as he expended capital to help enact the Civil Rights act; as Martin Luther King and his conscience prodded him on, lost in the twilight of the Vietnam War he would soon escalate, after Nkrumah's fall?

Village idiots appreciate those differences and nuances!

Ankrah lied to Ghana, to Africa, and to the World!

That truth, that Ankrah-Harlley-Kotoka-Nunoo traitor bunch lied to Ghanaians has never been fully adjudicated for every Ghanaian, woman, man, and child, to know and understand.

But, it ought to be!

From Akosombo Dam to the estate farms, to VALCO, to the factories and refineries, to Accra-Tema Motorway, to Adomi Bridge, to Kumasi GEE Hospital, to the first class education system and secondary schools, to the doctors educated and trained, to support for Ghanaian/African culture, Kwame Nkrumah provided a solid foundation for Ghana, even after his overthrow.

It is people like the Kwabena Yeboahs whose feigned objectivity and impartiality is as hollow as straws made of funky-rotten peanuts, whose praise of that coup "induced by the CIA" with the support of external governments, it is they who sold and still are selling for a song all the blessings Providence has allowed Ghana, including Kwame Nkrumah assets worth in the billions of dollars, as they've practiced military dictatorships and "property-owning democracy".

They are the first to banish people from any substantive policy discourse because others "stifle debates about Dr. Nkrumah's government". So, it is those people who are "enemies of the country".

Nice try!

Surely, the records show the Ankrah-Harlley-Kotoka-Nunoo gang banished, imprisoned, and shot a lot more people than Nkrumah ever did.

And the destruction of all those public assets and resources, including those they freely gave away to the United State, to haul out of Ghana at nightfall!

Did they ever sit down to calculate the loss they caused, or that who actually paid what to support other Africans fighting colonialism in time?

No, it is Kwabena Yeboah parrot boxes and the Ankrah-Harlley-Kotoka-Nunoo traitor-gang, and those latter day leaders who destroyed more, and sold even more without transparent accounting, and their CIA handlers, it is they who are directly responsible for Ghana's development quagmire, and their nonsensical Singapore GDP today this, Ghana GDP today, that, comparisons.

Where is the symmetry and the fairness, Mr. trained "intellectual"?

Look yourselves in the mirror and answer you own illogical question(s)!

Directly responding to Kwabena Yeboah and his ignoble attempts to tag YAW as just "ANOTHER CPP APPARATCHIK ?", YAW provided the following response which ought to be instructive for all. It is instructive to the extent YAWs' response is historically grounded, unlike the suppositions, inventions, and bunkum interpretations of those "foundation events" of crucial importance to the development of Ghana by sycophants who think merely claiming objectivity make them so.

Here is YAW:

"...When Ann San Su Kyi, faced the wrath of the Burmese generals, she did not jump to a foreign power to come and do her bidding, she toughed it out!...When Ferdinand Marcos, unleashed the army on the defenceless people in the Phillipines, they did not beg the French or the British to come to their rescue...JB Traitor Danquah and his bomb throwers did more harm to us than Nkrumah. Finally, When the US government refused Nasser of Egypt, a modest loan of 70 million dollars to build the Aswan Dam, he turned to the soviets and the result,...Aswan Dam which has been the backbone of Egypt industry since it was completed..."

In closing, YAW added this to the record, "...Let me make it clear to you (Kwabena Yeboah), that you do not hold monopoly on insults!...".

That, we know to also be true!

In closing Part 4, we are offering Kwabena Yeboah and his type another opportunity to interrogate real data, precisely the data they normally neglect to present or to interrogate when it is the only rational and "intellectual" thing to do. But one must actually believe what one is trying to communicate to others.

The figure, again....(Figure 3)



By 1964, within four years, from a low $182.98, through the efforts of the CPP government, Ghana's GDP per capita was $230.44, compared to $485.36 for Singapore. That suggests Singapore's was now just 110.62% of Ghana, (versus 133.84% in 1960). This is a reduction or catching up by Ghana, of approximately 23.22%.

The next year, in 1965, through further development efforts by the CPP government, the difference in GDP per capita between the 2 countries had shrunk to approximately 93.86%, from a high 133.84% in 1960.

TO THE POINT, LOOKING AT THE RATE OF GROWTH OF GDP PER CAPITA, GHANA IN FACT OUTPACED SINGAPORE DURING THE YEARS 1963-1965. IN OTHER WORDS, GHANA WAS ACTUALLY ON TRACK TO PERFORM EVEN BETTER IN LATER YEARS THANKS TO THE INDUSTRIALIZATION PLAN, IMPORT SUBSTITUTION PROGRAMS, AND EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM THAT WAS BEGINNING TO BEAR FRUITS FOR ALL IN GHANA, UNDER THE NKRUMAH GOVERNMENT.

Under these facts and condition, it is surely absurd and illogical, actually the mark of old mad men, to attempt to ascribe development problems in Ghana in 2016 to Kwame Nkrumah, more than 2 generations removed. In addition, it is absurd and illogical, to think you are smarter when all you are communicating is that Lee Kwan Yew was a better strategist when you do not present any data that supports your thesis.

To be continued.....

SOURCES:

1. Prof Lungu. Only mad 60-year olds fault Kwame Nkrumah for Ghana's development quagmire (1) (2)(3). Ghanaweb (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/browse.archive.php?date=20160515/)

(http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Only-mad-60-year-olds-fault-Nkrumah-for-Ghana-s-development-quagmire-440970/)

(http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Only-mad-60-year-olds-fault-Nkrumah-for-Ghana-s-dev-t-quagmire-Part-3-442516).

2. David Meredith. The Construction of Takoradi Harbour in the Gold Coast 1919 to 1930: A Case Study in Colonial Development and Administration. 1976, Transafrican Journal of History, Vol. 5, No. 1 (1976), pp. 134-149.

Visit for more information:

www.GhanaHero.com .

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Prof Lungu is Ghana-Centered/Ghana-Proud!

Subj: Only mad 60-year olds fault Kwame Nkrumah for Ghana's dev't quagmire (4).

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Brought to you courtesy www.GhanaHero.com29 May 16.
Your Excellency, Mr Ami Mehl,

You would recall that the USA wing of The Coalition to Elect Nana Addo & Bawumia (CENAB-USA) wrote you an open letter through Ghanaweb.com and other online news outlets about some concerns over the specific role(s) that STL played in the 2012 elections of Ghana, the conflicting statements from officialdom on STLs alleged involvement in results transmission, their (STL) deafening silence on the matter, and, what we saw as the need for your high office to intervene. Please see:

http://mail.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/An-Open-Letter-to-the-Israeli-Ambassador-to-Ghana-430381.

Your Excellency, we have been privileged and humbled to learn that your office has taken steps to seek clarity on the matters that we raised. This holds true and gives well deserving meaning to the attributes of your country as a friend of Ghana, a friend of democracy. We are extremely grateful for giving our open letter the needed attention.

It is recalled that the Minister of Interior, Prosper Bani, on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 issued a statement, saying, STL is the company contracted by the Electoral Commission to transmit tallied election results.

Two weeks after we wrote our open letter to Your Excellency, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission was on air announcing that the Commission has no contract with the EC to transmit results.

Four years earlier, on Saturday, December 8, 2012, the day after the general elections, the then EC Chairman, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, had issued a similar statement, which said, The Commissions attention has been drawn to allegations that it has engaged the services of a company to do electronic transmission and collation of results on its behalf. We wish to state emphatically that no such engagement has been made, neither is the Commission doing electronic transmission of results.

Until then, what was known was that STL had won the open international bid in 2011 to supply and maintain the biometric verification devices used for the biometric registration and verification, and manage the data of registered voters.

STL AND RESULTS TRANSMISSION IN 2012

Dr. Afari Gyans December 8, 2012 statement was in reaction to angry supporters of the New Patriotic Party storming the Dzorwulu offices of STL over allegations that transmitted results were being changed in the premises. Party representatives, some with IT expertise, including Joe Anokye of the NPP and Dr Nii Narku Quaynor of the NDC, visited the Dzorwulu office of STL, in the company of security agents, to investigate the allegations.

Perhaps, unknown to the EC then, in fact, staff members of STL were transparent enough and openly showed to the political representatives evidence of the role they were asked by the EC to play regarding results transmission, which they said was limited to providing only backup communication (Radio/Satellite) lines to support facsimile transmission of results. There is an official video of the entire meeting captured by the Ghana Police.

The question then, Your Excellency, is this: why was the EC so manifestly reluctant to share this seemingly harmless information with the general public? Our open letter to you was motivated by a few considerations. One, we simply do not trust the Electoral Commission. Two, STL appears to have a No Comment policy covering its contractual relationship with the EC in Ghana, which does not help. More importantly, the 2016 general elections coming on the heels of the disputed 2012 polls, and after two terms of the ruling NDC, and at a time of grave socio-economic challenges facing Ghanaians can either make or break the countrys young democracy. Ghana cannot enter another election with any such thick clouds of suspicion on the role being played by strategic vendors in the electoral process.

Ghanaians demand and deserve full transparency and integrity in this regard. Your Excellency, we do not underestimate the influence that the international community, especially Israel, can play in helping Ghana emerge from this years contest with its stability and democracy fully intact and, possibly, enhanced for the greater project of consolidating democracy in Africa. The diplomatic intervention that we seek should not be construed to mean interference. The Government of Israel, we wish to stress, cannot be an ordinary bystander in this, at least, because of the strategic, sensitive role that STL, a Ghanaian registered company with Israeli management, is playing in Ghanas electoral process.

Thus, our decision to write to you was necessitated by the above considerations, and our confidence in Your Excellency, personally, as a listening ambassador and the global recognition of the Israeli State as a functioning democracy that knows all too well the cost of conflict, tensions, suspicions and instability. We have so far not been disappointed.

We are told by our sources at the EC that Your Excellencys intervention helped to persuade Mrs Charlotte Osei to grant a television interview to TV3 on April 30, 2016. She used the opportunity to eventually throw some light on the contractual role of STL. She described STL as a strategic vendor that provides the biometric registration kit that we use for the creation of the biometric register. She also mentioned STL as the supplier of the Voter Management System (VMS) that the EC uses to manage the registration database. STL again, she said, provides the Wide Area Network (WAN), which is used to transmit registration data from the districts to the centre. Also, STL supplies the biometric verification devices used on election day, the EC boss added. In her words, the EC works closely with the STL. STL maintains the database with our staff. We sit with them and they work closely with us, she stressed.

E-TRANSMISSION OF RESULTS IN 2016

Your Excellency, our focus is not to dwell on the past, but to only use the past as a guide into the future and see how best Ghana can remedy some of the situations casting a dark pall over the 2012 general elections. Key among these is the transmission of election results. Your Excellency, we have taken note of the fact that the EC has opened tender for IT companies to bid for the contract to electronically transfer results as part of its internal and external reform mechanisms to ensure a free, fair and credible elections.

We know of 16 companies, most of them international, that submitted bids last month for the procurement of ICT-Based Election Results Management Systems (ERMS) for the 2016 November or December general elections. STL is not on the list. So, what is clear is that beyond the role that STL currently plays, which includes the provision of communications lines for the EC, the Commission is going ahead to contract another firm to undertake the specific task of transmitting result electronically. This takes us now to some lingering but vital technical issues that must be addressed:

Will this e-transmission, for instance, be done independent of STLs WAN?

Will the EC wait until it gets all the Statement of Polls and Collation Sheets physically delivered at the National Collation Centre before declaring the presidential results?

How will we ensure that all the BVD machines will work on the D-Day and that we will not revisit the situation in 2012, where polling had to be postponed in but a few areas because of issues with the verification device?

Is the EC committed to giving Ghanaians a clean register, since so far, majority of Ghanaians do not think so?

Will the process of cleaning up the register, in line with the Supreme Court decision, be done at all?

If so, will it be done transparently and in time for the proposed November 7 D-Day?

Will the process of removing all successful challenges from the electoral roll and presenting each party with the complete register be done in time for November 7?

Will EC and STL ensure that tested and reliable BVD machines are deployed at all 29,000 polling stations and in time for the proposed November 7, 2016 date for the general elections?

In short, is Ghana ready for November 7?

You Excellency, these are some of the questions that Ghanaians expect the entire diplomatic community to focus on. Not just Israel. However, Israel, we believe, have a special interest in seeing Ghana getting it right. So long as STL continues to play a key strategic role in our electoral affairs, Israel has a morale responsibility to show greater interest in helping Ghana to get it right.

A prosperous, peaceful democratic Ghana is a prosperous, peaceful, democratic Israel. We continue to enjoy the unbridled diplomacy and enviable camaraderie between our nation and Israel. We know Israel will always be by Ghana's side.

Your Excellency, CENAB-USA counts on your usual cooperation.

Thank you.

Signed:

Amponsah Stonash

CENAB-USA
The President of the Institute of Human Resources Management Practitioners, Ghana (IHRMP), Mr. John Wilson has called on Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Corporate Ghana to move from just partnering with Human Resources (HR) to a more current position of player in a strategic management role where HR impacts strategic performance by forging a talent advantage.

Mr. Wilson made this call when he delivered his address at the maiden CEOs Forum organized by the IHRMP, Ghana on Thursday, 26th May, 2016 at the Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra.

I wish to reiterate that our HR World has changed into the Talent Age coming from the Industrial Age where we were seen to be POLITE and nice to people but do not impact the business. We moved to the Knowledge Age now classified as Human Resource era where again we have been policing. This we did by reducing trouble by focusing on cost compliance and consistency. Since then we have moved to partnering to help Business Partners be successful and currently into the very latest position of player in a Strategic management role where HR impacts strategic performance by forging a talent advantage, Mr. Wilson explained.

The Guest Speaker of the programme, Dr. Adu A. Antwi, CEO of Securities & Exchange Commission, who spoke on behalf of the CEOs said, In a nutshell, change must happen to ensure that HR Practitioners work in harmony to foster better working relationship for the overall benefit of the organization.

Dr. Antwi made three key suggestions to CEOs as follows:

1. In as much as there is the need for HR Practitioners to up their game by upskilling themselves to meet the new expectations of the Corporate World, CEOs must demonstrate the belief that HR is central and critical to the success of the business and appreciate that the organization is as good and competent as the people it is comprised of.

2. CEOs must be clear in their definition of key deliverables for the HR departments and hold every HR Practitioner accountable for time bound results.

3. CEOs would have to invest in the development of HR Practitioners.

Speaking on behalf of the National Labour Commission, Dr. ( Mrs.) Bernice Welbeck, the Director of HR and Admin, made an impressive presentation to the participants, pointing out that the most valuable assets of any company is certainly the human capital, citing examples of cases of HR issues that has been brought to the commission by organizations in Ghana.

The Executive Director of IHRMP, Ghana, Mr. Ebenezer Agbettor in his welcome address mentioned that the CEOs Forum has been on the drawing board for some time now and was pleased that it had finally become a reality.

Getting champions of industry to gather at a single platform to discuss issues confronting HR Practitioners and their organizations is what this forum is all about. We express our deep felt appreciation to Starlife Assurance and GCB Bank for the support that has made the maiden programme a success, the Executive Director said.
The Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted on Thursday, May 26, Russia-Ghana business forum which attracted representatives from Russian industrial and commercial sectors. The forum was also attended by a small Ghanaian delegation.

The forum was organized to highlight investment opportunities as well as to find ways of promoting trade between the two countries. The were various presentations of economic and investment potential of Ghana, so also were extensive discussions and interaction among the participants at the forum.

In a welcome speech, the Ghana's Ambassador to the Russian Federation and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), H.E. (Dr.) Kodzo Kpoku Alabo, noted that Ghana is rich in gold, diamonds, and recently the country has found oil and gas reserves.

According to him, Ghana is investing heavily such industries as agriculture, timber processing, telecommunications and tourism among others. He also told the business gathering that the stable political atmosphere contributes to the attraction of foreign investors, and hoped strongly that Russian investors and business people would engage in joint projects with local Ghanaian partners.

Russia and Ghana are linked by nearly 60 years of diplomatic relations, but business relationships are not well developed, markets in both countries still remain largely untapped and unexploited.

Ghana is one of the fastest developing countries on the African continent, interested in attracting foreign capital.The factors that attract foreign investors to Ghana, can be attributed to the favorable investment climate, rapidly developing infrastructure and a skilled labor force. The country has developed a stable political environment in the last two decades have witnessed economic growth.

In his contribution, the Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vladimir Padalko noted that relations between Russia and Ghana can be regarded as a friendly and partner. In recent years, been established between the countries in a constructive dialogue at the political level both in bilateral and multilateral formats.

However, the economic activity between Russia and Ghana is insignificant. Ghana is the 6th trade partner of Russia among African countries South of the Sahara. In 2015, bilateral trade increased by 32% compared to the 2014 year and amounted to $216 million dollars.

He pointed out that perspective directions of bilateral trade-economic and investment cooperation can be considered as mining, energy, housing, utilities, transport infrastructure, agriculture, information technology and telecommunications, tourism and health.

But, a significant deterrent to the development of bilateral relations is the absence of Russian companies information on doing business in Ghana. For solving these tasks at the initiative of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2009 created the Coordinating Committee on Economic Cooperation with Africa (South of Sahara), combining about 120 Russian companies and organizations interested in working on African issues.

Padalko therefore urged representatives of Russian companies make relentless efforts to obtain the most relevant information about the current economic situation in Ghana, its investment potential, as well as to discuss promising areas of business interaction.

In his discussion, the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, who is also the co-Chairman of the the Intergovernmental Russia-Ghana Commission on Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation, Mr. Yevgeny A. Kiselyov, drew attention to the implementation of the already signed agreements between Russia and Ghana, in particular, the contract Russian State Corporation "Rosatom" with the Government of the Republic of Ghana on cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. According to Kiselyov, Ghana also has excellent prospects as a country with a large number of minerals.

According to the Deputy Chairman of the Intergovernmental Russia-Ghana Commission on Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation Alexander Dianov with the resumption of the work mechanism of the Commission must significantly step up cooperation in trade, economic and scientific-technical spheres.

Concluding, nearly all the speakers at the forum expressed high optimism that both Russia and Ghana have the chance to strengthen their business contacts, increase exchanges of visits and participation in economic events to promote significantly trade and investment. Russia and Ghana will soon sign two agreements, one on protection of investment and the other on avoidance of double taxation, as additional measures to bolster mutually beneficial economic cooperation.
Kwabena Danso, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Boomers International, a wholly owned Ghanaian company which manufactures bicycles made from bamboo has met with the United Kingdom Minister for Africa, Mr. James Duddridge.

The Ghanaian entrepreneur was hosted by Mr. James Duddridge, who is currently visiting the country with the United Kingdom Prime Ministers envoy on Trade, Mr. Adam Afiriyie. The interaction was to afford the Minister and his team the opportunity to understand the Ghanaian business systems and also be abreast with challenges faced by Ghanaian businesses.

After riding a bamboo bicycle for the first time, Mr. Duddridge expressed his admiration for Boomers International and its Chief Executive Officer as he highlighted the importance of a local Ghanaian company positively promoting the countrys image on the international scene through a unique and an environmentally friendly product.

Speaking to a section of the media after the interaction, Kwabena Danso said the meeting with the UK team was very insightful and it has opened my eyes to a lot of opportunities out there in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. Boomers International as well as other local businesses can capitalize on and take their operations to the next level. This is definitely going to be important for us as we aspire to expand our operations and also strike strategic partnerships in key markets around the world for the marketing and distribution of our products. There are new products we will be rolling out and it will be important the rest of the world knows the great things we are doing here in Ghana.

Currently, Boomers International markets and sells their bamboo bicycles in six other countries apart from Ghana. These countries are Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Canada, United States of America, Poland and very soon the United Kingdom, Sweden and Israel.

The company trains the youth in rural communities and employs them at its production factory located in Yonso. The company currently has a staff strength of over twenty people and it is fast becoming the leading producer of bamboo bicycles in West Africa.
YEREVAN, MAY 30, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, who is on an official visit in Luxemburg, attended the jubilee summit of the European Peoples Party dedicated to its 40th anniversary chaired by the President of EPP Joseph Daul. Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, as well as heads of states and governments of the EU, EaP, and EPP member states attended the summit, who made congratulatory speeches on the occasion of EPPs anniversary.

As Armenpress was informed from the press service of Republic of Armenia Presidents Office, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan also made a congratulatory speech on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the largest European political family. Mentioning that the party for years was and remains one of the key establishments to re-evaluate the European identity and to give impetus to its progress, Serzh Sargsyan stated that many political forces that are EPP member today also have a key role in the political developments in many European countries.

In his speech President Sargsyan made a special reference to the unforgettable contribution of late EPP President Wilfried Martens to the establishment and achievements of the party, as well as to his contribution and support for Armenia-Europe rapprochement process and for the membership of the Republican Party of Armenia and two other Armenian parties to the EPP.

The Armenian President highlighted inter-party partnership with the EPP from the perspective of spreading European political culture and reinforcement of European value system. The Armenian people, with its past and culture, goals and aspirations, is inseparable part of the European civilization, while the membership of Armenian parties to the EPP are the result of our common Christian heritage, as well as our joint commitments to fundamental freedoms and principles of democracy and human rights. In this context the membership of RPAs youth and womens organizations to respective EPP bodies is rather logical.

I also highly appreciate EPPs position on issues of concern for Armenia in different European institutions, as well as on parliamentary platforms.

EPP played a key role in the process of developing relations between Armenia and the European Union. These relations today have reached an important stage. The negotiations over a new legal framework document have already kicked off, which will reflect the nature of our relations and will outline new directions for mutually beneficial cooperation. I am sure that EPP will again stand with us on our way to bringing that document into life, the President of Armenia mentioned, expressing conviction that the EPP family under the skillful chairmanship of Daul will continue to implement its mission based on fundamental values.
The journey to the top as far as the late Komla Dumor is concerned wasnt a very smooth ride. There were numerous bumps he had to deal with on his journey to becoming one of the finest journalists to grace this generation. Most of the challenges Komla faced is not peculiar to journalists but also all who want to really make an impact in their field of endeavor. It is only wise that we take a cue from how Komla overcame his challenges. Here are the two key challenges Komla had to overcome on his way to global preeminence;

NEGATIVITY

As early as 2002, when Komla was still with Joy FM, a Ghanaian based radio station; there were clear indicators that he was cut for greatness. By September 2003, he had been named the Ghana Journalist of the year (GJA Award). That was when the toxic people took notice of him and began to encircle him. In a publication titled,Journalism Gone Astray dated 11th September 2003, the writer described Komla in the following terms Komla Dumor is not a journalist. He is just not a journalist, he works in the media industry. The writer who was then hailed by relatively a few gurus in the media landscape then advised Komla by saying to him, Dumor, return the award, go back to school, and learn to become a journalist. In an interesting twist of events, almost about a decade later, Komla who neither returned the award nor went back to school of journalism became the trailblazer for young and dynamic journalism around the world. So, how did Komla deal with all these negativity? The best way Komla dealt with all that negative coverage was not to respond in kind. He allowed his work to do the talking on his behalf.

He pursued excellence in his work until global media giant, BBC eventually had to come for him. To become a successful entrepreneur, you must learn to believe in your instincts and pursue excellence. You cannot allow the opinions of negative people to weigh you down or drive you in all sorts of directions. To overcome all the bad press surrounding success, you must have a strong conviction in your dream; learn to remain calm under intense pressure. You must also surround yourself with people who can encourage you and assist you become a better person and finally as Komla puts it, there is only one standard- a global standard. Be consistent, operate at 100% every single time you are given the opportunity.

OVERCOMING FAILURE

to overcome fear and keep your dreams alive you must understand, to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination and dedicationremember all things are possible for those who believe  Komla Dumor

As young as 16 years old, Komla had a clear sense of purpose regarding his dream to become a medical doctor which according to him, was inspired by his passion to help people. Komla enrolled in the University of Ghana Medical School, Legon, but the dream fell into a ditch when he failed his last year exams in medical school. The rumor was that Komla had opted to change his course. But apart from his family, close pals and course mates, little did the public know that Komla has failed his medical exams awfully. Failure should only be final when one is in the coffin. Komla failed at school but never failed at the passion to help people. He changed professions but never changed the dream and passion. In life, you may sometimes come to a stop because of a roadblock but you dont abandon the journey, you find a new route. Meander your way around or bamboozle your way through the obstacle. Finally as Komla puts it, to overcome fear and keep your dreams alive you must understand, to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination and dedicationremember all things are possible for those who believe.

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About the Author, G.K. Sarpong

G. K. Sarpong is an author and founder of Christian Thinkers Community (CTC), a multidimensional organisation headquartered in Accra, Ghana. Sarpong also writes for several media firms across the continent of Africa and a guest writer and editor for various international journals and newsletters including Light Magazine Africa, The Revolution Journal and Christian Thinkers Journal. Sarpong has authored over seven books and hundreds of articles, some of which include Entrepreneurship Africa, Develop the Master in You, Building Success and Answers to Lifes Foundational Questions.
The British High Commissioner to Ghana Jon Benjamin has rebuffed claims that he is in bed with the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC).

According to the outspoken diplomat, he has no political affiliation, even in the UK- his home country- let alone Ghana.

Some members of the opposition New Patriotic Party descended on Mr. Benjamin on social media Sunday following his swift reaction to allegations that the NDCs Central regional chairman Benjamin Allotey Jacobs had been arrested in the UK for drug and money laundering offences. Some of his critics even tweeted at the handle of the British Home secretary for international affairs asking him to recall Mr. Benjamin for meddling in the internal politics of Ghana.

Responding to the accusations of political bias, the UK envoy tweeted in response to one of such tweets, I absolutely don't have a party, not in the UK let alone here. I'm neutral.
Media owners in Ghana are the worst politicians in the country, Deputy General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) Mr Koku Anyidoho has said.

Contributing to a discussion on Class91.3FMs Executive Breakfast Show on Monday May 30 about the use of abusive language in Ghanaian politics, Mr Anyidoho asked: Is it only politicians that exist in the geographical entity called Ghana? You have religious leaders and the media. In fact, very soon, we are going to turn our guns on the media because the media is now the medium that is destroying this country  the media terrorism, the media tyranny that is going on must be stopped, he told Prince Minkah, explaining that: Media operators pretend that they are not politicians, but they are the worst politicians and create all the problems. Maybe politicians must now come together and direct our arsenals at the media.

Apart from the media tyranny and media terrorism Mr Anyidoho spoke against, he also denounced civil society terrorism, which he said was also going on, so leave the politicians out, lets deal with the media and civil society organisations, where now civil society organisations and the media think that they must run state institutions, so, the police cannot work, the military cannot work, the Electoral Commission cannot work, the NCCE cannot work because they are not playing to the dictates of the media and the civil society organisations.

Since when did civil society organisations and the media forces run countries? Then let us allow the media organisations and the civil society organisations to form political parties and run for office so they are voted for, he suggested.

Mr Anyidoho said: As far as Im concerned, the media is the problem this country is facing.

You wake up every morning, sit behind a console and you think that you can dictate and determine the agenda for the nation. This is unfair and its unacceptable. The tyranny of the media, the tyranny of civil society organisations shall not be accepted.
Dozens of detainees held in dire conditions in poorly ventilated metal shipping containers, fed only once or twice a week and given insufficient drinking water are at risk of death, warned Amnesty International today.

According to information obtained by the organisation, these conditions have apparently resulted in the deaths of multiple detainees at the Gorom detention site, located about 20km south of the capital Juba. Soldiers also periodically take them out of the containers and beat them.

Detainees are suffering in appalling conditions and their overall treatment is nothing short of torture, said Muthoni Wanyeki, Amnesty Internationals Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

This egregious disregard for human life and dignity must stop and for that to happen, the detention site should be immediately shut down until conditions are brought into compliance with human rights standards.

A satellite image of what Amnesty International believes to be the detention site at Gorom shows four metal shipping containers arranged in an L shape, inside two perimeter fences. According to information received by Amnesty International, the four containers are used to house detainees and were brought to the site in early November 2015.

The detainees, most of whom are civilians and have not been charged with any offence, are accused of links to the former rebel Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army-in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), which is now part of the government of national unity. They do not have access to family members, lawyers, or courts.

All detainees should be released or charged and brought before independent courts. Civilian detainees should only be held in civilian detention facilities and tried by civilian courts, said Muthoni Wanyeki.

Amnesty International has written to Major-General Marial Nour, Director of Military Intelligence, requesting additional information about the Gorom detention site, including the conditions of detention, the names of individuals who are held there and those who have died.

Amnesty International has also written to President Salva Kiir informing him of the situation at Gorom, and calling on him, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, to intervene and end the human rights violations at the site.

President Kiir should order an independent investigation into this site and into military intelligence detention practices generally, with a view to reforming the practices and ensuring that those responsible for torture, death or enforced disappearances are held accountable, said Muthoni Wanyeki.

Pending such investigations, President Kiir should immediately suspend those credibly suspected of responsibility.

These revelations come barely two months after Amnesty International released a briefing detailing the deliberate suffocation of more than 60 men and boys in shipping containers in Leer, Unity State in October 2015 and calling for an end to unlawful killings by the armed forces.

To view the juxtaposed before and after satellite images of the site, please click here and drag following the arrows: https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=b25a91c0-1e90-11e6-a524-0e7075bba956
Victoria Island is the beauty of Lagos city. The neighbourhood is so well known that even the names of its streets have become iconic across the nation. This island is only one of Lagos districts that has the most inimitable skyline.

Originally surrounded entirely by water, It was bordered by the Atlantic ocean on the south, the mouth of the Lagos Lagoon on the West, the Five Cowrie Creek to the north North, and swamps on the East.It has since, however, been filled (by the British colonial government to reduce mosquito breeding areas), creating land bridge between Victoria Island and Lekki Peninsula , and ending its existence as a true island.

Victoria Island is one of the most exclusive and expensive areas to live in Lagos and Nigeria as a whole. While the rest of Lagos has much to see and do, it is Victoria Island that represents the city  and sometimes the entire Nigeria to the world.

Packed with attractions, dining and drinking for any budget and an expansive offering of shows and live music, the neighbourhood is certainly the center of the action in Lagos City . You could spend a week on this tiny island and still not see all there is to see. Grab a yellow taxi, hop on a keke-maruwa or just start walking, and you are sure to begin to understand just what it is that makes Victoria Island, thick. Jovago.com, Africas largest hotel booking portal shows you more.

TOP 3 LANDMARKS

1004 building

Try imagining VIs skyline without the towering spire of the 1004 Buildings. Impossible, right? The buildings are among the largest single luxury high rise estate in Sub Saharan Africa and comprises over 1004 flats, maisonettes, studio apartments.

Civic Tower

No matter which part of V.I. you are wandering through or where your curiosities lie, its hard to miss this architectural fixture or pass it without being awestruck. Located next to the Civic center, it has become one of Victoria Islands most eye-popping skyscraper.

Oniru palace

Oniru Palace is located on a road named after the structure, next to Maroko and is the location where the ruling house of the area resides. The Oniru Palace Road has a length of 1.34 kilometres.

LODGING

From boutique and upscale spots to luxurious corners, Victoria Island still offers the most comprehensive range of Lagos hotels. Growth areas include the Eko Atlantic city, which is getting a new lease on life as its development nears completion. Upscale chains such as Sheraton , Protea, Intercontinental, e.tc have their flashy property erected in the district, 5star hotels including Federal Palace Hotel, Eko Hotel, also Oriental Hotel have taken up spots in the area. There are also favorite longstanding B&Bs, which will give you a taste of local life.

DINING

The dining choices in Lagos are almost infinite, and deciding where to spend your food money can be overwhelming. Victoria Islands rich history, lively bars and growing number of hot restaurants attract young, adventurous visitors as well as businessmen and women. The breadth of the Victoria Islands restaurant scene is truly something to behold, ranging from internationally renowned fine-dining establishments to tasty cheap eats, and boasting a cosmopolitan range of cuisines to choose from, including Italian, Chinese and Indian.

SHOPPING

Victoria Island is one of the best shopping areas in Lagos. The district is rightfully famous for its glossy, perfume-scented stores and high-end boutiques, which sell everything from bespoke suits to top-notch leather bags and exquisite diamond engagement rings.While there are very few local markets, there are places where you can get the most of retail goodness. V.I is an especially great destination for a shopping holiday if visting Lagos, as the exchange rate will be in your favor!

FUN FACT

Victoria Island is popular for being the location of the embassies for Russia, Germany, Bulgaria and Great Britain, as well as a number of consulates, including those of The United States India, Brazil, Lebanon, and Spain.
30.05.2016 LISTEN

The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho, has denied his involvement in the recent elevation of a Chief within the Avenor Division of the Anlo Traditional Council. The Speaker was reacting to a statement made last Thursday, May 26, 2016, by Torgbui Dorglo Anumah VI, concerning the elevation of Torgbui Samlafo IV.

In the said statement to Journalists, Torgbui Anumah VI said: It is being alleged that, the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho is illicitly behind this elevation saga. We are amazed by this story and cannot believe it to be true, as the Avenor state is solidly behind him to raise his present status, which we are proud of. It would be greatly appreciated if he will come clean on this accusation.

But the Speaker of Parliament, in his statement, said he sees the above allegation as offensive, objectionable, false and without any merit. The statement added: Throughout his public life, the Speaker has played absolutely no role either privately or publicly- in deciding who gets enstooled or elevated as a Chief anywhere in Ghana.

The Speaker urged those making such allegations to stop dragging his name into chieftaincy matters. By this statement, the Speaker is asking the various sides to this matter to stop dragging his name into these chietaincy matters. Instead, the various factions must use the due process of custom and tradition, as well as laid down legal processes, to resolve their differences, if any.

Meanwhile, a release from the Awoamefia's Secretariat and signed by Torgbui Sri III, has cleared the air on the alleged involvement and influence of the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Doe Adjaho, in his decision, concerning the issue of elevation of some Chiefs.

The release stated that: I would like to make it clear that, the allegation leveled against the Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Edward Doe Adjaho in the speech of Torgbui Dorglo Anumah VI, as being behind the elevation of Torgbui Samlafo IV, is totally false and unfounded.

This is a calculated attempt to tarnish his (Rt. Hon. Doe Adjaho) hard won reputation and must, therefore, be condemned with the contempt it deserves. The Awoamefia also indicated that, the issue of elevation is the traditional and customary duty of the Overlord, which he is not.
30.05.2016 LISTEN

By Maame Agyeiwaa Agyei

The Deputy Minister for Defence, Mr. Kenneth Gilbert Adjei, says the changing dynamics of armed conflicts over the last two decades require an integrated approach to peace operations. According to him, the multi-dimensional activities and resources handled in peace operations theatre demanded that comprehensive and coordinated measures were taken by the actors and stakeholders in the theatre in order to achieve the desired results.

Mr. Adjei was speaking at the opening of the 2016 Peace Operations Course at the Ghana Armed Force Command and Staff College in Accra. The 10-day course is aimed at providing middle level military officers, officers from allied security agencies and middle-level directors of selected institutions with the skills and knowledge of operational level planning, coordination and conduct of peace operations.

He said the activities may include stabilization operations, humanitarian relief, security sector reforms, reconstruction and economic recovery support, governance and democratic restructuring, among others. Peace operations, he pointed out, currently constituted a major intervention tool for the international community in the management and resolution of conflicts and for that matter, the maintenance of peace and security, particularly the case for the United Nations and regional/Sub-regional organizations.

He said within the African continent, peace operations remained a key interventional tool for the management and resolution of conflicts by the African Union and Regional Economic Communities. I am duly informed that the module culminate with an ECOWAS Combined Joint African Exercise from June 6-10, 2016 with the aim to train participants to acquire the practical skills needed in a joint multi-national and inter-agency environment in order to develop a better understanding of the challenges involved in peace planning peace support operations, he revealed.

Mr. Adjei added that it was critical that actors and stakeholders understood the challenges and opportunities available, to make the mission mandate successful in a coordinated manner. He said the course sought to expose participants to an advanced and critical understanding of peace operations as a concept and practice in the international system.

The Deputy Minister explained that the course would provide the appropriate platform for participants to better appreciate the nature and evolution of peace operations in response to the dynamics of contemporary conflict situations.

It will also expose the military and participants to the command, staff and leadership challenges that participation in the peace operations poses to officers in command and staff positions, he added.

Mr. Adjei seized the opportunity to express his appreciation to CDH Financial Holding Limited for the support rendered the College in the past years.
30.05.2016 LISTEN

 Mahama Tells All Nations Varsity Students

By George-Ramsey Benamba, GNA

President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday said much as government would not renege on its mandate to create jobs, tertiary institution graduates should also initiate entrepreneurial skills that could make them self-reliant and major employers.

He said with the rising graduate population in Ghana and the entire world, it was becoming extremely difficult for government alone to absorb them and, therefore, developing enterpreneurial skills would help in reducing the high incidence of unemployment.

President Mahama said this when he addressed the 16th and 17th graduation ceremony of 354 students of the All Nations University College, a private university in Koforidua, on the theme: 'The Growth and Development of Private Universities, and the Impact on the Socio-economic Development of Ghana.' The President said government's determination to making Ghana the education hub in the West African sub-region was manifesting in the numerous infrastructural projects throughout the country.

He said more than 15,000 foreigners were schooling in Ghanaian tertiary institutions and gave the assurance that the provision of more facilities would spur more foreigners to come to Ghana. President Mahama commended the university for taking the bold initiative of establishing the first private university in Ghana, giving courage to others to follow in that direction. Your innovation in science and technology, engineering, electronic, oil and gas and communication engineering are very commendable, he said.

Dr. Samuel Donkor, President and Founder of the university, appealed to President Mahama for the Government to grant them a Presidential Charter to enable them to be independent in their academic activities. That, he said, would enable the university to admit and train more students. Dr. Donkor said his outfit would continue to build on the foundation by integrating the values of the mission statement and provide cutting edge quality higher education in an increasingly competitive global dynamic society.

He challenged Africans in the Diaspora, especially in North America, to support the development of the continent by investing in human resource development through quality higher education. Dr. Norman Cook, a retired official of the Canadian International Development Agency, called on the graduates and students to eschew self-doubt in every endeavour they undertake.

The All Nations University College (ANUC) was established by the All Nations Full Gospel Church, Toronto, Canada, through the All Nations International Development Agency. Its mission is to develop a new breed of leaders for the continent with holistic education that emphasises academic excellence, christian values, discipline and ethical values in a Christ centered environment.

After years of preparations, the university opened its doors to 37 pioneering students on November 4, 2002 for the Business and Computer Science undergraduate programmes. Today ANUC has 12 accredited programmes and more than 2500 students.

GNA
The Development Action Association (DAA) through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Sustainable Fisheries Management Project (USAID/SFMP) and the Ministry of Fisheries & Aquaculture Development are cooperating to halt unapproved fishing practices in the country.

Fishing activities in Ghana is characterised by unapproved practices such as light fishing, use of chemicals; namely DDT, detergents, particularly Omo, sand winning, among others, together with problems including conversion of coastal lands into to beach resorts, residential, oil and gas developments among other uses which are displacing fishery-based livelihoods.

"It is the duty of the women to reject all fish harvested through unapproved means such as light fishing, use of chemicals such as DDT, detergents, (Omo), etc. It is believed that when the women stop buying, the fishermen would stop the practice, says Mrs Sherry Aryitey, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, at a forum in Accra.

The Minister encouraged the women to abide by such principles because they have the legal backing of the Ministry.

The forum, done on annual basis and organised by the DAA, a network of farmer /fisher based organisations operating in 64 communities within four regions of Ghana, namely Greater Accra, Central, Eastern and Ashanti. The DAA is also an implementing partner of the SFMP, a 5-year food security project funded by the USAIDs Feed the Future Initiative to support the Government of Ghana/ Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development to rebuild the small pelagic fisheries stocks.

"The annual meeting has provided a platform for the women to get first-hand information on policies affecting their work and also share ideas on the kind of support expecting from the government, says the Executive Director of the DAA, Lydia Sasu.

Participants at the forum drawn from other partners within the USAID Sustainable Fisheries Management Project (USAID/SFMP) such as Central and Western Region Fisheries Improvement Association (CEWEFIA) and DAASGIFT Quality Foundation from the Western Region shared various challenges confronting the fishing industry with the minister.

Grace Bondzie, a Community Liaison Officer of the DAA in Apam and National Fish Processors and Traders Association (NAFPTA) district president informed the minister about a promise made during a previous forum to train women on the provision and usage of test kit at the beaches to identify fish harvested through unapproved means and reject them when they are brought to shore or market.

The minister, Mrs Aryitey indicated that the government through the ministry put together National Fish Processors and Traders Association (NAFPTA) to ensure easy access and support of all fisheries organisations in the country. The minister also said organisations present at the meeting would be added to the association membership list to receive so information regarding activities.

"The executives of the organisation have gone through series of training and it is expected that they in turn train other members of their organisation.

"The workshop on the use of the test kits will be enrolled soon in which members of DAA, CEWEFIA, DAASGIFT will be invited to participate so they can make informed decisions on when buying fish, Mrs Aryitey stated.

Dina Otutei of the CEWEFIA indicated that previous dialogues have indicated that the ministry will be instituting closed season soon on fishing activities.

"As women fish processors they are ready to support this decision and are waiting for the ministry to start action since they know the importance and benefits of these intentions, Otutei said.

She also suggested the support for diversified livelihood for the women and fishermen during the closed season, comparing to other countries like Senegal and Gambia where they have been able to institute the closed season with closed areas for about six months.

Mrs Aryitey noted that the closed season has partly begun with the Tuna Vessels in January and February this year.

"There are discussions between the Ministry and other groups of fishermen such as the artisanal and trawlers to identify which of the months will be favourable for the closed seasons. It is important to note that as we try to restrict the movements of these foreign vessels for a certain period they also need a place to berth which the ministry is working around to look for a suitable space for them between Takoradi and Axim, the minister stated.

The Minister indicated that fish processors upon knowing that the closed season will be instituted soon should find other business they can engage before they can receive any support from the ministry or any other donor.

Participants at the forum also indicated that women fish processors are aware that light fishing can never be a good way of fish harvesting as it shortens the life of live fish and shelf life of the processed fish. This practice prevents other fishes to procreate thereby limiting the reproduction of fish in the sea. The participants hoped that policies and laws will be implemented to ensure sustainable fisheries.

Reacting to the issue on light fishing, the minister says meetings have been held with the chief fishermen where they have agreed to stop light fishing activities.

"They should police their peers by reporting any identified people to the Ministry for necessary action. It has not been easy for the ministry but the enforcement unit tries to do their best by patrolling the seas. The Ministry has begun its public education through the information vans, Mrs Aryitey said.

Elizabeth Koomson from the CEWEFIA in Shama in the Western region says women have been taught to preserve the mangroves as it serves as spawning grounds for the fish.

"Unfortunately as the women try to preserve the trees some people are cutting for other usage all contributing to the reduction of fish stock. The mining activities around the area also pollute the Pra River making the water dangerous for fish and human habitat, Koomson explained.

The minister stated that it is the duty of the District Assembly to ensure that natural resources are protected and preserved within their jurisdiction.

"Since mangrove preservation affect fisheries, the Ministry work in close collaboration with the assembly to ensure that. The minster recommended a formal letter of complaint should be forwarded to the ministry for necessary action.

"As part of the Minerals law, mining companies are mandated to install treatment plants for the treatment of used water for minerals processing to reduce contamination of water bodies. Recent information indicate that very few companies have treatment plant which is a course of worrying, Mrs Aryitey says.

Participants of the Senegal-Gambia Tour, sponsored under the USAID/SFMP were introduced to the Minister. They include Rebecca Eshun, Hannah Antwi, Dina Otutei, Nancy Ayesua Otu, and Grace Bondzie. The lessons learnt are being shared as the project partners hold meetings.
Cairo (AFP) - Egypt has ordered the detention for 15 days of an Al-Jazeera journalist accused of incitement and fabricating news, a prosecution official said on Sunday.

It was the latest move against the Qatar-based broadcaster which Egypt accuses of supporting the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

Egyptian Mahmoud Hussein, 51, flew to Cairo on Tuesday for a family holiday but was stopped and interrogated at the airport for several hours before being released.

On Friday, police raided his Cairo home and arrested him. He was questioned again on Saturday and Sunday, when prosecutors decided to hold him for 15 days.

The prosecution official said Hussein would be held "pending an investigation into accusations that he incited against the state and broadcast fake news and documentaries".

The interior ministry confirmed the accusations in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

It said Hussein was implicated in an Al-Jazeera "plot" aimed at "fomenting discord and inciting against state institutions... and broadcasting false news as well as fabricated news reports and documentaries".

In November, Al-Jazeera broadcast a documentary called "The Soldiers" in which former conscripts spoke about compulsory military service in Egypt, drawing criticism from the media.

Al-Jazeera Managing Director Yasser Abu Hilalah denounced Hussein's arrest in remarks broadcast by the news channel.

"Mahmoud Hussein was on a visit to his country and was not working for Al-Jazeera at the time," he said, adding that the arrest "will not stop Al-Jazeera from its professional role".

"We will continue to cover Egypt and we don't succumb to pressure," he said.

Egypt provoked international condemnation in 2013 when it arrested three Al-Jazeera journalists, including a Canadian and an Australian, and sentenced them to jail on similar accusations.

They were later released.

Their arrest, months after the military overthrew Morsi who had been backed by Qatar, coincided with a massive crackdown on his supporters and the Muslim Brotherhood being blacklisted.
They have not allowed us to know Australian culture here, says Boochani, an Iranian Kurd soon to be entering his fourth year in detention. Both major party leaders have pledged that no detainees will settle in Australia.

But as people who grew up in countries with rich and proud cultural traditions, their knowledge of Australian culture is less well-known.

Picture Manus Island and chances are you think of a problematic detention centre. Its inhabitants depicted in grainy digital images of protests and riots, their faces rarely in mainstream media, their identities closely guarded and their ideas and thoughts even more so.

GROWING up, I watched Skippy when I was a child, says writer Behrouz Boochani. I saw Australia the movie with Nicole Kidman too, that was okay. I enjoy listening to Kylie Minogue, especially Cant Get You Out of My Head.

They want us to learn about Papua New Guinea. We learn about Australian culture by watching the guards, IHMS, Broadspectrum and other Australians who work in this prison, so most of us have learned some swearing.

Unlike most 32 year-olds who spend a lot of their time writing, Boochani isnt clinging to the music of his youth or trying to stay on top of what other people in his chosen culture are doing. In fact, his listening habits are more likely to resemble those of someone twice his age.

I listen to a lot of classical music, he explains. Especially Mozart and Beethoven. Its perfect music for a place like Manus. I can endure the long queues listening to this kind of music.

When I protested by sitting at the top a tree for ten hours I listened to Vivaldis Four Seasons. I also sometimes listen to Kurdish traditional music.

Boochani grew up in Kurdish Iran, a place he left in July 2013 after publishing a series of popular articles pushing for Kurdish cultural freedom. The impression most Iranians had of Australia was a very positive one: a liberal democracy that created bright and buoyant cultural exports.

Like a lot of detainees, Boochani fled a government that operated, as he explains it, a big propaganda system against western civilisation and values. Its hard for Iranians to know what is going on in western countries, and what information we get is true.

It is similar on Manus Island. A lot of information takes the form of gossip, rumours and people reporting translations of second or third hand news.

My greeting here is Whats news Behrouz? Whats happening in Australia? he says. Everyone here knows Peter Dutton, Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison, Sarah Hanson Young and Bill Shorten. People know them very well. We get our news from the internet and read articles from newspapers and websites in our countries and from Australia.

While the detainees on Manus Island have been shown to be very responsive to political events in Canberra, mobilising protests against government announcements within hours of their broadcast, the art they create is less reflexive.

Boochani is also interested in what motivates those detainees able to express themselves (some of whose artwork can be seen in the background of the video below) and the writers at work in the detention centre.

They did not allow to us to listen to music for the first six months, he says. They confiscated our property so we could not access our music. But music has been something that has been important to many people.

Writing and art here is coming from suffering. To survive people feel they have to write and create something. Some people are even writing for the first time. Some people make art through painting or drawing. Some people play music.

The organisation Writing Through Fences is collating the work of people in Australias detention centres. As well as providing insight into personal experiences, the material collected is providing researchers and academics with insight into art made under stress.

The media has written a lot, film makers have made films and politicians have talked a lot about it but I dont think any of them can describe the reality of Manus, says Boochani, whose first book in English has been written on Manus and is due out later this year.

I write from inside the experience of being a political prisoner here as well as a writer. I try to describe how people feel under torture, how a father feels in a prison, how people are when they think about suicide. I write about the small things that add up to make this prison as well as people: stories, nature, what I observe.

What I see through my eyes as an imprisoned writer. I feel that I am working for Australian history by writing this book. I will tell a part of Australias history and I hope I will be successful in my mission. Literature is a language of life.

I feel that I am working for Australian history by writing this book. I will tell a part of Australias history and I hope I will be successful in my mission. Literature is a language of life.

Andy Hazel is a freelance journalist based in Melbourne who works at The Saturday Paper.
Abidjan (AFP) - Ivorian rights groups acting as plaintiffs in the imminent trial of former first lady Simone Gbagbo for crimes against humanity pulled out of the process Monday, saying it was flawed.

The wife of former president Laurent Gbagbo goes on trial Tuesday to answer allegations of crimes against prisoners of war, crimes against the civilian population as well as crimes against humanity, during the west African country's post-electoral violence in 2010 that killed more than 3,000 people.

But in a joint statement the International Federation of Human Rights, the Ivorian League of Human Rights and the Ivorian Movement for Human Rights, claiming to represent nearly 250 victims, said they were "pulling out of the process."

"Our lawyers have not had access to all stages of the procedures, how can they defend their case?" the head of the Ivorian League of Human Rights told AFP.

The trial lacks "relevance," Pierre Kouame Adjoumani said.

Simone Gbagbo, nicknamed the "Iron Lady", "is accused of 'crimes against humanity', something she could have only done through an organised group, so why is only she being judged?" he said.

The 66-year-old is currently being held in Ivory Coast's main city Abidjan after being convicted of "attacking state authority" during the bloody post-poll era when her husband refused to cede power despite losing elections.

Her husband is currently on trial at the International Criminal Court at The Hague for crimes also linked to the unrest.

Tuesday's trial comes just five days after Ivory Coast's Supreme Court rejected Simone Gbagbo's final appeal against her 20-year sentence.

Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, has struggled to return to normalcy after years of civil war, which effectively divided the country between the mainly Christian south and the largely Muslim north.
The National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT), has issued a one-month ultimatum to the government to pay all salary arrears of teachers who have been validated.

NAGRAT has said some agencies under the Ghana Education Service (GES) failed to perform their duties and are now being used by the government to delay the payment.

The Vice President of NAGRAT, Angel Karbonu, told Citi News, I am disappointed that the Ghana Education Service would allow itself to be used as a pawn to delay the payment of duly validated teachers.

The problem that led to the validation was created by the GES where agencies of the GES failed to transmit information that they have gathered on the ground to the headquarters for people to be paid. Therefore we are so shocked and disappointed that the GES is creating the impression that it has field work to do. How come they did not do the field work before now?, he added.

Angel Karbonu stated that the teacher unions, aggrieved by the delays in payment of salary arrears, would advise themselves if the issue is not addressed within a month.

For the unions, we are stating very clearly that we have reached our limit. If by the 30th of June, teachers who have been validated are not paid, we will advise ourselves, Karbonu said.

Payment of salaries suspended

Following claims that a number of the teachers in the country employed by the Ghana Education Service had presented fake certificates before their employment, the Audit Department and the Controller and Accountant General's Department (CAGD), were tasked to validate the documents before any payments are made.

However, the process was suspended on March 17, a break the Head of Compensation at the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT), Ahinakwa Quarshie, said will allow the Audit Department to issue a report on all anomalies that have resulted in the validation exercise.

By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @EdKwakofi
The British High Commission has dismissed reports of the arrest of the Central Regional Chairman of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Allotey Jacobs at Londons Heathrow Airport.

According to a statement from the British High Commission, Jacobs was not detained, nor was he questioned. There was absolutely no evidence of money laundering or drugs.

News of Allotey Jacobs reported arrest by the UK National Crime Agency on suspicion of money laundering and cocaine trafficking went viral on social media on Sunday.

The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin denied the reports in a tweet, stating that the story is not true.

Heres the full statement from the British High Commission:

Mr Allotey Jacobs, Statement by the British High Commission

The British High Commission would like definitively to clarify the situation concerning the alleged arrest of Mr Allotey Jacobs at London's Heathrow Airport on Sunday, 29 May.

We became aware around Sunday lunchtime of online and social media rumours to the effect that Mr Jacobs had been arrested on arrival at London Heathrow from Accra, allegedly variously accused of money laundering or of being involved in a 'drugs bust'. Both claims are simply untrue. There was no such arrest. Mr Jacobs was not detained, nor was he questioned. There was absolutely no evidence of money laundering or drugs.

Subsequently, there were persistent further rumours that Mr Jacobs had at least been escorted off the plane by UK law enforcement. After exhaustive, multiple enquiries we state unequivocally that the UK law enforcement authorities with jurisdiction at Heathrow Airport all confirm that they did not board the aeroplane to speak to Mr Jacobs, nor did they do so subsequently within the airport, and they certainly did not escort Mr Jacobs off the flight concerned. Our law enforcement authorities keep meticulous records, including of any escorting off aeroplanes  there is no such record in the case of Mr Jacobs, as there was no such event. We understand that Mr Jacobs caught his connecting flight to the US on time and without incident.

British Airways tell us that they, too, have no record of any law enforcement boarding directed at Mr Jacobs. A public claim has been made that Mr Jacobs was 'escorted' from a seat in Row 15 in business class. However, on the flight in question, Row 15 was not in, and indeed some distance from, business class, the class in which Mr Jacobs travelled, so that claim falls away.

Mr Jacob's political affiliation is of no interest to us. Had we been asked to confirm or deny the alleged arrest of anyone else of any other political affiliation, we would have acted in exactly the same way  purely factually. The UK government is and will remain entirely neutral in Ghanaian domestic politics. We do, however, have the full right to respond to claims made about law enforcement issues in the UK itself, particularly when, as in this case, those claims are wholly wrong.

By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Cagliari (Italy) (AFP) - They are unlikely members of the same crew: career seamen for whom it was initially just another job and landlubber humanitarian workers trying to make the world a better place.

But together, aboard the MS Aquarius, they get the job done. Since it joined the international search and rescue operation off Libya in February, the boat chartered by medical charity MSF and French NGO SOS Mediterranee has safely delivered some 1,500 migrants to Italian ports.

Once the property of the German coastguard, the Aquarius switched to oil prospection in 2009, surveying prospective fields from Nigeria to the Arctic.

Now it is stuffed full of life jackets, blankets, nutrition packs and bottles of water.

On the deck, SOS Mediterranee volunteers rotate the watch. Several of them are merchant seamen themselves, a mix of keen youngsters and salty old sea dogs. Most have given up three to six weeks of holiday time to help out.

"Working only for yourself is not necessarily what makes you proud in this life," said one of them, 25-year-old merchant seaman Antoine Laurent.

- 'A unique experience' -

Down several narrow flights of steps, the MSF medical team -- a doctor, midwife, two nurses and two technicians -- prepare to take charge of rescued migrants who will be spending anything from a few hours to several days on board.

Unlike the SOS Mediterranee crew, most of them had never set foot on a boat before but can call on vast reserves of experience acquired in humanitarian hotspots from the Ebola clinics of West Africa to the earthquake-ravaged mountains of Nepal.

Dutch doctor Erna Rijnierse, who has been working with MSF for a decade, describes the work on the boat as a one-off.

"I've been involved in long term projects, I've been involved in emergencies This however is very unique.

"There are elements of different MSF missions but the fact that you do this on water, with people in flight that have been travelling already quite a bit, and on the doorstep of Europe, makes it very unique."

What is notable aboard the Aquarius is the commitment of the boat's permanent crew -- a motley collection of taciturn Russians and Ukrainians, several Ghanians and a worrisome Greek. None of them chose the mission but all them have thrown their hearts into it.

Going to the aid of stricken boats is a moral and legal obligation at sea but picking up migrants represents a headache for merchant ships with deliveries and collections to be made, and fears of infection by sick shipwreck survivors abound.

But it is the veteran seamen who have the skills required. Aquarius seaman Ebenezer Tandot, 45, has long worked around North Sea oil platforms, where hypothermia can claim even the strongest swimmers in as little as eight minutes.

- 'Doing something good' -

So it is the Ghanaian who is tasked with guiding the first lifeboat to be launched.

"We pick up the migrants, we drop them off, it has become the routine," he tells AFP.

But his nonchalant tone changes quickly as he emotionally recalls the impact of rescuing men in a state of shock or paralysed by hypothermia and the relief at seeing them begin to come round and recover.

Such emotions help to explain how the crew has bonded, despite their vastly different backgrounds. "We actually feel like one big team trying to take the best care we can of the people we have rescued," says the MSF doctor.

The boat's skipper is Alexander Moroz, a 45-year-old Belarusian with a dry sense of humour. He is the point man who receives instructions from Italy's coastguard and directs operations.

The work has nothing in common with his boat's past. "But my feeling is I am in the right place and that I am doing something good."

Asked if the presence of rescue boats is only encouraging people traffickers to send their human cargoes to sea, the skipper adopts the same line as the humanitarian contingent on board.

"The only question is, if we were not here, how many more would die?"
British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin

30.05.2016 LISTEN

Former Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly boss and New Patriotic Party [NPP] member, Maxwell Kofi Jumah has launched a scathing attack on the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin.

He has described him without any hesitation as a fool.

So if Britain wants someone as a High Commissioner to Ghana, must they appoint a fool like Jon Benjamin as their Commissioner to Ghana? That man is a fool, he angrily said on NEAT FMs morning show 'Ghana Montie'.

His invectives comes after the Commissioner denied reports in a series of tweets that the Central Regional Chairman of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Allotey Jacobs has been arrested in the UK.

News went viral on social media on Sunday that Allotey Jacobs was busted at the Heathrow Airport by the UK National Crime Agency on suspected money laundering and cocaine trafficking.

The unconfirmed report also said Ghanas High Commissioner to the UK, Victor Smith had dispatched officials of the High Commission to rescue the NDC chairman. But Jon Benjamin in responding to the report on Twitter said the story is not true.

I can confirm that the rumor about Mr. Jacobs is definitely not true . . . Mr. Allotey Jacobs transited Heathrow this morning without incident, he added.

This seems to have provoked the former Asokwa NPP MP and attempts by the host to stop him from further insults again triggered him to hang up in a live radio interview with Kwesi Aboagye.

If you dont want me to talk, then bye, he hung up.
The Minister of Employment and Labour Relations, Haruna Iddrisu, has expressed optimism that the Judicial Service Staff Association (JUSSAG), might call off its strike by close of day, Tuesday, May 30.

The Minister said this after a meeting with the leaders of JUSSAG on Monday.

The members of the association have been on strike for the past two weeks over what they say is government's failure to implement the consolidation of salaries and allowances for its members, more than a year after their request was forwarded to government.

JUSSAG and the Employment Ministry have engaged in two separate meetings over the past week, but the meetings ended with no definite resolution.

But speaking to the media after negotiations with JUSSAG on Monday, Haruna Iddrisu revealed that, their negotiations would have made significant headway by close of day Tuesday, May 30.

I should indicate that some progress has been made and on Tuesday there would be a major definite public pronouncement of the future or otherwise of the strike action. I am hopeful and confident that before the close of work Tuesday, we all will know where we stand with the leadership of JUSSAG, Mr. Iddrisu said.

Announcement will come from JUSSAG

The Labour Minister indicated further that his outfit would continue working to arrive at a consensus, adding that any major announcement on Tuesday, will come from JUSSAG.

According to Mr. Iddrisu, The pronouncement will come from JUSSAG not from government. The government team, we are holding ourselves in readiness on Wednesday to continue and work towards some consensus and agreement on some of the issues.



By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana
The late Professor Adu Boahen

30.05.2016 LISTEN

When we talk of bequests left to the living by the dead, we often think of material things.

Buildings; in the case of the late Professor Adu Boahen, books  although spiced with a fairly abstract concept, namely a precedent set in relation to courageous political activism, that can inspire those alive and kicking to be brave enough to expose themselves to personal risks (if necessary) in trying to improve the living conditions of those less fortunate than themselves.

Prof Adu Boahen, as was made marvelously clear at the Event that was held on 24 May 2016 in Accra to commemorate the 10th anniversary of his joining his ancestors, left a worthy legacy to all Ghanaians, especially what concerns them most  living in freedom as proud Ghanamma; a people able to choose their own governments, and prepared to be unsparing and vocal in their critical evaluation of the performance of those governments, once elected; and on a continuing basis.

I shall be devoting future columns to the speeches made at the commemoration by such august figures as Nana Dr S K B Asante, a classmate of Adu Boahen's, who was chair for the occasion; Prof Addo Fenning, who, I think, has annexed unto himself, Prof Adu Boahen's title of Uncrowned Doyen of Ghanaian Historians; and Mr Henry Kwasi Prempeh, a social and political commentator whose observations on our national affairs scythe through legal and political issues seamlessly.

What we all failed to notice at the Event was the complete and utter self-effacement of the Adu Boahen siblings, who organised it and made sure that it went ahead without the slightest hitch. The evening belonged to their father, and they discreetly allowed it to be so. Even the auction that took place to raise funds for the just-launched Adu Boahen Foundation, was handled with good taste and magnificent humour.

There was also a breath-taking cultural show, at which a worthy successor to President Kwame Nkrumah's Okyeame Akufo (the gifted herald who used to introduce the Osagyefo the President with Kwame, kasa! Kasa! before the President spoke on the radio) made himself heard.

As I predicted in my last column, the choice of MCs for the occasion was inspired. Dr Ebow Daniel and Ambassador James Aggrey-Orleans were both at their loquacious best and were able to draw plenty of laughs, though the occasion was necessarily a most solemn one. Also worthy of note was the role played by Professor Akosua Adoma Perbi, head of the Department of History. Prof Perbi generously sacrificed part of her time at the podium to tease out from another lady, the story of how her dancing at the 37 Military Hospital bedside of Prof Adu Boahen, aroused the (then) bed-ridden Professor from his near-coma.

The lady told us that according to the Prof's wife, Auntie Mary (who has been described by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, Flag-bearer of the NPP, in these words: as fearless, staunch and loyal a consort as could be found!) Prof had not spoken a word for two days, but the lady's dancing  most likely to have been rather eccentric  not only enabled the Prof to recover his speech but his sharp tongue as well. But who told you are not mad? He asked the dancing lady. This anecdote both brought Adu Boahen back to life to those who knew him, and also  brought the house down.

The final word of the evening was spoken by Nana Akufo Addo, a doughty comrade-in-arms to Prof during the anti-Unigov campaign of the mid-1970s, and at the hustings, during the 1992 election, at which Prof Adu Boahen demonstrated enormous bravery and stood for the presidency against the incumbent, Flight-Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings. Nana Addo, too, managed wittily to bring Adu Boahen back to life to us.

.

The rest was silence  a sad, reflective silence, during which we each had to wonder whether the Almighty would be as kind to us as he had been to Adu Boahen, whom He had enabled to live such a life that even when he was no longer on earth, his name was on every lip. And a good ten good years after his demise, at that.

Since the Event, I have been privileged to talk at length to one of Adu's children, Kwabena, who is making huge waves at the cutting edge of the electronic-/BIO-engineering world in the United States. In my opinion (and I know journalists are constantly urged to bury any ambitions they may harbour to become prophets  a warning that is particularly apposite in Ghana, where the Prophet Obinims of this world have turned prophecy into a profitable but deceitful enterprise!) Kwabena will, in a few years time, be at the pinnacle of a breakthrough in research into the computer-brain synergy, on which he and a group of scientists have been engaged at Stanford University, in the US, for some time.

The project, if successful, will be such a game-changer in the computer industry  and therefore, in how we all live  that Ghana's name, through Kwabena Adu Boahen, will for ever be associated with an exponential increase in the ability of super-computers to do unimaginable calculations, whilst  through mimicking the human brain  consuming an infinitesimal proportion of the electric power currently needed to make super-computers work.

Kwabena talks about his ideas on Ted at

https://www.ted.com/talks/kwabena_boahen_on_a_computer_that_works_like_the_brain?language=en

I am so excited about Kwabena's project that I shall devote my next article to a discussion of his ideas. Do not be disappointed, therefore, if you have to wait a little longer to read what the speakers said at the Adu Boahen commemorative Event.

I assure you I wouldn't make such a sacrifice if I wasn't 100 percent convinced that the interview with Kwabena should take precedence over what we said about his father, who was well-known enough already, whereas Kwabena or Buster (as his Legon Primary School, Mfantsipim and KNUST mates knew him) has been rather off-screen in Ghana, having done all his post-graduate studies in the US.

By Cameron Duodu

www.cameronduodu.com


30.05.2016 LISTEN

I thought another engagement with the media by the top hierarchy of the law enforcement service was unnecessary when the media honoured an invitation for a chat at the Cafeteria of the Police Headquarters last Thursday. My position was informed by the fact that a similar engagement was hosted by the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) a fortnight or so ago earlier where the Inspector General Of Police (IGP) was a guest and even delivered a speech on the subject of ensuring a successful election in November.

I was wrong because the Ghana Police Service as the state institution mandated to maintain law and order should be the frontline agency organizing such encounters. The Ghana Armed Forces only plays a supportive role to the civilian Police especially when the latter is overwhelmed by the magnitude of a civil disobedience which threatens the sovereignty of the state.

The reception accorded us at the police headquarters was not bad. Perhaps being the special guests of the IGP, the usual mandatory requirement of the dropping of mobile phones at the Reception was wavered.

The Cafeteria is beautiful spotting an array of pictures of former IGPs from the olden days and near immaculate clean. The Central Band of the Ghana Police Service was at hand to provide music needed for such occasions.

The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) was represented by the Chief of Staff of the Ghana Armed Forces, Brigadier Sampson Adeti whose management of questions proved valuable.

Police/military operations are steeped in history, was a hint given to a curious journalist who sought answer to how the two would be undertaking a joint mission during the polls.

According to the IGP when the civilian police are overwhelmed by a civil disobedience, the military is invited, an invitation which has a template. Following the restoration of law and order, the police would take over once more, the IGP explained.

Friday's engagement was about how to ensure the success of the forthcoming polls with the IGP's speech setting the tone for the interactive session which was the period when media persons poured their hearts out.

The IGP had earlier implored the media to join hands with them to deliver a successful elections in the country, assuring that the law enforcement agency and other security services will work together to ensure that all goes well with the national assignment.

The IGP spoke about reaching out to other stakeholders with a view to achieving the objective of another successful election.

Talensi popped up during the engagement when a question had the IGP stating that what happened in that electoral area has been reviewed and the appropriate lessons learnt adding that this impacted on the success chalked in Amenfi West in a latter by-election.

The interactive session was interesting for the media assembled because it is such segments which give, especially, the print medium their headlines, the promises of neutrality by security agents and so on, being mundane for the front pages. That is the reality of the industry no matter how much people think about it.

When we left the venue of the programme, I felt sorry for our host because the bit about the possibility of shutting down social media on Election Day was sure going to overshadow the substance of the engagement. I was not wrong as evidenced by the angst of Ghanaians the following day and beyond when the story screamed across the political and media terrain.

Interestingly, the authority to shut down social media is beyond the Ghana Police Service and so just how he would have done it is something I cannot fathom. Maybe he wields extra powers beyond what he already has.

.

I demanded of the Police Administration to support their personnel who in the course of the performance of their duties lock horns with politicians. There were instances during the limited registration exercise when some politicians sought to interfere with the work of police personnel on duty, failure to oblige leading to threats of action against them by the bullies.

Personnel must have confidence that their superiors would stand by them when politicians seek to punish them with transfers and other punitive measures. For such police personnel, scared about incurring the wrath of politicians, let them calm down because according to the IGP if personnel operate within the ambit of the law and incur the wrath of politicians, I would support them to the hilt.

A journalist posed a question regarding what happened at Ningo when DCOP Beatrice Zakpaa Vi-Sanziri then Commander for the Tema Region protested the deployment of soldiers to Ningo during the NDC's riotous primary election in the constituency without her knowledge.

She was transferred to the Police Headquarters raising suspicions that the action was punitive.

Interestingly Brigadier Adeti present at the function on Friday, attributed whatever happened at Ningo to communication problem. He was then General Commanding Officer (GOC) of the Southern Command of the Ghana Army.

The IGP had explained earlier that the transfer of the commander was in the interest of her career development adding that she has been moved to the Police Headquarters to assist him. I looked at her countenance but was unable to state whether it was a wry smile or not. Be it as it may, the IGP smiled to support his assertion.

COP Prosper Kwami Agblor disagreed that there is a large importation of arms into the country because according to him, information about such developments are always available to him. The Interior Minister is vested with the authority to give the nod for the importation of weapons, information about which is copied him, he said. His remark followed a suggestion that there has been a rise in the volume of arms import.

COP Prosper Kwami Agblor, CID Director delivered important lessons on the acquisition of weapons by individuals; assignment vested in his department by law.

Individuals who seek to own firearms should first be vetted by the CID to ensure that applicants do not have criminal records, have the facility to keep the firearms and the means of acquiring them. Such acquisition is limited to single and doubled barreled firearms, short guns and pump action firearms.

Pistols, he said, must be applied through the Interior Minister and when these arrive at the airport, for instance, having been kept in the custody of the authorities of the aircraft, it is taken over by customs officials until the procedures for its return to the owner are exhausted.

Sellers of cartridges and firearms, he said, should have been given the nod by the Interior Minister after which the magazine where these are kept must have two keys, one kept by the owner and the other, the police. At any time when the need to open the facility arises, the police arms clerk must be present.

Mr. Agblor's intervention was interesting especially for those who intend acquiring firearms for protection and perhaps hunting.

A group photograph and a sumptuous lunch by the host ended the programme, a repeat of which could be possible in the not distant future all things being equal.

By A.R. Gomda


30.05.2016 LISTEN

Tamale, May 30, GNA - Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Ken Yeboah, Northern Regional Police Commander, has partly blamed the media, for fueling conflicts in the area through negative reportage.

He said some journalists report stories relating to violence and conflicts in the area without doing proper investigations, saying: 'Sometimes the security will rush to the scene only to realise that what is reported is untrue.'

Speaking at the launch of the Northern Regional Election project, organised by the National Media Commission (NMC), with support from STAR -Ghana, DCOP Yeboah said due to the false publication, it has made the work of the police in the region very difficult.

The project, formed part of measures to improve media regulation in the regions for peaceful election 2016 polls.

The project would be undertaken in all regions by the Media Advisory Committees on behalf of the NMC to ensure a peaceful and professional reportage for the 2016 polls.

STAR-Ghana, a multi-dollar pull funding organisation is funding the project and implemented by the NMC.

DCOP Yeboah noted that, peaceful co-existence should be paramount to the media to safeguard the reputation, dignity and respect of the society for future generations.

He expressed worry over the misuse of social media, explaining that if not checked, it could pose serious threat to the security of the nation especially with the upcoming elections.

Mr George Sarpong, Executive Secretary of the NMC indicated that the region, has peculiar historical antecedent that could promote positive peace among the citizens.

He said the region is extremely important in terms of political activism and appealed to the media to effectively collaborate in sustaining peace during and after the 2016 polls.

Mr Sarpong said the political party colours have become a bargaining power in exchange of justice in the country.

This, he, said is injurious to a healthy social system.

He urged stakeholders to desist from using political and religious affiliations in escaping from justice.

Mr George Debrie, Chairman of the Northern Region Media Advisory Committee, who chaired the function, said peace is a collective responsibility of stakeholders and appealed to all, to work towards sustaining the prevailing peace.

GNA

By Paul Achonga Kwode, GNA
30.05.2016 LISTEN

Accra, May 30, GNA - Mrs Adwoa Boadua Yirenkyi-Fianko, a senior lecturer at the Business School of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), was one of the authors recognized for a highly commended paper in the 2016 edition of the Emerald Group Publishing's annual The Emerald Literati Awards.

Mrs Yirenkyi-Fianko who has taught Project Management at GIMPA since 2010, is the lead author of the article titled, 'An analysis of risk management in practice: the case of Ghana's construction industry', published in the Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology Vol. 13 No. 2, 2015.

The paper reported the findings of research into the levels of awareness, usage and benefits of risk assessment and management practices (RAMP) within the construction industry in Ghana. The findings of the study provide practical information for organisations to measure the benefits and capture the awareness of risk management practices through the provision of a framework based on an index and scoring method.

The annual Emerald Literati Awards were established 23 years ago by Emerald Group Publishing to celebrate and reward the outstanding contributions of authors and reviewers of research pieces globally. The winners in the different categories are selected by a board reviewing the most cutting-edge research-driven publications published in the last year.

GIMPA is a management development institution for training in leadership, business management and public administration. It was originally established in 1961 by the Government of Ghana with assistance from the United Nations Special Fund Project.

In 2004, it became a full-fledged public university and is recognised in Africa and around the world for offering excellent undergraduate, Master's and Executive Master's degree programmes in Business Administration, Public Administration, Development Management, Governance and Leadership.

GNA
The national economy is teetering. Foreign exchange is in short supply. But the stubborn PM refuses to budge, despite an outstanding arrest warrant in his name. In this tense climate, a firebrand opposition figure takes to the airwaves, calling on people to rise up and "save your country".

LET me tell you a story; see if you can guess how it will end. It's about a country where defiant student protests have galvanised national attention, delivering the prime minister an ultimatum to stand aside and face investigation about millions of dollars in suspected fraud.

The police chief, personally installed by the prime minister, dispatches squads of armed police on trucks to occupy the university campus in a bid to stamp out the protests. Authorities rumble darkly about the need for "certain powers" to respond to unnamed agitators and national security threats.

Sound like a combustible mix?



That's Papua New Guinea during the last few weeks. Not a tale long past, but a drama unfolding right now on Australia's doorstep.

Yet incredibly, none of this strife appears to much worry Australia's political leaders. To the extent our closest neighbour is noticed at all, the concern is almost entirely parochial; how to persuade PNG to keep open the Manus Island detention centre, despite the country's supreme court ruling the asylum seeker camp is illegal.

That's a plot twist for you. Australia, a wealthy champion of liberal democracy, is busily encouraging a poor nation already straining with internal troubles to buck the local law. How neighbourly.

It's not really fair of me to ask how this all ends, because no one can really tell you. People have worried about a widespread political collapse in PNG for decades, yet the country has always muddled on. It may well again.

But Australia would be a far better neighbour if only it stopped making matters worse. PNG is understandably protective of its sovereign independence, so Australia's ability to be a positive influence in the country is always going to be limited to advice rather than direction, as it should be. Still, benign neglect would be better than the present approach.

The supreme court ruling gave Australia the perfect excuse to abandon Manus Island and regain a little local credibility.

Instead, a team of immigration department officials has shuttled back and forth from Canberra over the last few weeks to try and convince the government in Port Moresby that Prime Minister Peter O'Neill acted too hastily in announcing the closure of the camp.

The priority is wrong. Australia could be talking about sensible measures to fix gaping holes in the PNG budget, rather than potential sweeteners to keep Manus operating. Australia could be counselling careful respect for law and order. Instead, the gates on Manus Island have swung open, but even this is no guarantee of compliance with the supreme court's ruling.

O'Neill pledged again to "implement" the court decision. But his attention is elsewhere, on problems that have quickly compounded. The students gave him 24 hours to step down, but he remains in the job. He responded to the student petition in a long letter, and the whole thing would be comic, if not potentially so dangerous.

In polite language, O'Neill dismissed each complaint:

The country gambled on a $1.2 billion loan to buy shares in an oil company, beyond its means to repay debt?

"The suggestion that the loan was secured outside of due process is entirely false."

Then why cut public spending, especially in health and education?

"Hundreds of jobs were saved; essential services were maintained."

And the big suspicion, that O'Neill authorised $30 million in dodgy payments to a law firm, shut down an anti-corruption probe and refused to submit to an arrest warrant for questioning?

"It does not make any sense at all  there has been a clear miscarriage in the administration of law. As a citizen, I am entitled also to exercise my rights  I wish to state clearly that I have no intention of either stepping aside or resigning from the Office of the Prime Minister."

So, on to the next chapter and an unknowable conclusion. Despite provocations, the protest has been peaceful. The students, marching dressed in black, have declared they will boycott their classes and keep up the campaign to oust O'Neill.

"Everyone does not like him," one told me. Their courage is admirable. The loss to their education - even if only a temporary interruption - will only heap pressure on an already struggling nation. The impasse could last a while.

One thing has changed, but it's of little comfort. You might be surprised to learn that PNG is officially no longer classified as a "developing nation". The country has received more aid from Australian taxpayers than any other, and failed to meet benchmarks to eradicate preventable disease, such as tuberculosis, or ensure basic education.

But with a wave of the statistical wand, the World Bank has this month banished the very term "developing country" from the international vernacular. The language of developing or developed countries was regarded as too discriminatory, it seems, and has gone the way of once commonly discussed First and Third World divisions (or "busted arse countries", in former foreign minister Alexander Downer's memorable but less diplomatic turn of phrase).

Now the World Bank prefers a cluster of "world development indicators" to rank countries around themes, including living standards, natural resources, the economy and global connections.

The labels may have changed, but the PNG story has not. The country is languishing on almost every measure. A friend next door might pay enough attention to actually help.
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The Early Childhood Program of Cayuga/Seneca Community Action Agency is wrapping up another school year.

We have had an exciting year with many highlights. In the fall of 2015, Bimbo Bakery of Auburn contacted us to be the recipient of the Good Neighbor Project. Through that initiative, our program received financial assistance and volunteer support from Bimbo Bakery employees to resurface our playground. Eric Caster of DirtWorks also donated his time to help with excavation. This project greatly improved the aesthetics and safety of the playground. We were very fortunate to have been selected for this project.

CSCAA's Early Childhood Program also began its Backpack Program in October. Carol Trzaska, health and nutrition coordinator, researched and implemented this program in an effort to curb hunger. Through this program, Early Head Start/Head Start children and families receive a bag of nonperishable food items and recipes the third week of every month to help supplement their food supply. This venture started out small at 20 backpacks, and has grown to currently serve 130 families over the course of one program year. Through mini-grants and wonderful donations from agency staff, local businesses and community members, the program will continue next school year.

Head Start applied for and received a mini grant from the New York State Head Start Association. The funds from this grant will assist children with sensory delays who do not qualify for occupational therapy services. The funds will also provide our teachers training opportunities on ways to understand sensory behaviors and incorporate supportive activities in the classroom.

Transitioning has begun for the children moving from Head Start/Universal Prekindergarten to kindergarten. Classrooms have been scheduling field trips to local elementary schools, giving both children and families an opportunity to visit what may be their kindergarten class in the fall and the children get to see what the big kids' school looks like. Teachers are also planning end-of-the-year picnics where families and children gather together, reminisce about the school year and enjoy some good food, games and fun.

Our collaboration with the Auburn Enlarged City School District under the Universal Prekindergarten grant has provided the Early Childhood Program with many opportunities for expansion, mentoring, training and the acquisition of new curriculum and materials. We also collaborate with Moravia, Southern Cayuga, Jordan-Elbridge and a Head Start classroom in Cato-Meridian Elementary.

We are currently recruiting for the 2016-2017 program year. We are accepting applications from income-eligible families. The Head Start program offers comprehensive services to children ages birth to 5 years of age. We offer both home-based (birth to 2-year-olds) and center-based options (2-4-year-olds).

For more information regarding Early Head Start, Head Start or Universal Prekindergarten or the Backpack Program, please call me at (315) 252-0038.
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In the 2015 financial year, the RBA reports that Australian companies paid out $78 billion in dividends to shareholders.

According to a report put out by Deutsche Bank a week ago, the Australian market is the second highest yielding market in the world, based on forecast yields over the next 12 months.

If youre wondering who sits atop of the list, you dont have to look too far. Its just across the Tasman to our neighbours over in New Zealand. On a forward yield of 4.9%, the Kiwi market pips Australia by just 0.3%, with our market expected to yield 4.6% over the following year.

These sorts of numbers might not generate too much excitement among investors here. Especially with the Big Four banks, a perennial favourite among income investors, sitting on current yields of between 57%.

By comparison, the Japanese market is forecast to pay out a 2.5% yield, and the US a paltry 2.3%. You can see why Australia is seen very much as a yield market.

Everything is relative, though. With the Bank of Japans cash rate sitting at -0.1%, a 2.5% yield might not seem such a dud after all. Thats if investors can survive the volatility of the Nikkei.

The yields available locally have become a cornerstone for investors relying on their investments to bolster their income. While theyre double those available on the US market, it also reflects something structurally different about our two markets  growth versus income.

Its become a well-worn complaint that finding true growth stocks on the ASX is a pretty tough task. If you take a look at the companies in the ASX 20, or even ASX 50 for that matter, youll be hard pressed to find stocks likely to run away to double-digit growth.

Most are mature businesses, paying out a high percentage of their profits to shareholders. A growth stock will instead hoard its cash to plough back into the business, or use it to finance further acquisitions.

Of course, those that specialise in the small to medium cap space will argue that there are always opportunities to invest in growth companies if you have a decent look around. However, the problem for those managing our $2 trillion-plus superannuation pool is trying to find a place to park all that money.

That sort of money isnt going to squeeze its way into the smaller end of the market. Thats why it inevitably ends up chasing the same mega-cap stocks, like the banks, the supermarkets and Telstra [ASX:TLS], for example.

Its also why shares now account for less than 50% of the asset allocation in superannuation funds. With little prospect of meaningful growth currently among the large caps, its predominantly the yield keeping the fund managers in there. Any decent kick to that, and well most likely see share prices headed lower.

In the 2015 financial year, the RBA reports that Australian companies paid out $78 billion in dividends to shareholders. Thats a whopping 40% increase over a five year period. The report states:

These (dividend) payments represented 81 per cent of these companies underlying earnings for the same period (the payout ratio) and 4.8 per cent of the market capitalisation of these companies as at end June 2015 (the dividend yield).

At 81%, the next question is whether this payout ratio is sustainable. While much of the debate focuses on an increase in payouts over the last three to four years, the following table gives a broader view, going back 20 years.



Source: ASX, Morningstar and RBA

Click to enlarge

You can see that, over this 20 year period, the payout ratio has ranged from just under 60%, to around 75%. What is also apparent, though, is the acceleration in the size of the dividends from 2003 onwards.

If you take a look at the accompanying payout ratio over that same period, it is still well within its average range. And if you look closer into the period from 2002 to 2007, the size of the total distributions grew rapidly, despite a consistent drop in the payout ratio.

Its this last part  from 2011 to 2015  that gets all the attention. The increase in the payout ratio, from just under 60% in 2011 to 81% in 2015, looks like a pretty decent jump. However, its really a 5% jump above the upper band of the longer term trend.

But, of course, the real question is where to from here? The same report by the RBA notes that in terms of the total amount of dividends to be paid:

The top 10 dividend payers are expected to reduce dividend payments in 2015/16 for the first time since the global financial crisis, with the major miners having announced a shift away from progressive dividend policies.

Note that this is the total across all 10 stocks, and not specifically for each company. If you take a look at the following table, it soon becomes apparent who the culprits are  the resource companies. Or more specifically, BHP [ASX:BHP] and Rio Tinto [ASX:RIO].



Source: Morningstar and RBA

Click to enlarge

You can see the massive drop-off in underlying profit (the red line) from the peak of the cycle in 20092010. Once the red line crossed over the blue line (the dividends), it was only a matter of time before these companies were forced to reduce their dividends.

What is also apparent from this table is the consistent spread between the profits and distributions of bank stocks. Not too many blips on that chart, when compared to the others.

The RBA report also states:

High-dividend-paying equities have outperformed the broader Australian index since 2011 on a total returns basis (share price plus dividends).

Thats why youll continue to see money allocated to the big dividend payers, in particular the banks (over the mining stocks). What is also apparent, though, with earnings having peaked for this cycle, is that more money will sit on the sidelines in cash, as risk-averse investors wait for the next period of growth to commence.

Regards,

Matt Hibbard,

Editor, Total Income

From the Port Phillip Publishing Library

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"Oliver Wiswell," a historical novel by Kenneth Roberts, is a really old, musty, long (836 pages!) book, published in 1940 by a forgotten author. Why would you read it? Well, because Roberts, a contrarian among historical novelists, vividly turns a familiar history upside down.

The novel presents the American Revolution from the Tory, or loyalist, point of view. Here, Sam Adams is a raging demagogue and rabble rouser, John Hancock an opportunist, and the Sons of Liberty wild-eyed terrorists. The revolution is not only against British rule, its a civil and class war waged by the common people and their leaders (who are seldom shown in a good light) against the educated middle-class elites who want the colonies to stay with Britain.

Since the story is told in the first person by Oliver Wiswell, son of a famous Massachusetts lawyer, we get one side of events. Thats all right, since you got the politically correct side in your high school history class. Wiswell is a budding historian whose bias is evident. He is also close to being a pacifist. Britain and the colonies ought to be able to settle their differences peacefully, he thinks. War is not the answer is a motto that would suit him.

The opening scene of the tar-and-feathering of Thomas Buell, a suspected Loyalist, by some Sons of Liberty takes place near Wiswells home near Boston on April 17, 1775: The eyes of the men who made up this mob were insane; their yelling mouths contorted to senseless shapesNever before had I seen a man whom had been tarred and featheredit was like a strange enormous birda bird that had shed a part of its feathers to reveala skin of repulsively shining black. (It) was naked as an antique statue its hands looked like talons vainly threatening that tumultuous mob.

Thomas Buell, printer, counterfeiter, inventor and shape-changing con man, recovers to become Wiswells sidekick and sometime savior. He is a foil to Wiswells steely steadfastness.

After the battles of Lexington and Concord, Wiswell and his family and hundreds of other Loyalist families are forced off their lands, which are confiscated, and shut up in Boston with the defeated British. After the siege, Wiswell becomes a wide-ranging British spy. He liaises with Loyalist forces on Long Island, and in Paris, gathers intelligence on Ben Franklin and Silas Deane, who are plotting for French intervention. Franklin and Deane are hooted at on Paris streets. The people dont want another war!

We witness the tearing up of the British infantry at Bunker Hill and, in great detail, the retreat of Washingtons army from Brooklyn, where it is very nearly broken and enveloped by the British and Hessians. Why did Howe, the British general, not finish the job? Wiswell asks. Politically, Howe is a Tory, an aide explains, and destroying Washingtons army would have been a triumph for the Whig government, which would then remain in power for decades. So Howe, having captured New York, decided to stop for lunch.

Most of the British have little regard for Americans, whether rebels or Loyalists. One reason the British lost, Wiswell thinks, is that they failed to fully trust and make use of the Loyalists. They suspected anyone who was low church, not Episcopalian. Wiswell was seldom able to convince his British superiors of anything. He wants the British to win, but doesnt like to see rebel armies routed by redcoats and Hessians. Hes an American, after all.

Back in America in January 1781, Wiswells mission is to locate the prison camp where Burgoynes army, defeated in Saratoga, has been illegally held since 1777, and report back. He finds the army starving near Winchester, Virginia. When he sees the multitudes of southern American loyalists pouring through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky in order to escape the war, he is tempted to follow them. But he sticks to his mission and survives the siege of Ninety-Six, the loyalist fortress town in South Carolina invested by the rebel/patriot army.

Oliver Wiswell, with its theme of a lost cause in a radically changing society, shares similarities with Margaret Mitchells "Gone with the Wind," published in 1937. As in "Gone," there is romantic interest: Wiswell must decide between the girl he left behind in Massachusetts in 1775, and a southern woman (with a really thick accent) he meets in Virginia. Roberts wrote many books on early American history: "Rabble in Arms," "Northwest Passage," "Arundel," "March to Quebec." He is perhaps the closest we have to an American Tolstoy.

Wiswells views do not change during the course of the story. After the war, he and many other loyalists, harried by the victorious rebels, settle in New Brunswick. He is as convinced as ever that the colonies would have been better off negotiating their differences with the British crown. Wars destroy everything and degrade everyone, he thinks. He is skeptical of the future of the new United States. Perhaps some good may come out of it? he wonders. We wonder what he would have thought had he lived until 1914, when Great Britain expected Canadians, subjects of the king, to join it in a European war in which they had no stake.
It seems like just yesterday that the now 19 year old was dancing around the Ellen set

21 hours ago
CONNELLY SPRINGS - A group of soldiers recently returned home to a warm welcome from family and friends.

The N.C. National Guards 1450th Transportation Company, also known as The Moonshiners, has units based in Lenoir, Boone and Jefferson and members from all across the state, including Burke County.

A demobilization ceremony was held for the unit on May 14 at the Mountain Grove Baptist Church in Connelly Springs, the same facility which hosted the companys deployment more than a year earlier in January 2015.

The 1450th deployed in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Inherent Resolve and Spartan Shied and provided transportation and convoy security in Kuwait and Iraq. The unit also provided assistance and mentorship to host security forces to develop self-sufficient strategies as U.S. forces prepare to withdraw from the area, said Brig. Gen. Kenneth Beard.

The unit also was able to boast 200,000 accident-free miles during its operations. Beard said that accomplishment was definitely a feather in the companys cap.

I dont know how many of us can claim 200,000 accident-free miles here at home, he said. Thats just a tremendous accomplishment overseas.

Beard said the unit was met with many challenges, including a change in command, but it rose to the occasion and members were model soldiers.

You were truly ambassadors of our state and our country, he said. And your efforts over the past year have reflected well on yourselves, the National Guard and the state of North Carolina.

Along with receiving praise, the soldiers also were reminded of the many resources available to them as they transition back into their lives at home.

Morganton City Councilman Forrest Fleming was at the ceremony in his position as the area chairman for western N.C. for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, or ESGR, which promotes cooperation between service members and their employers. Fleming himself retired as a command sergeant major after 33 years and now works to ensure that others returning home can be gainfully employed.

When folks are deployed and then have difficulties getting back into their employment, then we assist with that  whether its getting back into their old job or looking for a new one, Fleming said.

Along with employment, Beard said he understood that many would have trouble integrating, but he encouraged them to maintain the same close relationships they had in the field.

I implore you to keep the Battle Buddy system we use in theater, he said. You will know before anyone else if your Buddy is doing okay. I encourage you to seek help when you need it. We will never leave a soldier behind. We have folks all across the state who are willing to help. Dont be afraid to reach out.

With parting words of advice, the ceremony concluded, and the soldiers began their transition into the waiting arms of friends and family.

For more information on the N.C. National Guard, visit nc.ng.mil.

To find out more about ESGR and its efforts, visit esgr.mil.
AUBURN  After the siren sounded, the suspense was almost unbearable for folks waiting for the Kiwanis Duck Derby ducks to float down the Owasco River.

After several minutes, Quintin Morabito, 4, of Auburn thought perhaps the ducks were coming from the other direction. Volunteers waiting and wading in the river, called, "Here, ducky ducky," to try and get the flock moving.

And then they came in full yellow force  nearly 6,000 rubber ducks racing for the finish line shortly after the Auburn Memorial Day parade on Monday.

The annual Duck Derby, in its 28th year, is sponsored by the Auburn Kiwanis Club. Proceeds from the $5 ducks support a variety of organizations including the Booker T. Washington Community Center, Cayuga Centers and the Cayuga/Seneca Community Action Agency.

But 10 lucky winners, ducks that place first through ninth, and that special duck that places last, get various prizes.

It was a duck named Dallis that won the grand prize, $3,000. Named after five-year-old Dallis Swietoniowski, of Weedsport, Dallis' father, Chris, said he was surprised to have the winning duck.

"We've been coming probably for about 10 years," Chris said. "I never expected to win."

Chris said he's planning to take his daughter to Disney World with his winnings.

Janet Zane, president of the Auburn Kiwanis Club, said they sold approximately 5,400 ducks this year, and the club usually makes about $25,000 from the event.

Jon Wilcox, a member of the Kiwanis Club and chair of IGNITE Cayuga County's Young Professionals steering committee, thanked participants.

"This is a beautiful day, beautiful weather, and a great cause," he said.
With MCAP poised to go public, it could become an even larger and more influential player in the mortgage industry.While residential mortgage brokers really just know MCAP as a monoline residential lender there is a commercial mortgage operation as well. There is a limited partnership aspect to the current company and quite often limited partnerships find reasons to eventually go public, Ron Butler , industry veteran and broker with Butler Mortgage, told MortgageBrokerNews.ca via email.The executives are all smart people, this is likely a repositioning to allow limited partners to have a more liquid means to manage their equity positions in the company and it may also be a better method to increase capital which is always a good thing for a non-bank lender.MCAP filed to go public, MortgageBrokerNews.ca reported Thursday.It is the second largest mortgage finance company in Canada in terms of 2015 origination volume and mortgages under administration.MCAP had $55 billion in mortgages under administration as of April 30, 2016.In 2015, MCAP had $14.3 billion worth of mortgage originations and $4 billion renewals.
A growing proportion of millennial would-be home buyers are relying on their families purses to help with their purchases, according to a recent study by the Bank of Montreal.



As reported by Josh OKane for The Globe and Mail, the latest edition of BMOs annual survey of first-time home buyers revealed that fully 44 per cent of consumers in the 18-35 age bracket are forced to depend on parents or other earning family members for their purchases (either in part or as a whole).



This is a far cry from the results of BMOs 2013 study, which put this proportion at 28 per cent.



Research shows its an increasing trend, BMO managing director (personal lending products) Sameh Elrefaei said, adding that the seemingly non-stop growth of prices in Canadas hottest markets is a major contributing factor in this development.



Furthermore, the 2016 survey found that 42 per cent of young professionals in Canada are facing significant difficulties in finding affordable detached homes.



When you take affordability into account, a condo is much more accessible, Elrefaei stated.



Observers said that this is not a new trend, with Mortgage Professionals Canada CEO Paul Taylor saying that parents have long contributed to their childrens first home purchases.



[Its] probably a whole lot better to be in a loan arrangement with a family member than a financial institution, Taylor said, specifically pointing at the far greater possibility of interest-free borrowing from ones family.
The broker-built Unitas Insurance referral program has recently reached its milestone 50,000th referral and its 5th anniversary, with participants attributing the systems success to its intuitiveness and ease of use.In its May 24 news release, Unitas Insurance announced that the programwhich serves mortgage brokers in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbiahas surpassed all expectations since its launch back in 2011.Brokers have gravitated to the program due to its simplicity, in particular.Unitas contacts clients on their behalf and then pays them a referral fee. Simply put, brokers do not have to do anything but sell mortgages to earn insurance referral fees. Its an easy process because Unitas is connected directly to the brokers origination system. This industry-leading integration into each brokers business model allows them to focus on their core mortgage business, the Unitas Insurance press release stated.The system was also designed to accommodate the needs of borrowers, which are almost always required to hold home insurance as a loan condition.We created Unitas to work closely with mortgage brokers to help their clients fulfill this condition easily with a simple process that provides highly competitive quotes for their home and auto insurance needs, Unitas president Rod Elliot said in the release.The program has garnered high praise from analysts and observers.Unitas provides a seamless and integrated way for our mortgage brokers to offer insurance, with the confidence of a trusted partner that works exclusively on their behalf, Invis- Mortgage Intelligence CEO Cameron Strong said. Its a fantastic win-win for brokers and clients.
While we take time to celebrate Memorial Day weekend, it is important that we reflect on what the holiday is truly about. Since the birth of our nation, hundreds of thousands of Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedoms. As the son, father, brother and uncle of U.S. veterans, I have a heartfelt appreciation for everything our soldiers and their family members sacrifice.

Since the War on Terror began after the September 11 attacks in 2001, more than 6,800 American men and women have died fighting overseas. As recently as this month, a Navy SEAL was killed on a mission protecting foreign forces in a battle against ISIS in Iraq. So this Memorial Day, we must not forget that our service members are still out fighting and dying to protect us, and others, from those who wish to cause harm.

WHAT THE HOLIDAY MEANS

Observed the last Monday of May, Memorial Day honors the men and women who died while answering the call of duty in the U.S. Military. The holiday was originally known as Decoration Day in the years after the Civil War, and became a national holiday in 1971.

In 1885, a druggist in Waterloo wanted to honor the soldiers who died preserving the union and ran the idea by members of the community. After planning and consideration, the members of the community came together and the first Memorial Day ceremony was held in the village of Waterloo in 1866. In 1966, Governor Nelson D. Rockefeller and the U.S. Congress recognized Waterloo for starting the tradition of celebrating fallen service members.

ENJOYING THE LONG WEEKEND

Over time, Memorial Day has become known as the unofficial kick-off to summer. It is an opportunity many people use to open their pools or camps, attend parades and have a barbecue with family and friends. As we take time to do all those things and enjoy the people around us, we must not forget those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our freedoms. I encourage everyone to pause for a moment and reflect on the meaning of the holiday and remember Americas heroes.

What do you think? I want to hear from you. Send me your feedback, suggestions and ideas regarding this or any other issue facing New York State. You can always contact my district office at (315) 781-2030, e-mail me at kolbb@assembly.state.ny.us, find me by searching for Assemblyman Brian Kolb on Facebook and follow me on Twitter.
Professional and community involvement:

I am retired from Texas Instruments where I worked as a manager and planner. My community involvement entails serving on the Midland Festival Ballet board, the Bertha Mae Starks scholarship committee at Coleman High School, parliamentarian of the Coleman High School PTA as well as a member of the school's CEIC. I am the founder and executive director of the Midland African American Roots Historical/Cultural Arts Council Inc. My position is voluntary in the cultural council. Also, I am a current member of the Midland chapter of the NAACP. I have been instrumental in focusing on bringing major cultural events to Midland; among them are the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Les Ballet Africains, Forces of Nature, The Dance Theatre of Harlem (a collaboration with Midland College) and most recently, Contra-Tiempo. Interfacing with the Midland Independent School District and Midland College has contributed to a positive outcome for these events, in community.

Why do you believe in dedicating your time to the community?

I believe in dedicating my time to the community because volunteerism is the life blood of my community. My dedication is a way of modeling what I practice: "Get involved in your community." I believe in bringing solutions to the table, in order to make my community better.

How does giving back to the community enrich your life?

Giving back to my community enriches my life by seeing the positive outcome and impact of projects, especially cultural, on the community in general and individuals in particular. I am a member of the St. Mark's United Methodist Church, where I serve as a certified lay minister and leader and member of the Faith Warriors Sunday school class.

How long has Midland been your home, and why have you stayed?

Having lived in Midland, Texas for more than 50 years, I am amazed at the spirit of caring and sharing that fosters community in my hometown. Challenges and opportunities cultural, educational, social, economic, and political  humanitarian issues  are reasons I live in Midland, Texas.
Flames erupted across the street from Midland High School at about 8 a.m. on Friday as several students and community members watched.

It was all part of the plan as sophomore Garrett Hilliard supervised the first burning of a retired U.S. flag.

Hilliard, a cadet second lieutenant in the MHS JROTC corps, created a flag-burning site as part of his Eagle Scout project after approaching Maj. Donald Speir for help.

I originally had no idea to what I was going to do (for Eagle Scouts) ... so I came to Major Speir and I asked, What do you need to get done? Hilliard said. He explained that both ROTC and the surrounding community do not really have an outlet to retire flags.

Hilliard said the JROTC regularly receives dozens of flags a month, but had no way to dispose of them as the U.S. Flag Code dictates. Cadet Colonel Brayden Woods, corps commander, said the flag code requires cutting the stripes, removing the stars and burning the flag.

Hilliard built the new site at the MHS JROTC building. The first ceremony included a script he wrote himself, taking pieces from Boy Scout flag ceremonies, the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

To be able to serve the community in this way, bringing communities and school leaders together to pay respect toward our country and a flag that you should be day-to-day grateful for -- you should feel blessed, and I do, Hilliard said.

The burn ceremony came a couple of weeks after senior cadets went through a relatively new rite of passage. Six students participated in the Commemorative Air Force incentive senior flight as a farewell gift from the unit, and the idea of the planes owner, High Sky Wing member John Williams, according to Woods.

The planes were the Poor Mans Mustang, or Navion airplane first designed in 1946 and modified in the late 1950s.

It was a really cool thing to get to experience and to do because not everyone gets to fly or ride in a Vietnam/Korean era airplane, Woods said.

Seniors rode mainly shotgun, although a few got control of the joystick. Afterward, the cadets toured the CAF museum and learned more about the history of the Air Force, specifically the part Midland played in World War II.

It was really interesting to see the navigator school that they had in Midland, said senior Keagan Parham, cadet first lieutenant. We learn about Pearl Harbor and Guadalcanal, which are major parts in U.S. history, but you never learn about what Midland did. Its really cool to see how your city contributed.

Follow Cassie on Twitter at @Cassie_Burton51
Former Navy SEAL Clint Bruce was at a Memorial Day barbecue years ago, surrounded by friends and family, when he realized the day meant something much different to him than to them. For some it was just a day off; for others it was a great day for sales. For Bruce -- who had deployments both before and after 9/11 -- it was a time remember his friends who had died.

He put a rock in his pack for each friend he had lost and started to walk. As he walked around White Rock Lake in Dallas, he encountered an older veteran, who asked him with understanding, Son, who are you carrying?

Thus, Carry the Load, a nonprofit organization with the mission of preserving the true meaning of Memorial Day, was born in 2011. This is the first year the organization came through Midland with its first West Coast team, which traveled from Seattle. West Coast team members will meet the East Coast team, which traveled from West Point, New York, in Dallas in time for Memorial Day.

The (older veteran) could tell (Bruce) was carrying more than a pack, but something else, mentally and emotionally, said Matt Fryman, the West Coast group leader during a stop in Midland earlier this month. It all started from there to try to restore the true meaning of Memorial Day from just barbecues and mattress sales to remembering the fact that people have given their lives to protect our country.

Originally called Decoration Day, Memorial Day was first observed on May 30, 1868, to honor the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers. It was later designated as a national day of remembrance, to be observed on the last Monday of May, to honor those who have died in service to the nation.

On May 20, two veterans and a civilian met the Carry the Load bus at the Walgreens on Big Spring Street to carry their share of the load. They were about to embark on a 12-mile bike ride, one of six rides or walks that took place in Midland throughout that day, as part of Carry the Loads goal to provide interactive ways of showing gratitude to those who served.

Gina Roberts, a Marine veteran; Gary Kennedy, an Army veteran; and Joseph Kennedy (no relation to Gary), watched the rush-hour traffic go by as they waited to start in the early evening heat.

This is important to me because Memorial Day is not just about sales, and people need to realize our men and women are out there sacrificing their lives for our freedom, Joseph Kennedy said. I wanted to do more than just donate some money. I wanted to do something physical and put myself out there.

As she waited for traffic to slow to start their ride, Roberts looked toward the horizon, the golden light in her face and said, I am doing this for the others.
From Armed Forces Day to Memorial Day to Military Spouse Appreciation Day, May is a month that honors our veterans in many different ways. But we still have work to do in how we recognize and support their families.

Can we really address veterans needs separate from the challenges faced by the family as a whole? The answer is no, unless we change what we are doing. We can do more to provide spouses the support they need to continue essential caregiving for veterans and to rebuild their families emotional and economic health.

Spouses are vital to veterans successful transition into civilian life and in veterans recovery process when they require treatment. It is often a wife, husband or partner who actively encourages a veteran to seek treatment in order to save the marriage or to improve their childrens relationship with the parent. The spouse also becomes the familys breadwinner when a veteran is unable to work.

While a veteran might receive pension and disability pay, the money is not enough to provide for a family transitioning to a new life in a new home. An employed spouse allows the veteran time to find appropriate, higher-income employment, instead of being forced to take the first available job in order to support the family. Unfortunately, spouse unemployment and underemployment are among the most common issues military and veteran families face.

In a recent survey by Blue Star Families, 75 percent of spouses said their status as military spouses negatively impacted their careers. They indicated that military spouse employment is the top obstacle to financial security. In fact, the Military Officers Association of America and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University conducted their own survey in 2013 and found a whopping 90 percent of responding female spouses of active duty service members are underemployed.

We are ignoring a huge issue affecting the resiliency of our military and veteran families.

Many factors contribute to these high rates. During a veterans service, the spouse often must put his or her own career and education on hold. Frequent moves lead to school transfers, unfinished degrees, disjointed resumes with strings of short-term employments, professional licensure issues that may bar a spouse from practicing in a new state, and reluctance from employers to hire someone who may soon move. Spouses deserve equal preference for employment afforded to the veterans they care for and support.

Spouses of veterans should receive career counseling, internships and preferential hiring just like veterans.

For example, the Texas Veterans Commission has opened career counseling services to spouses and dependents. Other agencies should follow suit and lawmakers should eliminate hurdles. Texas Veteran Entrepreneur Program supports veteran-owned small businesses, but like many programs aimed at helping veterans, it is unable to assist veteran spouses because the bill that created the program restricts it to veterans.

By law, Texas gives wartime veterans and the widows and orphans of those killed on active duty preference for employment in state agencies or offices until that office has reached 40 percent veteran employment. The state should extend that preference to wartime veteran spouses.

There is a common saying among the caregiver community: Put on your own oxygen mask first. This metaphor recognizes that it is impossible to take care of others if you are not taking care of yourself. Spouses and caregivers are so used to playing a supporting role, they often forget about their own needs. For the sake of our communities and our veterans, we cant afford to ignore these hidden heroes. We must do more for the spouses of our veterans.

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Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
7-Eleven wage repayment program launched

Posted by AFN Staff Writers on 30th May 2016

7-Eleven Australia is launching a wage repayment program to process compensation claims by employees not paid correctly by franchisee owners.

The program is supported by an interdependent Secretariat and is under strict protocols to maintain claimant confidentiality.

7-Eleven has invited the Fair Work Ombudsman to review the program.

7-Eleven took the Wage Repayment Program process in-house in order to deliver a robust and efficient process that puts money in the hands of aggrieved franchisee staff as quickly as possible, said Chief Executive Officer, Angus McKay.

We are happy to be judged on our actions, and will publicly report our progress as we move forward McKay said.

The program was established after an investigation in September 2015 alleged wide-spread employee underpayment at 7-Eleven stores by franchisee owners.

7-Eleven says it still encourages any staff members who believe they were underpaid to come forward, either through a new website set up under the Wage Repayment Program or by contacting the Secretariat on 1800 619 802.
Australian scientists worried by new antibiotic resistance found overseas

Australian scientists have reacted with concern to the news that a US woman was found carrying bacteria resistant to an antibiotic called Colistin.

Colistin is only issued as a last resort when other antibiotics do not work.

In an article published in the latest issue of the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal, doctors reported that a woman who experienced a urinary tract infection, from which she later recovered, was infected with a bacteria that was not able to be destroyed by antibiotics.

The doctors discovered E.coli bacteria in the woman containing the Colistin antibiotic resistant mcr-1 genre. The mcr-1 genre was only first found in China in 2015.

In Australia, Professor Michael Gillings, who is a professor of Molecular Evolution in the Department of Biological Sciences at Macquarie University in Sydney, said bacteria has developed resistance because humans are taking antibiotics unnecessarily and through

their use as growth promoters in animals.

They do so by collecting genes for resistance. The more genes they collect, the more resistant they are, Professor Gillings said.

Thats why reports of spreading resistance to the antibiotic of last resort, colistin, are so worrying, he said.

Estimates suggest that over 10 million people will be dying of antibiotic resistant infections every year by 2050, and that this death toll will be higher than deaths from cancer, Professor Gillings stated.

Associate Professor Sanjaya Senanayake from the Australian National University Medical School in Canberra said the clinical history of the women suggests she possibly picked up the resistance from food.

It is a big deal that it has been found in the United States, especially in a patient who hasnt apparently been overseas for many months. It suggests that she has picked it up within the US, possibly from a food product, meaning that the colistin mcr-gene is already there, Professor Senanayake said.

Concern has been growing for many years

Joe Lederman from food law consultancy FoodLegal says concern over antibiotics resistance has been mounting for at least the past decade.

In particular he says that the use of antibiotics for the purpose of enhancing animal growth should have never been permitted

Lederman referred to an article co-written with John Gao which appeared in the August 2007 edition of the FoodLegal Bulletin.

Government and industry have failed to take up the call to tighten controls over the excessive use and abuse of antibiotics in animal production food chains as well as in the general environment through inappropriate disposal of animal waste and by-product containing antibiotics, Lederman said.

Lederman also referred to the re-discovery of phages which were used for medical purposes in the pre-antibiotic era and which are making a comeback in medical health and food production.
"If it requires removing all cabinet ...
Patties Foods in acquisition bid by PEP

Patties Foods has announced it is awaiting a proposal for its acquisition by Pacific Equity Partners (PEP).

Patties Foods owns a large number of Australian iconic brands in the bakery products category. These include Four N Twenty Pies, Herbert Adams Pies, Snowy River, Chefs Pies, Patties and Nannas.

At this stage, it is anticipated PEP will be offering AUD $230 million for 100 per cent of the shares in the publicly-listed Patties Foods Limited.

An ASX announcement, Patties Foods said that after careful consideration, its board had determined to engage further with PEP on the proposal.

Patties Chairman, Mark Smith, said it is possible no formal offer may eventuate.

The Board remains confident in managements plans for growth in the core brands and the business is experiencing strong momentum, Smith said.

The acquisition bid comes just over a year after Patties Foods recalled several of its frozen berry products. The company has however experienced improved growth in its bakery division since, reporting a 2.8 per cent growth in sale revenue for the six months ended 31 December 2015 when compared to the previous 2014 corresponding period. In December 2015, Patties Foods sold its frozen berries business to Entyce Food Ingredients.
Memorial Day In Twain Harte View Photos

Sonora, CA  It is Memorial Day and several events are planned throughout the Mother Lode in tribute to those who have fallen.

A public Memorial Day ceremony starts at 9am at the Divide Cemetery in Groveland. A similar service will be held at the Carters Cemetery in Tuolumne at 10am.

Twain Hartes Memorial Day Parade and Flag Raising Ceremony begins at 11:30am at the arch. It will be followed by a hot dog picnic in the park.

A family community event honoring heroes is planned for today at Christian Heights Church in Sonora from 10am-4pm.

Coming up this evening the Calaveras Community Band will perform a Memorial Day concert at 6:30pm at Murphys Community Park.

To find more information about the events, click here.
An armed robbery suspect was fatally shot by Volusia County deputies Sunday afternoon after he reportedly wielded a knife during a traffic stop.

Incident began as a reported armed robbery

3 Volusia deputies fired at suspect

Female driver taken into custody

The armed robbery was reported around 12:30 p.m. at the Park-N-Ride located along Saxon Boulevard in Orange City.

The victims reported their wallets were stolen at gunpoint, and they provided a suspect and suspect vehicle description.

At 12:51 p.m., a deputy conducted a traffic stop about 10 miles away in DeLand. The driver of the vehicle, Erin Casey Finney, 24, complied with law enforcement and was taken into custody.

The passenger, Donald Edward Brown, 32, refused to show his hands and refused comply with the deputies' orders before three deputies fired their weapons. A knife was located in the suspect's hand after the shooting, deputies said.

Finney has been charged with principal to armed robbery (by the Orange City Police Department) and felon murder (by the Volusia County Sheriff's Office). She was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail on no bond.

The three deputies who fired their weapons weren't injured. They have been identified as Sgt. Justin Stewart, 32; Deputy Brandon Coker, 28; and Deputy Joshua Green, 24.



"Their training kicks in," said Andrew Gant, a spokesman with the Volusia County Sheriff's Office. "Nobody wants to be involved in this kind of situation, but these deputies also have family they want to go home to at night."

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the shootings. The deputies involved have been placed on administrative leave, which is standard protocol following deputy-involved shootings.

The robbery is being investigated by the Orange City Police Department.
On Monday, Memorial Day, there will be three local ceremonies. The first one, conducted by the V.F.W. Post 1709, will be at 9 a.m. at Calvary Cemetery. The citywide ceremonies, conducted by The American Legion and other veterans organizations, will be at 11 a.m. at the Citizens Cemetery. The public is invited to attend both ceremonies. Immediately following the citywide ceremonies there will be a barbecue at The American Legion. At 2 p.m., the new Arizona Veterans' Memorial Cemetery at Camp Navajo in Bellemont will have its first Memorial Day ceremony; the public is welcome to attend.

Over the holiday weekend, members of the Flagstaff VFW will be passing out Buddy Poppies around the community and collecting donations. The poppy is the official memorial flower of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. Buddy Poppies would be assembled by disabled and needy veterans in VA hospitals.

The VFW Buddy Poppy program provides compensation to the veterans who assemble the poppies, provides financial assistance in maintaining state and national veterans' rehabilitation and service programs, and partially supports the VFW National Home For Children.

Anyone interested in helping plant flags on veterans' graves this weekend can contact the American Legion at 774-7682.

Free ranger walks and talks

The NPS/USFS Roving Ranger Partnership is kicking off its season with a number of free evening programs, guided walks and talks including:

Friday, May 27

 Guided Nature Walk at Dairy Springs Campground, 3-3:45 p.m. Join a ranger for an easy one-third mile stroll along the Dairy Springs Loop Trail and uncover the mysterious things that are difficult to see and often overlooked. No dogs. Meet at the amphitheater.

 Evening Program at Pine Grove Campground, 8-8:45 p.m. Join a ranger at the amphitheater for a 45-minute chat and discover the wonders of our universe that have captivated peoples curiosities since the Stone Age.

 Evening Program at Bonito Campground, 8-8:45 p.m. Listen to a tale about the fiery effects of volcanoes in northern Arizona and beyond.

Saturday, May 28

 Guided Nature Walk at Dairy Springs Campground, 3-3:45 p.m. A fun 45-minute (1/3 mile stroll) family nature walk along the Dairy Springs Loop Trail. No dogs. Meet at the amphitheater.

 Evening Program at Pine Grove Campground, 8-8:45 p.m. Learn about the Aberts squirrel and its special relationship with the Ponderosa Pine. At the amphitheater.

 Evening Program at Bonito Campground, 8-8:45 p.m. Learn about the tiniest bird in North America and a personal encounter in nature with a broad-tailed hummingbird. Meet at the campground amphitheater.

Monday, May 30

 Guided Nature Walk at Medicine Fort and Cave, 9-11 a.m. Join interpretive rangers to visit the unusual Cohonina sites at Medicine Cave and Medicine Fort, occupied before Sunset Crater Volcano erupted. Moderate mile with some rocky footing. Go north 12 miles on US 89 and meet at FR 552 (Lockett Meadow Road) turnoff for carpooling. Sturdy shoes recommended. No dogs.

Arizona Snowbowl

 Friday, May 27-Monday, May 30, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Ranger Talks with the Roving Rangers atop the Scenic Chairlift Ride. Arizona Snowbowl Chairlift fees apply. For more information call 779-1951 or visit arizonasnowbowl.com. Open every day.
A search is underway for two suspects after a 19-year-old was shot and killed Monday morning inside a car just down the road from his home, deputies said.

19-year-old reportedly shot while inside car with 2 people he knew

Call came in about 8:23 a.m. on Bywood Road

2 suspects remain at large, deputies said

"Its senseless, that hes so young and got killed. Anybody getting killed, its senseless," said neighbor Joseph Craig.

A call came in about 8:23 a.m. for shots fired near Bywood Road and Orwood Road in the Lockhart neighborhood of Orange County.

Jane Watrel, a spokeswoman with the Orange County Sheriff's Office, said the victim, 19-year-old Kristian McCauley, was in a car with two people he knew.

Something happened as they were driving down Bywood Road," Watrel said. "Something happened in that car, some sort of altercation where the victim was shot. The victim got out of the car, staggered down the street toward his family home and collapsed and thats when the calls came in from family members and from neighbors."



McCauley was found in the street at 8:26 a.m. He was transported to the hospital, where he later died.

Deputies said the shooting happened just down the street from McCauley's home. His family and neighbors called 911.

Usually a quiet neighborhood, usually were real quiet. We dont have any problems," Craig added.



Deputies said a four-door sedan, possibly a newer model and colored light gray, sped away from the area.

This happened in broad daylight. The victim died just feet from his home. So were hoping that somebody looked out the window, saw something. Saw a car going at a high rate of speed or possibly has run into those suspects, where theyre talking about something that happened. Give us a call. Call CRIMELINE. Its anonymous," Watrel concluded.
It was a life-changing experience 2,000 miles away from home. An experience that tested her resiliency, her creativity and reminded her of the passion she has for her career path.

"It really changed my perspective," explained Kristi Mull as she sat in her office in the heart of Covenant Health Plainview.

"And it was a very clear realization. This is what we are here for; we're here to care for people."

Recently Mull, who is the managing nurse for surgical services at Covenant Health Plainview, returned stateside after spending a week working in a small medical facility in a small Guatemalan village.

For that week, Mull and a team of surgeons, physically therapists and nurses provided medical care to villagers and travelers in a special mission trip sponsored by the Providence Medical Group and St. Joseph Health, the parent company of Covenant hospitals.

"It really challenged my boundaries," said Mull with laugh as she explained she had never even been out of the country let alone on a mission trip overseas.

Recently, Providence, which operates mostly in the Pacific Northwest, and St. Joseph merged into a single entity.

Attending a Chief Nurses Officer Meeting between the two companies, Covenant CNO Leslie Hackett heard that Providence was short another Operating Room Circulator for an upcoming mission trip. The mission was a partnership with Faith in Practice who helps bring medical services to Guatemala.

Mull said many had dropped out of the mission after the rise of the Zika virus.

"I got a text from Leslie asking if I had a passport: I said yes. Then she asked if it had at least six month on it: I said yes. Then she told me I was going on a mission trip to Guatemala," Mull continued with another laugh.

Mull admitted she was a little nervous at first, especially after realizing the small medical facility there didn't have modern equipment or resources.

"We were going to have to be creative," Mull said. "This had to be one of the biggest challenges in my nursing career personally."

Jumping on a plane, Mull headed to Reu, Guatemala, about a six-hour bus drive from Antigue.

Once there, the group set up shop at the Hospital Hilario Gilando.

"It was everything you'd expect a third world country to be," Mull said.

With violence a constant reality, Mull explained that the group was escorted to the medical facility every day by armed guards. The hospital itself was surrounded by a large protective wooden fence.

And as expected, equipment was dated and resources were slim.

But Mull and the team accepted the challenge and went right to work.

Unlike modern hospitals, the small village's hospital didn't see patients every day, and if it wasn't for mission groups like Mulls', many villagers would never see a surgeon.

"They just don't get surgery," said Mull.

If they need a procedure in an emergency, patients have to travel to a Guatemala City hospital which is hours away, usually crowded and expensive.

Mull said the group did mostly basic surgeries from gallbladders, hernias, hysterectomies and more.

And along with a lack equipment, the teams were constantly presented with challenges.

One that stood out for Mull was rolling blackouts that would knock out electricity while they were preforming surgeries.

"The generator would take forever to turn on. It's not like the one we have here that kicks in immediately," Mull said.

To adapt, Mull said they started holding flash lights for doctors and wearing head flashlights.

Guatemalans traveled miles for the services. All services were free.

"They were so grateful. It was so humbling," Mull said.

In one instance, Mull said a man who had recently received surgery brought her bunches and bunches of bananas being it was all he had.

But the biggest impact that stuck with Mull was a wheelchair pilot program she was also helping on.

Receiving a donation of more than 100 wheelchairs, the team were fitting patients to the chairs.

Mull said because many mothers give birth outside of hospitals, traumatic births are common in Guatemala, leaving many children with cerebral palsy. On top of that, many safety issues in the country leave many Guatemalans permanently injured.

Mull said families were bringing in loved ones any way they could, either that with a wheel barrow or in one case, a modified lawn chair.

Mull said she was moved by the joyful faces made by the Guatemalans once they received their chairs, especially for the children with cerebral palsy. Some were so advanced with the disease that they couldn't sit straight and had a constant view of the ground.

"We fitted a wheelchair, put the child in it, pulled him up and strapped him in. He was so amazed because he could sit upright and see everything," Mull said.

"Seeing that in his face and the faces of his family as they cried . . . You've changed their lives. That was probably the most impactful, life-changing thing that happen there."

And it reminded Mull of why she became a nurse in the first place, to care for people.

"While you were there you got to leave that bureaucratic stuff aside and got back to what you really came into this for; which is to care from someone," Mull said.

"You're supposed to go out and take care of the poor, you're supposed to go out and volunteer your time and to give back to people. It was a very clear realization, this is what we are here for. And working for the Covenant ministry, we're here to care for people."

Mull said she also became a better nurse as she was able to adapt to every type of situation.

"I know I'm a better nurse than I ever thought I was, and I'm more resourceful than I ever thought I was."

With such an impactful trip, Mull encouraged those with an opportunity to help others to do it, even if that means making a mission trip.

"It's a life changing experience and everybody is going to walk away with something different personally," Mull said.
On Monday, the Walmart Foundation provided a $25,000 grant to Hale County Meals on Wheels through the foundations State Giving Program in order to assist with home-delivered meals for eligible Plainview veterans and their dependent or surviving spouses who reside in Plainview and Seth Ward. Specifically, this grant will address the problem of elder hunger experienced by veterans and their dependent and surviving spouses.

With grant funds received from the Walmart Foundation, Hale County Meals on Wheels has implemented its new project entitled Walmart Meals for Texas Heroes.

Hale County Meals on Wheels is extremely grateful for the funds provided by the Walmart Foundation for the Walmart Meals for Texas Heroes, said Kim Horne, executive director of Hale County Meals on Wheels. Our goal is to make sure every eligible veteran knows about our program and is encouraged to participate, and to provide nutritional enhancement and daily contact to each recipient in order to eliminate the problem of poor nutrition and isolation faced by older citizens.

A hot, nutritious noon-time meal will be delivered each weekday by volunteers to eligible Plainview veterans, their dependent spouses and their surviving spouses who reside in Plainview and Seth Ward.

Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are very pleased to be supporting Hale County Meals on Wheels and are committed to helping those in need in the communities we serve. Organizations like Hale County Meals on Wheels is essential in helping to build stronger communities, said Roy Adams, Walmart market manager. Through this grant, we are hopeful that our Texas Heroes and their spouses will feel a positive effect, and through that effect our impact will be expanded.

Eligible recipients will include homebound veterans, their dependent spouses and their surviving spouses who do not qualify for meal assistance under state and federal programs based solely on age, income and disability. Recipients must meet the following criteria: be homebound or need assistance to leave home, be unable to prepare a well-balanced meal each day, and must be over age 65. Recipients must provide a signed and dated application along with a DD-214, VA Form 21-256 or other proof of military service before home-delivered meal service can begin.

The applications for assistance will be distributed to the Hale County Office of Veterans Affairs, Unger Memorial Library, VFW, Faith in Sharing House, Hale County Tax Assessors Office, Covenant Hospital, Plainview and doctors offices, Hale County Senior Citizens Center, and the Salvation Army. The application is also available on the Hale County Meals on Wheels website at www.mealsonwheelsplainview.org.

Hale County Meals on Wheels has delivered meals to elderly, disabled and homebound citizens in Plainview for more than 30 years. Volunteers deliver hot, nutritious meals at noon each weekday to a daily average of 140 elderly and disabled citizens, totaling more than 36,400 meals annually. Funding statistics consist of 57 percent from Texas Department of Aging and Disability, 5 percent private pay, and 38 percent paid from donations and grants. Veterans comprise 33 percent of recipients.

The contribution to Hale County Meals on Wheels was made possible through the Walmart Foundations Texas State Giving Program. Through this program, the Walmart Foundation supports organizations that create opportunities so people can live better. The Walmart Foundation State Giving Program strives to award grants that have a long-lasting, positive impact on communities across the U.S.

Last year, the Texas State Giving Program awarded more than $119 million to organizations across the state. In Texas, a team of local associates determine needs within each state, review eligible grant applications and make funding recommendations to the Walmart Foundation.

To be considered for support, prospective grantee organizations must submit applications through the Walmart Foundation State Giving Programs online grant application. Eligible applicants must have a current 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in order to meet the programs minimum funding criteria. Additional information about the programs funding guidelines and application process are available online at http://foundation.walmart.com/apply-for-grants/state-giving.

In 2015, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation gave more than $1.2 billion in cash and in-kind contributions around the world. In Texas alone, Walmart gave more than $119 million in cash and in-kind gifts to local communities and donated more than 62 million pounds of food to Texas food banks, the equivalent of more than 51.8 million meals for Texans in need.
Plainview residents on Monday joined the nation in honoring Americas war dead with an annual Memorial Day ceremony at Memorial Circle in Plainview Cemetery.

This holiday honors the nations war dead - those who died in service of our country, explained Kenneth Hooper, representing BPOE Elks #1175. While some have the wrong impression that the holiday commemorates people from somewhere else, Hooper said helping place flags on the graves of veterans to mark the holiday helped reinforce the true meaning of the holiday.

I found one headstone for one soldier who died in the Battle of the Argonne Forest during World War I, Hooper noted. That engagement along the Western Front was part of the Allies final offensive and raged from Sept. 26, 1918, until the armistice was signed Nov. 11, 1918.

That brought home the fact that people from this very community served and died while defending this country, Hooper said.

More than 2,100 miniature American flags are placed on the graves of local veterans each Memorial Day and Veterans Day. More than 1,800 flags are put out in Plainview Cemetery and Plainview Memorial Park, with another 300 placed at Parklawn Cemetery.

According to the Veterans Administration, approximately 42 million Americans have served in the military since the Revolutionary War, with U.S. wartime deaths totaling 1.2 million, including approximately 660,000 battlefield deaths.

We take time each year to honor not only those who did not come back, but to remember and recognize all who went and served, Hooper said. Looking across the cemetery and seeing all those flags is a great reminder for both young and old that this is a very special day. It also should help our youth learn that this country didnt just happen. It is here because of the sacrifices of so many people, and through Gods own blessings. Those are things that should never be forgotten, but instead remembered and celebrated.

Earlier, Mayor Wendell Dunlap admitted, Its hard to have the right words to say to properly honor those who gave their all to defend our freedom. Dunlap also thanked those who decorated veterans graves with the miniature flags, including 4-H members, Keep Plainview Beautiful Committee and Dulaney Auto Parts representatives and volunteers at Plainview Cemetery and Memorial Park, and the American Auxiliary at Parklawn Cemetery.

Municipal Judge Pat Hernandez served as mistress of ceremonies on Monday, with the PHS NJROTC in charge of the flag presentation; Tino Hernandez, Dominic Silva and WWII veteran Manuel Brooks raising the American flag; American Legion Auxiliary President Jerree McKeeman leading the Pledge of Allegiance and Theta Vaughn from the Legion Auxiliary offering opening and closing prayers.

Evelyn Carroll was featured soloist, and a 21-gun salute was offered by the Hale County Sheriffs Honor Guard. Scott Strovas played Taps following that salute.

Wreaths were placed in front of the cemeterys Veterans Memorial by the American Legion and Legion Auxiliary, BPEO Elks, Disabled Veterans and VFW District 9.
May 31, 1946: D.L. Miller, hospital apprentice first class, was discharged from the Navy on May 17 at Norman, Okla. He was stationed at Corpus Christi prior to his discharge.

--Bill McAlister, son of Mr. and Mrs. R.A. McAlister Sr. who live west of Plainview, was discharged from the Navy on May 20 from San Pedro. He was the fifth son of the McAlisters to don a uniform in this nations service. He served more than 23 months in the Asiatic-Pacific and American areas.

--Ronald Ray, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ben C. Ray of Happy Union and a Petersburg High graduate, enlisted in the Army Air Corps last weekend and left Monday in the company of his brother-in-law, Master Sgt. George Ray, for El Paso. George was a POW of the Japanese and recently re-enlisted for three years. Ronald enlisted for three years and will serve overseas in the Pacific area.

May 31, 1956: The Peoples Hospital in Floydada has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Ford Foundation. The Peoples Hospital organized and opened in January 1949. Frank C. Harmon is board president and Vera McKay is manager.

--A Meet Your Carrier article featured Tony Wayland, a PHS senior and son of Mr. and Mrs. Bob Wayland, 714. He serves 167 subscribers between Fresno and Joliet and Fifth and 10th. He has had the route for the past year.

--Rev. John Rakestraw is the newly assigned pastor of Trinity Methodist Church after serving in Turkey for the past three years. He replaces Rev. George Small, who will enroll son at Perkins School of Theology at SMU.

May 31, 1966: The Plainview High School Senior Class resented a new spirit bell mounted on a trailer to the school during graduation ceremonies. Both bell and trailer were manufactured in Plainview by Etheredge Welding.

--H.S. Hilburn, first president of the Plainview Kiwanis Club in 1919, and A.E. Boyd, fourth president, received 45-year pens and certificates during the clubs Legion of Honor Banquet on Friday.

--Mrs. Lee Nowlin ends her 39-year career as a teacher with her retirement. She has taught in Plainview for the past 23 years and was selected Caprock District Teacher of the Year in 1962.

May 31, 1986: Calvary Christian Academy student award recipients include Shrese Ballard, outstanding female athlete; Darla Noel, senior level Student of the Year; Jeremy Sims, intermediate Student of the Year; Jay Axtell, outstanding male athlete and graduating senior; Emily Cranmer, primary Student of the Year; and Gary Veazey, Pastors Award.

--Wanda and Keith Brock are the new owners of Our House Gifts in the Village Shopping Center. They previously operated Butterfly Boutique and Floral in Hart.

--Ray Lee, who has been associated with Texas Farm Machinery for more than 20 years, is the new owner of the John Deere dealership. The firm, which has been renamed Ray Lee Equipment Co., has been in operation for almost 50 years. Lee joined the firm in 1965 and became a part owner in 1967. Former owners are Forrest, Jerry and Jack Mickey.

Compiled by Doug McDonough
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A fire with flames that soared up to 40 feet high burned part of a sidewalk homeless encampment Saturday morning in San Franciscos Potrero Hill district.

The blaze, which spread to a nearby warehouse, engulfed a tent, shopping cart and other materials at 15th and Carolina streets, was reported shortly before 11 a.m. Firefighters were able to put the fire out within 15 minutes of arriving on the scene, said Bryan Rubenstein, a battalion chief for the San Francisco Fire Department.

No injuries were reported. Smoking materials, including a crack pipe and cigarettes, were found at the scene and determined to be the cause of the fire, Rubenstein said.

The encampment was located alongside a warehouse that suffered extensive damage to an exterior wall, Rubenstein said. Flames spread about 30 feet along the metal wall of the building and broke inside, igniting fuel and other material stored there.

Fire officials at the scene had no initial estimate of the damage. Firefighters were forced to cut a hole through the wall to get a hose into the building and put the fire out, Rubenstein said.

About a dozen tents were pitched on the sidewalk by the building, which houses AT&T vehicles, in an industrial part of Potrero Hill. Homeless people in the area said the items burned belonged to a man who wasnt there at the time of the fire.

Ben Calalo, 27, who lives in the area, said he was on his way to work when he saw the flames and smoke from the other side of the building. He ran back home to make sure his wife was safe.

It was really huge, Calalo said. Ive never seen a fire that big.

Kimberly Veklerov and Kevin Schultz are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email:kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: kveklerov Email: kschultz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: KevinEdSchultz
Two Central Valley irrigation agencies slapped with unprecedented penalties last year during the states drought-related crackdown on illegal water users are likely to see their cases dropped.

In a dispute that has been closely watched by Californias farmers and water managers, the State Water Resources Control Board moved to dismiss its complaints that the Tracy-area irrigation districts were taking river water illegally. The agency acknowledged there was insufficient evidence to prove wrongdoing.

The cases were widely viewed as a test of the states power to regulate longtime water rights holders. Last year, Californias historic drought prompted state regulators to enact sweeping restrictions on pumping river water. The restrictions limited access even for those with water rights dating to 1914 and earlier  known as senior water rights and long considered ironclad.

The Byron Bethany Irrigation District, which serves about 160 farms and the 15,000-person community of Mountain House, faced a $1.5 million fine for pumping water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta after state regulators told it to stop. The nearby West Side Irrigation District, which provides about 45 growers with delta water, faced potential $10,000-a-day fines for the same reason.

The Byron Bethany district holds senior water rights on the southern end of the delta. The West Side district has slightly newer water rights on the deltas Old River.

Both challenged the states complaints against them, maintaining that they were entitled to take the water that the state accused them of stealing. Byron Bethany also argued that the state didnt have the authority to regulate pre-1914 water rights.

The water board held hearings in March in which state regulators and the water districts presented their arguments. Members of the agencys governing board serve as the decision maker.

In proposing Thursday to drop the cases, water board regulators acknowledged that they had used flawed methods to measure water draws and had failed to prove the districts did anything wrong.

At the same time, however, state officials stood by their power to govern senior water rights.

We conclude that the board has the authority to take enforcement action  against the unauthorized diversion of water under claim of a pre-1914 water right, state regulators wrote in a proposed decision to drop the case, which will be taken up by the five-member governing board June 7.

Byron Bethany officials, however, portrayed the proposal to drop the complaint as a validation of its claim on delta water.

This day is a long time coming, district officials said in a statement. We maintained all along that we were legally exercising our pre-1914 senior water right.

Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: kurtisalexander
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BETHEL  Judith Odell was sitting in a memoir-writing class on a Friday afternoon talking about the best time of my life  the theme of that days workshop  when a deeply buried memory came back to her and shocked everyone in the room.

Odell, who was raised by a strict and critical father, had forgotten she was valedictorian when she graduated from high school.

Oh my God. I was on the top of my class, she remembers saying, noting her father didnt like her graduation speech.

My dad never praised me, Odell said. I had a very low opinion of myself because of that, so I suppressed that memory for a very long time.

The moment that memory came back was one of many emotion-filled workshop sessions that have helped Bethel seniors excavate long-forgotten personal stories and share them with each other, as well as with the world.

The writing workshop at the Bethel Senior Center has resulted in a collection of memoir stories published this spring. Written by 11 first-time authors, Take a Memoir  Please!, features personal, inspiring, humorous and frightening stories.

The program, launched three years ago, is led by Bob Becker, a Bethel writer and musician who runs a local marketing business.

He said the workshop provides seniors a nonjudgmental environment to share memories and turn them into written stories. The process, he said, allows its members, including himself, to let go of long-held emotional baggage.

Its like a time-release capsule, he said.

Becker described the moment when Odell remembered she graduated with honors as mind-blowing. Odell, who had joined the workshop only to hear other peoples stories, said she never expected to learn so much in the class.

At first I thought, No, I cant do this. My life is not that interesting. Im just a single mom who raised two kids, she said. But when somebody reads something that you relate to, memories are awakened. It just reveals something that you had tucked away.

Odell, a 78-year-old cancer survivor who raised two children as a single mother, soon realized she did have interesting stories to tell.

Every workshop participant had powerful stories to tell.

When I sat down in the class and actually got to know their life stories, my mouth was hanging open, Odell said.

In one of the published stories, Bethels Lydia Sanchez recalls a desperate time for her family and village as her island in the Philippines was invaded by the Japanese army in 1942.

Eventually, my father had to bring our family down to the mountain village for evacuation, but there was no escaping the enemy and there was no evacuation, she wrote. For months, bombs were falling everywhere and smoke was thick in the mountain village. We ran out of food. There were no doctors and no medicine.

Another author, 81-year-old Herbert Watson, tells stories about his time in the Korean war. Watson, another cancer survivor and who joined the U.S. Army at 18, was inspired to write after his wife died four years ago. She had Alzheimers disease.

I lived a pretty amazing life and I wanted to share my life with my children, Watson said. When you start writing, things come to mind that you never thought about.

Workshop members praised Becker for his style. They said he gives them a lot of freedom to write while providing valuable writing advice.

I had the best education money could buy, but it was only during Bob Beckers class that I discovered the true treasure in my memories, said Joe Casalone, who described the class as better than therapy.

Bethels Asha Mehta, a mother of four who moved to the U.S. in the late 1960s, didnt have any writing experience, but joined the workshop series to listen to other peoples stories. This spring, she sent several copies of the memoir book, which includes three of her stories, to her family in India.

They were very surprised, she said. Im really surprised, too. I never thought Id be able to write anything.

The book is available for sale at Byrds Books, 126 Greenwood Ave. in Bethel. All proceeds will benefit the Bethel Senior Center.

noliveira@newstimes.com, 203-731-3411, @olivnelson
Bill Gates. Jeff Bezos. FedExs Fred Smith. Dave Thomas of Wendys. Mark Zuckerberg.

If the business world had a hall of fame for founder/ chief executive officers, they would be some of its charter members. These innovators not only started high-flying companies but ran them for a long time, or still do.

Theyre the exceptions, however. Heres a more common scenario: Entrepreneur starts a company. Company grows. To take the startup to the next level, founder decides to surrender management control to a CEO from the outside but remain very involved as a strategic leader.

Moving out of the corner office can be one of the most gut-wrenching, yet important and necessary decisions a company founder makes.

I should know. My partner Chip Pearson and I started a tiny tech company while in our early 20s and built it over the last decade into a category leader with more than 500 employees and 6,000 customers. Last summer, we hired the companys first outside CEO, Dean Hager, and moved out of the corner office. We remain as heads of product strategy and strategic relationships and continue to serve on the board.

A million questions go through your mind as you decide to make this transition.

How do you really know when youve found the right person?

How will he or she win the hearts and minds of employees, some of whom have been with the company for years and share a ton of history?

How do you avoid the kind of founder-CEO relationship fail that has doomed so many of these arrangements through the years? (When youre the incoming CEO of a company in the Apple device management business, as we are, the excruciating descriptions of CEO John Sculleys relationship with Steve Jobs in Walter Isaacsons Jobs biography can be extra chilling.)

Mulling these questions can be terrifying.

Now youd think the most grueling question would be when to hand over the reins. That can be a tough one, for sure, though in our case -- and, I suspect, in many others though history -- you just know. My partner Chip and I realized that the skills needed to start and build a company arent necessarily the same to grow it. We were spending less and less time every year on what were best at -- product development in my case, customer and partner relationships in Chips -- and more on management tasks not in our wheelhouse.

Once the decision is made to bring in new leadership blood, everything should boil down to two critical concerns: First, the hiring process. Then, recognizing that the new CEO is taking on one of the most daunting challenges in corporate America -- running a company with still-engaged founders still in the building -- and that you need to help him or her be successful.

Heres what we did:

Took our time.

Chip and I actually started talking about the move a year-and-a-half before we decided to pull the trigger and then took several more months for the search. Avoid haste. You want to be 100 percent certain the time has come to bring in a new CEO and then have an exhaustive process to get the right person for the job.

Related: What It's Like to Transition From Founder to CEO

Were open with employees.

Our employees knew for a good six months that we were doing this search. That gave them ample time to process the situation and express discomfort or any other troubling feelings. And it removed the possibility of the CEO coming into a shocked organization.

Related: How This Young CEO Made the Transition From Founder to Leader

Placed a high priority on cultural fit.

We decided right away we required a CEO who not only had the right qualifications but also was an ideal cultural fit. Our company prides itself on an environment of openness, transparency and supportiveness. The new CEO would need to respect and embrace that while also having the courage and smarts to determine where we can improve. And he or she must have strong ideas on how to maintain/evolve a special culture in a fast-growing organization. A tall order.

Related: How to Transition Back to Employee After Being an Entrepreneur

Trusted our gut.

In interviews with the eight finalists (out of 75 initial candidates the search firm forwarded), Chip and I immediately took a shine to Dean because her came in with sponge-like knowledge about our company and, while he had terrific ideas, at the same time didnt seem determined to run some pre-conceived playbook. He listened to us as much as we listened to him. We also had Dean meet with the rest of the executive team -- we believed it was important that they be bought in to him as much as us. (It helps to be lucky too: So happened Dean lived between Minneapolis and Eau Claire, Wisc., where we have dual headquarters.)

Established relationship ground rules.

Its essential that the founder and incoming CEO have an ironclad assurance to maintain and nurture open, two-way communication. Its inevitable that both parties wont always be on the same page on every issue, but they must identify those matters, honestly discuss them and resolve them. We promised that kind of relationship with Dean. We also vowed not to step on his toes. Im going to stay out of your way unless you bring me in to a situation, I told him. If I see something going sideways, Ill offer my perspective, not to stop you, just to make sure you know everything thats going on. And Dean wanted that too.

Taking these five steps helped Chip and me feel the utmost confidence that after years of blood, sweat and tears to grow our company, we were handing over the CEO reins to the right guy.

Chip and I now can focus on returning to the product development and customer relationship roles we love so much.

This feels like the ultimate form of happiness for an entrepreneur.

Related:

Genius Loves Company: 4 Ways to Cultivate Creative Collaboration

When a Founder CEO Hands Over the Reins

5 Life Lessons From Bill Gates, One of the Most Influential Philanthropists on Earth



Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
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Floodwater was rising in Fort Bend County on Memorial Day and had already receded in northern Harris County where a voluntary evacuation order was lifted.

Floodwater lapped around Anice Divin's knee-high rain boots Monday as she waded into overflow from the Brazos River that was slowly rising around her Richmond-area home near Fort Bend.

Divin's street took on water in past storms, she said, but this was the first flood in 49 years to bring the river up to her home's brick exterior. Firefighters told Divin, 71, the water likely would reach her windowsills.

READ MORE: Astronaut photo shows amazing view of Brazos River flooding

"I ain't going nowhere," Divin said. "I'm not going to leave my junk."

Divin was one of several Richmond-area residents who opted to stay put as the Brazos River continued rising on Memorial Day, causing delayed flooding in the wake of last week's 20-inch rainfall northwest of Houston.

The Brazos neared 51 feet Monday morning in Richmond  a city of 12,000 about 30 miles southwest of Houston  roughly 8 inches above its 1994 record height. The river is predicted to crest at 53.5 feet later Tuesday. This caused street flooding in parts of Richmond and sent water into several homes just outside city limits, Richmond Police Department Lt. Lowell Neinast said.

READ MORE: Drone captures amazing view of high water in The Woodlands

Up north in Brenham, Washington County, a 16-year-old boy was helping a church youth group with storm debris recovery was killed in a freak accident when a tree limb fell on him.

In Brenham, a 16-year-old boy was killed Monday when he was struck by a falling tree limb.

Det. John Snowden of the Brenham Police Department said the young man was cleaning up yard debris for neighbors. A large pine branch had failed off tree and snagged on some wires. It fell to the ground just as the young man was walking under it.

"It was just a terrible, tragic accident," Snowden said. Police are not released the name of the victim at this time.

READ MORE: High water forces school closures around Houston

This caused street flooding in parts of Richmond and sent water into several homes just outside city limits, Richmond Police Department Lt. Lowell Neinast said.

Meanwhile, early Monday, Richmond officials closed parts of Newton Drive, as well as Avenue A at Riveredge, Riveredge at Edgewood and Greenwood at Edgewood.

Police were preparing this afternoon to issue a mandatory evacuation for trailer park Fisherman's Paradise along the riverbank.

READ MORE: Weather forecast could spell more trouble for waterlogged Houston area

"As the water creeps up, we're just going to try to play it by ear," Neinast said.

As the Brazos continued rising early on Memorial Day, the city of Richmond in Fort Bend County began closing streets that are now underwater and officials urged residents to avoid driving into standing water or through flooded streets.

Meanwhile, authorities on Monday afternoon lifted a voluntary evacuation order for a few Spring subdivisions threatened over the weekend by the potential for levee failure after monster rains pounded this area of northern Harris County on Saturday.

The Northwood Pines subdivision and the Park at Northgate Apartments straddle a drainage gully and retention pond a few blocks from a earth berm that holds back Spring Creek, which rose 33 feet after weekend rain.

Residents got home visits from Harris County sheriff's deputies Saturday, warning them of the potential for disaster and recommending they leave.

"A levee breach or failure would have caused catastrophic flooding in the neighborhood," the Harris County Office of Emergency Management said Monday in an announcement lifting the evacuation order.

Sharadha Jani, 28, a resident of the 248-unit Northgate apartment complex, lives on the first floor, and feared the worst when deputies came by around 9 a.m. Saturday. By 1 p.m., she said she and her husband had gathered their crucial papers and possessions and left for a cousin's house in downtown Houston, wondering how their home would look when they returned.

"We were like, OK, this is really scary," she recalled on Monday.

On the other side of the gully in the subdivision, 53-year-old Peter Ranchran on Monday afternoon was checking on the home of friends who had fled to his Spring-area house with only their clothes after the evacuation notice. Though the order was lifted, Ranchran said, the family was still at his house because they were enjoying their stay.

Jason Mecann, 37, lives on the second floor of the apartments and stayed through the evacuation. He tried to leave but found flooded feeder roads on Interstate 45 and gridlocked traffic through the neighborhoods, so he abandoned his effort. He said he was worried after a printed handout delivered from sheriff's deputies said "There is a small possibility that the floodwaters could breach the levee and a dangerous rush of floodwater into the neighborhood would cause catastrophic damage to property and possibly loss of life."

Travis Zielinski, 21, also lives on the second floor at Northgate but moved his 1995 Subaru Legacy about a mile away to safety then walked back home.






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Fort Sam Houston said Monday that it had canceled its annual ceremony marking Memorial Day, saying heavy storms that broke earlier in the morning had left its grounds too saturated to hold the event safely.

The event was to start with a musical prelude at 9 a.m. in the cemetery's assembly area, and continue with the formal ceremony and a keynote speaker at 9:30.

Typically, Fort Sam enjoys sunny skies on Memorial Day, but the last several years have been the exception to the rule.

"This is the first year we've ended up getting rained out," said Bob Winkler, the cemetery's grounds maintenance foreman. "But it's rained on our ceremonies for the last four years in a row.

"It's been miserable, and the potential for all the flooding, especially as the rain Friday night and early Saturday morning dropped seven to nine inches, and now all of our creeks are flooding again, we just didn't want to take that chance," he added.

Another event featuring Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and retired Army Col. Bruce Candall later in the day appeared to still be on. Both men are to appear for a send-off of 100 Texans who will be headed to U.S. military academies later this summer. That ceremony, which will feature Crandall as the keynote speaker, is to start at 1:30 p.m. at Freeman Expo Hall.

About 450 people are expected to attend, including more than 100 academy-bound students and their families, as well as local elected officials, community leaders, and representatives from local veterans' organizations. Fort Sam Houston's 323d Army Band also will be on hand.

sigc@express-news.net
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Revered San Antonio priest Father Eddie Bernal died Sunday evening at 66 years old, according to the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Communications Director Jordan McMorrough told mySA.com Monday morning that Bernal died at the St. Benedict Catholic Church rectory, at 4535 Lord Road, where he was the pastor.

RELATED: Tejano stars, hundreds of fans honor Emilio Navaira during funeral in downtown San Antonio

McMorrough said he believes Bernal suffered a "massive heart attack," but an official cause of death is yet to be determined by the medical examiners office. McMorrough said Bernal had recently experienced heart complications.

Bernal, who McMorrough said worked in San Antonio for decades, was an advocate for ministry to the gay community, according to earlier reports.

RELATED: San Antonio gathers to mourn Father Virgilio Elizondo

"We need to provide good preaching and good teaching to this community," Bernal said in 2010 when the archdiocese shut down their weekly mass for an LGBT congregation. "I have met some of the most wonderful people in my life in Dignity. They've changed my life for the better. And I've learned so much."

A number of San Antonio residents and notables have expressed their condolences and fond memories of the beloved priest on social media.

RELATED: Tejano music legend, San Antonio native Emilio Navaira dies at 53

Texas state Senator Carlos Uresti called Bernal a mentor, friend and above all else a servant and child of God, in a tweet on Monday morning.

Funeral services for Bernal have not yet been determined, according to McMorrough.

mmendoza@mysa.com

Twitter: @MaddySkye
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SAN ANTONIO- San Antonio police are searching for a suspect accused of stabbing a man and stealing his truck Sunday morning.

According to police at the scene, two males got into an argument at the front door of the Sombras Night Club, Sunday about 2:55 a.m., in the 800 block of Cincinnati Avenue on the Northwest side.

After the altercation police say the suspect returned to the parking lot and waited for the man by his vehicle.

When the man got to his truck, the suspect allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed the man twice. He then got into the man's truck and fled the scene, according to police.

The victim was treated at the scene and then taken to University Hospital in a stable condition.

Police are searching for the suspect and continue to investigate.

imcgarrell@express-news.net

Twitter: @ImaniMcg
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SAN ANTONIO -- Overnight storms in Central and South Texas caused river levels to rise dramatically and led to minor-to-moderate flooding, water rescues and one death in the area.

Flora Molima, a 23-year-old woman from Houston, died in Kendall County after the car she was traveling in was caught in high water on Texas 27 about 1:40 a.m. Sunday, according to Deputy Reid Daly, of the Kendall County Sheriff's Office.

RELATED: Man rescued from water crossing on West Side in San Antonio

On the city's West Side, one person was rescued Sunday by the San Antonio Fire Department when he was swept down Leon Creek at Levi Strauss Park.

In Bandera, officials reported multiple water rescues throughout Sunday morning as the Medina River overran its banks. A total of nine water rescues were reported. No one was injured.

Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown said three people were assisted in Medina County overnight, but that boats were not needed to rescue them. He also reported heavy hail in the county.

The San Antonio Fire Department said rapidly moving water in and around San Antonio streams, creeks and rivers may still pose a threat on Memorial Day. They advise that people using lakes and rivers for recreation to be aware of swift water and strong undercurrents. Also, motorists should not drive around any barricades.

The National Weather Service reported that several rivers around the San Antonio area were "in flood stage" Sunday.

The NWS said a flash flood watch for portions of South Central Texas, remains until Monday afternoon.

Rainfall from 1 to 3 inches was expected overnight Sunday in the Hill Country and Edwards Plateau, and because of recent rains, the weather service expects rivers and creeks that already are swollen could spill over their banks.

The flash flood watch is in effect for Bandera, Blano, Edwards, Gillespie, Kendall, Kerr, Kinney, Medina, Real, Uvalde and Val Verde counties.

RELATED: A 23-year-old woman dies in flooding in Kendall County Sunday morning

In South Bexar County, three rivers showed minor-to-moderate flooding Sunday afternoon. Leon Creek near Interstate 35 south showed minor flooding on the NWS website, while the Medina River at U.S. 281 south and the San Antonio River in Elmendorf reported moderate flooding, according to the NWS.

Bandera Mayor John Hegemier said it was a "rough one" overnight with 7 or more inches of rain falling.

He said trail riders in town for Memorial Day, who were camped out in City Park off Texas 173 had to be evacuated about 2 a.m.

Additionally, he said the Medina River was clocked running at 20,000 cubic feet per second overnight.

The Bandera Sheriff's Office reports many roads in the Bandera-area remain closed because of the flooding.

About 4,500 customers of Bandera Electric Cooperative lost power because of the storm Sunday morning, the utility reported. The cooperative reported around 7:30 p.m. Sunday on Facebook that about 1,000 customers were without power and that some may be without service until Monday.

In Bexar County, as of 10 p.m., Sunday, CPS Energy reported on its website that 138 outages have left 5,219 customers without power. The highest concentration of those without power were on the far West Side.

RELATED: Drone footage shows flooding in The Woodlands near Houston

The New Braunfels Police Department reported that the Comal River was temporarily closed Sunday morning to recreation because of flooding.

In a Facebook post the department said that water was flowing over the Tube Chute Dam and running at 4,500 cubic feet per second.

cquinn@express-news.net
SAN ANTONIO  Early morning showers on Monday are expected to clear throughout the remainder of the day, but not week, according to the National Weather Service.

NWS Meteorologist Paul Yura said at 9 a.m. Monday that the worst of the storm had already dissipated in Bexar County, but there may still be pockets of heavy rain in the area.
Susana Levy wanted desperately to have children but couldnt so she doted on her nieces and nephews, and her animals became her children, her sister Marie Levy said.

Levy bought a 15-acre farm in Poteet that she named Susans Place, where her horses Girl and Wildfire shared the land with a growing herd of goats.

Levy, who died May 21 at 57 of ALS, learned to dance with her horses, training them to perform Escaramuza, a high-speed equestrian ballet with Mexican roots.

In the early 90s, Levy joined her friend Rose Encina who started an Escaramuza team called Rosas de Castillo. They decided to become cowgirls and started teaching themselves, her sister said.

Riding sidesaddle with petticoats flying, Levy would crisscross galloping team members using well-choreographed moves.

It was scary to watch sometimes, her sister said. My sister won at barrel racing and did it riding sidesaddle.

More Information Susana Levy Born: Feb. 12, 1959, San Antonio Died: May 21, 2016, Poteet Preceded by: Parents Fred Johnston Levy and Connie Flores Levy; brother James Edward Levy.\ Survived by: Sisters Marie Levy, Rose Levy, Connie Macias and Loretta Rendon; brother Fred Levy; and numerous other relatives. Services: 6 p.m. June 11 memorial service at "Susan's Place," 1101 Horton Lane, Poteet. See More Collapse

Levy performed at events, rode in local parades and enjoyed trail rides.

To keep the farm operating, Levy also had to work three jobs.

She sold John Deer parts, worked at the Pleasanton Auto Zone and rewound motors for Median Electric.

Last November, her hands wouldnt let her continue that work and walking became cumbersome.

She was diagnosed with ALS on Jan. 14.

A lot of people loved her and cared for her, her sister said. Customers have called her job sites wanting to know how she is.

Levy was determined to live life her way. After graduating from Harlandale High School, she dreamed of farming. My dad was worried about her plans, Marie Levy said. He asked her why she was so stubborn, and my sister said, Because I am just like you Daddy.

Marie Levy was 10 when her sister was born. When Susan was a baby I would stroke her hair to help her fall asleep, she said.

In the hospital, Levy asked her sister to hop into the bed with her. I would stroke her hair. She wanted us. She needed to know that someone was there to catch her, she said.

Levy was 5-foot-2. She was slender with a big smile, large eyes and was generous, to a fault, her sister said.

My sister baked the best lemon bars ever, made the best potato salad for parties, loved to keep house and swept and mopped three times a day because of her cats, Marie Levy said. She did it because she loved it.

iwilgen@express-news.net
Its disappointing that the city of San Antonio has done very little to correct a simple yet costly problem. This issue dates to 2010, when the city spent $250,000 to install 230 signs along the River Walk and street level to guide pedestrians to stairways and accessible routes to improve the visitor experience.

A worthy goal but poor execution as most signs guide people in the wrong direction. Now, six years later, foot traffic on Houston Street remains dismal.

In what was supposed to be a major goal of the $40 million TriParty Plan completed 25 years ago to bring the ambiance of the River Walk to the street level, the city failed, to my dismay, to install sign panels at the river level at the Houston Street linkages.

Millions were invested to widen sidewalks on Houston Street and build linkage from the River Walk to the street level, but the city failed to install River Walk signage leading people to the street level. The River Walk ambiance still has not made its way to Houston Street.

The city even removed the only river-level sign panel  which was installed by my company in 2005 at our expense and approved by the various city departments after a lengthy process  at the Presa Street linkage, which was constructed five years earlier at a cost of $5 million.

Houston Street needs more pedestrian traffic, and the current signs dont help that goal. Instead of guiding people to the street-level shops, restaurants, museums and theaters on Houston Street, the large panels are facing the river and are not located at the points of linkage to Houston Street.

Map panels with directional signs located on the river level at the linkages, similar to the sign we installed and that the city removed, would lead to more foot traffic, more business and a more vibrant downtown. Greater pedestrian traffic would also encourage more people to live downtown.

It is imperative that the city reinstall our sign panel, which was removed at the Presa Street linkage, and relocate it to the street linkages maps panels, which are presently oriented to the river. This will guide visitors in the right direction and will also encourage visitors to stay longer and try many of the other amenities in downtown San Antonio, which will be a huge benefit for the tourist industry and downtown.

Completing these actions will benefit San Antonio now and for future generations. It would substantially increase tourism and give San Antonio additional incentives to retain existing companies and headquarter even more companies in the downtown area.

Josef Seiterle is the president of Zurich International Properties Inc.
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, has called for a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, which really means a wall between Texas and Mexico.

He has threatened a 35 percent tariff on vehicle and other imports from Mexico. He would fund this wall by cutting off payments, known as remittances, to Mexico. And he has threatened the deportation of millions of Mexicans who are living and working in this country, breaking up families, but also taking workers out of the economy.

Such nativist fearmongering is playing well in some quarters. But make no mistake, in a trade war between the United States and Mexico, Texas loses.

Free trade has been good for Texas. The Lone Star State exported more than $251 billion in goods last year, tops in the nation. This export trade is supporting millions of jobs. Most of the goods go south.

Mexico is easily Texas largest trading partner. In 2015 alone, Texans sent roughly $95 billion in goods to Mexico, according to the International Trade Administration. Canada is a distant second at about $25 million in exports in 2015.

This export growth has been happening for a long time. Way back in 2006, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas studied the question of whether the North American Free Trade Agreement spurred this growth in Texas exports. The answer? Yes.

NAFTA did indeed increase Texas sales to Mexico  and to Canada as well, researchers found. Perhaps most interesting, NAFTA helped raise Texas exports to Asia, Europe and Latin America, making a strong case for net trade creation.

Brandeis University economist Peter Petri, a leading trade expert, told the Wall Street Journal in March that Trumps massive tariffs for Mexico and China would have global reverberations and would likely increase the U.S. trade deficit by anywhere from $67 billion to $275 billion.

Trumps policies would start a war, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, has said. A tariffs war, an economic war between the U.S. and Mexico.

A trade war that would cost millions of jobs and trigger a global recession, Moodys Analytics has forecast.

Deporting 11.2 million undocumented immigrants certainly wouldnt help in that war. It would be costly, almost impossible to do, and would dramatically cut the U.S. labor force. Those are the predictions from the American Action Forum, a right-of-center policy think tank, which has estimated that it would cost between $400 billion and $600 billion to deport 11.2 million undocumented immigrants.

This includes apprehension, detention and transportation, as well as ongoing enforcement to prevent the immigrants from returning to the United States.

Beyond this, it would shrink the labor force by 6 percent, reducing the economy by $1.6 trillion over 20 years. Since Texas shares a border with Mexico, a lot of that hit would likely happen here.

Maybe Trump doesnt mean what he says. But can we risk that? Trumps heated rhetoric on trade, and his demonization of Mexicans and Muslims, has already prompted a number of businesses to consider scaling back their investment plans in the United States if he is elected, according to a survey from the consulting firm A.T. Kearney.

Trumps rhetoric on trade might be popular with many, but if his words become action, they would be a huge blow to the Texas economy.
As we continue reading the biblical text without looking through the biases of established atonement theories, we turn our attention to the book of Acts. And, to the surprise of many, there appears to be scant evidence of atonement theory rhetoric here.

There is one reference in Acts 20:28 which some have used to support a particular atonement theory. It reads, Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. This text is considered to be problematic for a number of reasons. First, it is unusual for Paul to refer to the Church of God; usually he refers to the Church of the Lord. Although it was the blood of the Lord (Jesus) that was shed on the cross, here it sounds as though it is Gods own blood that was shed. That is without precedent in any other biblical texts and makes it appear to be a foreign injection into the text. In any case there is no development in Acts of the significance of the death of Christ and how it works to secure salvation.

As Joel Green and Mark Baker say in their book, Recovering the Scandal of the Cross, Acts portrays Peter and Paul outlining the gospel of Jesus Christ in missionary speeches to Jew, Gentile and mixed audiences, but never in those speeches do we hear of the atoning death of Jesus (71). So when the evidence is in, it becomes clear that for Luke salvation is available through Jesus because of his resurrection and ascension; that is on account of his exaltation to the right hand of God. We will look at three specific passages where this becomes clear.

In Acts 2:14-40, Peter gives a spirited defense of the strange events that happened on Pentecost, especially speaking in tongues. What you see, he declares, is what was prophesied by Joel. Of course in the context of Joel, it would have been clearly understood that Yahweh would be the one pouring out the Spirit. What Peter does, essentially, is argue that in the present manifestation it is Jesus who is pouring out the Spirit  thereby declaring that Jesus is God. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses to the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear (Acts 2:32-33). And then he proceeds to proclaim that this salvation is not only for Jews but for all who are far off (Acts 2:39).

On a second occasion, while addressing the Sanhedrin, Peter declares that it is because of Christs exaltation that salvation is made possible. The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead  whom you had killed by hanging on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel (Acts 5:30-31). It is clear here that repentance and forgiveness of sin represents salvation in a similar way that the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 represented the whole of salvation. This is known as a synecdoche  a rhetorical device by which the part is taken for the whole  a practice commonly employed in Acts.

Then on a third occasion while addressing those gathered at Cornelius house, Peter proclaims, All the prophets testify about him (Jesus) that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name (Acts 10:43). Again it is clear that forgiveness of sins represents salvation. Peters Jewish audience would have been familiar with the Old Testament concept that only Yahweh could forgive sins because he was the only exalted God. Even the prophets never promised that the coming Messiah would forgive sins. So how could Peter be arguing here that forgiveness can come through believing in Jesus? Green and Baker say the following: The answer can only be that, according to the consistent view in the book of Acts, on account of his exaltation Jesus is Lord; as Lord, he assumes the divine prerogative to administer the benefits of salvation, here represented as the forgiveness of sins (73).

These windows into the sermons preached in Acts make it clear that the apostles of the early church understood that salvation was predicated on the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus, not on the reality of his suffering on the cross. At the same time it becomes clear that even while salvation can be seen as an individual experience there is a strong bias toward seeing salvation in the context of God restoring Israel while at the same time creating a new multi-ethnic community. This is evident in the 3000 persons who believed in Acts 2 being baptized and incorporated into the emerging community, presumably mostly Jewish. The new global community comes into focus in Peters address to the Jerusalem council when he proclaims that it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are (Gentiles) (Acts 15:11).

To be sure, the focus on the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus does not negate the significance of Christs suffering in the Luke-Acts narrative as a whole. It was at the scene of the crucifixion that the Gentile centurion declared Jesus to be a righteous man (Luke 23:47). In Acts it becomes clear that the Jewish rejection of the crucified Christ frequently leads to the spreading of the gospel among the Gentiles (See Acts 13, 14, 18 and 28). As well, Jesus suffering on the cross becomes the backdrop to Pauls understanding that those who follow Christ will also have to endure hardships (Acts 14:22).

But the proclamation in Acts of salvation for all who believe rests squarely on the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead and exalted to the right hand of the Father, not on the fact that he suffered a terrible death on the cross.
Posted on 05/30/2016, 1:00 pm, by mySteinbach

Ted Falk, Member of Parliament for Provencher, announced that the Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program (CIP 150) is now accepting applications.

CIP 150 is part of Canada 150 Celebrates, the Government of Canadas celebration of our countrys 150th anniversary of Confederation. Budget 2016 provided an additional $150 million over two years to Canadas Regional Development Agencies to deliver further community funding across the country, starting in 2016-17, with Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) being responsible for administering the program in Western Canada.

Canadas 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017 is set to be an exceptional year for Canadians and their country, said Falk. I would like to encourage local organizations to submit applications for improvements to their community infrastructure.

The Government of Canada will invest in projects that seek to renovate, expand and improve existing community infrastructure.

WD, on behalf of the Government of Canada, is delivering this second call for proposals under CIP 150 in Western Canada beginning May 24th, 2016. Applications must be submitted by June 22nd, 2016 at 3:00 pm CST.

More information and an online Application Form for Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program can be found online.
Ohio zoo closes gorilla exhibit for now after boy, 4, falls in St Louis Post-Dispatch and Who was Harambe? Cincinnati Enquirer.

Panama Papers May Inspire More Big Leaks, if Not Reform NYT

The Whistleblower Full Measure. Bradley Birkenfeld, who blew the whistle on UBS offshore accounts held by wealthy Americans, was prosecuted and jailed by the DOJ, and then awarded $104 milllon by the IRS.

The Bank Robber The New Yorker (RA). No, not the executives. The whistleblower.

Once called dishonest and incompetent, could Tampa company be a model for real estate investors? Tampa Bay Times

A question of timing: A lawsuit claims Gilead Sciences could have developed a less-harmful version of its HIV treatment sooner Los Angeles Times (TF).

Diamond Geysers: Rule-Breaking Iceland Completes Its Miracle Economic Escape Epoch Times (JudyB).

Imperial Collapse Watch

Syraqistan

Hush, the Greeks are Asleep The Press Project

Europe on the brink iPolitics. Green defeats the far right in Austria, by a whisker.

Nuit Debout

2016

Clinton Email Hairball

Guillotine Watch

One of the Worlds Greatest Art Collections Hides Behind This Fence NYT

Class Warfare

How an industry helps Chinese students cheat their way into and through U.S. colleges Reuters (Re Silc). To these admirably pragmatic students, credentials really are nothing other than a signalling mechanism

The mystery of weak US productivity Edward Luce, FT.

Facing the Financial Industrys Cyber Challenge With Lessons From IT History Irving Wladawsky-Berger, WSJ. Ive helpfully underlined the bullshit terms; if you hear anybody in your house use them, count the spoons when they leave:

Transforming something as complex as the financial ecosystem is a tall order, but as any student of IT history can tell you, the emergence of disruptive technologies can bring together key stakeholders .  I finished my remarks to the Commission by noting that the emergence of an innovative disruptive technology can serve as a catalyst to propel change forward by bringing key stakeholders together.

Im giving high marks for the double-stakeholders/innovative disruptive strength move, as well as the grace notes of tall order, and propel change forward.

Machine Bias Pro Publica. Just because its an algorithm doesnt mean it wont be used to screw black people.

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
By John Helmer, the longest continuously serving foreign correspondent in Russia, and the only western journalist to direct his own bureau independent of single national or commercial ties. Helmer has also been a professor of political science, and an advisor to government heads in Greece, the United States, and Asia. He is the first and only member of a US presidential administration (Jimmy Carter) to establish himself in Russia. Originally published at Dances with Bears

An Australian coroner and a firm of Sydney, Australia, lawyers have taken the global lead in fabricating criminal charges and billion-dollar compensation claims for the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17  without producing evidence. Michael Barnes (lead image), a former tabloid journalist and now coroner for the state of New South Wales, ruled last week that MH17 had been shot down in a deliberate act of mass murder by firing a missile equipped with an exploding warhead at the jetliner. The coroner accepted testimony from the Crown Solicitor assisting the inquest who testified that certain persons of interest have been identified as the murderers.

Barnes issued his ruling after he decided to keep secret testimony from Australian police and forensic experts; and after he accepted as evidence a videoclip from the Dutch Safety Board (DSB). This, the coroner ordered to be excerpted in the courtroom, removing DSB criticism of the Ukrainian Government and Malaysia Airlines. Barnes also accepted that the evidence submitted by Catherine Follent, the Crown Solicitor, was uncontested and comprehensive.

Follent issued a warning in the courtroom, telling Barnes it was inappropriate for the coroner to draw conclusions for which there was no evidence. Barnes overruled her.

Barnes has been followed by an American named Jerome Skinner and a Sydney law firm called Leitch Hasson & Dent ( LHD). They claim to have filed suit in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, charging the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin with liability for the downing of the aircraft.

Publicity for this claim in the Australian media, amplified by the Financial Times and Guardian of London, has not been substantiated by the court itself. According to a spokesman for Roderick Liddle, the ECHR registrar, there is no confirmation that the LDH claim has been received. If it is, lawyers practising at the court say, it is fifteen months past the filing deadline set in ECHR rules, and barred by the ECHR requirement that claimants make their case in national courts first. Liddle refused to confirm or deny this.

The LHD law firm for which Skinner (right) works says it specializes in aviation law, where its website claims a 99% Win Rate. Skinner himself has advertised a record in other aviation cases in which the principal lawyers involved say Skinner played only a minor part. For more details of Skinners advertisements, read this.

Skinner provided a copy of his new lawsuit to the Sydney Morning Herald which reported his signature on the claim papers, and 33 claimants  8 from Australia, 1 from New Zealand, and 24 from Malaysia. In all, 298 passengers and crew were killed on MH17, the majority of them Dutch.

The newspaper quotes Skinner as claiming the ECHR to deter the Russian Federation from violating the sanctity of passenger flights should order the Federation to pay each applicant $10 million. He told a Murdoch news outlet, reproduced by the BBC: The Russians dont have any facts for blaming Ukraine, We have facts, photographs, memorandums, tonnes of stuff. He told selected media his claim document runs to over 3500 pages in length. When asked to provide the document, Skinner refuses.

A Sydney Morning Herald reporter, Tim Barlass, (right) says LHD showed him a partial copy of papers Skinner claims to have sent to the ECHR. Barlass said he didnt know if the papers had been officially received at the court, and he has not checked with the ECHR in Strasbourg to verify it. According to Barlass, he was shown the papers by Skinners law firm on condition he showed them to noone else.

In a recent Dutch review of the legal remedies available to victims of MH17, legal experts concluded its unlikely that the Court [ECHR] would accept at this stage an application from victims in the Netherlands who had not yet fully pursued domestic remedies in either Ukraine or Russia. Despite months of advertising by Dutch law firms for MH17 cases, Amsterdam sources reported last week that not a single case has been filed in a Dutch court to date. The Dutch assessment is that there is insufficient evidence about what and who caused the downing of the aircraft.

The one case already submitted to the ECHR by the family of a Dutch victim has been attacked by Skinner and his associates because it targets the Ukraine government for culpability. The ECHR has also politicized the case, represented by Berlin lawyer Elmar Giemulla on behalf of the daughter of MH17 passenger, Willem Grootscholten. Although it has been eighteen months since Giemulla lodged the claim papers, the ECHR has so far refused to proceed. For more details, read this.The case has been assigned an ECHR application number; but today, when Registrar Liddle was asked to clarify the current status of the case before the court, he refused to say.

Skinner and Michael Highland (right), another lawyer at LHD involved in the MH17 case, were asked to say why their claim is not barred by ECHR rules. These set a 6-month deadline for filing claims after the events in cause; that deadline passed on January 17, 2015. The ECHR rules also require claimants to file first in national courts, and prohibit parallel litigation, where the same claims are proceeding in another court. For the claimants Skinner says he represents, the courts of Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia are open to MH17 claims. Local lawyers say there is a two-year deadline for these courts, and that runs out on July 17, 2016. The Malaysian Government has also introduced measures to prevent lawsuits against the airline.

According to officials at the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Sydney, Skinner and Highland are representing Tim Lauschet in a lawsuit against Malaysia Airlines. Judge Lucy McCallum issued a first ruling in the case last August. Since then the case has been repeatedly postponed at the request of Skinner and Highland. The judge ordered them to file particulars of their claim on May 6, but court sources say they failed to do so. Another hearing in the case is scheduled on May 30. For more details, read this. Skinner and Highland were asked to explain why they believe they can proceed in the Sydney court and the ECHR at the same time. They refuse to reply to emails. A spokesman said by telephone: we wont comment.

Barnes has been in his job as a Sydney coroner since 2013. He was a coroner in the northern Australian state of Queensland before that. According to his spokesman, at one time Barnes was a reporter at The Daily Mirror and Daily Sun, two Sydney sensation sheets now defunct.

The 4-page ruling on MH17 by Barnes, read out in court a week ago, can be opened here. Barness inquest was shorter by a day than the Victorian state coroners inquest last December. For details of that proceeding, read this.

Left: Serge Oreshkin, father of Victor Oreshkin (right), killed on MH17, who was one of the subjects of the Barnes inquest

The Victorian inquest took courtroom testimony from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) officer commanding the Australian police in The Netherlands investigations; and from one of the pathologists in charge of the post-mortem evidence. By contrast, Barnes allowed no expert witnesses in court. He claimed in his ruling he had consider[ed] all of the documentary evidence tendered and the submissions made by counsel assisting at the inquest. In fact, he ordered the suppression of all evidence on which he claimed to have reached his conclusions.

Barnes also ignored the warning from the state lawyer, Catherine Follent. Read her statement in full here. In written testimony she told the coroner: as to the manner of deaths then, in our submission it would be appropriate for your Honour to adopt the findings of the Dutch Safety Board as to the source and mechanics of the detonation, in addition to finding that the deaths of the New South Wales passengers were the result of the actions of another person or persons.

Follent (right) also told the coroner, according to a SkyNews report: It would be inappropriate for the coroner to declare the deaths were a result of the action of another person or persons, as criminal investigations are still under way.

Coroner Barnes (below, left) was asked to explain why his claims lacked evidence and contradicted what his counsel had testifed he could judge. Follent (centre) was asked the same question. Barnes and Follent said through Angus Huntsdale (right), a press officer for the coroner: Ms Follent did not make the remarks. Also, according to Huntsdale, she didnt do an interview with Sky News or any other media.

The SkyNews report of Follents remarks was published on May 17, the day of the Barnes inquest. Days later, on May 23, when Barnes and Follent were asked to clarify what she had said, they and Huntsdale were provided with the story link. Huntsdale did not deny the media report; in guarded comments he left open the possibility that Follent had made her warning in open court, for which no transcript has been made available. But several hours after Barnes, Follent and Huntsdale had reviewed what Follent had been quoted as saying, her warning to the coroner was removed from the SkyNews version of the story.

The coroner and his associates were unable to remove Follents quote entirely. This is how it appeared originally, on May 17.

Barnes and Follent were asked to explain why they had imposed a secrecy order on the evidence, and to identify the sources of the documents they had classified. They replied through Huntsdale: The documentary evidence included portions of the Dutch Safety Boards report, the reports of the deaths to the coroner by NSW Police, two statements of Australian Federal Police officers providing an update on the status of the investigations (including the Dutch Safety Board and criminal investigations) and forensic pathology reports.

One of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) statements, dating from last November, had been tested in the Victorian Coroners Court in December. Kept secret in Sydney last week, this statement was publicly accessible in Melbourne five months earlier. At that time AFP Detective Superintendent Andrew Donoghoe (pictured above) said the evidence on what caused the downing of MH17 and the deaths of the passengers and crew was inconclusive.

Donoghoe also said: it was also necessary that other scenarios  such as the possibility that MH17 was shot down by another type of missile, or that it was shot down from the air  must be ruled out convincingly. Donoghoe repeated the point in an interview outside the courtroom, adding this is a tougher standard than the DSB report.

By gagging Donoghoe from testifying as a witness, and keeping his 2015 testimony secret, Barnes has claimed the DSB report warranted his conclusion there had been deliberate aiming of a missile at MH17 and intentional mass murder. Barnes and Follent refuse to identify what parts of the DSB report they relied on for this conclusion.

Instead, Barnes ordered a DSB videotape to be played in court. Watch it here.

The original DSB videoclip runs for 19:58 minutes. But according to Huntsdale, the coroners spokesman, the first 15 minutes of the clip were played. It wasnt necessary to play the remainder of the video because it went beyond the scope of the coroners inquiry.

Did Coroner Barnes decide that the last 5 minutes of the tape were unnecessary, he was asked, and why. According to Huntsdale, the NSW State Coroner made his findings on the basis of the documentary material tenderedcoroners do not provide additional commentary on their cases outside of court.

The missing five minutes of the DSB tape which Barnes suppressed contain two charges by the DSB chairman, Tjibbe Joustra.

The Dutch official blames the Ukrainian government for failure to close the airspace and for putting MH17 at risk. Ukraine had sufficient information to close the airspace to civil aviation prior to July 17,  Joustra said. He also criticized the operator of MH17, Malaysia Airlines, for ignoring the risks and flying through the conflict zone.

On Saturday, as Skinner was advertising his claims against Russia in the Australian papers and stalling his claims against Malaysia Airlines in the Sydney court, the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced his own agreement on MH17 with President Putin directly.

Najib with Putin in Sochi, May 21, 2016

I understand and feel the sadness and pain experienced by the families of the victims. I lost my step-grandmother, Puan Sri Siti Amirah Prawira Kusuma in the tragedy, said Najib in a post on his website Saturday evening. I see that we have started on positive steps towards seeking justice for the family members and victims of MH17 when the Russian President and I reached an agreement that follow-up action will be determined after the results of the investigation are presented by the Joint Investigation Team in October. I pray that the families of all the victims remain patient in facing the challenges, said Najib.

According to a spokesman for the Dutch prosecutors, who are leading the Joint Investigation Team (JIT), there will be no JIT report in October.
By Eric Tymoigne, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Economics at Lewis and Clark College and Research Associate at The Levy Economics Institute. His research expertise is in: central banking, monetary economics, and macroeconomics. Originally published at New Economic Perspectives.

The following answers a few question in order to illustrate the previous post and to develop certain points.

Q1: Can a commodity be a monetary instrument? Or, does money grow on trees?

Let us tackle the idea that gold is money. Clearly, a gold ingot is not a monetary instrument. There is no issuer, no denomination, no term to maturity or any other financial characteristics. A gold ingot is just a commodity, a real asset not a financial asset. On the other hand, gold coins have been monetary instruments and are still issued at times (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Gold (ingots) vs. Gold Coin (2009 $50 American Buffalo Gold Coin)

Similarly, it is incorrect to state that salt was money because salt is a commodity that embeds no promise; however, Marco Polo noted that in the Chinese province of Kain-du:

There are salt springs, from which they manufacture salt by boiling it in small pans. When the water is boiled for an hour, it becomes a kind of paste, which is formed into cakes of the value of two pence each. [] On this latter species of money the stamp of the grand khan is impressed, and it cannot be prepared by any other than his own officers. Eighty of the cakes are made to pass for a saggio of gold. But when these cakes are carried by traders amongst the inhabitants of the mountains, and other parts little frequented, they obtain a saggio of gold for sixty, fifty, or even forty of the salt cakes, in proportion as they find the natives less civilized.

It seems that salt cakes issued by an emperor (grand khan) might have circulated as monetary instruments. However, a lot of details are missing from this description:

What were the unit of account and face value? (definitely not the pound, it is China) What was the term to maturity? Were the cakes accepted in payment at any time by the emperor? What were the means for the emperor to make the previous financial characteristics a reality? I.e., what were the reflux mechanics? Did the emperor levy dues that could be paid with salt cakes at par? Did the cakes provide conversion into something? Etc. Bearers need to be convinced so trust about the issuer must be established. The bit about the amount of gold that salt cakes could buy is irrelevant. Polo is just telling us that a commodity (gold bullions) was cheaper in the mountains. He might as well have told us about how different the price of apples and potatoes are in different parts of the country.

The broad point is that monetary instruments can be made of a commodity but that commodity itself is not a monetary instrument. We all know the expression money does not grow on trees. Monetary instruments are not a natural occurrence and for a commodity to become a monetary instruments some specific financial characteristics must be added: a unit of account, a face value, a term to maturity, among others. All this requires an issuer who promises to implement these financial characteristics.

Say a goldminer wants his gold nuggets to be a monetary instrument, for that to be the case the goldminer must promise:

To distinguish his gold nuggets from other gold nuggets To declare what their face value is in terms of a unit of account To implement that face value by promising to take back at any time the gold nuggets in payments at the stated face value.

Now the third condition introduces a problem because it means that the goldminer must be willing to be paid in gold nuggets for his gold nuggets. I let you ponder on that.

Q2: Can a monetary instrument be a commodity?

Yes. Numismatists are specialists at treating current and former physical monetary instruments as commodities by determining the price of banknotes and coins in terms of their rarity, peculiarity, etc. For example the $1 FRN in Figure 2 is worth $1200 currently because of its peculiar serial number. But that is not its fair value as a monetary instrument. If one buys this note and goes to a store or to a government office, the person to whom one hands the note will only take it for $1. The same applies to the buffalo gold coins above. One can use them to pay debt owed to the government but only $50 worth, not more nor less, even though the coin is worth thousands of dollars as a collectible item.

Figure 2. A $1 FRN worth $1200 as collectible items

Source: here

The same applies also to gold and silver certificates. Here is how the U.S. Treasury puts it:

Although gold certificates are no longer produced and are not redeemable in gold, they still maintain their legal tender status. You may redeem the notes you have through the Treasury Department or any financial institution. The redemption, however, will be at the face value on the note. These notes may, however, have a premium value to coin and currency collectors or dealers. (U.S. Treasury)

One can redeem them at the Treasury (to pay debts owed to the Treasury or to get Federal Reserve notes) or deposit them at banks, but only at face value. That is their value as monetary instrument. Their value as a commodity is sometimes much higher.

Finally, a fun example is the current case of the penny, which brings us back to darker times of monetary history (see next post). A while back, National Public Radio ran a segment on penny hoarders. These are people whose hobby is to hoard pre-1982 pennies. Some even go to their local banks and ask to convert dollar bills into pennies and then spend their evenings triaging boxes of pennies. Why would they do that would you ask? Pre-1982 pennies are made mostly of copper and, given that the price of a pound of copper tripled over the past ten years, the face value of a penny is half the intrinsic value (i.e. value of the content of copper): face value is 1 cent, intrinsic value is 2 cents, 100% profit from selling pennies for their copper content! Currently, there is one small problem with this portfolio strategy: It is illegal to destroy government currency. However, the government is considering the possibility of demonetizing the penny coin because it costs more to make than its face value, and because US residents mostly find it cumbersome to use. If the government ever demonetizes the penny coin, penny hoarders are ready to rush to their local scrap metal dealers.

Q3: Is money what money does?

Francis Amasa Walker concluded in the late 19th century that money is what money does. This has been an extremely influential way of analyzing monetary systems is many different disciplines: economics, anthropology, law, among others.

It is used in a narrow way by economists who use the Real Exchange Economy framework and who focus on the function of medium of exchange. In order to avoid the problem of double coincidence of wants induced by barter (Joe has apples and wants pears, Jane has pears but wants peaches), a unique commodity was progressively sorted out as best for market exchanges. Thus, a monetary system can be detected by checking for the presence of a medium of exchange. Anthropologists, among others, reject this narrow functional approach. In primitive societies, exchange was not done principally, or even at all, for economic reasons and so the nonexistence of a double coincidence of wants was not a problem. The broad functional approach classifies anything as monetary instrument as long as it performs all or parts of the functions attributed to monetary instruments. The distinction between all-purpose money and special-purpose money follows.

A main issue with the functional approach is that it does not explicitly define what money is, which creates several issues:

Inquirers may pick and choose depending on the circumstances, which may lead the inquirer to impose inappropriately his own experience to explain the inner workings of completely different societies.

Inquirers may tend to assume that monetary instruments must take a physical form when they may be immaterial.

Inquirers may exclude things that are monetary instruments but are not used for any of the functions. Collectible coins and notes are monetary instruments as long as the issuer does not demonetize them.

More broadly, too much emphasis will be on detecting things that fulfill the selected function and not enough effort will be devoted to a detailed account of the unit of account used, how the fair value was determined and if it fluctuated, how the reflux mechanisms were implemented, etc. The example of the salt cakes above is an illustration of that point. Just noting that something is used as medium of exchange or means of payment, and moving on to something else, is a poor means to perform monetary analysis.

This approach also creates difficulties to convincingly include money in models, and pushes to ignore the financial side of the economy and the role of nominal aspects. Monetary instruments are mere commodities and do grow on treesthere are fruitsand all debt payments are denominated in fruits.

Finally, inquirers using this approach may confuse monetary payments and in-kind payments, may assume that there is a monetary system where there is none, may make a truncated analysis of monetary systems consisting mostly in a mere recollection of objects, and may miss the presence of a monetary system. For examples, by relying on the words of an Arab merchant and an Arab historian of the 9th and 10th century, Quiggin reports that more than a thousand years ago cowry shells:

formed the wealth of the royal treasury [] [and] when funds were getting low, the sovereign sent out servants to cut branches of coconut palm and throw them into the sea. The little mollusks climbed on to the branches and were collected and spread out on the sand to dry until only the empty shells were left. So the royal bank was filled again. Ships from India brought goods to the Maldives and took back millions of shells packed up in thousand in coconut palm leaves. It was a profitable trade, for even in the seventeenth century we hear of 9,000 or 10,000 cowries being bought for a rupee and sold again for three or four times as much on the mainland of India. (Quiggin, 1963, 25-26)

However, from this description, one cannot conclude that cowries were monetary instruments used by the king to finance the purchase of foreign goods and services. Indeed, it is not explained what the unit of account of the Maldives was and how cowries were monetized, i.e., who, if anybody, issued them as financial instruments (did the royal authority issue them and was the royal bank ready to accept cowries in payment?), and what was their relationship relative to the unit of account. In addition, the role of cowries as monetary instruments is doubtful for the Maldives because, cowry shells were worth nothing against goods except by shipload (Polanyi 1966, 190)an extremely inconvenient means of payment and medium of exchange. What one can conclude from the description is that the Maldives authorities were involved in the trade of cowries with Indian and Arab merchants. They were exporting cowries against imports of other goodsa situation of bilateral trade, not a situation of cowry monetary system.

Q4: Are contemporary government monetary instruments irredeemable? Or, is the fair value of contemporary government monetary instruments zero?

No. A WELL-FUNCTIONING MONETARY SYSTEM REQUIRES THAT ALL MONETARY INSTRUMENTS BE REDEEMABLE. Federal Reserve notes are redeemable, silver certificates are redeemable even though they are no longer convertible (see the Treasury in Q2), and bank accounts are redeemable. They are redeemable as long as they can be returned to the issuer, hopefully at their initial face value. They can be returned to the issuer through two channels:

Bearers demand conversion into something else at a given rate: government currency for bank accounts, foreign currency for government currency, etc.

Bearers pay the issuer with the notes: governments take their currency is payment of dues owed to them, as do banks. The payment allows the bearers to avoid jail time and other legal problems.

So to be redeemable a monetary instrument does NOT have to be convertible . As such the fair value of a monetary instruments, its net present value, is face value.

In the past, some governments did forget to include, or removed, a redemption clause:

Paper money has no intrinsic value; it is only an imputed one; and therefore, when issued, it is with a redeeming clause, that it shall be taken back, or otherwise withdrawn, at a future period. Unfortunately, most of the governments, that have issued paper money, have chosen to forget the redeeming clause, or else circumstances have intervened to prevent their putting it into execution; and the paper has been left in the hands of the public, without any possibility of its being withdrawn from circulation (Smith 1832, 49) Probably, no government paper money was ever sent forth which was not expected to be redeemed in full value, at some time, although that might be distant. [] Nevertheless, the issues of government money that have not been redeemed, or the payment of which has been either formally or tacitly renounced, have been very numerous. (Langworthy Taylor 1913, 309)

In that case, the fair value of a monetary instrument is indeed zero because its term to maturity is infinity which means that its fair value is:

P = C/i

Given that no coupon was paid, then P = 0. But this does not apply today because monetary instruments are redeemable on demand by bearers at a very stable face value.

All this does not seem to be well understood. For example, recently Adair Turner wrote (and he is far from the only one to have said so):

Monetary base is an asset for the private sector, but for the government it is a purely notional liability (with NPV equal to Zero) since it is irredeemable and non-interest-bearing. (Turner 2015)

This confuses irredeemable and unconvertible. The monetary base is redeemable. This point of view also raises other problems:

Remember that balance sheets are interrelated so if a financial liability is worth zero in one balance sheet, then a financial asset must be worth zero in another balance sheet. Turner makes an accounting error.

Why would the private sector be willing to hold something that is worth zero? There is no benefit that comes from accepting a monetary instrument, not even avoiding prison because taxes cannot be paid with government monetary instruments.

If valued at zero then balance sheets should record a large loss of assets (and net worth) for banks, firms, and households: Your savings are worth nothing in nominal terms!

Q5: Is monetary logic circular?

No. The acceptance of a monetary instrument by anybody ultimately rests in the confidence in the issuer, not in the confidence that other potential bearers will accept.

Q6: Do issuers of monetary instrument promise a stable purchasing power?

No. If that was the case, issuers of monetary instrument would have defaulted on their promise continuously since the beginning of financial times. They never were able to provide a stable purchasing power, even less so since the end of World War Two. As such the demand for monetary instruments would be nil if a stable purchasing power was a promise embedded in monetary instrument because the creditworthiness of the issuer would be nil.

A stable purchasing power is not a promise of any issuer of monetary instruments. This is fine for most bearers as long as the purchasing power of monetary instruments is relatively stable in the short-term. If one wants something that holds purchasing power over the medium to long run, then one should switch to other assets.

Q7: Are monetary instrument necessarily financial in nature?

Yes, remember: money does not grow on trees. While monetary instrument can be made of a commodity that commodity does not tell us anything about the monetary nature of a thing. A gold coin is a monetary instrument not because it is made of gold but because of its financial characteristics. Gold is a collateral embedded in the coin. Similarly a house is not a mortgage, a house is a collateral for a mortgage and nothing can be learned about the inner workings of mortgages by studying how a house is made.

The primitive moneys would need to be studied much more carefully to determine if some of them were monetary instruments. Just checking if they passed hands in exchange of goods and services, if they were used to pay for a bride, etc. is a poor means of determining the moneyness of something given that one cannot make a difference between in-kind payments and monetary payments. We saw above that cowry shells were not monetary instruments in the Maldives but they were in Africa and detailed analysis has been done to establish that fact.

Q7: Are credit cards monetary instruments? What about pizza coupons? What about pretend-play banknotes and coins? What about bitcoins?

No to all questions.

A credit card is not a financial instrumentit does not have a maturity (issuers of credit cards do not accept credit cards in payment) and it is not related to a unit of account (it is not a carrier of the unit of account). The underlying credit line is not financial instrument either. The line represents the maximum amount of a customers promissory note (called credit card receivables) that a credit company is willing to take on its balance sheet.

Say that household #1 wants to get a credit card from Bank A. #1 fills up the required documentation so A can check #1s creditworthiness. #1 is approved by A and gets a $1000 credit line. Where is that recorded on the balance sheet? Nowhere, it is an off-balance sheet item. The line is just saying that A will take on its balance sheet up to $1000 of #1s promissory notes without asking again to check #1s creditworthiness. We saw in a previous post what happens when a credit line is used: As assets rise by the amount of line drawn by #1, #1s liabilities rise by that same amount.

What about a pizza coupon? It has an instantaneous maturity (one can go to the pizza shop at any time to claim a pizza), it is a convertible, but it not a financial instrument because it does not involve monetary payments but merely in-kind payments: it converts into a commodity. If the coupon could be used to pay debts owed to the pizza shop at any time, if the pizza shop stated at what value it would take the coupon in payments, then it would be a monetary instrument.

Figure 3 shows a set of play notes that my son got with his cash register. In order for the notes to become monetary instruments, the company that created them would need to do the following:

Change the design: too close to the design of Federal Reserve notes even though it is a crude imitation. Definitely The United States of America should be eliminated because they are not issued by the government. Promise to take the note in payments: Bearers can pay the company with the notes to buy things from, and clear debts owed to, the company.

Finally, bitcoins do not have any issuer and are irredeemable. The first problem prevent them to be a monetary instrument, the second problem makes them valueless as monetary instruments. Bitcoins are commodities/real assets, not financial assets.

Figure 3. Pretend-play monetary instruments

Q8: Errors made in past monetary systems

Given the characteristics of monetary instruments, they should circulate at parity all the time; however, actual circulation at par does not define a monetary instrument. Par circulation is only the result of the inner characteristics of a financial instrument, together with the existence of a proper financial infrastructure that allows these characteristics to be expressed in the fair value. Only recently has there been well-functioning monetary systems. They are not without problems but in general they ensure a smooth processing of payments and can be used as a reliable medium of exchange, both of which help to promote economic prosperity to some extent.

For reasons related to poor technics of production, inexperience, political instability, frauds, and poorly developed banking systems, it took quite a long time for the proper characteristics and infrastructure to be established to have a smoothly running monetary system. Here are some errors that were made along the way:

No stamped face value: In the Middle Ages, King cried up or down (i.e. changes by decree) the face value too many times. What is the problem? Nobody had any idea what face value was: there were so many edicts in force referring to changes in the [face] value of the coins, that none but an expert could tell what the [face] value of various coins of different issues were, and they became highly speculative commodities (Innes 1913, 386).

Free-coinage: Anybody with gold can go to the mint and get coins stamped out of ingots (government keeps a portion of the ingots: seigniorage) What is the problem? Kings legalized counterfeiting. Anybody with gold could issue a debt of the king, i.e. make the king liable. Today, in the United States, an equivalent would be for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to print Federal Reserve notes for anybody who comes with paper that respects the Bureaus specifications

No redeeming clause: There is no way to return to the issuer its monetary instruments What is the problem? Fair price is zero unless there is a collateral or recourse, which is not the case for monetary instruments made of paper.

There is a redeeming clause but no actual means to implement it because no payment is due to issuer (e.g., sometimes taxes during the time of colonial bills were not implemented when they were supposed to be), or conversion is very difficult (banks during wildcat era). What is the problem? The term to maturity is no longer instantaneous as promised but depends on the expectations of bearers. As such the discount factor comes back into the valuation of the fair price and so the fair price is unstable and varies with confidence of bearers about the issuer.

Full-bodied coins: At issuance the face value (FV) is the same as the market value of the gold content (P g G with P G the price of gold per ounce and G the ounces of gold in the coin) What is the problem? if P g > 0 => P g G > FV => coins disappear from circulation (melted into ingot or exported as commodities)

G with P the price of gold per ounce and G the ounces of gold in the coin) Lack of a proper interbank payment system: in that case interbank debts are difficult to clear and settle. This creates all sorts of problems going from delays in processing payment, to loss of purchasing power because some bank monetary instruments trade at a discount relative to other bank monetary instruments, to full blown financial crisis because payments cannot be processed and so creditors do not receive what they are owed and in turn cannot pay their own creditors.

Q9: Do legal tender laws define monetary instruments? What about fixed price?

Legal tender laws state that, in court settlements, creditors must accept whatever is defined as legal tender in payments of what is owed to them. Creditors cannot refuse payments with something that is legal tender. This does not mean a legal tender cannot be refused during petty transactions. The current legal tenders in the US are Federal Reserve notes but plenty of shops and government offices refuse cash payments.

Something that is legal tender is not necessarily a monetary instrument . In the past commodities such as tobacco leafs have been included in the legal tender laws, forcing creditors to accept payments in kind. The next post will develop the case of tobacco leafs in the United States, which came about because of a shortage of monetary instruments.

Something that has a fixed price is also not necessarily a monetary instrument. It may just be a commodity managed by an economic unit.

Q10: Is it up to people to decide what a monetary instrument is? Who decides when something is demonetized?

The public opinion about what is or what is not a monetary instrument does not matter and popular belief by itself cannot turn something into a monetary instrument. To take an analogy, one can use a shoe to hammer nails but it does not make the shoe a hammer. The fact that everybody thinks that shoes are hammers does not turn the shoe into a hammer. If everybody is delusional enough to believe the contrary, there will be many more work-related accidents and productivity will drop because shoes are not built properly to hammer nails. In a similar fashion if everybody wants to believe that gold nuggets, tobacco leafs, or grains of salt are monetary instruments, the payment system will not work smoothly and economic activity will suffer.

As explained in Q2, some monetary instruments are used merely as collectible items. Some persons may also use monetary instruments as ornaments and for other non-economic uses. These other uses do not demonetize a monetary instrument. That can only happen if a monetary instrument seizes to be a promise and that is up to the issuer to decide.

Q11: Can anybody make a monetary instrument?

Yes as long as one does not counterfeit existing monetary instruments, one can do so. Good luck getting it accepted.

Done for today! Next is the final post of the series: Monetary history.
SHARE David Albers/Staff Naples resident Helen Patton holds a letter she received from her husband, Jerry Patton, as he fought in the Army during the Korean War. Naples resident Helen Patton holds a letter she received from her husband, Jerry Patton, as he fought in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. (David Albers/Staff) Naples residents Jerry and Helen Patton's senior prom photo on June 22, 1951, in Michigan. (Photo provided by Helen Patton) Jerry Patton in high school in Michigan. (David Albers/Staff) Related Coverage Wartime love letters brought comfort and courtship

By Kristine Gill of the Naples Daily News

Jerry Patton made it all the way to Miami one night last year before police there called his wife back in Naples.

Dementia had taken hold of the Korean War veteran, and his late-night drive told Helen Patton it was time.

But before the disease addled his brain, before he moved to HarborChase of North Collier for 'round-the-clock care four months ago, they had shared nearly 63 years of a loving marriage bookended by war and assisted living and full of love every place in between.

"We went to church together, he loved animals and children. And he always treated me good," said Helen Patton, 83. "And he did write good letters."

The thin parchment paper she unfolds is creased and yellowed. Penned on Saturday, Nov. 25, 1954, it has been stashed away in storage for decades, the last surviving letter from 16 months of service abroad.

"That's the only letter I saved," Helen Patton says. "I guess I junked the rest of them."

This one she saved because Jerry Patton so beautifully detailed his love for her on Thanksgiving, listing what he was thankful for that year, especially while in Korea where he was stationed as a specialist, first class.

It's all there, spelled out in the neat, slanting cursive he was known for:

"At first consideration, most of us over here are apt to think that we don't have much to be thankful for. We wonder if being separated from our families and loved ones is a Blessing. We wonder if being forced to live in such uncomfortable conditions is a Blessing."

Helen Patton still chokes up when she reads it, especially as her husband concludes that he does have something to be thankful for. Someone, to be specific.

"I am grateful for such a wonderful, lovely wife. Just the knowledge that she loves me and wants me is something I am very thankful for."

The pair met in 1947 when Jerry Patton showed up to church with Helen Patton's boyfriend in Dearborn, Michigan.

"I just ended up liking Jerry better," Helen Patton says.

They dated for six years before he enlisted and they were married in May of 1953. They honeymooned in New York City, then Helen Patton returned home to live with her parents while her husband went abroad.

She wrote him all the time, and he sent word when he could.

"I would tell him anything I could think of, crazy stuff I guess. What was going on with the people we knew here," she says. "He would just tell me what went on, the good days and bad days. He got very active with the church there and knew the minister."

For Helen Patton, knowing her sweetie might be in danger was especially difficult. She had already lost an older brother in Vietnam when she was just 14.

"I knew this was something Jerry wanted to do," she said. "He had that faith in the military and still does. So I didn't think. I just didn't think."

He did not see combat, but he worried during those months the plans might change. That the Army might instead have him fight when he had been trained in the Korean language for a year to work for the nation's security agency as an interpreter.

But the fear was there for every wife and girlfriend back at home.

After the war, they had four children; two boys and two girls. Jerry Patton worked in finance and municipal government. Helen Patton worked in a bank all her life. They took cruises around the world, any chance they got. Jerry Patton remembered a lot of the Korean he had learned and used it anytime he met someone who spoke it, including at local restaurants.

They lived in Ohio, then Connecticut. Eventually they retired to Florida. He stopped wearing that corny toupee he used to think looked good. He kept his white beard trim, practiced photography and never forgot the makes and models of motorcycles they passed while driving. That much of his mind remained intact.

All that time, Jerry Patton's letter sat in a box, his sentiments as true now from the memory care wing of HarborChase as they were then. Helen Patton is sure of it.

"Well, Honey, that's about all for now. I love you more than ever and miss you so much it hurts. Be good and please take care of yourself. I love you. Your hubby, Jerry."
By Harriet Howard Heithaus of the Naples Daily News

The perimeter of Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Immokalee fairly glowed in the afternoon Sunday, rich with colors born of artistry and faith.

Tinted sawdust, mulch, rice, bean or salt "paintings" blanketed its sidewalks and driveways, creating a swath of ground murals. But these carpets, or alfombras in Spanish, were destined to be in a dustpan by 7 p.m. The murals are created expressly for the priest to walk over, carrying a display of the consecrated bread known as the Blessed Sacrament. Each alfombra is a religious tribute to the Roman Catholic church's feast of Corpus Christi, which the church celebrated Sunday.

The Old World custom from Spain developed 19th century roots in Central America and Mexico, and signify welcoming the way for Jesus Christ.

"It's like we're rolling out the red carpet for Christ," said parish secretary Soyla Reyna as she bent over a field of white rice, smoothing it into a depiction of a Eucharistic robe. Her sweat in the 90-degree heat was being directed toward the "Faith" mural, one of a trio of virtue alfombras named for a church organization.

Close by, Susie Nieto, 48, came through, dusting gold sparkles on an already eye-catching purple title, "Hope."

"That will bring out the purple," she assured her co-workers in the Faith, Hope and Love organizations. Another group swooped in only an hour before a late afternoon service to set up their alfombra freshly. They had created fruit baskets of watermelons and carved pineapple creatures at home.

Others, like Maricela Rodriquez, had gone to Miami Saturday to buy uniformly sized purple mums, ferns and baby breath for her family's floral cross. She and her family laid out it out at 7 a.m. and erected a tent over it to protect the blooms.

"It's too hot later," Rodriquez explained. For those toiling in the sun, however, a parish stand sold cooling snow cones in fruit flavors, and the aroma of roasting barbecue and tacos wafted out toward the workers.

Dania Gonzalez and her family spent their afternoon kneading watercolor paints through rice for her family's design. Her Old World alfombra had a New World tweak: "We get some ideas from Google," she said.

Nearly 50 art carpets created by families, organizations and Mass assistants such as lectors marked the route for the church's pastor, the Rev. Carlos Andres Reyes, who stepped gingerly over them in the 5 p. m. procession. He had not even seen the art until midafternoon  Masses begin at 7 a.m. on Sundays and, during the harvest season, don't end until 3.

Our Lady of Guadalupe has roughly 3,500 members who must use a 1980s sanctuary that would probably not even seat 800. Rev. Reyes is hoping, and doubtlessly praying, that its permits will be approved by September so ground can be broken for a larger church. Right now, even with seven Masses each Sunday, some people must stand.

The alfombras were his inspiration, brought four years ago from Mexico with the knowledge that some of his congregation were from Latin America. The custom is practiced there as well.

To include its Haitian members, beflowered shrines at four stops, decorated by members of Creole speaking organizations, offer a place to stop for prayers along the colorful route.

"It's good to see people coming together to work on these, and to see the gifts God has given them in creativity and artistry," Rev. Reyes said.

"They use some of the materials they use for work in their creations  mulch, from landscaping, rice and beans from cooking  that makes it even more special."

Even the weather contributed Sunday. Despite the promise of rain Sunday, the sun shone until the end of the procession, at 6 p.m.

Then, just in time to clean the sidewalks, the rains came.
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By Maria Perez of the Naples Daily News

Collier County is considering new rules that supporters say will improve conditions in mobile home parks, but others argue they don't go far enough in requiring park owners to replace all substandard trailers.

Immokalee resident Pam Brown said her mother owns a mobile home park that doesn't meet county standards. It was built in the 1950s, she said, but part of the land is now zoned commercial. She said they wanted to make site improvements years ago, but they stopped because county staff wanted to inspect the mobile homes, which don't belong to her mother. Two or three years ago, she said, one of the park tenants wanted to replace the trailer with a bigger one because his family was growing, but he couldn't because the park doesn't meet county standards.

She says the proposed amendment is good for Immokalee, because many park owners want to replace dilapidated mobile homes but they can't afford all the improvements required under the old rules. If they are able to replace the trailers, she said, the appearance of the community will improve.

"I'm glad they are doing something," she said.

Collier County commissioners are expected to discuss and vote on the changes in the Land Development Code this summer.

Steven Kirk, president of Rural Neighborhoods, a nonprofit that offers 240 low-income rental units in Immokalee, said his group supports allowing park owners to replace dilapidated mobile homes if they meet fire safety requirements. But he opposes declaring parks in compliance if owners don't make improvements like establishing setbacks and meeting requirements for dumpsters, private roads and drainage. The county should consider requiring replacing and upgrading a percentage of old mobile homes to grant compliance, he said.

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Kirk said the new rules favor substandard parks over others with higher standards. The proposal won't require park owners to invest in upgrades, he said, and will allow them to comply with fewer standards than others and will likely lead to higher rents for their properties that are considered conforming by the county.

"That impedes economic growth. It does not encourage it," he said.

The trailer parks and parcels eligible for the plan were built before the Collier County Land Development Code was approved in 1991. They are located now in a zoning district that doesn't allow mobile home parks or they don't comply with the district development standards, such as setbacks, or paved streets and landscaping requirements.

Those properties are "grandfathered," but their owners cannot add or replace trailers, expand or build in the properties until they bring their properties into compliance by upgrading them.

A previous administrative process, which expired in 2003, required trailer park owners whose property didn't comply and who wanted to receive county compliance to remove substandard trailers and conform with setback, drainage, landscaping and other requirements through improvements. After 2003, owners could still submit a site improvement plan with the same requirements after an order of the Code Enforcement Board or through a settlement with the Board of Collier County Commissioners.

Collier County approved through those processes site improvement plans for 33 trailer parks of 53 identified in Immokalee, according to a 2011 Collier County Growth Management staff analysis. About 20 trailer parks could currently be nonconforming and eligible for the plan that is being proposed now, said Mike Bosi, Collier County planning and zoning director

The new plan proposed by the county requires owners of trailer parks or lots to submit an application and comply with state fire safety regulations such as minimum separation between trailers and having a fire hydrant or similar device. Trailer properties will be allowed to keep the maximum density they have had in the past, even it exceeds the density allowed for the zoning district.

If the property's density is below the maximum allowed in the district, owners will be able to bring in additional trailers by complying in the new lot with some dimensional, drainage and other requirements.

Mobile home park owner Robert Davenport said the old process would have put mobile home park owners out of business and could have displaced people who owned a mobile home. He said some of the trailers many not look good, but they are functional. They don't have leaks, they have windows, they work, he said.

Carrie Williams, an Immokalee mobile home park owner who completed the old process, said she supports allowing mobile home owners to replace units, but has some concerns about the new plan. Williams said the plan shouldn't apply to mobile home units outside of parks or to owners who recently purchased nonconforming mobile home parks. She supports the requirement of removing older trailers, and thinks the community needs time to vet the proposal.

Immokalee Community Redevelopment Association advisory board members were presented the final proposal at a May 18 meeting. Christie Betancourt, interim operations manager at the agency, said the association supports allowing park owners to replace trailers, but many dilapidated, uninhabitable mobile homes need to be removed. Many, she said, don't belong to the parks' owners but to others who may not have the resources to replace them.

Planning Commission chair Mark Strain suggested those issues could be addressed through code enforcement after a property is declared conforming.
Uribe Jiminez, the stepfather of Diana Alvarez, a 9-year-old San Carlos Park girl that went missing on Sunday, wipes away tears as waits in the yard of neighbors on Monday, May 30, 2016, in San Carlos Park. Law enforcement has not allowed the family access to their home due to an ongoing investigation. (Jack Hardman/The News-Press)

By Michael Braun, The News-Press

Family members of a 9-year-old south Lee County girl missing since Sunday morning are upset with the scope of the search and said they are not being allowed to contact the girl's parents.

The search was continuing late Sunday for the 9-year-old girl missing from her mobile home park since 2 a.m.

The Lee County Sheriff's Office issued a request Sunday morning asking for the public's help locating Diana Alvares. Later on Sunday the Florida Department of Law Enforcement also issued a missing child alert on Alvares.

On Monday morning, LCSO issued a statement saying no new information was available and deputies and searchers continue to investigate for clues and information. What is known as of Monday at 10:40 a.m. is the fact Alvares did not have any electronic devices with her, nor did she participate in social media sites according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office Digital Forensics Unit.

Nancy Martinez said her cousin Uribe Jiminez was married to the girl's mother, Rita Alvares.

The girl's biological father is not in the picture and Martinez said he is out of the country. "We've exhausted that option," she said of a possible abduction by the biological father.

Diana Alvarez is Hispanic, 4 feet, 4 inches, 95 pounds, with dark hair, brown eyes, and has two scars on one of her legs. She just celebrated her 9th birthday less than two weeks ago on May 17.

She was last seen wearing a unknown color shirt, blue bottoms, unknown shoes, and may be carrying a green blanket with flower print.

She was last seen at 2 a.m. at her residence, 3540 Unique Circle at the Sheltering Pines mobile home park, in the San Carlos Park area of south Lee County.

About a dozen of the manufactured homes were behind crime scene tape that cut off an entire section of Unique Circle.

Detectives with the Lee County Sheriff's Office at the scene declined to comment about the progress of the case. A K-9 search team was seen earlier in the day and around 10:30 p.m. Sunday a sheriff's officer helicopter was circling the community placing a spotlight in an area behind and west of the missing girl's home.

Shortly after 11:25 p.m. two tow trucks rolled up and through the crime scene tape, proceeding to the home of the missing girl. The trucks loaded and carried off a black sedan and a tan pickup.

Shortly thereafter a deputy removed crime scene tape, said the case was ongoing and left the scene. A cruiser remained at the girl's home, which remained cordoned off by crime tape.

Martinez returned to the development around 10 p.m. Sunday and talked with a deputy. She and about a dozen other family members were not allowed to go past the crime scene tape or to contact the girl's parents, she said.

"We are not being told why they are holding the parents," she said. She has not even been allowed to make phone contact, she said..

Martinez said Diana Alvarez was last seen by a sister when the sister went to the bathroom Sunday morning.

"She's 9, she wouldn't leave her bed at 2 a.m.," she said.

No search was allowed as well, Martinez said, because of sheriff's office "procedure," she said she was told.

'We have 80 people willing to search, we just have to call them," she said.

Additionally, she said, the sheriff's office told her that an Amber Alert is not warranted in this case because the little girl does not meet the qualifications.

Specifically, Martinez said, she said she was told that the Amber Alert was not issued because a car was not involved and it was not known if the girl was in danger.

Absent the search, Martinez said family members have distributed fliers from Fort Myers to Naples.

Scott Behrenwald's girlfriend and her mother live in one of the homes near the crime scene and he was sitting with friends in a home inside the cordoned off area.

"The search this morning was done just by us," he said. "I got here about 8:30 and saw all the cop cars around. We went walking around. Some of us went out and knocked on doors."

He added that deputies went around checking on homes where nobody was home.

Behrenwald said his girlfriend's kids play with the little girl all the time.

"She's a little sweet girl," he said of Alvarez. "I see her all the time."

Fliers with the girl's photos have been distributed around the south Lee County community where the mobile home park is located, off U.S. 41 near Sanibel Boulevard.

Lynda Van Bibber came to the crime scene around 9:30 p.m. after she said a family member called her.

"The family asked for a few people to come out but I want to talk to the deputies first," she said. After a few minute discussion with the deputies Van Bibber said they told her that the time was not right for a search.

"They said they were not at (that) point," she said, adding that the sheriff's office representatives told her that for a search they would call in cadets from the local safety academy.

Ryan Boone, who lives with his wife Kassie and their 4-year-old son at the front of the community about a half-block from the crime scene, said a deputy came to their home early Sunday and asked about the little girl.

"They searched my garage," he said.

Boone, who said he remembers seeing the little girl walking around from time to time, said the deputy issued no warning to him or told him to take any precautions.

"I want to know, have they looked at the cameras at Walgreens," he asked. "That's the only way they can see someone coming and going here."

He said he hasn't heard anything about what happened.

"I dealt with it this morning and then we went fishing," he said. "And it's still going on. It's still kind of scary."

Boone said it worries him that there's no information being released.

"If it was an abduction it could have been us," he said. "I hope they find her."

Anyone with information about the girl should contact the Lee County Sheriff's Office by calling 239-477-1000 or 911.
Caleb Fisher, 3, takes advantage of an opportunity to meet Thomas the Tank Engine during the Family Fun Expo at Germain Arena on Sunday. (Jack Hardman/The Fort Myers News-Press)

SHARE Luiz Garza, 5, performs an experiment with Glen Beitman, the Wild Wizard, during a show at the Family Fun Expo at Germain Arena on Sunday. (Jack Hardman/The Fort Myers News-Press) Ava Shepherd, 4, brushes up on her coloring skills while creating artwork during the Family Fun Expo at Germain Arena on Sunday. (Jack Hardman/The Fort Myers News-Press) Glen Beitmen, of the SimpLEE Science program dumps man-made snow on members of the audience during a show at the Family Fun Expo at Germain Arena on Sunday. (Jack Hardman/The Fort Myers News-Press) Caleb Fisher, 3, of Port Charlotte, Cameron Tindall, 2, and Nate Tindall, 5, of Cape Coral attend the Thomas the Tank Engine stage show during the Family Fun Expo at Germain Arena on Sunday. (Jack Hardman/The Fort Myers News-Press)

By Ashley Collins, ashley.collins@naplesnews.com

Kade Washburn wore his Thomas the Tank Engine T-shirt for a photo opp with the famous steam locomotive.

The toddler, along with his parents, Allison and Justin Washburn of Bonita Springs, met Thomas during a meet-and-greet  one of the many family-friendly activities offered at the 7th annual Family Fun Expo inside Germain Arena in Estero.

"He gave me a thumbs-up on our way in," Justin Washburn said of his son's response to seeing Thomas.

Thousands of people such as the Washburns packed the arena Sunday afternoon, enjoying quality time with loved ones, while engaging in activities like face painting, carnival games, watching live performances by Thomas the Tank Engine and rock climbing.

Tracy Larson from Fort Myers couldn't help but marvel at the joy of her two grandsons, Marco Medina, 7, and Milo Medina, 4.

Marco and Milo couldn't contain their excitement after climbing the rock wall and finding their way out of an inflatable obstacle course.

"This is our second time here ... I'm a wimp, but it makes them happy, look at their smiles," Larson said, pointing at her grandsons.

They were waiting for the last performance of Thomas the Tank Engine to start.

The live singalong show was introduced at the Expo three years ago.

"(Thomas is) very popular with our local kids. It's a great show for all of them to come and enjoy as well as the vendors that are local businesses that serve families in Southwest Florida," said Kathryn Kinsey, general manager of specialty publications at the News-Press Media Group.

An estimated 60 vendors filled the arena, from the Gulf Coast Humane Society, which brought out pets for families to see, to charter schools, offering information about educational programs.

All under one roof, families played carnival games like the toilet toss and the sitting duck, and learned about summer camps, schools and health care programs.

Outside the arena, firefighters with the Estero Fire Rescue gave every child an opportunity to be a firefighter for a few minutes, and tour one of their firetrucks.

The annual event is presented by ABC-7 and Southwest Florida Parent & Child, a magazine published by the News-Press Media Group.

Kinsey said the event grows every year.

The carnival area has doubled in size since its inception two years ago.

"It's a really fun day, and it's close to the end of the school year, so it's a nice celebration of the end of the school year," Kinsey said.
FILE - In this March 14, 2016, file photo, then-Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks during a campaign rally at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach, Fla. Rubio is facing intense pressure to run for re-election to his Florida Senate seat, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell taking the lead in a campaign to get him to reconsider his plans to retire. Republicans fear that if Rubio doesn't run for a second term they could lose his seat. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

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By Ledyard King, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON  The drumbeat's getting louder for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio to run for re-election.

The senator from West Miami keeps insisting he won't seek a second term in November, but prominent Republicans are urging him to change his mind.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., issued a statement last week saying Rubio should "strongly" reconsider his decision.

Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump made the same plea on Twitter to his nearly 8.5 million followers:

"Poll data shows that @marcorubio does by far the best in holding onto his Senate seat in Florida. Important to keep the MAJORITY. Run Marco!"

The Wall Street Journal reported an outside group with ties to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is prepared to spend heavily to back Rubio should he do a U-turn and run for re-election.

"Florida is a huge financial commitment," Steven Law with the Senate Leadership Fund told the newspaper. "We felt confident about betting on Rubio back in 2010 and would do it again in a heartbeat, but right now it's hard to imagine making that same investment without him as our candidate."

Law is McConnell's former chief of staff.

As Trump's tweet suggests, Florida is one of several battleground states that will determine whether Republicans keep their Senate majority.

Rubio told reporters Thursday he hasn't changed his mind about leaving the Senate. One big reason: His close pal, Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, is among Republicans running for Rubio's seat.

"Carlos is in the race, He's a good friend. He's a good candidate. He'll be a great senator," Rubio said. "So my answer today is no different than it was 24, 48, 72 hours ago."

Rubio did provide a little wiggle room, suggesting he might have opted for another term "if the circumstances were different" and if Lopez-Cantera wasn't running. It's a point he repeated in an interview Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."

Asked by host Jake Tapper if he would run again had Lopez-Cantera not entered the race, Rubio replied: "Maybe."

Rubio would have at least a few job offers to consider if he sticks to his pledge to leave Congress when his term ends in January.

What they might be, he says he won't know for a while.

Rubio has retained Washington uber-lawyer Bob Barnett to handle inquiries. Barnett, whose clients have included Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton, represented Rubio on his two book deals.

"As far as planning for post-Senate life, if someone has something interesting, talk to Bob about it," Rubio said. "I'll let him handle it for now so I don't have to worry about that. At the appropriate time, I'll begin to focus on that. He's cataloging opportunities that may or may not exist."

Rubio said he is trying to be careful not to run afoul of ethics rules. There are prohibitions, for example, about lawmakers negotiating with a prospective employer at the same time they may be voting on measures or involved in issues that could create a conflict of interest.

He's ruling out becoming a lobbyist or moving to New York and working "for a big bank."

Asked if he might consider a job in a Trump administration, he dismissed such an idea as "premature."

other capitol hill news: Transgender fight kills everglades bill

A dispute over gay rights led the House on Thursday to kill a spending bill that would have provided more than $100 million for Everglades restoration and water quality improvements for Florida.

The fiscal 2017 Energy and Water Appropriations is usually a routine measure, and disputes tend to center on funding levels for programs and projects. But floor amendments added to the bill this week divided lawmakers along cultural lines.

A GOP amendment aimed at protecting religious freedom would have barred the Obama administration from denying federal aid to North Carolina over its controversial law requiring transgender individuals to use bathrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates. And a Democratic amendment would have protected federal workers from being fired on the basis of sexual discrimination or gender identity.

Both passed. And that meant the bill became too controversial for many members on both sides. It was soundly defeated 305-112 with a majority of both parties voting against it.

Rep. Curt Clawson, a Bonita Springs Republican who voted for the GOP amendment but not the Democratic one, was frustrated.

"It's sad that a bill that would have helped Florida  got derailed by political theater on the floor, in the last minute, on a sensitive topic that deserves a substantive debate," he said.
Runners being the inaugural SNIP Collier Memorial Day 5K Race and Walk on Memorial Day, Monday May 30, 2016, in North Naples. (Alexandra Glorioso/Staff)

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By Alexandra Glorioso, alexandra.glorioso@naplesnews.com

About 350 people showed up early on Memorial Day to the parking lot next to The Crust restaurant in North Naples to run in support of spaying and neutering dogs in Collier County.

As the runners stretched and jumped in preparation for their 8 a.m. start time, Jill Delie, board member of the organization for which they were raising money  SNIP  explained that the people whose animals needed the treatment likely wouldn't be present at the event, which required a $28 donation.

"SNIP spays and neuters animals in low-income areas where people can't afford to do it themselves," she said.

Delie said the organization spends about $100 per pup and has treated 100 this year and 170 last year, its first in operation.

The goal is to reduce the numbers dogs that have to be euthanized in Collier County, and the group is making progress, Delie said.

"County numbers were cut in half last year," she said.

The runners began at Pelican Ridge Boulevard, which winds out from the restaurant and heads south. They ran throughout the neighborhood and back to Crust, on Trail Boulevard.

Betty Lou Tucker, 78, said she's been running with Gulf Coast Runners since first moving to Naples from Maryland 28 years ago. She doesn't have a dog but likes to support the club and see her friends.

"I don't run as fast as I used to, but it's still fun," she said.

Dernado Segura and his wife, Claudia, stood on the sidelines, looking at a map on an iPhone to identify the route their daughter would take during the race. The Seguras, of Naples, own a 14-year-old bichon frise that they said was neutered.

"Stray dogs aren't a big problem here because," Claudia Segura paused and leaned in, "people take care of their dogs. But, if you go to other countries, it's a big, big problem," she said.

Mitch Norgart, president of the Gulf Coast Runners, said The Crust donated the space for the event. The running group has existed for 40 years, he said.
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Ed Frick, Naples

A rubber band?

Please refer to Wayne Fuller's recent letter, "Two topics," which appeared in the Naples Daily News.

He clearly stated when he referred to Hillary Clinton: "She could not even handle the Benghazi, Libya, attack properly."

What is his interpretation of the word "properly?"

Also appearing in the Naples Daily News was an Associated Press story which quoted retired Army Lt. Gen. Dana Chapman, who had served as chief counsel for Republicans on the House Benghazi panel. Chapman said the military had acted properly on Benghazi.

The Republican-led House committee investigating Benghazi has been operating for more than two years, costing the taxpayers millions of dollars with no discernible results. Could this be called "transparency?"

It is my personal opinion that the letter writer took the rubber band of partisanship and stretched it to such an extent, it qualifies for mention in the book, "Guinness World Records."

What eludes me is the rationale motivating an intensified investigation of four deaths when literally tens of thousands of civilian lives are lost each year to guns.
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Jeannie Economos, Apopka

Farmworker Association of Florida

Avoidable fatality

A man died in what should have been an avoidable death.

The Daily News reported that a Haitian farmworker working in the tomato fields outside of Immokalee succumbed, after a day working in the heat and after having complained of feeling ill.

His co-workers and the contractor weren't alert to the dangers. By the time the bus arrived back to town, he was dead. A life was lost  needlessly.

Tragically, this is an example of how heat stress and heat exposure can cause serious illness and even death. Though rare in Florida, this isn't the first such death, and sadly, it is not likely to be the last.

With warming temperatures and longer growing seasons, farmworkers are going to be ever more at risk for heat exposure and heat exhaustion. For this reason, the Farmworker Association of Florida (FWAF) is partnering with Emory University to do a four-year study of the effects of heat stress on the health of the state's farmworkers.

It's in its second year of data collection. One finding already apparent is that many farmworkers start their day already dehydrated, before they even go into the fields. The next step is to train farmworkers and supervisors about the risks of heat stress.

FWAF has incorporated heat stress into all of its health and safety trainings for farmworkers. But that isn't enough. Florida needs to step up to the plate. California has regulations in place to protect agricultural workers from the effects of exposure to heat and the sun.

Where are our state legislators on this issue? For those who harvest our food so the rest of us can eat, it cannot be addressed soon enough.

For Jean Francais Alcime, it is already too late.
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Georges Pardo, Naples

Slog through science

True to form, letter writer Alan Keller had to refute my letter concerning global warming.

If he likes to "slog" through climate science, I recommend he look at a fairly recent study on the subject of sea level rise by Jevrejeva et al, 2014, available through the "Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL)" site, and if possible, plot the data himself.

I agree with Keller  I was partially right. This study shows that sea level was going down at the rate 1.7 millimeter per year from 1807 AD (the beginning of the data) until 1860. At that point it abruptly reversed and started going up at an average rate of 1.9 millimeter per year until 2014. I repeat, in 1860, there were no cars nor power plants  so what made the sea level reverse course?

Since that time, although much carbon has been added to the atmosphere, the average sea level rise rate has remained amazingly constant (with some periods slightly faster or slower) considering that sea level can vary as much as 500 millimeters from one month to the next. There is no indication of a significant recent acceleration.

Yes, I know that many theories have been advanced concerning global temperature changes, including some silly ones, like dinosaur flatulence to explain the warm Mesozoic period.

But assume there was an increase in the rate of continental drifting, with the accompanying submarine volcanism along the mid-oceanic rifts, wouldn't it expose the bottom of the oceans to an increasing amount of hot mantle rock? Darn it, more science to "slog" through.
Seasonable temperatures peaking in the low 90s can be anticipated in Southwest Florida on Memorial Day with the opportunity for some scattered afternoon storms. (NBC2)

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By NBC2

Seasonable temperatures peaking in the low 90s can be anticipated in Southwest Florida on Memorial Day with the opportunity for some scattered afternoon storms.

Conditions should remain dry and warm through the first half of the day Monday. Temperatures will rapidly push into the low 90s after lunchtime, peaking near 91 in Fort Myers, 90 at Naples and 92 toward Immokalee and Ave Maria.

Rain coverage will increase in the second half of the afternoon as scattered thunderstorms develop. It's important to remember the weather on Monday will be quite typical of rainy season in South Florida. That means that though not every backyard in the area will see rain, the chance for thunderstorms will remain a possibility through the early evening.
Tammy Garrett: Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award finalist Meet Tammy Garrett and her cause, Rapahope Children's Retreat Foundation. Tammy is one of four finalists chosen for the Betty Jane France Humanitarian award for her dedication to helping children.
NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Elmar Mammadyarov on Wednesday 1 June 2016.

On Tuesday 31 May, the Azeri Foreign Minister will address the North Atlantic Council.

There will be no media opportunity.

Still images of the events will be available on the NATO website after the event.

Follow us on Twitter (@NATOPress and @jensstoltenberg)
Did Folta lie to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives?

Documented liar?

Gaming the system

Loopholes and semantics

(NaturalNews)(Story republished from GMwatch.org .)After a recent New York Times article took Kevin Folta's cozy relationship with the biotech industry mainstream, his would-be apologists sprang into action.Grist's Nathanael Johnson, for whose work on GM Folta has been an important source, condensed the whole controversy into a single question: "Are scientists who collaborate with industry tainted?" But intentionally or otherwise, Johnson's headline misses the heart of the controversy.Yes, corporate funding of scientists working at public institutions is a major concern. But what has really stoked the Folta affair is not his close relationship with Monsanto, but the perception that Folta has not been honest about it.?Kevin Folta says he got his $25,000 grant from Monsanto in August 2014. On 6 October 2014 he addressed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives' Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee. This was in the run-up to a debate that was scheduled over a bill requiring the mandatory labelling of GM foods  something Folta strongly opposes.?As always, Folta was keen to emphasize to the Committee his credentials as an "independent scientist", and in particular, his complete independence from the biotech industry. He explained to them how he met all the time with anti-GM activists, adding, "They all ask how much do you get from Monsanto ? And the answer is zero."The slide that Folta was showing, while he was telling the Pennsylvania legislators he never had a dime from Monsanto, was headed "Outreach program". And that's exactly where Folta now says the Monsanto money went. And it went there, don't forget, two months before he made that declaration in Pennsylvania.And this was no one-off. Nearly a year after he got the Monsanto money, Folta was still publicly proclaiming: "I have nothing to do with Monsanto."One of the first to accuse Folta of lying was the complex systems scientist Joe Norman. Norman has questioned the honesty of a number of Folta's statements, including Folta's assertion on Twitter that he was always against the withdrawal of published research by the French scientist Gilles-Eric Seralini that showed toxic effects from GM maize and tiny amounts of Roundup. "I always said it should not have been retracted," Folta declared.But Norman points out that prior to making this claim, Folta had actually written to the journal that retracted Seralini's paper to tell them, "I firmly stand behind the journal's decision to retract the work." Later in the same letter, Folta again emphasized his whole-hearted approval of the journal's withdrawal of the paper: "I fully support retraction." And in case that left any room for doubt, he signed off his letter by saying, "Best wishes and I fully support a journal-initiated retraction".?One can only assume that Folta later decided it would play better if he posed as one of those who opposed the campaign to suppress the paper  just as it played better for him to appear to have "nothing to do with Monsanto."?Some Folta defenders, including his University superiors, still insist that he has done nothing wrong. In a piece for Forbes, David Kroll tells us that after talking to Folta's boss, Jack Payne, and through him the General Counsel of the University of Florida, he concluded that, "Folta has followed institutional conflict of interest reporting to the letter."?Nathanael Johnson gives Folta's take on the controversy: "His real error, he said, was failing to see that public perception mattered." But emails newly released by the New York Times seem to show something very different  that Folta was all too aware that such perceptions matter and was actively gaming the system.?Among the documents released is Kevin Folta's actual pitch to Monsanto for the $25,000 in funding for his biotech outreach programme. And at the bottom of this (p.104) he outlines exactly how the Monsanto money should be handled in order for it not to qualify as a "conflict of interest". Doing it in this way, he explains to Monsanto, it is "not publicly noted".Kroll's article quotes Folta's description of himself as "the naive scientist"  an innocent who has unexpectedly fallen foul of public perceptions. But Folta's pitch to Monsanto makes clear he knew that what he was doing with Monsanto's money would avoid it coming to wider public attention  and indeed it probably never would have if it weren't for the Freedom of Information Act.While journalists like David Kroll seem anxious to excuse Kevin Folta's behaviour, it's not just the two-time Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Eric Lipton of the New York Times who has raised questions about it.One of those who has tried to hold Folta to account on social media has been the science writer Emily Jane Willingham. Although Willingham's own coverage of the GMO issue suggests she is far from sympathetic to the technology's critics, in Twitter exchanges she has warned Folta that he is now a "poster boy" for the need for greater transparency about conflicts of interest. She describes his attempts to justify his behaviour as "contortions and rationalization" and "absolution by semantics". She also told him, "You seem to be seeking some kind of loophole for yourself instead of owning the ethics here." And when Folta asserted, "I did nothing wrong, said nothing false. I acted as all experts in science act", Willingham responded, "This assertion disturbs me. For the record, this is *not* how all 'experts in science' act. Good Lord."In his tussles with Willingham and others on social media, Folta is invariably supported by a devoted phalanx of followers who proclaim his innocence of all charges and often belligerently challenge his critics. And it is to Folta's questionable use of social media that we will turn next in this series.Read more at GMwatch.org
Does Planned Parenthood have an office in the Islamic State?

Obama  an abortion extremist

(NaturalNews) It looks as though the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is taking a page out of the Planned Parenthood playbook when it comes to violating the sanctity of life.As reported by, documents seized from ISIS in eastern Syria by U.S. forces last year, include fatwa Islamic religious rulings on a range of issues, including rape and the harvesting of organs.The papers, which were obtained during an operation in which Islamic State financial officer Abu Sayyaf was killed and his wife captured, "were among seven terabytes of data picked up from computer hard drives, CDs, DVDs and papers" INN reported, citing Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the U.S.-led military coalition that is battling [ sort of ] ISIS.INN reported that McGurk shared a number of the documents with. They included religious rulings by the Islamic State's Research and Fatwa Committee that answers directly to the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.In particular, "Fatwa Number 64," dated Jan. 29, 2015, provides guidance regarding rape, and lays out when ISIS fighters can and cannot rape females that are captured and enslaved.Another order, "Fatwa Number 68," also dating back to January 2015, gives ISIS fighters and others affiliated with the group authority to harvest the organs of a living captive, in order to save the life of a Muslim  even if the captive dies during the harvesting.Sound familiar?"The apostate's life and organs don't have to be respected and may be taken with impunity," reads the fatwa. "Organs that end the captive's life if removed: The removal of that type is also not prohibited."An "apostate," in the view of ISIS , is someone who has either renounced Islam or has never pledged to become a follower. Fatwa Number 68 does not define "apostate," INN reported, but in the past, ISIS fighters have tortured and murdered non-Muslims as well as Shi'ite Muslims, and even some Sunnis who did not conform to ISIS views.Thefurther reported:"The ruling justifies the organ harvesting by citing cannibalism it says earlier Islamic scholars allowed, saying, 'A group of Islamic scholars have permitted, if necessary, one to kill the apostate in order to eat his flesh, which is part of benefiting from his body.'"It cited Islamic texts and laws that support 'the notion that transplanting healthy organs into a Muslim person's body in order to save the latter's life or replace a damaged organ with it is permissible.'"It wasn't clear whether ISIS officials had acted on the fatwa authorizing the harvesting of organs and body parts, but some in Iraq have accused the Islamic State of harvesting and then trafficking human organs.Last year, an organization known as the Center for Medical Progress began releasing a series of undercover investigative reports which clearly portrayed Planned Parenthood officials at various stages of negotiating the sale of harvested baby body parts. Liberals and the Obama administration immediately jumped to Planned Parenthood's defense, essentially denying what was plainly occurring in the videos. In recent days, President Obama shed a tear while talking about the horrific murder of children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, while introducing new executive actions on guns.CMP simultaneously took him to task for his failure to shed any tears forwho were killed and their organs sold for profit, while praising Congress for passing legislation de-funding Planned Parenthood (which gets $500 million annually in tax money)."[Recently] President Obama wiped tears from his eyes saying: 'Every time I think about those kids, it gets me mad.' Mr. President, show the same outrage and compassion for the kids who are killed and harvested for body parts at Planned Parenthood , and parted out and sold across the country like used cars," CMP said in a statement."The hypocrisy and callousness of this out-of-touch administration will be on full display if after today, President Obama refuses to listen to the will of the American people and reassign taxpayer money from Planned Parenthood's barbaric abortion and baby parts business to mainstream, full-spectrum health care providers."And by the way, Obama's record of opposing any limitations on abortion  including the horrific procedure known as partial birth abortion  is well-documented
What is fracking?

Health impacts

(NaturalNews) The controversial practice of fracking has now been proven to increase the risk of lung and heart disease in children, as reported by. Researchers already believe that it leaves American rivers tainted with a toxic cocktail of radium and lead, but this latest study  published in the journal reveals how air pollution from fracking is actually putting our lungs, hearts and immune systems at risk.Children and infants are most at risk, and health problems associated with air pollution from fracking begin in the womb, where a child's developing respiratory system is particularly fragile, and at risk from the five airborne pollutants that are a result of fracking and drilling.According to the BBC, fracking is the process of drilling down into the earth before forcing a mixture of water, sand and chemicals into the rock at extremely high pressure. This then allows the gas to flow out into the head of a well. The process can be carried out either vertically or horizontally to create new pathways or extend existing ones which release gas.Fracking uses huge amounts of water, and there are worries that the process itself could lead to small earth tremors. But as well as these major concerns, activists are also campaigning against the process because it uses potentially carcinogenic chemicals that may escape and contaminate groundwater around the fracking site.Fracking is tainting farmland, drinking water and generally terrorizing the environment  as well as having some very serious health impacts on people who are exposed to the chemicals in the injection fluid.The newly published, peer-reviewed study concludes that the air pollution caused by fracking puts the health of people and young children at serious risk. This is the first study of its kind to focus entirely on the impacts that fracking has on the ability of children to breathe.The researchers concluded "that exposure to ozone, silica dust, benzene, and formaldehyde is linked to adverse respiratory health effects, particularly in infants and children." These pollutants become airborne as a result of fracking, and affect people living in the vicinity of the plant.The researchers note: "While the rapid growth of this industry was undertaken without substantial public health research, there are now numerous publications clarifying health risks and, increasingly, health outcomes." As reported by, since 2013 there have been more than 560 peer-reviewed studies on the impacts of fracking, and the risks have become much more widely understood. There is definitely huge reason to be concerned.The study recommends a minimum one mile radius be maintained around occupied dwellings such as schools, hospitals and homes  keeping fracking at a reasonable distance from children and infants. Generally, however, across the U.S. this buffer zone is not maintained, and there are no federal regulations requiring the industry to track the proximity of fracking plants to children.In Pennsylvania for example, there are more than 53,000 children under 10 living or attending school within one mile of a permitted fracking well. And it's not just a problem for the East Coast  according to, there are 32 schools within just 1,000 feet of fracked wells in four northern Colorado counties.The researchers state: "People really near unconventional oil and gas and fracking sites and those who work in the fracking industry have the right to know the chemicals that are being used that may pose health threats, especially to vulnerable populations like women and children."
Are they influenza vaccines or toxic vaccines that spread viruses?

Is it global warming or global COOLING?

(NaturalNews) The slogans for depopulation agendas are always the complete opposite of their true intentions. Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are how we will "save the world" from starvation, drought, blight and pests. Vaccines are "safe" and "effective" and are most useful when administered to the entire "herd." Global warming is all our fault  the humans  who have polluted the earth so bad we destroyed the ozone layer, trapped all the dangerous gasses and "raised the overall temperature" of the entire planet, all inside of 100 years.When in fact, what "we've done" (we being the corporations that create chemicals for agriculture, food, medicine and personal care products) is "we've" poisoned conventional food with bugkiller and weedkiller  from the inside out, and from the outside in. We've bred dangerous foreign bacteria into the seeds of our crops, and their DNA is corrupted with pesticide-making genes, the same genes that mix with human DNA and corrupt and dismantle entire systems, including digestion, cell reproduction and immunity. The corporate slogans say the opposite of what they do. Vaccinations claimed to virtually end infectious disease epidemics and pandemics, all during a time when all of those diseases were all but eliminated byin medical establishments.Just check the real graphs and statistics that haven't been modified by the corporations that push toxins. Plus, during the first few weeks after receiving a vaccine, the vaccinated person is very contagious  able to spread or "shed" the very virus they were "inoculated" against. And global warming is a very fervently defended belief that is pushed onto the masses like some new world religion, even though die-hard statistics show Earth is in the beginning of a long-term cooling trend.Global warming is purported, distorted and shoved down our throats so the masses in general will go along with the concept that population reduction is a good thing, and that Bill Gates and Merck are only making and pushing vaccines to prevent the spread of infectious diseases because they care SO much about all those starving, sickened, third+world countries that we also feed toxic GMOs. Let's take a close, inside look atandand insidious agendas of biotech (chem-ag), Big Pharma, the vaccine industry and the globalists.The companies that manufacture and breed GMOs in laboratories spend millions of dollars to keep them from being labeled (such as). If GMOs can save a starving world, prevent drought and improve nutrition, why wouldn't those companies and corporations WANT a GMO label on everything that contains GMOs?Here's why: Because eating pesticides leads to cancer and dementia. Because carcinogenic pesticides remain in the soil and kill nutrition for years and years and years.and GM corn have both been implicated in causing horrific cancer tumors in animals. What more proof do you need than this? GM pesticides and toxic herbicides cause chronic kidney and liver damage. Are you on the organ transplant waiting list yet?The warning PRINTED on flu shot insert says vaccines. Mandatory mass vaccination for sterilization is underway in the state of California, where the government saysmust be vaccinated with ALL CDC recommended vaccines or else. This includes the MMR vaccine (that causes autism) and highly controversial HPV. In actuality, the flu shot only helps 1.5 people out of 100. That's a very sad statistic for something termed "medicine."In fact, regarding the spread of viruses and infectious disease, it was thought for years, and still is by many today, that Dr. Jonas Salk, the "God" of cult pharmacology, invented the polio vaccine, but in actuality, he really did nothing more than conduct illegal medical experiments on mental patients, and now his whole history has come into question regarding bioethics in general. In fact, Dr. Salk had nothing to do with the decline in mortality from infectious diseases whatsoever, including polio. TruthWiki.org has the whole story. So does VAXXED  the biggest whistle-blowing medical documentary ever released (and it just began showing at film festivals April 1, 2016).This one is hard to swallow, but it's true. Global warming is a depopulation scheme meant to convince the masses that we need fewer people on Earth in order for the "rest of us" to survive. The Globalists, the Elitists and Hitler  all have one thing in common for sure... they want (or wanted) to get rid of everyone who is not eitheror aHere's thefor the last century, from 1915 to 2015. Thefrom 53.3 to 53.1 degrees Fahrenheit (that's two-tenths of 1 degree).Still, all the climate change alarmists want to enslave humanity and kill the rest of us, but always for the "greater good!" Absolutely, we all need to reduce pollution and our carbon footprint, and we all need to try to eliminate toxic pesticides from agriculture, and we all need to stop injecting mercury, formaldehyde, MSG and aluminum into our muscle tissue in the name of, but let's not get crazy and perpetuate propaganda created by Hitler and his mad scientists 75 years ago.
Prohibition profits

Lobbying for profiteers

Majority of Americans now support legalization

(NaturalNews) As California prepares to vote on marijuana legalization in November, police and prison guard groups are uniting in an attempt to defeat the initiative so that they won't lose the enormous amount of income generated from cannabis prohibition.These groups account for around half of the money being raised to fight the passing of the measure  an indication of just how seriously legalization threatens those who profit from arresting and incarcerating marijuana offenders. The war on drugs has proven to be a complete failure on the societal level, but continues to be extremely profitable for law enforcement agencies and the prison system.From"Drug war money has become a notable source of funding for law enforcement interests. Huge government grants and asset-seizure windfalls benefit police departments, while the constant supply of prisoners keeps the prison business booming. ..."Police receive federal grants from the Justice Department to help fund drug enforcement efforts, including specific funding to focus on marijuana."Asset forfeiture is another way law enforcement agencies have come to rely on marijuana as a funding source. Police departments, through a process known as asset forfeiture, seize cash and property associated with drug busts, including raids relating to marijuana. The proceeds from the seizures are often distributed to law enforcement agencies. From 2002 to 2012, California agencies reaped $181.4 million from marijuana-related asset seizures."In the first three months of this year, John Lovell, a lobbyist for California police chiefs and prison guard supervisors, raised $60,000 for the Coalition for Responsible Drug Policies  a committee he created to defeat the marijuana initiative.Much of the money raised came from groups such as the California Police Chiefs Association, the Riverside Sheriffs' Association and the California Correctional Supervisors' Organization.The efforts of law enforcement lobbyists have helped defeat marijuana initiatives in other states:"California is only the latest state in which law enforcement unions have led the opposition to ending marijuana prohibition across the country in recent years. During the 2014 election, Florida law enforcement officials successfully campaigned against a medical marijuana ballot measure by arguing that the initiative would promote a range of problems, from teenage use of the drug to respiratory disease."Anti-legalization lobbyist Lovell was involved in a successful campaign to defeat a 2010 California marijuana initiative, but this time the results may be different:"Supporters of legalization have already raised more than $2.25 million for the campaign  40 times what opponents have  and recently secured a number of high-profile endorsements, including Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif. and the California Medical Association. Polls show Californians are even more in support of legalization this time around, with around 60 percent of likely voters claiming they will back the measure."More than half of Americans now support marijuana legalization, and as more states pass medical and recreational cannabis initiatives, the public is able to see the benefits of such laws.States such as Colorado and Washington, where recreational cannabis sales are legal, have shown that legalization creates huge amounts of tax revenues  and without any of the dire results predicted by the opposition.In Colorado and Washington, violent crime rates have dropped and, instead of spending money prosecuting marijuana offenders, the states receive millions in extra tax revenues and fees. Tourism is up, employment is up and crime is down. Teen marijuana use has not risen; in fact, rates have dropped slightly in both states.Legalization of marijuana has clearly been a success there, and the majority of Americans support the ending of cannabis prohibition nationally.It seems the only people now standing in the way of legalization are the drug war profiteers in law enforcement and the prison industry.
The experiment

Dangers of glyphosate

Monsanto's government ties

(NaturalNews) In a bid to show the public that there is no reason to be concerned about exposure to popular herbicide glyphosate  produced by Big Agri Giant Monsanto  Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) volunteered to take a urine test to see if glyphosate was in their systems. As reported by, 48 MEPs from 13 different European Union countries participated in the test to see if they had been exposed to the cancer-linked weedkiller  and now the results are in.According to the test results from the accredited Biocheck Laboratory in Germany, "all participants excreted glyphosate by urine." That's right  every single one.Spearheaded by the Green Party in the European Parliament  who are hoping for a ban on the toxic herbicide across the EU  the experiment found that on average the MEPs each had 1.7 micrograms/liter of glyphosate in their urine  which is 17 times higher than that found in European drinking water (on average 0.1 microgram/liter).This shows that glyphosate is entering our bodies not only from drinking water, but from the food chain  as everyone tested was way above the limit for residues of pesticides in drinking water, asnoted. The report states that: "All investigated EU-parliament members were glyphosate contaminated. This will show glyphosate is also in the food chain of members of the EU-parliament."According to the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer, glyphosate is a "probable carcinogen"  linked to serious health impacts. As reported by, glyphosate is an endocrine disruptor, and has been linked with various health risks  including cancer, miscarriages and disruption of human sex hormones.Glyphosate is a compound contained in commonly-use herbicide Roundup , which is produced by Monsanto. Monsanto has long been known to have some pretty weighty government ties , including to the Obama Administration.In fact, according to, the U.S. is "rapidly devolving into what can only be described as a Monsanto Nation. ... Since day one, the Obama Administration has mouthed biotech propaganda, claiming, with no scientific justification whatsoever, that biotech crops can feed the world and enable farmers to increase production in the new era of climate change and extreme weather."Obama's Administration has reportedly become a "revolving door" for Monsanto operatives  including the USDA Secretary, pro-biotech former governor of Iowa, Tom Vilsack. Meanwhile, Michael Taylor, former Monsanto Vice President, is now the FDA Deputy Commissioner for Foods.The findings of the EU experiment show that governments are not doing enough to protect people from exposure to glyphosate  and are taking no measures to prevent the health risks that develop over time. The fact that the average MEP was found with glyphosate levels in their urine that were 17 times higher than that in European drinking water, is certainly cause for concern and alarm.Yet, according to, despite fierce opposition from European Parliament, the EU Commission plans to relicense glyphosate for another nine years. The Green Party have said that they are "p****d off that our governments want to allow this poison for another nine years! No politician should have this in his or her body, and not a single citizen either!"Meanwhile, the U.S. government continues to allow glyphosate to be used in public spaces, for agriculture and even in your back yard.
On May 27, severe thunderstorms with tornadoes are expected to strike again in Plains states.

According to the latest report from the Weather, there will be more strong winds, damaging tornadoes, very large hail, and even flash flooding.

In a report from ABC, a tornado has already struck a state prison in Southeast Texas, and has created more damage including the roof on a pair of watchtowers.

According to a prison system spokesman, the tornado struck the Pack Unit in Navasota, about 65 miles northwest of Houston, at 4 P.M. on Thursday. He added that all staff members and 1,200 inmates have been accounted for.

For about three and a half hours earlier, a tornado hit the Bryan-College Station area, leaving severe roof damage to some homes and down trees, but no injuries reports.

On May 26, Thursday afternoon, there damages reported caused by a possible tornado near Bryan, Texas. Later, a tornado reported in Wamego, Kansas, and property damage was the result of downed trees.

A thunderstorm that hit Kansas City, Missouri, in the same day had a confirmed tornado associated. There were reports that the Kansas City International Airport had to be evacuated due to the incoming severe weather, and the stranded travelers were instructed to move into the garage.

In a previous report, there were 20 homes damaged, one person confirmed dead after a car swept off a road in central Oklahoma. Previously, Chad Omitt, a meteorologist, reported that the tornado formed after 7:00 P.M. near the Ottawa County Community of Niles, which stayed on the ground for about one hour and a half.

Meanwhile, in Northern Kansas, a portion of Dickinson County has 20 damaged homes. Dickinson County Emergency Management Director Chancy Smith described the situation in the county as "chaos."

Smith told CBS that there were four or five people who suffered minor injuries.
President Barack Obama visited Japan to pay respect in Hiroshima on Friday, and he is the first American president who paid tribute since the bombing.

Obama's visit to Japan marked history and caught the attention of people around the world because the two nations' leaders have dealt with the aftermath of Hiroshima bombing.

One of the survivors of the devastating bombing is Tamiko Shiraishi, a 77-year-old woman. She finds the decision of U.S. to drop atomic bomb on the city as a last attempt to push Japan to surrender. For her, it became a way to end a prolonged battle.

"Had Japan surrendered a little sooner, America wouldn't have had to drop the bomb - Japan kept fighting, even though it knew it was destined to lose. It even lied to its citizens and told them their country was doing well," Shiraishi, told Japan Times

When she was asked by JT whether she thinks the bombing played a big role to end the war, she said "yes."

Yoshiko Kajimoto, now 85, is also a survivor of atomic bombing. She was a 14-year-old schoolgirl way back in 1945. Kajimoto was working at an aircraft parts factory just near her home in Hiroshima when the bomb struck.

"I saw a very bright blue light go across the window of the building. I went underneath the machine and covered my eyes and ears," Kajimoto said in a report by ABC.

"For a moment I imagined my family's faces and thought I would die there," she added

Although some of the survivors seem moved on from the tragic, there were protesters marched through the streets of Tokyo ahead Obama's visit. Japanese protesters gathered in front of Hiroshima Peace Memorial, and they carried a banner with the slogan that reads, "You're not welcome here, Obama," CCTV reports.
At the moment, space companies are working on how to transport a space crew from one celestial body to another.

Russian space rocket corporation, Energia, just announced that it is developing a spacecraft that could be capable of sending men to the moon from the International Space Station (ISS).

Energia's spacecraft is called Ryvok' or 'Charge' and the company claims it could cut the cost of transporting astronauts in space.

Roscosmos recently held the Human Space Exploration conference in Korolev near Moscow where the "Ryvok" was unveiled. Energia said that the spacecraft will be docked on the ISS permanently. It will shuttle crew and cargo to the moon and back just like a space Uber or space taxi. Once finished, this project claims to drastically cut the cost of space transport.

"The cost of the Ryvok reusable manned spacecraft mission is a third lower than the costs of the Federation manned transport spacecraft mission," said Energia's representative Yuri Makushenko in a statement during the conference, as reported by RT.

With a cheaper option, lunar missions have more chances of taking place and they can happen more often. The unveiling of the Russian reusable space shuttle coincides with the European Space Agency's (ESA) lunar missions and their proposed "moon village". With the help of this moon transport service, ESA's lunar mission might take place and they just found themselves a cheaper space service as well.

With cheaper costs and seemingly easier transport process, some reports call the Russian project as the new "space taxi."

Ryvok, the reusable space taxi, will use modernized standard accelerator block to operate and will have the capability to reach the moon from the ISS in only five days. For docking and landing, a 55 square meter "umbrella" will be used to help reduce the speed of the spacecraft.

Although Ryvok is not the only pending reusable space shuttle on the works, Energia claims that the price of their spacecraft is definitely cheaper than the other alternatives.
Facebook is attempting another milestone.

NASA announced that Mark Zuckerberg will connect with the astronauts inside the International Space Station (ISS) through Facebook Live. It will be the most anticipated Earth-to-space call today, which will be viewed live through Facebook.

The ISS is equipped with Internet connectivity enabling astronauts to work on their science, and of course, to send fascinating photos of Earth viewed from space. This will also allow Zuckerberg's attempt to call the ISS using Facebook Live possible.

Facebook's CEO and philanthropist Mark Zuckerberg will speak with astronauts,Tim Kopra, Jeff Williams and Tim Peake aboard the International Space Station on June 1 said NASA.

"The Earth-to-space call will be seen live on NASA's Facebook page" said a NASA official in a media advisory. They will talk about the questions sent by Facebook users to NASA's official Facebook page.

Currently, NASA is still accepting questions for the Facebook live session from those who are interested to know more about living in microgravity, and there is no better choice of a moderator than Mark Zuckerberg himself.

Zuckerberg has started to get involved in commercial space technology. He is part of the board of directors for Stephen Hawking's nanocraft project called "Breakthrough Starshot".

Starshot's goal is to reach the next star system, the Alpha Centauri, in the fastest possible time. Yuri Milner, the Russian billionaire and Hawking's partner in the project, said that their nanocraft, which is as small as an iPhone, can reach the edge of the solar system in a 20-year journey. Starshot will receive thrusts from a laser sail system developed by the Breakthrough Starshot's team of scientists, researchers and engineers. However, Zuckerberg's role in the project, aside from being one of the board of directors, is unclear.

The Facebook Live chat with Zuckerberg and the astronauts is a good way of encouraging the public to get involved in space science. NASA's attempt in using the social media is, by far, successful, according to a report by Mashable.

NASA has its own Facebook page with more than 15 million followers and Twitter handle with 16 million followers. The agency also recently showcased space living by using its Snapchat account inside the ISS.
A 1-year-old Antioch girl was found dead Sunday, a day after her father's body was found in a slough in Walnut Grove, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff-Coroner division.

Reports earlier Sunday from KCRA in Sacramento said rescue crews pulled a young girl's body out of a car in the water not far from where 23-year-old Kyler Jackson, of Sacramento, was found dead Saturday night.

The girl reportedly was traveling with her father to Sacramento when the pair went missing about a week ago.

Kyler Jackson's body was found in the Georgiana Slough in Walnut Grove, about 30 miles south of Sacramento, according to police. Kylee's body was found about a half-mile away. The father and daughter were last seen May 22 in Antioch.

When the pair went missing, Jackson was driving a 2002 silver Ford Taurus.

The Sacramento Police Department is working in conjunction with Antioch police on the investigation.
Following a pattern he began in earnest last month in New York by courting black voters at church, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders held a similar rally in Oakland on Memorial Day, about a week away from the California primary.

Sanders appeared at one of Oaklands most influential black churches  Allen Temple Baptist along International Boulevard  on Monday afternoon with actor Danny Glover, before heading over to Frank Ogawa Plaza at City Hall later in the day. Glover had been at the church on Sunday to celebrate the 85th birthday of church patriarch, Dr. Alfred Smith Sr.

Sanders spoke to about 200 people inside the church, stressing economic equality and more access to education.

"Most people understand that technology and the economy has changed the nature of education," Sanders said. "And we have got to make public education from tuition and public colleges and universities."

NBC Bay Area political analyst Larry Gerston said Sanders' visit shows the Democratic presidential hopeful is "trying to make connections, trying to broaden his base.

"He's saying, 'You can come with me.' I think he's trying to peel off a portion of the black votes. If he can get 20 percent instead of 5 percent, that's good," Gerston said.[[381307021, C]]

Sanders' tweets on Monday also seemed geared toward issues that are big in Oakland's black community: Making sure water isn't toxic for children as a result of fossil fuel company greed - a timely subject as the city weighs whether to allow coal shipments through the port of Oakland, as well as anti-prison, anti-racial profiling messages.

Allen Temple was founded in 1919, and was the first black church in East Oakland, the birthplace of the Black Panther Party. The church has been been behind several progressive and political campaigns, including in 2010 when the church hosted a debate for openly gay mayoral candidate Rebecca Kaplan.

Hours before Sanders attended the church's event, blacks, Asians, Latinos and whites lined up to hear him. Some held Sanders signs. Perhaps surprisingly, many were still undecided but were at the church to learn more.

"If you're a mover and a shaker in Oakland, and politically engaged then you head to Allen Temple," said Randall White, 64, a church deacon and photographer. "I'm a Bernie guy. His sensibilities with economics, income and equity, align with my own political sensibilities."

White said while many blacks across the country are throwing their weight behind Hillary Clinton - and even some for Donald Trump - "the black community is not a monolithic organization." Allen Temple as an organization can't endorse any one candidate, but White said that "a lot of people here are hooked up with the progressive community."

NBC Bay Area political analyst Larry Gerston warns that Democratic divisiveness in California may extend to the national convention and beyond.

Despite White being a "Bernie guy," many blacks across the United States like Clinton more than Sanders. In March, Politico featured a piece called Why Black Voters Dont Feel the Bern, saying that the senator from lily-white Vermont often equates being black with being poor. Politico also noted that while African-Americans vote liberal, they are not white liberals, and a far cry from the young millenials wooed by his fiery messages. Black Democrats, Politico noted, tend to be more socially conservative, pragmatic, and independent than many white politicians and pundits assume.

Visiting Allen Temple in Oakland follows an April visit - two days before the New York state primary - where Sanders spoke at a predominantly black church service in Harlem. He went to remind the congregation there that he has long worked in civil rights, and that if elected president, he would work to reform the criminal justice system, according to the New York Times.

The Vermont senator also told members of the First Corinthian Baptist Church that he learned important economic lessons from watching his parents argue over not having enough money. He also said he was moved to protest segregation as a college student because he was interested in social justice. He conjured up the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Lives Matter movement in the hopes of showing the black church his past and his philosophy.

Sanders likely isn't as popular with blacks because the Clintons have had a longer track record working on racial issues, while Sanders appears to have just appeared for a few photo ops over the years, Gerston pointed out. He added that he is not aware of any big-name Oakland politicians, black or white, who have come out to support Sanders.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has been at several past events helping Clinton, including when the former Secretary of State was in Oakland earlier this month. Curiously, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, a member of Allen Temple, has not come out to endorse any candidate yet.

"He just hasn't been very active in civil rights, voting rights," Gerston said. "It's not that he hasn't taken a leadership role on these issues. It's just that as a senator, he hasn't taken a leadership role in almost anything. Yes, his sympathies seem to be with the downtrodden, but he hasn't been an outspoken leader on those issues."

NBC Bay Area's Bob Redell and Scott Budman contributed to this report.
DENVER -- Hunter Pence had three of a record-tying eight doubles for San Francisco, and the Giants beat the Colorado Rockies 8-3 on Sunday.

Pence's double in the eighth helped the Giants equal a mark accomplished four times since the Giants moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season. Denard Span hit his first homer since April 4 as part of a 17-hit attack.

Johnny Cueto (8-1) allowed two runs - one earned - and six hits to become the first Giants pitcher to win at least eight of his first 11 starts since Shawn Estes in 1997.

The usually mild-mannered and fast-working Cueto became a little agitated in the third after Gerardo Parra called a last-second timeout. When Parra lined into an inning-ending double play, Cueto appeared to say something to Parra, with Parra glaring back. It didn't escalate.

Chris Rusin (1-3) allowed six runs and 11 hits in five innings.

Rusin moved into the starting rotation for Jorge De La Rosa, who has been sent to the bullpen. Rusin hung an 83 mph cutter to Span in the fourth, the first homer he's allowed in 41 2/3 innings dating to last season.

Pence had a big afternoon with a career-high three doubles - with each driving in a run.

Handed a lead after Cueto's solid performance, the Giants bullpen made it hold up. The only run allowed was a homer by Carlos Gonzalez in the eighth estimated to have gone 456 feet had it landed unimpeded. The day before, San Francisco's bullpen squandered a late lead before the team rallied.

It was a rather forgettable day for Parra, who had a baserunning blunder in the second. He attempted to tag up from second on a fly to center, only to be thrown out at third by Span.

That was immediately followed by Trevor Story's solo homer that cut the Giants lead to 2-1. It was Story's 14th homer this season, tying him with Nolan Arenado for the team lead.

Later, Parra got into a little spat with Cueto. Parra held his hand up for time, which was granted, and so Cueto waited. Parra did it again and Cueto threw his hands up in exasperation, before stepping off the mound and taking a stroll to cool down. He then retired Parra and appeared to say something as Parra ran down the baseline.

Cueto struck out Parra when they faced each other in the sixth. Cueto didn't make eye contact with Parra.
Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders says the California primary is the "big enchilada."

"California is very important to us; 475 candidates," he said of the June 7 vote. "If we don't do well in California, it will make our path much much harder"

Sanders will be at the Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland on Monday, along with actor Danny Glover, for a 2 p.m. rally. He'll be pushing reforms to provide free tuition for college students.

Sanders also is scheduled to hold rallies in Palo Alto, Santa Cruz and Monterey.

The public will able to catch a glimpse of Sanders on Wednesday at "A Future to Belive In" rally in Palo Alto.

Meanwhile, his opponent, Hillary Clinton, took the day off from campaigning after a tough week in which a state inspector general report said, as secretary of state, she never asked permission to use a private email server. Clinton disputes that report, and the email scandal resurfacing seems to have given Sanders a boost in the state.

"The polls show they are neck and neck," said political analyst Larry Gerston, "which shows a lot about her not being able to close the deal."
One person was killed and two were injured in a collision near Levi's Stadium late Sunday afternoon, Santa Clara police said.

A woman was pronounced dead at the scene after the car she was driving was broadsided by a pickup truck at the intersection of Tasman Drive and Lick Mill Boulevard about 5:40 p.m., according to police spokesman Lt. Dan Moreno.

The woman who died was not identified. Two occupants in the pickup were taken to a hospital and expected to survive, Moreno said.

The crash ended up on VTA light-rail tracks, and trains were unable to pass. The tracks between the Great America and Baypointe stations were temporarily shut down as a safety precaution, and the VTA provided a bus bridge for passengers. It was not known when that section of the track would reopen.

The cause of the crash is unknown and under investigation.
A convicted felon on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn baby in Los Angeles last month has been captured, according to FBI officials.

Philip Patrick Policarpio was apprehended Sunday by agents with the U.S. Customs Border Protection, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller confirmed. Policarpio was taken into custody at the San Ysidro Port of Entry as he was crossing into the United States from Tijuana, Eimiller said.

The FBI said Policarpio and his 32-year-old girlfriend, Lauren Olguin, were visiting a friend's home in the Rampart area April 12 when the crime was committed.

Policarpio had allegedly become angry and beat Olguin in the face with his fists before pulling out a handgun and shooting her in the forehead, the FBI said.

It's unclear if he knew Olguin was 17 weeks pregnant at the time.

Olguin died instantly and Policarpio went on the run, the FBI said.

Olguin mother's, Jerilyn Olguin, said she was relieved to find out her daughter's suspected killer was in custody.

"Although my daughter's gone, my biggest fear was, 'God, I hope he doesn't do this to someone else,'" Olguin said.

"I thought maybe we could be waiting for years, who knows? Maybe never," she said.

At the time of the incident, was on parole for a 2001 conviction. In that prior case, Policarpio fled to the Philippines after he was suspected of firing nine shots into another car over a dispute in Burbank in 2000. He was deported to the U.S. the following year and was convicted and sentenced to 14 years in prison. He was released on parole in May 2015.

Policarpio has ties to Las Vegas, Florida and the Philippines, where, according to investigators, the 39-year-old has family members  including multiple wives and children.

Investigators said Policarpio's aliases include Damon Hiromi Tanaka, Paul Policarpio, "Bugsy," "Sinister" and "Sins."

The FBI added Policarpio to its most wanted list earlier this month. The list has featured 508 people since it was established in 1950, leading to the arrests of 475 fugitives.

Policarpio is expected to be arraigned this week.

"My daughter's not coming back but it does like a weight's lifted, like there is some closure," Olguin said.

Jaime Bankson and Kate Larsen contributed to this report.
Even as Chicago Police beefed up patrols for Memorial Day, more than 60 people were shot during the violent three-day holiday weekend, an uptick in violence that Mayor Rahm Emanuel called "unacceptable."

By Monday evening, at least 62 people had been shot across the city since Friday afternoon, including six who were killed. That surpassed the number of people shot during last year's Memorial Day weekend. Chicago Police News Affairs said murders were down 50 percent compared to last Memorial Day.

Among the youngest shooting victims was a 15-year-old girl who was fatally shot while riding in a car with a documented gang member on Lake Shore Drive.

First Deputy Superintendent John Escalante had said the departments plan for Monday was to increase patrols in designated areas, including along Lake Shore Drive.

As weve said before, its about 1,500 people that are driving the violence, Escalente said. Those are the people were trying to concentrate on.

Chicago has been pulled into headlines nationwide as police struggle to curtail the citys growing reputation for violence. Escalante said he was confident the department could get things under control, but others were skeptical.

The police cannot stop the killings in the Chicagoland area and its not their fault, community activist Tio Hardiman told NBC 5. The community needs to organize in high numbers and work with these guys on street corners in an aggressive way.

As the city wraps up the fifth month of 2016, the Chicago Tribune reports there have already been more than 1,400 shooting victims so far this year.

Shootings across the city included the following:

FRIDAY

The first shooting of the holiday weekend occurred at just before 1 p.m. Friday, when a 52-year-old man was shot in the city's Brighton Park neighborhood, police said. Details on the shooting weren't immediately known.

At least four others were shot within an hour and a half across the city, including a 16-year-old boy who was wounded in the city's Washington Park neighborhood.

Just after 2:30 p.m., the city's first fatal shooting took place in the 6700 block of South Loomis. Two men were sitting on a porch when a gunman came out of a gangway and opened fire before fleeing the scene. A 39-year-old man was shot in the chest and taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center where he was later pronounced dead. A 26-year-old man was shot in the right leg and lower back and listed in stable condition at Holy Cross Hospital.

At 9:25 p.m. Friday, a teen boy was shot in a drive-by shooting, authorities said. Police said an 18-year-old man was standing on a front porch in the 1200 block of W Grenshaw in the University Village neighborhood when a dark car drove by and someone inside fired shots. He sustained a gunshot wound to both legs, and was taken to Stroger Hospital in stable condition, authorities said.

A 25-year-old man was the second person killed over the weekend, when he was fatally shot at 10:55 p.m. in the Ashburn neighborhood. Later identified as Mark Lindsey by the Cook County Medical Examiners office, he was sitting in a car parked in the 3700 block of W 75th Pl at 10:55 p.m. when an unknown offender approached on foot and fired shots, police said. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and body, and was taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Centr, where he was pronounced dead.

SATURDAY

Two people were shot at 1:10 a.m. in the South Deering neighborhood. A 50-year-old man was standing on the front porch of a home in the 9900 block of S Paxton when 2 men walked up and fired shots. The victim sustained a gunshot wound to the right forearm and refused medical attention at the scene. A 53-year-old woman was inside a bedroom in the home and was struck in the lower back. She was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in stable condition.

A 15-year-old girl was killed and a man in his twenties was injured in a shooting on Lake Shore Drive in Lincoln Park early Saturday. Veronica Lopez was a passenger in a car in the 2400 block of N Lake Shore Drive just before 1:30 a.m. when a black Nissan pulled alongside them and someone inside fired shots, police said. They took themselves to Presence Saint Joseph Hospital, but Lopez was later transferred to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. The man, a documented gang member and convicted felon, was shot in the arm and suffered a graze wound to the head, according to police. Hes listed in stable condition.

At 1:45 a.m., three men were standing outside in the 3300 block of W Walnut in the East Garfield Park neighborhood when someone in an unknown vehicle drove up and fired shots. A 26-year-old man was taken to Stroger hospital in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the leg, a 27-year-old man was taken to Stroger in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the thigh and a third man, 23, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in guarded condition, meaning very critical, with a gunshot wound to the back.

At 2:35 a.m., a 17-year-old boy was standing outside in the 1200 block of S Independence in the North Lawndale neighborhood when the occupant of a black SUV fired shots, striking the victim. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition with a gunshot wound to the knee, police said.

A 21-year-old man was driving in the 4300 block of N Kimball in Irving Park at 2:55 a.m., according to police, when someone fired shots. He sustained a gunshot wound to the clavicle and was taken in serious condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, according to police.

A 25-year-old man was standing outside in the 4600 block of S Honore in the Back of the Yards neighborhood at 3:13 a.m., according to police. An unknown offender fired shots, striking him in the leg, and he was taken to Stroger Hospital in stable condition, police said.

Around 4 a.m., a 24-year-old man was outside in a park in the 4600 block of W Jackson St in Austin when an unknown offender approached and fired shots, according to police. The victim, a documented gang member, was hit in the leg and taken to Stroger Hospital where he was listed in stable condition, according to police.

At 4:35 a.m., a 24-year-old man was walking in the 4300 block of W West End in the West Garfield Park neighborhood when two unknown offenders approached, produced a handgun, and opened fire, according to police. He suffered graze wounds to the arm and hand and was taken to Stroger in good condition, police said. According to authorities, he is a documented gang member.

The fourth fatal shooting of the weekend happened in a normally quiet area of the Portage Park neighborhood on the citys Northwest Side, police said. A 23-year-old man later identified by the Cook County Medical Examiners office as Damien Cionzynski of Harwood Heights was one of two men who walked into a business at 5:15 a.m. in the 6300 block of W Montrose, according to police. The men got into an altercation, at which point one produced a weapon and shot Cionzynski in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

Two men were shot in a robbery in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on Saturday, according to police. At around 3:45 p.m., the victims, both 46, were walking in the 3900 block of W Erie when three unknown male offenders approached, fired shots and stole the victims property before fleeing. One man was shot in the left leg, the other in the right ankle, according to police, and both were taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition.

A 24-year-old man was walking down the sidewalk in the 1400 block of W 99th St in the Longwood Manor neighborhood at 4:20 p.m., police said, when an unknown offender opened fire. Authorities said the victim, a documented gang member, sustained a gunshot wound to the leg and was taken in serious condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center. According to police, he was not cooperating with investigators, and a weapon was recovered from the scene of the shooting.

A 27-year-old man was fatally shot in the Fuller Park neighborhood on Saturday evening. Later identified as 27-year-old Garvin Whitmore by the Cook County Medical Examiners office, he was in the drivers seat of a car in the 200 block of W Root when someone approached on foot and fired shots, striking him in the head. A 26-year-old woman in the vehicle with him then exited the vehicle and fired shots at the offenders. She was not injured but was taken into custody and charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon without a FOID card, both felonies, according to police. Whitmore was pronounced dead on the scene.

A 19-year-old man was walking in the 8300 block of S Dante in the Avalon Park neighborhood, according to police, when he heard shots and felt pain. Authorities said a dark colored vehicle drove by and an unknown offender inside opened fire, striking him in the buttocks. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in stable condition, according to police.

A 26-year-old woman was driving eastbound in the 3900 block of W Lexington in Lawndale at 8 p.m. when someone fired shots, striking her in the neck, police said. She continued to drive on Lexington, police said, before crashing her vehicle into a parked car. She was discovered unresponsive in her car and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition.

Around 8:40 p.m., two men were in a car stopped at a red light in the 1600 block of W 47th St in the Back of the Yards neighborhood when another car pulled up from behind and passengers in that car opened fire. A 32-year-old man was shot in the right leg, and a 22-year-old man in the left leg, according to police. Both were taken in stable condition to Stroger Hospital and officials believe the incident may have been gang-related.

Around 9 p.m., a 23-year-old man was walking down the sidewalk in the 5100 block of W Chicago in Austin when a light-colored car drove by, and occupants opened fire, police said. He was struck in the upper right leg and taken to Mount Sinai in stable condition.

Three people were shot in a shooting around 9:40 p.m. in 2000 block of W 68th Pl in the West Englewood neighborhood, according to police. The first victim was a 48-year-old woman who was a passenger in a car heading south on Damen. Police said she was the unintended target, struck when occupants of two separate vehicles fired shots. She was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in stable condition with a graze wound to the neck. Two men standing on a front porch at that time were struck in the shooting. A 17-year-old boy sustained a gunshot wound to the right knee and a 23-year-old man was shot in the right foot. Both were listed in stable condition at Holy Cross Hospital.

At 10:15 p.m., a 17-year-old boy was standing on the sidewalk in the 1500 block of S Ridgeway in Lawndale when he heard shots and felt pain, police said. He was then dropped off at Mount Sinai Hospital in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the lower left leg, authorities said.

Just before midnight, two men were standing on the sidewalk in the 700 block of S Independence in West Garfield Park when they heard shots and felt pain, police said. A 28-year-old was hit in the left thigh, and a 29-year-old man in the left ankle. Both were taken to Mount Sinai in stable condition, according to police, and both are documented gang members.

SUNDAY

A 37-year-old man was critically wounded in a shooting at 12:20 a.m. in Austin, according to police. He was standing in an alley in the 4700 block of W Erie when a male offender approached on foot and opened fire, according to police. He was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the chest and leg, police said.

At 1:05 a.m., two men were walking on the sidewalk in the 700 block of N Kedzie in East Garfield Park when they heard shots and felt pain. A 21-year-old man had a graze wound to the back and a 22-year-old man had a gunshot wound to the left hand, according to police. They drove to Norwegian American Hospital, where the younger man was transferred to Stroger. Both were listed in stable condition, authorities said, and the shooting may have been gang-related.

At 2 a.m., a 28-year-old man was shot in the 900 block of N Cambridge in the Near North Side neighborhood, police said. He was involved in a verbal dispute with another person when the offender pulled out a gun and shot the victim twice in the arm. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition was unknown, according to police.

A 23-year-old man was sitting in the drivers seat of a parked car in the 9700 block of S Vincennes in the Washington Heights neighborhood when he was shot, police said. Authorities said a man exited another vehicle and approached on foot. They men exchanged words when the offender produced a handgun and opened fire, police said. The victim drove himself to St. Bernard Hospital in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the left thigh, police said.

Around 4:40 a.m., a 26-year-old woman was shot while driving in the 3900 block of W Wilcox in the East Garfield Park neighborhood, police said. Two men approached her car and opened fire, according to police, striking her in the back. She had other passengers in the car who were documented gang members and convicted felons, police said, but no one else was hit. She was dropped off at Loretto Hospital and transferred to Stroger in serious condition.

Just five minutes later, a 27-year-old man was standing on the sidewalk in the 5000 block of W West End Ave in Austin when he heard shots and felt pain, police said. He took himself to Stroger Hospital in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the right leg, according to police.

Around 5:15 a.m., a 17-year-old boy was wounded in a shooting in the 300 block of West 108th Street, police confirmed. Further details on the shooting weren't immediately known.

A 20-year-old man was shot around 12 p.m. in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, according to police. He was standing outside in the 8500 block of S Ashland when he heard shots and felt pain. He took himself to Little Company of Mary Hospital where he was listed in stable condition with a gunshot wound to the arm.

A 24-year-old man was shot during an argument with someone he knows in the West Pullman neighborhood, police said. The incident occurred around 12:35 p.m. in the 11500 block of S Peoria, police said. He was taken in stable condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the right thigh.

At 4:40 p.m., a 23-year-old man was in the 1200 block of W 85th St in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood when he was shot in the right hip, police said. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, in unknown condition, and authorities said he is a documented gang member.

Just before 6 p.m., a 29-year-old man was shot walking out of a store in the 11500 block of South Wentworth in the citys West Pullman neighborhood. He was shot in the shoulder and drove himself to be treated to MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island, police said.

At 10:45 p.m. a 25-year-old was shot in the left hand in the 3800 block of South Lake Park Avenue of the citys Oakland neighborhood, police said, before being taken to Cook Countys Stroger Hospital to be treated.

At 11 p.m., two men were shot in the Lawndale neighborhood on the citys Southwest Side. Police said the men were walking in the 2100 block of South Harding when another man approached them and started firing. One of the men, a 35-year-old, was hit in the buttocks and the other, a 58-year-old, was shot in the right leg. Both were taken to Mount Sinai Hospital to be treated, police said.

A half hour later, a 21-year-old who police say was a documented gang member was shot in the leg in the 5900 block of South Princeton in Englewood. He showed up with the gunshot wound at St. Bernard Hospital, police said.

MONDAY

 About 12:30 a.m., police said a 35-year-old was injured in a drive-by shooting in the Austin neighborhood. The man was standing on a porch in the 900 block of North Massasoit when a car drove past and fired shots, police said. He was hit in the leg and taken to Loyola University Medical Center to be treated, police said.

 Around 1 a.m., a man was shot during an attempted robbery in the South Sides Park Manor neighborhood. Police say the 28-year-old was in the 400 block of East 74th Street when two men approached him and announced a robbery. When he tried to run away, he was shot in the back, police said. He was taken to Stroger Hospital to be treated.

 At 1:30 a.m., two documented gang members were shot while walking in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the citys West Side. The men, both 18, were in the 1300 block of North Pulaski when someone walked up and started shooting, police said. One was struck in the back and the other in the leg. Both were taken to Stroger Hospital, police said.

 At 10:35 a.m., a 17-year-old boy was shot twice in the hip when someone in a black SUV fired shots in his direction. The vehicle fled the scene and the victim was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in fair condition.

 Just before 11 a.m., two men were shot while standing on a street in the 3800 block of West Gladys in the city's East Garfield Park neighborhood. A 21-year-old man was shot in the left elbow and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition and a 28-year-old man was shot in the lower back and taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition. Police said a black Nissan drove by the pair and someone inside the vehicle opened fire. No one was in custody as of Monday evening.

 Around 4 p.m., a 15-year-old boy was shot in the back while walking in the 6700 block of South Sangamon. Police said the teen was walking on the street when he heard shots and felt pain. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in stable condition.

 An hour later, a 16-year-old boy was shot while talking to someone in the 8700 block of South Escanaba. Police said a gunman emerged from a gangway in the area and fired several shots at the pair striking the teen in the right leg.

 Around 5:30 p.m., a 17-year-old boy was shot in the right thumb in the 3600 block of West 30th Street. The teen told police he was walking down the block when a man across the street, who was walking with another man, fired shots at him. The victim was taken to St. Anthony Hospital in good condition.
Kenneth Steck was walking back to his camping site in Alaska after gathering water for his friends and wife when he heard branches breaking. The sound, his parents said, was like a vehicle driving up behind him.



Steck, 30, turned and saw a big brown bear charging toward him. Before he could think, the bear was on top of him.



"While the bear was close, he just put his foot up and he felt like it was going in slow motion," Steck's mother, Cindy, told NBC 5 of the May 13 attack. "And all these thoughts were going through his mind. He said he thought he was going to die, and he said, 'Lord, if it's my time to go, I'm ready.'"



Steck, a native of Rolling Meadows who moved to Alaska four years ago, told his mom his head "felt really wet" at one point and he thought he was in the bear's mouth.



But almost as quickly as the attack began, it ended, and the bear left the camp.



Steck escaped with injuries to his head, shoulder and calf. Luckily Steck's wife was among other nurses on the camping trip who were able to render aid before he was air-lifted to the hospital.



His parents spoke to Steck over the phone once he arrived at a hospital in Anchorage.



His first words to them: "Da Bears."



"We just laughed and cried at the same time because he was being so funny with us, and we were so glad to hear his voice and know he was alive," Cindy Steck said.



Steck remained at the hospital for a few days before returning for a minor surgery. He left the hospital Saturday night.



Steck moved to Alaska after enrolling in an outdoor studies program at Alaska Pacific University. He was visiting friends and family with his wife in the town of Yakutat two weeks ago when they decided to travel to Disenchantment Bay for a trip, Steck told the Alaska Dispatch News.



The next morning, Steck left the camp to fill up some water jugs at a nearby snowmelt waterfall and after gathering the water, he heard something in the woods behind him. Thats when he turned around and saw a brown bear in a full charge heading for him, he told the publication.



"It's surreal," Steck's father, Howie, told NBC 5. "You don't imagine something like that happening to one of your kids."



"It was terrible," he said. "It was the worst 24 hours of my life."



An Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist who interviewed Steck when he arrived for treatment at Anchorage Hospital determined the bear should not be killed for the attack, saying it didnt appear to be predatory, but rather a case of a human surprising the bear at close quarters.



The attack lasted only seconds  just long enough for the surprised bear to neutralize a perceived threat. The bear then ran away, spokesman Ken Marsh said in an emailed statement. With this information, our biologist determined that subsequent attacks from the animal are unlikely and that little would be gained in seeking and destroying the bear. It is also worth noting that the attack site is located in a remote area that sees few visitors.



Howie Steck said he's grateful the bear was merciful to his son.



"It could've been really really bad," he said. "We'd be doing a different interview today."
In a rare Sunday session, lawmakers are back in Springfield ahead of the May 31st deadline, but the one person who is not there Mayor Rahm Emanuel is being singled out by Governor Bruce Rauner for the failure to reach a grand compromise.

After meeting briefly with the four top legislative leaders, Rauner spoke to reporters, telling them what Emanuel "ought to be doing is be down here in Springfield, advocating for reforms for his city. He's not here. He hasn't been here at all."

It doesn't appear likely the mayor will parachute into the state Capitol for the final 48 hours. The mayor's office suggests there is a long list of city staff and city leaders in Springfield.

Rauner has promised to veto the Democratic-backed House budget that is 7 billion dollars out of balance. The Senate has not yet voted on the proposal.

House Speaker Michael Madigan has signaled that no budget will likely receive the Senate and governor's approval before Tuesday's deadline.

Madigan spoke to reporters after leaving the meeting at the governor's office Sunday, saying the House would remain in "continuous session" through the summer, the same words used last May when the budget impasse began.

Illinois is the only state in the country without a working budget. Lawmakers will be working through the Memorial Day holiday.
An Alabama woman standing atop a hay bale was attacked by fire ants and died of an apparent allergic reaction the day after her mother died, authorities and a relative said Friday.

A joint funeral was held Thursday in Selma for the women, 29-year-old Kalyn Rolan and 53-year-old Roberta Lynn Duke, both of Prattville.

Rolan's mother-in-law, Sheila Rolan, said she still can't believe both women died within a day of each other.

"It's something I've never had to deal with, especially attending two funerals," said Rolan. "I loved her mother, and she was my daughter-in-law for 10 years."

Duke died May 19 after suffering from lung disease, Rolan said, and the younger woman was in rural Dallas County the next day with husband Brandon Rolan preparing for the funeral. The older woman had lived in a mobile home with the couple as her health declined, Rolan said.

Kalyn was attacked while atop the remains of a large round hay bale. She was talking on a cellphone with a longtime friend, apparently about her mom's funeral arrangements, Rolan said.

"Brandon said she was standing there with a stick talking on the phone. She was just beating the hay with the stick, Brandon said, and it stirred up the ants," Sheila Rolan said. "She ran off the hay stack, and they tried to get her clothes off to get the ants off her."

Coroner Alan Dailey said the woman was treated by volunteer firefighters and then ambulance workers during a 25-mile ride to a Selma hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Autopsy results aren't complete, he said, but it appeared the woman's airway closed from anaphylactic shock, a severe allergic reaction to the bites.

"She had multiple bites around both ankles," Dailey said. "Those red ants are a problem all over the South. They're mean, and by the time you know you've been bit once they are all over you."

Kalyn Rolan had severe allergies to insects, shellfish and peanuts, Sheila Rolan said, but the day of her death she didn't have a medical device on hand that can be used to inject medicine to counteract allergic reactions. Relatives are now trying to raise $5,000 to pay for her funeral, and a fundraiser is planned Saturday at the Waffle House restaurant where Brandon Rolan works.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 90 to 100 people die annually in the United States from insect bites.
The Secret Service said the White House is back to normal operations after someone threw an object over the fence along Pennsylvania Avenue.

The person threw the item about 1:15 p.m. over the fence on the north side of the White House, near Lafayette Square, according to D.C. Fire and EMS. The Secret Service said the object was metal, but inspection of the object showed it was not harmful.

A woman was detained and placed in handcuffs.

The lockdown ensued shortly after President Barack Obama returned from delivering a Memorial Day speech at Arlington National Cemetery.
On Deck will be here all season to provide you with everything you need to know (and a few things you don't) about every Rangers series during the 2016 season.

The Opponent: The Indians are just a half-game out of a tightly packed AL Central behind the defending champion Royals after passing up the White Sox over the weekend.

Past Meetings: The teams split their six matchups last year with the Indians taking two of three in Arlington and the Rangers winning the series in Cleveland.

Pitching Matchups: Monday  Derek Holland (3-4, 5.21 ERA) vs. Josh Tomlin (7-0, 3.35); Tuesday  Colby Lewis (4-0, 3.38) vs. Corey Kluber (4-5, 3.78); Wednesday  Cole Hamels (5-1, 3.34) vs. Trevor Bauer (3-2, 4.34)

What's Hot: Catcher Bobby Wilson continues his tear, batting .533 (8-for-15) in his last four games. Ian Desmond and Ohio native Ryan Rua are each hitting .444 in the last week. Since his call-up, Jurickson Profar is 5-for-13 with a triple and three runs in his three starts in Rougned Odor's absence. Adrian Beltre, Mitch Moreland and Nomar Mazara each have two homers and five RBIs in the last week.

Lonnie Chisenhall, who hit three homers in a game last year against the Rangers, is batting .400 over the last week. Mike Napoli is batting .318 with three homers and nine RBIs in his last six games.

What's Not: Colby Lewis had his first bad start of the year last time out, but it was still a win. He allowed five runs in the first two innings but ended up going five innings and allowing six runs in a 15-9 win over the Angels. Cole Hamels also had his first really bad outing of the year, giving up six runs (five earned) in 4 2/3 innings.

The Indians' three starters for this series are all coming off big starts with Bauer's three earned runs in six innings being the worst of the bunch. Tomlin went eight and Kluber went seven in their last outings.

Familiar Faces: Shin-Soo Choo, who's on the disabled list for the Rangers, spent 6 1/2 years in Cleveland before one season in Cincinnati and then signing his big deal with Texas. A few former Rangers now reside in Cleveland: Mike Napoli is the most notable, but there's also Chris Gimenez, Marlon Byrd and relief pitcher Tommy Hunter.
Authorities said lightning was the likely cause of at least five fires in North Texas from Sunday night to Monday morning.

Addison



Firefighters said they think lightning caused a fire at an apartment complex in the 4800 block of West Grove Drive at about 3 a.m.

The building was evacuated and eight units were affected, but no injuries have been reported.

The American Red Cross responded to help those displaced by the fire.

Jacksboro



Firefighters said units responded to a call at a tan farm at Silver Creek Resources in the 1500 block of Farm-to-Market Road 1156 at 12:43 a.m.

Jack County and East Jack County firefighters had to wait until heavy lightning stopped before attacking the fire, according to authorities.

Firefighters said the fire damaged four 300-gallon fiberglass tanks, causing about $100,000 in damage.

No injuries were reported.

Allen



A family was able to escape a fire at their home in the 900 block of Rachels Court at about 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

The home was for sale, but is now a total loss.

Drone video shot over the Memorial Day weekend shows the devastation in parts of Texas ravaged by floodwaters. This video from The Woodlands shows rivers overflowing their banks and streets washed out by water. Flood waters have claimed at least six lives across the state. Local authorities acknowledge the area may not have seen the worst of the flooding just...

The family said the fire was the second caused by lightning in the neighborhood within about a year.

Plano



Plano Fire Department officials said lightning struck a home on Lewis Street Sunday night. A fire resulted, but it was confined to the attic and no one was injured.

Lightning also struck the East Side Village Apartments in downtown Plano. No injuries were reported, as the resulting fire only damaged the outside of the building.
The drought is no more. Jordan Spieth has finally won a PGA tournament in his home state of Texas.

After a rough final round last week at the AT&T Byron Nelson, Spieth left no doubt this time at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational in Fort Worth. And he did it in style.

Spieth had amazing birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th to seal the deal and get his eight PGA tournament win.

The back nine proved to be every bit of dramatic. Spieth had Ryan Palmer and Harris English to contend with for the top spot on the leaderboard, and things were getting interesting until Spieth hit just an absurd chip shot from 20-feet out on No. 16 that found the bottom of the cup. After that you could sense this was his for the taking.

However, it was a rollercoaster of emotions on No. 17 when Spieths tee shot put him in the rough and caused his approach to go over the green, ending with a back-hole location. He then made another amazing chip shot afterwards to basically wrap it up before ever teeing off on 18. He birdied the final hole from 34-feet to win by three shots, finishing at 17-under 65.

The Sunday struggles were over. The back nine blues, the Masters meltdown, all history.

Spieth now sits in third place behind Jason Day and Adam Scott in the Fedex Cup standings.
The Texas Pool has been a North Texas attraction for decades.

On Memorial Day, the Plano landmark will celebrate its 55th season.

For weeks, volunteers have made repairs to the aging facility. The base of the pool was resurfaced and the bathrooms were renovated, but the majority of the work was a temporary fix.

"The Texas Pool is just a really special place. Everyone who comes in, falls in love with the pool and they want to be able to help the pool," said lifeguard Hannah Moos. "We're bringing life back to the Texas Pool."

Dallas' Hunt family helped found the pool, which was built in Plano to draw more residents, Texas Pool board members said.

The Texas Pool is operated by volunteers. The non-profit group relies on membership dues and donations to operate and repair the 168,000 gallon salt water pool.

The Texas Pool is open on Memorial Day from noon until 6:00 p.m. It's free and open to the public.

After the celebration, membership dues are $200 per family.
A stretch of the shoreline at Corona del Mar State Beach in Southern California remained closed Monday after a swimmer was bitten in a shark attack, lifeguards and city officials said.

No ocean access will be allowed until at least Tuesday morning in the section of Newport Beach that stretches from the Balboa Pier south to the city's border with Crystal Cove State Beach, officials said. The latest closure is a change from Sunday's three-mile closure.

Newport Beach police said they received reports that a woman swimming in the water was bitten at Corona del Mar State Beach around 5 p.m. Sunday.

Lifeguards found the woman in distress in the water about 150 yards off shore, and they pulled her out to find large bites on her upper torso and shoulder, Newport Beach City spokeswoman Tara Finnigan said.

She was conscious and breathing when she was taken to a nearby hospital. Police could not comment on the extent of her injuries.

The woman was described as an experienced swimmer.

The wounds were consistent with shark bites, Finnigan said in a statement released from the city.

Officials, however, said they could not find a shark in the water when the attack happened. Rob Williams, a lifeguard with Newport Beach Fire, at one point said it was possible the animal bite may have come from a sea lion.

A three-mile stretch from Newport Pier to Corona del Mar beach was closed after the attack Sunday. The water was evacuated, and the stretch of beach was to remain closed for 24 hours, Newport Beach Lifeguard Captain John Moora said.

As NewsChopper4 flew overhead the beach, the shoreline was packed with Memorial Day weekend beachgoers.

Corona del Mar State Beach is a popular place for swimmers, according to the California Department of Parks and Recreation.

A shark sighting in October of 2015 shut down a stretch of the beach near Newport Pier. In that sighting, an 8-foot shark was spotted along the coast. Newport Beach Pier is about 5 miles north of Corona del Mar State Beach.

A month prior in September 2015, a hammerhead was caught on camera acting aggressively toward a kayaker.

The warm weather may draw more sharks to the Southern California coast, experts said in a previous report.

NBC4's Marin Austin contributed to this report.
A man came into a Houston auto detail shop and began "randomly shooting," killing a man known to be a customer and putting a neighborhood on lockdown Sunday before being killed by a SWAT officer, police said.

Several people were shot and injured, including a man authorities initially described as another suspect because he was present and armed. Police said later Sunday they were investigating further whether he played any role.

"We don't know what his role was yet," Houston police spokesman John Cannon said, adding that the man was providing police with "his version of what was happening out here."

Six others  four bystanders and two police constables  were hospitalized with injuries police said were not believed to be life-threatening, according to NBC News. A union official said the two officers, who were released from hospitals, should be OK.

Police, who said they have no indication yet of a motive, said they got their first call about the shootings around 10:15 a.m. The customer described as a man in his 50s had just driven in to the auto shop. Within a minute or two, authorities said, the gunman came in and started shooting. Others in the shop ran out to take cover nearby and call for help.

Neighbors described hearing many gunshots, and some drivers told local television stations their cars had been shot at. Police say they believe a fire at a gas station next door began when gunfire hit a pump. A police helicopter was shot at with a "high-powered" weapon and was hit five times, authorities said.

Stephen Dittoe, 55, lives in the house right behind the shooting scene, separated by a fence and tall shrubbery at the end of cul-de-sac.

"I heard the first shot and I thought it was a transformer" exploding, he said. His wife, Ha, 41, said it went on too long for that and described the series of staccato sounds.

She took their two children, ages 6 and 7, into the bathroom, told them to eat breakfast in there, and called 911.

[NATL] Top News Photos: Pope Visits Japan, and More

About an hour after the shootings began, a SWAT officer killed the gunman, said Cannon.

"If he hadn't taken that action that quickly, this likely would have been a lot worse than it was," Cannon said.

Houston Police Union President Ray Hunt says an officer who was hit several times in the chest was wearing both a metal breastplate and a bulletproof vest. The second officer was shot in the hand. Hunt says both officers hurt should be OK.

At the Dittoe house, Ha Dittoe said police came to the door about two hours later and asked if anyone in the house was being held captive, and if they could walk around the backyard.

The streets were still blocked off late Sunday afternoon with many police cars and fire trucks on the scene. A police SUV was seen with a shattered windshield and the back window broken out, and police said two patrol cars were riddled with bullets.
A 38-year-old transgender man died after he was attacked at a homeless encampment in Burlington, Vermont, in what police are calling a possible "bias incident."

Amos Beede, of Milton, suffered facial fractures, a subdural hematoma and several broken ribs in the beating on May 25. Police found him lying on the ground at a homeless encampment in the area of Barge Canal on Pine Street.

Beede was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center for treatment. His initial prognosis was good, but Beede died of his injuries Sunday, according to police.

The office of the state's chief medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine Beede's cause of death.

Detectives are searching for two people of interest  21-year-old Erick Averill and 23-year-old Myia Barber  in connection with the attack. Both are transient residents of Burlington, authorities said.

Police said they believe the attackers had motives that were "independent" of Beede's gender identity but that his status as a transgender man may have been an "additional motive."

Authorities will "continue to view this homicide as a possible bias incident" as they investigate, police said.

Anyone with information about the assault or the whereabouts of Averill or Barber are asked to call city police or Champlain Valley Crime Stoppers at 802-864-6666.
A 57-year-old woman was killed when she was hit by a vehicle while crossing the street in Van Nuys Sunday night, police said.

The collision occurred at 11:40 p.m. near the 16400 block of Victory Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police said a 2006 Honda Civic was traveling eastbound when it struck the woman and drove off. The woman died at the scene.

It is unclear if the woman was crossing in an unmarked crosswalk.

The driver later turned himself in to police, detectives said.

He was arrested on suspicion of felony hit and run and was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Police initially believed two vehicles were involved but later confirmed only one was responsible.

The crash was under investigation.
It isn't every day of the week when one witnesses thousands of carnations drifting down from the sky above.

But if you're at the Palm Springs Air Museum on Monday, May 30, you will see the sight, which is as stirring a Golden State tradition as Memorial Day observances come.

Ready to find your place to reflect, show your gratitude, and honor the day, which is built on the foundation of remembering those who have served? Then make for...

Long Beach: The unveiling of a memorial is always a major moment, and one such moment is happening at Rosie the Riveter Park over several hours on Monday, May 30. The Honoring the Fallen Memorial Wall will make its debut via the reading aloud of all 6,864 names (starting at 6 a.m.). The wall pays tribute to the "nearly 7,000 military service members killed in action since the 9/11 attacks..." and the official unveiling is at 4 o'clock.

Brentwood: Support the early-in-the-day Walk for Warriors by coming out and cheering those making their way around a 3.1-mile route at the Veterans Affair Campus. Can't join the walk but still want to show your support? Donate at New Directions for Veterans now.

Rancho Palos Verdes: Several memorial parks and cemeteries throughout Southern California will host remembrances, and the Green Hills Memorial Park is the location for one of the largest. It begins at 10 a.m., a "moving tribute to our fallen service men and women," a tribute that will include speeches as well as fly-overs.

Huntington Beach: The Huntington Beach High School Band will play at the Pier Plaza on May 30 as residents gather to remember those locals who gave their lives in service. Bagpipers will also be on hand, and a rifle salute is expected at the 11 a.m. ceremony. A Memorial Day Walk is also part of the day.

Palm Springs: This large celebration revs up at 10 a.m., with speeches, vintage plane fly-overs, medal presentations, and more. The Flower Drop Memorial Service begins promptly at 1 o'clock, when some 3,000 carnations will fall to the area near the airport. Guests may take one home, to remember.

Canoga Park: The city hosts one of the largest of Southern California's Memorial Day observances each year, in its grand band-filled parade. There are floats, and displays of community and fun, and more, all under the thematic banner of "Saluting the Price of Freedom." The opening ceremony is at 10, with the parade to follow at 11.

Boyle Heights: One especially emotional display of the day happens at Los Cinco Puntos Memorial Park each year, when a 24-hour "stand guard" is held at the memorial found there, an obelisk to those who have served in every war. The vigil began on Sunday morning and will conclude at 10 a.m. on Memorial Day.

Pico Rivera: If you or your loved one served in the Korean War, consider attending the Memorial Day Ceremony at the city's Veterans Monument on Monday, May 30 at 10 o'clock. While the day is for all veterans and their families, the 2016 observance will include a special tribute to those who served in the 1950-1953 war.

San Pedro: While no specific Memorial Day plans are in the works for the USS Iowa, it has become local tradition for veterans and their families to pay the ship a visit on Memorial Day. It did serve in World War II -- "the battleship of presidents" is its nickname -- and it is open for tours and more on Monday, May 30.

Queen Mary: The battleship's nearest WWII neighbor, the Queen Mary, has a package deal for visiting both, but if you just want to do the Long Beach landmark, you'll get in free on May 30 with your military ID. The ocean-liner was called into service during the war, and its historical displays are impressive and moving, both.
Authorities arrested the driver of a stolen SUV who crisscrossed Los Angeles County at high speeds  and at one point threw stacks of what appeared to be paper out of the window.

Light traffic on Memorial Day cleared the path for the driver to lead police on the more than two-hour chase across multiple cities, beginning about 11 a.m. in South Gate where officers spotted the man driving recklessly.

On a freeway transition road, the driver threw some sort of paper material out of the window and sideswiped a barrier.

Moments later as the driver went off road to avoid cars at a freeway exit, a bicyclist nearly crossed the SUV's path.

Close calls as driver evades police in the South Gate area. Watch live: https://t.co/Yh7fi6lKZ3 pic.twitter.com/akonF5mhNA  NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) May 30, 2016

The SUV struck and pushed another car blocking its way at a red light, and may have sideswiped another car when the driver appeared to have lost control and swerved.

Police believed the man, later identified as 32-year-old Gilbert Barajas, may have been heading to a home improvement store in Costa Mesa, though the city's police department would not say why.

Just after 1 p.m., the gray Kia came to a stop on the 405 Freeway in Long Beach, where the man was arrested by California Highway Patrol officers after a brief stand off.

PURSUIT: Driver throws out objects, including what appears to be paper, out of window while driving on 105 Freeway. pic.twitter.com/nVPWwCfv54  NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) May 30, 2016

Barajas, the only occupant of the vehicle, was arrested on suspicion of felony evading, driving a stolen vehicle, receiving stolen property found in the stolen SUV, and assault with a deadly weapon, the South Gate Police Department said.

Southern Californias wild police chases: Weve all seen them, and some can take pretty unexpected turns. Watch our collection of some of the wildest moments from the most infamous, dramatic pursuits.
Word of a vandalized Vietnam memorial in Venice, California, inspired scores of veterans  some from as far as Arizona  to clean up the spray-painted mess ahead of Memorial Day.

Extensive graffiti  a thick sheen of silver paint  covered the mural, which bears the names of 2,273 veterans who vanished in Vietnam and has stood untouched since 1992.

LA County Sheriff's Department investigators showed up Saturday night to assess the wall on Pacific Avenue near Sunset Court and take pictures.

"This is about as bad as burning an American flag, stomping on it," said John Scudder, a Marine veteran of 11 1/2 years who brought his construction truck and paint remover to help organize a cleanup. "Just like that flag is a symbol of freedom, this is a symbolization of names of people who gave their lives for this country."

Word of the vandalized mural spread all the way to Arizona, where Navy veteran Kelly Townsend packed up her kids and made the drive from Phoenix to LA.

"I was reading about it this morning. It upset me," Townsend said.

She was among dozens of volunteers who showed up Sunday morning ready to work.

"I was so hurt by what I saw on the news this morning," said Charlie Saulenas, a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient. "I knew that this was my job for Memorial Day."

A graffiti removal team said with no protectant having been applied to the wall, removing the graffiti would also remove the veterans' names. As the volunteers worked, names began to come off.

But volunteers said they will repaint the names  every single one of them.

"People give up their lives for our life, our way of life, and for them to just basically spit on stuff like this, it's so saddening," said Esmeralda Jordan, an Air Force veteran.

The president of the National Veterans Foundation, Floyd Meshad, said he's been working for years to have the wall restorey.

Meshad said he hopes this will expedite those efforts, as the overwhelming response from volunteers has proven the community wants the wall there for good.
Three women went viral on social media and are being called "heroes" after stopping an attempted date rape drugging at a high-end Santa Monica restaurant, they said Sunday.

The three women depicted in a meme that reads, "Don't roofie someone on our watch!" as they pose like Charlie's Angels began to take social media by storm after they recounted what could have been a disastrous date.

It was shared more than 100,000 times by Sunday.

The three friends were kicking back during happy hour at Fig located at 101 Wilshire Boulevard when they noticed a man and woman at a table next to them.

Monica Kenyon saw the woman get up to go to the bathroom, and that's when things took a turn.

"I see this guy looking all squirrelly," Kenyon said. "I see something drop into the glass, and I think, 'Did that really just happen?'"

She told her happy hour buddies, Sonia Ulrich and Marla Saltzer, and they decided they had to take action to protect the stranger.

They went into the bathroom and told her what Kenyon witnessed.

"We said, 'We know this is kind of weird, but we just saw that guy put something in your drink,'" Ulrich said. "She said, 'Oh my God. He's one of my best friends.'"

The women said that the victim returned to the table and avoided drinking even after her friend clinked glasses, encouraging her to partake.

The trio notified a Fig manager who got security to check surveillance footage. The footage confirmed that the man had indeed dropped something into the woman's drink.

Santa Monica police arrived and took action. They retrieved the woman's glass as evidence and began taking statements from the three women, Kenyon said.

Santa Monica police Sergeant Jeff Glaser confirmed that the man was arrested on suspicion of intent to commit rape, and drugging with the intent to commit rape.

Multiple groups at different tables in the section began coming up to the trio, thanking them for taking action, but also to share their stories.

Each one had revealed to the three women that it had happened to them, or happened to a sister, a friend.
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said he wont rule out the possibility of being Hillary Clintons running mate.

"Here we are in California, I'm knocking my brains out to win the Democratic nomination," Sanders said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday. "What happens afterwards, we will see. But right now, my focus is on winning the nomination."

Sanders said California is important to win more pledged delegates than Clinton, but also said he will do everything I can to ensure Donald Trump is defeated. The onus, he said, was on Clinton to convince his supporters why they should back her.

"If Secretary Clinton is the nominee, it is her job to reach out to millions of people and make the case as to why she is going to defend working families and the middle [class], provide healthcare for all people, take on Wall Street, deal aggressively with climate change. That is the candidate's job to do."
A South Florida woman took part in a special ceremony on Memorial Day that honored her father's achievements during World War II.

"It takes my breath away, it really does," said Leslie Loewenthal, daughter of Lt. Colonel Daniel Loewenthal.

Her father earned a Silver Star and Purple Heart in World War II. He passed away in 1989. This Memorial Day the Town of Davie honored Loewenthal's military achievements with a Knighting Ceremony and "The Order of Saint George Medal."

"It's really there to recognize armor and cavalry leaders both in the Army and Marines that have done great things for their country," said U.S. Army Maj. Jonathan Bender.

"It's incredibly touching and befitting because I'm so proud of my father and to have him recognized with this award is really special," Loewenthal said. "He was so incredibly proud of his service to our country."

She only wishes her father was there to receive the award, but said she was honored to share the stage with those who currently serve and have served.

"I've been to combat four times, I've seen soldiers pay the ultimate sacrifice for their country and that's what it's about," Maj. Bender said.

Monday was a time for reflection and remembrance for most in South Florida, including Loewenthal.

"To be able to receive this award for him today make me incredibly proud, excited, humble and it keeps him close," she said.
Mayor de Blasio on Monday claimed the city has won the fight against chronic veteran homelessness after vowing last Memorial Day to put an end to the problem.

"We ended the scourge of chronic homelessness for our veterans," de Blasio said Monday.

"Chronic homelessness" is designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development based on how long an individual remains homeless.

A city hall spokesperson told NBC 4 New York that from Thanksgiving 2015 through May 27, 1,091 homeless veterans were moved to permanent housing.

But, 421 veterans remain in shelters in New York City, the spokesperson said.

The administration is working with HUD to move every homeless veteran into permanent housing, the spokesperson said.

De Blasio said Monday that if a New York veteran is looking for a home, "We guarantee...we will find them one because they deserve that."
Officials are investigating two incidents of possible animal cruelty at Southern California high schools, and at least one of them may have been part of a senior prank, authorities said.

Baby, a 5-year-old goat, went missing May 19 after its owner says a group of teens from Ganesha High School in Pomona broke into her property and took her.

"They came in the middle of the night and stole her from our property and took her to the school and painted on her and who knows what else they've done to her," the owner, who asked not to be identified, said.

Baby was found with a broken leg on school campus the next day, a Ganesha High School student told NBC4. "It's one thing to do a prank and one thing to do this, hurt and animal," the student said.

Its owner says her face was swollen and her body, painted in the school's colors, was half shaven.

"If they can do this to an animal what can they do to a human?" the owner said.

Baby died Thursday following surgery, her owner said. The Inland Valley Humane Society was investigating the incident.

Pomona Unified School District issued a statement, saying the "safety of our students, staff and campus facilities, as well as superlative respect to our local community" is a priority.

"As a high school ranked in the top 4th percentile in CA by U.S. News & World Report, we take our role as a model academic high school very seriously and we do not condone injustices toward people or animals," the statement said, highlight their "zero-tolerance policy for deviations to academic and safety standards."

In a separate incident, two rabbits were found dead Friday morning at Riverside Polytechnic High School, according to the Riverside Unified School District.

District officials said staff arrived on campus around 5:30 a.m. and found three dead rabbits as well as toilet paper, trash, graffiti with inappropriate language and symbols and broken windows.

The Riverside School District initially said the incident was an apparent senior prank, adding it was "disheartened at this unfortunate news."

However, Michael Roe, principal at Polytechnic High School later said that these incidents were not part of a senior prank but rather "a coordinated effort to vandalize our school," and called the acts "unnerving."

"To carry out this kind of act on a high school campus - or anywhere in the community for that matter - is cause for concern and proportionate action," Roe said in a statement. "I am incredibly proud of the response from the Poly community - the district, RPD, parents, wealth of students and staff who have denounced these cowardice acts."

Officials also said the district was working the Riverside Police Department to comb through multiple angles of video footage from the incident, and will be interviewing students who may have been involved.
Monday was a significant Memorial Day for the families of two Vietnam veterans who finally received an official honor in Philadelphia for their service nearly 50 years after their deaths.

Master Sgt. Francis G. Corcoran and Master Sgt. George L. Wilson were added to the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall during a special ceremony Monday at 12:30 p.m.

This is the first addition to the wall in 13 years, said Terry A. Williamson, PVVM Fund president. It is another reminder of the toll the war took on not just members of the Armed services, but on their families as well.

Corcoran, a Port Richmond native, and Wilson, who graduated from Frankford High School in 1948, both served in Vietnam but became ill and died in military hospitals.

Corcoran died of hepatitis on Dec. 9, 1967 at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC after he was transferred from Vietnam. He was 39-years-old. Corcoran had toured in Vietnam on Nov. 25, 1966 and served with the 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. He was also a Green Beret and had served a tour of duty in Korea.

Wilson died of pancreatitis and other related illnesses on Nov. 8, 1967 in Japan after he was medivaced. He was 43-years-old. He began his tour in Vietnam on July 30, 1967, and served as an imagery analyst with the 525th Military Intelligence Group. He had previously served a tour of duty in Korea as well.

Both men were approved in 2013 by the Department for Defense inclusion at the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial and were added to Washington D.C.s wall last May. They will become the 647th and 648th Philadelphians to be honored at PVVM Monday.

Very privileged and honored, said Wilsons son, Frank Wilson. Very long time coming.

Corcorans widow Elizabeth Corcoran, who was invited to the ceremony along with his eight children, shared a similar sentiment.

Im proud of him, she said. I was thrilled because he was a soldier to the core. Im sure hes up there smiling that he finally made it on the wall.




Willie Clark Jr.'s family has been waiting more than a decade for justice.

Clark was murdered April 3, 2006 just outside a bar on Hollister Street in south San Diego. The bar is no longer there, but the pain of losing Willie has never gone.

We still hear my dad's voice, his laugh. This has all been one big dream. A bad dream, Clarks son Julius told NBC 7. He was shot five times in the lower torso while his back was turned.

Police said suspect Guillermo Gonzalez-Nunez shot and killed Clark after a fight broke out at La Vuelta Bar.

Officers said Nunez also beat another man with a gun and other patrons before fleeing to Mexico.

I consider him beyond being a monster, Julius' mother Mary Lopez said. He took...a big part of me. In my heart I want justice."

The Clarks prayed every day that their father's murderer would be caught, but justice did not come quickly.

Last Friday, just over 10 years after Clarks murder, Mexican authorities turned over Guillermo Gonzalez-Nunez to U.S. Marshals who took him into custody.

The Clarks said they forgive the suspect, but they will never forget what he did.

He needs to pay for what he did because my kids are paying every day because they don't have a father, Lopez said.

Gonzalez-Nunez was booked into San Diego Central Jail for Murder, Attempted Murder and Assault with a weapon. The Clark family said they will be at his arraignment on Tuesday.

"God bless you, but justice will be served believe that," Julius Clark said of Gonzalez-Nunez. Were going to be all right."
San Diego Police surrounded a home Monday in the Clairemont area after a report of shots fired.

Officers arrived to the home on Gila Avenue at 11 a.m. The neighborhood is south of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard and west of Clairemont Drive.

As they arrived, officers tried to pull over a black and red car that was driving away from the area. The driver and passenger inside the vehicle jumped out and ran away on foot, police said.

Officers searched the area near Cole Street and Clairemont Drive for two men. No arrests were made.

Two residents who ran out of the home during the shooting were briefly detained by police for questioning.

"It's extremely scary," said one neighbor who asked to be identified as Collette. Shes lived across the street from the suspects home for about 17 years.

She and her daughter, Desiree, have called the police on several other occasions for suspicious activity.

On Monday, they heard several shots before two groups of people ran from the house and got into two different cars.

Other nearby residents said the incident doesn't make them feel safe and were upset that police had released the residents.

Police said they did not have enough evidence to enter the home Monday but they will be investigating. Residents of the home declined to comment to NBC7.

No other information was available.
Passersby say they felt they had to rescue a driver trapped Sunday inside a car by water falling from 17-story high water geyser in downtown San Diego.

"I mean all the geyser, like thousands of gallons of water just dropping on him, it felt like he was drowning in the car," witness Scott Alaman said.

A fire hydrant shot water high into the air after a car hit the hydrant just after 4 p.m. Sunday, the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) confirmed.

Traffic was backed up in all directions after the two-car crash at 10th and A Street.

The driver who hit the hydrant was unable to get out of his car so people in the street pulled him out.

"We realized the guy was still in the car, so there was a crowd of people rushed over there tried to get the car open," Alaman said.

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The driver was taken to the hospital. No one else was injured.
A man who participated in the Rolling Thunder ride died Sunday after his motorcycle crashed on Interstate 66 in Arlington County, police say.

Virginia State Police identified him on Monday as 66-year-old Craig A. Vanbrunt, of Pendleton, Indiana.

Police said a group of motorcyclists were driving west on I-66 when they approached stopped traffic ahead of the Rosslyn tunnel. Vanbrunt was unable to brake in time and lost control, state police said.

Vanbrunt, who was wearing a helmet, fell from the bike, state police said. They responded to the crash at 4:13 p.m.

Vanbrunt was taken to George Washington University Hospital, where he later died.

Police said the man was part of a group that had participated in the Rolling Thunder Ride for Freedom through D.C. earlier in the day.

No other vehicles or motorcycles were involved in the crash.

The crash is under investigation.

Each Memorial Day weekend, thousands of bikers gather in D.C. to participate in the Rolling Thunder ride, which pays tribute to those who were killed, prisoners of war or missing in action in Vietnam.
More than 38 million Americans traveled for the long Memorial Day holiday weekend, and many are finally home.

Most of the airports were packed, and the roads weren't much better. For some, the problem happened as they approached the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The traffic just to get around airport has become such an issue that officials are looking for answers to ease it.

The Reagan National Airport loop turns into a parking lot at times. Shifting flyers to Metro comes with its own issues. Widening the road would encroach on the airport itself and neighboring Crystal City.

A new entrance to the airport may have to be considered, but officials are weighing all options. The problem really has to do with DCA becoming a product of its own success. So many flights are taking off and landing and so many people are using the airport that the grounds cant hold everyone.

The cellphone waiting lot usually requires its own wait just to get a parking space. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority conceded travelers arent imagining more traffic than ever.

The authority said just as added passengers have crowded the terminals, gates and baggage system, they are also crowding the parking and roadways. Terri Boulding, from D.C., said the airport could simply handle the flow better.

The police, they make it so rough, Boulding said. You have to pick up people. If he would direct them into a spot, instead of telling them to move on, they wouldnt keep circling around and tying up traffic.

The airports authority said they are fully aware what is happening at Reagan National. Theyd actually like to see a lot of passenger traffic shift to Washington Dulles International Airport so that it would lessen the burden here at DCA. They said they are trying to find traffic alternatives to make it easier for all of users of the airport.
Police in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, say one person is dead and 4 others are injured following a single-car crash Sunday night.

The crash happened in the area of 1214 Old River Road.

Police say the driver, Gage Dyson, 20, of Riverside, Rhode Island, crashed into a utility pole.

Three passengers in the vehicle were transported to Rhode Island Hospital with serious injuries.

Another passenger, 17, was transported to Hasbro Hospital.

One of the passengers, Travis Rainville, 20, of Rhode Island, died from his injuries around 1:30 Monday morning.

Police do not believe anyone was wearing a seat belt.

The crash remains under investigation.
Two people are dead and two people are injured after a single-car crash in West Charleston, Vermont.

The crash happened Sunday at the intersection of VT105 westbound and Fontaine Road around 4:40 p.m., according to Vermont State Police.

According to police, Joshua Cole, 30, of Derby, lost control of the vehicle and hit a tree.

All three passengers were ejected.

Esperanza Robles, 29, of Derby Line, and Ryan Coulter, 26, of Newport, were killed in the crash.

Amanda Letourneau, 27, of East Charleston, is in serious condition after sustaining head and leg injuries.

Cole sustained head injuries in the crash.

Police say no one was wearing their seat-belts and alcohol and speed are factors contributing to the crash.

The crash remains under investigation.
Four people were displaced Sunday night when a 3-alarm fire broke out in Boston's Mission Hill neighborhood.

Crews knocked down the fire at a two-family home at 43 Iroquois St., fire officials confirmed.

Boston Fire responded just before 8:30 p.m. to find heavy fire. Second and third alarms were ordered shortly after.

No one was hurt, but the fire caused significant damage.

Investigators are working to determine what caused the fire.
Two people were rescued from a burning home in Hartford early Sunday morning.

Police were first on scene at a house fire at 68 School St. just after 4 a.m. Sunday.

When they arrived, officers were told by police dispatch that there were people inside the home.

One officer ran to the back door, kicked it open and located the family and their dog.

There were no injuries to the officers or anyone inside the home.

The fire department said it took them about 15 minutes to get the fire under control and 30 minutes to extinguish it.

"At this point I haven't had a chance to go into the interior but from the exterior it looks like the second floor was a complete loss," said Deputy Chief Clifton Cooper.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Vermont State Police say a man was hospitalized after a single-vehicle rollover crash in Landgrove, Vermont, early Monday morning.

The crash happened at the junction of Vermont Route 11 and Landgrove Hollow Road around 1:15 a.m.

Police say David Fenton, 21, of Londonderry, swerved off the roadway after crossing the median, crashed into a telephone pole and rolled over several times,

He was transported to Springfield Hospital with minor injuries.

The crash remains under investigation.
Police in Massachusetts are warning of a scam in the name of slain Auburn Police officer Ronald Tarentino.

Chicopee Police say a suspect is calling people, claiming to be raising money for Tarentino, who was shot to death in the line of duty last weekend.

Anyone who receives a call from (413) 329-2393, registered in Northfield, is advised not to give any information.

People who wish to help the fallen officer's family may send donations to the Officer Ronald Tarentino Jr. Memorial Fund at Savers Bank in Auburn.
Memorial Day events throughout New England have been cancelled or postponed Monday due to rainy weather in the region.

The parades in Duxbury, Scituate, Middleton, Haverhill, North Andover, Salisbury, Wilmington, and Beverly, Massachusetts, have been cancelled.

The Beverly Farm parade will be replaced with a ceremony at the Hastings House at 10 a.m.

Events in Scituate will be held at GAR Hall at 11 a.m.

Observances will be held in Marblehead in Abbot Hall. Salem observances are to go on as scheduled.

Ceremonies in Salisbury will happen at 10 a.m. at the Hilton Center.

The services held at the end of the Haverhill parade will be held at City Hall at 10:30.

The Memorial Day program in Brookline has been moved inside Town Hall at 11 a.m.

Parade activities in Norton will be moved inside the Yelle School gymnasium,

The parade in Norwell has been cancelled, but a ceremony will be held inside the Norwell Fire Station at 11 a.m.

The program in Chatham will be held indoors at the Community Center at 10 a.m.

The parades in Portland, Scarborough, Wells, Westbrook, Kennebunkport and Ogunquit, Maine, have been cancelled.

The parades in Nashua, Merrimack, Hampton and Pelham, New Hampshire, have been cancelled.

A ceremony will be taking place at Hampton academy at 11:30.

A ceremony in Merrimack will take place at 11:15 a.m. at the cemetery.

Many events in Connecticut have been cancelled as well.

Several towns have cancelled or postponed Memorial Day events due to a rainy forecast.

See below for a list of events and cancellations:

Avon Memorial Day parade cancelled. The town will hold a small Memorial Day service at the Avon Senior Center at 11 a.m.

Berlin Memorial Day parade cancelled. There will be an indoor service at the American Legion at 9 a.m.

Bethany Memorial Day parade cancelled. A ceremonial service will take place in the Town Hall gym at 10 a.m.

Branford Memorial Day parade cancelled. Ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. at Branford High School.

Bristol Memorial Day parade cancelled.

Clinton Memorial Day parade cancelled.

Coventry Memorial Day parade cancelled.

Danbury Memorial Day parade cancelled.

East Granby Memorial Day parade cancelled.

East Haddam Memorial Day parade cancelled.

East Hampton Memorial Day parade cancelled. A ceremony will be held at the High School at 9 a.m.

East Hartford Memorial Day parade cancelled.

East Haven will hold ceremonies indoors at the East Haven Senior Center at 91 Taylor Avenue. Program begins at 11:30 a.m.

East Lyme Memorial Day parade cancelled.

Farmington Memorial Day parade cancelled.

Forestville Memorial Day parade cancelled.

Glastonbury Memorial Day parade cancelled.

Granby Memorial Day parade is cancelled.

Guilford Memorial Day parade and ceremonies cancelled.

Hamden Memorial Day parade cancelled. There will be an indoor ceremony at Hamden Middle School at 11 a.m.

Madison Memorial Day parade cancelled. There will be a ceremony at the American Legion Hall at 43 Bradley Road at 10:30 a.m.

Manchester Memorial Day parade cancelled. A ceremony will take place at the Interdenominational Church Gospel on Main Street at 11 a.m.

New Britain Memorial Day services postponed until Tuesday at Central Park at 11 a.m. Memorial Day parade is still scheduled to start at 6 p.m.

Noank Memorial Day parade cancelled.

North Stonington Memorial Day parade cancelled. Services will be held at 10 a.m. at The Grange

Norwalk Memorial Day parade cancelled.

Old Saybrook Dockside Ceremony at Saybrook Point & Memorial Day parade cancelled. Formal Memorial Day program will be held at Old Saybrook Fire Department at 10 a.m.

Ridgefield Memorial Day parade cancelled.

Rocky Hill Memorial Day parade cancelled. A ceremonial service will be held at the VFW on Main St. at 9:30 a.m.

Simsbury Memorial Day parade is still scheduled for 1:30 p.m. (The Tarriffville Memorial Parade at 10 a.m. has been cancelled)

Southbury Memorial Day parade cancelled. The ceremony will take place at the Parks and Recreation/Senior Center Building at 11 a.m. The Memorial Day family picnic at Ballantine Park is also cancelled.

South Windsor Memorial Day parade is cancelled. There will also be a ceremony at 10 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park.

Southington Memorial Day parade cancelled. Ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. at the American Legion Hall.

Suffield Memorial Day parade cancelled. Ceremony to take place at Suffield High School at 10 a.m.

Tarriffville Memorial parade at 10 a.m. has been cancelled. (The Simsbury Memorial Day Parade is still scheduled for 1:30 p.m.)

Trumbull Memorial Day parade cancelled. There will be a service at the Vietnam Memorial at 7:30 a.m. and a service at the All Wars Memorial at 8:30 a.m.

Unionville Memorial Day parade cancelled.

Vernon Memorial Day parade cancelled.

Wallingford Memorial Day parade cancelled. There will be a ceremony at Sheehan High School at 10 a.m.

Watertown Memorial Day parade cancelled.

West Hartford Memorial Day parade cancelled.

West Haven Memorial Day parade postponed to Sunday, June 5

Wilton Memorial Day parade is cancelled. Memorial services and a pancake breakfast will be held at the Congregational Church at 11 a.m.
It will be 16 years this July that Kerri McGrury has worked for the Gage County Victim Assistance Program.

In that time, she has helped hundreds of victims feel safe and find relief through the criminal justice system. Originally from Gage County, McGrurys background in criminal justice has allowed her in conjunction with the Beatrice Police Department provide support for victims of anything from domestic assault to burglary.

The Victim Assistance Program originated from community surveys which said that the victim felt like he or she wasnt being well represented and that led us to develop the program, said Beatrice Police Chief Bruce Lang. Over the years it has expanded to what it is today.

Like any program, its only as good as the people doing it, Lang continued. Kerri has a passion for the program and for helping victims. I certainly hope to continue to be working with her for a long time.

With the police heading investigations, crime victims can often seek support from the department itself, which is exactly what the program aims to provide. The Victim Assistance Unit is intent on giving victims a voice and making sure they have an understanding of the criminal justice system.

We provide direct services to crime victims in Gage County, said McGrury, who is the victim assistance coordinator for Gage County. We see all kinds of victims and provide a wide range of services to them.

Services the program provides include crisis intervention, compensation assistance, personal advocacy, transportation, protection order assistance, criminal justice advocacy, restitution information and assistance, and a variety of other information and services.

Some victims may not have a firm grasp of criminal justice system proceedings, but with McGrury and the Victim Assistance Program they have someone to rely on for answers as they seek justice.

We want the victims to feel empowered, McGrury said.

She said sometimes the program follows up with the victim for years, and other times they only have to counsel them once. Each person is helped as long as they need it.

Earlier this spring McGrury was awarded for her commitment to victims and the program.

Recently we were fortunate to learn that Victim Assistance Coordinator Kerri McGrury was named Victim Advocate of the Year in the state of Nebraska, Lang told the Beatrice City Council at its most recent meeting. I wanted to recognize her publicly and let everybody know what an incredible program we have going here.
A group of churches in Dereham have launched an ambitious project which aims to meet needs in the town, including the provision of food and skills training.

A group of churches in Dereham have launched an ambitious project which aims to meet needs in the town, including the provision of food and skills training.

Emilys art boosts growing Yarmouth foodbank A pupil at a primary school in Bradwell has been selling her pictures in order to raise money for the Yarmouth and Magdalen Foodbank, which is expanding its capacity and is seeking more volunteers. Read more

Patrick Regan helps Norwich to bounce forwards On Saturday St Stephens in Norwich hosted Bouncing Forwards as part of a national tour by the mental health charity Kintsugi Hope. Read more

Painting and biblical feasting in Overstrand There will be opportunities to improve your painting skills and indulge in some biblical feasting next month at the Pleasaunce in Overstrand in North Norfolk. Read more

Latest Norfolk Christian community events Events of interest to the Norwich and Norfolk Christian community happening over the next few weeks are listed. Read more

National award for Dereham Christian bookshop The Green Pastures Christian bookshop in Dereham has won a national award for providing boxes of Christian books to 21 local schools. Read more

Norma's care home jigsaw challenge complete A resident at Norwich-based care home Corton House has completed an incredible 70 jigsaw puzzles in celebration of the homes 70th anniversary this year. Read more

Norwich charity's appeal to support Palestinian students A Norwich educational charity, set up in memory of a Norwich Anglican priest, to support students from a Palestinian refugee camp, is inviting people to support its Christmas appeal  to be launched on November 29. Read more

Norfolk drug and alcohol charity pays tribute to its founder Andy Sexton, CEO of the Matthew Project, introduces a series of tributes from the charity to its founder, Peter Farley. Read more

Cliff look alike at Cromer Church breakfast Cliff Richard tribute performer Will Chandler will be the speaker at a special Mens Breakfast at Cromer Parish Hall next month, and all men are welcome to come along. Read more

Heartsease Lane Methodist church to close As part of a reorganisation of the Norwich Methodist Circuit, Heartsease Lane Methodist Church will be closing towards the end of the year. Read more

Free Julian of Norwich reflection and prayer day The Friends of Julian of Norwich present a free Quiet Half-Day with Robert Fruehwirth, author and former Priest Director of the Julian Centre, on Saturday November 12, 10.30am-2pm. Read more

What it means for us to repent Nigel Fox believes that now is the time for a tide of repentance, and shares his thoughts about what that actually means for our society. Read more

Christmas card shop opens in Norwich church Thousands of Christmas cards from around 30 local Norfolk charities have gone on sale today (October 19) at the Original Norwich Charity Christmas Card Shop inside St Peter Mancroft church in Norwich city centre. Read more

Revelation Christian Resource Centre and Cafe Revelation in Norwich is a Christian resource centre, offering a bookshop, a meeting place and a welcoming refuge for refreshment open to visitors of any faith or none. Read more

Farewell as Yarmouth church leader moves on Captain Marie Burr, the Salvation Army leader in Great Yarmouth, has paid tribute to everyone at the church and charity after she left her post at the end of last month to move to a new role. Read more

Norwich Cathedral chorister in BBC final Norwich Cathedral chorister Alice Platten has her sights set on being crowned BBC Young Chorister of the Year after reaching the final stages of the prestigious nationwide competition. Read more

Norwich to hear pastor, Policeman and tramp tale Essex Baptist Pastor Dave McDowell has been a Policeman, fed orphans in India and lived under a boat as a tramp. He will tell his remarkable story at the October dinner of Norwich FGB on Wednesday October 26. Read more
Iran has ordered foreign messaging apps to transfer data and activity records of Iranian users to local servers within a year, a move that will give the country a greater ability to monitor and censor the online activity of its people.

The countrys Supreme Council of Cyberspace has issued instructions to foreign messaging companies active in the country, requiring them to transfer all data and activity linked to Iranian citizens into the country in order to ensure their continued activity," news reports said quoting state-run media.

Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are already blocked in the country whose government holds a tight control over Internet access by its people.

The requirement that the data be stored on local servers could give the government easier access to the information as then the domestic operations of the messaging companies would likely be subject to local regulations.

The messaging app most likely to be affected by this move is Telegram, which is very popular in the country and has an user base of about 20 million, or one of every four persons in the country, according to Reuters.

While hardliners have met the meteoric rise of messaging apps like Telegram in Iran with strenuous opposition, more moderate members of the Iranian establishment see in the platform an opportunity for getting state-approved content to its massive user base, according to a report by Small Media in London.

In April, Mahmoud Vaezi, the countrys minister of communications told a local news agency that Telegram had promised to close down pornographic channels within 24 hours of receiving a request from the the Iran government.
Meet Stealth Falcon, a sophisticated and likely state-sponsored cyberespionage group, that is hell bent on conducting targeted spyware attacks against Emriati journalists, activists and dissidents.

The digital attacks started in 2012 and are still being carried out against United Arab Emirates (UAE) dissidents. Its not just spying with custom spyware that leads to dissidents being arbitrarily detained; once identified as criticizing the authorities, UAE dissidents can be forcibly disappeared.

The UAE has gotten much more sophisticated since we first caught them using Hacking Team software in 2012, Bill Marczak, a senior researcher at Citizen Lab, told the New York Times. They've clearly upped their game. They're not on the level of the United States or the Russians, but they're clearly moving up the chain.

Citizen Lab Director Ronald Deibert called Stealth Falcon an extensive and highly elaborate targeted digital attack campaign. Citizen Lab researchers used a combination of reverse engineering, network scanning and other highly intricate detective methods to unearth a vast campaign of digital attacks aimed at UAE dissidents, organized primarily through fake Twitter accounts, phony websites and spoofed emails. The attacks appear to have had extremely serious consequences: many dissidents targeted, and presumably entrapped by Stealth Falcon, disappeared into the clutches of UAE authorities and were reportedly tortured.

How Stealth Falcon pulled off its targeted attacks

You really should read Be Calm and (Dont) Enable Macros: Malware Sent to UK Journalist Exposes New Threat Actor Targeting UAE Dissidents. The excellent and in-depth new report by Citizen Lab explains how Stealth Falcon used a malicious URL shortening site, booby-trapped emails from a fictitious organization called The Right to Fight, social engineering, and baited tweets by fake journalist Andrew Dwight for the targeted attacks.

If a user clicked on a URL shortened by Stealth Falcon operators, the site profiles the software on a users computer, perhaps for future exploitation, before redirecting the user to a benign website containing bait content. Citizen Lab identified 402 instances of bait content that were sent by Stealth Falcon.

One of those URLs was sent to Rori Donaghy, a U.K. journalist and founder of the Emirates Center for Human Rights. Citizen Lab tracked the spyware to a network of 67 active command and control (C2) servers, suggesting broader use of the spyware, perhaps by the same or other operators.

The attack on Donaghy started with a November 2015 email from The Right to Fight, asking him to be on a human rights panel. He was suspicious and sent it to the researchers. Before being redirected from the link included in the email, JavaScript would profile the targets computer.

When Donaghy responded per the researchers instructions, The Right to Fight sent another, asking him to enable macros. That email was flagged as malicious, so he asked for another and received a link to a password-protect site to download organizational information.

Citizen Lab Fake Proofpoint image in the malicious document sent to Donaghy.

If the victim enabled macros, then he or she would see a document.

The researchers wrote:

The document attempts to execute code on the recipients computer, using a macro. The macro passes a Base64-encoded command to Windows PowerShell, which gathers system information via Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), and attempts to determine the installed version of .NET by querying the registry.

Browser profiling

Citizen Lab suggested Stealth Falcon would profile a users system, perhaps to gather intelligence about potentially exploitable vulnerabilities.

The profiling actions included attempting to get the versions of Flash, Shockwave, Java, RealPlayer, Windows Media Player and Microsoft Office.

If the browser was not Internet Explorer, then it attempted to get a list of enabled plugins.

It also checked for an exploit in older Tor Browser versions and attempted to deanonymize the user.

For all browsers, it captured the user agent, cookies, OS, size of the browser window and time zone.

For Windows browsers, it would attempt to get the specific antivirus program installed on the machine. That code was borrowed from JS-Recon, a tool that was presented at BlackHat Abu Dhabi in 2010.

Citizen Lab found some similarities to the Empire backdoor, but no shared code, and suspects the backdoor is custom-made.

Another attempt to entrap Donaghy and others was made by fake journalist Andrew Dwight; the Twitter profile for the same persona had tweeted to three UAE dissident accounts. One of those dissidents was a blogger who was arrested for criticizing the UAE. One arrest followed a tweet, another followed talking to CNN, and Obaid Yousef Al-Zaabi is believed to still be imprisoned.

Citizen Lab An example provided by Citizen Lab of the fake journalist's bait tweet.

Those Stealth Falcon attacks may be potentially related to others such as an Instagram attack, a fake file-sharing site and fake web forums.

The researchers concluded:

Stealth Falcon appears to be a new, state-sponsored threat actor. As an operator, Stealth Falcon is distinguished by well-informed and sophisticated social engineering, combined with moderately sophisticated technical attempts to deanonymize and monitor political targets working on the UAE, and relatively simple malcode.

Citizen Lab has no smoking gun, but it did collect circumstantial evidence that Stealth Falcon is linked to the UAE government. That circumstantial evidence points to an alignment of interests between Stealth Falcon and the UAE Security Forces.

Citizen Lab hopes other researchers will work to uncover more cases and asked anyone who received a link to aax.me or an email from Andrew Dwight to contact them.
In light of continue developments, primarily since 2008, that there has been proved that there exists in the United States that its Legal System operates on a Two Tiered approach to justice rendered that benefits Democratic Elites and Woke Ideological Virtues Signalers, and their co-dependent wards, to the exclusion of normal hardworking American citizens: What is your suggestion in remedying this widespread injustice?

Overhaul the Department of Justice and their enforcers - the FBI. Disband the FBI, and request that congress investigate all unethical and Unpatriot practices American practices. Continue with the current system since the two tiered justice system and been so remarkably beneficial to Democratic Socialist political hegemony. cause.
Over the last few years, ever since the tax reform of 2013 took hold in North Carolina, there has been a steady push to expand the sales tax to services in an attempt to make it a more pure consumption tax. The idea, on the part of some analysts and law makers, has been to eventually eliminate the income tax and replace it with a broad based sales tax that taxes both goods and services. In other words, to replace the current income tax, where the base is both consumption and savings, with a tax that has only consumption in the taxable base.I will not review the merits of replacing the traditional income tax with a consumption tax. These arguments have been gone over at length in several other papers . The whole point of making the move from an income based tax, i.e. consumption plus savings, to a consumption based tax is to eliminate the double taxation of saving, investment, and entrepreneurship which is an inherent bias in an income tax.What I want to argue is that there is more than one way to accomplish this transformation, and the current push to do it through the elimination of the I income tax may not be the best approach.Here at the JLF we have spilled a great deal of ink going over the details of how the state could convert the existing income tax, while staying within its established framework, into what is called a "consumed income tax." As noted above, a person's annual income is essentially divided into two components, what they spend (consumption) and what they save/invest. At its root, what a consumed income tax does is remove saving and investment from the equation leaving spending/consumption the only component to be taxed.If one starts with his entire income, before any tax rate is applied to it, any amount that would go into a savings account or investment account of any kind would be subtracted out. On the flip side, any money that is withdrawn from savings and investment to be used to purchase something would be added back in. So all money that is spent, whether on goods or services, would be taxed. In other words, all savings would be treated like a regular IRA, except people would not have to wait until retirement to use their money and there would be no penalties for early withdrawal. By definition, an "income" tax structured in such a manner automatically is converted into a broad based consumption tax. In order to move in this direction, the Locke Foundation has proposed allowing bank and investment institutions in the state to establish what are called Unlimited Savings Allowance (USA) accounts that would function like these modified IRA accounts. We have also proposed eliminating capital gains and corporate income taxes. All of this is in an attempt to ultimately remove savings from the tax base and move toward a more pure consumption based tax.It should be noted that the tax reform of 2013 has taken some important steps in this direction. In particular, by lowering and flattening the tax rate and by drastically reducing the corporate tax it has significantly reduced the tax penalty on all productive activity. Our hope is that the legislature would simply continue in this direction by taking a look at allowing saving and investment institutions to implement USA accounts, possibly through a pilot program ,and also by creating some kind of tax differential with respect to the rate or the base for capital gains income.Theoretically, what I just described could be accomplished by reforming the sales tax and abolishing the income tax. Please note, the sales tax, like the income tax, would need reforming. It is at present not a pure, broad based consumption tax. It doesn't tax services and penalizes investment by introducing a form of double taxation by taxing business to business sales. So in order to "purify" the sales tax, reform would have to include expanding the tax to all consumer services, but not business to business services, plus eliminating all current sales taxes on business purchases, which are investments. The exercise would be one of base broadening in one area and base narrowing in another.This is theoretically possible, but politically it could be a nightmare. With each attempt to expand the current sales tax to a new service there would be fierce opposition from a new special interest group. Imagine the pushback from lawyers, accountants, doctors, hospitals, real estate agents, etc. when it is proposed that they need to start being tax collectors. It should also be noted that movement in the direction of trying to expand the sales tax to some services while leaving in place business to business taxes, which is largely what has occurred so far, may actually exacerbate the double taxation problem. The customers of a hair cutter who is paying taxes on his or her clippers, scissors, chairs, hair products, etc., is already paying a tax on the service, even though it is indirect and embedded in the price. To add the same tax to the hair cut itself is, to some degree, taxing it twice.An additional problem is the rate. It has been estimated that to make the required reform of the sales tax and eliminate the income tax would require a sales tax hike to anywhere from 8 to 10 percent. Such high sales tax rates would enhance the competitiveness of out of state internet sales, which in many cases are not taxed at all.Since 2013 North Carolina has moved a long way in the direction of sound tax policy, by both changing the tax base and lowering the rate. But in moving forward some important decisions will have to be made. Should we design future tax reforms to move the system in the direction of a consumed income tax or an expanded sales tax and a higher rate, with the goal of eliminating the entire income tax structure, leaving the bulk of tax collection, and the costs associated with it, to private businesses? The answer to this question will make a lot of difference in how we approach tax reform in the coming years.
Board of Governors says if Attorney General Roy Cooper won't join lawsuits, board will ask General Assembly to force Cooper's office to pay for outside counsel



UNC Board of Governors Chairman Lou Bissette, pictured here at the May 27 BOG meeting, has asked Attorney General Roy Cooper to reimburse the university system for legal fees it incurs in lawsuits related to House Bill 2. (CJ Photo by Kari Travis)

"I understand that he's very busy campaigning [for governor] right now, but he needs to do his damn job. And if he is unwilling to do so, he should simply resign and focus all of his time on the campaign. This is a major financial impact and his actions are going to cost the university millions of dollars."

CHAPEL HILL North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper may be required to reimburse the University of North Carolina system for legal fees it must pay following Cooper's refusal to represent the university in a federal lawsuit over the state's controversial House Bill 2.On May 27, the board voted to request that the General Assembly assess Cooper's office for all legal fees, should he fail within two months to agree to a formal request from board chairman Lou Bissette for reimbursement.Bissette, who said he hopes Cooper will heed his letter , voted against the board's motion to take the matter before state lawmakers if the attorney general fails to do so.Bissette and system President Margaret Spellings have insisted that the university does not practice discrimination as charged in lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina. The lawsuits contend that H.B. 2's provision that students must use the bathroom and changing room facilities of the gender on their birth certificates discriminates against transgender students.Cooper called the law a "national embarrassment" in late March when he said he would not defend the state in any lawsuits related to H.B. 2.Bissette said during a press conference following the board's vote.Bissette's letter addresses Cooper's refusal to represent UNC.Bissette's letter states.Bissette continues.While a few board members agreed with Bissette that the letter itself was an adequate step, several others expressed concern and indignation over Cooper's refusal to represent the university, citing the action as costly and irresponsible.said board member Marty Kotis.The UNC system has hired three attorneys from two different law firms, Jones Day and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, both based out of Washington, D.C. Legal fees will be high, and there is currently no way of knowing how long the university will be in the fight, Bissette said."If we somehow find a way out of these lawsuits early on, the costs would be less," Bissette said. "
NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia.

Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) summary The full CMI on the next page has more details. If you are worried about using this medicine, speak to your doctor or pharmacist.

Why am I using CAVERJECT IMPULSE?



For more information, see Section CAVERJECT IMPULSE contains the active ingredient alprostadil, also known as prostaglandin E1 (PGE1). CAVERJECT IMPULSE is used to treat erectile dysfunction. It may also be used to help in the diagnosis of erectile dysfunction.For more information, see Section 1. Why am I using CAVERJECT IMPULSE? in the full CMI.

What should I know before I use CAVERJECT IMPULSE?

Do not use CAVERJECT IMPULSE if you have ever had an allergic reaction to alprostadil or any of the ingredients listed at the end of the CMI. Do not use CAVERJECT IMPULSE if you have a penis that is scarred or not straight, painful erections, a penile implant, certain illnesses, or abnormal thickening of the tissues of your penis. Talk to your doctor if you have any other medical conditions, take any other medicines, or if your partner intends to become pregnant. For more information, see Section 2. What should I know before I use CAVERJECT IMPULSE? in the full CMI.

What if I am taking other medicines?



For more information, see Section Some medicines may interfere with CAVERJECT IMPULSE and affect how it works.For more information, see Section 3. What if I am taking other medicines? in the full CMI.

How do I use CAVERJECT IMPULSE?

Your doctor will tell you how much CAVERJECT IMPULSE to use. You should use CAVERJECT IMPULSE no more than once in a 24-hour period and not more than 3 times a week. You must be properly instructed and trained in the injection technique by your doctor before using CAVERJECT IMPULSE. More instructions can be found in Section 4. How do I use CAVERJECT IMPULSE? in the full CMI.

What should I know while using CAVERJECT IMPULSE?

Things you should do Tell any doctor or pharmacist you visit that you are using CAVERJECT IMPULSE. If your partner becomes pregnant while you are using CAVERJECT IMPULSE, tell your doctor or your partner's obstetrician. Tell your doctor if your erection lasts for more than one hour. Visit your doctor regularly. Things you should not do Do not use CAVERJECT IMPULSE to treat any other complaints unless your doctor or pharmacist tells you to. Do not change the dose without first checking with your doctor. Do not use any mixture left in the syringe for a second injection. Do not use the needle if it is bent. Driving or using machines Do not drive or use any machines or tools until you know how CAVERJECT IMPULSE affects you. Looking after your medicine Store CAVERJECT IMPULSE in a cool dry place below 25C. Do not freeze or refrigerate. Use the solution of CAVERJECT IMPULSE as soon as possible after dissolving the powder. If the solution is not used right away, store it in the refrigerator at 2C to 8C for not more than 24 hours. For more information see Section 5. What should I know while using CAVERJECT IMPULSE? in the full CMI.

Are there any side effects?

Like many medicines CAVERJECT IMPULSE may have side effects. Any side effects are likely to be minor and temporary. However, some may be serious and need medical attention. For more information, including what to do if you have any side effects, see Section 6. Are there any side effects? in the full CMI.

Why am I using CAVERJECT IMPULSE?

CAVERJECT IMPULSE contains the active ingredient alprostadil. Alprostadil is also known as prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) and is found naturally in many parts of your body. CAVERJECT IMPULSE may be prescribed by your doctor to treat erectile dysfunction (inability to maintain an erection to have sexual intercourse). CAVERJECT IMPULSE may also be used to help in the diagnosis of erectile dysfunction. CAVERJECT IMPULSE works by increasing the blood flow to your penis. The increased blood flowing into the penis is trapped in the spongy erectile tissue of the penis called the corpora cavernosa. When these chambers fill with blood they swell and your penis becomes erect. CAVERJECT IMPULSE is injected into the side of the penis and should produce an erection in 5 to 20 minutes. The erection should last for about 30 to 60 minutes. Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why CAVERJECT IMPULSE has been prescribed for you. Your doctor may have prescribed it for another reason.

What should I know before I use CAVERJECT IMPULSE?

Warnings

Do not use CAVERJECT IMPULSE if you: are allergic to alprostadil, or any of the ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet. Always check the ingredients to make sure you can use this medicine. have a penis which is scarred, not straight, or if you experience painful erections (Peyronie's disease) have a penile implant have certain illnesses such as leukaemia, multiple myeloma, sickle cell anaemia or any other condition which causes your erection to last for a long time (priapism) have abnormal thickening of the tissues of your penis. CAVERJECT IMPULSE is not for use in women, children or newborns. CAVERJECT IMPULSE should not be used by men who have been advised not to have sex.

Check with your doctor if: you have any other medical conditions you take any medicines for any other conditions your partner intends to become pregnant. The use of CAVERJECT IMPULSE offers no protection from sexually transmitted diseases or those caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) such as AIDS. Your doctor can give you more information about the type of protection you should use against these diseases. You may also need to consider using appropriate contraception. The injection of CAVERJECT IMPULSE can cause a small amount of bleeding at the site of injection. If you have any diseases that can be passed by blood, e.g., hepatitis B, there could be a higher chance of passing them onto your partner. During treatment, you may be at risk of developing certain side effects. It is important you understand these risks and how to monitor for them. See additional information under Section 6. Are there any side effects

Pregnancy and breastfeeding Tell your doctor or your partner's obstetrician if your partner becomes pregnant while you are using CAVERJECT IMPULSE.

What if I am taking other medicines?

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking any other medicines, including any medicines, vitamins or supplements that you buy without a prescription from your pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. Tell your doctor if you are taking any medicines used to stop blood clotting (anticoagulants) such as heparin or warfarin. Your doctor and pharmacist have more information on medicines to be careful with or avoid while using this medicine. Check with your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure about what medicines, vitamins or supplements you are taking and if these affect CAVERJECT IMPULSE.

How do I use CAVERJECT IMPULSE?

How much to use Your doctor will tell you how much CAVERJECT IMPULSE to use. This depends on your condition and whether or not you are taking any other medicines. You should use CAVERJECT IMPULSE no more than once in a 24-hour period and not more than three times a week. You should not change the dose without first talking to your doctor.

How to prepare CAVERJECT IMPULSE CAVERJECT IMPULSE is a single use device. The syringe device should only be used to administer one dose and then discarded. You must be properly instructed and trained in the injection technique by your doctor before using CAVERJECT IMPULSE. Follow your doctor's instructions at all times. If you are not certain about the way to prepare your CAVERJECT IMPULSE injection, please contact your doctor. This leaflet is only intended to remind you about the instructions that your doctor has already given you. Follow these instructions carefully to prepare and inject a dose of CAVERJECT IMPULSE. If the needle is bent at any time, DO NOT use it for injecting CAVERJECT IMPULSE. DO NOT attempt to straighten it prior to injecting CAVERJECT IMPULSE. A bent and straightened needle may be more likely to break. Needle breakage with a portion of the needle remaining in the penis has been reported and, in some cases, required hospitalisation and surgical removal. If the needle is bent, remove it from the syringe, discard and attach a new, unused sterile needle to the syringe as described in point 4. Before you start to prepare and inject CAVERJECT IMPULSE, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. If your partner wishes to be included in preparing or giving the injection, they should also wash and dry their hands. 1. Connecting the needle to the device. Unpack 1 syringe, 1 needle and 2 alcohol swabs from your CAVERJECT IMPULSE pack. Open one of the alcohol swab packets and use the swab to clean the rubber membrane at the tip of the syringe. Remove the needle from its sterile packaging. Hold the syringe with the needle-end pointing upwards. Attach the needle to the device by pressing the needle on to the tip of the device and turning clockwise until it is firmly in place. 2. Removing the outer needle cap Pull off the outer protective cap of the needle. Hold the device with the needle pointing upwards. The plunger rod is now in the extended position. 3. Mixing the powder and the liquid in the device Hold the device with the needle pointing upwards, gripping the blue chamber with one hand. Turn the plunger clockwise until it will not turn any further (fully wound). This automatically mixes the alprostadil powder with the diluent. The reconstituted solution will now appear in the clear chamber. The solution may be cloudy at first. Gently shake to make sure the solution is evenly mixed and the powder has dissolved. The solution should be clear. Do not use if it remains cloudy or contains particles. 4. Removing the inner needle cap Hold the device with the needle pointing upwards. Carefully remove the inner protective cap from the needle. Do not touch the exposed needle. The needle is very fine. Take care not to bump it. Do not use if the needle is bent. 5. Removing air from the device Remove any large bubbles by gently tapping the clear chamber with your finger. Ensure the plunger rod is fully wound. Hold the device in one hand with the needle pointing upwards. Remove air from the clear chamber by pressing the plunger rod as far as it will go. A few drops will appear at the needle point and the solution will be free from bubbles. There may be small microbubbles at the side of the glass cartridge. 6. Dialling your dose Hold the device in one hand. Grip the blue chamber with the dose window facing you (needle tip to the left). Turn the plunger rod slowly clockwise to choose the right dose. Your doctor will tell you what this should be. The number appearing in the window indicates the dose of the injection. If you make a mistake, continue to turn the plunger rod clockwise until you reach the correct dose. If you do not wish to use CAVERJECT IMPULSE immediately, you can keep the reconstituted solution for up to 24 hours if refrigerated. 7. How to inject CAVERJECT IMPULSE injection is injected into either of two sections of the penis called the corpora cavernosa. Your doctor will show you these areas on the sides of your penis. Follow these instructions carefully before proceeding with your CAVERJECT IMPULSE injection. DO NOT use the needle if it is bent. Perform the self-injection procedure whilst sitting in an upright, slightly reclining or standing position. Inject only in the side of the penis (corpus cavernosum) as shown by your doctor. Do not inject into any visible veins, the top or the underside of the penis. Alternate the injection site each time you use CAVERJECT IMPULSE; choose one side of your penis for this injection, use the other side next time and so on. Within each area, the actual point of injection should also be changed each time. 8. Preparing the injection site Open the second alcohol swab packet. Hold the head of your penis with your thumb and forefinger. Fully stretch your penis away from your body, straight ahead. If you are uncircumcised, the foreskin must be pulled back before you inject the solution. Clean the injection area with the second alcohol swab and let it dry. 9. Inserting the needle Keeping a firm grip on your penis, take the syringe in your free hand. The needle should be inserted at a 90 degree angle. With a steady, continuous motion, insert the entire length of the needle straight into the injection site. Push the plunger firmly with your thumb. This may require some pressure. Withdraw the needle from your penis. Apply pressure to the injection site for at least five minutes with the alcohol swab. If bleeding occurs, maintain this pressure on the injection site until the bleeding stops. Massage the penis to help the CAVERJECT IMPULSE spread through it. If there is any solution left in the syringe DO NOT keep it to use for a second injection. The syringe device is designed for single use only. After using the contents of this pack, dispose of all materials safely. Do not reuse or share needles or syringes.

If you use too much (overdose) If you think that you have used too much CAVERJECT IMPULSE you may need urgent medical attention. You should immediately: phone the Poisons Information Centre

(by calling 13 11 26), or contact your doctor, or go to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital. You should do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. Always take the outer carton of the medicine with you.

What should I know while using CAVERJECT IMPULSE?

Things you should do Remember to use only the amount of CAVERJECT IMPULSE that your doctor told you to use. If you use more CAVERJECT IMPULSE than your doctor has prescribed, your erection may last longer than is medically safe and may require medical intervention. Contact your doctor straight away if your erection lasts for more than four (4) hours. This can be painful and may require medical treatment. Remind any doctor, dentist or pharmacist you visit that you are using CAVERJECT IMPULSE. An injection with CAVERJECT IMPULSE should produce an erection that lasts for 30 minutes to 1 hour and enables you to have sex. Tell your doctor as soon as possible if your erection lasts for more than 1 hour. Your dose may need to be reduced. If your partner becomes pregnant while you are using CAVERJECT IMPULSE, tell your doctor or your partner's obstetrician. Visit your doctor regularly. From time to time your doctor will need to examine the injection site to detect any abnormal thickening of the tissues of your penis and may need to change your dose of or stop your treatment with CAVERJECT IMPULSE. Always discuss with your doctor any problems or difficulties during or after using CAVERJECT IMPULSE.

Things to be mindful of If you are being treated with warfarin or heparin (medicines that are used to stop your blood from clotting) there is an increased chance of bleeding after injection.

Things you should not do Do not give CAVERJECT IMPULSE to anyone else, even if they have the same condition as you. Do not use CAVERJECT IMPULSE to treat any other complaints unless your doctor or pharmacist tells you to. Do not change the dose without first checking with your doctor. Do not use any mixture left in the syringe for a second injection. Do not use the needle to inject if it is bent (refer to notes under the subheading "How to prepare CAVERJECT IMPULSE")

Driving or using machines Do not drive or use any machines or tools until you know how CAVERJECT IMPULSE affects you.

Looking after your medicine Store your CAVERJECT IMPULSE in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 25C. Do not freeze or refrigerate; do not store it: in the bathroom or near a sink, or in the car or on windowsills. Keep CAVERJECT IMPULSE where children cannot reach it. During travel, care should be taken to avoid allowing the product to be stored at temperatures above 25C or below 2-8C. Do not store CAVERJECT IMPULSE in checked luggage during air travel. After dissolving the CAVERJECT IMPULSE powder, use the solution of CAVERJECT IMPULSE as soon as possible. If storage is necessary, then store in the refrigerator at 2-8C for not more than 24 hours. Do not freeze the dissolved solution. Do not use this medicine after the expiry date or if the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering.

When to discard your medicine Do not keep unused solution of CAVERJECT IMPULSE. After injecting CAVERJECT IMPULSE, immediately throw away the used medicine in a special 'sharps' container as instructed by your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

Getting rid of any unwanted medicine If you no longer need to use this medicine or it is out of date or damaged, take it to any pharmacy for safe disposal. After using CAVERJECT IMPULSE, dispose of all injection material safely. Your doctor or pharmacist will advise you on how to dispose of the used syringes and needles.

Are there any side effects?

All medicines can have side effects. If you do experience any side effects, most of them are minor and temporary. However, some side effects may need medical attention. See the information below and, if you need to, ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any further questions about side effects.

Side effects Side effects What to do Eye disorders: dilated pupils Gastrointestinal disorders: nausea dry mouth General disorders and administration site conditions: bruising, redness, swelling, bleeding or itching at the site of injection localized pain (buttocks, leg, genital, back or pelvis) Infections: yeast infection Muscle or bone related issues: leg cramps Renal and urinary related issues: the desire to pass urine more frequently than normal or difficulty in urinating. (If CAVERJECT IMPULSE is injected by mistake into the tube which carries urine out through the penis (urethra), some blood may appear in the urine or at the end of the penis). Nervous system disorders: numbness dizziness headache fainting increased sweating Reproductive system related issues: pain in the penis during erection inflammation of the head of the penis tight foreskin hardened areas developing at the site of injection. This can result in curvature of the penis abnormal ejaculation or painful erection swelling, redness, pain of the scrotum disorder of the testis (pain, warmth, swelling, thickening) Skin related issues: skin rash, redness, irritation, itchiness increased feeling of pain or sensitivity Speak to your doctor if you have any of these side effects and they worry you.

Serious side effects Serious side effects What to do changes in your heartbeat or palpitations changes in blood pressure prolonged erection (lasting 4 to 6 hours). Call your doctor straight away, or go straight to the Emergency Department at your nearest hospital if you notice any of these serious side effects. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice anything else that may be making you feel unwell. Other side effects not listed here may occur in some people. Always make sure you speak to your doctor or pharmacist before you decide to stop taking any of your medicines.

Reporting side effects After you have received medical advice for any side effects you experience, you can report side effects to the Therapeutic Goods Administration online at www.tga.gov.au/reporting-problems . By reporting side effects, you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine.

Product details

This medicine is only available with a doctor's prescription.

What CAVERJECT IMPULSE contains Active ingredient (main ingredient) alprostadil Other ingredients (inactive ingredients) alfadex, lactose monohydrate, sodium citrate dihydrate, hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. The diluent contains water for injections and benzyl alcohol. Do not use this medicine if you are allergic to any of these ingredients.

What CAVERJECT IMPULSE looks like CAVERJECT IMPULSE is supplied in a disposable syringe device containing a dual chamber glass cartridge. The front chamber of the glass cartridge contains a white to off-white powder and the rear chamber contains a clear liquid. The disposable syringe device has a front sleeve and a finger grip/plunger assembly. It is designed to deliver a single dose only. CAVERJECT IMPULSE 10 microgram - AUST R 90196 CAVERJECT IMPULSE 20 microgram - AUST R 90197
A person can be diagnosed as having a binge eating disorder (BED) when he or she eats an extreme amount of food over a short period of time without purging the food from the body. The individual may do this even when they are not hungry and become over-full to the point of discomfort after consuming an excessive amount. Some people buy extra food especially for the purpose of binge eating.

Image Credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock.com

Characteristics of a BED

The person with the BED tends to carry out the activity in private. This is often because the individual does not feel happy after the binge and instead feels embarrassed for anyone to know about it. They may have a sense of shame, guilt, or depression about their actions.

The bingeing behavior is also characterized by not being a one-off experience but one that is repeated regularly. For a person to be diagnosed as having the disorder, the activity needs to happen at least once a week for three months.

Diagnosis

BED is classified as a mental health disorder and has been included in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) that was published in 2013. This publication by the American Psychiatric Association provides an overview of recognised mental health disorders and is used by clinical staff to help them diagnose the different disorders in patients.

A doctor will help to diagnose the type of disorder that the patient is experiencing. Other types of common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, in which a person will try to keep their weight at a minimum through refraining from food or over-exercise, and bulimia, which involves binge eating and then making yourself sick to bring all of the food back up or using laxatives to excrete the food from the body as soon as possible.

A First-Person Account of Binge Eating Disorder | WebMD Play

Impact of binge eating

Eating disorders are dangerous to the health of a person suffering from a condition. Overeating can cause physical changes in a different way to disorders where a patient may under-eat and malnourish their body. The patient can start to gain considerable weight from the extra calories consumed.

The binge eating patient tends to opt for foods that are high in carbohydrates and can lead to high blood sugar. As a result, with the process repeated frequently, the patient can start to expose themselves to major health risks from high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, cholesterol, heart disease, cancers, and gall bladder disease.

The types of people who binge eat

In this particular disorder, the lifetime prevalence is 2% for men and 3.5% for women. Therefore, BED is one of the three most widely occurring eating disorders. This disorder tends to start in young people but the persons binge eating may not come to light to medical professionals or friends and family until they are much older, as it is an activity that people are ashamed of revealing.

Binge eating is often accompanied by other health problems. Some patients also have anxiety, a sense of worry and fear which can make a person restless, a lack of concentration, and an inability to sleep. The condition can vary in its seriousness but can also include heart palpitations.

Depression can be a factor for some individuals with BED. When depression is involved, the patient can have a sense of helplessness which goes on for weeks and months. Their interest in activities that they previously enjoyed has waned and they may also have suicidal feelings.

Other conditions that can accompany BED are personality disorders. With this, the patient has different ways of thinking from most other people, which presents itself as unusual behaviors that are most often considered to be odd. These disorders can lead to difficulties in relationships, distress, negative feelings, and isolation.

References

Eating Disorder Hope on binge eating disorder: http://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/binge-eating-disorder

Beating Eating Disorders on binge eating disorder: https://www.b-eat.co.uk/about-eating-disorders/types-of-eating-disorder/binge-eating-disorder

NHS Choices on Binge Eating Disorder: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Binge-eating/Pages/Introduction.aspx

National Center for Eating Disorders on binge eating disorder: http://eating-disorders.org.uk/information/compulsive-overeating-binge-eating-disorder/

Office on Womens Health on binge eating disorder: http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/binge-eating-disorder.html

NHS Choices on generalised anxiety disorder in adults: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Anxiety/Pages/Introduction.aspx

NHS Choices on personality disorders: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/personality-disorder/Pages/Definition.aspx

Further Reading
There are more well-founded therapy options for the treatment of strokes than ever before. Care has to be reorganised before these innovations are actually used on patients. At the Congress of the European Academy of Neurology in Copenhagen, experts are discussing just how to do that successfully - from guidelines for the use of thrombectomy procedures all the way to the structure and expansion of stroke care units. Oftentimes, it is precisely the small organisational changes that make the big difference.

Major advances are being made in stroke therapy. Experts at the Second Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) in Copenhagen are discussing whether or not these innovations are actually used on patients. EAN Vice-President Franz Fazekas, professor at the University Clinic in Graz, Austria: "The only way to make full use of the potential of these new options is to adjust the structures and processes of stroke care to fit the latest findings. This reorganisation must cover the entire chain of care - from the ambulance ride to the precisely defined use of the thrombectomies."

Thrombectomy: new guidelines for application and organisation of care

An increasing number of study results provide evidence of the high degree of effectiveness of thrombectomy, the mechanical removal of blood clots (thrombi) after a stroke. This procedure leads to good results particularly with very long blood clots and large cerebral artery occlusions. More than 60 per cent of patients survive a stroke thanks to this procedure without or with only slight impairment. The relevant European organisations of medical specialists just recently issued a joint therapy recommendation. The consensus paper serves, among other things, as orientation regarding the conditions under which the method should be used and on what types of patients. It defines the ideal window of time and clarifies when intravenous thrombolysis and mechanical thrombectomies should be combined.

Preparations are now underway on further international recommendations. They are supposed to indicate how stroke care has to be organised for thrombectomies to be successfully carried out. Prof Fazekas: "The new paper is supposed to define, for instance, the organisational and personnel requirements that a neurological centre has to meet and how much experience the treating physicians have to bring to the task. The paper is also supposed to describe in great detail how the thrombectomy itself should be performed, from the selection of the suitable instruments to the blood pressure of the patients during the procedure and beyond to post-operative care. Open issues are also supposed to be indicated and efforts made to clarify them through corresponding scientific studies." The guidelines incorporate the collective expertise of six relevant societies, namely the European Academy of Neurology (EAN), the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS), the European Society of Emergency Medicine (EuSEM), the European Society of Minimally Invasive Neurological Therapy (ESMINT), the European Society of Neuroradiology (ESNR) and the European Stroke Organisation (ESO).

Prof Fazekas: "We hope that health care managers throughout Europe will greet the guidelines with open ears. Their implementation and the set-up of specialised centres can prevent serious impairments after strokes and save many lives." Every year, 600,000 strokes are reported in Europe and that number is on the rise.

Specialised centres reduce mortality after strokes

A current study being presented at the EAN Congress confirms that optimised care in specialised centres is the right approach to take. Data from more than 9,500 patients from the Danish Stroke Registry shows that the reorganisation of stroke care in Central Region Denmark (CRD) has paid off. Since 2012, patients with typical stroke symptoms have no longer been taken to one of five hospitals but rather to one of two specialised stroke units. Prof Fazekas summarises the main results of the study as follows: "Since this changeover, a larger percentage of patients have received an intravenous thrombolysis within the desired window of time of one hour after contact with the hospital and the percentage of early procedures to eliminate stenosis in the carotid artery have risen. Mortality within 30 days after the stroke was able to be reduced from 10.4 to 8.2 per cent."

MRI examination as an optimum way to support therapy

Which diagnostic procedure yields the biggest benefit? That too is a question being explored at the EAN Congress. Two Danish studies covering 444 stroke patients show, for example, that an MRI examination is an essential aid for the treating physicians in helping them to take the right decision regarding therapy. This examination to determine a stroke takes an average of 7.5 minutes longer than a computer tomography, however. Prof Fazekas comments on the findings of his Danish colleagues as follows: "The ultimate principle is to minimize door-to-needle time, i.e. the time between arrival at the hospital and the beginning of thrombolysis. That said, the findings presented show that the better imaging diagnostic method with a precisely fitting therapy decision apparently pays off." At the same time, the researchers also point out ways to make up for the lost time, namely by eliminating other organisational factors that cause delays; for instance, having only experienced physicians indicate the examination and improving organisational procedures.

An Italian study presented in Copenhagen on the reorganisation of stroke care in Lombardy shows, in addition, that patients with stroke symptoms end up undergoing a thrombolysis if they are delivered by ambulance right away and classified as an emergency with the highest priority. Prof Fazekas: "This is another adjusting screw we can turn to make optimum use of the new therapy options."
Intestinal bacteria that can boost bravery or trigger multiple sclerosis: An increasing body of research results confirms the importance of the "gut-brain axis" for neurology and indicates that the triggers for a number of neurological diseases may be located in the digestive tract. "The gut microbiome can influence the central nervous system, the development of nerve cells and the immune system. A better understanding of its effect could revolutionize our therapy options," noted Dr Patricia Lepage from the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in Jouy-en-Josas, France, at the Second Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) in Copenhagen.

Gut microbiota influences behaviour

The gut microbiome is the aggregate of human gut microorganisms with all its bacteria, archaea, viruses and fungi. For a long time, it seemed far-fetched to think that the microbiome could also be responsible for processes outside the digestive tract. Yet the scientific community keeps uncovering further amazing details. Recent studies on laboratory animals which grow up without any microorganisms (germ-free) show for example that microorganisms in the gut are even capable of influencing behaviour. Dr Lepage: "Intestinal microbes can verifiably produce neuromediators that have an effect on the brain. Germ free mice showed less anxiety than their conspecifics whose gut was populated with commensal microbiota. However, there is only scant evidence thus far on how this process works in the human brain."

It has been proven in the meantime that the gut and the brain communicate with each other via several routes including the vagus nerve, the immune system, the enteric nervous system or by way of microbial metabolic processes. For instance, intestinal bacteria convert carbohydrates into short chain fatty acids, e.g. in butyric acid. This strengthens the connections between the cells and reinforces the blood-brain barrier, which serves as a cellular wall to protect the brain from infections and inflammations.

Gut microbiome regulates brain processes

For the neuroscientist Prof John F. Cryan (APC Microbiome Institute, University College Cork, Ireland), there is no question that the gut microbiome regulates fundamental brain processes important for the development of neurological diseases: "We studied the brains of germ free mice. In one region, the prefrontal cortex, we found increased myelination compared with animals kept under normal conditions. This may have direct implications for myelin-related disorders. Microbiome-dependent processes have also been shown to include adult hippocampal neurogenesis and microglia activation, i.e. the activation of brain and marrow cells similar to immune cells."

Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today

Experimental models on the origin of autoimmunity suggest that the gut microbiome plays an important role in this context, too. This insight opens up a new approach for finding the cause of multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is an autoimmune disease that results from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Dr Gurumoorthy Krishnamoorthy from the Max Plank Institute for Neurobiology in Martinsried, Germany: "Apparently, the bacteria that can trigger multiple sclerosis are not disease-causing bacteria but rather useful bacteria needed for digestion." A study with genetically modified mice showed that animals featuring normal intestinal microbiota and subject to no external influences developed inflammation in the brain. By contrast, mice kept in a germ-free environment remained healthy. As Dr Krishnamoorthy explained, the immune system of the mice with normal intestinal microbiota is activated in two phases: First, T-cells become active and multiply in the lymphatic vessels of the intestinal tract. Together with surface proteins in the myelin sheath, they then stimulate B-cells to form disease-causing antibodies. Dr Krishnamoorthy: "Both trigger inflammatory reactions in the brain, which destroy the myelin sheath in phases - very similar to the way MS unfolds in human beings." This process suggests that it is not disorders in the nervous system but rather a change in the immune system that leads to MS. Researchers assume that gut microbiota in human beings can likewise cause the immune system to overreact to the myelin sheath if a corresponding genetic predisposition exists. It is still unclear, however, which bacteria are involved in the development of MS.

Gut microbiome

The microbiome consists of up to 1,000 different types of bacteria and of about 100 trillion cells. As such it has ten times as many cells and 150 times as many genes as the human genome. The microbiome co-evolves with its human host in a symbiotic relationship. The development of the gut microbiome as a finely tuned ecosystem depends on a number of factors: whether and which microorganisms a person absorbs from his/her mother's birth canal at the time of birth; whether a person is subject to antibodies; what food a person eats; infections; stress and genetic predisposition. Elderly individuals who are in poor health often have a lower diversity of microorganisms in their microbiome or inflammation-promoting manifestations.
insights from industry Gahan Pandina, PhD Senior Director, Venture Leader,

Janssen Research and Development

What are the main barriers to developing medications which address the core symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?

There are currently no medications which address the core symptoms of ASD, and a significant barrier to their development is that researchers have historically lacked effective methods for measuring clinical outcomes.

The lack of an ASD biomarker in particular is a critical impediment, because researchers do not currently have the tools to better stratify the population for study, or to clinically measure a treatments impact on underlying disease.

With ASD affecting 1 in 68 children in the U.S., the study and development of targeted therapies that effectively improve clinical outcomes and quality of life is becoming even more urgent, which is one of the reasons Janssen undertook Project JAKE.

Please can you give an overview of the Janssen Autism Knowledge Engine (JAKETM)?

The Janssen Autism Knowledge Engine, or JAKE, is a first-of-its-kind, digital, integrated system of tools and technologies for facilitating data collection and advanced analytics in clinical trials.

JAKEs software is designed to enhance and organize the type and quality of information collected about individuals with ASD with the hope of gaining insights into effective clinical measurements or markers, and ultimately contributing to the development of new medicines for patients and providing valuable information to the broader research community.

JAKE is comprised of three components  its web and mobile portal, biosensor platform and data pipeline  which are supported on most modern web browsers and mobile devices and allow researchers to capture and organize ASD-specific data:

The JAKE Portal offers web and mobile tools for caregivers and researchers, including customizable calendar-like therapy trackers, clinical assessments, a tracking system that allows for logging of key events and information as it happens, free-text journaling that allows a parent or caregiver to write about daily events related to their child's autism and exchange messages with other members of the child's care team, as well as personalized reports and charting. The combination of these tools results in real-time trial tracking and adherence monitoring capabilities for researchers. The JAKE Research Biosensor Platform provides patients with sensors that can quantify behavior and offer new physiologic insights, allowing for the implementation of sensitive and objective endpoints. Some biosensors utilized by JAKE are designed to be worn daily, collecting data passively on a continuous basis, while others are designed to gather feedback during a discrete battery of challenge tasks administered in a lab setting. The JAKE Data Pipeline is driven by an analytics engine that is designed to construct a unique picture for each child and identify patterns in subgroups of individuals with ASD, resulting in dynamic profiles for respondents and ultimately meaningful data collection and output in clinical trials.

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How was JAKETM developed?

The project was conceived through an internal program known as the Janssen Incubator, which supports the creation of venture teams focused on identifying highly innovative ideas arising from our scientific community in areas of potentially disruptive, cutting-edge research, which may lead to novel platforms, products or technologies.

The JAKE Venture brings together talent and expertise from key clinical, scientific, and information technology organizations to develop a robust approach to therapeutic assessment and development.

The team took an integrated collaborative approach to JAKEs development, consulting with patient advocacy organizations and parents of individuals with ASD to provide scientific guidance, and leveraging the experience, capabilities and leadership of the Janssen R&D Neuroscience Therapeutic Area, as well as other scientific experts in the field of ASD and biosensor technology.

In what ways do you think JAKETM will impact autism research?

Ultimately we are trying to contribute to development of new medicines for patients and provide information to the broader research community. Were starting our research with JAKE now, but we believe it may prove helpful in collecting data and producing better analytics in clinical trials.

How will JAKEs technology affect the experience for patients and caregivers participating in clinical research?

Parents and caregivers of children with ASD deal with challenges on a daily basis, and we believe participation in a study should not add burden to their lives. JAKE aims to improve the experience of patients and caregivers participating in clinical research through the availability of user-friendly, online administration to complete scales and to-do lists, which can help parents with adherence to protocols. We believe that this will ultimately enhance the quality, including the ecological validity, of the data collected.

What further changes are necessary to overcome barriers in autism research?

As mentioned previously, one of the biggest barriers to advancing autism research has been that methods for measuring clinical outcomes, particularly for core symptoms, for subpopulation stratification and measuring change are not yet established.

Clinical care can be uncoordinated, lacking a clear way to easily organize and access data on diagnosis, comorbidities and treatments across the multiple providers. Measures of ASD symptoms, mainly paper and pencil or observational measures, are typically provided by clinicians or caregivers, and have historically been used for measuring symptom severity or to facilitate diagnosis  not to measure short-term change.

Furthermore, the ASD population is very heterogeneous, which complicates informed selection of clinical trial participants to participate in early proof-of-concept studies.

Our hope is that through developing the JAKE system for use in clinical development of new medicines for core ASD symptoms, we will be better equipped to address some of the challenges we face in the clinical ecosystem and ultimately help improve the lives of individuals with ASD.

There is also encouraging progress being made in the development of biomarkers for ASD through initiatives like the EU-AIMS Longitudinal European Autism Project (LEAP), a novel multi-center study being undertaken to help identify and validate genetic biomarkers for the treatment of ASD, and the Autism Biomarkers Consortium  Clinical Trial being conducted in the United States.

Where can readers find more information?

For those interested in finding out about our clinical research with JAKE, we recommend that you review open clinical trials on www.clinicaltrials.gov.

About Gahan Pandina, PhD

Senior Director, venture leader, Janssen research & development, Titusville, New Jersey

Gahan J. Pandina, PhD, is a Senior Director, Venture Leader in the Janssen Research and Development, Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, in Titusville, New Jersey. His current role is as the venture leader of a team whose missing is to develop a system of tools and technologies to optimize novel medication development for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Over the past 14 years at Janssen, Dr. Pandina has served as the clinical leader for several global, Phase 2a/2b drug development programs in the areas of schizophrenia & cognition, ADHD, mood, and sleep disorders. He has worked on three successful Phase 3 registration programs in schizophrenia and ASD, and conducted a number of Phase 3B/4 studies in schizophrenia, mood, ADHD, and anxiety disorders. He is an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, New Jersey, where he teaches in the psychiatry residency and psychology internship programs. He is also a Visiting Professor in the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Dr. Pandina is a licensed clinical psychologist, and a member of several international societies including the American Psychological Association, Association of Clinical Research Professionals, and the International Society for CNS Clinical Trials Methodology. He is the author of numerous publications in both pediatric and adult psychiatry, psychology, and neuroimaging research in psychiatric disorders. He has a particular interest in clinical research on the efficacy and outcomes of psychiatric and psychological treatments. He serves on the board of two non-profit organizations focused on mental health needs.

Dr. Pandina received a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the University of Vermont, and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York, and completed doctoral fellowships in both Neuropsychology and Child and Adolescent Neuropsychology at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, New Jersey.
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A Political Marriage: Trump and the NRA

File photo of US Presidential candidate Donald Trump. (Reuters)

Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump has clinched the magic 1237 delegates he needs to secure the party's nomination, with the national convention right around the corner. Even as the rumblings continue in the GOP over pitching Trump against Hillary Clinton, the real estate magnate has sent a powerful message to his party by securing the endorsement of one of the most influential American lobbies and long-time friend of the Republicans  The National Rifle Association.



The organisation, which has single-handedly weakened gun regulation in the United States, is one of the biggest donors of the Republican party and has sustained the political careers of hundreds of Republican and Democratic leaders at all levels of the political pyramid  from city council to Presidential elections. The NRA has a firm grip on Congress and has used its influence to dismantle obstacles to acquiring firearms, even eroding limits on the number of firearms Americans can own. The group fought and won a legal battle to overturn a handgun ban in the American capital of Washington DC and even pushed Congress to hamstring the ATF, the bureau that helps law enforcement agencies solve gun crime. Under law, the ATF is not allowed to create a federal registry of gun transactions, which means that in the 21st century, they are forbidden from using computers to track gun sales, and have to do it by going through mountains of paperwork. The NRA's basic argument is that 'over-regulation' in some way violates the second amendment of the American Constitution, which gives citizens the right to bear arms.



In fact, Obama's courage to take on the lobby is only a recent manifestation. He did not have the spine to challenge the NRA when he was seeking a re-election.



In 2012, during the Presidential campaign, a man named James Holmes gunned down 12 people at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado and Obama's reaction to the incident was an eloquent yet patronising address about the value of life. He said, "If there's anything to take away from this tragedy it's the reminder that life is very fragile. And what matters at the end of the day is how we choose to treat one another and how we love one another." Obama only started speaking in favour of gun regulation that year after the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting in Newton Connecticut in December, just weeks after he secured the Presidency in November.



On the other hand, the Republicans have always remained loyal to the NRA. The same year as Colorado and Sandy Hook, after a shooting near the Texas A&M University left three people dead, Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said, "This is not a matter of the weapon that's used. It's the matter of individuals and the choices they make. I don't think gun laws are the answer."



Donald Trump was once an advocate of gun regulation, yet it is pure politics that has driven him to shift his stance and pander to the NRA. It was back in 2000, when Trump supported a ban on assault weapons and a longer waiting period to purchase firearms across the United States. Trump even took to Twitter to support Obama's call for stronger gun regulation after the Sandy Hook massacre. However, this was four years and a Republican nomination ago.



Contrast this to Trump's recent speech at the NRA convention in Louisville in Kentucky. He hit out at Hillary Clinton accusing her of planning to abolish the second amendment. He said his sons were longtime members of the NRA, and added that he won't let Democrats weaken the United States by tightening gun laws. In his unique style, he drove the point home by saying that if France didn't have strong gun regulation and the victims of the Paris massacre were armed, the terrorists wouldn't have succeeded.



Trump and the NRA have the same stance on dissent as well. Trump abuses journalists who question him; kicks out protesters from his rally sites, even boycotted a Fox News debate. The NRA at the same time blacklists critical journalists from covering its conventions across the United States. They realize that cameras are not like guns.



You don't know when theyre shooting.



Trump is simply a businessman, and a good one. He has projected a target to become President and understands his consumers. Just like politicians seek the support of corporations and religious groups, Trump has framed his campaign and narrative to seek the support of the powerful gun lobby, even mimicking their mantra, 'Keep your hands off my guns, keep your hands off my freedom'.



The NRA has remained powerful by stoking apocalyptic fears via deranged rhetoric  highlighting terror attacks, cross border and urban crime to create a fear psychosis to arm all Americans and sustain a campaign against any form of sensible regulation. Trump has played the same game in his narrative against immigrants and the Muslim community. The political alignment has got him the lobby's endorsement. It is the perfect political union, a calibrated right-wing match made in heaven and it will work to quell any dissent against Trump from within the Republican Party.


A group of Africans allegedly beat up a taxi driver after he refused to carry more than four passengers.



The incident took place early on Monday morning after the group comprising of five men and one woman booked a taxi through Ola app at 4 am for travelling from Dwarka to Rajpur. When the driver Nuruddin, a resident of Kharak village, said he would not carry more than four passengers, they allegedly thrashed him.



The group fled after beating up Nuruddin. He, however, managed to stop the woman, who claims to be from Rwanda. Police are verifying her credentials as she is not carrying any document.



The driver has been sent for treatment at AIIMS Trauma Centre.







The incident comes amidst a series of alleged racial attacks on Africans in Delhi. Delhi Police had arrested four people on Sunday in connection with the alleged assault on six African nationals in South Delhi's Mehrauli area.



A few days ago 23-year-old Congolese national MK Oliver was allegedly killed in South Delhi's Vasant Kunj area during a scuffle with a group of locals.


Names are pronounced correctly.

People do not laugh at insensitive jokes.

People choose to use respectful language when speaking about identity.

No one feels the need to justify when they were chosen or hired.

People can hold hands with whomever they wish.

People can wear whatever they wish and feel comfortable walking across campus.

People can join organizations, attend events, or enroll in classes without concern about being judged based on identity.

Following a particularly tumultuous year, Duke University has issued a lengthy report to address "bias and hate" on campus.The controversy began with reports that a noose was found hanging from a tree in April 2015. Students were disappointed by the administration, and demanded stronger responses from campus authorities to actions they claimed were motivated by hate. This spurred multiple lists of demands from different student groups.The university responded in November 2015 with several forums and announced the creation of the Task Force on Bias and Hate Issues-a body of 29 faculty, administrators, alumni, and students, who were instructed to "carry out a broad review of Duke's policies, practices, and culture as they pertain to bias and hate in the Duke student experience."Just six months after the task force was created, it has released its final report. The 70-pager details listening sessions the task force members held with various campus groups, the results of campus climate surveys, and outlines numerous recommendations for policy and culture changes deemed necessary for Duke.The report claims many students deal with an atmosphere of bias on a daily basis, one that is "not an explicit hatred or bigotry, so much as an insensitivity and disturbing lack of awareness, making many feel unsupported if not unwelcome at the university." Among factors that contribute to this atmosphere are Greek Life organizations, which only accept "occasional token gay members," according to the report.A sizable portion of the report uses data collected from surveys such as the Senior Survey instrument, which is issued annually by Duke. While the committee cited the results to illustrate pervasive bias on campus, the responses actually indicate that the overwhelming majority of students feel secure and generally satisfied with the sense of community on campus. The survey finds that, "89% of Asian, 83% of black students, and 85% of Hispanic students expressed feeling secure in 2013 and 2014, compared to 60%, 61%, and 56% respectively in 2003-2004." This calls into question rhetoric by activists that there is severe racial tension on campus.Unfortunately for those students who did say they were unsatisfied with the campus climate, the survey failed to ask them to indicate the sources of their distress, which should have been a priority.The most consistent recommendation throughout the report was the creation of a "process for addressing bias and hate incidents when they occur." This process would most likely involve strengthening the campus Bias Response Team (BRT), a body tasked with gathering information and addressing campus bias incidents. Bias response teams are becoming a staple at many universities, but they often lack transparency and accountability.These teams typically consist of staff members and administrators who respond to anonymously reported acts of bias. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, a recent survey of BRT members at 17 colleges found that most of the teams spend "relatively little time on their primary stated functions-trying to educate the campus community about bias-and instead devote their efforts mainly to punishing and condemning the perpetrators of specific acts."The anonymity of the system makes it impossible to hold those who make false reports liable, a problem demonstrated at John Carroll University, which reported that more than 20 percent of bias reports filed in 2014 were later deemed pranks.Empowering anonymous systems for the reporting of perceived biases poses significant risks to both student and faculty. Writing for New Republic, Carleton College professors Jeffrey Aaron Snyder and Amna Khalid stated Not content with just modifying student behavior, the Duke task force found many problems inside the classroom as well. The report claims that the lack of openly gay faculty members makes gay students feel unsafe and unwelcome, and that it is unacceptable for faculty to neglect discussion about campus bias incidences, even when it is completely unrelated to the course content.The report also claims that Duke should provide more courses focused on diversity and identities, even if students are unwilling to take them and they become wasteful expenditures. The report recommends that Duke address the "lack of willingness to take classes that are related to an identity not shared by the student." The report stops short of recommending a mandatory class dealing with bias and diversity issues, citing that some taskforce members "expressed anxiety that such a class could devolve into an exercise in indoctrination and a 'buzzword-fest.'" But the task force report still recommends future work to incorporate such a mandatory class into the Duke undergrad curriculum.More troubling recommendations for faculty include a mandate that students be allowed to leave or miss class during "important campus events," and requiring readings to "represent multiple points of view from a variety of authors." These recommendations risk undermining academic freedom for faculty. There must be an understanding that professors are qualified to choose course material and reasonably control attendance policies.The report also says Duke will be successful eliminating all bias and hate if it does the following:Most of these recommendations only address superficial problems. One of the task force's most important recommendations is that Duke establish itself as a local and national leader in the area of diversity-an impossible task if an administration obsesses whether anyone laughs at an inappropriate joke.Policing language, and forcing students into classes they have no interest in, is unlikely to produce changes in campus climate that could outweigh the threat to academic freedom.It seems the task force would rather project an appearance that Duke is fixing the issues, rather than find the sources of the alleged rampant racism, sexism, and homophobia, and taking action.
While an Offer of Intent is not a job offer but the students claim that the company had constantly sent them mails on a monthly basis assuring them of jobs.

"I thought I would be here for training purpose but now I am here to demand and seek justice from L&T Infotech. I got placed in September 2014 and in December 2014 I was offered the letter. September/October 2015 was my tentative dates to join," adds another.



: L&T Infotech has rejected Offer of Intent letters to at least 1500 students forcing them to go on a hunger strike.Hundreds of students from several colleges including SRM, RMK and Vellamal received Offer of Intent from L&T Infotech between September and November 2014.Some of these students claim that they were given tentative joining dates between September and December 2015. However, they say that one and a half years later they received a mail from L&T Infotech to appear for an assessment test.The students claim that the company said it was just a performance based test that would help them choose the domains for these students.But a total of 1500 students were rejected after the test."After the rejection mail, we havent received any mail from them. We also tried contacting them. There is no response and the HR has not picked up our calls," says a student.It is not only students from Chennai who are affected but there are many who are from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.On conditions of anonymity, the placement head from a well-known university said, "The HR informed us that the joining dates have been delayed and post that, they conducted some examination and based on that they have taken the students. We used to speak to Ashok from HR department of L&T. We will support the students. What happened to them is not fair."But a former L&T Infotech employee claimed the company's business strategy has changed. "We tried our best fighting for the candidates for 3-4 months but we were not given concrete answers by the management," he said.L&T Infotech did not respond to queries from CNN News18.However, the development comes at a time when L&T Infotech is all set to go public after getting SEBIs nod. Moreover, the NASSCOM has predicted that there will be a 20% dip in the IT firms hiring process in 2016.
New Delhi: Union External Affairs Minister (MEA) Sushma Swaraj personally took up the matter of a Pakistani Hindu girl Mashal who migrated to India and cannot appear for Pre Medical Test (PMT) because she is a refugee.



Soon after the matter was highlighted in the national media, Swaraj intervened and inquired about the matter. Later, she decided to take up her case and assured all kind of help. "Mashal - Don't be disappointed my child. I will personally take up your case for admission in a medical college," Swaraj tweeted.



Mashal, migrated to Jaipur along with her family in 2014 after her father was attacked thrice in Pakistan.



Mashal (who scored 91% marks in her 12th board exams) had said that she wanted to become a doctor but she cannot appear for PMT because she is a refugee. "If I apply as a foreigner, we have to pay a huge fee which my parents cannot afford since we left everything behind," she said.







Mashal's mother expressed her happiness after MEA stepped into the matter. She said, "I am happy that madam (Sushma) assured all kind of help to my daughter. We migrated from Pakistan two years ago to secure our religion and future of our children. As per rule we will get the Indian citizenship only after completing 5 years. Till then it will be too later for my daughter."
After Flipkart, L&T Infotech is under fire for cancelling job offer letters. At least 1,500 students from various colleges have alleged that the IT company kept assuring them of a job but later backed out.



Many students who were relying on the jobs to repay their education loans are now burdened by repeated calls from the banks.



"If you take the rules and regulations of all the colleges in and around Tamil Nadu into consideration, once you have got a placement in one company, you cannot apply or sit for another placement. So we got only one chance. The mail we have got now says your performance is not up to the mark, so your offer will be cancelled," a student claimed.



"The struggle is much more and it is unexplainable. We took loans to study in that particular college just to get placed. We are now in a position that we cannot answer the banks and they are sending us letter on a daily basis. They (L&T) kept us engaged in doing some work or the other and kept telling us not to panic, we will be giving you the joining date and that increased our hopes," another student said.



The students are on a hunger fast since Monday morning to fight against what they claim is injustice.



But they are not the only ones left in the lurch.



Earlier, e-commerce major Flipkart had deferred joining dates for campus hires from Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad and Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) citing restructuring of its businesses.



Apart from Flipkart, many other companies including InMobi, CarDekho and Hopscotch have also reportedly deferred the joining dates for students.



According to industry and HR experts, the scenario might bring a lot of pressure on reputation, success and unpredictability of the educational institutions concerned as it disturbs their placement track record.




Bengaluru's ecology is facing a severe crisis as the number of lakes in the city have fallen from 216 to just 16. Known for its natural air conditioning and salubrious environment, the capital of Karnataka has seen a significant fall in its green cover and wetlands in recent years.



Many feel that the new set of environmental rules announced by the Karnataka government could have serious effects on Bengaluru's water bodies.



The earlier norm restricted any construction around wetlands along with the right to appeal in case of wrongful land use. But now the new rules take away all these privileges.



Environmentalists have already raised their voice against the new norms announced by the state government.



"Whenever there was some problem with the wetland, there was the possibility of appealing to the National Green Tribunal. Now the appeal power has been taken away. This is a serious issue," says environmentalist Shridhar.







Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, scientist Dr TV Ramachandra adds, "The temperature of the city clearly shows that there is something very bad that is happening in the city. The city is being ruled by the mafias. I see the water mafia, land mafia and the waste mafia have removed the water bodies in Bangalore which is the lifeline for the city."
We were told that we would get our houses within two years. They even took the entire payment by showing us the basic structure of the property. Now they keep asking us for more time and we are fed up of their lies and false promises, says the distraught Nazia.



While some home buyers say that they find it difficult to survive in a tiny rented flat, others who had been living abroad add that a new house was their dream as they had moved to India hoping that DB Ozone project would be completed on time.



They accepted their mistake and said they were ready to terminate the agreement and return the money but with a cancellation fee of 9% p.a," explains a home buyer.

It is not just Jaypee Klassic in Uttar Pradeshs Noida which has not been able to adhere to the timeline and deliver flats. Mumbais DB Realty, too, has failed to keep its promise of delivering dream homes to at least 3600 families in Mumbais Dahisar.DB Realty's project DB Ozone was to be delivered in 2012 but has failed to see the light of the day even four years later.Nazia Khan, one of the home buyers who was promised a flat in two years, is in tears. The Mira Road resident had sold her house and gold jewelry to invest in a DB Realty project almost eight years ago.Reportedly, DB Realty has shifted its attention from the mid-sized 2&3 BHK flats to super premium flats costing more than Rs 6 crore, complete with a helipad at the top for prospective riders to get a close view of the property.But there is no end to the woes of those home buyers for whom a flat was their first dream home or their last hope.Buyers from Dahisar, who have been protesting against the delay for the past few weeks, say that after multiple email reminders and phone calls to the company authorities, they got an email offer to cancel their agreement.The unacceptable rider that came along with the offer has indeed shocked the families who are now planning to file an FIR against DB Realty.CNN News 18 tried to get in touch with DB Realty CEO Vipul Bansal but the calls went unanswered. After two visits to the company office, we were told that Bansal was out of town. Nobody from the company agreed to speak about the case on his behalf.
Bengaluru: A youth was stabbed to death at Arsikere town in Karnataka on Sunday.



The incident sparked communal violence after the agitators clashed with the police demanding immediate action against the culprits. Several vehicles and shops were damaged by the mob.



The state police ruled out any communal link to the murder and claimed that it was a fall out of personal enmity. A police picket has been deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident.



Preliminary inquiry revealed that three youths intercepted the victim and stabbed him to death in a broad day light.



No one has been arrested so far in this connection.
Centuries ago, a native Central American people terrified of a witch believed to live deep in the earth used to sacrifice children and young women to Nicaragua's Masaya volcano.



Today, the crater southwest of the capital Managua is an international tourist magnet, where photo-snapping visitors scramble among sulfurous fumes to get views of its bubbling lava -- a rare sight.



The only volcanoes in the world to boast lakes of incandescent magma are Masaya, Hawaii's Kilauea and Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo, explained a Nicaraguan geographer and environmentalist, Jaime Incer.



"It's something extraordinary, unique in the world," said Noheli Pravia, a French visitor filming and photographing the scene which has happened every 20 to 25 years since 1902.



The red-hot liquid performs an agitated ballet for the spectators, with a cloud of white smoke filling the active crater, whose name is Santiago.



Masaya volcano is located in the most populated part of Nicaragua's Pacific coastal stretch and is inside a nature reserve of some 50 square kilometers (20 square miles) where vast fields of petrified lava contrast with the white flowers of frangipanis.



The 400-meter (1,300-foot) high volcano formed 5,000 years ago, and its activity has intensified in the past six months.



"This is the first time I've seen something like this -- it's really impressive," said Mijaela Cuba, an Austrian nurse, speaking above the waves of lava.





Toxic gases



She was one of 4,000 tourists whom the Nicaraguan government has given permission to edge up close to the crater's edge in the past two weeks. Each visit is limited to just a few minutes because of the risk from the toxic gases.



The only signs of life in the walls of the crater, that go down hundreds of meters, are green parrots and bats.



Masaya has erupted twice in recorded history: in 1670 and 1772, scaring the Spanish conquistadors.



"It is a maw of fire that never ceases to burn," the first governor of the region, Pedrarias Davila, wrote to the king of Spain in 1525.



One monk, Francisco de Bobadilla, even considered it to be the gate to hell and erected a big cross on the edge of the crater.



The pre-Columbian people who inhabited the area believed that a subterranean witch they called Chalchihuehe lived inside, and they sacrificed young innocent lives to try to appease her.



According to Incer, the risk now is that, if the lava keeps rising higher inside the volcano each time it appears, a new eruption could occur within the next 150 years on the scale of the one in 1772 -- when it reached as far 30 kilometers away, where today stands Nicaragua's international airport.




New Delhi: Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah says his film 'Waiting' is not for the audience, who whistle in the movies of Bollywood superstars Salman and Shah Rukh Khan.



The 66-year-old actor stars in the Anu Menon-directed movie along side Kalki Koechlin. "It is a simple, sober, sweet and true film written and

made by heart. I think no other formula than this can make a film successful. I believe this film will touch everyone's heart.



"Audience, who whistle at or watch Salman and Shah Rukh Khan's films, 'Waiting' is not for them. But, thankfully there is a set of audience, who enjoy or like such films," Shah said in an interview here.



The actor said the movie is not for single screen theatres and he is aware about the fact that such subject will only appeal to a certain section of audience.



"This film is not for single screen theatres. Its like there are few plays that are made only for small theatres, but some are for big theatres. If you will watch this film with 2000 people whistling, you will not enjoy it at all.



"People, who are making films of this league have to accept the fact that they will never be as popular as typical commercial filmmakers. And if somebody wants major fame they should make that kind of movies," he said.



'Waiting' is Menon's second feature film after 'London, Paris, New York,' and praising the young brigade of filmmakers Shah said he always had good experiences with new directors.



"I have never had bad experience in working with new directors. On the other hand, I had some really bad experiences with few veteran filmmakers. A new directors is working on his/her first film. They put their heart and soul in it. There is a fire to prove themselves.



"Their whole life is on the stake. The hard work by which the first film is made, I feel the second or third film doesn't have that much in it. If you will see the track record of filmmakers be it Govind Nihalani, Ketan Mehta, Kundan Shah, their first film was their best," he said. Produced by Ishka Films and Drishyam Films 'Waiting' released today.
Hyderabad: Dismissing Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's criticism that the NDA government was celebrating completion of its two years in office when several states were facing drought, BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday said the party was only giving a report of its work to the people.



"Do you see celebration in this? This is not a celebration. I feel, taking government's work to people through the press, interacting directly with people, giving an account as per its mandate is not celebration," he said when asked about Gandhi's comments.



Alleging that Gandhi only made media statements and indulged in symbolism, Shah said the NDA government helped improve the lives of the poor.



"Rahul Gandhiji only makes statements. I want to ask him, what happened to that Kalavati at whose house you stayed. We have tried to provide electricity and also gas to her. He just got a photograph taken (with her)," he said.



Kalavati Bandurkar, a Vidarbha farmer widow shot to fame after Rahul Gandhi visited her in 2008 and narrated her plight in Parliament.



Asked about Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge's criticism on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign visits, he said Modi made less number of visits abroad in comparison to his predecessor Manmohan Singh.



"I want to make it clear that Prime Minister (Modi) made few visits than Manmohan Singh. But, the problem was nobody came to know in the country or in that country when he (Singh) visited. He used to read two pages of his speech in English. Sometimes even pages changed. He used to read Thailand's (speech) in Malaysia and Malaysia's (speech) in Thailand. Modiji is welcomed wherever he goes," he said.



Shah also gave a detailed account of the number of achievements of the NDA government in two years on various fronts.



Asked whether BJP would reach out to regional parties like TDP and TRS for passing bills in the Rajya Sabha as equations of strength were set to change, he said everybody in Rajya Sabha should support the government's development agenda irrespective of party politics.



"BJP's effort is to see that everybody should support the development agenda in Rajya Sabha irrespective of party politics. It is true that it will benefit us if the strength of our friends increases on every issue of development," Shah said.



On the Union Cabinet reshuffle, he said, "It is for the Prime Minister to decide. When it happens, you will get the information."



Unfazed by the criticism of ally Shiv Sena in Maharashtra against its ruling partner BJP, Shah said there was democracy within the NDA. "There is democracy in NDA. Don't worry about Shiv Sena, we will manage," he said.



When asked about measures to deal with drought situation in states, Shah claimed that the Prime Minister has held separate meetings with chief ministers (of affected states) instead of organising a meeting all of states. "The Centre understood the needs of each state for taking drought-relief measures," he said.
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and workers staged a protest in the national capital on Monday seeking apology from Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her party leaders on statements over the Batla House encounter.



"BJP wants that after the latest revelation that terrorists involved in Batla House shoot-out have IS links, the Congress president and her associates should apologise to the nation," Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay said.



Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh had courted controversy after he dubbed the 2008 Batla House encounter as "fake". He asked the central government to order a judicial probe into the encounter in which two suspected terrorists and a police officer were killed.



"Batla House encounter was fake. I dare the BJP to go for a judicial probe. I still stand by my remarks on the encounter. I don't know who is Bada Sajid or Chhota Sajid," Singh had said.



Meanwhile, the BJP has latched onto an alleged Islamic State video where one of the men claimed that he was at Batla House when police had raided the premises and fled afterwards. Though it was not clear whether he was inside the same house where the two alleged Indian Mujahideen terrorists were killed in the encounter.



The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had said it was in the process of identifying all the six people who were part of the 22-minute video.
It is said in the film industry that it is easier to shoot in overseas locales than in Chennai. Adhering to this, there are many Tamil films which are being shot in exotic overseas locales. Georgia is one of them.

Located in the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia, Georgia is known for Caucasus mountain ranges, terrifying hairpin bends, rugged mountains, rivers, valleys and meadows. Hence it is only natural that our films want to capture Georgia at its best and give it to us.

We hear that the crew of Veera Sivaji will be in Georgia to can a song sequence. The film features Vikram Prabhu and Shamilee in the leads. It has to be mentioned that the unit of Thala 57 is also planning to shoot in Georgia. In the past Selvaraghavans Irandam Ulagam was also shot in this picturesque country.
Vijayawada: With Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu and Nirmala Sitharaman shifting states for Raya Sabha polls, speculation is rife that Bharatiya Janata Party may field party general secretary Ram Madhav from Andhra Pradesh.



The tenure of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu is also coming to an end and there are indications that his name could also be considered from the state.



In 2014, the TDP gave one seat to Sitharaman, Minister of State for Commerce, but the BJP this time chose to field her from neighbouring Karnataka.



The May 17 meeting between Sitharaman and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu during his trip to New Delhi had led to speculation about her re-nomination from AP. Top BJP leader and Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday night held a telephonic conversation with Chandrababu over the seat-sharing for Rajya Sabha biennial election slated for June 11.



Venkaiah, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, was earlier elected from Karanataka. He has shifted to Rajasthan this time though he was expected to move to Andhra Pradesh. Venkaiah made an unscheduled visit to Hyderabad on Saturday evening and spoke to Chandrababu, who was camping in Tirupati for the TDP's Mahanadu, over phone and discussed the issue.



Venkaiah was said to have informed Chandrababu about the BJP leadership's decision to shift him to Rajasthan and Nirmala to Karnataka and wanted one seat in AP spared for "another candidate", according to sources.



With May 31 being the last date for filing nomination, TDP politburo is expected to take a decision on seat-sharing soon following which an official announcement will be made.



In all, four seats are to be filled from AP of which three will go to the ruling combine and one to the lone opposition YSR Congress.



While Satyanarayana Chowdary's candidature is almost certain, another seat may go to Hemalatha, a former MLA from Satyavedu in Chandrababu's native Chittoor district, as a woman belonging to Dalit community.



The third seat may be allotted to BJP as part of the alliance between the parties.
There has been a growing chorus for a drastic change and overhaul in the Congress following a string of electoral defeats. A few senior leaders have spoken out that the party must change if it has to remain a credible political force.



Amritsar MP Captain Amarinder Singh, too, has joined the bandwagon and said that it is time for Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to step down and make way for party vice president Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.



"I have worked with Sonia ji since 1998. I found her a really good leader. She is nearly 70 years old and I am 74. The time has come for a new generation to emerge. She has worked very hard. She is working in the whole country. Obviously she is exhausted, tired and wants to change. I think it's only fair if she wishes to handover," said Singh, who is also the partys chief ministerial candidate for the Punjab Assembly elections due in early 2017.







The succession question in the Congress resurfaced after the drubbing in the recent Assembly elections. Some senior Congress leaders including Singh have been demanding that Rahul should take over the reins of Congress.



"I think Rahul has also had his own experience in the last few years, and everyone learns. Everyone is not born a leader, we have to emerge. Rahul has emerged as a good listener. He is a very perceptive individual and he agrees with things. He is the not one of those people who say this is the way it's done. He listens and then evolves a solution for everything. Rahul is like his father Rajiv Gandhi," he said.



Earlier, veteran leaders Digvijaya Singh and Satyavrat Chaturvedi had said that Congress needs to undergo a major surgery following the partys rout in the recent elections.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who was in New Delhi on Monday to deliver the keynote address at the company's "Tech for Good, Ideas for India" event, not only spoke about the company's vision and future roadmap, but also shared a few lessons for students and budding entrepreneurs.Nadella started his keynote by reciting Mirza Ghalib's popular couplet,"Hazaaron khwahishen aisi, ke har khwahish pe dam nikleBohat niklay mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle"Nadella, who appears to a fan of Ghalib, explained how he interpreted this popular ghazal in his early days and how its meaning changed for him every year."My interpretation of Ghalib's saying changes every year. I learn something new. There are so many layers and labyrinths in there that every time, I sort of, I kind of, feel like I've learnt it again, that I have figured it out. But my earliest interpretation is the time I was reading Douglas Hofstadter's book 'Godel, Escher, Bach' and I sort of realised the power of what he was saying. Which is, it is not just your dreams being fulfilled, it is your ability to dream things that are worth dying for."Citing his own example that how passion has helped him reach where he is today, Nadella advises young entrepreneurs to be driven by their passion."In my life there have been two passions that have driven at least my dreams and I think back and one of the catalysts - it's poetry and Computer Science. In fact, I want to relate the two in the context of this big dreams."Another interesting life lesson was shared by Nadella during the Q&A session when a kid, who was one of the attendees at the event, asked him, "What is your advice to the children of my generation on how to work to become the next Microsoft CEO?"To this Nadella replied, "I will start by saying, you already have ambitions that go far beyond being the next CEO of Microsoft. So I think you have the ambition to change the world beyond anything that I or my generation have done. And it's fantastic to see. So the one piece of advice I would say is continue to be bold and ambitious and pursue that."He sums up by saying that we all need to have is the sensibility in how we approach our creations.
Tehran: Iran said on Sunday its pilgrims will miss hajj in 2016 because Saudi Arabia, custodian of Islam's holiest sites, was raising obstacles and "blocking the path to Allah" for its faithful.



Riyadh said Iran's hajj demands were "unacceptable". The Iranian Hajj Organisation said, "Saudi Arabia is opposing the absolute right of Iranians to go on the hajj and is blocking the path leading to Allah."



The Saudi side had failed to respond to Iranian demands over "the security and respect" of its pilgrims to Mecca, of whom 60,000 took part in 2015 hajj, the organisation said.



In the latest dispute between regional rivals Tehran and Riyadh, "after two series of negotiations without any results because of obstacles raised by the Saudis, Iranian pilgrims will unfortunately not be able to take part in the hajj" in September, Iran's Culture Minister Ali Jannati said.



Saudi officials have said an Iranian delegation ended a visit to the kingdom on Friday without reaching final agreement on arrangements for pilgrims from the Islamic republic.



Riyadh's hajj ministry said it had offered "many solutions" to meet a string of demands made by the Iranians in two days of talks.



Agreement had been reached in some areas, including to use electronic visas which could be printed out by Iranian pilgrims, as Saudi diplomatic missions remain shut in Iran, it said.



At a joint press briefing in Jeddah with Britain's visiting Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir denounced Iran's demands.



"Iran has demanded the right to organise... demonstrations and to have privileges... that would cause chaos during the hajj. This is unacceptable," Jubeir said.



He said Riyadh annually signs a hajj memorandum of understanding with more than 70 countries "to guarantee the security and safety of pilgrims", but "Iran refused to sign the memorandum".



"If it is about measures and procedures, I think we have done more than our duty to meet those needs, but it is the Iranians who have rejected things," Jubeir added.



It would be the first time in almost three decades that hajj will take place without the participation of pilgrims from Iran.



Riyadh-Tehran ties were severed for four years after more than 400 people were killed in Mecca during clashes between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi security forces in 1987.



In January, relations were severed again after Iranian demonstrators torched Saudi Arabia's embassy and a consulate following the kingdom's execution of a prominent Shiite cleric.



Shiite Iran and predominantly Sunni Saudi Arabia are at odds over a raft of regional issues, notably the conflicts in Syria and Yemen in which they support opposing sides.
The Bear Attacked, So She

'Popped It Right in the Nose'
Bahraich:

A teenaged girl was allegedly abducted, gangraped, murdered and her body hanged from a tree in Nanpara area here. The incident has triggered outrage, prompting the authorities to swing into action.

Four constables have been suspended for dereliction of duty and two of the three accused named by the victims father have been arrested so far, police said.

The incident took place on Friday when the 15-year-old girl went missing and her body was yesterday found hanging from a tree outside the village, they said. Police suspect the body was hanged from a tree so as to give an impression that she committed suicide.

An FIR has been registered on a complaint of the victims father against Imran, Sarvjeet Yadav and Ghanshyam Maurya for abducting, raping and killing his daughter. He alleged that the three had tried to abduct the victim earlier also but failed.

Superintendent of Police Salik Ram Verma said the body has been sent for post-mortem and whether she was raped could be confirmed only after the report has been received. Police arrested Sarvejeet Yadav last night and Imran today, while a hunt is on for the third accused, he said.

Expressing dismay and outrage over the incident, women activists lashed out at the Centre saying that those who are celebrating two years of governance, need to pay more attention to curbing violence against women.

This needs to be condemned and protested... The government which is celebrating its two years of governance needs to pay more attention to curbing violence against women, said former National Commission for Women (NCW) member Nirmala Samant.

Women rights activist Jagmati Sangwan said the law and order situation has totally collapsed in Uttar Pradesh as criminals have no fear of police and the government.

The incident revives memories of the Badaun case, in which two teenaged girls of a family were allegedly gangraped, killed and hanged from a tree at Katra village in May 2014, triggering a massive public outcry. Later, the CBI, which was entrusted with the probe into the incident, ruled out rape of the two girls.

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New Delhi:

Whenever there has been any public outrage, trend or trolling, online has served to be the best of mediums for portraying the best side of you. Ubiquity of internet connectivity has made it possible and easy for our fingers to post what our minds dictate us, making BOLD statements and opinions.

Online presence of socialites, celebrities has bridged the gap between them and the common man. It is the place where the earthlings get praised, appreciated, criticised, trolled for their actions or even get attacked by each other for ones physical appearances.

Recently, actor Fardeen Khan who has been away from movies for quite sometime, was shot to fame. Not for his acting prowess but something which has been imbibed and ingrained in us since childhood, probably  body shaming! When Khan had a field day last week, his fresh pictures went viral on social media. And guess what happened after that???

He was trolled for being overweight. Not only this, Fardeen was even tagged as an antonym for Adnan Sami. While others labelled him the next Bappi Lahiri in making. There seems to be a world of keen eyes who are always ready to target you for your flab or being thin or skinny.

But this is where Fardeen didnt give up, he also took on the online trollers in the best possible way:

Khan writes: Am I happy?? Emphatically!!!! In fact, living the happiest chapter thus far with lbs to show for it.

Khan silenced his haters in the best way while thanking his fans for supporting him all this while.

Quite wonderful snarks have previously targeted other celebs too for either being too thin or overweight. This shows our obsession with rectification/modification in a super crazy way. In body shaming others we often tend to forget that human bodies are gift of god and we should rather focus on becoming a better person than competing on fleeting concepts of physical appearances.

And even if we choose to focus on the latter one too, woudnt it be great if we just accept each other in the very way we are? This world would be a better place if we instill happiness, positivity, togetherness in it. That will harness many a good things.

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Antalya:

Turkey is offering to join forces with Washington for a special operation inside Syria on condition it doesnt include a Syrian Kurdish militia blacklisted by Ankara but seen as an ally by the US, the foreign minister said.

Washingtons support of Kurdish fighters in Syria in the fight against Islamic State (IS) jihadists has angered Ankara, especially after AFP pictures last week revealed US commandos wearing patches of the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) outlawed by Turkey.

If we join forces, they (the US) have their own special forces and we have our special forces, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a small group of journalists.

The subject we are discussing with the Americans is the closure of the Manbij pocket as soon as possible... and the opening of a second front, he said, referring to a backdoor border route favoured by IS for smuggling jihadists into and out of Syria.

We say okay, a second front should be opened but not with the PYD, he said, referring to the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the YPGs political wing.

Cavusoglu said Syrian Arab opposition forces opposing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad could be backed up with special forces from Turkey and NATO ally Washington as well as from France, Britain and Germany.

Such a second front could easily head to the Islamic States self-declared capital in Raqa to the south. Unfortunately, both Russia and the United States see a terrorist organisation as a partner and support it, he said of the YPG.

The minister also said that recent deal with Washington, which would have seen American light multiple rocket launchers deployed along its border with Syria to combat Islamic State, had been delayed.

Under the deal, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) was to have been deployed along the Turkish border by the end of May, but Cavusoglu said it would now only happen in August.

The United States is unfortunately not keeping its promise, he charged. We are completely ready. Not us, but the US is responsible for the delay.

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Baghdad:

Iraqi forces entered the Islamic State group bastion of Fallujah from three directions on Monday in a new phase of the operation to recapture the city, commanders said.

Iraqi forces entered Fallujah under air cover from the international coalition, the Iraqi air force and army aviation and supported by artillery and tanks, said Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi, the commander in charge of the operation.

Counter-terrorism service (CTS) forces, the Anbar police and the Iraqi army, at around 4 am (0100 GMT), started moving into Fallujah from three directions, he said.

There is resistance from Daesh, he added, using an Arabic acronym for IS. CTS spokesman Sabah al-Norman told AFP: We started early this morning our operations to break into Fallujah.

The involvement of the elite CTS marks the start of a phase of urban combat in a city where US forces in 2004 fought some of their toughest battles since the Vietnam War.

The week-old operation had previously focused on retaking villages and rural areas around Fallujah, which lies just 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

Only a few hundred families managed to slip out of the Fallujah area ahead of the assault on the city, with an estimated 50,000 civilians still trapped inside, sparking fears the jihadists could try to use them as human shields. Fallujah is one of just two major urban centres in Iraq still held by IS. They also hold second city Mosul.

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Imphal:

Security forces have launched major combing operations in and around Manipurs Chandel district and secured the border with Myanmar to stop the militants, who killed six Asaam Rifles men in an ambush recenty, from fleeing into the neighbouring country.

The operation by soldiers from Assam Rifles and the Army started on the evening of May 24, a day before Army chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag visited the area, defence sources said.

They said helicopters have also been pressed into operation and the aim is to nab the perpertrators.

The Co-ordination Committee (CorCom), a conglomerate of banned outfits of the state, had yesterday claimed responsibility for the May 22 ambush on the Assam Rifles convoy.

In a press statement, CorCom also claimed looting of six weaponsone LMG, one INSAS rifle and four AK-56 rifles from the army personnel.

The ambush occurred 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.

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New Delhi:

BJP today staged a protest against Congress in front of the partys office in Delhi and outside Sonia Gandhi's residence, against its alleged anti-India stand on the Batla house encounter. Earlier Digvijay Singh dubbed the 2008 Batla House encounter as fake and asked the government in Centre to order a judicial probe.

Denouncing Congress, BJP accused Congress of propagating false facts in the Batla House encounter case. Targeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi for her alleged anti-India stand on the matter, BJP termed Congress double faced.

The protests led by Delhi unit BJP President Satish Upadhyaya drew attention towards Congresss alleged anti-national stand on this big issue.

The Batla House encounter was taken place on September 19, 2008, against Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists, in which two suspected terrorists were killed while two other suspects were arrested.

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New Delhi:

In an incident of blatant misuse of power, Uttar Pradesh police forced an old man to polish the shoes of the entire station staff. The poor man, who had arrived at the police station to lodge an application of his lost mobile phone, ended up cleaning the shoes of the policemen.

The entire event was recorded on camera. The incident is yet another expose of pathetic law and order situation in the state. The shocking incident occurred in Charthawal police station, where 50-year old Sittu, a cobbler by profession, went to the police station to file a complaint of his missing mobile phone.

Following the incident, the Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar said, The probe is underway and accordingly action will be taken.

In another similar shameful incident of the same police station had allegedly asked a 75 year old widower to get married instead of filing complaint against her step son and daughter-in-law.

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Baghdad:

Militants unleashed a wave of attacks targeting commercial areas in and around Baghdad today, killing at least 20 people, officials said as Iraqi troops poised to recapture the Islamic State-held city of Fallujah, west of Iraqs capital.

Shortly after the bombings hit, the extremist Islamic State, which has been behind recent deadly attacks in Baghdad and beyond, claimed responsibility for two of the attacks, both in the Iraqi capital.

Such assaults are seen as an attempt by the militants to distract the security forces attention away from the front lines.

The attacks came amid a key Iraqi military operation to dislodge IS militants and retake the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, which has been in IS hands for over two years.

The operation was launched a week ago, with Iraqi forces teaming up with paramilitary troops and backed by aerial support from the US-led coalition.

The deadliest of todays attacks took place in the northern, Shiite-dominated Shaab neighbourhood of Baghdad where a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a checkpoint next to a commercial area, killing eight civilians and three soldiers.

The explosion also wounded up to 14 people, a police officer said.

A suicide car bomber struck an outdoor market in the town of Tarmiyah, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of Baghdad, killing four civilians and two policemen, another police officer said, adding that 19 people were wounded in that bombing.

And in Baghdads eastern Shiite Sadr City district, a bomb motorcycle went off at a market, killing three and wounding 10, police said. Medical officials confirmed casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release information.

In an online statement, IS claimed responsibility for the attacks in Shaab and Sadr City, saying they targeted members of Shiite militias. The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the statement but it was posted on a militant website commonly used by extremists.

Fallujah is one of the last major IS strongholds in western Iraq. The extremist group still controls territory in the countrys north and west, as well as Mosul, Iraqs second largest city.

Yesterday, Iraqi Maj Dhia Thamir said troops have recaptured 80 per cent of the territory around Fallujah since the operation began and are currently battling IS to the northeast as they seek to tighten the siege ahead of a planned final push into the city center.

In a televised speech yesterday to parliament, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called on Fallujah residents to either leave the city or stay indoors.

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Mumbai:

Shiv Sena today slammed Congress for fielding former Union minister P Chidambaram from Maharashtra for the Rajya Sabha poll, saying the party has damaged itself by foisting him on the state.

An editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana noted that the ED has sent Letters Rogatory (judicial requests) to UK and Singapore in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis deal case and parallel investigations in the financial transactions of some companies belonging to friends of former Finance Minister P Chidambarams son Karti.

It has also been alleged that Chidambaram amended the affidavit to drop references to Ishrat Jahans LeT link, in order to prove the human bomb of LeT innocent, the editorial said.

Considering all this, Congress has damaged itself by foisting Chidambaram on Maharashtra. The answer to the question whether wisdom will dawn on Congress has come in the negative, it said.

Whom to nominate for Rajya Sabha is its (Congress) internal issue. But Congress has sinned in fielding Chidambaram, who has no place left in Tamil Nadu, it said.

While Karti has denied any wrongdoing and has reiterated his cooperation with probe agencies, his father P Chidambaram had accused the government of a malicious onslaught launched by it against his family.

All said and done, senior leaders enter the House of Elders. Two lawyers, Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal were nominated to defend the Congress, but has Congress left anything (to defend) in the country, the Sena asked.

The duos entry into Rajya Sabha wont make much of a difference as Congress is helpless before the barrage unleashed by Subramanian Swamy, it said.

More than defending Congress, the duos candidature seems to have been finalised for defending Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the Sena said.

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New Delhi:

The Supreme Court today declined to quash anticipatory bail of actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh, accused of abetting the suicide of 24-year-old TV actress Pratyusha Banerjee, saying the last conversation between the two shows they were intensely in love with each other.



A vacation bench of justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy refused to entertain the petition of Pratyushas mother Soma Bannerjee saying there was no strong and compelling ground to cancel the anticipatory bail granted to Singh.



The last conversation between the two shows that they were intensely in love with each other. Without any strong and compelling grounds, anticipatory bail cannot be cancelled. If the probe agency finds during investigation that it is a case of section 302 (murder) of IPC and accused needs to be taken into custody, it can move to High Court, the bench said.



The court said that there was no suicide note also to attribute any role to the accused. Counsel for Pratyushas mother said that custodial interrogation of Singh is required, as there are discrepancies in the investigation and he may tamper with evidence.



The bench, however, dismissed the petition as withdrawn. Earlier, this month, the mother of the TV actress, who was found dead at her residence in Mumbai in mysterious circumstances, had moved the apex court seeking to cancel anticipatory bail granted by the Bombay High Court to Singh.



In her plea, she had said that Singh should be taken into custody as the investigation is still on in the case and there is likelihood that evidence could be tampered by him.



It was contended that there were several deep injury marks on the body of the deceased and panchnama had several discrepancies. The High Court had on April 25 granted anticipatory bail to Singh who has denied the allegations levelled against him.



The police had earlier filed a report before the High Court in which it had alleged that Singh, who was staying with Pratyusha at a flat in Goregaon in Mumbai, used to assault her and borrow money from her. The Balika Badhu fame actress was found hanging at her residence in Goregaon on April 1 and was rushed to a hospital by Singh in Andheri where she was declared dead.

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Kuwait City:

Kuwait's supreme court today upheld the death sentence handed down to the main convict in the Islamic State group bombing of a Shiite mosque that killed 26 people.



The court confirmed the sentence of capital punishment passed on Abdulrahman Sabah Saud, a stateless man who drove the Saudi suicide bomber to the mosque in June last year.



The court also upheld jail terms of between two and 15 years for eight people, including four women, and acquitted 15 others including three women.



The court did not hear the appeals of five othersfour Saudis and a stateless manwho had been sentenced to death in absentia by a lower court.



Under Kuwaiti law, sentences issued in absentia are not reviewed by higher courts until those convicted appear in person.



The four Saudi men still at large include two brothers who smuggled the explosives belt used in the attack into Kuwait from neighbouring Saudi Arabia. The fifth man is a stateless Arab.



Twenty-nine defendants, including seven women, had been charged with helping the Saudi suicide bomber attack a Shiite mosque in the capital, which was the bloodiest in Kuwaits history.



An IS-affiliated group calling itself Najd Province claimed the bombing as well as suicide attacks on two Shiite mosques in Saudi Arabia in May last year.



Najd is the central region of Saudi Arabia.



The Sunni extremists of IS consider Shiites to be heretics and have repeatedly attacked Shiite targets in the region.



In addition to driving the suicide bomber, Saud was also charged with bringing the explosives belt from a site near the border and aiding the bomber.



At his initial trial, Saud confessed to most charges, but later denied them all in the appeals and supreme courts.



The death penalty in Kuwait is carried out by hanging, and to be implemented it requires the approval of the Gulf states ruler.



Among the supreme courts main verdicts today, the court upheld the commuting of the death sentence for the alleged IS leader in Kuwait, Fahad Farraj Muhareb, to 15 years in prison.



It also upheld the acquittal of Jarrah Nimer, owner of the car used to transport the bomber.



Courts in Kuwait have previously handed down several verdicts against IS supporters and financiers.

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New Delhi:

With attacks on African nationals continuing to hog limelight, the government today promised strictest possible action if such assaults were found to have a racial angle. If racial angle is found in any of the case, strictest of possible action will be taken, Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju told reporters here.



The minister was replying to a question on whether the recent incidents of attacks on African nationals in Delhi allegedly had a racial angle. We have taken up all the incidents very seriously. Action is being taken and some arrests have already been made, he said.



On the attack on a taxi driver allegedly by a group of Africans here today, Rijiju said anyone taking law in their hands would be punished. Maintaining law and order is our responsibility. Be it Indian citizens or foreign nationals, anyone who takes law in their hands wont be spared, he said.



There has been a series of attacks on African nationals in the last few days, including killing of a Congolese youth in the national capital. A 23-year-old Nigerian student was also assaulted in Hyderabad. Five people have been arrested in connection with the attacks on African nationals here.

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New Delhi:

Microsoft chief Satya Nadella today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers to discuss issues pertaining to the IT sector and enhancing partnership for initiatives like Digital India. The India-born CEO, who is on his third visit to his home country since taking over as Microsoft head in February 2014, met Minister of Communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha as well as many industry leaders and developers here.



Discussed various issues pertaining to the IT sector with @Microsoft CEO @satyanadella @MicrosoftIndia, Modi tweeted after the meeting. Details of the discussions were, however, not disclosed.



Nadellas visit comes close on the heels of Apple CEO Tim Cooks four-day tour of India. During his visit, Cook had met Modi as well as business leaders like ICICI MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar, Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry and Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal.



Both Nadella and Cook have offered support to various governments initiatives like Digital India and Startup India. Earlier in the day, Nadella discussed with Prasad how Microsofts contribution to the governments Digital India initiative can be enhanced.



CEO @Microsoft @satyanadella met me today. Discussed enhancing cooperation with Microsoft towards @_DigitalIndia, the minister said in a tweet after the meeting.



According to sources, the meeting revolved around open source policy, engagement of Microsoft for linking Skype and Aadhaar and enhanced cooperation for cloud services in the government sector. The Hyderabad-born Nadella also attended a meeting with industry executives organised by industry body CII.



The session was attended by leaders like Intel V-P Sales and Marketing and South Asia MD Debjani Ghosh, IL&FS Chairman Ravi Parthasarathy, Wipro President and COO Bhanumurthy BM and NIIT CEO Rahul Patwardhan.



Nadella had visited India, which is among one of the largest R&D bases for the company, in December last year. He had visited Mumbai and incubation centre T-Hub in Hyderabad.

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New Delhi:

Meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the first time after weathering a month-long political crisis in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Harish Rawat said the former has a friendly attitude towards all CMs, including him, and hoped it remains the same in future.



Terming the 30-minute meeting as good, Rawat said he explained about the developmental requirements of Uttarkhand to the Prime Minister.



There are certain issues we have with the central government, with various ministries. Various proposals are pending there. Some of the sanctioned projects, which need monetary support from the central government and which are on certain funding pattern, they get money from the central ministries. I have taken up that issue.



There are certain flagship programmes also, which our state government is implementing with great enthusiasm. I explained to him how are we doing there. The PM expressed satisfaction, he said.



Rawat won trust vote in the state Assembly on May 10, six weeks after the Centre dismissed his government and imposed Presidents rule after nine Congress MLAs did not vote with the Rawat government on the Appropriation Bill.



Uttarakhand was brought under Presidents rule on March 27 by the Centre on grounds of breakdown of governance in a controversial decision in the wake of a political crisis triggered by a rebellion in the ruling Congress.



When asked what did he discuss in his first meeting with the Prime Minister, Rawat said, We discussed development.



He (Modi) has always a very friendly relationship with all Chief Ministers. He has had a friendly attitude towards me also and I hope it will remain in future as well. I need his friendship for Uttarakhand besides for me, Rawat said.



The Chief Minister had sought an appointment with the Prime Minister soon after his government was restored.



A day after winning the trust vote, Rawat had said he expects better cooperation from the Centre and would soon meet the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister.

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Revera Report on Ageism Reveals Warning Signs and Provides Action Plan; Company Announces $20 million Investment for Innovation in Aging

MISSISSAUGA, ON, May 30, 2016 /CNW/ - Ageism is the most tolerated form of social prejudice in Canada compared to racism and sexism, and many well-intentioned Canadians are, in fact, depriving their elders of the independence and choice that are crucial to aging well. These are among the findings of the Revera Report on Ageism: Independence and Choice As We Age, released today by Revera and the Sheridan Centre for Elder Research. The report accompanies the launch of the Revera Innovators In Aging program, a $20 million commitment by Revera to bring promising innovations to life that help seniors maintain their independence.

"Ageism is the next great social issue that demands our attention, and together, individuals, organizations and governments need to take action," said Thomas Wellner, President and CEO of Revera. "In addition to conducting research on ageism and raising awareness of this issue through our Age is More initiative, Revera is committing $20 million to fund entrepreneurs who have developed innovative new products and services that will enhance the aging experience and help seniors live life to the fullest."

Ageism: A Widespread Problem

According to the report, more than four in ten Canadians (42 per cent) feel ageism is the most tolerated form of social prejudice; more than double that of racism (20 per cent) and sexism (17 per cent). Additionally:

Fully one in four (25 per cent) Canadians  from Gen Y to Boomers  admit they have treated someone differently because of their age.

More than half (51 per cent) of Canadians ages 77+ report that others assume they can't do things for themselves.

One in four (26%) respondents 77+ report that, because of their age, people make choices for them without asking their preference.

The Importance of Independence: A Perception Gap

Canadians strongly agree that independence is important, but younger adults have a blind spot when it comes to older Canadians:

Almost 100 per cent of Canadians, in every age cohort, agree that maintaining independence is important to them personally.

However, younger adults (ages 20-34) are more than five times as likely (21 per cent) to say that independence is not important to those 75+ than those who are near or at that age themselves

"Ageism is getting old! Every person, young or old, can live life with purpose," says 95-year-old former Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion, now Chief Elder Officer at Revera and Chancellor of Sheridan College. "This purpose doesn't end when you get older; society must recognize that older people can and want to continue to make a contribution, and this begins with tackling ageism."

Making Decisions for Others: Helpful or Hurtful?

The report finds that in many cases, well-intentioned efforts to help by family and friends may be hindering older adults from maintaining the independence they want. For example:

Canadians use words like "helpful" (32 per cent) and "responsible" (26 per cent) to describe the way they feel when they make decisions on behalf of another adult in their lives. Conversely, those 77+ say they feel "controlled" (28 per cent) and "annoyed" when choices are made for them.

"Taking immediate steps to address and reverse negative stereotypes and assumptions about older adults is something all Canadians can do, and the positive outcomes are well documented," said Pat Spadafora, Director, Sheridan Centre for Elder Research. "Every social movement begins with awareness, and we are confident that the Revera Report on Ageism will also inspire action."

Recommendations

The Revera Report on Ageism includes a number of key recommendations, among them:

For non-seniors: Avoid making assumptions about what older adults want or can do. More than half of Canadians ages 77+ feel others assume they can't do things for themselves. By removing this prejudice and allowing older adults to try things themselves, they will feel less frustrated and more independent. Support can always be offered, but should not be automatically delivered. It is also important to recognize your own stereotypes and prejudices about aging, and how that might be perceived by others.

More than half of Canadians ages 77+ feel others assume they can't do things for themselves. By removing this prejudice and allowing older adults to try things themselves, they will feel less frustrated and more independent. Support can always be offered, but should not be automatically delivered. It is also important to recognize your own stereotypes and prejudices about aging, and how that might be perceived by others. For seniors: Don't let yourself be defined by a number . By not accepting self-limiting beliefs and unintentionally contributing to outdated age-based stereotypes, you can help others to remember that you are not defined by your age.

. By not accepting self-limiting beliefs and unintentionally contributing to outdated age-based stereotypes, you can help others to remember that you are not defined by your age. For policy makers: E nsure consultation on public policy permanently includes the voice of older Canadians. Older Canadians of all ages, including those 75+, should always be at the table when discussion takes place to ensure their needs and wants are addressed. Consider health care service delivery options that allow the end user to have more choice in how their care is delivered.

Older Canadians of all ages, including those 75+, should always be at the table when discussion takes place to ensure their needs and wants are addressed. Consider health care service delivery options that allow the end user to have more choice in how their care is delivered. For organizations: Invest in innovation that will support older people's desire for independence as they age. Independent-minded seniors represent a large opportunity for innovative product and service providers that should not be overlooked. Recognize older adults as their own consumer market with diverse needs and interests.

Revera Innovators in Aging

Revera is earmarking $20 million to invest in some of the companies that participate in the Revera Innovators in Aging program, focusing on innovations expected to bring the most benefit to older adults, families and staff. Through this program, entrepreneurs will partner with staff and residents in Revera's retirement communities and long term care homes to test and evaluate new innovations designed to improve quality of life, enhance independence and choice, and help people age well.

Revera Report on Ageism: Independence and Choice As We Age

The report is based on a survey of over 2,400 respondents in Canada, including a robust sample of almost 600 people ages 77+. The complete report, including all of the recommendations and the survey methodology, may be accessed at AgeIsMore.com. Also available on the site are videos of older adults talking about independence and choice, an infographic of the survey findings, the Revera Report on Ageism (2012), and an opportunity to take the "Are You Age Aware" self-assessment test.

About Revera Inc.

Revera is a leading owner, operator and investor in the senior living sector. Through its portfolio of partnerships, Revera owns or operates more than 500 properties across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, serving more than 50,000 seniors. The company offers seniors' apartments, independent living, assisted living, memory care, and long term care. With approximately 45,000 employees dedicated to providing exceptional care and service, Revera is helping seniors live life to the fullest. Through Age is More, Revera is committed to challenging ageism, the company's social cause of choice. Find out more at ReveraLiving.com, Facebook.com/ReveraInc or on Twitter @Revera_Inc.

About the Sheridan Centre for Elder Research

The Sheridan Centre for Elder Research is an organization that develops innovative approaches and creative interdisciplinary partnerships that focus on enhancing the lives of older Canadians. The Centre does this by providing a unique environment for conducting applied research into areas of practical concern and immediate relevance to older adults and their families. The Centre for Elder Research was launched in 2003 at the Oakville, Ontario campus of Sheridan College. The Centre has an established track record in applied research and a reputation as a leader that challenges traditional thinking, creating possibilities that transcend historical boundaries.

SOURCE Revera Inc.

Video with caption: "Video: "Ageism is getting old!" says Hazel McCallion, former Mayor of the City of Mississauga, now Chief Elder Officer at Revera and Chancellor of Sheridan College. Watch Hazel and other older adults share their thoughts on ageism, independence and choice in this video.". Video available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/cgi-bin/playback.cgi?file=20160530_C8680_VIDEO_EN_701617.mp4&posterurl=http%3a%2f%2fphotos.newswire.ca%2fimages%2f20160530_C8680_PHOTO_EN_701617.jpg&order=1&jdd=20160530&cnum=C8680

Image with caption: "Infographic highlighting findings from the Revera Report on Ageism: Independence and Choice As We Age, along with tips on how to combat ageism. (CNW Group/Revera Inc.)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160530_C8680_PHOTO_EN_701615.jpg

For further information: or to arrange an interview: Jennifer Arnott, Revera Inc., [email protected], 289-360-1372; Aliya Darvesh, Environics Communications, [email protected], 416-969-2777
CALGARY, May 30, 2016 /CNW/ - ArPetrol Ltd. ("ArPetrol" or the "Company") (TSXV: RPT) provides an update on the sale of substantially all of its assets (the "Transaction") to a subsidiary of Empresa Nacional Del Petroleo, which closed on May 19, 2016. The Company also announces its financial and operating results for the three months ended March 31, 2016. The Company's interim condensed consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the reporting period have been filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and posted on the Company's website at www.arpetrol.com.

Update on Transaction

As previously announced, ArPetrol successfully closed the Transaction on May 19, 2016. The purchase price paid to the Company at closing of the Transaction was US$11.1 million (approximately CAN$14.5 million), including the net working capital at closing of the subsidiaries being sold of US$2.1 million. This net working capital amount is subject to a 90-day post-closing adjustment period. In addition, US$2.25 million of the purchase price was placed into an escrow account at closing and will be released to ArPetrol in November 2016 following the six-month indemnity period, subject to any negative adjustments to the working capital calculation or indemnity amounts being claimed against the escrowed funds.

As a result of the completion of the Transaction, the Company no longer has active business operations or assets other than the cash proceeds from the Transaction. ArPetrol now plans to focus on the efficient winding-up of the affairs of the Company, including the distribution of the net proceeds from the Transaction to the ArPetrol shareholders (the "Shareholders"). The Company plans to apply for delisting of the Company's common shares (the "Common Shares") from the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV") after the first distribution to Shareholders, but the TSXV may on its own initiative delist the Common Shares sooner or transfer the listing to the NEX Board.

The Company currently plans to make the distributions to Shareholders in three instalments as a return of capital on the Common Shares. The first distribution will be made from the immediately-available cash resources of the Company as soon as practicable following the completion of the 90-day post-closing adjustment period. The first distribution is expected to be in the range of 65% to 70% of total proceeds (subject to any adjustments or indemnity claims) and is expected to be paid in September 2016. The second distribution is expected to occur by year-end after expiry of the six month indemnity period and the release of the escrowed funds (subject to any indemnity claims). The amount of the second distribution is uncertain due to, among other things, foreign exchange rates, potential claims under the indemnity provisions of the Transaction and the costs associated with Company's dissolution and settlement of all outstanding obligations. The Company plans to apply for a Canada Revenue Agency ("CRA") clearance certificate in connection with the dissolution of the Company and before the final distribution is made to Shareholders, and the timing for receipt of the CRA clearance certificate is unknown. The final distribution, which is anticipated to be nominal, is expected to be made after the CRA clearance certificate is received and all liabilities are settled. While the total amount of the distributions is not certain, the Company expects that the total distributions to the Shareholders from the three instalments will be in the aggregate range of approximately $0.59 to $0.62 per Common Share. The ultimate distributions may be lower in the event of a negative change to the foreign exchange rate or if any significant liabilities or costs arise during the winding up and dissolution process which are not currently foreseen by the Company or its advisors.

The Company will issue further press releases advising Shareholders of the timing and details of these various events and the record dates for distributions.

Summary of the First Quarter 2016

Operating and Financial

As a result of the closed Transaction, the operating results for the Company's foreign operations in Barbados and Argentina were classified as discontinued operations in the March 31, 2016 financial statements. The operating results of the Canadian parent company were classified as continuing operations in the March 31, 2016 financial statements.

The net loss from continuing operations was $403,516 for the first quarter of 2016 compared to a net loss of $314,422 for the comparative period in 2015. The increase in the net loss is primarily due to increased costs related to the Transaction.

The net income from discontinued operations was $232,694 for the first quarter of 2016 compared to a net income of $533,026 for the comparative period in 2015.

The components of the net income from discontinued operations were:

As at and for the three months ended March 31, 2016 March 31, 2015

$ $ Revenue



Production sales 1,006,513 564,039 Processing sales 2,715,369 2,479,500 Royalties and turnover taxes (287,166) (197,733)

3,434,716 2,845,806 Expenses



Operating 1,775,644 1,698,057 General and administrative 615,425 260,347 Foreign exchange loss 638,781 110,982 Depletion, depreciation, and amortization 254,855 280,156 Financing income (142,041) (76,687) Financing expense 59,358 39,925 Net income relating to discontinued operations 232,694 533,026





Notes: All values in the news release are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise indicated.

About ArPetrol Ltd.

ArPetrol is a Calgary-based publicly traded company whose Common Shares are listed on the TSXV under the symbol "RPT". The Company has completed a sale of substantially all of its assets and no longer has active business operations.

Forward-Looking Information

Certain information provided in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Specifically, and without limitation, this press release contains forward-looking statements and information relating to the anticipated timing for delisting of the Common Shares, the CRA clearance certificate process, and the expected timing and amount of distributions to Shareholders. Forward-looking information typically contains statements with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "forecast", expect", "plan", "intend", "estimate", "propose", "project", or similar words suggesting future outcomes. The Company cautions readers and prospective investors in the Company's securities not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as, by its nature, it is based on current expectations regarding future events that involve a number of assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company. In particular, liabilities, costs or obligations (including potential tax obligations) may arise, currency exchange rates may change or other events may transpire in the future not currently foreseen by the Company that may result in distributions to Shareholders that are lower than those discussed herein or occur at different times than those discussed herein. Shareholders and potential investors are heavily cautioned against relying on the anticipated timelines or estimated amounts of distributions provided in this press release.

In respect of the forward-looking statements and information set out in this press release, the Company has provided such in reliance on certain assumptions that it believes are reasonable at this time, including assumptions as to the stability of currency exchange rates, the accuracy of estimated net working capital calculations at closing, the number of shares outstanding at the time of the distributions to Shareholders, the estimated amount of the transaction and dissolution costs and the liabilities and obligations of the Company, the estimated amount of net proceeds remaining for distribution to Shareholders, the delisting process of the TSXV and the process for obtaining the CRA clearance certificate.

There are a number of risk factors associated with the completion of the liquidation and dissolution of the Company, the delisting of the Common Shares and the amount and timing of distributions to be made to Shareholders that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company, including but not limited to, risks of negative working capital adjustments and/or indemnity claims against the Company in connection with the Transaction, uncertainties regarding the actual transaction and dissolution costs and obligations and liabilities (including potential tax obligations) of the Company, changes in currency exchange rates and the risk of the TSXV delisting the Common Shares earlier than expected. Readers should also refer to "Forward Looking Statements" and "Meeting Matters  Approval of the Asset Sale Transaction - Risk Factors Associated with the Asset Sale Transaction and  Approval of Voluntary Delisting of the Common Shares from the TSXV  Risk Factors for Delisting" in the Company's Information Circular dated April 4, 2016 filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com for a further discussion of the risks associated with the distributions to be made to Shareholders and the delisting of the Common Shares.

The forward-looking information included herein is expressly qualified in its entirety by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking information included herein is made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

Additional information relating to the Company is also available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE ArPetrol Ltd.

For further information: Ian Habke, President and Chief Financial Officer, [email protected], ArPetrol Ltd., Main Phone: 403-263-6738
TORONTO, May 30, 2016 /CNW/ - For the tenth year in a row, CIBC Mellon has been named best sub-custodian in Canada by Global Finance magazine. CIBC Mellon was awarded this title as part of Global Finance Magazine's ranking of "The World's Best Securities Services Providers 2016." The award results were announced by Global Finance on May 13, 2016; a full report on the selections will appear in the July/August issue of Global Finance and online at GFMag.com.

"Global investors and institutions want to work with firms that are the safest and have the most in-depth on-the-ground knowledge of local markets and regulatory regimes. With these awards, we evaluate those providers that do the best job of securities servicing in increasingly complex global markets," said Joseph D. Giarraputo, Publisher and President of Global Finance. "We are pleased to recognize CIBC Mellon yet again as the best sub-custodian in Canada, and to congratulate them on their outstanding performance in supporting global investors as they navigate the Canadian market."

"We are proud to earn this prestigious award from Global Finance magazine for the tenth consecutive year," said Shane Kuros, Vice President, Business Development and Relationship Management, CIBC Mellon. "Canada continues to draw global investors seeking the stability afforded to them thanks to mature market infrastructure, robust capital markets, and one of the few remaining triple-A sovereign credit ratings. Clients seeking to navigate Canada's business and regulatory environment trust the CIBC Mellon team to provide an intense focus on client service and continuous improvement, combined with deep knowledge of the Canadian market, to help them meet the needs of both Canadian and global stakeholders."

About the Global Finance "World's Best Securities Services Providers 2016" Ranking

For 2016, Global Finance expanded the scope of its annual survey to include sectors such as: Prime Brokers, Securities Lenders, Collateral Managers, Trust Services Providers and Depositary Receipt Banks. Global Finance's editorial board, making use of market research, input from expert sources and entry information from banks, selected the winners from the institutions that reliably provide the best services in local markets and regions. Our criteria included customer relations, quality of service, competitive pricing, smooth handling of exception items, technology platforms, post-settlement operations, business continuity plans and knowledge of local regulations and practices.

https://www.gfmag.com/media/press-releases/global-finance-names-worlds-best-securities-services-providers-2016

About Global Finance

Global Finance, founded in 1987, has a circulation of 50,050 and readers in 180 countries. Global Finance's audience includes senior corporate and financial officers responsible for making investment and strategic decisions at multinational companies and financial institutions. Global Finance also targets the 8,000 international portfolio investors responsible for more than 80 per cent of all global assets under professional management. Its website  GFMag.com  offers analysis and articles that are the heritage of 29 years of experience in international financial markets. Global Finance is headquartered in New York, with offices around the world. Global Finance regularly selects the top performers among banks and other providers of financial services. These awards have become a trusted standard of excellence for the global financial community. www.gfmag.com

About CIBC Mellon

CIBC Mellon is a Canadian company exclusively focused on the investment servicing needs of Canadian institutional investors and international institutional investors into Canada. Founded in 1996, CIBC Mellon is 50-50 jointly owned by The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). CIBC Mellon's investment servicing solutions for institutions and corporations are provided in close collaboration with our parent companies, and include custody, multicurrency accounting, fund administration, exchange-traded fund services, recordkeeping, pension services, securities lending services, foreign exchange settlement and treasury services. As at March 31, 2016, CIBC Mellon had more than C$1.6 trillion of assets under administration on behalf of banks, pension funds, investment funds, corporations, governments, insurance companies, foreign insurance trusts, foundations and global financial institutions whose clients invest in Canada. CIBC Mellon is part of the BNY Mellon network, which as at March 31, 2016 had US$29.1 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration. CIBC Mellon is a licensed user of the CIBC trade-mark and certain BNY Mellon trade-marks, is the corporate brand of CIBC Mellon Global Securities Services Company and CIBC Mellon Trust Company, and may be used as a generic term to refer to either or both companies.

For more information  including CIBC Mellon's latest knowledge leadership on issues relevant to institutional investors active in Canada  visit www.cibcmellon.com.

SOURCE CIBC Mellon

For further information: Media Contacts: Brent Merriman, Corporate Communications, CIBC Mellon, 416-643-5065, [email protected]; Andrea Fiano, Editor, Global Finance, 212-524-3213, [email protected]
MONTREAL, May 30, 2016 /CNW/ - On the eve of World No Tobacco Day, Imperial Tobacco Canada, Canada's largest tobacco company, calls on the government to end the hypocrisy around its health agenda. On one hand, the Federal government wants to move ahead with the legalization of marijuana and, on the other, it seeks to further regulate tobacco by banning menthol and introducing plain packaging.

"What's the government's end game when it comes to tobacco? Nobody disagrees with the virtues of regulating tobacco and yes, even the tobacco industry believes young people should not smoke. There are proven means to ensuring that young people do not smoke, take education programs for example," said Eric Gagnon, Imperial Tobacco Canada's Director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs. "Yet, the government continues to concede to a small yet vocal group of health lobbyists who are more anti-industry than pro-health."

The theme of this year's World No Tobacco Day is 'Get Ready for Plain Packaging'. The Trudeau government has made it clear that they intend to follow Australia, the UK and France's lead by implementing plain packaging in Canada at some point in its mandate.

"Announcing more tobacco regulations is an easy political win that will generate headlines, but do nothing to further reduce smoking rates," continued Gagnon. "Unsurprisingly, evidence from Australia shows plain packaging has not achieved any of its stated objectives. Canada will be no different. With products already hidden from view in stores and 75% of the pack covered with health warnings, nobody starts smoking because of the pack."

The smoking rate in Canada is at an all-time low. Tobacco regulations in Canada are among the strictest in the world with retail display bans, three quarters of all cigarette packs already covered with graphic health warnings, no sponsorships, no advertising, governments suing tobacco companies to the tune of billions of dollars, the list goes on.

The health risks associated with smoking have been known for decades. It is for this reason that Imperial Tobacco Canada is not opposed to regulation that is solidly based in fact. However, punitive regulations that are based on emotion and false claims about industry tactics are not effective public policy.

"If the government is really serious about the health of Canadians, it should acknowledge the harm reduction potential of smokeless electronic nicotine products and table clear regulations around these products," said Gagnon.

SOURCE Imperial Tobacco Canada

For further information: Lauriane Ayivi, Torchia Communications, 514-288-8290 ext. 233, [email protected]; Kathleen Stelmach, Torchia Communications, 416-341-9929 ext. 227, [email protected]
OTTAWA, May 28, 2016 /CNW/ - As a result of the Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada's (MPPAC) early intervention, a directive was issued by K Division HQ in Edmonton directing all members who have been exposed to the Wood Buffalo wildfires to attend a specific respiratory specialist. This is a good step forward. However, safety concerns still linger and MPPAC is calling for a review of emergency protocols and procedures in emergency situations like this.

"MPPAC raised attention last week to the fact that many of the RCMP first responders sent to the Fort McMurray wildfires were not provided with adequate protection from fire, smoke, debris and airborne particles, and were not required to seek medical evaluation immediately," said MPPAC President Rae Banwarie. "While we are encouraged by these initial first steps, we continue to hear from members who have raised additional health concerns. MPPAC is prepared to work with RCMP management and assist in a review of emergency protocols to ensure members are clear about what is expected of them in situations like these."

The recent directive issued by K Division HQ in Edmonton requires all members exposed to the wildfires to seek respiratory testing.

MPPAC recognizes that many RCMP members have undergone training and have been equipped for chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) situations, but it appears that these members were not deployed as a priority. MPPAC questions why this protocol was not utilized for the Fort McMurray wildfire. We respectfully ask that processes be put in place that reflect the current climate of health care such as the proactive approach of our partners.

(See http://edmontonjournal.com/storyline/firefighters-returning-from-fort-mcmurray-undergo-health-tests-at-mobile-lab )

These are unfortunate circumstances for everyone and we can benefit from the professionals who have been studying these incidents extensively for years.

"I, like all of my co-workers, was trained with CBRN equipment and for response. This equipment was not available to us," said an RCMP Constable, currently posted to Fort McMurray. "Paper N95 masks were eventually distributed, however these did not provide adequate filtration of the air, which according to the air quality index was at an extremely hazardous level. It should be noted that while in training we were advised we would all have access to the proper equipment including gas masks and respirators with proper filters."

Videos from the wildfires clearly confirm RCMP members without masks or with masks that did not offer the proper protection. In addition, these members were not wearing any fire retardant apparel, as can be seen on videos here (time code 1:37) and here (time code 1:17, 2:37, and 18:16).

MPPAC hopes to work with RCMP management to ensure the safety and well-being of all RCMP members.

SOURCE Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada (MPPAC)

For further information: Terry McKee, Media Relations, Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada, Association Canadienne de la Police Montee Professionelle, T: 506-850-3907, E: [email protected]
Medicines San Frontieres and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) say between 700 and 900 migrants, including Nigeri...

Medicines San Frontieres and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) say between 700 and 900 migrants, including Nigerians, drowned during boat mishaps at the Mediterranean Sea last week.The agencies said the week was the busiest for migrant leaving leaving Libya to Italy in 2016. They said about 14,000 have been rescued since Monday.We will never know exact numbers, Medecins San Frontieres said in a tweet after estimating that the number of deaths stood at 900. UNHCR says more than 700 had drowned.The migrants often cannot swim or do not have protective gear.The arrivals, this week, included Eritreans, Sudanese, Nigerians and many other West Africans, according to the agencies, which said the boats that arrived this week possibly left from Sabratha in Libya.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige has said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress...

Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige has said that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress, APC, on assumption of office a year ago met economic recession which has affected its programmes.Senator Ngige who disclosed this in his text to mark the nations democracy day and one year in office of the present administration at the federal level also said that his ministry was liaising with the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development for the conversion of countless illegal mining going on in many parts of the country into legal business.Besides, the minister said that as an important step in protecting the national interest, his ministry was matching efforts with the Ministry of Interior to look at the expatriate quota provision to make sure that expatriates do not displace qualified Nigerians.To that effect, he explained that already his ministry has a working relationship over the strict observance of this, so that jobs meant for Nigerians would not be lost to expatriates for any reason.He said: Since assuming office, I have quietly but relentlessly been active in dialoguing with all social partners to ensure conducive atmosphere for national productivity.I have unambiguously placed government intentions, positions and challenges on the table for all partners to appreciate and make necessary adjustments in their expectations in the over all interest of the nation.The tenor of last weeks general strike, carried out only by a section of the labour community and its decision to call it off in matter of days speak a lot of our persuasive mechanism and openness which no patriotic organization could ignore.Speaking further he said that the government had put in place measures to kick-start self reliance and job loses, which he said had yielded positive results.According to him: Notwithstanding the prevailing economic down turn, government is doing its best in the provision of jobs, with emphasis though on blue-collar.The main agency of job creation is the National Directorate of Employment, which is under my ministry.The NDE has over one hundred skills acquisition centres across Nigeria, apart from the ones owned by some Federal ministries, agencies and states.Since I came in, we have embarked on the rehabilitation and re-equipping of these NDE skills centres to enhance their training capacity. We are establishing a liaison with other skill centres owned by other ministries, agencies and state governments so as synchronize and standardize their operations.We are working to institutionalize them as training centres whose certificates  Trade Test 1, Trade Test 2 and Trade Test 3 can be recognized internationally just like the City and Guild certificate of the old.Trade graduates of these centres such as in tiling, mechatronics, metal works, welding, plumbing, mason, POP production and laying, Info-technology technics among others will primarily find opportunities in the formal and informal sectors and arrest a situation where a dominant percentage of such low cadre skills are provided for us by Ghananians, Togolese and citizens of other west African countries.Besides, our liaison with the International labour Migration of the European Union will soon enable this category of Nigerians export their skills as legal migrants to other countries. Our target is to train not less than 300,000 per year and trainings are already on-going in most of our centres.On the economic situation that the government met on assumption of office, Senator Ngige said, It is my firm conviction that the general over view of the polity, especially the extant economic situation is important for us to clearly situate and achieve an unbiased review of the efforts of the present administration in the last 12 months.At present, our OPEC production quota is 2.2 million barrels per day but the reality is that we are far away from meeting this target. As we speak, the nation produces between 1.4  1.5 barrels per day, meaning that about 800, 000 barrels per day of the quota allocated to us by OPEC is lost.So, where other countries battle with over production and being sanctioned by OPEC, we are under-producing, unable to meet our quota. Unfortunate, you may say. This means that when we assumed office, we already had economic recession, crude oil being the major revenue earner for the country.Without enough money to take care of the needs and welfare of the citizen, which is the primary purpose of government, the prospect of swiftly fulfilling campaign promises faces serious challenge. Nevertheless, the administration trudged on and has recorded immense successes in many areas.In the Ministry of Labour and Employment where I have been in service as the Minister since November 11, 2015, a period of about seven months, we have taken significant steps and achieved quite a lot.
The campaign posters of Imo State and Borno State Governors, Kashim Shettima and Rochas Okorocha for the 2019 presidential election, appea...

The campaign posters of Imo State and Borno State Governors, Kashim Shettima and Rochas Okorocha for the 2019 presidential election, appeared on the streets of the nations capital city, Abuja.However, it is unclear whether it was handiwork of mischief makers or not.Few weeks ago, Governor Rochas disclosed that he would rather contest for a senatorial seat instead of the presidency in 2019.Both Kashim Shettima and Rochas Okorocha are yet to make any public statement on the recent development.
Senate President Bukola Saraki has commended Nigerians for working to sustain democracy in the past 17 years despite the various challen...

Senate President Bukola Saraki has commended Nigerians for working to sustain democracy in the past 17 years despite the various challenges the country has encountered within the period.In a statement to mark this years Democracy Day, signed on his behalf by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki described democracy as not only the most globally accepted system of government but also the best solution to the problems confronting a multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious society like Nigeria.He said in the last 17 years, the electorate had become more discerning and sophisticated as the nation has got to the point that people elected to the various offices are now conscious of the fact that they are under constant watch and when they fail to meet the expectation of the voters, they will be given the red card.He said: It is the first time in our national history that we will have 17 unbroken years of democratically elected governments. Last year, our people demonstrated that our democracy is fast maturing as they voted out a party in power and elected another party. Since then, one can notice how people have become more and more interested in governance and the performance of those elected and appointed into public offices.In my own view, these are signs that our democracy has matured. Our people deserve commendation for that. This positive development is also already reflecting in the quality of governance and the level of development being witnessed across board in the country, he stated.The Senate President urged elected and appointed officials at all levels of government to continue to justify the confidence people reposed in them as he said he and his colleagues in the Senate are conscious of the fact that if they fail to live up to the expectation of the people, the next elections are just around the corner.He added that the nation must improve on the conduct of elections in such a manner that the free will of the electorate will be reflected in the results, adding that for the country to become a matured democracy, elections must be peaceful, free and fair.The issue of free and fair elections is a joint responsibility for all of us. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must continue to improve on its process and machinery for conduct of elections while the people must learn to shun violence and all forms of unlawful conduct during electioneering. We cannot be celebrating many years of democracy if people still take elections as if it is war and refuse to accept the decision of the majority.
The daughter of anti-apartheid figure Archbishop Desmond Tutu has had to give up being an Anglican priest after she married a woman.

The daughter of anti-apartheid figure Archbishop Desmond Tutu has had to give up being an Anglican priest after she married a woman.In an email to the AFP news agency Mpho Tutu-van Furth said that as the church does not recognise gay marriage she was told her license would be revoked, so she decided to return it.She wrote to AFP that her father was sad but not surprised at the news.Archbishop Tutu has supported same-sex marriage and it was legalised in South Africa in 2006.
Some legal practitioners and economists have expressed support for the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to unveil the names of looter...

Some legal practitioners and economists have expressed support for the refusal of President Muhammadu Buhari to unveil the names of looters and the amount of looted assets so far recovered.The President, had, in an interview in London, while attending the anti-corruption summit organised by British Prime Minister, David Cameron, recently, promised to disclose the figure in his Democracy Day address to the nation.Buhari, however, on Sunday, dashed the hopes of millions of Nigerians who were waiting to be told how much his administration had so far recovered from individuals and firms accused of looting the nations treasury.In his nationwide address to mark his one year in office on Sunday, Buhari failed to disclose the figure as promised.Rather, the President promised Nigerians that the Ministry of Information and Culture would be publishing the details which he said would be updated periodically.He simply said significant amount of assets had been recovered.Buhari promised that when forfeiture formalities were completed, the money would be put in the nations treasury and be spent transparently to fund developmental projects.The President said, The processes of recovery can be tedious and time-consuming, but today, I can confirm that thus far, significant amount of assets have been recovered. A considerable portion of these are at different stages of recovery.Full details of the status and categories of the assets will now be published by the Ministry of Information and updated periodically.A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, and Lagos-based lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, said on Sunday that Buharis directive to the Minister of Information to release details of the looted funds periodically, was in order.In separate telephone interviews with one of our correspondents, the human rights lawyers believed the Presidents directive the ministry was the best approach.That is the correct approach because it is an ongoing process, Falana said.But the Executive Secretary of Anti-corruption Network, Ebenezer Oyetakin, said Buharis speech did not meet the expectations of most Nigerians, who expected him to name the corrupt elements as he promised.Oyetakin stated that the people also expected some shake-up in the structure of government, adding that disappointment occurred because people thought that Buhari would never say what he would not do.He added, He must embrace immediately a single policy that is capable of disarming the moneybags, who uses their stolen wealth to sponsor destabilisation projects. He must as a matter of urgency and courage deflates such people immediately before they rocked his government.Ogunye said he would not have expected the President to be reeling out names of looters in his Democracy Day speech.He said, The President cannot be reeling out the names of looters in his speech because there is no way he will give details of the recovered loot without giving the names of the looters or from whom what amount was recovered.It is the duty of the Minister of Information to speak for the government. The strategy adopted by the President is the best.Falana however said the Buhari administration had yet to address some inbuilt leakages in governments funds.He argued that the government needed to mobilise other anti-corruption agencies in the country in the fight against graft, contending that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission was already overwhelmed by the huge number of cases it was contending with.He said, The other anti-graft agencies ought to be reorganised. More importantly, the government should mobilise the Nigerian people to own and take over the fight against corruption.Falana stated that the Buhari administrations fire brigade approach would not solve the current economic crisis in the country.He said, The economy cannot be fixed through the fire brigade approach of the government. Why should the Central Bank of Nigeria be wasting the countrys scarce foreign reserves on the importation of consumer goods for our pampered elite?The goods produced by companies funded by the bank are not patronised because imported ones are cheaper.Why has the CBN not increased duties on imported goods, which can be produced locally? In some of our neighbouring countries, public officers wear locally produced dresses. Cant the government lead by example?Also, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, said, He is not going to mention it (list of looters) in a broadcast. The President said the government; he didnt say he would mention it himself.So, the government will still mention it.On the plan to keep the Naira exchange rate steady, Rewane stated, It is a national wish. Every government strives for currency stability. But the markets are the ones that determine the value. So, I think the President is coming to terms with the fact that markets work in a modern-day economy, and what the government can do is to strive to make sure that it is stable within the parameters of market forces.On his part, Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella of the Department of Economics, Olabisi Onabanjo University, said, About the three or four days ago, the EFCC chairman was asked and he said they were still compiling the list and that some money was just coming in, which has not been properly recorded. So, that could be responsible for the delay.Tella, who described the Presidents speech as inspiring, said, He knew that he has not done much, and he couldnt have done much within the given time, considering the magnitude of what he met on the ground.My only concern is that you put money into the economy and you find that all the things you are going to buy are imported. If they are leading to improvement in local production, I think it will be good for us.Tella stressed the need for a national plan to drive the growth and development of the economy.Buhari again read the Riot Act to the Niger Delta Avengers, who have been vandalising pipelines in the Niger Delta, saying the perpetrators and their sponsors would be apprehended and brought to justice.He said his administration was committed to implementing the United Nations Environment Programme report and was advancing clean-up operations.The recent spate of attacks by militants disrupting oil and power installations will not distract us from engaging leaders in the region in addressing the Niger Delta problems.If the militants and vandals are testing our resolve, they are much mistaken. We shall apprehend the perpetrators and their sponsors and bring them to justice, the President vowed.Buhari described his one year in office as a year of triumph, consolidation, pains and achievements.He accused the previous government of not saving for a rainy day when there was oil boom and leaving critical infrastructure in decrepit state.The President said, The past years have witnessed huge flows of oil revenues. From 2010, average oil prices were $100 per barrel. But economic and security conditions were deteriorating.We campaigned and won the election on the platform of restoring security, tackling corruption and restructuring the economy.On our arrival, the oil price had collapsed to as low as $30 per barrel and we found nothing had been kept for a rainy day. Oil prices have been declining since 2014 but due to the neglect of the past, the country was not equipped to halt the economy from declining.The President said the measures to be taken might lead to hardships.Buhari added, We resolve to keep the Naira steady, as in the past, devaluation had done dreadful harm to the Nigerian economy. Furthermore, I supported the monetary authorities decision to ensure alignment between monetary policy and fiscal policy.We shall keep a close look at how the recent measures affect the Naira and the economy. But we cannot get away from the fact that a strong currency is predicated on a strong economy.And a strong economy pre-supposes an industrial productive base and a steady export market. The measures we must take, may lead to hardships.The President stated that his administration identified 43,000 ghost workers, therefore saving the government N4.2bn in salaries.Apart from making savings, Buhari said his administration had changed the way public money was spent.The President explained the rationale behind the recent increase in fuel price to N145 per litre, describing the decision as painful.Buhari added, It is even more painful for me that a major producer of crude oil with four refineries that once exported refined products is today having to import all of its domestic needs. This is what corruption and mismanagement have done to us and that is why we must fight these ills.He said the policy measures and actions taken so far by his administration should not be seen as some experiment in governance, stressing that he was fully aware that the vested interests, who had held Nigeria back for so long, would not give up without a fight.They will sow divisions, sponsor vile press criticisms at home and abroad, incite the public in an effort to create chaos rather than relinquish the vice-like grip they have held on Nigeria, he said.The President said the economic misfortune the nation was experiencing in the shape of very low oil prices had provided his government with an opportunity to restructure the economy and diversify.He said his administration was in the process of promoting agriculture, livestock, exploiting solid mineral resources and expanding industrial and manufacturing base.Buhari expressed delight in the return of two of the abducted Chibok girls, saying he had been in agony over the fate of the over 200 girls kidnapped in their school in Borno State in 2014.
Lagos State on Sunday set up the states Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWD) Fund with N500 million. Ambode spoke at a programme f...

Lagos State on Sunday set up the states Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWD) Fund with N500 million.Ambode spoke at a programme for the physically challenged with theme: Celebrating Ability in Disability at the Lagos House, to commemorate his first year in office.Ambode said that the aim of the Fund was to ensure level playing field for the physically challenged who were usually presumed not able to live normal lives.'This Fund is for the advancement of the course of persons living with disability.I call on individuals, corporate organisations, Non-Governmental Agencies and other stakeholders to support the fund so that they can maximise the abilities in the disabilities of our fellow compatriots, he said.The governor urged residents not to discriminate against them but to embrace them.All they require is care, support and opportunities to live a fulfilled and productive life, he said.He also said that one percent job vacancies in the states civil service would be reserved for the qualified among them.Ambode enjoined the PLWD to take part in the ongoing data base exercise to ensure effective planning for them.I urge those who have not registered to do so without further delayThe certificate issued will entitle you to some rights and privileges, he said.Earlier, the General Manager, Lagos State Office of Disability Affairs (LASODA), Dr Babatunde Awelenje, commended the governor for celebrating the day with them, saying it was a practical demonstration of his government of inclusion.
Governor David Umahi, yesterday ordered the arrest and prosecution of the state Peoples Democratic Party, PDP youth leader, Mr. Mark Onu...

Governor David Umahi, yesterday ordered the arrest and prosecution of the state Peoples Democratic Party, PDP youth leader, Mr. Mark Onu for alleged public disorder and attempt to disrupt the 2016 Democracy Day celebration in the state.The Governor gave the directive at the 2016 Democracy Day celebration which took place at the Abakaliki township stadium. Umahi also ordered the proscription of a youth group in the state, Akubaraoha Consultative Youth Assembly named after his chieftaincy title, Akubaraoha and founded by Onu.It was learnt that his action followed alleged beating up of the Ebonyi State President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, NYCN, Elder Sam Igwe and his group by Onu at the Abakaliki township stadium. Some youths were injured during the incident which led to the sacking of all the youths from the stadium by security agents at the occasion.
It is exactly one year since Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Ahead of the official comme...









It is exactly one year since Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Ahead of the official commemoration of his ascension to power, Buhari spoke with some journalists on the issues that have dominated his reign. Excerpts:

This interview was sourced from one of the media organisations present at the event.

I am sure you will recall that during our campaign, we identified three problems for our country. First was security  the situation especially in the North-East then. Second was the economy  unemployment; and third was corruption. I am sure you can recall that these were what we identified.In the North-East, when we came in, Boko Haram occupied 14 local governments and they had hoisted their flags and called the areas their caliphate. But I can assure you that Boko Haram is not holding any local government presently, but they have progressed to using IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) and by taking on softer targets  people in mosques, churches, marketplaces, motor parks, killing them in tens, twenties and fifties that you all know about, and killing schoolchildren. So, I think we have made substantial progress in that area. If you know anybody living in Maiduguri or Yobe, he or she will tell that people are going back to their homes; those who moved to Kano, Kaduna or even here in Abuja are now moving back and they are trying to continue with their lives. On the economy, again we were unlucky. We are now a mono-economy and everybody is dependent on oil revenue. The oil price collapsed and we were exposed. From 1999 to 2014, the average price of Nigerian crude that was sold was $100 per barrel, but when we came in, it plummeted to about $30 per barrel and now it is between $40 and $50 per barrel. At some stage, I got the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to give me a list of the things we have been spending our foreign exchange on and it showed food items such as tomato puree, grains, rice, wheat and even toothpicks. I didnt believe it and I still dont believe it because if he said we were building so many factories, buying essential raw materials and spare parts machinery, I would have believed it. But to show me that what we were consuming majorly was just food items? I believe that Nigerians from the eastern part of this country, from the west and north, about 60 per cent of them, eat what they produce because they cannot afford to buy foreign food. So, what was happening was that people who had plenty of naira, they just filled the papers that they were importing food and were given foreign exchange; they invested the money outside in whatever form. My belief was strengthened when we got into trouble about the import of petroleum products. We conducted a survey and we found out that one-third of what Nigerian marketers claimed to be bringing in, they were not bringing it in. They were just signing the papers and taking the money out. So, people were doing the same thing with food products. But I think subsequently, when we get to the court with some people, you will hear more about it.The third one was on corruption, I would speak about that in two days time (Sunday) and also on subsequent attempts to prosecute where we have found evidence; about where the monies have gone and the different banks either here or outside the country, we would let you know.No, I dont want to tell different stories. I advised against the issue of national conference. You would recall that ASUU was on strike then for almost nine months. The teachers in tertiary institutions were on strike for more than a year, yet that government had about N9bn to organise that meeting [National Conference] and some [members] were complaining that they hadnt even been paid. I never liked the priority of that government on that particular issue, because what it meant is that the discussions on what the National Assembly ought to do was more important than keeping our children in schools. That is why I havent even bothered to read it or ask for a briefing on it and I want it to go into the so-called archives.To speak in the order the question was asked, on the herdsmen, note that Gaddafi ruled Libya for 43 years. During his 43 years, Libya was a small country in terms of population, but very big in terms of resources. They have oil reserves, light crude like Nigerias crude. But he was quite generous to some of the countries in the Sahel. He took their young men and trained them. But unfortunately, he didnt train them to become electricians or plumbers, bricklayers or mechanics.They were trained to shoot and kill. When that administration was removed, of course, those who removed it knew that he stabilised his country by using these people from the Sahel, so they pursued them and they went back home. You know what happened in Burkina Faso, Mali, and a few of them we believe are around the North-East. I am sure you know that here in Nigeria, our border with our northern neighbour, Niger, is at least 1,500km-long; it is such an open country that you cannot stop donkeys from crossing; you cannot stop camels neither can you stop people from crossing the borders. Only God can effectively guide these borders.So, some of them found their way here. Even on the recent herdsmen [killings], I asked one of the governors if the herdsmen were fighting perennially with the farmers and he said there was a difference, which means that these people were either hired to come and fight and worsen the ethnic relationship in Nigeria or they have no profession other than fighting for a fee. But these are just reports that still have to be confirmed later. So that is what I can answer about the herdsmen and I think the law enforcement agencies are working very hard to identify them. Now about the militants in the South-South: when we came in, I got one of the senior officers [in the army], a major-general, and asked him to revisit the agreement the late YarAdua signed with them.I said he should get a copy of the gazette so that we could see the agreement to know what stage we were in. I havent received a comprehensive report on that yet, but I believe the officer is working hard. I saw him responding to some of your colleagues [journalists] a couple of days ago in the papers. Meanwhile, I have told the military and law enforcement agencies that the promise this government took was that this country had to be secure before it could be effectively managed. So we cant wait for that report before the military re-organises itself and secures the Niger Delta area. So I think very soon they would do some serious operations there.But for Biafra, those looking for Biafra have a tough job. A lot of them that have participated in the demonstrations were not born and didnt know what people like us went through (fighting Biafra) by walking from the northern border to initially Abakiliki, then coming back and starting from Awka to Abagana and to Onitsha.We lost our friends and relatives; about two million Nigerians were killed. They thought it was a joke, so I think they have a problem.Kidnapping is a very serious thing because like the operations of the militants where they are destroying installations (in the Niger Delta)  I was going round the world telling people that we are going to secure Nigeria and by our performance in the North-East, they believe us and people are prepared to come and invest in Nigeria. But nobody would invest in an insecure environment. Those who had been in Nigeria for so many years can conduct feasibility studies.But why do they put money into paying militants or paying for corruption? This means with all the goodwill we are winning, we may not be able to benefit in the long run because of the kidnapping and the actions of the militants. So, it is a top priority for this government to address. Once we settle down to make sure that we deal with militants, we will deal with kidnappers also.That is a major challenge for us. It is not going to be easy to complement the revenue as we promised in the budget. I think I mentioned initially that the market plummeted from an average of $100 per barrel for crude oil from 1999 to 2014, and suddenly went down to $30 per barrel and now it is between $40 and $50 per barrel. I was constrained to approach the Governor of the Central Bank to find out how we spend our foreign exchange. When he went and checked the records, he found out mostly that it was spent on food bills such as wheat, rice, flour, bread and toothpicks  Nigerians are so sophisticated that they only use Chinese toothpicks. I was shocked.I dont know whether I have some official protection. If I dont have it, why havent you started the investigation?I see, very good. But then, it doesnt extend to all the executives and party leaders and the party leaders are there. If anybody has received $100m to give to the party, I think he should be asked to tell us where he got the $100m. I know those we would eventually successfully prosecute; they wouldnt leave it, neither will they let their friends leave it. We do not believe if we were so reckless, we would get away with it. I dont believe it.Do you remember the three and half years when I was in charge of the petroleum ministry, have you forgotten the $2.8bn (issue)? If you have forgotten, I havent. Have you forgotten the PTF [Petroleum Trust Fund]? In the PTF, at one stage, we had more than N53bn at a time, we planned and spent it. It was investigated subsequently. So I assure you that I feel perfectly safe. But nobody is perfect, only God is perfect. But let me tell you, from being governor of the six states (the old North-Eastern State), which was only for seven months, to the petroleum ministry, to Head of State, and to PTF, I tried not to expose myself, and I hope God will continue to help me.We came into power at a very difficult time. We discovered too late that we had put ourselves as a nation in a mono-economy, depending only on petroleum. From 1999 to 2013, the average cost of Nigeria crude oil per barrel was $100. Unfortunately, when we came in, it had reduced to an average of about only $30. We suddenly discovered that we are depending on petroleum; we import virtually everything, including food.On the issue of insecurity, it was there during our campaign and we knew about it; we knew about the saboteurs in the South-South, and then the unemployment. We have a huge number of unemployed persons. Im told the population of the unemployed youths is about 65 per cent. And for a country of our size, this is something for which we must be concerned. We campaigned on insecurity, unemployment, bribery and corruption, which have done much damage to this economy.There are a lot of problems in the country. You have insurgency in the North-East. But how did Boko Haram start? If you could recall, it was like a group of political thugs, and along the line, a young charismatic leader called Mohammed Yusuf emerged. That young man assumed that reputation in the North-East because of the way he preached.One afternoon, the group wanted to go and bury one of their own. Most of them were on motorcycles; some wore helmets and some did not. Then, there were the military patrol vehicles. The normal thing was for them to wear helmets, but the group had a way of wearing their headgears, which made it difficult to wear helmets. Instead of arresting them and taking them to court to pay a fine of some N250, the patrol team just shot six of them, hell was let loose. The situation went out of control for the police, and the military took over. Mohammed Yusuf went into hiding; the military looked for him, arrested and handed him over to the police, and he was murdered.Thats why we now have Boko Haram. I know all these because I was once a governor in the North-East and I follow the political developments there closely. For unemployment, things became clearer and compounded when we became a mono-economy. We abandoned agriculture, left solid minerals, and everybody rushed to the town to get oil money. Now, weve found out that that oil money is not available. Then, corruption is what we are going through now.How can you take $2.1bn meant to fight insurgency and share among yourselves and think that nothing should happen? Not to talk of when political money is being raised for elections and the Central Bank, NNPC, Customs funds where the funds were collected from. Weve made some progress in recovering this money. Were giving the people the opportunity of fair trial. They take the money and pay into some persons accounts, and there are signatures of some persons who admit that they had taken the money. Somebody comes and calls another, saying, youre a member of this party? The other person responds by saying Yes. Then, hes told, take a N100m to go and keep, and the other person doesnt ask any questions. You take N100m and disappear, and subsequently you complain that you have received money for doing nothing?In 1984, we were advised to devalue the naira and withdraw subsidy, whatever their perception of subsidy was in Nigeria. We even had subsidy on flour. The IMF and World Bank talked about subsidy removal. My argument has been that those who devalue their currencies have developed economies, where there is local production and they export the excess. They have good infrastructure. So, they devalue their currencies to sell their products outside their shores, and employ their people.We claim to import food, but this is a lie. People just take the money out of the country. How many factories have we built? So I refused to devalue the naira. They talk about petroleum subsidy. I say what do they mean by subsidy? They say Nigerias petroleum is so cheap that it encourages smuggling into our neighbouring countries: Cameroon, Chad, Niger. But I know the four refineries we built can produce 450,000 barrels, we have 20 depots we didnt borrow a kobo. So even if we put something on top and pay the cost of refining and travels to filling stations and small overhead, well still be selling at a good price. But they say theres a lot of smuggling. I said these countries where they claim petrol is being smuggled to, they cant consume more than what one city in Nigeria does. I was asked how I knew, and I said, for three and a half years, I was Commissioner for Petroleum under Obasanjo.At the time I was removed, naira exchanged for $3. Now you need N350 to get a dollar! I challenged Nigerian economists to tell me what benefits Nigeria has earned from the devaluation so far. How many factories have we built by killing the naira? I had to reluctantly give up because the so-called Nigerian economists come and talk things to me, and when I raise issues, they talk over my head instead of inside my head. For us to lose over N300 (every year, were losing the value of the currency by N100), what for? Let them tell me how many factories theyve built. I find myself in a very difficult state because the economists cannot tell me why we should continue to devalue our naira. People say import, and we find out that we are just importing food! Were now planning to stop importation of rice, wheat, maize in three years time. On the value of the naira, Im still agonising over it, that the naira should be reduced to such a disgraceful level over the last 30 years. I need to be educated on this. But Im not ruling this country alone. Im under pressure and well see how we can accommodate the economists.I believe in privatisation, but I believe before you do it you have to look at your state of development as a nation. The first refinery in Port Harcourt was built to refine 60,000 barrels per day. It was upgraded to refine 100,000 barrels per day. Another one was in Port Harcourt to refine 150,000 barrels per day. So Port Harcourt alone has the capacity to refine 250,000 per day of Nigerian crude. So, youre not importing anything. As Commissioner for Petroleum, I signed the contract for Warri to refine 100,000 barrels per day; Kaduna, 100,000 barrels per day. We laid pipelines up to Maiduguri, Gusau, all over the country.We took tankers off the road, and then some greedy people in this country took over and now all the refineries are not working. Nigeria has to go cap in hand, like a non-oil-producing country, and buy fuel and bring into Nigeria. With this background in mind, do you want us to privatise our infrastructure as scrap? So, were just starting to get them repaired. We want to make them work so that we dont sell them as scrap. We cant spend so much money to put up the refineries, just to sell them as scrap. I think that will be disservice to the country. Lets repair them and negotiate to sell them at good prices. We dont want them to dictate how much we sell fuel in this country after weve sold the refineries to private investors.I expect to hear from you. But look at what has been happening: after the election, I went to thank Jonathan for what he did  conceding defeat. A former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), told me he had an experience in handover and asked if he should advise me. I said, yes. He said committees in the ministries met and wrote handover notes and Obasanjo set up transition committees to work with each ministry and at the end, Obasanjo took whatever he wanted from the reports. I agreed. Jonathan agreed. When I came to sit down, Jonathans ministers complained, saying, Why would Jonathan allow Buhari to take over government before he is sworn in. They refused to cooperate. So I took over without knowing what Jonathans government contained.After we were sworn in, I began to debrief the Permanent Secretaries, taking two ministries per day, to just try and find out what they had. They had 42 ministers; the economy had collapsed. We reduced 42 ministries to 24 and we had to ask some permanent secretaries to go on several grounds.
Yesterday, President Muhamadu Buhari and Nigerians, home and abroad celebrated May 29th, Democracy day.

Yesterday, President Muhamadu Buhari and Nigerians, home and abroad celebrated May 29th, Democracy day.Democracy Day is coined from the People's Democratic Party's ideology of celebrating the return of power to a democratic elected civilian government. The date has been set aside since 1999 during former President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration.Also, successive governments both at state and federal levels continued to celebrate the day either on low key or in a more flamboyant ways depending on the State's purse since the return of democracy.Yesterday, Nigerians and the Peoples Democratic Party presented a numerous opinions on president Muhammadu Buhari's one year in office. Some gave kudos while others criticized heavily. But wait a minute, where is the immediate past president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan?Recently, ThisDay newspaper reported that the former president is on self exile in neighboring country, although the statement was refuted by the Jonathan's aide, Reno Omokri.A quick check on his social media account shows that his last post was on May 5th to honour the remembrance of his late Boss, Alhaji Umar YarAdua.
Soldiers suspected to be operatives of the Joint Task Force have invaded the home of the father of wanted ex-militant leader, Government...

Soldiers suspected to be operatives of the Joint Task Force have invaded the home of the father of wanted ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo, carting away what sources said were vital documents.It was gathered that the incident happened between the hours of 5am and 8am at Kurutie.The soldier later moved to other communities in search of the ex-militant and youths alleged to be members of the Niger Delta Avengers.Kurutie, where Tompolos father lives, is also where the temporal site of the scrapped Federal Maritime University is located in Warri South West local government area of Delta State.Community sources revealed that the soldiers also stormed other Gbaramatu communities, including Benikrukru, Kokodiagbene, and Okerenkoko.The spokesman of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Chief Godspower Gbenekama, confirmed the development to our reporter on phone when contacted.He alleged that briefcases containing monies and vital documents where carted away by the soldiers. He said soldiers were being currently stationed in all Gbaramatu communities and were harassing residents.Mr. Eric Omare, spokesman of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), also confirmed the development.A security source confirmed the stationing of military personnel in Tompolo fathers village saying they only acting on intelligence reports.According to the source, what they are simply doing was cordon and search operation aimed at unmasking militants and vandals in the communities.A leader of Kokodiagbene community, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, while lamenting the situation said, Their continuous visits are posing serious threats to the communities. We are living in bondage. Gbaramatu kingdom is hosts to oil and gas facilities and not to avengers.It is annoying to observe that within every 5 to 10 kilometer radius, there are security houseboats and gunboats, yet illegal bunkering and vandalism are going on unabated. Who are they fooling?The Spokesperson of JTF, Col. Isa Ado, did not pick his calls.
Nigerians have given President Muhammadu Buhari 64 per cent average in its overall job performance rating after one year in office.

Nigerians have given President Muhammadu Buhari 64 per cent average in its overall job performance rating after one year in office.The latest polls results by NOIPolls Limited released on Monday revealed that President Buharis approval rating between June 2015 and May 2016 ranged from his highest of 80 per cent in October 2015 to the lowest of 42 per cent in April 2016.NOIPolls regularly conducts periodic opinion polls and studies on various socio-economic and political issues in Nigeria.Compared to one year ago, the poll said 44 per cent of Nigerians now believe the country was currently moving in the right direction under President Buhari, against the opinion of 37 per cent of the sample population that said the country was moving in the wrong direction.Only 19 per cent said the country was neither moving in the right nor wrong direction.Further analysis of specific indices of the study showed that Nigerians rated as average at 55 and 47 per cent the presidents performance on corruption and national security respectively, while 14 per cent rated very poorly his performance on job creation and handling of the economy (21 per cent).On the most important issue(s) the administration should focus its attention on over the remaining three years, the poll said Nigerians identified unemployment (21 per cent), power (17 per cent), and the economy (16 per cent) as top priority areas.Details of the findings based on geo-political zones indicated that the North-West and North-East geopolitical zones with the highest proportion of respondents gave the president 81 per cent each, while the South-South and South-East zones accounted for the highest proportion of respondents who disapproved the presidents performance with 35 per cent each.The report said the average overall approval of 64 per cent by respondents cuts across all age groups, with more male respondents (67 per cent) approving his performance than female (60 per cent).On why they approved or disapproved the presidents job performance, the result showed that the open-ended answers, particularly in May 2016, cited the improved security (31 per cent), the fight against corruption (17 per cent) and the presidents good intentions (16 per cent), among other reasons.On the other hand, those who disapproved the presidents performance cited the worsening economy (30 per cent), the unrealized expectation for change (29 per cent) and the increase in prices of goods and services (21 per cent), to mention a few.On recommendations for the most important issues the administration should focus on in the remaining three years, 21 per cent of Nigerians said unemployment; 17 per cent rooted for power/electricity, while 16 per cent were in support of economy.Other categories included food and agriculture (11 per cent), education (nine per cent), and security (seven per cent), among others.
The Lagos Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has appealed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, to wad...

The Lagos Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has appealed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, to wade into the refusal to allow its embattled National spokesman, Chief Olisa Metuh to travel abroad for medical treatment.According to Daily Post, the spokesman of the state chapter of the party, Gani Taofik on Sunday appealed to the CJN to allow Metuh enjoy his fundamental human right by traveling abroad for medicals in the spirit of democracy and freedom.Metuh is currently facing a seven count charge of money laundering to the tune of N400m.The Economic and financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had accused Metuh of benefiting from the $2.1bn fund mean for the purchase of arms allegedly diverted by the office of the National Security Adviser to high profile individual.According to the state chapter of the party, its national spokesman in view of his family ties to the country would not jump bail.
President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to embark on a one-day trip to Dakar, Senegal for the 49th Extra-Ordinary Summit of the Economic C...





President Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to embark on a one-day trip to Dakar, Senegal for the 49th Extra-Ordinary Summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).President Buhari will depart Abuja on Friday June 3rd and return to Abuja on June 4th after the conclusion of the summit, a source at the presidency disclosed to SaharaReporters.The ECOWAS meeting would be Mr. Buhari's first trip out of Abuja after his last-minute cancellation last week of a planned trip to Lagos, Nigerias commercial hub and first in the second year running of the president in office.A source at the Presidency told SaharaReporters that the ECOWAS meeting would focus on issues of regional security and economic development.
Two policemen were Monday feared dead while two others were injured following clashes with protesters under the auspices of the Moveme...

Two policemen were Monday feared dead while two others were injured following clashes with protesters under the auspices of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).MASSOB are agitating for the release of IPOB henchman Nnamdi Kanu currently standing trial for treasonable felony.The group is also agitating for the independence of Biafra from the Nigerian State.It was gathered that a police patrol van was vandalised by the protesters at Mammy Market junction along Nnebisi road.It was learnt that trouble started after policemen fired tear gas canisters into the crowd on a peaceful march around Anwai road in Asaba metropolis.Following this attack, the crowd regrouped and attack a police patrol team fatally stabbing a policeman in the melee that ensued.A source who visited the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba where the corpse of the slain cop was deposited observed that the Achilles tendon of the deceased cop was ruptured leading to a pool of blood on the floor by the stretcher upon which the policeman laid.Two policemen were reportedly thrown by the protesters into the River Niger, while one of the cop was retrieved and rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba rescue efforts to recover the other one was ongoing as at the time of filing this report.The rescued cop had a wound in his navel while he bled from swellings on his forehead. Also the cop had a bruise on his left leg apparently sustained from the fall into the River Niger.It was gathered that the rescued cop receiving treatment is an Assistant Superintended of Police (ASP) attached to the B division.Yet a fourth policemen sustained injuries on his left and was admitted at the Federal Medical Centre.Efforts to reach the Delta State Police Commissioner, Alkali Baba Usman proved abortive as his number was switched off.
Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello has accused his predecessor, Captain Idris Wada, of embezzling the N2 billion Youth Enterprise Fund obta...

Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello has accused his predecessor, Captain Idris Wada, of embezzling the N2 billion Youth Enterprise Fund obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria.Bello, who made the accusation on Sunday in a statewide broadcast to commemorate Democracy Day, said the immediate past administration used fictitious beneficiaries to siphon the money.He said: This money is a loan meant to stimulate commerce among the youthWe will recover it back from whoever has stolen it.The governor said he was not out to witch-hunt anyone but would not condone corruption by closing his eyes to obvious cases of outright embezzlement of state funds.Bello urged the youths not to despair and disclosed that his government was assisting the Dangote Group to negotiate the acquisition of 20,000 hectares of land for commercial rice cultivation and processing, while it has also signed memorandum of understanding with tested large scale farming enterprises.He said government has also engaged consultants to review all projects awarded by the previous administration and advise it on the way forward.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has issued a subpoena to Donald Trump. The nine-member panel sent a letter to the former president's lawyers on Friday, demanding his testimony under oath by mid-November and outlining a series of corresponding documents. The decision by lawmakers to exercise their subpoena power comes a week after the committee made its final case against the former president, who they say is the "central cause" of the multi-part effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It remains unclear how Trump and his legal team will respond to the subpoena, if at all.
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Thirty years ago, Memorial Day brought a special visitor to Northwest Indiana.

Gen. William C. Westmoreland commanded the nation's armed forces from 1964 to 1968 during the Vietnam War, and then as U.S. Army chief of staff. He fought in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam.

By the time he spoke at Stoney Run County Park in Leroy, on May 26, 1986, attitudes about the controversial war had begun to shift.

"The Vietnam War was a period unique in American history," he told the crowd of several hundred veterans gathered despite the pouring rain. "It has left scars that may be with us for years. But those scars are beginning to heal."

People who disagree with American involvement in, and execution of, the war in southeast Asia weren't directing their anger at the servicemen who returned from the war.

Vietnam experience is action-packed story George Ross, of Crown Point, saw more action in his first three months in Vietnam than his s

"History may judge the American aid to South Vietnam as one of man's most noble undertakings," Westmoreland said.

That judging is still going on. History takes a long time to determine these things.

Memorial Day events are still going on, too. Get out today and participate. If you don't go to a ceremony, at least go to a cemetery. Honor the dead, especially those who gave their lives to their country. They've earned it.
CROWN POINT  After graduating from Crown Point High School in 2001, Nick Idalski worked in construction and trained as a certified emergency medical technician earning top honors in the program.

Less than two years later, Idalski enlisted in the U.S. Army to help wage war on terror, his family said. He graduated from Army Infantry training at Fort Benning, Georgia then he went into airborne training, became jump qualified and earned his wings.

Assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division out of Fort Carson, Colo., Idalski was first stationed in South Korea then received his orders for deployment to Iraq in August 2004.

The 23-year old was killed on June 21, 2005 when his unit was attacked by small-arms fire west of Baghdad near the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi.

At the time of his death, Idalskis mother, Kim Greenberg, remembered vividly watching her son at his infantry training graduation in 2003 in Fort Benning.

He looked phenomenal, Greenberg said in that interview. He looked sharp. He stood tall and proud. He was all Army.

Idalski planned to make a career out of the Army, his family said. During an interview at the time of Nicks death, Steve Idalski said his younger brother enlisted because he wanted to make a difference and make his family proud.

He was a leader. He wanted to be out there and prove a point that he could do anything that was thrown at him, Steve Idalski said. He was always doing things for other people.

Another brother, Nathan, said in a published report that being a soldier was the one job we knew he loved the most.

The Idalski brothers maintained a close relationship despite the distance. Although he wasnt able to call home often, Nick would call everyone. Steve received several 4 a.m. wake-up calls from Nick. The family cherishes one photo of the Idalski brothers at Wrigley Field when Nick was home on leave in 2004.

During his tribute to Nick Idalski on June 28, 2005, U.S. Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., said, He loved his country and the members of his unit; however, Specialist Idalski treasured his family above all else.

Specialist Idalski sacrificed his life during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and his passing comes as a setback to a community already shaken by the realities of war, Visclosky said in the House of Representatives that day.

Specialist Idalski will forever remain a hero in the eyes of his family, his community, and his country; thus, let us never forget the brave sacrifice he made in order to preserve the ideals of freedom and democracy.
MUNSTER  A natural-born leader, Shaun M. Blue always did the right thing, the right way, for the right reason, say those who served alongside the Marine 1st Lieutenant.

Assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1 Marine Expeditionary force in Twentynine Palms, Calif., Blue died in combat in Iraqs Al Anbar province on April 16, 2007 during his second tour of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The truck carrying three Marines was hit by an improvised explosive device. Blue, 25, and Marine Lance Cpl. Jesse D. De La Torre, 29, of Aurora, Ill. were killed in the explosion.

(Shaun) just inspired a lot of us in his platoon, and he was one of those leaders that you would follow anywhere, said Jay Knight, a fellow Marine on a May 2014 cross-country bike tour that honored Blue during a stop at the Community Veterans Memorial in Munster. Thats unfortunately very rare, even in a great organization like the Marine Corps.

Blue grew up in Munster, attending Elliott Elementary, Wilbur Wright Middle School and Munster High School. An avid reader, he also enjoyed the great outdoors, and treasured time spent with his many friends and family. In addition he was an active member with Boy Scout Troop 533. A standout student athlete, Blue excelled in cross-country, track and wrestling while at Munster High School.

After graduating in the top 10 of this high school class in 2000, Blue attended the University of Southern California on an ROTC scholarship, graduating in May 2004 and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps the same day.

In 2008 five fellow Marine Corps Infantry Officers initially created The Eternal Valor Foundation to honor the memory of Blue and 2nd Lieutenant James J. Cathy, said Debbe Blue, Shauns mother. Now the 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization is located across the nation, ensuring the timeless memory of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice by providing scholarships and endowments for future generations, she said.

Each of the past four years, a senior at Munster High School has been awarded the 1st Lieutenant Shawn M. Blue Scholarship, based on applications reviewed by the Blue family. The recipient must have been accepted to a college or university, a GPA greater than 3.5, be involved in the community and display leadership potential.

Our family chooses the recipient. All the information, including the applicants names are blacked out so we dont know who they are, Debbe Blue said. It tends to be someone who sounds like Shaun.

The 2016 scholarship recipient Sean Wagner displays the traits that made her son a special person  high intellect, community service, involved in leadership roles, she said.

Among those honoring by remembering Shaun Blue this Memorial Day and every day are his parents, Jim and Debbe Blue; his sister Amy Blue; brother Dan Blue and sister-in-law Annalisa Blue.
GARY  A man found with a gunshot wound to the neck earlier this month in the city's Horace Mann neighborhood died last week at an Illinois hospital, officials said.

Warren Gates, 20, of Gary, was shot May 19 in the 2100 block of West Fifth Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Gary police found Gates after responding to a call at 8:50 p.m. May 19. Gates was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and later transferred to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where he was pronounced dead at 5:35 p.m. Thursday.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Sgt. Gregory Wolf at (219) 881-1210 or the Crime Tip Line at (866) CRIME-GP.
A total of 61 students from 36 families were removed from Calumet City Elementary District 155 in the 2015-2016 school year due to residency issues, according to James Crull, district director of security.

Crull gave a report to the D.155 School Board earlier this month regarding work done by district resource officers this school year.

He said that despite the number of students removed, no residency hearings were held.

"Everybody who we let go and said that they lived out of the district, they agreed with (that) and so they did not come in and request a hearing," Crull said.

Board President Stanley Long asked Crull if he notifies Thornton Fractional High School District 215 about students being investigated regarding residency.

Crull said no and that District 215 has its own residency officers.

District 155 feeds into District 215.

Crull said they get leads regarding residency concerns when students show up late for school, when mail is returned and from teacher notifications.

In other business, the board accepted retirement letters from Wentworth Intermediate School custodian Jim Chioros and Lorraine Linn, an eighth-grade teacher at Wentworth Junior High.

Chioros' retirement is effective June 30 and Linn's not until the end of the 2018-2019 school year.

Also accepted were resignation letters from Lisa Burns, a cook at Wentworth Intermediate, and Ashley Thompson, a part-time interventionist at Wentworth Junior High.

Both are effective at the end of the school year.

The board also recognized a number of employees who are retiring this year, including Assistant Superintendent Nancy Christensen, who is concluding 14 years with the district and 43 years total in education.

The board last month approved hiring Joseph Zotto to serve as assistant superintendent for the 2016-2017 school year.

The one-year contract includes a salary of $110,000, according to D.155 Superintendent Troy Paraday.

He said Zotto is the current director of instruction at Pathways in Education, which is part of the Chicago Public Schools system.

Paraday said the contract also includes family paid medical insurance, $75,000 of life insurance and an annuity of $1,200.

Four board members voted to approve the contract, while Long abstained and board Vice President Nick Valle and member Teresa Kic voted no.

Kic said she objected to the annuity that was part of the agreement.

Next school year, students who do not qualify for free or reduced lunch will pay $2.20 at Woodrow Wilson Elementary and Wentworth Intermediate and $2.35 at Wentworth Junior High.

"We raised the student prices by a nickel, as required by the Illinois State Board of Education," Paraday said.
ST. JOHN  The public comment portion of last week's council meeting was dominated by comments for and against the town paying to settle the lawsuit filed by the St. John Homeowners PAC.

The suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the PAC, seeks $75,000 in damages, of which $25,000 is compensatory and $50,000 is punitive. Councilman Christian Jorgensen, originally a supporter of and supported by the PAC, criticized the PAC last week for trying to finance its operations with taxpayer funds over $100 worth of signs.

The suit was filed over the removal of 44 signs from polling places prior to the election by Town Manager Steve Kil. The signs urged voters to "fire" Kil, Councilman Mark Barenie and Council President Michael Forbes. Barenie and Forbes were both re-elected, and Kil remains as manager but he was charged by the county with conversion for removing the signs.

PAC spokesman Gerald Swets denied Jorgensen's claim the group "sandbagged" the council by filing the suit without first talking to the council. Swets said the group demanded the removal of Kil and the resignation of Council President Michael Forbes at every meeting since November. The suit was filed when the town did not respond, he said.

"We tried speaking out against you, not with protests and marches, but at the voting booth, the American way," Swets said. "You took our signs, you took our voices and our votes. Mr. Forbes, you won by 85 votes. If we could have changed one vote for each of the 44 signs that were removed, you would have been defeated."

As Swets neared the end of his prepared statement and was about to comment on Jorgensen's claim the PAC wanted the taxpayers to pay the damages, Forbes said the council could not comment on anything related to the lawsuit because it was pending in court.

Swets had intended to say the punitive damages should be assessed against the individuals responsible for taking the signs. Swets left, but PAC member Joe Hero said it later in the session. Another PAC member, Rita Berg, said the group was not interested in the money except to pay its legal fees and to help the town. She asked that the town not fight with the PAC so much.

Amy Jorgensen, the town's Republican chairman and Christian Jorgensen's wife, said the vast majority of the people she's talked to say the town shouldn't pay a single dollar to the PAC because the sign ordinance cited as the reason for removing the political signs has been repealed. The council actually voted in April not to enforce it while an ordinance is drawn up to repeal it. That ordinance is due to be heard at July's Plan Commission meeting.

Three others spoke against paying to settle the suit. Hero also said Jorgensen was guilty of a conflict of interest by supporting the town when he was the PAC's second largest contributor, donating $100.
The Indiana Association of School Principals honored several Northwest Indiana high school seniors and a retired teacher recently.

The educators named as 2016 Indiana Academic All-Stars: Sarthak Aggarwal of Lake Central High School, Paul Dawley, Crown Point High and Nathan Wornhoff, Lowell High.

It also named as Regional Academic All-Stars: Katie Anderson of River Forest High, Michael Deek, Wheeler High; Joel Walker, Rensselaer Central High; and Rachael Yemc, La Lumiere School, LaPorte.

The students were selected from a field of 284 outstanding nominees from the states private and public accredited schools. Academic All-Star distinction recognizes seniors who excel in the classroom and take on leadership roles in their schools and communities.

Franklin College, which sponsors the Influential Educator Awards honored retired teacher Sandra Karottki. She was nominated by Indiana Academic All-Star Aggarwal. She received a $1,000 award.

Indiana University Bloomington awarded Aggarwal a $500 scholarship.
ST. JOHN  Looking around Tom Clarks classroom at Lake Central High School, its difficult to find the students desks.

The walls, ceiling and display cases hold 125,000 artifacts, memorabilia of Indiana residents who made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation while in the military.

For 33 years, Clarks students have researched and documented the lives of the 1,600 Hoosiers who gave their all for their country. It began when one of Clarks students  Doug DeVries  asked why nothing was being done to find out more about servicemen missing in action in Vietnam.

That lit a flame that continues to shine decades later and has inspired thousands of students to understand the human cost of war.

The first man Clarks students researched from the Vietnam War was Marine Lance Cpl. James E. Glegg, a resident of Hammonds Hessville section. Glegg died in Quang Tri province on Sept. 8, 1968 killed instantly by small arms fire at 5:00 a.m., states the letter written to his parents, Edward and Delores Glegg. He was 18 years old.

You know history is boring so my goal is to change their (my students) attitude, Clark said about his approach.

Known as the Gold Star Project, Clarks U.S. History students explore military records to ensure the names of those men and women are properly enshrined on war memorials while preserving their personal histories for their families. Dating back to World War I, the Gold Star flag and lapel pin symbolize that sacrifice and are presented to the families of the fallen.

Each student receives the name of a Hoosier who was killed in action. The students search the Internet, government sites and other sources to connect with family members.

The ongoing project has improved the accuracy of Indiana memorials involving World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Theyre now investigating the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

This is taking the numbers and taking the names and putting faces to them, Clark said

Looking around his classroom, Clark said, It might look like I have an obsession with war. I have an obsession with history. ... My student learn to feel history.

Students and Clark have been given medals, uniforms and telegrams by family members.

Others have been located at garage sales and in storage lockers, he said.

I found these at the Alsip flea market, Clark said, pointing to the medals and other memorabilia of Leonard J. Krol, of Chicago, who was killed in action on July 25, 1944, in Guam.

Not only have the students made personal contact with families, some have traveled to cemeteries in France where soldiers who died in combat in World War II are buried.

But it is the letters from those killed in action that touch the hearts of Clark and his students.

In some cases, we have the first letter they wrote home and the last, the teacher said.
MERRILLVILLE  The Memorial Day service on Sunday at Calumet Park Cemetery honored veterans from all generations, including Tony Fileff, of Hobart, a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War.

This is a very moving event, Fileff said. It helps me remember the people I served with. I am grateful for serving my country.

The 1st District American Legion Memorial Day service has taken place annually since 1977. An American flag was placed on the grave of each veteran in and out of the veterans' section of the cemetery. The service was led by Don Spiller, an American Legion Post 80 member.

We honor our veterans who dont return and their families, but we need to honor those who do return and have to piece their lives back together, Spiller said. We need to tell our veterans they can return in a positive way, and pursue their passions.

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, was supposed to be the first speaker for the event, but he was delayed, and therefore did not attend. The event did include other speakers such as James Drummond, a Vietnam veteran who served four tours and is pastor of St. Michaels Lutheran Church in Hebron. Drummond spoke about his war experiences.

I hid in the foxhole during my first battle because I was so scared, Drummond said. I saw more death than I ever want to see again.

Injuries from the war, including inhaling Agent Orange, left Drummond needing the assistance of an oxygen tank. While in Vietnam, Drummond had to identify the body of his friend Brian who was killed in action in a helicopter crash.

That was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life, Drummond said.

Drummond broke the news to Brians mother. He asked Brians mother if he could name his firstborn son after Brian to which she not only said yes, but also gave Drummond Brians cup from when he was a baby. Drummonds son Brian is currently in the Marine Corps.

Drummond believes that one of the biggest battles veterans face occurs when they come home.

Some veterans just dont feel welcome when they come home, which is why 22 is printed on our jackets because 22 veterans a day commit suicide, Drummond said.

The Merrillville High School band performed "God Bless America, the Marines' Hymn and My Buddy along with other patriotic songs. The event concluded with a 21 gun salute, and a salute of the flags by the color guard.
VALPARAISO  An underappreciated species was appreciated for an entire day Saturday at Moraine Ridge Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

Bat Appreciation Day allowed people to focus on a little mammal that does not get enough credit, said Nicole Harmon, the centers humane wildlife educator.

Bats are a workhorse when it comes to eating insects, said Harmon. To demonstrate their capacity, visitors guessed the number of mealworms in a jar for a chance to win a new bat house. The jar of 1,300 mealworms represented the number of insects one bat can eat in one hour.

Harmon said bats penchant for insects is beneficial to Midwestern agriculture.

If they didnt eat all those insects, wed have more insects eating our crops, which would result in farmers using more pesticides, said Harmon.

Harmon said bats will feed for four to five hours a night before they take a break, and then they will resume for a few hours before settling down to sleep during the day.

From November to March or April, bats hibernate in trees, barns, or attics. In southern Indiana, they roost in caves.

Harmon said Northwest Indiana is home to eight bat species, including the little brown and big brown bats, the hoary bat and the eastern red bat. Four more species can be found in other parts of the state, including the endangered Indiana bat. Among the Indiana bats, the smallest wingspan is 9 inches, while the largest is 16 inches.

While bats can carry rabies, said Harmon, the prevalence is very, very low. Nevertheless, if a person or pet comes into contact with a bat, they may need to be tested for rabies.

The bat program included information stations demonstrating bats use of smell to locate their babies and echolocation, or the use of sonar to locate and identify objects. Bat crafts entertained the kids, along with the sale of bat houses and a bake sale.

Nearly 100 people attended the event, the first of many such programs coming to the center. Harmon said the group will host an animal appreciation day each month to educate people about animals and birds found in Northwest Indiana and to acquaint people with center services.

Tiffany and Matt Stewart, of Hobart, visited the centers informational booths with their son, Wesley, 9.

We go up to Mackinaw City every year, and the bats are everywhere, said Tiffany Stewart. They are so cool.

Linda and Lindsey Davis, of Valparaiso, visited the center for the first time to appreciate the bats.

Im happy to have them because they eat the mosquitoes, said Linda Davis, of Valparaiso. Bring em on.
CHESTERTON  Memorial Day is for the likes of James Gresham, an Indiana boy who was the first American to die in World War I.

And for John Paul Bobo, a skinny kid who sacrificed his life covering his buddies in a strategic retreat in Vietnam.

And for Adam Harting, a Portage High School grad killed in Iraq in 2005.

It is not about putting flowers on grandmas grave or even honoring living veterans. That was the message of retired Marine Corps Maj. John Johnston at a Memorial Day service Sunday at Chestertons Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.

The day is meant to think of and honor Americans who have died in service to the country, Johnston said.

A moment of silence, prayers and a poem of remembrance were part of the service attended by more than 50. A wreath was laid at the wall and a bagpiper played Amazing Grace.

A line of veterans came to the wall, placing left hands on the black granite and right hands on their hearts as taps played.

Army Reserve 1st Lt. Aaron Morley, who will deploy on active duty to Kuwait in October, attended in dress uniform, crisply saluting the flag many times. With him was his daughter Charity, 7. Morley brought her so she would understand why those gentlemen, he said, indicating the wall, gave their lives.

Robert L.P. Wilson served in the Marine Corps infantry in Vietnam in the mid-1960s. Wilson said he couldnt talk about what he experienced there until 2012 and today receives post-traumatic stress disorder treatment. Its still so hard.

He came to remember his cousin Earl Wilson, who died in Vietnam in 1968 and whose name is on the wall.

He was like a little brother to me. We were always together. If I could ... , Wilson said through tears, Id trade places with him right now.

On Memorial Day itself, Johnston urged listeners, visit a service persons grave at a cemetery.

Take a flower out there. Take a note out there.
On this Memorial Day, Patti Nowaczyk might stay home and have a quiet holiday with her family, including her son's daughter.

Patti Nowaczyk's son, Army Staff Sgt. David Nowaczyk, Dyer, was 32 when he was killed April 15, 2012 in Afghanistan on his third tour of duty.

For many, Memorial Day means a day off from work; a family picnic or the first trip to the beach.

But for some local families, like the Nowaczyks, it is a special day to remember their loved ones who died in battle serving the United States.

"It's been very difficult," Patti Nowaczk said. "I have bad days still."

This year her son's birthday fell on Mother's Day.

"That was really tough on me," she said.

Patti Nowaczyk said on her son's birthday and the anniversary of his death the family visits the cemetery. It's where they also spend most Memorial Days. She said they've attended Memorial Day services in Indianapolis and next year plan to attend one in Washington, D.C.

In 2014, she designed the Gold Star Mothers tree to honor Indiana's fallen heroes for the South Shore Convention & Visitor Authoritys holiday display.

Patti Nowaczyk said she's working on a few projects including one to honor fallen military and their families for a new park being built in Dyer. A memorial fund website for the project is www.ssgdavid.com.

Valparaiso woman remembers brother killed during WWII

Shirley Wiencken, 88, of Valparaiso was just 14 when her big brother Walter Raymond Cochran Jr. enlisted in the U.S. Army on July 10, 1942. Cochran's service with the 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, first took him to battles in North Africa, recalled Wiencken.

Then he was sent to Italy, where, on April 23, 1945, an enemy sniper took his life.

"For a very long time, he was listed as AWOL," Wiencken recalled, adding their mother fought the designation, including sending a letter to the Veterans of Foreign War magazine. One of her brother's battlefield comrades saw the letter and testified that Cochran had indeed been killed in Italy and buried in a grave nearby.

Her brother's body was found and re-interned in the American Cemetery in Florence, Italy.

Walter Cochran was 33 years old when he died. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

Cochran wasn't Wiencken's only family member lost in a battle.

Her brother-in-law, Sam Mitchell, a private who enlisted with the U.S. Army in April 1942 was killed on Dec. 28, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium.

She still remembers the day the Western Union man delivered the telegram to her family's home telling them of Mitchell's death.

In addition to the losses, said Wiencken, her brother Tom, husband Joseph and two other brothers-in-law also served in either the Army or Navy during WWII.

Wiencken holds Memorial Day close to her heart. She sometimes visits the local cemetery or attends services at Foundation Meadows Park in Valparaiso where a war memorial bares her brother's name. She then gathers with her children and grandchildren for a family picnic.

"We need to celebrate the fact that all those people died for our freedom. You should have a party, but you should remember them," she said.

Fallen soldier started family's Memorial Day tradition

Memorial Day, to the Leonhardt family, changed in 2012. Prior to that year Sgt. Brian Leonhardt started a tradition his family all takes part in now.

On Jan. 6, 2012, the 21-year-old Merrillville resident was among four soldiers with the Valparaiso-based 713th Engineer Company who was killed while clearing roadside bombs along a supply route in southern Afghanistan.

Prior to his death Brian Leonhardt attended Memorial Day services at Memory Lane Cemetery in Schererville. Now all of his seven siblings, aunts, uncles and grandparents meet there every Memorial Day.

"It's only fitting he was laid to rest there," said Chuck Leonhardt, one of Brian Leonhardt's three brothers, all of whom served in the military overseas.

Chuck Leonhardt said his younger brother was proud of his first truck that he brought when he was 19.

"It was something he took a lot of pride in," Chuck Leonhardt said. "He would get it all cleaned up and fly flags from it on Memorial Day and for the 4th of July."

Brian Leonhardt's truck is still in the family and hasn't missed a trip to the annual Memorial Day services.

"Most of us boys get our trucks cleaned up, fly the flags, and 'convoy' to the cemetery on Memorial Day," Chuck Leonhardt said. "It's one way we honor and remember him."

E.C. man gave his life to save platoon

On April 11, 1970, East Chicago Marine Lance Cpl. Emilio De La Garza Jr. threw his body atop an enemy grenade in Vietnam, giving his life to save fellow platoon members.

De La Garza was one of several Northwest Indiana residents to receive the Medal of Honor in the past 153 years and one of 246 Medal of Honor recipients from the Vietnam War, 154 of which were bestowed posthumously, according to military records.

President Richard M. Nixon presented the nations highest military honor posthumously to the Marine with the De La Garza family accepting it in 1970.

Renee De La Garza-Lugo was only 2 when her father died in combat in that jungle in Vietnam and doesnt remember him. However, she knows and shares the stories of her fathers life.

A 1968 graduate of E.C. Washington High School, De La Garza got married and worked at Inland Steel before enlisting in the Marine Corps. A machine gunner with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, the 20-year old De La Garza spent a brief leave from combat in Vietnam with his young wife, Rosemary, in Hawaii in April 1970. De La Garza-Lugo said she was ill and had to stay in East Chicago with her grandparents at that time.

They were high school sweethearts and married right after they graduated. They didnt have much money and really didnt have a honeymoon. That was their honeymoon, she said of her parents.

Days after Rosemary De La Garza returned to their East Chicago home, a unit of Marines knocked on her door with the worst news a military family can receive.

Just two days after his leave, Emilio De La Garza sacrificed his life to save a squad of fellow Marines and Navy personnel on patrol with him by falling on a hand grenade lobbed by a Viet Cong soldier in a jungle clearing.

A Chicago resident, De La Garza-Lugo said she and her mother understood and lived with the knowledge that families paid a high price, and the responsibility of carrying on.

Ten years after Emilio De La Garzas death, the School City of East Chicago dedicated a new building in honor of the hometown hero and product of the school system.

Ivy Tech Community College purchased that building at 410 E. Columbus Drive in 1994, and officials decided to keep the name to honor the memory and valor of De La Garza. A bronze bust of De La Garza also graces the conference room at Ivy Tech.

In May 2011, a monument plaque was dedicated to De La Garza and installed at the Edward P. Robinson Community Veterans Memorial. In December of that year, the Marines name was enshrined on the South Shore Wall of Legends at the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond. In addition, East Chicagos American Legion Post 508 is named in honor of Emilio A. De La Garza Jr.

Crown Point soldier wanted to make a difference

After graduating from Crown Point High School in 2001, Nick Idalski worked in construction and trained as a certified emergency medical technician earning top honors in the program.

Less than two years later, Idalski enlisted in the U.S. Army to help wage war on terror, his family said. He graduated from Army Infantry training at Fort Benning, Georgia then he went into airborne training, became jump qualified and earned his wings.

Assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division out of Fort Carson, Colo., Idalski was first stationed in South Korea then received his orders for deployment to Iraq in August 2004.

The 23-year old was killed on June 21, 2005 when his unit was attacked by small-arms fire west of Baghdad near the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi.

At the time of his death, Idalskis mother, Kim Greenberg, remembered vividly watching her son at his infantry training graduation in 2003 in Fort Benning.

He looked phenomenal, Greenberg said in that interview. He looked sharp. He stood tall and proud. He was all Army.

Idalski planned to make a career out of the Army, his family said. During an interview at the time of Nicks death, Steve Idalski said his younger brother enlisted because he wanted to make a difference and make his family proud.

He was a leader. He wanted to be out there and prove a point that he could do anything that was thrown at him, Steve Idalski said. He was always doing things for other people.

Another brother, Nathan, said in a published report that being a soldier was the one job we knew he loved the most.

The Idalski brothers maintained a close relationship despite the distance. Although he wasnt able to call home often, Nick would call everyone. Steve received several 4 a.m. wake-up calls from Nick. The family cherishes one photo of the Idalski brothers at Wrigley Field when Nick was home on leave in 2004.

During his tribute to Nick Idalski on June 28, 2005, U.S. Rep. Peter Visclosky, D-Ind., said, He loved his country and the members of his unit; however, Specialist Idalski treasured his family above all else.

Specialist Idalski sacrificed his life during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and his passing comes as a setback to a community already shaken by the realities of war, Visclosky said in the House of Representatives that day.

Specialist Idalski will forever remain a hero in the eyes of his family, his community, and his country; thus, let us never forget the brave sacrifice he made in order to preserve the ideals of freedom and democracy.

Munster Marine was a true leader

A natural-born leader, Shaun M. Blue always did the right thing, the right way, for the right reason, say those who served alongside the Marine 1st Lieutenant.

Assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1 Marine Expeditionary force in Twentynine Palms, Calif., Blue died in combat in Iraqs Al Anbar province on April 16, 2007 during his second tour of duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The truck carrying three Marines was hit by an improvised explosive device. Blue, 25, and Marine Lance Cpl. Jesse D. De La Torre, 29, of Aurora, Ill. were killed in the explosion.

(Shaun) just inspired a lot of us in his platoon, and he was one of those leaders that you would follow anywhere, said Jay Knight, a fellow Marine on a May 2014 cross-country bike tour that honored Blue during a stop at the Community Veterans Memorial in Munster. Thats unfortunately very rare, even in a great organization like the Marine Corps.

Blue grew up in Munster, attending Elliott Elementary, Wilbur Wright Middle School and Munster High School. An avid reader, he also enjoyed the great outdoors, and treasured time spent with his many friends and family. In addition he was an active member with Boy Scout Troop 533. A standout student athlete, Blue excelled in cross-country, track and wrestling while at Munster High School.

After graduating in the top 10 of this high school class in 2000, Blue attended the University of Southern California on an ROTC scholarship, graduating in May 2004 and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps the same day.

In 2008 five fellow Marine Corps Infantry Officers initially created The Eternal Valor Foundation to honor the memory of Blue and 2nd Lieutenant James J. Cathy, said Debbe Blue, Shauns mother. Now the 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization is located across the nation, ensuring the timeless memory of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice by providing scholarships and endowments for future generations, she said.

Each of the past four years, a senior at Munster High School has been awarded the 1st Lieutenant Shawn M. Blue Scholarship, based on applications reviewed by the Blue family. The recipient must have been accepted to a college or university, a GPA greater than 3.5, be involved in the community and display leadership potential.

Our family chooses the recipient. All the information, including the applicants names are blacked out so we dont know who they are, Debbe Blue said. It tends to be someone who sounds like Shaun.

The 2016 scholarship recipient Sean Wagner displays the traits that made her son a special person  high intellect, community service, involved in leadership roles, she said.

Among those honoring by remembering Shaun Blue this Memorial Day and every day are his parents, Jim and Debbe Blue; his sister Amy Blue; brother Dan Blue and sister-in-law Annalisa Blue.
VALPARAISO  The public can offer input regarding the city's parks during a public forum from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the William E. Urschel Pavilion at Central Park Plaza.

Parks officials are working on a long-term master plan update for parks, trails and recreation. The update process involves a variety of community engagement opportunities, including the public forum and open house.

A brief presentation will be given on the master plan process and informal discussions and opportunities for input will be available regarding parks issues and needs. The community discussion will be overseen by PROS Consulting, an Indianapolis firm.

In addition, on Wednesday an electronic survey that anyone can access and complete will be posted on the website www.ValpoParks.org. The survey will be available through Aug. 1. Also, a statistically valid random survey will be mailed to a large number of city residents beginning June 6.

All of the input from the surveys, the public forum session and focus group data will be used will be used for professional site analysis and peer benchmarking to develop draft recommendations for five-year priorities. That draft language will be introduced to policy makers and the public for initial review in September.

The final draft will be presented and adopted by the end of the year.

"The master plan is an essential tool used to guide the growth and development of the Valparaiso park system," said Park Board President Tim Warner. "It is important that we hear from the residents and what they want for today and hope for the next generation of families and friends of the parks."

For more information contact Parks Director John Seibert at (219) 462-5144.
Theres something that bothers me about honoring the nations war dead today while knowing Donald Trump is the Republican nominee for president.

The two shouldnt be mentioned in the same breath.

Trumps campaign theme of Make America Great Again is little more than a means to light a fire under those who fail to realize America always has been and remains great.

Its kind of like the guy who asked me if I was a born-again Christian.

I simply said, No, I was born a Christian and still am.

This Trump guy is little more than a braggadocio who cares more about making money than the welfare of others.

I cant imagine being at a Memorial Day service with hand over heart and Trump standing behind me saying America is no longer great.

Running down your own country to promote your own candidacy is terribly wrong.

I guess whats even scarier are those who agree with Trump but arent terribly sure why.

It could be the birther thing that draws the crowd to Trump. Dont forget Trump never would admit President Barack Obama was born in the United States.

If Trump wants to Make America Great Again, youve got to wonder why he continues to rip at the fabric of the country by attacking women, Mexicans, blacks and Muslims.

Trump thinks his answer for America is separatism while Obama has taken the approach of inclusion. Trump needs to know that separatism isnt strength.

Obama did a pretty great thing in pulling the nation out of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

And he has done a pretty good job in pulling the country out of two ill-advised wars he inherited.

Trump, by the way, ought to ask Osama bin Laden how great America is today.

If Trump wants to unite all factions in the country, he ought to stop using the phrase Crooked Hillary each time he addresses his opponent.

My uncle died at Normandy two months before I was born. Working with much of the rest of the world, we won World War II. Weve done the same in a number of other wars, although there were some we should never have entered.

I got drafted during Vietnam, and I became a soldier. I couldnt have avoided the draft, knowing my uncle died in WW II.

Trump avoided the draft because he had bunions. And he bragged about it.

Turning your back when your nation calls isnt exactly helping keep it great.

Think about it if you salute the flag at a memorial service today.
Crossing the line separating Indiana and Illinois sometimes means dealing with different laws and customs. Readers are asked to share ideas for this weekly feature. This week: National cemeteries.

Today is Memorial Day, a national holiday honoring the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who died serving their country.

While American war dead are buried all over the world, and at sea, the graves of service members killed in action are more likely to be found in Illinois than Indiana.

That's because Illinois has seven national cemeteries compared to three in Indiana. The closest to the Region is Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery near Joliet, Ill.

It opened in 1999 and eventually will be the final resting place for some 400,000 individuals slain in service, as well as military veterans and their spouses.

Indiana's national cemeteries are located in Indianapolis, Marion and New Albany. The other Illinois national cemeteries are in Springfield, Danville, Mound City, Quincy, Rock Island and Alton.

The tradition of decorating graves on Memorial Day was popularized in 1868 by the Decatur, Illinois-based Grand Army of the Republic veterans organization.
VALPARAISO  Americans dont need visual reminders of the losses the country has suffered in the name of freedom.

Yet accumulating colorful mementos of wars gone by is a passion for one Porter County collector and a stirring reminder of the courage displayed by men and women of the armed forces.

Mark Waywood brought his collection of World War II-era American divisional patches to the Porter County Museum on Saturday and discussed the history and meaning of the patches, and how to collect them and determine their authenticity.

Waywood, who taught for 28 years at Hebron High School, used his patches in the classroom when he taught lessons of World War II.

Showing them a patch was one way to get them to remember what we were talking about, said Waywood.

Waywood has collected more than 100 patches from all service branches.

I got kind of hooked on this, Waywood said. Its the fun of the chase to try to track down a patch.

The patches can be found on eBay, at gun and military shows and in antique stores, Waywood said. Primary colors of red, blue, yellow and green abound in the patches, which are in the shapes of circles, diamonds, arrows, crosses, stars, trees, triangles and even parallelograms.

Waywood said the custom of wearing patches grew from the Civil War, when generals had trouble tracking their troops in battle. One leader directed a red square be sewn on the soldiers shoulder, and the idea caught on. Eventually, units adopted symbols and sewed the patches on their uniforms.

The idea was resurrected in World War I when the 81st Division adopted a silhouette of a wild cat  from Wildcat Creek that ran through Fort Jackson, South Carolina, where the men trained  as their insignia.

In World War II, the formation of several new divisions spurred the creation of even more patches. Madison Avenue advertising firms and Walt Disney studios joined the craze to design new patches, Waywood said.

Fifinella, the queen of the gremlins, is a fairy-like figure designed by Walt Disney that was worn by members of the WWII Womens Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WASPs), a group of women pilots who flew military aircraft from factories to points of embarkation.

Waywood said Tom Hanks, in the movie "Saving Private Ryan," wore the Blue and Gray patch of the 29th Division, a group originally made up of units that fought for both the North and South during the Civil War. The yin and yang symbol represents unity, said Waywood.

Once enemies, now joined together, Waywood said.

A group of patches represent ghost divisions, that never existed, Waywood said. False units were created, as well as false radio communications.

They were part of a plan to confuse the Nazis as to where we were going to land in Europe, Waywood said. We led them on a merry chase.

One way to test a patchs authenticity is to shine a UV light on it in a darkened room. Reproduction patches are made from cellulose, which reflect light.

If it glows like Chernobyl, its a fake, said Waywood.

Waywoods patches are encased in portable glass cases to preserve their condition.

Ive had a ball in the last 25 years collecting these divisional patches, Waywood said.
A soggy start to Memorial Day did not stop some New Yorkers from heading to Rockaway Beach in Queens. NY1's Roger Clark filed the following report.



At a time when people would already be fighting for spots on the beach, there was plenty of land available at Beach 94th Street Monday morning. That was OK with a group of ladies celebrating their friend's impending nuptials.



"It's gorgeous now. We're really happy. No one's here. We got the beach to ourselves," said one member of the group.



So on a day that's wasn't quite a beach day at all to start, some folks still wanted to be here for Memorial Day.



"It's not too bad. Not too hot. Not too cold. You can enjoy the day," said one beachgoer.



The weather was fine for the dogs getting some exercise on the sand, a guy searching for treasures and the surfers hitting the waves, of course. They are out here pretty much anytime, any weather.



"It's just fun," said one surfer. "You're just having fun, really, in the water. Even if you can't stand on the board, it's actually still fun to tumble and get a little roughed up by the sea. So it's OK."



Probably better if you have a wet suit. The waters were a little chilly this early in the season. But there's a trick to handling that, if you dare.



Beachgoer: Once you jump in, you get used to it. The hardest part is to just jump in.

Clark: And after that, you are OK?

Beachgoer: Yes, then you are good.



For some Rockaway residents NY1 talked with, it's not so bad having a quieter Monday after two great weather days on Saturday and Sunday of the holiday weekend.

"It was insane. We saw thousands of people," said one resident. "So I think resting on a Monday is a win for the locals. I think so."

And a good day not to leave the peninsula if you live here.

"Why drive to a beach when you've got a beach right here? Why torture yourself?" said one resident. "I'm on a staycation today."

And it's pretty easy to stay when you have a beach as your backyard.


NAKURU, Kenya  Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, may seem calm, but anarchy reigns just two hours away.

In Nakuru, furious mobs rule the streets, burning homes, brutalizing people and expelling anyone not in their ethnic group, all with complete impunity.

On Saturday, hundreds of men prowled a section of the city with six-foot iron bars, poisoned swords, clubs, knives and crude circumcision tools. Boys carried gladiator-style shields and women strutted around with sharpened sticks.

The police were nowhere to be found. Even the residents were shocked.

Ive never seen anything like this, said David Macharia, a bus driver.
Veep Season 5, Episode 6: gate

Even though Selina Meyer is the leader of the free world and, also, a woman, Veep rarely digs deeply into the gender politics that affect women in positions of power. The show has subtly highlighted the fact that Selina has to worry about her haircuts, her acne and the visibility of the bags under her eyes to a degree that most men officials probably dont. Weve also seen her male political colleagues underestimate her on more than one occasion. But most of the time, she and her staff are too busy dealing with things like teleprompter screw-ups and data breaches to directly address the sexism that a woman of Selinas stature would likely confront on a daily basis.

That changes in this weeks episode, in which Selina handles several crises unique to a woman POTUS. For starters, theres that Politico story that claims that a member of the White House staff referred to the president using That Word. (I say That Word because the word in question  the most insulting thing a woman can be called  is unfit for print here.)

Selina instructs Amy, the only woman in her inner circle of advisers, to find out whos responsible for calling her such a derogatory name. Not surprisingly, it quickly becomes clear that Amy and almost everyone else in that aforementioned inner circle has recently used That Word to describe their boss. (I shouted it into my phone on the Acela quiet car, Mike confesses in one of the great, guffaw-triggering lines in this episode.)

The fact that theres an ugly, sexist aspect to that particular expletive doesnt necessarily seem to have occurred to any of them (note: theyre mostly men), and in a way, that makes sense. To borrow a line from A Christmas Story, the Oval Office dwellers of Veep work in profanity the way other artists might work in oils or clay. It is their true medium; they are masters. So many obscenities trip and fall off their tongues every day that its unlikely they even considered the harsh ramifications of what they said about Selina.
Welcome to Watching, The New York Timess what-to-watch guide. We comb through releases big and small, famous and esoteric, to email readers twice a week with our timely recommendations. Our most recent suggestions also appear below. To receive our guide straight to your inbox, sign up here.

I hope youre all having meaningful Memorial Days. Im currently dedicating my life to stopping ants from entering my kitchen, and its not going well. Between that and finishing up Lady Dynamite, I really have my hands full.

Ive also been thinking a lot about the average show. If you lined up every one, from best to worst, whod be in the middle? Is there a caliber of show that occurs most often? Theres without a doubt more excellent television than ever before. But its not as if we somehow stopped making bad TV  certainly the number of crummy shows is also higher than its ever been. So has the quality of the average series changed in the last 10 years? How about the last 20? 30? I dont know that there are good answers to these, but its fun to think about. Just imagining a spreadsheet of TV-goodness data brings me a little thrill.
TOP GEAR 9 p.m. on BBC America. This British car supershow is retooled, with Chris Evans (not the Captain America guy) and  Americans, rev your engines  Matt LeBlanc as the shows new hosts. The Stig? He stays. In this season premiere, Mr. Evans, driving a Dodge Viper ACR, battles Sabine Schmitz, in a Chevrolet Corvette Z06, in Nevada. Mr. LeBlanc goes off-roading in the Moroccan desert in an Ariel Nomad. Jesse Eisenberg and Gordon Ramsay are the celebrity guests. (Image: Mr. LeBlanc)

OF MEN AND WAR 10 p.m. on PBS. The French director Laurent Becue-Renard follows a dozen unnamed combat veterans from 2008 to 2013 at the Pathway Home in California, a residential therapy center for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, and the women and children who wait for them  or dont. This POV presentation is not an easy watch, but it is an enlightening one, Jeannette Catsoulis wrote in The Times.

Whats Streaming

AMERICAN SNIPER (2014) on Amazon and iTunes. A beefed-up Bradley Cooper portrays Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL sniper who served four tours of duty in Iraq, where he tallied 160 confirmed kills, only to be shot dead in 2013 by a Marine veteran he had taken to a Texas gun range to help deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. Less a war movie than a western  the story of a lone gunslinger facing down his nemesis in a dusty, lawless place, Clint Eastwoods adaptation of Mr. Kyles memoir is blunt and effective, though also troubling, A. O. Scott wrote in The Times. (Image: Mr. Cooper)
JOEL Raphaelsons most famous contribution to pop culture was hardly his favorite piece of copywriting.

A little too clunky, he said. The truth is I wasnt especially proud of it.

He is proud now, though, at age 87. And after a career in advertising that spanned more than 40 years, that the pithy phrase he suggested in a May 1964 memo  Nationwide is on your side  still stands out in an increasingly fragmented and chaotic marketing landscape.

Today, few companies can boast that they have remained loyal to their messaging from a campaign born in the 1960s. But the words became so emblematic of Nationwides ethos that Mr. Raphaelsons typewritten memo once hung in the lobby of its headquarters. The words themselves are hardly even necessary anymore; Peyton Manning needs only to hum Nationwides infectious jingle for commercial viewers to recognize it.

Nationwide brought things back full circle last month, when it named Mr. Raphaelsons former employer, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, its lead creative agency, replacing McKinney after seven years. Ogilvy, part of WPP, lost the account in 1993, and then in 2013 was added to a roster of agencies involved in the account. Now, it will again handle Nationwides account on its own.
Nearly 29 million Takata airbag inflaters have been recalled in the United States, and at least 35 million more are scheduled for recall, but manufacturers dont have the parts to replace all of them yet. The help offered by manufacturers varies widely from company to company. The letter Honda sent to many customers specifically mentions the possibility of a loaner car, suggesting that owners talk to their dealers about the provision of, or reimbursement for, temporary alternative transportation.

Bill Vines, who has a 2011 Honda CR-V, received a recall notice in March and contacted his dealer in Rutland, Vt., a week later. He is now driving a Ford Fusion from Enterprise Rent-A-Car, arranged and paid for by Honda and the dealer, while his own car sits in the parking lot of the inn he owns.

I clearly would prefer to be driving my Honda, but when you get a letter saying, Your car could kill you and the passengers youre driving, you pay attention, he said.

Other automakers have taken different tacks. Robert Osborn, a BMW owner in Santa Rosa, Calif., received a letter in March saying that his convertible was being recalled but that parts were not yet available for a fix.

Mr. Osborn contacted his local BMW service center, as the letter suggested, but he was turned down when he asked for a substitute car to drive until his was fixed. Without another transportation option, he nervously, and reluctantly, continues to drive the BMW.

I live near the ocean; its humid here. I dont know if theyve figured out: This much time plus this much moisture equals exploding airbag, Mr. Osborn said. The letter I got is not very comforting. It offers scary possibilities, but no concrete details about Heres what to do, or not do, in the meantime.

Rebecca Kiehne, a spokeswoman for BMW of North America, declined to provide specifics on the companys policy on loaner cars.
The defendants are nine New York City correction officers who have been charged in connection with the brutal beating of an inmate at the Rikers Island jail complex.

But like a bit player who steals the show, the notorious Bloods street gang has drawn much of the focus in the officers trial, in State Supreme Court in the Bronx. The inmate, Jahmal Lightfoot, who was beaten in July 2012, was associated with the Bloods and jailed alongside other members in an area that was known as a Bloods stronghold.

The Bloods and its various subgroups have emerged as some of the largest and most violent of the gangs that thrive behind the walls of Rikers, according to law enforcement officials and others familiar with the jail. These sources said the Bloods, along with the Crips, the Latin Kings, the Trinitarios and many lesser known groups, pose a growing threat to security at the jail, where they have incited violence among inmates and run an underground network of drug dealing and other illicit activities both on and off the island.

The reach of some gangs has extended to correction officers, some of whom have been recruited to smuggle contraband into the jail for inmates in exchange for bribes or other benefits, law enforcement officials said. A two-year investigation of corruption at Rikers Island, led by the citys Investigation Department, has resulted in the arrest of 31 correction officers and staff members, some on suspicion of gang-related crimes. The most recent arrests include those of two officers who were accused of smuggling in scalpels and drugs as part of an operation that city investigators said was run mainly by three subgroups of the Bloods  the Blood Hound Brims, Gorilla Stones and Mac Ballas.
A New York State corrections officer was badly burned on Sunday morning when a package he picked up outside his home exploded, the authorities said.

Investigators said it was not clear whether the 52-year-old officer, whose name was not released, was targeted because of his work.

He sustained serious burns to his hands and arms and was in stable condition on Sunday afternoon at SUNY Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, the authorities said.

The Oneida County Sheriffs Office was leading the investigation, with help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the New York State Police; the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision; and the Utica Police Department.
Portage was incorporated in the late 1950s, and it became home to white steelworkers and business owners fleeing racial change in neighboring Gary, Ind. Today, that divide is less over race than economics, city officials say. Portage has helped plow Garys streets, but its further away politically than it has ever been: Lake County, where Gary is located, was the only county in northwest Indiana that Mrs. Clinton won.

Mr. Trump, Mr. Snyder told me, is making three very simple points. Hes tied a wall to jobs, China to jobs, and hes said, Lets take care of our veterans. Even if you may not like him, who disagrees with those three points? And all of those are executive, more executive decisions than they even are legislative. And theyre things that everybody goes, Thats reasonable, were in America, we can do that. 

Mr. Snyder said he wasnt angry at anybody. There just comes a time, he explained, when people think, You know, why are we giving all this when were not taking care of our own people?

That is Donald Trumps and Bernie Sanderss underlying argument, Mr. Snyder said, and it is a great, simple argument. Expressed as America first by Mr. Trump, and by Mr. Sanders as, This country belongs to all of us, it resonates well beyond Porter County. From the Rust Belt to the Great Plains, blue-collar workers, farmers and small-business owners said the recession showed them that the federal government and major political parties had become almost freakishly disconnected from their struggles. They are voting for people they view as furthest from that system.
To the Editor:

Re Fliers to Be Kept Waiting for Shorter Lines, T.S.A. Says (news article, May 26):

The reason for the long lines at our airports is obvious. The Transportation Security Administration is reportedly losing over 100 employees a week and has to replace them to stay at the present employment level, plus add additional employees to handle the long lines at check-in.

The solution is simple: Find out why employees are leaving T.S.A. and fix it. Is it working conditions or compensation, or are many of these employees fired for cause? The root of the problem is employee turnover and employee retention. Fix it and you reduce the long lines at check-in.

JOEL LASKO

Silver Spring, Md.

To the Editor:

I have pre-check and fly once or twice a month. My last two Transportation Security Administration experiences make me question why I spent the $85 for what was supposed to be a speedier check-in process.

Last month, the pre-check line was suddenly closed by T.S.A. agents. When a fellow traveler politely asked why, the agent responded, Its on a need-to-know basis and you dont need to know.
First, at a certain point you have to stop reporting about the race for a partys nomination as if its mainly about narrative and momentum. That may be true at an early stage, when candidates are competing for credibility and dollars. Eventually, however, it all becomes a simple, concrete matter of delegate counts.

Thats why Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee; she locked it up over a month ago with her big Mid-Atlantic wins, leaving Bernie Sanders no way to overtake her without gigantic, implausible landslides  winning two-thirds of the vote!  in states with large nonwhite populations, which have supported Mrs. Clinton by huge margins throughout the campaign.

And no, saying that the race is effectively over isnt somehow aiding a nefarious plot to shut it down by prematurely declaring victory. Nate Silver recently summed it up: Clinton strategy is to persuade more people to vote for her, hence producing majority of delegates. You may think those people chose the wrong candidate, but choose her they did.

Second, polls can be really helpful at assessing the state of a race, but only if you fight the temptation to cherry-pick, to only cite polls telling the story you want to hear. Recent hyperventilating over the California primary is a classic example. Most polls show Mrs. Clinton with a solid lead, but one recent poll shows a very close race. So, has her lead evaporated, as some reports suggest? Probably not: Another poll, taken at the very same time, showed an 18-point lead.

What the polling experts keep telling us to do is rely on averages of polls rather than highlighting any one poll in particular. This does double duty: it prevents cherry-picking, and it also helps smooth out the random fluctuations that are an inherent part of polling, but can all too easily be mistaken for real movement. And the polling average for California has, in fact, been pretty stable, with a solid Clinton lead.
In New Jersey, voters and lawmakers gave judges more power to release low-risk defendants who cant afford bail, letting them go home rather than sit in jail while they await trial. In Idaho, a new law created 24-hour crisis centers to help keep people with mental health issues from being locked up unnecessarily. Georgia and Louisiana established courts for military veterans accused of crimes. Hawaii funded programs to help reunify children with parents who are behind bars.

These are just a few of the hundreds of criminal-justice reforms that states around the country have put in place over the last two years, according to a new report by the Vera Institute of Justice.

While Congress continues to dither over a package of sentencing and corrections reforms for the federal prison system, the pace of bipartisan, state-level innovation is an encouraging reminder that there are ways to reduce the devastating impact of mass incarceration on families, communities and public safety. Nationwide, more than nine in 10 inmates are housed in state facilities, so state reforms reach the vast majority of people in the justice system.

The Vera report draws three lessons from state experiences. First, long sentences do little, if anything, to deter crime. Second, community supervision is often safer, cheaper and more effective than prison for those convicted of low-level crimes. And third, the path from prison back to full participation in society is too often blocked by state and federal post-imprisonment penalties that make it extremely hard to establish a law-abiding life.
MY six years in the Marine Corps taught me the importance of learning the basics. When the Marines teach a young recruit to shoot, they dont skip parts of the training. Whether you have never touched a gun in your life or grew up hunting every weekend, the Marines drill you in how to steady your sights, master your breathing and control recoil. Every recruit is taught and then tested in the fundamentals of marksmanship before he or she advances in basic training.

College education shouldnt be any different.

But thanks to a misguided effort to recognize service members military experience through awarding them college credit, many veterans are being allowed to skip basic lessons when they begin higher education. The result is an education that sells short the veterans who worked so hard to earn it.

More than a million veterans have flooded into Americas college classrooms thanks to the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill. To help prevent them from having to start from scratch, the American Council on Education, an organization representing more than 1,700 colleges and universities, has developed a system that evaluates veterans military experience and makes recommendations to colleges to grant these student-veterans transfer credit for their training. The A.C.E. is a central player in education policy in the United States.

The transition from military service to the college classroom is often difficult, and the desire to give veterans a helping hand is understandable. But in the rush to recognize the lessons that people learn during military service, the A.C.E. has gone too far, often overstating the relevance of military training to a college curriculum in a way that does disservice to both the veterans in the classroom and to the employers who hope to hire them after they graduate. These policies have also helped predatory for-profit colleges exploit veterans and their families.
Ronald C. Davidson, who oversaw one of the biggest advances in fusion energy research, attempting to replicate the power of the sun, died on May 19 at his home in Cranbury, N.J. He was 74.

The cause was complications from pneumonia, said the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, where Dr. Davidson was director from 1991 to 1996.

Fusion is the process that powers the sun, generating energy through the merging of atoms, and, for decades, scientists have tried to reproduce that on earth. During Dr. Davidsons tenure, the Princeton lab made major advances toward that goal, studying ways to make the fusion self-sustaining.

In 1993, the laboratorys immense Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor began a series of runs using a mix of deuterium and tritium, two heavier forms of hydrogen. (Tokamak is an acronym of three Russian words that mean toroidal magnetic chamber, referring to the doughnut-shaped reactor that housed the ultrahot gases.)
The way the sex abuse scandal was handled pretty clearly shattered the trust that a lot of people had in the hierarchy, said James OToole, a professor of history at Boston College, who added that the vigil had most likely also been motivated by the writings of the Second Vatican Council, in the 1960s, which expanded the role of laypeople in the church.

It turns out that if you tell the people for 50 years that they are the church, they start to believe it and they start to act on it, and think they have the authority in a way to argue with the hierarchy, Mr. OToole said.

At the time, eight other churches started vigils over their own closures, but St. Frances had the last remaining one. This community has tested the Vatican canonical system and the U.S. legal system to their highest level, Peter Borre, a lawyer who has supported closed churches, said to the congregation on Sunday. Nobody else has done this.

The archdiocese filed a lawsuit against the parishioners last year, arguing that they were trespassing. In May 2015, a State Superior Court justice ruled against the parishioners, who later appealed to the United States Supreme Court. But this month, justices refused to hear the case, and the congregants agreed to leave  after a final celebration.
The shooting began shortly after 10 a.m., officials said. An officer arriving at Memorial Drive Tire & Auto, an auto repair shop, was met by a barrage of gunfire, which left his vehicle riddled with bullet holes, the authorities said.

By the grace of god, he did not sustain any injuries, Chief Montalvo said.

During the shootout, one deputy constable was shot in a hand and the other in his tactical vest, the police said. The conditions of the other people who were injured were not immediately known.

Neither suspect was identified. John Cannon, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department, described the dead gunman as the main active shooter, who is believed to have fatally shot the person in the vehicle, then fired at the police officers and a Police Department helicopter.

That gunman was fatally shot by a member of Houstons SWAT team.

The role of the second gunman was less clear. Were trying to figure out what his role in this was, Officer Cannon said during a news conference. Was he a suspect, or someone who happened to be armed with a gun?

Asked if the police regarded him as a suspect, he said, Well say he is a suspect because he had a gun.
Jim Brulte, the chairman of the California Republican Party, said that he expected the disparity to increase even more in the months ahead because of the competitive Democratic primary, while hopes for a contested Republican primary fizzled after Donald J. Trump all but locked up the nomination.

Bullet Train to Nowhere : Construction of the California high-speed rail system, Americas most ambitious infrastructure project, Construction of the California high-speed rail system, Americas most ambitious infrastructure project, has become a multi-billion-dollar nightmare

A Piece of Black History Destroyed: Lincoln Heights  a historically Black community in a predominantly white, rural county in Northern California  endured for decades. Lincoln Heights  a historically Black community in a predominantly white, rural county in Northern California  endured for decades. Then came the Mill fire

Warehouse Moratorium: As warehouse construction balloons nationwide, residents in communities both rural and urban have pushed back. In Californias Inland Empire, As warehouse construction balloons nationwide, residents in communities both rural and urban have pushed back. In Californias Inland Empire, the anger has turned to widespread action

California is a state that, all things being equal, wants to vote Democrat, Mr. Brulte said. We are still adding Republican registration statewide, but the statewide Republican registration is being dwarfed by the Democratic registration increase.

How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause. Learn more about our process.

The divergent fortunes of state and national Democrats go beyond voter registration. California Democrats have a bench of younger candidates waiting to step up as its older leaders  Mr. Brown, 78; and Senators Barbara L. Boxer, 75; and Dianne Feinstein, 82  approach retirement. By contrast, the choice of Mrs. Clinton, 68, and Mr. Sanders, 74, is a reminder of the absence of fresh players prepared to take the national field.

Given the Democratic dominance here, it is easy to forget that Ronald Reagan served two terms as governor, and that Richard M. Nixon was born in Orange County, an area that was once an emblem of conservatism but is becoming increasingly Democratic. Republicans won every presidential election here from 1952 to 1988, with the exception of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Bill Clinton put the state into the Democratic presidential column in 1992, and it has been there ever since.

The Democrats more recent success in the state is in part the result of good fortune. California has been going through a period of prosperity, and in recent years Mr. Brown has been spared the need to impose politically contentious spending cuts.

It is also demographic. In 1994, the states Republican governor, Pete Wilson, championed a voter initiative to deny social services to illegal immigrants. The initiative passed but was thrown out in court. It left a political legacy that has hurt the Republican Party to this day: Over the past 12 years, Hispanics have grown into the largest ethnic group in the state, making up 39 percent of the population.
For the blunt-spoken Mr. Trump, who likes to stress his desire to strengthen the military and improve how veterans are treated, the gathering provided a receptive audience, if one where he might otherwise seem out of place.

He speaks whats on his mind and means what he says, said Tom Christian, 43, a heating and air-conditioning contractor from Tennessee. And thats what a biker does. Thats the way we are: We say what we think. If you like it, you like it. If you dont, go the other way.

The warm embrace from the crowd gave no hint of the controversy that Mr. Trump incited last year when he denigrated the military service of Senator John McCain of Arizona, a former prisoner of war in North Vietnam. Mr. Trump said Mr. McCain, a fellow Republican, was not a war hero, saying, I like people that werent captured, O.K.?

Mr. Trump is the latest political figure, but not the only one, to pay attention to bikers. Wearing a black Harley-Davidson helmet, Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska, appeared at Rolling Thunder in 2011, months before saying she would not run for president in 2012.

And one of Mr. Trumps former Republican rivals, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a proud Harley-Davidson owner, campaigned at Harley dealerships and wore motorcycle boots on the campaign trail. Asked during a debate what he wanted his Secret Service code name to be, he suggested Harley.
Im actually thinking more that I am going to go Libertarian, Ms. White, 42, said after wrestling with a mannequin at the apparel store she and her husband recently opened.

For decades, this state has embodied contradictory impulses, simultaneously electing a racial hard-liner like Jesse Helms and New South Democrats like Terry Sanford and Jim Hunt. But, as its demographics shift, discerning which way the state will tilt in November seems harder than ever.

North Carolina may be the most evenly divided presidential battleground in the country.

Its two biggest population centers, Charlotte and the so-called Research Triangle of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, have been transformed by an influx of political centrists from other states. The fastest-growing party registration preference is not Republican nor Democrat, but unaffiliated. The rural white Jessecrats, conservative Democrats who reliably cast ballots for Mr. Helms, are dying off. Elections are now won in the fast-growing edge towns like Cary, outside Raleigh, which natives joke stands for Containment Area for Relocated Yankees.

Neither Mr. Trump, with his hard-edge nationalism, nor Mrs. Clinton, with a swirl of scandal surrounding her, is a natural fit for a state that hungers for political moderation but is increasingly disenchanted with the political class.

They dont like either party and they dont like either candidate, said Carter Wrenn, a veteran Republican strategist here. It will just depend on which one they dislike less on Election Day.

Polls show Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton begin the general election close to evenly matched. The surest sign of a jump ball: Democrats believe Mr. Trump starts with a narrow advantage, while Republicans believe Mrs. Clinton does. What they agree on is that, as at the national level, Republicans are largely coalescing around Mr. Trump and ruling out the possibility that Mrs. Clinton could run away with the state.

Then again, Mr. Trump needs North Carolina much more than Mrs. Clinton does.

With his difficulties among Hispanic voters pushing typical swing states such as Colorado, Nevada and Florida toward the Democrats, Mr. Trump will probably need to carry the combined 28 electoral votes from North Carolina and Virginia to capture the White House.
WASHINGTON  A ruling by the Internal Revenue Service creates a significant obstacle to a new type of health care network that the Obama administration has promoted as a way to provide better care at lower cost, industry lawyers and providers say.

Health care markets are rapidly changing as independent doctors and hospitals race to form networks, known as accountable care organizations, in which they coordinate care for patients. The doctors and hospitals have financial incentives to keep patients healthy and to control costs, and they can share in the savings if they meet performance goals.

The new entities, which now cover more than 28 million people, according to Leavitt Partners, a health care consulting firm, help manage care for Medicare beneficiaries, for people with employer-sponsored insurance and for consumers who buy coverage through online marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act.

In its recent ruling, the I.R.S. denied a tax exemption sought by an accountable care organization that coordinates care for people with commercial insurance. The tax agency said the organization did not meet the test for tax-exempt status because it was not operated exclusively for charitable purposes and it provided private benefits to some doctors in its network.
SKOKIE, Ill.  President Obamas Supreme Court nominee, Merrick B. Garland, returned to his high school on Sunday and told its graduates that they must learn to deal with the unexpected.

When you are facing the unanticipated twists and turns life will surely take, when the bad things happen, it can be a tremendous solace to get outside yourself and focus on someone else, Judge Garland said during a 15-minute commencement speech at his alma mater, Niles West High School in Skokie, a northern suburb of Chicago.

Judge Garland, the chief judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and a 1970 graduate of Niles West, was selected in March by Mr. Obama to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Republicans leaders in the Senate, however, have vowed not to hold hearings or a confirmation vote until a new president takes office.

On Sunday, Judge Garland stayed away from addressing his own twists and turns of the partisan divide over his nomination, focusing instead on the values that he learned while a standout student in Skokie. He encouraged graduates to consider going into public service.
LONDON  Who are the nine men in Wayne McGregors new work for the Royal Ballet, Obsidian Tear? Are they warriors, compatriots, friends, enemies, lovers, spirits? Are they on a quest, and must they sacrifice a victim or elect a king? Mr. McGregors 30-minute piece, which opened on Saturday alongside Kenneth MacMillans The Invitation (1960) and Christopher Wheeldons Within the Golden Hour (2008), is full of such questions.

And another one: Does the title refer to weeping, or ripping apart?

Set to Esa-Pekka Salonens electrifying solo violin piece, Lachen Verlernt(given a virtuosic performance from Vasko Vassilev), and his symphonic work Nyx, the all-male Obsidian Tear is a breakthrough piece for Mr. McGregor, who has been the Royal Ballets choreographer in residence since 2006. He has been criticized for defaulting to a distinctive hyper-kineticism, all angles and arrows, limbs veering off into space as torsos and heads duck and weave. The improbable geometries of his movement patterns can be fascinating to watch and emotively persuasive (Chroma, Infra); at other times (Tree of Codes) they blur into an undifferentiated succession of physical effects.

But in Obsidian Tear, Mr. McGregor introduces a physical language that is pared down and clear yet permeated by a fullness and grace. The piece begins in silence on an empty black-walled stage, as two bare-chested men (Calvin Richardson in loose red trousers, Matthew Ball in black ones) weave and curve around each other. As the thin, eerie tones of Lachen Verlernt begin, Mr. Ball stands back to watch Mr. Richardson moving alone, opening his arms wide with ritualistic gestures, his legs sweeping around his body with leisurely power.
A few years ago, after Eddie Huang submitted the manuscript of his memoir Fresh Off the Boat, which made ample use of footnotes, his editor, Chris Jackson, asked him if hed read fellow footnoter Junot Diaz. He had not.

I have real gaps in my literary history, Mr. Huang said recently, with his signature blend of self-deprecation and upstart bravado. Number 1, Im Chinese, and Number 2, Im from Orlando. So help me, fam!

He began Mr. Diazs The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, but stopped after 100 pages, wowed and flummoxed: I didnt want to steal his moves. He didnt return to it until he had completed the first draft of his new memoir, Double Cup Love: On the Trail of Family, Food, and Broken Hearts in China (Spiegel & Grau), which will be released on Tuesday.

I was chasing him through the last eight revisions, asking myself, Does this give you feelings on that level that Oscar Wao gave you? Mr. Huang said. I got as close as I could.
I think I cried every day for a year, said Ms. Ramirez, 75. It wasnt that I didnt do my homework. I was told it was approved by MetLife and that it was guaranteed.

Now, Ms. Ramirez and some others who lost their money are suing MetLife, claiming that the insurer ignored or failed to notice signs that agents and brokers were peddling Mr. Friedmans financing program to retirees and others. Litigation has been winding its way through the courts for years, and MetLife is fighting back.

But last month, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge cleared Ms. Ramirezs case to move to trial in July. Her lawyers represent 98 people in seven cases, and hers is the first of this group to move forward. She is being given preference because she is battling late-stage breast cancer.

MetLife has settled some cases with its own customers who were duped by the D.L.G. offer, but the current batch of lawsuits involves people who did not buy its insurance. Ms. Ramirez was never a customer of MetLife. Instead, these people only put their money in the D.L.G. investment that was pitched to them by sales people, some who were affiliated with MetLife and some who were independent contractors approved to sell its products. As such, the legal fight raises questions about how far a large companys liability should extend.

Big companies, like MetLife, are run by people, and when they fall below the standard of care or engage in improper conduct, our clients, who are also real people, get hurt  and thats what happened here, said Richard E. Donahoo, founder of Donahoo & Associates, one of the lawyers representing Ms. Ramirez.
At the Washington offices of Burson-Marsteller, which handles public relations and polling for a variety of corporate and political clients, so-called associates typically make $40,000 to $50,000 a year, and often work well beyond 40 hours a week. Some are tasked with pitching in on 24-hour-a-day monitoring of media coverage for clients in addition to their usual work, which can keep them up late into the night.

Under the previous federal overtime rule, which applied automatically to most salaried employees making less than $23,660, those additional hours were essentially uncounted, making the young associates a relative bargain. (Employees making more than this can be eligible for overtime under a much more subjective duties test, but often dont receive it.) Under the new rule, many of these staff members are to be paid time-and-a-half overtime when they work more than 40 hours a week, if their salary remains unchanged.

Catherine Sullivan, a company spokeswoman, said: Burson-Marsteller has always paid, and will continue to pay, overtime to those who are eligible. She noted that employees below the associate level currently do receive overtime pay and also participate in round-the-clock monitoring.

Some organizations in which young staff members are already relatively well compensated said they would probably raise salaries over the new threshold.

But the economics of that approach may be less practical at smaller companies where labor represents a larger share of overall costs. A former employee of the Wylie Agency said assistant literary agents there  usually eight to 10 in the New York office  typically earned in the $30,000s and routinely worked 50 to 60 hours a week without overtime pay.

The former Wylie employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals, said that there was such an expectation of long hours that anyone arriving after 9 a.m. or leaving before 6:30 p.m. generally felt compelled to email the entire office, giving a reason for being AWOL.
Many of the worlds largest Internet companies, like Google and Facebook, rely heavily on advertising to finance their online empires.

But that business model is increasingly coming under threat, with one in five smartphone users, or almost 420 million people worldwide, blocking advertising when browsing the web on cellphones. That represents a 90 percent annual increase, according to a new report from PageFair, a start-up that helps to recoup some of this lost advertising revenue, and Priori Data, a company that tracks smartphone applications.

The use of ad-blocking software has divided the online world. Supporters say it allows people to get better access to content without having to suffer through abrasive ads. Opponents, particularly companies that rely on advertising, say blocking ads violates the implicit contract that people agree to when viewing online material, much of which is paid for by digital advertising.

Mobile ad blockers, though, have become particularly widespread in emerging markets, where people are more reliant on their smartphones to use the Internet.
PARIS  Martin Senn, the former chief executive of Zurich Insurance Group, has killed himself, the company said on Monday, citing information from his family.

Mr. Senn had resigned in December, mentioning business setbacks in recent months.

News of his death drew comparisons in the European news media to the suicide less than three years ago of the companys chief financial officer.

Details of Mr. Senns death were not made public by the company, beyond confirmation that his family had said he killed himself on Friday.

But Swiss news outlets, including the daily newspaper Blick, reported that Mr. Senn had died at his vacation home in Klosters, near Davos, in eastern Switzerland.
Gawker Medias legal battle with Hulk Hogan over the publication of a sex tape has had wide-ranging impact.

A $140 million verdict threatens the future of the company and the emergence of the billionaire Peter Thiel as the behind-the-scenes financial supporter of the professional wrestlers lawsuits has highlighted a simmering fissure between Silicon Valley and the news media.

But Gawkers legal entanglements do not end with Hulk Hogan.

The company has acknowledged facing lawsuits with plaintiffs ranging from an individual who claims he invented email to the website of the British tabloid The Daily Mail. Currently, Gawker Media is fighting five defamation-related lawsuits, according to a person who has been briefed on the companys legal situation but who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss legal strategy. That does not include the invasion-of-privacy lawsuit brought by Hogan, whose real name is Terry G. Bollea; the company plans to appeal the verdict in that case.

Charles J. Harder, the Los Angeles-based lawyer who represented Mr. Bollea, is involved in at least two of the other lawsuits brought against the company.
The two candidates are running two different kinds of races, said John Dickerson, the moderator of Face the Nation on CBS, who has interviewed both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump on his show.

At every opportunity possible, you invite both of them on to share their views and answer the questions of the moment, Mr. Dickerson said. But a lot of this is on the candidates. If they believe a point is better expressed by their surrogate, or not talking at all, thats sort of their choice.

Networks are seeking novel ways to maintain balance, like staging voter town halls that provide candidates with equal airtime; seeking a wider spectrum of on-air contributors and campaign surrogates; and bringing more fact-checking into segments, as Jake Tapper has done recently on CNN to some acclaim.

Still, the presence of Mr. Trump can be irresistible, especially in an election in which viewership and advertising rates have soared, generating tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue for an industry threatened by digital competition.

Last week, none of the three major cable news networks  CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC  carried Mrs. Clintons speech to a workers union in Las Vegas, where she debuted sharp new attack lines against Mr. Trump.
They say that Verizons fiber-optic Fios network, which provides telephone, video and Internet service, remains lucrative. But they argue that the companys interest in it has flagged because the labor costs are much higher than for its wireless business, which is overwhelmingly nonunion.

Perhaps the most consequential issue at stake in the standoff was Verizons ability to outsource work. The previous contracts included a provision requiring that a certain percentage of customer calls originating in a state be answered by workers in that state  ranging from just over 50 percent for some types of calls in some states to more than 80 percent in others. Verizon sought to significantly lower those numbers.

Under the tentative new contracts, a similar percentage of calls must be answered by a unionized worker somewhere in Verizons wireline footprint, which runs from Virginia to Massachusetts, rather than the particular state from which the call originates.

Both sides claimed victory in the change.

We only care that our members somewhere in the footprint are doing the work, said Robert Master, assistant to the District 1 vice president of the Communications Workers of America. The push to outsource call center work was rebuffed.

Lending partial vindication to this claim was a commitment by the company to create over 1,000 unionized call center jobs over the next four years to accommodate new demand from customers. The company also agreed to reduce the number of call center closings.

For its part, Verizon argued that the new call center rule would allow it to wring out inefficiencies. Under the old contracts, a call that originated in New York City would frequently be answered in New York City, then transferred to New Jersey or another state, where a worker with the right expertise could handle it. Now, the representative in New Jersey can answer the call directly more often.

Its a big deal; it eliminates an unnecessary step, said Richard J. Young, a Verizon spokesman. Its all about minutes here and there. Minutes add up to hours; hours add up to jobs.
At a clinic in Harlem where many of the patients have roots in the Dominican Republic, Dr. Juan Tapia-Mendoza talks to patients about the Zika virus daily. He asks if they are planning to visit the island this summer. He reminds them that the virus can be transmitted through sex.

In New York City, there have been 109 reported cases of Zika, including 17 women who were pregnant when they learned they had the virus, according to city health officials. They all contracted the virus while visiting other countries.

Now, as the annual wave of summer travel between New York and the Caribbean begins, Dr. Tapia-Mendoza is worried that the number of cases in the community will rise.

Our concern is this is just the tip of the iceberg, he said of the citys growing number of cases. While the symptoms of Zika, including fever, rash and joint pain, are relatively mild, the disease is of particular concern for pregnant women because of a link to microcephaly, a condition in which infants are born with unusually small heads and, most often, brain damage.
KABUL, Afghanistan  When Ahmad was deported from Turkey early this year, he came to live under a bridge called Pul-i-Sokhta, in the western part of the city. The bridge, which spans a dried-up riverbed, has been an unofficial meeting place for drug addicts for years. But recently men like Ahmad  men who cashed in their lives in Afghanistan for a chance at something better elsewhere, men who were betrayed by fortune and forced to return  have been congregating here, to smoke up, shoot up, pilfer and beg.

On a visit one afternoon last month, it took some time for my eyes to adjust to the darkness under the bridge. Then I saw the bodies splayed over other bodies on top of islands of trash. In between the mounds of wasting men flowed trickles of water carrying garbage and excrement. Ahmad  he wouldnt give a last name  guessed that about half of Pul-i-Sokhtas 200 or so residents were recent deportees.

According to the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, there were more than 3.8 million Afghan refugees in 2001. The number had dropped by the mid-2000s, a time of hope that came with the presence of NATO forces in Afghanistan. But as the security situation deteriorated, the number of refugees swelled again, reaching some 2.6 million by the fall of 2015.

Most Afghans who flee go to neighboring Pakistan and Iran, but increasingly they have also headed farther west. More than 178,000 Afghans applied for asylum in Europe in 2015, almost four times the number for the previous year, according to E.U. statistics.
MELBOURNE, Australia  Australia cruised through the 2008 global financial crisis on the back of a massive minerals boom. China could not get enough of its iron ore. The lucky country, rich enough to be a laid-back country, proved its good fortune once again. After agriculture and wool came coal and ore. Meltdowns were for losers.

In the United States, there is the affectation of industriousness. People like to make it appear they work all the time. In Australia, as the environmentalist Tim Flannery observed, there is the affectation of effortlessness. People are determined to make it appear they are not working too hard. Sometimes that is the case.

But some of the angst endemic to the developed world, with its lost manufacturing jobs and squeezed opportunities, has seeped of late into the irreverent Australian psyche. The minerals bonanza and commodities frenzy are over. Jobs in services are beginning to follow manufacturing offshore. For many young Australians the only way to get into the stratospheric Sydney housing market, inflated by rule-of-law-seeking Chinese buyers, is to wait for parents to die. Unemployment is not high, but underemployment is. Australia is Americas ally in an increasingly Chinese neighborhood; that could be problematic. The next big thing is unclear.

Could Australias luck have run out? Is it ripe for the politics of anger that play well these days from the United States to Austria?
The camera zooms in on one of the cadavers. As the energy of the blast moves to the seat pan, the dead mans pelvis rises, shortening his torso and expanding his paunch. Underbody blast can compress a seated soldiers spine by as much as two inches.

Played at this speed, theres grace and beauty to the limbs extensions, nothing brutish or violent. In real time, the forces that move the limbs pass too quickly for the tissue to accommodate. Muscles strain, ligaments tear, bones may break.

Imagine pulling apart a wad of Silly Putty. Pull slowly, and it will stretch across the room. Yank it fast and it snaps in two. Likewise, different types of body tissue have different strain rates.

For the forces of any given blast, one type may stretch, say, a fifth of its length without tearing, while another may manage just 5 percent. WIAMan will be calibrated to reflect these differences and predict the consequences.

The long-term quality of a soldier or Marines life is a relatively new consideration. In the past, military decision makers concerned themselves more with go/no-go: Do the injuries keep a soldier from completing the mission?

WIAMan will answer that question, but it will answer others, too. Following a vehicle blast, is this soldier likely to have back pain for the rest of his life? Will she limp? Will his heel hurt so much that hed rather lose the foot?

The answers may or may not affect the decisions that are made in the preparations for war, but at least theyll be part of the equation for those inclined to do the math.
NEW HAVEN, Conn.  On the scale of the global crises she deals with on a daily basis, the issue that Samantha Power, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, weighed in on during a commencement speech at Yale last week might have seemed a minor, even insular concern.

The subject in question was the universitys decision not to change the name of Calhoun College, named after a Confederate leader and vocal advocate of slavery. Ms. Power, a Yale graduate herself, made clear that she regarded the issue as a serious one.

Ms. Power, who won a Pulitzer Prize for  A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, ranked the dispute on the Yale campus alongside the horrific situation faced by refugees, another cause that she said had eluded resolution.

Some of you who have poured a lot of yourselves into these and other struggles over the last four years might look at all that remains unchanged and feel discouraged, she said in delivering her remarks on May 22. She urged graduating seniors to continue their fight for causes inside Yale and outside Yale, no matter how painful the setbacks.
The clandestine nature of the session underscores the intense conflict over the spending, which is the subject of a federal lawsuit in which House Republicans have so far prevailed, as well as a continuing investigation by the Ways and Means and the Energy and Commerce Committees. It also shows that more than six years after President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, Republican opposition has not waned.

After failing to win congressional approval for the funds, the Obama administration spent the money anyway and has now distributed about $7 billion to insurance companies to offset out-of-pocket costs for eligible consumers. The administration asserts that the health care legislation provided permanent, continuing authority to do so, and that no further appropriation was necessary.

Mr. Fisher, for one, did not agree, and his testimony is the first to reveal that some within the administration challenged the spending. Beginning in late 2013, he and his supervisor began having qualms about how the White House was planning to proceed. In combing through documents to make sure his agency could defend the spending in future audits, Mr. Fisher said he came up empty.

Cost-sharing reduction payments are not linked to the Internal Revenue Code, as far as I could tell, directly anywhere, Mr. Fisher, now in the private sector, said in his deposition, made public last week by House Democrats who feared Republicans would release selected excerpts. There is no linkage to the permanent appropriation, nor is there any link to any other appropriation that was indicating what account these funds should be paid from.

Committee Republicans say Mr. Fishers sworn testimony, compelled by a rare Ways and Means Committee subpoena, affirms what they thought all along: that the Obama administration knew it did not have the authority to spend the money and did so regardless to strengthen the health care law in defiance of the Constitution. They say the administration violated a fundamental principle of American government: Congress must appropriate any money spent by the executive branch.
DAKAR, Senegal  Hissene Habre, the former president of Chad, was sentenced to life in prison after he was found guilty of crimes against humanity, torture and sex crimes on Monday, more than 20 years after the start of a campaign to hold him accountable for the suffering and death of tens of thousands of people.

Mr. Habre, who ruled Chad from 1982 to 1990, when he was deposed by the current president, Idriss Deby, stood trial before a special court in Senegal created to handle the case. Prosecutors had sought a life sentence, which he is expected to serve in Senegal.

The systematic torture at such a large scale was his way of governing, said Gberdao Gustave Kam, the presiding judge on a three-judge panel, who read a summary of the verdict. Hissene Habre showed no compassion toward the victims or any regret about the massacres and rapes that were committed.

Victims and relatives of victims screamed with joy after the verdict was announced. Mr. Habre, who had sat silently during the 90-minute hearing, raised his fists to supporters and shouted for several minutes until armed guards led him away.
David Shambaugh is a professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University and the author or editor of more than 30 books on China, covering its military, foreign relations, the Communist Party and portraits of Chinese leaders. His latest book, Chinas Future, is a short but provocative look at events that could determine Chinas direction. In an interview, he discussed Chinas internal weaknesses, its parallels with other Leninist states and the reasons behind a growing disenchantment with China among American policy makers and analysts.

Q. Since Napoleon, the world has been awash with predictions about China. Do we need another?

A. Nobody has a crystal ball, but China specialists should at least try to unpack and understand these dynamics. It is particularly important at this juncture in Chinas development, as there are so many uncertainties and unprecedented challenges.

Q. Would it be fair to say that you believe that Leninist parties are incapable of maintaining power in the long run? It seems that either they hold power through repression, as in the Soviet Union, and thus settle into terminal decline, or they open up and end up reforming themselves out of existence, as in Taiwan.

A. I believe that the record shows that Leninist regimes possess fewer sources of legitimacy, power and longevity than liberal states. Moreover, as you note, the only Leninist-type regime that reached the status of a newly industrialized economy that China has today was Taiwan in the 1980s. Taiwan politically liberalized and democratized  as did South Korea and other Asian authoritarian states  and it powered the islands economy to a fully developed level. That is precisely Chinas challenge today: politically liberalize and become a developed economy or remain stuck in hard authoritarianism and stagnate economically.
My impression is that I may have seen those pictures, Ms. Liu said. But these kinds of things just get passed around. I wasnt paying attention, so I dont know whether he had anything to do with them. Its just some pictures, so I wasnt paying attention.

But Chinas security apparatus, always vigilant against discussion of the traumas of 1989, apparently was paying close attention. The police took Mr. Fu away on Saturday, after the images spread on WeChat, a popular Chinese social media platform that allows circles of friends to share messages and pictures.

The photographs also showed what appeared to be bottles for baijiu, the fiery Chinese liquor, with similar labels. But Ms. Liu said that, as far as she knew, her husband did not know how to create labels or images like that on a computer. Nor did he make liquor, she said.

I didnt hear him talk about June 4, Ms. Liu said. Its true that he cares a lot about social justice  the police, food safety, public welfare issues.

The labels played on the similarity in Mandarin Chinese between the word for liquor and the word for nine, as in 1989: jiu in both cases.
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan  Taliban militants overran several checkpoints in southern Helmand Province and killed at least 25 policemen over the past two days, officials said on Monday, in the first major assaults in the province since the insurgents named a new leader last week.

While the Taliban made major inroads in Helmand last year, the violence had seemed relatively contained in recent months, after broad changes by the Afghan Army there and a new influx of American troops and advisers. But the fighting has again intensified, with an increased tempo of attacks in the districts of Nad Ali, Gereshk, Sangin and Marja, as well as in Babaji, a suburb of the provincial capital, Lashkar Gah.

Gul Agha, a commander of Afghan Local Police militia forces in Gereshk, said Taliban fighters had overrun five checkpoints in the district bordering the provincial capital, killed 12 fighters and executed their unit commander.

A local commander named Safar Muhammad Akka was dragged and hanged in Yakhchal area of Gereshk by Taliban, Mr. Agha said. He was an old man, but very anti-Taliban.
But facts have been powerless against a torrent of abuse and ridicule targeted at European journalists, researchers and others labeled NATO stooges.

Pro-Russian activists insist that they are merely exercising their right to free speech, and that they do not take money or instructions from Moscow.

The most abusive messages against Ms. Aro were mostly sent anonymously or from accounts set up under fake names on Facebook and other social media.

One of her most vocal critics in Finland, however, has openly declared his identity. He is Johan Backman, a tireless supporter of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia who highlights the blurred lines between state-sponsored harassment and the expression of strongly held personal views.

Fluent in Russian, Mr. Backman now spends much of his time in Moscow, appearing regularly in the Russian news media and at conferences in Russia as a human rights defender. He also serves as the representative in Northern Europe for the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, a state-funded research group led by a Soviet-era intelligence officer.

Mr. Backman, who also represents the Donetsk Peoples Republic, the breakaway state set up with Russian support in eastern Ukraine, denied targeting Ms. Aro as part of any information war. Rather, he insisted that Russia was itself the victim of a campaign of disinformation and distortion conducted by the West.

In a recent interview in Moscow, he said that Ms. Aro was part of this campaign and that she had tried to curtail the freedom of speech of Russias supporters in Finland by labeling them as Russian trolls. All the same, Mr. Backman added, her complaints about being targeted for abuse have been very beneficial for Russia because they have made others think twice about criticizing Moscow.
If Michelin gave stars for unintentionally brilliant dish names, an eatery in Pingyao, China, might well be the worlds top restaurant. It has a large sign outside showing some of its tastiest dishes, with English translations: In Bowl, You Flour Silk, Beef Cats Ear and a noodle dish in broth known as Sauce on My Grandma.

The Chinese and English languages are so completely different that you often see awkward translations like these. They may make English speakers chuckle, but Chinese officialdom is not amused: When major international events come to China, the state tries to clean up the most egregious ones. Before the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, for example, 400,000 signs and 1,300 menus were revised, including Racist Park, a permanent cultural exhibition that was rebranded as Minorities Park.

Still, a stroll through just about any Chinese city will reveal the joys of eating in China: A restaurant menu in Xian offers The Smell of Urine Dry Noodles. Shenzhen is proud of its famous Gollum Shrimp. A Beijing restaurant serves The Hand That Grasps the Cowboy Bone and Fried Swarm.

Public institutions dont do much better with their signs: One warns travelers in Shanghai to Beware Wallet/Carefully Slide (it means to suggest that you should watch your wallet and your step on the slippery floor). In Beijing, some wheelchair-accessible bathrooms are marked Deformed Person.
A HERO OF FRANCE

By Alan Furst

234 pp. Random House. $27.

On June 17, 1940, Marshal Philippe Petain issued orders to the French Army to cease fighting, signaling the capitulation of his country to the forces of the Third Reich. In short order, the German presence rapidly extended into every aspect of French life. Frances Jews began to be rounded up in the notorious rafles, sent first to prison camps within France and ultimately to the east. Leftists were also put under surveillance, and frequently arrested and deported.

Its against this backdrop that Alan Furst has placed the 15th of his highly acclaimed thrillers set in Europe during the 1930s and 40s. A Hero of France, which follows five months in the life of a particular Resistance cell, begins in March 1941, nine months into the German occupation. The hero of the novels title, code-named Mathieu, is escorting a downed R.A.F. airman from the countryside to Paris so that he can be smuggled back to England.

Furst, who is known for his detailed research into both cat-and-mouse sides of occupied Europe, shows not just Mathieu and his comrades but also all kinds of Germans, including the police and the Gestapo. And he shows us the French punks who are ready recruits for the occupiers, not out of any particular ideology but because of the restless savagery young men on the margins often exhibit.

Mathieus cell includes a teenage girl who acts as a courier on her bicycle and two aristocratic women, Chantal and Annemarie. Aiding their efforts is Max de Lyon, the owner of a nightclub that caters to German officers, a Polish Jew who hides resistants in his club and puts Mathieu in touch with merchant marine toughs who spirit people out of the country for a fee. De Lyon even blackmails a German officer into aiding the escape of an endangered member of the cell.
Every other year, the American Museum of Ceramic Art in Pomona invites high school students throughout Southern California to display their work at the museum. This year, three from Foothill High School were chosen to participate in the May exhibition, Emerging Artists: High School Show.

Names: Alexanndra Angebrandt (AA), Katia Bernal (KB), Lindsay Vazquez (LV)

School: Foothill High School

Grade: 12

How did you get involved in ceramics?

AA: My initial involvement in ceramics was the result of my admiration of my classmates work and a general curiosity towards ceramics. After my first year in the class, I fell in love. This year is my second year (taking) advanced ceramics and my third year overall in the art.

KB: My involvement in ceramics was a happy accident. I needed another class in my schedule because art history was no longer offered at my school and ceramics was the only other option where I could expand my passion for the arts.

LV: Art has always caught my attention ever since I was little. Ive always been interested in art, and since I have taken a 2D drawing and painting class before, I wanted to try something different but also related to art. Ever since I first enrolled in ceramics in my sophomore year, Ive loved it. Ive continued taking the class for the past three years.

What is your favorite work of art? Who is your favorite artist?

AA: My favorite artist is Salvador Dali. I love the unique perspective portrayed through each of his works. One of my favorites among his works is Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of the New Man.

KB: My favorite work of art is Nighthawks by Edward Hopper. Hopper is my favorite artist because he paints scenes of isolation and mystery that always evoke bittersweet feelings.

Who have been your influences? Did you have a mentor in your development as an artist? If so, how did they help you?

KB: My ceramics teacher has been a wonderful guide. Mrs. Abrams taught me the basics in ceramics and has always given me advice about how to approach constructing a project and how to fix problems in my technique. Additionally, being surrounded by other eager ceramic artists has really challenged me to work hard and always one-up my last creation.

LV: My ceramics teacher, Mrs. Abrams, has been my major influence. Im not only saying this because she is my current teacher but because she was the first to expose me to the real meaning of ceramics and has taught me everything that I know about ceramics today.

What inspires you?

AA: My inspiration can come from anywhere. My most recent projects were inspired by an old sweater that I bought online and a pun my father made on my last vacation. Whenever I get an idea, I like to run with it and try to share that idea through my art.

KB: Both the natural and the man-made world inspire me because of the endless designs and ideas that I come in contact with daily. Its interesting to see how the natural world influences how we design our man-made world, whether we choose to follow the blueprints of nature or go against the bends and curves of plants and landforms for more angular and irregular shapes.

LV: I often like to look through other ceramic projects or just imagine and get inspiration through that. I can get inspiration from anything. Its just a matter of being creative.

What do you get out of creating art?

AA: The ability to take an image from your mind and turn it into something tangible creates inexplicable satisfaction. The physical representation of an idea allows people to better understand what is in your mind. This depth of communication achieved through art is the best part of creating art.

KB: I find art cathartic. Art is a method of escape from the stresses of life and reminds me of a simpler time as a child when I would play with watercolors and squeeze clay through my fingers.

LV: Creating art personally makes me feel happy and relaxed. I consider myself very creative and I can express my ideas and creations through ceramics.

How do the arts figure into your long-term goals?

KB: I want to continue to be a ceramic artist as I leave high school and I can see myself opening a shop or a gallery to sell and exhibit my art as well as the art of others.

LV: One of my long term goals is to eventually attend the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising to hopefully get an associates degree in product merchandising for the beauty industry.

What is the best advice you have received?

AA: Dont give up just because it is harder than you expected. Many times things dont go well. My first year of involvement in ceramics, I felt that I had no artistic ability or creativity in general. I am grateful that I was encouraged to keep trying until I created the projects I had imagined.

LV: Creating art isnt always easy. It takes creativity, time and a lot of patience. The best advice I have received is to always be very persistent and have a visual or idea of what youre doing when you plan on making something.

Do you have any other thoughts about being an artist that you would like to share with us?

AA: Everyone can do something. I personally cannot draw any better now than I could in elementary school, but that hasnt kept me from excelling in the arts. As I feel that my own happiness has improved since I began working as an artist, I suggest everyone attempts to find their art.

KB: I believe artists are underappreciated in todays society. As an artist, I can now see that choosing an art career is a noble and brave choice and should not be viewed merely as a path for people who dont know what to do with their lives.

LV: You can come across many obstacles and difficulties during the process of making a project, so if something goes wrong just try and go with it and create something that works.
SCITUATE, Mass.  For almost 12 years, the parishioners of St. Frances X. Cabrini have prayed, eaten meals, watched the Super Bowl and even slept in the church, holding a round-the-clock vigil to protest the Archdiocese of Bostons decision to close it.

They used detailed sign-up sheets to ensure that at least one person was in the church at all times, had communion wafers secretly consecrated by sympathetic priests, and held weekly services led entirely by lay members of the congregation.

On Sunday, having exhausted their options in Vatican and U.S. courts, the parishioners held their last service, but not without a final act of defiance. A man who was ordained a Roman Catholic priest, but was later married, stood at the altar of the deconsecrated church and led services for parishioners who said they intended to break away from the archdiocesan hierarchy and form an independent Catholic church.

In every revolution, obviously, there are collateral damage and there are casualties, said Jon Rogers, an organizer of the vigil with his wife, Maryellen. Our beloved church is one of those casualties.

The parishioners plan to leave the church at 11:59 p.m. TOday and hold a service next Sunday in a Masonic lodge, a temporary stop while they try to raise money for a building of their own.

In a statement, the archdiocese said it hoped the congregants would join other parishes. Their sense of loss from the closing of the parish is understandable, the statement said. For this reason the archdiocese kept its commitment to allow the appeals process to conclude both in civil and canonical courts.

With their vigil, the parishioners had tapped into a deep well of mistrust after the archdiocese, rocked by a sexual abuse scandal, moved to close dozens of parishes in 2004  citing a decline in priests and congregants.

The way the sex abuse scandal was handled pretty clearly shattered the trust that a lot of people had in the hierarchy, said James OToole, a professor of history at Boston College, who added that the vigil had most likely also been motivated by the writings of the Second Vatican Council, in the 1960s, which expanded the role of laypeople in the church.

It turns out that if you tell the people for 50 years that they are the church, they start to believe it and they start to act on it, and think they have the authority in a way to argue with the hierarchy, OToole said.

At the time, eight other churches also started vigils, but St. Frances had the last remaining one.

This community has tested the Vatican canonical system and the U.S. legal system to their highest level, Peter Borre, a lawyer who has supported closed churches, said in addressing the congregation Sunday. Nobody else has done this.

The archdiocese filed a lawsuit against the parishioners last year, arguing that they were trespassing. Last May, a state Superior Court justice ruled against the parishioners, who later appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. But this month, justices refused to hear the case, and the congregants agreed to leave  after a final celebration.

The abuse scandal loomed large over the days proceedings, and the leader of the service, Terry McDonough, criticized the archdiocese. The hierarchy has to lead, fall or get out of the way, he said, adding, That is the great tragedy: that those who have no children are destroying the spiritual homes of our children.

But at other times Sunday, the members sang and clapped. They carried the 11 prayer quilts that had been made to commemorate the vigil  one for each full year  down the aisle, and the service ended with a loud rendition of When the Saints Go Marching In.

At least 200 people filled the pews for what the church called a celebration of faith and transition. Generations of families prayed together in the pews  including the Arnold family, whose triplets, Christian, Scott and Sean, had taken the Friday night vigil shift for most of their young lives.

Weve been doing this for 11 years, said Sean, 17. So, like, not doing this, what else are we going to do?

His brother Scott took a moment to consider the question.Maybe well take our mother out to a nice dinner, he said.

For some, the end of the vigil caused deeply mixed emotions.

For reasons that I cant understand, I feel nervous, Margaret OBrien, 86, said Sunday morning. On the other hand, Im kind of relieved. We fought the good fight. We did everything we could.

OBrien said she would miss seeing fellow parishioners so often  they regularly handed off shifts to one another  so she planned to convene them at Dunkin Donuts.

The vigil has been as much a social outlet as a prayerful one, and the past week was filled with final shifts and goodbyes.

On Friday afternoon, Dee Schmid had the shift from 4 to 6:30 p.m., but a fellow parishioner, Veronica Tutunjian, stopped by to help her fix a hummingbird feeder. Nearby, a sign-up sheet for shifts today, the day after the final vigil, was blank.

I feel sad, and everyone who comes in feels sad, but Im looking forward to a new beginning, Schmid said as she left, handing off to Marian MacIsaac, 61, an activities coordinator whose family helped build the church. MacIsaac lived here for two months when she lost her apartment.

It has the sweat of my family members in the bricks, MacIsaac said. I had my first communion here. Theres been weddings here. Theres been funerals here.

MacIsaac settled into her shift and took out her phone, on which she sometimes plays solitaire to pass the time. As she reflected on the last 12 years, she turned defiant.

We dont have to take their pay, pray and obey  we dont have to obey, MacIsaac said. And we showed that to the world.
Sentiment exists for changing the day Memorial Day is observed back to the traditional date of May 30  it was changed in 1968 to the last Monday in May to give us another three-day weekend.

Ironically, May 30 was chosen in 1868 to celebrate Decoration Day, when the graves of soldiers who had died in the Civil War were to be decorated with flags and flowers, precisely because that date had no prior significance. It was not the day of a significant battle or armistice ceremony. The idea was simply to celebrate those who had died in service to the country.

Insofar as Memorial Day changes from year to year but is still seen by those who prefer holidays without much history as something like the unofficial beginning of summer, then, perhaps theres little harm in observing it largely with (for most of us) three consecutive days of not going to work  although this year increasing numbers of Americans would appreciate any day of going to work. But it is still appropriate to pause for a moment or more to consider the kind of sacrifices so many of our fellows have made in service to the country.

Asked in 2009 what the most consequential decision of his young presidency was, President Barack Obama did not hesitate to say it was the decision to send 17,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. He knew that many of them would be wounded or injured, and some would not come back alive.

Ordering young men and women into harms way is a solemn undertaking. Volunteering to be one of those who could be sent is, if anything, even more solemn. That is why it is so important to be sure that conflicts abroad really do involve the core interests of the United States, that they are not undertaken for transient or ephemeral reasons. There are reasons to doubt whether the Iraq war or the conflict in Afghanistan fit these criteria. But there is no reason to doubt the bravery and devotion of those sent to fight those battles or the sacrifice of those who will not return to their loved ones.

Celebration of Memorial Day was sporadic in this country until after the two devastating world wars of the 20th century, which took the lives of so many people from so many countries. The death tolls in recent wars have been much less than in those great conflicts. But each human life is precious, and each young person who makes the ultimate sacrifice deserves respect and honor, however wise or foolish the decisions of his or her superiors.

This editorial was first published May 25, 2009.
The day is Memorial Day 1945. The war is over in Europe, but the fighting continues in the Pacific. The streets of this little Northern Michigan town are deserted at 5:20 a.m. as the 13-year-old newspaper boy makes his rounds.

On he goes, until he stops, as he does each day, to view the large white sign on the drug stores south wall. The sign was placed there by the city in honor of the areas military casualties during this terrible world war. On the board are inscribed the names of all the military personnel that were killed, wounded or were reported missing in action from the area. Each day names are added to keep the sign updated. The boy silently thinks that this board has far too many names on it for a small town of 13,000 people. Some of the names are recognizable, and a couple of the names are people the boy had known. One name that leaps out from the sign is the name of the paperboys best friends brother, a paratrooper.

The last time the boy had seen the young soldier was at a school open house just before the paratrooper went overseas. There he stood, talking to the students, teachers and visitors in his airborne uniform. On his cap was the airborne insignia, and on his chest was his new paratrooper wings badge. His pants were bloused in his heavily polished jump boots. He was the epitome of an American soldier. His face was that of a handsome, proud young man about to go off to war.

The paperboy will always remember how really young the soldier looked, for he was not much older looking than himself.

That very young paratrooper had been killed the year before during the invasion of Europe. Little did the paperboy realize that this young soldiers image would remain with him through his life, and especially on each Memorial Day. As the boy scans the board, he notes that today is an exceptionally great day because there are no new names. The newspaper boy silently thanks these special people for their sacrifices and moves on to his next destination.

All too often, our memories of these brave and courageous young people who gave so much in all the wars that made this country the greatest in the world are much too short.

Let us all take a little time out on this Memorial Day and give a prayer of thanks to these wonderful people. I know that the surviving loved ones, and this now quite elderly ex-paperboy, will be doing just that.

Gunnar Osterberg

Dana Point
IRVINE  Firefighters worked 25 minutes Sunday to extinguish a blaze at a metal finishing company.

The blaze was reported around 2:30 p.m. at Electrolurgy Inc. at 1121 Duryea Ave., said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi.

Thick black smoke from the fire was visible on the 405 freeway, he added.

A sprinkler system in the business kept the flames in check and firefighters extinguished the blaze around 2:55 p.m., Concialdi said.

An OCFA hazardous materials team responded because chemicals in the business were involved.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and damage estimates were not immediately available.

There were workers in the business when the fire broke out, but they managed to escape without injury.

Seven firefighters initially entered the building to extinguish the blaze and were decontaminated at the scene, Concialdi said. They were not injured.

An OFCA hazardous materials team wearing protective gear later went into the business to determine what kind of chemicals were inside, said Concialdi.

It was determined the fire reached vats of liquid chromate, Concialdi said.

A total of 40 firefighters responded.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 sschwebke@ocregister.com Twitter: @thechalkoutline
Schools across the country are preparing to formally track students from military families, monitoring their academic progress as they move from military base to military base and state to state, under a new provision in the federal education law.

The change comes in response to concerns raised by the Department of Defense that the children of active-duty members of the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and Marines have academic and emotional needs that schools are ill-equipped to meet.

At Chula Vistas Veterans Elementary School, a new effort to support students from military families already is underway to help students like fifth-grader Victoria Ayekof.

She had a rough start when she arrived last fall from a U.S. Navy base in Ghana where her father was stationed. Veterans Elementary is Victorias fifth school in five years and in the beginning the adjustment was tough.

Her mother, Joyce Ayekof, said school staff reported her daughter was always isolated and crying.

You have to adjust, but its really hard to adjust, Victoria said. You miss your old friends.

Military children move an average of six to nine times before high school graduation, according to the Department of Defense, but repeating the social and academic upheaval doesnt necessarily make it easier.

Having a parent away on military duty is a major stress on the family. Research has found military children who have a parent deployed are more frequently diagnosed with acute stress, depression and behavior problems than other children and that these mental health issues can affect learning.

California is home to the largest number of active-duty military in the country, according to the Council of State Governments. Half of the states 60,000 military-connected students live in San Diego County, according to Kelly Frisch, regional school liaison officer for Navy Region Southwest.

But even there, school districts dont always know which students are from military families or how to address the academic gaps and anxiety they are more likely to have, particularly in outlier districts where there isnt a concentration of military-connected children, said Kate Wren Gavlak, chair of the Military Interstate Childrens Compact Commission, a national organization run by the Council of State Governments.

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act  the new federal education law passed in December that takes effect in the 2017-18 school year  school-age children in military families will be assigned an identification number known as a military student identifier that will allow schools to keep tabs on test scores, graduation rates and other metrics.

Implementation details have yet to be announced by the U.S. Department of Education.

The mental health risks for these students can be serious. A 2015 study co-authored by Ron Avi Astor, a professor at the University of Southern California, found that California students in military families were more likely to have attempted suicide than students from civilian families, based on the California Healthy Kids Survey given to 390,000 high school students in 2012 and 2013.

Of students from military families, nearly 12 percent answered yes when asked if they had attempted suicide in the past 12 months, compared to 7 percent of students with civilian parents.

To help schools develop support systems, Astor leads the Welcoming Practices consortium, a Department of Defense initiative of the University of Southern California and five districts: Chula Vista Elementary School, Bonsall Unified, Fallbrook Union High School, Oceanside Unified and Temecula Valley Unified.

Among the recommended strategies are small changes, such as prominent displays of military family photographs, and more complex endeavors, such as creating a Welcome Center to smooth registration for newly arrived military-dependent students. At Veterans Elementary, a mobile app called WelConnect (https://www.welconnect.org ) developed by the Welcoming Practices consortium, helps military families connect to programs and after-school activities run by their school district, the community and the U.S. military.

While the districts in the consortium are ramping up, Silver Strand Elementary School in the Coronado Unified School District has spent more than a decade building a comprehensive support system. The school abuts streets of tidy red-roofed Navy housing and 80 percent of students are from military families.

Most of them, through no fault of their own, come to us behind in academic performance and with gaps in their learning, Principal Bill Cass said.

Funded by $6.5 million in federal grants over 10 years, the school has hired eight part-time specialists to work intensively with small groups of students on math, reading and writing in every grade. There also is a full-time military family life counselor, paid for by the Navy, who knows the students and their families and is available 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

We want students to feel, first and foremost, welcome and secure, Cass said.

As part of its program, Veterans Elementary recently hosted its first Military Families Dinner. Victoria and her mother attended.

Joyce Ayekof said her daughters initial struggles have eased, and Victoria said she feels more comfortable, recalling the day her new classmates made a point of welcoming her in the cafeteria.

I went to sit down at lunch, she said, and all the girls followed me.
LANZHOU NEW AREA, China  This city is supposed to be the diamond on Chinas Silk Road Economic Belt  a new metropolis carved out of the mountains in the countrys arid northwest.

But it is shaping up to be fools gold, a ghost city in the making.

Lanzhou New Area, in Gansu province, embodies Chinas twin dreams of catapulting its poorer western regions into the economic mainstream through an orgy of infrastructure spending and cementing its place at the heart of Asia through a revival of the ancient Silk Road.

Hundreds of hills on the dry, sandy Loess Plateau were flattened by bulldozers to create the 315-square-mile city. But today, cranes stand idle in planned industrial parks while newly built residential blocks loom empty. Streets are mostly deserted. Life-size replicas of the Parthenon and the Sphinx sit surrounded by wasteland, monuments to profligacy.

The project epitomizes what is wrong with Chinas economic model, foreign experts say  in particular, how debt is rising to alarming levels as the government tries to prop up a slowing economy with projects that make little or no commercial sense.

Where Gansu goes, China goes, said Rodney Jones, founder of Wigram Capital Advisors in Beijing. Youve had massive credit growth and investment in projects that dont generate an economic return.

Now youre facing two shocks  youve got to stop credit growing and deal with the bad loans, and youve also got to see how the economy expands once this credit boom is over.

China launched an ambitious Go West campaign at the turn of the millennium, aiming to narrow the income gap between the booming eastern seaboard and the remote west, essentially by building modern infrastructure and exploiting the wests natural resources.

The initiative got a huge boost as China launched a nationwide economic stimulus after the 2008 global financial crisis. And President Xi Jinpings plans to revitalize the Silk Road, the ancient desert trade route between East and West, have provided a further boost.

About $10 billion is being invested to clear Lanzhou New Area and build infrastructure that includes roads, railways and an expanded airport. Water is being diverted from a branch of the Yellow River and stored in three new reservoirs to create a city that a promotional video shows as awash with lakes and rivers.

A free-trade zone and logistics hub are meant to ensure that the city benefits from its location on a new Silk Road, while industrial parks dedicated to auto and equipment manufacturing, petrochemicals and traditional Chinese medicine are supposed to create the jobs that will sustain a city of 1 million by 2030.

On a recent trip organized by the provincial government, journalists were shown around a heavy-machinery plant run by the state-owned Lanzhou LS Group and the privately owned Scisky factory, which makes a water-based polymer resin. Scisky executives said they hoped to take advantage of local raw materials and export to Central Asia and Europe.

Xu Dawu, deputy Communist Party secretary for the New Area, says 150,000 people live here, along with 40,000 temporary construction workers  but those numbers seem at odds with the largely empty vistas that visitors see.

The reality is that despite cheap land, tax holidays and large subsidies, the New Area has struggled to attract both investment and people. Yan Yuejin at E-house China R&D Institute in Shanghai looked at vacancy rates and concluded that the venture has been very unsuccessful.

Even Xu admits to a problem.

Lanzhou is a very important town on the Silk Road, but it is sandwiched between two mountains with a river running through it, he said. To draw more industries from the south, he said, we need to jump out of Lanzhou and seek a larger space.

If that doesnt work, he said in what sounded like a tacit admission of defeat, we can at least develop modern agriculture here.

Chinese economists said Gansu is making basic economic missteps, investing in heavy industry at a time of global overcapacity and building infrastructure when it should be reducing its debt.

This is just copying the old development model without taking local reality into consideration, said Ding Wenfeng, a professor of economics at the Chinese Academy of Governance, urging the government to apply an emergency brake.

Urbanization and modernization are processes that naturally take place, he said. You cant force it to happen or have 1,000 places copy the same model.

Bao Cunkuan, an environmental science professor at Shanghais Fudan University, agreed, arguing that the poorer northwestern provinces such as Gansu have typically survived by exporting people to richer parts of China, not by attracting people.

People will vote with their feet, he said. If the place is not good enough, nobody will come no matter how many houses you build. Where people go, the allocation of capital and resources should follow.

Gansu has a per capita annual income of just $4,000 and little trade with the outside world. Its growth was driven by metals and other minerals, as well as by real estate, but it is suffering the ill effects of Chinas slowdown and a global slump in commodity prices.

The provinces attempt to spend its way to prosperity has only aggravated its problems. Last year, total credit expanded by about $50 billion, in an economy worth just $100 billion, Wigram Capital calculates. Despite the huge injection of credit, the economy shrank 1 percent in nominal terms, while the ratio of loans to gross domestic product expanded to 200 percent, up from under 90 percent in 2009.

Andrew Polk at Medley Global Advisors in Beijing visited Lanzhou New Area recently and noted its desolate location. You can just sense from being there its not a commercially viable place, he said.

Yet the eagerness to support Xis hallmark Silk Road initiative  an economic belt running through Central Asia to Europe and a maritime Silk Road hugging Asias southern coastline  seems to trump economic sense.

Its just another example of government priorities being at odds with each other, Polk said. There is a desire to do the belt and road program, and there is also a desire to de-leverage. You cant do both at the same time, but we have seen time and time again in China which tends to win out.

Indeed, Gansu is far from an isolated case. The idea of building new cities around China caught on after the success of Pudong in the 1990s, as skyscrapers replaced farmland on the east bank of the Huangpu River facing old Shanghai.

But Shanghais success remains an exception.

Everyone wanted to build new cities  they thought they could replicate Pudong all over China, said Jones of Wigram Capital. Provinces didnt have a strategy built around their comparative advantages. Building a new city in Gansu just doesnt make any sense.

There are other problems with a project on the scale of Lanzhou New Area. Writing in Nature magazine in 2014, three Chinese scientists warned that the environmental impacts of this and similar mountain-moving undertakings had not been properly considered, likening them to major surgery on the Earths crust.

The Lanzhou project was halted in 2013 because of problems with air pollution, pending an environmental assessment, Peiyue Li, Hui Qian and Jianhua Wu wrote. Four weeks later, as contractors costs mounted, it was restarted  without the assessment.

Gao Ying, of the Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, told China Business News in November that petrochemical plants planned for the new city could cause serious environmental and air pollution, as well as using vast amounts of water in a fragile and arid zone.

In China, debt has ballooned to 280 percent of gross domestic product, from 135 percent in 2009, Wigram Capital calculates. Bad loans are soaring and new debt is increasingly being used to pay back old loans.

It now takes 4 yuan of debt to generate 1 yuan of economic growth, up from 1 to 1 at the time of the financial crisis.

The Economist magazine warned this month of Chinas coming debt bust, arguing that these trends were unsustainable and recommending that the government plan for turmoil.

The central government talks of reducing industrial overcapacity, cutting debt and transitioning to a new, innovation-driven economy, but provincial leaders, under pressure to meet economic targets, seem unable to abandon the old playbook.

You can see why they keep returning to the well, because it did work for a long time  it was extremely successful, Polk said. Thats the core of the issue right now. People are grappling with the changing nature of the economy. Old tricks dont work.

The old tricks could even be making matters worse: Fudan Universitys Bao compares the approach to drinking poison when you are thirsty.

Gu Jinglu and Xu Yangjingjing contributed to this report.
SANTA PAULA  Authorities say there were reports a small home-built plane was in distress before it crashed in a Southern California orchard, killing both people aboard.

Ventura County Sheriffs Sgt. Kevin Donoghue said as the engine started cutting out, the plane apparently got tangled in power lines and crashed Saturday.

County fire Capt. Mike Lindbery said arriving units found it engulfed in flames. The victims were dead at the scene. They have not been named.

The site is in the agricultural Aliso Canyon area between the cities of Ventura and Santa Paula.

Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, told the Ventura County Star (http://bit.ly/1WSmm5s) that the aircraft was a single-engine VariEze plane.

The crash is under investigation.
Dont swim alone. Stay clear of areas heavily populated with sea lions.

Just like hikers need to be conscious of mountain lions in remote hills, ocean users need to be on alert for predators that lurk beneath the waters surface, especially as great white shark sightings the few past years have spiked along the Orange County coastline, said Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach.

As details emerged Monday about a woman attacked the day before while swimming offshore in Newport Beach  with a hospital official confirming the injuries were consistent with a shark bite  experts weighed in on how rare an attack like this is, and ways beach-goers can lessen their chances of coming across potentially dangerous situations.

We need to reeducate the public about ocean safety, so we can safely share the ocean with these predators, he said.

The woman was swimming 150 feet offshore when she was attacked, leaving her with injuries that ranged from her shoulder to her torso. She was plucked from the ocean by lifeguards and sent to a hospital with traumatic injuries from her bicep to her hip.

While the ocean from Balboa Pier to Crystal Cove State Park was off limits to swimmers Monday, officials have been cautious with releasing information about the incident, giving way to speculation that the injury could have been another ocean animal like a sea lion, rather than a shark. The victims name has not been released.

Experts are hoping to get more details of what actually happened so they can document the rare incident.

Hopefully, the physicians will have taken photographs of her bite, said Ralph Collier, president of the nonprofit Shark Research Committee, which studies and documents great white activity along North Americas Pacific coastline.

Collier said photos of the wetsuit could help determine the type of animal, the size of it, and whether there was one bite or multiple bites.

Before a hospital official confirmed it was a shark attack, Collier said that if the bites were small, the injury could have been inflicted by a sea lion. Many people dont realize that they can be dangerous.

Sea lions are pretty nasty little critters and have bitten people in the past, he said.

Theres an average of about six great white shark attacks a year along North Americas Pacific coastline, and in the past two years theyve had a big presence along Orange Countys beaches.

Researchers at Cal State Long Beachs Shark Lab have been studying a group of juvenile sharks living off Sunset Beach for the past two years. While juveniles usually leave during colder winter months, some have stuck around because of warmer El Nino waters, according to Lowe.

Lowe and a group of graduate students are tracking the great whites after tagging about a dozen, using data to study their behavior. Some of them have been migrating and exploring different areas.

Juvenile sharks  even the ones stretching about 8 feet in length  are mostly timid. A young shark, though, would bite if it felt threatened from a swimmer, he said.

We just dont know why sharks bite people, Lowe said.

The best thing swimmers can do is educate themselves.

The shark numbers are up, and more and more people are going in the ocean, Lowe said. These things are going to happen. So people should be prepared.

Swimmers should think twice about going into the water alone.

Its best to avoid areas heavily populated with sea lions. Dont ever approach a sea lion, and if a bull lion bares his teeth, thats an aggressive sign, Lowe said.

People think they are cute and do tricks because (of) what theyve seen at Sea World, Lowe said. They are wild animals.

Not to mention sea lions also are on the sharks menu, and a swimmer or surfer in a wetsuit could look like familiar prey.

Simply seeing a shark is not cause for panic. But if you see one darting toward you, back away, but keep your eyes on it, he said.

There have been more sightings by surfers and swimmers in recent years. Beach officials along the coast have had shark training in the past year to better understand a sharks behavior. There have been dozens of beach warnings and closures in the past year, from San Clemente north to Seal Beach.

Lifeguards use a matrix to determine what constitutes a sharks aggressive behavior, which includes repeated circling, bumping or opening its mouth over and over, an action known as gaping.

Orange County has had its share of scares. Last July, a shark bumped a surfer in the waves south of the Huntington Beach Pier, an encounter lifeguards termed aggressive behavior. A few months later, another surfer was bumped near the Santa Ana River slough, prompting another closure. Great whites have been spotted near piers in San Clemente and Huntington Beach regularly, though a sighting usually results in a use at your own risk beach warning.

Last November, San Clemente teen Kainoa Risko used a spear gun by poking an aggressive 9-foot great white shark to fend off the big fish in waters about 15 feet deep.

Collier believes the great white shark population is on the rebound since it became a protected species following years of over-hunting after the release of the film Jaws.

They killed numerous white sharks, and people were collecting jaws at the time, he said. We had a lot of adults, the breeders, that were killed. Now that theyve been protected, the population is coming back.

Combine that with the growing number of people using the ocean, and there are going to be more encounters, Collier said. But still, everyday beach-goers shouldnt be afraid of going into the ocean.

The number of incidents we have like this every year is extremely low, when you consider the number of people who utilize the ocean every day of the year, he said.

According to the Shark Research Committee website, there have been 180 authenticated, unprovoked shark attacks from 1900 to the present day along North Americas Pacific coast. The majority of those attacks, 154, happened in California. There have been 13 fatal shark attacks reported from California over the past 60 years.

The last shark attack in the area happened in July 2014 when long distance swimmer Steve Robles was bitten near the Manhattan Beach Pier. The shark was struggling to free itself from a fishing line when it bit Robles. Robles survived with bloodied gashes along his torso.

In Santa Barbara County, bodyboarder Luke Ransom was killed in October 22, 2010, at Surf Beach at Vandenberg Air Force Base on a murky day when the ocean was churning up 8-foot waves. A great white shark bit Ransoms leg and he bled to death. On October 23, 2012, a surfer died from a shark bite at the same spot.

In 2008, swimmer David Martin was killed off Solana Beach in San Diego County. Experts confirmed he was bitten by a 12- to-16-foot great white shark.

Contact the writer: lconnelly@ocregister.com
Dozens of animal rights advocates and others held a Memorial Day vigil at the Cincinnati Zoo in remembrance of a gorilla that was fatally shot to protect a 4-year-old boy who entered its exhibit.

The male western lowland gorilla named Harambe was killed Saturday by a special zoo response team that feared the boys life was in danger. Video taken by zoo visitors showed the gorilla at times appeared to be protective of the boy but also dragged him through the shallow moat.

Anthony Seta, an animal rights activist in Cincinnati, called the death a senseless tragedy but said the purpose of Mondays vigil wasnt to point fingers. Rather, he said, it was a tribute to Harambe, who turned 17 the day before he was shot.

People can shout at the parents and people can shout at the zoo, Seta said. The fact is that a gorilla that just celebrated his birthday has been killed.

Kim OConnor, who witnessed the boys fall, has said she heard the youngster say he wanted to get in the water with the gorillas. She said the boys mother was with several other young children.

The mothers like, No, youre not. No, youre not, OConnor told WLWT-TV.

In the days since, people have taken to social media to voice their outrage about the killing of a member of an endangered species. A Facebook page called Justice for Harambe was created Saturday night, along with online petitions and another page calling for a June 5 protest at the zoo.

The zoos director, Thane Maynard, said its dangerous-animal response team, consisting of full-time animal keepers, veterinarians and security staff, made the right call to kill the gorilla. He noted that the 400-pound-plus gorilla didnt appear to be attacking the child but was in an agitated situation and was extremely strong. A tranquilizer wouldnt have immediately felled the gorilla, leaving the child in danger, Maynard said.

On Monday, he said the zoo had received messages of support and condolences from around the world. He said visitors left flowers at the gorilla exhibit and asked how they could support gorilla conservation.

This is very emotional and people have expressed different feelings, Maynard said by email. Not everyone shares the same opinion and thats OK. But we all share the love for animals.

The Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas, where Harambe spent most of his life, said Monday that its staff was deeply saddened by the gorillas death.

Harambe was sent to Cincinnati less than two years ago in hopes he would eventually breed with females there.

The boy who entered into the exhibit was taken to Cincinnati Childrens Hospital Medical Center for treatment and released hours after the fall. His parents said in a statement Sunday that he was doing just fine.

Many social media commenters have criticized the boys parents and said they should be held accountable. A Cincinnati police spokesman said no charges were being considered. A spokeswoman for the family said Monday they had no plans to make additional comments.

I do think theres a degree of responsibility they have to be held to, said Kate Villanueva, a mother of two children from Erlanger, Kentucky. You have to be watching your children at all times.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals released a statement from its primatologist Julia Gallucci saying the zoo should have had better barriers between humans and the gorillas.

This tragedy is exactly why PETA urges families to stay away from any facility that displays animals as sideshows for humans to gawk at, the statement said.

The zoo said that its the first such spectator breach at Gorilla World since it opened in 1978 and that the exhibit undergoes regular outside inspections. The zoo said earlier this year that it planned to expand the exhibit.

Gorilla World remained closed Monday.
New York courts that find that an eruv Jewish boundary is not unconstitutional ignore the Supreme Court decision in 2005 that permanent religious symbols on public property are barred. Seasonal displays are mostly allowed.

In McCreary County vs. ACLU of Kentucky, the Court found that Kentucky counties had a religious purpose in suddenly posting the Ten Commandments in courthouses when they had not previously been there.

Justice David Souter, writing for the majority, emphasized the principle of government neutrality among religions, and between religion in general and nonreligious beliefs, said a description of the decision on Pew.

That principle, wrote Souter, ensures that religion does not ultimately cause political divisiveness and exclusion.

According to Pew, Souter said, The threats of divisiveness and exclusion are especially acute when government permanently and prominently displays a text that is unquestionably religious.

Citing this decision, a citizen using the name Highhatsize posted on March 18, 2015 on 27east.com that Lower court decisions permitting construction of eruvim have made an incomprehensible exception to this rule. Neither Christians, Buddhists, Muslims nor Hindus can affix tokens of their religion to utility poles in WHBonly Jews. In this little village, the Establishment Clause (of the Constitution) has been abrogated.

WHB May Adopt Eruv Thursday, June 2

Westhampton Beach, after fighting erection of an eruv since 2008, is likely to do that after a public hearing on Thursday, says an article in the May 30 New York Times by staffer Matt Chaban. He joined two years ago from Crain's and specializes in real estate.

The meeting Thursday is the regular monthly public meeting of the five trustees but it is not a public hearing. Residents, of which this writer is one, may only speak for five minutes and must address the board. Under New York State rules, the trustees are not required to respond.

Residents including this writer have not been able to obtain a copy of the proposed agreement with the EEEA. It is also not on the WHB website. We faxed a Freedom of Information form to Mayor Maria Moore on Thursday, May 26, asking for the agreement, and hand-delivered one to her office on May 27. There has been no response.

Residents will be in the position Thursday of discussing a complex legal agreement that they have not been able to study in advance. No town hall or press conference has ever been called on the proposed eruv by Mayor Moore although one has been sought since last summer.

Eruv Extremely Offensive

Arnold Sheiffer, a leader of People for the Betterment of WHB, previously known as Jewish People Opposed to the Eruv, told Chaban in a phone interview from Vero Beach, Fla., that, As a reform Jew, I find it extremely offensive to create a distinction that this is a Jewish area. He said the WHB eruv would create another ghetto in the Hamptons.



Sheiffer last year called "outrageous" the ruling by Justice Joseph Farneti of New York State Supreme Court that "lechi" markers on utility poles in Southampton would be "invisible" to passersby and therefore would not violate the town's sign laws. "Eruvim are invariably shown on maps on Synagogue websites which is the case with an alleged eruv in Westhampton Beach and are therefore highly visible," said Sheiffer. "Whether I can see the convoluted poles, wires and symbols that make up lechis is irrelevant,' he added.

This reporter is investigating obtaining a court injunction against the trustees voting on Thursday since citizens have not been able to see the proposed agreement in advance.

Deposed Rabbi Schneier Is Quoted; Mayor Moore Absent

Chaban quotes Rabbi Marc Schneier, identifying him as the rabbi at Hampton Synagogue for 26 years, as saying, in a phone interview, Im overwhelmed since last summer, when I see these young families who can now come to services with their children or their parents, when they didnt in the past.

Chaban does not note that Schneier was removed as the Synagogues rabbi earlier this year by the board. A two-page article in the New York Post April 24 was headlined Randy Rabbi and noted that he has had five wives and now has a new romantic interest. He was expelled from the American Rabinnical Council last year because he allegedly was with a new romantic interest while still being married to a previous wife.



Others quoted in the story are Jay Schneiderman, SH town supervisor; Marvin Tenzer, a leader of EEEA; Yehudah Buchweitz, of the EEEA law firm, Weil, Gotshal & Manges; Peter Sartorious, mayor of Quogue which recently signed with the EEEA on the promise that EEEA would drop all monetary claims against Quogue, and Brian Sokoloff, outside attorney for WHB.



Conspicuously absent from the article is any quote from WHB Mayor Maria Moore who has never stated either her approval or disapproval of the propose eruv. Her usual remark on the subject is that it is "in litigation" and is not something she could discuss.



However, eruv opponents note the absence of the EEEA agreement on the WHB website and also note that many papers and documents arguing against eruvim in general never made it to the WHB site, which only lists court decisions and legal papers. Ignored were the 34-pages by UCLA Law Professor Alexandra Susman and the 18-page paper by Yeshiva University professor Marci Hamilton arguing that eruvim violate the "Establishment" (of religion) clause of the Constitution.



Citizens have sought for more than a year a "town hall" to be conducted by Moore with no results. Moore also has never had a press conference. She is currently unapposed for re-election June 17 but write-in candidates are allowed.



NYT has not covered Schneier Departure

Chaban says part of the eruv is already in place but a search by the Southampton Press published March 18, 2015, failed to find any sign of the required lechi markers on 46 poles that were supposed to have them.

EEEA has said that if it says where any of the markers are they might be taken down. Lack of even one required marker would invalidate the entire eruv.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges, one of the 15 largest law firms in the U.S. with $1.3 billion in fees, is working pro bono for the EEEA which has threatened WHB with having to pay millions in fees and court costs should it lose the case.

However, lawyers tell us that the likelihood is that WHB would never have to pay anything to the EEEA or its law firm since attempts to collect money from WHB would land the issue back at the Supreme Court which has already ruled against permanent religious displays on public property.

Members of the Synagogue have told this reporter that there is as yet no new rabbi. A new Rabbi could decide that the ill will being generated by the eruv battle outweighs any benefit and could call off the move. Power at the Synagogue reportedly is in the hands of five men who are the owners. Morris Tuchman is president.

Stealth passage of a measure allowing an eruv in Westhampton Beach, aided by collusive media, looms June 2 unless citizens become aroused.

Southamptons passage of an eruv deal last Aug. 25 was branded as shameful by Jewish People for the Betterment of WHB because it came as the last of 38 motions before the SH Council that night, was a walk-on not on the agenda, and was passed with no discussion. Townspeople never got to say one word about it.

Two of the main participants in the action, SH Supervisor Anna Throne-Holst and Town Attorney Tiffany Scarlato, are now gone from SH government. Throne-Holsts tour ended Dec. 31 and Scarlato resigned in early January. Jay Schneiderman was elected as the new supervisor.

A similar trick is being pulled in WHB. Mayor Maria Moore has announced an intention to have a vote on an agreement at the board meeting June 2 but will not, as of this report, provide the wording of the agreement.

Agreement Probably Similar to SH Deal

It will no doubt be similar to the agreement signed by SH.

Lawyers say such an agreement would be hard, but not impossible to break. It would give EEEA, Verizon and Long Island Light essentially carte blanche to put whatever they want on all the utility poles in Westhampton Beach in perpetuity.

This agreement handcuffs WHB going forward, a lawyer told us. WHB should push for arbitration if there is any dispute on the placement of religious symbols, the lawyer said. WHB could also handcuff the EEEA by forbidding any litigation on this issue, said the lawyer, even in the event of a breach by WHB.

Residents need to go over every word of the proposed agreement but thus far are being denied this although there is just two days left before the vote on it.

Helping to keep the public in the dark is local media. The Southampton Press has editorialized in favor of the eruv, saying it is invisible. NYT has long neglected the story and now assigns recently arrived reporter Chaban who specializes in real estate. Newsday has had virtually no stories on it and Patch, the local news service, completely avoids the issue. Dans Papers, the biggest weekly on Long Island, mostly avoids it.

Suggested Town Hall Never took Place

Moore, responding to nearly 25 minutes of complaints by residents about failure to communicate about the eruv battle, on Aug. 6, 2015 said, Perhaps it would be more helpful to the community to hear it at a meeting, to have an update to the extent possible. No such meeting ever took place.

A new administration could be voted in June 17. Mayor Moore was only elected by 97 votes, 284 to 187 for Conrad Teller, in June 2014.



Rob Rubio garnered 240 votes and Brian Tymann garnered 248 votes in winning election last year on a no eruv platform. It would only take a few more such votes to defeat Mayor Moores candidacy.

Moore Dropped Twin Police Chiefs



About 60 residents filled the meeting room Feb. 5, 2015 and got the Moore administration to back down from its proposal to have a police commissioner in addition to Chief Trevor Gonce who would get as much as 5% more than Gonce. Total package would be around $350,000 when there are only about ten full-time police in WHB. Southampton for many years has proposed taking over administration of the WHB police dept. and saving money.

A program by Governor Cuomo urges small municipal depts. to merge with larger ones and save costs.



27east.com said the administration received an unprecedented amount of backlash at the twin chiefs proposal and voted it down at a work session Feb. 12. The Trustees listened to the people and they should again on the eruv issue since 95% of residents want no such designation, according to Mayor Teller. No one has ever contradicted him. WHB has never conducted a public opinion poll on the issue.
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Eight people were injured Saturday when a van rolled in an Interstate 29 median after the van's tire blew out in Iowa's Fremont County, the Iowa State Patrol said.

Only a partial list of the injured was available Sunday. At least six of them, all of Omaha, were taken to the Nebraska Medical Center, including a 5-year-old girl, Carolina Garcia-Zacarias, who was flown by medical helicopter. She was released from the hospital Sunday, a medical center spokeswoman said.

The five others named included two other children and three adults. Edwardo Garcia-Zacarias, 6, Edwin Garcia-Zacarias, 1, and Hilario Garcia-Paiz, 38, were treated at the hospital and released Saturday, the spokeswoman said. Miguel Garcia, 35, was listed in good condition, and Maria Zacarias, 37, in fair condition early Monday.

The crash occurred about 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The Dodge Ram van had been traveling south on the Interstate, with 13 people inside, when the back right tire blew out, causing the driver, 38-year-old Tomas Matias of Omaha, to lose control of the van, the State Patrol said.

The van rolled on its top. None of the injured had been using a seat belt, the Patrol said.
Mission UP: BJP looks up to old horse Kalyan Singh in its plan to stop Mayawati

Feature

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

Despite her popularity as a leader who doesn't mince her words, Smriti Irani is not going to be the BJP's face for the next Assembly election in UP scheduled early next year. Instead, the BJP has decided to rope in old war horse Kalyan Singh, the octagenarian former chief minister of the state, for the crucial mission.

According to a report published in Ananda Bazar Patrika, the BJP top brass is eyeing to counter Dalit icon Mayawati by bringing in Singh, who is currently the governor of Rajasthan, in the next election by making him the face of the party's election campaign. That way, the saffron party could reach out to almost 21 per cent SC and ST vote-share.

BJP falls back on 83-plus Kalyan Singh for UP

The BJP also believes that bringing in Singh, a Lodh OBC, will also help influence other backward sections who the saffron party needs to produce a commendable result in the northern state.

However, the report said that Kalyan Singh will not be made the party's CM candidate in UP for that would violate the BJP's stand against encouraging gerontocracy. Singh might be made to announce openly that he doesn't aim to be the CM and this campaign will be his last. He could return to Rajasthan as the governor after the election while his MLA son Rajvir Singh could be made the deputy chief minister, said the report.

Like Mayawati, BJP also aims a social coalition

No other face could have been more useful for the BJP other than Singh in its efforts to knit together a social coalition ahead of the UP election. Mayawati has shown in the past how her strategy to build a rainbow coalition or 'Sarvajan Samaj' brought rich electoral dividends.

The BJP needed to think out a strategy to stop the BSP chief running away with the prize this time as well, particularly when the ruling Samajwadi Party is facing a strong anti-incumbency and the Congress is no a bad shape to get its act together. The BJP might see itself as the only party which can give Mayawati a chase in the 2017 election.

BJP trying hard to keep Dalit votes with itself, despite Vemula affair

Just like Mayawati's Brahmin-Dalit-Muslim alliance, the BJP is also eyeing to put in place a social coalition. The BJP, which won a big share of the Dalit votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, is facing a challenge this time in retaining them, thanks to issues like the suicide of Rohith Vemula. But its top leaders have tried to make it up by exhibiting respect for Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, taking dip with Dalit sadhus or inagurating schemes to make Dalit entrepreuners.

BJP's OBC plans

It has also tried to woo the OBC vote-bank by making a man from their social belonging its UP unit chief. Keshav Maurya, an OBC, was brought in the place of Laxmikant Bajpai---a Brahmin---in April.

The BJP's OBC wing has also planned rallies to mobilise numerous castes that together form a big chunk. These castes are, however, not politically well organised and sources in the BJP have said that the party would favour implementation of the Karpoori Thakur and Rajnath Singh formula of splitting the OBC category into two sections---the backward and most backward so that the weaker sections would not have to compete with the better placed ones. It is nothing but a plan to bring the most backward castes from the folds of the BSP and SP.

Earlier this year, the BJP institited an OBC Morcha in each organisational unit in the party right down to the block level, across the country.

This is also seen as another attempt by the party to woo the OBC votes. BJP president Amit Shah formed the National OBC Morcha in the party in the run-up to the Bihar polls last year and following the adverses, he decided to make his OBC drive go deeper.

Though some in the party have reservations against Singh's return, the state BJP chief himself feels the former UP CM would be more handy than someone like Smriti who doesn't have much in connection with UP apart from the fact that she has maintained her link with Amethi, the constituency from where she had lost in the 2014 general election to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

Bringing in an outsider in an election like the BJP had done in the Delhi election last year could invite disaster. In a key state like UP, the saffron party can't afford such a harakiri.
Radha Mohan Singh takes to Facebook to Answer Queries

Feature

oi-Lisa

By Lisa

Radha Mohan Singh the Union Agriculture Minister and BJP MP from Bihar had invited citizens of India to post their queries on Facebook, related to the work that falls under the domain of his ministry.

The minister got numerous queries of which he answered many. Mr. Singh ended his chat by thanking all those who joined the Facebook question and answer. He also added that he will make such sessions a regular feature.

Help for agriculture entrepreneurs:

Manjunath B Kulkarni who is MSc in Agriculture requested the minister to make the process of starting an agriculture based business unit easy. He suggested that there should be a single window system for loan for agriculture enterprises that will make it easy for many agriculture graduates to start their own enterprise.

To which the minister replied that the current ACABC scheme is for the same purpose. He could contact MANAGE Hyderabad (dgmanage@manage.gov.in) or Director (Extension), DAC&FW (vijay.rajmohan@nic.in) for further guidance.

Stipend for Veterinary students:

In reply to a query on stipend to the students who are doing masters in veterinary field he said that the proposal for enhancement of allowances is under process.

Help for fisheries students:

While to a PhD student in fisheries he said that to start a new entrepreneurship project in fisheries he can avail central sector scheme of DADF that provides financial assistance for construction of ponds, fish hatcheries and one time input for fish culture etc. The minister also suggested that he reach out to Department of Fisheries in the home state.

Soil healthcare in Bihar and UP:

When requested to improve soil healthcare in Bihar and UP the minister said that, Bihar and UP are already implementing soil health card scheme and have distributed 12.55 lac and 15.46 lac soil health card to farmers so far. For more details, the minister asked the anxious citizen to contact district agriculture officer.

On minimising role of middleman:

The minister said that, "We have started National Agriculture Market #eNAM to integrate mandis, reduce middlemen and increase farmers share in consumer rupee. We are also working with the states to reform their APMC Acts so as to reduce the middlemen and promote direct marketing by farmers".

On protection of crops:

The minister said that, "My Ministry issues advisories to the states for protection of crops from wild animals. The State Governments are empowered to take steps to protect the crops from wild animals".



On veterinary education:

The minister said that, "Veterinary Education is a State subject and setting up of veterinary colleges falls within the mandate of State Governments. However, to meet the shortage of trained veterinary manpower in the country, the Government of India has taken several initiatives such as increase in number of recognised Veterinary Colleges from 36 to 46 and also increase in number of annual veterinary graduates from 2160 to 3398. Further, increase in seats in 17 Veterinary Colleges from 914 to 1334".

For livestock development:

"Livestock Development Boards are principal implementing agencies for implementation of National Program for Bovine Breeding and Rashtriya Gokul Mission. Central monitoring evaluates semen stations in the country to improve quality of semen. Semen stations under Andhra Pradesh have already been evaluated. Under NPBB, funds are being released to the states for establishment of MAITRIs to deliver breeding inputs at farmers' doorstep."

On organising small and marginalised farmers:

The minister informed that, "Government announces Minimum Support Price for 23 important agricultural commodities. Farmers are however, free to sell in open market if prices in market are advantageous to them".

About Panchavati Panjrapole Nasik:

The minister replied that, "Projects submitted by the state government under national program for bovine breeding and rashtiya gokul mission has been approved with total cost of rupees 54.39 crores. Out of this an amount of rupees 41.47 crore is approved for implementation of rashriya gokul mission. Funds are approved for establishment of three gokul grams with maharashtra livestock development board. Please contact Maharashtra Livestock development board for Gokul Grams proposed to be established in maharashtra state".

The minister listed the schemes in animal husbandry like - Rashtriya Gokul Mission, Blue Revolution, National Live Stock Mission, Live Stock Health schemes, Dairy development schemes under which benefits are provided to take the animal husbandry sector forward.

The minister was also congratulated for efforts of Union Government and his ministry for improving the agriculture in Bihar by implementing schemes like Soil Health Card, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Irrigation scheme, national agriculture marketing online platform, and many more.

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Story first published: Monday, May 30, 2016, 15:36 [IST]
Pics: Cong lost 2 more states; Modi finished 2 years; SRH lifted IPL...it was an exciting May 2016

Feature

oi-Shubham

By Shubham

Bengaluru, May 30: The month of May of the year 2016 was an absorbing one. It was an eventful one---in politics, foreign policy and sports.

While results of elections held in four states and one Union Territory were declared on May 19, the Narendra Modi government finished its two years in office on May 26. On May 29, the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) won their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) title, defeating favourites Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their own den.

In between, Prime Minister Modi signed a crucial pact on the strategically important Chabahar port in Iran, scoring a diplomatic high point against regional rivals like Pakistan and China.

State elections

The Congress lost two more states in the April-May elections while the BJP came to power in Assam for the first time and put up their best performance in states like West Bengal and Kerala.

The grand-old-party lost Kerala and Assam---the latter after a gap of 15 years and the BJP formed their government there. In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, respectively, Mamata Banerjee and J Jayalalithaa beat the anti-incumbency to form their first second-successive governments.

While Banerjee did it after just five years, Jayalalithaa did it 25 years after she had first become the chief minister. In Kerala, the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front came back to power after five years while the BJP opened its account in that state for the first time. The Congress's only consolation was Puducherry where its alliance with the DMK came to power.

Modi government completes 2 years

The NDA government of Narendra Modi completed its second anniversary in office on May 26. It was on this date two years ago when Modi led the NDA won a massive victory while the Congress was reduced to just 44 MPs.

The two-year assessment of the Modi government has been more on the positive side but the striking fact is that Modi has continued to be popular among an overwhelming majority of Indians in the last 24 months. Clean image of the government and a pro-active foreign policy have been the high points of the Modi government although concerns have also been expressed over the NDA government's failure in pushing big economic reforms in this time.

IPL gets a new champion

The SRH led by Australia's David Warner became the latest IPL champions after they beat a dashing RCB led by Virat Kohli at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on May 29. After scoring 208 in 20 overs, the SRH tamed the RCB who were cruising at 114 for no loss at one time to win by just eight runs. Warner, with this win, became the third Australian captain after Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist to win an IPL time.

The RCB, on the other hand, became the first team to lose a final after scoring 200 and also failed to win even one of the three finals they have made so far. They had lost to the now-defunct Deccan Chargers and Chennai Super Kings in the 2009 and 2011 editions, respectively. Kohli, who feel just 27 runs short of a historic 1000-run mark in one IPL, was chosen the player of the series.

India's pulls off Chabahar

After a long delay, India finally scored a diplomatic high point on May 23 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signed the Chabahar port pact. Bu signing this agreement, India gained a route to reach Afghanistan and central Asia bypassing Pakistan.

Congress loses 2 more states The Congress failed to arrest its slide as it went on to lose two more states---Kerala and Assam in the April-May elections. Its only consolation in the five elections was Puducherry where it returned to power in alliance with the DMK. In Bengal, the Congress's unprecedented electoral tie-up with the Left could not succeed in toppling Mamata Banerjee. Mamata & Jayalalithaa beat anti-incumbency Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and AIADMk supremo J Jayalalithaa beat the anti-incumbency against their respective governments in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, respectively, to return to power. While Banerjee's party did even better than the 2011 election, Jayalalithaa won with a reduced majority. Narendra Modi govt completes two years The NDA government of PM Narendra Modi completed two years on May 26. The report card of the government though saw a mixed response, but there was little slide in Modi's popularity in these 24 months. Clean image of the government and foreign policy have been two high points of the Modi government. IPL gets a new champion in Sunrisers hyderabad Sunrisers Hyderabad won their maiden IPL title this year while David Warner became the third Australian to lead a side to win an IPL title after Shane Warne and Adam Gilchrist. The SRH beat Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore by 8 runs in a high-scoring final at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on May 29. India signs Chabahar port pact with Iran PM Narendra Modi signed a crucial pact with Iran over developing its strategic Chabahar port. The signing of this pact meant India would get an access to Afghanistan and central Asia and beyond without touching Pakistan's territory.

India will invest $500 million to develop the port, seen by international experts as New Delhi's counter-strategy to the Chinese operation of the Gwadar port in Pakistan. Besides the port pact, a trilateral agreement on transport and transit corridor was also signed by India, Afghanistan and Iran, which PM Modi said could change the course of the region's history.
Vaishali Takkar suicide: Her e-gadgets to be probed; hunt for the harasser is on

8-year old administered nitrous oxide instead of 'oxygen', dead

India

oi-Pallavi

Indore, May 30: In a horrifying incident at a government hospital in Indore, an 8-year old boy died after being wrongly administered nitrous oxide instead of oxygen. Nitrous Oxide is a widely used anaesthetic.

8 year-old Ayush died on Friday after the gross medical negligence. Although the hospital authorities blamed the contractor who fixed the gas pipes in the modular paediatric operation theatre where the children were treated, the latter said that his duty was to fix the pipeline, but the hospital authorities were responsible for using those gas to supply the gas.

Meanwhile, the operation theater has been sealed and a first information report has been registered. A senior surgeon at the hospital, Sumit Shukla said that there are two colour-coded pipes in th eoperation theater, one for oxygen and the other for nitrous oxide, which is used widely for its anaesthetic and analgesic effects.

Shukla further said that the hospital was conducting its own enquiry as to how the horrible incident happened. Some people, however, said that the hospital authorities were guilty of the gross medical negligence. Local legislator and Congress leader Jitu Patwari blamed the authorities and sought action against them.

Contractor Rajendra Chadhary, said that he had been made a scapegoat. "My job was only to install the pipes. Using those pipes to supply gas was the job of the hospital," he said.

Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital is th elargets government hopsital in Indore.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, May 30, 2016, 10:56 [IST]
Central team roped in as dengue cases in Bihar rise to over 5000

Bihar abduction industry is back; police fear surge of cases

India

oi-Vicky

Patna, May 30: The Bihar police have their task cut out with fears of the abduction gangs returning.

A thriving business in Bihar,the abduction gangs are back in business and the release of various accused persons from jail has only ensured that this industry is thriving once again.

The recent abduction of Suresh Kedia, an industrialist from Nepal only shows that the gangs are active. The gangs which had gone quiet for a few years have now raised their ugly head and the police say that it is because many who had been arrested are now released and are back in business.

The abduction industry is back

A few years back there was a major crack down in Bihar which led to the arrest of several operatives who ran the abduction industry.

In a major crack down a few years back, the police had arrested the likes of Suresh Sahni, Pappu Dev among others.

These persons are now out of jail after serving their term.

They do not appear to have reformed and are back in business do what they do best- abductions for ransoms.

The police realised this following the abduction of Kedia. He was rescued by the police from Kotwa in East Champaran. Investigations found that this was the job of a professional gang.

The gang abducted him in Bara where he had come from Nepal to offer prayers. The police suspect that it could be a gang led by the notorious Bablu which could be behind this case as well.

Bablu against who there are 36 cases ranging from abduction to murder was arrested in Nepal in 2013. While he is in jail, his gang continues to flourish.

Four key members of his gang who had been arrested and released recently are back in business, the police also say.

A senior police official informed OneIndia that there is a general alert since this gang has become active.

There are several splinter groups which carry out abductions, but the one led by Bablu is the main unit. The gangs carry out abductions of industrialists and demand huge ransoms.

An officer from Delhi part of the Intelligence Bureau says that abductions are clearly on the rise. The Bihar police have their task cut out. These gangs operate not just in Bihar but in the neighbouring states as well.

OneIndia News
Citing Ghalib verse, Nadella asks entrepreneurs to be bold

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, May 30: Quoting a couplet of Mirza Ghalib, Microsoft's India-born CEO Satya Nadella today asked entrepreneurs from India to be bold and offered the platform of the US-based technology giant for their ventures.

Nadella, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad among others here today, is on his third visit to India since taking over as head of the world's top technology company.

Photo Credit:

Quoting Ghalib's famous lines, Nadella said, "Hazaaron khwahishen aisi ke har khwahish pe dam nikle, Bahut niklay mere armaan, lekin phir bhi kam nikle".

Encouraging youngsters in the audience at an event here to be bold and ambitious, he said, "I learn something new (from these Ghalib lines)... There are so many layers in there... My interpretation of that is... it's not just your dreams being fulfilled, it is your ability to dream that is worth dying for. It is a source of inspiration."

Nadella said Microsoft's mission "is to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more.

"It's not about celebrating our technologies. It's about celebrating technologies that you all in India create. In fact, I want us to be the platform creators that foster the ingenuity of what is happening in India." In his meeting with Modi, Nadella discussed "various issues pertaining to the IT sector".

Earlier in the day, Nadella met Prasad and discussed how Microsoft's contribution to the government's Digital India initiative can be enhanced.

PTI
From Kerala to Kashmir: SIMI's recruitment plot exposed

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, May 30: The investigations being conducted into the 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts has thrown up several details which include a major training programme that was conducted by the SIMI to recruit youth into the Kashmir battle.

The details that emerged following the questioning of K A Anoop, an operative from Kerala who was deported from the UAE suggests that the SIMI had been attempting to send youth to Kashmir.

Anoop revealed that the former Kerala SIMI president, K P Sabeer currently living in Peshawar had recruited youth from Kerala and sent them to Kashmir.

It may be recalled that five youth from Kerala had been killed in an encounter with security forces in Kashmir in 2008.

SIMI activist nabbed in Rajasthn's Bhilwara

Kerala to Kashmir:

Sabeer who currently lives in Peshawar had recruited five youth, Fayaz, Yasin, Jabbar, Fayis and Abdul Rahim. The five youth from Kerala were planted in Kashmir in 2008. This was the first time that non-Kashmiri youth were found in the battle in the Valley.

Four of them barring Jabbar were gunned down by security forces and this had sent alarm bells among the agencies. Sabeer according to investigations had devised a plan in which he would send several youth from Kerala to wage a war in Kashmir.

Officials say that Sabeer had fled to Peshawar via Mumbai in 2008. He is an important operative and is wanted in several cases including the 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts. In Pakistan he developed close links with the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, officials also point out.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, May 30, 2016, 8:16 [IST]
Include Dalit Christians and fishermen in ST list: Karunanidhi to PM

India

oi-Pallavi

Chennai, May 30: Happy that DMK's long-standing demand of including the Narikuravars in the St category, chief Karunanidhi requested the PM to consider including the Dalit Christians and fishermen community in the Scheduled Tribe list.

Arguing his request, Karunanidhi said, "hen SC/STs convert themselves to Christianity, they are deprived of all the privileges and concessions hitherto enjoyed by them. DMK has been demanding that the SC/STs after conversion to Christianity should be treated as SC/STs and allowed all concessions and privileges."

Arguing that the fishermen community should be included in the ST category as a marine tribes. "The fishermen community, by their very geographical nature, is socially and educationally akin to the Scheduled Tribes," he said. He further said that the inclusion will help the community to climb up the social ladder.

Karunanidhi requested Modi to consider these two demands and act soon. The Union Cabinet, gave its approval for inclusion of three communities, including Narikuravarfrom the state under the Scheduled Tribes category.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, May 30, 2016, 14:35 [IST]
MEA official meets deceased Congolese national's family

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, May 30: India on Monday assured the family of the Congolese national, who was killed in a brawl here on May 20, of a speedy trial in the case and prosecution of all those responsible for the crime as per law.

This was conveyed by a senior official of External Affairs Ministry (MEA) who met the family members of Masonda Ketada Oliver at the airport on their arrival here.

Angry African diplomats seeks answers from government over attacks and harassment

He also informed them that the government of India will bear all expenses related to dispatch of mortal remains of Oliver, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

He said that the family members thanked the Indian government for its assistance.They were told that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has instructed speedy trial in the case.

23-year-old Congolese national Oliver, who was a French teacher at a private institute, was beaten to death in Vasant Kunj area of South Delhi following a brawl over hiring of an autorickshaw.

Envoys of African countries had expressed shock and outrage over the killing following which India assured them of safety of African nationals.

OneIndia News
PM Modi's flight diverted to Jaipur due to bad weather

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, May 30: Bad weather in Delhi on Sunday night forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plane to take a detour to Jaipur while it was flying from Karnataka to the National Capital.

Modi was his way back home from Karnataka where he addressed a public meeting in Devangere, when a storm hit Delhi forcing his plane to divert to Jaipur, sources said.

Government of India is being very carefully analysed: Narendra Modi

The plane landed in Jaipur at around 9.15 pm. After a stoppage of over two hours the flight again took off from Jaipur and landed in Delhi around midnight.

Squalls and dust storms accompanied with light rains lashed the national capital this evening. Light rains hit the capital city at around 9 PM.

A dust storm blowing at a speed of 92 km per hour hit Palam observatory, while it hit Safdarjung at a speed of 52 km per hour, MeT said.

PTI
Malegaon case: Purohit trying to prolong trial by hook or crook says Special Court

Sadhvi Pragya seeks bail after being discharged by NIA in Malegaon blasts case

India

oi-Vicky

New Delhi, May 30: Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur who was given a clean chit by the NIA in the Malegaon blasts case has moved the court seeking bail.

In her bail plea she said that she ought to be released as the National Investigation Agency had dropped charges against her.

She has stated that she has been in jail for several years now. Her bail plea had in the past been rejected since the case was under investigation.

However now the investigating agency has dropped charges against her and hence she be granted bail, she has said in her bail plea.

The National Investigation Agency had dropped charges against Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in the Malegaon blasts case. The NIA has cited want of evidence.

The National Investigation Agency which is probing the Malegaon 2008 blast case is likely to tell the court that there is no evidence against Sadhvi Pragya.

Of all the accused in the case, the NIA suggests that the case against Sadhvi is the weakest.

She had been arrested by the Maharashtra ATS on the charge that it was her motorcycle that was used to plant the bomb at Malegaon in 2008.

However a detailed investigation found that the motor cycle was never used by her. The NIA has also not been able to find any evidence regarding her participation in the conspiracy.

For Sadhvi Pragya, the first relief came when charges slapped under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act had been slapped.

While the ATS which probed the case at first had claimed that she had played a major part in the conspiracy, the NIA has found no such evidence.

The motor cycle which was registered in her name was used to place the bomb. However the NIA has learnt that the bike was used by Ramachandra Kalasanghra an absconding accused in the case.

He was using the bike for two years and could have had used the same in the blast as well.

The NIA had told the court that there is not enough evidence against Sadhvi to charge her in this case. The final decision would however lie with the court and if the same is accepted she will walk free after 8 years.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, May 30, 2016, 12:42 [IST]
Taxman tapping your phone? Can it be used as proof?

India

oi-Vicky

Bengaluru, May 30: The Income Tax Department is likely to use to phone tapping in a big way to crackdown on black money. While tapping will help find the trail, it could also be used as evidence in a court of law.

The IT department has been in some cases using phone tapping. However with the government now getting serious about bringing back black money, the department has decided to use this in a big way.

However for the IT department there will be some legal hurdles if the procedures are not followed. Let us examine the law of the land where phone tapping is concerned and whether it can be used as evidence in a court of law.

The law on phone tapping:

The Supreme Court in the People's Union for Civil Liberties vs Union of India case held that a telephone conversation in private without interference would come under the purview of the Right to Privacy as specified by the Constitution.

The court held that phone tapping would be legal provided it does not infringe upon the privacy of a person.

The Supreme Court of India said that there are guidelines to be followed before a phone is tapped. The home secretary of India or the state government has to issue an order authorising that a phone can be tapped.

However, the decision to tap a phone has to be reviewed by the Cabinet secretary, law secretary and telecommunication secretary.

Such an order needs to be reviewed in two months failing which fresh orders need to be passed, which can be valid up to six months. Strong reasons have to be specified in order to issue such a directive.

Records relating to phone tapping should be used and destroyed within two months.The order, which will be passed by the home secretary, shall be specific in nature.

The invasion of privacy shall be minimum in nature and the reasons should be strong before an order is passed failing which such an order can be subject to a court review.

Find out if your phone is tapped:

A device called a phone tapping detector could determine if your landline is being tapped or not. This device can be connected to the telephone and will alert users with a blinking light if the phone is being tapped.

During a conversation if you hear a tone which keeps breaking or has short beeps, this could mean that the phone is being tapped. However, one must not confuse it with a long steady tone. In addition to this, there could be some disturbances which may sound like a radio frequency.

In the case of a cell phone there could be short beeps too, which indicate that the phone is being tapped. Another thing to do is watch the cell phone when it is not in use. It could emit strange sounds when kept aside. It mean that someone is trying to pick up transmissions, a clear indication that the phone is being tapped.

If the battery on the cell phone is draining out faster than usual, it could be a sign that someone is tapping your phone.

If any department does not follow the guidelines then a citizen has various ways in which he or she can redress their grievance. A citizen has the right to lodge a complaint with the police.

The complaint would be subject to an investigation before action can be initiated against the indviduals tapping phones illegally.

If the police fails to act, a petition can always be filed in court alleging invasion of privacy.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Monday, May 30, 2016, 13:03 [IST]
Islamic State bomber detained in Russia for attempting attack in India was recruited through Telegram

Why India should get access to Islamic State bomber detained in Russia

Prosecutions story may be attractive but should be backed by evidence

ISIS trying to raise fund by selling sex slaves on Facebook for $8,000

International

oi-Jagriti

Washington, May 30: The Islamic State (ISIS) known for its brutality and atrocities against women and children have reportedly started selling their sex slaves in a bid to get funds.

The group has been facing financial crisis after US led coalition forces carried air strikes that led to territorial defats.

"A post on Facebook showing a picture of a girl was attributed to an Islamic State fighter who calls himself Abu Assad Almani. The post read: "To all the bros thinking about buying a slave, this one is $8,000," reported the Washington Post.

A picture of another sex slave was also posted by the same man on the Facebook for sale.

Another sabiyah [slave], also about $8,000," the posting reads. "Yay, or nay?"

According to report, the photos were later removed by Facebook.

ISIS ventures into fish selling, car dealership to balance battlefield losses

An Amnesty International had reported that ISIS has captured thousands of women and girls, as "brides for jihadis" from Iraq and Syria reportedly in in Bardoush prison in central Mosul.

Not only young girls, some children too were being sold to the militants as 'sex slaves' or given as 'gifts'.

OneIndia News
More than 700 feared dead in recent Mediterranean crossings

International

oi-PTI

Sicily, May 30: Survivor accounts have pushed to more than 700 the number of migrants feared dead in Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over three days in the past week, even as rescue ships saved thousands of others in daring operations.

The shipwrecks appear to account for the largest loss of life reported in the Mediterranean since April 2015, when a single ship sank with an estimated 800 people trapped inside.

Humanitarian organizations say that many migrant boats sink without a trace, with the dead never found, and their fates only recounted by family members who report their failure to arrive in Europe.

"It really looks like that in the last period the situation is really worsening in the last week, if the news is confirmed," said Giovanna Di Benedetto, a Save the Children spokeswoman in Italy.

Warmer waters and calmer weather of late have only increased the migrants' attempts to reach Europe. The largest number of missing and presumed dead was aboard a wooden fishing boat being towed by another smugglers' boat from the Libyan port of Sabratha that sank Thursday.

Estimates by police and humanitarian organizations, based on survivor accounts, range from around 400 to about 550 missing in that sinking alone. One survivor from Eritrea, 21-year-old Filmon Selomon, told The Associated Press that water started seeping into the second boat after three hours of navigation, and that the migrants tried vainly to get the water out of the sinking boat.

"It was very hard because the water was coming from everywhere. We tried for six hours after which we said it was not possible anymore," he said through an interpreter. He jumped into the water and swam to the other boat before the tow line on the navigable boat was cut to prevent it from sinking when the other went down.

A 17-year-old Eritrean, Mohammed Ali Imam, who arrived five days ago in another rescue, said one of the survivors told him that the second boat started taking on water when the first boat ran out of fuel.

Police said the line, which was ordered cut by the commander when it was at full tension, whipped back, fatally slashing the neck of a female migrant.

According to Italian police, 300 people in the hold went down with the second boat when it sank, while around 200 on the upper deck jumped into the sea. Just 90 of those were saved, along with about 500 in the first boat.

Italian police said survivors identified the commander of the boat with the working engine as a 28-year-old Sudanese man, who has been arrested and faces possible charges for the deaths. Three other smugglers involved in other crossings also were arrested, police announced.

AP
No confirmation of Taliban chief's death: Sharif

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

London, May 23: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that reports were still not confirmed that Taliban leader Mullah Mansour was killed during a US drone strike.

He spoke to media after arriving in London, the prime minister however confirmed that he had received a phone call from US Secretary of State John Kerry, reports Geo.

Kerry had informed him about the drone attack, he added, but maintained that he was informed about the strike after it had been conducted.

"Afterwards, I spoke with the army chief as well," he said.

Sharif also said that the foreign office's statement was a protest against the drone attack.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry has said that 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.

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 was yet to be.

The ministry spokesman called the attack a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty.

IANS
Our nukes can wipe out entire Pak in 5 minutes, India retaliates against AQ Khan

New Delhi

oi-Shubham

New Delhi, May 30: After Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan warned that his country could target the capital of India in five minutes on Saturday, India retaliated, saying it can wipe out entire Pakistan in that much time. [Pak can target Delhi in 5 minutes, says AQ Khan]

It was said that given the range of nuclear missiles that India possesses, no place of Pakistan is far enough. While Pakistan's second-largest city Lahore is just 21 kilometres from the Wagah border, its capital Islamabad is around 374 kilometres. Other Pakistani cities like Multan, Quetta, Peshawar, Karachi and Rawalpindi are also not very far which means India might not even need a long-range missile to target them.

Speaking to a Hindi daily, former Indian Army chief NC Vij said India is capable of targeting the whole of Pakistan and not just its capital. He also said that though a nuclear missile from Pakistan would take five minutes to India, but the mechanism to withdraw the ceasefire-related monitoring would take around six hours which means India will get the required time to retaliate. He also said India's missile defence system will help it thwart the enemy's nuclear missile.

Sources in Indian Navy said what Khan said was only to score some brownie points. They said the Pakistani scientist knows very well what would be the consequences if his country chooses to commit such an act.

Oneindia News
Intelligence agencies alert Canadian PM of pro-Khalistan camps

New Delhi

oi-Sandra

New Delhi, May 30: Indian Intelligence Agencies have alerted the Canadian government about pro-Khalistan camps running out of British Columbia.

According to a report in TOI, the intelligence agencies have sent an alert to Canadian PM Justin Trudeau saying that pro-Khalistani terrorists are running a camp and were planning to attack Punjab.

According to the report, a Canadian Sikh named Hardeep Nijjar, has taken over as the operational head of the Khalistan Terror Force and formed a camp consisting of youth in order to carry out the attacks.

The Punjab government has filed a report and submitted it to the Ministry of External Affairs. The report also mentions the attack on the Pathankot airbase on Jan 2 this year and said that Nijjar was to arrange weapons from Pakistan but couldn't do so due to the high alert along the border post the attack.

The report also states that Nijjar was detained by Thai authorites last year when he was travelling from Lahore to Vancouver via Bangkok.

The report also states that Nijjar has been giving out arms training at the camp and sought his extradition.

OneIndia News
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PASCOE KASE

BY JACOB MARCOS-NDOH JOURNALISTTobacco harms the health, affects budgets and contributes to an unproductive and weak society says the National Department of Health Secretary Pascoe Kase.Every year in Papua New Guinea (PNG) studies have shown that more than 4600 of its people are killed by tobacco-caused disease, while more than one million and ninety-one thousand (1,091, 000) children and more than one million six hundred and fifty-eight thousand (1, 658, 000) adults continue to use tobacco each day, according to Kase.The consumption of cigarettes in PNG appears to be increasing in tenfold largely as a result of no stringent measures, he said, he said.PNG is ranked the highest in the Western Pacific Region for tobacco consumption with 44% of the population smoking. Now with the increase with illicit tobacco or counterfeit cigarettes on the streets, the rate may have gone up.For the prosperity and health of the nation, the government of PNG is taking a sweeping measure to ban smoking in public places.Today is theWorld No Tobacco Day as it also calls for tobacco control advocates to reach out to other communities to strengthen their efforts in this mortal fight.Under the theme Get Ready for Plain Packaging the health department is looking at ways to legislate the production and consumption of tobacco.The theme talks of the removal of all branding (colours, imagery, corporate logos and trademarks), permitting health warnings only.The government and the Health Department is calling on all sectors, private, corporate and other government agencies responsible to work together and in the combat to fight against tobacco control and as much as possible minimize its sale and advertising of cigarettes, Kase said.As smoking cigarettes kills millions of precious lives each year around the world, in PNG, smoking has become a societal norm. This has meant that tobacco related diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, respiratory diseases and other non-communicable diseases have increased.The current government does not want our promising young men and women to pose a danger to their own lives so the Health Department in consultation with Ministry of Health and HIV will seek tougher laws on cigarette consumption.
Greek Legislation Taxes Revenue, Discourages Foreign Entry

Published May 30, 2016 by Lee R

A flat tax solution will increase existing revenues, but may discourage added revenue from without.

Economically challenged Greece is moving ahead with implementing an iGaming model to address the island nation's and EU member's well-publicized woes.

Taxing for Relief

The imposition of a 35% flat tax on all online gambling revenue that the legislation calls for is designed to meet criteria to qualify for the cash-strapped country's next EU sanctioned loan tranche. The flat tax comes off as a desperate measure which could scare off new operators.

Meeting Bailout Requirements

The Greek Parliament addressed this issue in a Sunday vote on the omnibus financial bill, approving the bill in order to secure the latest round of EU bailout funds from international lenders.

The Tax

Retroactive to January 21, 2016, the flat tax replaces the current 30% to 35% variable online gambling tax. The governing Syriza party has placed revenue goals for the specific measure at $54m in tax revenue.

The Environment

In the Greek market there are at this moment 24 online providers operating under temporary licenses issued in 2011. The latest legislation calls for new permanent licenses to be issued to operators for an upfront charge of $3m for five years.

OPAP Support

Discouraging foreign competitors is not necessarily a bad thing to some market stakeholders in Greece. Former state-owned betting monopoly OPAP, to whom the 35% tax rate has already applied, was seen as a main proponent of adapting the rate across the board in order bid to discourage market entry from new international competition.

Progress?

OPAP nonetheless has recently shown signs of equitable privatisation, having hired former Ladbrokes Managing Director Damian Cope as its new CEO, with former CEO and chairman Ziegler continuing on as chairman as of July 1.

Task at Hand

Greece is currently legislating under loan sanctions imposed by the EU requiring Greece to meet a surplus of 3.5% of its national budget. Greece at this point is trying to cover a remaining deficit of $1.5 billion in taxes by increasing taxes on a variety of items, not just gambling.
Marcus Tandler To Talk Future of Search and SEO in The Player Acquisition Strategies Conference

Published May 30, 2016 by Vlad G

Marcus Tandler will host one of the most interesting keynote sessions during the 2016 Player Acquisition Strategies conference, which happens as part of the iGaming Super Show in 9th of June in Amsterdam.

One of the highlights of the iGaming Super Show 2016 edition will be the Player Acquisition Strategies conference which will take place Thursday, the 9th of June in Amsterdam and will include among other speakers Marcus Tandler, one of the authorities of SEO and internet search strategies.

Marcus Tandler Will Certainly Impress with His Unique View

Marcus Tandler hosted one of the most memorable TEDx session during their Munich event where he managed to simplify the very complicated future of web searches and SEO, showcasing how regular users as well as numerous industries will have to change and adapt to future development in the field.

His session will be called The Future of Search and SEO and will take place on the 9th of June at 12:00 in conference room 3 at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre in Amsterdam. The session will explain Tandlers uniquely concise and updated view on web searches and SEO for the iGaming industry.

The Event Promises an Increase in High-quality Content

iGaming Business Managing Director Alex Pratt declared that Marcus Tandlers session will be as unforgettable as his Munich TEDx conference. He also added that his presence in this years edition perfectly showcases the increase in quality content that the iGaming event has registered in its numerous years of activity.

Attendance to the Player Acquisition Strategies Conference" is ticket based with a ticket costing 499.

The iGaming Super Show is a staple of the market being the biggest event in the iGaming industry. This years event will include networking opportunities as well as the latest information on business perspectives and education in the iGaming field. The event is attended by representatives from the biggest companies in the field with over 4,500 delegates being expected to this years edition.
(May 27 video) Bernie Sanders talks in detail with Cenk Uygur of "The Young Turks" about the Democratic nomination process moving forward. What I found particularly striking is just how focused he continues to be on being the Democratic nominee for president. Make no mistake, he is undeterred.



Bernie Sanders The 2nd Young Turks Interview FULL Cenk Uygur interviews Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders for the second time during the 2016 campaign. Tell us what you think in the ...

(Image by Acc News Tv, Channel: Acc News Tv) Details DMCA



(Article changed on May 30, 2016 at 06:50)
Marsha is a resident of the State of Florida. She graduated from Miami-Dade CC in 1975 when college was so low cost that it was not hard to work & pay her own way. She has always been a strong advocate for democracy for all, and have (more...)


By Ethan Indigo Smith

Contributing writer for Wake Up World

A Shadow On the Collective Consciousness

It has been a year since my annual nuclear-experimentation article. Time flies. My scale of time of course is ignorant. I cannot comprehend the complexity of time unfolding as it does, beyond my limited human imagination, and my ignorance of the ways of time is not unlike your own. And perhaps it is not unlike the ignorance of the nuclear goons of yesteryear, whose short-sighted planning for the nuclear waste 'storage' failed to take into account the life of nuclear radiation in human generations much less the millions of years that nuclear waste actually remains deadly.

Some people posit that one generation is roughly twenty years. So, about three generations ago the first nuclear waste was created and then buried, for future generations to deal with.

This month, as we begin Year 71 of the global nuclear experiment, the impermanence of the United States' crumbling nuclear infrastructure is becoming blatantly apparent. Several nuclear sites are deteriorating, and there are increasing rates of illness around numerous nuclear sites in the USA and around the world -- that we know of. But, as whole regions are suffering worsening nuclear conditions, we can only speculate about the total effect. We can only speculate about what we don't know, and don't actively measure.

What we know of nuclear experimentation, and of time for that matter, reminds me of an old joke. Two sailors are looking over the ocean and one says to the other, 'Gosh that's a lot of water.' The other sailor responds, 'Yea, and that's just the top of it.' What we know of nuclear experimentation, I fear, is very much like this joke -- what we know is just scratching the surface.

Of course, what the human collective is capable of comprehending about its place in time is also a lot like the silliness of the sailors observing the sea; when it comes to our understanding of space, time and causality -- and therefore our effect on future generations -- we're just scratching the surface. When we look further, at a deeper level, life is like an ocean, an ocean of energy the Buddhists call Mara, made up of energy and karma. Some folks wiser than myself noted that karma might happen immediately, what we know as instant karma, and karma also might act like a bullet with infinite potential energy for its velocity, and this energy or bullet might take off out to Saturn before ricocheting back to Earth only to hit the grandchild of the person that fired it. Karma, you just never know.

Radiological contamination from nuclear experimentation is like karma. Nuclear contamination may zap you then and there, or it may come back to get your offspring. This understanding serves as a vital understanding of the nuclear experimentation situation in totality. Eventually the unprecedented environmental devastation we unleash every day the nuclear experiment continues, returns.

Below is a list of a few recent events of significance, that we know of -- that we can see, as sailors on the sea of Mara.

16th July 2016: Happy anniversary, Military Industrial Complex! Celebrating 71 years of disastrous nuclear experimentation, and 60 million related deaths. http://enenews.com/scientists-120-million-cancers-caused-nuclear-radiation-leading-60-million-deaths-war-crime-greater-magnitude-occurred-recorded-human-history-video

October 2015: Explosion of who-knows-what at an underground radioactive-waste-storage site in Nevada. http://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/residents-want-answers-about-why-us-ecology-fire-started

Ongoing: Leaks at Indian Point Nuclear power-generation experiment continue to flow into ground, dumping radioactivity into groundwater. http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/06/us/nuclear-facility-ground-contamination-new-york/

Ongoing: Fukushima ongoing calamity, with further reactor units under threat, and groundwater and local geology threatened, in addition to escalating radiation levels and rising cases of thyroid and other cancers in the region. http://enenews.com/experts-fukushima-ice-wall-could-destroy-reactor-buildings-turn-site-swamp-concern-fractures-ground-movement-subsidence-around-structures-will-stay-frozen-200-year-period-govt-observable-heav and http://enenews.com/reporter-many-experts-believe-fukushimas-melted-fuel-burned-concrete-floors-gone-down-groundwater-one-deeply-3-cores-melted-ground-one-cores-audio

May 2015: Nuclear-waste accident at the WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) released up to 592 trillion bequerels of plutonium into the atmosphere, affecting townships over 30 miles away. The amount of waste released was detected to be over 5,000 times amount of waste contained in the waste drum that was officially blamed for the release. http://enenews.com/govt-analysis-592-trillion-becquerels-involved-release-nuclear-dump-5000-times-waste-drum-being-blamed-wipp-disaster-official-thought-sure-multiple-ruptures-actually-measured-city-many-miles-aw

2016: 30 years since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Chernobyl is still implementing further layers of radiation containment as other Ukrainian nuclear-power-generation experiments continue to operate. http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/safety-of-nuclear-power-reactors.aspx

March 2016: Belgium terrorists planned the biggest terrorist attack in history. The unstable and uncontainable nature of the nuclear reaction means that every large-scale nuclear-power-generation experiment is a potential target, requiring constant attention, guarding and outside sourced electricity to prevent attacks. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/brussels-attacks-airport-metro-bombings-isis-terror-group-nuclear-power-station-surveillance-footage-a6949821.html

Ongoing: Radioactive taint from fracking operations suggests that fracking operations are releasing radioactivity from underground. https://www.rt.com/usa/342549-north-dakota-radioactive-fracking/ and http://wakeup-world.com/2015/03/17/revealed-fracking-used-to-inject-nuclear-waste-underground-for-decades/

May 2016: Another example of crumbling infrastructure, one of the panels designed to absorb neutrons and prevent nuclear fission from occurring in the spent fuel rods stored in the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station's spent fuel pool in Massachusetts has deteriorated. If left uncontained, the rods could start a fire and release masses of radiation. http://capecodtimes.com/article/20160513/NEWS/160519684

Scientifically speaking, the risk cycle of nuclear power generation cannot be validated as "safe" until waste can be permanently removed, stored and degraded, and potential impacts to human and environmental health entirely mitigated. And we know that, today, that is simply not the case -- despite the industry rhetoric. The nuclear-experimentation industry is still shrouded in scientific and political secrecy, undermining our liberties and democratic processes and risking our health and our very existence in the process. When it all goes wrong -- and history shows us this outcome is inevitable -- the environmental destruction both of nuclear accidents and planned detonations is global, and permanent.


Tiffany Ferguson

(Image by Michael Palomares) Details DMCA



My guest today is Tiffany Ferguson of Socially Unacceptable. Welcome to OpEdNews, Tiffany.

Joan Brunwasser: Your recent vlog [video blog] about the presidential race, A Message to the DNC, caught my attention. Many of our readers have not yet seen it. Can you give them a sense of your four-minute message?

Tiffany Ferguson: Recently in the news, I have seen tons of articles encouraging Bernie Sanders to drop out of the race to "unite the Democratic party." Some are extremely critical of Sanders, implying that every day he stays in the primary pushes the presidency closer to Trump. It's ridiculous and I was just so fed up with seeing that message, so I decided to film a video and let my feelings out. The DNC has been incredibly biased against Bernie throughout this entire primary and I believe it is the fault of Debbie Wasserman Schultz and other establishment Democrats for the schism in the party. The DNC is supposed to be neutral, but it is clear that they have always favored Hillary Clinton as the nominee. The growth of the Bernie or Bust movement is largely due to the corruption and bias of the DNC. Bernie supporters feel cheated. All we wanted was a fair primary and we do not believe that is what we've had. The DNC can't expect us all to "fall in line" and support Hillary after they have so blatantly disrespected us and Bernie.

JB: You're speaking as a person who I understand originally considered supporting Hillary for the presidency. How has your position evolved over time?

TF: Yes, that is true. About a year ago, I assumed I would be supporting Hillary, but to be honest I didn't know much about her policies. I just knew she would be running and that she is a popular Democrat, so I thought it would be an easy choice! I found out about Bernie through the political quiz* on ISideWith.com. He was my number one match out of all the presidential candidates - 96%. I figured I might as well research his stances and the more I found out, the more I loved him. At the same time, I was finding out more about Hillary - many negative, problematic things about her history and her campaign, which only pushed me closer to Bernie.

JB: Can you share with us what you learned about each candidate that pushed you away or drew you closer, as the case may be?

TF: One of the first things I was very impressed with about Bernie is his stance on campaign finance reform. If we want our politicians to work for the people, they can't be relying so heavily on the wealthiest people in this country to fund their campaigns. So Bernie's grassroots-powered campaign is very inspiring and I think that it shows how much integrity he has and that his commitment to campaign finance reform is genuine.

I've seen tons of videos of Bernie's old speeches, even some from decades ago, and his message is the same as his stump speech today. We need an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%. We have the right to have affordable (or even free) healthcare and education. I agree with Bernie on nearly every issue - from gun control to LGBT rights to his proposed tax reforms - and most importantly, I believe that he stays true to his beliefs and won't change his stance because of lobbyists or personal greed.

Hillary, on the other hand, is an establishment politician. She has received millions in campaign contributions from the wealthy, from lobbyists, and from Wall Street. Therefore, I believe that she will put the needs of those people and industries first. She won't release her Wall Street speech transcripts, so what does she have to hide? I worry about what she says behind closed doors and what promises she makes. Overall, my dislike of Hillary stems from an overwhelming sense of mistrust. Her stances on major issues have "flip flopped" and she has supported many things in the past that she now has to apologize for, such as voting for the Iraq war and trade deals such as NAFTA. It makes me question her judgement. We need a president who has foresight, and apparently in many cases, Hillary does not.

This primary season, Hillary has attempted to make herself and Bernie seem very similar. She has tried to call herself a progressive. In reality, she is in favor of incremental change. She says, very vaguely, that she can get things done. Then we have Bernie, who acknowledges how rigged and unfair the system is and wants to flip everything upside down so we can begin to fix it. We don't have time to wait for incremental change. The people of this country - myself included - want a revolution.

JB: How do you think the primaries have been going? Are you confident that we're all operating on a level playing field?

TF: In short, no, we are not operating on a level playing field. The DNC and the media have been very pro-Clinton from the beginning. One very disturbing aspect of the primary that has come to my attention is the issue of voter suppression. It first stuck out to me during the Arizona primary - crazy long lines, closure of polling locations, voter registrations mysteriously changed or deleted. Each act may be small and seemingly insignificant, but altogether it results in thousands of people losing their vote, which is huge. I've seen too many accounts of voter suppression and election rigging - anecdotal and proven - and it is sickening. But aside from that, I think the primaries have been very interesting and at times, inspiring. Bernie's campaign has come a long way, fighting against the establishment, the media, and the DNC.



Tiffany Ferguson

(Image by Heather Ferguson) Details DMCA



JB: The big question is whether it will be enough. You brought it to our attention that California poll workers have been receiving misinformation in their training. What's that all about and can it make a difference?

TF: According to a poll worker in Orange County, her training orientation instructed all poll workers to give No Party Preference voters provisional ballots, which is completely incorrect procedure. NPP voters are allowed to vote alongside Democratic voters in California's Democratic primary. The only difference is that they receive a crossover ballot. A provisional ballot does not serve the same purpose. In fact, most provisional ballots end up being thrown out, so the fact that it's being taught to poll workers to give those ballots to such a huge group of voters in the CA primary is extremely dangerous! I believe it absolutely could make a difference. But more importantly, it's about the principle. We cannot allow any number of voters to be mislead or suppressed, whether it's a hundred or a hundred thousand.

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Mairead Maguire support Freedom Flotilla

(Image by FreedomFlotillaItaly, Channel: FreedomFlotillaItaly) Details DMCA



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WOMEN'S BOAT TO GAZA PRESS CONFERENCE AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT WITH MEP SORAYA POST (S&D, SWEDEN)

TUESDAY, MAY 31ST

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, BRUSSELS

WIB BUILDING, ROOM: 03M004

TIME: 13:00

The Women's Boat to Gaza, a campaign of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, will hold a press conference on May 31 at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium with the attendance of MEP Soraya Post (S&D, Sweden) to provide updates on our work to set sail towards Gaza in mid September with all women delegates and crew.

In doing so we raise the issue of the ongoing illegal blockade of Gaza, which denies freedom of movement to Palestinian people and also violates International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law.

Confirmed delegates who will be on the Flotilla include Nobel Laureate (1976) and peace activist from Northern Ireland, Mariead Maguire, and Green Party New Zealand Member of Parliament Marama Davidson. Other delegates will be announced in the coming weeks.

One of the important goals of our mission is to highlight the devastating effects of the brutal blockade on the Palestinian people living in Gaza and will emphasize in particular the struggle of women, and their many roles within the resistance. Women in Gaza often fill the role of caring for and sustaining life, and are actively involved in community development and nation building. It is important to make their voices heard, even more so during periods of extreme injustice.

A United Nations report states that Gaza will be uninhabitable by 2020. Our project is supported by many women's groups in Gaza and by civil society around the world who wish to change this horrifying prediction.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has asked for the support of members of the European Parliament for the Women's Boat to Gaza and will seek assurances from all governments that they will protect and not obstruct its peaceful mission of solidarity to the besieged Palestinian people of Gaza.

For more information contact +32 484-130-589
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Corrosion Inhibitors Market Size to exceed $8.8 Billion by 2023: Global Market Insights, Inc.

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/corrosion-inhibitors-market

https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/389

www.gminsights.com

Global Corrosion Inhibitors Market size was estimated at 5.12 Million tons in 2015, as per the latest research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Growing wastewater treatment chemicals demand for owing to rapid industrialization is expected key trend to drive market growth. Unregulated discharge of industrial and domestic contaminants has increased the need for water treatment.Corrosion inhibitors market size is forecast to hit USD 8.8 Billion in revenue, by 2023. EPA and REACH norms will play significant role in developing water treatment chemicals demand, thereby boosting product demand.Browse In-depth Research Report on Global Corrosion Iinhibitors Market with detailed Charts and Figures:The Safe Drinking Water Act and its amendments establish the basic framework for protecting the drinking water used by public water systems in the U.S. Organic corrosion inhibitor market generated over USD 4 Billion in revenue in 2015.Power generation industry dominated the demand with overall consumption close to 1.5 Million tons in 2015. Rising energy requirements due to rapid industrialization in APAC & LATAM is forecast to drive demand.Get Sample Research Report:Planned and unplanned plant shutdown can result in degradation of pumps, gas turbines and switch gears used in power generation industry, where humidity & condensation can be reasons for the cause.Key raw materials chromium, oxygen atoms, phosphorous, zinc and nitrogen, have associated health hazards and are a matter of concern for inhibitor disposal. Associated environmental hazards through inappropriate disposal along with imbalance in raw material supply could impact cost.Increasing research focus to develop green corrosion inhibitors from natural sources like potato, onion, seeds and gelatin is underway, which may present growth opportunity for industry participants.Key insights from the report include: Global corrosion inhibitors market size is predicted to grow at 4.7% CAGR and reach 7.39 Million tons by 2023. Water based corrosion inhibitors market size was dominant and accounted for over 77% of the total 2015 demand. Solvent/oil based applications may witness sluggish growth rates with 4% CAGR from 2016 to 2023. APAC, led by India and China corrosion inhibitors market size, was dominant regional industry and accounted for close to 38% of the total volume in 2015. FDI policies by governments of India and China are encouraging investors to set up metal and chemical processing plants in the region, which may boost demand. APAC oil & gas industry may consume approximately 700 kilo tons by 2023, with expected significant gains at 6.4% up to 2023. Europe metal processing industry based on the product demand was valued close to USD 180 Million in 2015 and is forecast to grow at significant rate up to 2023. Global corrosion inhibitors market share is fragmented, with GE, Ecolab, BASF and Ashland catering to below 50% of the total demand in 2015. AkzoNobel, Lubrizol, Henkel, Cytec, Champion Technologies, Cortec, Daubert and Dai-Ichi are among notable companies competing in the market.Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Global Market Insights Inc.8, The GreenSuite #4594Dover, DE 19901United StatesWeb:
The Ultimate Travel Guide to Machu Picchu

Best of Peru Travel

https://www.bestofperutravel.com/download-free-machu-picchu-guide/

https://www.bestofperutravel.com

Best of Peru Travel publishes the Ultimate Travel Guide to Machu Picchu - Afree step-by-step guide to creating your dream Machu Picchu Adventure!Leading Peru travel authority Best of Peru Travel, publishes an innovative downloadable guide to Machu Picchu. The free step-by-step guide allows independent travellers craft their very own dream Machu Picchu Adventure!The Best of Peru Travel team has been busy hunting down the fresh, the new, the hot and the happening including all the info a traveller needs to book and plan their own Machu Picchu trip.The Ultimate Travel Guide to Machu Picchu highlights include: How to buy your Machu Picchu entrance tickets online and which ticket to buy. How to get to Machu Picchu. Which Machu Picchu itinerary is best for you. Where to stay and where to eat in Machu Picchu. Our top insider tips for beating altitude sickness, when to visit, what to pack and lots moreDownload the free guide here:About Best of Peru Travel:Best of Peru Travel is the ultimate Peru Travel Guide, a collection of all our favourite things in Peru!An Irish wanderer and a French musician, we fell in love with this colourful corner of the world over 6 years ago and have been exploring and discovering it ever since. We believe that life is short and that part of the fun of travel is creating your own adventure based on your own dreams and desires.We hope our new Machu Picchu guide inspires you to start designing and crafting your own Machu Picchu adventure today!Best of Peru Travel is the information source for independent travel to Peru, providing impartial and accurate information on all the best hotels, restaurants, cafes, shops and things to see and do. We love that feeling of discovering the best cocktail or the best luxury boutique hotel and love nothing more than sharing these great secrets with the world!Name: Best of Peru Travel,Postal Address: sacred Valley, Cusco, PeruContact name: Nicola ConnollyE-mail: subscribe@bestofperutravel.comWebsite:
100% FDI in e-commerce: promoting growth with governance

https://lexcomply.com

Press Note 3 of 2016 issued by DIPP is a masterstroke of regulating a e-commerce model and but making way for many more business models not only for e-commerce entities but also for Indian Startups , Manufacturers and offline retailers wherein the society is ultimate beneficiary. This is a welcome step, not only because it is going to facilitate foreign investment in a big way but also because it has clarified FDI regulation on e-commerce sector. It provides guidelines for the two business models - marketplace based model and inventory based.Prior to this, the absence of clarity in rules and regulation in the e-commerce, resulted in unintentional/intentional malpractices. The detailed and lucid press note issued by the government, puts all the loopholes used for advantage by ambitious e-commerce players to rest. It will bring in compliance to the whole structure of e-commerce and promote growth that will be endorsed with good governance across this sector.The quantum of FDI in e-commerce is huge and so is its future resulting potential. I believe this has motivated the government to adopt a phased approach to regulate the e-commerce companies and the recent development is one of the phases. This regulatory note lays down various rules and regulations for all the business models of e-commerce companies.Highlights of the 100% FDI press Note Defines e-commerce, e-commerce entities, models of e-commerce - marketplace model and inventory based model. Upto 100% FDI through automatic route is permitted to Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce that is the marketplace model. The marketplace will be the facilitator that provides support services that are e-commerce platform, logistics, call center, warehouse, payment collection, customer care and other services but cant hold or own inventory. No FDI for Business to Consumer (B2C) that is inventory based model. FDI is permitted to B2C in case of a manufacturer who manufactures the products in India and sells through a single brand. Put rest to discount war and resultant malpractices as e-commerce entity cant influence the prices in any manner; Details of sellers to be mentioned as also prescribed under Legal Metrology Act for pre-packed goods. One Vendor cant contribute more than 25% of a e-commerce entity; and Reinforces that all the payments and transactions happen in conformation to payment gateway and payment settlement guidelines laid down by RBI.Impact:Old PlayersNow, the e-commerce companies have to develop viable and sustainable business models. In fact online portals like Just dial, bookmyshow etc. charge from the customers for their service and still have sizable consumers. Quicker logistic is one such initiative wherein you are improving the consumer experience but also adding a revenue model. It goes without saying that such services will improve the good will and volume of satisfied customers.Most of the present e-commerce companies might have to restructure themselves since not more than 25% of sales have to come from a single vendor or group of companies and that can be very restrictive in case of high valued products and the marketplace does not control the price of the products. It simply puts the vendors together for sale.E-commerce companies have been resorting to huge discounts to acquire customers at any cost. This also resulted in manipulative, unfair and restrictive trade practices by many e-commerce entities. Such practices make them vulnerable to complaints under Competition Act, 2002. Since, they have access to substantial FDI, so discounts were offered, irrespective of commercial rationale. Various government authorities and Delhi High Court in 2015 directed Enforcement Directorate (ED) to investigate more than 20 e-commerce companies for violating FDI norms. If found guilty they will be liable to pay fine up to three times of the amount involved and might be required to change their business model.As per press note e-commerce companies cant influence the prices in any manner whatsoever i.e. directly or indirectly. So if an e-commerce company tries to influence the prices through associated entities or following any structured channel, then they can be held liable for non-compliance of the FDI regulations. So restriction is generic and has wider scope.There will be a respite for smaller e-commerce players with limited investors and resources since they dont have to bleed themselves to discounts now.BuyersDiscounts have been the biggest attraction for the buyers but the latest press note prohibits absurdly high discounts. Hence, the buyers will find online bargains lesser attractive.However this downside is a blessing in disguise for buyers. The buyers, lured earlier to buy discounted unbranded products, will now be guaranteed a full quality satisfaction of the products... E-commerce companies now cant use their funds to offer discounts, directly and indirectly.Now e-commerce companies will be shifting more funds towards building quality services for consumers. Hence its a win-win situation for consumers as they will now buy the branded quality products and not duped into buying duplicate products, with high quality services. We all are witness that since birth of e-commerce in India the logistic services have improved tremendously. This results in benefit to consumers and also lot of employment opportunities in India.Hence, this note makes way for fairer and quality centric trade practices.Start-upsThis press note defines the B2B and B2C model and abstains the B2C model that is inventory based model from FDI. However there are a few exclusions.An Indian manufacturer or single brand retail entity having offline retail or the Indian manufacturer who is the investee and the owner of the Indian brand can do B2C through e-commerce, hence making way for FDI in manufacturing sector in India under Make in India initiative and also create a business model for aspiring e-commerce entities in India. Such e-commerce entities can become platform for Manufacturers of Single Brand products in India and MSMEs. They can provide them e-presence, digital marketing and technology support initially and then with more financial muscles, other allied services.For e-commerce startups it is better to raise initial fund from Indian sources directly rather than using off shore route, hence Indian entities as e-commerce companies can do B2C or inventory based e-commerce if they dont have FDI.Offline Retailers and manufacturersThe press note clearly prohibits the marketplace entities to directly or indirectly influence the sale price of goods and instructs to maintain a level playing field for all. Hence, the price war comes to an end. This will also have a check on the sale of imported low quality goods. Hence Indian Manufacturers and offline retail will become competitive.This press note will actually push the Make in India campaign since as per this press note the manufacturers of single brand can follow e-commerce for B2C for products manufactured and sourced by them in/from India subject to certain restrictions. Big International brands will be keen to open up for manufacturing in India as they can take leverage on modern channels of marketing besides brick and mortar model.In fact Manufacturers, offline retailers and e-commerce can become entities together and can articulate most efficient, effective and scalable e-commerce model, where in the goods are produced by manufacturer, marketing platform are of e-commerce entity and localized offline retailers are logistic partners.This model will be a win-win situation for all three stakeholders.100% FDI  conclusive or inchogerentAs per the press note B2C through e-commerce is permitted for manufacturers in India who are owner of an Indian Brand. The ambiguity surrounds the definition of Indian Brand. So will an international brand having manufacturing unit in India under single brand and also having the Brand Registered in India, be eligible to use e-commerce for B2C? In my view word Indian Brand may be construed as any brand having manufacturing facility in India and registered in India also.Further it is mentioned that Indian Manufacturer should be an Investee Company in B2C platform but no limit has been defined for the same. So just to avoid any uncertainty or malpractices, it is advisable to prescribe the limits as well. However limits should be such that it facilitates collaborative approach between Manufacturers and e-commerce entities.Largely, this policy will be a front runner since it has given clarity and recognition to the fast growing sector of e-commerce. It will also bring in certainty by attracting more and more foreign investments thus a big boost to the business, economy and society at large.LexComply is a one-stop compliance management solution for practicing professionals and organization. It generates and send alerts for due date based, Ongoing and Event based compliances to the concerned official proactively. It serves as centralized repository of acts, rules, forms and other allied documents to make compliance efficient. It automates reminders, status reports, updates, task and compliance proof management. It also enables professionals to conduct Audit, Research,Due Diligence, Compliance Training and give opinion.2/11B Jangpura A, New Delhi, India011-26475456
Arri Alexa Mini hire from Panny Hire in Birmingham, London, Manchester and Bristol

Arri Alexa Mini hire from Panny Hire in Birmingham, London, Manchester and Bristol

Panny Hire are pleased to announce the arrival of their Arri Alexa Mini, RED Scarlet-W camera for hire! Also Arri Zeiss Ultra Prime lenses for hire! Hire from Birmingham, London, Manchester or Bristol. UK nationwide delivery available too!We have a great range of lenses including Arri Ultra Prime lenses, Canon Cinema CN-E prime lenses, Canon L Series zooms and primes, Carl Zeiss Compact Zoom CZ.2, vintage Cine-Mod primes, PL Zeiss Compact Primes and RED PRO prime and RED PRO zoom cinema lenses.We provide hands-on camera training workshops at our studios or at your location, led by professionals working in the industry. We offer lighting courses, sound courses, post-production and editing courses, etc.We can supply the cameras, the crew, the lenses, the lighting, the grip, everything.. We are BBC approved suppliers, we have a successful and proven track record of working with the biggest production companies in the UK.Panny Hire can DELIVER UK nationwide, 8am until 8pm, seven days a week and have affordable rates and flexible terms.Birmingham 0121 469 0070London 020 333 20330Manchester 0161 961 0070Bristol 0117 207 7007Panny Hire - The Filmmaker's FriendPanny Hire provides camera hire, lens hire in Birmingham, London, Manchester and Bristol. We hire Arri Alexa Mini hire, RED EPIC Dragon, Arri Zeiss Ultra Prime hire, RED Scarlet-W, Sony A7S II, Canon CN-E, Sony FS7, Canon XF305, RED Rocket-X.Panny Hire Camera HireUnit 12 Century ParkGarrison LaneBirminghamB9 4NZ
Vung Tau Beach puts on an entirely new shirt

Vung Tau Beach after bans - captured by Tinh Huynh

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Vung Tau authority has officially banned carousing and cooking on the beach on April 26. 2016. To arrive at this decision, the cause also comes from the unconscious of many people.According to Ms. Truong Thi Huong, Deputy Chairwoman of People's Committee of Vung Tau City, people trade food and tourists carouse at the beach then they dont clean up, even they throw rubbish indiscriminately and sleazily which contribute to the loss of aesthetic beach and coast polluting, and also reduce coastal water beach quality.In addition, after swimming, garbage from living and giving feasts are discharged beside of sleeping place unconsciously. This issue has puzzled the authority and this time the city leaders have to correct severely and its necessary to seek remedies for this problem. This unconscious is making the amount of garbage directly proportional to the number of residents and visitors to the beach doing that actions mentioned above, as bad Vung Tau tourism image. Besides, the carousing at the beach also causes disorder when tourists begin to be drunk which led to fights. There has been a situation that after being drunk the tourists swim at the beach, then he died. That is to say that carousing also is a big hazard for tourists as well as residents.Currently Vung Tau beach is much cleaner and more beautiful. There are no longer carousing, cooking and seafood trading situation. This really is a spectacular makeover of the city of Vung Tau. Now if you travel to this coastal city you will be so surprised because of what you see. Landscape has changed a lot. Vung Tau looks as if has put on an entirely new shirt. And tourists are still allowed to bring cooked food and non-alcoholic drinks to the beach. Those who do not clear their trash will be fined. Or they can now have their meals at restaurants or bistros near the beach. Cooperative members who want to continue their businesses can move to the busy Vung Tau tourism market instead.However, this positive change also has faced controversies. Previously the seafood yokes on the beach carrying chose to buy by tourists because of their convenience and relatively reasonable prices. Now if ones want to use fresh seafood they are forced to buy back from the nearby restaurants with high price or go further to the markets. Eating on the beach is a hobby for everyone when come to Vung Tau. So the authority should take measures to support the tourist the nearest places to buy seafood at the right price. As well as arranging more of the trash on the beach to serve the needs of travelers.It doesnt know that whether how long Vung Tau City authority will maintain these measures. It should be said here that is human consciousness. The consciousness of people is difficult to turn, but it can be hardly adjusted by the law and the community rules. Most local authorities have understood this, but there is little place which could protect" the sea (in particular) and preserve tourism image (in general) in its entirety.22.05.2016: Silvia Huynh - ITI-HOLIDAYITI-HOLIDAY Germany is an online travel agency for tours in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. We are offering affordable individual tours and fair travel service for the Europeans and here especially for the German market, into the Asian regions. ITI-HOLIDAY is an specialised international tour operator with a comprehensive service for travelers in Southeast Asia and Indochina. We are present on the European travel market Since 2008. We pleased about our growing customer numbers and popularity. We set great attention to customer satisfaction, service, fair prices and to realize it, we are leveraging the long experience of ITI-HOLIDAY Asia. Our strong community of local tour operators makes it possible.ITI-HOLIDAY DeutschlandIndochina Travel IndividualKlingerstrasse 41F09117 ChemnitzGermanyProprietorHeiko GrimmTel.: +49 371 2832201Tel.: +49 371 3179571Fax: +49 3212 1415272E-Mail: info(at)iti-holiday.infoInternet:
Family Breakfast to Value the Importance of Involved & Engaged Fatherhood with their Child

Furthering Fathering's Family Breakfast to Help Bring the Fathers To The Table and Elevate the Father's Presence

Atlanta, GA  A Family Breakfast scheduled for June 11th at the Tracey Wyatt Recreation Center in College Park, GA will serve as a call to action to bring awareness to the importance of father involvement in the lives of their children. Its a conversation often grazed over which speaks of the effects of a fatherless home. Its a conversation that we were able to have with College Park, GA Police, Chief Meadows who is our Keynote Speaker for the day, who has first hand knowledge of the mans willingness to provide the bare necessities for his family by any means necessary according to his statistics and has partnered with Furthering Fathering to offer options and put together small steps to help fathers walk in an upright, lawful direction to make sound choices for themselves and their families. We also want to acknowledge the support of College Parks Councilmen Joe Carn and Tracey Wyatt and brother James Gifford, President of Project M.E.N. United and brother Kenwardo Moore for embracing and supporting the initiatives of Furthering Fathering here in Atlanta, Georgia.The goal is to mimic our Dignity Diner initiative rolled out of our NY office providing a meal for dads to cook themselves along with their child, but until so; we thought of a breakfast where fathers can spend time with their child, receive updates and relevant information on reputable services, learn about the mission and vision of Furthering Fathering in their community as well as the joint work with Fathers Incorporated and the upcoming Daddy Diaper Drive, and understand that our work is hands on and we want to help strengthen every father we serve to be the best dad he can possibly be to better serve his family.We are grateful to our angel sponsors for sponsoring a seat for the breakfast and affirm the words from Gregory Harris, Furthering Fatherings Emissary and Atlanta Georgia Coordinator, as we are looking for sponsors and I believe there are sponsors who is willing to support excellence in fatherhood. Special thank you to each and every one of you as well as our network partners Fathers Incorporated, Wells Fargo, Global Partners for Fathers & Families and Moments by Moye.If you havent already, set an alert on your calendar to take part in this community event to help strengthen families in the College Park area please do so and consider partnering with our efforts going forward.The Furthering Fathering Corporation is a safe place for fathers to become better prepared, responsive and responsible parents and men; thus, The Furthering Fathering Corporation ultimately purposed to improve the state of each family served. The Furthering Fathering Corporation will also enhance the services of already established event-centered family and fatherhood organizations by allowing them to offer fatherhood training and fatherhood appreciation services in addition to their events.The Furthering Fathering Corporation1928 Trees of Avalon ParkwayAtlanta, GA 30253Contact:Lamont Jones888.380.3370
Global Interventional Cardiology Devices Market to Reach US$11.2 bn by 2022 due to Rising Occurrence of Coronary Artery Disease

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A new Transparency Market Research report states that the global interventional cardiology devices market pegged at US$8.7 bn in 2013 is predicted to reach US$11.2 bn by 2022, expanding at a CAGR of 2.90% from 2013 to 2022. The title of the report is Interventional Cardiology Devices Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2022.Browse the full Interventional Cardiology Devices Market: (By Types: Stents, Catheters, PTCA Balloons, PTCA Guidewires, Imaging Systems and Others): Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2022 report atInterventional cardiology devices comprise numerous non-surgical procedures for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Interventional cardiologists use catheters to penetrate blood vessels to carry out diagnostic tests or to repair the damaged vessels or heart structures, often eliminating the requirement for surgery. These devices are majorly utilized for the treatment of heart valve disease, coronary artery disease, and peripheral vascular disease. Owing to the minimally invasive nature of interventional cardiology, this type of surgery provides advantages such as reduced cost, shorter stay at hospitals, minimal incision, and shorter recovery time.As stated in the report, the rising occurrence of coronary artery disease and the increasing demand for minimally invasive surgeries are amongst the major factors fuelling the growth of the market for interventional cardiology devices. In addition, the increasing rate of obesity and the expanding geriatric population base will stimulate the growth of the market. The plethora of new imaging technologies being developed will improve the percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) diagnosis rate, hence fuelling the growth of the market. The growing usage of bio-absorbable stents as suitable substitutes to drug eluting stents and the rise of the market in emerging nations are the key growth opportunities in the market. On the other hand, the absence of supportive reimbursement systems in some of the emerging economies and the sluggish rise in the number of PCIs are amongst the chief factors impeding the growth of the market.On the basis of device type, the market is segmented into stents, catheters, imaging systems, PTCA balloons, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty guidewires, and others. Stents are further segmented into bare metal stents, bio-absorbable stents, and drug-eluting stents. Catheters are further segmented into angiography catheters, guiding catheters, pulmonary artery catheters, and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) catheters. PTCA balloons are further segmented into cutting balloons, normal balloons, drug-eluting balloons, and scoring balloons. Imaging systems are further segmented into intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and fractional flow reserve (FFR). Amongst these, the segment of stents led the market in 2013. Within this segment, drug eluting stents held the largest share in the market in 2014 and are predicted to maintain their superiority throughout the forecast horizon. The segment of normal balloons led the PTCA balloons market and is predicted to maintain its dominance through the forecast horizon.Get a Sample of this Report:In terms of geography, the report segments the market into Europe, North America, Latin America (LATAM), Asia Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Rest of the World (RoW). Amongst these, the North America interventional cardiology devices market held the largest share and was trailed by Europe. The reason for the superiority of North America is the continuous usage of premium priced drug eluting stents and the increasing occurrence of cardiovascular diseases in this region. Asia Pacific trailed Europe and held the third-largest share in the market owing to the enhancement of healthcare infrastructure and the increasing aging population here.As per the report, the key players operating in the market are B. Braun Melsungen AG, Abbott Laboratories, Inc., Boston Scientific Corporation, Cordis Corporation, Cook Medical, Medtronic, plc., and Smiths Medical, among others.The global Interventional Cardiology Devices market is segmented as follows:Global Interventional Cardiology Devices Market, by Device TypeStentsBare Metal StentsDrug-Eluting StentsBio-absorbable StentsCathetersAngiography CathetersGuiding CathetersPulmonary Artery CathetersIntravascular ultrasound (IVUS) CathetersPTCA BalloonsNormal BalloonsCutting BalloonsScoring BalloonsDrug-eluting BalloonsImaging SystemsIVUS (intravascular ultrasound)FFR (Fractional Flow Reserve)OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography)Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty GuidewiresOthersGlobal Interventional Cardiology Devices Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeU.K.GermanyRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaRest of Asia PacificLatin America (LATAM)BrazilMexicoRest of LATAMMiddle East North Africa (MENA)Saudi ArabiaUnited Arab EmiratesRest of MENARest of the World (RoW)Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Mr. Sudip STransparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
Smart Agriculture Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

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Smart Agriculture Market: OverviewSmart agriculture includes agricultural practices with the adoption of internet of thing (IoT), sensors and others, in order to increase the productivity of the farm. Smart agriculture also addresses the interlinked challenges of food security and climate change and benefit smallholder farmers by increasing efficiency of inputs such as labor, seeds and fertilizers, increasing food security. By protecting ecosystems and landscapes, smart agriculture practice helps protect natural resources for future generations.Smart Agriculture Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe smart agriculture market has been experiencing massive growth in the recent years due persistent demand for improved income margins obtained from agriculture sector, combined with introduction of connected devices in agriculture sector. Moreover, government initiatives focusing on increasing penetration of connected devices in agriculture sector is further expected to fuel the growth of smart agriculture market during the forecast period.Read More :However, the dearth of awareness of smart agriculture practices across small farmers in emerging economies such as China, India, Brazil and others concerning adoption of smart agriculture solutions is hindering the market growth. Demand for uninterrupted internet supply for the efficient working of connected technologies is expected to create new opportunity for the companies operating in smart agriculture market.Smart Agriculture Market: SegmentationThe global smart agriculture market is segmented on the basis of type, application, and geography. Based on the type, the global smart agriculture market is segmented into hardware, service and solution.On the basis of hardware, the global smart agriculture market is further sub segmented into global positioning system (GPS) devices, sensor monitoring systems, and smart detection systems. Based on the services, the market is segmented into consulting, integration and implementation and maintenance.On the basis of solutions, the market is further classified into mobility solution, supply chain management solution, remote monitoring solution, quality assurance solution, connectivity solution, and data analytics solution. In terms of different applications, the market is classified into precision farming, livestock monitoring, fish farming, smart greenhouse and others.Other Related Reports:Smart Manufacturing Market :Smart Mirror Market :On the basis of geography, the global smart agriculture market is segmented into Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Among these, North America is expected to dominate the smart agriculture market in 2016. The presence of a large number of vendors, continuous advancements in technology, and reducing price of equipment are contributing to the growth for smart agriculture market in the North America region. Moreover, Asia Pacific is expected to offer potential growth opportunities in the smart agriculture market owing to the high adoption of Internet of (IoT) agriculture sector.Smart Agriculture Market: Competitive OverviewThe global smart agriculture market is highly competitive in nature and is marked with the presence of several international and domestic key players. Some of the leading companies operating in the global smart agriculture market transforming the market with product innovation are Cisco Systems Inc., Trimble Navigation Limited, AgJunction Inc., SST Development Group, Inc., Trimble Navigation Ltd., Vodafone Group , Deere & Company, Raven Industries, Inc., AGCO Corporation, SemiosBio Technologies Inc., and Salt Mobile SA among others.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactMr. Sudip. S90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:
United States Maple Water Industry Report 2016

Global QY Research

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The recently published report titled United States Maple Water Industry 2016 Market Research Report is an in depth study providing complete analysis of the industry for the period 2016  2021. It provides complete overview of United States Maple Water market considering all the major industry trends, market dynamics and competitive scenario.The United States Maple Water Industry Report 2016 is an in depth study analyzing the current state of the United States Maple Water market. It provides brief overview of the market focusing on definitions, market segmentation, end-use applications and industry chain analysis. The study on United States Maple Water market provides analysis of market covering the industry trends, recent developments in the market and competitive landscape. Competitive analysis includes competitive information of leading players in market, their company profiles, product portfolio, capacity, production, and company financials. In addition, report also provides upstream raw material analysis and downstream demand analysis along with the key development trends and sales channel analysis. Research study on United States Maple Water market also discusses the opportunity areas for investors.With 153 tables and figures, the report provides key statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.Download Sample this Report:7 Analysis of Maple Water Industry Key Manufacturers7.1 Seva7.1.1 Company Profile7.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.1.2.1 Type I7.1.2.2 Type II7.1.2.3 Type III7.1.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.1.4 Contact Information7.2 Oviva7.2.1 Company Profile7.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.2.2.1 Type I7.2.2.2 Type II7.2.2.3 Type III7.2.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.2.4 Contact Information7.3 Maple7.3.1 Company Profile7.3.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.3.2.1 Type I7.3.2.2 Type II7.3.2.3 Type III7.3.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.3.4 Contact Information7.4 DRINKmaple7.4.1 Company Profile7.4.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.4.2.1 Type I7.4.2.2 Type II7.4.2.3 Type III7.4.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.4.4 Contact Information7.5 Happy Tree7.5.1 Company Profile7.5.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.5.2.1 Type I7.5.2.2 Type II7.5.2.3 Type III7.5.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.5.4 Contact Information7.6 Vertical Water7.6.1 Company Profile7.6.2 Product Picture and Specifications7.6.2.1 Type I7.6.2.2 Type II7.6.2.3 Type III7.6.3 Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue7.6.4 Contact InformationTo Purchase this premium Report atGlobal QY Research is the one spot destination for all your research needs. Global QY Research holds the repository of quality research reports from numerous publishers across the globe. Our inventory of research reports caters to various industry verticals including Healthcare, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Technology and Media, Chemicals, Materials, Energy, Heavy Industry, etc. With the complete information about the publishers and the industries they cater to for developing market research reports, we help our clients in making purchase decision by understanding their requirements and suggesting best possible collection matching their needs.Unit1, 26 Cleveland Road, South Woodford, London, E182AN, United KingdomEmail: sales@globalqyresearch.comFollow us:
Global Market for Fast Food to Reach 645.0 billion by 2020, Growing at CAGR of 4.5% by 2020

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The report covers forecast and analysis for the Fast Food Market on a global and regional level. The study provides historic data of 2014 along with a forecast from 2015 to 2020 based revenue (USD Billion). The study includes drivers and restraints for the fast food market along with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes the study of opportunities available in the fast food market on a global level.Browse the full "Fast Food (Burgers/Sandwiches, Chicken, Pasta/Pizza, Asian/Latin American Food, Sea-Food, and Others) Market: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Segment, Trends and Forecast, 2014  2020" report atIn order to give the users of this report a comprehensive view on the fast food market. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the fast food market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein product segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.The study provides a decisive view on the fast food market by segmenting the market based on products and regions. All the segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2014 to 2020. Based on products the market is segmented into burgers/sandwiches, chicken, pasta/pizza, Asian/Latin American food, sea-food, and other. The regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa with its further bifurcation into major countries including U.S. Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India and Brazil.Get Request SampleThe report also includes detailed profiles of end players such as McDonalds Corporation, Yum! Brands Inc., Dominos Pizza Inc., Doctors Association Inc, Burger King Worldwide Inc., Wendys International Inc., Jack in the Box Inc., In-N-Out Burger, Whataburger, Sonic and Steak-N-Shake. The detailed description of players includes parameters such as company overview, financial overview, business and recent developments of the company.This report segments the global fast food market as follows:Global Fast food Market: Product Segment Analysis Burger/Sandwich Pizza/Pasta Chicken Asian/Latin American Food Sea-Food OthersGet Illustrative Sample before buying:Global Fast food Market: Regional Segment Analysis North Americao U.S. Europeo Germanyo Franceo UK Asia Pacifico Chinao Japano India Latin Americao Brazil Middle East and AfricaMarket Research Store is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. Market Research Store is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading publishers and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.Contact US3422 SW 15 Street, Suit #8138,Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442,USATel: +1-386-310-3803GMT FREETel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No. 1-855-465-4651 FREEWeb:Email: sales@marketresearchstore.com
Endoscopy Devices Market 2016 covers forecast and analysis on a global and regional level

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Endoscopy device market is an invasive medical procedure for the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of complications in the internal organs. The endoscopy is performed using a device called endoscope. This device is placed into the patient body either through the natural cavities or through incisions. Endoscopy device market consist of camera or the light source at the tip that helps the physicians or medical professionals to analysis the internal organs of interest. Most of the endoscopic procedures make patient discomfort but it takes less recovery time.The endoscopy devices market has the several driving factors but one of the most important factors that is expected to propel the growth of the market is recovery time is shorter and fastest recovery. Another important factor is U.S. FDA policies support easier approval process for endoscopy devices. However, high costs of endoscopy devices is expected to be one the major constraint in growth of this industry, especially in emerging markets. Additionally, increasing disease prevalence is also expected to trigger the demand for endoscopy devices market.Do Inquiry About Sample Report Visit atIn order to give the users of this report a comprehensive view on the endoscopy devices market, we have included a detailed value chain analysis. To understand the competitive landscape in the market, an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the endoscopy devices market has also been included. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein product segments and application segments are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness.The study provides a decisive view on the endoscopy devices market by segmenting the market based on products and applications. All the application segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2014 to 2020. Key product segmented market covered under this study includes endoscopes, operative devices and visualization systems. Key application market covered under this study includes gastrointestinal surgeries, urology/gynecology surgeries, ENT surgeries, cardiovascular surgeries, neuro/spinal surgeries, laparoscopy surgeries and arthroscopy surgeries. The regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Rest of the World with its further bifurcation into major countries including U.S. Germany, France, UK, China, Japan, India and Brazil. This segmentation includes demand for endoscopy based on individual applications in all the regions and countries.Key industry participants analyzed and profiled in this study includes CONMED Corporation, Olympus Corporation, Fujifilm Holding Corporation , Karl Storz Endoscopy, Boston Scientific Corporation, Pentax Medical Corporation , Cook Medical, Inc., Stryker Corporation, Covidien PLC, Smith & Nephew plc, Hoya Corporation, Medtronic plc, Richard Wolf GmbH, Fujifilm Holdings Corporation and Ethicon, Inc.Global Endoscopy Devices Market: Device Segment AnalysisEndoscopeOperative DevicesVisualization SystemsGlobal Endoscopy Devices Market: Application Segment AnalysisGastrointestinal SurgeriesUrology/Gynecology SurgeriesENT SurgeriesCardiovascular SurgeriesNeuro/Spinal SurgeriesLaparoscopy SurgeriesArthroscopy SurgeriesGlobal Endoscopy Devices Market: Region Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeGermanyUKFranceAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East and AfricaRead More @Market Research Store is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We feature large repository of latest industry reports, leading and niche company profiles, and market statistics released by reputed private publishers and public organizations. Market Research Store is the comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services available on air. We have market research reports from number of leading publishers and update our collection daily to provide our clients with the instant online access to our database. With access to this database, our clients will be able to benefit from expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@syndicatemarketresearch.comWebsite:
Microscopy Devices Market 2016 covers forecast and analysis on a global and regional level

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Microscopy devices are designed to produce magnified visual or photographic images of small objects. This microscopy device market includes different lens designs with objectives and condensers as well as very simple single lens that are often magnifying glass. These devices are of different kinds like optical, electron and scanning probes microscopes. Electron microscopes form images from beams of electrons. Acoustic microscopes form images from high-frequency sound waves. The basic parts of a microscope are the objective, which holds the lens near the specimen, and the eyepiece, which holds the lens near the observer. Microscopy devices find in wide range of applications includes research department, medical sector, sciences, nanotechnology, etc.Rising global focus on nanotechnology research is a key driving factor of the microscopy devices market. The growth of the electronic and renewable energy industries is also expected to boost the demand of microscopy devices in semiconductor application sector. High resolution capacity of microscopy devices have opened up new opportunities in research & development in the fields of cell biology and neurology and this is expected to be moderate growth in the years to come. Furthermore, increasing use of electron and scanning probe microscopes with the advancement in the research objectives expected to propel the microscopy devices market over the forecast period.Access sample report visit atThe microscopy devices market classification based on product, application and regional segment. On the basis of product, microscopy market has been segmented into optical microscopes, electron microscopes, scanning probe microscopes and others. An optical microscope was leading product segments of the market. Key applications include in microscopy market such as semiconductors, life sciences, nanotechnology, material sciences. Among the all application segment life science dominated the microscopy market closely followed by material sciences segment and semiconductors. All the market distribution on products and application has been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2014 to 2020.Major regional segments analyzed in this study include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa, further bifurcation of region on the country level, which include U.S., Germany, UK, France, China, Japan and India. Asia Pacific has witnessed strong growth of microscopy devices market in recent past years on account of the rising industrialization and advancement in nanotechnology associated R&D investments is driving the demand in this region. North America is expected to exhibit significant growth over the forecast period.The report covers detailed competitive scenario including the company overviews, financial revenues of the key participants to develop their positions in the global market. There is some major manufacture in the microscopy devices market such as FEI Company, Danish Micro Engineering A/S, Hitachi High, Leica Microsystems, Olympus, JEOL Company, Cameca SAS, Bruker Corporation, Carl Zeiss, Nikon and NT-MDT.Inquiry for buying report visit atMicroscopy Devices Market: Product Segment AnalysisOptical microscopesInverted microscopesStereomicroscopePhase contrast microscopeFluorescence microscopeConfocal scanning microscopeNear field scanning microscopeOther optical microscopesElectron microscopesTransmission microscopesScanning electron microscopesScanning probes microscopesScanning tunneling microscopesAtomic force microscopesOtherMicroscopy Devices Market: Application Segment AnalysisSemiconductorsLife sciencesNanotechnologyMaterial sciencesOthersMicroscopy Devices Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeGermanyUKFranceAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilMiddle East & AfricaRead More @Syndicate Market Research provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Syndicate Market Research cover more than 30 industries includsing energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Contact US:Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free: +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@syndicatemarketresearch.comWebsite:
Ask Digital Vidya - An Online Digital Marketing Helpline Launched

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Digital Vidya, one of Asias leading digital marketing education firms announces the launch of Ask Digital Vidya (), an online Digital Marketing Helpline platform.Digital Marketing is one of the most dynamic industries with almost daily changes happening across various digital media platforms such as Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Mobile App Stores. Moreover, its a vast and always expanding domain. One of the best ways to be successful in knowing and leveraging digital marketing is to always remain a student of this field. Aimed at Professionals, Entrepreneurs and Students, Ask Digital Vidya is a community of digital marketing enthusiasts and experts, who are committed to contribute to each others growth by asking questions and providing answers across various aspects of digital marketing such as SEO, SEM, Social Media, Content Marketing, Growth Hacking, Mobile Marketing and Web Analytics.Since 2009, when we launched Digital Vidya, weve been answering queries related to various facets of digital marketing. We realized that a very high % of these queries are repetitive or similar in nature. Moreover, we found that best answers to many of these queries are already available with other users, who are interested in helping others. While there are number of generic Q&A or discussion forum platforms such as Quora and few digital marketing related forums, theres still a definite need for a digital marketing focused community. shared Pradeep Chopra, CEO of Digital Vidya on the launch of Ask Digital Vidya.One of the unique advantages of Ask Digital Vidya is the presence of number of digital marketing thought leaders such as Mahesh Murthy (CEO, Pinstorm), Sanjay Mehta (Joint CEO, Mirum India) as Mentors, who are committed to contribute to the growth of digital marketing community by sharing their expertise.Expressing his excitement on the launch of Ask Digital Vidya, Mahesh Murthy, Founder of Pinstorm, a leading digital transformation firm shared "I've known Pradeep and Kapil for over 15 years and even taught a few classes for their students. If Indian marketers are digital-savvy today, Digital Vidya is one big reason. Of course, success breeds imitators - but I haven't found anybody else offer the type of knowledge and passion that these folks will bring you."Sanjay Mehta (Joint CEO, Mirum India) says This is a great initiative by Digital Vidya and will further fuel the growth of digital marketing industry. As one of the mentors, I look forward to my contribution in supporting this initiative.Ask Digital Vidya host discussions around variety of digital marketing topics such as SEO, SEM, Social Media, Email Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Growth Hacking, Web Analytics and Jobs & Careers. Since the launch of closed beta version of Ask Digital Vidya in Feb 2016 to a few selective users, over 150 active discussions across various categories have emerged.As of April 2016, Digital Vidya has contributed to the success of over 12,500 professionals representing 6200 organizations across 25 countries through 750+ digital marketing training programs. Digital Vidyas flagship digital marketing certification program, CDMM is one of the most popular and respected digital marketing courses available today.Anyone whos interested in learning & leveraging digital marketing for personal or organizational growth can sign-up for free to become part of Ask Digital Vidya community.For Media queries, please contact:Divya MahajanPR & Communication Lead, Digital VidyaEmail: divyam(at)digitalvidya(dot)comPh: +91-11- 9711614544Digital Vidya is Asias leading Digital Marketing training company. It has contributed to the success of over 12000 participants (including CXOs) from over 6000 organizations across Asia such as Nokia, Google, eBay, Times of India, Reliance, Star TV, Cisco, GE, MakeMyTrip, Naukri, Citibank, Toyota, Intel, EY, Genpact, Microsoft, ITC, CNBC, NIIT, SAP through more than 700 Digital Marketing training programs since 2009.Offered in association with Vskills, a Govt. of India initiative, Certified Digital Marketing Master (CDMM) is Digital Vidyas flagship program, which is attended by Entrepreneurs, Sales & Marketing Professionals and Students.Digital Vidya also conducts customized training programs for Corporations & Academic Institutions. Digital Vidya is also official training partner for Google Partners and Microsoft Partners in India. Find more about Digital Vidya and its training programs atDigital Vidya1001 Pearls Omaxe Building, Tower 1,Netaji Subhash Place, Pitam Pura, New Delhi,Delhi 110034Contact Number: 080100 33033Website:For Media queries, please contact:Divya MahajanPR & Communication Lead, Digital VidyaEmail: divyam(at)digitalvidya(dot)comPh: +91-11- 9711614544
Need for Better Security Propels Global Automotive Keyless Entry System Market

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Albany, New York, May 27, 2016: Market Research Hub (MRH) has added a new research report to its ever-growing online repository. The research report, titled Global Automotive Passive Keyless Entry System Market 2016-2020, provides an extensive evaluation of the global automotive passive keyless entry system market. The research report has been put together using primary and secondary research methodologies for the period of 2016 and 2020. According to the research report, the passive key entry systems (PKE) market will grow at a rapid pace due to technological advancements. For a holistic view of the market, researchers have studied the market from a political, economic, legal, environmental, and technological point of view.The report indicates that passive keyless entry systems are exceptionally advanced systems in the automotive world. They work with the help of two integrated circuits that perform the function of radio transmitters. One of these circuits is placed in the key fob while the other inside the vehicle for establishing a communication channel to unlock and lock doors as well for activating and deactivating ignition.The primary growth driver for the global automotive passive keyless entry systems market is the manufacturing and sale of automobiles with automatic vehicle identification systems in transit junctions. Hitherto, a combination of mechanical locks and keys was used for accessing vehicles. However, as the owner of this locking and unlocking method remains unverifiable, the automotive sector has developed advanced locks that do not need keys. Furthermore, they are also equipped with technologies that enable verification of the owner. Such advancements come in the wake of increasing crimes and the constant strategizing by law-enforcing agencies to safeguard vehicle owners against thefts. Several manufacturers are working towards integrating sophisticated biometric solutions to deliver unique outputs.Despite strong market drivers, the global automotive passive keyless entry system market faces a few challenges. The biggest hurdle in the way of its growth is the volatile nature of the economy as any kind of an economic slowdown has had a history of impacting the automotive sector in the worst possible ways. However, emerging economies, which now have an improved purchasing power and a strong presence of manufacturing units, are expected to contribute towards the expansion of this market.Click here to get more info with TOC in a PDF Format:The research report profiles some of the top players operating in the global automotive passive keyless entry systems market. The companies mentioned in this research report are Continental, Valeo, ZF TRW, and Hella. The report evaluates the expansion plans, financial overview, investment outlook, research and development strategies, business and marketing strategies, and strategic mergers and acquisitions of top players for the coming few years. For a holistic outlook, the industry experts have studied the historical data pertaining to this market and compared it to the current market situation to prepare a trajectory of the global automotive passive keyless entry system market for the near future.MarketResearchHub.com is the most comprehensive collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports from over 720 top publishers and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the world's most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Provides Reports and market research are available according to industry, country, demographic or trend, with the option to purchase many of the reports "by the slice"-meaning you only pay for those sections of the report you need.Mr.Sudip S90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:
Bekaert harmonizes SAP documentation for 7,000 employees

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NV Bekaert SA, the globally active supplier of innovative steel wire products, has harmonized its IT applications testing and documentation processes with the help of tts software and tts Belgian partner, FERN. Thanks to tt performance suite, all 7,000 Bekaert IT users now have quick access to consistent and current online manuals for SAP applications that have been systematically tested with tt performance suite.Prior to the tts software implementation, Bekaerts global network of manufacturing plants and offices had created manuals in a variety of formats, such as Word and PowerPoint, which resided in various locations, including local SharePoint servers, wiki pages and on the intranet.As a result, until recently the SAP Competence Center in Zwevegem had no effective overview of the IT documentation currently being used in any language. It could not even be sure that updates were being applied. Meanwhile, end users never knew if the manuals they were accessing were up to date, even if they knew where to find them, a constant source of inefficiency and frustration. We had a clear governance issue that we needed to address, said Sofie De Pauw, Cross Functional Project Lead at Bekaert. According to De Pauw, this was essentially an organizational challenge, but a key aspect was the need to be able to see immediately the status of any document - for example, when the last update was made and who is working on it at any time. Its easy to create a manual but much more difficult to ensure that it is up to date and being used consistently across a global organization like Bekaert, she said.We identified tt performance suite as the best software tool to help us address this challenge and at the end of 2012, we ran a pilot project with the support of FERN, a local partner of tts, said Jan Quagebeur, Global IT Application Delivery Manager at Bekaert. It soon became clear that tt performance suite did everything we needed, from testing through user training and documentation to real-time performance support. We are getting very positive feedback from both end-users and authors of the manuals, which are now consistent and up-to-ate wherever Bekaert does business, added De Pauw.Before applications go live, Bekaert tests IT scenarios from end to end for quality and robustness (end to end in the sense that the output from one test becomes the input for the next). Each test automatically generates a report, which serves as proof that the system functions correctly in a given scenario. This has put an end to a lot of time-consuming discussions about whether an application was properly tested, said De Pauw.Moreover, close integration and replication between SAP Solution Manager and tt performance suite means that when an application changes, Bekaert can immediately identify, in its IT ticketing system, the relevant scenarios that need to be tested and manuals that need to be updated; documentation updates happen automatically. As of November 2015, Bekaert has developed more than 1,700 scenarios for 2,200 test cases, with the number growing daily. Around 140 support and maintenance personnel use tt performance suite daily for testing purposes and 150 authors use the software to produce and amend end-user documentation.When an application is ready to go live, end users are trained in procedures and essential processes using materials based on direct recordings made by tt performance suite in the SAP software. They can also rely on performance support at the moment of need. tt performance suite provides access to the current documentation based on the entity where the end users are working and their role in this entity. This is a really quick and convenient way to identify the right manual related to a particular transaction code, so it contributes significantly to efficiency and productivity, according to De Pauw. Localized performance support is provided in 25 languages, with English as a fallback for advanced topics. Bekaert is also using tt performance suite for non-SAP applications including the Microsoft Office Suite.The advantage is that we can provide documentation and support that is localized but consistent at a corporate level, based on a single source of the truth. Whenever a change in the software occurs, the updates are applied globally, so we have complete transparency over documentation and much greater confidence that processes are being applied correctly and consistently by experienced staff and new joiners. When you consider how frequently software applications are updated at an organization like Bekaert, this is vitally important to our success, explains De Pauw.A team of two people in Belgium manages Bekaerts documentation authors all over the world via a server environment and workflows. Authors and end-users are producing and using documentation that is well structured, modelled on processes and courses, and delivered to a consistent format, said De Pauw.Bekaert is now starting on a SAP Learning Management System (LMS) project, which means that its use of tt performance suite to produce e-learnings will increase rapidly. In fact, as the benefits of tt performance suite have become more widely known in the organization, other units such as HR start using the software to produce e-learning materials for non-IT processes and functions.About BekaertBekaert () is a world market and technology leader in steel wire transformation and coating technologies. We pursue to be the preferred supplier for our steel wire products and solutions by continuously delivering superior value to our customers worldwide. Bekaert (Euronext Brussels: BEKB) is a global company with almost 30 000 employees worldwide, headquarters in Belgium and  4.4 billion in annual revenue.About FERNFERN is a Belgian distributor of high level e-learning tools and is active in the Benelux. FERN also develops and hosts e-learning content for clients with the same tts software and tools. Find out more attts is the leading e-learning provider in Germany. With innovative learning technologies, tts supports its customers in turning knowledge into workplace performance. The portfolio covers the tts software tt performance suite (e-learning authoring & documentation plus performance support) together with talent management (SAP Human Capital Management and SAP SuccessFactors) and corporate learning (training and e-learning). With its corporate HQ in Heidelberg, tts is also represented in nine European cities and the USA. Find out more attts GmbHKolja CzwielungSchneidmuhlstr. 1969115 HeidelbergGermany
Controversial Lifesavers: Ceresana Analyzes the World Market for Flame Retardants

Market Study: Flame Retardants (4th ed.)

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Flame retardants inhibit or prevent from spread of fires, yet, they can also be dangerous for health and environment. In any case, they are sold in ever larger amounts: Worldwide, about 2.15 million tonnes of flame retardants are used per year for plastic products, electronic devices, construction material, and textiles. For the fourth time now, the market research company Ceresana extensively analyzed the global market for these lifesaving yet not unproblematic products. These include halogenated flame retardants based on bromine and chlorine, as well as aluminum trihydroxide (ATH), organophosphorus, antimony compounds (ATO), and rarer types.Construction Industry Is Main ConsumerThe most important sales markets for flame retardants are the construction industry and the electrics and electronics industry: Nearly 53 percent of global demand originated in these two segments. In residential construction, more and more flammable material is used for thermal insulation and for improvement of energy efficiency. Therefore, flame retardants are increasingly processed in insulating foams made of expandable polystyrene (EPS) and polyurethane but also, for example, for rubber products, in adhesives, and in paints and varnishes. The electrics industry needs flame retardants for circuit boards, computer casings, household appliances, and telecommunication devices - especially in engineering plastics such as ABS, polyamide, epoxy, and polycarbonate. The third largest application area for flame retardants is the segment cables and wires followed by products for the transport industry. Especially demand for flame retardants in the transport industry increases: Here, an above-average growth of 2.8% per year is accounted for.Holding a market share of 37%, ATH is, on a global perspective, the most commonly used flame retardant, followed by brominated compounds. The most important application areas for bromine based flame retardants are electrics & electronics and foams. Brominated flame retardants are very effective, yet, they are treated with hostility by environmentalists. Due to legal provisions, there are significant regional differences: For example, demand for brominated compounds accounts for 6.7% and 12% respectively in Western Europe and North America which is only a fragment of total demand - however, in Asia, their market share amounts to 28%. In the upcoming eight years, brominated and chlorinated flame retardants will presumably account for the lowest growth worldwide. In contrast, Ceresana expects organophosphorus flame retardants that are more environmentally compatible as well as substitute products for halogenated types to increase considerably.The Study in Brief:Chapter 1 provides a description and analysis of the global market for flame retardants - including forecasts up to 2023: Demand for and revenues generated with flame retardants are provided for each world region.Chapter 2 analyzes the 16 most important countries and their flame retardants revenues and demand in detail. Demand is split by single applications and product types. Additionally, all important manufacturers of flame retardants are listed according to countries.Chapter 3 offers a substantiated analysis of the application areas for flame retardants: construction materials, electrics & electronics, cables, transport industry, and others.Chapter 4 examines demand for individual types of flame retardants: aluminum trihydroxide (ATH), brominated compounds, chlorinated compounds, organophosphorus, antimony compounds (ATO), and other flame retardants. Demand is clearly arranged for each of the 16 countries analyzed in chapter 2 and all world regions.Chapter 5 provides profiles of the largest manufacturers, clearly arranged according to contact details, turnover, profit, product range, production sites, profile summary, and products. In-depth profiles of 97 producers are given, including e.g. Akzo Nobel N.V., Albemarle Corp., Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (CHALCO), BASF SE, Chemtura Corp., Clariant International Ltd., Huber Engineered Materials, Rio Tinto Group, The Dow Chemical Company, and Tosoh Corp.Further information:Ceresana is a leading international market research and consultancy company for the industrial sector. For more than 10 years, Ceresana has been supplying several thousand customers from 60 countries with up-to-date market intelligence. Extensive market knowledge creates new prospects for strategic and operational decisions. Ceresana's clients profit from implementation-oriented consulting services, tailor-made single-client studies and more than 100 independent multi-client market studies. Ceresana's analysts are experts in the following markets: Chemicals, plastics, additives, commodities, industrial components, consumer goods, packaging, agriculture, and construction materials.Learn more about Ceresana atCeresanaMainaustr. 3478464 ConstanceGermanyPhone: +49 7531 94293 0Fax: +49 7531 94293 27Press Contact: Martin Ebner, m.ebner@ceresana.com
Indium Oxide Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016  2024

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Indium Oxide Market: OverviewIndium oxide also known as indium sesquioxide is a yellow colored ceramic like material which is insoluble in water. It is an n-type semiconductor and is therefore used as a resistive element in integrated circuits. Indium oxide can be doped with tin dioxide to form indium tin oxide which is used in display technologies such as OLED, plasma electroluminescent, electrochromatic display and LCD. It is used as an antistatic indium oxide coating, in photovoltaic solar cells, aircraft windshields, EMI shielding and nanowires. Indium oxide finds several applications in the electronics industry owing to its semiconductor characteristics.Indium oxide has excellent optical and antistatic properties. It is used as a substitute of mercury in batteries. Additionally, it forms a transparent conducting ceramic in combination with tin oxide, which is used in the micro electronics industry to form capacitors, resistors and other components. Furthermore, indium oxide is used to form thin film infra-red reflectors.The dark yellow pigment imparted by indium oxide enables the formation of histological stain formulations, in order to study biological samples under microscopes. The nanowires composed out of this chemical are used as redox protein sensors, owing to which they find application in biotechnological studies and biomedical devices.Get FREE PDF Brochure For More Professional and Technical Insights :Furthermore, indium oxide is used in solar cells due to which it finds application in renewable power generation sources. It can be doped with several materials such as silicon and gallium to form hetero-junctions thereby imparting electrical conductivity to them.Indium Oxide Market: DriversThe growing demand for semiconductors from the electronics industry has been propelling the indium oxide market. Nanowires, batteries, electrically charged nanoparticles, optical and anti static coatings among others are extensively used in the electronics industry. Furthermore, electrically charged ceramics find application in electronic parts required in aircrafts and sub marines which have to withstand extreme pressure and temperature conditions. However, the inhalation of indium oxide causes nasal irritation, skin and lung infections owing to which its use is highly regulated in countries such as the U.S and Western Europe. The growing GDP of emerging economies such as China and India is expected to open new avenues of opportunity for the indium oxide market.Indium Oxide Market: Regional DynamicsCountries such as China, India and South Korea dominate the global electronics market. There is widespread use of indium oxide in these countries owing to the numerous applications of indium oxide in the electronics industry. In Europe, indium oxide nanoparticles are used by CERN- the European organization for nuclear research. Additionally, in the U.S. indium oxide is used in histo-pathological applications for staining of biological samples. The flourishing biotechnology industry in Israel and the U.S. are minor users of indium oxide for specialty stains.Countries such as China and India manufacture mercury-free batteries for use in power back-up inverters. These batteries find application in household inverters. The Indian sub continent and Africa are large markets for mercury-free inverters, owing to which indium oxide has a large consumption in these countries.Indium Oxide Market: Key PlayersThe key players in this market are Beijing Cerametek Materials Co., Ltd. Tekra, A Division of EIS, Inc., Umicore Marketing Services, Genvac Aerospace, Inc, Photo Sciences, Inc, Thin Film Devices, Inc, Thin Film Devices, Inc, Colorado Concept Coatings, LLC, Shanghai Huzheng Nano Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai Huzheng Nanotechnology Co., Ltd, China Leadmat Advanced Materials Co., Ltd, Shanghai Huzheng Nano Technology Co., Ltd., Zhongnuo Advanced Material Technology Co., Ltd, Huizhou Tianyi Rare Material Co., Ltd, Xuzhou Jiechuang New Materials Technology Co., Ltd and Huizhou Tianyi Rare Material Co., Ltd among others.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactMr. Sudip. STransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit :
Automotive Coatings Market Size set to exceed $28 Billion by 2022: Global Market Insights, Inc.

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Automotive Coatings Market size was calculated at 3.76 million tons in 2014, as per the latest research report by Global Market Insights, Inc. Increase in consumer preference to safeguard the vehicle from foreign particles, UV radiation, extreme temperature conditions and acid rain will boost global automotive coatings market size. Key attributing factors, aesthetic appearance and durability, also play significant role in influencing consumer preference.To access sample pages or view this report in detail along with the table of contents, please on click the link below:Automotive coatings market size is set to register USD 28.3 billion by 2022. Automotive refinish coatings market will positively influence demand owing to increase in number of vehicle body and repair shops for damage recovery & timely maintenance.Get Sample Research Report:Solvent borne coatings dominated the demand by accounting over 43% of the total volume in 2014. Solvent borne technology is predicted to sluggishly grow owing to stringent measures taken by regulators to curb VoC emissions, particularly in the U.S. and EU.In the U.S., manufacturers of paints & coatings should comply with regulations levied by EPA. This has led to increase usage of waterborne, powder and UV-cured coatings.Key raw materials, titanium oxide, additives, pigments and resins face supply imbalance and price fluctuations, which may affect costing and result in upswing of automotive coating market price.Technology innovation towards reducing manufacturing costs and enhancing product performance may provide new growth opportunities and increase industry profitability.Key insights from the report include: Global automotive coatings market size is forecast to grow at 4.9% CAGR and reach 5.51 million tons by 2022. Basecoat automotive coatings demand was largest and accounted for over 38% of the total demand in 2014. Basecoat products, mainly metallic paints, pearlescent paints and solid paints, are preferred by OEMs to impart exterior aesthetics and decorative effects. Metal applications were dominant and accounted for over 70% of the total automotive coating market share in 2014. Predominant use of steel and aluminum for vehicle production is expected driver influencing demand. Plastic applications, influenced by vehicle weight reduction along with better fuel efficiency, expect highest gains at 5.2% CAGR up to 2022. APAC, led by India and China automotive coatings market size, was dominant regional base, with overall consumption of over 2 million tons in 2014. Favorable regulations supporting FDI to set up automobile base in China, India, Indonesia and Thailand coupled with rise in per-capita disposable income, expects surge in demand. China light vehicle OEM demand generated close to USD 1.8 billion in 2014 and expects to significantly grow at over 5.2% CAGR up to 2022. North America, dominated by U.S. consumer base, most likely will generate over USD 5.5 billion revenue by 2022. U.S. waterborne automotive coatings market size was worth over USD 870 million in 2014. Germany powder coatings demand was worth close to USD 290 million in 2014. This technology expects to grow at significant rate with over 4.5% CAGR by 2022. Global automotive coatings market share is competitive and consolidated, with PPG Industries, Axalta, BASF and Kansai catering to major industry demand. Nippon, AkzoNobel, Arkema, Berger, Eastman, DSM and Solvay are among notable key industry players.Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Global Market Insights Inc.8, The GreenSuite #4594Dover, DE 19901United StatesWeb:
Stalcor is now officially stocking EZ Rails products

www.ezrails.co.za

www.ezrails.co.za

Pretoria, South Africa - 30/05/2016  As part of an initiative to get as many individuals aware of EZ Rails easy-to-install, strong, safe and affordable stainless steel products, EZ Rails and Stalcor has joined teams to make products more accessible to people such as contractors, handymen and even highly capable housewives who have a need for it.As South Africas third largest steel, stainless steel and aluminium supplier, Stalcor has been in business since 1973, being ISO 9001 compliant and continuously adhering to important Global Best Practices  being internationally recognised for their quality standards and wide range of products.Together with Stalcor, EZ Rails aims to provide SABS tested and approved stainless steel products  which require no hard-core tools to install, no grinding or mitering, or even highly skilled individuals to assemble the products. All thats required is a rough sketch of the exact location youd like your balustrades to be installed, and EZ Rails will do the rest. Their products are made to fit together using the most basic tools, without needing to weld any attachments together. This makes the installation process not only easy, but safe for those individuals who dont have technical experience installing balustrades.Being in a partnership with Stalcor, who has branches in Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and surrounding areas within South Africa, EZ Rails can reach individuals far and beyond Gauteng  needing easy-to-install and safe stainless steel products. The following products are offered by EZ Rails: Staircase DIY Gate Kit Systems Horizontal Tube Balustrades Vertical Tube Balustrades Glass Balustrades Kit with Top Rail Glass Balustrade Kit without Top Rail Pool Kits Cable Balustrade Systems Wall Side Mounted Handrail Kits Fin Balustrade Systems Frameless Glass Systems Decorative Stainless Steel PipesWe look forward to working with them and using more distribution channels for our EZ Rails products, according to EZ Rails website. Never underestimate a good partnership, especially if its between two of the most recognised stainless steel product suppliers in South Africa.EZ Rails Balustrading SolutionsPhysical address:191 Edison Cres, Centurion0172, GautengSouth Africa+27 12 653 0053/3955EZ Rails is South Africas safest, easiest, quickest and most budget-friendly supplier of stainless steel products, including balustrades and staircases.EZ Rails Balustrading Solutions191 Edison Cres, Centurion0172, GautengSouth Africa+27 12 653 0053/3955
Batoi Showcases Its New IoT-enabled Apps Framework at Sensor+Test 2016

Sensor+Test 2016

The future belongs to measuring technologies which can establish a communication between devices short-circuiting human intervention. The data is the blood flowing in the arteries of the future industry - and most things in the Internet of Things (IoT) will turn out to be measuring sensors. This development - and its inherent risks - were elucidated at the special topic Measuring in the Cloud.Nuremberg, Germany, May 12, 2016 - (PressReleasePoint) - After three exciting days Sensor+Test 2016 closed its doors on May 12. Sensor+Test 2016 have been thriving with excitement and Batoi's debut at the tradeshow was a complete success. This success is attributable to the new IoT-enabled Apps Framework of Batoi that was showcased at the tradeshow along with the different products and services demonstrated at the Stand 5-511/6 that received great interest and enthusiasm by the many guests and visitors.This was the first time in the Sensor+Test event where software companies with capability to create applications on cloud to measure data from sensors were invited to exhibit their products and services.There was a continual flow of visitors to Batoi's stall throughout the course of the 3-day exhibition. Batoi, with its IoT enabled Open Source Apps Framework attracted visitors from different countries in mainland Europe and elsewhere. Representatives from Batoi gladly answered and demonstrated the capabilities of what Batoi's new product line has to offer.The other aspect of the Sensor+Test 2016 that was also very successful for Batoi was generating a large volume of interest in its products by companies that opened the door to many new business partnership possibilities. In fact a few companies have also agreed to work with Batoi to create industry solutions using smart devices and Batoi's Enterprise Apps Platform."We felt as if we were in a real business atmosphere. It was a great opportunity to network with many key contacts, enjoy conversations with interested visitors from different countries and receive feedback on our products and solutions. We have reached the understanding for a couple of strategic partnerships, which is an extremely positive result," commented Mr. Ashwini Rath, Director and CEO of Batoi.Batoi makes your business automation and data visualization easier. Batoi enables you to understand, manage and grow your business using IT. Batoi provides software applications, tools and services for ERP, CRM, Content Management and Knowledge Management.Batoi's enterprise application platform uses open source technologies. This helps Batoi products have rapid organic evolution. It also lowers the effective cost for IT implementation for a business. Batoi platform is capable of deploying, scaling, and securing your software applications in SaaS model or on-premises.Whether you need a website, an e-commerce storefront or software to manage data and workflows for your business, Batoi provides all of these solutions on cloud and without any large capital investments.Batoi Systems Private LimitedPlot No. 421, Saheed Nagar, Bhubaneswar 751007
Export Global Opportunities at Cibus, International Food Exhibition in Parma

Total success for Cibus 2016 International Food Exhibition, the key event of the Italian agri-food sector organised by Fiere di Parma and Federalimentare, a true platform enabling the companies committed to Made in Italy food to meet the major distributors, importers and professional of domestic and foreign markets, with three thousand exhibitors spread over 130 thousand square metres and 72 thousand visitors, of whom 16 thousand were foreign operators and 2,200 top buyers. Also Export Global Opportunities Export Managers actively attended the exhibition.An unprecedented high in terms of success for exhibitors, visitors, buyers and volume of business, even though a record number of exhibitors came to Parma two years ago for the previous Cibus 2014, with 67 thousand visitors and 13 thousand foreign operators. Cibus is a constantly growing exhibition for the volume of business it generates: the number of exhibitors has grown by 7,5% compared to the previous edition while the exhibiting area increased by 8%. With 3,000 thousand exhibiting companies representing all product sectors such as meats and cold meats, cheeses and dairy products, fresh and frozen delicatessen, pasta, preserves and sauces, confectionery and bakery products, ready-to- eat, beverages, typical and regional products, more than 72thousand visitors came in 2016, 16 thousand foreign operators (60% increase by 2014) CIBUS means huge new opportunities to increase exports and gain new positions in foreign markets.The Italian Food and Wine sector, pride of Made in Italy in the world, shows that theres still room for growth, especially for small and medium Italian manufacturers, carriers of excellence and ancient wisdoms. Wines and the Italian foods have been increasingly successful in the world, and Export Global Opportunities partnership means a true possibility to increase the visibility and awareness of the company brand, highlighting Made in Italy quality and its strengths. Being able to make buyers know the best food, the quality, refinement and design of the beautiful country, has always been the goal of Export Global Opportunities, as well as the ability to bring together and connect the best Italian suppliers with the most important international buyers. Thanks to the experience of its Export Managers, Export Global Opportunities offers a personalized service to companies that want to export abroad, taking advantage of the opportunity of the events and international fairs as a valuable tool in pursuing their goals.Please feel free to contact us for any enquiry: marketing@exportglobalopportunities.itExport Global Opportunities offers complete support and opportunity to meet skilled Italian suppliersStudio ZanettiRipa Ticinese 39Milan - Italy
Vietnam Agricultural Machinery Market Outlook to 2020  Government Initiatives to Increase Mechanization and Enhancing Credit Availability to Drive Future Growth

https://www.kenresearch.com/agriculture-and-animal-care/agriculture-equipment/vietnam-farm-equipment-implements-market/27110-104.html

Vietnam Agricultural Machinery Market Outlook to 2020  Government Initiatives to Increase Mechanization and Enhancing Credit Availability to Drive Future Growth provides a comprehensive analysis of the agricultural machinery market in Vietnam. The report covers aspects such as the market size on the basis of sales volume and revenue for tractors, combine harvesters, rice transplanters and tractor implements (rotavators, disk harrows, disk ploughs, fertilizer spreaders and others). The segmentation for Tractors, Combine Harvesters and Rice Transplanters has been created on the basis of Horsepower while the segmentation for Tractor Implements has been showcased by products. The report also covers the market share, competitive landscape and working business model of major manufacturers, along with warranty policies and distribution channels of agricultural equipments. In addition to this, the report also covers the country overview, government regulation and agricultural overview of Vietnam. GDP, per capita income and population demographics are analyzed in country overview. Land under cultivation, changes in cropping patterns, farm holding structure and scale of mechanization are covered in agricultural overview. Regulatory policies, the import duty structure, certification and emission standard, subsidies and financing options are covered in government regulation. This report will help industry consultants, agricultural machinery manufacturers and dealers, retail chains, potential entrants and other stakeholders to align their market centric strategies according to the ongoing and expected trends in the future.Market for agricultural machinery in Vietnam has enhanced by a CAGR of ~ % over the period 2010-2015.Sales for new agricultural machinery and tractor implements were recorded at ~ in Vietnam during 2010.Sales revenue amounted to USD ~ million in 2010.Sales of new two wheel tractors in Vietnam were recorded at ~ units in 2015. This has resulted in a revenue generation of USD ~ million in 2015. Usage of 7-12 HP agricultural tractors in Vietnam has declined as the average farm size and horse power requirement of people in the county has enhanced. Two wheel tractors/power tillers of category 12-26 HP have accounted for a sales volume share of ~ % in Vietnam during 2015.The rice transplanter market of Vietnam has augmented from USD ~ thousand in 2010 to USD ~ thousand in 2015, showcasing a CAGR of ~ % during the review period. While sales of new rice transplanters have increased from ~ in 2010 to ~ in 2015. 4-Row (walk behind) rice transplanters have accounted for the largest share of ~ % in the sales volume during 2015.Combine harvester market has been the second largest segment of the agricultural equipment market of Vietnam over the period 2010-2015. The market for combine harvesters in the country has alleviated from USD ~ million in 2010 to USD ~ million in 2015. Such growth in revenues has projected CAGR of ~ % over the period 2010-2015. Sale of new combine harvesters in Vietnam has been reported at ~ in 2015.Tractor implements are indispensible requirements for farmers in Vietnam. A tractor without an implement has no major use in farming. Therefore the market for implements has enhanced in line with the tractor market over the period 2010-2015. Revenue of the new tractor implements market have augmented from USD ~ million in 2010 to USD ~ million in 2015, reporting a CAGR of ~ % during the review period. Rotavators have accounted for the largest share of ~ % in the sales volume of the total implements during 2015. Rotavators market in the country has been estimated at USD ~ million in 2015.Agricultural Machinery Market in Vietnam has been dominated by Kubota which has captured a share of ~ % in the sales of new 4 wheel tractors in Vietnam during 2015. It has accounted a sales volume share of ~ % and ~ % in combine harvester and rice transplanter market of Vietnam during 2015. Kubota has ~ exclusive dealers located throughout the country. Kubota has been followed by Yanmar which has accounted for a market share of ~ %, ~ % and ~ % in the sales of new 4 wheel tractors, combine harvesters and rice transplanters during 2015 respectively.In the two wheel tractor/power tiller market, Kubota has been given tough competition by a domestic Player, VEAM (Iseki) which has garnered a market share of ~ % in the two wheel segment. On the other hand Kubota has contributed ~ % to the sales of new two wheel tractors in the country during 2015. VEAM has the largest dealer network in the country.Kubota is the most dominant player in the agricultural machinery market of Vietnam as of 2015. Their business model in a nutshell can be simply described as manufacture and sell through a large dealer network. Yanmars business model in Vietnam is considerably different from Kubota. Yanmar does not have a manufacturing facility in Vietnam and therefore follows an import oriented business model.For agricultural machinery, VEAM follows an import oriented business model. VEAM is in collaboration with Iseki of Japan, which acts as the provider of all its agricultural products. It imports CKD Iseki tractors from Japan and sells in Vietnam.Various methods such as proximity of dealers to farmers, road shows, salesmen, tie ups with local agri associations and others are used by OEMs o reach out to the farmers in Vietnam.As of 2015, ~ % of the machinery in Vietnam is owned, while the remaining ~ % is hired. As of 2015, Private households own ~ % of four-wheel tractors (with capacity more than 35 hp), ~ % of 12-35 hp tractors, ~ % of two-wheel tractors (with capacity under 12 hp). The remaining share has been accounted by enterprises, cooperatives, and farms.It is essential to understand the decision making process of farmers in the procurement of agricultural equipments. Region and land holding size are the primary factors that determine the type of agricultural machines a farmer would like to purchase. Apart from this, certain secondary factors such as the type of crop, fuel efficiency of the desired equipment, cost of implements, brand and the credit availability will determine the quantity and types of machinery that would be demanded by the farmer. Usage pattern of farm equipments play an essential role in understanding the intensity of farming that occurs in a given year. It has been estimated that tractors are used for ~ to ~ hours a year. On an average, the tractors used for agriculture in Vietnam have a lifespan of ~ hours. Combine harvesters are used only during the harvest season due to which their average usage a year amounts to ~ to ~ hours. Rice can be planted and harvested a maximum of 2-3 times a year due to which the usage pattern for Rice Transplanters ranges from ~ to ~ hours a year.Key Topics Covered in the Report: The Gross Domestic Product on the Basis of Nominal and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) in Vietnam, 2010-2015, 2016, 2020 and 2015 Key Factors Expected To Drive Growth in GDP Contribution to GDP of Vietnam by Agriculture, Manufacturing and Service Sector, 2010-2020 The Population Dynamics in Vietnam on the Basis of Rural to Urban and Agriculture to Non-Agriculture, 2010-2020 The GDP Per Capita on the Basis of Nominal and Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) in Vietnam, 2010-2015, 2016, 2020 and 2015 The Logistics Cost for Transporting a Tractor by Road in Vietnam, 2015 Total Land Under Cultivation and Distribution by Major Crops (Rice, Cassava, Rubber and Sugarcane) Changing Cropping Pattern in Vietnam and Factors Driving Change Nature of Ownership[, Farm Holding Structure and Regulatory Policies Impacting Farm Holding Structure in Vietnam Agricultural Practice in Vietnam on the basis of Scale of Mechanization, Extensive and Intensive and Irrigated Land Government Policy impacting the Agricultural Equipment Market in Vietnam on the basis of Import Duty Structure, Subsidies, Taxes Certification and Emission Standards Vietnam Agricultural Equipment Market Size on the Basis of Revenue in USD Million and Sales in Units, 2010-2015 Vietnam Agricultural Equipment Market Segmentation By Major Products on the Basis of Revenue in USD Million, 2010 and 2015 Vietnam Tractor Market Size on the Basis of Revenue in USD Million and Sales in Units, 2010-2015 Vietnam Tractor Market Segmentation by Power on the Basis of Sales Volume, 2010-2015 Vietnam Combine Harvester Market Size on the Basis of Revenue in USD Million and Sales in Units, 2010-2015 Vietnam Combine Harvester Market Segmentation by Power on the Basis of Sales Volume, 2010-2015 Vietnam Rice Transplanter Market Size on the basis of Revenue in USD Million , 2010-2015 Vietnam Rice Transplanter Market Segmentation by power on the Basis of Sales Volume, 2010 and 2015 Vietnam Tractor Implements Market Size on the Basis of Revenue in USD Million, 2010-2015 Vietnam Tractor Implements Market Segmentation By Major Products Market Share and competitive Landscape of Leading Manufacturers in Vietnam Agricultural Equipment Market on the Basis of Sales Volume in Units, 2015 Competitive Landscape of Major Manufacturers in Vietnam Agricultural Equipment Market, 2015 Price Range for Agricultural Equipments in Vietnam - Dealer Price and Retail Customer Price, 2015 Tractor and Tractor Implements Channel Strategies in Vietnam After Sales Warranty and Support Policies for Agricultural Equipments in Vietnam, 2015 Export-Import of Agricultural Equipments in Vietnam, 2010-2015 Decision Making Process and Usage Pattern for Agricultural Equipments in Vietnam, 2015Source:Contact:Ken ResearchAnkur Gupta, Head Marketing & CommunicationsAnkur@kenresearch.com+91-9015378249Ken Research is a Global aggregator and publisher of Market intelligence research reports, equity reports, data base directories and economy reports. The company is engaged in data analytics and aids clients in due-diligence, product expansion, plant setup, acquisition intelligence to all the other gamut of objectives through our research focus.27A, Tower B-2, Spaze I Tech Business Park, Sohna Road, sector 49 Gurgaon, Haryana - 122001, India
Art history  In the eye of the beholder

http://kunstgeschichte.univie.ac.at/en

http://fwf.ac.at/en

http://www.prd.at/en

What viewers of a work of art see and feel is informed by their socio-cultural background and by how familiar they are with the image. Art historians have now verified this theory with the help of methods that are usually used in psychology. This project is funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF.The influence culture has on an individual's experience and behaviour is a long-standing object of research on which substantial material has been assembled. Studies also show that the socio-cultural environment has an impact on visual perception. Yet until recently there were no investigations in art history that could demonstrate empirically that in art perception viewers indeed have a "cultural eye".The impact of culture"The questions as to whether and to what extent visual habits and works of art are informed by the cultural environment of a given period are still a central issue in art history", explains art historian Raphael Rosenberg from the University of Vienna. He cites a prime example: the emphasis on geometry in early-Renaissance Italian painting as opposed to the calligraphic focus in late-Gothic painting in southern Germany. Art historians use the term "period eye" to describe the impact of cultural and social circumstances on the work of artists and the perception of art viewers.High-tech art researchIn an ongoing project that is funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF Rosenberg collected empirical evidence with a well-proven method from psychology: Eye tracking. In the world's first eye-tracking lab for art history, which Rosenberg moved from Heidelberg to Vienna in 2009, he implemented several devices and developed with computer scientists form the University of Tubingen a new software in order to analyse not only patterns of attention, but also the movements of the eyes. A device developed in this project with the Fraunhofer institute Ilmenau enables to capture people's eye movements without physical contact while they are viewing paintings in a museum.Austria vs. JapanOver the past two years Rosenberg and his team have conducted a comparative cross-cultural study. Eye tracking data was collected from a group of people from Japan and a group from Austria, each numbering 50 individuals who looked at paintings from different historical periods and both cultures. The visual cultures of these two countries are markedly different  but would this become apparent in the test persons' eye movements? The answer is both "yes" and "no". The researchers' assumption that a person's customary reading direction may be relevant in viewing a painting has not been confirmed to date, although the evaluation of the data is still under way. "In both groups, there was an emphasis on horizontal eye movements", notes Hanna Brinkmann, a member of the project team, about the initial results. Brinkmann thinks this may be explained by the influence of the internet, which increasingly encourages people in Japan to write in horizontal rather than vertical lines.Analytical vs. holisticWhat does seem to be confirmed, however, is a cultural difference in the tendency to concentrate on the foreground or background of images, which is connected to the theory of western-type individualism as opposed to Asian collectivism. The Japanese respondents clearly focussed more attention on the background of the paintings than the Austrian viewers, who tended to concentrate more on the figures in the foreground. In addition to these two groups, the team of principal investigator Rosenberg also obtained a large amount of data from visitors of Vienna's "Kunsthistorisches Museum". For four weeks, the eye movements of more than 800 people were tracked without their initial knowledge. This was followed by a questionnaire, in which the individuals provided data for additional evaluation. "We use eye-tracking to open up new ways to better understand differences between groups of living persons and to develop an apparatus that should enable us to explain historical differences", says Raphael Rosenberg about why he is interested in this field.Art and genderIn addition to cultural influences and collective differences such as script, geometry, analytical or holistic thinking, another important factor in visual perception is gender. This explains why the issue of "gender" is the second key area of the FWF-funded project. At the laboratory, Mario Thalwitzer, a member of the project team, analysed the way female and male figures are perceived by male and female viewers as well as differences in the gaze of men and women using eye-tracking data. The team is trying to verify research hypotheses postulating that men have a more focussed gaze while women are more attentive to context.FWF Austrian Science FundThe Austrian Science Fund (FWF) is Austria's central funding organization for basic research.The purpose of the FWF is to support the ongoing development of Austrian science and basic research at a high international level. In this way, the FWF makes a significant contribution to cultural development, to the advancement of our knowledge-based society, and thus to the creation of value and wealth in Austria.Scientific Contact:Professor Raphael RosenbergDepartment of Art HistoryUniversity of ViennaSpitalgasse 2, Hof 91090 ViennaT 43 / 1 / 4277-414 20E raphael.rosenberg@univie.ac.atAustrian Science Fund FWF:Marc SeumenichtHaus der ForschungSensengasse 11090 ViennaT +43 / 1 / 505 67 40  8111E marc.seumenicht@fwf.ac.atDistribution:PR&D  Public Relations for Research & EducationMariannengasse 81090 ViennaT +43 / 1 / 505 70 44E contact@prd.at
Global Digital Blood Pressure Monitor Industry 2016 Driving Company Investments, Projects, Advancements, Applications and SWOT Analysis

http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=724338&type=E

Global Digital Blood Pressure Monitor Industry 2016 Market Overview, Size, Share, Trends, Analysis, Technology, Applications, Growth, Market Status, Demands, Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2016-2020.The report on the Digital Blood Pressure Monitor market has been collated by encapsulating numerous components including recommendations and inputs from top industry leaders located in different locations. The purpose of the report is to gather the recent developments and updates taking place in the Global Digital Blood Pressure Monitor Market. The prime business strategies used by existing vendors within the market have also been included under this study. These strategies are essential for upcoming vendors to take better business decisions.The global report on the Digital Blood Pressure Monitor market includes estimates for both revenue and size and is a collation of expert evaluation, backed by the latest and meticulous research methodology. The major trends prevalent in the global market have also been included in this study. The report comprises insightful references on the already established major players along with presenting insights on the upcoming market entrants. It employs numerous analysis tools including Porters Fiver Forces and SWOT analysis for analyzing the data of the Digital Blood Pressure Monitor market.An evaluation has also been presented on the basis of geography and provides a crisp viewpoint on the major drivers propelling the development of the global Digital Blood Pressure Monitor market. Likewise, the major restraints inhibiting the development of the market also form a key part of this study. Numerous other market dynamics such as the market opportunities and growth prospects have also been elaborated upon in this study. Next, the key regional markets have been assessed, throwing light on the most dominant region in the forecast period. The market share, forecast data, and size of these regions are also a major part of this study. This data has been compiled to be useful for both upcoming and already established companies for understanding the investment scope within the key regions dominant in the global Digital Blood Pressure Monitor market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @QYResearchReports.com is the trusted source of market research reports among clients that include prestigious Chinese companies, multinational companies, SMEs, and private equity firms. Our market research reports focus on categories including but not limited to: Chemicals, Energy, Alternative and Green Energy, Machinery, Manufacturing, Glass, Pharmaceuticals and Materials.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States
Akshaya Patra Conferred Upon the Nikkei Asia Prize 2016

Receiving Nikkei Asia 2016 award

www.akshayapatra.org

Bengaluru, 30 May 2016: The Akshaya Patra Foundation has been honoured with the Nikkei Asia Prize to add to its rich credentials. Akshaya Patra is recognised for its contributions in the field of Economic and Business Innovation. Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa, Chairman of The Akshaya Patra Foundation received the honour at the award ceremony of Nikkei Asia Prize on Sunday, May 29 in Tokyo. The winners have been awarded three million yen each along with a certificate by Naotoshi Okada, President, CEO of Nikkei Inc.Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa is attending the official dinner of the Future of Asia conference on the evening of May 30, 2016. Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Shinzo Abe will be contributing his invaluable remarks to this event.The Honourable Minister for Higher Education and Tourism, Karnataka R.V. Deshpande congratulated the entire team of The Akshaya Patra Foundation on being honoured with Nikkei Asia Prize.Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa said, I accept this honour and the prize of 3 million JYN, with a profound sense of gratitude to Nikkei Inc and with humility on behalf of our movement and for the benefit of those 1.5 million children whose lives has changed because of a wholesome meal day after day.Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa also thanked the Government of India and all the State Governments for their continued support and encouragement. He added, I would like to share this award with all my mentors, advisors, trustees, donors and friends and over 6000 staff members of the foundation who have given Akshaya Patra their valuable time, wisdom and support.Shri Madhu Pandit Dasa stressed that people are not powerless to change this dire situation. "We can unleash the compensating force of compassion in the hearts of the rich to share their wealth, at least to meet the basic needs of humanity. It is only by promoting and awakening this virtue of compassion, and turning into action in human society, that we can make this world more inclusive, equitable and sustainable."Nikkei Asia Prize, an annual award, is instituted to recognise outstanding achievements contributing to sustainable development and for a better future of Asia. Since 1996, Nikkei Inc., one of the largest media corporation in Japan has been presenting the awards to honour people in Asia who have made significant contributions in one of the three areas: Economic and Business Innovation, Science, Technology and Environment and Culture and Community. Nikkei Inc. established these awards in 1996 in commemoration of the company's 120th anniversary.About Madhu Pandit DasaMadhu Pandit Dasa designed the first centralised kitchen of Akshaya Patra, to provide mid-day meals to underserved children in the Government schools of Bengalurus rural district during July 2000. Under his inspiring leadership and impeccable commitment, the organisation grew unceasingly towards its mission of feeding 5 million children by 2020. It has grown from serving 1500 to 1.5 million children in 16 years, becoming the worlds largest NGO-run school lunch programme. A Harvard case study, the Foundation has recently served its 2 billionth meal.Madhu Pandit Dasa set up a robust Governance Model that has made Akshaya Patra a hallmark of transparency and accountability. It is highlighted by the fact that Akshaya Patra is the only NGO in the country to win the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) Gold Shield Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting five times in a row and placed in its prestigious Hall of Fame.Madhu Pandit Dasa has completed his B.Tech in Civil Engineering from IIT-Mumbai in the year 1980. While he was doing his M.Tech course in IIT-Mumbai in 1981, he dedicated himself to the service of humanity by becoming a full-time member of ISKCON. Apart from being the Chairman of Akshaya Patra, he also serves as the President of ISKCON Bangalore and Chairman of Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir.About The Akshaya Patra Foundation: The Akshaya Patra Foundation is a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Bengaluru, India. The organization strives to fight issues like hunger and malnutrition in India. By implementing the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Government schools and Government aided schools, The Akshaya Patra Foundation aims not only to fight hunger but also to bring children to school.For more details, please log on:The Akshaya Patra Foundation,#72, 3rd Floor, 3rd Main Road, 1st & 2nd StageYeshwantpur Industrial Suburb, Rajajinagar Ward No. 10Bengaluru  560022Shwetha KN / +91 9480 313890 / shwetha.kn@akshayapatra.org
Specialty Pesticides Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013  2019

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=1332

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/

http://globalresearchanalysis.blogspot.in/

Pesticides are the chemicals which are used for preventing, mitigating or destroying pests. These pesticides are used to kill or dampen the growth of pests. Specialty pesticides are used to improve the quality of health. Insecticides help prevent the destruction of crops from insects resulting in proper growth of the crops. Depending on the types of pests, there are different pesticides available that include Organophosphate pesticides, Carbamate pesticides and Pyrethroid pesticides. These pesticides are used in and around homes, offices and farms.Pesticides are generally used for killing mosquitoes, bees and ants. They are also used to control the growth of algae, water grasses roadside weeds. and trees In order to prevent the loss of crops to insects pesticides are utilized. WHO (World Health Organization) has advised the used of DDT (Dichloro diphenyl Tricholoroethane) in order to combat malaria, plague, typhus and sleeping sickness. The records of WHO suggests that utilization of DDT has helped in saving approximately seven million lives.Download And Get FREE Sample PDF File Of Specialty pesticides :The consumption of pesticides have been over five million pounds with herbicides being consumed the most followed by insecticides and then fungicides. In many of the countries sale and use of pesticides are regulated by the government agencies. The primary driver for the market is ever growing population. The increasing demands of the growing population such as foods have resulted in the use of pesticides which yields better cultivation. Pesticides have also created job opportunities for the people working in the industry. It has created vacancies for bio-medical engineers and labors. It is complemented with continuous innovation that has created opportunities in the research and development cell.The major consumers of pesticides are some of the developed countries including North America, Western Europe and Japan. Herbicides dominate the markets in this region. The developing countries such as India, China, and Singapore among others lag in the use of pesticides. Insecticides are prominently used as it is no longer protected by the patent making it cheap as compared to herbicides and fungicides.BayerSyngenta, BASF, DOW, Monsanto, Arysta Lifescience, Sumitomo Chemical, DuPont (USA), Makhteshim Agan are some of the major companies that deal in the manufacturing of specialty pesticides.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactMr. Sudip. STransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit :
CONQUEREM - Helping businesses find and compare Market Research and boutique strategy consulting firms across emerging markets

Conquerem

www.conquerem.com

www.conquerem.com

Conquerem is a concise way of saying Conquer Emerging Markets. Conquerem helps large, ambitious businesses find and compare Market Research, Entry & Growth consulting firms in more than 50 emerging countries. Conquerem has built one of the most extensive databases of such knowledge partners and service providers in Emerging markets, by extensively mapping more than 2000 firms.Over the last decade, the world has witnessed a global economic slowdown. This impacted the businesses i.e. the buyers of Market Research & strategy consulting services in more ways than one  their focus increased on emerging markets of the world and they became more cost and quality conscious than ever before. Every emerging market poses unique local, language and cultural entry barriers for international businesses and therefore this opened up a huge market opportunity for local market research, entry and growth consulting firms to provide a foothold for expanding businesses. The challenge is that emerging markets are now flooded with market research firms and strategy consultancies of all shapes and sizes with no clear grounds to compare and differentiate. Moreover, the potential clients sitting in different parts of the globe dont have an avenue to discover and compare these firms, and as a result depend to adhoc internet search results to find firms, hoping to get lucky.This is where Conquerem comes in. As per Conquerems founder & CEO, Rachit Khosla, Conquerem works as a marketplace++ model for Market Research and boutique strategy firms. Clients can use Conquerems free Request for Proposal (RFP) builder, which has been put together after extensive industry interaction, to draft an extensive RFP document. Conquerems proprietary matchmaking algorithm then sends the RFP to relevant service providers who are invited in a time bound bidding process. The clients identity can be kept confidential based on their preference.The biggest value addition for the client is the ability to view the bid results in his personalized dashboard, where the bids are compared on 10+ parameters including execution team, # of interviews or sample size, terms & conditions, duration of engagement, fee, et al. This encourages the business to make a decision keeping into account all factors and not just price. As a result of this model, clients are able to find their best fit service providers to enter newer markets. Furthermore, such an exercise ensures that there will be no shocks or deal breakers when the clients and service providers proceed to freezing the deal offline.For more information, visit us ator drop us a line at info@conquerem.com.Conquerem was founded by Rachit Khosla and Namrata Singh in mid-2015. Rachit has rich experience of advising Fortune 500s and large conglomerates on Asia Market entry and growth strategies. Rachit was the former Country Manager and Director of Solidiance. Namrata was the manager at School of Inspired Leadership and has formerly also worked with Tech Mahindra. Both Rachit & Namrata are alumni of Manchester Business School, UK. Conquerem company launched this platform in early 2016. Conquerem have headquarters in New Delhi, India.Conquerem Online Services Private Limited21, Kasturba Gandhi Marg,New Delhi - 110 001Indiainfo@conquerem.com
Global Intrathecal Pumps Market Will Grow At A CAGR Of 4.27% During The Period 2016-2020

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http://www.researchmoz.us/global-intrathecal-pumps-market-2016-2020-report.html

http://www.researchmoz.us/

Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Intrathecal Pumps Market 2016-2020" to its huge collection of research reports.Intrathecal pumps are a category of analgesic infusion pumps that deliver medication into the individual's body for pain management. The intrathecal drug delivery pump is a method of giving medication directly to the spinal cord to stop pain signals from being perceived by the brain. These pumps are small-sized implantable infusion devices. The intrathecal pumps delivery method can minimize chronic pain and trauma caused by several chronic diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis. It consists of small pump or reservoir that is surgically located under the skin of the abdomen and transports medication through a catheter to intrathecal space or subarachnoid space.Technavios analysts forecast the global intrathecal pumps market to grow at a CAGR of 4.27% during the period 2016-2020.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global intrathecal pumps market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market size, Technavio uses revenue generated from the sales of intrathecal pumps.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEANew report, Global Intrathecal Pumps Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsCodman & ShurtleffFlowonix MedicalMedtronicTeleflexBrowse Detail Report With TOC @Other prominent vendorsAdvanced BionicsAdvance Neuromodulation SystemBaxterBoston ScientificDJO GlobalDynacastInteprodMedallion TherapeuticsMedasysPerlong Medical EquipmentQinhuangdao Sanwin TradingSmiths MedicalSt. Jude MedicalStrykerTricumedMarket driverFavorable insurance programsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeLimited number of approved medicationsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendsExpanding applications of intrathecal pumps and customizable dosage of medicationFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2020 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074
DCI's New Infographic on Web Trends of 2016 Gives You A Digital Edge!

http://www.dotcominfoway.com/

Dot Com Infoway, one of Indias top app developer agencies and an international leader in digital marketing platforms and services, announces an exciting new infographic for website developers who want to know how to incorporate top 2016 trends into winning designs.The award-winning DCI, with 15 years of experience and 2,000 completed projects, is known across the world for its leadership and best practices in an industry where theyve established the DCI brand as the leader with a global reach. Now, theyre offering a clean, user-friendly infographic for web that makes it easy to understand the latest UI/UX trends, with specific options in layout, design elements and more.With helpful tips on everything from the basics of responsive web design, to options for split-screen presentation, pros and cons in scrolling choices or tips for boosting all-important interactivity, the DCI infographic proves a useful tool for those immersed in the world of web design  and for those media, content providers and marketing professionals who work closely with them to make impressions last.We realized that web design is always evolving as quickly as all of our technology is, and thats a daily reality for us with our app development and digital marketing services, said C.R. Venkatesh, CEO and managing director at DCI. What has always made the difference for our clients is not just our reach through a vast global network of publishers, but our seamless approach to platform and presentation. We incorporate new tools like Adobe Comet and Sparkbox, or techniques based in parallax scrolling, along with fresh font options, illustration capacities, and other elements to help you tell your story.DCIs embrace of marketing innovation has made then an industry frontunner, and so does the new design infographic. For more information and to request contact or services online, check. Contact DCI directly to inquire about the infographic by telephone at +91-7305800600.Dot Com Infoway, a CMMI Level 3 multinational information technology company, is a pioneer in delivering software development, mobile application and Internet marketing solutions and technologies to business. With offices in India, the United States and Germany, DCI is positioned to become a leader in delivering advanced IT services for your business.189, Aarthy chamber, Mount road,Opposite to Raj Video Vision Building,Chennai  600 006
Global Interventional Cardiology Devices Market to Reach US$11.2 bn by 2022 due to Rising Occurrence of Coronary Artery Disease

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A new Transparency Market Research report states that the global interventional cardiology devices market pegged at US$8.7 bn in 2013 is predicted to reach US$11.2 bn by 2022, expanding at a CAGR of 2.90% from 2013 to 2022.Interventional cardiology devices comprise numerous non-surgical procedures for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Interventional cardiologists use catheters to penetrate blood vessels to carry out diagnostic tests or to repair the damaged vessels or heart structures, often eliminating the requirement for surgery. These devices are majorly utilized for the treatment of heart valve disease, coronary artery disease, and peripheral vascular disease. Owing to the minimally invasive nature of interventional cardiology, this type of surgery provides advantages such as reduced cost, shorter stay at hospitals, minimal incision, and shorter recovery time.Get Complete Report Brochure PDF For Industry Insight:As stated in the report, the rising occurrence of coronary artery disease and the increasing demand for minimally invasive surgeries are amongst the major factors fuelling the growth of the market for interventional cardiology devices. In addition, the increasing rate of obesity and the expanding geriatric population base will stimulate the growth of the market. The plethora of new imaging technologies being developed will improve the percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs) diagnosis rate, hence fuelling the growth of the market. The growing usage of bio-absorbable stents as suitable substitutes to drug eluting stents and the rise of the market in emerging nations are the key growth opportunities in the market. On the other hand, the absence of supportive reimbursement systems in some of the emerging economies and the sluggish rise in the number of PCIs are amongst the chief factors impeding the growth of the market.On the basis of device type, the market is segmented into stents, catheters, imaging systems, PTCA balloons, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty guidewires, and others. Stents are further segmented into bare metal stents, bio-absorbable stents, and drug-eluting stents. Catheters are further segmented into angiography catheters, guiding catheters, pulmonary artery catheters, and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) catheters. PTCA balloons are further segmented into cutting balloons, normal balloons, drug-eluting balloons, and scoring balloons. Imaging systems are further segmented into intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and fractional flow reserve (FFR). Amongst these, the segment of stents led the market in 2013. Within this segment, drug eluting stents held the largest share in the market in 2014 and are predicted to maintain their superiority throughout the forecast horizon. The segment of normal balloons led the PTCA balloons market and is predicted to maintain its dominance through the forecast horizon.In terms of geography, the report segments the market into Europe, North America, Latin America (LATAM), Asia Pacific, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Rest of the World (RoW). Amongst these, the North America interventional cardiology devices market held the largest share and was trailed by Europe. The reason for the superiority of North America is the continuous usage of premium priced drug eluting stents and the increasing occurrence of cardiovascular diseases in this region. Asia Pacific trailed Europe and held the third-largest share in the market owing to the enhancement of healthcare infrastructure and the increasing aging population here.Browse Full Report:As per the report, the key players operating in the market are B. Braun Melsungen AG, Abbott Laboratories, Inc., Boston Scientific Corporation, Cordis Corporation, Cook Medical, Medtronic, plc., and Smiths Medical, among others.About Us:-Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact Us:-Mr.Sudip.STransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email:sales@transparencymarketresearch.com
1st prize for Buhler Motor in the ALPHAZIRKEL Family Entrepreneurship Award

Left to right: Andreas E. Mach (ALPHAZIRKEL), Mark Furtwangler and Christof Furtwangler (Buhler Motor)

www.buehlermotor.com

Nuremberg, 30.05.2016  ALPHAZIRKEL presented its newly created Family Entrepreneurship Award for the first time at the gala celebrations marking its 10th anniversary on 7 April. The Award is given by ALPHAZIRKEL to family firms that have developed and reinvented themselves through the generations in a way that serves as a model to others. The Buhler Motor Group was awarded first place from among the 14 finalists. Mark and Christof Furtwangler, representing the company's family owners, accepted the trophy, which was donated by Philipp Haindl, Managing Director of the Serafin group of companies. The art work, a rhinoceros, was manufactured by the Nymphenburg Royal Porcelain Manufactory and bears the name "Clara"."For over 160 years, Buhler has embodied an unparalleled ability to adapt to changing markets on the one hand and to new technologies on the other. Founded in 1855 as a manufacturer of wall clocks, Buhler Motor has now become an international supplier of high-tech solutions. Today, the family firm, which has ten sites on three continents, offers tailor-made products in the Automotive and Healthcare sectors plus general industrial applications", said Andreas E. Mach, founder and spokesperson of ALPHAZIRKEL in his presentation speech."We were surprised that the Buhler Motor Group was even nominated for the award. We are delighted and proud to have actually won it, and it will spur us on even further", commented Mark Furtwangler, a member of the 5th generation of the family, who has been active in the firm since 2014.With this award, ALPHAZIRKEL recognizes, in particular, the attitude of company owners and their families when it comes to dealing responsibly with their heritage and the discipline that family entrepreneurs embody in their companies and also in their families. It pays tribute to the willingness to install a manager from the outside if necessary and to separate capital and management from each other; the exemplary function of family entrepreneurs but also their readiness to let others take the reins and content themselves with a moderating, supervisory role; and the ability to modify the company and its products constantly in order to keep pace with changing markets and technologies.About ALPHAZIRKELALPHAZIRKEL is a unique platform for communication for family entrepreneurs in the German-speaking world."Encouraging an exchange of experience between family entrepreneurs, stimulating ideas, benefiting from the experience of others in succession planning and ensuring the future of the family firm, making and maintaining contacts in the business network." These were the words spoken by Andreas E. Mach when he established Alphazirkel in collaboration with family entrepreneurs and business consultants in 2006.Since its founding, over 5,000 family entrepreneurs have taken part in the regular business evenings in the Palais Montgelas in Munich, the Historic Residence of the German Ambassador in Istanbul, the Zunfthaus zur Meise in Zurich, the Hotel Sacher in Salzburg, in Berlin and in South Tyrol.About Buhler MotorBuhler Motor stands for demanding, custom-made, and reliable mechatronic drive solutions with DC/BLDC small motors and gear motors and pumps.More than one of out every ten employees at Buhler Motor works in Research and Development. Our in-house sample shop and R&D department, combined with state-of-the-art test labs, enable Buhler to concentrate completely on quick and flexible development of customer-specific drive solutions.More than 1,700 employees worldwide ensure successful development, industrialization and production of mechatronic drive solutions for mid- to high volume applications.With ten locations on three continents and highly developed process competencies, Buhler Motor is able to fulfill all customer requirements for short transit times, quality, and on-time delivery at the required volumes. The companys strategic markets include the automotive market, the healthcare equipment market, general industrial solutions in the fields of building automation, agriculture, transportation and seat actuation for aviation.Buhler Motor GmbHRoswitha GriesCorporate CommunicationAnne-Frank-Strae 33-3590459 NurnbergTel.: +49 911 45 04-1129Fax: +49 911 43 08 69-1129e-mail: Roswitha.Gries@buehlermotor.com
Faster, more flexible, more powerful and with superior process safety. Nuremberg, 29th November 2010 - Completing an order within 2 days, which previously would have taken one week, is the best way to demonstrate the advantage of the newly organized and expanded prototyping section at our site in Nuremberg. With the merger of the tooling and prototyping machine shops, and by moving next door to the labo-ratory and component inventory, we 
Vancouver are investigating a home invasion by two men who tied up one of the victims and made off with medical marijuana.

The suspects broke into the home, located in the 2400 block of Northeast 93rd Avenue, about 1 a.m. Monday, Vancouver police said in a release. A couple in their 60s who live there were asleep. Both of them men had guns and wore masks, according to a report on KOIN 6 News.

The suspects tied up the man, grabbed some medical marijuana and fled. After freeing himself, he called 911.

The couple was not injured. They told police they did not know the suspects. No one was identified by Vancouver police.

The investigation is continuing. Police asked anyone with information about the break-in to call the Vancouver tip line at 360-487-7399.

-- Lynne Terry
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Jennifer Parrott, a certified nurse practitioner, left, talks with a doctor about a patient at the Oklahoma Health Sciences Emergency Department, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on May 13.

(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

By Samuel Metz

This month, the Oregon Health Authority made a wise decision: It approved the RAND Corporation to perform its legislatively mandated study of financing high-value health care in our state.

This is no small effort. Health care in Oregon consumes about $38 billion annually (the completed study will provide a better figure) -- 18 percent of all spending in the state. This is twice what Europeans and other English-speaking countries spend on health care. Yet most measures of public health place Oregon at the bottom of the industrialized world. The rest of our country looks no better.

The RAND Corporation's first challenge is to analyze four methods of financing universal care in Oregon, in which each option must provide all Oregonians with care when they need it. Then comes the hard part: It must select the best option for our Legislature.

Why study universal care? To remedy our low-value health care spending, the Oregon Legislature recognized that every other industrialized nation provides universal care. And all these nations provide better care to more people for less money. That's "high-value."

Oregon's study focuses specifically on one aspect of high-value care: how to best collect the money (e.g., premiums, single payer, state-purchased private insurance). The study leaves for another time the question of how to best pay providers (e.g., fee for service, capitated funds, managed care).

This focus is appropriate. Oregon should not speculate on how to spend health care funds until it finds a sustainable way to collect money in the first place. Hence, the RAND Corporation's study will start Oregon's health care reform discussion, but not end it.

Why was this organization a good choice? The RAND Corporation is one of America's oldest policy-analysis think tanks, created in 1948 in the heat of the Cold War. One of its first researchers was Herman Kahn, author of "On Thermonuclear War." (Kahn was reputedly a model for Dr. Strangelove in the movie of that name.)

But the RAND Corporation expanded from national defense into health care with a dramatic series of experiments in the 1970s examining the relationship between insurance deductibles and outcomes. These publications remain a mainstay of insurance analysis to this day.

The Oregon Health Authority picked a credible, competent and experienced organization to investigate health care financing in Oregon.

One challenge, however: Organizations performing similar studies for other states estimated our study needs 12 to 18 months for completion. Had the OHA made its selection immediately after the bill was signed in August 2015, the chosen organization may have completed its work by the November 2016 deadline. Now, 10 months later, the RAND Corporation has only five months.

But the RAND Corporation knows its business. Regardless of when it presents its results, our legislators will finally possess the information they need to make intelligent decisions about the future of health care in Oregon.

The OHA did its job: It selected the right organization. The RAND Corporation will now do its job: perform a competent analysis. Ultimately, we Oregonians must then do our job: ensure our legislators read and act on the results.

This study is the next critical step toward achieving better care to more people for less in Oregon.

*

Samuel Metz, of Southwest Portland, is an anesthesiologist.
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Sec. Hillary Clinton, left, and President Bill Clinton during the commencement ceremony at Loyola Marymount University on Saturday, May 7, 2016, at the Los Angeles school's Westchester campus.

(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

By Rich Lowry

Donald Trump's philosophy is never to use a scalpel when a meat ax is available, and so it is with his attack on the Clinton scandals of the 1990s.

And yet, in slamming Hillary as Bill's "enabler" and daring to invoke the allegation of rape against Clinton, Trump is again demonstrating his unsurpassed ability to needle his opponents and expose their vulnerabilities.

Hillary Clinton's self-image as a feminist champion has always been at odds with her political partnership with a serial womanizer.

Hillary tends to get a pass, because the 1990s were long ago, the media often scold anyone who brings up the scandals, and most politicians hesitate to talk about someone else's marriage. Unconstrained by these boundaries, Trump is hitting her with his characteristic abandon.

Hillary's defenders say this is tantamount to blaming her for Bill's infidelities. Of course, she's not responsible for his philandering. But as a fully vested member of Bill's political operation, Hillary had as much interest in forcefully rebutting allegations of sexual misconduct as he did.

The Clinton campaign in 1992 reportedly spent $100,000 on private-detective work related to women. The approach, when rumors first surfaced, was to get affidavits from women denying affairs -- the reflex of most women is to avoid exposure -- and, failing that, to use any discrediting tool at hand.

Hillary was fully on board. When a rock groupie alleged that a state trooper approached her on Gov. Clinton's behalf, Hillary said, "We have to destroy her story."

When the Star tabloid subsequently reported that Clinton had affairs with five Arkansas women, including Gennifer Flowers, the Clinton campaign waved affidavits signed by all them denying it. (This is what Clinton had advised Flowers to do in a taped conversation.) Then Flowers admitted to a 12-year affair.

Hillary did the famous "60 Minutes" interview with Bill as he delivered a lawyerly denial of the 12-year allegation (he later admitted having sex with Flowers once). Hillary joined strategy sessions over what verbiage to use in the interview.

After Bill's election, state troopers told of how they had procured women for him, and one of the procured was Paula Jones. When she came forward, she was abused as trailer-park trash, even though her story of a gross come-on by Clinton in a hotel room was completely credible.

Hillary apparently didn't spare a moment's thought on why her husband the governor would have wanted a private meeting with a 24-year-old state employee. She interviewed superlawyer Bob Bennett to handle the Jones sexual-harassment suit and insisted on a hard-line defense. Bennett spread rumors of nude pictures of Jones and had another lawyer subpoena men to try to find evidence of Jones' alleged promiscuity.

Hillary was even more instrumental to the defense in the Monica Lewinsky case, setting the tone of the White House response in her "vast right-wing conspiracy" appearance on "Today."

The allegation the Clintons have never truly grappled with is Juanita Broaddrick's charge of rape. Her story has been consistent over the years; she told people about the alleged assault at the time; and her account includes details that accord with what other woman have said about encounters with Bill.

Perhaps you think Hillary had to stand by her man, or she correctly calculated that the broader political project -- both of the Clintons and of liberalism -- justified waging political war against a few inconvenient women. Even so, there is no doubt that Hillary compromised herself, by the standards of feminism 20 years ago, and even more by the standards of today.

Is there anyone more "privileged" than a white male who is a governor and president? Even if you don't believe the worst, Bill didn't live up to contemporary norms of consent, to put it mildly. If consistency mattered, feminists would demand safe spaces whenever Bill Clinton approached a college campus.

Hillary's answer to Trump's offensive is telling -- nothing. Sometimes there's just not a good answer.

Rich Lowry can be reached via e-mail: comments.lowry@nationalreview.com

(c) 2016 by King Features Syndicate
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Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at a rally, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in San Francisco.

(The Associated Press)

By Dana Milbank

WASHINGTON -- The report on Hillary Clinton's email by the State Department's inspector general last week was devastating -- not because of how she handled email but because of how she handled investigators.

The report's revelations weren't particularly revelatory: Clinton violated department policies and went further than predecessors in her use of private email, but she wasn't the first to take this path. Beyond that, as my colleagues Rosalind Helderman and Tom Hamburger reported, officials say the FBI has "found little evidence that Clinton maliciously flouted classification rules."

But what's damning in the new report is her obsessive and counterproductive secrecy:

The Office of the Inspector General said it "interviewed Secretary Kerry and former Secretaries Albright, Powell, and Rice. Through her counsel, Secretary Clinton declined OIG's request for an interview."

"In addition ... eight former Department employees [most of them Clinton aides] declined OIG requests for interviews."

"Two additional individuals did not respond to OIG interview requests."

"OIG sent 26 questionnaires to Secretary Clinton's staff and received five responses."

The stonewalling creates a firm impression, well captured by CNN's Wolf Blitzer last week when he interviewed Clinton's spokesman, Brian Fallon: "If she didn't do anything wrong and she had nothing to hide, why didn't she cooperate with the inspector general?"

There is no good answer to this. And that's why the IG report was just another of Clinton's self-inflicted wounds caused by her tendency toward secrecy and debilitating caution.

Donald Trump has decided to dub her "Crooked Hillary." This isn't quite true: Though investigations into her activities have occupied much of the past 25 years, her accusers, from Whitewater to Benghazi, never really get the goods. But what Clinton has been is nearly as problematic as being crooked: Hunkered Hillary. At the first sign of conflict or accusation, Clinton circles the wagons, shuts her mouth and instructs those around her to do the same. This generates a whole lot of smoke, even if there's no fire.

Fifteen months ago, when the email scandal broke, I viewed her use of a private server as an extension of the "same flaws that have caused Clinton trouble in the past -- terminal caution and its cousin, obsessive secrecy. In trying so hard to avoid mistakes -- in this case, trying to make sure an embarrassing e-mail or two didn't become public -- Clinton made a whopper of an error."

She resisted releasing records on the Whitewater land deal (causing the scandal to drag on, leading to the independent-counsel investigation that exposed the Monica Lewinsky scandal) and about her 1993 health care task force (giving her opponents ammunition to defeat the plan). This time, she again hunkered down.

Clinton's response is emblematic of her caution. While Trump and Bernie Sanders drive the narrative of the 2016 campaign with their freewheeling styles, Clinton is missing: She puts herself into the debate less often than the others and, when she does, she says little to merit headlines. Her hiring of a full slate of advisers to President Obama -- himself a cautious leader -- reinforces the risk aversion. But caution won't win this year, and it's unclear whether Clinton will, or even can, liberate herself from the bunker.

The inspector general's bottom line wasn't good: "She did not comply with the department's policies." But the description of Clinton's secrecy was worse. When one State staffer raised concern about Clinton's private email, this person was told "that the secretary's personal system had been reviewed and approved by department legal staff and that the matter was not to be discussed any further." Investigators found no evidence of such a review.

What they found was stonewalling by Clinton and her aides -- and this, not mishandled email, is what tripped up Fallon as he tried to defend the candidate to Blitzer.

"It looks as if she's got something to hide when she doesn't even want to answer questions from the inspector general of the State Department," the anchor said.

Fallon tried to argue that Clinton and her aides prioritized the similar Justice Department investigation and were cooperating with that one. Then he insinuated that "there were hints of an anti-Clinton bias" in the IG's office.

The vast right-wing conspiracy had infiltrated the State Department! Asked Blitzer: "Are you accusing the inspector general of the State Department" -- a Democratic appointee -- "of having an anti-Clinton bias?"

The spokesman retreated, noting that the report documented "that the use of personal e-mail was widespread and done by her predecessors, including Secretary Powell."

And that might have been the takeaway -- if Hunkered Hillary hadn't let her instinctive caution again get the best of her.

Follow Dana Milbank on Twitter, Milbank.

(c) 2016, Washington Post Writers Group
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a rally, Friday, May 27, 2016 in San Diego.

(The Associated Press)

By Jonathan Bernstein

Turns out maybe Donald Trump doesn't want to be president after all.

Oh, he wants to run for president. Almost certainly wants to win. Probably wants to be inaugurated.

But doing the actual job? That's something else. At least according to Paul Manafort, Trump's strategist and campaign chairman, in an interview with HuffPost's Howard Fineman:

"The vice presidential pick will also be part of the process of proving he's ready for the White House, Manafort said.

" 'He needs an experienced person to do the part of the job he doesn't want to do. He seems himself more as the chairman of the board, than even the CEO, let alone the COO.' "

Not the CEO? As the Atlantic's Yoni Applebaum noted: "The Constitution says, 'The executive Power shall be vested in a President.' CEO is literally the job description."

Given Trump's apparent lack of interest in public policy, at least beyond a few slogans intended to grab media attention and excite crowds at his rallies, it wouldn't be a surprise if Trump really does intend to mostly delegate his office to others.

The presidency is a full-time, hands-on job, and it works only with a master politician in the Oval Office, obsessively building up his ability to influence all those the president must work with: Congress, executive-branch departments and agencies, state governments, foreign powers, the president's political party, interest groups, the media, and more.

Executive-branch agencies won't do what the president wants without active management (indeed, it's hard even for engaged presidents to get them to). Even the White House staff, the only people in the system who work only for the president, can't be counted on. They, too, have mixed incentives. When presidents become disengaged, the results can be disastrous.

The Iran-contra scandal in Ronald Reagan's second term is an example. The U.S. sold weapons to Iran to ransom U.S. hostages in Lebanon and then illegally used the proceeds to finance Nicaraguan anti-Communist rebels. The causes of the scandal were complicated, but mostly it occurred because Reagan was failing to pay attention to what his own White House and National Security Council were up to. In part that was because Chief of Staff Donald Regan didn't tell him about it. And the president didn't ask.

For presidents to be effective, there is no substitute for Max Weber's "slow boring of hard boards."

Of course, part of being president is learning what to delegate, and someone - usually the president's chief of staff - winds up being quite powerful. But it's a terrible idea to make the vice president an acting CEO, as we discovered in the George W. Bush administration. In the modern model for the job, dating to Walter Mondale in the late 1970s, the vice president serves as an all-purpose sounding board and adviser to the president and coordinates special projects. His job is not to be president.

It's relatively easy for a president to fire a chief of staff who is out of control, meaning the president (or at least a president who is paying attention) always keeps the upper hand. But a constitutionally elected vice president is almost impossible to get rid of.

Granted, Trump himself hasn't said this is how he would run things. But it isn't hard to see why some of us are less worried about Trump's authoritarian instincts than we are about chaos and incompetence in the White House.

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg View columnist covering U.S. politics.

For more columns from Bloomberg View, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/view.

(c) 2016, Bloomberg View
A 41-year-old California man was arrested Friday on charges of assault in the first degree and attempted murder, according to police reports.

Hood River Police arrested Matthew Irwin in connection with the assault of his girlfriend.

A passerby called police Thursday night after seeing a "severely beaten woman" being loaded into the back of Irwin's white Nissan Xterra. Police later found Irwin's 35-year-old girlfriend, Kelly White, in the backseat of the car in a McDonald's parking lot on Cascade Avenue.

White was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

Police said the assault likely took place near Wanapa Street in Cascade Locks.

If you have any information, call Detective Sal Rivera at the Hood River Police Department at 541-387-5257.

-- The Oregonian/OregonLive
Here are the top 10 settlements and jury verdicts paid out by the state for claims against the Oregon Department of Transportation.

In most cases, state lawyers reached a settlement before the claims made it to trial and in some cases, even before a lawsuit was filed.

1. Michael E. Nielsen -- $1.8 million. Nielsen was seriously hurt and his motorcycle totaled when a state-owned van crashed into him as he was traveling along the Oregon coast on U.S. 101 in Florence in July 2012. The case ranks No. 8 on the top 10 list of overall payouts made by the state for its agencies, ranging from the Department of Human Services to the Department of Corrections.

2. Curtin R. Mitchell -- $1.5 million. Mitchell was badly injured after a Department of Transportation pickup made a left turn and crashed into the car that Mitchell was riding in on Oregon 20 near the Hoodoo Ski Area in July 2009.

3. Estate of Steve Fritz -- $1.45 million. Fritz, 54, died in September 2014 when a pickup driver veered across Interstate 5 near Salem, crashing head-on into Fritz's car and killing him. His widow, Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz, filed a lawsuit against the pickup driver and a Carson Oil truck driver who she claimed were responsible for the crash. Amanda Fritz didn't sue the state, but the state ended up settling with her in late 2015 because it thought it would be held liable.

4. Estate of Cary Fairchild -- $750,000. Fairchild, 64, died from injuries she suffered in the passenger seat of Steve Fritz's car during the September 2014 crash. Fairchild's estate sued the same two drivers that Fritz's estate faulted, but Fairchild's estate also sued the state for failing to erect cable median barriers that might have prevented the crossover crash.

Read today's story about the Fritz and Fairchild settlements here.

5. Estate of Lawrence Pendergrass -- $400,664. This is the oldest case on the list. Pendergrass, who was riding his bicycle, died when driver Gary Robb suffered an epileptic seizure and crashed into him in October 1978. Pendergrass' estate sued the state and won a jury verdict in a 1982 trial in Multnomah County. The estate claimed the state Motor Vehicles Division (I think that might be the old name back in 1978. I used this name because that's the agency that was formally listed as a defendant in the lawsuit.) was negligent in failing to suspend Robb's driver's license, even though it knew of his epileptic condition.

6. Henry Manjarres -- $375,000. Manjarres won a $270,000 jury verdict in 2005 during a Marion County trial, plus the state had to pay $105,000 in attorney's fees. Manjarres, who has a Native American background, sued the Department of Transportation claiming that a former supervisor threatened and swore at him as retaliation after he filed a discrimination complaint.

7. Marcos Arevalo -- $366,386. Arevalo sued his employer, the Department of Motor Vehicles, and won a jury verdict. Arevalo claimed he was demoted after unproven suspicions arose in 1999 that he was "selling" or otherwise improperly issuing drivers' licenses to Spanish speakers who weren't qualified. Oregon State Police and the DMV found no evidence of criminal conduct by Arevalo, according to a federal judge's summary of the case. DMV is a branch of the state Department of Transportation.

8. Angela Ferlitsch -- $250,000. Ferlitsch filed suit after she suffered broken bones and a head injury in 1999 when a driver high on drugs crossed the center line of U.S. 26 near Seaside and crashed into the car she was riding in. Her husband and 12-year-old granddaughter also were in the car but didn't survive. Ferlitsch sued DMV, contending it shouldn't have licensed the other driver given his extensive history of medical problems and driving suspensions. He'd also driven drunk and killed two other people a few decades earlier.

9. Estate of Bryan Chastain -- $250,000. Chastain was a University of Oregon law student who died in October 2003 after he drove through a stop sign and onto Oregon 126 in Lane County at what his lawyer described as a poorly designed intersection. The Department of Transportation and Lane County each agreed to pay $250,000 to settle the lawsuit just before trial in 2005.

10. Guy Lawlor -- $202,000. No information was available about this state payout in 1995. State officials say they no longer have records explaining the details, but Lawlor had filed a claim over a car crash.

Sources: State of Oregon, news stories, legal databases and court files.

-- Aimee Green

503-913-4197
TreasureHunt-Clue-2.jpg

(Oregonian/OregonLive Staff)

The Rose Festival Treasure Hunt -- where people follow daily clues to find a hidden medallion for prizes -- is back again this year.

The clues appear by 6 a.m. daily on Oregonlive.com/rosefest for 14 days. Readers can also sign up for a daily Treasure Hunt newsletter at Oregonlive.com/hunt.

---------------------------------------------

Clue 2

Monday, May 30

Retention, skill, and knowledge

are all needed now, it's clear.

But you won't find the treasure

if to mommy you adhere.

-----------------------------------------------

The clues lead to a metal box that holds a 2.5 inch by 3 inch block of Lucite with a special Rose Festival medallion embedded in it. The medallion is hidden somewhere in the Portland metro area on public property and within easy reach. Treasure hunters need not dig or move any objects to find it. The medallion may be hidden in Multnomah, Clackamas, Clark, Washington or Yamhill counties.

If you are the clever finder of the medallion, return it right away to the Portland Rose Festival office, 1020 S.W. Naito Parkway, Portland.

The winner gets a certificate for two round trip airline tickets valid for travel to any Alaska Airlines destination, one night's stay in a single hotel room for two people and one buffet dinner for two people at Spirit Mountain Casino, and a ride in the Grand Floral Parade (you can

).
Wildfire smoke at Sasquatch! 2016

Smoke was visible from the Gorge Amphitheatre on Sunday, May 29, 2016, as a Columbia River wildfire burned. According to Grant County authorities, the venue and its Sasquatch! music festival was "not at risk." (David Greenwald/The Oregonian)

(David Greenwald/The Oregonian)

GEORGE, Wash. -- Officials in Washington's Grant County say a weekend wildfire that burned within three miles of the Gorge Amphitheatre was started when a campfire got out of control.

The amphitheater in George, Washington, is hosting its annual Memorial Day weekend event, the Sasquatch! music festival.

Grant County Sheriff's Office spokesman Kyle Foreman said Monday that the fire, which is under control, has been ruled accidental.

Foreman says boaters told authorities they came ashore Sunday afternoon to start a fire in a fire ring to barbecue, but the wind picked up and the fire got out of hand.

Foreman says the wildfire was no longer a threat. Crews on Monday were mopping up hot spots. The blaze prompted evacuations Sunday, but all evacuation orders were lifted by that night.

No structures were damaged and no injuries were reported. The blaze burned an estimated 600 acres of mostly sage and grass.
Feelings are mixed on bills moving in the House and Senate that would require all Michigan students to learn CPR before getting a high school diploma.

House Bill 5160 and Senate Bill 647 would require students between seventh and 12th grades to learn CPR and the use of automated external defibrillators. Education committees in both chambers recently approved the bills, which are backed by bipartisan support.

The measure would add Michigan in with 30 other states with similar requirements.

At Coleman High School, its already part of the curriculum.

Physical education and health teacher James Cronk in 2012 became a certified CPR instructor through the American Heart Association. He has taught CPR as part of the freshmen health class since 2013.

The majority of students are happy to learn CPR, Cronk said.

Cronk also teaches a basic medical emergencies class at Delta College. He says hes a strong advocate of CPR and that hes gotten feedback from 15 or so parents in the past three years about the training.

Most of them are very excited about us doing it, he said.

Others agree  at least in theory.

The nearly 1,500 students at Midland High School currently arent required to learn CPR.

I believe some teachers choose to include CPR, but it is their choice, Superintendent Michael Sharrow said in an email.

Sharrow said he thinks legislators intentions are not a bad idea. But because costs could be large to implement CPR instruction, they need to provide resources for training and equipment, he said.

Adding CPR programs could increase costs by an indeterminate amount for the state and school districts, according to a House analysis.

This would be another unfunded mandate passed on to local school boards, Sharrow said. This decision should be left to local school boards. Many local communities, fire department or American Red Cross provides this type of training.

The Coleman district funded its CPR instruction through a $3,361 grant authorized by the Midland County Youth Action Council, a project of the Midland Area Community Foundation.

Weve spent the entirety of the grant, Cronk said. Well need to continue to raise more funds.

There are costs every year: mannequins break down and parts need to be replaced, he said.

You have to have materials. You have to have books, Cronk said.

He said the school recoups some costs through the $3 fee some students pay to get a CPR certification card.

They all get taught CPR, its just not all of them end up wanting the card, Cronk said.

State Rep. Gary Glenn, R-Midland, says the House bill is a common sense proposal that would become a natural part of the school curriculum.

And its probably long overdue, Glenn said. I do intend to vote for it.

Glenn said because the bill encourages schools to ask emergency personnel, local police and fire, the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross to teach students CPR free of charge, I cant see that there is much additional cost to worry about.

Speaking with the bills sponsor, Rep. Tom Hooker, R-Byron Center, also a former teacher, Glenn said its been a requirement for the past six years that all public teachers be certified as having taken a CPR class.

That should mean every school district has at least one teacher who has had training, Glenn said.

In Coleman, Cronk says students have put the training to practical use.

The majority of cardiac arrests and heart attacks take place in the household, Cronk says  and choking is a concern because a lot of Coleman students have young siblings. CPR has been used to help choking victims, Cronk said, but he doesnt know of other scenarios in which students had to use CPR outside of instruction.

The training also can be a perk for parents.

It fluctuates year to year, but generally a higher percentage of female students are interested in learning CPR at Coleman, according to Cronk.

A lot of parents are happy to see girls have CPR who are babysitting, he said.

He supports the House and Senate bills.

Its important to me and a great knowledge to have, Cronk said, citing state-based grants as possible funding sources to continue Colemans program.

I dont see a time when I will not teach it as long as Im here at this school, he said. I dont foresee anything thats going to cause us not to be able to do it.

According to the American Heart Association, nearly 357,000 people suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital every year and only 8 percent survive. CPR can nearly triple survival rates for cardiac arrest by providing assistance until EMTs arrive, the association stated.

Thirty-one states require CPR training to graduate, according to the association.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in late April signed a bill requiring students between seventh and 12th grades to learn CPR, days after South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed a similar bill.
The St. Marys of Michigan Foundation offers scholarship opportunities to St. Marys of Michigan associates, their children and community members to help support those who are enrolled or accepted for enrollment in an academic program leading to a degree or certificate in a healthcare or allied healthcare field.

This year, the St. Marys of Michigan Foundation has awarded more than $38,500 in scholarships to the following recipients:
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On Memorial Day, cities and towns across the United States are marking the holiday with parades, ceremonies and memorial services to honor the military men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice.

We also take time to recognize the service of all those who served in the military, such as Lt. William Eyre, Petty Officer 1st Class William Campbell and Maj. Gen. Erick Kyro, all of Midland. These local men, part of the Greatest Generation, served during World War II in the Pacific Theater.

Lt. William Eyre

I enjoyed every minute of it until they started shooting at me, said Eyre, 95, who served as a Navy aviator aboard the USS Saratoga aircraft carrier.

I joined the war because I loved my country  and I was determined to help my country, Eyre said of volunteering to serve in the military.

As an aviation cadet, Eyre had the opportunity to visit many states, including Florida, Georgia, Texas, Michigan and New Jersey.

You went where airfields were and the training was, he said. Im glad I got through it all.

Eyre said all the pilots had to be specially certified to take off from and land on an aircraft carrier.

Of course, I had never flown off a ship before  You had to do five landings, and you were then an expert. That was the big thing in my life, to be qualified as a fighter pilot, said Eyre of the training he received in the Great Lakes off the coast of Wisconsin.

I was very lucky I never got really damaged. I got hit once over Japan and it turned my plane upside down, he recalled. I didnt do anything and all of a sudden, my plane was upside-down.

He recalled rolling the aircraft upright again, the joystick shaking. He radioed one of the squadron members, who asked him to fly in front of him so that he could inspect Eyres plane.

He went around and looked over me and said, Nothing wrong with you! Eyre said.

In 1945, as the war was drawing to a close, the U.S. lost its commander-in-chief as President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in office on April 12.

It was quite a shock to all of us in the service when we lost the president, Eyre recalled.

The war in the European Theatre ended on May 8, 1945, and soldiers suspected the fighting in the Pacific would be ending soon as well. The Japanese surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

We were very happy to see the war end, and of course aboard ship, (there was) lots of celebration  unauthorized, even, he added with a laugh.

Petty Officer 1st Class Charles Campbell

Campbell, 94, was drafted while working for the war effort as an aircraft engine mechanic in Detroit.

We tested engines, he said of his civilian job. Every engine had to be run so many hours, torn down again, inspected, rebuilt and run again.

He was able to put his mechanical experience to work for the Navy for two years in the South Pacific and one year in Corpus Christi, Texas.

In the Navy, we did work on planes and fuselages, he said, adding that he worked on a wide variety of parts.

To do his job, Campbell had to be knowledgeable about mechanics, from carburetors to engines. He was surprised he was never sent to a formal school, but rather provided with books to learn how to do specific tasks.

Campbell also served in San Diego as well as an aircraft carrier in the south Pacific, where he helped service 37 airplanes.

When it got time to fly them off, I would take the oil out of the carburetor, that sort of thing, he said.

When he was not in the States with his wife, Campbell wrote letters to her each day. Some arrived with holes censoring anything that could possibly disclose information such as their location.

You couldnt talk about the weather, you couldnt talk about where you were, you couldnt talk about anything like that, he said, adding that though he found the letters to be rather boring, his family had kept them.

Campbell and his wife were living in Corpus Christi during his final year of military service.

When the war ended, his wife was nine months pregnant with their daughter.

She wanted to not have Texas on the birth certificate, so she came home a little early, he joked. I got back to Ferndale with my wifes folks and the baby was born three days later.

Maj. Gen. Erick Kyro

Kyro, 100, encountered several roadblocks before his perseverance saw his acceptance into the U.S. Army to train as a pilot.

I tried to get in and volunteer, but the draft doctor found out I had osteomyelitis (a bone infection) when I was a teenager and was operated on a couple times, he said. So they said no way.

Next, Kyro tried to join the Navy.

The Navy found out that I was a naturalized citizen  I was born in Canada  and they said if youre applying for the flight program, you have to have been a citizen for 10 years. Id only been naturalized a few years, so the Navy wouldnt take me, he said.

I tried even the civilian program for training pilots, so they signed me up and gave me a bunch of books, he continued. But when the doctor in Washington saw that I had had osteomyelitis, he said Give the books back.

Kyro finally visited bone specialists in a Detroit hospital who examined him.

They said, Youre now going to kick the enemy! We think you can get into the service. So the Army finally accepted me, Kyro said.

Kyro arrived at basic training in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 7, 1941  exactly one month before the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

During his service in World War II, Kyro flew 215 missions with more than 1,000 hours in the air.

One of the missions that we had was to escort transport planes across the mountains, delivering from Port Moresby to New Guinea, he said. He was flying a P-39 Airacobra.

While waiting for the transport, the weather turned foul, causing poor visibility.

The weather in New Guinea is such that they can have sunshine and 30 minutes later, you get a buildup of clouds, particularly over the mountains. That is what happened to us, he explained. One of the transport planes was stuck, causing a delay, and Kyro and other escort pilots waited as the clouds gathered.

The squadron was separated as they tried to climb over the storm, but they were not able to get over the clouds. Forced to instead fly through the clouds, the pilots had to completely rely on their instruments.

It was the first time I had ever been alone under the hood, Kyro said with a dry chuckle. It was quite interesting. Fortunately, I got through. I looked down, and the weather was breaking below and I saw the ocean. I dove to the right and figured that was the way to go home. 

Kyro said he was the first man in the squadron to return. Two men never did. The wreckage of their planes was discovered about 40 years later.

That was one of the worst missions that I was on, and it was the third mission I was flying there, he said.

Another story Kyro recalled spoke to American ingenuity.

This was when we were up north in the jungles, and the Australian Army had some ground forces up there, and they engaged the enemy in a very mountainous area of the country. The enemy was up high in the mountains and the Australian ground troops were down in the valley, and they were being shot at by small cannons that had been hauled up into the mountains by the natives for the Japanese people, he said, adding that much of that information was uncovered after the war.

The Australian military asked the U.S. to bomb the site where they suspected the Japanese were.

The P-39 was not a bomber; we didnt have any dive bombers in the Air Force. We had them in the Navy, he said. To complete their mission, the soldiers took advantage of the planes drop tanks.

The P-39 Airacobra, used for short-range missions, had a unique layout. The fuselage of the plane did not have room for a fuel tank; therefore, the fuel was carried on the wings and a drop tank could be added for longer missions. A drop tank was filled with extra fuel and could be jettisoned when empty.

Anyway, they took eight of our P-39s, removed the tank of the side fuel that we could carry, a 75 gallon tank, and they fitted it with a mechanism that we could operate the bombs off of it, he explained, adding that the bombs weighed 500 pounds each.

It was the first and only dive-bomb mission that we had with the P-39, he said.

The Australian Army sent a liaison to show the Americans where the Japanese were.

We flew up there, the weather was beautiful. When we got to the target area, everything looked fine there, he said. Nothing would give you any indication there was fighting going on. There were no burnt buildings, no burnt vegetation. Everything was green.

The liaison fired his guns, indicating where to bomb. Kyro recalled that the mountains elevation was around 4,500 feet above sea level and they did not have much room before their planes would reach the cloud ceiling.

We went in there and flew a circle. I led them in the bombing and the other seven followed. We turned around and flew back. The next day, the liaison officer for the Australians received a message that the cannons had been quieted, he said.

Kyro added that a Japanese colonel later said that none of the guns or cannons were damaged but they decided to stop shooting because it disclosed their position. Either way, it was beneficial to the Allies.

We were successful, never saw the target, he said.
BLOOMINGTON  To some its a competitive hobby and to others, its a career. But everyone at the Heart of Illinois Cluster Dog Shows this weekend at the Interstate Center in Bloomington has a love for dogs and showing them in competition.

To me, its a hobby, said Linda Berger of Pekin, who was grooming her parti color cocker spaniel for the show ring. If I had to groom dogs every day, I dont think I would enjoy it. But this competition is for people who really love dogs and I really do.

The annual show began Friday and continues through Monday at the Interstate Center. There is no admission charge and the public is invited to watch. Dog grooming stations are available for participants and several show rings are scattered throughout the center. Best of show winners can win $100. About 1,000 dogs are expected to participate in this years competition.

The participants came from all across the country, and some, from even farther. Sharon Palmay lives about 100 miles north of Toronto, Canada and made the trip with her friend, Andrea Robins to show Marvel, a Chinese Shar-Pei.

For us, its about the dogs, of course, but its also about socializing with people that you may only see two or three times a year, but have something in common with, she said. We attend shows all over the world to help build up the resume of our dogs.

The show brought together both professional dog trainers and beginners. Lena Groth, 11, of Gurnee, was showing her dog, Tina, a Berger Picard, for the first time.

I got started after seeing pictures of dog shows from the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, she said. I really thought it was something I wanted to do and I think its a lot of fun.

Her mother, Laura, described the first year of training as interesting.

Its been a lot of work, but she is very good at it and Im proud of her progress, she said.

Tad Brooks, on the other hand, has been showing dogs for about three decades. The Louisville, Ky. native was showing Charlie, a whippet.

A lot has changed over the years, not so much with the rules, but just with the general interest in the sport, he said. I think the economy can really hurt something like this and when economies take a hit, so do dog shows. But the people dont change and thats what makes this so much fun to do and so entertaining. Its about the social aspect of it. The competition is great, too.

Dog owners said they were not concerned about their pets contracting the canine influenza which has led to the deaths of two dogs in McLean County. Local veterinarians have estimated that hundreds of dogs in the Bloomington-Normal area have gotten the flu in what vets have called the area's worst canine viral outbreak in years. Dogs who were not involved in the show, were not allowed onto the grounds.

I worry about it, of course, Brooks said, There are cases where dogs pick something up at shows, but it usually harmless and runs its course in a week or two. But, I know they are keeping things clean and safe and I have no concerns about that.
BLOOMINGTON  This Memorial Day, like most others, 91-year-old Gladys Barnes, a member of the Veteran of Foreign Wars Auxiliary, expects to go to the annual parade in Bloomington. But she also will be doing something else: preparing to go on an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., next month.

Barnes is not a military veteran, but as a Rosie the Riveter who repaired damaged bombers for about two years during World War II, she is eligible for the Honor Flight to see memorials in the nation's capital.

She will be among 72 veterans and others like her taking part in the Honor Flight on June 7, according to Michelle Sherman, a volunteer with Greater Peoria Honor Flight. Four are from the Bloomington-Normal area, she said.

We take veterans to see the memorials to their fallen brothers and sisters in arms, said Sherman.

On this flight, 12 participants are from World War II, 55 are Korean War veterans and five are Vietnam veterans, she said.

I'm really anxious to see the Women's Memorial and the Vietnam Wall, said Barnes, whose son is a Vietnam veteran. Her brother is a Pearl Harbor survivor. A cousin died when his plane went down in a storm in World War II.

We lost a lot of good guys, she said.

The Rosie the Riveter image was part of a government campaign to recruit women for jobs in the defense industry. A poster that was part of the campaign referred to them as soldiers without guns.

The cover of the May 29, 1943, Saturday Evening Post had an illustration by Norman Rockwell of Rosie on a lunch break, riveter on her lap, a flag waving in the background, her foot resting on a copy of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

Another famous image from the war showed a woman with a bandana on her head, rolling up her sleeve, and the words, We can do it.

Barnes took her own We can do it attitude to Hill Air Force Base in northern Utah to repair damaged engines from planes, mostly B-17 and B-24 bombers.

As a high school senior in 1943, Barnes attended an assembly where she was asked, Do you want to work for the War Department? Those, such as Barnes, who said yes, were allowed to drop out of high school and get their diploma after three months of training for aircraft repair.

Barnes watched the damaged planes land at the base to undergo repairs.

Some of them came in on a wing and a prayer, she recalled last week in her Bloomington home.

The repair work went on 24 hours a day, with workers rotating through different shifts about every three months, Barnes said.

The work was hard but the pay was good for the time  90 cents an hour, she said.

Four girls would get an apartment together. We would work during the day and go dancing at night, Barnes said.

It was kind of a neat time, she added. That's where I met my husband.

Charles Barnes was with a combat cargo outfit and worked beside the "Rosies" on the assembly line until he shipped out to the Philippines. Charles and Gladys married after he returned, eventually settling in Bloomington-Normal and having five children.

Her husband died 14 years ago. She has 14 grandchildren and 23 greatgrandchildren.

"My kids keep me young. They keep me busy," she said.

Barnes was familiar with Rosie the Riveter. A popular song at the time included the lyrics, She's making history, working for victory and There's something true about  red, white and blue about  Rosie the Riveter. But she didn't consider herself a Rosie back then. I used an air gun, Barnes said.

Years later, while at a McDonald's with a grandson, Barnes was talking to a woman from the Prairie Aviation Museum about what she did during the war and the museum volunteer lit like a Christmas tree and asked her to be interviewed as part of a project at the museum about service in World War II.

That's when they kind of pinned on me that I was Rosie the Riveter, Barnes said.

A Rosie the Riveter doll that was given to her sits atop a china cabinet in her dining room. She also has a Rosie the Riveter lunchbox.

Todd Abeling, a former commander of John Kraus VFW Post 454 in Bloomington, nominated Barnes for the Honor Flight.

"I'm really excited about it and I think it's quite an honor," Barnes said. "I never dreamed that I'd be on it."
A number of Central Illinois communities have events planned to mark Memorial Day, which is Monday.

Bloomington: Parade line-up, 8 a.m. at Front and Madison streets, with step-off at 9 a.m., parade ends at Miller Park, where ceremonies follow; 12:30 p.m., ceremony at grave of John Kraus, Danvers Cemetery, by VFW Post 454; noon, ceremony at Evergreen Cemetery, by American Legion Post 635.

Atlanta: Atlanta UMC Men's Breakfast, 7-9 a.m., Atlanta Firehouse; Boy Scout cake auction, begins 8 a.m., firehouse; veterans' memorial ceremony and Atlanta Band Concert, 10 a.m., lawn of the Atlanta Public Library; 11 a.m., Flying Feet Cloggers of Audras Dance Studio in Lincoln; 11:45 a.m., kids' fire truck rides to Atlanta Cemetery, trucks depart from library; 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., VFW Auxiliary 1756 serves lunch at firehouse; lunch by Rob Polen features items from Atlanta Locker. In case of inclement weather, all activities will be held inside the Atlanta firehouse. The cemetery will be canceled.

Benson: 9:30 a.m. at Clayton Cemetery; in case of rain, service at Benson Legion.

Eureka: Parade and ceremony, 10:30 a.m. starting at Eureka High School to Olio Cemetery; speaker: Roger Miller; in case of rain, service held at high school auditorium. American Legion lunch, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., $5.

Lincoln: 10:30 a.m. at American Legion Post 263, Lincoln, outside, weather permitting; speaker: Joe Schaler; meal follows.

Minonk: 10 a.m. at Fieldcrest High School gym, Minonk; sponsored by American Legion Post 142.

Saybrook: 10 a.m. at Riverside Cemetery, followed by services at Cheney's Grove Township Cemetery; sponsored by Saybrook American Legion.

Secor: 10:30 a.m. at Secor Cemetery, Route 24.

Washburn: 10:30 a.m. at American Legion Log Cabin, 104 E. Parkside Drive; speaker: the Rev. Robert Debolt; lunch follows.
ROANOKE  Kevin Braker has announced his resignation as Roanoke's mayor.

Braker sent an email to village officials and several community leaders saying he has accepted a new job in Indiana.

I love working with you all and I especially love all of the progress I have seen Roanoke make since I have served on the board, Braker wrote. I am confident, with the people that are in place, that this will continue.

Braker praised members of the village board, zoning board, the Community Development Committee and village employees for all their dedication and hard work, saying they are some of the most selfless hardworking people I have ever met.

Braker served for seven years as a village board member after being appointed to fill a vacancy in 2009. The board elected him as mayor after the death of Mayor Bob Isaia in April 2015.

Infrastructure improvements and economic development were two of Brakers priorities while serving on the board, but he consistently said it was the whole board working together that helped get those projects going.
EUREKA  Roger Miller understands the sacrifices members of the military make to serve their country.

As a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War and the father of two Navy SEALS, Miller also knows the sacrifices the families of those who serve have to make.

When I was drafted, my mother and my sisters cried, Miller said. When my boys were in Iraq and Afghanistan, it was hard on my wife.

As the guest speaker at the Memorial Day service in Olio Cemetery at 11 a.m. Monday, Miller will talk about the kinds of sacrifices veterans and their families make and why they should be honored.

Miller also realizes that some soldiers and their families face many more sacrifices when they come home, noting that PTSD, thoughts of suicide and latent effects of substances like Agent Orange, a chemical used in Vietnam, continue to haunt some veterans.

There should be more funds to help them, Miller said. The VA is getting better, but weve still got a long way to go.

Despite the risks of being in the military, Miller said he accepted his own service when he was young, and later learned to live with not knowing where his sons were or if they were in danger. However, the difference between Millers service and that of his sons, is that Miller was drafted into the Army at age 19. He really didnt have a choice about making the initial sacrifice, but he accepted it.

Youre 19 years old and all of a sudden, youre with Uncle Sam, Miller said. At the time, I was fresh out of high school. You just want to see what the world is all about. When I got drafted, I wasnt afraid. At 19 you feel like youre invincible. The number of deaths we heard about were just numbers.

Miller was assigned to the military police in Vietnam where he often served as part of convoy security. As an MP, Miller wasnt directly involved in firefights, but he was always exposed to danger. It became more real to him as he lost friends.

You didnt know who the enemy was; they didnt wear uniforms. I had friends that didnt make it back, Miller said.

Millers sons, Michael and Nick volunteered to be in the Navy SEAL program and both made it through. Nick is still serving, now in his 18th year, and Michael served six years.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's divorce has been the talk of the town lately as many waits for the reaction of the "Alice Through The Looking Glass" star. Now, it is reported that the Golden Globe awardee fears that his wife is cheating him with Cara Delevingne.

According to Daily Mail, the alleged relationship of Amber Heard and Cara Delevingne drives Johnny Depp insane. "You're making a fool out of me," a source claims that the "Pirates of the Caribbean" actor screams to the "Magic XXL" actress.

Johnny Depp feels there is a romance going on between Amber Heard and Cara Delevingne as they are always partying together and growing closer to each other. The father of Lily Depp starts to doubt when he starts filming in London and renting a mansion in late 2014.

A source said that Amber Heard grows a different kind of relationship with Cara Delevingne that makes Johnny Depp distrust her. He now questions her loyalty that makes their 15-month of marriage ends.

"Amber's friendship with Cara, which grew closer and closer over time, brought about the beginning of the end for her marriage to Johnny," an insider told The Sun. Mirror reported Johnny Depp, too, gets tired of Amber Heard's all-night partying when all he wants to do is rest. To recall,

The source added there are times when Amber Heard is displaying her bisexual acts that make Johnny Depp angry for being reckless. To recall, she had a three-year relationship with Tasya van Ree before she meets the former wife of Vanessa Paradis.

Meanwhile, Johnny Depp denies Amber Heard accusations that make him an oppressor in her filed divorce. He is set to fight her claims that he hit her with an iPhone in her face and she "truly fears for her life," another article from Mirror wrote.
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson are among the favorite love teams on the big screens due to their "Twilight" films. In fact, several years after their split, the ex-sweethearts are still linked with each other's progress. According to reports, while Robert Pattinson is busy with his upcoming wedding with FKA Twigs, his ex-girlfriend is still exploring the dating world.

Kristen Stewart Exploring The Dating World

Movie News Guide reported that the "Twilight" lead star is still exploring the dating world while her ex-boyfriend is preparing for settling down. Since Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart broke up the actress has been linked to several actors boys and girls alike.

Initially, the pair broke up when Kristen Stewart cheated on Robert Pattinson with the "Snow White and the Huntsman" director Rupert Sanders. Since then the "Camp X-Ray" star has never been in a long-term relationship.

Kristen Stewart dated Alicia Cargile. In fact, there were rumors that they were getting back together after they were spotted together at the Cannes Film Festival. They were also seen leaving the premiere of "American Honey" hand in hand. Aside from Cargile, Stewart also dated Stephanie Sokolinski but their romance was short lived.

At the time, Kristen Stewart is happily single. Meanwhile, Robert Pattinson will soon be tying the knot with his fiance.

Kristen Stewart Stands Out As An Actress

According to the reports, many were impressed with Kristen Stewart's stint in the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival. "If there was one breakout star from this year's Cannes Film Festival, it was Kristen Stewart," Vogue wrote. "The former Twilight queen premiered two movies at the festival-including the opening-night-gala presentation of Woody Allen's latest, Cafe Society."

Meanwhile, director Drake Doremus revealed that she chose Kristen Stewart to have the female lead role in "Equals" because she is unique. "I then met Kristen [Stewart] and thought she was really unique. [I felt] there was something in her that hadn't been tapped into yet," Doremus told Deadline. "And I think the performance in the movie is a very special one. It's raw and beautiful."

Do you agree that Kristen Stewart excels at her craft? Will she find her true love soon? How long do you think will Robert Pattinson's ex-girlfriend explore the dating world until she finds her longtime partner? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo dating rumors are becoming even more rampant despite the Korean actors' denials about their alleged relationship. The 30-year-old actor recently shared his ideal girl during his fan meeting in Shenzhen, China, which led to speculations that Joong Ki is referring to his "Descendants of the Sun" co-star, Hye Kyo. What's the real score between the two?

Song Joong Ki And Song Hye Kyo: Is Hye Kyo His Ideal Type?

Song Joong Ki recently returned to China for the next leg of his Asian tour and held a fan meeting in Guangzhou on May 27 and in Shenzhen on May 28, reports Yonhap News. During his fan meeting in Shenzhen, Joong Ki was asked about his ideal type.

Joong Ki revealed that he prefers girls who had long hair than those with short hair, as posted on Instagram. He also admitted that he prefers dating older women who are smaller than him and are innocent looking.

Joong Ki also shared that he likes girls who look innocent and who look pretty even while eating. The "Descendants of the Sun" actor explained that above all else, a girl with a kind heart is what matters most to him.

These above-mentioned traits led fans to believe that Song Joong Ki is referring to his "DOTS" co-star and rumored girlfriend, Song Hye Kyo. It is a known fact that the 34-year-old actress fits the aforementioned traits, which led to speculations that the "Song-Song" or "Kikyo" couple is real.

A photo posted by wearekikyo (@wearekikyo) on May 28, 2016 at 6:25am PDT



Song Hye Kyo And Song Joong Ki: Is The 'Song-Song' Couple Real?

Dating rumors between Song Hye Kyo and Song Joong Ki started making rounds on the Internet after the Korean stars were spotted in New York together. Back then, the stars denied having any romantic ties with each other, but fans continue to insist that there is something more between them.

Fans noticed that whenever Joong Ki leaves for a fan meeting or a project, Hye Kyo updates her Instagram account. These two also gush about each other during interviews and have even shared the same stylist after starring in "Descendants of the Sun" together.

Do you think Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo are more than friends? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!


Was there a time you were so passionate about something you really believe it that it reduced you to tears? A 6-year-old boy recently had this emotional outburst after learning that animals have been harmed due to the litter that people leave behind. The boy makes a tearful plea to the citizens of the world to "think about what they're doing to the planet," and his video has gone viral.

Henry Marr from Mount Vernon in America expressed his frustration and disappointment after learning something really troubling in school. He found out, after watching a video in class, that littering is wrecking the planet and concluded that people are being rude to the rest of the world's living beings.

His mother, Allie Hall, posted Henry Marr's rant on Facebook and emphasized that her son wants "everyone to stop being dumb." The little boy asserts that he's going to fight bad people who litter or cut down trees when he grows up. His mom suggested he can start making posters about raising awareness regarding the environment. He told his mom in between sobs, "I'll do that and fight."

Harry is so passionate about ensuring the animals are safe from the threats in their environment that he says he wishes he was already an adult so he can do something. His mom reminds him that he doesn't have to be an adult to come up with a worthwhile cause.

The video ends with Henry Marr still in disbelief that baby animals are being fed litter. The viral video has already earned over 15 million views and thousands of shares. Watch it below:

Speaking with Buzzfeed News, Henry Marr revealed he has started his cause at home by leaving little messages for his family. He writes the reminders on pots or pans since paper can be wasteful. But he's planning on making posters to put up around the neighborhood to remind people what littering can do to animals.

The young boy and budding environmental activist still doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up, but he's sure his job will involve "taking care of the planet" with a team people.
Cancer is the most dreaded disease for years. In fact, the government has invested so much in cancer research. Unfortunately, something is awry. According to reports, the pension of cancer researchers is invested in the tobacco industry.

Cancer Researchers' Pension Invested In Tobacco

Per the Telegraph, the pension of the scientists funded by Cancer Research UK (CRUK), who are trying to cure cancer is invested in the tobacco industry. While these researchers are studying to find a potential solution from health problems caused by tobacco and other cancer causing problems, their pension is invested in the growing company that was deemed a threat to one's health. Isn't it ironic?

The Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the official name for the fund for university academic and staff was worth 49 billion in 2015. Aside from the controversial BAT holding, its biggest holding was $344 million in Royal Dutch Shell.

Scientist Outrageous With It

One scientist whose post is funded by CRUK was horrified and outrageous upon learning that their pension is invested in the tobacco industry. "This means that, even if only indirectly through our time and labour, CRUK money is being invested in growing and supporting the tobacco industry," she told the Guardian. "The idea that we all have our pension invested in BAT is outrageous".

The researcher added that all the work of the institute is guided accordingly by CRUK. The process is regularly reviewed to ensure that the CRUK money is spent effectively and efficiently for the global fight against cancer and it is disturbing to her that they will be retiring with a luxurious life from money earned from the tobacco industry.

"Given the hard work of so many of its members to eliminate the scourge of tobacco-related death and misery, it is simply unacceptable that USS should continue to invest in this discredited industry," said Prof. Martin McKee, European Public Health Association president.

To help organization opt out from tobacco investment CRUK's tobacco policy manager, George Butterworth announced that they would be funding the UK arm of Tobacco Free Portfolio to encourage investment funds to divest from tobacco stocks. Butteworth recognizes that the tobacco industry's deadly products cause one in four cancer deaths.

Do you agree that the pension of the cancer researchers' should not be invested in the tobacco industry? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Laser hair removal treatment is a fad among women. Whether it's for their legs, underarms and bikini area, women are resorting to laser hair removal despite the hefty price tag because the procedure is painless and more effective.

Some people, however, are hesitant to undergo laser hair removal treatment because of fears that it might cause cancer. Experts weighed in on the matter and explained the difference between laser hair removal treatment and radiations that cause cancer.

Ionizing Radiation

High-frequency ionizing radiation, or X-rays and gamma rays, are cancer risks because it can directly damage and alter a person's cell DNA, Fox News reported. High-frequency ionizing radiation originates from natural sources like radon gas, though it can be manmade as well like in medical imaging tests. Nuclear power plants also make high-frequency ionizing radiation for nuclear energy.

The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, said laser hair removal treatments use non-ionizing radiation, which is harmless to a person's DNA and doesn't cause cancer. Dr. Whitney Bowe, a dermatologist in New York City, told Fox News that the light energy from lasers only has a shallow reach and "remains at the level of the skin."

Fox News reported from Dr. Konstantin Zakashansky, a gynecologic oncologist at the Mount Sinai Hospital, said the light from lasers "does not penetrate beyond the depths of the hair follicle" and the internal organs and fertility levels aren't affected. Though laser hair treatments don't cause cancer, the procedure can give redness, discoloration and scarring on the patch of skin it was administered to.

How Laser Hair Treatment Works

Many patients say they permanently lose hair after an average of three to seven laser hair treatment sessions, WebMD wrote. Some patients, however, require touch-ups every two years when persistent strands of hair grow back after some time.

Kristen Rogers, a specialist at NYC-based beauty facility Spruce & Bond, said dark body hair works well with laser hair treatments. People with blonde, red or gray hair usually don't get positive results from laser hair removal, according to a report from the Huffington Post.

Cutting Edge Laser Hair Removal In Melbourne

In Melbourne, Australia, a new method of laser hair removal is touted to be a cutting edge hybridized process. Super Hair Removal is a hybrid between Intense Pulsed Light, or IPL, and targeted fixed-frequency laser hair removal, per Free Press Release Center.

Super Hair Removal, or SHR, is said to be three times faster than standard IPL treatment. The procedure also requires less sessions because of the thorough job done every period.
"James Bond" director Sam Mendes is joining Daniel Craig in retiring 007 responsibilities. Despite assumptions that Sam Mendes seen talking to 007 bet Tom Hiddleston, clinches the role for Daniel Craig's replacement, the director after all is also leaving the franchise

New York Daily News reports that Sam Mendes confirmed during the 2016 Hay Festival his departure from "James Bond." The Oscar-winning director succeeded in continuing "James Bond" with a very different texture.

Sam Mendes' departure from "James Bond" is a surprise. Essentially, Sam Mendes said he's completed his journey with the "James Bond" franchise.

According to Sam Mendes, the time has come for a new "James Bond" director to take his place. The "James Bond" director further said that as a storyteller he now craves to new stories with different characters.

"Skyfall" in 2010 was Sam Mendes' first "James Bond" film. Sam Mendes then worked in his second and final "James Bond" film, "Spectre," which was released in 2015.

Why do people who can't take advice always insist on giving it?  James Bond, CASINO ROYALE #WednesdayWisdomhttps://t.co/Jj9VmFPEwx  James Bond (@007) May 4, 2016

As the new 007 franchise looks for a new director, The Telegraph reports that the new James Bond will be unexpected. This means that "James Bond" will likely not star Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba or Damien Lewis. Despite feminist clamor, the new "James Bond" film will not star Beyonce or Gillian Anderson. Sam Mendes highlights that "James Bond" producer Barbara Broccoli will continue to go against the grain.

How many times has Bond visited a snow location? #TriviaTuesday pic.twitter.com/CqR2H6ReEO  James Bond (@007) April 19, 2016

In the choice of the "James Bond" star Barbara Broccoli will choose someone people will not approve of. According to Sam Mendes, Daniel Craig had no supporter anywhere when he first signed on as the "James Bond" lead.

This, however, changed when "James Bond" hit the theaters with Daniel Craig as headliner. The unconventional casting of Daniel Craig for "James Bond" proved Barbara Broccoli's ability to keep the franchise fresh and alive.

Where have you seen Daniel Craigs white jacket & red carnation before? Sean Connery in GOLDFINGER #EasterEggWeekend pic.twitter.com/NzUqqyUDf9  James Bond (@007) March 25, 2016

EON Productions has yet to drop the release date on the next "James Bond film. However, fans can rest easy that Barbara Broccoli is ably sorting out the "James Bond" film heirs to Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig.
A 7-year-old boy is missing after his parents abandoned him in a bear-infested area of northern Japan. The Japanese police believed that it is a case of parental discipline gone wrong after the father admitted that they purposefully left the child as a form of punishment.

TV Asahi reports that Takayuki Tanooka, 44, requested for a search from the Japanese police on Saturday after his son Yamato Tanooka went missing in the mountains of Nanae, Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's main islands. Takayuki initially relayed to the police that his 7-year-old son Yamato was lost in the bear-infested area while they were picking wild vegetables.

A huge team composed of police officers and rescuers immediately launched a search in response to Takayuki's request. The team conducted searches in the mountainous region where the boy was last seen according to his father, but they came up empty-handed.

Parents of missing boy left him in the mountains as punishment: Hokkaido police https://t.co/hyzgXdZZ9g pic.twitter.com/IHwgDmR30P  Channel NewsAsia (@ChannelNewsAsia) May 29, 2016

The Japanese police said that out of guilt, Takayuki later admitted that he lied on his initial statement. Takayuki revealed that he and his wife intentionally left their son in the bear-infested area as a punishment for throwing stones at cars on a street nearby.

"The parents left the boy in the mountains as a punishment," a spokesperson of the Japanese police stated. "They said they went back to the site immediately but the boy was no longer there."

The Japanese police are now investigating whether Takayuki and his wife should be charged for leaving Yamato in the bear-infested area as a punishment. The search for the missing boy remains ongoing.

According to the Mirror, the mountains of Hokkaido are a habitat of massive and deadly Ussuri brown bears. These bears are much known for killing humans. There were at least 86 reported attacks by bears on humans with 33 deaths since 1962.

What can you say about this latest case of parental discipline gone wrong? Is it reasonable to prosecute the parents for leaving their son in the bear-infested area? Share your thoughts below.
A new study suggests that people who have asthma are more prone to experiencing mental health issues than those who don't. Researchers say the findings apply to both adolescents and adults.

In a recent interview with Fox 13, Utah epidemiologist Holly Uphold said there has been enough evidence to conclude that asthma and depression are directly correlated. For one, approximately 36 percent of asthmatic adults in Utah are also having bouts with depression. That single statistic is considerably higher than the state's depression rate.

"When you have asthma, you may worry about having an asthma attack, and when you do have an asthma attack, it's hard to breathe," Uphold explained. "You may miss enjoyable activities, you may miss work and school and things like that, and those can have an impact on your life."

Inflammation Could Be The Reason

Dr. Melissa Rosenkranz, a brain imaging specialist at University of Wisconsin, said scientists have yet to pinpoint the exact causes of depression in asthma. In her own theory, she believes the link between asthma and depression could be the result of inflammation.

Rosenkranz argued that since asthma is an inflammatory disease, the body befittingly communicates the presence of inflammation to the brain. It is there where neural changes occur.

These changes in brain activity can alter a person's behavior and make it resemble that of depression. The neural changes may prompt symptoms like lethargy, anxiety, social isolation and decreased appetite.

Avoiding Depression

Web MD advised asthmatics to properly and diligently control their asthma. They should have regular trips to the doctor's office and make sure to use asthma inhalers correctly.

Asthma sufferers should also take into consideration the many side effects of asthma medications. Steroids, in particular, causes some people to experience rabid mood swings, yeast infection and even hoarseness.

Lastly, asthma sufferers might want to consider leveling up their exercise routine. It's no secret that physical activity is good for the body, but what most people might not know is that it can also help them maintain a positive state of mind.
Even preschoolers nowadays are being sucked in the media revolution and this is keeping them from communicating with their parents while using media, a new study from the University of Michigan has revealed. The researchers used enhanced audio equipment to observe the home environment of preschoolers and their interaction with their parents in 2010 and 2011.

The researchers found that children aged three and five who used media such as television, video games and mobile devices had little dialogue or conversation with their mothers when they were using them, PsychCentral reported. The study involved 44 families whose homes were put on record for an average of 10 hours a day.

The enhanced audio equipment picked up media signals which were later on codified for media use. The researchers also transcribed media-related talk at the 44 homes.

Electronic Media Preventing Children From Communicating With Parents https://t.co/mO1ZUL5UXH pic.twitter.com/q0HxtQq3ce  Eurasia Review (@EurasiaReview) May 30, 2016

Mother's Educational Attainment Played Difference

The researchers found that preschoolers whose mothers had graduate degrees had less electronic media exposure than preschoolers who had mothers with high school and/or some college courses, as per EurekAlert. Preschoolers whose mothers had advanced degrees also watched educational programs frequently.

Nicholas Waters, the study's lead author, said that the mothers who were highly educated were more prone to discussing media with their preschoolers compared to the other mothers. Waters is a survey specialist at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research.

Parent Mediation Important

"Importantly, children of mothers with less than a graduate degree were exposed to media without any dialogue related to the media content for the vast majority of the time," said study co-author Sarah Domoff. Domoff is a research fellow with the U-M Center for Human Growth and Development.

According to Eurasia Review, Domoff said that the "active mediation" of parents in regards to the use of media by their children can alleviate risks of media exposure. Further studies may include the interactions of fathers with their children as the children use media.

How much media should be made available to preschoolers? Write your comments below.
A kid's early childhood education is crucial. More or less, the schooling and environment the kid's eyes open up in would build the foundation of his/her future. Unfortunately for lower-income families, the available opportunities and resources for kids are scarce. This influences poor children's attitude and openness for learning---showing disinterest or lack of enthusiasm to learn further and pursue higher education.

National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education is required to submit an annual report to Congress on the current "Condition of Education." The report is a summary of education trends and developments based on available data about population characteristics, participation in education, elementary and secondary education and postsecondary education.

One of the main points in this year's report is the impact of a family's wealth in education. As early as kindergarten, wealth disparity among the students already shows its divisive effects--the gap widening between the learning levels of rich and poor kids.

As per the Huffington Post, kids coming from families who are in the lower income brackets enter school without the passion for studying. As a child, they were not given toys or educational materials to play with unlike rich children who had easy access to these resources. As a growing kid, he/she produces lower grades and are more prone to drop out of school.

The good news is the report shows a high growth curve of interest among poor students. If the school is able to inculcate and hone a positive mindset for learning among all kids, both rich and poor students produce academic gains (via Huffington Post).

Nevertheless, the wealth discrimination in education is becoming more and more a problem for society. Parent Herald reported in a previous article that the current college admission system per se, indirectly discriminates its applicants based on wealth. Aspiring poor students don't bother to enroll at Ivy League universities anymore for lack of money, confidence and connections.

According to the Huffington Post, 20 percent of Americans under 18 were poor in 2014, five points higher than in the year 2000. This corresponds to the inaccessibility of a college education for most.

Data also shows that upon graduating from high school, Hispanics and Blacks, who are mostly from the lower income end, take an associate degree or enroll in an occupational certificate program. More whites and Asian/Pacific Islanders go on to take their coveted Bachelor degrees.

Because of the current financial situation of most, it is highly important that the student's will to learn further is greater than his/her family's lack of money to proceed. This is why Grace Kena, one of the report's authors as per the Huffington Post, emphasizes the importance of a positive approach in learning such as acknowledging students when they get high grades and the need to change some teaching mechanisms to impact change.

Do you think that the poorer a person is, the harder it is for him/her to receive quality education? Shoot below your thoughts on the Comments section below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
A mother in North Carolina was arrested and charged with second-degree murder after admitting to policemen that she had choked her 4-day-old son to death. The mother said it was all an accident, but that wasn't enough to get her off the hook.

Tight Grip

Aishia Marie Pacheco, 22, was booked by the Alexander County Sheriff's Office following her shocking admission about her son's tragic death. Pacheco allegedly pressed her infant son into her chest because he wouldn't stop crying. The newborn sustained bruises around his face as a result of his mother's tight grip.

Alexander County 911 rushed to the scene after receiving a call of an unresponsive baby in a home at the southwestern part of the county. Unfortunately, the child was already dead when first responders and paramedics arrived at Pacheco's residence, as per The Charlotte Observer.

"The mother admitted to us that she had held the baby up to her chest, because the child had been crying, and smothered the child," Sheriff Chris Bowman shared to Hickory Daily Record via NDTV. "We have individuals out here who are begging for children, that can't have children and would give good homes. It is a shame that something like this would have to happen."

Glenda Turner, one of Pacheco's neighbors, was dumbfounded by reports of the baby's death. She initially though Pacheco would be a good mother to her bouncy baby boy. "I thought she was going to be a good mom because she looked so happy holding the baby in the hospital," said Turner.

Serial Offender

This wasn't the first time Pacheco had a tussle with the law. NY Daily News reported that Pacheco had already been convicted of second-degree arson, a felony and a misdemeanor for breaking and entering back in 2012 and 2014. She had already served 11 months in jail before being released in January 2015.

As of the moment, the Alexander County Sheriff's Office has locked Pacheco in prison with a bail of $1 million. Pacheco is set to be tried in court on June 6.
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Ryan Stollar of Homeschool Alumni Reaching Out (HARO) has been knocking it out of the park lately. I deeply appreciate his advocacy and his willingness to take on big names in his efforts to prevent child abuse. Today I want to take a moment to highlight his two latest pieces, one posted on the HARO website and one posted on HAROs Homeschoolers Anonymous (HA) project website.

First is Stollars HARO piece, How We Marginalize Abuse Survivors: Valuing Forgiveness Over Protection. Whats amazing about this piece is that he does something with the story of Joseph that I have never seen done before.

Forcing a survivor of child abuse to forgive their abuserwhen that survivor does not feel safe doing so or is not protected against further abuseis an action worthy of millstones. It re-victimizes the child and it places other children at risk. When child abuse happens in your community, your top priority should be ensuring that all children are safe and protected from the abuser. In the Bible we see a good example of this principle in action in the story of Joseph and his brothers. . . . . . . I think sometimes we focus so much on the epic narrative arc of Josephs story that we lose sight of the fact that it begins with child abuse and child trafficking. At 17 years of age, Joseph is beaten and thrown into a pit by his adult brothers. This is sibling child abuse. Joseph is then sold into slaverywhich is human trafficking. Joseph is extraordinarily resilient. He survives despite all the odds and eventually becomes the governor of Egypt. What is interesting, though, is that Joseph nearly falls apart when his brothers later come to Egypt in desperation due to the famine. Despite all his current power, Joseph is still the scared, hurt child inside that he was when he was 17. But Joseph is smart. He decides to protect himself before he forgives his abusers. In Genesis 42-45, Joseph puts his brothers through a number of tests to ascertain whether they have had a change of heartto see if they are currently abusive. And make no mistake, the tests are grueling! He does not simply ask them a few questions and then content himself with their answers. He puts them through a rigorous process. Only when he is absolutely certain that they have had such changes of heart that they are willing to put their own lives on the line now to protect Benjamin, their youngest brother, does Joseph reveal himself to them. Only when the power dynamics are in his favor does he open himself up to reconciliation.

I will never see the story of Joseph the same way again. I had always wondered, as a child, why Joseph put his brothers through those tests. I think my parents or my pastor said something about it being similar to how God tests us. That never felt quite satisfactory to me. This interpretation, though? This one makes sense.

While I am no longer religious myself, finding ways to promote childrens safety within Christianity as well as outside of it is critically important. Stollar is one of many bloggers and activists who do just this, pushing back against Biblical interpretations that shield abusers and re-victimize victims.

In his HA piece, The Fixer, Ryan takes on Christian attorney David C. Gibbs III.

If this name means nothing to you, thats okay. The entire mess around Gibbs III has been hard for even me to follow. Gibbs III is known recently for representing Lourdes Torres in her lawsuit against Doug Phillips and for representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Bill Gothard. Both men are authoritarian Christian leaders accused of harassing young women in their employ. Many found it surprising, therefore, when a judge disqualified him from the Gothard suit this month, revealing that he had been playing it from both ends, promising Bill Gothard that he knew how to fix is problem while also representing his accusers.

As Stollar cuts through the confusion, detailing Gibbs IIIs past and future:

Since 2014, Gibbs III has appeared to many in the Christian homeschooling movement as a champion for abuse survivors. He became the attorney for Lourdes Torres in her sexual assault lawsuit against Vision Forums disgraced founder Doug Phillips.[vii] When five brave women decided to sue IBLP and ATIs founder Bill Gothard for sexual assault as well, Gibbs III was there, filing the lawsuit.[viii] The lawsuit against IBLP and Gothard has now grown to include eighteen plaintiffs.[ix] Through his National Center for Life and Liberty (NCLL), Gibbs III has positioned himself as an advocate for the abused as well as an individual sensitive and empathetic to those injured by Christian fundamentalism. As Gibbs III told HAs Ryan Stollar in January of this year, I vehemently oppose child abuse and those that cover it up with a passion, and I believe that organizations that emotionally, psychologically, physically, or sexually abuse children should be prosecuted and shut down. Now that he has become one of the primary business partners of the Great Homeschool Conventions, the largest for-profit homeschool convention company in the United States, Gibbs IIIs platform and reach is spreading.[x] Yet some have questioned this positive image of Gibbs III. Despite his current advocacy for survivors, he spent decades doing the exact opposite: serving as a fixer for abusers and defending leaders who spread Christian fundamentalism. Through his work and leadership with his father David C. Gibbs Jr.s organization, the Christian Law Association (CLA), Gibbs III built a career out of defending accused child abusers. And as recently as last year, Gibbs presented sermons at churches arguing that not only parents, but schools, churches, and even complete strangers have a fundamental right to child corporal punishmentwhich he referred to as child-beating.[xi]

Gibbs III has served as a lawyer for a number of Christian legal organizations for four decades, and as Stollar reveals, was instrumental in removing protections for children sent to Christian reformatories for troubled teens in Texas. I truly hope that the plaintiffs in the suit against Gothard are able to find new representation and proceed with their case. If youre at all interested in either that case or the troubled teen industry, Stollars piece is mandatory reading.

If youre looking for a charity to support, please consider donating to HARO! Ryans work is important, and all donations are tax deductible.
Before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube made their entry in the media market, the PatnaDaily had already registered its presence in...
Steigenberger Hotel Group set to build 10 hotels in Iran

05/30/16

Source: Tehran Times

TEHRAN -- German hospitality company, Steigenberger Hotel Group, is set to build 10 hotels in different parts of Iran over the next ten years. The CEO of Steigenberger Hotels, Puneet Chhatwal, signed an agreement with the deputy director of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO), Saeid Shirkavand, during a meeting at Tehran's Espinas Palace Hotel on Sunday.

The German group visited Iran's hotel building holdings and private sector entities on Saturday and decided to build the hotels under the brand name Steigenberger Hotels or InterCity Hotels in the coming years.

CHTHO Director Masoud Soltanifar also attended the meeting. During the event, he pointed to measures Iran has taken to facilitate tourism industry during past two years.

"Facilitation of visa obtaining for some nationalities, expanding number and destination of flights as well as road and rail transport systems are some tourism infrastructures improved by Iran during past years," he explained.

Soltanifar also explained about the plan to increase the number of 4-star and 5-star hotels in the next ten years, saying that "Iran will build 25 four- and five-star hotels annually in the future".

"The hotels will be built by Iran's private sector and investors from other countries. Investors from Turkey and Azerbaijan signed agreements with CHTHO to build hotels in different parts of Iran recently," he explained.



Steigenberger Hotels CEO Chhatwal, for his part, talked about the improvement in Iran's tourism industry in recent years.

He said that experts from Steigenberger Hotels visited different cities of Iran including Shiraz, Isfahan and Tehran four times during past six months and explored tourism market in the country.

Steigenberger Hotels already has 120 hotels in 13 countries and will begin building hotels in Iran until ending of 2016, he added.

Chhatwal said that they are searching for an Iranian partner to build the hotels.

The Steigenberger Hotels has improved investment in the Middle East during recent years. The Steigenberger Hotel Dubai Business Bay has been receiving guests since November 2015.

The first InterCityHotel outside Europe is scheduled to open in July 2016 in Salalah, the second largest metropolitan area in Oman and the InterCityHotel Dubai Culture Village and the Steigenberger Hotel Doha Airport Road in Qatar are scheduled for completion in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Paintings inspired by Persian carpets on show at Tehran gallery

05/30/16

Report by Tehran Times; photos by Farzan Qasemi, Honar Online

TEHRAN - A new exhibition of paintings, inspired by the wonderful motifs and attractive colors of Persian carpets, has opened at Tehran's Etemad Gallery. Entitled "Where Is My Ney?", the collection created by the young artist Homa Arkani was placed on exhibit in the gallery on Friday.



Painter Homa Arkani poses at an exhibition of her works at Tehran's Etemad Gallery on May 28, 2016.

Painter Homa Arkani poses at an exhibition of her works at Tehran's Etemad Gallery on May 28, 2016.

"In all the paintings, carpet is the symbol of the living world and the motifs repeated on each carpet resemble the roles we are playing in this world," Arkani told the Persian service of Honaronline on the opening day.

"The existing world in a carpet somehow resembles the repetition and the rhythm of birth, death and the rebirth again," she added.

She also explained that she has made use of Rumi's Masnavi in her works as the source of inspiration, and said, "I have had a different look at the Masnavi focusing on its social and cultural aspects, for they can be quite useful in the world of today.

"The great potentiality of Rumi's poetry is that it has been composed for all periods of time. It is even useful for us now and I tried to focus on the cultural aspect of his works rather than the mystical side," she added.

The opening ceremony continued with a performance by musician Nader Mashayekhi.

"We aimed to give dimensions to the motifs of the paintings and turn them into three dimensional artworks. The sounds heard during the performance refer to the ears observed here and there on the paintings, inviting us to be all ears and listen to the sounds of the world," she explained.

There will also be another performance on Friday in the gallery.

The exhibition will be running until June 7 at the gallery located at No. 4 Bukan St., off Yaser Ave., in the Niavaran neighborhood.


























'Car-free Tuesdays' gains momentum in Iran

05/30/16

By Parvin Tell, Tehran Times

TEHRAN-The campaign for car-free Tuesdays, which is gaining momentum across Iran, was actually mounted last November in Arak, a city overburdened by its too many pollutant industries.



Entering into its 22nd week on coming Tuesday, the campaign was kicked off by Mohammad Bakhtiari, 25, who has majored in architecture and is a member of a local NGO with 1,000 members known as "the guardians of the environment of Arak city."

Mohammad, whom I caught for a phone interview when riding his bike Friday in Arak, said, "With air pollution getting worse, I did not like to sit back doing nothing. I thought everybody is responsible for this problem. And I was thinking of a way to involve more people to help with it.

Mohammad vigorously added, "The best was to encourage people to rethink about the use of their cars. Thus, I drafted a poster for car-free Tuesdays and shared it on social media for two weeks."

"Meanwhile, I went into the streets in Arak with the poster in hand and explained it in person to people. Within the first two weeks, a bike-riding campaign from [the city of] Rafsanjan joined the campaign. Very soon, TV channel one introduced the car-free Tuesdays during My Homeland Program. In the fourth week, I talked to Mr. Mohammad Darvish at the Department of Environment, who supported the campaign and introduced it wherever he went."

Before talking to Mohammad, I had gone to the Department of Environment on Thursday to see Darvish, head of the education and environmental contributions, to know more about the burgeoning campaign.

Darvish began by quoting Gustavo Petro, the mayor of Bogot in Colombia, who had said, "A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It's where the rich use public transportation."

Introducing Mohammad Bakhtiari and his campaign, he explained that "70 million litter of fuel is used every day in Iran, 20 million of which is imported from outside. Figures show that 15 percent of the traffic in Iran is unnecessary. We are not looking for an ideal condition at all. But we win if we can cut that 20 million of import by stopping those pointless drives."

Tuesday was chosen because it is in the middle of Iranian week when traffic congestion is high and air pollution at peak, Darvish explained, adding, "If we succeed to bring Tuesdays' traffic under control, we can see its impact throughout the week."

A total 600 weeks have been planned for the movement to be internalized in the Iranian society and the first 100 weeks are set for having people to know about it, Darvish explained.

"Sixty percent of the people who know there is such a campaign have supported it. Our first step is to tell people that there is such a movement. The second step is to tell them why they should support it. The third step is to have incentives for those who join the campaign. And the fourth step is to push the government to carry out its responsibilities at a more rapid pace."

Darvish went on to say that "government must create safe bike routes; allocate subsidy for purchasing bikes and electric and hybrid motorcycles. Instead of expanding streets, constructing two or three floor highways or tunnels, the ruling body must move towards improving BRTs and public transportation. It also needs to make car driving more difficult for people so they opt for public transportation or bikes."

Asked how one can see the impact of the campaign on Tuesday's traffic, the environment official said air pollution and traffic congestion as well as number of accidents and traffic tickets are being monitored on Tuesdays.

Inquired if he sees any future for the campaign, Darvish's response was positive with a big smile in his face, saying "Iranians are unpredictable."

The official who rides bike to office and his sessions across the capital says "the campaign is a point of unity between the government and people; it promotes social capital and unity; it is different from other campaigns in that all enjoy the benefits. The movement is to change people's mindset, particularly the educated and the lovers of environment, to assume responsibility for their society."

Many officials, according to Darvish, have already joined the campaign including Mrs. Masumeh Ebtekar, the head of department, who uses subway and taxi on Tuesdays to go to her office.

"The Department of Environment is also paving the way for the campaign to be recognized among people. We have negotiated with insurance companies to give discount on third-party and body-part insurances to the drivers without traffic tickets on Tuesdays. We have also talked to municipality officials to specify some places in subways and BRTs for the campaign's posters which appear soon. Also, there are some companies and organizations like the Department of Environment which have planned some incentives for their employees who do not use personal cars for commuting between home and office," he explained.

This campaign will certainly broaden Iranians' cultural horizon, setting them as an example in the region where most of the countries are entangled in domestic conflict, the official concluded as he was watering the flowers in his office.
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Iran has ordered foreign messaging apps to transfer data and activity records of Iranian users to local servers within a year, a move that will give the country a greater ability to monitor and censor the online activity of its people.

The countrys Supreme Council of Cyberspace has issued instructions to foreign messaging companies active in the country, requiring them to transfer all data and activity linked to Iranian citizens into the country in order to ensure their continued activity, news reports said quoting state-run media.

Social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are already blocked in the country whose government holds a tight control over Internet access by its people.

The requirement that the data be stored on local servers could give the government easier access to the information as then the domestic operations of the messaging companies would likely be subject to local regulations.

The messaging app most likely to be affected by this move is Telegram, which is very popular in the country and has an user base of about 20 million, or one of every four persons in the country, according to Reuters.

While hardliners have met the meteoric rise of messaging apps like Telegram in Iran with strenuous opposition, more moderate members of the Iranian establishment see in the platform an opportunity for getting state-approved content to its massive user base, according to a report by Small Media in London.

In April, Mahmoud Vaezi, the countrys minister of communications told a local news agency that Telegram had promised to close down pornographic channels within 24 hours of receiving a request from the the Iran government.
Nvidia has staked a big chunk of its future on supplying powerful graphics chips used for artificial intelligence, so it wasnt a great day for the company when Google announced two weeks ago that it had built its own AI chip for use in its data centers.

Googles Tensor Processing Unit, or TPU, was built specifically for deep learning, a branch of AI through which software trains itself to get better at deciphering the world around it, so it can recognize objects or understand spoken language, for example.

TPUs have been in use at Google for more than a year, including for search and to improve navigation in Google Maps. They provide an order of magnitude better-optimized performance per watt for machine learning compared to other options, according to Google.

That could be bad news for Nvidia, which designed its new Pascal microarchitecture with machine learning in mind. Having dropped out of the smartphone market, the company is looking to AI for growth, along with gaming and VR.

But Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang isnt phased by Googles chips, he said at the Computex trade show Monday.

For a start, he said, deep learning has two aspects to ittraining and inferencingand GPUs are still much better at the training part, according to Huang. Training involves presenting an algorithm with vast amounts of data so it can get better at recognizing something, while inferencing is when the algorithm applies what its learned to an unknown input.

Training is billions of times more complicated that inferencing, he said, and training is where Nvidias GPUs excel. Googles TPU, on the other hand, is only for inferencing, according to Huang. Training an algorithm can take weeks or months, he said, while inferencing often happens in a split second.

Besides that distinction, he noted that many of the companies that will need to do inferencing wont have their own processor.

For companies that want to build their own inferencing chips, thats no problem, were delighted by that, Huang said. But there are millions and millions of nodes in the hyperscale data centers of companies that dont build their own TPUs. Pascal is the perfect solution for that.

That Google built its own chip shouldnt be a big surprise. Technology can be a competitive advantage for big online service providers, and companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft already design their own servers. Designing a processor is the next logical next step, albeit a more challenging one.

Whether Googles development of the TPU has affected its other chip purchases is tough to know.

Were still buying literally tons of CPUs and GPUs, a Google engineer told The Wall Street Journal. Whether its a ton less than we would have otherwise, I cant say.

Meanwhile Nvidias Huang, like others in the industry, expects deep learning and AI to become pervasive. The last 10 years were the age of the mobile cloud, he said, and were now in the era of artificial intelligence. Companies want to better understand the masses of data theyre collecting, and that will happen through AI.
The wait for Intels Kaby Lake chip will end in the third quarter this year, as the first PC with the 7th Generation Core chip was announced at Computex.

Kaby Lake, the successor to Intels Skylake Core processor chips, will be in the Asus Transformer 3 tablet. The device is much like Microsofts Surface Pro 4, and will ship in the third quarter starting at $799, according to a blog entry on Microsofts website.

The Transformer 3 was among a gaggle of PC and phone products announced by Asus at Computex. No other Kaby Lake PC has been announced yet, but expect Lenovo, HP, Dell and others to follow suit.

Intel hasnt yet announced details of Kaby Lake, and a company spokesman declined to share further information about the chip. He also said the company wont talk about the chip in detail at the trade show in Taipei.

Intels current 6th Generation Core chips are based on the Skylake architecture, and Kaby Lake will be the successor. Kaby Lake has the underpinnings of Skylake, and like all chip upgrades, is expected to be faster and more power-efficient.

On devices containing Kaby Lake chips, Microsoft will not support versions of its OS prior to Windows 10.

Kaby Lake is the third Core chip design to be built with the 14-nanometer production process, and was added as Intel strayed from its traditional model of releasing two Core chip designs for each production process improvement. Manufacturing issues caused Intel to delay a move to the 10-nm process, and it added Kaby Lake to continue delivering yearly chip upgrades.

The Transformer 3, which has a 12.6-inch screen, gives some insight into what top-line Kaby Lake PCs may look like. The tablet PC has a Thunderbolt 3 port, which can drive two 4K displays and doubles as a USB C connector.

Intel has been looking to integrate the controller for that inside its chipset, and also to improve integrated graphics on its chips.

The screen on the Transformer 3 displays images at a resolution of 2880 x 1920 pixels, compared to 2736 x 1824 pixels on Microsofts Surface Pro 4. According to Asus, the Transformer 3 weighs 695 grams and is 6.9 millimeters thick. A keyboard can be attached to turn the device into a laptop. The device has a 13-megapixel camera and can hold an SSD up to 512GB in capacity, and up to 8GB RAM.

The primary competition to Kaby Lake will be AMDs chips based on the Zen architecture, which will first appear in gaming PCs by year end, and desktops and laptops next year.

Asus announced other Transformers at Computex.

The Transformer 3 Pro tablet also has a 12.6-inch screen, but is thicker than the Kaby Lake Transformer, at around 8.35 millimeters, and heavier, at 798 grams. It has a Skylake chip and can be fully loaded with up to 16GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage. It will ship in the third quarter, starting at $999. It has USB-C (including Thunderbolt support), HDMI and USB 3.0 ports, and a fingerprint reader.

The Transformer Mini tablet, with a 10.1-inch screen, will also arrive in the third quarter, although Asus wont yet say at what price.

Theres a new laptop too: The ZenBook 3 is 11.9 millimeters thick, weighs 910 grams and has a 12.5-inch screen. It will ship in the third quarter starting at $999.
A crash Sunday, May 29, in Jurupa Valley knocked down power lines and resulted in one person being hospitalized.

The crash was reported about 3 p.m. at the intersection of Van Buren Boulevard and Jurupa Road, said Riverside County Sheriffs spokesman Deputy Armando Munoz. By 4 p.m., the intersection was blocked off to traffic while Southern California Edison workers restored the power lines, Munoz said.

Information on the extent of the victims injuries and the circumstances of the crash were not immediately available Sunday.

This story is developing. Check pressenterprise.com for more information.
The FBI today announced that a 39-year-old parolee suspected of killing his pregnant, live-in girlfriend at their home in east Hollywood in April 2016 has been apprehended.

Philip Patrick Policarpio, considered one of the FBIs most wanted fugitives, was arrested Sunday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, said Laura Eimiller of the FBI.

Policarpio was taken into custody at the San Ysidro Port of Entry as he was crossing into the United States from Tijuana, she said. Policarpio was on U.S. soil at the time of his arrest. Additional information will be provided by the FBI and partners Tuesday morning.

On April 12 at about 6 a.m., officers were sent to the 500 block of North Virgil Avenue to investigate a report of a shooting and found Lauren Olguin, 32, dead from an apparent gunshot wound, Los Angeles Police Department Officer Liliana Preciado said.

During the argument the suspect punched the victim as he held a gun in his other hand, according to an LAPD statement. The suspect then shot the victim and left the location, possibly in a vehicle.

Policarpio is Filipino, about 5-feet-8 inches tall and weighing around 180 pounds. He has a tattoo on his chest that reads, Only God Can Judge Me and was also known to wear glasses.
A man was hospitalized Sunday, May 29, after his car went off a 25-foot bridge in Riverside County south of Temescal Valley.

The man suffered moderate injuries in the crash, which was reported at 5:23 p.m. on Temescal Canyon Road between Indian Truck Trail and Horsethief Canyon Road, according to a Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department news release.

When firefighters arrived at the scene, the car was suspended by the rear axle on the edge of the bridge, the news release said. Corona Fire Department firefighters assisted Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department firefighters in extricating the man from the car.

He was taken by ambulance to a hospital.
A potential threat of violence posted on the Facebook page of Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, prompted her to contact authorities, according to her chief of staff, Sam Spencer.

The California Highway Patrol and Assembly Sergeant at Arms Department were notified of the threat, Spencer said, which was posted about 9 a.m. Sunday in response to a post by Melendez expressing her support for Donald Trump.

I was pleased to join our Republican Presidential nominee Donald J. Trump honoring veterans in San Diego, today! Melendez posted at 10:20 a.m. Friday. I am proud to support Mr. Trump for President and believe we will Make America Great Again. This country, including our veterans, cant afford another four years of the Obama-Clinton failed policies.

Among the more than 150 comments on the post was one that read: Kill whitie I hate u things just as much as you hate me my we meet in battle here on your beloved USA let the street run red with your childrens blood! Death to the white man!

Spencer said the threat was just purely on social media and that Melendez had not been contacted directly.

Well let law enforcement do their job, Spencer said.

The CHP and Sergeant at Arms Department could not be reached Sunday afternoon for comment on whether they are investigating.

The commenter did not reply to a message sent over Facebook seeking a response.

Melendez, first elected to the Assembly in 2012, represents the 67th District, which covers parts of Riverside County from Murrieta to Temescal Valley and the Woodcrest area south of Riverside, as well as Hemet and the Nuevo area. She is running for her second re-election this year.
One myth about Measure A is the claim that Riverside Police Officers want this change. As the elected president of the Riverside Police Officers Association, representing 338 members including officers, detectives and sergeants, I can tell you an overwhelming majority of my members are against Measure A. Almost 70 percent of RPOA members live in this city. Many of them grew up in this community and they do not support Measure A.

What most cops will tell you is they support more resources on the street to fight crime; that staffing in the department, specifically in field operations, is the lowest in 20 years; and that you cant arrest and prosecute your way out of homelessness. Even if there were beds in county jail for misdemeanor arrests, most of those detained are incapable of paying fines or completing community service.

The city attorney says Measure A would cost $2.5 million a year. Think about what that money could do for your police department: $2.5 million is roughly the annual cost for another 15 police officers. Its about three-fourths of the way to a sorely needed police helicopter to replace our aging airship. Its 40 black-and-white squad cars to patrol the city, at a time when no such units are in the budget for the next two years.

Todays police officers are engaged in a tireless effort to fight crime in the wake of Prop. 47 and AB109. They need more resources on the front lines, not more lawyers at City Hall.

Please support your Riverside police officers on June 7 by voting No on Measure A!

Brian C. Smith

Riverside

President, Riverside Police Officers Association

Ballots over bills

Re: Gun laws: Bills or ballot? [Opinion, May 24]: Gun control should be voted on by the voters, not the demagogues in Sacramento. Gun ownership in this country is a right  something that many people seem to have forgotten.

Dain Gingerelli

Temecula
A woman who police say hit a 26-year-old man with her car and fled after seeing him injured was taken into custody, authorities announced Sunday.

Police said Tracy Clapp, 36, of Santa Ana was detained on Saturday night after a chase in a stolen car and an altercation with officers.

She looked much different when she was detained than when she was spotted at the crime scene, police said at a news conference. She apparently tried to conceal her identity by wearing blue contact lenses, dyeing her hair bright pink and getting a face tattoo, said Santa Ana Cpl. Matt Wharton.

Clapp is in the hospital recovering from the tussle with officers and a police dog bite, and is expected to be booked on Sunday night on suspicion of several crimes stemming from both the hit and run and the struggle with authorities, including vehicular manslaughter, felony hit and run and assault on a police officer.

The announcement comes after authorities and family members appealed to the public for help finding the woman who ran a red light before hitting and severely injuring Christopher Chavez of Santa Ana.

Chavez was walking in a crosswalk at Bristol Street and Central Ave. with the right of way to eat at a nearby Dennys restaurant when he was struck on April 20 at around 2:15 a.m.

Police said a woman  in a black, BMW sedan with paper license plates  stopped at the scene and walked up to the victim, but then drove off.

Chavez was taken to Orange County Global Medical Center with serious injuries and was later declared brain-dead.

A witness took a photo of her before she left. With the help of police, they offered a $20,000 reward for anyone who would help them identify the woman who fled the scene.

After the family and police appealed to the public, tips came pouring in to investigators.

Chavez, a drum line instructor at Saddleback High School in Santa Ana, was studying to become an emergency medical technician at Orange Coast Community College.

His family was notified Saturday shortly after the 7 p.m. arrest.

They met with news reporters Sunday morning outside police department headquarters.

I feel nothing for this lady right now, Ralph Chavez, Christophers father said.

Though he was grateful for the publics tips, Chavez said, the womans detention brings back the pain of losing his son.

It brings back much sadness for Chris  Shes a bad woman, he said. We are a broken family right now.

Wharton said the woman has an extensive criminal history. It was apparent that she knew police were looking for her, he said.

On Saturday night she was traced to an area of southeast Santa Ana, where police saw her exit a house and get into a stolen car. They tried to pull her over, Wharton said, but she kept going. She fled on foot but officers confronted her and took her into custody after a scuffle and a police canine bit her arm.

As for the $20,000 reward offered in exchange for finding the woman, Wharton said no one has been interested in the money.

There is no one interested in the reward at this time. They were just interested in leading us to her.

Chavezs family had told the public they would be donating his organs to help others. On Sunday, they confirmed that is what happened.

Its what he would have wanted to do, his sister Rachel Chavez said. Christopher will live on in other people.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7865 or afausto@ocregister.com
UPDATE (Monday, May 30): A previous version of this story misidentified a street location.

Riverside police arrested a man described as a parolee at large around 7:40 p.m. Sunday evening in the parking lot of the Grand Marc apartments on Iowa avenue.

Sgt. Debbie Foy said an officer earlier attempted to make contact with the man near orange groves southwest of UC Riverside, but he took off running.

Officers created a perimeter and searched the area, calling in a helicopter team to assist. About 7:30 pm, an officer spotted the suspect running north on Cranford Avenue, and then east towards Iowa Avenue.

The man was eventually surrounded and taken down by a K-9. Foy said the suspect will be taken to a hospital to be cleared before being booked into jail.
This week will be exactly one year since Ghana lost nearly 150 persons through an Accra flood. Last week Dr Okoe Vanderpuije, the Mayor of Accra, announced that he has secured $750million from China for the development of AMA. And this announcement came in the wake of another Accra flood a few days ago.



On Tuesday November 6, 2012, Dr. Vanderpuije announced that the AMA has partnered with Conti on a 595 million dollars deal aimed at addressing the Accra sanitation issues, and consequently the perennial flooding problems.



On May 18, 2013, a year after the first announcement, Dr Alfred Oko Vanderpuije was reported to have said Accra Metropolitan Assembly is prepared for the raining season under review. He said as part of measures to achieve this goal, the Assembly has constructed new drains, as well as cleared gutters of filth.



On May 27, less than two weeks after the assurance from the Accra Mayor, it rained for only 45 minutes, and the following was the headline on Myjoyonline.com: Flood waters sweep through homes; destroy properties in Accra.



On Thursday June 6, 2014, President John Mahama, again, ordered the Ministry of Finance to release funds for the immediate construction of a drainage system in flood prone areas in Accra. He made this known when he visited areas which were affected by floods the previous day.



On June 4, 2015, after the Circle flood and fire disaster, this is what President John Mahama said This loss of life is catastrophic, almost unprecedented. A lot of people have lost their lives. We have to take measures to avoid these floods in the future.



The next day, President Mahama set out flood prevention and disaster risk reduction plans in Accra. In a statement the president said that the government has allocated GHC50 million to help not only the victims, but also to enable the city authorities prevent future occurrence of the floods.



Last week, just last week, it rained for a few minutes, and there was a huge flood in Accra, and a lot of properties were destroyed, including a reported lost of lives. In the wake of this, the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo announced to Citi FM that the Government has released $10million for the desilting of major drains in Accra and Tema, to deal with their perennial flooding problems.



So I agree with the musician Sarkodie, Money no be problem. The AMA has received sufficient money in any imaginable amount to have been able to deal with these floods in Accra.



The Accra Metropolitan Assembly spends millions of cedis in salary payments for a large numbers of city guards. One of the roles of the city guards is to ensure that people do not liter indiscriminatorily. The Assembly also pays several million cedis to sanitation companies to collect and dispose waste in the city. There are also sanitary inspectors and environmental officers whose duties are to enforce the Assemblys bylaws on sanitation.



The city of Accra generates about 2200 tons of garbage daily. The Assembly requires about GHC550,000.00 per month (GHC6.6million per year) to pay waste contractors and maintain a landfill site, and this per their own estimate, is all they need to prevent choked gutters and to prevent floods in the city.



The list of the reasons why Accra must never flood again can go on and on. But Accra continues to flood. So what are we using all those monies and human resources for? Why do we still have floods Dr Okoe Vanderpuije? Why do we still have choked gutters when we have city guards?



This is one of the most challenging articles I have written in recent times. Imbued in this article is the temptation for me to ask Dr Okoe Vanderpuije to step down, although I fear his political patrons might misinterpret my intentions.



But this is exactly the point. Political patronage is threatening genuine voices, and suppressing expression. Everything in this country has been subjected to NDC NPP battle, and this is silencing those who do not want to be seen in any of those two colors. And this is allowing our leaders to have a field day. They act with impunity. They perform abysmally.



They behave wrongly, and they rely on political patronage to protect themselves. They demoralize genuine intentions by polluting the voices of right holders, and this enables them to hang on to office, and to continue to perpetuate their filth on us.



We need to change this, and we need to see a crop of people who will refuse to be afraid of the political evangelists. We need people with purely apolitical intentions, those who are fearless about holding office holders accountable for their actions, inactions and performance.



It is ok to belong to a political party. It is ok to have a political sympathy. But it is not ok to support public office holders who do wrong, it is not ok to support public office holders who perform poorly and rely on your support to hold on to office and still fail to perform. We must be able to denounce them, and we must force them to suffer the consequences of poor performance, and poor behavior.



Martin Luther King Jr once said There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.



Recently the Minister of Local Government, Alhaji Collins Dauda, criticized the high cost and inferior quality of state funded projects as against private projects. He wondered why, although such government-sponsored projects are more expensive than those funded by private entities, the private sponsored projects usually have a longer lifespan and are of higher quality.



He wondered for instance why a six-classroom block constructed in the same locality by private companies with similar materials bought from the same market and the same kind of labor tended to produce better quality structures at lower cost than the one executed by government agencies.

These are the voices I look forward to hearing, a core Government Cabinet Minister raising his voice within.







In 1991 when I was a teenager preparing for my BECE examinations, when I needed my father the most, he decided to, while still married to my mother, marry a young woman, and brought her to live in our family house. My father was then nearly 80 years old while the young woman was estimated at 27 years old. And this was the time when my mother, his maiden wife, had given him 12 children already, with me being the last born.



I opposed my fathers action, and even though I was only a teen, I did everything possible to frustrate that ill-timed marriage. He had the backing of his siblings and my siblings so I became a lonely voice, and a bad rebelling rejected son. But I did not give up until my actions separated them. It was almost too late. The young woman gave birth to a son for my father by the time the separation happened.



I had two reasons for my action. First I did not have anyone to cater for my education and feeding. I did all manner of work including fishing, vegetable farming, splitting firewood, plugging coconuts, begging and very obnoxious scavenging in order to feed myself and to pay for my school fees. And my father claimed he did not have money to help me. If he had money to take care of another woman, then he should use that money to pay for my fees and to feed me.



My second reason was that at almost 80, my father, then a peasant farmer who did not have any Social Security, was too elderly to be able to care for the additional children he was giving birth to, and I predicted that those children he was bringing forth were going to become destitute.



True to my word, four years after Kweku Annan was born (from the new wife) my father could not farm again because he had become so weak. The consequence was that he, just as it happened to me, sent this boy into forced labor on Lake Volta, exactly what I predicted. After I graduated from the university, it took me nearly four years to be able to find Kweku, and for me to send him to school when he was already 14 years old.



Kweku, at the time he returned from slavery, had so many medical complications. So beside feeding, clothing, and paying for his education, I was also paying thousands of Cedis in medical expenses to help him survive. Unfortunately he died a couple of years ago. Imagine what would have happened if I had kept quiet for my father to produce more children?



When we raise our voices, society may reject its sound, but the pitch will remain with humanity. As young people you have high pitches, so use them.



We must have in ourselves a crop of young people who, even if they have future political leadership intentions, are truly inspired to act, to demand answers regardless of the lineage of their political intentions and patronage.



Such a crop of people must be brutal in their spirit that the nation Ghana was bequeathed to us as of right, and we have a responsibility to protect and enhance its integrity, to be able to bequeath to our children a better condition than what was given to us, and this is the right of our children, to receive a better Ghana from us.



If we do not demand answers now, these public office holders will continue their messing spree and they will leave office without being accountable, and we will spend the rest of our lives looking for solutions to clean their mess.



More importantly I am expecting young tertiary students and graduates who are supposed to be the light of their communities, to raise their voices and to raise issues, and to challenge the status quo, regardless of their political affiliation or sympathy or even the smear campaign they risk.





Just imagine if Accra was someones company, and the company had all these monies to construct drainage, to stop people from building on water ways, to manage waste, and to stop people from throwing rubbish into drains. Will Okoe Vanderpuije still be at post as the Managing Director in these floods, in this mess?

Source: James Kofi Annan/ email: [email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The President of the Institute of Human Resources Management Practitioners, Ghana (IHRMP), Mr. John Wilson has called on Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Corporate Ghana to move from just partnering with Human Resources (HR) to a more current position of PLAYER in a strategic management role where HR impacts strategic performance by forging a talent advantage.



Mr. Wilson made this call when he delivered his address at the maiden CEOs Forum organized by the IHRMP, Ghana on Thursday, 26th May, 2016 at the Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra.



I wish to reiterate that our HR World has changed into the Talent Age coming from the Industrial Age where we were seen to be POLITE and nice to people but do not impact the business. We moved to the Knowledge Age now classified as Human Resource era where again we have been POLICING.



This we did by reducing trouble by focusing on cost compliance and consistency. Since then we have moved to PARTNERING to help Business Partners be successful and currently into the very latest position of PLAYER in a Strategic management role where HR impacts strategic performance by forging a talent advantage, Mr. Wilson explained.



The Guest Speaker of the programme, Dr. Adu A. Antwi, CEO of Securities & Exchange Commission, who spoke on behalf of the CEOs said, In a nutshell, change must happen to ensure that HR Practitioners work in harmony to foster better working relationship for the overall benefit of the organization.



Dr. Antwi made three key suggestions to CEOs as follows:



In as much as there is the need for HR Practitioners to up their game by upskilling themselves to meet the new expectations of the Corporate World, CEOs must demonstrate the belief that HR is central and critical to the success of the business and appreciate that the organization is as good and competent as the people it is comprised of.



CEOs must be clear in their definition of key deliverables for the HR departments and hold every HR Practitioner accountable for time bound results.



CEOs would have to invest in the development of HR Practitioners.



Speaking on behalf of the National Labour Commission, Dr. ( Mrs.) Bernice Welbeck, the Director of HR and Admin, made an impressive presentation to the participants, pointing out that the most valuable assets of any company is certainly the human capital, citing examples of cases of HR issues that has been brought to the commission by organizations in Ghana.



The Executive Director of IHRMP, Ghana, Mr. Ebenezer Agbettor in his welcome address mentioned that the CEOs Forum has been on the drawing board for some time now and was pleased that it had finally become a reality.



Getting champions of industry to gather at a single platform to discuss issues confronting HR Practitioners and their organizations is what this forum is all about. We express our deep felt appreciation to Starlife Assurance and GCB Bank for the support that has made the maiden programme a success, the Executive Director concluded.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Prime Minister of the oil-and-gas-rich island of Trinidad and Tobago says his country is poised to help fast-track the development of Ghanas hydrocarbon industry with its century-plus experience in the industry.



Addressing management of Ghana Gas at the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant in the Western Region, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said his country was excited to share with Ghana the benefits of over hundred years experience in the oil and gas industry.



We wish to assist Ghana by offering opportunities for sport in pipeline development, gas processing, electricity generation, and aluminium production.



Prime Minister Rowley said: Trinidad and Tobago has tremendous experience in negotiations and transactions with multi-national oil companies such as BP, Shell, Texaco and we will bring these expertise to Ghana. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. So Trinidad and Tobago will share these experiences so Ghana can develop quickly, he noted.



The Prime Ministers delegation included Minister Stuart Young of the Office of the Prime Minister, Energy and Energy Industries Minister Nicole Olivierre, Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dennis Moses, Special Advisor to the PM on Energy Matters, Professor Kenneth Julien, and a host of business leaders from the petroleum-rich Caribbean nation.



Other members of the delegation included Professor Andrew Jupiter and Mr Gerry Brooks, chairmen of the national petroleum company of Trinidad and Tobago and the national gas company respectively.



The visiting delegation was accompanied to Atuabo by Ghana's Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Nii Osa Mills, and the Chief Director of the Ministry of Petroleum, Professor Thomas Akabzaa.



Briefing the Prime Minister and his delegation, Dr George Sipa Yankey, CEO of Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas), operators of Atuabo, said Ghanas premier gas infrastructure development in the Western Region was the product of a multi-national project undertaken by 10 reputable international companies from at least eight countries.



He said the companies included Canadian firm TDE, which fabricated the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant; Micoperi, an Italian company which constructed the Offshore Pipeline; and Sinopec Services, the Chinese state-owned company which constructed the Onshore Pipeline.



Front End Engineering Design (FEED) and other engineering services were provided by Tecnip from France, Woodgroup Kenny from the UK, Aecom from the USA, Yokogawa from Japan, Wolley Parsons, a Ghanaian-US partnership, as well as a Singaporean company.



Dr Yankey said the contributions of Ghana Gas to the socio-economic development of the Western Region and Ghana, especially in the supply of lean, has been immense.



He said the company, at full capacity, helps the nation generate about 660MW of electricity, supplies over 50% of the national demand for LPG and remains the only producer of condensates in Ghana.



According to Dr Yankey, Ghana Gas was presently supplying about 60 million standard cubic feet of gas a day to the Aboadze Thermal Plant due to reduced flow of natural gas from the Tullow Ghana Limited-operated Jubilee field. That enables the Volta River Authority to generate about 240 megawatts of power onto the national grid.



The Trinidadian Prime Ministers entourage was conducted round the gas processing plant by the Director of Operations, Mr Robert Lartey.



The Prime Minister, who held bilateral discussions with the President of Ghana and senior government officials and visited the Tema Oil Refinery and the Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO), has since left for London for talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Source: The Finder









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.

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Global Media Alliance has announced the list of award categories for the maiden edition of Ghana Beverage Awards (GBA).



GBA is the newest Ghanaian award scheme designed to honour the beverage industry of Ghana. It is set to take off in September this year and is expected to gather all the big names in the industry.



GBA, organized by Global Media Alliance (GMA), an integrated media and communications company in Ghana, is under the themeInspiring excellence in the beverage industry in Ghana.



The Awards, which encompasses both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, has been categorized into product specific categories and general categories, affording beverage producers the opportunity to bag many awards at the event.



Head of Creatives and Productions at Global Media Alliance Mr. J.O.T Agyeman said The organisers are looking at instituting a credible award scheme that helps standardise the practice of the beverage industry. We are also interested in engaging the media and all other stakeholders who enable the beverage industry thrive directly or indirectly.



In all, 18 awards will be given out and these include; spirit of the year, wine of the year, beer of the year and bitters of the year while the general categories include; product of the year, manufacturer of the year, ad campaign of the year, innovative product of the year amongst others.



All applicants may access entry forms and other information online at ghanabeverageawards.com.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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A photograph of a drowned migrant baby in the arms of a German rescuer was distributed on Monday, May 30 by a humanitarian organization aiming to persuade European authorities to ensure safe passage to migrants, after hundreds are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean last week.



The baby, who appears to be no more than a year old, was pulled from the sea on Friday after the capsizing of a wooden boat. Forty-five bodies arrived in the southern Italian port of Reggio Calabria on Sunday aboard an Italian navy ship, which picked up 135 survivors from the same incident.



German humanitarian organization Sea-Watch, operating a rescue boat in the sea between Libya and Italy, distributed the picture taken by a media production company on board and which showed a rescuer cradling the child like a sleeping baby.



In an email, the rescuer, who gave his name as Martin but did not want his family name published, said he had spotted the baby in the water "like a doll, arms outstretched".



"I took hold of the forearm of the baby and pulled the light body protectively into my arms at once, as if it were still alive ... It held out its arms with tiny fingers into the air, the sun shone into its bright, friendly but motionless eyes."



The rescuer, a father of three and by profession a music therapist, added: "I began to sing to comfort myself and to give some kind of expression to this incomprehensible, heart-rending moment. Just six hours ago this child was alive."



Like the photograph of the three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan lying lifeless on a Turkish beach last year, the image puts a human face on the more than 8,000 people who have died in the Mediterranean since the start of 2014.



Little is known about the child, who according to Sea-Watch was immediately handed over to the Italian navy. Rescuers could not confirm whether the partially clothed infant was a boy or a girl and it is not known whether the child's mother or father are among the survivors.



Sea-Watch collected about 25 other bodies, including another child, according to testimony from the crew seen by Reuters. The Sea-Watch team said it unanimously decided to publish the photo.



"In the wake of the disastrous events it becomes obvious to the organizations on the ground that the calls by EU politicians to avoid further death at sea sum up to nothing more than lip service," Sea-Watch said in a statement in English distributed along with the photograph.



"If we do not want to see such pictures we have to stop producing them," Sea-Watch said, calling for Europe to allow migrants safe and legal passage as a way of shutting down people smuggling and further tragedies.



At least 700 migrants may have died at sea this past week in the busiest week of migrant crossings from Libya towards Italy this year, the UN Refugee agency said on Sunday.



The boat carrying the baby left the shores of Libya near Sabratha late on Thursday, and then began to take on water, according to accounts by survivors collected by Save the Children on Sunday. Hundreds were on board when it capsized, the survivors said.







Source: Christian Buettner/Eikon Nord GmbH Germany via Reuters









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.

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Kwabena Danso, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Boomers International, a wholly owned Ghanaian company which manufactures bicycles made from bamboo has met with the United Kingdom Minister for Africa, Mr. James Duddridge.



The Ghanaian entrepreneur was hosted by Mr. James Duddridge, who is currently visiting the country with the United Kingdom Prime Ministers envoy on Trade, Mr. Adam Afiriyie. The interaction was to afford the Minister and his team the opportunity to understand the Ghanaian business systems and also be abreast with challenges faced by Ghanaian businesses.



After riding a bamboo bicycle for the first time, Mr. Duddridge expressed his admiration for Boomers International and its Chief Executive Officer as he highlighted the importance of a local Ghanaian company positively promoting the countrys image on the international scene through a unique and an environmentally friendly product.



Speaking to a section of the media after the interaction, Kwabena Danso said the meeting with the UK team was very insightful and it has opened my eyes to a lot of opportunities out there in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world.



Boomers International as well as other local businesses can capitalize on and take their operations to the next level. This is definitely going to be important for us as we aspire to expand our operations and also strike strategic partnerships in key markets around the world for the marketing and distribution of our products.



There are new products we will be rolling out and it will be important the rest of the world knows the great things we are doing here in Ghana.



Currently, Boomers International markets and sells their bamboo bicycles in six other countries apart from Ghana. These countries are Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Canada, United States of America, Poland and very soon the United Kingdom, Sweden and Israel.



The company trains the youth in rural communities and employs them at its production factory located in Yonso. The company currently has a staff strength of over twenty people and it is fast becoming the leading producer of bamboo bicycles in West Africa.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Dr Kodjoe Sumney, the President of Mission Africa Incorporated, has proposed that the winners in this years presidential and parliamentary elections be anointed and consecrated before they take the Oaths of Office to serve.



Quoting examples from the Bible of men who were anointed before they began their official duties, Dr Sumney said leadership was a divine duty, which would only be successful with the backing of God.



Dr Sumney, who said God dropped the suggestion in his spirit, was addressing an event to the climax 13th African Union Day Prayer and Empowerment Conference, held on May 25, at the Foyer of the Chamber Block of Parliament, in Accra.



The Prayer Conference, a collaborative effort of Africa Mission Incorporated, the Parliament of Ghana and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, was under the theme, Peaceful Elections and Economic Progress.



Giving credit to God as the elector of leaders, Dr Sumney said God himself would, therefore, lead Ghana to elect the President and the Members of Parliament, come November 7.



The cleric said God would not disappoint Ghana concerning the choice of leaders. Lets look up to God and he himself in his wisdom will give us a president.



Lets pray that God gives us peaceful elections. We may have small, small noises here and there, but he himself will give us a leader.



Dr Sumney called for humility to control the elections, saying it was time for spirit filled leadership in Africa.



It is time that leaders in all domains -political, managerial, religious and traditional - become more spirit-filled, become more people-centered, heavenly-centered, compassion -entered and result-oriented, he said.



These are the kinds of leaders we need in all aspects in Africa, leadership is a divine calling, no matter ones religion, and can never be adequately fulfilled without the anointing and consecration of God."



The Conference was addressed by a team of renowned speakers, including Nii Okwei Kinka Dowuona, the Paramount Chief of the Osu Traditional Area, Dr Osei Kofi Darkwa, the President of the Ghana Telecommunication University, Pastor Dr. Andrews Ewool (Seventh Day Adventist), the Reverend Steve Mensah (General Overseer Evangelistic Charismatic Ministry and Dr. Lawrence Tetteh, the Founder of the United Kingdom-based Word-wide Miracle Outreach.



Later in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Dr Sumney said Africas political forefathers were focused and determined to prepare the way for political independence for the countries of Africa, regardless of the cost.



However, he said, Currently we are not willing to pay the price that they paid for us.



So in Mission Africa, we want to create the awareness on the cries of the suffering of Africans to our leaders to ensure economic independence so that they can enjoy a piece of the cake of Africa.



In the Far East, they have spirit-filled leadership. We all have to be involved, be committed and consistent in the revival of Africa.



Dr Tetteh, also in an interview, urged Ghanaians to increase their roles as peace ambassadors in this election year, and constitute themselves as a massive united force to develop the nation.



Dr Tetteh is an economist, but he said he had visited 118 nations, mostly with the message of Christ.



In all situations, he said, the Word of God had been proven to bring peace and prosperity when diligently applied.



He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to continue to intensify their prayers ahead of the elections and thereafter. We, as a nation, must promote peace and unity for the coming elections and beyond.



He advised the media to be more circumspect in their reportage so that whatever they published would inure to the peace of the nation.



Some children, who put up AU-related performances at the prayer Summit, reminded Ghanaians to preserve the peace to ensure their security to carry on with nation building.



Mrs Elizabeth Kwatsoe Tawiah Sackey, the MP for Okaikoi North (NPP), who participated in the prayer festival, told the GNA that Ghana belonged to God, hence the need to commit the nation to God to ensure an incident-free election.



Mr Mathias Kwame Ntow, the MP for Aowin (NDC), said the elections were not about war, emphasising that the nation needed more prayers for the leadership and everyone to be at peace.

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.

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Former Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly boss and New Patriotic Party [NPP] member, Maxwell Kofi Jumah has launched a scathing attack on the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin.



He has described him without any hesitation as a fool.



So if Britain wants someone as a High Commissioner to Ghana, must they appoint a fool like Jon Benjamin as their Commissioner to Ghana? That man is a fool, he angrily said on NEAT FMs morning show 'Ghana Montie'.



His invectives comes after the Commissioner denied reports in a series of tweets that the Central Regional Chairman of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Allotey Jacobs has been arrested in the UK.



News went viral on social media on Sunday that Allotey Jacobs was busted at the Heathrow Airport by the UK National Crime Agency on suspected money laundering and cocaine trafficking.



The unconfirmed report also said Ghanas High Commissioner to the UK, Victor Smith had dispatched officials of the High Commission to rescue the NDC chairman. But Jon Benjamin in responding to the report on Twitter said the story is not true.



I can confirm that the rumor about Mr. Jacobs is definitely not true . . . Mr. Allotey Jacobs transited Heathrow this morning without incident, he added.



This seems to have provoked the former Asokwa NPP MP and attempts by the host to stop him from further insults again triggered him to hang up in a live radio interview with Kwesi Aboagye.



If you dont want me to talk, then bye, he hung up.





Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/ Twitter: @Washman5/ Instagram: Washman007









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The country would be disadvantaged if Ghanaians make a mistake to elect Nana Akufo-Addo as president in the November polls, NDC National Organiser Kofi Adams cautions. His warning is rooted in his claims that the NPP presidential candidate has disintegrated otherwise a formidable party he inherited from former President Kufuor.



The party has clearly been disintegrated through the action, initiative and direction of Dr. Nana Akufo-Addo.



The NPP today is a party everybody within it fears to speak his mind knowing too well that the anything that would be visited on him would either be an acid bath, or killed in the night when he is expected to be resting. That is the type of leadership that he is offering, he observed.



Kofi Adams was reacting to a statement by Nana Akufo-Addo in France on Saturday that whilst some neighbouring countries have made giant strides in the last 5 years, Ghana, however, within the same time frame, and under the leadership of President Mahama, is going backwards.



Cote dIvoire, five or six years ago was coming from civil war. The election in 2010 led to 100,000 displaced people, 3,000 people were killed as a result of the election between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara. In five years, because of good, strong leadership, Cote dIvoire is today the number one investment destination in Africa. They are growing at 9% a year and we are growing at 3.9%. Last year, Cote dIvoire earned over $12 billion in exports of its agricultural products. In the same time, we earned $2 billion, he said.



But Kofi Adams told TV3s [email protected], Sunday evening that Something really is wrong on the side of Dr. Nana Akufo-Addo because every other day he speaks, he gives credence that this man no longer knows what is happening in Ghana and what is happening around him so he just get out there, he is given information and he puts it out, without checking.



He maintained that President John Mahama has since assumption into office been investing in various sectors of the economy which he said would culminate into a total development of the country.



He said Akufo-Addos analogy tells you clearly that Ghana must not make a mistake of having Nana Akufo-Addo the leader of this country otherwise, we will be seriously disadvantaged.



He further stated, a country that has not suffered war and has seen a certain consistent growth would not have the same space to grow as higher percentage like one that has suffered a decline because of war, so there is opportunity to invest in many other areas that were doing well previously which has just gone inFrance that he was speaking at has not collapsed because its growing at one percent or 1.5%. So you must ask yourself nine percent over what?

Source: tv3network.com









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Central Regional Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) Allotey Jacobs at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom has revealed that he had only $1,500 dollars on him on his travel abroad.



According to him, there was no way he could travel with a whopping 500,000 as has been alleged was found on him leading to his arrest at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom.



He said if he had that much money, he would have built a skyscraper in Ghana and would not have bothered carrying it abroad.



Rumours went viral on social media on Sunday alleging that Mr Allotey Jacobs was busted for carrying cocaine in Britain, where he was expected to have connected to the United States of America later.



Other reports said the NDC bigwig who is abroad for a business transaction was escorted from the plane and questioned when his flight arrived Sunday morning over a tip-off that he was carrying too much money.



The rumours further said Ghanas High Commissioner to the UK, Victor Smith had dispatched officials of the High Commission to help Chairman Allotey.



But Allotey Jacobs has since denied his arrest and has vowed to deal ruthlessly with Hopeson Adorye, the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) activist who is believed to have started the rumour by publishing it on his Facebook wall.



I will never allow this rumour to wish away like that, because he cannot destroy my hard won reputation with a figment of his own imagination. How can one manufacture such baseless allegation, and he goes to social media and writes that Ive been arrested. I traveled with my colleague Board member, Mrs Agbenyeto whos a former Chief State Attorney, how can I even take this amount being alleged out of Ghana.



Meanwhile, Hopeson Adorye has insisted that Allotey Jacobs was momentarily arrested and questioned over a case of money laundering Sunday while boarding a flight to the UK.



Adorye claims an account of his friend who was on board the same British airline flight 078 suggested that at Heathrow Airport, UK Security officials approached Jacobs on the flight  questioned him over money laundering issues and for a few minutes walked him out of the craft.



Of-course I didnt start this rumours on social media, but a friend who was also travelling to UK on the same flight and was at the business class with Allotey said at Heathrow, some four security officials including three men and a lady walked to Allotey and asked him how much money he was having in his possession. Allotey just told the officials that the money he was carrying was purposely for a government programme; but the officials who were not convinced by Alloteys response said hed sometime ago said the same thing. So within some few minutes he was accosted and escorted out with a lady who was sitting beside Allotey on the plane leaving his belongings. The issue even made him delay his next flight to Dallas. And so this persons account is accurate- he just told me exactly what happened and for me a summary of the whole incidence is that this amounts to questioning and arrest of Allotey Jacobs by UK officials.  Adorye told Fiifi Banson onAnopa Kasapa on Kasapa 102.5 FM Monday.

Source: kasapafmonline









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.

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The media are destroying Ghana and it is about time politicians joined forces against them, Deputy General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Koku Anyidoho has said.



Contributing to a discussion on Class91.3FMs Executive Breakfast Show on Monday May 30 about the use of abusive language in Ghanaian politics, Mr Anyidoho asked: Is it only politicians that exist in the geographical entity called Ghana? You have religious leaders and the media.



In fact, very soon, we are going to turn our guns on the media because the media is now the medium that is destroying this country  the media terrorism, the media tyranny that is going on must be stopped, he told Prince Minkah, explaining that:  Media operators pretend that they are not politicians, but they are the worst politicians and create all the problems. Maybe politicians must now come together and direct our arsenals at the media.



According to him, the raging media tyranny and media terrorism must be stopped.



Apart from the media tyranny and media terrorism Mr Anyidoho spoke against, he also denounced civil society terrorism, which he said was also going on so leave the politicians out, lets deal with the media and civil society organisations, where now civil society organisations and the media think that they must run state institutions, so, the police cannot work, the military cannot work, the Electoral Commission cannot work, the NCCE cannot work because they are not playing to the dictates of the media and the civil society organisations.



Since when did civil society organisations and the media forces run countries? Then let us allow the media organisations and the civil society organisations to form political parties and run for office so they are voted for, he suggested.



Mr Anyidoho said: As far as Im concerned, the media is the problem this country is facing.



You wake up every morning, sit behind a consul and you think that you can dictate and determine the agenda for the nation, this is unfair and its unacceptable. The tyranny of the media, the tyranny of civil society organisations shall not be accepted, he said.



He also accused media owners in Ghana of being the worst politicians in the country.

Source: Classfmonline









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.

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To ensure a peaceful election, the Ghana Police Service is weighing up plans to ban access to social media platforms on Election Day.



Although the security agency has not been straight forward in declaring the action, the move has received major backlash from the populace.



The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has implored the GPS and the IGP to consider a more democratic and progressive ways of achieving election security rather than planning to ban access to social media on Election Day.



In a statement signed by the Deputy Director of CDD-Ghana, Dr. Franklin Oduro, he stated that carrying out such a move would constitute an unprecedented violation of provisions of the 1992 Constitution guaranteeing free expression.





Full Statement Below





Last week, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), John Kudalor, declared that the Ghana Police Service (GPS) was considering a ban on access to social media platforms during the 2016 general elections. This intent, according to the IGP, is part of the Police Administration's plans to ensure peace during the election period.



The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) joins others in registering our strong and unqualified opposition to any such move.



Freedom of expression is the bedrock of a thriving democracy. It is extremely worrying for a state institution charged with the core responsibility of ensuring the safety of citizens to be considering such an undemocratic move as shutting down the social media.



Whatever the rationale, such a sweeping move would constitute an unprecedented violation of provisions of the 1992 Constitution guaranteeing free expression. It would be a retrogressive step in a democracy on any day  and especially on the day citizens are choosing their government.



This disclosure by the GPS, barely five months from the general elections, represents an extremely worrying trend, coming on the back of the recent attempts by the state to force through the passage of the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Bill, 2016.



(A bill, which seeks to grant the security agencies unfettered powers to interfere with the personal communication of Ghanaians) and the attempt by the National Media Commission (NMC) to introduce a new law

requiring media owners to seek content approval from the Commission before publication.



We also find it alarming that a senior government official is proposing to emulate the example of Uganda, where a distinctly autocratic regime has recently used media repression to secure election victory. CDD-Ghana recognizes that the environment ahead of the 2016 polls is tense.



However, the IGPs remarks lead the Center to wonder if the IGP and the GPS know something more than the public knows about the state of national security. That is to say, we have to wonder if Ghana is faced with such dire national security threat for the IGP to be contemplating such a radical and anti-democratic move.



Even so, the Center would implore the GPS and the IGP to consider more democratic and progressive ways of achieving election security. The Center also accepts that the IGP may have legitimate concerns about national

security in the context of the impending 2016 polls, something we all care about. We further concede that, like any other technological tool, the social media can be used in an abusive manner - a challenge faced by many modern societies.



However, we are also convinced that handled in the right way, the social media can be extremely beneficial to election security. Indeed, the Ghana Police has used FACEBOOK and WhatsApp to good effect to educate citizens and to receive reports on election incidents in the past.



Similarly, the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and other election watchdog groups have used the same tools to disseminate information from the police to the public and to share information on violent incidents with the police.



The thought of blocking them out would not only amount to the suppression of the fundamental right to freedom of expression and speech, but it would also undermine the countrys democracy in general and the credibility of the 2016 polls in particular.



CDD-Ghana advises the IGP, the GPS and other security agencies to eschew any thought of clamping down on media freedoms and free speech in Ghana, and rather channel their energies into searching for credible and democratically acceptable means of strengthening national security.



Among other things, we recommend that the IGP/GPS elicits the help of experts to deal with abuses, intensify public education on security issues related to elections and work with relevant stakeholders to ensure that it is free of violence.





Dated: 30th May, 2016

Dr. Franklin Oduro, Deputy Director

Source: Chris Joe Quaicoe/ email: [email protected]









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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An Australian man has reportedly died in Syria while fighting Islamic State forces with the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units, also known as YPG.

Jamie Bright, 45, joined up with the Kurdish fighters in December last year. His death could not be confirmed by Australian officials, but was announced by YPG on Facebook.

Sadly another Australian volunteer who joined the YPG has died, reads the post. He joined on the 15th of December 2015. Martyred in southern Shaddadi in southern Raqqa. May he rest in peace. Our thoughts and support are with his family. May God help them.

Fighters also posted a video of Bright, who had allegedly taken the name of Heval Gabar, to Twitter:

Friends its so sad Australian YPG hero Jamie Bright, Heval Gabar, martyred in the fight against daesh #SehidNamirin pic.twitter.com/VmuhVxIzYK  Rojava (@AzadiRojava) May 29, 2016

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that it had no idea if he was actually dead, and very little capacity to actually find out.

The Australian Governments capacity to confirm reports of deaths in Syria is extremely limited, a spokeswoman told The Australian.

Due to the exceptionally dangerous security situation, DFAT is not able to provide consular assistance in Syria, which is listed as a do not travel destination in DFATs travel advice.

Source: Daily Mail.

Photo: YPG.
The Chinese detergent maker responsible for that astoundingly racist ad that went viral last week has issued the non-apology of the year.





Shanghai Leishand Cosmetics  which produces the Qiaobi-brand detergent  issued a statement apologising for the fact that their commercial caused controversy, but blamed the media for overblowing it.

We expressed regret that the ad should have caused a controversy, the statement said. But we will not shun responsibility for controversial content. We express our apology for the harm caused to the African people because of the spread of the ad and the over-amplification by the media. We sincerely hope the public and the media will not over-read it.

If you havent seen it yet, the ad literally depicts a black man getting a face full of detergent, being shoved in the washing machine, and emerging as a Chinese man. The woman in the clip *literally* washes his ethnicity away. But no. The media is overreacting.



The company pulled the ad after it went viral, but you can watch it below:

Not not great. Very bad could also describe it.

A company representative identified as Mr Wang told the Chinese nationalist newspaper The Global Times that critics were too sensitive, and that racial discrimination wasnt even thought about when they made the ad earlier this year.

We meant nothing but to promote the product, and we had never thought about the issue of racism, he said. The foreign media might be too sensitive about the ad.

He also claimed that the full version of the ad  the one that went viral  was never actually screened.

Instead of using the full version of the commercial, we actually aired a 5-second version which does not have the black character, he said. We have no idea why the full version went viral online.

A Beijing-based advertising executive told The Global Times that he reckoned the companys blindness to issues of race is indicative of the Chinese population at large.

I think Chinese people will take the ads as a joke and still buy the products, as most of us dont have a clear understanding of racism, but the product may be boycotted in Western countries, said Huang Jing.

Source: Al Jazeera / The Global Times.



Photo: Shanghai Leishand Cosmetics.
ICYMI, a racist dickbag has been leaving disgusting comments on the Facebook page of outgoing Northern Territory Labor Senator Nova Peris.

Chris Nelson, a chiropractor from the Central Coast of NSW, spent his Saturday calling Senator Peris a black cunt on Facebook (twice) and telling her that she should go back to the bush and suck on witchity (sic) grubs and yams.

Senator Peris, rather than simply deleting this comments and blocking Nelson, took a stand against racism instead and posted screenshots to her Facebook page.

Police from the Brisbane Water LAC are now actively investigating an alleged offensive social media post made to a social media page of a 45-year-old woman, BuzzFeed News reports (the Duty Officer of Brisbane Water LAC could not be reached). BuzzFeed believes this person to be Nelson.

It comes after a Change.org petition calling for Nelson to be investigated for breaching the anti-discrimination act hit 7,000 signatures.

Nelson, for his part, is claiming to be the victim of a hacker.

I found out about this about 5:30 on Saturday afternoon when Facebook sent me a notification that someone had spammed my account, he told the Central Coast Gosford Express Advocate. I did have an Instagram account, and that vile message had gone out on that account as well. I was clearly hacked. Im the victim of a really horrible and extremely vicious hacking. Im definitely not a racist. Ive got friends who are Aboriginal and family who are Aboriginal.

Well, then. Consider this cased closed. *ROLLS EYES FORCEFULLY*

Nelsons former Rotary Club  of which he was a part of for 20+ years  has been removing themselves very, very far from away from him since his comments went viral.

@trentslatts just to confirm Chris Nelson is no longer a member of Woy Woy Rotary Club & hasnt been for 4 years. We condemn his comments  Rotary Down Under (@rotarydownunder) May 28, 2016

@NovaPeris Hi Nova we just wanted to apologise to you. Chris is an ex member of Rotary & his horrible comments do not represent us.  Rotary Down Under (@rotarydownunder) May 28, 2016

Well keep you updated as this story develops.

Photo: Facebook / Senator Nova Peris.
On Saturday, there was yet another clash between anti-Islam protestors United Patriots Front and anti-racism protestors in Coburg, Victoria.

UPF, notorious for confusing all Muslim people with ISIS extremists and constantly preaching about Australias non-existent freedom of speech law, regularly protest about their gripes with the worlds second-largest religion and the people who follow it.

Their opponents, from a variety of left-wing groups, turn up to their protests ideally to show that many Australians do not associate themselves with any hate-speech delivered by many of UPFs followers, including leader Blair Cottrell  who has been accused of association with Nazism.

Many people wear the mask to protect their identity so opposing members and media cannot find their information and attack their homes, families and jobs (a common occurrence).

Some, obviously, do wear masks in order to perpetrate violence.

Members of both groups of protestors wore masks during the Coburg clash.

The rally on Saturday ended in seven arrests, and large sections being sprayed with capsicum foam.

Today, the Victorian Police Minister Lisa Neville today denounced the use of face masks, calling people who used them cowards:

Its a really disturbing trend that weve seen over the last few rallies  where people cover themselves with either a full mask or partially [cover] their face in order to perpetrate violence. We dont want to see this on our streets. We have, every year, hundreds of peaceful protests in Victoria. There is no room in Victoria for the violence and the attacks that they perpetrated on police  each other and the community.

She also said that VIC Police would likely issue more arrests today after watching CCTV footage.

Neville will be meeting with Victoria Polices Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton today to discuss VICs response to the violence, and issues including the use of face masks during political demonstration.

Source: ABC.

Photo: Chris Hopkins / Getty.
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Happy Christening Day, Prince Oscar!

One of Swedens newest little princes, H.R.H. Prince Oscar Carl Olof, was baptized with royal pomp and ceremony at a service held at Stockholms Royal Palace Chapel on Friday.

The only son of Crown Princess Victoria, 38, and her husband Prince Daniel, 42, Prince Oscar, who was born on March 2, is third in the line of succession to the Swedish throne, after both his mother and his elder sister Princess Estelle.

During the service, Prince Oscar was wrapped in the family heirloom christening gown previously worn by his uncle and grandfather: It dates back to Prince Oscars forebears in the early 20th century.

Following Bernadotte family tradition, Oscars name will be embroidered into the lining of the satin woven silk cape, alongside the names of previous wearers including the current King Carl XVI Gustaf and, most recently, nearly 1-year-old Prince Nicolas.

Oscars christening marks the third major royal baptism within a year: after Prince William and Princess Kates daughter Princess Charlottes ceremony in July 2015, Prince Nicolass service followed three months later in October 2015.

The May 27 date of Prince Oscars ceremony has special resonance for Prince Daniel because it marks to the seventh anniversary of his life-saving kidney transplant from Olle Westling, his father.

Royal Flashback: Cutest Prince George Christening Moments

The Swedish Royal Palace is expected to announce a date for the christening of Prince Alexander soon.

Oscars godparents were revealed ahead of the ceremony on Thursday. Victorias youngest sibling, Princess Madeleine, is the mom of Prince Nicolas and Princess Leonore, and was named as one of the godparents. Victoria is already godmother to Princess Leonore.

Other godparents include Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.
Rob Fraser - Escape:

First Tracks:

No Bad Days Ep.2 - Banging:

From Youpala to M16:

Norco Factory XC Team at Canada Cup #1 - Bear Mountain:

Shredding in Nice:

Welcome Home Stories with Orbea Occam:

This is Gran Canaria:

Pedals and Paws:

Rider Diary: Brett Rheeder #notTWObad:

The Adventure Dispatch - Ultra Romance:

Orange Bikes Segment - #Escapism:

@musclemlk @procitycycle @PrimalperformanceMajorCycles / Devinci team shredding the new 2016 MSS Bike Park trails.Shows more of the Vancouver Island dirt jump scene. Spooks is as dialed as ever, and 7's is getting closer and closer to completion, as the first couple jumps in the slope line start running for the first time. Hope you enjoy!Leo Jaegle (15 years old) rides at Bike Park La Bresse. Created by Fragment: Benoit Gurnel & Alan Lemasson.The race season started off early this year with a Canada Cup at Bear Mountain in March. With an international field, a technical course with lots of jumps, and over 150m per lap of climbing, it was a great way for the Norco Factory XC Team to test out the legs after training hard in the off-season.These trails look fun."Losing and finding yourself. Heading out without knowing when you'll return. Discovering incredible trails that will make the mountain your home. Experiencing things that can change your life, making the mountain your home."Mariusz Bryja riding on trails in Gran Canaria.Jen Hudak and her best friend Luke adventure to the southern Utah desert of Moab to escape the cold of home in Park City. Nothing like the warm spring sun, desert rock, pedals and paws to clear the cobwebs.Brett Rheeder gives us a tour of the slalom and slopstyle lines in Malaga, Spain for the new Anthill Films movie, Not2Bad, coming out June 2016!Deep in the remote wild of New England lies an enigmatic figure, with piercing eyes like the Night's King, to which many names are attributed. Boltar Benedict, Poppi, Juan Cool Romance, Turbo Romanceit's all really beside the point, as it's his message that's truly important. It's a tale told through unbridled, unpretentious adventure. No, he doesn't ride for Insta-likes, he's spearheading a movement of living simply and getting out in nature. And even if you're not daring enough to tromp through the bush to find him, you're still invited along for the ride.We all have days at our desk, when we're stuck in a rut. The best solution, get out on your bike and ride, clear your head, get the blood flowing and solve your problems. John Owen takes the new Orange Segment for a good old spin. #Escapism.

Orange Bikes Segment - #Escapism from Orange Mountain Bikes on Vimeo.

No Reception:

A quick escape to our local backyard jaunts to do the things wed be doing regardless: riding bikes, surfing, and camping. In the end, simply put, the trip was rad.

No Reception from Mission Workshop on Vimeo.

The Ramp II - Trey Jones & Colt Fake:

Alex Kennedy - Eclat SALVATION:

Bushy:

Don't try this at home.Alex Kennedy discusses his roots and the idea of a life without BMX.Rory Bushfield is a pro skier and occasional pilot.

Bushy from mspfilms on Vimeo.

Life Is Born - Full Segment from All.I.Can:

A classic.

Life Is Born (from All.I.Can) from Sherpas Cinema on Vimeo.

Robert Rushkin  The Artist:

A documentary about Robert Rushkin, an artist with an outstanding body of work that deserves more attention.

Robert Rushkin  The Artist from Builders Club on Vimeo.

Tony Hawk & Jaws - Zero G:

Flashes of the Altai:

This looks like the best time ever.Three childhood friends set out for the far western corner of Mongolia to combine mountain biking and packrafting in a self-supported adventure into the unknown. Never having attempted a mountain bike to packraft link-up, they decided it was a great idea to travel to one of the most remote and sparsely populated places in the world to try it out.

Flashes of the Altai from Joey Schusler on Vimeo.

Title Photo by: Eric Palmer To check out videos submitted by fellow Pinkbike members that didn't quite make Movie Mondays here
TRAILFORKS

Trail of the Month

Photo by Shanti Colangelo-Curran











In 1985, Ken Burton was struck and killed by a drunk driver while on duty as a Battalion Chief for the USFS Fire Department. Will Shaw, a USFS Ranger and good friend of Kens, along with the Mount Wilson Bicycle Association (MWBA) proposed a plan to build a multi-use trail in his honor. The proposed route would follow part of a rough trail that Ken and Will frequented on horseback years earlier. In 1991, the USFS granted MWBA permission to build a trail that would connect In 1985, Ken Burton was struck and killed by a drunk driver while on duty as a Battalion Chief for the USFS Fire Department. Will Shaw, a USFS Ranger and good friend of Kens, along with the Mount Wilson Bicycle Association (MWBA) proposed a plan to build a multi-use trail in his honor. The proposed route would follow part of a rough trail that Ken and Will frequented on horseback years earlier. In 1991, the USFS granted MWBA permission to build a trail that would connect Brown Mountain Rd to the existing Gabrielino Trail in the Arroyo Seco canyon below. Ken Burton, Battalion Chief with the USFS Fire Department.

Over the next 3 years, MWBA volunteers spent countless hours constructing the 2.7 mile trail. The work was not easy, the terrain was rugged and at times the conditions extreme. Areas of strong granite had to be chipped away to build a trail bed. In other places, long stretches of retaining walls were built to create a sustainable path. Original volunteers remember wearing long sleeves and full pants in the heat of the summer so they could cut through poison oak that in places was over their heads. In April of 1995, all of their hard work paid off. The USFS and MWBA officially opened the trail to the public at a ceremony honoring the late Ken Burton.

We had to wear long sleeves and pants to protect us from the poison oak and it was about 102 degrees out. It was especially brutal when we had to climb back out. When we came back about a month later to put the baskets in, even though all the bushes were cut away, there was still poison oak in the dirt and we ending up getting hit by it again. - Hans Keifer MWBA member and original Ken Burton Trail Builder

Alan Armstrong, Chuck Devore, Sam Juncal, Alan Seims, and Reece Vogel installing the Ken Burton under construction sign. The Ken Burton Monument on the dedication day.

The original Ken Burton trail build represents a huge success within a time period generally known for trail closures to mountain bikes in California. MWBA volunteers in the 1990s fostered a positive relationship with local USFS land management built upon cooperation, open minds, and hard work. The countless hours spent on trail work and teaching trail courtesy laid the foundation for the widespread trail access enjoyed today by mountain bikers in the Angeles National Forest.

2009 Station Fire Photo by Bill Westphal

On August 26, 2009 disaster struck in the Angeles National Forest and no one could predict the devastation that followed. Los Angeles County witnessed the worst wildfire on record, the Station Fire. By the time firefighters extinguished the last of the now famous Station Fire, it had killed 2 firefighters and consumed 160,557 acres (649.75 km2) of land, including a large portion of the Angeles National Forest and home to the Ken Burton Trail. The USFS closed all trails in the burn area until further notice due to safety concerns and to let the forest recover. With all vegetation virtually stripped off the landscape, trails were completely exposed to the forces of nature and the ensuing sediment flows that followed. Little did anyone know the closure of Ken Burton trail would last almost 7 years.

Trail completely overtaken by the overgrowth. Photo by Marc Reusser

BEFORE: working on a very narrow trail area. Photo by Matt Lay, MWBA Trail Boss AFTER: Wider and better supported with a reinforced wall. Photo by Matt Lay, MWBA Trail Boss

Build days start with a 6-mile grind up Brown Mountain Rd hauling 50lbs of tooling in the BOB Trailers. Photo by Erik Hillard

Fast forward to late 2015. Members of MWBA and CORBA approached the USFS, asking for permission to start the task of resurrecting Ken Burton Trail. A generous grant from REI enabled the connecting portion of the Gabrielino Trail from the bottom of Ken Burton to be restored. Both organizations knew the task ahead of them was not going to be an easy feat. Unlike the original crew that built the trail, the ability to get vehicles with tools close to the work area was out of the question. The once wide fire road had since become an overgrown singletrack. The volunteer crews would have to haul 50 lb. BOB trailers full of tools 6 miles up Brown Mountain Rd. Crews from both associations held bi-weekly trail days and many volunteers showed up for every work day. Their first task was to clear the years of overgrown brush that had completely engulfed the trail. The original trail route was flagged from an old GPS track by Steve Messer, President of CORBA. In some places, Steve literally crawled on his stomach through the heavy brush to mark the trail. A few steep switchbacks on the lower section of Ken Burton were basically non-existent; the landslides that followed the fire literally wiped the trail from the landscape. Crews spent days cutting in the new trail, some sections had to be rerouted as it was just not possible to follow the original route. Surprisingly, the upper section of trail handled the years of closure very well and needed little tread work to get it back into shape. Current members attribute this to the well-designed drainage by the original MWBA builders back in the 90s.

A very happy day for Steve Messer, President of CORBA and all the crew. After almost 7 years of being closed, USFS gave Steve and the crew permission to remove the trail closed sign from the entrance to Ken Burton trail. Photo by Isaac West

Ken's brother Tim cuts the ceremonial ribbon to official reopen Ken Burton trail. Photo by Mark Skovorodko The Burton family at the reopening ceremony. Photo by Erik Hillard

The restoration project would take over 6 months to complete. A task that would have never been possible without the help and dedication of the individuals that showed up for each trail day. The final build day was held on April 17th of this year. Crews had a long list of items to complete, but everyone knew that this day was going to be special. When the day was complete the crew was finally able to remove the closed trail sign and ride the complete loop. On May 1st, MWBA held a reopening ceremony and celebration as part of their Pancake Breakfast at Gould Mesa campground. Kens brother Tim and the Burton family were on hand, along with hundreds of members of the public to officially reopen the Ken Burton Memorial Trail.

Photo by Shanti Colangelo-Curran Photo by Shanti Colangelo-Curran

Photo by John Watson of The Radavist

While doing research for Trail of the Month articles, I continually find myself amazed and inspired by the stories I read of the dedicated men and women who give their free time to the sport we all love. For me, the story behind the Ken Burton trail is one of these stories. I encourage you to support the work these clubs are doing by making a donation through the Trailforks Trail Karma Program . With your help both MWBA and CORBA can continue to repair trails within the Angeles National Forest damaged by the Station Fire.

Are you interested in seeing a trail you manage featured in a upcoming Trail of the Month article?
For Russia, the return of samples from Phobos would also mean lessons learned after the failure of the Phobos-Grunt mission in 2011. The new joint project is expected to employ much more reliable technology and, hopefully, much better management than that of its ill-fated predecessor.

In the past couple of years, ESA and Roskosmos have conducted joined studies of feasible scenarios for a Phobos sample return mission, which could be launched between 2024 and 2028. The first phase of this work was completed this month, in anticipation of a meeting of European ministers in December, who hold the purse strings of the future ESA budget.

With the mission scenario and budget estimate in hand, ESA hoped to lobby for the first significant investment into the Phobos project. However, with the ExoMars rover requiring urgent extra cash to cover for its two-year delay, the Phobos project had to be taken off the table this year.

We would not propose this (mission) for development until we have ExoMars on sure footing, Jorge Vago, the leading expert at ESAs Directorate of Science and Robotic Exploration, says, We will keep working on it, but we will not go for a full implementation now.

Bernardo Patti, Head of ISS Program and Exploration Department, which on January 1, 2016, took over responsibility at ESA for all human and post-ExoMars deep-space missions, confirmed that the next significant budget request for the Phobos mission will only be made at the agencys ministerial conference in 2019. In the intervening three years, a period that Patti characterized as "Phase A+", the Phobos project would be developed mostly on paper, with only limited technology development. Patti said that under current circumstances it would be very difficult to predict when the Phobos sample return mission could be launched.

Lunar impact

Another potential victim of the ExoMars delay could be the Russian-led lunar missions. The Luna-Glob project (a.k.a Luna-25) was to herald Russias long-awaited return to lunar exploration with a landing near the northern pole of the Moon. Conceived back in the 1990s, Luna-Glob is currently scheduled for launch in 2019, followed by a lunar orbiter known as Luna-26.

However, the Luna series is being built at NPO Lavochkin, the same company that is the prime contractor for the ExoMars project on the Russian side. Still, the director of the Moscow-based Space Research Institute, IKI, Lev Zeleny insisted on Monday that even after the ExoMars had slipped to 2020, his team still aims to launch Luna-Glob in 2019. Patti echoed Zeleny saying that ESA is so far sticking with the Russian schedule aiming to launch a follow-on Luna-Resurs lander (a.k.a. Luna-27) to the lunar South Pole in 2020. In fact, ESA just released an image of a drill that would be installed on Luna-Resurs to probe for possible ice deposits as deep as two meters below the lunar surface. Built by Italy-based Finmeccanica, the drill would be the primary instrument onboard the Russian lander.
A 23-year-old Appleton, WI, man who was a suspect in two retail thefts attacked an Appleton police officer early Saturday, taking her handgun and shooting her and a Good Samaritan before killing himself on the city's east side, Police Chief Todd Thomas said.

The suspect shot himself in the head, according to multiple people who witnessed the event, and died at the scene, Thomas said.

Police declined to release the names of the suspect, the officer or the man who stopped to help her, to give their families time to cope with the incident, the Post-Crescent reports. Thomas said the officer was shot in the hip and the man was shot in the upper chest. They underwent surgery at a local hospital and are recovering.
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WILLMAR  A Navy sailor who died more than half a century ago on the beaches of Normandy during World War II has been laid to rest in Willmar.

Navy Machinist Mate 1st Class John Anderson died on D-Day in the engine room of a landing craft tank that was destroyed by enemy fire. Anderson's family was told at the time his remains had washed out to sea.

But family members had always thought otherwise, and many years ago they enlisted the help of Willmar resident Jon Lindstrand.

Lindstrand spent four years tracking down the whereabouts of Anderson's remains, and in 2009 the family learned that Anderson may have been laid to rest in a grave in a Normandy American Military Cemetery. DNA testing was needed to prove the person buried at Normandy was Anderson, but Lindstrand said he and the family were turned down twice when they requested the test.

"There were a couple of times when you just wanted to give up," Lindstrand told WCCO television. "It just seemed like there was no way to get past the bureaucracy."

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The family sought additional help from Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Klobuchar said the Navy had first said it couldn't do tests on the body, so her office got involved and persuaded the Navy to perform the tests for the family, "and guess what, they were right," Klobuchar told KARE television.

DNA tests confirmed the person buried was Anderson, and he was brought back to Minnesota for a proper military farewell.

Anderson was buried Saturday near his family at Willmar's Fairview Cemetery.
WASHINGTON  As Barack Obama's presidency takes a backseat to the psychodrama known as the 2016 election, historians, speculators and revisionists are busy writing his presidential epitaph.

Not least of the revisionists is Obama himself. At a recent commencement address at historically black Howard University, Obama noted that his election did not, in fact, create a post-racial society. "I don't know who was propagating that notion. That was not mine," he said.

This remark stopped me for a moment because, well, didn't he? Wasn't he The One we'd been waiting for? Wasn't Obama the quintessential biracial figure that would put racial differences in a lockbox for all time?

This was the narrative, to be sure. But, if not Obama's, then whose?

In retrospect, it was mine, yours, ours. White people, especially in the media, created this narrative because we loved and needed it. Psychologists call it projection. We made Obama into the image of the right sort of fellow. He was, as Shelby Steele wrote in 2008, a "bargainer," who promised white people to "never presume that you are racist if you will not hold my race against me."

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Obama wasn't so much the agent of change as he was the embodiment of a post-racial America as whites imagined it.

But Obama's message, beginning with his 2004 address to the Democratic National Convention in Boston, has always suggested that he would be at least a messenger of unity, which sounded an awful lot like post-racial. "There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America," he said.

Most in the media listened to those words and were spellbound. Up in the press section, swaddled in hope and powdered with the pixie dust of change, we were teetering dangerously close to clasping hands and singing "Kumbaya" over post-racial s'mores of milk chocolate and marshmallows. I remember turning to my colleague and saying, "We've just heard the first black president."

Little did I know.

We ran into Obama later that night in the lower lobby of a hotel. He was talking to a solitary fan in an otherwise empty area. We introduced ourselves. Obama was polite, gracious and, yes, flattering in a knowing way. We three parted company and my first impression of the president remains unchanged. He reads people well and gauges precisely what they want to hear. All good politicians do, but some are better at it than others.

That many interpreted Obama's message as post-racial made some kind of sense. The divide between red and blue states may be seen as also splitting along racial lines in some cases.

Eight years after being elected as the first black president of a white-majority nation, Obama is shrugging off any responsibility for having contributed to the post-racial expectation. Is this because, racially, things actually seem worse? But what if they weren't? What if there had been no "Black Lives Matter" movement, no Trayvon Martin, no Freddie Gray, or any of the others who were killed by police in the past few years, or, in Martin's case, by a vigilante?

I'm guessing he'd have grabbed that narrative in a bear hug and given it a great, big, sloppy kiss. His remarks to a graduating class, instead of disavowing that silly post-racial thing, would have celebrated his greatest achievement  the healing of America.

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How lucky are you, class of 2016?! Here you are about to launch your life in a post-racial era, heirs to a heroic legacy and a future of sun-drenched days. When you want the tides to come in, you let me know. Heh, heh, the truth is, I wasn't able to pull that one off. But I did end racial disharmony! Not too bad.

One can dream (and joke).

But all those awful things did happen. And perhaps having a black president gave communities the strength and courage they needed to raise their voices. And maybe hearing a black president speak to the bravery of police officers, the majority of whom act in good faith, was helpful to whites feeling the stigma of racism attach to their own innocence.

Did Obama do enough to make good on his intentions, if not promises? We'll know in a generation or two, perhaps. In the meantime, the real truth is that Obama sized up the electorate and, in the ultimate act of flattery, imitated their projections. Then he gave them precisely what they wanted, not a post-racial world but a pre-post-racial one  a custom-designed, rainbow-hued, streamlined fantasy of hope and change.

Kathleen Parker is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post.
"I don't want any risk of the personal being accessible."

 Email from then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to aide Huma Abedin, November 2010, contained in State Department inspector general's report on Clinton's private email use.

WASHINGTON  This is not a smoking gun  yet it explains so much.

Actually it is the opposite of a smoking gun because Clinton in this email expresses willingness to obtain a "separate address or device" in order to fix the problem they were confronting: messages from her private account ending up in State Department spam.

If only that had happened. How many months of ugly headlines, how much political harm could Clinton have avoided if she had taken the clunky, inconvenient route of the second BlackBerry and the official email?

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But the accretions, the scar tissue built up over years of politically motivated attacks and endless investigations, reinforced Clinton's instinct for the protective crouch.

"My sense of privacy  because I do feel like I've always been a fairly private person leading a public life  led me to perhaps be less understanding than I needed to of both the press and the public's interest as well as right to know things about my husband and me," Clinton said 22 years ago, at her pretty-in-pink news conference on commodities trading.

But that lesson proved impossible for Clinton to internalize, and the incursions on her privacy became more excruciating than she could have imagined that day in the State Dining Room. The ironic consequence has been even more mucking around in the personal zone that Clinton has sought so assiduously to shield.

The resulting damage, self-inflicted and staff-enabled, is incalculable. It is a political wound that refuses to heal, mostly because Clinton's enemies are all too happy to pick at it, incessantly, but also because Clinton has been so compulsively resistant to confessing error.

She dutifully acknowledges that the decision to rely on a private email account was, in retrospect, a "mistake" that she would not repeat  duh!  but seems constantly compelled to relitigate the conduct.

"I thought it was allowed," Clinton told CNN's Wolf Blitzer after the report was released. The governing regulations "were not a model of clarity." Using personal email was "the practice under other secretaries"  as if Thomas Jefferson himself set up a private server at Monticello, when the report makes clear that, actually, only Colin Powell behaved similarly, far earlier in the email era.

How, how, how could Clinton & Co.  this is a massive failure of staff as well  have failed to reconsider the permissibility, not to mention the wisdom, of this practice? Not long before she became secretary, the George W. Bush administration had found itself skewered over White House officials' improper use of personal email to conduct government business. Skewered by, among, others, Hillary Clinton, who railed against "the secret White House email accounts."

Still, astonishingly, the Clinton team did not bother to check what the rules allowed,even though she "had an obligation" to do so, and the policy was that "normal day-to-day operations should be conducted on an authorized" system. Had Clinton or her aides bothered to ask, the report says, she would have been turned down.

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Perhaps. Another revealing aspect of the report is the culture of enabling surrounding Clinton, within her inner circle and trickling down. This is not unique to her; the natural bureaucratic impulse is to satisfy the new boss, to accommodate her needs.

But a leader also shapes that impulse, by sending, or having her staff send, explicit and implicit messages about the toleration for pushback. The report suggests that Clinton at State was the queen bee, to be unquestioningly served by the hive.

When department staffers raised concerns about Clinton's server, the inspector general said, a senior official responded that "the mission ... is to support the Secretary and instructed the staff never to speak of the Secretary's personal email system again." It is not fair to blame Clinton for this particular high-handedness -- she was not involved in this discussion -- but it is reasonable to ask what role she and her team played in creating this climate of acquiescence.

The greatest irony here may be that the Clintonian urge for privacy produces the opposite of what she needs. Clinton as candidate has done best when she allows the real person inside to poke through the protective shell. Clinton improves when her "personal" becomes accessible. She continually disserves herself by striving to shield.

Ruth Marcus is a columnist for the Washington Post.
John notes below that one of Gary Johnsons leading issues is drug legalization, which is not likely to sell well in places like otherwise libertarian-friendly New Hampshire, which has experienced a massive increase in heroin use in recent years. Then there was Johnsons answer to the question posed to him in a candidate debate at the Libertarian Party convention: should the United States have entered World Wars I & II? Johnsons answer: I dont know.

That was it. He didnt elaborate on the answer at all. It would have been good to hear him discuss the question, which is certainly unusual though typical for libertarians, who are big on historical litmus tests. Theres a very strong case, on prudential rather than isolationist grounds, that we should have stayed out of World War I. (Churchill came to that view in the mid-1920s.) Johnson could have made a great critique of liberal internationalism with direct relevance for today. As for not entering World War II after Pearl Harbor? I dont know is pretty lame, unless you wish to develop the critique that we provoked Japan and/or pursued the imprudent war aim of unconditional surrender. That case is not very persuasive, but it isnt frivolous. If Johnson wants to be on the main debate stage with Trump and Hillary in the fall hell need to step up his game by a lot.

The asking of this question shows the absolutism that runs in the libertarian mind, as does the question of whether Johnson would have voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He said Yes, and was booed. There is something to be said for the purist libertarian position on the problems of the CRA (see Richard Epsteins fine book Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination Laws), but the practical politics of this position are suicidal.

But above all one wonders whether the Libertarian Party really doesnt care about practical politics at allthats it all just one big prank, the political equivalent of the Star Wars cantina scene. The Wall Street Journal account of their convention today includes this pitch perfect vignette:

The convention was an unusual spectacle by the standards of typical American political gatherings, even in an election year where a reality-television star has catapulted to an almost-assured Republican nomination. Indeed, a large comic book, science fiction and anime exposition was being held adjacent to Libertarian convention, leading delegates to mingle in the hotel with a steady stream of people dressed in costumes depicting characters, such as Pokemons Pikachu and Star Wars Han Solo.

How could you tell who were the Libertarian delegates, and who were the comic book aficionados? Indeed, how about the presentation of James Weeks, a candidate for Party chair? Scroll through to about the 1:30 mark of this 3:40-long video and youll see what I mean:

PAUL ADDS: The Libertarian Party selected William Weld as Gary Johnsons running mate. Weld, who supported John Kasich for president this year, is not a libertarian.

His selection, at the urging of Gary Johnson, can be viewed as an attempt to convey pragmatism and, thus, seriousness. I dont think the attempt succeeds.
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) will undergo major reforms in the next one year to boast its capacity to drive the growth and development of the Nigerian maritime industry.

NIMASAs spokesperson, Lami Tumaka, quoted the agencys Director General, Dakuku Peterside, as stating this recently.

Mr. Peterside said the reforms were in line with the change agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration which is committed to the diversification of the nations economy.

During an audience with a delegation of the Oxford Business Group led by its Country Director, Izabela Kruk, Dr. Peterside emphasised that the agency had the requisite knowledgeable human capital saying what was required to refocus and reposition the Agency is a committed leadership which the present Management is willing to provide.

He said the agency was developing a medium term strategic growth plan which will aid the management to focus on its core mandate of promoting the development of indigenous capacity in international and coastal shipping as well as effectively regulating the maritime industry in Nigeria.

While commenting on the public perception of NIMASA over the years, Mr. Peterside said that the agency under his leadership will completely change the narrative from the negative perception of corruption, inefficiency and abandonment of its core mandate to that of a Maritime Administration that is alive to its responsibility intent on making Nigeria the preferred destination for maritime activities in Africa.

He emphasised that the agency would leave no stone unturned, including seeking legislative amendment if need be, to ensure full compliance with the Cabotage Act 2003, which according to him was necessary to fast track the desired growth in the maritime sector.

The Country Director of the Oxford Business Group, Izabela Kruk, had earlier expressed the readiness of the Group to partner the agency in documenting and publicising NIMASA activities in its widely read journal.

Ms Kruk, who highlighted the benefits of the groups partnership with some Nigerian agencies including the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) said the collaboration has yielded a lot of positive results for Nigeria pledging that they intend to do same for NIMASA.

The Oxford Business Group is a global publishing, research and consultancy firm, which publishes economic intelligence on the markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America educating investors on the opportunities in these markets and how best to harness them.
The Extraordinary African Chambers in Dakar Senegal, on Monday, in a landmark judgement, sentenced former Chadian dictator, Hissene Habre, to life imprisonment for human rights abuses, extrajudicial killings and rape.

The conviction and sentencing, which is the first of its kind, where a ruler of one country is convicted for human rights crimes by another country, brings relief to tens of thousands of his victims who have waited for justice for more than 25 years.

It also shows that there is no hiding place for present and former dictators, especially in Africa, who committed or are committing widespread human rights abuses in their countries.

The crimes for which he was convicted was committed between 1982 and 1990 when he ruled the Central African country with iron fist.

Apart from the widespread right abuses committed by his junta, he was personally convicted for committing rape.

This verdict is a victory for those victims who fought tirelessly to ensure Hissene Habre could not get away with crimes under international law, said Gaetan Mootoo, Amnesty International West Africa researcher. It demonstrates that when there is enough political will, states can work together effectively to end impunity in even the most entrenched situations.

It is moments like these that other victims around the world can draw on in darker times when justice appears beyond reach. It will nourish them with hope and give them strength to fight for what is right. This landmark decision should also provide impetus to the African Union or individual African states to replicate such efforts to deliver justice to victims in other countries in the continent.

As ruler of Chad, Mr. Habre received massive support from the United States and France which provided him weapons and training and used him in their fight against late Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi.

In 1992, the Chadian Truth Commission accused Mr. Habres government of political murder and systematic torture of 40,000 people. Most of the abuses were carried out against mainly two ethnic groups, Hadjerai and the Zaghawa, whose leaders were perceived as threats to Mr. Habres government.

A total of 69 victims, 23 witnesses and 10 expert witnesses testified during the trial which opened on July 20, 2015.

The judgement is however not final as Mr Habre still have the right to appeal the conviction.

The prosecution relied upon research reports from Amnesty International from the 1980s. Human rights watch has also been in the forefront of the push to make Mr Habre pay for his crimes.
President Muhammadu Buhari has said he was shocked when former president Goodluck Jonathan called him to concede defeat while votes were still being counted during the 2015 election.

Mr. Buhari made the disclosure on Monday at the Presidential Banquet Hall, Aso Villa, Abuja, when he hosted the State House Press Corps to a lunch as part of activities marking this years democracy day.

When he made that famous call at 4:45 pm and said Good evening Mr. President, I have called to congratulate you and I concede defeat, I was silent for quite a while because I was surprised and he said did you hear me?, the president said.

Mr. Buhari said he was shocked because for someone who was a deputy governor, a governor, a vice president and a president for six years to concede that easily showed Mr. Jonathans great sense of patriotism.

President Buhari said another former military head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar, advised him to visit Mr. Jonathan for his statesmanship and decision to save the Nigerian state.

Mr. Buhari also said Mr. Jonathan belonged to a party that was at the helms of affairs for 16 years and for him to still go ahead and concede was definitely not an easy decision.

The president added that during the visit to thank Mr. Jonathan, General Abdulsalami again advised that in order to smoothen the transition process, he (Buhari) should set up a committee to meet with the outgoing ministers of Mr. Jonathan to begin the process of handing over at that level.

Jonathan sincerely agreed to the suggestion and I got one of the best bureaucrats, in the person of Ahmed Joda, and told him to look round the country and come up with a team for the task.

 However, when Jonathan told his government this is what I have decided, they simply refused and said how can you hand over to Buhari when he has not been sworn in.

That was the end of that good intention, Mr. Buhari said.

The president said when he assumed office he trimmed down the number of ministries from 42 to 24, while many permanent secretaries were also dropped for one reason or the other.

He however said, his government was still shocked when it realized that  those below were still living in the past which, he said led to the infamous budget padding.

The budget padding was our nasty experience, for me and many ministers who were not in government.

We had to work day and night to correct the ills and I noticed that some of them were actually losing weight, he said.

The president also spoke briefly about his inability to release the list of those who looted the nations treasury.

We realized that we cant talk too much or technicalities would come in and we may realize what we should have realized, he said.

Mr. Buhari advised the reporters covering the state house to always conduct research on those visiting him whenever they plan to ask them questions,  so that when next they come, they will do some research themselves.

Speaking earlier, the chairman of the press corps, Kehinde Ahmadu, said Mondays event was the first time that a serving president would host the corps to a lunch and thanked the president for the gesture.

Mr. Kehinde also said the reporters covering the president were willing to contribute their quota in his change agenda.

He also said the reporters would not ask for incentives from the president so that it would not be misconstrued as asking for gratification.

He however called for  improved working conditions for reporters covering the State House.

The oldest journalist covering the Villa, 80-year old Ladan Abubakar was specially recognized at the event.

Also recognised was the Director of Information at the State House, Justin Abuah for his diligence and dedication to duties.

Those who attended the lunch include the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed; the Presidents Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari; and the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
Nigerian social critics and legal practitioners on Monday expressed disappointment over President Muhammadu Buharis failure to make good on his promise to reveal details of stolen assets recovered from corrupt officials.

Mr. Buhari had on May 14 said in London that he would personally provide specific details of all recovered stolen public funds and individuals who plundered the countrys resources because he believed that what Nigerians were fed by the media was not detailed enough.

So far, what has come out, what has been recovered in whatever currency from each ministries, departments and individuals, I intend on the 29th to speak on this because all Nigerians are getting from the mass media because of the number of people arrested either by the EFCC, DSS. But we want to make a comprehensive report on the 29th, Mr. Buhari said while attending the anti-corruption summit in London.

But during his nationwide broadcast on Sunday morning, the president only repeated previous claims that his administration was grappling with bureaucratic hurdles that make it difficult for stolen assets to be recovered from foreign jurisdictions.

We are also engaged in making recoveries of stolen assets some of which are in different jurisdictions. The processes of recovery can be tedious and time consuming, but today I can confirm that thus far: significant amount of assets have been recovered. A considerable portion of these are at different stages of recovery, he said.

Rather than personally speak on the matter and provide specific details as promised, Mr. Buhari only said he had directed the Ministry of Information to periodically publish details on the assets recovered so far.

Full details of the status and categories of the assets will now be published by the Ministry of Information and updated periodically. When forfeiture formalities are completed these monies will be credited to the treasury and be openly and transparently used in funding developmental projects and the public will be informed, Mr. Buhari said.

Based on the Presidents May 14 promise, millions of Nigerians had on Sunday morning stayed glued to their radio and TV for the Democracy Day speech.

Hours after the presidents speech on Sunday evening, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, said the president reneged on his promises for legal reasons.

Yes, he initially said so (that hell give specific details about recovered loot), but he was advised against doing so for legal reasons, the Cable Newspapers quoted Mr. Mohammed as saying during an interview on Channels Television.

But in separate interviews with PREMIUM TIMES Monday morning, the commentators said the administrations excuse was untenable, adding that Mr. Buhari missed another opportunity to show Nigerians that his words were his bond.

The president is a retired general, and a soldiers word is supposed to be his bond, one of the respondents, Yinka Odumakin, said. For this reason alone, I find his legal issues excuse highly untenable.

Mr. Odumakin, a pro-democracy campaigner, said the president should have carried out extensive deliberation over what it entails to name those who have returned stolen assets before going to the public to enunciate it.

Now before you come out as a president and say Im going to name looters, you must have gone through the whole process, Mr. Odumakin told PREMIUM TIMES. Now that youre supposed to redeem that promise, youre silent about it. Instead of you to say fellow Nigerians for this so so and so reasons I cannot fulfil my promise.

Mr. Odumakin chided Mr. Buhari for allowing his goodwill, which he enjoyed as a result of his perceived integrity, to erode within his first year in office.

The only asset the president brought to the Nigerian people is his integrity. Hes not an orator. Hes not an economic wizard or anything. The only thing he said he had was integrity. Now Nigerian people are beginning to wonder where the integrity is and the goodwill hed been enjoying from it is now waning, Mr. Odumakin said.

This is a man who denied most of his campaign promises. Some he said he never made and others he said they were made on his behalf by his campaign and he wont be responsible for them, Mr. Odumakin said.

Mr. Odumakin said such gaffes as the one Mr. Buhari made with this matter was why citizens were becoming disillusioned with the anti-corruption war.

I can boldly tell you that more than 90% of those currently being tried will walk free after all these noises simply because of all the errors the president is committing. If hes not careful, even the one he committed yesterday will also make Nigerians become more embittered about the anti-corruption war.

Japheth Omojuwa, blogger and activist, told PREMIUM TIMES he was more concerned about the weight of the presidents words than the excuses.

He said Mr. Buharis failure to explain why he wont be able to fulfil his promise left him and other Nigerians disappointed.

For me, its not about the tenability of the issue because I personally, intuitively asked myself: why would he not release the list after hed already said he would?' Mr. Omojuwa said. One thing I know for sure is that there are many Nigerians who are as desperate and as angry, to deal with this corruption issue as the president himself.

Mr. Omojuwa said Mr. Buhari should have explained why he decided against releasing the names, saying the president was very, very wrong to have pretended like he didnt make such promise during his speech.

I think the president was wrong not to have explained to us. Because there are two things when you make a promise, you either execute that commitment or you say why you wont be able to execute it, Mr. Omojuwa said. When you keep silent about it and pretend like you didnt make any promise at all, again, its very, very wrong and condemnable.

Mr. Omojuwa said Mr. Buhari made an error of judgement when he said he would release the names on national television, saying it would have triggered widespread recrimination amongst Nigerians.

I think it was an error of judgement for the president to have committed to such a thing in the first place. If the president had released those names, yes maybe we would have had a lot of rancour here and there with people saying why did he put this one and not that one, Mr. Omojuwa said.

In her reaction, Victoria Ohaeri, a lawyer and executive director of the non profit, Spaces for Change, said Mr. Buharis action was in tandem with his antecedents which included his failure to publish details of his assets, a clear departure from his campaign promises.

If you remember that he has not disclosed his assets, then I dont think a lot of people are surprised, Ms. Ohaeri said. He said he would set an example that would go a long way with other political office holders with his assets declaration, but he quickly abandoned that promise when he got power.

Ms. Ohaeri warned Mr. Buhari to desist from publishing names of alleged looters, saying corrupt cases were better left to the agencies that were established for such purposes.

Its not the duty of the executive to publish names of criminals, the lawyer said. Let the law courts and investigative agencies do their work.

Ms. Ohaeri further stated that Mr. Buhari should pay more attention to deterrence than to the severity of corruption cases.

The president may be fighting corrupt people but hes not fighting corruption. Are there more stringent procedures for taking money from government, including the Office of the National Security Adviser? Ms. Ohaeri queried.

Debo Adeniran, the chairman of Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL), said, although the reasons adduced by Mr. Mohammed is untenable, Mr. Buhari may have had a genuine intention of releasing the details, but was prevented by vested interests within his cabinet.

Mr. Mohammeds excuse is not acceptable under any guise, Mr. Adeniran said. Once the president makes a promise he should be able to fulfil it.

But I think the president genuinely intended to say the truth on television but for political expediency he was dissuaded by vested interests in his cabinet from doing so.

Mr. Adeniran, therefore, urged Mr. Buhari to be more circumspect in his utterances as president going forward.

I think the lesson for the president here is that he now know he must be careful before he says anything from now on, Mr. Adeniran said.

Lagos-based lawyer, Liborous Oshoma, told PREMIUM TIMES the president had no ground to use legal implications as an excuse for not publishing the details of looters and the assets recovered from them.

Forget the legal issues reason theyre bandying about, the president is not publishing because he has no capacity to do so, Mr. Oshoma said.

If you remember, they told the whole world when Jafaru Isa, a friend to the president, was arrested and refunded money. They told us how much he refunded and in what instalment. Did they not know there were legal issues then?

I can understand the cases that are already in court, but those that have refunded money to government should be of public knowledge, Mr. Oshoma said. Unless the president didnt recover anything or recovered too little and now feel too awkward to release details after all the noises hed made about recovering billions.

Presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, declined comment for this story. He urged PREMIUM TIMES to direct questions at Mr. Mohammed.

For over eight hours, several calls and text messages to Mr. Mohammeds phone were neither acknowledged nor returned.
By Gbolahan Adediran

The police in Enugu on Monday arrested no fewer than 13 persons suspected to be members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Biafran Independent Movement (BIM).

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Ebere Amaraizu, said the people were arrested at Edinburgh axis of Ogui, Enugu, based on intelligence and information gathered on them.

According to Mr. Amariazu, The suspects had converged with their Toyota hiace bus with registration number XG 265 UWN, flags and T-shirts with different inscriptions portraying MASSOB/BIM at Edinburgh axis of Ogui to commence protest march before the security operatives acting on intelligence/information closed them up and arresting them.

Suspects in their reactions maintained that they are members of MASSOB and of Biafran Independent Movement (BIM).They further stated that they were to converge and pray at the spot before embarking on marching with their flags to commemorate their independence.

Mr. Amaraizu said the state command had earlier warned against protest by any group of persons under any guise.

No iota of lawlessness will be entertained from any individual or group of persons fanning embers of unlawful act aimed at causing breakdown of law and order in the state as the command working in partnership with other sister security Agencies has directed its security operatives to monitor and fish out those that will be in this habit so that they can be brought to book in accordance with relevant sections of the law, he said.

He said items recovered from the suspects included flags with MASSOB inscriptions, t-shirts and caps.

Meanwhile, the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB-BIM) has raised the alarm that about 40 of its members were arrested by men of the Nigerian Police in Nsukka on Monday.

The zonal leader of Enugu North, James Omeke, told our correspondent that the members were arrested at the Saint Theresas Catholic Church premises where they were holding a thanksgiving mass in commemoration of the 49th anniversary of the declaration of the State of Biafra by the late Odimegwu Ojukwu.

Such arrest and intimidation of our members will not deter us but will spur us in our struggle to freedom; what Nigerian government is doing to us is very unfair, Mr. Omeke said.

This shows how lawless Nigerian government is by disobeying the fundamental human rights of individuals.

We were not violent; in fact we were surprised because we never expected the police to invade the church to arrest our members.

This is a sacrilege committed by the Nigerian police, noting that Church is a place of worship and our members known for their peaceful disposition besieged the church to thank God but were arrested and detained, he said.

Efforts to get police PRO, Mr. Amaraizu, to comment on the Nsukka arrest was unsuccessful as several telephone calls to him were unanswered.

It was gathered that the MASSOB members marched through major streets of the University town of Nsukka to commemorate the 49th anniversary celebration.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has commenced contempt proceedings against the Federal Government, Abubakar Malami (SAN), Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and Ahmed Idris, the Accountant-General of the Federation.

SERAP executive director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said in a statement on Monday that the officials were deemed to have exhibited contempt for the court for failing to comply with the judgment ordering publication of the spending of recovered stolen funds since return of democracy in 1999.

The form 48 contempt suit, the statement said, was filed at the Federal High Court, Lagos last week by Mr. Mumuni following the service on Mr Malami and Mr. Idris of the certified true copy of the judgment of 24 March 2016 by Justice Muhammed Idris.

Form 48, which is the notice of consequence of disobedience of court orders, reads in part: Unless you obey the orders of the court contained on the reverse side of this process you shall be deemed to have disobeyed the orders of the court and shall be liable to be committed to prison for contempt.

Mr. Mumuni said, Despite the service of the certified true copy of the judgment on both the Attorney General of the Federation and the Accountant-General of the Federation they have failed and/or neglected to acknowledge the judgment let alone obey it. Its unacceptable to take the court, which is the guardian of justice in this country, for a ride. A democratic state based on the rule of law cannot exist or function, if the government ignores and/or fails to abide by Court orders.

The 69-page judgment in suit no: FHC/IKJ/CS/248/2011 signed by Honourable Justice Mohammed Idris reads in part: Transparency in the decision making process and access to information upon which decisions have been made can enhance accountability.

Obedience to the rule of law by all citizens but more particularly those who publicly took oath of office to protect and preserve the Constitution is a desideratum to good governance and respect for the rule of law. In a constitutional democracy like ours, this is meant to be the norm.

In respect of the SERAP reliefs on recovered stolen funds since return of democracy in 1999, the government had kept mute. Let me say that they have no such power under the law.

There is public interest in public authorities and high-profile individuals being accountable for the quality of their decision making. Ensuring that decisions have been made on the basis of quality legal advice is part of accountability.

I am of the view and do hold that the action should and does succeed in whole. Documents relating to the receipt or expenditure on recovered stolen funds since return of democracy in 1999 constitute part of the information which a public institution and authority is obligated to publish, disseminate and make available to members of the public. The government has no legally justifiable reason for refusing to provide SERAP with the information requested, and therefore, this Court ought to compel the government to comply with the Freedom of Information Act, as the government is not above the law.

Judgment is hereby entered judgment in favour of SERAP against the Federal Government as follows:

A DECLARATION is hereby made that the failure and/or refusal of the Respondents to individually and/or collectively disclose detailed information about the spending of recovered stolen public funds since the return of civil rule in 1999, and to publish widely such information, including on a dedicated website, amounts to a breach of the fundamental principles of transparency and accountability and violates Articles 9, 21 and 22 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act

A DECLARATION is hereby made that by virtue of the provisions of Section 4 (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, the 1st Defendant/Respondent is under a binding legal obligation to provide the Plaintiff/Applicant with up to date information on the spending of recovered stolen funds, including:

(a) Detailed information on the total amount of recovered stolen public assets that have so far been recovered by Nigeria

(b) The amount that has been spent from the recovered stolen public assets and the objects of such spending

(c) Details of projects on which recovered stolen public assets were spent

AN ORDER OF MANDAMUS is made directing and or compelling the Defendants/Respondents to provide the Plaintiff/Applicant with up to date information on recovered stolen funds since the return of civilian rule in 1999, including:

(a) Detailed information on the total amount of recovered stolen public assets that have so far been recovered by Nigeria

(b) The amount that has been spent from the recovered stolen public assets and the objects of such spending

(c) Details of projects on which recovered stolen public assets were spent

SERAP had on March 28, 2016 sent a copy of the certified true copy of the judgment to Mr Malami and Mr. Idris, urging them to use their good offices and leadership to ensure and facilitate full, effective and timely enforcement and implementation of the judgment.

SERAP letter reads in part Given the relative newness of the Buhari government, the effective enforcement and implementation of the judgment will invariably involve setting up a mechanism by the government to invite the leadership and high-ranking officials of the governments of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former PresidentUmaru Musa YarAdua, and former President Goodluck Jonathan to explain, clarify and provide evidence on the amounts of stolen funds recovered by their respective governments (from abroad and within Nigeria), and the projects (including their locations) on which the funds were spent.

SERAP therefore believes that the swift enforcement and implementation of this landmark judgment by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari will be litmus test for the Presidents oft-repeated commitments to transparency, accountability and the fight against corruption, and for the effectiveness of the Freedom of Information Act in general.

The organisation said The enforcement and implementation of the judgment should not be delayed as to do this is to continue to frustrate the victims of corruption in the country since the return of democracy in 1999, and will threaten to undermine the authority of our judicial system.

SERAP trusts that you will see compliance with this judgment as a central aspect of the rule of law; an essential stepping stone to constructing a basic institutional framework for legality, constitutionality, the rule of law practice and culture in the country. We therefore look forward to your positive response and action on the judgment.
The Police in Ebonyi State on Monday arrested some clergymen who were conducting an inter-denominational service for members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).

It was gathered that policemen numbering over 200 stormed the Nkaliki Primary School, field, Abakaliki, venue for the 2016 Biafran day celebration of the group, midway into the service and arrested the clergymen as well as other members.

The Zonal Leader of MASSOB in charge of Ebonyi North, John Nwifuru, flanked by a member of the Elders-In-Council in charge of Ebonyi anniversary, Moses Eze, confirmed this at a briefing in Abakaliki.

According to him over 320 members of the MASSOB were also arrested by the Command during the Biafra Day celebration.

It was also gathered that the command also teargassed the protesters ceaselessly during the operation.

Some of those arrested were just clergymen who we invited to conduct inter-denominational church service as part of activities marking the celebration. These policemen dont seem to have respect for God, why would they arrest his anointed men?

He accused the Police of carting away valuables belonging to members of the movement which he said included vehicles, over 93 motorcycles and other items for offertory.

He said, We were at Nkaliki primary school field observing interdenominational church service when policemen numbering over 200 operating in over 40 hilux vans stormed the area shooting sporadically in the air before they threw tear gas canister on us before arresting our clergymen who were conducting church service. They carried plantains, bananas, and other consumables which members brought as their offering during the church service.

He called for the unconditional release of those arrested in the state and other parts of the country during the peaceful celebration which he said was in commemoration of the declaration of the state of Biafra by late warlord, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, over 49 years ago.

Police spokesman,George Okafor, could not be reached for comments as calls to his mobile phones were unanswered as at the time of filling this report.

But a top security source in the state, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the incident.

Yes, MASSOB members were arrested today as they were planning a protest, the source added.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Peace Ibekwe Abdallah, when contacted, said she would brief the media on the matter at the appropriate time.
A private radio station in Akwa Ibom State on Monday abruptly ended a live interview with the Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Ita Awak, after the guest mentioned the name of the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Onofiok Luke on air.

Mr. Awak believed he was discharged from the Team Nigeria programme on Planet 101.1FM because authorities feared he might proceed to criticise Governor Udom Emmanuel and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party.

The APC spokesman said he was well received by the host of the show but that 10 minutes into the programme, the interview was discontinued immediately he mentioned Mr. Lukes name.

Mr. Awak said he referred to Mr. Luke in context, while trying to recall what the speakers opinion was on looted funds so far recovered by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The station stopped airing Mr. Awaks interview, and started playing music in its place.

Mr. Awak said even before the interview started, he was warned by the stations General Manager, Sunday Edet, not to talk about Governor Emmanuel, the Peoples Democratic Party, the Akwa Ibom state government or anybody within the state government.

He told me since I am an APC spokesman I should only talk about the federal government that is being led by the APC.

I challenged him on that. I said how can I, being an APC spokesman, talk about 17 years of democracy in Nigeria, without localising it?

After the first interruption, the General Manager, Mr. Edet, negotiated with him to commit not to refer to any official of the state government during the programme.

When he felt a compromise had been reached, Mr. Edet gave permission for the interview to resume.

But Mr. Awak did the unexpected.

When the interview resumed, Mr. Awak told listeners, Ladies and gentlemen, that break in transmission was caused by the censorship I am experiencing right now in this studio. The manager is prevailing on me not to mention anything about Akwa Ibom State government.

Mr. Edet, who was standing in the studio to personally monitor the interview, immediately shut down the broadcast again.

Mr. Awak said when he asked why, Mr. Edet told him it was wrong for him (Awak) to have informed the listeners that he was being censored.

So, you stand here to censor me, and you dont want me to tell the public about it? Mr. Awak told the GM, and then left the studio in anger, when he realised that the station would not allow the interview to resume.

The presenter of Team Nigeria, Aniekan Udosen, corroborated Mr. Awaks claims, and added that the general manager of the station even ordered a studio assistant out of the studio when the interview was going on.

Its unprofessional for a station manager to stand inside the studio to monitor how an interview was being conducted, Mr. Udosen said.

The general manager told me he was there in the studio to protect his station, and I asked him protect your station from who?

In broadcasting, we are guided by the code provided by the National Broadcasting Commission. There is absolutely nothing that Ita Awak said that is prohibited by the code.

Its politics, we know.

Mr. Awak, who said he would brief the APC leadership in the state, and then wait for them to decide what action to take, said he almost had a similar encounter with the federal-owned Atlantic FM station in the state, a few days ago.

The GM of Atlantic FM received phone calls from some persons within the Akwa Ibom State government, and became very restless about me being interviewed in the station.

He tried everything possible to make sure I didnt criticise the state government.

For me, this is very ominous signs.

Mr. Edet, the GM of Planet FM, declined to comment for this story, when PREMIUM TIMES contacted him.

Sampson Akpan, the special assistant on electronic media to Governor Emmanuel, said no one should blame the governor for what happened to Mr. Awak.

Planet FM is a private radio station, no government has the right to interfere it its running, Mr. Akpan said.

This is not the first time Planet FM would be involved in controversy bordering on censorship.

In 2014, the station discontinued a live interview with the then senator representing Akwa Ibom North West, Aloysius Etok, who at the time had deep political disagreement with the Governor Godswill Akpabio.
1 Number of Special Adviser appointed by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal since he came on board on May 29, 2015. This is part of cost-saving measure adopted by government considering the nations precarious economic situation.

3 Micro-Finance banks to be established by the State in the three senatorial districts of the state. All paper works have been completed.

4 Communities where the state contributory health scheme has taken off. The communities are Gagi, Shinaka, Rimawa and Sire.

6 Hospitals approved for upgrading to premier health facilities in various parts of the state. Some of these projects include repairs and renovations of the Maternity Unit of State Specialist Hospital, Sokoto and General Hospitals of Tangaza, Illela and Wurno, completion of the second phase of the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, comprising of 47 staff houses, two wards and landscaping. Conversion of Amanawa Leprosarium into Infectious Diseases Hospital, and the conversion MMSH into a Renal and Cardiac Centre.

22 Number of major projects inherited from previous administration and funds provided for their completion. They include projects in housing, energy and power (State IPP), roads, health, rural and community development, agriculture, water resources, mining and building of office accommodation for civil servants and other public workers eg legislators.

22 Doctors and Engineers sponsored for medical and engineering studies in foreign universities under the Higher Education Scheme Programme

25 Number of International Development Partners attracted to Sokoto to work in the health sector.

213 Number of Doctors and Health Professionals engaged to develop Sokoto State Strategic Health Plan for 2016-2020 in collaboration with RTI/LEAD/USAID

300 Civil Servants who benefitted from Home renovation loan guaranteed by the government, and expended through the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).

500 Units of houses at Kalambaina and Gidan Man Ada inherited from the previous administration and funds provided for their completion.

500 New teachers recruited by government to boost manpower in secondary schools

500 New junior and mid-cadre staff employed into the state civil service. They include drivers, messengers, mechanics and other clerical/administrative officers.

583 Number of NOMA patients to receive free plastic surgeries at the state Noma Children Hospital. Policy successfully implemented in collaboration with French health charity organisation, Medecine Sans Frontier

1000 New millionaires created in Sokoto after the payment of retirement benefits to 1907 pensioners.

8,000 Sokoto students who benefitted from Governments free JAMB forms ahead of the 2016 joint admissions and matriculations board unified tertiary institutions adminission examinations.

6,500 Epilepsy and psychiatric patients who received free medication from government. They were drawn from 65 wards in the 23 local government areas of Sokoto state.

9,000 Tonnes of fertilizer bought and sold to farmers at subsidized rate for the 2015 farming season at the cost of N1.2 billion Naira.

19,000 Estimated number of job opportunities created by the government in the last one year. They include jobs in the civil service, agricultural sector, mining sector and the introduction of the new Primary Healthcare Under-One-Roof policy. All health workers in ministries and agencies working in the local government areas have been absorbed into the state Primary healthcare Development Agency.

N40,000 Money paid to each of the 575 extremely poor beneficiaries under the conditional cash transfer scheme in Illela LGA.

100,000 Tonnes of fertiliser to be produced by the new Ferrtiliser Company to be established in Sokoto by Prime Gold Fertiliser Company. An MoU has already been signed to that effect. 5,000 job opportunities will be created by the company.

N500,000 Money given to each family of the 138 hajj stampede victims. A breakdown of the number showed that 114 pilgrims were confirmed dead, 22 missing and two injured but were later treated and discharged.

$250m Total money to be expended for the establishment of a Tomato Processing Factory by Erisco Foods Limited in Sokoto. An MoU has already been signed while land for the project has been handed over to the company by the Government.

N874.9m Total funds released as counterpart funding for intervention in health along with Dangote Foundation and Bill/Melinda Gates Foundation.

1,000,000 Children immunised from measles and other child killer diseases in Sokoto in February 2016.

1,193,760 Enrolled pupils/students in the Basic Education Schools for the 2015/2016 academic session in Sokoto State.

N10,000,000 Expended monthly to provide free drugs to patients in hospitals and other health facilities in Sokoto.

N33,500,000 Expended every month by the Zakat and Endowment Committee for the payment of N6,500 monthly stipends to under-privileged members of the society as part of governments initiative to tackle extreme poverty.

N851,422,034 Expended in the expansion and complete renovation of GGC Rabah (N301,442,835), GGMSS Illela (N174,571,772), GSS Tureta (N241,305,893) and GGADSS S/Birni (N134,101,534) under the school renovation and expansion project.

N1,000,000,000 Expended in the payment of tuition/living expenses to our students studying in various disciplines across the globe. Presently, Sokoto has over 342 foreign students under FULL sponsorship by the Sokoto State Government and we have also have over 17,000 students studying various courses in Institutions of higher learning, within the country.

N1,194,741,000 Appropriated for the establishment of a Boarding Secondary School in Gudu LGA. The school will improve enrolment, retention and transition of pupils from Primary to Secondary Schools in the Local Government and its neighbours, such as Tangaza and Illela.

N1,207,080,000 Funds expended in the purchase of fertiliser for the 2016 cropping season.

N1,500,000,000 Redundant funds recovered by Government from 100 previously unknown accounts in various commercial banks after the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) payment system.

N1,660,000,000 Funds expended in the provision of water pumps, seedlings, drilling tube wells and other agricultural machineries for farmers.

N1,690,000,000 For the procurement of 1000 units of Tiller Machines for farmers in the state.

N2,000,000,000 Money set aside by Sokoto State Government and the Bank of Industry (BoI) as intervention funds for the development of micro, small and medium scale enterprises in the state.

N2,000,000,000 Another N2 billion set aside for intervention in social sectors for the implementation of UNICEFs 2016 Work Plan in Sokoto. The sectors are education, health, environment, sanitation and nutrition.

N3,200,000,000 Released as counterpart fund to fight Neglected Tropical Diseases with Sight Savers International.

N3,300,000,000 Investment attracted to the state through the Niger Delta Power Holding Company for expansion of critical infrastructure in the power sector.

N34,500,000,000 Allocation to education sector in the 2016 budget. It represents 29% of the total budget outlay and is the highest of any sector.
Under the leadership of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, Kwara State has experienced growth and development across all sectors. In these years, the Ahmed-led administration garnered immense acclaim for its strong determination to ensure even development in all sector.

From roads, water, to agriculture, health, housing and education, the present administration has recorded giant strides in Kwara state.

Listed below are some of the achievements recorded across some key sectors in Kwara state.

WORKS AND TRANSPORT

The works and transport sector in Kwara State continues to receive priority attention under Governor Abdulfatah Ahmeds administration, especially with regards to completion of inherited and new road projects.

For example, majority of inherited roads from previous administrations have been completed under the states Urban and Rural Road Project. As of 2015, about 28 inherited projects covering a length of 256.127kms were targeted under this scheme. In all, eighty per cent of these roads covering 204.8 kilometres have been completed.

The state government also intervened on some Federal roads to ease the economic activities of the state. The roads include: Patigi-Kpada-Rogun Road (On-going), dualization of Offa Garage-Dangote Road (south link road); Ilorin, Fate Road to GSS Roundabout and Kaiama-Kishi Road (On-going).

In furtherance of his intention to construct more roads, Governor Ahmed in February 2016 approved the payment of N2.4b to contractors in charge of over 35 road projects across the State.

In other to improve inter and intra state transportation, the State Government, through its agency, Harmony Holdings Limited, procured 42 new buses for the State Transport Corporation, now called Harmony Express.

WATER

Water supply has improved significantly in the state since the inception of the Alhaji Ahmed-led administration with significant reduction in accessibility gap.

For instance, at the Asa Dam water works, Ilorin, production increased from 4mgpd to 25.5mgpd, and has been sustained since its expansion.

In the face of increasing population particularly in Ilorin, the State Capital, the government has adopted a phase-by-phase approach to rehabilitate its existing 94 waterworks.

Within the space of five years, hundreds of motorised and hand pump boreholes have been drilled, and distributed across the three senatorial districts to achieve equitable spread.

Also, the on-going Ilorin Reticulation Project is expected to be completed this year.

HOUSING

Kwara State with a population of 3.5 million (2006 National Census), has about 486,000 households and a housing deficit of 584, 000 units.

As part of his bold measures to close the supply gap for housing in the state, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed in March 2016, flagged off the construction of 1,000 housing units at Budo-Osho Area, Tanke Ilorin, a pilot scheme under his strategic housing deficit intervention.

The 1,000 housing units designed to provide quality and affordable shelters for low and middle class workers, will be a 700 three-bedroom flats and 300 two-bedroom flats.

Also in March, Governor Ahmed performed the ground-breaking foundation laying ceremony for the construction of an ultramodern shopping and office complex, named The Hub.

The Hub, when completed is expected to transform the landscape of Ilorin, create employment opportunities, stimulate commerce, facilitate and attract new investments, boost the economic growth and ultimately enhance Internal Revenue of the State.

AGRICULTURE

Governor Ahmed flagged off the Kwara Agricultural Modernization Master Plan (KAMP 2012-2017), designed in partnership with Cornell University, New York, University of Ilorin and Kwara State University to create agro-driven economic diversification and establish Kwara State as the sub-regions economic hub.

One of KAMPs main strategies was development of the agriculture value chain development in rice, soya, cassava and rice.

Under its Off-taker Demand-Driven Agricultural Activities (ODDA), the Ahmed administration disbursed N214 million to 172 lead farmers for improved mechanised farming across the state.

Furthermore, the Kwara Agro Mall (KWAMALL), which provides loan facilities, subsidies, consultation and equipment to farmers, was established in Ilorin. The centre bridges the gap between farmers and consumers by linking farmers with off-takers. Hundreds of farmers spread across the State have benefited from the activities of KWAMALL which will help to position Kwara State for sustainable agro-development.

IGR REFORMS

In the face of the dwindling allocations from the Federal Government, occasioned by the persistent drop in oil prices globally, Governor Ahmed in June 2015, signed into law the bill establishing the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS).

KWIRS is empowered to mobilize revenue, block leakages and expand the States revenue base so that the government can meet its obligations to the people. Consequently, the revenue service has been making appreciable progress in revenue generation since it commenced operations in January.

In keeping with that mandate, KWIRS generated N3.2b in the first quarter of 2016. This is a significant improvement compared to about N7.5b generated in 2015 by the State Government.

As part of efforts to ensure transparency, accountability and address the challenges associated with the operation of multiple account system in governments revenue inflows, Governor Ahmed introduced the Treasury Single Account (TSA) for all revenue generating agencies in the State to ensure efficiency in collection and disbursement.

EDUCATION

As part of contributions to the development of the education sector, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed constructed and rehabilitated 400 block of classrooms at primary and secondary school levels. His administration introduced free tuition and notebooks at senior secondary school level. To expand access to tertiary education in the state, Dr. Ahmed also approved the reduction in the tuition fees for Kwara State University (KWASU) students by 30 per cent.

Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed also commenced the construction of an N800m Engineering complex for the Kwara State University, which is now near completion.

Governor Ahmed also approved the construction of the International Vocational Technical and Entrepreneurship Centre, located in Ajase-Ipo, in Irepodun Local government area of Kwara State.

The innovative centre which is in partnership with City and Guilds, London, is aimed at creating a generation of highly employable artisans and prosperous youth entrepreneurs through the provision of market relevant skills under its Shared Prosperity Programme.

ENERGY

Governor Ahmed completed several projects in the power sector across the state in a bid to improve power supply. Some of these include, Iponrin, Sekun-Owode and Bokungi-Jambufu Electrification Projects in 2011.

Governor Ahmeds rural and urban electrification project has seen 400 communities connected to the national grid, with 136 transformers installed to serve 189 communities.

HEALTH SECTOR

From the inception of the present administration, a tremendous transformation has been recorded in the Health Sector in Kwara State under the able Leadership of Governor Ahmed. One of the major thrusts of his administration is the provision of quality and affordable health care for the people within 500M radius, an intention he has pursued with tenacity.

The Community Health Insurance Scheme (CHIS), under which enrolees receive all-year round healthcare for a paltry sum of N500, has been extended to 110, 000 beneficiaries and adjudged as one of the most successful by the United Nations (UN). The programme is targeted to reach one million rural dwellers before the end of 2018.

In the same vein, medical equipment was distributed to all Government Hospitals as well as MDG equipment to 13 General Hospitals and 43 primary health care centers across the state.

In 2014, five General Hospitals in Share, Omu-Aran, Offa and Kaiama, were renovated and equipped with state-of-the-art-facilities.

SECURITY

As part of measures to improve security, Governor Ahmed presented Patrol vehicles to Kwara State Police command in 2011 and 2012, and launched Operation Harmony in 2013 to strengthen security across the state.

The Operation Harmony is a joint security outfit comprising of the Nigerian Police, Nigerian Army, State Security Service (SSS) and members of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

As part of efforts to check the menace of cultism, the State House of Assembly has passed the new Secret Cults and Society Prohibition Bill 2016. The new law equally outlawed cultism establishment, commission, existence, membership and activities of secret cults and societies in both academic and non-academic environments in the state.

EMPOWERMENT/SME SCHEME

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are critical to the economic development of any country as they have the potential to create employment opportunities, generate revenues, improve local technology and ensure forward integration with large-scale industries to ensure sustainable socio-economic development and prosperity.

Also in 2012, Governor Ahmed launched the Kwara Micro Credit Intervention Scheme to encourage and assist small and medium scale enterprises in the State.

An initial sum of N250 million was approved by Governor Ahmed to kick start the scheme but has grown to about N1.597 billion with a total of about 1,848 cooperative societies and 50, 000 small businesses benefiting.

Additionally, 53 associations under the aegis of Artisan Congress of Kwara State have benefited from the scheme, and about 150 taxis, 25 buses and 193 motorcycles has been given out to beneficiaries across the state.

GRASSROOT DEVELOPMENT

The government of Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed has also recorded giant strides in grassroots infrastructure development with the recent approval of N850m for the implementation of critical grassroots projects in 192 wards across the State.

The initiative which is a collaboration with the World Bank, will focus projects on roads, education, health, energy and water supply, and will be purely community-driven.

AVIATION

In reaffirming his commitment to promoting the growth and development of the aviation industry in Kwara State, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed flagged-off Helicopter training at the International Aviation College, Ilorin in partnership with the Nigerian Navy, making it the first in West Africa to provide fixed and rotor wing training.

This is aimed at achieving its much desired objective of being a one-stop aviation training institution, which will further showcase Kwara as an aviation hub in Nigeria.

The presence of an Air force hanger in Ilorin and the Nigerian Navys plans to set up a training wing in the State gives credence to Kwaras position as an emerging aviation hub in the country.
There seems to be no end in the political crisis in Adamawa state, with senators, members of the House of Representatives and other key political actors on Monday shunning the town hall meeting called by the state governor, Bindow Jibrilla, tagged Adamawa summit.

The governor had in his inaugural speech last year promised to convene a summit in which all segments of the Adamawa society, including Adamawa people in the Diaspora, would be involved in order to chart a developmental course for the state.

Besides the federal lawmakers, others who boycotted the meeting included the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, as well as present and former ministers from the state.

Officials of opposition parties also stayed away.

Many in the state had thought the summit would be a replica of the summits held in Katsina and Kano which attracted important sons and daughters of those states, including President Muhammad Buhari who was in his native Katsina to attend the Katsina summit.

It remains unclear why the dignitaries stayed away.

When contacted on telephone, the state secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Tahir Shehu said his party was never invited to the event.

I am just hearing the news from you for the first time, Mr. Shehu said. May be our input is not important to them,thats why they decided to sideline us the opposition.

The Commissioner for Information in the state, Ahmad Sajo, while flagging off the event, said the summit was meant to brainstorm and highlights achievements recorded in the last one year.
Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, has said that there was nothing new in the removal of his former Secretary to the State Government, Rabiu Bichi.

Mr. Bichi was sacked on Friday while two other aides to the governor were redeployed in a move seen by analyst as the weeding out of loyalists of Mr. Gangujes predecessor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, from key positions.

Mr. Ganduje said the shake-up was a fulfilment of his promise to always fine-tune and introduce new innovations in his government.

He said the action was also aimed at rejuvenating his government to make it more purposeful.

The governor, who spoke during a media parley as part of activities to mark his one year in office, reminded his audience that our government is a government of continuity, consolidation, fine tuning and of new ideas. What weve done was a process of fine tuning.

Mr. Ganduje lamented the decrease in federal allocation to the state, explaining that his administration had reduced the cost of governance in line with the economic reality of the nation.

Mr. Ganduje said because of the shortfall in federal income, he was concentrating attention on only projects of immense importance to the public.

The Kano governor said he executed 15 road projects in the last one year.

He said irrigation farming was accorded top priority in order to guarantee employment and food security.

The governor promised that government would provide boreholes, fertiliser, and insecticides to farmers as well as deploy extension workers.

He said over 200 women were trained as commercial drivers under the women empowerment programme, adding that government also equipment to some women specially trained on evacuation of refuse.

We want to break the barrier to enable our women compete in the emerging economic challenges to guarantee self-reliance, he said.

He added that hundreds of Fulani women and their children benefited from trainings on milk processing.
Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, on Sunday said he apprehended a couple for dumping refuse on the Lagos-Ibadan Highway,and handed them over to the police for prosecution.

Mr. Amosun made this known during the 2016 Democracy Day event organised by the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, held at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Abeokuta.

He said the couple were caught while offloading the garbage from the booth of their Lexus SUV on their way to church.

I was coming from Lagos to Abeokuta, when I saw this Lexus Jeep parked on the Highway, Mr. Amosun said while giving details of the incident. The car was conveying the couple and their children to church. I thought the car had a fault, but I found out that the booth was opened.

On moving closer I was shocked to see the husband, a well read man, moving out heap of refuse from the booth and dumping on the highway,on their way to church,an indication that that had been their stock in trade.

As soon as my convoy stopped, the couple took off, and I ordered my security to pursue them, they were pursued to Ojota in Lagos before they were arrested.

As I am talking to you now, the suspect is in Ibara Police here in Abeokuta and would be taken to court on Tuesday.
With more brands slapping on eco-friendly promises that may, or may not be true, can sustainable marketing be a bigger part of the solution ...
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.




BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The proponent of a White House petition, which demands the withdrawal of Armenian troops that are illegally occupying some 20% of Azerbaijani territory, says he believes the petition itself is important, irrespective of the White House response.

Elkan Suleymanov, the President of the non-profit Association for Civil Society Development in Azerbaijan (ACDA), said he "seriously questions an objective response" from the White House to the petition, due to "long term and on-going global political pressure on our country by power states and international organisations."

The petition has received over 330,000 signatures, more than triple the number needed to secure a reply by the Obama administration. Over the weekend Suleymanov stressed the importance of the petition even if the White House were to give only a "formalistic" reply.

The petition requests that Armenia withdraws its troops from the Nagorno-Karabakh region, in line with past UN resolutions and a recent call by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). It also called upon the White House "to assist in the prevention of a humanitarian catastrophe in the region" because of the dangers posed by the neglected Sarsang dam, which is located in the Armenian-occupied territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"I guess that the White House Administration will not explicitly endorse PACE Resolution 2085 (2016)," said Suleymanov. "It will probably neglect the part of our call in the petition expressing the assistance for preventing a humanitarian catastrophe due to the current conditions of the Sarsang reservoir and divert the attention from the main provisions of the resolution by stating the importance of inspections by independent experts and dialogue hosted by the OSCE Minsk Group over the discussion of the issue of water release," he concluded.

However, the ACDA president noted that the petition enjoys great importance irrespective of the White House response. "We won't stop our struggle for the liberation of Azerbaijani territories from occupation," Suleymanov said, pointing out the significance of bringing the issue to the American people.

"The facts that Armenia is an aggressor, that Nagorno-Karabakh and other territories of Azerbaijan are under the control of Armenian armed forces are on the White House's official website and that millions of people visiting the website obtain this information for over two months are very important and a significant activity on the way to the liberation of our territories from occupation," Suleymanov said.

The Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding provinces were occupied by Armenia during the post-Soviet power vacuum, resulting in about 30,000 deaths and nearly one million refugees and internally displaced people. In addition to PACE, many other international bodies, including the United Nations, European Parliament and the OSCE have called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the Azerbaijani territories.

SOURCE Azerbaijan Monitor
Milliman will build pension and employee benefits consulting practice in France

PARIS, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today announced that Francois Cheynet will lead its new employee benefits team in France. Francois has over 20 years' experience advising multinational and French companies on pension and benefit issues, with extensive experience consulting for large and complex client organizations. A Fellow of the French Institute of Actuaries, his expertise will serve to expand Milliman's growing footprint in the European employee benefits market.

Jeff Budin, Milliman's global employee benefits practice leader, says, "Francois has over a decade of leadership experience in this practice area and he brings with him an innovative approach to his work. We see tremendous potential to expand our employee benefits consulting capabilities, especially in the French market. Francois is the clear choice to head up this team."

Francois Cheynet says, "Milliman is known for its expertise, professionalism, and objectivity. Milliman's commitment to independence ensures we remain focused on our clients' best interests, and it is why I wanted to join the company. I could not be more excited to work for Milliman, and am incredibly honored to be leading the firm's employee benefits practice in France."

About Milliman

Milliman is among the world's largest providers of actuarial and related products and services. The firm has consulting practices in healthcare, property & casualty insurance, life insurance and financial services, and employee benefits. Milliman is a global firm of more than 3,000 employees, with over 60 total offices operating in all major markets across Africa, Asia, Australia, the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. For more than 60 years, an attention to rigorous standards of professional excellence, peer review, and objectivity has made Milliman the leading independent actuarial firm. For further information, visit www.milliman.com.

Related Links

http://www.milliman.com



SOURCE Milliman, Inc.
PUNE, India, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market research report "Healthcare Biometrics Market by Technology (Single-factor (Fingerprint, Face, Iris, Palm, Behavioral (Signature, Voice)), Multifactor, Multimodal), Application (Workforce Management), End User (Hospitals, Healthcare Institutions) - Global Forecast to 2021", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is projected to reach USD 2,848.3 Million by 2021 from USD 1,182.6 Million by 2016, at a CAGR of 19.2% during the forecast period.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )



Browse 209 market data Tables with 45 Figures spread through 217 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Healthcare Biometrics Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/healthcare-biometrics-technology-market-608.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The growth of this market is majorly driven by government initiatives to support the implementation of biometrics in healthcare facilities and increasing healthcare fraud & medical identity theft. On the other hand, the high cost of biometric devices and issues related to the use of biometric technologies are the major factors limiting the growth of the market.

In this report, the Healthcare Biometrics Market is segmented on the basis of technology, application, end user, and region. Based on technology, the market is segmented into single-factor authentication, multi-factor authentication and multimodal authentication. The multi-factor authentication segment is expected to grow at the highest CAGR due to the demand for secure authentication platforms from developed countries and wider acceptance of multi-factor authentication among healthcare providers.

By type, the single-factor authentication market is sub-segmented into contact biometrics and non-contact biometrics. In 2016, contact biometrics is expected to account for the largest share of the single-factor authentication market by type. However, the market for non-contact biometrics is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growth in this segment is attributed to the non-intrusive nature of non-contact biometrics (as it allows data to be captured even from a distance) and its speed of identification.

The single-factor authentication market is further categorized by technology into face recognition, iris recognition, palm geometry recognition, fingerprint recognition, vein recognition, behavioral recognition, and other authentication technologies. Vein recognition is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to its accuracy, fast recognition, and contactless.

Speak To The Research Analyst: http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalyst.asp?id=608

Geographically, the Healthcare Biometrics Market is dominated by North America, followed by Europe. North American market is expected to grow at the highest CAGR of 20.2% during the forecast period. This growth can be attributed to increasing government initiatives to ensure data protection and the security of healthcare facilities and presence of large number of prominent players. Owing to this, biometric technologies are increasingly being adopted to comply with stringent laws such as HIPAA and HITECH.

The Healthcare Biometrics Market is highly competitive. Prominent players in the market include NEC Corporation (Japan), Fujitsu Limited (Japan), 3M Cogent, Inc. (U.S.), Morpho (a subsidiary of Safran SA (France)), Imprivata, Inc. (U.S.), Suprema Inc. (South Korea), BIO-key International, Inc. (U.S.), Crossmatch Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Lumidigm (a subsidiary of ASSA ABLOY Sweden)), and ZKteco, Inc. (China).

Browse Related Reports:

North American Healthcare IT Market by Product (EHR, RIS, PACS, VNA, CPOE, mHealth, Telehealth, Healthcare analytics, Supply Chain Management, Revenue Cycle Management, CRM, Claims Management) by End User (Provider, Payer ) - Forecast to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/north-america-healthcare-it-market-1190.html

Healthcare IT Market by Product (EHR, RIS, PACS, VNA, CPOE, mHealth, Telehealth, Healthcare analytics, Supply Chain Management, Revenue Cycle Management, CRM, Claims Management, Fraud Management) by End User (Provider, Payer ) - Global Forecast to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/healthcare-it-252.html

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MarketsandMarkets is the world's No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors.

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Anniversary : 10 years of Helaba financial centre research

Frankfurt assumes leadership role in Continental Europe

London still the top location in competition between European financial centres

Frankfurt has assumed the leadership role among the financial centres in Continental Europe. This is the conclusion that Helaba's economists have come to in their anniversary study "Financial Centre of Frankfurt: Making Further Headway". Herbert Hans Gruntker, Chief Executive of Helaba, emphasises: "In the continued competition between locations, it is important for the German financial centre to self-confidently use its strengths and to clearly advertise them to the world of finance. After all, Frankfurt has a great deal to offer."

An English version of this study will be published soon.

Cross-reference: The full press release is available at: http://www.presseportal.de/pm/55060/3339086

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SOURCE HELABA Landesbank Hessen-Thueringen
ALBANY, New York, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research entitled "Managed Print Services Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024," the Managed Print Services Market is expected to reach US$ 94.97 Bn in revenue by 2024, rising from US$ 26.18 Bn in 2015. The market is estimated to expand at a CAGR of 14.8% during the forecast period from 2016 to 2024.

In a cost-sensitive environment, organizations are highly influenced by the cost benefits offered by MPS by reducing the operational costs of their printing activities. This is one of the major factors attracting organizations to adopt MPS. The need for the streamlining of the printing workflow and for monitoring and control of printer usage by employees have added to the cost reduction benefits achieved through the implementation of MPS. The growth of the MPS market is also expected to be driven by environmental benefits such as a reduction in paper wastage and efficient use of energy achieved through the implementation of MPS. Growth in awareness about the benefits of MPS in the SMEs is expected to further boost the growth of the MPS market in the coming years. The SMEs segment of the MPS market is projected to grow faster than large enterprises in terms of the adoption of MPS during the forecast period.

Get Sample Report Copy or for further inquiries, click here: http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=7859

Channel partner/core MPS providers accounted for the largest share of the total MPS market in 2015. In order to cater to the ever increasing demand for MPS in the discrete SMEs sector, lead MPS vendors have turned to channel partners in order to expand their customer base by targeting untapped opportunities. Furthermore, cloud-based deployment was the largest segment of the MPS market in 2015 and is likely to dominate over the forecast period. The cost effectiveness of cloud-based MPS deployment and reduction in the burden on organizations' internal servers are some of the major factors expected to drive the cloud-based MPS market in the coming years.

The government and public end-use segment was the largest in 2015 and is likely to hold its top position in terms of revenue share the forecast period. Government authorities deal in a high amount of paperwork and their high preference for security of these vital documents/data has influenced the dominance of the government and public sector segment in the MPS market.

The major key companies operating in MPS market include Xerox Corporation, ARC Document Solutions, Inc., Ricoh Company Ltd., Lexmark Corporation, Canon, Inc., Konica Minolta, Inc., KYOCERA Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, HP Development, L.P., and Print Audit. Key players are focusing on increasing the number of channel partners and geographical expansion to increase their market presence.

Browse In Detail Regional Analysis: http://www.europlat.org/global-managed-print-services-mps-market.htm

The managed print services (MPS) market is segmented as below.

Managed Print Services Market

By Channel

Printer/Copier Manufacturers

Channel Partner/Core MPS Providers

By Enterprise Size

SMEs

Large Enterprises

By Deployment

On-premise

Hybrid

Cloud-based

By End-use

BFSI

Telecom and IT

Government and Public

Health care

Education

Legal

Construction

Manufacturing

Others

By Geography

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Middle East and Africa

and Latin America

Other Research Reports by Transparency Market Research:

Peer-to-Peer Lending Market:

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/peer-to-peer-lending-market.html

Digital Asset Management market:

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/digital-asset-management-market.html

Interactive Whiteboard Market

http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/interactive-whiteboard-market.html

About Us:

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.

Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMR's syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.

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SOURCE Transparency Market Research
SAN FRANCISCO, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The global micro turbine market is expected to reach USD 339.7 million by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Micro turbines have been gaining advantage globally on account of their compact size and high-efficiency levels.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150105/723757 )



The technology is an ideal solution for generating clean energy in the environment. Cost effectiveness coupled with waste fuel utilization have been the major factors driving the global Micro Turbine Market.

Changing grid operations are anticipated to establish as key industry opportunity for the product development. Increasing potential for greener energy solution is also expected to further augment industry revenue in over the forecast period. Growing investment initiatives to develop new generating capacity coupled with stringent environmental regulatory framework is anticipated to further enhance overall market growth in near future.

Combined heat & power was the leading application segment and accounted for over 55% of total market revenue in 2015. Increasing initiatives to reduce global warming levels and installation of CHP is expected to drive this segment over the forecast period.

Browse full research report with TOC on "Micro Turbine Market Analysis By Application (Combined Heat & Power, Standby Power), By Power Rating (12 kW -50 kW, 50 kW-250 kW, 250 kW-500 kW), By End-Use (Industrial, Commercial, Residential) And Segment Forecasts To 2024" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/microturbines-market

Further key findings from the report suggest:

50 kW-250 kW emerged as the leading power rating sector and is anticipated to witness high demand in hybrid electric vehicle manufacturing. The segment accounted for 38.3% of total market revenue in 2015. It is also expected to witness the highest growth of 11.1% over the forecast period.

Industrial was the leading end-user and accounted for over 50% of total market revenue in 2015. Micro turbines find application in construction, oil & gas, mining, waste water treatment and pharmaceutical industries. Expanding product application in waste water treatment is expected to establish as growth opportunity for this segment.

North America was the leading regional market and accounted for 37.7% of global revenue in 2015. Shale gas boom in the region is expected to significantly contribute towards industry enhancement in the near future. Nuclear plants decommission coupled with strict environmental regulations are anticipated to augment European market over the forecast period.

was the leading regional market and accounted for 37.7% of global revenue in 2015. Shale gas boom in the region is expected to significantly contribute towards industry enhancement in the near future. Nuclear plants decommission coupled with strict environmental regulations are anticipated to augment European market over the forecast period. Major companies include Bladon Jets, Capstone Turbine Corporation, Microturbine Technology BV, Calnetix Technologies LLC., ICR Turbine Engine Corporation, Eneftech Innovation SA, Brayton Energy LLC, Toyota Motor Corporation, Flexenergy, Inc, Ansaldo Energia S.P.A., NewEnCo. and Wilson Solarpower Corporation.

Grand View Research has segmented the micro turbine market on the basis of application, power rating, end-use and region:

Global Micro Turbine Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2026) Combined Heat & Power (CHP) Standby Power

Global Micro Turbine Power Rating Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2026) 12 kW -50 kW 50 kW-250 kW 250 kW-500 kW

Global Micro Turbine End-Use Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2026) Industrial Commercial Residential

Global Micro Turbine Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2026) North America U.S Canada Mexico Europe Germany UK Russia Asia Pacific Australia China Malaysia Central & South America Brazil Colombia Middle East and Africa



Browse related reports by Grand View Research:

Penstock Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/penstock-market

Gasification Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/gasification-market

Energy Storage Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/energy-storage-market

Battery Raw Material Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/battery-raw-material-market

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

Read Our Blogs - mediafound.org, grandviewresearch.com/blogs/energy-and-power

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc

Phone: 1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com



Web: http://www.grandviewresearch.com



SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
LONDON, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Auriens launches later life lux, a 200m development to appeal to high-net worth perennials

Challenging the conventions of the traditional care home category, Auriens is launching a luxury lifestyle concept that promises an exclusive brand of vintage vitality to those that can afford it.

Whilst commentators bemoan the lack of good accommodation for the young to get on the property ladder, Auriens has identified another significant gap in the market - the scarcity of high quality accommodation for the elderly. "The world is obsessed with millennials," said Auriens co-founder Johnny Sandelson, "but we see a huge opportunity at the other end of the market, amongst a group we have dubbed 'perennials.'"

Despite the obvious market need for a premium product in this category, Auriens has taken a considered approach to creating the perfect offer. "In truth, it was a time-consuming process to get to launch", said Sandelson. "We held out for the right site to develop a world-class environment for living, and ageing, in a place our clients lived."

Having been outbid on several Central London locations by developers piggy-backing the super-prime property gold rush, Auriens finally secured its first site in March 2016, a gem on the King's Road in the heart of Chelsea.

The company is currently working with Tenhurst on its planning application and expects the doors to open at Auriens Chelsea by 2019. John Hunter, responsible for some of the Royal Borough's most high-profile developments, said he was delighted to be working with such an innovative and considerate team. "Auriens is really going the extra mile to create something very special. The attention-to-detail is phenomenal," said Mr Hunter.

But the property is only half the story. Karen Mulville, Sandelson's business partner and co-founder, is driving the operational side of the business. "Whilst Johnny was scouting sites, I embarked on a lengthy search to create the best-possible residential experience. It was quite clear to both of us that, without the highest quality care, people wouldn't feel comfortable moving from their homes".

As part of their proposition, Auriens have acquired a care provider with a twenty-year pedigree catering to the capital's most discerning and demanding clientele.

The Auriens team also includes Richmond Interiors, recently responsible for the styling of Mayfair's award-winning Beaumont Hotel. "Auriens Chelsea really will be somewhere where style meets substance, a place where growing old will be such a wonderful and considered experience," said Mulville.

Auriens has big plans to launch in more locations, in key cities both at home and abroad. Auriens Chelsea is just the beginning. It seems that the humble old folks' home is finally coming of age.

SOURCE Auriens
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Eastern European nations are increasingly rivalling their more established Western counterparts in terms of economic competitiveness, a major new study from the IMD World Competitiveness Center has revealed.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160527/372946-INFO )

According to the latest edition of the prestigious World Competitiveness Ranking, the economies of Latvia, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia are among the fastest-improving in the world.

Each has bettered its 2015 position by six places - a rise beaten only by Ireland and the Netherlands - with Latvia moving to 37th, the Slovak Republic to 40th and Slovenia to 43rd.

IMD business school has published the ranking each year since 1989 and it is widely regarded as the foremost annual assessment of the competitiveness of countries.

The 2016 edition ranks China Hong Kong first, Switzerland second and the USA third, with Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada completing the top 10.

Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, said: "The impressive performance of Eastern European economies as a whole is to be welcomed.

"The common pattern among all of the countries in the top 20 is their focus on business-friendly regulation, physical and intangible infrastructure and inclusive institutions. These are qualities that many Eastern European economies are increasingly recognising and embracing, and a breakthrough into the top 20 might not be too far away."

The Czech Republic, in 27th place, currently ranks as the most competitive economy in Eastern Europe, followed by Lithuania (30th), Estonia (31st) and Poland (33rd).

By way of context, France occupies 32nd position, Spain 34th and Italy 35th.

Hungary and Bulgaria, in 46th and 50th respectively, also improved on their 2015 standings.

Professor Bris said: "The main driver of the general improvements across Europe is the efficiency of the public sector, which is now recovering in earnest after the financial crisis.

"Ireland and the Netherlands have recorded the biggest jumps of any economy, while Sweden, Belgium, Spain and Italy are among those that also continue to improve."

A full breakdown of the IMD World Competitiveness Center's Ranking is available at https://worldcompetitiveness.imd.org/Press/ - Please contact IMD media relations for login credentials.

About IMD

IMD is a top-ranked business school, recognized as the expert in developing global leaders through high-impact executive education.

MEDIA CONTACT: Aicha Besser, +41-21-618-0507 aicha.besser@imd.org

SOURCE IMD International
SAN FRANCISCO, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The global parenteral nutrition market is expected to reach USD 7.3 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The increasing natality rate, the growing malnutrition coupled with the prevalence of chronic conditions such as cancer and gastro-intestinal tract diseases are expected to boost the market over the forecast period.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150105/723757 )



The presence of malnourished children in the developing countries leading to the rise in the natality rate and the rising geriatric population suffering from a deficiency of essential nutrients are some of the major factors that are expected to fuel the global parenteral nutrition market.

According to the WHO around 40.0% patients across the world were malnourished in 2010. The study also indicated that about one-third of the patients in Europe were malnourished in 2012, thereby fueling industry growth.

According to the statistics provided by the World Bank Group, India had the highest natality rate followed by China in 2012. Moreover, a consistent increase in the rate of natality was observed in the European countries such as the U.K. and France. Therefore, Asia Pacific and Europe are expected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast.

North America is expected to witness lucrative growth due to the increase in consumer awareness paired with the increasing healthcare costs. As parenteral nutrition products are available in the home health care sector, it further facilitates the market growth due to the increasing trend in home health care. The increasing incidence of heart diseases is another vital driver. According to the WHO around 49.0% of the American population is endangered with the risk of cardiac arrest.

Browse full research report with TOC on "Parenteral Nutrition Market Analysis, By Nutrition Type (Carbohydrates, Parenteral Lipid Emulsion, Single Dose Amino Acid Solution, Trace Elements, Vitamins and Minerals) And Segment Forecasts To 2024" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/parenteral-nutrition-market

Further key findings from the study suggest:

North America is expected to dominate the overall market with a revenue share of about40.0% in 2024, owing to the increasing incidences of heart diseases coupled with the rise in home health care.

is expected to dominate the overall market with a revenue share of about40.0% in 2024, owing to the increasing incidences of heart diseases coupled with the rise in home health care. Asia Pacific and Europe are anticipated to be the fastest growing region with a CAGR of over5.5% over the forecast period. The rise in the natality rate, rising geriatric population and the growing awareness regarding the importance of nutritional value and its impact on health are the vital impact rendering drivers for the region.

and are anticipated to be the fastest growing region with a CAGR of over5.5% over the forecast period. The rise in the natality rate, rising geriatric population and the growing awareness regarding the importance of nutritional value and its impact on health are the vital impact rendering drivers for the region. Key players of the industry include Baxter International, Inc., Hospira, Inc., B. Braun Melsungen AG, Grifols International S.A., Fresenius Kabi AG, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory, Inc., Actavis, Inc., Sichuan Kelun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Most of these companies have been in the business for over a decade and are bringing in expertise and technological advancements that are expected to help them sustain over the forecast period.

Grand View Research has segmented parenteral nutrition market on the basis of type of nutrition and region

Global Parenteral Nutrition Type of nutrition Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2013 - 2024) Carbohydrates Parenteral lipid emulsion Single dose amino acid solution Trace elements Vitamins and minerals

Parenteral Nutrition Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2013 - 2024) North America U.S. Canada Europe UK Germany Asia Pacific Japan China Latin America Brazil Argentina MEA South Africa Saudi Arabia



Browse related reports by Grand View Research:

Orthobiological Products Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/orthobiological-products-market

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/active-pharmaceutical-ingredients-market

Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMP) Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/bone-morphogenetic-proteins-market

Biotechnology Reagents Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/biotechnology-reagent-market

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

Read Our Blogs - legalworkshop.org, grandviewresearch.com/blogs/healthcare

Contact:

Sherry James

Corporate Sales Specialist, USA

Grand View Research, Inc

Phone: 1-415-349-0058

Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519

Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com

Web: http://www.grandviewresearch.com



SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The IMD World Competitiveness Center has laid bare the plight of Latin America's economies by including only Chile in the top 40 of a ranking of the world's most economically competitive countries.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160527/372936 )



The prestigious World Competitiveness Ranking, published each year since 1989 from IMD business school , is widely regarded as the foremost analysis of its kind.

The 2016 edition ranks Chile 36th out of 61 nations - a fall of one place from its position last year - with all of the region's other representatives confined to the bottom 20.

Mexico (45th) and Brazil (56th) have both slipped down the table, with Colombia maintaining its position of 51st, and only Argentina - up from 59th to 55th - climbing. Venezuela remains in last place.

At the other end of the ranking, China Hong Kong has defied a pattern of decline in Asia to displace the USA as the world's most competitive economy for the first time in three years.

Switzerland claims second position, the USA drops to third, and Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada round out the top 10.

Commenting on Latin America's woes, Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, said: "The public sector continues to be a drag on these economies.

"It's notable that Chile is the only Latin American economy not in the bottom 20 and that Argentina is alone among the region's nations in improving its position since last year.

"The common pattern among all of the countries in the top 20 is their focus on business-friendly regulation, physical and intangible infrastructure and inclusive institutions.

"At the present time no Latin American economy comes close to possessing these qualities to anything like the extent required to make significant progress up the ranking."

IMD analyses over 340 criteria derived from four principal factors - economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure - to produce its ranking.

Responses from an in-depth survey of more than 5,400 business executives are also taken into consideration.

While Brazil once showed promising hopes to develop into a superstar among Latin economies, its performance dwindles.

"The main factor for Brazil's decline is its economic performance. A sluggish GDP growth, rising unemployment, an increase in the perception about relocation-threats in combination with increasing risks for investors have greatly impacted the economy," Bris said.

A full breakdown of the ranking is available at https://worldcompetitiveness.imd.org/Press/ - Please contact IMD media relations for login credentials.

About IMD

IMD is a top-ranked business school, recognized as the expert in developing global leaders through high-impact executive education.

MEDIA CONTACT: Aicha Besser, +41-21-618-0507 aicha.besser@imd.org

SOURCE IMD International
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The USA has surrendered its status as the world's most competitive economy after being overtaken by China Hong Kong and Switzerland, according to the IMD World Competitiveness Center.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160527/372929 )



The sheer power of the economy of the USA is no longer sufficient to keep it at the top of the prestigious World Competitiveness Ranking, which it has led for the past three years.

The IMD World Competitiveness Center, a research group within IMD business school, has published the ranking each year since 1989 and it is widely regarded as the foremost annual assessment of the competitiveness of countries.

The 2016 edition ranks China Hong Kong first, Switzerland second and the USA third, with Singapore, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Canada completing the top 10.

Professor Arturo Bris, Director of the IMD World Competitiveness Center, said a consistent commitment to a favourable business environment was central to China Hong Kong's rise and that Switzerland's small size and its emphasis on a commitment to quality have allowed it to react quickly to keep its economy on top.

"The USA still boasts the best economic performance in the world, but there are many other factors that we take into account when assessing competitiveness," he said.

"The common pattern among all of the countries in the top 20 is their focus on business-friendly regulation, physical and intangible infrastructure and inclusive institutions."

A leading banking and financial center, China Hong Kong encourages innovation through low and simple taxation and imposes no restrictions on capital flows into or out of the territory.

It also offers a gateway for foreign direct investment in China Mainland, the world's newest economic superpower, and enables businesses there to access global capital markets.

China Hong Kong and Singapore aside, however, the research suggests Asia's competitiveness has declined markedly overall since the publication of last year's ranking.

Taiwan, Malaysia, Korea Republic, and Indonesia have all suffered significant falls from their 2015 positions, while China Mainland declined only narrowly retaining its place in the top 25.

The study reveals some of the most impressive strides in Europe have been made by countries in the East, chief among them Latvia, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.

Western European economies have also continued to improve, with researchers highlighting the ongoing post-financial-crisis recovery of the public sector as a key driver.

Meanwhile, 36th-placed Chile is the sole Latin American nation outside the bottom 20, while Argentina, in 55th, is the only country in the region to have improved on its 2015 position. While Brazil once showed promising hopes to develop into a superstar among Latin economies, its performance dwindles.

"The main factor for Brazil's decline is its economic performance. A sluggish GDP growth, rising unemployment, an increase in the perception about relocation-threats in combination with increasing risks for investors have greatly impacted the economy," Bris said.

Each ranking is based on analysis of over 340 criteria derived from four principal factors: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.

Responses from an in-depth survey of more than 5,400 business executives, who are asked to assess the situation in their own countries, are also taken into consideration.

Professor Bris said: "One important fact that the ranking makes clear year after year is that current economic growth is by no means a guarantee of future competitiveness.

"Nations as different as China Mainland and Qatar fare very well in terms of economic performance, but they remain weak in other pillars such as government efficiency and infrastructure."

Data gathered since the first ranking was published more than 25 years ago also lend weight to fears that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer, said Professor Bris.

"Since 1995 the world has become increasingly unequal in terms of income differences among countries, although the rate of increase is now slowing," he said.

"The wealth of the richest countries has grown every year except for the past two, while the poorer countries have seen some improvement in living conditions since the millennium.

"Unfortunately, the problem for many countries is that wealth accumulation by the rich doesn't yield any benefits for the poor in the absence of proper social safety nets.

"Innovation-driven economic growth in poorer countries improves competitiveness, but it also increases inequality. This is obviously an issue that demands long-term attention."

Notes for editors

A full breakdown of the IMD World Competitiveness Center's Ranking is available at https://worldcompetitiveness.imd.org/Press/ - Please contact IMD media relations for login credentials.

The ranking has been produced every year since 1989 by the IMD World Competitiveness Center and is widely acknowledged as the leading annual assessment of the competitiveness of countries. In 2015 the top 10 consisted of the USA , China Hong Kong, Singapore , Switzerland , Canada , Luxembourg , Norway , Denmark , Sweden and Germany .

Since 2014 the IMD World Competitiveness Center has also published the IMD World Talent Report, an annual assessment of how countries sustain talent for the businesses operating within their economies. The 2015 edition featured a top 10 of Switzerland , Denmark , Luxembourg , Norway , the Netherlands , Finland , Germany , Canada , Belgium and Singapore .

About IMD

IMD is a top-ranked business school, recognized as the expert in developing global leaders through high-impact executive education.

MEDIA CONTACT: Matthew Mortellaro, +41-21-618-0352 matthew.mortellaro@imd.org

SOURCE IMD International
NEW YORK, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

According to market research "Global Commercial Refrigeration Equipment Market Size, Share, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast to 2022 - Industry Insights by Equipment Type (Transportation refrigeration equipment, Walk-in Coolers, Display Cases, Beverage Refrigeration, Ice Making Machinery, Parts, Other Equipment) by Application (Food and Beverage Distribution, Food and Beverage Retail, Food Service, Others)" by P&S Market Research, the global commercial refrigeration equipment market was valued at $ 37,033.5 million in 2015 and it is expected to reach $ 55,688.6 million by 2022.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150727/756778 )



The global commercial refrigeration equipment market is driven by the growth of supermarket, hypermarket, and organized food retail chains. According to Institution of Mechanical Engineers in the year 2014, 25% of total food production in developing countries is wasted mainly due to improper refrigeration. In Africa, about 50% of the food and vegetables are wasted, due to the lack of commercial refrigeration equipment.

Explore Full Report at: https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/commercial-refrigeration-equipment-market

The significant growth in the number of supermarket and hypermarket in developing areas has boosted the demand of energy efficient refrigeration equipment in the recent years. The market in Europe is heading towards maturity.

Commercial refrigeration equipment distribution is achieved mainly through two channels - by employing one's own sales service and/or, by collaboration with autonomous wholesalers such as agents, distributors, brokers, and dealers. The selection of the distribution channels depends largely on the preferred market coverage, the economy of scale of the manufacturer, and attributes of buyer such as buyers' volume, and location.

Request for Sample Pages: https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/commercial-refrigeration-equipment-market/report-sample

The commercial refrigeration equipment market is highly fragmented and most often the end-users need custom based design specification, to fulfill their requirement. Major manufacturers of commercial refrigeration equipment sell their product as package solutions directly to bulk buyers, such as supermarket and hypermarket retailers

Browse Other Reports on Refrigeration Industry

Domestic Refrigeration Appliances Market - https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/domestic-refrigeration-appliances-market

Magnetic Refrigeration Market - https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/magnetic-refrigeration-market

Industrial Refrigeration Market - https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/industrial-refrigeration-equipment-market

About P&S Market Research

P&S Market Research is a market research company, which offers market research and consulting services for various geographies around the globe. We provide market research reports, industry forecasting reports, business intelligence, and research based consulting services across different industry/business verticals.

As one of the top growing market research agency, we're keen upon providing market landscape and accurate forecasting. Our analysts and consultants are proficient with business intelligence and market analysis, through their interaction with leading companies of the concerned domain. We help our clients with B2B market research and assist them in identifying various windows of opportunity, and framing informed and customized business expansion strategies in different regions.

Contact:

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Assistant - Client Partner

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Toll-Free: +1-888-778-7886 (USA/Canada)

Email: enquiry@psmarketresearch.com

Web: https://www.psmarketresearch.com



SOURCE P&S Market Research
DUBAI, UAE, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Winner of 5 Golds, 7 Silvers and 10 bronze awards

Bellwether is delighted to announce that it was again rewarded for its excellence in branding at the 3rd Annual Transform MENA Awards, winning 22 awards for their work with VOX Cinema's, The Prime Minister's Office, Kaya Skin Clinics, Edara, Awasr and du.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160526/372494LOGO )



Pierre Lategan, a partner at Bellwether was delighted with the results, "It's always a privilege to spend an evening celebrating branding with our clients and peers, raising the industry's profile as a whole. The Transform Awards is a global platform and as an independent, privately owned firm it's fantastic to once again be recognised for our work by the industry. I feel like a proud parent."

Of the 22 awards won, 5 were Golds, 7 Silver and 10 Bronze. The Gold winners were:

Best external stakeholder relations during a brand development project Gold - Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation

Best implementation of a brand development project Gold - VOX Cinemas

Best brand evolution Gold - Kaya

Best visual identity from the healthcare & pharmaceuticals sector Gold - Kaya

Best visual identity from the travel & leisure sector Gold - VOX Cinemas



On designing brands for this region, Noel Tabb commented that "Working in this region creates some unique design challenges, like designing for dual languages or creating authentic brand experiences and journeys for a multicultural society. These challenges also bring to light some fantastic design solutions and applications and that's what I personally enjoy."

Established in 2008, the Transform Awards has evolved into a celebration of the indispensable talent that exists within the branding sphere recognising excellence in rebranding and brand development.

The 2016 Transform Awards MENA celebrated entries from across the United Arab Emirates, as well as Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Nigeria and beyond. Hosted by broadcaster Richard Dean, the Transform Awards MENA was held at the prestigious Waldorf Astoria - the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai.



Bellwether

Bellwether is an independent, integrated, strategy, design and technology company. Headquartered in Dubai, serving the MENA region and beyond. With our clients, we've co-created brands with purpose across diverse sectors and for a diverse audience.

List of all the awards

Best brand architecture solution Bronze - VOX Cinemas

Best use of packaging Silver - Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation

Best use of typography Silver - Edara Bronze - AWASR

Best external stakeholder relations during a brand development project Gold - Mohammed bin Rashid Centre for Government Innovation

Best implementation of a brand development project Gold - VOX Cinemas Bronze - Kaya

Best creative strategy Silver - Kaya Silver - VOX Cinemas

Best brand evolution Gold - Kaya Bronze - VOX Cinemas

Best strategic/creative development of a new brand Silver - Edara

Best naming strategy Bronze - AWASR

Best brand development to reflect changed mission/values/positioning Bronze - ALO Bronze - VOX

Best brand consolidation Bronze - VOX Cinemas

Best rebrand of a digital property Silver - VOX Cinemas

Best visual identity from the education sector Bronze - Jebel Ali School

Best visual identity from the healthcare & pharmaceuticals sector Gold - Kaya

Best visual identity from the professional services sector Silver - Edara

Best visual identity from the technology, media & telecommunications sector Bronze - Alo

Best visual identity from the travel & leisure sector Gold - VOX Cinemas



Tel: +971-4-3255145, Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Bellwether
TEL AVIV, Israel, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG, US ADR: DGRLY) (hereinafter: "Delek Group" or "The Group") announced today its results for the three month period ending March 31, 2016. The full financial statements are available in English on Delek Group's website at: www.delek-group.com

Financial Highlights

The E&P sector contributed a record NIS 110 million to the Group's net income in the first quarter of 2016 compared with NIS 67 million in the first quarter of last year ;

The Israeli Government readopted its decision on the Outline Plan including a regulatory stability clause;

First quarter net income amounted to NIS 85 million in the first quarter of 2016, compared with NIS 210 million ;

Delek Group declared a dividend of NIS 80 million for the first quarter.

Group revenues for the first quarter in 2016 totaled NIS 1.3 billion compared with NIS 1.5 billion in the same period last year.

Group operating profit in the first quarter of 2016 totaled NIS 277 million, compared with NIS 232 million as reported in the same period last year. The increase was due to higher sales of natural gas from the Tamar reservoir despite the minor offset of other segments' operating profit.

Net income for the first quarter of 2016 totaled NIS 85 million compared with NIS 210 million in the first quarter of 2015. The E&P segment contributed a record NIS 110 million to the Company's net income in the first quarter. This was offset by lower contribution from some of the non-core operations of the Group as well as increased Finance and Other expenses.

Cash balance at the Delek Group as of May 30, 2016, stood at NIS 1.4 billion, including unutilized credit lines.

Following on Delek Group's Board of Directors approval in December last year to continue with the share buyback plan of up to NIS 100 million until December 22, 2016, to date, the Company has purchased Delek Group shares in the amount of NIS 69 million, and in total, as of May 30, 2016, Delek Group owns 104,088 of its shares.

Mr. Bartfeld, President and CEO of Delek Group, commented "The ratification a few days ago, of the Natural Gas Outline by the Israeli Government, is a significant milestone for moving forward in the development of the Leviathan reservoir and the expansion of the Tamar reservoir, which will be accelerated in the very near future. We are working diligently with our partners in the various projects to implement the Outline and carry out the necessary actions accordingly. The coming months will be marked by the completion of the development plans of the reservoirs, as well as the acceleration of negotiations with the countries of the region to sign long-term natural gas supply agreements."

Continued Mr. Bartfeld, "We are currently completing the process of moving our headquarters to a new home in the industrial area of Herzliya, and in August we will move this new building, together with the headquarters of our gas partners Delek Drilling and Avner."



Main Business Highlights

Contribution of Principal Operations to Net Income* (NIS millions)





Q1 2016 Q1 2015 FY 2015

Oil and Gas Exploration, and Gas Production Operations

110 67 254

Fuel Operations in Israel

4 15 87

Automotive Operations2

36 78 138

Contribution to continuing operations before sold-off operations, discontinued operations and capital and other gains

150 160 479

Insurance and finance operations in Israel (pending sale)

(23) 15 86

Finance expenses & Others1

(42) 35 (558)

Net Income (Loss) Attributed to Group's Shareholders

85 210 7



1 It is noted that the Group's share in the earnings of the Avner Partnership is fully-adjusted, as the investment in the Avner Partnership was previously revalued. Without this adjustment, net profit attributable to Company shareholders would have grown by NIS 18 million. For more information, see Section 6(a) of the financial report. Furthermore, data for the first quarter of 2016 includes the Company's share in the results of Ithaca Energy ("Ithaca"), to the amount of NIS 9 million.

2 Data for the first quarter of 2016 includes NIS 68 million in losses on impairment of investments in the Company's marketable securities portfolio. On the other hand, the Company included NIS 65 million in tax income as a result of a reduction in the tax rate in Israel (see also Notes 4 and 9 to the financial statements). The item also includes the results of other operations, unattributed finance expenses, other expenses and tax expenses.

The full report, including the full notes for the above items, is available on the Group's website at www.delek-group.com

Energy & Infrastructure

Oil and Gas Exploration Sector Highlights

Tamar Project, 11 TCF natural gas discoveries (Tamar and Tamar SW). Tamar produced 2.2 BCM of natural gas in the first quarter of 2016, compared with 2.0 BCM in the same period last year. In addition, Tamar sold 104 thousand barrels of condensate in the first quarter of 2016, compared with 93 thousand in the same period last year.

Leviathan, a 22 TCF natural gas discovery. On May 22, 2016, the Israeli Government re-affirmed its decision concerning the Natural Gas Outline, and established an alternative arrangement for a 'stable regulatory regime' to guarantee a regulatory regime that would encourage investment in the natural gas exploration and production sector. In light of this decision, Delek Group Partnerships will continue, together with their partners in the various projects, to implement the Natural Gas Outline (as amended), pursuant to its terms and the terms of the leases. In particular, they will act to continue making the necessary investments and taking the necessary actions for securing rapid development of the Leviathan reservoir and for planning an additional expansion of the production facilities of the Tamar Project.

Gas Production Summary; net income from the sector for the first quarter of 2016 was NIS 101 million, an increase compared to a net income of NIS 67 million in the same period in 2015. The growth was mainly due to the increase in the quantities of natural gas as well as condensate, sold from the Tamar project in the quarter, as well as lower amortization costs for the Yam Tethys project.

Ithaca Energy, Inc. (19.9% owned by Delek Group); The Group's acquisition of 19.9% of the share capital of Ithaca Energy in October 2016, which is presented based on the equity method, contributed NIS 9 million to the Company's P&L. On the Operations side, Great Stella Area remains on track to start production in September 2016.

Downstream Energy Sector Highlights

Delek  the Israel Fuel Company Ltd. (fully held by Delek Group); net income in the first quarter of 2016 amounted to NIS 4 million compared with a net income of NIS 15 million in the same period in 2015. The decrease was due to a decrease in distillate prices, which was partially offset by an increase in sales volumes in the containerization and distribution segments.

Insurance and Financial Services

The Company is continuing to evaluate options for the sale of its holdings in Phoenix Holdings Ltd. Since the beginning of the year, non-binding offers were received from several different entities interested in buying The Phoenix. The Company is studying these offers.

On April 19, 2016, the Group completed the transaction for the sale of its entire holdings (66%) in Republic Companies Inc. for NIS 532 million (approximately USD 140 million) to AmTrust Financial Services Inc, after all the approvals were received for completion including the regulatory approvals.

Dividend Distribution

On May 29, 2016, the Board of Directors of Delek Group declared a cash dividend distribution for the first quarter of 2016 in the amount of approximately NIS 80 million (or NIS 6.6758 per share) to shareholders. The ex-date is on June 6, 2016 and the dividend will be paid on June 20, 2016.

Conference Call Details

The Company will be hosting a conference call in English on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 at 4.00 PM (Israel Time), 9:00 AM (ET), 2:00 PM (UK). Management will also be available to answer investor questions.

To participate, please call one of the following teleconferencing numbers:

From Israel on: 03-9180685

From the USA on: 1-888-407-2553

From the UK on: 0-800-917-9141

International: +972-3-918 0685

About The Delek Group

The Delek Group, Israel's dominant integrated energy company, is the pioneering leader of the natural gas exploration and production activities that are transforming the Eastern Mediterranean's Levant Basin into one of the energy industry's most promising emerging regions. Having discovered Tamar and Leviathan, two of the world's largest natural gas finds since 2000, Delek and its partners are now developing a balanced, world-class portfolio of exploration, development and production assets with total gross natural gas resources discovered since 2009 of approximately 40 TCF.

In addition, Delek Group has a number of assets in downstream energy, water desalination, and in the finance sector.

For more information on Delek Group please visit www.delek-group.com or Email: [email protected]

Contact

Dina Vince Investor Relations Manager Tel: +972 9 863 8443 Email: [email protected]



Delek Group Income Statement (NIS Millions)



1-3/2016 1-3/2015 *)

2015









Revenues 1,289 1,548

6,356 Cost of revenues 821 1,130

4,592 Gross profit 468 418

1,764









Sales, marketing and gas station operating expenses 141 137

557 General and administrative expenses 41 43

180 Other expenses, net (9) (6)

(24) Operating profit 277 232

1,003









Finance income 85 294

455 Finance expenses 261 208

1,244 Profit after financing 101 318

214









Loss from disposal of investments in investees and others, net - (4)

2 The Group's share in the profits of associate companies and partnerships, net 46 50

125 Profit before income tax 147 364

341









Income tax (tax benefit) (122) 84

134 Profit from continuing operations 269 280

207 Loss from discontinued operations, net (32) (4)

254 Net profit (loss) 237 276

461









Attributable to -







Company shareholders 85 210

7 Non-controlling interest 152 66

454

237 276

461

(*) Re-classified, see Note 2AI to the financial statements.

SOURCE Delek Group Ltd.
BEIJING, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- At the invitation of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC), DHgate attended the Spring Conference in Orlando, U.S. from May 18 to May 19, 2016. During the Conference, DHgate held roundtable discussions with many brand owners and IP agencies from all over the world. DHgate's Vice President, Wang Tiantian, introduced the IP protection mechanism and procedure, as well as the latest progress in product management and policy formulation. The brand owners and IP agencies highly praised DHgate's practice in IP protection, they look forward to continued cooperation with DHgate.

Wang Tiantian further commented, "As a third-party platform, DHgate has always been committed to IP protection. We actively work with all IP owners, agencies and associations on a broad range of issues concerning IP, they appreciate our cooperation. Trust and safety is the bedrock of DHgate's development, it is in the best interest of both brand owners and DHgate to fight infringement. In terms of user's experience and security of the platform, IP protection is essential. We attended this conference because we hoped to directly talk with more IP owners and listen to their concerns, so that we can perfect our work on IP protection."

In early 2016, DHgate has taken a series of measures to tackle counterfeiting, making efforts to prevent and reduce infringements. First, the current IPPS (Intellectual Property Protection System) will be upgraded and put into use in the middle of June; the new IPPS will provide IP owners with a more efficient and easy-to-use tool for IP protection, streamline the process and significantly reduce the requirements for initiating take-down. Meanwhile, the IP Zone will be launched, which will instruct IP owners on how to better file complaints and to educate the people at large on the importance of IP protection. In addition, DHgate is planning to introduce the on-site check and product examination service to the merchants in early June, which will contribute to the product service and product quality. Finally, DHgate will implement three large programs, namely: restriction on live listings, restriction on merchant's major products, and the review of merchant's performance. These programs are expected to enhance the quality of merchants and products on the platform, reduce repeat products, and make online business more professional, thereby further improving the shopping experience.

'ABOUT DHgate.com'

DHgate.com is the first to market and the biggest transactional cross border B2B e-commerce marketplace in China. We aim to provide global buyers with quality products at competitive prices. Founded in 2004, DHgate.com has approximately 10 million global buyers from 230 countries and regions, with 1.2 million global sellers offering 33 million products. DHgate.com's business enables buyers to directly access global manufacturers of the world's top brands with rich product selections. DHgate.com is an all-in-one platform with integrated services for international logistics, cross border payments, internet financing, etc. DHgate.com's US product distribution warehouses allow for 24 hour delivery and convenient product returns & refunds, bringing great convenience to buyers at http://www.dhgate.com.

SOURCE DHGate.com

Related Links

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LONDON, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the new report "Global Healthcare Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality Systems Market Assessment & Forecast: 2016 - 2020" by SA-Business Research & Consulting Group, global healthcare virtual & augmented reality hardware market is anticipated to grow quicker at a CAGR of 29.2% from 2016 to 2020 and accounted for a value share of 43.7%.



North America continues to lead the combined healthcare virtual reality hardware and software market with a share of 41.7% in 2015. The report focuses on this budding market for six regions of North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin-America, Middle-East and Africa. The analysis encompasses a holistic view on adoption and awareness, social, political, economic, technological, legal and environmental. This "PESTLE" analysis has proven to portray the best possible market outcome that was further verified by SA-BRC survey among industry experts and key opinion leaders. High awareness, purchase power, availability of excellent local VR/AR integrators and technicians has enabled North America to stay several steps ahead in the race. The economic and political unrest in Brazil, LATAM's largest economy is anticipated to affect growth of the overall healthcare industry for next few years, however growth potentials are abundant. Countries such as Israel and United Arab Emirates have been at the forefront of Middle-East expenditure on healthcare. Israel ranks among the first five countries in terms of healthcare quality and infrastructure. The region is also highly progressive in terms of research in life sciences.



Several European healthcare VR companies are partnering with middle-eastern entities to capitalize on a growing market that is experimenting with modern new age technologies. VirtaMed AG a Swiss company and Leader Healthcare FZCO have signed a distribution contract that covers Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. According to the company press release Leader Healthcare will distribute virtual reality simulators VirtaMed ArthroS, VirtaMed UroSim, and VirtaMed HystSim throughout the region.



The report also covers over 30 companies operating in the hardware and software domain of healthcare virtual & augmented reality. Notable companies include Immersive Touch, CAE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, Brainlab AG, Engineering Systems Technologies, 3D Systems (Symbionix), Psious, SimSurgery, Mimic Technologies, Simulab Corporation, EON Reality Inc, Swemac, Epona, Voxel-Man, GE Healthcare, Intuitive Surgical, EchoPixel, Surgical Science Sweden AB, Mentice, Laerdal, Viscira, Simulab Corporation, VRMagic, Mindflux, eoSurgical, SeeMe, Dassault Systems, Barco Electronic Systems Pvt. Ltd. Simulated Surgical Systems LLC, Ossim Technologies, VirtaMed, Immersion Medical, SimQuest, MindMaze and Hewlett Packard.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/3862981/



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LONDON, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

On 28 May, 194 Member States made a historic commitment to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030. At the 69th World Health Assembly, governments unanimously voted to adopt the first ever Global Viral Hepatitis Strategy, signalling the greatest global commitment in viral hepatitis to date.

The Strategy sets a goal of eliminating hepatitis B and C by 2030 and includes a set of prevention and treatment targets which, if reached, will reduce annual deaths by 65% and increase treatment to 80%, saving 7.1 million lives globally by 2030.

Worldwide viral hepatitis kills 1.4 million people every year - more than HIV or malaria, and are among the leading causes of liver cirrhosis and cancer. With vaccines and effective treatments for hepatitis B and a cure for hepatitis C available, the targets outlined in the strategy are feasible and eliminating hepatitis by 2030 is achievable.

"The adoption of WHO Viral Hepatitis Strategy signals the first step in eliminating viral hepatitis, an illness which affects 400 million worldwide. We congratulate governments for showing great ambition. " Raquel Peck, CEO of the World Hepatitis Alliance said. "If governments remain committed, we will witness one of the greatest global health threats eliminated within our lifetimes."

Although the adoption of the strategy demonstrates considerable political will, more work will be needed to make the elimination of viral hepatitis a reality. As of February 2016, 36 countries had viral hepatitis national plans in place and 33 had plans in development. That means 125 WHO Member States don't have national strategies to tackle this global killer. A dramatic scale up in resources and prioritisation is vital.

The World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) and its 230 member states will continue to work to ensure that countries honour their commitment and that they implement measures to reach the targets. On World Hepatitis Day (July 28, 2016), WHA will launch NOhep, the first global movement aimed at galvanizing support toward the elimination of viral hepatitis by 2030.

Notes of Editors

About the World Hepatitis Alliance

The World Hepatitis Alliance is a patient-led and patient driven NGO. With over 230 members, WHA provides global leadership to drive action to eliminate hepatitis. They work with governments and key partners to elevate patient voices, raise awareness and help establish hepatitis strategies.

Media contacts

Tara Farrell

Communications Manager

[email protected]

+44(0)776162525



SOURCE World Hepatitis Alliance
MEXICO CITY, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo LALA, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: LALA B) ("Grupo LALA"), a Mexican dairy company focused on healthy and nutritious foods, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire from Laguna Dairy, S. de R.L. de C.V. ("Laguna") certain assets related to Laguna's branded business in the U.S. (the "Branded Business") for US$246mm in an all-cash transaction. This acquisition is in line with Grupo LALA's strategy of expanding in value-added branded categories in high-growth markets in the Americas.

The Branded Business will sell approximately US$200mm in 2016 and has achieved double digit growth for the past two years. The branded portfolio includes products in high-growth segments such as, mainstream drinkable yogurt under the LALA and Frusion brands and specialty milks under Promised Land and Skim Plus brands. In the United States, LALA is the leading brand in the adult drinkable yogurt category and Promised Land and Skim Plus are highly recognized regional super premium milks.

The acquisition includes three production plants and 5+ brands. This transaction will also provide a local platform to expand the presence of LALAs authentic Mexican product line in the large US Hispanic segment.

Scot Rank, Grupo LALA's CEO, commented: "This acquisition represents a unique opportunity to enter high growth dairy categories in a key market in the Americas. Through this transaction we are obtaining modern production facilities, growing businesses in value added categories, and a local platform for future growth in the world's largest dairy market."

The related party transaction has been approved by Grupo LALA's independent Audit Committee and Board of Directors. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances.

J.P. Morgan was engaged by the Company to act as financial advisor for the sole purpose of rendering a fairness opinion in connection with the transaction.

Please click on the following link for a PDF file containing the full text of the press release: GRUPO LALA ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION PROCESS

Please click on the following link for a PDF file containing the full text of the press release in Spanish: GRUPO LALA ANUNCIA PROCESO DE ADQUISICION

About LALA

Grupo LALA, a Mexican company focused on healthy and nutritious food, has over 65 years of experience in producing, revitalizing and marketing milk, dairy products and drinks with the highest quality standards. There are 22 LALA production plants in operation and 166 distribution centers in Mexico and Central America, and it has more than 33,000 team members. LALA operates a fleet of more than 7,000 vehicles to distribute their 600+ products, which are delivered to over 550,000 points of sale. LALAs portfolio its led by its two flagship brands LALA and Nutri Leche.

For more information, visit: www.grupolala.com

Grupo LALA is listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "LALA B"

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160128/327167LOGO

SOURCE Grupo LALA, S.A.B. de C.V.

Related Links

http://www.grupolala.com


HONG KONG, May 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Cogobuy Group ("Cogobuy" or the "Company," stock code: 400.HK), the largest e-commerce platform serving the electronics manufacturing industry in China, is pleased to announce that INGDAN.com, the Company's intelligent hardware innovation platform, has signed a cooperative agreement with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's ("HKUST") Fok Ying Tung Research Institute. Both parties will jointly establish an "Internet+" new materials platform to create a sharing economy-style platform for the electronic materials industry. The new platform will provide electronic manufacturing customers with better, more transparent access to the electronic materials sourcing market and global laboratory resources.

Dr. Jingshen Wu, HKUST's Director of the Center for Engineering Materials and Reliability (CEMAR), will join the leadership of the "Internet+" new materials platform. The platform will enable Dr. Wu and his HKUST team to bring new technological achievements to market with greater speed and cost efficiency, shortening the time between research and production. Startups and SMEs registered on INGDAN.com will also benefit from the additional resources and support.

Mr. Jeffrey Kang, CEO of Cogobuy Group, said: "HKUST maintains excellent relations with the top new materials research institutions around the world. We are honoured to be working with HKUST to establish a community for key decision makers in the materials industry as we continue to build our new materials ecosystem. This new "Internet +" new materials platform will also help INGDAN.com's several thousand Chinese electronic manufacturing customers match with the top new materials research institutions. New materials is a trillion-RMB market industry and is the core of the next generation of technology products. We see INGDAN.com's role as an incubator and connector for new materials research institutions to this exciting market."

About Cogobuy Group

Cogobuy Group is the largest e-commerce service platform serving the electronics manufacturing industry in China. Through the e-commerce platform, which includes a direct sales platform, an online marketplace, and a dedicated team of technical consultants and professional sales representatives, the Company provides customers with comprehensive online and offline services across pre-sale, sale and post-sale stages. The Company serves mainly SME electronics manufacturers.

For further information, please refer to the Company's website at http://www.cogobuy.com/

About INGDAN.com

INGDAN.com is a platform dedicated to connecting global intelligent hardware entrepreneurs and China-based supply chain resources. The platform provides information on hardware innovation, supply chain data and supply chain demand docking for global IoT innovators and entrepreneurs. It is a one-stop hardware innovation business platform with its core being the "supply chain."

For further information, please refer to the Company's website at http://www.ingdan.com/

SOURCE Cogobuy Group

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NEW YORK, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Latin American MNOs expecting further competition into 2016

Latin America's mobile market is dominated by four multinational operators, which together account for about 75% of the region's subscribers. This proportion has been stable for a number of years but is being slowly eroded as regulatory measures facilitate the entry of MVNOs. In part this has been made possible by regulators setting aside auctioned spectrum for new market entrants, and by auction rules which oblige licensees of some spectrum bands to host MVNOs.



Mexico's America Movil is the largest player in the region, operating in a large number of countries. The company also has a significant presence in the US via its MVNO Tracfone, and has made greater inroads into Europe where it has a presence in Austria and the Netherlands via its interest in the respective incumbent operators. These investments were intended as a launching pad for ventures elsewhere in the region, with varying success. America Movil during 2015 expressed further interest in expanding into Eastern European markets, which are considered ripe for further development and more likely to return dividends on investments made.



The second largest operator in Latin America remains Telefonica, operating under the Movistar brand in all markets except Brazil, where it operates under the Vivo brand. Brazil is Telefonica's key market in the region, where it has over 81 million mobile subscribers and generated revenue of some 7.6 billion in 2014.



In Mexico, a new regulatory regime was recently introduced aimed at curbing the dominance of America Movil, which controls 70% of the wireless market and 80% of landlines. The operator is obliged to reduce its market share to below 50%, and to this end it has made moves to sell its local assets regionally. The process has made room for other operators both locally and from AT&T, which acquired Nextel Mexico in April 2015. During 2015 there were moves to facilitate access to services between the Mexico and the US, with Telcel having launched its Sin Fronteras Plan (No Borders Plan) under which customers can make calls from Mexico to the US charged as a local call. In the US, customers can use the minutes, SMS and data on their plans as if they were in Mexico, with no roaming charges.

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SINGAPORE, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP and omnichannel commerce software suites, strengthened its commitment to the Asia region with new a global product, new channel partners and new customer announcements at its CXO Summit being held in Singapore. NetSuite introduced NetSuite OneWorld for Singapore and Hong Kong as well as for multinationals doing business across Asia. In addition, the company announced new partners joining NetSuite's vibrant partner ecosystem and new customers running their mission critical business processes on NetSuite cloud ERP. The combination of the rising demand among regional businesses for NetSuite cloud ERP, partners' desire to thrive in the cloud model created by NetSuite, and Southeast Asia's business-friendly environment and free trade is driving NetSuite's accelerated business growth in Asia.

"Our long history in Southeast Asia and the dynamic business environment that has emerged in recent years, make expansion in the region a strategic imperative in NetSuite's next phase of international growth," said NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson. "Our announcements today demonstrate the success we've seen already and our deep level of commitment moving forward."

Since it first entered Singapore in 2005, NetSuite has established a strong footprint in Asia and has taken the lead as the #1 cloud ERP software vendor in the region. Due to NetSuite's powerful OneWorld product, NetSuite has a large number of global enterprise customers operating subsidiaries in Asia. In Singapore, NetSuite has more than 212 subsidiaries and legal entities of companies like Mazars and American Express Global Business Travel running their mission critical business processes on NetSuite OneWorld, and more than 150 in Hong Kong. The NetSuite OneWorld solution provides companies with multi-subsidiary management and global financial capabilities to run business operations in the region in a two tier model, implementing NetSuite at the subsidiary level while maintaining their legacy, on-premise systems at headquarters.

Market Opportunities

Singapore is widely seen as the business hub for Southeast Asia for its world-class infrastructure, high mobile and Internet penetration and strong government support for business. There is also a tremendous opportunity for growth with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, creating a regional economic force. With AEC, the borders of member states (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar) were officially opened to the free flow of trade, labour and capital, creating an enormous market: the region has over 622 million people, and when combined, has a GDP of USD $2.6 trillion, making it the third largest economy in Asia (behind China and Japan) and the world's seventh largest. The lowering of trade barriers and tariffs creates a more competitive environment for local businesses as nimble new entrants or well-capitalised multinationals enter the market.

Hong Kong, widely viewed as a gateway to China, has been the ASEAN region's largest trading partner since 2009, while ASEAN has been China's third-largest trading partner, thanks to a Free Trade Agreement between the two. The combination of a unified AEC and growing demand from the Chinese market creates a huge opportunity for businesses in the region.

"Businesses in Hong Kong and Singapore are already reaping the rewards of open trade and global expansion," said Zakir Ahmed, Vice President and General Manager, NetSuite Asia. "NetSuite OneWorld is giving these businesses the flexibility and agility to fully capitalise on the current cycle of growth."

New Partnerships

NetSuite works in close collaboration with its channel partners in Asia to combine strong skillsets in cloud computing, end-to-end business processes, local, regional, global, and industry knowledge for the benefit of customers. NetSuite continues to make significant investments in its existing partners and to recruit additional partners to meet the growing demand for the #1 cloud ERP from companies across the region. As partners seek to thrive in a cloud model, they turn to NetSuite for business model transformation to fully capitalise on the revenue growth opportunity of the NetSuite cloud. The growing list of NetSuite's channel partners in the region today added the following companies:

3PL Total Technology (www.3pltotal.com), founded in 2009, 3PL Total Technology focuses on cloud warehouse management solutions (WMS) for third-party logistics providers in Hong Kong and other pan-Asian markets. NetSuite's cloud-based ERP is the ideal complement for 3PL providers who must manage relationships with multiple customers in real-time, many of which have different operational flows on the warehouse floor and different billing arrangements in the back office.

(www.3pltotal.com), founded in 2009, 3PL Total Technology focuses on cloud warehouse management solutions (WMS) for third-party logistics providers in and other pan-Asian markets. NetSuite's cloud-based ERP is the ideal complement for 3PL providers who must manage relationships with multiple customers in real-time, many of which have different operational flows on the warehouse floor and different billing arrangements in the back office. CuriousRubik ( www.curiousrubik.com ), a multidisciplinary team of logical and business problem solvers based in New York with offices in Singapore , Hong Kong , Sydney , Shanghai , Bangkok , Tokyo and San Francisco who have extended their partnership with NetSuite in Singapore focuses exclusively on NetSuite solutions and was founded to help its clients move to the cloud, either by migrating away from legacy on premise platforms or new businesses. Customers in the wholesale/distribution, retail, and professional services verticals in particular turn to CuriousRubik for global experience and consulting expertise. Many clients in the wholesale/distribution space currently run their business on basic systems and stand along spreadsheets which require multiple dedicated administrators.

www.curiousrubik.com a multidisciplinary team of logical and business problem solvers based in with offices in , , , , , and who have extended their partnership with NetSuite in focuses exclusively on NetSuite solutions and was founded to help its clients move to the cloud, either by migrating away from legacy on premise platforms or new businesses. Customers in the wholesale/distribution, retail, and professional services verticals in particular turn to CuriousRubik for global experience and consulting expertise. Many clients in the wholesale/distribution space currently run their business on basic systems and stand along spreadsheets which require multiple dedicated administrators. Doji Media (www.dojimedia.com) was founded in January 2015 , with the goal of bringing better ERP and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions to the nearly 200,000 SMEs (Small Medium Enterprises) in Singapore . Doji Media delivers end-to-end business solutions designed to help small and medium sized businesses efficiently reach customers locally and those who are expanding their businesses globally. Shortly after starting operations, the company recognised the need to go to market with a sophisticated, mature cloud-based solution for financials and CRM, and embraced the NetSuite philosophy. Doji Media works with SME clients to secure government grants and financial support to make adoption of refined solutions like NetSuite easier for smaller businesses.

New Customers

New customers announced today include Image Mission, Treknology Bikes 3 Pte Ltd., Hong Kong Express and Cosmosupplylab

Image Mission, an organisation that serves as an affiliate of international nonprofit organisation, Dress for Success Worldwide, which has 142 affiliates in 20 countries worldwide, has deployed NetSuite to help transform its business operations, enabling the organisation to focus on its social mission of empowering underprivileged women, not on IT infrastructure. Through a NetSuite.org software donation, Image Mission is using NetSuite for accounting, inventory management and CRM, enabling the charity to streamline and manage its customer and donor database, as well as its volunteer support program more efficiently. Three months after deploying NetSuite, Image Mission has tripled its client portfolio.

Treknology Bikes 3, Singapore-based Treknology Bikes 3 Pte Ltd, a supplier of road, mountain and race bikes as well as accessories and clothing, has gone live on NetSuite OneWorld. The company replaced MYOB Retail Manager and other basic accounting packages with NetSuite OneWorld to manage mission-critical business processes, including financials, accounting, order management, inventory management, CRM, shipping, real-time reporting, point of sale (POS), and financial consolidation and multi-country tax compliance for two warehouses and six showrooms across four subsidiaries in Singapore and Malaysia and multi-currency capability for USD, Singapore Dollar and Malaysia Ringgit. As a result, the retailer has gained operational efficiency, a 360-degree view of its customers and a better ability to respond to customer demands with maximum levels of accuracy.

Hong Kong Express, Hong Kong's first and only dedicated low-fare airline, has implemented NetSuite OneWorld to support its ambitious plans for growth. HK Express selected NetSuite OneWorld for its speed of implementation, low cost of ownership, real-time business intelligence and reporting, as well as the breadth and depth that NetSuite OneWorld provides in financial reporting, multi-currency management (Hong Kong and US dollar, Chinese yuan, Japanese yen, South Korean Won, Cambodian riel and Vietnamese dong) and budgetingall within one unified cloud system. With NetSuite OneWorld, HK Express is well positioned to continue to expand.

Cosmosupplylab, an industry leader in product design and development for advanced engineered soft-goods, mobile device storage and accessories, has implemented NetSuite OneWorld to fuel its global expansion and growth. Cosmosupplylab is using NetSuite OneWorld to manage mission-critical business processes, including financial consolidation, multi-language support for English and Chinese, multi-currency for the US, Australian and Hong Kong dollar, Chinese Renminbi and the Euro, and multi-subsidiary management for its head office in Hong Kong and subsidiary in mainland China.

New Product: NetSuite OneWorld for Hong Kong and Singapore

NetSuite OneWorld gives today's businesses the ability to expand and transform their organisations and reinvent their business models to meet the ever-changing demands of their markets and the expectations of their customers. NetSuite OneWorld supports tax compliance in more than 100 countries, 20 languages and 190 currencies, along with the capabilities for global businesses to transact in more than 200 countries and dependent territories around the world. It allows multinational corporations in the region to efficiently manage their subsidiaries without the high upfront costs and deployment hassles of on-premise software.

NetSuite OneWorld for Hong Kong and Singapore is localised and designed to meet the business, regulatory and tax compliance needs of regional businesses. It provides an agile and flexible cloud software application that can run mission-critical business processes with global financial capabilities unmatched in the industry. This comprehensive set of capabilities include: global currency and accounting, comprehensive tax compliance, country-specific tax support, country-specific reporting, local bank and payment support, local language support and robust development platform that allows businesses in the region to customise the software to their specific needs and integrate with other third-party applications. For more information about NetSuite OneWorld for Singapore and Hong Kong, please see the separate release issued today.

"Thanks to the AEC and strong growth in the region, businesses in Singapore and Hong Kong are realising the power of NetSuite OneWorld, which allows them to quickly and easily expand and grow," said Craig Sullivan, NetSuite SVP of Enterprise and International Products. "This new release gives them greater agility and control to meet the dynamic changes happening in the region today."

Today, more than 30,000 companies and subsidiaries depend on NetSuite to run complex, mission-critical business processes globally in the cloud. Since its inception in 1998, NetSuite has established itself as the leading provider of cloud-based financials, enterprise resource planning (ERP) and omnichannel commerce software applications for businesses of all sizes. Many FORTUNE 100 companies rely on NetSuite to accelerate innovation and business transformation. NetSuite continues its success in delivering the best cloud business management software to businesses around the world, enabling them to lower IT costs significantly while increasing productivity, as the global adoption of the cloud accelerates.

Follow NetSuite's Cloud blog, NetSuite's Facebook page and @NetSuiteAPAC Twitter handle for real-time updates.

For more information about NetSuite, please visit www.netsuite.com.sg and www.netsuite.com.hk.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to expectations, plans, and prospects including expectations relating to the deployment of NetSuite OneWorld. These forward-looking statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of NetSuite's management as of the date of this release, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, risks associated with material defects or errors in our software. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof, and NetSuite disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

NOTE: NetSuite and the NetSuite logo are service marks of NetSuite Inc. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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SINGAPORE, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP and omnichannel commerce software suites, today announced NetSuite OneWorld for Hong Kong and Singapore. Localised and designed to meet the business, regulatory and tax compliance needs of regional businesses, NetSuite OneWorld brings an agile and flexible cloud software application that can run mission-critical business processes with global financial capabilities unmatched in the industry. Already in use by more than 200 subsidiaries and legal entities of global companies running business in Singapore and more than 150 in Hong Kong, NetSuite OneWorld can give today's businesses the ability to expand and transform their organisations and reinvent their business models to meet the ever changing demands of their markets and the expectations of their customers.

Businesses seeking to gain business efficiency, grow revenues, expand globally and enter new markets often find themselves held back by software systems siloed by department, geography or legal entity structures, leaving them unable to deliver an optimal customer experience and gain insights into their operations. These disparate software systems not only cannot scale with business growth, but also introduce excessive costs and potential errors, while restricting businesses' ability to respond to their changing markets and the needs of their customers. While on-premise software such as SAP or Microsoft Dynamics GP requires costly maintenance and disrupts the business with every product upgrade, forcing companies into version lock, other available cloud financial software solutions only offer basic product functionality that cannot scale and support business needs and growth. The agility, flexibility and scalability that NetSuite OneWorld provides can be difficult to achieve by businesses running legacy on-premise software, or immature ERP cloud solutions that are years behind NetSuite and only offer rudimentary functionality.

NetSuite OneWorld, a Game-Changer for Singapore and Hong Kong Businesses

Singapore is widely seen as the hub for Southeast Asia, which has a tremendous opportunity for growth with the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, creating a regional economic force. With AEC, the borders of member states (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar) were officially opened to the free flow of trade, labour and capital, creating an enormous market: the region has over 622 million people, and when combined has a GDP of USD $2.6 trillion, making it the third largest economy in Asia (behind China and Japan) and the world's seventh largest. The lowering of trade barriers and tariffs creates a more competitive environment for local players as nimble new entrants or well capitalized multinationals enter the market.

Hong Kong is viewed as a gateway to China. It has been the ASEAN region's largest trading partner since 2009, while ASEAN has been China's third-largest trading partner, thanks to a Free Trade Agreement between the two. The combination of a unified AEC and growing demand from the Chinese market, creates a huge opportunity for businesses in the region.

To fully capitalise on this opportunity and expand business across borders, businesses need a modern, flexible and global financial system, with support for local language, currencies and tax and regulatory requirements.

NetSuite OneWorld, winner of the 2015 Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) CODiE Award for Best Financial Management Solution and the 2015 UK Cloud Award for ERP Product of the Year, provides a unified and cloud-based suite of software that is flexible enough to meet the needs of diverse business models, legal structures and geographies. NetSuite OneWorld supports 190 currencies, 20 languages, automated tax calculation and reporting in more than 100 countries, and customer transactions in more than 200 countries.

Further, to help today's B2B and B2C businesses with omnichannel commerce, NetSuite OneWorld delivers commerce-ready capabilities that can help both B2B and B2C commerce businesses to move from siloed online, in-store and phone consumer shopping channels to an integrated commerce solution, connecting ecommerce and in-store POS to order management, inventory, merchandising, marketing, financials and customer service, while delivering a seamless brand experience and exceeding customer expectations.

For companies headquartered in Singapore and Hong Kong, NetSuite OneWorld delivers country-specific features and functionality such as:

Global currency and accounting with localised capabilities such as support for local currency and date/number formatting conventions.

with localised capabilities such as support for local currency and date/number formatting conventions. Country-specific indirect tax reporting capabilities that are certified compliant with Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) technical guidelines and requirements such as the ability to automatically generate an IRAS Audit File (IAF) and GST reports (GST F5 report) in Singapore .

that are certified compliant with Inland Revenue Authority of (IRAS) technical guidelines and requirements such as the ability to automatically generate an IRAS Audit File (IAF) and GST reports (GST F5 report) in . Local language support for Simplified and Traditional Chinese and also for businesses to trade with customers, suppliers and partners anywhere in the world in the language of their choice while meeting local compliance standards and cultural expectations through easily customisable forms.

for Simplified and Traditional Chinese and also for businesses to trade with customers, suppliers and partners anywhere in the world in the language of their choice while meeting local compliance standards and cultural expectations through easily customisable forms. Local bank and payment support for accepting payments online locally or across the region whether via VISA, MasterCard, JCB, China UnionPay, American Express, or through China's AliPay, TenPay, WeChat Pay, Octopus, or Singapore's eNETs and other alternative payment methods through payments partner AsiaPay; or electronically through banks with support for GIRO, DBS  IDEAL, and UoB - BIB-IBG.

for accepting payments online locally or across the region whether via VISA, MasterCard, JCB, China UnionPay, American Express, or through AliPay, TenPay, WeChat Pay, Octopus, or eNETs and other alternative payment methods through payments partner AsiaPay; or electronically through banks with support for GIRO, DBS  IDEAL, and UoB - BIB-IBG. Robust Development Platform that provides a vibrant partner ecosystem that has strong regional and vertical industry partners with domain expertise and local knowledge such as CuriousRubrikwhich has developed HCM and Payroll for Singapore ; and Hitpoint, Shearwater and Trigger Asia which have built localization solutions not only for Hong Kong but Mainland China as well.

NetSuite OneWorld also Enables Multinationals to Do Business across Asia.

For businesses that seek to go to new markets and expand business across the border, NetSuite OneWorld delivers:

Global currency and accounting with localised capabilities such as the support for local currency and date/number formatting conventions.

Easy configuration to support International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), local Generally accepted accounting Practices (GaaP) and legal requirements, flexible revenue recognition rules, depreciation and costing methods to meet local norms.

Country-specific indirect tax reporting capabilities whether for GST, VAT or Withholding Taxes, are available for the Philippines , Malaysia , Indonesia , Thailand , and Vietnam .

, , , , and . Comprehensive tax compliance providing the ability to automatically generate a summary of indirect tax obligations in multiple jurisdictions and mandatory Tax Audit Files in various formats.

Online payments with support for credit card, debit card, online debit payments and other alternative payment methods in the region whether via VISA, MasterCard, JCB, China UnionPay, or American Express; or via country-specific payment methods such as SCB and Bay in Thailand ; OnePay in Vietnam ; CIMB Clicks, MayBank M2U, and revPAY in Malaysia ; Gcash and Smart Money in the Philippines ; and other popular payment methods in more than 10 countries throughout Asia with AsiaPay.

; OnePay in ; CIMB Clicks, MayBank M2U, and revPAY in ; Gcash and Smart Money in ; and other popular payment methods in more than 10 countries throughout with AsiaPay. Local language support for Thai, Simplified and Traditional Chinese and also for businesses to trade with customers, suppliers and partners anywhere in the world in the language of their choice while meeting local compliance standards and cultural expectations through easily customisable forms.

Robust Development Platform that provides a vibrant partner ecosystem that has strong regional and vertical industry partners with domain expertise and local knowledge  covering various country-specific accounting, taxation, and payroll requirements.

In Summary, NetSuite OneWorld for Singapore and Hong Kong delivers:

Enhanced governance, risk and compliance, expanding NetSuite's existing GRC capabilities with a focus on ensuring companies of all sizes have the ability to define role-specific access controls across their global organizations, track activity and configuration changes at a granular level and report on that activity, including proactive alerting related to business-specific exception criteria. Key improvements to NetSuite OneWorld which are part of this release include additional audit trails and searchability across all financially-relevant account setup pages; revenue recognition plan changes (within the Advanced Revenue Management module); custom financial layouts; and more comprehensive information about changes made to workflow definitions. Improvements also include significantly enhanced security around the password reset process.

expanding NetSuite's existing GRC capabilities with a focus on ensuring companies of all sizes have the ability to define role-specific access controls across their global organizations, track activity and configuration changes at a granular level and report on that activity, including proactive alerting related to business-specific exception criteria. Key improvements to NetSuite OneWorld which are part of this release include additional audit trails and searchability across all financially-relevant account setup pages; revenue recognition plan changes (within the Advanced Revenue Management module); custom financial layouts; and more comprehensive information about changes made to workflow definitions. Improvements also include significantly enhanced security around the password reset process. Multi-subsidiary management . NetSuite OneWorld's support for businesses with multiple subsidiaries, business units, and legal entities provides real-time access to subsidiary and parent operational data through detailed reports that can drill down to specific country-level data.

. NetSuite OneWorld's support for businesses with multiple subsidiaries, business units, and legal entities provides real-time access to subsidiary and parent operational data through detailed reports that can drill down to specific country-level data. Global currency and accounting . NetSuite OneWorld offers easy configuration to support International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), local Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) and legal requirements, flexible revenue recognition rules, depreciation and costing methods to meet local norms and support for over 190 currencies, including all ISO standard currencies with automated feeds to maintain exchange rates between currencies from a choice of providers.

. NetSuite OneWorld offers easy configuration to support International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), local Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP) and legal requirements, flexible revenue recognition rules, depreciation and costing methods to meet local norms and support for over 190 currencies, including all ISO standard currencies with automated feeds to maintain exchange rates between currencies from a choice of providers. Comprehensive tax compliance . By providing the ability to automatically generate a summary of indirect tax obligations in multiple jurisdictions and mandatory Tax Audit Files in various formats, NetSuite OneWorld can bridge the gap between traditional ERP and external tax engines and provides seamless access to the key data required to satisfy those tax authorities that are increasingly adopting computer-based audit methodologies.

. By providing the ability to automatically generate a summary of indirect tax obligations in multiple jurisdictions and mandatory Tax Audit Files in various formats, NetSuite OneWorld can bridge the gap between traditional ERP and external tax engines and provides seamless access to the key data required to satisfy those tax authorities that are increasingly adopting computer-based audit methodologies. Country-specific indirect tax support . With support for GST in Singapore and Malaysia , as well as VAT in the Philippines , Thailand , Indonesia and Vietnam , along with other regional and global variants of Value-Added Tax, Sales Tax and Withholding Tax, NetSuite OneWorld can be easily configured to calculate, track and report on the indirect tax obligations of businesses regardless of country, materially simplifying tax management, tax compliance, filing and audit accountability.

. With support for GST in and , as well as VAT in , , and , along with other regional and global variants of Value-Added Tax, Sales Tax and Withholding Tax, NetSuite OneWorld can be easily configured to calculate, track and report on the indirect tax obligations of businesses regardless of country, materially simplifying tax management, tax compliance, filing and audit accountability. Local bank and payment support . NetSuite OneWorld offers a highly configurable payment solution with more than 90 bank formats predefined and a payment partner program that offers strong coverage for credit card, debit card and alternative payment methods in the region.

. NetSuite OneWorld offers a highly configurable payment solution with more than 90 bank formats predefined and a payment partner program that offers strong coverage for credit card, debit card and alternative payment methods in the region. Local language support . NetSuite OneWorld supports 20 languages including Thai, Simplified and Traditional Chinese. Further, NetSuite OneWorld enables businesses to trade with customers, suppliers and partners anywhere in the world in the language of their choice while meeting local compliance standards and cultural expectations through easily customisable forms.

. NetSuite OneWorld supports 20 languages including Thai, Simplified and Traditional Chinese. Further, NetSuite OneWorld enables businesses to trade with customers, suppliers and partners anywhere in the world in the language of their choice while meeting local compliance standards and cultural expectations through easily customisable forms. Cloud-based architecture . NetSuite OneWorld frees businesses from the hassles and expenses of managing on-premise software and associated hardware with a system that is available anywhere at any time with an Internet connection, and mobile access from iPhone and Android devices with optimised screens to enable on-the-move executives and field staff.

. NetSuite OneWorld frees businesses from the hassles and expenses of managing on-premise software and associated hardware with a system that is available anywhere at any time with an Internet connection, and mobile access from iPhone and Android devices with optimised screens to enable on-the-move executives and field staff. Robust development platform. The SuiteCloud development platform enables businesses in the region to customise the software to meet their specific needs and integrate with other third-party applications. NetSuite's SuiteCloud Development Network provides a vibrant partner ecosystem that has strong regional and vertical industry partners with domain expertise and knowledge.

"Businesses like Scoot Airlines, Hong Kong Express and Treknology 3 are already benefiting from the flexibility, scalability and support for local requirements that NetSuite OneWorld provides," said Craig Sullivan, SVP, Enterprise and International Products. "With the latest enhancements to the No. 1 cloud ERP, businesses in Singapore, Hong Kong and the rest of the region are getting a world-class global solution to capitalise on the area's growth with the local tax, currency and accounting support they need."

Today, more than 30,000 companies and subsidiaries depend on NetSuite to run complex, mission-critical business processes globally in the cloud. Since its inception in 1998, NetSuite has established itself as the leading provider of enterprise-ready cloud business management suites of enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and ecommerce applications for businesses of all sizes. Many FORTUNE 100 companies rely on NetSuite to accelerate innovation and business transformation. NetSuite continues its success in delivering the best cloud business management suites to businesses around the world, enabling them to lower IT costs significantly while increasing productivity, as the global adoption of the cloud accelerates.

For more information about NetSuite, please visit www.netsuite.com.sg and www.netsuite.com.hk.

Follow NetSuite's Cloud blog, NetSuite's Facebook page and @NetSuiteAPAC Twitter handle for real-time updates.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to expectations, plans, and prospects including expectations relating to the deployment of NetSuite OneWorld. These forward-looking statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of NetSuite's management as of the date of this release, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, risks associated with material defects or errors in our software. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof, and NetSuite disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

NOTE: NetSuite and the NetSuite logo are service marks of NetSuite Inc. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

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SOURCE NetSuite Inc.

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SAN FRANCISCO, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The global parenteral nutrition market is expected to reach USD 7.3 billion by 2024, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. The increasing natality rate, the growing malnutrition coupled with the prevalence of chronic conditions such as cancer and gastro-intestinal tract diseases are expected to boost the market over the forecast period.

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The presence of malnourished children in the developing countries leading to the rise in the natality rate and the rising geriatric population suffering from a deficiency of essential nutrients are some of the major factors that are expected to fuel the global parenteral nutrition market.

According to the WHO around 40.0% patients across the world were malnourished in 2010. The study also indicated that about one-third of the patients in Europe were malnourished in 2012, thereby fueling industry growth.

According to the statistics provided by the World Bank Group, India had the highest natality rate followed by China in 2012. Moreover, a consistent increase in the rate of natality was observed in the European countries such as the U.K. and France. Therefore, Asia Pacific and Europe are expected to witness the fastest growth over the forecast.

North America is expected to witness lucrative growth due to the increase in consumer awareness paired with the increasing healthcare costs. As parenteral nutrition products are available in the home health care sector, it further facilitates the market growth due to the increasing trend in home health care. The increasing incidence of heart diseases is another vital driver. According to the WHO around 49.0% of the American population is endangered with the risk of cardiac arrest.

Browse full research report with TOC on "Parenteral Nutrition Market Analysis, By Nutrition Type (Carbohydrates, Parenteral Lipid Emulsion, Single Dose Amino Acid Solution, Trace Elements, Vitamins and Minerals) And Segment Forecasts To 2024" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/parenteral-nutrition-market

Further key findings from the study suggest:

North America is expected to dominate the overall market with a revenue share of about40.0% in 2024, owing to the increasing incidences of heart diseases coupled with the rise in home health care.

is expected to dominate the overall market with a revenue share of about40.0% in 2024, owing to the increasing incidences of heart diseases coupled with the rise in home health care. Asia Pacific and Europe are anticipated to be the fastest growing region with a CAGR of over5.5% over the forecast period. The rise in the natality rate, rising geriatric population and the growing awareness regarding the importance of nutritional value and its impact on health are the vital impact rendering drivers for the region.

and are anticipated to be the fastest growing region with a CAGR of over5.5% over the forecast period. The rise in the natality rate, rising geriatric population and the growing awareness regarding the importance of nutritional value and its impact on health are the vital impact rendering drivers for the region. Key players of the industry include Baxter International, Inc., Hospira, Inc., B. Braun Melsungen AG, Grifols International S.A., Fresenius Kabi AG, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory, Inc., Actavis, Inc., Sichuan Kelun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Most of these companies have been in the business for over a decade and are bringing in expertise and technological advancements that are expected to help them sustain over the forecast period.

Grand View Research has segmented parenteral nutrition market on the basis of type of nutrition and region

Global Parenteral Nutrition Type of nutrition Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2013 - 2024) Carbohydrates Parenteral lipid emulsion Single dose amino acid solution Trace elements Vitamins and minerals

Parenteral Nutrition Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2013 - 2024) North America U.S. Canada Europe UK Germany Asia Pacific Japan China Latin America Brazil Argentina MEA South Africa Saudi Arabia



Browse related reports by Grand View Research:

Orthobiological Products Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/orthobiological-products-market

Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/active-pharmaceutical-ingredients-market

Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMP) Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/bone-morphogenetic-proteins-market

Biotechnology Reagents Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/biotechnology-reagent-market

About Grand View Research

Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. The company provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare.

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SOURCE Grand View Research, Inc.
PUNE, India, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

The report "Potting Compound Market by Type (Epoxy Resin, Polyurethane Resin, Silicone Resin, Polyester System, and Polyamide) by Application (Electrical and Electronics) and by Region Global Trends & Forecast to 2021", Published by MarketsandMarkets, The global market is projected to reach USD 3.13 Billion by 2021, registering a CAGR of 3.7% during the forecast period.

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Browse 258 market data Tables with 49 Figures spread through 280 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Potting Compound Market"

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/potting-compound-market-215442994.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

This growth is fueled by high demand from electronics & electrical industry, increasing global demand for miniaturization of electronics devices, and increased spending by end-use industries.

Epoxy Resins: The largest type of potting compound

Epoxy resins are the most-widely used potting compound. These compounds generally have better adhesion, high temperature resistance & chemical resistance, higher rigidity, modulus & tensile strength, and very good moisture resistance. This makes it an excellent option for outdoor applications. Epoxies have excellent dielectric properties and are used extensively in potting transformers and switches. Epoxy resins have been widely used for the electronics application as they are generally hard, tough, and exhibit low shrinkage on cure.

Electronics: The largest application for potting compound

The electronics sector is the largest application for potting compound globally. Potting compounds are used to protect, insulate, and conceal circuitry, components, and devices. They are formulated to meet the requirements of many demanding applications in the electronics and electrical sector such as consumer electronics, transportation, aviation, marine, energy & power, solar power, and others. Potting in both electronic and electrical applications are done to reduce internal stress, achieve excellent dielectric properties, electrical insulation, thermal conductivity, thermal shock resistance, mechanical strength, adhesion, hardness, cure speed, and chemical resistance.

Asia-Pacific: The largest market for potting compound

Asia-Pacific is the global forerunner in the potting compound market, in terms of value and volume, and the trend is expected to continue till 2021. Countries in this region such as China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia are witnessing significant increase in the use of potting compounds in electronics & electrical applications. This growth is mainly due to the increasing demand from consumer electronics and transportation industry in Asia-Pacific. Further, rapid industrial development in Asia-Pacific is vigorously pushing the demand for potting compound in electronics and electrical applications. Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and India are the fastest-growing markets in the region and are expected to follow a similar trend till 2021.

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The potting compound market has a few numbers of global players competing significantly for their market share. These market players are actively investing in various strategies such as new product developments and expansion projects to increase their market share. Also, companies are investing heavily on R&D activities. Major players such as ACC Silicones Ltd. (U.K.), Dymax Corporation (U.S.), EFI Polymers (U.S.), Elantas Beck India Ltd. (India), Electrolube (U.K.), Epic Resins (U.S.), Intertronics (U.K.), Master Bond Inc. (U.S.), MG Chemicals (Canada), and Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Germany) have adopted various organic developmental strategies.

This report covers the market by value and volume for potting compound and forecasts the market size till 2021. The report includes the market segmentation by type, by application, by curing technique, by end-use industry, and by region. It also includes company profiles and competitive strategies adopted by the major market players in the global potting compound market.

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http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/electronic-adhesives-market-52262402.html

Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Market by Type (VLEVA, LEVA, MEVA and HEVA), by End-Use Industry (Footwear & Foam, Packaging, Agriculture, Photovoltaic Panels, Pharmaceutical, and Others), by Region - Trends & Forecasts to 2020

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This isn't the first time that Goloburda -- cofounder of lifestyle website burdagrin.com -- has collaborated with RELLECIGA. Earlier this year the travel-loving model chose RELLECIGA for her winter getaway to Phuket, showing off the swimwear company's sexiest bikinis on Thailand's picturesque beaches.

Olga's philosophy is all about empowering women to feel sexy and achieve their dreams. Through her passion for fitness, she inspires her fans to build a healthy, strong body. Olga and RELLECIGA both emphasize that being beautiful is not about being super-slim: instead, it's all about feeling healthy and comfortable.

"Women who feel good look good," says Olga. "When you feel strong and full of vitality, you'll radiate confidence and that's what being beautiful is about."

The theme "healthy is sexy" fits perfectly with RELLECIGA's mission: to design swimwear that makes women feel strong, sexy and empowered. Through combining cutting-edge fashion with high-end craftsmanship, the company ensures that anyone wearing a RELLECIGA bikini looks and feels gorgeously confident.

RELLECIGA's lace bikini, showcased beautifully by Olga in Times Square, epitomizes the combination of fashion and quality. Lace is one of the key fashion trends of 2016, and the lace bikini's triangle top is sensual without revealing too much, while the lace-trimmed bottoms are cute and sexy.

The lace bikini also features a unique touch from RELLECIGA's European-inspired design team: gorgeous braided neckties that add quirky, elegant detail. Feminine and fun, the lace bikini is perfect for a romantic couples' break or a girls holiday in the sun. Demand is expected to shoot up with the launch of the new Times Square ad, so customers who want to get their hands on a lace bikini are advised to get their orders in quickly!

About RELLECIGA

This is the fifth year in a row that world-leading bikini brand RELLECIGA has landed in New York's Times Square. The "Victoria's Secret of swimwear", RELLECIGA's mission is to design bikinis that perfectly showcase each woman's unique beauty. RELLECIGA is also the creator of the RIKINI, an innovative multi-way bikini that can be worn six different ways.

Website: http://www.relleciga.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Relleciga

Instagram: http://instagram.com/rellecigaswimwear

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RELLECIGABIKINI

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/RellecigaSwimwear

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160530/373269

SOURCE RELLECIGA

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DUBLIN, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) Market by Range, Application, Platform & by Region - Global Forecast to 2021" report to their offering.

The global air and missile defence radar (AMDR) market was valued at USD 8.79 Billion in 2016 and is projected to reach USD 12.52 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 7.34% from 2016 to 2021.

Increased concerns towards prevention from ballistic and stealth missiles, target racking and early warning, airborne fire control, surveillance, and ground mapping, among others, are driving the demand for AMDRs across the globe.

Ground-based AMDRs have the largest share in the global AMDR market in 2016. These systems are mostly used for military and homeland security application. X-band and S-band radars are widely used for ground-based AMDR application, whereas naval radars are used for naval surveillance and target detection, such as ballistic 7 stealth missile, and long range artilleries, among others. These systems are also used for monitoring drug trafficking, smuggling, piracy, illicit fishing, and terrorism. Airborne AMDR systems are widely used for air space surveillance, intrusion detection, early warning systems, and missile defence application.

The global air and missile defense radar market, on the basis of region, is dominated by North American countries that include the U.S. and Canada. North America has the highest share in the global AMDR market. High demand for air surveillance systems, and air and missile defence radars in the U.S. is majorly driven by the AMDR program, the three dimensional expeditionary long range radar (3DELRR) program, space fence program, procurement of AN/TPS- 59, AN/TPS-63, And AN/TPS- 80 radar systems, and the acoustic rapid COTS Insertion (A - RCI) program.

New-age war tactics present numerous challenges for automation of AMDR systems. AMDR systems are not fool-proof. Cyber hacking of fully automated AMDRs may result in unrecoverable damage to critical infrastructure and country security. False signals may prevent from detection of actual targets, such as ballistic and stealth missiles adding to the challenge. Communication loss, scrambled pilot radios and information stealing are the probable outcomes of a cyber-attack.

Basically, Lockheed Martin stands as one of the world's premier companies in aerospace, defence, security, and technologies industry. It is world's largest defence contractor. Lockheed Martin operates in five business segments namely, aeronautics, information systems and global solutions, missiles and fire control, mission systems and training, and space systems. Its space and defence solutions, including advanced missile defense systems, naval systems, radar systems, electronic warfare and unmanned system, among others, offer high-quality security capabilities to their customers across the globe.

The major competitors of Lockheed Martin are Israel Aerospace Industries, Boeing, Raytheon, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman Inc., Reutech Radar Ltd (South Africa), among others.

Companies Mentioned

- Airbus Group

- Almaz-Antey

- BAE Systems

- Finmeccanica SPA

- General Dynamics

- Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd.

- Lockheed Martin Corporation

- Northrop Grumman Corporation

- Raytheon Company

- Reutech Radar Systems

- SAAB Group

- Thales Group

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/w4g52k/air_and_missile

Media Contact:

Research and Markets

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SOURCE Research and Markets

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SHANGHAI, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation ("SMIC", NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 981), China's largest and most advanced semiconductor foundry and one of the world's largest foundries, held the donation ceremony for SMIC's fourth donation to the "Liver Transplant Program for Children", declaring to donate another 2.55 million Yuan to the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation. The program has accumulatively received over 10 million RMB for sick children so far. People attending the ceremony include the SMIC Chairman Zhou Zixue, SMIC Honorary Chairman Zhang Wenyi, SMIC CEO and Executive Director Tzu-Yin Chiu, the President of Renji Hospital Li Weiping, the Secretary Guo Lian, Vice-presidents Wen Daxiang and Xia Qiang, Deputy Secretary Min Jianying, and Liu Ying, Director of the General Office of Program of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation.

Children are the hope of families and the future of our society. Since April, 2013, when SMIC initiated "Liver Transplant Program for Children", SMIC has donated 2 million Yuan every year to the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation to help liver-diseased children from poor families nationwide to receive liver transplants in Shanghai Renji Hospital. As of 2015, 137 children in total (the youngest one of whom is only six months old) have been treated and reclaimed new lives.

With an increasing attention on "Liver Transplant Program for Children" from society, more and more enterprises have devoted themselves to this charitable cause. It is estimated that up to 59 companies participated in the program this year and gave donations amounting to 1.476 million Yuan, including 200,000 Yuan from Jiangsu Xinchaoren'ai Foundation, which is affiliated with JCET, the biggest packaging service provider in mainland China. "Liver Transplant Program for Children" has been a mutual mission and responsibility of the semiconductor industry for public welfare.

"Life is the greatest charity," SMIC Chairman Zhou Zixue said. "As the leading IC manufacturer in China, we are ready to take more social responsibility with our continuous growth and development to give back to society, and influence more individuals, organizations and enterprises with what we are doing. We hope that in future more peers could join in the Program to help more children benefit from their contributions."

The President of Renji Hospital Li Weiping mentioned in the speech that as the biggest children liver transplant center in China, the Department of Hepatic Surgery of Renji Hospital, with a rapid development of more than one decade, has performed the most children liver transplants around the world during the past 5 years, and the one-year and five-year survival rates after operations are 93.1% and 80.0% respectively, reaching the international advanced level. There have been 620 pediatric living donor liver transplants in the center, among which 70% were operations for children from poor families. The credit should be given to some social organizations as SMIC and the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation, whose funds save lives of so many sick children. He expressed heartfelt gratitude to all these foundations, enterprises and caring people from all levels, and paid tribute to their positive benefaction for promoting charity.

The Director of the General Office of Program of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation Liu Ying said, "Thanks very much for SMIC to call on so many outstanding enterprises in the electronic technology industry to participate in the Program. Enterprises giving donations have more than doubled from last year, and it is proving that our love is spreading. With the growing participation of caring enterprises and expanding social influence, more sick children will be cured and thus more families could live a happy life."

About SMIC

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation ("SMIC"; NYSE: SMI; SEHK: 981) is one of the leading semiconductor foundries in the world and the largest and most advanced foundry in mainland China. SMIC provides integrated circuit (IC) foundry and technology services at 0.35-micron to 28-nanometer. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, SMIC has a 300mm wafer fabrication facility (fab) and a 200mm mega-fab in Shanghai; a 300mm mega-fab and a majority owned 300mm fab for advance nodes in Beijing; and 200mm fabs in Tianjin and Shenzhen. SMIC also has marketing and customer service offices in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Taiwan, and a representative office in Hong Kong.

Safe Harbor Statements

(Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995)

This press release contains, in addition to historical information, "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, including statements under "Second Quarter 2016 Guidance", "CapEx Summary" and the statements contained in the quotes of our CEO regarding our target for sustained profit, our revenue growth, continued demand strength and high utilization and our strategy to capture growth opportunities brought by specific markets and products are based on SMIC's current assumptions, expectations and projections about future events. SMIC uses words like "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "project," "target" and similar expressions to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These forward-looking statements involve significant risks, both known and unknown, uncertainties and other factors that may cause SMIC's actual performance, financial condition or results of operations to be materially different from those suggested by the forward-looking statements including, among others, risks associated with the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry, changes in demand for our products, competition in our markets, our reliance on a small number of customers, orders or judgments from pending litigation, intensive intellectual property lawsuits in semiconductor industry, financial stability in end markets, general economic conditions and fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

Investors should consider the information contained in SMIC's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including its annual report on 20-F filed with the SEC on April 25, 2016, especially the consolidated financial statements, and such other documents that SMIC may file with the SEC or The Hong Kong Stock Exchange Limited ("SEHK") from time to time, including current reports on Form 6-K. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on SMIC's future results, performance or achievements. In light of these risks, uncertainties, assumptions and factors, the forward-looking events discussed in this press release may not occur. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date stated, or if no date is stated, as of the date of this press release. Except as may be required by law, SMIC undertakes no obligation and does not intend to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SMIC Media Contact:

Terry Ding

Tel: +86-21-3861-0000 x16812

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation

Related Links

http://www.smics.com


Name : php

Product : Fedora 23

Version : 5.6.22

Release : 1.fc23

URL : http://www.php.net/

Summary : PHP scripting language for creating dynamic web sites

Description :

PHP is an HTML-embedded scripting language. PHP attempts to make it

easy for developers to write dynamically generated web pages. PHP also

offers built-in database integration for several commercial and

non-commercial database management systems, so writing a

database-enabled webpage with PHP is fairly simple. The most common

use of PHP coding is probably as a replacement for CGI scripts.



The php package contains the module (often referred to as mod_php)

which adds support for the PHP language to Apache HTTP Server.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Update Information:



26 May 2016, **PHP 5.6.22** **Core:** * Fixed bug #72172 (zend_hex_strtod

should not use strlen). (bwitz at hotmail dot com ) * Fixed bug #72114

(Integer

underflow / arbitrary null write in fread/gzread). (Stas) * Fixed bug #72135

(Integer Overflow in php_html_entities). (Stas) **GD:** * Fixed bug #72227

(imagescale out-of-bounds read). (Stas) **Intl:** * Fixed bug #64524 (Add

intl.use_exceptions to php.ini-*). (Anatol) * Fixed bug #72241

(get_icu_value_internal out-of-bounds read). (Stas) **Postgres:** * Fixed bug

#72151 (mysqli_fetch_object changed behaviour). (Anatol)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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References:



[ 1 ] Bug #1339949 - CVE-2016-5096 php: Integer underflow causing arbitrary

null write in fread/gzread

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1339949

[ 2 ] Bug #1339590 - CVE-2016-5093 php: Out-of-bounds heap read in

get_icu_value_internal

https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1339590

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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This update can be installed with the "yum" update program. Use

su -c 'yum update php' at the command line.

For more information, refer to "Managing Software with yum",

available at https://docs.fedoraproject.org/yum/.



All packages are signed with the Fedora Project GPG key. More details on the

GPG keys used by the Fedora Project can be found at

https://fedoraproject.org/keys

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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_______________________________________________

package-announce mailing list

package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org

https://lists.fedoraproject.org/admin/lists/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org


Nagpur (Maharashtra), May 25 : Indian Mujahiddeen activist Mirza Himayat Baig, sentenced to life imprisonment for possessing explosives and forged documents, on Wednesday allegedly attacked murder convict Rajesh Daware, who is sentenced to death, in the Nagpur Central Jail, jail officials said.

The attack occurred in the kitchen premises of the high security Nagpur Central Jail where Baig hit Daware on his head with a ladle. Security officials immediately rushed to stop the brawl from escalating.

Daware was rushed to the prison hospital while Dhantoli police station lodged a first information report against Baig, the officials said.

The reason for the brawl was not yet clear and police and prison authorities were investigating the incidence.

Baig was arrested for the February 13, 2010, blast in the German Bakery restaurant in Pune and later the Pune sessions court sentenced him to death.

However, on March 17, 2016, the Bombay High Court absolved Baig of all serious charges pertaining to the terror act and commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment for possessing explosives and forged documents.

Daware and his associate Arvind Abhilash Singh, who were both college students, were sentenced to death by a Nagpur sessions court on February 4, 2016, for the sensational vendetta killing of eight-year-old Yug Chandak on September 1, 2014.

Yug was kidnapped and killed by Daware to take revenge on Dr. Chandak who sacked Daware as office assistant a fortnight earlier.

The rare double death sentence in a single case was upheld by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court on May 5, 2016.
Ghaziabad, May 27 : Four robbers who robbed an ex-army man of his licensed revolver last month were arrested on Friday and the weapon recovered, police said.

Police said on April 14, Anil Kumar was robbed when returning after attending a wedding function in Makanpur in Indirapuram area. He had taken an auto-rickshaw when after some distance, the auto driver stopped the vehicle and the other three passengers, who turned out to be the auto-driver's accomplices, took away his revolver, mobile phone and available cash.

After a month's efforts to solve the case lodged against unidentified criminals, police eventually succeeded. Acting on an informer's tip-off, they arrested four criminals from near the water corporation turning in Pratap Vihar. Following sustained interrogation, they confessed their crime and police recovered the robbed weapon, mobile phone and two knives from their possession.

The four identified themselves as Pradeep Arora, Pradeep Singh, Akash and Monu, all residents Shahdara in Delhi. All, save Monu who is a painter, are auto-drivers.

"The three are expert robbers by way of robbing passengers in autos in the garb of passengers in the same manner as they robbed the ex-armyman April last. Their crime records are being verified from their concerned police station of Shahdara," said Superintendent of Police, City, Salman Taj Patil.
Jerusalem, May 27 : Israel's Environmental Protection Minister Avi Gabbay resigned from his post on Friday amid the recent addition of Avigdor Lieberman's ultranationalist party to the coalition.

The resignation of Gabbay, a member of the centre Kulanu party, comes in the wake of recent appointment of Lieberman, a known hawk, as the defence minister. Gabbay in a statement said the nomination "undercuts Israel's security", Xinhua news agency reported.

Lieberman demanded the defence ministry portfolio in place of Moshe Ya'alon, a moderate member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.

After Netanyahu received Lieberman's request, Ya'alon resigned last week, saying the government has lost its ethical compass and he had lost his faith in Netanyahu.

"The recent political steps and the replacement of the defence minister are, in my eyes, a serious act that ignores what is best for the security of this state," Gabbay said on Friday.

He also said the move will cause "greater polarisation" among the Israeli people and that he cannot be a partner, or serve any longer in the current government, amid Lieberman's hardline stance.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, who heads Gabbay's Kulanu party, on Friday said he will seek to keep the environmental protection portfolio.

Last week, Orly Levy-Abekasis, a member of Lieberman's Yisrael Beytenu ("Israel Our Home") quit the party amid the coalition deal between Netanyahu and Lieberman, and will serve as an independent lawmaker in parliament.

Netanyahu and Lieberman signed a coalition agreement on Wednesday, as Netanyahu sought to expand his coalition, which only held a 61-59 lead over the opposition in parliament.

Other than the defence minister's post, Lieberman also managed to secure increased pension stipends for migrants from the former Soviet Union.

About 1.6 million people migrated from the former Soviet Union to Israel between 1989 and 2006.
Bengaluru, May 28 : With just over 24 hours to go for the much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) summit clash, all eyes will be on the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium which will host the exciting battle between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) here.

Led by an inspirational Virat Kohli, RCB will be hoping to get the monkey off their back after failing to win in both their previous attempts -- 2009 and 2011 -- and also relish the opportunity of bagging their maiden IPL trophy in front of a vociferous home crowd.

On the other hand, having managed to reach the play-offs just once in their debut season in 2013, Hyderabad will bank on their bowling prowess and skipper David Warner, who single-handedly pulled off an improbable four-wicket victory against Gujarat Lions in the second qualifier at the Ferozeshah Kotla Stadium on Friday.

Struggling to find consistency in the league phase, Bangalore made a stunning comeback to register five consecutive wins before reaching their third final. RCB dished out five clinical performances to beat the Gujarat Lions (by 144 runs), Kolkata Knight Riders (by 9 wickets), Kings XI Punjab (by 82 runs D/L method), Delhi Daredevils (by 6 wickets) and Gujarat (by 4 wickets) again in the first Qualifier to seal their place in the title clash.

RCB's success story centred around skipper Kohli and AB de VIlliers's glorious run with the willow. With 919 runs under his belt, Kohli has amassed four centuries and six fifties in this edition so far to be the highest run-getter while the South African is the third highest scorer in the league with 682 runs, including one century and six half-centuries.

After struggling to strike form in the early stages of the tournament, Kohli's opening partner Chris Gayle has found his touch at the right juncture while young keeper-batsman Lokesh Rahul has been a revelation for the team in this edition.

Despite all-rounder Shane Watson not getting much opportunity to show his prowess with the willow in the 15 matches, the veteran Australian has led the side's weakened bowling unit with 20 wickets so far alongwith young leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal who also has as many wickets but from 12 games. England's Chris Jordon has also joined the party in helping RCB in containing their rivals in the death overs.

Sunday's match would also give RCB an opportunity to avenge their 15-run loss to Sunrisers in the last clash between the two teams.

On the flip side, coming into the final on the back of two high profile wins -- first against two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders by 22 runs in the eliminator and then against Lions in the second qualifier, the visitors will go all out to clinch their maiden trophy.

Like their rivals, the visitors have also found an inspiring leader in Warner, who is next to Kohli to be the second highest run-getter with 779 runs from 16 games including eight fifties so far.

Besides Warner, Sunrisers also have the likes of Shikhar Dhawan (473 runs), the experienced Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques, Deepak Hooda, Naman Ojha and big-hitting all-rounder Ben Cutting in the batting department.

More than the batting, the side's pace bowling strength has been a challenge for the opposition in this edition.

Despite losing veteran Ashish Nehra midway due to an injury, young pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is leading the wicket-takers' chart with 23 wickets from 16 games, while Bangladeshi pacer Mustafizur Rahman (16 wickets from 15 matches), has also lived up to his skipper's expectations whenever he has been handed the ball.

Sunrisers will be hoping Rahman turns up fit for Sunday's game after sitting out the second qualifier owing to a hamstring niggle.

Left-arm pacer Barinder Sran has also come of age in the limited opportunities he has had while left-arm spinner Bipul sharma will look to be impressive again in beating the likes of Kohli, Gayle and de Villiers.

Latest updates on IPL 2020
Melbourne, May 30 : An Indian businessman and his wife on Monday launched the largest legal action in the state of Victoria, seeking more than $1 billion in compensation from an Australian bank.

Pankaj and Radhika Oswal accused the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) of underselling shares in their West Australian fertiliser company after it was seized by receivers, Xinhua news agency reported.

Opening the case in Victoria's Supreme Court on Monday, senior counsel for the Oswals, Tony Bannon, said his clients' 65 percent stake in Burrup Fertilisers was sold for $400 million in 2010.

Bannon said he will demonstrate to the court that the true value of the couple's shares was in fact $990 million.

"Our evidence will demonstrate the current value is in the order of 2.36 billion Australian dollars ($1.68 billion)," he said.

Oswal claims he was bullied by ANZ executives during the sale six years ago, alleging that one executive put him in a headlock and threatened to "destroy" him before Burrup went into receivership.

The Oswals found themselves in significant debt last month when the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) issued a departure prohibition on the couple over an unpaid $136 million tax bill.

A $50 million house dubbed the "Taj Mahal on the Swan River" was left half-completed by the couple when they were forced to sell their share in Burrup as well as a luxury jet worth tens of millions of dollars and a fleet of luxury cars.

The trial has already cost tens of millions of dollars with 25 barristers appearing in court on both sides on Monday.

It is expected that the complex trial will run for between three and six months.
New Delhi, May 30 : His struggle to overcome stammering during grown up years, broken marriage with childhood sweetheart Sussanne Khan and his ongoing legal battle with actress Kangana Ranaut has not changed Hrithik Roshan's positive outlook towards life. As he looks back, actor Hrithik Roshan sees himself as an evolved person, who inspite of experiencing highs and lows in his life, has still "soldiered on".

"I constantly believe in evolving as a human being, an actor and a performer. As I look back, I see myself as an evolved person who has seen great highs and lows and still soldiered on," Hrithik told IANS in an email interview.

The actor is currently in news for his legal spat with Kangana. The two, who were apparently dating in the past, slapped a legal notice against each other for tarnishing their respective images in the public.

Issues began when Kangana hinted at Hrithik being her "ex" when she said in an interview that she fails to understand "why exes do silly things to get your attention". The topic in discussion was Hrithik's hand in getting Kangana replaced in the project by Sonam Kapoor in "Aashiqui 3".

In an indirect dig to that, Hrithik had later tweeted: "There are more chances of me having had an affair with the Pope and any of the (I'm sure wonderful) women the media has been naming. Thanks but no thanks."

This set the stage for their legal war.

On being asked how his good or bad times have influenced him as an actor or as a human being, he chose to let it go unanswered, but said that while everybody wants to change something about their lives, they compromise with situation and time.

"I believe if you are not rediscovering yourself and pushing boundaries, then you are not alive. Everybody wants to change something about their life, but they are either too afraid, too lazy, or too comfortable with the way things are," he said.

The actor is currently the brand ambassador of the watch brand Rado and recently launched the Swiss watchmaker's chocolate brown high-tech ceramic collection.

Hrithik says that his ability to reinvent himself "in new roles resonates with the brand's image to constantly innovate, making it a perfect fit".

But at a time when some senior actors are facing criticism for choosing wrong brand endorsements, Hrithik says that he only works with those brands that inspire him.

"There is a high focus placed upon the importance of choosing a reliable, trustworthy celebrity to endorse or sponsor a company's product, while still balancing the celebrity's power to influence their consumers. And for me, I work with people and brands that inspire me. Our values and message need to be the same," he told IANS.

With time being such an important part in everybody's life, the father of two feels that he always tries to be committed to deadlines.

"Quite often we hear of our busy schedules and insane shoot hours. Despite this, it's important to manage to be punctual and stay true to one's profession. I try to be very sincere and committed to my films and deadlines," he said.

Last seen on screen in 2014 released action film "Bang Bang!", the actor is currently shooting for Ashutosh Gowariker's directorial "Mohenjo Daro". Also starring debutante Pooja Hegde and veteran actor Kabir Bedi, the movie is set in the ancient city of Mohenjo Daro in the era of the Indus Valley civilisation.

The movie marks Gowariker's second collaboration with Hrithik after 2008 film "Jodhaa Akbar". For Hrithik, "doing a period drama is always a challenge".

"I am travelling back into time and it's been a great journey and a great experience. The other movie ('Kaabil' directed by Sanjay Gupta and produced by Rakesh Roshan) is a love story-cum-revenge drama and it's shaping well," said Hrithik.

(Nivedita can be contacted at Nivedita.s@ians.in)
Los Angeles, May 30 : Director John Carney has criticised actress Keira Knightley's work in 2013 film "Begin Again". He says he wouldn't like to work with her again.

"I'll never make a film with supermodels again," Carney told Independent newspaper, reports variety.com.

Knightley played a songwriter dumped by her musician boyfriend, played by Adam Levine, in "Begin Again". She then embarks on a new path in making music with Mark Ruffalo's character.

Carney had much more favourable memories of working with Levine and Ruffalo than with Knightley.

"Mark Ruffalo is a fantastic actor and Adam Levine is a joy to work with and actually quite unpretentious and not a bit scared of exposing himself on camera and exploring who he is as an individual," Carney said.

"I think that that's what you need as an actor; you need to not be afraid to find out who you really are when the camera's rolling. Keira's thing is to hide who you are and I don't think you can be an actor and do that," he added.

Carney also claimed that Knightley's "entourage" made it difficult to "get any real work done", and stated a difference between working with "proper film actors" and "movie stars".

"It's not like I hate the Hollywood thing, but I like to work with curious, proper film actors as opposed to movie stars.

"I don't want to rubbish Keira, but you know it's hard being a film actor and it requires a certain level of honesty and self-analysis that I don't think she's ready for yet and I certainly don't think she was ready for on that film," he said.
New Delhi, May 30 : Several African students on Monday staged a protest at Jantar Mantar here against increasing attacks on them and demanded that the Indian government act swiftly to stop such incidents.

"We want the government's support as the incidents of attacks on people from African continent are increasing in the city. The Indian government needs to ensure safety of African nationals and act swiftly on such incidents," said a protestor at Jantar Mantar.

The protests come in the wake of a string of attacks on African nationals, especially students, in the national capital and elsewhere, which has caused outrage among them.

On May 20, a Congolese national was beaten to death by three men after an altercation over hiring of an auto-rickshaw in Vasant Kunj area turned violent.

On May 25, a Nigerian student in Hyderabad was allegedly beaten by an Indian over a parking dispute.

On May 28, four separate cases of alleged assault on African nationals in the national capital was reported, adding to the growing number of such attacks.

The Indian government has assured angry African envoys of protection to their nationals in India, with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj personally monitoring the developments.
Panaji, May 30 : Police on Monday claimed to have arrested a Nigerian who has been accused of kidnapping and raping a 31-year-old woman here late on Saturday night.

Speaking to reporters Superintendent of Police Umesh Gaonkar said the accused, one of two who are accused of committing the alleged crime, was nabbed in a train at Panvel railway station in Maharashtra.

"I do not have any more details about the accused. He has been arrested. He will be brought to Goa later tonight," Gaonkar said.

The victim has claimed that two Africans had kidnapped her at knife-point and later raped her at a rented room in Assagao village, 20 km north of Panaji. Police were on the lookout for the accused since late Saturday night, when the complaint was registered.
Kathmandu, May 30 : Proceedings in Nepal's parliament were on Monday obstructed by the main opposition Nepali Congress protesting vociferously over the alleged leakage of the contents of the annual budget, including its size, to the media even before its unveiling in the house two days ago.

Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar had to adjourn the house at least twice as the NC lawmakers protested the leakage of the budget contents by rising from their seats and raising slogans, Xinhua news agency reported.

Madhes-based lawmakers, agitating in Nepal's southern plains against the new constitution, also joined the NC members in the protest.

Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel presented a budget of Nepali Rs.1,048.92 billion (about $10 billion) for the 2016-17 fiscal on Saturday by hiking planned expenditure significantly.

But the Nepali media had covered the news on the budget details much before its presentation in parliament.

Right after Speaker Gharti Magar began Monday's sitting, the NC and Madhesi lawmakers rose from their seats in protest against the budget leak.

NC lawmaker and former Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat demanded "a fair probe" into the leakage of the budget information to the press.

"We will not allow parliament to move ahead without launching a probe into the issue," he said.

He claimed that the leakage of information violated parliament's "privilege" to know first about the budget proposals.

On Sunday, NC's parliamentary party meeting had sought Poudel's resignation on "moral grounds".

The NC has also been protesting the size and contents of the budget over its alleged "distributive nature" and claiming that the budget proposals violated fiscal discipline and they could not be implemented.

The meeting had also decided to take strong stand during the deliberations in the house on the Finance Bill.

The budget has doubled the allowance being provided to the elderly, widows and marginalised communities and also doubled the grant being provided to the local governments which the NC has termed "distributive".

There also are concerns about utilisation of the grants being provided to the local bodies as they are without elected representatives for the last 14 years.

But Poudel on Saturday defended the budget saying the state could not run away from its responsibility towards senior citizens and other disadvantaged communities.

"The government is also against piling up resources in the Centre instead of distributing the resources at the local level," he maintained.
Baghdad, May 30 : Iraqi security forces on Monday launched the final stage of an offensive aimed at freeing the city of Fallujah and nearby areas from the Islamic State (IS) militant group, security sources said.

"The troops and allied Shia and Sunni paramilitary units, known as Hashd Shaabi, started their advance in the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, to free it from IS group," Xinhua news agency quoted Sabah Nu'man, spokesman of anti-terrorism force, as saying.

The troops, covered by US-led coalition and Iraqi aircraft, have faced weak resistance so far, Nu'man said, adding that many of the extremist militants were killed during the operation.

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces and Hashd Shaabi units recaptured Shieha area north of the IS-held town of Saqlawiyah, northwest of Fallujah, after fierce clashes with IS militants, a local security source said.

Monday's operation came a day after the security forces said they have completed preparation for a final attack to retake Fallujah.

On May 23, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the launch of the offensive to retake Fallujah city.

The announcement was made at a time when the country is grappling with a chaos surrounding cabinet reshuffle.

Earlier, the interior ministry said the army has almost accomplished the first stage of tightening siege on Fallujah and will soon start to break into the city.

Government troops and allied militias have currently been fighting for months to reclaim key cities and towns in Anbar from IS militants, who have been attempting to advance toward Baghdad after seizing most of Anbar province.
Panaji, May 30 : Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Monday that garbage management is one of the major scams in India but is still not being probed by the government auditors because of the obvious issue of stench and discomfort.

"Garbage is one of the major scam areas but no one wants to probe garbage. The Auditor General does not probe it," Parrikar said, after inaugurating a state-of-the-art garbage treatment plant at Saligao plateau, located a short distance from Panaji.

"Treating garbage is one of the biggest businesses in Goa and India. Vested interests are involved. The Comptroller and Auditor (General) probes everything, but I have never seen an auditor investigate garbage, because who wants to go in close proximity of filth and investigate it?" Parrikar said, adding that the same vested interests were trying to scuttle Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat Mission.

Parrikar, a former chief minister of Goa, also suggested that construction of toilets, funded by the government treasury was a waste of state resources because a majority of the toilets built are not used after a "two to three years".

This too, Parrikar said, was not being probed by government auditor because of the obvious discomfort involved in inspecting toilets.

"How many toilets were built and how many are being used, have you seen a report on this by the Comptroller and Auditor General? Ninety percent toilets go into disuse after two or three years. Some people use it (toilets) to store wood," Parrikar said.

"Go and see, the toilets are pathetic but auditors do not check. Who will want go to check toilets while holding their noses? No one goes," Parrikar said.
Mumbai, May 30 : Filmmaker Karan Johar says he is eager to watch director Anu Menon's debut release "Waiting", starring Kalki Koechlin and Naseeruddin Shah.

"Waiting to see 'Waiting'! I hear Naseer Saab and Kalki Koechlin are phenomenal! I believe it's reflective and connective slice of life," Karan tweeted on Sunday.

This is not the first time Kalki and Naseeruddin have worked together. They have earlier shared screen space in Anurag Kashyap's "That Girl in Yellow Boots", and in "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara". But they didn't have any scenes together in the latter.

"Waiting" narrates the story of the characters of Kalki and Naseeruddin, who develop a bond when they meet in the waiting room of a hospital for their spouses to spring back to life from a state of coma.

"Waiting" also stars Rajat Kapoor and Suhasini Maniratnam.

-*-Kunal Kohli finds Jennifer Winget's talent 'inspirational'

Director-actor Kunal Kohli wished his "Phir Se" co-star Jennifer Winget a Happy Birthday on Monday, saying he finds her "dignity and talent" inspiring.

Kunal, who has helmed movies including "Hum Tum", "Fanaa" and "Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic", took to Twitter to wish the actress.

"Happy Birthday Jennifer Winget. Your dignity and talent are inspirational," Kunal tweeted.

-*-Ali Fazal gets sketching lessons from Nana Patekar Actor Ali Fazal has added another skill to his pool of talent! This time, it is sketching, which he learnt from senior actor Nana Patekar.

Nana spends his time between the shots to make sketches of people on the sets and of landscapes that he sees around him. He shared tips with Ali and taught him some skills to be a good sketcher.

"Nana sir is some sort of an Einstein in the world of cinema. And such a great artist. We had a sweet jam session on paper, sketching away. Yes I took some great tips. There is so much to learn from him. I keep digging for more. I think I pester him a lot," said Ali.
Damascus, May 30 : A new mass grave containing some 150 corpses bearing gunshot wounds and signs of torture, "dumped" reportedly by IS militants, were discovered during joint operations in Palmyra. It is the largest burial site to be found in the ancient city since its liberation.

While working near Palmyra Airport's runway, the group came across a gruesome find -- scores of corpses stacked on top one another, Russia's LifeNews reported. Preliminary examination showed that the victims had gunshot wounds and as well as signs of torture.

"It is the second large mass grave... as for other smaller ones, they are found in Palmyra every ten to 15 days. It is the sixth burial site in Palmyra, but the second mass grave," Life's correspondent Artur Kebekov reported.

"All those people were executed and had gunshot wounds," he said, pointing out that the mass grave has most likely been a secret site and not a place of mass public executions.

The Syrian army discovered the burial site southwest of the airport just a few days ago, according to SANA, and it was initially thought to have contained around 31 corpses, some of which were headless. The investigation showed the victims had been brutally tortured by ISIS.

The majority of bodies uncovered are said to have been civilians. However, corpses of IS militants were also found as some of them were clad in special clothing worn by terrorists, Kebekov said.

A forensic investigation was expected to determine where the people came from and state the exact reason behind their deaths.

The ancient city of Palmyra was liberated by the Syrian Army backed by Russian forces at the end of March. Since then, repair works aimed at destroying terrorists' fortifications and restoring historical sites have been taking place in the city. Workers constantly come across horrid findings which do not seem to end in Palmyra.

A strategically important location, Palmyra was seized by IS in May 2015. During that month alone, IS reportedly slaughtered 400 people, mostly women and children.
New Delhi, May 30 : President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said that he was "pained" by the recent attacks on African students while Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and Delhi Police chief Alok Kumar Verma assured them that the government is committed to ensuring their safety even as an Ola driver was allegedly thrashed by a group of Africans after he refused to take more than four passengers in his cab.

In a related development, the family members of Congolese national Masonda Ketada Olivier, who who beaten to death on May 20 by some locals over a minor altercation, arrived in the Indian capital to take back the mortal remains. A senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs was there at the airport to receive the kin.

A group of African students also held a protest at Jantar Mantar here, holding aloft placards that read 'Racism Ruins Lives', and demanded that the Indian government act swiftly to stop attacks on the community.

On Tuesday, a two-hour peaceful protest demonstration has been planned at the same venue by the Association of African Students in India (AASI) and Association For Community Research and Action (ACRA). External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State V.K. Singh are expected to meet African students here on Tuesday to assure them of safety and security.

Mukherjee meanwhile stressed India's relations with Africa "should not be jeopardised in any way".

"Recent attacks on African students is extremely painful. As a student, political activist and MP, I have seen first-hand how India and Africa have always been close partners. It would be most unfortunate if people of India were to dilute our long tradition of friendship with people of Africa," he said, while addressing 7th Annual Heads of Missions Conference.

"...India's relations with Africa should not be jeopardised in any way. No impression which is not in line with our ethos or core values of our ancient civilization should be created," he added.

Verma, while meeting a African delegation at Delhi Police headquarters on Monday afternoon, asked them to freely approach police in case of any problem and briefed them on the sensitisation drive underway.

On Monday morning, Jaishankar met a group of African students at the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan here and assured them of the safety and security of the community in India.

"Continuing outreach to African community. Foreign secretary meets a group of African students," external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

"Foreign secretary to students: Ensuring safety and security of foreign students is an article of faith for us," he added.

The spate of rising attacks on African nationals has caused outrage among the community, several thousands of who study in India. The African envoys had last week threatened to boycott the Africa Day event over the murder of Olivier.

The Indian government stepped in to assure thems of the safety and security of their nationals after which the envoys attended the May 26 event.

Meanwhile, an Ola cab driver was allegedly assaulted by a group of Africans -- five men and a woman -- after he refused to allow more than four passengers to travel in his vehicle, police said.

The incident took place in Mehrauli area in south Delhi around 4 a.m. and the taxi driver, identified as Nooruddin Ali, suffered cuts and bruises near his left eye in the attack.

"Nooruddin was attacked when he refused to carry more than four passengers in his car... he was thrashed by the six people, including a woman," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Nupur Prasad told IANS.

The woman attacker has been arrested while her other five associates managed to escape before police reached the spot following a PCR call, she said.

In Panaji, Goa Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar, in wake of accusations of rape and kidnapping against two Africans by a woman on Sunday, said that Nigerian students commit crimes on purpose to prolong their stay, sell drugs and indulge in "unwanted things".

On May 25, a Nigerian student in Hyderabad was allegedly beaten by an Indian over a parking dispute, while on May 28, four separate cases of alleged assault on Africans in the national capital were reported.
Hyderabad, May 30 : Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has thanked the ruling Telugu Desam Party for support to the candidature of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu for a Rajya Sabha seat from Andhra Pradesh.

Naidu tweeted: "I am happy that my friend Suresh Prabhu is filing nomination to the RS from Andhra Pradesh. Thanks to the TDP for supporting him. I hope his election from AP will be beneficial for AP."

Union Minister of State Y.S. Chowdary and industrialist and former Congress minister T.G. Venkatesh are the other two candidates finalised for the Rajya Sabha slots from the state.

TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu is still working on the fourth candidate, even though the party has not enough strength in the assembly to ensure his/her win. The party is likely to name the fourth candidate late Monday night or Tuesday morning.
New Delhi, May 30 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a five nation tour from June 4 that will see him travelling to Afghanistan, Qatar, Switzerland, the US and Mexico.

Modi will first go to Afghanistan on June 4, where he will visit Herat to inaugurate the Salma Dam that has been funded by India.

He will head to Qatar on June 5 for a bilateral visit where he will hold talks with Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and economic ties, especially the hydrocarbon sector, will be high on the agenda.

This is the first prime ministerial visit from India to Qatar in eight years since the visit of Manmohan Singh to Doha in 2008.

With 630,000, Indians form the largest expatriate community in Qatar.

From Qatar, Modi will head to Switzerland.

"During the visit, the Prime Minister and the President of the Swiss Confederation Johann Schneider-Ammann will hold discussions on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest," an official statement said.

From Switzerland, Modi will travel to the US on June 7 and 8 at the invitation of US President Barack Obama, with whom he will review the progress made in key areas of defence, security and energy.

In his last leg of visit, Modi will reach Mexico on June 8 at the invitation of President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Relations between India and Mexico have witnessed renewed vigour and activity in the last two years and Modi had a substantive bilateral meeting with President Nieto on the sidelines of UNGA.

"The main objective of the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister would be to carry forward the momentum in our bilateral relations and discuss cooperation in areas such as space, energy, agriculture and science and technology among others," the statement said.

The two leaders will also be discussing various multilateral issues during the visit.
Chandigarh, May 30 : The Haryana government on Monday ordered the suspension of senior IAS officer Sandeep Garg, over a month after he was convicted by a special CBI court in a corruption case.

Garg's suspension has been ordered from April 23, the date on which he was convicted by the Central Bureau of Investigation court in New Delhi.

"Whereas the court of special judge (Prevention of Corruption Act), CBI, New Delhi vide its order dated April 23,2016 has convicted Sandeep Garg, IAS (HY:91) in case No. 9 of 2013 arising out of RC 3(A)/2004/ACUV/CBI/New Delhi titled CBI Vs. Sandeep Garg and others under sections 13(2) r/w 13(1)(e) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

"Now therefore Sandeep Garg, IAS (HY:91) is hereby placed under suspension by an order of the competent authority with effect from April 23, 2016 in terms of sub-rule 4 of Rule 3 of the All India Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969," said the Haryana government order.

Garg was arrested by the CBI in April 2004 along with businessman Atul Jindal on charges of corruption. He was charged of accepting a bribe of Rs 12 lakh from a businessman through Jindal.

Garg was, at that time posted in the Ministry of Petroleum in New Delhi.

Following raids, the CBI had charged Garg of amassing disproportionate assets worth Rs 3.36 crore.
Imphal, May 31 : The Manipur government on Monday ordered all colleges, schools from May 31 to June 2 following students organisations threatening protests on the delay in anti-migrant bills, while deciding to meet the president, the prime minister and others on the issue.

The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the council of ministers on Monday.

Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh will lead the delegates of all political parties, said government spokesperson Moirangthem Okendro.

The meeting discussed the worsening law and order situation in the state as a result of the burgeoning agitation demanding enactment of the three pending bills. The activists are saying that the political leaders should go to Delhi to pressurise the central leaders on the issue.

Though it was planned that the team would leave on May 16, it was delayed as the agitationists said that they must return victorious or face the wrath of the people.

The Chief Minister said: "I have sought appointments with the leaders though positive response is yet to be received."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on a foreign tour and according to the present plan he will return home only on June 10. It is also officially not known whether the PMO has given the appointment at all.

While the school students are launching various forms of agitations, the College Students Council has announced that unless the political parties leave for Delhi by June 1, there will be various forms of agitations from the next day.

The government seems to have taken the easier course by simply closing down the educational institutes. There were face offs between police and students at a number of places on Monday.

When the activists blocked the roads even after nightfall police fired tear gas canisters to disperse the volunteers. Women have announced fresh agitations from Tuesday onwards demanding release of the arrested girl students and visit to Delhi by the political parties for talks with the leaders.
New homes sales increased in Australia in November, up by 3.6%, but are still some 12.2% below last year, the latest research shows.

However, the rise is not set to mark an end to falling sales in the sector which has characterised much of 2018, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA).

After a string of weak months, it is pleasing to see new home sales finishing the year on a slightly more positive note, said Geordan Murray, HIA senior economist.

Despite the monthly rise, the overall level of sales in November is well below the level 12 months previously and also below what had otherwise been typical for most of the period since 2014, he explained.

Given the softening of the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets and the fact that the tight credit environment remains an issue for borrowers, we are not confident that the lift in sales in November marks the end of the downward trend seen throughout 2018, he pointed out.

He also pointed out that a tighter lending environment has meant that the credit squeeze first started to bite the investor side of the market in 2017 and more recently the effect of this squeeze has spilled over into the owner occupier market.

Tighter credit conditions facing owner occupier borrowers are now weighing on the detached house building market, illustrated clearly by the reduced levels of new home sales and building approvals, said Murray.

With the Royal Commission scheduled to release recommendations early next year we see a risk that the credit squeeze may drag on into 2019. With the new home market already looking vulnerable, policy makers will need to proceed cautiously when responding to the Commissions recommendations, he added.

A breakdown of the figures shows that the monthly rise was geographically widespread. Sales increased in Victoria by 7.3%, in Queensland by 2.1%, in South Australia by 7.4% and in Western Australia by 2.2%. They fell by 3.3% in New South Wales.
More freehold homes are being sold in England and Wales with this type of property tenure increasing by 8.6% year on year in the 12 months to October 2018, official data shows.

Of the 106,883 sales received for registration by the Land Registry some 81,051 were freehold, while 13,443 were newly built, a 12.5% increase on October 2017.

The data also shows that terraced homes are still the most popular with 28,352 registered in October, up from 25,333 in September and 26,426 in August.

The next most popular type of home is a semi-detached house with 27,567 registered in October, compared with 25,127 the previous month and 26,430 in August.

There were 25,066 detached homes sold, up from 22,902 in September and 23,132 in August while 19,345 flats or maisonettes were registered, up from 17,081 in the previous month and 17,471 in August.

Overall at 106,883 sales registered, this was up from 96,355 in September 2018 and 99,765 in August. Of these 31,119 took place in October 2018 of which 594 were properties for 1 million and over.

Some 326 were of residential properties in Greater London for 1 million and over, five were in the West Midlands for more than 1 million, five were in Greater Manchester for more than 1 million and two were in Cardiff for more than 1 million.

The most expensive residential sale taking place in October 2018 was of a semi-detached property in Kensington and Chelsea for 17,850,000 while the cheapest residential sales in October 2018 were terraced properties in Ferryhill and Burnley for 19,000.

The most expensive commercial sale taking place in October 2018 was in Hammersmith for 109,800,000 and he cheapest was in the New Forest for 250.
These styles are on-trend and the fashionable colors are sure to become instant client favorites.

Ellen Wille, Europes top wig brand, introduces the Perucci Collection featuring five fun and on-trend styles. This collection includes five synthetic wigs: Carrie, Load, Wiki, Echo and Point.

Known for individual style and attention to detail, Ellen Wille wigs have become a client favorite since launching in the US in the beginning of 2014. Since then, Ellen Wille has successfully launched many other collections including the US Collection, the Pure Power Human Hair Collection and most recently the Prime Power Collection. This June, Ellen Wille is excited to launch the first five wigs within the new Perucci Collection, with more styles coming in August 2016.

Carrie is a long, synthetic wig with a monofilament crown and a cheeky fringe. Load is voluminous, feminine, shoulder-length synthetic wig with a monofilament part. Wiki is a synthetic, wefted wig with soft, natural-looking beach curls. The collection also features two short styles, Echo and Point. Echo is a synthetic modern bob with a lace front and monofilament part. Point is a synthetic asymmetrical wig with a sharp bang and monofilament crown that comes in a fantastic range of edgy, on-trend colors.

I love these modern and chic styles from the Perucci Collection, said Erin Fortune, US Wholesale Distributor for Ellen Wille. These styles are on-trend and the fashionable colors are sure to become instant client favorites."
At the PENETRON XV. International Dealer Conference: Theodor Mentzikofakis, General Director of PENETRON Hellas, discusses challenges and opportunities in the Mediterranean region with participants. Weve had wonderful success over our first 10 years, and we have big plans for the next decade as well.

In April of 2016, PENETRON Hellas, our team in Greece, celebrated 10 years of success. PENETRON Hellas General Director and Managing Partner, Theodor Mentzikofakis, looks at how his team manages a successful business in a difficult environment.

PENETRON Hellas began operations in 2006 with a small team headquartered in Athens. Today, this team oversees more than 120 sales outlets across a territory that includes all of Greece and Cyprus and, more recently, a larger region of southeastern Europe.

Dealing with economic meltdown

In recent years, the headline-grabbing economic crisis in Greece presented formidable challenges to the PENETRON team. The Greek economy shrank by a quarter and unemployment climbed beyond 20%. For companies in the construction industry, this has led to big changes.

It was clear we had to adjust to a dire situation: becoming more flexible, responding to customer demands more quickly, and continually adapting the company strategy to take advantage of any new business opportunities, notes Mr. Mentzikofakis. After a difficult phase, we bounced back; last year alone we grew our business by 30%.

SUCCESS FACTORS

A key aspect of recovering from such hard times is our strong brand. PENETRON Hellas, as part of the PENETRON International network, offers a recognized line of crystalline products, leverages a superb global tech support and sales network, and advises dealers on maintenance, sales leads and marketing campaigns, including trade shows, hand-outs, and ads. The local team supports the association of engineers in Greece and enjoys good relationships with a number of Greek scientific organizations and educational institutions.

We also stay in touch with architects, planners, construction managers, state regulators and zoning authorities through our participation in seminars and conferences, adds Mr. Mentzikofakis.

WORKING WITH CLIENTS

Customer support is a strong component of the PENETRON Hellas organization. The PENETRON academy has trained thousands of concrete professionals about crystalline waterproofing applications, which helps clients with effective and sustainable solutions. This can cover everything from consulting on a projects development stage to conducting specific laboratory tests and, if necessary, doing a special seminar on the spot.

This part of our business has grown into something like a tech support SWAT team with a dedicated service truck equipped with all the necessary products, tools and tech support experts  all ready to go on emergency calls, says Mr. Mentzikofakis. Its important to us to be able to help clients in extreme situations. And weve had excellent feedback and success with this service.

WHERE DOES PENETRON ENJOY THE GREATEST SUCCESS?

A key area is public water supply, as water is a precious commodity in our area, and weve been busy waterproofing wastewater treatment plants. Our materials are increasingly popular in other areas; closer to home, were negotiating a project with a state water utility and were working on a number of luxury hotel projects. Were also involved in the construction of a new stadium project and private homes on the coast. In Romania, we helped solve an underground waterproofing problem, leading to a report in the Romanian newspapers on how, after 20 years, the metro is finally dry! Another showcase project was the drinking water reservoir of the Romanian parliament building, better known as the Palace of Ceausescu."

WHAT'S NEXT?

PENETRON Hellas will open a new training facility and tech support center in 2016. On the sales front, we see even more projects emerging in new regions.

Weve had wonderful success over our first 10 years, concludes Mr. Mentzikofakis. And we have big plans for the next decade as well.

The PENETRON Group is a leading manufacturer of specialty construction products for concrete waterproofing, concrete repairs and floor preparation systems. The Group operates through a global network, offering support to the design and construction community through its regional offices, representatives and distribution channels.

For more information on PENETRON waterproofing solutions, please visit penetron(dot)com or Facebook(dot)com/ThePenetronGroup, email CRDept(at)penetron(dot)com, or contact the Corporate Relations Department at 631-941-9700.
R.H. Gunn, a wife, artist, ghostwriter and author, has completed her new book Under The Blood Moon: a gripping and potent journey of intrigue, mystery and manipulation with several unexpected moments.

Published by New York City-based Page Publishing, R.H. Gunns horrifying tale will keep the reader on the edge of their seat!

"Where are you leading me?" the bewitching woman questions.

A smile crossed the phantom's lips. "To a place of endless time," he promises her, "then for evermore."

Under the Blood Moon begins on a fateful windswept October night in the year 1838 as a band of Cherokees seek refuge in a hidden mountain valley. Despite the valley's impenetrable fortress, ravenous creatures enter and soak the valley with blood. The cries of those slaughtered reach heaven as one escapes to become "keeper of the truth."

Years later an enigmatic figure known as Peter Brickman mysteriously vanishes from the valley without a trace. Now, in present day, Peter's spirit guides Joseph Raincloud, a renowned archeologist, who is haunted by a mysterious stick figure, and five extraordinary souls who must unknowingly enter the valley of death and prepare, in five days, for the final battle against an ancient demon who consumes the soul of an innocent mortal. Disguised as a human the demon rises to power and prepares, under the auspice of a group known as MAGUS, to devour the children of man.

Readers who wish to experience this chilling work can purchase Under The Blood Moon at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes store, Amazon, Google Play or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional New York based full-service publishing house that handles all of the intricacies involved in publishing its authors books, including distribution in the worlds largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create - not bogged down with complicated business issues like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes and the like. Its roster of authors can leave behind these tedious, complex and time consuming issues, and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.
USJAG CEO Georg-Andreas Pogany We represent the quintessential little guy fighting long odds.

Memorial Day conjures up images of sunny weather, backyard barbecues, and uniformed veterans marching down Main Street while spectators applaud and wave American flags. Unfortunately, many members of the US Armed Forces dont return home to such enthusiasm and support, even after they have sacrificed their health and well-being for the good of the nation. The Uniformed Services Justice & Advocacy Group (USJAG) is looking out for these individuals by providing them with comprehensive legal services, protecting their service-connected benefits, and ensuring the continuity and delivery of proper health care.

Oftentimes combat-related trauma can lead to behaviors that the military inaccurately and unfairly labels as disciplinary infractions. As a result, soldiers who have completed multiple combat tours and fulfilled their duties honorably end up receiving Other Than Honorable (OTH) discharges. They are denied service-connected benefits like mental health treatment exactly when they need them most. Its no surprise that such discarded soldiers face higher incidences of homelessness, interactions with the justice system, and addictive disorders. USJAG works tirelessly to rectify such injustices and to hold the nations military and political leaders accountable for the promises they made to soldiers and their families. We represent the quintessential little guy fighting long odds, says USJAG CEO Georg-Andreas Pogany.

Pogany is a former enlisted soldier with expertise in criminal justice who was deployed to Iraq in 2003. He suffered a serious brain injury due to exposure to toxic levels of an anti-malaria drug. After being medically retired in the rank of Sergeant First Class and honorably discharged from the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and the United States Army in April of 2005, Pogany has dedicated himself to a wide variety of military personnel advocacy initiatives and organizations. He founded USJAG together with the late US Army Ranger Stephen L. Robinson and COO Robert Alvarez in 2011, formalizing what had previously been an informal collaboration and aiming to fill a wide gap in the advocacy landscape. Robert Alvarez is a former marine with a masters degree in Rehabilitation Counseling who, together with Pogany, has logged thousands of pro-bono hours working with active duty service members and successfully preventing the wrongful discharges of hundreds of wounded combat veterans.

While many organizations that advocate for military personnel raise substantial sums of money, those who benefit most are seldom the regular fighting men and women, the veterans themselves. In contrast, USJAG makes the absolute most of the modest funds it raises. Its not a multi-million dollar research project which, over the course of years, produces dry reports followed by equally dry recommendations which will never be followed, said Pogany. This is a brand of advocacy that yields results and helps veterans.

USJAG chose Crowdsters online fundraising platform for its newly launched D-Day Fundraiser, which aims to raise $22,000 and help the organization keep up the great work. On June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 Allied troops bravely faced heavily armed and entrenched German soldiers on the beaches of Normandy so that the Allies could gain a foothold in Continental Europe and ultimately liberate it from Nazi oppression. Just as we should never forget the heroic warriors of the past, says Crowdster CEO Joe Ferraro, USJAG believes we should never forget the heroic warriors of today. Were extremely proud to be supporting their mission.
Going over one of these structures would be like being caught and spun inside a giant front loading washing machine. The rotating currents keep returning whatever is caught in them to the face of the dam and then pushing them under.

May 31 is National Dam Safety Awareness Day. On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam failed, sending a deadly rush of water and debris into the city of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Commonly known as the Johnstown Flood, the disaster destroyed much of the city and took the lives of more than 2,200 people. Caused by human error and indifference, it is one of the worst human tragedies experienced in U.S. history.

The upcoming anniversary of another landmark, tragic dam failure echoes the need to learn lessons from history. On June 5, 1976, Teton Dam in Idaho broke, inundating over 300 square miles and killing 11 people. The flood resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage, as well as extensive environmental damages.

It is important to understand that communities nationwide depend on dams for their life-sustaining benefits, but may be vulnerable to the risk of dam failure, particularly when dams are not properly maintained and upgraded. The fortieth anniversary of the Teton Dam Failure serves as a reminder of the real need for constant vigilance in dam safety, said Lori Spragens, executive director of the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO).

Faulty decision making played a leading role in these catastrophes, both of which could have been prevented with better planning, more communication, and more humility. The good news is lessons learned from Johnstown and Teton have been applied to the establishment and improvement of dam safety programs at federal and state agencies throughout the U.S. Yet lack of dam owner vigilance and awareness continues. Over 65 percent of known dams in the U.S. are owned privately. Many dams determined to be deficient (there are over 4,000 in the U.S.) are not getting the upgrades needed to improve public safety. Many times this is due to a lack of funding and understanding of the risk.

Lack of awareness also contributes enormously to a danger posed by dams: the hydraulic currents surrounding them. This year, National Dam Safety Awareness Day will focus on encouraging swimmers and boaters to remain safe around dams.

Last year, at least 25 people drowned at dam sites across the U.S., and the trend is continuing this year, with at least 13 deaths reported: in Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Low head damsdams one to fifteen feet in height, usually spanning an entire river or streamare notoriously dangerous to individuals who kayak, swim, boat, or fish near them. And they are ubiquitous. Thousands have been constructed for municipal and industrial water supply, hydropower production, irrigation, and other uses. Many date from the 1800s.

Aptly dubbed drowning machines, these structures produce powerful recirculating currents that trap individuals and boats. Neither swimming ability nor personal flotation devices (PFDs) are adequate protection: of 56 victims in one study, 28 were known to have worn PFDs (Tschantz, Bruce A. [2011]. "Hidden Dangers and Public Safety at Low-head Dams." The Journal of Dam Safety, 9[1], pp. 8-17).

Going over one of these structures would be like being caught and spun inside a giant front loading washing machine. The rotating currents keep returning whatever is caught in them to the face of the dam and then pushing them under, said ASDSO President Jim Pawloski. Part of what makes these dams so dangerous is that during low flow times, the water below them often appears tranquil and even inviting. And to young people especially, a low-head dam may look like a water slide. Most people just dont know the dangersthis is why we are seeing so many deaths.

Several federal agencies and 49 states have statutes creating dam safety programs. These programs all share a common goal of safety of dams; striving to reduce the risk of catastrophic dam failures such as the Johnstown and Teton failures. No such nationwide initiative exists, however, to address the topic of recreational safety at dams; only a few states have directly confronted the issue.

As we mark National Dam Safety Awareness Day, lets begin to work together to raise awareness and educate our youth about safety at dams. Spring is the beginning of the water recreation season, National Dam Safety Awareness Day can also be a vehicle for teaching our youth about the very real dangers posed by the many structures in our streams and rivers, said Pawloski.

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The Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) is a national, non-profit organization founded in 1984 and dedicated to improving dam safety through research, education, and communication.
The British public and smokers in particular are concerned about the use of e-cigarettes and confused about their safety, according to exclusive research conducted by Allen Carr Addiction Clinics, with 47% of people claiming they view e-cigarettes as the new health time bomb for the NHS.

To coincide with World No Tobacco Day on 31 May 2016, a poll of 1,000 smokers and non-smokers conducted by One Poll highlights that 56% of people are concerned about government policy, which encourages the use of e-cigarettes and has plans to prescribe them on the NHS. A further 56% of those polled said that they are confused about the safety of e-cigarettes, including 49% of people that already use e-cigarettes.

New Health Time Bomb

20% of smokers claim to know of someone, including themselves, who is addicted to e-cigarettes, with 53% of smokers using the devices at some point. Worryingly, 67% felt current policy was more likely to encourage children to try e-cigarettes, which will only add to the problem.

Attitudes to e-cigarettes

Overall, it seems the British public is ashamed of its e-cigarettes habit:



More than 21% were embarrassed to use their e-cigarettes in public

57% felt e-cigarettes shouldnt be allowed in restaurants

More than 50% felt someone smoking an e-cigarette was the most intrusive thing that could happen in their personal space

52% felt e-cigarettes shouldnt be used at all in public spaces such as on trains or in work places

Regional attitudes

Those in London were most concerned about the impact of e-cigarettes (54%), whilst those in the East Midlands were least concerned, with only 39% worried about their impact.

John Dicey, Global Managing Director & Senior Therapist of Allen Carr Addiction Clinics comments;

We support anything that helps smokers to quit but these research findings highlight that consumers, including smokers themselves, are confused and wary about the impact of government policy, changing attitudes to vaping and are unclear how safe e-cigarettes actually are. At Allen Carr Addiction clinics were extremely concerned by the way e-cigarettes are marketed and are being pushed as safe/appropriate for use in public places  making smoker-like behaviour more common. Aside from those issues it will be years before the long term negative health effects relating to e-cigarettes are known. The fact we already have e-cigarette users attending our clinics wanting help to stop indicates that vaping is not the silver bullet the government hopes it is.

For further information please contact Claire Doherty on 07932 651 837 or Claire(at)thisisgrapevine.com

Case Study:

Paul Palmer, 29, from Haverhill, Suffolk, UK is just one of many former e-cigarette users who stopped smoking and vaping using Allen Carr Addiction Clinics. He tried to stop smoking many times before without success until he finally quit in June 2014.

Paul initially started to use e-cigarettes to quit smoking but he eventually started both vaping and smoking, so he actually smoked more than before.

After quitting smoking using Allen Carrs method, Paul realised that using e-cigarettes was just keeping him addicted to nicotine  he was still hooked and controlled by the drug.

Allen Carrs Addiction Clinics are available in 50+ countries across the globe and the method is endorsed by a wide variety of celebrities and opinion formers. recent fans include, Michael McIntyre, Richard Branson, Chrissie Hynde , Sir Anthony Hopkins, Ellen DeGeneres, Lou Reed and Angelica Huston are long-term supporters of Allen Carrs Easyway. Following on from its phenomenal success in helping smokers, Allen Carrs approach has also successfully been applied to tackle other problems including e-cigarettes, alcohol, weight, drugs, anxiety, debt, gambling and fear of flying.

For further information visit http://www.allencarr.com or call 0800 389 2115.
Elyctis and Databim Alexandre Joly, CEO for Elyctis says: Databim has been instrumental in integrating our readers and adapting to customer requirements in Turkey. Facilitating ID document data acquisition is a strong added value to the travel and hospitality industries.

Hotels and tourism agencies have to register the identity of tourist and travelers in Turkey. These data are used to build up a hotel guest register or a passenger list.

Elyctis ID BOX brings ease of use and data certainty. As data from the ePassport or ID card are read automatically without movement, typos, misspellings and errors are avoided, improving customer satisfaction and saving hours of useless trouble. Thanks to Databim solution based on Elyctis passport readers, all the information and pictures are saved on the computer in just seconds. Many hotels and travel agents across Turkey have installed Elyctis ID BOX readers connected with their laptop or tablet. In peak season, travel agents have to read up to 1,000 passports each day, making automatic reading of data an essential advantage to ensure accuracy and throughput.

Databim, building upon its longstanding experience in distribution and systems integration, has been working with various partners to propose solutions fitting the requirements of hotels, travel agents and government agencies to read ePassports and ID documents. These solutions are adapted to a variety of environments using desktops, laptops or tablets, and integrating with other peripherals such as barcode readers and printers.

Mustafa Karaman, General Manager of Databim says Elyctis readers are ergonomic, small and lightweight making it easy to integrate them in different environments fitting with customer requirements. Our development activities are constant, and we are happy to receive fast and efficient support from Elyctis.

Alexandre Joly, CEO for Elyctis adds: Databim has been instrumental in integrating our readers and adapting to customer requirements in Turkey. Facilitating ID document data acquisition is a strong added value to the travel and hospitality industries.

About Databim

Databim, a leading distributor and systems integrator headquartered in Istanbul, is a long time supplier of solutions to read passports and ID cards in Turkey. Databim uses to work with partners such as software or IT companies, in order to provide the integration solution for their software using web services, connecting to databases etc.

Contact

Mustafa KARAMAN, General Manager, +90 212 220 82 32 ext. 101

mustafa.karaman(at)databim.com

About Elyctis

Headquartered in Pertuis, France, Elyctis specializes in the development of hardware and software dedicated to Secure Identity Documents (e-passport, e-ID card, e-driver license, ...). The company, created in 2008, has a longstanding expertise in eID projects, as well as hardware and software developments.

More information at http://www.elyctis.fr
(L-R): Professor Liz Lippy, retired Justice David A. Erickson and Professor Charles Rose; Joshua Karton and Professor Rose. Karton is the quintessential teacher of advocacy and Stetson is excited to honor him this year.

Stetson University College of Law presented Joshua Karton, who specializes in teaching how to apply the communication skills of theatre, film and television to the art of trial advocacy, with this years Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching Advocacy on May 24 on the Gulfport campus. The award recognizes people who have fundamentally changed the way in which the world approaches the teaching of advocacy. Karton pioneered teaching the communication arts to lawyers.

"Karton is the quintessential teacher of advocacy and Stetson is excited to honor him this year," said Stetson University Professor of Excellence in Trial Advocacy Charles Rose.

American University Washington College of Law Professor Elizabeth L. Lippy received Stetson's Edward D. Ohlbaum Award, which honors an individual whose life and practice display sterling character and unquestioned integrity, coupled with ongoing dedication to the highest standards of the legal profession and the rule of law.

Both awards were presented in conjunction with Stetson's Educating Advocates Teaching Advocacy Skills Conference on May 23-26.

The annual Educating Advocates conference invites professors, lawyers and legal practitioners from across the country to spend two and one-half intensive days learning the Stetson method of advocacy, developing their teaching skills, and networking with renowned advocacy instructors.

The theme of this years conference was Teaching Skills: Building the 21st Century Law School-One Student, One Skill, One Moment at a Time, and included a special Teacher Advocacy Training Session.

Stetson's renowned trial advocacy program consistently ranks at the top among law schools around the country in the U.S. News & World Report.

###

About Stetson University College of Law

Stetson University College of Law, Florida's first law school, has prepared lawyers and leaders since 1900. Today, Stetson leads the nation in blending legal doctrine with practical training, evidenced by its top-ranked programs in advocacy and legal writing. Through our academically rigorous curriculum and commitment to social responsibility, Stetson lawyers are ethical advocates ready to succeed in the legal profession.
Temecula Olive Oil

Temecula Valley is in the spotlight for its award-winning wines, but behind the scenes, culinary artisans are creating products that are gaining attention from visitors and foodies across the globe. Restaurants use these products as key ingredients to enhance their creations. The public is sometimes found visiting the destination just to buy more of a product they cant get enough of; loyal customers even have them shipped to their homes.

These foodie products are the famous Temecula Olive Oil, the highly sought-after Mama Rosas Marinara Sauce, and the exotic Nimble Nectar craft beverage mixers. Each is made, sold and consumed in Temecula Valley.

Temecula Olive Oil harvests their olives twice a year and presses them at its ranch just outside of Temecula. When blending their oils, they press local, fresh herbs and fruits right in with the olives. The oil is bottled in Temecula and sold at their original store in Old Town Temecula, as well as their other locations in Solana Beach, Seal Beach and San Diego. Many Temecula chefs use Temecula Olive Oils and house-made vinegars (the company grows the grapes for their balsamic vinegars) to complement their dishes. Why is their oil so popular that people are having it shipped as far away as China, Japan and the United Kingdom? Its the purity, the freshness and the smooth taste that people find so addictive. Its no wonder, since the grower and co-owner, Thom Curry, is certified by the International Olive Oil Council as a Master Taster and sits on the California Olive Oil Councils Taste Panel. His strict standards and passionate commitment assure each batch is the very best possible. Temecula Olive Oil products are available at any of their Southern California stores or online at TemeculaOliveOil.com.

Mama Rosas Marinara Sauce is made from Temecula Valley winery owner Robert Renzonis grandmothers recipe. After she passed away in 1994, he took over making the sauce for family and friends and began offering it in his tasting room in 2007. The demand grew as word spread about this fresh, authentic sauce. Renzoni estimates theyve sold 100,000 jars to date. Not only do fans of the sauce use it for traditional Italian dishes, they enjoy it in Bloody Marys and soups. This healthy sauce is gluten-free and contains no preservatives or GMO ingredients. Whats in the jar? Nothing but plum tomatoes, olive oil, sugar, shallots, garlic, salt, anchovies, basil, spices and a whole lot of Mama Rosas love that made family gatherings so memorable. It is available for purchase at Robert Renzoni Winery or online at RobertRenzoniWinery.com for $12.95 a jar.

Nimble Nectar is being introduced to the consumer through Southern California restaurants and wine and spirits shops. In business for less than a year, their natural, small batch craft mixers are quickly growing in popularity. After spending the past 10 years in Europe, owners Jason Joe and his wife, Julie, decided to return to their Temecula roots where there is a strong community of local craft distillers, wineries and breweries. A former banker, Jason learned there was a need for craft mixers made with quality ingredients and fresh flavors. Places like Galway Downs in Temecula, are using it in their bar and KenTina restaurant, and at special events and weddings. One of their flavors, California Lime, salutes our home town of Temecula. The zesty vibrancy youll find in the bottle mirrors the dynamic optimism of Temecula and its must-see wineries, craft distilleries, and craft breweries. A list of their exotic, natural flavors and distribution locations can be found at NimbleNectar.com.

Ready to take a bite out of Temecula Valley and its unique culinary delights? The historic Old Town foodie district, burgeoning wine country with more than 40 wineries and Pechanga Resort & Casino and its eleven distinct onsite restaurants should rank high on your list of sites to seeand sip and sample. But visitors are discovering its a three-day stay filled with wine tasting, pampering, outdoor activities and field-to-fork dining. A Sunday through Thursday stay is highly recommended for a quality, laid-back luxury experience that may provide conversations with shopkeepers and winery owners, and fewer crowds. Visit http://www.VisitTemeculaValley.com to plan a Temecula Valley Southern California getaway.

ABOUT THE TEMECULA VALLEY AND VISIT TEMECULA VALLEY

With natural gifts of climate and geography, Temecula Valley is widely recognized for its scenic vineyards, award-winning wines, and friendly wineries as Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country. The destination includes the Temecula Valley A.V.A. (American Viticulture Area) as well as Downtown, Old Town Temecula, and Pechanga Resort & Casino.

Visit Temecula Valley is online at VisitTemeculaValley.com; Temecula Valley Southern California Wine Country on Facebook and @Visit_Temecula on Twitter. The Temecula Valley Visitors Center is located in Old Town Temecula on Mercedes Street adjacent the Old Town Parking Garage. For visitor assistance, call 888/363-2852 or 951/491-6085.
Flipping Donald Trump's Lid What do a sun-burnt troll, an anvil flattened monkey, and a golden turd all have in common? They are all part of what Cuppa Coffee is calling TRUMP UNHINGED, a bizarre animated foray into the frenzied mind of Donald Trump

Starting June 1st, Torontos Cuppa Coffee Studios is launching TRUMP UNHINGED, a bizarre animated foray into the mind of Donald Trump. What do a sun-burnt troll, an anvil flattened monkey, and a golden turd all have in common? They are part of our surreal take on what is going on inside The Donalds head in this unusual political season," says Adam Shaheen, Cuppa Coffees Executive Producer, concluding, "Its an important part of the US election conversation.

Each animation starts with a caricatured, stop-motion puppet of Donald literally flipping his lid before diving beneath Trumps famous golden mop. It took a team of 9 artists over a month to dream up and create everything in this big collection of little films. Our dedicated team shot over 4000 frames, went through 3 pounds of blue jelly beans, endless cans of gold spray paint, and a small fortune in chocolate gold coins to create this original peek into Trumps mind. Chris Morris, Cuppas Creative Director, added, You could say, were mimicking the insanity with our own brand of the ridiculous while adding to the dialogue!

Presented in the form of a deranged advent calendar, every day in June, Cuppa Coffee will unleash a new Trumped-up animation. Says Shaheen, We cover all the favorite and newsworthy Trump moments, adding our own amusing, animated take on the issues from this rather offbeat political season.

Starting June 1st, visit http://www.trumpunhinged.com every morning to get your fresh dose of animated political insight! Trump madness also dishes daily on Twitter @CuppaStudios and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Cuppa-Coffee-Studios-184632598025/

About Cuppa Coffee Studios

http://www.cuppacoffee.com/

Cuppa Coffee Studios was founded in 1992 by illustrator Adam Shaheen. Since that time Cuppa Coffee has gone on to produce over 150 hours of animated television garnering over 180 international awards. Focusing on both Stop-Motion and 2-D animation, the studio brings a fresh and unique spin to animation, incorporating many new and innovative techniques. Cuppa Coffee has a proud tradition of creating satirical comedy. The studio produced several seasons of Celebrity Death Match for MTV, and in late 2013 they famously lampooned then-mayor Rob Ford in an outrageous stop-motion film titled FORDTACULAR SPECTACULAR.

Media Page: http://www.trumpunhinged.com/press
Happy Birthday Marco "I am at a loss for words....which never happens! What you put together is beautiful!"---Vicky T.

On Friday, May 27th, 2016, "Help Marco Win", a grassroots blog founded by Katie Baker and dedicated to supporting Marco Rubio, began a weekend-long celebration of Senator and former 2016 presidential candidate Marco Rubio's 45th birthday. Throughout Senator Rubio's campaign, millions of people were touched by his message of optimism, self-giving, and patriotism. When the candidate suspended his campaign on March 15th, after a heartbreaking defeat in Florida, supporters of the candidate felt a desire to give back in some way. "Help Marco Win" began planning a social media celebration to meet the need.

Since Marco's 45th birthday was May 28th, the Saturday before Memorial Day, it seemed fitting that the celebration would be held on Memorial Day Weekend. The event, which featured messages of thanksgiving and birthday wishes set to inspirational music, memories of humorous moments from the candidate's campaign, testimonials, birthday cards, and more, all gathered together in a moving tribute to Senator Rubio. The presentation was created and hosted by Katie Baker of "Help Marco Win". During the weekend-long event, recent and long-time supporters of Marco, gathered together in what was a very touching, emotional weekend.

It was an exciting moment when members of Marco's grassroots supporters finally had a chance to give Marco gratitude through testimonials, cards etc. Many people cried tears of joy while others "were at a loss for words" over the experience. After a successful weekend, which will continue until the end of Memorial Day, "Help Marco Win" decided to open up the celebration to the general public and will extend the celebration until Friday, June 3rd, at 10:00 P.M. EST.

Supporters located all over the country as well as other countries gathered virtually on Ms. Baker's blog, located at http://www.helpmarcowin.wordpress.com, as well as on a special Facebook event page designed for people to submit their birthday wishes, pictures, videos, cards etc. Along with Facebook and the "Help Marco Win" blog, supporters tweeted birthday wishes all over twitter starting at 8 A.M.- 8 P.M. Marco is not guaranteed to attend the event but is aware of the support and love of the American people and is grateful.

Its time to repay Marco back for the sacrifice that was given over the last year. To participate in this special tribute to Senator Rubio, a man who has touched millions of people with genuine love, visit "Help Marco Win" at http://www.helpmarcowin.wordpress.com for all of the details.

*Disclaimer* "Help Marco Win" blog is not affiliated with Marco Rubio's presidential campaign, but is a grassroots movement designed to show support for Senator Rubio. The owner of the "Help Marco Win" blog is not responsible for the success of Senator Rubio's presidential campaign or the views expressed by the general public on the Facebook event page.

Contact: Katie Baker

Email: maba28(at)yahoo(dot)com

Use "hmw media inquiries" in the subject line

Website: http://www.helpmarcowin.wordpress.com
British Columbia Drug Rehab Our clients, their family, and friends enjoy the benefits of our Vancouver office location vs. our Centre in Powell River.

Sunshine Coast Health Centre, a top-rated drug rehab and alcohol treatment centre in British Columbia (BC), Canada, is proud to announce that they are adding an additional Vancouver office in Langley, BC, near the US border. The new office will offer enhanced services, allowing for a permanent staff counsellor.

Our clients, their family, and friends enjoy the benefits of our Vancouver office location vs. our Centre in Powell River, explained Casey Jordan, Chief Marketing Officer. By adding an office in Vancouvers suburbs, we will have expanded opportunities for meeting with everyone, make access to our Vancouver offices even more convenient.

Persons interested in the new office, as well as Vancouver services, can visit https://www.sunshinecoasthealthcentre.ca/vancouver-alcohol-treatment/. There, the new office will be updated when the move is complete, and interested parties can click up on the navigation to learn about drug rehabilitation and alcohol treatment services provided in British Columbia by Sunshine Coast.

New Vancouver Office: Benefits for Drug Rehab and Alcohol Treatment Patients

Among the benefits of the improved Vancouver office will be the following. First and foremost, the new office will be the ability to provide space for a permanent staff counsellor, the certified psychotherapist Sears Taylor. He will be working from the site daily (except for trips up to the Centre's main location at Powell River every few months). Mr. Taylor brings a wealth of experience to the process of drug rehabilitation and alcohol treatment for clients.

Second, there will also be the potential for group meetings for alumni support as an added benefit.

Third, persons interested in learning more about drug abuse problems are referred to the Centre's popular drug and alcohol information guide at https://www.sunshinecoasthealthcentre.ca/drug-information/. Every individual or loved one is unique, and so interested parties are urged to visit the website and reach out for a confidential consultation, whether in Vancouver or via telephone or Internet.

About Sunshine Coast Health Centre

Sunshine Coast Health Centre is a 36 bed drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility exclusively designed for men, officially opened on the 15th of March, 2014. The Centre has a philosophy of care that goes beyond just addiction to include personal transformation based on three key therapeutic principles: interpersonal relatedness, self definition (autonomy & competence), and intrinsic motivation. The Centre offers both drug rehabilitation and alcohol treatment near Vancouver, BC, but serving patients across Canada, particularly British Columbia and Alberta and cities such as Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer. Sunshine Coast Health Centre uses a form of drug rehabilitation based on the methodology of Viktor Frankl, namely 'Meaning Centered Therapy'.

Website. http://www.sunshinecoasthealthCentre.ca
Flight School Insurance Many aviation insurance plans focus on the more common types of needs, such as the needs of an individual with a private plane.

ZANETTE Aviation, top brokers of aviation insurance at http://ZANETTEaviation.com, is proud to announce a new flight school insurance blog post. The post is specific to flight schools and the special situations teaching pilots experience, as these types of endeavors have very special insurance needs.

Many aviation insurance plans focus on the more common types of needs, such as the needs of an individual with a private plane. Flight school insurance is very different, explained Chris Zanette, owner of ZANETTE Insurance. "Of course, you have the experienced pilots / trainers, but you also have students learning to fly. You also have many different kinds of aircraft, and different scenarios. Our new blog posts touches on how to think about the unique aviation insurance needs of flight schools.

To review the new blog post about flight school insurance go to - http://zanetteaviation.com/aviation-insurance-for-flight-schools/. Information about aviation insurance, broker contacts for competitive quotes and complimentary consultations for the best flight school insurance are available.

Training the Next Generation to Fly with the Best Flight School Insurance

The idea of travelling by air in a personal plane for weekend trips to vacation destinations may seem glamorous to young, aspiring pilots. Although the joy of flying can be a terrific experience, the work of learning to fly has to happen first. Many mistakes can occur before a student pilot finally experiences that first solo flight. Training with the best pilots with the most comprehensive flight school insurance can be a smart way to start the journey.

Expert aviation insurance brokers, Zanette Insurance has proudly announced a new blog post specific to flight school insurance. Zanette's insurance specialists have probably heard all the stories about near misses and bumpy landings. Flight trainers are experts in teaching new pilots, and Zanette brokers are experts finding the best flight school insurance. Both come together on the new blog post to support flight school pilots with any circuits and bumps that go awry. When the flight school insurance is ready to cover possible trouble, trainers can focus on the task at hand and teach new students to fly right.

About ZANETTE AVIATION

ZANETTE Aviation Insurance brings decades of experience writing policies for the top-rated aviation insurance companies in the business. Whether a person is in the market for flight school insurance, aircraft insurance, commercial airplane insurance or private airplane insurance, or even an airplane charter jet company seeking coverage, ZANETTE can help. The company's friendly agents are among the best brokers in the USA, experienced giving affordable aircraft insurance quotes at the best rates available for corporate or business uses, or just private airplane insurance.

Tel. 650-593-3030

Web. http://ZANETTEaviation.com
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A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site.Website use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google") to help analyse the use of this website. For this purpose, Google Analytics uses"cookies", which are text files placed on your computer.The information generated by the cookies about your use of this website - standard internet log information (including your IP address) and visitor behaviour information in an anonymous form - will be transmitted to and stored by Google including on servers in the United States. Google will anonymize the information sent by removing the last octet of your IP address prior to its storage.According to Google Analytics terms of service, Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website and compiling reports on website activity.We not use, and not allow any third party to use the statistical analytics tool to track or to collect any personally identifiable information of visitors to this site. Google may transfer the information collected by Google Analytics to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google`s behalf.According to Google Analytics terms of service, Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.You may refuse the use of Google Analytics cookies by downloading and installing Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. The add-on communicates with the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js) to indicate that information about the website visit should not be sent to Google Analytics.Cookies are also used to record if you have agreed (or not) to our use of cookies on this site, so that you are not asked the question every time you visit the site.You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish. You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed.Most browsers allow you to:If you chose to delete cookies, you should be aware that any preferences will be lost. Also, if you block cookies completely many websites (including ours) will not work properly and webcasts will not work at all. For these reasons, we do not recommend turning cookies off when using our webcasting services.
ORION -- The Henry County Sheriff's Office is investigating a drowning that occurred late Saturday night at the Hillcrest Resort in rural Orion.

At 11 p.m. Saturday, the office responded to a report of a missing person at the resort, 16260 E. 350th St., Orion. The person was later found dead in the pool at the resort, according to a Sunday release from the county sheriff's office.

Henry County was assisted at the scene by Orion Fire/EMS, Genesis Ambulance, Illinois State Police, Rock Island County K9, and the Henry County coroner. No other information regarding the incident was available late Sunday.

The case remains under investigation by the sheriff's and coroner's office, the release said.
ORION -- Tyler J. John, 17, of Rock Island, died Sunday as the result of an apparent drowning at Hillcrest Resort, Orion.

Mr. John was currently a junior at Rock Island High School. He was active in track, cross country, German Club, marching band, jazz band and symphonic band, according to information at the Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home website. Mr. John was also involved with the ROTC and had enlisted in the Army Reserve.

Survivors include his mother, Felicia John-Williams, Rock Island; father, Ian Delevere; sister, Keily John, Rock Island; grandparents, Jennifer John, Rock Island; Ralph Turner, Davenport; uncle, Charles John, Coal Valley; great grandmother, Jerry John, Orion; several cousins and extended family members.

Arrangements are pending at Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home and Crematory, Rock Island. Memorials may be left for the family.

The Henry County Sheriffs Dept. and county coroners office are continuing an investigation into the death.
LOGO by Lori Goldstein Pull-On Cotton Slub Knit Pants is rated 3.6 out of 5 by 18 .

Rated 1 out of 5 by NanniT from Not what I expected Maybe it's just me, but these are more like something you'd wear around the house when you're cleaning - not out in public.

Rated 5 out of 5 by Patty Thyme from Comfy I have two sets.. these pants are comfy and easy to care for. Love mine.

Rated 2 out of 5 by donnadeelee from Wierd Fabric, Pants Run Large I ordered these pants in my regular Logo size of XL in the color Brook. The material is cotton slub. I don't like the look or feel of the fabric. The Brook is a very light blue. These run about one size large but since they are cotton they might shrink. The legs are not as slim as I prefer Overall they are a disappointment, not up to all of the other Logo pants I own.

Rated 5 out of 5 by d-nas from great Hey, anytime I can get anything LOGO on sale, I'm there!

Rated 4 out of 5 by sheller from thin fabric I ordered my regular size (I always order up in Logo) and they fit perfectly. I gave only 4 stars because the fabric is very thin

Rated 5 out of 5 by Missyli from Great pants! Started with black 2 years ago. Got blue last year and now have all 3 colours. They are wonderful, comfortable figure flattering pants. These are so light and I love them for spring, summer and fall but on not so cold days, I've worn the black pair even in winter. They look great rolled up for casual wear and they are terrific for dressy occasions as well. Lori, please make more of these. I LOVE the fit and the fabric. I LOVE your whole creative line too, thanks so much for casual chic!

Rated 5 out of 5 by TallyGal from Great Pants If you get the right size, these are great. I'm 5'4, 155 and at first I ordered my normal size medium which were way too big. I returned and got a small in the mail today, tried them on and they fit perfect. I love LOGO but the sizing is inconsistent. Maybe Lori needs to check into this and correct. These are very comfortable and hope she brings more.
Susan Graver Striped Liquid Knit V-Neck Scarf Top is rated 4.3 out of 5 by 367 .

Rated 5 out of 5 by LRMC from Very nice I had all but given up on Susan Graver. Her styles seem stale and prices too high. I do like this top VERY much however. I got it on a lunch time special, therefore the price was affordable for a change. The style is great. It hides everything without looking so big that you look pregnant. It doesn't wrinkle much at all even after wearing it. I bought Medium. I run between a medium and large but the medium fits very well. I ordered the purple and it definitely looks blue. Overall I like this top and highly recommend it.

Rated 3 out of 5 by kmclarke from Loose Enough To Keep I've tried many types of Susan Graver liquid knit tops and this is the only one I was able to keep. It has large arm holes so it's very well ventilated. It's basically a large rectangle sewn in half. The fabric is heavy and not breathable, but the cut of this top allows alot of air flow. I love SGs prints, I wish she would change her fabric.

Rated 5 out of 5 by Debbie Clevenger from Great! I love this shirt, I got the black and have ordered a blue one size larger and a red "as is", I'll see how these work out. It looks great and feels so soft!

Rated 5 out of 5 by MissieK from Always get compliments I purchased this in the pink. To be honest I didn't expect to like it as much as I do. The fit is great in my regular size and super comfortable. Great for summer. I get compliments every time I wear it.

Rated 5 out of 5 by PennyLu from Is cute Is true to QVC size. Am 5'7" and 150lbs purchased a medium. Fits perfect.

Rated 5 out of 5 by valleybaby from Love This Top I just received my order recently. Wore it for the first time and got several compliments at work. Very comfortable, easy to wear.

Rated 2 out of 5 by Wen1268 from So disappointed  I loved how this top looked during the presentation but it didnt work for me. Im 53 and 120 lbs but even the XS was way to large and long for me. The fabric felt good against my skin. It would have made a great addition but fit is everything.
G'day! It's Murray here. I've put together a little quiz to test your musical knowledge. Think you can score top marks in Murray's Magic Music Quiz? Give it a go now!
IR has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with French National Railways (SNCF) concerning the redevelopment of Ambala and Ludhiana stations in the north, while talks for similar tie-ups are underway with potential partner railways from Australia, Belgium, Germany, and China.

Draft tender documents for the modernisation of 400 category A1 and A stations were published on IR's website last month and bids for the first group of stations will be submitted in June.

Over the last two years IR has signed MoUs with railways in 14 countries and several rounds of discussions have been held on station modernisation strategies have been completed. The Korean government has reportedly offered to invest Rs 40bn ($US 754.7m) in the redevelopment of New Delhi station.

Last year IR established the Station Development Corporation and recruited officials from two public sector bodies to manage activities.

As the programme involves multi-departmental and multi-sectoral cooperation, the Indian government has decided to set up a new and independent body to undertake station redevelopment projects. This organisation will not be headed by an IR official and will have representatives of all stakeholders in the execution and management of the projects.

In recent months the World Bank has held several workshops and meetings on India's station re-development potential, highlighting examples of successful station projects elsewhere in the world.
The 362km line will be designed for 250km/h operation and construction is expected to take four-and-a-half years to complete.

The total cost of the project is Yuan 43.1bn ($US 6.5bn), including Yuan 3.4bn for a fleet of high-speed trains. The Shanxi provincial government will contribute Yuan 12.3bn, with Yuan 1.2bn coming from the Henan provincial government and Yuan 8.5bn from China Railway Corporation.
SJ currently operates two daily overnight services, Stockholm - Kiruna - Narvik and Gothenburg -Stockholm - Lulea, under a public service obligation contract, which expires in 2018. The state's contribution to the operation of these services is around SKr 100m ($US 12m) per year.

Under the first option, the two trains would continue to operate on the current basis beyond 2018, which would offer the greatest benefits to the tourist industry. However, Trafikverket says this is a costly option with ridership unevenly distributed between seasons.

Alternatively, the service could be reduced to one train per day, but the study warns this may result in poorer pathing on the Kiruna - Narvik line, where there is frequent heavy freight traffic and capacity would fall short of requirements during the peak tourist season.

The third option would provide two daily trains in the tourist season and one at other times. This would reduce costs and supply would be matched more closely to demand, reducing the cost of operation.

Trafikverket says it will not endorse one specific option until the consultation has been completed, but it expects to make a decision by October.
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Spanish provider of quality control solutions for broadcasters, Quales, has inked a deal with Intec Global Solutions in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.





As part of Quales global expansion roadmap, the agreement introduces the companys Quality Check System into the broadcasting industry of these territories.Quales solutions can be used either from a standalone Web-based software version or just per minutes of use, thanks to its recent integration with the Microsoft Azure Marketplace We are excited to have Quales as a partner. Its quality control system is very complete and has a user-friendly interface. Its powerful API enables the solution to be integrated in almost every work flow, said Luis Ruete, Intec Global Solutions marketing & communication.Based in Miami and Buenos Aires, Intec is a systems integrator offering professional services for audiovisual projects.
Eccentric artist Pavlensky appeals sentence in vandalism case

MOSCOW, May 30 (RAPSI)  Lawyers of the eccentric Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky, earlier found guilty of deliberate vandalism, have appealed his sentence despite the fact that he was exempted from punishment, his lawyer Dmitriy Dinze told RAPSI on Monday.

We ask the court to dismiss the conviction and issue an acquittal, the lawyer told RAPSI.

On May 19 Pavlensky was found guilty of vandalism for his controversial performance in February 2015, when he and his accomplices burned car tires, waved Ukrainian flags and banged sheet metal with sticks in a show of solidarity with the anti-government protesters in Ukraine. The performance was held near the Church of the Savior on Blood in St. Petersburg.

A judge sentenced Pavlensky to one year and four months of freedom restriction, but exempted him from punishment because the statute of limitation in this case has expired. The artist is not facing punishment for setting tires on fire on a St. Petersburg bridge.

Pavlensky was not set free in the courtroom because he is also a defendant in another criminal case over setting fire to the Moscow headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB).

Pavlensky is known for a number of other controversial performances.

In July 2012, he sewed up his mouth and stood at the Kazan Cathedral with a poster in support of Pussy Riot.

In May 2013, Pavlensky lay down on the ground in front of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly naked with barbed wire around his body.

In November 2013, also naked, Pavlensky nailed his scrotum to the Red Square pavement near the Lenin Mausoleum.

In October 2014, he staged an eccentric stunt on the roof of the Serbsky Mental Institution in Moscow by cutting off one of his earlobes.

In November 2015, Pavlensky was arrested on suspicion of setting fire to the headquarters of FSB in Moscow. Several other people who claim to be journalists that were invited to the artists performance were arrested along with the artist.
Russian patent agency refuses US owner of History Channel to register brand

MOSCOW, May 30 (RAPSI)  Russias Chamber for Patent Disputes has upheld the decision to refuse US A&E Television Networks, LLC (owns History TV Channel) to register a trademark combining letter H and word History, according to the agencys documents.

The Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) deems that the subject combined identification is confusingly similar to the previously registered trademark of OOO Viasat Holding (History Channel broadcaster). An expert examination concluded that the similarity of these two trademarks was determined by the use of word History dominating both identifications and by their general composition.

A&E Television Networks did not agree with Rospatents decision, insisting that the matched against each other trademarks are not confusingly similar since they differ in their phonetic, semantic, and visual characteristics. The attention-getting and memorable graphics in the trademarks make different impression on customers and allow them to unerringly distinguish these identifications among other identifications of similar services.

Besides, according to the US company, the fact that in addition to word History another trademark incorporates word Viasat as the brand name of its owner Viasat Holding permits customers to distinguish between the two identifications matched against each other.
Polish officer gets 6 years in prison for espionage on behalf of Russia

MOSCOW, May 30 (RAPSI) - The District Military Court in Warsaw has found Lieutenant Colonel Zbigniew J. guilty of spying for Russian military intelligence (GRU) and sentenced him to 6 years in prison, Polish media reported on Monday.

Additionally, the officer was deprived of civil rights for five years.

Zbigniew J. has been charged with disclosure of information that could cause damage to Poland. Details of the case have not been officially provided.

However, it was reported that the officer allegedly transferred information concerning the names of Polish soldiers who could be recruited by Russian military intelligence.

Zbigniew J., who served in one of Polands Defense Ministrys departments, was arrested in October 2014 and has been held in detention ever since. His arrest was made with the involvement of military police troops; materials collected by the Military Counterintelligence Service became grounds for the arrest.
Lawyers for alleged Russian spy Fishenko ask for 50 months incarceration

NEW YORK, May 30 (RAPSI)  Lawyers for Alexander Fishenko, the key figure of a criminal case of exporting electronic components to Russia without required licenses claim that he may be sentenced to 50 months incarceration or less, whereas the prosecution insists on at least 121 months in prison.

In October 2012, FBI made public the fact that eight people had been arrested on charges of unlawfully exporting high technologies to Russia for needs of the Russian military and special services. Four employees of Arc Electronics, a private Houston-based company, were arrested alongside the companys co-owner Alexander Fishenko.

The firm took part in transactions aimed to purchase electronic components from US manufacturers and consequently sell these components to Russian firms. As the case material show, the customer of Fishenkos company was Apex System having connections to a number of Russian enterprises.

A superseding 25-count indictment was presented to a New York court in November 2014. The charges include a conspiracy aimed at violation of the US International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and The Arms Export Control Act (AECA).

The court records show that Fishenko, not being a diplomatic or consular official, or an attache of a foreign state carried out illegal purchases of electronic components without prior notification of the US Attorney General.

There are a total of 11 defendants in the case, three of them have been placed on the wanted list. Four of the eight arrested - Viktoria Klebanova, Alexander Fishenko, Alexander Posobilov and Anastasia Dyatlova - have U.S. and Russian passports.

As concerns Fishenko, he attended Technical University in St. Petersburg, Russia, from 1987 to 1994, studying dialectrics and semiconductors but left his studies to immigrate to the United States. Since 2003 he is a naturalized US citizen, married and the father of a 10-year-old son. According to his lawyers, Fishenko has not seen his family for three years and could speak with his wife by telephone only. She attempted to visit him last July after having received clearance from the MDC, but upon arrival she was denied admission and counsels efforts to secure her entry were unsuccessful.

Fishenko pleaded guilty to the entire indictment in September of 2015. In particular, he agreed in his guilty plea that he violated United States law by selling electronic components to Russia without required licenses. He also pleaded guilty to ancillary money laundering, wire fraud, obstruction of justice and being an unregistered foreign agent.

At the same time, Fishenkos lawyers insist that he did not establish his company, ARC Electronics, for the purpose of unlawfully exporting electronic components. Moreover, numerous facts cited by the defense are evidence that the company strived to become more diligent and the efforts made to comply with the law. Mr. Fishenko intended ARC to be a lawful export company in which he could utilize his professional skills and Russian contacts to build a successful business  his small slice of the American Dream,  the lawyers claim.

The defense also points out that Fishenko and his family have already suffered extraordinary punishment by virtue of the inaccurate characterization in the press that he pleaded guilty to being a spy.

Fishenko is to be sentenced by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on June 3.
Communications ministry drafts bill on governmental control of Russian Internet  report

MOSCOW, May 30 (RAPSI)  Russian Communications Ministry has developed a bill that introduces changes to the communications and information laws and allows government to control the entire critical Internet infrastructure in Russia, Vedomosti newspaper reported on Monday.

According to the bill, Russian segment of the Internet will be regulated by the federal government entity that would issue contracts on control of the Internet segment, Vedomosti has reported. Currently .ru and . internet domains are regulated by the non-profit Coordination Center of the national domain of Internet which accredits domain name registrars and regulates their registration rules.

Lawmakers behind the bill also propose to control all Internet traffic coming from other countries, Vedomosti has reported. The bill obligates owners of all autonomous systems that exchange traffic with foreign networks to install special equipment for control of the traffic. Lawmakers also propose to create an information system uniting Domain Name System (DNS), IP-addresses and traffic monitoring.

According to Vedomosti, the bill also establishes government control over all networks created by both individuals and judicial entities. The bill obligates all users of such networks to register.

Russian official told Vedomosti that the bill does not try to make Russian Internet completely autonomous but to ensure its continuous work.
Russian MP proposes 7-year prison sentence for negligence in commercial organizations

MOSCOW, May 30 (RAPSI)  Lawmaker from A Just Russia party Oleg Mikheyev has drafted a bill fixing criminal penalties of up to 7 years in prison for negligence in commercial organizations resulted in grievous bodily harm or death, RIA Novosti reported Monday.

Current legislation on punishment for negligence does not touch officials from commercial organizations.

Under the draft law, failure to perform or improper performance of obligations leading to grievous bodily harm or death of a person would be punishable by compulsory labor for a term of up to 5 years along with deprivation of right to hold specific posts for up to 3 years or imprisonment for up to 5 years.

Negligence by officials that entailed death of two and more people would be punished with compulsory labor for a term of up to 5 years and disqualification to hold certain positions or imprisonment for up to 7 years.

The Supreme Court of Russia has reported well of the bill.
As we see a surge in inflation globally, it is now critical that everyone is aware of the implications this will have along every step of the insurance and reinsurance value chain.
With the recent announcement by Mobileye, an Israeli supplier of autopilot component, that it will provide systems for fully autonomous cars to two undisclosed automobile manufacturers in 2019, the forecasts for driverless vehicles on American roads by 2030 could soon be a fading memory - or not. Rapid technological developments are now creating an imminent reality for the American automotive consumer. In 2018, five major auto manufacturers, including Volkswagen, BMW, and General Motors, will be offering cars that operate autonomously when driven on highways, with this most recent deal enabling this functionality in all driving conditions. In the U.S., Google announced its self-driving project in 2010; in 2012, Sergey Brin, Google's founder, announced that the Google Self-Driving Car would be available to the general public in 2017.

While the technology may be arriving sooner than anticipated, the most important question remains whether this technology will be commercially successful with the U.S. consumer. The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute issued a report last week that provides some insight into answering this question. The report's authors, Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak, found that of 618 survey respondents, 46 percent prefer to retain full control while driving, with nearly 39 percent preferring a partially self-driving vehicle (with control by the driver available by choice). However, nearly 16 percent of survey respondents report that they would rather travel in a completely self-driving vehicle. Moreover, nearly two-thirds of respondents said they are moderately or very concerned about being a passenger in a completely self-driving vehicle, while about half of respondents have the same levels of concern regarding partially self-driving vehicles. Interestingly, 95 percent of all respondents want a steering wheel and gas and brake pedals available to control completely self-driving vehicles when desired.

While one-in-six American consumers having a preference for a completely self-driving vehicle may not seem like significant acceptance of this technology, one also needs to place this information in context. The cost of the first self-driving cars are estimated in the neighborhood of $100,000 each. This price tag places these vehicles in the high-end, luxury category of passenger vehicles. For auto manufacturers, this consumer acceptance figure appears to be a significant number of potential customers who would be interested in purchasing this pricey vehicle - especially in the first three-to-five years of the commercial manufacturing of self-driving vehicles. Furthermore, the fact that 95 percent of all survey respondents still want a steering wheel and gas and brake pedals in a self-driving vehicle is emblematic of the intense depth of resistance that American consumers have to giving up control of their automobiles to an artificial intelligence.

Regardless of the anticipated benefits that are anticipated to accrue from driverless vehicle implementation - and these include less time spent commuting, an increase in highway capacity, lower insurance premiums, and higher speed limits - there remain several outstanding technological issues yet to be resolved. For example, heavy rains have a tendency to interfere with laser sensors, while snowy roads can interfere with vehicle cameras. Moreover, driverless vehicle technology has difficulties interpreting human traffic signals.

Furthermore, in the public policy arena, the state-level regulation of driverless vehicles remains in its infancy. Since 2011, only four states (Nevada, Florida, California, and Michigan) and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation allowing testing of driverless cars on their roadways. Technological innovation is moving much faster than law and public policy can stay abreast. For driverless vehicles to become a commercial success, new state laws will need to be enacted in every state of America. This legislative challenge, however, remains a formidable barrier to commercialization success.

Unresolved public policy issues include serious software concerns, as to passenger and pedestrian safety and the threat of "hacking" into this latest technological example of the "Internet of Things." Another controversial issue revolves around privacy concerns; in this case, sharing data. What are the boundaries on data sharing? How are these safety and privacy issues best regulated? Finally, there are auto liability issues. In the case of an accident, is liability the responsibility of the automobile manufacturer or the car owner? Or, depending on the circumstances of the accident, would it need to be investigated as to responsibility, e.g., a technology failure due to manufacturers' fault or, for example, due to lack of normal maintenance on the part of the car owner, or some combination of shared responsibility.

With an anticipated unveiling in either 2017 (Google) or 2019 (automobile manufacturers), the window is closing fast on the potential technological reality of commercialized driverless vehicles. Yet, the combination of remaining technological barriers and an unresolved state and federal regulatory environment could likely keep wider use by interested consumers of driverless vehicles off America's roadways into the next decade.
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ATTENTIONYOU ARE BIDDING ON THE DOWN PAYMENTPLEASE REVIEW THE ENTIRE LISTING THOROUGHLY Description: Here is a NICE buildable lot on the corner of Olive Street and 4th Street in Oro Grande. Located 1/2 a mile outside Victorville city limits. There are homes all around it, several schools, a Church across the street, and a post office 1 block away. The home next door which was being remodeled when I took the pictures sold last month for $77,000. The other homes next to it are valued at around $10...

Price: $ 187 Seller State of Residence: California Property Address: Olive Street, Oro Grande Type: Homesite, Lot Zoning: Residential Location: 923**, Oro Grande, California

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Taurus USA recently announced a new sweepstakes to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the Judge. You can enter here.

Heres the rundown.

Taurus rang in the new year by celebrating the 10th anniversary of one of the most innovative revolvers in the industry, the Taurus Judge. Celebration of this milestone began earlier in the year with the NWTF Convention and Sport Show in Nashville where The Judge was the showcase at the Taurus booth. To honor this monumental firearm and its evolution throughout the decade, planned events, sweepstakes, promotions and other activities are taking place throughout the remainder of the year.

The Taurus Judge, with its versatile 410 shotshell/45 Colt platform, captured the attention of shooting enthusiasts beginning in 2006 and continues to gain momentum in the industry today. To continue celebrating the success of The Judge, firearm enthusiasts can enter the What are Legends Made of sweepstakes at www.taurus-judge.com/tour. The sweepstakes begins May 19, 2016 and runs to December 31, 2016. One grand prize winner will be walking away with a trip for two to the Taurus headquarters in Miami, a private tour of the factory, range time with champion shooter Jessie Duff, $500 Visa gift card, 5-year NRA membership, and a Taurus T-shirt and hat. Nine second place winners will receive a Taurus T-shirt, hat, $100 Visa gift card, and a 1-year NRA membership.
Abby Harmon, 27, of Knoxville, Tenn., checks her phone after being rescued from Hidden River Cave, Thursday, May 26, 2016, in Horse Cave, Ky. A group trapped by flash flooding on a field trip to the Kentucky cave Thursday walked through neck-deep water to get to safety, authorities said. (Austin Anthony/Daily News via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

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By CLAIRE GALOFARO and BRUCE SCHREINER, Associated Press

HORSE CAVE, Ky. (AP)  Gary Russell was a mile deep in a Kentucky cave Thursday afternoon, leading a group of geology students on a five-hour tour, when he turned a corner and saw water rushing by where water wasn't supposed to be.

He had no way to communicate with the outside world. He had no idea that a flash flood was pouring through the cave's passages toward them, or that dozens of rescuers were already gathering at the entrance to begin a perilous hourslong journey to rescue them.

All he knew was that water wasn't supposed to be this deep in the cave, and that meant trouble.

Russell and his group were among 19 people who escaped the flooded Hidden River Cave on Thursday afternoon. They navigated neck-deep water, rushing currents and mud so thick it sucked off the police chief's boot. It was pitch black.

"It was shooting waterfalls out of the ceiling. The walls were thundering, there was so much water moving through it," said David Foster, the executive director of the American Cave Museum at Horse Cave and a guide for 30 years, who rushed into the darkness to help with the rescue. "You just don't know what Mother Nature is capable of. There's only so much cave, and there's way more water."

The group that spent more than six hours inside the cave included Clemson University students, four tour guides and two police officers who got trapped when they tried to rescue the group, Kentucky State Police Trooper B.J. Eaton said.

There was no communication between the stranded cavers and the more than 150 emergency personnel at the scene. Authorities didn't know exactly where the missing cavers were underground, and the only light the group had came from headlamps they wore.

Heavy rains began pouring down hours after the group ventured inside, Foster said. The storm hit earlier and harder than expected, and Foster grew so worried that he decided to call authorities and trek inside to get them.

The cavers were a group of college students from Clemson University in South Carolina on a field trip to explore the water system in the cave. Russell led four of them on what was supposed to be a five-hour trip beginning at 10 a.m., and another guide had a dozen. Until Russell noticed the water, they were unaware of the rising waters threatening to block the cave's entrance, which is the lowest point and first to flood.

Hidden River Cave begins at a sinkhole, 150-feet deep, in the center of downtown Horse Cave. It has two subterranean rivers that flow more than 100 feet below ground.

As Russell tried to lead his group out, the mist grew so thick it kept fogging up one student's glasses. He could barely see and kept stumbling.

"Just imagine going hiking in the mountains at night during a rainstorm and a mudslide," Russell said. "That's what this feels like. The water was so loud, it was like a jetliner; it was roaring."

Russell and his group were surprised to find the rescuers at the cave's mouth. But the other guide's group was still unaccounted for.

Foster and Police Chief Sean Henry began working their way deeper into the cave. The water was waist high in places and rising. There's only one way out, and they knew they'd have to come back out the way they came in. At one point, Henry said he saw the water closing in behind him and wondered if he'd ever leave. He held his flashlight in one hand and radio in the other, though his radio stopped picking up a signal shortly after they entered.

They could hear nothing over the roar of the water. Foster started to doubt he'd come down the right passage. He said anxiety built like a rock in his stomach. Then they heard it: "We're here. We're OK!" The students had shouted after seeing their flashlights.

The way out was the most precarious, when they had to wade and swim through high water, Foster said. But they all made it through. They emerged about 4:30 p.m. Everyone lost was accounted for and uninjured.

"When they came out of the cave, they were neck-deep in water," Hart County Emergency Management Director Kerry McDaniel said.

"I've never been more happy to see the sunlight," Foster said. "It's such a good feeling when you get around the corner and you see the light, and you know you're going to make it out. What a relief."

___

Schreiner reported from Louisville, Kentucky. Beth Campbell in Louisville contributed to this report.
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BOSTON (AP)  The feds have a warning for beachgoers in New England during Memorial Day weekend: Don't take selfies with the seals.

Seal pupping season is underway in the region, but people who approach a seal pup on the beach can put both themselves and the animal at risk, the Greater Atlantic Region of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries said in a statement Thursday.

"There is no selfie stick long enough!" officials warned. "As tempting as it might be to get that perfect shot of yourself or your child with an adorable seal pup, please do the right thing and leave the seal pup alone."

It is normal behavior for a mother seal to leave her pup on the beach for up to 24 hours while she feeds, experts said. But if the mother sees people near her pup, she might feel it is too dangerous to return and abandon her young, with "devastating" consequences for the pup.

The statement also notes that wild animals act unpredictably and seals can leave a "lasting impression" with their powerful jaws.

"We have received reports of a number of injuries to humans as a result of getting too close to an animal during a quick photo op," officials wrote.

Experts have long warned about the dangers of swimming too close to seals in the water, since seals are a favorite food for sharks and the sharks might not distinguish between people and their intended prey.
Andreas Fuhrmann/Record Searchlight

Redding Police investigate a shooting Monday in downtown Redding near at RABA bus terminal.

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A 20-year-old Redding man was shot by motorists at the downtown RABA station on Monday afternoon, police said.

Police were called to the station at 1530 Yuba St. at about 1:30 p.m., but when they arrived, the victim was gone.

Officers later found that he was taken to Shasta Regional Medical Center for treatment for his wounds, police said.

Police contacted Tellivan Ray Jackson at the hospital emergency room. Jackson told investigators he was approached by subjects in a four-door sedan at the bus terminal. A verbal exchange ensued and shots were fired from vehicle at Jackson, police said.

Jackson was hit but his injuries were not life-threatening, police said.

Police have not found the subjects who fired the shots. Yuba Street was closed from the railroad tracks to California Street during the investigation.

Police ask anyone with information regarding this incident to contact the Redding Police Department at (530) 225-4200 or Secret Witness of Shasta County at (530) 243-2319 or www.scsecretwitness.com.
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This is the last thing Hillary Clinton needed. Two weeks before the final contests of the 2016 Democratic primary, and just 78 delegates shy of wrapping up the nomination, she wakes up to find herself once again bogged down by the email scandal that just won't go away.

But this time it's not Donald Trump piling on, it's the State Department's own inspector general, who issued a highly critical report of Clinton's by now well-known exclusive use of a private server for her emails while secretary of state. In so doing, concludes the report, contradicting what Clinton has asserted many times, she did, indeed, violate long-standing State Department rules. Not only that, she never sought permission to use her own private server, and would not have received permission if she had. And, in another violation of department rules, she failed to turn over copies of her emails upon leaving office. The report also chides her for refusing to meet with State Department lawyers conducting the internal investigation.

Suddenly the issue that seemed to fade for a while is back with a vengeance. And this is still not the last shoe to drop. An ongoing FBI investigation into whether or not Secretary Clinton committed a federal crime by bypassing the official State Department computer system is still underway. Several Clinton staffers have already been interviewed and Clinton herself may be summoned to testify. Meanwhile, a judge has ordered former top aides Cheryl Mills and Huma Abedin to testify in a civil case brought against Clinton's email practices by the right-wing legal group Judicial Watch, and says he may call on Secretary Clinton as well.

No doubt, for Clinton, resurgence of the email controversy is a serious problem. It dominates the news. It buries her message. It forces her to play defense. It raises the issue of trust. It casts a shadow of "scandal" over the entire campaign that will dog her through November 8. And, even with zero evidence of wrongdoing, it plays right into the hands of Donald Trump's characterization of "Crooked Hillary."

The tragedy is that none of this had to happen. As Clinton herself acknowledges, she made a big mistake in setting up a private server in the first place. What was she thinking? Once discovered, she made the further mistake of insisting she did it only to avoid the inconvenience of carrying around two cellphones (which almost every Washington big shot does anyway). And then she compounded her problems by dripping out her emails a few thousand at a time, instead of just dumping the whole 50,000 pages in reporters' laps and making them sort through them.

Trump and his fellow Clinton haters immediately pounced on the IG report, claiming it disqualifies her from running for president. But not so fast. A more careful reading shows just the opposite. In several respects, the State Department report actually absolves Clinton, rather than condemn her.

The inspector general finds: She was not the first secretary of state to use a private server. So did Colin Powell. Nor did she create the problem. She was just the latest to deal with the State Department's "long-standing, systemic weaknesses" with records that "go well beyond the tenure of any one secretary of state." And, most significantly, the report concludes that, while Clinton did break existing department rules, she did nothing illegal  which will come as a huge disappointment to all those who were banking on Secretary Clinton's indictment as their sole hope for winning the White House. It's not going to happen.

In other words, while Hillary's setting up her own personal email server was dumb, it was not illegal. She broke the rules, but she did not break the law.

Bottom line: It sounds a lot worse than it is. Gertrude Stein was talking about Oakland, California, when she famously observed: "There's no there, there." She could have been talking about the Hillary email scandal.

Bill Press is the host of a nationally-syndicated radio show, a CNN political analyst and author. His email address is: bill@billpress.com.
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Carl Larkin, Shasta

After reading about our sheriff's support of a revision to the state's death penalty law and also seeing his picture in your newspaper, a couple of questions as well as a personal opinion came to mind. First, I wonder if the sheriff could touch his toes or run a 50-yard dash in a reasonable time commensurate with his age, but probably not his weight.

The news conference also brought to mind the fact that we are the only so-called civilized, most powerful country in the world still executing people for criminal behavior. The only difference between us and the Saudi Arabians is they behead and mutilate people in public, but we don't have enough guts to do the same.

If our law enforcement agencies believe that capital punishment reduces crime, why do we have so many prisoners on death row in San Quentin? Hey, let's join proud Texas in its fun and delight assassinating criminals.

Well, I guess it is one way of reducing the problem of crowded jail populations.
Instead of just criticising Modi for having chickened out from unleashing tough reforms, it would be equally important to reflect on the past successive governments' failure to create a basic structure that is necessary if an exit policy were to be introduced, says A K Bhattacharya.

More than two decades ago, during the early years of economic reforms of the 1990s, the idea of an exit policy for labour was mooted and then buried quite unceremoniously.

Those keen that the P V Narasimha Rao government should speed up reforms had pressed hard on giving industry the freedom to hire and fire employees.

But Manmohan Singh, finance minister at that time, argued against the introduction of an exit policy on the ground that the country was not yet ready for such a policy.

In a country where most people consider themselves lucky to get even one job in their lifetime, it was premature to think of an exit policy.

Nobody talked of an exit policy again, at least as long as Singh was the finance minister.

Indeed, no successive government thought of reviving the idea of an exit policy.

The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had pursued privatisation quite vigorously and sold a few important public sector units like Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited and Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited to bidders from the private sector.

But it remained non-committal on the question of an exit policy. And, of course, during the United Progressive Alliance government of Manmohan Singh, there was no talk of an exit policy for the 10 years that it ruled at the Centre.

The installation of the Narendra Modi government in 2014 revived hopes of an exit policy through changes in the Industrial Disputes Act so that industry up to a certain size could sack employees without obtaining any approval from the government and other state-owned or local authorities.

For much of the first two years of the Modi government, the widely held view was that an exit policy would be brought in eventually, even though such reforms would be delayed.

That delay was attributed to the government's lack of majority in the Rajya Sabha. Even if the Lok Sabha would pass the necessary changes in the Industrial Disputes Act, the fear was that the Opposition led by the Congress could defeat such a legislative initiative in the Rajya Sabha.

Hence, the states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were encouraged to pass such labour reform laws pending a central law on the matter.

Indeed, Rajasthan moved ahead to bring in labour policy reforms and Madhya Pradesh, too, planned similar changes in the law.

But what Modi told The Wall Street Journal on the eve of his government completing two years last week is likely to force a review of all such assessments.

Modi said the policy of hire and fire was a Western idea. He went even a step further in defence of the public sector, virtually rejecting the idea of privatisation.

Many questions arise from what Modi said about an exit policy and privatisation.

If privatisation is indeed not on the government's agenda, why did the Union Budget for two successive years propose the strategic sale of public sector units?

Is there a political disconnect within the government - what the Budget proposes is not necessarily endorsed by the prime minister?

And is that why, in spite of a budgetary promise, no strategic sale has happened as yet?

Or is it a ploy of political management of unpopular decisions like privatisation? Either way, this is a deeply disturbing situation.

More importantly, why is it that the government's political leaders continue to be shy of an exit policy for labour after more than two decades of reforms, citing almost the same reason that the idea is not acceptable in India?

Surely, two and a half decades is a long time for an economy to grow strong and mature enough to recognise the importance of an exit policy for labour and absorb the adverse political impact such a move would obviously trigger.

Instead of just criticising Modi for having chickened out from unleashing tough reforms, it would be equally important to reflect on the past successive governments' failure to create a basic structure that is necessary if an exit policy were to be introduced.

That structure should have three elements: One, make the separation package for employees to be dismissed attractive.

The option for an exit by employers will thus not be easy because of the stiff compensation costs.

Two, create a proper social safety net and a well-endowed retrenchment fund that can take care of the employees that lose their jobs.

And finally, make sure that growth of jobs becomes as important a policy priority as growth itself. Merely protecting jobs does not ensure growth in jobs.

Why only Modi? No prime minister in this country can ever bring in an exit policy unless the government first fulfils these three conditions.

Photograph: Reuters
The RBI has created a stunted business model by which payment banks are supposed to shoulder the noble objective of financial inclusion without being able to make much money, says Debashis Basu.

To the great consternation of the wise men of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and proving cheerleading commentators wrong, applicants to set up payment banks are dropping out one after another.

Cholamandalam Finance, run by the level-leaded Murugappa group from the South, was the first to drop out.

Then it was the flamboyant Dillip Shanghvi and his brother-in-law Sudhir Valia, who seemed hell-bent on wasting a small part of their considerable wealth on banking - after wind farms (investing in Suzlon) and finance (Fortune Financial) - but they too have sobered up and decided to drop the payment bank idea.

Finally, Tech Mahindra, a software company, has gone out of the race.

Readers of this column will not be surprised. In November 2014, when the RBI announced that it would license a new kind of banks called payment banks, I was perhaps the lone sceptical voice in the face of this shining new idea.

One commentator declared that this is "a huge radical step toward financial inclusion".

Another saw 100 payment banks blooming - from all the telecom companies to retailers like Flipkart, Snapdeal and Reliance, or India Post, or even the Railways and oil companies.

Businessmen too were excited with the payment bank idea, as they always are, when regulators seem to open the cookie jar just a little bit to allow a few hands to dip into it.

I had no doubt that there would be many applications to start payment banks since banking is one of few businesses where demand far exceeds supply.

Even then the RBI got only 41 applications - a far cry from the 100 banks that commentators dreamt about.

But I was categorical in saying that the payment bank idea, a strange animal midwifed in the ivory towers of the RBI, was likely to be dead on arrival.

"Cold calculations show that these banks are unviable as a standalone business," I wrote in this column earlier. "Payment banks are far from being banks. One, they will make no money on the spread between deposit and investment. Indeed, on the deposit side, they will need to pay consistently higher interest to attract deposits. Two, they won't be allowed to lend, depriving them from of the main source of a bank's revenue. It's like saying, you can start a newspaper as long as you don't accept advertisements."

With three of the 11 having dropped out, RBI officials are red-faced.

Deputy Governor S S Mundhra - who has been a banker, not a theoretical expert like others in the RBI, and therefore should know better - is strangely upset.

He wishes the RBI could inflict a penalty on the dropouts like a teacher can do to class-cutting students.

No, he still does not think there is anything wrong in the structure of payments banks, as conceived by a group headed by Nachiket Mor.

What is wrong with the payments bank idea?

The RBI has created a stunted business model by which payment banks are supposed to shoulder the noble objective of financial inclusion without being able to make much money.

They also forgot that collecting deposits is only one half of "financial inclusion".

The other half is lending to those who do not have access to formal credit. But payment banks cannot lend.

They can potentially make money by charging 200 million migrant workers for payments and transfers.

Large, profitable, existing commercial banks either don't do this efficiently or loot them for this service.

But payment banks won't find it easy to execute this either, as I had pointed out.

This is because the licensing Luddites in the RBI will not allow telecom companies to use their network.

The RBI regulation does say "cash-out can also be permitted at Point-of-Sale terminal locations,"; it also says "the other financial and non-financial services activities of the promoters, if any, should be kept distinctly ring-fenced."

So, the ready network of a billion cellphone users, 90 per cent prepaid, being served by millions of touch points, cannot be used right now.

So, how will the cash from a Mumbai tax driver reach his wife in Gorakhpur?

Since nobody has explained it, I assumed it would be the same slow and terribly expensive branch network plus ATMs at existing banks.

Or it could be the Unified Payments Interface of the National Payments Corporation, which will reduce the margin on the remittance business anyway.

The whole business of banking services and payment systems is ripe for creative disruption, which will immeasurably help customers.

But then, there is the RBI standing in the way. In one part of India, mainly e-commerce, private enterprise is free to adopt the latest technologies, which has brought amazing convenience to citizens. In another part, regulators tie-up businesses in knots and then ask them to run, as has happened in case of payments banks. The payments-banks fiasco once again shows, how little has changed in the RBI under a supposedly go-getting governor.

Photograph: Reuters

The writer is the editor of www.moneylife.in
The government is banking on help from regional parties and rejigged numbers in the Rajya Sabha.

On completion of its two years in office, a euphoric Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has asserted that the goods and services tax (GST) Bill will be taken up in the monsoon session of Parliament and passed even without the help of the Congress.



The government is banking on help from regional parties and rejigged numbers in the Rajya Sabha.



Also bolstering the government's hopes was the support announced by the Trinamool Congress for the GST Bill, soon after its victory in the Assembly polls.

With 55 members set to retire from the Rajya Sabha, 15 states will be electing Members of Parliament (MPs) to the Upper House.



Incidentally, this does not include Assam, Kerala and West Bengal where Assembly polls were recently held.

Uttar Pradesh (11 seats), Tamil Nadu (six) and Maharashtra (six), Bihar (five), Andhra Pradesh (four), Karnataka (four), and Rajasthan (four) are among the states that will conduct elections to the Upper House.



The BJP has 15 MPs retiring and stands to improve its tally from 49 to 53.



Of the 13 seats the Congress will vacate, it is likely to be re-elected to nine, bringing its number down to 60. It will continue to be the single largest party in the House.

The BJP is confident that barring the Congress, most other political parties of the Opposition side will extend support to the landmark constitutional amendment for a GST.

However, J Jayalalithaa-led All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is strongly opposed to the Bill but the BJP is hopeful that the AIADMK might abstain from voting, bringing down the required two-thirds majority mark or the magic number required to pass the GST Bill.



The number required to pass the Bill in a House of 242 members is 162. Since GST is seen as inimical to Tamil Nadu's interests, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), too, would oppose the Bill in all likelihood, though the party has only six MPs.

Given the fact that even the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Left parties are not interested in opposing the GST legislation, the government is hopeful that the Bill will see the light of day.



BJP's friend-turned-foe Nitish Kumar was astute enough to state that his party - the JD(U) - would support the Bill but the onus of getting it passed was on the government.



Interestingly, both the Uttar Pradesh parties have expressed their reservations about the BJP-led government's policies but have said they will support the GST Bill, in the interest of the nation.

Given the numbers, the government would be able to get the Bill passed but it would be a close shave, unless it can bring the DMK on board.

The Congress has been demanding that the government give in to its demand of capping the GST rate and including the same in the Bill.



If the Congress continues its opposition, it would end up being isolated and risk a loss of face, if the Bill was to get cleared despite its opposition.

Senior Congress leaders concede that being the original creators of the GST, they are not opposed to it but the final call will be taken by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi.

Attacking the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government over its handling of the economy, Congress party leaders on Saturday asked it to pluck up courage to go for bold reforms, saying the party will engage with the government if it means business.



On the GST Bill, Chidambaram had said, the government has failed to engage the Congress party over the three principal objections raised by it.



"Either the government should convince us that our objections are unfounded or government must accept our objections if they are well founded and bring about amendments. Such an engagement, such a dialogue, to best of my knowledge, has not taken place across the table," he had said.

Despite the numbers being favourable, the government will have to ensure that the Congress does not disturb proceedings in Parliament, as it is an essential requirement for the passage of a constitutional amendment legislation.
'Government must strictly ban use of potassium bromate, a known carcinogen.'

It has been a rattling week for bread lovers after a study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found over 80 per cent of popular brands laced with compounds linked to cancer. Traces of potentially harmful potassium bromate and potassium iodate were found in samples taken from Delhi.

While potassium bromate, a known carcinogen, helps hold dough together, potassium iodate is used as a flavouring and maturing agent; it is also linked to thyroid disorders.

These chemicals were found not just in white bread, a category usually dissed by health experts, but in brown bread as well, besides ready-to-eat burgers, pizza bases, pavs and buns. Pramod Kumar Julka, bottom, left, former dean and professor of oncology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, tells Nikita Puri why this is a cause for concern. Excerpts:

Do CSEs recent findings worry you?

Though reports on potassium iodate leading to cancer havent been confirmed, potassium bromate was found to be a carcinogen by France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) way back in 1990.

This is also known for causing neurological dysfunctions, and hampering learning abilities - essentially our cognitive functions. Consumption of potassium bromate also leads to DNA damage, besides hearing impairments. So, yes, it worries me.

CSEs findings have to be verified and confirmed, though. It is essential to also do these tests in good labs, maybe in AIIMS.

A number of countries have banned the use of potassium bromate as a flour treatment agent, the European Union has banned potassium iodate as well. Should we follow suit?

Potassium bromate was banned way back in 1992 in other countries. And, though, the CSE report has alarming data, it should be verified. Its a good thing that the government has now banned the use of these products, at least till further tests are conducted and similar results found again.

Some reports suggest that baking the bread properly changes the bromate compound and makes it harmless by leaving no residue in the end products, is that correct?

Even if its baked properly, potassium bromate itself is a chemical carcinogen, and a carcinogen will always be a carcinogen, and itll never go away completely. Only properly conducted clinical trials can give certainty in such cases.

If the CSE report is proven and these compounds are found in our bread, the government must strictly ban the use of such compounds with immediate effect. I believe thats what the government is also considering.

According to CSE, 32 out of 38 samples were found to have potassium bromate or potassium iodate residue in the range of 1.15-22.54 parts per million, is this quantity a worry?

Generally, we dont believe in a threshold dose (the amount of drug administered that produces a detectable effect). As I always say, a poison is always a poison, even if it is taken in low doses.

There is no study that has proven that beyond a certain limit things are carcinogenic. Unless and until we have a study to prove at what quantity something is dangerous, we cannot scientifically say that.

Bread has become an essential part of many households - how do we go forward with the knowledge that our daily bread could be harmful?

We use atta bread at home, but thats likely to have potassium bromate too. The bread-making industry needs to be firmly told not to use these compounds.

I think CSE has already started doing it - it has recently said that these compounds should be banned if its being used. But, of course, these findings should be verified again.

Additionally, we need to have quantities of everything clearly listed on the packaging, something that we rarely see being done in our country. Ideally, they should write everything, like they do in the US.

Is potassium bromate used only because it is cheaper than other alternatives?

Yes, besides the fact that it is cheap, it helps solidify bread also, thats something about the baking process. But health should come first, everything else after. There should be no bromate in the bread; they should absolutely ban it.

Do we do enough tests in the country to check for chemicals in our food?

No, its really not up to the mark. There should be many more tests and clinical trials carried out even in the food industry, and there should be much more compliance with laws. This is very important because everyday we get new cancer patients.

We have 1.45 million new cancer cases, according to recent data. The numbers are increasing every year - three years ago the number was 1.1 million.

Photograph: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters
Ola and Uber have committed to spending Rs 15,000 cr to win the taxi market.

Karnataka has directed taxi aggregators such as Uber and Ola to stop operations in the state until they secure a licence from the government, triggering sharp reactions from the corporate world.

Getting a licence would mean no more surge pricing, complying with the maximum fares fixed by the government periodically and registering with local transport authorities.

If they have made some new rules for taxi aggregation, and the rules are reasonable without putting liabilities, it is fine. But they must not stop the business. Stopping the business means Bengaluru earning a bad name globally, said T V Mohandas Pai, chairman of venture capital firm Aarin Capital and a prominent business leader of the city, adding, The Siddaramaiah government will be seen as anti-innovation and anti-technology.

Karnatakas move comes days after hundreds of drivers affiliated to these taxi aggregators took to the streets to protest against what they called harassment by transport authorities that have cracked down, on the grounds that these taxis havent followed the new norms the state announced in April.

The transport department has filed around 300 cases against drivers for not complying with the rules.

Drivers have been caught in the crosshairs of the ongoing war between the state and these aggregators.

Uber and Ola had to suspend their bike taxi services after the Karnataka government said the transport rules did not have provision for two-wheelers to be used as taxis.

Karnataka, whose capital Bengaluru is Indias information technology hub and a cradle to experiment with new business models based on this, is the first state in the country to mandate a licence for app-based aggregators to operate cabs.

A note from Karnatakas commissioner for transport, late on Saturday night, said many aggregators had not obtained a licence but were operating such cabs.

Ola had given its application as late as Saturday evening, while Uber was yet to comply with the government rules, Karnatakas Transport Commissioner Ramegowda said on Sunday.

He said a meeting with Uber has been called for Monday and would change its stand if the US-based ride-hailing app complies with the state rules.

Since the past two months (after the rules were notified), we have given adequate notice for them to take the licence. They have not complied, said Ramegowda, adding, We are neither harassing nor hindering the aggregators operations in the state. What we are saying is seek a licence and operate.

Both Uber and Ola declined to comment on Sunday.

Ola and Uber, backed by private equity funds, have committed to spending as much as Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) in India to win the countrys taxi market.

They operate an asset-light business model, working to get more cab drivers to use their platform and make it easy for consumers to hail them, using a smartphone app.

The progress in Karnatakas licensing move is being keenly watched by other states as well and might have an impact on the business model of these app-based taxi aggregators.

Maharashtra has come out with draft rules mandating digital meters, end of surge pricing and registration with local transport authorities.



In Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had banned surge pricing during the two-week odd-even experiment in April, which was aimed at decongesting traffic on Delhi roads.

Uber piloted its India service in Bengaluru two years ago, while Ola, which began in Mumbai, moved its headquarters to the city to tap into the local tech talent to compete with the global firm.



Bengaluru, which is one of the largest markets for cab aggregators, has around 50,000 cabs running on its streets helping address a crucial gap in public transport.



At the same time, the surge pricing charged by cabs during peak hours has been criticised by commuters.

The security (of people) is the worry for the government. We have also received a lot of complaints against surge pricing, said Ramegowda, adding, The government is open to feedback. If the public want changes in our rules, we will accommodate them.

NAVIGATING SPEED BUMPS

2015

Oct 14: Maharashtra introduces draft rules to regulate Uber and Ola

Oct 22: Online petition against Maharashtra rules, stating it is draconian and anti-consumer

Oct 31: Uber runs an online email campaign, asking users in Mumbai to protest against govt

2016

Jan 20: Karnataka clears Rs 99-crore investment in Bengaluru for Uber tech centre

Feb 6: Uber sees outrage against surge pricing from consumers; online petition begins

Mar 4: Uber introduces UberMoto, a bike taxi service in Bengaluru; Ola follows suit

Mar 5: Karnataka says bike taxi service banned; Ola complies

Mar 11: Uber opens tech centre in Bengaluru

Mar 15: Uber suspends bike taxi after Karnataka cries foul

Apr 7: Karnataka notifies rules for taxi aggregators; introduces licensing

Apr 8: Maharashtra says it will follow Karnataka model to licence taxi aggregators

Apr 15: Karnataka says it will give nod to bike taxis; mulls rules

Apr 27: Delhi bans surge pricing during odd-even rule

May 18: Uber withdraws UberMoto, the two-wheeler service, from Bengaluru

May 26: Drivers protest against harassment from Karnatakas transport department

May 28: Karnataka tells Ola and Uber to stop services
Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh (all BJP-ruled), Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal and Kerala are among the worst performers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan of providing a soil health card to all 140 million farmer families by the end of this financial year faces bottlenecks in major agrarian states, many governed by his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

According to an assessment done earlier this month, the progress has been such that the cabinet secretary's office is directly monitoring its progress.



Officials said this was being done on a weekly basis, to ensure it met the target.

Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh (all BJP-ruled), Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal and Kerala are among the worst performers.

Karnataka is supposed to, by the end of next March, distribute 9.21 million soil health cards.



Yet, till May 10, it had fulfilled 0.7 per cent of that target. MP had to give nearly 13 mn by the same date; it has currently done a little less than a tenth of this. In UP, 26.4 mn cards have to distributed; 5.4 per cent has been done.

In Assam, Haryana, Punjab, J&K and Bengal, less than 10 per cent has been fulfilled, with 10 months to go (see chart).

In all, of the 140 mn cards that need to distributed to by March 2017, around 33 mn had till the first week of May been given or were in the process.

Many more soil samples have been collected. Normally, it takes four to six weeks for cards to be generated once a sample is collected.

The Centre says much of this delay has to do with the states being slow in releasing their share of grants, setting up of test laboratories, appointing technicians and scientists, and also in spreading awareness among farmers. It now plans to have a joint secretary to monitor each slow moving state.

To fulfill the target, close to 100 mn cards will have to distributed in the remaining 10 months and much of the work must be done by states.

"From the Centre's side, there is no laxity. We've already released all (our) Rs 500 crore but this is only 60 per cent of the total requirement, while states have to contribute their share of 40 per cent. Fund flow for setting up of labs, etc, would only come after states make their matching contribution," said a senior official.

The soil samples for the cards have to be collected twice from each field, once before the kharif season and another before rabi.



"The samples have to be collected when the fields are empty," the official explained.

Once the soil is tested on its chemical composition, the results are valid for two years.



Then, the sample has to collected from another part of the field.



With the soil health cards, a recommendation on the chemicals and fertiliser to be used will be attached, plus a suggestion on six crops which can be grown in that field, based on the composition of the soil.

The cards will also act as an identity for the farmer or land owner.



It will have the name, mobile number, khasra number, irrigation details if available, latitude and longitude details, last crop sown and the like.

However, this would not be available for those sowing on leased land.

Photograph: Reuters
This is reportedly the first time that the names recommended by a search committee have been shot down by the HRD ministry.

The human resources development ministry has rejected a panel of three names, that included HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh,

to head the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) and sought a fresh list of candidates.

According to the Mumbai Mirror, this is the first time that the names recommended by a search committee have been shot down by the HRD ministry.

A three-member search committee, headed by former IIM-A chairman and L&T CMD Anil Naik, had recommended R Seshasayee, chairman of the board of directors of Infosys, Pawan Munjal, CMD of Hero MotoCorp besides Parekh, according to official sources.

These names, which were arrived at by consensus, were forwarded to the human resource development ministry by the IIM-A administration for consideration, they said.

The ministry has rejected the names, the sources said, without elaborating. However, the Economic Times reports that the names were rejected since no government representative was present at the meetings of the search committee. There are two central government representatives and one from the state government on the IIM-As 15-member board of governors, which is headed by the chairman.

As per the memorandum of association between the IIM-A and HRD ministry, the latter selects from the names suggested by the search committee for the post.

The sources said the process for selecting a new candidate for the post has started and the ministry has sought new names, they said.

The post has been lying vacant ever since Naik stepped down as the chairman of the board of governors on December 31 last, two years before the end of his tenure. Cadila Healthcare CMD Pankaj Patel was appointed as interim chairman by the board after which a search for new chairman was initiated.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf wonders why no one objects to jokes about Rahul Gandhi, but are upset when Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar are mocked.

Stand-up comic Varun Grover was asked at the India Today conclave in March: 'Is it easier to make jokes about Rahul Gandhi or Narendra Modi?'

'Rahul Gandhi,' Grover said.

If he woke a man up in the middle of the night and only said 'Rahul Gandhi' to him, Grover said the man would start laughing.

The elite gathering assembled at the conclave laughed loudly.

I wondered then when and how Rahul Gandhi's name became a joke for us Indians, and why no one seems to mind the outpourings of 'humour' directed at him.

Or has the image of 'Pappu,' as Modi bhakts call Rahul, overshadowed the politician image he is trying so hard to cultivate?

At the India Today conclave, the gathering did not pause to think what Rahul must feel about the 'joke,' everyone laughed heartily.

Rahul was being publicly mocked by India's who's who and nobody objected.

Sniggering at the Nehru family has been elevated into some kind of bizarre comedic form.

So much so that if you type 'Rahul Gandhi' into Google, among the top suggestions the search engine has for you is 'Rahul Gandhi funny.'

Click on that and you will get any number of web posts and links making fun of the Congress vice- president.

One particular image shows Rahul saying, 'Acchey din aaney wale hain, hum naani ke ghar jaaney waley hain (the good days are coming, I am going off to my grandmother's home in Italy).'

There are any number of morphed images of Rahul; one of them shows him reading the children's magazine Champak.

This 'humour' does not stop at Rahul, but targets his mother as well.

In one link Sonia is holding her head and saying, 'Oh! Rahul is back.'

Not a day has gone by since Narendra Modi's election when 'funny' tweets about Rahul or Sonia Gandhi are not posted on social media.

What about the long arm of the law that so often takes cognisance of offensive posts and gets the 'perpetrators' arrested first and questioned later, did you ask?

Well, nobody but nobody is scared of passing along the 'humour' targeting the Nehrus that comes to them via social media, WhatsApp etc.

Naturally, I am puzzled why people are going after stand-up comic Tanmay Bhat for making fun of Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar.

Is it that in India only certain people can be ridiculed while some people are 'touch-me-nots?

Why is it that you can ridicule the Nehru family and be lauded for it, but not Tendulkar and Mangeshkar?

When I ask this, please note that I don't endorse what Bhat -- co-founder, All India Bakchod -- said, far from it.

Bhat made the video using Snapchat's popular face swap feature, morphing his face with Mangeshkar and Tendulkar and uttering puerile lines.

Unlike Varun Grover who ridiculed Rahul Gandhi in the open, Bhat created the spoof for his followers on Snapchat.

It was a private joke, if you want to call it that, unlike Grover who put down Rahul Gandhi in a televised interaction.

If you see Bhat's video you will discover it is just not funny, boring is more like it. There is nothing to laugh at because there is no humour.

The best way to handle such tripe masquerading as comedy, satire, humour or whatever you want to call it is to ignore it totally rather than getting serious about it and bring down the majesty of the law on it.

People seem to be upset at the video because Bhat ridiculed the 'touch me not' icons of India.

Say whatever you want about Rahul Gandhi, no one will file a case against you, no policeman will come to arrest you.

But when you say something about the icons of India, you will be told forcefully about the difference between 'vulgarity' and 'freedom of expression.

Anupam Kher, the self-styled defender of 'tolerant' India, tweeted: 'I am 9 times winner of #BestComicActor. Have a great sense of humor. But This's NOT humor. #Disgusting&Disrespectful.'

I wonder if Mr Kher will apply the same yardstick to the 'Pappu' jokes about Rahul Gandhi.

Such are the times in our country that no one will speak up or stand up for you if you are going through a bad patch.

So till the times change, make fun of Rahul Gandhi without fear. But spare Sachin Tendulkar and Lata Mangeshkar.
Anger is brewing within the Congress party against the central leadership after the poor show in the assembly polls. Kavita Chowdhury reports.

When a Congress veteran, who has weathered several political challenges, was asked about Rahul Gandhi's elevation to the post of party president, he compared the situation to that of a 'beehive.'

"There is a queen bee in every hive but she alone can do nothing; she cannot make honey unless the army of worker bees chip in. One person on his own cannot bring about the change. This is not the task for any single individual," said the leader.

The Congress' poor performance in the recent assembly polls has triggered voices of discontent within the party. Although nobody has directly targeted the Congress president or vice-president so far, the anger against the top leadership is palpable.

While Digvijay Singh called for a "major surgery", rather than yet another round of "introspection", Rajya Sabha member and party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi had a detailed prescription for "new, younger state faces, new Congress Working Committee, shunting out old, usual faces to advisory roles...".

Another Rajya Sabha member, a known Rahul loyalist, said: "The only thing that counts is when Rahul Gandhi will take over. That will settle the uncertainties."

The impatience of Congressmen with the party's inability to bring about organisational overhaul, pending since 2014, is visible now. In fact, a reshuffle of the All India Congress Committee was promised in 2013 at the Jaipur Chintan Shivir, when Rahul took over as vice-president.

A series of electoral setbacks since, barring the Bihar poll victory, has not only led the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party to declare a "Congress mukt Bharat" (an India without Congress), it has also raised questions within the party of an "existential crisis".

Even as arguments such as "Rahul Gandhi not being given a free hand" are dished out liberally to shield him from criticism, there is a battle raging within the party of those who want to see a change in the saddle and those who want the status quo to continue.

For one, Sonia commands fierce loyalty within the party, cutting across all sections.

Senior leaders entrenched in the party, who are used to her style of functioning and leadership, feel threatened by the prospect of a change in the top leadership.

Quiz them about it and pat comes the reply, "No, it's all about survival of the fittest."

They insist it is not about the 'old guard versus young brigade' duel but allege the real issue is the doubts on Rahul's leadership.

The unpredictability of the Gandhi scion's style of functioning has not endeared him to many within the party. Many say he's reactive rather than pro-active, leaving many Congressmen unsure of what the leadership wants.

The Congress' defeat in the Assam polls has dented Rahul's image further.

Those close to him, however, counter the "false narrative" by "defector Himanta Biswa Sarma" who projected the Congress vice-president as "an arrogant leader", who has no time or interest in regional leaders but prefers "playing with his dog".

They allege such "lies" have "marred" Rahul's image. They ask if that was the case, how come Sarma could grow to become the number two in the party's state unit. They say Sarma's "unrealistic demand" of wanting to be the chief minister could not be met.

Soon after the assembly results came, Nationalist Congress Party's Tariq Anwar said: "If Soniaji gives up her party's leadership, then it will send a wrong signal to the ruling party, giving them the sense that their pressure tactics are working. Also, such a move will demoralise Congress workers. So, she should continue to be in that slot."

The NCP insisted that the United Progressive Alliance partners had not moved away from the Congress and only someone like Sonia could bring secular forces together against the BJP's "communal juggernaut".

What hasn't helped Rahul's case is the series of decisions after 2014 that have come a cropper. Giving in the demands of the West Bengal unit, the Congress agreed to an unlikely alliance with old foe Communist Party of India in the state. However, Mamata Banerjee emerged with a larger mandate of 211 seats, bigger than 2011's 'Trinamool Congress wave' that brought her to power.

Even as he appointed young chiefs to head Pradesh Congress Committees -- Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan, Ashok Chaudhry in Bihar, Ashok Tanwar in Haryana, etc -- Rahul kept faith with octogenarian Tarun Gogoi in Assam, letting him lead the party into the crucial assembly polls despite a three-term anti-incumbency mood risk. The decision boomeranged, with fingers pointing at Rahul for alienating the younger, dynamic Sarma.

To stem the overwhelming tide of criticism, the Congress has resorted to betraying a sense of denial, questioning whether the whole poll debacle was indeed a loss of face for the party substantiating its stance, citing how the Congress bounced back after the defeats of 1977 and 1989.

Possibly warning against such complacency of his party colleagues, Salman Soz was quoted as saying: "Regional parties are entrenched and the Congress cannot take for granted that in a national election; people will automatically turn to us if Narendra Modi disappoints."

With Congress looking uncertain, desperate state unit chiefs have resorted to a bizarre test of loyalty. The West Bengal PCC has got its new MLAs to sign bonds of allegiance to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on Rs 100 stamp papers.

While this has invited ridicule from all quarters, what remains to be seen is whether Rahul will get the better of the party or if the party will get the better of him.
Twitter is a great medium for political leaders to communicate with their supporters and engage with their opponents.

Provided the tweets are coherent and sensible.

So why is the Delhi chief minister tweeting illogical stuff about the PM, asks Sudhir Bisht.

Many a leader has been making great use of Twitter to reach out to supporters and constituents. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been tweeting with much enthusiasm, so much so that his critics have stopped pointing at what he tweets, but instead focus on what Modi misses to tweet.

On May 26, Arvind Kejriwal, the most popular chief minister of Delhi, chose to attack the most popular political leader of India, Prime Minister Modi, with a series of tweets.

Ideally, one thought Kejriwal would attack the PM with facts and figures, but his tweets were devoid of logic.

His first direct tweet to Modi was:

Dear @narendramodi ji,2 years ago, u promised that Team India shall not be limited to PM but include CMs. Now u conspire to destabilize CMs

I am really stumped the Delhi CM is talking about Team India led by the PM! Everyone knows that Kejriwal has been attacking Modi on a personal level with unending vigour. Sometimes his cronies call him a Pakistan sympathiser and as if it isn't enough, his party rakes up the issue of the PM's degree.

A CM who can't appreciate even ideological opposition to his diktats expects team spirit from the man he harasses the most! Irony, or lack of logic?

Now coming down to facts, Mr Kejriwal needs to know that there were attempts to destabilise two state governments recently. One was successful and the other was not.

In Arunachal Pradesh, there was a near 50:50 split in the Congress party that led to the formation of a new government. And the government formation by Congress rebels and the Bharatiya Janata Party has been approved by Supreme Court itself.

In Uttarakhand, the Harish Rawat-led government had technically fallen when nine MLAs belonging to the Congress party voted against the state budget which Speaker Kunjwal declared as having been passed by a voice vote. A conscientious CM would have resigned then and there.

But expecting such morally correct actions from anyone in today's times is a pipedream. And Rawat is a mortal like the rest of us.

So why is Mr Kejriwal batting for the Congress party?

Is he lamenting the legitimate attempts by the Opposition to dislodge the unpopular Nabam Tuki government in Arunachal?

Is he happy that the CM of Uttaranchal survived in spite of seeming to be the central figure in the bribe-and-survive kind of politics?

Is Kejriwal supportive of a CM who says he will not interfere if his ministers enrich themselves at the exchequer's expense?

The second tweet by Delhi CM to the PM was:

Dear @narendramodi ji, 2 years ago, you promised new courts & doubling number of judges but even tears of the CJI haven't made you act

I am surprised the Delhi CM is appreciative of the Chief Justice's public display of emotions. I thought for the revered head of the Supreme Court of India, an independent and solid pillar of democracy, shedding tears doesn't exactly build the confidence of a nation.

The judiciary, which is able to upturn or reverse many administrative and even legislative decisions, can surely argue its own case for a better, more robust, infrastructure for itself.

(By the way, the law minister has already made a statement that the judiciary's demand for so many more judges isn't backed by the numbers.)

Kejriwal's third tweet to Modi was:

Dear @narendramodi ji 2 years ago, u promised education for Dalits but remained silent on Rohith Vemula's institutional murder

Kejriwal calls Rohit Vemula's suicide a case of institutional murder. What does he really want to convey?

In Vemula's death, an institution was murdered or that an institution conspired to kill him?

How is the promise to education for Dalits related to the unfortunate loss of a brilliant life?

Is education for Dalits and Rohit's death 'either-or' events? Or they are mutually related?

What exactly does the tweet say I haven't been able to fathom. And what is meant by Modi's silence?

Had he not expressed his sympathy and condolences to the victim's family? Does it end with that? Or maybe this tweet was one for the sake of a tweet?

There are many more such tweets, but just look at this one:

Dear @narendramodi ji 2 years ago u promised to reduce Non Performing Assets of Banks but allowed defaulter Vijay Mallya to flee from India

Does Kejriwal know this is the first time a government has shown the guts to tell the people of India the rot that ails PSU banks?

Is it not the first government that is setting up a specialised body to help PSU banks deal with NPAs?

How else can NPAs be reduced if not by admitting the problem and then setting up a body with a mandate to solve the problem?

What is the direct link between NPA reduction and Mallya fleeing India? And how exactly did Modi 'allow' Mallya to flee?

In yet another tweet on May 26, Kejriwal says:

Dear @narendramodi ji 2 years ago u promised corruption-free governance but are silent (like Manmohan ji) on Vyapam, Lalitgate, mallya, khadse

Can Kejriwal deny that the Modi government is corruption-free? So far, at least. And if there are instances of corruption, he should specify.

Vyapam is being investigated by the CBI on the Supreme Court's directive. Lalitgate broke out during the UPA regime and all the loans to various Mallya companies were given by PSU banks during the UPA regime.

The Khadse controversy erupted a few days ago and the Delhi CM should allow some time to see how the Maharashtra CM proceeds in the case.

The funniest tweet was this:

Dear PM sir, everyone feeling insecure. Even senior women journos facing filthiest abuses n serious threats by those who u follow

Do I need to say anything? He, the Delhi CM, is holding the PM responsible for the behaviour of the people the PM follows on Twitter!

Is this a joke or I am missing something?

So if Veerappan was alive and following @ArvindKejriwal, the Delhi CM would be responsible for the brigand's conduct?

For some strange reason Arvind didn't tag @narendramodi with this tweet.

Twitter is a great medium for political leaders to communicate with their supporters and engage with their opponents. Provided the tweets are coherent and sensible.

My advice to the Delhi CM is, being at loggerheads with leaders will not help you succeed as CM. Maybe you should learn from Harish Rawat who, in spite of all his travails and for which he may himself have been responsible, has only sent out conciliatory signals to the Centre.

I hope Kejriwal reads this. After all, I voted him into office twice.

Sudhir Bisht, author and columnist, tweets at @sudhir_bisht
The Mumbai police has initiated a probe on a complaint against comedian Tanmay Bhat's video of a mock conversation with Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar that has sparked a massive outrage with the Shiv Sena, the Bharatiya Janata Party and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena on Monday demanding action against him and AIB.

The inquiry is underway against Bhat on a complaint by Raj Thackeray's MNS, which has also threatened to beat him up. ollywood has also reacted sharply to the comedian's portrayal of the music and cricket icons with many actors slamming the video made by a member of online comedy group AIB, saying it is in poor taste.

Titled Sachin v/s Lata Civil War, Tanmay, in a video posted on Facebook on May 26, took jibes at the 86-year-old melody queen and the 43-year-old cricketing legend.

Taking strong exception to the video, the Shiv Sena asked Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take stringent action against AIB and Bhat for allegedly seeking to vitiate social harmony by mocking the national legends.

Sena leader Neelam Gorhe wrote to Fadnavis seeking action against those behind the video which she said was made by people with "deranged mentality".

"Such people try to misuse the popularity of icons like Sachin and Lata tai for their own publicity," said Gorhe. "I have also written to Mumbai police commissioner seeking action against Bhat and AIB," she said.

Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar said he has spoken to the police commissioner and sought action against Bhat and AIB. In its complaint, the MNS demanded that the video uploaded by him be removed immediately.

DCP (Operations) Sangramsingh Nishandar said the inquiry is being conducted by special branch of the city police.

The inquiry was initiated after Shelar complained about the issue to city Police Chief Datta Padsalgikar.

Expressing disgust at the video, Central Board of Film Certification of India Pehlaj Nihlani said, Banning this character (Bhat) in Maharashatra is not enough. Lataji and Sachin Tendulkar dont belong to Maharashtra only. They are a part of every Indians life. This fellow has insulted every Indian. He should be arrested immediately without any further delay and dealt with severely.

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar too expressed disgust at the AIB antic.

I couldnt see the whole video when someone sent it to me. I was sickened. To say things such as You are 500 years old you should die to Latajichee chee! Who finds this funny? Its downright morbid. Criminal cases must be registered against those who have done this.

With inputs from Subhash K Jha

Image: A screen grab from Tanmay's video
Ahead of a high-level Sino-US dialogue, China on Monday accused the Pentagon of clinging to cold war mentality and attempting to stage a Hollywood blockbuster by deploying its modern weapons in the South China Sea to terrify Beijing.

In an angry reaction to US Defence Secretary Ashton Carters remarks that Chinas actions could erect a Great Wall of self-isolation in the South China Sea, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told media that Carters remarks reflected typical American style thinking and hegemony.

Although we have entered 21st century, some people in US still keeps the cold war mentality and cook up stories and seek or even create rivalry world wide, she said.

This time they have focus their aim at Asia Pacific with the purpose of deploying large amount of advanced weapons in the region by creating excuses, she said.

I want to say that in a globalised world today the cold war mentality will lead nowhere and yield no result. China has no interest in form of cold war and has no interest in playing a part in the Hollywood blockbuster directed by people form the US military. China will firmly oppose and we will not deter and terrified by any action that may damage Chinas territorial sovereignty and security, she said.

Last week, Carter while addressing a graduation ceremony at Naval Academy in Maryland said Chinas military expansion in the SCS poses a growing risk to the regions prosperity and its actions could erect a Great Wall of self-isolation.

Instead of helping sustain those very principles and systems that have served all of us so well and for so long, instead of working toward the, quote, win-win cooperation that Beijing publicly says it wants, China plays by its own rules undercutting those principles, he said.

The result is that Chinas actions could erect a Great Wall of self-isolation, Carter said.

China claims all but most all of the SCS which is vehemently disputed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.

US waded into the region by sending naval ships and aircraft to assert freedom of navigation around an artificial islands built by Beijing in the region to beef-up its claims.

The US-China spat over the SCS came as top officials of both the countries will gather here for the eighth China-US Strategic and Economic Dialogue and the seventh China-US High-Level Consultation on People-to-People Exchange to be held on June 6 and 7.

The S&ED will be co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and State Councilor Yang Jiechi along with US Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, another spokesman of the Chinese foreign ministry, Lu Kang said.

The CPE will be co-chaired by Vice Premier Liu Yandong and Kerry.
Amid reports of souring ties, President Pranab Mukherjee visited Beijing for three days last week. On his return to India, hopes of better ties have arisen, says senior correspondent R Rajagopalan, who travelled with the President to the Asian superpower.

IMAGE: President Pranab Mukherjee and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

President Pranab Mukherjees visit to China from May 24-27 eclipsed the symbolism that is most often associated with presidential visits.

Insiders within the Presidents Estate and the Prime Ministers Office confided that both the President and prime minister, though they hold different views -- given their background before they rose to the current positions -- the two have been able to find amicable solutions to vexing issues such as Indias entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the boundary dispute.

A politician who was part of Pranab Mukherjees delegation to China, said, In every handling there is bound to be a contradiction. But surviving with opposite views is democracy. Issues which are pertinent cannot be resolved overnight. It takes years and decades to get nearer to solutions.

Being part of the media delegation, it was interesting to note that at the banquet hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping in honour of the Indian President at the Great Hall of the People, Jinping was a quiet listener.

When I asked President Mukherjee on the return journey about the visit, a very emotional Pranab replied, Jinping listened to me. He has a deep understanding of each subject; hes very knowledgeable and has a versatile personality.

Such interactions are bound to bring about a calming effect to the Indo-Sino ties when Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes up the same issues in the future.

The stage was set for these talks by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary Jaishankar, said a security expert who was a member of the delegation.

The Chinese leadership attached much significance to Pranabs three-day visit, especially Mukherjee and Jinpings one-hour talk wherein issues were discussed at length, including topics such as economy, terrorism, education and people to people contact.

Chinese diplomats, who were privy to the talks, are now ready to discuss future strategies with India. In fact, Pranabs visit to Beijing has brought about a soothing effect to the souring ties.

Manoj Joshi, a defence analyst, is of the opinion that the government used Pranabs visit to convey to Beijing that despite the recent hiccups in the ties relating to the Uighur visas, the Masood Azhar controversy, and the NSG contretemps, India attaches great importance to its relations with China and seeks a cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship at all times.

Siddharth Varadarajan, a foreign affairs expert, says India sought Chinas cooperation at the United Nations in the fight against cross-border terrorism and called on Beijing to play a positive role in ensuring a predictable environment for Indias pursuit of nuclear energy -- code word for Indias entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the rule-setting cartel of nuclear exporters whose norms the Indian side is committed to implementing without having a say in their formulation.

IMAGE: President Pranab Mukherjee meets with China's Premier Li Keqiang during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

In fact, President Pranab Mukherjee raised these two hot-button issues in his talks with President Jinping on May 26, his last formal dialogue in a four-day visit to China that took him to Guangzhou and Beijing, but did so in a manner that Indian officials said was intended to be constructive rather than confrontationist.



K P Nayar, a senior diplomatic analyst, commented that by recalling Indias role in the transition from General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to World Trade Organization, Mukherjee subtly reminded the Chinese that they owe India some repayment. Jawaharlal Nehru had campaigned unceasingly for Chinas admission to the United Nations by replacing Taiwan, but Nehru never used it as an IOU with Beijing.



Mukherjees willingness -- with Modis blessings, no doubt -- to remind the Chinese about Indias effort to get Beijing into the WTO has a big element of pragmatism to policy at a time when diplomacy is increasingly transactional.



Given the expectations, the presidential programme in China went through smoothly.



The Presidents visit started with Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province which has played a key role in Chinas economic development, accounting for around 10 per cent of Chinas GDP.



Guangzhou was chosen as a destination because of its historical connection with India as well as its important role in economic as well as people-to-people exchanges with India.



During President Pranab Mukherjees stay in Guangzhou, he had a meeting with Hu Chunhua, secretary of the provincial committee of the Chinese Communist Party of Guangdong, Zhu Xiaodan, governor of the Guangdong province, and Jiang Zengwei, chairman of China Council for Promotion of International Trade.



The Chinese leaders conveyed their strong interest in promoting business and people to people ties with India, especially the state of Gujarat with which they have a sister-province relationship. They enquired about various development initiatives launched by India and conveyed their willingness to play a leadership role in enhancing trade and investment ties.



President Mukerhjee also addressed a large assembly of the Indian community who had gathered from different parts of China and Hong Kong. He urged them to serve as unofficial ambassadors of India and to do their utmost to strengthen our Closer Development Partnership programme as well as promote people to people understanding.

President Mukherjee was received with great warmth and friendship by President of the Peoples Republic of China, Xi Jinping; Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang, and Zhang Dejiang, Chairman of the National Peoples Congress in Beijing.

In addition to the banquet in the Great Hall, President Mukherjee delivered a keynote address at the historic and prestigious Peking University and attended a round table between vice chancellors and heads of institutions of higher learning of the two countries. This was the first such interaction organised in this format between the two countries in the important area of academic exchanges.

Ten memorandums of understanding providing for enhanced faculty and student exchanges as well as collaboration in research and innovation were concluded between the higher education institutions of the two countries.



When it comes to interactions with the Chinese leadership, it was multi-faceted and comprehensive and was conducted in a warm, friendly and cordial as well as candid manner. Discussions were wide-ranging and covered various areas of mutual interest.

The Chinese leaders fondly remembered their recent visits to India and conveyed their conviction that this state visit would provide a new impetus to the development of bilateral relations.

There was deep appreciation of the role played by high-level visits in enhancing mutual understanding and political trust.



During the numerous talks, it emerged that there was convergence of views that India and China as two major powers must have greater strategic communication and work together in an uncertain global situation where economic recovery was fragile, geo-political risks were growing and the menace of terrorism proving to be a threat to the whole world.



President Mukherjee conveyed that India and China should join hands not just in the interests of the people of the two countries but also for the good of the whole world.

On discussions on trade, India welcomed greater Chinese investment especially in flagship programmes such as 'Make in India', 'Digital India', 'Skill India', and 'Smart Cities'.

Terrorism was another important topic with President Mukherjee conveying to Chinese leaders that there is universal concern over growing acts of terrorism.

IMAGE: President Mukherjee garlanding the bust of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, at Peking University, in Beijing, China. Photograph: Press Information Bureau



While speaking at the banquet, President Mukherjee had said, India has been a victim of terrorism for around three and a half decades. There is no good terrorist or bad terrorist. Terrorism respects neither ideology nor geographical boundaries. Wanton destruction is its only aim.



He added that comprehensive cooperation by all countries of the world is essential to tackle the global menace. The international community must engage in strong and effective action. As close neighbours, India and China should work together, he said.



The Chinese leadership agreed that terrorism was a menace to the entire human race and conveyed their willingness to enhance cooperation, including in the United Nations.



They also conveyed their resolve to seek a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable resolution of the boundary question at an early date.



President Mukherjee agreed with the Chinese leadership that while the two countries continue to engage in seeking an early resolution of the boundary question, they must improve border management and ensure that peace and tranquillity are maintained in border areas.



Noting that China is as keen as India to take bilateral relations forward, President Mukherjee returned to India with the conviction that we must jointly impart new momentum to this defining partnership of the 21st century.

Now it is a waiting game to see if the dialogue is taken further at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou in September and the BRICS summit in Goa in October.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday nominated Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Andhra Pradesh, where he has been assured of ruling Telugu Desam Partys support, and would field noted journalist M J Akbar from Madhya Pradesh and party vice president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe from Maharashtra for the biennial polls.

Party's general secretary Ram Madhav, whose name was doing rounds as a contender, is not among the six candidates with sources saying he is likely to get a bigger responsibility in the organisation following a rejig expected soon.

Other BJP candidates are Vikas Mahatme from Maharashtra, Shiv Pratap Shukla from Uttar Pradesh and Mahesh Poddar from Jharkhand.

It had on Sunday released the first list of 12 candidates. Shukla is a senior party leader from UP where the party wanted to field a Brahmin face, a key support base of the BJP, ahead of the assembly polls next year. Poddar is a senior party leader from Jharkhand.

Madhav, who played an important role in the BJP's win in Assam and earlier in Jammu and Kashmir, had said in a tweet on Sunday that he would not be a candidate from Andhra Pradesh, as speculated.

A senior party functionary said Madhav had opted out of the Rajya Sabha candidacy.

Another general secretary Anil Jain was also a contender from a seat from Madhya Pradesh but Akbar, who represents Jharkhand in the Upper House, was preferred.

Sahasrabuddhe heads a think tank affiliated to the party and is also in charge of party affairs in Madhya Pradesh. Prabhu currently represents Haryana in the Upper House but was shifted to Andhra Pradesh after ally TDP accepted its request.

Union Ministers M Venkaiah Naidu, Birender Singh, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were among the 12 candidates whose names were announced on Sunday.

Elections for the 57 seats will be held on June 11 and on Tuesday is the last date for filing nominations. Bypoll for one seat in Gujarat will also be held the same day. It had fallen vacant following the death of Congress member Pravin Rashtrapal.

While 14 BJP members are retiring, its increased strength in states such as Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand is likely to help all its 18 candidates sail through.
The Shiv Sena on Monday slammed the Congress for fielding former Union minister P Chidambaram from Maharashtra for the Rajya Sabha poll, saying the party has "damaged itself by foisting him on the state".

An editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana noted that the Enforcement Directorate has sent Letters Rogatory (judicial requests) to UK and Singapore in connection with its money laundering probe in the Aircel-Maxis deal case and parallel investigations in the financial transactions of some companies belonging to friends of former Finance Minister P Chidambaram's son Karti.

"It has also been alleged that Chidambaram amended the affidavit to drop references to Ishrat Jahan's Lashkar-e-Tayiba link, in order to prove the 'human bomb' of LeT innocent," the editorial said.

"Considering all this, the Congress has damaged itself by foisting Chidambaram on Maharashtra. The answer to the question whether wisdom will dawn on Congress has come in the negative," it said.

"Whom to nominate for Rajya Sabha is its (Congress') internal issue. But Congress has sinned in fielding Chidambaram, who has no place left in Tamil Nadu," it said.

While Karti has denied any wrongdoing and has reiterated his cooperation with probe agencies, his father P Chidambaram had accused the government of a "malicious onslaught" launched by it against his family.

"All said and done, senior leaders enter the House of Elders. Two lawyers, Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal were nominated to defend the Congress, but has the Congress left anything (to defend) in the country," the Sena asked.

The duo's entry into Rajya Sabha won't make much of a difference as the Congress is helpless before the barrage unleashed by Subramanian Swamy, it said.

"More than defending the Congress, the duo's candidature seems to have been finalised for defending Sonia and Rahul Gandhi," the Sena said.
India on Monday continued its damage control exercise in the wake of string of assaults on African nationals with Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar assuring that safety and security of the community is an "article of faith" for the government even as a cab driver was beaten up allegedly by a group of Africans, in an apparent backlash.

Jaishankar met a group of African students who raised their concerns over host of issues including better security in the wake of the killing of Congolese national Masonda Ketada Oliver and cases of assaults against the community.

"Foreign secretary to students: Ensuring safety and security of foreign students is an article of faith for us," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

The issues raised by the African students, which were part of a world students body, included visa issues, problems in getting accomodation and the need for sensitising police force while dealing with them.

On his part, Jaishankar assured them that India shares their concerns and will take steps to address the problems being faced by them.

Separately, Joint Secretary (West Africa) in the MEA Birender Yadav received the family of Masonda Ketada Oliver at the airport and gave the assurance that government would ensure a speedy trial in the case and prosecution of all those responsible for the crime.

The MEA told the family that it would bear all expenses related to dispatch of mortal remains of Oliver, Swarup said. He said that the family members thanked the Indian government for its assistance. Later, the family accompanied by Congo Ambassador met Yadav at his office.

Meanwhile, in an apparent backlash, a cab driver was beaten up allegedly by a group of Africans in the wee hours in south Delhi's Rajpur Khurd, the locality in which African nationals were attacked by groups of locals in four separate incidents last week.

The incident took place around 4 am when the cab driver, identified as Nuruddin, went to pick up passengers from Rajpur Khurd in Mehrauli.

The police had on Sunday arrested five people for their alleged involvement in attacking the African nationals.

IMAGE: Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar with a group of African nationals. Photograph: Vikas Swarup/Twitter
'Well begun is half done, today there are more hits than misses by the Modi government in its support towards science in India,' says Pallava Bagla.

Is the glass of science half-full or half empty by way of support for science and technology-related activities in the first two years of the Narendra Modi government?

Half-full would be a more appropriate phrase, but holes due to a lack of legislative business are draining the gains that could have actually accrued faster.

There can now be no doubts that the Modi government, which completed two years in office, believes in the intrinsic value of supporting India in science and technology.

Being a right-leaning government, there were many apprehensions that the National Democratic Alliance dispensation would put roadblocks to the development of modern science with its leaders probably harping more on old Hindu philosophy and glories of India as a powerhouse in ancient Vedic times.

While some of that did take place, by and large, the focus has remained on how to mainstream the benefits accruing from indigenous innovation to the common person.

Early in his term, almost within a month, Modi himself set the tone when he was sighted at the Indian space port to witness the launch of a rocket and then he gave a stirring speech from there on June 30, 2014 on the launch of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, where he called the Indian scientific community 'brilliant.'

This was the first time the erstwhile 'chaiwallah' Modi used a teleprompter in the public as prime minister and showed that he could woo India using modern technology. In quick succession, he also embraced and engaged with the nuclear scientists and the agriculture community.

That the government withstood two back-to-back failed monsoons and did not let the spirits of the Indian public fall showed that 'policy paralysis' was a thing of the past.

To Modi's credit, he has appointed as ministers for science politicians who have a deep understanding of the sector. The first science minister was Jitendra Singh, a specialist on diabetes who has published several books on medical science.

In a reshuffle in November 2014, Harsh Vardhan, a soft-spoken, well-meaning politician who connects easily with mercurial Indian scientists, was brought in as the Cabinet minister for science. A junior minister in Y S Chowdary, an industrialist-turned-politician, was also sworn in.

Since then, Dr Vardhan, whose first love is undoubtedly health and a man better known for eradicating polio from India, has relentlessly toured many laboratories to pump up the morale of the scientists.

To take stock of the living conditions of scientists, Dr Vardhan even spent a night on India's research ship Sindhu Sadhana, cruising the depths of the Arabian Sea. A man of deep convictions, he is probably the only minister who says 'he prayed that a scientific forecast by his own ministry would go wrong' after the India Meteorological Department had predicted a drought in 2015.

Gods did not favour him then, but, hopefully, his prayers that 2016 be a good monsoon year come true.

Modi has earned the wrath of high-ranking Indian boffins since, much to the annoyance of many top Indian scientists, he has all but abandoned the high profile Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, even though the outgoing chairman of the SAC-PM C N R Rao had openly endorsed Modi by saying, 'He is definitely a man with vision, there is no question that he wants to do something. We hope he will not only use good advice and all the wonderful ideas he has. He is obviously a doer when you listen to him; there is nothing wrong in what he says. What Modi says is perfect.'

It's a rare endorsement from a scientist who has had a long-long innings with Congress-led governments. It is not as if all has been hunky-dory under the Modi-Vardhan combination, there are several important S&T related legislations that are lying in cold storage that need to be passed soon.

The National Biotech Regulatory Authority Bill has been pending for a long time and there is no sign of it seeing the light of day. As a consequence, application of biotechnology is suffering since the government is unwilling to take a decision on releasing more genetically modified varieties of crops into the farmer's fields.

Dr Vardhan also needs to clarify once and for all if he wants the Indian biotech industry to grow by $20 billion (Rs 134,000 crore) a year or by $10 billion (Rs 67,000 crore).

Similarly, the Human DNA Profiling Bill seems to have been still born.

On the money front, scientists in India were preparing for the worst a drastic cut in the budgetary allocations. However, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley surprised them in 2016 by being benevolent and has given the ministry of science and technology a Rs 811 crore (Rs 8.11 billion) increase in the central plan outlay, as compared to the last fiscal, which represents an upswing of about 11 per cent.

The Department of Biotechnology came out getting a Rs 193 crore increase, which represented a 12 per cent increase over the last fiscal.

The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, which also accommodates the massive Council of Scientific and Industrial Research having a network of 37 labs, came worst off with an almost flat budget.

Even then, there was also reason for some huge relief since in 2015, at a meeting in Dehradun of all directors of CSIR, Dr Vardhan had pushed through a proposal that 'all CSIR labs to make efforts to be self-financing in next 2 years.'

This had sent shock waves among the 16,000 staff, who felt that the CSIR would soon become a low-cost contract research organisation and the lofty goals of doing 'blue sky research' could be given a go by.

Scientists like Syed Hasnain, a biotechnologist at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, say "high profile medical research facilities like the Indian Council of Medical Research have declared a research holiday since no funds are available."

In contrast, Health Minister J P Nadda says there is no shortage of funds for the health sector, but it is a lack of timely utilisation that bothers him.

No doubt that Modi is a space buff and it was at Sriharikota on June 30, 2014, that Modi mandated the Indian Space Research Organisation to make a 'SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Satellite' for use by our neighbours as a gift from India, a proposition that even took the then ISRO leadership by complete surprise.

Modi's good intentions were put paid as, in less than two years, the satellite was renamed South Asia Satellite as Pakistan refused to back this initiative. However, ISRO forges ahead and hopes to launch the friendly communications satellite by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, at less than Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) and using just seven satellites in orbit, ISRO has given India the satellite-based navigation system or Navigation with Indian Constellation.

Most recently, a few days before the Modi government's second birthday, ISRO successfully launched a 'swadeshi space shuttle,' a technology that promises to lower launch costs by 10 times.

In less than 60 days of assuming office as prime minister on July 21, 2014, Modi himself flew into India's main nuclear facility, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai, to take stock of the country's nuclear capabilities.

Usually, PMs are quietly briefed about India's prowess in this area, but to make sure the world knows that he has his fingers firmly on India's nuclear trigger Modi spent a whole afternoon inside BARC.

Modi expressed his strong appreciation for the Indian scientific community's extraordinary achievements. Despite this unique visit, the Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority bill has not been taken up by the government with the right earnest, even though other amendments that needed to be made for commercial use of nuclear energy have sailed through Parliament.

Modi has also not been able to ink any deal to buy and instal any foreign atomic reactors in India.

At the same time, the high-profile 'Make in India' programme has left many scientists confused on what will then happen to 'Made in India,' towards which the science ministry needs to upgrade its science, technology and innovation policy, which remains a work in progress.

Experts have said that unless Indian scientists discover and innovate in India, 'Make in India' would remain a mere slogan.

Buck up Mr Modi, your time is fast running out, the honeymoon period is over and the Indian public seeks deliverables.

Well begun is half done, today there are more hits than misses by the Modi government in its support towards science in India.

IMAGE: The PSLV C31 takes off. Photograph: ISRO
Congress leader V Narayanasamy on Monday called on Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi and formally staked claim to form government in the Union Territory.

He was elected leader of the 15-member Congress legislature party on Saturday. The party also has support of two-member Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the 30-member assembly.

After meeting Bedi at Raj Nivas, Narayanasamy said he had submitted a letter to the LG regarding his unanimous election as Congress legislature party leader and requested her to invite him to form the government.

He said he also presented the letter of support from the DMK to the Lieutenant Governor.

Narayanasamy had on Sunday called on DMK president M Karunanidhi at Chennai and obtained the Dravidian party's letter of support for forming the government.

Narayanasamy said he along with Puducherry PCC president Namassivayam would go to New Delhi later in the day and meet AICC president Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi.

"Very soon the new government would be formed", he said.

69-year-old Narayanasamy, who had served as Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office in the second United Progressive Alliance government after being MoS, Parliamentary Affairs, in UPA-I, did not contest the May 16 assembly polls and will now have to seek election to the legislature in a bypoll.

A law graduate, Narayanasamy did legal practice for more than 10 years and jumped into active politics in 1985.

He was a member of Rajya Sabha for three terms.
Up to 700 migrants, including 40 children, are feared to have died this week while crossing the Mediterranean, based on the accounts that survivors told aid workers once they reached safety.

IMAGE: Migrants are seen on a capsizing boat before a rescue operation by Italian navy ships "Bettica" and "Bergamini" off the coast of Libya in this handout picture released by the Italian Marina Militare on May 25, 2016. Photograph: Marina Militare/Handout/Reuters

This even as rescue ships saved thousands of others from Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks in daring operations.

Almost 100 migrants are missing from a smugglers' boat which capsized last Wednesday. About 550 other migrants are missing from a boat which overturned on Thursday morning after leaving the Libyan port of Sabratha on Wednesday. Survivors said the boat had no engine and was being towed by a second smuggling vessel.

In a third shipwreck on Friday, 135 people were rescued, 45 bodies pulled from the water and an unspecified number of others are missing.

The latest drownings -- which would push the death toll for the year to more than 2,000 people -- are a reminder of the cruel paradox of the Mediterranean calendar: As summer approaches with blue skies, warm weather and tranquil waters prized by tourists, human trafficking along the North African coastline traditionally kicks into a higher gear, The New York Times reported.

IMAGE: A dead body is disembarked from the Italian Navy vessel Vega at the Reggio Calabria harbour, southern Italy, May 29. Photograph: Antonio Parrinello/Reuters

Humanitarian organizations say that many migrant boats sink without a trace, with the dead never found, and their fates only recounted by family members who report their failure to arrive in Europe.

"It really looks like that in the last period the situation is really worsening in the last week, if the news is confirmed," said Giovanna Di Benedetto, a spokeswoman for Save the Children, which provides assistance to children who make the journey.

And still the migrants kept coming. Another 668 people were plucked from the sea Saturday, the coast guard said.

"This week has been the most intense this year and one of the busiest ever," Giovanna said.

We are doing our best, but the landings are happening simultaneously in many different ports, and we are seeing lots of children traveling alone.

IMAGE: Migrants are helped as they disembark from Italian navy ships "Bettica" in the Sicilian harbour of Porto Empedocle, Italy. Photograph: Antonio Parrinello/Reuters

Because the bodies went missing in the open sea, it is impossible to verify the numbers who died. Humanitarian organizations and investigating authorities typically rely on survivors' accounts to piece together what happened, relying on overlapping accounts to establish a level of veracity.

Italy's southern islands are the main destinations for countless numbers of smuggling boats launched from the shores of lawless Libya each week packed with people seeking jobs and safety in Europe. Hundreds of migrants drown each year attempting the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on an official visit to Switzerland and Mexico next week, the External Affairs Ministry announced on Monday.

These visits would be part of Modi's five-nation trip beginning June 4 which will also cover Afghanistan, Qatar and the United States. The MEA has already formally announced prime minister's visit to Qatar and the US.

Modi will visit Switzerland on June 5-6, the MEA said, adding with growing bilateral trade and foreign investment, India and Switzerland enjoy strong economic ties.

"During the stay, Modi and Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann will hold discussions on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interest," the MEA said.

The prime minister will also be travelling to Mexico on a brief working visit on June 8 at the invitation of Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Asserting that bilateral relations between India and Mexico have witnessed renewed vigour and activity in the last two years, the MEA said the main objective of Modi's visit would be to carry forward the momentum in the bilateral relations and discuss cooperation in areas such as space, energy, agriculture and science and technology among others.

The two leaders will also be discussing various multilateral issues during the visit, it added.
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to quash anticipatory bail of actor-producer Rahul Raj Singh, accused of abetting the suicide of TV actress Pratyusha Banerjee, saying the last conversation between the two shows they were "intensely in love with each other".

A vacation bench of justices P C Ghose and Amitava Roy refused to entertain the petition of Pratyusha's mother Soma Bannerjee saying there was no strong and compelling ground to cancel the anticipatory bail granted to Singh.

"The last conversation between the two shows that they were intensely in love with each other. Without any strong and compelling grounds, anticipatory bail cannot be cancelled. If the probe agency finds during investigation that it is a case of section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and accused needs to be taken into custody, it can move to the high court," the bench said.

The court said that there was no suicide note also to attribute any role to the accused.

Counsel for Pratyusha's mother said that custodial interrogation of Singh is required, as there are discrepancies in the investigation and he may tamper with evidence.

The bench, however, dismissed the petition as withdrawn. Earlier, this month, the mother of the TV actress, who was found dead at her residence in Mumbai in mysterious circumstances, had moved the apex court seeking to cancel anticipatory bail granted by the Bombay high court to Singh.

In her plea, she had said that Singh should be taken into custody as the investigation is still on in the case and there is likelihood that evidence could be tampered by him.

It was contended that there were several deep injury marks on the body of the deceased and panchnama had several discrepancies.

The high court had on April 25 granted anticipatory bail to Singh who has denied the allegations levelled against him. The police had earlier filed a report before the high court in which it had alleged that Singh, who was staying with Pratyusha at a flat in Goregaon in Mumbai, used to assault her and borrow money from her.

The Balika Vadhu fame actress was found hanging at her residence in Goregaon on April 1 and was rushed to a hospital by Singh in Andheri where she was declared dead.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has assured help to a Pakistani teenaged girl, living in Jaipur for the last two years, in realising her dream of becoming a doctor.

Nineteen-year-old Mashal Maheshwari, who moved to Jaipur from Hyderabad in Pakistan's Sindh province two years ago along with her parents, both of whom are doctors, wants to study medicine but could not sit for the medial entrance test as she is a Pakistani national.

Mashal, a Hindu, had scored 91 per cent marks in her CBSE class XII examination this year. She was not allowed to appear for the All India Pre Medical Test as only NRIs and Persons of Indian Origin are allowed to take the test.

After getting to know about Mashal's story, Swaraj reached out to her and assured that she will help her realise her dream.

"Mashal, don't be disappointed my child. I will personally take up your case for admission in a Medical College," Swaraj tweeted.

An ecstatic Mashal said she was very happy that the external affairs minister has taken up the issue.

"I am really very happy that the external affairs minister has assured me of support in getting admission in a medical college. I am thankful to her," she said.

Mashal said the AIPMT form accepts only two categories of aspirants -- either Person of Indian Origin or NRI, besides Indians. She said her parents cannot afford her education in a private college as they demand donation.

Earlier, she had appealed to the government officials to intervene and find a solution to the issue.

"My parents are doctors and I would also like to become a doctor. My dream is to save lives and serve people," said Mashal.

Image: Mashal Maheshwari. Photograph: ANI_News/Twitter
Vice Admiral Girish Luthra on Monday succeeded Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command.

Vice Admiral Lanba, who will proceed to New Delhi to take over as the Chief of Naval Staff on Tuesday, handed over the command to Luthra at a ceremonial parade in Mumbai on Monday morning.

Addressing command officers and sailors, Lanba said securing marine time environment was on the top of list, while commanding to maintain highest faith of honour.

The enormous task of heading the command has been made possible due to the professional and whole-hearted efforts of all the command members, he said.

There is a requirement for all Navy personnel to work smart since there is manpower shortage and it is expected to continue over next few years, he said.



Lanba said during his tenure he focussed on improving the life of all marine communities.

Before taking over as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Command, Vice Admiral Luthra served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Naval Command.

Luthra was commissioned in the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy in July, 1979.

He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy in Pune, the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington and Naval Command Naval War College, US.

His important staff appointments include Deputy Naval Attache to High Commission of India at London, Principal

Director Naval Plans, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Policy & Plans), Director General of Naval Operations and Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations).

Luthra was awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2012 and Vishisht Seva Medal in 2008.

Image: Vice Admiral Girish Luthra receives the guard of honour after taking charge as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command. Photograph: Sahil Salvi
Vice President Hamid Ansari on Monday embarked on a five-day visit to Morocco and Tunisia as part of efforts to build on diplomatic gains from the India-Africa Summit and lay platform for a future partnership.

This is the first visit by an Indian Vice President in 50 years to the two nations.

The Vice President will discuss with leaders of the two north African countries issues of terrorism, UN Security Council expansion and investments in private sector, as well as ways to strengthen outreach to Africa and regional matters.

Ansari will be in Morocco till June 1 at the invitation of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane and the two leaders would jointly launch the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Rabat, the External Affairs Ministry said.

During the visit, a number of MoUs will be signed in areas like education, IT and communication technology sectors, focusing on "capacity building and cultural exchange".

In the second leg of his tour, Ansari will visit Tunisia from June 2-3.

Ansari's visit "will build on diplomatic gains" from the India-Africa summit and "we have chosen these two countries as they are great examples of democracy", Secretary (Economic Relations) in the MEA Amar Sinha had said.

The King of Morocco had set the ball rolling when he came here in October, Sinha said. The New Delhi Summit -- of which Morocco's King Mohammed VI was the first confirmed guest -- was the largest political conference in modern history connecting Indian and African leaders.

He said it is the first high-level visit to the African country after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee went there in 1999.

"At the level of Vice President the visit comes after 50 years," he had said, noting that it is the 50th year of Morocco's independence.

"Hello Africa, Tell me how are you doing?" will be India's motto for the continent, he had said, adding, there will be a series of visits by Indian leaders to Africa in the coming days.

The two countries are important for India as it shares economic relations with them and the visit will help in building contemporary relationship between these two countries and India.

Both the countries are looking forward to the visit as they are key partners in food security and fertilisers and investments in private sector.

"Our car and truck manufacturers are looking at prospective markets," he said.

While Morocco's trade with India is "substantial", there is scope for increasing it with Tunisia. "Morocco is a developing destination for Indian film industry," he said.

The visit to Morocco intends to further strengthen cordial relations between the two countries, develop and diversify profile of bilateral economic cooperation and explore new avenues of cooperation and partnership on a wide range of issues of shared common interest, the MEA said.

The Vice President would hold discussions in Rabat with King Mohammed VI and Prime Minister Benkirane.

Speakers of both Houses of Moroccan Parliament and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation would call on Ansari who would also visit the city of Marrakesh where he would be hosted by the Governor.

The Vice President would meet leading intellectuals and Imams of Morocco as well as deliver a talk at Mohammed University in Rabat. Members of Indian Diaspora will also interact with the Vice President in the Moroccan capital.

Ansari will later head to Tunisia, with which India has cordial bilateral relations, for his June 2-3 visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Habib Essid.

During this visit, further avenues of cooperation in various areas of growth would be discussed.

"The economic cooperation between the two countries is deepening with Indian investments in phosphate sector," the MEA said.

The Vice President will hold discussions in Tunis with Essid and President Beji Caid Essebsi on a wide range of issues.

He would be received by the president of the Assembly of the Representatives of the People of Tunisia where he would be meeting multi-party Members of Parliament and Tunisian-India Parliamentary Group.

Ansari would deliver a keynote address to the Tunisian Diplomatic Corps and leading scholars and think tanks at the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies.

Besides his wife Salma Ansari, the Vice President is accompanied by Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, four members of Parliament and senior officials.

The Vice President would return to the national capital on the morning of June 4.
When Rediff.com's Archana Masih and Rajesh Karkera set course from the foothills of the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea, they could not think of a better place to begin their journey than the stately campus that has given India some of its greatest military heroes.

IMAGE: 610 cadets will graduate on June 11 and go to serve in different Indian Army regiments across the country. Photographs: Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com.

Day 1: The Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Uttarakhand

Their pictures line the walls, their statues grace its grounds, and every soldier who passes by, stops to salute their sacrifice at the quiet war memorial by the gate.

I don't know why, but looking at those military heroes and walking those grounds reminded me of what Winston Churchill once told a Victoria Cross winner who had come to see him during World War II.

'You must feel very humble and awkward in my presence,' Churchill said.

'Yes, sir,' replied the soldier.

'Then you can imagine how humble and awkward I feel in yours,' Churchill replied.

What Churchill said is exactly what one feels at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. The sacrifice of its men is so supreme that it makes one think about the insignificance of one's own life.

Our journey had actually begun the previous day, from Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International terminal.

The best part of the airport starts just as one turns into the elevated airport road with the impressive statute of Shivaji, the great Maratha warrior king. It is easily one of the best statues you will see. It is also a rare one where Shivaji is not astride a horse, but stands one arm on his waist, in a warrior stance.

Past this brilliant strategist of guerilla warfare, whose statue also adorns the National Defence Academy in Pune, we had made our way to the home of military leadership in Dehradun.

Beyond the imposing IMA gates, manned by tall soldiers with regal moustaches lay the portals from where India's brave have gone on to make innumerable sacrifices for the motherland.

IMAGE: The magnificent main building is central to life in the IMA. In the foreground is the drill square, the venue of the passing out parade.

"The entire IMA is a hall of fame and sacrifice. Wherever Gentlemen Cadets go, they move with these names. This environment breathes heroism and military history," says the senior-most officer at the academy, Major General Y S Mahiwal, the Officiating Commandant, who graduated from the Academy in 1979.

The IMA has battalions and companies named after battle heroes and decisive battles. It has grounds, auditoriums, gymnasiums, messes named after legendary soldiers who died in famous battles. It has guns and equipment that have served the country well -- it has a Patton tank captured from the Pakistan army.

On its staff is also Param Vir Chakra awardee, Naib Subedar Sanjay Kumar, bestowed the honour for his valour in the Kargil War.

IMAGE: A tank on display that was deployed in World War II in Europe and North Africa by the Allies.

Next month, 610 Gentleman Cadets will participate in the passing out parade and join the Indian Army. It is, understandably, the high point of the IMA year and young cadets say they are excited about the big day.

I ask Major General Mahiwal, a veteran infantry officer, why young boys from the urban middle class or sons of officers are not joining the armed forces like they used to in the past, citing instances of former royals, and public school educated boys opting for a career in the army.

"My son is a fourth generation army officer," says the general, the pride in his voice making him look larger in his chair than his 6 foot frame. "The sons of two army commanders are cadets here and 15 per cent of the total passing out strength comes from an army background."

IMAGE: Major General Y S Mahiwal, the Officiating Commandant, IMA. His son is a fourth generation army officer.

Among the five cadets that the Academy had selected for us to meet is Gentleman Cadet Bharat Sethi, 24, a graduate from Delhi's Hindu College who left McKinsey after seven months to join the IMA.

The son of a naval pilot, the articulate cadet says he left the corporate world because he realised that what he was doing was not tangible or real like what the Indian Army does.

"What we do in the army makes a difference to the men you command and to the nation. So there's a greater feeling of success," says Bharat, sitting in a room, the entrance to which is flanked by honour rolls of Gentlemen Cadets of the past.

The cadets had been summoned to Chetwode Building, the historic administrative block, named after the first commandant in 1932. Philip Chetwode also gave the IMA its motto taken from his inaugural address and which I had first seen as a plaque in Param Vir Chakra winner Vikram Batra's home in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh:

'The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first, always and every time. The honour, welfare and comfort of the men you command come next. Your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time.'

IMAGE: Gentlemen Cadets who will graduate on June 11: Left to right: Bharat Sethi, Nishant Philip, Anirudh Joshi, Prashant Mishra, Rajendra Singh Bisht.

A common thread that runs through the conversations with the cadets (each conducted independently) is their commitment to earning the respect of the men they will go on to command in units across the country.

"What every cadet worries here is if we will be able to be like the heroes who adorn this academy... will we be able to lead our men like they did," says Junior Under Officer Anirudh Joshi, 23, when I ask him what are the thoughts criss-crossing his mind just weeks from graduating from the IMA.

The son of a colonel, the Almora boy is a great admirer of Major General Ian Cardozo, who amputated his own leg with a khukri after being wounded on the battlefront in the 1971 War.

"He cut his own leg and continued to serve till his retirement. What amazing guts!" exclaims Anirudh.

IMAGE: A cadet walks through the corridors of the Chetwode building.

Between the ages of 21 and 24, the cadets look like school boys, but are armed with maturity and discipline well beyond their years. Their Instructor Colonel Sai Bhushan, who looks as physically fit as the cadets, says training is about all round development. From battle craft, field engineering, tactics, international relations, military technology to physical training, drill, games, etiquette -- the academy is a training ground for making an effective military leader.

"What I take away from here is character, commitment to my profession and loyalty to service," says Prashant Mishra, 22, from Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh.

"Whatever I am today -- the way I talk, walk -- has been given by the academy," says Prashant who who wants to join the Grenadiers regiment.

The son of a havaldar in the army, he says it was his father's dream that he became an officer. "The day I got selected to the NDA, my father's entire regiment celebrated," he says with a smile as he tells me about his father's three tenures in Jammu and Kashmir.

IMAGE: The cadets share a rare light moment with the camera. Otherwise they stand ram-rod straight and march instead of walking.

The academy is a microcosm of India, bringing boys from all kinds of backgrounds, where differences blur. What binds them is the soldier's brotherhood.

"We make strong bonds -- right from training to punishments to the performance of your company," says Senior Under Officer Nishant Philip, 21, who heads one of the 16 companies at IMA.

The cadets are divided into four training battalions, each battalion comprises four companies.

"The best thing is the uniformity you get which actually starts when you join the NDA. The first thing they do is give everyone the same haircut. Everyone looks the same, are issued the same clothes, eat the same food, do the same things -- it does not matter who you are, where you come from, what you do -- all are equal and you have to prove your mettle on the ground," says Nishant.

He joined the NDA at 17 and was the silver medalist in the overall order of merit when he graduated last May (after three years at the NDA, cadets slated to join the army, spend another year of training at the IMA).

A boarding school boy, the last army officer to graduate from his school was former army chief General Shankar Roychowdhury who retired in 1997.

VIDEO: The cadets and the IMA.

It is close to lunch time and the cadets will cycle to the other side of the sprawling campus where the mess and living quarters are.

The mess -- like at the NDA -- has a small table where a meal is set every day for the soldier who did not return from the battlefield.

The mess is named after Captain Vikram Batra, the legendary hero of the Kargil War, and the adjacent hall is lined with portraits of IMA alumni, who made the supreme sacrifice for the nation.

I ask one of the highest ranking cadets at the academy, Academy Cadet Adjutant Rajendra Singh Bisht, 21, if he thought respect for the armed forces had diluted in the country.

"No, ma'am, I don't believe so," says Rajendra, the son of a civilian employee in the Indian Army and a bronze medalist at the NDA last year.

Born in Bareilly, home to the Jat Regimental Centre and reared in Ranikhet where the Kumaon Regimental Centre is headquartered, Rajendra grew up dreaming of a life in the army.

"I went to a Sainik School whose main aim is to send students to the NDA, but some students also clear the civil services or IIT. If a student who has joined IIT comes back to visit the school and at the same time a lieutenant or trainee cadet does the same -- the respect that a lieutenant gets cannot be compared to the IIT student," Rajendra adds.

IMAGE: Cadets get ready for drill practice in the run-up to the grand passing out parade.

In less than two weeks, these young men will join the Indian Army and be deployed across this vast country.

Ask them and to the last man, they say they want to be deployed at the Line of Control, in the north-east or other theatres of likely conflict.

"Today when they pass out," says Major General Mahiwal, "they can handle a company size force even in low intensity conflict and can shoulder responsibilities that a company commander of 4 to 5 years of service is expected to perform."

"Soldiering is a difficult and different game," says the general who has a love of poetry. "A soldier has to be comfortable in Siachen, in being separated from family, in going to war."

"It has to be felt in your heart and that has been our strength so far."

When in Dehradun: Make it a point to see the majestic Forest Research Institute. It has one of the best colonial buildings you will ever see.

Visit the Mindroling Tibetan monastery in Clement Town to see the world's largest Stupa.

The rusks, cakes and namkeens from Dehra Dun's Ellora bakery make a nice takeaway.

Next stop: Why this girl in Ramgarh village will grow vegetables after her PhD.
'I have only this to say to those who talk about Mewar rulers and Akbar's brutality -- do you expect a king to not expand his kingdom?'

'You have entire cities named after Muslim rulers. It's time our heroes got their due.'

Manavi Kapur discovers how Akbar is remembered in Fatehpur Sikri and Chittorgarh.

IMAGE: Tourists flock to view the splendour of Jodha Bai's palace at Fatehpur Sikri.

"Welcome to the city of Akbar, the Great," announces an Archaeological Survey of India-certified guide, in a slight twang meant for the benefit of his Caucasian audience. Small groups of tourists led by similar guides abound the complex built in red sandstone, listening intently to the rich history of the ruler and his kingdom.

Most of these people are unaware of the controversy that was brewing a mere 230 kilometres away in the national capital. V K Singh, minister of state for external affairs, called for Akbar Road in New Delhi to be renamed Maharana Pratap Road, in a bid to give credit to a ruler 'who has not been given his due.' In Fatehpur Sikri, this piece of information is received with drawn brows and amused smirks.

As one enters Sikri -- the palace complex -- this perplexity over the renaming controversy becomes evident. In the middle of a sprawling complex is the palace of Akbar's first wife, Jodha Bai, who was a princess from Amer in Rajasthan and Hindu. It is rumoured that the ruler had three wives -- a Hindu, a Muslim and a Christian -- and each has a palace devoted to her.

Since Jodha Bai, as the guide declares in a definitive voice, was Akbar's "favourite," her palace was the largest and the most intricate.

Even to the untrained eye, the amalgamation of Rajasthani styles of architecture and Mughal motifs is as stark as the blinding summer sun. In the central courtyard is a green tulsi plant, a staple of any Hindu household.

"He really was the greatest king of all of India. He treated all religions equally and even had a Hindu wife," says Rajendra Kumar Masih, a clerk with the Indian Army. "He would only kill Hindus when someone in the lower ranks goaded him into it."

History, for some, is as simple as that.

Even so, Akbar's syncretic and secular worldview dominates most of the conversations one has with tourists and locals alike.

Inside Diwan-i-Khas, the chamber where Akbar would consult with his 'navratnas' (nine jewels) -- another Hindi term -- the central pillar appears to be a sum of the ruler's reign, or at least what is remembered of it.

The pillar, on which Akbar would be seated, brings together Jain, Persian, Christian, Buddhist and Mughal motifs. The largest and the most prominent of these is the Jain temple motif, occupying the top spot in the structure.

These syncretic symbols extended into the religion that Akbar founded, Din-I Ilahi, which had a total of 13 followers during Akbar's reign in the 16th century. Today, Din-I Ilahi is one of the longest talking points for tour guides in Agra, even though the religion itself was short-lived.

Of the 13 who followed the religion was Akbar's favourite 'navratna', Birbal, a Hindu. For his stature as Akbar's most prized advisor, Birbal was rewarded with a palace of his own inside the complex.

A little further, a platform surrounded by a small pond is where Tansen, the ruler's court musician, would sing classical ragas. Further away is a small gazebo, constructed again in the intricate style of Jain temple art. "This is where Akbar would consult his jyotish (astrologer)," the guide explains.

Inside Fatehpur, where Sufi saint Salim Chishti's dargah shines in white marble, hawkers selling various little knick-knacks incessantly follow visitors. The dargah and the Jama Masjid are perhaps the only structures with overtly Islamic influences.

Aware of the cultural history of his subjects and perhaps to dissipate tension, Akbar, it is believed, decided to change the name of Fatehabad to Fatehpur. Like a taped conversation, one hears the words "the man was truly great" again.

Just 45 kilometres away, the tomb of Akbar in Sikandra stands in unassuming, quiet glory.

Though Sikander Lodi's tomb was originally located here, Akbar commissioned this precinct to be his tomb during his lifetime. As the day draws to a close, locals stroll in for an evening walk in the company of deer and peacocks.

For 70-year-old Geetam Singh, the deer are a larger issue than Akbar's legacy. "His legacy will survive the test of time. He was the youngest Mughal king and illiterate, and yet managed to conquer all of India. But the deer will not survive poachers," rues the former ASI clerk. "I have only this to say to those who talk about Mewar rulers and Akbar's brutality -- do you expect a king to not expand his kingdom? He did what had to be done."

Men and women speak of Akbar as though they were alive when he was.

But not all are as accepting of his legacy, or perhaps even the Mughal dynasty's contribution to Indian architecture.

Bhagwan Das, a tour guide, says that tourists over the last year or so have begun to question this narrative. "They ask me what proof do I have that these monuments were built by the Mughals. Their contention is that if there are such heavy Hindu influences on architecture, it must have been built by Hindu rulers," he says.

Another tour guide, who requested he not be named, pipes in, "A gentleman from South India was convinced that Sikandra was originally a Shiv temple. He said the spatial design was identical to a temple's."

This gentleman is certainly not alone: Many, including lawyers who filed a civil suit to the effect, claim that the Taj Mahal was originally a Shiva temple and was actually called 'Tejo Mahalay.'

This divide, Das says, also permeated into the classroom during his training as an ASI guide. "The question of 'who came first' always seemed to divide Hindus and Muslims in the class. The debate would veer away from the hard, architectural evidence and into conspiracy theories," he laughs.

IMAGE: Chittorgarh Fort saw three attacks from Islamic rulers or as they are known to locals, the 'outsiders.'

Over 500 kilometres away, this is no laughing matter at the Chittorgarh Fort.

Once a citadel of the Mewar rulers, it saw three attacks from Islamic rulers or as they are known to locals, the 'outsiders.'

When asked about Akbar, Om Prakash launches into a tirade against the Mughals. "They destroyed temples and our architecture. It was because of Alauddin Khilji that Padmini had to jump into the fire," he says. When he is told that Khilji was not a Mughal ruler, Prakash simply says, "But he was Muslim."

Just as the syncretic elements during Akbar's reign are the highlight of a tour of Fatehpur Sikri, the harsh superimposition of Islamic structures over Hindu motifs is central to a tour of Chittorgarh. Dark, fading domes replaced the shikhars of structures in the fort, which have been left unpainted to make the contrast more obvious.

Just as Jodha Bai was central to Fatehpur Sikri, Padmini, the wife of Ratan Singh, and Mirabai, the Bhakti saint and wife of Sangram Singh, seem to dictate the prism with which their husbands' lives and their kingdom's history is viewed.

The brutality of Islamic attacks on the Mewar kingdom is prominently displayed with the several beheaded idols and broken temple structures that occupy stretches of land like graves would. Wakar Ansari, a businessman from Maharashtra, is visiting the fort with eight members of his family. Their guide seems to relish regaling these tales of 'Mughal' brutality and Rajput valour.

But sensing the possibility of discomfort, the guide dials down his enthusiasm a bit. Ansari and his family, who stand outside the Jain temple, look on with amused smiles.

Ram Chandra Vaishnav, the 76-year-old priest inside the Jain temple, points to history books in front of him when asked about Akbar. "I know this -- these rulers destroyed Hindu idols. The rest is history," he says. He asks me to read one of these books for a better knowledge of Chittorgarh.

Unlike Fatehpur Sikri, where the pamphlets focussed on the architecture and cultural influences, the books available here were entirely about valorous Hindu heroes: Maharana Pratap, Shivaji, Sangram Singh.

In fact, the books seem to be the only place where Pratap finds a mention. "The only person who is considered great here is Pratap. Akbar may have been 'great' elsewhere, but certainly not in Mewar," says Madhu Lal, a 73-year-old bookseller.

"Pratap was too busy fighting wars, which is why he didn't have time to build forts and monuments," says Prakash, the guide. In fact, there are more hotels and contemporary buildings in Chittorgarh named after Pratap's horse, Chetak, and Mirabai.

A lone Pratap statue is installed at a crossing, without any signage describing it.

For 84-year-old Shankar Lal, none of this matters. "Akbar ruined our forts, our heritage, our religion. His secularism was in theory only," he says over a game of cards that he plays seated inside a Ram temple.

When he is told that Akbar never really attacked the fort, he waves his hand dismissively. "You have entire cities named after Muslim rulers. It's time our heroes got their due."

History has another battle on its hands.
Mali: UN strongly condemns ambush that leaves five 'blue helmets' dead

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 29 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Mali: UN strongly condemns ambush that leaves five 'blue helmets' dead, 29 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574be6df411.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

29 May 2016 - Five United Nations peacekeepers were killed in an ambush in central Mali earlier today, with another 'blue helmet' seriously injured, according to preliminary information reported by the country's UN mission, which deplored the heinous act of terrorism as all the more shocking because it occurred on the day set aside for the global community to honour UN peacekeepers.

According to a press statement from the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the ambush occurred at about 11:00 a.m. near the town of Sevare. According to preliminary information, five Togolese peacekeepers were killed. Another was seriously injured has been evacuated.

In the wake of the deadly ambush, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN Security Council also condemned the incident, with the UN chief calling for swift action to bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice.

[Mr. Ban] observes with sadness that this latest attack on MINUSMA has taken place on the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, when the men and women serving under the United Nations flag with honour, courage and dedication are to be honoured, said a statement issued by his spokesperson, referring to the annual 29 May commemoration, declared by the UN General Assembly in 2003.

The statement also underscored that the Secretary-General recalled, once again, that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law.

For its part, the Security Council, in a press statement, reaffirmed that all forms and manifestations of terrorism represent a serious threats to international peace and security. The Council also expressed concern about the security situation in Mali.

Council members noted that the full implementation of the Agreement for Peace and Reconciliation in Mali and the intensification of efforts to overcome asymmetric threats can contribute to improving the security situation across the entire country. They further stressed the importance that MINUSMA has the necessary capacities to fully fulfil its current mandate.

Through their respective statements, MINUSMA, the Secretary-General and the members of the Council all expressed condolences to the families of victims, as well as to the Government and people of Togo, and wished a speedy recovery to the injured peacekeeper.

"I condemn in the strongest terms this despicable crime in addition to other terrorist acts that targeted our peacekeepers, which constitute crimes against humanity under international law," said Mahamat Saleh Annadif, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General and head of MINUSMA.

"This heinous act of terrorism is even more shocking [as] it was perpetrated there during the International Day of Peacekeepers," underscored, Mr. Annadi.

Mr. Annadif urged that every effort be made to identify those responsible for these heinous crimes against friendly forces of Mali and the Malian Armed Forces, five of whom were also killed on Friday, 27 May.

Finally, he stressed that the MINUSMA is more committed than ever to pursue its mission in support of Mali and its people.
In Egypt, Assembly President points way towards more relevant, responsive and inclusive UN

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 28 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, In Egypt, Assembly President points way towards more relevant, responsive and inclusive UN, 28 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574be95a410.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

28 May 2016 - With unprecedented opportunities ahead to enhance the work of the United Nations, as well as that of the wider multilateral system, UN Member States have before them a straightforward but not easy road, the President of the General Assembly said today, starting by working harder to make their societies, their economies and their politics more inclusive and more sustainable.

That is the message at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Mogens Lykketoft told participants at a round table with regional Cairo Centre for Conflict Resolution and Peacekeeping in Africa.

Too often, governments have failed to ensure that all segments of society benefit from economic development, or ignored the science of climate change and done far too little to shift to low-carbon climate resilient economies, he said, add, that too often, faced with security threats or demands for better governance, governments have reacted rashly  clamping down on civil society; eroding civil liberties or excluding political opponents.

And while motivations may differ for taking such action, the impact is always the same  confidence in public institutions dwindles, societies become more polarized and people move closer to violence or extremism, explained Mr. Lykketoft, echoing former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who said, 'there can be no peace without development, no development without peace and neither without human rights.'

At the same time, the international community and the UN especially, can and must do much more to support member states make progress across all three pillars. Indeed, the Assembly president continued, as the UN marks its 70th anniversary, the Organization itself is very much at a cross roads, particularly in the area of peace and security with the architecture developed over the seven decades now struggling to keep pace with today's and tomorrow's threats and geopolitical tensions, in a way that is undermining Member State trust.

Recalling that last year, Member States had joined hands in adopting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change, Mr. Lykketoft also noted that in the security sphere, ther had been renewed cooperation between major Powers on Iran, and even on Syria.

Now, we must build on that spirit. With major UN reviews underway on peace and security matters and a new Secretary-General to be selected over the next six months, there is a real opportunity to do just, he explained, spotlighting the particular need for concrete action to make the UN more relevant, credible, legitimate and capable for major, regional and local powers alike.

This world included, he said making the UN Security Council more representative and more effective, for example, by addressing the use of the veto in situations involving mass atrocity crimes. But it also includes agreeing budgetary and institutional reforms to prioritize political solutions and prevention across every aspect of the UN's approach to sustaining peace.

Mr. Lykketoft said the UN also needs to work more seamlessly across its peace and security, sustainable development and human rights pillars; engage more consistently with affected communities and ensure women are more involved in both preventing and resolving conflicts. Moreover, he highlighted the need to identify concrete ways for the Organization to help tackle global terrorism and prevent violent extremism, including in the context of UN mandated missions and operations.

And finally, he said there is a need for more strategic cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations and for opportunities to involve those member states who wish to play greater roles in global peace and security.

The next UN Secretary-General will therefore have a unique window of opportunity early in her or his term to put those changes into place, he said, noting that the new UN chief would need sustained from Member States, including regional powers like Egypt.

Before wrapping up his remarks, the Assembly President drew the attention of the roundtable to one other issue  the 60million people displaced in our world today. Having just participated in the World Humanitarian Summit and visited a refugee camp in Turkey, regrettably, it seems that we remain a long way off the solutions that are desperately needed.

With that in mind, he noted that on 19 September, Member States will gather in New York for a Summit on how to address large movements of refugees and migrants, and he expressed the sincere hope, the event will signal a shift in momentum so that those 60million people can begin to experience hope and the solidarity of the international community.
Security Council approves two-month extension for African Union Mission in Somalia

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 27 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Security Council approves two-month extension for African Union Mission in Somalia, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574be98a40d.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

27 May 2016 - The United Nations Security Council today approved a two-month extension of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), allowing adequate time for the 15-member body to consider the outcome of its recently-concluded visit to the Horn of Africa country.

Adopting a new resolution today, the Council, recognizing the importance of consultation with the relevant stakeholders during the recent Security Council mission to Somalia, authorized the member States of the African Union (AU) to maintain the deployment of AMISOM until 8 July 2016.

The Security Council also requested Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to continue to provide logistical support in accordance with its resolution 2245 (2015).

Council members concluded a one-day visit to Somalia on 19 May by reaffirming the UN body's solidarity with the country's people and Government and reiterating their calls to the Federal Parliament to legalize the 2016 electoral model as soon as possible.

"Somalia's security in its broadest sense is a common concern of the international community and the whole region, and that is why such importance has been placed by the Security Council in a legitimate transfer of power later this year," said Michael Keating, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Somalia, in a briefing to reporters at the conclusion of the Council's visit.

"The message of the Security Council is very clear: the international community looks forward to elections in August 2016 and will do everything possible to support them being free and fair and on time. But it urges immediate action to legalize the electoral model so that practical preparations can begin as quickly as possible," he added.

The Council delegation was led by the body's current President, the Permanent Representative of Egypt, Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta, and the Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom, Matthew Rycroft.

The officials held a series of high-level meetings with the Federal President of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, regional presidents, civil society members, humanitarian organizations and senior UN and African Union officials.
Guinea-Bissau: Ban urges all political stakeholders to avoid escalation after outbreak of protests

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 27 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Guinea-Bissau: Ban urges all political stakeholders to avoid escalation after outbreak of protests, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574be9af411.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

27 May 2016 - In the wake of protests in Guinea-Bissau, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged all political stakeholders and their supporters to act responsibly, refrain from violence and avoid an escalation of the situation by settling their concerns through dialogue.

The Secretary-General is "deeply concerned" over the situation in Guinea-Bissau following the President's decision to appoint a new Prime Minister and the subsequent protests in opposition to that move, said a statement issued by Mr. Ban's spokesperson.

According to the statement, the UN chief noted that the prolonged political crisis in Guinea-Bissau is gravely affecting the functioning of the country's institutions and undermining prospects for socio-economic development.

"He calls on all political stakeholders to urgently bring the ongoing impasse to an end in the interests of the people of Guinea-Bissau on the basis of the country's constitution," said the statement, adding that the Secretary-General welcomes the professionalism of the national armed forces in the fulfilment of their duties and urges them to continue to act responsibly.
UN chief welcomes region-led meetings of political dialogue for Burundi

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 27 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN chief welcomes region-led meetings of political dialogue for Burundi, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574be9e91.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

27 May 2016 - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the meetings of the political dialogue for Burundi, held in Arusha, from 21 to 24 May under the auspices of the Facilitator of the East African Community (EAC), Benjamin William Mkapa, former President of Tanzania.

Commending Mr. Mkapa's decision to convene further meetings including those stakeholders who were not present in Arusha, the Secretary-General, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, stressed that a solution to the year-long political crisis in Burundi can only be found through an inclusive dialogue process that upholds the Constitution of Burundi, as well as the principles of the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi, of which the UN and the region are guarantors.

Mr. Ban in his statement fully supported regional efforts aimed at fostering a peaceful settlement to the crisis and reiterated the readiness of the UN to provide technical and substantive backing to the Facilitation, as mandated by the UN Security Council.
UN agency urges Greece to find alternatives for refugees and migrants at 'sub-standard' sites

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 27 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN agency urges Greece to find alternatives for refugees and migrants at 'sub-standard' sites, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574bea1840c.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

27 May 2016 - "Seriously concerned" by what it termed sub-standard conditions at several sites in northern Greece where refugees and migrants were evacuated this week from the makeshift site at Idomeni, the United Nations refugee agency today urged the Greek authorities, with the financial support provided by the European Union (EU), to quickly find better alternatives.

Briefing reporters in Geneva, Melissa Fleming, spokesperson of the UN Office for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the agency agreed that the makeshift site at Idomeni on the Greek border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, where refugees had been staying in abysmal conditions, needed to be evacuated, and noted that this had been completed without the use of force.

"[However], the conditions of the some of these sites to which the refugees and migrants are transferred fall well below minimum standards," she said, noting that some of the refugees and migrants who had been living in Idomeni had been moved into derelict warehouses and factories, inside which tents are been placed too tightly together, and where air circulation is poor, and supplies of food, water, toilets, showers, and electricity are insufficient.

Refugees transferred by bus from Idomeni received little information about conditions at the new sites and the duration of their stay there. The last few refugees departing on Thursday told UNHCR they did not know where they were being taken or whether the conditions in the new sites would be any better.

In addition, the agency said that several refugees expressed doubt over promises they would receive adequate shelter, food, and access to medical care after receiving smartphone photos and messages from friends and relatives already transported.

"UNHCR remains concerned about families being separated during their transfer," Ms. Fleming added.

According to the agency, today, refugees standing outside the gate of an abandoned warehouse-turned-accommodation site expressed shock at their new living conditions. More than 1,400 people sleep all together in a high-ceilinged room filled with long rows of canvas tents.

Though all windows and doors are kept open, the air is humid and smells of human waste. Electricity is only available for a few hours per day, refugees said, and at night the warehouse is pitch-black.

UNHCR said that Syrian refugee Asmah Al-Hasan, a 53-year-old mother travelling with her husband and three grown children, said she never could have imagined conditions worse than Idomeni, but at least their basic needs were fulfilled there.

"Here we have not enough water, and no toilets," said Al-Hasan, who fled earlier this year from Yarmouk in Damascus. "We can't sleep at night because it is too loud. We have no home here and no door. I don't walk around at night because it is too dark and I am afraid [] At least in Idomeni we had toilets and showers."

Spontaneous arrivals of refugee families, some of whom left Idomeni on foot, have been reported at a number of the sites, which are already overcrowded, UNHCR said. Poor conditions at these sites are compounding the already high level of distress felt by refugee families, fuelling tensions within refugee populations and complicating efforts to provide required assistance and protection.

UNHCR is in close contact with the Alternate Minister of Interior in charge of Migration Policy and proposes that the improvements it had suggested for some of the sites envisaged could be made as a matter of priority.

"UNHCR will continue to assist the Greek authorities to provide emergency assistance and urgently improve conditions at these sites where possible. Where it is not possible to bring conditions up to minimal humanitarian standards, alternatives need to be found and made ready to accommodate refugees," Ms. Fleming stated.

UNHCR renewed its call for the immediate identification and establishment of new sites commensurate with the needs, and in full compliance with basic humanitarian requirements. While such emergency temporary sites are necessary at present, the agency at the same time continues to increase the number of accommodation places through apartments and other reception facilities.

Meanwhile, bulldozers and tractors drove through the abandoned site at Idomeni, clearing a field that once contained thousands of small camping tents and rub halls. Aid workers gathered trash and dismantled their facilities, UNHCR noted.
UN refugee agency begins delivering supplies to families escaping besieged Fallujah

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 27 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN refugee agency begins delivering supplies to families escaping besieged Fallujah, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574bea4140b.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

27 May 2016 - The United Nations refugee agency said today that it is delivering emergency relief supplies to families who managed to escape the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah over the past few days.

In a press briefing in Geneva earlier today, Melissa Fleming, chief spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) noted that more than 800 people have fled Fallujah, mostly from outlying areas, as the Government continues its military offensive to re-take control of the city, around 60 kilometres west of the capital, Baghdad.

"Families have told UNHCR and its protection partners harrowing tales of their escape, travelling on foot for hours at night, moving across fields and hiding in disused irrigation pipes. Others have lost their lives trying to leave the city, including women and children," Ms. Fleming said.

Several people, including women and children, have been killed trying to escape, she noted.

Fallujah was the first city to be taken by extremist groups in January 2014. Since then, more than 3.2 million people have been displaced across Iraq, the spokesperson said.

Ms. Fleming underscored that some 50,000 civilians still remain trapped inside Fallujah, prevented from escaping by extremist forces as the city continues to come under heavy bombardment by Iraqi forces.

In December, routes out of the city were cut off and civilians prevented from leaving. Since then, food has been in short supply, people are relying on expired rice and dried dates, and several starvation-related deaths have been reported, the spokesperson said.

In addition, families have had to rely on unsafe water sources, including drainage water from irrigation canals. Health facilities and medications are not available in the area, leading some families to reportedly use herbal medicine for the purpose of treatment, Ms. Fleming said.

UNHCR and its partner, Muslim Aid, will distribute emergency relief items to families who have escaped Fallujah and are sheltering in one camp it has helped to set up in Amiriyat al-Falluja, in Anbar governorate.

The agency plans to open two new camps next week in Habbaniyah Tourist City, which will be able to accommodate 500 newly displaced families. The number of families who have escaped, however, is still very small, given the tens of thousands of people still trapped in the besieged city, Ms. Fleming noted.

Inside Fallujah, there have been reports of a dramatic increase in the number of executions of men and older boys refusing to fight on behalf of extremist forces. Other reports say a number of people attempting to depart the city have been executed or whipped, and one man's leg was reportedly amputated, the spokesperson said.

In addition, many people are reported to have been killed or buried alive under the rubble of their homes in the course of ongoing military operations.

"It is vital that safe routes are opened, allowing civilians access to safety and live-saving assistance," Ms. Fleming said.

She added that UNHCR and its partners have built extra shelters that are ready to assist newly displaced families and will distribute emergency supplies to provide them with some essential daily items.
South Sudan: New team of explosive detection dogs arrives at UN mission

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 27 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, South Sudan: New team of explosive detection dogs arrives at UN mission, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574bea7440c.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

27 May 2016 - The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in South Sudan said today it will receive 37 new explosive detection dogs as part of an increase in the presence of such dogs throughout the country.

In a press release, UNMAS said the explosive detection dogs regularly support UN Police (UNPOL) to conduct searches of protection of civilians sites, cargo and entry points, to detect prohibited or hazardous items, all of which are swiftly removed by UNPOL so that internally displaced people and others under the protection of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) remain safe from harm.

Currently, UNMAS has six explosive detection dog teams that focus on entry point control and cargo searches in Juba. In 2015, 19,781 vehicles, 13,587 bags and 970 buildings were searched using these teams.

Upon arrival, the dogs will be transferred to temporary kennels in Gumbo, Juba, where they will be acclimatized and paired with their future handlers. Once the dogs are settled they will be paired with expert handlers who will complete additional training tailored specifically to South Sudan, UNMAS said.

While some of the dogs will remain in Juba to work at the UN Thom Ping Base, UN House, the protection of civilians sites and the UN airport, many will be transferred to Bentiu, Bor and Malakal.

UNMAS emphasized that the dogs are working animals and have been specially trained to perform the roles they will undertake. They are safe and friendly animals and have been screened for illness and disease and received the necessary vaccinations.

"The welfare of the dogs is of prime importance to UNMAS, as is the safety of the communities within which they will be working," UNMAS said.
UN relief chief calls for more assistance for 'distressing and dire' situation of Syrians

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 27 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, UN relief chief calls for more assistance for 'distressing and dire' situation of Syrians, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574bea8e40d.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

27 May 2016 - Following a visit to Hatay in southern Turkey, the top United Nations humanitarian official has called for greater assistance for Syrians in need, both inside the country and across the region, warning that the humanitarian situation for millions of people remains "unrelentingly distressing and dire."

"The people of Syria continue to suffer. The violence, fear and deprivation force Syrians to make the impossible choices of leaving their homeland for a tolerable life in another part of the country or across the border or continent," Stephen O'Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said in a press release issued ahead of his briefing to the UN Security Council in the afternoon.

"Our challenge is both to scale up assistance to reach every person in need, and to support the efforts of those trying to bring the crisis to an end. We need to give Syrians real hope of a better future," he added.

Mr. O'Brien noted some 6.5 million people are internally displaced, and some five million people have fled for safety in other countries. The UN estimates that 13.5 million Syrians across the region are in need of some form of humanitarian and protection assistance.

"The humanitarian situation for millions of Syrians across the region remains unrelentingly distressing and dire" he stressed.

Mr. O'Brien, who is also the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, visited an orphanage in Reyhanli, meeting Syrian children who are provided both education and a sense of normality in the classroom.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O'Brien (left), at Bayti Orphanage in Reyhanli, Turkey, which hosts 60 Syrian orphans aged 2-12. Photo: OCHA

"I heard first-hand the hopes of these children and the harrowing stories of many families' escape to safety," he said. "There is a clear need for psycho-social support."

He also met a young doctor who was injured during the deadly airstrike on the al-Quds Hospital in Aleppo this past month and is now in urgent need of medical assistance abroad.

Mr. O'Brien underscored that cross-border aid operations from Turkey into Syria are vital, reaching some four million people who cannot be reached via other routes.

In addition, he said he visited the zero-point near the Bab al Hawa border crossing.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O'Brien (right), visits the zero-point near the Bab al Hawa border crossing between Turkey and Syria. Photo: OCHA

"I paid tribute to the Turkish, Syrian, and international NGOs who continue to work tirelessly to provide critical and life-saving assistance in a dangerous and volatile environment. We must do everything we can to support them," he said.

Mr. O'Brien noted that he discussed the progress and challenges in delivering aid with the Governor of Hatay, and representatives of international and local non-governmental organizations.

Despite significant progress in reaching millions of Syrians with life-saving assistance, many programmes remain critically underfunded, he said, urging donors to fulfil their pledges and fund the critical aid and protection activities designed to help the most vulnerable people throughout 2016.

Visiting Hatay immediately after the World Humanitarian Summit, which wrapped up Tuesday in Istanbul, Mr. O'Brien spoke of the commitments made by world leaders to put people affected by conflict and disaster at the centre of humanitarian action, and to alleviate suffering.

"At the Summit, we heard strong words about sharing responsibility for refugees, safeguarding their rights, and working to secure the financing we need to save lives. We must now demand that these words are turned into meaningful action. It must start here in Hatay," he stressed.

In his briefing to the Council, Mr. O'Brien underscored that he had promised to carry the stories of the people he had met during his trip to the 15-member body in order to highlight - once more the "tragic and ever-worsening" situation in Syria.

"But truth be told, I have run out of words to fully explain how the actions of the parties to the conflict have led to the devastation of a country and its people," he stressed. "As the war continued, it is innocent civilians and children who continue to be subjected to even greater levels of suffering and misery than could ever have been imagined five years ago."

Mr. O'Brien told the Council that he remained particularly concerned at the upsurge in violence across various parts of the country and its impact on civilians.

"Indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure - including schools and hospitals, mosques and public markets - continue with impunity and total disregard for international humanitarian law," he said.

Emphasizing that the continued use of "siege and starvation as a weapon of war is reprehensible," Mr. O'Brien said he was continually monitoring the situation on the ground throughout Syria and, based on the latest information, estimates indicated that some 592,700 people were currently living in besieged areas.

That figure includes 452,700 people besieged by the Government of Syria in various locations in rural Damascus as well as in the Al Wa'er area of Homs city, an area he had visited just a few months ago but which had been closed off since March.

Elsewhere, he noted that 110,000 people were besieged by ISIL in Deir ez-Zor city; 20,000 people by non-State armed groups and the Nusrah Front in Foah and Kefraya in Idlib; and 10,000 besieged by the Government of Syria and non-State armed groups in Yarmouk in Damascus.

"These figures are shocking as they underscore the sharply deteriorating situation for civilians even while the cessation of hostilities is in place," he said.

"The punishment of civilians through besiegement tactics must stop immediately," he continued, stressing that the primary responsibility lies with the party who maintains the siege, and "routinely and systematically denies people the basic necessities of life and freedom of movement."

The humanitarian chief said that the humanitarian and protection situation in many hard-to-reach areas also remained critical, including in some that are on the brink of besiegement. He remained extremely concerned about the conditions for the hundreds of thousands of civilians in northern rural Homs, specifically in the towns of Rastan, Talbiseh and Taldo, as well as in the adjacent area of Habarnafse in rural Hama.

He said the situation across Aleppo governorate also remains alarming for civilians, while in Aleppo city, fighting had continued to affect civilians over the past few weeks also impacted humanitarian operations.

Deliberate interference and restrictions by the parties, most notably the Government of Syria, continued to prevent effective aid delivery, Mr. O'Brien said.

A plan for June, requesting to reach 1.1 million people in 34 besieged, hard-to-reach and other priority cross-line locations, including all those places that could not be reached in May, had been recently submitted, Mr. O'Brien noted.

"I call on the Syrian Government to approve this plan in full and to remove any and all conditionalities, not least as to the amount or type of aid that can be delivered," he said.

"Sieges need to be lifted once and for all - and immediately. They only exist today because of a lack of will to end them," he concluded.
Attacks on health care and medical personnel in crises occur with 'alarming frequency'  UN

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 26 May 2016 Related Document(s) Attacks on Health Care: Prevent, Protect, Provide Cite as UN News Service, Attacks on health care and medical personnel in crises occur with 'alarming frequency'  UN, 26 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574bead440d.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

26 May 2016 - The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a new report today that attacks on health care in emergency situations disrupt the delivery of essential health services, endanger care providers, deprive people of urgently needed medical attention, and undermine long-term health development goals.

According to the report, Attacks on Health Care: Prevent, Protect, Provide, over the two-year period from January 2014 to December 2015, there were 594 reported attacks on health care that resulted in 959 deaths and 1,561 injuries in 19 countries with emergencies.

The most disturbing challenge for health care providers during emergencies is when they themselves are the victims of attacks - real or threatened, targeted or indiscriminate, the report emphasized.

"Yet, we witness with alarming frequency a lack of respect for the sanctity of health care, for the right to health care, and for international humanitarian law: patients are shot in their hospital beds, medical personnel are threatened, intimidated or attacked, hospitals are bombed,' WHO said.

Such attacks not only endanger health care providers; they also deprive people of urgently needed care when they need it most. And while the consequences of such attacks are as yet largely undocumented, they are presumed to be significant - negatively affecting short-term health care delivery as well as the longer-term health and well-being of affected populations, health systems, the health workforce, and ultimately our global public health goals.

More than half of the attacks were against health-care facilities and another quarter of the attacks were against health-care workers. Sixty-two per cent of the attacks were reported to have intentionally targeted health care, the report found.

All equipment and facilities at the Bentiu Hospital facility in South Sudan were deliberately destroyed in April 2014, including this incubator intended to help premature newborn babies. Photo: WHO/G. Novelo

In a press release, WHO highlighted that it collaborates closely with others to better understand the problem, bring attention to the issue, and find solutions that can prevent attacks; protect health facilities, workers, transport and supplies; and ensure the continued provision of health care despite such attacks.

Noting that currently there is no publicly available source of consolidated information on attacks on health care in emergencies, the agency said the report is a first attempt to consolidate and analyze the data available from open sources. While the data are not comprehensive, the findings shed light on the severity and frequency of the problem, WHO said.

Even one attack on health care is one too many. Therefore, the number of reported attacks reflected in this report is tragic, said WHO, underscoring that the high tolls of death and injury to our health colleagues and the inevitable impact on health service delivery call for greater action.

The main conclusions to be drawn from the analysis of the available data are the following:
Disclaimer

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.
Justice and accountability 'critical components' for lasting peace in Libya  ICC Prosecutor

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 26 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Justice and accountability 'critical components' for lasting peace in Libya  ICC Prosecutor, 26 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574bebb240b.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

26 May 2016 - Justice, accountability and the deterrent effects of the law remain "critical components" for achieving lasting peace in Libya, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) told the United Nations Security Council today, encouraging the country's Government to give priority to devising effective plans and strategies to address atrocity crimes, and to invest in the relevant national institutions responsible for such work.

"This will demonstrate, in concrete terms, that justice and accountability constitute key Government priorities underpinning efforts to ensure peace and stability in Libya, and that the victims will have the opportunity to seek redress through the Libyan courts," said ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, as she presented her latest report on the situation in the country to the Council.

Ms. Bensouda said that the past six months had witnessed significant developments in Libya's "slow and difficult" process towards the establishment of a unity Government, and that her office hoped that the signing in December 2015 of the UN-brokered agreement "marks the beginning of the end of the long period of turmoil and conflict in Libya."

For its part, her office stood ready to work collaboratively with the Government of National Accord in its efforts to build a secure, peaceful and prosperous Libya for all Libyan people, she said.

Over the same period, her office's investigation into the Libya situation had progressed, albeit at a slower pace than it would have liked due to lack of sufficient resources and the prevailing precarious security situation in the country, the prosecutor said.

Despite such challenges, her office's investigations were continuing to yield positive results, in large part due to the cooperation of the Libyan Prosecutor-General's office.

Her office was continuing to carefully analyse and assess the evidence in its possession to determine whether the requisite legal standards were met to request additional arrest warrants, the prosecutor said.

Two soldiers from forces operating under Libya's Tripoli-based government walking through the deserted streets of Bin Jawad, near the important oil port of Sidra. Photo: Tom Westcott/IRIN

Turning to the situation in Libya, Ms. Bensouda said it requires collaboration and coordination between all relevant actors at the national, regional and international levels, as well as the support of the Council.

"Success in Libya therefore depends on the collective determination and will of all relevant actors to meaningfully contribute to the course of bringing perpetrators to justice and by so doing, help deter the commission of future crimes," she said.

The threat of Da'esh or other groups proclaiming allegiance to Al-Qaida remained real and the consequences were too costly to be ignored, the prosecutor said. Such consequences included instability and the dire humanitarian situation in Libya, which in turn result in mass migration and the spread of terrorism in the country and the region.

In that vein, the prosecutor reiterated calls to all national and international law enforcement agencies working on Libya to contact her office and join in its efforts to strengthen the network of law enforcement agencies that "aim to contribute to bringing an end to civilian suffering and destruction in Libya."

"I remain convinced that increased cooperation between and amongst relevant actors as well as coordinated investigative activities are key for tackling national, transnational and international crimes that continue to plague Libya and for ensuring that those responsible for committing these crimes have no safe haven anywhere," she said.

In that regard, Ms. Bensouda said she was particularly pleased with the interest and efforts thus far by national law enforcement agencies to coordinate with my office, with each other and with Libyan authorities.

The prosecutor also urged the Government of National Accord to prioritize the transfer of Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi to its own custody and facilitate his surrender to the ICC. It was also important for the Government of National Accord to consult with the Pre-Trial Chamber on issues relating to the surrender of Mr. Gaddafi, and to seek assistance from the international community on how best to facilitate his surrender to the Court without further delay, she said.

Emphasizing that Libya had submitted to the ICC that Mr. Gaddafi continues to be in custody in Zintan and is presently "unavailable" to the Libyan State, the prosecutor noted that her office had recently filed a request with the Pre-Trial Chamber for an order directing the Registry to transmit the request for arrest and surrender Mr. Gaddafi directly to Mr. al-'Ajami al-'Atiri, the commander of the battalion that is detaining Mr. Gaddafi in Zintan.

Regarding Abdullah Al-Senussi, Ms. Bensouda said her office had received a copy of the written judgment of the Libyan court in relation to his case, and had conducted a preliminary review of the judgment.

"At this time, the office is not in possession of facts which would satisfy it that new facts have arisen which negate the basis on which Pre-Trial Chamber I found Mr. Al-Senussi's case inadmissible," she said, adding that the office would continue to review its assessment if and when new relevant facts become available.

A wide view of the Security Council meeting on the situation in Libya. UN Photo/Manuel Elias

In addition, Ms. Bensouda said her office remained concerned about ongoing civilian deaths, with reported executions by Da'esh accounting for the majority of those, although civilian deaths continue to also result from the Libya Dawn-Libya National Army conflict. Abductions, detentions and ill treatment in detention centres continued to be reported on all sides of the conflict, she said.

The Mediterranean-Libya migratory route to Europe remained a popular option among refugees and migrants who were particularly vulnerable to violence, sexual violence and ill treatment in Libya, the prosecutor also said. Detention of thousands of migrants continued to be a source of financing for many militant groups in Libya, she added.

"We, as the international community, must take a closer look at who profits from criminal activity in Libya, and take coordinated steps to prevent further violations," said Ms. Bensouda. "This must be a priority for all who are affected by the criminal trafficking of human beings."

For its part, she said her office continued to carefully evaluate how to best utilize its limited resources to maximize its impact on the present situation in Libya. While the office was continuing its investigations into officials linked to the former reign of Muammar Mohammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi, it was also focused on ongoing crimes in Libya.

Her office was also optimistic that, in the coming months, it would be able to resume its functions in Libya, and accelerate efforts to bring to justice those responsible for Rome Statute crimes, in coordination with key partners in and outside of Libya.

"I must reiterate that until my team is able to carry out investigations in Libya, and until the issue of resources is resolved, the Office will simply be unable to advance the investigations as rapidly as desired," the prosecutor stressed.

In conclusion, Ms. Bensouda urged the Council and the international community to stay committed to Libya and "help it emerge triumphant in the face of adversity."

"Libya and the Libyan people deserve peace and stability on which to secure and build their future; they deserve the rule of law and by the law rather than lawlessness and the current climate of perpetual insecurity and influx," she said.

"Nations are not built overnight, but to last and to withstand the challenges of the 21st century they must be built on strong foundations. Justice will always serve as a central pillar," she concluded.
Yemen: 'Hope' emanating from UN-sponsored talks, as details of peace agreement discussed

Publisher UN News Service Publication Date 26 May 2016 Cite as UN News Service, Yemen: 'Hope' emanating from UN-sponsored talks, as details of peace agreement discussed, 26 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574bebf71d7.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

26 May 2016 - The United Nations envoy for Yemen said today that hope is emanating from the ongoing peace talks for the country as the warring parties started discussing details of elements that would be included in a comprehensive agreement.

Speaking to reporters in Kuwait, where the UN-mediated Yemeni talks are taking place, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Yemen, stressed that Yemen is at a critical stage, with the economy in tatters, its infrastructure ruined, and the country's social fabric disintegrating.

"The situation on the ground is dire but there is hope emanating from Kuwait," he said, adding that only the participants in the talks can change the situation.

In brief, he said that the talks are ongoing, the international support is stronger than ever and the UN is determined to achieve a lasting peace and to solidify any agreement reached.

On Monday, a joint plenary session was held in which the leaders of both delegations renewed their commitment to dialogue to reach a political agreement, that is acceptable by all.

The Special Envoy convened a number of bilateral meetings with the delegations over the past few days, and discussed specifically the details and mechanisms of withdrawal, handover of weapons, resumption of political dialogue, restoration of state institutions and other matters that will be included in a comprehensive agreement.

The discussions also covered the importance of guarantees and reassurances to ensure the implementation of an agreement, he said. The parties have started to address specific and sensitive matters in detail based on the agreed reference points.

On the issue of prisoners, it was agreed that the relevant Committee will continue to work separately. Yesterday, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) came to Kuwait to brief the delegations on the roles and guidelines for prisoners release and exchange processes in war zones as well as the mechanisms of ICRC's work in this area.

Also yesterday, the Special Envoy briefed the Security Council in a closed-session through video conference, giving an overview of the talks, the preliminary understandings reached and explained the compromises and solutions that are currently being considered. He also gave a summary of the support needed by his Office in order to facilitate the implementation of a peace agreement, including support for interim security arrangements.

The ongoing conflict has destroyed the country's economic infrastructure and severely disrupted the functioning of state institutions. Last week saw a sharp devaluation of the Yemeni Riyal and an alarming decline of the resources and liquidity held by the country's treasury.

In this regard, the Special Envoy proposed to the parties the creation of an "Economic Task Force" in the near future. This body would enlist the support of economic experts in order to manage the situation and take the necessary measures to save the economy.

The cessation of hostilities has led to a direct reduction in violence and allowed humanitarian agencies to deliver aid to most areas in Yemen. The delivery of aid, basic medical services, pharmaceutical supplies and drinking water has increased over the last few weeks. UN agencies, in coordination with their partners, are working on providing literacy and math classes for children.

"I am increasingly asked how long the talks will last. There is no time limit and we will stay as long as it takes," he said, adding that a sustainable and inclusive agreement cannot be rushed.
Saudi Arabia: Surge in executions continues as death toll approaches 100

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 27 May 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia: Surge in executions continues as death toll approaches 100, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574becc6b8b.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Saudi Arabia will have put to death more than 100 people in the first six months of this year if it continues to carry out executions at its current pace, said Amnesty International today. At least 94 people have been executed so far this year, higher than at the same point last year.

At least 158 people were put to death in Saudi Arabia in 2015, the highest recorded figure in the country since 1995.

"Executions in Saudi Arabia have been surging dramatically for two years now and this appalling trend shows no sign of slowing," said James Lynch, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International.

"The steep increase in executions is even more appalling given the pervasive flaws in Saudi Arabia's justice system which mean that it is entirely routine for people to be sentenced to death after grossly unfair trials. The Saudi Arabian authorities should end their reliance on this cruel and inhuman form of punishment and establish an official moratorium on executions immediately."

The case of 21-year-old Ali al-Nimr who was sentenced to death based on "confessions" he says were extracted through torture, provides a glaring example of the arbitrary use of the death penalty after proceedings that blatantly flout international human rights standards.

Today marks two years since Ali al-Nimr, who was arrested after taking part in anti-government protests, was sentenced to death by a special security and counter-terrorism court for a series of offences such as attacking security forces and committing armed robbery. He was just 17 when he was arrested. International human rights law prohibits the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by persons under the age of 18.

"Ali al-Nimr has already spent two years on death row - instead of forcing him to spend a single day longer awaiting execution the Saudi Arabian authorities should quash his conviction and order a re-trial immediately in proceedings that meet international fair trial standards without recourse to the death penalty," said James Lynch.

Two other young men, Abdullah al-Zaher and Dawood al-Marhoon were sentenced to death a few months after Ali al-Nimr, on a list of similar offences, and also say they were tortured into "confessing".

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
No justice for eastern Ukraine's victims of torture

Publisher Amnesty International Author Anna Neistat Publication Date 27 May 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, No justice for eastern Ukraine's victims of torture, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574bed224.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Alexandra showed me her fingernails and sighed in despair, "See, they don't grow. I used to have long nails, but they broke them to the roots." Her damaged fingers are among the many injuries reminding her of the time she spent in detention.

As the war raged in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatist forces and Ukrainian army, 55-year-old Alexandra stayed in her home village of Pervomayskoe, just 20 kilometres from Donetsk, the capital of the so-called DNR (the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic). When Ukrainian forces took the village back from the separatists, she organized the residents to protest the placement of heavy artillery there, fearing that it would attract retaliatory fire from Donetsk.

Despite the chaos of the war, she tried to keep up with her professional duties, she said. As an employee of the state gas company, she continued to maintain records of gas usage by having residents send their account numbers and usage data to her mobile phone.

Alexandra explained that it was because of these numbers found on her phone that the members of the Ukrainian volunteer battalions operating in the area stormed her house and dragged her away, accusing her of being a radio operator and a spotter for separatist forces. They held her blindfolded and handcuffed in one of their unofficial detention facilities, where they tried to beat a confession out of her: they beat her on the head with a rubber hammer, threw her against the walls, and broke her nose, jaw, and cheek bone. They gave her almost no food, didn't let her go to the toilet, and held her for two weeks on a bare concrete floor.

A record of Alexandra's medical examination, done after she was released, reads like an endless encyclopaedia of injuries and ailments: it is difficult to believe that someone's body could suffer all of these and still function.

As horrible as it sounds, Alexandra's story of captivity and torture is far from unique. After the Ukrainian authorities and the separatists began exchanging detainees as part of the Minsk peace process agreements, the true scale of abuses committed by both sides during the conflict has started to come to light.

During a trip to Donetsk region last week, together with colleagues from Human Rights Watch, and during our previous field research in eastern Ukraine, we interviewed many former detainees, most of them civilians.

Now some of them are trying to seek justice for the abuses they suffered, but the process is not easy. On the territories controlled by the Ukrainian forces the same volunteer battalions that committed the abuses are now running the show, having been formally incorporated into various military and law enforcement structures. Few lawyers dare to take the cases of these victims, fearing retaliation from the authorities who are quick to label anyone challenging them a traitor. And the victims themselves are scared to pursue the cases: despite the formal exchanges, many of them are still on the official wanted list, and almost all have relatives who stayed behind and would be in danger if they speak out or file complaints.

Alexandra told me that after a Russian media outlet published her story, local authorities in her home village visited her elderly parents trying to find her whereabouts, and the commandant's office summoned her sister, and forced her to write a statement that Alexandra has no complaints about her treatment.

Some of the people we spoke to, including Alexandra, are preparing applications to the European Court of Human Rights. However, under the Court's rules, before an application is admitted the applicant must attempt to seek justice at home. This is hardly an option for those who cannot cross into government-controlled Ukraine for fear of reprisals and further abuse.

Since the beginning of conflict in eastern Ukraine in spring 2014, the Ukrainian Office of the Military Prosecutor has received scores of complaints and reports alleging abuses by members of these volunteer battalions, but prosecutions in such cases, particularly for such grave crimes as illegal detentions and torture, are hardly ever in the news.

The prospect of bringing to account perpetrators of grave human rights abuses from among the separatists are even weaker. While the DNR and the other self-proclaimed entity, LNR (Luhansk People's Republic), have established law enforcement structures and courts, we are not aware of any cases pursued against members of the pro-Russian separatist forces. Even if cases were brought in these courts, however, given the unrecognised status of both entities and the environment in which these courts operate, the value of such cases in terms of their legality would be, at best, questionable. Ukrainian prosecutors routinely open cases against perpetrators of abuses from among the separatists - but have no practical way of pursuing them, unless the members of the separatist forces would choose to come to the other side and hand themselves in.

Yet the legal and security challenges that prevent people on both sides from getting redress for the harm they have suffered and pursuing accountability are not the only sign that a resolution to the conflict, which left thousands killed and injured and hundreds of thousands displaced, is far from sight.

According to different estimates, dozens, if not hundreds, of people remain in unacknowledged and unlawful detention on both sides. The numbers cited by the Ukrainian authorities and self-proclaimed authorities in Donetsk are difficult to verify, and both sides might have a vested interest in inflating them, given the possibility of further exchanges. However, we received reliable information - including from those recently released from detention - which suggests that the problem is real and requires immediate resolution. For example, witnesses gave us the names of dozens of people on both sides held without any due process, access to lawyers, and sometimes even without contact with the outside world. We are requesting clarifications from the authorities on both sides, and demanding the release of all those unlawfully detained.

In the DNR, such unlawful detention is formalized: the "Ministry of State Security" (MGB) claims to be operating under a decree issued by the separatist authorities which allows it to keep detainees for up to 30 days in "administrative" detention with no procedural guarantees. We met relatives of those who spent much longer than a month in MGB cellars. Some of them have been simply handed a notice that their "detention" was extended by a "court", when in reality they never left their cells.

Commentators worried about the fragility of the ceasefire in Ukraine usually refer to the sounds of shelling and shooting which can be heard almost every night in the east. But what makes reconciliation even harder to achieve is the ongoing lawlessness combined with impunity for past atrocities, and denial of justice to the ordinary citizens who bore the brunt of the war.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Malaysia: One year on, no justice for the 'boat crisis' survivors

Publisher Amnesty International Publication Date 28 May 2016 Cite as Amnesty International, Malaysia: One year on, no justice for the 'boat crisis' survivors, 28 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574bedbe4.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Hundreds of refugees who survived the 2015 boat crisis in South East Asia have been locked up in poor conditions in Malaysia ever since, Amnesty International said, following a visit to the country to investigate the fate of people one year on.

After harrowing footage of desperate refugees and migrants stranded at sea was beamed around the world last May, Malaysia agreed to accept 1,100 people. Almost 400 of those were identified as Rohingya refugees - people fleeing persecution in Myanmar. One year on, the majority of the Rohingya remain in Malaysia's Belantik detention centre.

"We went to Malaysia to investigate the fate of the boat crisis survivors and found that, for hundreds of them, the suffering and human rights abuse continue," said Khairunissa Dhala, a refugee expert at Amnesty International.

"Women, men and children fled from persecution in Myanmar, only to undergo the horror of being abandoned at sea by the unscrupulous gangs who run the sea routes. Malaysia should have been their place of safety - but instead they have spent a year in detention, with no end in sight."

In addition to Rohingya refugees, the boats that arrived in Malaysia were carrying some 700 people from Bangladesh, many likely to have been victims of human trafficking.

In a 2015 investigation into the boat crisis Amnesty International found that hundreds of Bangladeshi survivors who reached Indonesia had likely been trafficked.

Almost all of those from Bangladesh in both Indonesia and Malaysia have since been repatriated.

However sources in Malaysia told Amnesty International that 65 people from Bangladesh remain in Malaysia, and are also detained at Belantik.

The criminal gangs responsible for the boat crisis have not been brought to justice. Most of the boats, crammed with men, women and children, were abandoned by their crews, apparently because they believed the South East Asian authorities were about to take action to combat people smuggling and trafficking.

"The Malaysian government must stop criminalising and punishing refugees and migrants - who are most likely victims of trafficking - and carry out independent and impartial investigations to hold perpetrators to account," said Khairunissa Dhala.

Amnesty International is calling on the Malaysian authorities to immediately release the refugees and migrants, and work with international partners to ensure they are given the protection they are entitled to under international law.

Background

The 2015 Andaman Sea 'boat crisis' claimed global attention when dozens of boats carrying thousands of desperate people were abandoned at sea and the governments of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia refused to allow them to disembark. Malaysia and Indonesia eventually accepted a total of three boats carrying more than 2,900 refugees and migrants. They agreed to provide temporary shelter to the group for a one-year timeframe provided that they would be resettled or repatriated by the international community within that period. To date, approximately 50 Rohingya refugees from the group in Malaysia were put forward for resettlement to a third country.

Amnesty International will publish further details on the situation of survivors of the boat crisis and human trafficking in the coming months.

Copyright notice:  Copyright Amnesty International
Iraqis flee Mosul clashes for relative safety of Syria

Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Author Mustafa Hasan and Qusai Alazroni Publication Date 27 May 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Iraqis flee Mosul clashes for relative safety of Syria, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574bf23b4.html [accessed 25 October 2022]

Some of the more than 4,000 Iraqi refugees who escaped ISIL-held Mosul and surrounding areas and reached Syria in the past month have described the perilous journeys they were forced to make in search of safety.

Since the beginning of May, a total of 4,266 Iraqi refugees have arrived at the Al-Hol camp, located 14 kilometers from the Iraqi border in Syria's north-eastern Hasakah Governorate. Most reported fleeing the extremists in control of the northern Iraqi city, the impending battle to retake it, or ongoing clashes in surrounding areas.

As a result, and ahead of a possible further influx of Iraqi refugees, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has organized five planned airlifts of emergency items such as tents and blankets from Jordan to Qamishli, in the far north of Hasakah.

UNHCR has organized five planned airlifts of emergency items, such as tents and blankets.

The first delivery of 13,000 blankets arrived on Thursday, and the total amount of aid will be enough to support up to 50,000 Iraqi refugees and Syrians hosting them in local communities.

Many refugees said they had to engage smugglers to make the journey from Mosul, which typically took between two days and a week travelling through ISIL-held territory and dodging frontlines to reach Kurdish-controlled areas of Hasakah.

Othman, a 30-year-old Iraqi who fled from Mosul with his family, described the journey as the most dangerous of his life. He was forced to carry his quadriplegic six-year-old son Mwafaq on his shoulders for much of the gruelling trek across desert terrain.

"It is one of the miracles of God that we made it through the areas controlled by extremists without being caught, and survived the harsh weather of the desert," Othman told officials from UNHCR after arriving in Syria. Through tears, he spoke of his fear that his son - who also suffers from epilepsy - would die without urgent medical attention.

Hasakah Governorate, which hosts some 90,000 Syrians displaced by the country's long-running conflict as well as more than 16,000 Iraqi refugees, is currently inaccessible to UN aid deliveries by land from inside Syria and via Turkey to the north due to insecurity.

Efforts are also underway to try to establish an air bridge between Damascus and Qamishli for additional deliveries of humanitarian aid by multiple UN agencies, including food and other essential items.

"We stress the importance of granting safe passage to all civilians fleeing war and conflict in search of safety."

UNHCR is working with local NGO partners to provide humanitarian assistance to the new arrivals, most of whom are without adequate shelter, sanitary facilities and medical care.

As well as distributing tents, mattresses and sleeping mats, UNHCR is also coordinating efforts to provide healthcare to refugees, with many suffering from skin diseases and other health conditions due to heat and dust exposure during the long journey.

UNHCR's Representative in Syria, Sajjad Malik, said the agency was doing everything it could to provide assistance to Iraqis seeking safety in Syria.

"We are very concerned as many people are being forced to flee fighting, risking their lives and going through extreme hardship just to reach safety in remote areas. We stress the importance of granting safe passage to all civilians fleeing war and conflict in search of safety," he said.
UNHCR flags concerns over refugee sites in northern Greece

Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Author Tania Karas Publication Date 27 May 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR flags concerns over refugee sites in northern Greece, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574bf2984.html [accessed 25 October 2022]

The UN Refugee Agency said today it was "seriously concerned" over what it termed sub-standard conditions at several sites in northern Greece where refugees and migrants were evacuated this week from the makeshift site at Idomeni.

"We urge the Greek authorities, with the financial support provided by the European Union, to find better alternatives quickly," UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming told a press briefing in Geneva.

She stressed that UNHCR agreed that the makeshift site at Idomeni on the Greek border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, where refugees had been staying in abysmal conditions, needed to be evacuated, and noted that this had been completed without the use of force.

However, she added that "the conditions of the some of these sites to which the refugees and migrants are transferred fall well below minimum standards."

Fleming detailed that some of the refugees and migrants who had been living in Idomeni had been moved into derelict warehouses and factories, inside which tents are been placed too tightly together.

"Air circulation is poor, and supplies of food, water, toilets, showers and electricity are insufficient."

"Air circulation is poor, and supplies of food, water, toilets, showers and electricity are insufficient," she said.

Refugees transferred by bus from Idomeni received little information about conditions at the new sites and the duration of their stay there.

The last few refugees departing on Thursday told UNHCR they did not know where they were being taken or whether the conditions in the new sites would be any better.

Several refugees expressed doubt over promises they would receive adequate shelter, food, and access to medical care after receiving smartphone photos and messages from friends and relatives already transported.

"UNHCR remains concerned about families being separated during their transfer," Fleming added.

On Friday, refugees standing outside the gate of an abandoned warehouse-turned-accommodation site expressed shock at their new living conditions. More than 1,400 people sleep all together in a high-ceilinged room filled with long rows of canvas tents.

Though all windows and doors are kept open, the air is humid and smells of human waste. Electricity is only available for a few hours per day, refugees said, and at night the warehouse is pitch-black.

Syrian refugee Asmah Al-Hasan, a 53-year-old mother travelling with her husband and three grown children, said she never could have imagined conditions worse than Idomeni, but at least their basic needs were fulfilled there.

"Here we have not enough water, and no toilets," said Al-Hasan, who fled earlier this year from Yarmouk in Damascus. "We can't sleep at night because it is too loud. We have no home here and no door. I don't walk around at night because it is too dark and I am afraid At least in Idomeni we had toilets and showers."

"Where are we?" she asked, wiping tears from her eyes.

"We can't sleep at night because it is too loud. We have no home here and no door."

Spontaneous arrivals of refugee families, some of whom left Idomeni on foot, have been reported at a number of the sites, which are already overcrowded. Poor conditions at these sites are compounding the already high level of distress felt by refugee families, fuelling tensions within refugee populations and complicating efforts to provide required assistance and protection.

UNHCR is in close contact with the Alternate Minister of Interior in charge of Migration Policy and proposes that the improvements it had suggested for some of the sites envisaged could be made as a matter of priority.

"UNHCR will continue to assist the Greek authorities to provide emergency assistance and urgently improve conditions at these sites where possible. Where it is not possible to bring conditions up to minimal humanitarian standards, alternatives need to be found and made ready to accommodate refugees," Fleming stated.

Meanwhile, UNHCR renewed its call for the immediate identification and establishment of new sites commensurate with the needs, and in full compliance with basic humanitarian requirements. While such emergency temporary sites are necessary at present, UNHCR at the same time continues to increase the number of accommodation places through apartments and other reception facilities.

Meanwhile, bulldozers and tractors drove through the abandoned site at Idomeni, clearing a field that once contained thousands of small camping tents and rub halls. Aid workers gathered trash and dismantled their facilities.

Railway tracks that had been blocked by tents for weeks were cleared and checked so trains could resume operating in the coming days, signalling an end to one chapter of Europe's current refugee challenge.
UNHCR delivers aid to Iraqis fleeing Falluja

Publisher UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Author Caroline Gluck Publication Date 27 May 2016 Cite as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNHCR delivers aid to Iraqis fleeing Falluja, 27 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574bf2e34.html [accessed 25 October 2022]

The UN Refugee Agency has begun delivering emergency relief aid to families who recently escaped the besieged Iraqi city of Falluja, where Government forces are battling ISIL militants for control.

Falluja, which lies around 60 kilometres west of the capital, Baghdad, was the first Iraqi city to be taken by ISIL in a January 2014 offensive. Since then, more than 3.2 million people have been displaced across Iraq.

More than 800 people have fled Falluja in recent days as Government forces continue their offensive. Some 50,000 civilians still remain trapped inside, prevented from escaping by militants as the city continues to come under heavy bombardment by Iraqi forces. In December, routes out of the city were cut off and civilians prevented from leaving.

"People are relying on expired rice and dried dates, and starvation-related deaths have been reported."

"Since then, food has been in short supply, people are relying on expired rice and dried dates, and several starvation-related deaths have been reported," UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters at a news briefing in Geneva.

"Families have had to rely on unsafe water sources, including drainage water from irrigation canals. Health facilities and medications are not available in the area, leading some families to reportedly use herbal medicine for the purpose of treatment," she added.

UNHCR and its partner, Muslim Aid, began distributing emergency relief items on Friday (May 27) to families who have escaped the city and are sheltering in a camp it has helped to set up in Amiriyat al-Falluja, in Anbar governorate.

The agency will also open two new camps next week in Habbaniyah Tourist City, that will able to accommodate 500 newly displaced families.

"The number of families who've escaped, however, is still very small, given the tens of thousands of people still trapped in Falluja," Fleming said.

The city is one of two remaining strongholds held by ISIL, the other being Mosul, Iraq's country's second city.

For the past few weeks, there has been intensified fighting around Falluja and airstrikes by coalition forces as the Iraqi Security Forces advanced towards the city.

Families have told UNHCR and its protection partners harrowing tales of their escape, trekking for hours at night, moving across fields and hiding in disused irrigation pipes. Others have lost their lives trying to leave the city, including women and children.

"It is vital that safe routes are opened, allowing civilians access to safety and live-saving assistance."

Inside Falluja, there have been reports of a dramatic increase in the number of executions of men and older boys for refusing to fight on behalf of ISIL. Other reports say a number of people attempting to leave have been executed or whipped, and one man's leg was reportedly amputated.

In addition, many people are reported to have been killed or buried alive under the rubble of their homes in the course of ongoing military operations.

"It is vital that safe routes are opened, allowing civilians access to safety and live-saving assistance," Fleming said.

UNHCR and its partners have already built extra shelters ready to assist newly displaced families and we will distribute emergency supplies to provide them with some essential daily items.
Freedom of the Press 2016 - United Arab Emirates

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 23 May 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2016 - United Arab Emirates, 23 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574c49019.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Legal Environment: 25 / 30 (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Political Environment: 30 / 40 (2) (0 = best, 40 = worst)

Economic Environment: 23 / 30 (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Press Freedom Score: 78 / 100 (2) (0 = best, 100 = worst)

Quick Facts

Population: 9,577,000

Net Freedom Status: Not Free

Freedom in the World Status: Not Free

Internet Penetration Rate: 90.4%

Overview

Although the United Arab Emirates (UAE) serves as a regional hub for international media and hosts satellite television networks that broadcast to the Arab world, the domestic media environment is tightly controlled. Nearly all media outlets serving Emirati audiences are either owned or heavily influenced by the authorities, and individuals who use internet-based platforms to publicize dissenting views or sensitive information increasingly face arbitrary detention or criminal prosecution.

Key Developments

A prominent Omani blogger was arrested at the UAE border in February 2015 after attempting to enter the country from Oman, and was subsequently charged with defaming the government.

A number of news websites based abroad were blocked in the final months of the year following their critical coverage of the UAE and its regional allies.

Multiple convictions, detentions, and enforced disappearances were recorded during 2015 as the government cracked down on expressions of dissent online.

Legal Environment: 25 / 30

While the UAE constitution provides for freedom of speech, the government uses its judicial, legislative, and executive powers to limit this right in practice. UAE Federal Law No. 15 of 1980 for Printed Matter and Publications regulates all aspects of the media and is considered one of the most restrictive press laws in the Arab world. It authorizes the state to censor both domestic and foreign publications prior to distribution, and prohibits criticism of the government, UAE rulers and ruling families, and friendly foreign governments. The law also bans publication of information that "causes damage to the national economy." Violations of the law can result in fines and prison sentences.

Defamation is a criminal offense. Journalists can also be prosecuted under other articles of the penal code and a cybercrime law that was tightened in 2012 through a presidential decree. The cybercrime law criminalizes the use of the internet to commit a range of offenses  including violating political, social, and religious norms  and subjects perpetrators to prison terms and fines. Although the law centers on information technology, it has detrimental implications for both traditional journalism published online and citizen journalism. Article 24 makes it a crime to use a computer network to "damage the national unity or social peace." Article 28 of the law states that the publication or dissemination of information, news, or images deemed "liable to endanger state security and its higher interests or infringe on the public order" can be punished with imprisonment and a fine of up to 1 million dirhams ($270,000). Under Article 29, "deriding or harming the reputation, stature, or status of the state, any of its institutions, its president or vice president, the rulers of the emirates, their crown princes or their deputies," as well as a number of national symbols, is also punishable with imprisonment and a fine of the same amount. Article 41 allows the government to close websites related to the commission of these crimes.

In February 2015, the Omani blogger Muawiyah al-Rawahi was detained by UAE border security personnel after attempting to enter the country from Oman. He was held for months without charge before appearing in court for the first time in September. He was ultimately charged with defaming the country and its rulers over criticisms of the UAE government that he published on Twitter in 2013. He was referred to a hospital for examination in November after his legal team claimed he was suffering from psychological disorders, and his case remained ongoing at year's end. Other social-media users were convicted for their online activity in 2015. In May, a local man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for operating a social-media account that was critical of the government; his electronic devices and various documents were confiscated. And in June, another Emirati man received a three-year prison sentence and a fine of 500,000 dirhams ($136,000) for criticizing the judiciary on Twitter.

An antiterrorism law passed in 2014 includes vague language prohibiting any speech that "antagonizes the state," among other offenses. This raised concerns that peaceful dissent or critical journalism could be punished as a form of "terrorism." The law carries potential penalties including death, life in prison, and fines of up to 100 million dirhams ($27 million).

Although there is a legal framework for access to public information, it is difficult to obtain official documents or data in practice, with government entities often rejecting or ignoring requests. There is no law guaranteeing freedom of information as a fundamental right.

The National Media Council (NMC) is responsible for licensing all publications and issuing press credentials to editors. Members of the council are appointed by the UAE's president, the hereditary ruler of Abu Dhabi. The UAE has four "media free zones" (MFZs)  areas in which foreign media outlets produce news content intended for foreign audiences  located in the emirates of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ras al-Khaimah, and Fujairah. The Dubai and Abu Dhabi MFZs host bureaus of international media outlets such as CNN, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya, and Agence France-Presse. Broadcast media outlets based in the MFZs are regulated by the Technology and Media Free Zone Authority, but are also subject to the 1980 press law and the penal code. All free zones must obtain approval from the NMC before licensing any print or broadcast activities.

Political Environment: 30 / 40 (2)

Journalists, especially foreign journalists working for Emirati media outlets, have reported having their stories censored by their editors, most often when they are covering sensitive issues such as religion, politics, or foreign allies of the UAE. Foreign media outlets based in the MFZs operate with relative freedom, although some journalists have received vague threats regarding their reporting.

Online censorship is extensive. In 2015, the UAE appeared to take cues from its regional allies in blocking overseas news websites. For example, the country reportedly joined Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in blocking the Iranian-based Arabic news outlet Al-Alam in October, and in December, a week after a similar move by Saudi Arabia, the UAE blocked the London-based Arabic news outlet Al-Araby al-Jadeed, which is owned by a Qatari company and has been accused of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. The UAE government appears more willing to leave English-language sites unfettered in order to burnish its international image, though it did block Al-Araby al-Jadeed's English sister publication in December. Internet users are directed to a proxy server that maintains a list of banned websites and blocks material deemed inconsistent with the "religious, cultural, political, and moral values of the country." Websites that are considered indecent include those featuring pornography, dating or personal advertisements, and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) content. Some websites based in Israel or covering religions other than Islam, notably the Baha'i faith, are also blocked. Many users reportedly employ circumvention tools, such as virtual private networks (VPNs), to access blocked content. However, in 2015 the police in Dubai affirmed that the use of VPNs is illegal and can lead to criminal charges.

Due to vaguely defined redlines on permissible speech, extreme forms of self-censorship are widely practiced. Emirati journalists often face warnings and threats if they push the limits of acceptable media coverage. However, noncitizen journalists account for the overwhelming majority of those working in the UAE, and they face harsher measures, including dismissal and deportation. In a notable recent case, Yasin Kakande, a Ugandan journalist for the English-language daily the National, lost his job in 2014 after he published a book that discussed self-censorship in the UAE. Moreover, the increasing frequency of arrests, convictions, and detentions without trial affecting critics of the government, particularly social-media users, has had a chilling effect on journalistic activity and free speech in general.

Although journalists, bloggers, and online activists are not often subject to overt acts of violence, many are arbitrarily detained by authorities and held for long periods of time with no apparent legal justification. For example, Obaid Yousef al-Zaabi, a blogger and activist, was acquitted in June 2014 of slander and other charges related to his online criticism of the government. However, he was never released following his trial, and at the end of 2015 he remained in detention in a hospital ward for prisoners in Abu Dhabi, suffering from chronic ailments. In February 2015, three Emirati sisters were detained without charge for three months after they published tweets drawing attention to their brother's conviction in a mass sedition trial in 2013. They were released without charge in May. And in August, security forces detained Nasser bin Ghaith, an outspoken academic, allegedly over his online criticism of the regime in Egypt, a UAE ally. Bin Ghaith's whereabouts and legal status were unknown at year's end.

Economic Environment: 23 / 30

About a dozen newspapers are published in Arabic and English in the UAE, and there are several terrestrial-broadcast radio and television stations. Most media outlets are either government owned or have close government affiliations. The Arab Media Group and Dubai Media Incorporated serve as the Dubai government's media arm, publishing several newspapers and operating television and radio stations. Privately owned newspapers such as the Arabic daily Al-Khaleej and its English-language sister paper, Gulf Today, are heavily influenced by the government. Almost all Arabic-language broadcast media that target the domestic audience are state owned and provide only the official view on local issues. However, satellite television service is widespread and provides uncensored access to international broadcasts.

Most major papers receive government subsidies and rely predominantly on the official Emirates News Agency (WAM) for content and guidance on whether or how to cover sensitive local news. Only a small minority of working journalists are native Emiratis, and observers note that expatriate journalists with relatively good pay have little incentive to engage in risky critical or investigative journalism.

About 90 percent of the UAE population had regular access to the internet in 2014. There are two internet service providers, Etisalat and Du, both of which are owned and operated by state corporations. The UAE has an extremely high mobile-phone penetration rate, with nearly twice as many mobile subscriptions as residents; most users have internet-enabled smartphones, making such devices one of the most popular ways to receive news content.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom of the Press 2016 - Ukraine

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 23 May 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2016 - Ukraine, 23 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574c490311.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Legal Environment: 13 / 30 (1) (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Political Environment: 24 / 40 (2) (0 = best, 40 = worst)

Economic Environment: 16 / 30 (2) (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Press Freedom Score: 53 / 100 (5) (0 = best, 100 = worst)

Note: The scores and narrative for Ukraine do not reflect conditions in Russian-occupied Crimea, which is assessed in a separate report.

Quick Facts

Population: 42,828,300

Net Freedom Status: Partly Free

Freedom in the World Status: Partly Free

Internet Penetration Rate: 43.4%

As the political and security situation stabilized somewhat in 2015, conditions for the media in Ukraine showed signs of improvement. The government of President Petro Poroshenko continued to strengthen media legislation, and violence against media workers declined relative to 2014. Journalists' access to separatist-held areas in the east of the country remained restricted.

Key Developments

Several pieces of media legislation were passed, including laws on access to information, protections for journalists who are attacked in the course of their work, and the privatization of publicly owned print media.

Reports of attacks and intimidation against journalists significantly decreased.

The government continued the process of transforming Ukraine's state television and radio stations into public-service broadcasters.

Legal Environment: 13 / 30 (1)

The constitutional and legal framework for the media in Ukraine is among the most progressive in Eastern Europe, though its protections are not always upheld in practice. The government made several positive legislative changes in 2015. In February, the parliament approved the liquidation of the National Expert Commission for the Protection of Public Morals, a controversial body that had been created in 2004 to enforce the observance of morality laws by the media. Amendments to the criminal code adopted in May increased penalties for crimes against journalists, including attacks, threats, abduction, murder, and the destruction of property. The legislation also established mechanisms for financial assistance to journalists who are injured, and to the families of those who are killed, while performing their professional duties. Impunity for crimes against the media nevertheless remains a problem in Ukraine.

In April, the parliament adopted a law that bans symbols related to "communist and Nazi totalitarian regimes"  with some exceptions, including for educational purposes  and penalizes the denial of the "criminal nature" of these regimes. Related legislation, also adopted in April, established recognition for several groups that fought for Ukrainian independence in the 20th century and criminalized the public denial of their legitimacy. Local and international media rights groups expressed concerns that the broadly worded laws could discourage open debate and critical journalism about politically sensitive topics. Both laws went into force in May.

Libel was decriminalized in 2001, and in 2009 the Supreme Court instructed judges to follow the civil libel standards of the European Court of Human Rights, which granted lower levels of protection to public officials and clearly distinguished between value judgments and factual information. Officials nevertheless continue to use libel lawsuits filed in the country's politicized court system to deter critical reporting. Amendments to legislation on court fees, passed in May 2015, led to concerns that journalists facing libel suits or other claims for nonpecuniary damages could be unduly burdened by high fees, including for filing appeals.

The government made further improvements in 2015 to legislation on access to public information, which had been strengthened in the previous year to comply with international standards. In April, legislators adopted amendments that compel government agencies to regularly release open data on their websites and on a single national online portal. Legislation passed in December guaranteed free access to information about public utilities, including prices and tariffs. Enforcement of legislation on access to public information remained problematic, however. The Institute of Mass Information (IMI), a Ukrainian nongovernmental organization, reported an increase in the restriction of journalists' access to public information in 2015, recording 33 cases, compared with 14 in 2014. According to the IMI, the obstacles were mostly imposed by local government bodies.

Legal requirements for the establishment and operation of private media outlets are not unduly onerous, although print media must be formally registered with the state. In April, Ukraine's main LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) web portal again reported that it had been denied registration as an online information agency; the outlet continued to pursue official registration throughout the year. Legislation adopted in September required the National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council, the country's broadcasting regulator, to release detailed explanations of its licensing decisions.

There are no burdensome restrictions on freedom to pursue the journalistic profession, and a number of groups and associations, including the National Union of Journalists and the Independent Media Trade Union of Ukraine, are able to support journalistic interests. However, Russian-backed separatist authorities in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk have been known to deny accreditation to both local and foreign journalists based on accusations of "propagandistic" or "negative" reporting.

Political Environment: 24 / 40 (2)

Some state pressure on outlets and journalists persisted at the national and subnational levels in 2015, although state interference in the affairs of both private and public media has decreased drastically since the ouster of then president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. The content of private media outlets is often influenced by the political or commercial interests of their owners. In September, the 1+1 television station suspended a popular talk show shortly before it was to air an appearance by a political opponent of Poroshenko as part of a discussion about government corruption. The station claimed to have taken the show off air to avoid exacerbating tensions in the country, but some critics alleged that the decision was due to political pressure. The main private broadcasters  which are controlled by a handful of powerful businessmen  displayed a variety of political orientations or biases in 2015, especially during the campaign period for the October local elections.

Freedom of access to official sources varies, depending on the public institution or official. Local officials in particular have been known to restrict media access to the activities of government bodies. In November, the mayor of Hlukhiv forcibly removed the editor of a local private newspaper from a city council meeting, reportedly on the grounds that private media should not be admitted to the meetings. In December, the parliament adopted legislation requiring parliamentary committee meetings to be held openly and publicly, and ensuring the ability of journalists to access them.

The National Television and Radio Broadcasting Council obtained court orders in 2014 to temporarily suspend the retransmission of certain Russian channels in Ukraine. The suspensions came after Russian state-controlled news outlets carried aggressively propagandistic content that was apparently designed to support the Russian occupation of Crimea, encourage pro-Russian separatism in eastern and southern Ukraine, and discredit the new government in Kyiv. The issue of censorship continued to be a topic of debate in 2015, and despite criticism of the suspensions by international media rights groups, the retransmission of several Russian television channels remained barred during the year.

In occupied areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, Russian-backed separatists retained control of broadcasting facilities, which they had seized in 2014, and continued to block the transmission of most Ukrainian television channels. The self-proclaimed governments of these regions also restricted access to several websites in 2015. Local journalists and media groups reported increasing self-censorship on politically sensitive issues; the problem persists to a lesser degree in areas controlled by the Kyiv government.

In 2014, violence during the popular uprising against Yanukovych and open warfare in the east had made Ukraine one of the world's most dangerous and difficult working environments for the media. Violence against journalists significantly decreased in 2015, although members of the press still faced intimidation, threats, and attacks from both state and nonstate actors in the course of their work. According to the IMI, there were at least 100 cases of interference with journalists attempting to cover newsworthy events, particularly during local elections in October. The organization also recorded dozens of beatings and assaults against reporters, most of which were committed by nonstate or unidentified actors; in 2014, security forces and public officials had been responsible for most incidents. Scores of journalists have fled the separatist-held eastern regions since the outbreak of violence in 2014, and independent media have limited access to these areas. Two reporters were killed during the year: Serhiy Nikolayev, a photojournalist for the Ukrainian newspaper Segodnya, was killed in cross fire while covering fighting in Donetsk in February, and Oles Buzyna, a journalist with strong pro-Russian views, was murdered in Kyiv in April.

In September, Poroshenko signed a decree barring hundreds of individuals, including 41 international journalists and bloggers, from entering Ukraine for one year on national security grounds. Following an outcry from international media and human rights groups, the government removed a number of journalists from Western outlets  among them the British Broadcasting Corporation  from the list. Ukrainian authorities deported several Russian journalists during the year, citing concerns about propaganda and misinformation.

Economic Environment: 16 / 30 (1)

Most media in Ukraine are privately owned, and the most popular source of news is television. Throughout 2015, officials continued the process of transforming Ukraine's state television and radio outlets into public-service broadcasters. A law signed in April established a new public broadcasting corporation that would be overseen by a supervisory board with strong civil society representation. In December, the president approved a law to facilitate the privatization of print media owned by central, regional, and local government authorities, which watchdogs praised as an important step toward increasing pluralism in the sector. Separate legislation signed in December initiated the formation of a state-run multiplatform news service to boost the country's international media presence and image, and to provide "prompt and objective information about developments in Ukraine."

A package of amendments that came into force in October requires broadcasters and program service providers to disclose detailed information about their ownership structures, including the identities of ultimate beneficiaries; companies are obliged to comply within six months. Media ownership has long been nontransparent in practice, although it is widely understood that most of the sector is controlled by a small number of wealthy businessmen with interests in politics and other industries. President Poroshenko, also a powerful businessman, retained ownership of his 5 Kanal television station in 2015 despite widespread calls for him to give up the outlet as a conflict of interest. The Inter Media Group is reportedly owned by gas trader Dmytro Firtash and Serhiy Lyovochkin, a member of parliament and former head of Yanukovych's presidential administration. Star Light Media, reportedly owned by billionaire industrialist Viktor Pinchuk, is composed of six television stations and an assortment of other media and advertising companies. 1+1 Media Group is reportedly owned by Ihor Kolomoysky, the former governor of Dnipropetrovsk. Former legislator Rinat Akhmetov, considered Ukraine's wealthiest person, reportedly controls Media Group Ukraine.

The October legislation also banned individuals or entities from offshore economic zones or "aggressor or occupier states"  a designation determined by the government  from establishing or owning broadcasting or program service provider companies in Ukraine. Despite such restrictions, the costs of establishing and operating media outlets are not generally prohibitive. Zeonbud, the country's only digital terrestrial television transmission company, announced substantial price cuts for its services in August. The company, which had obtained an exclusive license through an opaque process in 2010, was declared a monopoly in 2014 and fined 44 million hryven ($1.9 million) by the state antimonopoly committee in December 2015 for abuse of its dominant position in the market.

The government does not restrict access to the internet, which was used by about 43 percent of the population in 2014. Ukrainians have increasingly turned to online platforms, including social media, for their news and information.

Advertising revenue for print media has declined in recent years, leaving newspapers even more financially dependent on politicized owners. Paid content disguised as news, known as jeansa, remains widespread and weakens the credibility of journalists, especially during elections. Difficult economic conditions in Ukraine have placed the media sector, particularly small outlets, under financial strain in recent years.

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Freedom of the Press 2016 - Russia

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 23 May 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2016 - Russia, 23 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574c49069.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Press Freedom Status: Not Free

Legal Environment: 25 (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Political Environment: 34 (0 = best, 40 = worst)

Economic Environment: 24 (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Press Freedom Score: 83 (0 = best, 100 = worst)

Quick Facts

Population: 144,302,000

Net Freedom Status: Not Free

Freedom in the World Status: Not Free

Internet Penetration Rate: 71

Overview

The nationalistic tone of the dominant Russian media continued to drown out independent and critical journalism in 2015, stressing patriotic themes associated with Russia's 2014 military incursions into Ukraine and the launch of air strikes in Syria in September 2015. Russian leaders and progovernment media outlets also sought to mobilize public support and suppress any dissent in the face of an economic downturn linked to falling oil prices and Ukraine-related sanctions. Deterrents to independent reporting and commentary included draconian laws and extralegal intimidation. Although no journalists were killed in connection with their work in 2015, the persistent threat of deadly repercussions for expressions of dissent was reinforced in February, when opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was assassinated in central Moscow.

Key Developments

At least three internet users received significant prison sentences for posting "extremist" content related to Ukraine on social media.

TV-2, an independent television station based in Tomsk, was forced off the air due to opaque contract and licensing decisions by state entities. The outlet survived only on the internet.

European media companies sold their stakes in three important news publications, and in two cases, the new Russian owners subsequently reduced the scope or frequency of their reporting.

Legal Environment: 25 / 30

Although the Russian constitution provides for freedoms of speech and of the press, government officials frequently use the country's politicized and corrupt court system to harass the few journalists and bloggers who expose abuses by authorities. Russian law has a broad definition of extremism that officials invoke to silence government critics. Enforcement of this and other restrictive legal provisions has encouraged self-censorship.

In May 2015, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that expanded an existing ban on publication of information about military casualties in wartime to include casualties from "special operations" during peacetime, further limiting meaningful coverage of Russian military involvement in Ukraine and Syria. In July, the president signed a "right to be forgotten" law that allows individuals to ask search engines to remove links about them under certain circumstances. Freedom of information advocates criticized the measure for failing to include safeguards pertaining to public figures, the public interest, and the effects of the law beyond Russia's borders. A new law that took effect in September requires companies to store data about Russian citizens on Russian territory. It was still unclear at the end of 2015 how the legislation would be enforced, though it could affect news and information by facilitating surveillance or enabling authorities to penalize noncompliant foreign-based internet platforms.

A law signed in 2013 allows the state telecommunications regulator, Roskomnadzor, to block websites that disseminate calls for riots, "extremist" activities, or participation in illegal assemblies. The law continued to be invoked against independent and opposition websites in 2015, as were laws that allow blocking on various other grounds. More than 20,000 websites were being blocked at year's end, according to the independent watchdog Roskomsvoboda. A 2014 law requires any website, blog, or public social-media account with more than 3,000 daily viewers to register with Roskomnadzor as a media outlet and comply with the regulations accompanying that status, including bans on anonymous authorship and legal responsibility for comments posted by users.

Prosecutors in 2015 continued their practice of charging individuals  including journalists, bloggers, and in one case a librarian  with defamation, extremism, and other criminal offenses designed to limit free speech. In January, jailed journalist and blogger Sergey Reznik, who had written articles on alleged corruption and abuses by officials in Rostov-on-Don, received a three-year prison sentence on new charges of insulting and misleading authorities; his earlier 18-month prison term on similar charges would have expired in May.

In December, three internet users received substantial prison sentences for their online activities. Vadim Tyumentsev, a blogger in the city of Tomsk, was sentenced to five years in prison for posting videos on YouTube and the social-networking platform VKontakte that included criticism of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which prosecutors said amounted to incitement to hatred and extremist activity. A court in Krasnodar found activist Darya Polyudova guilty of "public calls to separatism and extremism" and sentenced her to two years in a penal colony after she posted a handful of items denouncing Putin's leadership and Russian actions in Ukraine on VKontakte. Neither she nor Tyumentsev had a significant following on social media. Oleg Novozhenin, an internet user in Surgut, was sentenced to a year in a penal colony for distributing "extremist material" on social networks. He had posted audio and video files promoting Ukrainian nationalist organizations. A number of other social-media users and journalists faced investigations, fines, and short detentions during the year.

In addition to individuals, seemingly innocuous organizations were subjected to official scrutiny for offering materials that touched on the sensitive topic of Ukraine. In June, a Moscow-based consumer protection group, Public Control, became the target of a criminal investigation after it published an online memo for Russian tourists that called Crimea an "occupied territory" and raised legal and safety concerns about traveling or buying property there. Roskomnadzor blocked the group's website on orders from the prosecutor general's office. In October, the Investigative Committee, Russia's main federal investigative body, launched a criminal case against Natalya Sharina, director of the state-funded Library of Ukrainian Literature in Moscow, on the grounds that the library contained anti-Russian propaganda and incited "national hatred and enmity." Sharina remained under house arrest at year's end.

While the constitution and a 2009 law provide for freedom of information, accessing information related to government bodies or via government websites is extremely difficult in practice.

Under a 2012 law, civil society organizations, including those advocating for journalists and media freedom, are registered as "foreign agents" if they are found to receive foreign funding and engage in broadly defined "political activity." A new law signed in May 2015 allows the prosecutor general's office to designate foreign organizations as "undesirable," after which anyone working with the blacklisted group can face up to seven years in prison. Dozens of Russian nongovernmental organizations have been labeled as "foreign agents," leading some to close. Four foreign organizations were deemed "undesirable" during 2015, including the U.S.-based National Endowment for Democracy.

Political Environment: 34 / 40

The main national news agenda is firmly controlled by the Kremlin. The government sets editorial policy at state-owned television stations, which dominate the media landscape and generate propagandistic content. The country's more than 400 daily newspapers offer content on a wide range of topics but rarely challenge the official line on important issues such as corruption or foreign policy. Meaningful political debate is mostly limited to weekly magazines, news websites, some radio programs, and a handful of newspapers. These outlets operate with the understanding that the government has the means to close them at any time.

There is significant evidence that the government organizes propaganda campaigns online, including by hiring people or creating automated social-media accounts to produce positive content about the regime and attack its detractors. Aside from fulfilling specific disinformation and propaganda goals, the practice undermines the Russian internet as a source of reliable news and information.

The country's few independent media outlets struggled to remain operational in the face of political pressure in 2015. TV-2, a regional broadcaster based in Tomsk, was forced to cease terrestrial broadcasting at the beginning of the year after a state-owned transmission monopoly canceled its contract. The station was then forced off cable services when Roskomnadzor terminated its license, and was only able to continue operating online. The reasoning behind the decisions was not fully explained, but TV-2 representatives suggested that the channel was being punished for its independent reporting. The online television outlet Dozhd (Rain), known for critical coverage of the Russian government, remained a target of official harassment after being dropped by cable and satellite services in 2014, apparently under pressure from the authorities. In December 2015, the station was inspected by the Moscow prosecutor's office for possible violations of laws on extremism, labor rules, and licensing regulations. One prominent Russian news site, Meduza, operates from a base in Latvia to avoid interference by Russian authorities.

Both Russian and foreign journalists often encounter physical intimidation or official obstruction while reporting in the field. In July, journalist Anna Gritsevich of the online news outlet Kavkazskiy Uzel was ordered to serve three days in jail for allegedly disobeying a police order as authorities dispersed a local protest in Sochi in 2014. She was reportedly injured by police, who detained her as she filmed the protest from a distance.

The Committee to Protect Journalists recorded no murders of journalists in connection with their work in 2015, but the organization has documented 56 such murders in Russia since 1992, finding that the perpetrators nearly always enjoyed impunity. Nonfatal assaults remain relatively common. The Glasnost Defence Foundation collected 70 reports of attacks on journalists and bloggers over the course of the year.

In January, Sergey Vilkov of the online news portal Obshchestvennoye Mneniye was badly beaten by two unidentified assailants in Saratov. Vilkov, who had written critical articles on local officials and businessmen, said the assault was likely connected to his work. In April, four masked men abducted, beat, and eventually released Vyacheslav Starodubets, owner of the news website My Derbent, which had exposed official corruption in the Dagestani city. The attackers reportedly threatened to target his family if he did not leave Dagestan. In November, Aleksandr Kholodov of the news portal Fontanka.ru, who reports on abuses by St. Petersburg's road police, was beaten by unidentified assailants in his apartment building. Such crimes against journalists are rarely solved and successfully prosecuted.

In at least one case during the year, a news outlet was used to transmit a threat against a member of the press. A May editorial in Grozny Inform, which is associated with the leadership of Chechnya, warned that investigative journalist Yelena Milashina of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta could meet the same fate as Nemtsov and Anna Politkovskaya, a Novaya Gazeta reporter who was murdered in 2006.

Economic Environment: 24 / 30

The Russian state controls, either directly or through proxies, all five of the major national television networks, as well as national radio networks, important national newspapers, and national news agencies. The state also controls more than 60 percent of the country's estimated 45,000 regional and local newspapers and other periodicals. State-run television is the main news source for most Russians and serves as the key propaganda tool of the government. The government owns an array of media assets directed at foreign audiences, including RT, an international, multilingual satellite news network that promotes the Kremlin's take on global events. Internet access continues to grow and is widely affordable. About 71 percent of Russians used the internet in 2014, and more than half of internet users are able to reach the medium via smartphones.

A law signed in 2014 will restrict foreign ownership stakes in Russian media assets to 20 percent by early 2017. In 2015, Germany's Axel Springer group sold the Russian edition of Forbes, and Finland's Sanoma sold its stakes in the business newspaper Vedomosti and the English-language Moscow Times. Russian media executives were the buyers in both transactions. The Moscow Times subsequently switched from daily to weekly publication, and its chief editor resigned due to conflicts with the new owner. The new publisher of Forbes said that the magazine would carry fewer stories on politics and focus on business and economics.

Government advertising allocations are an important means of influencing content, and most media businesses remain dependent on state subsidies and government printing, distribution, and transmission facilities. In addition, businesses are reported to be reluctant to place advertisements with outlets that are not favorable to the government. In the current economic crisis, publications face both shrinking subsidies and dwindling advertising revenues, putting greater pressure on newsrooms.

In February 2015, Putin signed amendments to 2014 legislation that had banned advertising on television channels that charged subscription fees for cable and satellite viewers and did not hold terrestrial broadcasting licenses. The initial ban threatened the commercial viability of many outlets, though notably not the traditional progovernment broadcasters. Under the 2015 amendments, pay channels can air advertisements if their share of foreign programming does not exceed 25 percent. Observers remained concerned that foreign commercial stations could be excluded from the market, and that many regional stations could be driven out of business if they lose their terrestrial broadcast licenses in a national shift to digital terrestrial transmission, now scheduled for the end of 2018.

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Freedom of the Press 2016 - Ghana

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 23 May 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2016 - Ghana, 23 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574c49079.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Legal Environment: 8 / 30 (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Political Environment: 12 / 40 (2) (0 = best, 40 = worst)

Economic Environment: 11 / 30 (1) (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Press Freedom Score: 31 / 100 (3) (0 = best, 100 = worst)

Quick Facts

Population: 27,672,800

Freedom in the World Status: Free

Internet Penetration Rate: 18.9%

Status change explanation: Ghana's status declined from Free to Partly Free due stepped-up attempts to limit coverage of news events and confiscation of equipment; increases in violence directed at journalists by the police, the military, political party members, and ordinary citizens, including the first murder of a journalist in more than 20 years; and continued electricity outages that impaired media production and distribution.

Overview

Ghana's reputation as one of the freest media environments in sub-Saharan Africa was tarnished in 2015 by a series of physical attacks against journalists, often by state officials, as well as by intensifying legal and financial pressure on reporters and media outlets.

Key Developments

In December 2015, Parliament adopted guidelines requiring the operators of public electronic communications or broadcasting services to submit content to a government media commission for approval before dissemination. The failure to do so can result in fines or a jail sentence of up to five years.

Two senior judges sued a number of journalists and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) advocacy group for defamation in connection with an expose implicating them and other members of the judiciary in a widespread bribery scandal.

Radio journalist George Abanga was shot and killed in September, marking the first murder of a journalist in connection with their work in more than 20 years.

Frequent power outages forced media outlets to turn to costly alternative power sources in order to publish or broadcast.

Legal Environment: 8 / 30

While freedom of the press is legally guaranteed, protections for the media have eroded under the administration of President John Dramani Mahama. In December 2015, Parliament approved content standards regulations that compel operators of public electronic communications or broadcasting services to obtain authorization from the National Media Commission (NMC) before the content is disseminated. Violations can result in fines or a jail sentence of up to five years. The measure's passage prompted concern among media freedom advocates that authorities were effectively reintroducing criminal penalties for journalistic activity.

Criminal libel and sedition laws were repealed in 2001, but the publication of false news with intent to "cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace" remains a misdemeanor under Ghana's criminal code. Current and former public officials, as well as private citizens, sometimes pursue civil libel suits with exorbitant compensation requests against journalists and media outlets.

In September 2015, a High Court judge, Justice Paul Uuter Dery, sued prominent investigative reporter Anas Aremeyaw Anas, three other journalists, and the executive director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) advocacy group for contempt of court in connection with an expose Anas had produced over a period of two years that implicated Dery and more than 30 other judges, as well as over 100 judicial service staff, in a widespread bribery scandal  a story that had a major impact on Ghana's political and judicial systems. Dery also sought an injunction against a video Anas had produced that featured footage of the alleged bribe-taking. In November, Gilbert Ayisi Addo, another High Court judge implicated in the scandal, sued nine parties including journalists, media outlets, and the MFWA for defamation in connection with the public screening of the video, and is seeking heavy damages. The cases were pending at the year's end.

The 1992 constitution provides for freedom of information, but there is no legislation to implement this guarantee. After more than 10 years of consultation between lawmakers and civil society organizations, a draft right to information bill went through a second reading in Parliament in 2015; it had not been passed at the year's end. Observers praised the draft bill for its robust provisions, many of which were inserted following pressure from civil society groups in Ghana.

In February 2015, the National Communications Authority awarded Afriwave Telecom a contract to establish a single clearinghouse through which all voice and data communications would pass. Civil society activists expressed concern that its establishment could permit government monitoring of phone calls, text messages, e-mail, and other communications, and could introduce the possibility of a large-scale telecommunications shutdown for political reasons. They also said it could prompt an overall increase in the cost of telecommunications services for consumers.

Political Environment: 12 / 40 (2)

While the constitution protects the state-run Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) from government interference, political parties attempt to influence coverage. Private media face editorial pressure from their owners, particularly those with political connections. Mahama has called for increased regulation of the media in order to avoid the spread of false information that could damage the country's international reputation, and, citing increasing partisanship, has called for radio stations to invite fewer political party representatives to their talk shows.

The constitution prohibits censorship, but Parliament's approval of new content regulations for broadcasters in December 2015 has raised concerns about the issue. Additionally, in August the Ministry of Communication's Information Services Department (ISD) issued guidelines requiring that ISD officials accompany foreign media workers when filming, and that they submit final newsreels to the ISD before they are aired publicly. Journalists who refuse to accept the conditions will be denied permission to work in Ghana.

Journalists faced an increased risk of physical attacks while performing their jobs in 2015, from government and military officials, the police, and members of the public. Such attacks typically went unpunished. In February, police officers attacked reporters who were trying to film a dispute between the police and a motorist. An official investigation was promised but no results had been issued at the year's end. In May, military officers attacked Michael Creg Afful of the private radio station Oman FM while he was photographing a construction site being developed by a firm owned by the president's brother, who was on the scene at time. The officers also seized Afful's phone and deleted photographs he had taken. The same month, supporters of the opposition New Patriotic Party attacked a Starr FM journalist who was attempting to interview them at a meeting. In June, residents attacked journalists from multiple outlets who were covering a demonstration against the demolition of homes in Accra's Old Fadama neighborhood; police failed to protect reporters during the incident.

In September, Stan Dogbe, a top aide to Mahama, assaulted and smashed the tape recorder of a GBC journalist he had accused of eavesdropping; the incident took place at a hospital where members of the presidential press corps were being treated following a car accident. The GBC declined to file a police report, treating the case as an "internal matter." Subsequently, the MFWA and 155 journalists jointly petitioned Mahama to sanction his aide, but they did not receive a response from the president by year's end.

In September, George Abanga, a reporter with the radio stations Success FM and Peace FM, was shot dead in the western Brong Ahafo region by unknown assailants as he was returning from covering a dispute between cocoa farmers. According to local reports, his killing was likely related either to his coverage of defections from the ruling National Democratic Congress party, or to his coverage of the theft of fertilizer from cocoa farmers in the region. His death represented the first time a journalist had been murdered in Ghana in over 20 years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Economic Environment: 11 / 30 (1)

Ghana has a total of 58 authorized television operators and 390 FM radio stations, of which 37 are state-owned, 273 are private, 63 are community-owned, and 17 are operated by universities. Dozens of newspapers, including two state-owned and two private dailies, publish regularly. Use of the internet is growing, but penetration remains low, at approximately 19 percent in 2014. Blogging and social networking have increased in urban centers.

Economic sustainability is a challenge for Ghana's media. The GBC receives inadequate funding from the government and must sell advertising to support operations, which leaves the outlet dependent on the large corporations that can afford its rates. Meanwhile, electricity fluctuations, known as dumsor, had adverse effects on media houses in 2015, forcing them to turn to costly alternative power sources in order to publish or broadcast. Journalists are poorly paid, and many are willing to accept money in exchange for covering particular events. In April, Mahama's chief of staff came under criticism for giving between 500 and 1,000 cedis ($130 and $260) to prominent journalists he had invited to a meeting, including some known for criticism of the government. Most reportedly accepted the money.

Copyright notice:  Freedom House, Inc.  All Rights Reserved
Freedom of the Press 2016 - Argentina

Publisher Freedom House Publication Date 23 May 2016 Cite as Freedom House, Freedom of the Press 2016 - Argentina, 23 May 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/574c4908c.html [accessed 25 October 2022] Disclaimer This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Press Freedom Status: Partly Free

Legal Environment: 14 / 30 (1) (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Political Environment: 20 / 40 (0 = best, 40 = worst)

Economic Environment: 16 / 30 (0 = best, 30 = worst)

Press Freedom Score: 50 / 100 (1) (0 = best, 100 = worst)

Quick Facts

Population: 42,426,000

Net Freedom Status: Free

Freedom in the World Status: Free

Internet Penetration Rate: 64.7%

Overview

The climate for freedom of the press in Argentina remained tense in 2015, due in large part to the frayed relationship between the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and critical media outlets. This situation was exacerbated by the pressures of an election year and a media frenzy surrounding the mysterious death of Alberto Nisman, a federal prosecutor, shortly before he was due to present a report that was highly critical of the Fernandez de Kirchner administration. The election of center-right opposition presidential candidate Mauricio Macri in November brought an end to 12 years of government under Fernandez de Kirchner and her late husband, Nestor Kirchner. While the change in administration eased tensions with the conservative press, it remained unclear at year's end whether the new president would facilitate genuinely impartial media regulation.

Key Developments

A journalist who broke the story of Nisman's death fled to Israel in January, claiming intimidation by the Argentine government.

A provincial court, ruling in June, upheld a law requiring newspapers to carry political parties' advertisements free of charge in the run-up to elections.

In December, Macri used presidential decrees to replace the leadership of the two main media regulators and merge them into a new entity under the Ministry of Communications.

Legal Environment: 14 / 30 (1)

Argentina's constitution provides for freedom of the media and of expression, and restricts Congress from passing legislation that would affect those freedoms. Defamation-related offenses were decriminalized for journalists in 2009 and can no longer result in prison sentences. However, fines can still be issued in civil cases.

A 2011 amendment to the antiterrorism law increased penalties for terrorist acts. An interpretation by the head of Argentina's Financial Investigations Unit stated that news outlets could be held accountable under the law if they published material that "terrorizes" the public. Although the government stated that the measure was not intended for use against the media, it was invoked in 2014 to charge a journalist, Juan Pablo Suarez, for publishing video footage of a police protest in Santiago del Estero. The aggravated "terrorism" charge was later dropped, but Suarez still faced a charge of incitement to violence, and the law itself remained in place.

Argentina has no federal law on access to information, despite numerous attempts to pass one in Congress. However, some provinces and municipalities have such legislation in place, and the Supreme Court has upheld information requests on constitutional grounds in recent years. The lack of federal legislation is particularly problematic given the Fernandez de Kirchner government's record of manipulating key economic and other statistics. In the absence of reliable official figures, journalists often used estimates from private economists and consultants. In the past, the secretary of commerce has issued fines to journalists who published independent data for "defrauding commerce and industry." The Macri administration pledged to restore the integrity of the national statistics agency, though the effort was still in its early stages at the end of 2015.

The 2009 Law on Audiovisual Communications Services, also known as the Ley de Medios (Media Law), created two media regulatory bodies, the Federal Communications Services Authority (Afsca) and the Federal Authority for Information Technology and Communications (Aftic). They were tasked with implementing the original law as well as a 2014 update, known as Argentina Digital, that introduced new regulations on cable, telephone, and internet service providers. The ostensible aim of these laws was to break up media monopolies and improve competition and service quality, but many observers argued that they were implemented with political bias. The Media Law was used to target the Clarin Group, which was critical of the Fernandez de Kirchner administration, with attempts to dismantle its extensive media holdings. There was also evidence that the regulatory bodies displayed bias in the licensing process, granting new operating licenses almost exclusively to government or progovernment entities.

In late December 2015, newly elected president Macri issued a decree that brought both Afsca and Aftic under trusteeship for 180 days, replacing their heads with presidential appointees and designating auditors to scrutinize their practices during the previous administration. Afsca chief Martin Sabbatella immediately filed for an injunction to block the move, but a federal judge ordered him and all Afsca employees to vacate their offices and comply with the decree, a decision that was enforced by police. The presidential takeover was criticized by pro-Fernandez de Kirchner politicians who claimed that Macri's move violated mechanisms established under the Media Law to select the agencies' heads and ensure their independence.

On December 30, Macri issued a second presidential decree announcing that Afsca and Aftic would be merged into a single new entity that would be responsible for media regulation in Argentina, the National Communications Authority (Enacom). The new body would have a seven-member board, with four chosen by the executive branch and three by the parliament, and be housed within the Ministry of Communications, a structure that drew criticism due to the possibility of undue executive influence. In addition, the administration announced that it was amending certain provisions of the Media Law, such as a prohibition on the sale of broadcast licenses between media companies. A federal judge issued a preliminary ruling to block the administration from making unilateral changes to the regulatory bodies, but it was unclear at year's end whether that order would be enforced. Organizations including the Argentine Journalism Forum (FOPEA) and pro-Fernandez de Kirchner politicians criticized Macri's use of presidential decrees to enact substantial changes to the regulatory framework.

Political Environment: 20 / 40

The level of hostility between the Fernandez de Kirchner government and major private news outlets, particularly those in the Clarin Group, created a highly polarized media climate. Fernandez de Kirchner held few official press conferences; instead, she made use of cadenas  nationwide presidential addresses that preempt programming on all radio and television stations. By law, cadenas are only valid as a means of communicating with the public in times of crisis, but Fernandez de Kirchner used them nearly 40 times in 2015, in many cases denouncing critical journalists and the media. The president also used social media, especially her Twitter account, to assail critical outlets and the legitimacy of their reporting. The government continued to promote the slogan "Clarin miente" ("Clarin lies") in its official advertising. In February 2015, then cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich tore up two pages of the daily Clarin at a press conference in response to negative reporting on the government. Macri held press conferences both before and after his election in November, signaling that the new administration would be more open to the media.

One of the main factors behind the Fernandez de Kirchner government's deteriorating relations with the press in 2015 was the media's reporting on the mysterious death of federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman in January, shortly before he was to present Congress with a report accusing the government of covering up Iran's alleged role in the 1994 terrorist bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. Amid speculation that the administration was somehow involved in Nisman's death, journalist Damian Pachter, who had broken the story, fled to Israel in late January due to concerns for his safety. He accused the government of misrepresenting his reporting in official media and sending intelligence agents to monitor his movements. The government published details of his air travel on Twitter, which were provided by the state airline, Aerolineas Argentinas. In February, the embassy of Belgium requested consular protection for a Belgian-Spanish journalist, Teresita Dussart, complaining that she had been the target of harassment for her reporting on the Nisman case. The government also revived old claims that critical outlets reporting on the case had cooperated with the military dictatorship, in an apparent bid to discredit them.

The media, including the internet, are generally free from official censorship. There have been some cases of the government taking down or blocking access to websites that facilitate illegal commercial activity or publish copyrighted or defamatory material, but the practice is not pervasive. A 2014 self-censorship survey conducted by FOPEA found that 53 percent of journalists reported the existence of self-censorship at the outlets where they worked. The most affected topics were those related to the national government, human trafficking, and drug trafficking. Many journalists reported editorial pressure from the business departments of their outlets or directly from advertisers.

Extreme violence against members of the press is very rare in Argentina, and no journalists were murdered in 2015. FOPEA registered 94 attacks against the media  including threats, assaults, attacks on media facilities, confiscation of equipment, and obstruction of coverage  in 2015, which represented a 52 percent reduction from the previous year's figure. Journalists sometimes face violence from police or other government officials in the course of their reporting. In April, journalist Rodrigo Mansilla of FM El Chubut and the affiliated newspaper El Chubut was severely beaten and threatened by a municipal employee in Trelew who believed that Mansilla was covering him in a negative light. The employee was later fired. Another journalist, cameraman Jorge Ahualli from the cable channel CCC in the northwestern city of Tucuman, was badly beaten in August after filming ruling party members distributing goods to voters in violation of electoral rules.

Journalists also face attacks in reprisal for their work  especially coverage of corruption or drug trafficking. In August 2015, journalists from the television networks Canal 5 and Canal 3, located in the eastern city of Rosario, were attacked by armed individuals in the neighborhood of a murder victim in an attempt to dissuade them from investigating the killing. In September, Maximiliano Pascual, director of a local paper and radio station in the eastern province of Santa Fe, was attacked by two unidentified men who cut his face and ears after he reported on a criminal case against a local drug trafficker.

Economic Environment: 16 / 30

Argentina has a large private media sector, with more than 150 daily newspapers, hundreds of commercial radio stations, and dozens of television stations. However, private ownership remained concentrated as of 2015, with the Clarin Group commanding a significant share of the print, broadcast, and internet service markets. Meanwhile, many radio stations operate on temporary licenses pending regulatory reform. Public media are less influential; the country's largest public television, TV Publica, has a much lower audience share than its private competitors. Public radio has also declined in importance since the privatization of the industry in 1980. The internet is widely available, with nearly 65 percent of Argentines accessing the medium as of 2014.

A 2011 law designated newsprint as a commodity of public interest, making it subject to government regulation. Under the law, the government can increase its minority stake in the only Argentine company that manufactures newsprint, Papel Prensa, in order to produce enough newsprint to satisfy the demand of all newspapers in the country; the rule could lead to eventual government control of the newsprint supply. Since 2010, the government has pursued an investigation into the two private media groups that control a majority stake in Papel Prensa, Clarin and La Nacion, alleging that they acquired the shares at a time when the seller was under coercion by the military dictatorship of 1976-83. The investigation, which has been criticized as politically motivated, remained stalled during 2015, and was not expected to be a priority for the new government.

As in past years, the Fernandez de Kirchner government was accused in 2015 of manipulating the distribution of official advertising to limit free speech, a form of "soft censorship" that had been institutionalized under the administration of former president Nestor Kirchner. The problem has persisted, including at the subnational level, despite a 2007 Supreme Court ruling that "the government may not manipulate advertising by giving it to or taking it away from media outlets on the basis of discriminatory criteria." In September, the newspaper Democracia from the city of Junin had its municipal advertising abruptly cut after it published critical coverage of the city's mayor, who allegedly transferred public land free of charge to the progovernment newspaper La Verdad, the principal competitor to Democracia in the city, for an expansion of its facilities. Several provincial laws in Argentina also require newspapers to grant a certain amount of advertising space free of charge to political parties during election periods. In June 2015, a provincial court in Cordoba rejected a challenge to the laws brought by two media companies, affirming their constitutionality.

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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.
Aug. 1 Deadline for 2016 USDA Safety Net Coverage

Producers who chose coverage from the safety net programs established by the 2014 Farm Bill, known as the Agriculture Risk Coverage or the Price Loss Coverage programs, can visit FSA county offices through Aug. 1, to sign contracts to enroll in coverage for 2016.

Although the choice between ARC and PLC is completed and remains in effect through 2018, producers must still enroll their farm by signing a contract each year to receive coverage.

Producers are encouraged to contact their local FSA office to schedule an appointment to enroll. If a farm is not enrolled during the 2016 enrollment period, producers on that farm will not be eligible for financial assistance from the ARC or PLC programs should crop prices or farm revenues fall below the historical price or revenue benchmarks established by the program.

The two programs were authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill and offer a safety net to agricultural producers when there is a substantial drop in prices or revenues for covered commodities. Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium grain rice (which includes short grain and sweet rice), safflower seed, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat. Upland cotton is no longer a covered commodity. For more details regarding these programs, go to www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc.

Youth Loans Available

The Farm Service Agency makes loans to youth to establish and operate agricultural income-producing projects in connection with 4-H clubs, FFA and other agricultural groups. Projects must be planned and operated with the help of the organization adviser, produce sufficient income to repay the loan and provide the youth with practical business and educational experience. The maximum loan amount is $5000.

Youth loan eligibility requirements:

Be a citizen of the United States (which includes Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) or a legal resident alien

Be 10 years to 20 years old

Comply with FSA's general eligibility requirements

Be unable to get a loan from other sources

Conduct a modest income-producing project in a supervised program of work as outlined above

Demonstrate capability of planning, managing and operating the project under guidance and assistance from a project adviser. The project supervisor must recommend the youth loan applicant, along with providing adequate supervision.

Stop by the county office for help preparing and processing the application forms.

Guaranteed Conservation Loans are available for applicants to install a conservation practice. These funds may be used for any conservation activities included in a conservation plan or Forest Stewardship Management plan. A copy of the conservation plan is required to complete the application. These loans are not limited to just family farmers. In some cases, applicants can operate non-eligible enterprises. Loan funds are issued by a participating commercial lender and guaranteed up to 80 percent by FSA or up to 90 percent for beginning and historically underserved producers.

Spring Seeded Crop Acreage Reports  As you plant your spring seeded crops please remember to call our office to set up an appointment to complete your crop acreage report. Timely reporting your acreage is usually an easy process and best of all it is free. Failure to timely report acreage will cost you money as you will have to pay a late-file reporting fee. July 15, 2016 is the final date to report all spring seeded crops, fallow fields, CRP acreage.

Aug. 1, 2016 is the deadline to provide all required signatures for the ARCPLC program. You must enroll your farm by signing a contract each year to receive coverage. It is our hope to be able to complete contract enrollment at the time of taking your 2016 spring seeded crop acreage report. If you are not sure if you have completed your program contract for 2016 please contact our office and we will review your records.
TYLER  Each step farmer Malcolm Williams took into his pasture announced the presence of water and soft, saturated topsoil. He left his flatbed truck at the gate knowing it wouldn't make it far without damaging the knee-high grass or getting stuck.

There was standing water on three of Williams' pastures he typically uses for hay production. Williams doesn't expect to be able to access the pastures any time soon, so he's moved cattle on them for grazing.

'It's too wet to fertilize and it's too wet to cut for the producers that were able to fertilize,' he said. 'Whenever you think you might have a window to work with  it rains.'

Spring storms have created a dilemma for crop and forage producers who can't access their fields to tend to pests and weeds or find a window of time to cut, cure and bale forage. Some fields in east and southeastern Texas have been drowned out or washed away and likely won't be replanted, according to various producer and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension reports.

Producers are doing what they can to work around the soggy conditions.

A helicopter applied treatments to an 85-acre corn field west of Tyler late last week because the producer could not access the field with equipment. One producer risked forecasts of late weekend rain to cut a coastal Bermuda grass meadow. The gamble worked out.

Chad Gulley, AgriLife Extension agent in Smith County, said producers around the area are in an awkward spot.

Some fields have hip-high cool-season grasses that need cutting to allow warm-season grasses to emerge, Gulley said. Cool-season and warm-season weeds are converging on fields that have been stunted by cooler temperatures or taller growth.

But wet fields won't allow them in fields to address the various situations without risking damage to equipment or fields, he said.

'I had one vegetable producer who told me they were just able to get back into their fields and it started raining again,' Gulley said. 'There are a lot of hay producers who want to get into their fields but were worried about there being enough time for it to cure before the next rain.'

Gulley said some producers have put off cuttings because of the forecast only to see a window of opportunity pass by.

'Some producers are getting to the point where they might take their chances to get hay in,' he said. 'They say they're going to cut and hope for the best.'

AgriLife Extension district reports

WEST CENTRAL: Days were warm and very humid with mild nights. Temperatures were well below normal due to rainy conditions. Rainfall saturated fields and pastures making them inaccessible for most producers. Producers look forward to some dry days to get the wheat out of the fields and plant cotton. Wheat and oats looked good with plenty of moisture for kernel fill. Rust was reported in some areas. Harvest should begin in the next few weeks. Good yields were expected unless damaging storms come through. Farmers tried to get seed beds prepared for cotton planting, but it was too wet to get into fields. Corn and sorghum crops were in mostly excellent condition. Some grain sorghum had not been planted but will go in as soon as weather permits. Hay crops progressed very well. Some producers started cutting and baling. Range and pastures improved to mostly excellent condition due to rainfall. Warm-season grasses were slowed by cooler days and nights, but should improve rapidly with sunshine and warmer temperatures. Pastures and fields were green and lush providing very good forage for cattle. The downside of good conditions was that more invasive weed species showed up. Fly populations increased and were causing a major nuisance everywhere. Stock tanks were full. Winter wheat was mostly grazed out by livestock. Livestock remained in fair to good condition. Cattle were heavy, and prices were good. Pecan crops started very well.

ROLLING PLAINS: Wet weather persisted. Areas received an abundance of rainfall, between 2-4 inches. The moisture was welcomed by producers and residents. Pastures, rangeland and lawns were greening up, growing and in good to excellent condition. Livestock were moved off winter wheat into pastures, and the recent rainfall assured producers there would be plenty of grazing for a while. Cotton farmers appreciated the moisture, which should be plenty to begin planting. The only negative has been farmers' inability to access fields because of the rain and little sunshine. Water levels in tanks, ponds and rivers were replenished and were in good shape. Some wheat had been swathed and baled for hay. Harvested wheat was still in the curing stage. Some wheat was laying over, but should recover with sunshine. Combines were expected to be harvesting wheat as soon as the ground dries enough.

SOUTH PLAINS: Recent rainfall improved moisture levels in subsoil and topsoil. Rain amounts ranged from 0.5-3.5 inches. Rains should also help cotton and warm-season grasses. Cotton was 25-30 percent planted before the rains. Field conditions were too wet for planting progress to be made, but planting should resume soon. Producers were grateful for the moisture but were feeling pressure to get fields planted prior to planting deadlines. Temperatures ranged from lows in the upper 40s to highs near 80 degrees. Winter wheat, pasture and range conditions were improving. Cattle were in good condition. Range conditions were mostly good to fair, and livestock conditions were good.
MONDAY

Memorial Day services

A Memorial Day ceremony will begin at 10:45 a.m. at Texas State Veterans Cemetery, 7457 West Lake Road. The Abilene Community Band will perform.

A Memorial Day service will begin at 9 a.m. at the Oplin Cemetery. Snacks will follow at the Oplin Community Center.

Open house

A Memorial Day open house will begin at 10:30 a.m. at VFW Post 6873, 1049 Veterans Drive. Free hamburgers and hot dogs will be served.

Cemetery meeting

BAIRD  The Belle Plaine Cemetery Association will conduct its annual Memorial Day ceremony and business meeting at 11 a.m. at Belle Plaine Cemetery, eight miles south of Baird. Participants are asked to arrive by 10:30 a.m. Bob Favor will be the guest speaker. A potluck dinner will follow.

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.

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

Choir concert

Chorus Abilene will present a tour choir concert at 6:30 p.m. at Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander 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.

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., Brookshires, Eastland.

Stroke/Aphasia Recovery Program support group, 1:30-2:30 p.m. West Texas Rehabilitation Center boardroom, 4601 Hartford St. 325-793-3535.

Dystonia Support Group, 5:15-6:15 p.m., Not Without Us, 3301 N. First St. Suite 117.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS), 5:30 p.m., Brook Hollow Christian Church, 2310 S. Willis St. 325-232-7444.

Legacies Al-Anon Family Group, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Open Door Building, 3157 Russell Ave. 325-280-7584.

Family (of Mental Health Consumers) Support Group, 6-7 p.m., Mental Health Association in Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

MHAA Bipolar/Depression Peer Support Group, 6-8 p.m., Ministry of Counseling & Enrichment, 1502 N. First St. 325-673-2300.

Free certified nurturing parent class (pregnancy to toddler), 6-8 p.m., Mission Church, North Third and Mockingbird streets. 325-672-9398.

Abilene Star Chorus, 6:15 p.m., First Baptist Church, 1333 N. Third St. 325-829-1470.

Overeaters Anonymous, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Exodus Metropolitan Community Church, 1933 S. 27th St.

Al-Anon Parents Group, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. Use Church Street entrance.

Al-Anon, 7 p.m., Doug Meinzer Activity Center, Knox City. 940-658-3926.

Abilene Society of Model Railroaders, 7-8:30 p.m., 2043 N. Second St.

Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St.

WEDNESDAY

Veteran services

The Taylor County Mobile Vet Center will present outreach services for veterans from 8-11:30 a.m. at the Eastland County Courthouse, 100 W. Main St. in Eastland.

The Taylor County Mobile Vet Center will present outreach services for veterans from 1-4 p.m. at the Brown County Courthouse, 200 S. Broadway in Brownwood.

Farmers market

The opening day of the Wylie Farmers Market will be conducted from 9-11 a.m. at Wylie Early Childhood Center on Buffalo Gap and Antilley roads.

Other ...

Blood drive, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Hendrick Medical Center, Tom Roberts Conference Center.

Overeaters Anonymous, 8 a.m., Hinds Square Building, Room 112, 100 Chestnut St.

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.

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.

THURSDAY

Veteran services

The Taylor County Mobile Vet Center will present outreach services for veterans from 8-11:30 a.m. at the Callahan County Courthouse, 100 W. Fourth St. in Baird.

The Taylor County Mobile Vet Center will present outreach services for veterans from 1-4 p.m. at the Nolan County Courthouse, 100 E. Third St. in Sweetwater.

Art reception

An art reception for the exhibit 'More Life in a Time Without Boundaries,' by Roger Colombik and Jerolyn Bahm-Colombik, will begin at 5 p.m. at The Grace Museum, 102 Cypress St.

'Noises Off!'

A production of the comedy 'Noises Off!' will be presented at 7:30 p.m. at Abilene Community Theatre, 809 Barrow St. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students, seniors and military. For reservations, call 325-673-6271.

Other ...

Veterans Association Club, 10 a.m., Rose Park Senior Citizens Center (in Rose Park, South Seventh and Barrow streets).

Chronic Pain and Depression Group, 11 a.m. to noon, Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St., 325-673-2300.

Abilene Founder Lions Club, 11:30 a.m., Al's Mesquite Grill, 4801 Buffalo Gap Road.

Kiwanis Club of Greater Abilene, noon, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St. 325-695-0092.

Retired Military Wives Club business meeting, 1 p.m., Rose Park Senior Activity Center, 2625 South Seventh St. 325-677-9656 or 325-793-1490.

Blood drive, 1-5 p.m., City Hall, 555 Walnut St.

Mental Illness Open Support Group, 1-2 p.m., Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

Abilene 42 Club, 6 p.m., Rose Park Senior Center.

Teen Recovery Group, 6-7 p.m., Mission Abilene, 3001 N. Third St.

Free certified nurturing parent class (all ages), 6-8 p.m., Mission Church, North Third and Mockingbird streets. 325-672-9398.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly, 6:30 p.m. Brook Hollow Christian Church. Weigh-in begins at 5:30 p.m. 325-665-5052.

Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 6:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St.

Gambler's Anonymous, 6:30 p.m., Unity Spiritual Living Center, 2842 Barrow St. 325-338-2575.

Key City Coin Club, 6:30 p.m., Rose Park Senior Citizens Center, Room B. 325-675-0266.

Round Dancing, 7 p.m., Wagon Wheel. 325-829-1517.

Old Town Abilene Neighborhood Association, 7 p.m., Shining Star Baptist Church, 302 Palm St. 325-676-4068.

Big Country Audubon Society, 7 p.m., Rose Park Senior Citizens Center.

American Legion Post and Auxiliary 661 meeting, 7 p.m., Lueders Legion Hall, Highway 6, Lueders.

South Pioneer Al-Anon Group, 8 p.m., 3157 Russell Ave.

Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St.
TUESDAY

Choir concert

Chorus Abilene will present a tour choir concert at 6:30 p.m. at Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander 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.

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., Brookshires, Eastland.

Stroke/Aphasia Recovery Program support group, 1:30-2:30 p.m. West Texas Rehabilitation Center boardroom, 4601 Hartford St. 325-793-3535.

Dystonia Support Group, 5:15-6:15 p.m., Not Without Us, 3301 N. First St. Suite 117.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS), 5:30 p.m., Brook Hollow Christian Church, 2310 S. Willis St. 325-232-7444.

Legacies Al-Anon Family Group, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Open Door Building, 3157 Russell Ave. 325-280-7584.

Family (of Mental Health Consumers) Support Group, 6-7 p.m., Mental Health Association in Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

MHAA Bipolar/Depression Peer Support Group, 6-8 p.m., Ministry of Counseling & Enrichment, 1502 N. First St. 325-673-2300.

Free certified nurturing parent class (pregnancy to toddler), 6-8 p.m., Mission Church, North Third and Mockingbird streets. 325-672-9398.

Abilene Star Chorus, 6:15 p.m., First Baptist Church, 1333 N. Third St. 325-829-1470.

Overeaters Anonymous, 6:30-7:30 p.m., Exodus Metropolitan Community Church, 1933 S. 27th St.

Al-Anon Parents Group, 7 p.m., Hillcrest Church of Christ, 650 E. Ambler Ave. Use Church Street entrance.

Al-Anon, 7 p.m., Doug Meinzer Activity Center, Knox City. 940-658-3926.

Abilene Society of Model Railroaders, 7-8:30 p.m., 2043 N. Second St.

Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St.

WEDNESDAY

Veteran services

The Taylor County Mobile Vet Center will present outreach services for veterans from 8-11:30 a.m. at the Eastland County Courthouse, 100 W. Main St. in Eastland.

The Taylor County Mobile Vet Center will present outreach services for veterans from 1-4 p.m. at the Brown County Courthouse, 200 S. Broadway in Brownwood.

Farmers market

The opening day of the Wylie Farmers Market will be conducted from 9-11 a.m. at Wylie Early Childhood Center on Buffalo Gap and Antilley roads.

Other ...

Blood drive, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Hendrick Medical Center, Tom Roberts Conference Center.

Overeaters Anonymous, 8 a.m., Hinds Square Building, Room 112, 100 Chestnut St.

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.

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.

THURSDAY

Veteran services

The Taylor County Mobile Vet Center will present outreach services for veterans from 8-11:30 a.m. at the Callahan County Courthouse, 100 W. Fourth St. in Baird.

The Taylor County Mobile Vet Center will present outreach services for veterans from 1-4 p.m. at the Nolan County Courthouse, 100 E. Third St. in Sweetwater.

Art reception

An art reception for the exhibit 'More Life in a Time Without Boundaries,' by Roger Colombik and Jerolyn Bahm-Colombik, will begin at 5 p.m. at The Grace Museum, 102 Cypress St.

'Noises Off!'

A production of the comedy 'Noises Off!' will be presented at 7:30 p.m. at Abilene Community Theatre, 809 Barrow St. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students, seniors and military. For reservations, call 325-673-6271.

Other ...

Veterans Association Club, 10 a.m., Rose Park Senior Citizens Center (in Rose Park, South Seventh and Barrow streets).

Chronic Pain and Depression Group, 11 a.m. to noon, Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St., 325-673-2300.

Abilene Founder Lions Club, 11:30 a.m., Al's Mesquite Grill, 4801 Buffalo Gap Road.

Kiwanis Club of Greater Abilene, noon, Beehive Restaurant, 442 Cedar St. 325-695-0092.

Retired Military Wives Club business meeting, 1 p.m., Rose Park Senior Activity Center, 2625 South Seventh St. 325-677-9656 or 325-793-1490.

Blood drive, 1-5 p.m., City Hall, 555 Walnut St.

Mental Illness Open Support Group, 1-2 p.m., Mental Health Association of Abilene, 333 Orange St. 325-673-2300.

Abilene 42 Club, 6 p.m., Rose Park Senior Center.

Teen Recovery Group, 6-7 p.m., Mission Abilene, 3001 N. Third St.

Free certified nurturing parent class (all ages), 6-8 p.m., Mission Church, North Third and Mockingbird streets. 325-672-9398.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly, 6:30 p.m. Brook Hollow Christian Church. Weigh-in begins at 5:30 p.m. 325-665-5052.

Free swim class for people with multiple sclerosis, 6:30 p.m., YMCA, 3250 State St.

Gambler's Anonymous, 6:30 p.m., Unity Spiritual Living Center, 2842 Barrow St. 325-338-2575.

Key City Coin Club, 6:30 p.m., Rose Park Senior Citizens Center, Room B. 325-675-0266.

Round Dancing, 7 p.m., Wagon Wheel. 325-829-1517.

Old Town Abilene Neighborhood Association, 7 p.m., Shining Star Baptist Church, 302 Palm St. 325-676-4068.

Big Country Audubon Society, 7 p.m., Rose Park Senior Citizens Center.

American Legion Post and Auxiliary 661 meeting, 7 p.m., Lueders Legion Hall, Highway 6, Lueders.

South Pioneer Al-Anon Group, 8 p.m., 3157 Russell Ave.

Unity Group of Alcoholics Anonymous, 8 p.m., Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest, 602 Meander St.

FRIDAY

Veteran services

The Taylor County Mobile Vet Center will present outreach services for veterans from 8-11:30 a.m. at the Jones County Courthouse, 100 Courthouse Square in Anson.

The Taylor County Mobile Vet Center will present outreach services for veterans from 1-4 p.m. at the Scurry County Courthouse, 1806 25th St. in Snyder.

Rummage sale

EASTLAND  An annual rummage sale will open at 8 a.m. at First United Methodist Church, 215 S. Mulberry St. Proceeds will go to school supplies for Eastland children.

'True Grit'

As part of the Paramount Film Series, a showing of 'True Grit' will begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre, 352 Cypress St. Robert Holladay will give a lecture on the film at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $6 for adults and $5 for students, seniors, military and children. For more information, visit paramount-abilene.org.

'Noises Off!'

A production of the comedy 'Noises Off!' will be presented at 7:30 p.m. at Abilene Community Theatre, 809 Barrow St. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students, seniors and military. For reservations, call 325-673-6271.

Other ...

Blood drive, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Abilene State Supported Living Center, 2180 Maple St.

Overeaters Anonymous, noon, Hinds Square Building, 100 Chestnut St., Room 112.

Abilene Chinese Corner, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Abilene Christian University library. lld09a@acu.edu.

Mid-City Al-Anon, 7 p.m., First Christian Church. 325-670-4304.
SWEETWATER  Which airplane was the ladies' favorite?

'The AT-6 Texan,' answered Carol Caine, associate director of the WASP WWII Museum. 'Because it was the fastest plane they flew here at Avenger Field and the women loved it. They wanted to go high and fast.'

Florence Shutsy Reynolds certainly liked that plane while she was serving as a Women's Airforce Service Pilot between 1943 and the end of the war. But ask 'Shoot-see,' as everyone pronounces her name, about her favorite aircraft and she's got a quick answer.

'The one I'm in!' she quipped, laughing. 'They're all my favorites, I loved every one of them.'

The WASPs held their reunion this weekend at the museum with several of the former women pilots in attendance. Shutsy was one of them.

She was 20 years old when she arrived at Avenger Field Dec. 7, 1943, coming in from the Bluebonnet Hotel in what she called a 'cattle truck' with a handful of other volunteers.

'These were girls from all over the country,' Shutsy recalled. 'I was thinking, 'Will we be friends? Will there be a social status?' I didn't come from a rich family, I came from middle class.'

The women were there to hone their flying skills, training on a variety of aircraft to ferry airplanes across the country during the war. But sometimes late at night, after Lights-Out, another school would commence.

'I was naive and boy, what an education I got. And I'm not talking about flying, either,' Shutsy said. 'There were six of us in the bay. Nobody fell asleep right away, they would talk about their families and their lives.'

Her class number was 44-5 and of the original group, one was an artist who specialized in Japanese art. Shutsy found that ironic, given the current state of affairs. Another was a stenographer.

'She was always saying, 'I am inwardly serene,'' Shutsy remembered. 'I said, 'Does that make you calm?''

Her new friend said it did.

Not afraid to speak her mind, Shutsy replied, 'You must have one hell of a temper.'

There was the blackjack dealer from Nevada.

'She was quite knowledgeable in things I knew nothing about,' Shutsy said with raised eyebrows.

A school teacher was in the group, too, but she ended up washing-out. And finally, there was a housewife from Hollywood, California, who also became a close friend.

'I'm the last one of my original class alive,' Shutsy said.

The memory of WASP training that always returns to her was the last time she regretfully climbed into the PT-17 Stearman, an open-cockpit biplane students flew before moving on to more advanced aircraft. She loved the Stearman so much that she incorporated its twin-wings into her signature.

But even so, it didn't compare to the AT-6.

'Oh, it was a dream of an airplane. For one thing, in the Stearman you're sitting in the backseat,' she said. 'You don't have any radio, he looks at you through a mirror. He can talk to you but you can't talk to him.'

That's not how it went in the Texan, though.

'In the AT-6 you're sitting in front,' Shutsy said, and laughed. 'You're in command, HE sits in back.'

That may not be exciting as a pilot; but speaking from experience, riding backseat in the Texan is certainly exciting as a passenger. If you are interested, you could have that experience too.

Chris Rounds flew his 1942 AT-6 from Tullahoma, Tennessee, down to Texas this month, visiting military communities, both current and former, for those interested in World War II airplanes. He has over 13,000 hours of flight time in 80 types of aircraft.

'The reason they called it the Texan is because it was built in Dallas,' Rounds said. 'They built over 15,000 of them and there are about 600 flying today.'

A nickname for the aircraft was the 'Pilot-Maker' because, in essence, that's what it did.

'It's an airplane you have to pay attention to and fly, instead of ride in,' he said. 'The problem with most pilots today is they want to look at a computer screen and put it on autopilot.'

There's nothing like that on this airplane. 'AT' stands for 'Advanced Trainer', and with a cruise speed of 130 knots, or about 150 miles-per-hour, it was the last plane fighter pilots would train on before moving up to aircraft like the P-51 Mustang.

How was the ride? At first I wasn't sure what I could hang on to. The stick was out of the question, that's what steers it. To my left was a handle labeled 'Fuel Dump'; that wouldn't work, either.

So absent the little handlebars Goose had in 'Top Gun,' I wrapped my hands around some airframe supports and just enjoyed the ride. It was a beautiful day for flying, we met in mid-air with a friend of Rounds' in another aircraft and flew formation over the museum.

Rounds performed a couple of turns that made me glad I'd passed up the greasy food at lunchtime. I wore the GoPro on my forehead and I'm sure I looked a sight. Check out the video on our website.

Back on the ground, I met Lt. Col. Christine Mau, the first woman to fly the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. She gave the keynote address at the luncheon Saturday. She had brought her daughters with her, but her most emotional moment was climbing into the cockpit of a BT-13, the same aircraft her late grandfather Willis Miller trained on before flying B-24 bombers in WWII.

'I just want to thank the WASPs for their sacrifice and service during World War II that was completely devalued, underappreciated and swept under a rug at the end of the war,' Mau said. 'It took many years for them to get any kind of recognition.'

And they are still fighting for it. President Obama recently signed into law a bill reinstating the WASPs right to have their ashes inurned at Arlington National Cemetery. His former Secretary of the Army had denied the WASPs that honor a year earlier.

Mau keeps the WASPs in her thoughts when facing adversity. She reminds herself that no matter how rough it is, it's certainly not like 1942. It's one of the reasons why she came.

'I just wanted to thank the WASPS for their service and for paving the way for the rest of us,' Mau said. 'These ladies put up with a lot.'
Halloween events, fall festivals pack October in Abilene, Big Country

From family-friendly to frightful, there are plenty of opportunities to don the costumes and scare up some treats.
The gravestone of Senior Airman Matthew James Kennedy sits in a row of similar markers, differentiated by a pair of floral arrangements and a family Bible.

Kennedy's mother, Terri Matthews, squatted down at her son's resting place in the Texas State Veterans Cemetery on West Lake Road and began to cry softly. Her husband, Mike Matthews, stood behind her with another visitor.

Remembering the sacrifices of her son and the countless others who gave their lives both in service to the country or because of it is what the day is about, she said, but also to say 'thank you.'

'My husband said this morning that it's a day of reflection and that's exactly what this is,' Matthews said. 'Not just of our own son, but of all the men and the women (who served).'

Matthews and her husband joined the hundreds who visited the cemetery Monday for an hourlong service recognizing those who gave their lives and those who are still serving in the Iraq and Afghanistan areas. Retired Col. Michael Bob Starr, who himself flew missions in Afghanistan, gave the keynote address, recognizing the sacrifice of Marine Lt. Col. Chris 'Otis' Raible.

Raible, he said, flew in the attack squadron known as 'The Avengers,' but was killed on Sept. 14, 2012, when Taliban forces attacked a base in Afghanistan. Though Starr said he and Raible had never met in life, he was present when Raible's flag-draped coffin was loaded on to a cargo plane to transport the fallen Marine to his home in California.

He said the circumstances of Raible's death were known to him because of his proximity at the time. The base he was stationed at outside Kandahar was under attack and the very planes Raible and his squad flew were exploding, one-by-one, in fireballs.

Raible, Starr said, gathered a group of technicians and mechanics to mount a counterattack and was killed by a grenade in the resulting fight.

'It was a very intense firefight, lasting at least two hours,' Starr said. 'It would be four hours before we'd cleaned up and signaled the all-clear. At some point in this battle, Lt. Col. Raible lost his life. He was found in the prone position with his firearm in front of him, where he'd been firing on the enemy.'

Some servicemen and women don't come home from the battle, but for those who do, there's still a fight that must be endured, Matthews said. Her son took his own life in June 2010, at age 28, after returning home from Iraq with a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

She said the Cooper High School graduate struggled with what he saw in battle and was never able to handle his return to Abilene.

Through her tears and emotions, Matthews said she takes away, even six years after her son ended his suffering, how important it is to help the veterans who do make it home alive, no matter the condition of their return.

'Twenty-two soldiers a day are taking their lives right now from these two wars,' she said. 'That's not right and that needs to stop. Matt fought hard. I guess that's one of the things that touched me most in the last six years ... a mom whose young son died in Afghanistan a few months before Matt, when I met with her, she said, 'My son died on the battlefield surrounded by his buddies. Your son died on the battlefield of his mind all by himself.' That just has stayed with me. My son is a hero. He is a hero. And he loved his country.'

Twitter: @TimothyChippARN
Today in history: On May 30, 1967, a region called Biafra announces its independence from Nigeria. In 1960, Nigeria had gained independent from Britain. The Muslim Hausa in northern Nigeria began killing the Christian Igbos, promoting that group to flee to the east. With no faith in the government, Lt. Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu and others established a republic comprised of several Nigerian states. War would break out in July and an estimated 1 million Biafrans died of hunger. Biafra surrendered in 1970.
8:45 A.M. UPDATE

The Abilene Regional Airport recorded 1.69' of rain overnight, while Abilene fire stations reported amounts up to 1.01'.

The average rainfall for the year in Abilene so far as recorded by the eight local fire stations is 18.15'. Fire stations No. 1 (250 Grape) and No. 5 (1250 EN 16th) have registered 19.96' and 19.95', respectively for the year.

While Abilene enjoyed rain in moderation, another Memorial Day weekend of flooding in the Hill Country of Texas cost lives. Closer to home, there are also reports of major flooding in Breckenridge Monday morning.

Rain chances continue throughout the week.

ORIGINAL STORY

The National Weather Service is calling the forecast as 'your run of the mill Memorial Day forecast for West Central Texas.'

The high should be in the mid-80s and as the day goes on the likelihood of showers and then thunderstorms increases to 30 percent. Monday night, moving into Tuesday, the chances continue to rise up to 60 percent.

Those probabilities are being brought on by the approach and arrival of an upper-level, low-pressure system and cold front, according to the NWS.

Friday is the first day of the week without at least a 30 percent chance of rain or storms.

The highs will range from the mid-70s to mid-80s all week long.

Early Sunday morning the gauge at Abilene Regional Aiport recorded 0.25 inch of rain and San Angelo received 0.15 inch. Sunday afternoon and evening, Brownwood recorded 0.03 inch.

Sunday night, the NWS issued a tornado warning for northern Throckmorton County. Other areas north of Abilene were warned of storms with hail and high winds.

FIVE-DAY FORECAST

Memorial Day: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 85. South southeast wind 10 to 15 mph. Overnight, a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. South southeast wind around 15 mph.

Tuesday: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 84. South wind 10 to 15 mph. Overnight, showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 66. South southeast wind 5 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Wednesday: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. South wind 5 to 10 mph becoming north northeast in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Overnight, a 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 61. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 76. North wind 5 to 10 mph. Overnight, a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. North wind 5 to 10 mph.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Overnight, mostly clear, with a low around 60.
SMU Office of Research  The global logistics company DHL and Singapore Management University (SMU) are celebrating three years of collaboration in improving the efficiency and sustainability of shipping goods in Asia Pacific.

From televisions to t-shirts, paperclips to cars  goods travel vast distances from manufacturing plants to their final consumers. A significant contribution to a products environmental footprint comes from its transport.

To accelerate the evolution of sustainable logistics, DHL and SMU formed the Green Transformation Lab (GTL) in 2013. Tapping on DHLs standing as the worlds leading logistics company to present real-world business scenarios and challenges, SMUs faculty and students come together to work with DHL in developing new ideas and innovative solutions.

The labs vision is to be the catalyst for change, said Assistant Professor Tan Kar Way, the academic director of GTL. We aim to create solutions for organisations and supply chains that lead to large-scale adoption so they become greener, more resource-efficient and sustainable.

GTLs performance in the past three years has exceeded expectations.

We frequently are surprised by the unconventional approaches that students and the faculty choose, as well as how these approaches produce unexpected solutions to the problems, said Stephan Schablinski, Director of Sustainable Supply Chain Solutions at DHL.

For example, GTL developed an application that optimises the choice of ocean container sizes and provides consolidation options at key ports. Many ocean shipping containers have unutilised space in them, presenting a significant opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and costs. Many manufacturers ship directly from their factories to the consumer markets without much consolidation planning. The application helps manufacturers analyse options for picking the most appropriate shipping container size, and thereafter consolidate the freight at key ports first, before forwarding the items to their destinations.

Using real data from a manufacturing company, SMU students determined that selecting optimal shipping container sizes can result in a 13.1 percent decrease in carbon emissions, and consolidating goods from multiple manufacturing plants at a port can further reduce carbon emissions by 12 percent for this company.

To help companies better understand the impact of different shipping options on carbon emissions, GTL, together with SMU students, revamped the Carbon Dashboard application to make it more visual and user-friendly. An IT application that estimates carbon emissions for shipping routes and modes, Carbon Dashboard 2.0 allows companies to explore different shipping routes and the corresponding carbon footprint, so that companies can consider the greener routes in the future. The application was fully commercialised in 2014 and is now used by DHLs clients regularly.

This tool enables DHL customers to really see where emissions along the supply chain are highest and try different what if scenarios to see how they can reduce emissions and save money, Schablinski said.

Another useful application to come out of GTL is the Online Energy Certificate, a web-based platform that DHL customers can use to measure energy efficiencies of warehouses. Developed by a group of undergraduates, the tool allows users to compare their facilities with an idealistic warehouse that adopts the best practices, to see how their warehouses can be modified to become more energy efficient. To further improve the benchmark methodology, a masters student took the lead on developing an algorithm that enables fair benchmarking for energy consumption based on data from a large number of warehouses.

To date, more than 150 undergraduate and masters students have worked with GTL as part of their coursework, and many have enjoyed the real-world experience presented to them.

Students learn that the logistics and supply chain industry is actually more exciting than they initially thought, and this is an area where innovation in IT and data analytics can make a big difference, Schablinski said. We hope that GTL will continue to make our industry more attractive for young talent.

The students have also helped raise awareness amongst local firms on the need for more sustainable packaging and shipping practices, and that environmentally friendly choices do not have to cost more.

The best part of the GTL is how closely students have been able to work with local industry, said Dr. Aparna Mukherjee Rajesh, Group Lead of Management Programmes at the SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business. Their research can be directly applied to real situations. I believe other departments can follow GTLs model in making an impact in the industry.

Apart from working with students, GTL also partners with the industry and government agencies. Environmental sustainability at ports has been receiving attention from port operators and regulators, and with the growing interest to move towards a clean and green port for Singapore, GTL worked with the Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) to develop a sustainability framework for port terminals. The framework, which covers transparency measurements, best practices, technologies and policies that allow business units in terminal operators to be accountable for their energy consumption, will help gear Singapores maritime operations towards sustainable green growth.

In addition, GTL conducted an analytics study for a large IT manufacturing company to locate the most suitable site for its production plants. Through considering factors such as the inbound and outbound flow of raw materials and finished goods, the study provided the company with an economical strategy in the forward planning of its operations.

As more companies reach out to GTL for collaboration on sustainability projects, Dr. Mukherjee Rajesh is thrilled, as the companies can bring in more real-life business challenges for SMU faculty and students to work on.

DHL originally seeded the lab with $2 million for an initial duration of 2 years. In 2015, DHL extended its commitment for another two years until mid-2017. Four DHL full time employees share office space with students and faculty, providing industry with insight and guidance. The tangible products produced by GTL contributed to DHLs win of the Best Practice Leadership in Energy Management prize at the 2015 Sustainable Business Awards (SBA) Singapore, for the second year in a row.

What makes the lab different is the unconventional mix of academic standards and commercial pragmatism, which brings completely new approaches to light, Schablinski said.

Going forward, GTL will focus on developing the circular economy  where items once considered waste at the end of their life cycle are recycled, reused or refurbished.

To spark new ideas on circular economy practices amongst industry, GTL co-hosted a symposium on the circular economy, shared value and urban mobility. About 100 industry professionals, academics and researchers gathered to discuss how to move people and goods around cities more efficiently, as well as how to make mega cities more sustainable.

One key project that GTL has embarked on for this endeavor is the Circular Economy Tyre Study, which researches on how to reuse tires instead of piling them up in landfills. Another project, Wheels4Food, aims to help the distribution of excess food to reduce food waste. This project is a partnership with Food from the Heart, a non-profit food bank in Singapore.

With a greater strain on resources, it is imperative to move away from the model of take, make, dispose, said Professor Tan. Logistics is one of the key catalysts and defining components for value creation towards new business models that incorporate circular practices.

The lab also wants to help companies create business value by addressing social problems that intersect with their operations, something called Shared Value. Dr. Mukherjee Rajesh noted that often companies are viewed negatively as earning profits at the expense of the greater good.

What if the public could see businesses doing good for their communities and simultaneously creating economic benefits for themselves? What if corporate mindsets could be changed to view environmental and social problems not as constraints, but as business opportunities? she said. Shared Value can help achieve the paradigm shift.

By Laura Petersen
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This just in...
Dozens of members of Afghan police forces have been reported killed over the past two days in heavy fighting in the southern province of Helmand.

Provincial police commander Esmatullah Dawlatzai said more than 50 police officers were killed on May 29-30.

Helmand hospitals have received more than 50 wounded, most of them members of Afghan security forces, said the head of Helmand's public health department, Enayatullah Ghaffari.

Reports said Taliban fighters had overrun a number of security checkpoints in the Nahr-e Saraj, Greshek, and Nad Ali districts around the regional capital, Lashkar Gah.

"Our troops are there and arrived there," Defense Ministry spokesman Dawalat Wazeri told RFE/RL. "Our air force is also informed and they are operating."

Helmand has been the scene of major offensives over the past year by Taliban militants seeking to overthrow the Kabul government.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa
A Bahraini appeals court has upheld life prison sentences against five Shi'ite men convicted of spying for Iran.

A May 29 statement by the prosecution said the court rejected the appeal by the five defendants.

The men were convicted in November of "spying for and seeking with Iran and its agents to carry out hostile acts against the kingdom."

They were found guilty of working with Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp to carry out attacks in Bahrain against "public and financial institutions."

The small Gulf nation has witnessed unrest since the government cracked down on a Shi'ite-led uprising demanding reforms in 2011.

The Shi'ite-majority kingdom, ruled by the Sunni minority, lies across the Persian Gulf from Iran and is home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet.

Based on reporting by AFP and Bahrain News Agency
Vladimir Putin says Poland and Romania are in Moscow's crosshairs for hosting components of a U.S. missile shield. Meanwhile, in an effort to get sanctions lifted, Russia appeals to Greece and Hungary.

On this week's Power Vertical Briefing, we look at Moscow's approach to Europe -- one part charm offensive and one part saber rattling -- on the eve of an EU decision on renewing sanctions.

Joining me is Pavel Butorin, managing editor of RFE/RL's Russian-language television program Current Time.

Enjoy...

NOTE: The Power Vertical Briefing will not appear on Monday, June 6.

The Power Vertical Briefing is a short look ahead to the stories expected to make news in Russia in the coming week. It is hosted by Brian Whitmore, author of The Power Vertical blog, and appears on Mondays.
London's HIgh Court will soon hear a $3 billion civil case that essentially boils the Ukraine conflict down to a lawsuit.

Basically, Russia is suing to recover a loan it granted to the regime of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, just months before he was ousted by a popular uprising.

The $3 billion credit was essentially a bribe to prevent Ukraine from signing an Association Agreement with the European Union.

And when the cash-strapped government in Kyiv negotiated a restructuring of its $18 billion debt last year, all of its creditors agreed -- except, that is, Russia.

But while Moscow's actions are hardly surprising, Kyiv is deploying a novel defense in the lawsuit.

Ukraine is arguing that Russia's annexation of Crimea and invasion of the Donbas are part of a military, political, and economic strategy to destabilize the country and make it impossible for it to pay its debts.

In other words, if you wanted your money back, you should not have invaded our country and seized our territory.

Now, the strategy is a long shot. Few countries have managed to write off debt incurred by former regimes.

But then again, few countries in recent history have had endured the kind of orchestrated destabilization campaign by a creditor as Ukraine has.

Russia has invaded Ukraine, annexed its territory, kidnapped its citizens, and done everything possible to disrupt its economy.

And now Ukraine is saying: That should cost you, at the very least, a mere $3 billion.

Keep telling me what you think on The Power Vertical's Twitter feed and on our Facebook page.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has agreed to attend an event in Russia next month, a commission spokeswoman has said.

"President Juncker has been invited and plans to participate in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 16," the spokeswoman said on May 30.

The Kremlin welcomed the news, and spokesman Dmitry Peskov added that Juncker would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Pesko said Russia was not optimistic Juncker's visit would lead to a warming in ties between Brussels and Moscow.

The commission president would be the first leader of an EU institution to visit Russia since sanctions were imposed in March 2014 for Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said Juncker would "use this opportunity to convey to the Russian leadership, as well as the wider audience, the EU's perspective regarding the current state of the EU-Russian relations."

Analysts says Juncker's visit would come right before a crucial EU decision on whether to renew the sanctions, possibly strengthening Putins position.

Juncker, who has called for a "practical relationship" with Moscow, has faced criticism from some European officials who favor keeping sanctions in place.

Schinas stressed that the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, "fully shares" the main principles of the approach to Russia agreed by the 28 member governments.

Based on reporting by Reuters, Interfax, and TASS
A vegan cafe in the historic center of Tbilisi was forced to cancel an English-language video screening over the weekend when a group described by witnesses as far-right extremists threw meat into patrons' vegan dinners and started a brawl.

The staff at Tbilisi's Kiwi Cafe called police on the evening of May 29 after more than a dozen men carrying meat attacked restaurant customers and staff.

The clash spilled onto the street outside and neighbors joined in the brawl -- some reportedly fighting against the restaurant's staff and customers, as well as the meat eaters. Minor injuries were reported.

The attackers fled before police arrived and no arrests were made. Police briefly detained some cafe staff members for interrogation.

Taken out of the context of recent events in Tbilisi, the incident could be dismissed by some as part of a backlash that has emerged on social media recently against anticarnivorous vegan rhetoric in Western counterculture. (That reaction is illustrated by a trending YouTube clip called If Meat Eaters Acted Like Vegans.)

But within the former Soviet republic of Georgia, and considering the angry nature of the violence at Kiwi Cafe, there are darker concerns.

A statement issued on May 30 through Kiwi Cafe's Facebook page described the incident as "an antivegan provocative action" and called the attackers "neo-Nazis" who support "fascist ideas."

The statement said the same group had come to the neighborhood a month earlier and asked a nearby shopkeeper whether foreigners or members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community frequented the cafe.

Kiwi Cafe is a counterculture-style gathering place that opened in Tbilisi about a year ago. It is popular with foreigners and employs foreign, English-speaking staff as well as Georgians.

On May 29, the cafe was screening English-language episodes of an American animated, sci-fi sitcom called Rick And Morty when the confrontation began.

Customers said the group of rowdy Georgian men entered the cafe as the screening was under way, wearing sausages around their necks and carrying slabs of meat on skewers.

According to the Kiwi Cafe statement, "they pulled out some grilled meat, sausages, and fish and started eating them and throwing them at us, and finally they started to smoke.... They were just trying to provoke our friends and disrespect us."

Witnesses said the brawl broke out after the men were told to calm down and leave the cafe, which is designated as a "no smoking" area.

'Georgians For Georgia'

Just three days before the attack at Kiwi Cafe, during Georgia's May 26 celebrations marking independence from the former Soviet Union, a group of Georgian nationalist extremists marched in the streets of Tbilisi chanting and carrying banners with the slogan "Georgians for Georgia."

For Georgians, that slogan is an obvious twist on a catchphrase that has specific, dark connotations in the country: "Georgia for Georgians." The phrase was among the anti-Soviet slogans that emerged from Georgia's chaotic rebirth as an independent post-Soviet republic.

For many Georgians, the slogan brings back memories of policies and declarations by Georgia's first post-Soviet president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, that were aimed at protecting the Georgian state and ethnic Georgians.

It also recalls the atmosphere that led ethnic minorities, supported by Russia, to declare independence in Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The slogan also stirs memories of the tense atmosphere in the newly independent Caucasus country when Georgia's armed ethnic conflicts broke out during the early 1990s.

In 2005, then-President Mikheil Saakashvili declared that "Georgia for Georgians" was a "poisonous nationalistic slogan."

But since 2013, when violent threats against gay activists in Tbilisi forced them to cancel a gay-pride parade in the Georgian capital, the slogan has appeared as spray-painted graffiti near Heroes Square in the city center alongside Nazi swastikas and racist slogans.

Kiwi Cafe said on May 30 that it was continuing to work and was "ready to accept all customers regardless of their nationality, race, appearance, age, gender, sexual orientation, or religious views."

For now, it remains unclear whether the premeditated meat assault against the vegan cafe was merely a prank against an alternative culture hangout that turned violent.

But some Tbilisi residents are concerned that the xenophobic overtones of the violence at Kiwi Cafe, taken together with the march by right-wing nationalists in Tbilisi just three days earlier, could mark the emergence of organized political actions by Georgian ultranationalists.

With reporting by RFE/RL's Georgian Service
Leonid Tibilov, de facto president of Georgia's breakaway Republic of South Ossetia, has been forced to abandon his plans to hold a referendum in August on amending the region's constitution to empower its leader to request South Ossetia's incorporation into the Russian Federation. On May 26, Tibilov and South Ossetia parliament speaker Anatoly Bibilov issued a joint statement announcing that the referendum will take place only after the presidential election due in early 2017.

The two men, who are widely regarded as the only candidates with any chance of winning that ballot, have long held diverging views on the optimum relationship between Russia and South Ossetia, and the time frame for achieving it. Moscow formally recognized South Ossetia as an independent sovereign state in August 2008, shortly after Russia and Georgia's five-day war over it and another breakaway Georgian republic, Abkhazia.

In January 2014, Bibilov publicly advocated holding concurrently with the parliamentary elections due in June of that year a referendum on the unification within the Russian Federation of South Ossetia and Russia's Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. And in early 2015, he criticized the planned bilateral Treaty on Union Relations and Integration between Russia and South Ossetia as falling far short of the desired level of integration. That treaty obliged Moscow, among other things, to work for broader international recognition of South Ossetia, which only a handful of countries besides Russia have recognized as an independent state.

Both before and after his election as de facto president in April 2012, Tibilov stressed the need to preserve South Ossetia's nominally independent status. At the same time, he described South Ossetia's incorporation into the Russian Federation as a separate federation subject (rather than merged with North Ossetia) as the long-term dream of the region's population, although he never suggested a time frame for it.

In October, however, just months after the ratification of the bilateral Treaty on Union Relations and Integration, Tibilov announced plans for a referendum on the region's incorporation into the Russian Federation. Moscow pointedly declined to endorse that initiative. Then in April, he floated the concept of forming a "union state" with Russia and simultaneously called for the holding of a referendum by August on amending South Ossetia's constitution to empower its leader to formally request its incorporation into the Russian Federation as a separate federation subject.

Bibilov immediately objected to that proposal, arguing that if a referendum took place, the sole question put to voters should be whether or not South Ossetia should become part of Russia.

Tibilov and Bibilov met on May 19 to discuss the planned referendum, after which Tibilov announced they would issue a joint proposal "within days." Then on May 23, Tibilov scheduled a meeting on May 26 of the presidential Political Council, which comprises representatives of both the executive and legislative branches.

That session lasted over four hours and at one point degenerated into a shouting match between Tibilov and Bibilov, who demanded permission to walk out on the grounds that "there have been too many insults directed at lawmakers." Tibilov refused to allow him to leave. Council members finally voted overwhelmingly (with just three votes against and one abstention) to "recommend" postponing the referendum until after next year's presidential ballot, and Tibilov acceded to that proposal. It is not clear whether the council discussed the wording of the referendum question as well.

The rationale for the postponement cited in the joint statement released later by Tibilov and Bibilov was "the need to preserve political stability" in the run-up to the 2017 presidential vote. But Bibilov himself told the Russian daily Kommersant that the current political situation could in no way be described as tense.

It is not known what other arguments Tibilov's opponents adduced, although Bibilov was quoted as protesting that there was not enough time to organize a referendum by August. Bibilov also predicted that if the referendum were held now, the vote in favor of joining Russia would be lower than the 99 percent registered in 1992. RFE/RL's Echo Of The Caucasus quoted the chair of breakaway South Ossetia's election commission, Bella Pliyeva, as raising the possibility that the vote in favor could be as low as 51 percent, or even that a majority might prefer independence. That would constitute a slap in the face for Russia, which subsidizes South Ossetia's budget to the tune of 90 percent.

The postponement of the referendum, and the continued lack of clarity over the wording of the question it will pose, constitute a setback for Tibilov insofar as a referendum on whether and on what terms South Ossetia should become part of the Russian Federation will now inevitably be the central issue in the election campaign. Bibilov's aggressive campaign for such a referendum certainly contributed to the victory in the 2014 parliamentary elections of his One Ossetia party, which controls 20 of the 34 parliament mandates.

A large question mark remains over Moscow's agenda. Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted in April, just after Tibilov floated the idea of holding a referendum by August, as noting, first, that the precise formulation of the referendum question was still unclear, and second, that the Russian leadership would be guided by the will of the people of South Ossetia.

That latter remark implies that Putin anticipates that the referendum question will be the "Bibilov variant," meaning that voters will be asked whether or not they want South Ossetia to become part of Russia, rather than whether or not the de facto South Ossetian president should be empowered to petition Moscow for the region's incorporation into the Russian Federation. From Putin's point of view, a nationwide vote in favor of accession to the Russian Federation would give a marginally more substantial veneer of legitimacy to that annexation than a request by one man whose election the international community regards as devoid of legitimacy.

On the other hand, as Aleksei Makarkin, deputy director of the Moscow-based Center for Political Technologies, pointed out to the news portal Caucasian Knot, Tibilov's strategy of empowering the South Ossetian president to raise the question of accession to Russia at his discretion has the advantage for Moscow that it does not require an immediate response, and therefore would not necessarily precipitate a further deterioration in relations with the West. Tibilov himself told the Political Council that Russia was not currently even considering the possibility of incorporating South Ossetia precisely because it would create new problems in international relations.
The Iraqi military says its forces have begun an operation to storm Fallujah, which is controlled by Islamic State (IS) militants.

The forces recaptured some areas in a southern suburb and took up positions on the eastern and northern fringes, leading to fierce battles.

Correspondents said explosions and gunfire could be heard on May 30 in Fallujah's southern Naimiya district.

Some 1,200 IS fighters and 50,000 civilians are believed to be inside Fallujah, a mainly Sunni city about 70 kilometers west of the capital, Baghdad.

As government forces advanced, a wave of bombings claimed by the IS group in and around Baghdad killed more than 20 people.

News of the assault comes a day after the Iraqi military said special forces had completed a troop buildup around Fallujah.

Iraqi forces, supported by Iranian-backed Shiite militia and backed by aerial strikes from the U.S.-led coalition, began the operation to recapture Fallujah on May 22.

An Iraqi military officer said on May 29 that troops had recaptured 80 percent of the territory around the city since the operation began.

WATCH: Iraqi forces have begun a direct assault to retake the western city of Fallujah from Islamic State militants. Reports said heavy fighting could be heard on May 30 in the southern part of the city. (Reuters)



In January 2014, Fallujah became the first Iraqi city to fall under the control of the militants, six months before they declared a caliphate over territory seized in Iraq and Syria.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters
ALMATY -- Leading rights activists and journalists in Kazakhstan have called on the authorities to immediately release dozens of individuals arrested for taking part in or calling for unsanctioned mass protests against land privatization legislation.

Members of the Arasha (Interference), a committee for the release of land law protesters that was established on May 26, said at a press conference in Almaty on May 30 that the protesters were "illegally arrested" for trying to exercise their right of freedom of assembly.

Hundreds of activists were detained ahead of planned May 21 nationwide protests against new legislation to privatize agricultural land.

The majority of them were released, but some were fined or sent to prison for 10 to 15 days.

Several activists were ordered into pretrial detention as charges of inciting social discord are investigated.
BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz officials are taking steps to seize a home belonging to Azimjan Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek political activist who was jailed in 2010 to the dismay of rights watchdogs following ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan.



The chairwoman of the Jalal-Abad Regional State Property Foundation Directorate, Gulnara Kojoeva, told RFE/RL on May 29 that Askarov's house in the village of Bazar-Korgon would be confiscated by the government, in accordance with Askarovs sentence.



Askarov, a Kyrgyz national of Uzbek ethnicity, is currently serving a life sentence after a court in the Jalal-Abad region found him guilty of organizing deadly clashes between ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010.

Askarov was convicted of involvement in the murder of a policeman who was killed during the clashes, in which more than 450 people -- mostly ethnic Uzbeks -- were killed. Askarov and his supporters denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated.

Askarovs case has been watched closely by human rights groups, with Amnesty International identifying him as a prisoner of conscience. The activist, who has claimed he was tortured while in police custody, was given the 2014 Human Rights Defender Award by the United States.

Askarov's wife, Khadicha Askarova, told RFE/RL that some 20 officials in five cars arrived on May 25 to evaluate the home in question. The move by Jalal-Abad regional officials comes just weeks after the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) officially urged Bishkek on April 21 to release Askarov after looking into his official complaint. The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has joined the UN demand.

The chairwoman of Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court, Ainash Tokbaeva, said on April 25 that the Supreme Court's decision in December 2011 to uphold Askarov's conviction by a lower court would have to be revised in order to comply with the OHCHR's call.

But on April 30, Kyrgyz presidential aide Busurmankul Taabaldiev publicly criticized the OHCHR's request to release Askarov, saying the UN body had interfered in Kyrgyzstan's internal affairs. Several days later, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev told Russia's Interfax news agency that parts of Kyrgyzstan's constitution were "undermining Kyrgyzstan's sovereignty" and "must be amended."

The Bishkek-based Bir-Duino-Kyrgyzstan (One World-Kyrgyzstan) human rights center has said that Askarov's house cannot legally be confiscated. The center's lawyer, Otkur Japarov, told RFE/RL that, according to Kyrgyz laws, a convicted individuals house cannot be confiscated if it occupied by relatives.

Kyrgyzstan's constitution allows its citizens to call upon international courts to protect their rights, and it requires that Kyrgyz authorities comply with decisions made by such institutions.
BISHKEK -- Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev has accepted the resignation of Interior Minister Melis Turganbaev in a government shake-up.

The Presidential Press Service said on May 30 that Atambaev had appointed Bishkek City Police Department Chief Kashkar Junushaliev as acting interior minister and urged the cabinet to approve him as the Central Asian nation's new interior minister.

No reason was given for Turganbaev's resignation.

The dismissal, however, follows the arrests of at least six politicians in the last three months who have been charged by authorities with plotting a coup.

The authorities cracked down on the opposition politicians as they were planning to hold antigovernment protests.

Turganbaev had led the Interior Ministry since 2014.

Before that, he served as deputy interior minister for four years.

With reporting by AFP
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said an upcoming summit will enhance the alliance's defensive and deterrent presence in Poland and other countries on its eastern flank.

Stoltenberg was speaking on May 30 in Warsaw, which will host a NATO summit in July.

"There will be more NATO troops in Poland after the Warsaw summit, to send a clear signal that an attack on Poland will be considered an attack on the whole alliance," he said.

He added that NATO was still discussing "the exact numbers and locations" of its enhanced presence in the east, but it will be multinational and rotational.

The move is expected to further antagonize Russia, which says that NATO's eastward expansion threatens its national security.

Relations between the alliance and Moscow have reached their lowest point since the Cold War over Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and its support for separatists in the country's east.

Based on reporting by AP and dpa
A group of Dutch political-protest artists have launched a new project intended to give Russians a subtle -- and legal -- way to protest against the countrys notorious law against gay "propaganda."

Their new app, called Raduga (Rainbow, in Russian), simply tracks weather forecasts across Russia and sends users an alert when a rainbow is expected in their area. Users can then photograph the rainbow and post it on social media, a seemingly nonprosecutable way of expressing solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community that has adopted the rainbow as its symbol of tolerance and inclusion.

The beauty of the project is that it can provoke commentary on the political situation, but it does so with humor, without nailing ones scrotum to the pavement of Red Square, says one of the projects creators, Cecilia Hendrikx, referring to a 2013 political protest by Pyotr Pavlensky against indifference in modern Russian society.

It is more poetic, Hendrikx adds, and less dangerous.

In 2013, Russia adopted a law making it illegal to expose minors to materials promoting nontraditional sexual relations or presenting distorted ideas about the equal social value of traditional and nontraditional sexual relationships.

The Raduga project was conceived shortly after the law passed. In 2014, Hendrikx and fellow Dutch artist Tara Karpinski were invited to create a public art performance in St. Petersburg as part of the bilateral Netherlands-Russia Year of Friendship marked that year.

Our goal was to have a group artistic performance in a public space, which was already quite difficult to do in Russia, without directly violating the law and at the same time pointing out their ridiculousness, Hendrikx says.

So a group of five artists dressed up as well-styled Russia women and rode around in the metro each carrying a large potted plant.

Everything was perfectly legal, but it looked very strange, Karpinki says. After an hour, the police started following us. But there was nothing to arrest us for. It was a game on the border of activism.

The Raduga project, the artists say, is conceived in the same spirit.

This is the first time we have taken on homophobia, Karpinski says. Basically, we do political art. We are interested in places where there is tension in the relations between society and the authorities -- anywhere in the world.

The artists say they will not be disappointed if the only result of their project is the appearance of more rainbow photographs on the Internet.

In all our projects, we leave to the audience the freedom of interpretation, Hendrikx says.

The only thing we are being criticized for is not explicitly defining our project as intended to defend gay rights, Karpinski adds. But we intentionally dont talk about this openly -- not because we are embarrassed about anything but because leaving something unsaid seems more beautiful to us.

RFE/RL correspondent Robert Coalson contributed to this report
The family of a driver who was killed alongside Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansur in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan has filed a case against the U.S. government.

Mohammad Azam was killed on May 21 while driving Mansur from the Iranian border to Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan.

It was not immediately clear what legal avenues the family can realistically pursue.

Azam's family has claimed he was innocent and a father of four who was the family's sole breadwinner.

Azam had been working for more than eight years as a driver in Taftan, a small desert town next to an important border crossing with Iran.

The family has said it is seeking financial compensation from the U.S. and Pakistani governments.

Pakistan condemned the U.S. drone strike, describing it as a violation of its sovereignty.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP
Two local men in Russia's North Caucasus region of Daghestan have been sentenced to prison over the killing of a journalist.

A court in the regional capital, Makhachkala, found Murad Shuaibov and Isa Abdurakhmanov guilty on May 30 of killing Malik Akhmedilov, and sentenced them to 10 1/2 years and eight years in prison, respectively.

The two were sentenced in March 2015 to the same prison terms but their case was later reviewed by a court.

Akhmedilov, chief editor of the Sogratl newspaper, was shot dead in August 2009 near his home in Makhachkala.

Daghestan has become the epicenter of violence by armed criminal groups and militants seeking to establish an Islamic state in the North Caucasus.

Police, journalists, and government officials are regularly targeted in attacks.

With reporting by Caucasian Knot
A Makhachkala district court has sentenced two men for the killing in August 2009 of Avar journalist Abdulmalik Akhmedilov. The two accused, Murad Shuaibov and Isa Abdurakhmanov, were jailed for 10 1/2 and eight years respectively.

They had been found guilty and sentenced to those same terms in late March 2015. Four months later, however, Daghestan's Supreme Court overturned the guilty verdict, citing procedural violations, and ordered a retrial, which began in early September.

Akhmedilov, who was 32 when he died, was editor of the local Avar-language newspaper Sogratl (named for the eponymous village where he was born) and deputy chief editor of the republican Avar-language paper Hakikat (Truth). At the time of his death, the Committee to Protect Journalists quoted one of Akhmedilov's colleagues as saying he had acquired a reputation for critical reporting on how the federal security forces sought to suppress political and religious dissent under the guise of cracking down on "extremism."

Akhmedilov was shot twice from a sawed-off hunting rifle on August 11, 2009, as he was driving away from his house on the outskirts of Makhachkala. He died almost immediately.

Shuaibov was arrested in late January 2013 and Abdurakhmanov some two months later. Like Akhmedilov, both were born in Sogratl. By December 2013, prosecutors had reportedly established that Shuaibov fired the murder weapon and Abdurakhmanov drove the getaway car.

During the pretrial investigation, Shuaibov was said to have admitted to having killed Akhmedilov out of personal animosity after being informed by Magomed Abigasanov, a distant cousin of then-Republic of Daghestan parliament deputy Shamil Isayev, that Akhmedilov had circulated leaflets falsely branding him an adherent of Salafi Islam. But once the investigation was completed, Shuaibov formally requested that the charge against him be changed to manslaughter. And during the first trial, which lasted 11 months, Shuaibov said he confessed to the murder only under torture, and was not in Makhachkala on the day Akhmedilov was killed. Both Shuaibov and Abdurakhmanov pleaded not guilty.

When sentence on the two men was pronounced in March 2015, Ali Kamalov, chairman of the Union of Journalists of Daghestan, complained that they were simply the perpetrators of the murder, while the person or people who had commissioned it remained at large. In that context, Kamalov recalled that Isayev had demanded on more than one occasion that Kamalov have Akhmedilov fired for publishing an article critical of him.

After the repeat verdict was handed down on May 30, Kamalov again declared that Shuaibov and Abdurakhmanov were merely the hired perpetrators of the killing. He alleged that investigators know the identity of those who commissioned Akhmedilovs murder but "don't have the courage to take them into custody."

Moscow-based journalist Orkhan Dzhemal had previously undertaken his own investigation of the slayings of both Akhmedilov and Khadzhimurad Kamalov, founder and chief editor of the independent Daghestani Russian-language weekly Chernovik and the son of Ali Kamalov's first cousin. In three articles published in April 2013, June 2013, and May 2014, Dzhemal summarized the circumstantial evidence implicating Isayev, who has since been appointed a deputy prime minister, in both murders.

Specifically, Dzhemal said Shuaibov told investigators that he and Abdurakhmanov (Isayev's former driver) killed Akhmedilov on orders from Abigasanov, the head of Isayev's bodyguards. Dzhemal further explained that there was ill will between the parliament deputy and Akhmedilov, who criticized in print the unseemly and drunken behavior of a group of construction workers engaged in building a house in Sogratl for Isayev's brother Rizvan.

The repeat trial of Shuaibov and Abdurakhmanov got under way in early September. Unlike the first, it was open to the media. Lawyer Biyakai Magomedov, representing Akhmedilov's family, was quoted as saying the prosecution's case against the accused left no possible doubt of their guilt.

But Abdurakhmanov in his final statement last week again pleaded not guilty and declared that there is no concrete proof of his involvement in the murder, only circumstantial evidence. Shuaibov for his part stressed that his rights had been violated during the pretrial investigation. Lawyers for the two men nonetheless again applied unsuccessfully last month for the charge against them to be changed from murder to manslaughter, on the grounds that the accused had sought only to intimidate their victim, not to kill him. They plan to appeal the new verdict.
A senior Turkish official has said Turkey and Russia do not have insurmountable problems and predicted bilateral ties will be fixed in a "short while."

Numan Kurtulmus, a deputy prime minister and the government spokesman, made the comments during a news conference in Ankara on May 30.

He also said that neither country could afford to sacrifice its relationship with the other.

Relations between the two countries soured after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane in November 2015.

Following the incident along the Turkish-Syrian border, Russian President Vladimir Putin imposed sanctions on Turkey and trade between the two countries plummeted.

Based on reporting by Reuters
ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Police in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, have detained opposition activists who planned to hold a rally to challenge next month's early presidential election.

Bibigul Imanghalieva, a member of the unregistered Algha, Qazaqstan (Kazakhstan, Forward) party, told RFE/RL by phone that she and several of her colleagues were detained for several hours early in the morning in different parts of the city before they could hold the demonstration, which was to fall on October 25, Republic Day, which commemorates Kazakhstan's declaration of state sovereignty in 1990.

According to Imanghalieva, leading activists, Aset Abishev, Aidar Syzdyqov, and Qanatkhan Amrenov, were among those detained. She added that she and other activists were released three hours later.

Imanghalieva says she and other members of the unregistered party had officially filed a request with the Almaty city administration last week asking for permission to hold a rally on October 25.

Other activists told RFE/RL that the chairwoman of an independent group of election observers, Arailym Nazarova, was also detained by police. Her mobile phone has been switched off since the morning of October 25.

In the capital, Astana, police cordoned off a square near Zhengis (Victory) Avenue where activists had planned to gather, not allowing anyone to enter the site. At least two activists were detained there.

Opposition activist Amangeldy Zhakhin said on Facebook on October 25 that police did not allow him to leave the village of Shortandy on October 25 as they tried to prevent his trip to Astana, the capital, where he planned to organize a rally to question the election, scheduled for November 20, at which incumbent President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev will face off against five relatively unknown candidates.

Activists in the cities of Aqsai, Pavlodar, and Oskemen also said they were blocked from travelling to Astana to take part in a rally.

Toqaev, who has tried to position himself as a reformer, called the early presidential election on September 1 while also proposing to change the presidential term to seven years from five years. Under the new system, future presidents will be barred from seeking more than one term.

Critics say Toqaev's initiatives have been mainly cosmetic and do not change the nature of the autocratic system in a country that has been plagued for years by rampant corruption and nepotism.

Toqaev's predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbaev, who had run the tightly controlled former Soviet republic with an iron fist for almost three decades, chose Toqaev as his successor when he stepped down in 2019.

Though he was no longer president, Nazarbaev retained sweeping powers as the head of the Security Council. He also enjoyed substantial powers by holding the title of elbasy or leader of the nation.

Many citizens, however, remained upset by the oppression felt during Nazarbaev's reign.

Those feelings came to a head in January when unprecedented anti-government nationwide protests started over a fuel price hike, and then exploded into countrywide deadly unrest over perceived corruption under the Nazarbaev regime and the cronyism that allowed his family and close friends to enrich themselves while ordinary citizens failed to share in the oil-rich Central Asian nation's wealth.

Toqaev subsequently stripped Nazarbaev of his Security Council role, taking it over himself. Since then, several of Nazarbaevs relatives and allies have been pushed out of their positions or resigned. Some have been arrested on corruption charges.

In June, a Toqaev-initiated referendum removed Nazarbaev's name from the constitution and annulled his status as elbasy.
ON MY MIND

With the EU about to decide whether or not to renew sanctions on Russia, Moscow's approach to Europe has been one part charm offensive and one part saber rattling.

Vladimir Putin visited Greece last week, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Hungary, and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has accepted an invitation to visit St. Petersburg to attend an economic forum.

Meanwhile, Moscow just can't resist threatening some European countries. In Athens last week, during a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Putin said Poland and Romania were in Moscow's "crosshairs" for hosting components of a U.S. missile-defense shield. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, meanwhile, says Russia's countersanctions against the West will be extended through 2017.

It may be just schizophrenia. Or it may be a coordinated strategy. And next month, when the EU votes on sanctions, we'll see if it worked.

THIS WEEK'S POWER VERTICAL BRIEFING

On this week's Power Vertical Briefing, I discuss Russia's schizophrenic policy toward Europe on the eve of the EU's decision on extending sanctions with Pavel Butorin, managing editor of RFE/RL's Russian-language television program Current Time.

THE LATEST POWER VERTICAL PODCAST

And in case you missed it, on the latest Power Vertical Podcast, I discuss Nadia Savchenko's political future with co-host Mark Galeotti and Natalia Churikova, managing editor of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.

IN THE NEWS

Vladimir Putin says Romania and Poland are now in Russia's "crosshairs" for hosting components of a U.S. missile-defense system.

Ukraine is using a "you invaded us" defense as Russia sues to recover a $3 billion credit.

Kommersant is reporting that Russia is considering issuing its own cryptocurrency.

Relatives of the Armenian family killed by a Russian soldier are reportedly suing Russia for 450,000 euros.

Turkey's deputy prime minister predicts that relations with Moscow will improve shortly.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has reportedly accepted an invitation to attend an economic forum in St. Petersburg.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry have discussed possible cooperation between Moscow and Washington in Syria.

Ukraine says pro-Moscow separatists have shelled Ukrainian positions 25 times in the last 24 hours.

Viktor Trepak, the former deputy head of the Ukrainian Security Service, says ousted President Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions paid about $2 billion in cash to bribe both former and incumbent top officials. Trepak says he has submitted documents confirming the payments to the National Anti-Corruption Bureau.

WHAT I'M READING

Juncker's Controversial Russia Visit

According to a report in Politico, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker faces growing resistance from the United States, some European countries -- and even among his own staff -- to a trip to Russia next month.

"According to diplomatic sources, several countries -- including the U.K. and the U.S. as well as some Baltic and Central European nations -- have privately expressed unease that Junckers participation in an event clearly designed to burnish Putins credentials as a statesman could only bolster the Russian position at a delicate moment in the sanctions debate. It remains unclear whether Juncker would meet one-on-one with Putin."

Let The Ballot Stuffing Begin!

Russia's parliamentary elections are more than three months away, but the ballot stuffing appears to have already begun -- in United Russia's primaries, according to a post on Mikhail Khodorkovsky's Open Wall portal.

"This might all sound like some bad joke -- if you turn a blind eye to the bruises and contusions, that is. The 'party of power,' as United Russia styles itself, staged internal elections -- resulting in the same carousels and stuffing of ballots that it has always been accused of orchestrating. And in the end, the wonderful impulse on the part of the presidential administration and party leaders to present United Russia as a more modern -- yes, and even democratic -- political force came to absolutely naught.

So why did this charade happen? How come United Russia simply could not resist falsifying its own primaries?"

Gorbachev On Putin

In The Financial Times, John Lloyd reviews Mikhail Gorbachev's memoir, The New Russia, in which the last Soviet president offers a critical assessment of the Putin regime.

Be Careful What You Post!

Meduza has a video of a St. Petersburg man being arrested and handcuffed in his apartment for posting a comment on social media deemed "extremist" by the Russian authorities.

A Lifestyle Code For Health-Care Workers

According to a report in Izvestia, a draft code of conduct for health-care workers will require them to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
There are indications that the appointment of the new Turkish prime minister, Binali Yildirim, will open a new phase in Ankaras approach toward the Kurdish issue.

In this new phase, the government is said to solve the Kurdish issue without the cooperation of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its political arm, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which is represented in the Turkish parliament. This will reportedly mean using more force against militants, adopting a tougher approach toward the HDP, and more openness toward nonviolent Kurdish groups and civilians. But it is not clear at all how the government wants to carry out such a plan in the absence of credible alternatives on the Kurdish side to talk to.

An ethnic Kurdish parliamentarian, Orhan Miroglu, himself a member of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), recently told a Turkish TV channel that in this new era there will be no talks whatsoever with the PKK or the HDP, unlike the last two years. The dialogue will now be with all the layers of the people and the Kurdish population, he said.

It is not only PKK terror that we are fighting against, Miroglu said. The PKK has become an organization of the Iranians, of Syrians, Europeans, Americans, and of the Assad regime and [they plot to] dismember Turkey.

Confidential talks between the Turkish government and PKK officials broke down last summer. Unconfirmed reports from the government side indicated that the Kurdish side was raising demands that included a separate region with a separate flag and security force that, in the Turkish view, came close to de facto independence. The collapse of talks ended a cease-fire agreement between the two parties and the PKK resumed its terror attacks, with the Turkish military and security forces fiercely hitting back.

Kurdish militants increased their bombings of public and civilian targets in urban centers. According to an International Crisis Group survey, 350 Turkish police and security forces and 250 civilians have been killed in hostilities related to Kurdish militantcy since July 2015. The HDP, though publicly expressing regret about all kinds of violence, has demonstrated a reluctance to clearly condemn terrorist attacks, maintaining its rhetoric that such attacks are a reaction to the just and suppressed demands of the Kurdish population.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan himself has been clear in his recent messages, stressing that there will be no more talks with those who still use weapons against civilians and Turkish military and security forces. The Turkish parliament has already approved depriving parliamentarians of their immunity if they are suspected of being involved in terrorism or other criminal offenses. There are reportedly dozens of deputies from all political parties with pending allegations against them who could now face criminal charges.

In Ankaras Kurdish political circles, there is no doubt that this bill primarily targets members of the HDPs parliamentary faction. That could seriously weaken parliament's third-biggest party or even cause its closure. Yes, it seems Ankara is formulating a new policy toward its armed conflict with the PKK. In the next few months, we may observe a further surge in the current armed campaign against the insurgents in order to eliminate a large portion of the militia organization.

The question that remains to be asked and which has found no clear answer yet is with whom the ruling AKP government would then negotiate, if not with the PKK or the HDP? It is expected that ethnic Kurdish members and officials inside the AKP, such as Miroglu, will increase their activities in an effort to gain more support for the governments efforts. In fact, the HDP and AKP are the two main political forces in southeastern Anatolia, where large numbers of Turkeys large Kurdish minority live. But they have always acted as supra ethnic and as rather national Turkish entities and not ethnic members of society.

The HDP and the PKK represent leftist and Kurdish nationalist thinking, while Kurdish members of AKP (or other national parties) do not limit themselves to only one issue. The PKK and its political arms (the HDP and previous parties that were disbanded) have survived 32 years of political struggle and an armed rebellion that has seen more than 35,000 people killed, around 350,000 citizens displaced, and which has caused large-scale destruction, as well as distrust and division in the population.

The PKK is labeled as a terrorist organization in Turkey as well as in the United States and by many nations in Europe. And, yes, it is a matter of principle not to talk to terrorists. It is comfortable and even right to say so, while taking revenge would find a lot of support in some segments of society. But the PKK and the HDP seem to be the only organizations currently speaking out about Kurdish ethnic interests in Turkey. And they have not disappeared after 32 years of often bloody confrontation.

Who is the Turkish government going to talk to if both the PKK and HDP fall out? This is an extremely difficult question to answer, especially now that calls for an independent Kurdish state are being heard more often and louder. Recently, Masud Barzani, head of the semi-independent Kurdish administration in northern Iraq, said that the time is ripe now for the world's 40 to 50 million Kurds, noting that the Kurds are basically divided among four countries (Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran) and that "each part has its own situation and each should find a solution with its central government."

In Turkey, can a nonpartisan embracing of the Kurds in the southeastern regions of the country and further investments there to make peoples lives easier be enough to turn around the current state of de facto civil war?

Is the ethnic Kurdish basis of the AKP and other parties strong enough to rise to a majority voice in this community of 15 to 20 million people?

The AKP and other political parties do not seem to have any clear answer to these basic questions, which should justly be asked about any new phase. The new phase in tackling Turkeys Kurdish issue seems to be a big gamble -- for all sides involved.
The Ukrainian military says three soldiers have been killed and eight wounded in fresh fighting between government forces and Russia-backed separatists in the east of the country.

Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said on May 30 that fighting had intensified compared to a month ago and accused separatists of "actively using heavy weapons," including a Grad rocket launcher.

Lysenko said the latest clashes were reported around the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk and the government-controlled city of Mariupol on the coast of the Sea of Azov.

Ukrainian forces have suffered significant losses in eastern Ukraine in recent days. On May 24, Kyiv said seven soldiers were killed in fighting with separatists. On May 28, five more soldiers were reported killed.

Amid the flare-up in violence, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for greater foreign assistance and has appointed former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen as his adviser.

Last month, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said it could take years to end the conflict, which has claimed more than 9,300 lives since it erupted in April 2014.

Based on reporting by AFP and Interfax
Across the former Soviet Union, colorful communist-era mosaics still adorn government buildings, housing blocks, and factory walls. Many celebrate industry and culture with artistic flourishes that belie their staid subjects. Photographer David Trilling found himself drawn to them again and again on his travels around Russia and Central Asia. (
REEDVILLE  When his family decided to throw Bill Henderson a surprise 60th birthday party 28 years ago, they had to coordinate with the local emergency dispatcher to ensure hed show up.

The dispatcher sent Henderson, a volunteer EMT, on a fake call to the local country club, where he was ambushed by family and friends. Otherwise, he never would have stopped responding to calls.

I almost walked out, Henderson said with a laugh, recalling his entrance.

Now, at age 88, Henderson still is an active member of the Northumberland County Rescue Squad. Hes been a volunteer EMT since 1963 and formally instructed for about 37 years.

But its the lessons hes taught and the compassion hes shown during his EMT career that have made him so well-known across the Northern Neck.

Bills in a class by himself, said Paul Carey, a member of the Northumberland squad and a former student of Henderson.

***

Henderson has always been a teacher, but hes not an academic.

Whats unusual about Bill as an instructor and as a leader is he focuses on his associates in the rescue squad with compassion, Carey said.

Hes always watchful. Hell allow you to make a few non-critical mistakes where he thinks it will help reinforce the lesson. You dont have a lot of instructors nowadays who have that kind of restraint and experience.

Sometimes, students didnt realize the lessons theyd taken away from Henderson until later, said Elsie Tomlin, president of the Northumberland squad and another former student of Henderson.

He taught you a lot of times to broaden your mind and be open, she said. Look at all of your vitals and actually assess the patient.

And occasionally, that involved rubber snakes.

To keep his students aware of their surroundings, Henderson would place rubber snakes, rubber mice or other demonstration items hidden in the classroom. Instruction like that helped Carey, a former student of Henderson, spot a gun at one scene and notify police.

***

Henderson no longer is a formal EMT instructor; he gave that up about three years ago. Teaching the courses required too much time, and students were using their cellphones during the class instead of learning, he said.

However, hes still teaching.

When Henderson goes out on a call, it makes a difference, said Trish Newsome, a paramedic and member of the rescue squad who had Henderson as an instructor. Not only can he improve the outcome, but he can teach younger responders on the job.

Hes forgotten more EMS knowledge than most people have ever known, Newsome said.

With 53 years of experience, thats no surprise. Before giving up instructing formally, he was the most senior EMT instructor in Virginia.

Ive never gone to Bill with a question that he doesnt have an answer for, Tomlin said.

When Tomlin needed someone to help her train to become a more experienced EMT, Henderson went on lots of calls to get her the wisdom she needed. His composure helps, too.

The one thing Ive always admired about Bill is, hes calm, Tomlin said. Even if everyone else in the house is screaming, hes thoughtful and methodical.

***

Henderson still can recall stories from his early days as an EMT in Charlottesville. He came to the Northumberland Rescue Squad in 1994 and has served only as a volunteer  maintenance, clerical and lab jobs paid the bills.

And there is no shortage of accolades in his honor. He was named EMT of the year in 2000 by Rappahannock General Hospital; the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad named its training room after him; and in 2003, he was recognized with the Governors Award for outstanding pre-hospital provider.

But Henderson is humble and said hes no more important than anyone else.

Henderson doesnt go on as many calls now. The scanner never is far away, but hes taken on more administrative duties  handling quality assurance and being the legal mind while also serving on the rescue squads board of directors.

Hendersons wife died a few years ago  something that was hard for all squad members. But to Henderson, the Northumberland Rescue Squad is his family.

The people you run with, you have to rely on them. And they have to rely on you, he said.
LONDON

Leaders of the campaign to end Britains membership in the European Union hope that next months referendum will make June 23, 2016, a date as luminous in modern British history as May 3, 1979, when voters made Margaret Thatcher prime minister. Michael Gove, secretary of justice and leader of the campaign for Brexit  Britains withdrawal from the EU  anticipates a galvanizing, liberating, empowering moment of national renewal.

For Americans, Britains debate about Brexit is more substantive, and perhaps more important, than their dispiriting presidential choice. American conservatives would regard Britains withdrawal from the EU as the healthy rejection of political grandiosity.

Goves friend, Prime Minister David Cameron, who opposes Brexit, says that the referendum is perhaps the most important decision the British people will have to take at the ballot box in our lifetimes. Advocates of Brexit agree, but add: If Britons vote to remain in the EU, this might be the last important decision made at British ballot boxes because important decisions will increasingly be made in Brussels.

The EUs democracy deficit is mistakenly considered merely an unintended injury done by the creation of a blessing  a continent-wide administrative state. Actually, the deficit is the point of such a state. In Europe, as in the United States, the administrative state exists to marginalize politics  to achieve Henri de Saint-Simons goal of replacing the government of persons by the administration of things. The idea of a continent-wide European democracy presupposes the existence of a single European demos, the nonexistence of which can be confirmed by a drive from, say, Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic.

Gove believes that the ongoing concentration of power in Brussels, seat of the bureaucratic regulatory temptation, guarantees regulation in the interest of incumbents who do not want a dynamic, innovative Europe. Under Europes administrative state, Gove says interest groups are stronger than ever and they prefer social stasis to the uncertainties of societies that welcome the creative destruction of those interests that thrive by rent-seeking. Gove likens the EUs figurehead Parliament to the Russian Duma under the czars, or the Hapsburg parliament. The EU is a rigged cartel in the interest of the smug.

If, as some serious people here fear, Europes current crisis of migration is just the beginning of one of the largest population movements in history, the EUs enfeebled national governments must prepare to cope with inundations. But each EU members latitude for action exists at the sufferance of EU institutions.

Gove believes that most of the British public, and even most members of Parliament, see the familiar trappings and procedures of the House of Commons  the mace, question time  and think nothing has changed. But most of binding law in Britain  estimates vary from 55 percent to 65 percent  does not arise from the Parliament in Westminster but from the European Commission in Brussels.

The EU has a flag no one salutes, an anthem no one sings, a president no one can name, a parliament that no one other than its members wants to have more power (which must be subtracted from national legislatures), a capital of coagulated bureaucracies that no one admires or controls, a currency that presupposes what neither does nor should exist (a European central government administering fiscal policy), and rules of fiscal behavior (limits on debt-to-GDP ratios) that few if any members obey and none have been penalized for ignoring.

Journalist and historian Max Hastings, who will vote Remain, says the bitterness between Leave and Remain Conservatives is reminiscent of the Suez crisis of 1956 and is wildly unreasonable, given that Britains gravest problems  an unsustainable National Health Service, a failing education system, low economic productivity  have nothing to do with Brussels. Besides, especially given the worsening migration crisis, I cannot believe that the EU, and even more the eurozone, will or should survive in their present form through another decade. Supporters of Brexit agree that, such is the EUs flux, there is no stable status quo to embrace, so leaving is no more risky than remaining.

Mildly invoking 1776 for an American guest, Gove says self-government works better than being part of an empire that doesnt have our interests at heart. So, the 23rd of June can become Britains Fourth of July  a Declaration of Independence. If Britain rejects continuing complicity in the EU project  constructing a bland leviathan from surrendered national sovereignties  it will have rejected the idea that its future greatness depends on submersion in something larger than itself. It will have taken an off-ramp from the road to serfdom.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Optical Cable Corp. of Roanoke has earned the 2016 Chancellors Award for Leadership in Philanthropy for its support of Virginias Community Colleges. The company and President and CEO Neil Wilkin were nominated for the award by Virginia Western Community College. The award was given at luncheon ceremony at the Country Club of Virginia on April 19.

Hosted by the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education, the 11th annual event honors leading philanthropists from each of Virginias 23 community colleges as well as the statewide foundation. This years class of distinguished philanthropy leaders has contributed a combined total of more than $11 million to Virginias Community Colleges.

Optical Cable Corp. began investing in Virginia Western Community Colleges Community College Access Program in 2013 for students from Roanoke County. In 2014, it established the Optical Cable Corporation Endowed Scholarship to continue its support in perpetuity.

CCAP, serving the Colleges entire service district, encourages local high school students to successfully complete high school, apply to and graduate college with a degree or certificate, and be prepared to transfer to a four-year institution or directly enter the workforce. Administered by the Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation, the needs-based program covers the cost of tuition for two years at Virginia Western for students who meet program guidelines. More than 1,300 students have benefited from CCAP funding since program inception in 2009.

Headquartered in Roanoke, Optical Cable Corp. is a pioneer in the design and production of fiber optic cables. Today, OCC is internationally recognized as a leader in engineering and manufacturing a complete line of top-tier cabling and connectivity solutions, including products and solutions suitable for the most demanding applications.

Wilkins support of Virginia Western has been clearly demonstrated in his energetic and dedicated commitment to the Virginia Western Community College Educational Foundation. He has been a member of the Foundations Board of Directors for seven years, serving on its Executive Committee as Treasurer since 2009. Mr. Wilkin has accepted the responsibilities of vice chairman of the board for 2016.

Submitted by Josh Meyer
(ehudlaniado.com) - As anyone in the diamond industry is well aware, 2015 was a challenging year for almost every business in the trade. From a problematic rough to polished price imbalance, to ongoing economic malaise in Europe and reduced consumption of all luxury goods in China, 2015 was a year that many would like to forget. The numbers are now in, and we can see exactly what happened in many of the key trading centers of the world.
Registration for the 2016 congress of CIBJO, the World Jewelry Confederation, is now open. Delegates and other participants may register for the congress and its social programme, as well as book hotel rooms, via a dedicated congress website located at: http://www.cibjo.org/congress2016/ The 2016 CIBJO Congress will take place in Yerevan, October 26-28. It will be hosted by the Armenian Jewellers Association (AJA). The main venue for the event is the Meridian Expo Center and congress hotel is the Armenia Marriott. Since the CIBJO Congress 2016 will be a carbon neutral event, participants are also requested to complete a carbon footprinting form. The congress website includes the congress program, important travel information and details about the social programme.As the official venue for the meeting of the CIBJO Assembly of Delegates, the CIBJO Congress will gather in Yerevan the members of national jewellery and gemstone associations from more than 40 countries and representatives of many of the industry's most important commercial bodies. The congress also serves as a forum for CIBJO's professional commissions, and is the venue at which its Diamond, Coloured Stones, Pearl, Coral, Precious Metals and Gemmological Blue Books are discussed and updated.
Sberbank intends to organize a meeting with ALROSA investors in London

30 may 2016 News

(TASS) - Sberbank plans to hold a meeting in London with investors of ALROSA in preparation for the privatization of the company.

Maxim Poletaev, First Deputy Chairman of Sberbank told this to reporters on the sidelines of the banks annual meeting of shareholders.

"We want to launch a small road show and take ALROSA to Europe and Britain," he said, noting that the meeting is scheduled to be held in the near future.

Such meetings are also planned in the United States.

"We are taking ALROSA representatives to meet the companys investors. In the case of ALROSA, it makes sense to invite quite a wide range of interested parties, as the company needs to be open to the external market," the first deputy chairman of the board said.

Poletaev did not say whether Sberbank would invite foreign partners to organize the privatization of ALROSA.

"So far, I am not ready to tell you anything about it," he said.

Sberbank CIB was appointed organizer of ALROSAs privatization. According to Poletaev, Sberbank will be organizing the companys privatization in team with VTB.






Camping Quelle region privilegier pour des campings calmes ? Combien coute en moyenne une location de mobil home pour une semaine dans le Sud ? Quel camping conseillez-vous a Argeles ? Quels pays sont les mieux equipes en campings ? Connaissez-vous des campings avec plage privee ? Dans quelles zones le camping sauvage est il autorise ? La communaute repond a vos questions. 379

Camping-car Comment laver au mieux son camping-car? Quel camping-car pour voyager a deux ? Quelle assurance pour voyager a letranger avec un camping-car ? Quels accessoires sont indispensables pour voyager en camping-car ? Est-il possible de trouver des bouteilles gaz dans toute lEurope ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 5867

Croisieres 1385

Expatriation

Envie de partir Est-il facile de sinstaller au Portugal ? Quel pays anglophone choisir pour apprendre langlais ? Quel pays pour un travail de fille au pair ? La communaute repond a vos questions !Envie de partir vivre a letranger , en expatriation, en Erasmus, au pair ou en volontariat international ? La redaction vous donne toutes les formules et astuces de financement. 674

Le Guide du Routard Est-il possible davoir des reductions grace au guide du routard ? Est-il necessaire davoir le guide de lannee en cours ? Comment trouver les derniers guides ? Existe-t-il une version en ligne des guides ? Quelles sont les prochaines destinations choisies par le guide du Routard ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 422

Moto Quels documents sont necessaires pour louer un scooter ou une moto en Thailande ? Quelle agence choisir pour faire un road trip en moto aux Etats Unis ? Est-il facile dacheter une moto en Australie ? Connaissez-vous un bon garage au Vietnam ? Quel permis est necessaire pour louer une moto en Espagne ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 240

Routard.com Comment supprimer mes messages ? Comment creer un carnet de voyage sur le site ? Comment participer aux differents concours ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 47

Ou et quand partir ?



Ou partir en ete a moindre cout ? Ou faire un road trip ou un citytrip ? Quelles sont les destinations les plus festives ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! Ou et quand partir en vacances pour trouver du soleil ? La redaction de routard.com vous indique les meilleures destinations pour chaque mois. 1256

Photo Quels sont les meilleurs blogs de voyage ? Routard.com a-t-il un concours photo ? Quel appareil photo conseillez-vous pour un safari ? Quelle camera choisir pour immortaliser une plongee ? Quels sont les plus beaux comptes Instagram de voyage ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 191

Plongee



Tous les conseils pratiques de la redaction pour la Quels sont les plus beaux spots de plongee au monde ? Quelles palmes utiliser pour une plongee dans les Caraibes ? Ou faire un bapteme de plongee ?Tous les conseils pratiques de la redaction pour la plongee sous -marine , et notre selection des plus beaux spots de plongee et de surf dans le monde. 145

Reveillons

, pour Noel et/ou pour le Nouvel An ? Lumiere sur les plus beaux marches de Noel en France et en Europe, et cap sur les reveillons les plus fous de la planete. Ou faire le reveillon a letranger a moindre cout ? Quel restaurant choisir a Barcelone ? Quelle est lambiance a Budapest pour le reveillon ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! Ou partir en decembre , pour Noel et/ou pour le Nouvel An ? Lumiere sur les plus beaux marches de Noel en France et en Europe, et cap sur les reveillons les plus fous de la planete. 219

Ski

et aux sports dhiver ? On vous donne nos idees de destinations sports dhiver, et nos conseils pratiques pour les amateurs de glisse. Tout schuss ! Quelles sont les stations les plus enneigees ? Ou faire du ski a moindre cout ? Quelle station de ski familiale dans les Alpes ? Ou faire du ski de fond ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! Ou partir au ski et aux sports dhiver ? On vous donne nos idees de destinations sports dhiver, et nos conseils pratiques pour les amateurs de glisse. Tout schuss ! 265

Tour du monde

Retrouvez aussi les Existe-t-il un circuit a privilegier pour un tour du monde ? Existe-t-il un visa multi-destinations ? Conseillez-vous un tour du monde en camping car ? La communaute repond a vos questions !Retrouvez aussi les conseils et infos pratiques de la redaction : bons plans billets tour du monde, et idees de voyages inoubliables. 892

Trek

Tout savoir sur la Quels sont les meilleurs spots de treks du monde ? Quelles agences specialisees pour faire des treks a letranger ? La communaute repond a vos questions !Tout savoir sur la randonnee en France et les plus beaux treks du monde : conseils pratiques, materiel et accessoires, et idees de circuits. En route ! 572

Velo

La redaction a teste pour vous Quel equipement choisir pour son velo ? Comment transporter son velo par avion ? La communaute repond a vos questions !La redaction a teste pour vous les plus belles pistes cyclables, veloroutes, randos a velo et itineraires cyclotouristiques en France et en Europe. Tous en selle ! 450

Voile Comment sorganiser pour faire un tour du monde en voilier ? Y a-t-il un club de voile a La Reunion ? Ou louer un catamaran en Grece ? Quels sont vos conseils pour acheter un voilier ? Est-il possible de faire une excursion en voilier en Polynesie ? Quels sont les meilleurs spots de voile en Amerique du Sud ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 112

Voyager avec son animal Comment voyager en avion avec son animal de compagnie ? Faut-il payer un supplement lorsquon voyage en avion avec son chien ? Est-ce prudent de voyager avec son animal a letranger ? Quels sont les hotels autorisant les animaux ? Comment faire du backpacking avec son chat ? Est-il possible demmener son chien en Thailande ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 108

Voyage de noces



Faites le plein d Quelle destination choisir pour un voyage de noces ? Y a-t-il des agences de voyage specialisees ? Quels sont les plus beaux hotels du monde ? La communaute repond a vos questions !Faites le plein d idees de destinations romantiques ou roucouler a deux, en lune de miel ou en week-end en amoureux. 109

Voyage en famille

Vous partez en Quelles compagnies aeriennes ont les tarifs les plus avantageux pour les enfants ? Voyager en Asie avec des enfants en bas age ? La communaute repond a vos questions !Vous partez en vacances en famille ? La redaction vous donne des idees de voyages en famille, et des conseils pratiques pour voyager avec les enfants. 881

Voyage en solo Comment trouver des compagnons de voyage ? Quelle assurance de voyage conseillez-vous pour voyager seul ? Est-il prudent de faire un road trip seul en Amerique du Sud ? Avez-vous des astuces pour un voyage en total itinerance ? Quel itineraire conseillez-vous pour un voyage seul en Europe ? Est-il prudent quune femme voyage seule en Asie du Sud-Est ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 615

France Vous preparez un voyage en France ? La communaute Routard repond a vos questions. 14

Albanie Un road-trip en Albanie ? Navette centre-ville - aeroport de Tirana ? Circuler en bus ou voiture ? Les plus belles plages de la rivieira albanaise ? Rejoindre la Grece depuis lAlbanie ? Changer euros contre leks ? Comment visiter le Teth ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 488

Allemagne Quel est le plus beau marche de Noel ? Que faire a Munich et Francfort en un week-end ? Visite des chateaux de Baviere : ou loger ? Ou trouver un logement pratique et pas cher pour Oktoberfest ? LAllemagne a velo, ou et comment ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 655

Andorre 87

Angleterre 865

Armenie Ou faire de la randonnee en Armenie ? Location de voiture ? Hebergement ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 234

Autriche Quelle station de ski dans le Tyrol ? Quel itineraire choisir pour du camping-car ? Quels conseils pour de la randonnee en Autriche ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 442

Belgique Combien coute le parking de laeroport de Charleroi ? Quels sont les meilleurs restaurants et bars de Belgique ? Que visiter a Bruges ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 702

Bielorussie Comment se loger en Bielorussie ? Quel itineraire emprunter de Vilnius a Minsk ? Ou obtenir des renseignements sur le visa ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 71

Bulgarie Que visiter a Sofia ? Comment aller aux Sept lacs du Rila ? Ou trouver des aires de camping-car en Bulgarie ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 435

Chypre Quel est le meilleur itineraire pour voyager du Nord au Sud de Chypre ? Quelles sont les plus belles plages de Chypre ? Les lieux incontournables a visiter ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 310

Croatie Visiter lile de Brac ou lile de Korcula ? Quelle agence de location de voiture choisir ? Ou loger dans Dubrovnik ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 2776

Danemark Le meilleur circuit dans Copenhague ? Quel budget pour un road trip au Danemark ? Quel ferry pour aller aux iles Feroe ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 281

Ecosse Est-il possible de faire du bivouac sur lile de Skye ? Que visiter a Edimbourg ? Faut-il partir avec un passeport en Ecosse ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 2308

Espagne Quelle destination choisir en Espagne ? Les bonnes adresses de Barcelone ? Les plus beaux parcs de Madrid ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 1811

Estonie Quelle est la meilleure periode pour aller en Estonie ? Comment aller dHelsinki a Tallinn ? Les meilleures compagnies pour une croisiere ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 68

Finlande Trouver une bonne station de ski ? Le meilleur spot pour voir les aurores boreales ? Quels vetements porter en Finlande ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 568

Georgie Quelles activites faire a Tbilisi ? Le meilleur passage frontiere Russie-Georgie ? Ou se loger en Georgie ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 252

Grece Quel ferry prendre pour aller sur lile de Santorin ? Quelles iles des Cyclades choisir ? Ou se baigner a Athenes ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 9577

Hongrie Quel est le cout de la vie a Budapest ? Ou obtenir des billets pour un tour du lac Balaton en train ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 157

Irlande Quelle agence de voiture choisir ? Faut-il un visa pour entrer en Irlande ? Que voir a Dublin en une journee ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 2558

Islande Quand partir en Islande ? Ou voir des baleines ? Se baigner au Blue Lagoon ? Dans quel sens faire le tour de lile ? Quand voir des aurores boreales ? Quelle voiture louer ? 2894

Italie Quelle agence choisir pour visiter Milan ? Quel itineraire dans la region des Pouilles ? Ou loger dans les Cinque Terre ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 4148

Lettonie Que voir a Riga ? Les meilleures plages de la Baltique ? Un road trip a travers la Lettonie ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 111

Lituanie Quels sont les specialites de Lituanie ? Trajet Klaipedia - Vilnius en bus ? Quel itineraire dans les pays baltes ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 100

Luxembourg Travailler au Luxembourg ? Les meilleures adresses de restos et dhebergements ? Un weekend a Luxembourg-Ville ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 68

Macedoine Comment organiser un voyage en Macedoine ? Quel avion prendre ? Que faire a Skopje ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 41

Malte Ou loger a Gozo ? Est-ce interessant de faire un sejour linguistique a Malte ? Ou se procurer un plan de transports ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 727

Montenegro 377

Norvege Quelle periode pour voir des aurores boreales ? Changer ses euros en couronnes norvegiennes avant de partir ? Que voir a Bergen ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 2341

Pays-Bas Comment aller aux Pays-Bas ? Faire une randonnee a velo en Hollande? Visiter Amsterdam ou Rotterdam ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 310

Pays de Galles Transport pour Cardiff ? Quelques jours dans le Sud du Pays de Galles ? Randonnee dans Snowdonia et Pembrokeshire ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 58

Pologne Comment aller en Pologne ? Quelles activites a Varsovie ? Quel transport de Cracovie a Auschwitz ? Visiter les mines de sel ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 851

Portugal Visiter le Douro ou lAlgarve ? Trouver une location ou un camping au Portugal ? Ou faire du canyoning, du surf ? Les peages electroniques ? Quoi voir a Porto ? Quelle location de voiture ? 2423

Republique tcheque Que faire en Republique tcheque ? Trouver un logement a Prague ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 144

Roumanie Louer une voiture en Roumanie ? Quels sites pour un logement sur Bucarest ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 665

Russie Itineraire pour aller a Saint-Petersbourg ? Billet de train pour Moscou ? Vetements dhiver en Russie ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 1304

Serbie 109

Slovaquie Les incontournables de Bratislava ? Trajet France-Slovaquie ? Quelles activites faire ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 89

Slovenie Ou observer les ours en Slovenie ? Comment acceder au parc national du Triglav ? Randonnee ou road trip? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 326

Suede Est-il possible de faire du camping sauvage en Suede ? Faut-il changer ses euros en France ou sur place ? Que voir a Goteborg ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 398

Suisse Vivre en Suisse ? Quels cantons choisir ? Trouver un logement et sinstaller ? Que faire au Lac Leman ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 728

Turquie Quel visa pour la Turquie ? Visiter la Cappadoce ? Quel circuit suivre ? Quelle est la monnaie utilisee ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 1675

Ukraine Visiter Kiev ou Odessa ? Visa pour voyager en Ukraine ? Quel itineraire en Ukraine ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 500

Afghanistan 11

Azerbaidjan 24

Bangladesh Est-il possible de voyager au Bangladesh avec des enfants ? Existe-t-il un train de nuit pour faire Katmandu-Dhaka ? Fau-il un guide pour visiter le pays ? La Communaute repond a vos questions 37

Bhoutan Comment organiser son voyage au Bhoutan, quelle compagnie aerienne pour y aller, quelle est la meilleure periode pour visiter le Bhoutan, pour quel budget ? 35

Birmanie Faire son e-visa pour la Birmanie, choisir son agence de voyage, organiser ses activites sur le lac Inle, a Bagan, au Rocher dOr, changer sa monnaie 2665

Brunei Organiser son sejour au Brunei, combien de temps y rester, comment sy rendre par voie terrestre 13

Cambodge Une, deux ou trois semaines au Cambodge ? Posez vos questions sur votre itineraire et vos trajets au Cambodge, les meilleurs periodes pour visiter Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, les temples dAngkor, les plages de sable blanc ou encore les iles ! 3169

Chine Acheter ses billets de train en Chine, aller a la Grande Muraille, quel itineraire au Yunnan, visiter Xian, trouver un bon restaurant a Pekin 2300

Coree du Sud Comment sexpatrier en Coree du Sud ? Quel budget prevoir pour un voyage de 1 mois ? Faut-il louer une voiture pour visiter lile de Jeju ? La Communaute repond a vos questions 889

Inde Quelle agence choisir pour visiter le Rajasthan ? La foire de Pushkar est-elle interessante ? Quel climat au mois daout ? Quelles sont les etapes necessaires pour obtenir un visa en Inde ? La Communaute repond a vos questions. 6470

Indonesie Ou loger a Gili Air ? Que faire a Flores ? Est-il possible de visiter 3 iles en 15 jours en Indonesie ? La Communaute repond a vos questions. 2913

Japon Est-il interessant dacheter le JR Pass pour se deplacer dans le pays ? Quel itineraire pour 15 jours au Japon ? Que visiter a Osaka ? Existe-t-il un un moyen de voyager en shinkansen pour faire Tokyo, Kyoto et Mont Fuji ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 4501

Kazakhstan 44

Kirghizistan 152

Laos Quel climat au Laos ? Faut-il payer en Bath ou US dollars ? Combien coute le visa on arrival ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 1573

Malaisie Ou aller pour un premier voyage en Malaisie ? Les iles Perhentian valent-elles le detour ? Que faire a Kuala Lumpur ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 2298

Maldives Ou sejourner aux Maldives ? Quel spot choisir pour faire du snorkelling ? Que faire a Male ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 1273

Mongolie Ou acheter un velo en Mongolie ? Faut-il un visa pour voyager en Mongolie ? Quelle agence de voyage choisir ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 470

Nepal Quel equipement prendre pour faire le tour de lAnnapurna ? Quelle agence de trek choisir ? Que visiter a Katmandou ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 1695

Ouzbekistan Obtenir soin visa pour lOuzbekistan, faire la Route de la Soie, choisir une agence locale pour voyager en Ouzbekistan, visiter Samarcande, Boukhara et Khiva 448

Pakistan 31

Philippines Quel transport privilegier entre Manille et Palawan ? Que faire a Cebu Island ? Quel itineraire choisir pour 15 jours de voyage aux Philippines ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 2038

Singapour Quand visiter lUniversal Studio Singapore ? Ou trouver un logement pas cher dans la ville ? Prix du transfert entre laeroport de Singapour-Changi et le centre-ville ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 353

Sri Lanka Obtenir lETA pour le Sri Lanka ? Comment trouver un chauffeur-guide ? Quel itineraire ? Ou voir des elephants ? Quelles sont les plus belles plages ? Voyager en famille au Sri Lanka ? 4585

Tadjikistan 36

Taiwan Comment assister au festival des lumieres a Taipei ? Quelle plage privilegier a Taiwan ? Quelle agence de location de voiture choisir ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 190

Thailande Quelles sont les plus belles plages de Thailande ? Ou trouver un hotel les pieds dans leau ? Un visa est-il necessaire ? Quel trek a Chiang Mai ? Quel budget ? 14794

Tibet Quel budget prevoir pour un voyage au Tibet ? Est-il obligatoire de voyager avec un guide ou une agence ? Quelles sont les formalites pour rentrer au Tibet ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 114

Turkmenistan 10

Vietnam Vietnam nord ou sud ? Quand visiter la Baie dAlong ? Louer une moto ? Quel trek a Sapa ? Partir seule au Vietnam ? Quoi visiter a Hanoi ? 6915

Antigua-et-Barbuda Quelles formalites pour visiter Antigua ? Quelles activites et excursions sont recommandees ? Presence dalgues sargasses ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 4

Argentine Quel budget prevoir pour 1 mois en Argentine ? Faut-il privilegier les voyages en bus ou en avion ? Est-il possible de reserver a lavance un hotel a Salta ? Comment sorganiser pour sexpatrier en Argentine ? Quelle agence pour visiter la Patagonie ? La Communaute repond a vos questions. 2102

Bahamas Comment se deplacer entre les iles ? Comment rejoindre Miami depuis les Bahamas ? Voyage de noces : ou sejourner ? Les plus belles plages des Bahamas ? Ou se loger a Nassau ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 156

Barbade Comment circuler a la Barbade ? Quel budget prevoir ? Comment rejoindre les Antilles depuis la Barbade ? Ou faire de lapnee ? Ou se loger ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 22

Belize Combien de temps rester au Belize ? Autotour ou chauffeur-guide ? Les meilleurs spots pour faire du surf, de la plongee ou du snorkeling ? Quel itineraire et excursions prevoir ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 200

Bolivie Quel itineraire pour 1 mois en Bolivie ? Existe-t-il un bus direct pour faire Uyuni-Copacabana ? Quelle agence choisir pour louer un 4x4 ? Quelles iles du Lac Titicaca privilegier ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 978

Bresil Comment se rendre a Ilha Grande depuis Rio de Janeiro ? Quel guide pour faire un trek a Lencois Maranhenses ? Est-il possible de voyager seul(e) ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 3023

Canada Quelles sont les formalites pour entrer sur le territoire canadien ? Comment organiser la visite des chutes Victoria ? Que voir a Vancouver ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 2770

Chili Quelle agence pour visiter le Chili ? Quel transport pour aller de laeroport de Santiago a Valparaiso ? Quels sont les prix pour les campings a Pan de Azucar ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 1363

Colombie Des infos sur le carnaval de Baranquilla ? Preparer un trek en Amazonie ? Se deplacer entre Cartagena, Cali, Medellin et Bogota ? Bus ou taxi en Colombie ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 1743

Costa Rica La cote caraibe ou la cote pacifique au Costa Rica ? Faut-il louer un 4x4 ? Comment visiter le Costa Rica hors des sentiers battus ? Ou voir des aras et des tortues ? Quel budget ? 2096

Cuba Reserver une casa particular a La Havane ? Rapporter des cigares de Cuba ? Faut-il prendre un guide ? Comment obtenir la carte touristique ? Quel cayo visiter ? 6040

Dominique Ou faire de la randonnee, trek et plongee en Dominique ? Se deplacer sans voiture de location ? Ou est la plus belle plage de lile ? Quelle formalite pour entrer ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 113

Equateur Faut-il prendre de la malarone pour visiter lAmazonie ? Quelle est la meilleure periode pour visiter lEquateur ? Quand voir les baleines a Puerto Lopez ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 845

Etats-Unis Quelles formalites pour entrer sur le territoire des Etats-Unis ? Ou aller pour feter Thanksgiving ? Quelle voiture louer pour faire un road trip ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 5400

Grenade Visiter les Grenadines ? Quelle croisiere choisir ? Algues sargasses a Grenade ? Activites faire en famille ? Le meilleur spot de plongee ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 19

Guadeloupe Aller sur les iles des Saintes ou sur lile de Marie-Galante ? Ou loger pour visiter la Guadeloupe ? Y a-t-il des sargasses en Guadeloupe ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 3987

Guatemala Des questions securite au Guatemala ? Shuttle aeroport et bus : ou et comment reserver ? Ou retirer de largent ? Organiser un trek dans la jungle ? Besoin dun guide pour lac Atitlan, volcan San Pedro et de Fuego ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 594

Guyana Quel visa pour Guyana ? Quels sont les risques niveau securite ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 2

Guyane 407

Haiti Quelle agence locale choisir a Haiti ? Bus ou voiture de location ? Faire sa demande de visa ? Loger a Port-au-Prince ? Expatriation : que prevoir ? Des questions securite ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 74

Honduras Loger a Roatan et Utila ? Quoi visiter a Tegucigalpa ? Combien de temps pour visiter le Honduras ? Ou faire de la plongee ou du surf ? Quel transport pour traverser le pays ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 49

Iles Vierges Quelle croisiere choisir pour les Iles Vierges ? Ou louer un catamaran? Quelles sont les liaisons avec Saint Barth ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 6

Jamaique Trouver un guide local francophone en Jamaique ? Navette aeroport vers les grandes villes ? Combien de jours pour visiter Ocho Rios, Kingston et Montego Bay ? Monnaie locale ou dollars ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 245

Martinique Quelle agence choisir pour louer une voiture en Martinique ? Quel temps fait-il en septembre ? Ou loger a Sainte-Luce ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 2556

Mexique Quel itineraire dans le Yucatan ? Louer une voiture ou prendre les transports en commun pour visiter le Mexique ? Quen est-il de la securite au Mexique ? Ou loger a Cancun ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 4090

Nicaragua Des questions securite ? Ou voir des tortues ? Liaisons Nicaragua  Costa Rica ? Masaya ou Granada ? Corn Islands : passage oblige ? San Juan del Sura ou Leon ? Ou surfer ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 370

Panama Que voir sur les iles San Blas ? Possibilite de sexpatrier au Panama ? Que visiter dans la province de Bocas del Toro ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 477

Paraguay Combien de temps pour tout visiter au Paraguay ? Que voir et ou sortir a Asuncion ? Expatriation : comment sorganiser ? Comment se rendre a Iguazu ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 47

Perou Que visiter a Arequipa ? Comment sorganiser pour visiter le Machu Picchu ? Ou loger a Lima ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 3414

Porto Rico Ou sortir et prendre des cours de salsa a Porto Rico ? Quelles sont les activites a faire a San Juan ? Foret tropicale : El Yunque ou Toro Negro ? Ou faire son shopping ? Ou se loger pas cher ? Sy installer ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 51

Republique Dominicaine Quelles sont les plus belles plages a Punta Cana ? Quel budget prevoir pour 1 semaine a Bayahibe ? Quel tarif pour un voyage entre laeroport Santo Domingo et Puerto Plata ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 2384

Saint-Barthelemy Comment sexpatrier a Saint-Barthelemy ? Possibilite de partir avec un bebe ? Quelles formalites pour aller a Saint-Barthelemy ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 54

Sainte-Lucie Ou loger a Sainte-Lucie ? Faire une randonnee avec un guide francophone ? Changer ses euros en dollars sur place ou en France ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 70

Saint-Martin Ou faire de la plongee a Saint-Martin ? Quelle agence choisir pour louer une voiture ? Excursion sur lile de Saba ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 175

Saint-Vincent-et-les-Grenadines Quelle agence choisir pour faire une croisiere en catamaran dans les iles Grenadines ? Quel budget pour 2 semaines ? Ou manger a Kingston ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 98

Salvador Taxe de sortie a laeroport de Salvador ? Ou se loger pas cher ? Ou changer ses euros ? Itineraire pour un road trip ? Se deplacer en bus ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 12

Surinam Ou et quand faire sa demande de visa ? Que faire et voir a Paramaribo ? Faire un raid en kayak ? Rejoindre Guyana, Cuaracao ou le Mexique depuis le Surinam ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 9

Trinite-et-Tobago Des conseils pour preparer le carnaval ? Trouver un logement pas cher a Trinite-et-Tobago ? Location de voiture ou scooter ? Rejoindre le Venezuela depuis Port of Spain ? Des questions securite ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 27

Uruguay Sexpatrier et travailler en Uruguay ? Ou changer et retirer de largent ? Combien de temps rester a Montevideo ? Organiser un road trip en bus ? Quelles sont les villes incontournables ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 72

Venezuela Taux de change officiel ou officieux ? Quelle est la situation actuelle du Venezuela niveau securite ? Que voir a Merida ou Margarita ? Avec quelle agence partir ? La Communaute repond a vos questions ! 224

Afrique du Sud Est-il possible de conduire avec un permis international en Afrique du Sud ? Quel est le prix du billet dentree au Parc Kruger ? Est il possible de faire un safari self drive ? Quels sont les incontournables a Johannesburg ou au Cap ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 5297

Algerie Quel est le niveau de securite a Djanet et Sahara ? Que voir a Tlemcen et a Alger ? Ou changer des euros ? Quelle agence pour visite du desert algerien ? 698

Benin 342

Botswana Quel itineraire privilegier ? Ou et quand reserver un safari pour le Botswana ? Auto tour ou guide ? Ou dormir dans le parc Moremi ? A quelle periode partir ? Quels vaccins prevoir ? 262

Burkina Faso Quel est le niveau de securite au Burkina Faso? Faire du tourisme humanitaire ? A la recherche dun chauffeur-guide ? Quel vaccin et visa prevoir ? Quelle compagnie aerienne choisir ? Ou se loger ? 276

Cameroun 284

Cap-Vert Quelles iles visiter au Cap-Vert ? Ou trouver un bon guide ? Quelle est la meilleure saison ? Les meilleures randonnees de Santo Antao ? Quels spots de plongee ? 1337

Congo 70

Djibouti 38

Ethiopie Comment trouver une bonne agence locale en Ethiopie ? Comment trouver un guide pour un trek dans les montagnes de Lalibela ? Quelles visites interessantes a Addis Abeba ? Quel logement choisir a Bahar Dar ? Comment voir les hyenes dHarar ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 460

Gabon Quel visa pour le Gabon ? Ou et comment obtenir le e-visa touristique ? Vivre et travailler a Libreville ? Comment se rendre au Parc National de Loango ? Quels sont les incontournables et quelle ville choisir ? 117

Gambie Le visa est-il gratuit pour les courts sejours ? Quel guide choisir pour la Gambie ? Peut-on voyager en toute securite en Gambie ? Acheter une voiture en Gambie ? Dans quelles villes sejourner ? 32

Ghana Quel visa et quel vaccin pour le Ghana ? Quel est le cout de la vie ? Ou loger a Accra ? Quels sont les bons plans a voir et a faire ? Ou retirer et changer de largent ? Des idees de circuits ? 60

Guinee Quel est le cout de la vie a Conakry ? Ou changer de largent ? Quel est le niveau de securite ? A la recherche dun guide ? 120

Ile Maurice, Rodrigues Quelle est la plus belle plage pour faire du snorkeling ? Quelles sont les excursions a faire ? Comment trouver un taxi a lile Maurice ? Quelle est la randonnee incontournable ? Le meilleur logement est il les maisons dhotes a Rodrigues ? Quelle cote choisir ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 2721

Kenya Quelle agence choisir pour un safari au Kenya ? Ou peut-on observer des lycaons ? Comment trouver un super guide ? A-t-on besoin dun visa ? Que visiter a Nairobi ou Mombasa ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 987

Lesotho Quel itineraire choisir ? Ou faire du trek et de la randonnee ? Quel guide choisir pour le Lesotho ? Quel est letat des routes ? Quel climat prevoir ? 39

Liberia 7

Libye 8

Madagascar Est-il dangereux daller a Madagascar actuellement ? Quel moyen de transport utiliser ? Comment trouver un bon chauffeur guide a Antananarivo ? Ou faire une mission humanitaire ? Quel itineraire est conseille ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 2666

Mali Quel est le niveau de securite ? Quel visa et quelles formalites pour aller au Mali ? Ou se loger a Bamako ? Sinstaller au Mali ? Traverser le pays en voiture ? Comment voyager en securite ? 129

Maroc Comment trouver un guide pour faire un trek dans lAtlas ? Quel itineraire est conseille pour visiter les villes imperiales du Maroc ? Comment visiter Fes ? A quel climat sattendre a Agadir en hiver ? Est-il possible de louer un 4X4 pour aller dans le desert ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 4939

Mauritanie Quel visa pour la Mauritanie et quel prix ? Quel est le niveau de securite ? Quel itineraire pour traverser le pays depuis le Maroc ou le Senegal ? 227

Mayotte Est-il facile de sexpatrier a Mayotte ? Comment trouver un bon guide de randonnee ? Quel est le cout de la vie a Mayotte ? Est-il necessaire de faire un traitement antipaludeen ? Quelles sont les plus belles plages ? Ou se loger, gites ou maison dhote ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 236

Mozambique Quel est le meilleur spot pour faire du surf a Maputo ? Est-il possible de rejoindre le parc Kruger en voiture ? Ou plonger au Mozambique pour voir des requins ? Bilene - Inhambane ou Vilanculo ? Quel est le cout du visa ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 132

Namibie Est-il necessaire de passer par une agence pour un voyage en Namibie ? Comment acceder aux Victoria Falls ? Quels sont les temps de trajet ? Est-il preferable de louer une voiture ? Quelles sont les taxes dentree dans le Parc Etosha ? Quel itineraire pour acceder au desert du Namib ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 3658

Niger Quel est le niveau de securite ? Quel visa pour le Niger ? Quel budget prevoir pour un voyage au Niger ? Ou se loger a Niamey ? Quelle compagnie aerienne choisir ? 16

Nigeria 14

Ouganda A la recherche dun guide en Ouganda ? Quel tour operateur pour faire un trek safari ? Ou louer un 4x4 ? Ou observer des gorilles ? Quels vaccins sont recommandes ? 126

Reunion Quelles sont les randonnees incontournables a La Reunion ? Quel est le bon plan pour louer une voiture ? Quel gite choisir ? Lascension du Piton de la Fournaise est-elle exigeante ? Quels spots pour la plongee ? Ou faire du canyoning ? Comment trouver un bon guide pour aller au Piton des neiges ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 2494

Rwanda Des idees ditineraires ? Ou observer les gorilles ? Ou faire sa demande de visa ? Besoin dinfos pratiques pour votre voyage au Rwanda ? Comment se rendre au parc des volcans ? Conseils pour visiter le Nyungwe ? 96

Sao Tome et Principe Quelles sont les excursions a faire a Sao Tome et Principe ? Quelles sont les plus belles plages ? Est-il possible de louer une voiture sur les iles ? Est-il preferable dopter pour un chauffeur ou un guide ? Y a-t-il des vaccins obligatoires ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 129

Senegal Quel est le meilleur moyen de se rendre en Casamance ? Quel transport utiliser depuis laeroport de Dakar ? Trouver un bon guide ? Comment trouver un logement pas cher au Senegal ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 2085

Seychelles Est-il possible de trouver un hebergement chez lhabitant aux Seychelles ? Quelle est la meilleure periode pour partir ? Quel hotel choisir pour un voyage de noces ? Quelle croisiere choisir ? Quel est le meilleur club de plongee ? Quelles sont les plus belles plages ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 1326

Swaziland Ou dormir dans la reserve du Hlane ? Quelles sont les visites incontournables ? Quels parcs visiter ? Peut-on traverser le Swaziland sur une journee ? Quel est letat des routes ? Par quels postes frontieres passer ? 68

Tanzanie Comment trouver un bon chauffeur guide en Tanzanie ? Quelles sont les agences conseillees pour un safari ? Est-il possible de faire un safari en bivouac ? Quel itineraire est conseille pour acceder au Kilimandjaro ? Comment aller a Zanzibar depuis la Tanzanie ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 1522

Tchad Quel est le niveau de securite au Tchad ? Circuit et trek en toute securite ? Quel visa pour le Tchad ? Que faire et ou se loger a Ndjamena ? Comment rejoindre le Soudan depuis le Tchad ? 14

Togo Ou obtenir un visa pour le Togo ? Que faire a Lome ? Comment se deplacer au Togo ? Ou se loger ? Quelle association pour faire du tourisme humanitaire / solidaire ? Location de voiture ou chauffeur-guide ? 293

Tunisie Quel est le meilleur moyen de transport pour un transfert de laeroport de Tunis a Hammamet ? Comment trouver un guide a Djerba ? Quelle temperature fait-il en Tunisie en hiver ? La carte didentite est elle suffisante pour aller en Tunisie ? Que visiter a Monastir ou a Sousse ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 1811

Zambie Quels parcs visiter en Zambie ? Voir les chutes Victoria cote Zambie ? Quelles formalites pour passage frontiere Zambie  Zimbabwe ? Ou changer des devises ? 47

Zimbabwe Est-il possible de visiter le parc Hwange en louant une voiture ? Quel moyen de transport utiliser entre lAfrique du Sud et le Zimbabwe ? Quelle est la meilleure periode pour visiter les Victoria Falls ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 83

Egypte Quelle agence propose une excursion Hurghada - Louxor ? Comment trouver un guide pour une visite du Caire ? Est-il possible de reserver une croisiere sur le Nil a la derniere minute ? Combien coute une excursion pour les pyramides depuis Le Caire ? Quel horaire est le plus propice pour visiter les temples dAbu Simbel ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 2780

Emirats arabes unis Est-il aise de sexpatrier a Dubai ? Le Dubai city pass est-il rentable ? Dans quel quartier loger ? Quelle monnaie est acceptee ? Est-il necessaire de reserver ses billets pour le Louvre Abu Dhabi ? Ou louer une voiture ? Quels sont les horaires pour visiter la tour Burj Khalifa ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 252

Iran Quels sont les delais pour obtenir un visa touristique pour lIran ? Quelles tenues sont appropriees pour des touristes en Iran ? Quels sont les bons plans hebergements pour Shiraz ? Quelles sont les possibilites de transferts a laeroport de Teheran ? Quel est le meilleur quartier pour lachat de turquoise a Kashan ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 1110

Israel, Palestine Comment circuler dans Jerusalem ? Ou loger a Tel Aviv ? Y a-t-il des bus entre Nazareth et Jenine ? Y a-t-il des transports en commun efficaces en Israel ? Quelles sont les difficultes pour aller en Palestine ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 924

Jordanie Quel chauffeur choisir en Jordanie ? Quel itineraire est optimal pour une semaine en Jordanie ? Est-il necessaire de prendre un guide pour visiter Petra ? Quelle agence choisir pour une excursion a Wadi Rum ? Quels sont les incontournables a Amman ? Y a-t-il des problemes de securite en Jordanie ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 1115

Liban Le visa pour le Liban est-il gratuit ? Combien de jours sont necessaires pour visiter Beyrouth ? Quelles langues sont parlees au Liban ? Ou loger a Tripoli ? Est-il facile de sexpatrier au Liban ? Quelles sont les plus belles randonnees ? Quel est le climat en Hiver ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! La communaute repond a vos questions ! 173

Oman Quel visa est necessaire pour aller au sultanat dOman ? Est-il facile de louer un 4x4 a Oman ? Ou faire de la plongee ? Quel moyen de transport utiliser pour un transfert depuis laeroport de Mascate ? Comment trouver un guide francophone ? Quelle agence choisir pour une excursion dans le desert de Wahiba ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 676

Qatar Quel transfert choisir depuis laeroport de Doha ? Est-il facile de sexpatrier au Qatar administrativement ? Laeroport de Doha est-il agreable pour une longue escale ? Quel est le souk le plus traditionnel du Qatar ? Etes-vous satisfait de la compagnie Qatar Airways ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 101

Syrie 21

Yemen 19

Australie Quel est le meilleur moyen de transport pour faire un roadtrip en Australie ? Comment optimiser mon itineraire sur la cote ouest ? Quel hebergement a Sydney ? Est-il facile dacheter une voiture en Australie ? Le visa est-il payant ? Combien de jours pour visiter Melbourne ? Comment aller en Tasmanie ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 2066

Iles Fidji Quel est le meilleur spot de plongee aux Fidji ? Quel sont les transports pour aller aux Fidji depuis la Nouvelle-Caledonie ? Quel vol choisir pour aller aux Fidji ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 29

Nouvelle-Caledonie Est-il facile de sexpatrier en Nouvelle-Caledonie ? Quelle compagnie aerienne choisir ? Quel transfert a laeroport de Tontouta ? Quel budget prevoir pour un sejour de 3 semaines ? Suffit-il dune journee pour visiter lile des Pins en bateau ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! La communaute repond a vos questions ! 475

Nouvelle-Zelande Quelles sont les plus belles randonnees en Nouvelle-Zelande ? Le permis international est-il indispensable ? Quelle agence locale utiliser ? Quand reserver ses billets pour voir un match des All Blacks ? Quels sont les incontournables a Christchurch et Auckland ? La communaute repond a vos questions ! 1080
Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO,SU) announced Sunday that it has begun the safe and staged restart of its operations near the fire-ravaged community of Fort McMurray, Alberta.

In a statement, the Canadian crude-oil producer said start-up activities are well underway at Base Plant and the MacKay River in situ facility. The company expects initial production to commence by the end of this week, subject to conditions in the region.

Suncor's assets Are safe and all sites have enhanced fire mitigation and protection. Also, the region experiences improved conditions with cooler weather and several days of precipitation.

The company's statement indicates that the Canadian oil sands outages caused by the massive wildfires that started in early May, ?are slowly coming to an end.

Suncor said it has moved over 4,000 employees and contractors back into the region, including Fort Hills workers. Over the coming weeks, the company anticipates to move approximately 3,500 additional people to support its return to operations.

Suncor Energy had shut down its RMWB operations in early May and safely moved over 10,000 people, as the fire ravaged the area.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Italy's domestic producer prices continued to decline in April, the statistical office Istat showed Monday.

Producer prices fell 4.5 percent year-on-year in April, bigger than the 3.9 percent decrease seen in March.

On a monthly basis, producer prices slid 0.9 percent, reversing a 0.2 percent rise a month ago.

On the non-domestic market, producer prices grew 0.2 percent, while it fell 2.1 percent from prior year.

The overall producer prices, including domestic and foreign , decreased 4.1 percent annually versus a 3.4 percent drop in March. Compared to March, prices logged a 0.7 percent drop.

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.
The Iraqi army says it has begun an operation to liberate the key Iraqi city of Fallujah from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

The city's ISIL commander was killed in Iraqi security forces operations, which are backed by the U.S.-led coalition, Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren told Pentagon reporters.

Warren said Iraqi forces have cleared Karmah, 10 miles northeast of Fallujah.

According to an official statement, Iraqi forces are moving into Falluja, the city of about 50,000 Iraqi residents, on several fronts.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political News
Though Audi was the last of the German trio to enter India, the brand caught up with its rivals fairly quickly, thanks to its comprehensive portfolio and readiness to explore the unchartered segments of the nations luxury car market. Audi Indias current lineup comprises SUVs, sedans and sportscars of all shapes and sizes to suit a wide range of audience.

We recently had a rare chance of meeting the brands entire Indian portfolio at a secluded private runway near Hosur. Everything from the entry level A3, the deceptively quick RS6 Avant station wagon and the razor sharp R8 V10 Plus supercar were on the platter. This is how the day shaped up.

Sportscar Experience

The whole lineup was at our disposal for a day!

Well, its more like tasting shots than a platter. We got to do flat-out runs for about a kilometre down the straight stretch of the runway in any of the two sportscars.

Audi Indias sportscar fleet comprises the compact TT Coupe, aging S5, wolf-in-the-sheeps-clothing RS6 Avant and stunning RS7. Selecting any two out of these four was an extremely difficult task but it was made simple by other drivers who promptly stuffed themselves into the available pair of RS6 Avants, and a TT. So, it was the RS7 and S5 for me then.

The acceleration run on Audis sportcars down the air strip was massive fun. The RS7 is a real nightmare for most of the supercars out there.

The RS7 with its 4.0-litre TFSI V8 turbo petrol engine is a sedan which can keep pace with several popular supercars without breaking a sweat. The runway was a right setting to set the 560-strong cavalry loose. The car lunged forward like a ferocious predator and kept building up momentum at an alarming rate. Thanks to the Quattro systems ability to make the most out of the colossal torque of 700 Nm that is available between 1,500  5,500 rpm, 100 kmph came and went in a blink of an eye and the RS7 was already on the wrong side of 200 kmph before my feeble mind could fully fathom the serious nature of its acceleration. I have to admit that I chickened out and let go of the throttle several yards before the braking mark but I swear I saw 247 kmph on the HUD!

The S5 in comparison is not as scary but is properly quick nevertheless. The oldest of the performance Audis is powered by a 3.0-litre TFSI V6 turbo petrol engine which is mated to a 6-speed DSG and Quattro to belt out 333 PS and 325 Nm of torque. The motor has a glorious sound track and the performance to go with it. 230 kmph at the braking mark was achieved without any serious effort. Audi is just a few days from world premiering the new A5 which means the next iteration of the S5 with vast aesthetic and technological advancements is only a few months away.

The Q and A Drives

Our A6 just soaked up the bumps in comfort mode, thanks to the adaptive air suspension system.

The A drive involved a round trip of around 25 km from the runway to a pond through twisty and broken stretch of tarmac. This sector was aimed at demonstrating the sedan familys ability to cope up with Indian roads without compromising on comfort. Our steed for this assignment was the A6 diesel. With the Audi Drive Select system (incorporates adaptive air suspension) in comfort mode, the A6 sedan simply glided over most surface imperfections.

Irrespective of their size and heft, all the Q models felt absolutely at home while traversing the challenging off-road course.

The Q family was subjected to a short off-road course which obviously was designed keeping the capabilities of vehicles in mind. That said, the entire course was quite challenging and all the Audi SUVs ranging from the compact Q3 all the way up to the Q7 traversed the adversities with aplomb.

New Audi R8 V10 Plus

The piece de resistance, of course, was the new Audi R8 V10 Plus whose sheer presence itself primes your adrenal glands. When the 610 PS 5.2-litre naturally aspirated V10 motor fires up and settles into a mean grumbling idle, the seriousness of what Im about to undertake finally sank in and the child-like enthusiasm quickly transformed into nervousness! A strong urge to turn away and run almost overshadowed the anticipation of a thrilling acceleration.

Nothing prepares you for the brutal acceleratioon that the R8 V10 Plus is capable of.

The inner voice said, Dude, its not every day you get to go flat out on a 3.2-second supercar. So, man up and get it done! Moments later, I found myself strapped into the Audis most powerful road car ever, feeling glad that the balaclava and helmet concealed how nervous I was.

I fumbled with the seat adjustments, disengaged the electronic parking brake, slotted the gear selector into D/S and set the car in Dynamic drive mode. I decided to go for a rolling launch instead of relying on the launch control.

The traction offered by the Quattro system is simply amazing.

After holding the steering wheel firmly, the car felt absolutely planted even when it was standing still and this gave the much-needed courage to floor the throttle and keep it pinned down as long as possible. What ensued was a few seconds of mind-numbing acceleration which was so overwhelming that I had to fight off the urge to close my eyes! I honestly dont know what happened in the first and second gears but by the time the third gear kicked in roughly 4 seconds after the launch, the car was already past 125 kmph mark, accelerating furiously towards the horizon, with its V10 motor bellowing at the top of its voice. The R8 V10 Plus shot past 200 kmph mark in about 10 seconds from the start (in 5th gear) and kept building up momentum relentlessly. I couldnt get myself to take a quick glance at the speedo but I must have been doing a little over 250 kmph when I instinctively lifted off (several yards before entering the braking zone). The cars carbon ceramic disc brakes did a scintillating job of shedding all that speed well ahead of the point where the tarmac gave way to a field of grass. Thats it! I just pushed a supercar beyond 250 kmph and emerged alive!

255 kmph on the odo and the car was not in the braking zone yet!

Also read  New Audi Q7 Review

The whole episode lasted less than the time it took you to read the previous paragraph but the experience was so intense that Ill be able to relive each and every second of it for several years to come!

Photos
In what could come as a severe blow to automakers in India, the NGT diesel ban which is currently in place in Delhi and Kerala (high court stayed it for 2 months) may be extended to 11 more cities. The NGT (National Green Tribunal) hearing on this matter is expected to finalize the cities based on the data acquired from Central Pollution Control Board on population density, car density, pollution area and pollution level of the nations major cities.

Following the Delhi diesel ban which prohibits registration of diesel vehicles with engine displacement larger than 2.0-litre and prevents old diesel vehicles (10 or more years old) from entering the territory, NGT has identified 15 key cities across the country where the ban would be extended in due course. From this list of 15, 11 major cities will be selected for imposition of the diesel ban.

The 15 cities include Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Patna, Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Jalandhar. More details should be out in the coming days.

Extension of NGT diesel ban would effectively stall the production of larger vehicles in India which in turn would result in huge production and job losses (even at the dealer end). Car makers like Mercedes, JLR, Mahindra and Toyota will be hit the most since most of their popular car models fall under the banned category.

Also read  Kerela high court stays NGT diesel ban for 2 months

Reacting to the extension of the NGT diesel ban, Vishnu Mathur, director general of SIAM, said that automakers and oil refineries have invested heavily in upgrading to better emission norms and curb pollution. He also said that banning vehicles that meet the laid-down norms is against the fundamental rights of the companies doing business in the country.

Via  Economictimes.Indiatimes.com
Renault India has introduced its Kwid and Triber BS6 compliant range. Price hike on the Kwid due to BS6 update is Rs 9k, while on the Triber it is up to Rs 29k.

The updated 2020 Renault Triber BS6 range is now available at a price of Rs 4.99 lakhs to Rs 6.78 lakhs, ex sh, Delhi. The price increase for the BSVI range is Rs 4k for the base variant, Rs 25k for the RxL and the RxT variant. Top of the line RxZ Triber BS6 has received the highest price hike of Rs 29k.

BS6 Renault Triber RXE, the entry level offering costs Rs 4.99 lakhs. Triber RXL is priced at Rs 5.74 lakhs. Triber RXT is available for Rs 6.24 lakhs. The range topping Triber RXZ variant is available at a price point of Rd 6.78 lakhs. The fine print reads the prices listed are attractive launch prices. That is indicative of the current price range being listed for a limited period. Available with 5-speed manual transmission, an AMT variant is expected soon. Triber is fitted with a 1.0-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine. Currently, the Triber can be had with a 5-speed manual only.

Variants Triber BS6 Prices Triber BS4 Prices Diff Triber RxE Rs 4.99 lakh Rs 4.95 lakh Rs 4,000 Triber RxL Rs 5.74 lakh Rs 5.49 lakh Rs 25,000 Triber RxT Rs 6.24 lakh Rs 5.99 lakh Rs 25,000 Triber RxZ Rs 6.78 lakh Rs 6.49 lakh Rs 29,000

Speaking about Kwid BS6, prices have been increased by Rs 9k, across range. Be it Kwid 800 cc variants, or the Kwid 1 liter variants or the Kwid Climber variants  be it manual or be it AMT; price hike for all variants of Kwid is Rs 9,000 flat. Below is the detailed price list of Kwid.

Variants Kwid BS6 Prices Kwid BS4 Prices Diff Kwid 800 STD Rs 2.92 lakh Rs 2.83 lakh Rs 9,000 Kwid 800 RxE Rs 3.62 lakh Rs 3.53 lakh Rs 9,000 Kwid 800 RxL Rs 3.92 lakh Rs 3.83 lakh Rs 9,000 Kwid 800 RxT Rs 4.22 lakh Rs 4.13 lakh Rs 9,000 Kwid RxT 1 L Rs 4.42 lakh Rs 4.33 lakh Rs 9,000 Kwid RxT (O) 1L Rs 4.5 lakh Rs 4.41 lakh Rs 9,000 Kwid RxT AMT 1L Rs 4.72 lakh Rs 4.63 lakh Rs 9,000 Kwid RxT (O) AMT 1L Rs 4.79 lakh Rs 4.7 lakh Rs 9,000 Kwid Climber Rs 4.63 lakh Rs 4.54 lakh Rs 9,000 Kwid Climber (O) Rs 4.71 lakh Rs 4.62 lakh Rs 9,000 Kwid Climber AT Rs 4.93 lakh Rs 4.84 lakh Rs 9,000 Kwid Climber (O) AT Rs 5.01 lakh Rs 4.92 lakh Rs 9,000

Its no surprise that Renault has chosen to introduce the Triber and Kwid BS6 as early as possible. These two cars have helped Renault India deliver increase in domestic sales. Before the launch of Triber, Renault only had one car, Kwid, which managed to register sales in the 5k region every month. Now, Triber sales have been equally good.

In fact, performance has been swell, enough to see the Triber in the list of bestselling MUVs. Considering the Triber was only just launched in August 2019, sales improvement has been noticed for every subsequent month. Seeing its market performance surely Renault India would want to keep the momentum going.

As the BSVI mandate deadline approaches, April 1, 2020, Renault India is likely to introduce its BSVI offerings in quick time. The Renault Duster petrol BS6 has been spied testing and should be available in a few weeks. Renault Captur BS6 too has been spied testing. Renault has decided to discontinue diesel car sales post the implementation of BS6.

The manufacturer also sells Lodgy and Captur. However, Lodgy sales is best not mentioned. Between June and November 2019, only 220 units were sold. In comparison, between August and November 2019, 18,511 units were sold. Renault HBC sub 4 metre compact SUV too has been spied testing and is set to debut at Auto Expo 2020. The Triber based offering will further strengthen Renaults compact car range.
Aggression continues to breach the truce

br>

SANA'A, May 29 (Saba) - The Saudi aggression and its hirelings continued to breach the UN-backed ceasefire in several provinces during the past 24 hours, a security official said Sunday.



The Saudi warplanes waged an air raid on Abbs district in Hajjah province, a raid on Kilo 16 area in Hodeida province and two air raids on al-Masloub district in Jawf province, the official explained.



The Saudi aggression targeted Harf Sufyan district of Amran province with 15 sorties and targeted a cement-loaded truck in the district, the official added.



The Riyadh's hirelings in Taiz province pounded Dhubab city, al-Amri Mount and many areas in al-Waze'yah district, he said.



The hirelings pounded the army and popular committees sites in Jahmalya and Tha'abat areas in Taiz province. They continued to target al-Shabka Mount, al-Madrab Mount, al-Qashuba area with medium weapons.



The official confirmed that many hirelings were killed or injured when they tried to advance towards al-Dhahura Mount in al-Waze'yah district in Taiz.



The hirelings in Jawf province targeted al-Moton district with artillery shells.



In Sana'a province, the Riyadh's hirelings attacked al-Hawl, Bani Bareq, Melh areas in Nehm district with medium and heavy weapons.



The hirelings in Mareb province continued to target different areas in Serwah district. They also targeted citizens' farms in Hareb-al-Qaramish with mortars.



Meanwhile, the army and popular committees repulsed an attempt of the hirelings to advance towards al-Saq area in Usailan district in Shabwa province. One military vehicle of the hirelings was burnt in the attempt.



The Saudi warplanes nonstop flying on the skies of many provinces, including the Capital, Taiz, Mareb, Jawf, Amran, Sana'a, Baidha and Sa'ada.



HA/AF

Saba

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[29/May/2016]
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 ...
The Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, is scheduled to deliver his maiden budget today in Parliament. In light of the prevailing conditions in the economy, the word for everyone is obviously Caution with a capital C.

We say this because the signs are not good. If anything, they are frightening. Which calls for the leaders of today  including Minister Sili  to be prudent in his thinking.

This is not the time to try and be a hero. If we are honest with ourselves, it is a time to cut back spending and be conservative.

Last year as the Minister of Finance, Prime Minister Tuilaepa made a very frank admission. Listen to him: There is no way the government can sustain the high spending levels of the past five years without recourse to increased grants and raising taxes. As a responsible government, we are proposing to cut back spending. The message therefore is we need to live within our means.

On this note, earlier we published an editorial Economic warning, govt. and beggars. As we await Silis budget today, we feel this message could not be more accurate. Here it is:

And so weve been warned once again.

Although the caution is particularly aimed at Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and his government, we believe we should all take notice.

This is for the simple fact that Samoa does not belong to a person or a political party. Samoa belongs to all of us  you, me and our aiga  including the thousands of Samoans residing abroad.

Which means we shouldnt be ignorant of anything that could put us as a country at risk. We love this country too much to be ignorant.

On the front page of the Sunday Samoan of 24 January 2016, a story titled Economy alarm bells was published. The story featured a warning that the economy could be heading towards a disaster. It came from a businessman and an investor, who spoke to the Sunday Samoan, on the condition of anonymity, fearing repercussions for his business.

In this business, let me tell you its pretty tough to carry the opinions of people who want to remain nameless, especially when it comes to such sensitive matters. But there are exceptions and in this particular case, we made one because we feel the issue is too important to ignore.

So for the story, the man was referred to as Sione.

Im concerned that if certain things continue, then it will have an impact on the economy, Sione said about the ballooning $1.4billion debt, the constant budget deficits among other issues.

Speaking about the debt level and reports that Samoa is in the top ten countries for illicit financial flows, Sione cautioned about a potential intervention by the International Monetary Fund (I.M.F.).

Whats more, he was extremely concerned about the governments deafening silence on reports about the illicit financial flows.

My concern is that if this money laundering is going to continue to happen, very soon I.M.F. and other international organisations including most of the people we get aid from, will slam the door shut and we will go back to the 1960s, he said.

The government have been totally silent. In fact the silence is deafening over those statistics. The Governor of the Central Bank should be ringing alarm bells if those statistics are correct.

We believe Sione has made some very important points that are worth thinking about. For instance, why is the government silent and not disputing these reports about illicit financial flows? Should we take their silence as confirmation that these reports are accurate?

And in that case, what does this mean for Samoa? Where is transparency, accountability and good governance that Prime Minister Tuilaepa continues to gloat about?

We ask these questions because we believe the time is right for Samoa as a country to discuss these issues. Its about time we look into it with level heads and the idea of addressing them without getting into the silly name-calling from politicians every time these issues are raised.

There is no denying the fact that its an uncomfortable topic, one many of us would rather not think about. But we believe its important to discuss whats happening, understand the implications and be open about ideas on a way forward.

In other words, it is essential that our people are well informed and for our leaders to be up front about the truth. Besides, if we are really in trouble, as these warnings continue to say, then the people have every right to know. Dont you think?

After all, Sione is not the first one to raise these questions. Over the years, international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have issued numerous warnings to Samoa in relation to our external debt.

In 2013 for example, the Bank warned that Samoas public external debt was high-risk and that the government was in danger of breaching policy limits they had previously agreed to.

But that wasnt all. Not long ago, the Bank also warned about debt distress where public loans would exceed 56 per cent of economic activity each year. That, we believe, is already the case.

So what is the government doing about these warnings? Does it care at all?

As far as we are aware, Prime Minister Tuilaepa has on a number of occasions assuaged fears about the issue, saying there is nothing to be alarmed about.

According to Tuilaepa, it is not the amount of a countrys debt that its leaders should be worried about.

Rather, it is a countrys ability to service the debt. And in Samoas case, he assured that Samoas debt service capacity is strong, saying the country is generating more than enough revenue to sustain the debt. Fair enough!

But heres what boggles the mind. If what Tuilaepa is saying is true, then why on earth does Samoa need to continue to borrow more millions?

Why has our foreign debt ballooned from $15million when the H.R.P.P. came into power to $1.4billion today?

If this country has so much money, as the Prime Minister claims, why then is the cost of living so ruthlessly expensive? And why are people being punished through the ridiculous cost of electricity and other basic utilities?

Why is there so much poverty and hardship in Samoa today? What about those children begging on the streets of Samoa? What do they tell us?

Stay tuned!
Dear Editor,

Re: Bail opposed for Avele student

I totally support N.P.O. going after this guy.

Schools fighting in town is not a small thing to be explained away as if theyre only kids. No they are young adults and when they organise fights like this and threatening to kill other students and teachers with knives and machetes then it is a serious matter and N.P.O. should be involved.

The they are only kids attitude has permeated Apia society for far too long and that is the reason why these fights have been going on for well over 30 years now.

It is time to put a stop to it once and for all and a clear message sent out to all the students and schools that this time the problem is going to be squashed for all time. Even if it was false bravado on the iPhone, these guys will graduate to much more serious crime if they are not taught a lesson now.

PS Jeffrey
I would like to congratulate you Samoa for your 54th Jubilee years of Independence.

Start from your Highness Head of State Tui Atua Tupua TT, a big faamalo for your patience and love serving Samoa through your political appointment two term reign even though your pertaining village Lufilufi council men had unjustly disgraced your Tui Atua status due to mans negligence in some 6+ years yet you march on with honour.

Praise is to our dear Lord for your commended reconciliation witnessed last Friday 27 May 2016.

To our Mr. Prime Minster and your Cabinet, malo le faatautai, and do be certain e leai lava se isi i lenei soifuaga e atoatoa, except our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ whom willingly bore our foes and triumphantly won us all back from the Evils spell.

Public Servants at all corners of our Government arena together with individuals who take on their personal responsibility serving our people where ever you are, faamalo le tautua atunuu.

Same goes to the tapuaiga i le lautele o le mamalu ma le paia o oe Samoa ae faapitoaugafa se lagona i le au matutua, faamalo le nofotatalo faapea la outou tapuaiga.

To you all our divided (unfortunately) Christian religion leaders plus a handful of non-Christian religion leaders in Samoa, faamalo le faaleiloga pe a faapea o lau lena o fai. Aua o loo soifua pea le Alii ma e le o se mea e toe tau matea. O lea lava ua faaali tino mai o Ia i ona manua na faalavalava ma maliu faalavaau ai i luga le satauro e ala mai i si tamaitai o Toaipuapuaga.

Lest we forget the hardship our forefathers had gone thru let alone our dear Lord God the foundation of our Country and his ultimate gift to us all - his created human race, HIS son whom wishfully left for us all his blessed body and blood for our divine nourishment.

To which we his established church i.e. his Mystical body, commemorate it this Sunday 29th May 2016 on His wish for us to remember Him with.

Hence the essence of our Countrys constitutional amendment Honourable Galumalemana Aiono Falenaoti Tuilaepa S. and his 100% Matai Samoan government planned to go ahead with. And while you are at it team, wonder how Article # 112 -Authoritative Texts, of our constitution concerns you for a change, as well?

I wonder of Editor in Chiefs view towards our constitutional move? Nevertheless I wish to command him with his newly registered Gatoaitele (Matai Samoa) title. With much hope that he will feel encouraged by our loving Gods shared mana carrying out his work with Love. Believe it or not, if it is not done out of Love then our efforts will be in vain. Am certain for once such love is inculcated in him same goes with us, and be filled to fullness with Gods then our dichotomy mind set will lessen whilst our willingly ready to serve Him at all times will grow to our individual respective level of understanding.

Which brings me to poor Laulu Dan Stanely - knowing the fella been a devoted Catholic back then, definitely now has a fairly shallow understanding. Oute faamalulu atu i lau Afioga le Falefia o alii, neither Rev. Motu Maauga nor our Mr. Prime Minister or all of us Samoans are of any herds of cows!? Well, not too sure about you though, now but we are all human beings -weak ones of course, created by this TRIUNE God in his Image.

Have a read of Sr. Vitolia Moas sharing God of Jesus Christ and God of Samoa 28 May 2016 for further information and please do it with respect of the Koran 10:94s direction.

As for your poor Muslim expats already in our midst because of the weakness in our countrys constitution, I wouldnt mind welcoming you to our shores if you truly come in peace as you claimed? Even though am puzzled, why it is so hard for you to accept such truth as Mario Joseph previously known as Imam Sulaiman, testified. That the Koran 3:45-55 states ten truths about Jesus Christ with the first one, stating that he is the true Kalimatullah WORD of YHWH/ Allah/GOD!?

Mario reckons that once you all agree to accept such truth then he sees no reason for Muslims not to be called Christian. To which I agree with him very much and pretty sure Afioga Galumalemana would too, invalidating the concern of fale-talimalo? by Sr. Vitolia Moa, right Mr. Prime Minister?

Same welcoming notion goes out to you all Atheist already in our midst here in our Sacred land, Samoa as well. I see freelance Orlando Huaman suits the description quite well with his sharing What your Pastor doesnt tell you 27 May 2016, or is it NOT? To which it confirms the much needed notion for you all Pastors to be in total Unity with HIM in his true Peace and Harmony, dont you agree Mr. Huaman?

Reminds me of Albert Einstein -a renowned faithful genius, reminding one Atheist Professor of his young age whom concluded that God doesnt exist after considering Science Empirical, Testable, and Demonstrable Protocol (SETDP).

That even your brain Mr. Professors no one ever; seen, feel, smelt, taste, heard it therefore according to such scientific (SETDP) understanding it only means you dont have a brain Mr. Professor, or is it really?

Hope we all Samoans and all you Samoan residents - either by choice or whatever, would agree on the need to feel out that our brains are intact and that it is filled with God our countrys founders, divine free given gifts of knowledge so we be freely and willingly stand in UNITY with Him and shine out His truth via our weak human beings just as he had wished.

Enjoy the commemoration of our 54th Jubilee and hope you had all remember our dear God -our Countrys foundation, wish for us on remembering him by participating his feast and consume on his Body and Blood he himself instituted as the main Sacrament within His church His Mystical Body.

M.P.M.

Atalii fanau le au a le loomatua Taufusi
A snake found in Savaii two weeks ago has been released back into the wild. This was confirmed in a letter to the Samoa Observer by the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Safuta Toelau Iulio. The letter is published below in full:

We refer to the above mentioned article reported in the Samoa Observer on 15 May 2016.

Firstly, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to Mr Dave Perriman of Bluebird Company at Salelologa for his tranquility and proactiveness shown by not killing the snake found at Salelologa and for taking the time to contact our local experts for assistance and advice.

The Ministry would like to sincerely apologize for the erroneous advice provided to Mr Perriman on the phone when he first called for help. The telephone operator who responded to the call was in a state of shock when the word snake was mentioned on the phone. However, going forward, we will build the capacity of our frontline officers to effectively handle and manage referrals of such sensitive cases and provide responses accordingly.

The Division of Environment and Conservation (D.E.C.) is the responsible division in M.N.R.E. that deals with the conservation of Terrestrial biodiversity (including mammals, invertebrates and plant species), Marine biodiversity, National reserves, Solid waste management and Chemical/Hazardous waste management.

Therefore, the D.E.C. deals with snakes under its broad function of Terrestrial biodiversity conservation. This matter has been investigated in close collaboration with our local and overseas partners and experts including the S.P.R.E.P. and the Ministry of Agriculture through proper protocols of assessment to confirm the type of snake that was found.

The results confirmed that the species was indeed harmless and that it was a Pacific Boa or technically the Candoia bibroni a known native species of snake found in Samoa. We would like to thank in particular Dr Robert Fisher of the United States Geological Services who is currently our regional expert on reptile identification for his prompt attention and continuous support to working with the local team.

That said, Mr Dave Perriman has already been advised to release the snake back into the wild because it is not a threat to humans. Native pacific boa snakes have been seen and reported to us every now and then.

Therefore we encourage the public to contact the M.N.R.E. if you find or whenever you see or sight a snake.

For more information please do not hesitate to contact Ms Tauti Fuatino M-Leota on email [email protected] or Lesaisaea Sia Niualuga Evaimalo on email [email protected] or telephone 67208 or 67200.

Ma le faaaloalo tele,

Safuta Toelau Iulio

ACTING CHIEF EXECUTIVE

OFFICER
Samoa is joining the rest of the world to condemn the harmful effects of tobacco use. And no other place was this message more visible than the village of Lepea where the Ministry of Health had taken its outreach programme yesterday.

In addressing the village, the Minister of Health, Tuitama Dr. Talalelei Tuitama said Tobacco does nothing good to the persons health.

We know the effect of Tobacco to our health as well as to the non smokers, said Tuitama.

The Minister reiterated the message from the World Health Organization, calling on all the countries to get ready for plain packaging.

Plain packaging is to prohibit the use of logos, colors, brand images or trade information on packaging other than the brand name and product in standard color.

For this years campaign, one of the target groups for the Ministry of Health is young people, especially students at colleges and universities.

As part of yesterdays programme, two students from Avele and St. Josephs College were invited to share short stories and poems about the effect of tobacco use.

Tuitama acknowledged Lepeas contribution to the programme.

He also acknowledged the partnership with Auckland University who have helped them with the launching of the mCessation Programme, which they are working on together with Bluesky Samoa.

The mCessation programme is to send text messages and quit tips to the users that Tobacco is bad for their health and to push people to quit.

(more about Tobacco Day from the Samoa Cancer Society)




The Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, is expected to table a strict budget today at Tuanaimato when Parliament reconvenes for the first time in its XVI parliamentary term.

Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi will be absent as he is in Papua New Guinea for the 2016 Leaders Summit for the African, Caribbean and Pacific (A.C.P.) Group of States meeting.

The Minister of Public Enterprises, Lautafi Selafi Purcell said the maiden budget sends out a message to all government ministries that what you see is what you get.

You can wish and wish (for more) but you cannot get blood from stones, said Lautafi.

We have distributed the money to what is fair for every Ministry and that is all they will be getting. Its a very strict budget and whatever is given to us we will work with that.

Lautafi declined to reveal how much the budget is, saying all will be revealed today by the Minister of Finance.

Being responsible with some of the governments main Ministries that include Samoa Tourism Authority, Public Enterprises and Ministry of Commerce, Lautafi said they will take what they are given.

The aim with my Ministries is work with the budget, he said.

We have to look at the revenue generating aspects of the operation to ensure that we are getting that revenue and reduce expenses in all aspects of every Ministry.

There is nothing that the government can do if we dont have that much moneywe have to make sure that every cent counts in all the work they do. According to Lautafi, the government has cut back on all the expenses that we see we can do without while we try to pick up things.

The Minister emphasised that the government is leading by example.

Asked if this means that allowances for M.P.s and Ministers are also cut back, Lautafi said yes.

We have reduced them, he said.

Every area has been scrutinized and all expenses too around the clock. We are going to run a very tight ship in this parliamentary term and every Minister is aware of that.

Each Minister has to make sure that their Ministry is ticking along with that money and know that nothing more will be given.

Pointing to the Ministry of Public Enterprises which collects all dividends from each S.O.E., Lautafi said they too need to make sure they pay their dividends.

In his weekly programme with 2AP last week, Tuilaepa said just like the previous years budget this years one will be living within our means.

It all depends on our revenue, he said. We can talk about billions we can only use what we havewe cannot spend what we dont have in our pockets. When Tuilaepa tabled the budget for 2015/2016 this time last year he told Parliament the objective was to live within our means.

This is the most sustainable approach going forward, he said last year.

We can no longer depend on the generosity of our development partners forever. We need to look internally at the revenue generated domestically and ask the hard questionwhat can we afford given the revenue we have?

Tuilaepa stated we need to be prudent in prioritising our development agenda so that the service delivery to the public is not compromised.
Strengthening and improving economic integration between the two Samoas is top of the agenda for the two nations as officials meet at Hotel Tanoa Tusitala this week.

The meeting was opened by the Minister of Public Enterprises, Lautafi Selafi Purcell, who challenged the participants to walk the talk and put their discussions into action.

Its about time we put all the talks into action so our two countries would benefit from. Its important to meet and discuss the issues and areas we need to improve on, but its more important if we walk the talk, he said.

Lautafi also encouraged the participants to be up front about the issues hindering trade between the two countries.

This collaboration started in 2012 when the Prime Minister of Samoa and the Governor of American Samoa agreed and initiated a Two Samoas Economic Integration Initiative. The economic integration involves many disciplines such as business licensing, immigration, trade.

The meeting focuses on creating a trade agreement in which the two countries would benefit from.

It also aims at creating a platform for the Initiative to work on the different areas including the identification of improvements to the immigration, customs, taxes, business creation, and foreign investment rules of the countries that would benefit economic integration. The last meeting was held in American Samoa from 17-18 December last year.

Fuiavailili Keniseli Lafaele, Director of Department of Commerce in American Samoa said the fruits of these meetings since 2012 are far reaching. There have been a lot of improvements in terms of business relationship between the two countries, he said. In terms of trades, immigrations and airlines, establishments of businesses, taxes and creating employment opportunities.

Moreover, Fuiavailili said the meeting will look at the updates and progress of all the different issues since the last meeting.

This is an opportunity for us to go through and discuss the updates on the different issues and matters we discussed the last time we met and as well as making progress on reorganizing these issues to make a possible Free Trade arrangement between the two countries.

These meetings have created an atmosphere for commerce to flow and a solid progress in business development.

However, looking ahead, he still believes that there is a lot more to be done. There are some areas that need improvement and we have to keep moving forward. Let us make this count. Time for talk is over, lets get to it.

Fishing and agriculture is another area which is discussed in this years meeting, said the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Commerce Industry and Labour in Samoa, Peseta Margaret Malua.

Aforementioned, we are looking towards making a possible free trade, she said. And if that happens, exporting our taro, fish and other products to American Samoa will be free of charge. And the same goes for when our brothers and sisters import their products to Samoa.

Creating more employment opportunities for our people is another area discussed in this meeting.

Ever since 2012, we have sent a lot of people to American Samoa to work there, start up their own businesses, and they are able to send back money to their families here in Samoa which is a good thing for us.

So far, these meetings have been very helpful because it helps us see where we can improve, create new ideas and initiatives and most importantly, to strengthen our bonds with American Samoa. We had a trade fare last year in American Samoa and it was very successful.

There was a lot of trading between the two countries and both countries benefited from it.

The meeting ends today.
The Samoa Medical Association welcomed three new doctors yesterday.

Dr. Cecilia Vaai-Bartley, Dr. Grace Gabriel-Qereqeretabua and Dr. Maluapapa Nuuausala Siaosi received their full registration to practice during the official opening of the 69th Samoa Medical Association meeting being held at Motootua. The occasion was a moment of celebration for the new doctors.

For Dr. Siaosi, it was a time of reflection, thanksgiving and to acknowledge the love of God on her life and her journey.

The 26-year-old who works as a Pediatric Doctor at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital is the daughter of Reverend Nuuausala Siaosi and Maluifafo. She hails from the villages of Sataoa, Salailua and Manua in American Samoa. Today is a moment to reflect back on the journey, the hardships, challenges and all that Ive been through, she said.

There were ups and downs but still with faith Ive been able to get to where I am today.

Dr. Siaosi said she could not have done it alone.

I couldnt be here without the support of my family. It is through the prayers of my family especially my parents.

Their support in so many ways kept me going even though the tough and rough times.

Although she had harboured dreams of becoming a doctor at an early age, Dr. Siaosi said she took the long road.

It has been my childhood dream to become a doctor, she said.

But then at school, she seemed to enjoy Commerce subjects until she reached Form 4 when she changed her subjects to mostly Science subjects.

From there, I could see myself fulfilling my dream of becoming a doctor, she said. I just dropped out Commerce and Economics and fully focused on Physicsthats how things gets started.

Looking ahead, Dr. Siaosi said she is keen to serve her community.

She also encouraged young people that they too can realise their dreams when they believe.

Never stop having faith in yourselfand never stop trying, she said.

If you and I can dream it, we can do it  and never forget to put God first because when we seek Him first, everything else will fall into place.
Lewes, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/30/2016 -- The MICE industry is one of the key sectors that Thailand intends to develop in order to stimulate quality visitors both within the country and abroad. Thailand is one of the most important and popular MICE destination worldwide. Thailand is famous MICE destination due to its solid basic infrastructure, strategic location, developed transportation systems, international connectivity, a well-trained private sector, continual government support and sound regulations. Each year, it stages numerous meetings, seminars, and world-class exhibitions, and welcomes numerous visitors led by the world's leading tour companies.



Thailand has plans to develop more MICE-related amenities, especially convention centers and venues that can stage mega events, growing its capacity to serve an expanding market and rising demand for meetings, conventions and exhibitions.



Spanning over 2020 pages "Thailand MICE Industry & Forecast to 2022" report covers Thailand  Overall MICE Travelers, Revenue & Forecast (2012  2022), Thailand  MICE Travelers, Revenue Share & Forecast (2012  2022), Thailand  MICE Travelers, Revenue & Forecast  Industry Analysis (2012  2022), Thailand  MICE Travelers, Revenue & Forecast  Regional Analysis (2012  2022), Thailand  MICE Travelers, Revenue & Forecast  Top 30 Countries Analysis (2012  2022), Thailand MICE Industry & Forecast to 2022  Growth Drivers, Thailand MICE Industry & Forecast to 2022  Challenges.



For more information Visit at: http://www.marketresearchreports.com/dpi-research/thailand-mice-industry-forecast-2022



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Sharks of the same species can have different personalities, indicates a new study published in the Journal of Fish Biology.

The study, led by Dr. Evan Byrnes of Macquarie University in North Ryde, Australia, examined interindividual personality differences between Port Jackson sharks (Heterodontus portusjacksoni).

Trials were designed to test the sharks boldness, which is a measure of their propensity to take risks, but also an influencer of individual health through its correlation with stress hormones and associated physiological profiles.

Port Jackson sharks were first introduced to a tank where they were provided with shelter, and timed to see how long it took for each shark to emerge from their refuge box into a new environment.

The second behavior test exposed each shark to handling stress, similar to handling by a fisherman, before releasing them again and observing how quickly they recovered.

The results demonstrated that each sharks behavior was consistent over repeated trials, indicating ingrained behaviors rather than chance reactions.

That is, some sharks were consistently bolder than others, and the sharks that were the most reactive to handling stress in the first trial were also the most reactive in a second trial.

This work shows that we cannot think of all sharks as the same, Dr. Byrnes said.

Each has its own preferences and behaviors, and it is likely that these differences influence how individuals interact with their habitat and other species.

We are excited about these results because they demonstrate that sharks are not just mindless machines. Just like humans, each shark is an individual with its unique preferences and behaviors, said co-author Dr. Culum Brown, also from Macquarie University.

Our results raise a number of questions about individual variation in the behavior of top predators and the ecological and management implications this may have. If each shark is an individual and doing its own thing, then clearly managing shark populations is much more complicated than we previously thought.

Understanding how personality influences variation in shark behavior  such as prey choice, habitat use and activity levels  is critical to better managing these top predators that play important ecological roles in marine ecosystems.

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E.E. Byrnes & C. Brown. Individual personality differences in Port Jackson sharks Heterodontus portusjacksoni. Journal of Fish Biology, published online May 26, 2016; doi: 10.1111/jfb.12993
[KUALA LUMPUR] The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that fish consumption per person globally has more than doubled over the past five decades. But scientists say governments should now focus more on the nutritional quality of fisheries.

The development of fisheries that are nutrition-sensitive would improve nutritional outcomes instead of only production and trade values, says a study in the May issue of the journal Food Policy. Fisheries refer to harvesting of aquatic animals from wild populations and aquaculture.

We want to develop food production systems, in this case fisheries, that improve nutrition and health of the populations. By Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, author at Food Policy

By adopting a nutrition-sensitive approach, the study argues that fisheries present many untapped opportunities to meet the UNs Sustainable Development Goals to provide accessible and nutritious foods for all.

Shakuntala Haraksingh Thilsted, lead author of the study, says that while past policies targeted hunger and have successfully increased food production, in areas where people have more than enough staple food, they remain malnourished.

We want to develop food production systems, in this case fisheries, that improve nutrition and health of the populations, stresses Thilsted, a senior nutrition advisor with the international research organisation WorldFish.

The study suggests three target areas for fisheries to realise nutrition-sensitive outcomes: (1) improve quality and quantity of fish supply, (2) empower women, and (3) promote equitable markets.

Fisheries need to better diversify their products to provide greater diversity of foods, and hence nutrition. Capture fisheries must also conserve ecosystems for sustainable and diverse harvests from the wild.

On the other hand, aquaculture  which is seen to supply 63 per cent of global fish demand by 2030  produces mainly large species, which Thilsted and her colleagues say are less nutritious than the small fish from capture fisheries.

If we only focus on tilapia, we limit what people can cook and eat, and the nutritional benefits they can get from diverse fish species, explains Thilsted. Tilapia fish is a major aquaculture commodity; China and South-East Asia are the largest producers.

The study suggests that aquaculture produces a mix of nutritious small fish species and large species for the market to optimise resource use and product diversity.

If one evaluates other aspects of development, such as nutrition and health of children, in the long term, these [production-focused] policies in fisheries are not optimal for national development, adds Thilsted.

However, Weimin Miao, aquaculture officer at the FAO regional office in Bangkok, cautions against overemphasising nutritional outcomes as specific goals for fisheries development when current production lags behind demand.

Exaggerating the difference of some micronutrients between different fish might lead us to overlook the overall importance of fish as an important source of healthier animal food, he says.

Miao thinks it is more pertinent to increase supply of affordable fish, particularly for local low-income groups, instead of setting nutritional outcomes as goals that are rather difficult to quantify and measure.

This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets South-East Asia & Pacific desk.
[NAIROBI] A new research programme aims to advance current understanding of best practices in global health research capacity strengthening in Sub-Saharan Africa.



The five-year Learning Research Programme (LRP), which was supported with 800,000 (almost US$1.7 million) award last month (20 April), is to work in partnership with DELTAS Africa initiatives to help generate research evidence.



DELTAS Africa, a partnership scheme involving the UK-based Wellcome Trust, the African Academy of Sciences Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AAS-AESA) and the UK Department for International Development, seeks to train and develop world-class researchers to address major health challenges and develop collaborations that translate research uptake into policy in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Africa needs to generate evidence to support its policies. Alphonsus Neba, DELTAS Africa

Together with the LRP, DELTAS Africa has committed 60 million (almost US$88 million) to 11 African research teams over a five-year period (2015-2020), says a statement from the Wellcome Trust that announced the LRP funding.

According to Justin Pulford, a senior lecturer at the UK-based Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), which is leading the LRP, a team of LRP researchers will investigate the collective experience of DELTAS Africa consortia scientific staff as they implement their respective research programmes, looking for common barriers and enablers to equitable research careers and research uptake.

The LRP research team will also systematically review the public health training opportunities, gaps and overlaps evident among current African-based training providers to support the progression towards regional provision of high quality, comprehensive and locally relevant postgraduate public health training, says Pulford, a member of the LSTM implementing the programme.

Imelda Bates, the principal investigator of the LRP and a professor of tropical haematology at LSTM, explains that the research team hopes to learn from the successes and challenges of DELTAS Africa programmes to generate evidence for current and future capacity strengthening programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa.



The LRP will work in collaboration with the AAS-AESA, Kenya-based African Institute for Development Policy and all DELTAS Africa consortia to help achieve its aim, Pulford tells SciDev.Net.



According to Alphonsus Neba, DELTAS Africa programme manager, there is no better way of addressing Africas health challenges than generating the evidence required to take concrete and meaningful actions in resolving these challenges.



Africa needs to generate evidence to support its policies, says Neba, explaining that quality health research and the evidence generated are essential in Sub-Saharan Africa.



Neba applauds African governments for providing basic R&D infrastructure but cautions: The time has come to take these investments a notch higher, especially by mobilising additional financial resources for conducting health research and engaging policymakers to make use of the evidence generated from such research into their decision-making processes.

Jane Kengeya-Kayondo, East and Southern Africa regional coordinator of Africa Research Excellence Fund, tells SciDev.Net that strengthening health research capacity and training in Africa is one way of enabling better health for Africans.The task is huge and needs many hands. Africa suffers from underdeveloped research leadership capacity, few career opportunities, fragile institutions, low national investment in research and unbalanced North-South relationships, Kengeya-Kayondo notes.This piece was produced by SciDev.Nets Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.
Lifestyle is important for women who have high genetic risk of breast cancer. A new study suggests that despite being at risk, they can still cut the likelihood of the disease if they follow a healthy lifestyle.

Nilanjan Chatterjee, a professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore told UPI.com, "Those genetic risks are not set in stone."

The key lifestyle factors, as listed by CBS News include a healthy weight, not smoking, alcohol limitation, and avoiding the use of hormone therapy after menopause. The research estimated that if all Caucasian women do those things, around 30 percent of the total number of breast cancer cases could be avoided.

Chatterjee and his team developed a model to predict the likelihood of a woman developing breast cancer, compiling genetic information and family history, age of the beginning of menstruation, and lifestyle. They estimated the effects of 68 gene variants which the women were not tested for.

Their findings, according to Fox News, showed that an average 30-year-old white woman has an 11 percent chance of developing breast cancer by the age of 80, however, those who follow healthier lifestyle factors have a more significant decrease in risk. "Lifestyle factors may be even more important for women at higher genetic risk than for those at low genetic risk," Chatterjee said.

The study did not include women with BRCA gene mutations. However, it did focus on 92 gene variants that are usually found in women. The resulys were then based on the over 40,000 subjects who tested positive for the 24 gene variants already linked to the increased risk of breast cancer.

"The bottom line is, this study provides evidence that, on a population level, a certain number of breast cancer cases would be prevented if women did these things," said co-author of the study, William Dupont of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee.
The X-37B just celebrated its birthday. The top secret space plane of the United States Air Force has successfully completes one year in orbit, according to reports.

The secretive space plane embarked on its first mission in April 2010, followed by two more stints in 2011 and 2012, each of which lasted more than a year. The recent first year anniversary celebrates the success of X-37B's fourth mission, and at present there are no announced plans yet of landing back the plane on Earth. Official representatives reportedly told the Air Force Times that they were looking excitedly looking forward to the aircraft's latest mission and learn from it.

The mission and work of the X-37B is highly mysterious and the Air Force has always been reluctant to speak about the space plane's actual agenda. The usual statements made by the officials include demonstration of reusable space technologies and craft testing motives like ""advanced guidance, navigation and control, thermal protection systems, avionics, high temperature structures and seals, conformal reusable insulation, lightweight electromechanical flight systems, advanced propulsion systems, and autonomous orbital flight, reentry, and landing".

However, experts have pointed out that the secretive space plane is probably used for examining systems to damage enemy satellites or quickly replace impaired US satellites. On its part, the Air Force did not reveal any details about the fourth mission of the X-37B, let alone tell whether the course of its flight had any different purpose than the three previous ones. Incidentally, there are two X-37B aircraft built by Boeing Network & Space Systems, and each measures 29 feet in length, 9 feet in height, has a wingspan of 14-foot and weighs around 4990 kilograms.

The X-37 space plane program had initially started at NASA before being handed over to the Pentagon in 2004. The unmanned spacecraft is also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) and it is reusable.
A gorilla was shot at a Cincinnati Zoo when a boy climbed through a barrier and fell into a moat - and was then grabbed and dragged by a 400-pound gorilla.

According to BBC News, the zoo said that they took action as the situation was deemed to be "life-threatening." After the incident, the zoo temporarily shut its gorilla exhibit.

Killing of gorilla to save boy at Ohio zoo sparks outrage https://t.co/llOpA76Zha pic.twitter.com/kRDRKuRzBQ  Reuters Top News (@Reuters) May 29, 2016

The video of the incident showed that the boy fell about 10 feet into the moat and the gorilla then dragged him through the shallow part of the exhibit. He then stopped, with the child looking up at him.

This was not the end of the boy's troubles, however, as he was then dragged by the 17-year-old western lowland gorilla named Harambe for about 10 minutes.

After he was recovered, the child was taken to the Cincinnati Children's Hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries, reported CNN.

Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard said at the press briefing, that the boy went under the rail, through the wires, and over the moat wall to get to the gorilla.

Maynard said, "The child was not under attack but all sorts of things could happen. He certainly was at risk."

Deciding to kill the gorilla was a hard decision, but zoo officials decided against shooting the massive mammal with a tranquilizer because the drug's effect is too slow. "You don't hit him and he falls over," Maynard shared. "It takes a few minutes."

The security team's quick response may have been able to save the boy's life, but everyone else on staff is devastated at losing such rare species.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the western lowland gorilla is a critically endangered species. In the wild, they can only be found in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Equatorial Guinea.

Harambe only celebrated his birthday on Friday. He was born at the Glady's Porter Zoo in Texas, and was supposed to eventually father other gorillas in hopes of recovering the population of the species.
The talk by two lawyers from Blank Romes Washington, DC office stood out because it was based on questions that we get every day from clients rather than dry recitations of highly complicated regulations.

Matt Thomas, and Greg Linsin, talked about their work with sanctions, and environmental compliance, respectively. Both lawyers have hands-on Federal government experience in their subjects; Thomas had worked for the Federal Maritime Commission, while Linsen spent many years in the Environmental Crimes Division of the US Department of Justice.

Thomas noted that shifting political tides in Washington, DC keep him busy, and he urged audience members to pay attention to Syria, Sudan and Russia-related sanctions in addition to the marquee geographies of Cuba and Iran. Regarding Iran, after alluding to problems with export rules when US made equipment is aboard ships calling at Iran, he said that: The biggest roadblocks weve seen with Iran have to do with banking and financial services. He noted that voyage charter hire for a ship going in and out of Iran cannot be cleared through a US bank, and that even indirect costs, such as long term charter hire, or bunkers, related to vessels cannot go through US banks.

During his remarks, Linsin, presented a view on steps that companies could take to mitigate, though not entirely eliminate,) certain Marpol-related enforcement risks. On the subject of whistle-blowers, who might report a violation to the Coast Guard, he discussed reduction in size of financial rewards where the crew member might take time to build up a dossier before making a report to the US Coast Guard, contravening company policies stating that observed violations should be reported to the company in a very timely manner. In particular, he suggested that shipping companies should take a pro-active stance, and periodically require employees to reaffirm their understanding of the relevant Marpol rules, after receiving training.

Taking pro-activity even further, Linsin talked about companies striving to maintain robust internal systems for quickly gathering reports of Marpol violations from crew members- including the suggestion that engineering superintendents gather intelligence from engine room crew and officers, when they visit their companys vessels.

Where there is the hint of Marpol violations, he stressed the importance of having a corrected oil record book, with corrective entries done in close coordination with the vessels Flag State. According to Mr. Linsin, many Marpol  related criminal enforcement actions in the States are based on action that occurred outside US territorial waters with inaccurate entries in the oil record book providing the basis for criminal prosecution in the US. The speakers war stories included discussions of thorough internal investigations that saved months of possible delays that could have resulted from expensive criminal enforcement actions by the US Government.

One question from the audience concerned pending Ballast Water Treatment enforcement regimes. Looking ahead to violations of BWT rules (once the convention comes into force), as well as Marpol 6 enforcement on subjects such as fuel compliance within ECAs. Linsin said that the US Government might well use the same types of enforcement issues that have been effective with oily water discharges (Marpol Annex 1) with great emphasis on record keeping requirements.
The $375m, 710,000 teu terminal is the first automated port to begin operations in Mexico. Tuxpan Port Terminal (TPT) is a subsidiary of Seattle-based SSA Marine.

The 2010-built 4,200 teu vessel CMA CGM Hammonia Venetia will make the maiden call at Tuxpan on 4 July.

The ports 556 m long quay with a depth alongside of 15 metres makes it the only terminal on Mexicos Gulf Coast able to receive New-Panamax vessels up to 14,000 teu. It was fully completed in 1Q 2016.

It also features 240 reefer plugs, a dedicated customs and agricultural inspection facility and a 33 hectare-yard to receive some 50,000 vehicles per year and has four super post-panamax cranes with an outreach of 23 containers wide.

Tuxpan is located on the Atlantic coast of Mexico, some 240km from the capital city in between the ports of Vera Cruz and Altamira, which are also on the CMA CGM Victory Bridge service.

Tuxpan offers competitive edge in time, money and security which make us optimistic about its future, TPT general manager John Bressi said.

The terminal will also be closer to El Bajio development centre, in the middle of the country, where are concentrated most of the automobile plants that will produce around 4m vehicles by 2017, the majority of them for exports.
Noble said Alireza had helped guide Noble through a very challenging period, moving the company to an asset light, merchant focused model. It said that with this process now largely complete Alizera felt it was the right time to move on.

Alizera will be replaced by co-ceos, William Randall, currently president of Noble, and Jeff Frase, president of Noble Americas and head oil liquids.

I am delighted that Will and Jeff will be leading Noble Group's operations as we embark on the company's next chapter. Their complementary commodities expertise and geographical focus will be hugely valuable as we position ourselves for the future, said Richard Elman ceo of Noble.
The port authority said the higher box throughput came on the back of increased trade with neighbouring China. South Korea has been importing more products from China, including textiles, electronics and general merchandise.

Container volumes at Incheon port rose by 11% to 223,126 teu in April compared to 201,039 teu posted in the year-ago period.

In the first four months of this year, Incheon port moved a total throughput of 802,621 teu, an increase of 8.6% year-on-year.

If the container cargo traffic continues to grow, the monthly volume handled at Incheon port will reach 230,000 teu in November this year, said Yoo Chang-keun, president of IPA.

We at the IPA will try to meet the needs of shippers in Seoul metropolitan areas by completing the construction of the Incheon New Port logistics hinterland and the Ah-am Distribution Complex 2, as well as improving the import and export logistics environment, Yoo added.
The Seoul Central District Court will next decide either to place STX under receivership or to liquidate the company.

The ailing STX has been under the control of its creditors since April 2013 and it has failed to stabilise its finances despite receiving over KRW4trn ($3.4bn) in financial aid from the creditors over the years, amid the protracted slump in the shipbuilding industry.

The creditors, led by Korea Development Bank (KDB), are not hopeful of seeing STX reviving its business, leading to last Fridays decision to start a court-led restructuring.

STX was once the fourth largest shipbuilder in South Korea, behind the nations big three  Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

Lee Byung-mo, chief executive of STX, was quoted as saying that complacency and intense competition have brought about the crisis for his company and corporate peers such as the big three yards.

The local shipbuilding industry grew too fast over a short period of time. Manpower was not sufficiently skilled and oversight was lax, Lee told the Maeil Business Newspaper.

Lee advised that major yards should voluntarily cut capacity and companies need to end the unhealthy competition of luring new orders via below market prices, and instead learn to cooperate to develop new technologies as the venture is typically too costly for individual companies.
Press Release

May 29, 2016 Villar lauds enactment of law extending funds to small farmers Sen. Cynthia Villar lauded the passage into law of an agricultural program designed to extend funding to small farmers and fisherfolks. Republic Act 10848 which was signed by President Aquino last May 23, extends the period of implementation of the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (ACEF) up to year 2022. "We are confident that with the strict guidelines now in place, ACEF will be effective and will only work for the benefit of legitimate farmers," Villar said. Under the law, 80% of the fund will be set aside as loan to micro and small enterprises with minimal interest. Only P5 million per cooperative and P1 million per individual will be released strictly for the acquisition and establishment of agri-based production and post-production, and processing, machineries, equipment and facilities to achieve modern agricultural practices. Villar, chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Food and principal sponsor of the measure, said this law is needed to help farmers and fisherfolks improve their production and competitiveness, especially with the ASEAN economic integration. "In our hearings, we were able to pinpoint the reasons why ACEF failed to deliver on its promised objectives. These lessons served as guideposts in coming up with a program that will truly work for the noble intention of improving the competitiveness of the agriculture sector," Villar said. The law amends Republic Act 8178 as amended by RA 9496 otherwise known as "An act replacing quantitative import restrictions on agricultural products, except rice, with tariffs, creating the ACEF, and for other purposes." The new law mandates that funds shall be set aside and released to provide the necessary credit to farmers and fisherfolks cooperative and associations, and micro and small scale enterprises, for the acquisition and establishment of production, post-harvest, and processing machineries, equipment and facilities. The loan beneficiaries shall provide a counterpart fund of not less than 10% of the total project cost, which may be in the form of capital outlay, labor, land for the project site, facilities, equipment, and salaries. The Land Bank of the Philippines shall manage the credit facility funded out of the fund and shall determine the eligibility requirements and set the required loan security or collateral of loan beneficiaries. Ten percent will be set aside as grants for research and development of agricultural and fishery products, and the commercialization of such, including the upgrading of research facilities of qualified state universities and colleges, which shall not exceed P5 million per project. Ten percent will be used for the funding of a comprehensive and attractive grant-in-aid program for agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and veterinary medicine education to be implemented by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). To ensure the attainment of the objectives of the fund, an ACEF Executive Committee will be created. It will be composed of the Secretary of Agriculture as chair; President of Land Bank; chairperson of CHED; representative of farmers associations and cooperatives; and representative of fisherfolks association and cooperatives. The Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization will also continue to perform oversight function over the implementation of ACEF. Villar also authored seven other bills on agriculture signed recently by the president; namely, RA 10845 (Anti-Agricultural Smuggling Act), RA 10817 (Halal Act), RA 10816 (Farm Tourism Act), RA 10825 (Marine hatchery in Surigao City and Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte), RA 10826 (Marine nursery in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat), RA 10813 (Multi-species freshwater hatchery in Jabonga, Agusan del Norte), and RA 10787 (Marine hatchery in Lingig, Surigao del Sur).
Press Release

May 30, 2016 Interview with Senator Juan Edgardo 'Sonny' Angara DATE: May 30, 2016

STATION: ANC

PROGRAM: HOT COPY (HEADSTART)

HOST: Karen Davila DAVILA: On Hotcopy this morning with the new administration coming in, a changing of the guards is expected in the Senate leadership. Senator Sonny Angara, a member of the Joint Canvassing Committee, now joins us in the studio, live, Good Morning to you Senator Sonny Angara. SJEA: Good Morning Karen, thank you for having me. DAVILA: Alright, my first question of course is first you as a member of the National Board of Canvassers. There have been many questions when it comes to canvassing. The camp of Senator Bongbong Marcos has manifested many times their disagreement with some of the Municipal of Provincial COCs that were read. Tell us what are the limitations and the responsibilities, only that you can cover. SJEA: Well, the camp of the Senator Marcos would often after the results for read out, they would say, the under vote for so and so maybe. For Lanao, for Misamis, for Quezon province is so and so. Meaning, the number of people who didn't vote for Vice President. It seemed to me that they were laying the predicate for maybe a presidential protest in the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. Because they probably know as a the Joint Canvassing Committee has a limited jurisdiction and it can only look at the Certificates of Canvass, meaning the total of the votes for a province, for a city. There are 166 Certificate of Canvass and for the different provinces. And we compare the electronic with the manually transmitted, there are two. Meaning, the VCM from the provinces itself will send it as soon as they close the precinct or the canvassing. DAVILA: So, it's not the precinct, you are not looking at the precinct elections returns. SJEA: No, the precinct sends it to the province and then province will send it to, or the precinct sends it to the municipality or city first and then they send it to the COMELEC. DAVILA: So, what are you comparing the electronically sent? SJEA: It's the one sent by the provinces and the cities, and the posts abroad for the absentee voting. In total there's about 165 or 166. DAVILA: Now, did they match? SJEA: Most of them matched. There was a problem in about maybe 8 provinces because in these provinces some machines didn't work or they transmitted too early. In those cases we call the Board of Elections inspectors. There are three, so we call them -- the Chairman, and they would tell us what happen and they explained. Then we accepted their explanations. DAVILA: So, what did you do if didn't match? You took which one? SJEA: They would tell us which is the accurate one. Because sometimes they transmitted and in some cases they still had the results in testing of the VCM machines. DAVILA: Okay now what happens for example an article came out today. I'd like to quote (TV recording problem) transferred to Leni Robredo and also other candidates allegedly transferred to other presidential candidates. What do you do with the situation like this? SJEA: I haven't read that article Karen, but again that's probably best for a electoral protest if ever. That's his right and under the law and of course that's very time consuming and if ever it's also expensive. I think if you ask people who filed electoral protest in the past. Senator Santiago, Senator Legarda, they would probably tell you that it's a painful process and time consuming because then it's like a normal court case. There's no urgency. DAVILA: Now, we've witnessed in 2004, when GMA was proclaimed over FPJ amidst many questions on the COC although that was manual, and Senator Kiko Pangilinan then was vilified as Mr. Noted. And yet, few understood the limitations of the National Board of Canvassers. Would you change or should we change anything with the responsibilities of the NBOC? SJEA: No, I think it's a proper jurisdiction set out, it's in the constitution. And you can't have lengthy debates, you can't resort to the ballot boxes because it would take too long. And then you have a power vacuum come June 30, that for me is more disturbing than any other electoral allegation. So, I think the current scheme is probably, there's a reason for it, you know, there's a reason why, you have to have elected official because by June 30. DAVILA: But how do you the describe situation of incoming Vice President Leni Robredo wherein she is the winner and yet you have questions from the supporters and those who voted for Senator Bongbong Marcos. I've always said that it also hurts Leni Robredo in a way when you have very polarizing proclamation and then you sit as Vice President and you have certain group of the country saying you didn't win. SJEA: This is probably the closest margin in a race for the top 2 positions. 263-Thousand, it is not even 1% of the total votes cast. So, you understand that ganun talaga, you understand where they are coming from. The situation that has yet to cool down. So, there's are a lot of heated emotions on both sides I think. Of course, more on the losing side. But we saw it in the case of President Ramos and Senator Santiago when their margin was 1-Million votes. I think with time things will cool down and things will settle down of course you can have the right to a protest if necessary. DAVILA: Now, Rodrigo Duterte has already said he is not coming to the Proclamation today. I mean how you feel about that. SJEA: Well, it's not a requirement. I think many proclamations at the local level even at the Senatorial level you saw not all the Senators went to the proclamation. The decision is for the candidates to go. Pero ang sabi nga nung report niyo he is a maverick so, I guess you have to take it. And he said he never been to his proclamations in Davao. DAVILA: But historically will Duterte be the first President, if ever, not to attend his own proclamation in Congress. SJEA: I think so. I think GMA and Noli-Kabayan were there. PNoy and Vice President Binay were there. In recent memory at least at petitions though he would the first not to attend. DAVILA: Alright and what do we expect this afternoon, its two o'clock in the afternoon. How will it go? SJEA: Well, first Senate and the House will meet separately and will pass a resolution. Well, the Chairman, Congressman Gonzales - Majority Leader Gonzales for the House. And Senator Koko Pimentel in the Senate will be presenting the report and then it has to be adopted by majority of the Senators and then we meet jointly at two o'clock to proclaim. DAVILA: So, this is for procedural na lang. SJEA: Yes, you just have to make it sure that you have the majority of the Senators present to pass the report. It's suct an historic event and I am pretty that they will be there. It also never happened na walang quorum. DAVILA: Walang litrato lang, walang lalabas sa diyaryo bukas of Duterte and Leni beside each other. SJEA: Right that's right. Maybe they can photoshop something together. DAVILA: On another note, you have a Congressman Bebot Alvarez, was handpicked by Duterte, is now incoming House Speaker. You have Sonny Belmonte already declaring it, I think Alvarez will be the next speaker. In the Senate is quite interesting although you have Senator Allan Cayetano and Senator Koko Pimentel were the known supporters and allies of Duterte. It doesn't look like they still have the numbers. SJEA: Well, the Senate is always a little more interesting in the sense that people are very independent and there's no towing the party line. You can sometimes you have the majority that is comprised of members from the opposition party and in the majority. It doesn't necessarily mean that their supporters of the President. So, ang nangyayari diyan is, it's a personal - it's a one to one basis unlike parties in the House, it's parties are talking to each other. DAVILA: Correct. Now, is it true that anybody who would want to overthrow Drilon would need 13 votes? SJEA: Yes, you need an absolute majority because the Senate is a continuing body. In 2010, I think there were a number of aspirants for Senate President, none was able to get more than 12. Senator Enrile who was then the Senate President before elections stayed on as Senate President. DAVILA: But right now I think there are only seven or eight members of the Liberal Party. SJEA: There's seven or eight, there are three groups actually. The Liberal plus group, plus because Senator Joel is from Sibak party list and Senator-elect Risa Hontiveros is from Akbayan. DAVILA: But they're bound to support? SJEA: I really don't know. DAVILA: Presumptively, who knows? SJEA: Presumptively, yes. And then you have the group of I think the NPC and UNA. So, that's Senator Legarda, Senator Sotto plus, again it's plus. Because maybe Senator Gatchalian will be in their group, and then you have Senator Nancy Binay plus the UNA group, Senator Honasan. Maybe, Senator Pacquiao will also be in that group. I think there are about 8 or 9 and then the third group I think there would be, I guess the other. None of the above, none of the 2 groups. DAVILA: No, NP? SJEA: Yeah, NP is about 3, I think. You have Senator Trillanes, Senator Cayetano, Senator Villar. DAVILA: And then where do you fall? SJEA: Well, I'm the only LDP member so. I guess I would be in the... DAVILA: Where do you go? SJEA: Well, I'm friendly with all groups and I said publicly na I'm okay with any of the four aspirants but the things are very fluid right now, Karen. And unlike the house where the president unequivocally said that Bebot Alvarez is my guy, he hasn't really made any pronouncements yet for the Senate. DAVILA: Interesting. SJEA: So people are looking and are trying to read the signals. DAVILA: So you mean to say one problem is that Duterte himself hasn't said 'okay, it's Alan or it's Koko'? He's not made that declaration. SJEA: It's not a problem, Karen. It just makes things more interesting because then people tend to just read the signs and trying to figure out who would be the best. DAVILA: So if I were to ask you as an analyst this morning, is there a big chance, honestly, that Senator Franklin Drilon just might retain being Senate President? Is that a possibility? SJEA: There is. That's always a possibility, Karen. As we saw in the case of Senator Enrile, of then Senate President Enrile in 2010. History could repeat itself. Meaning, since the President's party has 2 aspirants, then the votes could be split and there's a power backing and then Senator Drilon keeps his position. That's possible. DAVILA: Yeah. But how hard will this be for a presumptive president Duterte if he doesn't control the Senate with the bills he wants to pass? I mean, let's start with the first, the death penalty. That alone. SJEA: President Ramos in 1992, he didn't control the Senate. I think there were about 3 member of the LAKAS I think who won and there were 16 members of the LDP which was then the dominant majority party. So what he did was he tried to cobble together a coalition. I think that's the obvious thing for the next president, for President Duterte, to do. To try to put together a strong majority that would support his death penalty. DAVILA: But when it comes to the death penalty for example, do you see that more as a party decision in the future or it seems to be like it's a very personal vote for many Senators? SJEA: I think it's something that touches on religion. I think it would be a personal vote much like the Reproductive Health Bill. I think you'll find members of the same party decision possibly disagreeing or stating different positions. DAVILA: Where do you stand on it? What's your stand? At least on drug trafficking. Let's start with that. SJEA: I'm open. I'm willing to listen to the arguments but I think what I like about the next president is his strong emphasis on law and order because we've had some incidents in the news about the drug situation. Apparently, we've been taking it for granted. It's very serious so I think, I hope law enforcement will improve and then maybe it provides a better context to the death penalty debate. DAVILA: Now, you have an incoming House Speaker Bebot Alvarez saying that his priority will be to push federalism, at least in the 17th Congress immediately. Do you see that as flying in the Senate as fast? SJEA: Well, that's a serious move, Federalism. It's a practical change of the system of government. Because right now we have a unitary and a republican system of government. When we say federalism, although it's an extension of the autonomy of local governments which we have in 1991, but this one is serious step. When we say federalism, we're going to have mini federal governments that will have greater powers. So that necessitates constitutional change. That may take a longer argument than a regular bill. DAVILA: But what's your reaction that they're setting aside the BBL completely? Alvarez said there's no point to the BBL if we go for federalism this is much better. Considering the Senate works so hard on the BBL. SJEA: Well the BBL was supposed to be a first step. It would be subsumed. It wouldn't be loss but in fact it would have spread to other regions. So the approach to the Bangsamoro region would be the approach to all the whole entire Philippines. So I don't think the supporters of the BBL has anything to worry about there. DAVILA: But you think it will still pass, the BBL? SJEA: Well, it would be taken up in the context of Federalism. Meaning, it may take it longer because it's a part of a bigger debate. DAVILA: Okay, interestingly President Aquino in the last few months trashed the income tax reform bill. And yet as he is exiting, he is giving advice to incoming President Duterte, prioritize on the tax reform bill which by the way, is yours. This is your brainchild so to speak, that income tax reform bill. But how do you feel it's this way? SJEA: We've been pushing it since 2013-2014, but we're happy. I think it's too bad that the Aquino administration did not make it a priority because there was the fiscal space to make it happen and because of their good fiscal management. The government had money. The only question was whether they wanted to give that dividend to the public. Unfortunately, they decided against it. But I think having been there for 6 years, I mean there's something of value to that advice giving to the incoming administration. They can tell them, o itong taxes na 'to mahirap ikolekta 'to. So I think they should take that for what it's worth, at that face value and try to move forward for that. What I'm happy about is that incoming Finance Secretary Dominguez has a agreed basically with what we've been saying for a long time that if you earn 500-Thousand and you're in the top tax bracket, that's too much. And it's been frozen at 1997 levels diba? 'Yung pera mo noong 1997, hindi na 'yon pareho 'nung halaga ng hawak mo ngayon. 'Yung piso dati, hindi na yung piso ngayon. That's the basic philosophy of our amendments. DAVILA: So you are feeling positive that the finance secretary that's been coming in will be pushing it? SJEA: Well, they announced it as part to their - one of their first pronouncements in the 8-point agenda, it is included there so, I'm very much encouraged. DAVILA: Okay, President Aquino is leaving with a 6.9% GDP growth and the incoming administration plans on an 8% growth. How do you see that as a feasible or even possible in the first year? SJEA: I do see it as feasible and doable for this year because analysts are predicting between 6-7%. So, just 1% off, you have to make it up and where can you make it up? DAVILA: Where can you make that up? SJEA: I will say in tourism and maybe in agriculture. Those are maybe parts of the economy which there's something to be extracted there in terms of growth. Just maybe maintain what the Aquino administration has done in services and other - trying to push manufacturing also. I think you maintain that while emphasizing these other areas which didn't grow as much. DAVILA: Okay. Now, you were once the dominant party, you had said, during the time of former President Fidel V. Ramos. SJEA: No, not President Ramos. Former President Cory. DAVILA: Now, what are the party plans considering now Koko Pimentel is PDP-LABAN -- has gone on the forefront in the Duterte candidacy. I mean, is your party planning on anything like this? Because that is completely fate or an accident. You know what I mean? SJEA: Right. Well that also happened to the LPs, the LP was a small party and then President Aquino was catapulted to the presidency so you see the party grow. It's a cycle. It depends really on who the President is. Kapag kapartido mo 'yung presidente, your party will grow. But then as you see, it's boom and bust cycle. Like now there's defections, from the LP to PDP-LABAN. It's historical, it's a 6-year cycle that you see. And our party is usually allies with the majority and whoever is in power to help push their agenda because now we're a small party. DAVILA: Okay. Last words Senator Sonny. SJEA: Well thanks for having me, Karen, and maybe we should support our new President and Vice President and at the same time, I hope our new President and Vice President are conciliatory. Because they're not elected by the majority of the people, meaning majority chose other candidates like President Duterte was elected by 40%. Although he's a very popular President and I don't know for the Vice President but it's 30% or something for Vice President Robredo. Sana I think the process of healing, it's good that it starts and they started to build the alliances the way President Ramos did early on during his term. He tried to unite and create a common vision for the country. DAVILA: On that note, Senator Sonny Angara, thank you very much.
Press Release

May 30, 2016 Transcript of Ambush Interview with Senate President Franklin M. Drilon Q: May timetable po ba sa pag-bid sa Senate Presidency? SPFMD: There is no timetable. Whether it is today or July 22 or whatever, there is no timeframe, except on the last Monday of July. Q: Sir, si Senator Alan Cayetano, nabanggit na may commitment na yung 15 senators sa kanya. SPFMD: I have always said that whoever has 13 signatures electing Senator XYZ to lead the 17th Congress, I am willing to yield the Senate presidency. Q: Sir yung LP bloc nagbigay na ba ng commitment? SPFMD: As I have said, those who have 13 signatures, just present to me the resolution, and there's no problem. Q: Sir marami ang LP dito sa Senate, dito sa Senate napag-uusapan niyo na po ba yan? SPFMD: Itatawid pa namin itong proclamation, mauna yan. Q: Si Senator Alan Cayetano is also saying na Malacanang is calling several senators to convince them to keep the Senate leadership LP (Liberal Party). SPFMD: I don't think so. I have no information on that, and I deny that. Q: Sir sa tingin niyo po ba may gumagalaw na for the Senate presidency? SPFMD: As I said, whoever has 13 I can immediately yield the post to them. Q: Pag nangyari yun, magiging minority ang LP? SPFMD: When they have the 13, then we will decide what we will do. Q: First time po na may i-proclaim na president in absentia? SPFMD: To my recollection yes, although attendance is not a requirement. The proclamation can be done without the presence of the candidate. What is important is that we perform our constitutional duty as the National Board of Canvassers to proclaim the president and the vice-president in the May 9, 2016 elections. We consider the proclamation as a constitutionally mandated duty of Congress and we will perform. It is not affected by the absence of the proclaimed winners, but it is a constitutional act, which is critical to the peaceful transfer of power between one administration to the other. We will perform our constitutional task, so that there will be stability in our political system, because you can only imagine what will happen to our country if we do not proclaim any president or vice-president. And we will perform the task this afternoon, we will comply with our constitutional duty. Q: On a Cabinet position in the Duterte admin for Vice President-elect Robredo SPFMD: The matter of being a member of the Cabinet is a matter that rests on the trust and confidence of the president. Vice-President Robredo has offered her hand of cooperation, that is a matter for President-elect Duterte to consider. Q: Traditionally, ang Vice President ba may Cabinet post? SPFMD: Well if you look at our history, Vice President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo was given the DSWD portfolio, Vice President Noli de Castro and Vice President Jojo Binay were given the housing portfolio. Vice President Erap Estrada was given the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force with a Cabinet position. That is our political history.
Press Release

May 30, 2016 Villar welcomes signing of laws creating marine breeding

stations in Mindanao Sen. Cynthia Villar welcomed the signing into law of the bills establishing marine breeding farms and hatcheries in Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat and Agusan del Norte, saying this will boost the production of fisherfolks in Mindanao. "These laws will really contribute to the growth and development of the fisheries sector and allied industries in these areas. I am optimistic that this will help increase the income of fisherfolks, who together with farmers, remain among the poorest in our country," Villar said. Villar, chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Food, defended the passage into law of these local bills at the Senate. Republic Act 10787 signed on May 3, mandates the establishment of multi-species marine hatchery in Lingig, Surigao del Sur.While RA 10813, signed on May 11, mandates the creation of the same facility for freshwater species in Jabonga, Agusan del Norte. Villar said for Surigao del Sur, continuing research and experimentation on crabs, shrimps and lobsters is needed to find better ways to improve production of these high-value species.The same facility is also needed for lake, river and other inland fishes in Agusan del Norte. RA 10825, signed on May 19, establishes multi-species marine hatcheries in Surigao City and Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte. RA 10826 creates a multi-species marine nursery in Kalamansig, Sultan Kudarat. Under the law, the facilities will be operated under the supervision of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) of the Department of Agriculture (DA). Within two years after its construction, BFAR will transfer its management to the local government unit. The Nacionalista Party senator noted that BFAR will provide a training and phasing-in program to local government personnel on the management and operation of the hatchery or nursery. "We need these laws to achieve sustainable growth and development of the agriculture sector as well as to improve the plight of Filipino farmers and fisherfolks," Villar said. She added that based on the latest official poverty statistics for basic sectors, fishermen posted the highest poverty incidence for the nine basic sectors in the Philippines at 41.4%, unchanged or the same level as in 2006. Agriculture contributes over 10 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). And fisheries contribute between 15 to 18 per cent to the agriculture sector. The fisheries sector also provides direct and indirect employment to over one million Filipino people. Similar bills were also submitted for the President's signature seeking the creation of experimental breeding centers and/or mariculture development parks in Cebu, Surigao del Norte, Catanduanes, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao del Norte, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Western Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Biliran, and Zamboanga del Norte.
The eight-page document reads like a contract, asking candidates seeking a seat in the Legislature to pledge support for workers organizing unions. It lists priority issues  including health care, immigration and retirement benefits  and asks if the candidate will be a supporter, champion or partner as the union pursues its agenda in Sacramento.

The answers are a secret paper trail left by politicians who have sought backing this year from the Service Employees International Union, one of the states most powerful labor groups. The union wont share the completed documents with the public. But it will pull out candidates responses later when they cast votes as lawmakers.

We do bring the questionnaire back out and remind them that when they were running, they told our members X, Y and Z, said Alma Hernandez, the unions political director. So there is an expectation that they vote that way.

Questionnaires from interest groups are a staple of electoral politics. They are used by unions and business interests and others across the political spectrum, from gun rights and antiabortion groups on the right to environmental and gay rights groups on the left.

The surveys can help interest groups sift a field of contestants as they decide how to spend campaign money. The service employees union poured $14.3 million into California campaigns in 2014, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, and only a handful of Democrats were elected without the unions support.

By locking potential legislators into a position before theyre even elected, questionnaires may also influence policymaking in a way that excludes the public and raises ethical questions. Out of view from voters, they can create private covenants between soon-to-be public officials and the groups that will lobby them.

Its the smoke-filled backroom of politics, said state Sen. Steve Glazer, D-Orinda.

He won his seat last year after making opposition to questionnaires a cornerstone of a previous, unsuccessful run. Glazer declined to answer the questionnaires, instead posting them on his website so the public could see what interest groups wanted.

Open-ended surveys

Many questionnaires are more open-ended than the Service Employees International Unions and do not ask for promises. Still, Glazer said, the process makes it harder for lawmakers to fairly evaluate all sides of the matters they act on in office.

It can significantly contribute to having a closed mind on matters where one really doesnt know all the nuances of the issue, he said.

Republican Joseph Rubay, who is challenging Glazer this year, said some concerns are overblown.

Ive filled them out, and Ive noticed what hes noticed: They tend to try to take you down a path, Rubay said. But overall, I think its my job to let people know my positions. I should be able to answer a questionnaire with ease, which Ive done.

Shaping political views

The California Teachers Associations questionnaire offered Rubay a learning experience. Although many Republicans favor English-only education, Rubay said, he came to appreciate a dual-immersion approach for teaching languages while going through the powerful unions endorsement process.

The union has not endorsed anyone in the race. Teachers union spokeswoman Claudia Briggs said questionnaires are just one element in such decisions.

The teachers also pose questions related to state finances: Will you support new revenue for public schools and colleges? Oppose reducing of public pension plans?

Pension issues also emerge from other public-employee groups as they battle efforts to curtail retirement benefits. A survey from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union asks if candidates support traditional pensions. The California Police Chiefs Association wants to know if recent changes in the states pension formula  meant to reduce costs in decades ahead  will affect law enforcements ability to both recruit and retain high-caliber candidates.

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.

Business groups have other questions. A health care coalition asks if candidates will oppose bills that would allow larger awards in malpractice lawsuits. A real estate association requests contenders views on property taxes, rent control and evictions.

However, the California Association of Realtors does not use questionnaires to pressure officials after theyre elected, said Laiza Garcia, the groups political director.

The questionnaire ... is not held up as a set of expectations for elected officials, Garcia said. In fact, CAR lobbyists never see the questionnaires or the responses provided.

Keeping an open mind

Lea-Ann Tratten, political director for Consumer Attorneys of California, an advocacy organization for plaintiffs lawyers, said her group avoided questionnaires for years. Using policy positions as a basis for campaign donations, she said, could tread close to a quid pro quo.

When Tratten did craft a survey a few years ago, she said, she wrote it to draw out candidates political philosophies and perspectives on the legal system, without asking how they would vote on specific issues.

We believe its important that candidates try to keep an open mind, Tratten said. Its risky to allow yourself to get pinned down on something before you ever reach Sacramento.

CALmatters is a nonprofit journalism venture dedicated to exploring state policies and politics. For more stories by Laurel Rosenhall, go to www.calmatters.org/newsanalysis.
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FRESNO  After a year of wrongly predicting Donald Trump would never get the GOP nomination, all it took was a few hours of hanging out with people at a Trump rally in Fresno the other day for me to understand why people have a visceral connection to the man.

Trump is just like Bill Clinton. Just like Clinton, Trump feels your pain.

Lets just say, however, that this is not empathy in the traditional sense. Lets call it Trumpathy.

In the Trump approach, the real estate tycoon channels the anxieties felt by people who arent billionaires. Then he either lashes out on their behalf, like calling for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and strong-arming Mexico to pay for it, or he soothes their fears by telling them hell take care of their problems, no matter how complex.

By addressing those fears in bursts of plainspoken, not-quite-complete-sentence English  the way people really speak  Trump makes them feel safe in a world they feel is spinning out of control. Many in Fresno said that they feel he hears them.

I feel like hes one of us, Victor Gutierrez told me after Trump spoke for more than an hour Friday to several thousand people in Fresnos Selland Arena.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Speaks like one of us

Wait. Trump is a billionaire real estate developer from New York and Gutierrez is a teachers assistant at Fresno Unified School District. Trump barely mentioned education in his speech, other than saying he wanted to eliminate the Common Core Standards.

Yeah, I know, Gutierrez said. But he speaks like one of us everyday people, Specifically, Gutierrez likes how Trump isnt afraid to call Islamic terrorists terrorists.

But a lot of Republican candidates said similar things during the campaign.

It just feels more authentic when he says it, Gutierrez said. When Ted Cruz says it, he sounds like a robot.

Gutierrez was one of several Latinos and other people of color who told me that theyre getting a lot of heat from family and friends for supporting Trump. A Public Policy Institute of California survey last week found that only 17 percent of California Latinos supported Trump in a hypothetical matchup against Hillary Clinton.

When people ask me how I could support him, I ask them, Dont you want to have a border? Gutierrez said.

A lot of people used the word security and strength when asked why they like Trump. They want a secure border. Security from terrorists. Strength internationally. Its part of Trumps empathetic appeal.

For me, a military mom, I like how he says Were going to take care of our vets, Sylvia Smith told me. Her daughter is in Japan serving in the Navy.

Trumps shorthand

But dont all politicians say theyre going to do take care of vets?

But with him, I feel like something is going to get done, Smith said. He sounds like he means it. He doesnt sound like other politicians do.

Thats because Trump communicates in a shorthand that to the political establishment sounds like substance-free aphorisms. Consider the way he reassured his audience that even though politicians, community advocates, environmentalists and farmers havent been able to agree on how to solve the Central Valleys water problems for decades, he would.

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.

Were going to get it done, and were going to get it done quick, Trump said. Dont even think about it.

No, he didnt mention any policy to address the water issue.

The hardest part of Trumps approach to understand are the insults. Theyre constantly flying, often randomly and often at really obscure targets. Heres a sample insult platter from Fresno: 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney: A choker. A choking dog. Conservative commentator Bill Kristol: A moron. Romney campaign manager Stuart Stevens: The worst campaign manager in history. President Obama: pathetic.

Feeling respected

The insults are Trumps way of drawing his own border between us and them. Between the politicians and media elite who enable a system thats failing most Americans and everybody else. To many of the Trump faithful, talking tough makes the country sound tough.

He wants us to feel respected by other countries around the world, said Geneal Chima, a Clovis farmer. Were not feeling that respect now.

Its nothing that a little Trump empathy couldnt address. But its not a long-term cure for anything.

Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: joegarofoli
Arrrggh! says Will Durst. Grrr! The sound of many teeth gnashing. Foot stamping. Fist pounding. ... Folks are just plain angry. To wit:

The appraisal ____ by ____ is a bad, harmful and disgraceful one, said a letter to The Chronicle complaining about an Antiques Roadshow expert. Do PBS executives have their heads buried in the sand and have no awareness of the shameful consequences?

Meanwhile, at last years shareholder meeting, said National Center Free Enterprise Project director Justin Danhof at last weeks McDonalds shareholder meeting, the company crowed about artificially increasing the minimum wage for some of its workers. Well, the barbarians are back at your gate demanding more. ... You should be screaming this from the rooftops.

Anger is the new black, says Durst.

But wait:

Wednesday evening, May 25, we went to Norman and Norah Stones book-signing party for Orgyen Chowang Rinpoches Our Pristine Mind: A Practical Guide to Unconditional Happiness. The author, who escaped from Tibet and came to the United States 20 years ago, has created what the press materials called a shortcut for us to engage the teachings of attaining enlightenment. What would be my first step toward this? Leave your mind alone, he said. The more you have thoughts, the more you have stress. The more you clear your mind, you clear your thoughts, the more you feel a sense of well-being.

This doesnt mean youre commanded to forget that youve invited friends over for brunch tomorrow and youve run out of milk and eggs. A dark sky is no good, said Rinpoche, but a few clouds are no problem. ... Meditation will reduce negative thoughts.

The night before, Dagmar Dolby hosted a book party for author David Kessler, pediatrician, lawyer, medical school administrator and most famously, FDA commissioner from 1990 to 1997. His new book, Capture: Unraveling the Mystery of Mental Suffering, is linked to his earlier best-seller, The End of Overeating, by his idea of capture, a mechanism in which a stimulus  a place, a thought, a memory, a person  takes hold of our attention and shifts our perception. Both appetite and state of mind, he says, are a result of what we pay attention to and how that makes us feel.

Standing on a staircase in the Dolby foyer, Kessler read aloud a stunning portion of the book about cartoonist and graphic novelist Christopher Ware and suicidal depression. It sets in the bones, says Ware, ... almost like a hopelessness that spreads from your toes upward ... that sinkhole opening up in your chest, everything caving in on itself. When its gone, the sufferer hopes it wont return. But Ware jokes about printing a laminated card inscribed, Get ready. Its going to come back and you will forget how horrible it is.

Becoming a parent, however, was transformative for Ware. All of a sudden, he tells Kessler, youre no longer the protagonist. ... Youre a supporting actor and you suddenly realize thats what youve been all along, and thats the way every human being should be. For Ware, at least, fatherhood drove home his personal truth: Depression is an exercise in torment that is entirely focused on the self. Any lasting solution requires a redirection of attention elsewhere.

Kessler referred to his capture theory as an idea that came into my mind. Im not sure Im right, Im not sure Im wrong. The next day, after we listened to Rinpoche, who was standing on the staircase in the Stones foyer, the theories of the two seemed related: clearing the mind a way to avoid capture.

Standing there surrounded by art, the sunlight streaming in, I could feel negative thoughts ebbing. Then we got in the car to drive to the Symphony, and I started wondering whether wed find parking.

Over in Berkeley, Gar Smith reports that the Web address for Berkeley mayoral candidate Mike Lees campaign is OldBumforMayor.org.

During applause that followed the curtain call on opening day of West Side Story, this years Mountain Play, a man jumped out of the audience, got down on one knee and proposed to Mindy Lim, who plays Maria. He was her fiance, and she said yes.

Open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: leahgarchik

Public eavesdropping

I realize I have enough shoes to last me the rest of my life.
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George Retelas inherited his grandfathers World War II camera, which didnt work and wasnt worth much to him. But the war journal that was hidden in the camera bag was.

It detailed the service of the first George Retelas, as a Navy torpedo plane pilot in Carrier Air Group 11, a famous outfit that fought the air war in the Pacific from both a land base on Guadalcanal and the aircraft carrier Hornet, now a floating museum anchored in Alameda.

Retelas, who had never heard his namesake grandfather mention the war beyond a few bawdy sea chanties, could barely make out the cursive handwriting. But he stuck with it, and that journal, in two volumes totaling 80 pages, framed the screenplay for Eleven, a 77-minute documentary that will get a free public screening on Memorial Day in the restored movie theater at the decommissioned Alameda Naval Air Station.

The film intersperses seasickness-inducing stock footage of planes attempting to land on the swaying Hornet in rough seas with images from a dozen print slides that fell out of the camera bag along with the journal. There are also reenactments filmed aboard the Hornet, using a Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bomber kept on the ships flight deck.

Their own stories

The audio track for Eleven links the war stories of the surviving members of Air Group 11, whom Retelas tracked down and interviewed. He was in his late 20s when the project began, and many of these pilots and crew were shocked that someone his age would take an interest. So they told him their war stories, in many cases over the course of several days and for the last time.

Since the filming, five of the stars have died, including Bob Maxwell, the last living ace in South Carolina, who survived a midair crash, then spent three days floating in a raft off the Solomon Islands and a week on a tropical island living on coconuts.

The movie is an oral history account of my grandfathers wartime buddies, says Retelas, 36. Its just them  no narrator, no statistics  telling their stories.

Out of 500 personnel in Air Group 11, Retelas was able to locate 11  something he took as an omen. He cut off his Kickstarter campaign to finance the film at $11,000. Eleven should have taken him 11 years to make, but he got antsy to get his film out there and finished it in eight, starting in 2008 when he received his masters in mass communication.

His grandfather, who had graduated from Oakland High School, came home from the war and worked for Shell Oil Co. for 28 years. After retiring, he owned and operated both Jims Coffee Shop and Olympia Hofbrau in Oakland. He died in 2001, at age 84.

When Retelas was given his Graflex camera as a graduation gift from college, the hope was that hed adopt his grandfathers hobby of photographing Greek weddings on weekends. Then he found the journals, and that took care of his weekends. Hed decipher and transcribe, then post pieces at torpedosquadron11.blogspot.com.

Online contact led to in-person contact with the old salts from Air Group 11, and the film project took off. Retelas would teach digital media at Expression College in San Jose during the week, then fly out on a Friday and spend a weekend with a 90-year-old veteran in Wyoming, Texas, South Carolina or Virginia.

Id say to my friends, These guys are way cooler than you are, he says.

Michael Macor/The Chronicle

Coolest of the cool was the squadron mascot, a Boston terrier named Gunner. He is in the formal photos, standing at attention, four paws on the flight deck, wearing a vest bearing the official patch.

Gunners story is told in the second half of the movie, when the danger intensifies as Air Group 11 nears Japan in 1944. At the point in the film where the fliers prepare for the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle of the war, unit member Bob Fitz tells the story of borrowing a comb, to impulsively style his hair before putting on his cap and goggles. When he offers the comb back, its owner says hell get it after the mission.

I cant tell you how many years I carried that comb, because he didnt come back, Fitz says in the film.

George Stebbings tells the story of seeing Claude Haley in a life raft after his plane was shot down off the coast of Formosa. Stebbings could do nothing but watch from overhead as Haley frantically attempted to row to sea to save himself from Japanese troops waiting for him on land. But the wind blew him in and he was never seen again.

Air Group 11 lost 74 men. All but one are listed as MIA, after not returning from their missions. Just one man, Roger Balcombe, died in the cockpit. His body was buried at sea. Retelas found footage of that in the National Archives in Maryland.

US Navy

One piece of film he wished he had was a shot of Stebbings flying a Hellcat beneath the Golden Gate Bridge to celebrate his release from the Navy after Air Group 11 had returned to its home base in Santa Rosa.

Retelas finished shooting in 2014. Knowing time was short for Stebbings, he put together a 50-minute rough cut, which he screened on the Hornet. Stebbings didnt make it, dying just days before. But seven of the remaining group members did.

They hadnt been back on the Hornet since 1945, when they left the ship, says Retelas. In return, the veterans gave him a vintage U.S. Navy flight jacket bearing patches from all the squadrons that made up Air Group 11.

It felt like a huge honor to put that on, says Retelas, who was hesitant to take it off. Its glued on me now.

Hes been wearing his jacket for the two years it has taken him to reach the final cut. Hes put everything into the film, including his rent money. Asked where he lives, he says he is bouncing around. Couch surfing.

Winning attention

But the film is gathering steam. Two weeks ago, it won the Best of Fest Documentary award at the Livermore Valley Film Festival. A week later, Eleven filled all 100 seats for a screening at Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos. Radioman and gunner Verg Bloomquist, 91, came down from his home in Washington to answer questions.

Retelas figures the six survivors have one last tour in them, so he is lining up a double-header for the fall. First stop will be the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Fla., followed by a three-hour drive to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.

He is also working toward holding a screening at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, on Veterans Day.

 Eleven on 11/11, he says.

Sam Whiting is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: samwhitingsf

Video: George Retelas talks about his film, Eleven, at http://bit.ly/WWIIjournal.

Screening: Eleven will be shown at 11 a.m. Monday at Michaans Auctions Theater, 2700 Saratoga St., Alameda. Free. www.eleventhemovie.com.
Headlines dont get much stronger than this: Carnage: Lost Army Writes a Story in Blood.

The Chronicles front page from May 30, 1940, covers a decisive Nazi victory over the Allies in France during World War II and the resulting evacuation of tens of thousands of troops.

Shattered remnants of the British expeditionary force  most of them wounded and the rest blood-stained, muddy and walking like men asleep  began arriving in British ports early today, the United Press story on The Chronicles front page read. They described a plain hell  constant, pitiless German bombing and strating bombardment of the French ports from which Viscount Gort is attempting to save his trapped divisions.

The U.S. remained on the wars sidelines, and Winston Churchill had replaced Neville Chamberlain as British prime minister only 20 days before this page was published. France was being overrun by the Germans and Italians. The war in Western Europe looked bleak for the Allies.

Britains expeditionary force of between 300,000 and 400,000 men  originally  struggled yesterday to escape from the narrow trap in French Flanders south of (Dunkirk) and stretching out some 30 miles along the coast, a short story accompanying a front-page map reads.

(Click to enlarge)

The Allies tonight gave up as lost the battle of Flanders and, in a great retreat, opened the flood sluices around (Dunkirk) to guard their last port of escape on the sea, an Associated Press story read.

As history shows, all was not lost in this carnage.

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




This Memorial Day is particularly significant because it calls on all Americans to look at our past and to our future as our nation makes its selection about its next commander in chief.

Our nation has a proud military tradition. Nearly a century ago, President Woodrow Wilson led America into World War I. More than 100,000 Americans were killed before Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1918. But the war to end all wars did not succeed in its loftiest goal. Just a little over 20 years later, World War II broke out, and more than 400,000 mostly young Americans were killed.

This Memorial Day, many Americans will pay a visit to cemeteries in Arlington, Va., and many more around the world.

After World War II ended, the American military remained in bases across Europe. The Marshall Plan helped to rebuild the shattered economies of postwar Europe. NATO was founded in 1949 to confront the challenge of communism. Our economic and military engagement with Europe helped to build stability and democratic institutions.

In 1989, the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall came down. The defeat of fascism and communism were possible only because of the sacrifice of American servicemen and servicewomen.

Since 1945 Europe has enjoyed a historically unprecedented period of peace. For the past 71 years Europe, with the exception of the breakup of Yugoslavia, has been at peace.

In another part of the world, Americans have been fighting a war of unprecedented duration. Our world suddenly changed with the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. This fall will mark 15 years that American troops have been engaged in Afghanistan fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban. There are soldiers serving in Afghanistan who were only toddlers when the twin towers in New York were struck by hijacked commercial airliners.

In the Middle East, we must face the challenge posed by ruthless Islamic State operatives who have waged a war against people and even against history itself, destroying the temple at Palmyra. The Syrian civil war has claimed more than 100,000 lives and created the worst refugee crisis since World War II. Recent attacks in Paris, Brussels and San Bernardino remind us that terrorism remains a threat around the world.

As we go to the polls this November, we should reflect upon the need for sound judgment of our leaders and particularly in our president. Americans must remember they are choosing a president who controls the most powerful military in the world.

Memorial Day imposes a duty on all Americans to remember the sacrifice of our fallen heroes and to reflect prayerfully on how best we should steer a course through our dangerous world.

Christopher Kelly is the author, with Stuart Laycock, of America Invades (www.americainvades.com).
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More than 1,000 veterans and visitors, including Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders, crowded onto the green lawn of the San Francisco National Cemetery at the Presidio on Monday morning to mark the citys 148th Memorial Day observance.

It was a warm, sunny day at the annual event that is billed as one of the largest celebrations of its kind in the nation.

The memorial service is dedicated to our heroes, the ones who didnt make it back, said Nestor Tom, a Vietnam War veteran and member of the ceremonys planning committee.

The event started at 10:30 a.m. with the 191st Army Band leading a parade the short distance from the Presidio Officers Club to the cemetery, where smiling, hugging and sometimes teary-eyed veterans and community members were seated among rows of white tombstones marking the graves of those who had fought for their country.

The formal ceremony began at 11 a.m. with an artillery salute and ran for about 90 minutes.

Special salutes

This years ceremony paid special tribute to veterans of the Korean War, the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War and the 150th anniversary of the creation of the Armys six all-African American units, nicknamed the Buffalo Soldiers.

Wallace Levin, a county veterans service official, led the ceremony and recognized the new Korean War Memorial that will open in the Presidio in August to honor the service and sacrifice of the members of the armed forces who served in the war.

More than 2,000 service members from the Korean War alone were buried in the cemetery, along with roughly 450 members of the Buffalo Soldiers, Levin said.

Were here today for one purpose: to honor and remember the 1 million Americans who gave their lives for their country, Levin said.

The cemetery is a National Historic Landmark and dates back to the 1846 war with Mexico. More than 35,000 veterans and their family members are buried there.

The events featured speaker, retired judge and Korean War veteran Quentin Kopp, saluted the new Korean War Memorial, which is expected to be dedicated this summer at the Presidio. Kopp is president of the Korean War Memorial Foundation.

Kopp, a former San Francisco supervisor and state senator, commended the large crowd present for the ceremony, calling it a direct refutation to the idea that the public has a short memory. He said the new memorial would be one way to keep alive the memory of those who served the country in the Korean War.

Let us resolve to never forget them, Kopp said.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and several supervisors were at the ceremony to pay their respects and talk about the services the city has offered veterans in the past year, including housing in the Presidio and other neighborhoods.

Sanders led a group of veterans into the cemetery but did not make a speech. Officials said the Vermont senator wanted to pay his respects and not turn the service into a political event.

Democracy is not free

Fifty scouts from San Francisco Boy Scout Troop 15 were at the cemetery, handing out flowers to passersby wishing to honor the fallen soldiers buried in the surrounding cemetery.

Ken Chin, the troops scout master, said he got the boys involved to teach them a valuable lesson about the importance of the day.

We want to remind the kids that democracy is not free, Chin said. We always have to defend our country, and thats an important concept for future generations to understand.

Kevin Schultz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kschultz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: KevinEdSchultz
James Tensuan/The Chronicle

A woman was killed Sunday afternoon when her sedan collided with a pickup truck near Levis Stadium, Santa Clara police said.

The collision occurred around 5:45 p.m. at the intersection of Lick Mill Boulevard and Tasman Drive. The two male occupants of the pickup truck were transported to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Santa Clara police Lt. Dan Moreno.
So, Donald Trump doesn't think there's a drought in California? The experts, and the rest of the state, might disagree.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee took on water-rights issues in a speech in Fresno on Friday, explaining the state's complicated delta issues thusly: "There is no drought. They turn the water out into the ocean."
SACRAMENTO  A black teenager says he was escorted out of his high school graduation ceremony in Sacramento by three deputies for refusing to remove his kente cloth, a traditional Ghanaian silk and cotton fabric.

Nyree Holmes said Saturday that he wore the decorative cloth atop his graduation robes to have something with him that represented his culture during the ceremony at Sacramentos Sleep Train Arena on Tuesday.

The kente represents my culture that I have no other links to, Holmes said.

But Holmes, an 18-year-old student from Cosumnes Oaks High School in Elk Grove, said the schools student activities director wouldnt hear his arguments and told him he was violating graduation dress requirements, which only allow decorating caps and gowns with medals, cords or pins received though the school.

Holmes said he tried to have a dialogue with him, but the activities director instead tried to prevent him from walking onstage.

I understood the rules. But I feel if he would had heard what I was saying, I may have just put it in my pocket and wait until after graduation to wear it, Holmes said. But I felt that he wasnt listening to what I was saying or respecting my opinion.

Holmes walked the stage wearing the kente and shook hands with the school principal, Maria Osborne, and other administrators. But as he walked down the stairs, three sheriffs deputies waited for him to escort him out. A security guard later helped him to get back into the arena to retrieve his diploma and returned the loaned cap and gown, he said.

Osborne met with his parents and apologized for the incident and he too, plans to meet with her this week, he said.

Elk Grove Unified spokeswoman Xanthi Pinkerton told the Sacramento Bee on Friday it was unfortunate that Holmes was escorted out of the commencement.
Class hierarchy is built into the DNA of music festivals  why settle for general admission when you can affort VIP? But BottleRock offers its uppermost echelon of attendee an especially luxurious, and expensive, option: The Platinum Experience, which costs about $1,500 for one day or roughly $3,000 for three.

The crux of the Platinum Experience is the Platinum Lounge, a structure (as big as a modest home in the South Bay) next to the festivals main stage. Its lined with that same reclaimed-wood paneling seen at various wine booths elsewhere on the festivalgrounds at Napa Valley Expo, and is decorated with photographs by Danny Clinch, famous for portraits of musicians. Dramatic, large, black and white renditions of Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and the like seem to stare at you as you sip your Champagne. Clinch, himself, was present during the festival, signing copies of his book.
MIAMI  Travelers who had braced for long lines and long waits were instead moving through most U.S. airports fairly quickly Monday, as the busy Memorial Day travel weekend drew to close.

Honestly it wasnt too bad, said Kendra Morehead of Wooster, Ohio, who flew from Detroit to Denver for a conference. I got to the airport an hour and a half early, but security only took like 15 minutes.

However, the airlines are not ready to declare mission accomplished yet, as its just the beginning of the busy summer travel season.

Things have been going pretty well so far this weekend and we are working hard to make sure that we have no repeat of what we saw in Chicago, said American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein, referring to OHare International Airport, which had some of the worst screening problems in recent weeks.

The airline continues to talk daily with the Transportation Security Administration to coordinate, Feinstein said.

The TSA began deploying extra canine teams to the busiest airports months ago. The dogs can screen large groups of passengers for explosives, eliminating the need to remove shoes and laptops, TSA spokesman Mike England said last week.

The extra dogs were concentrated at the nations largest airports, but they werent used for all screenings, meaning that many travelers still had to observe the usual procedures. England said the extra dogs would remain at security checkpoints well beyond the Memorial Day weekend.

At John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, travelers arriving from major cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Miami said their security lines had been short.
1 Houston shootings: A man entered an auto detail shop and began shooting Sunday, killing a customer and putting a neighborhood on lockdown before being killed by a SWAT officer, police said. Several people were shot and injured, including a man authorities initially described as another suspect because he was armed. Police said later they were investigating further whether he played any role. Three others  two of them male and one female  were hospitalized with injuries police said were not life-threatening. Two officers who were shot were released from the hospital later Sunday. Police, who said they have no indication yet of a motive, said the first call about the shootings came in at 10:15 a.m.

2 Church closure: For more than 11 years, a core group of about 100 parishioners of St. Frances X. Cabrini Church in Scituate, Mass., kept their beloved parish open by maintaining an around-the-clock vigil in a peaceful protest of a decision by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston to close it. On Sunday, the parishioners efforts came to an end as they vacated the church many of them have attended for decades. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear their final appeal, leaving them no choice but to end their fight. The group held a final service Sunday, a celebration of faith and transition.
LOS ANGELES  The city of Los Angeles has approved a deal for nonprofit and private developers to convert nuisance motels into 500 permanent supportive apartments for homeless veterans.

Officials called it a major step forward toward developing large-scale housing for hundreds of homeless veterans. Advocates say about 2,700 homeless veterans remain in the county, despite an intensive drive by local and federal officials.

Under the deal, developers will purchase underutilized, often run-down motels from private owners and convert them to efficiency apartments. The citys housing authority will issue vouchers funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which will cover residents rent and provide supportive services, including case management and counseling.

Further financing is expected to come from the states Proposition 41, which directed $600 million in bond money to fund housing for poor and homeless veterans.

The novel plan is expected to short-circuit the years of red tape and financing issues that often delay homeless housing developments and have the apartments ready to open by January, officials said. The vouchers are good for 15 years, and the deal is expected to enable landlords to turn a profit.

Instead of allowing blighted properties to decay, lets use them to make powerful change in our communities by giving our veterans the access to services and housing that they need and deserve, Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a written statement.

The citys housing authority on Thursday awarded 400 rent vouchers to Shangri-La Construction, a unit of Shangri-La Industries, founded by Hollywood producer Steve Bing, and Step Up on Second, a nonprofit homeless housing agency. The team has 60 days to secure sites.

Volunteers of America, a nonprofit affordable housing group, will develop 100 units at a motel near its existing project in North Hollywood. Philip Mangano, the federal homelessness czar under President George W. Bush, called the project a national model and said it demonstrated how private capital and social service agencies can team to produce large-scale homeless housing.

Nobody else is doing this around the country, said Mangano, who participated in discussions with Veteran Affairs Secretary Robert A. McDonald that led to the deal. There are business people involved (in homeless housing) but not to this scale.

What I like about the project is its immediate, said Volunteers of America President Bob Pratt. Making these homes available for vets right now, that makes it unique.

Tod Lipka, president of Step Up, said his agency teamed with Shangri-La on a smaller motel conversion that created 34 units of homeless housing in Hollywood, but nothing of this caliber.

Lipka said his group is looking at building at several different sites so homeless veterans can stay in their own communities, ideally close to medical facilities.

Housing Authority President and Chief Executive Douglas Guthrie said residents are less likely to oppose the housing in their neighborhoods because it will replace motels that are not of the highest order. Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer has sued a handful of so-called nuisance motel owners for allegedly tolerating rampant drug activity and prostitution.

Heidi Marston, special assistant to McDonald, said the VA is hoping the Los Angeles County will approve a similar plan. The county housing authority has discussed the idea with developers but has no specific proposal before it, spokeswoman Elisa Vasquez said.
DAKAR, Senegal  Former Chad dictator Hissene Habre was found guilty Monday of crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and sex crimes during his rule and he was sentenced to life in prison, ending a trial more than 15 years in the making.

Victims, former prisoners and their relatives broke out into whoops of joy, hugs and tears in the courtroom when ruling was announced by the three-judge panel in the special court in Senegal.

A defiant Habre raised his fist and shouted to his supporters: Long live independent Africa! Down with France-Africa!

His wife wept and his backers called him a defender of Africa as the 73-year-old Habre was escorted from court.

He was convicted of being responsible for thousands of deaths and torture in prisons while in power from 1982 to 1990. A 1992 Chadian Truth Commission accused Habres government of systematic torture, saying 40,000 people died during his rule. It placed particular blame on his police force.

The Extraordinary African Chambers was established by Senegal and the African Union to put Habre on trial for the crimes committed during his rule. It was the first trial in which the courts of one country prosecuted the former ruler of another for alleged human rights crimes, and the first universal jurisdiction case to proceed to trial on the continent.

The trial began in July 2015, but victims and survivors have been pursuing the case against their former leader for more than 15 years. Over 90 witnesses testified.

Judge Gberdao Gustave Kam, speaking for the panel, said evidence showed Habre was directly responsible, having given the orders for imprisonment and torture, and having also committed some of the crimes himself.

Habre has 15 days to appeal, and his lawyer, Mounir Ballal, said he will.
VERDUN, France  In ceremonies Sunday in the forests of eastern France, French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked 100 years since the Battle of Verdun, determined to show that, despite the bloodbath of World War I, their countries improbable friendship is now a source of hope for todays fractured Europe.

The 10-month battle at Verdun  the longest in World War I  killed 163,000 French and 143,000 German soldiers and wounded hundreds of thousands of others.

Between February and December 1916, an estimated 60 million shells were fired in the battle. One out of four didnt explode. The front line villages destroyed in the fighting were never rebuilt. The battlefield zone still holds millions of unexploded shells, making the area so dangerous that housing and farming are still forbidden.

With no survivors left to remember, Sundays commemorations focused on educating youth about the horrors and consequences of the war. Some 4,000 French and German children took part in the days events, which concluded at a mass grave where, in 1984, then-French President Francois Mitterrand took then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohls hand in a breakthrough moment of friendship and trust by longtime enemy nations.

Verdun is the more than the name of your town  Verdun is also one of the most terrible battles humanity has experienced, Merkel said in a speech at city hall, calling Hollandes invitation to join the centenary a great honor.

We are all called upon to keep awake the memory (of Verdun) in the future, because only those who know the past can draw lessons from it, the German leader said.

Hollande praised the city of Verdun as the capital of peace.

Verdun is a city that represents  at the same time  the worst, where Europe got lost, and the best, a city being able to commit and unite for peace and French-German friendship, he said.

Merkel said the commemorations show how good relations between Germany and France are today and the achievements of European unity.

In a world with global challenges, it is important to keep developing this Europe, she said in a weekly address Saturday, expressing hope that Britain would not vote to leave the European Union in a June 23 referendum.

Amid rising support for far right parties and divisions among European countries over how to handle refugees, Hollande said he wants to work alongside Merkel to relaunch the European ideal.

We must take action ... at a moment when Europe is affected by the disease of populism, he told France Culture radio. He also noted the threat from violent extremism, saying the EU must protect the people, especially against terrorism.

Hollande and Merkel spent the entire day together. In the morning, he welcomed his German counterpart under heavy rain at the German cemetery of Consenvoye, near Verdun, where 11,148 German soldiers are buried. They later visited the newly renovated Verdun Memorial.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti  Youvensky Despeignes used to spend hours a day at home drawing pencil-and-ink abstractions on cheap notebook paper, his aspirations as a painter frustrated by a lack of opportunities in Haiti where a rich artistic heritage has suffered decades of decline.

But the 22-year-old is now a scholarship student at the Centre dArt in Port-au-Prince, learning to paint from one of Haitis most renowned visual artists. He is the beneficiary of efforts to resurrect the storied cultural center following the destruction of its gingerbread building of ornate latticework in a 2010 earthquake and the death of its longtime director a few months later at age 92.

This place is inspiring

While some thought the twin blows marked the end of the longtime cradle of Haitian artists, a young, energetic team is reviving the center and with it a remarkable heritage of vividly colored paintings, sculptures and other works that earned Haiti an international reputation for raw, imaginative art.

I feel like theres a path opening for me to become a true artist, Despeignes said in a gazebo-like workshop behind the centers concrete walls. This place is inspiring.

While the reinvented Centre dArt faces many challenges, its new classes and workshops are attracting dozens of students with a rotating cast of Haitian and foreign teachers. Small buildings for classes have been constructed. Ambitious work is underway to catalog archives and document its historically important collection of roughly 5,000 artworks.

It feels like the right energies are gathering here, said Tessa Mars, a 30-year-old Haitian painter who is one of the instructors.

The work of resurrecting the center is being led by executive director Louise Perrichon, a Frenchwoman who fell in love with Haiti when she arrived in 2007, and Pascale Monnin, a Swiss-Haitian painter and sculptor who is the artistic leader. The Haitian nonprofit Knowledge & Freedom Foundation and a French family foundation are the main providers of institutional support.

Monnin, whose family owns a prominent Haitian art gallery, said a resurgence of the center is part of an effort to reclaim the countrys artistic legacy, which contrasts dramatically with its economic impoverishment and recurrent political disorder.

Were talking about reshaping the way people look at Haitian art, but I think it can also reshape the way that people look at Haiti, Monnin said.

There is no shortage of untapped talent. Port-au-Princes packed metropolitan area fizzes with creative energy. Portraits are routinely painted on the walls of barber shops and fantastical designs decorate the sides of minibuses called tap-taps. Others work in the artisan industry, producing whimsical items for visitors like metal wall hangings and colorful carvings of animals.

Original work

Perrichon and Monnin want the reinvented Centre dArt to nurture original creations, not tourist knockoffs or copies of copies.

Encouraging serious Haitian artists has been the core of the centers mission since its founding in 1944 by Dewitt Peters, a U.S. watercolorist who came to Haiti to teach English. He sought out self-taught painters like Hector Hyppolite, known for incorporating the iconography of the Haitian religion Vodou, known also as Voodoo, into his work.

While there were always artists from Haitis elite and middle classes at the Centre dArt, it was Hyppolite and other untrained artists from humble backgrounds whose work was championed by intellectuals and critics in Europe and the United States.

Paintings made at the Centre dArt by artists lumped in with a movement coined naive or primitive swiftly became a sensation. Wealthy collectors around the world sought out pieces. For decades, the popularity of Haitian art was aided by the once-flourishing tourist industry, including cruise ships that docked three times a week in Port-au-Princes harbor.

Political dysfunction

But once Haiti began sliding into political dysfunction following the 1986 overthrow of the 28-year Duvalier dictatorship, the local market for paintings and sculpture diminished. An early 1990s trade embargo put in place after a bloody coup toppled an elected government created a particularly trying time.

Unlike in wealthier nations where national treasures are protected by the state, private organizations and individuals do nearly all the work of safeguarding them in Haiti. In the coming years, Perrichon hopes to attract more funding partners to create a documentation center and various other upgrades to the Centre dArt.

But she says the core mission will always stay the same: Find, mentor and promote Haitian artists while safeguarding visual art gems.
1 Pipeline bombings: Militants in southern Nigeria blew up gas and crude pipelines belonging to Shell and Agip in an increasingly fierce campaign that has cut Nigerias oil production in half, militants and residents said. A new militant group calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers said it dynamited a line linking Shells Bonny terminal and the Brass export terminal of Agip on Saturday. The militants demand a greater share of the countrys oil wealth. They are also angry that the government is winding down an amnesty program that had paid 30,000 militants to guard installations they once attacked.

2 Syria fighting: Syrian rebels have retaken two villages from Islamic State militants as they fight to undo gains made by the extremist group in a surprise offensive in Syrias north Friday that displaced more than 100,000 people. The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, said rebels retook the villages of Kafr Shoush and Braghida on Sunday, expanding their buffer around the rebel-held town of Azaz, home to tens of thousands of war refugees. The Islamic State advance threatened to swallow up the northern town, sparking alarm from relief organizations.
CAMP TARIQ, Iraq  Elite Iraqi special forces began their push Monday into Fallujah, expecting to encounter the stiffest resistance yet in the campaign to retake territory from the Islamic State group.

The city 40 miles west of Baghdad has been under militant control longer than any other part of Iraq, and Islamic State fighters have had more than two years to dig in. Networks of tunnels like those found in other militant-held territory already have been discovered in its northeastern outskirts.

The Iraqi troops were leading the assault on Fallujah, slowly moving up from the southern edge in a column of armored Humvees.

Their advance is expected to be slow because tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in Fallujah and hidden bombs are believed to have been left throughout the city, according to commanders at the scene. They expect fierce resistance from the jihadis, who have nowhere to run.

This is the decisive battle for us and for Daesh, said Gen. Saad Harbiya, head of Fallujah operations for the Iraqi army, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

The offensive, supported by air strikes from the U.S.-led coalition, was launched a week ago. In that time, other wings of Iraqs security forces have cleared the citys edges. Shiite militia forces under the government umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Forces and the federal police led operations that have taken back 80 percent of the territory around Fallujah, according to Iraqi Maj. Dhia Thamir.

The predominantly Sunni city in Anbar province is one of the last major Islamic State strongholds in Iraq. The extremist group still controls territory in the north and west, as well as the second-largest city of Mosul.

Harbiya said Fallujah is like the Kaaba for the Islamic State group, referring to the most sacred Muslim site in the world in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

The 500-700 militant fighters holed up in Fallujah are expected to be some of the groups best-trained, a special forces commander at the scene said. The commander spoke on condition of anonymity.

Humanitarian groups say that as the violence intensifies, their concerns for the 50,000 civilians estimated to be still trapped inside Fallujah mount.

With every moment that passes, their need for safe exits becomes more critical, said Nasr Muflahi, the country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian group active in Anbar province.

In past operations, Iraqs Shiite militia forces have been accused of committing abuses against civilians in majority Sunni towns and cities.

Islamic State extremists, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for a wave of bombings Monday in and around the capital of Baghdad that killed at least 24 people.
BEIRUT  The chief Syrian opposition negotiator in the Geneva peace talks has resigned amid no signs of progress in the peace process that began earlier this year.

Mohammed Alloush said he took this step because the international community is not serious about reaching a solution for the countrys five-year civil war. His statement, released late Sunday, also said Syrian government forces continue attacking the opposition and besieging rebel-held areas, despite the three rounds of negotiations in Geneva.

The talks that began in January have failed to make any progress amid contrary demands by the opposition team and the government delegation.

The opposition has been insisting that the President Bashar Assad and top official in his government have no role in Syrias future  or even during the transitional period.

Alloush said he handed in his resignation to the oppositions High Negotiations Committee and described his move as a protest against the international community.

Josephine Guerrero, a spokeswoman for U.N. special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said in Geneva that the resignation is an internal matter for the HNC.

Meanwhile, opposition activists reported intense government air strikes in the northern province of Aleppo on Monday.

The province has witnesses some of the worst violence over the past months and has also seen clashes lately between rebels and members of the extremist Islamic State group, which captured several villages last week before losing two of them again on Sunday.

Also Monday, Syrian state media said the rebels shelled government-held parts of the provincial capital, Aleppo, inflicting casualties.

More than 160,000 civilians have been trapped by the fighting between the Islamic State and Syrian rebels.
Memorial Day Events Planned

Americas

at Memorial Day events around the state today.

Johnson Wins Nomination

It took two rounds of voting, but former New Mexico

in Orlando on Sunday. Andy Lyman, who covered the event in Florida, reports that Johnson and

the former Republican governor of Massachusetts, hope voters who are frustrated with their other candidate choices will give the third party a shot at the White House when they go to the polls this fall.

Sanders Hopeful He'll Win New Mexcio

Also on Sunday, Bernie Sanders talked to a KOB reporter about the possibility of returning to New Mexico before the states primary on June 7. He told Chris Ramirez that

.

Who's Donating?

Sandra Fish, New Mexico In Depths data reporter, has been looking at donations to presidential candidates from New Mexico voters. So far, residents have contributed more than

. Fish also published a story on Roll Call about

between Donald Trump and Gov. Susana Martinez last week.

Driver's License Surge

The number of immigrants seeking drivers licenses in New Mexico

of the year as lawmakers debated changes to a long-contested policy that allowed for those living in the country illegally to obtain licenses, according to a review by the Associated Press.

PARCC Opt-Outs Decline

There werent many large-scale demonstrations protesting the PARCC tests this year, and it turns out the number of

around the state, too.

Rookie Takes Checkered Flag

Race fans watched

on Sunday on fumes. Turns out his car ran out of fuel just before the checkered flag was dropped. Thank goodness for fumes. In fact, his Honda had to be topped up with fuel to make it to the celebration in Victory Circle.

Day Trippin'

If you have the holiday off, check out

for some fun new day-trip ideas.

Santa Fe Reporter
The Story Thus Far (Heavy Spoilers!)

Oh man, so everyone freaked out because Hodor could only say, "Hodor," because Oat-Bran's journey through time caused young Hodor to stroke the fuck out and see his future death at the hands of the ice zombies whilst holding a door. Boom. Hodor = "Hold the door!" This was apparently really big news to most GoT fans, but for the rest of us it was like, "Snoooooooooozers!" Also, everyone across the land had a tough time. Arya had to watch a play about her family sucking, Sansa and Jon Snow had to strategize how to fight Ramsay Bolton, Theon and his sister She-on had to hit the road (or the sea, as it were) while their uncle was, like, totally not ashamed about killing his brother by tossing him off an impractically placed rickety rope bridge. Jorrah and that dude from Nashville fully found Dragon Tits, but she was fine and told Jorrah to find a cure for his stone monster-itis. We learned where ice zombies and ice skeletons and ice Nosferatus and ice hags and ice weasels come from, and some other red witch showed up to make Varys' face twist itself into an "I farted" position forever and ever. The good news is that shit finally happened, in a season that has otherwise proven lame as hell. As it stands now, everything is poised to go absolutely apeshit. This writer is pumped that the opening credits are long enough to have written this whole intro and, we assume, the king's wife will be forced to walk through town nude. Let's find out what happened, shall we?

The Gist

Oat-Bran must be dragged through the snow like it's the goddamn Iditerod, while his friend What's-Her-Dick is pissed this is her job. It isn't entirely his fault, though, because Max von Sydow had to upload a bazillion years of memories into his melon so that the next time some legless little bitch shows up to whine about needing to know his family history, Oat-Bran will be able to be his guide.

When he wakes up, he's like, "Oh shit! They found us," and his friend is like, "No shit, you unconscious little asshole!" When the ice zombies arrive to start scything and branding anything they see, the subtitles say "snarling," and the kids almost die until some shady be-cowled weirdo shows up and gets them out of there. Nice timing, shit-dick ... maybe not for Hodor, but for the kids, for sure.

Elsewhere, Jon Snow's pudgy friend and his disproportionately hot wife near their destination, and the wife is aghast because she usually spends all her time on the Wall, and wherever the hell they are is as grassy as it gets. Pudgy is all like, "Oh yeah, I've always loved grass because I can eat a bunch of it when I need to puke." His gross little mustache sparkles along with morning dew on the nearby blades, and he does this romantic comedy thing about being nervous to introduce his lady to his mom and dad who, presumably, will be played by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand. Turns out his dad doesn't like Wildlings (who does?), but his lady just so happens to be one. Ruh-roh! Also, did you know this guy came from money? His parents' house is super nice, and his mom (not Streisand, sadly) is like, "We're really glad you're here, just so long as you never fucked and/or agreed to raise a child with a Wildling." Pudgy tugs at his collar and gulps like an old cartoon while his dead-eyed kid just sits there looking disgusting. Pudgy's mom also has nice clothes, while he and his wife are practically wearing burlap sacks. This woman has never taken a bath, it seems, but that's the Wildlings for you.

Meanwhile, the High Sparrow is forcing the king to learn the ceremony attached to that thing where he makes women who like sex walk nude through town while a nun shames them. I'd like to take the time to say I hope none of you are letting your kids watch this shit. Mostly because it's weird that women aren't allowed to like banging in Westeros, but also because the rest of it is nuts as well. Young King What's-His-Shit is allowed to see Margaery, and she's worried about her brother, while the lumber pile in her mouth that she's callin' teeth remain as white as a freshly washed tablecloth, despite having been in prison for who-knows-how-long. She's got nice eyes, though, so we'll forgive her for so obviously smuggling a toothbrush into jail. The king asks how her brother, Slow-Lorus, is doing, and she says a bunch of stuff about how he needs to atone. For fucking what!? Has she been brainwashed, or is she simply pretending and later she's gonna stab the king of homeless dudes?

A quick check-in with Pudgy and company makes us wonder why they bothered to cut away to the king, and the dude somehow looks worse in nice clothes than that sack from before. His pissed-off dad could spot a Wildling woman from a mile away, too, and the dinner is very uncomfortable. Mom tries to smooth it over, but it doesn't go well. Pudgy's sister makes snide remarks about their dad's ability to be cool, and Dad is like, "Damn, Pudgy, you fat!"

Yeesh. If he's lucky, though, his Wildling wife will throw him a pity blowie later, and even if she doesn't, she regales them with the tale of the time Lord Pudge happened to slay an ice zombie. But oh no! She accidentally spills the beans about being from someplace else! Gulp! Well, they kept that secret for about two seconds. Way to draw it out, GoT. Dad is ... pissed. No wonder everyone murders everyone else around here: Their childhoods are shit. Hell, their adulthoods are shit! Dad's one of those old-time racists, but Mom is all about acceptance and wants the woman to feel welcome. Dad kicks li'l Pudgy out anyway, and he's like, "I leave at daybreak," and the woman wants to scale bone mountain one last time, to no avail. Nobody cares, because this dude isn't Jon Snow or, like, a Stark or something. And while the woman's puffy dress rustles in the drafty old castle, Pudgy grabs his weird little family and takes off into the night with his dad's sword.

We rejoin Arya who, at this point, has probably seen this play about her family about a hundred times while she waits for the chance to poison the actress her faceless wizard of a boss has told her to kill. She does happen to see a representation of the much-celebrated Red Wedding, and that shit makes her laugh, as it did to all of us who don't know what is happening with this ridiculous show.

Anyway, it's a good time for her to be poisoning fools, and so, armed with that info about her target being the only one who likes to drink rum, she does just that and sneaks off to await the inevitable demise of Lady Crane. But whoopsshe gets busted on her way out by the very woman she's meant to kill. It seems she kinda likes the woman, after all, and she actually breaks the first rule of being a faceless assassin, which is to, like, not make friends with people you're gonna kill. Womp womp. Arya relates to her some acting tips and gives Ramsay a run for his money in the creepy-eye competition. They do that thing where she almost drinks the poison a bunch of times but then doesn't, and before you know it, Arya is back to save her life and to cause trust issues within the company of actors. The wizard Faceless Fred ain't going to like that one bit, but that's cool, because Arya remembers where she hid that tiny little sword of hers some months ago. From within his face extraction lab, he tells that one bitchy little girl of his to kill Arya. Exciting? Maybe to longtime watchers. For us noobs, though, well, we just don't give a shit.

We rejoin Margaery, who is about to embark on her naked walk of sadness. The High Sparrow talks all kinds of shit as Jamie Lannister rides up with an army of synchronized soldiers. Jamie makes death threats, but the High Sparrow is not fazed. He says he'd be psyched to die for the gods but also that he'll hand Margaery over all the same.

Maybe this guy's a little punk and nothing more? You bet. How did he rise to power, anyway? Turns out that Margaery had converted her husband to the church, which means no naked sadness walk. It is the very definition of church and state coming together, and that's pretty lame. The people seem to like it, though, I guess. Jamie's fake hand trembles, and he wonders where his sister is so he can bang off some steam. Oh gross. How did that sentence come to be? This is my life, you guys. Anyway, Tommen tells Jamie to chill the fuck out, because now that the crown has found god(s), Jamie gots to get got. Or leave town. Whatever. Either way.

Elsewhere, the janitor guy from Harry Potter tells his employees to take over some town called Riverrun while he hits his daughter. Everyone else in his dinner hall thinks he might be wigging out a little too hard, but he keeps telling them all that he wants to own that damn town. Then out comes some guy called Lord Edmure, who I've never seen once in my life before now. Another big deal lost on a new-ish watcher of the show.

We obviously have to check in with Cersei and Jamie again, and there are plans put in motion to kill everyone they can in an effort to fuck up the church. They're getting all worked up from the murder talk, and it's getting pretty gross. Thank the Lord it cuts back to Bran and his pal and that mysterious dude who saved them before. He's practically Aragorn, only with all kinds of face burns. But whoops, it's Bran's Uncle Benjen. They sit around in an icy clearing, speaking about magic and what it means to be the Three-Eyed Raven, while the uncle is like, "Check out my bodacious face wounds!"

Back in the arroyos south of Horse-Guy-Opolis, Daenerys is already making plans to do something crazy. She wants to "take what's mine," and her boyfriend tells her she has way too many nicknames, but "Dragon Tits" is still the best one. Her whole little detachment of army dudes has to just stand around in the damn arroyo while she rides off to God-knows-where and rejoins her dragon, the one whose name is Dragon.

About fucking time, dude. Dragon just dragons it up while the horse guys freak out, and the guy from Nashville thinks to himself that it's pretty cool he's bonin' this woman who can make dragons do whatever she wants. She makes another fucking speech about what people are going to do for her, but they're all right with it, because if there's one thing these equine-lovers are into, it's slashin' throats. Also growing beards, so ... yeah. They obviously all cheer for her because they're afraid she'll burn them alive. It's kind of her thing she likes to do.

The Pros

Hmmm ... hard to say what they may have been, since it went from last week's action to another slow build to something. Dragons are always cool, but it's just not really enough. It was cool to see Pudgy stand up for his family, but given the other things people have done, it wasn't much.

The Cons

Another exposition fest, and those wind up being boring. Hodor may have died from pretty much nothing. It's always super gross to see those Lannisters make out.

The Grade: C

No, this week didn't suck as much as some of the others, but it still wasn't that great. Perhaps we'll get another action-packed episode next week, but this episode dragged on forever and ever and ever.

Santa Fe Reporter
Air New Zealand is to close two regional routes, Whanganui to Auckland and Blenheim to Christchurch, from the end of July.

The move follows Air New Zealand's decision in 2014 to retire its unprofitable 19-seat Beech aircraft fleet and introduce the 50-seat Q300 aircraft. At the time it announced the suspension of unviable regional routes and said it would work with other regional centres to try to stimulate demand to fill the bigger aircraft.

In a statement, the airline said the two routes didn't have sufficient demand to sustain a 50-seat service and so they would be suspended on July 31.

Air New Zealand general manager of networks Richard Thompson said Jetstar's flights from nearby Palmerston North had changed the market dynamics of the Whanganui to Auckland route.

"The greater number of destinations, higher frequency of service and wider range of connecting options on offer at the neighbouring airport have unfortunately served to undermine demand for Whanganui services and weve seen customers effectively voting with their feet and using Palmerston North rather than Whanganui Airport," he said.

Thompson added that they had halved the average fare to try to stimulate demand. Air New Zealand said the route had been marginal when it was reviewed in 2014.

The decision to close the Blenheim to Christchurch is also blamed on insufficient demand. However, services from Blenheim to Auckland and Christchurch are to be increased. Air New Zealand say an additional 35,000 seats will be available on these services in the year to the end of June 2017.

Customers booked on either service are being offered either a full reform or the option of travelling from another airport.

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The Tiwai Point aluminium smelter made an underlying profit after tax of $54 million in the year to Dec. 31, just $2 million less than the previous year's profit, although only $4 million of that was made in the second half of the financial year.

Rio Tinto-controlled New Zealand Aluminium Smelters will decide by the end of July whether to sign a new electricity contract for 172 Megawatts of its total 572MW load at a new, higher price and warned in today's statement that the smelter is "facing even tougher conditions in 2016" than it did last year.

The international benchmark price of aluminium averaged US$1,661 a tonne in 2015, down 12 percent on 2014, and was quoted on the London Metals Exchange today at US$1,550 a tonne.

Still, the reduced metal price was "offset by higher premiums and a weaker New Zealand dollar" which contributed to a $34 million improvement in metal revenues. Total production of 335,291 tonnes was 2.1 percent higher than the previous year.

"Higher volumes, improved energy efficiency and reduced anode consumption has helped to offset the increased cost pressure in 2015 from weaker exchange rate and higher maintenance spend," the company said in notes to its statutory accounts.

If the smelter were to reduce its electricity demand to 400MW, industry-watchers expect it would close down one of its four aluminium production pot-lines.

While the smelter would be the single largest beneficiary among industrial electricity users of proposed changes to national grid costs, NZAS argues it still faces "one of the highest power and transmission prices of any smelter in the world outside China, making it harder to compete in the highly competitive aluminium market."

NZAS was to have decided before now whether to take up its 172MW tranche of electricity at a higher price than was negotiated in 2013, when the smelter played hardball with Meridian Energy for a cut to its power prices just ahead of Meridian's partial privatisation, securing a $30 million government one-off payment in the process. Meridian is the main supplier to the smelter, which uses around one-seventh of the electricity produced in New Zealand.

However, delays to the Electricity Authority's final recommendations on grid charging saw the decision pushed out to July. The electricity regulator had originally proposed grid reforms that could have saved NZAS as much as $60 million a year, but those were toned down.

South Island major industrial electricity users and generators, including Meridian, are the primary beneficiaries of the proposed changes, which would not take effect until 2019.

The smelter's 2015 result was achieved on total revenues from operations of $745.1 million, up from $710.8 million in 2014, which was further boosted by a $165.4 million unrealised gain on the fair value of derivatives, up from $23.9 million the year before. However, a net $119.1 million of derivatives gains is backed out for the calculation of underlying profit, which gives a truer picture of the smelter's commercial performance.

Spending on raw materials and consumables, at $577.7 million, employees at $66.6 million, and operations at $43.8 million, were all roughly in line with the previous year's earnings.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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Wynyard Group is continuing with its boardroom refresh with two new appointments including New Zealand Venture Investment Fund chief Richard Dellabarca as deputy chair, while separately tapping former NZME Publishing executive Phil Eustace as interim chief financial officer.

The Auckland-based intelligence software developer appointed Dellabarca and former NextWindow executive Martin Riegel to its board as interim directors, Wynyard said in a statement. That will fill the vacant slot left by Murray Horn's departure, and replace Richard Twigg, who will retire at next month's annual meeting after sitting on the board since Wynyard's inception .

"The Wynyard board bench strength has been bolstered with deep, relevant technology and market expertise to provide mentoring and support to executives," chairman Guy Haddleton said. "This couple with strong governance, risk management, and regulatory expertise will further help shape Wynyard's future performance."

Twigg's exit leaves just Haddleton and managing director Craig Richardson on the board from Wynyard's formation with Susan Patterson not seeking re-election at next month's meeting.

Separately, the company said NZME's former chief operating officer Eustace has taken over as the software developer's interim CFO, replacing Murray Page whose resignation is effective from today. Eustace had been APN News & Media's New Zealand finance director prior to his COO appointment in the NZME restructure.

Wynyard has reorganised its sales and marketing and product development operations to align with its two service lines - advanced crime analytics and investigations case management for government clients, and advanced cyber threat analytics and risk management software for commercial customers - to allocate its resources more effectively, and has tapped London-based chief operating officer Paul Stokes to lead the change, appointing him senior vice president of the commercial line of business.

The company's shares last traded at 71 cents and have dropped 60 percent this year. This week Wynyard was queried over a 21 percent slump over a two-week period, though it had nothing to disclose.

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Hellaby Holdings cut its full-year guidance, saying earnings would fall because of the impact of refinery shutdowns on its resource services division, and whose chief executive will step aside in favour of a new recruit.

The announcement shows a predicted second-half rebound for the resources group, which undertakes oil refinery maintenance, didn't eventuate. Chief executive Alan Clarke had said crude oil prices at a 12-year low kept refineries open in the first half because of fatter margins, with maintenance scheduled for the second half. But today the company said a second-half bonanza of refinery maintenance work didn't eventuate because "further refinery shutdown delays have continued to affect the timing of international contracts."

"As a consequence, whilst second half earnings will be an improvement on the first half, full year earnings for this group will be significantly down on the last financial year," the company said.

Consolidated trading earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are forecast at $43 million to $47 million in the 12 months ending June 30, down from $59 million in 2015. Trading ebit would tumble to a range of $28 million to $32 million, from $44.7 million last year.

Our focus for the remainder of this financial year is to work with our very large resource services customers around the world to confirm scheduled shutdowns in the next three to six months; resource and complete current jobs; and drive additional cost savings synergies," Clarke said. "Considerable effort is also being made to progress opportunities to broaden our specialist maintenance revenue streams into adjacent areas of our customers industrial processing operations.

As part of those changes, current resources CEO Andy Wells will step aside and a new CEO will be recruited. Wells will become an executive director for business development and have a technical advisory role, Clarke said.

Hellaby acquired 85 percent of what was then known as Contract Resources in a deal announced in December 2012 at a price of $73 million. Wells was one of three existing Contract Resources management shareholders who retained a small holding when the business was poured into a new Hellaby controlled structure.

Clarke said Hellaby's automotive group was expected to report a gain in full-year earnings including a full-year contribution from JAS Oceania and a two-month contribution from Premier Auto Trade. The 2016 result would also reflect the investment in Truck and Trailer Parts and the impact of a weaker New Zealand dollar.

The equipment group would report higher sales, mainly from increased truck servicing revenue, but margins would be lower "partly because of the sales mix change, and partly because of the weaker NZ dollar."

Footwear "continues to struggle in a very soft and difficult retail environment and several options for this group are currently under investigation," Clarke said. Hellaby, which is undergoing a transition from an investment vehicle to an active owner and builder of businesses, describes the footwear division as 'non-core'.

The full-year result will also include head office restructuring costs and operational cost saving initiatives, the company said. The 2016 annual dividend would be held at the 2015 level, it said.

Clarke said Hellaby's balance sheet "is strong and we are well-resourced to deliver attractive and growing medium-to-long term shareholder value.

The company had "undertaken an in-depth strategic review and identified a number of new initiatives and investment opportunities for our groups and further announcements are likely to be made in coming months," Clarke said.

Hellaby stock last traded at $2.57 and has declined 14 percent in the past 12 months.

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U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., has nearly a 2 to 1 campaign cash advantage over Democratic challenger Denise Juneau, according to campaign finance reports filed last week.

The incumbent entered the final 20 days of the primary election season with $1.05 million in the bank to Juneaus $542,161.

The pre-primary campaign reports filed May 26 offer side-by-side funding comparisons as the primary election season ends for Zinke, now in his first term, and Juneau, currently Montanas superintendent of the Office of Public Instruction. Neither candidate has a primary opponent.

Zinke raised $332,686 from April 1 through May 18. Since January 2015, the representatives net contributions are $3.94 million. Juneau, in the same period, raised $162,610. Her net contributions since the beginning of her campaign last fall total $782,253.

Zinke had 1,138 itemized receipts from April 1 to May 18. Juneaus itemized receipts were 1,144 for the same period.

Juneau has narrowed the funding gap with the incumbent. At the beginning of the year, Zinke had a 10 to 1 fundraising advantage. However, Zinke had also spent 75 percent of that cash, much of it on campaign mailing and printing services, which his campaign insisted would pay off in better donations as the election advanced.

The spending trend has continued. Zinkes total expenditures for the pre-primary period were $346,963. His net operating expenditures for the election total $3.17 million, with mailing and printing expenses comprising much of the list.

One expense on Zinkes pre-primary report stuck out. The campaign purchased for $59,100 a 2004 Newmar KountryStar motorhome, model 3702, belonging to the candidates wife, Lolita Zinke. According to the campaign, the Zinkes bought the motorhome for personal use in 2011 for $80,000 from Gardners RV in Kalispell.

But the RV quickly became a campaign vehicle, sporting the face of gubernatorial candidate Neil Livingstone and running mate Zinke on its side in mid-2011. The Livingstone-Zinke ticked lost in the 2012 primary. By September 2013, Zinke launched his first congressional campaign, redid the graphics on the bus and used it again.

Parked outside the Trump rally at MetraPark in Billings on Thursday, the bus was decorated for Zinkes re-election. It had more than 75,000 miles on the odometer and was packed with campaign signage.

The National Automobile Dealers Association puts the value of the RV at $61,050. RV Trader listed similarly outfitted 2004 Newmar KountryStar motorhomes for sale in the $64,000 to $69,000 range.
TOKYO: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday  the first of his six-day Japan visit met the CEO of SoftBank Group, Masayoshi Son, who is eyeing to invest big in India's solar power sector. The meeting took place in the capital of Asias second largest economy, Tokyo.

There are people who want to participate in infrastructure growth story. For example, SoftBank meeting we just had, they are looking at one of the biggest investments in solar power already, Jaitley said after meeting Son.

In June 2015, SoftBank announced formation of joint venture (JV) with Bharti Enterprises and Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group, to invest about $20 billion in renewable energy in India. The JV would aim to generate 20 gigawatts of electricity.

They have made considerable headway and have identified location. It will probably be one of the largest investment in those areas, Jaitley added.

The Japanese telecom and Internet giant has made an investments up to $2 billion in the past two years in India, including $627 million in online- retailing marketplace Snapdeal, $210 million funding round in taxi-hailing app Ola Cabs and $200 million for a 35 per cent stake in InMobi, an Indian mobile-advertising network. SoftBank is looking to accelerate their investments in the future.

India has a great future. We are interested in investing for Internet companies also for solar energy. We would make a strong commitment, Son said.

Son had previously said that India's market is poised for massive growth, making it an important destination for investors.

Jaitley will also meet the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, on Monday. On May 31, He will attend the 22nd International Conference on 'The Future of Asia' organised by the Nikkei Inc and in the afternoon he will deliver keynote address at the roundtable on National Investment & Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).

Read Also: Japanese Investors Keen On India's Infra Growth Story: FM Arun Jaitley

Reliance Infrastructure Net Up 62 Percent In Q4
Montanans will pause today to remember American heroes who fell in combat, protecting our great nations for 240 years. Many of the citizens paying their respects at Billings area Memorial Day services are U.S. veterans themselves. This is a day to remember these heroes, still living with war wounds, still owed a great debt of gratitude from their fellow citizens.

For some of these survivors, just accessing care for their war injuries can be a long struggle. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs delivers more health care than any other system in the country, but it continually falls short of having sufficient capacity and effective systems to serve all veterans in a timely manner.

In the weeks before this Memorial Day, Congress acted to remedy some of the VA health care problems. On May 19, the House voted 295-129 for an appropriations bill (HR4974) that would appropriate $73.5 billion in discretionary spending and $102.6 billion in mandatory spending for the VA in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., voted in favor.

Asked to comment on why he supported this legislation, Zinke said in an email that it requires that the VA submit reports to Congress regarding the wait times for veterans using Choice as well as provider availability and staffing issues to include an update every six months on the amount of medical staff who have left during that time and why.

The appropriation bill also encourages the use of telemedicine to ensure that rural Montanans can use any means available to receive health care advice and treatment even if they are not able to commute to a provider, Zinke said.

On the same day, the Senate voted overwhelming to approve a military construction and funding bill. Montana Democrat Jon Tester and Republican Steve Daines voted yes.

Tester, ranking member on the Senates Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee, reported that the bill amended in the Senate will increase VA funding by $3.4 billion, including $250 million set aside specifically for rural veterans health.

Tester pushed for the VA to consolidate and simplify its multiple community care programs, so money will follow the veterans  instead of requiring veterans to fit into programs. The Senate bill would direct $7 billion to the Medical Community Care Account. Tester said this funding will help ensure that rural veterans and veterans needing specialty medical care can get care closer to their homes.

After the vote, Daines, who serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee with Tester, issued a news release praising inclusion of an amendment he promoted to allow VA health care providers to counsel patients on the use of medical marijuana in states where it is legal. The amendment, as approved, wont allow possession or dispensing of marijuana on VA property, but would allow VA doctors to discuss all options that are legally available in their state with patients.

A nearly identical provision on VA medical marijuana discussion was included in the House bill passed that day. Zinke voted no on adding that amendment, according to Roll Call Report.

Daines said the appropriations bill also prioritizes the hiring of mental health care providers, substance abuse counselors and prevention of rural veterans suicides.

A separate Senate bill, the Veterans First Act, passed out of committee weeks ago with strong bipartisan support after months of work to address specific problems in veterans care delivery with the two-year-old Veterans Choice program. Urgently needed fixes are in the Veterans First Act, which Senate leadership still hasnt brought to the floor for debate.

We have reported extensively on the outrageous months-long waits for specialty care some Montana veterans have endured. Our Congressional delegation knows veterans concerns. Its time to deliver solutions. The pre-Memorial Day votes are good, but the deals not done yet. House and Senate must agree to a final bill that incorporates the resources needed to do right by our veterans. Congress must agree on a bill that President Barack Obama will sign before the fiscal year ends in September.

That should be an easy task. But this is an election year. Veterans support is included in huge bills with military construction and other funding. The bills include disparate political issues, such as restricting display of the Confederate flag on national cemetery flagpoles and forbidding the housing of unaccompanied migrant children at military bases. (Zinke voted against the Confederate flag restriction and for the migrant children ban.)

Congress will return to Capitol Hill next week from its Memorial Day break. For the remainder of the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, lawmakers will have nearly as many vacation weeks as work weeks. Time to move legislation is relatively short.

We call on Daines, Tester and Zinke to keep pushing hard for sufficient veterans health care funding and program reforms that improve access and quality of care for Montana vets. Our veterans shouldnt be kept waiting any longer.
NEW DELHI: India, the world's third largest steel producer, was among the top 10 importers of the alloy last year, according to the latest data by the global industry body World Steel Association (WSA).



India imported 13.3 million tonnes (MT) of the metal in 2015 and was just a notch up from China, which imported 13.2 MT of steel during the same period.



According to the WSA data, European Union as a bloc imported 37.7 MT of steel last year, which was followed by the US (36.5 MT), Germany (24.8 MT), South Korea (21.7 MT), Italy (19.9 MT), Turkey (18.6 MT), Vietnam (16.3 MT), Thailand (14.6 MT), France (13.7 MT) and India (13.3 MT).



According to Indian government data, steel imports rose by 25.6 per cent to 11.71 MT during the 2015-16 financial year against 9.32 MT in the year-ago period. India was a net importer of the metal in the last fiscal.



WSA data also showed that India exported 7.6 MT of steel in 2015, which was just a fraction of what its neighbour China exported during the same period at 111.6 MT.



Admitting that Indian steel sector is going through stress for some time due to rising imports, Steel Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had earlier this month assured the Rajya Sabha that government will take all steps to promote and safeguard the industry.



"It has come to the notice of the government that imports from China, Japan and Korea have increased, which is creating trouble for domestic industry and also causing losses to it."



"Government has made efforts to check this by steps like imposing anti-dumping duty, safeguard duty on imported steel products and policy announcement on minimum import price (MIP). After these steps, the pressure on the steel industry is gradually coming down," he had told the Upper House.



On the brighter side, WSA forecasted that India's steel demand is expected to grow by 5.4 per cent to 83.8 MT in 2016 on the back of low oil prices and reform momentum.



"India's prospects are brightening due to low oil prices, the reform momentum and policies to increase infrastructure and manufacturing output. India's steel demand will increase by 5.4 per cent in both 2016 and 2017 reaching 88.3 MT in 2017," WSA had said last month.



On the outlook, it said economic environment facing steel industry continues to be challenging with China's slowdown impacting globally across a range of indicators contributing to volatility in financial markets, sluggish growth in global trade and low oil and other commodity prices.



The global steel market is suffering from insufficient investment expenditure and continued weakness in manufacturing sector, WSA said.

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The government has a vision to increase steel production to 300 million tonnes, Union Minister of State for Steel and Mines Vishnu Deo Sai said today.

Sai was here to review the performance of public sector Manganese Ore India Limited (MOIL), where he interacted with top officials of the company.

India is now the fourth largest steel producer in the world and the Narendra Modi government has a vision to occupy the third spot with 300 million tonnes of (steel) production, the minister told reporters.

However, according to World Steel Association (WSA), India already occupies the third spot, with a production of 89.4 million tonnes in 2015. China remained the worlds leading steel producer with an output of 803.8 million tonnes last year.

Claiming that the BJP-led government is working at a faster pace than the previous UPA regime, Sai said there were 60,000 applications of different nature, right from licence to lease renewals, that were pending before his ministry when the new government took over.

The government has started the auction process and six mines located in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and other places have been auctioned, he added.

He said the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 has been reviewed and many reforms carried out.

Sai said his ministry has drafted a National Mineral Exploration Policy (NMEP) for facilitating large scale private sector investments in exploration.

Replying to a question, the minister said the District Mineral Foundations (DMF) are being set up at district level by mineral-rich states.

For the first time in the history of mining sector, the highest ever dividend of Rs 3,000 crore has been paid by Hindustan Zinc Limited to the Government of India as special dividend under ministrys initiative, he said.

Read Also: PMO Website Launched In 6 Regional Languages

Nepal, India Plans Setting Up Energy Bank
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday invited people to take part in an online quiz on the initiatives his government has taken during the last two years.

"An interesting governance quiz? Let's see how many you get it right. quiz.mygov.in," Modi tweeted.

The web-link "https://quiz.mygov.in/" provided in his tweet opens a site that says people will get to know more about government programmes through the quiz.

"So how well do you know about the Government of India's initiatives in the past two years to improve the governance scenario? Are you ready to take a quiz on this subject?," said the main page of the website.

"MyGov challenges you to come and test your knowledge. And if you don't know the answers, take the quiz anyhow to know about the various programmes, maybe a lucky guess or two will make you a winner? Either way, you will get to know about what your government has been doing for you."

The final answers to the questions will be published once the on-line quiz concludes, the website said.

It also mentioned a "grand prize" for the winners.

"A certificate signed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, and an opportunity to meet him in person," the website said.

The Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government has embarked on a major public relations to highlight its achievements on the occasion of completing two years in office.

Read Also: PM Unveils Cooking Gas Scheme For Poor In Karnataka

Some Of The Important Aspects That Should Not Be Forgotten
KATHMANDU: India and Nepal are planning to setting up an energy bank so that they can help each other to overcome the problem of power shortage.



The proposal was discussed at a meeting of the India-Nepal Joint Standing Committee, a bilateral technical mechanism on water resources, power and irrigation projects, which concluded yesterday.



The two countries have conducted informal discussions regarding the energy bank before, but this is the first time that Nepal has made a formal proposal, Kathmandu Post reported.



According to the energy bank concept, Nepal would export electricity to India during the summer season and import power from India in the winter when output drops sharply resulting in crippling power shortages.



The Power Trade Agreement signed by Nepal and India in 2014 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kathmandu has opened the way for the two countries to establish an energy bank.



"The concept of an energy bank is clear: We export to India when our production exceeds domestic consumption and we import from India during times of crisis," said Mukesh Raj Kafle, managing director of the Nepal Electricity Authority, who participated in the meeting.



India is agreeable to the concept, but there is no open access to India due to legal complications.



"The proposal is good, but we have to clear a number of regulatory provisions. We will start to work on it," Khanal quoted Indian officials as saying. According to Nepali officials, it depends on India's willingness.



Nepal has also requested India to resume production from the 15 MW Gandak Powerhouse. The plant was constructed as per the Gandak Agreement. Similarly, Nepal has also requested India to build the Birpur Powerhouse as soon as possible.



Meanwhile, the two sides also discussed extensively the construction of roads by India on the common border. Nepali officials drew the attention of the Indian government to the road building projects saying that they had increased the possibility of floods and inundation on the Nepali side.



"The roads are like embankment dams which might cause floods during the summer season. The Indian side has taken the issue positively. They have asked for a specific report," said Kafle.



India raised the issue of security at these areas, and Nepal has pledged to address its concerns. The two sides also assessed the ongoing irrigation projects.



The two-day meeting is the first official engagement between the two countries after the cancellation of President Bidya Devi Bhandari's visit to India and recalling of Nepal's ambassador Deep Kumar Upadhyay.

Read Also: Italy Welcomes India's Release Of Marine

U.S. Lawmakers Get Preachy Before Modi Visit
NEW DELHI: Clean energy will be discussed at length during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US next month apart from talks on strategic affairs and trade.



Earlier, trade and strategic affairs used to dominate the Indo-US discussion, but this time clean energy will be in focus and discussed, US Ambassador Richard R Verma said at a function here.



Elaborating about the big investment opportunity in India, he said, "India is a nation on the move. The last two decades have witnessed a dramatic transformation; the coming decades even more so. Two-thirds of the India of 2030 is yet to be built.



"This is a daunting challenge, but also an opportunity to use innovative technologies to leapfrog development. Nowhere is this more true than in the field of energy. If we can work together to make the right investments now, the India of tomorrow can have access to clean and reliable power to fuel its economic rise, while also combating the effects of climate change."



He further said the government does not have all the answers and cannot solve all the problems. "But the public sector can play a role in empowering ordinary citizens. That's what the PACEsetter Fund is all about."



The PACEsetter Fund is a Rs 50 crore (USD 7.9 million) account maintained jointly between the two governments.



PACEsetter Fund awards are given to projects focused on improving the commercial viability of off-grid renewable energy businesses and organisations.



Verma also announced the launch of second round of the PACEsetter Fund.



"Starting today, you are free to go online to PACEsetterfund.Org ... The program will accept Expressions of Interest until August 1 of this year," he said.

Read Also:

India To Drive World Growth For Next 10 Yrs: Goh Chok Tong

Modi Invites People To Take Quiz On Government Programmes
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a five-nation visit from June 4 which will cover Afghanistan, Qatar, Switzerland, the US and Mexico.



Modi will begin his trip with Afghanistan to inaugurate India-funded Salma Dam which has been constructed at a cost of about Rs 1400 crore.



From Afghanistan, he will proceed to energy-rich Qatar and then to Switzerland.



During the two-day visit to energy-rich Qatar, Modi will hold extensive talks with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani on a range of bilateral issues including ways to further boost economic ties, particularly in the hydrocarbon sector.



In Switzerland, the Prime Minister will hold talks with the Swiss leadership, including President Johann Schneider-Ammann, and is likely to seek cooperation to unearth black money accounts of Indians in Switzerland which was a promise made by him during elections in 2014.



According to sources, the officials of the two countries are working on finalising an arrangement that could pave the way for automatic exchange of information on tax-related issues.



The Switzerland government had on May 18 initiated consultation on an ordinance to put in place a mechanism for automatic exchange of tax information with India and other countries.



From Switzerland, Modi will travel to the US on June 7 at the invitation of President Barack Obama, with whom he will review the progress made in key areas of defence, security and energy.



During his stay, he will also address a Joint Meeting of the US Congress.



On his return, he will visit Mexico where India is eyeing trade and investment tie ups.



In September last year, during his UN visit in New York Modi had held talks with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Read Also: U.S. Lawmakers Get Preachy Before Modi Visit

Smart City Projects in India
NEW DELHI: Going multilingual, the official website of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Office is now available in six major regional languages, including Gujrati, Marathi, Malayalam and Bengali, as part efforts to reach out to people across the country.



The websites, launched by External Affair Minister Sushma Swaraj, also include Tamil and Telugu versions.



Earlier, the PMO website, www.pmindia.Gov.in, highlighting various initiatives of the government was available in English and Hindi.



"I thank all those who have worked tirelessly in the creation of the new versions of @PMOIndia site in various languages. Thanks to @SushmaSwaraj ji for launching @PMOIndia site in 6 languages."



"These sites will further strengthen my interaction with you all," Modi tweeted.



Speaking on the occasion, Swaraj said the government will launch the PM's official website in other regional languages also in a phased manner.



The initiative is part of Prime Minister's efforts to reach out to people and communicate with them in their own languages, she said.



In another tweet, Modi said, "If you find any parts of these language websites that need to be corrected, you must let us know. Your feedback is always welcome."



Swaraj hoped the initiative would further enhance the interaction between people from all parts of the country and the PM on various issues concerning their welfare and development.



"Glad to inaugurate 6 language versions of @PMOIndia's website."



"This will go a long way in deepening PM @narendramodi's connect with people," she said in a series of tweets.



"NDA Govt is a firm believer in connecting with people across India in their preferred language. These site versions are part of that effort," Swaraj added.



The Minister said these websites of the PMO in regional languages are a "great opportunity" to further expand discussion on government's agenda of development and good governance.

Read Also: Nepal, India Plans Setting Up Energy Bank

Italy Welcomes India's Release Of Marine
Let me start by saying that I do not agree with many of Elizabeth Warrens policies or her worldview. But she may be the only way out for Dems.

Nobody likes Hillary Clinton but the U.S. is ready to elect its first female president. There is almost a desperation amongst voters to see history being made. However, it is starting to dawn on people that she may not be able to beat Donald Trump. Given that, Trump has insulted large swathes of the population, you would think that it should be easy to find someone to destroy his candidacy. It turns out that Hillary is every bit as disliked as the Donald. As recent polls show, she is tied with Trumpand Trump has not even started on her.

Bernie Sanders has ignited a passion among young voters, left-leaning intellectuals, and independents everywhere. Even though the delegate count shows that he has no path to the nomination, he continues to win multiple state primaries. He may even win California, an ultimate show of strength that must surely give pause to the DNC and super-delegates who could swing the nomination. Every poll shows that Bernie would beat Trump by double digits.

That is where Elizabeth Warren comes in. She is a woman and an icon of the progressive movement. You get the best of both Hillary and Bernie in one package. And as her recent jabs at Trump show, she is ready to take him on. Her early comments seem to be getting under Trumps skinsomething that neither Hillary nor Bernie have managed to do. Clearly, Trump sees in her a formidable adversary who could shatter his presidential dreams.

When the Democrats have their convention in Philadelphia in eight weeks or so, is there a possibility that things go awry for Hillary? A strong win in California for Bernie will put all options back on the table. In addition, after a bitter primary season, Hillary may not be prepared to relinquish her spot to Bernie. However, the movement (revolution?) that Bernie started may demand that someone acceptable be nominated and the best-known face of that movement, after Bernie, is Elizabeth Warren.

This is a season for the unexpected and the unknown unknowns. If the RNC can throw up a Donald Trump, it is possible that the DNC throws up an Elizabeth Warren. That may be a strange twist that I can live with.
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump has backed out of a televised debate against Democrat Bernie Sanders just two days after agreeing, prompting the Vermont Senator to say that the Republican presumptive presidential candidate is running away from engaging in a one-on-one discussion with him.



Trump said "now that I am the presumptive Republican nominee, it seems inappropriate that I would debate the second place finisher", referring to Sanders, who is running behind Hillary Clinton in the race to the White House in the Democratic Party.



He alleged that the Democratic nominating process is totally rigged and "Crooked Hillary Clinton" and Deborah Wasserman Schultz, the head of the Democratic National Committee, will not allow Sanders to win.



"Likewise, the networks want to make a killing on these events and are not proving to be too generous to charitable causes, in this case, women's health issues.



"Therefore, as much as I want to debate Bernie Sanders - and it would be an easy payday - I will wait to debate the first place finisher in the Democratic Party, probably Crooked Hillary Clinton, or whoever it may be," he said in a statement yesterday.



This came as a surprise move after saying he would "love to debate" with Sanders on Thursday, triggering wild speculation and media frenzy.



Trump had asked for at least $10 million for charity from the hosting television channel.



However, Sanders in a statement alleged that Trump is running away from participating in a debate with him, saying there is a "reason" why the billionaire is doing so which the Americans should be "able to see it up front in a good debate".



"In recent days, Donald Trump has said he wants to debate, he doesn't want to debate, he wants to debate and, now, he doesn't want to debate.



"Given that there are several television networks prepared to carry this debate and donate funds to charity, I hope that he changes his mind once again and comes on board," Sanders said.



"There is a reason why in virtually every national and statewide poll I am defeating Donald Trump, sometimes by very large margins and almost always by far larger margins than Secretary Clinton.



"There is a reason for that reality and the American people should be able to see it up front in a good debate and a clash of ideas," he said.

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Source: PTI
IMG_0702.jpg

Police are responding to a shooting on Prince Street in Stapleton where a 25-year-old man was shot in the head on Sunday night. (Staten Island Advance/Kristin Dalton)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Police are responding to a shooting where a man was shot in the head in Stapleton on Sunday night.

A 25-year-old male was shot in the head and is being transported to Richmond University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, according to an FDNY spokesman.

A Level 1 Mobilization has been called to search for the suspect, who is being described as a black male, wearing all-black clothing.

Police blocked off the intersection of Prince Street and Vanderbilt Avenue and police cars were double parked the length of Vanderbilt Avenue.

A woman who lives across the street said that she heard the gunshots while sitting on her couch, but didn't think much of it because she heard fireworks going off shortly before.

She also said that people were throwing a party across the street at the time of the shooting.

--This is a breaking news story and additional details will be posted as they become available.
On Memorial Day, an observance begun in 1864 after Gettysburg, we decorate the graves and recall memories about those who died in service to this nation. In the late 1940s, I remember red, crinkly poppies sprouting from mens lapels as we visited the graveyard, along with a poem by John McCrae:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow; Between the crosses, row on row; That mark our place, and in the sky; The larks, still bravely singing, fly; Scarce heard amid the guns below.

But what about those who served "amid the guns below and survived, many with horrific and unyielding physical and mental injuries? What do we do for them and for ourselves to remind us of their unrelenting sacrifices on our behalf? Do we bear some responsibility; or is it left only to the VA and medical communities? Can we help reintegrate injured servicemen, spouses, their children and caregivers into a fast-paced, competitively edged society even as we absorb some of their seemingly intractable pain and maladjustment? If we can and should help both society and the wounded warrior with injuries that are seen or unseen (post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury), what strategy would work?

A tightly organized and highly motivated nonprofit meets the requirement when it is centered around the mission to provide traumatically injured servicemen and women therapeutic rehabilitation and recreation in the form of fly fishing for trout on southwest Montanas rivers.

Those of us who had felt the lasting, almost mystical therapy of fly fishing for beautiful, elusive, wild trout in some of the most inexpressibly restorative Montana rivers instinctively sided with Luis Marden and his observation that: Fishing is a solace  the opposite of war  a gentle and healing occupation. On the other hand, many scoffed at the notion. However, in Lewis Carrolls story Through the Looking Glass, Alice laughs and says: Theres no use trying  one cant believe impossible things. The Queen replies, hopefully: Why, sometimes Ive believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.

And so, Warriors & Quiet Waters Foundation was begun in 2007. The mission was two-fold:

Provide at zero expense to the wounded warrior  through the medium of the art form of fly fishing for trout  something that he/she was desperately in need of: solace, hope, joy, camaraderie, and security within a crucible of unconditional love and service.

Provide an opportunity for members of society to earn a wounded warriors trust and to be exposed to the searing truths and catharsis of sharing painful combat stories and experiences.

With such a remarkably miniscule percentage of Americans serving in the all-volunteer force, our society had become truly ignorant of the real practice, costs and consequences of war  especially regarding this nations longest and arguably most intractable war. As Kevin Sites has said in his book The Things They Cannot Say: Without the  authentic experiences of war being shared by those (immediately) involved in it, society itself will remain ignorant.

As a consequence of this numbing and incessant exposure through multiple combat tours, both seen and unseen injuries have resulted in rampant suicide, alcohol abuse (the drug of choice), physical and emotional abuse, broken families, staggering medical and mental health care costs.

While learning the art of successful fly-fishing is a goal, the measurable objectives are: effect positive changes in the warriors life patterns, relationships and trajectories. Over nine complete seasons, comprised of 500-plus wounded warriors served, we have had a transformative influence in attitudes and activities on the vast majority. We have helped transfer the weight of the traumatic events from the individual to the community: the grief, guilt, shame, anxiety, fear, anger, inexpressible sadness, depression, loneliness, disorientation and even euphoria. As Dr. Jonathan Shay wrote in Achilles in Vietnam: Failure to communalize grief can imprison a person in endless swinging between rage and emotional deadness as a permanent way of being in the world.

In 2016, we are hosting 10 events with post-9/11 combat veterans arriving from across the United States. Though relatively small and Montana-based, we are a national Foundation in scope and impact, unaffiliated with any other foundation.

We recently purchased a serene, comfortable property, calling it Quiet Waters Ranch. Google our foundation for more information, or come visit or volunteer. You, too, will be changed by your experience. In sum, as Scotsman John Buchan, former governor-general of Canada said: The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.
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Police are responding to a shooting on Prince Street in Stapleton where a 25-year-old man was shot in the head on Sunday night. (Staten Island Advance/Kristin Dalton)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A 25-year-old male remains in critical condition after being shot in the head by a gunman on Sunday night in Stapleton.

The shooting was one of four that occurred in the city Sunday night. The other shootings all took place in Queens, according to police.

A police spokesman said there was no indication that the shootings were connected.

Police responded to a call of a male shot in his car in front of 20 Prince St. at 11:18 p.m. on Sunday, said a police spokeswoman.

Upon arrival, police found the male seated in a vehicle with a gunshot wound in the back of his head, said the spokeswoman.

He was transported to Richmond University Medical Center with life-threatening injuries, according to an FDNY spokesman. He remains in critical condition, said the police spokeswoman.

A Level 1 Mobilization was called Sunday night to search for the suspect, who is being described as a black male, wearing all-black clothing.

No arrests have been made, and the investigation is ongoing, said the NYPD spokeswoman.

VICTIM KNOWN AS 'A GREAT GUY'

A friend of the victim e-mailed an Advance reporter after learning of the incident. "He is a great guy. He causes no problems. It's just terrible; another friend text(ed) me in the late hours about the shooting. I do believe there has been some problems lately," said the victim's friend.

Another friend said, "He was really an amazing person in a hood full of evil. He always motivated me to keep striving every time I wanted to give up or quit school. He was one of the most influential people in my life. He did not deserve this at all."

NEIGHBORS RECOUNT INCIDENT

One neighbor said she saw the victim sitting in the passenger seat of a car gasping for air after he was shot.

A woman who lives across the street said that she heard the gunshots while sitting on her couch, but didn't think much of it because she heard fireworks going off shortly before.

She also said that people were throwing a party across the street at the time of the shooting.

FOLLOW Tracey Porpora on
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On May 24, 2016 Minister of Finance Richard Gibson travelled to Mexico on behalf of the Prime Minister to participate in the biennial ECLAC session. The 36th ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean) takes place at the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, in Mexico City from May 23rd to May 27th. This session serves a forum to discuss pertinent issues concerning economic affairs that affect the territories represented by the ECLAC union. The main topic of discussion at this event is entitled Horizons 2030: Equality at the Centre of Sustainable Development. Discussions like these help to steer the activity of the ECLAC organization in hopes of improving the Caribbeans economic performance. Minister Gibson as an active representative of St. Maarten will add to the discussions of our islands economic position within the Caribbean.
GREAT FALLS  Campers in Montana's national forests are getting skittish as more sportsmen take advantage of rules that allow target shooting, even though they comply with the rules.

The rules bar target shooting 150 yards of a residence, a building, or campsite or developed recreation site. But for some campers, that's way too close.

Campers point to trees that have been shredded with bullets not far from group campsites.

"If they shoot this way, we're in jeopardy," said John Metrione, a recreation and trails resource specialist with Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. "They're actually sawing them in half with high-powered rifles. I think that's part of the attraction."

"We just want people to recognize that's not an appropriate use of a firearm to use trees as targets," he said.

Officials said some target shooters are using exploding targets, which are illegal in national forests.

In Colorado's Pike National Forest last July, Glenn Martin, a 60-year-old man enjoying a holiday with his family, was killed by an errant shot.

Forest officials, who said they have no plans to change the rules, are urging recreational shooters to remember that some areas are high-use camping areas with families, including children spending nights there.

"Our No. 1 concern is public safety," Metrione said.

Taylor Steinbarth said he enjoys coming to the national forest for target practice. Steinbarth said he brings his own targets, and set them up so they were shooting into a hillside.
BOZEMAN  Two decades ago, rainbow trout in the upper Madison River were struggling. Whirling disease had been found in the stream, caused by a microorganism that latches onto fish. Brown trout aren't affected by it, but rainbow trout are, and numbers of adult rainbows dwindled. In one section of the river, estimates of adult rainbows  those larger than 14 inches  fell to fewer than 150 a mile.

That was about the time Tim Weiss, a fisheries technician with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, started working on the Madison. A little more than two decades later, the density of adult rainbow trout in that river has changed dramatically.

"Back then, it was hard to find rainbows over 14 inches," Weiss said. "And now, they're all over the river."

The number of rainbow trout in the river has once again reached eye-level with the number of browns in the river. The encouraging numbers allowed the department to loosen some fishing regulations on the stream, allowing more year-round opportunity for anglers.

FWP fisheries biologist Dave Moser said the rebound is something to celebrate.

"Populations in the Madison are doing well," Moser said. "And people are catching fish."

In 1994, near the peak of the disease outbreak, FWP estimated there were about 142 adult rainbow trout per mile in the Pine Butte section of the upper Madison, about three miles of river upstream of Lyons Bridge.

In 2014, the estimate had climbed to 807 adults per mile, even higher than the 1988 estimate of 748. Last year's was 662. Per mile estimates for rainbows of all ages came in at 1,943 in 2015.

The numbers for observed deformities related to whirling disease has decreased as well, from 10 percent a half decade ago to about 2 percent now.

Biologists and anglers alike are thrilled with the data, but it doesn't mean they are completely out of the woods.

Whirling disease is known to be in about 150 rivers and streams across the state, and the tiny organisms that infect fish don't just go away. They can remain in the stream for decades, and perhaps even longer.

"They are going to persist at a low level forever," Moser said.

So there is a chance that the rainbows in the Madison River could be hit by the disease again, but Moser and Weiss are fairly confident the fish have found some way to beat it. They just can't pinpoint how.

Moser said it could be that rainbows are spawning in areas where the organisms causing the disease are less prevalent. The trout also could have developed some sort of adaptation that makes them more resistant to the disease.

Bruce Farling, the executive director of Montana Trout Unlimited, said a trout's susceptibility to infection has a lot to do with when and where it spawns each year.

"It's often a matter of timing or life history," Farling said.

He added that fish surviving today are likely descendants of those that survived the outbreaks in the 1990s, which would mean how those fish live is already resistant to the disease.

Moser said that another possibility is the stress level of the trout. Fish that are tired or living in extremely warm water may be more susceptible to infection.

"In the fish disease world, when an animal is stressed, that's generally when the disease has the most impact," Moser said.

They have some help with that. Hebgen Dam is a regulating force for the upper Madison, often meaning the temperatures stay low there while other rivers heat up.

In late summer, FWP places "hoot owl" restrictions  nighttime and afternoon fishing closures  on some streams because water temperatures near intolerable levels. The upper Madison is rarely one of the streams that see those restrictions.

Moser said they have concerns that high temperatures may become a problem in the future, but for now, things are looking good for those fish.

"I don't think they are stressed," he said. "I think they are doing well."

Anglers, too, are enjoying themselves. Weiss said they've heard plenty of positive reports from folks fishing the stream. Fish larger than 14 inches are likely between 3 and 4 years old. They are the ones anglers like to catch, and Weiss said those fish are getting caught.

"Anglers are reporting catching more large rainbows," he said.
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Mark Beitzel: Got one! Credit:Tim the Yowie Man "It's too early to tell if Rieki is currently at risk, but certainly it is the sort of species which is likely to be affected by climate change, as they require access to permanent water and require a temperature threshold they can't exceed without detrimental effects," explains Beitzel as, somewhat ironically, he pulls his beanie lower over his ears. "We need to set the rest of the traps before it gets dark," cautions Beitzel, a sense of urgency in his voice, as he and Jekabsons set specially-designed traps in the deeper pools of water. A collection for crayfish shells found during the mountain bog adventure. Credit:Tim the Yowie Man "We'll leave these out overnight and check them at dawn," explains Beitzel as he unrolls the last trap into a frigid pool of water, about knee deep.

Apart from trapping, the other method used to collect data on the Rieki is spotlighting, my chance to see a Rieki in the wild. Mark Jekabsons (left) and Matt Beitzel record vital information about crayfish in the ACT's upland bogs. Credit:Tim the Yowie Man It's not quite dark enough to spotlight yet, so Jekabsons pulls his trusty billy and gas burner out of his backpack and Beitzel and I follow him out of the bog and across to a nearby high point. It's a cracking sunset over the wilds of the ACT, NSW and beyond into Victoria. What a spot for a sundowner, even if it is just billy tea. Although I'm yet to eyeball a Rieki, the dead branches of snow gums reach skywards like giant cray claws. Heck, even the ominous clouds looming on the horizon look a little like a cray's claw. A Rieki close up. Credit:Tim the Yowie Man

Thankfully before my imagination runs too wild, the sun sets, and by torchlight we trudge back down the hill and wade into the bog. The temperature has already plummeted and a mountain mist has rolled in. Just as I'm starting to think that maybe I should have stayed at home, curled up in front of the open fire reading a book with Mrs Yowie, Beitzel tosses me a pair of gum boots, announcing, with a distinct smirk on his face, "OK Tim, it's now it's time to get wet.". Great, there's no turning back now. So with chattering teeth, net in one hand and bucket in the other, it's with military procession that I follow Beitzel's squelching tracks into the first of several predetermined square plots of bog. As our torch light lances through the fog, we strain our eyes for signs of crays hidden in the mud. "I've got one, I've got one!" I yell. However ecstasy soon turns to embarrassment as Beitzel reveals it's just the carapace of a Rieki, which I soon discover, like fools-gold in a creek bed, are scattered all through the wetland. "The shells are the result of regular moulting or as a result of predation by birds and feral animals," explains Beitzel, adding, "the crays do fairly impressive gymnastics to get out of their old skin." Back to the search.

"Don't worry, they are definitely here," says Beitzel pointing promisingly to the surrounding swamp which is pock-marked with dozens of burrows, some of which, according to Beitzel, extend "at least two full metres into the ground". There are also smaller burrows, which Beitzel claims, "are either works in progress, or 'motel holes' so if they sun comes up or a predator shows up they dash off and hole-up for a night or two." As keen as I am to spot a Rieki, I'm certainly not willing to put my hand down a so-called "motel-hole" to see if one has "checked-in" yet. Thankfully I don't have to consider putting my hand down a burrow, for just as we splash into another pool of water, I catch a glimpse of one, at least I think I do. It's got the tell-tale glint in its eyes, the flash of colour from its joints and a hint of movement.

No false alarms this time. Beitzel helps me scoop him up and into the bucket. Bingo! When the bucket is full, we move to the dry edge where Jekabsons and Beitzel measure up their respective catches and record other observations. By no means the biggest, the specimen I scooped up has an occipital carapace length of 50 millimetres which results in a total body length of 12 centimetres or close to 18 centimetres with claws. Not bad for a clumsy novice with numb hands and frozen feet. You'd think the crayfish wouldn't like the cold up here either. In fact, it's a bit of a mystery what the crays do in mid-winter, often submerged under a layer of snow. "Tucked away in their burrows they probably feed on roots growing into their burrows from above," says Beitzel, whose research here has already uncovered some surprising results including that "the females carry their eggs over the harsh winter, hatching in late spring". After another couple of hours traipsing through the icy quagmire, we finally finish the last plot. In total, we've caught, recorded and released 21 crays  "not bad" according to Beitzel.

It's time for your akubra-clad columnist to call it a night and head back down the mountain, leaving Beitzel and Jekabsons behind to sleep by the bog in their swags. With the temperature already below zero, I'm sure the cray traps won't be all that's encrusted in ice in the morning. Back home just before midnight, I find Mrs Yowie throwing one last log on the fire. I hand her the stash of carapaces I've brought back for our kids show 'n tell at school, then settle back in my arm chair to raise a glass of Canberra wine to Beitzel and Jekabsons. Gazing outside through our lounge room window it's a clear night, complete with a sky full of stars from where I'm sure Edgar Riek OAM is looking down approvingly. Fact File Did You Know? Although awarded an OAM in 1996 for his services to viticulture and to entomology, Edgar Riek had a long and distinguished career in a wide range of other interests including, palaeontology, geology, biology, bacteriology, horticulture and trout fishing.

CONTACT TIM: Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie Street, Fyshwick. You can see a selection of past columns at: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/by/Tim-the-Yowie-Man-hvf8o WHERE IN THE REGION? Where in the region is this? Credit:Tim the Yowie Man Double Clue: In a main street and made of tiles. Degree of difficulty: Medium  Hard
Federal Labor has pledged to launch a multi-million dollar feasibility study into widening Pialligo Avenue from Canberra Airport to Queanbeyan if elected on July 2.

But advocates for the duplication of another cross-border road say the election will be won or lost on the Barton Highway.

The Barton Highway crosses from NSW into Canberra. Credit:Stuart Walmsley

Transport infrastructure across the NSW and ACT borders would get a $6.6 million funding injection under a Labor government, candidate for Eden-Monaro Mike Kelly said on Monday, in Labor's first major policy announcement for the bellwether seat ahead of the federal election.

But Sophie Wade of the Duplicate the Barton Highway Community Action Group said the Barton Highway is the "missing link".
RONAN  So excited was Lorene Pollock on Friday morning, youd have thought it was the first time she had ever set foot in an airplane.

It wasnt.

Not even close.

Pollocks birthday surprise  she turned 79 on Saturday  came a day early when Ronan flight instructor Monte Baer took her up for a spin over the Mission Valley in his Cessna 172.

Half a century ago, Pollock began piloting brand new aircraft like the 172 for Cessna, which hired the private pilot to fly the planes from the companys Wichita, Kan., factory to their new owners.

She did it for 20 years.

It was one time I was glad to be a female, Pollock said. They thought me being a woman, Id be easier on a new plane. They didnt want boys  they knew theyd want to see how fast the planes would go and what all theyd do.

That was no way to break in a new airplane, she explained.

Although she turned down Baers offer to sit in the left seat Friday, Pollock happily took over the controls on the passenger side after the Cessna was in the air on a rainy day.

It doesnt come back perfect, Pollock said of her flying skills, but it comes back pretty fast.

It was by no means the first time a fellow pilot had let Pollock take over a yoke.

Pollocks husband, Howard, was a mechanic for Continental Airlines in Houston, and several commercial pilots knew the couple.

In a day when regulations, or at least the enforcement of them, were significantly more relaxed, commercial pilots who knew her, and knew Lorene Pollock was on board  either flying from Houston to Wichita to pick up a plane, or flying home after delivering it  would invite her into the cockpit, and offer her their seat.

Dont tell anyone, but Lorene Pollock has piloted commercial airliners, if only for a few minutes at a time.

I love the feeling of a plane, Pollock said. Any pilot whos any good, theyll tell you they can feel that plane, and everything it does in the sky.

Pollock, who grew up on a farm in Oklahoma, was in her mid-20s when she became friends with a private pilot who let her tag along on flights.

It was love at first sight.

She wanted to learn to fly, and earned her private pilots license. Then Howard bought her a three-seat Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser.

Pollock named her plane Snoopy, and bought a stuffed toy version of the Peanuts character that she would buckle into the passenger seat when she flew alone. Howard, who was also a private pilot, had a friend draw a picture of Snoopy in his best World War I flying ace mode, complete with a red scarf flying in the wind, on the planes tail.

Under the tail of a Piper youll find part of the landing gear, a small tailwheel, and that makes Pollock a taildragger pilot, Baer said.

Thats pretty accomplished, he said. It takes a better pilot to fly one of those. They all used to have them, but now 80 percent of pilots dont know how to fly one.

The instructor said Pollock  who couldnt remember how long its been since she last flew a plane  was right at home behind the yoke. Once in the air, he had her take over the controls and told her she could fly wherever she wanted.

Pollock banked the Cessna south and headed toward the Charlo area.

She knows how to keep it right-side up, Baer said. She didnt forget how to fly.

Russ Jenkins, who volunteers to help out with bingo games at the St. Luke Extended Care Facility in Ronan where Lorene and Howard Pollock live and has become friends with the couple, got the ball rolling on Fridays surprise.

Jenkins enlisted the help of the rest homes activities director, Betty Sieges. Sieges contacted Lorenes daughter and granddaughter, while Jenkins conspired with Baer.

Lorene never saw it coming.

Were going to do WHAT? she kept repeating when they told what they had planned for the day before her birthday.

Shes so excited, said Sieges, who added its not the first time the activities director has directed this sort of activity.

About a dozen years ago, a 105-year-old resident of the nursing home, Eva Cross, mentioned she wished she could take a helicopter ride after watching Life Flight helicopters take off and land at St. Luke Hospital.

She said, Id love to go up in a darned old hee-low-copter one day, Sieges said. Thats how she pronounced it  hee-low-copter.

With the help of Minuteman Aviation of Missoula, Sieges made that wish come true, and Cross took a scenic flight down the Mission Mountains and over Flathead Lake.

With dark clouds smothering the Missions' peaks Friday morning and dreary gray ones spitting rain over the valley, Pollocks surprise flight didnt happen on a very scenic day.

And she could not have cared less.

Lorene and Howard moved to Montana about three years ago, and into the St. Luke Extended Care Facility in Ronan two years ago.

Granddaughter Melissa Coleman and her husband and children were the first to move north from Texas, to Charlo. Colemans parents followed, settling in Polson, and Colemans mother, Beverly Beekmann, brought her parents, Lorene and Howard, who lived in Fritch, Texas, at the time.

Pollock may have been the gentlest of pilots as she flew brand new Cessnas to their proud new owners, but Coleman can tell a story or two on her grandmother  including one where Lorene and Howard were up in the Piper together, with daughter Beverly in the lone rear seat.

The weather was bad and Papa (Howard) wanted to land, but she wanted to fly above the storm, Coleman said.

Howard would nose the plane lower. Lorene would point it higher. Up and down went the Piper.

Theyre too busy yelling at each other to notice Mom, puking in the back, Coleman said.

In 1970, Lorene and Snoopy competed in an all-woman, four-day air race from Calgary, Alberta, to Baton Rouge, La.

The race was not about who got to Baton Rouge first, but which pilot most closely followed a prescribed zig-zag pattern across the skies over Canada and America. Lorene didnt win it, but she finished in the top handful of the 50 women who competed.

Go ahead and ask Pollock if there were female pilots who inspired her to learn how to fly, but dont waste any time waiting for her to tell you Amelia Earhart or Jacqueline Cochran.

Before I knew any of them, I was one, Pollock said.

After Jenkins helped her out of the Cessna on Friday, Pollock  who normally uses a walker  smiled widely, pumped her fist in the air and headed straight for Baer to deliver a big hug.

You dont know how long Ive been missing flying, Pollock said. That brought back so many memories.

I told her well do it again, Baer said. Maybe on her 80th birthday.

If thats the case, May 28, 2017, cant come soon enough for Lorene Pollock.
Airbus believes its target of delivering 50 of its new A350 aircraft this year to customers such as Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines remains "absolutely achievable" even though it has delivered only nine of the aircraft so far.

Airbus' efforts to date have been hampered by late deliveries of essential cabin equipment like lavatories and seats that pushed back the completion dates of aircraft.

Airbus A350 deliveries have been delayed because seats and lavatories haven't arrived on time. Credit:Louise Kennerley

"What we are putting together today is a strong [northern] summer plan which will allow us to reach much higher throughput in the second half of the year," Airbus executive vice-president programs Didier Evrard told media in Hamburg on Monday.

"The target [of 50 deliveries] remains absolutely achievable but it will come with a very high level of effort from all of the A350 and industrial system to enable that because the level of disruptions we have seen with the cabin problems is very high."
A decision by Qantas Airways to lower domestic capacity in response to weak demand is already paying off for the airline, if not for consumers, in the form of a rebound in airfare prices and the percentage of seats filled.

Qantas last month announced it would cut capacity in the June quarter as a result of softness in demand related to the upcoming federal election on July 2 and a fall in consumer confidence, in a move that led brokers to downgrade full-year earnings forecasts for the airline.

In an update to the market on Monday, Qantas confirmed domestic capacity across Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar had fallen by an average of 0.5 per cent in the month of April.

The airline said revenue per available seat kilometre (RASK) - a financial measure combining the percentage of seats filled and average airfare prices - had fallen in April due to the disconnect between Easter and school holidays as well as weakness in the resources market.
It is less than 48 hours before a flight and the airline has processed all frequent flyer points upgrade requests and cash bids. But there are still business class seats available that are at risk of flying empty even though some passengers could be willing to pay for a last-minute upgrade if the price was low enough to be attractive.

From later this year, Sydney-based start-up Seatfrog, which has raised $1.2 million of seed funding, will launch new technology allowing airlines to earn extra revenue from the offer of last-minute seat upgrades in an auction process.

Seatfrog will offer last-minute upgrades to premium seats.

Co-founder Iain Griffin said he had the idea for the start-up after once arriving at an airport willing to pay $1000 to upgrade the business class ticket paid for by his employer to first class so he could try out the aircraft's on-board shower.

"When I checked in they already upgraded me [because the flight was full]," he said. "While that was a good experience for me it was a massive missed [revenue] opportunity for the airline."
The Greens will push for broad terms of reference as part of a royal commission into the banking sector and introduce new rewards for whistle-blowers if it wins the balance of power in the Senate.

It will also seek to address negative gearing by classing housing as a financial product and preventing real estate agents from setting up 'pseudo-financial advice' businesses.

Labor has pledged to hold a royal commission into the scandal-ridden financial services sector if it wins the election. But it will not release a proposed terms of reference while in opposition.

The Coalition has backed away from an inquiry and instead committed $120 million in additional funding to the corporate regulator.
It took six days and three hospital visits before an X-ray realised Francesca Lever's worst nightmare.

For almost a week, Mrs Lever's nine-month-old son Leo had been lethargic; coughing, vomiting and unable to swallow food.

"I saw the X-ray come up on the screen and just said, 'What is that?'."



Wedged at the front of Leo's oesophagus was a round lithium button battery, about the size of a five-cent coin.

"Within half an hour we were in theatre...This was an emergency. Everything just went from zero to 100," Mrs Lever said.
Discounter Aldi is now Australia's most profitable supermarket retailer and is set to reach 'tipping point', grabbing a bigger share of the main grocery shop and significantly disrupting the Coles and Woolworths duopoly.

According to a major report by UBS, Aldi's sales are expected to grow 15 per cent a year for the next three years  four or five times the rate of grocery market growth  reaching at least $10.6 billion and as much as $14.8 billion by 2019 if the discounter fixes perceived problems such as customer service and the quality of its fresh food.

UBS analyst Ben Gilbert expects Aldi's share of the national grocery market to rise from 7 per cent to at least 10 per cent by 2019-20, taking at least $1 billion in combined sales each year from Woolworths, Metcash and Coles.

While Aldi's prices are estimated to be 20 to 30 per cent cheaper than those at Coles and Woolworths, the discounter is now more profitable than the major chains. Earnings before interest and tax to sales are estimated to be around 6 per cent compared with 4.6 per cent at Coles and 5.4 per cent at Woolworths this year.
Perhaps the closest Australia has come is Clive Palmer. Both men are bombastic, rich, populist, self-made gatecrashers of the political system. Neither is an economic conservative, demanding free markets and small government. On the contrary, both are classic populists - market interventionists and big spenders. The main differences? Palmer lacked Trump's racism and misogyny. And Trump was much better known before entering politics. Palmer had big initial success. His party won 5.5 per cent of the vote at its first election, a record debut. He had a big say in the balance of power in the Senate. Yet while Trump enjoys ever-increasing success in his march to the White House, Palmer is political road kill after less than one term. Why does a similar character thrive in the US while his Australian counterpart fails? There are three chief reasons that Australia has not produced a Trump, according to an eminent expert on the two systems, Simon Jackman, Australian born but a citizen of both countries. After 28 years in the US, most of it as a professor at Stanford, he returned to Australia this year to become chief executive of the US Studies Centre and a professor of political science at the University of Sydney.

The first reason: It's easier for an outsider to crash the American system, says Jackman. "US political parties are open to being taken over. The system of primaries in the US was an explicit reaction to too much control in the hands of party insiders." Just as Barack Obama gate-crashed the Democratic Party to take the nomination from Hillary Clinton, so has Trump waged a hostile takeover of the Republicans and defeated establishment darlings like Jeb Bush. Palmer, on the other hand, didn't try to take over the Liberals  he started his own party and had to build from scratch. The second reason is that voting is optional in the US. "In Australia," says Jackman, where voting is mandatory, "the centre is where an election is decided  you are not overly reliant on the base". In other words, an extreme candidate can succeed in the US because he or she can appeal to an American fringe to win a party nomination, before needing to worry about the political centre in a general election. In Australia, mandatory voting means that the general election is all-important. The emphasis on the centre is a heavy ballast that keeps the system on an even keel.

Third, Australia just doesn't have the same degree of damage. "Say what you want about Australia," says Jackman, "but we haven't had the wage stagnation over 30 years for the middle class. "We are just in a different place  Australia didn't have a massive crash in housing prices and a very slow recovery, it didn't suffer as badly from the global financial crisis, public debt is high but it's nowhere near US levels, and there just isn't the widespread disenchantment with national politics and national institutions." He also points out the strong theme of race politics that permeates US politics: "It's the anxiety of the white middle class. It's about the whites' role in the economy and it's also cultural. Whites are going to be in a minority by mid-century and it's an immense source of anxiety." Trump's core support is among white working and middle class people whose education ended at high school. "I love the poorly educated," he once rejoiced. Australia's welfare system works better, Australia's minimum wage is much higher, the level of public goods is far more generous and the tax system is more redistributive.

These elements have combined to contain the blowout in inequality that has become grotesque in the US. In other words, despite its many problems and imperfections, Australia works better for most people. Australians have less to be angry about. It's not as ripe for candidates offering to smash the place up. Does this mean that Australia will never produce an extreme, destructive and polarising leader like Trump? Professor Ian McAllister of ANU says that Australians are not as angry and disenchanted as many Europeans or Americans, but that doesn't mean we're not heading in the same direction. He points out that, in regular ANU polls that allow respondents an open-ended choice of their greatest issues of concern, rather than being limited to choose from a list, a new phenomenon appeared around 2009-10: "We noticed that in the Kevin Rudd-Julia Gillard-Greens years that people started saying 'good governance' was an issue  they'd never said that before. "I thought it would go away, but it hasn't. It's remained, and it's the third most commonly mentioned concern among voters."
First TV concerns. "On the delightfully posh Antiques Roadshow where you would think a grammatical faux pas would be as unacceptable as a fake Ming vase, I have noticed the frequent misplacement of prepositions, as in 'How long have you had this for?' and 'Where did you get this from?' Both the 'for' and 'from' entirely unnecessary, which compounds the felony," regards, Garth Clarke, of North Sydney.

Also, 'Bluehyacinth' re the Queen's grammar (Column 8). "OMG  she has enough trouble communicating with her subjects already  give ma'am a break. Still, she's a bit easier to listen to than a Channel 7 newsreader  They speak One Word At A Time."

"When recently viewing Doctor Blake Mysteries, supposedly set in the late 1950s, I noticed a few historical errors," says Mark Charles, of Granville. "The streets appear to be perfectly curbed and guttered. There are no telegraph poles festooned with wiring and everyone's teeth seemed to be perfectly straight and gleaming white, even the old tramp. Is my recollection of the past correct?"

Troubled Steve Barrett, of Glenbrook writes: "With regard to the debate between Messrs Turnbull and Shorten on Sunday night, the leaders' debate sign was missing an apostrophe. They are supposed to be leaders, so next time could that issue be rectified please."

Children's Corner. "My four-year-old daughter many years ago, while watching an old black and white movie on TV, asked me if there wasn't any colour in the world in the old days," says Tony Hunt, of Gordon.
PABLO  The plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit that seeks to derail a proposal to transfer the National Bison Range to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes lost credibility on Bison Range issues long ago, a tribal spokesman says.

Three Montana residents are among 10 individuals who joined Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this week in Washington, D.C.

Theyre making the same argument PEER successfully used five years ago when it got a federal judge to halt an annual funding agreement that had made CSKT and the Fish and Wildlife Service partners in managing and operating the Bison Range.

The plaintiffs say the federal agency again failed to conduct necessary environmental review before telling CSKT Chairman Vernon Finley in February that it would support legislation to transfer the wildlife refuge to the tribes.

The parties filing suit to try to stop the return of the Bison Range land to the tribes have always opposed tribal participation there  even though it is in the center of our reservation and has ties to our people dating back thousands of years, Finley said. We will move on with what we believe is an elegant solution to the issue.

The lawsuit asks a judge to rule that the FWS is violating provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Refuge Act, the National Wildlife Refuge System Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. It also wants the court to order the agency to develop a Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the Bison Range, and to take no further action to sponsor, advocate for, or promote the (transfer) legislation until an environmental impact statement has been produced.

No legislation has yet been introduced. The tribes say they are in discussions with Montanas congressional delegation about doing so.

Plaintiffs

The plaintiffs include PEER members Susan Reneau of Missoula, Marvin Kaschke of Polson and Delbert Palmer of Charlo. The other seven individuals are from out of state, but include former Bison Range managers and employees.

Reneau is identified in the lawsuit as an author and columnist who volunteers hundreds of hours a year to saving the NBR.

In a statement this week, CSKT noted that Reneau, in a radio interview on Voices of Montana last month, referred to President Barack Obama as an Islamic terrorist.

Kaschke managed the National Bison Range from 1968 to 77. Palmer worked in the refuges maintenance department for 16 years prior to retiring late last year, and received an award from Rick Coleman, the FWS regional director, for extra effort towards making (an earlier annual funding agreement) work, according to the lawsuit.

In their statement, the tribes said Palmer is documented by the Montana Human Rights Network as having been a board member of All Citizens Equal, a group designated by the network as an anti-Indian organization.

Other plaintiffs include three former Bison Range managers, David Wiseman of Morrison, Colorado (1995-2004), Jon Malcolm of Cheney, Washington (1981-94) and Jospeh Mazzoni of Rancho Murieta, California (1965-68), as well as Robert Fields of Beaverton, Oregon, a refuge manager trainee at the Bison Range in 1962-63.

'Consequences'

Even though no bill has been introduced, PEER claims such a bill would give the entire refuge complex, including the prized bison herd totaling nearly $100 million in value, to the CSKT without any compensation. Ironically, federal taxpayers had previously paid twice to purchase the refuges 18,000 acres.

PEERs press release announcing the lawsuit also charges that there will be no requirement for the tribes to maintain the Bison Range as a wildlife refuge or admit the public, nor make any provision for the fate of the bison herd that calls the refuge home.

The law requires federal agencies to think through the consequences of proposals before launching them, Paula Dinerstein, PEERs lead attorney, said. The inability or unwillingness of the Service to do its homework on the Bison Range has kept this century-old refuge in political limbo for more than a decade.

In response, CSKT spokesman Rob McDonald said, PEERs press release intentionally ignores the fact that legislation to restore the Bison Range to federal trust ownership for the tribes would require continued bison conservation, as well as continued public access. Chairman Finley publicly affirmed both of those points in an April 3 Missoulian guest column.

McDonald also took issue with the suggestion that the federal government has twice paid the tribes for the land where the Bison Range is located.

The government unlawfully took the land, which the tribes did not want to sell, to begin with, he said, and then paid the tribes $1.56 an acre, a fraction of its value even in 1912. Almost 60 years later, a court ordered the government to pony up the rest of the actual 1912 market value of $14 an acre, and the tribes were compensated just over $231,000.

PEER lost credibility on Bison Range issues long ago, McDonald said. Their history of playing fast and loose with the facts is troublesome.
Emanuel described the years 1954 and 1955 as the most frightening of his life. It was time to leave. His father happily accepted a transfer to the Sydney affiliate of his telecommunications company. In January 1956, six months ahead of Egypt's descent into the Suez and Sinai conflicts, the Raftopoulos family arrived in Sydney.

Emanuel Raft was born in Suez in 1938. His Italian-Egyptian mother taught him Italian, and his Greek-Egyptian father spoke to him in Greek. He completed his secondary education at the British School, where he was first encouraged to draw and paint. But beyond the school walls, Egypt was a tense and troubled country.

In 1997, the publishers of a monograph on the work of artist Emanuel Raft titled the book Emanuel Raft. Painting. Jewellery. Sculpture. Printmaking. The title highlighted Emanuel Raft's significance as an artist: he practised, with an unusual excellence, across an abnormally wide number of disciplines.

Emanuel's father was determined that his son should enter a profession, and brushed aside his expressed interest in art. Architectural studies at the University of Sydney was the agreed compromise. However, Raft (as he now called himself) surreptitiously enrolled as a part-time student at the Bissietta Art School. In mid-1959, he sailed for Europe and for Milan. He studied at the Brere Academy, where Bissietta himself had studied. Later that year he was joined by Philippa Wilkins, who had been a fellow student in Sydney and would herself become a prominent fibre artist. They travelled on to Paris and London.

Returning to Sydney, he began the paintings that would initially establish his reputation. They were of unnerving bleached bone-like forms surrounded by a funereal gloom. Emanuel scarred and seared his paintings with a blowtorch. His exhibitions of these early 1960s paintings often included pieces of jewellery, and indeed later, in the 1970s, he would represent Britain in jewellery exhibitions. He preferred to call his jewellery "wearable sculptures". Raft's jewellery was as bold and as handsomely untidy as the best work of the Sydney abstract expressionists.

In late 1963, Paddington's Hungry Horse Gallery (now Luccio's restaurant) produced a calendar featuring the work of the 12 artists they would be exhibiting during the forthcoming year. The calendar's iconic cover showed the 12 - including Raft - crowded a little apprehensively on the gallery's dodgy first floor balcony. They represented most of the cream of Australian contemporary abstract artists. Raft was still only 25.He had arrived.

Through his career his work swung, pendulum like, between romanticism/expressionism and classicism/formality. In 1968, the National Gallery of Victoria mounted "The Field". It included two of Raft's tall "Monolith" sculptures whose brooding black areas were invigorated by tidy, narrow stripes of pulsating colour.

In 1969, Philippa and Raft separated. In 1975, Raft married Helen Thaw after they met at a party in London. He recalled that "she was wearing a beautiful Ossie Clarke/Celia Birtwell dress that was held together by a collection of six great enamelled butterfly pins". She had been in London for a decade, and had established a Knightsbridge fashion and design business called Sids.
As Hillary Clinton edges closer to clinching the Democratic nomination  as of Monday, she needs just 73 more delegates  attention has turned to the other half of the ticket. Who will Clinton choose as her running mate? Last week Mark Cuban, sensing the race needed another billionaire reality-television star, suggested he would be a good Number Two. And while Clinton is unlikely to think that far outside of the box, there is an out-of-the-ordinary running mate who would be the perfect fit for her campaign: Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.

On paper, choosing Warren doesn't make a lot of sense. She doesn't add any demographic or regional balance to the ticket, attributes that were once considered essential traits for a running mate. Not only is Warren a woman just two years younger than Clinton, but she serves as the senator of Massachusetts, a reliably Democratic state just a stone's throw from New York, the state Clinton represented in the Senate.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Credit:AP

There are strategic reasons not to choose Warren as well. Should a Clinton-Warren ticket win in November, Warren would have to give up her Senate seat. Her replacement would be chosen by the governor, a Republican who would doubtless hand the seat to a fellow member of his party. That would cost the Democrats a critical vote in the upper house, opening the door to another cycle of Republican obstructionism.

Despite these drawbacks, Warren is a smart choice, perhaps the smartest choice Clinton could make. That's because the weakness of Clinton's campaign is its message. Or rather, its lack of one. Clinton has ideas  her platform clocks in at 174 pages  but no Big Idea. Her slogan "Fighting for Us," as Timothy Egan notes in the New York Times, sounds like "poll-driven pablum".
Our speaking out provoked a heated discussion and commentary in the media, especially since Minister for Education James Merlino asked for a review to examine the selection process for VCE English, literature, drama and theatre studies.

And so, when the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission, a civil and human rights organisation, was alerted to the fact that the play Tales of a City by the Sea was now part of the VCE drama list, we made our voice heard about its suitability and appropriateness as an educational text.

Cast of the play, Tales of A City by the Sea, when it premiered in 2014. Credit:Simon Schluter

They would also agree that the VCE system should never be appropriated as a tool to push a political agenda into the mainstream.

Most Victorians would agree that VCE texts should promote understanding of difficult and thorny issues, foster critical thinking and cultivate "democratic and community values".

Since we are not in the business of censorship, we never approached the minister to have the play removed. While we take great issue with the play, in a robust democracy we believe that the answer is more conversation, not less. Our goal was to generate a discussion about what our children are learning at school, and to question how a text, that in our view undermines respectful and inclusive Victoria, was included in the VCE curriculum.

Set in Gaza during the 2008 Hamas-Israel war, the play weaves in scenes, poems and conversations that portray Israelis as merciless and callous, "riding on their tanks  and their F-16 fighters  leaving their artefacts and ruins, leaving fire and debris" and wanting to push the Palestinians "back into the dark ages".

There is no historical context or pretence to an even-handed educational perspective, just a whitewashing of the facts that depicts Israelis as the cruel villains, and the Palestinians as the victims.

VCE students are never told about the 2005 Gaza withdrawal and the repeated peace offers made by Israel during the past two decades, the suicide bombings that have claimed the lives of thousands of Israelis, the efforts by the Israeli army to minimise civilian deaths, the thousands of rockets fired from Gaza at Israeli cities by Hamas, which is dedicated to Israel's destruction.

What will be fixed in the minds of impressionable young students is the message that the immoral, faceless Israelis kill Palestinians out of sheer evil.
Australia's arts sector is in need of restoration work and the Australian Greens give it a $270 million price tag.

The minor party says that's how much extra money arts needs, on top of the reversal of cuts the coalition government has made over the past few years.

A vote of confidence for the arts: Greens arts spokesman Adam Bandt. Credit:Michael Clayton-Jones

A well-resourced community is vital to the nation's thriving society, Greens arts spokesman Adam Bandt says.

"When George Brandis was sacked (as arts minister), artists and art-lovers breathed a sigh of relief, believing the attack was over," he said on Monday.
The new Finding Dory trailer has sparked a heated online debate over speculation the children's film features a lesbian couple.

You could miss it in a blink-of-an-eye but a brief scene in the new Finding Dory trailer has got everybody talking about what could be a first for Disney Pixar.

Just over a minute into the clip a toddler is pictured dropping her bottle after being knocked by a stroller.

One of two women picks up the cup saying: "Poor baby, let me get that for you."
Okwui Okpokwasili in Bronx Gothic. Credit:Sarah Walker "Really, as I thought about it, it just struck me that we were about to move back into the building and all eyes would be on it at that point and it really felt like, well, it's sort of a great moment for someone to come in and take the helm ... "The person who [is] standing up in front of the press and in front of donors and the audience and artists and the community ... is very potent around PS122. "This should be the person who has the kind of fire in the belly to deliver on the promise of what the vision might be. "I could do it, I'm happy to stand there and say 'This is what I think we should do. But I don't want to be there in another 10 years or five or six years.

"I thought, better to have someone else do it, and once you think it you have to do that." Gantner brought two critically acclaimed works  YOUARENOWHERE and Bronx Gothic, presented by PS122 and North Melbourne's Arts House  to last year's Melbourne Festival, both of which were a highlight for many (this writer included). He is working with YOUARENOWHERE creator Andrew Schneider on a new show which he hopes will come to Melbourne and can be partly built in Melbourne through the Arts House collaboration. He negotiated a three-year agreement between PS122 with the Australia Council which will see Australian companies and performers, including St Kilda's Ranters Theatre, appear on the New York stage. Gantner's legacy at PS122 will see the venue showcase Australian works and performers for a number of years.

"There's two more years of [the Australia Council funding] and there will be three more shows from new artists coming in January and the spring of 2017, and then there'll be three more in the 2017/18 season, [which] runs from September through to May. "I'm pretty confident that there will be work that continues to come after that. We have secured some funding that will go beyond that three-year period ... not from the Australia Council. "I'm very proud of what's happened here and that you know this isn't a short-term commitment, it's going to be something that really lasts and the partnership that happens with Arts House is something that I think we're going to really see start to bear fruit over the next few years, with co-commissioning works and continuing the exchange of ideas and people, I think there's going to be a lot that comes out of that. "I'm very pleased that in the last couple of years in my tenure I've been able to set a deeper connectivity between the two cities." As for what comes next, he has no immediate plans to return permanently to Australia, and said he had not been approached about the STC job.

Rather than take on a new role immediately, he seems happy to step back for a bit as his partner Lucy Taylor's acting career blossoms (the pair have a young child). A Victorian College of the Arts graduate and once a regular performer in Malthouse, Melbourne Theatre Company and Belvoir shows, she has recently appeared in comedian Louis CK's self-made web show Horace and Pete, prime time US TV series Limitless and a number of shows on the New York stage. "I've been running flat-out for 16-17 years," the 42-year-old says, "since I was at the Melbourne Festival, and went from Melbourne to the Dublin Fringe and came over here and its been kind of non-stop. I thought it'd be good to take a bit of time off and have a bit of time for contemplation and decide what I want to do. "Of course I think about it all the time," he says of coming home. "But right now Lucy is, you know, getting exciting work here in New York and I'm excited in staying here a little while longer, so no plans." Gantner has previously been critical of both the cuts to the Australia Council, reduced funding for small-to-medium arts organisations and the failure of major performing arts groups to stand up for them. (The Australian Major Performing Arts Group, AMPAG, which represents companies including The Australian Ballet and Opera Australia as well as state-based companies), released a statement this month urging the government to reinstate funding after many small-to-medium companies lost funding in the Australia Council's four-year round announced on May 13.)
For an actor who made his name in The Jewel in the Crown, Art Malik could be forgiven for thinking that he's been typecast again. The Pakistani-born actor is currently enjoying his most high-profile television role in years, as the Maharaja in last-days-of-the-Raj drama Indian Summers. It's a peach of a role in which he gets to dress in silk and jewels, have afternoon sex and smoke weed with his mistress, Sirene (played by Rachel Griffiths), while toying with the white colonial power-brokers who seem to have taken up residence deep in his satin pocket.

Malik admits that it has been fun to play a "top dog" in a British period drama. "Well, it certainly doesn't happen very often, does it?" he laughs. Joking aside, he makes the point that British TV's obsession with period dramas  which, by and large, reflect the experience of being white  are not especially good news if you happen to be an actor with different coloured skin or a different ethnic background.

Art Malik in Indian Summers. Credit:Theresa Ambrose

"People say to me, 'Why don't we see more of you on television?' And that's a good question," he says. "But I don't know what kind of dramas we're going to make. Am I overjoyed when somebody says, 'Oh, we're going to do another Jane Austen'? No  because there's never anything in it for me.

"We're not yet in a situation in British drama where someone thinks about maybe casting an Asian to play Mr Darcy. It's down to a basic lack of imagination, and a kind of laziness, too."
In a recent poll of 358 film directors, Federico Fellini's Otto e Mezzo (8) came in at No 4 of the Top 15 Films of All Time. And who would disagree over its right to be so nobly included, for this is a giant of early-1960s Italian cinema, arguably the most cool and elegant period in world filmmaking. Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni) is a revered film director who has reached a creative impasse. Like many an auteur before him, he has a faltering interest in his current project (a science-fiction movie). And instead of its proposed autobiographical elements exciting Guido, they trouble him, setting off a complex series of flashbacks and dreams. Shot in the most exquisite black-and-white, with one of the most charming and charismatic actors in cinema, this is a stunning film for the ages. It has left an impact on modern cinema and consciousness second to none. Scott Murray

ABC, 7.30pm

It can often be hard to relate to many of the homebuilders on Grand Designs, with their extraordinary views, experimental architects and often mind-blowing budgets, but tonight's couple, Ed, a chef, and Vicky, a pilates instructor, who are making the move from London to an off-the-grid rural lifestyle, are genuinely inspirational. Without the use of an architect, project manager or even builders, aside from Ed's mate who lends a hand, and some professional roofing guys, the pair set out to convert the bones of a giant old cow shed in Somerset into a spacious home themselves, relying heavily on Google and YouTube videos to learn as they go. Host Kevin McCloud is sceptical, but by the program's end  and barely eight months later  even he's blown away with what someone with no building experience can learn online. Kylie Northover

Pay: 47 Below

Nat Geo People, 7.30pm

A gripping documentary following Australian adventurer Geoff Wilson on a 3400km solo expedition across Antarctica. It begins with an arresting scene. Wilson is huddled in a tent, sheltering from a gale-force storm; outside, barely visible through the blinding snow, there stands a pair of large pink breasts. They belong to the "boob sled" that Wilson is hauling to raise money for the McGrath Foundation. That he was able to make it the 2267km from Novo Station to the South Pole, and then another 1160km from the pole to Hercules Inlet almost defies belief. His video diary details terrifying snowstorms, frostbite, accidents, and a disastrous loss of food. Even on good days when favourable winds enabled him to kite-ski across the ice, the relentless pounding left his knees and back in agony. There's more compelling viewing on CI, meanwhile, as Crimes That Shook Australia looks at the murder of Peter Falconio. Brad Newsome
MISSOULA  The eatin' is good at the University of Montana  think a "Star Wars" omelet bar, for starters, and a gold medal for Missoula College, too.

This month, UM announced it and Missoula College had earned some awards related to food and cooking, with the George Lucas eggs pulling in a bronze medal. The prize went to UM Dining from the National Association of College and University Food Services in a competition that had 80 schools vying for wins in six categories.

"The event featured a 'Star Wars' inspired menu, elaborate settings, staff members dressed as characters from the movies, karaoke and games," according to a news release from University Relations about the Food Zoo staff.

In the same competition, UM's The Iron Griz bistro won a gold award in the category of large universities in a recognition that celebrates "exemplary menus, presentations, special event planning and new concepts in campus dining services." The Galloping Griz food truck earned a silver award.

"The Loyal E. Horton Awards are the top award for facility, concept and menu design in our industry," said UM Dining Director Mark LoParco in a statement.

Culinary students at Missoula College are also stirring up mouth-watering  and victorious  dishes. Earlier this month, Katie Barnes brought home the gold in a competition that "drew more than 50 student and professional chefs from across the country."

The winning dessert? "Deep fried bunyols with dark chocolate filling, accompanied by a rhubarb caramel sauce, fresh strawberries and pistachio butter ice cream topped with caramel brittle."

For the win, Barnes woke up daily at 4 a.m. to practice in the eight weeks before the competition. The day of the battle, she had 15 minutes to set up, an hour to cook the dish, and 10 minutes to plate it.

"Coming back home with a gold made it worth it, and I would do it all again just to feel that pride," Barnes said in a statement.
The Great Barrier Reef deserves a "billion dollar" funding rescue package like the $10 billion promised in 2007 to revitalise the Murray Darling Basin, conservation groups said on Monday.

This call came as Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, in Cairns on Monday morning, announced $500 million over five years to protect the Great Barrier Reef and as evidence shows extensive coral bleaching.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in Cairns on Monday. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Labor's reef funding package includes $377 million in new funding, including $50 million set aside for the CSIRO reef science research funding.

"This is a down payment on Labor's commitment to protect this great national treasure and the jobs it supports," Mr Shorten said.
Labor infrastructure spokesman Anthony Albanese has dismissed suggestions of a rift between him and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, saying they have "exactly the same view" on the WestConnex infrastructure project, and denying he was given a "clip across the ear" for recent comments.

The Sydney motorway's future was thrown into doubt by a commitment from the former Labor leadership contender that, if he was infrastructure minister after the election, "there will not be $1 from the federal Labor government" made available for it.

On the same page? Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Shadow Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Amid ongoing local anger over the project, Mr Albanese has stood by the remark and has now sought to clarify what he meant and insist the project can still go ahead.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he expects a plebiscite on same-sex marriage to be held by the end of 2016 if the Coalition is returned to government, his strongest commitment yet on the timing of the vote.

"We will hold it as soon as possible after the election. Given that the election is on 2 July, we do have ample time between then and the end of the year. So I would expect it to be held this calendar year," he said on Monday.

"But it will be held as soon as practical, as obviously legislation has got to pass through the Parliament so all I can do is give you my commitment to hold a plebiscite as soon as we can and it will be a very straightforward question and we will be asking the Australian people whether they support the definition of marriage being extended to include couples of the same sex."
It's the show that helped Malcolm Turnbull build his credentials as a potential prime minister. And where he famously set progressive hearts aflutter by donning a leather jacket.

As communications minister, Turnbull opposed Tony Abbott's boycott of Q&A following the Zaky Mallah affair, saying the Coalition should be spreading its message as widely as possible.

But Q&A may well be a Turnbull-free zone this campaign.
A large fire has destroyed a factory in Marrickville in Sydney's inner west.

Emergency crews received a number of triple zero calls at 9:45pm on Monday reporting that a furniture warehouse in Rich Street near Victoria Road was well alight.

A factory fire has broken out at Marrickville. Credit:David McMillan

NSW Fire and Rescue said it was a "large scale fire" and that numerous crews were on sight late on Monday night and trying to bring it under control.

Several hours later they confirmed the furniture factory had been completely destroyed.
The promise of tapping into Android's Google Play mobile app store on stripped-down Chrome OS notebooks aims to win more Aussies away from "real" computers.

At first glance a Chromebook is basically a stripped-back netbook which only runs Google's Chrome web browser, although this isn't necessarily a bad thing in terms of performance and security compared to a traditional notebook.

Google's Chromebooks aim to win us away from traditional desktop computers with the addition of Android apps.

Travellers who are sick of fighting with a small but sluggish netbook, yet can't justify the expense of a powerful Windows Ultrabook or MacBook Air, might find that a Chromebook is the compromise they've been looking for  especially if you already favour Google's cloud services. Over the last few years the Chrome OS ecosystem of web apps has matured into a platform which can meet most people's needs, most of the time, and has certainly found success where Microsoft's stripped-down Windows RT fell flat on its face. Now Google is ready to take Chromebooks to the next level.

It's still a leap of faith to trade your "real" computer running Windows or MacOS for a Chromebook, just as you might be reluctant to swap your notebook for a versatile iOS/Android tablet even though you know it can handle most tasks. To sweeten the deal Google is building Android into Chrome OS, letting you make the most of Chrome OS apps and Android's Google Play app store.
Parents of girls whose gathering was stormed by 30 gatecrashers are calling for police to charge the teenagers who forced their way into the family home, stole alcohol and damaged property.

Darryn Tucker said his teenage daughters had about eight school friends at his Kew home when the large group jumped the fence and threw a beer bottle through a window.

Mr Tucker and his wife were dining in the city when they received a call from his terrified daughters.

"It was absolutely intimidating for my young girls," he said.
Private investors would stand to profit by backing successful programs tackling social disadvantage under a proposed new scheme.

Under the social impact bond program, investors would bear the financial risk for funding the projects.

A NSW social bonds program was used to reduce the number of children in foster care. Credit:Belinda Pratten

They would receive dividends generated through savings for the Victorian government if the projects met or exceeded agreed goals.

The NSW government has already introduced social bonds to fund services, while similar schemes have been adopted by governments in the US and UK.
A body found in the river near Mosman Park on Monday is believed to be that of missing man, Sean Mitchell.

The body was located by a member of the public near Chidley Point Reserve but formal identification is yet to be completed.

A bag belonging to missing Sean David Mitchell (inset) was found at Blackwall Reach.

The 37-year-old's family have been notified by police who said there were no suspicious circumstances.

Police on Monday morning had called off a land, air and water search for Mr Mitchell who disappeared 10 days ago after boarding his friend's yacht alone in rough sea conditions.
Today remains special to many people, but not all. It should be special to everyone because its a day of remembrance for those who fell in service of their nation.

Honor and color guards will be visiting cemeteries and other sites today to honor service members. There will be a ceremony at 10 a.m. at the North Dakota Heritage Center and another at noon at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery. It isnt easy for all the veterans on the honor and color guards to travel to the different sites to march and stand for a period of time. As they get older the bones dont cooperate as well as they did when they were in their 20s. They havent forgotten the men and women they served with and that keeps them going.

They also remain a fountain of information.

The Bismarck Tribune and its readers have been blessed to have about 100 veterans share their memories of service. They range in age from their early 60s to 100 and their experiences have been vastly different. They have voiced varying opinions about the wars in which they served  World War II, Korea and Vietnam. They do share a pride in their country and their service.

Today we end a series of interviews with veterans of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. The first series, of veterans from the Vietnam era, was published in the weeks before Veterans Day. The second series ending today looked at three wars. When you look back on all the stories you realize they provide a mini history of the three conflicts.

Garland Crook, 91, incredibly served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He was with the Army Security Agency under Gen. John Lee and took part in the funeral for Gen. George Patton during WW II. Charlie Miller, Raleigh, survived intense combat in Vietnam and later lost his brother in the war. If you missed some of the stories or want to read them again, go to bismarcktribune.com/veterans. They are worth your time.

When you read the stories its not difficult to understand the bond that developed among the service members. It wasnt just going into battle together, it was life at close quarters in jungle heat, winter cold and other weather extremes. In these conditions you become close to your buddies and when you lose one you dont forget. So getting up early to make the rounds on Memorial Day isnt an imposition, its an act of friendship.

The services today serve as reminder of the sacrifices by the many who fell so the country could remain free. Their families, friends and comrades suffered the pain of loss. Everyone today should take a moment to remember those who died and those who served. They earned that and much more.
A WA adventurer has cycled a distance equivalent to twice around the world and is now gearing up to make the first bicycle crossing of the Antarctic continent via the south pole.

University of Western Australia graduate Dr Kate Leeming recently returned from Greenland as part of her preparation for the ride set for November.

Her exploration journey was captured by filmmaker Claudio von Planta.

"It puts you back in touch with the actual harsh reality of what is going to be required," Dr Leeming said.
Madrid: Gibraltar could find its access to the single European market blocked by a hostile Spanish government if the United Kingdom votes to leave the European Union in a referendum next month, the chief minister of the tiny British territory on Spain's south-western tip said on Sunday.

Fabian Picardo said that Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo had warned that if Britain exits the EU, the Popular Party government currently in power would "require that we accept joint sovereignty with Spain to have access to the market".

An aerial photo of Gibraltar, looking north-west, with Spain at the top right just past the airport. Credit:Steve/Flickr/CC

Mr Picardo said British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond had acknowledged that the European mechanisms in place to keep the frontier between Spain and Gibraltar flowing "will not be available to us if we are not members of the EU".
London: A leadership coup has erupted in Britain, with senior government MPs rebelling against the prime minister David Cameron's strategy for keeping Britain in EU. A senior Tory MP declared on the weekend he was ready to demand that Mr Cameron leaves office unless he tones down attacks on the Leave EU side.

Sir Bill Cash, who chairs the European scrutiny committee, said that he has grown infuriated by the Prime Minister's "monumentally misleading propaganda" and demanded he take a more conciliatory tone.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne deliver a speech on the potential economic impact to the UK on leaving the European Union. Credit:Getty Images

The veteran Eurosceptic said he was "certainly considering" submitting a letter calling for a no-confidence vote and gave the leadership 10 days to drop "inaccurate" warnings about Brexit.
Ms Ulrich posted her account of the events to Facebook in a post she titled "GUESS WHO STOPPED A RAPE LAST NIGHT?! THESE GALS!"

As they were eating and drinking, Ms Kenyon noticed the man secretly putting something into the woman's drink.

Three women, dining at a restaurant in the US, have been hailed as heroes after they warned a woman sitting nearby that her date had spiked her drink.

In the post, she quoted Ms Kenyon as saying: "He pulled her glass toward him, kind of awkwardly, then he took out a little black vial. He opened it up and dropped something in. Then he tried to play it cool, like checking his phone and hiding the vial in his hand and then trying to bring it back down slyly."

Ms Ulrich decided to warn the victim, and when she visited the toilet, Ms Ulrich followed her.

"So, after feeling awkward hanging out by the sinks in the bathroom til she was done, I approached," she posted, saying, " 'Hey! Um, this is kind of weird, but, uh, we saw the guy you were with put something in your drink.'

" 'Oh My God.' She said. Shocked, kind of numb, so I babbled 'Yeah, my girlfriend said she saw him put something in your drink and we had to say something. Woman to woman ... you know. We had to say something. How well do you know that guy?' "

The victim said that she had known the man for a year and a half and that they worked together.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Detectives that are busy in the Colade investigation arrested Regina Labega, Fabian Badejoe and Erica Fortuno early Monday morning as they continue with the six year old investigation that involves the suspects. The trio had an account in the name of DMC registered in Anguilla. DMC is a registered company where Labega is a shareholder.

The company was registered as a marketing company and was working for the Tourist Office while Labega was heading that department.

During the early stages of the Colade investigation, detectives and the prosecutors office had found the off-shore account for DMC in Anguilla where monies from Chase Manhattan Bank in New York was transferring up to 1.2M UDS to the DMC account in Anguilla. At that time Fortuno was heading the New York Tourist Office, while Labega was head of St. Maarten Tourist Bureau. The monies sent to that company was for marketing purposes. SMN News understands that the company DMC belonged to Labega, Badejoe and Fortuno.

On October 16th 2015 the National detectives conducted five house searches which were led by the judge of instruction, on the request of the public prosecutors office.

However, on Monday May 30th 2016 the detectives made a second move, this time made some more searches and arrested the three suspects. Regina Labega, Fabian Badejoe and Erica Fortuno.

The prosecutor's office through its spokesman Gino Bernadina confirmed the arrest of the trio.

The fourth suspect Edward Dest appeared before the court on March 25th 2015 and was sentenced to one day prison sentence.

Three arrests in Colade investigation

On Monday May 30, 2016 three suspects, namely, R.L. (56), F.A.A.B. (65) en E.A.I.F (36) have been arrested following the complaint of embezzlement in employment, theft and forgery filed by the head of the Finance Department on November 25, 2010 against employees of the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau. They will be heard on the currently available research results. This will probably take several days, given the size of the dossier.

The National Detective Agency has been busy with a long-term investigation against the staff of the St. Maarten Tourism Bureau. In this regard the National Detective Bureau conducted on October 15, 2015 house searches on five different locations. This investigation, called Colade, is now almost completed.

The long duration of the investigation is due to the fact that a lot of information had to be obtained from abroad and their analysis has taken much time. In addition, the National Detectives Department, in particular when the investigation started, had a very limited capacity and was constantly confronted with other big investigations.

The case against a fourth suspect E.J.D. (51)in the Colade investigation has already been brought in front of the judge. On March 25, 2015 he was sentenced to one (1) day in jail for complicity in the deliberate misappropriation of money or monetary instruments as an official.

The prosecution intends to present this investigation to court in the second half of 2016.

Update Colade investigation:

The three suspects R.L. (56), F.A.A.B. (65) and E.A.I.F. (36) arrested this morning, May 30, 2016 have been taken into custody. The suspects are being heard in the Colade investigation. This investigation is taking place following the complaint of embezzlement in employment, theft and forgery filed by the head of the Finance Department on November 25, 2010.
PHILIPSBURG:--- Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo amongst many other MPs attended the FRED EXPO held in the Netherlands.

It is here that the MP met with the Unified St. Maarten Connection (USC) foundation and was fully informed about the objectives and the driving force/motivation behind the organization.

The foundation unifies young St. Maarteners through the hosting of social and educational events. During the expo, members of the foundation could be seen assisting St. Maarten students with their resumes.

What captured the attention of the Member of Parliament is that USC, a non-profit organization has creatively and strategically found ways to reach out to the students. This clearly depicts that they are competent, functions on a professional level and capable of bridging the gap between students from Sint Maarten living in the Netherlands (vice versa).

From experience Member of Parliament Leona Marlin-Romeo a former mentor and regional coordinator of the SSNA (Stichting Studie Commissie Nederlands Antillen), has often emphasized the need to inform/prepare students for their journey abroad a year or two before graduation.

Doing such in the exam year only places extra pressure on the students. The extra time allows the student to better study and digest the information given, stated the MP.

The USC publishes an annual student manual stated the Member of Parliament that should be endorsed by the Study Financing Department and the community. The manual consists of 67 pages with in-depth information about a multitude of topics related to life in the Netherlands, from applying for DUO to combatting the winter blues.

This should be made readily accessible in Sint Maarten, in print form not only for prospective students but for those students who intend to pursue their education in the Netherlands without receiving a government loan. The latter students are known as free movers.

Free movers are often left to venture into the Netherlands on their own with guidance from another student or family member. Having such a manual is of vital importance for a free mover.

USC offers the needed connection between students in the Netherlands and Sint Maarten in the areas of internships and jobs by linking with several companies on the island and in the Netherlands, including PwC, White & Yellow Cross and KPMG, who all sent representatives to the FRED Expo according to Cyriel Pfennings, the financial director of the organization.

Member of Parliament Leona Marlin-Romeo encourages the business community to support the foundation with structural contributions based on their outlined needs.

The Member of Parliament is calling for the Minister of Education to fully recognize the Unified St. Maarten Connection and consider networking and partnering with the foundation to complement the neglected areas left by the closure of S4.

The MP encourages all prospective students and their parents to visit the website of the foundation to familiarize themselves with the organization. www.uscfoundation.com
PHILIPSBURG:--- One of the victims that was shot during the shootout at Westin Resort on Sunday identified as Levi Webster recently came out of prison. According to information SMN News received through the Prosecutors Office Webster was convicted in 2009 for an armed robbery that also claimed the life of a man. In 2009 Webster was convicted to 7 years and nine months.

SMN News understands not long after Webster got out of prison he began working at Checkmate in a senior position as supervisor/patrol just over a month ago.

When the shootout took place on Sunday the two Checkmate security guards were not on duty and the company also does not have a contract with Westin Resort. Police also confiscated a large sum of monies that was in one of the vehicles that transported the shooters to Westin Resort. According to the information SMN News received states that two vehicles a white jeep and a small blue car transported the shooters to Westin Resort. Webster is said to be in critical condition at the ICU section of the St. Maarten Medical Center as one of the bullets is lodged somewhere in the head area and he was sent by airvac to Dominican Republic for further treatment.

One of the same vehicles transported the injured men to the St. Maarten Medical Center for treatment.

Karim Lake is also a young man that is known by law enforcement officers but he was never convicted for any crime based on information provided to SMN News. A third victim who was with the two victims that were shot jumped off the second floor of the parking area and broke his leg.

So far police are very tightlipped about the ongoing investigation.
Woman Sent to Hospital No Official Confirmation

Officials have shut down 3 miles of Corona Del Mar State Beach in Orange County, after a young woman was bitten by an animal on her upper torso and shoulder.The woman was rushed to an OC hospital, with injuries consistent with a shark attack.

She had been swimming about 100 yards off Newport Beach, when she was apparently attacked or bitten. Witnesses say she was bleeding heavily.

Authorities don't know if it was a shark attack, as opposed to some other animal or some other cause. Nevertheless, County Lifeguards closed the 3 mile long State Beach, crowded with Memorial weekend beachgoers this afternoon.

"There was a bunch of helicopters and surf boats," said Hope Warrick. "When they told us to get out of the water, we all got out of the water really quickly," said Ben Haight who was on the beach at the time.

"The animal was big and gray, we assumed it was a shark," said beachgoes Elizabeth Warrick, who believes she saw a shark or other large gray fish.

Helicopters and boats have searched the area, but did not see any sharks. "We will keep the beach closed until we are sure there is no threat to the public", said a Rob Williams, a Newport Beach police officer. Authorities will re-evaluate their decision Monday morning.

As the summer beach season opens in the United States, at least one expert is predicting an increase in shark attacks around the world this year that will surpass last year's record number.

A dead shark washed up near Newport Beach in February.

"We should have more bites this year than last," George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida, said in an interview shortly before the Memorial Day holiday weekend that signals the unofficial start of America's summer vacation - and beach - season.

In 2015, there were 98 shark attacks, including six fatalities, according to Burgess.

Why the increased bloodshed? Shark populations are slowly recovering from historic lows in the 1990s, the world's human population has grown and rising temperatures are leading more people to go swimming, Burgess said.

Still, the university notes that fatal shark attacks, while undeniably graphic, are so infrequent that beachgoers face a higher risk of being killed by sand collapsing as the result of over achieving sand castle builders.
Donald Trump Appears at Exclusive Home

The ink is barely dry on the joint fundraising agreement between Donald Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee, but discord is already brewing.

As Trump sweeps through California this week holding high-dollar fundraisers to benefit the party and his campaign, a small group of Trump loyalists planned to huddle at an unofficial finance meeting Wednesday to discuss whether the party has Trump's best interests at heart, according to one GOP donor.

Chief among their concerns: A fundraising agreement that they believe could fill the RNC's coffers but leave far less to benefit the candidate, as well as a finance team composed of veteran GOP fundraisers with little allegiance to Trump.

Trump's first fundraising event was expected Wednesday evening at the home of investor Thomas Barrack Jr., and tickets start at $25,000, the Los Angeles Times reported. Barrack's home is in Santa Monica.

A police officer told KTLA that extra security was added around the Santa Monica home after violence following a Trump rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Tuesday night.

Parts of San Vicente Boulevard were blocked off early Wednesday evening.

Even as the Trump campaign and the RNC begin to work together more closely, the concerns among some financiers highlight the lingering distrust Trump backers feel toward the Republican Party.

"I don't think the RNC is 100% committed," to helping the billionaire businessman, the GOP donor said. "If Donald Trump's seven points down in October, they're going to put that money toward Senate races and House races."

Trump, who funded much of his primary campaign from his own fortune, has only just begun to lay the groundwork to raise his goal of roughly $1 billion for the general election. He recently tapped Steven Mnunchin - a newcomer to the GOP fundraising scene who has previously donated to Democrats, including Hillary Clinton - as his finance chair.

But most of the fundraising effort is being run out of the RNC, with the party providing the necessary staff and resources.

"We have built probably the most impressive fundraising operation in political history with some of the most prominent and successful Republican fundraisers," said Sean Spicer, disputing the notion that the party wasn't fully supporting Trump.

Under the joint fundraising agreement, Trump can hit up donors for nearly $450,000 to benefit his campaign as well as the GOP. The first $5,400 of those checks goes directly to the Trump campaign.

A Santa Monica home owner by investor Thomas Barrack Jr. is shown on May 25, 2016, when it was expected to host a fundraiser for Donald Trump.

But some donors are still hoping to convince the campaign to hold a series of fundraisers focused on bringing in smaller, hard dollar checks to pump up Trump's primary and general election accounts.

"Some of us are going, 'Hey, we've got six weeks to really make it rain,'" before Trump officially becomes the nominee and can no longer accept primary dollars, according to the donor.

Meanwhile, a disjointed web of super PACs supporting Trump has only compounded the confusion. None of them have been even tacitly blessed by the candidate - who spent months railing against big donors - leaving some contributors who'd like to cut six-figure checks still sitting on the sidelines, multiple donors said. Several of the donors unveiled by one of the super PACs as prominent supporters told CNN they still haven't given a cent to the group.
Inevitable Result of the Culture Wars?

As Americans across the U.S. begin Memorial Day weekend, vandals defaced veteran memorials in California, Kentucky, and Virginia.

ABC News reports:

Memorials to veterans in a Los Angeles neighborhood and a town in Kentucky, as well as a Civil War veterans cemetery in Virginia, were damaged as the nation prepares to mark Memorial Day.

A Vietnam War memorial in the Venice area of Los Angeles has been extensively defaced by graffiti. The vandalism occurred sometime during the past week, KCAL/KCBS-TV (http://cbsloc.al/1RAa3mg) reported. The homespun memorial painted on a block-long wall on Pacific Avenue lists the names of American service members missing in action or otherwise unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.

News of the vandalism came as another veterans-related memorial was reported damaged in Henderson, Kentucky. Police say a Memorial Day cross display there that honors the names of 5,000 veterans of conflicts dating back to the Revolutionary War has been damaged by a driver who plowed through the crosses early Saturday.

In Virginia, the Petersburg National Battlefield has apparently has been looted, the National Park Service said. Numerous excavations were found at the Civil War battlefield last week, Jeffrey Olson, and agency spokesman, said in a news release Friday. Petersburg National Battlefield is a 2,700-acre park marks where more than 1,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died fighting during the Siege of Petersburg 151 years ago.

In Los Angeles' Venice neighborhood, the wall for missing veterans has been tagged previously, but the latest vandalism covers the bottom half of the memorial for much of its length.

The vandalism of the Venice, California memorial appears to be a large graffiti "tag" that covers much of the memorial and is described as "desecration."

CBS Los Angeles reports:

Stewart Oscars welled up as he looked at the vandalized mural located on Pacific Avenue near Sunset Court. It was covered in graffiti from end to end.

Closeup of graffiti

"This knocked me out. So sickening. Just sadness...think of all these people. They're gone," Oscars said. "I remember the Vietnam war and how friends went to war, and bodies came back. Somehow, it has to be taught that this is not a good idea. This is actually stupid."

The memorial was dedicated to service members who were listed as missing in action during the Vietnam War.

George Francisco is the Vice President of the Venice Chamber of Commerce. He also runs a nonprofit called Veterans Foundation Incorporated.

"It's a desecration. I mean it's very simple. There's no sort of other way around it. It isn't graffiti," Francisco said.
Mobile Network Operators of the world meet at the 18th SIGOS Telecommunications Conference in Frankfurt, Germany

05.2016  The German based company SIGOS invites Mobile Network Operators worldwide to join the annual Telecommunications Conference. The conference is taking place in a different city each year and has travelled from Germany to China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Mexico to this year?s venue at the Marriott Hotel in Frankfurt, Germany.

More than 130 Mobile Network Operators from over 80 countries around the globe join to exchange about industry topics such as: Service quality and experience in tele-communication, network performance, international roaming and network fraud and bypass detection.

Over the two-day conference a number of speeches, panel discussions and workshops are provided by network operators, carriers and standardisation organisations giving insights on how SIGOS solutions are used across the variety of network technologies such as GSM, UMTS, LTE and so on. At the same time, future network technologies and how to ensure service quality and customer satisfaction are equally important and part of dedicated sessions.

Adil Kaya, CEO of SIGOS: ?Mobile Telecommunication has become an essential part of everyday life. More and more people use mobile technology each day, worldwide. Mobile is a highly innovative industry and new features and technologies are introduced continuously ? we all changed the way we use our handsets already and we will continue to change our usage in the future. SIGOS helps network operators to ensure best quality service to their subscriber base.?

With over 380 delegates, the 18th SIGOS Telecommunications Conference is the largest in company history.

SIGOS is the worldwide leader in active testing and Fraud Detection of telecommunication networks and services. The solutions enable operators, OTT, content providers, carriers and regulators to fully understand Quality of Service and Experience from an end-user perspective.

The SITE test system supports proactive testing across all technologies and network infrastructures. GlobalRoamer, the worlds largest roaming testing platform, provides access to over 780 networks in 206 countries. Fraud Detection and Revenue Assurance conclude the innovative and market leading portfolio.

SIGOS today serves over 440 network operators in 152 countries worldwide, including most top 100 network operators.
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WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Under the dark of night, while World World War II raged across Europe, Ruth Shephard patrolled the halls of the 188th General Hospital near London.

Shephard, a native of Grafton, joined the U.S. Army in 1941.

"I was young and silly ... so I wanted to do something important, something good, so that's why I joined the Army. And I guess I was young enough to not know any better," said the now-93 year-old.

She attended nursing school in her hometown and went through basic training alongside male soldiers at Fort Snelling in St. Paul, Minn.

"She was a trailblazer," said her daughter, Carol Grabow. "For women to do that back in those days was very rare."

After a nine-day trip across the Atlantic Ocean, Shephard was sent to Cirencester, England.

As a night-shift nurse at the rehabilitation hospital for American soldiers, Shephard helped wounded soldiers recover and eventually return home or to the battlefield, something she took great pride in, but admits keeping the soldiers' spirits up could be one of the hardest parts of her job.

Shephard was discharged from the Army in 1945 with the rank of first lieutenant.

"I was glad to get home," Shephard said. "But I feel as if I did my job."

She returned home and continued her career as a nurse. A co-worker eventually set her up on a blind date with her future husband, Robert Shephard. Ruth and Robert had grown up about 30 miles apart but had never met.

Robert asked Ruth to marry him on their third date.

Robert was also a veteran. He served four years in the 92nd Armored Field Artillery Division as a Tank Commander. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge and was a fourth-wave soldier who braved the shores of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day.

Robert Shephard would go on to earn a Bronze Star and Purple Heart, two of the highest military commendations.

Grabow said while she was growing up, her mother and father didn't talk very much about their time in war but, as grandchildren started to ask them questions, the couple began to open up much more and shared their story throughout the community.

The Shephards would build their life together, farming near Crystal, N.D., where fourth-generation farmer Thomas Shephard is now continuing the family legacy. Robert Shephard died in 2012 at age 93.

Thomas was one of seven children and grandchildren from across five different states who surprised Ruth in Washington, D.C., May 22 when she touched down with more than 90 other North Dakota and Minnesota veterans on the 2016 WDAY Honor Flight. The group toured the nation's war monuments, among other activities, for two days.

Shephard was accompanied on the plane by son Lyle Shephard, who is a Vietnam War veteran.

"It's such an honor get to experience our nation's capital with the brave men and women we can thank for our freedom," Thomas said. "It's so cool to be a part of. This trip has been amazing, the only regret we have as a family is that we didn't come earlier so that my grandpa could have come also."
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Three views of Mars at its best for 2016 take center stage in this collage of images by amateur astronomer Dylan ODonnell (at left as seen from his home-built backyard observatory in Byron Bay, New South Wales), the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft (center) and the Hubble Space Telescope. The images were all taken in mid-May 2016 to mark Mars' arrival at opposition on May 22, 2016.

As Mars reaches its closest approach to Earth in more than a decade tonight (May 30), you can watch the Memorial Day Martian event live online through the Slooh Community Observatory.

The broadcast starts at 9 p.m. EDT (1 a.m. UTC) and can be viewed live on the Slooh website. Viewers can send questions to @Slooh on Twitter, or chat live with the team on Slooh.com. The webcast will also be available here on Space.com.

Mars has always been a source of fascination: The planet is watched over by a fleet of spacecraft; NASA is developing plans to send humans for a visit, and Mars features heavily in pop culture, including the hit movie "The Martian"last year. Its distance from Earth can vary between 33.5 million miles (54 million kilometers) and 249 million miles (400 million km) depending on where the two planets are in their respective orbits. [First Mars, Then Saturn - It's An Opposition Party! (Video)]

Every 26 months, Earth and Mars come to the closest approach in their orbits. During the period between Mars' closest and furthest points, the Red Planet's size changes sevenfold from the perspective of Earthbound observers, Slooh officials said in the statement.

"The size of Mars varies more than any other planet, and we've waited a full decade for it to come this close and appear this large," Slooh astronomer Bob Berman said in a statement. "Throw in the fact that it's the only other planet on which humans will ever walk, and you can understand why everyone will be tuning in to this rare occasion."

The Slooh show will include discussion about Mars science, the planet's cultural significance and also the chances for life on the Martian surface. Berman will co-host the broadcast with fellow Slooh astronomer Paul Cox. The show will also feature Nicole Willett, of the Mars Society, who will talk about the planet's potential for exploration and settlement.

This sky map shows the location of Mars in the southeastern sky at 9 p.m. local time on May 30, 2016, when the planet will be at its closest to Earth in 11 years. Saturn will also be visible nearby, weather permitting. (Image credit: Starry Night Software

Mars is a point of interest for NASA because of the planet's potential for past or present life. In the past year, scientists have discovered that liquid water currently flows on the Red Planet's surface. The Curiosity rover has been tracking methane levels from the surface, and a newer mission called MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission) is looking at how fast the Martian atmosphere bleeds into space. NASA will land humans on Mars in the 2030s, if current plans come to pass. (Previous human Mars initiatives have been canceled.)

The commercial spaceflight company SpaceX announced in April that it would send a robotic craft to Mars as soon as 2018, with manned flights to follow. A few years ago, a private organization called Mars One announced plans to send a crew of astronauts on a one-way journey to the Red Planet's surface.

That mission is still decades out, but Mars One has selected finalist astronauts and is trying to secure funding and figure out the technology for the construction of the mission base. The company has said it expects robots to complete that construction.

Follow Elizabeth Howell @howellspace, or Space.com @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
40-year math mystery and 4 generations of figuring



by Staff Writers



Atlanta GA (SPX) May 30, 2016



Georgia Tech mathematicians Xingxing Yu, Yan Wang and Dawei He have offered a proof of the Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture nearly 40 years after Princeton Mathematician Paul Seymour made it in 1977. Image courtesy Micah Eavenson and Georgia Tech. For a larger version of this image please go here

This may sound like a familiar kind of riddle: How many brilliant mathematicians does it take to come up with and prove the Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture? But the answer is no joke, because arriving at it took mental toil that spanned four decades until this year, when mathematicians at the Georgia Institute of Technology finally announced a proof of that conjecture in Graph Theory.

Their research was funded by the National Science Foundation. Graph Theory is a field of mathematics that's instrumental in complex tangles. It helps you make more connecting flights, helps get your GPS unstuck in traffic, and helps manage your Facebook posts. Back to the question. How many? Six (at least).

One made the conjecture. One tried for years to prove it and failed but passed on his insights. One advanced the mathematical basis for 10 more years. One helped that person solve part of the proof. And two more finally helped him complete the rest of the proof.

Elapsed time: 39 years. So, what is the Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture, anyway? Its name comes from Paul Seymour from Princeton University, who came up with the notion in 1977. Then another mathematician named Alexander Kelmans, arrived at the same conjecture in 1979.

And though the Georgia Tech proof fills some 120 pages of math reasoning, the conjecture itself is only one short sentence:

If a graph G is 5-connected and non-planar, then G has a TK5.

The devil called 'TK5'

You could call a TK5 the devil in the details. TK5s are larger relatives of K5, a very simple formation that looks like a 5-point star fenced in by a pentagon. It resembles an occult or Anarchy symbol, and that's fitting. A TK5 in a "graph" is guaranteed to thwart any nice, neat "planar" status.

Graph Theory. Planar. Non-planar. TK5. Let's go to the real world to understand them better.

"Graph Theory is used, for example, in designing microprocessors and the logic behind computer programs," said Georgia Tech mathematician Xingxing Yu, who has shepherded the Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture's proof to completion. "It's helpful in detailed networks to get quick solutions that are reasonable and require low computational complexity."

To picture a graph, draw some cities as points on a whiteboard and lines representing interstate highways connecting them.

But the resulting drawings are not geometrical figures like squares and trapezoids. Instead, the lines, called "edges," are like wires connecting points called "vertices." For a planar graph, there is always some way to draw it so that the lines from point to point do not cross.

In the real world, a microprocessor is sending electrons from point to point down myriad conductive paths. Get them crossed, and the processor shorts out.

In such intricate scenarios, optimizing connections is key. Graphs and graph algorithms play a role in modeling them. "You want to get as close to planar as you can in these situations," Yu said.

In Graph Theory, wherever K5 or its sprawling relatives TK5s show up, you can forget planar. That's why it's important to know where one may be hiding in a very large graph.

The human connections

The human connections that led to the proof of the Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture are equally interesting, if less complicated.

Seymour had a collaborator, Robin Thomas, a Regent's Professor at Georgia Tech who heads a program that includes a concentration on Graph Theory. His team has a track record of cracking decades-old math problems. One was even more than a century old.

"I tried moderately hard to prove the Kelmans-Seymour conjecture in the 1990s, but failed," Thomas said. "Yu is a rare mathematician, and this shows it. I'm delighted that he pushed the proof to completion."

Yu, once Thomas' postdoc and now a professor at the School of Mathematics, picked up on the conjecture many years later.

"Around 2000, I was working on related concepts and around 2007, I became convinced that I was ready to work on that conjecture," Yu said. He planned to involve graduate students but waited a year. "I needed to have a clearer plan of how to proceed. Otherwise, it would have been too risky," Yu said.

Then he brought in graduate student Jie Ma in 2008, and together they proved the conjecture part of the way.

Two years later, Yu brought graduate students Yan Wang and Dawei He into the picture. "Wang worked very hard and efficiently full time on the problem," Yu said. The team delivered the rest of the proof quicker than anticipated and currently have two submitted papers and two more in the works.

In addition to the six mathematicians who made and proved the conjecture, others tried but didn't complete the proof but left behind useful cues.

Nearly four decades after Seymour had his idea, the fight for its proof is still not over. Other researchers are now called to tear at it for about two years like an invading mob. Not until they've thoroughly failed to destroy it, will the proof officially stand.

Seymour's first reaction to news of the proof reflected that reality. "Congratulations! (If it's true...)," he wrote.

Graduate student Wang is not terribly worried. "We spent lots and lots of our time trying to wreck it ourselves and couldn't, so I hope things will be fine," he said.

If so, the conjecture will get a new name: Kelmans-Seymour Conjecture Proved by He, Wang and Yu.

And it will trigger a mathematical chain reaction, automatically confirming a past conjecture, Dirac's Conjecture Proved by Mader, and also putting within reach proof of another conjecture, Hajos' Conjecture.

For Princeton mathematician Seymour, it's nice to see an intuition he held so strongly is now likely to enter into the realm of proven mathematics.

"Sometimes you conjecture some pretty thing, and it's just wrong, and the truth is just a mess," he wrote in an email message. "But sometimes, the pretty thing is also the truth; that that does happen sometimes is basically what keeps math going I suppose. There's a profound thought."

See the video here
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Berlin's argument is that, in a Europe where those in favor of sanctions and those opposed to sanctions are drifting ever further apart, it is necessary to find a way to keep the EU on the same page. Two weeks ago, Steinmeier warned that, with Brussels set to vote on an extension of the penalties soon, resistance to doing so is growing within Europe. It is becoming more difficult, he said, to arrive at a uniform EU position on the issue, which is necessary since the sanctions extension must be passed unanimously. The German line is that Putin must not be given the impression that he can divide the EU.

"The highest priority is that of preserving the EU consensus," says Gernot Erler of the SPD, who is the German government's special coordinator for Russia policy. "If we have to pay a price for that, we should be prepared to do so. The worst outcome would be the disintegration of European unity and the EU losing its role."

In Brussels, the European Council, the powerful body representing the leaders of the 28 EU member states, and the European Commission, the EU executive, are staying firm officially: Only after the Minsk Protocol has been 100 percent fulfilled can sanctions be lifted. That is the approach passed unanimously last year and extended for six months last December.

European Council President Donald Tusk said last Thursday at the G-7 in Japan that he was "quite sure" that a decision to renew the sanctions would be made "in the next two or three weeks without huge discussions." Tusk is opposed to putting the issue on the agenda for the EU summit scheduled for the end of June, preferring instead to have sanctions discussed by EU ambassadors in Brussels.

Questioning the Sanctions Regime

But more and more EU member states have begun questioning the strict penalty regime, particularly given that it hasn't always been the Russians who have blocked the Minsk process. Despite Tusk's apparent optimism, indications are mounting that getting all 28 EU members to approve the extension of the sanctions at the end of June might not be quite so simple. Berlin has received calls from concerned government officials whose governments have become increasingly skeptical of the penalties against Russia but have thus far declined to take a public stance against them.

Members of some governments, though, have very clearly indicated that they are not interested in extending the sanctions in their current stringent form. Austrian Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner is among the skeptics as is French Economics Minister Emmanuel Macron. So too are officials from Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal.

Hungary has been particularly outspoken. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said last Wednesday following a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Budapest that his country would not accept an automatic extension of the sanctions regime. Hungarian exports to Russia have collapsed as a result of the penalties, a problem experienced by the Czech Republic and other Eastern European countries as well.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is another EU leader who has long been critical of the EU's approach to Russia. Renzi is bothered by the fact that his country has suffered economic losses as a result of the sanctions while Germany has continued working together with Russia on the Nordstream Pipeline across the Baltic Sea. Italy, the EU's third largest economy, is one of Russia's largest trading partners in Europe.

The mood is changing in France as well. At the end of April, the French parliament adopted a non-binding resolution calling for the end of the penalties imposed on Moscow. One of the reasons cited was that French farmers are suffering the consequences. Sanctions critics also argue that Moscow is a necessary partner when it comes to pacifying Syria and that constantly keeping Russia at arm's length is counterproductive.

The Netherlands, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, is in a difficult situation. In an April referendum, the Dutch voted against the planned European Union association agreement with Ukraine. The issue wasn't directly related to the issue of Russian sanctions, but some have interpreted it as a pro-Russian vote. Since then, the Dutch government has been acting extremely carefully.

Meanwhile, Great Britain, Poland and the Baltic countries are leading the opposition to any relaxation of the sanctions in place against Russia. But a possible compromise is in the works. Poland and the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania could agree to a step-by-step easing of the sanctions were more NATO troops to be stationed in those countries . Such an arrangement would allow both camps to save face.

'A Dangerous Precedent'

It is certain, however, that Berlin's plans will not be particularly well received on the other side of the Atlantic. "The sanctions against Russia should only be lifted once the Protocol is comprehensively implemented," says US Ambassador to Germany John B. Emerson. "A modification would not send a strong message. It could become a dangerous precedent."

Part of the rationale for holding out the prospect of easing sanctions is that of providing Moscow with an incentive to finally focus on making progress on Minsk. Putin holds a significant amount of influence over separatists in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. Were the Russian president to convince them to finally allow elections there, and if the OSCE were to confirm that they were free and fair, the penalties currently in place could be eased.

For that to happen, though, Ukraine must pass a new election law. Recently, there has been some progress made toward that end. Whereas the Ukrainian government and the separatists had been negotiating the new law directly, Russia is now also a party to the talks and has been exerting influence on the separatists. At the same time, hold-ups on the Ukrainian side have decreased in the wake of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk's April resignation. If the new election law could be passed by the end of June and if uncontested elections were held soon thereafter, the process of easing sanctions could begin as early as this fall.

The minimal lifting of sanctions with strict conditions attached would be an attempt to improve relations with Russia without returning to normality -- and without sending Putin the message that the West has resigned itself to Russia's annexation of Crimea and its destabilization of eastern Ukraine. That, at least, is the hope. But there are dangers: Putin could interpret the move as a weakness and as a sign that the West is not unified enough to stand up to his aggression.

Mistrust remains extreme on both sides, as does frustration. Putin's military provocations have made the present the most dangerous period since the end of the Cold War. NATO, meanwhile, is planning to pass a resolution at its early July summit that will provide for an expansion of the alliance's presence in Eastern Europe -- a move that Russia is certain to interpret as a provocation.

At the same time, though, the West has shown an interest in increased dialogue with Moscow after an extended period of virtual silence. The most obvious signal is the reactivation of the NATO-Russia Council, which -- largely at the behest of German Foreign Minister Steinmeier -- will soon meet for a second time at the ambassador level.

Meaningless Dialogue?

Discussion, though, is taking place at all levels. Contacts that were considered unthinkable until recently are now being rebuilt. In early April, for example, a group of German parliamentarians from Merkel's conservatives, Gabriel's SPD and the Left Party came together in Moscow with Sergei Naryshkin as part of a conference held by the German-Russian Forum. Naryshkin is chairman of the Duma, Russia's parliament, and is on the EU sanctions list. A further encounter with Naryshkin is planned ahead of the mid-July meeting of the Petersburg Dialogue, the bilateral discussion forum aimed at promoting exchange between Russian and German civil society. The session is to take place in St. Petersburg and keynote speaker on the German side will be Hamburg Mayor Olaf Scholz, an indication that the controversial dialogue platform is once again receiving high-level backing.

There has also been a series of meetings with Russian parliamentarians in Germany in recent weeks. At a mid-May event organized by the Aspen Institute, lawmakers from Russia, the US and Germany participated in a confidential meeting outside of Berlin. Shortly thereafter, the Club of Three, a German-French-British dialogue platform, met in Berlin for talks with Russian counterparts.

But without political rapprochement, such dialogues are meaningless. Furthermore, participants say they often don't go beyond the exchange of hardened positions with very little mutual understanding on display. Indeed, the Russian side has already indicated that talking is not sufficient, a message consistent with Moscow's extreme self-confidence since the beginning of Putin's intervention in Syria.

As such, Berlin's new approach to Russia is not without risk. Indeed, even if the EU agrees collectively to pursue such a course in relation to Moscow, there is a danger that Russia will simply reject it as being too little, too late.

By Matthias Gebauer, Christiane Hoffmann, Peter Muller, Ruben Rehage, Michael Sauga and Christoph Schult
GARSKE -- Imagine that the final resting place of your family members has been buried by water for years, and even if it was above water that the only way to visit the cemetery is by boat.

Since 2011, that has been the case for the relatives of those buried at Chain Lake Cemetery, a graveyard near Devils Lake that until last year was completely submerged in water.

"Now that we can't get there anymore, it just doesn't seem right," said Marjorie Anderson, the Chain Lake Cemetery Association treasurer. "I just feel bad that we have all of those relatives out there that we can't visit."

But the waters have receded in recent years and the road to the cemetery is beginning to slowly reappear, or at least what is left of it. Condemned due to years of flooding, the road has eroded, taking off feet of soil and leaving a flat, patchy surface surrounded by water. Chain Lake also has resurfaced, but it needs work.

A Texas man whose family is buried at the cemetery was able to take a boat to the gravesite, and discussions to restore the graveyard are alive among community members. Ed Anderson, who visited Chain Lake both last year and this month, found a thick brush of cattails surrounded by dead trees, but he also found many gravestones intact, a discovery that has boosted hope for those who want to restore the cemetery.

"It was a really emotional find," he said.

Now he has teamed up with former members of Chain Lake Lutheran Church to begin the process of restoring the cemetery that holds their loved ones.

"It's always been on our minds," said Karen Hausmann, a Churchs Ferry resident who used to attend the church. "It's just been waiting for the water to go down."

Cemetery history

Chain Lake Lutheran Church has special connections to Hausmann.

After the congregation was organized in Oct. 24, 1883, Ole and Johannes Hoystad, Hausmann's great-grandparents, offered land for the church's building, which was dedicated in 1901. Her family farm was about a mile north of the church.

The church was about 8 miles west of Garske, an unincorporated community about 17 miles north of Devils Lake.

Marjorie Anderson, a Devils Lake resident who had a farm near the church and has several relatives buried at the cemetery, remembers attending services. The church had ornate kerosene lamps, which were used to light night services.

"The first Sunday of Advent, we always had services at night," she said. "The only light we had were those kerosene lamps and candles."

"After that, we had coffee and cookies. That was a special memory."

Hausman, who was baptized, confirmed and married at the church, remembers going to Bible School and playing at the church with her friends, including Randi Hillstrom, who grew up in Starkweather, a town about 15 miles northeast of Chain Lake Cemetery and 20 miles north of Devils Lake.

"That was our playground," Hillstrom said. "Some of the boys would chase you with garter snakes."

Hillstrom's grandparents, as well as some aunts and uncles, are buried at the cemetery, which has around 100 graves.

But the church closed its doors June 17, 1990, per the congregation's vote. The church eventually was demolished, leaving behind the cemetery.

"It was numbers," Hausmann's mother Donna Storsteen told the Williston Herald in May 2011. "We ran out of kids."

It still served as a spot for congregation members to remember the church and pay respects to those buried in the graveyard.

But even that wouldn't last.

'Not the normal'

Before flooding in the late 2000s claimed tens of thousands of acres, residents could easily use country roads to get to their destinations without backtracking.

"People would go over the gravel roads from Garske to Churchs Ferry without any problem," Hausmann said. "The ditches would get full, but it wasn't flooded. It's just hard for people who never were here when it was normal to know that this isn't normal to have all of this water."

But snowmelt and rain since the early 1990s helped lakes in the Devils Lake basin grow in size. The lake's surface area more than tripled from 1993 to 2011, taking with it an estimated 167,070 acres, or about 261 square miles.

Joel and Donna Storsteen debated leaving their farmstead near Chain Lake as they tried to think of what they could do to save the farm. But in 2010, the couple were forced to escape the rising waves on a tractor, Hausmann said.

"They did their best to stay there, but eventually the water came down from the north and covered up all of the roads, and it just wasn't safe for them to live there anymore," she said.

Like many of her neighbors, Marjorie Anderson also had to flee her farm. She still can't get to it today.

Fields that once produces waves of grain are now lakes, and the roads that took drivers across the countryside disappeared with the rush of water. Driving across the countryside, travelers still can see the farmsteads peeking above the water. Roads suddenly disappear into lakes.

That included the road that gave residents access to Chain Lake Cemetery. The road on both sides of the graveyard began to disappear in 2009.

That was the last year anyone was able to access Chain Lake by road. By then, it was too late to move the bodies.

"You couldn't do anything," Hausmann said. "It just came in a wave."

But the waters didn't stop.

By late May 2011, Devils Lake's had risen to a record 1,454.2 feet above sea level. A month later, the lake hit its highest level in history on June 27, 2011, at 1,454.4 feet above sea level.

That was the year Chain Lake Cemetery went under water. Those who wanted to visit family members buried there wondered if they would ever see the gravestones again.

"Your cemetery being flooded really hits people more so than having your farm flooded because everyone can relate to a cemetery," she said.

A new hope

For Ed Anderson, who lives in Huffman, Texas, the cemetery and road that leads to it has a lot of memories and sentimental value.

His mother was buried there in 1962, and several members of his family, including his grandfather, rest there.

"That road was the first place I prayed to God," he said, adding he prayed there when his mother died.

A relative of Marjorie Anderson's husband, Ed Anderson heard that the waters that covered Chain Lake were receding, so he came back to the cemetery in May 2015, hoping the graves would still be there.

He and other relatives ventured the mile from where the road ends to the cemetery. There they found the chain-linked fence that surrounded the tombstones. The bell from the church and a memorial stood intact.

But in the fence was a field of cattails and grass, left untouched by a lawnmower for almost a decade.

"What a shame, really," he said. "It was really difficult to find any of the gravestones."

Some gravestones peeked above the thicket, but the flood waters had brought a thick layer of silt to cover the ground stones.

Anderson was able to find his family's headstone, and as he walked around, he tripped over stone one of his relative's stones, knowing that his mother was right next to it.

Using a machete, he hacked away at cattails and grass until his mother's headstone came into view.

"I smiled and said, "Here's some sunshine for you, Mom," he said. "Thank the Lord I found it."

He eventually cleared all of the cattails around almost all of his family members' stones. The emotional discovery boosted his determination, along with that of his relatives, to do what he could to help bring the graveyard back to its former glory, he said.

"It's the right thing to do," he said.

'Never say never'

There has been interest in restoring Chain Lake Cemetery for years, Hausmann said. She said she would run into people who said they had relatives buried at the graveyard, many of them asking what was happening with the site.

The Chain Lake Cemetery Association still is registered with the state. The association and those who had relatives kept discussing how they could get out to the cemetery to clean it up.

"We even talked about taking ... lawnmowers in boats," Hillstrom said.

There is some money saved up to repair the cemetery, association President Curtis Thorp said.

Waters have receded enough that the road has begun to reappear, but it has been eroded away by the current, presenting the first roadblock for the group. The road needs to be repaired before any restoration of the cemetery can begin.

And there is the constant threat of flooding, Ed Anderson and Hausmann said. Anderson said he wants to hold out hope, though it's uncertain if the waters would continue to recede or if Devils Lake could expand.

As of Friday, Devils Lake's elevation was at 1,450 feet above sea level. Each foot that the lake rises has the potential to devour 10,000 acres of farmland, Mayor Richard Johnson said, and the flood continues to cost farmers in the area hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

Still, the relatives of those in Chain Lake Cemetery are determined to do what they can to restore the place where they formed so many memories.

The cemetery is the resting place of 14 veterans, including Civil War veteran Samuel Elliott. Marjorie Anderson said she used to place flags on the veterans' graves every Memorial Day.

Vickie Erickstad of Garske hopes to continue that tradition when she can.

"They deserve to be honored," she said.

Like others who have family resting in the cemetery, Marjorie Anderson and Thorp said they want to be buried at the site, though hopefully not for several years, he added with a chuckle.

Hausmann's father, who died earlier this year, said he wanted his final resting place to be in Chain Lake. Hausmann and her mother chose to have his body cremated so they could someday fulfill his final wish and lay him to rest where he belongs.

"We just never said never," Hausmann said.
SPIEGEL: So does that mean that more units will soon be sent to Syria?

McGurk: It's always a possibility to send in more forces. I think President Obama has been very clear in saying that we only invest in things which are working. If something is working, we will consider if more investment might deliver a quicker result. We want to accelerate and do as much as we can as fast as we can. The number of 300 (special forces soldiers) gives us a great deal of capacity. We'll see where it goes.

SPIEGEL: The Kurds in northern Iraq and Syria are still considered to be a reliable partner for the United States. But the large Kurdish groups -- YPG and the Peshmerga -- don't want to liberate Mosul or Raqqa, Arab-dominated cities.

McGurk: The Kurds will be the first to tell you that they don't want to move down to Raqqa. That's why we work hard at recruiting inclusive local forces which are ethnically mixed. In northern Syria we have built such a force. Of 6,000 fighters, a good 2,500 are non-Kurdish. That is the way to go forward.

SPIEGEL: A SPIEGEL reporter recently traveled near Mosul. He reported that the possible local partners -- Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis -- are already fighting over the future distribution of power in the city.

McGurk: We are not at the point where we can start a push towards Mosul. As in the Anbar province, we want to recruit a force of 15,000 fighters. On the political side we try to have the Kurds and the central government talk more with each other. We need to develop an overall comprehensive plan which everyone agrees on before the last phase begins.

SPIEGEL: What is the plan in the meantime?

McGurk: We're trying to cut off Mosul from all sides -- that's pretty much done, it's almost isolated. Now we are targeting their leaders. We are destroying their cash storage sites so they can't pay their fighters anymore. As we squeeze and isolate Mosul, we target sites with airstrikes and we work with forces inside Mosul who fight Islamic State. We hope it won't be a street-to-street fight. In the end, we want to degrade Islamic State so far that it implodes from inside.

SPIEGEL: During his recent visit to Germany, President Obama asked for greater military support from NATO. What could the alliance do to strengthen the coalition?

McGurk: NATO has a very important role to play. The alliance has started a defense building initiative with Iraqi officers in Jordan and we hope this will expand. NATO's AWACS air platforms can play an important role and they would be a great help for the coalition. I hope that by the time of the Warsaw NATO summit in early July, we will have some concrete objectives for that new mission.

SPIEGEL: Germany is so far only training and equipping local Kurdish forces around Erbil. Is that sufficient?

McGurk: Germany has filled some gaps at a very critical time. Chancellor Angela Merkel equipped the Kurdish forces quickly with anti-tank weapons. These MILAN rockets were crucial in helping the Peshmerga to fend off vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs).

SPIEGEL: In recent days, Moscow has spoken of the possibility of joint airstrikes with the US. Is that a realistic option?

McGurk: We don't cooperate with Russia on a military level. We have a daily phone call to deconflict the airspace to make sure there are no accidents with our fighter jets. That's it. Russia should instead use its influence on the Syrian regime to make sure it adheres to the Vienna process and ceases the hostilities. We are talking with the Russians about that, but not about joint operations.
WILLISTON  There's always a twinge of sadness to see a pivotal figure leave the Williston community, but Dr. Viola LaFontaine dashed about the room to greet everyone who came to provide her with well wishes, with a smile and a hug to ensure her farewell party would be a joyous affair.

Serving as Williston Public School District 1 superintendent for the past 7 years, she successfully mitigated the dynamic new environment with her stoic leadership, but late last December she announced she would not seek to renew her contract, the Williston Herald reported.

"Even though the oil has slowed down, the schools haven't," LaFontaine said. "The job is still very demanding."

After her husband was injured last fall, LaFontaine said she began to feel somewhat guilty about dedicating so much time away from home.

In the wake of the most recent oil boom, it was not uncommon for the district to receive dozens of new students each week. With student population peaking, the space availability within the schools, housing for needed educators became dire as supply was scarce and rent reached astronomical prices.

Feats that would be overwhelming to most instead became an opportunity for LaFontaine's greatest achievements.

"There was always stability with Viola," said District 1 board member David Richter. "She never got overly excited when things didn't go well."

LaFontaine streamlined the curriculum, which has drastically improved students' academic success in reading and mathematics, and helped develop creative use of limited facility space to help offset the student growth.

The unique circumstance of an oil boom gave rise to a student population classified as homeless due to living out of RV campers, a common remedy to the housing market during that time. English Language Learner (ELL) students added a new a new dynamic as introduction to English partnered with academic studies, as well.

Foreseeing new schools would be needed as the hustling boomtown began to quiet into a family-oriented city and student enrollment continued to climb, she helped push for a bond referendum that would build a new $68 million high school.

"You have a bunch of constraints and the issues of starting a new school," said Williston Mayor Howard Klug, who attended her farewell party. "The stability of having a person like her in that position, you always knew everything would be taken care of."

After the bond was passed, plans were quickly underway to have the school built and the former high school modified into a 5th and 6th grade elementary, granting the other schools room for the K through 4 children and alleviating educators of mounting class sizes.

After her resignation announcement, LaFontaine struggled with what her next move would be. As fate would have it, Mott, North Dakota was seeking a superintendent. She accepted the position and is expected to begin July 1.

"I'm really going to miss working with the people and being a part of the community," said LaFontaine. "I've really fallen in love with Williston. I'm going to miss it but something out there has a greater plan than what I had for myself in life."

Though the 240 student K through 12 school district will be a slower pace, it is still experiencing many of the concerns LaFontaine has already tackled.

On July 14, shortly after her start date, that district will be seeking a bond referendum to build an $8.5 million elementary that would update the current facility built in 1906.

LaFontaine's shoes will be difficult to fill but the school board has already selected a candidate that will assume the role.

"It was really close between two candidates," said District 1 school board member, David Richter. "Viola was really strong with curriculum but (Michael Campbell) is really strong with finances. Curriculum is set and now is a good time to have someone who is strong in finances in these next years."

LaFontaine has already made trips to Mott and met many of the students of the town. May 31 is the closing date for her new home, and the opening of her next chapter.
T wo young men are in hospital after a suspected drive-by shooting in east London.

A gunman is believed to have opened fire at the victims from a Ford Galaxy in Custom House.

Police were called to reports of gunfire in Freemasons Road at about 7.30pm on Saturday.

They were then called to an east London hospital where the two men, who are both in their early 20s, were already being treated for gunshot injuries.

The victims are both in a stable condition and their injuries are not believed to life-threatening, police said.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said: Officers found evidence that a firearm had been discharged on Freemasons Road.

At this stage of the investigation, officers believe that the suspect was a passenger in a dark coloured Ford Galaxy.

Detectives from the Mets gang unit are investigating.

No arrests have been made.
A man has been arrested after police received a barrage of complaints about pub-goer who was seen wearing a T-shirt mocking the Hillsborough disaster.

Police said the 50-year-old man suspect, from Worcester, was detained under public order laws on suspicion of causing alarm or distress by displaying abusive or insulting writing.

Officers from West Mercia Police launched an inquiry on Sunday after a man was seen wearing a t-shirt with offensive wording, relating to the 1989 disaster, in which 96 Liverpool fans died.

A man was asked to leave the Brewers Arms, in the St John's area of Worcester, by the landlord.

West Mercia Police named the arrested man as Paul Grange, aged 50, from Worcester.

Grange has been charged with a Section 5 Public Order offence, relating to the display of threatening and abusive signs and writing, likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

He has been bailed and will appear at Worcester Magistrates' Court on a date to be confirmed in July.
P olice were called to more than 9,000 knife crimes in London in the past year alone, shock new figures show.

Some 1,623 victims under the age of 25 including 866 teenagers were stabbed, according to the data released by Scotland Yard.

Twelve teenagers were knifed to death and 291 people were seriously injured in the 12 months from April 1 last year, police said.

Young musician Myron Yarde, 17, became the latest teenager to lose his life to knife crime when he was stabbed to death in New Cross, south-east London on April 4.

Just a month later, Rukevwe Tadafe, 21, was fatally knifed less than three miles away in Lewisham town centre. The pair shared mutual friends.

During the Mets most recent operation to tackle knife crime, police made 439 arrests, 82 of which were for possession of a knife or an offensive weapon.

A total of 194 knives and offensive weapons were seized by officers during the seven-day operation from April 25.

The 9,000 knife crimes from April 2015 to April 2016 amount to about 25 a day on average.

The figures have been released as part of an online campaign by young police cadets to encourage Londoners to pledge their support to stop knife crime using the hashtag #ChooseALifeNotAKnife.

Striking posters and a video highlighting the impact of knife crime were produced by the cadets from Redbridge and the Mets Youth Council.

One of the posters produced by the cadets / Metropolitan Police

Sixteen-year-old police cadet Olivia, who appears in the posters, explained why she got involved in the campaign.

For young people it can be quite scary for them to log onto social media and see that there has been yet another victim of a stabbing or that someone has been killed just down the road, she told the Standard.

I was shocked when I saw the numbers. A lot of people carry knives for self-defence and think they are safer carrying one. Its not something that they should have to turn to protect themselves."

Knife crime statistics released by Met Police / Metropolitan Police

Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh, of the Mets Youth Council, said: This project came about as they like many Londoners have had enough of violence.

They wanted to create some energy and through informed discussion discourage people from carrying knives.

He added: All they ask is, for every young person to start having a discussion about how we stop the needless violence and tragic deaths of young people.

If this campaign stops one person from carrying a knife it will have been a success."

To watch the video and find out more about the campaign, click here.
A young Audi driver has died after crashing into a tree.

The man, who is in his 20s, died after his grey Audi A3 ploughed into a tree at the side of the road in Merstham, close to the M25.

He was pronounced dead at the scene and his family have been informed.

His passenger, another man in his 20s, was taken to hospital with minor injuries following the crash in Gatton Bottom.

Surrey Police appealed for witnesses to the crash at about 6.30am on Monday.

Anyone with information can contact police via 101, quoting the reference number P16121608, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
A popular nightclub is facing a fresh battle to retain its licence amid fears about levels of violence and sexual assaults.

Police asked Kingston Council to review the premise licence of the Pryzm venue after being told of "a series of serious offences" there.

A notice outside the club reads: The Metropolitan Police as a responsible authority has sought a review of the licence under the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety on the grounds that levels of crime  specifically violence, sexual assault and theft  are of concern to police.

Police asked for the review on grounds of public safety and the prevention of crime and disorder over the Christmas and New Year period.

Officers held a meeting with the nightclubs management to raise concerns in January and were told that internal policies would be addressed, according to the documents.

Officers from Kingston police met members of Przyms management again in February and were informed about a list of measures that would be implemented to reduce further incidents.

A third meeting was held in March and police raised further concerns about the levels of crime associated with the club.

A document submitted to the council said: Since the last meeting with police it would appear that the action taken by the venue is not working and that the levels of crime specifically violence, sexual assault and theft are still of concern to police.

In light of the above it is the view of the police that the licensing objectives of the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety are being undermined even with measures being put in place by the management at the venue specifically to reduce levels of crime and ensure the safety of their customers.

Police concluded by stating they were requesting a review of the premises licence in order to address the failings of management at the venue in reducing crime, along with the clubs hours of operation and number of partygoers allowed inside.

In 2014, the club was rebranded from Oceana after the murder of Jamie Sanderson who was stabbed at the venue in 2012.

The council revoked the club's licence following the stabbing but the decision was overturned on appeal.

A number of conditions were placed on Oceana's licence in 2014, including agreeing to cut capacity by 15 per cent, limiting the sale of alcohol and introducing ID scanners.

A spokesman for Deltic Group, which owns Pryzm, said: "Pryzm is a professional and well-run venue and we are naturally disappointed with the decision to review our licence.

"We will continue to work closely with the authorities throughout the process to ensure that we reach an amicable outcome.

A Kingston Council spokeswoman said the application is expected to be heard at the licensing sub-committee meeting on July 13.
D avid Cameron hailed new London mayor Sadiq Khan as a symbol of progress in reducing religious and racial discrimination as the pair joined forces for the Remain campaign.

The prime minister has been criticised for attempting to link Khan with Muslim "extremists" while seeking to help Zac Goldsmith win the mayoral election.

But he sought to mend fences as the pair made a joint appearance in London to promote the campaign to stay in the EU at Roehampton University, and publicly shook hands.

Mr Cameron said: "In one generation someone who is a proud Muslim, a proud Brit and a proud Londoner can become mayor of the greatest city on earth.

EU debate - Sadiq and Cameron team up for 'remain campaign'

"That says something about our country.

"There are still barriers to opportunity that we have to get rid of. There are still glass ceilings we have got to smash. There is discrimination in our country that we have to fight.

"But I have always said - and I say it again today standing alongside our new mayor - that we can claim to be on track to be the best multi-faith, multi-ethnic opportunity democracy anywhere on earth, and we should be proud of that."

Mr Cameron went on: "We will disagree about many things. We have in the past; I'm sure we will again in the future.

"But we are both on the side of London, we are both on the side of the United Kingdom. I want that spirit of unity of purpose to be with us today."

EU Referendum: latest polls - May 31

Mr Khan - appearing alongside the PM in front of students in south-west London - said he would work closely with the Tory government "where it is in Londoners' interests".

"The reason why London is the greatest city in the world - and it is - we have never taken an isolationist approach, we are open-minded, we are outward-looking, we embrace other cultures and learn from other cultures and ideas as well," he said.
Sgt. Sid McMahen has a picture of himself in Vietnam hanging beside his chair in the living room of his home in Williston.

"I've had it hung there for years," he said.

The photo depicts McMahen and two other GI's squatting in front of a dozen Vietnamese soldiers. McMahen was an adviser to the Vietnamese Rangers, an elite force, during the Vietnam War. It was taken during a mission with the 42nd ranger battalion.

Little did he know, the photo would reunite him with people who shared his experiences in the war.

McMahen, 74, had not spoken to a ranger adviser since he left Vietnam in 1971.

"We just met in the night and went on with our lives," he said.

But that was about to change.

A friend mailed Spc. Steve Leighton, of Minneapolis, a profile of McMahen from the Bismarck Tribune. Leighton was a ranger adviser, too, and the friend thought he would be interested. The photo hanging on McMahen's wall was reproduced alongside the story.

"I saw the picture and fell off my chair," he said.

Leighton had carried a copy of the exact same photo around the previous weekend, asking other veterans if they recognized the men in it.

Since the war, Leighton, 68, had never spoken at length to another ranger adviser. He had, however, reconnected with Vietnamese rangers he knew.

"It haunted me after 40 years not knowing what happened to (the rangers)," he said.

He traveled to Vietnam to search for his lost friends in 2007. In a startling coincidence, he learned that his closest Vietnamese ranger friend, Lt. Cl. Long Le, lived in the same city as him. After 13 years in a re-education camp, Le had immigrated to the United States in 1993.

They reunited and have remained close.

Le recently gave Leighton a copy of the photo and asked if he could find anyone in it.

Le's family had hidden the photo from the communists, and he later used it as proof that he had fought with the Americans. The side of his copy is torn off, but a blown-up version still hangs on the wall in his house.

After Leighton saw the photo, he contacted the reporter, who connected him with McMahen.

They compared notes: Who did you serve with? When were you there? Do you know Le?

It turned out that McMahen served shortly after Leighton. He remembered Le.

McMahen rotated between ranger battalions while in Vietnam and served multiple times with Le's division.

On Wednesday, McMahen, Leighton and Le, speaking through his daughter Annie Le, talked by phone for an hour.

Le did not remember McMahen, but was glad to reconnect with a former adviser and swap stories.

"It is nice that you still have all these pictures," Le said, flipping through photographs McMahen emailed to his daughter. "The communists took all the pictures from our house in Vietnam."

Le, 78, and his daughter told McMahen about how they had immigrated to the United States after he was released from a re-education camp.

Because he was a high-ranking military official, he was punished most severely by the communists and later given the opportunity by the U.S. to immigrate.

McMahen said Le's 42nd battalion was the best of all the ranger battalions. He told the story of the photograph. McMahen had accompanied Le's division on a sweep of an island. Le took several Viet Cong prisoners.

Le told McMahen about the major seated to his left, whose name McMahen did not remember. He said he gave the major three tiny uniforms for his sons. Le reminisced fondly about looking at a photo of the little boys and calling them "little majors."

Le said he was thankful for the advisers, who provided them food and medical support during the war.

McMahen offered to send Le a copy of the photo in better condition.

"People age, many aren't here anymore," Le said of the many rangers who died or were dispersed after the re-education camps. "It's good to reconnect and talk about old memories."

Each invited the other to visit.

"Biet Dong Quan Sat!" Leighton said, as the conversation dimmed. "Rangers Lead the Way!"
T he Duke of Edinburgh has pulled out of attending the commemorations for the Battle of Jutland in Orkney after receiving medical advice.

Prince Philip, 94, is said not to have attended hospital and has no plans to cancel any other forthcoming engagements.

In a statement, a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: Following doctor's advice, the Duke of Edinburgh has reluctantly decided not to attend the commemorations marking the Battle of Jutland tomorrow in Kirkwall and Hoy.

The Princess Royal, who was already attending the events, will represent the Royal Family.

Descendants of those who fought at Jutland have been invited to join the commemorations, which include a service at St Magnus Cathedral on Kirkwall on Tuesday.

Events will continue with a service at Lyness Cemetery on the island of Hoy - the final resting place for more than 450 service personnel who died in the war, including sailors killed at Jutland.

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The cemetery stands close to Scapa Flow, from where the British Grand Fleet set out for the Jutland Bank to repel German forces attempting to break a British blockade.

Almost 250 ships took part, creating a scale of battle that has not been seen since.

Both nations claimed victory - Germany because of the 6,094 British losses compared to the 2,551 men it sacrificed, but Britain had seriously weakened the enemy's naval capability.

There will also be a remembrance service at sea where British and German naval representatives will scatter poppies and forget-me-nots - the German flower of remembrance - into the North Sea at Jutland Bank.

The Princess Royal will be accompanied by Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence as vice-chairman of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
T he English wine industry is going from strength to strength, with almost 40 new producers and vineyards opening in the last year alone, a new report has found.

During 2015, 37 new wine producers and vineyards opened up, according to research from national accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young.

The study found a total of 170 wine producers have entered the domestic industry over the past five years, with the popularity of boutique alcohol and locally-made products listed as driving forces behind English wine's success.

The research found that consumers are favouring higher quality homegrown English wine, rather than what is perceived to be "lower quality" British wine, made from imported grapes.

English sparkling wine has seen particular success, with sales booming and trade bodies suggesting at least two-thirds of English output is sparkling wine.

At the 2015 International Wine Challenge, more than 70 English wines won medals, including bottles from Sussex-based Bluebell Vineyard, Squerryes Estate and Hampshire-based Hattingley Valley Wines.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is expecting UK wine exports to rise from 3.2m in 2015 to more than 30m by 2020.

James Simmonds, partner at UHY Hacker Young, said: "In recent years the wine industry has gone from strength to strength, and customers are now opting for English wines over French or Italian products, which twenty years ago would have been seen as a joke.

"Products like English Sparkling Wine have now firmly established themselves at the same table as those with Protected Destination of Origin status, such as Prosecco or Champagne.

"Many English vineyards do a lot more than produce wine, which can make them very profitable businesses.

"They are diversifying to offer tastings and tours, have restaurants, rooms for overnight guests and even be a venue for weddings and other events."
A seven-year-old boy is missing in a forest populated by wild bears in Japan after his parents reportedly told him to get out of the car as a punishment.

Around 150 rescue workers are combing a forest in north Japan after the boy went missing on Saturday afternoon.

According to Hokkaido police, the parents had told the boy to get out of the car to punish him for misbehaving.

Japanese media have reported that the parents told police the punishment was for the boy throwing rocks while playing at a river earlier in the day.

Police said the father then returned to where they dropped the boy off a few minutes later but he was gone.

The parents initially told police that their son disappeared while picking wild vegetables but an hour later admitted the truth, according to police.

Kyodo News said police are investigating if the case is subject to child abandonment.

The wooded area where the child is believed to be missing is in Japan's most northern island, Hokkaido.
A Chinese car park has sparked a sexism row after introducing extra-wide parking spaces for women.

The female only parking spaces in Hangzhou, which are outlined in pink and marked with a picture of a woman, are 50 per cent larger than other spots.

A car park manager told Qianjiang Evening News the gendered spaces were being trialled for female drivers who have trouble reversing.

They were introduced in March and make up eight of the 370 spaces available, with a view to adding more if they are successful.

After a photograph of one of the spaces was uploaded to Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, many users branded the move sexist.

"Where are the feminists? This is such obvious gender discrimination," one user wrote, while another said: "If you're going to discriminate against women like this, why don't we get larger parking spaces when we're taking our driving tests then?"

However, not everyone was in agreement, with one user defending the car park, writing: "They're not saying that women have to park there.

"They're just offering them to women who aren't good at parking. It's a great idea! Where's the discrimination?"

It is not the first time women-only parking spots have been introduced.

Female-only parking spaces have also been installed in the past throughout the world, but normally with women's safety in mind.

Spots are usually designated near entrances or exits in often poorly-lit car parks, but without changes to the sizes or shape of the spaces.

However, in 2014, the South Korean government introduced female-only spaces which were longer, wider and marked out in pink.
A divorcee who paid child maintenance to his ex-wife in takeaway pizzas has been acquitted of all criminal charges.

An Italian court allowed Nicola Toso, 50, to pay child maintenance fees "in kind" with pizza after he became unable to pay fees in money.

Il Gazzetino reported that Mr Toso, a pizza baker from Padua, divorced Nicoletta Zuin in 2002 and according to their divorce settlement, paid 400 euros (about 303) a month in child maintenance fees for their daughter.

But after remarrying and having three more children, and following the economic crisis of 2008, Mr Toso struggled to pay the agreed amount.

As a substitute, Mr Toso offered his ex-wife free pizzas and calzone from the takeaway restaurant he managed between 2008 and 2010.

Ms Zuin did not accept this and filed a criminal complaint against her ex-husband.

Mitigating for Mr Toso, Sonia Della Greca said the baker was struggling financially and had to close his business in 2010.

Presiding judge Chiara Bitozzi ruled that there was no evidence to suggest that Mr Toso had committed a crime and acquitted him of all criminal charges of not being able to pay child support.

In 2011, their daughter moved in with Mr Toso.

As a result Ms Zuin was then compelled to pay Mr Toso 300 euros (about 228) in child support.
T he tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru has legalised homosexuality, replacing its century-old criminal code with a new law that also criminalises slavery and broadens the definition of rape to apply to married and unmarried couples.

Under the new Crimes Act 2016, suicide has also been decriminalised, after the subject became an issue when refugees deported from Australia to a controversial Nauru detention centre committed or attempted suicide.

Nauru announced on Friday that the Crimes Act 2016 would replace the Nauruan Criminal Code of 1899.

The government said the decision to decriminalise homosexuality and suicide - in compliance with obligations under international treaties - showed "progressive leadership".

Edmund Settle, policy advisor for the United Nations Development Programme in Bangkok, praised Nauru for setting "a positive example in the Pacific region".

"The government of Nauru has demonstrated leadership in protecting sexual and gender minorities from violence and discrimination," Settle said by email.

As well as removing suicide and homosexuality as crimes, the new law also mitigates the crime of murder when a mother kills her infant as a result of suffering post-natal stress, and broadens the definition of rape to apply to married and non-married couples.

The new criminal code also outlaws forced labour, debt bondage or serfdom, which includes parents or guardians who allow a child to be placed under the control of another person or force a child to marry in exchange for material benefit.

About 10,000 people live on the reight sq mile island, formerly known as Pleasant Island, which lies to the north west of Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Nauru has been cast into the media spotlight recently, over its agreement with Australia to take in asylum seekers intercepted while trying to reach Australian shores.

The Nauru detention centre houses about 500 asylum seekers and has been criticised by the United Nations and human rights groups for harsh conditions and reports of systemic child abuse.

Many detainees staying there have self-harmed, and last month, an Iranian man pleaded guilty to the offence of attempted suicide and was given a 12-month suspended sentence.

An activist said that a Bangladeshi refugee on Nauru who died of heart failure earlier this month had committed suicide by overdosing on pills.
A Buddhist temple in Thailand famed for being home to more than 100 tigers has been raided by wildlife authorities.

The temple in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, has 137 tigers, but officials have begun removing some of the animals after accusations that monks were involved in their illegal breeding and trafficking.

The director of Thailand's Wildlife Conservation Office, Teunjai Noochdumrong, said three tigers were tranquilised and transported in an operation involving about 1,000 state personnel.

The operation is expected to continue for a week.

Sedated: A tiger is removed from the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi province / REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

The animals will be taken to two government animal centres elsewhere in Thailand.

The temple, a popular money-earning tourist attraction, has been criticised by animal rights activists because of allegations it is not properly set up to care for the animals and flouted regulations restricting their trade.

Many western tourists visit the temple to take selfies with the tigers and bottle-feed their cubs.

The temple promotes itself as a wildlife sanctuary, but in recent years it has been investigated for suspected links to wildlife trafficking and animal abuse.

Wildlife activists have accused the temple's monks of illegally breeding tigers, while some visitors have said the animals can appear drugged. The temple denies the accusations.

The raid on Monday was the latest move by authorities to bring the tigers under state control.

Tiger Temple: A Thai Buddhist monk gives water to a tiger from a bottle - file photo / AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

Adisorn Nuchdamrong, deputy director-general of the Department of National Parks, said the team had been able to confiscate the tigers thanks to a warrant obtained a few hours before the operation.

He said: "We have a court warrant this time, unlike previous times, when we only asked for the temple's cooperation, which did not work.

"International pressure concerning illegal wildlife trafficking is also part of why we're acting now."

Officials from the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation said they planned to confiscate and remove more tigers from the temple on Tuesday and send them to a state-owned sanctuary.

Previous attempts to inspect the tigers have largely been blocked by the temple's abbots but in January and February wildlife officials removed 10 of the tigers.
T he White House was placed on lockdown today after reports of a suspicious package.

A Secret Service official said security breach on the north side of the White House site occurred on the Memorial Day holiday while President Barack Obama was home.

It is reported an object was thrown over the north fence along Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC.

Reporters were not allowed to leave the White House compound through its northwest gate and flashing lights from emergency responders could be seen nearby.

The Secret Service official said hazardous material checks were being made.

Local news radio station WTOP reported a federal law enforcement official said one person had been arrested.

Earlier in the day, President Obama had visited Arlington Cemetery as part of the annual commemoration for armed services members.
A burlesque performer was reportedly turned away from a flight because airline crew said the shorts she was wearing were "too short".

Maggie McMuffin, from Seattle, had attempted to board a flight from Boston to Seattle when she was told that she was "inappropriately dressed".

JetBlue staff reportedly told her she wouldn't be able to board the flight unless she covered up, despite the fact she had arrived in Boston on a connection with the same airline.

Sharing pictures of Ms McMuffin in the black and white striped shorts, her friend Molly McIsaac wrote on Facebook: "No explanation was given except that the pilot said her clothes would prevent her boarding the plane.

"The flight lead asked if she had anything else to wear, and told her if she didn't they could rebook the flight for her.

"Maggie ended up having to go to another terminal to buy a pair of women's sleep shorts in XL for 'proper coverage'."

Ms McMuffin, who was wearing the shorts with knee socks and a long-sleeved jumper, ended up buying a pair of extra large sleep shorts before boarding her original flight.

JetBlue's policy states that the airline will remove anyone from a flight whose clothing is lewd, obscene, or patently offensive.

Maggie told MailOnline Travel that although the airline apologised for the incident, the pilot did not apologise.

She said: "They refunded my shorts and offered me a 162 dollar credit.

"I asked for a monetary refund since I dont want to fly with them again and was told I could let someone else use my credit.

"They let me on my original flight but only because I went and purchased new shorts."

A spokesperson for JetBlue said: "The gate and onboard crew discussed the customers clothing and determined that the burlesque shorts may offend other families on the flight.

"While the customer was not denied boarding, the crew members politely asked if she could change. The customer agreed and continued on the flight without interruption.

We support our crewmembers discretion to make these difficult decisions, and we decided to reimburse the customer for the cost of the new shorts and offered a credit for future flight as a good will gesture."
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Monday, 30 May 2016 16:30:08 (GMT+3) | Brescia

SteelOrbis has learned that the Algerian government has lately blocked wire rod imports through a new fiscal law linked to import licenses, similar to the one used at the beginning of the current year for rebar, concrete and cars imports.





The new measure seems to be aimed at supporting Oran, Algeria -based producer Tosyali and at restricting imports by Algerian group Cevital which has been importing over 20,000 tons per month from the Piombino-based plant in Italy formerly owned by Lucchini.




In April this year, China imported 5.37 million mt of coking coal , up 43.2 percent year on year, according to monthly import and export data issued by the Chinese customs authorities.
Monday, 30 May 2016 17:24:05 (GMT+3) | Istanbul

The Malaysian government has announced that it has initiated a safeguard investigation regarding imports of reinforcing bars upon the complaint lodged by Malaysia Steel Association (MSA).

In its complaint, the MSA alleged that imports of the mentioned products have increased by 155 percent for the period from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015 and the increased imports have caused serious injury due to the declining market share, sales, and profitability, negative cash flow and reduction in employment.

The goods under investigation are currently classified under Harmonized System Code Numbers 7214.10.210, 7214.10.290, 7214.10.910, 7214.10.990, 7214.20.210, 7214.20.290, 7214.20.910, 7214.20.990, 7214.30.100, 7214.30.900, 7214.99.210, 7214.99.290, 7214.99.910, 7214.99.990, 7228.10.100, 7228.10.900, 7228.20.100, 7228.20.900, 7228.30.100, 7228.30.900, 7228.40.100, 7228.40.900, 7228.50.100, 7228.50.900, 7228.60.100, 7228.60.900, 7228.80.100, 7228.80.910 and 7228.80.990.
France-based tube and pipe producer Vallourec has announced that Vallourec Tube-Alloy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vallourec specialized in the production and repair of accessories for oil and gas wells, has opened its new oil and gas accessories facility in northern Singapore , in an effort to expand its activities and strengthen its long-term position in the Asia-Pacific region. The new plant will support the companys oil country tubular goods (OCTG) activities by expanding the geographic footprint of Vallourec Tube-Alloy, which until now was mainly centered on four production facilities in the US.
Monday, 30 May 2016 13:37:43 (GMT+3) | Istanbul

SteelOrbis has been informed that Turkish producer Icdas ' 12-32 mm rebar prices in Turkey 's Marmara region are now at TRY 1,288/mt ($435/mt) + VAT ex-works, while its rebar prices in Biga, Canakkale in northwestern Turkey are at TRY 1,271/mt ($429/mt) + VAT ex-works.The mill's list prices have moved down by TRY 85/mt + VAT as compared to its previous price list issued on May 23, while due to currency fluctuations prices have decreased by $26/mt on US dollar basis.$1 = TRY 2.96
President Klaus Iohannis on Monday voiced worries over what he said is investigation of communist crimes being stymied, calling on the decision makers to take the necessary measures.

"The past should be an alarm for today's youth, while justice action is fundamental in this sense. I am worried about investigation of communist crimes being stymied after years of progress. Continuing the investigations should be a priority with the organisations entitled by law and the decision makers to take measures to unblock the situation," said Iohannis.

The President on Monday attended the inauguration of the "Aripi" (Wings) monument in the Free Press Square of Bucharest City dedicated to the anti-communist resistance.

Agerpres
Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos welcomed Prince Charles at the Victoria Palace on Monday, on the occasion of the royal's visit to Romania.

"During the talks they approached aspects regarding the protection of the cultural heritage, biodiversity, forestry, sustainable rural development. The high guest presented the stage of the main projects he is conducting in Romania. On this occasion, the Prime Minister thanked His Royal Highness for the outstanding involvement in preserving biodiversity and sustainable development in Transylvania, through the foundations he chairs," reads a Government release to Agerpres.

President Klaus Iohannis also welcomed Prince Charles at the Cotroceni Palace on Monday. The discussion focused on Romania's remarkable rural tourism potential and on continuing the processes of preserving the natural heritage and traditional architecture.
It has long been known that young children can struggle with depression, but now a group of St. Louis researchers are finding some of those children  even as young as 3 or 4  think about suicide.

Thats the initial and unexpected observations of a group of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine, led by psychiatrist Joan Luby. The group just gained federal funding to further study the issue. Theyre also sending up a warning flag: Mental health among the very young needs to be better addressed in policy and research.

Its a real, sobering phenomenon, Luby said of the children shes heard talking about suicide. Its not exactly clear what it means, but we know it shouldnt be ignored.

Researchers with the schools Early Emotional Development Program work with children ages 3 to 7 who have been diagnosed with depression.

Since 2013 theyve enrolled 133 of them in a study that provides free, intensive parent-child interaction therapy to help the youngsters cope with, and even overcome, depression without medication. But the researchers did not expect within the first 18 months to find that nearly a fourth of the depressed children coming to them from different parts of the region would be talking about suicide.

The children include a boy, 6, from Ladue who had been dealing with bullying by his classmates. Last summer he began having intense outbursts during camp. His parents didnt realize his anger was an expression of depression and low self esteem. They sought help when he started saying disturbing things.

He would come home from these camps and say he was ugly and stupid, his mother recalled. In some of the bad rages he couldnt control, he would say things like, I wish I was never born, I hate my life, I wish I was dead, and we didnt know how to handle it.

Luby cautioned this is not a suicide crisis. Very young children rarely act on suicidal thoughts. Yet it is concerning when coupled with research that indicates that the earlier children are aware of and thinking about suicide, the more they may focus on it as they age, and that can lead to a greater risk of an attempt.

It is a further concern for girls, because depression is not as easily detected in them, Luby said. While young boys tend to act out in anger and disruptive behavior as part of depression, young girls tend to withdraw and internalize their feelings. Adults often mistake depression for shyness, Luby said.

The girls particularly seem to get lost, Luby said.

Research indicates young children with depression have differences in their brain structure and function. Brain imaging done by the Washington U. researchers suggests children with ongoing depression have lesser gray matter  a brain component thats been tied to the regulation of emotions.

Luby said the recent findings on suicidal thoughts is a wake-up call. She said its very likely depression starts far earlier than preschool, but it has not been fully studied.

Using the term mental health in context of infants and toddlers is a relatively new trend, but it is gaining traction. The Missouri Department of Mental Health now devotes part of its website to the mental health of children from birth through age 7. And a state board focusing on early childhood has made infant mental health a top priority.

Those groups are focusing on positive parental and caregiver attachments to promote optimal brain growth and social development of young children.

Much of the new attention on early childhood mental health is prompted by a growing body of research that shows rapid, critical brain development occurs in the first three years of life. That development often depends on positive social interaction from birth.

We need to look as intentionally on our young childrens social and emotional development as we do their cognitive and physical development, said Patsy Carter, of the states department of mental health. Parents are always worried about immunizations and physical growth and their childs A,B,Cs and 1,2,3s, but we dont always think about how theyre emotionally developing.

LaDonna Haley of Mental Health America of Eastern Missouri said the research in Lubys lab points to the need for early screening, recognition and treatment.

The earlier the intervention, the more likely the treatment will be successful and the child will have a better chance at total remission or diminished symptoms that are easier to manage, she said.

Luby said she is certain more solid diagnosis tools for depression and other mental health issues will eventually be developed for children younger than preschoolers.

In the meantime, she and her researchers hope to gain answers about what is causing such an early preoccupation with suicide.

Luby, at this point, suspects very young children are increasingly exposed to media featuring violence and death. Though they may not entirely understand the concepts, they are absorbing images and dialogue on death, and a very real sense that life can end and they have power to make that happen.

She said the forthcoming study will enroll about 250 children, some with depression and some without, to understand what constitutes normal thinking about suicide. It will further look at whether therapy and treatments of children with depression are as successful for children who are also thinking about suicide. And it will look at environmental factors at home and in child care environments.

Studies also continue on whether strong therapeutic support can reverse or change effects of childhood depression on the brain and on behavior. Luby says such therapy has dramatically helped children in her lab to better cope with their emotions. This was the case for the family from Ladue.

The mother says she learned to better empathize with her childs distressed feelings rather than to criticize or dismiss them as irrational or hurtful. Her son no longer talks about wanting to die.

In those deep sad moments, I think he felt, nobody understands me, his mother recalled. For us to say, I know thats frustrating to you, was important. We were letting him know its OK to express those feelings and that we were there to understand.
FLORISSANT  The future seemed grim when a bullet blast reverberated through young Michael Freys neck. In an instant, the Army grunt was bleeding and couldnt breathe.

Somebody popped a hole in his trachea and inserted a straw. A manual pump soon pushed air into his lungs.

That was 1969. Not only did the 19-year-old make it out of war-ravaged Vietnam alive, he came all the way home, near where he grew up in Florissant.

He spent the next 15 years recovering at John Cochran Veterans Administration Hospital and in the spinal cord unit at Jefferson Barracks. In 1984, to the surprise of many, he moved into his own home in Hazelwood.

Frey would become one of the longest living quadriplegics of his kind also dependent upon a ventilator. He also was one of the last to die from wounds inflicted in Vietnam.

In 2014, fluid buildup became too much of an obstacle for Freys 64-year-old body to overcome.

He survived a gunshot wound that should have been fatal and lived on with strength and courage that was an inspiration to everyone, said his brother, Norman Frey, of Florissant, who also served in Southeast Asia.

Until the end, ventilators, doctors, caregivers and a fearless spirit helped keep Michael Frey alive.

Leading up to an era when suicide rates have become alarmingly high for veterans and active-duty service members, Frey offered an encouraging outlook from the seat of a wheelchair.

So how do I manage to live life dependent on machines? Frey wrote for a farewell ceremony from the hospital in 1984. Theyre no handicap, believe me. I get along with them just fine. Its people I wonder about.

And he wanted to meet more.

Im not looking for pity, and Im not looking for a free ride. Im just looking to share a little of my life. And what does poor, helpless Michael have to offer? Come closer and find out.

Frey caught the admiration of many, including the likes of President Ronald Reagan, St. Louis Hall of Fame sportscaster Jack Buck, who called Frey one of his very best friends and medical personnel.

I always admired him for his perseverance and attitude, said Becky Ballard, an occupational therapist who recently retired from the VA after working with hundreds of spinal cord injury patients, including Frey. The will to live is strong, but not as many people had as many obstacles as Mike.

    

Frey was a living example of the horrors of war. Reporters and dignitaries sought him out on military holidays. He shared a story in a way that the public  no matter what side you were on about Vietnam  couldnt push aside.

With no control of the past and limited control of the future, he merely wanted to live his life. He often left people feeling like they had nothing to complain about.

But he wasnt always positive.

Memorial Day special to me? he told Metro-East Journal reporter Steve Weinberg, two years after being shot. No, Memorial Day is just another day, I guess  every day is the same around here.

A decade later, with Frey still in the hospital, Charles Osgood, of the CBS Radio Network, introduced him to the nation on Veterans Day as someone I want you to meet.

With the sound of a ventilator in the background, Frey said he enlisted in the Army when he was 18 and left out the detail about being engaged before going overseas.

I went over there, you know, I had no thoughts of going to Canada or trying to get out of it any other way, Frey said, according to a recording of the interview. I went there, and I was glad I did. I served. But we found out it didnt serve much of a purpose.

He told Osgood that initial hopes of walking again were gone.

I finally came to realize that this was permanent, he said, adding: I always say, I am hanging in there, I am getting by. I feel I am doing pretty good if that will help someone else.

    

Frey lived for decades without any feeling below the neck. He used his chin to manipulate the control of a power wheelchair.

Bedsores became the snipers to look out for. To avoid them, hed lie in a rotating bed for months to relieve pressure points on his skin.

On good days, when it was warm enough, he liked to check out trains at hobby shops or go to Cardinals games.

He was usually home, though, in the 100 block of St. Stanislaus Court, where hed host holiday parties for family and friends. He liked to listen to music from the 60s, talk on the phone and stay on top of his care plan.

Although he needed 24-hour assistance, he was involved, which, along with his attitude, apparently contributed to his longevity.

He has self confidence and generally feels good about himself, medical providers wrote in A Model Life, a story about him that ran in a 2010 edition of Vanguard, a VA publication. This helps him avoid or quickly recover from maladaptive responses to stress. He is open to positive influences from people around him. He benefits from an excellent social support network.

Sarah Curtis, 40, of Florissant, was his last full-time caregiver. She lived in an apartment below him with her three teenage children.

If something became disconnected from the ventilator at night, she said an alarm went off through the whole house.

She said he was a natural at making serious situations light. Even moments after a doctor told him he was only going to live a few more hours, Curtis said Frey asked if he could just be kept alive long enough to get through a Cardinals game underway at the time.

He was 64, and he was kind of like a big kid, Curtis said.

She said she never saw him break down, but suspected he did at times at night, when nobody was around. He even kept his composure a few years ago when she took him to see a traveling version of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall, when it stopped in St. Louis.

She said he wasnt going to leave until he found the names of his friends on it.

    

Though hed been shot decades before, Freys four surviving siblings thought he had earned a place on the wall. Within weeks of his death, they set out to get his name added.

We felt that his name needed to go up there with the rest of the people killed in Vietnam, said his brother, Norman. I dont want to offend anyone. The ones who lost their lives instantly are a tragedy that we honor and respect. But he gave so much more.

A mountain of medical records helped make the case, including an autopsy report that said Freys death was likely multifactorial and due to complications resulting from the bullet wound to his neck which resulted in his quadriplegia.

The surgeon general agreed.

So did the Army.

A few weeks ago, Michael G. Frey was etched into the somber granite wall  bringing the total to 58,315.

Today, in a Memorial Day ceremony, his name and seven others added this year will be read aloud.

Curtis flew to Washington to join a crowd of about 30 family members and friends for the event.

She wouldnt miss it.

He gave his life for Vietnam, the caregiver said. He never complained. He never said it was unfair. He just took it. The majority of the time he seemed happy.
I can assure you the only thing Spire cares about is profits over people. Their executives sat in silence and stared at us as we told them if they raised their rates again, people would suffer.
In early March, it was announced Drew Estate would be expanding its popular Herrera Esteli line by launching the Herrera Esteli TAA Exclusive, which began shipping to Tobacconists Association of America (TAA) members in April. (TAA works to maximize professionalism and success among its 80 associated retailers through training and the sharing of best practices; you can find a TAA shop near you here.)

The Drew Estate Herrera Esteli TAA Exclusive is presented in a single vitola, a toro (6 x 52) that retails for $144 per 12-count box, or $12 per cigar. Whereas the original Herrera Esteli features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper around a Honduran binder and filler tobaccos from Nicaragua, the TAA Exclusivealso blended by Willy Herrerasports a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper, Brazilian Mata Fina binder, and Nicaraguan fillers.

This is my first blend since joining Drew Estate that utilizes Connecticut Broadleaf tobacco, said Herrera in a press release. Drew Estate fans know that were famous for our use of Connecticut Broadleaf tobaccos, especially in our Liga Privada No. 9 and Nica Rustica lines. Ive been experimenting with blends that incorporate this incredible wrapper since coming on board and finally have a blend Im really excited about.

The Herrera Esteli TAA Exclusive is handsomely appointed with dual bands of red and gold that make this extension easily differentiated from the original Herrera Esteli blend. Even without the bands, though, youd never confuse the two. The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper on the core line is light and golden, whereas the TAA Exclusive is dark. In typical Drew Estate fashion, the cold draw is ultra-easy. The pre-light notes remind me of chocolate and cedar.

Once underway, I find cocoa with black pepper spice and abundant leather. The texture is coarse and gritty. The potent vegetal notes that are so common among Connecticut Broadleaf smokes from Drew Estate are also apparent, especially in the plentiful resting smoke. Other noticeable flavors include damp earth, vanilla, cream, and a dash of cinnamon. At the midway point and beyond, I start to notice some sour, meaty notes from time to timenothing terribly concerning, but certainly worth pointing out.

As far as the physical properties are concerned, this cigar is expertly rolled and a complete joy to smoke. The burn line is straight and true throughout, the smoke production well above average, the draw smooth, and the gray ash holds very firmly off the foot.

If Willy Herreras objective was to blend a full-bodied cigar that smokes cool with plentiful flavor, Id consider the Herrera Esteli TAA Exclusive a job well done. I especially appreciate the fleeting tastes I uniquely associate with Drew Estate Connecticut Broadleaf tobaccos, and how they are coupled with an overall profile thats differentiated from the likes of Liga Privada No. 9 or Nica Rustica. This well-crafted cigar is worth seeking outeven with its lofty price tagand deserving of an admirable rating of four stogies out of five.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

Patrick A

photo credit: Stogie Guys
MONTREAL, QC -- (Marketwired) -- 05/30/16 -- Falco Resources (TSX VENTURE: FPC) ("Falco" or the "Company) is pleased to announce the closing of a financing with Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. (TSX: OR) ("Osisko") whereby Osisko will provide a C$10 million loan ("Loan"). The Loan will be used for the advancement of the Horne 5 Project and for general corporate purposes.

Luc Lessard, President and Chief Executive Officer of Falco commented: "We are very pleased to benefit from our partnership with Osisko. With this financing now completed, we will work aggressively to advance the development of the Horne 5 Project. This is an important first step in completing the funding necessary to see the Horne 5 Project realized."

$10 Million Loan Financing

Under the terms of the financing, Osisko has provided Falco with a C$10 million loan. The Loan has an 18 month maturity, and interest shall be payable on the principal amount at a rate per annum that is equal to 7%, compounded quarterly, payable upon repayment of the principal amount.

Silver and/or Gold Stream

Over the next 18 months, Falco and Osisko shall negotiate in good faith the terms, conditions and form of a silver and/or gold stream agreement ("Stream Agreement"), which shall be substantially in the form typical for such transaction in the industry, whereby Osisko may provide Falco with a portion of the development capital required to build the Horne 5 Project ("Stream"). In this case, the principal amount of the Loan and any accrued interest will be applied against the Stream deposit.

At the maturity date, if Falco and Osisko have not concluded a Stream Agreement, the principal amount of the Loan will be converted into a 1% net smelter return royalty on the Horne 5 Project and accrued interests will be paid in cash.

Under certain events of default, Osisko may, at its option, require the repayment of the principal amount and the accrued interest in cash.

Investor Relations Consultant

The Company also wishes to announce that it has retained the services of Renmark Financial Communications Inc. to assist in investor relations activities.

In consideration of the services to be provided, the Company has agreed to pay a monthly retainer of $5,000 to Renmark Financial Communications Inc.

Renmark Financial Communications does not have any interest, directly or indirectly, in Falco Resources Ltd. or its securities, or any right or intent to acquire such an interest.

About Falco

Falco Resources Ltd. is one of the largest mineral claim holders in the Province of Quebec, with extensive land holdings in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt. Falco owns 74,000 hectares of land in the Rouyn-Noranda mining camp, which represents 70% of the entire camp and includes 13 former gold and base metal mine sites. Falco's principal property is the Horne Mine, which was operated by Noranda from 1927 to 1976 and produced 11.6 million ounces of gold and 2.5 billion pounds of copper. A updated 43-101 mineral resource estimate for the Horne 5 deposit delineated an Indicated Resource of 5,361,000 gold equivalent ounces ("oz AuEq"), including 3,418,232 oz Au hosted in 58.3 million tonnes averaging 2.86 g/t AuEq (1.82 g/t Au; 15.60 g/t Ag; 0.20% Cu; 1.00% Zn) and an Inferred Resource of 1,254,000 oz AuEq, including 854,534 oz Au hosted in 12.7 million tonnes averaging 3.08 g/t AuEq (2.10 g/t Au; 26.26 g/t Ag; 0.22% Cu; 0.57% Zn.) -- see January 25th, 2016 press release for details. Osisko Gold Royalties is the largest shareholder of the Company and currently owns 16.2% of the outstanding shares of the Company.

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 press release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (together, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of terminology such as "plans", "expects', "estimates", "intends", "anticipates", "believes" or variations of such words, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" and includes, without limitation, the ability of Falco and Osisko to negotiate a Stream in a timely manner. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include the impossibility for Falco and Osisko to negotiate mutually acceptable commercial terms for a stream and those risks set out in Falco's public documents, including in each management discussion and analysis, filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although Falco believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed times frames or at all. Except where required by applicable law, Falco disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Cautionary Note Concerning Mineral Resources

This press release uses the term "inferred" resources and "indicated resources", we advise investors that while this term is recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize it. "Inferred" resources and "indicated resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence and as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an inferred resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. United States investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of measured or indicated mineral resources will ever be converted into mineral reserves. United States investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists, or is economically or legally mineable.

For further information contact: Vincent Metcalfe Chief Financial Officer [email protected] Bettina Filippone Renmark Financial Communications Inc. [email protected] com

Source: Falco Resources Ltd
MEXICO CITY, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Grupo LALA, S.A.B. de C.V. (BMV: LALA B) ("Grupo LALA"), a Mexican dairy company focused on healthy and nutritious foods, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire from Laguna Dairy, S. de R.L. de C.V. ("Laguna") certain assets related to Laguna's branded business in the U.S. (the "Branded Business") for US$246mm in an all-cash transaction. This acquisition is in line with Grupo LALA's strategy of expanding in value-added branded categories in high-growth markets in the Americas.

The Branded Business will sell approximately US$200mm in 2016 and has achieved double digit growth for the past two years. The branded portfolio includes products in high-growth segments such as, mainstream drinkable yogurt under the LALA and Frusion brands and specialty milks under Promised Land and Skim Plus brands. In the United States, LALA is the leading brand in the adult drinkable yogurt category and Promised Land and Skim Plus are highly recognized regional super premium milks.

The acquisition includes three production plants and 5+ brands. This transaction will also provide a local platform to expand the presence of LALAs authentic Mexican product line in the large US Hispanic segment.

Scot Rank, Grupo LALA's CEO, commented: "This acquisition represents a unique opportunity to enter high growth dairy categories in a key market in the Americas. Through this transaction we are obtaining modern production facilities, growing businesses in value added categories, and a local platform for future growth in the world's largest dairy market."

The related party transaction has been approved by Grupo LALA's independent Audit Committee and Board of Directors. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearances.

J.P. Morgan was engaged by the Company to act as financial advisor for the sole purpose of rendering a fairness opinion in connection with the transaction.

Please click on the following link for a PDF file containing the full text of the press release: GRUPO LALA ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION PROCESS

Please click on the following link for a PDF file containing the full text of the press release in Spanish: GRUPO LALA ANUNCIA PROCESO DE ADQUISICION

About LALA

Grupo LALA, a Mexican company focused on healthy and nutritious food, has over 65 years of experience in producing, revitalizing and marketing milk, dairy products and drinks with the highest quality standards. There are 22 LALA production plants in operation and 166 distribution centers in Mexico and Central America, and it has more than 33,000 team members. LALA operates a fleet of more than 7,000 vehicles to distribute their 600+ products, which are delivered to over 550,000 points of sale. LALAs portfolio its led by its two flagship brands LALA and Nutri Leche.

For more information, visit: www.grupolala.com

Grupo LALA is listed on the Mexican Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "LALA B"

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160128/327167LOGO

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grupo-lala-has-entered-into-an-agreement-to-acquire-the-branded-business-of-laguna-dairy-company-in-the-united-states-300276627.html

SOURCE Grupo LALA, S.A.B. de C.V.
Meets Hollywood studios new specifications for secure download, storage and playback of premium content

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- INSIDE Secure (Paris: INSD) (Euronext Paris: INSD), a leader in embedded security solutions for mobile and connected devices, today announced it is working with Rambus Cryptography Research Division to enable the delivery of over-the-top (OTT) 4K and Ultra High Definition (UHD) content that meets Secure Content Storage Association (SCSA) specifications. These specifications, which support VIDITY-branded consumer devices, are endorsed by major Hollywood studios, including 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., to enable the secure download, local storage and playback of premium HD content.

This collaboration between Rambus and INSIDE Secure means that consumer electronics manufacturers can easily comply with the new specs set by Hollywood to securely distribute 4K and Ultra HD premium content, said Andrew McLennan, executive vice-president of the Mobile Security Division of INSIDE Secure. With the launch of a new agent for SCSA, INSIDE Secure also advances its goal of offering a multi-DRM platform, a platform already being used by 100 major deployments - including HBO, BBC, Sky, Orange, Canal+, and Bell Canada - and more than 120 million consumers every day.

The INSIDE Secure digital rights management (DRM) technology in the SCSA and VIDITY ecosystems sprung from its early membership and involvement in SCSA. This builds on and expands its DRM Fusion range of content protection solutions which offers freedom of DRM choice when designing solutions for a multi-screen video service. INSIDE Secures DRM Fusion already supports Microsoft PlayReady alongside Google Widevine and Verimatrix ViewRight Web Hollywood studios-approved client security for 4K/Ultra HD content. This extensive choice of popular DRM systems makes the solution fully adapted for the largest number of OTT operators.

It is critical to provide consumers with the best digital programming ownership experience in a safe and secure manner, said Dr. Simon Blake-Wilson, vice-president of Products and Marketing at Rambus Cryptography Research. Rambus is pleased to work with INSIDE Secure to support new premium content protection standards like VIDITY, enabling consumers to enjoy the best content in their favorite setting on their favorite device.

To learn more about INSIDE Secures content protection solutions, please visit: http://www.insidesecure.com/Markets-solutions/Content-Protection-and-Entertainment

About INSIDE SecureINSIDE Secure (Euronext Paris FR0010291245  INSD) provides comprehensive embedded security solutions. World-leading companies rely on INSIDE Secures mobile security and secure transaction offerings to protect critical assets including connected devices, content, services, identity and transactions. Unmatched security expertise combined with a comprehensive range of IP, semiconductors, software and associated services gives INSIDE Secure customers a single source for advanced solutions and superior investment protection.

For more information, visit http://www.insidesecure.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160529005004/en/

INSIDE Secure

Geraldine Sauniere, +33 (0) 4 42 37 02 37

Marcom Director

[email protected]

Source: INSIDE Secure
Steve Williams (C), president and CEO of Suncor Energy, speaks during a news conference about the Fort McMurray wildfires with Alberta Premier Rachel Notley (2nd R) and Tim McMillan (2nd L), president and CEO of Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers

By Ethan Lou

TORONTO (Reuters) - Suncor Energy Inc's (NYSE: SU) facilities north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, are expected to partially restart by the end of the week, the company said on Sunday, the latest sign Canadian oil sands producers are coming back online after a massive wildfire.

The start-up of Suncor's base plant and MacKay River sites is under way, with "initial production" expected by the end of the week, the company said in a statement, which noted initial production at its Firebag site began early last week.

A spokeswoman declined to specify the production volume expected as operations resume.

Bitumen capacities at Firebag and MacKay River are 203,000 and 38,000 barrels per day, respectively, and the base plant upgrader facility's capacity is 350,000 barrels a day, Suncor said.

Energy companies have begun restarting operations as the threat from the wildfire recedes. Fort McMurray itself still sits largely empty after its entire population of nearly 90,000 was evacuated earlier this month.

The wildfire, expected to be Canada's costliest natural disaster, cut Canadian oil output by a million barrels a day.

The inferno has charred more than 500,000 hectares (1,930 square miles) across the northern part of the province of Alberta and crossed into the neighboring province of Saskatchewan.

Rain and higher humidity in recent days have helped firefighting efforts. The Alberta government said firefighting conditions would improve through the weekend.

Authorities last week lifted evacuation orders on all work camps in the area and many oil facilities, including those of Suncor and its majority-owned Syncrude.

"There has been no damage to Suncor's assets and all sites have enhanced fire mitigation and protection," the company said.

Suncor said it had moved more than 4,000 employees and contractors back into the region for its restart efforts and would move 3,500 more in the coming week.

It also said Syncrude was planning its own return to operations. A Syncrude spokesman declined to comment on a time line for restarting operations.

Some of the evacuees from Fort McMurray may be allowed to return as soon as Wednesday, if air quality improves and other safety conditions are met.

(Reporting by Ethan Lou in Toronto; Editing by Peter Cooney)
Citybound traffic was building on Tuesday just before 7am after a crash blocked two lanes near Te Irirangi Dr.

A crash heading into Auckland on the southern motorway is now clear of lanes but is expected to slow commutes.

The crash happened near Te Irirangi Dr just before 7am on Tuesday and traffic had already backed up to Manukau.

The New Zealand Transport Agency said to expect delays when travelling through the area.

A spokeswoman for the police said no one was injured in the crash but it was likely to cause problems for a while.
Auckland is now over a third of New Zealand's population.

As our only city of an international scale, Auckland plays a top-heavy role in driving the interests of New Zealand.

With two-thirds of the world's population expected to be living in urban areas by the middle of the century, cities have become the magnets for resources - talent, businesses, investment, research centres, visitors and students are all attracted to the world's great centres.

"Cities have become the organising unit around which the world economy is currently structured," says Patrick McVeigh, general manager, economic growth, for the city's development agency ATEED.



"What you're seeing in Auckland in terms of its role as a city in a national economy mirrors what we see more on a global platform."



READ MORE:

* Auckland to spend $500k on new look

* Crowds pour into Auckland's Chinese Lantern Festival

* Auckland axes 'man in London' post



The difference is that while other countries have several international-scale cities, New Zealand only has Auckland.



"The impact and consequences of what happens in Auckland are probably felt more than they might be if you were in a network of five or six cities of a major size," McVeigh says.



As we head into another local body election with Aucklanders about to vote in a new mayor and council to lead this virtual city state, it is a reminder why every New Zealander should pay attention to Auckland's internal politicking.



Here are four big questions for the whole of New Zealand to consider about Auckland.

IS AUCKLAND TOO IMPORTANT TO LEAVE TO AUCKLAND VOTERS?

No other part of the country comes anywhere near the population growth or economic impact of Auckland.

But just one in three Aucklanders bothered to vote at the last local body elections - to elect the super city council which controls much of the growth, from basic infrastructure like roads and drainage, to encouraging international trade and dealing with the red tape for building new homes to house the burgeoning population.



It's a parlous turnout when you consider that who runs Auckland affects not only their daily lives but the fortunes of the entire country.



Each time US presidential elections come around, there are many who lament that the power of the POTUS is too important to leave to just Americans to vote on. In a year where Donald Trump could feasibly become that president, the anxiety it causes becomes even more stark.



New Zealanders should consider whether we face a similar issue here.

IS AUCKLAND A DIFFERENT COUNTRY?

Auckland has the fourth largest foreign-born population in the world, according to an international study ranking the world's most culturally diverse cities.

The city clocks in with 39 per cent of the population born overseas. Auckland sits ahead of Sydney, Los Angeles, and even London and New York for having such a diverse population.



Only Dubai, Brussels, and Toronto have larger foreign-born populations - in Dubai and Brussels the foreign-born residents outnumber local citizens.



Nearly one in four, or 24 per cent, of Aucklanders are Asian and the European percentage had fallen to less than 70 per cent.



The city itself is growing more rapidly than anywhere else in the country.



Its population increased 2.9 per cent to 1.57 million last year, compared with a 1.9 per cent boost in the national population to 4.59m.



Auckland has accounted for half of the 739,000 increase in New Zealand's population in the last 15 years.



To put it another way, Auckland has grown by the size of Wellington in the last decade.



Its residents are comparatively youthful, with 68 per cent aged 15 to 64. Nationally the figure is 65 per cent.



However while the city's ethnic mix is changing, Europeans are driving the increase in people migrating to Auckland.



Almost 8000 Europeans arrived in Auckland with work visas last year compared with 4000 Asian people, and Europeans' share of applications for work and residence visas is increasing over time.

DOES AUCKLAND PAY ITS FAIR SHARE?

They're richer and younger than you.

Aucklanders' average earnings in 2014 were $59,180, compared with the $54,230 average income for all Kiwis.

And they are actually less of a burden on the state.

Only 46.8 per cent of Aucklanders are dependent on the state as opposed to 52.9 per cent of New Zealanders, and while the government spends $499 per head on social services across the country in Auckland it spends $459.

These figures are useful when considering the insistence from elsewhere in the country that Auckland should get no more than its "share", the city's mayor Len Brown says.

In actual fact Auckland contributes over a third of the tax take and receives slightly under a third back, he says.

"That will be an increasing contribution, not decreasing," he says.

Auckland is leading the charge in developing vital sectors, such as technology and tourism.

Holiday visitor arrivals to Auckland this summer (December to February) were up a record 15 per cent to 425,700.

"We are a key part of the attraction of New Zealand for overseas visitors," Brown says.

"That is the reason we promote (the city) so strongly.

"Everything we do, the whole focus of the Auckland Plan, is to deliver on the hopes of Parliament and the country that we would take up genuinely the role of New Zealand's only international city."

All up, at $80.5 billion, Auckland's GDP was 36.7 per cent of the national total of $219.5b in 2015.

This is up from 34 per cent in 2000.

Its growth was a bit slower last year, but overall the city's economy has been expanding faster than the rest of New Zealand's for some years - Auckland's GDP grew 24 per cent from 2005 to 2015, while GDP for the rest of New Zealand grew 20 per cent.

IS AUCKLAND OUR ONLY HOPE TO STOP THE NATIONAL DEPENDENCE ON DAIRY PRICES?

Auckland's economy is heavy on services, education, tourism and manufacturing. Its building boom is also in full swing.

That provides something of a counterbalance to agriculture, says Auckland Council's chief economist Chris Parker.

It also requires a growing level of services and products from the regions, which is good for their local economies.

For the first time Auckland has been included in the Jones Lang Lasalle top 20 City Momentum Index.

The international commercial real estate firm called its 2016 report, "The Rise of the Innovation-Oriented City".

Its another sign of Auckland doing what it needs to do, says Patrick McVeigh.

Auckland has deliberately targeted a transition to an innovation-based economy, and its tech sector grew 26 per cent between 2010-2014, McVeigh says.

Cloud video company 90 Seconds was one of the first residents of the Auckland Council-backed innovation precinct GRIDAKL.

The startup recently secured $10.6 million from investors including US-based Sequoia, an early backer of big names such as Google, YouTube and Airbnb.

Multinationals such as French video game publisher Gameloft and German enterprise software giant SAP now have regional hubs in Auckland.

Building this specialisation is vital to enticing skilled people, McVeigh says.

"You want to be able to provide for talent enough so that when they look at the city they can see two, three, four, five career moves, not just one company."

In order to display that growing diversity the city is holding its first Techweek from May 14-22.

The inaugural event is being held at the same time as the Tripartite Summit, Auckland's first go at hosting the annual event of the Tripartite Economic Alliance between the city, Los Angeles and Guangzhou.

The alliance is one of a new breed of inter-city trade deals, and is focused firmly on economic outcomes, Brown says.

Around 600 companies from the three cities will meet and greet and hopefully do business.

All in all it's a big year for Auckland.

In August it will finalise the Unitary Plan, the first overall planning blueprint for the metropolis since amalgamation in 2010.

Then with the departure of Brown at the October election Aucklanders get to choose a new mayor, another first since the formation of the Super City.

There are a multitude of reasons for Aucklanders to get their act together - what remains to be seen, is will they?
A fire that broke out at a Housing New Zealand property in the Lower Hutt suburb of Epuni on Monday night is being treated as suspicious.

Emergency services were called to the state house in Hampton Court, near Epuni train station, about 9.30pm.

The blaze at the two-storey building was "well-involved" by the time firefighters arrived, fire service central communications shift manager Belinda Beets said.

VISWA KALAINESAN A Housing New Zealand property was ablaze.

The fire was out by 11.10pm, but fire crews would work through the night to dampen down hotspots.

One firefighter suffered minor injuries battling the blaze. Others were decontaminated at the scene due to concerns about asbestos contamination.

Police were also at the scene, with firefighters set to guard the property overnight.

VISWA KALAINESAN A structure fire was reported in Epuni, Lower Hutt, on Monday night.

At this stage, the fire appeared to be suspicious, Beets said.

The house was due to be demolished next week due to asbestos, One News reported.
First came death, then came a Jehovah's Witness.

It led to Wellington woman Jean Sergent-Shadbolt turning the tables on what she called the "predatory" religion, by door-knocking a stranger.

She was looking for the woman who hand-delivered a personalised letter to her and her dead flatmate, friend, and step-cousin Michael Boyes, three months to the day after his high-profile death from a sudden brain bleed.

ROSS GIBLIN/ FAIRFAX NZ The hand-delivered letter, addressed to Sergent and Boyes, who by then had been dead for three months.

READ MORE:

* Deaf Aotearoa flooded with complaints about Jehovah's Witness church

* Jehovah's Witnesses explain beliefs

* Ex-Jehovah's Witness bled to death after surgery

* Court bars kids from Jehovah's Witness activities

"What happens to us when we die?" was among the questions the letter asked.

"I opened it and I was really devastated, I was really f...ed off," Sergent-Shadbolt said.

ROBERT KITCHIN/FAIRFAX NZ Jean Sergent-Shadbolt tells how horrified she was to receive a letter from the Jehovah's Witnesses after flatmate Michael Boyes' death.

A leading Wellington Jehovah's Witness has now apologised and insisted the letter's timing was a coincidence, but Sergent-Shadbolt believes it could be a rogue Witness targeting grief.

The letter, from a Sue Roberts, urged her to get in touch, and left a return addresss to a house on Farnham St, Mornington, a few suburbs away from her Aro Valley home.

Nobody was home when Sergent-Shadbolt visited on Sunday, so she returned on Monday to discover Sue Roberts had never lived there.

ROSS GIBLIN/FAIRFAX NZ Tears well up in Jean Sergent-Shadbolt's eyes as she recalls her friend's death.

She wanted to ask if she had been targeted after the death of her friend, whether Roberts knew he was dead, and what right the religious organisation had to impose on her grief.

The address was the home of Wellington West Jehovah's Witness co-ordinator Ron Winiata, who apologised to her and said the timing of the letter was an unfortunate coincidence.

He refused to give Roberts' address, but did pass on a phone number.

SUPPLIED Wellington man Michael Boyes died suddenly, but the donation of his organs helped six strangers.

"We have got her name, but your address," Sergent-Shadbolt told him, accusing him of double-standards. "But she has got my name, my address and the name of my flatmate, who is dead."

Receiving the letter, especially three months to the day after Boyes' death, was "predatory", she told him. "It feels like harassment."

Winiata said that, if the letters upset people, Jehovah's Witnesses would revisit their approach.

ROSS GIBLIN/ FAIRFAX NZ Jean Sergent-Shadbolt remains doubtful that the timing of the letter was a coincidence.

The group never set out to upset people: "It is to help people who are in times of need."

When called, Roberts refused to give her address but said "no hurt was ever intended", and she was "more than happy to apologise".

Yet Sergent-Shadbolt still believed she may have been targeted deliberately. A few weeks before the letter arrived, a Jehovah's Witness had come to her door. Sergent-Shadbolt had sent them away, in the process telling them someone close to her had died.

Heather Henare, from grief counselling service Skylight, was not aware of any cases of religions targeting grieving people, but people in grief were more susceptible to sales pitches.

"It is a time, unfortunately, people take advantage of people."

Massey University history professor Peter Lineham, who specialises in New Zealand religion, believed the letter's timing was coincidental.

But, if targeted, it could be a sign the religion's members believed Christ was coming again soon and so were trying to recruit members.

* This version of the article has been updated to remove earlier references to the Jehovah's Witnesses' 144,000 "anointed" members.

* Comments on this story have now been closed.
Wellington Town Hall is considered to have some of the best concert acoustics in the world, but has been shut since 2013 and will remain so until at least 2020.

Wellington's earthquake-prone town hall is now unlikely to reopen until 2020  seven years after its doors shut to the public  and it may not end up being 100 per cent of building code.

Wellington City Council staff were told on Monday that the current best-case-scenario was to resume seismic strengthening of the 112-year-old building in September 2017.

The town hall, considered to have some of the best acoustics in the world, was shut in November 2013 for strengthening. But work halted three months later when the cost ballooned from $43 million to $60m.

ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY The town hall has been around since 1904. Here, emergency ambulances line up outside the building during the 1918 flu epidemic.

City councillors approved a plan last year to strengthen the town hall, along with the nearby civic administration building and central library, for $73.2m.

READ MORE:

* How can Wellington inject more life into Civic Square?

* Council eyes developers' dollars

* Town hall's future on sound footing

But while the intention in 2013 was bring the town hall up to 140 per cent of new building standards through base isolation, the goal now is to hit a minimum of 77 per cent of code.

ROSS GIBLIN/FAIRFAX NZ Strengthening the town hall is expected to cost $73m.

It is currently somewhere between 20 and 25 per cent.

Council chief executive Kevin Lavery said 77 per cent was the minimum safety requirement for a concert venue hosting crowds of between 300 and 400. But the council hoped to do better than that.

"This is a venue that is going to be used by the public. The NZSO wants to have concerts in there again, so we want it to be of a high standard."

ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY Ref: EP/1984/1558/4-F The funeral service for Ernie Abbott, who died during a 1984 bomb attack on the Trades Hall building, filled up the town hall.

But before any strengthening work can resume, the council needs to get a deal across the line with Victoria University's School of Music and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) to convert the town hall and adjoining Municipal Office Building on Wakefield St into the city's music hub.

Doing so will see the university and NZSO move into the Municipal Office Building, forcing about 650 council staff to squeeze into offices in the civic administration building and library.

Lavery said no deal had been done yet, but the council hoped to have an agreement in place by October, which should spell out how much each party contributes towards the project.

The strengthening of the town hall is now part of a wider $100m project to make Civic Square more people-friendly by providing more places to eat, drink and shop.

The deal with the university and NZSO is designed to soften the blow to ratepayers. The council has also offered to let half the Michael Fowler Centre car park to developers, and is pondering the same for Jack Ilott Green.

Councillor Helene Ritchie, who is opposed to the council offering leases in Civic Square, said the deal was getting in the way of progress on the town hall's strengthening.

"The town hall will be closed, in all likelihood, for nearly a decade. For a capital city to not have a town hall is appalling. It says a lot about who we are as a city."

But Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said: "Helene can say what she likes. We're working well with our architectural partners."

The new music venue would reinforce the city's position as New Zealand's cultural capital, she said. Although partnerships might reduce some burden on ratepayers, "the more exciting aspect is having a national music hub".

But there were still "lots of details" to work through. "There's always new engineering issues."

NZSO chief executive Christopher Blake did not reveal any details about the orchestra's move into the town hall, but said it would create a nationally significant centre of excellence and innovation.

A Victoria University spokesman declined to comment on the town hall project, except to say that no decisions had been made about the university role in the project.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

October 2016: Council hoping to have agreement in place with Victoria University and NZSO

December 2016: City councillors may be required to vote on the proposal

May 2017: Detailed designs for music hub drawn up

August 2017: Resource applications lodged

September 2017: Strengthening work and construction begins

February 2020: Town hall reopens to the public

TALE OF THE TOWN HALL

June 2008: Wellington City Council begins looking at the earthquake-resilience of its own portfolio of buildings.

October 2009: The council budgets $42m over 10 years to bring some of its buildings up to code. About $30m of this is expected to be spent on the town hall, which is assessed as being 16 per cent of the 2004 building code.

October 2011: Further evaluations put the town hall's resilience at between 20 and 25 per cent of new building standards. Warning notices are posted on the town hall and Municipal Office Building.

September 2009: The council starts advertising for contractors to carry out the strengthening work, stating its desire to see the century-old building upgraded to 140 per cent of new building standards through base isolation.

March 2013: The Dominion Post reveals a project to fit out replacement offices for mayor Celia Wade-Brown, her deputy and staff on Level 4 of the Central Library has gone out for tender with a $350,000 budget. The notice for tenders are cancelled days later and $200,000 is swiftly cut from the budget.

June 7, 2013: The council says earthquake-strengthening of the town hall can begin in November 2013. It is expected to take four years and cost $43.7m. Councillors are asked to vote on whether this should proceed.

June 11, 2013: Council chief executive Kevin Lavery asks councillors to seriously consider the future of the town hall, saying the project is "an awful lot of money for zero return". Property Council president Ian Cassels labels the town hall a "white elephant" and says it is "unacceptable" to throw $43m at it.

June 13, 2013: City councillors vote emphatically to retain the town hall.

November 2013: The town hall is locked to the public and some of its contents are removed, including a massive organ with more than 4000 pipes, which was installed in 1906.

February 2014: Strengthening work is halted after investigations into the state of the building's foundations reveal the cost is likely to be north of $60m.

December 2014: Council unveils plans to turn the town hall into a music hub and offer century-long leases on some Civic Square sites to help fund a $100 million revamp of the area.

May 2015: Council approves $96.5m worth of spending in its Long-Term Plan for the town hall strengthening and Civic Square upgrade.
OPINION: Most New Zealanders know that tourism is booming.

Many don't know there's another services sector that's growing rapidly and offers many wonderful social, cultural and economic benefits for New Zealand.

That sector is education  and it's one of our best-kept secrets.

International students want to study here because of our high-quality education system, our innovative teaching techniques, our focus on work-ready graduates and employment pathways. And because New Zealand offers this quality education experience in a safe, welcoming, affordable, clean and beautiful environment.

The latest provisional figures show that more than 124,000 international students from 176 countries were enrolled in 2015 with New Zealand schools, universities, institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) as well as private providers of many types.

Some may think our industry is focused solely on attracting students to New Zealand. But there's so much more to it than that.

EDUCATING KIWIS FOR A GLOBAL WORLD

International students help connect New Zealanders to the world. "Increasing globalisation means that young people need to expand their horizons," said the principal of Freyberg High School, Peter Brooks, at the launch this month of a Manawatu international education growth strategy.

He pointed out that bringing in international students from a range of countries "enriches both those students, our students and our community in a multitude of ways".

Having international students in Kiwi classrooms, lecture theatres and labs, and in host families' homes, brings the world to people's doorsteps. It creates lifelong friendships, connections and networks. We hear many stories of how studying in New Zealand has changed lives.

Importantly, it brings different worldviews to the way our young people think and act. Why is this important?Because the students of today will live in a world that is far more globally connected than their parents' ever was.

And when those young people eventually return home to China or Germany or Chile, they become lifelong 'ambassadors' for New Zealand.

ECONOMIC IMPACT

A way we can measure our success is through education's contribution to GDP.

International education is New Zealand's fifth biggest export industry and the second biggest services sector. It was provisionally worth $3.1 billion for the 2015 calendar year, according to Statistics New Zealand, and it's growing so quickly it looks set to be the fourth biggest, overtaking wood at $3.52 billion.

The Government has set a target to grow the value of international education to $5 billion by 2025, and the industry is well on the way to reaching that.

The fact that international education is so important to our economy is not well known. It's more than double the value of the wine industry ($1.54b) and the seafood industry ($1.45b), and supports more than 30,000 high-value jobs. It impacts a range of different people in our communities from school teachers and university research and teaching staff, technical instructors in aviation, animation, cyber security and so on, to homestay families, administrators, marketing and economic development professionals and support personnel.

International students are busy tourists while they're here too. Their social media feeds are full of images and stories of beautiful vistas, our cities and towns, food and friends. Parents, grandparents and friends are frequently attracted here as well, seizing the opportunity to holiday and travel around New Zealand, taking in the sights and doing as much as they can while their loved one is here.

SKILLED TALENT POOL

International education also provides us with a large, skilled and knowledgeable talent pool.

Through scholarship initiatives and study-work visa settings, we are increasingly able to attract highly skilled students who choose to stay.

New Zealand has a number of areas of skill shortage and high employer demand. These include IT, engineering, science and technology, as well as animation, adventure tourism and food technology.

Alongside training up talented young Kiwis, there is great potential for New Zealand to capitalise on the students who come to study here, particularly at graduate and postgraduate level.

There is also scholarship funding to encourage ambitious Kiwi students to go abroad and enhance their skills and awareness of the world. The Prime Minister's Scholarships for Asia have enabled 627 Kiwi students to travel and study in Asia since 2013.

EDUCATION EXPORTS

International education doesn't just involve the movement of students. Provisional figures show that the delivery of New Zealand's highly regarded education services and products offshore contributed $242 million to GDP in 2015  with huge potential for growth particularly in the education technology sector.

There are some great enterprises already out there. Massey University Worldwide, for instance, was established by Massey University in 2013 to grow its portfolio of blended, online and distance courses to the world. Among the many courses it now offers is an MBA programme tailored for Qatar Airways, and delivered jointly by Massey Business School and Massey School of Aviation. Another example is Code Avengers, a Hamilton company that delivers an online learning platform for people to build their own apps, games and websites in a way that is effective and fun. The company serves a global audience of over 10,000 users. We're keen to see many more such initiatives get off the ground.

All up, there is a bright outlook ahead. Education adds value in all sorts of ways and enriches the lives of everyone involved. The world is looking for quality education and unique cultural experiences, and New Zealand is ideally placed to deliver both.

Grant McPherson is chief executive of Education New Zealand, the government's international education marketing and development agency, established in 2011.
Charles Stewart is a fan of the Manage My Health website offered by Karori Medical Centre that allows patients to view their own medical records via the "patient portals" system.

Emailing a doctor or viewing medical records online may seem like a foreign concept for many, but it's a reality for Karori Medical Centre patients.

New website Manage My Health, dubbed a "patient portal", is being offered to registered patients.

Patients can access lab results, make appointments, request repeat prescriptions, view doctors notes' and email their doctor via the site.

Rocketclips 123RF Some medical practices are using websites that allow them to be more time-efficient with each patient by offering advice and patient history online.

Karori Medical Centre is New Zealand's largest suburb, having a patient roll of 14,000, with 6500 of those activating their own Manage My Health account.

Charles Stewart, a long time patient of the Karori Medical Centre, has been using the portal for 2 years.

The 85-year-old says it is easy to use.

"I have a more personal relationship with my doctor, even though he is very busy," Stewart says.

The biggest advantage for Stewart is his ability to book appointments on his iPad or computer.

"By the time I take my finger off the button I have a confirmation response," he says.

More than 50 per cent of the practice's patients are aged over 25 and 10 per cent are over 65.

Stewart says the website is helpful for his daughter overseas.

"By the time I'm home from the appointment, she can have read the doctors notes."

Peter Moodie, a doctor who has been at the practice for more than 30 years, has been a champion behind the site since it was introduced to New Zealand medical centres five years ago.

"Everything is technology, why not use it for medical practices," he says.

About 500 patients were using the site in May, 2014, in comparison with about 6500 now.

The site is more time-efficient for doctors and patients, and decreases the administration work for staff.

Another draw factor for the website is its accessibility and immediate contact for patients overseas.

"Patients can access their records and lists of previous medicines, as well as email me any questions if they run into health problems," Moodie says.

Health minister Jonathan Coleman is giving New Zealand a $3 million boost for patient's access to portals.

"Portals are convenient, secure and real time savers for both the patient and staff at their general practice," he says.

"These secure online sites are the health equivalent to online banking."

MANAGE MY HEALTH

* New online maps can show whether a GP offers a patient portal. Visit patientportals.co.nz for details.
It is 100 years today since a New Zealander played a vital role in one of the largest war battles ever. David Broome dissects The Battle of Jutland.

The Germans would call it Skagerrak, but we immortsalise it as Jutland; the largest surface battle in history.

In the early hours of May 31, 1916, Germany's Admiral Reinhard Scheer took 99 ships of Germany's High Seas fleet into the North Sea. Despite what Jutland became he never intended to fight a pitched battle. Scheer instead wanted to destroy pockets of British Empire's Grand Fleet in order to even a growing imbalance.

JOHN BISSET/FAIRFAX NZ South Canterbury museum social history curator Chris Rapley and naval researcher Fred Wilson CBE unfurl a silk ensign which flew from the HMS New Zealand at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

The British Admiralty had, however, broken Germany's naval codes allowing them to plan a trap of their own. Hours before Scheer had even left port, 151 ships of the Grand Fleet were at sea commanded by a future New Zealand Governor-General, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. Jellicoe's fleet included 28 dreadnought battleships and nine battlecruisers; easily outgunning Scheer's 16 dreadnought battleships and five battlecruisers.

One of Jellicoe's ships included the battlecruiser New Zealand; our own castle of steel.

On May 31, at 2.28pm, the first shots of Jutland were fired but contact between the battlecruisers of Germany's Admiral Franz Hipper and those of Admiral David Beatty, wouldn't come until 3.45pm. Within just 40 minutes both Indefatigable and Queen Mary became pyres for 2283 sailors after German shells penetrated thin armour and immolated both ships. Beatty exclaimed: "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today" but it could have been much worse.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL NEW ZEALAND NAVY The crew of the HMS New Zealand.

One 11-inch shell struck New Zealand in a similar place that had claimed her sisters but it did little damage. Maybe it was the piupiu and heitiki gifted to her in 1913 because New Zealand's only battle casualty was a canary.

By 4.40pm, Hipper had led Beatty's eight battlecruisers and battleships into Scheer's trap, leaving Beatty only one option and that was to run towards Jellicoe.

After 80 minutes of hot pursuit the hunter became the hunted for out of the murk loomed the British battle fleet. Jellicoe expertly deployed his battleships into a battle line that pummelled the leading German ships. Yet disaster struck at 6.30pm when Invincible, the first of all battlecruisers, blew up killing 1022 crew including Rear Admiral Sir Horace Hood. One of Invincible's salvoes would posthumously claim the German battlecruiser Lutzow.

It was now Scheer on the run after a masterful 180-degree battle turn, but he was also steaming away from home.

Then Scheer did a most inexplicable thing. At 6.55pm, he turned his ships 180 degrees back towards the British that even post-war Scheer could not explain but in the fading light his ships were silhouetted. Jellicoe's armada crossed his 'T' hammering the Germans with salvos of 12-inch, 13.5-inch and 15-inch shells. As Scheer's fleet faced annihilation he needed a distraction so at 7.13pm signalled: "Battlecruisers at the enemy. Give it everything." Eight minutes later in went every torpedo firing destroyer he could muster.

With these underwater missiles racing towards him, Jellicoe ordered the standard response and turned his ships away from the oncoming torpedoes. As he did that Scheer executed a third battle turn and the fleets diverged. The guns fell silent for 30 minutes before Jellicoe's scouts found Scheer just as the sun was setting.

In Britain, the Admiralty decoded Scheer's urgent plea for aerial reconnaissance of Horn's Reef 'at dawn' but this battle winning intelligence never made it to Jellicoe. In the darkness the Grand Fleet was full of confidence that the coming day would deliver a second Trafalgar. Scheer used the Royal Navy's fear of night fighting and much luck, to work his big ships around and then through the British.

Before midnight seven British battleships unbelievably had their German adversaries at point blank range but did not fire for fear of revealing their position. The barely afloat battlecruiser, Seydlitz, slid past four British battleships without harm leading the frustrated gunnery officer aboard Marlborough to comment: "What I ought to have done was to open fire and blown the ship out of the water and then said 'Sorry'." Unbelievably, no-one informed Jellicoe despite it signposting Scheer's escape.

By 1.56am on June 1, Scheer was battling through the final British flotilla and Germany would claim Jutland as a victory. Yet it was one that King Pyrrhus would recognise. While the Grand Fleet easily made up its losses and was immediately battle ready, Germany's fleet needed months of repairs. Scheer's refusal of ennoblement speaks the most about this apparent 'victory,' or as an American wrote, "the German Fleet has assaulted its jailer, but it is still in jail."

Jutland meant that the British Empire's war-winning weapon, naval blockade, continued to grind Germany's economy into dust. Within Germany discontent steadily grew, especially in 1918, following the twin failures of the spring offensives on-land and the U-Boats at sea.

By October 1918, the German admirals knew the war was lost so decided on a final showdown. But the elan of 1916 was long gone and sailors did not share their admiral's enthusiasm for martyrdom. As the fleet assembled mutinies broke out and by the beginning of November it was full scale revolution. Germany's collapse from within is Jutland's ultimate legacy making it the most decisive battle of WWI.

David Broome is a member of the Western Front Association with an interest in naval history.
An example of the plain packaging designed for cigarettes sold in Australia.

The Government is expected to use Tuesday's World Smoke Free Day to unveil its plans for new look cigarette plain packaging as it restarts legislative moves on the issue.

The move, first kicked off by Maori Party co-leader Dame Tariana Turia, follows failed legal action by big tobacco companies in Australia last year.

Prime Minister John Key said that had allowed New Zealand to press ahead with its plan, which had been stalled pending the Australian court action.

"At the time, the advice that I was getting was that because they were very uncertain about what would happen as a result of the lawsuit that the major tobacco companies were taking against the Australian government, that the most prudent thing I could do was see how that played out."

READ MORE:

* Tobacco plain packaging likely to be law by end of year - John Key

* Editorial: Hike up tobacco taxes and bring in plain packaging of cigarettes

* Australian government wins plain packaging case against Philip Morris







"In that period of time, what's happened is the world's moved on, there have been quite a number of countries that have moved towards plain packaging, and the advice I've been getting from my officials is that it's safer for us to proceed," Key said.

"What I'm saying to you is we're getting much more comfortable, moving more quickly towards that decision."

Late last year, US tobacco company Philip Morris failed in a legal challenge against the law - brought about under a bilateral free trade agreement Australia has with Hong Kong. A World Trade Organisation challenge is ongoing.

New Zealand was watching the action, and held up its own bill - currently at the select committee stage - while it awaited the outcome of Australia's court case.

The law will now return to Parliament for its second reading in the next few weeks

The plan is to eventually take branding, logos and other details off cigarette products.

Associate Health Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga is expected to unveil the new packaging, which are likely to look similar to those in Australia, and then open them up to public submissions.

British American Tobacco has indicated it will challenge the change.

The latest moves follow Thursday's Budget announcement that smokers would face a 10 per cent a year tax increase that would push the price of a packet of cigarettes up to $30 by 2020.
House echoes to Talk Show on relief measures and disaster management View(s):

MPs across the board struck a conciliatory note this week during a special sitting of Parliament to discuss the damage caused by floods and landslides in the country, and the relief measures for thousands of people affected by the disaster.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa made a rare appearance in Parliament at Wednesdays sitting and said it was time to put political differences aside and provide relief to those affected by the natural disaster. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and several others spoke on the need for long term plans to control damage caused by natural disasters, but some of the details put forward showed that it may already be too late.

The Prime Minister, in his speech, disclosed that thousands of acres of land earmarked for water retention at various locations in and around the capital and its suburbs have been encroached upon, and this in turn has led to flooding in Colombo, even during the regular monsoons.

About 1,000 acres of land around Parliament were identified as water retention areas when the parliament complex was built. When I checked the present situation, I found that only about 500 acres of this land remains for that purpose. The rest have been acquired, some illegally, and various buildings contructed. The result is that, even after a moderate shower of rainfall, the city gets flooded, he said.

The Prime Minister also said that, there needs to be an overhaul in the manner in which State authorities respond to disasters.

Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan said that, it is the weaker sections of the society who suffered the most from this calamity, and there is a responsibility on everyone to look after those affected. He urged affluent sections of society to be called upon to help out more.

He also said that, the lack of preparedness to deal with natural disasters was clearly visible during the recent flooding and landslides. Natural disasters are inevitable. The question is how much we are prepared to face them. The consequences of the disasters can be mitigated if we are well prepared to face them. Advice should be sought from experts and plans prepared in disaster prone areas to provide protection to the people. What are the lessons we have learnt so for from the past disasters? This is a relevant question that we must ask, he said.

UPFA MP and leader of the Joint Opposition Group Dinesh Gunawardena said the Governments ambitious Megapolis plan had ignored the development of the Kelani Valley area which is highly prone to floods. Kelani Valley is often prone to floods, but there has not been a proper flood mitigation programme in this area, he said.

Water Supply and Urban Affairs Minister Rauff Hakeem spoke on the situation in the upcountry where there has been warning of landslides for many years. The National Building Research Organization (NBRO) has been repeatedly warning for years on the threat of landslides in the areas where landslides occurred over the past few days, but none took timely action. The NBRO has been drawing the attention of the government on the need to evacuate and resettle these people. In Kandy district alone there are over 50 schools in areas where the NBRO had alerted on the possibility of landslides, he said.

Minister of Disaster Management Anura Priyadharshana Yapa admitted the Government needs the support of the public to make its disaster preparedness plans workable, and also raise awareness about land use and safeguarding the environment, so as to minimise damage from natural disasters.

The Minister also assured that Government would compensate all affected by the recent disaster.
Nervous residents are hunkering down as armed police respond to an incident in which shots were fired at a house bus in the Coromandel.

Waikato police are currently in attendance at a Kopu-Hikuai Road, State Highway 25A, address after reports were received of a firearms incident.
Fabian Picardo. SUR

Several news media had to rectify articles they had published online over the weekend after the chief minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo, was wrongly quoted as saying that if Britain left the EU, Gibraltar would consider joint sovereignty between the UK and Spain.

In a TV interview with Sky News Mr Picardo was asked how Gibraltar would be affected by the so-called Brexit and he replied, The current Spanish foreign minister has been explicit that [leaving] might mean closing the frontier if Britain were to leave the European Union, not the day after the vote but when the United Kingdom was actually to leave, and if Gibraltar wanted to have access to the single market and the rights we enjoy today of free movement, we would have to once again consider joint sovereignty with Spain, which no-one in Gibraltar is prepared to consider.

Soon afterwards the Independent published an article on its website, erroneously stating that Gibraltar would consider joint sovereignty. The news was very quickly picked up by other media, some of whom went even further and stated that Gibraltar wanted to be part of Spain if Britain were to leave the EU.

Mr Picardo tweeted: Sorry to say that @Independent has completely misquoted me. No way we ever join Spain or accept Joint Sovereignty! and the Independent then rectified its article, stressing that the chief minister had been quoting Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo.

Sr Margallo told Radio Nacional de Espana in an interview on March 4th that although Spain did not want the UK to leave the EU, if it did happen then it would be sensible to take advantage of it, adding, "y hablariamos de Gibraltar el dia siguiente" (we would be talking about Gibraltar the next day).

Other online media were also corrected with regard to the veracity of the information they had published and most rectified it, although one or two Spanish newspapers are still displaying the incorrect article online and Twitter is still alive with rumours.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- She did it!

Camille Sims, 23, Miss Pride of New York, was crowned Miss New York 2016 during a spectacular production Sunday evening at the historic St. George Theatre.

A graduate of Cornell University, Ithaca, Sims road to victory was paved with the Talent Award during Saturday evening's preliminaries and won the top Interview Award Sunday on the stage of the North Shore jewel.

For her talent contribution, Sims sang a jazz vocal to "Sway" as she swayed to and fro draped in a red satin evening gown -- but was crowned in an ice blue satin gown accented with sparkly rhinestones.

The new Miss New York was crowned by her predecessor, Jamie Lynn Macchia of Eltingville, in the presence of Kira Kazantsev, Miss America 2015.

Macchia made pageant history when she was the first woman to be crowned Miss Staten Island twice, in 2012 and again 2014. She also competed as Miss Greater New York and was crowned Miss New York at the St. George Theatre last June, granting her entry into the legendary Miss America Pageant.

Sims, the recipient of a $10,000 college scholarship, will represent the Empire state in the Atlantic City Miss America Pageant come September.



First runner up and winner of a $5,000 scholarship was Baylee Simpson, a ballerina from Buffalo.

Meghan Simpson, a baton twirler from Syracuse was second runner up, Kristina Blackstock a vocalist from Thousand Islands was third. Miss Manhattan, Mackenzie Perpich placed forth.



Among the top ten contetants were Rose Bolella and Shelly Jain of Staten Island. Heather Wolf, Miss Staten Island, won the Non-Finalist Interview Award.



Lexi Swatt, Miss Fulton County won the Edith Susskind Community Service Award, a $500 scholarship donated by Joan Giebelhaus of Staten Island.

Sunday's mistress of ceremonies was Kira Kazantsev, Miss America 2015, a tireless advocate on women's issues, keynote speaker, host, and blogger who has contributed writing pieces to the Huffington Post, USA Today, and has appeared on HuffPost Live, The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson, Live with Kelly and Michael, Jimmy Kimmel, Access Hollywood, Extra, Inside Edition, and countless news outlets throughout the US and Canada.

Over the years Kira's advocated on behalf of her personal platform: "Love Shouldn't Hurt: Protecting Women Against Domestic Violence," and was the first Miss America since 1971 to visit troops overseas with the USO.

Host/producer for Sunday's production was Vinnie Medugno who's been performing since the age of 8. He teaches at Port Richmond High School, does charity work, and can also be seen alongside some of the biggest names in reality television, as well as the radio and music industries.

FYI: Friday evening's preliminary events saw Meghan Sinisi, Miss Syracuse, nab the talent award. A student at Syracuse University, Meghan wowed the panel of judges with her baton twirling routine. Meghan's a recipient of a $250 scholarship.



The winner in the swimsuit completion Friday was Miss Crown City, Lauren Schwartzberg of Queens. A student at New York Institute of Technology, she also was awarded a $250 scholarship.

Saturday evening's swimsuit winner in a cobalt blue two-piece suit was Miss Buffalo, Baylee Simpson, a student at the State University of New York at Brockport.



Each winner received a $250 scholarship.

The new Miss New York will make her first public appearance Monday in the Staten Island Memorial Day Parade down Forest Avenue at noon.

Five Staten Islanders have held the title of New York: Kari Pedersen Cynar in 1967; Lezley Braun in 1977; Alice Knisely in 1987; Deana Herrera Walker in 1998 and Jamie Lynn Macchia in 2015.

As American as apple pie, the 95-year-old event serves as an official preliminary to the legendary Miss America Pageant. FYI: The state production was formerly produced in the upstate towns of Olean and Watertown before relocating to Long Island and to Albany.

The Miss America Organization is the nation's leading scholarship provider for women, awarding more than $45 million annually.
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Gabriela Bayer, Ann Bayer Palmer, Dr. Shamsher Singh, WWII veterans Peter Behr and Barney Feuer

SHARE Ann Palmer Jason Bayer's grave at Arlington National Cemetery Jason Bayer's Brick Statue Monument

By Wendy Dwyer For Luminaries

Ann Palmer doesn't believe in coincidences; she believes in faith and a strong touch from the hand of God.

So when she and her children headed to Roanoke Airport to greet the World War II veterans making a special Honor Flight trip to the new WWII museum in Bedford, Va., her goal was only to pay tribute to the veterans and honor the memory of her late husband, Jason Bayer, a Navy pilot killed during the Iraq war.

"After Jason's death," she said, "I'd gotten rid of so many of his things, except his Navy stuff and flight uniforms. And I kept this jacket I'd bought for him. It's an American flag jacket, and I don't know why I'd kept it. The kids weren't interested in it, but I just hadn't been able to let it go."

Dr. Shamsher Singh, a Port St. Lucie dermatologist and man known throughout the Treasure Coast for his generosity and philanthropy, happened to be at the airport in Roanoke that day as a Southeast Florida Honor Flight guardian for World War II veteran Eugene Wright.

Mr. Wright was an anti-aircraft gunner on one of the ships transporting Allied troops for Operation Overlord, the code name given for the D-Day invasion on the beaches of Normandy.

As a way of honoring the heroic deeds of his veterans, including Mr. Wright, who'd also been in the fourth armored division of General Patton's Third Army, which rescued American forces surrounded by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge, Dr. Singh had donned a pair of trousers emblazoned with red and white stripes on one leg and a blue field punctuated by white stars on the other.

He wore a red and white striped scarf, red shoes and a red, white and blue cap as well. To say he stood out and made a patriotic statement that day would be an egregious understatement.

As the very special passengers made their way through the airport en route to the second leg of their journey  a visit to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., there was a huge crowd of well-wishers and individuals who had gathered to honor the heroic men and women of The Greatest Generation and their volunteer guardians on this speciaol Memorial Mission.

Among those in the throng was Ann Palmer, wearing the jacket she'd long ago given her husband and couldn't let go of.

It was a very emotional moment as the flags waved, the crowds cheered, and the veterans were escorted through the airport with all the pomp and circumstance befitting their sacrifices made to ensure the freedom of strangers. That emotion was not lost on Ann Palmer.

And then she caught sight of the dermatologist proudly escorting his own hero... and it happened.

"I am a huge believer," said Palmer, "and the moment I saw him, I knew that jacket was for him. I didn't know him, but I knew he would wear it and it would honor Jason's memory and bring joy to others."

She shed the jacket and approached Singh, offering it to him. It was a moment the good doctor will never forget.

"I was perplexed, emotional and we embraced," said Singh, "but then the woman who'd handed me the jacket was gone, and the procession of heroes moved on."

As a testament to how unplanned the exchange was, Palmer says she got all the way to the airport's exit before realizing her car keys were still in the pocket of the jacket.

"This is so me," she says, laughing. "I gave him my jacket with the keys still in the pocket. The Honor Flight heroes had already boarded the plane, and someone had to go on and get my car keys back. But it didn't matter. I knew the jacket had been meant for him, and that he would appreciate it."

Palmer didn't know how much the gift would move the dermatologist. He did not wear the jacket in Washington, D.C., when the group visited the memorial. He didn't wear it when he returned home to Port St. Lucie either. And he couldn't sleep remembering the circumstances and the emotion of the gift, which he only knew had originally belonged to a deceased Navy man.

"I was just so moved by this generous and emotional expression from a stranger," said Dr. Singh. "I needed to find the woman to be sure she hadn't just given away something that clearly meant so much to her in the heat of an emotional moment, which is exactly what that entire day and special D-Day Operation Overlord Honor Flight mission was."

Dr. Singh began his own mission to find the mysterious woman who had gifted him with a jacket and emotions he couldn't bear. He had a friend send press releases to media in the Bedford and Roanoke areas, post it on social media sites, and eventually took out an ad in the local papers with a color photo of the jacket.

A friend of Ann's saw the post about the jacket on social media after it had been shared, and contacted Ann, who doesn't even have a social media account.

"I never would have known," said Ann. "And I certainly wouldn't have sought him out at all; I had given the jacket to him because I just knew it was the right thing to do and that it would be worn with pride and honor Jason in the process. I was surprised by the sudden attention," she confessed.

In April, Ann and her daughter, Gabriela, drove to Washington, D.C., to meet with Dr. Singh, who was volunteering as a guardian on another Honor Flight mission in Arlington, where Jason is buried.

Ann tries to go to Arlington annually to visit the gravesite of her husband, who was killed when she was six months pregnant with Gabriela.

Since their serendipitous meeting, Dr. Singh has also honored Lieutenant Commander Jason Bayer's memory by having his name inscribed in one of the Bedford WWII D-Day Museum's commemorative bricks and also in the base of a statue there.

"We'll be going there to honor Jason and think fondly of Dr. Singh, too," said Ann.

"When I gave Dr. Singh the jacket, it brought tears to my eyes and warmed my heart that Jason would be honored and help honor other veterans. I just want Dr. Singh to be as happy as I am whenever he thinks about that."

"I love knowing that the WWII veterans who see Dr. Singh in Jason's jacket will smile and feel patriotic and proud," she said. "I guess you could say with regard to the jacket  Mission Accomplished!"
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Decoration Day

When I was a kid, the whole family, including a grandma and great aunt or two, would pack into the Ford Galaxy 500 (yes, I'm that old), and travel the seven valleys of upstate New York, the trunk filled with watering cans and potted plants.

We must have put on 300 miles on those sweet days at the end of May, when the scent of lilacs was heavy in the air.

At each cemetery we visited, my brother and I would hear the stories of heroes who had sacrificed their lives to ensure that we could live in a free and democratic country.

As a child, I didn't really understand the importance of that day and that time-honored tradition, but one trip as a Southeast Florida Honor Flight guardian for a World War II veteran was all it took for that long-ago history lesson to take hold in my heart.

Today, in addition to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for you and me, I hope we'll all take a moment to honor the organizations in our community which serve, care for and provide assistance to all of our nation's heroes.

Men for Boys

Last year, members of American Legion Post 40 took over the charter for the much-acclaimed Boy Scout Troop 772.

A small, struggling troop of boys who really want to become contributing members of the community, the troop has found a welcoming home in the men and women from the American Legion Post 40.

In addition to providing a location for the boys to have weekly meetings and periodic car washes and fundraising activities, the quiet heroes of the American Legion recently hosted a spaghetti supper to help the boys learn to be in service of others and earn the funds for the activities they want to participate.

Hats off to Tom James, Bob Reed, and all the members of American Legion Post 40 for their continued, quiet service to the country.

Sad sack

Several years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Samson Deville, a US Navy veteran whose love for his wife was rivaled only by his love for his motorcycle and the nonprofit organizations he helped.

Every weekend, Samson was raising money to help others, despite some pretty serious health issues of his own.

When he's well enough, I can guarantee I'll run into Samson at the Palm Beach International Airport welcoming home veterans returning from their once-in-a-lifetime Southeast Florida Honor Flight mission or dropping off a donation for a Van Duzer Foundation fundraiser.

Samson is another one of the quiet heroes who sacrificed so much for this country and is still fighting to help others.

Adam P. Snyder

Every single day, hundreds of us pass by a memorial to Fort Pierce native Adam P. Snyder, an LPA graduate who dreamed of becoming an actor and went on to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Capt. Snyder's dreams ended in a combat hospital in Balad, Iraq in 2007 when he was just 26.

I never met Adam, but I send thoughts of comfort and gratitude to Capt. Snyder and his family every day when I pass the memorial that honors both this soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice and the freedom he died defending.

There will be a service at 10 a.m. today at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum and one at 11 a.m. at Indian River Veterans Park on Indian River Drive to honor veterans who have given their lives.

The Knights of Columbus will host a Memorial Day Picnic at their Ravenswood Lane location and a Memorial of Crosses and Stars of David at Take Time to Honor near the Welcome Center by the lake at Tradition.

Whether you pack your family into the car and travel the countryside to place flowers and keep tradition, or you celebrate freedom with a family picnic or trip to the beach, please take a moment to reflect on the heroes who have given their lives to ensure that we can enjoy freedom.

However you choose to commemorate and "decorate," I hope you'll choose to honor them all.
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By Paige Van Antwerp, The Newsweekly

Smoke signal

For 35 years it's been all about the customer and community for Mike 'Mr. Smoke' Williams

The City Council chambers were packed  albeit, a bit more colorfully than usual.

Tie-dye prevailed over ties as the sartorial choice when Mike Williams  known to local residents as Mr. Smoke  received a proclamation honoring his 35 years of doing business in Vero Beach.

Nevertheless, Williams insists, "I get to carry the keys, but the store belongs to the town. They just let me run it."

Mr. Smokes has been called a lot of things over the years  a "contemporary department store" or more derisively, a "head shop"  but Williams and his customers prefer to sum it up as "one really cool store."

What it feels like is community.

"It's not just retail  it's a way of life," says Williams. "If the movie "It's a Wonderful Life" was remade today, it would be about me. I've affected people's lives. I'm aware of that.

"But I didn't do anything that people aren't just supposed to do  the things I believe people deserve recognition for, things that are above and beyond."

On this, his patrons  even the mayor  disagree. "Vero is really fortunate to have a business owner like Mike," says Vero Beach Mayor Jay Kramer. "He's gathered this wonderful group of people around him there and he's been here longer than most anyone in town. These are the kind of proclamations that are fun."

So valued is Williams' voice, he was appointed to serve on the board for city's Downtown Improvement District, a group that "involves business owners with a history and interest in the town to help direct how we improve upon what is already a great place to do business, " said Kramer.

Uphill battle

Williams' presence was not so celebrated when he first opened his Vero store in March 1981.

Two weeks later, the city passed an ordinance against the selling of one of his store's mainstays: smoking paraphernalia.

"But nobody could tell me what it was," Williams says. "I invited them over and told them, "Point out what I can't sell and I won't sell it. They told me 'Well, we can't tell you what it is, but you can't sell it.'"

Then the county passed a similar ordinance two months later. So Williams filed a federal lawsuit against both.

"That's pretty gutsy for a 25 year old," he says in retrospect. "But when you're 25, you don't even realize that. It doesn't dawn on you what you're doing."

Three months later, in January 1982, his case got to court and the ruling was in Williams' favor.

But he is quick to point out, that he was always treated with respect during his legal wrangling.

"The county attorney at the time came up to me afterward and said 'I hope there's no hard feelings," Williams recalls.

"They might not have liked what I did, but they liked me as a person. That's the reason I'm still here."

Determination

It also took a lot of determination for him to remain in business during his legal troubles  which didn't end until 1987  and through the ups and downs of the economy.

"After the store was opened, there were a few times I just could not make my bills," he remembers.

"So I drove my little brown pickup to Okeechobee, bought a load of watermelons, drew up a sign and parked by the side of the Turnpike feeder road and I sold watermelons  because it was part of keeping the store open. It was a love. It was a passion."

Through it all, he firmly states, he never borrowed a dime and he never closed his doors.

"I'm a 35-year overnight success," he says, with a laugh.

And now that his clientele stretches through the generations, he recognizes there has been a further shift in official sentiment.

"Back then I was liked," he says. "Now, I'm appreciated. They make me feel special."

Hugs all around

Mr. Smokes' anniversary celebrations are an event that many people in town mark on their calendar.

"Three generations of families come to my store," says Williams. "And the fourth is being brought by in their parents' arms now."

He hugged nearly every customer who had lined up for hours for the store's 35th  the first 100 received a coveted anniversary shirt.

The late-comers stood along the length of the building, socializing, listening to the bands, just waiting for a chance to stop in and give their thanks.

Rich beyond money

Williams says things have come a long way since the times when people "felt uncomfortable walking into my store.

"I had an 87-year-old woman in here not long ago. When she asked how much she owed, I said 'Honey, don't worry about it. I've missed way too many of your birthdays.'"

Williams' generous spirit has not only won him a loyal clientele, he says the returns come back to him, tenfold.

"It's not about the money. My decisions are made from my heart, not from my wallet  always," he says.

"But most of my customers would feed me if I knocked on their door. That's rich beyond money."

Though a sign o the wall calls it a "contemporary department store," Mr. Smokes is more like those nearly bygone little shops around the corner.

"I'm not a salesman. I'm a shopkeeper," said Williams. "I'll help you buy something, but I'm not going to sell you anything.

"My shop should have been open in the '30s or '40s. I can't even spell corporate America."

Mr. Smokes is located at 1014 20th Place, Vero Beach. Visit their Facebook page or call 772-562-2127.
May 30, 2016

SHARE Bonnie at 11 a.m. May 30, 2016.

By Staff Report

ADVISORIES

3:20 p.m.: A significant weather advisory has been issued for western Martin and southeast Okeechobee counties until 3:45 p.m.

At 3:19 p.m., radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near J and S fish camp moving southwest at 5 mph..

Dime-size hail and wind gusts up to 50 mph will be possible with this storm.

2:41 p.m.: Scattered lightning storms will affect areas around Lake Okeechobee from Indiantown and Port Mayaca to Okeechobee City as the sea breeze interacts with the lake breeze.

3:20 pm | Storms may produce gusts to 50 mph, dime size hail, lightning in SE #Okeechobee and western #Martin Cos. Move indoors!  NWS Melbourne (@NWSMelbourne) May 30, 2016

11:09 a.m.: The east coast sea breeze is developing along the Treasure coast of Martin and Saint Lucie counties late this morning and will zipper up the coast to Brevard and Volusia early this afternoon and push inland.

Scattered showers and lightning storms will initiate along or just inland from the Martin, Saint Lucie and Indian River coasts through 2 p.m., then shift towards Okeechobee County this afternoon.

Much like yesterday, storm motion will be slow and erratic this afternoon.

There will a chance for strong to isolated severe storms with damaging wind gusts, large hail to around one inch or so in diameter frequent lightning, and torrential rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches in a 60 to 90 minute period.

10:50 a.m.: Scattered slow-moving lightning storms are forecast to develop today. Storms will start along the east coast sea breeze just inland from the Treasure Coast around noon and spread inland to Okeechobee County.

Conditions are favorable for strong and isolated severe storms containing frequent lightning, gusty winds up to 50 mph, small hail and locally heavy rainfall. Rain could accumulate 1 to 2 inches in a short period, with storm total accumulations of 4 inches possible in a few locations.

3:57 a.m.: Slow-moving lightning storms are possible again Monday, with the highest chance expected to be south of Orlando from late afternoon into the evening.

A few storms could be strong, with frequent lightning, gusty winds up to 50 mph, small hail and locally heavy rainfall.

TODAY'S FORECAST

Keep an eye on conditions with our live weather radar.

We can expect a chance of showers and thunderstorms increasing after noon on this Memorial Day. It'll be partly sunny with a high near 86. Light and variable wind becoming east northeast 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight, there's a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8 p.m. It'll be partly cloudy, with a low around 69. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Shower and thunderstorm chances around 50 percent over Okeechobee County and inland sections of Saint Lucie and Martin counties Monday. Much like Sunday, storm motion will be slow and erratic this afternoon.

There also will be the chance for strong to isolated severe storms with damaging wind gusts, large hail to around one inch or so in diameter frequent lightning, and torrential rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches in a 60- to 90-minute period.

Sunrise will be at 6:27 a.m. Sunset will be at 8:11 p.m.

EXTENDED FORECAST

Source: National Weather Service

Tuesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88. Light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 73. Southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Light and variable wind becoming east 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. South southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. East wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 76. East southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Friday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. East wind 5 to 10 mph.

Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 75. East southeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Saturday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. Light south southeast wind becoming east 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Saturday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. Southeast wind around 5 mph.

Sunday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. South southwest wind around 5 mph becoming southeast in the afternoon.

TROPICS

Source: National Hurricane Center

Bonnie has been downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, as of the 11 a.m. advisory from the National Hurricane Center.

The center is located about 70 miles north-northeast of Charleston, South Carolina. Maximum sustained winds are 30 mph and it's moving east-northeast at 2 mph. This motion is expected to continue for the next day or so, with some increase inforward speed by Wednesday.

TODAY'S TIDE FORECAST

Source: National Weather Service

Sebastian Inlet Bridge

High tides: 2:54 a.m. and 3:33 p.m.

Low tides: 9:17 a.m. and 9:46 p.m.

Fort Pierce Inlet, South Jetty

High tides: 3:11 a.m. and 3:50 p.m.

Low tides: 9:23 a.m. and 9:52 p.m.

MARINE FORECAST

Source: National Weather Service

Coastal sections from Cape Canaveral south to Jupiter Inlet may see wind gusts in excess of 35 knots from lightning storms.

Today: West winds 5 knots becoming east 5 to 10 knots in the afternoon. Seas 2 to 3 feet with a dominant period 8 seconds. A light chop on the intracoastal waters. Chance of showers and thunderstorms in the morning...then slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Tonight: Southeast winds 5 to 10 knots becoming south to southwest after midnight. Seas 2 to 3 feet with a dominant period 8 seconds. Mostly smooth on the intracoastal waters. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.

Tuesday: South winds 5 knots becoming east 5 to 10 knots in the afternoon. Seas 2 to 3 feet with a dominant period 8 seconds. A light chop on the intracoastal waters. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night: Southeast winds 10 knots becoming south 5 to 10 knots after midnight. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Mostly smooth on the intracoastal waters. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.

Wednesday: East winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. A light chop on the intracoastal waters.

Wednesday Night: Southeast winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet.

Thursday: East winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet.

Thursday Night: East winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet.

Friday: East winds 5 to 10 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms.
Ushuaia claims to be the southern most city in the world. It is really quite fitting that this is where we start our Antarctica trip. Its a short flight from El Calafate, which already sits at the southern end of the South America continent.

The city is located on Tierra del Fuego, an archipelago at the southern tip of the continent. Tierra del Fuego literally means land of fire. It was so named by early Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan because he saw many smoke columns rising from the land and believe those were camp fires of Indians.

Waiting for our flight to Ushuaia at El Calafate Airport

Ushuaia has a population of more than 50,000. It is tiny compared to places like Buenos Aires, but in Patagonia, its a metropolis. Our ship does not leave until the next day, so we roamed around the city after dropping our bags at the hotel. We are staying at a little B&B designed by its current owner, Silvia. She came to Ushuaia from Europe for work more than 20 years ago, and ended up designing and building her own house here and settled down.

The city has maybe two main streets, with most of the shops alone Av San Martin. Av Maipu is a wide street at the water front, where there are lots of tourist booths, and most importantly, the docks. The other streets are mostly residential.

Looking toward the city from the docks

Before going back to our hotel we bought some sunscreen from a drugstore, the lovely girl at the register couldnt find enough change and gave us a handful of candies instead. We had no idea that these will become precious resources that we fight over on the ship. Dont get me wrong, they feed us very well, but they dont give out candies. The sun started to go down around 10PM and it looked like rains coming. We turned in for the day after a warm meal at a local cafe.

The next morning we woke to light, but steady rain. We checked out of the hotel and left our luggage with Silvia. The cruise company was supposed to pick them up and bring them to the ship directly.

The center of the city is no bigger than a square mile. We are eager to see our ship, but the docks is accessible only when boarding. I was able to confirm the name of our ship using my telephoto lenses from the shore. Now thats settled, we are free to walk around. Boarding time is 4pm, we have 6 hours to kill.

It's kinda hard to see from this picture, but our ship's at the end, opposite to the cargo ship

There are other people standing where we were, pointing at the ships, likely our fellow passengers. Many of them we will get to know well in the next 20 days. Remember that Japanese guy we met in Torres Del Paine, the one who had to sleep outside without a tent? We met him again walking along the docks, small world.

Graffiti on a rock

The docks area is also home to an Argentinian naval station. Theres nothing more than a small frigate and a few gun boats. Maybe the larger ships were out at sea. You can take pictures to your hearts content, as long as you stay outside of the restricted area.

Entrance into the Naval Station

The small collection of navy ships

Bright colored sheds of various tour operators

In Argentina things move at a slower pace. Many of the stores will close after noon and reopen at 5pm. This, together with the fact that it was a Sunday, meant that we were walking around in the rain not finding much to do. Eventually we went back to our B&B and asked if we could spend a few hours in the lobby while we wait for the ship. Silvia took pity on us and took us in. We have not left for Antarctica yet, being warm and dry already felt so good.

Before going to the assembly point for the passengers, we sampled seafood paella in a local restaurant on San Martin. Food is a bit expensive at 130 pesos (1:4.5 or so). But considering that this is the touristy part of town, its OK. The seafood is really fresh.

We met a group from Shanghai in the restaurant. They were also going to Antarctica, but on a shorter 9-day trip. Interestingly, Ushuaia was the first place in South America where we met any Chinese tourists.

Yummy!

At 3:30 we went to the assembly point, which is a waterfront hotel. The reception area was already full of people. After everyone signed up, we were herded on a bus, and to the ship we go!

Our ship, the Akademik Ioffe, is a Russian research ship chartered for polar cruises. The captain and all the ship crews are Russian. The people related staff members were all employees of One Ocean Expeditions. Like your typical cruise ships, they came from all over the world. We will get to know and love many of them in the next three weeks of sailing.

Tracy and I had a double with shared bathrooms. Our cabin was positively tiny, but had all the storage we needed, and a wash basin. This looked like crew quarters turned into guest rooms. We liked it as its the closest cabin to the dinning room. Woohoo!

Dinner was served at 7:30. One of the owners of the cruise company, Andy, gave a welcome speech and made some introductions. The food was good, better than I expected. My expectation was quite low as this was a research ship. Im happy that I was proven wrong.

I did say they feed us well, didn't I?

Our ship had less than 90 passengers, so the check in process is significantly smoother than say, a Caribbean cruise. The ship left port promptly after everyones on board.

Leaving Ushuaia behind

The ships full of excited people running around checking out the facilities for the first time. We were no exception. Its hard not to be excited on a trip thats going to take us to the mysterious land that we had never thought we would one day set sail to.

Tracy checking out the little gym on board. This is the first of the whopping two times we had visited the place.

If youve been on a cruise ship, you are already familiar with lifeboat drills. Though nowadays many large cruises dont require you to wear life jackets to the drill. This ships drill skipped nothing, life jackets and all. We also crawled into the life boat, which is completely water tight, like a mini submarine. Hopefully we wont have to put our newly acquired skills to use.

Heres a video of one of the ships guides, Sarah, sorting passengers.

After the ship left port, the bridge was open for visit. Neither of us had been in one, so we did not miss the opportunity.

Not much else to report on the first day, Tracy and I roamed the ship until the excitement worn off and we are tired. The sailing was smooth that night and we slept soundly.

We woke up to beautiful blue sky. I didnt take sea sickness medication this time, at least not for the first week or so, we are not crossing the Drake Passage or sailing in Antarctic waters. Im doing ok so far. Tracy, however, had a fit of seasickness during lunch. Fortunately she was able to sleep it off quickly.

We will be at sea for one full day. It was never boring though as there were lots of talks and activities on board. There were also frequent sightings of marine mammals and birds around the ship.

First day at sea. Looking back, there's no land in sight.

Our first destination was the Falkland Islands. The Argentinians call it Islas Malvinas. This is the site of a bitter dispute and a brief war between Argentina and UK in the 1980s. Its know in China as . Its one of the more modern wars fought between two developed nations. One interesting tidbit was that in one of the presentations about the history of Falkland Islands given by the ships historian David, there were heated arguments coming from one of the British tourists on board. Its quite obvious that although the war ended almost 30 years ago, bad feeling was still there.

A Commerson's Dolphin following our ship. It's black and white pattern was quite different from the dolphins we used to see.

A Cape Petrel. They like to fly really close to the water and stir it with their feet.

We met Pieter and Morielle from the Netherlands, Padma from New Jersey, and Ken and Natasja from Texas. Rolf, who claimed to be the only German on board, is very well traveled. It seemed that he had been to every corner of the world, at least every place we had been to or were planning to go.

Our first landing was at West Point Island. There was just one sheep and cattle farm on this tiny island. There were no docks in most of the places we visit, so landing is done on Zodiacs. We wore knee-high rubber boots because we will need to step into the water when landing.

Storage shed and old cars

Looked like the plants were able to hang on to a little bit of soil when the rest were swept away.

A small bird near the top of the island.

Colorful lichen on the rocks

Highlight of this island is a large albatross and penguin colony on a rocky stretch overlooking the ocean. These two very different bird species co-mingle and nest in the same patch of land. Its amazing to watch the interaction between them.

The Black-Browed Albatross is a large bird that can grow to 10 lbs with a wingspan of almost 2.5 meters. While in flight, they are incredibly graceful. However, their size makes taking off and landing rather tricky. They will often need to jump off a high place to take off and do some sort of a semi-crash landing.

A proud Black-Browed Albatross

Albatross landing

Alongside their neighbors, these Rock Hopper Penguins looked positively puny. If you watched Surfs Up you will recognize these little guys. They looked like evil scheming little bad guys.

What cha lookin at?

Red eyes and cool hair do

Frequent feather cleaning is a must in a place where you get bombed all day long

Nowhere to land

The nesting birds will peck at anyone who dares to walk close by. So sometimes a bit of rock hopping is necessary.

They are not called Rock Hoppers for nothing

A couple showing their love for each other

Sweet, huh?

Tracy carrying a huge stand issue blue waterproof bag- Don't worry, the bag's empty.

We have payed for an optional Kayak program, but we opted to skip it for now as wed like to spend more time with the wild life. We were one of the last to get back on board.

A guide preparing the kayaks

In the afternoon we landed on Carcass Island. Not a very attractive name I know. We were able to spot a few more species of bird life here.

Magellanic Oystercatcher and chicks

We saw a pair of Oystercatchers dive bomb a Caracara. Likely the Caracara is very close to their nest and they were trying to drive it away. The Caracara tried to hide in the tussock grass.

Magellanic Oystercatcher harassing a Caracara

A Magellanic Penguin wandering on the beach

A small wave scattered the 4 little Upland Geese chicks

The penguins nest in the tussock grass. We often see them coming out of the water and head straight for the grass, but sometimes they get spooked and run back to the water. It was hilarious to watch.

Gentoo Penguin trotting out of water

Blade-like rock formations along the shore of Carcass Island

A Striated Caracara looking sharp

Many species of birds share the beach in peace. Here is a group of Gentoos in front of some Magellanic Penguins, with the geese family we saw earlier in the fore ground.

While heading back to the ship, a group of dolphins started to circle around our Zodiac. To be so close to them in the open ocean is magical.

The next day brought us to Stanley, capital of the Falkland Islands. This time we landed right on concrete docks  no need for those clumsy rubber boots.

Yesterdays good weather didnt continue. Its rainy and windy. A group of us boarded a bus for a place called Gypsy Cove, led by the ships intrepid Ornithologist Simon. On the way there we stopped to look at some old ship wrecks.

If you look carefully, there's a guy digging clams, toward the tail end of the ship.

Good job with the painting

We couldnt have picked a worse time for this trip. Strong wind and heavy rain kept my camera inside my jacket almost all the way. On top of that, the entire beach is off limits because of landmine danger. Yup, you heard it right. The Argentinian army dumped loads of landmines on these beaches during the war, trying to prevent the British army from landing. That didnt work out so well, but it did make the life of any British citizens subsequently living on these islands less enjoyable.

Although landmines were cleared from most of these beaches, they could still be moved here by ocean waves from other uncleared fields. The end result? These signs. One positive side of this is that wild life live undisturbed on the beaches.

Go out there only if you don't mind losing a leg or two.

Stanley Docks, flying the union jack

Main waterfront street, they drive on the left too

We wandered around the little town after the sky cleared up a bit in the afternoon. Luckily we were able to get wifi access here. Hooray!! We hungrily downloaded whatever we could before our purchased time was up ($11/hour). Life is hard without Internet. No such luck for the next 2 weeks though.

The town has a small museum. The displays were mostly about the islandss discovery and colonization, as well as whaling history. Our favorite was a large and complex music box.

We found a bright colored gift store at a street corner. The owner is a happy lady who is perfectly happy to have someone to talk to on a slow day. We talked about her only trip to the States many years ago, the weather, and how the towns population is tripled every time theres a cruise ship in town. We bought a little magnet with a landmine warning sign.

The Girl with a Enormous Bag.

One prominent structure in Stanley is a whalebone monument in front of the local church.

Looking closely at the texture of the whale bones

This old house has lots of character

Many sea birds love to follow ships, some even do so for the entire voyage. So theres no lack of photo opportunities if you are not afraid of the cold ocean breeze.

Remember the Andean Condors from our Patagonia trip? They had the largest wingspan of any land birds. Wandering Albatrosses (seen in the picture above) have the largest wingspan, period. Their wings, when fully spread, can reach a whopping 3.5 meters. We spotted this guy when we left the Falkland Islands. Its really enjoyable to watch it effortlessly gliding through air.

We set sail to South Georgia Islands now. We will spend two days at sea, and the open ocean could mean more rolling of the ship. We are keeping our fingers crossed.
I joined a bunch of analysts in discussing Hewlett Packard Enterprises next move at a secret conclave last week. The company had just announced the sale of its IT services, which basically undid much of Mark Hurds work as CEO. (It already had sold off PCs and printers, more than undoing Carly Fiorinas earlier efforts.) Granted, HPE spun it like it was an acquisition (Ill get to that later) but this move leaves the firm even more crippled, suggesting theres more to come.

Ill focus on that this week and close with an interesting book I should have written on how Donald Trump is winning the election and likely will become president.

So, Did HP Buy CSC or Sell Services?

I have to hand it to HPE, as Ive never before seen a sale spun as an acquisition. To hear Meg Whitman speak, it was like she had completely lost touch with reality. Im starting to think there is an alien artifact in the CEOs office at HPE, because she clearly isnt the first HP CEO who has lost complete touch with reality.

Carly Fiorina, for example, thought the HP board reported to her. Mark Hurd thought an HP-paid mistress was a perk. Leo Apotheker actually thought he was CEO  even though apparently no one else at HP shared that view.

Here is a test of a sale versus a purchase: When you sell something, you get cash and they get control. HPE got cash and CSC got control. Yes, Whitman got a board seat and undoubtedly another big paycheck, but being on a board  and she should know this  doesnt mean you run the company. Given that she appears to believe it does, it kind of makes you wonder which HPE board member is running the company. Clearly, Whitman doesnt have a clue.

She has sold off printers, PCs, thin clients, tablets, whatever was left of the phone business, and now services. So whats next?

Servers on the Block?

Id say the smart money was on servers. When IBM sold off PCs, it couldnt sustain its Intel-based server business and had to sell it to Lenovo  the firm that bought the PC business. So I guess HPE could try to sell servers to HP Inc., but HP Inc. is up to its eyeballs in debt already, thanks to being gifted with all of the company debt in the divestiture, so I doubt it has the resources to buy it.

Next in line would be Oracle, because Mark Hurd knows the business and it would strengthen Oracles offering. However, Hurd also knows what it is worth, and Ill bet it is less than Whitman is willing to accept.

Next theres Lenovo, but it currently is finishing two parallel large acquisitions and likely feels it can take the business organically. Finally, theres a bunch of other companies out of China that probably arent too excited about HPs server business.

So, other than HP Inc., I dont see a viable purchaser  unless Acer wants to make another run at the server business, and I dont think it is that stupid.

Storage on Its Way Out?

Ive been doing a lot of large customer interviews this year, and a common refrain is that HP Storage isnt competitive at scale. 3Par isnt working at scale either, and that likely is at the heart of Whitmans decision to make a play for EMC. She realized her storage product set was crap and wanted to replace it with EMCs.

I also think she realized that if EMC bonded with a different company  and Lenovo was looking to partner with it closely at the time  shed likely lose a lot of accounts, because the smart buyers that still bought other HP gear were buying EMC storage.

By the way, this likely goes a long way toward explaining how Dell justified the purchase. With EMC, it likely gets a decent shot at replacing HP servers. HPs storage is crap  so selling that unit likely will be difficult unless it can convince either Lenovo or Oracle that what it has is fixable and thus, at a discount, worth the price.

Networking for Sale?

HPs networking was its most powerful asset when Whitman took over, but she slowly got rid of all the top networking execs. It still seems to concern Cisco, though, which means it still has a great deal of potential value  though with the staffing changes, it likely has a sell-by date after which it wont be worth much.

Again, both Lenovo and Oracle likely would-be purchasers, though Dell also might take an interest, depending on how its relationship with Cisco goes after the EMC merger. (EMC loves Cisco  Dell not so much.) Ciscos new management appears to be mending fences, though. So if we are talking the asset with greatest value  and this suggests Meg Whitman would get the most personal gain from selling it  then networking is next.

Although many of my peers are thinking servers, Im betting on networking because thats where the biggest return is likely to come for Meg.

Software Holding Firm

I doubt theyll sell software. Mark Andreessen has been pushing for some time to turn HP into a software company and though some might question his judgment, given the Facebook India scandal and Netscapes failure, other members of the board apparently listen to the guy.

Leo Apotheker was hired largely to make that happen, and it seems the idea just hasnt died a well-deserved death. So I think the end game here is to leave HPE as just a troubled software company, making the only real lasting mystery who Andreessen will blame when that fails. (HPE got rid of its top software guy some time ago.)

Wrapping Up: RIP HPE

Maybe this should be titled Death by CEO. If you dont buy it, just take a look at HP Inc.s executive team.

Youll see two people who likely have the strongest inside knowledge of Meg Whitmans plan: HPs old CFO Cathie Lesjak, who is rather famous for either stopping or trying to stop some of HPs biggest mistakes; and HPs old head of HR, Tracy Keogh, who is out of Harvard and arguably the most qualified HR director in tech. Both of them left HPE, and probably not because they thought Whitman was a brilliant CEO. Just saying.

I had been thinking it would be interesting to take one of my columns on Trump and turn it into a book named The Trump Presidential Playbook  but damn it, Geoff Blades did it first. I think he did a pretty decent job of it.

My angle was comparing Trumps manipulative skills to Steve Jobs; Blades is to compare Trump to one of the leading experts on human behavior and hypnotism.

Its interesting that he seems to demonstrate how Trump moves minds by using a parody of Trumps skill in the book, making for a very fast read. I actually read it on a flight from Boston to Denver with time to spare.

You wont get insight into Trumps views  other than they are likely fluid  but you will get a sense of how he gutted every Republican politician he ran up against and how he is likely to do the same thing to Clinton.

Geoff makes a compelling argument that he even could have taken out the far stronger Obama, though he would have had a battle. This book dovetails with my belief that unless something happens to Trump, the only one who can beat him is Trump himself, and I found it a fascinating read. It is available in paperback and for the Amazon Kindle.

A lot of folks who argued that Trump was a joke of a candidate and that Hillary could beat him likely should read the book because it should give them a reason to reconsider (not that wiping the floor with experts like Jeb Bush shouldnt have been a clue).

Confirmation bias is a powerful thing, and I expect that when Trump is reading his acceptance speech (who am I kidding  Trump doesnt read his speeches, he extemps them) many of those folks will go into shock.

Trump has a special set of skills. Coupled with Trump: The Art of the Deal, his 1987 bestseller, The Trump Presidential Playbook delivers all you need to know if you want to understand why he is unbeatable. For that reason, it is my product (book) of the week.
COAI, an apex body representing seven leading mobile service operators as its core members and an associate membership base comprising leading telecom equipment manufacturers, communication services and product companies based in India, in its Annual General Body meeting today, announced the election of its new leadership for 2016-17.

Mr. Gopal Vittal, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer (India and South Asia) of Bharti Airtel Ltd was elected Chairman. He is taking over from Mr. Himanshu Kapania, Managing Director of Idea Cellular Limited. Mr. Sunil Sood, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone India Ltd. was elected as the Vice-Chairman. COAI also designated its Executive Council for the new term at the meeting.

Mr. Gopal Vittal, who has over 25 years of experience in telecom and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries, was elected Chairman on the occasion. In his role as MD & CEO of the countrys largest privately integrated telecom operator, he is responsible for defining and delivering the business strategy and providing overall leadership for Airtels India & South Asia operations. Mr. Vittal has previously held posts like Group Director, Special Projects (April 2012  Feb 2013) and Director, Marketing at Bharti Airtel (2006-08). An alumnus of Madras Christian College and IIM Kolkata, he has also been with Hindustan Unilever, where he headed the US$3.5bn Home and Personal Care Division. Over a 20 year tenure at Unilever, Mr. Vittal worked on several national and global assignments across sales, marketing and general management.

Mr. Sunil Sood has been the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Vodafone India Limited since April 2015. Mr. Sood served as the Chief Operating Officer at Vodafone India Limited since February 3, 2012 and served as its Director of West Zone. Mr. Sood is part of the senior leadership team at Vodafone India and is responsible for the day to day operations and the P&L management for all circles in the country. He also spearheads the new business development initiative of Mobile Commerce for the organization. He is a Telecom Veteran and has been in the industry for over 12 years. Prior to joining telecom, he has had a long career with Pepsi in various roles within India and abroad, where he also served as the Chief Executive Officer at Pepsi in Bangladesh. He has also spent four years in Nigeria where he was working to establish the market for Nestles milk and infant formulae in the country. He served as a Non-Executive Director of Safaricom Limited since October 31, 2012 until March 06, 2015. He has an MBA from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta and a BE from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Mr. Rajan Mathews, Director General, COAI, extended his heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Himanshu Kapania, the outgoing Chairman of COAI for his dynamic leadership to make the regulatory environment effective during one of the most challenging and demanding periods in the history of Indian telecom industry. He also welcomed the new leadership at the helm of the association and congratulated them for accepting their positions for the coming term. COAI looks to continuing its leadership role for the Telecom industry under the dynamic/ leadership of Mr. Vittal and Mr. Sood.

@Technuter.com News Service
The reveal that Captain America has seemingly always been a sleeper agent for Hydra sent shockwaves through the Marvel community, and that's putting it mildly. Some fans are seriously, seriously upset that their longtime hero is now apparently a villain, thanks to writer Nick Spencer.

However, as is always the case with comics, there is likely much more going on than meets the eye. The final page of Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 without a doubt succeeded in its goal of getting people riled up and talking, but what comes next?

Nobody but Marvel and the creative team behind the project likely know for sure, but a number of convincing fan theories are already starting to hit the Web. The most prominent of these involve the cosmic cube and come from Rich Johnston via Bleeding Cool and comic journalist Brett White from Comic Book Resources. More specifically, it involves the girl Kobik, who is a sentient, living cosmic cube (don't ask).

For those not in the know, cosmic cubes in the Marvel Universe are artifacts of vast power that can be used for all kinds of purposes, including changing reality. They've recently played a large role in the post Secret Wars Marvel Universe.

Until recently, Steve Rogers was an aging, dying old man, having been drained of his super soldier serum in a fight with a villain named Iron Nail. That led to Sam Wilson (aka Red Falcon) becoming Captain America in Steve's stead.

Fast-forward a few months later, and Steve has had his youth and super-status restored to him thanks to Kobik, the before-mentioned living cosmic cube.

That brings us to the events of Captain America: Steven Rogers #1, where flashbacks show Steve's mother meeting a member of Hydra, who seems to take special interest in a young Steve despite having no real reason. It's implied Steve's mother then joins Hydra, and that this may have resulted in Captain America secretly being loyal to the Nazi organization all along. Hence why Captain America throws his partner Jack Flag out of an airplane while on a mission to save Dr. Selvig from Baron Zemo, who is searching for Kobik.

As these theories state, is it possible that one of of Captain America's oldest Hydra enemies have used the cosmic cube or Kobik in order to rewrite Steve's past, causing his mother to become recruited by Hydra and eventually leading to Steve's own indoctrination as well.

It seems like a definite possibility. It would certainly explain why the mysterious Hydra recruiter shown in the issue's flashbacks seems to know about Steve's superheroic future, despite Steve being nothing but a normal kid at the time. Who is behind the plot? Some theories believe Baron Zemo to be behind Captain America's fall to the dark side, while others believe it to be Red Skull. From our perspective, Red Skull seems to make more sense for a number of reasons.

One major reason is that it would be far from the first time the Red Skull has tried to eliminate Cap once and for all by manipulating the past. Shortly after Marvel's first Civil War event, Steve was seemingly assassinated, only for it to later be revealed that he was actually flung outside of time and space via a plan masterminded by Red Skull, all so Red Skull could take control of Steve's body and destroy America. It's also worth noting that cosmic cubes and Red Skull go way back, with the character having used them multiple times in the past in an attempt to destroy Steve. He used the cosmic cube once before to royally mess with Sam Wilson's timeline in order to defeat Cap. Red Skull has even transferred his consciousness into a cosmic cube before, showing just how efficient the villain is at bending the all-powerful technology to his will.

Perhaps Red Skull manipulated Kobik into changing Steve's past even as she rejuvenated his body? Or maybe he accomplished this plan via some other means? Maybe Red Skull used the cosmic cube to send the previously-unmentioned Hydra agent to the past for the sole purpose of recruiting Steve's mom? Either way, by somehow changing Captain America's past, Red Skull could turn his greatest enemy into his greatest ally.

These are all theories for now, but it's safe to say that the Captain America featured in Captain America: Steve Rogers #1 isn't the Steve Rogers fans know and love. Something about his history has been twisted, but fans will have to wait until the next issue for more definitive answers.

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Planetary Resources, the space company that launched the crowdsourced project that would allow its backers to take "selfies" using a space telescope, has announced that it is scuttling the concept in order to pursue a different project.

Despite the success of the Kickstarter campaign for its Arkyd telescope, Planetary Resources said that the public interest it had received for the project was not able to translate into investment from outside sources. The company is now offering to provide a full refund to the more than 17,600 individuals who pledged about $1.5 million in support of the campaign.

Chris Lewicki, the chief executive of Planetary Resources, said they were confident that they would be able to get enough financial backing from backers outside the Kickstarter community at the time they decided to close the crowdsourcing campaign in 2013.

While they were able to develop the technology needed to push through with the Arkyd telescope project, Lewicki admitted that they failed to gain support from educational and business sectors, a move that was crucial to the mission.

The project would have allowed its backers to use the Arkyd telescope to produce images of themselves projected against the backdrop of space.

Planetary Resources may have discontinued the project but it was able to complete some of its secondary goals such as the launch of its Arkyd-3 test spacecraft. It was also making plans to send two additional Arkyd-6 satellites into space this summer.

However, it is clear that the space company has shifted its focus on more practical business applications.

Aside from announcing the cancellation of the Arkyd telescope project, Planetary Resources revealed that it has invested $21.1 million to fund a separate project known as Ceres. The program involves using sensor-equipped Arkyd satellites to determine the composition of materials found on the Earth's surface.

The company hopes that the Ceres project could be used to identify new sources of minerals or energy on Earth. It could also benefit agencies that monitor the occurrence of wildfires or the quality of water around the planet.

Lewicki said that they are also developing key technologies that would allow scientists to spot near-Earth asteroids that could be commercially viable.

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Nvidia unveiled the GeForce GTX 1080 gaming GPU in May and it has been applauded in the market. The GTX 1080 is Nvidia's fastest processor till date and now the company's partners are rolling out products that are based on the latest GTX 1080 card.

Asus, Nvidia's GPU collaborator, launched the Republic of Gamers Strix GeForce GTX 1080 card on May 27. The company will showcase the new gaming cards at the upcoming 2016 Computex in Taipei, which will start on May 31.

Asus has confirmed the two variants of Strix GeForce GTX 1080: Strix-GTX1080-O8G-Gaming card and the other one is Strix-GTX1080-8G-Gaming card. The company revealed that the 8G card has a base clock of 1,607 MHz, while the O8G is at 1,759 MHz.

The cards differ boost speeds, too. The 8G card offers single boost clock speed of 1,733 MHz. On the other hand, the O8G card includes a couple of boost clock speeds: a 1,898 MHz speed in Game Mode and 1,936 MHz in OC mode.

However, both cards have 8 GB of GDDR5X memory, a 256-bit memory interface, single DVI-D output, HDMI 2.0 outputs and DisplayPort outputs.

The above is a significant improvement as the Nvidia GTX 1080 Founders Edition runs at 1,607 MHz and can boost up to 1,898 MHz.

The high speeds of the Asus Strix cards can cause overheating issues, but the company has addressed the problem. Asus suggests that the gaming cards benefits from "direct-GPU-contact" heatpipes, which pulls away the heat from the card via surface transference.

"The Wing-Blade fans are carefully shaped to maximize static pressure over the heatsink, contributing to a 30 percent improvement in cooling performance over the Founders Edition," says Asus.

The company claims that the Strix is also quieter when compared to the GTX 1080 Founders Edition.

Asus suggests that apart from sheer power, customers can also experience color and brightness with the Strix cards.

"Featuring Aura RGB Lighting on both the shroud and backplate, ROG Strix graphics cards are capable of displaying millions of colors and six different effects for a personalized gaming system," says Asus.

The lighting on the card have color-shifting pattern and users can also customize it.

The GTX 1080 has a price tag of $699. However, the standard version of the Strix will be priced at $619.99 and the higher model will cost $639.99. Customers looking to buy a new gaming GPU should wait another few days as the Strix will hit the shelves on June 4.

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Katharine, the great white shark, is returning to Florida and is possibly pregnant.

In case that is true, Katharine is expected to give birth to about four to 14 pups, and each would measure approximately 4.5 feet in length.

"They come out, and they're on their own," says Chris Fischer, the founder of the shark-tracking group OCEARCH.

A satellite transmitter has been attached to Katharine's dorsal fin way back in 2013, when OCEARCH first captured her off Cape Cod in southeastern Massachusetts. In the latest ping detected on May 29, the shark was near the Florida-Georgia border. Then at around 7:01 a.m., she was in the middle of Daytona Beach and Palm Coast.

The Mystery Of Katharine's Route Of Journey

Fischer explains that during the first two years of monitoring, Katharine looked like an immature animal, measuring only 14 feet and 2 inches and weighing 2,300 pounds.

Just last year, she did not return to Cape Cod; experts are considering that maybe she is growing into a mature shark and that she could be pregnant.

At this time, Fischer is not yet sure where Katharine is, but adds that it would be interesting to see her return to Cape Cod during the fall, which would signal the repeat of the migratory cycle. Such cycle lasts for two years and has been observed in mature females across the world.

Katharine's Pings

In 2014, Katharine migrated past Florida Keys to the Gulf of Mexico, which made her the first Atlantic great white shark to do so. She also returned to suspected breeding ground, Cape Cod, early this year.

In 2015, however, Katharine did not return to where OCEARCH first found her. Instead, satellite transmitters revealed that the shark, which has a gestation period of 18 months, stayed in the offshore waters near the Canadian province Nova Scotia.

In the middle of March this year, Katharine's transmitter pinged once again, this time in the offshore area east of Norfolk-Virginia Beach. By mid-April, she was detected in South Carolina.

All in all, Katharine has traveled some 28,814 miles since she was first installed with a satellite transmitter three years ago.

Tagging For Sharks' Welfare

Tagging Katharine's journey provides valuable insights that can help experts ensure the survival of her kind.

Fischer says discovering the areas where the species give birth is important because scientists need to go to that place to provide care to newborns, which are very vulnerable.

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Scientists have discovered a new snake species on a remote island in the Bahamas.

Specifically, a team of international researchers found a silvery female snake that measures about a meter long. The snake was sliding on a silver palm tree located near the edge of the water on a secluded island on the southern part of the archipelago.

Expedition Of Experts

Before the sun set, one of the team members, Nick Herman from Harvard University, found a snake to where he was stationed. He informed his peers through the radio and shortly after, he was joined in by the rest of the group. They all marveled at the silver boa.

Team member Dr. Alberto Puente-Rolon from Puerto Rico says the snake looks very different from other previously identified species of boa.

The team then came up with a systematic strategy to look for more of these snakes. Their efforts did not go in vain as they were able to discover four more as the night deepened.

Late during the night, when the expedition team decided to call it a day, Dr. Graham Reynolds from the University of North Carolina Asheville felt something crawling directly to his head. It was a boa that came from the forest and traveled on the beach to where the team stayed. Reynolds awoke his colleagues to inform them they have an additional animal discovery.

Laboratory Analysis

When the scientists returned to the laboratory, they immediately investigated the snakes they had found. Analysis included genetic studies of tissue specimens and results showed that the snakes were indeed new species that had deviated from other boas in the past several million years.

The silver boa was officially named Chilabothrus argentum, due to its silver color and based on the first animal's settlement in a silver palm (Cocothrinax argentata).

Revisiting Origins To Find Out More

In October 2015, right after Hurricane Joaquin devastated the Bahamas, Reynolds went back to the island. During that trip, the expert group was able to discover 14 more snakes amid the damages and loss of leaves on trees.

The captured specimens were assessed and marked with permanent internal electronic tags for easy identification.

Threats To Silver Snake Boas

During the more recent trip, it was found that the population of silver boas were threatened by reptile predator feral cats.

Aside from that, Reynolds and peers determined the species to be under the Red List Criteria according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

At present, conservation efforts are being planned and implemented to save the new species and prevent it from going extinct shortly after being discovered.

Rare Discovery

"Worldwide, new species of frogs and lizards are being discovered and described with some regularity," says Robert Henderson from the Milwaukee Museum of Natural History. He adds, however, that it is rare to see new species of snakes. The new discovery is more than just detecting a new type of snake, it is also about discovering a new type of boa  an unusual, exciting and buzzworthy feat.

The new discovery reminds scientists that remarkable things in the world are still left undiscovered. Aside form that, it gives the Bahamas another natural feature that its people can boast about.

The study was published in the journal Breviora.

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About 700 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean have drowned in three separate shipwrecks since last week, according to the United Nations and Italian authorities.

William Spindler, spokesman for the UN Refugee Agency, said the accidents at sea come at a time when many refugees continue to make the dangerous journey from Libya to Italy. He said that search and rescue groups have already saved as many as 14,000 individuals who tried to make the crossing over the past week.

The first of the shipwrecks reportedly occurred on Wednesday. It involved a fishing boat that was carrying hundreds of refugees.

Spindler said when the passengers saw a rescue vessel approaching them, many rushed to one side of their boat, causing it to lift and then flip over.

While some of the passengers fell into the water, it is believed that hundreds more were still inside the ship's hold when it sank. About a hundred of these trapped refugees likely drowned during the incident.

Spindler said another shipwreck was reported on Thursday, this time involving as many as 550 casualties. The vessel that the migrants were riding on was being pulled by a fishing boat when it began to take on water.

When people on the fishing boat noticed that the other vessel was starting to sink, they decided to cut the line in order prevent their boat from going down as well.

A survivor from the incident said they were trying to bail the water out of their vessel when the line to the fishing boat was suddenly cut. He quickly jumped into the sea and swam toward the boat just before the other vessel sank.

Members of the Italian Coast Guard were also able to rescue 135 migrants and recover 45 dead bodies from another shipwreck.

All three incidents involved vessels that set sail from the Libyan coast. They were filled with migrants that mostly came from areas in sub-Saharan Africa including Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. Italian officials report that a large number of migrants are women and young children.

Spindler said they are having difficulties collecting information about shipwrecks, as many of the accidents are spread across the sea. He said they might still receive reports of other incidents of drowned or missing persons at sea.

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With Memorial Day serving as the unofficial start of summer, health officials in the United States are reminding the public to take great caution and avoid mosquito and tick bites this weekend.

Facts About Mosquitoes And Ticks

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) advise residents that there are two diseases that mosquitoes transmit in the state, in particular: the West Nile and the Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

Dr. Eden Wells, chief medical executive for the MDHHS, says it is important to remember that even a single bite from a mosquito could have serious consequences.

Mosquitoes are tiny, but they can be deadly. For instance, the Aedes Aegypti mosquito is a carrier of multiple infections such as dengue, malaria, chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika virus.

Another mosquito-borne virus is the West Nile virus, which is transmitted by the Culex pipiens and culex tarsalis. Both mosquitoes are present in Colorado.

Dengue affects as many as 400 million people yearly, but scientists have developed vaccines to fight the infection. It rarely occurs in the U.S. but is endemic in Puerto Rico.

West Nile virus can cause death and neurological disease. However, almost 80 percent of people infected with it do not display symptoms.

Jennifer Eisner, spokesperson for MDHHS, says West Nile is more common in the state and they have been seeing cases since 2001.

In 2015, there were 2,060 cases of West Nile virus in the U.S. and 119 deaths were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of these numbers, 18 cases and two deaths were recorded in Michigan.

Meanwhile, Zika virus, which triggered an outbreak of microcephaly in Brazil, has reached the U.S. It can cause rash, fever, red eyes, joint pain and muscle aches. Currently, it has no specific treatment or vaccine available.

On the other hand, tick bites can be dangerous. Some ticks can cause Lyme disease, which results in a rash that is neither painful nor itchy; fever; headache and lethargy.

Worst case scenarios include losing the ability to move one or both sides of the face, and having a stiff neck and severe headache and heart palpitations.

How To Avoid Mosquito And Tick Bites

1. One of the most common ways of preventing mosquito bites is by wearing insect repellent when outdoors. Products that are EPA-labeled, which contain ingredients such as Picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus, or DEET are best recommended.

2. When eating outdoors, use fans or nets to keep the insects away.

3. Apply repellent first on your hands and rub it on your children, but never apply it directly.

4. Turn your home mosquito-free by installing or fixing door and window screens. Eliminate or cover empty containers with stagnant water.

5. To prevent the spread of the West Nile virus, report dead birds to officials immediately.

6. Avoid tick-infested areas, but if you live in one, avoid contact with overgrown grass, bushes and foliage.

7. Treat your clothes, especially your socks, shoes and pants, with permethrin, which kills ticks on contact. You can also buy clothes that are pre-treated.

8. Permethrin can also be used on camping gear and tents. However, do not apply permethrin directly on your skin.

9. Always perform daily tick checks after being outside. Check your pets and your own yard.

Summertime is fun, but don't forget to take care of your health.

Photo : Paul Clark | Flickr

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Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg is set to take connectivity to new heights by literally bringing one of his social network's new features out of this world.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration revealed on May 27 that Zuckerberg will host a live Earth-to-space call with three astronauts who are currently in orbit on board the International Space Station (ISS).

The space station is currently the largest artificial body in low Earth orbit that can often be seen with the naked eye from Earth. The ISS serves as a research laboratory, where astronauts can conduct experiments in microgravity.

The 20-minute call between Zuckerberg and British astronaut Tim Peake, from the European Space Agency (ESA), and NASA astronauts Tim Kopra and Jeff Williams, who currently live and work aboard the space station, will take place using Facebook Live video.

Facebook Live allows users to do live video broadcasts in groups and events and the upcoming call between Zuckerberg and the astronauts can be watched by viewers via NASA's official Facebook page on Wednesday, June 1.

"Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder and chief executive officer, will speak with three astronauts currently living and working aboard the International Space Station at 12:55 p.m. EDT Wednesday, June 1," NASA announced.

NASA also encouraged space science enthusiasts to post questions that the Facebook CEO in turn will ask the astronauts during the event.

Several questions have so far been posted by Facebook users from different parts of the globe.

"Looking into the space station's long term future. If it for whatever reason became discontinued, what would happen to it? Would it be left to burn up in the atmosphere? Where would it go," asked Simon Pilmer, from Great Chesterford, United Kingdom.

"How do astronauts make artificial gravity on space stations," asked Shreyansh Goyal, from New Delhi, India.

Astronauts aboard the station conduct experiments on astronomy, biology, meteorology and other fields. The ISS also serves as a venue to test spacecraft systems and equipment needed for planned manned mission on Mars.

Astronauts at the space station have earlier successfully installed an inflatable compartment that scientists hope could hold the key to a successful mission to the Red Planet.

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It is our 3rd day in the Antarctic region. We woke to a chilly morning with overcast sky. The water was exceptionally calm. This is Paradise Harbor. The land encircling the harbor is (finally!) the Continent of Antarctica.

Crews getting the kayaks ready

Every kayaker will be paddling here. The surface of the harbor was flat as a mirror. No one wanted to miss one of the best kayaking conditions we had on this trip.

All the kayaks were tethered to our zodiac

All of us kayakers were put in this one zodiac. We were seriously overloaded

There's a very thin crust of ice on the surface of the water, last night must have been cold

The non-kayakers were already on the ground and climbing the hill

This is as good as it gets

So tranquil it's unreal

Warmed up from all that paddling, we were ready to finally set foot on Antarctica proper. The zodiacs collected all the kayakers and ferried us to the beach. While getting off the zodiac, I slipped and landed on my butt. Luckily the dry suit kept me dry. What an ingenious way to meet the continent of your dreams! Not too many people could rightfully claim I landed in Antarctica on my butt.

Half way up the slope, the view is spectacular

Yoshi making a dramatic decent

The lady with small feet

View from the top is breathtaking.

Looking toward another direction from the top

...and yet another direction

The Akademik Ioffe anchored amongst the ice

Carina and Chris

A closer look at the small bay

Shawn is the ships expedition guide for mountain and snow hiking. Hes a Kiwi from the Mt Cook region on the south island of New Zealand. We happened to have visited his home town Twizel when we were touring New Zealand a few months ago. See our NZ pages for more details about the Mt Cook National Park.

Shawns mostly quiet around people. But on the trails he exude an air of confidence. I had a feeling the little hills we were climbing around here is childs play for him.

Tracy and our expedition guide, Shawn

Hurry up!

Getting down is much easier. It could be made even easier by getting on your back and slide. Too bad Tracy and I were wearing the dry suits for kayaking. We didnt want to risk damaging the expensive gear.

These two have the good sense of changing out of their dry suits before climbing the hill. Now they are having all the fun.

It's early summer, the snow close to the beach started to melt

Kayaks ready to be shipped back

We had some time to make a little snow man before our taxi's here

Tracy Junior with the fancy hat

Here is a picture of our cozy little cabin. The bunk beds were to the left and not shown here. The room was only about 610 or so. With our dry suits taking up some space, there wasnt much room between the cabinets and the beds. The window cover was solid metal and heavy as hell. Its secured to the rim with three thick screws. We kept it closed most of the time to guard against sprays. We were on deck 3. The water could get up here when the seas rough.

After lunch the ship had repositioned to Danco Island. This was to be my favorite spot for watching penguins. The top of the hill was occupied by hundreds of Gentoo penguins, most of which were juveniles. These were newly matured birds that didnt stand much of a chance of successfully raising a chick. That didnt stop them from trying.

Many of them were nesting in snow where they couldn't find enough pebbles to build nests

At the top of the hill, a group of us sat down in the snow to watch and photograph the penguins. As usual, the curious ones came over to have a look at us newcomers.

The epitome of cuteness

Sitting quietly in the snow gave us a great opportunity to observe what happens in this small community. That is, same thing you see around a group of humans.

Quarreling...

Fighting...

Chasing...

Taking a stroll...

Catching an offender...

Teaching a lesson...

Standing around looking silly...

And...taking care of business

The inexperienced parents were prime targets of scavengers like this brown skua, one of the main food source of whom were eggs and chicks from penguin colonies. We were quite unhappy to witness a few of the egg snatching incidents. All we could do was to remind ourselves that not-so-cute creatures had to live too. Best let nature ran its course.

Poppy and another smoothing the "penguin holes" on the snow

After a while it started to snow. Good thing I carried a lens hood with me. Tracys little point-and-shoot camera quickly became blurry from all the snowflakes dropping on the lens.

They were not bother by snow at all

They might look miserable, but they were much better off in snow than us

After an hour or so on the hill top, Tracy and I started down the slope, only to be stopped by this guy loitering right in the middle of the track. Hes not willing to yield, and we did not want to create more penguin holes by stepping outside of the track. Fortunately he apparently had other businesses to attend to, and so ended this game of patience.

On the way back to the mother-ship, we were again given a tour on the Zodiac. With the snow and wind it was bitter cold.

Front face of a large iceshelf

Front center is the only Adelie Penguin we had spotted on this trip

Clear blue

An ice cave

Abother ice cave on the far side

December 5th is our last day here in Antarctica. In the dim morning light, we have arrived at Orne Harbor. The two of us were on the first boat. We were also the first ones to reach the top, right after Shawn.

It's another one of those overcast day, typical in Antarctica

Paula, a member of the science team on board, is counting penguin nests

BBC crew filming the floating ice

The chinstrap penguin colony here had a lucky break. They had plenty of rocks to build nests on. Still, that didnt stop them from stealing from other nests.

Nice spot for a nest

This view belongs in the Lord of the Rings

Rockhopper penguins are not the only ones that can hop

Now came the highlight of the day. Shawn and Chad managed to find a long and unspoiled slope for our favorite sport  snow sliding! The powder was phenomenal. The only downside? There were no lift and you had to climb all the way back up. That didnt stop any of us from having a blast. I must have done it a dozen times.

Tracy is airbourne! She shoot down those slopes so fast I could never hope to catch her.

My own not-so-graceful decent:

The snow sliding fest was the perfect wrap of our last landing here in Antarctica. While we were all exhausted, everybodys in a good mood. This made the prospect of leaving a bit more bearable.

Afternoon brought us to Fournier Bay. Landing was canceled due to bad weather. Instead, the ship sailed slowly through the waters so all of us could have a last look at the magnificent landscape of this truly enchanting land.

So started our two-day journey back across the dreaded Drake Passage. The ship pitched and rolled like crazy at times. It was nearly impossible to have a meal without a cup or plate flying off the table, or a person flying off the chair. By the end of the two days, almost half the people were missing from the dinner tables. According to the staff, that was a little worse than usual. Hear! Hear!

Somehow I fared better than Tracy this time. While she stayed in bed most of the time, I was able to walk around the ship a bit, even managed to get a great shot of a humpback whale before our over zealous captain ran it over. Dont worry, the whale was unharmed, it promptly emerged on the other side of the ship. I heard our marine biologist was not so thrilled about the incident though :).

After more than two days in a drug-induced semi-conscious state, we were finally back in Ushuaia on the 8th of December.

Beautiful morning on the docks

The ship's anchored and tethered

Deck 2 were quarters for the Russian crew. One guy had a pot plant next to the window.

After 18 days on the ship, many of us had become good friends with the staff and each other. This was one trip that I wished could last longer.

Luggage for passengers who were going to stay in Ushuaia. We belonged to this group as our flight was for next morning.

Dave the historian was one of our favorite staff members

People saying goodbyes to each other

This was the best trip the two of us had so far. We were lucky to have a lively and interesting mix of crew and fellow passengers. The scenery was as good as it gets. The wildlife experience was simply unbeatable. If we are lucky, well be back again sometime in the future.

After saying goodbyes to everyone, the bus took us back to La Casa, Silvias nice little B&B. We went out for a really nice meal, then came back to get some much needed rest. Being able to sleep on a bed set on solid ground is priceless.

Deep fried tiny fish, crunchy and delicious

King crab, yummy!!

We will be flying out to Buenos Aires again tomorrow, then head on to a small town over 200km south of the city. Well be there for a week. Time for a change of pace.
Foreign social media and messaging apps operating in Iran have one year to transfer their data within Iranian borders.

Iran has long been controlling the Internet activity of its citizens, blocking access to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and censoring various content. Some users managed to bypass the limitations by resorting to virtual private networks (VPNs), but Iran is cracking down on social media.

As Reuters reports, Iran demanded that all foreign messaging and social media apps transfer data and activity associated with Iranian citizens within the country's borders in one year. The country's Supreme Council of Cyberspace reportedly made the announcement on Sunday, May 29, arguing that the new measures stem from the "guidelines and concerns of the supreme leader," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Foreign messaging companies active in the country are required to transfer all data and activity linked to Iranian citizens into the country in order to ensure their continued activity," demanded the Council.

To transfer data within the country's borders, foreign social media and messaging apps would need to establish data centers in Iran. It remains to be seen whether companies will be willing to make such efforts or the apps will simply become off-limits for Iranian citizens.

At the same time, these stricter regulations could also have a major impact on secure messaging app Telegram, which counts more than 100 million users worldwide and is widely popular in Iran.

Reuters points out that Telegram has roughly 20 million users in Iran, but that doesn't mean it gets a free pass in the country. Back in November, for instance, authorities arrested the administrators of more than 20 Telegram groups for distributing "immoral content."

With the new regulations, citizens are now concerned that if Telegram establishes data centers in Iran, the authorities would get access to users' Telegram activity and make even more arrests. Telegram is not the only app to draw attention in the country.

Iran has some pretty harsh rules in place, and online activity, including on social media, is closely monitored. Just earlier this month, Iranian authorities placed eight women under arrest for posting Instagram photos of themselves without a headscarf on.

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How Accurate Are Fitbit Trackers? Does It Matter Though? | TechTree.com

Ever since it hit the market, the Fitbit range of activity trackers and wireless-enabled wearable technology in 2008, it has captured the imagination of the health-conscious across the world. With a range of 12 products and an impending IPO, the company could have done no wrong till recently.

However, things began going wrong following a study conducted by researchers at the Iowa State University in 2014 where the bands were shown as having an error rating of about ten per cent. However, another study questioned the accuracy of the heart rate and followed it up with a lawsuit.

The findings of this study, conducted by the California State Polytechnic University, suggested that there was a vast variation in the actual readings and what Fitbit reported. Reports in the local media networks began questioning three things:

(a) Was the research above board?

(b) Does Fitbit work as per its claims and

(c) Does it really matter if they do not?

At Techtree, we did a bit of research into the media reports that emanated post the lawsuit and believe that the truth has yet to come out. Here is what we found:

 Was the research above board - All data related to the research conducted by the university is to be found in the Civil Justice Blog of Leiff Cabraser, law firm that filed the fraud class action lawsuit against Fitbit. This is what the two researchers had to state about their project: After carefully analyzing the more than 46 hours worth of comparative data including hundreds of thousands of individual data pointsthat resulted from this testing, Dr. Jo and Dr. Dolezal concluded that the Fitbit devices simply do not accurately track users actual heart rates, particularly during exercise. At moderate to high exercise intensities, the average difference between the Fitbit devices and the ECG was approximately 20 beats per minute, well beyond any reasonable or expected margin of error. So what makes us see red?

o The challenge is that this research paper hasnt yet been published in a scientific journal  considered by the academic community as a must to depict scholarship and advanced knowledge in a chosen domain.

o Secondly, there is also the small issue that the law firm, which paid for the study, actually had something to gain from the research study casting aspersions on the product.

 Does Fitbit work as per its claims?  This is part of the statement that Fitbit shared with a blogger on Forbes: Fitbits research team rigorously researched and developed PurePulse (heart rate monitoring) technology for three years prior to introducing it to market and continues to conduct extensive internal studies to test the features of our products. The challenge is that the results of this study havent been published!

o Another study published last month in the British Medical Journal (read it here) about the overall accuracy of wrist-based heart-rate monitors suggested that when fitted snugly on to the users wrist, the devices were accurate enough for recreational purposes as well as for research.

o Another research paper quotes from a Japanese study (read it here) to claim that most of the devices tested actually underestimated the calories burnt during a workout. The research team played it safe by suggesting that further studies alone can confirm their findings. Of course, these researchers found Fitbit to be among the most accurate of the devices they tested.

 Does it really matter?  Now, we come to the third point about the storm in the media over the wearable devices used for calculating the efficacy of ones workout.

o For starters, experts argue that these devices are meant for healthy people who probably uses them as an inspiration to working out daily and to possibly share their successes on social platforms

o The second aspect relates to the accuracy standards of these wearable devices, as evinced by the Japanese researchers. The devices have not yet got medical approval from any major organizations to guarantee their efficacy.

o Finally, the sensor and app manufacturers arent actually calling their products as a disease management device. They are variously described as wellness support or devices designed to improve health behaviors.

So, where does it leave the consumers? To be honest, they can continue to buy wearable devices with a motivational intent so long as manufacturers clarify that their products have a tangible medical benefit in terms of taking the task of health monitoring from the healthcare professional to the individual.

TAGS: FitBit, Healthcare, Digital Assistant
Intex Gets Award At The World Brands Summit In Dubai | TechTree.com

Homegrown smartphone company Intex Technologies received yet another accolade at the prestigious World Brands Summit in Dubai.

We at Intex are extremely honored on receiving this prestigious award. The brand has grown significantly over the last few years owing to innovative products, excellent services and our understanding of consumer needs. It feels great to be acknowledged for something that has the efforts of thousands of people behind it said Mr. Keshav Bansal, Director Intex Technologies.

The World Brands Summit, in association with PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry is a unique initiative to recognize and bring to the fore leaders and companies that have shown tremendous brand growth in the past few years.

It is aimed at identifying those Indian and Asian brands which, through their robust growth and formidable presence, are successfully taking on and outshining their competitors. Along with the promising brands, this platform also felicitated entrepreneurs and brand guardians that have lead these brands to the stature of being the Most Promising.

The award was another addition in the long list of accolades previously received by Intex Technologies. They include The Mobility Excellence Award, Golden Globe Award for Retail Excellence, Mobys Award for Best use of Social Media in Marketing and the NCN Award for CDIT business.

TAGS: Intex, Intex Smartphones
Odisha teenager arrested for hacking Hyderabad companys toll free number and causing loss worth $89,000

A 19-year-old villager from Odisha was arrested by the police today for hacking into a Hyderabad-based company, causing a loss of Rs. 60 lakh. While the accused did not know how to speak English, he was an active member of many hacking forums.

Himalaya Mohanty, a native of Balasore district of Odisha who studies at an ITI, allegedly learnt computer hacking on a website and managed to get the code of an EPABX of toll-free number of the customer care centre of Lloyd Electricals and Engineering Ltd. According to reports, Mohanty used a mobile phone to upload the code online along with the toll-free number of Lloyd by creating his own website.

Thousands of net surfers made free calls by using the code and the company received a hefty bill of about Rs. 60 lakh, a police press release said.

In November, Lloyd company had received telephone bills for a whopping $89,000 (Rs.60 lakh) for the toll-free number, which they operate for their customers. The typical monthly bill for the toll-free number for Lloyd is $1500 (Rs. 1 lakh).

Mohanty learned hacking skills and finally ended up hacking Lloyds toll-free number using his 3 display mobile phone. Mohanty enabled the option of outgoing facility by hacking into the system. He uploaded the link of Lloyd along with a code, which a user has to enter after dialling the toll-free number and followed by the number the person intends to call, told Cybercrime inspector Riyazuddin.

According to police, Mohanty, posted a message on his website to contact him for learning hacking skills. When people contacted him using their phones, he used to hack their phones by sending a Trojan (virus) and used to track their movements. However, all this was done by him without gaining financial benefit, the police said.

Though Mohanty used proxy servers, the cybercrime police was able to locate the IP address and arrest him at his village in Balasore district. In spite of his poor English, he got himself registered in various forums/websites of hacking and participating in chatting by using translator software.he did not gain monetarily in this case, the police release said, adding that he told the officers that he did it only for fun. Currently, he is spending time in jail.
FBI Raids Home of Researcher Who Alerted Company of Publicly Exposed Data

This happens in America again. After arresting a security researcher for exposing flaws in an Elections website, now the FBI has raided the house of the researcher who had reported about publicly exposed data to a company.

It seems the law keepers in America cannot distinguish between cyber criminals and genuine security researchers who take it upon themselves to report flaws to companies/authorities for greater good. The house of Justin Shafer, 36, of Texas, a dental computer technician and software security researcher, was raided by over a dozen FBI agents who in the past had reported security issues in the software and server infrastructure of a U.S. based healthcare services provider, reports The Daily Dot.

Prior to having his house searched, Shafer had reported a vulnerability in Eaglesoft practice management software to the manufacturer Patterson Dental back in February, which was storing private patient records in a publicly-available FTP server. Eaglesoft is manufactured by Patterson Dental, a division of Patterson Companies.

Shafer discovered this while he was investigating the companys Eaglesoft software. He was searching for the hard-coded database credentials when he discovered an anonymous FTP server which anyone could access. Shafer notified the company as well as CERT.

Shafer worked with DataBreaches.net to secure the FTP server with Patterson Dental and made his findings public in mid-February. The unsecured Eaglesoft FTP server exposed sensitive information on about 22,000 patients, and Shafer claims it has done so as early as 2006.

At the end of March, US-CERT also published an alert on Patterson Dentals Eaglesoft software issues, related to its hard-coded database credentials. It wrote, An attacker with knowledge of the hard-coded credentials and with network access to the database may be able to obtain sensitive patient information. CERT added that it was currently unaware of a full solution to this problem.

However, fast forward several months, Shafer and his wife who were sound asleep were woken up at 6:30am local time last Tuesday morning to the doorbell that started ringing continuously. Later, the family heard a loud banging on their door.

My first thought was that my dad had died, Shafer told the Daily Dot in a phone interview, but then as I went to the door, I saw all the flashing blue and red lights.

With the baby crying in fear from the racket, Shafer opened the door to find what he estimated to be 12 to 15 FBI agents. One was pointing a big green assault weapon at me, Shafer told the Daily Dot, and the babys crib was only feet from the door.

The agents allegedly ordered Shafer to put his hands behind his back. As they handcuffed him, his 9-year-old daughter cried in terror, Shafer said. His wife tried to tell the agents that there were three young kids in the house, but they apparently didnt care.

Once handcuffed, Shafer was dragged outside while still wearing his boxer shorts, not knowing what was going on or why.

The agents over the next few hours seized all of Shafers computers and devicesand even my Dentrix magazines, Shafer said. The only thing they left was my wifes phone. The seized property list shows that federal agents took 29 items.

What was his alleged crime? Responsible disclosure. Instead of thanking the researcher for his proper disclosure of a sensitive data leak, Patterson Digital filed a complaint with local law authorities about being hacked.

FBI agents told Shafer during the house search that Patterson Dental had claimed that he exceeded authorized access when researching the issue of the publicly-available FTP server.

Anyone could have accessed the server, its not like it was secured. Shafer told the Daily Dot, that the FTP server had been unsecured for years.

In an email statement, he wrote:

Many IT guys in the dental industry know that the Patterson FTP site has been unsecured for many years. I actually remember them having a passworded FTP site back in 2006. To get the password you would call tech support at Eaglesoft\Patterson Dental and they would just give you the password to the FTP site if you wanted to download anything. It never changed. At some point they made the FTP site anonymous. I think around 2010.

This is not the first time that Shafer has faced this problem from the healthcare industry. In the past, the researcher had found out that Henry Schein was making false claims that its Dentrix G5 software was using encryption. Shafers findings led to another US-CERT alert, and a fine from the FTC.
A 40 anos de Malvinas

"Revisar el pasado es pensar el futuro". La frase de la presidenta de Telam, Bernarda Llorente, resume el espiritu del documental coproducido entre la agencia de noticias y el canal publico de TV sobre la cobertura que los medios de comunicacion hicieron del conflicto, plagada de censura y mentiras. Una autocritica necesaria para mirar hacia adelante en un (ya viejo) contexto de fake news y negocio informativo.
"Any unfriendly action by Western countries will receive a timely and adequate response in the future," the Russian diplomacy stressed. | Read More
After months of street protests in 2013 and 2014, the countrys government was overthrown in a bloodless military coup in May 2014.

This has had a negative impact on investor sentiment and foreign diplomacy, although the military government, led by Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha, has since moved to appoint an interim government and legislature, enacting a host of sweeping reforms already under way under the previous administration, and moving to improve growth and investor sentiment through a number of stimulus packages, rising spending and infrastructure investment.

Cautious Optimism

Although it fell three places in the World Banks Doing Business 2016 survey, Thailand retained its position within the worlds top 50 economies in terms of ease of doing business, ranking 49th of 189 countries.

It rose by eight spots in the dealing with construction permits category to 39th place globally, and remained in 11th place in the getting electricity category, although it fell by five spots in the starting a business category, to 96th place, and by seven spots in the getting credit category, to 97th place.

Indeed, Thailand continues to welcome investment from all countries, and has seen trade with many of its key partners expand significantly over the previous decades, with trade expected to expand further over the longer term on the back of investment policy reforms, ASEAN integration and potential membership in TPP and RCEP.

Foreign Direct Investment remains strong

Thailands economic development has been significantly aided by FDI, and the country is an important ASEAN destination for new investment, benefiting from an array of attractive incentives on offers, accommodative government policies, and a well-diversified economy, which boasts upper middle-income status as of 2011.

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Thailand has been among eight priority destinations for foreign investment since 2012.

UNCTAD reports that FDI inflows rose by 52.8% between 2012 and 2013 to hit $14.01bn, while the countrys total FDI stock rose by 3.3% and 11.8% in 2013 and 2014, respectively, to reach $199.31bn.

In 2013, 30.6% of FDI inflows went to the metallurgy and machinery sector, followed by electronics (25.3%), services (18.9%), and paper and chemical goods (15%).

In 2014 Thailand was the seventh-largest FDI recipient in East and Southeast Asia, with the government reporting that in the same year, FDI in the country rose by 95% to hit a record BT1.02trn ($30.7bn).

However, much of this growth can be attributed to the BOIs changes to the Investment Promotion Law of 1977, which codifies investment incentives.International TradeThailand has seen international trade surge in recent years, both within the ASEAN region and with China, the US and India.

Bank of Thailand (BOT) data shows export revenues rose by 93.2% between 2005 and 2015 to reach $214.38bn, peaking at $229.11bn in 2012, before moderating to $228.5bn in 2013, $227.52 in 2014, and $214.38 in 2015, largely as a result of falling commodities prices.Imports rose by 71.4% over the same 10-year period, peaking at $250.41bn in 2013 and ending 2015 at $202.65bn.

The 19.1% decline in total imports between 2013 and 2015 can be attributed to falling global oil prices, as fuel imports comprised BT1.59trn ($47.86bn), or 19.5% of total imports, in 2013.

As a result of falling oil prices, the country ended 2015 with an $11.72bn trade surplus, its first in five years.Manufacturing exports stood at $190.42bn, or 88.8% of total exports, while the BOT reports that export receipts for agriculture, of which rice and rubber comprise 60.2%, totalled $16.06bn in 2015.

Thailands top five exports by value in 2015 were electronics ($32.08bn), agro-manufacturing products ($25.61bn), machinery and equipment ($19.25bn), food ($14.88bn) and electrical appliances ($12.05bn).

In 2015 export revenues in these five categories reached $119.96bn, or 56% of total revenues.

Main Trading Partners

The US, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia were Thailands top five export markets in 2015, as the US edged ahead of China for the first time to become its largest trading partner by exports. Exports to the US hit $24.06bn in 2015, with $23.74bn going to China, $20.08bn to Japan, $11.83bn to Hong Kong and $10.19bn to Malaysia, according to BOT data.

The EU is another major trading partner, with Thai exports to the EU rising by 45.3% between 2005 and 2015 to hit $21.97bn, despite contracting by 6% in 2015. Although trade with India remains comparatively low, it has also surged in recent years: imports rose by 105.5% between 2005 and 2015, while Thailands exports to India jumped by nearly 250%, from $1.53bn to $5.3bn.

China & JapanWith $64.81bn in total bilateral trade in 2015, China remains Thailands dominant trade partner and leading import market. Thailand imported $41.1bn of Chinese goods in 2015, according to BOT data, compared to $13.86bn in imports from the US. Japan, Thailands third-largest expor

Source: Thailands new reforms promise stability and value-added production | Thailand 2016 | Oxford Business Group
Thai exports tumbled 8% in April, worse than the 1.25% expected, according to data from the Commerce Ministry.

For the first four months, shipments shrank 1.24% from the same period last year to $69.4 billion, while imports totaled $60.5 billion, a fall of 12.7%.

The decline puts an end to a two-month growth streak amid sluggish global demand.

Major market shipments were down : Japan, down 10.3%; the United States, down 6.7%; and Europe, down 1.1%. For the month of April, electronic exports were down 5.3%, industrial goods exports were down 7.8% and agricultural products exports were down 2.8%.

Exports account for nearly two-thirds of Thailands economic output, and have been contracting for three straight years.

The Thai central bank predicts that exports will fall 2% in 2016 but K-Research forecasts flat growth for this years exports based on a 3% GDP growth forecast for Thailand.

Declining oil and commodity prices were partly to blame, says the Commerce Ministry, but an uncertain global economy also weighed on exports.

Shipments were up 1.3% in March and 10.27% in February. These gains were driven by unusual items, including gold shipments and military helicopters.

Major market shipments were down across the board, including Southeast Asian nations and China, down 4.8% and 5.9% respectively.

Domestic demand, another major driver of economic growth in the country, has also been slower than usual, due to raising level of household debt.

Imports also down 15%

In the month of April, imports plummeted 14.92% compared to the previous year. Economists were projecting a 7.65% decline. The import slump last month will likely continue into May.

Imports typically include parts, which are assembled into finished goods and then shipped out.
Vietnams real estate sector currently depends heavily on loans from banks and funds from customers. Photo: Diep Duc Minh/Thanh Nien

Vietnams central bank has announced new restrictions on real estate lending in an attempt to prevent bubble risks in the property sector.

In a circular released on Friday, the State Bank of Vietnam said it will raise the risk weight of loans to real estate businesses from 150 to 200 percent on January 1, 2017.

According to the circular, commercial banks will also be prohibited from using more than 50 percent of short-term deposits for medium and long term loans from January 1, 2017. The current rate is 60 percent.

The ratio will be reduced to 40 percent from January 1, 2018.

These amendments are not as strict as the central banks original plan, which intended to raise the risk weight for real estate loans to 250 percent and prohibit banks from using more than 40 percent of short-term deposits for medium and long term loans.

Earlier, property companies and housing officials and experts requested the central bank to cut real estate lending gradually, otherwise the market will be badly affected.

Dr. Bui Quang Tin from Ho Chi Minh City Banking University in March urged the central bank to cooperate with other relevant agencies in creating favorable conditions for other funding channels, such as real estate trust funds and housing savings funds, to be established.

Vietnams real estate sector currently depends heavily on loans from banks and funds from customers. And with home prices remaining beyond the reach of most of the population, many homebuyers also need to take out large loans from banks.

Outstanding loans to the sector grew nearly 26 percent to VND393 trillion (US$17.42 billion) last year, according to the central bank.
Vietnam's central bank has allowed commercial banks to resume short-term loans in foreign currencies from next month to help businesses cope with recent adverse weather impacts and accelerate economic growth.

Banks will be permitted to extend these loans between June 1 and Dec.31, 2016 to assist production and exports, the State Bank of Vietnam said in a circular issued last Friday after its previous policy expired on March 31.

The policy took into account Vietnam's slower economic growth so far this year, drought and salination in the southern region and fish deaths in central provinces, the central bank said in a statement seen on Monday.
BIDV, Vietnam's biggest partly private lender by assets, said on Wednesday it would be prioritised in the next issue of banking licences by Myanmar, citing comments by the country's president during a meeting with the bank's chairman.

BIDV, which wants to open a branch in Myanmar having failed in the first license issue, said more would be offered, likely in 2016. In a statement, it said Myanmar President Thein Sein had on Tuesday told BIDV's chairman "the government will give priority to BIDV".

Nine lenders were approved earlier this year to set up and offer limited service in Myanmar, such as providing foreign currency loans to foreign firms operating there. The move was one the biggest economic reforms yet by a country in dire need of capital after decades of isolation during the military rule that ended in 2011.

Those banks include ANZ Banking Group, Bangkok Bank , Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), Mizuho Bank, United Overseas Bank, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC) and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd
Local residents found the bodies of three children in a reservoir in Nghe An Province Sunday, including two siblings and their cousin.

The victims were identified as Tran Thanh Trung, 11, his sister Tran Thu Huong, 6, and Tran Viet Hung, 10, who had apparently gone swimming there.

The tragedy is the latest in a never-ending saga. Statistics from the Department of Child Care and Protection show an average of nine children drown every day in Vietnam while swimming is not effectively taught in schools.

Dang Hoa Nam, the departments director, said many children went swimming in the hot weather of the past months but they were not equipped with safe swimming skills.

Some construction sites were also responsible for not putting up barriers and warning signs.

A recent survey by the department found only 35 percent of children in the Mekong Delta and 10 percent in the Red River Delta can swim.

With such low rates of children who can swim, drowning risks are high, Nam said.

Funding difficulties

The Ministry of Education and Training drafted a plan in 2010 to teach swimming in schools to prevent drowning deaths of children.

All provinces were instructed to trial swimming programs in primary schools by 2015, particularly for third, fourth and fifth grade students.

However, few have managed to implement the plan, primarily due to a shortage of swimming pools.

Duong Van Ba, a ministry official, said the focus was then shifted to attracting investment from the private sector.

However, it costs VND800 million (US$36,000) to build a small swimming pool and not many schools raised the investment.

Existing swimming pools should cooperate with schools and earmark a certain time for training students, he said.

Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Hong Lam said proper pools are not needed for swimming courses.

Schools can use canvas to make makeshift pools, or set up nets in rivers.
The two ships host 660 officials and crew members on board. Photo: Nguyen Chung/Thanh Nien

Two Indian warships docked at Cam Ranh International Port in central Vietnam Monday at the start of a five-day visit.

During their stay, guided missile stealth frigate INS Satpura and guided missile corvette INS Kirchs 660 officers and crew led by Rear Admiral Soonil V. Bhokare will make courtesy calls on provincial leaders and the Navys Command Zone 4.

In May last year India and Vietnams defense ministers signed a joint vision statement on cooperation in 2015-20 and witnessed the signing of an MoU on cooperation between the coast guards of the two countries.

Cam Ranh International Port officially opened to foreign vessels in March this year. Since then warships from Singapore, Japan and France have visited.

Guided missile stealth frigate INS Satpura. Photos: Nguyen Chung/Thanh Nien

The stern of INS Satpura

Guided missile corvette INS Kirch
The Royal Australian Navy's helicopter frigate HMAS Anzac and its company of 184 arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, this afternoon for a three-day visit.

The crew, led by Commander Belinda Wood, were welcomed by representatives from the municipal Peoples Committee, the 7th Military Region, and the Navy High Command.

Commander Wood said the visit is a highlight in the relations between the two countries' navies.

She said she looks forwards to a joint exercise between HMAS Anzac and a Vietnamese naval ship during the visit.

Colonel Ha Xuan Xu (R) of the Vietnamese Navy High Command welcomes Commander Belinda Wood after the HMAS Anzac docked at Saigon Port on May 30.

Officers and soldiers from HMAS Anzac are scheduled to meet their counterparts from the Vietnamese Peoples Navy and participate in sharing professional knowledge of communications.

The guests will also participate in friendly sporting events and visit top tourist attractions in HCMC.

Colonel Darren Kerr, defense attache at the Australian Embassy in Hanoi, called the visit a "great opportunity" to strengthen defense ties between the two countries.

He said Australia has helped train more than 1,500 military officers of the People's Army of VIetnam since 1999.

This is the 17th port call made by a Royal Australian Navy's vessel to Vietnam, and the 10th to HCMC.

The HMAS Anzac will conclude its visit on June 2.
Lieutenant Nguyen Quoc Nam is being treated at the Dak Lak General Hospital. Photo credit: Dan Tri

Police in Dak Lak Province arrested an 18-year-old man Sunday for allegedly injuring an officer who tried to stop him from fighting with his girlfriend and landlord.

At around 4:30 p.m. Sunday Ho Van Tuan reportedly quarreled with his girlfriend at their home in Y Ngong Street, Buon Ma Thuot town.

When his landlord attempted to calm him down, he began to throw stones at him.

Upon the landlords complaint, the ward police sent Lieutenant Nguyen Quoc Nam and local official Le Van Duc to investigate.

When Nam attempted to arrest him, Tuan suddenly attacked him with an electroshock weapon.

He then whipped out a knife and stabbed the paralyzed officer before fleeing.

Duc also sustained an injury in his hand.

Bui Truong Phong, director of the Dak Lak General Hospital, said Nam had a wound each in his head, shoulder and abdomen.

He is in stable condition and we are closely monitoring his health, he told the media late Sunday.
A court in Ho Chi Minh City on Monday sentenced an Australian man to life in prison for attempting to smuggle 3.5 kilograms of heroin from the city to Sydney.

Nathan Andrew James, 34, was arrested at Tan Son Nhat Airport in October 2013 while checking in for a flight to Sydney. Customs officers found the drug hidden in his luggage.

According to the indictment, James was asked by a Tim to carry the drug to Australia to clear his debt. Tim is still at large.

James could have been sentenced to death, but the court took his restricted cognitive capability into consideration, local media reported.

In another case on the same day, Nguyen Thanh Hai, 23, was sentenced to death. He was caught with one kilogram of heroin in March 2014.

Vietnam has some of the worlds toughest drug laws. Those convicted of possessing or smuggling more than 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kilograms of methamphetamine face the death penalty.

The production or sale of 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal narcotics is also punishable by death.
A still from a video clip showing Tran Quang Do throwing major Ngo Hong Hai to the ground

A 20-year-old man was sentenced to 15 months in jail for assaulting a traffic policeman during a traffic stop in Thanh Hoa Province in May.

The Thanh Hoa Town Peoples Court found Tran Quang Do guilty of opposing a government official on-duty during his public trial on July 12, which drew hundreds of local spectators.

According to the indictment, at around 11:30am on May 10, Major Ngo Hong Hai attempted to pull Do over at the corner of Tran Phu and Le Loi.

Do proceeded to the nearby Vinaconex Supermarket where Hai caught up with him.

Do refused to produce his motorbike registration or driver's license and attacked the officer when he tried to snatch his key out of the ignition to prevent him from driving away.

Do threw Maj. Hai to the ground and kicked him hard. He only fled after local police arrived at the scene. Hai was later admitted to the hospital where doctors treated him for several bruises on his neck, shoulders and back.

Do turned himself later that day and admitted to attacking Maj. Hai.

The court found it necessary to isolate Do from society based on the brutal nature of his crime, which is punishable by a jail term of up to three years.

The court said it showed Do leniency because his father had made significant contributions to the country during his service in the volunteer force assigned to assist Lao freedom fighters.

Do admitted to his crime and did not appeal the verdict.
Nguyen Van An at a police station in Ha Tinh for child rape investigation. Photo: Duc Hung/VnExpress

Police in Ha Tinh Province in central Vietnam have arrested a man for allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl after offering her a lift.

The police said Nguyen Van An, 52, saw the girl walking to school Friday and offered her a lift, but took her to his house and raped her.

She reportedly escaped in the middle of the act.

An was arrested Sunday, and told the police he was drunk that day.

Raping a child under 16 is punishable by seven to 15 years in jail, and death in case of a repeat offense.

Child rapes account for nearly two-thirds of the average of 1,000 sexual assaults reported each year in Vietnam. Usually the perpetrators are familiar to the victims, even family members.
Authorities in Da Nang gave a reward of VND20 million (US$890) to a group of militiamen for making a huge drug bust in their neighborhood Sunday.

The militiamen of Hoa Vang District, who were patrolling at around 1:30 a.m., took a man on suspicion to the local police station.

Lai Thanh Quyet, 32, later admitted to selling 540 grams of heroin, which he had bought in Lao, to a person in the area.

Officers also found on him a pistol with six bullets and a stun gun.

The buyer, Le Van Hau, who was about to meet Quyet at the spot, was arrested soon afterwards. Hau told the police he intended to buy the drugs for VND356 million.

Officials said the seizure is the biggest drug bust ever in Da Nang.
Police in Lam Dong Province in the Central Highlands have arrested a local man on suspicion of raping two children in his neighborhood for several months.

Nguyen Van Han, 49, was taken into custody on Monday, three days after families of the girls, both 12 years old, reported the alleged multiple rapes.

They said from late October last year to early February, Han persuaded the girls to come over to his house and raped them.

Initial investigation found Han, a single man and scrap dealer, had made the girls watch porn before sexually assaulting them.

He then gave them money, around a dollar each time, and made threats to keep them silent.

Both the girls come from low-income families.

Investigators said Han was also accused of bringing in two other teen girls and forcing them to watch him rape their friends. T he four girls study at the same school.

Their families said they only found out early this month.

Having sex with one under 13 years old in any circumstances is ruled as child rape under Vietnams Penal Code. The crime can be punished by between 12 years in prison and death penalty.
A man reads a newspaper containing news about Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour at a stall in Peshawar, Pakistan, May 23, 2016.

The brother of a man killed alongside Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a U.S. drone strike in southwest Pakistan has filed a report with police asking for his brother's killing to be investigated, officials said on Sunday.

Muhammad Azam, a Pakistani citizen, was driving Mansour from the Pakistan-Iran border to Quetta, capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province, when a U.S. drone destroyed the car in the Koshki area of Noshki district, killing them both.

Azam was a regular taxi driver on the route and was not connected to the Taliban, his brother Muhammad Qasim said in a police report seen by Reuters.

The "First Information Report" filed by Qasim would form the basis of any police investigation into the drone attack.

Drone attacks outside Pakistan's tribal areas, such as the one that killed Mansour and Azam, are rare.

Much of the country's Islamist militancy is based in the tribal areas of northwest Pakistan. Critics of drone strikes allege there has been a tacit agreement between Islamabad and Washington allowing strikes in some tribal areas but not elsewhere. Pakistan denies that any such agreement exists.

The report was filed by Qasim on Wednesday, local official Muhammad Omar told Reuters on Sunday night.

It does not name Mansour, identifying him only as Muhammad Wali, an identity he had been using while in Pakistan, complete with identification documents and a passport.

Pakistani authorities confirmed for the first time on Sunday that it was indeed Mansour who was killed in the drone strike.

"He was identified after conducting a DNA test which showed a match with a close relative of Mullah Mansour's, who had come to Pakistan from Afghanistan to receive the body," said an interior ministry statement.

The police report filed in Balochistan notes that the United States has claimed responsibility for carrying out the attack. No individuals or officials are named as suspects.

A U.S. embassy spokesman in Islamabad declined to comment, referring all questions on the subject to Washington.

"My brother was innocent. And he was extremely poor. He has four young children. He was the sole breadwinner in his house," Qasim told police, according to the report.
The advertisement for the "Qiaobi" brand of detergent has provoked an uproar on US news websites, which cited it as an example of racist attitudes towards black people in China

A Chinese detergent maker has apologised for an advertisement which shows a black man stuffed into a washing machine and transformed into a fair-skinned Asian, just a day after dismissing critics as too sensitive.

The advertisement by the Shanghai Leishang Cosmetics company provoked an uproar on US news websites, with commentators citing it as an example of racist attitudes towards black people in China.

Its commercial for the "Qiaobi" brand shows a black man whistling and winking at a young Chinese woman, who calls him over, puts a detergent packet into his mouth and forces him head-first into a washing machine.

She sits on the lid while the man shrieks. Moments later an Asian man emerges in clean clothes and the woman grins.

The advert has been viewed more than seven million times on YouTube in the past three days.

"For the harm caused to the African people because of the spread of the advert and the over-amplification by the media, we express our apology, the company said in a statement on an official social media account.

We sincerely hope the public and the media will not over-read it, the statement added.

We express regret that the ad has caused a controversy, but we will not shun responsibility for controversial content. 

The firm said in the statement posted late Saturday it had stopped airing the advertisement and deleted links to it.

A spokesman had earlier told China's Global Times newspaper that the issue of racism had not crossed the company's mind and "the foreign media might be too sensitive about the ad".

The advertisement attracted little attention in China, which has historically experienced almost no settlement by people of African descent.

Traditional attitudes prizing white skin in women have contributed to bias against dark-skinned people.
A deputy governor of the wealthy eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu is being investigated for suspected graft, the country's main corruption-fighting body said on Monday.

Li Yunfeng is suspected of "serious discipline breaches", the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said in a brief statement, using the usual euphemism for graft.

It did not elaborate.

Li, 59, has spent almost his entire working career in Jiangsu and assumed his current job in 2011, according to his official biography.

It was not possible to reach him for comment and it was unclear if he has been allowed to retain a lawyer.

China has jailed dozens of senior officials since President Xi Jinping launched a sweeping campaign against graft after assuming office more than three years ago, vowing to go after powerful "tigers" as well as lowly "flies".

Xi, like others before him, has warned the problem is so severe it could affect the party's grip on power.
French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a remembrance ceremony at a German cemetery in Consenvoye near Verdun, France, May 29, 2016, marking the 100th anniversary of the battle of Verdun, one of the largest battles of the First World War (WWI) on the Western Front.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande marked the 100-year anniversary of the Battle of Verdun side-by-side on Sunday, laying a wreath at a cemetery in northeastern France for the 300,000 soldiers killed.

The Verdun battle was one of the longest in World War I, lasting more than 300 days from February to December 1916, and its commemoration has come to signify the reconciliation between Germany and France after decades of hostility and distrust following two world wars.

"We are side by side to tackle the challenges of today and first of all the future of Europe, because, as we know disappointment was followed by disenchantment, and after doubts came suspicion, and for some even rejection or break-up," Hollande said in a closing speech at the ceremony.

It was not until 1984 that the neighbours carried out a joint ceremony to mark the Verdun battle, another step towards ending decades of residual hostility.

A photo of then French President Francois Mitterrand and then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl holding hands in the Douaumont cemetery at Verdun became a symbol of a new era of reconciliation.

That year also saw France and Germany agreeing on the gradual abolition of border checks, a precursor to the Schengen zone of passport-free travel, launched by five European countries the following year.

Rain fell for part of the ceremony on Sunday and Hollande held an umbrella for Merkel and himself as they made their way to the German cemetery Consenvoy to lay a wreath.

In 2016, some of the foundations of the European Union appear under stress. Britain's referendum next month on EU membership, Islamist militant attacks in EU capitals, the biggest migrant crisis since World War II and a slow economic recovery have strained relations in the bloc.

Hollande said earlier this week that his discussions with Merkel would focus on Europe's future, including the migrant crisis, security and the rise of populist movements.

"In the European Union we will continue to have different views on certain issues," Merkel said.

"That is in the nature of things but it will prove beneficial if we demonstrate our ability to compromise to reach an agreement".

In her weekly podcast, the Chancellor said Germany's relations with France had stood fast even when the countries had diverging opinions, and that Europe would have to adapt.

"Europe has problems but Europe has also managed to do a lot and it has come a long way. In a world of global challenges it is important to develop Europe further and to push through the changes that are necessary," she said.
The community has been urged to rally around the family of an indigenous inmate who died behind bars, while burning questions remain over how the death was allowed to occur.

Authorities made assurances that Steven Freeman, 25, would be kept safe after he was viciously bashed behind bars last year.

The Alexander Maconochie Centre. Credit:Rohan Thomson

Freeman was targeted in his cell just hours after he first arrived at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, and after the remandee was placed with sentenced prisoners.

The attack almost killed Freeman. Prison guards provided first aid to keep him alive, and he was rushed to hospital, where he recovered, albeit with fears of a permanent brain injury.
The demolitions of 16 Fluffy asbestos-contaminated homes in Kambah remain on hold while the the government awaits the findings of two separate investigations into allegations of theft from properties being demolished by the contractor, Caylamax.

The Asbestos Taskforce expects a result this week from the internal investigation ordered after the alleged theft was reported by The Canberra Times. Police expect to finish their investigation in early June.

A Caylamax demolition in Kambah in April. Credit:Rohan Thomson

The Brisbane firm has been contracted to demolish 48 homes, including in the city's worst affected suburb of Kambah, and while the government has not halted its demolitions, it has stopped Caylamax from removing any furniture, fixtures and fittings until the investigations are complete.

The order has forced Caylamax to stop work, unable to demolish the remainder of its houses until fixtures and fittings have been removed.
A funding-starved not-for-profit designed to protect the ACT's environment says it will close if it does not receive a cash injection in next week's territory budget.

The ACT Environmental Defenders Office - part of a network of state and territory organisations aiding the community on environmental issues - has traditionally relied on federal funding to stay afloat.

The ACT's Environmental Defenders Office is facing closure if the ACT government does not step in to plug federal funding cuts. Credit:Gabriele Charotte

But that federal funding stopped in mid-2014, despite the Productivity Commission urging for governments to continue support such organisations.

The ACT office managed to keep operating through alternative funding. But principal solicitor Camilla Taylor said those sources were temporary and unsustainable.
More than 300 people responded to the call for feedback on the new suburb, most of them opposed to it.

The government has proposed as many as 3500 new dwellings on 80 hectares between the Tuggeranong town centre and the Murrumbidgee River.

The ACT government has started a second round of consultation on its proposed new suburb west of the Tuggeranong town centre after an overwhelmingly negative response to the first round.

Land west of the Tuggeranong town centre which the ACT government plans to develop into a new suburb.

The government's own Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment was concerned that the public had been asked to comment without environmental studies being done, raising expectations "the development will proceed regardless of the outcomes".

The commissioner also warned that there must be a careful balance between conservation and development, and said while it "may be possible to achieve the balance" that would only be "through rigorous initial assessments" and a strategy that maintained the ecological values.

The government's feedback report said the strongest reaction was about the impact on the river corridor and the recreation space. More than 60 per cent of comments expressed concern about environmental impacts, especially the river, habitats and threatened species. Some suggested the area was a flood plain.

One submission from a former public servant and keen bushwalker said urban development should be avoided in the river corridor. It would greatly increase run off, erosion, pollutants, sediment, algal blooms and environmental weeds, the submission said. It would also reduce bird, animal and plant habitats and place further pressure on the natural environment.
It was only a matter of time before new Spotless boss Martin Sheppard took out the dirty laundry.

This part of its business was fingered as a major player in the December disaster profit downgrade which lopped the share price in half.

Spotless CEO Martin Sheppard and chairwoman Margaret Jackson. Credit:Wayne Taylor

A please explain notice from the ASX was deemed reason enough to issue a market update on Monday. It confirmed there will be no further surprises in its full-year results.

It also reported that, following Sheppard's "strategy reset" announced at its half-year results in February, someone was kicking the tyres on its "laundries business".
How ought the wider community perceive and respond to the occasional violent clashes that mar a minute minority of the many protest events in Australia, a nation that cherishes and protects freedom of expression? The question arises following clashes at an anti-racism rally in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg on Saturday. The violence came when a group opposed to some migrant groups, particularly Muslims, attended the rally with clear intent to disrupt it, which they did with the use of illegal force.

The behaviour of both sides was lamentable, although it is important to acknowledge there would have been no trouble had the interlopers not invaded a lawful, organised demonstration of support for the racial diversity that is one of this nation's greatest strengths. While there is not, and should not be, any law against wearing masks, to do so, as both sides did, in such circumstances is evidence of intent to perpetrate acts likely to be unlawful. Several people were arrested, most of them not local residents. Police are reviewing CCTV, and other arrests may well be made, which The Age supports.

We believe such acts should be met with the full force of the law. And we believe the existing laws are adequate. Calls for new laws and/or greater police powers are common in the wake of such events. And so it is this time; some police and the Coalition opposition claim law enforcers were unable to properly intervene on Saturday. They argue there should be greater so-called move-on powers. The Age disagrees. Existing move-on powers allow the police to act should they believe violence is imminent.

Freedom of speech and the right to protest peacefully are fundamental to our society. They come with a responsibility to respect the law. What happened on Saturday was a clash between two gormless groups from the ideological fringes of our society. The best response to such stupidity is to arrest those who transgress the law, and for the rest of us to ignore extremism. It would be unfortunate and thoroughly misguided for our lawmakers to overreact by reducing the freedoms available to the peaceful majority in order to restrict rare and reckless and ultimately impotent outbreaks of conflict.
Finally, a group of women have put together a list of demands on the government. If governments take any notice, they will have loyal voters.

Here's why.

When our first baby was born, back in the '80s, I was entitled to paid maternity leave of six weeks. I tried to time the leave to delivery perfection but baby wouldn't budge (she's still stubborn) and I ended up with just five weeks at home with my squishy angel. My husband took some time off too, I think about 10 days.

Money was pretty tight but on my husband's first day back at work, he rang from the office with good news. His boss had given him a pay rise based on the fact that he now had three mouths to feed; and because the boss didn't think I should return to work.

We laughed. Oh how we laughed. Nothing quite like parenting to introduce you to gender stereotypes; and even in the eighties, it was pretty clear that buying a house while having kids in Sydney's inner city required DIAMONDS. Double Income. Awesome Mortgage. Offspring. No Dough.
James Bond director Sam Mendes has called it quits, paving the way for a reimagination of the iconic British spy series.

Mendes has only directed two Bond films - 2012's Skyfall and 2015's Spectre - but said it was time for someone else to take over.

He is expected to be joined out the door by actor Daniel Craig who last year famously claimed he'd rather slash his wrists than play Bond again.
Arya Stark quits being a girl-with-no-name. Credit:HBO/Foxtel King Tommen, perhaps the most gullible idiot in the history of in-bred royalty, has had his head turned by his subtly scheming wife Margaery and her "I have discovered just how lovely the Gods are" thoughts. This left the High Sparrow on the high ground. Bran Stark spent the episode watching the box set of Game of Thrones. Credit:HBO Margaery's walk of atonement has just been interrupted by Jaime and Lord Mace Tyrell riding through the streets when , hey presto, here comes King Tommen, a reformed character who wishes to unite the Gods and the Crown.

This left Margaery's pompous, trussed-up father, Mace Tyrell asking his mother Olenna, "What's happening?" High Sparrow may outwit all of King's Landing yet. "He's beaten us," she said, dryly. "That's what's happening." This propelled King Tommen to dismiss Jaime from his service, and dad was hot happy. But then Tommen doesn't know Jaime is dad. He doesn't know anything, poor lamb. Olenna is clearly losing her manipulative touch. Credit:HBO/Foxtel

I think one day he will wake up in a third-rate hotel room with all his clothes gone, plus his crown and wallet, and a pig resting in the bath. Or something like that. It also propelled Cersei to encourage Jaime to venture to Riverrun as instructed by Tommen the halfwit, because it would show who the Lannisters really are and what they do to our enemies. No it's not a Trekkie, it's Game of Thrones' Night King. This impassioned our favourite, slightly evil lovers who went for a feverish pash. If nothing else they've proven their deep love for each other, despite that half-dead wig clinging onto Cersei's head. With Hodor's demise fresh in the mind, things began with Meera torturously dragging Bran through the sleeting snow to escape the Night's King and his undead companions.

Uh oh, we're in trouble ... Is Bran about to become a White Walker? Credit:HBO/Foxtel Meanwhile Bran was warging his way through the Game of Thrones box set on triple fast-forward speed. Presumably as part of his preparations to take over from the Three-Eyed Raven. His dip into the past included visits to the deaths of his mother and brother at the Red Wedding, his own fall from the tower after being pushed by sexy Jaime, Daenerys emerging from the flame (part one) with baby dragons on her unburnt shoulders, a baby with White Walker anti-freeze eyes and more. Benjen Stark with Jon Snow before he disappeared ranging beyond the Wall. In the present Meera had given up.

She collapsed beside a tree, unable to pull Bran's stretcher any further. He woke and they realised the end was near. The wights were coming. Sam Tarly finally reaches home, but it may not be the kind of welcome he wants for poor Gilly. Credit:HBO Then a mysterious horseman galloped up and began walloping the horrid screaming corpses with a swinging ball of fire. Where he got the flame to ignite that fiery weapon in sub-zero temperatures, while on a horse, was even more mysterious. After he told them to come with him because "The dead don't rest", he turned out to be Uncle Benjen, returning after five years. He was last seen in season one and was the First Ranger of the Night's Watch. Daenerys and Daario, and, any minute, some dragons.

It turns out he was attacked by White Walkers but saved by the Children of the Forest who found him, stabbed him in the heart with dragonglass and thus kept him half-dead and half-alive. If he ever meets up with Jon Snow they can have a chat about being stabbed and almost dying together. A world away, Sam and Gilly have travelled to Horn Hill and his parents wow-wee house, where his absolutely lovely mother greeted him with gushes of love and grace. She told Gilly she was delightful and cooed over her new grandson. Gilly was lent a new dress by Sam's sweet teenage sister - a character very like a young Edith in Downton Abbey and also betrothed, she said almost immediately upon seeing her brother, to someone who sounded like a Wodehouse character. Later, with Gilly's hair washed and curled she was a vision, taking Sam's breath away and the pair went off to dine with the whole family.

But there, at the head of the table was horrible scowling Randyll Tarly, a bonkers match for Sam's mum and another in a long line of foul fathers in this series. After insulting his son with comments that he was still fat, soft and pathetic for having his nose in books rather than fighting and hunting and being a violent rich twit, he discovered Gilly was a wilding. Randyll's fury exploded. Sam was to leave in the morning, Gilly would work in the kitchens and "the bastard" grandchild would be raised there. Ah the weary air of defeat we expect from Sam. He accepted his fate without a word against his father, who went to execrable lengths, dinner party conversation-wise, and left Gilly and his adopted son to their new life.

Game of Thrones is very good at playing with our expectations and when Sam burst back in minutes later, telling Gilly to come away with him, it was a joyous plot step. He grabbed the handy Valyrian steel sword above the fireplace and they were off. Horrible fathers are truly a lifeblood of this series and it's hopeful Sam's mum outlives Randyll or at least gets a separate wing of the castle one day. And maybe show his priggish brother how you hunt a vicious white walker rather than sweet little deer. Arya was maybe playing Jaqen and the Waif all along when she decided not to poison Essie Davis's theatre actor character. Was all that for nothing? It feels like she is a better companion for Jaqen than the annoying Waif who just seems to moan and be affronted by a posh girl usurping her. If she brandishes that pole at you Arya stick her in the guts with Needle, we're right behind you.

On a sidenote, who started the hairstyle craze for curled-up plait knobs on either side of the forehead in Braavos? There was more than one girl in the theatre audience sporting this look, joining Arya in looking like she had old-fashioned radio dials on her head to tune-in to the shipping forecast. The climax of this episode was, as said above, Danaerys enlivening the Dothraki's minds with a stirring speech about killing all their enemies in the iron suits and tearing down their stone houses. What is Dany really planning to do? "How many ships do I need?" she asked Daario. About 1000. How many are Theon and Yara sailing? Asking: "Will you give me the Seven Kingdoms, the gift Khal Drogo promised me, before the Mother of Mountains?"
The one who condemns international child kidnappers? Or the one who suggests authorities are unreasonable to abort foreigners' harebrained abduction schemes? An emotional Tara Brown explains her perspective on 60 Minutes after being released from a Beirut jail following a botched child recovery story in April. Credit:Channel Nine Nine is urging journalists not to judge Brown and her colleagues too harshly, lest we prejudice any future criminal proceedings in the Lebanese courts. But what about Stephen Rice, the producer of this story? On Friday, Nine ignored the advice of its own internal review and sacked him. In doing so, it made Rice a marked man. This won't help his chances in any potential criminal case. Sally Faulker with her children, Lahela and Noah.

Having just terminated one of their own (so much for "the Channel Nine family") it's a bit rich to ask others to tone it down. A spokeswoman says Nine will continue to offer Rice legal representation. She insists: "We are confident nothing we have revealed in the release or summary [of the internal review] will prejudice those serious matters." (On Tuesday, it was reported Rice is fighting his sacking, hiring top lawyer John Laxon.) Nine insiders speculate Rice was fired because the network needed a head on a platter  and stars such as Brown are "too big to fail". Except Nine has created another PR headache for itself. By disregarding key advice  "[no] staff member should be singled out for dismissal"  management has hardly inspired confidence it will implement the review's other tough recommendations. Back when she presented her Italian custody stories, Brown was unambiguous. The law must be obeyed. She accused the Australian mother of breaching the Hague Convention  and manipulating authorities  to "kidnap" her four daughters from Tuscany.

Brown says this happened because Australian government officials did not "make any serious attempt to independently verify" the mother's false allegations against her ex-husband. People failed to do their jobs, Brown suggests, because they didn't ask the right questions. (A response from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is below.*) You already know what I'm about to ask. Did Brown ask the right questions during her Beirut kidnapping story? People who've worked with Brown assure me she is the most hands-on of all 60 Minutes' reporters. Unlike the show-ponies who let producers do all the work, Brown is "super intelligent", "very-level headed" and "wants to go through every single little detail". In its damning internal review, delivered on Friday, Nine found systemic failures at every level. This makes it harder for Brown and her colleagues to excuse their actions. She and others have been formally "censured". But is that enough? Recently, 60 Minutes presented a tribute to its late reporter, Richard Carleton. Literally until he dropped, Carleton aggressively challenged spin and double-speak.

Imagine if he were around to grill his bosses about this debacle. "Many people, at many levels, made many bad decisions," he might say. "And you're keeping all of them  except one sacrificial lamb  to run the show?" At this point, he'd peer over his glasses: "How do you think that looks?" This is the nub of the problem. Since it launched 37 years ago, 60 Minutes has traded on its fearless, no-bullshit reputation. Now, viewers can smell the cowpats.

On one hand, they see a report identifying systemic failures. On the other, they see Stephen Rice being made a scapegoat. They've seen Tara Brown, diligent journalist, lashing those who arranged an "international kidnapping". Now they see Tara Brown excusing her own poor behaviour  and escaping the kind of grilling she's built her career on. Ratings are down. They've been falling for a while. Nine cannot spin its way out of this one. This isn't a glossy, vapid morning show. Viewers will not accept a scripted apology over Channel Nine-branded mugs of coffee. And the network cannot hide Brown and her colleagues from other media forever. This is 60 Minutes.

You created the template, guys. Now you have to live up to it. Know more? Email mlallo@fairfaxmedia.com.au Twitter: @Michael_Lallo *NOTE: When asked to respond to Tara Brown's characterisation of the dispute between the Australian mother and Italian father as "an extraordinary conspiracy to remove the children illegally" and "nothing less than an international child abduction", a spokesman from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told Fairfax Media: This claim is false. In his decision in Department of Community Services (Child Safety Services) & Garning [2011] FamCA 485 (23 June 2011), Family Court Justice Forrest said:
1. Mass bleaching kills part of the reef

As a scuba diver this finding by Australian scientists that the mass bleaching event has killed a third of the Great Barrier Reef is dead, is heartbreaking.

It comes just days after it was revealed the Turnbull government intervened to have Australia cut from a UN report analysing the risks of climate change to World Heritage Sites, including the reef.

But the government can't stop the media from reporting what's happening to the reef and this finding is getting a lot of worldwide attention - CBC, Reuters, Euronews and CNN just to name a few.
Canberra politicians have been slugging taxpayers thousands of dollars simply for driving across town to their Parliament House offices.

MPs and senators who live within 30 kilometres of Parliament House can claim $86 a day, before tax, for turning up to work at Capital Hill when the Parliament is sitting or to attend committee meetings.

ACT Liberal Senator Zed Seselja has been paid about $10,200 to commute. Credit:Jamila Toderas

But the 221 interstate parliamentarians remain well ahead, able to claim $270 per night to cover their accommodation in the capital.

One Canberra Labor MP and a senator are refusing to claim the allowance, with Fairfax media told ACT Senator Katy Gallagher and Canberra MP Gai Brodtmann do not think it is appropriate to claim money for going to the workplace when it's a short drive from their homes.
It's not the message Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull wants to see issued on the streets of Sydney as he tries to present a united front with the still-bruised conservative ranks of the federal Liberal Party.

Liberal MP Craig Kelly, one of the most vociferous supporters of Tony Abbott before and during the challenge by Mr Turnbull in September, has been handing out election flyers that contain his wish to "contribute to a Coalition government under Tony Abbott".

Liberal MP Craig Kelly handed out flyers containing his wish "to contribute to a Coalition government under Tony Abbott". Credit:Andrew Meares

Fairfax Media has obtained a copy of the flyer, which was being handed out by personally by Mr Kelly at Sutherland railway station on May 20.
He then went on to propose hiring a social media expert to cover some of her output for the party for the rest of the campaign.

In an email obtained by Fairfax Media, Senator Leyonhjelm, told the inner-sanctum of the Liberal Democratic Party that one of his senior advisers, Helen Dale  the controversial author once known as Helen Demidenko  had quit over the weekend.

"I'm disappointed [Helen Dale] chose to quit in the middle of a very intense campaign, but I expected her to leave after the election anyway," Senator Leyonhjelm wrote in the email dated May 28.

Senator David Leyonhjelm Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

"Helen is also quite good at social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter. I'm proposing the party hires [party founder] John Humphreys for this role.

"He can do it from Brisbane and it would only be until the election. I suggest a lump sum figure of $5000 cash (half now, half at the end). We'll ignore tax etc. I could possibly put him on the taxpayer's payroll but it would be a lot of paperwork. I've discussed it with him and he's willing and available, and understands he's not driving the strategy.

Senator Leyonhjelm, a libertarian who frequently rails against the high-taxing approach of the Coalition and Labor, told Fairfax Media on Monday that he was not going to "dignify" questions around the email with a response, saying there were "lots of options" when it comes to someone paying tax.
A US teenager has attended her high school prom wearing a dress she saw walking down the Golden Globes red carpet, after she used social media to contact the actress wearing it and ask for a sneaky borrow.

Jessica Casanova, a graduating high school student from suburban New York, attended the dance wearing a dress borrowed from Jane the Virgin actress Gina Rodriguez following a widely-reported Twitter exchange between the pair.

Actress Gina Rodriguez with her Best Actress Golden Globe for 'Jane the Virgin'. Credit:Kevin Winter

The 17-year-old shared her story's happy ending with local news outlet Buffalo News

It all started back in January, when Casanova saw Rodriguez on the Golden Globes red carpet wearing a blue Zac Posen ball gown.
But the Australian Centre for Cyber Security's latest discussion paper on cyber threats, published on Monday, found the government had fallen "behind the pace" set by strategic partners.

The funding boost came after $400 million was allocated for staff with hacking experience at the Australian Signals Directorate and the announcement of 800 new intelligence and cyber roles within the Department of Defence.

The strategy, launched by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in April, came with an acknowledgement Australia was prepared to take offensive action to protect the national interest .

The Australian government's newly launched $230 million strategy to bolster cyber-security lacks adequate funding and strategic vision, according to a leading policy group.

Professor Greg Austin, who prepared the report, said the government had not articulated strategies to reduce the risk of future threats or had an open conversation with the public .

"There is quite a gap in the seriousness with which the Australian government discusses cyber threats and the actions taken by the US and the UK," he said.

"We don't face quite the same threats as the US but there is evidence to suggest the Australian government is not prepared to recognise the serious threat of cyber crime."

Professor Austin said many Australians did not understand the risks cyber crime posed and, as a result, were unlikely to support large-scale investments by the government.

"The Telstra outage that just occurred across the country is exactly the type of challenge cyber attacks could pose if someone was determined to attack our infrastructure," he said.
Teachers have warned Australia's future is being put at risk after a new report found students who received ATARs below 50 are now three times more likely to be admitted to university than they were four years ago.

The Department of Education's report, released on Friday, is the first national analysis of university entry standards since Fairfax Media revealed a chronic lack of transparency across the sector in January, forcing the federal government to direct its higher education panel to reform university admissions in a bid to rein in billions of dollars in public debt. The data reveals teaching, information technology and commerce degrees are admitting the highest proportion of students with sub-50 ATARs.

An ATAR or tertiary admissions rank below 50 indicates the student performed worse than half of the students they started school with. Of those that apply for an ATAR, the average rank is 70.
The Work + Family Policy Roundtable , comprising academics from 30 universities, has recommended the implementation of a universal care system in its pre-election report released on Monday.

The federal government should extend paid parental leave to 52 weeks, expand the child care system and re-think aged care provision to ensure the future stability of the workforce and economy, according to a report compiled by 30 experts from around Australia.

It also proposes the establishment of Federal and State Departments of Work, Life and Community, which would oversee the design and administration of a fair work, care and family policy mix.

Co-convenor of the roundtable, Elizabeth Hill from the University of Sydney, said the federal government has gone backwards on work and family policy since the last election.

"Australian governments need to focus on balanced lives not just balanced budgets," Dr Hill said.

"An erratic policy environment and lack of a predictable and affordable system of social care is compromising the wellbeing of Australia's households and economy."

Recommendations in the Work, Care and Family Policies Election Benchmarks paper include providing a minimum of two days of care and education for all children regardless of whether or not their parents are working as well as extending the current 18 weeks of paid parental leave to 52 weeks in the long-term.
Devastated family members of a young boy who drowned in the Hawkesbury River on Sunday say they are "a mess" as they struggle to comprehend how a child with his whole life ahead of him is no longer with them.

Bentley Hilton, 4, from Cranebrook in western Sydney, was strapped into a seat of the Ford Falcon XR8 ute when his grandfather reversed down a boat ramp at a caravan park in Lower Portland about 11am on Sunday.

NSW Police Inspector Ian Woodward said the grandfather stopped the car at the bottom of the boat ramp on River Road, got out and was trying to unstrap a tin boat from the car, when it suddenly rolled into the water and was submerged.
It is a legal saga that risks destroying the career of high-profile Sydney lawyer Leigh Johnson, supporters say.

But the Woollahra solicitor has won support from an unusual quarter, with the son of the 80-year-old woman battling Ms Johnson in court speaking out against his mother to "put the record straight".

Daniel Paul Calvo is speaking out against his mother Athalie in her court case against Sydney solicitor Leigh Johnson. Credit:Nic Walker

Fairfax Media revealed on Monday Ms Johnson is the subject of a scathing judgment in the NSW Supreme Court about the circumstances in which she agreed to take a 32.5 per cent stake in the Australian Institute of Music, the nation's largest private music school, from two elderly clients.
Leaders of the three parties met at Myitkyina Hall at the Happy Noodle Cafe in Rangoon on 21 May, where they held discussions about merging before finally deciding to merge, according to the CLD secretary Salai Pi Pi.

He said: Since the beginning, we were aiming to unite. Everyone understood that the parties would need to unite one day. We couldnt unite because the time wasnt right. This [unity] is needed for all the Chin people. All the Chin people want [the Chin parties] to unite. All of us agree to unite we are convinced that we need to unite and must unite.

Three representatives from each party will meet up to draft the principles for the merger. If the merger is successful other Chin political parties will be invited to join them.

Salai Pi Pi said: At present there are three Chin parties, but there are also other parties and they will want to unite [with us]. But the three parties that have Chin in their [party] name will take the lead and unite first before inviting them [the other parties to join us].

The CPP and CLD have previously tried to merge, but their attempts were unsuccessful.

The CPP secretary, U Saw Mya, said that there was a good chance that the parties would successfully merge this time.

He said: Our top leaders have agreed to this issue and reached an understanding. The merger should run smoothly after we have had discussions about the principles [for merging] and had one or two more meetings.

The top leaders of the three Chin parties were due to meet again on 28 May to discuss the merger.

Translated by Thida Linn

Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI
The primary police negotiator during the Lindt cafe siege had never before worked in a hostage situation and had no counter-terrorism experience other than role playing with colleagues, an inquest has heard.

The senior sergeant, identified only as "Peter", also told the inquest into the December 2014 siege at Martin Place in Sydney that he had never before been involved in an operation where the offender had refused to communicate directly with negotiators.

A Tactical Police officer at the Lindt cafe siege in Martin Place. Credit:Brendon Thorne

The officer, who has been with NSW Police for more than 29 years, had just four weeks of formal training as a negotiator, including an initial course at Goulburn in 2004, and two subsequent weeks in 2005 and 2006.
A woman has been charged with high-range drink driving after being pulled over in Sydney's west with three young children in her car.

Police say the 37-year-old woman was stopped at West Hoxton at about 5.40pm on Monday with an eight-month old baby and two children aged three and six. The three-year-old child was allegedly not wearing a proper seatbelt or restraint in the back seat.

The woman allegedly returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.159

After returning an allegedly positive roadside breath test reading the woman was arrested and later allegedly provided a breath analysis reading of 0.159, a reading in the high-range category.

Her licence was suspended and she was charged with high-range drink driving, drive unregistered motor vehicle, use uninsured vehicle and drive with child unrestrained.
Smoking will be banned from all three Queensland University of Technology campuses from the start of the next financial year.

The announcement, which was timed to coincide with Tuesday's World No Tobacco Day, would see QUT follow the Australian Catholic University in Queensland to ban the practice.

Smoking will be banned at all QUT campuses from July 1. Credit:Jason South

A QUT spokeswoman said the university's move to prohibit all types of smoking, including the so-called "vaping" associated with electronic cigarettes, was influenced by its position as health educators and researchers.

"As a leader in health research, education and training, our policies should reflect the same best practice our education and research points to," she said.
Cairns residents are being urged to kill mosquitoes in response to a resident testing positive to Zika virus after returning from overseas.

The Dengue Action Response Team has been spraying the area around the resident's home to stop the spread of the mosquito-borne disease linked to severe birth defects.

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is responsible for spreading Zika virus. Credit:AP

A Tropical Public Health Services spokeswoman said the diagnosis was confirmed on Friday, with spraying taking place in Gordonvale over the weekend and continuing on Monday.

Zika is only known to be spread by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which is confined to Australia's north, including Cairns.
By contrast the increase in the tax discount from 5 per cent to 16 per cent over the next 10 years, for small businesses not operated through a company, delivers a real tax saving for the owners of those businesses.

The cut in the company tax rate does however benefit small businesses owners wanting to reinvest the maximum amount of after tax profits to build their business.

Despite what many people think, a cut in the company tax rate does not result in a tax cut for the owners of companies. Where shareholders withdraw accumulated profits as dividends they pay tax on the amount withdrawn, which is grossed up by the tax paid by the company.

The coalition's 2016 federal budget policy of reducing the tax paid to 27.5 per cent, for small business entity companies with a turnover of less than $10 million from July 1, 2016, was welcome news for the small business community.

Q. My partner and I own a business operated through a company and we are the only two shareholders. When we get to the end of financial year are we allowed to take a dividend, or can it be paid any time? Also can the company pre-pay the tax on it? For example for a $10,000 dividend can it pay the tax and then we get a tax-free dividend that won't affect our earnings?

A. The shareholders of a company are able to declare and take dividends whenever they want, they don't have to wait until the end of a financial year. Where shareholders of a company take out money as loans rather than dividends, and they do not put in place a repayment plan for those loans, the amounts taken can be treated as unfranked dividend and tax is paid by the shareholders at their applicable marginal tax rate.

When a business operated through a company produces a net profit, and pays tax at the applicable company tax rate, the tax paid is added to a franking account for the company. When a dividend is declared and paid by a company, and it has a positive franking account balance, it is classed as a fully-franked dividend.

In your case if the profit of $10,000 had tax paid of $3000 by your company, after paying the tax, the franking account for your company increases by $3000. If you declared and paid a dividend of $7000 the dividends are not tax free, instead the fully-franked dividend of $3500 must be included on each of your personal tax returns.

In addition to showing the fully-franked dividend of $3500 you must also include $1500 of franking credits included in the dividend, resulting in you paying tax on $5000. If each of you pays tax at the 34.5 per cent marginal tax rate tax payable on the dividend is $1725 and, after taking account of the $1500 franking credit, you would pay an extra $225 of income tax on the dividend received.
Sometimes the best way to live in your dream suburb is to rent.

The search for a perfect home in the right suburb, however, can be grueling. That's where Jade Costello and Simone Fleming found the inspiration for their newly minted small business, Melbourne Rental Search.

Jade Costello and Simone Fleming.

"The rental property market is surprisingly poorly serviced. If you're a prospective tenant, you'll only have a very short time frame to inspect the property. Sometimes agents don't even show up," Ms Costello said . "Often you put in applications and hear nothing."

Seeing a gap in the market between "nothing" and the high-end "relocation agents" who not only secure a property but also focus on settling families in schools and setting up utilities, the duo came up with the concept for Melbourne Rental Search.
Online therapy is well on the way to complementing more traditional forms of psychological treatment. Trials of a new e-treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) reveal that it is at least three times more effective than medication.

A group-based treatment for hoarding disorder has also proved effective and is now being converted into an online resource for treating the affliction.

A judge ordered the former primary school teacher be released immediately. Credit:Louise Kennerley

Acclaimed OCD expert Professor Mike Kyrios, the director of the Australian National University Research School of Psychology, unveiled the study findings in a public lecture on Monday.

"Hoarding and OCD are treatable, even though some people seem to think they are not," Professor Kyrios said. "We have been developing online treatments that are very, very effective."
But then the video showed the rocket screaming back from space, its engines firing to slow it down. And then cameras from the ship showed it standing triumphantly once again.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket lifted up from Cape Canaveral at 5.39pm, carrying a Thaicom commercial communications satellite to orbit. Given the distance the rocket had to travel to deliver its payload, SpaceX hedged on the success of the return, stating that "the first stage will be subject to extreme velocities and re-entry heating, making a successful landing challenging."

Maybe one day it will be routine  so boring, as Elon Musk has said, that it will no longer be newsworthy. But for now his attempts to launch and then land rockets are still dramatic, as exciting as sporting events. Over the weekend, SpaceX pulled off another stunning landing, on a ship 680km off the Florida coast, that was broadcast in real time on the company's website.

Over the past few years, Musk's space company has been perfecting the difficult art of landing rockets so they can be reused, instead of being ditched into the ocean as had been the practice since the 1960s-era Apollo program.

Crowds packed the Canaveral National Seashore last week to witness the liftoff. Credit:AP

Ahead of the most recent launch, which was postponed a day after Musk said there was a "tiny glitch" with the rocket's upper stage, SpaceX had pulled off landings three times. First, it landed a stage at Cape Canaveral in December. Then it followed with two landings at sea. The rocket in that last landing "took max damage, due to v high entry velocity," Musk tweeted this month.

During the webcast before the latest launch, Lauren Lyons of SpaceX said the conditions of the day's landing were similar to those earlier this month, when the rocket touched down with just three seconds' worth of propellant left in its tank. During that landing, the rocket went from travelling at some 6300km/h when it hit the atmosphere to 4km/h when it landed just off the bull's eye. That showed that such a high-velocity landing is "not impossible," she said.

After the feat, Musk said he thought it would improve his chances of eventually getting to Mars, his ultimate goal. Being able to reuse rockets not only reduces costs; the technology also is key to landing on the Red Planet, where there are no runways and the relatively thin atmosphere makes landings tricky, especially for large masses.
Melbourne's homeless ram is in the market for a new winter sweater, after receiving a long-overdue haircut on Monday.

Jackie Chan - as the sheep is known - has been sleeping rough with owner Godwin Aquilina on a grassed traffic island in Melbourne's CBD for more than a week.

Jackie Chan the ram is sheared at Enterprize Park in Melbourne's CBD. Credit:Pat Scala

Mr Aquilina decided to move to the city from his property near Bacchus Marsh after the local council ordered the ram be removed from his home, following complaints it had attacked people.
An out-of-control car has ploughed into pedestrians with a pram in Melbourne's outer north.

Police investigating the hit-and-run collision are searching for three people who ditched the car and ran away from the scene.

Two women in their 30s were pushing a pram with two children in it - aged two years old and eight months old - when they were struck by a car on Grand Boulevard in Craigieburn just before 10am on Monday.

An Ambulance Victoria spokeswoman said one of the women and a young boy had been taken to the Northern Hospital in stable conditions and nobody had serious injuries.
Padoh Mahn Mahn, the joint general secretary of the Karen National Union made the call to the government during the launch of the KNUs land policies in Rangoon on May 25. Padoh Mahn Mahn said that the KNU wanted the state governments to recognize the landownership and land rights [documents] issued by ethnic armed organizations to the people.

Padoh Mahn Mahn said that the there needed to be more than just recognition of the agreements between ethnic communities and armed groups.

There needs to be a mechanism in place to deal with land management and landownership disputes. The other important thing is that the ethnic nationalities customary laws regarding land ownership need to be recognized.

The 2008 Constitution is in stark contrast to the KNUs position, that all land effectively is the property of the State.

The KNU said that their initiative to put in place the land policy is to protect customary land rights include ownership, land tenure rights and having the community to have a say and having a fair share of the natural resources in their native lands with aims towards a sustainable development.

In the KNUs Land Policy paper there are six chapters that cover farmland, forests, water resources, fishery and other natural resources.

Saw Alex from the Karen Environmental and Social Action Network who was a panelist at the launch of the KNU land policy pointed out that ethnic nationalities traditionally own their farmland and in their areas, there are no vacant land or fallow land.

Invest in Myanmar, a web-based business advisory guide, explains that the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law that was passed as an amendment to The Farmland Bill, stipulates that any unused land can be claimed and utilized by willing individuals (foreign or local investors included). This means that people cannot simply purchase land and then leave it vacant; they must make the land economically productive.

Invest Myanmar points out that foreign investors involved in joint ventures with Myanmar companies or with the government can apply to use land that is currently not being used. Activities that are permitted include agriculture, mining, raising livestock and other ventures.

Sai Nyunt Lwin, General Secretary of the Shan National League for Democracy who attended the launch of the KNUs land policies said that they are opposite to the view of the previous military government.

In the past, there was a idea that all the farmland, forestland and water belonged to the state. Now the KNU land policy paves the way that they belong to the people. This is the right time to launch this policy as the issues are likely to be discussed as part of ongoing political dialogue.

The launch event attended by representatives of various Karen political parties, ethnic parties, civil society organizations, land rights activists, local and international media.

According to the KNU, their land policy was first approved and launched during the 9th KNUs Congress back in 1974. It was reviewed and updated in 2000 and approved by its Central Executive Committee in December 2015.
A Melbourne children's playground designed to encourage risk-taking - through rocky outcropped terraces and lofty climbing ropes - has been crowned the nation's best.

It is known as Nature Play and sits in Royal Park, next to the Royal Children's Hospital.

Anna, 6, and Xavier, 4, at the Royal Park Nature Play playground. Credit:Chris Hopkins

It was designed to help kids - inner city ones especially, who were were spending so little time in nature - find an element of unpredictable play.

And it was that unpredictability, among other things, that swayed the Australian Institute for Landscape Architects to award it the nation's best playground.
Former police officer Ron Fenton, who was shot in the head in 1984. Credit:Jason South "My sergeant moved the box of tissues away from me and told me that I needed to suck it up," he said. The Victoria Police Mental Health Review has made 39 recommendations, all of which Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has promised to implement to tackle the crisis. The crash victims were driven to hospital before police could arrive at the scene. Credit:Luis Ascui The recommendations include wide-ranging educational and resilience programs that start the day police join and the establishment of a Department of Veteran Affairs-style organisation for former police.

The review says an expanded psychology unit is urgently needed, as well as a dedicated psychology support unit for detectives investigating sexual offences against children. Illustration: Ron Tandberg Released on Tuesday, the review was commissioned by Mr Ashton last October following the suicide of a policewoman at her work in Seaford. Since then, another two officers had taken their own lives. Since the year 2000, 23 officers have done so. There are currently more than 200 police off work with mental health issues. There is no way to measure how many former officers are mentally unwell or have killed themselves.

The 90-page report, resulting from a review led by psychologist Dr Peter Cotton, is littered with harrowing remarks about the impact of policing on mental health. Mr Ashton said it left no doubt there was work to do. "As an organisation we must fundamentally change the way we view mental health," he said. "We need to build a culture that better understands mental health. A culture in which our employees feel safe to ask for help without fear of judgment or prejudice." It is the second call for a mammoth cultural shift in the force within six months. A Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission report found last year that the force was riddled with unreported sexual discrimination and harassment.

"I am determined to ensure that Victoria Police is an inclusive, supportive and safe organisation for us all," Mr Ashton said. Commander Shane Cole, the head of the force's health and safety division, said Victoria Police had always been good at looking after people with physical injuries. "It's the mental health that we've really struggled with as an organisation, and the review certainly found that's the case," Mr Cole said. "The surprise in this is why perhaps organisations like ours hadn't got to this point earlier." Ron Fenton is a former police officer who was shot in the head in the Melbourne suburb of Beaumaris in 1984. His police car was riddled with 27 bullets after intercepting a gunman who had murdered a security guard in Clayton.

He wound up with 37 bullet fragments lodged in his head, but the mental scars were worse. "The only psych treatment I got in the police force was one or two sessions with the then police psychologist. That was their entire psychological treatment of me. That was it," Mr Fenton said. There were more scars to come. He remembers swimming through a child's body during a search and rescue job. Because of the length of time the child had been in the water, the body broke apart as Mr Fenton pushed it to shore. "The human psyche is not equipped or trained or built for what we see," he said. Mr Fenton welcomed the review and hoped it would lead to more change in the "old culture of take a dose of concrete and harden up".

"I hate the concept of members ending up in the mess I am in and the mess that so many of my associates are ... When you're devalued it creates more trauma than anything else, and you do get devalued when you get injured," he said. Dr Cotton said the key challenge for the force was getting officers to seek help early. "What we found is people sit on their hands and don't recognise the problem they may have is a genuine health condition that they can get help for," he said. "And when members do recognise they have a challenge, they are reluctant to report for fear of negative consequences [because of the stigma] and in instances, that's historically been the case." Other recommendations in the report include the introduction of a case manager for police officers who seek help and allowing former police to access the same services that serving members get.

The review has also suggested better records of former officers are kept and a study to gain accurate data on organisational mental health and suicide risk. A new intranet system that family and partners can access has also been recommended, as well as introducing key performance indicators for middle managers to help them better identify and support officers. Lifeline 131 114 beyondblue 1300 224 636 SuicideLine 1300 651 251
Traditional land owners in western Victoria would be able to hunt for kangaroos and emus, camp, fish and care for the popular Grampians National Park (also known as Gariwerd) if a native title claim is successful.

A group of Indigenous people on Monday lodged a native title claim for 1672 square kilometres of Crown land at the national park.

Grampians National Park (also known as Gariwerd).

If approved there would be no changes to public access to the park.

It is the first such claim over the park and follows months of work with traditional owners.
How do you stop being Aboriginal?

When Christinaray Weetra was a timid seven-year-old at a mainstream school, she tried her best to make it happen. Blend in, speak like everyone else, don't stand out. She was teased anyway.

Christianaray Weetra, 23, used to be homeless after fleeing family violence. She is now studying art at RMIT. Credit:Jason South

But a childhood spent ricocheting between home and women's refuges to escape family violence soon gave her a mature perspective: "I had to grow up a lot faster than a lot of kids. And I realised that me being Aboriginal wasn't a problem. It was them."

This quiet self-confidence carried her through rough years as a teenager, including periods of being homeless, to a three-year stay at the Youth Foyer in Broadmeadows.
Six seconds. Enough time, a jury was told, to illustrate how fragile life is but also how ferocious Kyle Zandipour's attack on Joshua Hardy really was.

In those seconds shortly after 1.10am on October 18, 2014, Zandipour took Mr Hardy - a man about 20 centimetres taller and 20 kilograms heavier - by the arm and flung him to the ground, kicked him three times to the head and neck and stomped on him.

Mr Hardy, 21, suffered a severe brain injury and died an hour later in hospital. He was remembered as a man who was full of promise who had travelled from Darwin to study law.

On Monday Zandipour, 29, was found guilty of murder by a Supreme Court jury that had deliberated for two days. A first jury had in February failed to reach a verdict after a week of deliberations.
The report found cracks had weakened some walls causing them to become bowed and loose.

The exercise hot spot was meant to be open early Monday after the well-worn staircase was closed in February after a City of Perth report found it needed serious structural work.

Exercise fanatics who rocked up to Jacob's Ladder before sunrise hoping to dash up and down the 43-metre staircase were greeted with a padlock.

Radio 6PR reporter Lisa Barnes, who was at Jacob's Ladder just after 6am, said dozens of fitness nuts that had turned up to dash up and down the 242 concrete steps were greeted by a padlock.

"It's pretty chilly this morning but that hasn't stopped lots of exercise fans turning up in the hope that Jacobs Ladder would be open," she said.

"I have spoken to a few people that have been here since five o'clock this morning, but the gates are still closed.

"There are a few people gathered here at the moment and they are looking at anyone who approaches in the hope that the person might have the key to open the padlock.

"I have to tell you without getting anyone in trouble there are a couple of guys who are actually using the steps and are running up an down Jacobs Ladder and they have jumped the fence to be able to do that."
Lumiere's proponents, Edge Living, are pushing one version of the development through the State Administrative Tribunal and the other through Supreme Court appeals processes. Credit:Emma Young "The whole DAP process is unfair and has been set up to favour developers. It is a good example of regulatory capture. "What kind of a process allows developers to appeal a decision in secret to the SAT, but doesn't afford residents the right to even be heard? Something is rotten in WA." Mr Ruthven said the approval for Westbridge Property Group's Glass House development had been about to expire as the build had not commenced, and Westbridge had applied to have the approval extended. He said Glass House would not be approved in its present form under the new planning scheme amendment, especially in light of the recent court ruling on Lumiere.

While the City of South Perth recommended the DAP deny the Glass House extension and its two representatives on the DAP voted against it, they were outvoted by the three industry representatives on the panel. Another company has now applied for an extension to another approved development nearby. Charles Street, just near the Mill Point freeway entry, has been the site of several contentious developments. Credit:Emma Young Edge Living spokesman Paul Plowman said he believed the verdict on the amendment was likely to take six to nine months. "It was a complete and utter shambles the way it was put together," he said.

"It will take the department months. "I would expect it might even have to be re-advertised, because they introduced concepts at the council meeting that hadn't been talked about before, dreamt up by councillors and Save the Peninsula Group and foisted on people without due regard. "We are simply trying to seek an approval [for Lumiere] that was 12 months ago supported by officers. "Now the council has bowed to a ham-fisted political campaign to create this amendment led by a small group of people who have created uncertainty for developers and are now stopping everyone from getting on with business." Leafy, low-lying South Perth will be unrecognisable in years to come.

The weight the DAP must give to the pending scheme amendment is a grey area  in April, it approved a new Charles Street development set to 'entomb' neighbours, despite the amendment's provisions preventing such a scenario. State planning regulations state that any TPS amendment should be given 'due regard', and Department of Planning director general Gail McGowan said she had ensured the DAP understood this before its April meeting. She said when determining the Charles Street application the DAP discussed the amendment in detail and given it "due regard". "DAPs are independent decision-making planning bodies and as such the Minister for Planning does not have any power to intervene," she said. Ms McGowan said since the introduction of DAPs in 2011, about 14 per cent of their decisions had been appealed in the State Administrative Tribunal.
A search and rescue operation for two fishermen missing since Sunday in Coral Bay has recovered items from their eight-metre boat, but is yet to discover any trace of the pair or their vessel.

The men, aged 50 and 57, went fishing for mackerel on the reef around 10am on Sunday morning and failed to return to camp that evening.

Water police are searching for two fisherman off the coast of Coral Bay. Credit:WA Police

Nine News Perth reported "just about every single person who owned a boat in Coral Bay" was out on the water on Monday helping police search for the men.

The first day of the search covered around 500 square kilometres and involved two helicopters, two fixed wing planes and 10 boats.
Rome: A Rome university student was burned alive by her ex-boyfriend after she left him, authorities said Monday - a slaying one investigator called the most atrocious crime he has seen in his career.

Sara Di Pietrantonio, 22, died before dawn Sunday after Vincenzo Paduano, 27, set her car afire, prosecutor Maria Monteleone told reporters. He then chased her after she ran out of the car, setting her ablaze when he caught up with her, authorities said. Investigators said her attacker used a cigarette lighter to set Di Pietrantonio's face on fire after dousing her with alcohol.

Sara Di Pietrantonio Credit:Facebook

"I can say that in 25 years in this work I have never seen something so atrocious," said Luigi Silipo, the lead police official in the investigation.

Paduano was being held for investigation of premeditated murder, Monteleone said.
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.
With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in. To bind up the nations wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865

So, we love those signs. Make America great again! Very simple. Make America great again! So, in riding over, there are hundreds of thousands of people all along the highways, and they cant get in! In other words, youre very good at real estate. You got in! Congratulations! Congratulations.

Donald Trump, May 29, 2016

The miniature motorcade contained the nations foremost oversized ego.

Donald Trump arrived at the Lincoln Memorial in the first of two large, black SUVs that parked themselves at the edge of the reflecting pool, the Washington Monument standing solemnly in the backdrop.

Trump exited the right side of the vehicle, away from the crowd, but that unmistakable red logo hatthe must-have accessory for fans of Spencers Gifts in 2015gave him away.

Everyone cheered.

Look, Memorial Dayso important, the Republican nominee, seemingly unmoved by his surroundings, said once he arrived onstage.

Mr. Trump had come to Washington on Sunday for Rolling Thunder XXVIII, an annual biker rally held the Sunday before Memorial Day. The event is intended to raise awareness for prisoners of war and those who served our country and remain missing in action.

Do we love the bikers? Trump asked, before answering himself. Yes! he said, We love the bikers!

At noon, thousands of bikersmany of them veteransleft the Pentagon parking lot in Arlington and rode along Washington Boulevard and across the Memorial Bridge, going East on Constitution Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue, making a right on 3rd Street and then West onto Independence Avenue before parking in West Potomac Park.

They wore your stereotypical biker garb: leather vests over T-shirts or no shirts at all, bandanas, enough patches to make a Girl Scout cry with envy, leather boots and blue jeans. The sight was, despite the roadblocks and traffic wrought, more liberating than it was confining.

All over the place, no matter where I go, theres bikers! Trump said. My people would say, Theyre here to protect you, Mr. Trump. Its an amazing thing!

On the surface, this should not have been Trumps crowd.

He is, of course, a draft-dodger.

When Trumps draft number 365 was drawn on Dec. 1, 1968 and he was given a chance to fight in Vietnam like the veterans he addressed Sunday afternoon, he instead got multiple student deferments as well as a medical deferment. Trump spent much of the duration of the war wearing white suits and partying at New York City discos like Le Club.

And he has, of course, not a shred of respect for POWs.

Hes not a war hero, Trump said of Senator John McCain in July. McCain was captured in North Vietnam in 1967 after he was shot down by a missile. He was kept in solitary confinement for two years, beaten and tortured. He wasnt freed until 1973.

Hes a war hero because he was captured, Trump said. I like people that werent captured, OK? I hate to tell you.

And he did, of course, lie to veterans already.

Back in January, Trump claimed to have raised $6 million for veterans as a fundraiser in Des Moines$1 million of which he said he contributed personally. By May 20, however, Trumps campaign manager Corey Lewandowski admitted that wasnt true. He did not, he said, know the exact number.

And he does not, of course, take war or the personal sacrifice it demands very seriously.

In a 1997 interview with Howard Stern, Trump joked that the threat of getting sexually transmitted diseases was like Vietnam. It is my personal Vietnam, he said. I feel like a great and very brave soldier.

It definitely wasnt his scene, that much was obvious.

He was the only person not affiliated with his campaign wearing a suit, for starters. Trump fits in among bikers about as well as Hillary Clinton fits in among strippers. And thats before the added awkwardness of Abraham Lincoln staring down at him, the least Lincoln-like candidate since Pat Buchanan, through the white pillars of the memorial.

But despite all of that, there seemed to be more Trump fans than critics riding along Washingtons streets. In fact, several looked past his suit and Made In China Trump tie, and said he was one of them.

Hes an asshole, and thats what we need, Rick Lytton, 67, said. Lytton, a broad and towering figure surrounded by his fellow bikers, said he was a two-tour Vietnam vet. We need to retake America, he said, because weve lost it.

Another vet, Robert Gardner, also 67, parked his bike in the grass before telling me that Trump is the only one thats talking about the vets, and I think hes the only one with a set of balls to do what we need done. Gardner said Trumps past rhetoric on vets and POWs doesnt bother him much.

I got a mouth like that, too, he said. Shit comes out that shouldnt come out.

Trump hardly deviated from his standard campaign rally script. He spent a little more time, perhaps, on the VAwhich he said, once in office, he would fix by allowing veterans to patronize private doctors. But other than that, he stayed on brand.

A feature of any Trump campaign event is a dubious claim that many, many peoplehuge crowdsare unable to attend because there isnt enough space to accommodate all of his fans.

This doesnt quite work, however, outdoors and on public land.

Trump said, during Sundays speech, that they say there were 600,000 people trying to get in.

He didnt explain who they were that said that, or where these 600,000 were being kept out of, exactlytheres no border wall surrounding Washington, after all.

The crowd was certainly smaller than he mustve been prepared for. The stage fit the cover band nicely as they performed Rockin In the Free World, but Trumpwithout a lectern, pacing the stage and holding his own microphoneseemed somewhat directionless.

It was only when he was met with cheers that he looked at home.

As he was leaving, he stopped in front of the reflecting pool, next to his SUV, to wave.

He put one leg into the car and grabbed hold of the door, lifting himself up to raise his thumb at those assembled in the grass and on the steps of the monument.

As he drove away, he continued to wave through the window in the backseat.
By Louis Jacobson and Linda Qiu

Politicians turned out on the Sunday shows to declareor stay silentabout their allegiances in the upcoming presidential race.

On Meet the Press, former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to endorse the Republican presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, saying he would disclose his position on the presidency at a later date. On CNN, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said he would support Trump because he so strongly opposes Hillary Clinton. And on ABCs This Week, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said it was time for Bernie Sanders to consider ending his campaign for the Democratic nomination.

In an interview on Meet the Press, Sanders sounded as if had no intention of dropping out anytime soon. Sanders said he believes he still has a chance to win the Democratic nomination by winning the California primary against Clinton.

But whether hes ahead or behind in pledged delegates when the primaries end, Sanders said he intends to make a case to superdelegates to support him.

Sanders argued on Meet the Press on Sunday that hes a better nominee for November because he polls better than Clinton in head-to-head matchups against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

"Right now, Sanders said, in every major poll, national poll and statewide poll done in the last month, six weeks, we are defeating Trump, often by big numbers, and always at a larger margin than Secretary Clinton is."

Sanders is largely accurate, but its important to note he hasnt faced the same scrutiny as a national candidate that Clinton has. His statement rates Mostly True.

Poll position

We looked at polls taken during the last six weeks that tested Trumps support against both Clinton and Sanders.

Out of eight polls, Sanders beat Trump eight times, and Clinton beat Trump seven of eight times. But in each case, Sanderss lead against Trump was larger.

For example, the most recent poll, the NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll, showed Clinton beating Trump by 3 points and Sanders beating Trump by 15 points. That means Sanders bested Clintons performance by 12 points. In other polls, Sanderss lead on Clinton was less but never fell below a margin of 3 points.

Case closed? Not quite, say polling experts.

Clinton has been scrutinized and attacked as a public figure for a quarter century, but Sanderseven after running for president for a yearis a relatively new figure to voters nationally. It remains to be seen how open voters will be to supporting Sanders once Republicans start airing negative attacks, especially ones that note his identification as a democratic socialist. (According to polls, being a socialist is a less attractive quality for voters than being an atheist.)

General election polls dont mean much until the conventions are over and you get to late summer or early fall, said Kerwin Swint, a political scientist at Kennesaw State University. A lot of voters dont look at Sanders as a legitimate threat. Its almost like hes an imaginary candidate.

And its worth adding, as Meet the Press host Chuck Todd noted, that Clinton can be expected to poll better against Trump after she officially secures the nomination and many former Sanders supporters come to her side.

Carbon copies

Sanders also said he will continue to make the case that his positions are more in line with the Democratic base than Clintons.

Our campaign is about defeating Secretary Clinton on the real issues, he said. I want to break up the Wall Street banks. She doesnt. I want to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour. She wants $12 an hour. I voted against the war in Iraq. She voted for the war in Iraq. I believe we should ban fracking. She does not. I believe we should have a tax on carbon and deal aggressively with climate change. That is not her position. Those are some of the issues that I am campaigning on.

Sanders is right about Clintons Iraq war vote and where she stands on breaking up the banks, a $15 minimum wage, and fracking. But is he also right about their differences on carbon tax and climate change? That claim rates Mostly True.

Theres no doubt that Sanderss rhetoric on climate change and his plan to deal with it are aggressive and, unlike Clinton, he has advocated for a carbon tax. Clinton does, however, have a climate change plan. While some environmentalists have said it isnt tough enough, others have given it positive reviews.

Both the Sanders and Clinton campaigns referred us to each candidates climate change plan. Sanderss climate change plan is long and comprehensive. Beyond a tax on carbon, it includes an array of proposals such as banning certain drilling and mining practices; cutting tax subsidies for oil and gas companies; investing in clean energy, alternative fuels, and energy efficiency programs; and improving the national public transit system.

Clintons plan is shorter and, though it doesnt include a tax on carbon, it contains similar provisions on renewables. Clintons plan includes cutting tax subsidies for oil and gas companies; investing in clean energy infrastructure; and a $60 billion local-state-federal clean energy partnership.

As in her plan, Clinton prefers to focus on renewables on the stump and has specifically touted her goals for more solar panel and clean electricity as big and bold.

Clinton has gotten her best reviews from the League of Conservation Voters, who endorsed Clinton last fall (to some controversy). The green group considers Clintons plan strong and aggressive and, more important, achievable, Tiernan Sittenfeld, its senior vice president of government affairs, told PunditFact.

Hillary is focused on practical solutions, Sittenfeld said, pointing out that there are many lawmakers in Congress who still deny climate change science. So [a carbon tax] is pretty remote possibility.

But some are skeptical of Clintons boldness. Pulitzer Prize-winning website InsideClimate News called Clintons plan ambitious but said it falls short of bold. The Washington Posts editorial board said her ideas are second best. Environmental news magazine Grist summed up her plan as not bad but not quite the climate hawkishness we need.
Earlier this past week a judge ruled that the city of Louisville, Kentucky can proceed with the removal of a Confederate monument near the campus of the University of Louisville. Arguments against removing Confederate monuments over the past year have often claimed that in doing so communities run the risk of erasing history. What has been universally overlooked, however, is that the push to establish monuments to the Confederacy during the postwar years helped to erase the history of those white and black southerners who remained loyal and were willing to give their lives to save the Union.

Southern Unionism took many forms during the Civil War. Some disagreed with the right of a state to secede from the Union at the wars outset while others grew weary of the Confederacy in response to a number of factors, including a Conscription Act in 1862 that exempted large slaveowners, the impressment of horses or mules for the army, and a tax-in-kind law that allowed the government to confiscate a certain percentage of farm produce for military purposes. Others in places like Appalachia and other highland regions that included few slaves saw little value in supporting a government whose purpose was the creation of an independent slaveholding republic.

Resistance to the Confederacy also took many forms throughout the war. The release of the movie, The Free State of Jones, starring Matthew McConaughey next month, will introduce audiences to Newton Knight, who led an armed rebellion against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi. Some joined clandestine political organizations such as the Heroes of America, which may have contained upwards of 10,000 members. Networks of communication kept resistors in touch with one another and their activities throughout the region. Unionists risked arrest by Confederate officials, ostracism from within the family, and violent reprisals from the community.

It is impossible to know just how many white southerners remained loyal to the Union during the war given disagreements over its very definition, but we do know that somewhere around 100,000 southern white men from Confederate states, except for South Carolina, served in the U.S. military. East Tennessee supplied somewhere around 42,000 men, but other Confederate states yielded significant numbers, including 22,000 from Virginia (and West Virginia) and 25,000 from North Carolina. The First Alabama Cavalry, which was considered one of the toughest units in General William Tecumseh Shermans army, took part in his march through Georgia and the Carolinas in 1864-65.

The decision to express ones loyalty to the Union by joining the army was often a painful one to make from the lowliest private to some of the highest-ranking officers. While the story of Robert E. Lees decision to resign his commission in the U.S. army, rather than betray his home of Virginia, is often told and re-told in tragic prose, others grappled with the same decisions and yet chose to remain loyal. The man who offered Lee command of the U.S. army in 1861 was another Virginian by the name of Winfield Scott. Scott, whose military career stretched back to the War of 1812including a failed presidential bid in 1852was the highest-ranking general at the beginning of the war. Scotts decision was no less difficult than Lees and yet he remained loyal and although too old to take command in the field, he helped formulate military policy that ultimately proved successful in subduing the rebellion.

General George Henry Thomas, also from Virginia, became one of the most successful generals in the war and saved the Union army from being completely routed on September 19, 1863, earning him the nickname the Rock of Chickamauga. His loyalty to the nation cost him his family, who refused to speak with him ever again and even turned his picture against the wall. Very few monuments to the service of these men and others like them, who defied family, friends, and community for the sake of the nation, can be found in the former Confederate states. And yet the removal of some Confederate monuments has caused some to worry about erasing history.

The other significant Southern bloc that voiced their loyalty to the Union and commitment to crushing the rebellion was the regions slave population. From the beginning of the war, and in the shadow of a Supreme Court that as recently as 1857 ruled that free and enslaved blacks could not be citizens of the United States, African Americans offered their services to the military. Beginning in 1862 along the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia, former slaves rushed into the first all black regiments. By the end of the war roughly 150,000 former slaves fought and died to save this nation. They did so under the most harrowing conditions. Black soldiers were massacred on battlefields and even sent back into slavery at places like Fort Pillow in Tennessee and at the Crater in Petersburg, Virginia by Confederates, who refused to treat them as legitimate soldiers. As if that wasnt enough, their own government refused to pay them what white soldiers earned. Only sustained protests that lasted more than a year and continued demonstrations of bravery on the battlefield led Congress to correct this injustice in the summer of 1864.

Southern Unionists, both black and white, may have celebrated Confederate defeat, but they continued to be persecuted owing to their wartime beliefs and actions by terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Life was especially difficult for former slaves, who fought for the Union and now hoped to exercise the right to vote, own land, or run for public office. Their sacrifice for the Union ended in the rise of Jim Crow state governments by the turn of the 20th century.

After the war, as white Southerners erected monuments to their Confederate dead they also erected monuments to their former slaves, only they recalled not brave men who fought to preserve the Union, but their loving former servants who remained loyal to master and their Lost Cause. The very act of monument erection helped to erase this history for much of the 20th century.

The removal of Confederate monuments need not result in the erasure of history. In fact, it may for the first time create the intellectual and physical space to commemorate and remember a new narrative of the past, one that corresponds more closely to the long and rich history of service and sacrifice to this nation that is recalled each year on Memorial Day.

Kevin M. Levin is a historian and educator based in Boston. He is the author of Remembering the Battle of the Crater: War as Murder (2012) and is currently at work on Searching For Black Confederate Soldiers: The Civil Wars Most Persistent Myth. You can find him online at Civil War Memory and Twitter @kevinlevin.
Early on the morning of June 4,1942, four B-26 Marauders from the Army Air Forces 18th Reconnaissance Squadron rumbled down a mile long runway on Midway Island and took off over the Pacific, flying low with a rising sun behind them, heading west toward a huge Japanese armada intent on destroying the remnants of the American Navy six months after Pearl Harbor. Each Marauder had seven young Americans on board and they all knew what was ahead: Eight Japanese aircraft carriers, 11 battleships, 23 cruisers, 65 destroyers, and over 700 Japanese fighter aircraft, bombers, and torpedo planes.

One of the Marauders was piloted by Lt. Herb Mayes of San Francisco, California. His co-pilot was Lt. Garnett McCallister of Washington, D.C. Lt. Billy Hargis of Haskel City, Oklahoma was on the radio while Lt. Gerald Barnicle of Fitchburg, Massachusetts was the bombardier. Staff Sgt. Sal Battaglia from Brooklyn, Pvt. Ben Huffstickler out of Gaston County, North Carolina and Pvt. Roy Walters of Northampton County, Pennsylvania were on the guns.

They were part of the first torpedo attack ever attempted by the Army Air Force in an epic battle that transformed the war in the Pacific. The four B-26 Marauders and others that followed during a two day battle at sea came in 200 feet above the ocean, driving toward their targets through swarms of Japanese Zeros and anti-aircraft fire so intense it turned the morning sky dark.

The men in the B-26 Marauder piloted by Lt. Mayes were as old as 28 and as young as 18 and by 7:30 on the morning of 4 June, 1942 they were all dead, swallowed by the Pacific.

Ten years later, on Memorial Day 1952, I held my grandmothers hand as she stood like a frail sentry, stick thin, her face a forced marriage of pride and pain, listening to the names of the dead from World War II and Korea read out loud at a ceremony on Main Street. In memory I can still feel her hand squeezing mine when her sons name, an uncle I never met, filled the late spring air: Lieutenant Gerald J. Barnicle Killed in action... Battle of Midway... Awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

My grandmother wore Gerrys medals every Memorial Day. And when the ceremonies ended she returned them to a small table next to a couch in the front room of the second floor apartment in the home we all shared together: my mother and father, my aunt, my brothers, and me.

On the wall by the table where she kept the medalsthe DSC and the Purple Heartwere two framed letters of gratitude: one signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the other above the signature of General George C. Marshall, the Army Chief of Staff. A framed picture of her youngest boy hung beside the letters, of Gerald, in uniform, in the sunshine, smiling, forever 25.

This was Memorial Day in America half way through the 20th Century.

It was a country where people had time to take time to stop and think about who we are and where we came from, about who had been lost and why. My grandmother wasnt the only Gold Star Mother on our street. Our family was not the only family that had surrendered a son to war.

Hannah Fitzgerald Barnicle left the west of Ireland and crossed an ocean with her children for an America that accepted and rewarded her and so many others. In our neighborhood there was a Jewish family that had fled Russia, another escaped Poland, a third ran from Italy and all lived in the midst of three deckers and two family bungalows that sent sons to both Europe and the Pacific to save the world.

Those who survived came home, many of them, to jobs in the post office, the fire department, a municipal payroll, the cops, the paper mills, the textile factories; the gifts of a grateful nation were a paycheck, the GI Bill, a VA loan, seeing the sunrise each day while quietly trying to suppress the trauma of bloody markers like Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, St Mere Eglise, The Bulge, Anzio and a lot of other shattering spots that wounded them silently, forever.

It was a country where memory had not died and where our attention span would not be stolen for another six decades. Life was much more linear, more predictable: the job, the family, the church, two weeks vacation, a paycheck on Thursday, fish sticks on Friday, hot dogs and beans on Saturday, 8 oclock Mass Sunday and then do it all over again.

It was a country not yet gifted and fundamentally changed by better health, longer lives, greater wealth, expanded opportunity, civil rights, higher education, middle class mobility and a sense that children born to those who went to war in 1942 would climb the ladder higher than their parents ever could.

But Sputnik lit up the sky. Then a wall got built in Berlin. Dallas darkened a November day and the cloud lingered for years. A motel balcony in Memphis. A kitchen in Los Angeles. Vietnam destroyed lives and faith in multiple institutions. Watergate. The simplicity and isolation of the 1950s slowly, surely surrendered to huge social and cultural change that improved so much around us but arrived with a sometimes fierce price.

So, this is Memorial Day in America a decade and half into the 21st Century.

A country fighting two wars for 15 years. A country where about 1 percent of our citizens carry the burden, the anxiety and the daily danger of those fights. A country where many of the political people in Washington still seem unaware of the fracture that broke so many families in the winter of 2008-2009; thats when millions lost homes, jobs, income, hope, faith in the future and certainly in politics and many of those who lost so much are the same families at risk of losing a son or daughter to those two wars that linger still.

A country now witnessing a campaign that revolves around insult rather than ideas. A campaign driven by fantasy and fear, grinding on like a dismal, daily TV spectacle, plodding toward November, turning politics into an absurd spectacle where dreams go to die.

But when you look away from the daily dump of false promises, fake empathy and foolish rhetoric of Trump and Clinton, when you put your phone down and stop staring at the screen, when you pauseactually take the timeto stop, think and remember who we are, still, and have been, always, you cannot help feel a slight sense of optimism as well as an obligation to those who flew off over the Pacific, landed on Okinawa or Omaha Beach, walked out of the Chosin Reservoir, hunkered down at Khe Sanh and Hue City, went door to door in Fallujah or encountered life and death in Helmand Province. We remain the greatest beacon of hope and freedom of expression the world has ever known.

My grandmother, Hannah Fitzgerald Barnicle, thought, dreamed really, that her youngest son, Lt. Gerald J. Barnicle, would come home some day. She lived to 93 and filled the last 18 years of her life with the memory of a little boy who grew up to serve and die for a country that offered so much and asked so little in return. And through the fog, the smoke and mirrors, the momentary absurdity, the phoniness of politics, there it is, the gift that is America. Still here. Still alive on Memorial Day 2016.
CHICAGO  Abe Simmons sat down on a bus bench at the corner of Chicago and Leclaire late Saturday, watching as police worked one of dozens of shooting scenes that played out across the city over the holiday weekend.

Chicagos ghost shooterscharged in only 26 percent of the citys homicides last yearwreaked havoc on summers unofficial kickoff weekend, a three day period that saw at least 36 shot and four killed by Sunday morning, according to the Chicago Tribune. There have been more than 1,400 shootings and nearly 300 homicides in 2016 so far.

Im tired of this shit. Im tired of this city, man, Simmons, 36, said. Its fucked up, man.

The country wants to know why. Media descends on holiday weekends to track the violence and attempt to put it in perspective. But for many in Chicago, the mayhem is simply a part of life.

This is every day in Englewood, said Terrell, who declined to give his last name, at the scene of a homicide on the citys southwest side Friday night just down the street from his new home.

The father of two young girls came to West 75th placea quiet block of stout brick bungalows in a neighborhood where many police officers livefrom Englewood, one of the citys most violent areas. He moved in Friday and was watching a body being pulled from a car Friday night.

This makes me think twice, he said.

Just on our side of the police tape, a young man is in handcuffs, being detained and questioned by the police. Hes eventually let go and tells Terrell fuck the law as hes driven away.

I used to say shit like that, too, Terrell says. But you get older and you learn.

There are people like Terrell and Abe Simmons in every corner of the city, going about their lives just like anyone else. Perhaps descriptions of Chicago as a war zone are inappropriate considering these are neighborhoods where people live and workand survive.

These are the people you run into at crime scenes. Never the shooters. They are rarely around and rarely caught.

Maybe in a high profile case like Tyshawn Lee, an 8-year-old murdered over a gang dispute last summer, the cops will nail the bastards. But what about the guy at Chicago and Leclaire? What are the odds that the pictures and videos taken by crime scene technicians will lead to an arrest? Because of the volume of shootings and chaos combined with a street code of silence, police seem to have an impossible task.

Chicagos violent, invisible terrorists are destroying what would otherwise be a peaceful way of life for many in the city.

The causes are many and the answers are few. Older members of the black communitySteve and Gloria in Woodlawn, for instanceblame a lack of jobs and opportunity. They talk about a bygone era when there were steel mill jobs and black-owned stores, pride in the community made stronger by the burgeoning civil rights movement. Then King was killed and parts of Chicago burned. Then the jobs left and with them the promise of upward mobility. Now the neighborhood in which Steve and Gloria live, near a stretch of Cottage Grove that used to be home to black-owned tavern after black-owned tavern, is inundated with empty storefronts and empty homes.

While she insisted that violence in her neighborhood isnt as bad as it may seem, Gloria knows how to stay out of trouble with Chicagos shooters.

The code here is dont talk, she said. Not if you wanna live. Not if you wanna live peacefully.

Steve and Terrell21 years apart and on opposite ends of the cityagree that shooters and gangbangers are a generation lost. There just isnt anything to do.

So the kids get fucked up, get crazy, gangbang and shoot, Terrell said at the 79th Place homicide on Friday night.

Some police officers who have spoken to The Daily Beast blame arduous paperwork required for street stopsChicagos version of stop and friskfor this years uptick in gun violence. Fewer street stops mean fewer guns being taken off the street. One officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity blamed this system for the shooting spike, saying his fellow cops want nothing to do with the spiders web of legalities involved every time they stop someone they think might be a shooter.

People have no idea what needs to be done in this city to keep it safe, the officer lamented. Chicago is an ugly town filled with violent people who were being kept in check for the most part as best as possible.

The officer relayed a comment made to his wife after shots were fired in their neighborhood.

Laws dont protect us; they protect criminals, he told her that day. Thats why CPD has always been so heavy-handed. Without their brute we are left defenseless.

Thats not something that police-accountability activists want to hear, and it is the exact reason why the American Civil Liberties Union fought for the new paperwork required for the street stops that overwhelmingly affect people of color. But on Memorial Day weekend and throughout most of the summer, the citys south and west sides are not the Chicago of the Laquan McDonald protests.

At least one peace march was held over the weekend, and communities throughout the city do their partsmall and largeto prevent violence and soothe the grieving. But the mostly college-educated activists who took over downtown arent at crime scenes as paramedics try to save lives and police try to prevent shootings and men like Abe Simmons look on, thinking of a way out.

Each crime scene is different and each crime scene is the same. Dont walk past the tape! officers say to pedestrians or rowdy teens who will then say Fuck 12! in reference to the cops. Blue lights flash in intermittent beeps across faces that are combinations of tired, concerned, or over it.

Older people are usually quiet; younger people are more boisterous. At a shooting in University Village on Friday nightclose enough to the Loop to see the red, white, and blue lights atop the Willis Tower honoring those who died in defense of this countrya typical exchange played out.

You see what happened? an officer asked a young woman.

Nah, we didnt see nothing, she shot back with attitude.

Why not? Its your neighborhood, the officer pleaded, knowing it was a futile effort.

On Saturday night as those ever-present blue lights flashed across Abe Simmonss face, an ambulance passed, hitting its siren, probably on its way to another shooting.

Were there when you need us, the red, cursive writing on the side of the hood read.

Chicago is dead, Simmons said staring blankly at the street, the lights, the cars, the scene. I got a beautiful apartment down the street. I got a good job Im willing to let all this go. I want out of this city.
Long before Harriet Tubman earned a spot on the $20 bill, Louise Davis was working to remind America of her third-cousins legacy.

Daviss great-grandfather was Tubmans uncle and no doubt learned of her exploits 150 years ago when she slipped bondage and led hundreds of slaves to freedom on multiple harrowing trips into and out of the South. Moses, as Tubman came to be known, then served the Union during the Civil War as spy, scout, nurse, and cook, and even battlefield commander.

Davis was cautiously optimistic about her relatives chances to be honored on the greenback.

It had been in the air, a lot of hype, then at some point it fell back and it looked like she wouldnt make it, so I never thought of it in any kind of way until this latest information, she said. But its not supposed to be until years from now so, I hope they do. In some ways Harriet Tubman has taken on this persona, but I think this will make people dig a little deeper into who she really was.

Tubmans addition on the $20 will be accompanied by currency redesigns featuring Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul, Susan B. Anthony, Marian Anderson, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Davis said said she feels it reflects not only a more multicultural demographic, but the growing acceptance of a more holistic history of the United States.

It sounds as though there is a general feeling that something on the currency should reflect the reality of what is true in this country.

It wasnt always that way, of course.

Growing up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Davis said there was very little about Tubman in schoolbooks.

What was there was very limited and one-sided. It wasnt until I went to college that I found that history was a little more interesting because they filled it out more, even though there werent many blacks in college then, said Davis, 79, who has a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Tyler School of Art, Temple University.

Of course, Davis learned early on that she and Tubman were related.

I was pretty young when I first heard, said Davis, who still lives in Bristol. Mother would mention it, but never went into it with a lot of energy because at that time it was, Make sure your children got a lot of education. So, there was a sense of we should not be dwelling on the idea of being held back by slavery.

But we knew Harriet was part of the family. My grandfather would say, I remember when she came to visit. He said she called herself Hat. When my cousin was in high school she wrote a paper about Tubman and the teacher refused it, saying she was lying. Our grandfather had to go in to verify it. So, there was a sense of distance in terms of who could be related to this icon.

Born between 1815 and 1825, Tubman was named Araminta by her parents Harriet and Benjamin, but changed her name before escaping into Pennsylvania so she would be hard to track. Tubman, who married twice and bore no children, died in 1913 in Auburn, New York, where she was buried with military honors.

Davis, who sometimes portrays Tubman in educational events nationwide, said Tubmans audacity is in the familys DNA.

I know its in my mothers genes, she chuckled. In Bristol they didnt encourage blacks to go to college, but I and my five siblings all did. Mom was the first black member of the school board in Bristol. She only went to the 11th gradedad 8th or 9thbut she was highly intelligent and could correct you in a language that showed you she was intelligent and convinced of what she knew.

Davis has been ensconced since she was young in African American history and culture, even in mostly white Bucks County.

The inside of my house looks like a museum, I have so many books and things, she said.

Shes on the board of the countys African American Historical and Cultural Society. A hallmark of that organizations work is the establishment of a free-standing statue of Tubman on the waterfront of Lions Park. A June 25 celebration will mark the 10th anniversary of the unveiling of the monument, built at long last with state and local help.

Tubman is not known to have ever visited Bristol, where Davis has a 96-year-old aunt. Most of Tubmans remaining clan lives in Maryland and New York. Still, Davis said the statue acknowledges the contributions of blacks as well as whites to the cultural fabric of Bristol.

Harriet deserved recognition and reflected the sensibility of people who were persistent in their pursuit of a greater sense of freedom, she said.

So, how many Tubman Twenties will Davis stash away?

Well certainly get some, she chuckled. Whether Ill be a collector, that I dont know.
HOLIDAY, Florida  You feel a little foolish, but you never have to say a wordabout remembering your own blood pooling warm around you, with its iron smell, the reek of a thousand matches invading your nose, or the surge of pain, then panic at not being able to move.

Thats what I remembered from 10 years ago, when a car bomb ripped through an army foot patrol, my CBS News television camera team, and me.

You need say nothing out loud. You just keep your body still and your eyes follow the tic-toc of the therapists hand going back and forth, while you think silently to yourself about the sights, sounds, and emotions that you want to loosen from your head, heart, and soul.

Its called Accelerated Resolution Therapy, a new tool to treat acute trauma, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, and depression that is being adopted into the menu of treatments available at Walter Reed and other army centers, and a vanguard of trailblazing veterans groups.

Partly because it works so fast, military leaders hope it could help handle a backlog of PTSD cases, and encourage more troops to seek treatment. It requires no surgical procedure, unlike another new-ish treatment called stellate ganglion block, in which local anesthetic is used to numb or block part of the nervous system.

The other advantage: unlike talk therapy or other commonly used methods, where the subject shares whats bothering them out loud, the soldier need share nothing with the therapist.

Instead, the patient watches the therapists hand with their eyes, while bringing up in their own mind the disturbing memories or images, first tuning in to how the body reacts. Through deep breathing, the patient focuses on the tension and releases it, and then focuses on the memory piece by piece, progressively remember it, then mentally painting over the image or memory, and finally replacing it with a new image. It doesnt erase the memory, but helps it fade. The therapist need hear nothing.

I dont want to know the facts. I dont want to know your business, says Laney Rosenzweig, a licensed therapist and the inventor of ART. I want to know how many scenes you have.

By that, she means how many snapshots of things you saw, felt, or did that you cant get out of your head. It can erase images from view, and what they are left with is just the facts, which are stored in the different part of the brain, she explains. The other upside of the therapy: the therapist doesnt have to share the service members nightmares.

Therapists are happier. They have less burnout and compassion fatigue, Rosenzweig explained.

Rosenzweigs barely concealed frustration at spending the last decade trying to get the technique recognized hasnt always helped advance her cause, but ART has finally been federally approved, thanks in large part to a $1 million University of South Florida study, funded partly by the Pentagon but mostly by Outback Steakhouse co-founder Chris Sullivan.

The technique seems to work by mimicking what scientists think the brain does at night during rapid eye movement or REM sleep. Neuroscientists believe the brain cycles through the days memories, making sense of them and filing some while discarding others, or storing them more deeply, according to University of South Floridas Dr. Diego Hernandez, who helped run the clinical trial of active duty troops and veterans.

Instead of classifying post-traumatic stress disorder as a fear-based reaction where the brain is overloaded and creates an illness, Hernandez said, the idea with ART is that these are just bits of film stuck in the brains projector that have to be untangled and filed properly. And its not just for troops but for anyone who has dealt with trauma and loss.

We can even process the memory of the doorbell ringing for a Gold Star family, Hernandez said, referring to the pain of the horrifically life-changing moment for a military family when a notification team comes to the door to tell them their loved one is lost. ART can help them ease the anxiety that fills them when they hear a doorbell or a phone ring, bringing them back to that awful moment.

The University of South Florida studythe second of a series, with the largest yet underwaycaught the attention of PTSD guru and Army research scientist Dr. Charles Hoge.

You can sometimes see very dramatic response to treatment after one or a few sessions of treatment, said Hoge, the senior scientist at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and the Office of Army Surgeon General. He took Rosenzweig to Washington, D.C. to train a pilot group of his therapists.

Several of us have seen patients recover from pretty significant PTSD after one, two, or three sessions, Hoge said.

He calls it a top tool to use alongside others like prolonged exposure therapy, EMDR (eye movement and desensitization and re-processing), and cognitive behavior or talk therapy.

One of the real advantages of ART is its very body focused, Hoge said, referring to the way the therapist instructs the recipient to focus on how the memory brings tension to the body. It helps a person not be physiologically triggered, say when a car backfires and it sounds to the serviceman like a bomb blast, and they jump or hit the deck.

Hoge said he wants to see more research, like the third wider study thats now underway at the University of South Florida, but said theres already interest in getting clinicians trained at additional posts. Hes also not sure it will work with people with years and layers of trauma, and is careful not to say its better than the other therapies he works with.

Its hard to find critics of ART, because its so new. Practitioners of some of the other more tested treatments say its just a souped up version of EMDR, but Rosenzweig said her system guides the user to go beyond uncovering the memory, to resolving it through visualization.

Rosenzweig hopes to expand services to veterans and civilians as well. Shes in talks with the Chris T. Sullivan Foundation to provide training for therapists across the U.S. and beyond.

This therapy has been proven to help even kidsanyone who has suffered any kind of trauma, said Patricia Thompson, executive director of Tampa-based foundation, in an interview. Chris just thinks this can help a lot of people.

For former Green Beret Brian Anderson, ART was the key to erasing the nightmares and daytime hallucinations of his two best friends, both killed in Afghanistan during a 2010 firefight with insurgents.

I would actually drive down the road and look at the car next to me, and Calvin would be driving that car, Anderson said. I would walk through the mall and I would have Mark walk by me. I would have images of bullets going through my head and feel rage.

Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Calvin B. Harrison and Air Force Senior Airman Mark Forester of the 21st Special Tactics Squadron were both killed in a 2010 firefight.

Anderson had tried everything else the military had to offer to erase the intrusive images, including several bouts of prolonged exposure therapy, with no effect.

After he left the army, he came across ART on the web, and called Rosenzweig for treatment.

One session of Accelerated Resolution Therapy, and all those images I was having trouble with went away, Anderson said. I still had other triggers related to combat that I needed to work through and since then Ive gone through maybe 15 or 20 sessions of ART for various things.

Anderson founded the Veterans Alternative in Holiday, Florida, to offer the services for free to the 35,000 veterans who live in the immediate area, and to active duty folks from nearby Central Command or Special Operations Command in Tampa, willing to make the trek. A British Special Forces veteran even flew in recently and stayed a couple days to do an intense series of treatments.

There is no bar with $1 Bloody Mary specials or pool tables, in contrast to veterans clubs of yesteryear like ones just around the corner from the Veterans Alternative. Anderson and his team combine ART with classes of CrossFit, TRX, and integrative yoga taught by co-founder and Air Force veteran Janel Norton. Anderson and Norton have plans to expand to Fayetteville, North Carolina, near Ft. Bragg as well as to California.

One of the clubs volunteers is a Vietnam veteran, who was referred to the place by his VA psychologist who hadnt been able to make headway using traditional therapies.

I had the bad memory, and after my first session, I thought instead about after a mission, sitting around with the guys smoking a doobie, and drinking beer, said Jerry Sableski, who served in combat in Vietnam from 1968-70, patrolling the Mekong Delta south of Saigon.

Now every time my mind starts to go to that bad thought, poof, right away, Im sitting there smoking a doobie with my buddies, he said. He declined to describe the bad thought. He hasnt shared those thoughts with anyone, from his wife to the Veterans Alternative therapist.

Hes had two ART sessions since last October, and when hes ready, he plans to have more. He still remembers everything, but he says it doesnt stick the same way, and instead of nightmares every night, he has them maybe every third night.

ART founder Rosenzweig said with such complex cases with multiple bad memories, she asks the patient to pick the worst three out of 15, and do one session each on those three worst memories.

The brain seems to then generalize the lesson and apply it to the rest, she said.

At Veterans Alternative, where I first heard of this therapy about a year ago, resident therapist Alison Voisin said she was skeptical it would work.

It seems fairy tale, it seems magic, Voisin said. But shes now able to get through in one session what used to take weeks or months.

You look at those memories, and you use these bilateral eye movements which are designed to calm the body, which are designed to place things away in the brain the right place so theyre not up front just constantly bugging you and bogging you down, she said.

You find another way to see it and experience it, thats healthier for you, that works for you, and you get to leave that day with relief, she said. Voisin has treated more than 400 veterans and active duty troops, as word of its success spread by word of mouth.

For me, its been a decade since the Memorial Day bombing in 2006 that tore through our 4th Infantry Division foot patrol in the center of Baghdad, killing the commander of the team we were filming, Army Capt. James Alex Funkhouser, his Iraqi translator Sam, and my team, cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan. Four other soldiers and I were left fighting for our lives and spent many months in the hospital recovering from the car bomb, which I was later told was traced to al Qaeda of Iraq, the precursor to the so-called Islamic State.

Ive told the story in interviews and speeches a thousand times. I thought to myself, Ive processed it plenty. Whats to uncover? My doctors had told me I had acute stress but never developed PTSD because my symptoms like nightmares and flashbacks of the bomb scene didnt last longer than six weeks.

But there was still latent emotion from survivors guilt, and it turns out ART can dig that out.

Frame by frame, as my eyes alone followed the therapists hand, Voisin walked me through a script that had me recall each scene from a memory of my choice, reawakening it and tuning in to what it did to my bodya suddenly tense throat, a feeling of wanting to cryand a knotted feeling of guilt that lives in the spot just above my chest that my colleagues were killed, and Im still here.

At the end of my hour-plus session, I had walked through my memory of the bombing in my mind, bringing up sights, smells, and emotions, painting them over and replacing them. I still had to work to quiet my mind from wondering how tired my therapists arm was getting, waving back and forth in front of my face.

At first, I found her last instructions the hardest to take: imagine the day from start to finish as you wanted it to go. Maybe imagine what youd say to your friends now.

It seemed foolish, and selfish, but I ran through the exercise. I imagined us filming the soldiers doing what wed filmed a hundred times before, patrolling, talking to Iraqi soldiers, and driving back to the base, safe and unharmed. I even thought about how Paul would have called the day boring and teased me about how Id have trouble coming up with a good piece.

Voisin told me to imagine a bridge. It just kind of took shape in my mind. Then I saw my two friends standing on one side of it with me. They each smiled and gave me a bear hug, and with a wave, walked to the other side.

Cliche? Maybe.

But as I write this on the 10th year since the bomb struck, for the first time I am not depressed. I think I have let them go.
A 17-year-old Houston hero was on his way to the doctors office Sunday when he stopped to help a man crying in pain on the ground. It wasnt until later that Nicolas Latiolais realized the man suffered from gunshot woundsand that the shooting was ongoing.

I thought it was just a car accident, Latiolais told The Daily Beast. There were three other people on the scene. They were just looking down on the man while he was screaming, help me, help me and grabbing his leg.

Unbeknownst to Latiolais, hed stumbled upon a mass shooting in his quiet Houston neighborhood. A gunman opened fire at the Memorial Drive Tire & Auto a little after 10 a.m. Eugene Linscomb, 56, was shot and killed, and six others were injured. The shooter even fired five shots into a police helicopter before being taken down.

Latiolais sprang into action. He asked the man to remove his suit vest and started working on his wounds, all while asking the bystanders to call 9-1-1. But when the teen asked the victim what happened, the man told him: Ive been shot.

Thats when I realized there were actually two wounds, one where the bullet entered his thigh, and one where it exited, Latiolais said. His high school history teacher happened to be on the scene and helped him make a tourniquet from a belt to stop blood loss. Latiolais talked to the victim to keep him calm, all skills he learned in six years as a Boy Scout, and through his work as a lifeguard.

His mother, who watched from the car, thought, "God I wish we had a first aid kit in the car," he said.

The rush of adrenaline kept him focused as he went over the steps of administering first aid in his head.

Latiolais said the police arrived first to secure the area. Thats when I found out it was still an active shooter situation, he said. The teen told his mother to move into the drivers seat of the car, in case they would have to flee.

Eventually the fire department took over treatment of the wounded. Once he was loaded up into an ambulance, Latiolais finally said hello to his teacher, and the first responders helped them clean up.

Police have identified the gunman as Dionisio Garza III, a 25-year-old Army veteran from San Bernardino. Family members told Click2Houston that the Afghanistan veteran had grown increasingly paranoid in recent days. "I know he did this, but it wasn't him anymore," his father said. "My son was broken."

As second armed man was initially called a suspect, but was later determined to be a bystander. The gunman kept shooting after killing a man by the auto shop, and some reports indicate a fire at a gas station across the street was caused by his stray bullet.

One woman, Denise Slaughter, was hit five times as she sat in her car. "They kept shooting at us, a friend told ABC 13. Denise had good sense to step on the gas. We got to safety, and saw that her wound was gushing blood."

An audio recording from the Houston Polices public information officer said they would not have any more information to share on Memorial Day.

Latiolais finally made it to his doctors appointment hours later, after the shelter in place order was lifted. And despite his actions, Latiolais said his future doesnt lie in emergency medicine, but rather engineering. While he was glad to help, he doesnt think his actions were that extraordinary, and doesnt consider himself a hero.

In Boy Scouts they always talk about helping others and serving the community just because that's what you're supposed to do as a citizen, he said. I just knew that I could help him so I did.

This article has been updated throughout.
On Saturday, May 30, 1868, in scores of northern cities, towns, and villages, knots of Union veterans, marching to the mournful wail of fifes, processed to the graves of their fallen comrades. Some clutched bullet riddled regimental banners, adorned with the names of their hard-fought Civil War engagements. In fancy carriages rode men who lost their legs in battle or to disease. A steady drizzle dampened much of New England, but it left the soldiers, sprigs of fresh evergreen affixed to their lapels, undeterred.

From Dorchester, Massachusetts, to Bunker Hill, Illinoisfrom Brimfield, Ohio, to Vallejo, Californiaveterans placed wreaths and planted flags, delivered speeches and rehearsed original odes. The men conducted their rites at the invitation of John Alexander Logan, the walrus-mustached Illinois general and veteran of Vicksburg who now led the Grand Army of the Republic, a national fraternal order for Union veterans. Less than four weeks before, from the Grand Armys headquarters on 14th Street in Washington, D.C., Logan issued a circular known as General Orders No. 11.

The 30th day of May, he instructed, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion. As the historian David W. Blight discovered, Logan did not invent but instead appropriated, of great and immediate necessity, a tradition that some South Carolina freedmen began the month after Lees surrender. In Charleston, African-Americans festooned a mass grave containing the bodies of hundreds of Union soldiers who died there in Confederate captivity.

Now the ritual would reach across the nation. Let us, the brawny commander appealed, gather around their sacred remains, and garland the passionless mounds above them with the choicest flowers of spring-time; let us raise above them the dear old flag they saved from dishonor. Logan hoped that these spring ceremonials, like the Grand Army organization itself, would continue as long as a survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of his departed comrades.

Decoration Day was about paying tribute to the dead, but it was all the same about the survivors of this most unprecedented war in American historya conflict that, within the space of four years, snuffed out the lives of more than 750,000 soldiers and maimed many thousands more. The magnitude of loss and anguish beleaguered even the victors. Moreover, a difficult return to civilian life persuaded many veterans that they shared more in common with the slain. The dead come back and live with us, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who fought with the storied 20th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, hauntingly explained. I see them now, more than I can number, as once I saw them on Earth. And then there was that fated question: but why did I survive?

Soldiers, one ex-cavalryman candidly observed, this day tis for you to bring memorials to their graves more than [ordinary civilians]. Although the men buried in his southwestern New Hampshire town were individual members of families, citizens, and neighbors, he explained to his fellow veterans that, to you  they were brothers, and morethey were comrades of one great family. True men, insisted bespectacled Alonzo Quint Hall, chaplain of the Second Massachusetts Volunteers, at the 1868 service in New Bedford, do not forget those with whom they stood shoulder to shoulder in the greatest, hardest times this land ever saw.

As Logan trusted, each succeeding spring would bring new wreaths, new flowers, and new speechesthe details devotedly superintended by individual posts of the Grand Army of the Republic. Especially through the anxious first decade after Appomattox, Decoration Day became an opportunity for Union veterans to voice their insight that if crushed, the rebellion was not dead. Their former enemies were winning the peace. Not until the nation made good on the promises of the Civil War could Billy Yank rest assured that he had not sufferednor had his beloved comrades diedin vain.

But these were hardly popular sentiments in an age of reconciliation. Men, women, and children throughout the North celebrated the military triumph of Lincolns armies, but they looked ahead, impatient to suspend sectional bitterness. This fashioned many veterans, for whom the rebellion lived on in uncertain limps, distressed bowels, and sleepless nights, as disturbingeven objectionablerelics of the past. Some men look angrily on the great brotherhood of former soldiery, which now covers the loyal land, Alonzo Hall preempted in his oration. Bear with us. Acknowledging that it was a weakness in us to cherish old memories, he urged hasty civilians to deal tenderly with us, and grant us this one little boon: a day, for themselves, to ritualize what they always remembered. There is no danger in these flowers. There are no bullets hid under them. Peacefully, soberly, reverentially, loyally, we lay the flowers on the graves of the dead.

With time, restraint replaced rancor. And with new conflicts, the last Monday in May became an occasion to memorialize not just Billy Yank, but new generations of American veterans. Memorial Daythe name we use in lieu of Decoration Daydid not earn its place among federal holidays until the first Nixon administration. Since then, it has become almost obligatory for editorial writers to bemoan the alleged indifference of many Americans to honoring appropriately the sacrifices of their nations war dead. To be sure, we as citizens have a solemn duty to honor and remember the men and women who have given their lives in the name of our country. As General Logan put it, let no vandalism of avarice  testify to this or the coming generations, that we have forgotten, as a people the cost of a free and undivided Republic.

Still, in an ironic sense, those hackneyed laments betray that civilians, separated from veterans by an unbridgeable chasm of experience, continue to misunderstand the deepest meaning of the day. Because from its inception, Memorial Day was never about usit was always for them.

Brian Matthew Jordan, assistant professor of history at Sam Houston State University, is the author of Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War (Liveright, 2015), a finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in History.
There were two watershed events at the Libertarian Partys national convention, held this past weekend in Orlando, Florida.

One of them was a nod to the lingering perception that Libertarianswhose party was founded in 1971 by draft dodgers, techno-hippies, supporters of abortion rights (PRO-CHOICE ON EVERYTHING! reads one t-shirt you still see sometimes at gatherings), gun nuts, hard-money absolutists, and stonersare, well, still not quite ready for prime time.

And so it came to pass that on Sunday afternoon, as ballots were being cast for to see who would be selected as the partys vice-presidential candidate, a plus-sized LP activist named James Weeks II bum-rushed the stage and stripped down to a thong while exhorting the crowd to pick his choice for the number-two slot. That was so offensive it's a violation of the non-aggression pledge, said one wag, citing a central tenet of philosophical libertarianism.

But the other momentand the one that signals something huge not just for the LP but for the 2016 election and quite possibly the future of American politicsis the actual ticket that emerged from an incredibly vital, fun, and intense discussion of principles and pragmatism by the party faithful. The result is an immensely appealing ticket featuring former two-term governors, Gary Johnson of New Mexico (who served from 1995 to 2003) and William Weld of Massachusetts (1991 to 1997). Each held office as a Republican in a Democratically controlled state and each was a broadly popular social liberal and fiscal conservative who at least held the rate of spending growth.

Writing in the latest issue of the conservative National Review, a magazine that rarely misses an opportunity to bash libertarians, John J. Miller sympathetically summarized Johnson's tenure thus: "Vetoes made him famous. Johnson issued 739 of them, according to Ballotpedia, and that doesnt count line-item vetoes of spending measures [He] never came close to establishing the statewide school-voucher program he envisioned and repeatedly proposed. Yet he slowed the growth of government, presided over a series of tax cuts, and finished his eight years in office with fewer employees on the state payroll than when he started. After office, he literally climbed Mt. Everest (losing part of a toe in the process) and headed up a company that brands and list dosing information for legal pot products.

Johnson, of course, won the party's presidential nomination in 2012 and pulled 1.2 million votes and 1 percent of the popular vote against Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Weld himself flirted with running for office on the Libertarian ballot in the early Aughts after moving to New York. Neither is a purist in the manner of many of the other candidates they vied with (Johnson has been squirrely on some questions about free expression and forcing private businesses to serve customers despite religious reservations and Weld openly endorsed John Kasich earlier in this election cycle). Neither Johnson nor Weld won their nominating races on the first ballotLibertarians take political procedures seriously and nobody was just going to anoint them to anything. Weld freely admitted to my Reason colleague Matt Welch that today's LP members were unfamiliar with him since he'd been out of politics for 10 yearsbut that at his first press conference as Massachusetts governor, he greeted the crowd by saying, Fellow libertarians and that Friedrich Hayeks The Constitution of Liberty was bedside reading during his law school days.

Purity tests and LINO concerns aside, here Johnson and Weld are now, the Libertarian candidates for president and vice president with a total of 16 years of gubernatorial experience between them, facing off against the two most-disliked presidential candidates in U.S. history. While they have yet to start building out specific campaign planks, the general contours of what they believe are not just recognizably libertarian but broadly popular with most Americans. They are staunchly against the sort of elective wars that Hillary Clinton voted for as a senator and the monumentally failed interventions she took credit for as secretary of state (amazingly, Clinton still calls our actions in Libya a great example of "smart power").

Johnson and Weld also stand in absolute opposition to Donald Trump's insane plan to root out and forcibly deport 11 million illegal immigrants whose only crime was to come to a country with more opportunities. Weld went so far as to say he "hears the glass crunching on Kristallnacht" when Trump outlines his mass-removal plans. Given that polls show consistent and overwhelming (around 65 percent) support to give illegals a path not just to legal status but citizenship, you've got to wonder if Trump's low-blow retort is a sign that the billionaire may be a wee bit rattled. "I dont talk about [Weld's] alcoholism, so why would he talk about my foolishly perceived fascism?," he retorted.

As Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and other leading Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren continue to slag the sharing economy (do these people even bother talking to their Uber drivers and Airbnb hosts?) and would-be President Trump promises to sic antitrust regulators on Amazon, one of the most innovative and life-improving businesses of the past 50 years, Johnson instead insists that The future is Uber everythingNot just for rides, but for doctors, lawyers, and everything. He has long supported marriage equality, favors treating pot like beer, wine, and alcohol, and is against the excesses of the surveillance state. Indeed, back in 2013, Johnson said that whistleblower Edward Snowden "didn't belong in jail," something that it took former Attorney General Eric Holder years to finally admit.

Of course, there is effectively no chance the Johnson and Weld will win the election. In fact, given the ways that the two major parties cock-block political discourse with every tool they have, it's unlikely the Libertarians will even get to participate in televised debates (Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein has been waging a lawsuit to end this exclusion). But ultimately the electoral results generated by the LP ticket in 2016 are less important than the ideas and the possibilities they put into circulation.

Politics is a lagging indicator of where America is headed as a country. For the past half-century or so, we've been trending to greater and greater freedom and possibilities of how to live our lives. We are more comfortable with choices about what to eat, whom to marry, where to live, how to learn, how to express our values through our work and social commitments, and so much more. There is a reason why our identification with the two major parties has been falling over that same time frame: The Republicans and Democrats exist only in yesterday's America and fewer and fewer of us want much to do with such hollowed-visions that only 29 percent identify as Democrats and just 26 percent as Republicans.

Johnson and Weld and the Libertarians won't win this time around. Even a post-Kardashian, post-body-shaming America isn't quite ready for a striptease performed at a national convention.

But everything they stand for, and that the American people are demandingmore peace around the globe, more choice here at home, the ability to innovate and speak freelywill be absorbed either into both major parties, or by whatever replaces them.
Its been eight years since they were the rabble rousers and the thorn in the side of the Democratic establishment.

Today, the diehard Hillary Clinton supporters behind the Party Unity My Ass movement have less to rage against, as their candidate is the establishment pick. But that doesnt mean they dont feel a certain kinship with an emerging group of Bernie Sanders fans who say the Vermont senator is their one and only choice.

Its not about the players, its about the processa process we warned was rigged during the epic Hillary vs. Obama battle, said Diane Mantouvalos, who led the Just Say No Deal coalition, which included the PUMA movement.

As for unity... in the purity of the word, I dont believe the establishment is genuinely concerned. There is an infinite amount of money to buy the math you need, she said. In this respect, I feel a sense of solidarity with Sanders supporters, and yes, even Trump supporters whove been disparagedas we were in 08.

The PUMA movement took shape as the Democratic establishment (and, PUMAs argue, the media) began to close ranks around then-Sen. Barack Obama during the 2008 Democratic primary campaign. They saw sexism and bias behind the effort, and some even vowed to vote for Republican Sen. John McCain if Clinton wasnt the eventual nominee. As John Avlon notes in Wingnuts, one of the PUMAs, Linda Starr, was responsible for creating the birther movement. Starr could not be reached for comment.

It's been nearly eight years since PUMAs collectively raged when on June 7, 2008, Clinton conceded to Obama and called for party unity. They felt like she was forced out by an establishment and media that had spent months fawning over the newer, younger, vastly less experienced candidate who couldnt hold a candle to the woman they thought should be the next president of the United States.

In March, probably early March, mid-March, there were calls from people within the party and all over the media for Hillary to drop out, said one former PUMA who requested anonymity to speak freely on the topic. Even at that point, she could not overtake him in delegates, and we are way further and past that here at this point in time.

The former PUMA said there are parallels between the most loyal Clinton and Sanders supporters.

I certainly felt an unfairness back in 2008 with the party, I felt like they were backing a particular horse, so I can sort of relate to that a little bit. I do see some differences, though, in parallels with them saying its a rigged election, the former PUMA said.

And unlike Sanders, this person noted, Clinton never egged on her most definant supporters.

We were kinda on our own, the source said.

It remains to be seen whether Sanders will call for his flock to back Clinton if, as the math overwhelmingly indicates, he loses the nomination fight.

Sanders was certainly not ready on Sunday, when he repeatedly dodged that question during an interview on Meet the Press.

Well, the responsibility that I accept in a very, very serious way is to do everything that I can to make sure that Donald Trump will not become elected president of the United States, Sanders said when asked if he felt a responsibility to call for party unity. Donald Trump, for a dozen different reasons, would be a disaster as president. I will do everything that I can to make sure that does not happen.

Whether Sanders changes his tune will determine how stubborn a potential PUMA-like movement for him would be, according to Kyle Raccio, a former PUMA turned Tea Partier who is now supporting Trump.

I think it all depends on what his advice to his supporters is, he said. Theres likely to be enormous pressure for him from Democrats to endorse immediately at that point.

However, Raccio and several others interviewed by The Daily Beast noted that Sanderss supporters have less ground to stand on given how far behind he is in the popular vote.

In 2008, Hillary was leading Obama in the popular vote, and there were a lot of voters... who felt disenfranchised, Raccio said. She had a stronger case for going forward than Bernie Sanders does. In contrast, Bernie is further behind in pledged delegates than Hillary was eight years ago and is currently behind in the national popular vote by over 3 million votes.

Thats exactly why Alessandro Machi, who runs dailypuma.com, rejected the comparison between Sanderss and Clintons most devout followers.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton was below 100 pledged delegates behind. And the most she ever was was like 90 behind, and she closed it to 59 by the end of the election, he said.

Still, Machi didnt think their loyalty was misplaced.

I think theres definitely, theres always been an emotional connection in a campaign, he said.
The Big Bird-yellow plastic tube held a cigar as brittle as a pile of autumn leaves.

The nearly-four-decades-old stick was produced by some Tampa outfit called Rigoletto, the particular label a Londonaire.

Its not a particularly well-regarded smoke these days. It is, however, the cigar my father passed out on the fateful day back in February of 1979 when I was born.

Its a familiar tradition, of course: A child enters the world and the new father runs around the waiting room slinging Its a boy! cigars to every man; he returns to work the next day with a box of Its a girl! stogies to share amongst co-workers.

Heres Yogi Berra sharing cigars in the Yankees locker room after the birth of his son.

Or, proud papa Joseph Kennedy handing out smokes after his twins arrival.

Yet, my daughter was born just two weeks ago, and if Id started passing out cigars at the hospital, I feel like I would have been promptly removed from the premises.

This is principally due to the efforts by some groups and governments to reduce occasions and locations where adults can enjoy a cigar, says Jim Young, president of Davidoff of Geneva North America, one of the countrys most high-end cigar makers.

No surprise, Young thinks new fathers should still be upholding this custom, preferably with his Davidoff Special T. Many fathers want to mark an incredibly special day by enjoying something special with close friends and family to celebrate.

But is that still true in this era when less and less people are even smoking? As an occasional cigar smoker, I certainly wanted to hand out somethingbut something unique.

So I hit up Custom Tobacco and, for about $10 per stick, I soon had a box headed my way. My wife didnt understand why I wanted to do this, but maybe shes not the traditionalist I am.

This particular tradition apparently began with the indigenous peoples of North America, who would mark occasions, like a birth, with a feast of gift-giving.

The ceremony was called the potlatch (pidgin language for to give away), and so often that gift was a primitive version of a cigar.

By the 17th and 18th century, the tradition had spread to American households, where expectant fathers had nothing else to do but pace in the parlor, smoking, waiting for a new bundle to arrive in the other room.

But, even as births moved to the hospital in the 20th century, men were still excluded from the processbarred from the birthing room no lessso what else to do but pass the time smoking with their buddies?

In Richard K. Reeds 2005 book Birthing Fathers: The Transformation of Men in American Rites of Birth, he writes of men-in-waiting who were expected to self-medicate themselves with alcohol and tobacco while their wives struggled in the labor room.

Reed, a sociology and anthropology professor at San Antonios Trinity University, writes, In an age when smoking and masculinity were intimately linked, nicotine helped men maintain themselves during what could be a long and stressful wait.

It goes without saying that a cigar has long been a phallic symbol; what better to puff on to let the world know that impending fatherhood hadnt emasculated you?

This machismo naturally extended postpartum where puffed up with pride over their new progeny, fathers were expected to bring with them a fistful of cigars, Reed explains. These stogies were passed out to each and every member of their social groupswhether they smoked or not.

By the mid-20th century, many cigar companies were capitalizing on the tradition by producing their own gimmicky announcement sticks. General Cigars White Owl label started releasing Its a boy! cigars around 1953. Roi-Tan would soon follow suit.

There were ones from Dutch Masters and Phillies. Here are some Paul Rand-designed Robt Burns and El Producto Its a boy! and Its a girl! cigar ads from the 1960s--though many new dads of the time thought cigarettes more appropriate for a daughters birth.

Unfortunately, though, these cigar were usually mass-produced, dimestore smokessomething that could be quickly grabbed in the hospital gift shop.

The truth is, we suspect many Its a [insert gender here] cigars went unlit, unsmoked and eventually ended up in the trash, notes the BestCigarPrices blog.

Thankfully, nowadays, men are not just allowed but encouraged to be in the birthing roomand perhaps thats what put an end to the cigar tradition.

I scrubbed up and sat by wifes side in the sterile and, yes, smoke-free environment.

And, sure, I would have loved to have been the cool guy instantly tossing Cohibas to my comrades, but post-birth I had to immediately make sure our healthcare forms were in order so that we could quickly get placement in a recovery room. Spending a good hour smoking a fine cigar with my buddies would have been a comical diversion.

For me, the tradition would have to wait a few days.

The passing of cigars can be seen as marking the fathers reentry in society, thinks Reed. Fathers go into ritual seclusion when their babies are born; they reenter the mundane world with ritual fanfare.

Unfortunately, today that fanfare has come to mean a well-timed Facebook post, maybe a bris with bagels, and perhaps, ugh, a bubblegum cigar, a sad symbolic gesture my dad admits he was passing out by the time my sister was born in 1982.

Thankfully, certain manly rituals are starting to return.

Janelle Rosenfeld calls passing out cigars a tried and true tradition, which isnt just for fathers any more. As VP of marketing for Altadis U.S.A.the premium cigar manufacturer behind such brands as Montecristo and Romeo y Julietashe doled out cigars after giving birth to her baby boy.

She suggests the iconic Montecristo Classic # 2 as most fit for the task, telling me many tobacconists have been reporting to her that customers have again started coming into stores looking for the perfect cigar to pass out when their wives are close to giving birth.

Today, many of us are returning to familiar traditions, Rosenfeld notes, especially the tradition of gifting a cigar to friends at the birth of a baby.

Luckily, todays birth-labeled cigars arent just chintzy novelties. Many well-respected companies like Rocky Patel and Romeo y Julieta produce pre-branded Its a boy/girl! cigars, much classier than ones from the past.

There are few occasions more special than the birth of a child, and when it comes to parents buying cigars to commemorate the birth of their son or daughter we haven't observed a change in direction, says Rachel Mendler, president of Custom Tobacco, an online company that allows you to design personalized cigars for private parties, corporate events, bachelor parties, weddings, and, yes, new births.

Instead of using the age-old slogan Its a boy/girl!, though, there has been a new trend in dads designing bands with their new babys name and birthdate, funny slogans, and even an occasional photo of the newborn.

So, if you see me this week, offer your congratulations, and Ill proudly hand you a Nicaraguan cigar with Cuban seed and a lavender ring on it reading: EllieMay 10, 2016.

Then, hopefully, we can find a place where were actually allowed to smoke the damn thing
In 1946 John Kennedy, running for the House of Representatives for the first time, made a point of reaching out to veterans groups during his campaign. The speech Kennedy, a World War II-Navy hero, gave to his fellow vets is not well-known, but this Memorial Day, in a year that marks the 70th anniversary of that speech, Kennedys words are worth recalling for the picture they paint of vets like himself who saw their military experience carrying over to peacetime.

Without fear of being thought sentimental, let alone a war lover, Kennedy spoke openly of the letdown vets often felt on returning home. I have seen it in many of their faces. I have heard many of them mention itthe realization that home was not what it was cracked up to be, he recalled. They miss the close comradeship, the feeling of interdependence, that sense of working together for a common cause.

As a veteran who was not yet 30 in 1946, Kennedy did not have to ask himself what other vets were thinking. He felt it in his bones. When he talks about many vets having a hard time adjusting to post-World War II civilian life, it is empathy, not sympathy, that comes through in his words.

His speech has a hero, the badly burned Patrick McMahon, the engineer on Kennedys PT-109 boat, which was sunk by a Japanese destroyer in 1943 during a nighttime battle in the Pacific. But the speech is not a reprise of John Herseys 1944 New Yorker account of the sinking of PT-109 and the rescue of its surviving crewmen. Kennedy never mentions the role he played in saving McMahons life by towing him to shore in a five-hour swim.

The premise on which Kennedys speech rests is that World War II was terrifying but it brought out a selflessness in those fighting it that made them different from who they were before the war. As Kennedy put it, Men were saving other mens lives at the risk of their own simply because they realized that perhaps the next day their lives would be saved in turn. And so there was built up during the war a great feeling of comradeship and fellowship and loyalty.

For Kennedy, it followed that the bonds the war established among vets often went deeper than even their loved ones could understand. One veteran told me that that when he brought one of his Army friends to his home, his wife said, What can you possibly see in OBrien? Kennedy recalled. The veteran remembered OBrien in Italy, walking with him from Sicily to the Po Valley, every bloody mile of the way. He knew what he could see in OBrien.

Keeping such a memory alive was, in Kennedys eyes, a way of honoring shared sacrifice. The final point of his speech is that the values the war instilled in those who fought it should not be left on the battlefield. Such values deserved a second life in peacetime. The postwar world could, Kennedy thought, be shaped so that it continued the bonds the vets established among themselves as a result of the dangers they had faced in combat. We must work together, Kennedy observed just before the end of his speech. We must recognize how interdependent we are. We must have the same unity that we had during the war.

Much of this speech can be found in Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye, a memoir of Kennedy based on the recollections of two of his closest aides, Kenneth ODonnell and Dave Powers, but its no wonder that over the years this particular Kennedy speech has gained so little attention. It contains none of the soaring rhetoric of Kennedys presidential inaugural or his 1963 Berlin Wall speech. There are not even policy proposals in the speech that would explain Kennedys later political success. Like the classic, coming-home movie of 1946, The Best Years of Our Lives, Kennedys speech is in the end too earnest to be artful.

But there are times when earnestness matters most in a speech, and Memorial Day is one such time. Like his fellow vets, Kennedy had been a speck in a Word War II military in which 16 million served, but it buoyed him to think of the impact so many of them could have on the country.

Nicolaus Mills is professor of American studies at Sarah Lawrence College and author of Their Last Battle: The Fight for the National World War II Memorial.
CLAY  Parts of F.M. 50 and Texas 105 near Brenham remained shut down late Sunday as dangerous floodwaters continued to saturate Washington County where four people lost their lives last week.

Up to 20 motorists were rescued by emergency crews in Washington and Burleson counties during the storm that kicked off Thursday, dropping a record 18- to 22-inches of rain in 10 hours.

Complicating matters, the flash-flooding pushed Lake Somerville over the spillway and into Yegua Creek, which shot into the low-lying area around the community of Clay in neighboring Burleson County, 8 miles southeast of Snook.

There, 200 or so residents essentially have been trapped on the elevated land since Thursday, but none are in any danger, according to Burleson County Emergency Operations Coordinator Duane Strange.

Theyre safe because theyre on a hill, he said, adding that food, water, milk for babies, diapers and other necessities were taken by boat into the area Sunday. The water surrounds them below but theyre up high enough. No one has asked to be evacuated so far.

A few dozen homes and businesses in nearby Somerville had standing water, but officials werent certain of the extent of the damage.

Almost 200 Washington County residents remained without power and several dozen or so people in Old Washington were without water late Sunday. Washington County Sheriff Otto Hanak said crews from Bluebonnet Electric and the water company were close to fixing the separate problems.

As authorities moved from three days of rescue and recovery efforts to the task of assessing and documenting the widespread damage Sunday, the families of four Brazos Valley residents were making memorial and funeral arrangements for their loved ones.

Water rose quickly Thursday evening to the ceiling inside Washington resident Lela Hollands mobile home, officials said. It ended up being the hardest hit area of the county.

Brenham resident Jimmy Wayne Schaeffer, 49, died Friday after his truck stalled in high water. Witnesses told authorities he was able to get into his truck bed, but was swept away by rising waters.

The body of National Guardsman Darren Charles Mitchell, 21, of Navasota was discovered at about 9 a.m. Saturday downstream from where his overturned truck had been found earlier.

About seven hours later, emergency workers located Pyarali Rajebhi Umatiya, a 59-year-old College Station resident, who was found submerged in his vehicle. He had been reported missing Friday morning.

Crews noticed an oil slick in the Yegua Creek area and were able to use side scan sonar to track the vehicle.

What officials have emphasized repeatedly since Thursday is for motorists to obey the warnings to not even try to go over roads with standing water.

It might not look like much, but you have no idea whats under that water  if the road is washed out, said Washington County Emergency Management Coordinator Bryan Ruemke. Its difficult to say exactly what happened in the incidents in which the men lost their lives. Weve never seen this amount of water before rising so quickly. It could have caught the driver off guard completely.

The dangers for motorists in the flooded areas includes livestock roaming loose. An official said a deputy on routine patrol Saturday night hit a cow on Texas 105 because there was no way to avoid it. The deputy was not seriously injured.

On Friday afternoon, the floodwaters washed out fences and pushed more than 100 cows out of pastures along U.S. 290 in Washington and Waller counties. It wasnt clear how many couldnt be saved, but many were as deputies and volunteers worked to direct the cattle to higher ground, prompting the highway to be shut down for several hours in both directions.
New Burlington Area Homeless Shelter director carrying mission forward

The new executive director of the Burlington Area Homeless Shelter says she's excited for her new role and here to serve the community.
Ned Gerard

As a kid, Thane Grauel delivered newspapers for The Hour. He twice won a bright orange "Hot Off The Presses" T-shirt for selling new subscriptions. Today, he returns to The Hour  as managing editor.

"Grauel is uniquely qualified for the job of directing ambitious, topnotch news coverage in Norwalk and the surrounding towns of Wilton, Westport and Weston," said Barbara T. Roessner, executive editor of Hearst Connecticut Media Group. "He was born in Norwalk, and still lives just a few blocks from his original home. He is also a highly experienced, high-achieving journalist. That's a powerful combination."
ST. PAUL  Relatives from near and far gathered Sunday to celebrate 125 years of the Sack Family Farm in Howard County.

Sacks have been farming this land for 125 consecutive years and a member of the Sack family has lived in the home place for 125 consecutive years, said Ron Sack, a fifth generation Sack who now lives in Omaha.

Jordan Jakubowski, a sixth-generation Sack family member, had only to step off his front porch  the original clapboard-sided homeplace that was wrapped in vinyl siding about 12 years ago  to celebrate. Others came from nearby farms, nearby communities and even from other states, including Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas.

Bill Sack, a fourth-generation Sack member and Jakubowskis grandfather, came from a mile-and-a-half down the road to his birthplace, the Sack homeplace at 977 Kimball Road, St. Paul.

There are so many fond memories here, said the 75-year-old Bill Sack.

The 120-acre farm that now grows corn and soybeans was started by Christian and Maryana Sack in 1891. They bought the farm for $2,500 from Matthew Wacek, who helped start what was then known as St. Wencesalus Catholic Church.

The Sacks emigrated from Germany with eight of their nine children. Their two sons, Abel and Lawrence came first in the 1870s, then their parents came next with siblings Joseph, August, Magdalena, John, Frank and Genovefa.

A 1902 photo of the homeplace showed the family had a nice herd of cattle, a full chicken coop, a granary, several sets of horses for working the plow and pulling buggies and a blacksmith shop.

On Sunday, Jakubowskis garage was outfitted with display tables and family memorabilia  everything from Christians original passport, to Maryanas wedding band and earrings, to school and church ledgers and lots and lots of family photos.

Even a wooden bench made to seat six of 12 Sack children at the dinner table as the generations grew was on display Sunday.

Out in the farm yard, an original well and an evolution of tractors was out for the viewing.

Bill Sack said there were as many as 14 people living in the two-bedroom homeplace at one time.

It must have just been wall-to-wall mattresses, he said. The place wasnt very big then.

There were several photos of Bill and his late sister, Darlene, during their growing-up years in the 1950s. One photo captured Bill in a lettermens sweater and Darlene in a skirt with crinolines. All told, Bill Sack spent 45 years in the homeplace.

A lean-to was added to the house to add more space before new windows and siding came about in 2004.

It was the perfect backdrop for the Sack family photo Sunday that included about 150 descendents of Christian and Maryana Sack.

Its a pretty good feeling to be part of this, Jakubowski said.
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Linkedin Imron Cotan (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar  Mon, May 30, 2016

Heated discussions on whether the government of President Joko Jokowi Widodo should issue an apology to victims of the 1965 tragedy have recently emerged among the political elites.



Almost all mainstream and social media have been flooded by the pros-and-cons of the idea. At the grassroots level, the debates have reached a point beyond trading words.



If not quickly checked, it will be very difficult to control. History has taught us so many precious lessons. Negligence may have dire consequences. A prompt and proper response from the government is therefore required if we  as a nation  do not want to see our national unity torn into pieces again.



This concern is not without foundation. As a young nation-state of 71 years, Indonesia still has a series of unresolved historical burdens, which once threatened the existence of Pancasila, the state philosophy and the 1945 Constitution, a fundamental legal framework upon which the unitary state of the republic is based.



Those burdens were political as a result of various opposing camps trying to seize control of the country, using ideologies that were absolutely incompatible not only with Pancasila, but also with the Constitution.



These include the 1948 communist putsch, the Darul Islam/Indonesian Islamic Armed Forces ( DI/TII ) uprising of 1949  1962 and the Peoples Universal Struggle ( PRRI/Permesta ) rebellion of 1958  1961.



The fall of president Soeharto in 1998 with all its ramifications, including the loss of innocent lives, is yet another political chapter that the country has yet to resolve.



These burdens need to be overcome urgently. Otherwise, they will continue to hamper the nations efforts to achieve its national interests, amid fiercer competition for market access and for the acquisition of, and control over, the worlds rapidly dwindling finite resources.



If these political agendas continue unresolved, Indonesian progress will soon be eclipsed by other middle-power countries, such as Malaysia, Thailand, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil.



These emotionally charged debates on offering an apology to the so-called victims of the 1965 tragedy could become our Pandoras Box, potentially triggering much wider and wilder debates on all outstanding political issues. If that is the case, emotionally exhausted Indonesia will be severely inhibited in performing its constitutional duties to develop a united, just, stable and prosperous country.



Worse, it may serve as a starting point for the balkanization of Indonesia. Some quarters  if not countries  will surely be happy to witness the weakening of the nation, for potential threats from the worlds fourth-biggest country would also be diminished.



On the brighter side however, these recent heated debates can also serve as an opportunity for the government to try to find an all-inclusive and dignified solution to all those outstanding political disputes, while upholding to the fullest national unity above anything else.



Though political, these historical burdens contain legal facets. It is only natural therefore to assume that they should also be politically resolved.



In other words, these legal dimensions should not necessarily be resolved through litigation, as amply demonstrated by the experiences of other nations, which went through similar tragic historical trajectories.



Australia and South Africa are cases in point. Litigation proceedings  especially those that put so much emphasis on the sense of extreme self-victimization  will definitely backfire as the concept of victimhood can be conveniently manipulated by all opposing camps as befitting only them. A vicious circle will ensue to the detriment of national unity.



Some have mentioned that it would be praise-worthy if and when all Indonesian people could and would simply forgive each other as we always do during the end of the fasting month. It would be however more dignified, if we, as a nation, could come up with an all-encompassing solution to enable the healing process to take its course.



One of the best possible scenarios is to push the government to issue an all-inclusive apology statement not solely addressed to victims of the 1965 tragedy, but to the whole nation, because during those times of political turbulence it had miserably failed to protect the peoples right to life, a constitutional duty, which no democratically governed country should neglect.



This statement should be designed and interpreted to reflect the governments remorse, and at the same time reaffirm its strong commitment to protecting and upholding the countrys constitutional duties, a solid foundation to prevent a future recurrence of similar tragedies, hence negating impunity.



Former prime minister Kevin Rudd of Australia also issued a public apology addressed to the whole nation, Aborigines in particular, in 2008, for the crimes committed by his predecessors.



This apology has historically humbled the nation ever since and the healing process has also borne fruit. Together with South Africa, Australia is able to leave the past behind and march forward as a united and prosperous country.



The litigation dimension did not appear in Rudds apology or in the case of South Africa.



As a highly cultured nation, Indonesia should also be able to follow South Africa and Australias exemplary footsteps, to enable it to focus its energies on developing a united, just, and prosperous country capable of contributing to global peace and security.



This continual infighting will only prevent Indonesia from shining on the global stage, while it has so much potential, which only a few selected countries possess in this world.

***

The writer was Indonesian ambassador to Australia ( 2003  2005 ), and to China ( 2010  2013 ). He is a member to the Defense Ministers Advisory Group. The above views are personal. It was first published in the Kompas daily.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Mario Rustan (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30, 2016

What will future historians make of Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama 25 years from now? Has the Jakarta governor stopped city-wide flooding from being a fact of life? Was he a rude person, or just a straight talker? How effective was he compared to former governors Ali Sadikin and Sutiyoso? What are his legacies for Jakarta and for Indonesian nationhood?



Four years ago he was the running partner of Joko Jokowi Widodo, who had become the most popular choice to lead Indonesia, and so the former deputy governor with a stereotypical Chinese nickname ( taken from his Hakka given name Ban Hok ) assumed the leadership of the one of the worlds biggest cities, which happens to have the most severe traffic jams in the world.



Chinese-Indonesians both admire Ahok and worry about him. They like his iconoclastic acts, his argumentative defenses and his Christian and Chinese identity.



They also worry that his assertive statements will inflame anti-Christian and anti-Chinese sentiments that might lead to another anti-Chinese riot.



Last year, Indonesian progressives and Governor Ahok shared the same enemies  the old elites who did not like political changes in Jakarta and Islamic thugs who claimed that Jakarta and Indonesia had been stolen by the heathen Chinese.



Jokowi and Ahok were even considered renegades by their own parties for failing to serve their interests, which in turn convinced the people that our political system is rotten and the President and the governor are fixing it.



This year, a rift is widening within the progressives, the people who see themselves as religiously liberal and who voted for Jokowi in 2014. Recently the arrest of a city councilor and a property developer uncovered an allegation of graft surrounding the Jakarta Bay reclamation project.



At first the news was greeted positively by the progressives, who are critical of politicians and tycoons.



But soon a virtual civil war took place. The development started late last year, when there was controversy over Ahoks decision to evict slum residents and to move them into apartments.



Several academics, architects and journalists believed that Ahoks aggressive approach in getting things done should not apply to the poor  not when he is not as aggressive toward the rich.



Consider that there are two camps among Jakartas progressives, which could be labelled the left and the liberals.



Their cooperation went well early this year, during the LGBT scare and during the challenge against the Belok Kiri ( Turn Left ) Festival, aimed to address ignorant rejection of all things left.



The reclamation scandal and evictions from areas like Kampung Pulo and Luar Batang served as flashpoints between these two groups.



The left and the liberals have several similarities. They are religiously liberal and have no problem with Ahoks Chinese background.



They are active online and understand several languages. They are familiar with global news, literature and popular culture.



They are well-educated and believe that information and education could overcome corruption and bigotry in Indonesia. They dislike the religious conservatives and the ultranationalists.



They also have several differences, highlighted well by the debates over Ahok. The liberals want a cleaner, safer and wealthier Jakarta. They support Ahoks bid to lead Jakarta for the next six years.



On the other hand, the leftists want a more just Jakarta, where the poor are helped, protected and educated. At first many of them argued that they supported Ahok, while later attempting constructive criticism, but recently more leftists stated that Ahok should leave in 2017 and a more humane person should lead Jakarta.



The point of the debate is about if Jakarta wants to become Singapore or not. Becoming Singapore means having a clean, safe and productive city with working public transportation, libraries and museums, sidewalks and pedestrian zones.



Liberals are delighted with the idea, while for the leftists it is a dystopia. For them, becoming Singapore is the disintegration of a dynamic community. It is a capitalist dictatorship. It is a lifeless theme park that only pampers the rich. What Jakarta needs is a humane, collaborative and probably even socialist development program.



This might sound like the rift between the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Democrats in the United States presidential primaries, which has also gone ugly.



Like Clinton supporters, liberal Ahok supporters believe that a strong leadership is needed, at least to fight the racists and the incarnations of evil.



After the conservatives are kept at bay, the economy can move forward.



Meanwhile, like Sanders supporters, leftist critics of Ahok believe in social democracy and insist the system must change  better a new possibility than the same old song.



Interestingly, there are Jakartan liberals who support Sanders, although it is very difficult for a Jakartan leftist to sympathize with Clinton. I have friends in both camps and it is painful to see them clashing, albeit indirectly ( even my US friends seem to avoid direct online spats between each other regarding Clinton versus Sanders ).



I think my progressive friends and readers can figure out which side Im on. I subscribe to The Economist, I dance on Singapores pavements and I cannot name a working Marxist society.



I really wish the progressive civil war would pass soon, as we are still facing the same enemies  the religious conservatives and the old elites interested in preserving patron politics. The former is very dangerous for Indonesias future while the latter keeps our nation stuck in the 20th century.



It seems, however, that the civil war will continue, probably all the way to the 2017 gubernatorial election. Of course I agree that Ahok is not a liberal  he is not like Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.



I still believe, however, that he is the best person to govern Jakarta, now and throughout this decade. I completely understand the viewpoints of my liberal and my leftist friends and I have picked a side.

***

The writer is a columnist for feminist website Magdalene.co. The views expressed are his own.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh (The Star/Asia News Network)  Mon, May 30, 2016

He has been a hound, one half of an African-American duo busting crime in modern-day Harlem and has, over the years, matched wits with everything from Martian invaders to flesh-eating zombies.

But Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes, the great detective who continues to inspire legions of adaptations across mediums, is rarely reimagined as a young girl.

With her debut young adult novel A Study In Charlotte, American writer Brittany Cavallaro, 29, fills that gap.

Theres been a gold rush of adaptations, but it seemed like Sherlock was getting reimagined every which way but as a teenage girl. It was important for me to do a feminist retelling of Sherlock Holmes, she says over Skype from her home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

I thought it was crucial to give girls  especially now, with young girls so interested in the television and film adaptations of Sherlock  a genius character that looked like them. I love that Elementary (a TV series with Lucy Liu as Joan Watson) reimagined Watson as a woman, but its important to have the complicated, difficult genius  the person actually calling the shots  be a girl.

Cavallaro experienced firsthand the casual assumption that mysteries are a mans domain.

When she was a young girl, her grandfather gave her little brother a leather-bound edition of the Holmes stories.

It went to him  you know, the boy, the one who my grandfather automatically identified as the one whod be interested in reading about and solving mysteries. And I stole it, she says with a laugh.

Holmes became a life-long interest for Cavallaro, who would go on to study detective fiction when she did her PhD in English literature.

And when she started on A Study In Charlotte, the first book in a planned trilogy, she knew right off the bat that it would be built around a prickly girl genius.

Charlotte Holmes and Jamie Watson, descendants of the original Holmes and Watson, are teenagers struggling to figure themselves out, but are already burdened with the legacies of their ancestors.

Marooned in an American boarding school, the two develop a tentative relationship when they find themselves framed for a classmates murder.

The fun, fast-paced novel dangles new twists and mysteries that pay tribute to Doyles canon. It is also Cavallaros way of confronting expectations attached to gender.

People dont tend to look to girls to be the genius. And when they do, they still want them to be pleasant and social and likable. Charlotte isnt any of those things and I wanted to see what the consequences of that would be, she says.

When youre a girl who doesnt really understand her place in the world, when youre a girl who has the same kind of self-destructive eccentricities Sherlock had, how would that play out? Would we accept Sherlocks flaws if he were a woman? Were tougher on female characters than we are on men.

Her Charlotte is flawed and fumbling: She was sexually assaulted by the classmate whose death she is now being blamed for, and indulges a drug addiction.

Cavallaro says it was also crucial that she stick to Doyles tradition of telling the story through Watsons eyes. In the book, Jamie  whose problems are of the more run-of-the-mill teenage variety, among them hormones and grades  reports on Charlottes frenetic, self-destructive fervour with fascination and confusion.

I wanted him to be the storyteller and for the girl to not be there just to further his story. Shes not a manic pixie dream girl. Shes not just a love interest or arm candy, says Cavallaro.

Shes somebody whos driving the story, whos just fine without him, and he knows it, shows it and respects it.

Cavallaro, who is married, started on the novel in 2013 while she was trying to put off studying to sit a big examination for her PhD. She banged out the draft in about six weeks and finished revising the novel with her literary agent in early 2014.

Months later, the book was snapped up by HarperCollins.

Cavallaro has just turned in the second book and is getting started on the third.

She says: Holmes has been a huge part of my life  Im a Sherlockian and proud of it. So to have this as my Sherlockian calling card, to put my own spin on a character thats been embedded in the common consciousness for so long, is amazing.
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Linkedin Jill Lawless (Associated Press) Wales, United Kingdom  Mon, May 30, 2016

Sam Mendes is finished with James Bond.

The acclaimed British director of "Skyfall" and "Spectre" said Saturday he will not direct the next installment in the popular spy series that started with Sean Connery's startling 1962 performance in "Dr. No."

"It was an incredible adventure, I loved every second of it," Mendes said of his five years working on the thriller franchise. "But I think it's time for somebody else."

Mendes revealed his plans to step down from the series to an audience at the Hay Festival of literature in Wales. A former theatre director whose films include the Oscar-winner "American Beauty" and the somber "Revolutionary Road," Mendes said he hoped the next Bond director would come from an "unexpected direction," just as he had.

His first effort, "Skyfall," was a huge hit with critics and fans alike, with many saying he brought new depth to the characters. "Spectre" was also a substantial success, although some critics said it seemed a bit tired.

Mendes himself indicated a desire to work on something fresh.

"I'm a storyteller. And at the end of the day, I want to make stories with new characters," he said.

Mendes' announcement clarifies that he won't direct the next film, but it's not yet clear if Daniel Craig will return for a fifth turn as 007.

Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba are among his rumored replacements. Both are popular with moviegoers, but Mendes said lobbying by fans is pointless because the decision will be made solely by the series' producer, Barbara Broccoli.

"It's not a democracy ... Barbara Broccoli decides who is going to be the next Bond, end of story," he said.

Mendes said that worked out well when Broccoli chose Craig, a little-known actor, for the key role at a time when he had "zero" support from fans. Many fans now consider Craig's portrayal of the suave spy as having revitalized the Bond series.
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Linkedin Dian Arthen (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30, 2016

Fashion is more than just clothes, accessories and overall good looks. There are many layers to this job that have allowed this industry to survive over time.

Before you make a decision to pursue a career in the world of fashion, you might want to check out these documentaries to see if it is suitable to your interests.

Designer

Dior and I

Back in October last year, the world of fashion was shocked to hear about the sudden departure of Belgian designer Raf Simons from Dior after only three years of being anointed as the creative director of the luxury brand. This documentary Dior and I takes us back to the days when Simons was busy preparing his first fashion show for Dior when he had just eight weeks to launch his collection.

Photographer

Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens

American photographer Annie Leibovitz has been known for capturing many iconic images of high profile individuals from Hollywood celebrities, supermodels and political figures. In Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens, the director, who is Annies sister Barbara Leibovitz, shows viewers a rare glimpse of the photographer's personal and professional lives.

Bill Cunningham New York

Before the internet and social media apps turned every mere mortal into a street-fashion photographer and fashion blogger, there was Bill Cunningham, the street-style photographer who worked for decades at The New York Times. Fifty years after starting to travel on the streets of New York to photograph well-heeled fashionistas and stylish ordinary New Yorkers, Cunningham turned into the subject of the camera in this fascinating documentary that chronicles his everyday life.

(Read also: Denny Wirawan presents elegant kaftan collection for Ramadhan 2016)

Editorial

The September Issue

Ever wonder what it feels like to work with the No.1 fashion publication in the world, the American Vogue magazine, and to get an up close and personal look into the glamorous life of Anna Wintour? Filmmaker R.J. Cutler gains an exclusive view into the inner workings and people behind this fashion bible as they prepare for the September issue, a month thats considered the January in the fashion universe.

(Read also: Luxury fashion world upending tradition to join digital age)

In Vogue: The Editors Eye

If the aforementioned documentary revolves around the life of Vogues editor-in-chief, now meet the past and present fashion editors of the publication who are the visionary women behind all the iconic, influential and high-fashion images of Vogue in this film, In Vogue: The Editors Eye.

Business

The True Cost

We all have the perception in our head that fashion is a very glamorized industry filled with rich and good looking people. This documentary really depicts that assumption by showing the real workers, the underpaid laborers from developing countries who work hard to produce the fashionable clothes that we wear every day.

The First Monday in May

The Met Ball, also known as the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Benefit, is a high-end, black-tie event attended by A-listers that has gained a reputation for being the Oscars of fashion. The annual event, held on every first Monday of May, aims to raise money for the Costume Institute. The documentary The First Monday in May brings you a behind-the-scenes look at the preparation of the highly exclusive Met Gala event, an evening party with the hardest tickets of the year to get.
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Linkedin Verena Dobnik (Associated Press) New York  Mon, May 30, 2016

Gibraltar could find its access to the single European market blocked by a hostile Spanish government if the United Kingdom were to vote to leave the European Union in a referendum next month, the chief minister of the tiny British territory on Spain's southwestern tip said Sunday.

Fabian Picardo told The Associated Press that Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo had warned that if Britain exits the EU, the Popular Party government currently in power would "require that we accept joint sovereignty with Spain to have access to the market."

Picardo said British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond had acknowledged that the European mechanisms in place to keep the frontier between Spain and Gibraltar flowing "will not be available to us if we are not members of the EU."

Gibraltarians were overwhelmingly "on the 'remain' side" in the EU debate, he said.

"But, it's important to send a message to those in the U.K. who think that there would be no adverse consequences for Gibraltar in the event that the U.K. were to leave the EU, that Garcia-Margallo made his point very clearly," Picardo said.

Gibraltar would find its trade adversely affected if Spain took such action, but nevertheless, "we will never pay any sovereignty price either for access to the single market or for any other reason," Picardo said.

Spain's main opposition Socialist Party wasn't against keeping Gibraltar's borders open because it acknowledged it is "an important actor on the economic front," creating 10,000 jobs in the southwest region, Picardo said.

Spain's June 26 general election was hence almost as important to Gibraltar as the U.K.'s referendum on June 23 because a political divide exists over a free-flowing border, Picardo said.

Spain ceded Gibraltar's sovereignty to Britain by treaty in 1713 but has persistently sought its return ever since.
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Linkedin Darlenes Superville (Associated Press) Washington  Mon, May 30, 2016

It's hardly a dog's life of just eating and sleeping for President Barack Obama's pets, Bo and Sunny.

The pair of Portuguese water dogs  Bo with his distinctive white chest and front paws, and the all-black Sunny  are canine ambassadors for the White House, very popular and so in demand that they have schedules, like the president.

"Everybody wants to see them and take pictures," Michelle Obama said. "I get a memo at the beginning of the month with a request for their schedules, and I have to approve their appearances."

The dogs have entertained crowds at the annual Easter Egg Roll and Bo has been at Mrs. Obama's side when she welcomes tourists on the anniversary of the president's inauguration. The dogs also have cheered wounded service members, as well as the hospitalized children the first lady visits each year just before Christmas. In a sign of just how recognized Bo and Sunny are, authorities in January arrested a North Dakota man who they say came to Washington to kidnap one of the pets.

Bo, now 7, joined the Obama family in April 2009. He was a gift from the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., a key supporter of Obama's 2008 presidential campaign who became close to the family. Bo helped Obama keep a promise to daughters Malia and Sasha that they could get a dog after the election.

Sunny, nearly 4, came along in August 2013.

Bo already had a job as a "helper" to Dale Haney, the head groundskeeper at the White House, which happens to be a national park.

"He leaves every morning and he goes down with Dale ... and he's with all the National Park Service guys. And you'll see him, and he's like walking around with them, and looking at the plants," Mrs. Obama said. "I think he thinks he has a job because he takes it very seriously. So if I go out and see him, he kind of ignores me when he's with his worker crew people."

The dogs have a pretty nice life. "They can sit on my lap, they sit on my chair, they cuddle with me," Mrs. Obama said. "I like to lay on the floor with them and blow in their face. I like to make them run and chase each other. But they're so cute, I just love to just cuddle them and massage them."

Presidential pets are always popular and many presidents kept dogs as companions. President Harry S. Truman famously advised: "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog."

President George H.W. Bush's English Springer Spaniel, Millie, "wrote" the best-seller "Millie's Book."

President Bill Clinton's chocolate Labrador Retriever, Buddy, helped Clinton weather the scandal over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

President George W. Bush's Scottish Terrier, Barney, had an official web page and starred in "Barneycam" videos that were filmed from a camera hung around his neck. Like Mrs. Obama, first lady Laura Bush was involved with the video scripts and the taping schedule.

President Lyndon B. Johnson angered animal lovers by lifting his pet beagle, Him, by the ears in front of news photographers.

Obama promised last year to "clean things up a little bit" before leaving the White House in January because the dogs "have been tearing things up occasionally."

Mrs. Obama said her four-legged family members had been nice overall, but she exposed Sunny's naughtier side.

"You know what she does sometimes? She leaves the kitchen and she'll sneak and she'll go poop on the other end of the White House," the first lady said.
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Linkedin Prima Wirayani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30 2016

The controversial alcohol prohibition bill may have been seldom heard about lately, but the political will remains strong to pass it into law within the current sitting period, which will end in late July.



The House of Representatives has laid out an active meeting schedule, with meetings to be held two to three times a week from now until the end of July to ensure that the bill is passed in the July 28 plenary session.



A closed-door meeting last week between lawmakers and the government also agreed to move directly to discussing the bills substance and skip discussions about its title.



If passed, the law will be the first to impose a full nationwide ban on the production, distribution and consumption of drinks with an alcohol content of 1 to 55 percent.



The title will be deliberated later to speed up the process, said leader of a House special committee for the alcohol prohibition bill, Mohammad Arwani Thomafi, a lawmaker from the United Development Party (PPP) which, together with fellow Islam-oriented party the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), has sponsored the bill.



The bill, a top priority for lawmakers as indicated by its inclusion in the 2016 National Legislation Program (Prolegnas), has been put back on the table after all 10 party factions agreed last year to continue deliberating it.



A lot of problems have occurred in several regions because of alcohol, said Nur Rahmat, a Golkar party politician who is also a member of the Houses special committee on the alcohol prohibition bill.



Legislators who support the bill have argued that Indonesia needs a stronger legal basis to control the production and consumption of alcohol, although dozens of regions in the country have already instituted their own alcohol prohibition bylaws, including South Tangerang in Banten, Makassar, Maros, Bulukumba and Enrekang in South Sulawesi and Papua province.



But the voice in the House is not yet unanimous. Some parties want a blanket ban on the production, distribution and consumption of alcoholic beverages, while others want a softer bill that would only control and supervise alcohol.



The PPP, PKS and National Mandate Party (PAN) factions have agreed to call the draft the Alcohol Prohibition Law while the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Gerindra factions insist on calling it the Alcohol Control and Supervision Law, in line with the governments proposal.



The Democratic and Golkar factions, in the meantime, took a more neutral stance by proposing the title Alcohol Law. Other party factions have not submitted a name.



We are proposing a neutral title so that the bills deliberation can be completed soon, said Nur, adding that prohibition, control and supervision could all be incorporated into the bill despite its neutral title.



The debate on the scope of the proposed prohibition is likely to end up at some sort of compromise, committee leader Arwani previously said. It is likely that the bill will allow the production of [alcoholic beverages] with very detailed limitations, he added.



But lawmakers do agree on the main points of the bill to be deliberated, which cover: title, alcoholic beverage classification, prohibition, control, supervision, public involvement and criminal charges.



They are also considering expanding the bill to cover drinks with an alcohol content of below 1 percent and above 55 percent, which are excluded in the existing draft, said committee leader Arwani.



The bill, reminiscent of the US prohibition efforts of the 1920s, has sparked widespread debate, including protests from alcoholic beverage producers, tourist industry players and local community leaders, who argue that prohibition would kill the alcoholic beverage industry.



Even the Industry Ministry, which has joined the deliberation process, argued that a blanket ban on alcoholic drinks would only worsen the situation, as people would try to make their own liquor using dangerous ingredients such as methanol.



If we want to ban something, we need to think comprehensively and handle the consequences, said Willem Petrus Riwu, the ministrys director for the beverage industry, tobacco and refreshment products.



Publicly listed beer producer PT Delta Djakarta, the local producer of major beer brands including Anker, Carlsberg and San Miguel, expressed anxiety over the anticipated approval of the bill.



PT Multi Bintang Indonesia, the countrys largest brewery, has put a break on expansion plans worth around Rp 635 billion (US$47.63 million).

____________________________________

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Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30, 2016

State airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II has cooperated with Indian airport operator GVK Airports to increase visits to the Lake Toba resort area. In the cooperation, Kualanamu International Airport will be transformed into a regional hub connected to the Silangit Airport.

The company said in a statement that the biggest airport on the island would serve routes to India, Sri Lanka and other countries in Asia and Middle East.

"GVK Airports has managed to transform Bangalore and Mumbai International Airports into the best airports in India and one of their portfolios was to increase connectivity between India and Sri Lanka, PT Angkasa Pura II president director Budi Karya was quoted as saying by kontan.co.id, on Monday.

Budi said the company expected to double revenue garnered by Kualanamu International Airport within two years thanks to the cooperation, citing that the firm was also developing flights to cater to the rising demand for haj-bound pilgrimages from North Sumatra.

Meanwhile, GVK Airports airport development president Karthi Gajendran said the cooperation would revolve around an increase in flight traffic, aero business traffic services and non-aero business services.

Gajendran vowed to help transform Kualanamu International Airport into a regional hub.

Angkasa Pura II has teamed up with several airlines to open direct flights connecting Jakarta to Silangit, including with Garuda Indonesia and Sriwijaya Air.

Starting Friday last week, Wings Air also opened a direct flight from Kualanamu airport to Silangit airport. (dmr)
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Linkedin Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30 2016

The National Polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) deputy chief Insp. Gen. Ari Dono Sukmanto will soon take over the top position there, replacing Comr. Gen. Anang Iskandar who is set to retire.

Although the position has not yet been officially transferred to Ari, National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti confirmed the decision, saying, As the deputy, he [Ari] is very knowledgeable about the job. He has the experience.

Ari graduated from the police academy in 1985.

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Linkedin Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30, 2016

People who pass by barely notice the colonial Graanpakhuizen (grain warehouse) building struggling to remain erect beside piles of gravel, sand, infrastructure equipment and general debris at the military office and dormitory complex on Jl. Tongkol in Pademangan, North Jakarta.

Constructed in the 1600s, it is one of the oldest buildings left in Jakarta and yet, residents at a nearby food stall shook their heads when asked whether they knew the historical significance of the building.

The two-story grain warehouse has been left to deteriorate to an alarmingly fragile state. As its walls continue to crumble, wild plants grow through the ceiling and pierce its roof. And yet, with its large wooden window and massive teak beams holding strong, somehow the original elegance of the building remains.

Archeologist Candrian Attahiyat voiced his concern, emphasizing that the condition of the building was worrying. If there is no preservation effort, the building will probably collapse in one and a half years, he predicted.

Candrian said the city administration had not done anything to preserve the building, nor had it attempted to protect the building from activities that may worsen its condition. Part of the problem, according to Candrian, is that the building is located on Army property. The administration discussed taking responsibility for the building several times but an agreement was never reached, he said.

Candrian said the city administration was unable to allocate funds for the building if it was owned by another party.

The building was empty and the door was locked when The Jakarta Post visited the premises, but it appeared as if people had been living inside as cupboards and other equipment was visibly stored there. The settlers had even paved the floor and built a basin inside.

The archeologist said that the remaining building represents merely one-third of the original grain warehouse, two rows of long buildings. The other parts were torn down in 1995 when the city built the elevated toll road. Another part was dismantled to expand the parking space for trucks, he said.

Candrian said the building was built after 1650, following the construction of the Batavia (Jakarta) wall. The building was used as a grain warehouse by the Dutch East India Company [VOC], he said.

The building was not torn down by Marshal Daendels when he moved Batavia south of Kota Tua in 1809. As the building was still functional. It was not torn down, Candrian said, adding that, visitors were still able to see the remaining defensive wall and bastion  most of which was torn down by Daendel  as the wall of Batavia had become the wall of the building. Candrian explained that after it was taken over by the military, the building had been rented to several private entities for storage and had been used as an office until last year. It is too dangerous to live in the building now. It may collapse at any time, he said.

Candrian urged the city administration to take over the building and preserve it before it was too late.

Indonesian Architecture Documentation Center (PDAI) executive director Febriyanti Suryaningsih whose team surveyed the building, expressed her concern over the negligence of the building.

We are afraid that the cement will prevent water from being dissolved by the earth, so the building will be inundated, she said.

Behind the building, Febriyanti said, was the abandoned Dutch Colonial wall. If we look, it is possible to see traces of the wall, for example, the path soldiers passed while watching the port, she said.

She said she hoped the city administration could conduct research to determine the best way to preserve the heritage of the building.

Muhammad Gugun, a resident who lives behind the building said that the cement mixing activities had started in 2012. The cement mixing site was previously located not far from here but then it moved to the building, he said.

Gugun said the building was once used as the office of the company that produced the cement. A number of officials came and asked them to vacant the building, he said, adding that he, however, had not seen any attempt made to save the building.
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Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30 2016

Publicly listed coal miner PT Bayan Resources is looking to increase its share of the domestic market with its increased production of low-calorie coal suitable for power plants.



Bayan director overseeing business development Russel Neil said the company was aiming for 10 to 15 percent of the domestic market this year from 5 percent last year, as part of its goal to secure 30 percent market share by 2018.



The company has set up a special division to boost local sales.



In the past we specialized 100 percent in exports as we didnt have much low-calorie coal but the supply has shifted and we dont have much high-calorie anymore, Neil explained at a press conference in Jakarta on Friday.



High-calorie coal produces more heat as a result of its mature age, it is used for manufacturing and sells for higher prices. Low-calorie coal produces less heat, is cheaper and is usually used for power plants.



Bayan will be banking on the governments grand plan to increase power generation by 35,000 megawatts by 2019.



The firm, which started mining in 1997, is bidding to supply coal for state electricity company PLNs power stations as well as independent power producers (IPPs), including the 2,035 MW Paiton power station complex in Paiton, Probolinggo in East Java.



Bayan will continue to export to its biggest export destination, India, followed by Japan, China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Singapore among others.



Neil notes the significant number of new power plants in the pipeline in those respective countries, creating an additional need for 500 million tons of coal every year within seven years.



In the face of this huge potential future demand, Bayan has confidence in its production capacity as it already has secured at least 700 million tons of coal supply through its biggest mine site at Tabang, East Kalimantan.



There is enough for now that weve actually stopped drilling there. If we drill more we can find another billion tons of coal, he said.



Aside from Tabang, Bayan has 15 other smaller sites in East Kalimantan and South Kalimantan.



To maximize production and distribution from Tabang, the company last year built a 69-kilometer road from the mining area to a new barge loading facility on the Kedang Kepala River.



This year, Bayan will continue building and renovating the area, having allocated somewhere in the region of US$40 million for this purpose.



With better infrastructure for the more efficient supply of a greater volume of low-cost low-calorie coal, the company expects an improved business performance this year despite the persistently low coal prices worldwide.



Bayan corporate secretary Jenny Quantero said this year the firm aimed to produce between 11 and 14 million tons of coal, up from 11.3 million tons last year, and to boost sales to 13 to 16 million tons, up from 8.9 million tons.



Revenues are expected to reach $400 million to $600 million this year from $465 million last year with average selling prices to be lower at $30 to $40 per ton this year from $52.1 per ton in 2015.



As of March, Bayan had produced 1.2 million tons of coal and reaped $93.9 million from the sale of 2.1 million tons, despite selling prices dropping to $45 from $57 year-on-year.



Global coal oversupply and a weak economy worldwide have caused demand for coal to drop steadily since 2011.



Last year, Bayan saw a more than 25 percent drop in coal sales, while prices dropped 30 percent. Sales value plunged 43.8 percent but the companys losses decreased to $81.8 million from $189 million in 2014 thanks to lower production costs.



We hope the price will go up again as we see it has started to stabilize at $50 in average for the last month, up from $45 in the first quarter, Jenny said.

--------------

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Linkedin Agus Maryono (The Jakarta Post) Cilacap, Central Java  Mon, May 30, 2016

A local leader of Indonesias biggest Islamic organization has called on the Attorney Generals Office (AGO) not to carry out the anticipated execution of several drug convicts during the fasting month of Ramadhan, which begins on July 6.

KH. Maslahuddin, the chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in Cilacap, Central Java, said it was hoped the government would respect the holiness of Ramadhan and give the death row inmates a chance to repent before God in the special month for Muslim people.

After that, please carry out the execution as quickly as possible. Do not postpone it further, Maslahuddin told journalists last week.

He said if necessary the executions could even be conducted before Ramadhan. So that prosecutors, firing squad personnel, the Muslim death row inmates and other parties involved in the execution can be devoted to carrying out their Ramadhan religious services, Maslahuddin said.

He said it was important that the AGO not repeatedly postpone the execution of the convicts, especially in the case of those whose court ruling was already final and could not be legally challenged, so the punishment would create a deterrent effect on other drug crime perpetrators.

It should be conducted as soon as possible -- the sooner the better. The execution and threat of the death penalty must be continuously communicated to the public so that potential perpetrators think twice before committing such crimes, said Maslahuddin.

Repeatedly postponing the execution of the sentences would only open room for perpetrators to file appeals or use other legal measures in an effort to escape the death penalty.

Citing an example, Maslahuddin said the second appeal and a repent and forswear request letter filed by drug convict Freddy Budiman at the Cilacap District Court were merely aimed at postponing the execution of his death sentence.

As reported earlier, the AGO confirmed it would soon carry out a third round of executions conducted under President Joko Jokowi Widodo. However, the AGO has not yet provided details on the date of the execution and the number of inmates to be executed.

The government reportedly delayed the execution due to ongoing legal measures by lawyers of several convicts. The AGO executed 14 people convicted for drug crimes in two rounds last year. (ebf)
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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, May 30 2016

As an effort to provide more protection for Indonesians working abroad, lawmakers are deliberating a bill that will require several of the countrys representative offices overseas to establish special desks to deal with migrant workers issues.

The desks will be in charge of handling all issues related to the protection and welfare of the workers, including monitoring, so that workers will know where to go if they get in trouble or want to file a complaint.

Irma Suryani Chaniago, a legislator overseeing labor affairs, said the governments representative offices overseas that must setup the special desks were Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, home to many Indonesian migrant workers.

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Linkedin Haeril Halim, Tama Salim and Fadli (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Batam  Mon, May 30 2016

With Jakarta and Beijing seeking to calm maritime tensions near the Natuna Islands, another territorial breach has reportedly occurred with the Indonesian Navy again arresting a Chinese fishing vessel, the Gui Bei Yu 27088, for illegally fishing in the same waters.

The case has called into question the seriousness of China in its ongoing high-profile diplomatic lobbying following revelations that a Chinese coast guard vessel once again tried to block, this time unsuccessfully, the arrest of the Gui Bey Yu by the Indonesian Navy on Friday.

Tensions with China are expected to flare again as the Indonesian Navy vows to move ahead with the prosecution of eight members of the Gui Bei Yus crew under the Fisheries Law. Based on preliminary evidence during questioning, it appears that the vessel was fishing in Indonesian territory without a permit.

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Linkedin Ayomi Amindoni (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30, 2016

Missing the initial deadline of May 31, the government has revised the deliberation deadline for the tax amnesty bill, currently being discussed at the House of Representatives, to mid-June and to be implemented in July.

"Hopefully the discussion with the House will be completed by mid-June," said Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday.

He expressed the ministry's readiness to run the tax amnesty program through several preparations, such as a tax amnesty trial simulation system. "Preparation on the field has been ongoing, the system has been checked, tested," he went on.

The ministry has calculated that the amount of wealth that would be declared and repatriated under the law would reach Rp 1 quadrillion, thus generating revenue of Rp 10 trillion to Rp 40 trillion from penalties.

As for the penalties, Bambang stated no change had been made as the ministry was waiting for the deliberations to be completed.

According to the current bill, the penalty rates are set between 1 and 4 percent for those declaring and bringing back their wealth to Indonesia. Meanwhile, those who opt to declare their wealth only will face penalty rates of 2 to 6 percent. The ministry estimated the amount of wealth declared would be larger than the amount repatriated, at Rp 3.5 to quadrillion.

As the penalty rates for non-repatriated wealth are set higher in the bill, revenue from the declared assets would be far higher, according to the ministry, at around Rp 70 trillion and Rp 240 trillion.

Earlier, the ministry's secretary general, Hadiyanto, said bill deliberations would be completed by the second week of June and effectively run on July 1. The ministry has prepared supporting regulations for the bill. (ags)
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Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30, 2016

The Foreign Ministry will submit an appeal to the Penang High Court in Malaysia regarding Indonesian migrant worker Rita Krisdianti, who was sentenced to the death penalty on Monday for her alleged involvement in drug smuggling.

Taufiq Rodhi, general consul at the Indonesian Consulate General in Penang, said Indonesian officials had instructed an attorney from law firm Goi & Azzura to submit an appeal as the ruling was still at the first level of the court system.

"Through the Foreign Ministry, we will keep coordinating with all stakeholders who can help us to provide evidence that could lessen [the punishment]," Taufiq said in a statement.

The opportunity remained, therefore, for further defense from the Indonesian side, he added.

The ministry said it had also cooperated and coordinated with the Indonesian Consulate General in Hong Kong, the country where Rita worked from January to April 2013, as well as the local administration of Ponorogo regency, East Java, where Rita is registered as a resident.

It was also coordinating closely with Rita's family, who attended the hearing with the Consulate General in Penang, Taufiq said.

Indonesian NGOs such as Migrant Care have been given permission to monitor the development of the case, which held its 21st hearing on Monday.

Separately, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha Nasir asserted that officials would keep pushing and monitoring the appeal process. He gave his assurances that the legal process was still ongoing.

Rita has been sentenced to the death penalty under section 39B of Malaysias 1952 Dangerous Drugs Act, following her arrest on July 10, 2013, when Malaysian authorities at Penangs Bayan Lepas Airport found over 4 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine in her bag.

She claimed she did not know about the meth, saying the bag belonged to a fellow Indonesian who had managed her travel arrangements from Hong Kong to Penang, via Bangkok and New Delhi.

According to the Foreign Ministry, there are currently 154 Indonesian convicts on death row in Malaysia, with 102 citizens  66 percent  involved in drug cases.

The ministry has coordinated closely with the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) to assist the Indonesians by providing information to those who are allegedly victims of drug smuggling.

Workers in Indonesia have begun to show their solidarity with Rita by changing their display pictures on Facebook. The hashtag #SaveRitaKrisdianti has also been widely used. Demonstrations have taken place outside the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta, demanding the release of Rita and safety for other Indonesian migrant workers facing the death penalty. (dan)
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Linkedin Slamet Susanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Mon, May 30 2016

High tides caused by changing pressure in the oceans have damaged dozens of ships and swept away residents possessions along the coasts of Yogyakarta and Aceh over the past few days.

On Depok beach, Yogyakarta, which is located on the south coast of Java, the homes and ships were hit by 5-meter high tides that swept away furniture from residents houses.

There was no structural damage, but many tables and chairs were swept away by the tides, Dardi Nugroho, a resident and a food stall owner at the beach, said on Sunday.

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Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30 2016

The haj and umrah journeys taken by the worlds largest population of Muslims represent a huge industry for the government, which sends hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to the Middle East every year.



Corruption and poor management, however, have deteriorated services provided for pilgrims, triggering the House of Representatives to propose a law that will regulate the trips to the Islamic holy land.



Under the draft, there will be a separation between haj regulators and operators, both of which are currently under the jurisdiction of the Religious Affairs Ministry. The government will retain a regulatory position, while operational matters will be handled by an independent haj management body called mahkamah haji (haj council).



The House will soon deliver the draft of the haj and umrah management bill to the government, which will get 60 days to review it before deciding whether to agree to work on it with its legislative counterparts.



Chairman of Commission VII overseeing religious and social affairs, Saleh Partaonan Daulay, said that the deliberation with the government might see some hard debate as the government stands to lose control of haj organizing.



The government may object to the idea, but I hope it will not take too long, said the National Mandate Party (PAN) politician.



The haj council would consist of two agencies, a haj fund management (BPKH) and an organizing body (BPHI).



According to Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) politician Ledia Hanifah Amalia, also Commission VIII member, the government was supposed to have established the BPKH last year, as it was mandated under Law No. 34/2014 on haj fund management, which was passed under former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyonos administration.



But so far, haj fund management is still in the hands of the government, which can open the door to an abuse of power.



Once it is established, the BPKH will deal with all matters related to haj operational funds.



Its crucial because the haj funds dont belong to the state, but its money that people entrust to the state, thus requiring professional, transparent and accountable management. Therefore, it should be handled by an exclusive body, Ledia said.



Meanwhile, the BPHI will handle the technical matters of haj organizing. The agency will have branches at provincial and city levels, and be responsible directly to the president.



Furthermore, the draft bill, under Article 5 Point D, defines haj pilgrims as those who have never gone on the haj before, or not within the last 10 years.



This aims to give more opportunity to those who have yet to go on the haj, as Saudi Arabia limits the quota for pilgrims from each country. This year, only 168,800 pilgrims are allowed to do the haj, according to Saudi restrictions.



Currently, this regulation is only a ministerial decree. It will be better to make it a law to give it stronger legal basis, Saleh said.



The draft, Saleh continued, will stipulate stricter sanctions against travel agents violating regulations by, for example, deceiving or neglecting pilgrims.

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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30, 2016

Although people across Asian countries, including Indonesia, still heavily use social media to socialize, a survey reveals messenger penetration is strengthening, giving marketers the option to use messenger-based branding to introduce their products or services.

TNS Global research data said that 55 percent of global internet users used instant messaging apps everyday in 2015. The figure is higher among Asia-Pacific users, reaching up to 61 percent. Globally, the penetration of messenger apps has increased by 12 percent as people would rather use closed platforms.

"In Indonesia, people are leaving social media for sharing and shifted through messenger, especially after the 2014 presidential election. During the presidential election campaign, we were really divided into two sides, supporting Jokowi or Prabowo. When we posted something about our preferred figure in social media, we could be 'attacked' easily by the rival candidate supporters and that was uncomfortable," Enda Nasution, cofounder of Indonesian social media platform Sebangsa, told thejakartapost.com recently.

He referred to the 2014 presidential candidates Joko Jokowi Widodo and Prabowo Subianto.

The TNS survey reveals 54 percent of Indonesians are still socializing on social media platforms such as Facebook, only slightly higher than messenger penetration, which stands 48 percent. This figure shows significant increases from previous periods. In East Asia, messenger use is even higher than social media.

Content sharing is increasing as well, according to the survey. About 23 percent of Indonesians watch videos shared through their timelines or messengers on a daily basis. The percentage of "incidental videos" is almost the same with video platforms such as YouTube or Daily Motion, in which 24 percent of Indonesians watched them on daily basis.

TNS Asia Pacific digital director Zoe Lawrence said the finding opened a new dimension for the marketers. Asian social media such as LINE (Japan), Kakao Talk (South Korea) and WeChat (China) provided the feature for the brand to communicate with their customers through official accounts. Facebook Messenger later followed, installing a bot in its messenger.

"If you can talk to the brand then your costumer will be engaged more and we see that in Asian markets, people does not mind having bot conversations," Lawrence told thejakartapost.com on Thursday.

The bot right now is smarter and more interactive compared to the past. The Facebook Messenger bot, for example, enables users to order Uber rides and food deliveries. In Indonesia, LINE messenger has such a facility to order Go-Jek rides.

"Now, you can carry out customer service activities through the messenger and the process is interactive, more interesting rather than filling in a blank form on a website," Lawrence said.

However, content sharing is different in every market and in the digital market. Lawrence suggested marketers adapt local values to the story they wanted to build in the brand or people would not watch and share it.

"Brands need to understand what is important in the culture and develop content that not only stays to your brand values but also leverages what is happening culturally," Lawrence said. (ebf)
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Linkedin Karl Ritter (Associated Press) Stockholm  Mon, May 30, 2016

Famous for its efforts to put women on an equal footing with men, Sweden is experiencing a gender balance shift that has caught the country by surprise: For the first time since record-keeping began in 1749, it now has more men than women.

Swedes don't quite know what to make of this sudden male surplus, which is highly unusual in the West, where women historically have been in the majority in almost every country. But it may be a sign of things to come in Europe as changes in life expectancy and migration transform demographics.

"This is a novel phenomenon for Europe," said Francesco Billari, a University of Oxford demographer who is president of the European Association for Population Studies. "We as researchers have not been on top of this."

The tipping point in Sweden happened in March last year, when population statistics showed 277 more men than women. The gap has since grown to beyond 12,000. While that's still small in a population of almost 10 million, it's "not unreasonable" to suspect that Sweden will have a big male surplus in the future, said Tomas Johansson, a population expert at the national statistics agency, SCB.

Despite a natural birth rate of about 105 boys born for every 100 girls, European women have historically outnumbered men because they live longer. An Associated Press analysis of national and European Union population statistics suggests women will remain in the majority in most European countries for decades to come. But the number of men per 100 women, known as the sex ratio, is increasing, slowly in Europe as a whole and quickly in some northern and central European countries.

Norway swung to a male surplus in 2011, four years before Sweden, while Denmark and Switzerland are nearing a sex ratio of 100. Germany, which had an unnatural deficit of men after two world wars, has seen its sex ratio jump from 87 in 1960 to 96 last year. Meanwhile, Britain's sex ratio rose from 93 to 97 in the same period. British statistics officials project that men will be in the majority by 2050.

Researchers don't have a clear idea of what happens to a society when the population becomes more masculine.

Tomas Sobotka, of the Vienna Institute of Demography, said in theory a male surplus could increase the bargaining power of women by allowing them to be choosier when picking a partner. But they could also face an increased risk of harassment from frustrated males struggling to find a mate.

Sweden's rapid shift to a male majority  which experts didn't see coming just 10 years ago  has triggered debate among some feminists about the potential impact on women in one of the world's most egalitarian countries.

Statistics officials say Sweden's demographic shift is mainly due to men catching up with women in terms of life expectancy. But the arrival in recent years of tens of thousands of unaccompanied teenage boys from Afghanistan, Syria and North Africa is also having a significant impact.

Sweden's biggest male surplus is in the 15-19 age group, where there are 108 boys for every 100 girls. That imbalance could grow to 115-to-100 this year when the impact of last year's record number of asylum-seekers  including more than 35,000 unaccompanied minors  is reflected in the population statistics.

Valerie Hudson, director of a program on women, peace and security at Texas A&M University, said this should make Swedes concerned, because her research has linked skewed sex ratios in China and India to more violence against women and higher crime levels.

What's happening in Sweden, Hudson said, "is one of the most dramatic alterations of demography over such a short period of time that I've ever seen." She called it ironic that a country considered a beacon of women's rights isn't paying more attention to the issue.

"Are people thinking about whether this could undermine the gains that have been made by Swedish women over the last 150 years?" Hudson said.

Other feminist researchers disagree.

"Hogwash," said Jacqui True, a professor of politics and international relations at Monash University in Australia.

How many men there are in a population matters less than how much a society is shaped by "hyper-masculine" gender characteristics such as aggression and hierarchies where males are preferred, True said.

Annick Wibben, of the University of San Francisco, said gender equality is so "deeply embedded" in Swedish society that comparisons with China or India, where sex-selective abortions have resulted in unnatural surpluses of men, don't tell you much.

"The way in which masculinity works in different societies needs to be taken into account," she said.

In Sweden, there's been little discussion about the surplus, perhaps because of the link to immigration, a sensitive subject in the Nordic country.

Equality Minister Asa Regner, of the governing Social Democrats, twice turned down requests to be interviewed. The main opposition party, the center-right Moderates, also declined to comment.

Elsewhere in Europe, the gender balance is stable or tipping further in favor of women in some countries, including Italy, Spain and Greece. But overall, the proportion of men in the 28-nation European Union is increasing slowly, according to the bloc's statistics agency, Eurostat.

Last year there were 12 million more women than men in the EU, which has a population of just over 500 million people. That gap is projected to narrow in coming decades "mainly because of the decreasing gap in life expectancy," said Eurostat spokeswoman Baiba Grandovska.

Experts say men, particularly in western Europe, are living healthier lives than their fathers, drinking and smoking less, and benefiting from better treatment of heart disease. In wealthy countries, men have moved away from mining and other dangerous occupations to safer white-collar jobs.

Eurostat projects the male-female gap will dip below 1 million in 2080. But such projections are highly uncertain, as the Swedish example shows.

In 2003, Sweden's SCB projected that a male surplus wouldn't happen until 2050. Three years later it moved up the date by 10 years. It barely had time to recalibrate its projections before the moment arrived last year when men outnumbered women.

SCB expert Lena Lundkvist said the gender balance could shift rapidly in other places as well.

"In some countries, the mortality rate for men is still very high," she said. "If men change their behavior, things are going to move quickly in those countries, too."
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Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30, 2016

Known for his famous "blusukan" or impromptu visits that helped catapult his political career, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo wanted to prove once again that he is just like the rest of us, shopping for electronics at Jakarta's shopping centers during the weekend.

Jokowi and his youngest son Kaesang Pangarep were snapped by an onlooker shopping for electronics at Harco Mangga Dua electronics center in North Jakarta at approximately 12 p.m. on Sunday.

Facebook user Tjan Andry, who works at the shopping center, took several photos of Jokowi who went to Harco on Sunday with minimum security, according to his post.

"This is the first time I saw a president go shopping by himself without tight security. Wow, my best president, Jokowi," Tjan wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday along with six photos of what appear to be candid photos he took from across the shop Jokowi visited.

Wearing his signature white shirt and black trousers, Jokowi was seen observing microphones in an audio store that Kaesang was looking around in. There were only two Presidential Security Detail (Paspamres) personnel seen accompanying the President and his son in the photos, wearing Batik shirts and security earpieces.

There were no details of what electronic goods were bought by Jokowi or his son from the store.

Tjan's post on Jokowi's visit had been shared 893 times as of Monday afternoon.

In contrast to previous presidents, Jokowi has been known for utilizing lax security measures especially during visits to regional areas across the country. The former Jakarta governor has gained popularity because of his "blusukan" to meet residents and get firsthand information in the field since his term serving as Surakarta mayor. (rin)

Wearing his signature white shirt and black trousers, Jokowi was seen observing microphones in an audio store that Kaesang was looking around in.(Photo taken from Tjan Andry's Facebook page/Tjan Andry)
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Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30, 2016

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is scheduled to lead two meetings on Monday including one that seeks to revise the election of regional chiefs.

Jokowi will lead a meeting on the second revision of the 2015 Law on Regional Elections at 2 p.m. and a meeting on a government decree on general administration implementation at 3 p.m. at the Presidential Office.

The General Election Commission (KPU) is pushing for the revised 2015 Law to be completed as the second simultaneous regional elections will be held in February next year.

The revision, as part of a verdict set by the Constitutional Court, relates to the first simultaneous regional election in 2015. It includes matters regarding the support for independent candidates, whether or not lawmakers of the House of Representatives and City Council must resign when running as a regional chief candidate and sanctions for political parties who are absent in supporting a candidate in an election.

The House failed to endorse the revision in its plenary meeting at the end of April following heated debates with the government on several points regarding independent candidacies.

The 2017 simultaneous election will be held in seven provinces namely Aceh, Bangka Belitung, Banten, Gorontalo, Jakarta, Sulawesi Barat, and West Papua. The election will also be held in 94 regencies and municipalities throughout 28 provinces in the country. (rin)
It was the cries of children  and the moment they decided they must save themselves  that haunt the survivors of a shipwreck that claimed hundreds of lives.

Two Eritreans who arrived safely in Sicily told The Associated Press on Sunday how the sea kept seeping into their rickety fishing boat despite all efforts to bail the water out. Eventually, the sea prevailed.

Between 400 and 550 on their smugglers' boat didn't make it, part of the estimated 700 migrants who perished in Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over three days last week in the deadliest known tally in over a year, as calm weather and sunny skies increased smuggling crossings from Libya.

"When the morning came, I saw how the children were crying and the women," Habtom Tekle, a 27-year-old Eritrean, told the AP through an interpreter. "At this point I only tried to pray. Everybody was trying to take the water out of boat."

The rickety wooden boat without an engine was being towed by another smugglers' boat laden with hundreds of other migrants, signaling the increasing desperation of the smugglers. Once the second boat started sinking Thursday, the commander on the first boat ordered the tow line cut, apparently to keep his boat from sinking as well, according to Italian police interviews of survivors.

The line, at full tension, whipped back, fatally slashing the neck of a female migrant, police said.

By then, Filmon Selomon, a 21-year-old Eritrean, had plunged into the sea. He told the Associated Press that knew he could only save himself.

"I started to cry when I saw the situation and when I found the ship without an engine. There were many women and children," he said. "Water was coming in from everywhere, top, bottom."

Tekle described people holding onto each other, some dragging others underwater, as the boat was sinking.

"For me, it was very shocking," he said through an interpreter.

Police put the number below deck at 300 and said they all perished as the boat sank. Some 200 more plunged into the sea, but only 90 of those were saved, along with 500 from the first boat.

A 17-year-old Eritrean, Mohammed Ali Imam, who arrived on Sicily five days ago in another rescue, told the AP that one of the survivors told him that the second boat started taking on water when the first boat ran out of fuel.

Italian police said survivors identified the commander of the tow boat as a 28-year-old Sudanese man, who has been arrested and faces possible charges for the deaths. Three other smugglers involved in other crossings also were arrested, police announced.

Italian police tallies indicate some 400 died. But Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman in Italy for UNHCR, put the number of migrants and refugees missing in that incident at 550 based on a higher tally of 670 people on board the second boat. She said 15 bodies were recovered, while 70 survivors were plucked from the sea and 25 swam to the other boat.

Sami said many of the survivors have been traumatized by the shipwrecks.

Most of the people on board were Eritrean, according to Save the Children, including many women and children. One of the survivors included a 4-year-old girl whose mother had been killed in a traffic accident in Libya just days before embarking, said Giovanna Di Benedetto, a Save the Children spokeswoman in Italy.

The UNHCR's Sami also said estimated 100 people are missing from another smugglers' boat that capsized Wednesday off the coast of Libya, captured in dramatic footage by Italian rescuers. And in a third shipwreck on Friday, Sami said 135 people were rescued, 45 bodies were recovered and an unknown numbers of migrants were still missing.

Because the bodies went missing in the open sea, it is impossible to verify the numbers who died. Humanitarian organizations and investigating authorities typically rely on survivors' accounts to piece together what happened.

"The situation is really worsening in the last week," said Di Benedetto.

Survivors of Thursday's sinking were taken to the Italian ports of Taranto on the mainland and Pozzallo in Sicily.

Italy's southern islands are the main destinations for countless numbers of smuggling boats launched from the shores of lawless Libya each week packed with people seeking jobs and safety in Europe. Hundreds of migrants drown each year attempting the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossing.

Tekle and Selomon both fled mandatory, open-ended conscription in Eritrea. Tekle has been on the move for six years, spending time in Egypt, Israel, Uganda and Sudan before heading to Libya to take the risky sea journey to Italy.

"I want to tell the world this way is dangerous for us. Because my brother, sister, family will lose their lives in this channel," Tekle said as he waited to have his arrival in Italy recorded. "Please help us to have freedom in our country. I don't want to stay here or any place. I want my county with freedom."
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Linkedin Djemi Amnifu (The Jakarta Post) Kupang  Mon, May 30 2016

The local administration of Belu is developing a dam that will supply clean water for all residents in the regency, which currently relies on artesian wells or the nearby Silawan River.

The Rotiklot Dam, as it has been named, will use funds allocated in the state budget.

We are currently building the Rotiklot Dam for the long term, Belu regency official Marcel Mau Meta said during a clean water program in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) recently.

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Linkedin thejakartapost.com (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30, 2016

Officials of the Lore Lindu National Park (TNLL) in Poso regency, Central Sulawesi, have closed Mount Rorekatimbu for hiking amid the ongoing Operation Tinombala, a manhunt mission for the country's most wanted terrorist Santoso and his terror group the East Indonesia Mujahidin (MIT).

National park officials decided to temporarily close the area for hiking, TNLL head Sudayatna said on Monday. There are no details yet on when officials will start blocking off hiker entrance points to Mount Rorekatimbu.

The closing was related to Operation Tinombala, the nation's biggest joint operation between the police and the Indonesian Military (TNI) to capture Santoso, aka Abu Wardah, and his followers hiding in the mountainous areas of Poso.

Officials of the national park would open the hiking routes again once the operation ceased, Sudayatna said as reported by Antara news agency.

While the hiking routes are closed, visitors to the National Park could still access and camp at the Lake Tambing tourist site. Most visitors usually spend the weekend camping at the well-known lake.

Despite the closing, many visitors still came to the park -- which takes a two-hour drive from the provincial capital of Palu  with approximately 200 people on the weekend, he added.

Lake Tambing is favored by domestic and foreign visitors for its scenery and the opportunity to see rare birds. The lake is home to 270 bird species, 30 percent of which are endemic, including the Maleo bird.

Located 1,700 meters above sea level, Lake Tambing also offers other several attractions such as orchid parks and freshwater fishing.

Back in April, officials had also temporarily closed the Lake Tambing site as it was used as a base camp by security personnel for Operation Tinombala.

Security authorities have intensified their search for Santoso and the MIT, who are believed to be down to 22 members. The operation started in January. (rin)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30 2016

Vice President Jusuf Kalla launched on Saturday the android-based dawah Islamic preaching app at Istiqlal mosque in Jakarta.

The app was developed by the Indonesian Mosque Council to assist people to preach Islam.

The mosque management is different from that of the past. It is more and more advanced, more efficient, Vice President Kalla said, as quoted by Antara news agency.

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Linkedin Edi Purwanto and Soren Moestrup (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta/Copenhagen  Mon, May 30 2016

Indonesias economic development and resource utilization are largely driven by global demand. At present a large part of natural-resource management is in the hands of the private sector.

Palm oil is a prime example, as the unprecedented growth in global demand, during the past 20 years, has resulted in major changes in land use in the country. Without strong governance and law enforcement on natural resources and land use, the expansion of palm oil production has resulted in a dramatic loss of forests through deforestation, as well as ecosystem degradation.

During the last decade, growing consumer expectations that agro-commodities should be environment friendly and sustainably produced have provided drivers for civil society campaigns on investor and company producer practices to better comply with environmentally friendly and socially sensitive commodities. Such consumer expectations and campaigns have become new drivers of sustainable resource management and utilization in production chains, as well as at landscape level and have as such supported the government in law enforcement on the sustainable production and use of natural resources.

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Linkedin Djemi Amnifu (The Jakarta Post) Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara  Mon, May 30, 2016

Approximately 8,000 families in Belu and Malaka, two East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) regencies, which borders with Timor Leste, have received clean water supplies through the Childrens Safe Drinking Water program, a Procter & Gamble (P&G) non-profit initiative that will be conducted for three years from 2015 to 2018.

Our visit to Silawan village was to commemorate one year of the extending of our clean water aid and to celebrate the achieving of our 10 billion liters of water delivery target through this program, P&Gs Asia corporate social responsibility director Victoria Great said in Silawan village in East Tasifeto district, Belu regency, last week.

Victoria said the company started the Childrens Safe Drinking Water program in 2014, cooperating with more than 150 partners and organizations. The program was aimed at increasing public awareness on the importance of ensuring peoples adequate access to clean and drinking water, she went on.

Victoria said P&G celebrated this achievement together with its partners, comprising civil society groups, government institutions and the private sector in 20 countries, including Brazil, Germany, Indonesia, Nigeria, Singapore, South Africa and the UK.

We are proud to continue to improve the life of families in Indonesia using our innovation, namely P&Gs water purifying technology. We express our thanks to the ChildFund and the Indonesian governments support in helping us bring clean water to families who need it, she said.

Victoria said what the most important thing from the program was, clean water could increase peoples health, helping children to be able to go to school and giving better economic opportunities for their families.

The second assistant of the Belu administrations regional secretariat, Marsel Mau Meta, who represented Belu regent Willibrodus Lay, appreciated P&G and the ChildFund for helping fulfill the clean water needs of Belu residents.

Marsel said the Belu administration was developing drilled wells to meet the clean water needs of people in the regency. The Silawan village had five drilled wells and seven more wells would be built in the near future.

In our long term target, we are in the process of building the Rotiklot dam, said Marsel, adding that the project would be fully funded by the State Budget.

P&Gs home products Indonesia director Nararya Soeprapto said P&G had a commitment to increase and touch the lives of families in NTT through the Childrens Safe Drinking Water program.

We are happy to be here today to mark one year of the journey of our program in Silawan village and get an opportunity to meet with local people, said Nararya.

P&G is sharing the power of clean water to increase health, to continue education and to help create economic opportunities for children and families in this area.

For Silawan village, Nararya said, P&G Indonesia would facilitate the delivery of 65 million liters of clean water for 8,000 heads of families during the period of 2015-2018. We will continue to review the clean water aid program in our long term plans.

Nararya said as part of P&Gs commitment to its two programs, namely the Childrens Safe Drinking Water and P&Gs Berbagi Asa, the company would continue to promote the power of clean water and work to achieve its next target: Providing 200 million liters of clean water for Indonesian people by 2020.

Nararya said that for more than 10 years, P&G had provided around 16 million sachets of water purifier or equal to 160 million liters of clean water for its natural disaster assistance activities in Indonesia, such as during the tsunami in Aceh, earthquakes in Yogyakarta and Padang (West Sumatra), eruptions of Mount Merapi and annual flooding in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, ChildFund Indonesia representative Chandra Dethan said the non-profit organization warmly welcomed the opportunity to cooperate with P&G in the clean water program.

This is in line with our efforts to expand partnerships in finding solutions to tackle challenges, which affect childrens development. Only by involving all stakeholders, including the private sector, we can find an effective and sustainable solution to realizing childrens prosperity, said Chandra.

Silawan resident Maria Goreti, one of beneficiaries of the program, said previously, she had to walk up to two kilometers to get clean water to meet her familys daily needs. [...] We also often had to queue and during the dry season, the water supply available was often not enough to meet the needs of all people, she said.

With the P&G program, Maria said, the clean water needs of her family could be fulfilled with small sachets of water purifier distributed by the ChildFund. To get safe drinking water, she just needed to take water from the river and put the water purifier powder into it.

We want to say thanks to all parties who have cooperated to help our community [achieve] a better life. When children and families get access to clean water and proper sanitation, their life can change, said Maria, a mother of two. (ebf)
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Linkedin Nethy Dharma Somba (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura  Mon, May 30 2016

As the tenure of the second batch of the Papuan Peoples Assembly (MRP) ended last month, the nations eastern-most region is due to select new members to sit at the special council. The selection, however, has been put on hold until the selection process for the Papuan Peoples Representatives Council (DPRP), also designed to accommodate the regions special autonomy status, is complete.

The MRP is a local council, equal to the regions governors, consisting of representatives of religions, indigenous regions and women, while the DPRP is another council that consists of representatives of political parties.

The tenure of MRP members in the second period ended on April 12, 2016, but according to regulations the service period of MRP members ends with the swearing in of new MRP members. However, as the swearing in ceremony for the third period has yet to take place, the service period of current MRP members must be extended, said MRP chairman Timotius Murib in Jayapura.

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Linkedin Safrin La Batu and Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30 2016

In 2012, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Gerindra Party, eager to burnish their underdog status, nominated political outsiders Joko Jokowi Widodo, then mayor of Surakarta, and Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, former Belitung Timur regent, as their ticket in the Jakarta gubernatorial election.



The gamble paid off with the pair winning in a landslide.



Two years later in the 2014 presidential election, the two political parties went their separate ways and nominated their own candidates for the countrys top job, PDI-P backing Jokowi and Gerindra campaigning for the partys chief patron Prabowo Subianto.



The two parties fought a bitterly contested election and bad blood has persisted between them long after Jokowi became president.



But as the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election draws near, the two parties are now mulling a rekindling of their lost love, united by a common goal: Stopping Ahok from being reelected governor for the 2017-2022 term.



The PDI-P said Sunday that it was communicating with Gerindra and other major political parties on the possibility of forming a big-tent coalition for the upcoming gubernatorial election.



The PDI-P, which has the most seats of any party at the City Council, has stepped up its overtures to Gerindra and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) and claims that executives from both parties have responded positively.



So far, we have talked with PKS and Gerindra. We will extend our talks to other parties in the near future, PDI-P Jakartas election campaign deputy chairman Gembong Warsono told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.



Gembong said that Gerindra, the PKS and PDI-P had signed an agreement on taking steps to stop what he called deparpolisasi, or the weakening of political parties by nominating independent candidates, a term coined by the PDI-P following Ahoks decision to run as an independent next year.



With Gerindra and PKS we have agreed to strengthen the roles of political parties, to prevent deparpolisasi, Gembong said.



PKS and Gerindra are in especially strong positions to help the PDI-P nominate a candidate to challenge Ahok, given that Gerindra, with 15 seats at the City Council, and the PKS, with 11, are the second- and third-largest contingents there.



On Thursday, PDI-P Jakartas chairman Bambang Dwi Warsono said his party and Gerindra could agree on jointly nominating a candidate to challenge Ahok, but the two would need further talks to decide who the candidate would be.



The PDI-P has yet to announce its candidate, although it continues to float the names of popular politicians like Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini and Jakarta Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat.



Gerindra, meanwhile, has gone public with three names: businessman Sandiaga Uno, former Jakarta military commander Lt. Gen. (ret) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and lawyer and former law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra.



Sandiaga said recently that Prabowo personally preferred to have Sjafrie on the ticket.



Another major party, Golkar, has yet to decide on its stance for the 2017 election, but could well support Ahok given the good relations between the incumbent governor and Golkar chairman Setya Novanto.



Despite the signal [that Golkar will support Ahok], we will continue talking to them, Gembong said.



Although Ahok has openly declared his intention to run as an independent, he has secured the support of the Hanura and NasDem parties. Hanura controls 10 seats at the City Council while NasDem has only five. Ahoks supporters Teman Ahok (Friends of Ahok) meanwhile, have collected more than 900,000 copies of Jakartans ID cards so far to support the governors candidacy.



On Sunday, Ahok said that despite his decision to run as an independent candidate, he continued to have a good relationship with parties, especially the PDI-P.



I still believe in political parties but Teman Ahok would be concerned if I was endorsed by a political party, he said.



Ahok continues to be the most popular politician in the city. A recent survey of 400 residents by think tank the Populi Center showed, for example, that Ahok was favored by 50.8 percent of people. Meanwhile, only 5 percent of respondents preferred Yusril and only 1.5 percent said they would vote for Sandiaga in a gubernatorial election.

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Linkedin . (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30, 2016

The governments response to rampant sexual violence against children has been given a mixed reception by activists as well as by victims and their families.

President Joko Jokowi Widodo has inked a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) that could lead to child rapists being chemically castrated or even executed.

Helga Worotitjan, 43, who was sexually abused as a 5-year-old, said it took a long time for her to realize that what happened during her childhood had scarred her.

She revealed that her grandmother, a dominant figure in her family, had abused her by touching her inappropriately.

I drew pictures about what my grandmother did to me and told my mother. But she did not really pay attention and asked me to be quiet, she told media at the office of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI).

Helga said that her grandmother treated her well by giving her anything that she wanted and taking her out of town on holiday, which led her at the time to believe what was done to her was a form of affection.

She said she never underwent psychotherapy until 2006 when she thought that there was something wrong with her.

I had trust issues in relationships and also wanted to commit suicide every time I had severe problems []. My psychiatrist explained that occurred because I had experienced trauma as a result of what my grandmother did to me, Helga said.

Helga underwent psychotherapy for five years and she claimed that she was getting better but it would not erase her trauma entirely.

The publics demand for the death penalty has intensified following the gang rape and murder of a 14-yearold schoolgirl in Bengkulu, as well as other rape cases in other parts of the country.

As a result, sexual abuse and violence against children has come into the spotlight, raising concerns over the safety of children.

The move to impose capital punishment and chemical castration on sex offenders has led to local and international criticism, given Indonesias already worrying human rights record.

The country, which implements a tough drug law that has seen dozens of drug traffickers executed, may now see the possibility of even more death sentences.

The new Perppu, which is set to replace the 2002 Child Protection Law, has also been condemned for authorizing chemical castration, as human rights activists and legal observers doubt whether the government has the capacity to carry out such a punishment.

Helga said that even though she had experienced a hard time after the assaults, she believed that chemical castration would not solve or reduce the number of cases of sexual violence against children.

Countering violence with violence is not a solution, she said.

Ahmad Samiran, whose 2-yearold child LN was molested and killed, allegedly by their own neighbor, however, said he supported both the death penalty and chemical castration for rapists.

The resident of Bogor, West Java, who lost his young daughter earlier this month said that what had been done to her was cruel and unforgivable.

There was only one perpetrator, not dozens [like in the Bengkulu case]. The victim was not a teenager or an adult, she was only two years and two months old, he said.

Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) chairman Daeng Mohammad Faqih said that conducting chemical castration was against the professions ethics. He also questioned the procedure for conducting such a punishment, saying the country did not have the expertise to carry it out.

We cannot say whether we agree or not [with chemical castration]. Its not a medical procedure so it is not within the remit of this profession, he said.

Faqih also said that sexual offenses were not merely physical acts, but also a mental problem, and castration only curbed the physical aspect.

He suggested that the government focus on the rehabilitation of offenders. (wnd)
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30, 2016

Chemical castration of child rapists will see perpetrators undergo a two-year medical process following release from incarceration as stipulated in a recently implemented regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) on the protection of children against sexual violence.

"The additional punishment of chemical castration will be carried out for two years after their release, where perpetrators' identities would also be publicized, and they would be installed with an electronic tracking device," Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa told journalists on Monday.

The chemical castration punishment would apply to recidivist rapists as a form of "therapy", Khofifah continued, adding that such treatment was done to prevent perpetrators from committing the same crime again.

The procedure, which consists of regularly injecting antiandrogenic drugs to suppress a man's sexual drive, aimed to protect potential victims from falling prey to pedophiles, she said.

According to the minister, legalization of chemical castration has been effective in reducing sexual violence rates in Germany, England, and South Korea.

Further, she said rehabilitation for victims, the family of victims and also perpetrators would be conducted as well.

The minister was addressing journalists on the sidelines of a hearing on violence against children at the House of Representatives conducted by House Commission VIII overseeing religious and social affairs.

Khofifah, referring to research findings by the ministry, pointed out that boys were the most vulnerable to incidences of violence.

"Boys experience more violence in the form of physical, psychological and sexual abuse," Khofifah said.

She said such incidents happen in school environments by way of bullying committed by fellow peers and friends in their social circle.

Khofifah said 40 percent of bullying cases among boys led to suicide, while girls are most likely to be molested in daylight in public spaces.

Girls were also vulnerable to sexual abuse at home, perpetrated by relatives, she said.

Khofifah said victims of violence were more likely to conduct the same type of abuse they experienced.

"All sectors must undergo improvements for the protection of children, including raising awareness to teachers, fellow students, parents and the public to prevent such cases from happening," she added.

On May 25, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo signed the Perppu that provides harsher punishment for perpetrators of sexual violence against children, including the implementation of capital punishment and life imprisonment.

The regulation has raised the maximum prison sentence to 20 years, while the minimum has been set to 10 years.

Identities of rapists would also be publicly announced following their release while re-offending rapists would receive chemical castration, during which time their location would be monitored by a tracking device. (dan)
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post)  Mon, May 30 2016

Another promise of piecemeal reform of the regulatory and investment framework for investors in the oil and gas industry will not be enough to lure back oil giants to hydrocarbon prospecting in Indonesia, which has always been seen as highly risky by investors. Overall reform is urgently needed to encourage new investment in the petroleum industry amid the harsh conditions faced by the sector over the last two years, caused by both external and internal factors.

In the international market, oil prices have fallen sharply from as high as US$110 per barrel in mid-2014 to below $40 now, discouraging new exploration, except in highly promising areas. But the investment climate in Indonesias oil and gas sector has been greatly worsened by legal and regulatory uncertainty and arduous licensing procedures.

The number of drilled exploratory wells in the country fell to 52 last year from 83 in 2014 and an average 104 between 2011 and 2013. National oil production fell from a peak of 1.25 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2001 to the current figure of below 820,000 bpd. The success ratio of oil explorations fell as low as 15 percent from 20 percent in 2014 and almost 70 percent in 2011-2013

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, May 30 2016

Dozens of community units (RW) and neighborhood units (RT) heads have reportedly rejected an instruction to report conditions in their respective areas daily through Qlue, the city monitoring administrations mobile-phone application.

Agus Iskandar, the head of RW 12 in Kebon Melati subdistrict, Central Jakarta, acknowledged he was under threat of dismissal by the administration because he refused to report through Qlue.

Dismissal is fine for me. I will have more freedom in my life, Agus told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

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Hungarian police say a small airplane made an emergency landing on a busy highway on the outskirts of Budapest.

No injuries were reported in Monday's incident and police were directing traffic at the scene on the M1-M7 highway, near several shopping malls.

An official from a local airport told state news agency MTI that the Cessna took off on a training flight with two people on board and was forced to land because of engine failure.
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Linkedin Wasamon Audjarint (The Nation) Bangkok  Mon, May 30, 2016

Focus on Asean's skilled migrants excludes the most vulnerable group.

The Asean Community, which took effect at the end of last year, has expressed concern about the movement of skilled workers around the region.

But its interest in the unskilled labour remains poor, despite the fact that this group provides the real workforce that dominates labour flows around the region.

In 2007, Asean agreed to the Cebu Declaration, an agreement on the Protection and Promotion of Migrant Workers as a fundamental instrument to deal with such workers from other areas and nations.

In 2009, the widely-known Asean Mutual Recognition Arrangements (MRAs) were introduced, in line with the Asean Economic Community, to facilitate free movement of eight occupations for the setting up of mutual standards accepted by all Asean member states.

The MRAs were designed to serve mainly labour with acceptably high skills, considered a minority in the Asean labour market.

The Asean Secretariat admitted that the majority of workers in the region were people with a medium or lower level of skills in the informal sector.

A 2014 study by the International Labour Organisation and the Asian Development Bank found that the MRAs actually helped just 1 per cent of Asean workers.

International Organisation for Migration (IOM) regional director Nenette Motus said one of the main challenges was the lack of protection and social security. Many low-skilled labourers, especially those in "irregular situations", were excluded from social security systems, she said.

One reason, she explained, was their position in the informal sector, which blocked workers access to social protection provided by their home or destination countries.

They also tended to have limited access to healthcare and referral services, including psychosocial support, she said.

Low-skilled workers also tended to be more vulnerable to ill-health and preventable physical injuries, she said. Many may not have had pre-departure orientation sessions, especially advice on occupational health and safety.

For special concerns regarding women migrants, she said that many were concentrated in domestic work, an area not acknowledged as a work sector and thus not fully protected as a form of labour.

"This could potentially increase the domestic migrant workers' vulnerability to exploitation, abuse and human trafficking," she said.

Another challenge is irregular migration between neighbouring countries in the Asean region, she said, noting that regular migration processes in receiving countries were very costly and applicants had to wait to go through. So, there were considerable numbers of employers in receiving countries willing to hire people irregularly, and pay even lower wages.

Although the Cebu Declaration has existed for more than 10 years, Asean member countries still cannot agree on a concrete instrument to protect migrant workers' rights.

"Coherent and consistent policy on migrants remains a challenge," Motus said, "and thus contributes to the vulnerability of migrants and the difficulty in regularising their status."

Thailand, home to millions of migrant workers from around the region, has raised concern about security matters, although it accepts that they are needed for economic development.

"We tend to think of the economy when it comes to labour issues," an official at the Labour Ministry said "but some may seem to forget that it is also largely about national security."

While many are designed to facilitate labour with skills, the official revealed that his office has not considered those with lower skills.

"We're not welcoming alien low-skilled labour, but we need to rely on them," he admitted, reasoning that Thailand's birth-rate has been declining and Thai citizens, overall, are getting better educated. Those trends have reduced a number of Thai in low-skilled occupations in the market, he said.

The Labour Ministry has pushed a decree on alien labour management in the country but it is still being considered by the Council of State.

The decree was designed in a bid to draw stricter lines on workers. For instance, it will stipulate that all incoming foreign workers must be approved by responsible registrars before they are able to work in the Kingdom.

Future legislation will also adopt stricter legal measures in a bid to force employers and recruitment agencies to register all foreign employees, he said.

He said the decree, while it sounds not very different from current laws, would help protect "alien" (foreign) low-skilled workers, who usually have less protection compared to people deemed to have skills, with effectively.

For Thailand to achieve greater labor management, the official said it could not be denied that the country would eventually have to look to have a more skilled workforce.
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Linkedin Julliane Love De Jesus (Philippine Daily Inquirer) Davao City, Philippines  Mon, May 30, 2016

A known nocturnal, presumptive Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte plans to tailor his work as the countrys chief executive according to his body clock.

Malacanang (the official residence of the Philippine president) employees wont have to get up too early as their incoming bossPresident-elect Rodrigo Dutertewill start his day at 1 oclock in the afternoon.

I would like to announce that my day starts at 1pm. I will be working straight from 1pm even if you want until 12 a.m., Duterte told reporters in his usual midnight briefing at an hotel here in Davao City on Saturday.

Duterte said he does not care whether his schedule would have an impact on government and corporate offices, which have business hours from 8am to 5pm

I dont care about your 8am -5pm schedule. Ill be sleeping by then. How can you make me work? he said in Filipino.

Duterte said he wants to pore over the several documents in his study room, which could take him until midnight, before he signs them on behalf of the entire country.

Unlike others, I dont like to sign them unless I know what Im signing about. It would take time, he said.

Daily travel to Davao

Another factor would be his plan to commute back and forth from Manila to Davao City every day until he has adjusted to living in Malacanang.

Duterte said he will take the last commercial flight, which is usually scheduled for 9pm, back to Davao City from Manila every day. Then he would take the 8 a.m. flight back to Manila the next day.

My bed is here. My room is here. My home is my comfort zone. Its important that I can sleep and take a shower comfortably, the Davao City mayor said.

For the government not to spend too much on his travels, Duterte said he would not bring his security escorts with him, only his executive assistant Bong Go and another person.

Ghosts in Malacanang

Duterte, who has served as a mayor of this city for over two decades, said he was also not comfortable living in Malacanang Palace, the official residence of the President of the Philippines.

Why? Because Duterte said he has a prejudice against Malacanang.

Ask Imee Marcos. I spoke to her. She was here the other night. There are really ghosts there. I asked her, How many did you see? She said five, he said in jest.

Asked why he met with the Ilocos Norte governor, Duterte said Marcos paid him a visit while she was in the province to attend a social commitment.
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Linkedin (Sin Chew Daily/ANN) Kuala Lumpur  Mon, May 30, 2016

Largest ruling party Umno's move to allow Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party to table an amendment bill on the Islamic criminal law in the parliament has sparked backlash from the country's non-Muslim community concerned about a precedent that will eventually turn Malaysia into an Islamic state.

Several Malaysian non-Muslim ministers have voiced their frustration, and are prepared to quit their Cabinet posts if the hudud bill gets its way in the Parliament.

Among them were three Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) ministers and four deputy ministers who have vowed to block the bill at all costs, even to the extent of losing their Cabinet posts, while Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)'s president S. Subramaniam has also said he would quit as health minister if the bill gets passed.

Several major Chinese organizations in the country have also voiced their strong objection to the bill, stressing that the Islamic criminal law is not suitable to be implemented in a multiracial secular state like Malaysia.

MCA president Liow Tiong Lai announced that his party would launch a civic campaign to get more Malaysians to defend the country's constitution and oppose Islamist party PAS' tabling of the amendment bill on hudud in the parliament.

He reiterated that MCA would take further actions to lead the Chinese community and the rest of the country in this critically important civic movement.

He said he had approached several BN component parties over the campaign in hope of securing their cooperation to work together to defend the constitution for the sake of the country's future survival.

When asked whether the campaign would include opposition parties such as DAP, Liow said the most vital issue now was to block the bill, and during such a critical moment everyone would be looking at the best solution to ensure that the objectives were met.
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Linkedin Pratch Rujivanarom (The Nation/ANN) Stung Treng, Cambodia  Mon, May 30, 2016

At least 80 Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River are threatened by He Don Sahong Dam on the Laos-Cambodian border.

He Don Sahong hydroelectric dam threatens the last 80 Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River - as well as the livelihoods of the people downstream in Cambodia, who depend heavily on the rivers resources.

The people in Preah Romkel village of Stung Treng province claim their way of life is in danger. The eco-tourism that boosts the local economy will be destroyed if the endangered Irrawaddy dolphins are driven into extinction by the impact of the new Don Sahong Dam on the Laos-Cambodian border. Lok Chanthou, deputy chief of Preah Romkel village, said villagers would be among the first to feel the impact of the dam. The Mekong river ecology would change and there would be no fish to catch and no dolphins to attract the tourists, she said.

"We are an eco-tourism community. Our lives depend on the river and its natural beauty. The dam construction is affecting tourism. If the dolphins die out, the tourism business will die as well," Chanthou said.

She believes local people can generate much better income from tourism since the village was developed as an eco-tourism destination on the suggestion of a local NGO. Villagers now have an income from a dolphin-watching tour, restaurants and homestays for the tourists.

Jedtra Lang, a boat pilot for the dolphin tour, said he can make an average US$20 per day but now he is worried about the future of his career.

"I am very concerned about the dam because I can see that since the dam construction started the water quality is getting poorer and many fish are dying. I am afraid that such a change will affect the dolphins around here. If they die, the tourists will not come and I will lose my job," said a worried Lang.

Chanthou argued that the ecological change to the river cannot be reversed and not only dolphins will die. People who drink the river water and eat its fish will also be hit hard by the dam, she said. "We are the victims of the dam. The dam will destroy all benefits that the river gives to us. How can anyone compensate for this loss?" she asked.

Looking out from the village, we saw the dam construction site as one of the many channels that form Si Phan Don, or the "Four Thousands Islands". This part of the Mekong River breaks away through multiple tributaries and waterfalls that make it an ideal place for a hydropower dam, but it is also the habitat of the nearly extinct Mekong River Irrawaddy dolphin.

Cambodia's director of the World Wildlife Fund, Chhith Sam Ath, said the population of Irrawaddy dolphins was fewer than 80 at the last count in December last year. The Don Sahong Dam posted a serious threat to their existence.

"The Don Sahong Dam is blocking the main fish migration passage in the Mekong River. It will result in a major fish decline, which will surely cut the food supply for dolphins. [At the same time] the rock explosions and water pollution from the dam construction harms the dolphins directly," Sam Ath said. He said that so far there were not any dolphin deaths due to the dam's impact - but if the dam continues its construction, the future of the animals was dark.

"We need to do something or these endangered dolphins will be extinct. I suggest that the dam construction has to stop as it is the primary threat to the Irrawaddy dolphins," he said.
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Linkedin Myat Su Naing (Myanmar Eleven) Yangon, Myanmar  Mon, May 30, 2016

The government is expecting a boom in tourist arrivals.

Myanmar's Ministry of Hotels and Tourism says it will reform the process for entry of blacklisted foreigners and visa overstays in a shake-up to the tourist sector.

Ye Mon, permanent secretary at the ministry, told the Committee for Foreign Visitors: On May 4, the government formed the committee with officials from nine ministries to ensure the massive numbers of foreigners arriving have a smooth experience. The new government has introduced many relaxations to allow a massive boom in arrivals."

Political reforms have enabled Myanmar to win recognition from the international community and become an attractive destination.

The ministry is trying to increase capacity, develop community-based tourism and open up new destinations.
The Philippine Congress has proclaimed crime-busting Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as president-elect and Rep. Leni Robredo as vice president-elect of a country that has been posting high growth rates but remains saddled with poverty, corruption and insurgencies.

Robredo attended Monday's ceremony at the House of Representatives. Duterte did not; he has stayed in his southern city of Davao since the May 9 elections.

In the Philippines, presidents and vice presidents are elected separately.

Duterte won on an anti-crime platform by more than 6 million votes over his closest rival. The vice presidential race was much tighter. Robredo finished only about 260,000 votes ahead of second-place candidate Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The son of late former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. has raised suspicions of election fraud and has sought an investigation.
Intense fighting between Philippine troops and a little-known Muslim group apparently inspired by the Islamic State group has killed 54 militants and two soldiers, officials said Monday.

Regional military spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan said the operations against the Maute group began last Thursday in southern Lanao del Sur province's Butig town and were still continuing. He said nine soldiers had been wounded in addition to the two who were killed.

The military fired artillery and launched air strikes "to get the criminals" behind the beheading last month of two sawmill workers, Tan said. He said the workers were forced to wear orange robes while being beheaded, like victims of the Islamic State group. Four other sawmill workers were freed after their employers negotiated with the captors.

Troops have not retrieved the militants' bodies, but based the count on intelligence reports and on sightings of bodies being carried away by other militants, Tan added.

In February, the group attacked an army outpost in Butig, sparking days of fighting that killed 24 militants and six soldiers, one of whom was beheaded.

Authorities said the group has used black clothing with the symbol of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

Several small militant factions in the southern Philippines, the home of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic country, have expressed support for the Islamic State group in online videos, but the military says there is no evidence of any direct, active collaboration.
Wildlife officials in Thailand on Monday began removing some of the 137 tigers held at a Buddhist temple following accusations that the monks were involved in illegal breeding and trafficking of the animals.

The director of Thailand's Wildlife Conservation Office, Teunjai Noochdumrong, said three tigers were tranquilized and transported Monday in an operation involving about 1,000 state personnel that is expected to continue for a week.

The animals will be taken to three government animal refuges elsewhere in Thailand.

Cages are prepared for the removal of tigers at the "Tiger Temple" in Thailand, Monday.(Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand via AP/-)

The temple, a popular money-earning tourist attraction in the western province of Kanchanaburi, has been criticized by animal rights activists because of allegations it is not properly set up to care for the animals and flouted regulations restricting their trade.

The monks resisted previous efforts to take away the tigers, and impeded the effort again on Monday morning despite the massive show of force by the authorities. They relented after police obtained a court order. More than 300 officials remained at the temple overnight to ensure the tigers remained safe.

The temple recently made arrangements to operate as a zoo, but the plan fell through when the government determined that the operators failed to secure sufficient resources.
A man who toured the country to prey on drunk girls at parties is now behind bars for twelve years.

Tahir Nazir, 40, from Glasgow, targeted women at freshers events across the country. Tahir Nazir, 40, from Glasgow, targeted women at freshers events across the country.

He rented a car and drove 7,000 miles visiting universities in Aberdeen, Bristol, Cardiff, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Manchester and Oxford.

The court heard how the divorcee had searched online for high school girls and freshers week as well as Swansea University Students Union.

Nazir also surveilled student accommodation, taking 38 images of the Victoria Halls at the University of Manchester.

Police found a fake University of Glasgow student card as well as empty packets of Viagra in his car.

At Manchester Crown Court, Nazir was convicted of trespass with intent to commit an offence, three counts of trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence, sexual assault and attempted rape.

reported on the unrelated spate of sexual assaults Wein Cardiff last September.

Nazir was found on top of a drunk female student after breaking in through a window, on 22nd September. He fled the house in Cathays when her friend woke up, but later returned and propositioned the victim and her friend before their other housemates forced him out.

A few weeks later on 1st November, Nazir snuck into New Lawrence student residences in Manchester behind a student. He tried to followed the woman to her bedroom, but she shut the door before Nazir could get in.

He then tried door handles along the corridor, looking for another girl (CCTV image, right). A woman later woke up to a coke-fuelled Nazir licking her neck and thrusting himself against her.

Nazir was arrested on 6th November last year, after girls in a shared house in Manchester reported someone was trying door handles.

He was linked to the other crimes by DNA.

Prosecuting, Henry Blackshaw said: Evidence shows him travelling from Scotland down into England, through England and down into Wales. All part of sexually predatory behaviour targeted at university undergraduate females.

It was not just targeting them in general, but targeting them within [student] accommodation.

During the dead of night he broke into accommodation using one device or another, and then having done that, on two of the occasions, sexually attacked females who are asleep in their beds.

Freshers week was a time of year when students are full of excitement, getting drunk, no doubt providing easier targets.

Nazir denied all the allegations, saying he had been invited back to girls houses on the first two occasions and was looking for a drug dealer who had ripped him off on the last.

He claimed his trip of university cities was a motoring trip of a lifetime around Britain.

Nazir was jailed for twelve years and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life.
Political posters are a major part of a campaign's arsenal - but they're also a major part of satirists' arsenal too when it comes to the run up to elections and referendums

.

Insults are fired and reputations tarnished - and more recently Photoshop used to its absolute best.

With all the political furore surrounding the EU referendum and upcoming presidential election, here are are some of the best political campaign posters (and some photoshopped gems) ever made:

1. New Labour, new danger

Voters across the country were left terrified by this apocalyptic offering from the Conservatives in 1997.

The poster was born was part of a drive from the party to portray

the new-look Labour Party as a dangerous experiment. It was not that successful.

Designer M&C Saatchi, who also produced the Salmond-Miliband poster, have expressed an interest in working with David Cameron during the EU referendum.

2. Year for change

"David Cameron pledges to protect the English NHS budget in real terms" > Here's his last election poster to prove it pic.twitter.com/5jneeiREq8  John Hurr (@JohnHurr) October 1, 2014

Some people won't recognise the original poster, as this gem is better known for the numerous mock-ups that have appeared.

At first roundly mocked for apparently showing David Cameron with an airbrushed face, people soon realised they could fairly easily replace the text. The rest, as they say, is history...

Sneak preview of @Conservatives poster for last week of election campaign,showing @David_Cameron compassionate side. pic.twitter.com/RABbHdCFm8  TREVOR ALLMAN (@TrevorWAllman) April 22, 2015

David Cameron released this poster in an attempt to show the conservatives are not just for rich people pic.twitter.com/bAtMVVmUYD  Conor = (@conorp42) April 14, 2015

3. Labour isnt working

Labour isn't working. @wwsaatchi realizza il primo vero esempio di "advertising" politico in Europa. 1979. pic.twitter.com/gE5JLoidcH  Iconica Lab (@IconicaLab) May 22, 2015

The Conservative Partys attack on Labours employment record is one of the most recognisable political posters of the last century.

Designed by Saatchi & Saatchi, the long queue was made up of only 20 volunteers who were then reproduced several times over.

The ingenious design helped

Margaret Thatcher gain a 43-seat majority in the 1979 general election.

4. Get out and vote. Or they get in

(Johnny Green/PA)

It's only David Cameron who's been a victim of modern-day photoshopping; William Hague has also been used as a canvas for political satire.

In the 2001 general election campaign, he had Margaret Thatchers hair digitally rendered on top of his face. The poster wasn't very effective in putting voters off, however - potentially becauce

the style rather suits the former Conservative leader.

5. Labours policy on arms

Time for CCHQ to dig this old poster put of the archives: pic.twitter.com/N8FC4Km0Bk  Guido Fawkes (@GuidoFawkes) January 6, 2016

The Conservative party has always enjoying attacking Labour over its military policies.

In 1987, the Cold War was still at the forefront of public discussion and Margaret Thatcher was unrelenting in her criticism of Neil Kinnocks handling of it.

She said at a rally: I do not understand how anyone who aspires to Government can treat the defence of our country so lightly.

Her party then proceeded to create this poster, painting Labour as a party willing to surrender.

6. Dont let him take Britain back to the 1980s

(Labour)

Political satire meets pop-culture here, when the Labour party re-imagined David Cameron as

a character from Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, the BBC series about a time-travelling policeman.

Unfortunately for them, the show was rather popular  as was David Cameron in the 2010 election.

7. And now  win the peace

(Labour)

Dubbed as Labour's finest hour, this poster was used to help claim Government

from the hands of war hero Winston Churchill in 1945.

With the help of this poster, which f

ocused on rebuilding peacetime Britain following years of hardship during World War Two,

Clement Attlee formed Labours first majority Government following a 12% swing from the Tories in the polls.
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Flawless technique makes watercolour wonder-collection

PHUKET: An interesting art exhibition featuring water colour painting is currently on display until May 30 in Phuket town.



By Shayan Amin

Monday 30 May 2016, 10:31AM

Sukit Sukrakans annual Happiness with Water Colour will be on exhibition at Art Exhibition Room by Kanicapat until May 30. A consummate perfectionist, Mr Sukit not only spends three hours every day solely practicing his watercolour skills, but travels all over Thailand and to Europe, where he can relay the beauty of his observations in paint.

Watercolour needs daily practice, quick decisions, commitment. The fewer strokes the better, he says. Mr Sukit, despite his decades of experience as an art teacher, still considers himself a student of his craft, faced with a different technicality to wrangle every day in his effort to depict the beauty that he sees. He aims to create a body of work that is expressive and creative, holding himself to no particular standards and making decisions that are contextually appropriate to his work.

His efforts pay off, the exhibition is reverent in detail, with a sense of vitality that is consistent throughout the entire collection. Considered by many as one of the best watercolour artists in Thailand, Mr Sukits latest exhibit is worth dropping by to experience the beautifully emotive paintings that are on display.

Pab Khien Thai Art Gallery is open from 10am to 7pm at 1 Thepkrasattri Rd, near Thalang Rd and Phuket Rd, Phuket Old Town. You can also get in touch on facebook.com/sukit.sukrakan.

Thanks to Wirachai Pranveerapaibool for acting as translator for this article.
Phuket underpass crack just a shadow, explains highways official

PHUKET: The chief of the Highways Department Phuket office today (May 30) dismissed rumours that a long crack has appeared in the roof of the Darasamut Underpass.

transportconstruction

By Tanyaluk Sakoot

Monday 30 May 2016, 04:24PM

A photo issued by the Phuket Highways Office highlights the heat-sensor wire and the shadow it casts on the underpass roof. Photo: Phuket Highways Office

The crack was only the shadow of the heat-sensor wire along the roof of the underpass, explained Phuket Highways Chief Samak Luedwonghad. Photo: Tanyaluk Sakoot

Instead, it is just the shadow of a heat-sensor wire that runs the length of the tunnel, Phuket Highways Office director Samak Luedwonghad told The Phuket News this afternoon.

I heard this rumour at 11am today. Please do not panic. It is not a crack. I assure you that the Darasamut Underpass has been built to code, he said.

Mr Samak undertook an inspection of the underpass early this afternoon to personally show members of the media the heat-sensor wire that was causing concern among the public, especially through repeated posts on social media.

The heat-sensor will trigger an alarm if the heat in the tunnel gets too hot, and signal for the lanes entering the underpass to close so that traffic does not enter a potentially dangerous situation, he explained.

As you can see, the shadow cast on the roof is from the heat-sensor wire, but as the roof is not perfectly smooth, the shadow looks like a long crack, he added.

Mr Samak urged people to be careful when reposting and sharing reports in social media.

Please be careful before sharing something about a sensitive issue. It can cause much unnecessary worry, he said.
Super star Metinee settles in Phang Nga with her family

Born in Maryland, USA, in 1972, Thai celebrity Metinee Kingpayome was given the middle name of  Washington by her father due to the proximity of her birthplace to the US capital.



By Steven Layne

Monday 30 May 2016, 04:25PM

After I got married in 2007, I changed my middle name to be my maiden name, so my full name is now Metinee Kingpayome Sharples, she explains at the start of our recent interview at Thanyapura.

The famous beauty queen, actress, model, video jockey and presenter is known by her fans as Lukkade (raisin in Thai), or as Kathy to her close friends and family.

Raised in Queens, New York City, she admits that she wasn't always the best daughter in the world during the first 20 years of life in the rough NYC borough, often glorified in hip hop for its street and gang culture.

Both of my parents are Thai. They emigrated to the US in the early 70s. An air steward, my dad went first, and my mom followed when she was eight months pregnant with me... Both worked odds and ends to make ends meet to raise me and my three younger brothers Kris, Mike and Mark. I've always been close with my siblings, especially after our parents got divorced.

It was Metinee who first decided to jump on a plane and return to her roots in Thailand.

I had just finished a semester in college, and decided to take a break and come to Thailand for a semester, to try some modeling... I arrived on my 20th birthday, she recalls.

Her break soon became indefinite and the rest as they say, is history. That first year back, Metinee went on to compete in and win the prestigious Miss Thailand World pageant, before going on to be crowned Continental Queen of Asia & Oceania at the international finals.

Over the years, she's starred in dozens of TV dramas and motion picture films, and featured on countless more magazine covers.

The proud mother of Skye Kingpayome Sharples, who just turned seven this month, Metinee values family.

I met Skye's dad, my husband, Edward Sharples, when I was a VJ for Channel V in 1996. We didn't really get along back then. I was young and he was my boss, she laughs.

Their son, Skye, is the main reason they chose to make a home in Phuket, or Phang Nga, to be precise.

When I was pregnant, we came down to visit a friend who had a villa on Natai Beach in Khok Kloi. We fell in love with the area and decided to look for some land.

They eventually found their tiny piece of paradise and began building their holiday home, naming it White Skies after a white house Edward owned in London, which he sold in order to fund construction of the new house.

We didn't intend to live there initially, just rent it out, or use it for vacations and eventually retirement, Metinee explains.

Crowded Bangkok proved to be less than ideal for a healthy and active family lifestyle.

For kindergarten Skye went to a good school with a Singaporean curriculum, but we found ourselves spending a lot of time commuting, even on the weekend.

Then during one weekend outing at Lumpini Park, Skye turned to me after only 10 minutes on the bike and said 'That's it, mommy I'm done. I'm too lazy to ride anymore.

Soon thereafter, White Skies was finished, and during a family holiday, Metinee and Edward observed how much more happier and active Skye was down in the South, away from the city.

So we said, let's do it, let's move. We started surveying schools and came to Phuket International Academy (PIA) in a tiny soi between rubber trees and mountains, with all the facilities. Ed fell in love from beginning...

Since making the move in August of last year, Metinee reports that her son is the happiest he's ever been.

In only 10 months, the transformation is clear, from that little skinny kid throwing his bike down in the park, to a kid with muscles on the swim team and wanting to do triathlon training twice a week.

He's so lucky to have all this and we're glad we made the move. In addition, we are absolutely thrilled to learn that PIA is soon to become the UWC [United World College] of Thailand this August.

The commuting is not over forMetinee, who maintains a rigorous weekly schedule that sees her three days in Phuket and Phang Nga with the family, the rest of the week working in Bangkok.

I just finished filming the soap 'Songkram Nang Ngam' or 'Beauty and the Bitches', Season 2, which airs on May 23, and I'm working on several other projects ...

Despite such a demanding schedule, she refuses to hire a nanny, and chooses to play an active role in raising Skye.

It can be tiring at times, but when I get to wake up and have breakfast with Ed and Skye in the morning, and make the short drive across the bridge to send him off to school, unwind in the pool or at a group yoga session, before joining the family back home, it's all worth it.
Swimming permitted at some Phuket Beaches, restrictions to depend on surf conditions

PHUKET: Swimming will be restricted at only some parts of some Phuket beaches today depending on weather and surf conditions, the president of Phuket Lifeguard Club (PLC) has clarified.

weathermarine

By The Phuket News

Monday 30 May 2016, 09:46AM

Speaking to The Phuket News this morning, PLC President Prathaiyut Chuayuan responded to a report yesterday that swimming had been banned at all Phuket beaches due to dangerous surf.

There wasn't an absolute ban on swimming. We just closed off certain sections of some beaches, which we deemed too dangerous for swimming. Parts of Nai Harn, Patong and Mai Khao, for example were closed, and we will continue to post red flags, especially where we notice rip tides in the area, he explained.

But swimming will still be permitted at many beaches if there is no signs of danger. The best way to know [whether or not swimming is restricted] is for beach-goers to pay attention to the flags and signs posted, he said.

Mr Prataiyut took the opportunity to extend the invitation to all swimming instructors at local schools to get in touch with the PLC about hosting swim and surf training demonstrations by emailing the PLC.

Surf and swim education continues to be a priority for the PLC and we're pleased to host local students for demonstrations at the beach, or send lifeguards to do demonstrations at local schools, free of charge, he said.

For enquiries, email thailifeguard@gmail.com or call 081-8925549 (English and Thai).

According to the Phuket office of the Thai Meteorological Department, low tide today will be at 10.34am, and high tide at 4:45pm. Wind will be mainly coming from the southwest at speeds of about 20kph and gusts of up to 40kph, with wave heights between two to three meters.
Wet road sends Phuket driver into 10m roadside ditch

PHUKET: A man is in hospital after his SUV slid off a wet road and plunged 10 metres into a ditch near the Phuket Mining Museum in Koh Kaew yesterday (May 29).

transportweatheraccidents

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Monday 30 May 2016, 10:28AM

Kritsanapong Kongsri, 40, suffered neck and back injuries after his SUV plunged down a 10-metre roadside ditch. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Kritsanapong Kongsri, 40, suffered neck and back injuries after his SUV plunged down a 10-metre roadside ditch. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Kritsanapong Kongsri, 40, suffered neck and back injuries after his SUV plunged down a 10-metre roadside ditch. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Kritsanapong Kongsri, 40, suffered neck and back injuries after his SUV plunged down a 10-metre roadside ditch. Photo: Eakkapop Thongtub

Kritsanapong Kongsri, 40, told rescue teams that he was on his way from Kathu to Koh Kaew at about midday when his car slid out of control on an S-curve, sending his white Pajero off-road and into the deep ditch.

Rescue workers had to use jaws-of-life hydraulic cutters to recover Mr Kritsanapong from the vehicle.

Mr Kritsanapong suffered neck and back injuries in the accident and is now recovering at Bangkok Hospital Phuket.
Noem campaign accuses Smith campaign of campaign finance violation

elections
In this photo taken Sunday, May 29, 2016 migrants attend to disembark from the Italian Navy Vega vessel, in Reggio Calabria, southern Italy, after being rescued in the Mediterranean Sea off the coasts of Libya. Survivor accounts have pushed to more than 700 the number of migrants feared dead in Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over three days in the past week, even as rescue ships saved thousands of others in daring operations. (AP Photo/Adriana Sapone)
India plans legislation to close a regulatory loophole that has made it possible for fraudsters to dupe millions of savers, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strives to bring the rural poor into the mainstream banking system.

Unscrupulous operators have bilked savers of billions of dollars by running pyramid schemes or promoting questionable investments in everything from tree plantations to farming emus, a flightless bird.

The most notorious has been Sahara, whose founder Subrata Roy was jailed in 2014 after failing to comply with a Supreme Court order to repay money raised under deposit plans later ruled illegal. The court has asked Sahara to return $5.4 billion to investors in those banned plans.

"Our aim is to take steps so that there are no more scams like Sahara in future," said Nishikant Dubey, a member of parliament's standing committee on finance from Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Parliament could consider a bill in July that would replace weak rules that now govern credit cooperatives operating in more than one state. These are now overseen by just 10 staff at the Agriculture Ministry.

The officials lack the resources to monitor such savings groups and, one told Reuters on condition of anonymity, have faced pressure to turn a blind eye from politicians who personally profit from them.

Mind the loophole

India does not have a unified regulatory regime to counter Ponzi, or pyramid, schemes whose operators typically grab new deposits to meet their promise of guaranteed returns to existing savers.

Such schemes can snowball but are doomed to eventual collapse when they run out of new savers. Federal investigators are probing cases in which 60 million savers have lost some $10 billion.

The lack of sanctions means that kingpins behind failed deposit schemes are rarely punished.

Roy has not been convicted of any crime over his Sahara empire; he was jailed two years ago for contempt by the Supreme Court and recently freed on parole after his mother died.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) does have the power to freeze operations at, and investigate, suspected fraud at collective investment schemes that raise over 1 billion rupees ($15 million) and fall under its purview.

But, say lawmakers, stronger sanctions are needed to protect poor people who often save tiny sums for a rainy day. India's 1.3 billion people live on an average income of $3.60 a day in 2011 dollars, the World Bank estimates.

"The looseness in implementation of state acts, including looseness at the SEBI end, has helped fraud operators to loot the people," said Kirit Somaiya, president of the Investors' Grievances Forum and another lawmaker from Modi's ruling party.

Asked to respond, SEBI said in an emailed statement that it had passed interim orders against 273 entities over the past three years, directing them not to collect money or sell property, for a range of violations.

It issued final orders against another 144 entities to refund money to investors with the promised returns.

The government expects to win opposition support for the reform, yet some politicians and a lobby group representing credit cooperatives oppose it saying it could cause job losses.

Feeling empowered

The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes and Protection of Depositors' Interests Bill, based on Britain's Financial Services Act, would create a committee to decide on whether deposit schemes should be investigated.

This would comprise senior officials from departments such as the home and finance ministries, the Reserve Bank of India, SEBI and the Central Bureau of Investigation, India's top crime-fighting agency.

It would create special state courts to handle fraud cases, and foresees jail terms of up to five years and stiff fines for duping savers. Repeat offenders would face up to 10 years in jail.

If approved, the bill would bar about 1,400 societies that have collected over $30 billion from taking deposits, said a senior official at the farm ministry.

Tougher regulation would back up a drive by Modi to ensure that India's poor have access to regulated banking services. Under the Modi-backed People's Wealth Scheme, 218 million new accounts have been opened.

These are being linked to a national identity card scheme so that account holders can receive welfare benefits directly, to buy cooking gas or for work under a rural jobs scheme, reducing systemic fraud.

Lawyer Rakesh Nangia said the reform would create a stronger framework less prone to manipulation, and positive knock-on effects for investment and growth by channelling savings into the formal economy.

"This is important for Prime Minister Modi's financial inclusion plan," said Nangia, a managing partner at Nangia & Co, a Delhi-based law firm. "It would help the economy if the money was put in the mainstream banking system."
The moment its theatrical trailer was released, it was very clear that Udta Punjab will kick off a controversy.

The film is now amid a brewing controversy. According to reports, the Censor Board has ordered more than 40 cuts in the film, including swear words, a song and scenes showing substance abuse. The politicians in Punjab, meanwhile, has accused the film of portraying the state and its youth in a bad light.

There are two parts to this story. One, politicians underplaying the rampant drug abuse in the state and the controversial 'big brother' role of Censor Board members in certifying a film.

A detailed survey ordered by the Centre in 2015 came up with a shocking report on the widespread abuse of drugs such as heroin, opium and pharmaceutical opioids in Punjab.

The study by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre at All India Institute Of Medical Science, estimated that among a population of 2.77 crore in Punjab, there were about 2.3 lakh opioid dependent people. And this is the number of 'addicts'; the number of 'users' of drugs, were as high as 8.6 lakh.

About one-third drug abusers in Punjab take their opioid drugs through the injecting route and among them almost 90% (29% overall), use heroin, said the study. The drug addiction rate in Punjab is estimated to be 1.2 per cent, which is six times the world average.

The study also reveals gaping holes in the state governments measures to rehabilitate the drug addicts. It claims that while as many as 80 per cent of opioid dependent individuals have tried to give-up the habit, only about 35 per cent have received any help.

It proves beyond question that drug abuse is a serious problem in Punjab. Not to mention the possibility of Pakistan terrorists using the drug cartel to infiltrate India, besides creating an army of drug addicts. It is no secret and underplaying it will not help in addressing the real problem, a point that the Censor Board should take into account putting restrictions on films like Udta Punjab.

Actor Shahid Kapoor plays a serial drug abuser, which makes showing him doing drugs a vital part of the film. Since Udta Punjab deals with a real problem, it is also important to keep its characters close to real life. The expletives, visuals of substance abuse is very unlikely to influence people to take to drug abuse. Instead, it may open up new avenues to discuss the drug abuse-related problems and help understand their consequences more clearly. It is high time the Censors Board acknowledged this fact.

Banning or censoring Udta Punjab is not the solution.
A Delhi hospital is currently treating a one-year-old baby with a rare condition called precocious pubertywhich means he is not only taller than other children his age, but has fully developed sexual organs, extremely high testosterone levels and presence of facial and body hair, a report said on Monday.

Doctors, according to it, say the baby experiences sexual urges too, but is too young to realise what is happening to his body.

The boy's parents noticed the physical changes in him when he was six months old. At first they thought he was just a big baby. But soon, they noticed his genitals too had started growing abnormally.

We thought maybe he was just a big baby, so we did not take him to the doctor. But by the time he was one, it was apparent there was something wrong. My mother-in-law, who has taken care of several children in the family, also said that his growth seemed unnatural. That is when we took him to the doctor, his mother was quoted as saying in a report.

The toddler was then taken to a doctor when he was 18 months old. By then, a report said he was 95cm tall, 10-15cm taller than children his age, and had already started getting facial and body hair.

His testosterone levels were exceptionally high, as high as that of a 25-year-old, because of which he had started experiencing physical changes. Since he was so young, he was not able to understand what was happening. He would experience sexual urges too, the doctor treating the boy was quoted as saying.

It is a rare case that happens once in 10 odd years. Precocious puberty is traumatic for a child of his age. The baby cant express his feelings or understand what his happening to him, while his parents are left confused, said Dr Vaishakhi Rustagi, the consulting paediatric endocrinologist at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh.

If such children are not treated, they will become violent. The physical changes will not be suitable for their age. They will also stop growing after a few years and remain about 3-4ft tall.
A teenaged girl was allegedly abducted, gang-raped, murdered and her body was found hanging from a tree in Nanpara area in Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh.

The incident has triggered outrage, prompting the authorities to swing into action.

Four constables have been suspended for dereliction of duty and two of the three accused named by the victim's father have been arrested so far, police said.

The incident took place on Friday when the 15-year-old girl went missing and her body was found hanging from a tree outside the village on Saturday, they said.

Police suspect the body was hanged from a tree so as to give an impression that she committed suicide.

An FIR has been registered on a complaint of the victim's father against Imran, Sarvjeet Yadav and Ghanshyam Maurya for abducting, raping and killing his daughter.

He alleged that the three had tried to abduct the victim earlier also but failed.

Superintendent of Police Salik Ram Verma said the body has been sent for post-mortem and whether she was raped could be confirmed only after the report has been received.

Police arrested Sarvejeet Yadav last night and Imran on Saturday, while a hunt is on for the third accused, he said.

Expressing dismay and outrage over the incident, women activists lashed out at the Centre saying that those who are celebrating two years of governance, need to pay more attention to curbing violence against women.

"This needs to be condemned and protested... The government which is celebrating its two years of governance needs to pay more attention to curbing violence against women," said former National Commission for Women (NCW) member Nirmala Samant.

Women rights activist Jagmati Sangwan said the law and order situation has totally collapsed in Uttar Pradesh as criminals have no fear of police and the government.

The incident revives memories of the Badaun case, in which two teenaged girls of a family were allegedly gang-raped, killed and hanged from a tree at Katra village in May 2014, triggering a massive public outcry. Later, the CBI, which was entrusted with the probe into the incident, ruled out rape of the two girls.
We have been trained by RSS and can break the necks of Trinamool Congress leaders with our bare hands, these were the words uttered by an elected legislator and the BJP party chief in West Bengal, Dilip Ghosh.

Ghosh made this intemperate comments at a protest meeting in Kharagpur Sadar of West Midnapore district last week. He warned in the alleged wake of violence by the Trinamool activists against BJP workers.

"We can very well indulge in violence if we are attacked. Half of the people here are trained by Rashhtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Breaking the neck with bare hands is no big deal for us," he said, according to an IANS report.

The outburst video of Ghosh against Trinamool activists has gone viral.

Ghosh also spoke of using muscle power against those pose threat to his party workers and is threat was also directed towards those who voted for the governing party.

"We have 8,000 workers in Kharagpur. Trinamool has got 34,000 votes. Now if we beat them up, even their fathers can't save them. Our boys are in jail. When they come out we will get the opportunity to show our muscle power, and we will show it," said Ghosh.

Ghosh is the only heavyweight from the BJP to win in recently concluded assembly election in the state. He won from Kharagpur Sadar seat.

The saffron party won only three seats as the Trinamool swept the polls by winning a whooping 211 in the 294-member state assembly.

"You are showing us 211 legislators. We have 1,400. You have 34 MPs. We have over 270. When you go to Delhi we will get back at you. "We will lock you in your house. We will cut off water supply and power, and then beat you black and blue, he said.

It is not the first time that Ghosh has made such shocking remarks. A week before the vote count, he had called girl students of Jadavpur University shameless and below standard, who always seek company of male students.

His comments were made against the women students after BJP's student wing AVBP members were booked for allegedly molesting girls during a clash with Left-leaning students over screening of a film.
Survivor accounts have pushed to more than 700 the number of migrants feared dead in Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks over three days in the past week, even as rescue ships saved thousands of others in daring operations.

The shipwrecks appear to account for the largest loss of life reported in the Mediterranean since April 2015, when a single ship sank with an estimated 800 people trapped inside. Humanitarian organizations say that many migrant boats sink without a trace, with the dead never found, and their fates only recounted by family members who report their failure to arrive in Europe.

"It really looks like that in the last period the situation is really worsening in the last week, if the news is confirmed," said Giovanna Di Benedetto, a Save the Children spokeswoman in Italy.

Warmer waters and calmer weather of late have only increased the migrants' attempts to reach Europe.

The largest number of missing and presumed dead was aboard a wooden fishing boat being towed by another smugglers' boat from the Libyan port of Sabratha that sank Thursday. Estimates by police and humanitarian organizations, based on survivor accounts, range from around 400 to about 550 missing in that sinking alone.

One survivor from Eritrea, 21-year-old Filmon Selomon, told The Associated Press that water started seeping into the second boat after three hours of navigation, and that the migrants tried vainly to get the water out of the sinking boat.

"It was very hard because the water was coming from everywhere. We tried for six hours after which we said it was not possible anymore," he said through an interpreter. He jumped into the water and swam to the other boat before the tow line on the navigable boat was cut to prevent it from sinking when the other went down.

A 17-year-old Eritrean, Mohammed Ali Imam, who arrived five days ago in another rescue, said one of the survivors told him that the second boat started taking on water when the first boat ran out of fuel. Police said the line, which was ordered cut by the commander when it was at full tension, whipped back, fatally slashing the neck of a female migrant.

According to Italian police, 300 people in the hold went down with the second boat when it sank, while around 200 on the upper deck jumped into the sea. Just 90 of those were saved, along with about 500 in the first boat.

Italian police said survivors identified the commander of the boat with the working engine as a 28-year-old Sudanese man, who has been arrested and faces possible charges for the deaths. Three other smugglers involved in other crossings also were arrested, police announced.
Sharon District Police raided a Netanya forgery operation that manufactured an array of Israeli identity cards. This includes drivers licenses, handicapped parking permits, VIP theater tickets, medical permission forms and credit cards.

Police confiscated printers, computers, laminating machines, and other unspecified digital equipment.

A 21-year-old male resident of the city was taken into custody and the investigation continues.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Holon Chief Sephardi Rabbi HaGaon HaRav Avraham Yosef Shlita has suspended himself from signing off on the citys kashrus supervision, handing the task over to the citys Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi. Rav Yosefs move is compelled by the criminal indictment against him for allegedly abusing his position to advance the interests of Badatz Beit Yosef, which is run by his brother. The ravs move followed a petition filed with the High Court of Justice by the Neemanei Torah VAvodah organization, seeking to compel him to resign.

Last week the ravs attorneys responded to the court petition with the announcement he is handing kashrus responsibilities to Rabi Yochanan Gur-Aryeh, the citys Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi. His attorneys point out that the rav will however continue his other duties as the citys chief rabbi.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Retired Israel Police Chief of Investigations & Intelligence Deputy-Commissioner Yoav Segalovich has joined Yair Lapids Yesh Atid party. The addition of a retired high-ranking police official is a welcome boom to the party. Segalovich and Lapid held a joint press conference on Sunday 21 Iyar to announce the event and to inform the public of their plan to focus on combating corruption.

Yesh Atid announces that Segalovich served in the police for 30 years during which he held a number of senior posts including head of 433-Lahav, Israels equivalent of the FBI which led many investigations against corruption. In fact, Segalovich is known for championing the ongoing battle against corrupt public officials during his career.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Coinciding with national emergency week, as the IDF determines the level of national preparedness, the National Emergency Authority (NEA) conducted a study to determine just how ready the homefront is today. According to the findings, most Israelis know what to do in the event of massive missile attack or earthquake.

However, when it comes to measuring the sense of security, the results are less encouraging with one a quarter of those asked saying they feel safe in the event of a massive missile attack on the homefront  one of the major scenarios included in the week-long nationwide training event.

If one wishes to analyze the data by geographical area, the communities along the Gaza border are most prepared and have the greatest feeling of security as a result of years of rocket attacks and being trained and experienced reacting to those attacks.

The NEA reports only 14% of citizens will wish to leave their homes in a massive missile attack. An encouraging 92% of Israelis responded they known how to react in the event of a major missile attack against Israel and one-third of respondents admit that they have prepared for such an eventuality. Nine out of every ten have already selected the protected area they will use in the event of a missile attack and this is especially prominent among respondents over 50.

Despite the relative preparedness, only one-quarter of the respondents believe they will feel secure during a major missile attack and two-thirds of the public explained they would not report to work during a massive missile attack and only nine percent of parents would send their children to school.

Fifty-four percent of Israelis responding to the poll would prefer receiving necessary information during a state of emergency via WhatsApp followed by other applications and social media. However, respondents over 50 prefer to receive information via the traditional means such as radio and TV. Sixty percent prefer verified accurate information while the remainder prefer more timely updates, even if they are less reliable.

The essence of national emergency week is testing the system and interagency cooperation between emergency agencies says Betzalel Traber, who heads the NEA. Traber adds a great deal of work was done in the past two years, stating the homefronts preparedness level of moderate plus, admitting there is still a great deal of work ahead.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
It has been a number of weeks since the suicide bombing attack on board a number 12 Egged bus in Yerushalayim. About 20 people sustained various degrees of injuries in that attack. The terrorist who perpetrated the attack died of his massive injuries in a Jerusalem hospital. Investigators announced at the time they believe the bomb was accidentally detonated and was most likely intended to blow up in the center of town when the bus was full and not in the southern capital with few riders on board.

It is now reported that investigators have learned the attack involved a Hamas cell of six terrorists planned as string of suicide bombing, shooting and car bomb attacks in the capital and Bchasdei Hashem this did not occur.

Investigators also learned the bomb that detonated on the 12 bus was assembled by one of the cell members and contained components easily obtained and the bomb-maker learned what to do on the internet.

Another cell member wrote a will with the number 12 bus bomber and photographed him before the attack, which investigators learned was intended to be a suicide bombing.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Jerusalem chareidi city councilmen are angered over the fact City Hall has employed a Jewish Shabbos enforcement inspector, who this past Shabbos joined the other inspectors, goyim, in issuing summonses to stores operating illegally on Shabbos.

Shas party officials explain that it is absurd and tantamount to city-sponsored chilul Shabbos by employing a Jewish inspector who must be mechalel Shabbos to enforce Shabbos closure laws. They are calling on officials to immediately stop employing the Jewish inspector on Shabbos. Councilman (Shas) Michael Michaeli sent an urgent letter to Jerusalem City Manager Amnon Merchav expressing opposition to the stores operating in downtown Jerusalem on Shabbos and the deployment of a Jewish Shabbos inspector.

According to the MyNet report, the city has also adopted the new regulation permitting stores owned by Christians to opt to remain open on Shabbos while closing on Sunday.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The Jerusalem Magistrate Court ordered the state to pay a former Otniel resident who was violently arrested during a protest in 2010 against the evacuation of an outpost near Kiryat Arba. Justice Michal Sharvit felt that while the arrest was legitimate, the border policemen used unjustifiable force against the youth.

A number of masked youths threw stones at a police officer and the youth was arrested on suspicion of being one of the masked attackers. The young man was released to house arrest and no indictment was filed against him.

The young man filed a complaint with the Justice Ministry Police Investigations Unit, citing the unjustifiable use of force against him. Simultaneously, he filed a suit seeking NIS 25,000 in compensation for false arrest and the violence used against him by border police.

The court viewed videos taken from the area on that day and heard testimony of the different parties involved. The court decided to award the wound many NIS 20,000 in damages resulting from the police brutality. The state must also pay his legal fees amounting to NIS 4,000.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Jailed drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzmans fight to stave off extradition to the United States has led to a schism among some of the people hes counting on most: his own lawyers.

After two of Guzmans attorneys filed an appeal against the extradition request, a third lawyer quickly disavowed it on Saturday.

Attorney Jose Refugio Rodriguez told The Associated Press that the move was not authorized by Guzman and his client will not sign off on the appeal, meaning the courts would not act on it.

This hurts Joaquin Guzman because it hinders our defense, Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez added that the lawyers who filed it, Juan Pablo Badillo and Jose Luis Gonzalez Mesa, are not part of the team working on the extradition case. That team is still considering the governments arguments and plans an appeal in the coming weeks that El Chapo will approve.

We have a strategy with Joaquin and we are planning it, Rodriguez said.

He suggested that Badillo and Gonzalez may have been motivated by a desire for notoriety.

Gonzalez did not immediately return a voice message seeking comment, and the AP was unable to reach Badillo.

Mexican courts recently approved two U.S. requests for Guzmans extradition and formally sent notification to the Foreign Relations Department.

However his lawyers have 30 days to appeal and the case could go all the way to the Supreme Court, meaning it could be months before a final decision is reached.

The convicted Sinaloa cartel boss is wanted in seven U.S. jurisdictions on charges that include murder, conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine and marijuana, money-laundering and arms possession.

Guzman is currently in a federal prison on the outskirts of Ciudad Juarez, which borders El Paso, Texas. Authorities suddenly transferred him there in recent weeks from the Altiplano lockup near Mexico City where he was being held before, citing work being done to improve security at the facility.

El Chapo broke out of a Mexican prison in 2001 and spent more than a decade on the run, becoming one of the worlds most wanted outlaws before he was recaptured in 2014.

Last year he escaped again through a mile-long (1.5-kilometer) tunnel dug to the shower of his cell at Altiplano.

Mexican federal agents caught him in January in the city of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, the state from which his drug gang took its name.

(AP)
Indiana Congressman Luke Messer will be addressing the 94th Anniversary Dinner of Agudath Israel of America to be held on Sunday, June 5th at the Hilton New York.

Congressman Messer was elected in 2012 and quickly established himself as an emerging leader. In just his second term, he was elected by his peers to serve as the House Republican Policy Chair  the Conferences 5th ranking leadership position. He serves on the House Financial Services and House Education & Workforce committees.

Congressman Messer formed  and chairs  the Congressional School Choice Caucus which is dedicated to expanding quality educational opportunities for every child. School choice programs, such as vouchers and scholarship tax credits, are critically important to the Orthodox Jewish community and Congressman Messer has proven himself to be a leader in this area.

Imagine if every low and middle income student was eligible for a tuition scholarship to attend the school of his or her choice? In Indiana, that dream is a reality, thanks in large part to Congressman Luke Messer, said Rabbi A. D. Motzen, Agudath Israels National Director of State Relations. Agudath Israel is proud to have worked closely with Congressman Messer in the Indiana statehouse to help create the largest and broadest school voucher program in the country. Some people talk about school vouchers, Congressman Messer actually delivered.

With just a few days left until the event, dinner chairman Shrage Goldschmidt, member of the Board of Trustees of Agudath Israel, urged all who are able to attend. The dinner is a golden opportunity for the message of Torah Jewry to be heard by those in the positions of power on the federal, state and local level. The more people who are in attendance, the more powerfully that voice is heard. We urge every person who cares about Klal Yisroel to attend the dinner and strengthen the great koach harabim of Agudas Yisroel.

Reservations can still be made by contacting Agudath Israels dinner office at 212.797.8177, or by email at [email protected]

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Israel Police has recommended to the attorney general to move ahead with a criminal indictment against the Prime Ministers wife, Mrs. Sara Netanyahu pertaining to irregularities in her running of the Prime Ministers Residence.

According to the Haaretz report, police recommend numerous charges against Mrs. Netanyahu including aggravated fraud in three different cases including using public funds for private family affairs.

Police allege that public funds were used to pay for a caregiver for Mrs. Netanyahus father in addition to the alleged use of public funds for the Netanyahu home in Caesarea. In the latter, police recommend indictments against a number of other people involved as well.

It is reported Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was not questioned in this case but he is involved in the so-called Bibi-tours case that is pending on Attorney General Avichai Mandelblits desk as well.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The cabinet on Monday morning 22 Iyar met in special session to approve the coalition deal signed with Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu party. The cabinet also approved appointing Avigdor Lieberman as Defense Minister and Sofia Landver as Minister of Immigrant Absorption in addition to approving the appointment of MK (Likud) Tzachi Hanegbi as a Minister-without-Portfolio assigned to the Prime Ministers Office.

Following the cabinets approval, the Knesset is expected to give its stamp of approval during the afternoon hours, thereby finalizing the process. This will permit the new ministers to be sworn into office immediately.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu raised the issue during his meeting with President Putin in the Kremlin last month, following a request from IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkott, and asked him to return the tank to Israel as it is the only evidence for the families of those IDF soldiers missing from the battle of Sultan Yaakoub.

Over the weekend Israel received notice that Russian President Putin had acceded to Prime Minister Netanyahus request to return the tank  which the Syrians had delivered to the Russian army and is currently at the armored corps museum in Moscow  to Israel.

Prime Minister Netanyahu updated the families of MIAs Tzvi Feldman, Yehuda Katz and Zechariah Baumel.

An IDF Armored Corps delegation is currently in Moscow and  along with Russian army personnel  is considering how to transfer the tank to Israel forthwith.

Prime Minister Netanyahu responded I thank Russian President Vladimir Putin for acceding to my request to return to Israel the tank from the Battle of Sultan Yaakoub. To the families of MIAs Zechariah Baumel, Tzvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz, there has been nothing to remember the boys by and no grave to visit for 34 years now. The tank is the only evidence of the battle and now it is coming back to Israel thanks to President Putins response to my request.

Excerpt from Wikipedia

On June 10, 1982, during the First Lebanon War, the Israeli 90th Division was rushed forward in order to gain as much ground as possible before the cease-fire came into effect.

Late that night most of its 362nd Battalion as well as Pluga Kaph from the 363rd Battalion fought its way through Syrian infantry in the village of Sultan Yaakoub only to become cut off and surrounded. At dawn, the Israelis broke out and escaped to the south with the support of 11 battalions of artillery firing both at the Syrians and in a box barrage around their own troops. In the six-hours ordeal the Israeli Army lost eight tanks and about 30 killed.

Thirty IDF soldiers died in the battle, which was viewed as an Israeli intelligence failure. Three IDF soldiers remain missing in action: Zachary Baumel, an Israeli-US citizen, Yehuda Katz and Tzvi Feldman. The three soldiers were captured and were paraded through Damascus held on top of their captured tank. Time magazine reporter Dean Brelis testified to having seen the three captives alive at the time.

Perchiya Hyman, a brother of Yehuda Katz HYD, spoke with Reshet Bet Radio on Monday morning 22 Iyar. She used the opportunity to praise IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gadi Eizenkott, who she explains was willing to hear from her and the other families and willing to take different measures to learn what happened to the missing soldiers.

Reshet Bet:

Are you less than pleased with the news the tank is being returned?

Hyman:

This is a rhetorical question. After 34 years of waiting with results, certainly the tank is insufficient and I want to know what happened to Yehuda and have his remains returned.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Machane Tzioni party leader Yitzchak Herzog was already probing to see if there was an entrance into the coalition as the coalition crisis between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett threatened to topple the coalition. Bennett on Sunday announced he is ready to move to the opposition if need be, determined to remain steadfast in his demand to appoint a military cabinet secretary over the objections of PM Netanyahu.

Herzog, who heads the opposition, has a party with 24 seats and even if he splits off and brings a portion with him, he would be welcomed by PM Netanyahu. However, peace-making efforts spearheaded by Health Minister Yaakov Litzman during the night brought an end to the coalition crisis, closing the door on Herzog once again.

As a result of Litzmans efforts both PM Netanyahu and Naftali Bennett accepted the deal to end the crisis. This led to Mr. Netanyahu convening a special cabinet meeting to approve the deal and clear the way to bring Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu party into the coalition.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Tragedy in Israel as an 18-month-old toddler, Eliyahu Weingott zl, who was left in a vehicle died as a result RL. Magen David Adom reports the call came in at 11:58AM on Monday morning 22 Iyar, and reported an unconscious infant in a parked vehicle. When paramedics and EMTs arrived, the child was already in cardiac arrest. The child was pronounced dead on the scene RL.

MDA Lachish District Chief Ami Abiji adds When we arrived on the scene we saw the 16-month-old baby unconscious, exhibiting signs of severe heat stroke. There were no signs of life and the child was pronounced dead on the scene.

Eliyahus dad told police that he remembered his child only three hours later and ran to the car, but it was too late. He explained that he dropped off the children at school and kindergarten and the little one was with him too. He only remembered the toddler hours later, and it was too late RL.

Israel Police has launched an investigation into the incident. Both Ichud (United) Hatzalah and Magen David Adom call on everyone to be vigilant, adding simply looking inside a parked vehicle can save a life!!

The levaya began at 4:30PM in Ashdod.

YWN published a video in 2013, in the hopes of preventing such tragedy again. Please watch it by clicking here.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
The following is via OnlySimchas.com:

A New Jersey man charged with vandalizing and firebombing an orthodox Shul and a rabbis home has been convicted of terrorism.

Anthony Graziano was found guilty Friday on 20 counts overall and faces up to life in prison when hes sentenced in July. But the Bergen County jury acquitted the 24-year-old Lodi man of aggravated arson and attempted murder charges.

Graziano was charged along with longtime Muslim friend, Aakash Dalal for the 2012 attacks.

The attack in Rutherford ignited a fire in the bedroom of a rabbis residence. The rabbi, his wife, five children and his parents were sleeping at the time.

The case was the first to employ the states anti-terrorism statute. Grazianos attorney said his client never intended to harm anyone. He said Graziano plans to appeal.

Dalal will be tried separately.

(Source: OnlySimchas.com)
Jewellers are drawing up plans to launch a Made in Britain hallmark in a bid to boost sales.

At present, hallmarking of gold and silver by British assay offices determines only the metal content rather than where the product is made. But now the National Association of Jewellers has begun consulting its members on plans to stamp a country of origin mark on British-made goods.

The groups members include high-end designers such as Rachel Galley, whose work has been spotted on celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Tess Daly and Ellie Goulding.

Star quality: The National Association of Jewellers has high-end designers such as Rachel Galley (pictured) among its members

Michael Rawlinson, chief executive of the National Association of Jewellers, said: It is about promoting British-made manufacturing and design. It will add value to give provenance of the piece. The British name carries kudos in overseas markets.

About 95 per cent of jewellery sold in the UK is currently imported.

The industry body, which was formed earlier this year from the British Jewellers Association and the National Association of Goldsmiths, will work with the Government on the changes.

Rawlinson said the consultation would decide what the mark will look like. He hoped to have it in place by next year.

If items made here were marked as 'made in Britain' it could make them more desirable and makers could sell them for a higher price.

The clothing sector has realised the cache of promoting its British made products, particularly in the luxury sector. The only issue for a new made in Britain mark for jewellery is the confusion with hallmarking.

Hallmarking in the UK is performed by four government approved assay offices in Birmingham, Sheffield, Edinburgh and London. Until 1989, foreign products carried an import mark. However after regulation changes, jewellery imports already with a hallmark do not need to be re-hallmarked in the UK.

Hallmarking has been taking place in the UK since as far back as 1300 but is not a sign of the items origin, despite many customers believing it is a sign of where the jewellery is from. Some jewellery items sold here are shipped from abroad to be hallmarked before being sold.

Stella Layton, chief executive and Assay Master of the Birmingham Assay Office, said: Were incredibly proud of our heritage and industry; the Assay Office Birmingham has always been deeply rooted in the trade which it serves.

'The opportunity to create a Made In Britain mark is one that we believe should be grasped and championed by the UK jewellery industry.
Tata Steel is being warned not to betray its workers as its Indian owners look increasingly likely to retain their UK business.

The Tata conglomerate put the loss-making enterprise up for sale in March, sparking a scramble to save 11,000 jobs.

Worry: The Tata conglomerate put the loss-making enterprise up for sale in March, sparking a scramble to save 11,000 jobs

Last week the Mail revealed Tata had been offered sweeteners by Downing Street to not sell up.

And several potential buyers are now said to have dropped out after it was claimed Tata demanded that any new owner pays off a 900m intra-company loan. This has left a rescue looking even more unlikely  and fuelled concerns the exercise is a game of brinkmanship to get concessions out of the Government.
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A leading backer of a campaign for the UK to stay in the EU pocketed 205m from his hedge fund last year.

Cambridge-educated billionaire David Harding, 54, earned the cash from his 54 per cent stake in Winton Capital Management, which he founded in 1997.

Fractured: Billionaire David Harding is a co-treasurer of Britain Stronger In Europe, the campaign to stay in the EU

Harding is a co-treasurer of Britain Stronger In Europe, the campaign to stay in the EU, which he has given more than 1m.

The businessman is a physics graduate and has previously donated 5m to the Science Museum, as well as funding research at his old university.

Winton paid a total dividend of 380.5m in 2015, more than double what it shared out the previous year. Directors including Harding also earned 23.1m in pay.
A City grandee at a leading insurer has branded David Cameron's Remain campaign 'corrupt' and says Treasury warnings on the financial consequences of Brexit are 'illegal propaganda'.

Robert Hiscox, who chaired Lloyd's of London insurer Hiscox for 43 years until 2013, said membership of the EU effectively hobbled the UK in world competition: 'I'll never understand why [the Remain campaign] want, in a global race, to tie the UK to 27 other countries, some of which have no legs.'

Launching a blistering attack, he told the Press Association he was 'astonished' at the Government's interference in the debate: 'Their corrupt statements and illegal propaganda pouring out is something to behold, especially the Treasury document.'

'Astonished': It is the first time Robert Hiscox has detailed his views on the European Union since signing an open letter supporting Brexit alongside more than 300 other business leaders.

His comments echo those of Tory peers Nigel Lawson and Norman Lamont, who railed against a recent Treasury analysis that predicts a severe economic shock as a result of Brexit.

Mr Hiscox, who is still honorary president at the insurer he founded, added that City institutions supporting Britain remaining in the EU form part of an 'elite' that are acting in their own self interests.

'All the experts coming out for Remain are all part of the elite, from Goldman Sachs downwards, they've all bought into it, it's for their own self-interest.

'I'm astonished when I meet people from Remain. Why do we want to have millions of rules delivered by an unelected tyrannical elite in Brussels?'

It is the first time Mr Hiscox has detailed his views on the European Union since signing an open letter supporting Brexit alongside more than 300 other business leaders.

Some of the most high-profile City figures calling for Britain to remain in the EU include former M&S boss Lord Stuart Rose, Sir Martin Sorrell and PR guru Roland Rudd.

Mr Hiscox added that the insurance company, currently head-quartered in Bermuda for 'tax and regulatory purposes', may move its base back to the UK if Britain votes to leave.

'We decided to move our HQ to Bermuda in 2002 because of the tax and regulatory regime under Labour and under the EU.

'We don't want to bring it back while we're in the EU. If we leave, then it depends on the domestic regime whether we come back or not, but it's possible.

'But we love being in Bermuda, it's a useful place, it's close to the US where we do a lot of business and it makes us feel international. It's not just a tax dodge.'
James Caan can empathise with the budding entrepreneurs who come to Start-up Loans - the government funded advice, loans and mentoring scheme he launched and of which he is now chair - to try to get funding.

A true self-starter, he left school with no qualifications and was offered the chance to join his father's East End clothing firm but turned it down to find his own way in business.

After embarking on an unrewarding role as a door-to-door salesman, Caan tried to impress his future wife, Aisha, by offering to lend her money to start a clothing boutique.

Honour: James received a CBE in 2014 for his services to entrepreneurship and charity

He also worked for several recruitment companies and eventually opened his own, Alexander Mann, in 1985.

The entrepreneur went on to co-found executive head-hunting business Humana in 1993, which expanded into 30 countries, and launched private equity firm Hamilton Bradshaw in 2004.

James took a 'gap year' in Pakistan after the devastating floods in 2005, and his charitable foundation's first act was to set up a school in his birth city of Lahore.

He joined BBC's Dragons' Den for three series from 2007, in which time he made several high-profile investments, including 150,000 in Rapstrap - a reusable polyurethane band that ended up being one of the most successful-ever pitches in the Den.

Worth around 95million, James has two daughters, Hannah and Jemma-Lia.

Here he shares the ups and downs he's experienced as an entrepreneur for this week's instalment of Start-up Secrets.

Who or what has most inspired you?

My father was always my mentor, and the reason I became an entrepreneur. He had his own market stall on Brick Lane [in London's east end] and I used to help him sell leather jackets as a kid and he worked incredibly hard. I remember telling myself I want to be that passionate about something when I grow up.

CV: James Caan 1960: Born Nazim Khan in Lahore, Pakistan 1962: Family moved to London 1976: Left Forrest Gate school at 16 with no qualifications 1983: Married wife Aisha on New Year's Day 1985: Founded recruitment business Alexander Mann 1993: Founded consultancy Humana International 1996: Established outsourcing company Alexander Mann Solutions 1999: Sold Humana International 2002: Sold Alexander Mann 2006: Launched James Caan Foundation, which promotes entrepreneurship and education as a way out of poverty 2007: Joined Dragons' Den and made a number of high-profile investments 2010: Left Dragons' Den 2012: Appointed chairman of Start Up Loans, which offers government-backed funding for SMEs 2015: Awarded a CBE

The entrepreneurs Ive met through my investments and through Start Up Loans have inspired me to continue doing what I do  its very exciting and humbling nurturing a business to exit.

The most inspirational part of my life so far was launching Start Up Loans  the opportunity to work with government and launch a business that allowed me the funding to back 28,000 entrepreneurs to start their own businesses has been an incredibly exciting journey.

What is the one piece of advice you would go back and tell your younger self?

My fathers words of wisdom were observe the masses and do the opposite. He always taught me to think about my options when everyone else is charging in the same direction.

The one most important lesson I would tell my younger self is failure is part of the journey to success. Too often entrepreneurs hit the first hurdle and give up. I am happy to admit that Ive had many failures throughout my career and invested in a number of businesses that sadly didnt prove to be successful.

In each occasion, I took some very valuable lessons from the mistakes I made when backing those businesses. Therefore, I passionately believe that recognising and accepting failure is just as important as being successful.

How did you manage to secure funding?

When I started my first business more than 35 years ago, crowdfunding, angel networks and a thriving venture capital community sadly didnt exist.

Banks were incredibly reluctant to back start-ups and unfortunately there wasnt a Start Up Loans equivalent available at the time.

I simply took out three credit cards and used my credit facilities on the back of those cards at extortionate rates of interest to start my business. Its certainly something I wouldnt advise people to do today but its amazing how creative you can be when your options are so limited.

Lease of life: James at his firm Hamilton Bradshaw, which provides seed capital to recruitment businesses

What advice would you give to someone pitching for investment?

Think about alternative funding  crowdfunding could help you build a great community of committed investors as well as provide you with capital.

If youre looking at angel investment, dont just take the first deal that comes along because youre desperate for cash. Remember that due diligence works both ways  not every investor is the right investor. Working with the wrong investor could be a detriment to your business.

When youre pitching, think about your hook  tell a story and get them excited, dont just bog them down the figures that may or may not come to fruition. Illustrate your passion and remember that, as a start-up, all good investors will expect you to fail at first so never overpromise and underdeliver.

Be sure to illustrate innovative thinking and your ability to attract the best talent through platforms such as Twitter.

Its important to illustrate how your investor can realise their investment. No investor wants to invest in a business where theres no exit strategy.

The other thing investors constantly look for is making sure theyre not backing a one-man band  therefore ensure to demonstrate your ability to attract the right management team. Remember that you cant be all encompassing.

While its very important to talk about numbers, scale, growth and margin, dont leave out how you plan to execute your strategy. Ideas in themselves dont make money. Its excellent execution that delivers results.

Enter the den: (l-r) James with Duncan Bannatyne, Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis

What makes a good business idea? How did you convince investors or business partners that yours would work?

You know you have a good idea when you can demonstrate theres a real market demand for it, whereby you can show the pricing youre proposing is attractive and competitive.

The management youve assembled has clear capability of achieving your business plan and the assumptions youve used in your plan are proved and well thought through.

Additionally, make sure the investment youre looking for and how youll invest the capital is both prudent and conservative. Its important that youve done your market research and have a good understanding of what else is available that is comparable to your product and how you differentiate your proposition.

What is the most important quality you look for in a business partner/ employee?

Every investment Ive ever made has one thing in common; the business has a passionate founder behind them. Passion, determination and conviction are all crucial components for success.

Though understanding of market trends, target audiences and competitors is critical. I also like to see versatility  the ability and willingness to go beyond remits and get stuck in really impresses me.

Its important that my business partner or employee is a team player as I believe that no business is about one individual. I like people who are decisive and confident in making decisions. I think soft skills are just as important as commercial business skills.

When Im pitching to an employee its important to demonstrate the company culture, that its not just about running a business. Its about social responsibility, having fun along the way and most importantly learning from the experience.

What one change to legislation or policy would help your business the most?

Earlier this year it was reported 225billion was owed to SMEs in late payments this is one of the biggest challenges in the market. Cutting red tape and addressing late payers is imperative.
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By Madina Toure

President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Flushing) that removes the term Oriental from federal law.

The bipartisan bill, which Obama signed last week, during Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, will eliminate all references to Oriental and replace it with Asian Americans. When Meng was a member of the state Legislature in 2009, she also passed legislation that removed the term from all official New York state documents.

The term Oriental has no place in federal law and at long last this insulting and outdated term will be gone for good, Meng said. 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.

Title 42 of the U.S. Code contains federal laws that address public health, social welfare and civil rights. Its references to Oriental, written in the 1970s, are the last two instances in U.S. law in which the term is used to describe an individual.

The word appears in the text of the Department of Energy Organization Act and the Local Public Works Capital Development and Investment Act of 1976. Last year, Meng found that the term was still used in Title 42 when she was doing standard legislative research.

Mengs bill was first passed by the House Dec. 2 as an amendment to the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act. But the measure stalled in Congress and Obama threatened to veto it because of unrelated provisions in the bill, so the House unanimously passed a freestanding version of her measure Feb. 29. Mengs bill was then unanimously passed by the Senate May 9, getting 76 co-sponsors, including all 51 members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
By Rakesh Krishnan SIMHA

One of the ironies of being a Pakistani living abroad, especially in the West, is having to pose as Indian. According to Asghar Choudhri, the chairman of Brooklyns Pakistani American Merchant Association, a lot of Pakistanis cant get jobs after 9/11 and after the botched Times Square bombing of 2010, its even worse. They are now pretending they are Indian so they can get a job, he told a US wire service.

That is because while Indians are highly integrated immigrants  besides being the highest educated and best paid of all ethnic groups in the US  Pakistanis have taken part in terrorist activities in the very lands that gave them shelter. (Even the frequent Gallup surveys conducted in the US, found out repeatedly that the biggest threat to the international security and peace are: nr. 3 Saudis; nr. 2 Pakistanis, and nr.1  surprise, surprise  the US itself.)

From Ramzi Yousef, who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993 (8 years before Bin Laden) and is now serving a 240-year prison sentence to Mir Aimal Kansi, who shot dead CIA agents and was later executed by lethal injection, to Faisal Shahzad, the Times Square Idiot Bomber, there is a long line of Pakistanis who have left a trail of terror.

The San Bernardino, California, attack of December 2015 by a Pakistani American couple was the most spectacular in recent times. The husband was American-born raised and yet he chose to launch a terror act against the people of the United States.

But while Pakistanis wear an Indian mask for Western consumption, back home its business as usual.

Two incidents amply demonstrate that Pakistanis have learnt nothing. One was the widespread outrage across the country over Osama Bin Ladens killing by American commandos. In response to Americas exposure of Bin Ladens hiding place, Pakistan moved to shut down the informant network that lead the Americans there.

The other was the unholy fracas over CIA shooter Kansis execution. The day after Kansi was sentenced to death by an American court, four Americans were shot dead on the streets of Pakistan. His funeral was attended by the entire civilian administration in his hometown Quetta, the local Pakistani Corps Commander, and the then Pakistani ambassador to the United States.

Thousands of mourners turned out as Quetta city shuttered down. Kansis coffin, draped in black cloth with verses from the Koran embroidered on it in gold, was carried on the shoulders of young men some 10 miles from the airport to his familys home in Quetta. In Islamabad, the capital city, lawyers and university students poured out on the streets.

Misplaced sympathy

The irony of outpourings of support for hardened terrorists is that Pakistan is seriously impacted by terrorism. A global study by the London-based Institute for Economics and Peace ranks Pakistan fourth on the Global Terrorism Index (GTI) list, behind Iraq, Afghanistan and Nigeria.

According to the study, Terrorism remains highly concentrated with most (58 per cent) of the activity occurring in just five countries  Iraq, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Syria.

It mentions the most fatal terrorist attack in Pakistan, of 2014: Assailants detonated an explosives-laden vehicle and then stormed the Army Public School in Peshawar city, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. At least 150 students and staff were killed and 131 were wounded in the attack. All seven assailants were either killed by security forces or detonated their explosives-laden vests.

The gunmen belonged to the terrorist group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which is also known as the Pakistani Taliban because it is based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is an offshoot of the original Taliban which was created by Pakistan as a weapon to be used against Afghanistan and India.





State sponsored terror

That Pakistan is a state sponsor of terror is well known. In Hillary Clintons words to Islamabad, if you harbour snakes in your backyard, dont expect them to only bite your neighbour.

It was Pakistans demagogue dictator General Zia-ul-Haq who declared that we will bleed India with a thousand cuts. The reckoning was that since Pakistan can never hope to win a war against India, then India must be hit with terrorism. To this effect, Pakistan first supported Kashmiri and Sikh separatists, armed them and provided them safe bases on its territory.

When both these terror campaigns failed, Pakistan created an alphabet soup of home grown terror groups such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami. These two were complemented by the Haqqani network and the original Taliban, which has now split into dozens of splinter groups, some of which are still controlled by the Pakistan military and its chief intelligence agency, the ISI.

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of US, Mike Mullen has described the Haqqani Network as the veritable arm of Pakistan\s ISI. Mullen said the ISI was supporting the Haqqani network, which attacked the US embassy in Kabul in September 2011 and also the September 2011 NATO truck bombing which injured 77 coalition soldiers and killed five Afghan civilians.

In a November 2014 interview to the BBC, the adviser to the Pakistani Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz said Pakistan should not target militants like the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network, which do not threaten Pakistan\s security.

Indeed, Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world which believes in good terrorists (who attack the West, India and Israel) and bad terrorists (who target Pakistan). An example of a good terrorist group is the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, which regularly conducts mass rallies and congregation, advocating jihad in Kashmir. For its December 2014 rally, Pakistan ran two special trains to carry the crowd to Lahore. India\s foreign ministry termed this as nothing short of mainstreaming of terrorism. The congregation was held near Pakistan\s national monument, the Minar-e-Pakistan, where 4000 policemen provided security.

Lashkar-e-Taiba is the group responsible for the November 2008 Mumbai terror attack, which led to the deaths of 156 innocent people. On December 3, 2008 Indian officials named Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhavi, a top leader of the Lashkar, as one of four possible major planners behind the attacks. Four days later, Pakistani armed forces arrested Lakhvi in a raid on a training camp near Muzafarabad in Pakistani Kashmir.

Destroying evidence

Pakistan doesnt want to bring terrorists like Lakhavi to justice because that would expose its sponsorship of terror groups. After India produced evidence of the Lashkars hand in the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan did the predictable. In order to claim that none of these guys were technically within Pakistan, the ISI asked the terrorists involved in the attack to leave the country.

But it turned out to be a big mistake as one of these terrorists was caught in Saudi Arabia, which presented him on a platter to India. During his interrogation by Indian investigators, the terrorist revealed he was one of the key people tasked with training the 10 Mumbai attackers. He said he was in the control room near the international airport in Karachi from where Lakhavi was directing the attackers. He also said that after Lakhvi\s arrest in December 2008, the Pakistanis destroyed the control room in Karachi.

Pathankot denial

The January 2016 attack on an air force base in Pathankot, India, in which seven Indian security guards and six terrorists were killed, will give you an idea of how Pakistan continues to deny links with terror groups on its own soil.

After the Indians allowed a Pakistani investigation team to visit the air base, the Pakistanis raised the outrageous claim that the attack was carried out by India to defame Islamabad. This has a parallel in 9/11 deniers in Muslim countries where everyone seems to be convinced that Israel and the US were behind the Twin Tower attacks.

According to the Indian Express newspaper, the Pakistani investigators were given a full transcript of the telephonic conversations between the terrorists and their Pakistani handlers along with their identity. The Indian side gave the Pakistanis the links of Pakistani officials, believed to be ISI personnel, with the handlers of the terrorists. They were provided with electronic and forensic evidence regarding the slain terrorists Pakistani links, name of the terrorists and several other critical evidence after an exhaustive probe conducted by India.

The Pakistani team was given concrete proof that a senior terrorist leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed was in constant touch with the terrorists and giving them necessary instructions during the three-day carnage.

And yet Pakistan claims it was a stage managed attack by India.

Pakistans image

The stark reality is that Pakistan has now become synonymous with terror. An unfortunate fallout of the countrys long association with terror is that ordinary Pakistanis worldwide appear tainted. A broad survey released on June 27, 2012 by the United States-based Pew Research Centers Global Attitudes says that in a number countries, including China, as well as several Muslim countries such as Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and Lebanon, the majority populations negatively view Pakistanis.

Pakistan is not only a universally disliked country but the Pakistanis themselves have learnt nothing from their history, continuing to support the very actors who are responsible for Pakistans negative image.

It is a measure of Pakistans penchant for exporting terrorists, counterfeit currency and drugs that India has constructed a 1400 km long steel fence across its border with its wayward western neighbour. The floodlit fence, which is patrolled 24/7, can be seen from space as a bright orange line snaking from the coast to Kashmir.

Iran is also building a 700 km steel and concrete security fence along its border with Pakistan to prevent border crossing by terrorists and drug traffickers. When complete it will make Pakistan the most fenced-in country in the world.

In four of the five predominantly Muslim nations covered by the survey, over half gave Pakistan negative ratings. Jordan (57 percent), Lebanon (56 percent), Tunisia (54 percent) and Egypt (53 percent) had an unfavourable opinion of Pakistan. The only exception was Turkey, where attitudes were divided (43 percent negative and 37 percent favourable).

In East Asia, 52 percent of Chinese saw Pakistan unfavourably, as did 59 percent in Japan and 59 percent in India. The Chinese statistic is not surprising as Pakistan-trained Chinese Uighur Muslims have launched terror strikes in their remote province in China. Japan deported around 15,000 Pakistanis after 9/11.

Beaten, corrupt military most loved

Every country has an army but the Pakistan Army has a country. The Pakistani military is the most corrupt institution in the land, with a finger in every national pie. Army officers get prime plots of land post-retirement at a third of the market price. It is certainly a case of generals fattening at the expense of an increasingly poor population.

The Pakistani military has lost fours against India. After every war, Pakistan has lost territory, face and the credibility of its fighting forces. And yet Pakistanis rate this military very highly.As many as 77 percent said the military has a good influence on the country.

The media came next with a 68 percent rating, followed by religious leaders at 66 percent.

With religious zealots getting a solid two-thirds rating, is it any surprise that support for using the Pakistani military to fight extremist groups has declined over the last three years? Opposition to using the army to fight extremist organisations is especially high in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (where 54 percent opposed) and Baluchistan (50 percent).

Biting the hand that feeds

India does not get any aid from the United States and yet among all 21 nations Pew surveyed, Indians seemed most favourably disposed towards it. Only 12 percent said they had unfavourable opinion of the United States. On the other hand, 80 percent of Pakistanis had a negative opinion of America, with 74 percent regarding it as an enemy country.

American aid efforts were seen in a negative light by Pakistanis although the country continues to get billions of dollars of US aid. Around four-in-ten (38 percent) said US economic aid was having a mostly negative impact on Pakistan, while just 12 percent believed it was mostly positive. Similarly, 40 percent thought American military aid was having a mostly negative effect, while only 8 percent said it was largely positive.

This is a snapshot of Pakistan, where the arrow of time is travelling backwards, taking them into a cycle of medieval madness. Where the death of a terrorist merely means he will be instantly replaced by a hundred clones.

About the author:

Rakesh Krishnan Simha

New Zealand-based journalist and foreign affairs analyst. According to him, he writes on stuff the media distorts, misses or ignores.

The views expressed in this article are the author\s own and do not necessarily reflect The Times Of Earth\s editorial policy.
TORIN HALSEY/TIMES RECORD NEWS Archie Jobe (from left) and David Williams of the West Texas Rehabilitation Center, rancher Joe Parker, Ashley Sims of the North Texas Rehab Center and Reno Gustafson, president of Falls Distributing, talk Wednesday during a kickoff party for the 36th Annual Texas Ranch Roundup. Tickets go on sale June 1 for the event Aug. 19th and 20.

SHARE Claire Kowalick/Times Record News file A Budweiser Clydesdale gets a wash in August 2010 at the Multi-Purpose Events Center in Wichita Falls. The famous horse and beer wagon feature will return to the Texas Ranch Roundup after a five-year hiatus because of the drought. The horses have to be washed every day.

By John Ingle of the Times Record News

The Budweiser Clydesdales are returning to the Texas Ranch Roundup following a five-year hiatus because of the drought.

The participation of the "gentle giants" participation this year is also, of course, in addition to 10 Texas ranches.

Ashley Sims, director of marketing and development at North Texas Rehab Center, said its exciting to have the roughly 1-ton beauties return to the 36th annual Ranch Roundup, which is Aug. 19-20 with a church service on Aug 21. The trade show will be in the Ray Clymer Exhibit Hall, and arena competitions will be in Kay Yeager Coliseum. The Clydesdales will be at several locations throughout that week, including sites in Wichita Falls and at Sheppard Air Force Base.

They will also perform each night at the Ranch Roundup.

Reno Gustafson, president of event co-sponsor Falls Distributing, said the famed beer wagon and haulers didn't come to the previous five Ranch Roundup competitions because the horses have to be washed every day. But, he said, after the rains returned, there was no excuse not to have them come back.

But, there was one hitch in their giddyap  the heralded attraction was already scheduled to be at the Indiana State Fair that week. He said he made a phone call to good friend Scott Smith at the St. Louis headquarters for the Clydesdales and explained conditions have changed.

"I said, 'Look, we've been through a drought. Our lakes are full. We have water. We can now officially wash them with our water hoses,'" he said. "I said, 'We really need them back.'"

So, the decision was made to send the Budweiser Clydesdales to Wichita Falls.

Also at the Roundup, cowboys will compete in a variety of events to determine the overall winner.

"We're very excited that all 10 of the ranches will be back, including the Waggoner Ranch, to compete in the arena events during the rodeo," Sims said. "They'll also compete in the talent competitions over the weekend."

The Ranch Roundup is the only Working Ranch Cowboy Association-sanctioned event that allows points garnered from the talent competition to count toward the overall winner. It allows entire families and ranching communities to get involved in the competition.

Ranches competing this year include: Bonds Ranch, Saginaw; R.A. Brown Ranch, Throckmorton; Circle Bar Ranch, Truscott; Burns Ranch, Clay County; Pitchfork Land & Cattle Co., Guthrie; Rocker b Ranch, Barnhart; Spade Ranches, Lubbock; Swenson Land & Cattle Co., Stamford; Tongue River Ranch, Dumont; and W.T. Waggoner Estate, Vernon.

Visit texasranchroundup.com for more information and a schedule of events.
Police Lights

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A man was arrested last week after being accused of endangering his 8-month-old child.

According to a probable cause affidavit:

Wichita Falls police were sent to the 1400 block of Kinsale Court on a family disturbance call.

When they arrived, they spoke with a witness who said Javontae Dauon McGill, 22, was holding his baby and tried to give him to the child's mother and almost dropped the child.

The mother caught the child and walked into the bedroom. McGill yelled for the woman to give him the child, but she refused.

McGill pinned her down on the bed while she was on her stomach with the child pinned underneath her.

The witness said she was able to pull McGill off the woman long enough for the woman to get the child and leave the scene.

As the woman tried to leave, McGill grabbed her by the arm while she was holding the child, forcing her to spin around with the child in her arms.

McGill is charged with endangering a child  a state jail felony. His bail was set at $10,000, and he was not in Wichita County Jail on Saturday evening.
Torin Halsey/Times Record News Wichita Falls utilities operations manager Daniel Nix looks at the flow of clean water into a holding lagoon that is part of the direct potable reuse system process. Wastewater effluent traveled from River Road Wastewater Treatment plant along a roughly 12-mile pipe to Cypress Water Treatment Plant, and was then treated in a traditional clarifier, microfiltration, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet treatment processes before this step.

SHARE Torin Halsey/Times Record News Crews working on the emergency reuse pipeline have completed more than half of the 65,000 linear feet of the total project. The $13 million project was to River Road WastewaterTreatment Plant to the Cypress Water Treatment Plant as another source for the Wichita Falls drinking water supply. Torin Halsey/Times Record News Sections of high-density polyethylene pipe 53 feet long and 32 inches in diameter will be fused together to create a pipeline more that 68,000 feet long to help solve some of the water problems of Wichita Falls. The Wichita Falls City Council approved a measure in August 2013 to the $13 million temporary pipeline project to proceed. Contributed graphic The proposed location of Lake Ringgold is northeast of Henrietta, the county seat of Clay County. Related Photos An Inside Look into the Water Reuse Project

By John Ingle of the Times Record News

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett once said, "I violated the Noah rule: predicting rain doesn't count; building arks does."

While the multibillionaire was explaining that the best way to deal with a financial crisis is to plan for it, it certainly applies to other crises, including a devastating drought. Much criticism was thrown the direction of Wichita Falls leadership for its preparation for such a natural disaster. Some of what saved the city was already on the books at some level, while there were certainly new opportunities along the way.

Public Works Director Russell Schreiber said the city in the worst parts of the drought was in the let's-try-everything mode to sustain the remaining water supply. That included dusting off the Lake Ringgold Plan, taking the direct potable reuse option off the shelf and putting it back on the table, as well as unconventional plans like cloud seeding and an evaporation suppression product spread on Lake Arrowhead.

"We wanted to be able to tell our water users that we turned over every rock and we tried everything under the sun," he said.

Schreiber said the Ringgold project was "on the back burner" when he was hired as public works director in July 2008, but a 2012-2013 long-range water plan conducted by consultants Freese & Nichols showed that Lake Ringgold and a reuse project were strong, feasible opportunities to pursue.

The city decided to go with processes that went with the least costly first, moving up to Ringgold, which is the most expensive option for the city and water customers.

Daniel Nix, utilities operations manager for the city, said plans for the DPR had, in sorts, been in place since the drought of the late 1990s. An analysis was done to determine how to contend with future droughts, and that's how Lake Kemp was brought into the drinking water supply. It required microfiltration and reverse osmosis treatment processes to be installed at Cypress Water Treatment Plant. Without those two pieces, the DPR would have never come to fruition.

He said they spent about 10 years submitting study after study for a DPR to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which were subsequently rejected. The plan was shelved in 2009-10 because Lake Arrowhead and Lake Kickapoo were near full.

"In 2012, when we realized this drought might not break, we dusted all of that back off and we went back to the TCEQ," he said.

The state agency refused to allow the process, once again, but would accept an indirect reuse project that would put in place a natural buffer, despite the positive tests the DPR showed.

The rest is innovative history as the DPR was eventually put online in July 2014, extending the city's water supply for many more years than it would have had without it. About 5 million gallons of water was introduced to the drinking supply daily, requiring about 5 to 6 million gallons from the lakes to meet customer demands in the harshest parts of the drought during Stage 5 Drought Catastrophe.
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The State Department's inspector general released a report this week concluding that Hillary Clinton is a breathtakingly brazen and consistent liar.

No, that's not a direct quote. Bureaucrats don't talk that way under the best of circumstances  and this IG, Steve Linick, is an Obama appointee whose report is about the apparent Democratic nominee for president.

So it's all the more shocking, then, that the report confirms nearly everything Clinton's critics have been saying. By setting up a secret email server in her home in Chappaqua, N.Y., without proper authorization from any legal or security official, Clinton displayed a cavalier disregard for national security and an outrageous desire to hide her doings from Freedom of Information Act requests, government archivists, Congress, the press and, ultimately, the American people.

What's infuriating about all of this is that it is not, in fact, news. Yes, the fresh details are justifiably headline-grabbing. But the underlying conclusion is about as shocking as a Department of Interior report confirming that bears are currently using our national parklands as toilets.

Over a year ago, Clinton held a news conference at the United Nations intended to put the whole controversy to rest. Nearly every significant statement she made was a lie. And we've known it for a year.

For instance, she said, "I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material." We know that's untrue. Of the emails she handed over (remember, she unilaterally deleted some 32,000 on her own), 2,079 of them contained classified material, some given a classification even more sensitive than "top secret," some fairly mundane. Her campaign clings to the fact that they were not "marked" classified.

Nonsense. Classified material is "born" classified, and it was Clinton's job to understand that. Moreover, how could the classified material she sent be marked "classified" if the whole point of her shadow server was to avoid oversight by the people who do the classifying? It's like selling bootleg gin and then claiming that no one from the government marked it "bootleg."

Another major lie: that she did this out of "convenience" because she didn't want to carry two devices. The whole thing sort of just happened on autopilot while she was concentrating on much more important things, Clinton insisted.

More lies. Not only did she carry several devices, but the IG report makes it clear that this stealth rig took a lot of planning and effort. She told staffers, "I don't want any risk of the personal being accessible."

When two employees in the IT department raised concerns that Clinton's stealth server would not properly preserve records, a supervisor replied that the matter had been reviewed and approved by lawyers and that the staffers were "never to speak of the secretary's personal email system again."

That's a strange instruction for something lawyers approved, isn't it? The IG couldn't find any evidence of this legal review of Clinton's system. These mystery lawyers are surely unreachable because they are aiding O.J. Simpson in the search for the real killers.

If such a review existed, you'd think the Clinton campaign would provide it to investigators (and the press). Then again, if Clinton did nothing wrong, she also would have talked to the inspector general, like every other relevant secretary of state did. And she would have happily told her team to cooperate with the IG to clear the air. They all refused. I wonder why.

Just kidding. Of course I don't wonder why. From the earliest days of this scandal  and it is a scandal  Clinton has lied. Unlike Donald Trump's lies, which he usually vomits up spontaneously like a vesuvian geyser, Clinton's were carefully prepared, typed up and repeated for all the world to hear over and over again.

I would think this is an important distinction. Neither of the candidates is worthy of the office in my eyes, but voters might discount many of Trump's deceits as symptoms of his glandular personality. Much like Vice President Joe Biden, who always gets a pass for launching errant fake-fact missiles from the offline silo that is his mouth, Trump is often seen as entertainingly spontaneous.

Meanwhile, Clinton  who lives many time zones away from the word "entertaining" -- is marketing herself as the mature and upstanding grown-up. She does nothing spontaneously. And that means all of her lies are premeditated.

Jonah Goldberg is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a senior editor of National Review. You can write to him in care of this newspaper or by email at goldbergcolumn@gmail.com, or via Twitter @JonahNRO.
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As we prepare to arouse whatever patriotism we have left this Memorial Day to honor those who gave so sacrificially for the rest of us, I have dire feelings about my country and our military. I was seven years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed and brought us into World War II and I was eleven years old when it ended in 1945.

I still have very vivid memories of the real sacrifices required of our populace and nation to mobilize and work to provide our military with the resources to defend the freedoms we enjoyed and cherished.

As schoolchildren we gathered the tinfoil gum wrappers, rubber bands, old cooking lard and turned them in to the war effort. Weekly in class we turned in our pennies we saved to buy War Bonds. Everything was rationed; meat, coffee, sugar, butter, ladies hose (mascara lines were traced down the back of women's legs to simulate the seam in hose), gasoline, tires, no new civilian cars were manufactured after early 1942 and you could not buy a new one until after the war if you could find one to buy. Everyone contributed. We must not understate the role that women contributed to this effort.

Wives, mothers, single women, all took up the slack in the production that won the war while the men were fighting and dying for the cause. Nurses in combat zones suffered the same privations as the men and the same indignities if captured by the enemy. Many women in auxiliary roles (WASPs, etc.) gave their lives ferrying aircraft and in training exercises. I'm sure there may have been protests against the war, but I do not recall any.

Many of us can recall in almost every town and community watching an olive drab sedan pull up to house and two uniformed officers approaching the door and hearing the anguish of a mother just being told that her son would not be coming home.

I am now 82 years old and as I look back over the years and compare to our culture today I am saddened by our lack of leadership to stand up to the bullies of the world. Time and space do not permit many comments and I can do little of my own to honor those who are forever young who have given all. Perhaps I can call on some wisdom from the past to frame what these brave men and women fought and died for.

John Stuart Mill in an essay "The Contest in America" wrote, "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares about more than he does his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

We have far too many politicians today who have never served in the military let alone seen combat. The great German general Erwin Rommel of World War II said "There is one unalterable difference between a soldier and a civilian; the civilian never does more than he is paid to do."

Never in the history of our military has religion been so under attack. General Douglas MacArthur in his farewell address at West Point used these words "I could see those staggering columns, chilled by the wind and rain, driving on to their objective, and, for many, to the judgment seat of God. I do not know the dignity of their birth but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory. The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest of religious training  sacrifice. In battle and in the face of death, he discloses those Divine attributes which his Maker gave when he created man in His own image. No physical courage and no brute instinct can take the place of Divine help which alone can sustain him."

Morale is being destroyed by civilian leaders imposing unrealistic social engineering on our military.

I long for the day to see live on television at a hearing in Congress, a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff rise to his feet and say; "No more! I will not compromise my principles as a warrior to abide by this nonsense. I resign here and now." Of course, this will not happen until his pension is guaranteed subsequent to his retirement.

In closing and as we visit the cemeteries and attend the ceremonies on Memorial Day I will quote General George S. Patton who said in regard to those who gave all; "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.

Arnold W. Oliver is a longtime resident of Wichita Falls
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No one believes that "Roots," a new interpretation of Alex Haley's blockbuster novel airing this week, will get the attention the 1977 version did. Then again, expectations weren't too high the first time around.

ABC, whose pride and joy at the time was "Happy Days," was so skeptical of the sprawling history lesson about American slavery that it elected to "burn off" the entire story over eight consecutive nights in January, today's equivalent of banishing a new show to Saturday evenings.

By the final evening, roughly 85 percent of all TV viewers in the United States had watched at least part of the series  and television executives fully embraced the concept of the miniseries, setting the stage for such blockbusters as "Shogun," "The Thorn Birds" and "The Winds of War."

More important, the phenomenon sparked spirited discussion in living rooms across the country, inspiring teenagers to explore black culture and struggles beyond the Evans household on "Good Times."

More Information Tune in "Roots" When: 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday Where: The History Channel See More Collapse

Mark Wolper, 16 at the time, had a particularly advantageous seat  his father, David Wolper, was the series' executive producer and its main champion from Day 1. The two would go on to work together on the 1988 sequel "Roots: The Gift" and 1993's "Queen," another miniseries based on an Alex Haley book, this one starring Halle Berry.

Wolper was approached many times, before and after his father's death in 2010, to take a stab at a remake. He refused.

"Even without the father-son shadow issues, I can't think of a more daunting, frightening thing to do," Wolper said by phone last week.

A couple of years ago, he decided it was time for his own 16-year-old son to experience some family history, almost forcing him to sit through all 91/2 hours of his grandfather's most heralded project. Junior wasn't impressed.

"He couldn't get into it," Wolper said. "He said, 'Dad, I get why it's important, but it's a little like your music. It doesn't speak to me.' It was at that moment I had this revelation. His generation knows the stories of slavery and even 'Roots,' but they haven't seen it visually in a way that school doesn't really teach you."

Traditionalists have the opportunity to see the original when it's re-released on Blu-ray on June 7. But younger people are likely to be more attracted to this History Channel production with its slightly shorter running time  eight hours stretched over four straight nights beginning Monday  revved-up action and more defiant characters.

Grueling scenes of central character Kunta Kinte training to be a warrior in his West African village could have been lifted from "Survivor."

Extended scenes from the Revolutionary War, in which slaves were promised freedom in exchange for siding with England, feature a moment in which an African-American soldier emerges from muddy waters like Rambo getting ready to pounce.

Slaves are still whipped and raped in this version, but not before delivering a kick to the master's groin.

Daina Ramey Berry, a professor of American history at the University of Texas, defended the more rebellious approach.

"In my classroom, students often ask, 'Why didn't they just run away?' Berry said. "As I see it, it's important to show that African-Americans didn't just bow down to the oppression."

The emphasis on fighting back and casting of young, contemporary stars  Anna Paquin, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Mekhi Phifer all make appearances  may inspire a new generation to start examining their genealogical trees.

Berry also hopes the miniseries will help explain the anger still simmering in the country.

"You don't have to accept the context, but you have to understand it," she said.

LeVar Burton, who played Kinte in the original series, has no doubt that "Roots" can make a difference again.

"As far as we have come in the area of race relations and the topics of social justice, fairness and equality, we still have a long way to go," said Burton, who served as an executive producer on the 2016 version. "'Roots' was, and I believe can be again, an opportunity to do more than simply entertain. It's an opportunity to educate and enlighten through our storytelling."

Now if only Wolper can convince his son, now in college, to give it another chance.

"I'd like to have a family screening this summer," he said. "But unfortunately, he'll probably watch it on his cellphone in his dorm room."
Beirut

Al-Qaida's branch in Syria has recruited thousands of fighters, including teenagers, and taken territory from government forces in a successful offensive in the north, illustrating how the cease-fire put in place by Russia and the United States to weaken the militants has in many ways backfired.

The branch, known as the Nusra Front, has churned out a flood of videos  slickly produced in the style of its rival, the Islamic State group  that show off its recruitment drive. In one, young men line up for combat training. In another, a bearded al-Qaida fighter in a mosque urges a crowd of men to join jihad. A third shows an al-Qaida-linked cleric leading a graduation ceremony, handing out weapons to young men.

Since March, the group recruited 3,000 new fighters, including teenagers, in comparison to an average of 200 to 300 a month before, according to Rami Abdurrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group monitoring the conflict. He cited contacts within the Nusra Front.
A state corrections officer was severely injured Sunday after opening a package that was left near his mailbox.

Oneida County Sheriff Robert Maciol said the package was left outside of the corrections officer's home on Old Floyd Road in the town of Floyd. When the officer picked up the package at around 8 a.m., it exploded.
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New York

Air show pilots performed an aerial salute Saturday to their comrade who died after his World War II-era plane crashed in the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey a day earlier.

The P-47 Thunderbolt crashed Friday night during a promotional flight for the American Airpower Museum on Long Island, which is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the P-47 this holiday weekend.

The plane's pilot, William Gordon, 56, of Key West, Florida, was a veteran air show pilot with more than 25 years of experience. New York City police scuba divers recovered his body from the wreckage of the downed aircraft Friday night, about three hours after the crash.

As bagpipes played in the background on Saturday, pilots flew over the museum in an aerial salute known as a "missing man formation" in a tribute honoring Gordon.

Scott Clyman, flight operations pilot for the American Airpower Museum, called Gordon "an extraordinary pilot who understood the powerful message our aircraft represent in telling the story of American courage and valor." Promotional material for a Key West air show last month said Gordon was an "aerobatic competency evaluator" who certified performers to perform low-level aerobatics."

The single-seat P-47 crashed on a part of the river near where a US Airways jet carrying 155 people splash-landed safely in 2009 in what became known as the Miracle on the Hudson.

The plane was pulled from the water and loaded on to a barge Saturday before it was taken to a heliport in lower Manhattan, where investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board could examine it as part of their investigation. An NTSB spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Middleburgh

On his 95th birthday, John W. Gordon marveled at how fast time flew by. The Schoharie County man, his voice at times dipping into a whisper, told tales of days long gone, when he served in World War II in Canada, Scotland, Wales, Egypt, India and China.

The stories are well-known to Gordon's children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who surrounded him as he celebrated his birthday May 19 at his family farm in Middleburgh.

Seventy-five years ago on May 19, 1941, Gordon celebrated his 20th birthday during a six-day trip on a steam-engine troop train headed to Vancouver. America was not yet at war, and he had no love for the Germans after his father lost his leg in World War I. He had enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces the previous year. The train went up north of the Great Lakes and then across the prairies, and then through the Rockies, Gordon said. He did not have cake that birthday. "I figured, 'My god, if these guys ever knew it was my birthday they would kill me,'" Gordon said jokingly.

His 21st birthday, May 19, 1942, arrived as he learned about flying in Edmonton. Flying at night was always the worst, Gordon said. In his training as a navigator he had to learn how to use a sexton and a pencil to read the stars. "I just had high school mathematics," Gordon said. "I survived."

Gordon said he doesn't exactly remember where he spent his 22nd birthday. That overloaded year in Gordon's life saw him ship out for training in England, get transferred to Egypt, and then get transferred again to India.

He remembers flashes of moments in 1943: His entry into England as he thought, "England doesn't look like much to me." Also, he remembers his torpedo bombing training, in which one bomber would drop flares near a ship as a guide for another bomber's torpedo run. He also remembers when he arrived at Bombay, India, and found not the mass starvation he had read about in magazines, but a bustling city.

By the time of his birthday in 1944, Gordon wore a new uniform. He was transferred to the United States Air Force in India in March 1944 and assigned to the 27th Troop Carrier squadron at Sylhet, Assam. He said he flew supplies over Burma in C-47 troop carriers.

Hours of boredom followed by minutes of panic and anxiety was how he described those flights. His worse nightmares, he said, were flights to Yunan Yi, China, when he and the crew would have to clear the Himalayan peaks and cross into Japanese-patrolled airspace.

When Gordon celebrated his next birthday in 1945, he was home. He remembers hearing news of the end of the war in Europe on the radio. Of the response he got when he returned, Gordon said, "You could say the girls were excited to see all the boys come home."

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Just one year later, on May 19, 1946, he was beginning to settle down. When he came back from the war, Gordon had begun working on a farm and had enrolled at Cornell University to study agriculture. He met and married his wife Muriel, who by May was pregnant with their first child, who was named Muriel after her mother. Just five birthdays after he was a kid on a troop train to Vancouver, he had a wife, a child, an education and a vocation.

Now, 75 birthdays after that day on the troop train, he looks back and sees order in the chaos of his youth. Gordon said the world seemed simple and clear back then.

"I'm practically a freak, being so old," Gordon said. "And I just don't understand what's going on and I don't have any solutions for the problems out there.

"Let's put it this way," Gordon said, "human history can change so fast."

jlawrence@timesunion.com  518-454-5467  @jplawrence3
Want a good measure of how degraded the presidential foreign policy debate has become? Over the last four years, America has largely been a bystander in the largest strategic and humanitarian disaster of our time  the collapse of sovereignty in Syria, producing 5 million refugees, causing more than 300,000 deaths and empowering some of the most vicious, totalitarian nut jobs in the world.

But what is the critique from both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders? That America is overcommitted, especially in the Middle East. Trump in particular has argued that America is a pathetic debtor country that must get its own house in order before engaging in nation-building.

"We cannot go around to every country that we're not exactly happy with," Trump said recently, "and say we're going to recreate them."

This has hardly been Obama's temptation. His motivation being ... what? A determination to be the anti-Bush? Serial indecision? The pivot to Asia? For whatever reason, Obama has consistently filed action in Syria under the category of "stupid stuff," often overruling the more forward-leaning views of his senior foreign policy advisers (including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton).

Tamara Cofman Wittes of the Brookings Institution recently testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that "incremental steps over the last four years to shape both the battlefield and the context for diplomacy" have been "too little and too late to alter the conflict's fundamental dynamics."

What have been those dynamics? The regime of Bashar Assad, once teetering on the brink of destruction, has been saved by Iranian and Russian military interventions. Early on, jihadist groups in Syria became the most serious, well-equipped opposition to the regime, forcing rivals off the field and raising a long-term terrorist threat. Assad has committed mass atrocities with impunity, so long as he doesn't use chemical weapons again (though his victims end up just as dead by other methods).

To avoid responsibility for this nightmare, the Obama administration has tried to narrow the definition of U.S. interests. What really matters is removing Assad's chemical weapons. Or the Iranian nuclear agreement. Or killing terrorists with drones and special operations. Anything else is, according to Obama, "someone else's civil war."

If Obama loses sleep over the situation, he gives no public indication. On the contrary, he often congratulates himself on the coolness and realism of his judgment on Syria (declaring himself "very proud" of his decision not to enforce the chemical weapons "red line").

But this is the kind of thing  like the Rwandan genocide for Bill Clinton  that Obama will be left explaining for the duration of his post-presidency. During the Obama years, perpetrators have been given a clear message: Mass atrocities work, at least if you have faithful sponsors and halfhearted enemies.

Though negotiations are ongoing, a genuine settlement during Obama's presidency is unlikely. Peace agreements codify a balance of power; they don't usually create a new one. "Without greater military pressure on the Syrian government," former Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told the Senate hearing, "it will not negotiate a compromise political settlement."

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Secretary of State John Kerry still tries to huff and puff about a military option: "If President Assad has come to a conclusion that there's no Plan B, then he's come to a conclusion that is totally without foundation whatsoever and even dangerous." No one thinks there is a Plan B. No one.

Years of inaction have narrowed American options. Would the U.S. really risk a military confrontation with Russia to enforce a no-fly zone? But any kind of rapprochement with Assad would be both immoral and pointless. He will never have the legitimacy to reunify and rebuild a country he burned to the ground. This leaves (1.) more aggressive support for non-radical opposition to Assad and for bordering countries, (2.) helping liberated communities with governance and service delivery as an alternative to the jihadists, (3.) outreach to traumatized refugee children who are at risk of radicalization, and, most importantly, (4.) abandoning Obama's self-serving and destructive argument that the only alternatives in Syria are inaction or occupation.

The theory  practiced by Obama and endorsed by Trump  that the Syrian conflict will somehow burn itself out has been a security debacle and a humanitarian catastrophe. When America refuses to play an active role, the natural result is a regional Shia/Sunni proxy war, exploited by Iran and Russia to expand their influence and by jihadists to expand their capabilities.

And still, the populists of right and left argue  callously and foolishly  that America does too much.

Michael Gerson's email address is michaelgerson@washpost.com.
[May 29, 2016] '.ART', New Internet Real Estate Dedicated To The Art World, To Launch In 2016

LONDON, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- UK Creative Ideas Limited (UKCI) signed an agreement with ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, in late March, to launch and be the exclusive operator of the new .ART top-level domain (TLD). Launching in late fall 2016, .ART is new, undeveloped Internet real estate dedicated to serving the arts and culture communities by providing the infrastructure to enhance and preserve the art industry's online presence. With more name choice, shorter names, exact match for searches, and immediate identification with the arts, the global art world will have a new opportunity to meaningfully connect to their audiences in the digital realm. "We are very fortunate to have secured .ART for the long-term," states Ulvi Kasimov, Founder of UKCI. "We are at the beginning of an exciting new phase of innovation for art online, and .ART will be an important facilitator for existing and future players within the arts and culture community." "Our goals are to support existing museums, galleries, artists, auction houses and others in protecting and enhancing their brands, to inspire new organizations to build on .ART real estate, and to make domain names available to younger players to the art scene whose names are no longer available in other TLDs and want to immediately be identified with the art world," states John Matson, CEO of UKCI. The process of securing .ART began in 2012 when UKCI submitted an aplication to operate .ART to ICANN, the global nonprofit responsible for regulating and overseeing the Internet's domain name policy. In 2014, ICANN expanded the number of generic top-level domains including major cities such as .nyc and .london, industry-specific domains such as .luxury and .guru; as well as brands like .axa, .bmw, and .google. Now with this new contract in place, the launch of the .ART domain will take place in late 2016.



To request a .ART domain or to learn more about .ART, please visit the website at www.dotart.domains . About .ART

London-based UK Creative Ideas Limited is responsible for the development and launch of the .ART domain. UKCI founder, Ulvi Kasimov, is a pioneering businessman and in 2014 was recognized by Forbes as one of Russia's leading venture capitalists. Mr. Kasimov serves on the Board of Trustees at the Moscow Multi-Media Art Museum and has sponsored a number of prominent exhibitions and publications, including "Russian Art from Private Collections: Borovikovsky to Kabakov," on view at the ABA Gallery in New York in 2012. John Matson, CEO of UKCI, was formerly an executive at Architelos and partner with Ernst & Young and KPMG, where he advised ICANN on the new gTLD program. For more information please visit www.dotart.domains .

About ICANN

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to help ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you have to type an address into your computer - a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation and a community with participants from all over the world. ICANN and its community help keep the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It also promotes competition and develops policy for the top-level of the Internet's naming system and facilitates the use of other unique Internet identifiers. For more information please visit: www.icann.org. Media Contact:

FITZ & CO | Taylor Maatman | e: [email protected] | t: +1 646-589-0926 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160525/372735LOGO

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[May 29, 2016]

High-Level Dialogue Held Between Chinese Dairy Giant and Silicon Valley's Tech Titans

SAN FRANCISCO, May 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 29, a delegation of administrative leaders from a Chinese "giant" enterprise, appeared in Silicon Valley, California. Their visit was warmly welcomed by leaders of renowned enterprises in Silicon Valley, among which Google and Apple were included. Yili Group, the leading dairy giant in China, visited America to establish annual high level communications with global benchmark enterprises.







To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/high-level-dialogue-held-between-chinese-dairy-giant-and-silicon-valleys-tech-titans-300276529.html

SOURCE Yili Group
[May 30, 2016] HK Express' Business Takes Off With NetSuite OneWorld

SINGAPORE, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP and omnichannel commerce software suites, today announced that HK Express, Hong Kong's first and only dedicated low-fare airline, has implemented NetSuite OneWorld to support its ambitious plans for growth. HK Express selected NetSuite OneWorld for its speed of implementation, low cost of ownership, real-time business intelligence and reporting, as well as the breadth and depth that NetSuite OneWorld provides in financial reporting, multi-currency management (Hong Kong and US dollar, Chinese yuan, Japanese yen, South Korean Won, Cambodian riel and Vietnamese dong) and budgeting -- all within one unified cloud system. With NetSuite OneWorld, HK Express is well positioned to continue to expand. Transformed into an LCC in 2013, HK Express has experienced rapid growth and now boasts a fleet of 14 aircraft serving destinations across Asia, spanning cities in Japan, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, mainland China, Cambodia and Vietnam. It has ambitious expansion plans and expects to grow its fleet to over 30 aircraft by 2018. With limited functionality, its previous ERP system couldn't keep pace with the demand or be integrated with a new ticketing and reservation system, which would have required staff to enter data manually. After evaluating competing solutions in SAP and Microsoft Dynamics GP, HK Express chose NetSuite OneWorld for its cloud-based architecture, broad range of global financial functionality, built-in business intelligence and the flexibility of the platform that offers easy customization and the bility to be integrated with other systems.



"We needed a cloud-based system that was consistent with our goals of efficiency," said Simon Gu, GM of Finance & Legal for HK Express. "NetSuite OneWorld provided a modern, scalable system with minimal upfront investment and the flexibility to adapt it to our needs." NetSuite OneWorld gives HK Express a versatile platform for efficient end-to-end financial processes, including vendor payments, revenue reporting and fixed asset management. It joins other low-cost airlines Scoot and Transavia that have moved to NetSuite for its flexibility, scalability and comprehensive functionality.

With NetSuite OneWorld, HK Express has realized the following benefits: Scalability for growth . NetSuite OneWorld's single cloud solution allows HK Express to quickly add offices as it expands with anywhere, anytime access and rapid implementation.

. NetSuite OneWorld's single cloud solution allows HK Express to quickly add offices as it expands with anywhere, anytime access and rapid implementation. Rapid implementation . HK Express was able to go live on NetSuite OneWorld within three months, speeding up time to value.

. HK Express was able to go live on NetSuite OneWorld within three months, speeding up time to value. Reduced IT costs. A budget-friendly licensing structure that helps HK Express to avoid the high upfront costs of on-premise solutions and lengthy implementation times.

A budget-friendly licensing structure that helps HK Express to avoid the high upfront costs of on-premise solutions and lengthy implementation times. Real-time visibility. NetSuite OneWorld's unified platform gives HK Express visibility across its operations with one single unified financial system of record to provide visibility into standard costs with detailed break downs .

NetSuite OneWorld's unified platform gives HK Express visibility across its operations with one single unified financial system of record to provide visibility into standard costs with detailed break downs Robust customization and integration. NetSuite's SuiteCloud Developer Network (SDN) provides a platform for HK Express to customize the system to its specific needs as a low-fare airline and adapt as its business evolves, while also integrating with its ticketing system, automating a previously manual process that was outsourced to China and enabling the company to run its revenue accounting with just two personnel. NetSuite OneWorld, winner of the 2015 Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) CODiE Award for Best Financial Management Solution and the 2015 UK Cloud award for ERP Product of the Year, provides a unified and cloud-based suite of software that is flexible enough to meet the needs of diverse business models, legal structures and geographies. Customers like Misys based in the UK, HP Software and American Express Global Business Travel in the US and Scoot, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines in Singapore, are turning to NetSuite OneWorld for advanced capabilities to manage their complex business processes across subsidiaries, countries and continents. NetSuite OneWorld supports 190 currencies, 20 languages and automated tax compliance in more than 100 countries, and transaction in more than 200 countries. Today, more than 30,000 companies and subsidiaries depend on NetSuite to run complex, mission-critical business processes globally in the cloud. Since its inception in 1998, NetSuite has established itself as the leading provider of cloud-based financials/enterprise resource planning (ERP) and omnichannel commerce software applications for businesses of all sizes. Many FORTUNE 100 companies rely on NetSuite to accelerate innovation and business transformation. NetSuite continues its success in delivering the best cloud business management software to businesses around the world, enabling them to lower IT costs significantly while increasing productivity as the global adoption of the cloud accelerates. Follow NetSuite's Cloud blog, NetSuite's Facebook page and @NetSuiteEMEA Twitter handle for real-time updates. For more information about NetSuite, please visit www.netsuite.com.hk NOTE: NetSuite and the NetSuite logo are service marks of NetSuite Inc. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090924/SF81218LOGO-b



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[May 30, 2016] Radio Frequency Identification Market (RFID) to Grow at 11% CAGR Driven by Smart Factories to 2020

PUNE, India, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A key trend that will boost radio frequency identification market growth is the growing popularity of smart factories. Smart factories help the manufacturing units in tackling complex manufacturing processes. Smart factories gather the location data with the help of RTLS, which includes tags and sensors to pinpoint an exact location and the identity of assets. This location and identity data is fed into the existing plant systems and devices and helps determine the current state of the factory. This information is delivered to the relevant people and tools to help them gain insights and strategize accordingly. Complete report on radio frequency identification market spread across 72 pages, analyzing 3 major companies and providing 43 data exhibits is now available at http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/global-radio-frequency-identification-market-2016-2020-market-report.html The analysts forecast global radio frequency identification (RFID) market to grow at a CAGR of 11% during the period 2016-2020. A key growth driver for radio frequency identification market is the need for inventory management. Inventory management is the process of keeping track of products, items, or assets of a company; assessing the storage requirements of components; and overseeing the number of finished products. Inventory is an important asset for a company and represents the investment that is involved from manufacturing to the sale of the product. Mismanagement of inventory can lead to significant financial problems and result in either inventory glut or inventory shortage. Global Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global radio frequency identification (RFID) market for 2016-2020. To calculate the market sze, the report covers the revenue generated from end-user segments: industrial, financial services, logistics, retail, healthcare, and others (sports, airlines, consumer products, animals, and farming).



The following companies are the key players in the Global radio frequency identification (RFID) market: Datalogic, Honeywell International, and Zebra Technologies. Other Prominent Vendors in the market are: Acreo Swedish ICT, Alien Technology, Avery Dennison, Checkpoint Systems, CipherLab, CoreRFID, Fieg Electronics, GAO RFID, Global Ranger, Impinj, InSync Software, LogiTag, Mobile Aspects, Mojix, Nedap, RFID4U, RF Ideas, SATO VICINITY, Skyetek, Skytron, Software AG, Solstice Medical, SMARTRAC, Stanley InnerSpace, TAGSYS RFID, Tellago, Terso Solutions, Thinfilm, ThingMagic, TIBCO Software, Tyco Retail Solutions, WaveMark, and Xterprise. Order a copy of Global Radio Frequency Identification Market 2016-2020 report @ http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/contacts/purchase?rname=582846 Further, the radio frequency identification market report states that one challenge that could hamper market growth is the need for high initial investment. This can make it hard for SMEs to adopt RFID technology, even though they are aware of the advantages.

Another related report is Global Chipless RFID Market 2016-2020, the analysts forecast global chipless RFID market to grow at a CAGR of 29.33% during the period 2016-2020. RFID devices can be integrated with other technologies such as Wi-Fi and real-time locating systems (RTLS). Those manufacturers who require efficient inventory management systems demand highly advanced RFID devices. Technically advanced RFID semiconductor devices are being developed keeping in mind the specific needs of customers. These technological advances have led to increased adoption of RFID devices in retail and logistics applications. Key players in the global chipless RFID market: Alien Technology, Thin Film Electronics, SATO VICINITY, and Zebra Technologies. Other prominent vendors in the market are: Acreo Swedish ICT, BASF, Confidex, Impinj, Intermec, RFID4U, RR Donnelley, Soligie, Toppan Printing, and Vubiq. Browse complete [email protected] http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/global-chipless-rfid-market-2016-2020-market-report.html Explore other new reports on RFID Market @ http://www.rnrmarketresearch.com/reports/information-technology-telecommunication/electronics/electronics-rfid About Us: RnRMarketResearch.com is your single source for all market research needs. Our database includes 500,000+ market research reports from over 100+ leading global publishers & in-depth market research studies of over 5000 micro markets. With comprehensive information about the publishers and the industries for which they publish market research reports, we help you in your purchase decision by mapping your information needs with our huge collection of reports.

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[May 30, 2016] MediaTek Introduces Pump Express 3.0 Its Fastest Battery Charging Solution for Smartphones

HSINCHU, Taiwan, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Today's high-powered smartphones have battery demanding applications and users. To help consumers quickly re-charge and stay connected to their world, MediaTek today launched Pump Express 3.0, its fastest battery charging technology to date. MediaTek, a pioneering fabless semiconductor company and market leader in cutting-edge systems-on-chip (SoC), developed Pump Express 3.0 to charge a smartphone battery from zero to 70 percent in as little as 20 minutes. That's almost twice as fast as competing solutions currently on the market and five times faster than conventional charging. With Pump Express 3.0 users can charge for five minutes and talk for four hours.* "The engineering challenge in the smartphone world today is satisfying consumer demand for powerful, rich multimedia features without needing to plug in their phones all day long," said Jeffrey Ju, Executive Vice President and co-Chief Operating Officer. "Our technology lets consumers power up quickly to stay connected, on the go and using their favorite applications whether for work or play instead of tethered to an outlet." Pump Express 3.0 is the world's first solution to enable direct charge through Type-C USB power delivery. Direct charging bypasses charging circuitry inside the phone and prevents the device from overheating while also routing electrical current from the adaptor directly to the battery. Pump Express 3.0 is an ultra safe charging solution with bi-directional communication and 20-plus safety and device protection systems built-in including preventing device or charger overheating issues. MediaTek uses its own SoC technology in combination with technology advancements from Richtek, a company MediaTek recently acquired, to control heat issues and quick charge devices.



"Pump Express 3.0 is another example of MediaTek bringing better experiences to device makers and consumers," said Ju. "We continue to push the limits of what technology can do without making it complicated for the end user." MediaTek's earlier fast charging technology, Pump Express 2.0, is used by major brands including Sony, Lenovo, Gionee and Meizu. Key improvements included in Pump Express 3.0 include higher charging speeds, higher charging efficiency and lower phone temperatures when charging. With direct charging, MediaTek cut power dissipation by more than 50 percent from Pump Express 2.0.

MediaTek Pump Express 3.0 technology will be available in the MediaTek Helio series P20 with devices expected to be in the market by end of 2016. It will also be available in future smartphone chipsets and can be added to MediaTek smartphone SoCs upon request by customers. To find out more about Pump Express 3.0 visit: http://i.mediatek.com/pump-express-3 *Charge five minutes, talk for four hours based on 3G talking deep idle conditions, including dark screen and modem on. About MediaTek

Since 1997, MediaTek has been a pioneering fabless semiconductor company and a market leader in cutting-edge systems-on-chip (SoC) for mobile devices, wireless networking, HDTV, DVD and Blu-ray. Our tightly-integrated, innovative chip designs help manufacturers optimize supply chains, reduce the development time of new products, and extend a competitive edge in crowded markets. Through MediaTek Labs, the company is also building a developer hub that will support device creation, application development, and services for the Internet of Things era. By building technologies that help connect individuals to the world around them, MediaTek is enabling people to expand their horizons and more easily achieve their goals. We believe anyone can achieve something amazing. And, we believe they can do it every single day. We call this idea Everyday Genius and it drives everything we do. Visit mediatek.com for more information. MediaTek Twitter | YouTube | Website MediaTek Press Office:

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[May 30, 2016] Philips and SURFsara team up to provide hospitals with 'Big Data' research services in the Cloud for precision medicine and population health management

- Collaboration combines Philips' expertise in health informatics and SURFsara's capabilities in high performance supercomputing infrastructures - Via online portal combined cloud-based services will facilitate multicenter life sciences research and big data analytics to speed up the translation of academic research into healthcare innovation AMSTERDAM, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG; AEX: PHIA) and SURFsara (a subsidiary of the SURF cooperation), the leading Dutch high-performance supercomputing and data infrastructure provider for education and academic research, today announced a new collaboration with the aim to connect the Philips HealthSuite cloud platform to the SURFsara National Research Infrastructure to provide new cloud-based research services. Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140122/NE50581LOGO The services will specifically support research into precision medicine and population health. An example are new targeted therapies for colon, prostate or breast cancer that require bringing together massive amounts of data from medical scanners, tissue biopsies, lab results and genomics over long periods of time to generate deep and comprehensive views on a patient's individual situation. Studies into population health need to combine extremely large health data sets of large groups of people. These are analyzed to find even the smallest correlations and patterns that could eventually lead to new approaches to enable early intervention and improve treatments "Today, hospitals can already retrieve massive amounts data from multiple sources and various disciplines and through research obtain new clinical insights," said Jeroen Tas, CEO Connected Care and Health Informatics, Philips. "But even greater value lies in combining, normalizing and analyzing the current islands of data. Our integrated services aim to combine data on all levels and connect health systems, clinical expertise and research programs in a secure and compliant manner. Through networked healthcare research we want to facilitate collaboration on the next generation of breakthroughs in care delivery." p>Via a user-friendly portal for online collaboration, data scientists and clinical researchers will have secure high-speed access to Big Data, supercomputing facilities, combined Philips and SURFsara analytics tools, machine learning technology and IT services. It aims to enable scientists and researchers to seamlessly move, share, combine and re-use extremely large sets of data available across academic medical institutions and research programs and analyze them in a compliant manner.





"SURFsara supports the national life science research with ICT experience and has a mission to connect business to research," said Anwar Osseyran, SURFsara CEO and Professor of Business Analytics and Computer Science at the University of Amsterdam. "We will collaborate with Philips to enhance the cloud-base services of Philips and use these resources to make life science data available for science in the Netherlands and beyond."

The comprehensive new translational research environment envisaged initially aims to facilitate academic medical institutions and research programs, and will later expand to support healthcare centers of excellence and life sciences scholars to analyze the vast amounts of data generated by disciplines such as genomics, digital pathology and imaging. The Big Data research services will be open to collaborative research initiatives throughout Europe and beyond, reflecting the global nature of modern-day connected healthcare research in a compliant manner. The volume of stored clinical data is growing at around 40% per year due to rapid advancements in diagnostic medical imaging and patient monitoring, chronic disease management as well as the growing adoption of medical-grade IoT devices (unobtrusive sensors) that enable enhanced patient self-measurement and opens a new dimension in high quality data collection. An even greater data explosion is predicted as access to and analysis of digital pathology and genomics data becomes more widely adopted. For further information, please contact: Joost Maltha

Philips Communications Healthcare Informatics Solutions and Services

Tel.: +31 610 55 8116

E-mail: [email protected]

Twitter: @JoostMaltha Kathy O'Reilly

Philips Group Communications

Tel.: +1 978-659-2638

E-mail: [email protected]

Twitter: @kathyoreilly Chantal Cassee

SURFsara Head of Communications

Tel: +31 623870050

E-mail: [email protected]

Twitter: @surfsara About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. The company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Philips' wholly owned subsidiary Philips Lighting is the global leader in lighting products, systems and services. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips posted 2015 sales of EUR 24.2 billion and employs approximately 105,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter About SURFsara

SURFsara has the national high performance infrastructure for academic research, medical centers and research institutions. We create the bridge between research and our advanced ICT. We do so with scientific research in our DNA and unique expertise contained in our large scale infrastructure. This enables us to boost scientific research with complex computational modeling and analytics and management of big data. We also focus on developing initiatives for the business community. SURFmarket, SURFnet and SURFsara are subsidiaries of the SURF cooperation, the collaborative ICT organization for Dutch education and research. SURF offers students, lecturers and scientists in the Netherlands access to the best possible internet and ICT facilities. For more information, visit www.surfsara.nl

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[May 30, 2016] Yellow Pages launches new mass media campaign highlighting its digital services for small businesses

TORONTO, May 30, 2016 /CNW/ - Yellow Pages (YP) (TSX: Y), a leading digital media and marketing solutions company, launched a national B2B mass media advertising campaign today, targeting small business customers and promoting its digital portfolio of products. Showcasing actual employees of Yellow Pages, who provide daily digital services to customer accounts, the company highlighted the efficiency of its digital offering by creating a small business from scratch. The company selected the iconic lemonade stand for the business it would create. Yellow Pages discreetly opened The Lemonade Stand in the Beaches neighbourhood of Toronto from April 30th to May 8th giving no indication that Yellow Pages was behind the storefront. The Lemonade Stand was promoted and marketed for under a month by Yellow Pages digital media teams, using only Yellow Pages digital marketing products and services: NetSync, a digital presence syndication tool, creation and hosting of a basic website, Facebook page and engagement, SEM (search engine marketing), videography and photography. A total of 10 employees were a part of the dedicated digital marketing effort. "Yellow Pages generates close to half a billion in digital revenues annually, services over 244,000 small businesses across Canada - with the majority buying digital services from us - and wehave among the highest-trafficked digital network in Canada," said Paul Brousseau, Vice-President, Brand Communications at Yellow Pages. "A lot of our strength lies in the daily services and guidance that our employees provide to our customers and we wanted to showcase that."



"It was also important to us that small businesses across Canada continue to associate the brand with measurable, results-driven digital marketing and services tailored to their specific needs," continued Brousseau. The Lemonade Stand had approximately 1,100 customers in the one-week period it was open with all inventory sold out by the weekend. All proceeds from the business were donated locally.

The national multimedia campaign runs until November and includes both conventional and specialty TV, sponsored video and posts, pre-roll, as well as takeovers of La Presse digital platforms. The 30-second ad can be viewed here, and the 15-second version here. The campaign was developed and executed in collaboration with Leo Burnett and Jungle Media. About Yellow Pages

Yellow Pages (TSX: Y) is a Canadian digital media and marketing solutions company that supports local economies by helping neighbourhood businesses reach new customers and foster stronger relationships with existing clients through its various media and products. Yellow Pages holds some of Canada's leading local online properties including YP.ca, RedFlagDeals.com, Canada411.ca, 411.ca, Bookenda.com, dine.TO, DuProprio.com, ComFree.com, and YP NextHome. The Company also holds the YP, YP Shopwise, YP Dine, RedFlagDeals, Canada411, 411, Bookenda, DuProprio, ComFree, and YP NextHome mobile applications and Yellow Pages print directories. In addition, Yellow Pages is a leader in national advertising through its various channels and services devoted to North American businesses. The Company also owns JUICE Mobile, a mobile advertising technology company whose proprietary programmatic platforms facilitate the automatic buying and selling of mobile advertising between brands and publishers. For more information visit www.corporate.yp.ca SOURCE Yellow Pages

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[May 30, 2016] Potting Compound Market Worth 3.13 Billion USD by 2021

PUNE, India, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Potting Compound Market by Type (Epoxy Resin, Polyurethane Resin, Silicone Resin, Polyester System, and Polyamide) by Application (Electrical and Electronics) and by Region Global Trends & Forecast to 2021", Published by MarketsandMarkets, The global market is projected to reach USD 3.13 Billion by 2021, registering a CAGR of 3.7% during the forecast period. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 )

Browse 258 market data Tables with 49 Figures spread through 280 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Potting Compound Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/potting-compound-market-215442994.html

Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report. This growth is fueled by high demand from electronics & electrical industry, increasing global demand for miniaturization of electronics devices, and increased spending by end-use industries. Epoxy Resins: The largest type of potting compound Epoxy resins are the most-widely used potting compound. These compounds generally have better adhesion, high temperature resistance & chemical resistance, higher rigidity, modulus & tensile strength, and very good moisture resistance. This makes it an excellent option for outdoor applications. Epoxies have excellent dielectric properties and are used extensively in potting transformers and switches. Epoxy resins have been widely used for the electronics application as they are generally hard, tough, and exhibit low shrinkage on cure. Electronics: The largest application for potting compound The electronics sector is the largest application for potting compound globally. Potting compounds are used to protect, insulate, and conceal circuitry, components, and devices. They are formulated to meet the requirements of many demanding applications in the electronics and electrical sector such as consumer electronics, transportation, aviation, marine, energy & power, solar power, and others. Potting in both electronic and electrical applications are done to reduce internal stress, achieve excellent dielectric properties, electrical insulation, thermal conductivity, thermal shock resistance, mechanical strength, adhesion, hardness, cure speed, and chemical resistance. Asia-Pacific: The largest market for potting compound Asia-Pacific is the global forerunner in the potting compound marke, in terms of value and volume, and the trend is expected to continue till 2021. Countries in this region such as China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia are witnessing significant increase in the use of potting compounds in electronics & electrical applications. This growth is mainly due to the increasing demand from consumer electronics and transportation industry in Asia-Pacific. Further, rapid industrial development in Asia-Pacific is vigorously pushing the demand for potting compound in electronics and electrical applications. Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and India are the fastest-growing markets in the region and are expected to follow a similar trend till 2021.



Make an Inquiry @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Enquiry_Before_Buying.asp?id=215442994 The potting compound market has a few numbers of global players competing significantly for their market share. These market players are actively investing in various strategies such as new product developments and expansion projects to increase their market share. Also, companies are investing heavily on R&D activities. Major players such as ACC Silicones Ltd. (U.K.), Dymax Corporation (U.S.), EFI Polymers (U.S.), Elantas Beck India Ltd. (India), Electrolube (U.K.), Epic Resins (U.S.), Intertronics (U.K.), Master Bond Inc. (U.S.), MG Chemicals (Canada), and Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Germany) have adopted various organic developmental strategies.

This report covers the market by value and volume for potting compound and forecasts the market size till 2021. The report includes the market segmentation by type, by application, by curing technique, by end-use industry, and by region. It also includes company profiles and competitive strategies adopted by the major market players in the global potting compound market. Browse Related Reports: Electronic Adhesives Market by Form (Liquid, Paste and Solid), by Type (Electrically Conductive, Thermally Conductive, UV Curing and Others), by Application (Printed Circuit Boards and Semiconductor & IC), by Region - Global Trends and Forecasts to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/electronic-adhesives-market-52262402.html Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Market by Type (VLEVA, LEVA, MEVA and HEVA), by End-Use Industry (Footwear & Foam, Packaging, Agriculture, Photovoltaic Panels, Pharmaceutical, and Others), by Region - Trends & Forecasts to 2020

http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/ethylene-vinyl-acetate-market-188576603.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets is the world's No. 2 firm in terms of annually published premium market research reports. Serving 1700 global fortune enterprises with more than 1200 premium studies in a year, M&M is catering to a multitude of clients across 8 different industrial verticals. We specialize in consulting assignments and business research across high growth markets, cutting edge technologies and newer applications. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. M&M's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. The new included chapters on Methodology and Benchmarking presented with high quality analytical infographics in our reports gives complete visibility of how the numbers have been arrived and defend the accuracy of the numbers. We at MarketsandMarkets are inspired to help our clients grow by providing apt business insight with our huge market intelligence repository. Contact:

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[May 30, 2016] FinTech Startup ChangeJar Launches First Mobile App For Everyday Cash Transactions

"Loose Change" From Cash Payments Is On Mobile Phones vs. Banished

To Pockets, Cars and Jars; Now Available At Ottawa Cafes & Merchants OTTAWA, May 30, 2016 /CNW/ - Canadian FinTech start-up ChangeJar, Inc., today launched ChangeJar Mobile, the first mobile app that lets users receive or pay with change from everyday transactions using their smartphones. Just launched at select Ottawa-area cafes and merchants, ChangeJar Mobile supports and improves  instead of replaces  cash transactions by making them simpler, faster and more convenient. The value of coins that were previously lugged around, left to rattle in cars or languish in household containers instead is instantly credited to the ChangeJar Mobile app on the user's phone. Instead of rummaging through pockets or purses users can make purchases or tip for service using their ChangeJar Mobile balance. Users also can do instant person-to-person (P2P) transfers to divvy up bills and handle other common personal cash exchanges. ChangeJar Mobile is free for users and merchants pay no transaction fees. Ottawa merchants including launch partner Ministry of Coffee use ChangeJar Mobile to help reduce transaction costs, improve the flow of customers and attract tech-savvy mobile users. Other ChangeJar merchants include Morning Owl Coffeehouse on Elgin St., Maker Huse, Meat Press, La Favorita, Peloso Cleaners, The Rex and Wandee Thai. ChangeJar will expand availability in Ottawa, and then to cities across Canada starting later this year.



The free ChangeJar Mobile app is available on the Apple App and Google Play Stores. Merchants can easily add the ChangeJar Merchant app to their existing iPad-based point-of-sale terminals. Merchant locations can be viewed online at www.changejar.com/locations/. "ChangeJar Mobile is a great fit with our focus on providing customers with the best combination of quality and convenience," said Alex Dhavernas, co-owner of Ministry of Coffee on Elgin St. "It's incredibly easy to use and enhances the whole customer experience by eliminating the hassle of fumbling with coins and bills. Customers and staff alike also appreciate the fast and easy tipping feature. It's a retail tech innovation that provides immediate benefits and just works."

"ChangeJar takes advantage of the benefits of using cash for everyday purchases without the downsides of dealing with fistfuls of coins," said Tom Camps, ChangeJar founder and CEO. "By capturing the value of change on your mobile phone, ChangeJar is making cash easier and faster for everyday retail and P2P payments. Consumers get the convenience of electronic payments and merchants get a great tool for attracting and rewarding customers all without transaction fees." ChangeJar Mobile is the first of a wider range of consumer and merchant solutions in development that connect and maximize the benefits of both cash payments and electronic commerce. About ChangeJar

ChangeJar is a developer of financial technology solutions that combine the benefits of cash with the efficiency of electronic commerce for everyday transactions. The company's ChangeJar Mobile system is the first app that lets users pay with or receive change using a smartphone. Based in Ottawa and Toronto, the company is expanding the availability of its systems across North America. Twitter: @ChangeJarMobile

Instagram: changejarmobile

Facebook: www.facebook.com/changejar/ SOURCE ChangeJar, Inc.

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[May 30, 2016] Braided Wire Market Global and Chinese Supply and Consumption Industry Forecasts to 2021

PUNE, India, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Market-Research-Reports.com adds "Global and Chinese Braided Wire Industry, 2016 Market Research Report" latest study of 150 pages, published in Jan 2016, to the Digital Products collection of its store. This report estimate 2016-2021 Braided Wire Industry Cost and Profit with Market Competition of Braided Wire Industry by Country: (Including Europe, U.S., Japan, China etc.), By Company and Application. Complete report on braided wire market divided into 11 major chapters that offer an overview of current market scenario as well as 2021 forecasts is now available at http://www.market-research-reports.com/437891-braided-wire-industry. This Global and Chinese Report 2016 is a result of industry experts' diligent work on researching the world market of Braided Wire. The report helps to build up a clear view of the market (scenario and survey), identify major players in the industry, and analyzes the upstream raw materials, downstream clients, and current market dynamics of Braided Wire Industry. The report reviews the basic information of Braided Wire including its classification, application and manufacturing technology. This report explores global and China's top manufacturers of Braided Wire listing their product specification, capacity, Production value, and market share etc. The report further analyzes quantitatively 2011-2016 global and China's total market of Braided Wire by calculation of main economic parameters of each company. In the end, the report makes a proposal for a new project of Braided Wire Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2011-2016 global and China Braided Wire industry covering all important parameters. Order a copy of this report at http://www.market-research-reports.com/contacts/purchase.php?name=437891.



The first chapter introduces the Braided Wire Industry by Brief Introduction, Development & Status of Braided Wire Industry. The second chapte focuses on Manufacturing Technology of Braided Wire, the third one gives Analysis of Global Key Manufacturers (Including Company Profile, Product Specification, 2011-2016 Production Information etc.). The forth chapter deals with 2011-2016 Global and China Market of Braided Wire. The chapter 5 summarizes Market Status of Braided Wire Industry. Partial List of Tables and Figures for Global & China Braided Wire Industry







Figure Braided Wire Product Picture Table Development of Braided Wire Manufacturing Technology

Figure Manufacturing Process of Braided Wire Table Trends of Braided Wire Manufacturing Technology Figure 2016-2021 Chinese CPI Changes

Table Economic Effects to Braided Wire Industry

Table Braided Wire Industry Development Challenges

Table Braided Wire Industry Development Opportunities

Figure Map of Chinese's 33 Provinces and Administrative Regions

Table Selected Cities According to Industrial Orientation

Figure Chinese IPR Strategy

Table Brief Summary of Suggestions

Table New Braided Wires Project Feasibility Study And more Another research titled Global and Chinese Copper Wire Industry, 2011-2021 Market Research Report is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the global Copper Wire industry with a focus on the Chinese market. The report provides key statistics on the market status of the Copper Wire manufacturers and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the industry. Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including its definition, applications and manufacturing technology. Then, the report explores the international and Chinese major industry players in detail. In this part, the report presents the company profile, product specifications, capacity, production value, and 2011-2016 market shares for each company. Through the statistical analysis, the report depicts the global and Chinese total market of Copper Wire industry including capacity, production, production value, cost/profit, supply/demand and Chinese import/export. The total market is further divided by company, by country, and by application/type for the competitive landscape analysis. The report then estimates 2016-2021 market development trends of Copper Wire industry. Analysis of upstream raw materials, downstream demand, and current market dynamics is also carried out. In the end, the report makes some important proposals for a new project of Copper Wire Industry before evaluating its feasibility. Overall, the report provides an in-depth insight of 2011-2021 global and Chinese Copper Wire industry covering all important parameters. Comprehensive Table of Contents and more for the report is available at http://www.market-research-reports.com/toc-430966-copper-wire-industry. Explore more reports on electricals and electronics industry at http://www.market-research-reports.com/cat/information-technology/electrical-electronic-market-research . About Us: Market Research Reports is an aggregator of syndicated market research studies that offer current and future market intelligence across multiple industrial verticals through is high quality database. Market Research Reports aims to help you take business decisions accurately and on time, every time. Understanding your time constraints, we can help you find the most relevant research based on the requirements you share with us. Our customers get 24 X 7 email and phone support. Feel free to reach us at +1 888 391 5441 with your business intelligence needs. Contact:

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[May 30, 2016] VirtualArmor reports first quarter 2016 financial results

-Q1 Revenue Increased 53% Year over Year- /NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/ VANCOUVER, May 30, 2016 /CNW/ - VirtualArmor International Inc. ("VirtualArmor" or the "Company") (CSE: VAI) today announced first quarter (Q1) financial results for the three month period ended March 31, 2016. All figures are in USD. "We had a great Q1 that saw our top line revenue grow 53% year over year due to an increase in both our hardware/software sales and our managed services platform," said Todd Kannegieter, CEO of VirtualArmor. "In addition, due to the expanding number of companies looking to upgrade their security posture and the limited number of competitors currently providing a full service managed security services platform we began investing into our sales and marketing capacity over the quarter in an effort to capture a growing and untapped market throughout the U.S." "For the duration of the year, our focus will be on aggressively expanding our sales force in key areas of the U.S. while continuing to grow and service our existing customer base and onboard leading edge cyber security platforms that would benefit our current and prospective customer base," continued Todd Kannegieter. First Quarter Financial Highlights Total revenue for Q1 2016 increased by 53% to $1,677,492 , compared to $1,090,603 in Q1 2015. The increase in revenue was due to an increase in the number of customers served as well as the size of orders from new and existing customers.

, compared to in Q1 2015. The increase in revenue was due to an increase in the number of customers served as well as the size of orders from new and existing customers. Hardware and software sales revenue increased by 69% to $1,256,640 in the quarter ended March 31, 2016 , compared to $743 ,353 in 2015.

in the quarter ended , compared to ,353 in 2015. Managed and professional services revenue increased by 20% to $415,624 in the quarter ended March 31, 2016 , compared to $345,510 in 2015.

in the quarter ended , compared to in 2015. As at March 31, 2016 , the Company's cash balance was $66,275 compared to $250,812 as at December 31, 2015 .

, the Company's cash balance was compared to as at . The Company recorded a net loss of $2,632,616 (0.05 per share) for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to a net loss of $27,162 (0.00 per share) for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 .

(0.05 per share) for the quarter ended as compared to a net loss of (0.00 per share) for the quarter ended . The Company recorded an adjusted loss of $273,956 for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 as compared to an adjusted loss of $22,304 for the quarter ended March 31, 2015 . The table below details certain non-cash and other transactions that for the purposes of this discussion have been adjusted out of the reported loss to produce an adjusted loss that forms a better basis for comparing the year-over-year operating results of the Company.









2016 2015

$ $ Loss for the period as reported (2,632,616) (27,162) Add (deduct):





Gain on debt settlement, excluding legal fees (215,681) -

Change in fair value of warrant derivative liabilities 2,532,005 -

G&A expense  share-based compensation 42,336 4,858 Adjusted loss for the period (1) (273,956) (22,304)





(1) Adjusted loss for the period is not a term recognized under IFRS. Non-IFRS measures do not have standardized meaning. Accordingly, non-IFRS measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. Operational Highlights: During the quarter, the Company:



Closed approximately $2,400,000 USD in orders over a 90 day period beginning December 1 st , 2015. Reduced shares outstanding with the voluntary escrow of free trading shares and canceled a previously announced private placement due to a favourable exercise of warrants. Added three leading cybersecurity solutions to managed services platform.





Subsequent to the quarter, the Company:



Received a USD $450,000 three year contract under its managed services platform from a leading specialty finance company. Closed a USD $330,000 hardware and software order from a leading American university hospital group.

About VirtualArmor

VirtualArmor is a cyber security company that delivers solutions to help enterprises build, monitor, maintain and secure their networks from cloud to core. As a managed security services provider, VirtualArmor's services run 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 365 days per year through its primary security operations center ("SOC") located in Middlesbrough, U.K. and a secondary SOC located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Each member of VirtualArmor's team supports the three main facets of its business: managed services, professional services, and hardware sales, by handling the design, configuration and installation of advanced network and cloud architecture solutions. VirtualArmor uses best-in-breed partnerships to provide solutions for customers that are affordable, highly reliable, scalable, and backed by thorough knowledge of the related technologies, products, and platforms. VirtualArmor has secured partnerships with established technology businesses specializing in network appliances, software, and systems and provides its services to the mid- to large- enterprise and service provider markets. VirtualArmor customers include a 13-location data center provider, a Fortune 100 oil and gas company, multiple service providers with presences throughout the United States, and household name enterprise organizations located primarily in the western United States. Further information about the Company is available under its profile on the SEDAR website, www.sedar.com, on the CSE website, www.thecse.com, and on its website, http://www.virtualarmor.com/. Forward-Looking Information: This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. The forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of VirtualArmor. Although VirtualArmor believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information as VirtualArmor cannot provide any assurance that it will prove to be correct. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and VirtualArmor disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE VirtualArmor

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[May 30, 2016] Europe Big Data Market 2015 - 2020

LONDON, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Europe Big Data market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 36.50% representing in huge opportunities in this sector, finds a new research report launched by NOVONOUS. This growth is driven by increasing penetration of big data, increase in analytics services and availability of affordable big data solution and services to end users.



Europe Big Data market controls second largest market share at 20% in terms of revenue in Global Big Data market. It is expected to become third largest in terms of it's market position in 2020. Germany, United Kingdom, France and Italy are key countries in Europe Big Data market.



Organizations worldwide are turning their attention to Big Data as a useful means to derive insights from the huge amount of data generated from various sources. Technologies such as NoSQL databases and MapReduce/Hadoop frameworks are at the core of the solutions heralding a paradigm shift.



This research found that high investment costs, lack of awareness and novelty have been the main threats for new entrants in the Big Data space. There are a few major players who control the entire value chain. However, many smaller players have mushroomed who provide consulting in the Analytics space. This research also found that most organizations misunderstand Big Data and it is important to educate the end users through face to face interactins.







Spanning over 116 pages and 75 exhibits, "Europe Big Data Market 2015-2020" report presents an in-depth assessment of the Europe Big Data market from 2015 till 2020.



The report has detailed company profiles including their position in big data market value chain, financial performance analysis, product and service wise business strategy, SWOT analysis and key customer details for 12 key players in Global market namely TEG Analytics, Heckyl Technologies, KloudData Inc., Gramener, Germin8, VIS Networks Pvt. Ltd., Abzooba, Fintellix, Latentview, Indix, Analytic-Edge and Tookitaki.





Scope of Europe Big Data Market 2015-2020 Report

- This report provides detailed information about Europe Big Data market including future forecasts.

- This report identifies the industry wise need for focusing on Big Data market.

- This report provides detailed information on growth forecasts for Europe Big Data market up to 2020.

- The report identifies the growth drivers and inhibitors for Global Big Data market.

- This study also identifies various parts of Big Data value chain.

- This report has detailed profiles 12 key players in Global Big Data market covering their business strategy, financial performance, future forecasts and SWOT analysis.

- This report provides Porter's Five Forces analysis for Europe Big Data market.

- This report provides SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats) analysis for Europe Big Data market.

- This report also provides strategic recommendations for end users, Big Data service providers and investors.



Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/3812898/



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Website: www.reportbuyer.com To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/europe-big-data-market-2015---2020-300276656.html SOURCE ReportBuyer

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[May 30, 2016] Creme de la Creme of Business in Hong Kong: COO of iTutorGroup to speak at RISE

SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 31, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Hundreds of top CEOs are drawn this week to Hong Kong to attend RISE and Converge, two of the most prestigious conferences of the tech scene in Asia. Over 7,000 RISE attendees are joined by the world's business leaders, major global media and hundreds of investors to meet over the course of four days between May 31  June 3, 2016. For those interested, follow #RISEConf, @WebSummitHQ, @iTutorGroup. RISE is where the corporate world meets with the best global startup scene players whereas Converge is a unique convention for a selected group of CEOs, investors and innovators to assess how the tech revolution is unfolding in Asia. What happens at RISE: RISE introduces speakerssuch as Bob Greifeld , CEO of Nasdaq, Arthur Shen , COO of iTutorGroup or Zach Nelson , CEO of NetSuite who will speak on topics such as the Internet of Things, On-Demand Economy, Big Data and others.

, CEO of Nasdaq, or , CEO of NetSuite who will speak on topics such as the Internet of Things, On-Demand Economy, Big Data and others. RISE is a very refreshing, dynamic event that excels in bringing true innovators in the same room. Arthur Shen , COO of iTutorGroup, describes how big data changes online education.



Online education space has been booming globally for several consecutive years and therefore it is no surprise that iTutorGroup, key player in education space, joins this forum to share its strategic roadmap for growth and confirm its position in the market.

While RISE brings masses to Hong Kong, Converge attracts the creme de la creme of business. Converge officially kicks off on June 2 with a day trip to Shenzhen, the Silicon Valley of China, which is when attendees meet with some of the most innovative Chinese companies. About iTutorGroup With more than 5,000 teaching consultants in 60 countries around the world, iTutorGroup is the largest online education platform that provides real-time interactive language training and easy access to experts on-demand through tens of millions of classes annually. Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160528/373217

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[May 30, 2016] Latin America - Mobile Network Operators and MVNOs

NEW YORK, May 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Latin American MNOs expecting further competition into 2016

Latin America's mobile market is dominated by four multinational operators, which together account for about 75% of the region's subscribers. This proportion has been stable for a number of years but is being slowly eroded as regulatory measures facilitate the entry of MVNOs. In part this has been made possible by regulators setting aside auctioned spectrum for new market entrants, and by auction rules which oblige licensees of some spectrum bands to host MVNOs.



Mexico's America Movil is the largest player in the region, operating in a large number of countries. The company also has a significant presence in the US via its MVNO Tracfone, and has made greater inroads into Europe where it has a presence in Austria and the Netherlands via its interest in the respective incumbent operators. These investments were intended as a launching pad for ventures elsewhere in the region, with varying success. America Movil during 2015 expressed further interest in expanding into Eastern European markets, which are considered ripe for further development and more likely to return dividends on inestments made.







The second largest operator in Latin America remains Telefonica, operating under the Movistar brand in all markets except Brazil , where it operates under the Vivo brand. Brazil is Telefonica's key market in the region, where it has over 81 million mobile subscribers and generated revenue of some 7.6 billion in 2014.



In Mexico , a new regulatory regime was recently introduced aimed at curbing the dominance of America Movil, which controls 70% of the wireless market and 80% of landlines. The operator is obliged to reduce its market share to below 50%, and to this end it has made moves to sell its local assets regionally. The process has made room for other operators both locally and from AT&T, which acquired Nextel Mexico in April 2015 . During 2015 there were moves to facilitate access to services between the Mexico and the US, with Telcel having launched its Sin Fronteras Plan (No Borders Plan) under which customers can make calls from Mexico to the US charged as a local call. In the US, customers can use the minutes, SMS and data on their plans as if they were in Mexico , with no roaming charges.

Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p03312046-summary/view-report.html





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Powerball numbers for Monday, Oct. 24, 2022

Here are the winning Powerball numbers and results for the lottery jackpot drawing on Monday, Oct. 24, 2022.
Enermax hasn't been especially active lately in the PSU market, but that seems to be changing. The company's new Platimax DS line consists of three digital PSUs with Platinum efficiency and capacities ranging from 750W to 1 kW. The smallest member of this family has an MSRP of $195, the middle child has 850W max power and will cost $219, and the biggest brother's MSRP is $235. According to Enermax, the mass production of these units will begin around the end of September.

The Platimax DS units will utilize Enermax's patented DFR (Dust Free Rotation) technology and will be supported by an upgraded version of the ZDPMS (Zero Delay Power Monitoring System). This software suite, besides the PSU's status monitoring and the selection between single or multi +12V rails, will also allow users to adjust the voltage levels of the +12V, 5V and 3.3V rails and set OCP's (Over Current Protection) trigger points.

Given the fact that all major rails can be adjusted through software, this platform looks to be fully digital. We cannot tell for sure if the 5VSB rail will be digitally controlled as well--we'll have to wait until we have a review sample in our hands.

Besides all the above, the upgraded ZDPMS also provides access to the system's real-time status such as utilization of GPU, CPU and RAM resources. Finally, all Platimax DS units are fully modular, use quality Japanese caps, and have a twister-bearing fan.

Another new line from Enermax is the Platimax DF which consists of two Platinum members with 500W and 600W capacities and $140 and $155 price tags, respectively. These units are fully modular, use Japanese electrolytic caps and twister-bearing fans, and also utilize the DFR technology. The Platimax DF units will hit the market in late June.

In the low/mid-end category Enermax's new representative is the Revolution DUO family, with three units featuring 500W ($79.99), 600W ($89.99) and 700W ($99.99) max power. The fan in these PSUs uses a DUOFlow design that implements a dual-fan structure. There is also the option for manual adjustment of the fan's speed in order to achieve higher cooling performance. Again, twister bearing fans are used here, and they're specially designed for longevity. The DUO units don't have any modular cables. They will be released to the market in late June.

The last PSU line from Enermax is the Triathlor ADV, which consists of three members with 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency certification and capacities ranging from 550W to 750W. The MSRPs are $85, $95 and $105 for the 550W, 650W and 750W models, respectively. These PSUs feature a semi-modular cabling design, Japanese electrolytic caps, and DC-DC converters for the generation of the minor rails--meaning that they are compatible with the C6 and C7 sleep states that Intel's Haswell CPUs introduced.

In addition, Enermax equipped the new Triathlor ADV PSUs with the Power Watch technology that provides a panel for easy wattage monitoring, informing users about the real-time energy consumption of their systems. There is no release date for these units, yet.

Fans And Cases

Besides the aforementioned PSU lines, Enermax also revealed several new fans, including the D.F Pressure, D.F Storm and D.F. Vegas models. The D.F. Pressure fans are already available, whereas the other two products will hit stores in late July.

Image 1 of 3

The Ostrog ADV is a new mid-tower case from Enermax that features LED lighting at the front and on the top panels. This case supports 240mm/280mm radiators and comes with two pre-installed Vegas fans that sync with the lighting strips. The Ostrog ADV is available in blue, red and green. Its MSRP is $120, and it is already available in the stores.

Steelwing

Another new case is the Steelwing, which is compatible with the micro-ATX form factor. It features a large tempered glass window and supports graphics cards up to 260mm in length. It comes in red and green, and its MSRP is $140. You can expect it around mid July.

Keep Cool

Image 1 of 2

In the cooling section, the EST-T50 AXE is Enermax's new flagship air cooler. According to its manufacturer, it uses seven patented technologies in order to support overclocked CPUs with up to 250W TDP. These technologies are:

Dust Free Rotation (DFR) technology for a self-cleaning solutionPressure Differential Flow (PDF) design to increase 15% more airflow Air Guide with a rotate-able grille for preferred airflow direction adjustmentVortex Generator Flow (VGF) increases air convection in between the finsHeat-pipe Direct Touch (HDT) improves thermal conductivity and rapidly removes the CPU hotspotsTwister Bearing technology for silent operation and longer lifespanCircular type LED fan for eye-catching effects

The EST-T50 AXE will be available in black and white; the former has an Enermax Vegas fan with a three-color LED and a thermal conductive coating in black. The white T50 cooler has a white conductive coating surface and uses a Vegas fan featuring white LED lighting.

An RGB DIY liquid cooler, Liqmax Giant, is also in the pile of announcements. This water cooling system features a LED reservoir and a pump with a digital speed display, supporting six speed modes. There is also a remote control included that allows users to change the color of the LED lights and adjust the pump's speed. Two 140mm fans equip this cooler and use LED lighting along with twister bearings, so they will last essentially forever. Besides all the above, this cooler's bundle includes a 280mm radiator, six compression fittings, three color dyes and one emulsifier. The Liqmax Giant supports both traditional soft-tubing and hard-tubing installation. Finally, its price tag is quite high at $300 bucks. It will enter production in late September.

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In addition to continuously implementing policies that are at best unpopular and at worst devastating, one of the most remarkable things about NSW Premier Mike Baird is the way he always manages to prove himself totally out of touch and arrogant.

We all remember his condescending and utterly flawed lockouts post, but Baird doesnt actually need that many syllables to earn the ire of his constituency. Case in point, one of his most recent Facebook posts turned into a complete bloodbath over the weekend.

Baird took to Facebook to share an image of an illuminated Sydney Opera House, marking the beginning of the citys annual Vivid festival, which sees the iconic landmark emblazoned with colourful projections as the city plays host to a range of exclusive events.

Baird tagged the image with the words Weve turned on the lights, which many have taken as a dig at businessman Matt Barrie, who famously penned an extensive op-ed savaging Baird and the lockouts entitled Would the last person in Sydney please turn the lights out?

At the time of writing, the post has accrued more than 32,000 reactions, more than 4,000 shares, and almost 1,500 comments, many of which are hugely critical of Baird and the ironic nature of the post. Take for example: How about turning on that light in your brain mate.

How do you feel about the thousands who turned out in Sydney today protesting against your undemocratic, unconscionable and abhorrent ways? I personally dont believe you give a toss but your ministers and staff need to do some soul searching, another commenter wrote.

Many were less interested in Bairds Facebook post than having the Premier answer for his recent actions: Could you please explain to us all the legality of sacking democratically elected council members to be replaced by ones of your own choosing? Blatantly corrupt.

I feel so sick when I think about you and what your doing to our city, yet another commenter wrote. What is the saddest part is that you think your doing the right thing. Its so sick. Your lack of awareness of yourself is an example of the lack of awareness of most of our government.

You are blinded by so many things. You need to learn from the rest of the world. The major cities. Youre like a nightmare for me. Ive spent my whole life working as a musician in this city. Honestly working hard every week performing live.

Hoping that Id be able to continue doing this as a living and to see the next generation flourish but youre killing it. Killing it hard. You dont realise the power that music has. Youre small minded like that.

Bairds ill-advised post came as thousands gathered in Sydneys CBD as part of the March Against Mike to protest the Premiers unpopular policies such as the lockout laws, council mergers, anti-protest laws, and the abhorrent privatisation of NSWs disability services.
You may have heard that busking can actually be a pretty lucrative venture for some lucky performers. You wont be making millions, by any means, but if you find yourself a nice spot with good walking traffic, the money you earn isnt chump change.

Still, for others, you can actually earn six figures standing out on the street all day with a guitar. Or in the case of Robert John Burck, standing out on the street with a guitar, a cowboy hat, cowboy boots, a pair of briefs, and nothing else.

Burck is better known as The Naked Cowboy and over the years hes become a staple of New York Citys iconic Times Square. In fact, some would even venture to say that The Naked Cowboy is as iconic as Times Square itself. He certainly would.

A shameless self-promoter, Burck has more or less mastered the art of busking, if the point of busking is to cleave dollars away from random pedestrians. Make no mistake, Burck is not a talented musician, but hes got a fantastic gimmick.

According to a recent interview with Time, Burck got the idea for the naked cowboy after doing a photo shoot for Playgirl. After the photographer offered him more money to strip out of his flannel shirt and jeans, Burck sensed a business opportunity.

Venturing out into Times Square with the intention of becoming the most celebrated entertainer of all time in a year or less, Burck claims he didnt take any money for the first three years but is now earning about $150,000 a year on average.

At first, he says, it was about doing something that I really enjoy doing and the money came later. After accepting a dollar from one observer, Burck took the suggestion to write Tips on his boot. He made almost $500 that day and almost $600 the next.

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I take pictures and they put dollars in the guitar for the photos and it turns out to be about $150,000 a year on average, he told Time. Hes also diversified, having written a book entitled Determination and released three albums.

Hes also trademarked the Naked Cowboy name and the viable image of a guy standing naked out in Times Square with a guitar. He militantly protects his brand, having been involved in many federal trademark lawsuits and anyone who wishes to be a Naked Cowboy or Cowgirl must franchise the name from Burck.

You can check out Burcks ridiculous yet oddly inspirational interview below.
Dear officer, I want you to know that I see you. I see you choose the booth in the restaurant that allows you to have your back against the wall. I see you walking to your next traffic stop while you hope that it isnt your last. I see you pulled over, two hours past your shift, as you finish your reports under a street light. I see you as you direct traffic in the scorching heat, the gusting snow, and the downpour of rain. I see you being filmed every time you try to do your job. I see that you are tired. I see that you are frustrated and misunderstood. I see that you are hurting as the world watches you bury your brothers and sisters that die because they were guilty of one thing; wearing a uniform and a badge. I see you. I see that you are flesh and bones just like me. I see that you are a human being who has a heart that beats for your calling to serve and protect. I see your cause and I want you to know that I appreciate it.  author unknown

There is a lot of rhetoric about police out there right now despite the fact that we've asked our blog community and the word back we've heard isAccordingly, and because, this note was sent our way and it's worth sharing and a moment of reflection today . . .You decide . . .
KANSAS CITY INSIDERS REPORT MORE COMPLAINTS ABOUT TRASH, SPILLS AND NASTY HUMAN STAINS ON THE TOY TRAIN STREETCAR AMID CROWDED WEEKEND NIGHTS!!!

Police riding aboard the streetcars and yelling at the hobos to pick up their garbage is a strategy doesn't seem to be working.

KANSAS CITY INSIDERS WORRY ABOUT THE FEAR OF DISEASE AND ILLNESS ABOARD THE INCREASINGLY FILTHY DOWNTOWN TOY TRAIN STREETCAR!!!

"It really can get disgusting very fast inside these cars. Lingering puke from the homeless is the worst problem that seems to plague the cars because there doesn't seem to be a set janitorial service from what I can tell. The coffee stain from one hipster I saw make a massive spill on Thursday was still there on Friday night. I take the bus so I'm used to this kind of thing but the poop stains left by homeless have a way to ruining the experience for all of the middle-class tourist riders we're getting from JoCo. I'm not here to hate on the trolley. At the cost of $100 million we've got to find a way to make this thing work. Sorry but keeping things extremely clean, much cleaner than the bus, is a big part of it."

From a recent study of germs in the NYC transit system . . . E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus (skin infections, respiratory disease and food poisoning), Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), and even Yersinia pestis, which is associated with the bubonic plague, popping up in some swabs. Nearly all the stations harbored an antibiotic resistant bacteria called Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, one that often causes respiratory infections in hospitals.

The Kansas City streetcar is toutingSadly, this is only half the story . . .Let's give thestreetcar the benefit of the doubt . . . So what the novelty of the toy train is wearing off and most of the passengers are just tourists. The numbers are great but they also come at a cost . . .To wit . . .Moreover . . .And given that the toy train is mostly a tourist attraction to take visitors to different restaurants and bars given that retail is sparse within the loop . . .Onetells us . . .The tipster is correct, we're talking about more than coffee stains here . . . Check a similar transit testimony . . .And so, nasty bugs aboard the toy train along with all of the crackheads and hobos represent another problem that the streetcar must overcome in order to continue the "success" of the project in its opening weeks.Developing . . .
For Greece, Euromonitor cites an 11% decrease in arrivals. Yet, this figure is derived from the data provided by the Bank of Greece for the first two months of the year only and, obviously, is not enough to support a similar estimate for the entire year

Greece and Turkey have suffered in terms of arrivals performance, Euromonitor International reports based on World Tourism Organisation data.

For Greece, Euromonitor cites an 11% decrease in arrivals. Yet, this figure is derived from the data provided by the Bank of Greece for the first two months of the year only and, obviously, is not enough to support a similar estimate for the entire year.

For Turkey its analysts record a sustained decline in demand, with year-to-date 2016 negative growth of 10%

Egypt and Tunisia are among the countries which have registered some of the biggest losses in terms of % volume growth in arrivals of -46% and -18.7% respectively for 2016 YTD. The latest events with the crashed Egyptian aircraft are expected to further impact negatively the performance of the tourism sector in the country. Specifically, the government must reassure travellers and potential tourists that the country is doing enough to uproot terrorism and secure the safety of travellers.

Currently, Egypt's tourism is surviving very much thanks to the heavily discounted prices to lure budget travellers and the question is how much are these low spending tourists ready to visit Egypt in light of the recent events. In addition, the recent plane disasters indicate that investments in infrastructure, including air transportation is being ignored to favour other areas that seem to be of greater concern to the government at the moment.

Hong Kong is another country globally which has registered somewhat poor performance in terms of % volume growth of arrivals for YTD 2016. This is really on the back of slowing number of Chinese travellers to Hong Kong due to anti-mainland protests, changing preferences of Chinese travellers to visit other markets as competing destinations such as European countries liberalise visa policies. Hong Kong faces political and social issues and has overcrowded over years due to the influx of mainland Chinese tourists into the country. The strengthening of the US dollar, which is pegged to the Hong Kong dollar, is making it more expensive to shop in this part of the world, which is among the key expenditures for Chinese tourists. Furthermore, other countries have focused their marketing strategies to target the rising affluent Chinese middle class, thus contributing increasing challenges to Hong Kong. More Chinese tourists will continue to divert to other destinations including South Korea, France and the UK.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
The 25-year-old player was abducted on Saturday in in the northern border state of Tamaulipas

Mexican media have reported that a major federal and state operation to rescue Olympiacos striker Alan Pulido was successful.

The 25-year-old player was abducted along with his girl friend Ileana Salas in the northern border state of Tamaulipas on Saturday, on their way to a party. The abductors later released Salas.

During the rescue operation one of the six kidnappers was injured and arrested. Pulido was also taken to a local hospital for treatment, as he appears to have suffered an injury

Source:protothema.gr

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
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With the key in hand, it's time to reach the room. To get there, well go through work spaces with computers connected to printers available for use. In front, travelers in transit lounge on giant, very comfortable seats and couches. Others read one of the many books made available to them by the hotel.



The bedroom is a modern space with a mixture of different materials: wooded floors, PVC for the furniture and even leather for the headboard. The toilets and showers are isolated in a semi-transparent bubble that regularly changes color through light effects. The whole room feels like embarking inside a space capsule.



The shower is very pleasant with two modes: a classic shower head or rain shower head.



The King Size bed takes up the whole width of the room, in the back, facing the entrance. A very large window hangs over it, and on the left there is a large flat screen TV.



Inside the room, a touch-screen tablet allows to control the TV, lighting and air conditioning. Upon exploring its content we notice that it also has a few surprises. Like the possibility of choosing the rooms ambiance. There are 5 mood options, with specific music and lighting: festive, relax, romance, business, and cinema.



Because the touch-screen tablet offers not only the possibility of listening to the radio or check programs available on Apple TV, but it also has a wide range of recent French and foreign films and even a selection of adult films. Everything is entirely free and visible on the TV screen.



There is also free WIFI access without needing a password. Do not expect a speed of light connection but it remains quite good.



As for the office, several power outlets are set up with some to the United States, United Kingdom and European norms. USB ports are also available to charge and connect electronic devices.
Foreign assets at Saudi Arabia's central bank shrank $6 billion in April as it liquidated some financial holdings to cover a big state budget deficit caused by low oil prices, official data showed on Sunday.



Net foreign assets dropped 1.1 per cent from the previous month to SR2.15 trillion ($572 billion). Assets fell 15.7 per cent from a year earlier to their lowest level since April 2012; they reached a record high of $737 billion in August 2014 before starting to shrink.



The foreign assets are mainly denominated in US dollars, in the form of securities such as US Treasury bonds and deposits with banks abroad, fund industry sources told Reuters.



Earlier this month, the US Treasury disclosed the size of Saudi Arabia's US Treasury holdings for the first time; it said the kingdom owned $116.8 billion of Treasuries in March.



Deposits with banks abroad fell 2.2 per cent from the previous month to $129 billion in April, while investment in foreign securities edged down 0.8 per cent to $386 billion.  Reuters
WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the worlds leading professional services consulting firms, has appointed Greg Kane as the new managing director for its Middle East operations.



The company has 1,400 employees in the region with offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia.



Former managing director Tom Bower who managed the Middle East business for the last six years, taking the business from 300 to 1,400 employees, resigned recently and has left the business to spend time with his young family, said a statement from the company.



Kane joined WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff in 2013 as operations director after spending six years at Hyder Consulting Middle East.



He assumed responsibility for the operational running of the Middle East business, overseeing the development and implementation of strategy, prospect management, project delivery and operational excellence whilst focusing on client and stakeholder engagement, it stated.



Kane, a chartered engineer with a Bachelor of Science degree and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Insead Business School in Paris, has a clear vision for the business in the Middle East and an in-depth knowledge of the opportunities and challenges the region offers, said the company in it statement.



WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoffs global chief operational officer Paul Dollin, commenting on Kanes passion for the business and readiness for the role, said: "We have very talented and passionate people in the Middle East which has been instrumental in our success to date. I am delighted that Kane has taken on the role to lead our business."



"I look forward to working with Greg as we continue to focus on our clients and our people to deliver some of the world's most exciting projects," he added.



On his new role, Kane said: "Its a great privilege to take on such a vital role at this time. Our Middle East business is full of talented and motivated professionals working for some of the best clients on the most interesting projects in the region."



"If we continue to focus on these elements, our people and our clients, I am confident we can be successful in the years ahead," he added.



The company is involved in several high-profile projects including the Dubai Mall expansion in the UAE; Orbital Highway Contract One (Qatar); Makkah Public Transport Programme (Saudi Arabia); Doha Metro (Qatar); Al Mutlaa Housing Project (Kuwait); Seventh Heaven at Al Barari (UAE) and Al Wakrah Bypass Road in Qatar.-TradeArabia News Service
United Development Company (UDC), a leading Qatari public shareholding Company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the sale of AQ-02 office tower, one of two iconic commercial buildings situated at the entrance of The Pearl-Qatar within the Abraj Quartier precinct.



The completion of these towers are documented to have been at an astonishing pace and as such have commanded great attention, leading to the signing of the MoU with a prominent property investor, a statement said.



UDC president and CEO Ibrahim Al Othman said: The development of Abraj Quartier AQ-01 and AQ-02 towers, along with the recent successful tower plot sale in Viva Bahriya, reflect investors confidence in The Pearl-Qatar project, being a preferred investment destination for residential, commercial and retail/business investors.



Considered as the most luxurious location in Qatar, residents and visitors to The Pearl-Qatar are provided with all the amenities and services one could need.



Now with the completion of the Abraj Quartier commercial development, it reinforces UDCs vision of The Pearl-Qatar island as a mixed-use city to live, work and be entertained, he added.



AQ-01, property of UDC, is now available for leasing, the statement said.



Standing as the tallest architecture on The Pearl-Qatar, this 42-storey tower offers amenities designed to provide the best possible working environment with facilities such as a full service cafe and restaurant that overlook the Gulf waters, a high-tech fitness centre for the use of office tenants, in addition to abundant parking spaces, it added.



The two towers offer first-class office spaces of different sizes, along with panoramic views of Dohas West Bay, and direct access to the Islands premier restaurants, retailers as well as the upcoming rail network.



The Pearl-Qatar is one of the largest real estate developments in the country and the first to offer freehold and residential rights to international investors. It includes five-star hotels, marinas, a yacht club, schools and other services as well as luxury residential property and upscale retail, restaurant and lifestyle amenities.  TradeArabia News Service
More than 150 renowned developers will be showcasing their key projects to more than 15,000 potential visitors at the Indian Property Show which opens in Dubai, UAE, next month.



The biggest biannual Indian real estate show will be inaugurated by Bollywood actor, director and film producer Arbaaz Khan, who is the expo's brand ambassador.



With free entry on all three days, the show will be open to visitors from 11am to 8pm every day at the Dubai World Trade Centre Zaabeel Hall 5 from June 2 to 4, said the organiser Sumansa Exhibitions.



The event will give the potential buyers a broader view and better understanding of various existing and upcoming real estate developments, with an opportunity for a face-to-face interaction with various developers, it stated.



These include Lodha Group, Kanakia, Kalpataru, Wadhwa Group, L&T, Ozone Group, Mantri Developers, Sobha Developers, Goel Ganga, Rachana Lifestyle, Saarthi Group, Prestige Constructions, Godrej Properties, Suntech India, Bombay Realty, Radius Developers, Adani Estates, Goyal Corporation and Ansal Housing.



Apart from this, Jones Lang Lasalle India, the knowledge partner for the upcoming show will be providing advice and consultancy to the buyers, through their informative seminars at the exhibition, said the organiser.



"Our exhibition has helped several Indian developers build credibility and create brand awareness through positive word of mouth. Also, to find new customers and fortify relationships with existing ones," remarked R Srividya, the general manager (corporate sales and brand engagement) Indian Property Show, Sumansa Exhibitions.



"This expo holds a plethora of knowledge on current realty trends in India which will help investors to make informed decisions. We believe in fulfilling the dream property requirement with the best and hassle-free deal," stated Srividya.



Indian Property Show, with its innovative approach and guidance, allows visitors to compare prices of residential, commercial and mixed-use units and helps them take a decision on the exhibition floor itself.



An essential part of the show is the seminar programme with a hand-picked line-up of industry experts addressing some of the hottest topics of the real estate market.



During the event, investment gurus, property consultants, legal advisors and banking experts will be conducting free seminars on various subjects ranging from Vaastu, know your city and property investment.



Visitors can also expect good deals, attractive prices, reputed developers and a wide range of budget to ultra-luxurious properties from across India.



"This is one of the biggest real estate expos and we are known for the credibility we hold in the market," she added.-TradeArabia News Service
Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the Bahrain-based international smelter, announced that the capex associated with Line 6 Expansion Project was brought-down from $3.5 billion to around $3 billion.



As per the initial bankable feasibility study, the capex for Line 6 Expansion Project - comprising the construction of a sixth pot line and power station 5 - was estimated at $3.5 billion. "However, following our on-going review in response to the lower oil prices and commodity markets soft conditions, the capex has significantly shrinked to approximately $3 billion," the company said.



Albas chief executive officer Tim Murray said: We are pleased to arrive at a lower capex as that will reduce the debt burden when financing the construction of the sixth pot line and power station 5. The project has been gaining, recently, significant momentum and our Line 6 team is gearing-up on all fronts.



Albas Line 6 Expansion Project timeline remains on track with first hot metal scheduled for in early January 2019. Alba is now looking at different scenarios in the structuring and financing for the project, a statement said.  TradeArabia News Service
Qatar Steel, a leading steel producer in the Middle East, has been awarded the ISO 27001: 2013 certification for its Information Security Management Systems.



Qatar Steel received the certification in recognition of its standardised and best practices in effective information technology (IT) infrastructure management and information security management, said a statement from the company.



The move comes, as the company is looking to leverage on domestic and international expertise to provide an integrated information security system, and to embrace global standards in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements to further enhance its business objectives, it said.



Ali Bin Hassan Al Muraikhi, managing director and general manager, said: It is an important milestone for us and reiterates our efforts in the direction of data security, confidentiality and protection.



We recognise and understand that safeguarding our company data is of vital importance and this independent accreditation should help our business to elevate the confidence that we have adequate measures and internal procedures in place to protect data and eliminate any potential security risks, he said.



This achievement is the outcome of dedicated efforts of our employees in IT and other departments, and continual guidance of top management, to ensure the best IT practices on information security, and the implementation of Information security management systems, he added.  TradeArabia News Service
UK-based Cyberhawk Innovations, a leader in aerial inspection and survey using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), has expanded its international presence by signing a partnership agreement with Nordic Unmanned, Norways leading UAV operator.



The agreement means that customers in Norway will be able to take advantage of Cyberhawks industry leading cloud based asset management software, iHawk, which will be combined with Nordic Unmanneds detailed local knowledge and UAV experience, said a statement from the company.



The partnership reinforces Cyberhawks growing global reputation and maintains Nordic Unmanneds position as the leading UAV company in Norway, it said.



Cyberhawk completed the first ever drone inspection on the Norwegian continental shelf in 2013 with a flare inspection on an floating, production storage and offloading (FPSO), and together the two companies have already successfully completed a number of projects in Norway with major oil and utility asset operators, it added.



Established in Norway as an expert in UAVs, Nordic Unmanned has a highly experienced team which has more than 50 years of experience in remotely operated technology, and over 30 years of experience in on and offshore oil and gas competencies, said the statement.



Since its inception in 2008, Cyberhawk has led the development of the drone/ UAV inspection and survey industry and has achieved more than 25 world firsts, delivering its services in more than 20 countries across Europe, Africa, North America, Middle East and Asia, it stated.



The company has also spearheaded the conversion of UAV captured imagery into powerful asset management information in the cloud with its industry-leading iHawk software. iHawk allows intuitive access to inspection data using a simple map-based interface, clearly shows the asset status using a traffic light system and allows the user to drill into further engineering commentary and evidence, it added.



Craig Roberts, CEO of Cyberhawk, said: This collaboration enables us to effectively address the increasing inspection needs in Norways oil and gas and utility sectors, providing both onshore and offshore clients with a local, reliable and proven UAV inspection and survey solution, wrapped up in cutting-edge cloud based asset management software.



This partnership is a significant step forward in further delivering safe, cost effective UAV and asset management solutions and we are pleased to team up with Nordic Unmanned, a company which shares our approach to innovation and customer service, he added.



Knut Roar Wiig, CEO at Nordic Unmanned, said: This agreement is a key part of our companys strategy to play a major role in the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Together with Cyberhawk, we can provide a high quality, professional service for our customers.  TradeArabia News Service
King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), a special economic zone in Saudi Arabia, has leased a plot of land to Venezuela-based Golden Tuna, to build its first tuna production facility in Saudi Arabia.



Construction work on the project which will be located on a 35,906-sq-m parcel of land in Phase 3 of its Industrial Valley, and is scheduled to start later this year, with production set to begin by the beginning of 2018 for sales in the GCC, Saudi Arabian and Egyptian markets, said a statement from KAEC.



Golden Tuna is investing in KAECs Industrial Valley in order to boost its production capacity and expand into global markets, following the companys dramatic growth in sales, production and manpower this year, it said.



Fahd Al-Rasheed, group CEO and managing director of KAEC, said: The eagerness of national and international corporations to invest in KAEC is proof positive that we are well on our way to achieving our strategic objective of making the Industrial Valley the regions manufacturing and logistics hub.



The economic city has a unique set of compelling advantages, including a world-class infrastructure, advanced public services, efficient logistics, social, commercial and industrial facilities, and a giant global seaport, all of which have made it the go-to place in which to invest, live and work. The city is fully equipped to become the dynamic centre of Saudi Arabias non-petroleum economy, which will put the kingdom in a position of power among the worlds 20 biggest economies. Our city actively succeeds in meeting the needs of all the industries we target, he said.



Dr Khaled Khalil, general manager of Golden Tuna, said: The companys decision to invest in KAECs Industrial Valley is part of our plans to expand into global markets and increase our investments in the GCC and Egypt.



Our decision to manufacture at the Industrial Valley came after we explored all possible investment opportunities and studied KAECs existing achievements, after which we concluded that the city is the best possible place to take our national and international investments, given its capability to be an engine of change in the Saudi economy and the many facilities the government provides to accelerate growth, he added.



A comprehensive range of housing solutions, such as the Village project, provide an ideal residential environment for workers and supervisors, said the statement.



Rayan Qutub, CEO of the Industrial Valley, stated that the completion and opening of Phase 3 to investors was a breakthrough that has helped bring about many new achievements, underscored by its popularity with national and international investors and corporations, due to the wide range of services and advantages that facilitate the ease of establishing commercial and industrial operations in KAEC.



Qutub also noted that King Abdulla Port will play a major role in Golden Tunas growth in exports, and expand the companys reach to more than 620 million consumers in Red Sea region, it added.  TradeArabia News Service
Russia will spend around 1.1 trillion roubles ($16.7 billion) on its military manufacturing sector in the 2016-2020 period, Tass news agency quoted Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin as saying on Monday.



Russia is currently the second-largest arms exporter in the world and it should retain this position, RIA news agency quoted Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as saying during a meeting with his deputies. - Reuters
DP World has reached an agreement to manage the Berbera port in Somaliland, which would allow it to become a major hub for goods to transit to and from the Horn of Africa, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.



Under the terms of the deal, the newspaper citing a person who has seen the document, Somaliland will grant the Dubai-based company the right to manage the Red Sea port of Berbera for 30 years.



A year ago, the territory's foreign minister, Mohamed Behi Yonis, said it was in talks with DP World, France's Bollore and Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company to select a partner to develop and manage the Berbera port.



Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 but is not internationally recognized.



Somaliland's neighbor, Ethiopia, lost direct sea access in 1993 when Eritrea gained independence after a three-decade civil war. It is heavily reliant on the port of Djibouti.



DP World said on Sunday it valued the project at $442 million, but said it would be a phased investment and depended on port volumes, according to the Wall Street Journal.



DP World will pay $5 million a year plus 10 per cent on port revenue to Somaliland, the paper said in its online edition.-Reuters


Kuwait plans to invest KD34.5 billion ($115 billion) on oil projects over the next five years, Arab News quoted a senior executive as saying.



We have earmarked 34.5 billion dinars for spending on oil projects over the next five years, said Wafa Al-Zaabi, head of planning at Kuwait Petroleum Corp, according to the report.



Over KD30 billion ($100 billion) will be spent on the local market and the rest abroad, she said.



More than two-thirds of the investment has been allocated for exploration and production, Al-Zaabi said.



Kuwait aims to raise its production capacity, currently just over three million barrels per day (bpd), to four million bpd by 2020 and maintain it for another decade, the Arab News report said.



Plans include building four gathering centres, boosting heavy oil production and raising output of free natural gas, Zaabi said.
Kuwait has awarded Turkey's Limak Group and its local agent, Kharafi National, a contract to build a new airport terminal at a cost of KD1.31 billion ($4.34 billion), the Public Works Minister Ali Al Omair said on Monday.



The minister told a news conference that the project will be completed over six years and will raise the capacity of the airport to 25 million passengers from the current five million passengers.



Omair said it was "one of the biggest projects" under the current government development plan.



"It has been long delayed but we reached the first step," he told a news conference.-Reuters
Oman will take part in the GCC Tourism Summit in Saudi Arabias capital Riyadh, to be held on June 1 and 2.



The summit will increase the efforts to promote tourism in the GCC and enhance the role of the private sector while promoting the unique tourism destinations in the GCC.



The delegations will also discuss the administrative and organisational aspects of the GCC tourism destination project.



Maitha Saif Majid Al Mahrouqi, undersecretary in the Ministry of Tourism (MoT), will head the Omani delegation to the summit, accompanied by the head of the International Cooperation Department, Adnan Saleh Al Hammadi.



The summit will build on discussions and decisions made at the GCC tourism summit last year in Qatar. - TradeArabia News Service


Theme park Six Flags Great Adventure had to shut down much-hyped 4D roller coaster Joker after two riders remained on their seats for 15 minutes on the day of testing. It is advertised as a four-dimensional (or 4D) free-fly coaster that is able to flip riders upside down for the whole ride in the New Jersey park.

Joker, named after a Batman villain, was noted as rocking too much without returning to the station in the right position. Six Flags spokesperson Kristin Siebeneicher told Yahoo News that they are now making a minor change to minimize the ride's rocking.

The two men had to stay on their seats until operators released harnesses. The park then shut the ride down and made the important maintenance. Siebeneicher said the two men were safe and uninjured. She added that the ride is running fine now and is had no flaws when a camera equipment was attached onboard for a promotional shoot.

Joe Bracco, one of the men who got stuck told NJ.com that the ride "swings back and forth so much" that their momentum just got their cable car stuck. They were definitely not in the position that they should be at then of the ride.

Six Flags chief executive officer John Duffey told CNBC that the 4D virtual reality roller coaster Joker would provide a "more immersive experience for riders." Adding virtual reality to the roller coaster attraction would transform the older ride into "a great new experience."

The addition of virtual reality to Joker costs the company only less that USDS1 million. It was originally called "Total Mayhem". It is Six Flag's 14th roller coaster ride.

The said incident has not affected the operations though. As planned, Joker would still open the ride to season pass holders on Friday and the general public on Saturday.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
A cup of coffee would greatly make a difference in one's morning. Many people will say that a day should not start without a fix of caffeine. Here are 5 countries that would offer the best tasting coffee for the weary traveler.

Colombia

Coffee lovers are familiar with Colombian coffee. It raises high quality coffee beans, thanks to its rugged soil. Colombia coffee has a mild, well-balanced acidity. To drink it the local way, brew the beans in sugarcane juice for that sweet and sticky experience that would make those with sweet tooth jump for joy.

Costa Rica

The reputation of this country is attributed to its huge effort in cultivating its beans. Wet-processed arabicas present a medium-bodied, well-balanced and sharply acidic caffeine fix. Costa Rican coffee flavors from fruity and sweety, to berry-like, to nutty.

Ethiopia

Just take an Ethiopian cup black and thick. Serving this drink requires a ceremony in this place: from roasting, grinding, brewing, and offering. The so-called "coffee ceremony" is worth the try when you visit the country. The drink is so good that one would drink 3 cups in one ceremony. Then, one fully awake day is coming up.

Hawaii

Kona's coffee has a good reputation. The price of a cup is quite pricey but worth it. The aromatic, medium-bodied, rich flavor is attributed to the rich volcanic soil of Hualalai and Mauna Loa. The place is also blessed with frequent rainfall and intense tropical sun.

Vietnam

The drip coffee experience is a must-try for all travelers in Vietnam. The coffee industry here is fast growing and is now one of the world's biggest caffeine producers. Robust coffee here gives a light acidity, mild body and good balance. Vietnam coffee is recommended for blended drinks.

---

Other countries that coffee lovers should visit are Mexico, Jamaica, Guatemala, Panama, Brazil, Kenya, Tanzania, Yemen, Java, Sumatra and India.

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Dreaming to experience a Kate Middleton kind of living? If you love the royals, you now have the opportunity to sleep and stay in the childhood home of Princess Diana since it is opening its doors to accommodate overnight guests in order to raise money for charity, NBC News revealed.

Princess Diana's childhood home and final resting place, the Althrop estate, which is owned by the Princess's brother, Earl Charles Spencer, is located on a small island on Oval lake. Guests can also visit a memorial just across the lake as well as stay in the bedroom of Diana at the Northamptonshire estate.

The Grade I-listed estate was announced to be open to visitors by Spencer. The 13,000-acre estate is a popular location for filming, weddings, and festivals where cottages, farms, woodlands, and villages are featured. Aside from that, there is also an interesting mix of landscapes, habitats, and activities in the area.

Overnight visitors are welcomed to the 500-year-old mansion to raise money for the Whole Child International charity, which is started by Countess Karen Spencer, the wife of Earl Spencer, to address the limited resources in orphanages and child-care centers.

In an exclusive interview, the Earl and the Countess revealed how they came up with the idea to raise funds for charity.

But I was instantly on board, said Charles, according to Yahoo. Ive always thought of this house as contributing. Its not just a little bastion or fortress of privilege.

Interested parties who want to rent the place would expect to spend a lot for it since the cost is between $25,000 and $40,000 for a couple's overnight stay in the 100,000-square-foot home that is about 75 miles north of London. A group of up to 18 people can also rent the estate for $250,000.

Guests will see an extensive art collection including a monument dedicated to the late Princess of Wales. But then, Refinery29 reports that there are reported ghost sightings in the area but none of these are that of Princess Diana but of the deceased servants of the Third Earl.

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The 17-year-old Harambe, a 400-pound male gorilla, was shot and killed at the Cincinnati zoo by the zoo's security officers after the gorilla grabbed a boy who fell into the cage.

During the time the gorilla grabbed the 4-year-old boy, zoo visitors panicked as they watched helplessly and some people shouted "Stay calm!" while the mother of the child can be heard yelling, "Mommy loves you!" The Guardian reported.

As the boy sat still in the water while looking up at the gorilla, the predominantly herbivorous ape touched the boy's hand and back. But, some said that the gorilla seemed to help the youngster to stand up.

Two witnesses made it known that they thought the gorilla was trying to protect the child at first, before the animal got frightened by the screams of zoo visitors. Then the gorilla picked up the scared boy out of the moat and dragged him to a particular place inside the cage.

Thayne Maynard, the zoo director, stated that the boy crawled through the railing and fell into the enclosure. A Cincinnati fire department incident report stated that the animal "was violently dragging and throwing the 4 year old boy" when they were called in to rescue, as stated by WLWT.

"An old man can cry, too," Jerry Stones, who raised Harambe since birth, stated to the NY Daily News. "Harambe was a special guy in my life. Harambe was my heart. It's like losing a member of the family.

Some people even suggested that the parents of the child should be held responsible for the zoo incident. And in less than 24 hours, online petition seeking "justice for Harambe" gathered more than 8,000 signatures, as stated by CNN.

However, there were no footages showing the gorilla dragging the little kid. But, the 4-year-old boy was hospitalized and suffered serious injuries.

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Shreeraj Deshpande

It is imperative to understand the need for health insurance which can save women from huge financial crisis in time of a medical emergency. The cost of hospitalisation and speciality medical treatments are so expensive today, it is almost impossible to bear that cost by self without necessary support from insurance.

Benefits

Health insurance is a broad concept that provides protection against medical uncertainties and the costs involved. There are various products available in the market and the extent of cover, benefits etc. varies between products.

Women-specific products

There are women-specific products in the market that caters only to women-specific needs and critical illnesses. However, there is no special premium pricing for those products. Though not all companies offer women-specific products, some companies have policies that provide extra benefits like maternal benefits and child care. Also, there are products catering to various age groups and life stages of a woman. Although the benefits of every product differ from policy to policy, few of the common ones are mentioned below:

Cashless hospitalisation at any of the insurance companys network of hospitals

Pre and post-hospitalisation expenses

Cost of health check-up at authorised centres

Maternity benefits that are covered at the time of hospitalisation

Pre-natal and post-natal expenses

Cover for newborn babies, vaccination expenses etc

Policies which cover the extended family of the proposer

Pays a lump sum in case the policyholder is diagnosed with any critical illness, including cancer, heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure

Tax benefits under Section 80D

Policy covers critical illnesses of women like breast cancer, cervical cancer, spondylitis

For single-married women

The medical expenses to be borne by single-married women are very high. If they happen to face any critical illness in the family, a comprehensive healthcare product and a critical illness product provide the required financial support to them.

For a single parent

Your child can be covered under comprehensive health cover along with you

Child care benefits can be available under the same cover

The cover includes the charges for vaccination for child less than 12 years of age

You can cover your own parents under a single cover along with your children

All hospitalisation costs will be covered in case of any critical illness

For a newly married couple

Newly wedded women can opt for such a product and avail the maternity benefit when they start family planning. The couple can avail the maternity benefit with only two years of waiting period when both husband and wife are covered together.

For women staying in a joint family

If a woman is staying in a joint family, there are options available in the market that cover as many as 15 people in one policy like self, spouse, dependent (unmarried and up to the age of 25 years) or non-dependent children, dependent or non-dependent parents, dependent siblings, daughter-in-law, son-in- law, parents in law, grandparents and grandchildren (maximum up to 15 members).

For senior citizens

Senior women citizens can avail the benefits of a health insurance at the time of hospitalisation when they are diagnosed with any illness. Post-hospitalisation services like nursing are also provided to them and these become beneficial at times when there is no one to take care at home. In some policies, there is no age restriction to enter and the benefits to various individuals may change from policy to policy.

Sum assured and premium

The premium of health insurance vary depending upon the type of product, plan, extent of coverage and sum insured and age of the persons being covered.

Claim settlement

The insurers will give detailed guidelines to the policyholders on steps to be taken in case of a claim. In case of hospitalisation claims, cashless facility is available in the network hospitals of the insurer. If the treatment is availed at a non-network hospital, the insured has to go for a claim on reimbursement basis.

How to purchase policy

The policy can be purchased online. Alternatively, you may contact the nearest branch or the call centre of the insurance companies and they will depute a suitable official to get in touch with you to explain the product offerings.

How to choose insurer

One should always buy insurance from a reputed insurer that has a good record of servicing and claim settlement, as these are the features that become critical when you are actually in need. A cheaper policy may not always be the best for you. Choose a policy that suits your requirements in terms of coverage and sum insured. Go through the prospectus and policy wordings to understand the waiting periods, exclusions and sub-limit under the policy. Make an informed decision before signing on the dotted line.

The writer is Head  Health Insurance, Future Generali India Insurance Company Ltd. The views expressed in this article are his own
PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 30

The city police is on a high alert as the anniversary of the Operation Blue Star anniversary is approaching. The police has geared up to thwart any untoward incident during the anniversary, which falls on June 6.

As many as 10 companies of paramilitary forces, besides Punjab Armed Police and team of commandos, have been summoned for making elaborate security arrangements in the city.

It is evident to mention here that Sikh radical group Dal Khalsa has given a call of Amritsar Bandh on June 6 to protest the Operation Blue Star launched in 1984 by the Army to flush out militant groups headed by the then Damdami Taksal chief Jarnail Singh Bhindrawala.

The organisation will also take out a Genocide Remembrance Parade on June 3, which will pass through various streets and bazaars. The army had launched the operation in 1984 on this day.

Meanwhile, Sikh Youth Federation Bhindranwala has announced to oppose present Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh during his address from the Sikh temporal seat on June 6.

Police Commissioner Amar Singh Chahal has been holding meetings with senior officials and SHOs of all police stations to chalk out elaborate security plans. He has reportedly asked the SHOs to prepare a list of sensitive areas in their jurisdiction. He has also been holding meeting with the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) authorities for security arrangements around the Golden Temple.

Last year unpleasant scenes were witnessed on the premises of Darbar Sahib when a group of youths had entered into a clash with employees of the SGPC task, who tried to restrain them from raising pro Khalistan slogans. Five persons were injured in the clash at that time.

Paramilitary forces have been deployed at key points of the city. Police teams have been asked to keep a close eye on every entry and exit point of the city for checking the entrance of anti-social elements.

Chahal said elaborate security arrangements would be at place in view of Operation Blue Star anniversary. He said nobody would be allowed to forcibly close business establishments and create law and order problem. In case anybody indulged in such activities the law would take its own course, he added.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 30

Accusing the Central government of "attack" on public-funded higher education institutions, Delhi University teachers and students today raised their pitch against the UGC circular brought out earlier this month to assess their academic performance.

They said it reflects the government's attempt to "cut" jobs and "deny" promotions.

They marched from Mandi House to Parliament Street, demanding the withdrawal of notification, arguing that it will lead to retrenchment to the tune of 50 per cent and drastically increase pupil-teacher ratio in higher education.

Calling the amendments to the UGC regulations "retrogressive", they stated that a memorandum of demands was submitted to the MHRD officials.

Delhi University gave a call for a mass movement against the MHRD's "narrow" parameters on workload calculation and impossible API targets for promotions.

Teachers and students are resolute in their determination not to submit to the MHRD's bullying and will broaden the DUTA's movement to a mass campaign.

DUTA president Nandita Narayan said the HRD ministry has maintained a "shocking silence" over the parallel decision to block the release of the second tranche of teaching posts under the OBC-Expansion Scheme.

"This has damaged the job-prospects of 5,000 young teachers in DU alone and has put a question mark on the promotions and career-advancement of the entire teaching community," said DUTA secretary Sandeep Kumar.

"With the changes, no teacher will ever be eligible for promotion in future. More than 2,000 teachers in DU are awaiting their promotion under CAS. The NDA government has mindlessly forwarded the UPA's anti-teacher policy and in the process has caused great damage to the foundation of higher education in India. We will not tolerate anti-teacher policy of the government," read a statement issued by the Academics for Action and Development.

DUTA will continue with evaluation boycott till June 2 when it convenes its next General Body to decide on how to step up the agitation.

However, the HRD ministry had last week defended the new UGC criteria for Academic Performance Indicators (API), saying it provides "more flexibility" while it ruled out reduction in the number of teaching jobs due to the changes.

The new gazette notification has increased the workload for assistant professors from 16 hours of direct teaching per week (including tutorials) to 18 hours, plus another six of tutorials, taking the cumulative hours to 24 hrs. Similarly the work hours of associate professors have been increased from 14 to 22.
Tribune news Service

New Delhi, May 30

Ambassador of Japan to India Kenji Hiramatsu called on Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today at the Delhi Secretariat. The two discussed mutual cooperation on infrastructure projects. The meeting was also attended by Public Works Department Minister Satyendar Jain and Delhi Dialogue Commission Vice-Chairman Ashish Khetan.

During the 30-minute meeting, the two leaders discussed the common grounds between Delhi and Japan and how the two can benefit each other.

Delhi Government's project of dedicated elevated bus corridors to ease traffic congestion was discussed in the meeting. Other areas that came up during the discussion were transportation, water, sewage system, earthquake-resistant buildings, etc.

The Chief Minister told the visiting Ambassador that a delegation of the Delhi Government will visit him for further discussions and to look into more areas of cooperation.
Zarrar Khuhro

ON arriving in Iran, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent a tweet in the Persian language expressing hope that cultural and economic ties between the two countries would be strengthened.

Granted, the Iranian people are not allowed to access Twitter (that privilege is reserved for the top leadership), and granted that Modi does this sort of thing every time he visits another country, the gesture was still a nice bit of icing on the diplomatic cake. Signing 12 agreements with Iran, including one to develop the Chabahar port, India walked away with a deal that is effectively its first step towards realising the promise of the International North-South Transport Corridor and linking India to hitherto difficult-to-access markets.

For its part, the Iranian government gets a viable port on the Indian Ocean and burnishes its credentials as a rising regional power. There were tweets from our side as well when Iranian President Rouhani visited Pakistan. A few that come to mind were by DG ISPR Asim Bajwa, regarding the COAS's meeting with Rouhani. In these, he wrote that the COAS had asked Rouhani to not allow RAW to use Iranian soil to destabilise Pakistan.

An issue as serious as this certainly needs to be raised, but Twitter was perhaps not the appropriate forum for such a revelation, especially when you consider the embarrassment that ensued when Rouhani denied that any such exchange had taken place. One must then ask why was such a message sent and who approved it. Was there a purpose beyond playing to the gallery and thus putting a visiting head of state in an awkward position?

Answers to these questions may never come, but the reality is that while India walks away with real gains, we get retweets. Afghanistan got a good deal as well, potentially scoring that land-locked nation's long-sought trade access to India, the gulf, the Indian Ocean and beyond. This is significant because previously Afghanistan had looked to Pakistan to provide that access, in particular the use of Pakistani land routes to allow the transit of goods from India to Afghanistan.

This proposal was never seriously entertained by the forces that be in Pakistan, purportedly because it would benefit India. It would have, but it would have benefited Pakistan more, in terms of transit fees, gains for the domestic transport sector and the goodwill it would have engendered with Afghanistan. In fact, the denial of this transit route, deprived Pakistan of the use of an invaluable lever in future negotiations with Afghanistan as it would have provided real economic reasons for Afghanistan to not want to antagonise Pakistan, leading eventually to close strategic ties. Alas, the thought of diversifying our basket of eggs is anathema. The thought of making peace with our enemies is incomprehensible even though one can only make peace with enemies. That's kind of the whole point of making peace. While India invests in Afghanistan, building roads, dams and bridges, we have persisted in the tired and historically unsuccessful strategy of banking on our ability to bring the oh-so-reasonable Afghan Taliban to the table. And in stubbornly adhering to this tried and failed policy, we effectively pushed an initially friendly Ghani into Modi's arms. No one's buying our arguments either. The US has clearly placed the blame for its colossal failure in Afghanistan on Pakistan's provision of safe havens for the Taliban. It is true that all the military might of Nato and the US could not bring security to Afghanistan. It is true that a bulk of the billions of dollars showered on Afghanistan simply evaporated.

It is true that Afghanistan is mired in lawlessness, warlordism and corruption which have nothing to do with Pakistan. It is also true that none of this really matters, because our own reactive and thoroughly unimaginative policies have left us holding the bag.

It is true that Pakistan is, as always, at a critical juncture. It is also true that we are victims of geography. It is also true that to tackle these huge challenges we need a holistic and comprehensive proactive foreign policy which requires lockstep coordination between the civilian and military leadership.

It is also true that no such coordination exists, as evidenced by the Angoor Adda fiasco. Here the military handed over a border crossing facility to Afghanistan in order to strengthen brotherly relations. Now there's nothing wrong with that, except that the interior minister was apparently unaware of this. And it didn't do much for brotherly relations either, as the Afghans promptly closed the said facility and demanded 10 km more territory. Consider then, the utter lack of communication, coordination and imagination and despair.

Forget about being on the same page, or even on the same book. Just pray that someone, anyone, in the corridors of power learns to read.

By arrangement with the Dawn
Our Correspondent

Sonepat, May 29

As a precautionary measure in view of a threat of the Jat agitation, two companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) have been deployed in the district.

One of the companies has been stationed at the intersection of the Delhi Carrier Parallel Channel and Delhi branch of West Yamuna Canal near Garhi Bindroli village to ensure that water supply to Delhi is not interrupted.

In February, water supply to the national capital was disrupted. Two persons had lost their supply while restoring the supply.

The other company has been deployed at the district headquarters.

District Magistrate KM Pandurang today promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC, banning carrying of arms and assembly of five or more persons. The orders will remain in force till July 28.

Deputy Commissioner Pandurang, during a meeting with representatives of Jat and khap groups yesterday, stressed that it was the responsibility of all to maintain peace during any agitation.

Superintendent of Police (SP) HS Doon said violence, loot and arson during the February agitation had brought a bad name to the state.

The administrative officers took assurance from representatives for maintaining peace during the agitation that would start from June 5.
Ludhiana: Students of Eastwood International School came across with flying colours in the Class X examinations conducted by the CBSE. As many as 60 students appeared for the examinations. Four of them topped the institution with CGPA 10 and 10 students achieved A1 grade with a CGPA of above 9.1. Chairman Anand Sarup Singh Mohie and director Rinku Rekhi congratulated the students, their parents and teachers.

Atam Devki Niketan School

The declaration of CBSE Class X results brought smiles on the faces of members of the management, staff members and students of Atam Devki Niketan School. In all, 21 students got CGPA 10.

Sri Guru Hargobind Public Sr Sec School

Students of Sri Guru Hargobind Public Senior Secondary School, Thakkarwal, came out with flying colours in the Class X CBSE exams. Manveer Singh, Jashanpreet Grewal, Paramveer Kaur and Prabhjot Kaur bagged CGPA 10. As many as 24 students scored above 9 CGPA and 52 students scored above 8 CGPA. School principal Suman Arora congratulated the parents, teachers and students on their success.

Declamation contest

BVM School, Udham SIngh Nagar, conducted various academic activities to inculcate multiple skills among its students. A quiz and a declamation contest were held for classes VI to X. Hindi/Punjabi quiz was conducted for Class VI in which four teams participated. The team of Gurpreet Singh, Bhumika, Suryash and Pratham Kohli bagged the first position. Budding mathematicians Yuvraj Kapoor, Harshit Maury, Khushi and Pari Jha of Class VII managed to secure the first position in the math quiz. A science quiz was held for Class VII in which Ansh Singhania, Om Verma and Suraj Verma won the first position. An English declamation contest was organised for Class IX. The winners were Aashima Batra (first), Aditi Sharma (second), Pranjal Garcha and Shweta (third). An S.St quiz was held for the students of Class X in order to explore their interest in politics, history, physical geography as well as in economics. The team of Satyam Bhanot, Sakshi Ghai, Sunidhi and Kritika Sharma scored the first position.  TNS
Rabat (Morocco), May 30

Vice-President Hamid Ansari arrived in Morocco today on the first leg of his two-nation tour as part of efforts to build on diplomatic gains from the India-Africa Summit and lay platform for a future partnership.

Ansari and his wife Salma Ansari were received by the Prime Minister of Morocco Abdelilah Benkirane and his wife Nabila Benkirane at the Rabat Sale International Airport.

Ansari will be in Morocco till June 1 at the invitation of Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane and the two leaders would jointly launch the India-Morocco Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Rabat.

In the second leg of his tour, Ansari will visit Tunisia from June 2-3. This is the first visit by an Indian Vice-President in 50 years to Morrocco and Tunisia.

The Vice-President will discuss with leaders of the two north African countries issues of terrorism, UN Security Council expansion and investments in private sector.  PTI
Simran Sodhi & Shaurya Karanbir Gurung

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 30

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar today met African students and assured them of their safety. The outreach comes in the wake of the killing of Congolese national Masonda Ketada Oliver and also a number of assaults on the community members. To make matters worse, a taxi driver was allegedly beaten up by a group of Africans today in the locality where some African nationals were attacked last week.

President Pranab Mukherjee, stepping in, expressed concern over the attacks on the Africans.

He said the attacks were painful because as a student, political activist and MP, he had seen first-hand how India and Africa had always been close partners. What might make matters tricky for India is the timing. India is keen to engage with the African continent on a number of issues, ranging from investments to oil and co-operation in counter-terrorism. Vice-President Hamid Ansari today left for a five-day visit to Morocco and Tunisia. PM Narendra Modi is expected to visit South Africa, Mozambique and Kenya in July while President Pranab Mukherjee is likely to travel to Ghana, the Ivory Coast and Senegal in mid-June.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma held a meeting with a delegation of the African communityin Delhi. The police have intensified patrolling in areas where the African community resides.

India is sensitive to the fact that despite sharing historical ties with African nations, China has stolen the march in terms of investments and infrastructure development in the continent. For India, Africa is an important partner as it seeks a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

The Foreign Secretary's meeting with African students was Indias effort to send a message from the top that matters pertaining to the safety and security of African students will

be looked into seriously. "Foreign Secretary to students: Ensuring safety and security of foreign students is an article of faith for us," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.
New Delhi, May 30

Amid rising tempers in wake of the recent killing of a Congolese man in a brawl, some African nationals allegedly beat up a taxi driver here on Monday even as President Pranab Mukherjee expressed concern over a string of alleged attacks on African nationals in the country.

The Centre, meanwhile, assured the murdered Congolese nationals family of a speedy trial and prosecution of all those responsible for the crime.

It will be most unfortunate if the people of India were to "dilute our long tradition of friendship with the people of Africa, Mukherjee said.

Addressing the delegates of 7th Annual Heads of Mission Conference who called on him, the President said, It would be most unfortunate if the people of India were to dilute our long tradition of friendship with the people of Africa and the welcome we have always extended to them in our country.

African students in India should have no reason to fear for their safety and security."

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

A taxi driver was allegedly beaten up for refusing to take extra passengers in the early hours of Saturday at CDR Chowk in Mehrauli. Nuruddin, a driver from cab aggregator Ola, claimed that six African nationalsamong them a womanbeat him up when he refused to allow more than four passengers in the vehicle.

He suffered injuries on his face and is undergoing treatment at Jai Prakash Narayan Trauma Centre. The men fled but the driver detained the woman, police said.

The incident comes days after six African nationals were attacked in the national capital.

A Congo national was beaten to death after an argument over hiring an autorickshaw in the city earlier this month. A few days later, a Nigerian student was beaten up by locals after an argument over parking. Though police claim these are stray incidents, African students in the country have voiced their concern.

Meanwhile, several African students staged a protest at Jantar Mantar on Monday to demand swift action.

We want the governments support as the incidents of attacks on people from African continent are increasing in the city. The Indian government needs to ensure safety of African nationals and act swiftly on such incidents, a protester said.

Meanwhile, a senior official of External Affairs Ministry (MEA), who met the family members of Masonda Ketada Oliver of Congo at the airport on their arrival here, assured them of the speedy trial.

He informed them that the Government would bear all expenses related to dispatch of mortal remains of Oliver, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

He said the family thanked the government for the assistance.

The 23-year-old Congolese national Oliver, who was a French teacher at a private institute, was beaten to death in Vasant Kunj area of South Delhi following a brawl over hiring of an autorickshaw.

Envoys of African countries had expressed shock and outrage over the killing, following which India assured them of safety of African nationals.

Need to make youngsters aware of age-old India-Africa ties

Addressing the delegates of 7th Annual Heads of Mission Conference, President Pranab Mukherjee said, We shall have to create appropriate awareness in the minds of our youngsters who may not know the history, age old relations (between India and Africa)...India has had trading relations with African countries for centuries and everyone of the 54 countries of Africa has a thriving Indian community doing business, industry etc.

"We cannot allow these to be jeopardised in anyway and create a bad precedent which is not the ethos, which is not part of the core values of our civilisation," a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement quoted Mukherjee as having told the delegation.

The President said he was happy that Ministry of External Affairs in consultation with Ministry of Home Affairs is proactively following up on the few isolated incidents that have occurred and working closely with authorities to ensure the safety of African students in India.

Mukherjee said the bonds between the people of India and the people of Africa have been forged since time immemorial.

"As a political activist, as a member of parliament, I have noticed how close we (India and Africa) are with each other. Almost a century ago Rabindranath Tagore wrote a beautiful poem titled Africa expressing his anguish, pathos, sense of pain on apartheid," he said.

Mukherjee said leaders like Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana stood shoulder to shoulder with Jawaharlal Nehru at the Afro-Asian Conference in Bandung in 1955 and in founding the Non-aligned Movement in 1961.

"Nelson Mandela was an embodiment of Gandhian principles.

India led the long international struggle for the end of colonialism and apartheid in Africa," the President said.

The President said in 1946 Government of India decided to stop any trade relationship with South Africa till apartheid was not lifted.

"At that time decision was a bold decision because South Africa accounted for five per cent of total international trade with India," he said.

Mukherjee said it was only in 1994, after the end of apartheid, that he as Commerce Minister restored normal trade relations with that country.

"Whole of India stood in support of African leaders like Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere and Kenneth Kaunda during this freedom struggle," he said.  Agencies
Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Lambi, May 29

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here today lavished praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while countering PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singhs recent statement that it was the Congress government led by Dr Manmohan Singh which had cared for Punjab.

Badal said the BJP-led NDA government had given several gifts to the state, such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS); the Indian Institute of Management (IIM); heritage status to Amritsar; inclusion of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana under the Smart Cities project; World Heritage Park status to the Jallianwala Bagh; and the Horticulture Research Institute of Excellence at Amritsar.

Badal further said, The Centre will never turn down any of our genuine demands for the betterment of the state and its people. We have benefited immensely from the Centres decision to give us a bigger pie of the taxes, accelerating development and growth in Punjab.

On the spurt in farmer suicides, Badal said, The state government cant do anything about the bank loans. But it has passed the Punjab Settlement of Agricultural Indebtedness Bill, which provides for expeditious settlement of farmers debt disputes. The process for setting up the district-level forums and the state-level tribunal has already been initiated. This will mitigate the woes of the beleaguered farming community.

Badal preferred to keep mum over the standoff between Sikh preacher Ranjit Singh Dhadrianwale and Damdami Taksal chief Harnam Singh Dhumma. What can I say about their controversy? he said.

Retd teacher, sniffer dog land in hospital

Two persons, including a retired teacher, fainted during the CMs Sangat Darshan programme in Mahuana and Fatehpur Manian villages on Sunday. The retired teacher was taken to hospital in a private vehicle as the ambulance was stuck in a traffic jam. A sniffer dog of the district police pooped blood at Mahuana village. It was also rushed to a hospital. Asked about the urgency of holding Sangat Darshan programmes in the hot and humid weather, the CM said, We Punjabis dont feel the heat. The persons might have fainted due to some other reason.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 29

In a setback to social activist Yogendra Yadavs Swaraj Abhiyan, its Punjab unit, led by Prof Manjit Singh and backed by AAP rebels Dr Dharamvira Gandhi and Harinder Singh Khalsa, announced a regional political party here today.

Dr Gandhi, Patiala MP, and Khalsa, Fatehgarh Sahib MP, expressed solidarity with the new party.

Anupam, who is national spokesperson for Swaraj Abhiyan, said, The decision to form a political party has not been taken in accordance with the due process laid down by the Abhiyan.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

He said from the beginning Swaraj Abhiyan had declared that it was committed to building alternative politics. We decided not to form a party and have laid down some parameters of transparency, accountability and inner party democracy to prove ourselves on the criteria before a decision on party formation can be taken, he said.

He said since his Punjab colleagues did not follow this process, we are unable to own or endorse the decision. However, Punjab needs alternative politics to rid itself from the Akali-BJP misrule.

The Congress and AAP have proven themselves incompetent. We wish the proposed Swaraj Party well and would like to have fraternal relationship with it and any such formation which can provide a genuine political alternative to Punjab.
Amman, May 30

King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday appointed Hani Al Mulqi as new Prime Minister and dissolved Parliament, media reports said.

Al Mulqi is a former ambassador in Cairo and served as Jordans Foreign Minister in 2004. He also chaired the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, Xinhua news agency reported.

Al Mulqi was also a senator and an adviser to the King.

Mulqis appointment and the dissolution of the Lower House come ahead of the parliamentary elections that are slated before the end of this year.  IANS
Hes surrounded by a predominantly female ensemble, but Wentworths Robbie Magasiva says female actors work harder than men.

The only thing that sticks out for me, if Im being honest, is that women work a little bit harder than male actors, he says.

And I think these women have to. Nicole de Silva, Danielle Cormack, Celia Ireland they are basically mapping a story arc across the whole season. So they are constantly working. Thats why the show is so successful.

Now in his fourth season of the Foxtel hit series, Magasiva is Wentworths longest-standing male principal. Socratis Otto joined in season two while Aaron Jeffery departed after 3 seasons.

When Aaron did McLeods Daughters there was a moment when the women started to turn on each other. So we were waiting for it, but it hasnt happened once. These are women are frickin hard workers and they honour the script.

When I did the audition the character was an Aussie

As Deputy Governor Will Jackson, Magasiva joined the series following a successful career in New Zealand, in film and TV projects including Stickmen, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Power Rangers and Shortland Street.

Wentworth came out of nowhere for me. When I did the audition the character was an Aussie. I put something down on tape and they liked it. But I never thought of Australia as a market for me. I thought Id go for the the US. I didnt think Id get a chance here, he says.

It was his high school drama teacher who suggested Magasiva try his luck at showbiz with a local commercial. He got the gig and was pleasantly surprised with the trappings of film work.

I turned up and there was all this food on set! I looked at the table that people were eating off and I asked the Unit guy Is that for free? And he said Help yourself, and I just went to town! he laughs.

So I thought Man I have to get more of the jobs for the free food.

Its weird being recognised in Australia.

Wentworth has become steady work for Magasiva and scoring an acting nomination from the Monte Carlo TV Festival.

I didnt even know that award existed. I guess it means I am doing something right! he reflects.

It was great to be recognised, and I got a free trip to Monte Carlo with Danielle Cormack.

But its weird being recognised in Australia. When I first came here nobody knew who I was, then at the end of Season 1 people started looking at me twice. Now they say Youre that guy off Wentworth or some even call me Will Jackson.

I get mistaken for All Blacks a lot, which I dont mind!

In his fourth season Magasiva films the majority of his scenes with Bea Smith (Danielle Cormack), Vera Bennett (Kate Atkinson) and Kaz Proctor (Tammy McIntosh).

I miss working with Pamela (Rabe), but I have less to do with her this year, he continues.

Its been a rollercoaster ride from Season 1 following the death of Meg and finding out who did it. Season 4 is the first time Will enjoys his job without anything else. Everything is put to rest and theres none of the emotional baggage.

Wentworth airs 8:30pm Tuesdays on SoHo.


Nines 60 Minutes drama looks set to drag on with producer Stephen Rice hiring lawyer John Laxon to represent him.

Laxon previously acted for former Nine News chief Mark Llewellyn over the infamous Jessica Rowe bone affair and former reporter Christine Spiteri.

The decision to sack Rice was made by CEO Hugh Marks despite the internal review noting:

The review panel does not recommend that any staff member should be singled out for dismissal given the degree of autonomy accorded to 60 Minutes.

The Daily Telegraph reports Rice believed nobody would be sacked and did not have legal representation at the review.

This week Marks did not comment on a financial settlement, but the article suggests Rice has not signed off on an offer and the move has damaged his reputation.

On Sunday the current affairs show finally said sorry to its audience.

Two months ago we set out on a story in Lebanon which ended up with our 60 Minutes crew and others being jailed in Beirut. Ever since, weve been asking ourselves how things could have gone so wrong, and tonight we face up to the errors we made. We sincerely apologise for our serious mistakes, said Michael Usher.

Multiple and serious mistakes were made in the planning and execution of the story. The fact is there is a lot to learn for us in this experience at 60 Minutes and for the entire network.

Founder Gerald Stone described the incident as the greatest misadventure in the shows 37 year history.
More news for Australian Survivor fans with a recent set visit reported by Herald Suns Luke Dennehy.

There are 156 Australians currently working on the show, booking out a luxury hotel in the Samoan capital Apia.

Upwards of another 180 locals are also working on the show, which has been a year in the planning. Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi even hosted a welcoming function last week for the show.

There are 16 cameras involved including GoPro cameras and drones with challenges assembled in a warehouse not far from the tribal council location.

Julia Dick from Castaway Television has also been on site to consult on the show, which films across 55 days, longer than the US 39 days.

Host Jonathan LaPaglia says Jeff Probst has been very helpful to his new role.

He gave me his number, I called him a couple of times with questions and he picked up straight away, he said.

Survivor has had two local runs, on both Nine and Seven, but it sounds like Endemol Shine are doing this right for TEN.

You can read more here.


Ever wanted to know who the form players at UEFA EURO 2016 will be? Thanks to a new EURO2016.com application you can  and it will come as little surprise to anyone that Cristiano Ronaldo is top of the pile of the SOCAR Player Barometer.

SOCAR Player Barometer

The Real Madrid forward's scintillating recent form puts him ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the top of the Player Barometer rankings, the top ten of which features seven players who appeared in Saturday's UEFA Champions League final. Ronaldo is joined by his Madrid club-mates Sergio Ramos (seventh) and Toni Kroos (eighth) while Atletico Madrid are represented by Antoine Griezmann (third), Saul Niguez (fifth), Koke (sixth) and Juanfran (ninth). The full top 10, and an explanation of the player rankings, is below.

SOCAR Player Barometer latest rankings

1 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid & Portugal)

Nine goals in his last eight appearances with a goal difference of +17 when on the field.

2 Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Paris Saint-Germain & Sweden)

16 goals in his last 12 club appearances, as well as four assists. Nine shots on target against Nantes in his last league match.

3 Antoine Griezmann (Atletico Madrid & France)

Nine goals in his last 13 appearances, including one in the UEFA Champions League semi-final, which carries a higher weight than a league goal.

4 James Milner (Liverpool & England)

Seven assists in four games between 7 and 20 April (three of those in UEFA Europa League, which has a higher weight) and has provided assists for 30 shots in nine games.

5 Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid & Spain)

Scored in the UEFA Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munchen and has had a good record in setting up shots and winning tackles.

6 Koke (Atletico Madrid & Spain)

Six assists and two goals in his last 13 games plus a high number of interceptions and clearances.

7 Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid & Spain)

Leapt into the top ten after his man of the match performance in the UEFA Champions League final, where he won six aerial duels and lost just two with eight clearances and three interceptions. Moved up from 30th place.

8 Toni Kroos (Real Madrid & Germany)

A very consistent performer who had completed 190 final-third passes in just 12 matches prior to the UEFA Champions League final.

9 Juanfran (Atletico Madrid & Spain)

Seven clean sheets in his last ten appearances, with a high proportion of tackles won and crosses made.

10 Marek Hamsik (Napoli & Slovakia)

Showed he is hitting form with a superb goal in Slovakia's 3-1 friendly defeat of Germany on Sunday, also completing 45 passes from 51 attempted to move up 12 places.

SOCAR Player Barometer

How it works

The UEFA EURO 2016 Player Barometer is tracking players' form in the build-up to and during the tournament. The Barometer runs official player statistics through a specially-designed algorithm to create rankings based on player performances.

Player data from qualifying formed the initial basis for the rankings, which have taken into account performances for club and country from 1 January 2016. This gives a unique and comprehensive evaluation of players' form when UEFA EURO 2016 kicks off, after which the Barometer will track which players are excelling in the tournament itself.

As the Barometer acts as a form tracker, the more recent the match, the higher the weighting assigned to the data from it i.e. player stats from yesterday are given more significance than those from last week. If a player is not active (e.g. due to injury or non-selection), his ranking will decrease over that period of inactivity.
The situation in the ATO area in eastern Ukraine escalates. The Russian mercenaries launched 25 attacks on Ukrainian positions in last day.

This is reported by the ATO headquarters press centre.

"The tensest situation is observed in Donetsk direction, where the militants launched 14 attacks on our positions near Avdiyivka (18km north of Donetsk) and Butovka coal mine (11.4km north-west of Donetsk), using small arms, heavy machine guns, grenade launchers of various systems, 82mm and 120 mm mortars," the report says.

The enemy used small arms, heavy machine guns and automatic grenade launchers to shell ATO troops near Luhanske (59km north-east of Donetsk) and Novotroitske (32km south of Donetsk).

In Mariupol direction, the positions of ATO troops near Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol), Pavlopol (30 km northeast of Mariupol), Hnutove (19km north-west of Mariupol) came under heavy machine gun and 82mm and 120 mm mortar fire.

ol
Three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and eight servicemen were wounded as a result of combat actions in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine over the past twenty-four hours.

Presidential Administration Spokesperson for ATO issues, Colonel Andriy Lysenko said this at a briefing in Kyiv on Monday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

Three Ukrainian servicemen were killed and another eight were wounded as a result military actions. The Ukrainian forces sustained these losses in Donetsk and Mariupol directions, Lysenko said.

iy
In Mariupol city, the Donetsk region, 172 patrol police officers have sworn allegiance to the Ukrainian people. They were chosen from among 3,500 applicants, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman made a statement during the greeting ceremony on Monday, Ukrinform reports.

"This is a very important moment in your career, because you were chosen from among 3,500 applicants. Now Mariupol is a frontline city, therefore it needs special attention and support. What do its inhabitants desire? They want peace and prosperity. Police can ensure that these requirements are met. I wish you to serve your city well," said Groysman.

He noted that some of those police officers securing order for the citizens have combat experience as service members of the antiterrorist operation.

The official ceremony of oath taking by new police force was attended by Ambassador of Japan to Ukraine Shigeki Sumi, EU Ambassador to Ukraine Jan Tombinski, Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, head of the National Police Khatia Dekanoidze and governor of the Donetsk region Pavlo Zhebrivsky.

All heads of police departments who are already working in Ukraine arrived to support their colleagues in Mariupol.

Mariupol became the 28th city in Ukraine where patrol police operate.

tl
Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsyntsadze has held talks with French Ambassador to Ukraine Isabelle Dumont on the process of visa liberalization, Russian aggression and the possibility of cooperation in the reform of Ukrainian civil service.

This is reported by the Government portal.

"In a conversation with Ambassador Isabelle Dumont, Ivanna Klympush-Tsyntsadze noted that Ukraine had fulfilled all its obligations under the visa liberalization and any delay in the introduction of the visa-free regime could undermine confidence in further dialogue between Ukraine and EU," the statement reads.

In addition, the Vice Prime Minister stressed that Ukraine relied on France's continued stance against Russian aggression in Donbas and in Crimea.

In turn, Ambassador Isabelle Dumont assured that the Government of the French Republic was a loyal friend of Ukraine, particularly regarding visa liberalization and diplomatic pressure on Russia as regards its full implementation of the Minsk agreements.

However, the Ambassador noted that the clear results in the fight against corruption in Ukraine would speed up the process of Ukraine's integration into Europe.

ol
Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Japan to Ukraine Shigeki Sumi has reiterated that Japan will not lift sanctions against Russia until the sovereignty of Ukraine is restored.

The Ambassador said this today in Mariupol, speaking at the oath ceremony of 172 new patrol police officers.

"Japan will not lift sanctions until Russia completely fulfills the Minsk agreements and until the sovereignty of Ukraine is restored," Sumi said, stressing that Japan also condemns the annexation of the Crimea.

ol
More than 100 volunteers positioned about 10,000 American flags to decipher an exceptional message that read "salute to sacrifice" at University of Phoenix on Tuesday, May 24.

The 10,000 flag tribute comes just days ahead of Memorial Day, a federal holiday in the U.S. for reminiscing the men and women who laid down their lives for their country while serving in U.S. armed forces.

Several people inaudibly assembled on Tuesday while a color guard from the Marine Corps Station in Phoenix forged ahead through the university campus, according to reports on Fast News US.

The preparation began as early as 5 a.m. as eight servicemen and University of Phoenix staff members planted small American flags on the campus lawn to spell out the aforementioned special message - continuing an eight-year-old tradition.

In a concise ceremony that started about 7 a.m., Garland Williams, academic dean for University of Phoenix College of Security and Criminal Justice, delivered a speech reminding those gathered, the essence of Memorial Day.

Williams, a retired Army colonel noted that Memorial Day at the University of Phoenix means a lot more than just the start of summer. He noted that Memorial Day is the time for remembering those who died for the country.

The university's student body comprises of over 20 percent active duty and veterans military personnel. According to Williams, what originally started as a charity event, gradually evolved into something more of a personal tribute from the University of Phoenix, AZ Central reported.

Each year the volunteers couch a different saying using the flags. Phrases such as "Remember" and "Freedom is Never Free" have been used in past years.

This is done to honor those "who cashed in their life," Williams added.

John Ramirez, dean of operations at the University of Phoenix attributed the school's commitment to the aid of service veterans as well as their families for him being a part of them. A retired Army command sergeant major who has not missed a single ceremony since it started, Ramirez said this is something that makes him happy and proud.

This is quite understandable considering that his grandfather was a soldier, his father was a soldier, he is a soldier himself and so is his son.

Of the 100 volunteers that attended the ceremony, several of them work with military students.

The volunteers assisted with collecting the flags from the lawn on Friday, May 27 and will ensure they are all planted by veterans' graves by Memorial Day.
A house bill passed in North Carolina inhibits transgenders from using bathrooms according to their preferred identity. The University of North Carolina system has announced via President Margaret Spellings that they will not enforce the discriminative bathroom bill in their campuses.

University of North Carolina System President Won't Enforce Anti-Transgender Bathroom Bill

UNC President Margaret Spellings announced last week that the University of North Carolina will not be forcing transgender students to adhere to the federal bathroom bill, Associated Press reported. Spellings said she has no intention to contain the freedom of the university's transgender employees and students to choose which bathroom they want to use.

The House Bill 2 (HB2) was passed in North Carolina with the intention to protect discrimination among people from different races, religion and country of origin. However, HB2 removes the rights and protections of those belonging to the LGBT community, especially transgenders regarding using bathrooms. Furthermore, the bill also prevents local government units from protecting LGBT people from nondiscrimination as well.



University of North Carolina Policies Unchanged Since Passing of Bathroom Bill

Huffington Post pointed out that the University of North Carolina's school policies are unchanged since the passing of HB2 bill. Furthermore, the bill did not provide measures on how to enact the policies regarding transgenders using bathrooms according to their preference. Spellings' recent announcement contradicts with the guidance rules she passed around to University of North Carolina chancellors that seeks to comply with the HB2 bathroom bill.

The University of North Carolina is facing lawsuits regarding the HB2 for violating the rights of its transgender students and employees. The Human Rights Campaign spokesman Jay Brown told Washington Blade that he finds the university's stance on the HB2 agreeable but something more needs to be done in order for the bill to be repealed.
Indiana University filed a lawsuit against House Enrolled Act 1337 abortion restrictions with the fear that it could criminalize the university's research on neurological disorders. Scientists at Indiana University's Stark Neurosciences Research Institute are currently studying diseases such as Alzheimer and autism which use aborted fetal tissue from University of Washington's Birth Defects Research Lab.

The law clearly restricts the transfer, receive or selling of fetal tissue and the individual who gets involved in the 'crime' will be imprisoned for six years. The act also bans abortion based on disability, sex or race.

Indiana is the second state to restrict abortions after Governor Mike Pence signed it into law, according to Indy Star. The issue is controversial as it has become a topic for debate nationwide. The Planned Parenthood has also requested to take down the abortion bans and accused the Act 1337 as a violation in free speech and reproductive rights.

The IU research institute claims that it will have catastrophic effects on neurological science research in the university and also on the scientists who conduct the study. IU lawsuit describes the impact of the prohibitions in seven-page paper, including the names of individual working on Alzheimer researches such as Dr. Debomoy Lahiri. The psychiatrist is currently researching on multiple projects on the disease, one of which is federally sponsored.

The professor, according to the IU lawsuit, could be facing felony risk for his research even when he decides to stop the work in the lab. The university also argues that it would affect dramatically on the research centers especially when they have to refund the grants obtained from federal funding.

Dr. David Prentice from Charlotte Lozier Institute commented on Indiana University abortion lawsuit that it 'does not contain any proof' to use aborted fetus as a scientific research, according to Life News.
A sound academic foundation is needed by those who plan to be history majors. That is why we have a list of US colleges and universities that could suit your needs. A good college or university can help steer history majors to a great career path. The ranked list below is from US News & World Report in 2013.

1. Princeton University - Princeton, New Jersey

This university is ranked first among the US national universities list in the US News & World Report survey of 2015. Princeton University also placed first with regards to their specialization for history including Asian, African, American and European.

What Can You Do With a History Major? We've been spending time on this question over the years: https://t.co/KPkRlHEhaD #twitterstorians  John Fea (@JohnFea1) May 17, 2016



2. University of California - Berkeley, California

Students who plan to pursue a history major in University of California Berkeley campus can choose from a wide variety of academic focus. This includes art history, Celtic studies, Latino studies and more. Apart from theoritical studies, students may also participate in relevant projects and have a chance to work together with experienced researchers or mentors in the field.

3. Yale University - New Haven, Connecticut

According to their website, Yale University reportedly has one of the biggest history departments worldwide. They also have notable and award-winning teaching staff and faculty members that are qualified to teach the next generation history majors that are sure to bring added recognition to the school.

4. Harvard University - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Harvard University boasts extensive academic programs for both undergraduates and graduates looking to pursue a PhD. Their program includes Asian History, Museum Studies, History of Science and Technology, American History and more.

5. Stanford University - Stanford, California

According to Study.com, Stanford University is an institution with one of the best undergraduate history programs in the US. History majors who hope to enrol in Stanford will belong under the Humanities & Sciences program. There they can study about East Asian Languages and Cultures, Art History, Slavic Languages and Literature and more.
Cancer center websites are trusted sources of internet information about treatment options for prostate cancer. The quality of information on these websites is unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of information on cancer center websites addressing prostate cancer treatment options, outcomes, and toxicity.

We evaluated the websites of all National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers to determine if sufficient information was provided to address eleven decision-specific knowledge questions from the validated Early Prostate Cancer Treatment Decision Quality Instrument. We recorded the number of questions addressed, the number of clicks to reach the prostate cancer-specific webpage, evaluation time, and Spanish and mobile accessibility. Correlation between evaluation time and questions addressed were calculated using the Pearson coefficient.

Sixty-three websites were reviewed. Eighty percent had a prostate cancer-specific webpage reached in a median of three clicks. The average evaluation time was 6.5 minutes. Information was available in Spanish on 24% of sites and 59% were mobile friendly. Websites provided sufficient information to address, on average, 19% of questions. No website addressed all questions. Evaluation time correlated with the number of questions addressed (R(2) = 0.42, p < 0.001).

Cancer center websites provide insufficient information for men with localized prostate cancer due to a lack of information about and direct comparison of specific treatment outcomes and toxicities. Information is also less accessible in Spanish and on mobile devices. These data can be used to improve the quality and accessibility of prostate cancer treatment information on cancer center websites.

Cureus. 2016 Apr 20*** epublish ***

Caleb Dulaney, Olivia Claire Barrett, Soroush Rais-Bahrami, Daniel Wakefield, John Fiveash, Michael Dobelbower

Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham., Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham., Department of Urology, University of Alabama at Birmingham., College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center., Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham., Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.

PubMed http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27226941
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A woman identifying herself as juror No. 4 walks out of the Ventura County Hall of Justice while another female juror talks to the press late Monday morning after Judge Charles Campbell sentenced Brandon McInerney to 21 years in prison for the killing of Larry King on Feb. 12, 2008.

SHARE Dawn Boldrin, a former English teacher at E.O. Green School in Oxnard, talks to members of the press following the 21-year sentence Judge Charles Campbell imposed on Brandon McInerney for the Feb. 12, 2008 killing of Larry King at the school. The sentencing was held Monday morning at the Ventura County Hall of Justice in Ventura. Brandon McInerney's mother, Kendra, is escorted from Courtroom 48 at the Ventura County Hall of Justice late Monday morning in Ventura after Judge Charles Campbell sentenced her son to 21 years in prison for killing Larry King on Feb. 12, 2008 in at E.O. Green School in Oxnard. Larry King's father, Greg, center with glasses, and supporters gather outside the Ventura County Hall of Justice late Monday morning after Judge Charles Campbell sentenced Brandon McInerney to 21 years in prison for the killing of his son. Larry King's mother, Dawn, leaves Courtroom 48 at the Ventura County Hall of Justice late Monday morning after Judge Charles Campbell sentenced her son's killer, Brandon McInerney, to 21 years in prison

By Zeke Barlow

Much of Brandon McInerney's murder trial centered on who Larry King was and what he was doing in the weeks before his death, when McInerney fatally shot him during a first-period English class.

But at McInerney's sentencing hearing Monday, the focus was on the void King's death created.

"The convicted murderer sitting at the defense table did much more than simply kill our son," said King's father, Greg, as he read from a four-page victim's impact statement that castigated McInerney, his lawyers, the jurors, the school system and The Star, among others.

"He robbed us of one son and stole from his brother a lifetime of companionship, leaving him instead a lifetime of grieving. He subjected his own family to shame, guilt and profound level of remorse  emotions he has yet to display," Greg King said.McInerney, 17, sat motionless as the back of his neck turned deep red. Just as he did throughout his nine-week trial, he showed little emotion as the judge sentenced him to 21 years behind bars for the use of a firearm and voluntary manslaughter. Though McInerney also pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, a plea agreement stated he would serve time only for the manslaughter and firearms charges.

He is ineligible for parole and will not get credit for the nearly four years he has been in jail since the Feb. 12, 2008, shooting at Oxnard's E.O. Green School, keeping him in prison until he is 38.

Larry King was wearing women's high-heeled boots and makeup to school and telling friends he was gay in the weeks before the shooting. The prosecution argued McInerney killed King because of King's sexuality, but the defense said King was sexually harassing McInerney.

Monday's hearing touched upon gay rights, juvenile justice and other issues that made international headlines and illustrated some of the drama that played out during the Chatsworth trial. That trial ended in September with a hung jury.

Some jurors in the case showed up Monday wearing slate-gray "Save Brandon" bracelets and matching scarfs. King's family, some of whom came from Boston, wore "Justice for Larry!" buttons with a smiling photo of King. People on both sides of the courtroom were crying during various parts of the hearing and gasping at others.

Greg King began his statement by calling McInerney a "white supremacist assailant" who plotted to kill his son. He then read statements written by Larry King's grandmother and mother.

"I will never forgive you for what you did murdering my son Larry," Greg King read from the impact statement of his wife, Dawn. "You took it upon yourself to be a bully and to hate a smaller kid. ... You have left a big hole in my heart where Larry was, and it can never be filled."

Greg King continued, saying the crime was not "manslaughter, it is murder plain and simple" before saying an "incompetent jury" deadlocked.

Many of the jurors said they didn't think McInerney should have been in adult court, an issue King disputes. During jury selection, the panelists said they would be able convict a 14-year-old in adult court.

"My family was not the only victims that fateful day," Greg King continued, referring to the students who saw King shot. Two were in the courtroom Monday.

"Watching some of those students testify made it very obvious that they were scarred. This was their 9/11  their loss of innocence," he said.

King also castigated the Hueneme School District, which "encouraged him (King) to become more and more provocative" and failed to protect him. He blamed The Star's staff for focusing too much on McInerney and too little on the school's handling of the incident.

"Mr. McInerney, I hope that I can one day forgive you for the pain and loss you have inflicted upon our family," Greg King said. "Perhaps when you finally face punishment for your crime, my family can move on."

McInerney's lawyer, Scott Wippert, made a statement on McInerney's behalf.

"He feels deeply remorseful and has stated repeatedly that if he could go back and take this back he would do it in a heartbeat, and he lives with this every day," Wippert said. "Brandon wanted me to express his remorse to not only the King family but to all the children who were involved and everyone who had to go through this process."

Maeve Fox, Ventura County senior deputy district attorney, said she thought McInerney believed he could get away with relatively minor punishment in juvenile court.

"He thought he could get away with murder," said Fox, who wore a "Justice for Larry!" button. "He thought he could do something almost heroic and that he would have to pay little price for it."

She touched upon "stigma attached to being gay in this society," which she said influenced the jury.

"It's a cruel lesson and difficult for me to wrap my mind around because he didn't do anything wrong," she said of Larry King. "He didn't do anything to the defendant."

"I hope Mr. McInerney can turn his life around. He is a smart person, but he is burdened by this hatred and closed-mindedness and anger that ultimately led to him act the way he did," she said. "He is wrong, and he is paying the price."

Before Ventura County Superior Court Judge Charles Campbell sentenced McInerney, he praised the jurors.

"I actually feel that the jury did a wonderful job in his case and a good job reaching an appropriate decision under a difficult situation," he said.

Campbell ordered McInerney to pay the full $10,000 fine for his crime saying, "This crime in my mind is as serious as it can get."

The Kings still can seek restitution for monetary losses they suffered because of their son's death. They received $273,000 in a civil suit last year from four defendants, including the McInerney family and the school district.

"Money won't bring our son back, but a lack of money in prison will ensure that the convict is denied the comforts he doesn't deserve," Greg King said in his witness statement.

McInerney's mother left without comment as TV cameras followed her down the hall. Those covering the proceedings included CNN and "Inside Edition."

Greg King now wants a "Brandon McInerney law" enacted that would bring special charges against those who discharge a weapon in a classroom.

Wippert wants to change the law that allows the district attorney to charge children as adults without the defense being able to present evidence to a judge before it goes to adult court.

McInerney will turn 18 in January and soon after be transferred to adult prison, where he'll stay for the next 21 years."He took a life," Wippert said after the hearing, adding that McInerney is remorseful. "He knows he needs to be punished."
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Fleet Operations workers maintain county vehicles, including this public works truck.

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By Kathleen Wilson of the Ventura County Star

The agency overseeing the operation of 1,800 vehicles for the Ventura County government has won the top award in a ranking of the 100 best fleets in North America.

"For a fleet person, this is like winning the Super Bowl," said Peter Bednar, manager of fleet services.

The county Fleet Operations Division ranked first in the "The 100 Best Fleets in the Americas" competition, which was established by Tom Johnson, a consultant and author in the industry.

Bednar said he accepted the award in April at a conference of the NAFA Fleet Management Association meeting in Austin, Texas.

The fleets are rated by industry professionals based on 12 criteria, including documented performance and progress, use of technology, internal collaboration and competitive pricing.

The county fleet includes police cruisers, backhoes, trucks and cars used by county employees.

Ventura County was recognized in the competition for developing ideas that saved $350,000 annually, reducing overtime costs and cutting greenhouse gases with the use of alternative fuels.

Besides Ventura County, other fleets placing in the top five were operated by DeKalb County, Georgia; Wake County in North Carolina; the city and county of Denver, Colorado; and the city of Fort Worth, Texas.

The county fleet division employs about 50 people and is budgeted to spend $18.6 million on operations in the current fiscal year.

The fleet division buys and maintains county vehicles, operates fuel dispensing stations, and does paint and bodywork. It is also responsible for repair and maintenance of heavy construction and maintenance equipment, and repair and maintenance of generators.
STAR FILE PHOTO

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By Staff Reports

Oxnard police cited nine motorcyclist Sunday as part of a safety enforcement operation targeting bikers, authorities said.

The bikers were cited for various violations during the enforcement period, which lasted from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to authorities.

Police said 25 car and truck drivers were also cited during the operation.

The Oxnard Police department plans to run more enforcement operations later in the year, officials said. California's Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration provided funding for the operation through a grant.
Juan Carlo/ THE STAR Ventura County has filed a civil suit against Santa Clara Waste Water Co. for injuries to firefighters following the November 2014 explosion at the plant near Santa Paula.

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By Marjorie Hernandez of the Ventura County Star

The county of Ventura has filed a civil suit against Santa Clara Waste Water Co. and is seeking reimbursement for funds it paid to firefighters injured in the 2014 explosion at the company's facility.

The complaint, which was filed on May 17, alleges Santa Clara Waste Water, its parent company Green Compass Environmental Solutions LLC, and others were negligent and intentionally misrepresented facts related to hazardous materials that were allegedly at the facility on Mission Rock Road near Santa Paula.

According to the complaint, the county is seeking about $500,000 for workers' compensation payments made to four firefighters who developed various injuries resulting from their exposure to toxic material. The county, in its complaint, also asked the court to amend that dollar amount "to allege full damages at the time of trial."

The companies, along with nine top Santa Clara Waste Water employees, are also facing criminal charges stemming from the 2014 explosion.

Prosecutors said the explosion caused injuries, led to evacuations and required dozens of people to be treated for potential exposure. The company's criminal attorneys, however, have classified the incident as an industrial accident.

A Ventura County grand jury indicted the company, CEO William Mitzel, Assistant General Manager Marlene Faltemier and nine others in August on multiple felony counts, including conspiracy to commit a crime, handling hazardous waste with a reckless disregard for human life, disposal of hazardous waste, committing violations causing injuries and other charges.

A second case was filed in December against the two companies, Mitzel and Faltemier on similar charges.

According to the eight-page civil complaint filed by the county last week, four firefighters who responded to the explosion sustained physical injuries after they were exposed to hazardous materials at the site.

The civil suit alleges Santa Clara Waste Water employees were negligent when they intentionally misrepresented the presence of the toxic material at the facility.

"The on premise employees represented to the county employees that there were no toxic, dangerous or hazardous materials or chemicals at the facility and indicated it was safe to approach the facility buildings and structures," wrote Stephen Roberson, an attorney for the county. "As a result of coming in contact with these toxic materials, the county employees developed serious pulmonary and other injuries which were wholly separate and independent of those which may be expected to occur as a result of strictly handling a nontoxic fire."

Since the companies were in charge of handling, transporting and disposing the chemicals, they should be held liable for the injuries sustained by the first responders, Roberson wrote in the complaint.

A court date for the civil case has been set for Oct. 14.

Meanwhile, proceedings for the two criminal cases have been placed on hold while the Second Court of Appeal considers Ventura County Superior Court Judge Kent Kellegrew's decision to recuse the companies' criminal attorneys from the cases.

Kellegrew ruled on May 2 that the law firm Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP, which represents the two companies and Mitzel, could not be involved in the criminal case because of a conflict of interest involving the firm and former Ventura County District Attorney Michael Bradbury.

In a declaration, Bradbury said he was retained by Santa Clara Waste Water to conduct an internal investigation on the 2014 explosion.

Prosecutors, however, said some of the defendants provided statements to Bradbury thinking he was their attorney. Those statements could be used against the various defendants in the criminal case, Senior Deputy District Attorney Karen Wold has said.

Defendants in both criminal cases are scheduled to back in court on June 9.
ROB VARELA/THE STAR A.J. Hammerquist, a Boy Scout with Troop 622 in Simi Valley, takes a break from helping pick up trash to take a selfie with Alex "The Alligator" Win, who was on hand to have his photo taken to raise funds for the Simi Valley High School instrumental music program, at the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival Sunday.

SHARE ROB VARELA/THE STAR Don "Bones" Wallace, of Calabasas, plays along with a band on his own washboard tie at the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival Sunday. ROB VARELA/THE STAR Ali Servatdjoo, of Van Nuys enjoys eating freshly cooked crayfish at the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival Sunday. ROB VARELA/THE STAR Booker T. Jones plays a Hammond B-3 organ as he performs at the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival Sunday. ROB VARELA/THE STAR Marci Marks, of North Hollywood, takes a photo of Booker T. Jones as he performs with his band at the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival Sunday.

By Robyn Flans, Special to The Star

For Carla Harris, of Los Angeles, the 27th annual Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival at Rancho Santa Susanna Community Park was a piece of Louisiana that she dearly loves. The festival transported her back to New Orleans "without having to go through TSA," Harris said with a laugh.

Harris was dancing on the Cajun/zydeco dance floor with her friend Melinda Benedict who came from Fairfax in Northern California for the event. The two have been to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival together a number of times.

Harris, who has attended the Simi Valley festival many times, convinced Benedict it was not to be missed.

"I'm having a fabulous time," Benedict said.

The weekend festival which was expected to attract about 15,000 music lovers was hosted by the Rotary Club of Simi Sunrise and benefits such local community efforts as For the Troops, Free Clinic of Simi Valley, Samaritan Center, Simi Valley Hospital Foundation's Child Development Center and Simi Valley Police K-9 Unit.

Seated in the front row at the blues stage was a Simi Valley couple, Ron Knepper and Veronica Carullo, who attended both days. Knepper said they arrived about an hour and a half early so they could nab those seats.

"I'm a blues fan," Knepper said. "I've lived here for five and a half years and never been to this. This lineup got us."

Two friends from Los Angeles were also at the blues stage enjoying a performance by Kelly's Lot. Adam Grosher, 25, said he is a relatively new blues aficionado. His friend Connor Capetillo, 23, turned him on to the genre.

"I just found Beau Jocque, who is a zydeco player and then I was Googling around and saw this event was happening," Capetillo said.

"I'm looking forward to seeing Booker T.," Grosher said. "I'm really stoked to see Leon Russell. I'm still in the cultivation stage, but I have a deep appreciation for musicality and the blues, I think, is exemplary of that."

Grosher said he also enjoys Cajun food, which was definitely in abundance in the food area.

Mary Gilreath, of Louisiana, said the crawfish was the real deal and unusually large.

"It's like a small lobster," Gilreath explained. "It's a lot more tender than a lobster and has a lot more spices in it."

She and her boyfriend Matt Johnson came all the way from the city of Twentynine Palms in San Bernardino County for the festival.

It was Johnson's first time eating crawfish but "I'll eat pretty much anything," he said.

That is exactly how Isabella Roderick, 10, of Studio City described herself.

"I eat everything," said Isabella, who attended the festival with her grandmother Anita Roderick, of Glendora.

Isabella said she gravitated toward the alligator since she'd never had it before.

Anita Roderick said she took a tiny bite and said it tasted a little like chicken, but it was a "little gamy."

"I told my granddaughter she could have anything she wanted but she had to finish it," Anita Roderick said.

Anita Roderick and Harris said they were looking forward to seeing Leon Russell perform.

Harris said to watch out for her about 4:30 p.m. as she'd be flying back and forth between the Cajun/zydeco stage where Doug Kershaw would be performing and the blues stage where Leon Russell was set to perform.

"I'll be doing road runner," Harris said. "This is a wonderful venue for fellowship and good music. It's all about the music, the food, the people, the kids. It represents the cross-generational and the cross-cultural. Everyone is here. What a wonderful place to come."
JOE LUMAYA/SPECIAL TO THE STARColton Dyer, 10, his mother Erika and his sister Cassidy joined the candlelight vigil for Angel Zevallos who was killed yesterday in a tragic accident. Over one hundred people attended the vigil that was held at Royal High School in Simi Valley. 5-27-2016 Simi Valley, CA.

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By Manuel Araujo, manuel.araujo@vcstar.com

A restaurant in Simi Valley will host a fundraiser Thursday to help raise money for the family of the 9-year-old boy who died after he was struck by a car Thursday.

The owners of The Egg House, 1470 East Los Angeles Ave., plan to host the event from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Dave Gibson, owner and manager of the restaurant, said he was devastated when he learned what happened to Angel Zevallos and wants to help the family.

Gibson said he will donate a portion of all proceeds earned that day to Angel Zevallos' family.

With the help of his wife and co-owner, Heather Gibson, and Sandy Briley, Angel's great-aunt, who works at the restaurant, they are organizing the event.

Dave Gibson said he is glad to host the fundraiser and hopes it helps the community mourn the death of the boy that has left many in Simi Valley shocked.

The accident occurred Thursday on Royal Avenue west of Sinaloa Road as the Madera Elementary School student was playing around, police said. He fell into the roadway in front of an oncoming car and the driver was not able to avoid him, police said. The boy suffered major head injuries and was rushed to Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks where he later died, officials said.

Later that night, mourners placed a roadside memorial on the Royal Avenue sidewalk near the crash site, leaving candles, flowers and stuffed toys.

On Friday more than 100 people gathered for a candlelight vigil at Royal High School in honor of Angel.

The Zevallos family is expected to attend the event, Dave Gibson said.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to pay for funeral and medical costs. Anyone who wishes to donate can visit the website at www.gofundme.com/angelsfamilyfund.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/SIMI VALLEY POLICE DEPARTMENT

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By Staff Reports

Police arrested two men from Simi Valley suspected of breaking into a storage unit Sunday after a search that revealed the pair were neighbors, authorities said.

Around 4:46 p.m. the manager of the Public Storage called to report he interrupted a break-in, police said.

He told police he saw two men enter and then saw one of them standing in front of an unlocked storage unit, police said.

The manager said he lifted the door of the storage unit and saw a hole he believed the men cut through a wall to steal from the storage, authorities said.

Both men reportedly fled in a car and the manager was able to give police the car's license plate number, police said.

Police followed the plate to a house on the 1100 block of Appleton Avenue and found one of the suspected burglars walking away from his house and the second inside of his home on the same block.

The pair were arrested and booked in the Ventura County Jail for burglary and conspiracy, police said.
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By Arlene Martinez, amartinez@vcstar.com

A proposed initiative extending open-space laws to 2050 in Ventura weakens the existing ones, according to city Community Development officials who studied the text of the measure.

The measure combines the city's Save Our Agricultural Resources ordinance, approved in 1995, and the Hillsides Voter Participation Area ordinance, approved in 2002. Both were put into place to give voters a say in whether farmland could be converted to other uses.

"In this current proposal the areas of the coastal zone are excluded from the ordinance draft," Planning Manager Dave Ward said.

That means properties currently under the jurisdiction of SOAR  land along Channel Drive near Highway 101 and a portion of the land near the Main Street Bridge often referred to as Taylor Ranch, among them  would be excluded if voters approved the measure in November.

Issues with the citizen-led SOAR came up during a discussion of the draft measure at the May 9 City Council meeting. The council voted to certify the city had received enough signatures for the ballot, and also directed the staff to return within 30 days with a report on how the new ordinance would impact city operations.

It's possible city voters would have no say if owners of the coastal properties sought to develop the pieces, City Attorney Gregory Diaz said.

Though the properties are under county jurisdiction and the separate Save Open-space and Agricultural Resources ordinance, a likely scenario is that a developer would seek to have the land annexed into the city. Then, the city's rules would seem to apply, Diaz said.

Diaz said he was still researching whether that was the case.

Proponents of the measure said the omission was unintentional. It happened because the new SOAR replaces any reference to the "Comprehensive Plan" with the term "General Plan." But the California Coastal Commission rejected the General Plan's coastal-specific plan, Diaz and Ward said.

Kathy Bremer, a volunteer involved in the effort, urged the council to certify the signatures.

"Any discrepancies can be corrected on a subsequent ballot if need be," she said.

Diane Underhill, another volunteer and president of Ventura Citizens for Hillside Preservation, said SOAR's intent remains clear.

"The intent is to allow the residents to weigh in on how their city is developed," she said after the meeting.

Lynn Jensen, executive director of the Ventura County Coalition of Labor, Agriculture and Business, a group working to get a competing measure on the ballot, said the issue with the Ventura SOAR is "not an isolated problem."

She called it a flawed initiative "ripe for legal challenge."

Ward said there were other issues with the ordinance, including a reference to an urban restriction boundary. Ventura has none, he said.

The updated ordinance also includes exemptions for housing projects that are 100 percent affordable but sets the bar so high as to be virtually impossible. And while the existing SOAR measure exempts "other government facilities" the new version allows only for water facilities and uses for parks and recreation, Ward said.

This isn't the only place where SOAR organizers have faced problems. In Camarillo, organizers had to submit two rounds of signatures after the first set was invalidated because of an incorrect date on the preprinted petition forms. Then, the Camarillo City Council voted to wait until at least June 8 to put SOAR on the ballot to allow its city attorney time to review points made by a developer's attorney. The attorney told the council the petition contained various legal flaws.

In Thousand Oaks, SOAR proponents are facing a challenge because the text of the ballot measure appears on page two, or, depending on how one looks at it, the back of the first page. The city could end up putting SOAR on the ballot as a city-sponsored initiative, or a judge could rule the measure can proceed.

Under the election code, the text of the ballot measure must appear on the first page, city officials said.
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Camarillo

Lest We Forget is the theme of an 11 a.m. ceremony today at Conejo Mountain

Funeral Home, 2052 Howard Road. The 44th annual event will include music by

the St. Genevieve Choral Ensemble and the Gold Coast Pipe Band, a flag

raising by the Navy and American Legion Post 741, a memorial wreath

tribute, and a speech by Abraham Lincoln presenter/impersonator J.P.

Wammack. 482-1959; http://www.conejomountain.com.

Fillmore

Retired Army Col. George Compton, Ventura County veterans service

officer and a Star columnist, will speak during an 11 a.m. event today at

Bardsdale Cemetery, 1698 S. Sespe St. The ceremony will include a

presentation of colors, wreath placement, music, service led by the Rev. Bob

Hammond of Dayspring Anglican Church, remarks by Ventura County Supervisor

Kathy Long and the playing of taps.

Moorpark

American Legion Post 502 will present a raising of the colors ceremony at 8

a.m. today at the old Moorpark Veterans Memorial, at Los Angeles and Moorpark

avenues. An observance will follow at 10 a.m. at the new memorial, which was

dedicated May 16, at Spring Road and Flinn Avenue. 523-3355;

http://moorparkpost502.org.

Oak View

The communitys fourth annual celebration, themed Forever in Our Hearts,

will begin with a pancake breakfast from 7 to 10 a.m. today at American Legion

Post 686, 475 Old Ventura Ave. After a flyover at 9:40 a.m., the Oak View

Memorial Day Parade, featuring floats, horses, marchers and vehicles, will

begin at 9:45 a.m. at New Hope Christian Center, 590 Old Ventura Ave., and

finish at Old Ventura and Oak View avenues in front of Longhorn Supply,

where a service and awards presentation will be held. New Hope will then

host a free concert and barbecue. 640-0727; http://www.oakviewca.org.

Ojai

The Ojai Valley Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 11461 will host a patriotic

program from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at Libbey Park downtown, including music,

the rededication of a memorial plaque, a Wall of Remembrance poster display

and other memorabilia, and a historical re-enactment led by ministers and a

rabbi. Vietnam veteran Chuck Bennett will be the master of ceremonies.

302-6093.

Oxnard

A service and luncheon will begin at 10 a.m. today at American Legion Post 48,

2639 Wagon Wheel Road. 485-1600.

Hundreds of American flags will be on display from sunrise to sunset in the

Henry T. Oxnard Historic District, F and G streets between Fifth Street and

Magnolia Avenue. 487-9299.

Piru

A service featuring music by Carolyn Cook, an honor guard and a speech by

Dick Diaz will be at 9 a.m. today at Piru Cemetery, 3580 Center St. 521-1752.

Santa Paula

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2043 will hold a 10:30 a.m. service today at Santa

Paula Cemetery, 380 Cemetery Road, featuring music by Isbell Middle School

students, an invocation, a rifle salute, a wreath placement and a talk by

Jannette Jauregui, who writes The Stars Of War and Life column. 525-3737.

Simi Valley

A ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. today at Pioneer Cemetery, 1461 Thompson Lane,

led by Simi Valley Elks, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10049 and others. The

keynote speaker is Assemblyman Cameron Smyth. The Elks will host a barbecue

at 1 p.m. at the lodge, 1561 Kuehner Drive, featuring tri-tip, chicken,

hamburgers and hot dogs, plus horseshoes, a dunk tank and dancing. 522-2492.

Thousand Oaks

The Conejo Recreation & Park District will kick off its 2009 Concerts in the

Park Series with a free Memorial Day concert by vocal jazz-pop quartet

Beachfront Property at 5 p.m. at Conejo Community Park, 1175 Hendrix Ave.

Picnics are welcome; pets should stay home. 381-1247.

Ventura

Retired Navy Capt. Brad Conners, former commanding officer of Naval Base

Ventura County, will give the keynote address during a ceremony from 11 a.m.

to noon today at Ivy Lawn Memorial Park, 5400 Valentine Road. Other activities

will include a flyover by the 805th Navion Squadron, bagpipe music, color

guards, a wreath tribute and a dove release. More than 1,000 American casket

flags will be on display through Saturday. 642-1055; http://www.ivylawn.org.

Westlake Village

The 19th annual ceremony at 11 a.m. today at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial

Park will feature patriotic choral and band music, flyovers by aircraft from

March Air Force Base and the Condor Squadron, a color guard, prayers, a

wreath ceremony and the playing of taps. 5600 Lindero Canyon Road.

818-889-0902.
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Jamie Reese has an extraordinary challenge every day she goes to work.

Her job is to, first of all, connect directly with a roomful of 5-, 6-, 7- and 8-year-old children, each of whom has a different level and type of emotional distress.

But that is just the start of her mission for her day. Using all the tools she can find, including cutting-edge technology, she begins the process of educating her students.

For her remarkable efforts in her classroom at Mountain View School in Simi Valley, Jamie Reese recently was named Ventura County's 2016 Teacher of the Year and will compete for additional honors at the state level.

Her work extends beyond the classroom to include the families of her students, as she works with them and with local social agencies to address and support their situations, which will then enhance the education of her students.

"Progress is the most important factor to me personally, because I want my students to be in a constant state of moving forward, of learning and of challenging themselves," she wrote in her applicant essay. "If a student doesn't feel a connection with you, then nothing I have discussed will have impact or meaning for them. Connection is the glue that allows everything else to come together for a student."

She also reaches out to her fellow teachers to push them forward in the use of technology, such as social media, to benefit themselves, their schools and their students.

It's at this time of the year, as the school calendar winds down and we get ready for the long summer break, that we often think of the teachers who made a direct impact on our lives.

Many of us have that one or two or three teachers who connected with us and helped spur us to enter our fields of work or study, or stimulated our desire to learn, or simply aided us in the process of growing up.

Jamie Reese has clearly earned the honor she has received. But across our county in the coming weeks, we will see individual teachers equally honored by the student who walks up at the end of the school year and says, "Thank you."

There are many others in our county who, in the words of one of those Mountain View students, can say of their teachers: "She teaches very goodly."


Brazilian/Native American supermodel Ashley Sky, 22, hosted the launch of Encore Beach Club at Night, the nighttime pool party at Encore Beach Club in Wynn Las Vegas (Photo credit: David Becker/Getty Images).

Photo credit: David Becker/Getty Images.

Ashley, who has walked the runway, appeared in high profile campaigns, and starred in television features including the 2012 MTV Music Video of the Year OTIS, alongside Kanye West & Jay-Z, as well as the infamous Buffalo David Bitton Commercial which was banned from airing during Superbowl XLVIII for being so sexy, prepared for the evenings festivities by having her hair styled by celebrity hairstylist Claude Baruk in his new salon at Encore.

Photo credit: David Becker/Getty Images.

Dressed in a form-fitting Nookie dress and Gucci shoes, the stunner turned heads as she entered Asian dining hotspot Andreas for dinner. After meeting Executive Chef Joseph Elevado, the petite pretty one and a friend were seated in a private dining booth where they shared a selection of the chefs sushi, sashimi and specialty rolls.

Photo credit: David Becker/Getty Images.

After dinner, Ashley slipped into a Mikoh bikini and Gucci shoes for the Encore Beach Club at Night pool party where she posed for photographs, sipped on champagne inside a bunagalow, and danced to the sounds of Wynn Las Vegas resident DJs Mighty Mi and headliner Martin Solveig.

Photo credit: David Becker/Getty Images.

Ashley then made her way up to the DJ booth where she danced on the platform further exciting the capacity crowd.

Photo credit: David Becker/Getty Images.


Mark Cuban was at Marquee Mondays where he helped to launch Cyber Dusts partnership with Marquee Nightclub for their new in-venue Wi-Fi (Pictured: Mark Cuban and DJ Chuckie  Photo credit: Karl Larson).

Photo credit: Karl Larson.

The tech entrepreneur and owner of the NBAs Dallas Mavericks addressed the Marquee staff prior to opening and then enjoyed a night in the club, joining DJ Chuckie in the booth.
Tam met with former President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama on separate occasions where he discussed with them pressing issues at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Forum. On the agenda were diverse topics including climate change, food security, trade facilitation, financial flow, cross-border labour issues, and borderless travelling. Looking back on these meetings, Tam recalls that President Obama had a strong personality and conducted himself discreetly, while President Bush struck him as someone with a very easy-going spirit.

Born and raised during the war between Vietnam and the US, Tam acknowledges that although the US was once the countrys rival, time has done much to heal the wounds of war. In fact, relations between the two nations have flourished to the point where they have now entered a comprehensive partnership.

On November 20, 2006, former President Bush met with five Vietnamese business leaders in Ho Chi Minh City. Asides from Tam himself, other attendees included FPT Group chairman Truong Gia Binh, Refrigeration Electrical Engineering Corporation chairman Nguyen Thi Mai Thanh, AA Interior Design Furniture Corporation CEO Nguyen Quoc Khanh, and Toan My Trading Corporation CEO Le Thi Phuong Thuy.

During their discussions, Tam raised a valid point with Bush: The relationship between Vietnam and the US has been normalised, and the two sides will become partners. As president, what will you do to promote economic ties deserving of these new political relations? After all, good political rapport is meaningless without the promotion of economic relations that can bring about benefits to the people of both countries.

After the meeting, President Bush responded to Tam in a personal letter, I enjoyed hearing about opportunities in Vietnam and about ways the people of our two countries can work together to expand prosperity. I am impressed by your hard work and grateful for your leadership.

Bushs message has slowly become a reality, reaching a landmark point when the Trans-Pacific Trade (TPP) pact was signed at the beginning of 2016. This free trade agreement is aimed at raising trade and investment between the signatory members  a list that includes Vietnam, the US, and ten other countries. According to Tam, trade agreements like the TPP, the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, and the recent formation of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) offer a crucial advantage to businesses like Kinh Bac City Development Corporation (KCB).

As a pioneer in the construction and development of industrial parks in the country, Tam and his associates have laid a solid foundation for the growth of KBC. In roughly 20 years managing and steering the industrial park segment, he has proven his capabilities through his very own industrial park business model. KBC is now one of the first preferences among foreign direct investors when investing in Vietnam.

The companys access to a large land bank in several prime locations is evidence of KBCs strength in this sector. The land bank has a total of 4,500 hectares for industrial park development and 1,300 hectares for urban and residential development. Of this, 2,500 hectares are directly owned by KBC and its subsidiaries.

In addition, KBC has developed a diversified product range that meets even the most stringent customer requirements. Aiming to place customer interests first, the company always strives to cater for the specific needs of its investors. With some 14 industrial parks across the nation, the company is in the lead position in terms of attracting large-scale foreign direct investment (FDI), with some of the big name players including Canon, Foxconn, and LG.

KBCs operation and maintenance of infrastructure within the industrial zones is very efficient, with well preserved landscapes and clean surroundings. Also highly regarded by its tenants are KBCs and its partners supporting financial services, as well as security, and other utilities that facilitate a closed and convenient supply chain.

These strengths are the secrets to KBCs success in drawing investment into its six industrial parks, two of which have an occupancy rate of between 95-99 per cent. Notably, KBCs customers are mostly foreign enterprises (some 90 per cent).

In a bid to draw in small- and medium-sized satellite businesses of large-scale corporations, KBC has developed the sale and lease segment in office and factory spaces. This shortens the time required for businesses to commence operation, while reducing the investment risk.

Each factory premises covers a standard area of 5,000 sq.m, as well as offices and ideal facilities to help investors hit the ground running. These products are in great demand at present, shared Tam.

KBC has also strengthened its panel of leaders and staff, extolling competence and responsibility as core virtues. For several years in a row the company has received a governmental award in recognition of its stellar performance in attracting FDI. So far, we have received 15 leading awards from the government, noted the KBC leader, revealing no small measure of pride in his companys achievements.

KBC has drawn upon all its strengths and resources to come up with products that can attract more FDI into Vietnam in 2016. In particular, US investors are being courted as an important target market.

Industrial parks, such as Que Vo, Trang Due, and Tan Phu Trung have become familiar names among investors, and the upcoming Trang Due II, Nam Son Hap Linh, and Quang Chau Industrial Parks will soon be added to that list.

KBC also plans to expand its land bank for the special economic zone (700 hectares) at Haiphong Industrial Zone, while simultaneously developing potential industrial zones in central and southern Vietnam.
Vietnams agricultural sector must overcome steep technical barriers in order to access the US market

The beguiling $117 billion market

According to David Lennarz, deputy chairman of the US-backed Registrar Corporation, which specialises in consulting for businesses exporting to the US, in 2015, the worlds largest economy imported $116.7 billion in agricultural products. Of this figure, seafood accounted for $17.2 billion, fruit and chilled fruit juice $9.9 billion, vegetables $9.9 billion, and meat products made up $11.9 billion.

The markets large scale and diversified distribution systems, from giant supermarkets to small shops, together with 317 million consumers, and diversity in both taste and income levels, has caught the attention of Vietnams exporters of agricultural produce.

Over recent years, the US has become a major market for Vietnamese agricultural exports, with 30-40 per cent of key products exported Stateside.

Nguyen Duy Khien, head of the American Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade offered this assessment, Vietnam exports many high-value agricultural products to the US, such as coffee, pepper, cashews, seafood, honey, and fruit. And now were seeing both volume and revenue rising. The majority of exports are supplementary to the US local products, including rice, catfish, and sugar, while only a few are substitutes. In the time to come, if the Trans-Pacific Partnership comes into effect, agricultural trade between the two countries will certainly see strong growth.

The export of Vietnamese agricultural products to the US has witnessed dramatic growth over the past two decades. Despite the decline in exports in 2015, this is still one of Vietnams most important markets, with a total of $30.8 billion exported last year.

In 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will continue to promote the trade of products that meet quality requirements and have high added-value, such as seafood, wood, cashew nuts, pepper, and tea, affirmed Le Van Banh, head of the Department of Processing and Trade for Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Products and Salt under MARD.

According to MARD, in 2015, exports to the US significantly decreased against 2014 (except for wood, cashew nuts, pepper, and rattan sedge and mats). For instance, seafood fell 23.4 per cent, coffee fell 13.3 per cent, rubber was down 7.5 per cent, rice dropped 21.7 per cent, and tea also dipped 18.3 per cent.

The decrease was the result of several contributing factors including more intense competition, more complicated technical barriers, as well as impacts from currency devaluations by other countries, which made Vietnamese goods relatively more expensive.

Le Van Quang, chairman of the Minh Phu Seafood Corporation, said that due to other exporting countries devaluation of their domestic currencies, the price of shrimp exports to the US became very cheap, effectively undercutting Vietnamese products. Also, the anti-dumping duty that the US levied on Vietnamese shrimp was a factor.

Diverse competition and technical barriers

With over 20 years of experience exporting honey to the US market, Dinh Quyet Tam, chairman of the Vietnam Beekeepers Association, noted that 40 tonnes of Vietnamese honey entered the US market for the first time in 1992. Since then, the volume has rapidly increased to peak at 47,000 tonnes in 2014, which is worth $132 million. This 1175-fold increase over the 20 year period made Vietnam the largest exporter of honey to the US, accounting for 35.6 per cent of total import volume.

However, last year saw a sharp fall in Vietnamese honey exports to the US, down to just 37,000 tonnes, equivalent to $93 million.

The competition is cut-throat. Besides the main competitors, India and Argentina, there are also emerging exporting countries such as Thailand and Myanmar. Due to natural conditions, Vietnamese honey is somewhat darker in colour in comparison with some other countries products, which makes our brands less competitive. Despite our efforts to change the colour through physical or chemical methods, this process remains very difficult. Another reason for the drop in exports is the importers stipulation that the level of Carbenazim (a casting worm control agent) must be at 0 per cent. This strict requirement is a technical barrier, said Tam.

Tam hopes that the Vietnamese government will negotiate with the US government to ease the Carbendazim level requirement. If the situation is not remedied, this years export of honey could decrease by 60 per cent in volume.

Likewise, the seafood sector also faces many difficulties. In 2015, exports fell to $1.3 billion from the previous years level of $1.7 billion. However, the US market still accounted for 20 per cent of seafood exports, with shrimp, Pangasius/catfish, tuna, and crab making up the majority.

According to many exporting firms, the US market is one of the largest markets for Vietnamese seafood, while also containing the most technical barriers. Vietnamese shrimp and pangasius/catfish will continue to face such barriers, including, most notably, anti-dumping duties.

Most recently, in March 2016, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) released a temporary conclusion over the anti-dumping duty on Vietnamese shrimp imported between February 1, 2014 and January 31, 2015. Accordingly, a higher duty level has been imposed on voluntary respondents at the 10th administrative review (POR 10).

The anti-dumping duty on voluntary respondents was established at 3.56 per cent, nearly four times higher than the official 0.91 per cent set in POR9. The tariff on other Vietnamese firms, those exporters not examined as mandatory or voluntary respondents in POR10, remains at 25.76 per cent. This will certainly have an adverse impact on Vietnamese shrimp exporters, especially as the tax rate that Thai enterprises  Vietnams main competitor  have to pay is only 1.35 per cent.

Also in March 2016, the DOC announced their final decision on Vietnamese frozen fish fillets (between August 2013 and July 31, 2014), again imposing a higher level of anti-dumping duty against the last review.

Moreover, since March 2016, the US Farm Bill 2014 has come into force, posing many other pressures in terms of technical barriers for the importation of pangasius to the market.

Commenting on the issue, MARDs Banh said, The appeal of this market must be accepted in tandem with fierce competition from China, Thailand, and Indonesia  countries that have similar export structures for their goods. The technical barriers are also considerable challenges to Vietnamese firms.

He also said that in the time ahead, MARD will continue to support exports in terms of accelerating negotiations to tackle the reasons leading to the drop of pangasius exports to the US market. At the same time, MARD will organise campaigns to connect the business community and pave the way for tea products to enter the market in the second quarter of 2016.

Another challenge to Vietnamese products is the devaluation of exporting countries currencies. As a consequence, the price of Vietnamese products became relatively more expensive in 2015.

Importance of an agriculture trade counsellor in the US

The US government has initiated many investigations and lawsuits against Vietnams goods, for instance anti-dumping and countervailing cases. However, MARD does not have any agricultural counsellor in the US, which makes this struggle particularly difficult.

Vietnams trade counsellor in the US, Dao Tran Nhan, said We [trade counsellors] are spending most of our time dealing with agriculture-related issues in the US market, despite the fact that we are not specialists in agriculture. As such, we propose that MARD appoints a counsellor based in the US very soon.

Regarding the US Farm Bill, although the US Department of Agriculture assessed earlier that the act would not affect export of Vietnamese pangasius, Vietnam still has to be on alert since this is a form of protection measure. In fact, pangasius exports from Vietnam to the US fell significantly in 2015. It is very costly for the farmers and exporters to meet the set requirements under the bill.

To tackle technical barriers set by markets like the US, experts in this field have suggested that Vietnam should build similar barriers to the US products.

It is two-way trade. Both countries are markets for exports. Recently, our import volumes of US chicken thighs and wings rose dramatically. In the near future, pork imports may also increase with the implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Production cost in the US is equal to one third of that in Vietnam, while the Vietnamese market also holds great potential with a population of 93 million consuming pork, Nhan said.

However, rather than erecting technical hurdles, the most important solution is to enhance the quality of Vietnamese exports to the US market, and to further accelerate chain productions.

The drawback of Vietnams agriculture production is its small scale and quality relative to international standards. This prevents products from meeting US technical requirements, said Nguyen Duy Khien.

Khien said that Vietnamese firms need to solve the problem so that their agriculture exports can be stimulated.
For years, US law has kept an eye on some Chinese providers due to their suspicions about potential security threats. Devices with always on network connectivity are enabling new types of attacks that have not been seen in the past. These devices represent a new set of targets for potential crime and data exposure. It is imperative that assurance, security, and governance professionals take note of the IoT trend, especially when it links to the telecommunications industry and even national security.

Recently, DASAN Networks, a South Korean network provider for the global telecommunications industry, decided to merge with US company Zhone Technologies, a global leader in Fiber Access Transformation for service providers and enterprise networks.

The agreement, expected to be clinched this summer, comes on the heels of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and will assist Vietnamese telecommunications providers in dealing with security threats.

VIRs Thanh Tung conducted an exclusive interview with chairman of DASAN Networks MinNam Woo on what Vietnamese companies can expect for the industry following this merger.

Why did DASAN Networks decide to acquire Zhone Technologies?

DASAN Networks is a global network provider. We have been growing significantly for the past few years thanks to our dedication to our clients success, with a strong foothold in Asia. Zhone Technologies, a global leader in fiber access transformation for service providers and enterprise networks serving more than 750 of the worlds most innovative network operators, has major footholds in North America, Europe, and the Middle East.

The US is a high-demand market, with a lot of international requirements and standards (like Federal Communications Commission certificates or ISO 9001), especially in regard to security.

Once accepted into the US market, any product or solution could be accepted worldwide. Through our merger with Zhone Technologies, DASAN is seeking to position ourselves as a provider of quality products and services in America, especially in the booming new IoT sector, which has many potential IT threats. We will combine the strengths of both companies and dedicate all of our energy to our clients.

The new company, named DASAN Zhone Solutions, will deliver a broad array of products that will allow carriers and enterprises to enable better global connectivity.

How will DASANs merger impact Vietnam, especially its local telecommunications industry?

What percentage of devices used in Vietnamese telecommunications are Chinese? We have no exact number, but it is true that Chinese devices have garnered a lot of interest not only from Vietnam but also across the world due to their relatively low prices. Yet, if cheap prices lead to security threats, will these low-cost items remain favourites for local telecommunications carriers? The answer is obvious, but it definitely takes time. DASAN is seen as a new brand name in Vietnamese telecommunications, but for other countries like South Korea, Japan, or the US, and in countries with top-level 4G or even 5G services, we are not new.

DASAN provides another choice for local carriers, with international-standard devices manufactured in South Korea, Vietnam, and now the US. We also have three research and development (R&D) centres in South Korea, India, and Vietnam, which have been operating for the past 20 years.

This year, we are planning to double our R&D workforce in Vietnam to serve clients worldwide. DASAN will pave the way for the development of a highly skilled labour force in Vietnam, especially in electronics and engineering.

Last but not least, as a US company, we can assist local telco carriers in their plans to expand to the US market, one of the most lucrative markets in the world.

Drawing from your experience in supporting global telecommunications implementing 4G and 5G services, do you have any advice for Vietnamese telecommunications providers and the Vietnamese government?

Long Term Evolution (LTE) drives every country on the globe. To cover soaring data traffic and meet higher expectations of service quality, mobile network operators need to find a way to upgrade their bandwidth; at the same time, cost-effectiveness is very important.

Our solutions focus on these points, and we have a lot of experience in assisting leading telco providers in Japan, South Korea, and now the US and European countries. We want to plant the seeds of that experience here in Vietnam.

Exploiting information for social development is a high priority for any country, including Vietnam. 4G and 5G infrastructure enable every individual and enterprise to make data contributions to society in real time.

In Vietnam and elsewhere, returns on investment in 3G infrastructure have not yet met expectations. Mobile network providers therefore need to find a smart and cost-effective investment strategy to deploy 4G while still re-using 3G infrastructure. DASAN is an expert in this.

It is important that the Vietnamese government grant 4G licences for mobile network providers soon, so that Vietnam will not lag behind the rest of the world. Also, the Vietnamese government should apply special requirements for any company entering the local telecommunications industry, especially those providing network devices, as is the practice in many other countries. This would ensure the highest level of security in information and communications.
Egyptians light candles during a vigil for the victims of the EgyptAir flight that crashed in the Mediterranean, in Cairo on May 26, 2016 AFP/Khaled Desouki

CAIRO: Investigators into EgyptAir's plane crash need at least 12 days to recover its black boxes as they await a ship that can retrieve them from the bottom of the Mediterranean, investigation sources said Sunday (May 29).

The Airbus A320 plane crashed into the Mediterranean with 66 people on board during a May 19 flight from Paris to Cairo, after disappearing from radar screens.

Investigators are in a race against time to find the flight recorders, known as the black boxes, which have enough battery power to emit signals for four or five weeks. The recordings could help investigators determine the reason for the crash.

The plane was carrying passengers from different nationalities, with 40 Egyptians including the crew and 15 French nationals.

Egypt's aviation minister had initially said a terrorist attack was more likely to have brought down the plane, but a technical failure is also likely.

France's aviation safety agency has said the aircraft transmitted automated messages indicating smoke in the cabin and a fault in the flight control unit minutes before losing contact.

Egypt and France have signed agreements with two French companies specialising in deep water searches, Alseamar and Deep Ocean Search (DOS).

"Those two companies have complementary roles: The first is for locating the pings of the black boxes (the signal being emitted by the black boxes' beacon), while the second is for diving and recovering them" with the help of a robot, a source close to the investigation told AFP in Cairo, requesting anonymity.

"But the DOS specialised ship left the Irish sea Saturday and it will reach the perceived crash site only in around 12 days, after having the Egyptian and French investigators embark in Alexandria," the source added.

The investigation into the crash is led by an Egyptian-headed committee. Other sources close to the investigation confirmed the information.

The investigators are searching for the black boxes at a depth of around 3,000 metres (around 10,000 feet), some 290 kilometres (180 miles) north of the Egyptian coast.

Three of Alseamar's DETECTOR-6000 acoustic detection systems, which submerged can detect pings for up to 4,000 to 5,000 metres below sea level, have left the French island of Corsica to the crash site Thursday onboard "Laplace", a French navy ship.

It will arrive at the perceived crash site "Sunday, or Monday at the latest," according to one of the sources.

"While we are waiting for the DOS ship, equipped for detecting the pings in deep waters, but more importantly the robots capable of descending up to 6,000 metres to recover the black boxes, we will not be wasting time as Leplace will be trying to locate them in the meantime," said one of the sources.

The source added that after 12 days, "there is a very good chance of recovering the flight recordings thanks to the combination of these two French companies."

Two members of the French aviation safety agency BEA are on board Leplace.
Thanh Cong Textile has delayed its plan to ease the foreign cap Photo: Le Toan

The general meeting season of 2016 is coming to an end with Vinamilk under the spotlight. The Vietnamese dairy giant has dropped seven conditional business lines, which allows foreign investors to hold as much as a 100 per cent stake in the firm. However, some listed firms have not been able to increase their foreign ownership limits because of restricted business lines such as banking, retail and certain transport services.

Do Van Minh, general director of Ho Chi Minh City-based General Forwarding and Agency Corp (Gemadept), said that his company would like to team up with foreign investors and spur more foreign investment. However, they are operating some conditional business lines including inland-waterway and sea transport so are unable to raise the cap to 100 per cent.

Gemadept is also concerned with any obstacles that may arise following the equitisation, as the firm now holds 49 per cent of the charter capital in an inland transport company. Gemadept is waiting for further guidance to make a final decision, he added.

Until now, there is no official list of business lines and industries with conditions applicable to foreign investors. The new Investment Law 2014 provides a list of 267 conditional business lines and industries, but this is not the list referred to by Decree 60/2015/ND-CP.

Decree 60 stipulates that local listed firms, except for those involving in conditional business lines, can raise foreign ownership to 100 per cent.

Many Vietnamese listed firms are operating in several business lines and industries with different provisions on the foreign ownership ratio so it can prove complicated and time-consuming for them to adjust all their business lines.

Thanh Cong Textile Garment Investment JSC (TCM) has delayed its plan to ease the foreign cap. At its annual general meeting, leaders of the firm said they are considering whether to remove the foreign ownership cap.

TCM is involved in various fields including real estate and retail, which are on the list of conditional business lines. TCM and its major shareholder, Eland group, would like to boost its fashion retail segment to tap into the huge market potential. Therefore, easing the foreign cap will create problems for the expansion of its retail network.

The TCM board of directors is weighing up the potential benefits of easing foreign ownership in contrast to exploring lucrative business lines. The firm is awaiting guidelines to see whether it can lift the cap to 100 per cent, or at least higher than its current limit.

To facilitate the lifting of the foreign ownership cap, investors and experts suggested that the government should minimise the number of conditional business lines. For firms dealing in restricted business lines, the government could set a specific foreign ownership ratio.

According to the Investment Law 2014, ministries, sectors and localities are not allowed to issue business conditions. The existing business conditions stipulated in circulars from ministries will become invalid from July 1, 2016. Instead, there will be a decree on business conditions to substitute the circulars from that date forward.
The US, the worlds largest economy, has become Vietnams second largest trade partner. Vietnams exports to the US grew to $33.5 billion in 2015, and are forecast to increase strongly in the years to come. On what grounds are the expectations for future growth based?

Vietnams exports to the US are expected to continue growing in the future based on many factors:

First, the US, which has a population of more than 300 million people and a GDP per capita of $56,000, has high spending habits. The US imports more than $2.2 trillion worth of goods annually.

Second, Vietnams export items to the US are very diverse, ranging from food, garments and footwear to furniture and spare parts for mobile phones, for which the demand continues to increase significantly.

Since Vietnam and the US normalised relations, and especially after the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) took effect in late 2001, Vietnams export turnover to this market has continued to expand. Currently, Vietnam is the top ASEAN exporter to the US. Experts forecast that once the TPP takes effect, bilateral trade will increase significantly. The reduction in tariffs and technical barriers would be a major advantage for Vietnamese firms to compete with other exporters that would not be able to enjoy these incentives when shipping similar products to the US.

The TPP would also help Vietnam attract more foreign investors to the country, thus helping it increase its export capacity (and particularly its exports to the US) in terms of both quantity and quality. A strong rise in foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam over the past few years has set this trend.

Aside from these advantages, with 15 years of experience shipping goods to the US, Vietnamese exporters are well aware of the markets anti-dumping taxes and anti-subsidy and technical barriers as well as its spending habits. This knowledge will prove useful in the future, helping them tap into the US markets potential.

Breaking into the US market will require increased quality and hygiene standards from local manufacturers

The BTA marked a milestone in the two countries relationship. What has Vietnam gained from this agreement over the past 15 years?

The BTA has greatly expanded bilateral trade over the past number of years, conferring the most-favoured-nation (MFN) status on Vietnam.

More importantly, the BTA held special significance for Vietnam, because it was signed as the nation was making its first steps towards global economic integration. It was one of the first free trade agreements allowing Vietnam to gain a first-hand understanding of major concepts in international trade, such as service market access, rules of origin, and intellectual property.

The BTA also had a great impact on Vietnams legal system, prompting the country to build a legal framework that merged international commitments with local laws. New trade categories and commitments under the BTA provided the basis for Vietnam to issue and amend many legal documents to facilitate the agreements enforcement.

Finally, the BTA was a catalyst for Vietnams economy to start on the path towards global integration, which has become a major goal for the Vietnamese government.

Overall, Vietnam has made great achievements since the signing of the BTA. This has proven the Party and states sound leadership in guiding the country towards global economic integration.

The TPP will add to the momentum in deepening the partnership between Vietnam and the US. Which sectors, in your view, will see a breakthrough in the two countries trade and investment co-operation when the TPP comes into force?

Independent economists agree that the TPP will likely bring enormous benefits to its member economies. The deal is expected to expand economic ties between Vietnam and the US, especially in exports and investment.

For export activities, the immediate removal (or gradual reduction) of import duties on TPP member country products will likely boost trade between the US and Vietnam.

In particular, the TPP is expected to create favourable conditions for Vietnamese export items such as garments, footwear, seafood, and agricultural products to access the US market, while the US electronic products, machinery, and some agricultural products would also enjoy more preferential tax treatment, thus allowing the goods to enter the Vietnamese market at cheaper prices.

Regarding investment, the TPP will likely help Vietnam attract more foreign investors, including those from the US. Despite the presence of numerous US-backed projects in Vietnam, these projects have not met their true potential. Once the TPP takes effect, more US investors are expected to seek investment opportunities in Vietnam, thus raising the US position as one of the countrys largest foreign investors.

In addition, as a member of the TPP, Vietnam would benefit from new supply chains (especially in electronic spare parts production). Today, many powerful international groups, including Intel and Microsoft, have invested in Vietnam with a goal of turning the country into one of their main hi-tech production bases. Joining the TPP would help accelerate this process, and create favourable conditions for Vietnam to enter global production chains and develop its own hi-tech and electronics sectors. This is considered a huge opportunity to further strengthen economic and investment co-operation between the US and Vietnam.

The TPP is expected to afford favourable conditions for Vietnamese exports. What should Vietnamese firms do to tap into these opportunities and increase their exports to the US?

The TPP opens up a plethora of opportunities for Vietnamese firms to boost exports to TPP member countries, which make up 40 per cent of global GDP, and 30 per cent of global trade. These nations include huge markets like the US. However, Vietnamese firms, which have small production scales, out-of-date technology, difficulties raising capital, and lack of experience, would face stricter requirements in many areas, including the quality of goods, hygiene, environmental protection, labour, and technology. Therefore, in order to make the most of the benefits arising from the TPP and overcome hurdles, Vietnamese firms should be more aware of the following issues:

First, Vietnamese enterprises should get a good overview of the TPP and equip themselves with information about the commitments made by the US and Vietnam, particularly the agreements preferential tariffs for export items with a comparative advantage and future potential. Currently, the text of the agreement has been put on the MoITs website at http://www.tpp.moit.gov.vn. This is a useful channel for anyone interested in learning more.

Vietnamese businesses should also change their outdated mindset. They should consider competition as a driving force for innovation and development, and restructure their business and production activities to meet rules of origin so as to enjoy import duty reductions on exports destined for the US market. They should also increase the quality of their products to satisfy the demands of US customers, actively join trade promotion activities in the US, and pay due attention to building a trademark or brand name for themselves and for their products.

Vietnamese firms should consider co-operating with one another to boost exports in the long term. In fact, with their small production scale, Vietnamese exporters have yet to meet the large demand of this market, which is home to huge distribution systems. Local businesses need to find solutions to take advantage of these conditions.

Last but not least, domestic enterprises need to create partnerships with US firms, which would enable them to tap into the US companies strong financial and technology capabilities, and allow local companies to join regional and global supply chains.

In order to help Vietnamese firms make the most of opportunities from the TPP and increase exports to the US, the MoIT will continue to promote the TPP among the local business community and will organise more trade promotion programmes. It will also keep up to date on changes in the global market to provide adequate support for businesses.

The US market has strict requirements on goods and services, which many Vietnamese firms fail to meet. What should authorised Vietnamese agencies and businesses do to increase exports to the US in a sustainable manner?

Apart from tariffs, technical barriers are useful tools to control and limit imported goods. Once tariffs are gradually removed, developed countries will increase their requirements on quality and standards. Trade restrictions such as anti-dumping taxes, anti-subsidy taxes, or safeguard measures will also be used more frequently to protect their markets. Vietnamese firms should therefore continue to improve their production management to lower product prices, while paying more attention to increasing product quality to meet technical and hygiene requirements. They should also boost the application of technology, improve product models, and diversify designs to create global brands.

Moreover, as a good labour and production environment is a necessary condition for enjoying tariff preferences under the TPP, local businesses should carefully take note and make sure their practices comply with requirements.

How have US investors in Vietnam helped solidify the US-Vietnam partnership? What should Vietnam do to improve its business climate in a healthy and transparent manner to attract more investors from the US?

Trade between Vietnam and the US has increased significantly over the past few years. In 2015, the US was Vietnams biggest export market with a turnover of $33.5 billion, accounting for 20.7 per cent of Vietnams total export turnover. Meanwhile, Vietnams imports from the US reached $7.8 billion during the same year. From 2011-2015, Vietnams export turnover to the US rose 18.6 per cent a year on average.

This increased bilateral trade can be attributed to the major contributions of US firms operating in Vietnam. The US now ranks seventh among the 101 countries and territories investing in the country, with projects valued at $15 million on average, higher than the $14.3 million average for FDI projects overall. US firms have invested in 17 out of 21 economic sectors in Vietnam, with the majority focusing on hospitality and food services.

US investment has given a boost to Vietnams economic growth, job creation, human resource training, and labour restructuring. It has also made a great impact on other economic sectors, prompting them to enhance their technology application and operational efficiency.

Economic relations between Vietnam and the US have developed rapidly in many sectors, and are expected to continue growing well into the future. To draw more US investors to Vietnam, the government needs to take bold measures to improve its business climate by creating more favourable conditions, increasing transparency through administrative reform, and improving the quality of its human resources as well as the protection of intellectual property.
Hotel guests gather at the lobby after another earthquake hit the area in Kumamoto, southern Japan, in this photo taken by Kyodo on Apr 16, 2016. (Photo source: REUTERS/Kyodo)

MASHIKI: Japan has resorted to opening a prison to those left homeless by two deadly earthquakes, officials said Tuesday (Apr 19), highlighting the challenges faced in dealing with tens of thousands who have fled their homes.

Two major earthquakes and about 600 smaller tremors have rocked the southwestern island of Kyushu since late Thursday, leaving a total of 44 people dead and more than 1,000 injured - 208 of them seriously - in Japan's worst humanitarian disaster in five years.

Many who abandoned their damaged or destroyed homes have had to sleep in temporary accommodation, huddle in makeshift shelters or even sleep in their cars, and local media have reported problems in delivering food and other essentials as well as raising health concerns.

Nearly 117,000 people were in evacuation shelters, Takayuki Matsushita, a spokesman for the Kumamoto prefectural government, told AFP, but he added that the figure does not include those staying with friends or family or in places other than official shelters.

Justice Ministry official Koichi Shima told AFP that a prison in the hard-hit city of Kumamoto has accommodated as many as 250 people at a time in the correctional facility's martial arts training hall.

About 110 people were staying there on Tuesday alongside nearly 500 inmates, he added.

The ministry decided to start using prison facilities as evacuation centres after a huge undersea quake in March 2011 killed around 18,500 people when it sent a devastating tsunami barrelling into the northeast coast and sparking a nuclear meltdown disaster.

"This is the first time that the policy has been put into practice," Shima said.

An initial quake on Thursday, measured at 6.2 magnitude by US geologists, affected older buildings and killed nine people. But Saturday's more powerful 7.0-magnitude tremor and an ensuing landslide brought even newer structures crashing down.

More than 600 quakes and aftershocks have been recorded in the area since Thursday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Officials said that the death toll from the quakes rose to 44 as two more bodies were recovered, while at least eight people were still listed as missing.

Many people are avoiding the congested shelters set up in local schools and town hall buildings, choosing instead to stay in their cars.

That has fanned worries about deep-vein thrombosis - also known as economy-class syndrome - when prolonged immobility can lead to blood clots forming in the legs and travelling to the heart, lungs or brain with potentially fatal consequences.

Jiji Press reported that a 51-year-old woman in Kumamoto had died from the condition, though it could not be immediately confirmed. Other reports said five people had been diagnosed with clots.

Separately, commercial airlines resumed flights to Kumamoto's airport early Tuesday but the planes were departing with no passengers as quake damage to the terminal building meant security checks could not be conducted.

Japan is one of the world's most seismically active countries, sitting on the so-called "Ring of Fire" around the Pacific tectonic plate.
Founded in the patriotic land of Ca Mau, Minh Phu Seafood Corporation has grown into a leading shrimp manufacturer and exporter after 24 years of growth. Thanks to the tireless efforts of the founder Le Van Quang and his family, Minh Phu is even known by the nickname King of Shrimp. The factories are well equipped with modern facilities allowing them to process more than 300 metric tons (MT) of raw shrimp on a daily basis. Together with a sewage and water treatment system that meets international standards (ISO, BAP, ASC, Global GAP, Naturland, HACCP) Minh Phu ensures hygienic conditions and a safe working environment for their employees. The company is also recognised by many global welfare certifications, such as WCA, BSCI, SMETA, WALMART, and COSTCO.

In 2014 and 2015, Minh Phus export turnover reached $730 million and $550 million respectively. The firm is striving to push their exports to $1 billion within the next five years.

According to many seafood reviews, Minh Phu gains a combined advantage from their vertically-integrated production, which is comprised of Specific Pathogen Resistant (SPR) breeding stock production, a large company-owned farming area, a sustainable shrimp supply chain, and modern manufacturing plants. These values help Minh Phu maintain a high level of transparency and traceability when exporting products certified by ASC and BAP. Moreover, Minh Phu has invested heavily in processing value-added and premium products such as Ring, Nobashi, Sushi, Tempura, Breaded, and Marinated shrimp.

These types of product require massive investment not only in terms of equipment, but also in human resource training. As such, few other manufacturers in the industry can match Minh Phus standards. Thanks to their advanced production technology and their range of high-value-added products, Minh Phu enjoys an apparent advantage over both domestic and international seafood firms.

According to founder Le Van Quang, to achieve its export target of $1 billion, the firm will need 100,000 MT of shrimp for its current production, increasing to 200,000 MT by 2020. Quang added that at present, Minh Phu Corporation has 900 hectares of their own shrimp farms, 12,000 hectares of contracted organic shrimp farms, and 100,000 hectares of contracted local farming households, thus ensuring an adequate and high-quality supply for its factories.

However, although the future certainly looks bright for Minh Phus Quang, when speaking with VIR, the King of Shrimp also revealed some of his worries. First of all, he is concerned about various expenses that firms and farmers must bear, including the costs generated from insufficient infrastructure in the Mekong Delta area, the cost of broodstock, and expensive feed. As farming materials are higher in Vietnam than in other competitor countries, labour costs tend to increase as well, thus driving up the production costs and ultimately, the selling price of shrimp.

Secondly, the excessive use of antibiotics in shrimp farming is a global plague that has spread to Vietnam. These chemicals have untold harmful effects on both marine and human health. Another serious issue is the lack of environmental awareness of shrimp farmers who are deforesting and polluting while expanding and operating their farming areas. These issues have now become great challenges to the Vietnamese shrimp sector as well as the wider field of agriculture.

Realising these challenges from quite an early stage, Minh Phu has carried out extensive research and started building a Responsible Value Chain of Shrimp. In this value chain, the farming process will focus on food safety, environmental protection, and improving farmers livelihoods. The responsible value chain starts with processes deployed under various types of farming models that are geared toward balanced eco-systems, environmental protection, and improving revenues for farmers. One of the most significant models is the mangrove shrimp farming model, which encourages the use of pathogen-resistant post-larvae shrimp as well as re-growing the mangrove forest. As a result, farmers benefit from higher production while the forest coverage is increased.

Another model, named shrimp  rice rotation, has farmers alternating a shrimp raising season with a rice season in order to increase the environmental stability for both rice and shrimp. The rice season will support the shrimp season in terms of absorbing the waste and toxic gas generated from shrimp farming. Products from the rice season are also used as feed for the shrimp. Changing the environment from brackish water to fresh water will also reduce potential diseases for shrimp.

Minh Phu is also carrying out a low-density farming model of raising shrimp with a strong immune system. By utilising the advantage of their owned hatchery, Minh Phu has successfully domesticated the imported SPR brookstocks to produce SPR post-larvae shrimp to supply farmers. The companys supply chain will help to introduce the model and provide guidance to ensure the farmers comply with the models procedure in order to maximise production yields and minimise losses. In addition, these robust shrimp will be raised in a model that mimics the natural habitat of shrimp, including naturally fermented food. This model will help to balance the eco-system, re-use water, and protect the environment.

In the near future, Minh Phu will establish social enterprises to deploy these farming models, whereby farmers can gain certifications (BAP, ASC, Global GAP, Naturland, BIO Suisse, and EU BIO) for their value chains.

Before reaching consumers, products have to go through various parts of the value chain, from cultivation, harvesting and manufacturing, to logistics and distribution. Minh Phu wants to foster a well-knit value chain, in which each person in the chain fully understands their responsibility in terms of creating a greater resonant value. Each person along the value chain will be responsible for their part, striving towards the highest product quality possible.

We position ourselves as a responsible enterprise which aims to create a complete ecosystem, while remaining focused on achieving an export turnover target of $1 billion. More importantly, we want to bring the best products to our clients and consumers, together with instilling a strong sense of responsibility in our farmers, workers, and partners throughout the supply chain. If all of them fully understand the desired effect of their actions, the products arriving in the customers hands will be fresh, safe, and delicious, and will also be of service to both society and the environment, said Le Van Quang.

Clearly, Minh Phu is striving to differentiate itself from any regional rivals. Thankfully, the edge they have carved for themselves is one that goes hand-in-hand with the sustainable development of the Vietnamese shrimp sector. By joining Minh Phus Responsible shrimp value chain and using Minh Phu products, consumers can contribute to the firms social and environmental good deeds.
Since September 2015, Samsung has been courting various domestic firms to select eligible suppliers. The number of local suppliers in their chain has surged from 32 to 63 over the past year, including 11 first-tier and 52 second-tier suppliers.

The South Korean tech conglomerate is also offering training with Korean experts to help domestic suppliers raise their productivity and meet global standards, thus enabling it to join its supply chain. These actions reflect Samsungs commitment to improving the rate of localisation as well as its plan to turn the country into its main production base.

Han Myoungsup, general director of Samsung Vietnam, said that Samsung hopes to co-operate with domestic suppliers that demonstrate an elevated performance after their training with Korean experts.

Most recently, three local firms have qualified as suppliers for the Samsung Electronics Ho Chi Minh City Complex (SEHC) in the Saigon High-Tech Park (SHTP): Ngan Ha Printing Packaging Co. Ltd, Phuoc Thanh Plastic Co. Ltd, and Minh Dat Precision Mold Co. Ltd.

Chau Phuoc, chairman of Phuoc Thanh, said that As a first-tier supplier for SEHC, Phuoc Thanh is investing $71 million into a hi-tech research, application, and production plant in SHTP with an annual minimum output of 20 million products. The 5-hectare facility is slated to begin operation in June, and supply 30 per cent of the demand for hi-tech and high-quality plastics at the complex.

We decided to ramp up our investment as Samsung has agreed to support us in improving our production capabilities, minimising our costs, and ensuring quality. Samsung has recently dispatched Korean experts to aid our business performance, he added.

Similarly, Chu Manh Cuong, director of Ngan Ha printing packaging noted that We have been supplying Samsung Vina for some years now. When the group expanded their complex in SHTP, we made plans to increase our business activities. Following the training offered by Samsung, we have recorded a higher performance at our facility.

According to Lee Sangsu, SEHCs president, these firms have made a significant improvement since the upgrade. However, it will mean nothing if local businesses fail to keep up the pace in terms of product quality, delivery time, and pricing.

In fact, most Vietnamese suppliers to Samsung partake in low value-added segments like printing and packaging because they do not have much experience with multinational manufacturers, and they suffer as a result of their deficiency in marketing, capital, and technology.

With a total investment of $7.5 billion, Samsung Electronics Vietnams projects in the northern provinces of Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh are scheduled to make 200 million smartphones in 2016. Meanwhile, the $2-billion SEHC facility will focus on research and development in addition to making high-end television sets. The group is committed to achieve a localisation rate of 35 per cent by 2020.
Vietnams wooden furniture exports to the US are expected to increase steadily in the years following the entry into force of the TPP

BTA fosters growth of wood exports

In 2001, Vietnam earned a paltry $16 million in timber and wooden furniture exports to the US. This figure skyrocketed to $116 million in 2003, immediately after the historic Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) came into force. Since then, Vietnams wood exports to the US have increased robustly, touching $1 billion in 2008, and $2.64 billion in 2015. Incredibly, in the 14 years since the BTA, exports of wood products to the US market have jumped 165 fold.

Vo Truong Thanh, chairman of leading Vietnamese furniture maker Truong Thanh Furniture Corporation JSC, told VIR that the US market currently makes up over half of his companys total export value. In the first half of this year, the value of orders from the US market amount to several hundred million US dollars.

According to general secretary of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Vinafores) Nguyen Ton Quyen, the US is the priority market for Vietnamese timber and wooden furniture items.

Made-in-Vietnam woodwork is rated highly in the US thanks to product diversification, particularly regarding wooden furniture. Export of this product group to the US market is forecast to grow steadily at 15-17 per cent per year in the coming years, said Quyen.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnamese woodwork has made forays into 37 markets, raking in $6.9 billion in export value in 2015, a 10 per cent jump on-year. The US is the largest export market for made-in-Vietnam woodwork, holding nearly 39 per cent of Vietnams total export value of wooden products last year when the country gained $2.64 billion from wooden US exports alone, up 18 per cent on-year. More than 70 per cent of the sum came from wooden furniture as well as other wooden products used in construction.

TPP to benefit both imports and exports

According to Vinafores Nguyen Ton Quyen, as the US imports $25 billion in wooden products each year from around the globe, Vietnams current slice of that figure ($2.64 billion) would suggest that there is still room for further growth, particularly following the signing of the TPP.

This year, Vietnam hopes to take in about $7.7 billion from woodwork exports, with 38-40 per cent coming from the US market. Vinafores forecasts that by 2020 Vietnam could be earning $12-15 billion from woodwork exports, with more than 35 per cent coming from the US.

The signing of the TPP will make made-in-Vietnam woodwork less costly thanks to tax cuts. This will prompt a lot of US importers to shift towards placing orders with Vietnamese partners, instead of partners from China and other ASEAN countries, said Vo Diep Van Tuan, Truong Thanh Furnitures deputy general director.

In fact, although the TPP has yet to take effect, many US importers have already placed orders with Vietnamese partners. We have also received rising tentative orders from new customers and such orders will surely be on the rise down the road, Tuan added.

Another opportunity for made-in-Vietnam woodwork through the enforcement of the TPP is the huge public procurement market in the US, which is valued in the tens of billions in US dollars. The TPP is also forecast to increase the import of wooden materials from the US into Vietnam.

Locally sourced materials can now meet only 50-60 per cent of the local demand, and so local firms must import wooden materials for production. The US is Vietnams leading wooden material supplier. Last year, we imported $380-400 million in such materials from the US. When the TPP comes into force, intra-bloc import duty on wooden materials will fall to zero per cent, paving the way for a rise in US imports, which can cash in on tax cuts while ensuring product origin legitimacy, said Quyen.

Aside from trade relations, the signing of the TPP may also spur co-operation in investment and technology in this field between the two countries. Vinafores revealed that several US firms have met with them searching for investment opportunities in anticipation of the TPP.

Industry experts assume that what local furniture makers expect most from the TPP is access to US cutting-edge technologies. The main bottleneck to Vietnams wood processing industry at present is its backward production technology, which has been out-of-date for years. As such, with import duty on technological innovations falling to zero per cent after the TPPs enforcement, local firms will be able to improve their production capacity while saving on costs.

Obeying wood origin legitimacy crucial for wood exports to US market

Vietnam is the second-largest wood product exporter to the US market, behind China. Made-in-China wooden products have faced three anti-dumping lawsuits in the US, while Vietnamese wooden products have not.

In terms of value, Vietnamese wooden product exports to the US are second only to China. Also, we are not facing any (anti-dumping) lawsuit. This is an indication of the prestige and quality of our wooden items in this market, said Quyen.

According to Vinafores, when exporting timber and wooden products to US market, local firms must heed the origin legitimacy rule as required by the Lacey Act. To date, Vietnamese woodwork export firms have adhered to this rule, and so have faced no difficulties in export activity. Since the US Lacey Act took effect in 2008, no export shipment of wood products to US market has had to be returned.

To ensure this continues, over the years the government has kept a close eye on imported wooden material sources. Suppliers are required to certify the legitimacy of their materials when selling to Vietnam.

In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as individual businesses have scaled up their efforts to drive up afforestation to ensure timber is only taken from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified forests. This not only helps meet import market requirements, it also develops the domestic wood processing industry in a sustainable manner.

Although Vietnams wooden product export to the US market has enjoyed stable annual growth, Vinafores knows that this can only last as long as the nations exports retain their untarnished reputation. As such, he has warned firms to strictly adhere to the wood origin legitimacy rule so that Vietnams wooden export sector can avoid threats of anti-dumping lawsuits as has happened to Chinese firms.
At a conference on the Vietnam-US relations in April 2016, US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius highlighted the great potential for Vietnam and the US to cement their bilateral relations, especially in climate change, education, trade and investment. Currently, more and more US investors are coming to Vietnam to do business.

As of April 20, 2016, Vietnam had 806 US valid investment projects, registered at over $11.7 billion, and ranking eighth out of all nations and territories investing in Vietnam.

A host of US companies including Intel, General Electric, Microsoft, AIG and Coca-Cola are already operating major projects here. In addition, many other well-known firms such as Citigroup, American Group, Ford, Starbucks, UPS, Starwood Hotel, Dickerson Knight Group, PepsiCo, KFC, and Coffee Bean also have a presence here.

With a rising number of large US investors, the US is gradually moving closer to becoming the top foreign investor in Vietnam, said Professor Nguyen Mai, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises.

In the past, before US President Bill Clinton lifted the embargo against Vietnam on February 3, 1994, several US businesses had invested in Vietnam via the third country. However, in 1995, a wave of American investment hit Vietnam, and surged in 2001 when the two countries Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) took effect. Since then, US investments here have continued to grow, both in terms of registered and disbursed capital.

US disbursed investment rose from an average of $248 million per year in the pre-BTA period of 1996-2001 to an average annual $479 million in the post-BTA period of 2002-2006.

Sesto Vecchi, managing partner of US law firm Russin & Vecchi, said that US investment not only contributed to Vietnams socio-economic development, it also  more importantly  created a breakthrough for Vietnam.

He said that in 2010, Intel Group invested $1 billion to build a chip assembly and test facility in Ho Chi Minh City. This sent a clear message to multinational groups that hi-tech firms were greatly interested in Vietnam and they actually invested in the country.

This event and Vietnams accession to the World Trade Organization in January 2007 marked two crucial milestones for Vietnam in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI), Vecchi said.

Following Intels investment, Vietnam welcomed many other global hi-tech giants such as Samsung, LG, and Microsoft, gradually turning the country into their global hi-tech manufacturing hub.

As of April 20, 2016, Vietnam had secured 20,905 FDI projects, with a total registered capital of $288.5 billion.

Experts are of the opinion that thanks partly to US investment, Vietnam has succeeded in attracting FDI from many other nations. This, then, was the great contribution of US investors  not merely their contributions in terms of employment generation, investment capital, and contributions to the state coffers.

However, Do Nhat Hoang, head of the Ministry of Planning and Investments Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), said that US investment into Vietnam remained humble, and far below the co-operation potential of the two countries.

Never been the number-one investor

The number-one investor and strategic investor were common sound bites used by the media in reference to US investment expectations after the BTA was signed in 2001. However, even though the US is one of the top ten foreign investors in Vietnam in terms of capital volume, its registered investment total of $11.7 billion remains relatively small when compared to upper potential estimates. Clearly Vietnam has yet to become a strategic investment location for the US.

In 2014, registered US investment amounted to $2.58 billion in Indonesia, $1.97 billion in Thailand, $1.72 billion in Malaysia, and $1 billion in the Philippines. Meanwhile, the figure for Vietnam was less than $300 million.

In the first four months of this year, US investment into Vietnam reached $30.5 million, placing the US at 17th in the rankings of Vietnams FDI partners.

However, it is very important to note that the $11.7 billion received does not fully reflect US investment in Vietnam. This because some firms such as Intel, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, and ConocoPhillips have invested into Vietnam through subsidiaries and branches based in other markets such as the British Virgin Islands, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Even so, when compared with other investors in Vietnam, US investment seems quite modest. For example, South Korea has invested more than $48 billion in Vietnam; Japan, over $39 billion; Singapore, over $36 billion; and Taiwan, over $31.5 billion.

These figures have demonstrated the fact that US investment in Vietnam has not yet matched the declaration by US leaders and firms that the US would become the No.1 investor in Vietnam. For many, this is something of a surprise considering how many large US firms are operating here, as well as the many others that are seeking investment and business opportunities here.

So why has US investment not yet reached its potential?

Many experts have tried to pinpoint the causes of this discrepancy. Professor Nguyen Mai, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises, has stressed that there are a series of obstacles hindering progress in Vietnams investment and business climate. Chiefly, these are low-quality human resources and a lack of transparency in the legal and regulatory systems.

According to the FIA, other obstructions include corruption and the disconnection in co-operation between the government and enterprises in economic reform, as well as limitations in infrastructure, labour costs, and land leasing.

Sherry Boger, former chairwoman of AmCham in Vietnam, lamented that in Vietnam, cumbersome administrative procedures and uncertainty in the implementation of laws and regulations are impeding foreign investors, including those from the US.

For example, she said that Vietnams automobile industry was suffering because it had no detailed roadmap to implement the national master plan on developing the industry until 2020, with a vision to 2030. This had reduced investors confidence and brought about risks for Vietnam as manufacturers were considering alternative markets within ASEAN.

Meanwhile, the MPI ascribes humble US investment to the fact that the US has yet to recognise Vietnam as having a full market-based economy. This has thrown up obstacles in terms of the two countries business and investment co-operation, and as such, many US investors are reluctant to invest in Vietnam.

Expecting a brighter future

However, at present, Vietnam and the US expect to raise US investment into Vietnam. Last year, when Vietnam and the US were celebrating their 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations, US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius told VIR: It is my sincere hope that the United States will become the number-one investor in Vietnam in the near future.

Osius sincere hope has been echoed by many US officials. But is this a realistic hope, or is the chance of the US becoming Vietnams top foreign investor just pie in the sky?

When we examine the FDI statistics in Vietnam, we can see that US investment is far behind other nations, such as South Korea, Japan, and Singapore. However, it is expected that US investment in Vietnam will significantly increase in the time to come.

For example, at a recent meeting with Ho Chi Minh Citys Party Secretary Dinh La Thang, three US investors Steelman Partners, Cantor Fitzgerald, and Weidner Resorts proposed a $4 billion property project in the citys Thu Thiem New Urban Area.

Also, Apple is rumoured to be planning a $1-billion investment in Vietnam. If this plan comes to fruition, Vietnam will become more broadly known throughout the global community as an investment destination, thus drawing greater attention from more US investors as well as those from other nations.

In addition, many US firms are also planning to shift their investment into Vietnam in a bid to make the country their manufacturing base. These firms include such well-known companies as Microsoft, Intel, Nike, Adidas, Mast Industries, and P&G.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore and the US Chamber of Commerce have released the ASEAN Business Outlook Survey incorporating the responses of nearly 500 senior business executives representing US companies in all ten ASEAN markets.

According to the survey, 84 per cent of respondents expect their profits will increase this year in Vietnam. In addition, 80 per cent are planning to expand their business and production processes here.

Ambassador Osius also stressed that the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was the best tool for our countries to further economic and strategic ties. The TPP has the power to attract significant new US investment to Vietnam. We have seen steadily increasing interest in Vietnam from potential US investors across a variety of sectors. Many of our companies were already looking to invest in the Southeast Asian region, but have been pulled to Vietnam in part by the promise of the strong and stable investment climate that the TPP will bring.

In fact, while the TPP was being negotiated, many US investors came to Vietnam, such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Boeing, ADC - HAS Airport, Microsoft, Intel, Apple, HP, General Electric, General Atlantis, and AES. Notably, after the historic visit to the US by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in July 2015, business agreements were signed between Viejet Air and Boeing, PVN and Murphy, and between EVN and General Electric. All promise to usher in greater opportunities for increased investment from the US into Vietnam.

According to the FIA, Vietnams participation in the TPP has made it more attractive to US investors by differentiating it from non-TPP markets within ASEAN. As such, Vietnam may become a priority for Hong Kong-based US firms who want to shift production away from China.

More optimistically, Professor Nguyen Mai believed that the US would likely become Vietnams top foreign investor.

Given the fact that Intel and Micsosoft are shifting their factories to Vietnam, and that Harvard and Fulbright are building universities in Vietnam, and that the countrys leaders are promoting Vietnams investment and business climate overseas, I am hopeful that the US can become Vietnams number-one foreign investor, Mai said.

In addition, Vietnam recently decided to raise the visa validity for Americans from the existing single-entry three-month visa to a multiple-entry one-year version. This will help the country attract more investment and tourists from the US, while improving its trading relationship.

However, experts also noted that despite opportunities for Vietnam to lure more US investments, the country would need to do many things, such as boost its economic reform, and remove impediments in order to create a more business-friendly climate.
Vinalines divestment from its loss-laden ports would allow for greater operational efficiency Photo: Le Toan

The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has submitted a proposal to the government for the re-evaluation of Vinalines corporate value, thus moving it more in line with current market conditions.

The re-evaluation, which is expected to take about two months, is warranted as the evaluation which was fixed at VND21.1 trillion (around $1 billion) at the end of 2013 is outdated, Vu Anh Minh, head of the MoTs Department for Enterprise Management, told VIR.

Vinalines initial public offering (IPO) was due to be launched in the first quarter of 2015. The firm proposed removing five ships, namely Vinalines Global, Vinalines Ocean, Vinalines Sky, Vinalines Trader, and Vinalines Ruby from the list of assets subjected for corporate evaluation. However, the suggestion was turned down.

Due to difficulties in corporate evaluation, the IPO was delayed until the first quarter of 2016. Many months have passed leaving it severely behind schedule and with still no approval from the government.

The delay has raised doubts among foreign investors, including SSA Marine, concerned with whether the government would reduce the states stake holding to 36 per cent as previously expected. The dilemma for foreign investors is whether to make further investments in their loss-laden joint venture ports.

At a meeting with the MoTs leaders in late 2015, the US-backed SSA Marine was eager to discuss debt restructuring with Vinalines new potential investors, before making any further plans on financing operations in SSIT and CICT  the two joint venture ports between SSA Marine and Vinalines.

SSA Marine hoped that Vinalines plans to divest a part of the states stake in joint venture terminals to other capable investors would be accelerated to increase their operational efficiency. However, the progress so far has been slow.

We will only invest further in these two joint venture ports if prospects look good, said Soren Pedersen, deputy marketing manager of SSA Marine.

The US operator has yet to announce its schedule of continued investment in SSIT, located in the Cai Mep Thi Vai area in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

So far, 90 per cent of the port has been developed. However, since lenders have ceased their funding, the port has only served dry cargo vessels.

Although CMIT, a joint venture between Saigon Port and Danish company APMT, proposed a co-operation programme with SSIT, the operator has shown some hesitation as information about prospective investors remains unclear.

The operators of CMIT and SP-PSA (between Vinalines and Singaporean PSA), are in a similar situation. After suffering years of losses, they are anxiously awaiting the breathing room which would arise from the equitisation plan.

As of 2015, those joint venture ports total accumulated losses reportedly stand at nearly VND6.3 trillion ($288.9 million).

According to foreign port operators, privatisation is the best option to increase operational efficiency and to attract foreign investors to the joint venture terminals. For example, after T&T Group acquired Quang Ninh Port from Vinalines, the ports operational efficiency dramatically improved. The port recorded revenue of VND185 billion ($8.48 million) in the first six months of 2015, while net profit in the period reached VND26.6 billion ($1.22 million), nearly 16 times that recorded in the first half of 2014.


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The West Lebanon High Class of 1953 rides in a 1955 Ford Starliner convertible in the annual alumni parade in West Lebanon, N.H., on May 28, 2016. Nelson Fogg, of White River Junction, Vt., is driving, seated next to him is Margaret Godfrey, of Canaan, N.H., and in the backseat are Gerri Griggs, of West Lebanon, and Pete Belisle, of Fort Myers, Fla. The parade celebrates graduates from West Lebanon High School, which closed in 1961. (Valley News - Geoff Hansen) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

West Lebanon  The West Lebanon High School alumni association was started in 1964, according to Treasurer Maurice Langley as a result of the Class of 1944 wanting to have a 20 year reunion.

The Class of 44 wanted to have a reunion so they started talking about it. Well, when the other classes found out about it, they decided they wanted to get in, Langley said. So they started in 64, and weve kept it going ever since.

The alumni association celebrates the old high school, which closed in 1961, and its former students. It held its annual parade on Saturday and close to 100 people  alumni and their families, Lebanon Mayor Georgia Tuttle and Assistant Mayor Suzanne Prentis, as well as performing groups hired for the parade  took the annual route on the warm day.

Led by the American Legion, the parade started from what is now Mount Lebanon School, and then took to Main Street to the base of Seminary Hill, just yards from their old school, made a left Maple Street and returned to Mount Lebanon School.

Spectators were treated to a live performance float from the Upper Valley Band and dancers from Dancers Corner, as well as clown riders from Sinai Joes Clown Unit, mini choppers and classic cars  all while children in the parade gave out candy. Langley, Class of 1952, drove a brown 1975 Chevrolet Caprice Classic.

Other cars and trucks in the parade honored veterans. Taking up the rear was a firetruck and Smokey the Bear.

Despite the strong turnout, Langley said, he knows the challenges the association faces representing a high school that has been closed for so long.

We dont have any more graduates coming. Ours is a dying organization, Langley said. Its going down every year and eventually well have to phase it out. There wont be anybody.

That isnt to say everyone is going away just yet.

The oldest alumnae, Anna Romano, a member of the Class of 1932, just turned 103. While she did not attend the parade, Langleys sister Janette, who is the secretary of the association and a member of the Class of 1955, was part of a group that presented her with a bouquet of flowers.

While many alumni are still local, including Langley, who has been in Lebanon for 60 years, there were others who traveled farther, including Pete Belisle, who lives in Florida but says he comes up for the parade and to visit his sister.

Shes 10 years older than I am, he said. Shes Class of 41, Im Class of 53. Im the baby of the family.

Both Belisle and Langley estimated 62 alumni would attend the catered banquet dinner at the Listen Community Dinner Hall, scheduled to take place Saturday night.

The association relies on donations from alumni members to pay for the parade, as well as the reception dinner. Despite the ongoing challenges it faces, the association was still able to award nine college scholarships to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of alumni  something the group has done since the beginning.

This year, Langley said, the scholarships were $500.

Sixty years ago it was $50, he said with a laugh.
Cambodias large and growing debt to its northern ally China is a growing concern for observers who worry about the undue influence this may afford the regional superpower.

By 2015, Cambodia had racked up about $2.7 billion worth of debts to China, according to Vongsey Vissoth, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

He claimed the loans China made to Cambodia came without strings attached and therefore left Cambodia open to fulfilling its democratic obligations, but analysts speaking to VOA Khmer begged to differ, saying that by not attaching aid and development lending to commitments to improve human rights and democratic process, it paved the way for rights abuses.

Kem Ley, a researcher and political campaigner, said Chinese investment and loans had helped Prime Minister Hun Sens government maintain its grip on power.

Our government finds its hard to adapt to democratic principles. So they have to walk backwards. Walking backwards means that they need to depend on other nations which implement communist models. That's how they maintain their power  by relying on the superpower, he said.

By closely allying with Beijing, he added, Cambodia had ignored relations with Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The policy of saying China is the only one is a policy of deadlock. We are not able to connect with Hong Kong and Taiwan. That's the first thing I see. Second, China has to invest in order to gain ground in terms of geopolitics before reaching military geography to exert influence in the South China Sea dispute, he said. 

In recent years Chinas global reach has extended across Asia, Latin America and Africa, where it has invested heavily in hydropower, mining and other development projects.

Western countries have in the past attached commitments to improving human rights and democracy as preconditions before handing out aid or offering loans.

The World Bank recently announced it was restarting lending to Cambodia after nearly five year of moratorium.

The country is also experiencing the worst drought in several decades, which has pushed it closer to China in a bid to boost its agriculture-based economy.

Heng Sreang, a political researcher, said the drought would cause Cambodia to request more loans from China.

We are becoming poorer due to the drought and natural resource exploitation. So, they [the government] seems to put the fate of the nation into the loans obtained from China, without taking into account the impacts on the people or becoming a debtor, he said.

Mostly China tried to be a friend with some nations in Africa and Asia to make them its pawns or debtors. It is easy to use or go into those nations to extract minerals and invest in land or dams to serve its interest, he said.

Kem Ley, a social researcher and political campaigner, said that Cambodia should seek to strike a better balance between Western and Chinese investment and lending.

If we meet a dead end with China, not only do we suffer from debt crisis but also our politics and diplomacy will also meet a deadlock, he said. In general, we escape from the crocodile and get into the mouth of a tiger, meaning that we get away from the communist Vietnamese just to be in alliance with another communist nation.

Newly appointed Foreign Minister Prak Sokhon, however, said after a recent meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, that Cambodia had maintained a neutral stance during Chinas dispute with other Asean nations over the South China Sea.

Therefore, the Cambodian stance is calling for the related parties to seek peaceful resolution through dialogue, negotiation and adhering to international law, he said. 

Ou Virak, head of the Future Forum think tank, said that, despite the ministers comments, the country remained on course to remain a staunch China ally.

It is a concern for us too due to the fact that if we rely on China too much, Cambodia could become a tool for China to use in many international disputes, he said. 

In 2012, Cambodia was criticized for failing to issue a joint statement related to the South China Sea dispute when Phnom Penh hosted the Asean Summit, the first time the body had failed to issue a statement after a summit since it was formed.

Heng Sreang said Cambodia should seek to emulate Singapore, which during the 1960s and 1970s morphed from a small post-colonial state into a regional financial powerhouse.
Social and political analysts have called for renewed political dialogue between the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party amid a tense political standoff.

Speaking to VOA Khmer last week, the analysts warned of serious social and political upheaval if the current instability persisted.

The comments came as the CNRP announced it was ready to organize mass protests in response to the attempted arrest of its deputy leader, Kem Sokha, who went into hiding late last week.

Kem Sokha faces a contentious defamation case involving allegations he procured the services of a "prostitute."

The party will use the right to stage a non-violent demonstration in case Kem Sokha, acting president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) is arrested, a party statement released on Friday said.

Pou Sovachana, a researcher with the Cambodian institute of Cooperation and Peace, told VOA Khmer that the current standoff had caused divisions and was damaging to the national interest.

Only King Norodom Sihamoni was in a position to end the dispute, he added.

I think that the king, if he understands and is willing to solve the problem, he should call the leaders of the two parties to sit and talk to each other in order to discuss and offer mutual understanding for our national interest, because the divisions are growing, he said.

On Thursday, armed police attempted to arrest Sokha on the capitals Norodom Boulevard, however, the CNRP leader was not in his car when the operation was launched.

The attempted arrest came after Sokha had refused to appear in court to answer questions related to a defamation case and allegations he used a prostitute.

CNRP activists said they would do what they could to prevent Sokhas arrest, arguing that he still holds immunity from prosecution under laws governing parliament.

Meas Ny, a social development researcher, said that the only reasonable solution to the standoff was for independently convened talks.

If the leaders understand that what they are doing is harmful to social stability, honor, and the reputation of the country, but they still keep doing it, I think that its difficult to say. But if they think that this is too much and should turn to reconcile and work with each other, this is good, he said.

The CNRP also called for talks in its statement on Friday.

The party will continue to use the culture of dialogue to be a base for restoring the situation in order to bring back normalcy, ensuring that the elections in 2017 and 2018 would be conducted freely, with fairness, and justice, it said.

While the ruling party has welcomed previous calls for a return to the so-called culture of dialogue, which ended a yearlong parliamentary boycott by the CNRP in 2014, recently the CPP has said it would require a precondition that the release of party members and supporters from jail would not be discussed.

Heng Sreang, a social researcher, predicted a return to levels of violence seen in the 1990s, when Cambodia was in the final throws of civil war and violence against opposition rallies was commonplace and led to numerous deaths and disappearances.

In Cambodia, from 1996, 1997 and 1998, tension erupted. There were mass movements of people going on demonstrations and protesters were arrested it was similar [to todays situation], he said.

Heng Sreang, however, said the king could not act as a neutral force to mediate the dispute and suggested the best mediator would be the United Nations, a possibility the ruling CPP has all but ruled out.
The return of self-exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy to Cambodia will not be allowed ahead of the next elections, ruling party officials have said.

Rainsy, president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, went into self-imposed exile in November after an arrest warrant was issued against him over a longstanding defamation conviction that would have seen him spend two years behind bars if he had returned.

He was allowed to return to Cambodia from a previous period of self-exile, in July 2013, ahead of the last general election.

He had been handed an 11-year jail term prior to that period of exile for uprooting border markers in a protest against alleged Vietnamese encroachment on Cambodian territory.

Cambodia is currently in the midst of its most serious political crisis since 2013, with numerous opposition supporters and members jailed on questionable charges by a court system critics allege is politically biased in favor of the ruling party.

General Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, ruled out the possibility of issuing an amnesty for Rainsy while Hun Sen remained prime minister.

In early May, Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged four staffers for local rights group Adhoc  Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan, Nay Vanda and Lim Mony  with bribery, and Ny Chakrya, deputy secretary general of the National Election Committee as an accomplice to the alleged bribery of a witness in an ongoing case against Kem Sokha, deputy leader of the CNRP.

The decision drew strong criticism from civil society, which launched a protest campaign known as Black Monday in response.

Since the start of the Black Monday protests at least 13 people have been detained by the authorities and later released.

The authorities have said any demonstration not granted express permission will be met with force, while simultaneously declining requests to hold protests.

Sok Eysan, a ruling Cambodian Peoples Party spokesman, said Rainsy would not be granted a pardon as the prime minister has spoken.

If there was to be an amnesty, he added, the convicted person would need to serve at least two-thirds of the jail term.

Analysts drew parallels between the current situation and that of 2013, which even saw Buddhist monks assaulted and prevented from joining demonstrations.

Koul Panha, executive director of Comfrel, an elections monitoring group, said it was unclear whether Prime Minister Hun Sen would issue another amnesty for Rainsy ahead of the next general election in 2018.

Previously, we have seen that [amnesty was provided]. As long as it's related to politicians or political issues, the amnesty will be provided, he said. 

Kem Ley, a political analyst and campaigner, said that the situation was volatile and had the potential to change rapidly.

Cambodian politics is cyclical and it is very unpredictable... regardless of the benefit of the citizens or the nation, they [politicians] can do everything if its beneficial to political gain. So, any amnesty will not be about the people or for the good of society, it will be about the leaders who created the events, causing and solving the disputes, he said.

Poverty nowadays is not like it was in 1979. In 1979, if you were poor, there were still houses, rice fields and forests. Now the people are very poor without homes, fish, and forests, and they migrated from the country, he added.
Comment comes after President Jammeh responded negatively to calls for an investigation into the death of an opposition activist while in police custody.

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh is blind to what international groups see as a deterioration of human rights in Gambia, an Amnesty International official says.

Adotei Akwei, managing director for government relations at Amnesty International USA, said his organization and other civil society groups will continue to publicize human rights abuses by the Jammeh government.

This comes after Jammeh responded negatively to calls by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Amnesty International for an investigation into the death of opposition activist Solo Sandeng while in police custody.

In an interview with Jeune Afrique -- a French language weekly news magazine published in Paris -- Jammeh said no one can tell him what to do in his country.

The Gambian leader told the magazine he saw no point of launching an investigation over the death of one person.

Urges others to speak out

Akwei said he hopes other West African leaders will speak out against what he sees as abuses in Gambia because stability and good governance in a neighboring country is beneficial to all in the subregion.

One of the real frustrations and criticisms that you hear from the Gambian diaspora is that no one is paying attention to whats going on in Gambia. And its really time for ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States] to reiterate that their standard of governance, international and regional human rights standard that all of the governments in West need to respect and live by and that Gambia can no longer get a free ride or just decide to ignore them, he said.

Gambian security forces Saturday arrested Ousainu Darboe, leader of the countrys main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), and some of his supporters.

There were reports that Sandeng, UDP's national organizing secretary, had been tortured to death while in police detention.

Sheriff Bojan, Gambias information minister, said last month he knew of nothing about anyone being killed. But he said opposition leader Darboe and his cohorts broke Gambian law by holding a demonstration without permission from the police.

President Jammeh told Jeune Afrique it was common for people to die in custody or during interrogations and so there was no point of launching an investigation because of the death of one person.

'Missing the point'

However, AIUSA's Akwei said, I think people dying all the time is completely missing the point. The government of Gambia is obligated to protect the rights, livelihood and health of the Gambian people. What you have here is the Gambian authorities detaining people, restricting freedom of expression, freedom of association, targeting members of the opposition or even civil society.

Akwei said by refusing to launch an independent investigation to either prove there was misconduct by the government or there was an accidental death shows the Gambian government is losing its legitimacy.

He said hes not surprised that some people have begun demanding for Gambia to be sent to the International Criminal Court.

I think human rights and other members of civil society are going to continue to push for increased pressure from the AU [African Union] and from the donor countries that work with the Gambian government ... to call for an independent investigation, Akwei said.

Jammeh also said in the interview with Jeune Afrique he was proud" to be labeled as a dictator, but he said, I am just a dictator of development."

When I took power, this country was one of the poorest countries in the world. This is no longer the case. There is an opposition, an elected parliament, we have one of the best public health systems, Jammeh said.
Police in Cambodia are blocking opposition activists from staging a protest march, as both sides spar over intensifying government pressure on its critics.

Police set up a roadblock Monday about 500 meters from the headquarters of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, from which more than 1,000 followers were planning to march to the royal palace to present a petition to King Norodom Sihamoni to support their demand that the government stop arresting and intimidating opposition members.

The government recently applied legal pressure on deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha, accused of carrying on an illicit love affair. The action is widely seen a move to keep the opposition off balance ahead of the 2017 general election. Party leader Sam Rainsy, facing similar pressure, is in exile.
A roadside bomb blast in Pakistans southwestern port city of Karachi Monday wounded a Chinese engineer and two others.

Senior police officer Rao Anwar told reporters the Chinese national sustained minor injuries and was apparently the target of the improvised explosive device.

Evidence collected from the site of the blast included a pamphlet denouncing foreign control over Sindhs natural resources," Anwar said.

The local driver of the engineer and a passerby were also injured in the blast.

Karachi is the capital of the southwestern Sindh province where hundreds of Chinese professionals and nationals are working on various development projects.

Attacks on Chinese are not uncommon in Pakistan, but authorities said tighter security measures enacted in recent years for foreign nationals in the country have reduced the amount of violence.

There are thousands of Chinese nationals in Pakistan, some of them working on projects related to the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The recently launched $46 billion CPEC is a package of power projects, and road and rail networks connecting Chinas western Xinjiang region to Gwadar, the southern Pakistani deep sea port Beijing has built.

Pakistans military has prepared and deployed a Special Security Division of 15,000 personnel, mostly troops, to ensure protection of CPEC and Chinese nationals working on the project.
China saw its number of billionaires grow by 30 percent to 40 percent annually, but is still recording charitable donations at a small fraction of the rates seen in Europe and the United States.

A new report by the United Nations Development Program found that charitable donations are about 4 percent of those in the West.

The year 2015 saw 38 percent growth in the number of billionaires in China, according to a Forbes magazine study. Their net worth rose by $170 billion, reaching $830 billion in 2015. China is the world's second-biggest producer of billionaires after the United States.

One reason for the lack of donations is the lack of transparency in the functioning of charity organizations, and widely held suspicion about the use of funds raised for social welfare, Gu Qing, assistant country director for Poverty, Equity & Governance at UNDP's China office, told VOA.

"There have been some major scandals on the use of funds collected for charity. Also, there are few tax benefits to encourage donations," Gu said. An unclear legal and policy framework have added to the general reluctance to give.

Give and take

In China, charity donations by business people and companies are mostly give-and-take deals, said Oliver Rui, professor of finance at China Europe International Business School, or CEIBS.

"Donors often cut under-table deals for getting favors from local government bodies in return for donations," Rui said. "Most charity foundations are directly or indirectly affiliated with government agencies. People either stay away from them or cut deals."

There are some improvements, however. The UNDP report found there was a 60 percent increase in the past five years in the number of charity foundations, which stood at 4,211 in 2015. Analysts said this was not very significant in an economy which has grown at 8 to 10 percent in recent years.

Government strategy

China recently came out with new laws that imposed severe restrictions on foreign non-government organizations, and a set of new regulations for charity organizations. China wants to discourage the growth of an independent civil society and divert funds and energies to certain chosen fields, said Josh Freedman, research manager at consulting firm China Policy.

"The government is trying to redefine charity. It is welcoming donations in charities that support its own goals  like poverty eradication, disaster relief and environmental protection; but, it wants to curb NGOs that encourage labor activism or support political groups," Freedman said.

Official controls on domestic charities remain despite some relaxation on their operations in the new law. For example, a charity is not allowed to raise funds outside the county in which it is registered. This allows local officials to watch and control the flow of funds.

Experts fear that keeping foreign NGOs out of the picture would make it difficult for China to develop a responsible and efficient network of charity organizations. Some experts even question the wisdom of separating the goals of charity from the need to develop an independent and self-sustaining civil society.

"At UNDP, we believe that a strong and healthy philanthropic sector in China, confident in looking outside its borders, will benefit China as well as the rest of the world," Patrick Haverman, deputy country director of UNDP China, said while releasing the report.

Chinese Bill Gates?

Unlike in the U.S. and Europe, the super-rich in China do not set an example by donating huge sums to charities. There are none like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett in China.

A different picture emerged last week when e-commerce tycoon and Alibaba head Jack Ma announced he will give away a large part of his income to Alibaba Group Charitable Fund and other charities. Ma, who is the world's 33rd richest man with an individual net worth of $20 billion, also said he will not claim income tax deductions that would be available to him for giving.

The announcement is being seen in different perspectives in different quarters.

"Jack Ma is doing it for public relations. There have been some negative news about his company. He wants to enhance his reputation by giving to charity," Rui of CEIBS said.

Some Chinese business people view charity as a networking tool that will advance their business interests. Besides, there is a realization that they must donate to local charities in order to smooth the process of acquiring companies in foreign countries, he said.

Freedman of China Policy said the e-commerce tycoon may have been influenced by his long association with businessmen and life in the United States.

"Corporate social responsibility has yet to become an acceptable trend in China. Some businessmen use charity as a business tool; but, the situation is improving gradually," Freedman said.

Internet of charitable things

International organizations like the UNDP are trying to persuade China to open up facilities for giving donations through the Internet because a substantial part of the population is connected, mostly through mobile phones. The government recently cracked down on the use of the Internet for giving and collecting donations after some instances of misuse arose.

"We believe the internet is the future direction for China's philanthropy growth. There are many people wanting to contribute to society through mobile payments," Gu of UNDP said.
Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says Edward Snowden performed a "public service" when the ex-National Security Agency contractor leaked classified intelligence documents.

Holder, however, was quick to put into context what appeared to be praise of a person the U.S. considers a criminal.



"I thought the president put it best when he said, 'Just because we have the ability to do something, doesn't mean we should,'" Holder said during an appearance on the "Axe Files," a podcast hosted by David Axelrod, produced by CNN and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.



The Obama administration was constantly weighing the value of surveillance against the issue of privacy, Holder explained.



Still, the former top American law enforcement official added "We can certainly argue about the way in which Snowden did what he did, but I think that he actually performed a public service by raising the debate that we engaged in and by the changes that we made."



By leaking a flood of classified information to select news outlets in 2013, Snowden revealed the extent to which the Obama administration was collecting personal data  far and above what took place under The Patriot Act following the 9/11 attacks.

The revelations not only shocked the American public, but also international allies (think Angela Merkel, whose personal cellphone was revealed to have been bugged).



The crisis prompted President Barack Obama to convene a panel that criticized the National Security Agency's domestic data collection  that is the bulk of metadata on Americans, which can show the most intimate details of an individual's life.

For some, Snowden is a traitor who gave away all kinds of secrets to our enemies, thus putting the public in danger.

For others, he is a brave American activist, who put his life on the line to reveal the violations of the U.S. constitution.



During the podcast, Holder reflected on the nuance of the Snowden case by saying that, "... doing what he did  and the way he did it  was inappropriate and illegal."

In the eyes of the U.S. government, Snowden jeopardized America's security interests by leaking classified information while working as a contractor for the National Security Agency in 2013.



"He harmed American interests," Holder said.



Holder is currently trending in the top 10 on Twitter. Snowden lives in exile in Russia, but occasionally makes video appearances.
Egypt's president has vowed that those responsible for stripping an elderly Christian woman and parading her naked on the streets will be brought to justice.

The May 20 attack in the village of Karma in Minya province, south of Cairo, followed a rumor that the woman's son had an affair with a Muslim woman. The armed Muslim mob that assaulted the 70-year-old woman also looted and torched seven Christian houses.



President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said on Monday that such attacks divide Egyptians. He says in comments carried live on local TV that "we are all one and the law must take its course.''



Egypt's Coptic Christians, who account for about 10 percent of the country's 90 million people, have long complained of discrimination by the overwhelming Muslim majority.
Far-right nationalist politician Avigdor Lieberman was sworn in Monday as Israel's new defense minister, as a number of other Israeli politicians said the government is becoming too extremist.

Lieberman is a member of Israel's ultra-right Yisrael Beitneu party, which is now part of the coalition government. He has served in several senior posts, including as foreign minister.

He has called for bombing Palestinian targets and tried to legally prevent Arab parties from running for national elections. But Lieberman, who is known for his tough anti-Arab rhetoric, said he agrees with the need for a two-state solution in the Middle East.

He said Monday that he agrees with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said he is committed to peace with all of Israel's neighbors, including the Palestinians.

Netanyahu said Israel is willing to renegotiate the Arab states' peace initiative so that it reflects what Netanyahu said are the changes in the region since 2002.

Despite what appears to be words of moderation from a right-wing government, a Palestinian spokesman said adding the ultra-nationalist Lieberman is "mixing extremism with craziness."
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians celebrated in the streets of Sao Paulo Sunday for one of the world's biggest gay pride parades.

Brazilians have little to celebrate at the moment. The country is dealing with a Zika outbreak, the president's impeachment, and pressure to postpone this summer's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

But the parade was an opportunity for people to dance, dress up and enjoy themselves, even if the overall theme of the gathering - a demand for equal rights - is a serious one.

"For some people, this is a Carnival out of season -- to have fun, mess up and do some wrong things," one participant said. "In my case and for many others, we came for a cause -- asking for respect, to fight for our rights, for people to treat the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community better. We are human beings, just like any others."

Gay rights advocates in Brazil are pushing the congress to pass a law allowing Brazilians to legally identify themselves as the gender of their choice and not necessarily what is stated on their birth certificate.
Iraq's lawmakers are said to be preparing to begin a fragile process of negotiation aimed at cracking the country's month-long political paralysis.

But ahead of their expected gathering on Tuesday, Islamic State militants attacked Baghdad with a double bombing and a third explosion just north of the capital, killing at least 20 people.

Monday's bombings were a reminder of the dangers of a drawn-out political stalemate. Previous bombings led to a wave of street protests and angry calls for the government leadership to step down

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday addressed parliament, calling on lawmakers to set aside their differences until the ongoing fight for Fallujah was over.

Lawmakers have been deeply divided since Abadi tried to implement government reforms, including replacing a number of ministers with technocrats.

Member of Parliament Shatha al-Obosi told VOA that Monday's parliamentary session would be a chance for lawmakers to move toward a political settlement.

"I think they will be smart and address this step by step," Obosi said. "This is the only way to solve the problem, and get opposition lawmakers to return."

Lost trust of people

Iraq's lawmakers have largely lost the trust of the people, who see the parliament and government ministers as corrupt, ineffective and largely removed from the harsh daily realities of Iraq.

"I hope they get rid of parliament, we don't need it. Things would be better without them," said Ma'ath, the manager of an ice cream shop in Zayouna, a middle-class neighborhood in east Baghdad.

"It was put there by the Americans, and we don't need those people here," he said, referring to the post-Saddam Hussein system of electing political parties who then appoint their lawmakers and parcel out the country's ministerial posts among them.

The so-called quota system is at the heart of the current political impasse.

Opposition lawmakers have demanded that the arrangement be abolished, while others have refused to let go of a structure that guarantees them considerable power.

In nearby Karrada district, on the second floor of a dusty building with a broken-down escalator, the owner of a popular tattoo shop said change was the only answer.

"We should change the government," said the owner, who spoke through a translator on condition that his name not be used.

"We don't have electricity, we don't have water, we don't have security. We need this from the government, and they never do anything about this," he said.

"We should have a revolution by the people, like Egypt," he said, then added, "we need a real solution, but only God knows what that is."

'Need to solve the problem'

Political analyst Mustafa Habib agreed that the political system was flawed, but said talk of revolution was dangerous.

"The problem is that those who want revolution, such as the protesters, they don't have any solutions or programs [policies]," Habib told VOA.

"We need to solve the problem, step by step, and I think the change in Iraq will need to be a deal between Iran and the United States," Habib said.

Iran has significant influence in Iraq, wielded through several leading Shi'ite politicians and their well-armed militias, while the U.S. wields both military power and economic might, Habib explained.
A photograph showing a Japanese journalist who has been missing in Syria nearly a year was posted on the internet Sunday, with the man holding a sign that reads in part "this is my last chance."

Jumpei Yasuda is believed to have been captured by the al-Qaida affiliate Nusra Front after he crossed into Syria from Turkey last June, Japanese media reported.

In the undated photograph, Yasuda, 42, has long hair and a beard and is dressed in orange. The sign he is holding reads, "Please help. This is the last chance."

Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said the photograph is being analyzed, but asserted the man shown in the image is likely Yasuda.

Chief Cabinet Spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters the government was doing what it could to free Yasuda, although he gave no details about official efforts.

Yasuda, a freelance journalist, was held hostage in Baghdad in 2004. The Japanese government negotiated his freedom then as well.

Last year, the Islamic State group beheaded two Japanese nationals: freelance journalist Kenji Goto and his friend, Haruna Yukawa, the founder of a private security firm.
The Cincinnati Zoo is defending its controversial decision to shoot and kill an endangered male lowland gorilla after a 4-year-old boy fell into his enclosure Saturday, putting himself in serious danger.

The incident was captured on video and has outraged animal lovers around the world.

It shows the gorilla, named Harambe, dragging the boy through a shallow moat filled with water. Several times, Harambe looked to be gently touching the boy and stood him up on both feet as if he was trying to protect him.

But just as suddenly, he pulled the boy through the moat to a different part of the pen with the boy's head hitting the concrete. Harambe had control of the boy for at least 10 minutes before the zoo's Dangerous Animal Response Team shot him to death.

Many animal lovers say killing the huge 17-year-old primate was unnecessary. But zoo director Thane Maynard said Monday that officials believed they had no choice. With his pen surrounded by screaming and excited people, Maynard said, the gorilla was clearly agitated, disoriented and acting erratically.

Maynard called Harambe "unpredictable" and said tranquilizing the 181-kilogram ape would have taken too long. He described lowland gorillas like Harambe as dangerously strong, with arms as large as a man's leg and hands powerful enough to crush a coconut.

Maynard said this is the first time this kind of thing has happened in the zoo's 143-year history. He said the barriers around Harambe's enclosure were adequate. It is still unclear how the child got past those barriers.

The boy who tumbled into the gorilla pen was remarkably unhurt. He is back home after spending several hours in a hospital. His family thanked the zoo for its speedy reaction to the crisis and said they understand the zoo's grief at having to kill an endangered and beloved animal.

Worldwide outrage

Meanwhile, social media is buzzing with outrage over the death of Harambe.

More than 200,000 people have signed a petition on the Change.org website.

Another online petition  called "Justice for Harambe"  has attracted 165,000 signatures from people wanting the boy's parents to be charged with negligence.

A Facebook page also called "Justice for Harambe" had more than 64,000 "likes" as of late Monday.

Harambe was a western lowland gorilla.

Such gorillas can be found in the dense rain forests of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea. Their population has declined by more than 60 percent over the past 20 to 25 years because of poaching and disease, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
A hawkish Lebanese Sunni politician has won local elections in the second largest city of Tripoli in a result that marks a blow to long-established Sunni leaders and risks reviving tensions among rival sectarian groups there.

The municipal elections underway nationwide for a month have been seen as an important indicator of sentiment in Lebanon, where a political crisis has twice forced the postponement of parliamentary elections that should have been held in 2013.

A list backed by emerging Sunni politician Ashraf Rifi won a majority of seats on the council elected in Tripoli on Sunday, defeating an alliance backed by Sunni leaders including former prime ministers Saad al-Hariri and Najib Mikati.

Preliminary results indicated that none of the 24 seats on the council were won by members of the Christian or Alawite communities which were both represented in the outgoing council.

One analyst described the result as a sign of growing hardline sentiment in the mostly Sunni city that is a historic bastion of Sunni Islamist groups.

Rifi is a former police chief who resigned as justice minister this year in protest at what he described as the dominant role occupied by Hezbollah, a heavily armed Shi'ite group backed by Iran.

Analysts say he was seeking to stake out a position as an uncompromising Sunni rival to Hariri by quitting the government.

Rifi, who comes from Tripoli, has heaped criticism on Hariri, son of the late statesman Rafik al-Hariri, for nominating a Hezbollah ally to fill the vacant presidency.

Speaking at a televised news conference on Monday, Rifi said Hariri's decision to back Maronite politician Suleiman Franjieh for that post had been unacceptable to his constituents in northern Lebanon.

Rifi said his Sunni rivals had failed to grasp a shifting mood in the region as Sunni power Saudi Arabia takes a tougher position against Shi'ite Iran. They had also failed to grasp the weakness of the Syrian government, he said.

Both Tehran and Damascus are allies of Hezbollah. "Nobody knew that the Sunni mood in Lebanon would no longer accept surrender or complacency. It wants its right as citizens," Rifi told Reuters.

He also called for coexistence in the city, adding that his list included Christian and Alawite candidates who had not appeared to win though the counting was not over.

The turnout appeared low, with initial indications of just over a fifth of voters taking part, according to activists working with the campaigns. Estimates for the number of seats won by Rifi's list ranged from 16 to 22.

Tripoli has been a focal point of instability linked to the Syria conflict since it began in 2011. Sunni Islamists waged an armed insurrection with the army in Tripoli in 2014, and fighting has also erupted in the city between members of the Sunni and Alawite communities. The last major violence was a suicide bomb attack in January, 2015.

Nabil Boumonsef, a political commentator with An-Nahar newspaper, said: "It is certain that Ashraf Rifi won under the slogan of extremism. The interesting thing is that a democratic process has resulted in the new slogan of extremism in Tripoli." He said the absence of any Christians or Alawites on the council would be "very negative."

Writing on Twitter, Hariri called for cooperation for the sake of Tripoli. "We confirm respect for the democratic will of the people of Tripoli who have picked their new municipal council," he said.
Parishioners in Massachusetts held an emotional final service after losing their legal battle to keep open the Catholic Church that many had attended for decades.



Parish members were forced to vacate the St. Frances X. Cabrini Church where they had held an 11-year round-the-clock vigil to keep the building open.



The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston decided to close the church, along with dozens of others, to deal with declining Mass attendance and other problems.



Members of the church spent the last 11 years fighting that decision, with their legal appeals earlier this month reaching the Supreme Court, which declined to hear their case. Lower courts had ruled that the archdiocese was the legal owner of the church property and had the right to evict church parishioners.



Church members had also appealed their case to the Vatican, but were not successful in persuading church officials to keep the building open.



The Boston archdiocese says it hopes the protesters will go to another Catholic church within the district. Some parishioners told local media that they want to form their own church outside the reach of the Vatican, and say they have begun raising money to build a new parish.
A court in Senegal has found former Chadian president Hissene Habre guilty of crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture and sentenced him to life in prison. Rights groups are hailing the landmark verdict as a strong warning to leaders who brutalize their citizens.



Guilty. That was the verdict announced by head judge Gberdao Gustave Kam of Burkina Faso.



The court found Habre to have been directly involved in ordering detentions, executions, systematic torture and other abuses against people identified as opponents of his regime.



Judge Kam said Habre presided over eight years of "uninterrupted" repression. Rights groups say Habre was responsible for over 40,000 killings.



'Impunity and terror'



During sentencing, Judge Kam said Habre "created and maintained a system where impunity and terror were law. He was at the head of a regime of generalized suspicion, so paranoid that he himself turned against his own agents."



Victims of Habre's regime and relatives of victims in the courtroom Monday wept and cheered after Habre was sentenced to life in prison.



"It is by the grace of God that we won," said one woman. Her husband, a civil servant under Habre, was detained and tortured. He died before the trial.



She said, "I cannot find the words. I am very moved. A lion, a man who took himself for God on the Earth, has been brought down."



Habre said nothing. He joined his hands in a fist and waved at supporters as he was escorted from the court.



Habre had refused to stand or acknowledge the judge throughout the trial, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses, his head and face wrapped in a white scarf.



He had to be forcibly brought into the court last June when the trial began. He and his lawyers refused to participate, and the trial was briefly suspended while court-appointed attorneys prepared his defense.



Habre fled to Senegal in 1990 after he was ousted in a coup.



Long, sordid history



The case against him has been over 20 years in the making. The Extraordinary African Chambers is an African Union tribunal created in 2013 within Senegal's justice system and funded by the international community.



More than 4,500 victims were registered as civil parties in the case. Chadian lawyer Jacqueline Moudeina, lead counsel for the victims, said, "today marks the end of the victims' relentless search for justice."

She said "it is a great joy for the victims and for Africa because we are sending a strong message to tyrants all over the world."



Among those who testified were 69 survivors of detention and abuses, including a woman whom Habre was found guilty of raping four times.



Habre's lawyers have 15 days to appeal the verdict.



Alpha Jallow contributed reporting from Dakar.

A photogallery of Habres victims and those bringing him to justice:
More than 20 people are dead in Baghdad after Islamist militants exploded a series of bombs in and around Baghdad Monday, police officials said.

Islamic State terrorists claimed responsibility for two attacks, just after the bombs exploded, and amidst an Iraqi offensive in the IS-held city of Fallujah, just west of Baghdad.

The most destructive of Mondays bombings took place in the Shiite neighborhood of Shaab in northern Baghdad, killing at least 11 people and wounding more than a dozen others when a suicide bomber drove his car into a checkpoint near a commercial area.

Another suicide car bomber killed at least six people and wounded about 20 others when he blew himself up near a police station in Tarmiyah, a predominantly Sunni neighborhood north of Baghdad.

The last suicide bomber, riding a motorcycle exploded himself in Sadr City, a mostly Shiite neighborhood, killing three and wounding about another 10.

IS claimed responsibility for the attacks on Shiite Muslims in Sadr City and Shaab in an online statement.
A military tribunal in Somalia has convicted 10 people in connection with a bomb attack on a Daallo Airlines passenger plane in February.

Abdiwali Mahmud Maow and Arais Hashi Abdi, both members of militant group al-Shabab, received sentences of life in prison.

Abdi, who was tried in absentia, was found guilty of masterminding the attack. Security officials said they discovered documents in his house, including a chart showing the attack plan.

Hassan Ali Nur Shute, Somalia's military court chief, said evidence of the suspects' involvement was clear. All evidences brought at the court, including the videos of airport surveillance cameras, have shown that these people had a hand in planning the blast, he said.

Surveillance video



Maow was one of two airport workers seen in a surveillance video released by Mogadishu airport security officials days after the attack.

In the video, he takes the laptop and hands it to another employee, who then hands it over to Abdullahi Abdisalam Borleh, the man who was killed when the laptop explosion blew a hole in the plane's fuselage.

The blast went off 20 minutes into the plane's flight from Mogadishu to Djibouti, killed the bomber and left a hole in the plane's fuselage. None of the plane's 74 other passengers and crew members were killed.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.

Monday's verdicts were the first in connection with the blast. The court sentenced eight other people, including a woman, to between six months and four years in prison. Five other defendants were acquitted.
Concern mounted Monday for the fate of tens of thousands of displaced Syrian civilians caught in the middle of a desperate fight in the countryside north of Aleppo.

Days of clashes between moderate and Islamist rebel factions and the Islamic State group, which has mounted a fierce offensive on two key border towns, imperils rebel resupplies from Turkey.

The battles have drawn in Turkish and U.S.-coalition warplanes and Kurdish militiamen from the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) in a multisided fight in an area measuring only 25 by 55 kilometers.

Kurdish spokesmen say they have opened closed roads to allow about 6,000 fleeing civilians into their border canton of Afrin.

Turkish officials aslo said their warplanes and artillery have struck multiple IS targets in the past three days, including four Katyusha rocket firing positions and two ammunition depots after the jihadists on May 27-28 lobbed rockets over the border hitting a district in southern Gaziantep province and the town of Kilis.

U.S.-led anti-IS coalition warplanes carried out at least three airstrikes this weekend on IS positions, U.S. officials said, more in support of the Turks than of embattled Free Syrian Army and Islamist rebels, who have complained theyre not receiving the close air support from the coalition that YPG fighters get in neighboring Raqqa province.

If we had the support the YPG gets, we would not be in such a desperate position, said Zakaria Malahefji of the 3,000-strong Fastaqim Kama Umirt, a brigade aligned to the rebel alliance Jaish al-Mujahideen (Army of Holy Warriors).

The upsurge in fighting risks complicating U.S. efforts to try to persuade FSA militias to stop mingling with fighters from al-Qaidas affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, and allied Islamist factions.

Earlier this month under pressure from Moscow, the International Syria Support Group, the 20-power group that includes the U.S. and Russia, warned armed groups that they could be excluded from the cessation of hostilities agreement, which is only partially functioning, if they work with al Nusra or other factions deemed terrorists.

Confusion on the ground

Last week in Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters that in and around Aleppo, there is a certain amount of overlap, commingling, whatever the heck you want to call it, among these groups; and its incumbent on them and absolutely vital that they separate themselves so that we can clearly delineate where Nusra is and where the credible opposition is.

With IS on the offensive in the northern Aleppo countryside that challenge will become greater.

Rebel commanders say they have no choice but to work with al-Nusra on occasion when they are being hard-pressed by IS or the Assad regime, which they argue is doing all it can to push factions opposed to President Bashar al-Assad into the arms of al-Nusra in order to paint them as terrorist in nature.

Activists say that since March al-Nusra has been gaining on average 200 to 300 new recruits a month.

Over the weekend the al-Qaida affiliate said it was mobilizing to support rebel factions battling to retain control of the strategically-vital border towns of Azaz and Marea, the onetime HQ of the FSA in Aleppo province.



Kurdish propagandists claim Nusra fighters are already engaged in the battle but this is denied by FSA commanders.

The battles for the towns of Azaz and Marea have flared and ebbed since February, but the IS push this time has been more determined  possibly to compensate for the recent loss of territory in Raqqa province.

Marea and Azaz fell to opposition forces in 2012 and are vital stops along a rebel supply route from Turkey to districts the rebels hold in Aleppo, which the government has been trying to encircle for months.

The pro-opposition monitoring group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists on the ground for its information, said the fighting in the area is the heaviest in months and that the offensive amounts to the most significant advance near the Turkish border for IS in two years.

Humanitarian situation

The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, evacuated most of its staff and patients from al-Salamah hospital near Azaz on Friday.

We are terribly concerned about the fate of our hospital and our patients, and about the estimated 100,000 people trapped between the Turkish border and active front lines," Pablo Marco, MSF operations manager for the Middle East, said in a statement.

Marco added: There is nowhere for people to flee to as the fighting gets closer.

Most of displaced Syrians in or near the current fighting fled into the area from a blistering Russian-backed Assad regime offensive in February.

Turkish officials refused to allow displaced civilians to cross into Turkey. European appeals for the border to be re-opened fell on deaf ears.

Officially we are still pressing the Turks to allow them in, says a European diplomat, who asked not to be identified. Unofficially we arent anymore, he lamented.
The chief peace negotiator for Syria's mainstream opposition says he is quitting his post, over the failure of United Nations-backed peace efforts to find a political solution to the country's long running civil war.

Mohammed Alloush, in a statement Sunday, linked his decision to ongoing military violence from government forces seeking -- with Russian help -- to preserve the embattled presidency of Bashar al-Assad.

Writing on Twitter, Alloush -- a senior member of the powerful Jaish al-Islam rebel group -- cited what he described as "the stubbornness of the [Assad] regime and its continued bombardments and aggressions toward the Syrian people."

Two weeks of peace talks in Geneva, where U.N. envoys met separately with envoys from the Assad government and opposition groups, ended in April without a deal, as fighting flared anew near the Syrian border.

A third round of talks tentatively set for late May has failed to materialize. Last week, U.N. special envoy Staffan de Mistura said no date would be set for further negotiations until the warring parties agree to a truce allowing humanitarian aid to reach tens of thousands of increasingly desperate Syrian civilians.

There was no immediate U.N. comment Sunday to Alloush's announced departure.

Analysts earlier this year voiced guarded optimism that the Geneva talks could result in a settlement ending five years of war that has left nearly 300,000 dead and driven millions of others from their homes.

But hopes waned when a temporary cease-fire agreed on in February between the Assad regime and non-jihadist rebels was repeatedly violated.

Fighting also flared near the northern city of Aleppo in mid-April as the Geneva talks opened.
Donald Trump clinched the 1,237 delegates needed to become the Republican presidential nominee Thursday  a feat that seemed almost impossible just a few months ago. Now, despite the wishes of the Republican establishment, Trump is working to remake the party in his own image.

Trumps no-holds-barred style and high-energy delivery attracted a record number of voters to cast ballots in the Republican primary race, but the same qualities that rocketed Trump to the nomination have created a rift between party elites and the voters who support him.

You see the reaction of someone like former Governor [Jeb] Bush, who out of frustration, is waving his arms saying alright, fine, if thats what you want, go take Trump. Theres this sense of exasperation that exists within the mainstream of the party, we cant control this, what can we do about this? said Mark Rozell, dean of George Mason Universitys school of policy, government and international affairs.

Trumps task moving forward is to reconcile the wishes of the Republican establishment with the interests of his new followers.

The simple explanation is that party leaders and insiders care first and foremost about winning elections and holding power. The hardcore activists that participate in the primaries and caucuses often are not thinking about who is the most viable candidate  who has the best chance of winning  they want to see ideological purity, said Rozell.

From #NeverTrump to #NeverHillary

Trump spent the majority of primary season railing against the Republican donor class and the politicians he said were beholden to it. But now that Trump has pivoted into the general election, he will be forced to work with some of those same big-money donors if he is to stay competitive in what will likely be the most expensive election in U.S. history.

Winning over those donors may prove challenging for Trump, as many dont trust him and dont see eye to eye with his policy proposals. A recent New York Times analysis shows that at least a dozen of the GOPs wealthiest and most reliable donors have vowed to never give money to the New York real estate mogul. Combined, that group has contributed $90 million to Republicans in the last three elections.

One of those donors, hedge fund manager William Oberndorf, told the Times if the election comes down to Trump versus Clinton, which appears increasingly likely, Ill be voting for Hillary.

While these donors are disavowing Trump, political expediency is leading others to jump onboard with the Republican nominee. At least nine of the GOPs top donors have already given money to Trump, according to the Times. They may not like everything Trump says, but the alternative is far more frightening for them.

"Like many of you, I do not agree with him on every issue. However, I will not sit idly by and let Hillary Clinton become the next president," casino executive Sheldon Adelson wrote in a recent letter to fellow board members of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Falling in line

Trump has secured the endorsements of dozens of sitting senators and congressmen, as well as high-rollers within the party, including former Vice President Dick Cheney and Sheldon Adelson, one of the GOPs wealthiest donors.

Several of Trumps former primary opponents, who heavily criticized him during the campaign, now are actively working with him.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was tapped by Trump to lead his presidential transition team. Trump chose Dr. Ben Carson to head up his vice presidential selection committee. Senators Rand Paul and Marco Rubio both said they'll honor their pledge to support the GOP nominee.

Trumps real appeal, though, doesnt lie with the Republican base, but with those outside the party, who are turning out for Trump in large numbers.

As far as we can tell from looking at the electorate, its not people that identify really strongly as Republicans who are the strongest Trump supporters, Tom Ogorzalek, assistant professor of political science at Northwestern University told VOA.

They might be the most conservative on some issues, but a lot of them tend to be even registered as Democrats  maybe that registration is pretty old  or theyre kind of weak Republican identifiers.

New Republican Party

Ogarzalek said that moving forward, the party will be largely led by the southern Republicans who identify most strongly with Trumps populist appeal, and will see a vanishing of northeastern Republicans, which used to be the heart of the party.

I think theyll probably have a good shot at maintaining the majority they have in the House, he said, but warned if the party doesnt work to become more inclusive of Americas increasingly diverse population it could become irrelevant.

Things like marriage equality are definitely a loser for them. Basically all of the states have changed to have majorities in favor of it. So arguing strongly that they would overturn marriage equality with a constitutional amendment is probably not a total winner, said Ogarzalek.

Trump agrees, and it appears he has his own vision for the future, though its not exactly in line with the Republican Party of years past. He told Bloomberg News in five or 10 years the GOP will be a different party.

Youre going to have a workers party. A party of people that havent had a real wage increase in 18 years, that are angry, said Trump. What I want to do, I think cutting Social Security is a big mistake for the Republican Party. And I know its a big part of the budget. Cutting it the wrong way is a big mistake, and even cutting it [at all].

Trump has avoided many of the conservative social pitfalls that plagued his rivals during the campaign, including the issues of gay marriage and bathroom access for transsexual people, which he has, on both fronts, voiced support for.

Instead, Trump has focused his campaign heavily on economic issues and border security  to the dismay of party leaders.

'Autopsy report'

In March 2013, the GOP released its so-called autopsy report following Mitt Romneys blow-out loss to President Barack Obama. The document listed several steps Republicans needed to take to get back into the White House in the future, chief among them being outreach to ethnic minority voters and women.

If Hispanic Americans perceive that a GOP nominee or candidate does not want them in the United States [i.e. self-deportation], they will not pay attention to our next sentence, the document reads. It does not matter what we say about education, jobs or the economy; if Hispanics think we do not want them here, they will close their ears to our policies.

Trump has done the opposite of what the GOP document suggested, and instead made building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico and deporting illegal aliens two of his most prominent campaign promises  proposals that has ostracized many in the Hispanic community.

He faces similar issues with women, whom the document said should be part of all activities that the RNC [Republican National Committee] undertakes.

Trump, instead of heeding the advice of GOP leadership, repeatedly has attacked Hillary Clinton with what some would consider sexist remarks. At a news conference last month, Trump accused Clinton of playing the womens card and said, If Hillary Clinton were a man, I dont think shed get five percent of the vote.

He also infamously retweeted one of his Twitter followers who called Fox News host Megyn Kelly a bimbo.

Demographic issues

These demographic issues could prove a major hurdle to overcome in his bid to win the presidency.

A recent Fox News polls shows that 74 percent of Latino voters hold an unfavorable view of Trump, while a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll shows Clinton, the presumptive Democrat nominee, with a 14-point lead over Trump among women.

There is, however, a silver lining for Trump  his poll numbers keep going up. Two months ago, the same poll showed Clinton with a 21 point lead over Trump among women. Meanwhile, Trumps support among men rose by 17 points since March.

A Real Clear Politics average of polling data shows Trump and Clinton neck and neck in a general election match-up, each with about 43 percent of the vote. Two months ago, the same average showed Clinton beating Trump by 12 points.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has accused Russia of providing anti-aircraft weaponry and rockets to militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), government officials said on Monday, confirming reports in local media.

Speaking to reporters on board his airplane after a visit to the southeastern province of Diyarbakir over the weekend, Erdogan accused Moscow of transferring weaponry to the PKK via Iraq and Syria, the pro-government Star newspaper said.

"At this moment, terrorists are using anti-aircraft guns and missiles supplied by Russia. The separatist terrorist organization is equipped with these weapons.

They have been transferred to them via Syria and Iraq," the newspaper reported

Erdogan as saying. Two Turkish government officials confirmed Erdogan's

comments.

The "separatist terrorist organisation" is a Turkish government term for the PKK, which has waged a three-decade insurgency against the state that has left more than 40,000 people dead, mostly PKK militants in the largely Kurdish

southeast.

While Erdogan has previously castigated Russia for its support of Kurdish fighters in Syria, the latest comments appear to be the first time he has accused Moscow of supplying arms to the PKK, seen as a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and Europe.

Fixing ties

However, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus was relatively upbeat on Monday about the outlook for relations with Russia, a rare departure from months of tough rhetoric after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane last year.

"Neither Russia nor Turkey can afford to sacrifice their relationship with each other," Kurtulmus, the government's official spokesman, told a news conference.

"I wish such tensions had never emerged, but I believe that Turkish-Russian ties can be fixed in a short while. These two countries have no problems that cannot be overcome. I hope that these issues will be solved through dialogue."

He did not directly address Erdogan's comments about Russian military support for the PKK.

Ankara also considers the Syrian Kurdish YPG fighters to be terrorists and has been enraged by both Russian and U.S. backing for the militia in its battle with Islamic State in Syria.

NATO member Turkey is part of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State in Syria and is also a vocal opponent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Moscow backs Assad but says it also supports the Syrian Kurds in the struggle against Islamic State.

Relations between Ankara and Moscow hit their worst point in recent memory after Turkey shot down the Russian plane over Syria last year, prompting a raft of sanctions from Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin in April promised support for Syrian Kurds, saying they were a serious force in the fight against terrorism.

Moscow has accused Ankara of hindering Kurdish forces in their battle against Islamic State and of using the fight against terrorism as a pretext to crack down on Kurdish organizations in Syria and Turkey.
Sunday was the annual International Day of U.N. Peacekeepers, honoring the more than 1 Million men and women recognized around the world as "Blue Helmets."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Blue Helmets "manifest the best attributes of global solidarity, courageously serving in dangerous environments to provide security to some of the world's most vulnerable."

Earlier this month, Ban laid a wreath outside U.N. headquarters in New York in memory of the 3,400 peacekeepers who have lost their lives since the first mission in 1948.

U.N. officials say that in the past year, peacekeeping missions have faced many challenges, including sheltering 200,000 civilians in South Sudan fleeing for their lives to U.N. bases, and a peacekeeping team helping the Central African Republic carry out a successful presidential election.

Along with peacekeeping, the Blue Helmets also deal with the problem of landmines and the leftover remnants of war that have the potential of killing or severely wounding thousands of civilians.

Secretary of State John Kerry marked the day with a statement reinforcing the U.S. commitment to what he called the "indispensable role" of U.N. peacekeepers. He also said the U.S. is deeply concerned by sexual abuse by some peacekeepers, saying such incidents only tarnish the accomplishments of the Blue Helmets who serve with distinction.

The first U.N. peacekeeping mission was deployed in 1948 to monitor a truce between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

That mission, called the U.N. Truce Supervision Organization, is still ongoing.
Five members of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali were killed and another injured in an ambush attack Sunday, the United Nations said.

The attack occurred in central Mali as the soldiers from Togo, part of the U.N. Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), were travelling in a convoy around 30 kilometers west of Sevare.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack through a spokesman, calling terrorism one of the most serious threats to internal peace and security in the country.

"The Secretary-General presents his heartfelt condolences to the families of the five peacekeepers who have died in the cause of peace and to the government and people of Togo," a U.N. statement said.

A similar ambush Friday killed five Malian soldiers and wounded four more when their vehicle hit a mine in the north and they were then shot at by unknown assailants.

After Sundays attack, the number of U.N. peacekeepers killed while on active service in Mali rose to at least 64, making it the most dangerous active deployment for the U.N. in the world.
U.S. President Barack Obama commemorated the nation's war dead Monday on Memorial Day, calling on Americans to help the families of the fallen.

"A nation reveals itself not only by the people it produces, but by those it remembers," Obama said at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, where he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. "We do so not just by hoisting a flag, but by lifting up our neighbors, not just by pausing in silence but by practicing in our own lives the ideals of opportunity and liberty and equality that they fought for."

In his last Memorial Day ceremony before leaving office next January, Obama noted that less than one percent of Americans are in the military, meaning that many people do not know anyone currently serving in the U.S. armed forces.

He said that more than 20 U.S. military personnel have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq over the last year, and cited the history of three of their lives leading to their deaths in combat.

WATCH: Obama at Arlington National Cemetery

Obama reflected on the serenity of the gravesites at the cemetery, including Section 60, where U.S. personnel killed in the Middle East in recent years are buried. At Arlington, he said, "the deafening sounds of combat have given way to the silence of these sacred hills.

"For us, the living, those of us who still have a voice, it is our responsibility, our obligation, to fill that silence with our love, and our support and our gratitude, and not just with words, but with our actions," the president said. "For truly remembering and truly honoring these fallen Americans means being there for their parents, and their spouses and their children.

"We are so proud of them," he said. "We are so grateful for their sacrifice. We are so thankful for the families of the fallen."

Earlier, Obama hosted a breakfast for military and veteran service groups, as well as senior military leaders, at the White House.

WATCH: National Memorial Day Concert

Sunday night, a free Memorial Day concert headlined by the 1960s group The Beach Boys was held on the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol.

The event was hosted by actors Gary Sinise and Joe Mantagna, and was broadcast on PBS and the American Forces Network.

The U.S. observes Memorial Day on the last Monday of May.

The first large-scale observance of what was originally called Decoration Day took place at Arlington Cemetery in 1868, three years after the bloody U.S. Civil War that killed more than 600,000 people.

Now, aside from honoring the fallen victims of U.S. wars and military involvement across the globe, the three-day weekend is seen as the unofficial start of the summer vacation season in the United States. Many Americans have the day off from work and school, and many families have picnics or make trips to the beach, parks or campgrounds.
Families escaping the fighting in the Iraqi city of Fallujah said Islamic State was forcing them out of their homes and moving them from house to house in the crossfire.



"We tried going back to our house, but when we saw lots of other families fleeing, we joined them," said one woman who gave her name as Suad.



"I was carrying my 2-year-old daughter, Hana, as I ran barefoot to reach the other families," Suad told the Norwegian Refugee Council.

According to the NRC, which is providing aid to the refugees, Suad, her husband Ali and their six children, finally made it to the al-Iraq camp some 30 kilometers from Fallujah on May 25.

Iraqi forces, backed by coalition airstrikes and Shi'ite militias, have ringed most of Fallujah. Counterterrorism units were said to have entered the city on Monday.

In pictures: Families Fleeing Fallujah War Zone

A U.S. State Department official tells VOA the Untied States is "supporting the ISF's efforts to protect civilians, including efforts to create safe passageways for civilians in Fallujah to flee."



Islamic State has controlled, a Sunni city, for more than two years.



One big prison



Jabar Muhammad Odaa, who ran away from the city six months ago when it was under siege, said that under Islamic State rule, Fallujah had become one big prison.



"They would not let anyone leave," he told VOA in a phone interview from the al-Iraq camp. "We lived like animals."



"They [IS] took everything from us; it was like a big prison. They said, 'if you want to leave, you leave, but your family stays here,'" said Odaa. "They put the children and young boys in the mosque, and said if you join us you and your family will be better off. Every single Friday they pushed me to go to the mosque and learn with them."



Odaa said men who shaved their beards or mustaches would get 100 lashes. His descriptions echoed those of other families who escaped Islamic State earlier this year in the northern Mosul area.



Although many foreign fighters are believed to be with IS, Odaa said he only saw Iraqis among the extremists.



IS appears to be using fighting tactics that have been found before in Ramadi and villages around Mosul, such as building tunnels and lacing the area with bombs.



"They have built tunnels under the road between Amariyat and Fallujah," he said, referring to a route that links Fallujah to a city further south, where refugee camps are being set up.



Getting out

Becky Bakr Abdulla, media coordinator for NRC in Iraq, said more than 530 families have managed to escape the fighting.



Only one family since Monday, however, has managed to leave from the center of the city, where the fighting is now the most intense, she said.



Families we have been in touch with point to especially two factors that are preventing them from leaving, Abdulla told VOA in a telephone interview. They say it is too dangerous for them to leave their houses, and that, IS came to our doors and threatened us.



Humanitarian agencies have repeatedly asked for all warring sides to allow civilians safe passage away from the fighting. Some 50,000 civilians are believed to still be trapped in the city.



Everyone I am talking to is telling me that the only things they survived on are dates, and drinking water from the river. There is no medicine, no fuel, no electricity; people are staying indoors. The situation is extremely critical, Abdulla said.

WATCH: UNHCR concerned about Fallujah residents
Movement for Democratic Change founding president Morgan Tsvangirai was Monday discharged from a South African hospital after being detained for an undisclosed ailment.

According to MDC-T organizing secretary, Douglas Mwonzora, Tsvangirai, who was supposed to have led a public protest in Bulawayo at the weekend, Tsvangirai is recovering well.

The party says following the march that was held in Bulawayo at the weekend to protest a number of issues around the economy, another march will be held in Mutare in August.

Last week the ruling Zanu PF held its own march to show solidarity with President Robert Mugabe.

Independent analyst, Zenzele Ndebele, said, It shows that theres a crisis between both Zanu PF and MDC-T.

Theres a crisis within Zanu PF because if you have won a landslide victory in an election with a two thirds majority theres no need to call people to come and endorse what you are doing.

He added that Zanu PF is calling people for endorsement because the economy is not firing and the two million jobs that were promised by President Mugabes party in the run up to the 2013 general elections are not in sight.

Ndebele said there is a leadership crisis in the opposition. As an opposition party they cannot allow the situation to slide back to 2008, to an economic crisis. This is the time that the opposition should be saying to the people you voted for Zanu PF, look at what they are doing.

On where they should be holding marches, Ndebele said the opposition should instead be going to the rural areas because they already have the support of the masses.
Patson Dzamara, the brother of abducted journalist-cum-political activist, Itai Dzamara, has released pictures of what looks like his brother with his hands tied behind his back and a bandage around his head. He claims that he obtained the pictures from some state security agents.

Former Zanu PF lawmaker Temba Mliswa is arrested for holding a public meeting deemed illegal by an Esigodini councilor.

Dont miss our Time to Engage slot with Chioneso Jani. This evening we will feature a pharmacist, who is also in baking business, Tendai Mushonga.

Zimbabweans seek medical help from nangas as they cant afford to pay high doctors fees.

And Warriors prepare to clash with Malawi in the 2017 Africa Nations Cup at home.

Stay tuned for these stories and more coming up on Studio 7 at 7:30 pm on 9-0-9 Medium Wave and on the 4-9-3-0, 5-9-4-0 and 1-5-4-6-0 shortwave frequencies. We also broadcast on www.channelzim.net. Please check us out on Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter.

This evening on Livetalk our hosts Blessing Zulu and Gibbs Dube will be talking with listeners about what they are doing and their challenges. Participate by sending your messages on our WhatsApp number 001 202 465 0318. The number again 001 202 465 0318. You can also post comments on this Facebook wall or send us your number so we can call you back. Please note that we are livestreaming on all Studio 7 Facebook pages.
Former Zanu PF lawmaker Temba Mliswa, who was arrested Sunday in Esigodini, Matabeleland South province, together with 23 other members of his Youth Advocacy for Reform and Democracy on allegations they held a public meeting, has been released on bail by a local magistrate.

Mliswas lawyer Lizwe Jamela of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said the other 23 members were eventually released without any charges while the former Zanu PF provincial chairperson for Mashonaland West was charged with allegedly violating some provisions of the Public Order and Security Act.

They went to a public place, some restaurant in Esigodini to get some refreshments. While they were waiting to be served, we are made to believe that that is when some people and police said that they were holding some unsanctioned meeting, Jamela said.

Jamela said the magistrate remanded Mliswa to June 22nd on free bail and ordered him not to interfere with witnesses.

Mliswa and his group had earlier clashed with a local councillor who accused him of holding a meeting in his jurisdiction without first informing him.

Jamela said he was not sure whether his clients arrest had anything to do with his clash with the councilor.
Some Masvingo residents have welcomed the opening of a permanent High Court in the city, saying they will no longer be travelling to Bulawayo and Harare for court cases handled by this arm of the judiciary system.

One of the residents, Brian Banda, said the move by government was welcome though it came a bit too late.

Its really a positive development to have a permanent judge and High Court here. It is quite a good move because we need to decentralise things so that people do not have to depend on Harare and Bulawayo. However we feel that this could have been done a long time ago as it was not good for people to travel to Harare and Bulawayo to access the services of the High Court.

Another local resident, Mugovera Makonese, urged government to open more High Court structures in most parts of the country and stop focusing on issues that dont add value to peoples lives, including the recent one million march organized by the ruling partys Youth League to show support for President Robert Mugabe.

I think it is a very welcome development to Masvingo province and the country at large in terms of the decentralisation of the judiciary services. However, I believe its a case of misplaced priorities that 36 years after independence we are celebrating the opening of the High Court in a province for the first time. We hope that they will open more in various districts with speed.

Speaking at the official opening ceremony, Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku admitted that the decentralisation of the judiciary system was long overdue.

I want to commend the Judiciary Service Commission for a job well-done but this could have been done a long time ago but we say its better late than never.

Speaking at the same occasion, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is also the Legal and ParliamentaryAffairs Minister, said government would work tireless to speed up the decentralisation of the High Court services to all the provinces.

The decentralisation of the High Court to Masvingo is therefore a welcome development particularly to the Business community as they no longer need to travel to Harare and Bulawayo for the resolution of disputes as they will be done here. My ministry is also working on reviewing the cost of the service of the judiciary so that they can be affordable to residents.

Masvingo becomes the first province to have a permanent High Court since independence as such courts were established in Harare and Bulawayo during the colonial era.
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What is the connection between the following pairs of societies that are geographically, historically and culturally quite distinct:

 Kosovo and Libya/Syria,

 Iraq and Afghanistan,

 Ukraine and Brazil/Venezuela?

[The answer]: Being caught up in the US global strategy, illustrated by the Pentagons map.

The whole world is divided into areas of responsibility each entrusted to one of the six US unified combatant commands:

 the North Command covering North America;

 the South Command covering South America;

 the European Command covering the region comprising Europe and Russia;

 the African Command covering the African continent;

 the Central Command covering Central Asia and the Middle East; and

 the Pacific Command covering the Asia Pacific Region.

In addition to the six geographic commands are three centres [responsible] for operations anywhere in the world:

 the Strategic Command in charge of nuclear forces;

 the Command for Special Operations; and

 the Command for Transport.

Heading the European Command is a general or admiral appointed by the US President. This general/admiral automatically assumes the office of the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

Nato is therefore slotted into the Pentagons chain of command. Thus it forms an essential part of the US strategy. This means eliminating any State or political or social movement that threatens the USs political, economic and military interests. For the US, while still the biggest world power, is losing ground faced with the emergence of new state and social actors.

This strategy has many tools of implementation: from open war - see the air, sea and ground attacks in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya - to the covert operations led both against these countries and other countries, most recently in Syria and Ukraine. For these operations, the Pentagon has special forces, around 70,000 specialists that operate daily in another 80 countries around the world. It also has a shadow army of contractors (mercenaries): the, Foreign Policy [1] provides evidence that in Afghanistan, the Pentagon has about 29,000 mercenaries, that is, three for every US soldier; in Iraq there are around 8,000, two for each US soldier.

As well as Pentagon mercenaries are those of the tentacled Intelligence Community. These include the CIA and 15 federal agencies.

The mercenaries are doubly useful. They can assassinate and torture, without responsibility being attributed to the US. Furthermore, once they have killed, the names do not appear on the list of the deceased. Furthermore, the Pentagon and the secret services have groups that they arm and train, such as the Islamists used for attacks in Libya and Syria and neo-Nazis, used for the coup detat in Ukraine.

Another instrument implementing this strategy is [the use of] non government organizations. Such organizations, endowed with massive funds, are used by the CIA and the State Department to carry out internal destabilization under the cover of defending the rights of civilians.

The action of the Bilderberg group [2] is similarly contextualized. Judge Ferdinando Imposimato denounces this as being partly culpable for the strategy of tension and disaster in Italy [3]. The same goes for the Open Society of investor and philanthropist George Soros, architect of the colour revolutions.

To carry out its coup-creating strategy, Washington today is eyeing Brazil to undermine Brics, and Venezuela to undermine the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas. To destabilize Venezuela - the South Command indicates in a document that has been divulged [4], that it has to cause a scene of tension that allows combining action on the street with a measured commitment of armed violence.
Ahead of my visit to Athens, I would like to share with the readers of Kathimerini, one of the most popular and respected Greek newspapers, some ideas regarding the further development of the partnership between Greece and Russia, as well as about the situation on the European continent in general.

We value the centuries-old traditions of friendship between our peoples. Our cooperation rests on a rock-solid base of common civilizational values, the Orthodox culture and a genuine mutual affection. A vivid example of how closely our peoples lives are intertwined is the story of Ioannis Kapodistrias, who was a Russian minister of foreign affairs in the 19th century and later became a head of the Greek state.

The celebrations of the Millennium of Russian Monasticism on the Holy Mount Athos will be a landmark event this year. Throughout completely different periods of history, their moral courage, faith and patriotism helped our peoples to overcome severe ordeals and preserve their identity.

Hundreds of thousands of Russian tourists visit your country every year. They relax on the beautiful beaches, get acquainted with the rich heritage of the ancient Hellas and its legendary architectural monuments. Tourism makes a significant contribution to the economic development of Greece, as well as to broader direct people-to-people contacts and greater trust and friendship between our citizens.

I know that Greece remembers that its achievement of independence was due in no small measure to Russias efforts. Russias support for the Greek national liberation struggle largely determined the further development of bilateral relations.

These days, Greece is Russias important partner in Europe. We are conducting a dynamic political dialogue, including at the top level. During a meeting with President Prokopis Pavlopoulos in January, we announced the opening of the cross years of Greece and Russia. The programs cover activities in the scientific, educational, and humanitarian spheres, as well as tourism. I am confident that they will help our peoples to get even more closely acquainted with each others history, traditions and customs.

Last year, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras made two visits to our country. We had informative and very useful discussions. Contacts between ministries and agencies, parliaments and civil society organizations are growing stronger.

Unfortunately, the decline in relations between Russia and the European Union stands in the way of a further strengthening of our cooperation, with an adverse effect on the dynamics of bilateral trade that fell by a third to $2.75 billion as compared to last year. Particularly affected were Greek agricultural producers.

Russia proceeds from the need to establish dialogue with the European Union in the spirit of equality and genuine partnership on a variety of issues ranging from visa liberalization to the formation of an energy alliance. However, we do not yet see our European colleagues willingness to follow such a mutually beneficial and promising path.

Nevertheless, we believe that our relations with the EU do not face any problems that we cannot solve. To get back to a multifaceted partnership, the deficient approach of one-sided relationships should be abandoned. There should be true respect for each others opinions and interests.

Today, Russia and the European Union have come to a crossroads, where we need to answer the following question: how do we see the future of our relations and which way are we going to head? I am convinced that we should draw appropriate conclusions from the events in Ukraine and proceed to establishing, in the vast space stretching between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, a zone of economic and humanitarian cooperation based on the architecture of equal and indivisible security. Harmonizing European and Eurasian integration processes would be an important step in this direction.

This work is all the more relevant, insofar as today Europe is facing increased competition from other power centers of the contemporary world. For instance, at the recent ASEANRussia Commemorative Summit in Sochi we had meaningful discussions with our partners on pressing international issues, the prospects for integration projects and enhanced cooperation in the AsiaPacific region. Apparently, a rightful position of the Old Continent in the new international realities can only be secured by combining capacities of all the European countries, including Russia.

Multidimensional contacts between Greece and Russia are an important element of this system. I would like to single out the energy sector. We have been consistently advocating the diversification of energy transportation modes that would improve the reliability of supplies and, therefore, European energy security as a whole.

Russia has ensured regular and reliable natural gas supplies to Greece for two decades. The existing contract with Greece was extended up to 2026 on favorable terms for your country. Being aware of the intention by the Greek leaders to make the country a powerful energy hub in the Balkans, we have always included Greece in our plans to enhance hydrocarbons supply to Central and Western Europe.

Since 2006, Gazprom has been actively promoting the South Stream project. However, at a certain point, its implementation became impossible due to the unconstructive stance adopted by the European Commission. Despite the fact that we had to suspend the project, issues relating to Southern routes of energy shipment to the European Union States are still on the agenda. In February, the heads of Gazprom, Edison (Italy) and DEPA (Greece) signed in Rome a Memorandum of Understanding on the supply of Russian natural gas to Greece and Italy along the Black Sea bottom through third countries.

Russia could also help streamlining the Greek transport infrastructure. We are referring to the participation of Russian business entities in the forthcoming Greek tenders for the purchase of assets of railway companies and the Thessaloniki port facilities. Also on the agenda are a number of other projects that can considerably enhance the potential of bilateral cooperation.

I am confident that friendly relations between Greece and Russia are our common heritage and a solid foundation for a promising and future-oriented partnership. I hope that we will further intensify our dialogue in various fields and jointly implement our plans.
The G7 has just met at Ise-Shima (Japan). But although we had been swamped with information about the preceding summits, this one was hardly mentioned by the international Press. The fact is that the objective of this meeting is profoundly different.

In the context of the first oil crisis of 1974, five Ministers of Finance (Western Germany, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, USA) met without an agenda in the library of the White House, simply to exchange their points of view. This was the Library Group.

On this model, the only two survivors of this group, Valery Giscard dEstaing, who had become the President of the French Republic, and Helmut Schmidt, who had become the Chancellor of Western Germany, took the initiative of inviting the heads of State and government of the same countries, plus Italy, for the following year (1976), to Rambouillet castle, in order to exchange their points of view on the major subjects of the moment. At that time, international summits were rare and extremely formal. The G6 differentiated itself by its lack of protocol, its simple, relaxed and friendly nature, the atmosphere of a private club. The discussions were in English  directly, without translators. The meeting was announced at the last moment. There was no agenda, and no journalists were present.

In 1977, the Prime Minister of Canada was invited (G7), and as from 1978, the President of the European Commission. In 1994, the Russian President was also invited, and was officially integrated in 1997 (G8). The Western powers were convinced that after the collapse of the USSR, Russia was about to join with them to create a unipolar world which they would dominate together. This was the era of the creation of an international ruling party whose ambition was boundless. It imagined that it could do away with international law and substitute itself for the UN Security Council, in order to govern the world without control.

In 2000, the G8 supported the proposition by Paul Wolfowitz and the World Bank to cancel the debt of the poorest nations. There was however one small condition  these countries would have to completely liberalise their economy, leaving them open for unrestricted pillage by the multinationals. Of the 62 countries concerned, only 9 accepted this fools bargain. The G8s stand on this issue raised a universal wave of anti-globalisation. During the following summit in Genoa (2001), repression of the demonstrations caused one death. It was decided that as from now, these summits would be held outside of major cities, under military and police protection. Anything could therefore be plotted out of the view of the public.

But in 2013, things took a turn for the worse - Vladimir Putin was back in the Kremlin, and the Western powers had just relaunched the war against Syria, despite the engagements negotiated by Kofi Annan and confirmed by the Geneva Communique. The summit at Lough Erne became a confrontation, 1 against 7. It should have been dealing with the struggle against tax havens, but the discussion was monopolised by the Western reversal against Syria. The following year (2014), after the coup detat in Kiev, the division of Ukraine, and the adhesion of Crimea to the Russian Federation, Germany noted that trust between the participants had been destroyed, and that the meeting could not be held in its usual form. In panic, the Western powers decided to cancel their participation in the Sotchi summit, and met, without Russia, at The Hague (Holland). The G8, minus 1, became once again the G7.

42 years ago, the summit was concluded by a short declaration indicating the economic subjects which had been discussed, and stressed the cohesion of the Western block. Quickly, these Press releases were lengthened in order to reassure international investors that no important decisions were being taken within the confines of this secret meeting. As from the invitation of Russia, and the mass arrival of journalists, a political declaration was added, aimed at demonstrating that the world was united around Washington. Then came the publication of long dissertations on the state of the world and the holy desire of the powerful to improve it. But never, absolutely never, was any decision taken by the G8. At the very best, announcements were made and quickly forgotten (the eradication of world hunger, for example) or questions about the promulgation of Charters which would quickly be violated (concerning open sources, for example).

What has become of the G7 ?

Of the 9 official members of the G7, 2 have a double voice - the United States can count on the President of the European Commission, the Luxemburger Jean-Claude Juncker, who was obliged to resign from his functions as Prime Minister after it was revealed that he belonged to the Gladio network (NATO secret services). As for Germany, it counts on the President of the European Council, the Pole Donald Tusk, whose family has been linked to the Merkel family since the beginning of the Cold War.

From now on, the G7 is no more than a simple formatting class, where the United States and Germany indicate the language fomulae that their vassals are required to adopt. Thousands of journalists are present at this high mass. In the end, the Ise-Shima summit published a long economico-political declaration and six appended documents which reflect the language of the US elites. Everything is perfect, at least in appearence, because upon careful study  as we are about to see  the truth is revealed to be scandalous.

In the introduction to their declaration, the members of the G7 stress their common values, the four main subjects being:

 Liberty

 Democracy

 the rule of Law

 respect for Human Rights.

Next, they affirm their capacity to guarantee:

 Peace

 Security

 and the Prosperity of the world.

Finally, they reveal their priority:

 Global Economic Growth.

Even a small child can understand without difficulty that these adults, by affirming that their priority is global economic growth, care little for the ideals and the objectives they display.

The final declaration of the G7

I will limit myself here to the study of the passages in the declaration relative to international politics as seen by these 9 people, who intend to become the most powerful people in the world [1]. It is a catalogue of the 18 most prevalent Western lies today. It provides the occasion for a review of the main subjects of conflict.

 The war against terrorism and violent extremism [2].

It is now unfortunately a commonly-held belief in international summits that terrorism, according to their declaration, is the fruit of violent extremism. It is nothing more than the maturation of certain personal psychological problems in non-resolved political contexts. Terrorism is therefore not a military strategy, no state organises it, and it is financed exclusively by private gifts and various forms of trafficking. Such is the theory defended since December 2015 by UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, who came to join the G7 to give the impression of world consensus [3] : the only enemy is radicalisation. A formula which enables those who organise terrorism to fight any form of opposition on the pretext of fighting terrorism.

As we have been developing in our columns since 2001, at least 8 of the 9 members of the G7 are directly implicated in support for Al-Qaida and Daesh in Iraq, Syria and Libya. Only Justin Trudeaus Canada seems to have ceased participating in this secret war.

 Migration and the refugee crisis (and not the refugee and migrant crisis).

We should note the semantic distinction between the flow of migrations and the refugee crisis. Migrants choose to move elsewhere. They are considered as a tide, not as people. On the contrary, refugees are forced to move, and have the right to international protection.

However, in reality there are very few real refugees. The great majority of Syrians who have fled their country refused to defend it against the jihadists because they were convinced that the Republic was going to be overthrown by NATO. Others fled the combats hoping to come back after the victory of the jihadists and the construction of a true Islamic state. But international Law does not apply the status of refugees to insurgents who refuse to bear arms to defend their country when it is attacked from abroad, nor to those who hope for a victory for which they will not fight.

There is no doubt that the phenomenon of the flight of Syrians was encouraged by the states who were attacking them, who thereby hoped to win by emptying the country of its inhabitants. All members of the G7 participated in this plan.

 Syria

Le G7 categorically condemns the violations of the cessation of hostilites by the Syrian regime. Fair enough, but it says not a word about the violations committed by the armed groups beforehand, nor  and this is what matters  about the violations that it first committed itself. I am speaking, for example, about the delivery of 2,000 tonnes of arms and munitions by the US Departement of Defense, attested to by Janes magazine - arms and munitions of which at least half were handed on to Al-Qaida and Daesh, whom the G7 clamied to be fighting a few lines earlier [4].

The G7 also condemns the regime (a pejorative expression used to decribe a member-state of the United Nations Organisation, and aimed at pointing out that the goal of G7s war is regime change on the grounds that the regime had blocked the access to international humanitarian aid. However, the cases quoted by the UN reveal a non-respect by the UN itself of the dates and routes previously agreed upon with the Syrian government. Apart from the fact that the G7 does not condemn the armed groups for having blocked the access to several locations, it announced that it will use the excuse of what it abusively attributes to the regime to authorise the World Food Programme to parachute aid into jihadist-controlled zones. Since the WFP does not have the means to carry out this sort of mission, it will sub-contract the job to the US Air Force, which not only parachutes food and medical supplies, but also weapons and ammunition. This type of operation has only the appearance of being humanitarian, since the food and medical supplies parachuted into the jihadist-controlled zones will immediately be confiscated by the armed groups, who will sell them at exorbitant prices to the populations under their control, or even export them to Turkey, as we have seen recently.

Finally, the the G7 evokes the question of chemical weapons, without poining the finger at anyone in particular  a sign that it can always use this accusation against any party at any time, including the armed groups and Turkey. It is a means of potential blackmail against the unpredictable Erdogan government.

 Iraq

The G7 supports the unity, the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of the nation. It congratulates the Iraqi government for its struggle against Daesh, and announces that it will help Baghdad to come to the aid of the populations in the liberated zones. However, since it has not also congratulated the Syrian regime for its victories against Daesh, we may conclude - contrary to the Resolutions of the UN Security Council  that its main objective is not the war against terrorism.

The members of the G7 announce that they are currently spending more than 3.6 billion dollars to help the Iraqi authorities, including the Kurds. But by stating this, they contradict what they stated a few lines earlier - indeed, they pretend to support the unity of the country, but deliver arms directly to a province which they encourage to no longer obey central power.

 Iran

The G7 unhesitatingly congratulates itself for the 5+1 agreement concluded a year ago with Iran. This accord called for the lifting of US, European and international sanctions, which should have allowed Iran to gain access to the 150 billion dollars blocked all over the world. However, although certain small countries have indeed unblocked the funds which they had been obliged to freeze  Switzerland, for example, liberated 12 million dollars - Iran has still not seen a single centime of the money still blocked in the United States or the European Union. Worse, although Washington officially pretended to unblock 450 million dollars, they were immediately impounded by an independent US judge as compensation for the victims of the 11th September attacks, for which the United States have never once accused Iran over the last 15 years. The stand by the 9 members of the G7 comes in response to the complaint registered by Iran with the Security Council with the support of the Non-Aligned Movement [5].

The G7 continues by condemning Iranian research on missiles, which contravenes Resolution 2231. However, this Resolution has nothing to do with the missile question. During the Security Council debate, Ambassador Samatha Power pointed out that Iran was not only obliged to conform to the Resolution, but also to apply other international rules concerning ballistic missiles [6]. The United States know that they can not link the question of ballistic missiles and the question of nuclear energy, and in fact, since the 5+1 agreement, have registered no complaints against Iran.

 Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea

The G7 condemns nuclear research by what it calls North Korea, suggesting by this title that the United States are still at war with it since 1950. Consequently they can base themselves on several Resolutions by the Security Council. But in the absence of a peace treaty, and considering the pressure brought to bear over the last 10 years on Iran, which had no military nuclear programme, it is understandable that Pyongyang has not conformed.

 Ukraine/Russia

The G7 reaffirms the obligation to respect the sovereignty, the territorial integrity and the independence of Ukraine. Then it condemns the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia. This is one more example of Western hypocrisy. It was the members of the G7 who organised the coup detat in Kiev, which violated the sovereignty and the independence of Ukraine. The citizens who refused the putsch first of all attempted to enter into resistance. They quickly understood that the population was divided geographically between pro-Atlantists and pro-Russians. The pro-Russians - Crimea, Donetsk and Louhansk  proclaimed their independence, but only Crimea reacted quickly enough to request its incorporation into the Federation of Russia.

We note one phrase criticising the corruption of the Ukrainian government  a sign that the members of the G7 are already embarrassed by their new ally.

 Libya

The G7 gives its support to the government presided by Fayez al-Sarraj  the only authority recognised today by the UNO  in order to pacify the country, to enable the exploitation of the oil resrves and the fight against Daesh.

Since the country no longer has a legitimate leader, it has divided into tribal factions. The al-Sarraj government was constituted by the UNO during the Skhirat Accords (April 2015). But it has never been invested by the Chamber of Representatives which was created by NATO after the murder of Mouamar el-Kadhafi. As a result, it is no more legitimate than the others, even though it is more obedient. In any case, the members of the G7 announce that they support the lifting of the embargo on weapons for the al-Sarraj government, which should enable it either to massacre its rivals or relaunch the civil war.

 Afghanistan

The members of the G7 support any peace process animated by the Afghans, which is truly alarming, 15 years after the Anglo-US invasion and the Bonn agreemeents imposed by the winners. They applaud the participation of Afghanistan in the NATO summit, next July in Warsaw, which says a lot about this peace process animated by the Afghans and about the G7s intention to continue the military encirclement of Russia.

 The peace process in the Near East

The G7 admits by this formula that the Israelo-Palestinian conflict is in fact an Israelo-Arab conflict. Given the poor state of relations with the present Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the G7 supports the French initiative for an international conference - without the Israelis or the Palestinians - the only way, according to them, to move ahead with the two-state solution.

 Yemen

Advancing with precaution, the G7 affirms that peace in Yemen must be sought through a political transition. An indirect formulation to signify that it supports the transitional President, Abd Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who was ejected by popular opinion, and is maintained entirely by Saudi Arabi and Israel.

 Africa

While the G7 treated the preceding states in detail, it did not bother to bring the same attention to bear on Burkina Faso, Burundi, Mali, Nigeria, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia and Southern Sudan, as well as a few other states, not even mentioned, of the Chad Basin, Sahel and the Horn of Africa. They are all tossed off in a single paragraph which lists a quantity of problems and invites them to reinforce their inter-governmental organisations in order to resolve them. The Pentagon has still not swallowed the fact that AfriCom was not afforded a warm welcome by Africans when it was created.

This paragraph was drawn up in the presence of the President of Chad, Idriss Deby, who had been invited on the fringes of the summit. The sacrosanct US rule according to which no head of state should seek more than two consecutive mandates does not apply in this country. Mr. Deby, who has been in power for an uninterrupted period of more than 25 years, is accused of numerous crimes in his own country and in Darfur, but is the best ally for a military deployment on the African continent.

 Venezuela

The G7 calls for both a dialogue between the government and the citizens, and between the government and the parliament. This formula cleverly suggests that the government is an authoritarian regime, contested by both the population and the political parties.

In reality, since Washington failed to organise the riots (the Guarimba) in 2014 [7], to manage a coup detat in February 2015 [8], and decreed that Venezuela was a threat to its national security [9], it then fabricated a dossier accusing one of the main Bolivian leaders, Diosdado Cabello, of being a drug trafficker [10]. Despite President Obamas courtesy when he met with his Venezuelan opposite number, he renewed his decree in 2016. On the 25 February, SouthCom and the US Special Forces drew up a plan for the destabilisation of the country, which was unfortunately leaked [11]. Its objective, in the years to come, is to provoke chaos, as was done in the Levant.

 Maritime Security

The G7, which presents itself as a guarantor of maritme security, despite the fact that its members organised the pirates from the Horn of Africa in 2009-10 [12], criticises the claims by Beijing in the China Sea by basing its arguments on maritime law, which is absolutely not the problem.

Beijings claims are historically legitimate, and had never bothered anyone until the oil fields were discovered. The Spratley and Paracel islands were considered to be Chinese until the 18th century. But since they were mostly uninhabited, the Emperor never sent a representative. The islands were abandoned during the colonisation of China in the 19th century. Consequently they may be claimed by either Taipei or Beijing, depending on the interpretation of the word decolonisation. And of course, the old colonial powers do not read the events in the same way as the Chinese people, who kicked them out of their country.

 Non-proliferation and disarmement

We expect the G7 to be favourable to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmement, since its discourse is always peaceful, although its practice is imperialist.

Western hypocrisy is incarnated here by Barack Obama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize for having announced his desire to see an end to nuclear weapons, but who, once in power, on the contrary modernised and extended the US nuclear arsenal. Just after the summit, he went to Hiroshima, where he gave a speech. Of course, he did not apologise  he is not responsible for the actions of his predecessor  but he did not answer the question of the legitimacy of atomic bombing, which leaves no doubt as to what he really thinks.

The G7 pretends not to know that last year, a certain family managed to procure the atomic bomb, and has already used at least two tactical bombs in Yemen [13]. Yet this is a tangible danger, far more serious than that represented by the North Korean tests. Besides, the fact that the Saud family acquired this technology as a private customer, and not in the name of their state, Saudi Arabia, opens another breach in the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

 Reform of the United Nations and peace operations

Appropriately, the G7 is favourable to an evolution of the United Nations Organisation. It takes the opportunity to reaffirm its support for the summit on Peace Operations which was presided at the UN by President Obama.

The problem is that the very principle of operations for the maintenance of peace is contrary to the UN Charter. During its creation, the founders had planned for observation missions to verify the application of the peace agreements. These were only useful  and indeeed, possible - in the case of agreement between the belligerents. On the contrary, today, the Security Council imposes its solution on the parties involved, in other words, it takes one side or the other, and deploys an armed Force to force respect for its decision. This is simply colonial practice disguised as international law.

 Human Rights

This short paragraph perfectly illustrates my point  who is against Human Rights ? No-one. However, the text presents the respect for these Rights as a partneship between states and civil societies. By saying so, it is re-adopting the British definition of Rights, and Emmanuel Kants definition of civil societies.

According to the G7, Human Rights are a protection for individuals faced with reasons of state. Everyone should be able to take legal action against the abuse by which they suffer. The civil society, in other words, the political actors  in earlier times, the commoners  who did not participate in the life of political parties, should therefore be able to represent citizens against the state. This gibberish is the negation of the French, Russian, Cuban and Iranian Revolutions, for which the first Human Right is to question the legitimacy of Power, not to prtotect oneself from it. By doing so, the G7 affirms that the new international ruling class does not intend to allow itself to be overthrown.

 Nuclear Security

The G7 distinguishes here between technical safety and the political security of the installations. It calls on the shareholders of the multinational companies concerned to respect the International Convention which governs their activity. And it applauds the summit organised by the White House on the prevention of the theft of nuclear weapons by terrorist groups.

By distinguishing between the question of atomic weapons possibly held by terrorist groups and the question of non-proliferation, the G7 clearly demonstrates that it is making no serious effort to acheive either of these goals. Non-proliferation is simply the refusal by the nuclear powers to allow non-nuclear powers to enter their club. The White House summit was a pretext for the Pentagon to help every state, and thus better control them.

The future of the G7

The history of the G7 reflects the evolution of international relations. During the Cold War, it was a club for state leaders and the heads of goverment who met discretely in order to learn how to work together. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was transformed into a summit for the great and powerful who intended to rule apart from the United Nations. Paradoxically, its current collapse is not due to a political cause, the Russian revolt, but a sociological distinction - the Russian leaders are of the same calibre as those who were once in power in the West, they have nothing to do with the new ruling class which meets in Davos.
Birds do it. Bees do it. Guys on Silicon Valley do it  

With apologies to Cole Porter, this is the best way I can describe Bachmanity Insanity. Romance is in the air for Richard and Dinesh, and rumpy-pumpy is in the server room for Jared. The former Donald Dunn is a veritable sex machine, picking up beautiful women and leaving them as sassyfied as a Strokin Clarence Carter. It turns out the perpetually wrong-headed Russ Hanneman was right about something: This guy fucks. Add Jared to the Silicon Valley Sexytime List, folks!

As we soon see in this weeks episode, Dinesh wants to usurp Jareds title. While Gilfoyle cringes in the background, Dinesh flirts online with one of the new programmers, an Estonian woman named Elisabet Kirsipuu. He compliments her code, and the lovely fingers that typed it. Its apparent that Pied Piper doesnt have an HR department, because this is something South Parks Sexual Harassment Panda warned against doing. Ive had enough mandatory ethics classes crammed down my throat at work to know this could lead to problems.

But this is HBO, not a skittish Wall Street investment bank, so Dineshs only problem is that he cant get a very good look at Elisabet on Hooli Facetime. The packet loss over Estonian broadband is terrible, Gilfoyle says. She could be hideous. (Maybe I watched too many dirty movies on scrambled cable back in the day, but I saw her quite easily.) When Jared points out that looks dont matter to Dinesh, he agrees, but also slips in that he hopes shes not a dog-face. The self-proclaimed Pakistani Denzel Washington can barely hide his shallow nature.

Prior to Denzels  I mean, Dineshs  lousy attempts at game, Richard scolds the offshore team over the use of spaces in code instead of tabs. The Pied Piper style sheet explicitly endorses tabs, but one of the coders opts for spaces. That Richard would notice indicates how compulsive he is, because it all looks the same visually. Since compilers strip out white space, theres technically no difference between tabs and space. You may have found this plot point unbelievable, but this is a real issue for some coders.

At Hooli, I once saw an argument get so heated that the two guys almost made physical contact! Jared says of the spaces-versus-tabs debate. I once had a code reviewer who fired you if you used spaces, and another who thought tabs were a sign of the Apocalypse. So, yes, this silly battle exists. And, hell no, Im not telling you what I use! I will say this, though: When I started writing code in 1987, the languages I used were still based on punch cards, and therefore had specific, static columns where code needed to start and end. At the time, a tab was a smart idea. Nowadays, Java and other languages are freed from those restrictions. Their indentations, tab-related or otherwise, are more for the programmers eyes than the compilers hash tables  so this debate is as petty as it is passionately argued.

Richard thinks anyone who doesnt use tabs is a moron. Can you see where this is going? If you guessed that the nice Facebook programmer hes dating is a literal space cadet, congratulations! Youve seen a sitcom before! The cliche is forgivable, though, as Winnie is a thoroughly charming MIT graduate and not the founder hounder Erlich assumes she is. She even earns Gilfoyles begrudging respect. I like her, he says to Dinesh. Its too bad Richards gonna fuck it up.

And eff it up he does. Richard is a bit of a zealot in the tabs-versus-spaces holy war, Dinesh warns Winnie. She brings this up on their date, and Richard halfheartedly denies it. But later, despite the promise of the first sex hes had in three years, Winnies constant pressing of the space bar sends him over the edge. (Who the hell writes code on a date?!) Director Eric Appel shoots each space-bar press as a hilarious violation, a travesty rendered in extreme close-up. Oh my God, this really bugs you! Winnie says with disbelief.

This isnt going to work! Richard yells, leaping off Winnies couch and practically running away from her. She responds by hitting the space bar a few more times. Richard retaliates by insulting Winnie, asking, We were going to bring kids into the world with this over their heads?!

As I wrote in my notes, This is the point where Richards penis punches him in the balls and tells him to shut up. Close, but not quite  Richards penis throws him down the stairs instead. Winnie finds him in a crumpled heap beside the front door. Somewhere in my warped imagination, Dave Chappelles Prince announced the outcome of this battle: Game  spaces.

At Hacker Hostel, success in love and coding awaits Dinesh. Hes rewritten some peer-to-peer code to help speed up the connection so he can get a good look at Elisabet. To his relief, shes quite fetching. Elisabet also gets a good look at Dinesh. To her chagrin, hes not the Pakistani Denzel Washington. Hes the Pakistani George Washington. Immediately, Elisabet cops to having a boyfriend  no, husband! Then she hangs up on Dineshs petty ass.

Either she froze time, met the love of her life, married him, then unfroze time to video-chat with you, begins Gilfoyle. Or youre the dog-face. Which one do you think it is? Im on the fence.

With all these minor shenanigans, I must admit that Bachmanity Insanity is a bit of a letdown after several weeks of intense, suspenseful, plot-heavy machinations. Its still a decent entry, of course, a pleasant respite that allows us to catch our breath and spend some downtime with the Pied Piper crew. Writer Carson Mell spreads the wealth; each of the guys gets a moment to shine, including Big Head, who gets the episodes last word and revenge against Erlich.

Erlichs latest attempt to bleed dry Big Heads $20 million Hooli severance involves a party on Alcatraz to announce the launching of Bachmanity, their joint venture. Erlich, wanting to gloat in front of all of his critics, bypasses the prison theme, and opts instead to turn Al Capones former home into Hawaii. It would have been cheaper to just throw the party in Hawaii, but no detractors would show up for that.

Speaking of detractors, Gavin has some new ones to contend with now that C.J.s data-scrubbing expose has been published on her CodeRag blog. One of the protesters outside Hooli throws a bucket of suds on Gavin as he tries to evade the melee, a clever touch I hope more protesters employ. Gavins lawyers tell him he cant sue for libel if the written words are true, so Gavin instead opts to sue C.J. Cantwell for the identity of her unnamed source, a.k.a. Big Head.

When Big Head informs Erlich that C.J. is panicking, Erlich is unfazed until Big Head mentions that talking to her violated his Hooli nondisclosure agreement. T.J. Millers slow burn makes him this episodes MVP. Calmly, he asks, Why in the holy fuck didnt you tell me about the NDA, you sweet, helpless piece of shit?! Well the NDA was part of the NDA, Big Head responds. So if I told you about it, Id be violating it. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a reminder that NDAs are as ridiculous as arguments over spaces and tabs.

But no matter. Erlich buys C.J. Cantwells silence for a modest $500,00 of Big Heads money. We own a blog! Erlich cheerfully tells Big Head. Theyll need a lot of click bait to break even on this one.

Upon hearing the blog news, Big Heads financial planner Arthur Clayman demands to speak to Erlich. Erlich evades him, but the brutal truth will soon catch up with Mr. Bachman. Big Head hasnt been too wise with his $20 million, using it for a variety of pursuits any sane person would find frivolous. Arthur sifts through Big Heads terrible record keeping only to discover that hes already pulled an M.C. Hammer. Nelson Bighetti is bankrupt, and by extension, so is Bachmanity.

Erlich learns this news as he takes the party stage on Alcatraz. In shock, and with all of his enemies staring at him, Erlich can only muster a single Aloha. That means hello, Big Head says. Then he ends the episode with a deliciously appropriate capper: Oh, it also means good-bye! Grand opening, grand closing!
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The early learning debate is a symptom of a broader issue within the Australian education system. We divide education up as four separate parts: early learning, primary, secondary and higher education rather than seeing it as a whole educational journey. We need to look at the entire structure of early education within the context of lifelong learning.

While affordability is becoming more of a problem as preschool fees continue to rise, answers will not be found in funding solutions alone - especially when the money is not being spent. Calls for increased funding fail to address some inherent problems within the system.

It is unfathomable that 23 per cent of children cannot access early learning due to the high cost, in light of the Auditor-General's report, which revealed $350 million of the budget was left unspent over four years in NSW. This is particularly troubling for many families in disadvantaged areas of western Sydney where even a heavily subsidised place at preschool, at about $16 per day, is out of reach.

Early learning continues to be viewed as an optional extra, in the same way that before and after school care is tacked onto the school day with little continuity to what's being taught during school time. This is because both are delivered outside the school context and governed by separate policy frameworks.

The current structure is a product of the industrial era. It made sense at that time to divide children based on their age and deliver the curriculum in neatly segmented parts and subjects. In the knowledge age information is available 24/7 and learning is a continuous, lifelong process. A neatly divided schooling experience makes it difficult to deliver on the personalised, collaborative learning that all the research and practice tells us students need to be successful learners.

To deliver quality learning and teaching we need to have continuous learning pathways for students from pre- to post-school. This requires a co-ordinated approach that links early learning to schooling and beyond.

We know that a critical learning stage for children is from 0-4 years and those children who access education earlier have a greater chance of meeting developmental benchmarks. This has been demonstrated in Canada where graduation success for students has been closely linked to the priority given to early learning for 3- to 5-year-olds. Its value is also proven in the NAPLAN results of children who had access to preschool programs recording a 15-20 point advantage in their third year of school.

We need a cohesive system that guarantees students access to early education as an automatic part of their schooling experience. In the same way, parents and families need to be able to access out of school care, and the experiences students have there need to be linked to what is happening during the "school day".
Few things contribute less to the common good as sounding the horn, in a world already too loud, which is almost always done for no proper purpose. All it does is make the driver feel better, briefly, and everyone else worse.I'm sure when invented they were safety mechanisms, only to be deployed seconds before sending an unfortunate pedestrian to the grave. Now, rarely reserved for emergencies, they are more hazard than prevention.

I should not have done it, particularly in a country with more guns than people, but few breaches of the peace go as unpunished as car horn abuse. He deserved censure.

Too many Australian drivers prefer the New York approach to using their horns, toot first, think not at all. Credit:James Alcock

He turned to stare at me, a jet-lagged, irritable tourist on a jammed New York street. And he sounded his horn again.

The horn was as loud and angry as a Donald Trump rally, and after the third second of the din coming from a car stuck next to a crowded footpath, I told the driver to shut up. OK, I yelled it  presuming he wouldn't actually hear me, but I failed to notice the offender's window was down.

They are pin cushions for frustrated drivers; megaphones with which to instruct other drivers as to the incompetency of their skills, to alert them to a missed half-second after the lights changed to green. They assert superiority or dominance or annoyance or impatience, when all they actually reveal is that the driver should have left home 10 minutes earlier.

In some cities everyone seems to beep, as if giving a brief toot every few seconds is a great way to tell drivers of your presence. I prefer drivers to use their eyes. In other cities, horns are rarely sounded even when you expect it. London, for instance, has severe congestion but from what I can tell a disproportionately low horn level. Perhaps that's because London drivers have given up on making it anywhere on time.

But in Australia, and especially in Sydney, too many drivers prefer the New York approach, toot first, think not at all. No infraction is too small to punish with the horn. No request to merge too polite to go without honk. No right turn indicated too early to be spared a long admonishment of the driver's failure not only at turning, but at life.

I have been a honker, and like to think I'm a recovering one. I owe many apologies, including one to a driver in Wellington who refused to let me in despite the widespread Kiwi sign saying "merge like a zip". I thought I was the front tooth of the zip, she disagreed. She gained half a second off her trip, and a lengthy honk.

I've also resorted to the double tap of the horn to suggest a driver might check his mobile at a time when the light wasn't green. But across the world, the benefits of the car horn are vastly overrated, and the costs ignored.
"It's amazing to me that a program that bases itself on asking the right questions didn't ask itself the right questions," said Stone, echoing the findings of the internal inquiry report he had released on Friday .

Usher threw over to Stone to tell viewers that the child abduction adventure should never have been commissioned and that priorities and judgement were askew.

But what stood out was the subtext of Stone's remarks when Usher asked him why producer Stephen Rice had been the only person involved in the fiasco to be relieved of his employment. Stone said he had "no doubt" the judgement of both Rice and reporter Tara Brown was blurred - "I don't understand how they would agree to undertake - both of them with families of their own - to undertake an assignment on that basis."

And then this from Stone: "I felt very strongly that as long as management was not completely in supervision of the program that it seemed to me unfair - and I am a journalist - that a journalist should be picked out. But if anyone was going to be picked out it would have to be the producer of the program because things do rest heavily on the role of the producer and that's why he is the producer, because he should take the blame when things go wrong."

60 Minutes host Michael Usher: "we've been asking ourselves how things could have gone so wrong." Credit:James Brickwood

For all its brevity and the lateness of the hour, the five-minute apology was revealing if you paid close attention - perhaps more revealing than intended.

Stone might be talking in code here, and it's code that would probably be all too clear to Rice and his former colleagues at Nine. Rice was not producer of the program, he was the producer of this particular story. And Rice is a journalist, a distinguished one. He was an off-camera journalist working in tandem with the on-camera journalist, Tara Brown. Stone makes it clear he believes no journalist should have been made to take the fall - and into that comment we can perhaps read that he believes higher-ups dropped the ball and should have worn some, if not all, of the disgrace.
Australia witnessed two tribal leaders, each speaking powerfully to his own tribe, in the leaders' debate. Missing was a national leader commanding both.

Malcolm Turnbull played strongly to the Coalition's perceived strengths as the party of economic growth and secure borders.

"Growth," said Turnbull, "is the fundamental basis for everything" to be considered in the election campaign. Without growth, the government couldn't afford to pay for health or education.
"Labor have no plan for economic growth and no plan for jobs. It's the same old Labor, just spending," Turnbull asserted. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen "It's the same old Liberals," Shorten retorted. "Just give tax cuts to the top end of town and let the rest of the people make do with not much at all." There were attempts to penetrate beyond the sound bites, but they were universally unsuccessful, like when Laura Tingle challenged Turnbull to explain how his company tax cuts would "supercharge the economy". After all, she said, dividend imputation meant most of the benefit of the company tax cut went to foreign shareholders, Treasury's own modelling acknowledged other taxes would have to rise to fill the revenue hole, and very few jobs would be created.

The response did not address any of these points. It was to remind Tingle that Turnbull had been very successful in business for most of his life and that he understood what made companies decide to invest. "If you want to have more of something, then you lower the tax on it," he said. Shorten was similarly indirect when pressed on what ceiling Labor would put on tax as a proportion of GDP. "Our principle is that we will have more repairs to the budget bottom line than spends," he said, saying the numbers would be revealed before polling day. The temperature only rose when both men were asked about the fate of some 2000 asylum seekers and refugees on Manus Island and Nauru. Turnbull began by asserting that the Coalition was committed to ensuring that those on Nauru and Manus were treated humanely.

But, in making the point that these people arrived when Labor was in power, he was conceding that they have been "detained"  that was the word he used  on these remote islands for three years, despite most having fled persecution. He then observed how closely the people smugglers were watching the debate in Australia and reported that they were telling their customers that "if Labor is elected, it will all be on again". "The truth is that Bill leads a party that is hopelessly divided on this issue. There are dozens of members and candidates who disagree with the policy that he has just described," Turnbull said. "He claims to be on a unity ticket with me, but his party is not. The melancholy fact of the matter is that Australians cannot trust Labor to keep the borders secure." This was a bridge too far for Shorten.

"Shame on you, Mr Turnbull for what you just said!" he fired. "For telling the truth," Turnbull interrupted "Shame of you for giving the people smugglers any hope that they could be back in business," Shorten shot back. "I have made it very clear what the Labor government would do. We would defeat the people smugglers. We accept the role of boat turn-backs as we should because we don't want to see the people smugglers back in business. "Mr Turnbull is playing with fire when he says that somehow Labor would be a better deal, and he shouldn't say that because he just conceded in his own remarks that the people smugglers are efficient and watching every bit of the debate."
He is well known for his playful pranks - and Prince Harry certainly lived up to his reputation during lunch after a charity polo match in Berkshire.

When the fourth-in-line to the throne spotted a photo of model Winnie Harlow being taken at the event, he could not resist pulling one of his trademark japes.

Prince Harry has been caught photobombing in a picture on model Winnie Harlow's Instagram. Credit:winnieharlow/Instagram

The 31-year-old was sitting at a table behind the Canadian star, who appeared on America's Next Top Model, while the photographer prepared to take their shot.

And Prince Harry took the opportunity to "photobomb" the model - pulling a funny face by sticking his tongue out just as the picture was taken.
Johnny Depp's former partner Vanessa Paradis has reportedly written a letter in his defence, saying allegations of abuse by his estranged wife Amber Heard are outrageous, .

Heard, 30, filed for divorce last week, citing irreconcilable differences and accusing Depp, 52, of domestic violence.

But Paradis, 43, who was Depp's partner from 1998 to 2012 and who is the mother of his children, Lily-Rose, 17, and Jack, 14, said that he is "sensitive" and "loving", celebrity gossip website TMZ reported.
It's a feeling others in their mid-thirties might relate to: 60 Minutes has gazed hard into the mirror, and been disappointed with what it saw.

In a 'mea culpa' segment on Sunday night's program, 60 Minutes has admitted that it stuffed up its now infamous story on a custody dispute spanning Australia and Lebanon.

60 Minutes host Michael Usher: "we've been asking ourselves how things could have gone so wrong." Credit:James Brickwood

"Tonight we face up to the errors we made," host Michael Usher said.

"We sincerely apologise for our serious mistakes."
The genes you inherit from your parents have a say in how long you stay at school and whether you go on to university, according to the results of one of the world's largest genetic studies.

In findings that will further fuel the nature-nurture debate, more than 250 scientists working on the international project say they have identified 74 genetic variants which are linked to a person's educational outcome - namely the number of years of formal education completed.

Professor Peter Visscher: The role of genetics in education should not be ignored. Credit:Queensland Brain Institute

Published in Nature this month, the genome-wide study established that on average a person who carried two copies of the genetic variant would complete nine more weeks of education over a lifetime, versus someone without a copy of a variant.

"It's the first study of its kind on this scale," said quantitative geneticist Peter Visscher from the University of Queensland's Queensland Brain Institute.
Comets really could have sparked life on Earth, scientists have proved, after finding key components of DNA in their atmosphere for the first time.

Experts have long believed that comets and asteroids brought water and amino acids when they crashed into the planet during the "bombardment phase" around four billion years ago.

Rosetta's Philae lander on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Credit:ESA

But the building blocks of life have proved elusive, leaving scientists wondering if they could have survived the extreme conditions of space.

Now the team behind the Rosetta comet landing mission have announced that they have found glycine, an amino acid, and phosphorous in the dust surrounding the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Vulgar Facebook posts have come back to haunt a Liberal candidate for the 2017 West Australian election, with the opposition leader calling for him to be dumped.

WA Labor leader Mark McGowan urged Premier Colin Barnett to act after abusive eight-year-old posts by Daniel Parasiliti, who is taking on former Labor state minister Michelle Roberts in the seat of Midland, emerged in a News Corp report on Sunday.

Daniel Parasiliti (with his wife Alia) says he does not remember writing the offensive posts, but is sincerely sorry. Credit:ABC News

The posts include a graphic and demeaning sexual comment to a woman who challenged Mr Parasiliti's views about Kevin Rudd's 2008 apology to indigenous Australians.

Mr McGowan said it was common for online commentary to be irreverent, satirical and sarcastic, but Mr Parasiliti's posts were "beyond appalling".
The parents of a missing child in Japan have admitted they left him in the mountains as punishment.

The family was on the way home from a park when seven-year-old Yamato Tanooka got up to mischief, reported The Japan Times.

He was left in the Hokkaido mountains, populated by bears, as a punishment.

The missing boy's parents initially told police their son had become lost during a hike on Saturday.
By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 30, 2016 | 09:58 AM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY, KY

A Marshall County man faces a long list of charges after he reportedly tried to flee from police during a traffic stop.

According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Office, a deputy conducted a traffic stop Sunday afternoon on the parking lot of the Waffle House restaurant at 3522 Clarks River Road. The car was driven by 32-year-old Benjamin Holland of Gilbertsville.

According to police, while the car was stopped in a parking spot, two passengers quickly exited the car and Holland accelerated over the curb onto Starlight Drive. He then crossed over Clarks River Road, traveled onto Florida and Carolina streets before coming back out onto Clarks River Road and headed east.

The car then turned right onto Pugh Road, traveled to the end and turned left onto Benton Road. Holland traveled approximately 100 yards on Benton Road before he drove into a residential yard and collided with landscaping stone blocks, disabling his car. Holland fled on foot but was taken into custody on the front porch of the home.

Holland was arrested and charged with two counts of possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, criminal mischief, fleeing and evading police, possession of drug paraphernalia, giving police a false name or address, disregarding a stop sign and reckless driving. He was also arrested on an unrelated felony warrant from Marshall County.

Holland was lodged in the McCracken County Jail after being treated and released from Baptist Health Paducah for ingesting methamphetamine just prior to his arrest.
By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 29, 2016 | 11:24 PM | PADUCAH, KY

A man charged in connection with the attempted robbery of a local pharmacy was arrested Sunday at Lourdes Hospital.

According to Paducah Police, 45-year-old William McAlpin of Mayfield was arrested on warrants charging him with second-degree robbery, second-degree burglary, felony theft and theft of identity.

Police said McAlpin was charged in connection with the attempted robbery of Katterjohn Pharmacy and had been avoiding authorities for several weeks.

McAlpin is also a suspect in the theft of a vehicle in Graves County, according to Capt. Anthony Copeland. Copeland said McAlpin was in possession of the stolen vehicle when he was arrested.

McAlpin was booked into the McCracken County Regional Jail.
By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 29, 2016 | 04:07 PM | PRYORSBURG, KY

A man faces multiple charges following a police pursuit in Graves County Saturday.

According to the Graves County Sheriff's Office, deputies received a call from a woman in Pryorsburg who said Jerry Florez had called her and made some vague threats. She said Florez told her that he had a gun in his car and was heading toward Pryorsburg Market.

Deputies spotted Florez's vehicle on State Route 1748 East and attempted to make a traffic stop but Florez refused to stop. A pursuit ensued and during the pursuit, police said Florez passed three vehicles, nearly running them off the road. Deputies pursued Florez for several miles until he lost control of his vehicle on Alton Road and struck a tree.

During a search of Florez's vehicle, police found a Bowie knife in the front seat, hidden under the arm rest. In the back seat floorboard was a cooler with an empty beer can inside. Once medically cleared by EMS, Florez was transported to Jackson Purchase Medical Center for a blood test, then to the Graves County Jail.

He's charged with operating a vehicle on a suspended operator's license, fleeing and evading police, three counts of wanton endangerment, reckless driving, improper passing, operating a motor vehicle under the influence, possession of an open container of alcohol in a motor vehicle and carrying a concealed deadly weapon.
McCracken County the first to lift burn ban
By West Kentucky Star Staff May. 29, 2016 | 07:20 PM | RICHMOND, KY

Twenty-seven law enforcement officers from agencies across the state graduated from basic training Friday at the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training.

The graduates of Class 473 completed 23 weeks of training, which consisted of 923 hours of recruit-level instruction. Major training areas included homeland security, law offenses and procedures, vehicle operations, firearms, investigations, first aid and CPR, patrol procedures, orientation for new law enforcement families and the mechanics of arrest, restraint and control.

Basic training is mandatory for Kentucky law enforcement officers to comply with the states Peace Officer Professional Standards Act of 1998. The Department of Criminal Justice Training provides basic training for city and county police officers, sheriffs deputies, university police, airport police and others.

The agency also provides in-service and leadership training for Kentucky law enforcement officers and public safety dispatch training.

The Department of Criminal Justice Training is a state agency located on Eastern Kentucky Universitys campus. The agency is the first in the nation to be accredited under the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies public safety training program designation. DOCJT also earned accreditation through the International Association for Continuing Education and Training in 2013  making it the nations only law enforcement training academy to achieve dual accreditation by two independent accrediting organizations.

Class 473 graduates and their agencies are:

Nathan E. Antle, Russell County Sheriffs Office

Ethan C. Pike, Russell County Sheriffs Office

James Ayres, Cincinnati/N. Kentucky Airport Police Department

Austin Battcher, Mt. Washington Police Department

Dustin Bickmeyer, Maysville Police Department

Tyler Brown, Elizabethtown Police Department

Detrick Cooper, Elizabethtown Police Department

Gerald Mark, Elizabethtown Police Department

Michael Mertz, Elizabethtown Police Department

Leah Newell, Elizabethtown Police Department

Justin Cooley, Maysville Police Department

Dalton Leet, Maysville Police Department

Michael Reese, Maysville Police Department

Justin Copeland, Mayfield Police Department

William Culver, Bardstown Police Department

Zachery Eagler, Florence Police Department

Joshua Koors, Florence Police Department

Conrad Gholson, Paducah Police Department

Nicholas Rolens, Paducah Police Department

Danny Slack, Paducah Police Department

Jacob Hartzel. Flemingsburg Police Department

Richard M. Johnson, Trigg County Sheriffs Office

Stephen Johnson, Fayette County Sheriffs Office

Jeffrey L. Lawler, Hart County Sheriffs Office

Derek Padgett, Adair County Sheriffs Office

Aaron Stephens, Daviess County Sheriffs Office

Timothy Summers, Woodburn Police Department
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By Michael Graczyk, The Associated Press

May. 30, 2016 | HOUSTON, TX

By Michael Graczyk, The Associated Press May. 30, 2016 | 05:26 AM | HOUSTON, TX

Authorities in central Texas have found two more bodies along flooded streams, bringing the death toll from flooding in the state to six.



It was unclear Sunday whether a body found in Travis County near Austin is one of the two people still missing in Texas. An 11-year-old boy was still missing in central Kansas, too.



The latest flooding victim identified by authorities was a woman who died when the car she was riding in was swept from the street by the flooded Cypress Creek about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Kendall County sheriff's Cpl. Reid Daly said. The car, with three occupants, was in Comfort, about 45 miles north of San Antonio. The driver made it to shore, and a female passenger was rescued from a tree.



But Daly said 23-year-old Florida Molima was missing until her body was found around 11 a.m. Sunday about 8 miles downstream.



She becomes the sixth flood-related death in Texas this Memorial Day weekend.



In Bandera, about 45 miles northwest of San Antonio, an estimated 10 inches of rain overnight led to the rescues of nine people. The rain caused widespread damage, including the collapse of the roof of the Bandera Bulletin, the weekly newspaper.



Photos from the area showed campers and trailers stacked against each other, but no injuries were reported.



Torrential rains caused heavy flash flooding in some parts of the U.S. over the last few days, and led to numerous evacuations in southeast Texas, including two prisons.



Along the rain-swollen Brazos River near Houston, prison officials evacuated about 2,600 inmates from two prisons to other state prisons because of expected flooding, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said.



In Kansas, the search for the missing 11-year-old continued Sunday and expanded beyond the swollen creek he fell into Friday night, according to Wichita Fire Department battalion chief Scott Brown. "We are more in body-recovery mode than rescue," Brown said Saturday night.



Four people died from flooding in rural Washington County, Texas, located between Austin and Houston, where more than 16.5 inches of rain fell in some places Thursday and Friday. The bodies of two missing motorists were found Saturday in separate parts of the county, according to Judge John Brieden.
By The Associated Press

By The Associated Press May. 29, 2016 | 06:24 PM | ELIZABETHTOWN, KY

Police have arrested an Elizabethtown man on a felony charge that he struck his adult son in the head with a claw hammer.

The News-Enterprise reports 63-year-old David Byron Fultz was charged Saturday with second-degree assault and alcohol intoxication in a public place.

Elizabethtown police responded to an apartment complex Friday night. According to an arrest citation, the son was knocked unconscious and had a laceration that required three staples to close. He was airlifted to University Hospital in Louisville.

Fultz is being held in the Hardin County Detention Center.

___

Information from: The News-Enterprise, http://www.thenewsenterprise.com
ONE CHARGED AFTER WEEKEND STABBING IN FLETCHER

Detectives charge one after stabbing incident in Fletcher

On Saturday, May 28, at approximately 2:55AM, the Henderson County 911 center received a reported assault on Fleetwood Lane in the Fletcher community.

After further investigation Henderson County detectives have charged Luis Enrique Valencia, age 28, of Sweeten Creek Road in Arden with assault with a deadly weapon, inflicting serious injury after he stabbed another male with a knife during an altercation.

Valencia is currently being held at the Henderson County Jail under a $3000.00 secured bond. The victim was transported to Mission Hospital with serious injuries.
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VANCOUVER  Dozens of international climate scientists are calling on the Canadian government to reject a proposed liquefied natural gas project in northwestern British Columbia, saying it would have dire environmental effects.

Ninety academics from Canada, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom released an open letter Monday saying the Pacific NorthWest LNG project would be one of the countrys largest greenhouse gas emitters, and if built, would undermine Canadas climate change commitments.

The $36-billion dollar plant backed by Malyasian state-owned energy giant Petronas is slated to be built south of Prince Rupert, B.C.

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark addresses the LNG in BC Conference in Vancouver on October 14, 2015. Dozens of international climate scientists are calling on the Canadian government to reject a proposed liquefied natural gas project in northwestern British Columbia, saying it would have dire environmental effects. Ninety academics from Canada, the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom released an open letter Monday saying the Pacific NorthWest LNG project would be one of the country's largest greenhouse gas emitters, and if built, would undermine Canada's climate change commitments. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Researchers sent an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

They argue a draft environmental assessment for the project likely underestimated the amount of emissions that will be released.

Danny Harvey, a climate change scientist at the University of Toronto who signed the letter, says the report doesnt address unknowns like the quantity of gasses that will escape into the atmosphere during the extraction process.

The environmental assessment is superficial and incomplete, he said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Harvey said his opposition isnt simply to this project, but to all LNG projects. He wants a moratorium on fracking until more research is done on the long-term effects.

Its reckless to proceed until we really know whats going on. Its reckless because were playing around with our own future, he said.

Harvey said global emissions will have to drop to almost zero by the middle of the century if theres any hope of limiting warming to two degrees, which countries agreed to at the Paris Climate Conference in December.

Youre not going to go to zero if youre expanding the fossil fuel infrastructure and making investments that are going to last 40, 50, 60 years. Its completely contrary to that, he said.

If we cut our fossil fuel usage, the supplies we currently have in place will meet our needs and therell be no need for new infrastructure, Harvey added.

The scientists open letter also disputes the notion that new LNG projects such as Pacific NorthWest will be better for the environment because supplying natural gas to Asian markets will help curb the use of coal. Instead LNG would likely reduce the amount of renewable energy being produced, the letter said.

Many of the coal plants in China have been built fairly recently and wont stop operating any time soon, said Mark Jaccard, an energy economist at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C.

Natural gas is not going to shut down those coal plants, and we dont want the Chinese to be using more natural gas, or any fossil fuels. So it makes no sense, said Jaccard, who opted not to sign the open letter because he did not want to take on an advocacy role.

The B.C. government believes the Pacific NorthWest LNG project could generate more than 18,000 jobs and produce billions in revenue.

Premier Christy Clark has repeatedly said in recent years that developing natural gas resources will fuel the provinces economy, but Jaccard noted that no LNG plants have been built and the provinces economy has recently grown.

Wrecking the planet is not essential to our economy, he said.
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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO  A First Nations community in northern Ontario is again asking the province for help to clean up the mercury thats been poisoning the Wabigoon River for nearly 50 years.

Grassy Narrows, near the Manitoba border, has dealt with mercury poisoning since the Dryden Chemical Company dumped 9,000 kilograms of it into the Wabigoon and English River systems during the 1960s.

The government ordered the residents of Grassy Narrows to stop eating fish in the 1970s, but was reluctant to attempt to clean up the mercury for fears it would make the contamination worse.

A new report says it is possible to clean local rivers and lakes of mercury, which it found still lingers in dangerous levels in sediment and in fish, and causes ongoing devastating health impacts in the community.

John Rudd, a former government scientist who examined the mercury problems in the Wabigoon in the 1980s, and helped prepare the updated report, says mercury levels remain surprisingly high.

Rudd says mercury concentrations havent decreased in 30 years, and he believes the government should see if theres a new source of contamination or if the shuttered Dryden Chemical plant is still leaching it into the water.

Environment Minister Glen Murray says the government is taking the report very seriously, and if there is a safe way to clean up the mercury it will be done.

The government is not rejecting the idea of cleaning it up, but wants to make sure remediation efforts wont stir up more of the chemical, added Murray.

If theres a solution there thats feasible, then we should be looking at it and acting on it, he said.

I will leave it to the scientists and the ministry to go through that and look at the science and the solutions and bring recommendations forward. Its very complex.

Premier Kathleen Wynne told the legislature the government would look closely at the reports recommendations.

If there is a way to clean up that river without disturbing the mercury and making the situation worse, then obviously we want to look at that, said Wynne.

New Democrat Sarah Campbell asked Wynne to commit to getting rid of the mercury.

This needs to be done very carefully, but here today a report written by scientists says that it is possible to clean up the river, said Campbell.

Rudd said the government should find out if theres a new source of mercury that is keeping levels so high or if its still leaching from the old Dryden chemical plant.

The first step should be finding where these ongoing sources (of mercury) are, and the second would be to try to introduce mediation efforts to clean it up, he said.

Were more certain now that the recommendations made back in the 1980s would have a positive impact.

Professor Brian Branfireun of the University of Western Ontario, who has been studying mercury for 25 years, urged the government to move quickly on the report.

The recommendations of this report require further study, but let me be completely clear: no further study is required to determine if mercury remains a problem in the Wabigoon River or Clay Lake in 2016, he said.

What needs to be known now is where the mercury derives from and what the appropriate remediation strategies are that should be applied to solve this problem.

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said hell give he hopes the government gives the new report on mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows a serious study and will respond quickly.
Opinion

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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Colony Square complex in downtown Winnipeg will be undergoing millions of dollar in renovations and upgrades over the next 10 years.

Toronto-based Timbercreek Asset Management Inc. acquired the St. Mary Avenue complex late last year from Winnipegs Lanesborough Real Estate Investment Trust for $70.25 million. A senior Timbercreek official said the firm is ready to begin investing millions more dollars  he wouldnt say how many millions  on upgrades to the three-tower complex, which includes 428 rental apartments, 83,300 square feet of commercial space and a 270-stall underground parkade.

Were long-term investors, and weve always spent a fair bit of capital on improving our investments  Ugo Bizzarri, Timbercreeks co-founder and managing director of portfolio management and investments, said.

BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Timbercreek Asset Management plans on spending millions of dollars over 10 years on upgrades to the Colony Square complex.

The plans are in the initial stages, so I dont want to be too specific, he added. But there is going to be a fair bit of work done on the property.

Bizzarri revealed all three buildings will be renovated inside and out. The exterior work will include the installation of new exterior cladding, new paint, new landscaping and upgrades to all the apartment balconies and the rooftop patio and pool.

The interior work will include renovations to the lobby areas and indoor amenity spaces and extensive upgrades to all of the suites. That includes new kitchens, new bathrooms and new appliances, he added.

It will be a full-scope renovation.

Bizzarri said the exterior work should get underway shortly and hopefully will be completed this year. The upgrades to the indoor common areas and amenity spaces will be done over the next two years, but the upgrades to the suites wont take place until each of the existing tenants moves out. Thats why its expected to take about 10 years to complete the entire project, he added.

Colony Square is the sixth multi-family-residential complex Timbercreek has acquired since it entered the Winnipeg market in 2010 with the purchase of three highrise apartment blocks  160 Smith St., 33 Hargrave St., and 15 Arden Ave.  from Winnipegs B&M Lands Co., and it sounds like it wont be the last.

Were looking to acquire some more assets (in Winnipeg), Bizzarri said. We like the downtown market, and we like the multi-family sector, obviously. So were looking to acquire more multi-family (properties). Were looking all across the city.

He said Timbercreek is also pleased with the way Winnipeg has performed as an investment market.

Its been very stable. Its been steady as she goes, and thats a very good thing. You dont have the ups like in some other markets like Alberta, but you also dont get the downs as much. So its a good market (to be in).

Don White is executive vice-president of national investment services for the Winnipeg office of Colliers International, which was the selling agent in the Colony Square deal. He said the fact a major institutional investor such as Timbercreek is keen on acquiring more properties in Winnipeg and on upgrading the ones it already has is good news for the city.

Any time an institutional investor like that makes a commitment of that scale to our city, I think its very, very positive. It is a very telling sign as to their confidence in our rental-rate growth and a very telling sign as to their confidence in the general advancement and growth of our city and the economy therein.

Also, think about all the (building) materials, labour and employment hours that will go into a project like that, White said. And think about the renter. The renter is being given the opportunity to live in a nicer suite. Notwithstanding that they will have to pay more, youre having to pay more in every major city to live in nicer buildings. And there are lots of people out there who want to live in nicer buildings.

White said hes not surprised Timbercreek is looking to acquire more buildings in Winnipeg.

I expect them, and others like them from other parts of Canada, to continue to be active in our market.

Know of any newsworthy or interesting trends or developments in the local office, retail or industrial retail sectors? Let real estate reporter Murray McNeill know at the email address below or at 204-697-7254

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca
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VANCOUVER  Two British Columbia groups anticipating a nationwide review of environmental assessment processes hope a new report will encourage the federal government to strengthen laws involving resource projects.

West Coast Environmental Law and the Northwest Institute for Bioregional Research have released a report highlighting what they say is growing unease in northern B.C. over numerous resource developments.

The report is based on comments from about 200 community leaders and residents in Prince Rupert, Terrace, Kitimat, Hazelton, Fort St. John and Chetwynd.

They were questioned about the many mining, forestry, oil and gas, hydroelectric and other developments across the region.

West Coast Environmental Law spokeswoman Hannah Askew says the report reveals frustration with project-by-project assessments and a lack of faith in governments ability to manage their overall effect.

The study calls for weighing the combined impact of all industrial activity in a region as the environmental review system is rebuilt.

The heart of that is moving from a reactive process to a proactive process where community members have the time to sit down and figure out long-term hopes for the future, and then measure projects against those goals, Askew says.

Community meetings began in late 2014 and found many participants worried they had no time to mull the big picture while being pressured to decide on single projects with the potential to derail future developments, she says.

The report recommends the use of a regional strategic environmental assessment to address that problem, she says.

The federal government has made a lot of statements about reforming the (environmental assessment) process and providing more meaningful opportunities for public input into environmental decision-making, so we are really hoping they are going to be moving in this direction.
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EDMONTON  Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says concerns about environmental contamination will delay the return of up to 2,000 evacuees expecting to move back to their homes in fire-damaged Fort McMurray until as late as September.

Re-entering the scarred community is to proceed this week for most residents as previously announced. But Notley said Monday that more than 500 homes and about a dozen apartment complexes that escaped a wildfire earlier this month in three otherwise heavily damaged neighbourhoods are not safe to be lived in yet.

She said that conclusion was reached with health experts following tests that found ash tainted with toxic heavy metals and carcinogens such dioxins and furans.

South African firefighters are seen on a an Air Canada plane in Johannesburg, South Africa destined for Edmonton on Sunday May 29, 2016 in this handout photo. Air Canada is flying 300 firefighters from Johannesburg, South Africa to assist with Alberta wild fires. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-CNW Group/Air Canada-MANDATORY CREDIT

It was determined that the volume of what weve just described was sufficient that those intact homes were not safe until that kind of waste was removed, Notley said. It means that people who live in those neighbourhoods should not plan to return permanently on June 4 as originally planned.

The U.S. Geological Survey found ash left after Californias home-destroying wildfires in 2007 and 2008 was far more alkaline than ash from wood fires. Mixed with water, the ash was almost as caustic as oven cleaner.

It was also significantly contaminated with metals, some of them toxic. Arsenic, lead, antimony, copper, zinc and chromium were all found at levels exceeding Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

As well, ash particles from urban-wildfire blazes tended to be smaller and more easily inhaled. Both arsenic and hexavalent chromium  a form of the metal known to cause lung cancer  were more readily taken up by lung fluids than they were in water.

Arrangements will be made for people from the affected homes in Fort McMurray to make a one-time visit.

We believe it will be possible to arrange for these residents to temporarily return to inspect their residences and retrieve their belongings, Notley said.

Crews will attempt to stabilize the ash and remaining debris by spraying it with a non-toxic substance which Notley compared to papier mache. Called a tackifier, the product is made from wood pulp and recycled paper.

Meanwhile, services are slowly being restored in preparation for residents who will return on schedule. Gas stations and grocery stores are being restocked.

Theyre working very quickly with those key retail providers, Notley said. We are certainly encouraging people to bring up as much of their own stuff as they can.

The Red Cross also announced Monday that it is releasing another $20 million from donations to everyone able to move back.

Returnees are to receive $300 for the first person in a household and $50 for each additional person. The electronic transfer of cash is intended to help with immediate expenses such as buying cleaning supplies and replacing rotten food.

More than $100 million has been donated to the Fort McMurray relief effort. Tuesday is the last day for individual donations to be matched by the federal and Alberta governments.

A provincial state of emergency that has been in effect in the Wood Buffalo municipality since shortly after the fire whipped through the city is to be extended until the end of June to co-ordinate cleanup and return of residents more easily, Notley said.

The fire is still burning and covers about 5,800 square kilometres, although it is not expected to grow significantly in coming days due to cooler and wetter weather conditions. About 300 South African firefighters have arrived to help, which brings the number battling the blaze to 2,000.
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KITCHENER, Ont.  An Ontario woman whose young niece went missing while fleeing Syria with her family said she knows theres a chance the girl didnt survive the shipwreck that killed her parents and siblings.

But Noor Al Jawabreh, a Syrian refugee living Kitchener, Ont., said she holds out hope her niece is alive and will leave no stone unturned until the girl is found.

Mira Akram Al Jawabreh, her parents and three younger siblings were among some 500 refugees aboard a boat that capsized off the coast of Italy in August 2014.

Noor Al Jawabreh, a refugee from Syria, sits in her home in Kitchener, Ont. on Sunday, May 29, 2016. Al Jawabreh believed her niece, whom she thought saw in a photo, was still alive but recently found out it was not her niece. She now believes her niece may have died along with the many others in a boat disaster near Italy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Hannah Yoon

Relatives were initially told all six had drowned but a mysterious photograph of a dark-haired girl that emerged on a Syrian news website days later stirred hope that Mira had survived.

That hope faltered last Friday, when Noor Al Jawabreh said she spoke to a man in Denmark who told her the girl in the photo was his daughter, not Mira.

Still, Al Jawabreh said she will keep searching for her niece until more conclusive information surfaces.

In my heart, I feel she is alive, she said in Arabic through an interpreter.

The family has already suffered so many losses  Al Jawabrehs older brother, Miras uncle, was killed in the early days of the Syrian conflict  that they cannot rest without knowing Miras fate, she said.

Wracked by guilt over the childs disappearance, Al Jawabreh said she feels it is her responsibility to find Mira because she is one of the few relatives still alive to do it.

She said she wants nothing more than to give Mira a new life with her family in Canada.

Al Jawabreh last saw her niece in 2012, when the girl was still a toddler, she said.

She and her family then fled to Jordan, where they remained until their arrival in Canada three months ago. Miras family, meanwhile, went to Algeria, eventually travelling illegally to Tunisia to take the boat.

In her attempts to track down Mira, Al Jawabreh said she has spoken to some who survived the shipwreck as well as members of the Syrian community in Italy, where the photo was reportedly taken.

Miras grandmother, who lives in Jordan, contacted the Italian embassy there but received no useful information, Al Jawabreh said.

Another of Miras relatives, a cousin who lives in Halifax, has said requests for information from the Red Cross, the Italian government and police have been equally fruitless.

They wouldnt even identify that the girl was there, Mohamed Masalmeh said last week.

They wouldnt admit that the girl was still alive, even though we saw her picture there. They didnt want to release any information  I dont know if its just bureaucracy or they just dont know where she is. There must be a way to track her down.

Last week, an Italian television show dedicated to missing people issued an appeal for information on Miras whereabouts.

The show, Chi LHa Visto, reported the photo was taken by Syracuse police in Augusta, on the eastern coast of Sicily. It also found the girl in the photo was registered with authorities under the name Maria, not Mira, and was marked as being of Palestinian origin.

With official inquiries hitting a dead end, Al Jawabreh said help from strangers may be the familys only chance at a reunion.
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A Canadian imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates for nearly two years has been acquitted of all charges by the countrys Supreme Court, his family said Monday as they appealed to Ottawa to help bring the man home.

Salim Alaradi had been accused of allegedly providing supplies to groups in a foreign country without permission of the U.A.E. government and collecting donations without the governments permission.

But despite the acquittal, Alaradi remains in custody, his daughter said.

Canadian Salim Alaradi and his son, Mohamed Alaradi are shown on a family vacation in the United Arab Emirates in a 2013 family handout photo. The family of a Canadian imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates for nearly two years says the man has been acquitted of all charges in what human rights advocates have called an unjust case.But Salim Alaradi's family says the man has still not been released from custody, despite being declared innocent. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, File

Our family is overwhelmed after almost two years of fighting for my fathers freedom, but today I cannot say that he is free man because he is still behind bars even though he is innocent, Marwa Alaradi told The Canadian Press.

I am afraid for his safety and his health. Canada needs to get him out today.

Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion welcomed Alaradis acquittal and said he expects an expedited process to reunite the man with his family.

The government of Canada raised Mr. Alaradis case at the highest levels and called for his release and return to Canada, Dion said in a statement.

Canadian officials will continue to provide consular assistance to Mr. Alaradi and his family, including by helping to facilitate his return home.

Salim Alaradi immigrated to Canada in 1998 from the U.A.E. but returned there in 2007 to run a home appliance business. He was on vacation with his family in Dubai when he was suddenly arrested in August 2014.

At the time, he was among 10 men of Libyan origin who were abruptly detained  some of them were later released.

After being held for months without being charged, Alaradi was put on trial early this year on terrorism charges, which he pleaded not guilty to. Those charges were abruptly dropped in March and replaced with two lesser offences.

Alaradis Canadian lawyer said a U.A.E. Supreme Court judge delivered the not guilty verdict for his client and three co-accused without giving any reasons for the decision.

The men cheered and hugged each other but before they could speak with their lawyers, the guards came and took them away to transport them back to jail, said Paul Champ.

We are still concerned that the State Security may try to assert their power over this situation. But Canadian government officials have already reached out to their Emirate counterparts and are insisting on Salim Alaradis immediate release.

Once Alaradi is released  hopefully early this week  Champ said Canadian officials are expected to accompany him to the airport where he will board a plane to Istanbul to seek immediate medical treatment and reunite with his family.

Once he is healthy enough, Alaradi and his family plan to return to their home in Windsor, Ont., Champ said.

This is great victory for us, the acquittal, but really its just the first step on his long road to recovery and getting his life back, he said.

Aside from 21 months in jail, which obviously would be hard on anyone, the injustice of being held on false charges on trumped up charges and the brutal torture he endured the first three months of detention, all of that is going to have a real toll on him.

The case has drawn international attention ever since Alaradi and his co-accused were put on trial.

UN human rights experts demanded the U.A.E. immediately release the men.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also examined the mens cases and cited advocates for the detainees alleging that the men had been deprived of sleep for up to 20 days, beaten on the hands and legs and suffered electric shocks with an electric chair.
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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA  A legal showdown appears to be looming as the federal government moves ahead with plans for plain packaging of tobacco products.

Health Minister Jane Philpott is set to make an announcement Tuesday  World No Tobacco Day  on the proposal, which involves standardizing box sizes and prohibiting colours, logos and graphics on tobacco packages.

The proposal is sure to rekindle the industrys frustrations in Canada, much as similar measures have done in other countries.

Rob Cunningham, senior policy advisor for the Canadian Cancer Society, holds up a proposed standardized cigarette package Friday May 27, 2016 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

The government is exposing itself to a legal challenge, said Imperial Tobacco spokesperson Eric Gagnon.

We believe, like any other industry, we have the right to have our brands on the products that adult consumers purchase so thats why we are going to defend against such a measure, Gagnon said.

Well have to wait and see what the government proposes, but we will defend against excessive and ineffective regulation. We have in the past and like any other industry, we are still a legal product.

The potential legal dust-up comes as no surprise to longtime anti-tobacco advocate Rob Cunningham, a lawyer and senior policy analyst at the Canadian Cancer Society.

Tobacco companies will fail if they take the legal route against the government, he said, pointing to unsuccessful challenges in countries including Australia, where the highest court ruled against the industry.

This does not discourage Gagnon, however, who stressed different laws, different countries.

We are not going to take for granted that what happened in other countries is going to be the same verdict in Canada, Gagnon said.

We do believe it is a fundamental right as a legal company to have those brands and sell our products. That is the core of the discussion.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms could be used by the industry to fight back over plain packaging  namely Section 2, which deals with fundamental freedoms.

A 2007 decision from the Supreme Court of Canada could be very useful for the federal governments fight in this regard, Cunningham said.

In its ruling, the court found federal provisions requiring health warnings to occupy at least 50 per cent of packages amounted to violations of the guarantee to free expression of tobacco manufacturers, but were justified under the reasonable limits clause of the charter.

Parliaments goal, notably to inform and remind potential purchasers of the product of the health hazards it entails, is pressing and substantial, the court said.

The benefits flowing from larger (health) warnings are clear, while the detriments to the manufacturers expressive interest in creative packaging are small.

The government has a long history of winning against the tobacco industry in court and plain packaging is another instalment in that battle, Cunningham said.

The tobacco industry knows that plain packaging is a major threat to its sales and it is going to be opposed, he said. We simply have to respond.

A Commons health committee recommended plain packaging for products 22 years ago but tobacco companies still question the evidence of its effectiveness.

This is the industrys history  to deny, deny, deny, Cunningham said, adding the measure has been recommended by the World Health Organization.

He said in addition to Australia, plain packaging has been embraced in France, the United Kingdom and Ireland, while formal consideration is also underway in Norway, Hungary, Slovenia, Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, Singapore, Belgium and South Africa.

In his mandate letter to Philpott, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau noted the intention to introduce plain packaging requirements for tobacco products.

The federal government also announced in March it would seek a cost-benefit analysis of the proposal in the Canadian landscape.

Health Canada would not address the potential legal challenge in a statement to The Canadian Press.

It noted plain packaging is not intended to infringe on the rights of companies to register and protect their trademarks.

The objective of the measure is to protect young people and others from inducements to tobacco, the department added.

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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitobas sustainable development department has officially re-classified the Caddy Lake-area wildfire under control.

Both the wildfire in the south Whiteshell/Northwestern Ontario, and the Beresford Lake-area wildfire that also spilled across the border, have been largely contained for the past week, and residents and cottagers have been allowed to return.

The Caddy-area fire had been classified as being held last week, but is now considered under control.

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Florence Lake cottager Ian Baragar surveys the burnt out shores of neighboring Nora Lake for the first time.

The Beresford-area fire is still classified as out of control, though it is contained.

In its only fire report in the past week, the provincial government said this weekend that the only remaining access restriction is the continued closing of part of the Mantario Trail, and that the situation has improved to the point that Manitoba and Ontario are shifting resources to help battle the wildfires around Fort McMurray.

Wildfire crews continue suppression work on some wildfires. There are no issues with any of these wildfires, the province said in a news release. Fire hose and equipment (are) being sent to Alberta to assist with their wildfire suppression activities.

Parts of the Mantario trail in Whiteshell Provincial Park remain closed due to fallen and fire damaged trees as a result of the recent wildfire in that area. Crews continue work on this.

Information on restrictions and areas is available at www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/fire/Restrictions

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Until now, the Kapyong Barracks site sat idle for more than a decade, thanks to a legal battle between the federal government and Treaty One First Nations.

A small group of demonstrators planning traditional ceremonies for the next few weeks pitched a tent Sunday night and set a sacred fire on the edge of the property across the street from Tuxedo condos.

Were here peacefully, said Kylo Prince, a Long Plain First Nation member who lives in Winnipeg. He said they want to hold ceremonies there for urban indigenous people and to share their culture and traditions with the non-indigenous community. Neighbours have shown curiosity and stopped by to speak to Prince who is accompanied by three other American Indian Movement members.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Kylo Prince, a Long Plain FN member who lives in Wpg and is one of four peaceful protestors planning to hold sweats and sacred ceremonies at Kapyong. Theyve been there since Sunday night.

Weve mets lots of friendly people so far, Prince said, as an elderly Caucasian man drove by slowly and gave the group a nod. Most have shown encouragement, said Prince. Some people are saying Its about time, he said.

Weve had a few sour stares, he admitted.

On Sunday night, the Winnipeg fire department visited the site and asked if they had a fire permit, said Prince.

I said we dont need a permit  we have the UN declaration.  Earlier this month, Canada committed its support to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which includes the right to practice their traditions and celebrate their culture.

It put it to the test, said Prince. The firefighters saw that they were taking care of the fire in a metal fireplace and left, he said. Winnipeg police showed up Monday morning and asked what was going on and left, he said.

On Monday morning, military police showed up and asked what they were doing there. The two officers advised the demonstrators to call if they needed help. We certainly respect your cause, said one of the officers who wear a red beret. If you need something, let me know.

Prince asked if they could help arrange to get them a porta-potty. The nearest public restroom is at Superstore on Grant Avenue or at IKEA on Route 90.

Culture and traditions

Theyre not demonstrating because they want to take over the property, said Prince. Theyre there to demonstrate their culture and traditions. He said he contacted the Long Plain First Nation Chief Dennis Meeches about his vision for the site. Meeches is the Treaty One chief who took the lead in a battle with the federal government over first dibs through the Treaty Land Entitlement process on the Crown land vacated by the military in 2004. When the federal government gave up the fight last year, the process then was stalled by first nation infighting. Prince said Meeches supports their demonstration at Kapyong and he was waiting for the chief to contact the Department of National Defence to unlock the gates to the property so they could enter it. Meeches did not respond to a request for comment Monday morning.

Whether its First Nations land or not, we feel we have a right to be here, said Prince.

It might be a good way to see what our people are about, said Harrison Friesen-Powder, a member of the Bigstone Cree Nation in Alberta. There have been a lot of judgments made. He said Kapyong housed soldiers whod experienced the pain and trauma of war and the site could use a spiritual cleansing.

These ceremonies will help to heal that.

Prince said Winnipegs First Nation people need healing, too, and the Kapyong ceremonies aim to help.

Were hoping to have a feast here on Fathers Day for murdered and missing (indigenous) men, said Prince, acknowledging there are many more men than women missing and feared dead.

Prince and Friesen-Powder belong to the American Indian Movement and were joined at Kapyong by members from Quebec and Michigan who drove 35 hours to be there. When military police showed up Monday morning, the American who goes by Changes Wind Boy from Michigan covered his face with a bandana. He said the MPs were taking photos and he felt safer not having his photo distributed by police. The American showed a reporter his passport and said he arrived in Canada legally. He said the American Indian Movement has been associated with violence in the past but has learned peaceful methods are more effective.

When youre seen fighting against a government, theres no way to win, said the First Nation man from Michigan. They want to bring back ceremonies and show people we can live peacefully among them.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For all its talk, the federal Liberal government hasnt shifted its thinking in the way it deals with First Nations, say social entrepreneurs trying to get their economies growing.

Last week, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) pulled the plug on an $8-million geothermal project that would create jobs and lower energy bills at Waywayseecappo First Nation in western Manitoba.

It seems that every time we try and save money and create employment, they cut us off, Waywayseecappo Chief Murray Clearsky said Friday.

It seems that every time we try and save money and create employment, they cut us off Murray Clearsky, chief of Waywayseecappo First Nation

Waywayseecappo was preparing to work with the social enterprise Aki Energy to retrofit houses there with geothermal systems when it learned the project was nixed Thursday.

The department will not be considering any new geothermal projects via the Income Assistance program, a federal government email to Aki Energy said.

The social enterprise works with First Nations to start green businesses in their communities, create jobs and grow their economies. So far, Aki has been involved with retrofitting 350 houses on four First Nations  Peguis, Fisher River, Long Plain and Sagkeeng  with geothermal systems that cut heating costs by 40 per cent.

Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source thats particularly suitable for electrically heated homes. Through the use of a geothermal heat pump, these systems transfer thermal energy between the ground and the building.

Manitoba Hydro and the province have been very supportive, and First Nations are eager to get involved, said Shaun Loney, who helped found Aki Energy and seven other social enterprises.

We cannot get the federal government on board when were asking them to support something that will save money, said Loney. The partnership agreement we have with Waywayseecappo is for an $8-million investment  all to be paid back out of utility-bill reductions, he said. The geothermal work will not cost (INAC) anything, said Loney.

Waywayseecappo First Nation had proposed a Geo-thermal project as part of a pilot project that would require financing of a loan under the departments Income Assistance program. Officials are pursuing whether this project could be funded through other areas in the department, the Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada said in a statement Monday.

In 2014, Manitoba Hydro announced the Community Geothermal Program using PAYS (pay as you save) financing to work with Aki Energy and expand the program to First Nations across Manitoba. Hydro committed to investing $19 million in the program.

Last fall, the provincial government announced additional funding to allow Aki Energy to roll out consultation and community-engagement services in order to select and train managers and installers on two First Nations with the hope of being ready to start work in the 2016 construction season. Waywayseecappo, located 322 kilometres west of Winnipeg, was one of them.

With 70 per cent unemployment in his community of just over 1,400 on-reserve residents, Clearsky said the geothermal project would have created decent jobs for at least six residents to start and more as projects expanded to other communities. People could save money on their power bills, said the chief of the First Nation where most homes are heated electrically. We could save money and pass (the technology) along to other communities in our area, but they dont want to do it anymore.

With the new government we havent seen any results yet. Weve been promised the world, but we havent seen anything yet, said Clearsky.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The prime ministers scheduled apology for the sorry Komagata Maru chapter in Canadas immigration history was upstaged by the infamous melee he caused the same day in the House of Commons. Justin Trudeaus frustration with procedural rules ironically echoed what happened to the 376 immigrant passengers entering Vancouvers harbour in 1914 on the now-famous ship.

Those passengers, mostly Sikhs from the Punjab region of India, were denied entry because of the continuous journey rule that required ships bringing immigrants had to have made a non-stop voyage from the country of origin  easily done from Europe but in those days impossible from India by regularly scheduled means.

The rule veiled the reality that Canadas immigration policy at the time was racist with white Europeans being preferred. We know this and acknowledge this today. Despite the fact all passengers on the Komagata Maru were British subjects (as were Canadians at the time) and despite the fact the previous year (1913) still stands as the all-time record year for immigrant arrivals (some 400,000), landing to these South Asians was blocked.

ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILESPrime Minister Justin Trudeau looks to the public gallery as he formally apologizes for a 1914 government decision that barred most of the passengers of the Komagata Maru from entering Canada, in the House of Commons on May 18.

Rules still veil reality when it comes to immigration to Canada. Racism no longer underlies the rules, but getting into Canada as an immigrant is both difficult in qualifying and limited in numbers. It comes as a surprise to many there is no mechanism to allow one to sponsor an adult sister or brother, let alone aunts, uncles or cousins. That possibility was removed more than two decades ago. And only some fathers and mothers get in under the numbers allowed.

The federal governments annual levels plan acknowledges the importance of immigration to the economic well-being of Canada, the need for qualified workers, the significance of family reunification and the responsibility for a humanitarian component that includes refugees. But it sets a limit on the numbers in each category to be admitted. It is the new rule regime that is just as effective in keeping immigrants out as was the continuous-journey rule of 1914.

The number to be admitted in 2016 is 300,000  the total for all classes of immigration. The demand is much greater. When Jason Kenney was immigration minister (2008-13) he admitted demand was three times the then-target of 250,000. This makes for a lot of unhappy people  Canadian relatives as well as would-be immigrants.

New figures show Canadas population is 22 per cent foreign-born; this is the reason for the high demand. Family reunification drives not only application numbers in the family class, it also underlies more than 95 per cent of demand for the private sponsoring of refugees. Even with immigrants independently qualifying under Canadas rigorous criteria, it is estimated more than 80 per cent choose Canada because they have relatives here.

Family ties are the elephant in the room when it comes to immigration demand. Now added to this, because of the high profile of the refugee crisis, is a remarkable outpouring of Canadian compassion, wanting to help. But it is being frustrated by the rules of the system and its inability to deliver numbers beyond the levels plan.

What lies behind the current immigrant-limiting rules? Its not racism anymore. One hears absorptive capacity as the reason  whether that be about the country as a whole, or the ability of the immigration department to deliver.

LEONARD FRANK PHOTO / VANCOUVER PUBLIC LIBRARY SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Archival photo of some of the 376 Punjabis, mostly Sikhs, aboard the 'Komagata Maru' in Vancouver Harbour. Wearing a white suit in the lower left is group leader Gurdip Singh. East Indian immigrants on the 'Komagata Maru' were turned away in Vancouver in 1914, and not allowed entry to Canada.

But is this as hollow as the reasons underlying the continuous-voyage rationale of 1914? Is the national agenda set by prudence, or by a concern for the protection of control and entitlements? Whose control and entitlements?

These are profound topics for debate. Their resolution affects the future of Canada.

Tom Denton is the executive director of Hospitality House Refugee Ministry of Winnipeg.
Opinion

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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Its been a long, twisting, traffic-ticket-littered road for WiseupWinnipegs Todd Dube and Chris Sweryda, our version of Batman-and Robin in the battle for traffic enforcement justice.

Starting from the day eight years ago when Dube was tagged with a red-light ticket going 80 km/h in a 80 km/h zone, after being caught by photo radar in the so-called dilemma zone. Thats the stretch of road that starts when the green light turns amber and the driver has to make a quick decision.

Stop or go.

JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS WiseupWinnipeg leaders Todd Dube, left, and Chris Sweryda holding signs on the roadside in Winnipeg.

In Dubes case the amber light  and hence the dilemma zone  only lasted four seconds. He still argues that a four-second amber  that he says he overshot by a tenth-of-a second  wasnt enough time at that rate of posted speed. Over the years, the citys so-called static four-second amber-light length for all speeds and all intersections would become one of Wiseups biggest targets for change.

For some observers, Dube, a 52-year-old father of two and marketing company owner, and Sweryda, a 29-year-old University of Manitoba sociology major, have been seen less as crusaders and more as crackpots.

Heres the misnomer we have to address, Dube said Sunday when I sat with both Batman and Robin as a pair of chirping budgies swooped through the living room of his country home south of the city. The media, five or six years later, still characterize us as a group about the right to speed, or right to run red lights. Anti-traffic-police, anti -ticketing. Its the farthest thing from the truth. Were talking about enforcement abuses which are unique to Winnipeg.

Dube says he knows that sounds unbelievable.

It sounds like a conspiratorial thing. It just isnt.

Actually, their damning, deeply disturbing, if somewhat dated, hour-long power-point presentation does make the case for a conspiracy by the city traffic engineering department and the police service to create intersections and roadways where traffic ticket revenue can be maximized.

In other words, its like speed traps. But red-light traps, and even turning-lane traps.

The city takes the position that they dont tell the police where to enforce, Dube explains, and the police take the position that they dont tell the city how to sign. A very convenient and profitable disconnect. And so it goes on  for decades.

Thats not how it works in at least one other Canadian city, says Sweryda. He spoke recently with a traffic sergeant in Halifax.

They sit down with the city engineers every month and say, we noticed abnormal numbers of speeding here. Can you put an extra sign up? Or this sign is crooked, can you fix this? Here in Winnipeg they say, well, were not traffic engineers, were not qualified to tell the city where signs are missing.

Wiseups presentation  complete with charts, statistics, traffic tickets exhibits and photos  makes a strong case that the city has ignored engineering deficiencies as a way of maximizing traffic enforcement profits and topping up the police budget by millions of dollars. And at the expense of unwitting motorists.

True or not, gradually  one small victory at a time  Wiseup and its core group of what Dube says is 5,000 Facebook followers, are not only being listened to by both national and local media, theyre beginning to earn a little respect. Maybe even a lot. Whats happening Tuesday, for instance, could be a major breakthrough.

Dube and Sweryda are scheduled to meet privately with two city hall leaders who could make a difference. If, that is, the citys Chief Operating Officer Michael Jack and Public Works Committee chair and deputy mayor Janice Lukes do more than politely watch and listen to the powerful power-point presentation.

As it happened, it was one of those aforementioned small victories that brought Lukes and Jack to the table on Tuesday.

Last month, there was a media account about a reduce-to-30 road sign that had been missing for three months from a school zone on Panet Road. Using information elicited from a Freedom of Information request, Dube claims that the location was the No. 1 ranked school zone for volume of speeding tickets. The day after that story appeared, the missing sign went up. According to Dube, a reporter subsequently asked Lukes when the city was finally planning to meet with WUW.

It was following that, Dube said, that we received the meeting request.

I want to believe that the two civic leaders will not only learn something, but do something, after they watch the WiseupWinnipeg presentation. That public safety and doing the right thing will win out over the pressing need to pad the police budget. Or at least do something about the dangerously short ambers at high-speed intersections. Anyway, now its the citys top bureaucrat and the deputy mayor who are in the dilemma zone. But, alas, somehow I cant picture them applying the brakes.

Not in our own Gotham by the Red Light.

gordon.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca
Opinion

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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You can hear the clock ticking. The June 6 deadline imposed by the Supreme Court of Canada is looming, and the Liberals are scrambling to get their physician-assisted suicide legislation through all the necessary channels to become law in time. Its highly likely that its not going to happen.

Perhaps thats a good thing. The Alberta Court of Appeal has already made it clear the federal governments Bill C-14 is not complying with the Supreme Court ruling Carter vs. Canada and is far too prohibitive in its stance. Canadas highest court struck down the restrictions on suicide in February 2015, writing: The prohibition on physician-assisted dying infringes the right to life, liberty and security of the person in a manner that is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. Provincial and federal governments were given a year to prepare new legislation to come into effect. The Harper government dragged its feet, such that the Liberals, elected last fall, asked for an extension. So June 6 became the target, and now the deadline looms.

Last week, Albertas Appeal Court said Bill C-14, still waiting for third reading before being sent to the Senate, would not sustain a constitutional challenge because it excludes people with psychiatric illnesses. In a scathing judgment, it wrote that the Supreme Court did not require the applicant to be terminally ill to qualify. The decision itself is clear. No words in it suggest otherwise. If the court had wanted it to be thus, they would have said so clearly and unequivocally. They did not.

ADRIAN WYLD/ THE CANADIAN PRESS Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould

For whatever reason, the Liberals seem to be ignoring these rulings and going ahead with their own version of legislation. Moreover, there seems to be some shenanigans going on (to quote Green party Leader Elizabeth May). Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould has suggested without Bill C-14 in place, there will be no ability for a person to go to a Superior Court judge and get an exemption. However, civil liberties groups have said thats not true. Instead, the provincial health laws will then regulate the criteria under which an individual can see medically assisted death.

In Manitoba, Health Minister Kelvin Goertzen says this province is as ready as it can be to deal with physician-assisted suicide. The guidelines adopted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons spell out that a patient suffering from physical or psychological pain that is serious and irremediable can apply for medical assistance in dying. Two physicians must make the determination before the procedure takes place. The caveat remains, however, that if a doctor conscientiously objects, they are under no requirement to refer their patient to another doctor who will perform the treatment; however, he or she must provide the patient with resources, which in the language of the college may include physicians, health-care providers, counsellors and publicly available resources which can be accessed without a referral and which provide reliable information about physician-assisted death.

But thats not a guarantee, and this may create an untenable situation for those who are suffering. It also may amount to patient abandonment, and our province should not be allowing this to occur. At the same time, it was reassuring to hear Mr. Goertzen has committed to ensuring more palliative care beds are made available in the province. This might take the pressure off religiously based hospitals that refuse to provide medical assistance in dying.

So here we are. As of June 6, the Manitoba college requirements will be in place until the federal government gets its legislation approved by both the House and the Senate. The Liberals should listen to the opposition and its own parliamentary committee on the subject, widen the provisions to include those who are mentally ill and get the legislation in place.
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This article was published 30/05/2016 (2339 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

This spring, John Taylor students learned a few lessons in a different kind of classroomone they built with their own hands.

Eighteen Grade 11 and 12 students recently returned from an eight-day trip to El Trapiche, Nicaragua, where they built a community schoolhouse.

John Taylor teacher Melanie Paragg and three other staff members accompanied the students.

Although the group travelled without the comforts of home  such as cell phones and air-conditioning  they said the experience was unforgettable.



It just changes your perspective, student Shaye Kemball said. Not to take everything for granted is what Ive learned.

Supplied photo Eighteen John Taylor students recently went to Nicaragua for an eight-day service trip. The group helped to construct a schoolhouse.

You go on the trip expecting to see poverty but once youre there and see the families living in huts, its really shocking, Silas Allen added. You cant imagine having to live in that situation.

The group was able to explore the town and see how the locals make money. While farming beans, rice and wheat has been a source of income for some, the dry season coupled with an ongoing drought has been challenging for many communities.

I complain all the time about going to work but the women in the village wanted an opportunity to make their own money and provide for themselves, student Brittney Wade said.

Many women make jewelry to sell, while children of all ages help their parents with farming and other work when theyre not at school.

We went to this pottery place and they showed us how they make their pottery and how they use all these traditional ways to do it, Allen said. They value their culture and it was interesting that they do everything the way their ancestors did to keep them alive.

The group also realized how valuable school and education was to the community.

These kids want to go to school so badly, while some students here complain about waking up early, student Jared Muise said.

Supplied photo

Grades 1 through 9 go to school for half a day during the week while high school students go for a full day on Saturdays.

But its not like these kids are laying around at home, Muise said. Theyre working with their mother or father, working everyday except that day of school.

Its given the group a new appreciation for their own easily accessible and reliable school system. And despite the heavy labour, the group enjoyed the hard work they put into building a new school.

Working on the work site with everyone and having great teamwork out there, that was my favourite part, student Benjamin Klyne said. No one really complained at all.

Beyond giving them a new perspective on poverty, the group was also warmed by the sense of community and culture they experienced.

We saw the Good Friday celebration, which was interesting, student Levi Friesen said.

Supplied photo

Our bus got stuck in the middle of a huge Easter parade and all the kids were dressed up as Jesus, Wade said. It was great to experience the culture it was so cool to see the way they celebrate holidays.

In just over the course of a week the group formed a close bond and hopes to go on more service trips  hopefully together.
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Every year on Memorial Day, we remember those we have lost while they served in our military. It is a time to reflect on how we honor these fallen heroes and how we treat those who have followed, our brave veterans, with the dignity and respect they have earned.

Throughout our nations history, Minnesotans have proudly served in our military. Theyve fought on the front lines. Theyve built roads and schools. Theyve made peace. Theyve kept us safe. And, together with their families, they have fought to ensure all those who have served are honored in death and respected in life. While we cannot change history, we can change the way service members are honored and respected.

John Anderson of Willmar died fighting in one of the most important battles in our history: D-Day. But for 70 years, after he did not return home, Johns family did not know what became of him. They were told that his remains were washed out to sea, but his nephew started researching and had reason to believe his remains were buried in an unmarked grave in Normandy. They asked the Pentagon to have the remains disinterred. The Pentagon denied the request. Twice. The family did not give up, including reaching out to our office for help. When the remains finally were tested, the family was right. John was indeed buried in Normandy. This month, he is being buried at home, in Willmar. A final resting place for a true hero.

Elizabeth Betty Strohfus of Fairbault flew military planes across the country in World War II  she was a Woman Airforce Service Pilot, or a WASP. This year, I had the privilege of seeing Betty one last time before she died at the age of 96. She and her family were standing up for her WASP sisters and fighting for them to have the right to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, the same right as other veterans. This May, the president finally signed the bill into law to instill that right.

Another way we honor those who we have lost is by ensuring those who do come home have access to the healthcare, education and retirement benefits they deserve.

Take Melissa Gillett. She enlisted in the National Guard with the intention of serving for 20 years. That changed after her deployment to Afghanistan and exposure to burn pits  giant pits the military used to burn trash, everything from human waste to cars and aerosol cans. Since, Melissa has experienced a host of negative health effects like sinus and respiratory issues.

Because of her breathing issues, Melissa no longer can serve in the National Guard. She is one of nearly 65,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have begun the process of filing reports with the Veterans Affairs voluntary registry. These veterans inspired Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and me to introduce the Help Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits Act, which would create a center of excellence at the VA to better understand and begin to address the health needs of veterans who have fallen ill after exposure to burn pits.

Or take members of Minnesotas National Guard, hundreds of whom were called to active duty and deployed to the Sinai Peninsula last year. While it was a peacekeeping mission, the guard members took mortar fire for months on end. When they came home, however, the VA rejected their GI Bill applications. They told us about their struggle, and now Sen. Al Franken and I are working to ensure that Guard and Reserve members can access the health care, education and retirement benefits they have earned.

Our men and women in uniform  and their families  dont stop serving our country when they come home. No, they keep on fighting for their fellow soldiers and veterans to be honored and respected. Thats a true memorial  one we should all work to emulate.
You were just thinking about going for a walk, and he starting bouncing before you said a word. He hopes to share your snack before you even realize youre hungry, and he often beats you to bed. Your dog knows you perhaps better than he knows himself, and in The Underdogs by Melissa Fay Greene, youll see how that could be a real lifesaver.

Karen Shirk had always loved dogs but as a college student, she had other things on her mind  until the sunny afternoon when she fell flat on the sidewalk and ended up in ICU, diagnosed with a neuromuscular disease that would put her in a wheelchair.

Depressed, bored, and uninterested in life, Shirk figured her days would be spent in that chair  until she was urged to get a service dog. When Shirk couldnt find or secure one that was already trained, her caregiver told her to train one of her own.

That led Shirk to Ben, a German Shepherd, who bonded with her so tightly that he literally saved her life one night. Energized and with purpose, she was soon out of the wheelchair, and she knew she wanted to give others  children, in particular  the benefits of canine helpers. She founded 4 Paws for Ability, a non-profit organization that trains dogs for people who wouldnt otherwise have access to a four-footed assistant.

Without a Goldendoodle named Casey, for example, young Connor would have felt as though he had no friends. Little Lucy, suffering from PTSD, didnt want a dog; she was afraid that her parents might love a dog more than they loved her, and that was scary. Logan didnt know he needed Juke, or the tracking skills that Juke possessed. Iyals father was against a 4 Paws helper, until he saw the change that Chancer made in his son. And Shirk herself, a lover of big dogs, never thought that a little one would capture her heart.

If youve read this far, and youre a dog lover, it should come as no surprise that your dog (and dogs in general) can do amazing, wonderful things  and yet, says author Melissa Fay Greene, science has been slow to concur. In The Underdogs, she explores that eked acceptance, and how canine emotions and intelligence go hand-in-paw with the work that service dogs do.

Thats a powerful, uplifting smile-on-your-face tale thats somewhat marred by its telling: Greene is a renowned novelist, and this work of non-fiction often reads like a novel. Normally, I think that would be fine but were given physical descriptions of every person we meet in this book (great in a novel; meaningless here), as well as a lot of conjecture that get in the way of a story that could easily stand by itself.

Still, theres no dog-person in the world that wouldnt be able to find treats inside this book  and that includes me, who actually enjoyed it, overall. If you need more fodder for your Dogs-Are-Best stance, The Underdogs will make you howl.
Community members of all ages are invited to join the fight against cancer from 5 to 10 p.m. at the Columbus Firemans Park Pavilion Friday, June 3 during the American Cancer Societys Columbus Fall River Relay for Life.

Music, food, bingo, a bouncy house, carriage rides and more will be available. No registration is necessary to participate.

Joey Willborn, Columbus Fall River Relay for Life committee member, has been participating in the event as a member of the Olivet Church team for over 10 years. Cancer has affected our family in so many ways, said Willborn, who lost her mother to cancer over 40 years ago. The Relay is an opportunity to raise funds to fight cancer, but it is also an opportunity to honor survivors and remember those we have lost.

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. 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 the evening of June 3. During the event, hundreds of luminaria will light the walking path to celebrate the lives of those who have battled cancer and remember those who have lost the battle. The names of those remembered and honored are also read aloud during a special ceremony near the end of the evening.

It is a way for us to never forget those we have lost, added Willborn.

Luminaria forms are available at Columbus Community Hospital, Farmers & Merchants Union Bank, Julies Java House, the Columbus Area Senior Center and Sharrows Downtown. Proceeds from luminaria sales and funds raised during the event are donated to the American Cancer Society which uses 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.

Registration to attend the family 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.
There is no doubt and there is no room for debate about global warming and its man-made cause at least if you are a student in Portland (Oregon) Public Schools.

That was the directive from the Portland school board recently when it ordered any texts contravening that theory be purged from the districts textbooks and other curriculum. Any insidious words like may or might or could that cast even a shred of doubt on the settled science of global warming will be stricken from student view.

And thats a pity.

There is no question that there is a strong consensus among climate scientists that the current global warming trend exists, is ongoing and is likely linked to human activity and the rise in carbon dioxide emissions. But there are also doubters who question whether the changes are outside normal climactic variations.

In the United States, the political and economic debate over global warming, what to do about it and how effective  and how damaging to our carbon-fueled economy  remedial measures would be continues to rage.

The Portland school board vote was one such skirmish. The effort there was led by environmental and left-wing groups that want to stamp out any dissent  as demonstrated by one of the leaders, Bill Bigelow, who acknowledged: We dont want kids in Portland learning material courtesy of the fossil fuel industry.

And Portland is not alone in beating the drum to curb any dissent. Earlier this spring Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the Justice Department was looking at the possibility of pursuing civil action climate change deniers and had referred a request to the FBI to determine whether the department could act. Nothing warming about that, global or otherwise.

It is not the first time that settled science has caused some unsettling events when someone has had the audacity to question it. Back in 1633 a scientist was excoriated for postulating his heliocentric theory  a theorem that was roundly rejected by the scientific community and theologians at the time.

He was brought up on charges by the Roman Catholic Church, found guilty of heresy, had his writings banned and was sentenced to house arrest for the rest of his life.

The scientists name was Galileo. His theory was that the earth was not the center of the universe. After studying the heavens with his telescope, Galileo postulated that the earth was moving around the sun.

It only took the church 392 years to correct the record when Pope John Paul II wrote: Thanks to his intuition as a brilliant physicist and by relying on different arguments, Galileo who practically invents the experimental method, understood why only the sun could function as the center of the world

Portland, by banning any dissent or debate, has abandoned its duties to educate its school children and, instead, decided to indoctrinate them and that is shameful.

The goal of education  and the task of educators  is to foment debate, teach students to think critically and to weigh arguments. Those are the students who will make the discoveries, in science and other fields, that will help us face the challenges of the future.

In Portland, meanwhile, this crop of students will probably stay safely ashore and not risk going out on the Pacific for fear of sailing off the end of the earth. That, too, was once settled science.
The time the other Kennedy visited apartheid South Africa

RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope was recently screened at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) with filmmaker Larry Shore.

The documentary chronicles American Senator Robert Kennedys visit to South Africa in 1966, recording many historical moments around his short visit, including the defiant meeting with then African National Congress (ANC) President Chief Albert Luthuli, then under a banning order. Known by his initials, RFK was part of the famous Kennedy political clan. He was assassinated in 1968.

The speeches Kennedy gave at the universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Wits may have faded from public memory or may no longer seem relevant. However, by recovering these images, the film succeeds not only as a record of the racial segregation of this society and the former whites-only universities at the height of apartheid, but acquires an added poignancy with the recent student protests and ongoing calls for the transformation of the entire education system in South Africa.

Kenneth Kaplan, who teaches directing and writing in the Film/TV division at Wits University in Johannesburg, interviewed Shore, who is a Professor in the Department of Film & Media Studies, Hunter College, New York.

Why did you choose to focus on this particular event?

I was a junior high school student in Johannesburg in 1966 when Robert Kennedy visited South Africa. Although I did not attend any of the events, I followed it closely in the liberal Johannesburg English-language newspapers like the Rand Daily Mail and The Star. The visit really amazed me, as it amazed many others. In high school and then at the University of the Witwatersrand I became really interested in American history and politics, which included an interest in the Kennedys.

I remembered the visit when I left South Africa in 1973 for the US and afterwards. My MA included a good dose of US foreign policy, and policy towards Africa and apartheid South Africa in particular. So I think I was always interested in US-South Africa relations and the connections between the two countries. I also teach about this stuff as a professor at Hunter College in New York. This carried over when I became interested in documentary films.

I also liked the story because it opened up doors to other interesting stories that deserved to be told, like those of Albert Luthuli and the National Union of South African Students (Nusas), to name just two. I am very grateful and pleased that the film has been well received by South African audiences although my original primary audience was the United States. I always believed that it helps to tell a story about a foreign country to an American audience if it has an American connection. Robert Kennedy was that connection.

What impact did the visit have and how did it shape relations between the US and South Africa?

As a filmmaker you dont want to overdo it or make more of it than is right. It was only a moment  but it was an important moment. I do think that the visit did have an impact in South Africa. It was the first time anyone important had come to the country from the outside world and said they were on the side of those who opposed apartheid. And it was someone important  a Kennedy and brother of President John F Kennedy, who was popular in South Africa. He was not just a famous American.

South Africans were interested in American affairs and they believed Robert Kennedy was going to be the next president. And you had the feeling that this important person was going to do something about it when he went home. Or at least tell the world what was happening in South Africa and maybe something would happen. Like the famous speech he gave at the University of Cape Town, his visit was a ripple of hope and it was felt across the country.

His visit with Chief Luthuli was a big publicity boost for the ANC, which in 1966 was in the depths of the deepest repression with Nelson Mandela on Robben Island and Luthuli banned to Groutville (a small town in the province of KwaZulu-Natal). The visit to Soweto and RFKs meeting with various black South Africans was a lift for black South Africans.

It also was a source of encouragement for white liberal organisations and individuals within Nusas, liberal politician Helen Suzman and others. I think that the visit to Stellenbosch University helped lay a few seeds for what later became the verligte (enlightened) movement among Afrikaners. I dont think the visit changed US policy towards South Africa directly at the time, but it was one of a number of things that began to bring attention to bear on South Africa  what was going on there and what could be done about it.

What might we know about you and your life that you think led you to make this film?

Well, as I said before, I have always been interested in US-South African stories. Certainly a part of that is because I am a South African-American. I have lived most of my adult life in America but I grew up in and have a lot of connections to South Africa. I kept that connection during my years in the anti-apartheid movement in the US and after the end of apartheid. When I became convinced that it was a good story, and would make for a good film, I realised that, as someone who understood and had lived in both countries, I was well suited to make the film.

What are some of the creative challenges you faced making the film?

I think one of the most difficult things about making a film about someone as famous as Robert Kennedy is to avoid hagiography  putting him up on a pedestal and making the visit appear more important than it was yet at the same time not denying its significance. How to find the right balance was a major challenge in making the film.

As with any documentary like this, I also faced challenges deciding what interviews not to use. I had lots of terrific interviews with important and interesting people but I had to leave some of them out and make tough selections.

The text above has been edited from an interview conducted by Kenneth Kaplan with Larry Shore following the recent screening of RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope at Wits University.

Kenneth Kaplan, Lecturer in Directing & Writing in Film/TV, University of the Witwatersrand. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.




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Police, MP & Community Work Together to Put on Free Fun Day

This article is old - Published: Monday, May 30th, 2016

A free family fun day featuring a bouncy castle, treasure hunt and plenty of activities, is to be held at a Wrexham park this week.

The fun day will be held in Rhosddu Park between 10am and 2pm tomorrow.

A range of Wrexham groups are involved in the day, including AVOW, Dynamic, St James Church, Wrexham Methodist Chapel, the Salvation Army, North Wales Police, Play Wrexham, Rhosddu Spar, and Tesco. Wrexham MP Ian Lucas and his office have also worked alongside the groups to get the event set up.

Among the attractions are a treasure hunt, play activities, a bouncy castle refreshments and more. A banner advertising the event has been designed by local young members of childrens charity Dynamic and has been put up at the park to let people know about the day.

Speaking about the fun day, Mr Lucas said: This event is all about encouraging families to use the park and to feel welcome. There has been a real community spirit among everyone organising the day and we really want to send the message to local families that Rhosddu Park is their park  and that they should feel free to use it.

Id like to thank everyone who has worked to make this day happen  I know lots of people are looking forward to it.

PSCO Charlotte Hodges added: Everyone from the local community are welcome to come along and enjoy the park for its purpose. Its been great to see families and local young people use the park more often over the last few months. We hope to see this continue into the summer and beyond!
Town Centre Furniture & Electrical Store to Relocate to New Location

This article is old - Published: Monday, May 30th, 2016

A large furniture shop in the heart of Wrexham Town Centre is to relocate to a new premises in the near future.

The British Heart Foundation Furniture and Electrical Store on Queens Square is to relocate to an empty premises on Regent Street.

The store will move to the former (and infamous) 99p store on Regent Street  with the store having been vacant for some time.

Over the past week there have been reports / sightings of builders in the former 99p Store, with many questionning what will occupy the long standing empty premises.

A spokesperson for British Heart Foundation confirmed to us that the store will be relocating in the near future due to their lease expiring and feeling that the new premises are better located.

The spokesperson for British Heart Foundation added: The store will still remain open in the current premises on Rhosddu Road for the next few months, so if anyone would like to visit the store or donate any unwanted furniture or Electrical items they would love any Wrexham residents to pop in.

In the past month Subway also announced that they were to open a new franchise store on Regent Street, meaning that the number of vacant properties at the top part of the street will be down to one.
Science fiction and fantasy writer Steven Brust was asked to sign a petition being circulated among US writers opposed to the candidacy of Donald Trump for US president. Brust wrote the following reply, which we are reposting here with his permission.

Ive received a request to sign this petition of writers against Trump. There can be no question of my opposition to Trump and all he stands for: his appeal to ignorance and bigotry, his threats to carry out war crimes, his efforts to generate hatred of immigrants, his overt jingoism. I would go so far as to say that Trump is the first major politician of my lifetime who can be accurately characterized as, if not a fascist, certainly fascistic; this becomes more clear as we see him whipping up his supporters to commit acts of violence against those who oppose him.

Nevertheless, I cannot, in good conscience, sign the petition. When I read, Because we believe that knowledge, experience, flexibility, and historical awareness are indispensable in a leader, I am forced to ask: a leader of what, leading for what purpose, in whose interest, and in what direction? This indicates to me that the petition is not merely against Trump, but can and will be used to support someone who, to those using the petition, would be a better choice to, speak for the United States, to lead its military, to maintain its alliances, or to represent its people.

And here is the problem. When you say, lead its military ... represent its people, this contains an implication that it is possible to do both. In other words, that the Bush-Obama war, with its war crimes and murders of civilians (openly and publicly supported by Senator Sanders, and with which Secretary Clinton has been actively complicit) is the will of the American people, which I cannot and will not accept. In addition, it implies that this war is not the problem, but rather the problem is how it is carried out .

I have only respect for those of my colleagues who are horrified by Trump and what he representshow can we not be? Furthermore, I am always encouraged by signs that we as writers are aware of and involved with the political questions that matter so deeply to our future. And yet it seems to me that we need to take a closer and more critical look at what is being done here. It is all very well to be anti-Trump. But if being anti-Trump means support for the Democratic Party whose administration has overseen, in the last eight years, more deportations (especially of children) than any other administration in history, has encouraged and justified the murder of the poor and minorities by police, has created the greatest income disparity in history, has continued illegal rendition and torture, has bombed more civilians than Bush dreamed of, has retreated before the religious rights attacks on freedom at every opportunity, then one must ask: why are we doing this?

There is nothing in the petition that prevents it from being used to rally support for Clinton or Sanders, both of whom are defenders of capitalism. But it is capitalism itself, and its insoluble crisis, that has produced Trump as a staph infection might produce a boil. However painful and unsightly the boil, the problem is the infection. This petition is part of what seems to be a growing anti-Trump movement, and of course, the impulse behind this movement is laudable and healthy. But if it becomes a movement in support of the Democratic Party, and especially of Hillary Clinton who is close to sewing up the nomination, then it is useless at best, and will play into Trumps anti-establishment narrative at worst.

You appeal to me as a writer. Yet isnt our highest goal as writers to lay bare the contradictions that are concealed within the relations of everyday life? To denounce Trump without also denouncing the other candidates of the capitalist partiesthat is, the parties that support wars of aggression, the militarization of the police, domestic spying, persecution of whistle-blowers, torture, and war crimes, all of which have been carried out by both major parties, and none of which have been opposed by any major candidateis not to reveal the truth, but to conceal it.

And to those who insist that some Democratic politician is a lesser evil and (as people so often do) bring up Hitler and Nazism, it is worth remembering that Hitler was defeated in the election of 1932 by a coalition organized by those who thought anyone was better than Hitler. The Nazis, in other words, were lesser eviled all the way into power. If when someone says Trump you hear Hitler, then when someone says Clinton you ought to hear Hindenberg.

No, I do not support Trump. Nor do I support the imperialist wars, militarized police, domestic spying, movements toward war against Russia, provocations against China, restrictions on reproductive rights, poisoning of water supplies, and attacks on basic rights that are the legacy of the Democratic Party as well as the Republican. Are the two parties different? Certainly. They represent different sections of the ruling class, and different approaches for how best to preserve and defend capitalism, and the very bitterness of the conflict between them indicates how deep runs the crisis, how insoluble are the problems. But I am not interested in picking which candidate will do a better job of preserving the system that is oppressing and murdering my brothers and sisters. If you offer me that as a choice, I vote no.

I believe that only the unity of working people, immigrants, the unemployed, the poor, and all of the oppressed, fighting under a socialist program directly against the two parties of big business, can provide any sort of way forward. The candidacy of Donald Trump represents all of the filth, degeneracy, and despair of capitalism in its death agony; the Democratic Party candidates who oppose him represent different policies to accomplish the same goal, and it is the goal itself, continuing the system of war and oppression, that I oppose.

In November, I will be voting for Jerry White and Niles Niemuth of the Socialist Equality Party. I urge everyone who is as appalled as I am by, not only Trump, but by the criminal and inhuman system that produced him, to do the same.



Steven Brust
Yesterday evening, General Confederation of Labor (CGT) leader Philippe Martinez appeared on the BFM-Politique show to discuss the escalating strike movement against the Socialist Party (PS) government's widely hated labor reform. He faced intense, often hostile questioning from moderator Apolline de Malherbe, several journalists and PS legislator Philippe Doucet about the CGT's decision to call strikes against the law.

Martinez has tried to cultivate a radical image since youth protests and strikes erupted against PS Labor Minister Myriam El Khomri's law two months ago, and particularly since the CGT began calling industrial action against the law in the last two weeks. He has called for generalizing strike action against the El Khomri law. Nevertheless, his interview confirmed that the CGT is in secret, back-channel talks with the PS and, despite the growing strike wave, is trying to cut a deal to secure passage of the law.

This presents the CGT bureaucracy with enormous difficulties: a vast strike wave is building, and the material possibility of a general strike in France and across Europe is emerging. President Francois Hollande, Prime Minister Manuel Valls and PS First Secretary Jean-Christophe Cambadelis have insisted, however, that the only deal they can accept involves cosmetic changes to the law. Martinez's statements are a warning that workers fighting the law must take the struggle out of the hands of the CGT and organize independently in order to avoid a sell-out.

Malherbe and her guest interviewers spent much of their time on right-wing attacks on Martinez aimed at discrediting any strikes or protests against the law. Doucet provocatively showed a picture of a local PS headquarters shot full of bullet holes by unidentified forces during a protest; he then attacked the CGT, hysterically demanding that Martinez renounce violent attacks on the PS. Malherbe and a Le Parisien journalist attacked the CGT strikes at newspapers that refused to publish an editorial written by Martinez.

Nonetheless, the heart of Martinez's interview was a series of statements in which he issued veiled but unmistakable statements that the CGT supports the PS government and is looking for a deal.

For the first time in two months, I received a call from the prime minister. It's rather better when he is not stuck in political posturing, Martinez said. Asked by the journalists to tell the public what he had discussed with Valls, however, Martinez bluntly refused.

Secret conversation, he replied.

While Martinez refused to inform the population about his secret, back-channel talks with Valls, his comments show that he is preparing a rapid climb-down. He abandoned previous calls by union officials for a withdrawal of the law, calling instead for the law to be rediscussed.

Martinez repeatedly insisted that the CGT would not enter into political conflict with the PS. He declared that he was not going one on one against Valls. He stressed that the CGT is playing its role  We are in our proper role as a trade union.

This was an all but explicit statement of support for the PS. Asked whether he regretted the CGT's call for a vote for Hollande in the 2012 presidential elections, Martinez refused to say either yes or no, saying only that the CGT had not paid enough attention at the time. He recalled that in 2012, then-CGT General Secretary Bernard Thibault had called for a vote to remove Hollande's right-wing opponent, Nicolas Sarkozy, and then obliquely declared that in another era, the CGT issued open endorsements of presidential candidates.

This was a veiled reference to the CGT's longstanding alliance, beginning after World War II and lasting until today, with the Stalinist French Communist Party (PCF). A close ally of the counterrevolutionary Soviet bureaucracy until it dissolved the USSR in 1991, the PCF has had close ties to the PS ever since the PS' founding, shortly after the last great revolutionary experience of the working class in France, the 1968 general strike. It has been an official or unofficial coalition partner of every PS government since President Francois Mitterrand came to power in 1981.

This points to why the CGT has emerged as the de facto leadership of the strike. It was largely by default, because political parties that for decades have passed for the leftthe PCF, the PCF's allies inside the Left Front led by Jean-Luc Melenchon, and the New Anti-capitalist Partydo not oppose or want to challenge the PS.

Instead, in line with similar parties across Europe in the post-Soviet period, such as Rifondazione Comunista in Italy or Syriza in Greece, they supported or joined pro-austerity and pro-war governments. Even today, as masses of workers in industries across France mobilize in struggle, from oil and gas to electricity, auto, trucking, port and mass transit, they are not challenging the PS or seeking to mobilize the working class in political struggle against Hollande.

It also sheds light on the content of the CGT's calls not for a general strike in France, but for a generalization of the strike. They oppose a general strike, that is, a struggle to mobilize and unify the entire working class in a common strike against the PS government and the capitalist class. Instead, as explosive anger develops among broad sections of workers, they aim to generalize strikes, spreading them in a disconnected fashion across various industries, to blow off steam but not to bring down the Hollande government.

Particularly given that the PS government is utterly determined to impose the law, this strategy signifies an attempt by the CGT to maintain political control of workers' struggles while preparing a filthy sell-out.

Martinez's preparations for this sell-out were covered up with political and historical lies. When challenged to explain why the CGT felt obliged to continue calling strikes, Martinez said that it had never been seen in history that the workers wanted to struggle but the CGT refused and instead pushed to stop a strike movement.

In fact, the history of French Stalinism largely consists of struggles where, due to its hostility to the program of world socialist revolution represented by Leon Trotsky and Trotsky's supporters, it played the lead role to bring revolutionary struggles to a close and stabilize the French bourgeoisie. Most infamously, Communist Party leader Maurice Thorez, supported by the CGT leadership, declared that one has to know how to end a strike, as the PCF sold out the 1936 general strike.

CGT leader Georges Seguy was booed and thrown out of the Renault plant at Boulogne-Billancourt in 1968, when he was trying to force workers back to work amid the general strike.

The role of the CGT today will only be more hostile to the workers. Like the PCF and the other trade unions, the CGT has totally lost its mass base in the working class over the last 25 years since the dissolution of the USSR, emerging as a distinct petty-bourgeois constituency hostile to the working class. As it cynically mounts piecemeal actions against the PS' attempts to tear up basic social rights won by workers, the CGT is preparing even more reactionary sell-outs.

The working class is entering into struggle against the capitalist system and the ruling class. The critical task that workers face is to establish their political and organizational independence from the PS and all its satellites, such as the CGT.
The May 31 SEP election meeting in DetroitBattlefield Detroit: Unite all workers in a fight back!will be streamed live on Facebook. SEP presidential candidate Jerry White and vice presidential candidate Niles Niemuth will be speaking at the meeting.

The meeting will begin at 7:00 pm Eastern Time (time conversions can be found here).

The live video stream will be hosted on the SEP (US) Facebook page: fb.com/sepus. If you wish to be notified of the live streaming video, follow the SEP on Facebook and sign up for the Facebook event page by selecting going from the status drop-down menu.

Viewers will be able to participate in the discussion by liking, posting comments and sharing the live stream during the meeting. If you are unable to watch live, the video will be saved on the SEP Facebook timeline for later viewing.

For those in the Detroit area, you can attend the meeting in person:

Tuesday, May 31, 7:00 pm

Wayne State University

General Lectures Room 150

5045 Anthony Wayne Dr, Detroit
A landslide at a jade mine in northern Myanmar (formerly Burma) last week killed at least 14 people, with hundreds more buried by the collapsed hillside. The landslide in Kachin state on the night of May 23 came after several days of heavy rainfall. One week after the tragedy there has been no official confirmation of the final numbers of dead and injured. As many as 200 workers remain missing.

According to the Myanmar Times, the disaster occurred around 8:15 p.m. at a site owned by Yadanar Star Company. The company had ceased operations for the day due to the bad weather, but hundreds of so-called hand pickers, who scour the excavation site for leftover jade deposits, moved in to work over the tailings. One witness said there was a creek flowing down the middle of the workings, displacing soil from the hill.

Administrators, police, a funeral service team, aid workers and the fire brigade worked with company backhoes to clear the slide until the search was called off due to heavy rain and the continuing threat of landslides.

U Kyaw Myint, a local resident, said: We collected the dead and the injured from the top part of the slide. We could not retrieve bodies from the bottom of the slide. If we tried to remove them, the land from above would collapse again. Hundreds of hand pickers were still working on the tailings the following day, despite continuing downpours.

In an attempt to divert attention away from the responsibility of Myanmars government, Hmawe Gyi, a member of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party, criticised the company for hampering the recovery operation. Jade mine companies should use machinery and cooperate with authorities to search for the missing people, he said. Now, people dont know if their family members are dead or not.

The remote region has little phone coverage and poor roads. The absence of these, underdevelopment and miserable and dangerous working conditions are not due to a lack of money. Jade is an expensive and sought-after gemstone. Hpakant, which lies 651 kilometres (404 miles) north of Myanmars capital Naypyidaw, is the site of the worlds biggest mine and produces some of the highest-quality jade. Much of it is exported or smuggled to China.

Global Witness reported last October that jade valued at a staggering $US31 billion (20 billion) was extracted from the mines in 2014. This sum, the Guardian noted, equated to nearly half the countrys gross domestic product and over 46 times current spending on health. The total jade output for the past decade was estimated at $120 billion.

According to Irrawaddy, over 620 mining companies operate in the Hpakant and Lone Kin regions. An estimated 300,000 workers toil under conditions of terrible exploitation and extreme poverty. Enormous undocumented profits are seized by a small and corrupt elite, mostly hidden license holders linked to the Myanmar military.

All the main mining companies identified by Global Witness are either directly owned by army officers, or operated by those with close ties to them. Spokesman Mike Davis told the BBC: These families are making extraordinary sums of money, often in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. Companies connected to the family of retired general Than Shwe, the former military ruler, allegedly made more than $220 million in jade sales in 2013 and 2014.

Between 1992 and 2011, Than Shwe presided over a military dictatorship that brutally suppressed demonstrations and strikes, and imprisoned opponents. From 2009 the military junta opened up pro-market reforms by privatising assets and allowing the establishment of private banks. But it ensured that the state assets largely ended up in the hands of the military or its associates.

In the past year, dozens of mine workers have been maimed or killed picking through waste dumps. The worst disaster occurred last November when 113 miners were killed and 100 left missing when a 60-metre mountain of earth and waste collapsed, burying the makeshift huts where the miners slept. The activities of 12 companies were briefly suspended after the incident.

Another landslide hit the Hpakant area on December 25, leaving as many as 50 people missing. The exact death toll in this incident, as in many others, has remained undetermined. On January 25, mines run by the Yadana Yaung Chi, Yadana Adipati and Myitsone Ayeyar companies suffered two landslides, while 100 prospectors were looking for jade, killing at least 30. The deputy minister of mines, Than Tun Aung, responded with threats to prosecute the illegal miners, large and small.

On May 5, a slag heap at a mine run by Yadanar San Shwe Company and Triple One Company collapsed. Sai Nyunt Lwin of the Hpakant hospital said 13 bodies were brought in from Seng Tawng mining village. Aung Ram, who lost eight family members in the accident, said: This happens all the time and now it has come to my relatives. We cannot do anything except to pray for their souls and we dont even know who to blame.

Civil rights groups routinely criticise the mining companies for the social and environmental impacts of the unregulated industry. Locals have led protests against the companies in recent months to try to pressure them to improve the safety of excavation areas. Early this month, civil society organisations in Kachin state demanded that the government form a commission to inspect mines that have violated industry regulations.

New safety measures have been promised, but the NLD and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, which won last Novembers election, are not about to cut across the interests of the military and its business empires. In the name of national reconciliation, a power-sharing arrangement has been agreed, ensuring that the militarys position and privileges are protected.

While the NLD may stimulate business opportunities for entrepreneurs previously sidelined by the army, both factions of the ruling elite intend to accelerate the opening up of Myanmar to foreign capital, and bring the countrys foreign policy into line with Washingtons so-called pivot to Asia, directed against China. This means savage economic restructuring, cuts to public spending, privatisation of state assets and continuing deaths and exploitation in mining and other industries, as the NLD seeks to turn the country into a new cheap labour platform.

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Suu Kyi holds transition talks with Burmese military

[10 December 2015]
A report released by the Nuffield Trust, a UK health policy research body, calls for the restructuring and flexibilisation of the entire National Health Service (NHS) workforce of more than 1.3 million.

These changes would force nurses, paramedics and others to take on increased workloads and do jobs currently carried out by doctors.

The report, commissioned by NHS Employers, the body that negotiates health care staff contracts on behalf of the Conservative government, is cynically entitled, Reshaping the workforce to deliver the care patients need. It outlines proposals that would worsen the working conditions of NHS medical and non-medical staff, creating a fully flexible workforce and extending both the hours worked and responsibilities required.

Making clear that the motives behind its calls for the restructuring of the workforce are not based on a concern for patient wellbeing, the Nuffield Trust proclaims its vision for the NHS as a service with fewer and fewer doctors. It states, We anticipate that, in the future, care will be supplied predominantly by nonmedical staff, with patients playing a much more active role in their own care.

In order to deal with the complex needs of an aging population, and to respond to increasing numbers of patients with long-term health conditions, the report demands the urgent introduction of new roles, such as a paramedic practitioner, which combine the duties usually performed by multiple specialist professionals.

These are part of plans labelled the Five Year Forward View, billed as a cost-effective and rapid solution to mitigating some of the pressures on more senior staff. Instead of hiring more staff, the report states that existing nurses, paramedics and pharmacists should be trained to fill in for doctors in more specialised and senior positions.

Implementing the Five Year Forward View will fail without radical change in the workforce, it states.

The report notes the immediate and future consequences of an underfunded NHS. Cuts of tens of billions of pounds in efficiency savings have resulted in the existing workforce being stretched to its limit: The NHS faces a 22 billion gap in its finances by 2020 (HM Treasury, 2015). Demand for NHS services, from a growing and aging population, is projected to rise by 6.6 percent by 2020. In social care, a gap between demand and available funding of between 2.8 billion and 3.5 billion will emerge by 2019/20.

Stating that its agenda is not a nice to do, it adds, It is essential if we are to find a sustainable balance between available funding, patient needs and staff needs. This is a message that the Department of Health and the Treasury need to hear loud and clear.

These recommended changes would be imposed on a workforce already hugely understaffed and struggling to keep up with demand. Nuffield is forced to acknowledge, In many areas, the remaining front-line staff are left to absorb the rising demand for care into their day-to-day workload, a challenge that is magnified as the demand for workforce time is estimated to be growing at twice the rate of the overall growth in population.

Figures released in December 2015 by Health Education England calculated that the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has 23,443 vacant nursing positions and 6,207 vacancies for doctors. This amounts to a vacancy rate of 10 percent for nurses, and 7 percent for doctors, as compared to the cross-sector UK average of 2.7 percent.

With contemptuous disregard for patients and staff, the report notes that the move towards extended roles may leave traditional roles understaffed, and acknowledges that these changes will force nurses, paramedics and other staff to take on more responsibilities with no let-up on their current duties.

The report signals an escalation of the attacks on NHS workers, calling for an increase in their already notoriously long working hours to provide extra services with no further funding or staff in a move highly detrimental to their health and to patient safety.

There has been widespread outrage among doctors and other health professionals. Junior doctors have described the new proposals as dangerous, insisting that they would put patients lives at risk. Other doctors have stressed the impossibility of providing quality care under these conditions, pointing to the existing huge shortage of nurses.

Responding to the reports proposals, Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, said he was delighted. ... Our challenge now is to take forward the learning and recommendations.

The Financial Times noted that Nuffields report raises that the lack of junior doctors on duty during their recent strike had been another incentive for trusts around the country to develop different ways of working.

It cites Candace Imison, the trusts director of policy, who said that during the strikes, nurses fulfilling the new enhanced roles were giving care at the junior doctor level, including prescribing some drugs, ordering tests and X-rays and making decisions about how patients were managed. The only role they would not perform was that of senior decision maker in outpatient departments.

This proves once again that the concerted effort to enforce an inferior contract on junior doctors, centred on flexible working, is viewed as essential to carrying out such an assault throughout the NHS.

The NHS is facing catastrophe as the result of years of relentless funding cuts by successive Labour and Conservative governments, with no opposition from the trade unions. The junior doctors dispute has proven the role of the trade unions as the most resolute defenders of the employers and governments agenda. The British Medical Association (BMA) agreed to a sell-out contract this month that is no improvement on that previously overwhelmingly rejected by junior doctors. It aims at slashing premium rate pay for out-of-hours work and increasing working hours.

The BMA and the other health unions have done everything to isolate strikes, issuing no calls for junior doctors to unite in struggle with other medical employees, or to unite their struggle with that against the governments scrapping of the NHS bursaries for nurses, midwives and Allied Health Professionals, which will have disastrous effects on recruitment.

The aim of the Tory government is not merely to drive down costs through reduced funding and staffing, or to simply increase the exploitation of the workforce, but to run the NHS into the ground before demanding its privatisation as a failed system. As far back as 2005, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt co-authored a pamphlet calling for the NHS to be replaced by a system of insurance. He wrote, Our ambition should be to break down barriers between private and public provision, in effect denationalising the provision of heath care in Britain.

For further information visit nhsfightback.org
Over the weekend, WSWS reporters visited the Total refinery in Grandpuits, which is on strike to protest the Socialist Party governments anti-worker labor law. The law allows companies to demand increased working hours and makes it easier to cut wages, fire workers and impose mass sackings.

French video

Grandpuits, which treats 16 million liters of petroleum per day and employs nearly 500 workers, supplies the gas stations of the Paris area and neighboring regions. Grandpuits workers voted on Friday to continue the strike against the labor law for another week, together with most refineries across France.
Last weeks G7 summit in Japan was dominated by two interconnected issues: the deepening crisis of global capitalism and the drive to war, in particular the growing danger of a clash between China and the United States in the South China Sea. The inability of the major powers to offer the slightest resolution of the economic breakdown is fuelling national antagonisms and the slide toward conflict.

The US and Japan pressed hard at the G7 gathering for a strong communique critical of China that would justify the ramping up of provocative American military incursions within the 12-nautical-mile territorial limit around Chinese-claimed islets. Earlier this month, the US navy conducted a third so-called freedom of navigation operation near Fiery Cross Reef in the South China Sea, producing an angry reaction from Beijing and declarations that it would beef up its defences in the area.

In the campaigns currently underway for the US presidency and the Australian federal election, a conspiracy of silence reigns over the preparations for war, aimed at deadening the consciousness of the population to the rising danger of nuclear conflict. Two nuclear-armed powers are facing off not only in the South China Sea, but other dangerous flashpoints such as North Korea and Taiwan, each of which has been greatly exacerbated by Washingtons pivot to Asia and aggressive military build-up throughout the region.

An arms race is underway that finds its most acute expression in the arena of nuclear weaponry, delivery systems and associated technologies. Determined to maintain its supremacy in Asia and globally, the US is planning to spend $1 trillion over the next three decades to develop a broader range of sophisticated nuclear weapons and means for delivering them to their targets. The unstated aim of the Pentagon is to secure nuclear primacythat is, the means for obliterating Chinas nuclear arsenal and thus its ability to mount a counter attack. The Chinese response, which is just as reactionary, is to ensure it retains the ability to strike back in a manner that would kill tens of millions in the United States.

The reality of these dangers was underscored last week by the release of a report by the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). It chillingly warned:

Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, the governments of the United States and the Peoples Republic of China are a few poor decisions away from starting a war that could escalate rapidly and end in a nuclear exchange. Mismatched perceptions increase both the possibility of war and the likelihood it will result in the use of nuclear weapons. Miscommunication or misunderstanding could spark a conflict that both governments may find difficult to stop.

While appealing for the two sides to acknowledge the risks and heighten diplomatic efforts to prevent conflict, the UCS analysis offered not the slightest hope that such steps would be taken. The report bleakly declared:

Lack of mutual trust and a growing sense that their differences may be irreconcilable incline both governments to continue looking for military solutionsfor new means of coercion that help them feel more secure. Establishing the trust needed to have confidence in diplomatic resolutions to the disagreements, animosities, and suspicions that have troubled leaders of the United States and the PRC [China] for almost 70 years is extremely difficult when both governments take every effort to up the technological ante as an act of bad faith.

The intensifying military competition is an unequal one, which only heightens tensions and the danger of war. In the field of nuclear armaments, China is outgunned and outnumbered. While desperately seeking to catch up, the Chinese military is generations behind in the capability of its weaponry and fields an estimated 260 warheads, compared to about 7,000 for the US. Its prime objective is to ensure a credible nuclear deterrent would survive a US first strike. Unlike Beijing, Washington has never ruled out the first use of nuclear weapons.

The Guardian reported last week that China is poised to send submarines armed with nuclear weapons on patrol in the Pacific for the first time. Such a move signals a break with the current policy, under which warheads and missiles were stored separately under the strict control of the top leadership. Armed missiles will now be loaded onto nuclear submarines to enable their immediate launch against continental America in the event of war.

The Chinese leadership has been driven to such measures by the US military build-up in North East Asia, especially the deployment of anti-ballistic missile systems aimed at neutralising Chinas ability to strike back. Chinas nuclear submarines, however, are comparatively noisy, making them vulnerable to detection and destruction by US attack subs. A new scenario is unfolding in which a jittery Chinese commander could misunderstand an order and, fearing imminent attack, unleash the submarines missiles against pre-determined targets.

Nuclear war will not be averted through the diplomacy of major powers, worthless posturing about international nuclear disarmament or the vain hope that nuclear war is so terrible as to be unthinkable. Nuclear strategists have been thinking the unthinkable for more than half a century. The last world war ended with the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing some 200,000 people. President Barack Obamas refusal last week in Hiroshima to offer an apology for those monstrous crimes of US imperialism is a sure sign that new ones are being prepared.

The relentless drive toward a new world war between nuclear-armed combatants stems from the crisis of capitalism and its irresolvable contradictions. Only the working class can end the danger of war by putting an end to the profit system and its outmoded nation state system. That is the significance of the struggle being waged by the International Committee of the Fourth International and all its sections to build a unified anti-war movement of the international working class based on the perspective of socialist internationalism.
More than 700 refugees have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea since Wednesday attempting to reach Europe from Libya. It is the single deadliest week for refugee drownings this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR.

Three shipwrecks in just three days account for most of the weeks enormous death toll. Other agencies, including Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSN), have estimated more than 900 deaths. We will never know exact numbers, MSN tweeted on Sunday, Around 900 people may have died in the Central Mediterranean in the last week alone. Europe, this is unbearable.

Carlotta Sami, a spokesperson for the UNHCR, has confirmed an estimated 100 people are missing after an unseaworthy vessel capsized on Wednesday. Horrifying images of the boat tipping over, with hundreds of terrified asylum seekers thrown into the sea, were captured on video by the Italian Navy.

Sami told the Associated Press that another 550 people are feared dead after another boat carrying refugees capsized the next day. The vessel reportedly left the Libyan port of Sabratha on Wednesday, with 670 refugees on board.

A third shipwreck occurred on Friday, during which 135 people were rescued and at least 45 bodies were recoveredtaking the overall death toll to 700. But refugees who survived the incident say many more are missing.

The shipwrecks account for the largest loss of life in the Mediterranean since April 2015, when a single boat capsized killing 800 people trapped inside.

The death of hundreds of refugees in the Mediterranean is not only a tragedy, it is a crime. The governments in the US, Germany, Greece, Italy and other European countries, as well as the European Union, bear principal responsibility.

The numbers of asylum seekers fleeing to Europe in unseaworthy vessels is increasing due to vicious anti-migrant controls that have blocked routes to Europe via the Balkans. This includes the deal reached in March with Turkey creating a Fortress Europe, aimed at cutting off lifelines to those fleeing wars conducted by the European powers and the United States that have devastated entire countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

As a result, according to Italian authorities, the number of refugees rescued this week reached 13,000. On Saturday alone, a flotilla of ships saved 668 people from boats off the southern coast. Last week, over 4,000 migrants were rescued at sea in just one day.

The UNHCRs update provided new information about Thursdays deadliest sinking. Initial reports only took into account the missing and dead from a smaller, powered boat. Sami told AFP that the refugees rescued from the smaller vessel said the boat that sank did not have an engine and was being towed by another equally packed smuggling boat before it capsized.

AFP reports that Italian police corroborated the UN account, based on their own interviews with survivors, though the numbers cited do not precisely tally. According to survivors, the boat started taking on water after about eight hours of navigation. An attempt to bail it out with a line of migrants passing a few five-litre bailing cans failed:

At that point, the commander of the first smugglers boat ordered the tow rope to be cut to the sinking boat. The migrants on the top deck jumped into the sea, while those below deck, estimated at 300, sank with the ship, police said. Of those who jumped into the sea, just 90 were rescued.

Giovanna Di Benedetto, a spokeswoman for Save the Children, said, There were many women and children on board. We collected testimony from several of those rescued from both boats. They all say they saw the same thing.

The Independent reports a Libyan naval spokesman, Col. Ayoub Gassim, saying its own coastguard had rescued 766 refugees in two operations that took place on Thursday. They were found in two groups: 550 near the western coast city of Sabratha and another 216 off the coastal city of Zwara. Gassim said two boats were also found empty in the area between the two Libyan cities, and only four bodies had been retrieved. The death toll is unknown.

There are sinister and unanswered questions over the role of the military in the tragic events of the past week.

As part of Operation Sophia, a massive military mobilisation involving fourteen European countries has been underway for the past year. Warships, submarines, aircraft, helicopter gunships and drones have been deployed by European powers, including Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Britain, Greece, the Netherlands and Sweden. The headquarters of the mission is located at a military airport in Rome.

According to media reports over the weekend, military aircraft first saw the vessel (which subsequently sank on Thursday) in trouble around 35 nautical miles off the coast of Libya. Yet little was done in response. EU officials said a second helicopter arrived on the scene Thursday and threw lifejackets into the water.

The purpose of Operation Sophia is to strengthen Fortress Europe to ward off refugees, while preparing a new military intervention in North Africa under the guise of fighting the causes of refugee crisis.

On Friday, UK Prime Minister David Cameron, once again confirmed this analysis. Speaking at the G7 summit, he praised the EU-Turkey agreement to deport asylum seekers from Greece. He declared, In the eastern Mediterranean, on average nearly 2,000 people arrived this way per day before the EU-Turkey deal was signed. Since then, its fewer than 100. Its still a fragile agreementbut returning people works. Now we need to do the same with the central Mediterranean route.

Cameron also declared that the European powers are working to agree a plan to boost the capability of the Libyan coastguard. Then he announced: Once a detailed plan has been agreed with the Libyan authorities, the UK will send a UK training team to assist in its implementation. And once the relevant permissions and UN Security Council Resolution are in place, I will deploy a naval warship to the south central Mediterranean to combat arms trafficking in the region.
While NATO is encircling Russia militarily, the energy market is increasingly being used to exert pressure on Russia for geostrategic aims. Recently, the US undertook two significant steps in this direction. With the beginning of liquid gas (LNG) exports to Europe, the United States has stepped up a price war against the Russian gas monopolist Gazprom. At the same time, the US government is openly intervening to prevent the extension of the German-Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream.

In late April, the first LNG units from the US were delivered to the Portuguese port of Sines. The delivery was meant not least as a symbolic move. The EU is currently importing on average about one third of its gas from Russia, but in several member states the percentage is significantly higher.

As of 2013, Finland, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary were importing well over 80 percent of their gas from Russia, and Austria and Greece over 60 percent. Germany imports about a fifth of its gas from Russia, but in quantity it is the largest importer. Overall, 90 percent of EU gas imports are covered with natural gas.

The American company Cherniere, which is delivering the LNG, has struck long-term contracts with several European companies, among them Galp (Portugal), the Dutch-British Royal Dutch Shell and the Spanish Gas Natural. It has not been made public exactly how much gas these companies will buy.

The LNG deliveries serve to put pressure on the European gas price and thus pressure the Russian state company Gazprom. As one analyst from the French bank Societe Generale explained to the Wall Street Journal, the deliveries signify the start of the price war between US LNG and pipeline gas. In February, a Gazprom representative already announced that the company would lower production costs in the case of American LNG deliveries to Europe.

Over the past few years, Russias position on the world market as a major supplier of energy has been already significantly weakened. Just a few years ago, the United States was the worlds largest importer of gas. However, due to the development of fracking technology, the United States could start producing shale gas and oil on a mass scale. In 2009, the US thus became the worlds largest gas producer, overtaking Russia. The US is now importing less than 5 percent of its gas consumption.

Under these conditions, a bitter price competition has emerged between Europes two largest gas suppliers, Russias Gaszprom and Norwegian Statoil. The United States has now entered that competition. In order to maintain its market share, Gazprom has been forced to dramatically lower its gas prices in recent years.

In March 2016, the average price for Russian gas in Europe was only $147.2 per 1,000 cubic meters, 56 percent less than in March 2015. According to the Moscow Higher School of Economics, Gazprom was forced to renegotiate contracts with 30 of its European clients 65 times in the past few years.

A 2014 study by the Center on Global Energy Policy at the Columbia University in New York makes clear that the US is pursuing political goals with its LNG deliveries. It noted: The US shale gas boom has already helped European consumers and hurt Russian producers by expanding global gas supply and freeing up liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments previously planned for the US market. This has strengthened Europes bargaining position, forcing contract renegotiations and lowering gas prices. US LNG exports will have a similar effect.

The study stated that those deliveries were unlikely to be significant enough to prompt a change in Moscows foreign policy, particularly in the next few years. Nevertheless, the study calculated that the economic impact on Russia would be significant. Deliveries of 9 billion cubic meters per year would result in a lowering of Russian annual gas revenues by $24 billion, or 27 percent. If deliveries reach 18 billion cubic meters, the losses would amount to $33 billion, or 38 percent of annual gas revenues. This would be equivalent to 1.1 percent of Russian gross domestic product (GDP).

The strategists of US imperialism have made out the energy sector as the Achilles heel of the Russian economy. Thanks to rapidly rising oil and gas prices, Russian GDP grew by more than five times between 2000 and 2008, despite a stagnation in the manufacturing sector. The collapse of oil prices in 2008 and the strong dependence of the Russian budget on revenues from energy exports led to a dramatic decline of Russian GDP. This is why the economic sanctions and the energy policy of the United States since the Ukraine crisis are primarily directed at Russias energy sector.

A central component of this policy is to lower the Russian share of the European energy market. The US is therefore supporting pipeline projects that are supposed to deliver gas from Central Asia and the Caspian Sea to Europe by circumventing Russia. Among them are the Trans Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) that will transport gas from Azerbaijan over Georgia and Turkey to Greece, Albania and Southern Italy.

Ukraine occupies a key role in this strategy. Prior to the coup in Kiev in February 2014, Ukraine imported 90 percent of its gas from Russia, and about half of Russias gas deliveries to Europe were transported through the country. Now, the situation has changed radically.

Despite massive financial problems and extreme poverty, the Ukrainian government has spent hundreds of millions of euros to transport gas from Europe, instead of Russia, and thus lower its dependence upon the latter. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) supported this policy by extending large credits to the Kiev government.

In this way, by 2015 Ukraine had doubled its gas imports from Europe to 10.3 billion cubic meters, according to Natural Gas Europe. At the same time, the imports directly from Russia were drastically reduced by almost two thirds, to just 6.1 billion cubic meters. Since the winter of 2015/16 Ukraine has not been importing gas from Russia at all. Gazprom has thus lost one of its most important sales markets.

With this energy war against Russia the US and the EU are pursuing two aims: First, its goal is to help force the Kremlin to change its foreign policy and open up its energy sector for Western companies and investors. Second, it is aimed at preparing the grounds for a war against Russia in Europe on an economic level.

This is necessary because precisely those Eastern European NATO-member states that are pushing for a military confrontation with Russia are also the most reliant upon Russian gas deliveries. The United States and sections of the European bourgeoisie regard this as a serious obstacle to consistently pro-Western policies of these countries (for example Hungary) and as a weak spot in case of war. For instance, a sudden stop of Russian energy supplies would hit the economy of the Baltic States hard.

In December 2015, a study by the US Army College warned about the implications of the Ukraine crisis for European energy security and recommended the US army prepare the military protection of central energy infrastructure in Europe, including pipelines and underground gas storage facilities.

The sharp conflicts over the expansion of the German-Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream must be seen within this context. The US and several Eastern European countries, above all Poland and the Baltic states, fear that the pipeline could become the basis for a German-Russian axis, first in economic and then foreign policy. If built, Nord Stream 2 would significantly lower the gas transit via Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine. Meanwhile, Germany could further strengthen its position as a central energy hub in Europe.

In early May, the US government publicly spoke out against the pipeline. During an US-EU energy conference, Secretary of State John Kerry said that the Nord Stream 2 would have very negative implications for Eastern Europe. Amos Hochstein, the US special envoy and coordinator for foreign policy issues, stated that the US was deeply concerned about the pipeline.

By contrast, the German government argues that Nord Stream 2 is nothing but a commercial project and therefore a matter of concern only for the companies involved. These include, alongside Gazprom, the German companies Wintershall and E.On, as well as the Austrian OMV and the French Engie.

The German governments position is opposed not only in Washington, but by much of the EU as well. Unlike the German government, the EU commission in Brussels regards the project as a threat to European energy security and gas supplies to Eastern and Central Europe. (See European Union pushes for energy independence from Russia)

The countries of the Visegrad Group (Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia and the Czech Republic) have demanded a legal review of the pipeline. Italy is also a strong opponent of the project. In the German bourgeoisie there is growing opposition. Thus, the head of the conservative faction within the EU parliament, Manfred Weber (CDU), sharply criticized the project in a letter to EU energy commissar Miguel Arias Canete, while the German economic minister, Sigmar Gabriel, argued that it would undermine the energy and security goals of the EU and strengthen the position of Gazprom.
The past few years have witnessed an unprecedented wave of student-led censorship on British campuses through the use of No Platforming and other measures such as controlling speech, clothing and even body language.

The minutiae of life on campus are now subject to scrutiny, condemnation and even proscriptionall in the name of protecting from harm. Censorship has reached the level of absurdityevoking indignation, ridicule and concern over its implications for democratic rights.

Censorship is the outcome of official National Union of Students (NUS) and local Student Unions policy to turn campuses into what are described as Safe Spaces. It is largely driven by student groups steeped in identity politics. Words and symbols, regardless of their context or their intent, are deemed to cause as much violence as physical acts when employed against selected oppressed groupings. By reducing the world to competing subjective identities based on postmodernist and irrationalist conceptions, the feeling of offence and its remedy are now presented as the sole practical concern on campus.

The policy of no platforming was first practised by the NUS in 1974 against fascist groups such as the National Front. It was tied to measures that hindered any effective struggle against fascism by placing this as a task of the state and other bourgeois authorities, including those on campus. As with all such appeals for bans and proscriptions, it ultimately provided the ruling class with the means to attack what is their main target, the working class and socialists, while allowing the right wing to pose as victims of state repression. Today no platforming is routinely employed against genuine victims of state repression.

In 2010, after Julian Assange and WikiLeaks had exposed imperialist war crimes and became the target for a massive state witch-hunt, Assange met with denunciations and slander by feminists and pseudo-left groups. Organisations such as the Socialist Party and Socialist Workers Party have solidarized themselves with bogus accusations of rape to demand that Assange accept being deported to Sweden, where he would face extradition to the United States. When Assange defended himself against the trumped-up rape allegations, he, and others supporting him, were accused of rape apologism, and faced bans and proscriptions.

For its pains, the SWP and its student organisations on campus were given similar treatment, following rape allegations in 2013 against one of the groups leading members. Today, anyone is a potential target for censorship on campuses. It only takes a trawled-up sentence on social media to demand a ban, as demonstrated by the ongoing campaign alleging anti-Semitism against political critics of Israels oppression of the Palestinians.

The political confusion created is compounded by claims that it is coming from a left and even Marxist perspective. In reality, it expresses the interests of a privileged upper middle class layer who use demands for preferential treatment for their designated identity groupbased on ethnicity, sex or sexual preferenceto further their own careers.

This plays into the hands of Conservative and right-wing groups, who portray censorship as the child of the radical left while they assume the mantle of defenders of free speech. It mirrors the more general phenomenon where the bankrupt politics of the pseudo-left have allowed far-right and fascistic forces to exploit rising social and political discontent.

It is in these circumstances that forces grouped around the Internet publication Spiked-Online have come to play a prominent and pernicious role, largely thanks to the extensive publicity secured by their campaign against censorship on campuses.

Earlier this year the publication of Spikeds annual Free Speech University Rankings was widely cited by mainstream media publications to highlight the scale of the censorship and bans taking place. Spiked also hosted a public conference on campus free speech and published a book on the subject. At some universities, Spiked has established Speak Easy groups with the stated aim of providing a platform for all individuals banned by the student unions from speaking. It presents itself as the champion of Enlightenment values that it wields as a metaphorical missile against misanthropy.

Through such self-serving and dishonest claims, Spiked provides both an apologia and a platform for corporations and right-wing individuals and groups. Indeed free speech for Spiked overwhelmingly centres on the democratic rights of such layers, often in alliance with Conservative Students societies.

A flavour of this was on display at Spikeds conference in February, The New Intolerance on Campus. A session devoted to No Platform: Is hate speech free speech? featured Brendan ONeill, the current editor of Spiked-Online, and Douglas Murray, associate editor of the Conservative magazine, The Spectator .

ONeill is also a contributor to The Spectator. His mission, he said, is to encourage people to balk at the phrase Hate Crime as much as they do at the Orwellian term Thought Crime. ONeill ascribed this legislative tyranny to the Soviet Union, which following the Second World War had pushed for international treaties to criminalise hatred and incitement to hatred, he claimed. [A]mazingly, the Soviet Union ended up winningwith the 1965 UN convention outlawing ideas based on racial superiority, he said.

Thus, students trying to clamp down on hate speech today are placed in the tradition of a tyrannical and oppressive left. This anti-communist rant concluded with ONeill asserting that censorship had been adopted in Britain and elsewhere because Western society had lost its belief in Enlightenment values and the concepts of the robust individual and moral autonomy. This in turn was the end result of parenting styles and anti-bullying initiatives at schools that placed self-esteem as the most sacred thing in the world and had produced poofs and wimps.

There was not one mention of censorship of left-wing ideas, much less the governments so-called Prevent strategy, which targets Muslims under the banner of combating radicalisation and extremism. ONeill boasted that since his days at university he has been fighting for the freedom of speech for racist people, who he said face the most censorship on campus and in society. At one point, he declared that it was incumbent on those students who believe in free speech to do the very thing that has been banned as a matter of principlesuch as playing sexist songs through loud speakers.

ONeills claims of the special persecution of racists and xenophobes parallel those of the right wing more generally. Racism is treated as some form of popular expression that the powers-that-be cannot tolerate and the defence of racist speech as the cutting edge of progressive democratic and enlightened politics.

Murray expressed the same thought. With all the Etonian public school arrogance of the British ruling class, he declared that too many people attend universities who should not be there because they dont have the mental faculties to cope with it. They should instead be training for a useful profession like plumbing. It is not hard to work out who Murray believes are the select few fit to engage in critical thought and the free exchange of ideas.

In another session, Education Editor of Spiked-Online Joanna Williams utilised a critique of the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns politically bankrupt targeting of Israel academics to provide a platform for pro-Zionist propaganda. Outrage over Israels crimes was dismissed as the result of unabashed anti-Jewish bigotry.

Spiked has long acted as a soundboard for right-wing and far-right forces and ideas. In response to the 2011 London riots, Mick Hume, its former editor, blamed the social unrest on The undermining of a sense of belonging and commitment to a community, and the consequent collapse of the authority of local adult figures.

He added, One arch villain in this destruction of community ties has been not gang culture but the culture of welfarism which makes people more dependent on the state than on one another.

The riots were the result of the effective collapse of the authority of the stateprimarily embodied by the policein London and other cities, he said, concluding, The Met [Metropolitan Police] is clearly happier pursuing thought criminals on the tweets than real ones on the streets.

Absent from Humes pro-state narrative was any mention of the kangaroo courts and punitive punishments meted out to youth, not to mention the police killing that triggered the riots.

Another piece by Neil Davenport, Ignoring the real lessons of the riots, put Spikeds anti-working class credentials on full display. There is a corrosive sense of infantile entitlement among the young, he wrote, a sense of therapeutic entitlement, of demanding undue rewards. The left is responsible for creating an anti-work attitude that encourages a parasitical relationship of some on the labour of others and does much to encourage lumpenised passivity and defeatism, factors that can spark destructive anti-social (rather than political) behaviour.

Youth unemployment is the result of this sense of entitlement, he argued, which means European Union migrants fill the job vacancies that British youth refuse to take. He described then Education Secretary Michael Goves decision to abolish the Education Maintenance Allowancea stipend enabling poor students to studyas a positive corrective to the childish entitlement that helped inflame the 2011 riots.

It is not just about cutting back on welfare, he said, but cutting out the culture of incapacity that therapeutic norms have encouraged.

On this basis, Spiked has made clear its sympathy with the anti-immigrant UK Independence Party (UKIP), led by Nigel Farage. Writing on Nigel Farage and the fury of the elites, ONeil presented UKIP and other right-wing populist parties as the result of a groundswell of popular opposition to the establishment.

Describing UKIP glowingly as an assertion of something, of a desire, a sentiment, an idea, however ill-formed it might currently be, he asserted that anti-immigrant measures emanate from a profound feeling of cultural insecurity, where populations have a strong feeling that they now live in something like a foreign landlanguage that would not be out of place in Mein Kampf .

Playing to anti-Islamist sentiment, ONeil declared that the problem is the divisive ideology of multiculturalism and the censorious culture of relativism that allowed large parts of Western Europe to become tradition-trouncing, speech-suppressing, alienating places, not immigration itself.

ONeill followed this up with an interview with Farage under the headline, Im taking on the establishment, and they hate me for it.

Listening to Farage, I dont hear a racist or a fruitcake or a loon, ONeill wrote. Actually, I hear someone who says things that arent a million miles away from what Old Labour used to say ... theres often a leftish feel to Farages arguments. That the left in particular hate him reveals, I think, more about how the left has changed, and how it has abandoned some of its core ideals, than it does about any innate hatefulness on the part of Farage.

Asking rhetorically whether or not to vote UKIP, ONeill said, a few more consensus-kickers in British politics, whether theyre of a right-wing or left-wing hue, would be no bad thing, no bad thing at all.

The fraud of Spiked s supposed championing of free speech is demonstrated by the contrast between its fawning on Farage and its hatred for Assange, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and other whistle-blowers, who have been persecuted for their commitment to the truth.

In February 2016, Luke Gittos wrote against the ruling by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions that Assange had been deprived of his rights under international humanitarian law.

The ruling was absurd and another instance of an international team interfering with our justice system, Gittos complained, repeating the bogus claim that Assange was fleeing a serious allegation of rape.

Whenever Spiked comments on Assange, Manning or Snowden there is scarcely any mention of the state crimes they have revealed, merely an assertion that that there is nothing of any importance in these disclosures. They are even accused of fuelling conspiracy theories. In Lets call a halt to the worship of whistle-blowers, ONeill says the real impact of the cult of the whistle-blower is the further promotion, among polite society as well as impolite, of the idea that evil networks control the unenlightened horde.

The hostility to Assange et al is bound up with Spikeds support for the war on terror. Thus Gittosits law editor no lessdealt with the revelation that Cameron had ordered the drone killing of two British citizens in Syria in 2015 by insisting that the issue was not whether the government had broken international law by resorting to targeted assassinations but, Was it the right thing to do?

YES! ... , he wrote. Now, the killing of two psychopathic jihadis, a move that almost everyone agrees was a good idea, has been questioned on the basis that it might not accord with the arbitrary standards of international law. ... There is another word for the deference to international law: cowardice. It is a reflection of Western leaders inability to make forceful moral and political cases for their actions.

We should not balk at the targeted killing of these nutty terrorists merely because someone says it might be illegal, he continued. These decisions have to be judged on their moral and political merit. In this case, we should stop the legal handwringing and be glad that we pulled the trigger on two lunatics the world is better off without.

ONeill has denounced the Apologists for Islamist terrorism, who say that this is the result of Western foreign policy for its reluctance to face up to the true nature of the problem we face today. Which is that some people who live in our societies, many of whom were born here, have come to loathe those societies so much that they think nothing of obliterating their citizens.

We need to deliver two blows to these terrorists: the police blow of tougher investigations, and the social blow of refusing to sacrifice freedom at the altar of fear, he concluded calling for a fightback of civilisation.

To be continued
On Friday morning, a representative of the Greek police announced that the makeshift refugee camp at Idomeni had been completely cleared. There are no longer any people there, only tents with property belonging to the aid agencies, he said.

Armed guards are now securing the area in order to prevent refugees returning. Of the estimated 7,500 to 8,000 people who had been holding out in the camp in the hope of finding their way to Western Europe, only 3,500 were transported away in buses by the police. More than 4,000 refugees disappeared into the nearby woods and erected smaller tent encampments.

The clearing of the camp did not pass as smoothly as was claimed by the state press agency APD and broadcaster ERT. While they presented images of a peaceful evacuation, showing the resigned faces of the refugees, the inhabitants of the camp had been veritably starved out.

The camps electricity and water supplies had been turned off. Aid agencies were prevented from bringing food to the camp. Even the distribution of food for children was halted. Given the presence of armed police units in full riot gear, the refugees were left no other option than to leave the camp. Police bulldozers then flattened all the tents, including those used by aid agencies for the provision of food and other supplies, including equipment that had been financed by donations.

The refugees, mainly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, were taken away in buses guarded by soldiers from the Greek Army. Journalists were prevented from reporting on the evacuation of the camp and from following the buses, Spiegel Online reported. Clearly, the Greek authorities did not want the world to see the catastrophic conditions in the new detention centres.

According to aid agencies, conditions in these camps, which are mainly within the city of Thessaloniki, are even worse than in Idomeni, where the refugees had to endure months in freezing temperatures, rain and mud.

Medico International stated, It is not about improving the situation of those stranded here, but of making them invisible. Thirty-two-year-old Syrian Juan spoke to an AFP reporter about the Derveni camp: There is not enough food, no showers and no doctor. Twenty-nine-year-old Nidal added, I feel like a prisoner here.

The Derveni camp was established in a building formerly used for auctions; the Kalohori camp is a former warehouse. Both are situated in an abandoned industrial area of Thessaloniki. There is no infrastructure nearby and no prospects for the refugees. The military has erected tents in the halls, which have not even been properly cleaned. Refugees have to sleep on the bare concrete floor.

For many people, the relocation is another horrible experience, Amy Frost of the aid organization Save the Children, told Neues Deutschland. The situation in the camps was appalling, she said. Families have received hardly any food and water, and there are only four incredibly filthy toilets for nearly 200 people.

In some camps where refugees have been placed there is no medical care and no interpreters available. Instead, there are only soldiers guarding the people and preventing them from escaping.

Despite the criticism, the Syriza government is continuing its policy of forcible evictions of unofficial camps. As well as the tent encampments erected by the refugees that have fled from Idomeni in nearby places, along the motorway and at service stations, makeshift camps at the Pireaus harbour, with 2,000 inhabitants, and at Athens Airport, with 4,500 inhabitants, are all to be cleared in the next days.

The refugee organization ProAsyl writes that in this way, the refugees are being made invisible, because the camps to which the people are being relocated, by no means offer better living conditionstheir advantage is merely that they are not the focus of public and media attention.

Approximately 55,000 refugees are currently being kept in the state-organized Greek detention centres. In the environs of Athens alone some 11,500 refugees are in emergency accommodation, which do not even provide sufficient basic supplies of food, water, sanitary provisions or medical help.

An Afghan family man who lives in the Eliniko camp near Athens, reported, We have been here for two months. 1,500 people live in a large hall. There are too few toilets and showers. Children are getting respiratory problems.

At the same time, the Greek asylum agency is completely overloaded, and unable to register all the refugees or process applications for asylum or for family reunifications. As ProAsyl reported refugees have to try and make an appointment with the agency using Skype. Currently, there are 50,000 people trying to get an appointment over Skype, explains Maria Stavropoulou, director of the Greek asylum agency. Due to government budgetary constraints, there is a hiring freeze, so that the agency cannot take on additional staff.

Among those suffering are particularly vulnerable people such as minors, babies, heavily pregnant women or the sick, who cannot access the asylum process. It is these groups of people that are supposed to be redistributed to other EU member states through a resettlement programme encompassing more than 63,000. In fact, fewer than 1,000 have been redistributed since September 2015. Germany had promised to take in more than 17,000 refugees from Greece, but has so far received just 37.

The aid organization Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, MSF) regards the situation as a complete disaster. We are looking at a scenario where people might have to hang on here for years, an MSF representative said. This often involves mothers with children who could actually be immediately reunited with their families in other European countries.

According to doctors, severe depression has spread dramatically among the refugees in Greece. In addition, there are increased anxiety reactions and suicide attempts. In the big cities, refugee children begging have now become a familiar sight on the streets.

For us it is not about a better camp, there is not a one star camp and a five-star camp, we just want to be free, Wisam from Syria, who was taken away from Idomeni, told the weekly Die Zeit. But this is exactly what the Greek government is seeking to prevent. It is evacuating refugees to internment camps guarded by soldiers in order to better control them. Refugees apprehended in Macedonia and deported back to Greece are sent straight into detention, without an opportunity to apply for asylum.

Its not about Macedonia or Greece, said Wisam, Germany is behind it. It doesnt want us anymore, but dare not say that openly. German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere had already said in March one must endure these images in order to prevent refugees from getting into the European Union via Greece.

The real role of the Idomeni camp, i.e., to deter refugees from entering Europe, was also confirmed by a recent comment in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The paper explains: Idomeni was an ugly stopover on the path from a chaotic and almost fatalistic approach to the refugee crisis to an orderly migration policy which, as cold-hearted as it may sound, had to contain elements of deterrence.  The unmistakable message from the camp was: the final destination of irregular migration on the Balkan route is not Austria or Germany but an expanse of mud on the border with Macedonia.

But even if the decisions regarding the inhuman treatment of refugees have mainly been taken in Berlin and Brussels, the supposedly left Syriza government in Athens is mercilessly implementing the EUs policy of sealing off its external borders to refugees.

The Greek police have repeatedly used stun grenades, batons and tear gas against refugees from the camp at Idomeni. The euphemistically called hotspots, registration centres on the Greek islands, have been turned into giant internment camps. When clearing the Idomeni camp, the Syriza government has trampled press freedom underfoot and chased away journalists from the facility before a martial police detachment began the deportation of refugees.

The attacks on the rights of refugees are being accompanied by further austerity measures, cuts and sackings, which seriously threaten the living conditions of the entire Greek working class. Workers who protest against these measures are violently attacked by the police with tear gas and stun grenades.

The Syriza government, a darling of the pseudo-left organizations throughout Europe, is launching increasingly more brutal repression and police state measures in order to suppress any opposition to their right-wing policies, their imposition of austerity and the detention of refugees.
VALDOSTA, GA (WTXL) -- The Lowndes County Sheriff's Office is warning residents of telephone scammers claiming to be deputies.

Several residents have reported these calls to the sheriff's office. The scammers claim a household member has a warrant against them for failing to report for jury duty.

Then, they try to get that person to send the officer money to avoid arrest.

The sheriff's office says these calls are indeed scams, and that no office will ask residents to pay fines over the phone.
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- The Tallahassee Fire Department responded to reports of a fire at a single-family home late Saturday.

According to officials, firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke coming from the residence on the 1200 block of Stuckey Avenue.

Firefighters worked to stop the fire from spreading along with Tallahassee police, EMS, and Tallahassee City Utilities.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and no injuries were reported.
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The Japanese government said on Monday it was doing all it could to secure the release of a Japanese journalist being held hostage by an al Qaeda affiliate in Syria, after an apparent photograph of the man was posted on the internet.

The photograph, apparently uploaded to the Internet late on Sunday, showed a bearded man dressed in orange holding a hand-written sign in Japanese.

"Please help me. This is my last chance," said the sign, written in shaky characters and signed "Jumpei Yasuda."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett reached a compromise overnight Sunday regarding updating cabinet ministers on sensitive security information. The agreement paves the way for the government to vote on the appointment of Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman as defense minister.

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Yesterday evening Bennett wrote to members of his faction: In the last few hours, (Health) Minister Yaakov Litzman proposed a compromise in which the chairman or deputy chairman of the National Security Council will be temporarily appointed to perform the role of updating the Cabinet (on security matters) until the Amidror Committee reaches its conclusion. Litzman initially contacted me out of respect for the prime minister and I agreed to his proposal. Thereafter, Litzman contacted the prime minister who unfortunately rejected his compromise. The vote to expand the government has been delayed until Wednesday. Thus, we still are standing behind our demand and tomorrow I will update you in our factional meeting.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo:Yair Sagi, Alex Kolomoisky)

Netanyahu later agreed to the compromise prompting Litzman to furnish praise on both him and Bennett for coming to an agreement. I welcome the understanding that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Minister Bennett reached, which has resolved the coalition crisis. I hope that the government will be expanded and will continue to do its work for the citizens of Israel, said Minister Litzman.

Shortly prior to the announcement, Zionist Union Chairman Isaac Herzog ruled out the possibility of returning to negotiations with Netanyahu to join the government. In the dispute between Bibi and Bennett, I am watching the magician and the dreamer with great pleasure, wrote Herzog on his Facebook page. I have no intention of becoming a tool in their twisting of each others arms. I said there are no negotiations and there arent any negotiations. There is no door, no window, no key, and no lock. I understand the desire for a different headline and I am sorry to disappoint if I am not supplying one.

Earlier in the evening, Bennett spoke about the crisis: I will continue to fight and defend the IDFs soldiers in and outside of the government. Bennett, who made this statement during a visit with President Reuven Rivlin to the Himmelfarb High School in Jerusalem, added, Ten years ago, I was sent with thousands of combat soldiers to fight in the Second Lebanon War by a cabinet that did not know its goals or what it was voting for. I swore when I left Lebanon that I would not allow such a thing to happen again.

The Bayit Yehudi chairman stated further that that similar mistakes had been made during Operation Protective Edge in 2014: Unfortunately, two years ago as well, during Operation Protective Edge, the Cabinet was not privy to all information and did not understand the issue of the tunnels until I brought it to their attention on June 30. Nor did it understand the solution to the problem. I will not let this happen again, he continued. We are not asking for jobs or money; we are asking to preserve human lives. Human lives are more important than ministerial portfolios. I will continue to fight for, and defend, IDF soldiers as well as residents of the Gaza border region regardless of where I am, whether that is in or outside the government.

Bennetts demands included appointing a designated military secretary for the members of the cabinet who will provide security updates and prepare ministers to perform their jobs effectively. Moreover, he demanded there be an increase in field tours and that ministers access to security information be eased. Netanyahu announced on Friday that he had formed a committee that will recommend ways to update and inform cabinet minister. In addition it will brief them prior to key meetings while maintaining information security. Nevertheless, the Bayit Yehudi has rejected the proposed committee dismissing it as a spin.
A police spokesperson said on Monday that two Palestinians' rape of mentally disabled girl was not nationalistacally motivated.
Turkey's military killed at least 28 Islamic State fighters in shelling north of the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday in retaliation for the latest attacks against a Turkish border town, broadcaster CNN Turk said, citing a military statement.

The attack hit 58 Islamic State targets with artillery and rocket launchers, CNN Turk said on Monday.
The investigation into the Prime Minister's residences aroused fierce debate on Sunday between two enforcement bodies in Israel: the Israel Police and the ministry of interior. The central question being asked is who is responsible for wording the unusual announcement about which was published on Sunday informing that the investigation had been conclude.

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In the official announcement which was released by the police it was written that, "The investigation began in February 2016 with the approval of the attorney general and the state attorney. It focused on a few subjects from which suspicion of criminal acts arose which included suspected fraud and breach of confidence."

"At the conclusion of the investigation," a spokesman said, "all the alleged evidence, findings and insights that were gathered were transferred to the Jerusalem District Attorney's Officefor examination and a decision."

Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh and Attorney General Avihay Mandelblitt (Photo: Ofer Meir)

In an unprecedented step however, the police opted not to include in the announcement the names of the suspects which included Benjamin Netanyahu's wife, Sara Netanyahu. Moreover, it decided not to report on the recommendations outlined by the investigators involved in the case. The decision was taken despite the fact that similar such announcements to the media by the police have mentions suspects names and the fundamental recommendations of the investigators.

In the case of a well-known actor, Moshe Ivgy , for example, the police published a report last week while stating his name and included the recomemendations which should be inserted in an indictment based on evidence of sexual offenses allegedly committed against three women.

The prime ministers inner circle rushed to use the wording of the report stating in response: There was nothing in the report which suggested that Mrs. Netanyahu be arraigned.

As a result of the criticism on the wording of the report regarding the PMs residences, the police sought to reduce the damage by holding personal discussions with journalists about the issue of recommendations formulated in the case. However, not all were satisfied.

Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara (Photo: AP)

It is simply shameful and disgraceful conduct here, said a senior official in the police. The policy of the police commissioner is supposed to be identical to all those investigated and without special treatment.

The police responded by saying that already by the end of last week the investigators had completed their investigations and were ready to close the case and that senior investigators met with prosecutors and legal advisors in order to update them on the findings.

According to police sources involved in the case, legal advisors of Attorney General Avihay Mandelblitt were responsible for requesting from the police to postpone the announcement of the end of the investigation. This special request went all the way to Police Commissioner Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikhs office who decided not to grant the request.

Senior officials in the Justice Ministry claimed on Sunday night in response that After the police informed of its intention to publicize the announcement, the attorney general informed them that the announcement must include the full recommendations. An argument ensued and the attorney general said that the incomplete announcement, as it was phrased, was unacceptable in his opinion and it was not appropriate that it be released in such a manner. At the end of the day, the police made a unilateral decision to stop the coordination and to go to the media with the announcement.
The Israel Police released for publication on Monday morning the details surrounding the investigation into a stabbing attack which took place on the evening of Remembrance Day on May 10 in Armon Hanatziv against five women aged 70-80,

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According to the statement, three Arab minors all from the Arab neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber were arrested on May 19.

The women were walking near the Goldman Promenade in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood in Jerusalem when they noticed two Arab minors sitting on a bench. When they passed them, the two individuals attacked the women and stabbed two of them who were subsequently evacuated to Shaare Tsedek Medical Center in moderate condition. After the attack, the suspects managed to flee the scene prompting a wide scale manhunt.

Scene of attack in Armon Hanatziv (Photo: Medabrim Tikshoret)

Large security forces were called to the scene and opened up joint investigation together with the local Jerusalem Police and and Shin Bet.

During the investigation of the the suspects, all of whom were aged between 16-17 years, the three admitted to their intent to carry out an attack on Jews and even stated that they had discussed the details of the attack during their studies via their Facebook pages, the police statement read.

The three decided to meet at a small supermarket in Jabel Mukaber. Armed with knives and an ax which they took from their homes, the three proceeded in the direction of the promenade where they waited for their Jewish victims. A third suspect left the scene after becoming afraid that the attack would lead to the demolition of his parents home.

Scene of the attack (Photo: MDA)

As the women passed the two boys, they began stabbing them and striking them with the wooden handle of the ax. The two then fled the scene in the direction of their village while throwing and hiding their weapons on the way. One made it home and the other took refuge in his school. Later on, one of the attackers returned to retrieve the weapons and hid them in their village, said the police statement.

The investigation also revealed that following the attack, the two suspects corresponded with each other via Watsapp and Facebook and determined to carry out another stabbing in light of their earlier success the first time. The attack was thwarted however as the two were arrested before its implementation.

Photo: Eli Mandelbaum

During this attack the terrorists did not hesitate at all to harm Jews whoever they were, even against elderly women who were in the area, the statement concluded.

The local Jerusalem police commander praised the work of the security forces: The police will continue to operate with determination to ensure the security of the capitals residents.

During the investigation, it also emerged that the mother of one of the suspects was arrested one week ago for attempting to carry out a stabbing attack at the Zeitim Checkpoint at the entrance to Jerusalem.
Avigdor Lieberman was officially sworn in as Israeli Defense Minister in a Knesset ceremony on Monday evening.

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The swearing in comes as a part of Prime Minister Netanyahu's broadening of the coalition government. Government ministers approved Avigdor Liebermans nomination as defense minister in a meeting earlier Monday morning. In addition, the government will be welcoming party member Sofa Landver to take up the minister of absorption portfolio.

The vote comes following a protracted round of heated negotiations between Netanyahu's Likud party and Liebermans Yisrael Beytenu party. With the new agreement, Netanyahu will see the government grow from a narrow 61 seat majority in the Knesset to a 67-strong majority.

Avigdor Liberman (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

The approval was also facilitated after a crisis was resolved between Netanyahu and the Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett who had previously threatened to stymie Liebermans inauguration if a series of conditions were not first met by Netanyahu.

An awkward moment occurred when the incoming ministers were not invited for a meeting causing Netanyahu to even ask at one point, Where are the incoming ministers? Later on Monday evening the two will be sworn into the government in the Knesset.

Photo: Kobi Gidon

As part of the deal between Likud and Yisrael Beytenu, NIS1.4 billion will be allocated toward Liebermans pension reforms over the next four years. Moreover, $150 million will go toward public housing. Moreover, a team of ministers will work to formulate the terminology of the Basic Law which would legally define Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.

Regarding religious and state policies which were one of the fundamental flagships of Liebermans party, the faction wrote: A team will be assembled under the leadership of Minister Yariv Levin which will include representatives from the coalition for the subject of religious and state legislation. Legislation relating to religion and the state will not be advanced, will not be approved and will not be passed unless they have been unanimously approved by the coalition.
The partners in Israel's Leviathan natural gas field said on Sunday they had signed a deal to supply as much as $3 billion worth of gas to a new private power plant in central Israel.

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Leviathan, one of the largest offshore discoveries of the past decade, was found off Israel's Mediterranean coast in 2010. It has an estimated 622 billion cubic meters of natural gas (BCM) of reserves and is expected to become operational in 2019.

Under the deal, Leviathan will provide up to 13 billion BCM for 18 years to the IPM plant in Be'er Tuvia once gas starts flowing from Leviathan.

The contract comes a week after Israel's government approved a revised deal aimed at fast-tracking development of the huge field, which has been mostly earmarked for exports.

Gas drilling on the Leviathan gas fields (Photo: Albatros)

In January Leviathan signed a $1.3 billion gas supply contract with Edeltech, Israel's largest private power producer.

Texas-based Noble Energy, Israeli conglomerate Delek Group and Israel's Ratio Oil Exploration own the Leviathan site, which will cost more than $5 billion to develop.

"This deal is an important milestone, in that it establishes another domestic contract that, together with additional domestic and export contracts, are essential for the quick development of Leviathan," said Niv Sarne, Noble's manager of business development.

The Leviathan project hit a major obstacle in March when Israel's Supreme Court blocked a previous agreement between the field's shareholders and the Israeli state, the terms of which would have stayed unchanged for 10 years.

It had been opposed by opposition parties and public advocacy groups on grounds that Noble and Delek - which also own the adjacent Tamar field - would control too much of Israel's natural gas supply.

The ruling will allow the government to change taxes, export quotas or other regulations in connection with the Leviathan field.
Tel Aviv's Magistrates Court extended the arrest of two Palestinians suspected of raping a young mentally disabled Jewish girl. Despite initial reports claiming that the rape was nationalistically motivated, Police Spokesperson Meirav Lapidot said yesterday that the police does not deal with suspects of nationalistically motivated crimes. The police request to extend the suspects' arrest noted racism as the possible cause.

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A police representative had already told a hearing this morning that they are ruling out nationalistic motivations. However, shortly thereafter, the police changed its assessment again: Until the third suspect is arrested, we ask that suspicion of the nationalistic motivation not be ruled out. Moreover, despite the primary suspect telling the court that I did not do anything, his arrest was extended for three days.

Suspect in rape case appears in court (Photo: Yariv Katz)

Ophir Katavi of the Public Defenders Office thanked the police, which allowed the issue of nationalistic motivation to be put to the side. He added, The suspect was in Israel with a legal permit and he fathers children. And now as a result of a dispute with neighbors, he is here (in court).

Katavi stated further. Until today, evidence to issue an indictment has not come to light and as time passes, the police are not succeeding in finding evidence that specifically refers them to the suspects.

Judge Ronit Poznanski-Katz said in her ruling that the plaintiff argued that the suspects threatened her in order to humiliate and frighten her. She basically said that she did not give consent to what was done to her. But the difference between the first and second testimony of the plaintiff cannot be ignored, said Poznanski-Katz.

The judge also stated that the police presented an additional document that strengthens the case for the suspects involvement the perpetration of the crime, when viewed in tandem with the testimony of the plaintiff.

The Prime Ministers Facebook Post

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu caused a stir when he accused the press and political system of not condemning the nationalistic rape on his Facebook page. However, the police had chosen to avoid publicizing the case, even though they usually inform crime reporters about cases of such severity.

Netanyahu wrote on his facebook page, This is a shocking crime that calls out for wall-to-wall condemnation," the Prime Minister wrote on Thursday, "but for some reason such condemnation hasn't been heard  not in the media and not across the political system. We can only imagine what would have happened in the reverse case. We will charge the highest price, and use the full extent of the law against all those involved in this cruel incident."

On Friday, the PM published another post in which he acknowledged that the timing of his remarks had been inappropriate. "Regarding the post I published yesterday: The case, as reported, awakened deep pain and shock in me. Even so, it was not right for me to speak about it before the investigation was concluded, and I am sorry for that."

The two suspects are denying connections stated in reports indcating their involvement in the rape and the police are still carrying out its investigations. According to the plaintiff, the third suspect, who is still at-large, filmed the rape. A manhunt for him is ongoing.
Clad in a flowing, dun brown habit and sandals, he hitches rides from the top of the winding road, by Israels national military cemetery and Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum, and asks to be taken to the center of the Ein Karem, the picturesque Jerusalem suburb. The views are nothing if not biblical: rolling hills, olive trees, terraces with rosemary, sage, and thyme, and nestled in the inclines like a palace out of a Disney movie, the shiny, golden onion-like domes that top the Russian Orthodox church.

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Meet Elias (not his real name), a smiling 26-year-old Franciscan monk from Aleppo, who has spent the last two years in Jerusalem.

When he hops into the cars of Israelis, they invariably ask him where hes from. Some dont say anything, he reported, speaking with The Media Line from the cafe attached to the Church of Saint John the Baptist, his current home. Nearby, in the historical neighborhood housing the church, is Marys Spring, where the mother of Jesus is said to have stopped for water while walking from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Some say in surprise Youre Syrian! Some are afraid. Sometimes they say, what a tragedy it is in Syria. We are praying for Syria. Some say, how interesting!

Jerusalem (Photo: AP)

About the Israelis whom he was brought up to think of as the Zionist enemy, he now says As Jesus said, who am I to judge?

Elias was born and grew up in Aleppo. At eighteen, he considered turning towards a life of religious devotion but instead chose to study electronic technology. After studying for his degree at Aleppo University, he took a job as deputy director of a plastics factory.

But by the time he was 21, in 2011, the calling became too great to ignore.

In 2008, Elias took part in the Franciscan march in Syria, and I saw how the brothers lived such simple lives, as a family. It appealed to me, it drew me to think about who God is, why I should be a Christian. Over time, I realized I wanted to live in this large family, in this simplicity, to live for the Lord.

His family, Armenian Catholics, arrived in Aleppo as refugees from Turkish persecution sometime in the late 1800s. In 2011, as he was deciding to undertake a course of religious study in the Monastery of Qozhaya, Lebanon, also known as the Monastery of Saint Anthony the Great, the Arab Spring was licking at Syrias borders, but life in Aleppo was still peaceful. His father, an architect, provided well for the family. His mother was an economist but she never needed to work. His older sister was studying architecture and his younger sister was still a schoolgirl. What he left behind was a prosperous family in a peaceful city.

About his decision to devote his life to the church, his mother said you were a gift to me. If thats what you want, its OK by me. His father said if that is your way, you decide.

What unfolded next is a saga of biblical proportions. Elias had barely left Aleppo when war broke out and his mother, 45, was diagnosed with metastatic uterine cancer.

Aleppo today is demolished. Amid the ruins, the Russian army has recently set up a military base to mark its victory over the extremist Islamist militias that ruled Syrias largest city.

The only member of his immediate family who remains in the city is his mother, who was buried there last year. When he sees images of the destruction, Elias says he feels deep sadness, because it is as if all is destroyed, as if your own past is cancelled.

As war tore his country apart and his mothers illness spread throughout her body, we started worrying about what to do, he recalls. He spent 7 months in the Lebanese monastery before being transferred to Italy for more advanced study.

In Syria, medical care is free. His mother was able to avail herself of the services of the capitals al Kindi hospital, then considered the top cancer treatment center in the Arab Middle East. In December 2013, a suicide bomber demolished the institution.

Destruction of Aleppo (Photo: Reuters)

The last time Elias travelled to Syria was two weeks before his mothers death, late in 2015. This is how he did it: From Jerusalem, he traveled to Jericho and took a bus across the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge into Jordan. From Jordan, he took another bus to Lebanon where he took a taxi from Beirut to Damascus. In Damascus, he got on another bus to Aleppo. The ride that once took 4 hours now takes 12.

When he returns, he presents his Syrian passport, that of an enemy nation, to the young Israeli recruits on duty at passport control.

He smiles. Some say, Im happy to meet a Syrian. Some of them know that monks are allowed to go in and out. Some are fearful.

His oldest sister, an architect, now lives in Glasgow with her husband and baby. Through an international organization of young Christian students she met and married a Syrian who had already been working in Scotland for eight years. His younger sisters studies (urban geometry) were interrupted. She, her husband, and Elias father now live in Poland, to which they were invited under a controversial Polish program extending visas to persecuted Christians. They got out in October 2015, one month after the young couples wedding.

Many peoples on earth suffer instability, war and dispersal, Elias says. the Armenian people, the Jewish people and now the Syrian people. Were neighbors. An aunt, an uncle and his maternal grandmother remain in Aleppo. He communicates with his aunt via the miracle that is Facebook.

They dont know Im here. They think Im in Italy or Jordan, because of the political situation. I decided it is better for them if anyone finds out Im here, it could cause problems, he says, understating the case considerably. It could prevent me from entering Syria again.

There are, he says, a sum total of four Syrian monks in Israel, three of them in the Jerusalem area.

The first time I came here, it was the most beautiful thing, he says, to visit the holy sites. Bethlehem, Nazareth, the Galilee, even now, I love very much to go the Holy Sepulcher, where everything began.

His encounter with a customs clerk at the border post was the first time in his life he laid eyes on an Israeli, though he had met a Jew in Italy, while studying.

Asked the big questionhow can there be a God, if such suffering exists? this is how Elias, a student of Christian philosophy, replies: Saying God does not exist is the easiest thing. But understanding the true meaning of being free, understanding the real sense of what God is that is the bigger challenge, but it brings you to the truth.

The Lord can enter into our hearts only when we open the door. But because we are free, we can also admit evil. From our freedom, the consequence can be evil, and that evil within one is not lived only by one individual, it is lived by everyone. Because of this I say, He can touch hearts and help people accept His will.
In about a week, adjacent to the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, "Hajj season" will start as well, and Muslims from all around the world will start their religious pilgrimage to holy sites in the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina. At the peak of the Hajj, Saudi Arabia will host tens of millions of people at once. Those who make the pilgrimage will be able to take pride in their religious devotion upon returning home.

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Wearing white, both Sunni and Shiite (mostly Sunni, though) will go aruond the Kaaba and the Black Stone together. Despite a massive police presence, disasters always occur. This is a time when security forces in Saudi Arabia experience their strongest yearly migraines, as they work around the clock to prevent attacks and infiltrations by terrorists. On one hand, it's a chance for Saudi Arabia to show off its status as the patron of sacred sites, but on the other, the danger in these large numbers is high and must be addressed.

The Kaaba area during the Hajj. The busiest time of year for Saudi security authorities. (Photo: Reuters)

Invitations for the Hajj were sent out early this year to encourage pilgrims to complete their arrangements in advance. Despite the tensions between Riyadh and Tehran following an incident that occurred in January in which Iranian protesters attacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran (after which the Saudis cut diplomatic ties between the countries ), the Iranians were invited too. An Iranian crew went to Saudi Arabia to negotiate the process of permit allotment to Iranians.

The talks ended badly: The Iranian delegation returned home empty handed. The Saudis quickly sent a warning to Iran's leaders, telling them, "You will be held responsible by Allah for denying the pilgrims their right to observe this important religious decree." Tehran, on the other hand, insists that the Saudis "dont want" its people there.

The Tehran-Riyadh discomfort rises higher and higher every day. It's hard to believe, but cool-headed Switzerland is actually the one given the charge of mediating between the two. The country's embassy in Iran will be responsible for issuing electronic tickets, and its sister embassy in Riyadh will guarantee (as far as its limited abilities allow) the safety of the tens of thousands of visiting Iranians, should they arrive. About 770 Iranians were killed last year when a bridge collapsed at the entrance to Mecca, but the Iranians claim the number of casualties eventually reached 2,400.

At the moment, it seems like there's a need for a strong hand to guide these two sides if they are to reach a proper compromise. Russia has influence over the upper echelons of both governments. Without Putin, the Iranians may have to stay home, and the ball will roll into Saudi King Salman's court. Tehran is already preparing a media blitz focusing on this action's negative impact on its citizens' human rights. Really, is there a bigger irony than these two nations, a couple of the top human rights violators in the world (Iran is ranked second in the world in number of executions and arbitrary arrests, with Saudi Arabia coming in third), each taking a sanctimonious stance on the issue while condemning the other?

Former Iranian President Ahmadinejad. May be in for a comeback. (Photo: AP)

The Hajj affair is another sign of the power struggle born of the Iran nuclear deal. A battle for oil rights is raging behind the scenes, and the Saudis are worried by the flow of businesspeople and industry to Iran, which they see as coming at their expense. The Iranians, on the other hand, have replaced the chairperson of the Assembly of Experts  the Ayatollah Ali Khameini's political power base.

The election of new Chair Ahmad Jannati, who is associated with the ultra-conservatives in the country, spells bad news for President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif, who would rather open their country up to the wider world. Jannati is sending winking messages to his friend, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, hinting to him that it might be time to start getting in front of the cameras a little more. But Jannati, who is 90 years old, may not reach the end of his eight-year term. With an elderly Jannati and an ill Khamenei, all options seem open.
A 19 year old soldier was stabbed on Pri Magadim street in the Nachalat Yitzhak neighborhood of Tel Aviv.

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He has been evacuated to Ichilov hospital in the city in light to medium condition with stab wounds to his upper body. The terrorists used a screwdriver to stab the soldier.

The attacker has been found and arrested. He is a 17 year old Palestinian from the West Bank.

Area of the stabbing in Tel Aviv (Photo: Guy Mado)

A witness was quoted as saying "I heard a lot of people yelling and I didn't understand what was happening. I saw a soldier and two other people holding sticks. Someone was yelling 'call the police, there was a terrorist!' I saw the soldier with his head covered in blood. It happened on the sidewalk, and it seemed as if the soldier was on his way home. His parents came down to the street and were in shock."

Soldier stabbed in Tel Aviv (Photo: Magen David Adom)

The attack occured close to the Kirya base, which is the IDF headquarters. The soldier arrived at Ichilov hospital and is being treated in the emergency room. He is fully conscious.
GEORGETOWN- Authorities in Guyana say one fisherman has been killed and three others are missing following a pirate attack in waters near the South American country.

Police said Monday that they will file murder and piracy charges against five men who were identified by a 43-year-old captain who survived the weekend attack off the coast of neighboring Suriname.

Police Commander Ian Amsterdam told The Associated Press that pirates attacked the Guyanese crew with machetes, threw them overboard and seized their engine, equipment and fish.
BENGHAZI - A force that controls key oil terminals in eastern Libya said it had captured the town of Ben Jawad from ISIS militants on Monday east of their stronghold of Sirte.

Spokesman Ali al-Hassi said four Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) fighters had been killed and 16 wounded in fierce clashes in the coastal town. The PFG claim to be in control of Ben Jawad could not be independently verified.

The PFG has declared its support for Libya's UN-backed unity government, which Western states hope can bring together Libyan factions to fight ISIS.
DUBAI- A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced a member of an independent human rights organization to eight years in prison in the latest guilty verdict to be issued against the group's members, rights group Amnesty International said.

Abdulaziz al-Shubaily, 31, was the only founding member of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights, known by its Arabic acronym HASEM, not yet sentenced to a prison term. He acted as a legal representative for nine other founding HASEM members.

In total, 11 HASEM members have been sentenced to a combined 92 years in prison. Seven of the 11 are in jail and four are awaiting their prison terms to be implemented.
CARACAS- Venezuelan authorities say they've arrested four men for the murder of retired Maj. Gen. Felix Velasquez, who was once chief of security for the late President Hugo Chavez.

Velasquez was shot to death on Saturday while driving with his granddaughter. Prosecutors initially said it appeared to be an attempt to steal his gun.

The national prosecutor's office said Monday that two of the suspects are police officers from the opposition-governed Chacao district of the capital. On Monday, the national police announced a "technical intervention" of the local force. Chacao Mayor Ramon Muchacho says he's not sure what that involves, but urged officials not to politicize the case.

Velasquez was security chief for Chavez in 2003 and also headed the country's militia force.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently signed an order calling for the return to Israel of an IDF tank which was captured in the 1982 battle of Sultan Yacoub in Syria. Three soldiers whose fates remain unknown to this day have long been associated in the public eye with this missing tank: Zachary Baumel, Zvi Feldman, Yehuda Katz. Katz's sister, Pirhiya Heiman, sopoke to Ynet on Monday morning, expressing her hope that the tank's retrieval will bring about new information.

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"The tank itself isn't important, what's important is that the missing (soldiers) come back. But if an analysis and inspection of the tank would help get more information about the event, then maybe it would lead to other investigative avenues."

Heiman said that it's unclear which of the still-missing soldiers were part of the captured tank's crew  if any. "They weren't members of the same tank crew," she said, "Feldman and Baumel (were) from one tank, and Yehuda from another tank. It's still unclear to us if this really is one of these crews' tanks."

Baumel, Feldman, and Katz. Despite government efforts, their fates remain unknown.





The Sultan Yacoub battle took place on the sixth day of the first Lebanon war, whose official name in Israel is Operation Peace for Galilee, in June 1982. Israel suffered 20 confirmed losses in the battle, as well as dozens of wounded. Six soldiers were unaccounted for, including Feldman, Baumel, and Katz. The fate of the other three was later uncovered: One of them turned out to have been killed in the battle and buried in Syria, with his body being returned to Israel after the war; another was captured by the Syrians and freed two years later; and the third was captured by a terrorist organization and freed via a prisoner exchange deal that took place three years later.

Following the battle, eight Israeli tanks remained in Syrian hands, among them the one associated with the three still-missing soldiers, whose fates remain a mystery despite Israeli security authorities' efforts to gather information about them throughout the years.

"I've known about (the return of the tank) for a few weeks now, and (I've known) about the tank going to Russia for over 20 years. So, though (it is happening) sluggishly, we've finally arrived at a certain breakthrough as far as the state of Israel and the IDF's activity over the three soldiers who were sent into battle is concerned," said Heiman

The Israeli tank captured in the 1982 battle. Now set ti be returned to Israel.

"I think this affair should have been a constant companion to the life of the state of Israel," she continued, "No one wanted to take responsibility for the first Lebanon war. Yanush (Avigdor Ben Gal, commander of IDF forces on the eastern front. -AS) blamed Ehud Barak (who was his deputy during the war. -AS) for the failure, and vice versa from Barak to Yanush. It's the same with everything that happened between Arik Sharon and Menachem Begin. No one wanted to deal with the results of that war. It was swept under the rug."

When asked if she believes that the mystery might be solved soon, Heiman answered, "Certainly. Factually, the chances of Yehuda being alive are no less than the chances of him being a casualty. On the contrary, they may be even greater. Keep in mind that the Syrians gave back his tank commander, Zohar Lipschitz may he rest in peace, and if Yehuda's situation was, god forbid, like Lipschitz's, he would have been returned too. Emotionally, faith-wise, I have a strong feeling that Yehuda is alive."
This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company.

As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism.

We hope you are equally as excited as us.

This means that now the teams of Minuteman can combine with the firepower of Your Defence News to stay at the absolute forefront for our readers.

Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited.

In the meanwhile, here are some of our most popular posts and categories to keep you busy.

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Early figures from CoreLogic RP Data put the preliminary national clearance rate at 68% for last week, down slightly from the previous weeks final result of 68.9%.

Last week saw 2,419 auctions held across Australias capital cities, making it the fourth busiest week for 2016.

The corresponding week in 2015 saw 2,792 auctions held, with the national clearance rate being recorded at 78.5%.

Sydney was home to the strongest clearance rate last week, with the harbour citys preliminary rate currently sitting at 75% after it held 773 auctions.

The previous week saw Sydneys clearance rate finalise 73.2%.

The Eastern Suburbs was the best performing Sydney sub-region last week, with its preliminary clearance rate at 91.9%, followed by North Sydney and Hornsby at 83.3%.

Melbourne was the busiest market last week holding 1,157 auctions, with its preliminary clearance rate coming in at 70.8%,

So far that is relatively steady compared to the previous weeks final result of 70.8%.

Melbournes top performing sub-region for the week was the Outer East with a preliminary clearance rate of 78.3%.

Preliminary results in Brisbane show a clearance rate of 40.2% across the city last week, compared to 50.9% last week and 48.0% at the same time last year.

Last week saw the Queensland capital hold 190 auctions last week, up from the 131 it held the week prior.

Last week saw Adelaide hold 122 auctions and return a preliminary clearance rate of 52.6%.

That figure is down from the final clearance rate of 68.8% from 92 auctions recorded in Adelaide a fortnight ago.

Canberra held 107 auctions last week, which was the citys busiest week since mid-March and the third straight week Canberra has held more than 100 auctions.

Preliminary results show 64.4% of Canberra auctions were successful, down from 67.2% the week prior.

Perths preliminary clearance rate currently sits at 50%.
Health News

Atlanta, Georgia - On Sunday, June 5, thousands of people in communities across the country and around the world will hold celebrations to honor cancer survivors and celebrate life on the 29th Annual National Cancer Survivors Day. The celebrations will call attention to the ongoing challenges of cancer survivorship and show that life after a cancer diagnosis can be rewarding and inspiring.

According to the National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation, administrator for the celebration, a survivor is anyone living with a history of cancer  from the moment of diagnosis through the remainder of life. The foundation provides free guidance, education, and support to hundreds of hospitals, support groups, and other cancer-related organizations that host National Cancer Survivors Day events in their communities.

There was a time when a cancer diagnosis was thought of as a death sentence, says Catherine Alfano, vice president of Survivorship for the American Cancer Society. The good news is that since the early 1990s, the cancer death rate has declined by 23 percent. Thanks to improved detection and treatment, more people than ever before are surviving cancer and going on to lead productive, happy lives after cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, the number of cancer survivors continues to grow in the U.S. despite overall declining incidence rates in men and stable rates in women. This reflects, in part, a growing number of new cancer diagnoses resulting from a growing and aging population, as well as increases in cancer survival because of advances in early detection and treatment. As the number of cancer survivors continues to grow, it will be more important than ever to address the unique needs of these individuals.

During treatment, the American Cancer Society provides a wealth of lifesaving services and programs to assist cancer patients and their caregivers, including free transportation to and from treatment through the Road To Recovery program, free lodging for cancer patients and caregivers at more than 30 Hope Lodges nationwide, and 24/7 cancer information by visiting cancer.org or calling toll-free 1-800-227-2345.

After treatment, many survivors face ongoing physical and psychosocial problems and are at risk for late effects of cancer treatment, Alfano says. They worry that their cancer will return and they may feel uncertain about their future heath. These fears can stay with the person for a long time after treatment is completed and may affect their quality of life.

Alfano says survivorship care should help cancer survivors cope with the long-term effects of cancer, which can include physical side effects; psychological, social, and emotional concerns; and financial hardships. The American Cancer Societys community-based programs and services are there to help.

The Societys Survivorship Resource Center has worked with external experts to create survivorship clinical care guidelines for primary care and other survivorship providers  all to make sure that cancer survivors get the comprehensive care they need to keep them healthy in the long run. Defining what care they need is an important step in helping make sure that cancer survivors have the optimal quality and length of life possible. Tools for survivors and caregivers can be found at www.cancer.org/survivorshipcenter.

Not all outcomes of having cancer are bad, Alfano adds, Many survivors report that they have a new appreciation for life, are more effective in coping with stress, have improved relationships with family and friends, and have greater meaning and purpose in their life.

To locate the nearest National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation event in your community, check with your local cancer treatment center, hospital, or American Cancer Society office. For more information, visit the NCSD website at ncsd.org.

NCSD started in the United States in 1987, and it is now celebrated worldwide in countries including Canada, Australia, India, South Africa, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Italy, and Malaysia, according to NCSDF. The nonprofit National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation provides free guidance, education, and networking resources and assistance to hundreds of hospitals, support groups, and other cancer-related organizations that host official National Cancer Survivors Day events in their communities. The Foundations primary mission is to bring awareness to the issues of cancer survivorship in order to better the quality of life for cancer survivors.
Health News

Dallas, Texas - Higher long-term variability in blood pressure readings were linked to faster declines in brain and cognitive function among older adults, according to new research in the American Heart Associations journal Hypertension.

Blood pressure variability might signal blood flow instability, which could lead to the damage of the finer vessels of the body with changes in brain structure and function, said Bo (Bonnie) Qin, Ph.D., lead study author and a postdoctoral scholar at Rutgers Cancer Institute in New Brunswick, New Jersey. These blood pressure fluctuations may indicate pathological processes such as inflammation and impaired function in the blood vessels themselves.

Researchers analyzed results from 976 Chinese adults (half women, age 55 and or older) who participated in the China Health and Nutrition Survey over a period of five years. Blood pressure variability was calculated from three or four visits to the health professional. Participants also underwent a series of cognitive quizzes such as performing word recall and counting backwards.

Researchers found:

Higher visit-to-visit variability in the top number in a blood pressure reading (systolic blood pressure) was associated with a faster decline of cognitive function and verbal memory.

Higher visit-to-visit variability in the bottom number (diastolic blood pressure) was associated with faster decline of cognitive function among adults ages 55 to 64, but not among those age 65 and older.

Neither average systolic or diastolic blood pressure readings were associated with brain function changes.

Qin said physicians tend to focus on average blood pressure readings, but high variability may be something for physicians to watch for in their patients.

Controlling blood pressure instability could possibly be a potential strategy in preserving cognitive function among older adults, she said.

While the study was observational and does not suggest a direct cause and effect between blood pressure variability and brain function decline, the findings add to a growing body of evidence that variation in blood pressure readings  perhaps more so than averages  may indicate increased risk for some additional health problems. Clinical intervention trials and longer term studies are needed to confirm the findings.

Co-authors are Anthony J. Viera, M.D.; Paul Muntner, Ph.D.; Brenda L. Plassman, Ph.D.; Lloyd J. Edwards, Ph.D.; Linda S. Adair, Ph.D.; Barry M. Popkin, Ph.D. and Michelle A. Mendez, Ph.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript

The National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety, the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Carolina Population Center, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Fogarty NIH grant funded the study. The first author received financial support from Sanofi /UNC Global Nutrition Fellowship and the Fogarty NIH grant.
Latest News

Chicago, Illinois - Steven J. Stack, MD President, American Medical Association:

"The prospect of the Aetna-Humana acquisition in Missouri received a bone-crushing defeat when state regulators today issued an order preventing the companies from doing any post-merger business in Missouri's Medicare Advantage markets and some commercial insurance markets.

"The AMA strongly applauds Missouri regulators for taking the right approach to prevent the proposed acquisition of Humana by rival Aetna from creating anticompetitive market power that would have threatened Missouri's health care delivery system. The Missouri order strongly validates concerns that AMA has expressed to Missouri regulators, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice, and officials in other states impacted by the proposed health insurer mergers.

"Missouri regulators took the notable step of recognizing Medicare Advantage as a relevant product market, bucking opposing pressure from Aetna. In Missouri, the merger would have substantially compromised competition in the state's Medicare Advantage markets with negative consequences for elderly patients in the need for health care access, quality and affordability. According to a recent AMA analysis of Medicare Advantage markets, Missouri was expected to be among the states where the Aetna-Humana deal would be presumed to be anticompetitive."
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- President Klaus Iohannis on Monday signed decrees on appointment of two new members to the National Statistical Council, informs the Presidential Administration, told Agerpres. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook stiripesurse.ro  Help

- In the past five years, the Institute for the Investigation of the Crimes of Communism and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER) has investigated the death of 2,207 children caused by starvation, improper living conditions and lack of medical assistance in four of the 26 shelter hospitals and

- Presidential adviser Ligia Deca, proposed by the National Liberal Party's (PNL) leadership for the Education Minister office, stated on Monday that she will make Educated Romania operational "in the letter and in the spirit," according to President Klaus Iohannis' statements and with all the latest

- The Prosecutor General of Romania, Gabriela Scutea, met on Monday with the Ambassador of Ukraine to Romania, Ihor Prokopchuk, the main topic of the discussion being the investigation opened by the Romanian military prosecutors into committing crimes against humanity in connection with the Russian

- Romania co-chairs, at the initiative of President Klaus Iohannis, the thematic line "Teachers, teaching and the teaching profession" within the Transforming Education Summit - TES, due to take place from Friday to Monday, on the sidelines of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, informed the

- President Klaus Iohannis will attend, on Monday, September 19, the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II that will take place at Westminster Abbey in London, the Presidential Administration announced. Fii la curent cu cele mai noi stiri. Urmareste stiripesurse.ro pe Facebook

- President Klaus Iohannis on Monday signed a decree regarding the submission to Parliament for ratification of a loan agreement and a grant agreement between Romania and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) related to the first programmatic financing for the development

- The 14th edition of the Ramnicu Sarat Summer University themed "Pedagogy of Memory and the Duty of Never Forgetting," opened in Ramnicu Sarat on Monday, the Institute for Investigation of Crimes of Communism and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER) reported on Monday. Fii la curent cu
Ajith Vijay Kumar A bomb goes off in downtown Baghdad leaving scores dead  Thats news. If it happens in our country, like in Jaipur, thats a tragedy. And when 15,000 people are uprooted from their homes everyday (80% being women and children) and forced to live as nomads; no food, no shelterno nothing! People left to degenerate and die everyday in bits & partsask yourself does it move youmove me? Welcome to a world where even the simplest joys of being alive are at most times out of boundswelcome to Darfur, the very place where at least 200,000 people have been killed and two million forced out from their homes in the last five years. Imagine your life, as you know it, disappearing in an instant and you are forced to watch helplessly. Fear for your familys safety precipitated by war, violence, hatred, massacre, and genocide force you to flee your home, your soil, your land. Shoving you onto a torturous journey spanning hours or even days in search of a sheltersomewhere where your child can sleep in peace. You are dependent on handouts of food; possibly have no clean drinking water or access to health care. Not a pretty picture, right? But the fact is that millions of people all across the world, in countries rich and poor have been living in such desolate and precarious conditions for years. These people are called refugees. This is their story. Darfur is now famous (Hopefully more aid is pouring in) thanks to celebrity activists like Don Cheadle, his friend George Clooney and Steven Spielberg as they step up and speak out in attempts to galvanize governments and ordinary people to try and help. Spielberg even went to the extent of pulling out of the Beijing Olympics committee accusing China of not doing enough to pressure Sudan to end the "continuing human suffering" in the region. But the misfortune of the world we live in is that Darfur is not alone, many more regions and countries are at the brink of a humanitarian crisis; thats in one word CATASTROPHIC. According to the 2006 World Refugee survey conducted by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), a staggering 33 million people worldwide are currently uprooted from their homes. USCRI says that Iraqis are currently the fastest growing refugee and IDP crisis group in the world with nearly 2 million people having fled the country, and 1.7 million internally displaced. In Sudan, more than 5.3 million people left their homes. And the on-going armed conflict in Colombia internally displaced 2.9 million people. These are however, just three in a long list of countries and regions impacted by this human tragedy. USCRI statistics show that there are 26 conflict-ridden nations, predominantly in Africa and the Middle East. Even in the best of conditions, humanitarian aid agencies are able to provide only the basics: food, clean drinking water, and elementary health care. But sometimes, local political climate ensures that weeks could go by before help arrives. All this happening in midst of a flickering hope of once gain revisiting those happy days when their children didnt cry out of hunger, days that were bliss. Somalia, Chad, Algeria, Zimbabwe; the dark continent and even large swathes of the so called peaceful world are full of such hell holes where entire generations are being lost in the unending search for a loaf of bread, a pitcher of water  but who cares? Do youdo I? I discern that misery is subjective, what can move me to edges may not mean anything to you. Thats human fallacy at its bestsomething we all are good at. What doesnt affect me directly is not happening at all; thats the motto for most of us. On World Refugee Day let us not forget that we are lucky.She calls out to the man on the street Sir, can you help me? Its cold and Ive nowhere to sleep, Is there somewhere you can tell me? He walks on, doesnt look back He pretends he cant hear her Starts to whistle as he crosses the street Seems embarrassed to be there Oh think twice, its another day for You and me in paradise Oh think twice, its just another day for you, You and me in paradise Just another day in paradise * Single from Phil Collins` album, But Seriously (1989)
New Delhi: A taxi driver was allegedly brutally assaulted by a group of African nationals in the national capital after he refused to take on board extra passengers in his car, according to reports.

The driver has received severe injuries on his eyes and nose and has been admitted to AIIMS trauma centre in New Delhi.

As per the reports, a group of six Africans including two women thrashed the Ola cab driver early today after he objected to carry more than four passengers in his car. The incident took place in south Delhi area.

While, a Rawandan woman, who was with the African attackers during the attack, has been detained, the other five are still on the run.

According to Delhi Police, they have identified all the suspects and have launched a manhunt to nab African origin men for the brutal attack on the Ola driver. Meanwhile, a Rawandan woman, who was with the African attackers during the attack, has been detained and is being interrogated.

The report of assault on the Ola cabbie has come at a time when Home Minister Rajnath Singh has directed the Delhi Police to ensure the safety of African nationals amid reports of recent attacks on them in the national capital.
New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju tonight spoke to Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Kumar Verma and directed him to take prompt action against those involved in attacks on African nationals saying India's image cannot be allowed to be tarnished by such incidents.

"Spoke to CP for prompt action & sensitising locals also. (We) can't allow to tarnish India's image," he tweeted.

Rijiju's action came hours after he said that strictest possible action if such assaults were found to have a racial angle.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh yesterday had asked Delhi Police Commissioner to take strict action against those involved in recent attacks against African nationals.

There has been a series of attacks on African nationals in the last few days, including killing of a Congolese youth in the national capital. A 23-year-old Nigerian student was also assaulted in Hyderabad.

Five people have been arrested in connection with the attacks on African nationals here.
Panaji: Amid a string of attacks on Africans in Delhi, Goa Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar today demanded a strict law to deport Nigerians, claiming that they come in conflict with Indian law so as to extend their stay and indulge in drugs and other crimes.

The BJP leader's remarks came a day after a 39-year-old local woman was allegedly raped at knifepoint by a Nigerian at Parra village.

"The problems of Nigerians are not only in Goa, they are across the entire country. They (Nigerians) arrive here to study and create problem so that the case is filed against them," Parulekar said.

He was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function to inaugurate Solid Waste Management Facility at Saligao-Calangute plateau.

"They try to stay in Goa or India and indulge in drugs and other unwanted things," he said while replying to a query on a spate of attacks on African nationals in Delhi, which are alleged to be racial in nature.

Recalling an incident, two years ago, in which a group of African nationals had blocked the national highway at Porvorim near Panaji over murder of one of their countrymen, the minister said, "We should have a strict law where we can deport them. But unfortunately there is no such law in India at the moment."

A series of attacks on Africans, including murder of a Congolese man in the national capital, has evoked a sharp reaction from African envoys, prompting the central government to step in and launch efforts to ensure safety and security of Africans. Recently, a Nigerian student was allegedly assaulted by a local over parking of car in Hyderabad.
Delhi: The government is considering a proposal to observe May 11, birthday of Adi Sankaracharya, as National Philosophers Day, as per a media report.

As per a report in The Indian Express, a proposal by an NGO has been floated to mark the birth anniversary of ancient sage Adi Sankaracharya.

The NGO was floated by Navodayam, founded by senior RSS member P Parmeshvar, and Faith Foundation, linked to RSS members.

The idea was reportedly mooted at an event some time back, which had Minister of State for Culture Mahesh Sharma as the chief guest.

RSS joint general secretary Krishna Gopal (designated by the Sangh as its representative to communicate with the BJP) and All India Sah Prachar Pramukh J Nandkumar were also present at the event.

Sharma was quoted by the Daily as saying - "We have received the proposal to celebrate the birth anniversary of Adi Sankaracharya as National Philosophers Day. We are considering it."

It is said that Adi Sankaracharya was born in Kaladi in 788 AD and the heart of his philosophy of Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism) was Tat Twam Asi or Thou Art That, the famous phrase from the Chhandogya Upanishad.

This perceives the Self (Atman) as the Absolute Reality (Brahman).

He is also famous for his theory of Maya and change, according to Sankara, was an illusion.

At the same time, it is believed that the Adi Shankaracharya conceived the idea of 'Char Dham'.

It means four holy destinations of God in the four directions in Indai - Badrinath, Rameshwaram, Puri and Dwarka.
New Delhi: Scores of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and volunteers on Monday staged a protest outside Congress president Sonia Gandhi's New Delhi residence over the party's statement on Batla House encounter case.

Last week, Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh had stoked a controversy after he dubbed the 2008 Batla House encounter as 'fake' and asked the government in Centre to order a judicial probe into the 2008 encounter in which two suspected terrorists and a police officer were killed.

"Batla House encounter was fake. I dare the BJP to go for a judicial probe. I still stand by my remarks on the encounter. I don't know who is Bada Sajid or Chhota Sajid," Singh had said.

However, a day later, Shivraj Patil, the then Union Minister under UPA government, rejected Digvijay's claim and asserted that the 2008 Batla shoot-out was genuine and not 'fake'. "I have said in past, that encounter wasn't fake. If someone says something otherwise, then it's his responsibility to prove it, Patil told media.

The encounter, which had taken place during the former UPA regime, recently came into news amid a claim by an alleged ISIS operative that he had fled Batla House right before the police raided it.

Batla House encounter, officially known as Operation Batla House, took place on September 19, 2008, against Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists in Batla House locality in Jamia Nagar, Delhi, in which two suspected terrorists were killed while two other suspects were arrested.

Encounter specialist and Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the police action, was also martyred during the incident.

According to the reports, Mohammed Sajid alias Bada Sajid is one of the six persons who feature in the 22-minute video allegedly posted by the Islamic State recently, however he was one of the terrorist who was claimed killed in the encounter.

A Delhi court had in 2013 sentenced to life the lone convict and suspected Indian Mujahideen operative Shahzad Ahmad in the case for killing decorated police officer Sharma and injuring two other policemen.
New Delhi: Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar on Monday assured a group of African students that the Indian government is committed to ensuring their safety and security even as an Ola driver was allegedly thrashed by a group of Africans after he refused to take more than four passengers in his cab.

In a related development, the family members of Congolese national Masonda Ketada Olivier, who who beaten to death on May 20 by some locals over a minor altercation, arrived in the Indian capital to take back the mortal remains. A senior official of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs was there at the airport to receive the kin.

A group of African students also held a protest at Jantar Mantar here, holding aloft placards that read 'Racism Ruins Lives', and demanded that the Indian government act swiftly to stop attacks on the community.

On Tuesday, a two-hour peaceful protest demonstration has been planned at the same venue by the Association of African Students in India (AASI) and Association For Community Research and Action (ACRA). External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Minister of State V.K. Singh are expected to meet African students here on Tuesday to assure them of safety and security.

On Monday morning, Jaishankar met a group of African students at the Jawaharlal Nehru Bhavan here and assured them of the safety and security of the community in India.

"Continuing outreach to African community. Foreign secretary meets a group of African students," external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.

"Foreign secretary to students: Ensuring safety and security of foreign students is an article of faith for us," he added.

The spate of rising attacks on African nationals has caused outrage among the community, several thousands of who study in India. The African envoys had last week threatened to boycott the Africa Day event over the murder of Olivier.

The Indian government stepped in to assure the African envoys of the safety and security of their nationals after which the envoys attended the May 26 event.

Sushma Swaraj is personally monitoring the outreach to the Africans.

Meanwhile, an Ola cab driver was allegedly assaulted by a group of Africans -- five men and a woman -- after he refused to allow more than four passengers to travel in his vehicle, police said.

The incident took place in Mehrauli area in south Delhi around 4 a.m.

The Ola taxi driver, identified as Nooruddin Ali, suffered cuts and bruises near his left eye in the attack.

"Nooruddin was attacked when he refused to carry more than four passengers in his car... he was thrashed by the six people, including a woman," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Nupur Prasad told IANS.

The woman attacker has been arrested while her other five associates managed to escape before police reached the spot following a PCR call, she said.

Police registered a case at the Mehrauli police station against the Africans under sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 506 (punishment of criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

In Panaji, Goa Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar said that Nigerian nationals not just "create problems" in Goa, but across the country too.

Asked to comment on accusations of rape and kidnapping against two Africans levelled by a woman at Mapusa police station on Sunday, he said that Nigerian students commit crimes on purpose to prolong their stay, sell drugs and indulge in "unwanted things".

He also said that a strict pan-India law should be enacted to deport them within one month.

On May 25, a Nigerian student in Hyderabad was allegedly beaten by an Indian over a parking dispute, while on May 28, four separate cases of alleged assault on Africans in the national capital was reported.


New Delhi: The Indian intelligence agencies have alerted Canada's Justin Trudeau government, saying that pro-Khalistan terrorists are running a camp near Mission city in British Columbia to carry out strikes in Punjab.

According to a report in The Times of India, Punjab intelligence officers have prepared a report mentioning that Canadian Sikh Hardeep Nijjar, the new operational head of Khalistan Terror Force (KTF), has formed a module comprising Sikh youths to carry out the attacks.

Nijjar is a baptized Sikh staying in Surrey since 1995 on a Canadian passport. Seeking Nijjars extradition, the Punjab government has submitted the report to the Ministry of External Affairs as well as the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Referring to the attack which took place at Pathankot airbase on January 2, the report said Nijjar "was to arrange weapons from Pakistan but due to high alert on the border in the wake of Pathankot incident, it could not materialize".

"Nijjar has been imparting arms training to his group in Canada after the arrest of former KTF chief Jagtar Tara in Thailand by the Interpol last year. He took Mandeep Singh and three more Sikh youths recently for AK-47 training in a range near Mission where they were made to fire for four hours daily," the report said.

Nijjar is a proclaimed terrorist in Punjab.

In April, a report in the Hindustan Times said that the Indian government has intelligence inputs which indicate that Pakistans Inter-Services Intelligence agency is using Sikh extremists in Canada for pro-Khalistan and anti-India activities.

As per the Indian security agencies, Nijjar travelled to Thailand in December 2014 to meet Jagtar Singh Tara, named in the 1995 assassination of Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, and provided financial help to him.

Notably, Tara was arrested in Thailand and deported to India in January last year.

Later, apparently on Taras order, Nijjar travelled to Pakistan to arrange for Taras escape from Thailand with ISIs help.

Nijjar was also suspected to be involved in a plan to attack camps of Dera Sacha Sauda, the sect led by Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.
New Delhi: Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi will release the Draft Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill 2016 in New Delhi today.

The new bill aims to check human trafficking by unifying several existing laws, meting out tougher punishment for repeat offenders and ensuring the protection and rehabilitation of victims.

Besides creating a comprehensive law against trafficking, the draft bill calls for the creation of a special court and investigation agency to tackle such cases and joint working groups with neighboring countries to undertake preventive measures. According to data from the National Crime Records Bureau, up to 5,466 cases of human trafficking were reported in 2014, an increase of more than 90 per cent since 2009.

The US Department of State`s 2013 Trafficking in Persons Report estimates that up to 65 million people were trafficked for forced labour in India. It said, 90 per cent of trafficking in India is internal. At present, human trafficking cases are dealt with by a hodgepodge of laws and multiple agencies. According to experts, these laws, including the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, are inadequate as they gloss over prevention or fail to address trafficking beyond sexual exploitation.

A senior official said, the draft bill will address these loopholes by bringing forced labour under the ambit of law and by working with the governments of Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar to curb trafficking.To act as a deterrent, the bill proposes to double the jail term to 14 years for repeat offenders and people engaged in the trafficking of minors. (ANI)
New Delhi: India today assured the family of the Congolese national, who was killed in a brawl here on May 20, of a speedy trial in the case and prosecution of all those responsible for the crime as per law.

This was conveyed by a senior official of External Affairs Ministry (MEA) who met the family members of Masonda Ketada Oliver at the airport on their arrival here.

He also informed them that the government of India will bear all expenses related to dispatch of mortal remains of Oliver, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

He said that the family members thanked the Indian government for its assistance.

They were told that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has instructed speedy trial in the case.

23-year-old Congolese national Oliver, who was a French teacher at a private institute, was beaten to death in Vasant Kunj area of South Delhi following a brawl over hiring of an autorickshaw.

Envoys of African countries had expressed shock and outrage over the killing following which India assured them of safety of African nationals.
Bengaluru: Former central ministers Oscar Fernandes and Jairam Ramesh on Monday filed nominations here for the biennial elections to four of the 12 Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka.

"Both the leaders filed the papers with the returning officer in the legislature office in presence of state unit president G Parameshwara and state Industries Minister RV Deshpande," a party spokesman told reporters later.

Former police officer KC Ramamurthy, who joined Congress over a decade ago, also filed nomination for the third seat.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated Union Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in place of Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, to contest for the fourth seat from the southern state.

Regional party Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) has also fielded BM Farooq from Mangaluru as its candidate for one seat.

In the 225-member state Legislative Assembly, which forms the electoral college, the Congress has 123 lawmakers, BJP 44, JD-S 40, independents 11 and others 6.



As each candidate requires 45 votes to win the contest from the state, election of Fernandes and Ramesh is certain, as the Congress has 123 votes.

Though Ramamurthy is betting on getting the ruling party`s 33 surplus votes, he needs an additional 12 votes from independents and other lawmakers to win.

"We too hope Ramamurthy will get votes of independents and other lawmakers for our party to win three seats from the state," said the Congress spokesman.

Sitharaman, who is filing her nomination on Tuesday, is expected to get elected as the BJP has 49 votes, including three from BSR-C and two from KJP.

Sitharaman, who hails from Tamil Nadu, got elected from Andhra Pradesh in the previous term.

Regional outfits BSR-C and KJP are an offshoot of the BJP, floated in 2013-14 by its local leaders when they broke away from it.

Ramesh too swapped, switching over from Andhra, while Naidu, who hails from Andhra, is contesting from Rajasthan for the fourth term after representing Karnataka for the last three consecutive terms.

As JD-S has only 40 seats in the lower house, Farooq needs five more votes from independents or others to win.

Vacancy for the four seats is caused by the end of six-year term of Fernandes, Naidu, and BJP`s lawmaker Manjunatha Aayanur by June 30, while industrialist Vijay Mallya (Independent) resigned this month though his term is also due to end on June 30.

Tuesday is the last date for filing nominations, while scrutiny is on June 1, last date for withdrawal on June 3 and polling (if required) on June 11 and vote counting on the same evening.
Lucknow: At least 12 people were killed across Uttar Pradesh (UP) due to storms, lightning and heavy rains, an official said on Monday.

According to the official, two people were killed in different incidents in Kanpur's Bilhaur area.

One person was killed in Mau district when a wall caved in on him.

In Varanasi's Shivpur area, a man was when a tree uprooted due to the storm and fell on him.

A woman was killed in Ramgaon area after the mud hut she lived in caved in due to heavy rains and storm, police said.

Two children were killed in Hasandeeh village in Azamgarh when the school gate collapsed late Sunday.

Four people died in separate storm related incidents in Farukkhabad and one was electrocuted in Mathura after an overhead high-tension wire snapped.

The rains are likely to continue in some parts of the state for the next 48-hours, an official at the regional Met office said.
Chennai: Fishermen with mechanised boats in Tamil Nadu can now venture into the sea without restriction, as the 45-day- ban on fishing in the eastern coastal zone ended on the midnight intervening Sunday and Monday.

The 45 day fishing ban for mechanized boats, which began on April 15, was enforced for fish species propagation under the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Regulation Act.

The main aim is to safeguard fish in their breeding season and increase the fish catch.

The fishermen in Nagapattinam, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Pudukottai, Kanniyakumari

were yesterday seen getting their fishing boats ready by filling diesels and stocking it with ice boxes.

The Nagai administration had earlier issued a warning to fishermen not to cross the international maritime boundary line.

Indian fishermen venturing into Sri Lankan Maritime territory and being apprehended by their Navy has become a common occurrence in recent times.
Thiruvananthapuram: In a huge setback to the investigation process, the Kerala High Court on Monday refused to entrust investigation to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the Perumbavoor rape and murder case.

A 29-year-old Dalit girl, who was a law student, was allegedly subjected to rape and brutal assault using sharp edged weapons before being murdered at her house at nearby Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district almost a month back, i.e. on April 28.

Her body had at least 30 injuries, including on the private parts. Reportedly, the assault on her stomach was such that the small intestine had spilled out.

The Perumbavoor rape incident was dubbed as "Kerala's Nirbhaya" for its chilling similarities to the 2012 gangrape of a young Delhi student on a moving bus.

The incident had its echo in Parliament with members demanding "exemplary punishment" for the culprits, besides triggering widespread protests across the state.

The victim's family had alleged several lapses in the investigation carried out by the state police and had demanded CBI enquiry into the matter.
Tikamgarh: The Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh is reeling under a severe crisis following drought and unemployment.

Despite a Supreme Court directive to provide the people of drought-hit regions five kg of sudsidised food grain per person and employment opportunities, no such measures are visible on the ground here.

Taking serious note of the crisis, four NGOs have got together to learn first-hand about the gravity of the situation and to make people aware of the apex court's directions.

The campaign being run by the NGOs Swaraj Abhiyan, Ekta Parishad, National Alliance of People's Movement (NAPM) and Jal Biradari (water conservationists) is called 'Jal Hal Yatra'.

After a tour of Maharashtra's drought-hit Marathawada region for five days, the group visited Aalampura, Bela and Gaurali villages in Tikamgarh district to examine the ground reality.

The 'Jal Hal' activists interacted with the distraught people of the villages who revealed that they have not been receiving the apex court-directed five kg of food grain per person and even the schools were not providing free mid-day meals to their children.

Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav informed the villagers about the Supreme Court directive on subsidised food grain. He said that besides the free mid-day meal in schools, the state government should also provide eggs or milk at least thrice a week and employment opportunities to adults through the MGNREGA scheme.

It came as a shock to the activists when they found that children were not given any mid-day meals during the summer holidays and that villagers had not received any food grain. The villagers told the activists that there was no arrangement for drinking water for them or fodder for their animals.

The activists learnt that people had begun to migrate to other regions to earn their livelihood and for basic necessities.

Water conservationist Rajendra Singh advised people to work unitedly to fight for their rights and use their democratic right of vote to "teach a lesson" to those who ignore their plight.

Jal Jan Jodo activist Sanjay Singh appealed to people to take adequate measures to conserve rain water during the monsoon and not rely on the government.

Questioning the intention of the government, former legislator and popular farmer leader Sunilam said that while the government claims it is helping people in drought-hit areas, the ground reality is totally different as is evident from the visit to the villages.

Villagers also told the activists that their electricity has been cut off and they are receiving bank notices for repayment of loans. Some were also being threatened by the banks.

Yadav told the villagers that he would present the actual facts to the apex court during a hearing on August 1.

The activists are to take their campaign also to the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh and conclude it in Mahoba.
Satna: The liquor mafia on Sunday attacked the police and media personnel in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh and two people have been arrested, while six remain absconding.

According to reports, a local resident named Shiv Kumar who raised his voice against the sale of ill-legal liquor in his neighbourhood was kidnapped by the liquor Mafia at gun point.

Later on, the media got to know about the kidnapping and went to cover the incident, where the liquor mafia belligerently attacked them with stones, sticks and swords.

The locals informed the police which rushed to the spot but the liquor mafia unafraid of the cops attacked them too.

In the spat few media and police personnel have suffered serious injuries.The police has booked the culprits under section 307 of IPC.
Indore: In a shocking case of laxity, staff of a government hospital in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, gave nitrous oxide, a widely used anaesthetic, to breathe in place of oxygen to children, leading to the death of a five-year-old boy.

Another child was in a critical condition at Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital here.

"Ayush died during Hernia surgery on May 27, while Rajveer (1) turned critical while being operated for a deformity on May 28, in the hospital's recently-inaugurated operation theatre," MY Hospital acting Superintendent Dr Sumit Shukla said on Sunday.

Rajveer is being treated at the hospital's paediatric ICU ward and his condition is critical, he said.

As per investigation, the pipeline that was supposed to supply oxygen to patients was carrying nitrous oxide, he said.

The operation theatre, which was inaugurated on May 24, has been sealed, he said.

A technician from a private company, Rajendra Choudhary, who was responsible for fitting the gas supply pipeline, has been booked for manslaughter, he said.

Sumit Shukla, a surgeon at the hospital, told reporters that there are two separate colour-coded pipes in the operation theatre, one for oxygen and the other for nitrous oxide which is widely used medically for its anaesthetic and analgesic effects.

It seemed that the pipe meant to supply oxygen yielded the wrong gas, he said.

Shukla said the hospital was conducting its own inquiry as to how the horrible mix-up took place.

Some people, however, said the hospital has been guilty of gross medical negligence and is evading its responsibility in the matter.

Local legislator and Congress leader Jitu Patwari said the culprits are among the administration and the hospital authorities and they are the ones who should face stern action.

Contractor Rajendra Choudhary, who has been arrested, said he has been made a scapegoat.

"My job was only to install the pipes. Using those pipes to supply gas was the job of the hospital," he said.

Activist Chinmay Mishra of Swasthya Adhikar Manch, an NGO, said it was baffling that the hospital management lodged FIR against Chaudhary, and not against the doctor and other staffers of the hospital, and demanded immediate suspension of the facility's Superintendent.

Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital is the largest government hospital in Indore city.

(With Agency inputs)
Kathmandu: The opposition Nepali Congress on Monday obstructed proceedings in Parliament over an alleged government `leak` of an annual budget statement before it was presented for debate on Saturday.

The opposition lawmakers demanded that the House form a probe panel to look into the issue. As soon as the Parliament meeting began this morning, lawmaker and former finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat spoke on behalf of the party and showed a newspaper article which had published information about the budget before it was presented.

He urged the government to inform the House how the confidential information was leaked.Then lawmakers from the party protested chanting various slogans against the government, Speaker Onsari Gharti postponed the meeting for half an hour.

The Nepali Congress on Sunday had concluded that the budget violated the fiscal discipline.Some members of the Parliament from the party had also demanded resignation of Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel claiming he was responsible for the leak of confidential information to the media.
Islamabad: A Pakistani foreign affairs advisor here on Monday met with Afghan ambassador Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal to discuss regional situation.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said both the countries should not allow their territory to be used against each other.

Aziz and Zakhilwal also discussed the prospects of reconciliation between the two governments.

This was the first formal meeting between Pakistani and Afghani officials since after Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone strike on May 21.

Relations between Pakistan and the US have been soured since then.

Pakistan deemed this strike an attack on its sovereignty and has stated this has foiled peace attempts between the Taliban and the Afghan government.


Caracas: Eleven people, including a Colombian national and three minors, were killed by an armed squad in Venezuela, the Attorney General`s office said on Sunday.

The victims were in their homes Saturday morning when several armed men forced them to move into the courtyards where they were shot dead, a statement said of the killings that took place in the state of Trujillo.

The suspects fled the scene in cars and motorcycles, according to the statement.

The victims included adult males aged 18 to 76 and three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 17.

The Colombian national was identified as 76-year-old Alberto Diaz Patino.

Two prosecutors have been assigned to the case.

In March, an armed group killed 17 miners in the town of Tumeremo in far southeastern Venezuela near the border with Brazil.

Their bodies were later found in a pit.

Venezuela is one of the most violent countries in the world that is not at war, with 58 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2015 according to prosecutors, although the nongovernmental Venezuelan Violence Observatory says the rate is much higher.
Canberra: An Australian man has reportedly been killed while fighting against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria.

Social media accounts belonging to Kurdish military units claimed 45-year-old former Australian Defence Force (ADF) soldier Jamie Bright died last week in the northern Raqqa countryside, ABC Australia reported on Monday.

However, Bright's death is yet to be officially authenticated, but he has appeared in recent online videos.

"The reason I came to Kurdistan is because of the people, their struggle and their fight," Bright said in one of the videos.

"I came to help them in any way I can."

According to officials, Bright had been a member of the ADF, training with the School of Military Engineering in Sydney in the 1980s before being posted to Perth as an army engineer.

Bright joined the YPG early last year and knew fellow Australian Ashley Johnston, who was killed by IS militants in 2015, the officials said.

Johnston, a former Army reservist originally from Queensland, was killed during an assault by Kurdish forces on an IS position near Tel Hamis, a tactically important area.
Baghdad: Eleven people were killed and 18 were injured when a suicide car bombing targetted an army checkpoint in Baghdad, police and medical sources said.

As per the report, the suicide bomber rammed the explosive-laden car into the checkpoint near a commercial area in the Shi'ite-dominated Shaab neighborhood of the Iraqi capital today.

At least five civilians and three soldiers have been killed and up to 14 people are said to have received serious injuries.

The attack comes as Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militias fight Islamic State militants in Falluja, their stronghold just west of the capital.
SOUTHERN OUTSKIRTS OF FALLUJA: The Iraqi army stormed to the southern edge of Falluja under US air support on Monday and captured a police station inside the city limits, launching a direct assault to retake one of the main strongholds of Islamic State militants.

A Reuters TV crew about a mile (about 1.5 km) from the city`s edge said explosions and gunfire were ripping through Naimiya, a largely rural district of Falluja on its southern outskirts.

An elite military unit, the Rapid Response Team, seized the district`s police station at midday, state TV reported.

The unit advanced another mile northward, stopping about 500 meters (yards) from the al-Shuhada district, the southeastern part of city`s main built-up area, army officers said.

The battle for Falluja is shaping up to be one of the biggest ever fought against Islamic State, in the city where U.S. forces waged the heaviest battles of their 2003-2011 occupation against the Sunni Muslim militant group`s precursors.

Falluja is Islamic State`s closest bastion to Baghdad, and believed to be the base from which the group has plotted an escalating campaign of suicide bombings against Shi`ite civilians and government targets inside the capital.

As government forces pressed their onslaught, suicide bombers driving a car and a motorcycle blew themselves up in the capital. Along with another bomb planted in a car, they killed more than 20 people and injured more than 50 in three districts of Baghdad, police and medical sources said.

Separately, Kurdish security forces announced advances against Islamic State in northern Iraq, capturing villages from militants outside Mosul, the biggest city under militant control.

The Iraqi army launched its operation to recover Falluja a week ago, first by tightening a six-month-old siege around the city 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

Falluja, in the heartland of Sunni Muslim tribes who resent the Shi`ite-led government in Baghdad, was the first Iraqi city to fall to Islamic State in January 2014. Months later, the group overran wide areas of the north and west of Iraq, declaring a caliphate including parts of neighbouring Syria.

On Monday, army units were "steadily advancing" to Falluja`s southern outskirts under air cover from a U.S.-led coalition helping to fight against the militants, according to a military statement read out on state TV.

A Shi`ite militia coalition known as Popular Mobilisation, or Hashid Shaabi, was seeking to consolidate the siege by dislodging militants from Saqlawiya, a village just to the north of Falluja.

The militias, who took the lead in assaults against Islamic State in other parts of Iraq last year, have pledged not to take part in the assault on the mainly Sunni Muslim city itself to avoid aggravating sectarian strife.

Between 500 and 700 militants are in Falluja, according to a US military estimate. The US-led coalition conducted three air strikes near Falluja over the past 24 hours, destroying fighting positions, vehicles, tunnel entrances and denying the militants access to terrain, it said in a statement.

ISLAMIST MILITANT STRONGHOLD

Falluja has been a bastion of the Sunni insurgency that fought both the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the Shi`ite-led Baghdad government that took over after the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, in 2003.

American troops suffered some of their worst losses of the war in two battles in 2004 to wrest Falluja back from Al Qaeda in Iraq, the insurgent group now known as Islamic State.

The latest offensive is causing alarm among international aid organisations over the humanitarian situation in the city, where more than 50,000 civilians remain trapped with limited access to water, food and health care.

Falluja is the second-largest Iraqi city still under control of the militants, after Mosul, their de facto capital in the north that had a pre-war population of about 2 million.

It would be the third major city in Iraq recaptured by the government after Saddam`s home town Tikrit and Ramadi, the capital of Iraq`s vast western Anbar province.

Falluja is also in Anbar, located between Ramadi and Baghdad, and capturing it would give the government control of the major population centres of the Euphrates River valley west of the capital for the first time in more than two years.

On the northern front, the security forces of the autonomous Kurdish region launched an attack on Sunday to oust Islamist militants from villages about 20 km (13 miles) east of Mosul so as to increase the pressure on Islamic State and pave the way for storming that city.

The Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, have retaken six villages in total since attacking Islamic State positions on Sunday with the support of the US-led coalition, the Kurdistan Region Security Council said on Monday. That represents most of the targets of their latest advance.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi hopes to recapture Mosul later this year to deal a decisive defeat to Islamic State.

Abadi announced the onslaught on Falluja on May 22 after a spate of bombings that killed more than 150 people in one week in Baghdad, the worst death toll so far this year. The worsening security in the capital has added to political pressure on Abadi, struggling to maintain the support of a Shi`ite coalition amid popular protests against an entrenched political class.

Monday`s bombings targeted two densely populated Shi`ite districts, Shaab and Sadr City, and a government building in one predominantly Sunni suburb, Tarmiya, north of Baghdad.

A car bomb in Shaab killed 12 people and injured more than 20, while in Tarmiya eight were killed and 21 injured by a suicide bomber who pulled up in a car outside a government building guarded by police. In Sadr City, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed three people and injured nine.

The battle of Falluja is helping Abadi refocus the attention of Iraq`s unruly political parties on the war against Islamic State, so as to defuse popular unrest prompted by delays in a planned reshuffle of the cabinet to help root out corruption.

In a speech to parliament on Sunday, he called on political groups to "put on hold their differences until the military operations are over."

Washington says Islamic State`s territory is steadily being rolled back both in Iraq and in Syria, where it has lost ground to US-backed, mainly Kurdish insurgents in the north and to the Russian-backed forces of President Bashar al-Assad.
Baghdad: More than 20 people were killed and about 50 injured in three bombings that hit Baghdad on Monday, police and medical sources said.

The attacks came as Iraqi forces and Shi`ite militias are fighting Islamic State militants in Falluja, their stronghold just west of the capital.

Twelve people were killed and more than 20 injured when a car bomb blew up in Baghdad`s northern Shaab Shi`ite district.

Seven were killed and 19 wounded by another car bomb parked in Tarmiya, a predominantly Sunni suburb of Baghdad.

An explosive device on a motorcycle exploded in Sadr City, a popular Shi`ite district of Baghdad, killing two and injuring seven.
Seoul: South Korea's defence ministry said Monday it had detected signs that North Korea was preparing a ballistic missile launch, as Japan reportedly put its military on intercept alert.

UN resolutions ban North Korea from any use of ballistic missile technology, although it regularly fires short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast.

Tensions have been running high on the divided Korean peninsula since the North`s fourth nuclear test in January, followed by a long-range rocket launch the following month.

And in recent weeks Pyongyang has voiced anger at Seoul`s refusal to accept repeated offers of military talks to de-escalate the situation.

"We are tracking signs that North Korea is preparing a ballistic missile test and are maintaining combat readiness," a defence ministry official told AFP.

The official did not specify the missile type, but the fact that signs of a launch had been detected would point to a medium-range missile or larger.

In April the North tried and failed three times to test-fire a powerful new mid-range missile known as a Musudan.

In Tokyo, public broadcaster NHK said the Japanese government had put its military on alert for a possible launch, with orders to intercept any missile that threatened Japanese territory.

Under the order, the Self-Defence Forces will deploy Aegis destroyers equipped with missile interceptors offshore and PAC-3 surface-to-air anti-ballistic missiles, NHK said.

A Japanese defence ministry spokeswoman declined to confirm the news reports.

The Musudan is believed to have a range of anywhere between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometres (1,550 to 2,500 miles). The lower range covers the whole of South Korea and Japan, while the upper range would include US military bases on Guam.

The missile has never been successfully flight-tested.

The three failures in April were seen as an embarrassment for the leadership, coming ahead of a party congress which was meant to celebrate the country`s achievements.

During the congress, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un personally extended the offer of military dialogue with the South.

The proposal was repeated several times by the North`s military, but Seoul dismissed all the overtures as insincere "posturing" given Kim`s vow at the same congress to push ahead with the country`s nuclear weapons programme.
Antalya: Turkey is offering to "join forces" with Washington for a special operation inside Syria on condition it doesn`t include a Syrian Kurdish militia blacklisted by Ankara but seen as an ally by the US, the foreign minister said.

Washington`s support of Kurdish fighters in Syria in the fight against Islamic State (IS) jihadists has angered Ankara, especially after AFP pictures last week revealed US commandos wearing patches of the Kurdish People`s Protection Units (YPG) outlawed by Turkey.

"If we join forces, they (the US) have their own special forces and we have our special forces," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a small group of journalists.

"The subject we are discussing with the Americans is the closure of the Manbij pocket as soon as possible... and the opening of a second front," he said, referring to a backdoor border route favoured by IS for smuggling jihadists into and out of Syria.

"We say okay, a second front should be opened but not with the PYD," he said, referring to the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the YPG`s political wing.

Cavusoglu said Syrian Arab opposition forces opposing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad could be backed up with special forces from Turkey and NATO ally Washington as well as from France, Britain and Germany.

Such a "second front" could "easily" head to the Islamic State`s self-declared capital in Raqa to the south.

"Unfortunately, both Russia and the United States see a terrorist organisation as a partner and support it," he said of the YPG.

The minister also said that recent deal with Washington, which would have seen American light multiple rocket launchers deployed along its border with Syria to combat Islamic State, had been delayed.

Under the deal, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) was to have been deployed along the Turkish border by the end of May, but Cavusoglu said it would now only happen in August.

"The United States is unfortunately not keeping its promise," he charged.

"We are completely ready. Not us, but the US is responsible for the delay."
Berlin: At least two people died and several more were injured in the south of Germany after torrential storms caused severe flooding, with a third person also feared dead, authorities said on Monday.

In Schwaebisch Gmuend near the city of Stuttgart, a volunteer firefighter died on Sunday trying to rescue a man trapped in a flooded railway station, the municipal authorities said.

It was not immediately clear whether the man who was trapped survived the ordeal.

In Weissbach, just to the north, a 60-year-old man died in a flooded underground garage on the same day.

The regional authorities in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg put the number of injured at below 10.

Violent storms and torrential rain on Sunday evening and during the night caused severe damage in the regional state.

A number of people had to be rescued from their cars trapped in the floods.

The German news agency DPA said that a river brokes its banks in Braunsbach, destroying one house and damaging several others.

Eyewitnesses posted videos on social network sites showing cars being carried away by the floods and crashing into shop windows.

The head of one rural district in Schwaebisch Hall, Michael Knaus, said that more rain fell in the space of a few hours than normally falls over several months.

The Baden-Wuerttemberg authorities said that as many as 7,000 firefighters, police officers and rescue workers were called out in some 2,200 incidents.

yap/spm/ser
Kampala: Uganda promised to halt military cooperation with old ally North Korea after a visit to Kampala by South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Sunday.

North Korea, which is under UN sanctions for its defiant efforts to build nuclear weapons, has for many years sent military trainers to Uganda, but Uganda`s foreign minister Sam Kutesa said the relationship would now end.

"We are disengaging the cooperation we have with North Korea as a result of UN sanctions," Kutesa said.

"Our policy is that we do not support nuclear proliferation."

The about-turn followed a meeting between Uganda`s President Yoweri Museveni and his South Korean counterpart Park Geun-Hye.

"President Museveni said Uganda would enforce the UN Security Council resolutions, adding that the government had already been given orders to disengage with North Korea on police and other military engagements," Uganda`s State House said in a statement late Sunday.

Earlier in the day, a Ugandan government spokesman had denied severing ties with North Korea, calling the reports "propaganda". However, officials later backtracked.

Uganda has been one of North Korea`s allies in Africa with diplomatic relations since 1963. Beginning in 2007, North Korea has run training programmes for Uganda`s army and police.

Museveni, who has led his country since 1986 and was re-elected in February for a fifth term, has made three visits to North Korea, where he met the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il, father of current leader Kim Jong-Un.

In March, the UN Security Council adopted the heaviest sanctions ever imposed on North Korea after it went ahead with its fourth nuclear test on 6 January followed by a rocket launch a month later.

Sunday`s visit to Uganda was Park`s first since taking power in 2013 and is part of an East Africa tour that includes Ethiopia and Kenya.

str-ndy-tmc/pjm/ach
YEREVAN, MAY 28, ARMENPRES. Contractula soldier Gegham Mkrtchyan from the region of Martakert, who was killed on April 3 in Talish as a result of Azerbaijans aggression, did not know that his wife is waiting for a baby. In an interview with reporters after the awarding ceremony at the Presidential Palace Geghams wife, Anush told the reporters about this. Anush also serves in Artsakhs Defense Army.

Anush and Gegham met each other during the service, fell in love and got married, but managed to live together only 6 months.

My husband was killed on April 3. I was not told the truth at first. I was told that he was severely wounded and taken to hospital. I learned about that on April 4. I felt very bad and was taken to hospital, where I learned that I am waiting for a baby. I do not know whether the baby will be a boy or girl. If I have a son, I will call him after his father, Armenpress reports Anush saying.

Anush told that his husband was a patriot, who was fond of his friends. This love led him to contractual service.
Wang Jianlin, Chairman of Dalian Wanda Group in China, speaks before a dialogue session during the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, China, January 18, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip (Reuters)

By Clare Jim

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Dalian Wanda Group is offering $4.4 billion in cash to buy out Hong Kong-listed unit Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties <3699.HK>, part of a plan to take it private before relisting it in Shanghai where it hopes to gain better valuations.

Mainland-listed firms typically command higher valuations than those in Hong Kong, helped by a large pool of retail investors. An index tracking dual-listed companies <.HSCAHPI>, shows mainland listings trade at an average 34 percent premium to the same company listed in Hong Kong.

The move comes just 15 months after Wanda Commercial's market debut. The group, led by tycoon Wang Jianlin, has set up a special purpose vehicle to buy all the Hong Kong-listed shares of the property unit.

Investors in the special purpose vehicle will receive up to 12 percent annual interest on their holdings if the property arm fails to relist in China within two years.

The HK$52.80 per share offer represents a 10 percent premium to Wanda Commercial's IPO price and values China's biggest commercial property developer at about $31 billion.

It is also a 44.5 percent premium to the unit's closing price on March 29.

But the stock, which only just resumed trade after a one-month suspension, lost 2.6 percent on Monday to stand at HK$48.70.

Dalian Wanda said in a statement that it would not increase the offer price.

A document to investors seen by Reuters showed Wanda Commercial's shares were valued at an estimated 8.6 times earnings in 2016, much lower than an average of 29.1 times for commercial property developers listed on China's domestic A-share market.

The company may seek a backdoor listing on the Shanghai exchange if it does not get regulatory approval to launch a planned initial public offering there soon, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's has said that Wanda Commercial's transparency could weaken following the delisting as Hong Kong requires more financial disclosure and communication to investors than the mainland.

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The idea of delisting emerged at the Wanda group level over six months ago, according to a person familiar with the matter, as Wanda Commerical's share price softened and as expectations grew that the difference in valuations between China- and Hong Kong-listed companies would widen even more.

The person, who was not authorized to talk to the media, declined to be identified.

($1 = 7.7679 Hong Kong dollars)

(Reporting by Clare Jim and Denny Thomas; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - May 30, 2016) - Today in the provincial Legislature, Metis Nation of Ontario (MNO) President Margaret Froh along with other Indigenous leaders responded to the announcement from Premier Wynne concerning the Ontario government's commitment to reconciliation.

The Ontario government's commitment arose out of the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's (TRC) final report that called on governments to work with Indigenous partners to address the terrible legacy of residential schools in Canada. The Ontario government's commitments include measures to close gaps and remove barriers, create a culturally relevant and responsive justice system, support Indigenous culture and reconcile relationships with Indigenous peoples.

President Froh stated: "Ontario's announcement today acknowledges the hugely negative impact these schools had, and continue to have within our communities; and it charts a course of action to begin to address them."

Quoting from the TRC report itself, President Froh stressed: "The Metis experience of residential schooling has been overlooked for too long ... There is no denying that the harm done to the children, their parents and the Metis community was substantial. It is an ongoing shame that this damage has not been addressed and rectified."

President Froh also emphasized the importance of Ontario working with Indigenous partners like the MNO. "I commend the Government of Ontario for taking the important steps announced today to begin to specifically address the 94 Calls to Action in the TRC's Final Report, and to do so through a collaborative process in close partnership with Metis, First Nations and Inuit peoples in Ontario," she said.

President Froh highlighted that the MNO is proud of the respectful and productive relationship it has developed with the Province of Ontario as demonstrated through the MNO-Ontario Framework Agreement. "We will build on that solid foundation to work -- together -- to advance reconciliation," she explained. "Six months ago, all three parties of the Ontario Legislature stood together in support of the passage of the Metis Nation of Ontario Secretariat Act -- recognizing the Metis Nation of Ontario's unique governance structure. That was an act of reconciliation," she added.

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In conclusion, President Froh stated: "The Metis Nation of Ontario is committed to working with Ontario, with all parties of the Legislature, with other Indigenous Peoples, and with all Ontarians to this end -- together we must chart a new course forward for our province, and for our country, based on respect, understanding and trust. That is the brighter future for all of Ontario."

Please find attached to this press release, the complete text of President Froh's remarks.

Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/5/30/11G100523/Images/Margaret_Froh-0cb2c57b7cb0ac29b1e6ee74833d42be.jpg

Attachment Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2016/5/30/11G100523/MNO_SPKNotes_LegislatureReconciliationAnnouncement-dc6d8fa780f697e8bd1cffad44be7424.pdf


The forces fighting Islamic State in Iraq say they are encountering more and more roadside bombs as the extremist group is attacked on multiple fronts.

As Sky News was filming in northern Iraq the team saw fighters being treated for serious injuries 30 minutes after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded on a road which was meant to be secure.

Four men were killed in the blast.

The small medical centre near the frontline with IS was overwhelmed with casualties.

Doctor Zahawi Saman told us the attacks are happening regularly and that he and his staff are facing medical shortages.

"There should be a plan from the central government because they are running a war and war needs more big hospitals and more staff and equipment," he said.

"They are not providing us with this equipment - that's why we need more facilities."

The IEDs IS are using are basic but devastating.

They are also very difficult to defend against as they are made from easily obtained dual use materials; fertiliser for farming, simple fuses and a mobile phone are enough to cause carnage.

The bombs also have a massive psychological impact on the forces trying to defeat IS, particularly when they are detonated in areas that are meant to be secure.

Some of the fighters we meet on the frontline in northern Iraq are teenagers - the youngest who is fitted out in a mismatched uniform is just 15.

The group of boys tell us they are battling IS to retake their villages and avenge the murders of their relatives.

None of them want to be identified because they are scared of IS's reach.

"They displaced us from our houses, they stole everything. They are evil.

"They blew up mosques and schools. If they were Muslim they wouldn't blow up mosques.

"They killed our families, anyone who had a business. IS only kills."

The villages here are slowly being liberated but the roads connecting them are still dangerous.

As IS is attacked in Syria and Iraq, the threat is increasingly from guerrilla tactics.

The men fighting believe they are winning the battle against IS but they also know that each time they leave their bases on patrol they face the risk of roadside bombs and ambush.
By Lin Noueihed and Tim Hepher CAIRO/PARIS (Reuters) - A French naval vessel was en route to the eastern Mediterranean on Thursday to join the hunt for black boxes from a crashed EgyptAir jet, equipped with three specialist probes from a French company recruited to accelerate the search. France's BEA air crash investigation agency said French naval survey vessel Laplace had left Corsica earlier on Thursday and was heading toward the search zone north of the Egyptian port of Alexandria, where it would begin operations within days. A week after the Airbus A320 crashed with 66 people on board, including 30 Egyptians and 15 from France, investigators have no clear picture of its final moments. But Egyptian investigators said a radio signal had been received from an emergency distress beacon usually located in the rear of the cabin. This could help narrow the search area for that part of the fuselage, near the tail where "black box" fight recorders are held, to a 5-km (3-mile) radius, they said. The emergency locator transmitter (ELT) sends out a signal that can be picked up by satellites in the international search-and-rescue network when an aircraft is in an accident. It is separate from the underwater locator beacons (ULB) or "pingers" attached to the "black box" flight recorders, which send out acoustic rather than radio signals and are designed to be more easily detected underwater. John Cox, a former A320 pilot and chief executive of Washington-based Safety Operating Systems, expressed caution about the reported signal from the sunken wreckage. "There is a low likelihood the ELT would survive and radio doesn't work as well as acoustic signals underwater," he said. Search teams are working against the clock to recover the two flight recorders that will offer vital clues on the fate of flight 804, because the acoustic signals that help locate them in deep water cease transmitting after about 30 days. The BEA, which is working as part of an Egyptian-led investigation into the crash, said two of its investigators were on board the French naval ship which was carrying equipment from ALSEAMAR, a firm specializing in searching for marine wrecks. Negotiations are also under way to contract a second firm to search more than one area, French and Egyptian officials said. ALSEAMAR's equipment includes three of its DETECTOR-6000 systems, designed to pick up black-box pinger signals over long distances up to 5 km (3 miles), according to the company's website. It works by dipping a slender probe into the water to listen for pings and then retrieving it to download the findings. ALSEAMAR, a subsidiary of French industrial group Alcen, did not respond to a request for comment. In 2004, the same company deployed a system of "intelligent buoys" to search for black boxes after a Boeing 737 belonging to Egypt's Flash Air crashed in the Red Sea near Sharm al-Sheikh. The second firm likely to be involved is Mauritius-based Deep Ocean Search, with which France and Egypt are finalizing a contract, according to French diplomatic sources. That firm was originally involved in the search for missing Malaysian jet MH370, but it and others voiced complaints about the conduct of the search after being rejected when responsibility shifted from Malaysia to Australia. It was not immediately available for comment. LAST CONVERSATION The EgyptAir black boxes are believed to be lying in up to 3,000 meters of Mediterranean water, on the edge of the usual range for picking up signals emitted by the boxes. Maritime search experts say this means acoustic hydrophones are usually towed in the water at depths of up to 2,000 meters in order to have the best chance of hearing the signals. Ayman al-Moqadem, Egypt's head of air accident investigations, said the investigating team had received radar imagery and audio recordings from Greece detailing the flight trajectory of the doomed plane and the last conversation between its pilot and Greek air traffic control. It is expecting France to hand over radar imagery and other data covering the plane's time in French airspace and on the ground in Paris, he added. Sources in the investigation committee have said the EgyptAir jet did not show technical problems before taking off from Paris. During flight, it sent signals that at first showed the engines were functioning but then detected smoke and suggested an increase in temperature at the co-pilot's window. The plane kept transmitting messages for the next three minutes before vanishing. With no flight recorders to check and only fragmentary data from a handful of fault messages including two smoke alarms, investigators are also looking to debris and body parts for clues. Cox said the fault messages collectively pointed to a possible problem in the avionics bay under the cockpit, but stressed it was too early to rule out any possible cause. Moqadem said no bodies had been recovered so far, with search teams only able to locate small body parts. DNA tests are underway to identify the remains. He said a report would be issued by the investigating team one month from the date of the crash. (Additional reporting by John Irish, Ahmed Aboulenein, Editing by Ralph Boulton and Cynthia Osterman)
The leaders of France and Germany are commemorating 100 years since the Battle of Verdun - the longest of the First World War.

More than 300,000 soldiers from the two countries were killed and hundreds of thousands more were wounded in the fight which lasted 10 months.

President Francois Hollande of France and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany laid a wreath at a military cemetery in Consenvoye, near Verdun, where 11,148 German soldiers are buried.

The main ceremony in northeast France took place later in the day at the Douaumont Ossuary, a memorial to 130,000 unidentified troops from both sides of the conflict.

It was there that in 1984 former French president Francois Mitterrand and the-then chancellor of West Germany Helmut Kohl held hands during the French national anthem in a symbolic gesture of Franco-German friendship.

Mr Hollande underlined the need for European unity at a time when the EU is under pressure from the migrant crisis and a possible British exit from the bloc.

The two leaders want their nations' good relations to be a source of hope amid the current instability and Mr Hollande praised the city of Verdun as "the capital of peace".

He said: "Verdun is a city that represents - at the same time - the worst, where Europe got lost, and the best, a city being able to commit and unite for peace and French-German friendship."

Mrs Merkel said: "Verdun is more than the name of your town - Verdun is also one of the most terrible battles humanity has experienced."

Later in the day, she said the dead of Verdun were "victims of bigotry and nationalism, of blindness and political failure".

She added the best way of honouring them was to remember "the lessons that Europe drew from the catastrophes of the 20th century - the ability and willingness to recognise how necessary it is not to seal ourselves off but to be open to each other".

Some villages destroyed in the fighting were never rebuilt, as the battlefield remains strewn with millions of unexploded shells.

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The area is still so dangerous that housing and farming are banned.

The two leaders were also due to discuss the EU migrant crisis and the UK referendum on 23 June.

Some 163,000 French and 143,000 German troops died in the Battle of Verdun which took place between February and December 1916, and 60 million shells were fired.

With no survivors left to remember the war, the commemoration events focused on educating young people, including 4,000 French and German children.

In a battle re-enactment, choreographed by German film-maker Volker Schloendorff, the children fell to the ground among the white crosses to symbolise death before standing up again to represent hope.

Later the French and German leaders met some of the children.

Mr Hollande heard from a teenager who said his ancestor had been gassed during World War One, to which the French leader replied that the "same gas" was recently used in Syria, referring to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad in 2013.

:: EU In or Out: David Cameron Live, Sky News 8pm Thursday, Michael Gove Live 8pm Friday
Refusing to link climate change to the Fort McMurray wildfires puts Albertans at odds with the scientific consensus and it's a barrier to a meaningful conversation on how to move forward, an award-winning journalist told hundreds at the Congress 2016 of the Humanities and Social Sciences on Sunday.

Naomi Klein, a best-selling author, social activist and filmmaker addressed themes from her most recent book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate, in Calgary, the heart of the oil and gas industry in Canada.

While Klein expressed compassion for the evacuees of the Fort McMurray wildfire, she said refusing to link it clearly to climate change is shortsighted.

"Every serious international publication has linked the fires with climate change," Klein told about 400 conference attendees.

- ANALYSIS | Fossil fuel decline could be 'faster than expected,' government think-tank warns

"It is still something of a controversial statement to say in Alberta, people still feel that it is somehow not compassionate, not polite to make the connections with climate change."

On Saturday, Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said in his conference keynote address, it wasn't helpful to reduce the conversation to a 'one or the other' proposition when it comes to industry and the environment.

"I believe that we have to adapt to reality," Nenshi said.

"And yes, we're moving to a low carbon future, of course we are, but there's still a role for business, there's still a role for carbon, there's still a role for people to make a decent living."

Klein was present as 177 countries signed on to the 2015 Paris Agreement, which she calls ambitious.

Canada was a leader among industrialized nations in pushing for stricter emission controls, she said.

But getting there involves a dramatic shift in the fossil fuel status quo, which could impact Albertans significantly.

"If we're serious about keeping warming below 1.5 degrees, it actually does mean the end of the fossil fuel era, which I know is a little bit hard to hear in this city."

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Klein went on to say that about 90 per cent of high carbon fuels, like bitumen, would have to remain in the ground to reach the targets of the Paris Agreement.

She also took aim at neoliberal economic policies that have led to the privatization of many publicly held institutions and international trade agreements that allow private companies to sue governments.

She says these policies prevent countries from effectively addressing global warming.

"I have a chapter in my book about dozens of these cases where, when governments do the right thing and introduce good climate legislation, they're getting sued in trade court," Klein explained.

Klein teamed up with her husband, documentary filmmaker Avi Lewis, and other leaders from Canada's Indigenous rights, social and food justice, environmental, faith-based and labour movements to write the controversial Leap Manifesto.

The manifesto advocates a swift end to the use of fossil fuels, including a moratorium on new infrastructure projects such as pipelines that perpetuate reliance on the non-renewable resources that contribute to climate change. It also contains a rebuke of Canadian consumer capitalism and a renewed focus on fighting inequality.

The document has a wide range of supporters, including actors, labour unions and environmentalists. It was unveiled in September 2015 during the election campaign but received scant attention by any of the major parties at the time.

Manifesto called radical, anti-Alberta, socialist

That changed when it became a central focus at the federal NDP's national convention in Edmonton in April.

The manifesto caused a very public rift between the Alberta NDP, who oppose it, and the federal NDP, who want more discussion.

Despite the opposition from Alberta delegates, the majority voted to adopt the principles of the Leap Manifesto just hours before they voted to replace leader Tom Mulcair, who led the party to a disappointing third-place finish in last fall's election on a moderate, centrist platform.

Wildrose Leader Brian Jean has called the document "a radical anti-Alberta resolution," while Alberta PC Leader Ric McIver linked the Notley government to "radical socialist ideology."

CBC commentator Rex Murphy slammed it in a Point of View segment.

Some of those attending Klein's Sunday discussion would disagree.

Chris Loewen, who has read Klein's This Changes Everything, said it was nice to hear it from the source.

"It was very uplifting," Loewen told CBC News.

"The round of applause that she got from Calgarians, about the fact that we need to reduce emissions I thought was brilliant. It exceeded my expectations."

'Massive change' possible

Loewen believes getting to a low carbon future will take a big picture approach.

"Each one of us individually can do something and then together, collectively, I think we can make a massive change."

A retired Dalhousie University professor said he liked Klein's directness especially when connecting the Fort McMurray wildfire with climate change.

"I think she is right," Nathan Brett said.

"We are late, if anything, in trying to make the changes that are necessary. It is very important for us to pay attention to signs like that, that we have gone too far," Brett said.

"We need to drive that message home."

'Circle of solidarity'

Meanwhile, Klein sees a future where communities have control over their energy needs, and empower people economically to make the required changes for a low carbon economy.

"The task now, I believe, is to enlarge that circle of solidarity, that web of compassion to include those not only in our own country but around the world who are also losing their homes and in far too many cases, their lives, because of extreme weather."

- ANALYSIS | Canada's energy superpower status threatened as world shifts off fossil fuel, federal think-tank warns

- MORE ALBERTA NEWS | Suncor Energy resumes operations near Fort McMurray

- MORE ALBERTA NEWS | Derek Fildebrandt suspended after 'unacceptable' comment on social media

Clarification : An earlier version of this story said that Naomi Klein and her husband, Avi Lewis, wrote the Leap Manifesto. In fact, they co-wrote it collaboratively with other leaders from Canada's Indigenous rights, social and food justice, environmental, faith-based and labour movements.(May 30, 2016 11:29 AM)
By Tife Owolabe YENAGOA (Reuters) - Militants attacked crude oil and gas pipelines operated by Nigeria's state oil firm in the Niger Delta, a community leader said on Friday, in an attack claimed by the Niger Delta Avengers, which has been targeting energy facilities for weeks. "Another crude pipeline was attacked yesterday Thursday night near Batan oil field in Warri," said Eric Omare, spokesman for the Ijaw Youth Council, which represents one of the largest ethnic groups in the vast delta in southern Nigeria. "There were two simultaneous attacks on (state oil firm) PPMC and NNPC pipelines," he said, referring to the marketing arm of the NNPC. The militant group tweeted later that they had blown up a gas and crude pipeline near the town of Warri that was protected by soldiers and operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). "At 11:45pm on Thursday @NDAvengers blew up other #NNPC Gas and Crude trunkline close to Warri," the group said on its Twitter feed. It had claimed on the same platform an attack on Chevron's main power feed in the Delta, which shut down the U.S. firm's onshore operations, according to a company source. The Avengers, who have given oil firms until end of the month to leave, say they want independence for the Delta and have intensified attacks in recent weeks, pushing oil output to its lowest in more than 20 years and compounding Nigeria's economic problems. Delta residents, some of whom sympathise with the militants, have long complained of poverty in an area producing oil accounting for 70 percent of national income. The government has responded by moving in army reinforcements but British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond said this month that President Muhammadu Buhari needed to deal with the root causes of poverty and anger about oil spills. In the first signal that the government might try a less heavy-handed approach, Oil Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said on Thursday an amnesty programme for former militants, signed in 2009 to end a previous insurgency, needed to improve. A committee set up by Delta state leaders warned on Thursday that a military approach would not work and saw "an apparent consensus" that the federal government and oil companies have neglected the grievances of local communities. Nigeria is now producing less than 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), less than Angola and well below the 2.2 million bpd assumed in the 2016 state budget. (Additional reporting by Ed Cropley, Anamasere Igboeroteonwu and Ulf Laessing; Editing by James Macharia and Louise Ireland)
All nine opposition amendments to the federal government's assisted dying bill failed to pass in the House of Commons Monday night.

After the amendments were shot down, MPs voted 192-129 to send the bill to third reading, where the MPs will vote on whether to send C-14 to the Senate.

All but four Liberal MPs voted with their party. Those that did not were Alexandra Mendes, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Robert-Falcon Ouellette and, notably, Rob Oliphant, the government appointed co-chair of the special committee studying medically assisted death.

There were 19 Conservatives who voted with the Liberals to send the bill to third reading. All NDP MPs voted against the move as did Bloc MPs and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May.

The Trudeau government says it is still holding out hope both houses of Parliament will approve the government's proposed bill on doctor-assisted suicide in time to have new legislation passed before the Supreme Court's deadline of June 6, but stiff opposition from some MPs and senators is making that next to impossible.

Earlier in the evening MPs voted 177-140 to send Bill C-7 to the Senate. The bill, which has also failed to meet a Supreme Court deadline, will, if passed, allow the RCMP to collectively bargain  a power it currently does not have.

Justice Minister Jody-Wilson-Raybould acknowledged during question period in the Commons on Monday the "incredible diversity of opinion" around what has been an emotional and complex debate on assisted dying, but she said the government was still committed to having "a legal framework" in place by this time next week.

Health Minister Jane Philpott said the government was at risk of missing the deadline and that new legislation was needed "as soon as possible."

"Without legislation in place, health-care providers will not have the legal framework that they require to proceed," Philpott told MPs Monday.

The Canadian Pharmacists Association sent out a release backing the government in its wish to see legislation in place by June 6.

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"Bill C-14 strikes the appropriate balance between ensuring Canadians' right to access to assisted dying while providing the necessary protections for health-care professionals who choose to participate in assisted dying," the association said in a statement moments before question period got underway.

'Deeply flawed' bill, critics say

New Democrats Murray Rankin and Brigitte Sansoucy added their voices today to the growing number of MPs and critics expressing concerns with the government's proposed legislation on doctor-assisted suicide.

"As a lawyer, I cannot accept passing a bill that I know to be unconstitutional," Rankin said on Monday during a news conference on Parliament Hill.

Rankin and Sansoucy, the NDP justice and health critics respectively, said the Liberal government's proposed legislation does not meet the minimum requirements laid out by the Supreme Court of Canada  a view also expressed by the family of the late Kay Carter, the woman at the centre of the top court's ruling over doctor-assisted suicide.

The NDP critics said the Liberals should stop hiding behind the June 6 deadline, urging them not to rush the "deeply flawed' bill through Parliament.

"Today, we are here to call on the Liberal government to listen to the vast number of commentators and experts out there ... let's fix it, let's do it right," Rankin said on Monday.

Rankin noted that even former prime minister Paul Martin told Liberals gathered during the party's convention in Winnipeg last week that Parliament should not be bound by the arbitrary deadline set by the Supreme Court.

"Do it right, rather than doing it right now," Rankin said.

If the government's proposed bill on doctor-assisted death were to pass the House without any amendments, Rankin said, the Liberals should refer it back to the Supreme Court.

'Impossible' for the Senate

Conservative Senator Claude Carignan said on Monday the Red Chamber would take its time studying the bill whenever it is approved by the Commons, but closed the door to passing it this week.

"We will take time to study this bill properly. We will try to reduce the delay, to do our job with diligence  but this week, it's impossible."

Any amendments made by the Senate would force the bill back to the Commons for another vote, further delaying its passage.
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim's government on Sunday won a vote of confidence in parliament as well as approval for his legislative program, parliament speaker Ismail Kahraman said. Yildirim is a close ally of President Tayyip Erdogan and a co-founder of the ruling AK Party. He was declared prime minister after he was elected as the new leader of the AK Party at a party congress. Yildirim's appointment marks another step in Erdogan's plan to create a full presidential system in Turkey. Yildirim replaces Ahmet Davutoglu, who said he was stepping down after weeks of tension with Erdogan. Kahraman said the result was 315 votes for approving the government and 138 against. (Reporting by Gulsen Solaker, writing by Dasha Afanasieva. Editing by Jane Merriman)
Teenagers from across Canada will be gathering in Winnipeg next year to discuss the future of the country.

Leading up to Canada's 150th anniversary in 2017, Experiences Canada has created the Canada 150&Me project which will host four regional exchanges across the country, including in Winnipeg.

Thousands of youth aged 14 to 19 will gather to discuss the next 150 years of Canada through different mediums including music, video, art, spoken word, and written word.

"It's a real opportunity to mark this milestone not just by looking at how far Canada has come, but this is an opportunity for the youth to tell us where they would like the country to go in the future," Deborah Morrison, CEO and president of Experiences Canada, said.

Morrison said this is a generation that is very much engaged in the issues.

"They have the tools, the technologies, and the networks, to really take a look at this country in ways that we have not," she said. "This project is all about giving the opportunity to do just that."

The youth will be gathering onsite and online next April and May, including at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Students will stay with host families and explore the city's history as well as working with not-for-profit organizations.

The event was launched at the University of Winnipeg Collegiate on Monday where students are already preparing for the event.

"I believe taking time to reflect is the only way to make positive change," history teacher Jennifer Janzen said in a release.

"This 150th remembrance is important for youth to contemplate issues such as the environment, diversity and Canada's place in the world. It's the young people that have the biggest stake in the future and their ideas and voices must be heard."

Sophie Smith-Dostmohamed is one of the students participating with a spoken word and film project. She said her goal is raise awareness around the continuing struggle for women's rights.

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"We still get paid 7.5 per cent less than men on average in Canada. We still don't see very many political figures that are women in Canadian government. Even though it's changing, it's not changing fast enough," she said.

She said the youth have the opportunity to make a change for Canada.

After the regional forums, 150 students will be chosen to travel to Ottawa the week before Canada Day 2017 to meet with government, community and business leaders.
MONDAY, May 30, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- Just a few inches of water in a kiddie pool are enough to drown a child.

"When we think of pool risks, we think of the big pools, complete with deep ends, diving boards and swim parties," said Dr. Nina Shapiro, director of pediatric otolaryngology at Mattel Children's Hospital of the University of California, Los Angeles.

"But more than 10 percent of pool-related deaths in young children occur in what are best known as 'kiddie pools.' These include inflatables, plastic wading pools and larger above-ground pools," she said in a university news release.

Shapiro cited a 2011 study in the journal Pediatrics that concluded portable pools at homes pose a major threat of drowning injury or death to children, especially those younger than 5 years old.

Whether the pool is small or large, there are steps adults should take to reduce children's risk of drowning, she said. For instance:

Constantly supervise children when they're in and around a pool.

Have a phone by the pool in case of emergency.

Around large pools, make sure there's a fence that's at least 4 feet high with a latched gate.

Have life preservers by the pool and learn CPR.

Drain kiddie pools when they're not in use and remove toys from kiddie pools when children aren't in them. Toys can be irresistible to small children, who have no concept of personal risk, Shapiro said.

"There is no magic bullet to prevent these horrors. So stock your safety arsenal with layers of prevention so that summer fun doesn't turn tragic," Shapiro concluded.

More information

The American Red Cross has more about summer water safety.
World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition (WPCC) and American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Pancreatic Cancer Special Conference brought together patient advocacy groups and outstanding professionals 10-15 May, 2016 in Orlando, Florida to discuss pancreatic cancer, a disease with the lowest survival rates of any major cancer Prof Borrebaeck presented in his AACR talk how serum biomarker signatures can detect early stages of pancreatic cancer LUND, Sweden - The days between 10 to 15 of May, 2016 were dedicated to the deadliest form of cancer, pancreatic cancer, by two major events that took place in Orlando, USA: the first World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition (WPCC) followed by the third AACR Pancreatic Cancer Special Conference. Both events represented major breakthroughs for Immunovia and IMMray PanCan-d as the following main areas in pancreatic cancer were emphasized: Firstly, the largest global patient advocacy pancreatic cancer coalition was formed to provide a united front against this lethal disease. Immunovia sponsors the patient advocacy world coalition and will work closely with the members on both national and global levels. Secondly, the main focus of pancreatic cancer care is now clearly early detection of stages I & II for improved chances of patient survival. Prof Borrebaecks talk presented clinical studies results covering over 2500 pancreatic cancer blood samples that show that IMMray PanCan-d can detect stages I, II, III and IV patients with an accuracy of 98%. The Scandinavian study that was finalized last year, was presented for the first time at this event and the data (that were initially press released in Nov 2015: link (http://immunovia.com/immray-pancan-d-detects-98-of-pancreatic-cancers-in -retrospective-study-with-1400-blood-samples/)) showed that Immunovias test is able to detect the early stages of pancreatic cancer in blood with unprecedented accuracy of 96%. The talk received fantastic response from the conference participants and particularly from Key Opinion Leaders. Thirdly, the high risk group of late onset diabetes after 50 years of age was strongly brought forward as an area that needs immediate and increased priority. Immunovia has commenced discussions to participate in the late onset diabetes programs underway. To read the complete summary from the WPCC and AACR Pancreatic Cancer Special Conference in Orlando, click here (PDF). 2 0 16-05-30 Laura Chirica, PhD, Immunovia, Sweden
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President Obama gave a somber and apparently heartfelt speech Friday while visiting Hiroshima, the Japanese city where the U.S. detonated the first of the two nuclear weapons at the end of the Second World War. In his remarks, the president expressed his desire to see a world free of nuclear weapons.

We may not be able to eliminate mans capacity to do evil, so nations and the alliances that we form must possess the means to defend ourselves, he said. But among those nations like my own that hold nuclear stockpiles, we must have the courage to escape the logic of fear and pursue a world without them.

Related: Why Is the US Spending $1 Trillion on Nuclear Weapons?

We may not realize this goal in my lifetime, but persistent effort can roll back the possibility of catastrophe. We can chart a course that leads to the destruction of these stockpiles. We can stop the spread to new nations and secure deadly materials from fanatics.

There was a certain irony to this, though, because in his more than seven years in the Oval Office, President Obama has presided over a dramatic slowdown in the process of reducing the countrys stockpile of nuclear weapons. He has also approved a plan to spend tens of billions of dollars every year, adding up to $1 trillion over the next three decades, to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal and to develop new kinds of nuclear weapons.

Hans M. Kristensen, director of the nuclear information project at the Federation of American Scientists, writes that, the Obama administration has reduced the U.S. stockpile less than any other post-Cold War administration, and ... the number of warheads dismantled in 2015 was lowest since President Obama took office.

Changes in US nuclear stockpile



Click here for a larger version of the chart.

According to data declassified by the Defense Department, the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile stood at 4,571 at the end of fiscal year 2015, down just 146 from the previous year. All told, the arsenal has been reduced by only 13 percent under the Obama administration. Also under the Obama administration, there is a significant backlog in warheads that have been officially retired but not actually physically dismantled and rendered harmless.

Story continues

Related: Why Adding $1 Trillion for Nuclear Arms Might Be a Bad Idea

Further, the Pentagon continues to pursue the development of new kinds of delivery devices, including a new nuclear-capable cruise missile, capable of delivering relatively small nuclear weapons virtually anywhere in the world.

The Department of Energy anticipates a more than 20 percent increase in its Weapons Activities budget between 2016 and 2021, with the total budget request reaching $10.5 billion per year. This is largely to manage a stockpile of aging weapons that, in theory, should be getting smaller (and cheaper) every year.

To be fair, it is not all President Obamas fault, Kristensen allows. His vision of significant reductions and putting an end to Cold War thinking has been undercut by opposition ranging from Congress to the Kremlin. An entrenched and almost ideologically opposed Congress has fought his arms reduction vision every step of the way. And the Russian government has rejected additional reductions while New START is being implemented.

While there may be blame to spread around for the slowdown in nuclear disarmament, it didnt make Obamas appearance in Hiroshima any less ironic.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Top Posters Address Diacetyl Exposures, Noise Monitoring, Tobacco Workers' Illness

The displayed posters filled a large section of the expo floor in the Baltimore Convention Center. Many attendees walked up and down the rows seeking papers on topics of interest.

BALTIMORE -- Time spent perusing students' and professionals' research work displayed as conference posters is always well spent, and that proved to be the case again during the AIHce 2016 conference here. Posters winning "Best" awards at the event included analyses of coffee shop workers' illnesses because of their exposure to diacetyl, tobacco workers' nicotine poisoning and illnesses, and monitoring noise, among others.

The displayed posters filled a large section of the expo floor in the Baltimore Convention Center. Many attendees walked up and down the rows seeking papers on topics of interest. Noteworthy papers included these:

Diacetyl: J.S. Pierce and colleagues at San Francisco-based Cardno ChemRisk evaluated diacetyl risks faced by workers and customers in a small Chicago coffee shop during the preparation and consumption of unflavored coffee during a single day in December 2014. They found time-weighted eight-hour average exposures for baristas exceeded recommended exposure limits put forth by NIOSH and ACGIH, while workers who didn't prepare coffee (cashiers, maintenance workers, and others) may also have experienced exposures above the recommended limits. "These findings suggest that the practicality and scientific basis of the recommended OELs for diacetyl merit further consideration," they reported.

Noise exposures: Benjamin Roberts, MPH, and Dr. Rick Neitzel, Ph.D., CIH, of the University of Michigan Department of Environmental Health Sciences, reported that fifth-generation iPods with external microphones can make accurate measurements within 2 dBs of a noise dosimeter in intermittent noise. But the smart phone/microphone tools were less durable than traditional dosimeters, they found.

Tobacco workers: Researchers from the University of North Texas Health Science Center, the University of Kentucky, UT Dallas, and the University of Maryland evaluated 43 migrant workers at Kentucky farms, determining their baselines and following them up for six days. The workers, who cut tobacco stalks, pulled the leaves, and loaded the tobacco on trucks and hung the leaves in barns, experienced significant skin exposures that caused green tobacco sickness (GTS) in some workers. Two of the workers reported nicotine poisoning symptoms, including headache, dizziness, and vomiting. The researchers recommended administrative changes, safer work practices, and the use of PPE.

Thermal imaging: One paper from a group at the University of Utah tested the use of thermal imagers to assess heat stress experienced by male copper furnace tappers. The imagers may be useful for screening for workers' high heat stress, they reported.
A court in Senegal sentenced former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre to life in jail Monday for war crimes and crimes against humanity, an unprecedented conviction hailed as a blow to the impunity long enjoyed by repressive rulers. The verdict brings long-awaited closure for relatives of the up to 40,000 people killed and many more kidnapped, raped or tortured during his 1982-1990 term as president of Chad. Habre was guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, rape, forced sexual slavery and kidnapping, said the presiding judge Gberdao Gustave Kam. The 73-year-old ex-dictator, who wore his trademark billowing white robes and sunglasses in court, had presided over "a system where impunity and terror were the law," Kam said. The case was heard by a special tribunal set up by the African Union under a deal with Senegal, and is the first time a country has prosecuted a former leader of another nation for rights abuses. On hearing the decision, Habre raised his arms in the air and shouted "Down with Francafrique!", the term used for France's continuing influence on its former colonies. He had declined to address the court throughout the 10-month trial, and refused to recognise its authority. US Secretary of State John Kerry said the conviction was "an opportunity for the United States to reflect on, and learn from," its involvement in Chad, referring to US and France's backing of his regime as a buffer against Libya's Moamer Khadafi. An EU spokesman said the "historic" sentence set an "important precedent for international justice and the fight against impunity" and praised the determination of Senegal's authorities in bring the case to trial. Habre has two weeks to appeal the sentence. - Crowning achievement - Victims groups who had travelled to Dakar to hear the verdict were visibly moved by the judgement. "The feeling is one of complete satisfaction," said Clement Abaifouta, president of the Habre survivors association known by the acronym AVCRHH. "It's the crowning achievement of a long and hard fight against impunity. Today Africa has won. We say thank you to Senegal and to Africa for judging Africa," he added. In the Chadian capital N'Djamena up to 250 victims and their supporters gathered to watch the trial on television at their group's headquarters. Women screamed with joy as the verdict was read out, embracing one another and shouting "We won!", before taking to the streets and blocking traffic as they spread the news. - 'A powerful message' - The precedent set by the verdict could be seismic, according to legal experts, especially after years of criticism that the International Criminal Court (ICC), based in The Hague, has tried African leaders many say should be judged on the continent. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said the verdict showed "nobody is above the law" at a time when the world is "scarred by a constant stream of atrocities." Reed Brody, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch who has spent the last 15 years working with victims to bring Habre to justice, said the conviction was a warning. "This verdict sends a powerful message that the days when tyrants could brutalise their people, pillage their treasury and escape abroad to a life of luxury are coming to an end," Reed said in a statement. "Today will be carved into history as the day that a band of unrelenting survivors brought their dictator to justice." Habre's conviction for personally raping a woman was also a first by an international court trying a former world leader, according to Human Rights Watch. Lawyers for the victims said Friday their next step would be to obtain compensation for their clients in a civil suit. - Prison horrors - Known as a skilled desert fighter often dressed in combat fatigues to fit the role, Habre fled to Senegal after his 1990 ouster by Chad's current President Idriss Deby. Witnesses recounted the horror of life in Chad's prisons, describing in graphic detail abusive and often deadly punishments inflicted by Habre's feared secret police, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS). Victims were subject to electric shocks and waterboarding while some had gas sprayed in their eyes or spice rubbed into their genitals, the court heard. Habre's defence team unsuccessfully sought to cast doubt on the prosecution's argument that their client was an all-knowing, all-powerful head of the DDS, suggesting he may have been unaware of abuses on the ground. For more than 20 years, the former dictator lived freely in an upmarket Dakar suburb with his wife and children. "What we have seen today is not justice. It is a crime against Africa," said Mahamat Togoi, part of a Habre supporters group. "It's the dirty work of mercenaries in the pay of Francafrique."
KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Chinese worker and his driver were wounded in Pakistan on Monday in a bomb attack claimed by ethnic nationalists opposed to plans for extensive Chinese investment, police said. The attack is likely to raise concern about a planned China Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC), involving $46 billion in Chinese investment in roads, power plants, railway lines and a new port in Pakistan. Pakistan, battling Islamist militants as well as separatist guerrillas in parts of the country, has promised to ensure security for the project. The Chinese man and his Pakistani driver were slightly wounded in the attack in the southern province of Sindh, provincial police chief Allah Dino Khawaja told Reuters. "Apparently, the attack was aimed at the Chinese national," Khawaja said, adding that the man was travelling with his driver and a security guard. A low-intensity bomb went off by the road in a suburb of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, shattering the windows of the van the men were travelling in. Television footage showed construction helmets in a rear seat. A pamphlet signed by a group called the Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army, an ethnic Sindhi separatist group, was found at the site, police said. "The world's most plunderous nation has set its eye on Sindh," the pamphlet said, according to a photograph of it seen by Reuters. "They want to attack Sindh and enslave its people." The group was apparently referring to the China-Pakistan corridor, which was announced last year, though it was unclear whether the unidentified Chinese national was working on a CPEC project. CPEC is part of China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative, aimed at easing the passage of Chinese exports to foreign markets by connecting southwestern China to the Arabian Sea, through Pakistan. (Reporting by Syed Raza Hassan; Writing by Asad Hashim; Editing by Robert Birsel)
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran said on Sunday its pilgrims would not attend the annual Muslim haj pilgrimage, blaming regional rival Saudi Arabia for "sabotage" and failing to guarantee the safety of pilgrims. Saudi Arabia, which oversees the pilgrimage to Mecca by more than two million Muslims from around the world, accused Iran of effectively depriving its citizens from the religious duty by refusing to sign a memorandum reached after talks with Iran's Haj and Pilgrimage Organisation. Relations between the two Gulf powers plummeted after hundreds of Iranians died in a crush in last year's haj and after Riyadh broke diplomatic ties when its Tehran embassy was stormed in January over the Saudi execution of a Shi'ite cleric. The dispute has provided another arena for discord between the conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the revolutionary Shi'ite republic of Iran, which back opposing sides in Syria and other conflicts across the region. "Due to ongoing sabotage by the Saudi government, it is hereby announced that ... Iran's pilgrims have been denied the privilege to attend the haj this year, and responsibility for this rests with the government of Saudi Arabia," Iran's Haj and Pilgrimage Organisation said in a statement carried by state media. Saudi media earlier said an Iranian delegation had left the kingdom without an agreement over the haj, the second time the two countries have failed to reach a deal. Saudi Arabia has blamed Iran for the impasse. "Saudi Arabia does not prevent anyone from performing the religious duty," Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said at a news conference with visiting British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond. "Iran refused to sign the memorandum and was practically demanding the right to hold demonstrations and to have other advantages ... that would create chaos during haj, which is not acceptable," he added. Iranian Culture Minister Ali Jannati said the issue of ensuring the safety of the pilgrims was paramount for Tehran following the death of hundreds of Iranian pilgrims last year. "The Saudi government deliberately acted in a way to prevent Iranian pilgrims from ... attending haj this year," Jannati told Iran state television. Eight months after the last haj, Saudi Arabia has still not published a report into the disaster, at which it said over 700 pilgrims were killed, the highest death toll at the annual pilgrimage since a crush in 1990. Iran boycotted the haj for three years after 402 pilgrims, mostly Iranians, died in clashes with Saudi security forces at an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Mecca in 1987. (Reporting by Ali Abdelaty in Cairo, writing by Sami Aboudi, Editing by Richard Balmforth)
Defense leaders from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to beef up security cooperation in the waters off Sulu archipelago, the common maritime border area of the three countries.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin met with his counterparts from Malaysia and Indonesia on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM) in Vientiane, Laos to discuss ways to address rising crimes, piracy, kidnapping and smuggling in the area.

In a statement, the defense department said the leaders agreed to ensure timely sharing of relevant information and direct their respective intelligence units to be more open in sharing databases of criminals.

Indonesia, through its defense minister Ryamizard Ryacudu, proposed to have joint posts of coordination within the countries respective borders.

The Philippines regularly conducts coordinated patrols with Indonesia while the Philippines has anti-smuggling agreement with Malaysia.

They also agreed to use existing platforms in undertaking joint patrols, the statement read.

The idea of coordinated patrol is in accordance with the Joint Declaration on Immediate Measures in the Maritime Areas of Common Concern that was signed by the three countries foreign ministers and chiefs of defense last May 5.
This article originally appeared on time.com. President Barack Obama stopped for a meal with celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain on the first leg of the Presidents historic Asia trip. The President will appear on an upcoming episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown on CNN, where the host dines on local eats off the beaten path around the globe. The two ate at Bun Cha Huong Lien in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi just hours after the president lifted a decades-long arms embargo on the first day of his trip. Bourdain shared a picture of the two dining on Instagram Monday, saying Obamas chopstick skills are on point. The President's chopstick skills are on point . #buncha #hanoi A photo posted by anthonybourdain (@anthonybourdain) on May 23, 2016 at 7:22am PDT The celebrity chef also tweeted the total cost of their meal was $6  and the adventurous eater paid the bill. Total cost of bun Cha dinner with the President: $6.00 . I picked up the check . #Hanoi  Anthony Bourdain (@Bourdain) May 23, 2016 President Obama will soon travel from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City before heading off to Japan. While in Japan, the President will become the first sitting U.S. President to visit Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb during World War II.
By Frank McGurty (Reuters) - One suspect was dead and a second was wounded after reports of multiple gunshots in Houston, while another person was found dead in a vehicle, police said on Sunday. The Houston Police Department said in a Facebook post that an active shooter situation was still in effect and advised area residents to shelter in place or to stay away. The wounded suspect was transported to a nearby hospital, it said. In an earlier post, police said officers were responding to reports of a male firing shots in an area of west Houston just east of the Sam Houston Tollway, a major highway dissecting the Texas city. Representatives of the Houston Police Department declined further comment. The Houston Fire Department could not be reached immediately for comment. Television news footage showed cars in the area with their windows smashed, apparently from gunshots. It was not immediately clear if those incidents were related to the fatal shootings. A gasoline station near the shootings was set on fire, according to Houston's ABC 13 News, but it was unclear the cause of the blaze and any link to the shootings. Video footage showed aerial views of a burned-out filling station surrounded by fire and emergency vehicles. Residents told ABC 13 that they heard multiple rounds of gunfire ringing out late on Sunday morning, as people were preparing for Memorial Day barbecues and other outdoor activities. (Reporting By Frank McGurty in New York; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Nick Zieminski)
It is almost two years now since President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine took oath of office. Emerging from a tumultuous period in Ukraine's political history, Poroshenko's administration is keen on establishing deeper bilateral ties with Kenya.

TUKO.co.ke spoke with Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vladyslava Rutytska on Kiev's cooperation with Kenya, and this is what she had to say:

Question: To what extent has Kenya and Ukraine trade and economic relations been severed by the political upheaval in Kiev, in as far as agriculture and food are concerned?

The first thing I want to say is that the continent of Africa is absolutely critical for Ukraines development. Africa as a whole is the third leading destination for Ukraines goods.

Unfortunately, trade between Ukraine and Kenya fell by 58% in 2015 to $31.2 million.

This was driven partly by a sharp drop of volume of our agricultural sales to Kenya.

The leading Ukrainian exports to Africa are grains  wheat, corn and barley  as well as sunflower and soybean oil, processed food products and condensed milk.

In 2015, we achieved a significant increase in exports to Africa of meat, cheese and yoghurt, butter, raw and processed vegetables, confectionery, water and wine.

This positive trend was driven mainly by value added products. I believe it is essential that Ukraine continues to move beyond cooking oils to deliver processed food products to the African market.

Question: Are there products that are currently lacking in the Kiev market that Nairobi can fill the gap?

Ukraine imported almost $5 million in goods from Kenya in 2015.

This is a decline of 30% versus 2014.

Imports fell across almost all categories: tea, coffee, tobacco and raw materials.

However, I want to emphasize that Kenya is ready to intensify our relationship, and we are now actively exploring promising areas to increase mutually beneficial trade between our nations.

READ ALSO: What you may not know about Kenya's Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed

Let me say a few words on the ways of how to increase Kenyas presence on the Ukrainian market:

Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy accompanied by Kenya's Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed, and another guest at a past event. Photo: Ukrainian embassy in Kenya.

Question: You are currently harmonizing Ukraines food and agricultural policies to meet European Union standards. EU regulations prohibit the import of a number of Kenyas key agricultural and dairy products into the EU with disastrous consequences for Kenyan farmers.

What are your views on this? Do you believe such regulations are important?

The European Union is a key strategic partner for Ukraine.

In January 2016, Ukraines free trade zone with the EU took effect.

Prior to this, Ukrainian manufacturers could supply a range of products under the autonomous trade preferences. We are grateful to the EU for a "transition" period for domestic producers.

We are now actively harmonizing legislation and introducing European standards in Ukraine. This is not an easy path, but I am sure the European path is the only way forward for Ukraine.

Getting the Euro-numbers is an opportunity for Ukrainian companies to build a world-class businesses.

READ ALSO: 10 really cool places you should visit on a weekend in Nairobi

To be successful, however, Ukrainian producers must be prepared to learn, developing, for example, new approaches to marketing and product promotion.

The priority for our ministry is to provide maximum support to small- and medium-sized enterprises. This is the segment that needs assistance from the government to introduce new standards and receive certification to enter new markets.

Small- and medium-sized businesses will be the foundation of the agricultural sector.

Today, we are implementing a number of reforms in cooperation with the banking sector, which also stands ready to provide investment and support producers.

As I have already noted, a large proportion of the ministrys current efforts involve legislation  drafting new laws and regulations.

READ ALSO: 6 astonishing connections between Kenya and Ukraine

We pay special attention to improving the legislative framework for small- and medium-sized businesses as well as farming cooperatives.

Finally, the ability to successfully make export supplies to the European market is a mark of exceptional safety and quality of our products.

This is a "ticket" to supply its products across the globe.

Question: Currently, Kenya is working towards food self-sufficiency. As of 2015, the countrys self-sufficiency ratio improved from 74.4% to 75.2%. Import dependency ration improved from 29.2% to 28.3%.

One of the key strategies in developing food self-sufficiency is by leveraging research and technology to improve agricultural yields. What has been the trend in Ukraine? Is there certain key research on agriculture that you believe Kenya could benefit from?

Ukraines IT industry has great potential for growth in the agricultural sector.

Today, we are working hard to give medium and small farmers access to modern information technology.

Large agricultural holdings have long used the latest technologies in production, dramatically increasing their competitiveness. Recent research has shown that using IT solutions can save agricultural companies as much as 30%! I am pleased that Ukrainian programmers has begun to devote attention to this promising sector. Already, we have a number of inventions and technologies that greatly facilitate the work of farmers.

READ ALSO: Agri-business 101 - five things that will guarantee you success

In addition, IT solutions allow farms to reduce the use of key inputs, such as fertilizers and fuel, and optimise other operating costs.

These savings drop to bottom line, improving prospects for our businesses and the people who work for them.

I want to stress - the government will encourage and assist development of "smart" agribusiness.

READ ALSO: How a mobile app will change the lives of 50,000 Kenyan farmers

I see a number of priorities for our IT professionals when it comes to agriculture.

Question: Please share your thoughts on the future of Kenya and Ukraine collaboration in agriculture and food.

During my visit to Kenya, I was struck by the very productive conversations I enjoyed with the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce.

We discussed strengthening cooperation on the supply of Ukrainian grain to Kenya. There are many other products Ukraine could export to Kenya but does not for various reasons.

In fact, East Africa can consume as much $190 million of Ukrainian products annually  that means an additional US$85 million beyond where we stand, together, today.

Kenya is already one of the largest importers of Ukrainian products in Africa.

READ ALSO: Kenyan journalist wins award for story on Kibera sack farming

Source: TUKO.co.ke
By Julia Symmes Cobb BOGOTA (Reuters) - Three journalists held by Colombia's Marxist ELN rebels were freed on Friday after going missing over the past six days in the restive Norte de Santander province. Spanish journalist Salud Hernandez, who went missing on Saturday in El Tarra municipality, was freed in the early afternoon and called into various radio and television stations to confirm her release. Colombian reporter Diego D'Pablos and cameraman Carlos Melo, who went missing on Tuesday after going to the largely lawless northeastern area to cover Hernandez's disappearance, were freed Friday evening and spoke live to their employer, Noticias RCN. Hernandez, who had been last seen climbing aboard a motorcycle taxi while reporting a story on the illegal drug trade, thanked the Catholic Church for its help with her release. "Thank you to the Catholic Church, to all my colleagues," Hernandez said by telephone to Caracol television news. "I'm perfectly fine." Hernandez said at a press conference that leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels had treated her well and told her they would hold her for several days. The government confirmed on Thursday that the three journalists were being held by the ELN, which operates in the area alongside larger rebel group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and criminal gangs. In a printed statement given to Hernandez, the ELN said it was responding to what it perceived as a security threat. The release of the reporters could help move the ELN and the government toward beginning the peace talks they announced in March. The negotiations have been delayed by the rebels' continued kidnappings and infrastructure attacks. Hernandez, 59, who writes for Spain's El Mundo and local newspapers, is known for opinion columns highly critical of Colombia's insurgents, the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos and its more than three-year-old peace talks with the FARC. Santos reiterated to reporters Friday afternoon that no official talks would begin until the group frees all hostages. "We celebrate the liberation of Diego D'Pablos and Carlos Melo. We expect them to reunite with their families," the president said on his Twitter account. Norte de Santander is a hub for cultivation of coca, the plant used to make cocaine, and for the smuggling of goods from neighbouring Venezuela. Rebels groups and criminal gangs, many of which include former paramilitary fighters, sometimes fight for control of trafficking routes and drug crops. (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Dan Grebler and Leslie Adler)
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Australia's search for a successor to Shane Warne is yet to bear fruit nearly a decade after he retired, so Adam Zampa is naturally wary about comparisons with the leg-spinning great. The 24-year-old has been picked in Australia's squad for the triangular one-day international tournament in the Caribbean and will battle off-spinner Nathan Lyon and slow-bowling all-rounder Glenn Maxwell for a place against West Indies and South Africa. Unheralded only a few months ago, Zampa first made his mark in the most unusual of circumstances when he 'ran out' a batsman with his nose when playing for Melbourne Stars in Australia's 'Big Bash' league. A good performance in the that tournament led to a spot in Australia's World Twenty20 squad and after making his ODI debut against New Zealand in February, Zampa impressed in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at new franchise Rising Pune Supergiants. His bowling action and run-up have been compared to Warne's, which has further fuelled the hype, but the New South Welshman says that is where the similarities end. "There's only ever going to be one Shane Warne," Zampa told Australian media. "The attributes he had, how strong he was, his leg-spinner was unbelievable and to be able to bowl that leg-spinner for as long as he did for five days for his whole career was something unbelievable. "People do look at me and think I look a lot like him but I think the only thing that would be similar is the smoother run-up. It's a nice comparison but I don't really think about it that way." FAILED EXPERIMENTS Since Warne's retirement after the final Ashes test against England in 2007, Australian selectors have barely flirted with leg-spin. Victorian Bryce McGain lasted one test in 2009, promptly discarded after going wicketless for 149 runs against South Africa in Cape Town. Early in his career, incumbent captain Steve Smith was picked as a leg-spinning all-rounder against England in the 2010-11 series but later shelved his bowling to concentrate on becoming an elite batsman. Left-arm wrist-spinner Beau Casson briefly stepped into the spotlight when he was selected for a match against West Indies on the 2008 tour but duly fell into a form rut and was never looked at again. Lyon has since cemented himself as Australia's premier slow bowler and Zampa missed out on a place in the test squad to tour Sri Lanka in July and August. Zampa, however, hopes to impress ahead of next year's tour of India, where he has shown his comfort with South Asian pitches. "The white ball at the moment is probably something I'm concentrating on but if I keep improving, I feel like it doesn't matter what format you're playing," he said. Australia play the first ODI against West Indies in Providence, Guyana on June 5. (Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by John O'Brien)
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's Haj and Pilgrimage Organisation said on Sunday the country's pilgrims would not attend the annual Muslim haj pilgrimage, blaming regional rival Saudi Arabia for "sabotage" and failing to guarantee the safety of pilgrims. Relations between the two countries plummeted after hundreds of Iranians died in a crush during last year's haj and after Riyadh broke diplomatic ties when its Tehran embassy was stormed in January over the Saudi execution of a Shi'ite cleric. The dispute has provided another arena for discord between the conservative Sunni Muslim monarchy of Saudi Arabia and the revolutionary Shi'ite republic of Iran, which back opposing sides in Syria and other conflicts across the region. "Due to ongoing sabotage by the Saudi government, it is hereby announced that ... Iran's pilgrims have been denied the privilege to attend the haj this year, and responsibility for this rests with the government of Saudi Arabia," the Haj and Pilgrimage Organisation said in a statement carried by Iran state media. Saudi media earlier said an Iranian delegation had left the kingdom without an agreement over the haj, the second time the two countries have failed to reach a deal. Saudi Arabia has blamed Iran for the impasse. "The issue of ensuring the safety of the pilgrims was very important for us, considering the past actions of the Saudi government last year and the martyrdom of many pilgrims from Iran and other countries," Iranian Culture Minister Ali Jannati told Iran state television. Iran boycotted the haj for three years after 402 pilgrims, mostly Iranians, died in clashes with Saudi security forces at an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Mecca in 1987. Eight months after the last haj, Saudi Arabia has still not published a report into the disaster, at which it said more than 700 pilgrims were killed, the highest death toll at the annual pilgrimage since a crush in 1990. (Reporting by Dubai Newsroom. Editing by Jane Merriman)
SWNS

A descendant of Ernest Shackleton spent a week composing music on a violin made from the Antarctic explorer's floorboards. Georgia Shackleton, 35, is a professional musician who performs with folk group the Shackleton Trio. She is a distant relative of Anglo-Irish explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, who led three British expeditions and died in 1922. In 2018 she got in contact with a craftsman who had made a violin from floorboards in the famed explorer's old home in Edinburgh where he lived from 1904 to 1910. Georgia has spent a week in Crail, Fife, living in a remote cottage and composing music inspired by the sea. The violin has the names of 28 crew members on board the Endurance expedition, as well as a poem about the sea. Driftwood from beaches in East Lothian was also used to create the instrument made by luthier Steve Burnett. Georgia, who lives in Norwich, Norfolk, said: "Shacklewood is a distant cousin on the family tree. "Playing this violin is a really amazing feeling, there's no real way to describe it. "Being so connected to somebody so special anyway, but also someone who you are connected to through the family tree. "It's been really amazing to play the instrument for the past week. "I picked it up on Friday morning, I got in touch with Steve a few years ago asking if I could come and play it one day. "He kindly agreed to lend it to me for a week to make music on it. "It's been fantastic. "We met up before when I was playing in the area. "He's done a really special job." Georgia also visited the RRS Discovery ship in Dundee, which her ancestor used in 1901 to reach Antarctica, and got to sit in the cabin. Her project is funded by the Arts Council. Georgia said: "Staying in Fife to compose music is the perfect place to be to make music inspired by the coast. "The music I'm writing is music from the sea. "I'm overlooking the sea from the window in the cottage. "I'm here by myself but there are lots of lovely dogs walking past. "The instrument Steve has made is from floorboards in Shackleton's Edinburgh home and driftwood from beaches. "Inside it's got the names of all 28 crew members from Shackleton's Endurance expedition. "It's like a time capsule. "It was 20 year ago the driftwood was found, and Steve built another instrument from the driftwood. "The Discovery was the first ship Shackleton went out on a voyage for, and I got to sit in the cabin. "It was great to play it on the Discovery."
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Business / Economy

by Thobekile Zhou

About 70 percent of Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ)'s workers would be fired soon, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Joram Gumbo has revealed.Gumbo says business environment has been harsh, hence urgent need to retrench."At the moment, NRZ is over-employed with about 5,700 workers and this figure is high compared with the capacity at which the railways company is operating' he told a ZimAsset conference in Bulawayo.He added, "There is need to embark on a staff rationalisation programme in relation to the business NRZ is generating."Last week, Bulawayo24.com revealed that a section of non striking workers begged begging management to immediately fire striking worker's.Workers downed tools on March 29 after going unpaid for 15 months.The parastatal is losing $250,000 a day in potential revenue.About $14 million has been lost as its workers continue their strike over unpaid wages.NRZ has about 5,700 workers.
News / International

by Agencies

Dover - Far-right demonstrators burnt the EU flag on Saturday at a rally in Dover, Britain's closest town to continental Europe. Police officers in high-visibility jackets surrounded the small number of demonstrators as they marched along the seafront of the southeast English port town.One man held up an England flag with "Refugees NOT welcome" written on it.Immigration has been one of the major issues in run-up to the June 23 referendum, when Britain votes on whether to stay in the European Union or leave. "Far-right demonstrators haven't succeeded in their attempts to close the port of Dover," said Charlie Elphicke, the MP for the town."Just 30-odd of the far right have turned up. So much disruption created by so few selfish people." A rival counter-demonstration also took place.One woman held up a sign that read "Racism hurts everyone". Dover is 34 kilometres away from the northeast coast of France, which is visible across the Channel.With less than four weeks to go until the referendum, the Remain campaign is on 53 percent support and the Leave camp on 47 percent, according to the What UK Thinks website's average of the last six polls.
News / Local

by Tendai Gukutikwa

A ZIMUNYA 15-year-old girl can hardly walk after sustaining two deep wounds on both legs when she was allegedly assaulted by a guardian with a cooking stick.Manica Post reported that the girl, who stays with an employer only identified as Mai Maka, in Zimunya Township, was viciously attacked following a misunderstanding with the woman.Apart from the attack, the teenager who is doing Grade Three is severely malnourished.It has since emerged that she was not being given food and is already on a school roll of pupils receiving food at school.Her guardian denied the allegations and claimed that she was her former domestic worker's daughter left in her custody.She added that the wounds on the minor's both legs started as pimples and developed to the current state as she kept scratching them because of their itchiness."My former domestic worker left the child in my custody since she could no longer take care of her and I also needed a companion for my child. Honestly, I wonder why everybody is thinking that I assault the child. The child is a great liar. I just heard from a neighbour that a teacher at school give her sadza daily, but the child never told me that."I should have taken her back to her grandmother, but my heart hurts that she will be lonely with the old grandmother in the rural areas which is why I am keeping her," said Mai Maka.She said she took the minor for medication at her own expense."If I was evil as this child wants to make people believe, would I have taken her to the clinic for medication? This child is a liar and it is best if you desist from listening to her," she said, shouting at the child into the room to ask her to explain how the wounds had started.There was too much fear in the child that it took her around about four minutes to stammer a response: "Zvakatanga zvega, handina kumborohwa (It started naturally, I was never assaulted)".Some teachers said police were investigating the matter."She told the police that she was assaulted by her guardian with a wooden cooking stick and if you ask her right now she will lie on the matter because she is afraid of that violent woman," said a teacher.A neighbour who also requested anonymity claimed that she had at one time tipped off the police about the matter, but no action was taken.She said the minor was being exploited as a maid before the community registered her name for the BEAM programme at the school."This has been going on for quite some time. I stay in this community and know the horrors the child has been going through at the hands of that woman. When we confronted her (the woman), she admitted her wrongdoings saying it was after she had found the girl on top of her own child."This child has not been going to school since she started staying with her and it is now three years. It was only after the community registered name on the BEAM programme that she started going to school, not what she is trying to make you believe that she was the one who registered her at the school," said the neighbour.Zimunya Police Base member-in-charge, Assistant Inspector Mbewe, said no report had been made to that effect.Zimunya Primary School deputy head, a Mrs Muteedzi refused to comment over the matter citing protocol.
News / Local

by Stephen Jakes

A murder suspect who allegedly killed a woman who was coming from her work was arrested after he sold a mobile phone he had stolen to a neighbour.Bulawayo magistrate Evelyn Mashavakure was told that Tinashe Siziba, 18, of Robert Sinyoka in Bulawayo for killing Petronella Zimende, 24, of Pumula South last week.He was not asked to plead to the charge and was remanded in custody to May 23.On March 19 this year at 6:30am Zimende left her home going to work in the Belmont area in Bulawayo. At 5pm she knocked off and went home.At 8:30pm she arrived home and collapsed. Best Ntini realized she was bleeding through both ears and had a deep cut at the back of her head. She was moving on bare feet and her hand bag which contained her mobile phone was missing.Ntini reported to the police. Zemende was taken to the United Bulawayo Hospital where she got admitted and died on March 22 this year at 3:58am.Police investigations established that Zemende was attacked when coming from work close to Makoni Business centre in Pumula South after they observed some blood at the scene.On May 17 detective arrested Bekinkosi Gumbo of Magwegwe who was using the stolen mobile and he told them he bought it from Siziba. Siziba also stole a $2 from the now deceased. He was arrested.
Black Soldiers service and their heroism was called "invaluable" "at a time when the new United States needed it very badly and they stepped up and they took their place in the ranks. If they were misrepresented in our histories before, then we owe it to them to make sure we include it now, because they certainly did their part to earn not only their own freedom, but ours as well. We should never forget that for them, it was a double fight for liberty: their own and their country's."

FORT MEADE, Md. (Feb. 27, 2013) -- It's the winter of 1777-1778. Under Gen. George Washington, the Continental Army is waiting out the winter at Valley Forge, Penn. Just one year earlier, they had led lighting-fast, surprise attacks against the British at Trenton and Princeton, N.J. But now, many of the Soldiers are without shoes and blankets. They're starving. They're suffering from exposure, typhus, dysentery and pneumonia. They're dying and they're deserting and Washington has no way to replace them. States aren't meeting their militia quotas. There simply aren't enough willing and able men to left to fight -- willing and able white men, that is.At the start of the war, Washington had been a vocal opponent of recruiting black men, both free and especially slaves. He wasn't alone: Most southern slave owners (and many northern slave owners), found the idea of training and arming slaves and thereby abetting a possible slave rebellion far more terrifying than the British. Black men had long served in colonial militias and probably even saw action during the French and Indian War, explained retired Maj. Glenn Williams, a historian at the U.S. Army Center for Military History, but they had usually been relegated to support roles like digging ditches. In fact, he continued, most southern militias had been created precisely to fight off slave insurrections.As war with Britain broke out in the spring of 1775, however, Massachusetts patriots needed every man they could get, and a number of black men -- both slave and free -- served bravely at Lexington and Concord and then at the Battle of Bunker Hill. In fact, according to documents archived on http://www.fold3.com , a former slave named Salem Poor performed so heroically at Bunker Hill -- exactly what he did has been lost to history -- that 14 officers wrote to the Massachusetts legislature, commending him as a "brave and gallant Soldier" who deserved a reward. Valor like this wasn't enough, however, and shortly after his appointment as commander in chief, Washington signed an order forbidding the recruitment of all blacks.The British saw an opportunity to divide the colonies, however, and the royal governor of Virginia offered freedom to any slave who ran away to join British forces. Thousands took him up on it, and Washington relented almost immediately. In fact, the famous picture of him crossing the Delaware on Christmas Day, 1776, also features a black Soldier who many historians, according to "Come all you Brave Soldiers" by Clinton Cox, believe is Prince Whipple, one of Washington's own bodyguards, who had been kidnapped into slavery as a child and was serving in exchange for freedom. Another black Soldier, Primus Hall, reportedly tracked down and single-handedly captured several British soldiers after the battle of Princeton a week later.These were freemen, however, freemen and slaves who were serving in place of their masters, fighting for freedom they would never see for themselves. (In many cases, their enlistment bonuses or even their pay went straight to their masters.) Washington still wasn't prepared to go as far as recruiting and freeing slaves, but many northerners had begun to question how they could call for freedom and enslave others. As that terrible winter at Valley Forge dragged on, the state of Rhode Island learned it needed to raise more troops than it could supply. State legislators not only promised to free all black, Indian and mulatto slaves who enlisted in the new 1st Rhode Island Regiment, but offered to compensate their owners. Desperate for manpower, Washington reluctantly agreed, and more than 140 black men signed up for what was better known as the "Black Regiment," according to Williams, and served until Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Va., in 1781.In fact, they fought so bravely and inflicted so many casualties on Hessian mercenaries during the battle of Newport, R.I., in the summer of 1778, that Williams said one Hessian officer resigned his commission rather than lead his men against the 1st Rhode Island after the unit had repelled three fierce Hessian assaults. He didn't want his men to think he was leading them to slaughter.The 1st Rhode Island was a segregated unit, with white officers and separate companies designated for black and white Soldiers. It was the Continental Army's only segregated unit, though. In the rest of the Army, the few blacks who served with each company were fully integrated: They fought, drilled, marched, ate and slept alongside their white counterparts. There was never enough food or clothes or even pay for anyone, but they shared these hardships equally.After watching a review of the Continental Army in New York, one French officer estimated that as much as a quarter of the Army was black. He may have been looking at the 1st Rhode Island or units from Connecticut and New Jersey, which also had high rates of black enlistment, Williams explained. Many muster roles have been destroyed so there isn't an exact count, but Williams said most historians believe that 10 to 15 percent is a more accurate representation of black Soldiers who served in the Revolution. They served in almost every unit, in every battle from Concord to Fort Ticonderoga to Trenton to Yorktown."I've heard one analysis say that the Army during the Revolutionary War was the most integrated that the Army would be until the Korean War," Williams said. "World WarI and World War II both, and of course in the Civil War, there were lots of blacks in uniform, but the men were segregated into separate units. Even the Rhode Island regiment was half black, half white, and the men were segregated into their own companies, but in the rest of the Army, they were integrated throughout the regiments."It was a war for freedom, not only for their country, but for themselves. After the men of the1st Rhode Island and other black Soldiers served bravely at Yorktown alongside southern militiamen whose jobs it had been to round up runaway slaves, the war gradually drew to a close. Soldiers began to trickle home. Some black Soldiers like those in the 1st Rhode Island, went on to new lives as freemen. Far too many, however, returned to the yoke of slavery, some for a few years until their masters remembered promising to free them if they served, but others, having fought for freedom, were doomed to remain slaves forever.And then they were forgotten. The new Congress passed laws forbidding blacks to serve in the military, and by the time it offered pensions to the veterans of the Revolutionary War, Williams said that most of the black heroes were already dead.He calls their service and their heroism "invaluable." It "came at a time when the new United States needed it very badly and they stepped up and they took their place in the ranks. If they were misrepresented in our histories before, then we owe it to them to make sure we include it now, because they certainly did their part to earn not only their own freedom, but ours as well. We should never forget that for them, it was a double fight for liberty: their own and their country's."
Some kind of trade advantage Tedr77 [at] aol.com) by Ted Rudow III, MA

Nearly every one of America's wars were for some kind of trade advantage or money or for territory.--Which of course were always fought under different excuses, even as far back as the Civil War.





World War I was fought with the Germans. The Germans were smarter, harder working, and producing more. The U.S. just couldn't compete with Japanese products and trading so what do you suppose she did? They had to have a real good excuse to try to convince the people, because before World War II most Americans had been involved in one World War and didn't want to get involved in another one.



So what was the slogan of World War II? "The war to end all wars!"--ETERNAL PEACE!--and they ended it with the Atomic Bomb that wiped out indiscriminately over 100,000 civilian women, children and old people, two bombs in fact, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and condemned others to a very slow death that took some of them 30 years before they died. Others were horribly maimed and burned and scarred for life!



In fact, there's hardly been a time in the world history when there wasn't a war going on somewhere. That was the U.S. policy in Vietnam too, to literally try to wipe them out. If it hadn't been for world opinion, they would have. So I wonder what their excuse will be for the next war? We know what their reasons are going to be: To save Israel and the oil!



Ted Rudow III, MA


Despite signing a six-year, $130MM deal with the Giants in the offseason, right-hander Johnny Cuetos excellence in San Francisco has somehow flown under the radar, writes Sarah Langs of ESPN.com. Not only has Cueto pitched to a 2.38 ERA across 75 2/3 innings this year, but he has done it while giving the Giants length, as Langs writes. Cueto is tied for the league lead with superstars Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale in complete games (three), and hes second to Kershaw in seven-inning starts (nine). His changeup has been particularly dominant, as Cueto has induced swings and misses a career-best 44 percent of the time with it. Batters have hit a paltry .175 against the pitch and Cueto has fanned 29 hitters while deploying it with two strikes, which ranks behind only Stephen Strasburg. When batters have put Cuetos changeup in play, theyve hit it on the ground 74 percent of the time.

More from the National League:
Some time ago, Ive moved this jekyll-based blog from GitHub Pages to a self-hosted NixOS server. A few weeks ago, Ive also moved some parts of my local OS X environment from homebrew over to nix.

In this post I will share some of the experiences with using nix on OS X.

Package Avaibility

nixpkgs, the default source of packages for the nix package manager, has many of the basic command-line packages youll need on OS X. Especially if you do haskell development, you will find everything you need.

Sometimes you want to use a package which is available, but not building successful on OS X. PHP is such a package. At the moment you cannot install PHP via nix on OS X. For this reason I could not drop homebrew completly yet.

Some less used packages, like e.g. facebooks fpp are sometimes not available. But its pretty easy to add missing packages to nixpkgs.

Many GUI-based packages are also not available for OS X yet. Compare this to brew, where you can install many of them via homebre cask just fine.

User Experience

Compared to homebrew, the user experience of nix is not so good.

Lets say I want to list all the installed packages. With brew its just brew list , with nix its nix-env -q . Obviously the first way is easier to remember.

Or lets say I want to find a package. With brew its just brew search somepackage , with nix its nix-env -qa somepackage .

The good news is that the nix team is working on a redesign of the command line interface already.

Sometimes a nix package is broken on OS X. On homebrew you can expect every package to work. While this is more a technical issue, its also part of the user experience.

Contributing To nixpkgs

nixpkgs is on GitHub. This means its very easy to contribute. E.g. when I was missing fpp, I just created the package myself and opened a pull request. Usually you get helpful responses very fast by the nixpkgs team. Also pull requests get merged very fast.

I had many positiv experiences contributing to nixpkgs, kudos to the nixpkgs people :)

Takeaways

Nix is still not as good as homebrew. If you expect your package manager to work very reliable, you expect nearly all well known software to be available and you dont want to build your own packages when something is missing, then nix is not the right choice for you, yet.

But if you feel like an early adopter, try it out. Nix is the future of package management.

Thanks for reading :) Follow me on twitter if youre interested in more of this stuff!
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

A bogus employment agent was arrested after he duped various people of cash misrepresenting that he could facilitate their recruitment at Innscor Africa fast food outlet around the country.Learnmore Mushangazhike believed to be an employee at Bakers Inn appeared at the Harare magistrate court charged with fraud. He pleaded guilty to the charge when he appeared before Tendai Mahwe who remanded him in custody to a further date.The court heard that between November last year and April this year he phoned several people who are in Harare, Mutare, Masvingo and Gweru and told them that he was a sales director at Innscor.He told them to deposit money on his Ecocash account so that he facilitate employment for them. He was arrested and taken to court where he admitted the charge.
News / National

by Staff reporter

First Lady Dr Grace Mugabe on Friday donated 30 000 bricks and 300 bags of cement to Mpopoma High School in Bulawayo for the construction of an Advanced Level classroom block.The consignment was sourced from Zinara and handed over to the school authorities by Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko. Businessman Mr Andre Zietsman of Bitumen World also donated borehole equipment to the school.The ceremony was attended by a high powered delegation comprising Ministers, Deputy Ministers, senior Government officials, MPs and senior officials from Zinara. Speaking at the ceremony, VP Mphoko commended Zinara for assisting the First Lady to make the school's dream of an A Level block come true."I want to thank the First Lady for taking note of the request by Mpopoma High School. I also want to thank Zinara for assisting the First Lady in fulfilling the wish of the school to commence their construction projects" said VP Mphoko."I'm happy that the school is doing well and recording good results at all levels. I want to thank the authorities of the school for trying to maintain the old infrastructure and working hard to improve the standards of the school," he said.He emphasised the need for the students to concentrate on their studies and desist from going to South Africa."Zimbabwe is our home and that will never change. We must work together to revive the economy of this country. Students must therefore concentrate on their studies and make sure that they work for the country for the benefit of generations to come. Going to South Africa is not the solution because there's no life there. Let's work together for our own country," said VP Mphoko.Bulawayo provincial education director Mr Dan Moyo expressed gratitude to the First Lady for the donation, saying the school was old and needs to be renovated. "We're grateful to the First Lady for remembering one of our schools in Bulawayo. Mpopoma was built in 1959, becoming one of the first schools in Bulawayo. With an enrolment of 2 016 students.There is a need for renovations and modern facilities to link well with the new curriculum," said Mr Moyo. The school headmaster Mr Christopher Dube said the donation would go a long way in improving standards and making sure that STEM was implemented in the school."This is great and we're really grateful. This school is going to rise to greater heights in the sense that we want to develop it and enrol more students. We want to make sure that as we build more classrooms, we make sure that we cater for STEM," said Mr Dube."This will help our students to be technologically advanced and prepared for the industry and the world of employment. We've been motivated to do more," said Mr Dube
News / National

by Walter Mswazie

THE chairman of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association, Christopher Mutsvangwa, has said they welcome the ZanuPF Youth League's call for unity and urged all ex-combatants to shun factionalism. The war veterans leader also saluted the visionary and iconic leadership of their patron, President Robert Mugabe, saying they have a better appreciation of his astute skills than anyone.Speaking during an inter-provincial meeting at Masvingo Polytechnic College on Saturday, Mutsvangwa hailed Zanu-PF deputy youth secretary Kudzai Chipanga's call for unity when he addressed the wing's members during the one-million-man march last week in Harare.The Masvingo meeting was attended by among others the Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs, Shuvai Mahofa, war veterans spokesperson Douglas Mahiya and Zaka West MP Paradzai Chakona."As war veterans we support the call by Youth deputy Secretary Chipanga to work together for the cause of the party. We remain the vanguard of the party and we should be seen supporting all activities under Zanu-PF. "What we don't want is factionalism in the party and those perpetrating this vice should be expelled forthwith. We don't want anything called G40 or Lacoste. People who fan factionalism here in Masvingo need to be disciplined," said Musvangwa.He said it was folly for critics to think that war veterans would disobey or ditch their commander as they have a better appreciation of his great wisdom than anyone."We want to hail the visionary leadership of President Mugabe as our patron. We know of his astute leadership better than anyone as he is our commander. He has given us an opportunity to say out our grievances and he listened . . . he's a great listener," said Mutsvangwa. He said President Mugabe had promised to address most of their grievances and expectations were high that the freedom fighters would be better off."We asked our patron on the need to review upwards our allowances and he is looking into that. Treasury is seized with the matter, so is our children's fees. All children of the war veterans should benefit and President Mugabe has already directed Treasury to release money. Some have received the fees although there are others yet to benefit," Mutsvangwa said.
- Boyloaf said there is nothing like Niger-Delta Avengers instead it should be Niger-Delta NIMASA

- He opined that, they are criminals running away from justice and instead set to cause havoc and distract the government from prosecuting them

The former militant, Victor-Ben Ebikamobowei has condemned the actions of the Niger Delta Avengers. VictorBen popularly known as Boyloaf was a commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND).

In a chat with Legit.ng, he said that the group should be addressed as the Niger-Delta NIMASA and not the Avengers.

There is nothing like Niger Delta avengers, we know NIMASA avengers there is nothing like the Niger-Delta avengers.

He said they are a group of criminals running away from facing disciplinary actions for several offences committed during the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration.

They are just a few group of people that are supposed to face what they did and they decided to convert it to struggle.

Former militant, Victor-Ben Ebikamobowei AKA Boyloaf

READ ALSO: Niger Delta Avengers threaten to shock the world

He also accused them of plans to distract the government from getting prosecuted for their crimes.

There is nothing like the Niger-Delta avengers, it is NIMASA, they want to distract government from the things they have done, do not pay any attention to them.

Everybody that committed should face his sin and should not convert it to struggle.

However, Boyloaf fingered Government Ekpemupolo also known as Tompolo as the leader of the ongoing crisis in the Niger-Delta.

Tompolo is in the bush, he is no more on the street so he should remain there. Somebody cannot commit sin and hide, he should face the sin and not convert it to avenger.

Is it not business everyone did with him? So they handled The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) themselves as their own personal company, they should go and give account for what they did. Is he bigger than Nigeria?

Afterall they called many people and they gave account, so he should go. Why is his own so different? Whenever government attack, they will convert it to struggle.

Meanwhile the group recently emerged and go by the name Niger-Delta Avengers. This group has been bombing up all the pipelines that belong to the oil companies within the region.

In related news, Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of a Lagos Federal High Court has convicted and sentenced the former Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr Raymond Omatseye, to five years imprisonment for contract scam of N1.5billion.

Omatseye was charged before the court by anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on offences bordering on contract splitting and bid rigging to the tune of about N1.5 billion.

READ ALSO: Fuel subsidy removal is the best thing Buhari has ever done - Boyloaf

In a series of tweets, the militants revealed that they blew up another oil pipeline belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Thursday, May 26, which they claimed was heavily guarded by the Nigerian military.

The group also blasted the Niger Delta stakeholders over the meetings they held in the region, stating that they want a sovereign state and not pipeline contracts.

While explaining how they blew up the pipeline in Warri, the group tweeted.

Source: Legit.ng
News / National

by Mashudu Netsianda

ZIMBABWE Council of Chiefs president Fortune Charumbira has described the late Chief Masuku, who was buried yesterday, as a cultural icon. Chief Masuku, 81, died on May 25 due to cardiac arrest. He was buried at his rural home in Nzula, Nathisa in Matobo district.In his graveside eulogy, Chief Charumbira said the late Masuku was one of their great advisers in terms of cultural and traditional issues."I've known Chief Masuku for many years and he was a great advisor to our institution as traditional leaders because of his wealth of experience when it comes to cultural matters such as ritual ceremonies particularly the Njelele rainmaking ceremonies. We would seek his opinion on issues related to traditional practices," he said.Chief Charumbira urged the family of the late chief to remain united and avoid succession squabbles. Chief Masuku's reign began in 1992 following the death of his father Gareth Nzula in 1988. He is survived by wife Jester and seven children.Among those who attended the burial were War Veterans Minister Tshinga Dube, Matobo North MP Never Khanye, former Matabeleland South Governor Angeline Masuku, Zapu president Dumiso Dabengwa, chiefs from Matabeleland South and several senior government officials.
There are plenty of bars to choose from in Brooklyn, but the still-transitioning neighborhood of Greenpoint seems to have more than its share of watering holes. Greenpoint is shifting from a largely Polish immigrant neighborhood to something a bit more hip. Franklin Street has become the epicenter of boozing in the neighborhood. Its bedraggled beginning tapers off after the Greenpoint streets begin their alphabetical descent into the water. As you draw nearer to Queens from Williamsburgs Euro-Disney streetwalkers, bars begin to litter the landscape.

Though it may be tough to tackle all of them in one night, Im a fairly tough human. These 10 bars allow drinkers to truly understand what will be, what is and a little of what was in Greenpoint. So here you go, 10 Greenpoint bars in the order that I encountered them.

What a well-designed beginning to a long night. Sitting out back in their playfully cultivated outdoor seating always delights me. Slide me a Slylock Pilsner or two as the sun retreats, give me the option of playing some shuffleboard and lets get started.

Everyone needs a little food during and/or before a bar crawl. Jimmys mix of comfort food and all-day breakfast accompanies their ultimate reward: $3 Black Labels. Of course the beer list is deep and plentiful. But its NYC. $3 beers dont grow on trees and bank accounts dont pad themselves. Plus, a Black Label accompanies Jimmys exquisite taste in background music perfectly. I snagged a can alongside the excellent fried okra po boy before moving on.

Sometimes you just want to drink. You dont need the fancy accoutrements or long, heady beer list. You need an Old Capital or Coors Banquet. You need lamps found in the street and an old TV that belongs in a museum. You need regulars. Sometimes, you need an empty place to discuss the meaning of modernity with an old roommate with a motorcycle propped up near the restrooms. Sometimes you need Big Star by request. Sometimes you need the Safe House. I had an Old Capital and a healthy dose of nonsense conversation and it got me right for the rest of the night.



Image credit: Shayz Lounge, Facebook

If a bar can perfectly encapsulate both the old and new Greenpoint, Shayz does it. The outdoor area and glass entrance invites the vacationers, but the loud and bombastic punk rock coupled with the 90s skate videos on the corner screen show the true colors of this raucous joint. For those looking for the cheap way home, they got $5 High Life and a shot. I had a pair of those. They offer a variety of beers, of course, but Im a simple man when it comes down to it. And a cheap one.

Once the light is gone and Franklin Street fills with the night owls, Broken Land begins humming. A covered patio and a list of wonderful cocktails makes the bar a wonderful watering hole. Plus, the bartenders once told me that the place is Journey-free zone. Thats important. I was a little drunk to go for big liquor drinks, but luckily they like customers who drink beer too. The weekends get dancey, but any night works. After an Ithaca Flower Power IPA, it was easy to linger in a spacious bar with good music. I was getting pretty drunk, though, and I had a long trek still to go.



Image credit: Pencil Factory Bar

You may not find a better place to stretch out than this joint. By now, I was at Greenpoint Avenue and Franklin  the most traveled area on the street. The outdoors and indoors are usually crowded, but not overly so. One of the best reasons to drink on Franklin, for now, is that the amount of bars overshoots the amount of foot traffic. You want a big, spacious bar with some cool humans to talk to? Pencil Factory serves the purpose and a beer youll want.

The last thing I needed was another liquor-filled monster at the price advertised, but thats what Ramona is. Its the future of Franklin Street. Some may argue that the future is bleak, but at some point bars can be beautiful and serve gorgeous drinks. They can be handsomely dark instead of shellacked with the smell of old spirits. They can have an upstairs and a downstairs where patrons can look out upon the sea of folks walking by. They can serve me a blackberry bourbon cocktail called the Boxer, Beetle and it can be delicious and 13 bucks. And they did.



Image credit: Moonlight

Give me whiskey or give me death. I should have that scrawled upon my gravestone over the glass casket I am planning on buying on my deathbed. Bury me not in the world I lived in, but the world I createdone filled with small bars that have tons of whiskey. Had it been a one-stop night, I would have indulged in their whiskey flights. A Reissdorf Kolsch, a Dead Guy Whiskey and a scenic look at the historic (and way too pricey to live in, trust me) Astral Apartments (where Mae West lived!) filled the void nicely. I have time to plan my death later, at this point I had to worry about living.



Image credit: TBD bar

Time to zone out a bit. They have TVs here. Games are on. They got tables kind of removed from humanity. They have a massive backyard with a grill. They have everything you need to drunkenly disconnect from both desire and debauchery. Or you can play ping pong. By bar 8, however, I probably could have played actual tennis better than I could play table tennis. I also could have probably talked about metaphysics just as coherently as I could my own shoes. I dont know, man. This place was cool and I had a Budweiser. TBD is huge.

What do you want to finish a night? Is it a pint of Coors and a shot of whiskey? Is it deep cuts from the 70s? Is it a small but really palatable local beer list? Or the friendly bartender that knows youve been served a damn sight of alcohol but takes care of you anyway? I mean, isnt that the dream? Oak & Iron rules and I had the Two Roads Ol Factory Pilsner. Then I had a shot and a beer because remembering the end of the night is for chumps sitting in their homes. Blacking out is for winners; for people who understand the value of a good Coors while everything spins into oblivion



.

I wish I could publish the notes I took from the nightthey provide a glimpse into madness of drinking in 10 bars. Instead, you get the truth: Franklin Street totally rules. You can get the full drinking experience: expensive craft cocktails, swill beers, whiskey joints, shot-beer combos, cheap booze, good views, mass appeal and outdoor spots. Its all there right now, so long as you dont get too caught up in the future.
men before getting hitched, I snatched defeat from the jaws of victory plenty of times, but few fails rival what transpired in 2006 when my friend Scot and I visited South Beach. I had arrived first and met two women visiting from Uruguay, and they agreed to meet us for drinks later that night at the Clevelander. The sharply dressed Uruguayan ladies arrived at the Art Deco bar shortly after we did.

So, where are you from? asked Scot, a bulky Chicago native with a tough-guy tone.

From Uruguay, said the first woman. Do you know where that is?

The correct answer should always be, Yes, I hear it is a wonderful place. That was not my friends response.

No, he said. I dont know any of the countries down in South Africa.

Ha! Hes kidding, I stammered, my chuckle as unconvincing as a low-budget telenovela.

Huh? replied Scot, bemused.

The women exchanged a split-second glance before one of them remarked, Actually, we stopped by to say we are not able to hang out tonight, but thank you for the invite.

No problem, I said. As the ladies darted for Ocean Drive, I glared at Scott and said, South Africa isnt even a continent!

What you gonna do? replied Scot with a nonchalant shrug.

With this exchange burnt into my frontal lobes, a call I received a month later almost seemed surreal.

Hey Dave, you ever been to Uruguay? asked my friend Eric. Punta del Este is like the South American riviera, and I am going for New Years Eve. Are you interested?

The Portlandia-raised Angeleno wanted a wingman who knew Chile from Chad, and I agreed to go, but the experience would show I apparently cant tell Chloe from Chad. But well get to that later.

Punta del Este sits on a peninsula, but the Punta reference typically entails a stretch of coastline that extends 20 miles northeast past La Barra to Jose Ignacio, the poshest of the beachfront towns. The famed Bikini Beach sits on the outskirts of La Barra, and Lonely Planet said you must tan it, wax it, buff it before daring to step upon its fine sand. In decades past, this coastal strip reportedly hosted the likes of Che Guevara, Brigitte Bardot and the Rat Pack, and its current celebrity clientele led the travel press to dub Punta the St. Tropez of South America.

If you want to get wild on the beach, the place to come is Punta del Este, said host Natalia Cigliuti in a 2001 episode of Wild On E! filmed at Bikini Beach. Five years later, Punta had only become more festive, and New Years Eve in the middle of summer is the peak of high season.

After arriving in the capital city, Montevideo, we had to take a bus to Punta del Este. I sat next to a woman who also came down from Los Angeles for New Years Eve. I wont go to a nightclub unless we have a table and bottle service, she said, as the beat-up bus rolled down the highway. The woman had spent New Years Eve here several times before, and she told me about the exclusive villa parties and luxury night clubs. Eric and I looked like thirtysomething backpackers who didnt know the meaning of bottle service, so obviously no villa party invites were forthcoming.

Jetlagged and exhausted, we arrived in La Barra and quickly headed out for a drink at one of the waterfront bars. The beach, with DJs spinning dance music on the sand, was packed yet still manageable. As is often the case, the first day after a long flight is more low key, and we spent most of our time jumping from bar to bar. Day two, however, meant hitting the beaches and enjoying the South Atlantic, but what happened that morning is still very much up for debate.

by a jellyfish, and you kept asking me to pee on you, Eric claimed in a recent conversation about the trip. You were mad that I wouldnt do it.

That never happened, I retorted. That is not something I would forget.

I swear. No joke.

Look, if it did happen, I rationalized, I would have found a bathroom and urinated on myself before asking a friend to do it. I wouldnt risk that type of ridicule.

Maybe you got stung some place where you couldnt piss on yourself, he countered.

Like on my back? I said. I would have emptied a beer can, pissed in it and then poured it on my back. I certainly wouldnt get on all fours and ask you to urinate all over me.

Im just telling you what happened, he said. You wanted me to pee on you.

certain I never asked Eric to make it rain, the party that night involved a situation I cannot deny. We spent the night in downtown Punta visiting the casino and drinking at popular bars like Tequilas. In between watering holes, we saw a group of women by the harbor. I walked up to the most beautiful woman in the group and introduced myself. She smiled and flirted and told me they were visiting from Brazil.

I really like you, she said without a demoralizing but

I like you, too, I replied with an air of cockiness.

That is why I want to be honest with you, she returned. I was born a man.

Apparently my year living in West Hollywood did little for my deduction skills.

I would have never guessed, I replied as the beer goggles abruptly fell from my face.

That is what I thought, she said with a smile.

We exchanged a few friendly words, and I rejoined Eric. He looked surprised. What are you doing? Shes hot, and I think she likes you, Eric said, per my crystal-clear recollection. He denies saying this, claiming all he saw was me running for a taxi visibly shaken.

Night three: New Years Eve. After spending the day at Bikini Beach, we broke out our button-down shirts and headed back downtown. Thats when Eric dropped a surprise question.

You want to do ecstasy? I brought some with me from the States, he said.

Uruguay is now cannabis country, and if it were Thanksgiving, a sweet sativa would be perfect, but MDMA and alcohol made more sense for New Years Eve. We both popped a pill and spent the next six hours walking the boardwalk and drinking at Moby Dicks bar near the harbor. I even attempted to dance, though not even the MDMA could improve my Ewok-y dance moves. Right before midnight, we headed to the beach for the fireworks, but overall, the night was relatively event free. We crashed out sometime around two in the morning and flew home the next day.

On the surface, the trip seemed like another face-flop in the romance department, but it was actually what the religious folk might call planting a seed on good soil. Remember the table and bottle service woman from the bus? She transformed into a backpacking road warrior visiting 100+ countries, and we randomly reconnected three years later and spent several months traveling South America. During a stop in Medellin, Colombia, she made friends with a group visiting from Bogota, and in that group was the woman I would marry.

My future wife and I exchanged information after pounding aguardiente shots at a debaucherous, sexist and politically incorrect Medellin nightclub that claims to have the largest staple of midget performers in South America. But well save that story for the next _de_Generation X.

Photo: Juan Jose Richards Echeverria, CC-BY

David Jenison is a Los Angeles native and the Content Editor of PROHBTD. He has covered entertainment, restaurants and travel for more than 20 years.
Bucky is everywhere these days. Hes the focal point of Marvels latest cinematic money magnet, Captain America: Civil War, and Tumblr is agog over his homoerotic potential with Cap, as well as his failed attempt at buying plums. As the tragic Winter Soldiera former hero brainwashed by the Soviet Union into political wet workhes the most intriguing character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

For unfathomable reasons, Marvel rarely publishes a Winter Soldier comic. Besides Ed Brubakers runs on Captain America and Winter Soldier, your best bet for more Bucky is the recent 11-issue Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier by Ales Kot, Marco Rudy and Langdon Foss. Despite its brief year of publishing, this run is anything but small, spanning multiple universes, distant galaxies, mind-expanding space drugs andbest of allan expansion of Bucky himself. Its a hopeful, often joyous series about how even an abused, broken character like Bucky can find love and happiness. By extension, its an ode to the possibilities of anyone overcoming a cycle of violence, especially veterans.

This series witnesses Buckyformer partner of Captain America, former brainwashed assassinat a much later point than his portrayal in the movies. Hes gotten his mind back, filled in as Cap for a bit and become a defender of Earth in space. Though an awkward proposition, Kot turns Buckys new station in space into a strength. While one would think Bucky should (literally) be more down to earth enjoying spy adventures, the interstellar job creates a delicious paradox: Bucky is in wildly new territory, but fighting the same damn war hes always fought. Hes free and stuck at the same time. By staying in space, this series also avoids the dramatics and cross-character obligations of the Marvel community, which is a good thing for corporate-comic quality. The best Marvel series of recent years have been mostly self-contained, like Hawkeye and The Vision.

In this series, Bucky and his non-sidekick, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Daisy Johnson, navigate the tricky moral territory of their job, including whether they should assassinate an innocent being now to prevent a potential galactic catastrophe later. The situation is far from a baby Hitler case; it asks whether a soldier should kill baby Gandhi because his death might help more people in the long run. The target is Ventolin, the queen of Mer-Z-Bow, a planet of pacifist telepaths. Without spoiling too much, an assassination turns into a romance, which is complicated by another assassin and the equally trippy worlds of the multiverse and psychedelic drugs. Oh, and Loki is up to no good, because hes Loki.



Bucky: The Winter Soldier Cover Art by Mike Del Mundo

But a much older version of Bucky from another universe steals the show. Hes been fighting a version of Crossbones for decades. As in Jason Aarons Thor God Butcher/God Bomb storylines, where Thors of three different ages add depth to the story by showing comparable character development, the two Buckys give this title a wider focus thats quite unexpected. The audience has never seen or imagined old Bucky, a warrior at peace. More to the point, Bucky himself never expected to be old and at peace. When he was still a child, he was taught to sneak up behind Nazis and knife them; when he was a young adult, Communist Russians brainwashed him into their perfect assassin. His stint as Captain America and current job as Earths defender-in-space also insert him in wars of sorts. Old Bucky is a rebuttal of the idea that Bucky can only be a thing that kills.

The art that articulates this sci-fi-druggie-love-story is extraordinary, alternating between Marco Rudys photorealistic psychedelia and Langdon Foss cartoony charm (with a brief appearance by longtime Kot collaborator Michael Walsh). Kot is the master of writing for multiple artists within a single story: his Image series Zero had a different artist in every issue. This unusual choice gave the story of secret agent Edward Zerowhose job, indoctrination and subsequent trauma were Winter Soldier-esquea multidimensional aspect rarely found in a single series. In Bucky Barnes, readers look at Bucky through the work of two utterly different, but hugely talented artists, highlighting Buckys realization of new possibilities.



Bucky: The Winter Soldier Cover Art by Mike Del Mundo

Rudys art is hypnotic, swirling across the page as characters take flight, bullets or illum, a trippy drug thats a major plot point and, just like earthly psychedelics, a perspective-expander. Whether its the firing of a bullet, a conversation between Daisy Johnson and a telepathic dinosaur-chicken, or Bucky fighting frost giants in a hallucination enhanced by Loki, Rudys art makes you want to stay on the page forever. Like J.H. Williams III and Michael Del Mundo, Rudy has no regard for the boundaries of panels or imagination. Foss art is lively and vibrant in a completely different way, giving an innocent charm to the sci-fi retirement home of old Bucky and the doomed youth of Crossbones (who isnt necessarily the Crossbones you know). Foss greatest moment shows Crossbones childhood: a happy life full of potential thats strained by an absent father, then ruined by a nuclear attack.

Through Crossbones, Kot persuasively shows how trauma and shame can warp a personfrequent themes in Zero and Secret Avengers. In the latter, Kot explored the concept through Phil Coulsons PTSD and a startling humanization of MODOK, one of the most monstrous Marvel villains. In Kots worldview, no one is beyond redemption: not even a guy whos a giant head, a cartoonish hench-scientist or a sentient bomb. With Bucky Barnes, Secret Avengers and Zero, Kot non-didactically argues for loves potential to overcome hate, violence, war and brutal psychological damage.



Bucky: The Winter Soldier Interior Art by Marco Rudy

The writer also uses a tried-and-true comic trick you wouldnt expect in a series about a space assassin: a cute animal, who helps Bucky reclaim his humanity. During a mission, Bucky kidnaps the Sacred Reznora critter who looks more aardvarkian than holybecause It was alone. It looked scared. And, wellguess I have a soft side. The Sacred Reznor shows up periodically, with both Buckys, to great effect on the comics tone and Buckys psyche. I was reminded of groups that train shelter dogs to be service animals for traumatized veterans. Buckys space pet similarly helps him recover.



Bucky: The Winter Soldier Interior Art by Marco Rudy

Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier is a sweet, trippy, entrancing series that should appeal to anyone who likes innovative comics that are massive and personal at the same timebut it should really hit the sweet spot for anyone invested in Buckys quest for redemption. Kot, Rudy and Foss bring a weird, hopeful, forgiving light to poor Buckys lifeand our own.
LaSalle Investment Management has acquired Purley Way Retail Park in Croydon from IM Properties for 59.91 million (45.56 million), reflecting a net initial yield of 4.59%. Purley Way is ranked both the number one retail warehouse destination in London and among the top 10 in the UK. The Park is

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Aberdeen City Council has recently approved a Section 42 application, lodged by Buccmoor LP, to amend the use consent, associated with expansion land at Aberdeen Energy Park, Bridge of Don.

The expansion land at the Energy Park already benefits from Planning Permission in Principle (PPiP) to deliver 48,000 sq m

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News / National

by George Maponga

Zanu-PF Chief Whip Lovemore Matuke has dismissed as daydreaming and wishful thinking, plans by MDC-T led by its Mabvuku-Tafara legislator Mr James Maridadi to table a motion seeking to impeach President Mugabe when Parliament resumes sitting on June 6. Matuke, who is also Gutu Central legislator, accused Mr Maridadi and his party of seeking cheap political mileage and publicity by proposing something that would never see the light of day.He described Mr Maridadi as an attention seeker who was pursuing a dead project, saying Zanu-PF parliamentarians would never join hands with lackeys of the country's former colonisers and neo- imperialists. He said attempts to embarrass President Mugabe would not succeed.Matuke's comment were triggered by reports in the News Day issue on Africa Day headlined, "MDC-T, Zanu-PF gang up to oust Mugabe" and claiming Mr Maridadi was leading the team.The story claimed the impeachment would raise corruption allegations as its basis, and that about 70 ruling party parliamentarians said to be linked to Zimbabwe People First leader Dr Joice Mujuru had pledged to support the motion.Matuke said such plans were exercises in futility as Zanu-PF was a united family solidly behind its leader President Mugabe. "Zanu-PF ceased to be a political party a long time ago. The ruling party is now a culture and it's mere day dreaming for some people to claim that they want to impeach our President, moreso, with the support of Zanu-PF legislators."That is a heap of rubbish and day dreaming. As Zanu-PF, we will not join the MDC-T and (Mr) Maridadi in their day-dreaming,'' he said. "Our President has a clear record that speaks for itself as far as leading this country is concerned."President Mugabe does not deserve to be impeached; he should in fact, be given a pat on the back and fully supported for being able to steer the Zimbabwean ship at a time when the country was under threat from illegal economic sanctions that were imposed on our country at the instigation of (Mr) Tsvangirai and his puppet party,'' he added.Matuke said it was shocking that the MDC-T wanted to push a motion to impeach President Mugabe when the country was at the receiving end of sanctions invited by the same opposition party.He said the over-subscribed Million Man March held in solidarity with President Mugabe on Africa Day in Harare was clear testimony that Zanu-PF and the majority of Zimbabweans were fully behind the President. "The President's track record since the attainment of independence in 1980 is there for all to see."Zimbabwe scored many achievements in various spheres owing to the policies of President Mugabe and that is why Zanu-PF is now a culture. "So for someone to dream that the ruling party will join them or offer support to impeach a man who has done so much for our country to be where it is today is sheer madness,'' said Matuke.The Gutu Central legislator said the MDC-T and Mr Maridadi were confusing Zimbabwe with South Africa where the opposition tabled a failed motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma."Maybe the MDC-T is trying to take a cue from down South (South Africa) but we are two different countries and (Mr) Tsvangirai and his party should know that Zanu-PF cadres value discipline and loyalty to the leadership. So they will never support heaps of rubbish,'' he added.Matuke said as a sign of its confidence in President Mugabe, the ruling party had already endorsed him as the party's Presidential candidate for the 2018 general elections.Zanu-PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo said the ruling party was not bothered by MDC-T's plans.
CBRE released their latest research report, focussing on trends in the retail sector of the Irish economy and property market. According to CBRE, during the last six month period the Irish retail sector has continued to show signs of improvement and this improvement is now becoming increasingly evident in many

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Sakagura, a Japanese restaurant has signed a lease with The Crown Estate for 8 Heddon Street. The restaurant will comprise a theatrical robata grill and open kitchen. Diners will be able to watch as chefs create dishes known as Hakata yakitori, and then enjoy being served at the traditional

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Scientists at the University of Utah, ARUP Laboratories, and IDbyDNA, Inc., have developed ultra-fast, meta-genomics analysis software called Taxonomer that dramatically improves the accuracy and speed of pathogen detection. In a paper published today in Genome Biology, the collaborators demonstrated the ability of Taxonomer to analyze the sequences of all nucleic acids in a clinical specimen (DNA and RNA) and to detect pathogens, as well as profile the patient's gene expression, in a matter of minutes.

Infectious diseases are one of the biggest killers in the world. Almost 5 million children under age 5 die each year from infectious diseases worldwide, yet many infections are treatable if the pathogen culprit can be quickly and accurately identified.

"In the realm of infectious diseases, this type of technology could be as significant as sequencing the human genome," says co-author Mark Yandell, PhD, professor of human genetics at the University of Utah (U of U), H.A. & Edna Benning Presidential Endowed Chair holder, co-director of the USTAR Center for Genetic Discovery, and co-founder of IDbyDNA. "Very few people have inherited genetic disease. But at some point, everyone gets sick from infections."

It is difficult for infectious pathogens to hide when their genetic material is laid bare. Taxonomer opens up an entirely new approach for infectious disease diagnosis, driven by sophisticated genomic analysis and computational technologies. After a patient's sample is sequenced, the data are uploaded via the internet to Taxonomer. In less than one minute, the tool displays a thumbnail inventory of all pathogens in the sample, including viruses, bacteria, and fungi. The interactive, real-time user interface of Taxonomer is powered by the IOBIO system developed by the laboratory of Gabor Marth, DSc, professor of human genetics at the U of U and co-Director of the USTAR Center for Genetic Discovery.

"Our benchmark analyses show Taxonomer being ten to a hundred times faster than similar tools," says co-author Robert Schlaberg, MD, Dr Med, MPH, a medical director at ARUP Laboratories and cofounder of IDbyDNA. Schlaberg was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to apply Taxonomer toward decreasing high mortality rates of children with infectious diseases in resource-limited settings.

Schlaberg points out that current diagnostic testing still relies heavily on growing cultures of suspected pathogens in the laboratory, which is often inconclusive and time consuming. Even with much faster tests like PCR, the number of pathogens that can be detected is limited.

Schlaberg explains that Taxonomer can identify an infection without the physician having to decide what to test for, something a PCR-based test cannot do. In other words, a doctor doesn't have to suspect the cause of a patient's infection, but can instead simply ask, "What does my patient have?" and Taxonomer will identify the pathogens.

In the new study, Taxonomer was put to the test with real-world cases using data published by others and samples provided by ARUP Laboratories and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Taxonomer determined that some patients who exhibited Ebola-like symptoms in the recent African outbreak did not have Ebola but severe bacterial infections that likely caused their symptoms. "This technology can be applied whenever we don't know the cause of the disease, including the detection of sudden outbreaks of disease. It is very clear we urgently need more accurate diagnostics to greatly enhance the ability of public health response and clinical care," says Seema Jain, MD, medical epidemiologist at the CDC.

Another unique feature of Taxonomer is its ability to delve into human gene expression profiling, which provides information on how or if the patient's body is reacting to an infection. "As a clinician, this gives you a better idea, when we identify a pathogen whether it is really the cause of the disease," says Carrie L. Byington, MD, professor of pediatrics of the U of U and co-director of the Center for Clinical and Translational Science. "This tool will also allow us to determine if the patient is responding to a bacterial or viral infection when we don't find a pathogen or when we find multiple potential causes." She says that she sees the exceptional value of this tool for treating children, who experience more life-threatening infections early in life. "Seeing how a host [patient] reacts is extremely valuable; I believe this is a paradigm shift in how we diagnose people. It is why I wanted to be involved."

In a previous paper published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Schlaberg and his collaborators demonstrated that high-throughput sequencing in combination with Taxonomer can reliably detect pathogens, and identify previously missed pathogens, in patient samples. "Taxonomer provides a critical step forward, as it is extremely fast, accurate, and easy enough to use for implementation in diagnostic laboratories," says Schlaberg.
The team encountered the first individual, a beautiful meter-long silvery female, climbing in a Silver Palm tree near the water's edge on a remote island in the southern Bahamas. As dusk approached, Harvard graduate student and team member Nick Herrmann called out on the radio: "Hey, I've got a snake here." The rest of the team came crashing back to his position, and collectively gasped when they saw the boa. Expedition member Dr. Alberto Puente-Rolon, a professor at Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico Arecibo and global expert on West Indian Boas, remarked that this animal appeared unlike any species of boa yet known. The group then set about a systematic survey to locate additional animals, turning up four more individuals by the middle of the night. After recording data from these specimens, the team had lain down on the beach to rest until dawn. During the night, as Dr. Reynolds slept, a boa crawled down from the forest, across the beach, and directly onto his head. This caused him to awake with a start, and upon realizing what had happened, he awoke the others to inform them that they had found their sixth animal.

After returning to Harvard, the team quickly set about analyzing the data they had collected from the new snakes, including genetic data from tissue samples they had obtained. These analyses demonstrated that this unusual silvery boa was indeed a new species, having diverged from other boas in the last several million years. They named it the Silver Boa, Chilabothrus argentum, based on its silver coloration and the first specimen's location in a Silver Palm (Cocothrinax argentata).

Dr. Reynolds led a second expedition to the islands in October 2015, directly after Hurricane Joaquin had slammed the Bahamas. That expedition yielded an additional 14 captures despite the hurricane damage and loss of most of the leaves off of the trees. These animals were measured and sampled, as well as permanently marked with internal electronic tags so that they will be easily identifiable. Importantly, the team discovered that feral cats also roam the island, and as major reptile predators their presence is almost certainly threatening these newly discovered boas. Dr. Reynolds and his co-authors have also determined that the Silver Boa is Critically Endangered based on Red List Criteria proposed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and hence is one of the most endangered boid snakes globally. Conservation measures are being put into place with the cooperation of local organizations such as the Bahamas National Trust. The hope is to protect these new animals, and to prevent them from going extinct not long after having been discovered.

Robert Henderson, Curator of Herpetology Emeritus at the Milwaukee Museum of Natural History, and one of the world's experts on boas, said: "Worldwide, new species of frogs and lizards are being discovered and described with some regularity. New species of snakes, however, are much rarer. Graham Reynolds and his co-authors have not only discovered and described a new species of snake, but even more remarkable, a new species of boa. That's rare, exciting, and newsworthy. The beautiful Bahamian Silver Boa, already possibly critically endangered, reminds us that important discoveries are still waiting to be made, and it provides the people of the Bahamas another reason to be proud of the natural wonders of their island nation.

The paper is currently in press at the journal Breviora.
250 methane flares release the climate gas methane from the seabed and into the Arctic Ocean. During the summer months this leads to an increased methane concentration in the ocean. But surprisingly, very little of the climate gas rising up through the sea reaches the atmosphere.

"Our results are exciting and controversial," says senior scientist Cathrine Lund Myhre from NILU -- Norwegian Institute for Air Research, who is cooperating with CAGE through MOCA project.

The results were published in Geophysical Research Letters.

The scientist performed simultaneous measurements close to seabed, in the ocean and in the atmosphere during an extensive ship and air campaign offshore Svalbard Archipelago in summer 2014. As of today, three independent models employing the marine and atmospheric measurements show that the methane emissions from the sea bed in the area did not significantly affect the atmosphere.

"This is an important message to bring to the debate on the state of the ocean and atmospheric system in the Arctic. It is also important to emphasize that the Arctic has in recent years experienced major changes and average temperatures well above normal values. A thorough description of the present state of the Arctic environment, possible only with adequate measurements, is essential to the detection of future changes of potentially global significance." says Lund Myhre.

Methane increase since 2006

Levels of methane in the atmosphere have risen by an average of 6 parts per billion (ppb) globally per year since 2006, and slightly more over the Arctic and Norway. Since methane is the most important greenhouse gas after CO2, it is very important to explore why.

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Vast quantities of methane gas are stored under the seabed in ice-like substances called methane hydrates. One possible explanation for the increased methane concentration in the atmosphere is that these hydrates dissolve as the oceans become warmer. Methane gas leaks from the methane hydrates under the seabed, and rises through the water. The scientists want to find out if these emissions are increasing, and just how much methane is reaching the atmosphere.

"Estimates on how much methane gas is stored beneath the seabed as hydrates vary enormously. A recent calculation suggests that we are talking about 74,000 gigatonnes, and one gigatonne is a billion tonnes," says professor Jurgen Mienert, director at CAGE.

If any of the methane stored in the Arctic hydrate reservoirs is released into the atmosphere as a result of climate change, this could have a global impact in terms of further climate warming, in addition to what human activities are already contributing.

Why is methane not released to the atmosphere?

Sea ice, the obvious obstacle to such emissions, is not found here in the summer. So what is stopping the methane? Emissions from the sea bed are after all clearly visible both on the seabed and in the water column.

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"We are talking about 250 active methane seeps found at relatively shallow depths: 90 to 150 meters" says oceanographer Benedicte Ferre from CAGE.

According to her, it is the sea itself that adds obstacles to methane emissions to the atmosphere in the summer. The weather is generally calm during summer, with little wind. This leads to stratification of the water column whereby layers of different density form, much like oil over water.

This means there is no or low exchange of water masses between the surface layer and the layers below. A natural barrier occurs, acting as a ceiling, preventing the methane from reaching the surface.But this condition does not last forever: wind blowing over the ocean can mix these layers, causing this natural barrier to disappear. Thus the methane may break the surface and enter the atmosphere.

"There is still a lot we do not know about seasonal variations. The methane can also be transported by water masses, or dissolve and be eaten by bacteria in the ocean. Thus long term observations are necessary to understand the emissions throughout the year. The only way to obtain these measurements are to use observatories that remain on the seabed for a long time," says Benedicte Ferre.

CAGE set out two such observatories last year, which have been retrieved in May with data waiting to be analysed.

Unique research collaboration

To determine if methane from these subsea sources actually reach the atmosphere, a unique Norwegian cooperation was established in 2013. Scientists from NILU, CAGE and CICERO made extensive studies of gas emissions from the seabed west of Svalbard in the period June to August 2014, and modelling the fluxes.

"To investigate the methane emissions and their fate, we performed observations on the seabed, in the water column, on the ocean surface, and in the atmosphere from ships, aircraft and land-based stations," says Cathrine Lund Myhre.

Through cooperation with partners from the universities of Cambridge and Manchester, the scientists got access to one of the world's best-equipped research aircrafts. The scientists then used different models to calculate the highest possible methane emissions from the area, and estimate the maximum possible methane release consistent with observations.
The crisis of lead-contaminated drinking water in Flint, Mich., continues to make headlines--but it's just the most prominent example of an "ongoing and needless tragedy of childhood lead poisoning," according David E. Jacobs, PhD, CIH, a noted authority on childhood lead poisoning prevention. Dr. Jacobs writes in the June Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, published by Wolters Kluwer.

The "debacle" in Flint should spur urgently needed but long-delayed action to address the continuing crisis of lead poisoning in the United States and around the world, says Dr. Jacobs, Chief Scientist at the National Center for Healthy Housing, Columbia, Md, and adjunct professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health. He proposes a three-point plan to identify and eliminate sources of lead exposure nationwide.

Three-Point Plan for Eliminating Lead: 'Find It, Fix It, Fund It'

Two new studies, also in the June issue of JPHMP, illustrate the deficiencies of current childhood blood lead screening programs and housing code processes that ignore lead poisoning and other chronic health issues. "Together, both articles demonstrate the need for more robust and effective responses to lead poisoning, which causes 675,000 deaths around the globe," Dr. Jacobs writes. He adds that at least 535,000 US children have elevated blood lead levels.

As the nation seeks answers about what happened in Flint, Dr. Jacobs believes a critical question has gone unasked: "How did that lead get into our pipes and our paint in the first place?" He points out that industrial groups and paint companies continue not only to make lead-containing products, but also to block public health efforts to stop these sources of lead contamination. "Those 'normal business operations' mean that these companies continue to make new lead-based paint in other countries, contaminating even more homes," according to the author.

Dr. Jacobs notes that, in 2000, he helped to craft a Presidential task force plan that would have eliminated lead hazards by 2010. "But Congress never funded it adequately, and as a direct result, the problem has dragged on needlessly, with much higher costs for property maintenance, special education, crime, health care, litigation--and, of course, human suffering."

In his commentary, Dr. Jacobs outlines a three-point plan that "focuses on the fix" for childhood lead poisoning--identifying and eliminating all sources of lead exposure:

Find It. Comprehensive programs are needed to increase testing for lead in homes and pipes, as well as expanded screening of children at risk--especially among Medicaid-eligible children. Dr. Jacobs calls for adequate funding and staffing for effective efforts in every state and large city. He emphasizes the inadequacy of the current "medical model"--in which lead-exposed children aren't identified until after they have been poisoned.

Comprehensive programs are needed to increase testing for lead in homes and pipes, as well as expanded screening of children at risk--especially among Medicaid-eligible children. Dr. Jacobs calls for adequate funding and staffing for effective efforts in every state and large city. He emphasizes the inadequacy of the current "medical model"--in which lead-exposed children aren't identified until after they have been poisoned. Fix It. Once lead hazards have been identified, corrective action needs to be taken immediately using proven interim methods. In addition, long-term full-scale programs are needed to eliminate all lead drinking-water pipes and all residential lead paint from the US housing stock. Dr. Jacobs also highlights the need for special education assessment and programs for lead-poisoned children.

Once lead hazards have been identified, corrective action needs to be taken immediately using proven interim methods. In addition, long-term full-scale programs are needed to eliminate all lead drinking-water pipes and all residential lead paint from the US housing stock. Dr. Jacobs also highlights the need for special education assessment and programs for lead-poisoned children. Fund It. Dr. Jacobs also calls for accountability for companies that have continued to produce lead-contaminated products, long after the hazards were recognized. He writes, "Industry must help pay to help fix the problem, not just pay their lawyers to drag out court cases for decades and overturn verdicts that have held them accountable." He makes the case that fixing lead hazards is an "economically sound" investment, with a cost-effectiveness even higher than that of childhood vaccines. He also calls on Congress to end the disinvestment in communities and to appropriate the necessary funding.

Dr. Jacobs urges public and environmental health professionals, engineers, and housing professionals to insist on the necessary funding and effort to meet the continuing challenge of lead poisoning. He concludes, "As the nation increasingly turns to its public health professionals for answers, we must speak clearly and forcefully, communicate accurately based on what the science tells us, focus on securing resources needed for solutions, and then make sure that both short and long-term fixes are really working."
May 8, 1945: German forces in Norway have surrendered, and after five long years of occupation, the country is finally free.

Suddenly, 30,000 Allied troops had to disarm 350,000 German soldiers, and deal with huge stockpiles of German bombs, guns and ammunition along Norway's 2500-km-long coast. It was a nightmare assignment, especially the bombs. So the Norwegians did what they often did in times of crisis: they turned to the sea.

"The Norwegian resistance have very few vetted personnel to secure all the German soldiers and all this ordinance, and some of the stockpiles are probably booby-trapped," said John Kjeken, a marine biologist who is studying the abandoned bombs for his master's thesis. "The great fear is that (the bombs and ammunition) will be distributed among the populace -- accidents can happen, plus there was an active communist contingent. So they went to lakes inland and to the fjord, and they dumped it."

Seventy years later, Kjeken is aboard the RV Gunnerus with his supervisor, Geir Johnsen, a professor in marine biology at NTNU, to visit a large WWII bomb dump in more than 600 metres of water at the mouth of Trondheim fjord.

While Kjeken and Johnsen will check the condition of the bombs, what really interests them is what has grown on the bombs since they were dumped in the years after WWII. Here, in Agdenes, the deepest part of Trondheim fjord, currents are strong and the bottom is nearly devoid of life -- except on the rusting hulks of torpedoes, grenades and bombs that have been disposed of on the bottom of the sea.

These once deadly weapons have hard surfaces that provide perfect artificial reefs. Kjeken's mission is to catalogue the life forms that are growing on the bombs. Given the depth of the water, he will have help, in the form of an HD camera mounted on a 2-tonne remotely operated vehicle -- an ROV.

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Because researchers know when the bombs were abandoned, the munitions dump offers a kind of long-term natural experiment. They can see how quickly cold-water coral reefs grow in deep water, and what kind of animal life they can support at such great depths. Perhaps of equal importance, however, is that the organisms on these artificial reefs also serve as a kind of early warning system.

"If the bombs start to leak chemicals or explosives, the organisms will die," Johnsen said. "And then maybe it's time to decide what should be done with them."

It's almost impossible to say how much ordinance has been dumped in the world's oceans, but the OSPAR Commission, which works with the 15 countries (including Norway) that signed the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, reported in 2010 that there were at least 151 known chemical weapons and munitions dumps in the North Atlantic.

The highest known concentration of munitions is in Beaufort's Dyke, a deep trench between Scotland and Northern Ireland, where an estimated 1 million tons of munitions have been dumped since the 1920s.

After the Second World War, Norwegian officials allowed the military to scuttle at least three dozen ships filled with captured munitions in the Skagerrak, the channel between the Scandinavian Peninsula and Denmark. All told, 168,000 tonnes of ammunition, including artillery shells and aerial bombs containing chemical weapons, were dumped at depths of between 600-700 metres, according the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment.

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Dumping bombs far from people and in the deepest part of the sea may have seemed like a good idea at the time, because few people had the means or any reason to go there. These days, the ocean bottom can be valuable real estate, what with the need to build submarine pipelines, lay underwater power cables and construct offshore wind farms, among many other marine developments. Now these munitions dumps potentially pose problems for different underwater activities.

Fishermen can also be at risk. In 2013, for example, the OSPAR Commission reported 657 encounters with abandoned munitions in Brest Harbour, on the north-western coast of France. In 2005, three Dutch fishermen were reportedly killed by a WWII bomb or shell that they brought aboard in their fishing nets. Nevertheless, a comprehensive survey by researchers from Imperial College London in 2005 concluded that while some chemicals, such as mustard gas, had the potential to continue to pose problems, in most cases, it made sense not to dredge up old munitions.

Fortunately, the munitions in Trondheim fjord don't appear to be at risk of blowing anyone up yet. A previous visit by NTNU and the Geological Survey of Norway (NGU) with the Gunnerus and an ROV in 2014 suggested that the bombs and other munitions are somewhat rusted but are still more or less intact.

Johnsen says he and representatives from the NGU will meet with representatives from the Norwegian Environment Agency to discuss the bombs' fate. "Should we dig them up, or leave them down there?" he said. "There's a lot of knowledge we need to gather before we can decide what to do."

On a clear April morning earlier this year, the Gunnerus set out for its two-hour sail to Agdenes and the mouth of the fjord. The winds were light -- perfect for dropping a 2-tonne ROV into 600 metres of water. As it turned out, the cable for the ROV is only about 600 metres long, but the tides were with the researchers, so they believed it would be possible to see what they had come to see.

Even though it weighs 2 tonnes, it took a good half-hour to lower the ROV, called the SUB-fighter 30k, down to the depths where the bomb dump was located. But even before it reached its goal, the ROV's trip into the deep had its own surprises, at least for the uninitiated. For one thing, as the ROV got deeper, the colour of the sea water shifted. First it was light green, then darker green, and then, at about the 60-metre mark, it shifted to a startling cornflower blue when one of the ROV pilots, Martin Ludvigsen, from NTNU's Applied Underwater Robotics Lab, flipped on the lights on the vehicle.

The blue water was mostly empty of fish, but it was nevertheless full of life. Plankton and small jellyfish shot past the camera's lens, and the image on the big wall-mounted screen gave viewers the uncanny feeling of driving through a dense snowstorm. Zooplankton and "marine snow," Kjeken told a surprised visitor, although he was clearly accustomed to the view.

At just under 600 metres, the ROV pilot slowed the vehicle's descent, and started cruising the silty grey bottom. The silt was nearly featureless, except for a stippling of holes of different sizes, created by different burrowing animals hiding themselves in the mud.

ROV pilots Frode Volden and Stein Nornes struggled a bit to coordinate the speed of the ROV, at the end of its 600-metre-long cable, with the speed of the boat. A walkie-talkie crackled with chatter as another pilot, Pedro Roberto De La Torre Olazabal, talked to Captain Arve Knudsen on the bridge. It wasn't until the Gunnerus slowed to less than a knot that the pilots got the ROV in sync with the ship so it could cruise along the bottom, casting about for bomb remains to film.

It wasn't long until the first find drifted into view: a rectangular chocolate brown box, festooned with cauliflower coral and a number of small, squat lobsters, called "trollhummer" or literally, "troll lobster" in Norwegian. Pink anemones clamped to the edge of the box waved their multi-tentacled bodies in the water, and here and there, a sea pen, a long white quill, stuck straight out of the muddy bottom. Kjeken, seated at a separate computer in the control room, began recording the HD camera's output.

"I'll be sitting at home with a clicker in my hand later to get a count of all the objects," he said. "Then I'll note any interesting things that I see, and I'll spend a lot of time identifying species and trying to find out what sorts of functional groups and systematic groups we have here."

For the next two hours, Kjeken recorded the HD camera's output while the ROV cruised a long transect. Although classified as a munitions dump, the bombs and other munitions weren't piled in a huge mound on the ocean's bottom, like you might expect from a land-based dump -- instead, they were scattered in an area of approximately two million square metres of sea floor, spread by the ocean's currents as they drifted down from the surface after they were chucked into the sea.

Sometimes the camera cruised over clearly identifiable torpedoes or aerial bombs, always bedecked by a few squat lobsters, anemones, corals and molluscs, while other times the bomb remains were more like big blobs of brownish metal, making them difficult to categorize. The real surprise, however, was that virtually every hard surface had been colonized by some living thing. Johnsen and the NGU's Terje Thorsnes had been to the munitions dump in 2014, so they knew a little of what the researchers would find during the current transect. But no one knew quite what to think when a giant tire suddenly floated into view, attached to a vehicle.

Could it be a Nazi amphibious vehicle that was dumped with the bombs? The researchers crowded around the viewing screens in the ROV control room as the pilot flew slowly around the vehicle. The long-gone windows were draped with antler-like fronds of something called bubblegum coral, a shocking neon pink colour even in the light of the ROV. There were no visible markings on the bus, but eventually a glint of shiny metal trim came clear as the ROV made its circuit. These bits of metal were clearly aluminium, which dated the bus to a time after the war.

"We'll see if we can't find somebody who knows how that bus got there," Kjeken said. "There's probably a group that is interested in the history of buses in this area, and someone may know the story of who dumped the bus and when."

For Johnsen, the bus represented something else -- a call to action. "The sea is not just a dumping site for bombs; trash and nearly everything else ends up in the sea," he said. "We don't think about where all this stuff is going. But we should."
Blue tit females mate with more than one male. Several possible blue tit fathers may then work together to stop predators from attacking their young, according to new research from the University of Bergen. Philosopher Claus Halberg believes this research challenges established ideas about the passive female.

"In many species, such as the blue tit, females often mate with multiple males. We've known this since the 1990s. The question has been why. For a long time it was thought it was to ensure that the offspring got the 'best' genes. But our studies indicate that it may have to do with completely different reasons," says Adele Mennerat.

Mennerat is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Department of Biology at the University of Bergen. She also teaches at the Centre for Women's and Gender Research.

Blue tits pair off in the winter. While only females build nests, they share the feeding task with the males when the young are born. But if the chicks are given a DNA test, it will often show that they have up to three or four different fathers. For the sake of simplicity, let's call these chicks that are not the offspring of the male feeding them, "extra-pair chicks."

"The main hypothesis has been that the fathers of the 'extra-pair chicks' had especially good genes and that this was why the female had mated with them. But around the year 2000, evolutionary biologists began to doubt whether this was the main explanation. Many researchers tried to show this was the case -- that is, there was a difference in genetic quality between the extra fathers and the feeding father -- but they found little evidence for this," explains Mennerat.

Cooperate to fight predators

However, the biologists in Bergen are about to test another hypothesis, namely that nests with chicks from multiple fathers are less vulnerable to attack by predators. The reason for this, according to their hypothesis, is that these nests are surrounded by several adult birds that can be on the lookout in case something should happen.

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Sigrunn Eliassen and Christian Jrgensen, two of Mennerat's colleagues, have developed a hypothesis which states that the males pay a little extra attention to the neighbouring nests since they could potentially have offspring there as well.

"What we do know is that those young that have a different father from the male that feeds them are the offspring of males in the neighbouring area. When several fathers are involved in a brood, this may also entail more cooperation between the males. Then they can work together to warn against or attack an intruder."

Mennerat's own field studies in France support this hypothesis on cooperation.

"We see that the nests with chicks only from the male that feeds them are more often attacked by predators. We also know that the females that have had their brood attacked by predators will be more likely to mate with multiple males the following year. In other words, they change their behaviour, which is something very exciting to confirm for us biologists."

The blue tits that Mennerat studies are especially vulnerable to attack by rats, genets and squirrels.

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"In our study, we use a stuffed predatory animal that we make sure the birds see before they start mating. Later, when their young are born, we take blood samples to see if the birds that we scared with the stuffed animal earlier in the year have mated with several males."

"The nests with chicks only from the male that feeds them are more often attacked by predators. We also know that the females that have had their brood attacked by predators will be more likely to mate with multiple males the following year. In other words, they change their behaviour ()." Adele Mennerat

The male drama

Ever since the time of Darwin, biologists have studied the choices animals make when looking for a partner, and why. The American biologist Robert Trivers is one of them. He and his colleagues have been frequently cited within evolutionary biology and psychology since the 1970s with their theories of "parental investment." "Reproductive success," meaning the number of viable offspring an individual can produce, is an important concept in this regard.

"One of Trivers' assumptions is that the reproductive success of females varies little as compared with the reproductive success of males," explains Claus Halberg, who works as an independent researcher and seasonal teacher of philosophy at the University of Bergen.

According to these theories, reproduction is a bigger gamble for males than for females. Will the male get to propagate or not?

"In this way of thinking, there is an implicit assumption that the female has relatively little latitude for action or influence over her reproductive success beyond choosing the right male," says Halberg.

He just launched a new research project that will examine understandings of gender within evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology.

"It may seem that traditional evolutionary biology, which Trivers can be said to be a representative for, has tacitly presumed that the male is the only subject of sexual evolution. It is thought that 'selective pressure' acts only on males -- that is, the pressure that the female exerts on the male through her differential preferences for certain qualities in the male. The female is not seen as a comparable subject, since it is thought that she is not the subject of a similar selection process."

Yes, she chooses, but she does not need to do anything to be chosen.

"This reduces the female to a passive, anonymous backdrop for the real drama of sexual selection, namely the rivalry among the males for access to the female."

The research conducted by Adele Mennerat and her biology colleagues challenges this way of thinking.

Challenges the male-centred way of thinking

Trivers' androcentric -- or, male-centred -- way of thinking, which puts all of the attention on the male, has been criticized by many over the years. One of the critics has been the American anthropologist and primatologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy.

"Adele Mennerat's research project can be seen in the context of Hrdy's research and her opposition to the androcentric view of sexual selection. In Hrdy's studies of primates, she has observed behaviour that doesn't fit in with Trivers' assumptions. The females in her studies are promiscuous and mate with multiple males, which we also know that blue tit females do."

"Adele Mennerat's research project can be seen in the context of Hrdy's research and her opposition to the androcentric view of sexual selection." Claus Halberg

Hrdy uses what she calls the "manipulation hypothesis."

"Since ovulation in the female primates she studies is not visible, the males can't be sure if the young that are born later are in fact theirs. This compels the individual male to invest in the protection and care of all the offspring, even those he can't know for sure are his," says Halberg.

This is in keeping with the observation by Norwegian researchers that blue tit males are concerned with more than their own nest in the neighbouring area.

But according to Halberg, the Norwegian research on blue tits deviates even further from traditional thinking within evolutionary biology than Hrdy's theories do.

"In her research, Hrdy still works within a traditional sociobiological understanding of what is in the female's interest and the focus remains on the reproductive success of the individual organism."

In Hrdy's work the male is manipulated to take care of the individual female's offspring, while in the Norwegian blue tit project the assumption is that the males are manipulated to act for the common good. The model developed by Jrgensen and Eliassen shows it is possible that the females' promiscuous behaviour results in social organization and cooperation beyond the individual bird couples.

Not normative, just observation

For Adele Mennerat it is important to emphasize that being an evolutionary biologist does not mean that she thinks in normative terms. She simply observes.

"I think it's interesting to hear researchers such as Claus Halberg and others discuss research in the field of evolutionary biology and evolutionary psychology. But I don't think it's actually the case that we evolutionary biologists establish principles for how females and males -- women and men -- are expected to behave. I think instead that non-biologists 'translate' our research to culture and make rules. My experience is that biology is diverse, and you can find examples of whatever you might be looking for."

"I don't think it's actually the case that we evolutionary biologists establish principles for how females and males -- women and men -- are expected to behave. I think instead that non-biologists 'translate' our research to culture and make rules." Adele Mennerat
The fate of the world's richest biodiversity of salamanders and newts is in the hands of pet owners across North America, said Natacha Hogan, an environmental toxicologist specializing in amphibians at the University of Saskatchewan.

At issue is salamander chytrid disease, caused by a fungus that infects both salamanders and newts with near total lethality. The fungus, known as B.sal, infects the skin, causing wart-like lesions. As the disease progresses, the animal stops eating, becomes lethargic, loses control of its body movements and eventually dies.

Originally from Asia, the disease has completely wiped out wild populations where it has appeared in Europe and the UK, said Hogan.

"It's basically the pet trade," she said. "It's when you start moving salamanders; this is what this spread has been attributed to. There have been millions of salamanders imported -- how many kids own fire belly newts from a pet store?"

While the fungus has not yet been spotted in Canada, she said the U.S. has already instituted strict regulations on trade in salamanders and newts.

The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative (CWHC) is leading efforts to raise the alarm, urging immediate action. The group compares the threat to a similar invasive fungal disease that all but wiped out entire species of frogs in South and Central America, and white nose disease, which has killed entire colonies of bats -- millions of animals -- across North America, including Canada.

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While Canada has only two species of newt -- both in Ontario -- salamanders are wide spread, Hogan said, with about 15 species across the country. Some of these have a small geographic range, but others, such as the two species of tiger salamander found in Saskatchewan, can be found right across the Prairie Provinces.

The rest of North America is even more richly endowed.

"The U.S. has among the greatest biodiversity of amphibians in the world, so this is also true of salamanders and newts," Hogan said.

The CWHC emphasizes first line of defense starts at home to help safeguard this rich natural heritage, and offers online resources for both pet owners and scientists.

"If you must keep salamanders or newts as pets, ensure they are from locations where (the fungus) is not present and only buy from reputable suppliers," the group urges in a release. "Make sure any water or cage wastes are properly disinfected with bleach before discarding them. Always seek appropriate veterinary care for sick pet salamanders and newts."

Bleach is the disinfectant of choice for biologists in the field and lab, explained Hogan. She did field work on a similar fungal disease in native frogs while at the University of Prince Edward Island. Whenever she and her colleagues left one pond to go to another, all their gear -- including gloves, boots and sampling equipment -- got doused in a 10 per cent bleach solution. They even sprayed down the tires of their vehicles as they were leaving to avoid bringing any trace of contaminated soil to the next pond.

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"The fungus makes these little zoospores that can even swim on their own a short distance," she explained. "They can live in water, in mud, so movement of those materials as you go from one wetland to another and you haven't cleaned your boots"

Hogan emphasizes another two points: do not handle wild salamanders, and never, ever release pet animals into the wild. If that pet salamander has lost its allure, the best solution is to return it to the store or bring it to the veterinary college.

With their shy nature, salamanders keep a low profile that belies their importance to the ecosystem, where they occupy a niche similar to that of frogs and toads. They eat insects and other aquatic invertebrates and are in turn eaten by fish, birds and small mammals.

"Amphibians are key components within the food web," Hogan said. "A decline or elimination of even one species will have some impact, a trickle-down effect on other species within that food web."
Cancer researchers in Wurzburg, in cooperation with the international Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network, have identified new genetic drivers of adrenal cancer. Wurzburg was the center of coordination of the European scientists.

Research teams from 39 institutions in Europe, Northern America, Southern America and Australia have collected and examined 91 adrenal cancer samples. They have performed a comprehensive genomic analysis as part of the "Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network." The results were published by the scientists in the journal Cancer Cell. The European researchers of the worldwide project were coordinated from Wurzburg.

Twofold increase of known genetic drivers

The study names several new genes that lead to the development of cancer. Actually the study resulted in doubling the number of known genetic drivers.

"These data have implications for the diagnosis and prognosis of adrenal cancer. They allow us to look deep into the biology of the disease and to understand how these new gene mutations contribute to adrenal tumor formation and the progression of the disease," says Professor Martin Fassnacht, Head of Endocrinology at the Wurzburg University Hospital and European coordinator of the study.

Collaboration was the key to this project. Adrenal cancer affects only an average of two in every million people worldwide per year. Because it is so rare, one institution just won't see enough patients to generate meaningful research. "We've been working on building adrenal cancer networks since 2003," says Professor Fastnacht.

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In 2003, the Center of Endocrinology and Diabetology of the Wurzburg University Hospital initiated the creation of the German Adrenocortical Carcinoma Registry, which was integrated into the first European Network for the Study of Adrenal Tumors in 2009. That is why the Wurzburg team and their European partners signed on immediately when the Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network announced the investigation of adrenal cancer as its first project on rare types of cancer.

A new understanding

The study revealed several interesting findings, says Dr. Silviu Sbiera, one of the participating scientific hormone researchers from Wurzburg. One of the most exciting mutations was found in gene "ZNRF3." Up to 20 percent of the adrenal cancer samples examined have a mutation of this gene.

Furthermore, the study demonstrated that mutations that were involved in benign diseases of the adrenal cortex may play a role in the development of adrenal cancer.

Another key finding was that many adrenal tumors undergo whole genome doubling: "A phenomenon in which each chromosome in the gene replicates and creates a second copy," says Dr. Sbiera. This reflects instability of the cancer genome, which is particularly prominent in adrenal cancer.

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"If we understand the mechanisms of how it happens , this will ultimately help us discover new therapies," says Martin Fassnacht, who leads further clinical studies on adrenocortical carcinoma.

Future treatment advances

The researchers identified three different subtypes of adrenal cancer based on their molecular changes. These subtypes were associated with different survival rates of patients, which suggests that molecular biomarkers could be used to identify patients who are likely to have a more aggressive form of the disease. These patients may thus benefit from a more precisely matched therapy.

"Our findings represent the most complete characterization of adrenal cancer tissues and could be the key to a more successful therapy," says Dr. Sbiera.

"Open Source" results

The complete data set from this project is published in freely accessible databases, so that they are available to any researcher worldwide for identifing potential new ideas to better understand this type of cancer.

The "open source concept" is especially important for adrenal cancer specialists. Adrenal cancer survival rates are dismal because it is often diagnosed in late stages of the disease. Also, no new treatment options have been developed since the 1970s because the disease is so rare.

"We are very motivated to continue our research on the basis of these new findings, because they have an enormous potential. The conclusions drawn from this paper will help fuel discovery in adrenal cancer as well as in other types of cancer," Fassnacht says.

This project was funded by the European Research Area Network for Research Programmes on Rare Diseases, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the German Research Foundation and the University of Wurzburg's Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Research.
News / National

by Blessing Rwizi

LINKAGES for Economic Advancement of the Disadvantaged (LEAD) organisation has this year secured sugar beans and Michigan pea-beans market for farmers at Mhakwe Irrigation Scheme in Chimanimani.The deal was hammered under the Feed the Future Zimbabwe Crop Development Program (FtFZ-CD), which is a five-year USAID supported programme which commenced in June 2015 and is expected to end in June 2020.Manica Post reported that the programme's goal is to reduce rural poverty and improve food security of targeted smallholder producers in natural regions three, four and five through increased productivity, increased market linkages and improved nutrition and hygiene practices.LEAD has linked Mhakwe farmers to Harvest Fresh and Cairn Foods for sugar beans and Michigan pea-beans, respectively.These companies are buying the produce at the current market price starting from this year.Prior to the initiative, the NGO had linked these smallholder farmers to micro-finance institution, Lance Financial Services for credit to procure crop inputs for the production of sugar beans and Michigan pea beans as winter crops.Each of the farmers received a loan in the form of inputs valued at $211 for production of 0,2 hectares of sugar beans and Michigan pea beans.LEAD also managed to engage farmers into trainings on good agricultural practices as well as look and learn tours in other irrigation schemes around the province.Its target by 2020 is 50 000 households on dry land impacted by programme initiatives, 7500 households in irrigation schemes impacted by programme initiatives, 500 market linkages created, 5 000 new jobs created, at least 37 750 households accessing credit and at least 37 750 households adopting good nutrition and hygiene practises.One of the beneficiaries of the FtFZ-CD programme, Dudzai Gore, said: "Before then non-governmental organisation came to this area, our yields had gone very low because of lack of inputs. Now there is change and life has been brought to this community. Trainings on good agricultural practices have also been of great use to most farmers. Farming has been made easier through the establishment of eight demonstration plots or sugar beans, butter-nuts and hybrid tomatoes as field learning centres in our community."Acting Chief Muusha also said Mhakwe farmers had resources, but they lacked farming education and capital to produce good yields."I am very happy with what this organisation is doing to the Mhakwe community which had seen decrease in its yields because of financial challenges and farming education. We will continue working hard together with LEAD towards the success of people in this area," said Chief Muusha.As part of drought mitigation strategies and increased food access, the FtFZ-CD programme has also capacitated women in processing of food, including dried black jack, pumpkin leaves, cowpea leaves, cleome, tomatoes, oranges, beans, groundnuts, peanut butter and sorghum flour.These are meant to promote all year round access to nutritious food, thereby enhancing food security at household level.It has also offered technical support to young people to produce nurseries of horticultural crops for their own production and for sale to farmers in the irrigation scheme. This is in line with program deliveries that seek to empower the young folk to establish their own enterprises.Mhakwe Irrigation Scheme has been operational since 2001, with 53 plot holders using sprinklers to water their crops. Each farmer owns 0,4 hectares.
Three Walmart stores in Canada have reduced the number of fitting rooms for customers and put the space to use to offer a wider selection of clothing, but not all locations will be following suit, a spokesperson said Monday.

The stores that cut back on the number of fitting rooms are located in Truro, Charlottetown and Montreal, said Alex Roberton, a spokesperson for Walmart Canada.

They took it upon themselves to see, if they took out some fitting rooms and made more apparel available to customers, if that would be a good thing, said Roberton.

This is not a company-wide program per se, its just, some stores have been allowed to remove their change rooms to create more room for apparel.

He added that no decision has been made to eliminate fitting rooms nationwide.

Costco Canada spokesperson Ron Damiani said there are no fitting rooms in their stores and he summed up the reason in one word: shrink.

Shrink is a word used in the retail industry to refer to theft.

Having fitting rooms in a store means having staff in place to monitor the changing rooms, Damiani said.

We are a no-frills operator. Having fitting rooms means putting labour in place to service the fitting rooms, he added.

Two weeks ago Walmart announced it was reinstating door greeters  a position that had been changed in 2012  and would in some stores add customer hosts to check receipts and handle returns.

The company said the greeters were reinstated to make the stores friendlier.

NBC reported at the time that the company loses about $3 billion (US) annually to shoplifting, and Mark Ibbotson, Walmart executive vice-president for operations, pointed to security as a reason for the changes.

To help ensure each store has the coverage it needs, we're using data on safety, security and shrink risks to guide us on how best to staff our entrances, wrote Ibbotson in a post to the retailers blog in May.

Where our data tells us the risk is higher, we'll add the new customer host.

Organizational psychologist Ian Percy said Walmart is being true to its corporate identity in cutting back on change rooms.

I think theyre being true to their culture  its quick, its no -frills, dont expect anything fancy, dont expect everything in order, dont expect a lot of advice  if any  so theyre being totally consistent, said Percy.

Its such a utilitarian environment.

Marge Laney, chief executive officer of Alert Tech, and author of Fit Happens; Analog Buying in a Digital World, says only 10 per cent of customers who browse the sales floor are likely to buy, while 67 per cent of customers who use fitting rooms are likely to buy.

The fitting room is every apparel retail stores most valuable square footage, according to Laney.

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When HIV/AIDS infected women in Toronto in the 1980s, Dr. Cheryl Wagner was one of the first  and few  general practictioners to treat this frightened and vulnerable population. Last Thursday, Wagner was celebrated for her pioneering work with a 2016 YWCA Toronto Woman of Distinction Award. The award comes just as Pride Month begins in Toronto on June 1.

I was in Moose Factory Hospital on the edge of James Bay when the call came to take over the practice of a Toronto physician diagnosed with AIDS.

That was 30 years ago. The full impact of the AIDS epidemic was still not understood. The virus had only recently been identified. Much was unknown. Fear was palpable. Discrimination was rampant.

It was a terrible time; we had no idea how bad it would become. The gay community was just getting organized, pushing for research and treatments.

As the 80s wore on, hopes of controlling the virus were extinguished. Almost everyone who was infected would succumb to illness and death. Fear and anger lived alongside tremendous love and compassion within the gay community.

We got smarter. We learned to recognize PCP pneumonia earlier and even prevent it. Patients lived longer, but with depleted immune systems they endured the horrors of disfiguring Kaposi Sarcoma, blindness, brain infections and severe wasting. At times, I did not recognize the patient I had seen only a month before.

There was no time to grieve. There were new and frightening manifestations of the disease, critically ill patients to care for and endless hospital visits and house calls.

By 1987, the first HIV-infected women showed up in my practice. Along with the isolation and stigma they experienced, many had acquired the virus through sexual violence and were dealing with that trauma. On top of that, their unborn children were often infected. Consumed with guilt for transmitting the virus to their babies while pregnant, mothers worried incessantly about what would happen after they died to their children.

The 90s came without effective treatments, and more patients died. I carried death certificates in my purse. I had a black dress ready for another funeral. My medical colleagues did the same. Still no time to grieve. There were new treatments to master, forms to complete, patients to enrol and new side effects to manage.

Suddenly, in 1996, things began to change. A new class of drugs was available. When combined with previous medications, patients began to improve clinically, at times dramatically. We called it the Lazarus effect, a reference to the miracle in the Bible in which Jesus restores a mans life.

Five years later, while giving a talk on Women and HIV, it struck me that for the first time in a very long time, I had attended more baby showers in that past year than funerals.

Today, we have 29 drugs to treat HIV. Patients have a near-normal life expectancy. A young woman in my practice who was infected in utero is healthy, working full-time, and the mother of two healthy babies.

HIV in women is often the final symptom of poverty, sexual abuse, domestic violence, and addiction.

Treating the HIV is now the easy part of my job. The tough part is giving patients  women, in particular  the social supports they need, in the form of employment, safe housing, support to flee domestic violence. It is giving young women the tools to have healthy self-esteem as they navigate sexual relationships. This is the extraordinary work that YWCA Toronto does.

As Toronto has changed, so has my practice. It mirrors the world. It encompasses gay men fleeing persecution in the Soviet Union, Latin America, and the Caribbean. And women who have suffered unfathomable violence, victims of conflict in their home countries.

There are men and women, infected in utero, now navigating dating and university life.

There are young gay men who were not yet born when I started practice.

And there are the survivors from the early days  close to 100 courageous men and women.

Their visits with me are now spent reviewing the maladies of aging, menopause, hypertension, cardiac disease. At times we pause to reminisce, like battle-worn soldiers, survivors of a strange and distant war. We talk about the dark days, the fear, the discrimination, the political battles fought, the failed drugs and experimental treatments. Mostly we remember friends, lovers and activists who died too young.

We have time now. We grieve the losses, and together, we remember.

Video

See Cheryl Wagner in action in this video shown at the YMCA Toronto Women of Distinction Awards at thestar.com/life

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VANCOUVERLittle could be more different than the post-election conventions the New Democrats and the Conservatives have held this spring.

The first featured the summary execution of leader Thomas Mulcair at the hands of party members and an unresolved divisive battle for the soul of the party. The New Democrats left Edmonton in early April in disarray and in poorer spirits than when they arrived.

The weekends Conservative convention had almost celebratory undertones. No one is ever happy about losing an election and the delegates had plenty to say about the partys last campaign. But they spent Stephen Harpers decade in power under a cone of silence and they were determined to make the most of what some called the partys glasnost.

It was the most open Conservative convention in more than 10 years and, for the most part, its participants left Vancouver feeling good about their partys prospects.

A yearlong leadership contest could still bring long-standing fault lines back to the surface, but for now at least the Conservatives  even though they fell from a greater height in the last election  are on a faster track to recovery than the New Democrats.

Here are some reasons:

The party that Harper is leaving behind is a different, more mature creature than the collection of fractious factions that came together under his leadership in 2003. A decade in power has made its members more inclined to pragmatism than to protest. Some of that was on evidence on the weekend as the Conservatives belatedly aligned party policy with Canadian legal reality on same-sex marriage and endorsed the partial decriminalization of marijuana.

The federal NDP has never experienced the transformative discipline of power. Its dominant opposition culture has long been at odds with that of the provincial New Democrats, who have spent time on the governing side of politics. Many federal activists see the role of permanent underdog as more virtuous than that of top dog. They were always suspicious of Jack Layton and Mulcairs efforts to make the party a more viable governing alternative.

Harpers political career ended just as abruptly as Mulcairs, but it was voters who wielded the knife. The election defeat spared the Conservatives the kind of behind-the-scenes regicide attempts that leave hard-to-heal divisions within a political family.

The issue of Mulcairs leadership split the Edmonton convention right down the middle. The New Democrats left town after their convention with virtual blood on their hands. It was an unprecedented episode in the history of the federal party that will overshadow his succession.

The upcoming Conservative leadership campaign will feature ideological differences but it will not be a battle of ideologies. The party views itself as a government-in-waiting and it is looking for a leader with a profile to match that overriding goal. This weekend the Conservatives signalled they are willing to ditch parts of Harpers legacy that could hold them back. They primarily want to fight the next election on the economic battlefield.

There is no consensus within New Democrat ranks as to what kind of leader the party needs going forward. The leadership campaign is lining up to be a battle for proxy over the very purpose of the federal NDP and its place in the political universe.

The Conservatives overwhelmingly share the notion that Justin Trudeau is taking Canada in the wrong direction. It is no accident that the party has raised more money than its rivals in the months since the election. The hope of driving the Liberals from office acts as powerful incentive on the party base.

So far a majority of New Democrats are relatively happy with the Liberal rule. They neither hold a grudge against the prime minister who beat them last year nor do they feel particularly threatened by his agenda. It is harder to keep the peace within a party tent absent a major threat outside it.

All that being said, many Conservatives know in their hearts of hearts that most incumbents are re-elected for a second mandate. Anecdotal evidence at the Vancouver convention suggests too many of them continue to underestimate Trudeaus skills. But for better or for worse they are at least in general agreement as to what their party  post-Harper  is about. The opposite is true of the post-Mulcair NDP.

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A Canadian imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates for nearly two years has been acquitted of all charges by the countrys Supreme Court, his family said Monday as they appealed to Ottawa to help bring the man home.

Salim Alaradi had been accused of allegedly providing supplies to groups in a foreign country without permission of the U.A.E. government and collecting donations without the governments permission.

But despite the acquittal, Alaradi remains in custody, his daughter said.

Our family is overwhelmed after almost two years of fighting for my fathers freedom, but today I cannot say that he is free man because he is still behind bars even though he is innocent, Marwa Alaradi told The Canadian Press.

I am afraid for his safety and his health. Canada needs to get him out today.

Salim Alaradi immigrated to Canada in 1998 from the U.A.E. but returned there in 2007 to run a home appliance business. He was on vacation with his family in Dubai when he was suddenly arrested in August 2014.

At the time, he was among 10 men of Libyan origin who were abruptly detained  some of them were later released.

After being held for months without being charged, Alaradi was put on trial early this year on terrorism charges, which he pleaded not guilty to. Those charges were abruptly dropped in March and replaced with two lesser offences.

Alaradis Canadian lawyer said a U.A.E. Supreme Court judge delivered the not guilty verdict for his client and three co-accused without giving any reasons for the decision.

The men cheered and hugged each other but before they could speak with their lawyers, the guards came and took them away to transport them back to jail, said Paul Champ.

We are still concerned that the State Security may try to assert their power over this situation. But Canadian government officials have already reached out to their Emirate counterparts and are insisting on Salim Alaradis immediate release.

Once Alaradi is released  perhaps early this week  Champ said Canadian officials are expected to accompany him to the airport where he will board a plane to Istanbul to seek immediate medical treatment and reunite with his family.

Once he is healthy enough, Alaradi and his family plan to return to their home in Windsor, Ont., Champ said.

This is great victory for us, the acquittal, but really its just the first step on his long road to recovery and getting his life back, he said.

Aside from 21 months in jail, which obviously would be hard on anyone, the injustice of being held on false charges on trumped up charges and the brutal torture he endured the first three months of detention, all of that is going to have a real toll on him.

The case has drawn international attention ever since Alaradi and his co-accused were put on trial.

UN human rights experts demanded the U.A.E. immediately release the men.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also examined the mens cases and cited advocates for the detainees alleging that the men had been deprived of sleep for up to 20 days, beaten on the hands and legs and suffered electric shocks with an electric chair.

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LOS ANGELESThe factory my dad was working at the day I was born sits on the edge of Compton, an industrial district where rail lines and snaking smokestacks border square, tidy homes. If you drive along S. Wilmington Ave., the road swells upward, and from its crest you can see downtown Los Angeles shimmering in the distance.

Dad worked as a plant foreman in the shadow of the City of Angels for eight years before our family packed up in search of better things in Canada. He remembers working such long hours at the plastics factory that he sometimes slept overnight on the shop floor. My mum, who did the books at the same place, recalls undocumented workers  mostly migrants from Mexico  being paid $3 an hour.

The hard, sprawling city my parents left behind is in fact Americas wage theft capital. An estimated $26.2 million (U.S.) in wages are stolen from ordinary Angelenos every week. One in three Californian workers is low-wage  about 4.8 million people. In short, its an unlikely source of inspiration for Ontarians who want better workplace protection.

But 27 years after my parents left, thats exactly whats happened.

I think whats interesting about California is theres a range of things happening, says Deena Ladd, of the Toronto-based Workers Action Centre. Theyre not just raising the minimum wage. Theyre taking on wage theft, theyre taking on issues of enforcement, theyre taking on fair scheduling. And thats basically our same message to the (Ontario) government. We need a systemic approach to deal with the deterioration of working conditions.

As Ontarios Ministry of Labour prepares to release its interim report reviewing its employment and labour laws, California has spent the past two years forging ahead. Things are not perfect. But there is momentum.

Each fight around building a more progressive economy is still a fight; its not a slam dunk, says Roxana Tynan, executive director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE). But were moving at a much faster rate on policies that address income inequality.

The scale of Californias precarious employment problem is unique and perhaps unrivalled in North America. It is the worlds eighth-largest economy, with a population the size of Canadas. At about the same time as its manufacturing dried up in the 1980s, the state gained 6 million new residents  up to one-third of them undocumented, according to research by the Public Policy Institute of California.

That, combined with a shift toward poorly paid, non-unionized jobs in sectors such as retail, makes Californias workers especially vulnerable. But in spite of  or perhaps because of  the scale of the problem, change is afoot.

For example, the state has just implemented a new measure that gives it stronger tools to tackle wage theft. If employers dont comply with an order to pay from the labour commissioner, they must now post a bond of between $50,000 and $150,000 promising to pay up or be banned outright from doing business.

In Los Angeles, city authorities are also introducing new robust mechanisms to confront the issue, including hefty fines for violators and crucial new partnerships with community groups to identify at-risk workers and problem employers. The L.A. County authorities can also deny licences such as restaurants health permits if owners refuse to pay employees.

When a law-breaking boss is ordered to cough up unpaid wages by the city, the fines are automatic and increase daily  starting at a minimum of $100 per unpaid employee, per day.

In Ontario, one-time tickets of between $250 and $360 (Canadian) are at the Ministry of Labours discretion. Last year, there were more than 12,500 successful claims against employers, but the ministry issued just 246 such tickets. A Star investigation shows the majority of employers in the province do not comply with orders to pay, and one-third of workers never see the money they are owed.

John Reamer, the City of Los Angeles inspector of public works, says fines are all about leverage: the authorities can offer to drop the penalties if the workers get paid their money in full. Since Ontario rarely penalizes bosses, critics say workers often end up having to settle for less than theyre owed, and there is little incentive to pay at all. Unlike California, Ontario does not charge interest on unpaid wages, or partner with community groups to improve enforcement.

If youre going to have policy that will affect the lives of working men and women, it will only be as good as the enforcement, Reamer says.

Matthew Sirolly, the director of L.A.s Wage Justice Center, says much more can be done. But recent steps will at least help some of the states most vulnerable workers, like Minor, an undocumented Central American worker owed $128,000 (U.S.) in unpaid wages from his former boss.

Its something sad, because its just me here, Minor told the Star. The boss told me, you work. You dont have family here. You dont need a break.

Fair scheduling, too, has become part of Californias reform agenda. As reported by the Star, under Ontario law, employers dont need to give workers any advance scheduling notice. They do not need to pay temps and part-timers the same wage as full-time, permanent staff doing the same job, or guarantee workers a minimum number of hours. In 2014, San Francisco passed a bill ensuring all of those rights for employees of large retailers.

California has recently introduced statewide legislation on the issue, too. To 37-year-old Patrick Sullivan, a single dad with two kids and a meat clerk at an L.A. supermarket, it boils down to basic respect.

This is extremely important, he says. Two weeks of knowing your schedule can make a major difference. Because you can actually get a babysitter. You can get child care. You can take care of your daily activities.

Daniel Linares, 60, says the growing assertiveness of Californias workers rights movement is helping families, communities and cities like his prosper. Originally from El Salvador, he is now part of a movement of hundreds of L.A. truck drivers demanding to be salaried employees rather than independent contractors paid at sub-minimum wage levels. He says he is owed about $200,000 by his former employer. Although potholes and payday lenders still dot his neighbourhood, a working-class area not far from my dads old factory, Linares says life here is improving.

His advice to others: Start the fight. Dont be afraid.

After meeting Linares, I asked my dad what he thought about me writing about the Golden States unexpected transformation. He found it odd and a little sad that the place he left in search of a better life now serves as a blueprint for reform in Ontario. Have things here got that bad?

Weve seen what (Ontarios) approach does, says the Workers Action Centres Deena Ladd. It has lead to people not feeling confident that their rights are going to be protected when they go to work.

That, Linares says, is what has started to change in California.

Im very confident. Very optimistic. I feel beautiful.

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Ontario has finally faced up to the truth about the abuse of First Nations children in residential schools  now comes the reconciliation.

Premier Kathleen Wynne formally apologized Monday for the mistreatment of indigenous peoples and pledged to right the wrongs from one of the darkest chapters in Canadas history.

In a statement to the legislature, Wynne delivered the provinces official response to last years 381-page report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the cultural genocide of aboriginal people.

From coast-to-coast-to-coast, the residential school system set out to take the Indian out of the child, by removing indigenous children from their homes and systematically stripping them of their languages, cultures, laws and rights. Children were physically, emotionally and sexually abused. Many died, the premier said, looking up at survivors in the visitors gallery.

Thank you for finding the strength and courage to come forward and tell your stories  and the stories of those who were lost. In opening our eyes, you have given us this chance to move forward as partners and the opportunity to say we are sorry, said Wynne, whose native son-in-law was also in the legislature with his two oldest children: her granddaughters.

So before I go on, I want to show my respect for all the survivors and all the victims by offering a formal apology for the abuses of the past, she said during the moving 105-minute ceremony.

As premier, I apologize for the policies and practices supported by past Ontario governments and for the harm they caused. I apologize for the provinces silence in the face of abuses and deaths at residential schools. And I apologize for the fact that the residential schools are only one example of systemic, intergenerational injustices inflicted upon indigenous communities throughout Canada.

Last June, Justice Murray Sinclairs expose of the horrors of Canadas residential schools system made 94 calls for action  all of which Ontario has embraced.

To that end, the province is spending $250 million over the next three years on understanding the legacy of residential schools, closing gaps and removing barriers, creating a culturally relevant and responsive justice system, support indigenous culture, and reconciling relationships with indigenous people.

Significantly, if symbolically, the premier announced the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs is being renamed the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.

The rechristened department will still be led by David Zimmer, who on Monday passed legislation proclaiming the first week of November Treaties Recognition Week to raise awareness about the 46 different legally binding treaty relationships in Ontario.

From the floor of the legislature, Rev. Andrew Wesley, a residential schools survivor, spoke powerfully about his ordeal.

To me, reconciliation didnt mean anything for a long time. Why should I reconcile? I didnt do anything wrong. Why? I was taken away. I was beaten up. But I didnt do anything wrong. Why should I reconcile to the government and to the church? Wesley told a hushed house.

But, because of my wife and her strength and her encouragement, I started to understand what reconciliation is all about. And as I get older, I started to understand more that I have to talk about the abuse and be able to release the pain that I was carrying. Now I understand what reconciliation is all about. I understand.

Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day expressed hope that Wynnes apology opens a door for First Nations peoples.

We . . . see a number of survivors from community residential schools that came into the legislature today. And thats very significant because what it marks is that this is not only the end of an era, but its also the beginning of a process, Day told reporters.

What the Ontario government continues to do, it continues to look at ways in which it can enhance and improve relationships with indigenous people, he said.

So I think with this announcement, with the investment, the fact that residential school survivors are involved, and this government is starting to reshape what the relationship looks like (is beneficial).

Margaret Froh, President of the Metis Nation of Ontario, said Monday was a good first step in moving forward with this process of reconciliation.

Weve got a long way to go. I think ultimately, for us, a full reconciliation means recognition of our rights as a self-determining people . . . self-government for Metis or First Nations, for Inuit people. And were a long way off from that, but (this is) certainly a good step, she said.

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown reminded the legislature of the toll residential schools took on generations of children.

The numbers are staggering: Over 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Metis youth were part of the residential school system. Torn from their homes, they were forced to assimilate to a culture not their own, said Brown.

While NDP Leader Andrea Horwath lauded the governments commitment to reconciliation, she pointed to the challenges facing native people today  including the polluted Wabigoon River that is harming the Grassy Narrows First Nation near Kenora.

We must all show  all of us  the political will and the determination that exists today to solve the problems that communities face, to ensure that everyone in this province has safe drinking water and safe housing; to clean up lands and rivers that are contaminated with toxins, said Horwath.

Asked later about a new report suggesting mercury contamination in the Wabigoon dating back the 1960s is getting worse but could be cleaned up, Wynne pledged to take it seriously.

If there is new science that shows that theres a way to clean up that water and to get that mercury out without causing more damage, I would be thrilled, the premier said Monday.

About nine tonnes of mercury was discharged upstream by a pulp and paper mill upstream from the reserve in northwestern Ontario, contaminating water and fish and causing debilitating illnesses from brain damage to skin irritations.

A report prepared for Grassy Narrows and released Monday concluded contamination is spreading and said any sources of continued poisoning must be plugged, along with dredging contaminated sediments from hot spots.

Clean-up could cost at least $50 million, not including the cost of dredging or finding continued sources of contamination, said John Rudd, a former federal scientist who co-authored the report and insisted significant improvements can be made to the damaged ecosystem. Other estimates for the clean-up have been as high as $120 million.

RELATED:

Truth and Reconciliation Commissions report details deaths of 3,201 children in residential schools

Highlights of the Commissions recommendations

With files from Rob Ferguson

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A well-known east Toronto veterinarian has been suspended for at least three months after being found guilty of professional misconduct and serious neglect by the College of Veterinarians of Ontario (CVO).

The two findings were made against Dr. Jonathan Mitelman, who practises at the Kingston Road Animal Hospital (KRAH) and VETSToronto in the Beach.

Former clinic co-owner Dr. Morris Samson was also named in the decision but found guilty only of professional misconduct. Samson is appealing the decision.

Meanwhile, Mitelman, who just last week publicly apologized in a video posted online, attended a penalty hearing in April. He was suspended for five months  reducible to three if he accepts mentoring and completes courses in ethics, pain management and recordkeeping  and ordered to pay $85,000 in costs.

The sanctions spring from allegations about the diagnosis and care given to Dakota, a German shepherd-Alaskan malamute mix. The panel wrote that the 13-year-old canine, unable to stand on its own, was taken to the facility by its owner in June 2011 and initially diagnosed with a herniated disc by the admitting veterinarian.

A four-member disciplinary panel found, among other things, that Mitelman failed to promptly identify a fracture in the dogs right femur, although it was visible on a radiograph taken when it was admitted. (Another vet pointed it out four days later.)

According to the 42-page decision, the veterinarian said that, although Dakota did not appear to be in pain, he would have treated her differently had he known of the fracture.

The panel also expressed concern that Dr. Mitelman testified several times that Dakota appeared comfortable, when logic dictates that a fractured leg would be painful. Further, medical records failed to provide any evidence that Dakota was ever assessed for pain and no evidence that she ever received most of the pain medications that were prescribed.

Mitelman  who has worked as a vet since 2002  testified it was the job of everyone in the multi-vet clinic to assess pain and provide medications. The panel disagreed, saying that, as the primary caregiver, Mitelman had responsibility for this.

I dont feel I should try to exonerate myself; I wont, Mitelman told the Star. It was an unfortunate error in judgment and from mistakes, we all learn.

Although the CVO does not require members to inform clients if theyve been found guilty of misconduct, Mitelman said he notified quite a few of his clientele during patient visits and phone calls.

The truth was going to come out, he told the Star, adding that KRAH will respect the decision of clients if they wish to have their files transferred.

A video statement in which Mitelman details his suspension was posted last week to the VetsToronto Facebook page. In the seven-minute clip  which received a mixed reaction from pet owners online  Mitelman says this case slipped through my fingers and I will never live it down.

I apologize to the owner and I regret the errors that I made, he says. I have learned from them and they will never happen again.

With his suspension slated to begin June 1, Mitelman said he will miss being at the hospital. This job, this profession I love, this (hospital) is my home, he said. I cant wait to come back.

Meanwhile, Samsons penalty hearing has been delayed for health reasons. His licence also remains suspended following an unrelated college decision last year.

When contacted by the Star, Samson rejected the panels findings. He referred questions to his lawyer, Robert Karrass, who said an appeal has been filed.

Karrass told the Star his clients position was that his involvement in the case was minimal. According to Karrass, it was argued that Samson was a co-owner of the hospital at the time and more of an administrator rather than a treating veterinarian.

At the hearing, Karrass argued that (Samson) briefly saw the dog  and made a suggestion that resulted in the correct diagnosis being determined.

My client denies ever actually treating the dog, he said.

But the panel found that Samson did become actively involved in (its) case management by virtue of his conversations with the owner and the advice that he gave her.

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A trip to the wholesale goods store Costco was anything but wholesome for a group of brawling shoppers in Mississauga on Saturday.

Police say a fight erupted in the parking lot of a Costco at Dundas St. E. and Dixie Rd. at around 2:15 p.m. Saturday.

Const. Rachel Gibbs said the fight was primarily between two separate couples over a parking space.

A roughly two-minute video, laced with obscenities, posted on YouTube on Sunday, begins as one man yells Learn how to drive! to the other. It doesnt take long before profanities and fists begin to fly, with one woman who appears to be pushed down and another man who is bleeding from the head. A child can be heard crying in the background; another woman says she is calling the police.

Costco employees wearing reflective vests can be seen stepping in to help break up the fight and give water to the bleeding man to rinse his wound.

Police are still investigating the incident. Officers have not laid any charges at this time.

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In 2012, 20-year-old temp worker Day Davis was killed on his first day on the job at a Bacardi bottling facility in Florida. His story is the bedrock of a new documentary, A Days Work, which explores the American temp agency industry and the exploitation of vulnerable workers. The Star spoke to executive producer Dave DeSario ahead of the films June 1 Toronto screening.

What inspired you to make the documentary?

Theres been a hidden epidemic of temp workers being killed on the first day on the job in the U.S. In this specific case (the film) looks at Day Davis, who, 90 minutes into the first shift he ever worked, was crushed to death. The film tries to offer an explanation as to how that happened and why its happening all over the country. The explanation has to do with labour law in the U.S. and how we track injury and illness. Most of the labour law in the U.S. was written in the 1970s, before we had such a fissured workplace. Basically our labour laws have not caught up to the new ways in which so many people are working. Fundamentally there are two reasons why people are using temp agencies: to cut costs and reduce responsibility. That system obviously has inherent risks to workers when it comes to safety and health.

What was the impact of this particular tragedy on Day Daviss family?

They thought there would be some sort of justice that would come their way. But unfortunately theres not any justice for these families. For them, this film this was about trying to get back at the companies that did this to Day and trying to make sure this didnt happen to somebody else. So they put themselves on the line so we could tell this story.

Fundamentally, in the U.S. when it comes to temp work and occupational safety and health, not enough people know or care. There are 12 workers that die in the U.S. every day on the job. When these workers are killed, theres rarely a line in the newspaper. If there is, it rarely connects the dots to a larger picture of whats going in the workplace.

What is the scale of the problem for temp workers specifically?

We can never really know how risky these temp jobs are, because temp workers are less likely to report their injuries. We find that temp workers are about half as likely to report unsafe conditions, and when they do report it, its about half as likely to be acted on by the employer. So they dont have the same influence in the workplace. And we find temp agencies are screening out workers that know how to use the workers compensation system and report on these issues.

Do you see parallels between whats going on in the U.S. and whats happening here in Ontario?

I know some broad research on the amount of regulation globally. The temp industry does just fine in countries that regulate it. In Germany, temp workers get equal pay for equal work. In Poland, temp workers are not allowed to work in construction or inside a machine. Throughout the world, in South America, Asia, Europe, the temp industry is heavily regulated and it does fine. Its not regulated, basically, in the U.S., Canada and New Zealand. So we have a lot in common in that sense.

What do you see as some of the solutions to tackling this issue?

The biggest problem is that there arent enough people who know about it or care about it. By and large, the conversation about the value of temp work has been dominated by the industry here in the U.S. The film is a way to make employment law interesting  to appeal to the average person  to say, hey, this affects you.

A Days Work is free to watch at 7 p.m. June 1 at the George Ignatieff Theatre, 15 Devonshire Place.

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News / National

by Staff reporter

SOME sections of the Ndebele people have come out guns blazing accusing the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai for allegedly "defiling" a protected Ndebele Shrine in Bulawayo.According to a statement issued by a grouping ostensibly speaking on behalf of the Ndebele people, the MDC-T party yesterday held its talks following the demonstration held in Bulawayo at Northend open square - a venue which the group claims is sacred as it where the Ndebele Inxwala ceremony used to be held.The group took a swipe at Bulawayo Mayor His Worship Martin Moyo saying he should have stopped the party both as a city father and the party official. Below we publish the unedited statement:For having allowed his MDC-T party to hold a political rally in a preserved cultural heritage Inxwala Site in Bulawayo, the Mayor of Bulawayo Clr Martin Moyo has shown that he does not have the ability and capacity to uphold Council Resolutions and statutes, does not have the ability and capacity to defend the City's identity, cultural heritage and rights; and therefore he should either issue a public apology or resign immediately.The Inxwala Site where the MDC-T ended their really on 28 May 2016 is a preserved area of cultural heritage to the Ndebele people and the Bulawayo Council made a resolution to have the placed properly protected as a place of significance to the City and the history of the Ndebele Kingdom.By letting his party hold a rally in that area on Saturday 28 May 2016 Mayor Martin Moyo as the City head showed gross incompetence and incapacity to protect the rights, identity and heritage of the city.The Mayor did not instruct the MDC-T not to use that venue even though he clearly and explicitly knew how important that place is and the subsequent Council resolutions and efforts to have that place protected to retain its preserve and importance.This act of defilement and disrespect of human rights and freedoms, history, culture and heritage of the people of Matabeleland by organizations, institutions and individuals from outside Matabeleland is one of the fundamental reasons why most people of Matabeleland have not only been demanding devolution of power but also agitating for the formation of a regional political party which shall protect the region's interests, heritage and cultural sites, with some calling the total cessation/restoration of Matabeleland from mainland Zimbabwe."
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to express a personal commitment as Premier  and the commitment of the government of Ontario  to being full partners with Indigenous Peoples on our journey towards reconciliation and healing.

I first want to thank the other parties for their co-operation in convening this special assembly and recognize those whose presence makes today a historic and hopeful occasion:

Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day and other Chiefs in attendance; Metis Nation of Ontario President, Margaret Froh; Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres President, Sheila McMahon; President of the Ontario Native Womens Association and of the Native Womens Association of Canada, Dawn Lavell-Harvard; Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President, Natan Obed; Cree Elder and residential school survivor, Andrew Wesley; and all of the residential school survivors, Indigenous leaders and youth who are here today. I also want to thank Elder Jim Dumont for his opening prayer with Elder Shelley Charles and Metis Senator Verna Porter-Brunelle, who will provide a closing prayer.

Indigenous Peoples are the original occupants of this land we call Ontario and, over thousands of years, they developed distinct languages, cultures, economies and ways of life. This long history means that were assembled in a sacred and traditional gathering place for many peoples of Turtle Island. I want to show respect for this by acknowledging that were on the traditional territory of several Indigenous Nations and pay special recognition to the Mississaugas of the New Credit, and by recognizing the history and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Metis Peoples.

Our shared history begins around 400 years ago. When Europeans first arrived, the generous partnership of Indigenous Peoples helped them establish profitable enterprises and settlements. In 1763, the Royal Proclamation confirmed the original occupancy of Indigenous Peoples and paved the way for nation-to-nation treaties between the British Crown and Indigenous Peoples. Treaties were negotiated and signed with the intent of delivering mutual benefits.

In Ontario, most of this happened hundreds of years ago. To some, seven generations ago can seem disconnected. Yet we know that our history is always shaping our present. And for some of us, treaties are part of the history that shapes our prosperity. Treaties granted us land to live on and water to drink. They are the foundation on which the short history of our country has carried forward  a history in which every generation has built a better life by building on the achievements of the past.

But its only one side of our story. For Indigenous people in Ontario, this same history created a very different reality. Despite the promise of early treaties and the respectful, nation-to-nation partnerships they established, Indigenous Peoples became the target of colonial policies designed to exploit, assimilate and eradicate them. Based on racism, violence and deceit, these policies were devastatingly effective. They disempowered individuals and disenfranchised entire communities. When Canada became a country 149 years ago, the legacy of violent colonialism only gathered momentum.

From coast-to-coast-to-coast, the residential school system set out to take the Indian out of the child, by removing Indigenous children from their homes and systematically stripping them of their languages, cultures, laws and rights. Children were physically, emotionally and sexually abused. Many died.

These heartbreaking stories are hard to hear. For generations of Indigenous people, these stories were their lives. Canadas residential schools are closed, but they have been closed for not even one generation. Echoes of their racist, colonial attitudes can still be heard. And the echoes of a society-wide, intergenerational effort of cultural genocide continue to reverberate loudly and painfully in the lives of Indigenous people today.

However we measure a persons opportunity and security in life, a disturbing gap exists between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population. It is the gap created by a country that abused and betrayed its Indigenous Peoples. It is a gap that swallows lives and extinguishes hope across generations. For a long time, Indigenous Peoples calls for justice could not be heard across this yawning gulf because Canada did not want to hear them. It is thanks to the resiliency of those who endured the abuses of the past that we are finally listening.

Thank you for finding the strength and courage to come forward and tell your stories  and the stories of those who were lost. In opening our eyes, you have given us this chance to move forward as partners and the opportunity to say we are sorry. So before I go on, I want to show my respect for all the survivors and all the victims by offering a formal apology for the abuses of the past.

As Premier, I apologize for the policies and practices supported by past Ontario governments and for the harm they caused. I apologize for the provinces silence in the face of abuses and deaths at residential schools. And I apologize for the fact that the residential schools are only one example of systemic, intergenerational injustices inflicted upon Indigenous communities throughout Canada.

By adopting policies designed to eradicate your cultures and extinguish your rightful claims, previous generations set in motion a force so destructive that its impact continues to reverberate in our time. And so I want to apologize for all of this by saying I am sorry for the continued harm that generations of abuse is causing to Indigenous communities, families and individuals.

No apology changes the past, nor can the act of apology alone change the future. In making this apology, as in making the Political Accord last summer, I hope to demonstrate our governments commitment to changing the future by building relationships based on trust, respect and Indigenous Peoples inherent right to self-government. The act of apology is not the end, nor is it the beginning. It is but one step on the journey to reconciliation and healing that we are committed to walking together.

Last year at this time, we took one of these steps when Canadas Truth and Reconciliation Commission held its closing ceremonies in Ottawa. I was honoured to participate in the Walk for Reconciliation. I want to thank Justice and now Senator Murray Sinclair, the Commission, and all the survivors who participated for helping illuminate a dark past, for honouring all those who lost their lives and for pointing the way forward.

Ontario has already taken first steps on this journey forward. They are highlighted in The Journey Together, the report we are releasing today. It outlines how Ontario is further responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions findings and calls to action.

Today, Ontario commits to working in partnership with Indigenous leaders and their communities to undertake 26 new initiatives that will help build trust and respect into our relationships and build opportunity and security into the lives of Indigenous people. These next steps begin, as I have today, with efforts to help everyone in our province understand the truth about our history.

We will educate all Ontarians about the horrors of the residential school system, the betrayals of past governments and our rights and responsibilities as treaty people  because in Ontario, we are all treaty people. This will include the work we are doing to ensure our education curriculum teaches every child in Ontario the truth about our past and what it means for all of us today.

In addition to further actions to commemorate victims and educate Ontarians, Minister Zimmer intends to introduce legislation today that would declare the first week of November as Treaties Recognition Week.

The Journey Together also introduces and enhances programs focused on closing opportunity gaps and ending intergenerational cycles of trauma. It guides our actions to enhance Indigenous voices in the administration of justice, and build a justice system that is responsive to Indigenous legal principles, autonomy and cultures. And because Indigenous languages and cultures are critical to the well-being of communities and to reconciliation itself, we will take a number of actions to support Indigenous communities in protecting and promoting traditional knowledge, languages and oral histories. Finally, we will rename The Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.

The commitments Ontario is making in The Journey Together are supported with an investment of more than $250 million over the next three years. But funding commitments alone cannot undo generations of racism and abuse.

To do that, we truly need to learn from our past, which is why our programs and actions will be developed and evaluated in close partnership with our Indigenous communities  openly and respectfully. We are also working to incorporate Indigenous elder and youth perspectives into decision-making across government, because reconciliation cannot be compartmentalized. It is a society- and government-wide journey. And so we will also work closely with Canadas federal government, whose commitments to reconciliation are encouraging and vital to our success.

We understand that there will be setbacks as we walk this road, unlearn the patterns of previous generations and replace them with new, healthy relationships. But setbacks will not weaken our resolve to walk together to a place of trust, accommodation and friendship. We do not approach reconciliation as something we need to get over with  we approach it as something we need to get right.

Mr. Speaker, Indigenous partners, my fellow Ontarians  there is no more denying the past or hiding from the truth. The duty owed to Indigenous partners is enshrined in our laws and in our values as Canadians.

Building trusting, respectful relationships with Indigenous Peoples and taking steps to end intergenerational cycles of trauma and inequality  this is our present task. One day, it will be history.

With the steps we are taking together to build a country that lives up to its laws, its values and its reputation as a force for good in the world  we are walking a path that connects us across generations. We are undoing the harm caused by our past, and building a society where future generations of Indigenous and non-Indigenous can walk together as equals  living in peace and harmony on the land we now share.

Walking this journey together, we will not fail.

Chi miigwetch; Nia:wen; Marsi; Merci; Thank you.

Related:

Kathleen Wynne offers indigenous people a formal apology for the abuses of the past

Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report details deaths of 3,201 children in residential schools

Highlights of Truth and Reconciliation Commissions recommendations on residential schools

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One hospital in Ontario is in such bad shape it has a $287-million to-do list, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says.

That figure came in a list the New Democrats got under a freedom-of-information request from the health ministry detailing $3.2 billion deferred maintenance at 148 hospitals across the province.

Names of the hospitals were blacked out.

The government refuses to tell us which hospitals are in the worst shape, Horwath said Monday, referring to the list.

In fact, the government said that if they revealed the names of the hospitals, contractors could lose confidence that they would get paid.

Health Minister Eric Hoskins said facilities with the highest need are aging multi-site hospitals that need to be replaced and defended his ministrys decision not to release names for good reason.

It would give contractors an unfair advantage in advance of their bid what the ministry or the hospital had estimated the cost of those repairs, renovations and improvements to be, he told reporters.

Even a small hospital can cost $50 million to rebuild while major hospitals such as the new Humber River facility can top out at $3 billion or more, Hoskins added.

The government has earmarked $100 million a year for maintenance and repairs, which can include new air conditioning systems, boilers and other equipment.

Its also planning to spend $12 billion over the next 10 years to build new hospitals, said Hoskins, who also came under fire from Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown.

We have hospitals that are literally months old. We have hospitals that are decades old. We continue to invest in both areas.

Horwath said the $3.2 billion in deferred maintenance is substantially higher than the $2.7 billion figure auditor general Bonnie Lysyk raised in a recent annual report.

Failing to do urgent repairs will only make it worse, cautioned the NDP leader, who has criticized the government for tight hospital budgets that have led to the layoffs of 1,440 nurses since January 2015.

On the list of 148 hospitals obtained by the New Democrats, only six had no deferred maintenance needs. The others ranged from just $16,359 while most were between $1 million and $287 million.

Eight hospitals had needs above $100 million.

Heavy demands on the health-care system have led to many hospitals operating at over 100 per cent capacity, Horwath revealed two weeks ago after another freedom of information request, putting an official number on stories of overcrowding about patients on stretchers in emergency rooms waiting for beds.

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TEHRAN, IRANIn a sign of further tension between regional rivals, Iran will not allow its citizens to travel to Saudi Arabia for the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in September, Irans state television reported on Sunday.

The decision, which means that tens of thousands of Iranians cannot make their spiritual journey to the main pilgrimage site of Islam, came after several failed rounds of talks between officials of both countries and on the heels of accusations that Saudi Arabia has started a cyberwar against Iran.

Irans culture minister, Ali Jannati, told state television that no pilgrims would be sent to the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina, because of obstacles created by Saudi officials.

In a statement, Irans Hajj and Pilgrimage organization condemned Saudi Arabia for what it said was a lack of co-operation. Too much time has been lost, and it is now too late to organize the pilgrimage, the organization said, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency.

The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah accused a visiting Iranian delegation of refusing to sign an agreement resolving issues. They will be responsible in front of Allah Almighty and its people for the inability of the Iranian citizens to perform hajj for this year, the ministry said in a statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The annual hajj pilgrimage is one of the pillars of Islam. According to religious tenets, every Muslim is duty bound to visit Mecca. The absence of Iranian Shiites during the pilgrimage will further widen the rift with Sunnis; some extremist Sunni adherents accuse Shiites of not being true Muslims.

Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have remained strained since the start of the conflict in Syria more than five years ago. Iran supports President Bashar Assads government in Damascus, while Saudi Arabia supports rebel militias.

Throughout the last year there have been tensions over Iranian visits to Mecca. During the 2015 hajj many pilgrims died in a stampede, with Saudi Arabia claiming around 700 deaths and Iran saying more than 4,500 people had been killed. An independent investigation by The Associated Press put the death toll at 2,411.

In January, Iranian protesters ransacked the Saudi Embassy in Tehran after a Shiite Muslim cleric was executed in Saudi Arabia, events that led to the severing of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Besides supporting several opposing groups in multiple conflicts in the Middle East, both countries are engaged in a low-level cyberwar. Since Saturday, several websites belonging to official institutions, including that of Irans cyber police, have been taken down by hackers. In an interview with state television, the deputy commander of the digital police force, Hussein Ramezani, said the IP addresses of the attackers originated in Saudi Arabia.

Among the targeted websites were crucial pieces of government infrastructure, including the Deeds and Property Organization and the postal service. Irans Statistical Center was also hacked.

The Al Jazeera news channel reported that a Saudi hacker known as Nimr, Tiger of Saudi Arabia, had announced that his group, Electronic Decisive Storm, attacked Iranian satellite channels websites. The semi-official Iranian news agency Tabnak said other sites had been hit by a hacker called Da3s.

This is not the Islamic State, Tabnaks website said. It appears this comes from Saudi Arabia.

The attacks occurred a week after Gen. Gholamreza Jalali, the head of the Iranian Passive Defense Organization, warned against coming cyberattacks by Saudi Arabia.

In 2012, Saudi Arabia accused Iran of hacking the state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco, an attack widely seen as Iranian retaliation for the hacking of its main oil terminal on Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf.

In March, the U.S. Justice Department unsealed an indictment against seven Iranian computer experts accused of carrying out cyberattacks against several targets, including financial institutions and a dam in the United States, as part of an assignment for Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. On Sunday, Jalali said the experts were still in Iran.

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BRISBANE, AUSTRALIAA woman struggled in vain to drag her friend from a crocodiles jaws off a northeast Australian beach, police said on Monday.

The pair were in shallow water at Thornton Beach in the World Heritage-listed Daintree National Park in Queensland state when the 46-year-old woman was taken by the crocodile late Sunday, Police Senior Constable Russell Parker said.

Her 47-year-old friend tried to grab her and drag her to safety but she just wasnt able to do that, Parker told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Police said the women were swimming in waist-deep water, while paramedics reported they were wading in knee-deep water when the crocodile struck.

A rescue helicopter fitted with thermal imaging equipment failed to find any trace of the missing woman Sunday night, Parker said, with the search resuming Monday with a helicopter, boat and land-based search teams.

The missing woman is from Lithgow in New South Wales state.

The survivor from Cairns, 93 kilometres south of Thornton Beach, was taken to a hospital in Mossman suffering from shock and a graze to her arm inflicted as the crocodile brushed against her, Queensland Ambulance Service spokesman Neil Noble said.

The report that we have from the surviving woman is that they felt a nudge and her partner started to scream and then was dragged into the water, Noble told ABC.

The two women might not have been aware that the area was well known as a crocodile habitat, Parker said.

But Warren Enstch, who represents the area in the Australian Parliament, said the beach was beside a creek where tourism operators run crocodile-spotting tours. Enstch said the two tourists had to have seen plentiful crocodile warning signs in the region.

You cant legislate against human stupidity, Entsch said. If you go in swimming at 10 oclock at night, youre going to get consumed.

The attack occurred near where a 5-year-old boy was taken and killed by a 4.3-metre (14-foot) crocodile from a swamp in 2009 and a 43-year-old woman was killed by a 5-metre (16-foot) croc while swimming in a creek in 1985.

Darwin-based crocodile expert Grahame Webb said while most crocodiles were found in rivers, swamps and other protected waterways, open beaches in northern Australia were not safe.

Thereve been quite a lot of attacks off beaches and off coral reefs where people are snorkeling, Webb said.

Crocodile numbers have boomed across Australias northern tropics since they became a protected species under federal law in 1971, and they pose an increasing threat to humans.

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BEIJINGChinas decision to allow all married couples to have two children is driving a surge in demand for fertility treatment among older women, putting heavy pressure on clinics and breaking down past sensitivities, and even shame, about the issue.

The rise in in vitro fertilization points to the lost dreams of many parents who long wanted a second child, but were prevented by a strict population control policy in place for more than 30 years.

That, in turn, is shifting prevailing attitudes in China regarding fertility treatments  formerly a matter of such sensitivity that couples were reluctant to tell even their parents or other family members that they were having trouble conceiving.

More and more women are coming to ask to have their second child, said Dr. Liu Jiaen, who runs a private hospital in Beijing treating infertility through IVF, in which an egg and sperm are combined in a laboratory dish and the resulting embryo transferred to a womans uterus.

Liu estimated that the numbers of women coming to him for IVF had risen by 20 per cent since the relaxation of the policy, which came into effect at the start of the year. Before, the average age of his patients was about 35. Now most of them are older than 40 and some of the women are fast approaching 50, he said.

Related:

Video: China Announces Easing of One Child Law

They have a very low chance to get pregnant so they are in a hurry. They really want to have a child as soon as possible, he said.

Chen Yun is 39 and was in the hospital waiting to have the procedure for the first time. She and her husband already have a 7-year-old son and their families are encouraging them to have a second child.

We are coming to the end of our childbearing years. It may be difficult for me to get pregnant naturally because my husbands sperm may have a problem, so we want to resolve this problem through IVF, she said.

Chen said she hoped having a brother or sister would make their son happier, more responsible and less self-absorbed.

We had siblings when we were children. I had a younger sister and we felt very happy when playing together, she said. Now that every couple has one child, two generations  parents and grandparents  take care of the child. They give the only child too much attention. If her son has a younger brother or sister to look out for, he may not think too much about himself like a little emperor, Chen said.

Over the past two decades, IVF technology has developed rapidly in China, where about 10 per cent of couples are estimated to need the procedure to conceive. In 2014, 700,000 women had IVF treatments, according to the health commissions Womens and Childrens Department, which said in a statement that demand for all types of fertility treatment had risen following the policy relaxation, including the use of traditional Chinese medicine.

Currently, fertility centres at renowned medical organizations in Beijing and Shanghai and others are under increased pressure for treatments, the department said.

Previously, China limited most urban couples to one child and rural couples to two if their first was a girl. There were exceptions for ethnic minorities, and city dwellers could break the policy if they were willing to pay a fee calculated at several times a households annual income.

While authorities credit the policy introduced in 1979 with preventing 400 million extra births, many demographers argue the fertility rate would have fallen anyway as Chinas economy developed and education levels rose.

Intended to curb a surging population, the policy has been blamed for skewing Chinas demographics by reducing the size of the future workforce at a time when children and society face increasing demands from the growing ranks of the elderly. It also inflated the ratio of boys to girls as female fetuses were selectively aborted, while compelling many women to have forced abortions or give up their second children for adoption, leaving many families devastated.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission said in November that 90 million women would become eligible to have a second child following the policy change. Authorities expect that will add 30 million people to the countrys labour force by 2050.

Those projections could be overly optimistic since many younger Chinese see small families as ideal and would be reluctant to take on the cost of raising a second child. When the policy was changed in 2013 to allow two children for families in which at least one parent was an only child, it spurred fewer births than authorities expected.

Also under pressure are Chinas sperm banks, which already suffer shortages owing to a reluctance to donate among young Chinese men unwilling to father children they wont know or fearing their offspring may turn up at their door one day despite donor confidentiality.

The relaxing of the one-child policy certainly gave an impetus to the demand for sperm as more women, usually aged around or above 35, came for assistance, said Zhang Xinzong, director of the Guangdong Sperm Bank in southern China.

Calls have also gone out for a loosening of Chinas adoption law, which currently states that only couples with no children can adopt, while also allowing couples with one child to adopt a disabled child or an orphan.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs didnt respond to a question on whether the law would be changed, and it couldnt say whether the number of couples seeking adoption had risen since the policy change. It said there were 109,000 children available for adoption in the custody of governmental institutions, 90 per cent of whom were disabled and 60 per cent severely disabled.

Zhang Mingsuo, a professor at Zhengzhous Universitys School of Public Administration, said few Chinese couples were willing to adopt disabled children because they worry about the possible heavy medical expense.

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After climbing more than 8,000 metres of Mount Everest  and nearly reaching its famed summit  Maria Strydom turned to her husband, Robert Gropel, and said she couldnt go on.

I didnt want to separate from her  I wanted her to keep going, Gropel told Australias Seven Network in a tearful interview on Sunday, just over a week after spending 31 hours inside a dangerous high-altitude section of Everest known as the death zone.

The extreme altitude of Everests summit, combined with exhaustion, had taken its toll on Strydom.

I asked  do you mind if I go on? She said, You go on, Ill wait for you here,  Gropel told Seven Network.

The summit didnt look too far from where he was standing at the time, he said. But both Gropel and Strydom were feeling the effects of the extreme altitude. One symptom is confusion.

Gropel did reach Everests peak, but didnt savour the moment.

It wasnt special for me because I didnt have her there, Gropel said during the interview. I just ran up and down, and it didnt mean anything to me.

After returning to Strydom, the two worked their way back down the mountain. Her condition worsened  she started hallucinating, speaking incoherently, and eventually passed out. He shared his oxygen, but the supply ran out.

At one point during the descent on May 20, they stopped to rest and Strydom died in his arms. Gropel left her body on the mountain and continued climbing down.

The descent to Camp 4, a staging area for Everest summit expeditions, should have taken two or three hours, Gropel told Seven Network. The couple eventually spent 31 hours above Camp 4double the recommended time.

Gord Mortimer, an experienced mountaineer who scaled Mount Everest in 1984, told Seven Network that survival above 8,000 metres is far from easy.

Youve got to have the weather, youve got to have the fitness, youve got to have the mental acuity, focus all to come together in that one period, he told Seven Network.

The peak of Everest was the couples home stretch of an epic mountaineering challenge called the Seven Summits, where experienced climbers tackle the tallest peak on every continent.

Gropel blamed himself in the interview for his wifes death.

(I) am her husband, its my job, its my job to protect my wife and get her home, he said.

I cantI still cant look at any pictures of her. It breaks my heart.

Strydoms body was recovered on Sunday.

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ISTANBULTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken out against birth control and family planning, saying they go against Muslim traditions.

Speaking at an educational foundation in Istanbul on Monday, Erdogan declared: I say this openly: We will increase our descendants, we will increase our population.

Family planning, birth control . . . no Muslim family can practice such an understanding.

He adds that whatever our Lord says, whatever our beloved Prophet says, we shall follow that path.

Erdogan, a devout Muslim, often courts controversy with divisive public comments.

He has previously angered womens groups by stating that women are not equal to men and by urging women to bear at least three children.

The Turkish leader has also raised eyebrows by attempting to outlaw abortion and adultery.

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Somewhere in Canada at any given time, groups of federal cabinet ministers are clustering at the feet of a few famous gurus of the high art of deliverology, learning how to implement the promises that brought them to power by retreating to mountains and forests to absorb the wise words of international experts.

Meanwhile, here in the real world, the same government's almost spectacular mishandling of its most notorious promise  legalizing marijuana  is actively creating whole new classes of marijuana criminal, leading to widespread arrests, confiscation of property, neighbourhood strife and massive civic confusion.

On this signature policy, the Trudeau government's performance is a glowing object lesson in non-delivery. You almost have to go back to the Chretien years to find an implementation of anything so inept.

So far, the most authoritative voice on the current state of federal pot policy belongs to Saskatoon police chief Clive Weighill, current president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. Right now, it's just a big fog, he told the CBC.

And wouldn't you know it, the big fog has a name: Since accepting the job of Canada's pot czar six months ago, former Toronto police chief Bill Blair has fairly billowed with obfuscation, taking every possible pro- and anti-pot position in his tireless efforts to avoid action.

On the hustings, Blair altered his long-standing beliefs to affirm, in line with party policy, that it's just plain wrong for the police to target and criminalize marijuana users. In Toronto this week, he castigated the businesses and users that responded naturally to that promise as reckless and cynical scofflaws.

More than 90 people were arrested in the raids that followed the ex-chief's latest decriminalization initiative.

Amid the shouting and confusion that attended the drug-bedecked, throwback press conference that followed the raids, Chief Mark Saunders flailed manfully in trying to describe the current state of the law. In a final attempt to end the pain, he directed attention to Health Canada officials, who were standing by with leaflets that spelled out the Harper government's now-nullified policies in unhelpful detail.

Known locally for a once-promising career that degenerated into mulish resistance to necessary reform, Blair's first act as newly appointed pot czar was to dampen expectations. He refused to provide a schedule for legal reform, mulling instead about a task force. Six months later, he's still mulling. There's no task force. There may or may not be a schedule.

Meanwhile, the cops are back to knocking heads up and down Main Street, neighbourhoods are seething at the explosion of dispensaries, and local officials are struggling to cope with the inevitable consequences of federal ineptitude.

In defence of the hapless deliverologists, one could say that events ran ahead of them. The excuse would be more credible had they not triggered the events in question themselves. Besides, that's what events do: They run ahead. And that's why leadership matters. Rather than grappling with the easily anticipated consequences of his promise, Trudeau flung open the barn doors to legal weed then ambled off to smileytown, leaving the file in the hands of a political rookie with an established propensity to stand pat.

In his latest performance, Blair positioned himself as the arch-defender of Big Marijuana, the group of 31 producers licensed by the Harper government to grow the herb for medicinal use. After massively over-investing in a tiny market with barely 70,000 legal users, Big M is desperate for the government to clear gray-market competition out of the recreational market it hopes to dominate.

But making the world profitable for millionaire investors was not part of the mandate letter in which Trudeau ordered Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to legalize marijuana. And doing so, as Toronto has discovered, requires creating a whole new class of marijuana martyrs whose cases will continue to shame the federal government as they proceed prominently through the courts.

The popular dispensaries are Ottawa's Uber, and the response is paralysis.

That's not surprising, given the past quarter-century of cuts, retrenchment and making government smaller. The gurus are needed. But until their teachings take hold, the hard business of regulating the sale and use of recreational marijuana will fall to those lowly local officials who attend no retreats but actually know what they're doing.

John Barber is a Toronto-based freelance journalist.

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The Wynne government in Ontario is considering spending more than $300 million to patch up Canadas oldest nuclear generating station in hopes of keeping it running for another eight years or more. Its kind of like deciding to buy new tires, a new transmission and a new windshield for your 20-year-old Buick LeSabre, except this mechanical dinosaur is a giant nuclear plant located in the heart of our largest urban area.

Construction on Pickering began in the 1960s and its first reactors were powered up in 1971  the same year Led Zepplin released Stairway to Heaven. Despite 45 years of operation, its owner, Ontario Power Generation (OPG), only recently decided to see if the millions of people living around the plant are aware of its plans for what they should do in the event of an emergency at the plant. It quickly found out that a) local residents had no clue what they were supposed to do; and b) they werent buying OPGs plan to shelter in place (stay put) during a high-level emergency.

No other nuclear plant in North America even comes close to having as many people on its doorstep as the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station. The Indian Point nuclear plant outside New York City is No. 2 and has half as many people living within 30 kilometres. That has not stopped New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo from calling for Indian Point to be closed, especially in the wake of revelations that the aging plant is suffering from serious embrittlement of key components, including bolts that hold critical cooling system components in place.

Sadly, instead of seeing this kind of principled leadership in Ontario, we are seeing the opposite  a stealthy effort to keep an old and uneconomic nuclear dinosaur on life support. Pickering is already sucking up $900 million per year in out-of-market subsidies for its power. As one of the highest-cost nuclear plants on the continent, keeping Pickering running means higher electricity rates.

And its not like we need its power: In 2015, Ontario exported more power than Pickering produced  and lost money doing it.

So why after promising to close Pickering by 2020 at the latest are the Liberals now working to keep it limping along? It could be like your Buick: You bit the bullet on that costly new transmission and just cant admit it was a big mistake. Repairs to Pickerings reactors in the late 1990s went massively over budget and were years late in being completed.

The truth is, however, that fixing Pickering is like fixing your aging Buick  it is an ongoing and costly battle. One reactor has recently been offline for months for repairs and breakdowns and incidents are regular occurrences at North Americas fourth oldest nuclear station. Pickering was the site of the worst loss of coolant accident at a Canadian reactor, during which workers had to siphon heavy water off the floor of the containment building and back into the reactor in 1984.

Designed in the 1950s and 60s, Pickering is an unusual nuclear facility: It has multiple reactors sharing a single containment building and has no secondary fast shutdown system. Separate containment for individual reactors and redundant fast shutdown systems have been standard issue for most nuclear plants for years.

The real reason the government wants to keep Pickering going is that our energy planners remain some of the last people on the planet who still believe that nuclear energy is the best way to meet our need for a brightly lit home or a cold drink. Only France outranks us for dependence on nuclear energy.

Its a highly irrational belief, particularly when our neighbours to the east have a large and growing surplus of low-cost and safe water power available for export. But tapping into the power Quebec has available right now would mean admitting there are many better options than continuing to operate three aging  and gigantic  nuclear plants to meet our electricity needs. And just like with your Buick, some of our leaders just cant seem to let go.

The problem is, we are all going to pay the price for their love affair with this outdated technology.

Jack Gibbons is Chair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance.

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The past is no place to linger, Stephen Harper told delegates during a speech at the Conservative Party convention last week. The best is yet to come.

Harper, who is expected to end his political career at the end of the summer session of Parliament, showed unexpected humility in his address. But the Conservatives would do well to disobey their former leader and linger for a while on the recent past. There is much to learn from Harpers legacy.

The former prime ministers political achievements are undeniable. He built a powerful new conservative movement, which became a political party that toppled the Liberal juggernaut he had long despised. Then, during nearly a decade in office, Harper realized many of the dreams he had articulated as he united the right.

Tax as a percentage of GDP hit lows not seen in over half a century. The public service shrunk; in the 2012 budget alone, the Tories cut 19,000 government jobs. Ottawa all but stopped meeting with the provinces, leaving an empty chair at the head of the intergovernmental table. The justice system was reconceived as an implement primarily to punish, rather than rehabilitate. Our national security apparatus was built up, even as it stripped away our privacy.

The Star fought these ideas all the way, but they were what was promised, what many Canadians voted for and, if only incrementally, what was delivered. Whether or not you liked their ideology, the Harper Conservatives offered a clear choice. In that sense, at least, they strengthened our democracy.

But there are deeply troubling aspects of Harpers legacy that transcend ideology  ones his party should want to purge as it rebuilds, and that the new government ought to reflect on if it is to steel itself against the corrupting influence of power.

Harper and his team too often used fear, division and obfuscation to pursue their agenda or score political points, obscuring the costs and consequences of their policies.

They played shamelessly on public anxiety about terrorism, refugees, even niqabs, muddying already difficult policy debates and spreading rancour. The same tendency was particularly destructive in the case of crime policy. Even as the crime rate continued its steady, decades-long decline, Harper drove up the cost of the criminal justice system, increasing the federal prison population by 25 per cent.

These were not conservative policies. Seen through any ideological lens, they were ugly political tactics that exploited and exacerbated fear, cost taxpayers billions of dollars, and actually made us less safe, not more so.

Abuse of our democratic institutions was another signature of the Harper Conservatives that united critics of all stripes in scorn.

The prime minister knew well how wrong this tendency was. For instance, as a young opposition MP, Harper spoke eloquently about the undemocratic nature of omnibus bills. Yet, once in government, his own budget bills regularly filled hundreds of pages, surpassing by far the length and diversity of any that came before. Neither parliamentarians nor voters knew what was in them.

Or take the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Harper created the position soon after he was elected, supposedly to hold government to account for its spending in the wake of the sponsorship scandal. But at every turn, he fought the office, denying it the information it needed to do the important work it was designed to do.

Perhaps worse, Harper waged war not just on debate, but also on evidence. His government shut down more than 200 scientific programs and facilities, many of them environment-related; killed the long-form census, which the Liberals have since restored; and deep-sixed the office of the National Science Adviser. Whatever produced inconvenient data was shuttered. Harper was committed to keeping Canadians in the dark, even if it meant he had to govern in the dark, too.

Democracy is well-served by having real and clearly defined choices. But it is corroded when our leaders sow division and fear and undermine our democratic institutions. Politicians, whatever their ideology, should linger on these lessons of the Harper years. The better future the former prime minister portends, both for his party and his country, depends on it.

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News / National

by Stephen Jakes

The Zimbabwe Peace Project has reported that in April people in Manicaland were being forced by the ruling Zanu PF members to contribute some money towards independence celebrations.ZPP said the period was characterised by harassment, theft and coerced monetary contributions as people were forced to contribute monies towards the Independence Day celebrations."In some instances villagers who failed to pay were labelled sell outs while in others traditional leaders threatened them with denial of food assistance in the event that they fail to pay," reported ZPP."On 16 April 2016, Chief Chipfatsura (Solomon Chipfatsura) of Ward 4 Mutare North issued out orders through his aide, Danmore Matopi, that all villagers had to contribute $1-00 each towards the Independence Day celebrations. The order affected even the economically weak who could not afford the money in this environment of liquidity and cash shortages. It is important to note that traditional leaders are engaging themselves in state and political party issues a thing outside their mandate."ZPP rerported that in Chimanimani West Ward 17, councillor Lovemore Utseya of Zanu-PF, forced villagers to pay $1-00 per household towards the Independence Day celebrations. It said the actor claimed that those that failed to pay would not access food aid in the ward. The order affected even the elderly including 80-year-old Mbuya Zunde (not real name) of Village 17."On 12 April 2016, in Mutare North, Chief Chipfatsura Ward 4 forced people in the ward to attend a ward meeting where he threatened those who refuse to pay US$1-00 towards the Independence Day celebrations that they risk accessing food aid if they failed to adhere to the instruction. The threat affected the unemployed, who included Joshua Sanangurayi and Phineas Manduku (not real names)," said ZPP.ZPP said when a parliamentary committee held some public hearings in the province to solicit people's views on the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) Bill, some of the meetings were disrupted by war veterans who felt that the commission was being disrespectful of the state and the province after the province had lost two distinguished war gurus in the likes of Victoria Chitepo and Vivian Mwashita."The war veterans' queried the holding of the consultative meeting in Mutare on the day when two of its daughters were being laid to rest at the National Heroes Acre," reported ZPP.ZPP also reported that the MDC-T organised a well attended International Women's Day celebration at Watsomba Business Centre Mutasa Central on 2 April 2016."Thokozani Khupe- the MDC-T Vice President. Zanu-PF did not attend the event. Mutasa Central is represented by Trevor Saruwaka who is an MDC-T Member of Parliament," said ZPP.
Re: Anti-bullying policy voted down in Halton, May25

Anti-bullying policy voted down in Halton, May25

This situation makes a very strong argument for why the Catholic school board needs to be done away with. Theres no room for antiquated attitudes in school systems. The Catholic Church and Catholic school board refuse to move with the times and they no longer have a place in modern society.

We need to make certain that children, pre-teens and teenagers, have safe environments to live and learn in. They cannot be subjected to being bullied for any reason because the Bible does, or does not, say so. If the Catholic school board accepts government funding, then they need to follow policies that are in keeping with the governments standard.

This comes from a parent whose two children attended Toronto Catholic schools. Because of that, I saw first hand how unbending and outdated the school system is.

Trish Courneya, Toronto

Perhaps it is time Catholic school boards are sent a clear message: they cannot take public funds and cater to religious dogma at the same time, especially when that dogma singles out a segment of society whose rights and freedoms have been recognised after long, hard-fought legal and societal battles. Those wins are precarious as witnessed by the legally sanctioned bigotry in some American states.

I resent having a portion of my taxes being used to fund this kind of intolerance. It is time to reverse the error made by Bill Davis and end public funding of any and all religious-based schools. There can be no clearer example set in keeping church and state separate, as they should be.

Rob Graham, Toronto

While the position taken by the Halton Catholic District School Board on the language of sexual orientation and gender identity is, in itself, repugnant, especially in a progressive country like Canada, and in this day and age, the idea that it receives public funding to do so is utterly hair-raising.

Surely, the time has come to withdraw public funding from parochial education. If Constitutional amendments are required, we should get on it without undue delay.

James McKnight (Rev.), St. Catharines

Enough is enough! It is time to protect our students from sexual discrimination and bullying in our schools. We must merge the Catholic and public school systems into one public school system that is sensitive to the needs of our trans-gendered and gay students. The upside is that such a merger would save billions of dollars annually which could be used to improve the education of our children of all faiths.

William Phillips, Toronto

The shameful hypocrisy of the Ontario Liberal government, whose hysteria-driven 2007 campaign against public funding of all faith-based schools (except for Catholic schools), was central in winning the party its 2007 provincial election win, cannot be ignored.

The chief proponent and supporter of this blatantly discriminatory position, Kathleen Wynne (under her then-mentor, Dalton McGuinty), is now conspicuously silent on the unspeakable discrimination and non-adherence to the law that another faith-based school system, the Catholic School Board of Ontario, which is publicly funded, is committing in its failure to support an anti-bullying law. This law is on the books to protect children because of gender identity or sexual orientation.

Ironically, one would think that Ms Wynne would actively target any school board that is violating a provincial policy that has been legally set up under Ontarios Education Act and the Canadian Human Rights Code to protect our children. Instead, she is maintaining an unconscionable silence on such a stance, which is ironically taken by a publicly funded faith-based school system which  when for political purposes  Ms Wynne and her then-boss rallied against, in order to win an election.

Can we expect Ms Wynne to finally do the right thing, and either save Ontario taxpayers millions of dollars, and withdraw funding for Catholic schools that flagrantly choose to disobey Ontario law?

Alternatively, Ontario should provide that same funding for all faith-based schools, as is the case in virtually every other province in this country, so that equal standards can be applied and provincial guidelines can be enforced across the board.

Neil Henderson, Thornhill

Your editorial is exactly right; there are some hard to believe aspects of the Halton Catholic District School Board vote on a policy update protecting children from being bullied because of sexual orientation or gender identity. But the hard to believe parts are not necessarily what your editorial suggests.

Its hard to believe that the Star could refer to a 4-3 vote as wrong-headed. Its hard to believe that the Star would suggest that voting against the policy update would leave the impression that children can bully based on sexual orientation and gender identity when the Star knows very well that this is not the intent and is grossly misleading.

And its hard to believe that the chair of the board, Jane Michael, would openly castigate some of her board members for voting against the policy updates. Voting ones conscience is the basis of our democratic process; to suggest that when the vote goes against anothers views, the vote is wrong-headed, gives the wrong impression and is shocking because it is not supported by the chair is, well, hard to believe.

Donald Cangiano, Oakville

The Halton Catholic School Board trustees have a duty of care and protection for all of the children in their system, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. The trustees cannot be permitted to abdicate that duty under any circumstance, particularly when the children under discussion are part of an already vulnerable population.

To put off the process of care and protection for any reason, or for any period of time, is punitive and immoral.

If the board continues to be unwilling to exercise its duty to recognize and respect all students regardless of their sexual orientation, then the board must be sanctioned and directed to comply by the Ministry of Education and by the Attorney Generals Office via the Human Rights Act.

One of the definitions of the word trustee is guardian. The trustees are designated guardians of all students not just the ones that they choose to care about.

Shame!

Garry Stuart, Burlington

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Re: Inside Mexico's ghost unions, May 22

Inside Mexico's ghost unions, May 22

The rampant Mexican practice of resorting to ghost unions not only has a devastating impact on hapless Mexican workers but also is patently unfair to Canadian workers. Canada cannot compete fairly while the Mexican government is rigging the system.

The odious custom of protective contracts, which is encouraged by the Mexican government by colluding with employers and unions, is a highly concerning for Canadians. This serious issue needs to be promptly and forcefully addressed by our federal government.

It is time for Canada to step in and impose stiff sanctions on Mexico in view of the host of Mexican labour violations perpetrated under NAFTA, which negatively impact on Canadian jobs and our economy. We cannot stand passively on the sidelines any longer.

Rudy Fernandes, Mississauga

The sad state of unionized labour in Mexico should not be a surprise. When NAFTA was signed, the labour and environmental safeguards were put into side agreements. Much was made of these labour and environmental safeguards, but they were always pretty much useless.

The labour side agreement contains 11 worker rights commitments, but only three of them (minimum wage, child labour and occupational health and safety) are enforceable by sanctions. The right of workers to organize, to go on strike and to bargain collectively are unenforceable.

This was not a mistake. The only provisions of NAFTA that really have teeth are the investor rights ones that allow large multinational corporations to sue NAFTA member nations for compensation in the event their reasonable expectation of profits is disappointed.

As with all of our so-called free trade agreements, profits come before people.

Paul Bigioni, Pickering

How can Canada compete with two countries that suppress labour rights so thoroughly? The U.S., with their union suppressing Right to Work (for peanuts) Act, and Mexico where union leaders are eliminated all together.

This NAFTA deal is more a free market for employers to abuse employees, and has very little real benefit for our economy unless we treat our employees as callously as the rest.

NAFTA is just a means the 1 per cent has set up to turn Canada into a Third World labour market.

Richard Kadziewicz, Scarborough

To Chrystia Freeland, Minister of International Trade:

By luck I happened to have the chance to listen to your remarks to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce event in Ottawa last week.

I was very interested to hear about the governments plans for progressive trade deals that actually help the Canadian middle class and I was fascinated by the fact that you meet with high ranking Mexican officials on a weekly basis.

In the opinion of many, NAFTA has been a progressively growing disaster for the Canadian middle class. Our soaring trade deficit with Mexico is the cold, hard and indisputable evidence of the real world NAFTA effect that has wiped out so much of our industrial core and stunted so much of our national economic potential.

To be fair, the term trade deficit has slipped from fashionable discourse but that sucking sound I hear emanating from Ontarios free trade generated rust belt never lets me forget it.

It is my personal view that the best word to describe the opposite of free trade is not protectionism as I far prefer the old fashioned term patriotism.

Finally, the day I see 100,000 or even 50,000 people on the street anywhere on this planet demonstrating in favour of the latest, greatest free trade deal I will start believing that free trade policy really is meant to help people not just transnational corporations and their privileged beneficiaries.

Mike Vorobej, Ottawa

Here we are 20 some years later and finally we are seeing the reality of the NAFTA deal. Phony unions, garbage pay, bad environment and virtually every big name company with plants there. And virtually every politician but Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders saying what a great deal it is. This is partly why Trump and Saunders are doing so well. People now know this deal stinks and is responsible for the loss of manufacturing sector jobs in both the U.S. and Canada.

I hope every believer in free trade reads this excellent article. It exposes the horrible reality of NAFTA. Of course, NAFTA was just the start. If the TPP comes in, we will literally be work slaves to these corporations.

While I appreciate the Star exposing this, you have wonder why no other major media outlet has really had anything to say about this side of the NAFTA deal?

While many wring their hands over what is happening at the ballot box in many countries, its these kind of trade deals that have resulted in people like Trump being in a position to win.

Greece has seen a rise in a Nazi-style party called the Red Dawn. France has the National Front, headed by the daughter of a far right racist rabble rouser. Germany has the National Democratic Party. Austria is about to vote in a far right leader from the Freedom Party. Note how all these right wing parties always try to use the word democratic or freedom to lull opponents into thinking they are a centre styled party.

Now the big question remains: Can we as a society stop the 1 per cent from gaining complete control of our society.

Gary Brigden, Toronto

Good work, attempting to distract readers from the poverty here in Canada with this headline, the same poverty that has also risen due to corporate greed post-NAFTA. TPP or any of the other trading bloc creations/agreements wont make things any better. We aint seen nothin yet, and what we should be looking for is to tear them all down and to let the global economy reset itself organically.

Greg Kusiak, St Catharines

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11 day itinerary with 8 full days spend on Ambrym

Note:

For an expedition like this, any program presented must be considered indicative: unexpected changes in flight schedules, volcanic and weather conditions etc. could make modifications in the actual itinerary necessary. In particular, it could result in that the return to Port Vila must be anticipated by one day. In this (unlikely) case, the additional day on Efate would be dedicated to a scenic round trip around Efate.

On request, modifications are possible as well - e.g. to spend one more day inside the caldera and one day less in Toak (although we highly recommend the presented itinerary).

Day 1: Arrival on Vanuatu (Port Vila, Efate Island)

Arrival at the Airport of Port Vila & transfer to Port Vila town.



Day 2: Efate - Ambrym (charter flight with sightseeing)

Morning departure from Efate (Port Vila) to Ambrym (chartered plane) with scenic overfly to Lopevi volcano and the Ambrym caldera.

Meeting with the exceptional family of your guide and transfer to the village with a stop at the hot springs of Sesivi with a refreshment at the ocean shore. Welcome ceremony. Afternoon & evening to discover the village.



Day 3: Ascend into the caldera - Marum volcano

Hike and ascent into the caldera. Installation of the base camp, picnic lunch with traditional food and hike to discover Marum volcano.



Day 4: Benbow volcano

Expedition to the crater of Benbow. Descend (abseiling) into its crater optional, conditions permitting (trained guides assist you with professional equipment). Return to the base camp in the evening.



Day 5-6: Marum & Benbow - spare days in the caldera

2 more days in the Ambrym caldera to discover Marum and Benbow inside the large Ambrym caldera in order to maximize photo / video opportunities.



Day 7: Crossing of the caldera - descend to Endu

Cross the entire caldera and descend to the east coast of the island to the charming and unspoiled village of Endu on the east coast, where you'll be welcomed with lots of smiles. A welcome ceremony and a wonderful local dinner wait for you.



Day 8-9: Culture and Traditions of Endu

Two full days to discover the traditional culture and life of the village Endu: visit the schools, see dances, magic, medicine, local crafts and assist the preparation of the pig - the highest of ceremonial meals.



Day 10: Return flight to Port Vila

Transfer from ENDU to the Penapo village to discover one of the largest Banyan trees on the island. After lunch flight to Port Vila. Free time, relax.



Day 11: End of tour

Transfer to airport or own extension (recommended: 1-day tour on Efate).



Dates and details
PVMBG reported that during 21-27 September white gas-and-steam plumes rose as high as 400 m above the rim of Tengger Caldera's Bromo cone and drifted SW, W, and NW. White-and-gray plumes rose as high as 500 m during 22-23 September. A weak thermal anomaly was visible in Sentinel-2 infrared satellite images on 22 and 27 September. Read all PVMBG reported that during 18-24 August white gas-and-steam plumes rose 50-400 m above Tengger Caldera's Bromo cone and drifted SW, W, and NW. A weak thermal anomaly was visible in Sentinel-2 infrared satellite images on 23 August. The Alert Level remained at 2 (on a scale of 1-4), and visitors were warned to stay outside of a 1-km radius of the crater. Read all

PVMBG reported that during 3-9 August white steam-and-gas plumes rose as high as 400 m above Tengger Caldera's Bromo cone and drifted NW, W, and SW. Thermal anomalies were visible in satellite images on 3 and 8 August; a weaker anomaly was also visible on 29 July. The Alert Level remained at 2 (on a scale of 1-4), and visitors were warned to stay outside of a 1-km radius of the crater. Read all PVMBG reported that during 14-17 May white-and-gray plumes rose as high as 500 m above the summit of Tengger Caldera's Bromo cone and drifted in multiple directions. A sulfur odor was noted at the observation post. The Alert Level remained at 2 (on a scale of 1-4), and visitors were warned to stay outside of a 1-km radius of the crater. Read all PVMBG reported that during 30 March-5 April white steam-and-gas plumes rose 50-700 m above the summit of Tengger Caldera's Bromo cone. The plumes were white to gray during 1-2 April. The Alert Level remained at 2 (on a scale of 1-4), and visitors were warned to stay outside of a 1-km radius of the crater. Read all

Background:

Gunung Bromo (Mount Bromo) volcano is a small, but active volcanic cinder cone on the Indonesian island of Java. Bromo is located in the center of the Sandsea Caldera, itself only a portion of the larger Tengger Caldera. The Sandsea caldera formed around 8,000 years ago, in what must have been a massive eruption. Subsequent volcanic activity formed the cluster of cinder cones in the caldera's center, including Bromo.

The historical record indicates eruptions of Bromo every few years since 1804, and geologic evidence indicates eruptions at least several hundred years earlier. The most recent eruption occured in 2004 , and tragically killed two tourists.

The image above shows most of the Sandsea Caldera, along with Gunung Bromo and the older volcanoes on the caldera floor. A small plume of steam is visible rising out of Mt. Bromo. Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite, capable of 4-meter per-pixel color imagery, and 1-meter per-pixel resolution panchromatic imagery, acquired the data on July 8, 2001.
Day 8-13: Extension to Semeru & Ijen volcanoes D8: Maumere - fly to Bali and on to Malang. Night in homestay. (B,L,D) D9: Malang - Ranupani by jeep - hike to Kalimati camp (5 hrs easy to moderate trek). Camp. (B,L,D) D10: Climb to the summit of Semeru (4 hrs challenging trek) - return to Ranupani (5 hrs) - transfer to Malang. Homestay (B,L,D) D11: Malang - transfer Surabaya ( 3 hrs) - flight to Banyuwangi at 12.00. Hotel near Ijen (Ijen resort). (B,L,D) D12: Climb Ijen at night (if conditions allowing) - return to hotel as before, option to visit volcano observatory and/or sulfur processing factory if operational. (B,L,D) D13: Morning transfer to Bali by car (6 hrs). End of tour in afternoon, in time for evening departures from Bali. (B,L)

Day 1-8: Batu Tara expedition (8 days) Day 1: Arrival & meeting in Denpasar, Bali Arrival in Denpasar airport, transfer to hotel at Jimbaran. Group dinner and briefing for the expedition. Accommodation: beach hotel Sari Segara Jimbaran or similar (D) Day 2: Denpasar - Maumere - Larantuka Flight to Maumere, land transfer to Larantuka city (4 hrs) and preparation of the expedition. Acc.: comfortable beach hotel (B,L,D) Day 3: Sail to Batu Tara From Larantuka, we sail to Komba Island on a traditional TUNA fisherman boat to Komba island (8-9 hours) depending on weather conditions. Set up camp site on the beach. Acc.: camp (B,L,D) Day 4-5: 2 full days at Batu Tara Acc.: camp (B,L,D) Day 6: Sail back to Flores Acc.: beach hotel on Larantuka (B,L,D) Day 7: Transfer to Maumere Transfer back to Maumere, visit traditional sea-salt "factories", scenic photo stops underway (e.g. Lewotobi & Egon volcano) Acc.: comfortable beach hotel (Sea World) (B,L,D) Day 8: flight back to Bali, end of expedition Fly to Denpasar. End of expedition. Participant can extend their stay (e.g. Raung or Ijen) Acc.: none (B)

Batu Tara in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia, is one of the world's few volcanoes with persistent strombolian activity and in fact resembles Stromboli in Italy a lot. The volcano has daily spectacular fireworks, and often produces ash plumes detected on satellite images. Extension programs : On request, we offer you several extensions as individual add-ons: 1) extension to Semeru & Ijen volcanoes in East Java 2) extension to another currently active volcano in Indonesia, dep. on circumstances

D8: Maumere - fly to Bali and on to Malang. Night in homestay. (B,L,D) D9: Malang - Ranupani by jeep - hike to Kalimati camp (5 hrs easy to moderate trek). Camp. (B,L,D) D10: Climb to the summit of Semeru (4 hrs challenging trek) - return to Ranupani (5 hrs) - transfer to Malang. Homestay (B,L,D) D11: Malang - transfer Surabaya ( 3 hrs) - flight to Banyuwangi at 12.00. Hotel near Ijen (Ijen resort). (B,L,D) D12: Climb Ijen at night (if conditions allowing) - return to hotel as before, option to visit volcano observatory and/or sulfur processing factory if operational. (B,L,D) D13: Morning transfer to Bali by car (6 hrs). End of tour in afternoon, in time for evening departures from Bali. (B,L)

Day 1: Arrival & meeting in Denpasar, Bali Arrival in Denpasar airport, transfer to hotel at Jimbaran. Group dinner and briefing for the expedition. Accommodation: beach hotel Sari Segara Jimbaran or similar (D) Day 2: Denpasar - Maumere - Larantuka Flight to Maumere, land transfer to Larantuka city (4 hrs) and preparation of the expedition. Acc.: comfortable beach hotel (B,L,D) Day 3: Sail to Batu Tara From Larantuka, we sail to Komba Island on a traditional TUNA fisherman boat to Komba island (8-9 hours) depending on weather conditions. Set up camp site on the beach. Acc.: camp (B,L,D) Day 4-5: 2 full days at Batu Tara Acc.: camp (B,L,D) Day 6: Sail back to Flores Acc.: beach hotel on Larantuka (B,L,D) Day 7: Transfer to Maumere Transfer back to Maumere, visit traditional sea-salt "factories", scenic photo stops underway (e.g. Lewotobi & Egon volcano) Acc.: comfortable beach hotel (Sea World) (B,L,D) Day 8: flight back to Bali, end of expedition Fly to Denpasar. End of expedition. Participant can extend their stay (e.g. Raung or Ijen) Acc.: none (B)

Discounts: Returning customers receive 5% (or 8% - if you have been on at least 3 trips with us) discount on the base tour price. Group booking discount: If at least 4 people together book this trip, 5% (additional) discount is given, combineable to a maximum of 10%.

"thank you again for organising such a fantastic alternative tour" (Bromo, Semeru, Ijen) Strombolian explosion at Semeru volcano (image: Kat Spruth) "Morning Ingrid/Tom from Australia,



Just wanted to say thank you again for organising such a fantastic alternative tour for me in Bali- had a great time -Semeru was amazing despite the duration on top being cut a bit short due to torrential rain and thunder- (wet season adventures!! :-))



Galih was a fantastic tour guide and a credit to your team wouldn't hesitate to do another tour with him and in fact can't wait to get back to Bali and see some more- he was full of suggestions on other active volcanoes and Ai love the more challenging hikes.... i was a little amazed to see just how commercialized and busy Ijen had become since I went there last (my friend had organised a side trip from Bali- no where near as good as going with volcanoadventures!)

...

Thanks!!!

Kat"

(K. Spruth, Australia about her Bromo, Semeru, Ijen tour in Nov 2016)

"I am convinced that I couldn't have found any better tour option to discover these magnificent volcanoes of Indonesia" (Aravind P. about the Volcanoes of East Java tour) Bromo strongly degassing at sunrise, September 2016 (image: Aravind P.) Incandescant lava at Semeru volcano after an explosive eruption, September 2016 (image: Aravind P.) Restless mount Semeru, September 2016 (image: Aravind P.) "Hi Tom and Ingrid,



Hope you guys are doing fine, perhaps busy with some volcanic adventures!.

I came back to Switzerland well after a great holiday in Indonesia. ...

...This was certainly a superb tour and wonderful exploration of the active volcanoes of east Java within the limits of time and possibility of all that can be done.

Galih did a great job in guiding me well throughout the trip. He was very flexible, open to requests and definitely gave a great company. More so, I enjoyed all those wonderful discussions on Volcanoes with him. It was certainly a very educative trip for me, but all the more a big event in watching a real lava rock fall/partial flow after Semeru's strombolian explosion. ... wow, what a spectacular setting!. I am now even more enthusiastic to explore more volcanoes in the future. I have some wonderful moments to remember from the entire tour. I am convinced that I couldn't have found any better tour option to discover these magnificent volcanoes of Indonesia.



Sincere thanks to the company and Galih and Ganz herzclichen Dank zu Tom and Ingrid! ...

...I now know whom to approach for serious volcanic explorations and ... I am sure to contact you guys again sometime in the future :-).



Good luck for volcano discovery!

best, Aravind"

(Aravind P. from Switzerland, about his private Volcanoes of East Java tour in September 2016)

"thank you very much for the formidable trip" (Batu Tara volcano expedition) Watching an eruption of Batu Tara volcano "Hello Tom,



... We wanted to thank you (as well as Andi, Galih and the team) very much for the formidable trip. It was our first trip with you but we came out very happy with the experience. In particular, we were very pleased with the following :



(1) excellent organization and logistics and good food (especially in challenging Batu Tara conditions) with no hic-ups or problems encountered,

(2) great flexibility to accommodate changes until the last minute (we were very happy to have chosen Rinjani as Andi must have told you),

(3) small groups that make the trip so much enjoyable, and

(4) a very good guide (Andi), knowledgeable, flexible, passionate...



Again many thanks for the trip and we will be looking forward to

joining another trip with you soon. Enjoy Colima and Guatemala and

have a great holiday season and a wonderful New Year!



See you soon,

Judith and Fady"

(from The Netherlands & France, about the Batu Tara volcano expedition in November 2015)

...a wonderful trip with an excellent guide... (Volcanoes of East Java tour) "Dear Ingrid,



I'm sitting here in a coffee bar on Kuta beach walk and fill the time

between two espressi to write these few lines about my trip.

I enjoyed it very much. Organisation, accommodation and transfers went

well. Galih was guiding with a lot of passion, competence and patience.

Especially Krakatau was one of the highlights.

Unfortunatly Ijien was closed due to vulcanic activities.

But apart from that, a wonderful trip with an excellent guide.

Thank you



(Thomas N. from Germany, on his private October 2015 which was customised with an extension to Krakatau)

a marvelous trip that exceeded even my high expectations "Tom,

now my wife and I are at home after our From Krakatao to Bali trip and I want to thank you for a great experience. It was a marvelous trip that exceeded even my high expectations. Some comments:



a) Galih was an excellent guide both in terms of trekking volcanoes and giving us an insight into Indonesian culture.



b) The drivers, especially the first one (Danny?), was exceptional in smoothly and safely navigating the maze of cars and motorbikes.



c) My initial concerns (based on Internet comments) about the Batavia (now De Rivier) Hotel in Jakarta were misplaced. This hotel is very good for its price, and it provides comfort and a unique atmosphere. I am glad we stayed there.



d) The itinerary was thoughtfully planned and well executed. Emphasis on early morning departures for good light and diminished crowds was very appropriate.



e) Having hammocks on Krakatau was most welcome. It was much better than sleeping in the tent, and to my great surprise, there were no (or very few) mosquitoes or other biting insects.



f) On the first night we were the only tourists on Krakatau, and the morning walk up the volcano was a real pleasure. On the second (weekend) night there were already many people camping there, and the walk on the following day would not have been as pleasant. Keeping away from weekends on Krakatau is indeed very desirable.



g) The Ijen Resort was a highlight of the trip. It is one of the most beautifully located hotels we have ever encountered over many decades of world travel.



h) Although the last hotel on Bali was fine and its location did not affect us, it is not on the beach as the trip outline on the web indicates. Had we expected to have a great beach-experience, we would have been disappointed.



i) We were surprised about the few American volcano tourists. You may use us references, if you wish.



With appreciation and best wishes,



Peter"

(Peter K., about the Krakatau to Bali tour)

"He is amazing" "Just wanted to say I'm very impressed with Andi. He is amazing...." (Michael D., Volcano Special to Sinabung)

"The tour was excellent, exceeded all expectations." (Krakatau to Bali photo tour) "Hi Tom,

I am finally home . The tour was excellent, exceeded all expectations. Galih made the trip very interesting and was a pleasure to know. He kept us informed on everything and every where we went. I hope to catch up with him again. Thanks for organising such a great tour, it will have lasting memories .

Cheers

Vic"

(from from Bridgetown, Australia about the Krakatau to Bali photo tour)

...all the family is very happy and we will all remember these holidays all our life... "Hi Tom,

We have just finished our trip in Java : we enjoyed it a lot, all the family is very happy and we will all remember these holidays all our life.

Andi is very professional, very nice and did his best to make the trip interesting for our kids. My husband was very happy to take beautiful pictures. And I was happy to do some trekking on volcanoes.

I hope other families can enjoy this trip in the future.

We look forward to make another trip with Volcano Discovery,

Thank you for all the organization,

Kind regards,

Maud" (Maud S., Singapore, Volcanoes of East Java custom tour"

See also: Frederick's photos from the tour

Feedback for the tour "from Krakatoa to Bali" in August 2013 Hi VolcanoDiscovery-Team,



We have just finished our trip in Java : we enjoyed it a lot, all the family is very happy and we will all remember these holidays all our life.



Andi is very professional, very nice and did his best to make the trip interesting for our kids. My husband was very happy to take beautiful pictures. And I was happy to do some trekking on volcanoes.



I hope other families can enjoy this trip in the future.



We look forward to make another trip with Volcano Discovery,



Thank you for all the organization,



Kind regards,



Maud

"... this tour was one of the best in our lives" (Volcanoes of East Java tour) Group on Bromo "

We returned from our trip to Bromo and Ijen on Sunday evening. This is the first time now that I can sit to my computer and - believe me - my very first act is to write to you about our trip.

First off the overall opinion of my family is that this tour was one of the best in our lives. We visited many beautiful places in exceptionally good weather and with a very professional and caring tour guide Galih.

I've been living here in Indonesia for one and a half year and I've learned that timing and information handling is a bit strange here for a European. But this time it was quite different. I got immediate responses to my SMSs and emails from Galih, his planning and execution of our days were just flawless. They were very helpful to us, he explained everything in details, always adjusted the pacing of the day to our experience level, supplied us food snacks and drinks in the right time.



Keep up the great operation!!



Best regards:

Gyorgy" (Hungary, Volcanoes of East Java tour)

"The trip was superb..." (Richard H., Krakatau to Bali tour) "Hello Tom: just got back from Java this morning. The trip was superb and I just wanted to tell you how much we appreciated Andi and Galih who stepped in when Andi became sick. Everyone has an excellent visit and learnt a great deal. Krakatua and Ijen were my personal highlights.

Best wishes Dick" (Richard H., Australia)

"...most amazing tour" (Volcanoes of Java tour) "

Just a quick email to say thank you for what was the most amazing tour (Volcanoes of Java) in August. Galih was an informative and helpful guide - he was incredibly knowledgeable and catered to all our needs. We were able to experience every volcano we had time for (sacrificed some sleep to fit in an extra couple!) and it was well worth it.

The highlight was most definitely seeing lava bubbling on the floor of Merapi crater - something to tick off the bucket list! I rarely go on holiday and feel such a sense of achievement at the end of it.

As a Geography teacher, this was a dream come true and would not hesitate to recommend VolcanoDiscovery to anybody - thank you so much. Both of you were incredibly helpful in your email correspondence prior to the tour and I received my gas mask well in time. I hope to travel with your company again in the future."

(Tina P., Coventry, UK)

"thoroughly enjoyed the trip" (Java Volcanoes Trekking tour) Inside the crater of Krakatau Sunrise from Semeru volcano Horse-riding at Bromo "HI Tom,

...

I just wanted to give you some feed-back on my recent trip: Volcanoes of Java: 8-24 July 2012.

My son Zakkary & I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. We feel that your guide, Andi did a wonderful job and represented your company extremely well. You've got a good guy there!

Little surprises like including some beer with many meals and a T shirt are very appreciated.

I would highly recommend your company and hope, when I can find the time to perhaps use your services in Vanuatu at some stage.

Thanks once again,

David" (Australia)

Wonderful landscapes Volcanoes of Java Dear ###VD### Team,

after returning from Java / Bali, I'd like to send you a a quick report about our trip. Marita and I felt super well on the tour from the very first day until the end. Andi took great care of Marita and could almost read every wish from her lips. Despite her pregnancy, she could enjoy the tour and would not have liked to miss a single day. I got to know Andi as extremely caring and responsible tour guide, one who also has great competence in photography - something rare to find! His enthousiastic way to show us Indonesia and the beauty of volcanoes is contagious from the first moment and makes wanting for MORE!

Marita und I would like to thank you and your team very warmly for the great tour. As a side note, we appreciated a lot that the maximum number of participants was set to only 6, which made for a very pleasant experience of the whole trip.

Many greetings

Dietmar and Marita

"I thank you again for this fantastic trip and the enthusiasm, your service to get up early every day. This is not as a matter of course.

Claus and Anna" (Krakatau to Bali photo tour)

...what a great time we had...

"Hi Tom

We are now back from our holiday in Indonesia. Just wanted to drop you a message to say what a great time we had with Andi. The blue flames of Kawah Ijen were really a special sight to see, I'm amazed its not more nown as a tourist destination. Almost all the people we spoke to at Ijen during the day didn't know what wonders can be seen at night. Bromo was great too. Overall we had a fantastic time, many thanks. Phil H." (Volcanoes of East Java private tour)



Feedback about the Bromo, Semeru, Ijen trekking tour "Hi Tom,

Just wanted to let you know what a great trip to East Java we had earlier this month. It was a fantastic trip with spectacular sights resulting in some 500+ pictures. We really enjoyed ourselves and had a great guide with Galih. Also the porters and drivers we had did a great job. We were very pleased to see that the porters not only collected our garbage but also others'. It is really quite sad to see that others just drop theirs.

Cheers, Elke and Kai" (Malaysia)

Katharina's feedback (in German) about the Krakatau to Bali tour (July 2009) "Hallo Tobias, hallo Tom

Ich bereue nichts !!! Eine fantastische, anspruchsvolle Tour wird sich in meiner Erinnerung einpragen, als eine meiner schonsten Reisen uberhaupt.

... Ich bedanke mich bei Tobias fur die guten Tipps zum noch besser Fotografieren und bei Ihnen beiden fur die perfekt organisierte und durch wirklich fahige Leute gefuhrte Tour. Ich kann mir gut vorstellen, dass dies nicht die einzige bleiben wird, die ich bei VulcanoDiscovery gebucht habe. Das Gleichgewicht zwischen Anstrengung und Geniessen entspricht so ziemlich genau meinen Bedurfnissen, damit ich mich gefordert und zufrieden fuhle.

Nochmals vielen Dank und die herzliche Grusse aus der Schweiz

Katharina"

Andy's comment on the Krakatau to Bali tour (July 2009) Antony on the boat to Rakata island near Anak Krakatau "Dear Volcanodiscovery and my Tour Guide Andy,

I would like to thank you both for the great trip that you provided. I found

the organisation was excellent and the food at many of the restaurants was superb.

I think the highlight was Krakatoa which is really an amazing volcano, and

some of the high climbs which were very exciting. Every volcano we visited

was a bit different.

Andy is a very experienced guide, who can take you as close to any volcano

in the tour as you like as deemed safe by him. Most of all I was very

impressed with Andy's enthusiasm, he loves the volcanoes and it really shows in his own keenness to see them over and over again.

Indonesia I found overall was also very scenic. And I would encourage others

to book this tour before the masses find out about it!!

I hope that one day a tour will be offered to Sumatra and Andy can lead the way once again.



Cheers

Dr Antony V.E., Melbourne Australia."

Peter from Denmark about the Krakatau special tour: Hello Tom. My journey home, went without problems. As i told, this visit to krakatau was the fullfilment of a life long dream for me. To see an active volcano and a famous one to. you, Doni, Marco and the others was very fine company. I liked to be together with you, it was a good experience and would like to do it again... My best gretings.

Peter"

"I have had a great time in Indonesia, enjoyed almost every minute of the trip. It was a great adventure in good company - a lot of fun. Be sure to look me up when you're next in NZ, I'll show you some local ignimbrite. Hope you like the attached pic. Cheers Jim." (Jim Cummings, NZ)





Blick in Teufels Kuche" Bromo (Foto: Hanspeter Ulrich)

Herzlichen Dank fur die unvergessliche Reise quer durch Java nach Bali! Die Organisation vom Volcanodiscovery-Team vor der Reise und die Leitung von Doni wahrend der Tour haben bestens geklappt. Doni hat uns kompetent und mit viel Gefuhl durch ein Land gefuhrt das wir bisher nicht kannten. Er hat uns eine Menge uber die wunderbare Natur und das lebensfrohe Volk Javas und Balis mit Begeisterung naher gebracht.

Nachfolgend einige der vielen Highlights: romantisches Campieren in Sichtweite von Anak Krakatau und das Jurassic-Park Feeling der Tengger Caldera mit Bromo und Semeru zu allen Tageszeiten.

Der Besuch des Muddflow-Katastrophengebietes von Porong sowie des Schwefelabbaus im Ijen war sehr eindrucklich und hat uns auch nachdenklich gestimmt.Die langen Fahrten mit den verschiedensten Transportmitteln waren sehr abwechslungsreich. Wir genossen die schmackhaft zubereiteten indonesischen Gerichte vor allem in den kleinen Restaurants. Am langen schwarzen Strand vom weniger touristischen Nordbali hatten wir Zeit die eindrucklichen Erlebnisse der letzten 16 Tage Revue passieren zu lassen.

Das ruhig gelegene Bali Lovina Beach Cottages ist eine sehr gute Wahl. Wir werden euch auf alle Falle weiterempfehlen und freuen uns jetzt schon auf eine nachste Reise mit Volcanodiscovery.

Eine Auswahl unserer Fotos:

Grusse aus der Schweiz - Margrit und Hanspeter Ulrich"

(Krakatau to Bali Tour)

"Hallo Tom und Doni,quer durch Java nach Bali! Die Organisation vom Volcanodiscovery-Team vor der Reise und die Leitung von Doni wahrend der Tour haben bestens geklappt. Doni hat uns kompetent und mit viel Gefuhl durch ein Land gefuhrt das wir bisher nicht kannten. Er hat uns eine Menge uber die wunderbare Natur und das lebensfrohe Volk Javas und Balis mit Begeisterung naher gebracht.Nachfolgend einige der vielen Highlights:und das Jurassic-Park Feeling der Tengger Caldera mit Bromo und Semeru zu allen Tageszeiten.Der Besuch des Muddflow-Katastrophengebietes von Porong sowie des Schwefelabbaus im Ijen war sehr eindrucklich und hat uns auch nachdenklich gestimmt.Die langen Fahrten mit den verschiedensten Transportmitteln waren sehr abwechslungsreich. Wir genossen die schmackhaft zubereiteten indonesischen Gerichte vor allem in den kleinen Restaurants. Am langen schwarzen Strand vom weniger touristischen Nordbali hatten wir Zeit die eindrucklichen Erlebnisse der letzten 16 Tage Revue passieren zu lassen.Das ruhig gelegene Bali Lovina Beach Cottages ist eine sehr gute Wahl. Wir werden euch auf alle Falle weiterempfehlen und freuen uns jetzt schon auf eine nachste Reise mit Volcanodiscovery.Eine Auswahl unserer Fotos: http://hanspeter-ulrich.magix.net/ Grusse aus der Schweiz - Margrit und Hanspeter Ulrich"

Foto m. Kay & Andy.



Hallo Tom und Tobias,



wir sind wohlbehalten von unserer Trekkingtour zu den Vulkanen Javas zuruckgekehrt.

Das waren wirklich unvergessliche Eindrucke! Am meisten haben mich der Krakatau und der Semeru beeindruckt. Nach dem anstrengenden Aufstieg auf dem Plateau des Semeru zu stehen und unmittelbar daneben eine riesige Aschesaule in die Luft gehen zu sehen, war schon ein fantastisches Erlebnis! Aber auch Merapi, Kelud, Bromo und Ijen waren echt klasse. Insgesamt eine richtig super Tour, fur die ich mich bei Euch noch einmal herzlich bedanken mochte.

Vor allem die Organisation vor Ort war spitze.

Unser Guide Andi hat wirklich alles im Griff gehabt. In einem Land wie Indonesien ist man eigentlich darauf eingestellt, dass es mal das eine oder andere logistische Problem gibt. Aber nicht die Spur davon, es hat alles wunderbar geklappt. Und Andi war groartig, sowohl was Organisation als auch seine Tatigkeit als Trekkingguide betrifft.

...

Nochmals danke an Euch und vielleicht bis zum nachsten Mal!

Ich werde auch wieder einen Reisebericht uber die Tour schreiben und diesen auf meiner



Viele Grue aus Berlin

Kay Estler

[Report by Kay Estler who took part on our tour Javas volcanoes . ]Hallo Tom und Tobias,wir sind wohlbehalten von unserer Trekkingtour zu den Vulkanen Javas zuruckgekehrt.Das waren wirklich unvergessliche Eindrucke! Am meisten haben mich der Krakatau und der Semeru beeindruckt. Nach dem anstrengenden Aufstieg auf dem Plateau des Semeru zu stehen und unmittelbar daneben eine riesige Aschesaule in die Luft gehen zu sehen, war schon ein fantastisches Erlebnis! Aber auch Merapi, Kelud, Bromo und Ijen waren echt klasse. Insgesamt eine richtig super Tour, fur die ich mich bei Euch noch einmal herzlich bedanken mochte.Vor allem die Organisation vor Ort war spitze.Unser Guide Andi hat wirklich alles im Griff gehabt. In einem Land wie Indonesien ist man eigentlich darauf eingestellt, dass es mal das eine oder andere logistische Problem gibt. Aber nicht die Spur davon, es hat alles wunderbar geklappt. Und Andi war groartig, sowohl was Organisation als auch seine Tatigkeit als Trekkingguide betrifft....Nochmals danke an Euch und vielleicht bis zum nachsten Mal!Ich werde auch wieder einen Reisebericht uber die Tour schreiben und diesen auf meiner Homepage veroffentlichen. Das dauert aber bestimmt noch eine ganze Weile. Wenn er fertig ist, gebe ich Euch Bescheid.Viele Grue aus BerlinKay Estler



incredibly wonderful trip to Krak. OK, tell him I will wait to exit Krak photos until next monday or tuesday, I will need many days to edit so many photos............ Hoping Tom is amusing of Indonesia summer, warm greetings from a very cold Trieste!! m"

(Marco Fulle, a VolcanoDiscovery Europe Team member after his tour in Nov 07 to Krakatau; his photos are now online on

http://www.swisseduc.ch/stromboli/perm/krakatau/index-en.html)

"MANY THANKS again to TOM for the. OK, tell him I will wait to exit Krak photos until next monday or tuesday, I will need many days to edit so many photos............ Hoping Tom is amusing of Indonesia summer, warm greetings from a very cold Trieste!! m"(Marco Fulle, a VolcanoDiscovery Europe Team member after his tour in Nov 07 to Krakatau; his photos are now online on www.stromboli.net at:



Merapi at sunrise Majestic Merapi Me and Doni Semeru at sunrise Bromo volcano Me on the rim of Ijen volcano

I would like to tell you about my Krakatoa to Bali Tour, June 07 but I dont have enough time. I would like to tell you, I had the most magical tour of my life. To start with Doni is the most lovable, caring, and funny person I have met in many years. He looked after me like a queen making sure that everything was just the best.

Krakatoa was unbelivable, Merapi was Majestic, and Bromo beautiful. The whole beauty of Java and its people was very addictive. May I say thankyou to Doni and everyone that helped along the way, in making my life long dream come true ...the whole trip was a very healing experience and I loved every

moment of it. Thankyou Doni for making it my Magical Java Tour....Cheers Joy Poortier Alice Springs, Australia" (





"Hi TomI would like to tell you about my Krakatoa to Bali Tour, June 07 but I dont have enough time. I would like to tell you, I had. To start with Doni is the most lovable, caring, and funny person I have met in many years. He looked after me like a queen making sure that everything was just the best.Krakatoa was unbelivable, Merapi was Majestic, and Bromo beautiful. The whole beauty of Java and its people was very addictive. May I say thankyou to Doni and everyone that helped along the way, in...the whole trip was a very healing experience and I loved everymoment of it. Thankyou Doni for making it my Magical Java Tour....Cheers Joy Poortier Alice Springs, Australia" ( Krakatau to Bali tour , June 07)





Just a quick line once again to thank you for your assistance , companionship and friendship over the last two weeks. I had a brilliant time." (B. Barker, Isle of Man,

"Doni,Just a quick line once again to thank you for your assistance , companionship and friendship over the last two weeks. I had a." (B. Barker, Isle of Man, Krakatau to Bali April '07)



Hi Doni! "Hey guys! What's up, what's up yo?!"

We're all sorry we have not written to you earlier, guess we've had enough just thinking of all our good Indonesian memories. It was really an exciting and exotic adventure for us, we are often talking about when we'll do our next trip to Indonesia. There sure will be one. And as a gesture of our gratitude, we'd love to show you Scandinavia if you're ever in Europe. ... It's really amazing how different countries and lives can be and Indonesia is probably the most interesting place all the three of us have ever visited. So, of course we've told our Scandinavian friends about the amazing trips to Bromo, Sukamade, Ijen plateau, Bali, all the towns, other places and of course our new Indonesian friends. If any of my friends want tips for Asian trips, I will without any doubts recommend them Indonesia and your guiding.

Sorry, but I don't remember your wife's and older son's name, but I do remember "little Buddha"'s name - Yoni. Anyway, say hello to them all and Manitro (hope I spelled his name correctly) from all of us. And of course Annika and Fredrik send their best wishes to you. Terima kasih for the magnificent tour and wonderful company!

//Arvid E H." (Sweden, Java custom tour)





very, very nice weeks. The job with our group was not surely always easy for you. In spite of that you made Your Job good and fulfilled every wish. Next to the wonderful landscapes, to the interesting volcanos particularly the people in Your Country for whom it is been surely often heavily but they are always cheerful and sociable, left me enthusiastically. Very different than we European. I request you always good health and a happy family. I hope, we see ourselves again. ... Once more thanks and greetings, Karlheinz" (

"Once again, thank you very much for for organising the trip. We had a fantastic time! Many thanks and regards, Penelope" (UK, Volcanoes of East Java tour, summer 06).

"Hello Doni, back in my home I would like to thank You again for the 3  weeks on the islands Java, Bali and Lombok. It wasThe job with our group was not surely always easy for you. In spite of that you made Your Job good and fulfilled every wish. Next to the wonderful landscapes, to the interesting volcanos particularly the people in Your Country for whom it is been surely often heavily but they are always cheerful and sociable,. Very different than we European. I request you always good health and a happy family. I hope, we see ourselves again. ... Once more thanks and greetings, Karlheinz" ( Krakatau to Bali tour, 2006)"Once again, thank you very much for for organising the trip. We had a fantastic time! Many thanks and regards, Penelope" (UK, Volcanoes of East Java tour, summer 06).



Group of the Bromo-Semeru-Ijen tour (Sep 2006) ein unvergessliches Erlebnis! Vielen Dank auch fur die Vorbereitung dafur. Viele Grue und alles Gute fur VulcanoDiscovery, Florian" (





"Hallo Tom, seit vergangenem Freitag sind wir wieder zuruck in Deutschland. Die Tour durch Java und Bali warVielen Dank auch fur die Vorbereitung dafur. Viele Grue und alles Gute fur VulcanoDiscovery, Florian" ( Bromo-Semeru-Ijen , Sep 06)



extraordinary assistance in giving us a very, very good interview on the base of Mt Merapi last week. None of us were to know how significant our interview and programme was to be, until the earthquake hit us on Saturday morning and the whole value of what we were doing increased enormously.

Elliott flew out of Jakarta on Monday morning and the tapes are going straight into editing to be made into an hour programme tentatively called "Fire Mountain" - this will then go to air world wide on Discovery very soon we hope.

Toms contribution was significant and I for one will keep your contact information in case other networks need similar expertise and talent.

In return, If you can make a note of my company at

LAURIE K. GILBERT s.o.c.

Motion Picture Director of Photography

Film & HD Cinematographer"

"Can you pass on my sincere thanks to Tom Pfeiffer for hisin giving us a very, very good interview on the base of Mt Merapi last week. None of us were to know how significant our interview and programme was to be, until the earthquake hit us on Saturday morning and the whole value of what we were doing increased enormously.Elliott flew out of Jakarta on Monday morning and the tapes are going straight into editing to be made into an hour programme tentatively called "Fire Mountain" - this will then go to air world wide on Discovery very soon we hope.In return, If you can make a note of my company at www.limage.tv in Singapore, Im freelance and available to shoot these programmes to the highest global standards for any client, in any location on earth. ... Thank you gentlemen, it was a genuine pleasure meeting you and working with you. Yours SincerelyMotion Picture Director of PhotographyFilm & HD Cinematographer"


Fuego volcano (Guatemala): 9th paroxysm in 2016 in progres

Mon, 23 May 2016, 08:16 08:16 AM | BY: T 08:16 AM | BY: T

Lava fountaining at Fuego this morning (seen from Panimache, SW side)

Current seismic signal FG3 station (INSIVUMEH)

The lava flow on the SE side

Heat signal from Fuego volcano (MIROVA)

The 9th paroxysmal eruption in 2016 is in progress at the volcano: starting yesterday, explosions have become stronger and more frequent. As the magma output rate increased strongly, the explosions have turned into pulsating lava fountains and a lava flow began to travel down the Las Lajas ravine on the SE flank, currently reaching about 1200-1500 m length.INSIVUMEH reports moderate to strong explosions, glowing avalanches in all directions and noisy rumblings similar to a locomotive train.The FG3 seismic station records strong tremor and rockfall signals. An ash plume is rising to approx. 5000 m elevation and drifting SW and W, where ash fall is occurring in areas such as the volcano observatory in Panimache, Morelia, and El Porvenir villages.A major risk is posed by the possible and likely occurrence of pyroclastic flows, especially towards the SE, from collapsing material of the rapidly accumulating lava flow and ejecta on the upper slopes of the volcano.
An adventurous expedition to some of the most spectacular and active volcanoes in the world! Our volcano expedition to Vanuatu lets you spend 1 week on Ambrym with its multiple active lava lakes and 4 days on Yasur, famous for its spectacular fireworks. Guided by professional volcanologist, small groups (May-Sep).
"...an amazing experience....high on the adventure scale with lots of unforgettable memories."

Greetings folks,

Here is a summary of my latest and last adventure of 2019. It's a little long this time but I hope you will find it interesting.



I returned to Indonesia (my previous trip was in 2013) to explore some more volcanoes, this time in north Sulawesi and north Maluku. In between exploring the volcanoes, there was time for some sightseeing in Tomohon and surrounding area (visiting geothermal areas, Tongkoko national park) and Ternate. On the way back I had a 2 day stopover in Singapore (my first time in the city).



In total the exploration involved 6 active volcanoes:

The first 3 volcanoes, Lokon, Mahawu and Soputan (all stratovolcanoes in north Sulawesi) were quiet at the time of our visit apart from fumarolic acitivity in the crater of Lokon, depositing sulphur around the vents. The craters of all 3 volcanoes were impressive with excellent views of the surrounding areas. Mahawu last erupted in 1977, whereas both Lokon and Soputan had last erupted more recently, 2015 and 2018, respectively.



The other 3 volcanoes are in North Maluku and were erupting at the time of our visit:



1. Karangtang. A stratovolcano with 2 main craters, is located on Siau island (central Sangihe Islands) and is reached by an approx. 5h journey by ferry from Manado. We spent 2 nights observing gaseous basaltic lava flows from the south crater. On the first night we were camped out in a field in Hiung village and although the lava flows were only observed from the south crater (largely on the right flank), you could see a glow from the north. On the second night, we went higher up (a steep hike up from Winangun village) to observe the activity from a closer distance. The volcano was more active on the second night. We no longer saw the glow from the north crater, but the activity from the south crater had increased substantially, with lava flows on both flanks at times, and sometimes running down the middle in the direction where we were (but we were still a safe distance away!).



2. Dukono. A complex volcano located on the north western side of Halmahera. The volcano has been almost continuously erupting since 1933 - mixture of degassing, ash eruptions and strombolian activity from the vents in the crater shooting lava bombs high up in the air. The 3h hike up to the base of the crater (our campsite) was tough. The area was quite surreal and covered in ash. The volcano was continuously degassing (at times accompanied by ash eruptions) from the time we arrived. We set off at 2am to cautiously approach the rim of the crater and as we got near, put on the necessary safety equipment (goggles, helmet and gas mask). Peering down into the crater, we could see the glowing vent (as a guess about 150-200m down) and some strombolian activity . Although I tried, I was unable to get any decent footage of the activity due to the gases constantly disrupting the focussing of the camera and the fact that I was wearing safety goggles (making manual focussing difficult). However, simply peering down at the glowing vent, going in and out of view with the gasses passing over it, was really a sight to behold!



3. Ibu. Ibu is also a stratovolcano and it took us 4-5 hours to trek up the rim of the crater from where the vehicles dropped us. The hike was on a good, but at times a steep trail. As we approached the crater rim we came across some andesitic lava bombs from the 2018 eruption near the trail. We set up camp on the crater rim, looking across to the lava dome, which at relatively frequent intervals, belched out huge clouds of steam and ash, at times explosively sounding like an aeroplane taking off. At night you could see the glow of the lava bombs being emitted, and at times lightening during strong ash eruptions. On the first night, I briefly went to sleep in my tent but was woken up shortly after, at about 1.30 am, by the ground and the tent shaking from side to side. Although it seemed like a long time to me, I guess this was very brief (a few seconds). Apparently, the shaking was due to a 7.1 magnitude earthquake (depth of 45km) that occurred in the Molucca sea on or near the sub-ducted Halmahera plate and the overlying Sunda plate. The epicentre was approx 138km east of Bitung and approx. 150km west from where we were. Minor shakes (barely detectable) continued at intervals throughout the night and the next day. Although I had experienced similar earthquake shakes when young in Mbeya, Tanzania (the place where I was born and which is close to the African Rift valley), I must admit that this was a bit of a scary moment. On the second night, there was quite a lot of fog obscuring the view of the eruptions and so I took the opportunity to get some sleep. Which was just as well since at some point during the night, the wind had changed direction and the ash clouds instead of blowing away from the campsite, were now blowing directly above us. Ash rained down on the tents a few minutes after each eruption. Walking up the crater rim a little further you could look down across to the lava dome. It may be just my imagination, but the lava dome appeared to have grown a little over the time we were there and may be continuing to grow possibly leading to a big explosive eruption in the future!

Overall this trip was an amazing experience....high on the adventure scale with lots of unforgettable memories (like experiencing an earthquake whilst camped out on an active volcano). These volcanoes are some of the world's most active and I would like to acknowledge our guide and volcanologist, Andi Rosadi (who also cooked at the campsites), who made it possible for us to get up close and personal with them. Andi has a lot of experience of these volcanoes and is very familiar with their characteristics to know when, where and how to approach them safely. The trip was very well organised and the logistics were flawless.



My 2 day visit to Singapore was good but far too short as there are lots of attractions to cover. Those of you who have already been there will know that it is a vast contrast to most other cities in that it's clean, safe, controlled (for example you are not allowed to eat or drink in station concourses or trains) and efficient. The metro stations and the trains are air conditioned and offer respite from the hot humid conditions outside. I particularly enjoyed the gardens by the bay and the walk along the Singapore river to the bay, and of course, I couldn't come away without sampling the rather expensive but infamous Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel.



With best wishes, Jay

Jay R. (UK) about the recent Volcanoes & Spices tour in Aug 2018

Watch his great video: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jay-ramji/albums/72157712016402452
Charles M. Harper, often called Mike, was widely credited with bringing ConAgra back from the brink of bankruptcy. Its popular Healthy Choice line, launched in 1989, scored $1 billion in sales in its first three years. (Omaha World-Herald)

Charles M. Harper, the chief executive who transformed ConAgra from a struggling flour-mill company into an agricultural powerhouse, in part by acquiring hundreds of companies and developing a wildly successful line of low-priced frozen foods called Healthy Choice, died May 28 at his home in Omaha. He was 88.

A daughter, Kathleen Wenngatz, confirmed the death but said she did not know the cause.

Mr. Harper, often called Mike, was widely credited with bringing ConAgra back from the brink of bankruptcy when he joined the company as chief operating officer and executive vice president in 1974.

Founded as the Nebraska Consolidated Mills Co., the commodities firm had slowly branched out of the flour-mill business and expanded into feed grain, poultry and catfish, taking on a large amount of debt in the process and making risky gambles in the commodities market. The company changed its name to ConAgra Inc., Latin for with the land, shortly before Mr. Harpers arrival from Pillsbury foods.

He was named chief executive within a year, and chairman within five years, for spearheading a remarkably fast turnaround, reversing a $12 million deficit in 1974 to a $4 million profit one year later.

To pay off the companys debts, he quickly sold what he deemed unnecessary buildings and land, as well as corporate divisions that did not mesh with his vision of ConAgra as a food giant that processed, packaged and marketed basic foodstuffs.

The company acquired about 200 businesses in 20 years. With the purchase of Monfort in 1987, it became the worlds largest meatpacker; buying Beatrice in 1990, it became the countrys second-largest food processor. By the early 1990s, ConAgra was a dominant force  if not the national leader  in sheep, turkey, chicken and pork processing; french-fry production; and seed and feed sales.

A litany of the companys brands under Mr. Harper would serve as a virtual tour of the American home kitchen: Armour and Swift meats, Orville Redenbachers popcorn, Peter Pan peanut butter, Reddi-Wip whipped cream, Hunts canned tomatoes, Country Pride poultry.

For many investors, the acquisitions made ConAgra, as Mr. Harper put it, the best damn food company in the U.S., with annual sales in the billions of dollars and more than $200 million in profits.

Growth also made ConAgra a ripe target for consumer advocates who questioned the effect of the companys pesticides and crop-protection chemicals on human health, the labor and sanitary conditions of its meatpacking and poultry plants, and potential price-gouging on bread and other goods.

ConAgra was found guilty of cheating Alabama chicken growers in 1989, tampering with trucks and scales to make the birds seem lighter. In 1995  three years after Mr. Harper had left the company  ConAgra settled a class-action lawsuit that accused the conglomerate of conspiring with other corporations to fix catfish prices.

In 1987, when ConAgra was looking to expand its offices, Mr. Harper successfully pressured the Nebraska legislature to establish lucrative tax breaks for large corporations and wealthy executives.

His tactics included threatening to move ConAgras headquarters out of the state unless lawmakers approved a tax exemption for corporate aircraft. (An aviation enthusiast, Mr. Harper earned his pilots license at 53. For his 60th birthday, he flew a single-engine Cessna propeller plane from San Francisco to New York City, a 16-hour trip.)

Remaining in Omaha, ConAgra opened an $80 million development along the citys riverfront in 1990. The project has been credited with sparking a revitalization of downtown Omaha, as well as criticized for taking the place of Jobbers Canyon, a historic warehouse district. (The company moved its headquarters to Chicago last year.)

Standing a towering 6-foot-6, Mr. Harper was known for a warm, if occasionally gruff, style of management that gave executives and general managers a high degree of autonomy. A 1989 company history produced by ConAgra noted that Mr. Harper told each general manager that hed been given a bag of money, and that at the end of the year hed be expected to return it  plus a little extra.

A heart attack in 1985 inspired perhaps his greatest innovation: healthy frozen foods that were comparably low in sodium, fat, cholesterol and calories. The line of stripped-down hot dogs, hamburgers and other fast-food staples was inspired by his wifes low-sodium turkey chili, Mr. Harper said, explaining, Hospital food tastes like hell, and this tasted good.

Released in 1989, the Healthy Choice line of green-boxed frozen meals and entrees quickly overtook niche health brands such as Weight Watchers and Lean Cuisine, scoring $1 billion in sales in its first three years. In one sign of its success, it also became a crucial part of Mr. Harpers dining routine, taking the place of roast beef sandwiches and ice cream sundaes.

Generally speaking, I have a Healthy Choice soup every day  except Sunday  either for lunch or dinner, he told The Washington Post in 1992. I have a Healthy Choice frozen entree or frozen dinner three to four times a week. I have Healthy Choice hot dogs at least once a week and Healthy Choice ice cream at least a couple of times a week. And every darn day at work, I have a Healthy Choice breakfast sandwich.

The trade publication Advertising Age described Healthy Choice in 1993 as the most successful new food brand introduction in two decades, although by the 2000s it was trailing Lean Cuisine and Weight Watchers.

After retiring from ConAgra in 1992, Mr. Harper joined RJR Nabisco as chief executive. He restructured the companys debt and split its food and tobacco businesses before retiring again, in 1996, to spend more time with his wife, who had been diagnosed with cancer.

Charles Michael Harper was born in Lansing, Mich., on Sept. 26, 1927, and grew up in South Bend, Ind. He received a bachelors degree in engineering from Purdue University in 1949 and a masters degree in business administration from the University of Chicago in 1950.

He then was an engineer at General Motors Oldsmobile division in Lansing. He joined Pillsbury five years later, where he rose to the position of vice president in charge of the poultry and food service division.

His wife of 49 years, the former Joan Josie Bruggema, died in 1999. Survivors include four children; 11 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

Mr. Harper had little affection for the term junk food, despite whatever accuracy it may have in describing the salutary benefits of ConAgras frozen foods or RJR Nabisco snack foods. The problem, it seemed to him, was that nothing that sold millions could ever be considered truly junk  not R.J. Reynolds cigarettes, and certainly not Oreo cookies.

Its not junk food, its great food, he told USA Today in 1993. If businesses are going to succeed, they have to produce products that people want to buy.
News / National

by Staff reporter

One of the trafficked woman to Kuwait was sold for $10 000 by a 38-year-old Harare man.The jobless woman was further sold to an elderly woman in the Middle East country.She was only allowed to bath once a week and eat leftovers.Morris Chivandire of Glen Norah A appeared before Harare magistrate Mr Tendai Mahwe facing charges of contravening the Trafficking in Persons Act.Chivandire was granted $500 bail.Prosecuting, Mr Sebastian Mutizirwa alleged that in January this year the complainant received information that Chivandire was recruiting women to go and work as housemaids in Kuwait.The complainant was jobless and she became interested.On February 1, she contacted Chivandire who invited her to his office on the 5th floor of Robin House in Harare.The complainant met Chivandire and was advised to obtain a police clearance certificate, medical examination report and HIV tests.She was told that if she was HIV positive she would not qualify for the job.After completing the tests and documentation the complainant handed the papers to Chivandire on February 8.It is alleged she was ordered to submit two full photographs of herself dressed in long black dresses and head scarfs, enveloping the body and head in a Muslim burka.The court heard that on March 3 at around 10am Chivandire sent the complainant through social network platform, WhatsApp, her visa and work contract as a professional housekeeper.Two days later the complainant was advised that her ticket was ready and she was to leave the following day.On March 6, she boarded a plane to Kuwait and was advised that a woman called Sarah was waiting for her at Kuwait Airport.She arrived in Kuwait the following day and met Fatima, a driver of the Kuwait agent who made her sign a three-year contract, the court heard.It is alleged the complainant was advised that she would be paid 70 KD (Kuwait Dinaries) per month.Fatima told the complainant that she bought her from Chivandire for $10 000, so she owned her.The complainant was taken to her employer where she worked from 4am to 1am the following day without rest.The court heard that she was only allowed to bath once a week and eat leftovers.She was assaulted by her employer for no reason, the court heard.She was later transferred to Saudi Arabia where working conditions worsened and she fell ill.The complainant was returned to the agent in Kuwait on May 10 where she was kept under lock and key.It is alleged that she managed to escape to the Zimbabwean Embassy where she was assisted to return to Zimbabwe.
Khalid al-Falih, the new Saudi Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Ministry, is sworn in in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia May 9, 2016. (Handout/Reuters)

For those seeking guidance on Saudi Arabias thinking regarding the future of OPEC, the agenda of the new Saudi energy minister, Khalid al-Falih, over the past few weeks might offer a few clues.

Since his appointment May 7 as head of a new mega-ministry  overseeing energy, industry, mining, atomic power and renewables  Falih has toured six state firms; met the South Korean premier, the Canadian foreign minister and Persian Gulf industry ministers; and opened a gas turbine plant.

To fellow members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, that speaks volumes. Unlike his predecessor Ali al-Naimi, Falih may not have much time for OPEC. The group is set to meet Thursday, its first talks with the new minister in attendance.

For oil-price hawks such as Iran, Algeria and Venezuela, fears are growing that the 56-year-old OPEC is losing its role as an output-setting cartel and turning into a talking shop.

Saudi Arabia killed OPEC and buried it, said a senior OPEC official from a non-gulf producer, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Saudi Aramco President and CEO Khalid Al-Falih speaks at the IHS CERAWEEK energy conference Tuesday, March 5, 2013, in Houston. (Pat Sullivan/AP)

In OPEC, they go for [including] Indonesia and Gabon to convert OPEC to a forum, the person said, referring to OPECs decision, supported by Riyadh, to include minor producers.

OPEC last decided to change output in December 2008, when it cut supply amid slowing demand due to a global financial crisis. Between 1998 and 2008, OPEC made 27 changes to output.

For decades, Saudi Arabia, OPECs largest producer and de facto leader, had a preferred range for oil prices and, if unhappy, would try to orchestrate a group-wide production cut or increase.

But a technology-driven surge in non-OPEC output, such as that from U.S. shale, and growing fuel efficiency led Riyadh to conclude that the era of fast oil growth might be ending.

So in the past two years Riyadh has stuck to a strategy of fighting for market share, thinking that pumping more oil now at low prices is better than producing less in the future.

Many OPEC members  apart from Riyadhs allies in the gulf, such as Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates  were unprepared for that shift, with their finances crippled by heavy debts and stagnant production.

Venezuela and Nigeria pressed Saudi Arabia to agree to price-boosting output cuts, and even Riyadhs arch-rival Iran is signaling that it will be ready for renewed dialogue on freezing production once it reaches pre-sanctions levels.

Earlier this year, Iran refused to join an initiative to freeze output but indicated that it would be part of a future effort once its production had recovered sufficiently.

Saudi and Iranian OPEC delegates clashed this month over long-term strategy, with Riyadh saying OPEC should not manage the market and Tehran arguing that the group had been created to perform precisely that task.

To be sure, OPEC has weathered internal strife and conflict before, such as in the 1980s, when Iran and Iraq were at war. It has been through periods that saw it fail to influence prices, such as the 1990s, only to return and control the market.

But it is hard to see OPEC regaining its grip unless the Saudi position  driven by Falihs ultimate boss, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman  changes dramatically.

Falihs tasks  his ministry is to oversee half of the economy, not to mention plans for a share listing in state oil giant Saudi Aramco  are likely to divert more of his time away from OPEC.

That is going to keep Falih busy, and I imagine his priorities will be economic reforms and integrating new portfolios, said Richard Mallinson, geopolitical risk analyst at the think tank Energy Aspects.

OPEC officials and analysts say they expect the group at its meeting Thursday simply to roll over output policy, which OPEC lacks anyway as its members pump at will.

For a busy man such as Falih, long discussions among fellow ministers with no guaranteed serious outcome might seem pointless.

So could he stand up and say that Saudi Arabia sees no need to remain part of OPEC?

Leaving international groups isnt something most countries do lightly. I dont believe the Saudis think OPEC will never be relevant again. Plus, it is hard to see what they would stand to gain from it, Mallinson said.

 Reuters
Asparagus and Mushroom Risotto. (Dixie D. Vereen/For The Washington Post)

In my great spring rush to cook asparagus, over and over  finally, a fresh, non-leafy green vegetable at the farmers market!  I always include risotto in the rotation. When I snap the ends of asparagus to trim it, I save them up to make a one-vegetable broth, and use that to swell the short-grain rice in the classic Italian dish. The rest of the spears get sauteed until tender, set aside and then folded back into the risotto at the end of cooking.

[ Make the recipe: Asparagus and Mushroom Risotto ]

Well, heres another idea that had never occurred to me: using asparagus in a red-wine risotto, one of my favorite iterations, and pairing it with mushrooms.

Why not? Turns out that the flavors match, while the asparagus offers something this particular risotto desperately needs: a burst of green to offset that dull mauve color.

If youre not already on the risotto bandwagon, let me get you aboard by telling you this: Its so much more malleable, forgiving and even easy than we have been taught. You dont really have to stir constantly  every now and then is fine  and as long as the heat is kept on the low side and you add the hot liquid gradually, youre in business. Arborio and other short-grain rices get wonderfully creamy without much effort on your part, and yet risotto is impressive enough that dinner party guests will think youre a casual, unassuming genius if you serve it in between a simple salad and a homey dessert.

There are some crucial, must-pay-attention moments, and they come at the end, when its best to stop as soon as the rice is tender but still a little al dente. Finish it quickly with a little more broth and some cheese, and serve immediately. (Believe it or not, you dont really need butter.) What youre after is something that spreads a little on the plate: loose but not soupy  and certainly not stiff.

This particular recipe calls for shiitake mushrooms, but if you happen to score some morels  one of the other stars of spring  the match becomes a marriage.
Great white sharks dont have much of a hankering for humans, according to author Sy Montgomery. (Keith A. Ellenbogen)

If you have seen Jaws or other scary movies about great white sharks, you might have gotten the impression that they are waiting in the ocean for you, eager and ready to eat you up.

They are not, according to Sy Montgomery and her new book, The Great White Shark Scientist. In an interview, the author explained what the legendary fish crave the most: For a great white shark, a seal is a big juicy steak with a slice of chocolate cake. A person is an old piece of celery thats been sitting on the counter all day.

This comparison helps explain why many other things are more dangerous than sharks.

Most people who are bitten by a great white shark get spit out and survive, Montgomery said. They dont want to eat us; they want to eat a seal. They make mistakes just like people do.

Scientist Greg Skomal tries to identify great white sharks by recording them on video. He is focusing on great whites near Cape Cod in Massachusetts. (Keith A. Ellenbogen)

To research their book, Montgomery and underwater photographer Keith Ellenbogen first went to Cape Cod, a peninsula in Massachusetts, where scientist Greg Skomal is studying the many great whites that have returned to the area over the past 10 years. Their return is closely related to the growing seal population near Cape Cod. One seal can satisfy a great whites appetite for a week.

Riding in a boat near Cape Cod, Skomal and his team work with a pilot in a small plane to search the murky green water for passing sharks. Skomal tries to identify great white sharks by recording them on video. When possible, he attaches tracking equipment to them. Patient but determined, Skomal is a pioneer  the first person to tag an Atlantic great white, and he has gone on to tag many more.

The tracking devices help scientists follow sharks through the worlds cool and tropical seas. They are very mysterious animals.

These sharks swim far further away than anyone ever suspected, and they go to places people never suspected, Montgomery said. They are more complex than people have given them credit for.

(Anyone can follow where these tagged sharks are by downloading a free iOS and Android app called Ocearch Global Shark Tracker.)

Montgomery and Ellenbogen also traveled to a small island near Mexico to get a close-up view of sharks.

It was extremely exciting to be on the boat with Greg looking for sharks, Montgomery said. It was also extremely exciting to be in a cage with the animals yards away in crystal-clear water  to see their eyes swivel in their sockets and look at you and then look away. The sharks seem very powerful but not mean or angry.

We do not know how many great white sharks are out there, but Montgomery says we need to preserve whatever balance we can.

Sharks are at the top of the food chain, so they keep the whole food chain healthy. If you take sharks out of that equation, everything starts to suffer, she said. They are hard to study, but they are an important part of a huge puzzle. And thats how science gets done  piece by piece.


Donna Karan in Washington in May 2016, a year after leaving her eponymous company. I didnt want to leave the design room, she says. I didnt want to leave the people. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

Donna Karan  sartorial confidante to working women, daydreamer about someday dressing a madame president  barely remembers her final day at the helm of the fashion house that still bears her name. Its been a year since she formally stepped down, and the memory of those final hours is clouded with nostalgia and disbelief. But she can pinpoint the regret.

I didnt want to leave the design room, she says. I didnt want to leave the people.

The designer had been wanting to move on for years. Shed taken the company public in 1996 and sold the business to the French conglomerate LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 2000. She knew shed be leaving soon, and rumors were beginning to percolate within the industry. But she had to keep the news to herself until it was formally announced. And so she kept up a pantomime. We were planning spring [collections], and I couldnt tell anyone. I was draping clothes and knowing [they were] not going to happen.

[Donna Karan, fashions greatest champion of women, steps down]

Mostly, Karan didnt feel as though her work as a designer was done. Her clothes have always been described as answers to conundrums, solutions to sartorial puzzles. And even now, when she looks in her own closet, she sees things that are missing, needs to be filled. Like evening wear that perfectly captures the style of a yoga-fit, free-spirited, 67-year-old New Yorker with an obsession for black.



The Donna Karan Spring 2015 collection on the runway in New York in September 2014. (Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press)

Karan needs a formal dress  needs several  because she is being feted a lot these days.

Thats what happens when your company has, since 1984, been known for shaping the contemporary image of a powerful, self-possessed woman. When youre known in popular culture as just Donna. And its what occurs when your next chapter is a kind of philanthropy that wants to tackle a problem as big as health care.

Karan came to Washington recently, at the behest of the Smithsonian Associates, to discuss her frank memoir, My Journey. (This writer conducted the onstage conversation.) She did so in front of an audience that sought her counsel about topics including gaining a foothold in the fashion industry and navigating the guilt that is often the byproduct of being a working mother.

And on Monday, shell receive the Founders Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. The honor recognizes contributions to the industry that are not specific to churning out clothes and, in fact, go far beyond that.

In some ways, Karan should be getting an award for her prescience. So much of what she has talked about in the past decades  topics that lived on the edges of mainstream conversation or seemed rooted in nothing but a hippie fantasy  have begun to feel pressing, real . . . conceivable.

For years, Karan complained that customers would walk into a department store in December searching for a new winter coat only to find the racks filled with swimsuits. She felt her relationship to her customers getting strained because of the demands of runway shows, media and fast fashion.

What Id realized as a woman designing for other women was that I was frustrated. [Designers] werent talking to the customer. We were talking to the press and to each other. She stopped believing in the system. Now the system is reassessing. The CFDA recently commissioned a study looking at consumer shopping patterns in the age of Instagram. Does it make sense to preview a spring collection in September? Probably not. Does it make sense to produce a dozen collections in a year? Not sure.

[The fashion industry wants to disrupt the runway. Its missing the real problem.]

Karans original vision for her collection was based on the idea of Seven Easy Pieces  most of them in black. The foundation, literally and figuratively, was the bodysuit, an idea that came out of her childhood dream of being a dancer and her early love of yoga. But with the encouragement of her financial backers and the initial success of the brand, the business quickly grew. Before she knew it, it was a sprawling enterprise that at one point included everything from womenswear to mens suits to fragrances and pantyhose.



Clothing from Donna Karan's Urban Zen line. (Urban Zen)

This outfit includes Urban Zen's long beaded necklace. (Urban Zen)

Now she is focused on Urban Zen, a small luxury collection of bohemian classics, which she sells at her own store and at Bergdorf Goodman  and she will absolutely not be shipping bikinis in December.



Tobacco-leaf vases from Karans Urban Zen home decor line. (Urban Zen)

An Urban Zen bed. (Urban Zen)

Karan is also expanding Urban Zen Integrated Therapy, an idea born out of spending countless hours in hospitals when her husband, Stephen Weiss, was dying of lung cancer. She was frustrated that although there were so many people rallying to care for his disease, there didnt seem to be anyone charged with caring for him. She developed a new program to bring alternative healing techniques  reiki, aromotherapy, her beloved yoga  into traditional health care; she has brought the philosophy to, among others, UCLA Medical Center and Beth Israel hospital.

Far-flung travels always inspired her designs, but after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Karan began working with the Clinton Global Initiative, helping local artists expand their production of ceramics, accessories, lighting fixtures and other crafts. Its so creative, Karan says about the poverty-stricken nation. When you have nothing, you create something.



Donna Karan on a recent visit to Washington, where she spoke about her philanthropic work and life after stepping down from her company. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

She would like to do similar work in other countries, somewhere in Africa, maybe Ethiopia, where she traveled with Calvin Klein  the man, not the brand  or South America, where she has never been.

And, of course, she has been watching the presidential campaign and cant help but think back to the advertisements that she commissioned in 1992 depicting a woman taking the presidential oath of office. Id just done a collection of all masculine [tailoring] with feminine [blouses]. It was this strong executive woman, Karan says. So for the ads, she asked herself: What was the ultimate power position  beyond the corner office, beyond the boardroom, straight through the glass ceiling?

Recently, she sent a copy of that ad to Hillary Clinton, along with a note: Wishes do come true.
THE DISTRICT

Two men are killed in separate shootings

Two men were fatally shot Sunday and Monday, police said.

Tyrone Bradley, 40, of Southeast Washington was found fatally wounded at 2:14 a.m. Monday in the 700 block of 24th Street NE.

Russell Crawford, 32, of Suitland, was shot several times Sunday night in a home in the 1300 block of Seventh Street NW. He died at a hospital.

 Ashley Halsey III

VIRGINIA

Rolling Thunder victim identified

A motorcyclist who died in a crash in Arlington after participating in Sundays annual Rolling Thunder ride was identified by police Monday as Craig A. Vanbrunt, 66, of Pendleton, Ind.

State Police said Vanbrunt, an Army veteran, lost control of his motorcycle Sunday afternoon on Interstate 66 approaching the Rosslyn Tunnel. He died at George Washington University Hospital.

A leader of the Indiana group Vanbrunt was with said it was his first time on the ride.

Ashley Halsey III

and Michael Laris

Md. man fatally shot in lot in Woodbridge

Prince William County police said Johnnie Pablito Kamara, 23, was fatally shot in a parking lot in Woodbridge early Monday.

A police spokesman said detectives are exploring whether the 2:30 a.m. shooting stemmed from an altercation that may have involved patrons from a nearby hookah bar.

 Lori Aratani

MARYLAND

Woman found slain in laundry room

Police summoned by a neighbor Sunday morning found the bludgeoned body of a woman in a common laundry room at an apartment complex in the 7400 block of 18th Avenue , authorities said.

The womans name and age could not be learned immediately.

She was found in a two story brick building.

 Ashley Halsey III

Woman, four men shot in Baltimore incident

Five people, four men and a woman, were shot and wounded Sunday afternoon on a residential street in Baltimore. The wounds were not life-threatening, police said.

The woman was 56 and the mens ages ranged from 20 to 59. All were taken to hospitals.

The incident on East 43rd Street took place about a mile northwest of the old Memorial Stadium site and about the same distance northeast of the Johns Hopkins University campus.


Graduate Alyssa Briceno embraces family members after receiving her diploma as the Montgomery branch of the Latin American Youth Center holds its graduation ceremony for GED students on May 25. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

On the day Lori Kaplan learned that the nonprofit group she heads will probably lose its $800,000 contract to help at-risk youth in Montgomery County, she was in Rockville to receive an award.

From the Montgomery County Commission on Children and Youth.

For outstanding service to youth.

We feel like we were performing well, said Kaplan, president and chief executive of the District-based Latin American Youth Center, whose Montgomery arm offers GED and college preparatory classes and job and internship placement to about 400 young people each year.

The Maryland Multicultural Youth Center, which held an exuberant graduation ceremony for its GED students last week, is one of a network of nonprofit organizations the county government hires to reach disconnected youth  those out of school and jobless. It has operated in Montgomery, an affluent Washington suburb with deepening pockets of poverty, for 11 years.

But the roles of the nonprofit groups are under reassessment as the county overhauls its approach to helping at-risk young people enter the workforce.

Elected officials and business leaders have long regarded Montgomerys job-development efforts, funded mostly by federal dollars scattered across multiple county departments, as ad hoc and inefficient. A 2013 County Council study concluded that Montgomery reaches only a fraction of the estimated 4,000 disconnected youth who live within its borders.

We were frustrated with it, Council President Nancy Floreen (D-At Large) said. A lot of good people are trying to do the right thing, but not in a systematic way.

Last year, County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and the County Council agreed to place youth employment and workforce development in the hands of the private sector.

They created WorkSource Montgomery, a private entity operated by an independent board, to award and manage $5 million in workforce development contracts on the governments behalf.

The idea, officials said, is to streamline the system so job-seekers receive training that better meets the specific needs of private employers. Similar groups have been established in Fairfax and Anne Arundel counties.



Graduates toss their mortar board caps into the air at the graduation ceremony for GED students from the Maryland Multicultural Youth Center. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

As it began operation, WorkSource Montgomery asked the Maryland Multicultural Youth Center and other nonprofit groups to present new contract proposals if they wanted to continue their work.

A consultant hired to evaluate the proposals recommended replacing Kaplans youth center with a New York-based for-profit firm, Grant Associates, which also has a contract with the District government to provide workforce development and job placement.

The consultant, District-based Strumpf Associates, cited several factors, including lack of information in the centers proposals about financial and accounting systems and its plans for accommodating disabled youth.

The center is protesting the decision. Its 37-page response said Strumpf irrationally assigned weaknesses to the proposal where none existed, ignoring two full pages that detailed finances and accounting. The response also accused Strumpf of an unreasonable misreading of the centers proposal for disabled youth.

Kaplan said the center has met or exceeded performance goals over the past 18 quarters. County officials have never publicly expressed dissatisfaction with its work.

The head of another long-time nonprofit contractor not selected, Workforce Solutions Group, said Strumpf should not have been involved in the evaluation process.



A graduate paces in the sun streaked lobby of the Civic Building. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

In a letter to WorkSource Montgomery, Bruce Levine, chairman of the board of Workforce Solutions Group, said Strumpf Associates President Lori Strumpf has prior ties to his organization and to the Maryland Multicultural Youth Center because of past consulting work with the county.

Levines letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, said Strumpf had access to details about internal operations that eliminate any impartiality and obviously unduly influence her consideration . . . where other proposers would not face the same scrutiny.

WorkSource Montgomery chief executive Ellie Giles said in an email that because the selection process is ongoing, we are limited in what we are able to share at this time. She added that WorkSource Montgomery is committed to running a fair and equitable vendor selection process. Strumpf repeated that message in a separate email Thursday evening.

The situation has caused dismay in Montgomerys nonprofit community, where the Latin American Youth Center is held in high regard.

In a letter to Floreen on Thursday, Gustavo Torres, executive director of the Latino advocacy group CASA, praised the Latin American Youth Centers strong track record in Montgomery County.

Evan Glass, executive director of the Silver Spring afterschool program Gandhi Brigade Youth Media, said he worked very closely with LAYC on various projects and was always amazed at their level of professionalism and the quality of their work. He recently hired one of the centers graduates to join his staff.

Because the $800,000 workforce development contract helps support other center activities  such as a mentoring program for middle-schoolers, gang prevention and an environmental conservation corps  those programs, too, are now in jeopardy, Kaplan said.

This whole thing is wrong on so many levels, she said.



Nancy Floreen, County Council President, addresses graduates. (Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post)

At Wednesday evenings ceremony in Silver Springs Civic Building, 29 graduates of the GED program marched down the aisle in caps and gowns to Pomp and Circumstance before a wildly cheering audience of parents, friends and squirming children.

Floreen delivered the commencement address, making no mention of the controversy.

Were so proud of you. Youve been through a lot, she told the students, calling the GED a milestone and a stepping stone. In an interview, she said she would leave the contracting issues up to the WorkSource Montgomery board.

Graduates expressed concern that this would be the last graduation for an organization that many called a personal game changer.

Yaseen Sanchez, 21, who dropped out of Springbrook High School but is now attending Montgomery College, said the center allowed him to be himself in a way that high school never could. It gave me the chance to open up, to be nerdy and know that it wasnt a bad thing.

Sanchez, who wants to write novels, said he could see the impact of the programs on younger kids, some of whom he mentored.

Were it not for the center, he said, a lot of these kids would have ended up in jail.

Correction: Earlier versions of this story should have said that a quote attributed to Bruce Levine, chairman of the board of Workforce Solutions Group came from a letter he wrote to WorkSource Montgomery, protesting the process used to award a contract for workforce development in the county.
Dennis Gill, left, prepares to record an interview with World War II veteran Elizabeth Lewis, who was an Army surgical nurse, as part of a project for the National Museum of Americans in Wartime. (Jonathan Hunley/For The Washington Post)

Maybe shell talk about the 200 to 300 patients she saw each day. Or where she was when she heard about Pearl Harbor. Perhaps she will share what it was like to leave West Virginia when she was in her 20s, to serve abroad.

Regardless of the details, Elizabeth Lewis, who was an Army surgical nurse during World War II, is scheduled to give a speech Monday, as she usually does on Memorial Day. This one will be at the retirement community where she lives in Manassas.

Last week, though, the 95-year-old spoke into the microphone of the National Museum of Americans in Wartimes Voices of Freedom project.

She was the first military nurse and 212th person overall to participate in the oral history endeavor, the signature effort for the museum, which is planned to be built in Dale City. When people ask where the museum is, Voices of Freedom project manager Greg Pass tells them that, right now, the museum is the recreational vehicle that Americans in Wartime has turned into a mobile recording studio.

Thats because a target opening date for the bricks-and-mortar museum, to be situated between Dale Boulevard and southbound Interstate 95, has not been set.

Fundraising efforts are ongoing for the construction project, which is expected to cost more than $75 million. Clearing and grading is complete on 12 of the sites 70 acres, Pass said, and that process will continue with an additional 18 acres later this year. Preliminary design work is done, and planned displays include full-scale, active replicas of wartime scenes and more than 100 working tanks and other military vehicles, Pass said.

But for now, the museums cornerstone isnt a literal one; its formed from the veterans memories, which Pass and others are working to preserve. The goal is that the museum will highlight the role of Americans in all of the nations major conflicts in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Recording the oral histories means traveling to events and parking the RV, which is decorated with camouflage netting and military artifacts, at places such as American Legion Post 10 in Manassas. Thats where Lewis recalled her service aboard the hospital ship Emily H.M. Weder.

The Weder first went to the European theater and then to the Pacific, said Lewis, who was interviewed on camera by Dennis Gill, an Air Force veteran.

She said the ship was filled with nurses, doctors, dentists, chaplains and enlisted men who helped care for the wounded, some of whom were burned or had lost limbs. It was dangerous work. Lewis remembered the presence of the Japanese navy when she was deployed to the Pacific.

Their subs were always around us, she said.

And the job was constant, so much so that the Weder was still busy for a week or two after fighting was officially done.

We didnt even know the war was over for a while, Lewis said.

She spoke calmly, and she said the service made her a better civilian nurse later.

I wouldnt trade it for anything, Lewis said.

Other interviewees break down while sharing their stories. As Pass asked questions of another veteran in the RV, Gill described a conversation with a man who was sent to Vietnam.

The 72-year-old had been the leader of an Army reconnaissance squad. He started to tear up, Gill said, and he says, My job was to bring my guys home, and I didnt do that. 

Once the interviews are done, Americans in Wartime posts them on its website, sends copies to family members and forwards them to the Library of Congress, where they become part of the American Folklife Centers Veterans History Project.

What they are doing is exactly what this project is all about, said Bob Patrick, director of the Library of Congresss effort.

That project is in its 16th year of preserving first-person accounts of veterans from as far back as World War I, as well as associated documents such as letters. The library has contributions from every U.S. state, Patrick said, and anyone can submit one.

It is not something that weve hired a bunch of historians to do, he said.

So many stories of the past are told from the top down, Patrick said, through historians or the words of leaders. But oral histories provide a chance to preserve the tales of those who maybe arent so famous. Like Pass said about the museum, Patrick said the library isnt just looking for grand stories from cockpits or foxholes.

Everybodys story is important, Patrick said.

Patrick will step down Tuesday after a decade of leading the librarys project, but his work with oral history isnt over. He plans to continue interviewing veterans for the museum.

For information on the National Museum of Americans in Wartimes Voices of Freedom oral history project, see nmaw.org, or email Greg Pass at gpass@nmaw.org. For information on the Library of Congresss Veterans History Project, see loc.gov/vets.
Rubber ducks compete in annual Duck Splash race

Tickets are on sale to adopt a rubber duck for the 10th annual Duck Splash scheduled for June 18 in Occoquan.

Tickets are $5 and may be purchased at participating businesses in Occoquan and on race day. Cash prizes will be awarded for first through 10th place.

At noon June 18, 1,000 rubber ducks will be dropped from a bridge into the Occoquan River in a race to the finish line.

Proceeds will benefit the Patriots for Disabled Divers and the Occoquan, Woodbridge & Neabsco Optimist Club.

For information, go to occoquanva.gov/events.

County needs residents help amid mosquito season

Tim McGonegal, the chief of the Mosquito and Forest Pest Management Program, part of Prince William Countys Environmental Services Division, recently spoke to the Board of County Supervisors about the threat of mosquitoes.

Out of the 3,500 species of mosquitoes, nearly 30 have been identified in the county, including the Asian Tiger mosquito that can carry the Zika and West Nile viruses, county officials said.

McGonegal told the board that the Asian Tiger mosquito is an aggressive biter that is active in the daytime. Homeowners can help prevent the spread of mosquitoes by eliminating breeding sites such as water-filled cans, tires, pots, toys, old tires, tarps and furniture covers, wheelbarrows, bird baths, ornamental ponds, corrugated gutter spouts, and any other containers that can hold water. Mosquitoes can lay eggs in as little as a bottle cap full of water.

Residents are also encouraged to wear protective clothing, such as long, loose and light-colored garments, and the Health Department recommends using insect repellent products with no more than 50 percent DEET for adults and less than 10 percent for children.

Alison Ansher of the Prince William Health District told the board that the Zika virus is primarily spread to people through the bite of an infected mosquito that has previously fed on another infected person, according to a news release. Evidence also shows that Zika can be sexually transmitted. The virus remains in the body for about a week and can pass from pregnant mothers to their babies.

As of May 4, there have been 13 confirmed cases of Zika virus infections in Virginia, but all of them originated outside of the United States. Five of those cases were in Northern Virginia, Ansher said.

People who suspect that they have been infected should stay indoors or wear mosquito repellent and protective clothing during the first week of illness to prevent the threat of transmission to others. Signs of Zika, although not always present, include rash, fever, joint pain, headache and redness in the eyes. People who exhibit such symptoms after traveling to locations where the Zika virus is present should also practice safe sex or abstinence, Ansher said.

For information, visit pwcgov.org or call 703-792-6279.

Robert Clemons is named Manassas fire chief

Robert Lee Clemons Jr. was recently selected as fire and rescue chief for Manassas, replacing Brett Bowman, who is retiring. Clemons will join the department June 20.

Clemons comes to Manassas with more than 28 years of career experience and 10 years of volunteer fire and rescue experience.

Possum Point Road residents find lead in water

Several residents on Possum Point Road in Dumfries recently discovered varying levels of lead in their water after having their wells tested.

The news of Dominion Virginia Powers plan to close the coal ash ponds at the Possum Point facility has raised concerns about whether the lead is a result of coal ash leaching lead into the groundwater, according to a county news release.

The Board of County Supervisors recently voted to pay for testing of two wells at Possum Point to determine if lead may be coming from the plumbing of the homes or from the wells directly, and if so, what steps the well owners can take to prevent lead in their water, according to the release.

The Virginia Cooperative Extension offers confidential well water analysis for $55 through the Virginia Household Water Quality Program. The Prince William County class is offered annually. Each kit provides containers and detailed instructions on how to collect water for testing; the fee covers the cost of lab testing. The process takes about 28 days, and homeowners are provided a complete report of their water quality along with information on recommended actions if contaminants are found.

For information, go to wellwater.bse.vt.edu.
News / National

by Thobekile Zhou

Zvishavane's oldest township, Mandava suburbs is sitting on a health time bomb as raw effluent is flowing into houses.Raw sewage has become a common feature in almost every corner.The disgusting sewage rivulets seem to disappear for a day or two when council makes some token interventions only to re-surface for a lengthy period, much to the annoyance of residents.According to TellZim publication, residents said they were not convinced council was doing enough to rectify the problem; saying instead of directing resources to overhauling the ageing sewer infrastructure, attention was being given to less important issues."We now fear for our children who are constantly exposed to infection by contaminated sewerage water which has now become a common sight," said one resident of Mandava.The sewage at times flows right in front of backyard food outlets behind the 'Mudhadhadha' shops, a situation that worries the residents."May the responsible authorities quickly take measures because it is not good to always frog jump pools of sewage close to food outlets," said Cliff Mutenda who stays in the same suburb.The poorly maintained roads in the town have not helped matters, with sewage forming small pools in the potholes.Authorities attribute the rot to a surge in population growth; a development which they say has put too much pressure on the ageing infrastructure which has seen little or no maintenance and replacement since it was laid during the colonial era.
A man was taken into custody in Georgetown Sunday night after reports of shots fired near the waterfront, U.S. Park Police said.

An officer heard gunshots while on patrol, and several people pointed out a man who they indicated was possibly armed, said Sgt Anna Rose, a Park Police spokeswoman.

She said an arrest was made and a gun was recovered. The incident occurred in the 3000 block of K Street, she said. The site is near the Washington Harbour development as well as the Whitehurst Freeway and the Swedish Embassy.

No injuries were found, and there was no sign of damage to property, Rose said.
A female victim was shot in the leg and wounded Sunday night at the Anacostia Metrorail station in Southeast Washington, authorities said.

The shooting occurred about 7:40 p.m. in the above ground bus-bay area of the station, where buses arrive and depart.

The victim was described only as female. She told a Metro Transit Police officer that she had been shot by a male assailant whom she did not know.

The woman was taken to a hospital with injuries described as not life threatening, said Metro spokeswoman Sherri Ly.

The incident came at a time when attention has been focused on crime in the Metro system and on Metros timeliness in reporting on crimes.
Prince William County Police are investigating the shooting death of a 23-year-old man in a parking lot in Woodbridge early Monday morning.

Police were called about 2:20 a.m. to the 3000 block of Golansky Boulevard, a commercial strip. They found Johnnie Pablito Kamara, suffering from a gunshot wound.

A police spokesman said detectives are exploring whether the shooting stemmed from an altercation that may have involved patrons from a hookah bar located in a nearby shopping center.

It is not clear what prompted the dispute.

Kamara, of Maryland, was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident and have asked anyone with information to call the Crime Solvers line at 703-670-3700 or 1-866-411-TIPS. Callers do not have to give their name and can earn up to a $1,000 reward.
The pre-war Pastor Matthew Williams had gone to seminary, was ordained and thought he understood why people suffer. God allows suffering because this world is temporary, is how he would have put it.

Then came two deployments as an Army chaplain, one to Afghanistan and one to Iraq. Williams spent a year in an Afghanistan morgue unzipping body bags and seeing your friends faces all blown apart. He watched as most of the marriages he officiated for fellow soldiers fell apart. He felt the terror of being the only soldier who wasnt armed when the mortars dropped and bullets flew.

This Memorial Day weekend, Williams is no longer an active-duty military chaplain nor a United Church of Christ minister. He is a guitar player on disability whose outlook on God, religion and suffering was transformed by post-traumatic stress.

I thought I had a handle on suffering. I thought I had a handle on understanding the sovereignty of God. I didnt know crap, said Williams, who now travels across the country, performing music and visiting other suffering veterans in what he sees as a new kind of ministry. At the end of the day, what I know now is: Im alive, I believe in God, I have faith, and thats where it stops. It doesnt get much deeper than that.

I dont think anymore that there is some grand design, he said It just is.

Chaplain Rev. John A. Weatherly performs a baptism at Abraham's Pool, Al Asad Airfield, Anbar Province, Iraq, in 2006. (Family Photo)

Perhaps the roughest parts of war  mortality, suffering, the seeming randomness of life  are supposed to be a chaplains bread and butter, their expertise. The 5,000 active-duty men and women often called Chaps are the ones soldiers seek at all hours, under strict confidentiality, to share their darkest acts, doubts and fears  even the suicidal thoughts that could end their military careers. And yet chaplains experience post-traumatic stress, too, while carrying out their unique mission to shore up others.

The Rev. John Weatherlys deployments to Bosnia in 2001 and Iraq in 2006 convinced him that chaplains respond to trauma much as other soldiers do: They get scared, they hide fear, they grown numb.

Its normal to have nightmares, to cry when you listen to the news, said Weatherly, a retired Army colonel who serves as rector at St. Marks Episcopal Church in Alexandria, has completed workshops on post-traumatic stress and now serves as a facilitator to others. I know fear. I know what its like to be scared and yelling the 23rd Psalm at the top of my voice.

On the other hand, the last thing a commander wants is a weak chaplain, said Anthony Pantlitz, 53, a retired chaplain with the Air Force. The chaplain is supposed to be the one that is unbroken, Pantlitz said. When soldiers see a chaplain is broken, they feel its okay for them to be broken, too. Other soldiers  okay. But a man or woman of God is not supposed to be broken.

A father of five, Pantlitz fills journals with stories of a Thanksgiving mortaring in Iraq, where he saw three security guards charred like burned meat. For a time, he lost his faith altogether. It returned with a new, different force, but the numbness, flashbacks and deep isolation remain.

A still small voice frequently asked me, where is your God? he wrote recently in his journal. I feel so alone in this world. I am so isolated and alienated from people, the world, and myself. I feel like a Prisoner of a War who has been forgotten on the battlefield.

A chaplains loss of faith is a particularly unfortunate cost of war, say experts who believe spiritual community and routine help long-term healing. Some reframe their ideas about faith. Others see God in post-traumatic stress itself.

Anthony Pantlitz, a retired chaplain with the Air Force, in 2004 at a hospital in Baghdads Green Zone with an Iraqi boy, Mootah, who survived an attack that killed some of his family members. (Family Photo)

If I could turn back the hands of time, Id not change anything, said Pantlitz, who now focuses on his family and his work in counseling groups. To go to Iraq, to get PTSD, and to use it, to make me a more ironically compassionate person, which opened doors for me to tell people who have been through trauma, difficulties, that God doesnt waste anything.

Sometimes God purposely breaks the chaplain so he can make them a better chaplain, he said. In my case, I was wounded, and I use my wounds to be a healer to others. This has made me a better Christian.

The drain on chaplains and other caregivers is sometimes called compassion fatigue, a term used in the civilian world to refer to anyone, from firefighters to newspaper readers, who grow desensitized to endless stories about conflict.

Some post-traumatic-stress programs are starting to specialize in caregivers. Operation Tohidu, a seven-day retreat program in Maryland for veterans coping with stress, will run its first version specifically for caregivers  many chaplains  early next year. Post-traumatic stress disorder has been the common term for the potentially crippling symptoms some people experience after traumatic incidents, though its becoming less frequent to use the word disorder.

Mary Neal Vieten, a Navy psychologist who runs the Tohidu program, said it is filling fast.

Chaplains are the go-to person when someone has a problem, she said. They are the only ones perceived as offering real confidentiality, available 24-7. They are also non-combatants. In other words they cant defend themselves under attack.

They are the dumping ground for everyone elses problems, she said. They cant go anywhere without someone saying, Hey Chaps, got a sec? Its a boundary-less job in that sense.

While their theological training may make plenty of theoretical room for the existence of suffering, its different when they are confronted by the brutalities of war head-on, Vieten said.

What we tell them is: If you arent traumatized on some level, youre not a functioning human being, she said. Reminding pastors that trauma is a category of suffering  not a mental illness  helps them to recover, Vieten said.

Chaplains play different roles for soldiers.

Several chaplains described being characterized as good luck charms, with comrades wanting them to fly or drive with them into conflict, believing in a religious or even superstitious way that the chaplains would protect them from danger. Others say they feel more like a sin-eater, a folkloric magical figure who takes on others sins so they can rest after death or be free. Sin-eaters are sometimes seen as outcasts, sometimes as heroes.

I cant do the sin-eater thing day in and day out anymore, said Williams, who now lives in Florida. Ive done the thing where you do death notification in the morning, someone telling me about their husband leaving them in the afternoon, and someone talking about being abused in the evening. Constant suffering becomes your reality. I couldnt handle it anymore.

Yet Williams said that dealing with his own post-traumatic stress helped liberate his religious faith.

Now Im living my faith more, he said. Before, I felt I had to stick with the party line. Now, Im unaffiliated, but I believe in God and my soldiers and other soldiers with whom he didnt serve, he said.

Doug Carver, a major general who was the chief of chaplains for the Army from 2007 to 2011  the Army is the branch with the most chaplains  said there is no hard data on whether chaplains are more or less likely to experience stress, but that from his experience, a long-term syndrome is rare.

However, he said, the Army launched a program called Combat Military Ministry, specifically to help chaplains and their assistants deal with trauma. He said he also sees a trend at Christian colleges, where they are creating crisis-counseling programs for chaplains.

The chaplain is unique in dealing with guilt, unforgiveness, blame, Carver said.
Vanessa Huggins lives in Anacostia and relies on Metro for her commute. The closure of the Brookland station during Metros repair project will increase her travel time by 25 minutes each way. (Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post)

Hundreds of thousands of Washington-area residents will face major disruptions to their daily commutes after Metro launches its year-long maintenance blitz Saturday.

But with less than a week before the first crews begin digging Metro out of decades of neglect, much of the region  from officialdom to everyday commuters on packed trains, buses and roads  is not ready for whats coming.

Despite a flurry of preparations, the sheer scale of potential impacts, the staggered schedule of the repairs and human nature have conspired to leave many fuzzy on the details.

Its not The sky is falling,  said James C. Dinegar, president of the Greater Washington Board of Trade. But this is not going to be the stuff weve been used to.

Preparedness experts are treating the impending delays like some sort of transit-tinged act of God, using the language of disaster management as they work with businesses on continuity planning.

Its about the backup plan. What are we going to do if a hurricane comes through? How are we going to make sure the business stays afloat? It doesnt have to be a hurricane. It can be the Metro, said Christina Crue, a crisis manager at the firm Witt OBriens, which is advising the Board of Trade.

Many have been in denial.

Oh, no. Oh, no! They cant do that. They really cant, said Vanessa Huggins, who was pressing and curling a retired schoolteachers hair at Genesis 1 Hair Galaxy when she learned recently that the nearest two Red Line stations  Rhode Island Avenue and Brookland  would be shut down completely for 23 days this fall. Not just at night, as many have come to expect. All day.

[Metro releases significantly revised SafeTrack plan]

Soon, Huggins shifted to the second stage of Metro grief  calculation  and sought to tally the minutes shell lose taking a more roundabout route from her home in Anacostia and waiting for slower buses. It didnt look good. I dont like idle time like that. I like to keep it moving, Huggins said.

But individual calculations  and broader ones by officials and businesses trying to cope with the closures and single-tracking in Metros SafeTrack plan  are complicated by a lack of information. Metro says estimates for the delays, which will affect millions of trips, are currently in development. For now, the transit agency says, major impact simply means very crowded trains and significantly longer wait times.

Many officials and employers say they are too busy scrambling on logistics to have a clear idea of how much all this might cost them.

Metro announced on May 19 its revised overhaul plan to fix its infrastructure, which will disrupt service for hundreds of thousands of commuters. Federal officials asked Metro to make changes to the plan, which shifted the repair schedule. (Jenny Starrs,Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post)

Beginning this week, the system will shut down at midnight, instead of 3 a.m., on Fridays and Saturdays. The first project, starting Saturday, calls for 13 days of nonstop single-tracking on the Orange and Silver lines between Ballston and East Falls Church.

The next phase, starting June 18, includes a 16-day shutdown of service along the Orange, Blue and Silver lines between the Eastern Market station and the Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue stations.

The program includes 15 projects.

[Metro closures: These lines and stations will be disrupted in the next year]

Officials seek changes

As the launch nears, many officials are pushing for more information, and some are seeking at least a partial reprieve for their residents or firms.

Last week, D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) sent Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld a five-page letter with a long list of questions and requests for data that city officials say they need to prepare for the imminent tumult. Where do trips typically begin and end for each station slated for closure? Where are the maps showing routes for Metro bus bridges that are supposed to carry some passengers past shuttered stations? How many fewer people can travel through each affected station during rush hours?

And, just days before the program is set to begin, Bowser also asked Wiedefeld for key changes. She wants Metro to reconsider the midnight closings on weekends, which will hit the late night riders and nighttime workers who support and sustain the Districts economy. That includes restaurant staffers. Instead, Bowser proposes rotating closures along one or two lines for a couple of months at a time.

Arlington County officials are concerned about the planned Blue Line closure between the Rosslyn and Pentagon stations for 18 days in December, including Christmas Eve, because of the impact on the million-square-foot Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.

December is our busiest month of the year, said Roderick C. Vosper, vice president of development for the malls owner, Simon Property Group. I understand theyre under the gun. I understand the repairs need to be done, but if there is some . . . sort of workaround, where it wouldnt hit us during the holiday season, that certainly would be helpful.

Wiedefeld has shown little willingness thus far to make such concessions. Political pressure to prioritize expanded service over basic maintenance was one cause of the systems decline, and Wiedefeld has argued that the time for Band-Aids is over.

[Metro sank into crisis despite decades of warnings]

In written responses to questions, Metro said it has no plans to loosen the midnight closures and cant accommodate holiday changes. The maintenance push has already been vetted and approved by the Federal Transit Administration, which was given oversight of Metro safety last year after a deadly smoke incident, and it addresses concerns raised by the National Transportation Safety Board. The goal of Metros intricate schedule is to squeeze three years of much-needed work into about a years time.

By closing the system at midnight every night and expanding weekday maintenance opportunities, the SafeTrack plan addresses FTA and NTSB safety recommendations, accelerates work to eliminate maintenance backlogs and restores Metro infrastructure to good health, Metro officials said in a statement. On the Pentagon City mall, they added, careful consideration was given to properly prioritize this maintenance work while ensuring the least amount of impact on riders.

Bowser also asked the transit agency to reduce inefficiencies by moving buses from low-ridership areas to places hit hard by the repair work. Her transportation chief, Leif Dormsjo, pointed to the shutdown of the Stadium-Armory and Potomac Avenue stations starting June 18. Dormsjo said Metros plan to add 40 buses as alternatives during most of the projects wont come close to matching the capacity of rail. He calls it merely lifeline service.

Metro says its rail cars can hold up to 175 people  more than 1,000 in a six-car train. The agencys larger articulated buses hold about 100 people.

Metro says it wont pull buses from sparse routes to bridge that gulf, arguing that many Metrobus riders depend on the existing network as their only mode of transportation. Metro officials said selected routes will be supplemented, but it is unclear how much extra capacity the agency can find.

Businesses face reality

Theres been a learning curve. Some business leaders werent clear about what their companies faced before a series of urgent meetings over the past two weeks. Its been surprising how people just dont get that when a station is shut, that means the train doesnt go through, Dinegar said.

The trade groups members will soon survey employees on how theyll be affected and whether theyre ready to telework. Firms are stockpiling laptops and testing their remote networks. Others are trying to arrange backup transportation.

Some statistics may seem comforting  but really arent, Dinegar said. Metro says the work starting Saturday will have a major impact on 73,000 trips each weekday. Thats roughly 10 percent of all weekday Metro trips. It doesnt sound that big, Dinegar said.

But if thousands of Metro commuters pile into their cars for solo rides downtown, already-clogged routes such as Interstate 66 will get worse, causing ripples across the region, he said.  Ripple sounds like a day at the beach. Its not a ripple. Its going to have impacts up and down the line, Dinegar said. You will begin looking at people traveling in a car by themselves during this as selfish.

[Heres what Metro found during the emergency one-day shutdown]

Transportation planners say persuading commuters, even those far from a particular safety surge, to carpool, take transit, shift their commuting hours or stay home will be crucial for the region to function well in coming months.

During a one-day emergency Metro shutdown in March, more drivers took to the roads very early, while fewer than usual drove later in the morning, leaving overall morning peak traffic slightly lighter than normal, according to a preliminary analysis by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Whether drivers will heed similar warnings and alter their routines for up to several weeks at a time is an unanswered question.

Warnings for commuters

Metro spokeswoman Sherri Ly said that while the transit agency has done some rider outreach, including full-page ads in newspapers, the real push will begin Tuesday. She said Metro is launching a major effort this week in part because the agencys research has found that people often dont pay attention to upcoming events until they are close to happening.

Commuters passing through stations including Metro Center, LEnfant Plaza, Rosslyn and Fort Totten can expect to see street teams handing out brochures, in multiple languages, about the massive project, which involves work on virtually every line in the system.

Ly said officials will post signs in stations, air radio spots, and take out ads in English- and Spanish-language newspapers. Riders with registered SmarTrip cards and those who have signed up for Metro Alerts can expect to receive SafeTrack updates. Ly said Metro is also depending on its regional partners  the District and counties served by the rail system, as well as area businesses  to spread the word. Were all in this together, she said.

[Fairfax to add bus service to assist in year-long Metro SafeTrack disruptions]

Fairfax County is adding buses to the Pentagon to try to dissuade workers from driving on their own. Arlington is encouraging workers to telework or walk. Officials also hope to get more people to consider biking. The Office of Personnel Management has told individual federal agencies to decide how many employees might work later hours or telecommute. Ride-hailing firms such as Uber are pushing their multi-passenger carpool services. Chevy Chase, Md.-based Geico is bringing in new vans to pick up employees and bombarding workers with daily warnings.

I think everybodys going to know what June 4th Day is, said Deborah Lipsey, a Geico human relations manager.

The fact that there will be 15 separate repair projects of varying lengths in varying locales makes gaming out  and communicating  the impact a challenge, said Craig DeAtley, who heads emergency planning for MedStar Washington Hospital Center.

[Heres Ubers plan for getting you around during SafeTrack]

We sometimes use the term organized chaos. Its an organized disruption of peoples lives, or a semi-organized disruption of peoples lives, DeAtley said.

Between 750 and 900 of the MedStar systems 6,500 nurses, doctors, food-service staffers and other workers take Metro one or more times a week, DeAtley said. Managers are shifting employee shuttle routes and adding off-site parking.

Its not like were trying to solve the problem for every individual who works at the center. Its a statistically important but not a statistically overwhelming issue for us, DeAtley said. It comes back to personal responsibility, with planning on leaving early to come to work and realizing, as tired as you are, its likely to take you longer to come home after work.

From denial to acceptance

It took Vanessa Huggins years to get comfortable riding Metro again.

After the terror and chaos of 9/11, when her Metro commute included seeing smoke rising from the Pentagon, she was too spooked to ride the train. But for about six years now, shes been getting to Genesis 1 Hair Galaxy with a carefully calibrated mix of Metrorail and bus. She checks an app mid-trip to see which station and transfer will get her there with the least friction.

Im chasing buses, she says.

For the past few days, shes been testing the commute shell face starting Oct. 10. Its been adding roughly 25 minutes each way, a 50 percent boost in time wasted. And thats without anyone else trying to do the same thing.

If things get bad, the salons owner, Melba May, said shell help out.

Ill have to go pick her up, because I cant work without her, May said.

Sitting in Hugginss well-worn chair, customer Tenina Sutherland said its a shame what Metro has become. It just seems ridiculous to shut down. What do you mean youre shutting down for 23 days? What is that? she said.

But Huggins has moved on to acceptance. She just wants a safe ride.

Im fine with it. Im not mad at them, Huggins said. They have to do what they have to do.

Lori Aratani contributed to this report.
Libby Garvey (D), chair of the Arlington County Board, greets voter Laurie Siegel, right, while canvassing for reelection. She faces challenger Erik Gutshall in the June 14 Democratic primary. (Astrid Riecken/For The Washington Post)

The next address on Libby Garveys list was marked SR  strong Republican  but the Democratic politician who chairs the Arlington County Board didnt hesitate. She told the homeowners she is running for another term, has the support of a well-known Republican colleague  and is facing a primary challenger because of it.

The next day, that opponent, Erik Gutshall, wielded his own clipboard as he campaigned in a different neighborhood, pledging to get in front of rising school enrollment, invest in transportation infrastructure and improve middle-income housing if he is elected. Compared with Garvey, he said, I think I can do a much better job of planning for the future.

Arlingtons June 14 primary pits an admittedly wonky, progressive candidate against a political veteran who has infuriated her party by shunning the liberal stances that are a hallmark of this diverse, wealthy, inside-the-Beltway community.

[Arlington board chair faces opposition from within her own party]

It is another political Rorschach test for the deep-blue Arlington electorate, which over the past two years has wavered between a fiscally conservative candidate who questions the status quo and candidates who put more faith in the communitys long-established methods of coming to agreement on government spending.

Arlington County Board candidate Erik Gutshall talks with Karen Serfis in the Ashton Heights neighborhood. Gutshall is a Democrat trying to unseat fellow Democrat and incumbent board member Libby Garvey in the June 14 primary. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

After the 2014 election of Republican-turned-independent John Vihstadt, who was supported by and has now endorsed Garvey, county voters last year chose two liberal Democrats, Katie Cristol and Christian Dorsey, to fill open board seats.

Gutshall, 46, takes that as a sign that Arlingtonians still support progressive politics.

The owner of a home-improvement business who has served on the countys planning and transportation boards, Gutshall is basing his campaign on a call for making strategic, long-term investments in housing, transportation, schools and parks.

He said he wants to find ways to increase the supply of medium-density housing for those who are being priced out of Arlington but dont qualify for subsidized programs. Garvey, he notes, has tried to cut the countys spending on low-interest, long-term loans to organizations that build affordable housing.

Karen Serfis, who met Gutshall as he went door-to-door last week, works for a nonprofit housing agency and said she was impressed by Gutshalls knowledge of the field. She dismissed Garveys emphasis on allowing more accessory dwelling units  essentially in-law suites that could be used by non-related renters in existing homes.

Thats such a small percentage of people that would work for, Serfis said.

Gutshalls support for multi-modal transportation won him the vote of Tom Underwood, a retired Foreign Service officer who used to be a bike commuter and who was visited by the Democratic challenger in the Ashton Heights neighborhood.

We need more public investment in the transportation infrastructure, Underwood said. Ive lived in Europe and Asia, and theyre way ahead of us.

Others in the neighborhood were less welcoming. Elizabeth Reed lit into Gutshall over rising home assessments, traffic-calming features that she said will force school buses over a curb on her block, and what she described as the impossibility of bicycle commuting when you work 27 miles away.

[First transit-oriented development, now trail-oriented development]

The candidates smile froze. He could find few grounds for agreement with her.

Gutshall is hammering Garvey on the issue of school overcrowding, noting her 15 years on the Arlington School Board, including five as chair, before joining the County Board. He also looks skeptically at Garveys calls for flexibility in the countys carefully crafted zoning rules.

I think she has to take some responsibility, he said. Were in the sixth year of discussing [school overcrowding]. I dont think thats responsible leadership.

The challenger says Garvey has been a polarizing presence on the County Board and bears significant responsibility for the declining trust in local government. His supporters note that in addition to backing Vihstadt over the Democratic nominee in 2014, she has accepted campaign donations from Republicans, including $1,000 from former congressman Thomas M. Davis.

Garvey said that she and Davis have worked together on regional matters, particularly transportation. Im looking for support from everybody, she said.

Garvey, 65, is masterful at establishing ties with potential voters. In short order while campaigning last week, she shared the story of her daughters long-ago heart surgery with a mom whose son would soon face a similar operation, and bonded with the wife of a cancer patient by talking about her own battle with breast cancer in 2010.

Garvey also suggested that each woman consider voting early, so that pressing medical appointments do not interfere with their civic duty.

An Arlington resident for almost 40 years, Garvey and her late husband arrived in the county after working in the Peace Corps in the Central African Republic. She settled in Fairlington and became active in school issues, advocating for a new elementary school in south Arlington, what is now Carlin Springs.

After a loss on her first try, she won election to the school board in 1996 and lost two primary races for seats in the General Assembly in 2005 and 2011. She was elected to the County Board in 2012.

Garvey says she offers experience in both schools and county issues, connections to leaders around the region and the commonwealth, and fiscal accountability.

If you like the schools here, I did that, she tells voters on the campaign trail, adding that the county and the schools are working together to address overcrowding.

Jane Andelman, a 45-year-old mother of two, is concerned about school capacity and was intrigued enough after meeting Garvey to do some research online. What she found, she said, troubled her.

Washington-Lee High School is already overcrowded after they just completed a new building. Thats disheartening, she said. It did make me think twice, with her having been on the school board and not planning appropriately. What was going on before I was paying attention?

A neighbor down the street, Darrell Capwell, knew of Garvey through his own involvement with the Democratic Party and said he was impressed by her attention to local issues. He offered unambiguous support, saying Garvey personifies what a good public servant should be.

As for school overcrowding, It snuck up on all of us, Capwell said. You cant blame someone for not being able to predict the future.

The Garvey-Gutshall race is the only one on the June 14 ballot in Arlington. Voter registrar Linda Lindberg said she expects turnout to be in the 8 to 10 percent range, or 10,000 to 12,000 voters. The last day for absentee voting is June 11.
Lewis Elbinger in Mount Shasta, Calif., on May 2. The 68-year-old supports Bernie Sanders and believes he can win the Democratic nomination. (Carlos Javier Ortiz/For The Wasington Post)

It is a glorious day in Northern California, and Lewis Elbinger, a 68-year-old Bernie Sanders supporter, is feeling great  or, as he puts it, high vibe. In the five decades since he first painted a white peace sign on his forehead, protested the Vietnam War and hitchhiked to India to become a monk, in fact, he has never felt more optimistic about the country than at this very moment.

A consciousness is rising, he says.

A case could be made that this is not exactly so in the sense that Elbinger means it.

Donald Trump is now the presumptive Republican nominee for president. Hillary Clinton, according to everyone who is not a Sanders supporter, will be his Democratic opponent, meaning that Sanders is about to become the latest in a long line of progressive candidates to lose.

But that is not how things appear in Mount Shasta, where the light seems brighter, the air cleaner, the sky bluer, and where Elbinger is about to get into his car with two fellow Berners and drive 130 miles south. The destination is Chico, where he will try to become a Sanders delegate representing California at this summers Democratic National Convention. Put another way, he will be the older, white-haired Jewish guy with steadfast 1960s values trying to win an election against all odds.

1 of 42 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  Highlights from Bernie Sanderss campaign, in pictures View Photos Actor Dick Van Dyke heads to the stage before introducing Bernie Sanders at a rally in Santa Monica, CA. Caption The senator from Vermont is Hillary Clintons rival in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination. June 14, 2016 Bernie Sanders arrives at the Capital Hilton to meet with Hillary Clinton in D.C. Matt McClain/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue.

He is certain that Sanders can not only win the nomination but also ride the wave of rising consciousness all the way to the White House, ushering in the era of peace, love and prosperity that his generation has long imagined.

Weve been waiting for this our entire lives, says Elbinger, who retired after a 28-year State Department career that included a stint as a political adviser to Gen. David H. Petraeus at the U.S. Central Command in Florida. I know this is going to catch fire.

He is dressed for the occasion like the Foreign Service officer he was and the unapologetic hippie he remains: gray blazer, forest-green oxford shirt, knotted tie, a large crystal draped around his neck, a Feel the Bern button on his lapel.

Wow, you look spiffy! says Christine Herbster, 59, as Elbinger arrives to pick up her and her friend Marcia Rey, 65, for the drive south.

I saw a poll that said California is 61.5 percent for Bernie, says Rey.

Lets work for 70 percent! says Elbinger.

Im going for 90! says Herbster. We have an endless pool of hope.

We are not giving up, says Rey. The vibe is different here  we are progressing.

We have sunshine! says Herbster.

And a lot of water! says Rey.

We have this glorious mountain here, says Elbinger. Just look at it. I can see it right now.

The clouds have blown off Mount Shasta, which is still tipped with snow, and Elbinger draws in a long breath of fresh air. His mind is clear. His chakras are balanced. He likes to say he has a good filter to sift out negative thoughts before he might utter them and thus give them life in the world.

All right! says Elbinger. Were off to Chico!

Right on! says Herbster, and off they go.

***

As the 2016 presidential election heads toward its last big primary, in California on June 7, Bernie Sanders has achieved far more than anyone predicted, winning 20 primaries and caucuses and nearly 10 million votes. In recent weeks, more and more of those voters have become ever more strident and angry, believing that the primary process is rigged against Sanders. They have cursed and shouted down party officials and turned the slogan Feel the Bern into Bern It Down as a feeling spreads that Sanders should stay in the race no matter what. Such is the evolving devotion to a man who is called by some of his supporters the candidate weve been waiting for.

Of these, few have been waiting longer than Lewis Elbinger, a proud member of the Woodstock generation that forms the solid, ever-hopeful core of the Sanders coalition. These are the true believers who have always sought out some version of him, whether that was Dennis Kucinich in 2004 or Ralph Nader in 2000 or Jerry Brown in 1992, and who include the trio now hurtling toward Chico in a station wagon, a pouch of feathers dangling from the rearview mirror.

Us old hippies, says Rey.

This is just the beginning, says Elbinger, who cast his first presidential vote for the anti-Vietnam War Democrat Eugene McCarthy in 1968, the year that Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were assassinated, cities were rioting, and Elbinger was sure that his country had gone crazy.

He was 21, and trying to make sense of such a world. He headed to Vietnam as a photojournalist, then hitchhiked to India, where he was living on pot and bread and setting up an ashram when something happened that changed the course of his life. A copy of Life magazine drifted into his hands, a whole issue devoted to Woodstock  page after page of half a million muddy hippies reveling in music, peace, love and drugs for three days on a farm in Upstate New York, which made him think something had shifted for the better.

He returned home to Detroit, met his wife, had a daughter and joined the State Department, which turned into a long career of postings in Kenya, Pakistan, India and other places. All of it led Elbinger to his fundamental belief in the oneness of humanity, and finally to Mount Shasta, where he opened a place in town called the Silk Road Chai Shop.

When he is not there, he is working on an opera based on the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights. He lives in an apartment overlooking the mountain and meditates in a chair facing his chakra chart. He takes long walks in the forest and says prayers for a better world in a particular spot at a particular time when beams of sun hit his forehead just so. He sets a cellphone alarm for 12:12 p.m. each day, and when it rings, he asks himself, Are you doing what youre supposed to be doing?

He loves this life in a town that can at times feel like an actual Shangri-La, a place where shops sell kama sutra oil, crystals and books about dissolving your ego, and its normal to overhear I used to buy that incense by the box or Where do you keep your Buddha?

Which is not to say that Elbinger is cut off from reality as most people know it; he toggles easily between worlds and was watching a debate last year when he became enthralled with Bernie Sanders, or as he sometimes calls him, Mahatma.

The maha means great, the atma means soul  Great Soul, he says, and in the car, his passengers could not agree more.

They zip along the highway, past blurs of green fields and sprays of orange poppies and a full and glittering Lake Shasta, winding down toward the Central Valley that Elbinger calls the real world.

Imagine a painting, a Norman Rockwell painting that looks so idealistic, says Rey, a retired graphic designer, looking out the window. Living in a place like this, youre in the painting. . . . Its just a different way of being, and thats what Bernie stands for. A quality of life for everybody.

No matter how poor your parents were, says Herbster, a retired Air Force mechanic.

People dont know it but those rights are actually enshrined in the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights, says Elbinger, who likes to say that if this life is a dream, as the Buddhists say, then lets make it like a Walt Disney musical  why make it like a nightmare?

Do you have anything better to do than to try to make it better? says Rey.

Thats why were here, says Elbinger, who has a remarkable ability to fold information he deems negative into his unified theory of ever-rising human consciousness.

For instance, the rise of Donald Trump: Hes needed  we are detoxifying, purging our system of the racism that occurred in the past.

Hillary Clinton: Shes representing the dying forces of the 20th century.

Pundits who say its over for Sanders: No, its just beginning, Elbinger says, explaining his view that the system is rigged against Sanders and if it werent, the true extent of his popularity would be unleashed.

Whats happening is an evolution, he says, which reminds him that he wishes Sanders would stop using the word revolution.

I think he should drop the r,  he says. The word revolution scares people. It literally means to go in circles. Evolution means to spiral upwards, and thats what were doing.

At least this is how it feels at this very moment, winding through miles of walnut groves.

Theres nothing more I would love than for California to be the one that really stepped up for Bernie, says Rey.

Its going to be, says Elbinger.

I feel like I havent had someone feel and think the way I do in a long time, says Herbster, and soon they are arriving in Chico, pulling up to an old wooden Grange Hall for the election.

Oh, says Elbinger. Look at all the cars.

***

A few hundred people are lining up at the doors. Some of them are young, but many more are of Elbingers generation, men and women with graying beards and ponytails who have come from all over Californias 1st Congressional District, which is mostly Republican, and which gives the gathering the slightly awkward air of a coming-out party.

Nice button, a young man says to an older woman wearing a Feel the Bern button.

Isnt this wonderful? an older woman says to another.

So, youre a candidate? Bless your heart, a young nurse says to Elbinger.

I am  Lewis Elbinger, he says, shaking her hand, then turning to the man behind him.

Hi, Im Lewis Elbinger  Im going to be on the ballot, he says, his confidence in all of this rising as the line moves into the auditorium.

Kimberly Butcher? an official calls out as the candidates begin making their pitches.

A nervous young woman comes to the stage.

Im a fairly new Democrat whos always felt apathetic to the process, she begins, her voice shaking.

Dont worry! Youre among friends! an older voice booms back, and one after another, the candidates stand on stage to declare their passion for Sanders.

I have personally seen the cost of poverty, of these children being disenfranchised from the economic system, begins a young mental-health worker named Randall.

Im Native American, and Bernies the only one whos ever cared about us, says a young man named Erik.

Bernies our only hope you guys, says a mother of four named Karissa, her voice rising as she explains that she is overwhelmed with bills and is about to lose her house and that she is shouting because she is terrified. I will stand with him for hours! I will stand with him for days! I will stand with him until my feet are bleeding, my knees are buckling! I will stand with him until Im exhausted and fall down, and then Ill grab one of you guys to stand me up to stand with him some more!

A 67-year old woman recalls hearing Martin Luther King speak at the March on Washington in 1963. A man in his 70s recalls attending the tumultuous 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago. A Legal Aid lawyer recalls marching against the Vietnam War.

Many of you remember those times, he says.

In the audience, Elbinger is nodding, because of course he does. He remembers everything about those times, and that is the reason why he is here, walking up to the stage, a white-haired, 68-year-old Jewish man still clinging to all the ideas that first inspired him.

All right, Lewis! Rey calls out.

Yeah! Herbster yells.

Wow! Look at this crowd! he begins. My name is Lewis Elbinger, and Im a retired Foreign Service officer. Ive traveled all around the world, and Im telling you that people all around the world are hoping for Sanders!

His voice is rising.

God knows we need him here, but the whole world is looking at us!

He is gesturing.

This is about voting our conscience! Getting trust and values back into the government again!

He is on a roll.

So the only question is, will this delegate switch over to Hillary Clinton at the contested convention? he shouts. And the answer in my case is no!

The crowd is clapping and cheering him on, and he is looking out at their faces. It is not exactly a half-million muddy hippies at Woodstock, but to Elbinger the moment feels similar to what he felt all those decades ago, like something is shifting for the better in America.

Im expecting Bernie to win! he yells. Why? We are California guys! We can do this!

People clap and cheer as Elbinger steps off the stage and sits back down, and when the speeches are over, Rey and Herbster tell him how great he was.

They cast their ballots, and soon they are back in the car, winding their way through the walnut groves, past green fields and swaths of orange poppies and on into the mountains.

What an experience, Elbinger says, pulling onto the highway.

It was awesome, says Rey.

They talk about how good it felt to be around so many people who listen with their heart, and their shared belief that this election and in fact all of existence comes down to a choice between love and fear, and how sure they are not only that love will win, but that the movement to elect Sanders will win, too.

Its ever growing, says Elbinger, and as they round a curve they can see their home in the distance.

Theres Mount Shasta! Elbinger says.

Yeah, sighs Herbster.

As beautiful as all this is, thats the place I want to be right there, he says.

And soon, that is where they are.

Elbinger drops off his friends at the Silk Road Chai Shop.

Mission accomplished! says Herbster.

Thank you, Lewis! says Rey.

He drives through the town he loves, where people shop for little Buddhas and incense and a tourist holds a crystal in his palm while a man asks: Can you feel it? The vibrations are really strong.

And now he is back home, sitting in his meditation chair and facing the chakra chart. He looks out of the window  a view of blooming flowers and the mountain beyond. It is sunny. It is glorious. Eventually it is 12:12 and his alarm goes off.

Are you doing what you are supposed to be doing? he asks himself then, and at this point in a life he sees as spiraling ever-upward, he is certain. The answer is yes.
News / Press Release

by Dr. Patson Dzamara

PRESS STATEMENT ON ITAI DZAMARA

Date: 30 May, 2016It's almost 15 months since the diabolic abduction of Itai Dzamara. From the onset i never minced my words regarding who the perpetrators are. Never have I cowered from my position that the disappearance of Itai Dzamara is the work of Mr. Mugabe's ZANU PF through state security agents.The following are the key points I need to highlight before I go any further;1. Itai's enforced disappearance is inundated with the unquestionable fingerprint of the state. The style in which this morbid act was executed attests to the involvement of the state's ugly hand. Itai was abducted the same way the likes of Jestina Mukoko, Paul Chizuze and Patrick Nabanyama were abducted by the state.2. Absence of a suspect. The police failed to come up with a single lead for over a year. We all know how efficient our police force is. Just recently, they managed to unearth the mystery surrounding the death of an Air Zimbabwe boss who was murdered in Botswana.3. The complete refusal to comment by key state officials including Mr. Robert Mugabe is curious. The few times key state officials commented, they trivialised the matter, uttering irresponsible statements such as that there was nothing unusual about Itai's disappearance and that the president is too busy to comment on such a trivial matter. By the way, I even wrote the President at some point and I didn't get any response.4. It had to take a court order for the police to be compelled to investigate the matter. They were initially reluctant to investigate the matter.Fellow Zimbabweans, it is with a heavy heart and sadness that I write to inform you that we do not have political leaders in this country but evil men and women masquerading as leaders.We have unfortunately allowed ourselves to endure the discomfort of being ruled by this cabal of gangsters. Mugabe and his minions do not at all care for us.It is indeed a fact that the ZANU PF led government has presided over gross human rights violations and we have permitted them to get away with it. The time has come for us as citizens to draw a line in the sand. We can't allow this buffoonery to continue.After this exposition, every Zimbabwean and the whole world shall know how evil these people are.It is indeed unexpected that the police failed to come up with a single lead regarding my missing brother. Of course, it is not that they don't know what happened but they are working under strict instructions but God has his own ways. We have engaged in a lot of processes behind the scenes in our quest to locate the truth regarding Itai Dzamara's enforced disappearance.Some individuals from within the evil establishment volunteered information regarding who abducted Itai Dzamara, why and where he was kept. The heinous act was executed by state security agents, in particular the military intelligence.Incontestable evidence was availed to us and I dare Mr. Mugabe and his surrogates to prove me wrong. They can't, because this is the truth. I can not at this juncture state my brother's fate in the hands of these gangsters but I can categorically inform you that Itai Dzamara was abducted by the military intelligence under the direct instruction and supervision of ZANU PF.For choosing to speak out against their misrule and leadership failure they abducted Itai in broad day light. They thought they would get away with this evil deed as usual but not this time around. They pressed a wrong button.I shall continue to unveil more details regarding what really transpired to Itai. No amount of threats shall cause me to cower from the truth. If i remain silent, i only validate their evil deeds. I don't know about you, as for me, I am tired of their misrule premised on impunity. We can't allow Mr. Mugabe's Mafia to continue abusing us like this. This is abnormal and we are not going to normalise the abnormal.As I continue on this trajectory, seeking justice and answers, I want you to know that my fight is nolonger entirely about Itai but about a better Zimbabwe and setting a precedence regarding enforced disappearances. Never again shall this evil system abduct anyone in Zimbabwe. Now they know and they shall know that it very expensive for them to abduct citizens and to treat them in a willy-nilly manner.The following image is a professionally verified and authentic image of Itai Dzamara in one of the places they kept him. This is how evil these individuals we refer to as leaders are. I shall avail more details.Dr. Patson Dzamara
TEXAS

Rain ends, but flood rescues continue

Authorities said Monday that they rescued 40 more people from floodwaters in a county near Houston  even though rain has stopped in most of Texas.

Some rivers and waterways were still rising slowly after torrential rain last week. Forecasters say flooding of the Brazos River in parts of southeast Texas will continue through Tuesday, when the river is expected to crest more than three feet above the previous record. The people were rescued last Sunday and Monday in Fort Bend County.

The Texas death toll stands at six from floods, while an 11-year-old boy is missing and presumed dead in Kansas. Flood warnings across Texas remained in effect Monday, although only isolated rainfall was expected in parts of the southeast.

 Associated Press

The Brazos River has exceeded its banks and is flooding nearby properties Sunday, May 29, 2016, in Rosenberg, Texas. (Jon Shapley/AP)

ARIZONA

Measles outbreak hits detention center

An outbreak of measles that began with an inmate at a federal detention center for immigrants in central Arizona has grown to 11 confirmed cases, officials said Monday.

Seven of those infected are inmates at the Eloy Detention Center, and four are workers at the facility, said Pinal County Health Services spokesman Joe Pyritz. The privately run facility has stopped accepting new detainees or releasing those held there.

State and county health officials said they are working to stop new transmissions by isolating patients, vaccinating people detained in the privately run facility and trying to identify people who were at locations the four infected workers visited.

The outbreak began when an infected inmate was brought to the facility and spread the disease to a worker who had been vaccinated but got the disease anyway. Health officials released the first warning of the initial two cases Thursday.

Health officials have identified 14 locations in Pinal and Maricopa counties where the infected workers may have exposed other people, including stores, restaurants and a tribal casino.

 Associated Press

CALIFORNIA

Search on for shark thought to bite woman

Thousands of Memorial Day beachgoers were kept out of the water Monday as lifeguards searched miles of popular Southern California shoreline for a shark that they think attacked a swimmer the day before.

The woman, who was swimming in a wet suit, received large bite marks on her upper torso and shoulder and was bleeding heavily after a lifeguard boat spotted her in distress Sunday at Corona Del Mar State Beach, said Tara Finnigan, spokeswoman for the city of Newport Beach.

The womans condition was not immediately available, but she was conscious when she went to a hospital, Finnegan said.

Lifeguards were searching the water again Monday, with police in a helicopter assisting, said Rob Williams, chief lifeguard of the Newport Beach Fire Departments Marine Operations Division.

Although people were welcome on the beachfront and pier, lifeguards were asking anybody entering the water to return to the shore. With skies overcast and temperatures chilly Monday, several beachgoers said it was too cold to swim anyway.

The ban on entering the water stretched for several miles from the Balboa Pier to the city limits at Crystal Cove State Beach. Officials said it would remain in effect until further notice.

The injured woman was swimming about 100 yards offshore, just outside buoys marking a protected swimming area near where boats travel. There have been no recent reports of sharks in the area.

 Associated Press

Agents capture one

of FBIs most wanted

One of the fugitives on the FBIs 10 Most Wanted list has been captured on the border with Mexico, authorities said Monday.

Bureau spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said in a news release that border agents took Philip Patrick Policarpio, who was wanted in the death of his pregnant girlfriend, into custody at a San Diego port of entry Sunday as he crossed into the United States from Tijuana.

Policarpio is accused of fleeing Los Angeles after shooting and killing his live-in girlfriend, Lauren Olguin, in April.

The FBI says they got into an argument at a friends home. He was on parole for a 2001 conviction for assault with a firearm and other violations. He was added to the list earlier this month. No other information was immediately released.

 Associated Press
YEMEN

Two days of fighting reportedly kill 69

At least 69 people have been killed and dozens injured in two days of fighting in central Yemen between rebels and forces loyal to the internationally recognized government, Yemeni security officials said Sunday.

The officials said government-allied forces have taken control of several areas previously held by the rebels, known as the Houthis, between the central provinces of Marib and Shabwa.

The government-allied forces said that 22 of their fighters were killed and that 25 were injured. They said the clashes were ongoing.

It was unclear how many of the remaining casualties were Houthi fighters and how many were civilians.

A truce between the warring parties that began April 10 has largely held despite violations by both sides. The conflict in Yemen pits Shiite Houthi rebels and supporters of a former president against Yemens government, supported by a Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition.

 Associated Press

SYRIA

Top rebel negotiator quits peace talks

The chief peace negotiator for Syrias mainstream opposition said he was resigning over the failure of the U.N.-backed Geneva talks to bring a political settlement and ease the plight of Syrians in besieged rebel-held areas.

Mohammed Alloush said the talks had also failed to secure the release of thousands of detainees or push Syria toward a political transition without President Bashar al-Assad.

Meanwhile, activists said Syrian rebels retook two villages from the Islamic State on Sunday as they fought to undo gains made by the extremist group in a surprise offensive days earlier.

Rebels retook Kafr Shoush and Braghida, expanding their buffer around the rebel-held town of Azaz, home to tens of thousands of people displaced by war, according to the Local Coordination Committees, an activist network inside the country.

Islamic State militants took rebels by surprise when they launched an offensive in a bid to seize Azaz and isolate Marea, a rebel-held town north of the contested city of Aleppo.

More than 160,000 civilians have been trapped by the fighting.

The rebel pocket around Azaz, which connects to the Turkish border, is surrounded by Islamic State militants on one side and the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on the other. Syrias Turkish- and Saudi-backed rebels accuse the SDF of colluding with the government in the civil war.

The Islamic State advance prompted a rare deal between the SDF and the rebels on Saturday, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group. It said the rebels surrendered control of a village near Marea to an SDF division in exchange for allowing 6,000 civilians to evacuate to areas under Kurdish control.

 From news services

ISRAEL

Reports: Police call to indict Netanyahus wife

Israeli media reported Sunday that a police investigation has recommended indicting the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged misuse of state funds and inflated household spending.

Channel 2 TV and other outlets reported that police believe they have enough evidence to bring Sara Netanyahu to trial. The reports said she used state funds to care for her now-deceased father and over-billed for meals.

Benjamin Netanyahu denied the allegations in a Facebook post, saying, In the police statement there was no recommendation to bring Mrs. Netanyahu to trial. In contrast to reports, Mrs. Netanyahu did not commit any crime.

The Netanyahus have long faced scrutiny over their spending and have fended off accusations that their lifestyle puts them out of touch with ordinary Israelis.

Sara Netanyahu, in particular, has been accused of using government funds to support expensive tastes and of abusive behavior toward staff.

 Associated Press

5 Ukrainian troops killed in attacks: Five government troops were killed and four were wounded in attacks by pro-Russian rebels in separatist eastern Ukraine, a military spokesman said. This follows a report of the deaths of seven Ukrainian soldiers on Tuesday, the highest daily toll among government troops since August. A cease-fire signed in February 2015 has failed to quell all fighting in eastern Ukraine, with each side accusing the other of violations.

Extremists kill 5 U.N. peacekeepers in Mali: The United Nations mission in Mali said at least five Togolese peacekeepers were killed in an attack by extremists in central Mali. Radhia Achouri, a spokeswoman for the mission, said another peacekeeper was injured. No group has asserted responsibility for the attack.

 From news services
This month, the United States delivered the first batch of 762 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to Egypt free of charge. Thats on top of the $1.3 billion in military aid the Obama administration has allocated to the regime of Abdel Fatah al-Sissi this year. The White House refuses to condition these gifts on an improvement in Egypts horrendous human rights record. So herewith a more modest proposal: Obama should ask Sissi to publicly explain how the MRAPs fit into the fourth-generation war.

Most people are unfamiliar with that esoteric term  unless they have been following the rhetoric of Egypts military leaders since the coup of 2013. Fourth-generation warfare, Sissi once explained to cadets at Egypts military academy, occurs when modern communication channels, psychology and the media are . . . deployed to create divisions and harm Egypt from within, according to the website Mada Masr.

Who is the enemy in this war? According to the Egyptian military, that would be the United States  the same country providing the army with those free armored vehicles and billions in aid. In March, the Defense Ministrys Nasser Military Academy briefed the parliament about fourth-generation warfare. According to the outline, reported by Mada Masr, the subjects included Egypts defense strategy and Western plans to divide the Middle East.

Pro-regime propagandists are far more explicit. Most civil society organizations in Egypt work to demolish the state through fourth generation warfare for a few dollars, wrote Charl Fouad El Masry in Daily News Egypt in January. Amr Ammar, a frequent guest on state television, has written a tome explaining how Egypts 2011 popular revolution was actually a U.S. plot to destroy Egypt for Israels benefit. He calls it the Hebrew Spring.

Some might dismiss this anti-American ranting as harmless rhetoric for internal consumption. In fact, it is not. We know that because the military has been acting on its theories. Among other steps, it has launched an offensive against those allegedly dollar-supported nongovernmental organizations. In March, prosecutors reopened a 2011 court case against a number of human rights groups, banning their leaders from leaving the country and asking a judge to freeze their personal assets.

During the first round of the case, the regime directly targeted U.S. organizations such as the International Republican Institute and Freedom House, forcing them to shut down their operations and pull their staff out of the country. Now it is prosecuting people such as Hossam Bahgat, the founder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, which recently reported on the regimes persecution of gay people; Gamal Eid, the executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information; and Bahey eldin Hassan, the founder of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies.

Observers of Egypt might wonder why Sissi, who claims to be fighting the Islamic State and other Muslim extremists, would devote himself to prosecuting secular human rights activists as well as journalists and left-wing politicians who despise jihadism. The answer is simple: Its all part of fighting the fourth-generation war. The ultimate enemy in this war is not Sunni extremism but Western liberalism  headed by the United States.

As the Egyptian generals see it, they use the tanks and mine-resistant vehicles and F-16s supplied by Washington to fight the Islamic State on one front, in the Sinai Peninsula. Meanwhile, they direct their intelligence services and prosecutors to assault Americas subversive agents in Cairo. There is no contradiction, so long as the U.S. administration doesnt object and the military aid isnt endangered. And the Obama administration doesnt object. In fact, it has asked Congress to remove all political and human rights conditions on military aid to Egypt in next years budget.

The problem with this is that U.S. support of the Egyptian military is serving to destroy U.S. relations with Egypt. Secular supporters of democracy and human rights, our natural allies, are being crushed. Meanwhile, Egyptians are being fed propaganda describing the United States as the sponsor of a massive plot to divide and destroy the country. From Washingtons point of view, it seems like a poor return on one of the largest aid packages in the world.

Thats why an Egyptian activist I know recently offered a friendly suggestion. Forget about trying to stop Sissis war on peaceful dissent, his prosecution of journalists and his shuttering of NGOs, he said. But tell the generals that future U.S. aid will depend on a prime-time televised statement by Sissi, in Arabic, assuring Egyptians that the United States is not plotting to destroy the country and has nothing to do with a fourth-generation war.

It doesnt seem like much to ask in exchange for 762 free MRAPs.

Read more from Jackson Diehls archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Sgt. Bradley Larson and First Lt. Andrew Bundermann, kneeling, lead a patrol into the mountains surrounding Saw village in eastern Afghanistan in March 2010. The two soldiers played critical roles in holding off a massive Taliban attack on Combat Outpost Keating six months earlier. The attack killed eight U.S. soldiers. (Greg Jaffe/The Washington Post)

Clinton Romesha is a former Army staff sergeant and author of Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the defense of Combat Outpost Keating.

In October 2009, my cavalry troop was preparing to shut down a remote outpost in Afghanistan when we were assaulted by more than 300 Taliban-led insurgents. In violation of the most basic principles of warfare, our base, Combat Outpost Keating, had been built in a valley surrounded by three mountains. It is almost impossible to hold and defend your ground when the enemy is free to shoot from above while observing every move you make.

Within the first hour of the attack, the insurgents had breached our wire, driving most of Keatings 50 U.S. guardians into our final defensive formation inside a cluster of three hard-shelled buildings, known as the Alamo position.

It was then that five enlisted men volunteered to join me in a counterattack meant to drive the enemy back beyond the wire, rescue missing comrades and retrieve the bodies of our dead.

During the next several hours, we achieved these goals. But by the time the battle was over, wed lost eight men. Three days later, we were evacuated, and the outpost was leveled by a series of American Hellfire missiles.

As far as the Army was concerned, that was the end of Keatings story. But the men who fought saw things differently.

How do you consecrate the memory of your fallen when the place where they lost their lives is off-limits, terrain to which you may never return?

Generally, soldiers dont like to talk about their most painful experiences. Most combat veterans have shorthand, watered-down versions of what happened to us that we recite, politely and dutifully, when asked. The real stories are almost never shared.

For the most part, we prefer to keep those memories safely locked away.

Why? For one, because language is such an imperfect tool. Anyone who has survived combat knows that words are entirely incapable of conveying the horrors of battle. Soldiers assume that any attempt to communicate such truths will merely underscore the futility of trying. This creates its own kind of defeat, another loss to be added to the balance sheet.

I cannot speak for every soldier. But this has been true for me and the men who fought by my side. And something else I know: Our tour in Afghanistan left a hole in all of us  a hole we werent able to identify, much less repair, because the Army had done almost nothing to prepare us for it.

We were given exhaustive training for the tasks set before us as soldiers. But when it came to coping with challenges after we came home, we were provided almost no resources.

This may have been the central insight  dimly realized and barely articulated  that led a group of us to conclude that if there were a path forward through the thickets of grief and loss, we would have to create it ourselves.

And that is how we decided we needed to tell our story.

By our story, I dont simply mean what happened at Keating. The most vital component was building a testament to the men who did not come back. Who they were. How they died. And to the extent possible, measuring whether their deaths held meaning, given that their lives were sacrificed for an outpost that probably never should have been built.

And so I spent a good portion of 2015 traveling around the country to talk to the men with whom I served, and we embraced the detailed and painful task of remembering what, exactly, had taken place during that 13-hour battle.

The result of our labor was a book that came out this month, a copy of which was given to each family who lost a soldier at Keating.

Upon reading it, the mother of Stephan Mace  one of the men I failed to save  wrote to tell me she had finally achieved, for the first time in seven years, a feeling of closure concerning her sons fate.

That was all I could have asked for. In some small way, the book had helped. Moreover, her words helped illuminate something that Id never fully understood but that now sits quite close to the center of what Memorial Day means to me.

I have always thought of myself as a man whose actions meant far more than his words. But Ive discovered that although stories cannot put whats broken back together, the deceptively simple act of acknowledging brokenness  staring it in the face, doing ones best to describe it unflinchingly and without embellishment  can create its own kind of cohesion.

By memorializing loss, we can begin to move in the direction of one day making things less broken.

Recently, critics have suggested that too many stories about Iraq and Afghanistan are being published, especially by Navy SEALs, and that those soldiers would demonstrate better wisdom through restraint and silence.

As odd as it feels for me to be saying this, I emphatically disagree.

In fact, considering that 2.5 million U.S. soldiers have fought in one or both of those wars, I dont think we have enough of these books.

These wars should, in my view, produce a veritable flood of stories  and we should welcome the deluge.

In addition to providing a first draft of history, such stories are part of the process by which the nation that sent its soldiers to fight can stumble toward an understanding of what their sacrifices mean. More important, these stories can be an essential part of the process through which those whose lives were touched directly by war begin to put themselves back together and help others do the same.

This is why, on this Memorial Day, a holiday that many Americans commemorate with family picnics and barbecues that may not necessarily include a reflection on the sacrifices of war, I urge my fellow veterans to consider doing something that may cut against the grain of your strongest instincts:

Tap into the well of your memories and break your silence by finding a way to share your stories with those around you. Because the rest of us need to hear what you have to say.

And whats more, you may need to hear it.
LAST WEEKS Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that voters think Donald Trump would handle the economy better than would Hillary Clinton. But from his destructive tax proposals to the illogical energy plan he detailed on Thursday, there is little basis for that belief.

Mr. Trumps vision on energy, as on almost everything, starts with the premise that the countrys politicians have sold out the American people. President Obama has done everything he can to keep us dependent on others, he argued, with a policy of death by a thousand cuts through an onslaught of regulations on oil, gas and coal. Mr. Trumps headline policy is complete American energy independence by lifting these draconian barriers so that we are no longer at the mercy of global markets.

Setting energy independence as an overriding policy goal is a policy mistake of long standing in Washington. In fact it is far less risky to participate in the global market than to erect barriers to energy imports or ban them entirely. If you rely only on yourself for your oil, you put all of your eggs in one supply basket. Disruptions due to a natural disaster or anything else that would be relatively localized in a global oil market would cause major volatility in a closed domestic one. The best way to insulate the country from oil price volatility would be to make the economy less dependent on oil, but Mr. Trump has no interest in doing so.

Mr. Trumps error reflects a deeper contradiction in his thinking. He praises the unencumbered free market, insisting that, the government should not pick winners and losers and that he would remove obstacles in the way of private enterprises. At the same time, he promises energy independence, a renaissance for the coal industry and other goals that would require government interference in the market. The decline of coal, for example, has occurred in large part because under the Obama administration natural gas drilling has boomed, lowering the price of gas and spurring utilities to move away from coal.

Mr. Trumps plan is dangerous as well as incoherent. In his zeal to revoke environmental regulations, Mr. Trump promises to kill the Environmental Protection Agencys carbon dioxide rules and pull the country out of the Paris climate agreement. He also promised clean air and clean water, but over the past half-century, it has been government regulation, sometimes market-based, that has helped clear up the nations air and water. Mr. Trumps plan would lead to dirtier air and water  and to a massive blow to the global fight against climate change. With great care and difficulty, President Obama persuaded major polluting countries such as China to listen to scientists and move with the United States toward cuts in emissions.

Future generations will suffer if Mr. Trump succeeds in reversing that progress.
THE COUNTRYS war dead are a kind of closed society, elevated above us by service and sacrifice  in Shakespeares words, a royal fellowship of death.

We can talk of their courage and sacrifice and make speeches praising their patriotism, but we really have only an inkling of how men (and an increasing number of women) have faced the horrors of combat  and what motivated or compelled them to fight and risk their lives. What we do know is that we have an obligation to honor selflessness and devotion to duty and to ensure that the memory of the dead will not expire with those who bore their loss.

In July, in the early stages of his improbable progress toward the Republican presidential nomination, Donald Trump was asked about his differences with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), whom he had described as a loser. The questioner asked if it was appropriate to use such language about a war hero, and Mr. Trump replied, Hes a war hero because he was captured. I like people that werent captured. The answer was childish and flippant, and wholly characteristic of the steady stream of puerile insults, half-truths, untruths and innuendo that make up much of Mr. Trumps campaign. Like most of us, Mr. Trump has no experience of what people confront in war, though he has made it widely known that he went to a really tough military school for teenage boys.

There are, however, many thousands of witnesses who have at least some understanding of what war is like and what it demands. Many suffered wounds of mind and body that will never heal. Mr. McCain, who was tortured and tormented by the North Vietnamese over a period of 5 years, steadfastly refused to be released ahead of those captured before him.

Was he a hero? In fact, he and the others imprisoned in North Vietnam didnt consider that kind of stubbornness to be an act of heroism. It was, rather, part of an unbreakable code they lived by, based on duty, honor, unselfishness and a sense of obligation to ones fellows. It was a similar, unwritten set of standards  steadiness, reliability, courage and a dogged determination not to let the other guy down  that many Americans maintained to the end of their tragically shortened lives in wars dating back two centuries and more.

We havent heard much about such qualities in this campaign. Memorial Day would be a good time for candidates of every persuasion who are seeking high office in this country, and for the rest of us too, to start giving some thought and attention not to what we are owed that will enhance our own comfort and security but to what we owe those who went before  that fellowship of death. We could honor them at least in some small measure by standing for what is right and honest rather than what is politic.
Unless you are a pacifist, you accept that evil acts  the destruction of other human lives  can be justified, even necessary, in pursuit of good and urgent ends.

But unless you are amoral, you also acknowledge the human capacity for self-delusion and selfishness. People are quite capable of justifying the utterly unjustifiable by draping their immoral actions behind sweeping ethical claims.

And if you are a responsible political leader, you must recognize both sides of this moral equation and still not allow yourself to be paralyzed.

As a student of Reinhold Niebuhr, the great theologian who was at once a liberal and a realist, President Obama has spent many years pondering this tension. He has sought out occasions on which he could preach about the ironies and uncertainties of human action  and also our obligation to act in the face of them.

This habit can annoy those who prefer to see a world in which good guys with few flaws confront bad guys. Obama is constantly being criticized for apologizing for the United States when he is in fact attempting to hold us to the very standards that make the United States the exceptional nation his critics extol. Judging ourselves by our own standards is the best way to prove that our commitment to them is real.

It is thus not at all surprising that Obama chose to be the first sitting president of the United States to visit Hiroshima, where our country dropped the first nuclear bomb used in warfare  where, as Obama put it, a flash of light and a wall of fire destroyed a city and demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself.

His speech was powerful precisely because of its moral realism. He made no apology for Harry Trumans decision to use the bomb and instead put it in the context of all the destruction wrought by World War II: Sixty million people would die. . . . Shot, beaten, marched, bombed, jailed, starved, gassed to death. Inherent in these sentences, with their reference to forced marches and the death camps, was the explanation of why the allies fought the war in the first place.

Obama got at both why wars are inevitable (We may not be able to eliminate mans capacity to do evil, so nations and the alliances that we form must possess the means to defend ourselves) and why we should nonetheless strive mightily to avoid them (The irreducible worth of every person, the insistence that every life is precious, the radical and necessary notion that we are part of a single human family  that is the story that we all must tell).

And in good Niebuhrian fashion, he urged that even those who believe they are fighting for justice be wary of how easily we learn to justify violence in the name of some higher cause.

Remaining aware that even the righteous can do both good and evil is central to Niebuhrs project. Back in 2007, Obama greatly impressed my friend and fellow columnist David Brooks with this off-the-cuff statement of what he had learned from Niebuhr. It was remarkably true to the theologians core insights:

I take away the compelling idea that theres serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. But we shouldnt use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away . . . the sense we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swinging from naive idealism to bitter realism.

Obamas critics typically see him as setting too high a bar for American intervention or argue that he is far more a realist than an idealist. The simple truth is that moral realism is hard because it means being hard on ourselves and accepting tragedy. Actions undertaken in the name of legitimate goals and actions avoided for prudential reasons can both have appalling outcomes.

Niebuhr himself was deeply ambivalent about the bomb, initially signing a Federal Council of Churches statement declaring that the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been morally indefensible, but later concluding that he and his colleagues were perhaps too harsh on statesmen . . . driven by historic forces more powerful than any human decision.

Its not hard to identify with Niebuhrs moral reticence. A humble ambivalence may be the proper response to a horrifically destructive act undertaken in the name of avoiding even more destruction.

Read more from E.J. Dionnes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
As a first-generation Lithuanian American, I wholeheartedly agree with the May 22 editorial A fight worth waging, which said that more needs to be done to protect the Baltic s tates. I recently met a young U.S. soldier who had just come back from Lithuania. He was part of a NATO operation near Kaunas , and was returning to Lithuania soon. I thanked him for his service.

Many people immigrated to the United States during World War II. Thanks to my parents, I not only speak Lithuanian but also have lived in the capital, Vilnius.

The Baltics  Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia  are three formerly Soviet-occupied states that are part of NATO and the European Union. These three ancient nations deserve to be free and an integral part of Europe. It is in the interest of the United States to help them as they continue on a course of prosperity.

Paulius Klimas, North Potomac
The sail-shaped Trump International Hotel & Tower in Baku, Azerbaijan, stands empty and locked up in April after construction was halted last fall. (Kevin Sullivan/The Washington Post)

In the center of downtown, an unfinished five-star hotel sits locked and empty, a ghostly shell completely dark at night except for the glowing white letters at its elegant, sail-shaped peak: TRUMP TOWER.

Construction on the Trump International Hotel & Tower here in Azerbaijans capital stopped last year when the countrys oil-driven economy crashed amid plummeting oil prices. The local owner and developer, facing potentially huge losses, is scrambling to renegotiate contracts and get the building open.

But Donald Trump, who invested virtually no money in the project while selling the rights to use his name and holding the contract to manage the property, has made millions. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee reported $2.5 million in income from the project between January 2014 and July 2015 and an additional $323,000 in management fees in the months since, according to his financial disclosure report.

If elected, Trump would be the first U.S. president to preside over a global business empire, one that includes seven resorts, hotels and other projects in foreign countries, 11 more under construction and plans for many more. Among them are properties in nations where the United States has important economic and national security concerns  such as Turkey, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan  that could put Trumps personal business interests on a collision course with the duty of a president to act solely in the best interest of the United States.

Here, in an oil-producing nation wedged between Russia and Iran on the strategically important Caspian Sea, Trump has partnered with a young billionaire, Anar Mammadov, 35, whose family is part of a longtime ruling regime that the U.S. State Department and others say is plagued by endemic corruption and human rights abuses.

The Trump Tower soars 33 stories over the center of downtown Baku. (Kevin Sullivan/The Washington Post)

Much of Mammadovs fortune has come from construction contracts awarded through the Transportation Ministry run by his father, according to journalists who have investigated him.

Trumps contract includes licensing his name and managing the hotel if it ultimately opens. Critics of the Azerbaijani regime see Mammadovs role as a tacit approval from the government, and they argue that the future success of the property hinges in part on good relations with the countrys top officials.

Trump has not said precisely how he would separate his personal financial interests overseas from his administrations policies. But his general counsel, Alan Garten, said Trump and his company would take steps to ensure that there would be no conflicts of interest if he were elected.

Mr. Trump would no longer be involved in the business of the company, and the company would implement strict policies to avoid the appearance of any conflict or impropriety, Garten said. This all could be done quite easily and efficiently.

Garten said that Trumps organization did extensive due diligence on Mammadov before it signed its deal for the hotel project in 2012 and that its investigation did not raise any red flags.

Asked to review several news reports raising questions about the sources of Mammadovs wealth, Garten noted they were all from 2013 and 2014. All of this came to light after the deal had been signed, he said.

Now that the Trump Organization is aware of those reports, Garten said, these are things that are going to have to be discussed.

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Mammadov did not respond to repeated requests for comment made over many weeks through his company, friends and business associates, via email and on Facebook.

Critics say Trump, if elected, would face challenges here in drawing a distinction between the interests of his business and those of his country.

Azerbaijan has been dominated for decades, stretching back to the 1960s Soviet Union era, by the Aliyev family, which, according to the State Department and human rights groups, has a poor record on human rights and free speech, including the jailing of journalists who investigate it.

President Ilham Aliyev, 54, has ruled since 2003, when he took over from his father, Heydar Aliyev.

Although the presidents annual salary is just over $200,000, he and his family have an opulent string of properties and businesses, according to reports by the independent Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

A 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable disclosed by WikiLeaks and reported by Foreign Policy magazine compared President Aliyevs administration with the Corleones, the Mafia family from the Godfather movies.

In 2010, The Washington Post reported that Aliyevs three children owned $75 million worth of Dubai real estate, including nine waterfront mansions purchased in a two-week period in 2009 in the name of the presidents then-11-year-old son. The recently disclosed Panama Papers revealed the Aliyevs ownership of a wider array of companies and real estate, and even a huge gold mine.

Journalists who dug into the wealth of the Aliyevs and their powerful allies found themselves harassed and imprisoned. The most recent State Department report on Azerbaijans human rights record notes a continuing crackdown on civil society, including intimidation, arrest, and conviction on charges widely considered politically motivated.

Its a mafia, said Ganimat Zahid, editor of an opposition newspaper, Azadliq, who lives in exile in Paris after being jailed in Azerbaijan for 2 1/2 years on what rights groups called bogus assault charges.

Zahid said Trumps partnership with Mammadov was deeply troubling but probably a shrewd business move by Trump.

In the best case, we can say that Donald Trump had to work with one of these guys, he said. But in the worst case, he knew these people were [corrupt] and he didnt care.

Rebecca Vincent, a London-based human rights activist and former U.S. diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Baku, the capital, described Trumps business interests here as a clear conflict for a U.S. president.

The corruption of this regime and the oligarchs associated with it is very well documented, she said. It is definitely problematic for someone seeking the highest office in the United States, which values democracy and human rights, which are not being respected in Azerbaijan, to have business ties with this regime.

Azerbaijani officials dispute the allegations of rampant corruption.

Azerbaijan is on the right path towards its development, and we are looking into the future, said Hikmat Hajiyev, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In such a geopolitically tough neighborhood, majority Muslim society Azerbaijan has managed to build in true sense of this word an island of peace and stability.

Trumps entry into Azerbaijan came as the country was actively positioning itself as a pro-Western counterweight to Tehran and Moscow, supporting U.S.-led counterterrorism efforts and contributing troops to U.S. democracy-building efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The country, with a secular, predominantly Muslim population, has also been an ally and business partner with Israel.

It is also a major oil- and gas-producing nation and a crucial link in the $45 billion Southern Gas Corridor, a 2,100-mile pipeline from Baku to Italy that will bring Caspian Sea gas to Europe. Vice President Biden and Secretary of State John F. Kerry both met with Aliyev and discussed the pipeline when he visited Washington in April for the Nuclear Security Summit.

The Mammadovs are one of the richest families in the country, thanks largely to a system that the State Department has said relies in part on corruption and predatory behavior by politically-connected elites.

Anar Mammadovs father, Ziya Mammadov, is not just the countrys longtime transportation minister but also a confidant of Aliyev.

All of our government ministers are rich, Rauf Arifoglu, editor of Yeni Musavat, an opposition newspaper, said in his Baku office. We got used to this during Soviet times.

The younger Mammadov attended American Intercontinental University in London, where he earned a bachelors degree in 2003 and an MBA in 2005.

A person who knows Mammadov, speaking on the condition of anonymity because Mammadov had not authorized him to comment, said Mammadov has done a lot of charitable work in Azerbaijan and enhanced his countrys image. For instance, he struck a deal with National Geographic to publish the iconic American magazine in the Azeri language.

Hes a very bright man, the person said.

Mammadov, a fluent English speaker who is comfortable in Europe and the United States, also was emerging as the fresh face his country needed to project modernity and vitality to the world.

He became the founder of the Azerbaijan America Alliance, which blew into Washington in 2011 like a hurricane of cash.

In the next four years, the alliance spent more than $12 million lobbying, records show, wining and dining Washington policymakers in an effort that Bakus critics called caviar diplomacy.

The alliance held large annual gala dinners in Washington, in 2012, 2013 and 2014, to showcase Azerbaijani culture. The first drew almost 700 people, including then-House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio). Lobbying records show that Mammadov met privately with dozens of lawmakers, including Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Former congressman Dan Burton (R-Ind.) signed up to be the U.S. chairman of the alliance, giving it immediate gravitas.

Mammadovs alliance was also a large contributor to the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, Pa., giving $2 million to the installation that honors those who died on that flight on Sept. 11, 2001, according to a person who knows the details of the donation.

To Trump, Azerbaijan looked ripe for a business deal.

Garten, Trumps attorney, said Trump was approached by an intermediary known to both sides to propose the hotel deal with Mammadovs company, but he said he could not remember that persons name.

Trump was intrigued by Azerbaijan, Garten said, because it was in a region that was trying to establish itself.

Garten noted that Marriott, Hilton, Four Seasons and other luxury hotel chains were investing there, so thats something thats going to be on your radar.

The licensing agreement between Trump and Mammadovs company, Garant Holding, was signed on May 25, 2012, Garten said.

The project would not be publicly announced for two years.

In the meantime, human rights advocates and journalists documented more problems in the country and allegations against Mammadov.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, in partnership with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, reported in 2013 that Mammadovs companies and companies he is connected to have profited from more than $1 billion worth of transportation contracts related to his fathers ministry.

Khadija Ismayilova, a U.S.-trained journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, wrote articles alleging that the Aliyev family had amassed fortunes through corrupt government dealings. She was arrested in 2014 and sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison. Human rights and journalist groups around the globe condemned her detention.

Ismayilova was released from prison last week, following Aliyevs pardoning of 14 others considered political prisoners just before his recent trip to Washington. Those steps have been applauded by rights groups, but Freedom House, a D.C.-based human rights group, noted that at least 80 other journalists and political activists remain behind bars.

When Trump announced his hotel deal with Mammadov in 2014, Baku was a blazing center of development. Across the modern seafront city, buildings were popping up as fast as developers could build them, all driven by sky-high oil prices that just kept rising.

Concerts in Baku by pop stars Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna and others had helped solidify the image of a U.S.-friendly nation eager to annoy the Iranian mullahs just across the Caspian.

Burton wrote last year in the Washington Times that Azerbaijan had made remarkable progress in areas such as religious tolerance and gender equality in its quarter-century as a country following the collapse of the Soviet Union and stands out as a friend to America and a stabilizing force in the region.

In his announcement, Trump said that Garant Holding would build and own the sail-shaped tower with 72 ultra-luxury residences and 189 hotel rooms. Trump would license his name to the project, which had been under construction for several years, and eventually his organization would manage the hotel.

When we open in 2015, visitors and residents will experience a luxurious property unlike anything else in Baku  it will be among the finest in the world, Trump said in the 2014 news release. He called Garant one of the paramount companies in burgeoning Azerbaijan.

Mammadov said then that his company was thrilled to work with the Trump Organization, the most renowned luxury developer in the world.

During a visit to the building site, Trumps daughter Ivanka gushed that the building reflects the highest level of luxury and refinement.

We are looking forward to bringing our unparalleled Trump services and amenities to Azerbaijan, she said.

The Baku hotel went up on the Trump website. The 2015 opening was promised.

Then, nothing.

In December, the hotel disappeared from the Trump site.

The general manager hired by Trump left for a job in Prague.

Construction crews were sent home, and the hotel was locked up tight.

Today, a couple of security guards and a sleepy caretaker keep an eye on the place, which is overgrown with weeds. A huge globe that says TRUMP sits in a fountain filled with sand and litter, near the locked-up front entrance.

The caretaker gave a recent tour using the flashlight app on his phone to navigate a basement passageway, stepping around loose wires hanging from unfinished fixtures; there is virtually no electricity and no water in the building.

In the lobby, all-but-finished reception desks are sealed under plastic, and a huge circular staircase is wrapped in plastic and cardboard, all beneath mirrored ceilings and a chandelier made of a dreamy ribbon of golden bulbs.

On the second floor, a swimming pool finished in copper-colored tiles looks ready except for water. The gym is crammed with exercise equipment still in cardboard boxes, next to a sauna that smells of fresh cedar and an empty, dusty, Turkish-style hammam steam bath finished in shiny white marble.

We have had an interruption in the construction, Khalid Karimli, chief financial officer for Garant Holding, said in an interview at his companys Baku headquarters.

Karimli noted that Azerbaijans economy was devastated when oil dropped from more than $100 a barrel in 2014 to as little as $26 last year. The Azerbaijani currency was devalued by the government and is now worth about half its previous value.

The once-booming city skyline is now blighted with half-finished buildings topped by idle cranes. Businesses have shut, and thousands have lost jobs.

Karimli said Garant is renegotiating contracts with its builders that are all denominated in U.S. dollars. With Azerbaijani currency worth half its old value, that means the price of the Trump project has effectively doubled for Garant.

Karimli said construction was about 90 percent complete and that he hoped it would resume in the next one or two months. He said the hotel, which had been scheduled to open last December, would open maybe next year.

The only key player who has not lost money on the project is Trump. Trumps deal is not being renegotiated and his fees will not be reduced, said Karimli and Garten, neither of whom would disclose how much Trump was being paid.

Garten said the Baku project was hit by economic factors beyond Trumps control. He said the global recession that started in 2008 forced the cancellation of many other projects  for Trump and for developers throughout the world.

A lot of developers lost their entire portfolios and fortunes, he said. Mr. Trump came through that as well as anyone.

At about the same time that the Trump hotel project in Baku came to an abrupt halt, Mammadov virtually disappeared.

He stopped paying his bills.

The Azerbaijan America Alliance did not hold its annual gala in Washington last fall.

In March, Burton resigned, saying he had not been paid in a year.

I am disappointed that they did not honor their agreement, Burton said.

The last issue of National Geographic in Azeri appeared in December.

They abruptly ceased publication and owe us money, said Laura Nichols, National Geographics chief communications officer.

In April, after queries from The Post, the alliances website was quietly taken down.

Its on hold, Garten said of the hotel project. We dont know what the future is going to hold for the project. Hopefully it will restart, but we dont know.

Mammadov now lives much of the time in London, according to people who know him.

He just went off the radar, said his friend who asked not to be identified. Totally off the radar.

Karimli said Mammadov initially wanted to license Trumps name because it was known among political and business leaders in Azerbaijan, as well as international businessmen who would be attracted to a five-star hotel in Baku.

But now that Trump is running for president, Karimli said, Trumps name is worth far more for the Baku hotel project. It was a good investment and unexpected, he said with a laugh. We hope Trump will be elected president.